Everybody cut footloose

ok, yes, so I ran the other day. While there was no pain while running or right after, it did act up a bit after. And through the weekend. Now I know being on my feet and all over the place on Sunday at the philly marathon didn't help. I was debating running on it again to see what happened then decided not to. I call my Dr this morning to tell her what's what. This is the plan:
No running until I get back from Africa, which pretty much means 2 more weeks off.
Start going to PT again.
If when I run when I get back from Africa I have the same issue, another shot in ye foot.
She's encouraged that it didn't hurt when I ran, so she thinks we're on the right track.
As I've been saying (for far too long now) better now than into my Boston cycle. If I'm gonna rest, let it be now. Oh and I keep pulling out that old Esalen chestnut, trust the process. At least I learned something in the fog of Big Sur.

I was down in philly yesterday to cheer on my BQ ladies and my beloved FRNY team mates. I had such a blast. There should be a marathon maniacs for cheering, this was 3rd marathon cheerathon this fall. It leaves me almost as tired as running does. So many amazing people I finally got to meet in person. Us BQ ladies have been online together for....over a year and a half? So nice to put faces to screen names.

All of you had awesome races yesterday! From gutsy performances (FLO!) to Prs, BQs (Kevin, no lie I almost cried when i saw you and your mom both BQed), to first times, to runs to get back in the swing of things, to cheerleading like you wouldn't believe. It was an awesome weekend, can't wait for the Boston Reunion.

put the needle on the record

I do believe I am now on the longest running break I've had in years. It's over the 2 week mark with over a week to go. I only have short burst of going insane. I fully admit to obsessing over my foot and every thing that may or may not be an ache or a pain or the ghost of either or. Really, it doesn't hurt. When I do feel something there, I think it's the spot from the shot. Because, ya know, there was a needle in the bottom of my foot.
So now we wait. And as we wait, we plan for 2010.
As everyone knows, I'm running Boston in April.
Other things I'm doing for thinking about doing are:
Mt Washington Road Race (hey only 1 hill!) This has a lottery, so we'll have to see.
Timberman, which is a half ironman. That's in August. I've done this race once before and really liked it. Loren's also doing it, it'll be here first half. Rumor has it my pal Chris is also doing it.
I want to do some short distance tris as well. I also want to do some half marathons. Last year, I did 3 of the NYC races, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Brooklyn. I most likely will do those again. Maybe the Philly distance run. I'd really like to break 1:40 in the half.
As far as fall marathon, Im not sure. I have a spot in NYC. We'll see. I have tons of time to plan for that.
Anyway, still alive over here on my couch.

Shot through the heart

Today I went back to the Dr. With the xray negative, like her, my PT, me, the dog, and some random guy on the street knew it would be, she recommended a steroid shot to the irritated area. She doesn't think it's torn or anything, still just irritated. Perhaps after my week of drugs (when if felt good) I returned to running too soon.
Her course of action: steroid shot, no running or anything else that causes it to hurt, for 2 more week, when I return to running, short runs on the DREADMILL. I have the treadmill. I dont even have a gym membership to go an use one. Oh well. If it still hurts after this, MRI and possibly another shot. There's a 90% chance this will do the trick. I hope so!

These streets will make you feel brand new, the lights will inspire you, Let's hear it for New York

The 40th NYC Marathon is in the books and did not disappoint.
Sat. morning I went to the FRNY pancake breakfast, a Front Runners tradition. It was here I really realized I was not upset about running. All that tension and stress I normally feel the day before a marathon was gone. I wasn't worrying about the weather, every little ache and pain, if someone was giving me some unknown cootie. I got to just wish everyone luck and relax.
Race morning, Loren and I rode over to our friend Marge's house to watch the pros. I'm usually in the park to see the pros go by mile 24. While that is totally cool to see them in person I then miss the end of the race which is pretty cool to see. So this time I watched in on TV.
Watching Meb win was totally amazing. He ran a really smart race. Incredible to finally see an American win NYC.
Shortly after, Loren and I high tailed it over to mile 24. Riding our bikes, we were there in less than 10 minutes. With the range of runners our team has and with the new wave start, I knew it was going to be a long day. I had to pace myself. The mile 24 water station is also a FRNY tradition (click here for a lovely photo from the '82 crowd). As I've mentioned before, I do it the years I dont run and since a marathon is out of the question for the wifey, this was her 8th year of service. If you run NYC, look for Loren in the Ithaca is Gorges Tshirt. She's use to hugs, hellos, and the stray kiss.
We got there just as our first runner came through. Rich clocked a blistering 2:41. We spent the next several hours handing out water and cheering. It's a long day but so worth. It's so much fun watching everyone come though. I know from my experiences running NYC that it is so cool to get to mile 24 and see someone you know, even if it's just one person, it can make all the difference.
All in all, FRNY, had 108 people run, times varying from 2:41 to 7:11 and everything inbetween. PR, BQ, first time, and even some devil dogs that made it the whole 26.2.
I'm proud of all of you and I hope you're proud of yourselves!


Ok, now on to me.
Still not running. I had an xray this morning to rule out a stress fracture which neither my PT or my DR think I have but in order to get an MRI, I need an xray first. Totally stupid. There's a chance I have a tear in my facia. I'm hoping it's just really irritated. I haven't run in close to 2 weeks. Well,if I need to take an extended break, let it be now so I can go into Boston ready to kick some ass.
I'll keep you posted.

no parking on the dance floor

After another 4 mile run this week (the run itself was GREAT) followed by a sore foot, I put myself back on the shelf. At least another week of no running and more anti inflammatories. I am thinking of actually not running for 2 weeks. This way, all my running pals are tapering for NYC this weekend and then will be having an easy/off week the following week. Then we can all start up again together. We'll see. John did tell me if there's still pain after this go round, back to the Dr.
Since there's no running right now, I have been on my bike more. With high running milage, I tend to ride around less. Like less city riding. So now, more city riding. I actually really like that and since I ride a fixed gear around town, my pedal stroke gets smooth and it's like adding cycling strength without a whole lot of work.
Today Loren and I hopped on the road bikes and did the 26 mile River Road loop. It was a beautiful day. All the leaves are changing out there and I just felt really really good.
So I'm trying to turn a negative about the running into a cycling positive.

fools and horses running their courses

An update:
1. Canceled NYC. Totally fine with it. Actually glad cause now I can escape taper madness.
2. Running a bit, usually about 4 miles. I take Bea with me when I can cause her limit right now is about 4.5 so I know I wont be temepted to do anything crazy.
3. having PT 2x a week. Seems to be helping.
4. I am having a bit of pain but I think it's getting better. It's still under the 3 scale while running. I am thinking about taking some time totally off again to see if that helps.

Other than that, not much going on.

I want to tell you something you've known all along

Let see....running yet? Nope. Day what? hhmmmm, like 10 or something. I think the last time I took a break so long it was when I was in Africa last year. Dr told me not to run while on the drugs so I'm sticking to that. It's making me a little nuts. The upside, my foot is feeling better.
In the world of working out, Loren and I went for a nice 26 mile ride on Sunday. For those in the know, we did River Road. It was sorta like doing a tempo run. There's a very long hill at the end of River Road. My goal was to stay on Loren's wheel, which I did. My heart rate got up to a lovely 186 (my max is 200) so in running like terms, like a speed workout. Once we got out on the road back to the GWB, we pacelined each taking a minute at the front. It felt really good.
But ya know what, it's not running. On my quest to Boston I stopped my multisport self and turned into a pure runner for a few years. While I am looking forward to going back to triathlons next year, I still have a mostly running itch. I'm guessing that comes from not being able to run.
I'm going to do a short run on Thurs morning before PT. PT Pete is out with his new baby and the rest of his family for the month of Oct. so I've been seeing his counterpart, John twice a week. I feel like it's really coming along.
NY is totally doubtful, I've all but officially canceled which is fine.
This past weekend was the busiest weekend of marathoning I've done without actually running. I headed out to Hartford to watch my online pal Rebecca PR with a 3:06. Another online pal Kris also smoked the course in a jaw dropping 2:42.
Sunday, I lazily laid in bed and followed the Chicago marathon action online (after spending Sat night watching the Ironman worlds online). Congrats to everyone who ran! And a big shout out to Kieran taking home a 2:57 PR and Dave who will be COMING TO BOSTON!

Doctor doctor, can't you see I'm burning

Today I went to get my foot check out by a pro. Well, by a Dr. away.
And here's how it went:
She gave me the option of getting a shot in my foot (something Fran has told me hurt more than giving birth) or going on anti-inflammarories. Guess what I picked? I've actually had a shot in my wrist before so I know how much that hurts. Pills I can handle.
So I've got some drugz for a few days, more PT and no running for a few more days. I haven't run since Sat. This is a record for the year! She thinks this should clear it up.
She didn't say OH MY GOD THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN RUN THE MARATHON! She actually thinks it would be fine. I'm still on the fence, we'll see how the next few days go.
As it is, I was planning on not running if I was in Africa so this is pretty close to that.

working for the weekend

I did my long run on Thurs last week. The heat has finally broken (for now). It was about 70 degrees and almost no humidity. AAAHHHH. 17 miles. Felt really good and I believe that was the longest run I've done since NJ.

I moved things around this week to do a sprint triathlon on Staten Island. The whole idea is pretty crazy, I've swam twice since last June, been out on my road bike ya know with the intent of riding, not just commuting twice. Yea, so it's short, I still have no business doing a tri. Hence the long run on Thurs. My foot has been feeling better so I decided to try running consecutive days. Loren and I ran with Bea on Sat. for 4 miles. No problem, we'd have to see how I felt racing on Sun.

Friday and Sat, we had a lot of rain here. By Sat afternoon, all the NYC beaches were closed due to weather and rip tides. The race had to cancel the swim, in it's place, they added a 1 mile run making it a duathlon.  This certainly favors the runners though I dont think by too much, unless you really suck at swimming (the swim was to be a third of a mile). But 1 mile? How am I suppoe to run just 1 mile? I dont really like "racing" anything under 5k. I figured I'd go out and run a controlled 1 mile, nothing crazy.

When we got to the race, Loren and I rode for about 15 minutes, it had been a year since I've been on my tri bike after all. Then we ran a mile. I figured I was pretty warmed up for my 1 mile. I ran it in 7:14 and felt pretty good. Got into transition and jumped on my bike.

The bike was an odd course, pancake flat (the whole race was) 3 times around a 4 mile loop. So a turn every 2 miles. That kinda sucked. While I can take turns aggressively, I still had to slow down a bit and make sure I wasn't near anyone who didn't know how to take turns (sad, but true). Only 1 woman passed me on the bike and it was my team mate Jen who is very strong. 

I noticed on the 2nd lap Loren, who is a very strong rider (and an extremely strong runner, her first mile run was 6:15) was the first woman over all. I finished the bike in 33:09. Loren finished in 32:10. I was surprised it was that close given my lack o riding. 

On to run 2. 4 miles out and back, flat with some boardwalk right along the beach. I felt pretty good off the bike. I was bummed that in the first half mile 3 women would pass me like I was standing still. That would be it for the women passing me in the run however. In the last 2 miles, I passed another woman so I had made up a bit of ground that way. On the way back, I could see Loren. She was first woman. I kept looking for the 2nd woman behind her and she was a long way back. I was very excited that she had such a lead and looked like she's was going to win. I felt strong the whole race. My run time was 30:34, about 7:40 pace.  Over all race time: 1:12:16.

Loren was first woman over all with a time of 1:06:42 (her 2nd run time 26:53) she beat 2nd place by 2 minutes. She was also 9th over all.

I was 10th woman and 3rd in my age group. Not bad for a race I didn't train for AT ALL. It makes me excited about getting back to triathlon next summer. 

My heel hurt in the evening, though that was to be expected. I woke up this morning pretty much pain free. I think it's coming along. With the consecutive running not making it worse this weekend, I'll try that again this week. I'd really like to get my miles back up. Aug I ran 114 miles, I believe that was my lowest month all year. 

I leave with you some lovely race photos:

Loren winning

Us before

right after

FRNY Tritons take home the loot

Country Roads

So one of the cool thing about being on vacation is running in new places.  Right now, I'm at Snow Farm doing a stained glass class. It's a beautiful quite place full of different studios and people working hard during week long intensives. Lots on country roads to take me to new places. 

Yesterday, I got up at 6 to run before the day started. Not having run here before, I had no idea what I'd find. I sorta love that, just look at the road and turn right or left. Yesterday, I turned left.

What I found was up hill. Three miles of uphill. It seemed endless, though was beautiful. On a run like this I was like screw the pace, this is all about effort. The good side is, 3 miles up means 3 miles down so it worked out pretty well.

I'm still not running consecutive days. While my foot doesn't hurt while I'm running, if it does it's just til it's warmed up. It hurts after. Though I think that might be getting better. I was fine most of the day yesterday until late in the day but I had been standing a lot (need to stand to cut glass).

I am concerned about NY and being able to run as much as I'd like. Right now, I'm not running as much as I'd like.  It's a thought in the back of my mind. I'm not going to give it much weight until I get back home and into my normal routine.

vacation all I STILL ever wanted

Ok, coming up for air a bit! Loren and I have been on vacation as I mentioned. We went up to the Presidential mountains in NH to hit the high point of the state, Mt Washington. While we were there, we tagged Mt Jefferson too. You can check out some pictures here. Before that, however, my friend Diane told us running the Bridge to Flowers 10k would be a fun way to kick off our vacation. Please note: Diane did NOT run. I like doing races out of NYC. They're usually smaller and obviously something different. Ya know, different like a hill in mile 3 that gains 400 feet in .75 of a mile. Yea, that's fun. Actually, this race had a bit of everything, some easy hills in the first few miles, followed by that MONSTER which most people actually do walk up most of, which then turns into a dirt road as you go down hill, then you hit some grass, then some mostly downhill rollers to the end. Very pretty and pretty challenging. To give you an idea about that hill, I ran my first 2 miles in like 7:15-7:30 pace. Mile 3 was 10:30. What followed was me totally high tailing it to break 50 minutes. I came in in 49:06. Loren ran pretty well, leaving me behind in mile 1 and finishing in 45:57. One thing I'm not crazy about for this race is the age groupings: 20-39 then 5 years after that!

Big difference from 20 to 39! (I'm 38). Loren was 18th outa 150, I was 32nd.

So then we were off for a few days to hike. No running. 2 mountain peaks, 1 over 6000', one about 5700'. Obviously no running. 

I ran yesterday which let's see...was Thurs for the first time since Sat. That's a lot of time off for me. Loren and I did an easy 5. It felt sluggish. My heel hurt a bit after. I haven't been staying on top of my stretching during this trip like I should. Obviously I'm on vacation and was still very very active so I should be fine. I did wake up this morning thinking I had gotten a little off track. I'm hoping to get back on track tomorrow when I go for my long run. Distance not yet determined. I'm still in Western MA, dog sitting for Diane who did not run the 10k. (Hi Diane).

Next week, I'm going to do a week long stained glass class up here. I'm already looking forward to getting up early and running on country roads. I just have to see what happens. A break was mostly likely good for me with this nagging pseudo injury. There's still lots o time.

My left foot

When we last left our blogger, she was on her way to PT Pete after doing something really stupid. Let's pick up where we left off shall we?

So I went to see Pete and told him what I did and he looked at me and said, yea, that wasn't too smart, you aggravated it. I sure did. So we worked on it and taped my feet again. It didn't feel any better. He told me to take sat off from running. So I swam a half mile. First time I've swam in over a year. He said if I woke up on sunday and it still hurt like this, don't run, go for a ride or something. Lucky for me, I have lived the life of a triathlete for many many years so it's easy for me to just do something that's not running. If it felt ok, pop to advils and run. I woke up Sunday and it still hurt a fair amount. It was pouring so I laid in bed all day and watched netflicks about Everest. So no long run for me. I ran 18 miles last week, a HUGE cut back from what I've been doing. I would rather cut now than not run at all later, but I'm not happy about it. When I was talking to Pete about my milage, there was another guy in there getting worked on. He heard me say I've been running 40-45 miles a week and his eyes bugged out of his head. He was getting to do a long run of 12. Pete looked at him and said don't pay attention to what she's doing. Yea, dont or you might not be running at all!

Ok, Im being dramatic. Pete told me to drop down to 30 for a few weeks and let my foot rest. I can do that. I think. I'll be away for the next 2 weeks on vacation. The first week I'll be hiking so I knew there wouldn't be much running anyway. If this were anyone else, I'd say you're crosstraining, you're going to run again this week, you've got a great base, you're not going to loose any fitness. Of course I know this but it always feels different when you're telling yourself this and not someone else.

Living with another runner has it's ups and downs. The ups being someone to run with and someone who gets it. Even though Loren isn't a marathoner, she gets it. The downside, when you're hurt or can't run you get to stay home and have a huge pity party. Ok, it's not that bad, but I was bummed when Loren went out for her 9 mile run and I was left here glazed over in front of the boob tube.

When I woke up this morning, it certainly was feeling better. I went and swam 1k. My plan is to maybe run tomorrow or Wed. I'm going to call Pete and see if it should be worked on before I run.

Like I said, this isn't the worst thing in the world. It's not the worst time for it to happen. Yes I have a goal for NY but I'm not married to it. I've hit my big goal for the year so I'm being much more relaxed about the whole thing.

Im also starting to look at what I want to do over the next couple of years (doesn't that sound INSANE). Those plans include going back to being a big multisport geek. I'm really curious to see how I do in the longer distance triathlons after a few years of dedicated running. I think it would be good for my body to have a bit of a break from all running all the time.

In these shoes? I doubt you'd survive.

After much reading and a fair amount of curiosity, I got a pair of Nike lunarracers. Weighing in at 4.5 oz. and touted as marathon shoe, well, I had to see this. They came today just in time for my workout. Very light yes, totally space age craziness, yes, very comfortable, yup. Reputation of chewing a hole in your achilies, yup. I wasn't even 4 miles in and it started happening. By the time I finished, I had a bloody sock and a bloody shoe that will be going back to Road Runner Sports. It's really too bad, but I'm not going risk it.

Now the workout: 8 miles with 5x600. I'm still working on getting Bea (ya know, the dog) set on a schedule so I went in the late afternoon and ran on the outside track for the first time this season. That felt really nice. Wind and all. Wind and all I ran: 2:35, 2:33, 2:31, 2:33, 2:31, all sub 7 pace and a hair faster than last time on the indoor track. Even though I'm dog tired, (yup, dog) I felt good. It was a solid run.

Ok, so frequent fliers to this blog have read about my encounters with birds though out my workouts. Today's experience may take the cake. So during my warm up, I'm running along the Hudson River. This young man is walking his Chihuahua and looks at me and points up to a tree. I look up and there's a huge nest and I'm like, oh ok, big nest so what. Then I look at there is the oddest color bird up there. I stop and look at the guy and he says parrot. Sure enough, there's a parrot up in the tree with a huge nest along the Hudson river in NYC. He tells me there's a whole family up there, apparently a pet store truck crashed and a buncha the birds got out. I find that sorta hard to believe, but there you have it. A whole nest of parrots up there. Crazy.

Gonna be a long night, it's gonna be all right on the night shift

With my freelance schedule, I dont run in the evening as much as I use to. I've really gotten use to running in the morning or in the afternoon and not waiting til 7pm to run with my club, Front Runners. Tonight was an exception. I do like to go and see my running friends and take care of club business.

The downside? It's 10pm, I just got home and I haven't had dinner yet. Ok, so this is a bit unusual. I just stood on my corner for 20 minutes chatting.

Tonight was an easy 5 recovery run, though I realized the first real run I've done on the road. Felt pretty good, my ankle is a little stiff which I guess is to be expected.

It was also nice to see all my team mate's concern since so many of them were at Reach the Beach and knew what happened.

SO now I taper. I hope this gives me enough time to really heal.

oh the road again

First of all, is  Hagan Daz bar good recovery food?

I say yes, yes it is.

Now moving on. I've pretty much been given the green light to resume training. I saw PT Pete yesterday and he really worked out my ankle. I was have a slight sensation of discomfort on the inside of the ankle I twisted. He said it was a tight calf and that my arch collapsed a bit from the twist. He suggested some OTC cheap arch supports to put in my running shoes. I did that this morning. They feel fine, just might take a bit of getting use to.

So on to the run. This morning was 8 miles with 5x600 repeats. I wasn't sure how these repeats were gonna feel. Loren told me to go out there and just let em fly. My 4.25 warm up felt crappy. Usually a good sign for intervals. No, really. My ankle was stiff. It usually is first thing in the morning then it looses up.

I got to the track and my intervals were GREAT.

The paces for each one:

7:10, 6:59, 7:00, 7:09, 7:05

These have been the fastest intervals I've run this cycle. I know the few days off really helped. The weather didn't hurt either. And no pain.

While I was out there, there was a group gathering. There was a table with trophies on the field. THis woman was putting up these TRACK CLOSED signs and telling everyone the track was closing. 

I kept going. I saw another guy doing a similar workout (much much faster than me!) doing the same thing. We'd do an interval, eye the parks woman, start another one. I really wanted to get these done on the track. I could tell he did too. 

Music was playing, Whitney Houston, The Pointer Sisters...and all the "special population adults" as the Park calls them were gathering and starting to dance on the track.

I finished my last interval just as the crowd was really starting to grow.

At first I was annoyed that the whole track was being closed for this small group of folks. I stood around and watched before my cool down run home. It was very cute to see them dancing on the track and wearin team shirts that said CHAMPION on them.

Sometimes it's far too easy to get lost in my own goals.

To run away from you is all that I can do

Ok, so PT Pete say I could try and go between 8-10 today if the 2 on Friday felt ok. It did, so I did 10. Loren suggested I start on the track to have a soft surface. I did 2 miles on the track then went and ran to the little red light house. I finished on the track for almost the last 3 miles. While that is a total snore, it was a good idea for this first real test. 

Like the other day, there wasn't pain, just some stiffness and maybe what I would say was a bit of soreness. I started with my brace on, but took it off before I even ran a half mile. It didn't feel any different with out it. I did some pick ups and that felt fine too. I did notice I wasn't getting total follow through on the injured foot. Not sure if that was stiffness or apprehension. Maybe a bit of both.

So this next week I should be able to resume with my schedule. I see Pete tomorrow and he's hoping it'll be the last time.

we do what we're told told to do

Yesterday at PT, PT Pete told me to run 2 miles today, either treadmill or soft surface. It's so nice out. I went up to the track and ran there. Lane 7, mild turns.  He suggested wearing the brace for the short run so I did.

I would say I felt a sensation of mild discomfort. Certainly not pain. If I picked up the pace, it felt the same. I could have gone on but I think 2 is a good start. Then I went to the weight room and did some strength and balance work on my foot. Now ice and stim.

Tomorrow will be a see how it feels day then Sunday I can do up to 10 miles.

I'm not looking beyond that.

you spin me right round baby

Whenever I look at my ankle, this is what I see. It's all sortsa colors. It actually looks like a dead person's foot attached to my leg. This morning, I went to the gym. I took the bus. Usually, I go up there to swim or run intervals on the track so I either ride my bike or run.

The bus, not so much fun. 

I did 45 minutes on the elip. machine. Closest thing I can get to running. I was so tempted to get on the treadmill, even for just a half mile to see how it would feel. I resisted. I wouldn't say it hurt. It didnt. There was an ache. I got a lace up brace which I think will be more supportive for WHEN I START RUNNING TOMORROW.

Ok, I really dont know if that's going to happen. PT Pete said he'd put me on the treadmill for 2 miles (I know I'm going to do at least 3 if I can run) and we'll see how it goes.

I'm not going to pretend this isn't driving me insane even though it's only been a few days...

I put the CAN in CANkle

Ok, so I just saw my PT guy, who is awesome.

He doesn't think my ankle is even sprained. He worked out most of the swelling and thinks I should be running by Friday. I'm going to see him 2 more times this week.

While not out of the woods totally, this is a big relief. If I miss 7 days of running, that's not bad. It's only 3-4 workouts really.

Oh and Loren reminded me after reading my last entry that when I said to her I think I blew my marathon, she said you dont know that, let's wait and see.

And she's right, I was too spazzed out to remember that.

Reach the Biatch

So this weekend was the 10th running of the Reach the Beach  relay. This was my 5th time doing it and 3rd as captan of the Front Runners Ladies Tea and Running Society. We pretty much load 12 people into 2 vans and run across the state of NH.

I was the first runner. My plan, to stay close to my marathon training plan was to run my first leg, 7.8 miles, like a tune up race. My 2nd leg was 3.8 so I figured I 'd let that one fly as well. My last leg, 9.3 hilly miles, well, I thought that would be good to do maybe on the high end of a long run pace. It would be good training for my marathon to run hills when I'm really really tired.

Well as we all know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Things started out well. I was a bit stressed trying to get my team ready to go and being the first runner. I started at 11:40 am with 18 other folks. The pack went out too fast, I let them go and just settled in. I didnt have my garmin which wouldn't even turn on. It through me a bit but in the long run, I think was good. Forced me to run on feel and not be so information obsessed. 

I settled into a nice pace and started doing math in my head. It was cool, in the 60s and raining a bit.

Let's see, if it were 8 miles and I ran at 8 minute pace that would be 64 minutes and if I ran 8:30 pace....on and on. I figured I wanted to come in around 68 minutes. I stayed steady, kept my eye on a pack of 5 ahead of me. 

Then they started falling of the back and I passed one.

Then 2.

Then the last 3.

I was felling GREAT. I could see the transition up ahead. It was hard to gauge how far ahead it was with the road being slightly hilly. I picked up the pace a bit to finish strong. I passed off to my teamate and hit my watch.

1:03:20, about 8:07 pace. I felt awesome.

After running, there's a lot of time before you run again. But also a lot to do. 5 more people in the van to run, then drive ahead as 6 people in the other van run. Eat, try and take a nap.  The 2nd van on my team kicked some serious ass. At 10pm, their last runner was tearing up the road ready to pass off to me. It was a bit wet, warmed up a bit from my first run. I was waiting in my safety vest, blinking lights and headlamp ready to go. Running in the dark down NH country roads is great. It's surreal. No street lights, very little traffic, just the blinking of other runners. I actually couldn't see any. There was no one close enough in front of me to see.

I was moving. I was feeling good. This leg was 3.8 miles, my goal was sub 30 minutes. I could feel the road go up, even if I couldn't see the hill. I gave my self landmarks when I could look at my watch. I'd look down to see if there were any lights coming up on me.

I started seeing team vans making a right turn. I saw the race arrows pointing that was so I knew I was close. I also had the feeling someone was coming up behind me and I didn't want to be passed on my legs so I through it into another gear. I went to make the right hand turn.

And then it happened.

I was on the ground. I was pretty much on my face. I got right up with this streak of white hot pain in my right ankle.

Fuck.

I look down , there's blood running down my left leg.

Oh fuck.

The road sorta just ended. It had been paved recently and at the turn I guess it was pretty uneven.

A woman jumped out of a van and ran over to me making sure I was ok. I said yea, I'm fine and started to hobble.She offered to walk with me, I said no and started running.Cursing in my head as 3 people passed, offering encouragement as I went. I got into the transition and saw Loren, she could see I was hurt. I passed off and went right into the medical tent, which was of little use. At that point, the Front Runner's men's ultra team (6 runner instead of 12) had caught us. These boys were FLYING. So all of them, except the one running, plus another teammate who was their driver, were there. It was nice to have the support of so many familiar faces.  I washed off my knee, a team mate taped up my ankle and Loren carried me to the van.

Not only did she carry me, she scooped my up like the end of An Officer and a Gentleman and carried me while  singing Love Lift Us Up Where We Belong. 

This is a true story.

I got in the van and started cursing and crying, I was also in a bit of shock. I looked at Loren and said I think this is going to cost me my marathon. I was so mad and disappointed.  I knew I wouldn't be able to run my last leg, I couldn't even walk. My team mate said they'd take care of it. We figured out how to get the last miles run a person down. 

These girls are badass.

I spent the next few hours driving my team. When we got to the next van transition, I saw the EMTs.

This was about 7 hours after it happened. They kept telling me to go to a hospital, it might be broken. I knew it wasn't. It was feeling much better, I could walk. They iced it and rewrapped it. They said the same thing about my knee, I should get it stitched, but it might have waited too long, it was going to leave a nasty scar. I said I didn't care if it scared, please just clean it out.

Well, it's going to really hurt.

Hurt? I've already run 2x, sprained my ankle and been awake for 20 hours, pour kerosine in it if you need to, I won't notice. (it didn't hurt when they cleaned it).

I caught about an hour of sleep then got ready to watch one of my team mates run my last leg. Since I couldn't run, someone had to run 4 times instead of 3. 

Did I mention I love my team? Cause I do. Every year I do this I'm amazed by the bad ass women that show up.

And away we go. 6 more legs, the last legs for out van. Entry into the done club. I drove so everyone else could get ready to run or recover. After we were done, we grabbed some lunch and headed to Hampton Beach to wait for our last runner to come in so we could all run across the finish line together. By then, I was well enough to hobble along with everyone.

We finished the course, roughly 208 miles in 30 hours and 16 minutes, about an 8:43 pace. 3rd in the women's open division. We all got fuel belts for the effort.

My ankle's feeling much much better. Swelling's gone down, I can pretty much walk on it. I'm going to physical therapy tomorrow, I think this will be a mostly off week. I see myself running by the weekend, though most likely not the Philly half marathon like I had planned (sorry Flo!).

I'll assess and see how I'm felling, but I think I'll still be good for Steamtown.

Over all, Front Runners had 4 teams

1 women's team (12 women)

2 men's open teams (23 men, one team ran with 11 guys)

1 men's ultra team (6 guys)

Women 3rd place women's open

men's ultra 2 place men's ultra division

Men's open (11 man team) 3 over all, 2nd men's open

Men's open  17th over all. THIS JUST IN 4th open men's team!

Ya know, there are a lot of stereotypes about gay folks. And a lot about gay folks and sports. We just had 43 gay runners kick ass across the state of New Hampshire. 

Did some say sissy?