Race #17

Friday I flew into Nashville and then drove an hour north to Bowling Green, Kentucky for race number 17. Once out of Nashville, the northern Tennessee/southern Kentucky landscape sure is pretty, even in early-spring brown. The only thing to mar the trip was the highway sign indicating highway 65 was closed at mile marker 58 and then finding out that it was the result of a tractor trailer/van accident that killed 11 members of a Mennonite family and the truck driver. How quickly our lives can change, I couldn’t help but be reminded of my own accident with a tractor trailer. (Picture from my wreck in 2007 - still gives me the whillies)

The race was not my preferred flat and fast. Set in and around a Bassil Griffin park it was primarily rolling hills, nothing too steep but more a continual up and down. The course started out with a gentle downhill so I decided to start the race pretending I was on my Beauty Shop run. Consequently I went out pretty fast and my mile one split was 9:29 – I had time to give if I was going to make my goal of 31:00. At mile number two I was again under my necessary pace and given that I usually drag a bit during mile two, I started to feel confident that I could make it. Then I hit the final hill and it truly took everything I had not to take a breather and walk up the last half of the hill. But knowing there was a great downhill on the other side, I kept huffing my way up. I took advantage of the final downhill, turned the last corner and saw the time clock at 29:42. I used up all that was left in the tank and crossed the finish line at 30:04 according to their clock and 29:54 according to my watch. Either way – I made my 10 minute mile goal!

This wasn’t a chip timed race so times are always just approximates in my opinion. But I think it is safe to say that I’ve achieved my 31:00 minute goal. So now it’s time to set a new one. I know that taking just a minute off my time may not sound like a lot, but that’s what I’m going for – a sub 30 run. If I’m ever going to win my division, I know that I’ve got to get down around 27 or 28, but I’m not ready to try for 9 minute miles.

I had a great treat after the race – four White Castle burgers and a Big Red pop. When we lived in Cincinnati there was a White Castle burger joint around the corner that we always wanted to go to but rarely did. My father insisted the burgers were made with saw dust and inedible. His claim was supported when a fire broke out at the White Castle one day – “see, it’s all that saw dust fueling the fire!” Big Red pop is a strawberry soda that I don’t know I’ve seen anywhere other than Cincinnati. There was a little grocery story behind the St. Agnes school playground, near the ball fields. After the boys would play little league we’d often stop in there for a treat, and Big Red was on the top of my list! Great memories.

Had time to kill after the race so went to the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. Now I’m not a car person but it was fun to see Corvettes going back to the original 300 produced in 1953 all the way to the 1.5 millionth produced in 2009.

The plane ride back was made interesting by my two seat companions, a sports psychologist and an inspirational speaker. Even more interesting was that we were each going through one of life’s major milestone, 40th 50th and 60th birthdays. We had a great time exchanging stores, emails and blog addresses. The inspirational speaker, Liz Small (http://www.itizwhatitizwithliz.blogspot.com/), had a fascinating story about her son’s birth and religious conversion. We may end up running together in NY, just depends on timing of my Egypt trip.

The sports psychologist asked me what was different about this race that enabled me to have such a good time. The only thing I could think of was Craig’s voice in my ear reminding me that this was only a thirty minute run, no walking, just get it over with as quickly as possible!