Monday, April 30, 2018

Deer Run 5K - Falling into 3rd Place






"The power inside of you is far great than any problem outside of you." - Dr. Ben Lerner

I did the Deer Run 5K in Brown Deer, this last Saturday. It is part of a championship series for the Badgerland Strider's, the local running club.

This race is special to me because it is the race where Team CMT had it's first race 6 years ago. We started with just three of us and we have now grown to more than 200 members in 39 states.

There were two distances contested, the 5K and 10K. Right mow I am doing shorter distances until I gear up for the New York marathon in November. Right now I am enjoying the shorter distances as I compete in the shorter club series. Last year I won the club championship for the short distance, this year I am currently in second place.

I get points toward the series depending on how I finish. Last year I finished 4th in my age group and was hoping for the same.

The race start was at 9 am and I was there by 7:30. I have no idea why I get there so early. I always get a good parking spot and time to relax before I do my pre-race warm-ups.

It always seems to be cold the weekend of this race and everything is outside. Since it was only 38 F and windy I waited in my car for the race start until it was time to warm-up.

I do some easy running and dynamic stretches to get ready. It gives me a chance to get the layers right.  I chose to run without a jacket. For once I got the layers right.

My plan was to run easy for just a couple of minutes and then run moderately hard the rest of the race.
 It takes the first few minutes to weed through the crowd. Everything was going according to plan. I was pushing the pace, but could still carry on a conversation. I was a runner wearing a NY marathon jacket and asked him about the course.

I saw a women that looked to be in my age group. I passed her, then she caught me. I decided to take off and put her away. As I went over a pot hole in the road, my ankle gave out and I went down.   Because of my CMT, I have very night calves and inflexible ankles. Sometimes the only thing they can do is turn over sideways.  This was the third fall I've had in a month.  The other two falls happened when my foot got caught on a rise in the side walk during a training run. Those were both scary because I violently fell forward. I landed on my palms both times and they are still sore.  I am hoping this is not going to become a pattern. So far I have not been hurt.

It hurt when I hit the ground and several runners around me checked on me.  The runner in my age group caught me, but I was back on my feet pretty quickly and finally put some distance between us. I was careful to be quick through all the water stops.

I was a cold day, but the sun felt warm when the wind was at our backs.  The course was flat and fairly easy. I finished in 31:20, not a great time, but good enough for 3rd in my age group.

I'm fine after the fall and it did not seem to affect my placing. I got lucky this time.  I always promised myself that if I start falling in races I will stop racing. Hopefully this is not a start of a pattern. Time will tell.




**************************


Chris Wodke
Founder & Manager Team CMT
www.run4cmt.com

Chris is a triathlete and long distance runner. She is a three time participant of the Boston Marathon.  In 2012 she finished 2nd at Boston in the Mobility Impaired Division. She was on the course in 2013 when the bombs exploded.

She has appeared three times at the Para triathlon National Triathlon Sprint Championship. She was the 2012 and 2014 National Champion Para triathlon Open Division Champion.

In 2014 she was the PC Open Champion at the Duathlon National Championship and at the Aqua bike National Championship in 2016. She represented Team USA at the Aquathon ITU World Championship in Chicago in 2015 and at the World championship in Cozumel in 2016.  

 In 2014 she represented the U.S. as a paratriathlete at the Pan-American Triathlon Championship in Dallas, Texas.  She has won state championships in cycling and triathlon as a senior Olympian. In 2017 she placed 2nd in her age group at the Winter Triathlon National Championship, earning a spot on Team USA for the World Championship.

She travels around the country raising awareness of CMT.

She is the author of the book, “Running for My Life” that details her experience as a CMT affected athlete.

You may visit her author page at:
http://www.amazon.com/Christine-Wodke/e/B00IJ02HX6

Team CMT is a group of athletes and supporters working to raise awareness and to find a cure for CMT. We have 213 members in 39 states. We also have members in Australia, England, Scotland, Canada, Vietnam, Turkey, Finland, Scotland, France, Poland, Iran, Norway and Sweden. If you wish to join us visit our web site; www.run4cmt.com or www.hnf-cure.org

CMT or Charcot-Marie-Tooth is the most commonly inherited peripheral neuropathy. It affects over 155,000 Americans (as many as MS).  It is a disease of the nerves that control the muscles. It is slowly progressive, causing loss of normal function and or sensation in the lower legs/feet and arms/hands.

Symptoms include; muscle wasting in the lower legs and feet leading to foot drop, poor balance and gait problems Atrophy in the hands causes difficulty with manual dexterity.

Structural foot deformities such as high arches and hammer toes are common.

Poor tolerance for cool or cold temperatures and many people have chronically cold hands and feet.

Additional symptoms may include fatigue, sleep apnea, breathing difficulties and hearing loss.

Additional Link
Follow CMT affected Paratriathlete Timmy Dixon
http://cmtamputee.wordpress.com/

Follow CMT Author Chris Steinke
https://cmtandmesite.wordpress.com/2017/01/30/what-is-charcot-marie-tooth-disease/


Keywords: Running, Running and CMT, triathlon, triathlon and CMT, athlete and CMT, cycling and CMT, paratriathlon, challenged athlete, Team CMT, Running for My Life-Winning for CMT. Hereditary Neuropathy, Charcot-Marie-Tooth.
CMT and running, CMT and triathlon, CMT and athlete, Charcot-Marie-Tooth and running, Charcot-Marie-Tooth and triathlon, Team USA and Team CMT, Running for my life-Winning for CMT, CMT athlete, athlete and CMT, triathlete and CMT, Boston Marathon Bombing, CMT disease, CMT and exercise, exercise and CMT, CMT, athlete and CMT.Team CMT, CMT athlete, athlete and CMT, bike4CMT, walk4CMT,  CMTA, HNF, Tri4CMT, Walk4CMT, MDA

Posted by at

1 comment:

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)