Making the most out of setbacks

Throughout my running career, I feel like I've had my fair share of good fortune.  I've never missed time with a serious injury and, generally speaking, I've found myself on the right side of the outcome ledger.  However, no matter how lucky you might be, not everything is going to work according to plan.

Since my last post, I've had 2 races.  One was chaotic and did not end the way I would have hoped.  The other was comfortable and went better than expected.

While accompanying three OU girls to the Stanford Invitational, I had an opportunity to run the 10k myself.  I felt like this was a great opportunity, since the high level of competition in the distance races is hard to find on the East coast.  After watching all three OU girls run well in their races earlier in the night, I hopped on the starting line with 53 guys, all hoping to run a fast 10k.  Unfortunately, I got spiked in the shin pretty badly by another runner with 8 laps to go and had to drop out.

I knew things would be crowded on the track, especially early on; after all, there is only so much space for people to run - think of it as the Daytona 500 of track races if you will.  From the start there was a lot of pushing, shoving, and jostling, as everyone was fighting for position.  During that time, I managed to get spiked a handful of times, but it wasn't anything too serious.  I found myself on a solid pace (and a likely PR) as the race progressed, but the blow to my leg with 2 miles to go left me unable to finish, and a little frustrated at how physical the race was.  In hindsight, I probably made a few tactical errors that led to some poor positioning and made getting spiked more likely.

Having only run a little over 4 miles in my race out at Stanford, I didn't need the usual post-race recovery period.  Back in Athens, I hopped right back into the training this week and, as previously planned, raced in today's Athens half marathon.

The weather in Athens this morning, although a little cold at daybreak, was ideal for the annual marathon/half marathon.  Today's race was also a chance to run with a friend, former Bobcat, and training partner, Steve Ragg (I credit Steve with helping keep me sane in Athens).  As we planned before the race, Steve and I ran together for the first 7 miles, averaging around 5:04 per mile.  I finished up with a time of 1:07:02, my 2nd fastest half marathon to date.  Steve ended up with a big PR as well, running just over 68-minutes; I was happy for him, as he's worked really hard over the past year and deserves to see that work rewarded with some fast times.

I'm pleased with how things went today.  Being able to run close to 67-flat in the midst of a heavy training week gives me confidence for my upcoming races.  I want to also say thanks to everyone who makes the Athens marathon/half marathon possible.  As long as I can fit it into my schedule, I'll continue making it a priority to run this race.

All in all, it feels good to be back racing again.  Although things didn't go according to plans at Stanford, I was happy with my effort up until I had to drop out.  Because of that, I didn't get too worked up about not being able to finish.  I figured out a while back that it's good to learn from the past, not dwell on it.

Godspeed!

Can you find me?  Stanford 10k.