My friend Tim has been running and racing since he was a teenager. We have't run together often, but when I first began racing, Tim cheered me on from the virtual sidelines. When I hit stumbling blocks, he always had the answer. I'm not talking about training plans and complicated stumbling blocks. The simple stuff that I wouldn't even know to ask. How to drink at water stations without choking. What do you mean I shouldn't eat eggs before a race?! So the stitch in my side is about BREATHING!
This spring Tim challenged me to increase my speed. We together signed up for a 4-miler in Central Park, did a couple of speed workouts with my team, and he pulled down my race times to figure out the target.
Yesterday as we stood side by side at the start line Tim told me it would not be comfortable. And that if I could say for any shorter distance (less than half marathon) that the race was comfortable, I was not racing. The longer races I could hit my relatively fast comfort zone and ride it until the finish. Not so with a 4-miler. Or a 5 or 10K. I had to run it in a place that did not feel easy. Plain and simple.
And so that's what I did.
The first two miles were hard but I maintained.
The third my stomach churned and demons began swirling in my head, reminding me that I could simply step out of the pack and lie in a pool of sunshine in the grass. I stopped for about 20 seconds to regain my composure and continued on.
The final mile eased up and was my fastest of the four. The finish line loomed, I kicked in, and we crossed together.
I ran well and finished well. It was not my fastest time. But it was one of my most important races for a couple of reasons.
First, Tim ran with me the entire way. He could have run his own race, but instead chose to run mine. Amazing generosity for which I am grateful and inspired. Runners are some of the very best people out there, in my humble opinion.
Second. I get it now. If I want this I now have a simple roadmap for what it will take on race day. What it will take during training I have still to figure out with the help of my coach and my running community. But I need to spend more time running fast. And I need to address those race threatening demons head on. Getting them to back off by slowing my pace can no longer be the answer.
"Why should I practice running slow? I already know how to be slow. I want to learn how to be fast” -
-Emil Zatopek
