The drive to Kingsport was long, but uneventful. My teammate and I chatted the entire way, stopping in Baileyton for a quick dinner. We arrived in plenty of time before the race, checked in, walked around, did some warm-ups, and still had time to just hang out. We met up with some of the college runners our coach works with, and then with another teammate.
I lined up for the 3K with little stress or concern. I had a goal in mind - 22 minutes or less - thinking it's a 2 mile race, so I just need to hit around 11 each mile. It shouldn't be a problem. While I was running, I still was thinking 22 was a good goal. I felt strong, but I could also tell I wasn't 100%. I was already thinking about the 8K, and knew it was not going to go well. The air was SO heavy and there was a ton of lightning in the distance. It was difficult to breathe and it was late. I was tired.
As I rounded the turn up to the stadium, I heard one of the college runners call out to me and it helped push me up the hill and into the final turn. I finished in 19:30, with a 10:21 pace!! I was thrilled. But, I was also hurting and not feeling great. I knew I had to make a decision about the 8K very soon. I spoke to my teammate and said I was thinking I'd just walk the 8K. She decided she'd walk it with me, if that was really what I wanted to do. As happy as my coach was with the 3K, he was fully supportive of the decision to walk the 8K. He knew I had only planned to do the 8K for mileage and that I'd been more focused on the 3K, and I knew he wanted me to still be able to run my other upcoming races and not kill myself trying to hit both of these races in one night.
My teammate and I lined up with the runners and started the 8K at a good pace. We gradually began to slow and move out of the way, and finally hit a walk. We walked and talked, met some other walkers, and just tried to enjoy the evening. By mile 2, we both felt awful. When we reached the turn up to the stadium, we bailed. I texted my coach immediately and got nothing but support for the decision. We sat for a few minutes watching the runners go by, and cheered for our teammate as he ran towards the finish line. We eventually got up and continued the race route, because there was no other way to get where we needed to go. We walked to the finish and I felt horrible about crossing the line without having run the full race. We grabbed some water and headed to the car. We dropped off our teammate at his car and headed towards Knoxville. I was exhausted and it was starting to storm off and on. We drove through some scary storms and finally made it home just after midnight.
I know most people who know me well would think I would be disappointed and upset about the 8K. But, it really didn't bother me. It bothered me more that I had a finish time when I didn't run the race than it did to know I had my first ever Did Not Finish (DNF). I had accomplished and exceeded my goal for the 3K, and I was happy to hold onto that and forget about the disaster of an 8K.
Would I do the Crazy 8s race again? Probably not. It was a LONG drive for the runs, and wasn't the greatest race ever. I'm glad I went, glad I ran, but also glad I played it safe and made the decisions I made. I just don't think it's on my list of races I want to try again anytime soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment