Instead of competing in my first half Ironman distance Triathlon, I spent the weekend at two local races. While my teammates traveled to Nor Cal and camped out at Lake San Antonio in the rain, I stayed in the comfort of my home in PV. ( But I missed them greatly...)
Last Spring, I completed back to back marathons in Washington DC and then Atlanta, Georgia. This time, since I'm still recovering from my ski injury, I walked the 5K at the PV Marathon/Half/ 5K event on Saturday and volunteered at the OC Marathon on Sunday. I usually run a 5K in 21 or 22 minutes. This time I took 55 minutes! Wow I don't know how people have the patience to walk a marathon. I'm not use to being this slow and I was itching to run, but I know my knee is not stable yet.
On Sunday, I got a chance to do something that I've always wanted to do, serve as a race volunteer. Usually I'm running in the race, but now with the injury, I could still be a part of the marathon as a volunteer. I brought the kids and we helped at the mile 19 / 20 water / powerade station. It was fun to hand out the water and to cheer on the runners as they hit the WALL. We got a lot of "Thank-you for being out here" from the runners. That certainly made us feel good about volunteering.
Later Sunday, I biked on the hills of PV for the first time since my injury. I'm not as strong as before and went slower, but I was able to climb the hills without any pain. I did feel some knee discomfort when I tried to pedal standing. I'm hoping that with improved conditioning, I should be back to my previous cycling form soon. I'm hopeful that I will be able to join my Ironteammates at next weekends cycling workout.
I sometimes get more joy cheering for other racers than doing the race myself. After the half marathon on the 25th, several teammates and I spent 3 hours cheering our mrathon teammates. it was great! Man was I hoarse!
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