Today was week three in our weekly runing series. I did not go last week as I could not get out of work on time and get the dog free before heading out. So it basically came down to the dog or my run. The dog won out. Poor Quincy was on the screen porch all day and I couldn't bear to leave him there for another two hours or so while I took a run through the woods.
Just before the race started we had quite the t-storm. It poured harder than ever and I was wondering if the race would still go on. But it usually takes more than a storm to stop these running wackos and I would be there right along side with my toe on the line. We lost power last night for 12 hours. It was awful. It was so hot yesterday and then when this whopper of a storm raged in and took our electricity with it I got no shower. Bummer. I was not a happy camper. No shower, no fan to sleep with, and because we're too frugal to buy a generator..... no sleep last night. At 6 am the fans finally kicked on. We left them on before we went to bed in the hopes the power would come on before the am. No such luck.
Anyhow back to the race. My quads were killing me from running up a mountain on Saturday. I ran up 2 1/2 miles of a 7.6 mile mountain to watch a race. My son was in it so I wanted to get up far enough to see how he was doing mid race. He was in 17th place out of maybe a thousand runners. He didn't keep that spot for long but still did well. After seeing him we ran back down the mountain.....big mistake. This is not good for the quads. Sunday and Monday found me hanging onto walls and railings as I went up and down stairs. Hurt bad and I looked ridiculous but.....o well!!!
So I woke up today still feeling a bit sore, tired from no sleep and unsure about racing,later in the day, but since we are only allowed three bad races or absences and I already took off last week I felt I had no choice not wanting to use up all my free time so early in the series. So I ran.
I went out faster than the first time taking off about 45 seconds in the first mile. I didn't feel my sore quads at all but had a great warm up, so I'm thinking that helped quite a bit. I finished, still not where I'm happy to be, but about one minute faster than the previous race. The course was very slick and muddy with the rain that had just ended. We were all covered in mud and wet grass at the end but it was much cooler than it was even an hour before.
I'm glad I went now. I have lots of room for improvement and now am on this a minute a week quicker bit. I'm already starting to feel better getting back into shape. By the end of the summer I'll be happy I'm doing all this. For now...it's just getting through it.