Thanks for the late entry as I
was unaware that this little get together was as low key and under the
radar so to speak, well done. Very
challenging course.
To give you some idea how my day
went, starts the week prior as I was recovering from the Pittsfield
Ultra. This was a hot one as
well, which I didn’t survive as well.
As I said last weekend during a
short training run I had just the hint of a calf strain that I ran thru.
The next day's run give me more of a hint that something was amiss as it
hurt just a little more. OK
, so I take a couple of days off . Get
to Wakely set up camp with Dan Myers, drink a cold refreshment and take
a quick cruise up the road to the gate and beyond. Calf still tight, but
doable. "Nice" bus
ride to the start. A flat
course to warm up for once and we are off.
Just two miles or so down the
trail and I get hammered by my calf locking up. Not the kind that puts
you on the gym floor but bad enough that I cant put weight on it. So
what to do, Dan says turnaround and go back,, there might be someone
there. I know dam well there’s an empty road back there.... I told Dan
to get moving as I might as well either try to walk it out or its torn
and I will have to go back.
Forty five minutes of hobbling
along turned into a slow jog. I found if I stayed somewhat flat footed
on my left leg, the muscle behaved somewhat.
At least I could move, although trying run up any incline was a
joke. So for the next hour
or so I regained some motion that allowed me to at least move at a rate
that ensured some sort of finish. By the time I had hit about the
halfway point had caught about twelve runners and had rejoined Myers.
Then a couple of miles later I
got bit again, not picking up my feet enough in the technical stuff, I
hooked a root, going down hill and slammed into a pine tree. Gravity and
speed do bad things. My hand was out but the brittle branches did little
to stop me as I bounced off a stump, shoulder, then face first into the
tree. One of the sharp stickers hit just an inch below my eye. I feel
really lucky that it just dug into my cheek.
Stunned I just sat there knowing I just avoided a major disaster.
Luckily Dan and another runner
were right there as it happened, stopped the bleeding, patched me up and
we were on the move again. The last 12 miles or so were not as eventful
although I was glad to see that yellow gate that said we were close to a
swim and cold beer!
A fun technical course I am sure
to return to.
Thanks!
W. David Delibac
