Jim Hauser, father, track coach, and Sarcoma warrior, passed away just this May, after fighting the rare cancer of the connective tissues since 2008 and losing a leg in the process. He was at the 1st annual race last year to raise awareness and money for his sarcoma foundation, but this year, his two daughters took his place leading the effort.
At the starting line, when I heard about the two women whose dad had just passed away, I almost started crying. The women had asked their pastor to talk about how just as something redemptive came out of a tragic event 2000 years ago, something redemptive was happening as a result of Jim's ended fight. I later realized that there were quite a few sarcoma warriors (a ter more suitable than "survivors") present, with stories to tell. I guess at the more popular disease-awareness events, there more who go mostly for the event. But at something as small as this race was, the percentage of the population directly impacted by the disease was higher.
The day began differently than with most of my races. I didn't decide to do the race until late last night (after midnight!). I hadn't planned on racing until maybe October, since it's been so hot, and I didn't want disappointing race results. However, work was crazy this week with lots of overtime, and I just wanted to buy myself something or get away on a day-trip vacation or something. I had seen a sign for the race, since it was held at an elementary school right next to the church, so remembering it, I looked it up online. If you do races like every few weeks, it can get a little old, but go a couple of months withoutu racing, and when you're back at your first race, it's incredible, and you wonder why you don't do it every weekend.
Since I hadn't planned at all for this race, I didn't taper. This week, I did 3.6 and 5.0 on W/Th, which isn't too much, especially considering that I took a break (although much needed) on M and T to recover from an LR plus a speedy run the following day. My diet's usually the same whether or not there's a race, so I guess I was in a decent condition to race. It would be good to get in a speedier workout anyway, since I'm usually resistant to doing intervals on a treadmill. And maybe I'd win something, since it seemed to be a smaller race. I'd see how I felt in the morning and make my decision then. It was hard to fall asleep because of the exciement of even the possibility of racing the next day.
After 4.5 hrs of sleep, I woke up to a blaring alarm. I was tired. My right knee was a bit out of joint. I figured I'd scrap it... no way with that knee. I had started getting excited, though, so I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. With a bit of walking around, my knee started getting better (bad sleep position, I think), so I decided to go for it. I ate cherries, packed a Larabar and water, stuffed an assortment of gear (mp3, race belt, Shadow Pak, race money, visor, shades, Garmin) in my bag and head out. The sun hadn't completely risen yet.
The sight of tents and red-shirted race volunteers as I drove up to the school brought thrills. I signed up, and even though it was done race-day, I got a shirt immediately. I went back to my car to put on shoes and to find a pen so that I could draw the race map on my arm. There was a small doule-loop and many turns involved, and I wanted to know where the mile markers wee and a general overview, in order to gauge my effort and time the kick, Prison Break-style. It was humid, and even warming up with a suuuuper light jog, my heart was working overtime. Not good, I thought. I did my usual mix of sitting in the car, dynamic stretcing, arms swings, and jogging. No striders this time, since I kind of forgot by the time it was a little before the starting gun.
Up at the line, there was a group of HS XC teamers. Surprisingly, for once, it wasn't too crowded near the front of the line, so I didn't have to worry about placement. After the aforementioned prayer and race introduction, the gun went off... very smooth. The HSers went out fast. I didn't know what pace to aim for, given the 84 degree heat. Even splits is the best, so don't go out too strong, but it'll always be a much faster pace than during even the faster training runs. I'd have to mostly go by effort. Even if I did know my pace (and I did, thanks to Garmin), I wouldn't know if I could hold it in the heat. All by feel, this race.
There were about 5 girls ahead of me, and I was a little like "aaah" when they went out so fast. I comforted myself with the thought that I could probably reel them in gradually, as they fell off pace. Although you get more and better training when you're in HS, with fresher legs, you don't have as much experience, so I had a little edge there, especially with the volumes I read on the subject. I picked off two in the first mile, leaving 3. I did some drafting off of some boys. Ideally, I would've gotten some water to splash on myself at the half-way mark, but it involved running about 20 extra feet... valuable feet, so I skipped it. Probably a fine decision. There was also a sprinkler further that was also about 20 extra feet away, but it probably would've only provided a tiny bit of cooling vs. a cup of water over the face.
In the last mile, the 3rd place girl was in my sights. What's mentally tough about chasing as a kick-strong person is that even though you know you may have a good kick, you're still in pain the rest of the time and continuously looking at someone's back. There's pressure. That last mile was all about hanging on, trying to get closer to the girl. Even if I didn't get 3rd, I still had a shot at an age group award, which lessened the pressure some. But if I didn't, and I ended up losing by a little bit at the end, I would've been so disappointed in myself for not pushing harder. The last quarter mile was uphill and hard, involving curves, too, which was nice in that you could see the other runners. The gap between me and the girl ended up staying about the same, though, and she ended up beating me by 17 seconds. A little in absolute terms, but it's a good margin in 5k terms. I had given it all I had, for sure, and even if I had had a little more, I still would've been beat, so no regrets at all.
After crossing the line, I did the usual stumbling through the chute and gasping for air. A boy offered me water, and although I have a pretty set rule about not sharing drinks, I eagerly accepted his partially drunk waterbottle (even though he had a second unopened one... maybe that was for a friend). I hope he doesn't have mono. After regaining composure, I congratulated Caroline, followed by guzzling cold water and forcing down a banana (didn't have much of an appetite, although I knew my body needed it). I got crushed ice and packed it into a cup then took a well-formed cylinder of moldable ice out of the cup and iced my knees. It works SO WELL!!! It molds to your knees and gets more surface area, since there aren't those big gaps between normal ice cubes. I stretched a good bit, too, in the shade as I watched others finish.
After all the runners and walkers finished, there was a fun run, and the MOST ADORABLE little kids ever ran. Little kindgergarten-ish boys with ideal runners' bodies sped by with incredible speed. An even smaller girl, flanked by her dad and sister, ran up those last hills and curves with vigor. Lastly, his little toddler boy shuffled to the chute then got super shy and refused to go through, apparently scared of something. He started crying, and despite all the encouragement his mom tried to give him, he didn't want to cross the line, and eventually, she just had to pick him up through. It was so funny and so cute. I get pretty competitive about running and many things in general, and seeing them just enjoy themselves like that was really good.
RESULTS:
22:08 5K, 7:08 ave. Splits> 6:51, 7:08, 8:09 for 1.1.
Second in the 15-24 W age group, to Caroline, age 16... Wow, I feel old.
4/90 for women, 15/162 overall.
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