A Triumphant Return?

In the heat of the moment things seem worth it.  I have no regrets about making a return to racing only 3 weeks after doing some damage to my legs in my first marathon.  That is the addiction, all runners know it well.  Once my legs began to feel good again my mind naturally went back to competitive mode. 

I had said that after the Cape Cod Marathon in late-October that I would not race again until the Hyannis Half Marathon in late-February.  In the days after the marathon that promise seemed like it would be easy to keep.  My legs, specifically my left foot, were worn out.  I had bruised my left heel and ball of my left foot all in the efforts to finish the final 11 miles of the marathon.  I had battled the pulled hamstring, battled the cramped calves, battled the achy hip flexors and groin, and had succeeded in crossing that finish line.

I had begun my convalescence by changing up my workout to strengthen my legs and core so that when I returned to racing I would be ‘new and improved.’  It only took about 10 days before I felt good and was back to running, although only for as long and as fast as I chose to.  I was NOT going to train for any races until 2013.  Well, that did not happen.

Last year I had run a 5K on Thanksgiving and really enjoyed starting a fun family holiday with a sort of ‘running adventure’ that I could share with the family later on.  I wanted that again.  I chose another 5K since I knew that I could finish it without having to do any sort of training.  I chose to run in Provincetown since it would be a scenic run and a scenic drive to and from the race.  Plus the fact that I signed up 2 days earlier meant there was not a lot of time for me to start over thinking if I was ready to race again.

I got to the race site an hour early as is my superstitious custom since I did it for my very first race.  There were only a few other people there so I got my number and wandered off.  It was at a motel so I got to off on my own and stretch and meditate on a basketball court.  I sat on the walls of a barbecue pit and surveyed as other runners showed up.  It was a small event, probably 70-80 runners, a far cry from the 12,000 that ran the Falmouth Road Race in August.

The people running the event were nice but the setup was a bit amateurish.  There was no timer at the finish line, and the Start/Finish line was hand drawn in chalk 2 minutes before the race commenced.  The time was kept by stopwatch.  Needless to say I was ready no matter what, it was 50 and sunny which was much improved over the 30 with 20 degree windchills during my Thanksgiving race in 2011.  Since 5K’s are all out sprints I positioned myself on the starting line ready to take off. 

Like a shot I was off.  I felt good and as I got about a mile out I realized I was 3^rd overall with nobody behind me.  I kept my cool and kept my pace up.  Now here’s where it gets interesting, like ‘it can only happen to me’ interesting.  There was a fork in the road ahead, the race route was to go to the left, that was easy enough.  However, we were told at the start that there would be a woman dressed all in Pilgrim garb with water.  She would be the halfway/turnaround point.  Easy enough, right?  It turns out that she did not expect any runners to get there as fast as the top 3, myself included, did.  She had been posting a sign with an arrow making sure no runners went the wrong way at the fork.  So she was nowhere to be found and therefore we had no clue where the turnaround was.  I saw the two runners ahead of me turn back as the pilgrim lady yelled to them. With my headphones on I did not hear her but turned around too.  We ended up going about ¼ mile too far and I was stuck in 8^th overall on the way back.

I was running out of gas but crawled my way to 5^th as I crossed the chalk finish line.  It ended up being my best finish in a race, not counting a 'Virtual 5K' where I had nobody chasing me, you did it wherever you felt like doing it . I finished the 'virtual' in 2nd overall.  I kept the extra ¼ mile in mind when figuring my time, I ended up with a 7:17/mi. pace which made me feel good considering I didn’t train and had planned on not racing until late-February.  The pilgrim lady showed up at the finish line and she was so sweet and nice that I forgot all about her vacating her post as the halfway marker. 

Now as I said at the beginning in the heat of the moment it was a great start to a great Thanksgiving.  The next day?  Not so much.  I aggravated my bruised left heel so my plan of not running a race until February might be back in effect.  Walking has been a chore today but what can you do?  I might have been overzealous and returned too quickly but hindsight is always 20/20.  I’ll give it a few days and see if I can go on or go back to square one.  I don’t regret it though, I have never regretted anything I’ve done during my racing life.

Have any of you made a vow not to race for a set period of time only to give in to the ‘addiction?’  How did it go for you?

Surveying the scene from my perch on the barbecue pit wall.

My 'cyborg leg' part injury-prevention, part preparing to run in the cold.