Our NY training group was supposed to be doing 18 miles this weekend while the team was doing 16... I couldn't quite make it though. :(
Saturday morning my alarm went off at 5:00am and I was out the door at 5:30 headed to the Alameda Creek Trail in Fremont. In all my TNT season I have missed our runs here... usually because I was out of town. I knew the trail was flat and that Amy loves to do her long runs here, but other than that I had no expectations. I got to the staging area, went potty in a pitch black porta-potty and then went up to the trail with the rest of the 6:30am group. I started out running with Claudia, Phil and Meenu. Everything was going well so far... it was a little overcast out which was nice since I was already sweaty. I was hoping it would STAY overcast for the rest of the day!
There we were... all four of us running along, chatting and gossiping when all of a sudden at mile 1.22 Claudia goes down next to me (and contrary to rumor... I DID NOT push her :D). Her right foot caught on the edge of the trail and next thing we know she's on the ground with a pretty ugly scrape on her knee and a rapidly swelling ankle :( Unfortunately, it was the same ankle she twisted a couple months ago in Berkeley. We got on the phone right away to Rocky and he came out to pick her up. Problem was, we were about .25 miles away from the nearest access point. Claudia toughed it out for awhile, hobbling in between Meenu and I (who were hobbling for some reason too... maybe in sympathy) That was slow going so the boys took over taking turns carrying her to the car. Meenu went back with her and Rocky and Phil and I were on our own :(
Saturday morning my alarm went off at 5:00am and I was out the door at 5:30 headed to the Alameda Creek Trail in Fremont. In all my TNT season I have missed our runs here... usually because I was out of town. I knew the trail was flat and that Amy loves to do her long runs here, but other than that I had no expectations. I got to the staging area, went potty in a pitch black porta-potty and then went up to the trail with the rest of the 6:30am group. I started out running with Claudia, Phil and Meenu. Everything was going well so far... it was a little overcast out which was nice since I was already sweaty. I was hoping it would STAY overcast for the rest of the day!
There we were... all four of us running along, chatting and gossiping when all of a sudden at mile 1.22 Claudia goes down next to me (and contrary to rumor... I DID NOT push her :D). Her right foot caught on the edge of the trail and next thing we know she's on the ground with a pretty ugly scrape on her knee and a rapidly swelling ankle :( Unfortunately, it was the same ankle she twisted a couple months ago in Berkeley. We got on the phone right away to Rocky and he came out to pick her up. Problem was, we were about .25 miles away from the nearest access point. Claudia toughed it out for awhile, hobbling in between Meenu and I (who were hobbling for some reason too... maybe in sympathy) That was slow going so the boys took over taking turns carrying her to the car. Meenu went back with her and Rocky and Phil and I were on our own :(
Phil and I ran together for a few miles until mentor Jeremy and Lael came up behind us. Phil took off with Jeremy and Lael hung back with me. I didn't think that arrangement would last long since Lael is quite a bit faster than I am. But next thing I know we've done the first 8 miles and we're passing back by the start to go out for the other 10. We stopped for awhile at the start... Lael needed to use the potty and I was happy
The whole way I kept trying to do the math in my head, figuring out how much further until we would be turning around and coming back. Since Phil and I had walked Claudia to the car, and then ran that portion again, my watch was a little ahead of the mileage markers and it was screwing me up. By the time we got to the first turnaround (for the 16 milers) I was mentally ready to turn around. Lael reminded me that we still needed to go out another mile before we could turn around. No way... I was physically pooped and mentally done. So, we turned around and came back. My vision had started getting a little blurry, which was kind of freaking me out, and in my wacked out running mind, I was afraid I was either 1) getting a migraine or 2) losing my eyesight completely. Thankfully the blurriness went away on it's own after awhile.
We took a few more walk breaks on the way back and then ran into Coach Tim who said the finish was just a half mile past this little bridge that was just up ahead. Thank god... the end was near, even if it wasn't in sight yet. Lael and I started running again but when we reached the bridge we realized we hadn't seen the one mile mark yet. Rudy was riding by on his bike and told us that the finish was actually about a mile or so away. Thanks Coach Tim for the false hope :( Right before we reached the finish, Lael realized he'd had enough of this slow poke pace and took off to finish the last two miles that I didn't do.
My final time for 16.82 miles ended up being about 3:30... I wasn't too happy about this since I had done 16 on a crappy trail at San Leandro in exactly 3. But then I remembered that when Claudia fell and we were helping her, my watch was still running. I didn't remember to stop it for at least 10 or 15 minutes. So that made me feel a little better. Other than that, I was feeling crappy. My head hurt, my knees and hips hurt where my IT band was, and yet again my back was bothering me. :( I sat down in the shade to stretch out a little bit and rest... when I got back up I REALLY wasn't feeling good. I drank a bunch of water when I got back instead of Gatorade, which I know NOT to do but just couldn't resist, so I started getting cold sweats and feeling nauseous :( I went to the car and drank the G2O I brought with me and started feeling better.
After the long drive home, I made myself a yummy sandwich, took and shower and went straight to be for a nap! That night I met Lindsay for a movie (Hairspray... VERY good) and some drinks at Tiki Tom's and Mr. Lucky's. We had a lot of fun, maybe even a little TOO much fun! All I can say is that the grilled cheese sandwich I got at Hubcaps at 2:30am tasted divine... the Mint Chocolate Chip milkshake might not have been the best idea though :(
Sunday morning I slept in and then at 2:30 headed out to a Doggie Party in Oakland. Claudia had organized a little get together for all the TNT doggies and their owners at the store of another TNT friend. Even though I have been doggie-less since Claudia and Patch moved out, I was still invited :D I got some cuddle time with my little muffin, and Daisy too, who looked so pretty in her dress and was enjoying her first outing with other doggies since getting all her shots! After the party it was back home and back on the couch for the rest of the night!
We took a few more walk breaks on the way back and then ran into Coach Tim who said the finish was just a half mile past this little bridge that was just up ahead. Thank god... the end was near, even if it wasn't in sight yet. Lael and I started running again but when we reached the bridge we realized we hadn't seen the one mile mark yet. Rudy was riding by on his bike and told us that the finish was actually about a mile or so away. Thanks Coach Tim for the false hope :( Right before we reached the finish, Lael realized he'd had enough of this slow poke pace and took off to finish the last two miles that I didn't do.
My final time for 16.82 miles ended up being about 3:30... I wasn't too happy about this since I had done 16 on a crappy trail at San Leandro in exactly 3. But then I remembered that when Claudia fell and we were helping her, my watch was still running. I didn't remember to stop it for at least 10 or 15 minutes. So that made me feel a little better. Other than that, I was feeling crappy. My head hurt, my knees and hips hurt where my IT band was, and yet again my back was bothering me. :( I sat down in the shade to stretch out a little bit and rest... when I got back up I REALLY wasn't feeling good. I drank a bunch of water when I got back instead of Gatorade, which I know NOT to do but just couldn't resist, so I started getting cold sweats and feeling nauseous :( I went to the car and drank the G2O I brought with me and started feeling better.
After the long drive home, I made myself a yummy sandwich, took and shower and went straight to be for a nap! That night I met Lindsay for a movie (Hairspray... VERY good) and some drinks at Tiki Tom's and Mr. Lucky's. We had a lot of fun, maybe even a little TOO much fun! All I can say is that the grilled cheese sandwich I got at Hubcaps at 2:30am tasted divine... the Mint Chocolate Chip milkshake might not have been the best idea though :(
Sunday morning I slept in and then at 2:30 headed out to a Doggie Party in Oakland. Claudia had organized a little get together for all the TNT doggies and their owners at the store of another TNT friend. Even though I have been doggie-less since Claudia and Patch moved out, I was still invited :D I got some cuddle time with my little muffin, and Daisy too, who looked so pretty in her dress and was enjoying her first outing with other doggies since getting all her shots! After the party it was back home and back on the couch for the rest of the night!
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