The John Wall 1-mile race
On Saturday, 7/20, Andrew and I completed the Striders' annual 1-mile race, which is the 4th leg of the Champ Series. This race is always challenging because it comes right in the middle of marathon training season, ie: the part of the year where I focus on running long and slow. Being asked to go fast all of a sudden is tricky. I have to try, though. I know some marathon training friends who simply run this race at their training pace in order to get credit for the series, but I always try to push a little harder.
This year, Andrew and I were joined by his younger brother Marquis, who was dealing with the opposite problem. Marquis is a recently-graduated high school track star, but he's used to running races measured in meters. A mile is a long distance for him.
This race is run in heats by expected finish time (over 12 minutes, 10-11 minutes, 9-10 minutes, etc.). Runners select their own heats. I always try to pick one where I expect to be challenged but able to finish within the allotted time. Two years ago, that was 7-8 minutes. This year, it was 9-10- a couple steps down. Andrew, on the other hand, moved up. Last year, he ran 10:33, but this year he knew he could do better and also chose the 9-10 minute wave.
Our heat started and Andrew and I ran neck-and-neck for the first two (of four) laps. Somewhere around #3 though, he pulled a little ahead. I tried to maintain my pace for lap #3 and speed up to catch him in lap #4, but it didn't work. He finished in 8:50 and I came in at 8:57. Considering that I ran 8:11 in this race two years ago, I was a little bummed about my time. Still, I was relieved that I managed to stay under 9 minutes and thrilled for Andrew! He had no idea he could run a mile in under 9 minutes and was really excited about it.
Two waves later, it was time for Marquis to run. It was pretty exciting to track him through his four laps and cheer as he went by. He finished in 7:30, which I think is a slow day for him. Andrew and I were still impressed!
Down and Dirty
The very next day, Andrew and I did another race: the inaugural Merrell Down and Dirty obstacle course 5K. I have wanted to do an obstacle course race for awhile now, but I was still very nervous going into this event. Having scrupulously studied the course details online, I was pretty sure I knew where my strengths and weaknesses would be. 5K trail run? No problem! Crawling through tunnels and other low obstacles? Easy. Push-ups? I love them! Wall and cargo net climbs? Uh-oh. Despite all of my weight lifting, I still find climbing challenging. I also seem to have a slight fear of heights that only comes out in activities like climbing. I have no problem standing on a 30th-floor balcony, but climbing a 10-ft. tire tower scares me half to death.
Going into this race, Andrew and I decided to forego our usual pattern of running our own races and stick together for the whole thing. Several friends who had run obstacle course races told us that sticking with friends is the way to go. We also learned from them that you need a good "before" photo, so we took this one:
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| Before. |
Then came the real climbs. First, there was a 20ft. cargo net over the top of an inflatable slide. This was pretty easy, but it was the first place that the fear of heights kicked in. When I got over it, my heart was beating so fast that I had to take a walk break to slow it down. After that, we reached the obstacle I had worried about the most: a climbing wall. Mercifully, they had lower options for those of us who were climbing-impaired. Andrew scrambled over one of the taller walls in a second and then helped talk me through the lower one. It took several failed attempts to even get up on the hand and foot holds, and I briefly considered giving up, but finally I made it!
Once we finished the climbing wall, I had conquered my biggest fear and thought it would be smooth sailing. I wasn't counting on the "Monster Climb." I had seen this photo on the race website, but didn't think it looked very scary:
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| Scarier in real life. |
We completed our final obstacles in view of Andrew's family, who took some pictures. First, we climbed the "slippery mountain":
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| I'm all the way in the right-hand corner. |
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| As gross as it looks. |
As far as obstacles go, this was an easy one. The real challenge was getting over the grossness of having mud everywhere, including in my mouth and my eyes. After that, we crossed the finish line and got our "after" pictures:
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| Dirty enough? |
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| My dog-tag medal. |
Tooth Hiatus
The week after the Down and Dirty race, I had all four of my impacted wisdom teeth removed. When I scheduled this procedure, my surgeon assured me it would be no big deal and I would probably only need a couple days off work. I took four just to be safe (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). The surgery went smoothly, as did the first few days of recovery. By Sunday, though, things started to go downhill. By Monday, I was in awful pain, which continued for several more days. I wound up being out of work for that Thursday and Friday, plus the entire week afterward.
All of last week, I was in a great deal of pain and semi-sick from the combo of pain pills and barely being able to eat. The most difficult part of the whole thing, though, was frustration. First, I was frustrated at my surgeon. When I called for help with the unexpected lingering pain, he just said "Well, back teeth are difficult. This isn't unexpected." (Why didn't you tell me that in the first place???) I was also frustrated to be sitting around my house for days on end, staring down many long-standing to-do list tasks and feeling too sick to do them. Finally, I was frustrated and worried as I watched the days until my next marathon (9/1) tick away, with me too sick to work out. Which brings us to...
The Dog Days 8K
My original plan for this past Saturday was to run 18 miles. By the middle of last week, I was questioning whether I would be able to run at all. This was worrisome for two reasons. First, I need to get long runs in to be prepared for my marathon. Second, I was scheduled to run the Dog Days 8K on Sunday, which is the 5th leg of the Champ Series. Being halfway through my fourth year of running the whole Champ Series, I did not want to lose my IronMan award over some teeth!
On Saturday morning, Andrew headed out with the Striders for his own 14-mile run. I gave myself a couple additional hours to sleep off the pain meds (which are still imperative at night) and then joined him toward the end of his run. My goal was just to see what distance I could handle. It was rough, but I wound up covering 5 miles, which was enough to reassure me that I could do the Dog Days (which is just under 5 miles). Andrew and I both spent the rest of the day recovering.
Sunday morning, we set out for the race and I felt lousy. Once we got going, though, it wasn't so bad. I passed Andrew in the first 2 miles, but he caught me in the 3rd and held onto that lead through to the end. He finished a little over a minute ahead of me and 8 minutes ahead of his time from last year! I posted my worst time in this race so far, but it barely registered. I was just relieved to have finished in under an hour and to know that my IronMan award remains secure.
So, now I am continuing my recovery and trying to get in whatever training I can manage for my upcoming tris and marathon!
