Today I ran the Traprock 17k Trail Race.
Scratch that...today I mostly walked, and ran parts of the Traprock 17k Trail Race.
I did not fully realize the amount of climbing that would need be done. It truly felt more like a fast hike than a trail run.
Seriously, you run for about 100 yards before you begin walking up a quite steep hill.
Think several flights of stairs, but with rocks and roots, and mud.
But I had a ton of fun!
I wish I had stopped and took some pictures, but I needed to get home. I had to get my mom to the airport.
Let me backtrack for a minute. I promise I'll get to the DNF and DFL.
This week ends the boys Spring Break. And, as we typically do, my mom came out to visit and hang with the boys, since both my husband and I are working.
We had gorgeous weather and a great time.
Sunday night, my husband left for a work trip to Chicago. It was planned before the MIL came to visit. 😉
On Monday, I did my final long run before the race. I knew there would be a lot of climbing and rocks, so when I went for my run, I purposely chose a route to recreate it a little bit. 6 1/2 miles of fun.
On the run, my new trail shoes decided they no longer liked me, and chose to inflict pain on my "peroneal tendon".
These shoes had been working just fine, but for some reason, the past couple of long runs they did not like.
Now, think of your foot...find your pinky toe, and move back toward the ankle. On the side of the foot is a little bump, where the pinky toe bone sticks out a little (AKA the 5th metatarsal).
Just past that is part of that tendon, and it continues up the ankle and toward your knee on the outside of your leg.
My foot hurt so bad once I took my shoe off, that I could not walk. Lots of icing and ibuprofen, and by Wednesday I was feeling not too bad.
Tuesday was a good day, getting work done, the boys playing with grandma. Lower stress levels. I found an old ankle brace and put it on. It helped out quite a bit, but for some reason by Tuesday night, it really started to itch at the collar. I took it off, and didn't think anymore about it.
Wednesday was not so good...except for the weather. Sunny and 70 degrees!
I got up and going, and in the shower I found a tick embedded significantly in my leg. And by significantly I mean, that I went to the doctor, and they had to use a scalpel to remove the head. It was a deer tick, which meant I could potentially get Lyme disease. Great! Fortunately, the gave me a prescription that will hopefully prevent it...hopefully!
Usually when I run in the woods, I check myself for ticks. I think my foot hurt so bad that I did not do a tick check.
That itchy ankle brace....nope. That was probably the tick biting me. It was exactly at that spot.
Bad girl...always check for ticks.
My brother-in-law stopped over to say hi, that day too and hang out with the boys for a bit. They had a great time, and we made plans to see him and his family for Easter dinner at his house on Sunday. Excellent...I don't have to cook.
On Wednesday night, my husband texted me at the airport saying he was waiting for his flight home. It was running about a half hour late. So, home at 1am instead of 12:30. Awesome.
Oh, and he is feeling a little achy, has the chills, and a headache. Super.
If he has Covid, I have no where to put him. My mom is sleeping on the hide-a-bed in the back room where we quarantined in the past. What to do???
Fortunately, he got a room at a hotel for the night after he landed. Thanks goodness, because I did not want him in the house.
If we were exposed, I could not race. My mom could not go home. J and B would have to quarantine too.
No. No. No.
On Thursday, he went on got a Covid test...and you guessed it, the Rapid Test came back positive. Now what do I do?
I got it...he can quarantine in our bedroom. It has its own bath room, and I'll just "sleep" on the couch downstairs for a few nights until my mom leaves. No problem.
And, cancel the Easter dinner, not only because of Covid...but also because there was some miscommunication. Dinner was to be on Saturday, not Sunday. Definitely cannot make dinner on Sunday.
Good Friday. Fortunately, I had the day off of work, to rest for the race.
Nope...it was now a day to run errands, because I wasn't really planning on cooking this weekend. You know, because I had a race on Saturday, and I was going to make my husband cook after dropping off my mom at the airport. And Sunday was supposed to be Easter dinner at my in-laws.
Plans changed, big time.
Which brings us to Saturday, and DNF an DFL.
Let's start with the DFL.
This stands for Dead Fucking Last. Which I wasn't.
I honestly thought I was, because an awful lot of people passed me, including several that were running the 50k race that started an hour before us. By mile 5, I had not seen anyone in quite a while. But by mile 8, where the aid station was, I was just behind a guy who had stopped. He was running the 17k too.
I followed him up the hill (of course--nothing but hills) out of the aid station. At least I had someone in sight, and it proved helpful, because I slowly caught him and passed him in the sections where I could run.
With 2 miles to go, I was by myself again (I never saw him again until the finish line).
Now the manta was DNF!
Usually DNF stands for Did Not Finish.
I knew I was going to finish this race, unless I got hurt. I knew that going into it.
For me DNF stood for, "Do Not Fall."
With all the rocks and roots, it would've been very easy too. And...I tried. Several times, I tripped and almost fell, but somehow I managed to stay upright!
So, in light of ticks, Covid, (not) sleeping on a couch, tendonitis, and spring break, I had a blast.
And I finished about an hour before I expected too. Official time 3:08.58, for just shy of 11 miles. I was hoping to come in under 4 hours. And I finished 139 out of 150.
I even had time to talk to people after finishing instead of rushing home.
I promise I checked for ticks as soon as I got home. And I had enough time to take a quick shower before taking my mom to the airport.
It was a great week, and a great race. But I am looking forward to riding my bike. And eventually getting my bedroom back.
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