| So I twisted my ankle a little bit more than halfway through the relay. It rolled over and hurt a whole bunch and I knew that it would be bad. But then as I approached control 11 I stopped noticing the pain. After I drew my course and stood up I remembered it again. I went to the emts and the wrapped it and sprayed cold stuff on it. It hurt for that day, but has been getting better since then. I tried to run the sprint at WC, and I'm not sure if it was really my ankle that slowed me down or my inability to navigate. So I haven't run since Tuesday, which will have some interesting results for the rest of my full summer. I'm planning on running once I arrive in Estonia and then out in Wyoming. The swelling has gone down, but not gone away. I can put weight on it just fine, but it's uncomfortable to run on. |
| The relay started really well for me. I did very well on the first controls. They were all short legs and the leaders didn't get a chance to pull away. On #6, I ran by a control that I didn't think was mine, went a bit further, thought maybe that was mine, went back, it wasn't mine, and then continued down the nose to my control. I looked up to see no one around, paniced that I lost the pack, and ran like a mad woman towards #7. As I emerged from the green I could see everyone on the hillside in front of me. One of the forkings was higher up in the hill, and I think they pulled people up, so I managed to catch up to the back of the train again. The long leg was... long, and although the pack stretched out, I was still with many people. Then we went straight through the green to #9. This was a bad idea and the 5 of us lost the people in front of us. Then 3 of them had a different fork and it left just Pippa from Great Britain and I. I missed the control by a bit, but it wasn't too bad. On the way to 11 is where I managed to really mess up my ankle by rolling it inwards while running on the side of a broad hill. It hurt and I knew it was worse than the usual roll, but I actually managed to forget about it by the time I was punching 11. I could see Japan and Estonia ahead of me, but then I really messed #12, the TV and water control. I left and still could see Japan, but then again botched #13 and was alone on my fork. Was all alone looking for 13, but managed to find the cliff in the green, although slowly and hesitating the whole way. Finished 18th, which wasn't the top 15 as we were hoping, but I think it would have been difficult to stay in the top 15, even if I didn't make the mistakes. After drawing my course I found Ross who found the EMTs and they wrapped my ankle and sprayed cold stuff on it, although there was no ice. Hill gave me piggy back rides for the rest of the day :) We had a good, solid relay run. Not spectacular, but no blow ups from the 3 of us. I am surprised that we finished lower than previous years, but I really do feel that the competition was harder this year. |
