SNAP, CRACKLE, POP...
Well it really wasn’t a snap, nor a crackle, nor really a pop… but more like being electrocuted....
Let's go back a few minutes. I am at Delaware University's indoor track and was getting ready to run my first event of the day... I was debating about how to warm up since half the track was closed off for the 60 meter sprints and if I should wear spikes or not… hmmm..
First call for the mile and I was getting eyed up and down by the gals in my heat…
One of the ladies walks over to me seeing my #6, she is #5 and said, "There is no way i am faster than you"...Indicating that I should be #5 and she #6.....
I told her I hadn’t run the mile in a few years and didn’t have a qualifying mark to put down.
See they make you fill in your qualifying time so they can sort you by time.. lane 1 fastest, lane 6 slowest… it usually makes the heats a bit more fair and thus you don’t get the faster runners bunching up with the slower runners…
Our heat of 6 gals consisted of all Masters runners (over 40) … and I knew the specs of two of the gals, that they ran under a 6:15 mile… I knew a few years ago I could do a 6:45-6:50 mile but honestly wasn’t sure if it was still in me to do so .. so I was totally ok with being considered the slowest runner…
I didn’t know the times of the other gals in my heat and I learned a long time ago that looks can be very deceiving, just because someone may look older and more frail doesn’t mean they can't put down the whoop arsh .. 8 laps.. here we go.
I started off conservative, following the pack…unable to determine my pacing.. and then i started to pick off people... #5 gal, #4 gal, #3 gal.. and i was still accelerating... I could see the other two ahead… but the bell was rung..last lap.. and i was still a half lap behind...
6:50 mile finish time.. YAHOO!
NOW that is what I am talking about… to run a race, to feel good, and to do it well!
SO I probably should have warmed down a bit… or maybe warmed up a bit… but the 400 was next… as soon as they finished the men's heats for the mile.
I usually run a decent 400, and so was very hopeful that today I could land a great time. I was coming off the mile and feeling quite confident, perhaps too confident.
We lined up.. set… and go….. two steps .. TWO lousy STEPS.. and I am incapacitated… one, two, and please remove the knife from my quad...!!!
Within a nano second I was thinking a gazillion things.. the extreme pain, ...why my damn leg wasn’t moving… knowing I would place in my age group and get points for my team if I just finished …and how the heck was I actually GOING to finish?… !
I instantly went into what I call Ironman preserve mode… I am hardwired to keep going forward. Was that a smart thing to do for a 400 meter race?.. probably not.
Probably why I am not a smart runner, but I knew that I wanted to finish.. and shunning the embarrassment of jogging in the remaining 400 meter laps I limped in and quickly went to lick my paw.
BUT the smile was still there.. because..
I got me a medal..and I love me some speed!
