We ran the Oshkosh, WI 1/2 Marathon today. The temp was in the low to mid 30's for the entire race, and it was windy as heck. We went out strong, and were 5-7 minutes ahead of our goal for the race. Fast, but not so fast as it caused concern. About Mile 6, my wife pulled up and said that something in her right knee really hurt. She's had IT band problems as long as we've run, and I wasn't sure if they were acting up again, or if this was a new injury. We walked for awhile, and I asked her if she wanted to leave the course. She gave me an "I don't know."
Now, she's had the IT bands act up during races before, but she always gives me a "I'll be ok", or "Let's try and work through it" answer. If she was debating leaving the course, I knew she was in trouble. I told her I'd take it slow with her, and stick with her as long as she was on the course, and help her to finish. Despite several attempts by her to push me out on my own, I wasn't going to leave my injured wife behind...even though last year I set a PR at this race.
The problem with taking it slower was that it allowed the elements to come into play. We got cold quickly, which wrecked both of our attitudes. We finished about 30 minutes behind our goal pace, but my wife refused to wear the medal, feeling as if she hadn't earned it.
We leave for Disney next week, so her instructions are to take it easy, and heal up for our trip.
There is always another race, and I've seen her run to prove a point before, so I'm sure the next race she'll tear up the course.