A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I ran the Statesman Cap10K in Austin. A race of 24,000 participants, from wheelchair racers & elite runners to timed runners & “just for funners”. They only allow 10,000 timed runners and we were two of them. There were many costumed runners as well – a few Gumby’s, some crayons, lots of tutus (even men) and my favorite, Super Mario and who ever his sidekick is.
Chris says that something funny happens when I race. Frankly, I am simply racing against myself – I’m not thinking that I’m going to set new world records or beat an elite runner but I am out to beat myself. He calls it “race face”. First, to understand “race face”, let me take you back through some earlier events.
We headed to Austin Saturday afternoon to hit the health expo & packet pick up. I have to say that the health expo was a big disappointment. I was expecting the same quality and quantity of the San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon & Half expo – but my fantastic hubby did buy me some amazing fog proof pink running glasses so it was successful – and we got our race packets.
We were supposed to go to dinner with Team Beef at Macaroni Grill but as we sat in the parking lot preparing to go in, we decided we should just stay in Austin for the night as it would be easier to get to the race, more sleep, etc. So we rushed home (an hour drive one way) to pack, get our race gear and head back. Little did we know, that just about every hotel within 20 miles of the race would be sold out. After a lot of phone calls, we finally secured a place, checked in and went to dinner by ourselves at the Olive Garden.
Olive Garden has become a pre-race night tradition with us. We split some pasta and steak, a class of wine, the all you can eat amazing salad and I literally gorge on breadsticks. After all, I eat no bread during the year unless it is race day or the night before so who cares that I ate a couple of baskets by myself!
Apparently “race face” begins the night before the race, shortly after the dinner. I get into a quiet zone where I lay out all my clothes, review the course several dozen times, re-read several running articles on performance and become very quiet and very still. I lay out breakfast, and visualize the course (over and over). Yes, I know – all this for a 10K? Yes, all this for a 10K. Race morning, however, brings major “race face”. I’m quiet, barely audible, and completely focused on the tasks at hand – crossing the finish line with the best possible PR I can achieve.
The races are about me. No one else. It bothers me that there are 24,000 other people on the course in fact – all jostling for a position when all I want is to the run in the crack between the road and curb. I want to shout, “get out of my crack” but feel that may be a little inappropriate and even borderline rude. So I weave in and out of the crowd, focusing simply on keeping up with my “rabbit” of a husband. I know that if he wasn’t rabbiting for me, he’d probably be finishing a good 15 minutes ahead of me, but he likes to cross the finish line with me, not before me.
I keep my focus on his shoes, constantly lagging behind and constantly weaving and bobbing – especially when the runners in front decide to stop and walk. My biggest fear is not that I won’t finish, but that I will run over a walker while trying to keep the pace I trained so hard to maintain. I find that I really enjoy a 10K distance; in fact, this may be m favorite distance to run. After all, I consistently run 6 miles 3 days a week, with the other 3 days being anywhere from 4 – 9 miles runs. So whether I finish or not, is never a question with this distance, but more about how fast I can get there.
There were several highlights of the Cap10K and I know that these highlights will make us come back next year (with better hotel planning next year): Team Beef was at mile 3 (letting me know, I was half way there and through the hardest part of the course), and a surprise cheerleader at 5.5 miles reminded me to enjoy the moment and appreciate the crowd of runners.
We began running for Team Beef in January – we run 2 races and volunteer at 1 throughout the year to fulfill our obligation to them, and in turn we wear their amazing Team Beef running shirts. It is great fun to realize that other people are as insane about running and nutrition as you are and there is a great sense of camaraderie within the team. Comprised of all strangers who may not live anywhere near each, probably don’t ever train together; all comes together for a meal and a race. And they cheer you on! It makes me want to run harder and faster.
Then the surprise cheerleader at the 5.5-mile mark, a student who comes to one of our many conference church camps, is curbside. Remember how I like to run the “curb crack” – this puts my ear at her mouth level – allowing me to hear (despite my loud ipod music) “GOOOOOOOOOO BECKY JACKSON”. I turn abruptly to see her beautiful smiling face and realize how cool that was!
I look ahead and my husband is running backwards (show off), waiting for me to sprint to catch up to him. We run the last .25-mile holding hands and cross the finish line together. .58:08. But we are not winded, and I feel as if I could go again. We head off to the post race parties, eating steak burritos (another luxury I will not see until another race day), guzzling chocolate milk (another race day only love) and talk about the crowd of people, the costumes, what we liked, where we lagged and how much faster I should have gone! Next time, I will.
