Kingston Turkey Trot

RACE DAY!

Sorry, rather long posting today.

So, today was a really cool run for me. This race was out in the eastern part of the state and my mom and Rich came out to see me run. I got up at the butt crack of dawn and loaded two very tired kids into the Jeep and headed out to Kingston, MA. My mom and Rich met me there and were kind enough to watch the girls while I did the race. Then we all went out for lunch together and turned just another Saturday into a rather nice day.

So, anyway about the race - It was another 5K, but instead of being a typical loop course it was an out and back. I arrived early and went out to drive the course ahead of time, which paid off not only because I identified the hills, but because it gave me a psychological boost while I was running it. Being an out and back course, there inevitably comes that time in the race when you meet the leaders coming back in the opposite direction. Since I had driven the course ahead of time, I realized that I was closer to the front of the pack than I thought. I was almost to the turn around point myself when I saw the first of the leaders.

The course had some hills, but not too many. Aside from the turn around point being right at the ocean’s edge, the most memorable thing about this race will certainly be the temperature. There was a steady wind near the water and weather.com put the windchill at 3 above zero. BRRRR!

Want an idea of how cold it was? Ignore the look of pain on my face and look at the steam cloud rising off of my head.

Honestly though, I think I felt more sorry for my poor family waiting at the finish line. At least I was doing something.

An injury update - I’m still having problems with my left leg. I have all but eliminated my training runs for the past few weeks. I’ve been icing like crazy. I’ve been much better about stretching and I’ve even been doing the band exercises that my PT recommended, but it is persisting. Now, my right ankle is beginning to hurt and click, I think secondary to my stride compensating for the bad left leg. So, I’ve reached the rather difficult decision to take 2 weeks off and to sit out my next race. I’m doing this for a few reasons. First, as much as I hate to admit it - I’m afraid that I’m making things worse. Second, my next race is a 10-miler and I have not been able to put in the necesssary miles to prepare for that kind of distance. Over the last three weeks, I have been more or less faking my way through these 5-milers and 5Ks with no training. I can get away with that at short distances, but the risk of injuring myself even more on a 10-miler is too great to ignore. I have even longer races coming up in January and my first Marathon in May, and I don’t want to really screw my leg up and miss those runs.

I’ve got to find a replacement form of exercise for the next few weeks. Might be a good time to start on my pool work in preparation for theXterra triathalon that Justin wants me to do with him in Hanover, NH next summer. I’ll keep you posted.