Passed by thousands, finished strong...........................

The Crim ten miler was a totally different feel than Sunday's Leading Lady. Thousands of people crowded into a downtown street, not a mountain in site. This was by far the largest race I have ever done, and yet all the people I mingled with were just as kind and jovial. Some guy bumped into my camel bac and said, "Oops. Sorry." which set off a conversation about my reasons for carrying so much crap while I run. It started to sprinkle as I was extending an offer to share food along the route if they got hungry and one of the guys says, "No food, but if you happen to have a rain poncho in there I might take you up on that." Sorry boy, I like running in the rain, so gloves maybe but no poncho.

So, the gun goes off, and a minute or so later I crossed the start line and was off. Many minutes later, when normally I would be one of a few, the streets were still crowded and wall to wall people. I focused on running MY race as I was passed again and again until finally the crowd thinned to the point that I could stretch out my arms in all directions without touching a fellow runner.

Being a long standing, city race the spectators were out in mass with wonderful things like sprinklers and bowls of ice cubes. They banged pots and pans, blared music, clapped and cheered, how fortunate I was to be able to be a part of it all! After passing by a high school band, I came upon a group handing out Crispy Creme donuts. If there is a better brand I haven't met it, but I still passed them up not trusting what the fat content hitting my stomach might stir up. Some things I just don't need to find out.

A half mile or more I saw another group that I thought was handing out water cups, having my pack I passed on the other side of the street and rounded the corner. As I did I caught the sent of a strange smell. I had smelled it before, but where? Oh! Right! At parties! They were giving out beer to the delight of many! I guess some people can carb-load on anything!

At one point I came upon another lady that suffers from the same gastric distress from running distance that I do. We were comparing notes, and she told me she too freaked out the first few times there was blood in her stool until she realized it ONLY happened after a long run. I felt pretty terrible when after a few minutes of shared war stories she said, "speaking of diarrhea," and veered off the road and into the bushes. It wasn't a dirty race tactic. Honest!

I ran a good race, strong, consistent, and fun. I can't tell you the rush I got when I crossed the mat at the half-way point (five miles) and was under an hour (with over a minute to spare). Even more thrilling I kept up close to the same pace for the second half of the race and was able to finish with a time of 1:59:16. The first time I broke two hours for the ten mile distance. I finished 236 out of 345 in my age division, and I am happy with that.

I really wanted to go out for a four mile run this morning, but for some reason the ankle that I rolled on my first eighteen miler has reared it's ugly head. I wrapped it in an ace bandage as I did for the half, as a precaution, but by the time I got home it was almost double the size of my right ankle. Last night I had trouble falling asleep due to the throbbing, but I still set the alarm, thinking that maybe I would just walk for the four hours. Hope springs eternal... When the alarm went off, and my ankle was still tender upon impact, I decided sticking to the plan was not worth the potential risk of a real injury, so I put myself on the R.I.C.E. diet...Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. Twenty plus mileage in one weekend will just have to wait a while. Now that I am a runner I am healthy enough to have that future in front of me and know, with confidence, that the opportunity WILL come around again.

P.S.

(my) Mister did his first 8K (five miles) yesterday and I could not be more proud. He came in at 1:07:15. For the marathon, the leg he is doing with me is 5.1 miles and he has close to two months to get a tad faster so he can pace me at the speed I want to travel. He is working so hard to give me my birthday wish, totally out of love for me. I am so very blessed!