McKenzie 50K

The last "Race" of the season! McKenzie 50K. I headed into this race with some trepidation. I had no pace chart and I hadn't ask a million and one questions about the race. The course was beautiful and an easier trail with some fun technical which is usally my favorite. I pushed where I could and just kept counting down the aidstations.

My glute muscle was worn out from pacing Gary in CCC 100. I was just going to run a good race!, and that is exactly what I did. About 45 min. into the race I started to feel pain in hip/ITB/glute, I knew it was the beginning of something not so good. I tried to make my brain go somewhere else and not dwell on the fact of what was to come. I decided I needed to pick a word. I needed a "word" to focus on when things hurt...Fierce! - That was the word of the day!

The pain would come and go as I would allow it. The hill climbs although they were small used all the muscle I had in my glutes and the strain was felt all down my left leg. I know I also tried to compensate for hurting on the left and over using my right leg. It was a very runnable course. I kept running "my" race. I came into the home stretch and of course found some zest for life once I heard I was only about 2 miles from the finish! I headed up to the finish line with hoops & hollers!

The race was over @ 6:03. I went on to win my age division for women in the Oregon Trail Series. That is a major accomplishment for only running for 2 years.

Now is a time to heal my injury and build some muscle and loose some fat! Cardio/weights are on my schedule for the Fall. I going to take a small break from running probably 2 or 3 weeks. That means me and my bike will become closer friends!