Never Give Up! A Race Report.

I've been a runner for 15 years, but in recent years I've run less and less.  Even though in my head I know I'll always enjoy running just for the sake of running, it's become easier and easier to make excuses and not get out there.  I realized I needed some kind of a goal to give myself new motivation.  So I challenged myself to enter the local Roadrunners' Race Series.  There are 7 races over the next 4 and a half months, ranging in distance from 5K to a half marathon.  Runners accumulate points based on the quality of their performance and awards are given out at the end.  I haven't raced much at all in the last few years, so this was a big commitment for me.

Yesterday (Saturday) was a 4-miler, the second race in the series.  I had a bit of a rough week and was feeling a bit "blah" about the race.  It was a gray, rainy day, and it was tempting to stay home.  But in the end, I went.  About 12 minutes before the start of the race, my cell phone rang and it was my mother informing me that my grandmother died that morning.  For a few minutes I felt very sad.  It made me wonder what I was doing there, standing around in the rain, waiting to bust my butt and run hard at my age.

However, I suddenly resolved that I was going to TURN THIS DAY AROUND.  I was not going to give up.  I was going to run hard like I planned and see what I could do, and whatever that turned out to be would be fine.

When I run, I tend to measure my perceived rate of exertion by my breathing, which I coordinate with my footsteps.  If I breathe in 4 steps, and out 4 steps, that's a comfortable pace.  If I breathe 3-3, that's a little harder, but still somewhat comfortable.  If I breathe in 3 and out 2, that's what I'd call "comfortably hard."  Breathing 2-2, I'm working pretty hard but I can usually hold that level of exertion for up to 10 kilometers.

Normally, I start out any race at 3-3 because it takes me some time to warm up and feel good.  Today I jumped right to 2-2.  A half mile in, I was running at an 8:16/mile pace.  Slowly, I passed other women ahead of me.  About a mile in, the route turned to a long uphill.  I shortened my stride but kept the turnover rate and breathing the same.  (Hint:  that's the way to climb hills.  Shorten your stride.  It helps a lot!)  At the 2 mile mark, we turned around.  Yay!  Downhill for all of mile 3!  Downhills are my strength, as my quadriceps are freakishly strong compared to the rest of my leg muscles.  Usually I can pull away from people on long downhills.

So imagine my surprise when at mile 3, I was passed by a woman I hadn't seen before.  Where did she come from?  As she went by, I could tell she was younger than I am, and my first instinct was, "Let her go.  Give it up.  You can't possibly keep up with her."

But then I thought, "Why should I give up?  What if I *can* keep up with her?  I may feel tired but I don't feel bad.  I'm going to see how long I can hang with her."

I stayed about 10 feet behind her and then to my surprise, slowly started getting closer.  With about a half mile to go, I passed her.  She said something positive to me like, "You're doing great" to which I responded something like, "Thanks, I don't know if I can keep it up."  She encouraged me again.

I could hear her on my heels that last half mile and with maybe less than a tenth of a mile to go, she kicked it into high gear and flew by me, crossing the finish line ahead of me.  That was fine with me - I had nothing left in the tank to give and she was a great competitor.  I thanked her afterward for inspiring me to try harder at the end when I was thinking of giving up.  It turned out she's 22 years old - just a year older than my son.  It felt pretty good to know I can still keep up with the young ones.

When they gave out awards, I got a huge surprise.
First place Masters Female (that means over the age of 40)

I was the 5th woman overall and 1st out of 43 women over the age of 40.  I ran a 32:18, for a 8:05/mile pace.  The next woman over 40 was merely 45 seconds behind me.  I suppose if she had passed me, in the grand scheme of things, it would not have been a big deal.  I would have been happy for her.  However, I am so thankful that 22-year-old passed me and kept me focused on my goal and working to the best of my ability.  Today the best of my ability was enough to win.  Maybe another day it won't be, but it is always satisfying to know I gave it my all.

It's very easy to set goals from the comfort of the living room.  When I decided to enter the race series, I didn't fully appreciate just how hard it was going to be.  Life does all it can to get in the way, doesn't it?  A busy schedule, an injury, an illness... any unforeseen circumstance can wreak havoc on our plan.  And even when you're in the middle of it - like I was in the 4-miler - it's easy to just say, "Eh, what does it really matter?  I can just coast along and it's fine."

I think I am going to keep this trophy where I will see it every day to remind me that no matter what I'm doing at the time, to try my best and give it my all.