Death in the Valley

A camping trip to Clemson had been on the calendar for almost 8 months and training would definitely have to be a part of the festivities. Upon arriving on Friday, we made camp by Lake Hartwell and within 2 hours after our arrival, we were in the lake. It was actually quite fun or should I say, I think we were quite the spectacle. Campers came out of their tents, people pointed us out to their dogs, etc. Two crazy swimmers out in the middle of a lake. I am sure that "What are they thinking?" was a frequent phrase. This was the first swim with the Quinatana Roo Neoprene Speed Sleeves. And can I just say, WOW! They were absolutely awesome. Even better than I'd anticipated and worked perfectly! We didn't have anyone following us so we opted for a repetitious zig-zag pattern for 45 minutes. Good swim. I also utilized the wax plugs to cover my right ear, I am a right-side breather. This was equally effective. Nothing expensive, got them at Wal-Mart with the other earplugs. Actually had three good swims last week. Feeling confident about the swim minus the 1999 other people who want to be swimming where I am :)

We were off on Saturday and had planned to run 13.1 miles on Sunday. I'd been advised by several folks to stay off the foot but I really wanted to get the mileage in. This was to be our last long run of the training season. If I could just push through... Of course, I am not a good listener when it comes to training, haven't been most of this training season when it comes to testing the limits of my body. We met Rick at his tailgating spot around 9AM. We brought two buddies with us who decided the night before that they would like to run with us. Great, I thought...the more the merrier. Kim and Kris are really good runners.

Let me preface the next part by saying...injury, lack of sleep and 48 hours in the rain before the run probably didn't help the situation but I was determined to make it work. Rick went easy on us to begin with - okay, so not really (but I know he's reading this blog and he told me to be nice). We soon learned what Death Valley was all about. Climbing like crazy followed by death in the valleys. Over and over, we'd hear him say those words that were music to our ears "it flattens out". I suppose that there is a least one ledge on Mt. Everest that one would attest "flattens out", too. Perhaps it's all about percpetion. We just weren't seeing or feeling it in the same frame of mind that he was. We kept pounding the pavement and reached a point where we didn't want to know how far we'd been running anymore. All I know is that the up and downs created havoc on my IT bands as I tried my best to baby the left heel. My left knee buckled twice towards the end and I was forced to skip the hill at the stadium. I just couldn't risk further injury to say I'd done the big climb, the one that Rick says would break me. My knees and foot felt pretty broken. We wound up with 13+ miles as we'd planned. It wasn't by far the perfect run but it was about pushing through pain something that I've realized I may have to do in Arizona if I can't get everything right in the next 2 weeks. I can say that I wasn't standing outside of Subway like one of our friends feeling like throwing up. I stretch a lot that night and submerged my foot in an ice bath. Surprisingly, I didn't have to crawl to the shower before work today. :)

We'll see what lies ahead. Day by day. Workout by workout. "Everybody hurts", right? 18 days...HAPPY TRAINING!