I've listened to runners talk about how fun and exhausting the long runs in Shelby Forest can be. During the 10 mile races, I watched runners zoom across the finish line in less than an hour. One hour! After being out there, I don't know how the hell they do it. Those hills don't play, and they're one right after another. But the course is one of the most beautiful in and around the city.Here is a video from the infamous switchbacks. It took less than three minutes to climb, but felt like it lasted forever. We ran down those hills, then attempted to run back up them. On the way, we passed a girl who'd fallen and hurt her hand. She was being walked back to the finish line. My heart sincerely broke for her.
After the run ended, I felt great. I didn't have any shin pain, which was something I'd been battling for a while now. My feet didn't hurt. Life was good! I survived! A few people cheered my name--wonderful people I'd met in the Memphis Runners Track Club. I stormed across the finish line with a battlecry. That's not an exaggeration. I ran so hard it felt like I'd been speared in the center of the chest. After all, that's what we do. Finish hard, like a freakin' warrior.
So, I pretty much spent all of Sunday in the bed or on the couch, on a heating pad. Not because I had a serious injury. Nope. I'm proud to report there were no foot, knee, shin, or hip pains for this one. In fact, I didn't really feel like I'd been bulldozed by death as I'd expected to be. The soreness was in the glutes, quads, hamstrings... all those big muscles in the top of the leg. Sunday felt like I'd leg-pressed my way to eternal damnation. I verbally compromised with those muscles every time I got up or sat down--yes, that includes the toilet.
All in all, I was pretty pleased with the entire day. It started with Confident by Demi Lovato and ended with me feeling pretty damn... confident. I felt like a real runner. I ran the switchbacks. That's kinda a big deal around these parts. I laughed a little as I typed that, but there's some truth in it. Someone told me that doing Hill & Dale was about bragging rights. Now I know why.
