Have your cookie

And eat it too! (Just be prepared for what comes along with)

Last night I made a batch of cookies to help with the carb loading for this morning. I must say they came out quite well, especially considering I have never baked with gas and our stove is a bit temperamental, perhaps all is not lost quite yet on the domestic diva front.

I got to bed a little later than I hoped for but I slept like a rock for the 6 hours I did get, and it was lovely. Woke up this morning, put coffee on, mixed some carbo pro and gatorade and got around. I drove the 45 minutes or so to the race, stopping at walgreens for a bathroom break, I was hoping to avoid the portalet crowds, but ended up having to go again before the race, at least I didn't have to wait in line twice!

The race started on time and I headed off with JD, Risko, and A. We clocked the first mile in 7:29 and JD and I said goodbye to A and Risko as they planned to go a bit slower than that. JD and I stayed together through 4 or so. I definitely didn't feel great but I was racing and told myself such, and that if in order to PR it had to hurt, well, it was going to have to hurt, little did I know.

About 3 miles in my right hamstring gave a holler, at the time I thought it was my piriformis, but now I am thinking hammy, really high though. It was a pretty bad twinge and the pain didn't subside immediately. I told myself not to think about it and pushed on. About a mile later we hit a short steep decline and this time the twinge turned into a twang. Vision of pulling over to the side swam through my head.

I thought of all my friends doing IM Moo today and how long they would have to endure any aches or pains that popped up. I specifically thought of Tracy and her hip and how much pain she was in when we ran over WIBA weekend. I envisioned her hip pain today and I imagined that any pain I had I was taking it from her so that she wouldn't have any. The internalization seemed to help as I definitely overcame more pain than I have ever felt in a race. When I needed an extra boost I would focus on breathing, in with the good out with the bad. And when that failed I would think of Wild Bill and his motto to never leave anything on any course because you never know what race might be your last, hence my mantra "Out with a bang" this morning.

I figured the hammy was tight, but at that point stretching didn't seem to be an option, it wasn't loosening with an ease of pace so I trekked on, trying to keep JD within my sights. I went on running with the pain through mile 7 or so before I caught JD, we stayed together for another 2 miles then I pulled forward. I knew I needed to push it or the PR was down the drain and the injury would be a complete waste.

Around mile 9 a lady that I had been jockeying back and forth with asked if I was from the area. I wasn't really in the mood to chat (unusual for me) but I told her yes. We had just hit the one and only hill and she wanted to know if there were any more like it. We discussed the course and she said she knew the lady who was in the lead and that she had come from Columbus for the race. I fell behind her at the mile 10 water stop but I knew that was the last stop I would walk through so I didn't worry. I caught her with about 1.5 to go and tried to urge her on with me (the company would have been nice) but she wasn't picking it up.

I passed a few men and finally hit 12. I knew it was going to be close, too close for comfort at that point as far as a PR went. I picked it up again and trudged on. It felt like I was running 6 minute pace effort wise but I knew the clock would tell me different. I passed a man with about .5 to go and he joked that I was forcing him to push it in. He was wearing a Garmin and about .25 to go he announced to me that we just got under 7 minute pace, which did not make me happy. All I could think was "I damn better be under 7 minute pace, I feel like I am going to die and I need about 7 flat to PR." Somehow I pulled something out for the last .1 as I heard B and B2 cheering me in and I looked at my watch to see I had indeed PRed. The official split was 1:36:56.something and 7:25 pace.

Pretty much as soon as I stopped my hamstring was screaming at me. It hurt really bad to walk and of course my left quad started to cramp whenever I would stop and start again. I made it over to the med tent for some ice and ibuprofen before resting and waiting for the bus with my friends. Everyone in my crowd did really well today. I believe JD, A, T, and JH PR'ed.

It looks like the times were a bit slow for that course so I wonder if the humidity was getting to people. The lead woman's time was around 1:26, last year and the year before it was closer to 1:16-1:18. Not sure if that was just because the regular winner wasn't there or weather...

The buses were taking forever so we decided to go check out our places. I managed to snag 2nd in age group which was a pleasant surprise.

As for my hammy I am guessing I did something to it yesterday while disc golfing. That'll teach me. I am icing as we speak and will be taking it easy this week so that hopefully I won't have to walk the majority of Saturday's trail marathon.

We finally got back to our cars (the race is point to point, slightly downhill most of the way, hence the fast splits) and I changed into work clothes, found a nice blood blister waiting for me and headed to work.


I am exhausted now! I can't imagine how all the IM Moo athletes must feel with the majority of a marathon still to go. I will try to update the IM Moo stats again tonight but I am fading fast so I apologize if I don't get them all until tomorrow.

Splits for those that love em:
7:29.95
7:18.77
7:04.31 (Huge downhill this mile)
7:38.38 (attack of the twanging hammy)
7:19.38
7:22.86
7:24.80
7:25.67
7:27.30
8:10.63 (somehow missed seeing this one, but this is the one with the big uphill I believe)
7:29.16
7:06.68 (Was so concerned with my overall time I missed this split, it would have made me feel better)
7:08.24
36.40