Carkeek and the Troublesome IT Band

November 4, 2012

Just over a week ago the annual Carkeek Park 12 Hour commenced. This is a race that I have done now for three years. I look forward to it each year because it is challenging and comes late in the season. It is a test of pure grit and strength.

This year was going to be even more of a challenge as I am coming off of an injury that occurred at the Chicago Marathon. It occurred less than a mile into the race–bummer right?? I was pacing the 3:20 group and got squeezed early in the middle of the pack. To find space I jumped up onto the median in one of the tunnels to get some room. I was running along on a grated surface which was not a problem, but it was a small metal wire that got me. I was about 10 feet from jumping off and I caught my toe on that small metal wire that I could not see due to the low light. Being a seasoned trail runner, I tumbled into a elegant barrel roll and sprung back up like nothing happened. People came up to me making sure I was ok and I assured everyone that I was. I finished the race, accomplishing my goal and pacing many fellow runners to a 3:19:30 or better. It is such a fantastic feeling.

My knee would barely bend upon completion. I iced it and took it easy for the remainder of the month as I knew Carkeek was at the end of the month. I knew my injury was still lingering but I went for it any way. Why not?? I needed the miles in my training for H.U.R.T.

I headed down the night before, to avoid an early drive the next morning. I want to say thank you to my friends Joel and Sophia who put me up both the night before and after race.

I was nervous that morning not knowing how my knee would hold up, but knew there was only one way to find out. At the start/finish, I got my car all ready with my aid station gear. I was planning on trying some new things this race. I need to work on trying to find some new calories that will work for me in long events. The two new things that I tried at Carkeek this year were coconut water and Odwalla Superfood.

It was 10 minutes before the start and I was beginning to get the normal race gitters. Ahh…that’s what these feel like, I told myself. Welcome back. It had been a while since I had toed the line with intentions to race.
Sam gave a quick speech and noticed he was a minute late and yelled go. We all shuffled off, leaving the fire behind, and entered the wet, windy Seattle morning.

I hung with Adam Hewey for the first two laps until I noticed that the speed we were going was faster then I wanted to run. I slowed down and made a pit stop at my car for some food. After this I settled into a rhythm of stopping at my car every other lap and holding a nice steady pace. I had decided as the race went on, to drink a coconut water at both lap 10 and 20. The reason was because my goal was 30 laps for the day and I wanted to split them up throughout the race. I would then drink some Superfood on laps 5, 15, and 25.

Everything was looking good through lap 10 until back of knee and the IT band began to hurt around lap 12-13. This was a huge let down, but not unexpected. Grrr. The weather had even shaped up from the morning and I had begun to dry out! I ignored it till I hit lap 16, when I noticed I had to slow down. Bummer. Everything else was going well, even my legs felt great, but I had to slow in order to finish the race. I slowed down and began to run/walk each lap.

My diet was working very well. For me, both the coconut water and Odwalla drink were working. This made me happy.

At lap 20, Sophia and I caught up with each other and started to run together. We ran together for 5 laps until she took off and left me in the dust. I was slowing down. At this point in the race, lap 25-26, it was hurting me to make left turns and to run down hill. This seemed to be most of the race. Sophia and I had each set our goals. Hers was 26 laps and mine was 29 laps. I knew I had to keep going as on lap 26, a guy by the name of Brian caught me. I had not seen him all day. I found out as we began that next lap, that he was only one lap behind me. This meant that I had to keep running. No quitting early for me.

On the next lap I find out that Adam was just one lap ahead of me. In my head I just wished he'd quit so hat I could as well. I was hurting. He ate a biscuit just the lap before and it fueled him on. The three of us kept each other going to finish one, two, three: Adam, me, Brian.

As I approached the finish line with it beginning to pour again I started to realize that it was all over, I ran the whole race. As I finished, they asked me if I wanted to do a short loop with 10 minutes to go and I look at them and said, "NO!!!" I was done and glad to be.

Upon grabbing my 29 pieces of candy (one for each lap), Adam came over and asked me why I just wouldn't stop running. I laughed and replied, "I am not a quitter." He began to chuckle after that response and said, “All I wanted was for you to stop running, so I could stop running.” I responded that I had been wishing the same thing from him, which made both of us laugh.

We all gathered around the fire as Sam began to hand out the awards. Mike and Faye got the best costume award. Sophia was the first women. My second place finish was very hard earned. Thanks Phil Kochik for the gift card to Seven Hill Running Shop in Magnolia.

Then it was time for a soak in the bay. I was the only one brave enough to walk in. It felt so good on the legs! Upon hobbling back to my car, I said thanks to Sam and Brock for another great race and tore into a bag of Tim’s Salt and Vinegar chips. After sitting there for a few minutes, thoroughly enjoying the chips, I headed off to Joel and Sophia’s for a nice hot shower and some recovery food.
Until next year.

A big thanks goes out to Brock and Sam for another great race!!