Strides for Hope 5k

I just realized I never posted about my Strides for Hope run on a sprained ankle. The morning of the race I decided to wrap my ankle for stability and changed to my old running shoes, also for stability. I found that if I stretched the ankle before running it was easier to log three or more miles on it. So I got to the start of the race an hour early and took my time stretching. Everything was on for a good easy run.

Exactly 100 steps into the race my ankle made a weird pop and I felt pain shoot into my hip. It was not a good thing to feel. I made the decision I would walk the rest of the route; I wasn't quitting. I purposefully did not track the run as I didn't want to know where in the route I was. I listened to the audiobook version of Game of Thrones while I walked. The cadence of the reading was perfect to keep me at a nice pace.

I paced myself with a woman undergoing chemotherapy and her two friends. I was joined in this little group by a father and his five year old son and an older gentleman. It was a great little group and we all got to know each other over those 3.1 miles. They kept me focused on where I was going and why I was doing it over the pain in my foot. I don't think I could have done it without them. The last tenth of a mile we all ran. If nothing else I can say I ran across the finish and that hill to reach it was a beast but I did it.

I crossed the finish in exactly 45 minutes. It was the hardest but also the most rewarding and freeing 45 minutes 3.1 miles of my life. Now onto the next thing--the Nationwide Children's Hospital 1/2 marathon on October 20th.