Richmond marathon recap 2015

An update on the race is called for I suppose.

It was a perfect day. I was Calm and relaxed. Met Karasmatic at the Y to catch a ride down to the race at an ungodly hour. We had breakfast with all the coaches. I saw ShanZ, hugged Coach Black, and said "Hi" to some of my favorite people.

Hit the capital for a snapshot, the porta-potty lines, took a few pics, checked bags... Hit line again... And I stepped into the corral. I crossed the start line with the back of the 2nd wave.

Running a lot of miles alone this season made me think I would want people to run with on race day, but that wasn't it. I like running alone, apparently. I started and ran 1-5 a few meters behind Coach BikingV. Her pace group felt fast to me. So I ran between a 900 - 908 avg for the first 5 miles.

Walked and drank at every water stop. Salt at 2. Gu at 4.

My fastest mile was 7 - oops I ran an 841. It's a lot of down hill. I corrected and relaxed.

My strategy was "Run the mile you're in". So I didn't worry about anything except the moment. I tried to stay focused. Each mile marker was a reminder to relax and run that mile. I took a cup of something at every stop, alternating Powerade & water. I had a handheld too, with straight water. I drank early and often.

9:11 - 8
8:57 - 9 - gu + h2o
9:05 - 10
9:12 - 11
9:06 - 12
9:13 - 13 - salt, gu, h2o
9:12 - 14
9:23 - 15
 I walked a few steps at the end of this mile to adjust a GU that was rubbing through my pocket.  I wasn't worried about it. The PR was in play and I had a shot at the über goal. I was conservative. I figured if I failed because I followed my plan, at least I knew I had not gone out too hard.

I started running again, hit the bridge running about a 9even, and I looked up to admire the beautiful city. I saw the bridge seam/grate in front of me, looked down as I stepped and shrieked in pain as my foot made contact with the "teeth".  I hopped and stumbled to a walk. Runners near me turned to ask if I was ok as they ran by, but I waved them on. In the first few minutes I thought- it's going to feel better in a minute. Keep walking. You will have to run a fast finish. It's ok.
And I started hopping and jogging through the pain. I can get there.

Coaches stepped in and out of the picture to help distract and encourage me. But nothing could get through the pain. I was nauseous. Every step hurt. I could run on the inside of my foot but that was going to jack the rest of my body...

On Main St I saw two women spectators and asked one if she could text my love to wait for me at mile 20. If he was there I'd have the choice to get off the course or walk. If he wasn't there, I had fewer choices...

I contemplated walking it in, but two things were certain by mile 18:
It hurt to bear any weight.
I needed an X-ray.

I saw DeNiece and BigDog at mile 19.15 and collapsed into his arms. They bundled me in their clothes and carried me to a side parking lot...

The day was long and short at the same time. I'm so proud of the runners who competed yesterday. It was a beautiful day.

My X-ray revealed its not broken- yay!
It's a bad sprain- boo.
Crutches and no weight bearing for a few days. Rest and ice. NSAIDs. No running until it's 100%.