With temps nearing 90 degrees by the 9am start, this was not to be a day for racing hard. Not that I do much hardcore racing, but under the right conditions I am not afraid to give it my all. Today I would focus on staying with Abby for as long as possible. I was worried about her and the heat.
We always enjoy watching the 1-mile kids race that is before the 5K. We stood along the side and cheered for all the little kiddoes as they neared the finish. By far the sweetest thing we saw was a little girl about 4 years old running with her mom. The little girl was clutching her stuffed cow under her arm and it just brought back so many memories of Gina and Abby and their love of stuffed animals. Anyone who has known me for a long time knows that I also have a thing for stuffed animals and carted my beloved Norman with me for years. Norman accompanied me on any trip I ever went on for a very, very long time! I've never run a marathon with him tucked under my arm though, but seeing that little girl actually caused the tears to roll down my face.
Anyways, the race was great. Abby and I stuck together. First mile at 9:30. Second mile at 9:19. I then gave her all control and told her if she wanted to go for it that now was the time. We rolled on out and started passing people. Up ahead we saw a girl that was presumably the same age as Abby. Without saying a word we closed the gap and ran by single file. I did my train whistle thingy in my head and just kept encouraging Abby. We made the last corner and she pulled away and I let her go. She finished about 8 seconds ahead of me and by the time I got there she was doubled over and dry heaving. The last mile for me was 8:05 so we really negative split nicely. According to Abby, it was the frying sausage from the Hudson Farmer's Market that did her in.
We sat for a long time in the grass with Jerry and Gina. A long time passed and then there was an enormous eruption of cheering and applause as the last participant crossed the line. We had seen him before the race and let's just say he was quite elderly. He was dressed in old school running gear complete with khaki shorts and a belt. The back of his t-shirt said 2700 road races and I have no doubt that he actually completed them all. The crowd gave him the equivalent of a standing ovation. Another teary moment for me as I tried to grasp the beauty of the running community - from the little girl clutching her stuffed animal in the 1-mile race to the elderly man finishing the 5K at 52 minutes. I love being part of that camaraderie. As Linus would say, "That's what fitness is all about, Charlie Brown."
Sunday rolled around and I managed my 14 mile run before church. Jerry joined me for the first lap and it was great to run together and chat about Burning River 100 next weekend. I even tried his chia seed gel and I must say it is quite good. The second lap was lonely and I went completely and totally inside my head. So much that at one point I could not remember if I had run the loop correctly. But then I remembered that I had dropped my fuel belt by the highschool while trying to loop my visor through it. I had definitely covered my course but I must have been really in the zone.
Now the big week leading up to the racing highlight of the summer. The girls and I have a pretty good plan for the day and Jerry is working through all the what ifs in his head. If all goes well he will have a finish time of less than 24 hours. We can't wait to get this thing going!
