Race Morning

It is interesting that going into this race, I was a little concerned about my fitness but that is was still just about the experience. Little did I know what kind of experience I would get.

I got up feeling fine, eating a banana and a plain bagel. Tom, a coworker friend, was also running, and I met him at the old Sam’s Club parking lot in Cary (NC) and walked down to the race start, maybe half a mile. I was feeling fine. The temperature was probably in the 70′s, and I was ready to go. No nervousness at all.

Race Start

Next time I will try to get closer to the front. There was over 700 people there and Tom and I walked for probably a minute before we could start jogging, and then maybe half a mile before we could actually run. The route was very nice, crossing the I-40 and going into Umstead Park for the majority of the run. Tom and I ran together for the first couple of miles. On the first major downhill I bumped up my pace to take advantage of gravity, and we split up. Below are my splits for the entire race. My goal was to break 2 hours, and as of mile 8, I was feeling good and on track for it.

Mile	Split Time	Best Pace	Avg HR	Max HR	Calories
1	0:09:40	7:36	153	174	121
2	0:09:28	8:15	167	172	126
3	0:09:08	7:37	167	171	125
4	0:08:45	7:06	166	171	125
5	0:08:53	7:12	165	172	126
6	0:09:27	7:37	170	175	126
7	0:08:29	6:49	167	172	126
8	0:09:36	7:52	171	175	126
9	0:12:21	7:25	156	173	113
10	0:14:06	7:22	137	153	97
11	0:15:18	9:54	126	142	96
12	0:15:22	10:19	127	142	88
13	0:15:16	9:17	130	145	90
13.2	0:03:25	10:00	148	161	25
Summary	2:29:20	6:49	150	175	1,510

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However, as you can see on mile 9, the split time has gone from 9:36 min/mile to 12:21 min/mile. I had been noticing twinges of pain in my left knee throughout the race, but had thought it was just something that would come and then go away. By mile 9, my knee was done. The pain was so intense I could not run at all. Every couple of minutes or so I would try to run a bit, but that lasted only 10-20 seconds. In essence, I walked the last 4 miles of the race.

Everyone that I had passed, now passed me. I felt so helpless and discouraged. I was mad and writhing on the inside… but the longer I walked, the more perspective came to me. I was so focused on myself and getting my own slice of victory, I didn’t even consider that I would experience defeat. I wrote that it was still just about the “experience,” but I really didn’t mean it. I meant, “it’s still just about experiencing…victory.”

For me, and for my goals, this was defeat. But as I watched people pass me, I realized that so many people were experiencing victory on that day. It brought me back to my own injury of the last six years, and how I felt then, and that it was only through God that I was able to find this doctor that helped me back to the starting line. I saw an Indian family running together, with the father running along and chatting and encouraging his wife and daughter, both visibly fatigued. It was really special to witness, and I would have missed it if I had made my two-hour goal. There were plenty other people pushing themselves along, suffering but pushing themselves. My friend Tom, pushing himself along on his first half-marathon.

God promises to humble the proud, and that is a good thing. It’s not that I was walking around cocky and arrogant, it’s just that God wants me to learn & stay compassionate and to appreciate everyone and their struggles to push themselves, not just my own struggle.

The Finish, and just how is my knee doing anyway…

Below is the official results, with some pictures! My overall feeling is good. There is always next time to run faster, hopefully with full perspective!

As for my knee, it was really hurting me all Sunday. I iced it a lot in the evening after a splendid afternoon at a friend’s house from our Sunday School class.  On Monday, I wore a knee brace all day, but my spirits were not low. I didn’t know what this meant for me. I have another triathlon this Saturday (tomorrow), and I was just surrendered to the fact that I would have to cancel. Monday evening….well, the knee actually did not hurt. I didn’t press it, but I jumped up and down a bit. I walked around quickly…no pain.

Tuesday morning I swam 2000 yds. No pain. At work, no pain.

Wednesday afternoon, 21 miles cycling. Ah, a little bit, something I wouldn’t really describe as pain but as “sensitive.” Hmmm, well, I may as well get out there on Saturday and give it a try, right? It is a sprint triathlon, so that means a 1000m swim (doable), 17 mile bike (doable), 3.1 mile run (umm, short enough to be doable??)

Friday morning, I walked half a mile, then ran a quick 8 minute mile, then walked another half mile. Maybe some slight sensitivity. I am not sure what I did, or how I did it, but my knee seems to be recovering. I did do some research about running knee pain and it may be “runner’s knee,” which seems to be caused by and imbalance between the quads and hamstring muscles. I do really get tight hamstrings, so is that a problem? Should I go to an orthopedic knee specialist, or a physical therapist? Haven’t decided yet.

586   407   KIP LOWERY    M    40   YOUNGSVILLE NC    2:28:06     2:28:52    11:22

Start was at the green peg. Beautiful run through Umstead Park.

At the race start, checking my watch, with an embararssing heel strike…

In pain and discouraged…

Finishing with a reluctant smile…still processing lessons learned.

Mile	Split Time	Best Pace	Avg HR	Max HR	Calories
1	0:09:40	7:36	153	174	121
2	0:09:28	8:15	167	172	126
3	0:09:08	7:37	167	171	125
4	0:08:45	7:06	166	171	125
5	0:08:53	7:12	165	172	126
6	0:09:27	7:37	170	175	126
7	0:08:29	6:49	167	172	126
8	0:09:36	7:52	171	175	126
9	0:12:21	7:25	156	173	113
10	0:14:06	7:22	137	153	97
11	0:15:18	9:54	126	142	96
12	0:15:22	10:19	127	142	88
13	0:15:16	9:17	130	145	90
13.2	0:03:25	10:00	148	161	25
Summary	2:29:20	6:49	150	175	1,510

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