After my roommate, Cele Rodriguez (formerly of Adams State), and I made it to the starting line I found a place to lay down for a while. Laying flat on my back was about the only way that I was pain free the whole day. About an hour before the race I headed out for my normal warm up jog and tried to put the pain in my back out of my mind. Of course, after a few minutes of jogging it became clear that it wasn’t going to be my day. I started debating whether or not I should even start the race but I had no idea what I was going to say to the race director if I didn’t at least start the race. I went through a stretching routine and tried to bolster my flagging confidence but instead I contemplated what part of the course was the best spot to drop out. As a last ditch effort to relieve the pain in my back I found a member of the medical staff to quickly rub BioFreeze on me. They obliged and at first things seemed ok. My spirits raised, I went out for what I call my “extended run.” It’s usually 3 minutes around 5 minute mile pace to prepare my body for a hard effort. On this day, it was barely 6 minute pace and I slowed to a jog after the first 2 minutes because of the pain. At this point I decided that I was definitely going to drop out but I would at least start in the hopes of the adrenaline carrying me for a mile. I jogged down to the start of the 4 loop course and I noticed that I was the only entrant in the elite race that hadn’t even bothered to take the timing chip off the ankle band and put it on my shoe. I also didn’t bother to do any strides because I knew the extra effort would only make my back tighter. Before the race started I decided my goal was to run almost 2 full laps; I even had the exact location for my drop out picked. I decided this would be far enough that the race director would understand and invite me back to the event next year, but it wasn’t far enough to due a lot of extra damage to my back. Within 100 yards of the start the pain was pretty bad. It was a pain that is hard to explain but I’ll never forget it. It felt like a screw driver was being pushed between two of my ribs next to my shoulder blade. It caused my whole back to tighten up made it really hard to breathe. I survived the first lap, but mostly thanks to our pedestrian pace. We came through the finish line (just more than one lap) in about 4 minutes and the announcer comically said “Wow! They are on world record pace, coming through the mile right around 4 minutes.” The mile mark wasn’t for a couple hundred more meters and I think I was around 4:35 or 4:37. The pace felt so easy except my back was getting much worse and moving my right arm back and forth was getting hard. About 600 meters later I came to my designated drop out point and I saw another competitor step off exactly where I had planned. I won’t name names, but I’ve never hated another runner more than I hated that guy at that exact moment. My plan was ruined and I didn’t know what I was going to do; this meant that I was going to have to run another 1200 meters to get back to this spot. By the time that I got back to the finish line again the leaders had gapped me and I was running alone when the announcer said “And here’s last year’s champion, Blake Boldon, running strong.” Right then, I hated that announcer more than the guy who had dropped out. Not only was I embarrassed to be back that far, I now felt obligated to stick it out even farther. A half lap later I passed the 2 mile mark around 9:15 and I realized that I was ahead of some good runners (including an Olympian) so I decided to hang on as best I could and finish. After I crossed the line I couldn’t stand up straight but it hurt as much to bend over and grab my knees. I hobbled to the VIP tent to get a massage but they told me I had to cool down first. I didn’t tell them that I couldn’t cool down, but I did head back to the start line to gather my things and change my shoes. After a massage I met up with my buddy Jim Sorensen who had graciously driven down to watch the race and then pick me up so that I wouldn’t have to spend Thanksgiving Day alone. It took me about 11 minutes to jog the mile back to the hotel and that’s all I could handle. I rushed to shower and collect my things and then Jim and I were on our way to Modesto to spend Thanksgiving Day with Jim’s girlfriend’s family. I spent the afternoon at the home of Don and Liz McInnes-Messamer in the company of Alissa Shook’s family. I was in a lot of pain especially when I laughed or coughed and Jim seemed to think it was hilarious to get me laughing. His claim of “laughter is the best medicine” never seemed more untrue. Aside from a great Thanksgiving meal with welcoming hosts, it was a tough trip. A big part of me feels like it was a lost opportunity to compete with world class athletes, but there were a lot of positives. I managed a 14:33 5k under terrible circumstances and I truly feel that it was the toughest race that I’ve ever run. I was the 3rd American overall, behind an Olympian and an American record holder and I left San Jose with a new sense of confidence. I’m looking forward to the spring when I can take a crack at a healthy 5k. Happy New Year hopefully I can stick to my resolution and eliminate this embarassing lag time between posts.
