Spring Lake 5

Today was the first time taking part in this “must do” race. So many people take part in this year after year, and its popularity means you have to register early to get in. In previous years I decided not to set an alarm for the 6am start of registration, and by the time I was up (and remembered to look) it had already filled up.

This year I checked when I awoke and there were still spaces available. I was still hesitant due to the various issues I’ve had, but signed up anyway.

In the last week and a half I was slightly worried I wouldn’t make it to the start. It felt like a bruise on the ball of my foot and it hurt. I didn’t run for a week and everything seemed fine, so I ran again on Wednesday and the pain returned. It seems that, during my recovery, my reliance on a single pair of Vivobarefoot shoes caused a callus to form on the ball of my foot, and it had got thick enough to start hurting. I’ve worked at it with a pumice stone but even walking from my car to pick up my race t-shirt and pint glass was a little uncomfortable.

I have a pair of Newtons which have more padding so I took them with me to the race, and wore my typical “longer run” shoe – the Merrell Trail Glove. A short run in both seemed to suggest it wouldn’t make much difference to my foot so I wore the Merrells. I’ve never been completely comfortable in the Newtons because I feel too high off the ground and more unstable.

Several RVRR members were there, some who do this race every year. The advice was useful – it’s important to get near the front if you don’t want to end up running a 12 minute or more first mile with all the crowds.

RVRR pre-race

The first mile was fast as I tried to find space, but then I settled into a pace with a plan to hang on as long as I could before either my foot or my hip slowed me down (I’ve had hip pain in some runs, and it felt like it was there early in the race, but eased after a couple of miles). I was able to push pretty hard despite feeling very stiff for the first 2 miles. The heat took its toll and I stopped for water at 2 and 4 miles which isn’t something I would usually do in a race of this distance. The last mile was definitely slower due to the heat.

My time was comparable to my Newport 10k race a couple of weeks ago, and given the effect of the heat I’m pretty happy with that. Chip time 35:22.3

My foot didn’t hurt during the race which is interesting (adrenaline?), but the pain is definitely there now. I’m hoping that I can soon be faster than the 7 minute mile barrier over these distances soon. Target for the Newport Liberty Half is around 7 minute mile. I’m hopeful that the right training can get me there.

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