quads started to tell me that they had had

Labi1994

My honest plan for the race was that I really had no plan. After the starting gun went off I settled into a comfortable pace alongside Chris and a few others. Being an Ultra newbie I followed everyone Nike Air Vapormax Dámské else’s lead and walked the uphills and ran Nike Air Max Classic BW Womens the flats and downs. The pace was more than manageable, Nike Air Force 1 Donne and I felt like I could go all day. I had a nice time chatting with Chris about running, shoes, etc., and we had some nice conversations with surrounding runners. I remember the topic of hashing in Laos coming up at one point – funny the topics that come up when on the run.Around the five mile mark (guessing) there was a stream crossing (photo at right by Jeff Hinte) and I intended to rock hop to the other side so I wouldn’t soak my shoes (I had decided to go with the New Balance Minimus Trail). I wound up slipping on a wet rock and mashed my opposite forefoot onto another rock in an attempt to prevent myself from falling into the water. The pain was instant and piercing, and my immediate thought was that I had broken something Nike Air Presto Womens – not sure if a shoe with a rock plate would have Nike Roshe Run Dámské helped or not, but the Minimus Trails were marvelous aside from this one moment. I kept running, and eventually the pain subsided to a dull ache. A few miles later I kicked a root and collided with the ground. It’s funny how trail spills seem to occur in slow motion, and I could feel my legs giving way as my body slowly plunged to the earth. I managed to bruise my hand badly by using it to brace my fall, but thankfully my legs escaped unscathed. I managed to stay on my feet for the rest of the race.One of the things about trail running on single track that is different than road racing is that passing can be a challenge. On trails you often run single file (see photo at left by Jeff Hinte), so it’s easy to get separated from people you are running with as you try to maintain a Nike Air Max 90 Femme comfortable pace. Around mile 9-10 I got ahead of Nike Air Max 90 Womens Blue Chris a bit as we mingled with a bigger crowd of runners, and at one point I looked back and I could no longer see him. The crowd in front of me was sparse at that point so I decided to keep running at the pace that felt most natural at the time. We entered a section on crushed rock road for several miles, and I was feeling really good so I turned on the jets for a bit (ran a 7:00 mile here, which in retrospect probably was a mistake). I passed my friends Thomas and Jenny and said a quick hello, then continued on through the aid station, grabbing a snack as I passed through.From about mile 13 onward I pretty much ran solo. This worked out well for me since I tend to turn inward into my own head as I start to focus on a race once the initial excitement wears down. I passed a lot of Nike Air Huarache Femme people over the next 5 or so miles, and made it through Nike Roshe Run Femme the first big loop at mile 18 feeling phenomenal. As I started the second loop I felt like flying, and I started racing down the downhills a bit too fast. This set up my inevitable crash around mile 25, when my quads started to tell me that they had had enough. I stopped to stretch them out, only to find that the moment I flexed my knee my hamstrings rebelled and started to knot up in cramps. There would be no quad stretching for me. From that point on it was a constant battle to prevent my quads, groin, and hamstrings from locking up completely, but I fought through with a bit of help from a cold leg soak in a stream.Every hill seemed twice as steep on the second loop, and the roads that I cruised down on loop one didn’t provide  nearly the same degree of respite on loop two. Nike Air VaporMax Donne Around mile 29.5 I saw my friend Andy up ahead – he  was hard to miss with his bright orange du-rag covering his bald head. I set my crosshairs on the du-rag and managed to catch up with him. It was clear that he was hurting, and I wasn’t doing so well myself, so we marched the final mile in with only very short spurts of running. As we approached the finish line we saw Steve and Ally shooting pictures (Steve is an amazing runner and had finished in third place!), which gave us a much needed lift, and we ran the final stretch across a field to the finish line together, crossing in 5:52:48.