As I have written previously, I was a little down after last week's marathon, partly from exhaustion, but I think mostly because I didn't meet my time goal. It was really weird last week because after the race I had no desire to cheer on my teammates as I usually look forward to do. Instead I just sat down on the sidewalk, not caring how anybody else did.
This week I went out of town on Tuesday and wasn't able to run until Wednesday morning, when I went for a run at the nature center in Springfield, Missouri. I'm not sure what the pace was, but I ran pretty easily most of the way for fifty minutes. I'm guessing I ran a little over 5 miles, mostly on hilly dirt, rock, and wood chip trails. It was a beautiful morning, and even though my legs were still a little sore, with some tightness in the hamstrings, I had a great time.
Thursday I ran three easy miles at noon, from downtown Tulsa to Veteran's Park and back. At the park I also did several sets of push ups and pull ups on the soccer goal. Thursday evening I met with the group at RunnersWorld and ended up running four easy miles with Brian and Alex, at about a nine and a half minute pace.
Also on Thursday, Kathy suggested running the Hope Rains 5k Trail Race. I wasn't sure I wanted to because my legs were still a little tired from the marathon, but I signed up on Friday, and I'm glad I did. I had decided to just sort of jog the race, but there's something about "on your mark, get set.." that gets the adrenaline going. I ran hard and felt good the whole race, finishing in a respectable 24:11. But the time doesn't matter. I was really out just to have fun, which I definitely did. After I finished, I really enjoyed cheering all my friends and teammates to the finish.
I was delighted to see some of the runners I haven't seen in a while. I'm thinking, in particular, Joye, who happened to finish 3rd in her age group. It was also great to see Cindy and Kathy win their age groups. I guess honorable mention should go to Teresa, Ken, and me for finishing 4th in our age groups. I thoroughly enjoyed the morning, and if they do the race again next year, I'm in.
By the way, Ken has a good race report with pictures.
1 comment:
Thanks for the plug, Dave. Good run today too.
I know what you mean about being bummed. Running can smack you around at times, but more often than not, it is quite therapeutic.
I get usually more joy in seeing and cheering people in their own endeavors rather than my own meager efforts. A day that a race goes well for me is a rarity and a bonus. But like you, I have had races that had me down in the dumps.
Keep your chin up, and I know you'll bounce back in a major way in your next 26.2.
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