Running With Reckless Abandon?

Promise Land 50k++ car ride started off with talks and quotes of “Thelma and Louise”. The theme hung on for some time.On the trip down, while Forrest used some bathroom facilities and we, Allstate and I, started the car… Forrest became nervous and banged out of the portalet hoping we had not left him behind as Thelma and Louise did to Brad Pitt. We assured Forrest he was not REALLY Brad Pitt and continued our trip. I think in the quote on Friday maybe I should have been Thelma and Allstate; Louise. I am really glad Allstate did not follow me down the slippery slope to the dark side into the Promise Land.

The race began in the dark with nervousness and excitement, everyone scrambling to get ready to run… well …walk really as the first 3 miles just climbs up and gets more steep as you go.  With some Horton words of wisdom we were off and up. The race course is absolutely beautiful. The trails run right along running water in little streams and big streams throughout the whole day. And when you break from the water you run on wide grass tracks that are soft and nice on the legs.  I ran along, up and over the Blue Ridge Mountain to the dark side and began my descent. I was feeling great, drinking properly for the hot day coming on.  I was bombing down the hills and climbing up strong.

I came to the first BIG water crossing and after watching the few runners  I could see in front of me, a couple ran straight in and a couple tip toed across I made my decision and  ran straight in, took it head on and came out the other side no worse for the wear, just wet. So when I cam to the second big water cross I opted for the same method… Bad idea? On any given day it might have been fine. This was not meant to be my day however.  I splashed my first foot in only to find it land on a slippery slanted rock that flipped me over onto my left side, submerging me face first into the water and slamming my shin into another underwater rock. I floundered around for a few seconds before righting myself and trying to stand, only to find that my left leg was in no condition to bear any weight. I was not clear on quite how much it hurt until I tried to step down the hill.

There were at least 4 runners right behind me through the water and one girl, Jennie, I had been running with on and off all morning stopped and checked to see if I was ok, which at the moment I wasn’t, but I assured her I would be fine and I would cross the finish line even if I had to walk the rest.  I checked my watch to be sure and I had 6 hours and 30 mins to finish the second half of the course and I knew I wasn’t lying. I had enough time to walk it all if that was necessary.  Jennie ran off to finish well.

It took me about 19 mins to hobble down the hill 1 mile to the aid station.  I took many Advil on the way.  I wondered how hard a hit to the shin would have to be to break the bone. I wondered if we would be stopping for x-rays on the way home.  I reached the aid station at about mile 16 but who really knows where they are in a Horton race? I asked for an ace wrap or any kind of wrap but there was none. The aid station volunteers were very nice to me as to put it mildly I was crying. One of the guys said “I bet in 10 miles it feels better.” There was no question of stopping as this was NOT going to be the last race of the Beast for me. I rationalized that even if it was broken I had 6 months to heal until the next Beast adventure.

So off I went, limping and forcing a bit of a hobble type run. Shuffling down the road, this nice flat road section came at a good time, normally I would be complaining about the road but it was welcome now. Spuds came up behind me at this point and I told him what had happened, trying desperately to hold it together (which I did not do well). He ran on ahead but as it turned out we ran on and off together for the next 10miles or so.  I realized that running the down hills was exceptionally painful, but the up wasn’t so bad. So I ran the ups that were runnable and I took the down hills as best as I could. Spuds and I left the aid station to climb Apple Orchard Falls together and it was nice to share the beauty of the Falls with a fellow Bimbler. It was so awesome there. It made the entire race! It was a long long hard climb through the falls, but so rewarding.

As we finally crested the Blue Ridge again the mileage said 26, so I assumed we had 8 more miles to go. I did not realize that the miles must have been front loaded, because in no time at all we were headed down and I mean down and I figured we had to be close. I asked one of the other women how far she thought we had to go? She said “about 3 more miles”. I was shocked and happy. We hit the last road down to the camp and I figured the pain did not matter anymore and ran down waiting for the “1 mile to go” on the road to appear and not soon enough there it was. I ran into camp and as I rounded the corner on the grass there was my friend Jennie, yelling how happy she was to see me running to the finish line. It brought a big smile to my face. I made it to the finish.

I crossed the finish line, numbed by too many Advil and pounding down the hill. Forrest who was first in was showered and waiting for the rest of the Bimblers. I told him what happened and he asked, “Were you running with reckless abandon?” Thelma and Louise went over the cliff at the end of the movie… Now I sit here and wonder…Is there any other way to run?

 

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