Eagle Creek Marathon 8-2-14

The day before I had an injection in my shoulder - things have not been getting better so he went ahead and had me get an MRI done with dye to see what was going on with the recovery. Turns out the Bicep Tendon re attachment and anchors all stayed in place however now I have a torn rotator cuff and lots of inflammation....so that is why we did an injection, lets get the inflammation down and let this thing start healing better.  I can honestly say that shot did work!! I had a shot in my bad knee twice before and the first time it only helped for about a week or so and the second time it didnt help at all so I was very hesitant.
My friend Diane Bolton was doing this event and invited me to stay at our fellow marathon maniac friends house Elaine with her. This was great...we had a nice visit in Elaine and Toms gorgeous new home and left the morning of the event to drive about 30 min to the start. I had received a message a couple days before from Larry Macon asking if I new how technical the trail was as there was an 8 hour limit and he was wanting to come. I checked with a couple friends and all had different reviews. I didnt hear from Larry whether he was going to make it or not so when I got to the park there he was and was a pleasant surprise.
The trail system here is so nice! I had done the Planet Adventure Night Time marathon a couple years ago and it used part of this system, it was dark during that run but there are parts including the stairs and the short single track with a nice drop off to your side that are unforgettable. This time of the year that drop off doesnt seem as bad as it does with no vegetation on the trees and bushes.
It was a two loop course that was kinda an out and back with a loop. It really got hot and I decided at the last minute I didnt wanna bring my handheld because I didnt want the added weight to my right arm for all the time and I knew I wouldnt carry it the entire time in my left hand. I was glad at the turn around they had some bottle water and I grabbed one and took with me. I think I refilled it at each stop.  On the second loop with about 4 miles left to go and one more set of the wooden stairs to go up just ahead of me I took my first ever real fall on a run! I landed on my right side, of course my shoulder and hand and scraped the leg up a bit. A man in front of me stopped and asked if I was ok and I said yes, thank you as I layed there a tad shook up since I knew I landed on my shoulder. Good news is only blood was coming from the leg and my shoulder just had a lot of dirt on it and the hand had a small cut. I think the majority of the pressure landed on my leg. I got up and continued on and got to the finish. They had these cool BADASS bottle opener medals for those who did 2 of their events this year. I pleaded my case that I had never fallen before and I finished with blood on my leg and that should be deserving of a BADASS medal? Yes it worked!!!!!
Diane waited for me to finish and said bye then I changed clothes in the grass parking lot next to the car and headed on home.