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RTB: Third Leg

September 17, 2011 (Afternoon)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
Spent the intervening hours between my second and third legs trying to recover as best I could, though I had trouble standing up from a seated position without using my hands for much of that time, let alone a light jog. I did run a hill with Becca though, so I know I was physically capable of moving in a running motion; I just didn't know how fast. Fortunately, by the time my leg rolled around (I'd been reviewing the map and looking forward to it in a kind of twisted way for hours), my legs had recovered to the point where they just felt very weary but not painful, at least on the warm up jog and sprint drills. I got out at a 6:15 pace, slowed down a bit on the not-insignificant 300-foot hill, the last big hill of the race, and managed to keep up a good clip hunting down a talented runner up ahead for two miles. I caught him just and I was being passed by another runner from my own track club. I chased after him for the final two miles and caught everyone he did, keeping him barely within sight. I finished thrilled not just to be done but at having kept my pace up and raced so well. Ultimately, it became a battle with energy and lung capacity like it should be, and not a battle against aching muscles like I'd feared. Tired by overjoyed, I sprinted into the transition zone passing my 19th runner (net gain of 18), and handing off the magnetic slap bracelet to the next guy in our group. Somehow, inspire my tiredness, I managed to run twice more for short distances, helping two of my teammates finished their exhausting legs. And then of course, there was the run into the ocean at the finished line. I stood in there for a good 10 minutes, just letting my legs heal in the frigid water, and then ran out faster than I'd run in, my leg being too numb to know better. Great race.