An Interesting Day

Yesterday was an interesting day. Two races on the schedule, three counting Octoberfest in Seymour. The night before I had struggled to decide what I should do. The Towpath half being a week away I was not sure I should race at all(ha ha). Once you stop laughing please read on... Got up early Saturday morning, got the gear on and drove to Bloomfield. Of course got there, weather great, got in line to register out of habit i guess. I had a flashback of winning this race last year and the door prizes were cool so why not? At the start line looked around, Tim was there along with two other guys who looked fast. Okay maybe this was not a good idea, maybe first place was not going to happen. But off we went. Start was downhill. I expected pace to be fast. I was 5:08 at mile last year. But 200 meters into the race I am watching 3 guys pulling away! Tim looks at his damn GPS and says we are slow at 5:40 pace. I have learned to ignore this by now. Tim catches them before the first turn, which by the way the cop car did not take. Instead car takes a right and goes wrong way. Luckily we knew the course and went the right way. Before first mile Tim and I together, some college guy Andrew too far ahead. Young kid volunteer yells out 4:56 which really pumped me up. Knew it was fast but that was unexpected. Don't get too excited, he was calling out mile split before the mile marker? We were actually 5:06. But then the hill, back down and the incline to the finish. Second place with a decent time. Then the standing in the rain for at least an hour! Door prizes galore. I had my eye on some apple crumb cake or maybe some apple cider. I got nothing. I am starting to think there is a conspiracy and my name is never included. I  will find out. Finally little after noon we head to get food, then down to Springville to maybe do a 10k. Super nice race director, long sleeve shirts and some of the usual Mag 7er's. I know I really should not have ran but my plan was to do the first 5k easy and then the last 5k as a tempo run. But then the horn sounds and something happened. The same something that happens instinctively I think at each race, and sometimes during "easy days." My legs were heavy and tired but first mile was 5:45. I can run this 10k at 6:00 pace and be okay the next day I thought. At the turnaround Justin is flying. I thought, "he's trying to catch me!" Shortly after I had to jump to the grass to avoid the wonderful car who would not move over. Thanks for keeping me alert jerk! At each mile I was under 6:00 pace so I put it on cruise control and finished. 10 points for Mag 7 series. Another win for team INRunCo. 16 plus miles for the day. Most ever in one day. Fast forward to now. My heel and achilles swollen again, hurts to walk. Oh well I am an idiot. One week to rest, get the swelling down and do this half, which I know I can do at 6:00 pace or better. We will see. By the way, soon I will tell the story of my altercation with a groundhog on a training run  this summer. You won't believe it.