I celebrated my birthday yesterday by competing in a local 10k, the Wichita River Run.  My first race since the car accident.  I was so excited.  And a bit nervous.  I didn’t want to get hurt, so I prepared a planned to run a slower pace.  The plan was to run at a natural pace with medium effort.  I also wore a back brace with an ice pack on my back.  

I woke up at 5:30AM with race time scheduled for 7:15.  I completed 30 minutes of DDP Yoga plus 20 minutes of rehab work before leaving the house. 

The race itself ended up being easy.  I ran at a relaxed pace and enjoyed the ride.  I saw many familiar faces and a few friends before/during/after the race.  I hadn’t seen many of these folks since prior to the injury.  Was nice to catch up.  My family was close to the finish line to cheer me on.  What a beautiful morning.  

I finished with a time of 51:16.  This was good for 90th overall and 8th in men’s 40-44 division.  

I feel bad for those who never get to experience some sort of race in their lifetime.  There is a euphoric feeling when approaching and crossing the finish line.  The payoff.  It’s intoxicating and exhilarating.  I’ve missed this in my life.  

I took a rest day from intense working out and I’ll do the same thing tomorrow. I intend to use extra caution after races moving forward.  I did a very mild DDP Y routine today plus 30 minutes of rehab work. Once rehab was complete, I spent several hours in the hot tub with intermittent intervals in an ice bath.  I’ll do the same thing tomorrow along with a cryotherapy session.