After yesterday’s stage, I did not get to rest and relax as much as I would have liked. Ryan and I attended a wedding on Friday afternoon, so I only worked a half day that day. Since I’m off this week for the ENDURrun, I wanted to get caught up on some of the work I didn’t finish up on Friday. I ended up working for a good chunk of the afternoon, into the evening last night. At least now, I feel like I’ve finished up the work that I wanted to before going on vacation.
I packed up the few things I need for today (including a bathing suit for a post-race swim) and heated up my leftovers from last night’s supper, ate my dinner, watched a bit of TV, rolled out my legs on the foam roller, and then headed off to bed around 10:30.
At 5:55am my alarm woke me up. I was a bit more tired this morning than yesterday morning, but that quickly passed as I got up, made some coffee and got my breakfast ready. Breakfast today was a toasted whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and banana, coffee, and water.
I arrived at the race start (across from the race director’s house) about 20 minutes before 8am today, which was a bit later than I’d hoped, but since today was a time trial, it’s a staggered start, so I still had some time to get prepared for today’s stage.
For the time trial, each runner starts one
at a time and one minute apart, starting with the person who had the slowest time in Stage 1 and finishing with the person with the fastest time from Stage 1. Since there are also guest runners and relay times, estimated finishing times provided at the time of registration allowed for an estimate in the placing for these people as well. The name of the game in the time trial is to try and catch those in front of you and to try not to be passed (or at least to not be passed by too many people).
I ran this stage quite well last year, so I knew going into today’s race that it would be difficult to beat last year’s time. I had a couple of issues with side stitches today, which kind of cramped my pace (pun intended) at certain points in the run, but they resolved and I was able to maintain a relatively steady pace throughout the stage, but I didn’t even come near to beating last year’s time. Once again, I came in 4 minutes slower than last year. Hopefully, I’ll kick my butt into gear and make up some time tomorrow at Bechtel.
The post-race action took place in Lloyd’s back yard, which has a fantastic pool and a lot of space for all of us runners to stretch out, get massages, grab some food from the food tent, etc.
When I first stepped back into the yard, I noticed that the cover was on the pool. I was a little disappointed, because I was hoping to jump right in after this stage, but then I noticed that Keenan (Lloyd’s son) had just walked into the yard and was heading over to the pool! As he was removing the cover, I was removing my shoes, getting ready to head straight over there. As soon as the cover was completely off the pool, I dove into the pool. Refreshing! After 15 or so minutes of hanging out in the pool, I went and grabbed some food. Shortly after I filled my platter, it was time for my post race massage, which really helps in the recovery. Thanks again to KW Health Connection for their continued support of this event!
When I went back to my platter of delicious food, I noticed that a w
asp kept coming near, flying around, and checking out my food. It was quite interested in my slice of turkey and when I watched closer, I could see that it was actually working away, cutting out a chunk of the deli meat. The wasp flew away with its new found protein-rich meal and it was not long at all before another wasp was doing the same. The slice ended up with about 6 holes in it from the wasps.
After all of the runners had a chance to eat and most had a chance to get a massage, it was time for the results and announcements. There was no change in the gold jerseys today, so Bob and Jackie will be wearing them again tomorrow for Stage 3: 30K trail at Bechtel Park.
Most of the group disbursed after the announcements were completed, but I (and a few others) headed back to the pool, where I went for a quick swim and then relaxed, sitting on the pool stairs, letting my legs rest in the cool water, while I enjoyed the sunshine and a nice cold Mill Street Organic. It was a great way to end Stage 2.
My time for Stage 2 (as per my Garmin): 1:23:38
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