Peaking when it counts...nice run, Marie

Monday, November 8, 2010

I took Reza’s sleeping bag from him and stuffed it in the trunk last Friday. It looked like something kids use when they’re doing a sleepover in the basement and when I asked him if he’d like one of my cold weather bags, he said he’d be fine with that one. Silly boy. It was supposed to get into the 30’s overnight in the Columbus area, which is where we would be camping. I’ve made a habit of camping at Alum Creek State Park the night before the cross country high school state championships, which is always the first weekend in November and it can get cold. We’d build a fire, but that wasn’t going to keep him warm in a tent. Oh well…he’s a big boy.

I was excited about Marie’s chances. She’d taken third in the regional race the weekend before and was peaking when it counted most. We stopped in Akron and picked up her sister, Kim on the way and with three runners and campers in the car, talked of little else for some time. After pitching the tent, we made the traditional trip to Bob Evans for dinner (the same place we’d go for breakfast) and after a wonderful chicken pot pie, made our way back to our site and constructed a fire. We talked until 11 p.m. and since we were all getting cold, climbed into our sleeping bags for the night.

I was fine in my down-filled bag and slept pretty well. Reza, on the other hand, abandoned the tent around 4:30 a.m., ending up in the Honda for the conclusion of the night. He should have taken my bag, but I’d never rub it in. At least not without witnesses.

Marie and I had discussed the race strategy. She has a fantastic finish, but runners must be careful when competing on this course. The state championships are run at Scioto Downs Horse Racing Track and the finish is on the infield. It is shaped like a high school track, which can be very deceiving since a high school track is 400 meters and this is probably over a mile in length. There is a tendency to begin your all-out sprint to the finish too soon as a result and I’ve seen many runners croaking over the last 100 meters over the years for that reason. Marie would not be making that mistake. She went to the finish, and measured out 300 meters back so she would know precisely where to begin her final, lethal push…and it worked to perfection. She re-entered the track from the back loop of the course in about 30th place. With a little less than an 800 to run, she began picking off competitors. When she hit the 300 meter mark, she was in 25th place, but in two strides was moving all out. She managed to move into 18th place by the time she hit the tape with a personal and school record time of 18:35 for the 5K distance. It was a race and a season run to perfection and we’re really excited about her track season, where her speed over shorter distances can really shine.

I got back in the groove with a 50-minute run. I’d only done two runs over the previous seven days and the distance seemed easy, though I was sore afterwards. I’ll go a little less tomorrow and try to ease back in, though I don’t plan on missing any days anytime soon.

Run duration: 50 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 850.