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Showing posts from December, 2009

The Last Mile - December 26, 2009

Cold, wet and very windy - that was the setting for this 5 Mile Race the day after Christmas. I had been told it was hilly, but I was not prepared for these hills. I literally could not see the top of the first hill. I couldn't even stand up straight. I had to lean forward to try to keep my balance to keep from falling over. But I dug in, and I gave it my best. I didn't walk the hill - many others did. Once I made it to the top, I felt a great sense of accomplishment. I think I heard the Rocky Theme song playing in the background. (ha). I thought surely this was the worst of it and from here on it would be easy. I was wrong. That was the worst hill, but not the last. By the time I finally made to the decent part of the course, I was struggling to just keep moving. I made a up a little time on the downhill, but not enough. I ran the 5 mile race in 50:11. It was not my PR. I had wanted to come in under 50, but the course was brutal. Not only was the course brutal, but so was the

Jingle Bell Run

Well I did it - sore knee/leg and all. It was cold. I couldn't get my hands warm. I had on gloves, but still couldn't feel my fingers. I told myself to stop worrying about it. I wasn't running with my fingers anyway. After the start, we went up a gradual incline which was then followed by a fairly steep hill. On my incline on the steep hill, I felt it. Yep, that tug on the outside of the right knee. I told myself that it was too late now and I just had to push through. And push through I did. My lungs were screaming, but I didn't listen. At mile two I was around 17:15. I wanted to keep up the pace, but could feel that I was waning. I told myself to just get up the hill and then I could go downhill and try to recover. I did fine on the downhill; it was when we hit the flat again. Everything was burning - my lungs - my legs. I was starting to get passed by more and more people. I knew that my pace was slowing. Then I saw someone that I had just met before the race, an