I spent the first part of my Thanksgiving day running the 97th annual Run for the Diamonds in Berwick, and despite the weather, it was an okay run. I regret to say that I have pulled a muscle in my back (i believe), but the funniest part is, I don’t even know how I did it. I got to Berwick at around 9am this morning, spent some time in the car and finally at 9:30 I headed out for warmup, I spent the next 40 minutes doing some warmups, and changing clothes multiple times (it was hilarious, everytime I left the car, I had a different outfit on). Anyway, I started to head over to the starting line at around 10:15 or so, and as I was standing there waiting for the traffic to stop coming, I felt a little soreness in my middle back, I did a stretch to the left and WOW, it hurt. I’m thinking to myself, “what did I do???” … With the race ready to begin in less than 10 minutes, i held my breath and lined up for it like the true trooper that I am .. I made it fine for the first 6 miles or so, and then it really started to flare up around mile 7, and actually hurt my time. I was struggling really bad because the muscle was hurting so bad, it was making my stomach muscles tight, which slowed me down. I would have to say that I lost probably 30-40 places in the race, and lost around 3 minutes in the race from this injury. I still think I came out okay, because I broke last years time by :22 seconds anyway, so lets see if I can give some splits …

By the way, the splits are messed up because at somewhere in mile 4, I accidentally turned my watch off, so I know that they are messed up, but got it back later on for the finish …

Mile 1 – 8:14
Mile 2 – 8:09
Mile 3 – 9:01 (with the hill)
Mile 4-5 – 16:49 (don’t know the split)
Mile 6 – 7:18
Mile 7 – 7:33
Mile 8 – 7:45
Mile 9 – 7:27

This means you know, that I don’t have a true ‘watch’ time from the moment I crossed the start line to when I finished … oh well, I think my watch was around :20 seconds off from the actual time.

The hill wasn’t that bad, I hit it pretty good, but I was kind of beat by the end of the race. I think the rolling hills at the end of the race are worse than the hill itself, because you’re not expecting them and they aren’t consistent. That added into the fact that I got really competitive with specific people on the course, which pushed me harder, and then of course, the pain in my back wasn’t helping anything.

I think the reason I did better this year in the race than last year, even though I really didn’t train for it, was just race experience. I made up time in the beginning, unlike last year, I have learned how to weave through people better, and I think I also did the hill alot better as well since I have been hill running alot in the past year, plus i’m down 5 pounds in weight as well. It goes to show you that you do get better from year to year, believe it or not, and my time wouldn’t even been better if I wasn’t struggling at the end.

As for the ball of my foot pain, the insert I put into my shoe worked great for the first part of the warmup, but slipped back in my shoe by the end, so my foot took a pounding, and it is sore (not real bad though). Another week and half until Dr. Pete hits me with cortisone, I can’t wait.

I don’t think i’m going to do the Arthritis Jingle Bell Run on Sunday, just because of my back. If I have a miraculous recovery or something, I might run it, but i’m not being that hopeful. I have to rest and focus on being able to get my marathon training miles in above all else.

Happy thanksgiving to anybody reading!