Monday, Memorial Day, Race Day finally arrived. Leah and I have been training together since January 25th. Wow, that seems like forever ago. It is hard to believe that it has only been four months. Leah was already an accomplished runner and she has really had her work cut out for her by pulling me up. I am so thankful for her patience with me when I would need to quit and her loving encouragement in pushing me further. Four months ago I would never have believed we would run the 10k, maybe the 5k but not the 10k. When it was time to sign up we really struggled with which one to sign up for. We were consistently running around 3 miles with a little over a month until race day and so we talked and talked and talked about what to do. We finally made the decision to push ourselves a little further and run the 10. I am so glad that we did. It has been so much fun to challenge each other and push ourselves further and further.
We looked at the race course on the website and knew, based on the elevation chart and route, that our biggest obstacle, and I mean tallest obstacle, would be the hill that would be involved around mile 3.7. This hill was straight up! I mean staring-asphalt-in-the-face kind of straight up! We must have talked to twenty different people between the two of us about the course and what the hill was like. We heard everything from, "You are gonna have to walk the hill." "I ran the hill last year and regretted it afterwords." "I've run a lot of races and this one is my most challenging." We knew we were in for it! We trained hard and were feeling pretty good going into the race but the week before would prove to be a challenge for the both of us. I was gallivanting all over Texas with an inconsistent schedule and she was wrapping up a school year with freedom-bound 7th-12th graders! We were apart all week and so we knew that our last leg of the training would have to be done on our own. We did, however, squeeze in a last run together on Saturday, before all the family came to town.
On Sunday and Monday there were a few panic moments that came. The first occured when I went to the Von Braun Center to pick up my race packet. As I walked up to the registration building I was overcome with a feeling of, "What in the world are you doing?" as I stared at all of the people walking in and out of the building picking up their packets. Most that I saw had very fit bodies and just looked the part of the accomplished runner. I felt very out of place and had to resort to calling my dad, as I walked in the building, for a pep talk. The great thing was that Leah showed up to get her packet at the same time and we panicked a little together. Panic is always good when you have a buddy!
On Sunday and Monday there were a few panic moments that came. The first occured when I went to the Von Braun Center to pick up my race packet. As I walked up to the registration building I was overcome with a feeling of, "What in the world are you doing?" as I stared at all of the people walking in and out of the building picking up their packets. Most that I saw had very fit bodies and just looked the part of the accomplished runner. I felt very out of place and had to resort to calling my dad, as I walked in the building, for a pep talk. The great thing was that Leah showed up to get her packet at the same time and we panicked a little together. Panic is always good when you have a buddy!
The second moment of panic came early Monday morning. I dreamed all night that I woke up late and didn't make it on time. Leah also dreamed that I didn't make it and she had to run it alone. Notice, we weren't dreaming Leah wouldn't make it. As you can tell, I am the weakest link. : ) I didn't sleep good all night and woke with my stomach so knotted up that I couldn't eat either. The bad thing is that sleep and food are necessary requirements for good running so I was beginning with two strikes already against me. The third strike was that we were late! Our dreams were coming true! Joey drove me as close as I could get to the starting line and then I jumped out of the car and ran straight to the nearest bathroom. I then sprinted toward the starting line hoping I would find her somewhere in the mass of 2000+ people. The runners were already lined up and my eyes began to frantically glance through the crowd. My eyes, even though I have glasses, have been good to me in the past. I once spotted Joey, in about two seconds flat, across Jordan Hare Football Stadium in the upper deck in a crowd of 86,0o0 Auburn fans. They would not let me down today, either. I spotted Leah' son and he pointed to where she was. I got in line, we said the pledge of allegiance and then it was time to go. There wasn't even time for me to panic again. Leah was wearing a sporty t shirt that had the verse, "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable." 1 Corinthians 9:24-25. We were ready to go!It was really fun to see the giant mass of people move all at the same time. It was if all these individual runners were connected. I would really love to catch an arial view of a race like that. Leah and I agree that it was awesome to have so many people perched on the sides of the road yelling and encouraging each runner. It is so good to have people, even if you don't know them, cheer for you. We were given water, popsicles, towels, etc. It was awesome!
I really felt like we were going slower than normal but we were also saving up for the mountain. We were keeping our usual 10 minute mile pace, though, so we were right on track and then came the hill. They play Rocky theme music while you are climbing it so that was kindof fun but we both decided that walking it was quite a feat in and of itself; so we walked it. We did run it at its peak just so we could say we ran part of it. After the hill, it was slow and steady descent all the way to the finish line. My toughest part of the race came at mile four when I actually thought we were approaching mile five! It's hard to explain to your body that you goofed on calculating miles. My body was not happy. As we approached the finish line we gave it all that we had and ran it as fast as we could. Leah and I finished in one hour and 3 minutes! Wow! We sustained our 10 minute miles throughout and that is with our walking the hill. That was definitely our best ever even though it didn't feel like our best ever. We can improve on that time next year for sure.
I really felt like we were going slower than normal but we were also saving up for the mountain. We were keeping our usual 10 minute mile pace, though, so we were right on track and then came the hill. They play Rocky theme music while you are climbing it so that was kindof fun but we both decided that walking it was quite a feat in and of itself; so we walked it. We did run it at its peak just so we could say we ran part of it. After the hill, it was slow and steady descent all the way to the finish line. My toughest part of the race came at mile four when I actually thought we were approaching mile five! It's hard to explain to your body that you goofed on calculating miles. My body was not happy. As we approached the finish line we gave it all that we had and ran it as fast as we could. Leah and I finished in one hour and 3 minutes! Wow! We sustained our 10 minute miles throughout and that is with our walking the hill. That was definitely our best ever even though it didn't feel like our best ever. We can improve on that time next year for sure.
About half way through the race I asked Leah, "What are we gonna do next?" She laughed a sarcastic laugh and then we went on. A week removed from the Cotton Row. We have decided to train further. The day after the Cotton Row, I was already on the computer finding other things and I told her what I had found. She has been researching how to get us to that point since and so we have been running this week with some goals in mind. We have resumed our normal roles. I cast vision for goals that are outside of our immediate reach and then she pulls me to get us there! It is really the perfect running partner relationship. I am excited about possibilities for the future but right now we are just having fun meeting early in the morning running and chatting. Thanks Leah, you are awesome and I love you bunches!
2 comments:
way to go girl!!! i a so proud of you. nice race shirt as well!
Sounds fun!!! Let me know what the goal is!
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