I was heading west on Route 20 and heading for Tiffin, Ohio to see the Ohio High School Regional Cross Country Championships. I could have taken the Ohio Turnpike to get there, but I absolutely hate paying to drive on roads my tax dollars go to maintain...at least I think they do. Anyway, I’d exited I480 near North Ridgeville and picked up Route 20. You could still travel around 60 mph and if it took 10 minutes longer to get there...so what. Besides, it’s less boring, I get to travel through rural America...what’s left of it...and there is almost always something interesting happening. Paul was riding shotgun and had noticed the miles of greenhouses out his window, but missed what I was seeing.
“Holy she..iiiiiiit...it’s a field of longhorn steer!” I exclaimed as I veered the Honda onto the shoulder, skidding to a halt about a hundred yards up the road. Paul, still focused on the greenhouses, swung his gaze back down the road to where I was indicating.
“I’ve seen them before. Pretty impressive animals,” he said in that nonchalant way. The guy has traveled the world and seen just about every kind of animal there is to see. He’s probably ridden longhorns.
“Well...I haven’t...and I’m hiking back to take their picture,” I said as I grabbed my camera and climbed from the car. I noticed as I walked away, he’d grabbed his and wasn’t far behind.
They were truly magnificent animals and so totally unique. They have absolutely amazing horns, spanning up to nine feet. They must weigh hundreds of pounds, which could be the reason none of them were looking up from munching the grasses they were strolling through...too much work to look at a couple of geeks with cameras...again.
We took several shots before climbing back in the car. “I don’t care if it takes an hour longer this way...seeing those monsters and getting their pictures was worth every minute,” I said.
For me, the Regional Meet always holds the greatest excitement. If you’re here as a runner, you’re one step from the State Meet. Top four teams and the top 15 individual runners qualify to move on. It’s do or die...no tomorrow...and the pressure can absolutely ruin a runner...or bring out the best in them. As a coach, I’ve found that preparation...physical and psychological...is the key to success and any runner not prepared in both areas is likely going home instead of moving on. I was there to watch the Medina runners and Anna Boyert as well as to cheer for the Brecksville girls team since my niece, Kim, ran for them. She wasn’t with the varsity squad and wouldn’t be running today, but she was here and could be back next season as a member of the top 7. I called Don...he was part of the coaching staff for Medina...to get his location and have him direct me to the best viewing and picture taking points on the course.
“Hang on, John. I’m parking in the ‘Y’ parking lot next to a sign that says...oh...’parking for members only’,” he said.
“Yeah...probably doesn’t apply to you,” I said. “Those signs don’t apply to me, anyway. Just stay there.”
He took Paul and I around the course and identified places to get good pictures. We were down near the 1-mile mark where the runners would loop past on two occasions. “Only problem is, you’ll have to run like hell after they come by the second time if you hope to get back in time to see them coming to the finish. I’m gonna’ have to stay up around there. I’ve got no mobility with this boot thing on,” he said. He was wearing a walking cast on his right foot to protect his broken big toe...which he’d smashed on a table when running through his own family room. “I’d have thrown it through a window if I wasn’t laying on the floor writhing in pain,” he’d said earlier. Man up...it’s just a toe.
Anna was in third as she passed us on the first loop...a place she would remain throughout the race. She finished about 30 seconds behind the leaders, but easily qualifying to the state meet...as did the Brecksville girl’s team. Both would be running in Hebron next week...one with a shot at a state championship. When she passed us for the second time, I indicated to Paul that we had to start running. It was all uphill...and into the wind...and slippery. I was in rare form with a camera slung around my neck and in my best running outfit...blue jeans and hiking shoes. No matter...I was on a mission to have a good picture of Anna and others coming to the finish and I was GOING to get there. I actually made it in time to catch them about 400 yards from the finish and then, by sprinting across a field they were looping...was able to take another shot about 100 yards from the finish. Bottom line – I got in some good sprinting and took some great pictures.
Though I’d sprinted and hiked all over the three-mile course earlier, I knew it really didn’t count for much in the way of burning calories so I called Holly on the drive home and suggested she meet me in the park for a hike...which she did. She stopped at Heinin’s on the ride home and picked up some lean steaks, which I grilled, and asparagus and salad for a truly perfect Paleo dinner.
Hike duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 75 bpm.Calories burned during workout: 300.
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