Saturday morning found me in an email frenzy with a Cascade Lakes Relay teammate, and we decided to hit the trails that afternoon. We took it easy on the hills above her home, but I felt pretty good - and even more encouraged when I didn’t feel worse once I got home.
So this morning I woke up with a quiet hope that I would have a decent race. I was not expecting a whole lot, but I could feel that nervous flutter as I walked down to the race start. This was my home turf - the trails I run long on during the week - and I was ready to give them my best shot.
Even more exciting, a Brooks IDer was coming up from Eugene for the race. He would be the first person I’ve officially met through the program, and I scanned the crowd looking for Doug. I quickly saw my running buddies, Ed and Mike, and then I found Doug. I spotted another soccer friend, Sandy, and said hello to her, and then promptly lost everyone.
Now all alone, I headed towards the start, where I found Doug again. I knew he was going to be faster than me, but not being able to find Ed & Mike - who I typically run with - I realized this was going to be a solo effort. Before I knew it, we were off.
Not 1/4 mile in, and I realized that they had changed the course on me. All the mental preparation I had put in to the race was blown, and I spent a good portion of time getting over the frustration. So much for going with the flow. The first mile felt great, and as we passed the 1 mile marker, I looked down at my watch - 6:33! Crap. Way too fast.
I settled in, trying to keep a smooth rhythm. I noticed that there were very few women near me; only guys were passing me. We climbed our first hill and then came on the 2 mile mark - 14:30. There was no way I had slowed that much - maybe I was more on target than I thought.
The next few miles were a blur. I didn’t feel great, but I didn’t feel horrible. I PRed the 5k mark - right around 22 - but I was starting to feel things in my chest. I kept trying to cough it out, but there was nothing to get rid off - just the chest tightness.
As we headed to the 5th mile, a couple of ladies passed me. I was starting to fade, and I didn’t have an answer. And then we hit the hill. Ugggh. It was steep, and when I hit the top, I was pretty sure I was going to lose my breakfast. I just steadied my breathing and focused on putting one foot in front of the other. I knew that the course would head downhill soon, and soon my stomach settled back down.
I put in a solid effort down the hill, but my tank was empty. I just held on to what I had, but I knew at the 6 mile mark that it wasn’t going to be my day to PR. I crossed the finish, tried not to hurl, and started looking for my friends.
We all eventually reunited, enjoyed a beer together, and then decided we should check out the results. I hadn’t seen too many women, so I thought there was a chance I placed in my age group. But lately I’ve been snakebit by a tough division, so I wasn’t sure if I had run well enough to podium.
So I was shocked to learn that I was 3rd in my division, good for a medal! And even more surprising, I just squeaked into the top 10 women - taking 10th place - my first top ten finish ever. Doug was 2nd in his age group, and Ed took 1st in his - all in all a great day.
Lessons learned:
1. I still don’t know how to pace myself at the start. Seriously. I need to put weights in my shoes or something.
2. I don’t need to PR to have a good day. I really need to chill out in that department.
3. It really is all about the friends you make along the way. Even if I ran the worst race of my life, today was a great day because I got to hang with friends who love the same things I do.
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