And Then We Came to the End

It could have been a lot worse.

Saturday morning I awoke to a thunderstorm.  It was pouring.  Not just raining, but a biblical-flood inducing storm.  I had visions of Lieutenant Dan challenging God to a showdown.

And folks that live around these parts know that Hines Drive is closed 200 days per year for flooding, so I was thinking this race might turn into the Tough Mudder, minus the electric fences.

Fortunately, the rain stopped and the road was wet, but not much standing water.  

Like most races I've participated in, the pre-race line for the port-a-jons was HUGE, so I just opted to take my last pee in the woods along with 50 other guys and gals who didn't feel like waiting.  And one guy dropping a deuce in the woods while his lady friend stood there watching.

I'm not sure if this was an official Wayne County sponsored event, but our embattled County Executive Bob Ficano was on hand to start the race.  They were missing a starter's pistol and Bob cracked a pretty good joke that they amazingly didn't have any firearms even with a few hundred police on hand as this was a fundraiser for a fallen first responder memorial.

So, Bob got us started by saying "Ready...Go!", completely skipping "Get Set".  This lack of attention to detail may help explain this:  http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20131002/METRO/310020102/Shuttering-unfinished-Wayne-Co-jail-cost-taxpayers-154-5M


And off we went.

Bob did run the 5k portion of the race.

 

Insert your own Wayne County jail joke about not finishing the completed project

I started off maybe 3/4 or the way toward the back of the pack.  Because of the herd of people, the first mile was pretty slow.  Finished that in about 9:30.  I picked up the pace for the 2nd mile and finished that at the 18:23 mark.  After 3 miles, I was at 27:10.

At this point, I realized that I am feeling pretty slow.  Not running in quicksand slow, but I'm going at a nice comfy pace, not pushing myself too hard.  Then I realized why.

I wasn't following a hot, half-naked chick.

See, that was one of my racing strategies back in the day.  I completely forgot about it.  I would pick a woman who looks like she runs a lot faster than me and I'd try to stay behind her.  It would help if she looked like this:

Unfortunately, I missed my chance to find my running buddy/source of speed inspiration.  Looking around, all I saw was people that looked like this:

 

I was going to have to do this myself.


It was just about this time that I noticed that my right knee was a bit sore and my right hip was downright aggravated.  Over the next 9 miles, it would alternate between being annoying and legitimately painful. 

Other than my hip, miles 4-12 were largely uneventful.  The course was kind of wet.  There was a pretty nasty hill that lasted maybe a quarter mile.  It was pretty freakin' humid. 

The race was pretty well organized overall.  Drink stations were plenty.  They passed out GU at 3 or 4 spots during the race.

For those that don't know, GU is basically flavored sugar paste in a ketchup packet.  It helps hydration, replenishes electrolytes, blah, blah blah.

Mostly, it tastes good enough, but my first shot was  something like Choco-Feces.  Then there was some kind of berry/banana (I hate banana), then I think a Tri-berry.  All joking aside, it helps tremendously and I'm very appreciative that the race provided it.

There were a few photographers taking pics of everyone.

Given the humidity, the jacket may have been overkill, but it was kind of chilly when the wind was blowing.  The orange hat is a staple of my longer races.  Helps my fans ID me on my way to the finish line.

At Mile 12, my hip stopped hurting and the last 1.1 miles was pretty enjoyable.  I had kept a pretty steady pace throughout and only slowed to a walk through the aid stations and to quickly call TheWife to let her know I was almost done.  She had TheKids at the finish line so I wanted to be sure they knew I was coming.

TheGirl told me the night before she would be my friend if I won, but that she would still be my friend if I didn't win.  So, I had a lot of incentive.

It was just a coincidence that they would wear their fire department jackets.  It just so happens that those are their rain coats and it had been raining.  Several people commented to TheWife how cool it was that they wore them, given the nature of the event.

When we got home, TheGirl wanted to see my medals from previous races.  To her surprise, they have been in a box in her closet since she was born.  She took all of them and put them all on.

Now, what about my goals?

1. Finish in under 2:15 - As you can see, my official time was 2:09:11 and I came in 270th place out of 595.  Top 45%, yo.
1. So, slower than when I ran my first Half in 2007 by almost 12 minutes.
2. Faster than when I ran my 2nd  in 2008 with plantar faciitis(8 weeks after my only marathon) by 9 minutes.
2. No plantar faciitis - None.  As a precaution, I wore my "boot"  to bed Friday night.  I wore it for 6 months when I had this problem 5 years ago.  It kept my foot stretched all night.
3. No shin splints - None
4. No taint chafing - Eh.  Without going into too much detail, that particular area was a wee bit sore for the rest of the day on Saturday.  When I woke up Sunday, it was fine again.

Overall, I'm really surprised at how well I felt Saturday.  My right knee and hip were sore, but it was better than what I experienced on some of my training runs.

Do I plan to do this again?

Saturday, I said this was it.  The pain in my knees, feet, and now my hip is really f'ing annoying.  I've already had surgery on both knees and I have arthritis in both of them according to my orthopedic surgeon.

Sunday, I stuck by that declaration.

Now, Monday night, I'm keeping the possibility open.  For the right race at the right time, I will consider it.  I do love running.  It suits my Type A personality as you can plan, organize, set goals, and systematically work toward the event.  When it's done, there is a sense of accomplishment and then you can start over again and start working on another one.

So, maybe.

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Well, I guess this is the end of the Running Back From Retirement blog.  I've really enjoyed writing it and I hope those of you still reading haven't thought it wasted too much of your time.  Thank you for your time and consideration.  I've been very surprised at the number of people that have complimented me on this, given my low number of official followers. 

If I continue on, the name is going to have to change.  RBFR had a finite lifespan and reached its natural conclusion with the completion of this race.  Actually, at times it felt somewhat limiting as I thought it needed a running angle for most posts.  I'd like it to be broader in scope so that if I want to spend a few hours writing about the Breaking Bad finale or something funny/infuriating that my children do, it will still seem appropriate.

What about "Wham, Bam, Thank You Cam"?  Or "Deep Thoughts from a Shallow Man"? 

Maybe I'll have a contest to name the new blog.  Would you be interested?