Well this was a doozy. Did I feel incredibly out of shape? If truth be told, no. I actually felt alright, despite the 90% humidity bearing down upon us all and causing flecks of other people’s sweat to fly into my face as I ran by them. However, were my feet in agony for about 80% of the race? Yes. I am wondering if the shoes I was wearing were impractical for what I was trying to do. I wore my Altra Intuitions, my zero-drop shoes, with the custom orthotics from my doctor. I didn’t have peroneal tendon or ankle pain until I started wearing my zero drop shoes. The conclusion: it may have been better to wear my Brooks, so I will switch it up for the next race.
This was another event organized by Corrigan Sports, the masterminds behind the Baltimore Running Festival (the race that is, and probably always will be, most near and dear to my heart). Shoutout to CSE for letting me pick up my bib on race day, even though I did not sign up in time to take advantage of this privilege, and for creating this ridiculously nice premium that makes me actually excited for the colder weather.
Per the normal with this management company, there were an abundance of helpful volunteers, plenty of pre-race information, lots of participants, and a great experience overall. The hills on the course were also abundant, so prepare for that, but the loop around Lake Montebello was beautiful, and Druid Hill Park is a perfect start/end point.
In addition to my being injured for months and months and months, Mom has not been training much at all thus far this year, so neither of us really had any business running this race. Maybe the saddest showing I’ve ever had at any race so far in my 24 year lifetime. Note my pissy bitch-face in one of the only pictures taken of me as I averaged 12 minute miles for 2 hours.
Thank you CSE for the Munchkin Mile, which is the best idea ever brought to fruition and the one thing that took my mind off the ankle pain during the race.
I have to say that the pain I was in during this race was absolutely a bummer. Every time I think I am close to being good to go, my feet cackle maniacally at my naïvité and hit the self-destruct button. The recovery process and transition back into distance running is probably going to be slower than I thought, but I’m not giving up the hope of running like I used to again one day.
