Puddle Jumping

The air was humid. Like right before a rain in Arizona and during the first week back from summer in Indiana. But it was Texas. It was semi-early. And it wasn't raining, sadly.

I woke up and hoped my feet remembered what to do. Hoped my heart knew how to make my blood flow. Hoped my lungs knew how to catch my breath. And really hoped my muscles remembered how to work. I really hoped they remembered what to do. Because my fingers remembered how to lace my shoes and it felt like someone had teleported me to the starting line. And sometimes my head can get a bit fuzzy.

Who knew that coming back could be so nerve-wrecking?

I saw this kid, #304, sitting and tying his shoes by the line and I just knew he was going to make me feel old today. Work had talked me into doing the race anyway and I thought I could just treat it like my Saturday work out. But now my feet were getting that itch. Like they didn't care what the pace was as long as it was deserving of a pair of wings. My pre-race routine was calling my name.

Shake my arms. Stretch my hips. Swing my legs. Pit stop. Check my number. Loose my warm-ups. Attach my chip. Pit stop. Take my inhaler. Set my mind. Remember my strategy. Today the goal was negative splits. Or some sort of split. Any kind of split. While everything was coming back to me, I didn't really know if my legs would actually remember how to race.

The gun went off a few minutes late, but it didn't really matter. This wasn't nationals. But my legs were excited anyway. From the gun it was me and Mr. 304. A little man in green blew by us after the first 200m and I thought, "really?" this is supposed to be a fun day. So Mr. 304 and I took off stride for stride after him. All of 200m later and it was back to a 2 person race. I was actually really surprised that I was keeping up with this kid. First off he was a guy. Second he had guy legs. Third he had guy lungs. You get the picture. But every time he would start to pull away, I would edge right back up to him. I think it bothers me when people test me like that. But I thought it was better than what the little man in green did. Then, we hit the turns.

It was a short out and back course with quite a few turns that didn't look that bad on paper, but running them turned out to be a fun thing. Track, cross country, or something had prepared me for the turns that day. I just rolled right through and watched little gaps start to form between my stride and 304. Now that felt good. As hard as the race was getting for me, I liked rocking the curves. Mile 1 split: 5:40.

Afterwards, my boss said the guy's face was priceless. He saw the pair of us roll around the turn around and he was gasping. I offered that I was too, or at least I really felt like it, but my boss denied me, "you looked like you could have been running through a field of flowers." Mile 2 split: some where in the upper 5:40's.

That's when I felt the separation build and I took off after the lead cart. I even smiled crossing the finish line. My legs had remembered what to do! I tried to explain to my boss and some of my friends at the finish line after the race the reason why I didn't look so tired or like I joined the struggle bus circus in the race. I was just as tired, just as worn out, and in need of as much oxygen as everyone else. But, college is full of sharks. And if you look like a dying minnow out there, you will be eaten. So, while I may not have always been the fastest going in, I sometimes could pull things off by trying really hard to not look breakable. Non-edible. Mile 3 split: 5:35.

Thank god my body remembered how to do that a bit and my lungs didn't make me sound like I was ready to quit a 3-pack a day habit. To me, it gave me the hope that my dreams of still competing well are not too far out of reach. I had gotten my feet wet. I could see the large pool I was aiming towards, but I also saw the fins swarming in the water. Knowing I am not ready to dive into those shark infested waters, it is time for some puddle enjoyment. Puddle jumping. :)

Final Road 5K time: 17:37 at the Rattler Run 5k. March 26, 2011

Won one for the girls... I am a long way from feeling great, but I am closer to feeling good. More races to come...