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Ran the, "Cha Cha," 7 mile trail run in the White Tank Mountain Regional Park Surprise Az.Everything was going good on the trail I was just cruzzin' along and holding back a bit.We went down our first down hill into a wash.... somebody fell and rolled and tumbled into the wash....I yelled are u o.k! He said he was... so we(runners) all continued on the run.I felt bad for the guy but he had gotten' up and passed me eventually...He was up ahead and then I passed him.. he had pulled over to the side, I guess hurtin'more than he thought.I knew there was a few large inclines,hills,and mountains were comin'up,(since I ran it the prior year). So I was somewhat fresh when I got there.... and proceeded to,"slay the dragons."I won the battle and proceed down the ridge into a narrow trail.... knowing I needed distance between me and other runners.... so I could prod my footing without any distractions ahead of me,(footing is important in this type of running).
I knew somebody had fallen down in this same area the prior year.Well I was going good... increasing my speed and distance and knowing very well what was ahead... conserving for the finish 4 miles down the trail.That all came to a halt when I tripped and tumbled too... onto my right side and ribs.I had just pulled my sun glasses off to put them on my hat because it was somewhat darker in this area.I've had those sun glasses for many," moons running."I rolled up to my feet and didn't even bother to stop... kept going and checking for injuries as I was moving ..I got the wind knocked out of me and my ribs hurt but I sucked it up.I knew eventually I would probally subside to my injuries down the trail...but I was hoping for the best I could do.I was surprised nobody ran over the top of me..... I don't think anybody even saw me fall evidently I had opened up ample distance from runners behind me. A couple runners had by now caught up to me though in this narrow area and went by me. I was disappointed because I usally can open up and keep other runners behind me for I have a fairly good pace at this stage in my running ability.
At this point,"only the strong will survive," I kept telling my self.I had some blood on my left arm and some rocks in my right palm I thought I sprained my right ankle but the pain wasn't too bad.Now my left hand was hurting as I was," trail blazzin"towards the finish.....!I carry a sweat rag in my hand I guess I had it in my left when I went down and my pinky and 4th finger must have been stuck out but the rest of my hand seemed o.k.Enough of the injury report.
I had finished this run in 1:06 minutes in 2008; I wanted 1:00 or under this year.. it seemed at this time not feasible.I've only run a few trail races nothing ultra or anything like that just the moderate races this one is a challenge though. Mountainess terrain,hills,washes,sand, rocks,boulders,and having some ability to do some strageticial running.I passed a few slower runners but I knew I should of been further up the trail than I was and my physical ability was hampered a bit.Well I was fairly fresh going toward the finish line beside the circumstances that I had just endured..I looked up at the clock and it was 1:00:16 ...it would of ,"tickled my fancy" if I'd gotten' 59 something but I'm pleased with the result.When your a runner were always lookin' for a challenge of sort..... that to me is what it's all about!Watch out it's rough out there,enjoy running.Oh,I finished 3rd in my age group only because the 2nd placers tied .
PS:If somebody finds some cheap ZZ top sun glasses out yonder their mine!LOL
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