Well Del Sol Relay has come and gone and now it’s time to
tell the excitement that was experienced.
Going into the Del Sol about two months away when I was
selected to go I was pumped up
and wanted to perform my best. Leading up to the event for the last three weeks
I was dealing with Achilles Tendonitis and it affected my training which was frustrating
because I was putting in some good mileage before that. I could only pretty-much do cross-training
other than a couple runs a week for the last two weeks. I felt coming into the
event that I wasn't where I needed to be and my
fitness would be an issue. I really didn’t
want to let the team down, and was going to run hard even if my leg fell off.
Well, the aftermath of the relay I thought I did okay, but definitely
felt I could have improved if I was totally healthy. The achilles really didn't
bother me too much so I was happy about making it through the event with no
issues only some tightness in the achilles and crackling.
James W. and Lybi allowed Ted, Steve, Jeff, Sasha, and Walter and I to stay at their
house when we got to Mesa Arizona. They
were like family. Both of them were wonderful always caring about our needs,
and what
they could do for us to make us comfortable. The food they prepared was
wonderful.
James W. sorry I didn't drink the regular Vault soda.
Before we got to James and Lybi's house Ted, Steve, Walter and I ran a 4 mile warm-up, and that felt good.
Leg 9 - 41.21 Minutes 6:09 Pace 6.74 Miles
I was very anxious to get started on this Leg right when I saw Ted head my way
to the exchange. I started out feeling good, although I had a decent head
wind (10 to 15mph) so I knew I was in for an interesting fun run. The
first mile I did a 5:27 on a flat but gradual uphill.
Then the next mile 5:36 again flat with a slight gradual uphill. Okay here's
where on knew it would be tough, the last 4 miles were a continuous gradual
uphill
to the end (314 gain), in some pretty nasty wind. Normally this would be great
with no wind, but running in the pitch black made it interesting when you didn’t
know what pace you where running. At least being pitch black made it so I couldn't see the gradual incline.
Mile 3 James W. yelled from the van cheering me on (what a great guy) I finished
this mile at 6:14. I knew
with the wind and gradual uphill and not changing directions that the next
three miles I just wanted to be under 6:30 at least. Mile four - 6:25, Mile five - 6:29, Mile
six I really felt like I was running good but I couldn't believe I was only running near a 6:25 to 6:30 pace very disappointing. I
finished Mile six at a 6:31 and the last .72 I did
4:37 trying to give everything I had.
Average pace was 6:09 according to the garmin which is what my projected
pace needed to be at. I did past five
runner in the leg, and a few were scared coming up behind them fast in the Arizona pitch black desert. The Temperature around this time was in the
50’s so it felt good.
That was the excitement for leg 1 of the relay, and two more
to go. I did a 1.5 mile total for warm-up and cool-down.
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