A few days before the race we managed to snag our other running bud, Courtney, to get on board as well as her partner in crime, Morgan. The thought of the crisp winter air must have scared Matt off since he ditched last minute, but he's kind of a pansy like that. Just kidding, he ended up having to work instead.
Did I mention that this run takes place at night, running uphill? Friday night we headed out to Blackstrap bundled up in the warmest of winter running gear to take on Mount Everest. I mean Blackstrap. We arrived at the starting point at 6:30p.m. and it was already trip-and-fall-worthy dark out. I am a klutz at the best of times so dodging in and out of the trees up a hill at night is like a death sentence for someone like myself. Or at least a recipe for a sprained ankle.
A couple months ago I had started running with our new puppy. Coincidentally at the same time I also started having severe knee pain. For some crazy reason I chalked it up to improper squatting, laid off the squats for a while and tried adding even more running into my regime. It wasn't until a few weeks ago Jesse was watching me run and noticed that our bouncy pup was torqueing the bejeezus out of my knee every time I took a step. I always knew running was bad for my health (I'm just kidding all you running enthusiasts, but seriously running with a larger dog that hasn't had much for leash training is a BAD idea!). I've since ditched the running and am working back to my old one rep max back squat of 225 pounds.
With my banged up knee we headed out to do our 5km but I knew it wouldn't be easy. Jesse ran with me and didn't even get annoyed when I had to slow right down for all the sharp inclines and declines. However, he did scold me for repeatedly swearing while my knee was taking a particularly bad beating during one part of the course. Apparently runners don't swear as much as CrossFitters do? And by CrossFitters I mean just me.
The other nice thing about following Jesse through the trails was that he managed to trip over all of the hidden roots and stumps along the path so I knew exactly where they were and could avoid them. Such a kind, thoughtful man that Jesse Dziad is.
The weather was MUCH nicer than it had been in the past years and I was clearly overdressed. About 500 meters into the run I was already stripping off my jackets, gloves and toque. Surprisingly your headlamp doesn't stay on very well with a sweaty forehead and no headwear. As a result I have a bruise on the bridge of my nose where it came down and smashed me in the face. Keep that in mind if you ever have to run with a headlamp.
At the end of the race they had the BBQ fired up for all the participants and had a huge feast spread out. The $30 registration fee was well justified as we stuffed our pockets full of mini cupcakes and hot dogs and headed to soak our limbs in the Jorgensen hot tub time machine!
