Jim's Comeback Race

9 Months Post Pulmonary Embolism.... Not many people would go into a 50 Km race- But Jim did!

4 Months of Running ....Not many people would be ready for a 50 Km race- But Jim was !

He trained hard, got his nutrition downpat and was feeling confident.

Jim decides to do "SCORCHED SOLE" in Kelowna. He heard it was  "EASY"  previous years.

BUT,

The race director this year decided to make it much more difficult- giving it about  a 2850 meter elevation gain, in the Kelowna desert heat, with no cover!  Thats about 400m more gain than Knee knacker.

MY VERSION OF SCORCHED SOLE FROM HOME I Wait....

7 hours in I'm expecting a   finish line call... no calll. Hmmmm. Finally, 10 hrs  pass and I get a call from his training partner who just crossed the finish line without him. Now I'm worried. At this point I would rather be running the race than waiting!  Apparently, elites who take 5-6 hrs to finish  a race took 7-8 to finish this one.

And wait....

I get random calls from other friends they dropped down from the 50 mile to 50 km as the trail had so much bushwacking it was difficult to run in. They saw Jim at an aid station, sitting in a chair  with reports of  back spasms. They figured he planned to DNF.

"Thats what she said"- Being married to a Physio, one would think he would work on his CORE. But nooo, he did not.  Apparently he was running great till it broke down on him, then every step hurt. Chair!

Impatience is a virtue?

Jim waits in the chair for about an hour and 1/2  with a group of people also thinking of DNF'g . He was told he had to wait until takedown to get a ride back. He is not a patient man, so he got up, and  gutted it out to the finish line.  Everyone was suprised to see him cross 11 hours later!!

JIMS SCORCHED SOLE RACE REPORT:

It was HOT,

It was LONG,

It was STEEP

It was a lot of BUSHWACKING.

A lot shorter than my race reports!-. A man of few words.  He did later say how beautiful the area was, so he did manage to enjoy the journey :-)

IN THE END

Jim was proud and happy that he finished and he served as an INSPRATION to me. If he can gut out 11 hours in a 50 km with only a few months of training ... could I pull off a 50 mile ???

I ask : "So, has this turned you off from 50 Km's forever? "

His answer: "No, eventually I will forget and go in another one"
Don't we all. ....Dont' we all !


Heather