Did that Subject get your attention? Hope so.
I’m heading southeast on the Valley Parkway, approaching
Royalton Road, also known as Ohio Route 82. It’s roughly 20 miles into the
Green Jewel 50K (GJ), and I’m having a great day. Amongst the GJ road
crossings, however, this may be the busiest of the lot.
I can see the traffic signal from well over a half mile
away. As I get a bit closer, I begin to think about timing my approach so that
I can cross on green with little or no waiting. I know that if I were to just
miss it, I’d have to wait an eternity (well, maybe 2 or 3 minutes, and I know –
that’s nothing compared with the 5 hours or so that I’ll be out here – but it’ll
sure seem like an eternity).
As I get to within a third, then a quarter mile from the
signal, I am upset to see that it’s still red. I had been hoping beyond hope
that it would go through a red-green-red cycle, with me arriving just as it
changes to green again. But no, it’s staying red. This means I have to run even
faster to try to make it on the next green, rather than the next to the next
green.
It’s 200 yards, then 100 yards away, and I’m sprinting. At
about 25 yards, it finally changes to green, but I have to keep sprinting in
order to make it across before it changes back to red.
It happens just as I enter the intersection: I zig, but my
left knee zags. It’s a sudden, extremely painful twist, as the knee seems to
get off its normal tracking. I scream out in pain, but I don’t think anyone
hears – the closest humans are in their cars, waiting for the signal to change
(which it does as I limp up onto the opposite side). I’m sure that was by far
my fastest quarter-mile in quite a long time, and up until the twist and shout,
I had been actually enjoying it. Now, with 11 miles to go, would I be able to
finish at all, much less in a respectable time?
With Michelle Wolff at the start. Yes, I know: the tights. Shari Geiger photo |
This my 3rd GJ 50K, and I also completed the only
GJ 100K. Those other two had been in the 4:30 range, and I have no illusions of
running that fast today; I only want to complete it at a steady pace. Okay, if
you put the thumb screws on, a sub 5-hour time would be nice, but really, I am
focused on that steady pace thing. At the start I tell Michelle Wolff that if I
can complete this GJ without crashing, I’ll register for Rock the Ridge, a 50-miler
in New York State.
I mentioned that I had been having a great day. I am averaging
about 9 minutes a mile, and I’ve actually been picking that pace up since around
mile 14. Perhaps it was a tad early to begin my Final Sprint to the Finish.
At about 27F at the start, the air felt cool, but really not
all that cold. There was some snow, and a couple slick spots in the early
miles, but this isn’t all that awful either. There would be no weather excuses
today. I’m more intent on enjoying this annual romp through Cleveland’s
wonderful Metroparks.
After crossing 82, things go downhill fast. Well, that’s not
quite literally true; the course is actually gaining in elevation, and with the
occasional shooting pain, I am no longer running fast.
I am walking up the biggest hill, the one heading up to the
Ridge Road crossing, and I’m walking pretty darn slowly. I stop at the aid
station and take my time getting nutrition and fluids. As if that’s going to
make any difference. As I begin to run again, my knee continues to come undone –
tracking off its normal forward type of motion, and giving me shooting pain. In
my more lucid moments – and those are becoming fewer and farther between – I realize
that with about an hour and ten minutes to run 7 miles, a sub 5-hour finish is in jeopardy. I have no idea why that time is suddenly such a priority. It wasn't so a while back, when I was on a 4:40 pace.
After more, but smaller hills, I reach Broadview Road, the
highest point in Cuyahoga County, and therefore also on the GJ course. I’ve
still got nearly 5 miles to go, but now that I’m on some gentle downhills, I’m
doing better. I am also finding that running on the right side of the road
(most of the course is on all-purpose trail, but this is an extended road part)
feels better on the knee. Too bad I also have to dodge the traffic and the
construction crew (they’re extending said trail).
My pace has improved to better than ten minutes a mile
again, and the knee pain continues to subside, as I cross Brecksville Road,
Ohio Route 21. I know that this final mile and a half is steeply downhill, and
I approach with a fair amount of trepidation. What would this do to my knee? To
top things off, I still have very little margin of error for that sub-5. Yes, I'm aware that this is pretty insane. Bear with me, please.
In spite of the inherent risk, I pick up the pace and run my
two fastest miles of the day – without any knee pain at all! I cross the line in
4:56 – good for a 9:30 overall pace - and I’m quite happy with it.
George Themelis photo |
So what to do about Rock the Ridge? I said I wanted steady,
and didn’t get it; I had about 25 really good miles, and about 6 awful ones.
But it was encouraging that the last four were some of the better ones. I guess
I’ll sleep on it.
2 comments:
I give you and anyone else, credit for running through pain. I haven't had to do that and I've always said I won't out of fear of permanent damage.
Thanks Harold. I'd had the experience before, so that helped. Mostly, though, I think I was just lucky.
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