10 Days Later

AM: 45 mins.
6 miles
PM: 4 miles

I woke up before sunrise this morning to bang out an easy run before departing for the airport. I was actually supposed to fly out last night, but after checking my flight status online I learned it was already 2+ hours delayed, which meant I might not make my connection and definitely would not arrive home prior to 2am. I put in a quick call to AirTran and they were surprisingly accomodating with switching me to a morning flight sans fee. So I happily enjoyed a short-sleeve run this morning while watching the sun come up over the Jacksonville Riverwalk as opposed to shivering through what promised to be a cold, rainy slog in Charlotte. I also had the opportunity to attend the post-race party at the race director's house last night, which was revelry and merriment for all involved. Overall I feel good about my impromptu decision to stay another night.


"River Runner" statue on the Jacksonville Riverwalk

The rest of my day was largely spent traveling, which is always a grand waste of time. Basically my two flights comprising a total of three hours were broken up by a four hour layover in Atlanta. By fortunate coincidence, Jeff and Tanya and Mike were also laying over for approximately the same amount of time en route from Nationals in Houston, so I was able to spend most of the afternoon hanging out with them at B28. Mike was flying high (and hungover) after celebrating his first national championship win in the 5k, while Tanya was a bit disappointed about her own 5k race. She's been struggling with plantar fascitis and basically hasn't been running the past three weeks, but by all accounts she ran a super tough race and couldn't have done anything more. I'm proud of both of them and excited to see what the outdoor season brings.

Not much to report on my evening run, except that I picked up the pace a bit more than expected. I guess it's good that my legs are feeling decent, with just a few twinges in the hamstring, so hopefully next week I can get back on plan without skipping too many beats.

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Gate River Run 5k....Er, 15k

~2 mile w/u + strides
Race: 5:59, 6:04, 6:00 (5k~18:50); dropped @~3.5
3.5 mile jog back to start
Total: 9 miles
Post-race: 2-3 mile walk back to hotel

Well. I'm going to be brief with this so as not to dwell on the negative...it's not good for my chi. Anyway, the legit reason why I bailed on this race was my left hamstring. It's no state secret that it's chronically tight, but today it was bothersome to the point of seriously altering my stride. I've gone over it in my mind as to why today would be different than other days and I'm not entirely sure. Perhaps I was dehydrated? It's much more humid here than anywhere else I've been recently, so that might have something to do with it. Combined with my constant traveling as of late, that might be the culprit. Honestly though, I have no idea. I just know that by 5k I was certain things weren't feeling as they should and I faced the decision to 1) continue on, hope it worked itself out, possibly cause more damage; or 2) drop out, wog back to the start, be upset/embarrassed that I didn't finish. Sounds like a lose/lose situation but I went with #2. Sigh.

On the one hand, I'm extremely disappointed in how things played out today, but on the other hand the goal remains unchanged. This was just intended as a tune-up for the first Stanford in two weeks, and I still have my sights on attaining the auto qualifying time in the 10k there. I need to try not to let this race affect me psychologically, continue to build my fitness for the next week, and be extra vigilant about stretching/massaging my hamstring.

Oh, and just as an aside, I would've absolutely gotten rolled had I continued the race anyway. There were some sick times out there today. Props to all the studs who finished in the money.

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Rolling With the VIPs in JAX

AM: 31 mins.
4 miles
15 mins. core
PM: 45 mins.+ strides
6 miles

I took my time waking up this morning and spent a few hours lounging around my luxurious room at the Wyndham Jacksonville Riverwalk before heading out for an easy wog. I've never been here before and hadn't the slightest idea where to go for my run, but I saw a bridge with a pedestrian path that looked promising so I headed off in that direction. A few minutes later I was over the bridge and running parallel to the river on the Jacksonville Riverwalk. In sharp contrast to the climate I just left, it's quite warm and muggy here. Definitely better than what I left behind in Oklahoma but horrendous for my hair. At any rate, both my runs were fine. I wish I could say I felt bouncy and spectacular leading into tomorrow's race, but in all honesty I feel a bit flat. The good thing is there are little to no expectations put upon me for tomorrow other than to put forth a solid effort, so if I royally embarrass myself there's a good chance not too many people will find out. Fingers crossed.


The bridge I crossed on my runs today

The most interesting/comical part about this whole experience is that I've somehow managed to sneak my way into the elite athlete section, which earns me all sorts of privileges such as access to the elite hospitality room, free pre-race dinner at the hotel, shuttles to and from the race, etc. There are about 100 other elites just like myself here for the race and I would say I recognize about 20 of them. Which is about 20 more than recognize me, that's for certain. I keep waiting for someone to tap me on the shoulder as I'm slathering a bagel with PB in the hospitality room and tell me that I'm not supposed to be there, but so far no one seems to be onto my ruse. In return I've been afforded a rare glimpse into the private goings on of the nation's finest distance runners, at least when it comes to their choices of food and beverage. With each passing minute I am made more aware of how I don't belong here in the slightest. Oh well...I'm off to grab a few more Powerades.

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