08 February 2009

Uncharacteristic

I was on the hook for crew duty yesterday. Tim signed up for the notoriously hard Uwharrie Trail Race; there is a 40, 20 and 8 mile option...he was doing the 20 miler. Tim was a competitive runner in college and loves trail races. I get excited for him...but looking at the results from past years, the times average to just over a 8 min/mile pace which we thought was a little slow. We certainly found out why. Tim said this trail is the most technical he's ever run. He wore his regular racing flats (without socks) and didn't lube his feet at all. At the 8 mile crew stop, he came in about 45 seconds off the chase pack; he had apparently let them go before he topped the hill to the mile marker due to blisters. When he took his shoes off, it was pretty nasty. He was ready to pull out but the race official gave him some mole skin and duct tape and I gave him some socks and off he went. I hurried to the 11 mile crew stop and waited for what seemed an eternity. I was about to enter the trail head to go find him when I saw him limping in. Duct tape and mole skin didn't help and he was now getting more blisters. He pulled out at 11.

I must say I'm proud of him for doing so, simply because he never would have before. He would have suffered for 9 more miles, bloody feet and all and then been unable to walk or work out for 2-3 weeks while his feet healed. I guess he was thinking of the long term goal, White Lake. It will be his first 1/2 IM and he can't afford to miss any training right now. I know it was extremely hard for him.

I had a great run today, got 4.5 miles in. We're having some awesome weather here this weekend. It was a bit painful as I took a nasty tumble down our garage stairs Friday. My lower back is really sore and bruised pretty badly. I've got a long ride on the books for tomorrow.

3 comments:

Michelle Simmons said...

Smart of your husband to look at the big picture! That sounds like a brutal course.

Hope your back isn't hurt too badly...

Angela and David said...

I can't imagine doing a trail run with no socks. Your husband is hard core!

Hope your back is okay.

Allison Chapple said...

I did the Uwharrie 20 in 2005 and it was hands down the hardest race I've ever done (outside of Ironman). I have never been so sore. I also busted my knee open at mile 13 and ran for 7 miles with blood gushing down my leg.

I'm sorry your husband had to DNF, but it sounds like that was a good move to save his feet.