JTG: The race begins when you know your competition

Miles 1123

It was late in the season….. the races were all but over….. marathons and half marathons had been run….. PRs had been made…. amazing wins  and some disappointments filled the run group as we drank a champagne cheers to the end of the season…. and to our groups new Olympic Trail qualifier….how incredibly motivating it is to know that caliber runner…. to train along side … well a few miles back…but….. to see him on the track…. to watch some one win like that…..  it was a good ending to a season well earned and well ran for all of us! I had 1 more race hanging in the background…. it was an end of the season race…. the last of the triple crown series….. the race series I had began the race year with so many months ago…… I was so tired…. so mentally done…. the coach OK'd my idea to sit it out…. take a break…. just enjoy the amazing season I had just completed……. and i almost did….. my body was beat, my mind was spent….. but darn it when your heart is set on an idea….. on a race…… I registered the day before….. picked up my race packet the day of….. I followed no pre race tradition…. RACE morning I was still laying in bed contemplating a no show…….. that day I learned the meaning of the first thing I ever heard our coach say after a race….. sometimes the race is won based on who shows up……...

When I began this blog, a year ago…. it was because I had SO many thoughts while running…. and after… I needed a place to write them down… I wanted to share, but also ….. reflect…. and I wanted accountability to myself and to my goals.  I started out as a girl who could run a little way back when…. and then just kind of played around with it…. running here and there…It wasn't until about 3 years ago that I actually thought… maybe I could be good at this….I knew I loved it…. and my times were getting better…. but I still had and have SO MUCH to learn.

This weekend was my final race of 2015…. and I can say, for sure, it was one I did not want to do.  I was tired. It was 45 minutes away…. I WAS TIRED. My body needed a break and I just wasn't into it….. but this was the series of 3 which began with my first race of the season… the carmel 8k…. when I let pride and ambition get in the way of listening to my body…. I still remember before the season started saying I was in pain….. and the races hadn't even started…… It was race 1 that was the beginning of a season I would not finish…..

Race 2 marked the first race I would do healthy, after sitting out for almost 2 months….. and it about killed me…. open field, hills, trails, crazy terrain….. but I was so relieved to be running healthy….. I remember running a 9:10 in that race and not being the least bit disappointed.

This was race 3 in the Triple Crown Series that had started my race year…….. and I had to do it…….
I guess it was kind of a blow off race…. until I arrived… and then….. um… yeah…. I wanted it….. and….. I was ready….. there was a girl who had blocked me from placing at every race prior…. and that day…. I set out with one goal and one goal only….. beat that girl!

For once….. I ate well before getting there…… I listened to my coach and did the full 2 mile warm up…. 1 full mile on the soft track to get a feel for the push off I would have in the race….No music….. no fear, no worries, no stress… just a calm, cool…… beat that girl….. and I had a plan I knew I could follow…..

Steady first mile….. even it out to 8 and then in the last 2 give it all I had….. when I hit the track for the final mile….. full on race……

And that is exactly how the race went…… I saw someone at mile 3 go down on the side….. and I had to slow and make sure they were ok….. by mile 4….. I had passed 2 females…. and knowing where I started… not many were in front of me…… my race theme changed here….. I knew i was doing well…. and my race became….. beat shannon strzynski…. and I repeated that over and over and over…..at that point… that moment…. beating some one else didn't matter…. I was once agin having the best race of my life and I didn't want to lose THAT!

As we approached the track I passed another female…..the final girl I would catch up to and pass that day……. and all I wanted to do was hold that pass…… As I sprinted to the finish…. I saw the clock 39:20……… and I knew that for the 4th consecutive race….. since coming back from my injury, since listening to my coach and trainer and giving it my all….. I had beat myself….. and I learned something about competition and racing….. When I saw my score…. I had placed 4th female overall and 1st in my age group….. and that girl….. well I passed her on the track with out even knowing it was her…. as I ran with all my heart to beat my true and most fierce competitor….. and while that girl I passed placed 5th… that wasn't the real victory that day…… the real win…. happened in my head….. when I realized with clarity….. the only person I ever needed to beat, was me…...


This year has been full of so many experiences….. from injury and defeat…. to new friends and success…. meeting olympic runners….. finding joy and happiness and laughter out there on our path….. there were wins…. there were losses….. and I absolutely know I will have bad races again, bad season….. failures….. and while they will crush me I will keep moving forward… one step at a time….. in my gel kayanos…. trying to PR!

I started on a journey to greatness….. and I found so much more….. it is amazing to look back at my journey for 2015…… and as 2016 approaches and new goals must be made….. it is with out fear or hesitation that I retitle this blog……JTB Journey to Boston….. it may take a lot more time…..I might fail many times before I succeed……. I can take it…….I am ready to see where this road leads…..