Notes
Ridgewood 10k
Came into it feeling good and ready to get another PR, but quickly blew up in the first two miles. It was a group of Ethiopians setting out in what was probably under 5 minutes for the first mile and then me trailing about 10 seconds behind with no one to run with.
Having to run the whole race alone unless someone managed to catch up to me, having some chest pain that came out of nowhere after the first mile, and the worst of it all, having a sudden back cramp just before 2 miles in with still over 4 miles to go led to the ultimate decision of having to drop out. Had to get transported back to the start line where I got examined to see if I needed further attention. I decided to dismiss it as a cramp resulting from dehydration and chose not to visit the hospital.
Having to drop out of the race was just disappointing, but I was not running with good form and didn't want to aggravate the situation, so I ended up making the best decision at the time. I took off the rest of the day without cooling down or any small jog afterwards. I'll see how my back feels tomorrow.
Not gonna dwell on this too long except for finding out what went wrong and how to make things right next time. Debating on the 5 mile race in about 3 weeks from now. I don't want to cut my season too short since I have another long season ahead of me. I might just grind out these last few weeks before shutting it down.