Racing is why I started to love to running to begin with. Hundreds, sometimes thousands or even tens of thousands of people all together sharing in the pain and triumph of whatever goal they set out for that particular day. It creates a form of energy and emotion I immediately took to and wanted more and more of. This feeling can jump start anyone's focus and confidence. That's what I needed.
I am a planner by nature. As much as I like being crazy and spontaneous, race mornings need to be meticulously planned out. No room for error, I'm usually nervous enough as is. There's something very soothing and relaxing about the race prep though. It kind of ramps me up emotionally. I laid out my racing clothes on the couch, can't have a wardrobe malfunction at 6am. Checked my watch to make sure it's charged. Fuel; had to have my Gatorade Prime and Recovery ready as well as a breakfast pizza ready to pop in the oven. iPod was charged. Time for rest.
I slept surprisingly well for a race-eve. I woke up without any nervousness, it was kinda weird, I'm usually a wreck. Was it confidence, or beacuse I didn't care too much? hmmmm. I got dressed and watched some racing scenese from "Without Limits" while I ate my pizza and drank my coffee. Ok, let's roll. Maura came with me even though she couldn't run. I knew it was gonna be tough on her to go and not run, but she insisted on coming along, which made me feel more at ease. She's my number one fan, and having her there keeps me calm.
We pulled in pretty early, which is another race tradition for me......I'm not gonna stress over parking or shuttles, it interferes with my "race energy"! We were literally some of the first people there, at least that's what it felt like. I got settled in, put my race bib on and took off for an easy 3 to get warm. I like music to warm up and then I usually ditch it for the race. No distractions, just focus. I took off down the course while Hells Bells ramped up in my headphones. I felt good. I felt elite. I'd been training my ass off for 12 weeks and today it was like I was showing up to unveil my new and improved legs!
By the time I got back the place was filling up. I met up with some friends and stretched. We were 30 min from the gun when Mother Nature and her PMS showed up. The wind picked up, the temp dropped 10 degrees and it started POURING! WTF? I knew the weather was questionable, but I really thought we'd luck out. Nope. About 10 to go and the race director get's on the mic "well, there's no tornado warning here so we're gonna do this" ha! I love it. Fine. I made my way to the start line. "If you're gonna run a 36min-38min please come up to the front. I looked around and I'm surrounded by Avl elites. I like it. I still dont feel like I'm that fast, especially in a town filled with so many great runners, but it does feel good to at least be good enough to warrant standing with them at the start line.
The start of the race was tough, first mile is virtually down hill the whole way. First mile....5:30! Ha! About 2 miles in, we all settled into our little groups. Me with my friend Joel and a guy Beech that he knew and one other guy that looked like my friend Eddie. We stayed together until about mile 3 and then I started to pull away. My deal with myself while racing is this "if you're gonna pass someone, you better be able to stay there". I hate passing people only to get passed by them later on, it sucks. Unfortuneatly at mile 4, "Eddie" passed me, damn it. I gave him a "go get it man" and I figured I'd hang just behind him and see what the last big hill brings. I eat hills for breakfast. At the base I was about 10 yds back. I yelled "I'm coming for you white (he was wearing a white shirt)!!" Which maybe isn't PC for racing, but I figured it was all in the spirit of competition. I caught him and passed him at mile 6, now I just wanted to break 38 min, and I was close. I fought the hill best I could, trying to manage my pace so I didn't blowup, but still ran fast. I thought for sure I was in the clear until I rounded the last corner, saw how much I had to go and saw I had 10 seconds left. I gave it everything I had, but it wasn't enough....I started my kick too late. 38:02 when I crossed!! I could hear ppl at the end.... "ooohhh, he really wanted to break 38". How ironically too, missed it by 2 seconds. Oh well, I'll get it next time. I finished it a great time, a new PR by 23 seconds! I think what was the most rewarding was having Maura there at the end, she's usually racing so she's never there when I finsih. It's great to have a famliar face there to greet you. After the race I had a lot of others congratulate me on my race, some of them I knew just from running and they were much faster than me, and some I thought were faster than me and I had beaten them. I was 16th out of 500+!! It was a good feeling. Maybe I'm way off here, but I got the sense that people took notice of my race and I'm slowly starting to be a "regular" in the top finishers. That's a good feeling. I may not have beat my goal time but races have many goals, not just those that have numbers. I'll sleep well tonight.
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