It's official, race season is at an end. I finished my season two weeks ago by running the Fans on the Field 10k with my friend Amy. It was a really cool race, although I didn't really get to "race" it. I ran it with Tyler in the jogging stroller, and there were so many people running that I couldn't run as fast as I would have liked. That's ok, though, it was a fun race, and since I hadn't really been training for the 10k distance anyway, I tried to just treat it like a training run. The fun thing about the Fans on the Field race is that it's named that for a reason. You actually run through three stadiums/arenas over the course of the race. We started out from outside Invesco Field (where the Broncos play) and ran to Coors Field (home of the Rockies), where we did a quick in and out along the third base line from the outfield to home plate and back. Then it was over to the Pepsi Center (home of the Nuggets/Avalanche/Crush) where we ran in one side, ran around the basketball court, and out the other. The last stop was back at Invesco, where we ran through the stadium on the sidelines and out the other side to the finish line. Even though I'm not really a huge fan of any of the teams, it was still pretty cool to get to run through the stadiums like that.
The race itself was a little frustrating just because it was so crowded. A good portion of the course went through pretty narrow areas, so with the number of participants (especially walkers/joggers), it was really hard to maneuver the stroller around them. Tyler had a good time, though! He especially liked running through the Pepsi Center ("Basketball!", followed shortly by a sad "All done basketball?"). At one point I had been trying to get around a couple of girls in front of me for around a quarter-mile or so, and I finally saw an opening. As I went to the side to pass, I heard "GO!" from the stroller. I was like..."Did you just tell me to go?" and one of the girls I was passing said "I'm pretty sure he just did!" It was pretty funny.
Amy, me, and Tyler in front of Invesco after the race
And another reason that race season is officially at an end...I'm going to be having my knee scoped on Thursday. I've been aware for awhile that I was probably going to end up with surgery at some point. We tried everything else to get rid of my knee pain, and nothing worked. So, I saw my orthopedist, and he's going to operate to remove the plica in my left knee, which we're pretty sure is what's irritating things. It should be a relatively minor ordeal, but it is still surgery. I'm a little nervous about dealing with a second floor condo, a toddler, and a dog, but I'll make it work! I should only be on crutches for 3-4 days, and my doctor says I should be back running in 3-4 weeks. I'm hopeful that I'll be ready to go for the first of the Chilly Cheeks races in December. I might not be quite "racing" form, but at least I should be able to get out there and have fun with it! I'm really hopeful that this will help clear up my knee pain, since I felt like that was a major factor holding me back on the bike this year. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't lose too much of my conditioning while I'm laid up! I've got big plans for next year!
Here are the official, kinda embarrassingly slow, results for the Fans on the Field 10k: