Monday, June 11, 2007

Dealing with the Elements


No matter how hard you train, you never know what you'll be faced with come race day!! I figured that out last week during the Nipmuck Trail Marathon in Connecticut. My training has been quite minimal over the last month or so due to too much work and a general feeling of just being a bit worn out. With that being said, I should have just skipped the race. After looking into the eyes of Mr Bimble, I knew that would never happen!!
Going into the race, I expected a hot and humid day. So I dressed appropriately. After an entertaining briefing by the RD I took a few deep breaths and prepared for the start. The sun never seemed to come out and a slow drizzle led to downpours. The race started and the problems began early. Problems like chaffing on parts of the body, that you don't wish to chaf. I had to deal with that until about mile 12 where I was able to find a holy bottle of vaseline. Ohh so soothing!!! This was not my only problem that I would be faced with. With wet feet, my toes decided to blister quite early in the race and would continue to cause even more pain as the race went on. By mile 20 or so, I had just about had it and wanted to drop out!! As the hills seemed to get steeper, and my legs got more tired, this race turned into a battle. I no longer cared if I got passed as long as I could finish this race on 2 feet!!
Despite my hardships, I finished in 4hrs and 27 minutes and placed 34th overall out of 184 runners. Click here for full results. http://www.runwmac.com/gt2007/nipmuck2007.html

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