Lovin' life at the State Meet

Saturday, June 5, 2010

I was up at 6 a.m., not having slept particularly well. I love camping out, but I tend to need a night of poor sleeping to get exhausted to sleep the second night. My back, at 55, misses the comfort of my regular bed.

Anyway, lightning was flashing…thunder was rumbling and I was thinking it’s a damn sight better to take tents down when it’s not pouring. I started waking up my fellow campers.

Jimmy, to my surprise, was all over it. Normally, he thinks he’s brought his mom with him (me) and expects that I’ll do everything. Not this morning. He was calling to Marie and Kim to get moving, but neither seemed to get it.

“John said I could sleep until 7 a.m. I’ve got another 10 minutes,” Kim whined.

We started taking the tent down with her in it. She got the message, but instead of helping us, headed with Marie to the rest rooms. As Jimmy and I were putting the last tent in the van, the rains began to fall…hard.

So now there would be no morning run. We headed back to Bob Evans and this time it was a ham and cheese omelet. I only eat them at Bob Evans…which is twice a year, or so. The rain continued to fall as we headed for the stadium. I had rain gear and an umbrella, but lightning would put the meet on hold and so we crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.

We were there at 9:30 a.m. with the intention of watching all three divisions throughout the day. I was particularly interested in seeing Colby Alexander, my partner’s son and close friend, run the 1,600 meter race in Division One. That wouldn’t be happening until about 5 p.m., but I truly love this sport and knew the time would fly by.

A little rain began to fall, but we’d figured on that and had sat in the last row at the top of the visiting stands so that we could put up umbrella’s without obstructing anyone’s view…not that it mattered with the stands only one-third full. I was sitting under the umbrella watching the action when I realized someone was calling to me from the walkway in front of the stands.

“You can’t have up an umbrella. It’s against stadium policy,” the facility staff person was yelling.

I looked at him thinking he must be kidding.

“I’m in the last row. There’s no one behind me,” I yelled back, figuring he’d see the sense in that statement. He didn’t.

“Can’t have it up. Stadium policy,” he repeated.

Some people should never be given authority. It destroys their common sense.

I called back “let’s use common sense. There…is…no…one…behind…me...so let’s ignore a stupid rule.”

He looked at me and could see I was not going to give in. Weighing his options, which I think would have been getting someone with a gun to throw me out, decided I probably was right and walked away. Good for him. Common sense had returned.

Since I wasn’t getting in any exercise, I decided to go with minimum food for the day. We went to Wendy’s for lunch where I got a small frostie. No fries…no burger…just a frostie. I suppose I could have gotten something green and water, but I needed something that would stick to the gut through the afternoon.

I have coached athletes running in the state meet with the expectations of winning the whole thing. I develop close bonds to these athletes and my nerves, like theirs or those of a parent, ratchet up as the beginning of the race draws nearer. I work with them on relaxation techniques to cope, but never use them myself. I knew what Don and Rae, Colby’s parents and coaches, were going through. Don would probably throw up from nerves before the gun went off.

I watched Colby warming up on the track’s backstretch, which was right in front of me. I always watch and coach from the backstretch – that’s where races are won and lost. He look completely relaxed. He would be. His mom and coach had prepared over 100 all-Americans and he had total faith in her program. He knew what he was doing, and was extremely confident, which became evident shortly after the gun sounded to start the race.

Colby had been challenged the week before at the regional meet by a very talented runner. He let the runner take the lead now and moved just off his right should and they ran together, stride for stride, for most of the first three laps. Suddenly, Colby surged ahead. His opponent attempted to match the move, but could not get on Colby’s shoulder. With 500 meters to go, Colby’s running style was ‘catch me if you can’. No one could.

He slowly pulled away, opening a 2-second gap by the time he reached the finish line – fulfilling a life-time dream of being a state champion. I couldn’t have been happier for him and his family. Hard work, dedication, talent, and the attitude that no one could beat him had paid big dividends. He’d run the race in 4:09, which was the 7th fastest time ever run in state history at that distance. He will be going to New York next weekend to meet the top 10 high school milers in the country to see if one of them could break the 4-minute mile, something done only four times by an American high school runner.

So…no workout two days in a row. It’s okay when it’s part of the plan. I knew the state meet weekend would make working out difficult and so did plenty leading up to it and would get right back the next day. That’s life. It’s full of interruptions and they don’t need to sidetrack you if you have a plan. Run long tomorrow was mine.