South Huron Trail Run - 08

This race has been running every year since 2004. I have run in it every year. This year I tried running in this race with my orthotics. Here is a little history of why.
In 2005 I ran without orthotics. I did well that year, getting my 10k time below 40 minutes. However, mys shins would get really sore. The long story can be found in earlier posts. Eventually I got them. I would train in the orthotics and then race upto 1/2 marathon distance without them. My marathon training was related so much to the actual race conditions and I did not want to make any changes so I ran with them for the two marathons I have run so far. The last few months I wanted to train for the marathon without them. I thought that they may help by lightning up the shoe. My calf locked up a few weeks ago, so I went back to wearing them. In doing so I found that the general running flow seemed easier. After 2 days of rest I started wearing them and the calf has been fine since.
I started the race off close to the lead pack. Christian who has recently started to run again entered the race was also in front of me until about 600m into the race. This is were a really skinny tall girl (Lydia Willemse) started to pass me. I tried to keep with her for a bit, but decided when I hit the boardwalk to just stick to the plan. The shoes felt a little heavier but I don't think that they were slowing me down. I didn't get that great of a flow feeling though either. It started to rain before the race start but it was getting heavier as the race went on. One or 2 more guys passed me and I passed the young guy (Patrick Hartman) I think who beat me last year. Between the 4 and 5k mark I passed a young teenager(Jeremy Walsh), but couldn't keep with him for more than a k. He pulled ahead and I just couldn't get going. The legs felt good. I am sure that the speed was there but my lungs just wouldn't give me more oxygen. Probably has something to do with the interval training I did for the last month. I kept trying to catch up with the blue and red shirts, but just couldn't do it. I saw Ken ahead of me when I was over the bridge and he was back on the way down the trail. Ausome! I had bad thoughts of not getting my time, not sure exactly why. May have something to do with being a home town race. I also looked back and saw another girl. What the heck. hahaha... good for them.. I am glad to see them doing so well. I held on and just tried to concentrate on the running, trying to keep my pace below 3:55. On the way up the little hill, just before the end of the race, I went over on my ankle when my foot landed on a rock. I did the exact same thing last week, but at the start of my long run. It was much worse then though. It took about 50m to shake off a limp, while running. I ran as hard as I could as soon as I saw the finish line. I crossed it at 31:22.
The trail run is harder so my time is expected to be slower that on the road. I should be happy with the result, but for some reason I am just satisfied or re leaved. I am happy because it is a personal record, but I am not because I was truly hoping to get under the 31 minutes. Maybe next year. The ankle feels ok, but I gotta start doing some strength training on it.