Sore

My thighs are killing me. I can hardly walk down the steps in the garage without wincing in pain. Since I started riding the MTB I haven't taken much time to run. I used to do at least 15 miles per week and a 5 mile run wasn't that unusual.

I have been looking forward to the Miller Landing Madness 8k since I missed it last year due to catching the annual cold my wife seems to bring home from school. I really like running off road and this year I was healthy, the weather was perfect, and I hadn't run more than 2 miles a week in months.

At the start I lined up close to the front even though I knew I was going to be slow. I'd set my Garmin for an 8 minute mile pace and I waited anxiously for the starter to sound the horn. As always seems to happen two older (than me) women got right in front of me just before the horn and as soon as it went off they did the little shuffle, talking all the time, laughing, going so damn SLOW! Don't they know this is a race? Can't they see I'm some kind of running machine? Alright, alright it's a long 5 miles so be cool. I noticed a lot of people going out hard but I held my pace, my little Garmin beeping whenever I went under 8 minutes.

The crowd thinned out at the 5k/8k split which was just after the first good hill. We did 2 loops of the same course and on the second loop I started seeing all the people who had started out so hard; walking. I began picking off small groups and by mile 4 I only had one runner that I could see in front of me. I hadn't looked back but I couldn't hear anyone behind me. Here's where I got stupid. For some reason I thought it was 6 miles instead of 5 so when I came out of the woods and saw the finish line I still had some gas left in the tank. I passed the guy in front of me, and as I got closer to the crowd along the finish chute someone yells "you've a big pack coming behind you". What? I started sprinting and some gray haired dude caught me at the line.

It's not like it was for a trophy or anything but still I hate to loose a place right at the end. I finished 56 out of 158 and yes the guy that got me at the line was in my class. Rupe ran the 5k and felt good at the finish. Bunky joined us for the traditional after run trip to Waffle House. It was a great way to start the weekend.