We started the race and she was about 10 yards ahead of me and she stayed that way until about mile 1. We ran mile 1 in 8:11 and her lead increased the next half mile. 8:11 is fast for me on a trail, so I decided just to focus on myself and run my own race. So I just plugged along and none of my mile splits were under 9:00 and I felt pretty good as I was running. Michael asked me what my 10K PR was and I tried to remember...I knew it was around 57:00 (57:09 actually) and Michael said we are going to blow that out of the water.
And blow it out we did! I pushed hard the last couple of miles and ended up coming in at 53:24 which is around an 8:36 pace!! And on this exact course at this exact race last year I ran 57:50!! So needless to say, I was pretty pleased with my time. Nope, I never caught the girl, but that is okay with me. The official results aren't up yet, so we'll see how the final standings shake out.
After getting some water, Michael and I headed over to the WRT for another 8 miles. We were both tired, but we kept a pretty steady pace...until one of my blisters popped!! It seems that no matter what shoes or socks or terrain, I get blisters. On my toes, on the ball of my feet - wherever. I just suck it up and run, but when that sucker popped, it felt like someone was rubbing flint on my foot to start a fire! We had 2 miles left, so what did we do? We sat down and Michael took his moleskin off his heel and I put it on my foot. I know, very sanitary! But after a few minutes the fire on my foot started to subside. I really wish I could fix this blister situation.
So our total for the day was 15.2 in 2:34:00. Not too shabby for lil me. Plus I've never done two long runs back to back like that. Michael and I did 10 yesterday and 15.2 today! I'm for sure taking tomorrow off, then doing 2-3 on Tuesday and Thursday and 8 on Wednesday. Friday off, then race Saturday in MS!!
Here is an old picture of Michael and myself after the 15M Death Run last year...
Happy running!
That was an amazing day right there...april foos day yo
ReplyDeleteSo you thought about using the "Tanya Harding School of Sport" Knee Wack on the competition heh. Works for me!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your new PR! You were smart to run your own race however it's sometimes fun to get in behind "the person to beat" and make em work for it.
Michelle, my wife, is the blister queen! I'm sure you will get plenty of advice regarding methods to prevent them. I work really hard at using a pumice stone on any thick skin or calluses before a run. I also had a lot of luck with Injinji Socks (the ones with the toes) and a very thin layer sock over the top of those.
Cheers!
Trail Scat
I agree with Trail Scat. I always used to get blisters on my toes if I ran double digit mileage. The Injinji toe socks changed all that. Total blister count on long runs since Injinji: 0!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your PR!!
You could also try to use Body Glide. It's typically used for Chafing, but we use it at our camp for blisters as well and it really has had great results. You rub the deodorant style stick on your feet before the run. For me it works great on this spot where two of my toes rub together and sometimes cause problems..
ReplyDeleteTwig,
ReplyDeleteCheck out the links on my blog to the events that Shawn and Michelle recently ran. I'm in awe of the Alaska endevor and mystified by the beauty of the Vietnam challenge.