I knew it was going to be a slog, and it was. Not having run more than 17 miles since October took its toll. By the time I came out from around Lake Fayetteville, the flexors were gone. It was just about all I could do to break 5:00 after running the first half in 2:10 (which was in itself encouraging). I started out at 6:1 walk/run, which went well. My legs felt fresh and I was able to maintain sub-10 average even with the walks. I also tweaked the intervals if a walk happened to fall on a downhill, which may have been a mistake, but I wanted to take advantage of gravity. Anyway the pattern continued through the first half. But as the thighs fatigued, continuing to run 6 minutes at a time just wasn't much of an option. It was cool but humid, certainly a day where you could DNF if not careful (Holly did, for one). By the time I got to Scull Creek trail, it was walk most of the time and run when I could. Then I tried running a distance -- run four tenths, then walk. The hills up to the finish at Wilson Park were just diabolical, but the finish was downhill, which was nice. Good to see a 4 on the clock at the finish, which meant I'd broken 5 and finished before noon. All I wanted,. And I finished exactly where I thought I would in GP age group -- third. So that will be 24 nice points, putting me in second in the AG. That was the plan, and why I signed up for Hogeye to begin with.
So last night I picked up Suzie and took her into Tyler's room, and tripped over something on the floor. Jerking my left foot to regain balance, I felt pain in the left calf. It's still there. Figures -- I run 26.2 with no injury (but plenty of stiffness) but get hurt walking into my son's room. Hopefully it's just a twinge, but it's still there seven hours later. I'd be tempted to bag London if it doesn't go away; I think I can defer to 2017. Like I need an excuse to go to London during EPL season...
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