So Far So Good

Hey All; Whether I would participate in any of the events of the Lake Tahoe Marathon this past weekend was always questionable, as I didn't want to push any limits and re-injur myself. On Friday I felt great after a decent 6 mile run on Thursday, so I registered for the 10k (6.2 miles). The course starts at the top of Emerald Bay and loops down to Hope Beach. If you know the road, you remember the hairpins and steep road (all downhill) for the first 1.5 miles. I got pretty close to the front (mostly so I wouldn't trip over people who invariably have a different pace than me). I went out with a pretty normal pace, fast, but not flying. I didn't want to exert all I had too early, and the hills are notoriously painful to run down if they are that steep. I swear I thought there were a bunch of people in front of me, so I was running my own race, laboring as I am not quite in the shape I'd like to be in. I also knew that at the high altitude, the breathing would be more difficult. I settled in, enjoyed the view and ran... I would say I passed 5-6 people, all breathing harder than I, exchanged a "good job, keep it up" with each one. Down along the waterfront, in the trees near Valhalla Estate, a passed one more individual and just kept going. This is where things got strange. I still thought there were people ahead of me (for I had no reason to suspect otherwise). The course wound back to the main road, in front of Camp Richardson, where there were tourists wandering about. The course markings got a bit sporadic for a moment, so I guessed and plowed forward as there was no one in front of me "in my sight". I took a left down the entrance towards hope beach, where spectators were walking down the left side of the road (there was yellow tape in the middle). I kept my pace at that point, because I knew I had a little ways to go. Rounding the corner, people started cheering, so I sprinted towards the finish line (as I am inclined to do at most races). The cheering escalated, so I ran faster. The announcer said over the loud speaker "and here we have our first 10k finisher". What? Then they held out the tape for me to break, and an older gentleman told me over the line as he handed me a water "you won". What? When I see that photograph, I will be surprised if there's not a look of confusion on my face. I wandered around, a bit stunned, as I spoke with the other top two about the course, our speeds, who'd passed who and where, etc. I remain stunned today, a day later, and am waiting for the results to post on the Internet as I'm sure they will change their mind. I was able to stick around and participate in an awards ceremony where I stood on a podium and had my picture taken with a trophy they gave me. So far, so good. I'm achy today (I did run an average 6.23 minute per mile pace), but don't think I did damage to my former stress fracture. I'm still waiting a few days before I run again to make sure. What's next? I have to be careful. I had one successful (relatively short) race. Now I need to build mileage. The last two weeks, I've done about 20 miles over the course of the week. I need to increase this ever so slightly over the next month and keep an eye on my leg. Running is AWESOME!!! Steve