Sunday, November 13, 2011

Rosaryville



This past Thursday afternoon, just as if someone had flipped a switch I started feeling human again.

Friday morning I had Reiki with Dee and Lorette. How can thirty minutes pass so quickly yet renew me physically, mentally and recently spiritually ? I doubt I'll ever be able to answer that question.

Earlier in the week I had doubts about my ability and sanity in heading to the Rosaryville 50K. I felt horrible, my hands and feet burned and fifty degree temperatures were cold enough to generate pins and needles in my hands. It would be so much easier to simply stay in my nice warm bed Saturday morning, certainly justified by the poisons circulating in my body. It was going to be cold at the start, it would be a long day and of course I was doing to DNF anyway. (Did Not Finish). I could almost talk myself into it yet I knew I would hate myself if I had done so.

Rosaryville State Park is in Upper Marlboro MD about an hour and a half drive from Frederick. With Packet Pickup starting at six thirty, the race kicking off at eight we left at five AM to give us plenty of leeway should we get lost or run into unexpected traffic. The race itself consists of a three quarter mile road run leading to a trail-head, three ten mile loops on trail and then back on the road to the finish.

It was cold at the start of the race; I was concerned but with a hand warmer in each hand the stingers never materialized. My pace was a nice slow twelve minute jog, noway fast enough to cause heavy breathing to sting my throat. Arriving on the trail I knew we were in for a real treat, these trails were the Neiman Marcus, Ritz- Carlton of trails, nothing like the rocky, root ridden trails of my backyard.

There was another pleasant surprise, about two miles on the trail I could see the start. My plan had been to run one ten mile loop followed by a second if I felt exceptional. I now had a revised strategy, I would run one full loop, start the second and “bail” for a twelve mile run if I was feeling poorly.

Feeling poorly never happened, yet as I got closer to the start I decided twelve would be enough. I could continue, however without a base of long runs I realized that somewhere around eighteen miles I might be a mess with four more miles to go. With Chemo coming on Monday it was an easy decision.

I felt physically great as I approached the race director to turn in my number; perhaps as the first DNF of the day. Certainly I'm not proud of that yet I was content with my decision. Now, without any fatigue, soreness or stiffness I could change into dry clothes and await the return of my friends Larry and Steve. How great would it be to see them finish I didn't know at the time but as each appeared it was truly exciting. Steve finished in a blazing four hours thirty eight minutes winning the fifty to fifty-nine year old age group. Larry with a 50K PR of six hours six minutes, not bad for someone who had expressed concern earlier in the week if he was ready. I am so glad I did not listen to the “voice” telling me, “Just Stay in Bed Mike, it's OK” .

Like most Sunday mornings I laced up the shoes and headed to Hamburg Road for a nice five mile trail run. For the past few years I've logged my mileage in a spreadsheet, as I started the year I entered a two thousand mile goal, a mere three hundred miles more than last year. As I logged the twelve miles of Rosaryville the spreadsheet calculated slightly more then one thousand miles run, completing my revised goal of one thousand miles.

I am nervous about this next treatment, perhaps I'll handle this one well but if side effects keep intensifying there is little doubt at some point I may be a complete mess. Send some positive “vibes” my way if you think about it.

Sixty-Six Bottles of Beer on the Wall...... Mike

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