This was my second time running it. This time I ran the third leg which goes over the causeway from Padre Island and ends up right outside the Naval Air Station here.
It was a beautiful view from the top of the JFK causeway looking out over the Laguna Madre as the sun rose behind me, though it was overcast and muggy as all hell. And I was woefully under prepared for the run.
Last year, I swore that I would do a better job of staying in shape so that when B2B came around I would not be in as much pain as I was last year. I did alright keeping that promise and was in pretty decent running shape up until about three weeks ago.
Three weeks ago I was playing with R.J. and J.T. and somehow twisted wrong and did something with my rib. I don't know if I tweaked a rib muscle or popped it out of socket a bit, but it hurt something fierce. So bad that I even made a trip to the ER clinic in town.
Long story short, that put a hiatus on most any type of exercise for the next three weeks. So I went into Beach 2 Bay as cold as you can get.
I knew I was in trouble when I got about halfway up the bridge and my calves were already burning from the climb and I was desperately checking my phone to see how much distance I had left.
The worst part came however when I hit about the two mile mark. At about this point, my right foot went completely numb. This had never happened to me before and it was a bit disturbing. Not too mention that it made running that much more difficult. It was hard to tell how my foot was hitting the ground because I couldn't feel it.
I would ease up my pace and walk a bit and the feeling would return but as soon as I began to run again BOOM! my foot would go back numb.
So my final 2 miles was more of a start/stop than a run and I am sure that those passing me though I must've been crazy as I walked around shaking my foot around.
In the end though I finished, and just like last year, the finishing is the best part. There really is nothing like going to the finish line celebration and cheering on the last leg, plus hanging out with literally thousands of people who have just gone through the same thing you have.
Still, Monday morning was a sore morning and I limped my way through work the rest of the day. Hopefully this year I really will be able to stay in shape and maybe even improve to the point where I can begin approaching runs like Beach 2 Bay with a competitive bent rather than just as a fun activity to do once a year.
I do know though that no matter what kind of shape I am in, I will run again next year.
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