What an Idiot!

We decided at he last minute not to go to a track meet today, so on Wednesday, someone asked me, "So, that means you're going to run the Frosty 50K, right?" I hadn't considered it. My achilles have been hurting since last week's long runs & I've been sick all week. For some reason, I signed up Wednesday night & didn't feel like I could back out. If for no other reason, I shouldn't have run since I ran my most difficult 5 hours ever just 8 days ago (& 3 hours the day before).

So against my better judgement, I ran the Frosty 50K today at Salem Lake in Winston-Salem. Flat, easy course. Not really a trail race- hard packed, wide trail. I used to run there all the time when I was at my last school. It's not much different from a flat road race, which I told myself I would never do again.

Went out in exactly 8:00 miles for the first 11 or so & was close after that. Around 12, I felt a blister & some chafing coming on. At the halfway point, I used some Vaseline & realized my blister covered half the ball of my foot! I was worried about taking care of it & forgot to eat or drink at the aid station. I hadn't eaten yet & wouldn't get to until about 19 miles. I really made mistake after mistake with this race. Everything about it- from registering to dealing with the problems that came up to forgetting to eat was a mistake. Felt very bonky from 16-19. Ate some at 19 & felt better in 20 minutes, but still had the blister, chafing & achilles problems. The achilles made me most worried, by far.

At 21, I said, "OK, I'm done." At that point, you're right near the start. I started to turn around & saw I guy I knew who said, "Keep running." I did. The last 6 miles weren't so bad really, and I picked it up a little.

Last time I ran this race, I was disappointed in my 4:41 finish. Today, I ran 2:08 for the first half & a disgusting 2:48 for the last half! 4:56:40 finish time. I am glad I finished & considering all of the problems & the fact that I ran my tail off a week ago, I guess I'm OK with it. I will go get those achilles check out though!

Thanks to Braden who came out & ran 10 miles with me & Hannah & Nick who ran about 5. Unexpected, but nice.

Next stop, Holiday Lake 50K in Virginia in 5 weeks.