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It was an early start Sunday, laying awake before the alarm sets off for 4:30am, I really did not want to get out of bed till the alarm goes off, but I could not sleep. By 5:30, I was ready for our 2 1/2 hour journey towards south of the island. It was so dark and quiet for most of the ride to Cowichan Lake. Chris downloaded a map from Google Map, lesson #1 never take their distances literally, as we missed our turnoff and also expecting to find our last turn off sooner rather than later. Chris and I were pretty excited to do the Kinsol Trestle 1/2 a 1/2. It was an event we both had never done, and frankly was a little nervous about it being mostly a trail run. I have troubles with darkness in the trails due to night blindness and depth perception as well as peripheral vision. The colorful fallen leaves scattered all over the trail makes me dizzy and have to watch Chris's feet to avoid any accidents, and because of that, it makes it challenging for me to stay focused. We arrived in plenty of time to pick our race packages and do the usual last minute preparing for the run. We met our friend Annie in the parking lot and started walking towards the start line (15 minute walk) and enjoyed catching up with her during the walk. Suddenly we were off, we didn't even hear the start, so off we go tethered from waist to waist and running at a relaxed pace. Weather was perfect, cool and dry. I had heard that this was a hilly run, I don't mind hills, in fact, I'm pretty used to it as we live in a hilly area. But man, just about the whole run was hills! The first 3 KM was road and the rest was trails, I was surprised how groomed the trails were, not the kind of trails we usually run in at home. It felt good on the feet, no rocks jabbing under your feet or ankles rolling off a rock or two, just smooth cruising. By this time the crowds thinned out, we detached ourselves from the tether and I started to run behind Chris and followed his feet. There was a few tricky spots, leaves and some piles of rocks in the middle of a path before you hit the trestle. Fear suddenly entered my brain, we were about to run onto the trestle (rail bed is replaced with a boardwalk and wide side railings) Chris was telling me the view was incredible, but I could not take my eyes off his feet. We decided to stop on the way back to view the canyon. It was a good decision, I felt more relaxed knowing what i was running on and feeling secured. We hit the turnaround point returning to the trestle, about midway, we stopped to view the canyon and the river. It was absolutely breathtaking, I had to stick my head out between the rails (was too short to see over the rails) so I could actually see the rushing river in the deep canyon laced with trees of autumn golds. I was thinking to myself, will I ever see this view again? Will it be the same in 10 years time? or will it be a memory. Time will tell. This is what I hate about Retinitis Pigmentosa, I just don't know how much vision I will lose, if it stays stable or if I go completely blind. But I am thankful I got to see it, even if it will end up being a memory photo album. The last 3 kilometers is home stretch on the roads and my body was ready to run comfortably hard. So I pushed myself to pass as many people as I can, being ever so careful not to run too far out onto the road (normal traffic with no road closures) and some runners would yell out "CAR!" which is quite helpful. Oh, the hills, pushing up those hills was a challenge but I did not stop to walk, I pushed my way up and down all those hills and could hear some cheering in the not too far distance. Yeah, I am getting close to finishing this! Up that last hill and a couple turns the finish line was in sight! I raised my hands in triumph as I crossed the finish line. Saw Annie as I walked towards the finish line to watch Chris come in. Annie saw him first and we cheered him on to the finish. What a great run. As a result, Chris came in 5th in his age group, Annie 9th and myself 10th. Pleased? Hell ya!
2 Comments
chris
10/31/2012 01:05:53 am
Again your Blog is full of personal insights which I am sure others will find helpful in their dealing with this awful disease. As for the run, yes spectacular doesn't begin to do justice to the view from the Kinsol Trestle. To meet Stefan mid span was a pleasure, and being able to catch up with Annie and her hiking adventures was great. Her zest for life is infectious.
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Rose
10/31/2012 03:54:41 am
I have to agree, it was warm to wear the pink shirts, perhaps we will reserve the pink shirts for visiting Expos :). It was nice to meet up with Stephan, Annie and the others. Great run and recommend this event to VI/Blind runners with guides as the trails were nicely groomed.
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