As you know, I ran marathons in February and March, then a
trail half marathon, all on my way to running a 50K (that’s 31 miles) on the
same course where in 2012, I missed a cutoff while attempting a 50 miler. I was looking forward to tackling that course
again. But, alas, it was not to be. Just before the 50K, I was running up and
down a hill in my neighborhood when I felt, “uh oh, my hip hurts.”
As you know, I’m not a “natural athlete,” so sometimes bad
posture causes little issues. Coach Dave
suggests it is my running form. He
suggested I emulate the running forms of famous marathoners. Instead I emulate Tim Conway’s “old man”
form. In that sense, I am a Grandma. Anyway, this nagging Grandma issue caused me to
take some time off from running, and then get back into it slowly. But, by last Sunday, I felt about 95% cured
of this latest nagging injury, and I was ready for my first double-digit long
run since my hip started hurting.
I signed up for Jake’s Reindeer Race, which celebrates
childhood cancer survivors, including its namesake Jake Maynard, the son of one
of my partners. It offered a 5K, a 10K
and a one mile fun run/walk. I signed up
for the 10K and decided to run for a couple hours before the race started. During my “warm up” run, I ran over to the finish
line of the East Coast Triathlon Festival and watched some of the talented
young triathletes race. My friend Lilo
took the picture you see under the tent.
Back at the Reindeer Race, families gathered, played games
and celebrated. I looked around at the
folks lined up to race and thought to myself, “hey, I might not come in last
place!” At the triathlon, athletes were wearing svelte triathlon suits and had
their “game faces” on. At the reindeer
race, folks were dressed in reindeer antlers, red and green outfits and their
“game faces” said “Let’s have fun!” on them.
The race started, and I found myself in the middle of the pack. It was fun running with all the kids, dogs
and folks in costumes.
However, I soon learned that all these fun folks were out
for a mile or a 5K. My race would be two
laps of the 5K course. Once I finished
that first loop, I was on my own! All
other runners who had elected the 10K course were clearly talented
runners. That is, they were fast! The sun was beating hotter and hotter, and I
wasn’t quite acclimated. They were
playing Christmas music at the start of the second loop and I got in my head
“Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer.” I
couldn’t shake it out of my head for those last three miles. I tried to convince myself that I was a
reindeer, not Grandma squashed under reindeer hoofs. In fact, my face was so red from the heat:
was I Rudolf? Because of the heat, I
slowed to a slow jog intermixed with walk breaks. I realized that though my nose was red, I was
Grandma. And I had gotten run over!
But at least my hip is okay.
I’m happy to be back running long, even if I’m running slowly. This coming weekend, my plan is to run for
four and a half hours. J
