Peachtree City Classic 2009 15k Run

I am certainly no runner, but I did choose to punish myself this last Saturday at the Peachtree City Classic 15k run. It did not go that well for me. It was a cold morning and I rode a bike from the shop over to our Bicycles Unlimited tent, so I would not have to find parking for my hotrod car. I started off the run feeling fast, but felt something like a tiny pebble was under my left heel. It did not seem like a big enough deal to stop to remove it since that would only make me loose time. This was a race after all. I just decided to run a little funny, favoring my right leg. At mile 1 my time was 6:35. "Not bad" I thought, since I did not start anywhere near the front of the pack. My right leg was befinning to hurt though since I was overusing it. I slowed down a little to compensate. At mile 2 my time was 13:55 and that is when I started walking. My entire right quad felt like it had just exploded. I was in a lot of pain. I massaged it a little and walked. It was too painful to even jog for a long time. I lost a ton of time. I watched as many people I know passed me. Even Mark Anderson passed me! After a while I progressively hobbled, jogged and then was able to run again. I passed all but two of the people I know personnaly that had passed me. When it was over and it was time to ride back to begin my work day I could not even complete a pedal stroke. It was too painful to lift my right leg that high. After standing and riding a little I was able to loosen the leg up enough to make the 2.5-mile journey back to the bike shop. Here is the good part of the story. When I got undressed to shower at the shop I saw that the little pebble under my left heel was actually a push pin shoved through my shoe that had been poking the bottom of my heel over and over again for 15k (9.3 miles). I had a large blood stain on my sock with a new hole in it (Did not have any old holes by the way). I do not know which one of you pushed the pin through my shoe, but I will never forgive you. That day I was saying that I would never run again, but now I look forward to showing my real abilities on foot. It will have to wait until my heel heals though. I am still limping from the push-pin. It did not effect me when I rode 61 miles on Monday though. Moral of the story: Running is hard on the body. Do yourselves a favor by riding a bike at least 98% of the time.