He hit one of the barriers on the last lap with his knee, fell on his other knee and on his chest and head. He popped right up and probably finished the race on pure adrenaline, still placing 4th and getting his best time of the season (8:43). With this time he's still the #2 collegiate ranked athlete in the nation. Not too shabby, eh?
But, now he's hurt. He bruised a rib (we thought it was broken until he had an x-ray today). His knees recovered quickly, so those don't hurt when he runs. Instead, it now only hurts his chest when he sneezes, coughs, opens the fridge, leans over, breathes. Recovery is not going to be fun, but he's still planning on racing in 2 weeks at Stanford and running sub-8:40. He told me that he won't be happy until he does.
Plus, he learned that he can run sub-8:40. He would have, if he wouldn't have fallen. And he can run with Hillary Bor, sure to be one of his biggest competitors at nationals this year. He was making his move and almost caught Bor before he fell. He might not have beat him in this race, but it definitely would have been close.
I just wish he could recover faster. But, there's nothing you can really do with a bruised rib. Just suffer through it. Rich isn't one to complain, so I can tell that he's really hurting right now because even climbing into the car has him wincing in pain.
I highly recommend watching the race if you didn't get to see it live, or if you've never seen a steeplechase before. The last 2 laps in this race are where it gets exciting.
Poor Uncle Rich, we hope he feels better soon!
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