I've got the fever again! Second race of the weekend today - the Achilles Hope & Possibility 5 miler. What an amazing experience!
I went in thinking only about myself, and how I wanted to just try to do better than I did on Saturday. I wore my other shoes, and professional socks, and didn't eat a waffle before I ran! And... I looked at my performance from Saturday - where I fell short the most - and committed to trying to do a little bit better today. When I analyzed my speed at various parts of the course from Saturday, i was surprised to see that my big problem was in mile 2, on the hill just north of the Boat House. Sure, it's a killer, and I usually walk some/most of it, but if I'm going to advance in this sport I'm going to have to - at some point - run it all the way, and fast.
So, today I ran my whole first mile at the fastest pace I could without losing my breath, and then when I got to that hill, I noticed my mind telling me it was time to walk, and I pushed. I got up about half of it running. Then I walked a little, and then I ran again. I appreciated myself for my effort. Then I took the whole rest of the race seriously and just did my best in every moment. Not once did I think about quitting today. I stayed in the zone and returned to the music whenever I felt myself going off track.
I didn't have a PR, but I improved my time significantly from yesterday and I felt great! Great not just from the running, but also from the experience of running side-by-side with adults and children with physical handicaps - mostly people with leg prosthetics, but also many folks in electric chairs, wheelchairs, and even a few using walkers. Some of the handicapped people did a shorter (1.7 mile) version of the race, but many were out there on the course right there with the rest of us. I took a moment to high five every single special athlete I passed on the course.
There were two really memorable people I met while I was running. The first was a boy in an electric chair. I ran over to him and went to high five with the hand he wasn't using to drive the chair. He smiled so broadly and lifted his free arm up - but he couldn't actually open his clawed hand to meet mine. I hadn't thought of that. Thought quickly... "Fist bump!" ...and we bumped... and I seriously could have cried. "You're amazing, you know that?" I said to him. I wanted to stop and run with him but I also thought, no, that was enough, go and do what you're here to do.
The second memorable person was a beautiful little girl about 6 years old. She had one prosthetic leg and she was running with a stunningly gorgeous and fit man who had two prosthetic legs. From behind I thought - could this be a father and daughter? What were the chances? When I came up to the girl I said, "You rock! You look so beautiful running!" and we tried a high five but it was kind of lame so I said, "Let's do that again!" and we did, and it was perfect... and she looked so-so-so-so-so happy! It was like her big sister had told her she was cool! The man nodded and mouthed "Thanks," and I said, "You are AMAZING! We're in this together, OK?" and she just kept smiling.
As I ran away from them I thought about how rewarding it would be to mentor a child with a physical handicap - to use everything I'm learning in intenSati, and my hard won lessons about my own physical challenges - and everything I know about perseverance - and be an example and a coach. I could never be a role model to an able-bodied child because she'd run circles around me in no time! But a special needs kid I could handle. It would be good for both of us. I want to look into that.
I can't wait for my next 5 mile race next weekend. I'm going to make a career out of 5 mile races! My goal is to be able to run 6 miles straight, without stopping, by the time I start my intensive marathon training program in July.
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