I'll start by saying I was satisfied with the results considering today's weather. It was high 30's outside, began to rain at mile 6, snowed for a mile or 2, and then returned to a steady rain for the rest of the race. At mile 15 my shoes (tangent 3's) were so soaked the soles came unloose and by mile 16 I could see the heal of my sole up above my ankle. Didn't matter too much because I could no longer feel my toes anyway. I probably had a little bit faster time in me today, but I still felt good with the effort. Most importantly, I feel good- no real aches or pains other than my right calf and achilles (just a tad) from running 10 miles with the insert hanging out. In hindsight, maybe could have stopped, but it would probably have slid around continuously anyway. Here's my best attempt at a report...
I only had a stopwatch on, so these are the splits as best as I can remember...
Miles 1-5: 34:10- Felt really good and controlled. No rain yet and was getting into a good rythm.
Miles 6-10: 1:06:20- Was keeping just under a 7min pace, but had to make a 30 second "pit stop"...feeling good, but the rain/snow was beginning to kick in.
Miles 7-13:1: 1:31:30- nothing too exciting. Each mile fairly close to 7min pace.
Miles 13:1-15: 1:45:05- Felt really good about this section (slightly uphill) until my inserts started to come loose. This may have threw me a little more mentally than physically.
Miles 16-20: 2:21:32- Mile 16 was a real bummer. My right insert somehow ended up sideways and was reaching up past my ankle...what do you do in this situation. Felt like ripping it out and carrying it. However, somewhere around this point my toes went numb, so thought "What the heck, can't feel my feet anyway. The pace went from 7:00/7:05 per/mile to more of a 7:20/25.
Miles 21-26.2: 3:09:09- Lost some time in this section, yet never "blew up" or felt really that uncomfortable. My legs were still strong, but my right calf/achilles started to get worn from the extra work adjusting to a messed up insert.
Although shivering uncontrollably at the finish, I felt good. When I got back to the hotel, my toes were white and all 10 toenails were blue. Took 15 minutes in the shower to get any feeling back. Any suggestions on socks for future conditions similiar to today?
Side note: Very proud of a woman from our community, JoAnne McCormick, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 2 weeks ago. It was just determined a few days ago to be inoperable. She chose to run in today's race anyway (along with her husband)...I'm not sure whether or not she finished, but that's beside the point. If you are a person of faith, please lift up a prayer for her. She is the school nurse for two of our daughters and very involved in the community. A bus load of people from Litchfield got up at 3am to drive up and give her support. She's got a tough road in front of her, yet is handling it with dignity and grace!
Update: Joanne (age 56) did finish (4:44:19)...what an awesome accomplishment! | 