(subititled Why I became, and am still learning how to be, an athlete)
I entered the South Shore Triathlon at the request of a coworker who wanted someone to commiserate with on a race she’d already committed to. Since the issues in my personal life had led me to be rather distracted and in-my-own-world at work, I said yes mainly to have some companionship with a new friend. It had been a goal of mine to do such an event, but I had no intention of doing it this year. The cause that the event was benefiting was one for handicapped and inner city youth and adults – that was good, but I did not know how the cause would affect me this year. Each cause brings with it people in their own type of struggle with their bodies, health, or other issues.
Enter Mike – a long, lean, stretched-out man with very little body fat, a narrow waist, his left arm in a sling against his body. His arm was of no use to him – at least in swimming, so his event was the run-bike-run ‘duathlon’ – I found myself near him on the bike section, and again during his second (and my first) run. We had similar running paces, so we ended up chatting a bit about the course, and everything. He said he had a spinal problem, and that he could not swim, but he wanted to one day – I acknowledged the challenge of running with only one arm able to swing – and we ran on in silence, synchronizing our strides and breath as runners do subconsciously to show partnership without spending precious energy on words. As we ran through the second mile of the 3 mile course, both struggling, people who were ‘free-lance’ coaches came up and shouted ‘great job’ to Mike. I really wanted to have people like that cheering for me in some of my lonelier races, but I sponged off the energy this time. A woman offered to set a pace for Mike and me, but we were slower, and she pulled ahead while Mike and I struggled on alone together. The heat was now murderous as we entered the last mile along the lake without cover of trees.
As the finish line came into view, about 3 minutes away – he told me to go on and go for it – “It’s in sight!”. Bittersweet as it was, I appreciated the push, so I thanked him by entering into the sprint of my life. As other bodies came close to me, all in their final sprints, I regretted that none were Mike, and that I’d left my buddy behind, but I ran hard anyway. Of course, then, in the last 10 yards, the orange shirt and sling was upon my heels again, and I ran just as hard to beat him as I could – we crossed the finish line within 2 steps of each other – I’m not even sure who crossed first. Hugs were given, with whatever arm we could manage, and I learned later that it was the fastest endurance run of my life.
What I learned from running side-by-side with so many talented lesser-abled athletes, many of whom trained every bit as seriously as any spandex-clad athlete you’ll see on the bike trails, is that training was a way in which they maintained a sense of pride and normalcy in a body that a pessimist might see as unfairly compromised by God, fate, or whomever. When Mike told me to run ahead, and then chased me down, he was helping me and himself in ways that were so honest, childlike and uncorrupted. The soreness in my calves the next 2 days became the location of that memory in my body.
I think differently about my mind’s relationship to my body now. I used to never even acknowledge my body was part of ‘me’. It was a relationship of container and contained. But these days, my vision is that of mind being the jockey on top of a horse. I believe you should be kind to your body, but also push it, and allow it to grow up toward your higher vision of what it is capable of. You are worth that much. You deserve to be better tomorrow, and you deserve the pain pride and tears that will accompany that growth.
Summary:
Training highlights:
my first official sprint distance Tri
had rehearsed this distance (up to 2x more) on 4 or 5 training weekends before
Full 2 week taper, emphasis on being nourished, flexibile, springy. Light stride workouts morning-before
Nutrition:
1 day carbo-load
300 calorie breakfast 3 hours before race start, ample water drinking.
No hydration/eating 60 minutes before race start.
Water and Cliff blocs in T1, 6 oz gatorade on bike, final cliff blocks in T2, some gatorade. water poured over head in footrace.
Swim time: 12:18 for 750 m in practically knee deep water (boo Chicago Park District course layout)
Bike average mph: 21.04 on Fixed gear bianchi
Run time: I was in top 13% of my age group with a 22:03 5k – emphasis on springiness paid off !
