Next we were going to run the course, we made it there after only another hour and a half of driving around Spokane in circles. Once we found what looked like a starting line we ran around in circles for a few minutes while we figured out which way to go. The course map said up and so up we went. The course starts with a hill that is sort of steep but just an ordinary hill, and then you turn the corner. The next half mile is like scaling a wall, with loose bricks in it that fall off and take you down with them (rocks, lots of them!) We walked up it, waiting to kill ourselves until the next day. Even so at the top my calves felt like they were filled with tennis balls. We ran the rest of the course which is 4.66 miles (during the race we would run it twice, and it turns out it was actually long by about .15 miles or .3 miles for the whole race) and after that first half mile everything else seemed pretty tame. We finally got to eat dinner at 9 o'clock and then drive around Spokane for another hour looking for the motel. Our trip cost about a thousand dollars in gas in case you were wondering.Luckily the race didn't start until 10:45 the next morning but that also meant it was hot! At least by my western Washington standards, probably around 75 degrees! I was not looking forward to the hill. The announcers who kept a countdown for us till race time also liked to throw in little tidbits like "30 minutes till the start of the 15k, that means if you've seen the hill and changed your mind you have 30 minutes to get the bleep out of here!"
It is a very strange experience to start on a hill. You are just starting your race and you are fresh and have all this adrenaline but in about 10 seconds it is gone. You have just begun the race so of course you want to do well and that is still possible but one minute later you are scaling a mountain and every torturous step you manage is rebuked by the tumbling rocks so for all your efforts you are almost going backwards. When I realized I was running slower than I could walk about halfway up the beast ( I could not look up because I could still not see the top!) I did walk. I tried to walk very fast and no one passed me because everyone else was walking or running slower than walking pace too. Still I felt very guilty for walking in a race- especially in the first three minutes! I mean I ran a 50k and I didn't even walk then! When I finally got to the top I thought I'd feel better, we went flat for a while then down on some more rocks. I did but not all the way. The hill stayed with my legs the rest of the race. Terrain that had seemed flat the day before now felt slightly inclined. The couple of other hills, baby monsters, seemed to have grown. My legs felt that running slow was about as fast as they could move and I couldn't even think about going up that monster again! I guess this was trail running.
The second time I think I walked most of it. I walked very fast and passed lots of guys. I had my hands on my knees and almost crawled but I crawled really fast! I reached the top and instead of running right away I kind of stumbled and wanted to lie on the ground. I made myself run again and tried to tell myself that at least I would not feel that bad for the rest of the race, the worst part was over! Now I just had to hang on and get 6th place, which I did!
My teammates Oliver Bear Don't Walk placed 5th and Cory Jenkins placed 9th.We all won prize money and placed All American. It was my very first time earning prize money, I got 100$! But I think you should get paid to run that race- it makes sense. Lots more sense than paying for a race anyway, that's just crazy, yeah...
Me at the start; a very small portion of THE hill (it is impossible to fit in one photo, would need full screen!); Oli, Cory, and I with our new friend we met running the course the day before
Woohoo! Sounds like you earned it!
ReplyDeleteAs I watched you run up that long, steep hill, I was wishing you would switch to a walk, so you could actually go faster.
ReplyDelete