Yesterday was kind of a bitter sweet race day for me. The morning started dark bright and early at 6:15am. Bitter because of an injury – sweet because I succeeded.
All of us Team Karna girls met before the race for a pre-race run. We intended to run 3 miles, but shortened it to 2 because we felt pressed for time.
Let me tell you, this was the BEST 2 miles I’ve had in a long time. It seriously didn’t feel like 2 miles at all. We were all chatting & were excited for the race.
After our quick 2 we were back at our cars fueling and getting our bibs on.
We made the quick trip to the starting area and waited for the gun.
The “American Flag Guy” was here! He is from the Sarasota area & trains every weekend with his flag. He also travels all over the country running marathons with it!
He even made an appearance on Emily’s blog running the Marine Corps Marathon!
We took it nice and easy at the start, walking for several minutes to let the pack spread out.
There was even a Doxie on the course! That little guy did the whole 4 miles!
Our team stuck together for the first mile, running our usual 2:1 run/walk intervals.
After mile 1, a few of us broke off and decided to keep running, taking walk breaks as needed.
We trucked up the Ringling Bridge without walking & made it to the 2-mile turnaround just as the clock turned over to 24:00. (Garmie showed a split time of 10:47/mi).
As we headed back up the bridge, we were running at a pretty good clip.
Legs felt strong, breathing easy, standing tall. On course for a great finish & a massive PR for this distance/event. (I ran the RBR in 2008 (49:29) and 2009 (57:12-walking)).
Then we encountered the bridge expansion joint on the way back up:
That’s not the same bridge, but same type of joint.
We’ve had some really chilly weather lately, so the bridge “shrunk” which meant the joints were wide open…big enough for feet…specifically my feet.
My left foot went straight into one of the openings. I twisted my ankle pretty badly and could feel the top of my foot come down hard on one of the “teeth”.
Talk about a mood killer.
I’m totally used to twisting my ankle – it happens all the time since I originally sprained it in 2008 – so it didn’t phase me too much. But the top of my foot was KILLING me already.
We slowed to a walk so I could assess the damage. (Thanks Jacquelyn and Kerri!)
I realized it wasn’t too bad so we picked back up. I was mentally out of it for a bit, but we managed to keep going at a pretty good clip. My leg felt a bit tight, but I wasn’t feeling any pain – which I took to be a good sign.
We made it to mile 3 with a Garmie split of 11:43 which was better than I expected with the long walk break we took after the ankle v. bridge encounter.
We sailed along for a while longer, taking walk breaks every now and then.
Next thing we knew, we were rounding the bend towards the finish line.
Garmie clicked over to mile 4 with a split of 11:18 just as the race clock was hitting 47:07.
We met up with the rest of our group & then got some team pictures:
Kerri G, Kerri D, Allie, Kristin, Jen, Heather, Theresa, Jacquelyn
Today was Kerri D’s first road race! So a super special CONGRATULATIONS to her!
After pictures, we all went our separate ways to finish out the day. Diggity and I of course went straight to breakfast.
I could see right away that my ankle was NOT swelling, but the top of my foot was bruised and ultra sensitive. The best news? It doesn’t hurt to put weight on it at all.
So, I’m going to practice the Rest.Ice.Compression.Elevation method this week – no running for me (I think) while I let my ankle/foot recover.
I did get some super exciting news after the race: My official chip time was 45:51!
Who would have thought? A pretty significant PR, even with the walk breaks we took.
I really had no expectation of shaving that many minutes off of my 2008 time.
I think back to 2008 & remember that 49 min finish – II was exhausted. I ran my heart out. It was H.A.R.D.
And now I blew that time out of the water – I ran faster, harder, and longer – and felt better than I did in 2008.
I honestly can’t believe how far I’ve come! I still struggle almost every day to get in workouts, to motivate myself to get out the door. But it’s paying off. It’s moments like Saturday’s race that make me realize I really AM making progress. I really AM living a better life than I was a few short months ago.
I really AM an athlete.
And I like how this feels.
Congrats on a strong finish. And thankfully you didn’t do more damage to your ankle. Twisting an ankle, while it sounds like such a lame injury, can really take you out of the game for awhile….so you are very lucky!
I sprained this one back in 2008 and couldn’t run for 4+ months! I ended up walking all of the races I had entered – 4 half marathons!
Wow – congratulations on the PR!! And, just think, that was AFTER you had already run 2 miles!
I was really surprised at how good I felt…now if I could just channel that feeling on long run days & not just race days…
I’m glad you are OK! That could have been really bad. Congrats on your PR and finishing after something that was probably a little traumatizing!
Thanks Liz! I’m glad I was able to finish too – but I’m taking it easy for the rest of the week, just in case!
This post honestly inspired me to push myself harder, I want to feel so rewarded like that!!! You are freakin’ awesome, and I can’t believe you kept going after that ankle injury. I was literally making a cringing face as I read that part!
I’ve sprained this ankle multiple times before, so I could tell it wasn’t bad enough to stop early. But I’m going to get it checked out just to be safe.
Congrats on the PR! That’s so exciting!
I love reading about how well you’re coming along with your running. We’re so similar in pace, every time you improve I get excited to do the same
I hope the top of your foot heals up quickly!
It really is fun to see improvement, isn’t it? It’s weird – I’ll have weeks with no noticeable progress & then suddenly I’ve shaved time off of my pace!
Girl, you were an athlete even before the PR. Though congrats on the PR! It always feels great to PR. I’m sorry about your foot but glad it’s nothing serious.
Thanks Retta! I sometimes lose sight of that – I tend to compare myself to others way too much & discount everything I do because it may not be as intense (or fast) as everyone else. Gotta work on that…
Great job!!! I’m so glad your foot’s not hurt to bad, that joint looks scary! When’s your next race?
I’m training for the Sarasota Half Marathon on March 13 – so hopefully I’ll be able to continue training!
Ouch on the ankle!!! And scary about that joint thing. That would creep me out having holes in a bridge that big…even if they are supposed to be there.
Glad it doesn’t seem like much damage though and hope its 100% pronto!
The joints are covered on the sidewalk/path on the bridge , so I usually forget about them (and don’t have to worry about stepping in them). But they open the road for this race…next time I’ll be more careful!
Dude congratulations!! This is such a motivating post, I love it! You should definitely be proud!!
Thanks Courtney! I am proud of this one – made me realize that even though I’m still slow in comparison to many runners, I’ve made a lot of progress over the last couple of years!
congrats on the PR and the awesome race. so glad your ankle survived the encounter!
Now if I could just stop having encounters…this darn ankle is going to be the death of me!