Not so good

Not so good is how I felt last night at the Rush Hour Run. Dear christ in heaven was it hot! I ran at the gym the night prior and the side started to hurt again, about a mile into the run. I had a big lunch that afternoon and I am not sure if had something to do with the onset of the pain - perhaps the half pound of roast beef from my roast beef sandwich was sitting in the gut like a lead balloon. Regardless, I had pain, so I stopped running at just under 3 miles.

I woke up yesterday to find that my side was sore which is typical with the injury. So I called the doc and I made an appointment to get the shot. Enough is enough. So Wednesday I go in.

So anyways, last night, I figured I'll go out and run as far as I can and turn around when I couldnt stand the pain - it was an out and back course on the river up in Oaks. As luck would have it, a message therapist and chiropractor setup shop right next to our timing setup, and I got a quick adjustment from one of the doctors, that actually did help the pain, although minimally.

So, adorned in full Pickle suit, I setout on the race, midpack. Within about a mile, I couldnt "settle in." I have a couple of mental tricks that I have adopted over the years. I tend to go out fast when I race - usually too fast- and in order to try and back it off, I tell myself to settle in. I liken it to road riding, when I am tucked in a pace line, and I do my pull, I have to tell myself to get comfortable with the pace- to settle in. Relax. Get everything under control. So I have adopted that mantra with just about every physical endeavor that I do - running, spin classes, etc. If I can't get settled in, I know the ship is sunk and the rest of the exercise/race is going to be a shit-show.

I'll sometimes tell myself to "stay ahead of the pain." Picture the pain, and try to ride just ahead of it, like a surfer riding a wave, managing to stay just on the crest of the wave. This concept is a it hard for me to explain relative to the settling in bit.

So, anyway, the point is that I couldnt settle in last night. About a mile in, I was hot and my stomach hurt, so I stopped - walked - cheered the runners, etc. I repeated this run/walk process for the remainder of the race. In the last mile, I had to take the suit off for a bit- I couldnt take the heat. I did manage to run the whole race, albeit slow. This was a shitty week for training. I dont think I will be able to squeeze any type of workouts in today, and tomorrow might be tough as well. I am heading down to the Philly Tri in the am to which Baggadonuts do his thing, and then I have a shitload of yard work to do in prep for the Crappy 5k at my house on Sunday.

The Crappy 5k is a small race that I am hosting at my house on Sunday morning. We're using it as a training exercise for two girls that we're prepping to be full-time timers. I have a few spots left - the entry fee is beer or a BBQ item for the post race tailgate at my crib. It will be a full scale race with our normal race setup, and I will setup a course through the hood that will be a cross between the Wife's Away 5k course and the Brookhaven Sunshine Run course. If you are interested, please let me know and I'll get your registered. I have less than a handful of spots left.