Unfinished Business at Hagg Lake

It really doesn't feel like it has been very long since I completed my first non-stop running race.  I wouldn't even really call it a race... It was an event that I was simply determined to finish.  I have always considered myself a pretty competitive person.  Whether it be a race to beat my personal best time, or another team mate, or even just winning a game of cards.  I hate to lose.  Running has inspired me to never give up, and to never quit even when it hurts.  However, it has also taught me that quitting when it hurts is sometimes the best decision to make if you want to keep racing in the future.  I have competed in many events in the short amount of time that I have been running, and there is one race that I have had to take the DNF and bow out in order to avoid some serious, long-term damage to myself.  I hate to think about that race, but to this day, I know I made the right choice for myself.

Hagg Lake is a muddy beast; and this mud is unlike any other.  It's thick and mucky, making it so hard to pick up your feet, and at the same time very slippery.  The course itself is not so challenging, but the mud makes all the difference.  On Valentine's Day this year, I had set a date for myself and the beautiful mud of the Hagg Lake trails.  31 miles of sweat and mud; it sounded like heaven, and I was so very excited to spend the day of love doing what I love the most.

To say I have unfinished business at Hagg is an understatement.  I dream of going back and destroying that course next year.  And next time, I will have the upper hand.  I cannot blame it all on the mud, even though it was a pretty huge factor.  I also was eating a poor diet of mall food, thanks to my current job at the time.  It also didn't help working mall hours; which meant an inconsistent shift or late nights, and no opportunities to get my long runs in.  Poor diet, lack of training and lots of thick, sticky mud, brought to me my first DNF.  I had made it about 8 miles in when I slipped going up a hill and landed right on my knee.  Oh the pain.  Although, I'm so sure that it was my knee that hurt as much as it was the action that my muscles were unaccustomed to.  My knee was swollen for sure, but I feel that it was my IT band that took me out of the race.

It was one of the hardest decisions to not begin my last lap around the race.  I made it a total of 18 miles that day and decided that going another lap around the lake would probably result in a long term injury that may possibly effect a whole summer of running opportunities.  My competitive self thinks about this course constantly.  I do not wish to go back and beat anyone.  In fact that is never my goal.  My goal is to simply finish, and do my personal very best.  And, of course, when I come to a course I have already completed, it's my goal to do better than I did the last time around. 

Until we meet again, Hagg...