Double Whammy

 I always enjoy the day after go whenever I go long.   Sure there is a bit of muscle pain ,  yeah I may nurse a blister or 2 and holy smokes do I have an appetite and usually feel relaxed beyond imagination.   Sunday was a really strange day for me .   Saturday night I retired with a bit of a sore throat which is something that occurs from time to time when I go long.   Sunday morning I woke up to an incredibly sore throat...not sure about that I thought.  As the day progressed I realized I had come down with a classic head cold..YIKES!   I don't do very well when I try to sleep and I cant breath but last night was just one of those nights.  Not only was I suffering the effects of a head cold add on all the post long run stuff including the "Rash of Scarlet Fever" that I get after the core temp is elevated for a long period of time oh yeah and not to mention the slight Sun Burn I got from nearly 12 hours of on again off again Sun exposure!   On the bright side the timing of my cold couldn't be any better!  I was going to have a day or two of rest anyway so in no way is the cold going to interrupt my "training" ...pretty cool I would say.   No if only I could breath...LOL MAN COLD!!!!!

 Most of the tine when I blog a race its all about the technical aspect of getting it done.   I am always learning and memory is fickled so having    the details to look back on is just part of the process of understanding however I think I am getting pretty good at doing these sorts of things.   "Pretty Good" is very personal because I am allot slower then most  but I really don't care all that much about that's sorts of thing however I do recognize that its a race and from time to time I will rise the occasion.   The way I see it I have  been to Boston so I don't have to run fast any more .....although I am planning a return some time in the next 6 years!  I really measure my success or not by how I run the race.  Saturday I ran almost the entire event ,  6:00 pace at the start 7:00 pace at the end ...not a bad fad after 12 hours,  success in my books!  

 I have a few memories of the Dam Hill Run.   First that pops to mind is running whilst eating a big  ass slice of pizza 3.5 hours into the day...  its was so good and besides the Eggs it was the only solid food I had all day.   It was fun sharing the trails with the dog walkers,  cyclist ,   in line skaters,  families  out for a Sunday stroll ,  all the runners not in the race and of course all those that I was running with.  It was really cool to see Chris Bakers reaction with about 45 minutes to go in his 6 hour race.  He checked with the timers at the start finish and he was leading the event.  It sure out some spring into his step and I am pretty sure he was the first overall...way to be Chris!   Had a nice chat with Christa when I had my mid race break.   The 6 hour folks were bringing it home just before I took my break.  I came across one lady who said " I was amazing" and she went on to tell me she was "just doing a Marathon"...."JUST a Marathon I responded ...look at you ypu did a Marathon today ,,,,you are AMAZING".     How about Debbie doing the 6 hour as a "training run for the Toad".  And to the amazing Brian who flew buy me time and time again just like last year.   The   overall winner of the race was Steve Parks ...one truly talented guy who has worked hard and is truly an inspiration to me.   I am very far removed from the that talent pool yet Steve always makes me feel somewhat accomplished...LOL!     Steve was out to run 100 miles in 16 hours.  Rather an interesting goal when you realize its a 12 hour race.   I tried to wrap my head around why he would do such a thing when there is nothing to gain by it but purely personal satisfaction.  Its probably his fastest 100 miler ever yet he didn't win race or go done in the record books as a official race it was just about doing it .... no glory, no shiny trophy ,  not much fan fare cause everyone was long gone just a personal satisfaction of getting it done ...  I sure respect and admire that!   Cant forget about Chris and  Char!   Cudos to Chris for hanging in there .   He hasn't been running so he pretty much walked the entire event.   Would have loved to have seen Char out there running but she was  part of the enabling crew getting Steve Parks where he needed to be.  If Char isn't running she is usually working some of her race magic.