Monday, April 8, 2013

...Get Back Up and Keep Running - Week 13 (March 31 - April 6, 2013)

Janeen's Run 5K (Atlanta, GA) - April 6, 2013

After a 2 week period without having a formal "race", I was quite excited to have my toe hit the start line again.  If you know me, you know I am a HUGE Georgia Tech fan!  I came across Janeen's Run which is a 5K ran in honor of a Georgia Tech track runner that benefits a scholarship for the track team.  Without a doubt, this race was screaming my name.

There is nothing like watching the sun rise on campus.
This was a smaller run indeed - probably about 150 runners total.  The race started pretty promptly which I always enjoy.  Since Georgia Tech is not a flat campus by any means, the course had its fair share of rolling hills, however it was not too horrible.

My run was going really well - I was practicing 1:30-1:00 intervals at a 13:00 pace to get ready to help pace with my friends at NWMDC at the end of the month and despite the hills I was right on track.  Well, everything changed for me at mile 2.5.  I was running and minding my own business when all of the sudden I was face down on the pavement - yep I face planted!  Fortunatly, my face did not hit the concrete, but my knees and wrist got pretty banged up.



The runners around me and 2 volunteers at the corner saw what happened and came to check on me.  One of my new friends that I made during this episode was Marley!  Marley is a golden retriever that sports a mohawk every summer.  This dog captured my heart!!!



Like any athlete knows, you just have to get up and keep going and that is what I did!  I completed the race - not with the strongest finish, but I completed it.  One of the volunteers that saw my fall radioed ahead to the finish line that I was coming so they could help me get cleaned up.  Thank goodness for the amazing Georgia Tech Police Officer (Officer Marcus) that came to my rescue at the finish!

Officer Marcus' bag of tricks!

My hero!

At least I am smiling!
Despite falling, I really enjoyed running Janeen's Run and I can't wait to run it again in 2014!  I will be running at Tech again this Saturday (4/13 for the Pi Mile) so hopefully I don't get hurt this time!

2 comments:

  1. I still cannot believe you fell! I hope you're knees are healing up well, if they are not already.

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  2. I was probably one of my most embarrassing moments in running! My knees have healed up mostly now. The good news is that I did not fall when I ran the course last weekend :)

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