[jroden]

This was my first long race since, well the fris Bush administration if memory serves. Kind of a tough course up in the area North of Buffalo, crossing the erie canal then rolling up and down some gradual hills, then a long stretch of godforsaken open farm fields with cracking winds, then back into town with an uphill last mile. There were maybe 225 starters, weather was decent in the mid 30's with a bit of wind but clear roads. I started off with a goal of running about 70 minutes, but by the 5 miles mark I was at 33.20, so I figured I'd get some hay n the barn before the slower second half took took it's toll. I was starting to move up as people popped in the wind, until at mile 7 something just kind of went snap in my leg and I had to walk a little then was able to do kind of a limping, lurching jog. I figured jogging in would be the fastest way to get into the shower, so I chugged along, dropping places but still laboring along until i hit the 9 mile mark only just able to maybe perhaps make it under my 70 minute goal, I limped and groamed up over the last uphill mile in 7.30, to see the finish line clock ticking 1:10:20, drat.<br><br>
So, another running injury needing some management and time off, drat. In hindsight, I should have waited another month before resuming racing and done it on a shorter course, whoops... The woman on my left ran with me until I popped, she went on to win in 68 something, she was the course record holder at 65, a few years back, the woman in pink held pretty well until the hills and finished a strong second on a tough day.<br><img alt="" src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y173/jroden99/y10.jpg" style="border:0px solid;">

 

[jkaiser20]

Hope it was nothing serious, get it taken care of!

 

[caffeinated]

You winter people scare me. 30 degrees!<br><br>
Great job though in spite of the injury. Hope it heals fast.

 

[jroden]

I've been messing with thsi injury for a year, it's called a "calf heart attack". I think some rest will help and a more gradual return to training. Getting older and having run a lot in my youth, plus all the cycling seems to have created some strength imbalances that make running difficult. If it doesn't work out, I do a different sport, no big deal. I'm going to play with the treadmill once I'm healed and see if I can do the quality without so much injury risk.

 

[bcc594]

Sorry to hear about your injury. Take it easy! Nice race until 'the snap' - well done!

 

[pcsronbo]

have you considered seeing a PT to figure out what the imbalance is? Seems to me it would be worth the time, you could weight train and fix that over time, which might reduce your risk in other stuff - not just running?<br><br>
Anyway, sorry to hear about the race, but hey - it's just a race right? <img alt="wink.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/wink.gif"> Even fully healthy I could not remotely hit that time!

 

[kylemcm]

Nice job even with the "snap". I hope you can get your injury problems taken care of soon. You've been battleing that for a while now.<br><br>
That pic looks cold!!

 

[hobey]

Sorry to hear about the injury but a nice solid race in spite of it. Now go take care of that calf.

 

[Econo]

Ohhh, that feeling of dropping places in the latter part of the race...<img alt="sad.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/sad.gif"> My condolences; rest up & heal well.

 

[RunningForT3]

Hope you heal quickly.<br>
But nice return to long races. I couldn't get that time over 10 miles if I were totally healthy... and doped...

 

[niemsco]

Hope the injury heals fast! Looks like you did great regardless!

 

[jkaiser20]

I don't remember all the reports last year, does it seem to be an impact related deal, or simply a pure stress issue? I was just thinking about using some hills (or TM elevation) to decrease the pounding, but still have the benefits of higher intensity.<br><br>
All that biking has made you soft.....<img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif"><br><br>
On a vaguely related note, being out of the country, I don't always see everything that is common. Last week I was in a sporting goods store and saw a Nike ad with a cool quote from Armstrong: 'I said it was hard, I didn't say never again.' I kind of smiled at the thought of him shooting that out at someone.<br><br>
Jim

 

[donskiman]

Nice race. Hopefully the injury doesn't linger. My wife has been struggling to recover from a calf injury for over 6 months and a friend has had to stop running completely this year in hopes that his calf will recover.

 

[jroden]

It seems to be an injury called chronic exertional compartment syndrome. Seems to be more than just overuse, it's either surgery or do something else. It may spell the end of my short lived duathlon career, oh well.

 

[MBannon]

Sucks about the injury. But, uh...did you notice you're wearing shorts? And there's snow on the ground? Seems like a recipe for unhappy tendons...<br><br>
Well, what's done is done. Take a week or so off, try to heal up. I'd be seriously bummed if my days of reading your duathlon race reports were over. Truly.<br><br>
Get better!

 

[Thor]

I think the worst part of the injury is that it seems persistent, as in, you've had it before. Maybe it *is* time to hit a sports docter.<br><br>
Either way, incredible race. You are a tough one. And that's why you're so fast -- probably even much faster than runners who log over 3 times the miles you do. So, great pace, great result, tough as nails, tough ending with the injury.

 

[Tithers]

Jeebus! You can run 10 miles in the time it takes me to run 6 and a half.<br><br>
I bet I can put on mascara faster than you can...<br><br><img alt="tongue2.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/tongue2.gif"><br><br>
Sorry about the pain...and GJ!

 

[Dougie Fresh]

j, sorry about the injury. Maybe the guys that fixed Curt Schilling up can fix you up too <img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif"> or at least give you a cool bloody sock.<br><br>
It's obvious these southerners and westerners don't know what nice running weather is. 30F is about as nice as it gets, especially for a race. I'll take it over 85F and humid anytime anywhere anyplace.<br><br>
Get well. Stay well.

 

[Yo Sake]

jr - I think it is worth seeing some experienced PT. There is too much fun for you to have as a duathlete. Good luck.

 

[LeftRightRepeat]

If the guy in the orange vest were chasing me, I'd run fast too. He's got kind of a weasel look about him, doesn't he?<br><br>
Way to stick it out - hope you heal up.