Sunday, October 26, 2008

"Did Not Finish" Halloween Sock Hop 5K

Sometimes, races do not go as planned. Today was one of those races. First off, it was not a nice day. We had winds blowing 35mph with gusts up to 60mph. It was pretty miserable. When we get to the park where the race is supposed to start, the gates to the park are closed. Finally, half an hour later, they find a different part of the park to sign people up for the race and we go sign up. Right at this time, Newscenter 1 shows up to interview Chris for the "Biggest Loser" segment they do each week. He tells his story of growing up being the "big" kid in class and how he continued to gain weight throughout high school and college and then how he lost 70 pounds by running. and eventually qualifying for the Boston Marathon. It should be fun to watch on the news on Tuesday night. Anyway, back to the race. The kids are in their Halloween costumes and are very cold. Finally, the kids 1K race starts and Caiden and Chloe are the youngest two kids running in the race at 3 and 4 years old. I ran with Chloe and Chris ran with Caiden. Chloe did pretty well despite the windy, windy day. We finished in last place, but she knows she was the fastest 3 year old there! Caiden finished 2nd to last in front of us, but he also knows that he was the fastest 4 year old there! They all got candy at the end so everyone was happy. Time for the 5K to start! I felt pretty good at the start line; I just wanted to get the race done and get out of the wind. I knew that I would get a medal too, because there were only 3 people in my age group! :) So, I was just going to shoot for under 30 minutes as all of my 5Ks so far this year have been under 30 minutes. And then we were off! And 4 minutes later, I was done. Yes, done. Because they couldn't get the gates at the park open, we had to run around the gates and get onto the grass and go downhill. Well, I stepped up with my right foot onto the grass and when my left foot hit, it rolled so bad that when I got back to that foot, I couldn't put any pressure on it and then I went tumbling down the hill. People asked if they could help, but I just told them to keep running their race. I was so embarrassed. And then I was just mad that I couldn't finish the race. The good thing about it was that I had only run about .4 of a mile so I didn't have too far to get back to my car. I limped and jumped on my right foot back to my car as best as I could. As soon as I get to the car, I start crying and my kids are worried. So, I try to tough it out as best I could so they weren't worried that I was hurt. Chris finished the race in 21:24, which is almost 2 minutes slower than his PR - the wind really made for a hard day of running. But he did finish 1st in his age group so there is some good news! So, now I sit here with an ice pack wrapped around my ankle which does not feel good, but I know it will be good for it in the long run. I'm just bummed that I didn't get to finish my race and didn't get a medal! Today just wasn't my day!/div>















2 comments:

Mindy B said...

Man Shan... that sucks so bad, I'm sorry. I hope your ankle gets better and you can get on running again!! Love ya!

Amber said...

So sorry chicka! Margaritas on me!!