Race Day
This past Sunday was the day I trained all summer for. I followed a 70 day training schedule leading up to the Medtronic Ten mile race. It was the coldest day of the season. The temperature was about 28 degrees F. I took the train into Minneapolis arriving at 6:40 AM. I was in the 5th and final group to be released onto the course. It was a long wait in the dark cold watching the first 4 groups go. Finally it was time to go around sunrise. The run started slow because of the number of runners on the course. Around the 3 mile mark the runners started to spread out enough for me to pick up my pace. I knew I was running faster than I did anytime during training. It was incredible. There were people lining the streets cheering for the runners. Just after the 5 mile mark I saw my wife, children and parents on the roadside cheering me on. I got stronger as the race went on. As I approached the finish line I started to sprint. I finished the race in 1 hour 24 minutes and 57 seconds. That was good enough for 1831 place out of 7672 runners. That is an 8:30 minute per mile pace.
While I was training I found that as the distance of the long run of the week increased, I have some pain in my right leg (my affected side). The pain has decreased in the days since the race. If the pain persists, I’ll get it checked out. I was not going to see a doctor before the race because I was afraid of the doctor telling me that I should not attempt the run. I had a free pain assessment at the time I picked up my race packet. I was told that because of my right side weakness, I was probably hitting the ground just a little differently that I did before my stroke. I definitely will get this checked out before I attempt my next race.
I am starting to feel like an athlete again.
4 Comments
Recommended Comments