Injured

Fall Foliage 5k in Waynesboro, VA this morning. Although we had been to Waynesboro before, we had never ventured so far into town. It's a beautiful city, and the 5k route was extremely picturesque. It was a fun race experience, though freezing cold, about 35 degrees at race time. Leah Marie cashed in a PR by more than 2 minutes! She rocked it. On the other end of the spectrum, I cashed in my slowest 5k EVER. I felt like I was running in slow motion, and I have never had so many people pass me. Yes, I was pushing the boys in the jogging stroller again, but I am used to that. I push them on a run almost every Saturday morning. In fact, last Saturday, I pushed them on an 80 minute run. However, I faced a completely different problem, one that I had never faced in my days of racing, from Triathlons to 5ks.

Yesterday morning, while participating in my usual Friday morning exercise, racquetball, I pulled up lame with a calf strain. It wasn't too bad initially, but my thoughts immediately drifted to the 5k. I was right to be concerned. My first mile was the slowest first mile I have ever run in a 5k, by more than a minute. That's when I knew that it was going to be a long race. Shortly after mile two, my left calf essentially exploded. I had to completely shut it down. But that wasn't good enough. I am not a quitter, so I took a swig of my go juice, sucked it up, and pounded the pavement, limp running the rest of the way. I even passed a few of the runners who had passed me when I shut it down. The big concern is whether I can recover in time for the next 5k in two weeks or even for my first 10k, for which I am already registered, in about a month. Here's hoping for a quick recovery.