Tiger FA - a race of attrition....

Except I felt like the attritionee! I ran the 25K loop this morning with a bunch of other Fat Asses, and though my time was slightly faster than last year, and I thought for sure I would be DFL, I feel better than I did last year. When we took off, I felt weirdly strong running up the road. By the time we got to the first big climb (about mile 3?) I was starting to fade a little. Soon the faster younger set left me and I could occasionally hear their shouts but never saw them, except when they stopped for a break at Paw Print. It was always a surprise to me to come up on someone, especially when running for an hour or more alone.

At times it felt a bit like relentless forward motion, as my climbing skills leave a bit to be desired. And I ran most of the middle to end by myself, which I kind of liked, as there was no pressure to try to keep up with someone and hurt myself. I did the usual left ankle roll about 2 miles in, but seemed to recover okay. My left foot also bugged me in the third metatarsal and my right ankle had a weird twinge if I stepped on it wrong. Don't know if it had to do with the buddy taping method to limit mobility in my big toes, but all this lasted off and on for about 3/4 of the run, then mysteriously went away.

I had fun at Tiger No. 1 summit - arms spread wide and taking in the view. The wind be damned!! Okay, that lasted a minute then I wanted to get out of the wind. The other two summits were sort of anticlimatic and I was so happy to see the sign saying I had 3 miles to the end at No. 3! Right before I got to summit no. 3, I did see Uli Steidl coming down the trail for his second loop (50K was a double loop, with the second in reverse from the first). I stepped aside and then greeted him with praying hands and slight bow. I'm sure he thought I was nuts, but what else do you do when a demi-god comes running towards you?

As I started the three mile descent, I really had to "tuck in", keep a strong core, and think upwards so I wouldn't land too heavy and roll the ankle. Last year I must have rolled it six times going down, so I was determined not to repeat that mistake! It was rocky, some roots, and muddy, but I did okay. At times coming down the snow was blowing hard into my eyes making it tough to see. And I am sure my obliques are going to tell me about the descent tomorrow - I felt like I had overdone it on the bicycle kicks!

It was fun to see people coming up the hill for their second loop, like Van, Eric, Steve, and Shawn. They are such studs, or more masochist than me! All in all, even though I had some low moments out there, it was better than last year, and I feel pretty good! My goal is to get back to Tiger for some more training. Beat me, whip me, make me write bad checks!