With all of the nagging injuries and issues that I had in the weeks prior, I should have skipped this one. but I kept telling myself that an opportunity like this one does not come along often. Greg would be running it too, it was the inaugural race, and it's Johnny Cash themed. I had survived races before and I would survive this one too. I kept telling myself that I did not feel good before the Giants Half, but managed to run my best race yet. I should have listened to my body.
The beginning of the course was the same as CIM and as the bus made it to the top of the Folsom Dam (in my case it should the Folsom Damn) I had this bad feeling that it may be CIM all over again. Rather than the National Anthem to kick off the race, we had Boy Named Sue. It was crowded at the gate, but thinned out pretty quickly as we headed down the hill. That was where I made mistake number 1. I let Greg's pace begin to dictate my pace. I pushed it a little harder than I should have (not much, but enough to effect me early) and tried to run a faster pace than I ran in SF. Not smart.
As we made it down to the bike trail things got really narrow and congested. There were also a bunch of rolling hills that took their toll on my already sore legs. But I can say that the sun coming up over the lake was awesome. It also was the place for the first Johnny Cash music. There was a guy going up and down the lake blasting Cash. It was around mile 4.5 where Greg took off on his own. It did not bother me at all (he is in absolutely ridiculous shape), and truth be told, I was shocked he hung back with me for that long.As I reached the 10k mark I was about 3 minutes off my pace and was fading pretty quick. It also housed a ska/punk Cash cover band which almost made me stop and listen for a while. Mile 7 brought an insane hill full of switchbacks to get back up onto the overpass. It then led to a steep downhill slope of the same descent on the other side of the overpass to get back down to the lake. It was about mile 9 where I knew it was over. I was about 8 minutes off my pace, my calves were tightening and my shin was barking at me. It was also about that time that I caught a runner that also used to work for me. She appeared to be having it worse than me, and besides tears, was on the verge of a breakdown.
Being to stubborn (or stupid - its up for debate) to listen to my legs I had convinced myself that I could finish. I also talked Katie in to hanging in there, and we jogged/walked at her pace until we finished. With each mile things got worse but we managed to finish. 2:48:58. My worst finish ever, by nearly 20 minutes.
Happy to finish, but not happy with the result. Shout out to Greg though who still finished in just over 2 hours, even with dragging me for the first 4 miles.
With CIM being the next race up on the block, this was really discouraging. I don't know if there is enough time left to let the nagging injuries heal and get into a mindset that will allow me to run 26.2.
Post race other than a pain in the shin I was feeling ok. Greg, Dad, Uncle Dale and I all played golf on Sunday (day after the race) and other than walking downhill I was in good shape. Still couldn't put multiple shots together to save my life (which means that running in no way effects my golf shot) : )
Thanks to my family for making the trek to the finish line. I needed all of the support I could get to get through.
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