I ran the 15K Tulsa Run last weekend.

Pre-race
I picked up my packet the night before the race at the "fitness expo." That part was quick & easy. A few running stores had set up there with quite a bit of inventory. I was looking for Accel Gel but the only gel any of them seemed to have was Gu. I don't like Gu so I went down the street to Academy Sports.

I opened the envelope out in the car and couldn't find the timing chip. So I went back inside, looked around on the floor, and finally asked the race packet people. The explained that it's a disposable chip, flat, and attached to the race number. Good - problem solved, on to the sporting goods store.

Someone told me the temperature at the race start was going to be 36F (I'd figured on mid-40s) so I decided to look for a hat. I ended up getting a very thin Under Armour balaclava. My thinking was that I could wear it around my neck or on my head (or both) and then wear it on my arm when I warmed up. It was more than I planned to spend, but since it was half a day from the race what could I do?

Race morning
I got to downtown Tulsa around 7:45, a little over an hour before the race. I parked in the city garage across the street from the finish, ready to pay the $5 and not knowing it was free. The private lots were charging $5 or $10 so I assumed the garage would be also...

I changed into my running shirts, put on my number & shoes, and pulled on my coat. I walked around for an hour, took pictures of the 5K start, drank water, wandered through the crowd on the off chance I'd see someone I knew. Fifteen minutes before the race I took off my coat & pants and jogged the couple of blocks up to the start. That was the extent of my warm up. I had some mild muscle cramping a couple of days before the race so I ate half a package of Clif Shots.

I wore two tech t-shirts, my Live Strong cycling sleeves (GREAT idea), my new balaclava, Nike running shorts, no-show running socks, and my New Balance shoes. I carried my ID, a credit card, car key, and a gel in my Amphipod wallet, and my race number was proudly pinned to my $3 web "race belt." I wore my Garmin heart rate monitor, foot pod, and F50 watch. No sunglasses or gloves.

The start
I worked my way far enough into the crowd to get away from the north wind and get a little body heat. I couldn't hear the announcer but I figured he was saying the same things he said at the 5K start. I heard the gun go off and then ... nothing. After around half a minute we started walking forward, and by the time I could see the start line we were actually running. I think it took about 1:30 to cross the start line. I hit the lap on the Garmin as I crossed the line and I was off.

The first 5K
The first third of the race was nice and easy. I fell into a slow easy pace right away and just went with it. Something started hurting as soon as I started running, either my calf or my shin, I don't remember. I just took it easy and eventually it faded. I never looked at my watch to check my heart rate or pace. My bike sleeves are long enough that I can easily pull them down over my hands in place of gloves so that's how I ran most of the way. I walked through every water station. The route went from downtown east on 15th through Cherry Street, then south on Utica to 21st. We turned toward the river at Utica Square.

The second 5K
The second third went pretty much like the first. I just ran with a nice easy pace back to the river, and south along Riverside Drive. I continued to walk each water station. I could tell I was running but I felt great the entire time. By this time I had taken off the balaclava and clipped it through the race belt. I pulled the sleeves down to expose some skin but I left the Live Strong logos clearly visible on my wrists on the off chance I might inspire someone.

My no-show socks slipped down a little and I had a bleeding blister on my left Achilles tendon. I let it go for two or three clicks before I finally stopped at the turn-around (roughly 9.5km), took off my shoe, and reset the sock. I didn't have any problems after that. If I'd known it was that easy a fix I would have done that much sooner. (Note - I didn't plan to wear those socks but I couldn't find the taller ones.)

The third 5K
This is where it gets interesting. I took my gel and two cups of water somewhere after the 10K mark. Vanilla Accel Gel is delicious, I actually carried the packet and tried to suck more flavor out of it for a while. I felt really good, although by this point my knees were getting sore and my right shoe was starting to feel tight.

Just after the big uphill around 12km I felt this great wave of pain erupt over me, starting with my knees and going through my whole body. My back, my neck, my arms, everything hurt. I could feel my scalp bouncing on my head and I could feel gravity pulling on each hair on my head. It was wild. But at the same time I had a huge endorphin rush and I just kept thinking, "this is too easy, I want some real pain" or something about as stupid. I know I had a big crazy grin on my face for most of this. After ten minutes or so the pain passed and I had some weird nerve activity. Both hands and one leg went numb. Not all at once but in little flashes like a light that's flickering out in a movie. After a minute or two this passed and everything was fine.

The finish
The rest of the race was not easy, not hard, just running. If there was water after 11km I didn't see it. At 14km they called out 1:53 so I suddenly realized I could get in under two hours if I hustled. (I didn't look at my watch the whole race so I had no idea how I was running, I felt like I was going so slow that I would finish in 2:30.) I picked up the pace and started passing people. The course was mostly flat, maybe cresting before a gradual downhill so it was pretty easy. The first thing I heard the announcer say was that we needed to kick if we wanted to break two hours, so I really picked up the pace, not to full sprint but to what I would call a good fast run. I crossed the line somewhere around 1:57 so I did the last km in 4 minutes, which is about 6:30 per mile. I believe my last kick was that fast, but the time must be off somewhere because my fast run was probably more like 8:00 per mile.

Too bad I can't maintain that for the whole race, or even 5K. I'll get there as my joints get stronger.

Post-race
After the finish line there is a long slow-down area that wraps around the post-race party. The last gate to pass through was full of boxes and boxes of candy bars, and volunteers handing them out by the handful. I took three and started eating a Snickers while I was getting through the crowd to get a banana. Next stop was the massage tent, where I stood in line for about half an hour. They tried to stretch my hamstrings and calves. I'm sure they did good work, but after that my knees got really stiff. The free beer, the awards, and most of the crowd was gone, so I headed to the car. By the time I got there (across the street) my right knee was so stiff I wasn't even picking it up off the ground.

The damage
Both knees were very sore. No ice on anything, but I did put a cold water bottle under one knee for the drive home. I wrapped them with ace bandages in the afternoon. The top of my right foot was very sore so I wrapped it also. I unwrapped everything in the evening and my foot hurt like crazy right on top of the first cuneiform, just upstream from the big toe metatarsal. My knees were so stiff I could barely walk so I didn't. The next day I could limp around pretty well, and by today (day 3) they are still stiff and sore, but not too bad. I feel like running.

The foot still hurts. I can walk on it but I have not tried running. If it still hurts in a couple of days I will assume it's a stress fracture and try to take it easy. I hope not, because I have a half marathon in a couple of weeks.

Overall
Great race, great fun. Wish I was faster.