Healthy Kidney 10K - 42:02
Interestingly enough, I got out of bed at 5am with a call from gf this morning to check out my sore achilles tendon. As stated before, this was the major factor in determining whether I should compete in the Healthy Kidney 10K.
I wouldn't say it was 100% ok, but it was close to 80%. I figured if I just put loads of Icy Hot ointment on it, pop in a few extra strength tylenol AND wrapping my ankle/tendon I should be close to 100% right? Thank god for the Athletic Training Class i took in college where I just figured out a way to tape up my ankle. I think it looked pretty good :)
Quite honestly, there was always a fear in risking a tear on the achilles and that would sideline me for a couple of months. But then i reflected on a runner who beat me with a leg brace on the Long Island Half Marathon. I basicallly said to myself: if that runner can run with that pain, maybe i can too. Henceworth, I decided to put my mindset in competing the 10K and hopefully be consistent with NO pr's on my head.
I started between the 6-7 minute mile mark and i saw Paul aka "BAP". I was glad to see him because I couldn't find any other dogs out there. As we started, bloody hell, there were a lot of pushing, shoving and a couple of speed walkers were literally slowing everyone down. Even worse, I was pushed by one of the CPTC's......if I only knew his number I would bring my tennis racket and whack him upside the head. Until I got into mile 2 (sub 14 minutes), I finally spotted a dog and that dog was our coach, JUD! I was glad to see him and i paced behind him till a little over mile 3. I knew that if i was close to Jud, i should be fine. Down the hill I spotted Rob from afar. He was way ahead of me, so i didn't even bother trying to catch up with him. A few minutes later, I lost contact with Jud but lo and behold, Barry came by and I felt more comfortable afterwards. Right near the 84th bridge, i spotted the reservoir pom-pom action team! Boy was I glad to see them (you know who you are! Cliff, Andrea, Elyssa)!!!!!!!! Their cheers really helped me stay focus on the race, instead of the achilles.
My 5K split was sub 21 and aimed to spot Barry or at least try to get close to him till the end. The last 5K was torture. I really felt a continuous sharp pain on my achilles. I tried my best to block out the pain and hummed to the tunes of Morrissey and Jack Johnson. That relieved me for a bit. Anyway, I hit around 27:40 on mile 4 and a sub 35 on mile 5. Since my previous PR was 43:00 on 2006's Scotland run , i realized that I can really hit a PR in this race. I told myself, "screw my achilles, screw the pain, just run". I kept on aiming for the PR and thought about pitchers of Sapporo tonight and in the end i ran a 42:36.
After the race, i got to congratulate Russ, Jud and Barry. Damn right I was glad to see them, as they are the best dogs out there and i sincerely look up to them. But where was Mr. Mogwai, Rob?!?! Heck, that dude probably went on a sub 41 - he is an animal and literally kick my ass in every speed workouts!
I stayed for another 20 minutes and cheered for the other dogs (Bap, julie and christian), nyflygirl (did u hear me cheering for you!?!?!?! hehehehhe) and of course my former Ernst and Young buddies Adam and Sean. Just when I was about to leave, the times were posted on the gate and my net was 42:02, net splits of 20:43/21:19, 6:46 pace, ranked 372, sixth dog and age grade of 63.8%.
Although I was satisfied with this race, I should be more careful when running with an injury. Trust me, this will be the last time! I will always remember what coach told me that the "sharper the pencil the easier it will break." I guess it was the lack of judgement in my part, as well as the spirit of competition and the adrenaline rush that made me decide to compete in this race.
I just checked my schedule and the Father's Day 5 miler is next. Until next time, i'll just make sure I'm 100% healthy! :)
Lastly, congrats to the dogs with their sub 7's and the rest of the dogs for cheering us on!
Aloha and Cheers,
Moz
I wouldn't say it was 100% ok, but it was close to 80%. I figured if I just put loads of Icy Hot ointment on it, pop in a few extra strength tylenol AND wrapping my ankle/tendon I should be close to 100% right? Thank god for the Athletic Training Class i took in college where I just figured out a way to tape up my ankle. I think it looked pretty good :)
Quite honestly, there was always a fear in risking a tear on the achilles and that would sideline me for a couple of months. But then i reflected on a runner who beat me with a leg brace on the Long Island Half Marathon. I basicallly said to myself: if that runner can run with that pain, maybe i can too. Henceworth, I decided to put my mindset in competing the 10K and hopefully be consistent with NO pr's on my head.
I started between the 6-7 minute mile mark and i saw Paul aka "BAP". I was glad to see him because I couldn't find any other dogs out there. As we started, bloody hell, there were a lot of pushing, shoving and a couple of speed walkers were literally slowing everyone down. Even worse, I was pushed by one of the CPTC's......if I only knew his number I would bring my tennis racket and whack him upside the head. Until I got into mile 2 (sub 14 minutes), I finally spotted a dog and that dog was our coach, JUD! I was glad to see him and i paced behind him till a little over mile 3. I knew that if i was close to Jud, i should be fine. Down the hill I spotted Rob from afar. He was way ahead of me, so i didn't even bother trying to catch up with him. A few minutes later, I lost contact with Jud but lo and behold, Barry came by and I felt more comfortable afterwards. Right near the 84th bridge, i spotted the reservoir pom-pom action team! Boy was I glad to see them (you know who you are! Cliff, Andrea, Elyssa)!!!!!!!! Their cheers really helped me stay focus on the race, instead of the achilles.
My 5K split was sub 21 and aimed to spot Barry or at least try to get close to him till the end. The last 5K was torture. I really felt a continuous sharp pain on my achilles. I tried my best to block out the pain and hummed to the tunes of Morrissey and Jack Johnson. That relieved me for a bit. Anyway, I hit around 27:40 on mile 4 and a sub 35 on mile 5. Since my previous PR was 43:00 on 2006's Scotland run , i realized that I can really hit a PR in this race. I told myself, "screw my achilles, screw the pain, just run". I kept on aiming for the PR and thought about pitchers of Sapporo tonight and in the end i ran a 42:36.
After the race, i got to congratulate Russ, Jud and Barry. Damn right I was glad to see them, as they are the best dogs out there and i sincerely look up to them. But where was Mr. Mogwai, Rob?!?! Heck, that dude probably went on a sub 41 - he is an animal and literally kick my ass in every speed workouts!
I stayed for another 20 minutes and cheered for the other dogs (Bap, julie and christian), nyflygirl (did u hear me cheering for you!?!?!?! hehehehhe) and of course my former Ernst and Young buddies Adam and Sean. Just when I was about to leave, the times were posted on the gate and my net was 42:02, net splits of 20:43/21:19, 6:46 pace, ranked 372, sixth dog and age grade of 63.8%.
Although I was satisfied with this race, I should be more careful when running with an injury. Trust me, this will be the last time! I will always remember what coach told me that the "sharper the pencil the easier it will break." I guess it was the lack of judgement in my part, as well as the spirit of competition and the adrenaline rush that made me decide to compete in this race.
I just checked my schedule and the Father's Day 5 miler is next. Until next time, i'll just make sure I'm 100% healthy! :)
Lastly, congrats to the dogs with their sub 7's and the rest of the dogs for cheering us on!
Aloha and Cheers,
Moz
posted by Morrissey at
8:35 AM
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