Many asked me, "Who are you here for?" "Im here for our Youth, I answered"
The spring mile fun run at the Alamosa Emelentary is an event the kids, teachers and entire community look up to every year. Personally, this is an event that hits home. This day I devoted my morning time to the event and soon after, its a tradition I invite my nephews out for lunch. This year was Alan's last mile fun run as he will be moving on to middle school. The good news is that the new generation of In The Arena members will keep us coming back to the event for many years to come. My day started with the parents 2 mile fun run. This is my second year participating at the parents fun run.. This fun run gives me the opportunity to show my kids and parents how I run. I enjoy hearing the kids cheer us on along the sidewalk. Many kids get very serious and want to see you win. Others enjoy the fact that you can slow down and give them a high five. This year I was outkicked by a male parent, bad strategy on my end. I learned a distance runner girl like me should not wait for the kick, so next year, I am ready to open a huge gap so that I dont give anybody a chance.. Needless to say, it was wonderful to visit with kids after the race and tell them all about my tactic mistakes and the other good things about competing. All of them seemed to understand and appreciate my efforts by reminding me that next time I would win. A blast!
After the parents race I stayed to cheer on the rest of the races while I got inspired by their free spirit and determination. The following a few pictures and segments of the races I was able to caught on Camera. So proud of these Mini Moose!
Jetzemanie
Best friends thanks to a missing shoe.. You might remember him :)
Lupita, so proud of her always giving her best. Her strrenght is second to none
Andres, ran most of the race. Huge accomplishment. So prpud of my Andres
Jessica H and her friends always smiling and working together, Teamwork!
This kid makes my heart smile like no other.Alan ran his best race ever. Im a proud auntie,
Jessica T ran with many of her friends, pacing them and making sure all of them had a good experience. She is our leader.
Before the Lodz marathon in Poland. I have already ran a handful of marathons since my debut in New York in 2005 where I had experience the unexpected. Just to name a few:
Running alone in New York 2005
Tight shoes in Twin Cities 2006 (I almost strangled my poor foot)
Hot and humid conditions Osaka, 2007 (No shade to be found)
Wind, rain and cold temperatures in Boston 2007 (Dressed like it was summer)
Olympic Trials 2008 (Blisters at mile 22)
World Championships in Berlin 2009 (Blisters at mile 13)
Running with a broken rib at Olympic Trials in 2012
Massive hills in Sand Diego at the Rock n Roll in 2015
The day had arrived, the training was done. It was time to check if I could put into practice the lessons learned from my previous experiences. One thing I notice was that the level of excitement was quite thesame from my previous experiences.
I take pride on my water bottles. I prepared them with lots of excitement thinking that on the way I will find a kid that will adopt them and keep them as a souvenir or for their next show and tell in their classroom. I started this tradition back in Osaka 2007. My signature, butterflies.
Well, all these experience came in handy at my serious attempt back at the marathon in Lodz last April.
The conditions were less than ideal on race day. It was 68F and 90% humidity at the start. At 10km I was 5 minutes behind the leaders and in 11th place. By the time I reached the finished line I was 4th fully aware of what had just happened in the past 2:41:1 seconds. I had just ran the smartest and most strategic marathon of my life. The marathon and I were friends again. I learned that yes, its is possible to enjoy such distance and in the process to learn from yourself.
