Eight weeks ago, I injured my adductor.

As a fainting specialist when it comes to the human body, I’ve never been that much of an anatomy fan. So much so that this was the first time that I learned an adductor is not an abductor.

That week I had a mountainous 25K called Run Ridge Run on the calendar. The cliffside race features death defying ridges and steep climbs, so it’s not the kindest on adductors or abductors.

I told myself that if the warm-up went fine, I would start the race. The warm-up went fine and I started and finished the race strongly.

But a few days after the race, I couldn’t bend my right leg.

Next on the calendar was to be the Vancouver Sun Run. A chance to break my 10K personal best set over 10 years ago at CIS Cross Country Nationals (back before it was even called USports). I ran 34:20 that year, and knew that if I could get enough speed under my belt, I could come close to breaking that as a much older man.

But six weeks of next to no running wasn’t going to be particularly helpful. I tried to resign from the race but Sun Run doesn’t really do any cashback; so I decided again that I would give it a go.

Yesterday I did my first taste of outdoor strides – getting up to 3:40/km for the first time since the final kilometres of Run Ridge Run in February.

Today, I started the race in 3:13/km. So that was nice.

What wasn’t nice was that I had been placed in the ‘Yellow bib’ zone. I was pretty sure I had signed up for pink, and after checking the receipt, I did indeed sign up for pink. But I guess Sun Run didn’t really respect a PR from 10 years ago and thought I’d be best waiting my turn.

So I did. I didn’t really do much mental preparation for this race. So much so that I didn’t even know I had to pick-up a T-shirt and check the colour of my bib at pick-up yesterday. The young curly-haired guy working the desk just said “You’re good to go.” And so I went.

Being in the ‘Yellow’ bib zone meant that warming up and strides had to be done 15-30 minutes prior to the race start. I tried to do my little bunny hops and karate kicks in the close corridors of other people as I waited, and then finally they let me chase after the pink people at 9:02AM.

I started well with a group of three-four other misplaced Yellow bib guys. One guy immediately took off his shirt to show off his muscles as the rest of us tucked in behind him at around 3:15/km. The race starts on a downhill, and I love downhills. We probably past about 30 “VIP” people within the first kilometre or so before the race went back uphill.

As we began to ascend, I found myself flying alongside a few of the other Yellow bib dudes, and just locked in on pressing the gas pedal with them.

As we crested over a bridge, it was the first time that I truly gained an appreciation for the Mario Kart Switch Vancouver course.

No lie, I think Nintendo nailed it. Passing by pink cherry blossoms, with the water all around, and smooth roads to race on, I actually loved this course for a road race. It was the right amount of hilly, with plenty of variety to work with.

I knew that I could do some little mushroom speed-ups as we entered the first descent of the day, and told the other two Yellow bib guys to come with me. The entire time, I had my eyes set on the third placed runner of the wave, who stayed about 5-10 seconds in front of us, bouncing in his grey top.

Soon afterward, we passed by the 5K mark surrounded by these beautiful pink cherry blossoms, and I saw that I was about 10-seconds off the pace toward personal best. I thought I could probably make up for that time in the final kilometre, so long as the second half of the course didn’t feature as many hills.

I hit the guy in front of me with a red shell and took the next downhill fast once more – thinking I could catch the guy in grey. But as we reached the bottom and the fatigue of navigating around so many people started to set in, I let my mind wander away from the blank thoughts of “go”. I kept up the pace but couldn’t muster up the leg speed to get faster, which is what I needed to do in order to break 34:20.

Around 8K, I told myself “this is the moment to get that 10K best. It’s now or never.” I got a little more mushroom power-up in my legs but unfortunately no coins or star power. This managed to bridge the gap between the other dudes fighting in that Yellow bib wave as we continued to motor past everyone else around us. I looked at my watch for the second and final time at 9K to see that it wasn’t going to happen unless I could lay down a 2:50 final kilometre.

Would have needed a bullet bill for that one.

Safe to say, I didn’t have a 2:50/km in me, and didn’t know when exactly to start that move if the course was going to be longer or shorter.

No race is precise so it’s hard to know sometimes when to start kicking if you have no course knowledge.

With the heart pumping out of the chest, I tried to sprint as fast as possible without kicking it into the highest gear quite yet, until seeing that finish line.

Unfortunately by that time the other few guys I had run the race with managed to maintain their distance and kick just as strongly. I finished in 35:11, about a minute off that 10-year-old personal best.

After patting those yellow bib dudes on the back, I caught up with coach Jade, who I must thank again for being the reason I even run on roads at all.

I didn’t touch a road in almost three years of trail running, and this is only my second proper road race in 9 years.

I can be pretty happy with this race, especially given the beauty of the Mario Kart styled course. So long as they got my chip time right, maybe I can be in with the pinks next year.

Thanks for reading and see you soon!

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