I found myself gazing out over the clear, translucent water of Priest Lake. My feet moved to the rhythm of my breathing, and if it weren’t for the tangible impact I felt of them hitting asphalt, I never would have known I was running. The cool air smelled fresh, as if no one yet had moved through what the trees and flowering bushes had worked all night to revive. A long time had passed where I have found the opportunity to escape and explore my surroundings with something other than my eyes.
Yet I looked ahead. Bryan Rowe didn’t know he ran just 50
yards ahead of me. At the starting line, I had told him to go on ahead, as I
had plans to run my slower goal Ironman pace. However, I realized during our
2-mile warm up that my legs had some spunk in them. The only problem was, for
the last 3 months, I’ve been walking a fine line between running too much, too
soon, too fast and risking further injury to my knee.
 |
| An out-and-back course on paved roads with a few hills to make your lungs scream a bit. |
Nothing quite compares to running a half marathon course
that makes you feel as though you’re on a long, scenic trail run. Unless you
have the opportunity to run with that person with whom everything feels so
perfect. Just like in the Tri Cities Marathon last year, it suddenly occurred
to me by mile 7 that if you’d have only had a recording of our run, you
wouldn’t have known two people ran together. Perhaps our staggered breathing
might have given it away, but by the cadence and timeliness of our footfalls,
you would have only heard Bryan’s feet. That’s because mine weren’t hitting the
ground.
I took inventory of my body. Everything felt healthy and
appeared to be working normally. The 5.5-hour ride the day before rattled my
gut a bit, but nothing felt as though it would escape either end…yet.
Two women had the lead ahead of me, one of which I could
see. I knew that while I had already failed to run the pace I had initially
set, I could not forget the purpose of this “race.” I did not come up here to
win, but to run a steady, constant effort at a pace that slightly pushed my
limits. I certainly could not afford to hurt my knee any further. So I
maintained my pace and enjoyed the views over the lake, smell from the woods,
and cool breeze on my face.
Bryan and me passed the 10k turnaround point, and then we
came upon the 5k turnaround. Here, I met up with a number of kids out to push
themselves harder than many of them ever had. One little guy ran up to me and
stuck with my pace until we’d just ran up the final hill toward the finish
line. Another girl stopped running just ahead of me; we only had about 100
yards to the finish. I urged her onward, and she proceeded to catch me, run
with me, then pass me after the final corner to the finish line. That a girl!
I by no means set a PR. I had no intention of doing so. What
I did accomplish means far more to me at this point in my training. I ran
faster than I should have, but didn’t suffer for it. I enjoyed the perfect run
with a training partner who continually pushes me to be better, simply by
keeping me company. I had the chance to participate in a race set in the most
scenic of settings, the most friendly of small lake towns.
 |
| Third overall woman and 2nd place age group awards to round out the day. Not bad for a training run! |
 |
| Bryan enjoying some wood furniture made by one of the vendors at the Spring Festival after the run. |
Comments
Post a Comment