Dublin (Ohio) Roadie, Day 2: The Run

After 820 miles in thirty-six hours, and we were home again...

I woke up Sunday morning at 6:00, a full two hours before the races (distances ranging from a full marathon down to a 5k were all being run that morning), and had my traditional two cups of joe in an effort to get jazzed for the run. Jack was sleeping in, while I shuffled around the room trying to get my shoes, tights and shirt on in the near dark. Early on I had a feeling that something was off. I had forgotten my "lucky" shirt at home and in fact had to suck it up and race in the white undershirt I had worn the night before. (In my rush to leave early the day before I had neglected to pack very well, I'm afraid.)

Roughly an hour before the start, I roused Jack from his slumber, made sure he had some breakfast. He wasn't going to wait fro me during what I had thought would be a three-and-a-half hour race in frigid temperatures, so we decided it would be better for him to wait inside. I'm not sure why I thought the temperatures would be any more manageable in Ohio, than they were in upstate New York, but, boy was I mistaken!

Weather Report for the Last Chance for Boston in Dublin, OH: Cloudy and Windy, 5°F, 52% Humidity, Winds: From WSW @ 22 mph, gusting up to 32 mph; feels like -2°F.

As I took a warm-up mile, I felt pretty good. The race course consisted of a one-mile loop in the Columbus suburb of Dublin, so my "race" would, in effect, be twenty six laps, one of approximately 1 mile in length. While I started out feeling great, and maintained a confident pace of :08:00 min/mile, the longer the race went on, the more apparent it became to me that I would not finish the entire race. Following each lap, runner's had to pass through what would in the end be the finish chute. As we passed, thereby completing a one mile loop, the coordinator would tell us what lap we had just finsihed. The tale of each lap was the tale of my run coming to an end...

Miles one through twelve went swimmingly. At mile seventeen, however, my left hip, knee and ankle began to throb and become numb. After passing the finish for the nineteenth time I tried, at quarter mile increments, to stop and walk it off... it was at this point that I knew I was finished. Following lap twenty, I did not go through the chute, but instead went outside the chute and turned my timing chip (which was won on my ankle). Kindly, one of the volunteers awarded me with a medal for having completed a half-marathon.Not what I had hoped for, but I was not looking forward to returning to the hotel room empty handed. I felt a little embarrassed to face Jack, but had to acknowledge that I had not achieved my ultimate goal... at least this time.

The final result?

Run: 21 miles in 2:20:38 min. @ 8:00 a.m.

I had, as Jack and I had kidded about the previous night, pulled a gung-lee.

Adio, wli nanawalmezi.