SO, Friday night, practice was delayed due to pictures being taken. I was not informed that our other coach (who was in Las Vegas for March madness) postponed practice until after 3:30, whereas I would have preferred to have practice and then sit for pix so that I could get on the road in a timely manner… Inevitably, practice did not even start until after 4p, which meant that I did not get on the road until 6p.
I had made plans to travel with a marathoner that I coach and was unpleasantly surprised to see that no hotel reservation had been made or any other planning commenced on his part. I say this in frustration, as I do not charge for my coaching services and lately been frustrated that, other than the kids, my adults do not make any plans. They expect me to do everything for them. Really? Is that my place in life??
SO, he showed up for practice and was in some kind of funk. I was thinking “Oh, this will be a neat 4 hour drive. Yay!” SO, I spend all day working as a psychotherapist, helping to instill faith in the faithless and hope in the hopeless (I work with homeless addicts), then I race across town to work with some incredible kids and hopefully, just hopefully, instill in them a sense of belief in self that they can accomplish ANYTHING they put their mind to. SO, maybe I am just plumb out of niceness by 6:00 every day. It’s not like I go home and kick my 3 dogs that I rescued, but sometimes I just don’t want to ride for 4 hours in my car with someone that I need to build up.
FINALLY, set up a hotel (which again would have been nice if it had been taken care of already…) and being cost conscious went for a Super 8…NEVER, NEVER just do a Super 8. OH, and right before the car ride, Matt informed me that he had been eating chili all week and would likely have some gas. I responded that if he felt that familiar feeling, to please let me know so that I could let him out for a few seconds, as I really did not want to travel for 4 hours in a smelly car…Really?
Drove the 4 hours really trying my best to be pleasant but not trying to be a therapist. Ate dinner that I had cooked the night before and had rewarmed for the ride, so had a very happy and full belly without the stress of having to find somewhere to eat along the way.
Arrived at 10p to a very icky hotel, where the guys across the hall were playing very angry music to all hours of the night. Remarking at how loud they were, I had hoped that my seemingly male travel companion would “take care of it”. But, alas, after my shower, the music was still thumping and my travel companion was nestle sleepily into his bed. Really? Did he expect me to go across the hall and confront these dudes alone?
Could not sleep well, as the ride set off my neuropathy a bit in my right leg…oh, and the angry music…and the incredible amount of car noise…and the occasional flatulence in the bed next to mine…At 5 a.m. some brilliant fellow felt it necessary to set off his car alarm below my window, not once but 3 separate times, at intervals that corresponded closely to the amount of time it was taking for me to just start to fall back asleep. Amazingly, the dude was actually in the car when it happened. ALL 3 TIMES!
SO, now I was awake, which was a shame as the race was not starting until 10a.m. Got up and had my perfunctory cup of oatmeal and banana, washed down with some Gatorade (as I did not have any juice). Packed up and left for the canyon, as it was another hour and 20 minutes into the canyons to reach the shuttle bus.
The drive was spectacular! The road drove through canyons that were strewn with red rock and reflected the amber warmth of God’s creation. Luckily, there was only one more flatulent incident from my “happy” companion. Other than that, the drive was without incident and we arrived in plenty of time to register/ pick up our packets and head to my car (which was strategically parked right next to the shuttle pickup!)
Luckily we arrived when we did, as a line suddenly emerged from nowhere for pickups and there were only two people handling that process. SO, whole others were waiting in line outside in the chilled air, I hunkered down in my car to await the shuttle.
2 busses arrived on time and took participants both to the 5 mile start and the half marathon start. To my amazement and wonder, I was shocked to see only one port-o-let at the 5 mile start. Now ay there would only be one at the half, right? UGH!
We were the first to arrive, and sure enough, there was only one potty for the entire half marathon group. I scuttled away from the bus, still wearing my Birkenstocks to jockey for a good position in line located about 200m away. As the other busses arrived, I counted my blessings that I was not about to stand in an hour long line…
Warmed up without incident and joined the ever growing exodus towards the outlying brush areas to do one more pre-run constitutional. Jogged towards the start and began to assess the competition. Looking around, it appeared to be a rather small field with a few ladies that looked like they might be serious competition.
The race itself begins 13 miles away from an incredibly beautiful resort area. We would run on the road (as there is little to no traffic) and be able to look at the amazing scenery around us with little distraction. The canyons are like being at the bottom of a miniaturized version of the Grand Canyon, except that cattle roam free and there is a road instead of a river…the course itself has a net drop (not much) and is consistently rolling, though not arduous by any means. The side of the road where we had to run was a bit loose, so I opted to run on the road as often as possible to negate the slippage factor.
Through the first mile, a gal ran directly (and I mean directly) beside me. He labored breathing was only upstaged by the fact that she kept rubbing elbows with me. The field was quite small and there was no one to her left, but for whatever reason she felt a need to “stay close”. We passed through mile one at 6:40, for me very comfortably. (My goal was to run my marathon pace of high 6:50’s unless I needed to up the ante to race someone). I decided that I was going to test the water a bit and dropped down to 6:20’s which in fact dropped her as well as pretty much the rest of the crowd. Ran second mile with a few guys and could see 4 other guys ahead of me that were really out of my league.
After mile 2, I was all alone. This would continue until the last aid station at 11.5 SO, I settled into marathon mode and enjoyed the scenery. Worked on taking lots of water at each station and tried to take 2 gu’s as well (drinking and fueling are my downfalls on runs…) REALLY got distracted by the beauty that was the canyons and probably slowed a bit too much. When I reached 11.5 and slowed to take in my sugary goodness, a dud came out of nowhere and passed me. He must have been creeping up on me over the last few miles, as I did not hear him at all!
Hopped on his train and hammered out 6:40’s for the next mile when his legs just kinda fell off. Slowed to talk to him and talked about brining it in together. He was sweet and said that I should finish first at the line, but I told him that he renewed my energy and drive and deserved to finish with me. SO, we got a bit confused as to where the finish was as we surged in. A volunteer at the only road crossing we encountered said something unrecognizable as we searched for the finish. Unfortunately for us, we did not realize that we needed to take a turn into the resort to find the finish line and as we were discussing where the finish might be, another dude came ripping past us. We tried to go with him when I realized that I really needed to use the bathroom. Weighing the options of either risking a potentially embarrassing finish, I decided to just ease into the finish instead of playing chase…
SO, took 6th overall and first female with a conservatively comfortable time of 1:32 (just a bit slower than my marathon pace). I realized that I volitionally lazed out and lost focus as there was literally no one to run with for 9 miles. SO, happy that I won, but not pleased that I did not exercise some fortitude to just get to the grind and hammer out the miles at my predetermined pace. Walked away from the race, however, knowing that I can comfortably cover 13 miles at the MP pace that I have set.
Went over to talk to my marathoner, who had crushed the course record and won by 10 minutes. Since I have been working with him for the last 6 months, he has taken 12 minutes off his half marathon time, and this was his first win ever. Pumped is an understatement re: how he was feeling. Unfortunately, he got to the point of boasting dramatically, recounting over and over how there was no one in site and had PLENTY of time to stretch and do a number of things before the next person even came into view. Really? Is that what this was about? I now that I am already droning, so I will not go over every embarrassing detail re: his behavior or how cocky he was. AND all along, he never once thanked me for coaching him or helping him…Really? When I mentioned to him that if he was interviewed by the small resort periodical, I asked that he try to mention “Team Fartlek” (which is our community team name encompassing winter and summer training for the kids as well as the various adults that I coach full time) at which point he questioned why and wanted to know who had picked that name (Really? It has been the team name for almost 6 years…) Sorry, but what a blankety-blank! This is also coupled with the fact that he often questions my workouts and belittles me when I tell him that I need to get my mileage in after workouts. Needless to say, pretty sure that my coaching relationship with this individual is finished!
Sorry I am venting, but I am just plain done with being taken for granted! The way that he behaved regarding his shameless self-promotion following the race just kinda sealed the deal…
SO, highly recommend the race, but will go with friends next time… |