Level field

The other day my older son had his first cross country meet. As I was walking up to the meet I noticed an insane looking ramp right at an eighth of a mile before the finish (according to http://www.mapmyrun.com/ it is only a 3% incline, but it looked a lot steeper). It was a nice hilly course. I was talking to (I am assuming) a coach of one of the other teams about the course. She showed me the map a I made a comment about that ramp, the way she responded was a very true statement but I never really thought about races that way. It is a leave field; all the kids have to go up the same ramp, everyone has to run in the same heat. Well, #1 I know at races everyone is running the same course, but I never really thought about it like that. #2 in that particular race, yes, all the kids ran in the same heat (temperature), but in a marathon (since I am a slow poke) the elites are not running in the same heat that I do. The gun went off to start the race (yes, I am still VERY jumpy when it comes to certain sounds and a gun is definitely one of those bad sounds, fireworks are another…) it felt really strange just standing there, the race started and I was not racing! After the start of the race (luckily the 6th graders went last) I cheered Kiddo on and then followed rest of the parents to another area to cheer on the kids. Kiddo struggled up the hill and I cheered him on, knowing his approximate pace I stuck around for rest of the kids (I think I was the only parent who did that) cheering them on no matter what school they attended. I was telling them stuff like the ‘hill was almost over’, ‘where there is an uphill there is a downhill’ – a young lady who was walking responded with ‘that is why you walk up the hill and run down it!” (I had to give her credit for that comment!!!!!) After all the kids had gone by I returned to that stupid ramp. Some kids decided to run up the stairs instead of dealing with the ramp. I told Tyler to try taking it on his toes. I finally saw him coming up the sidewalk, so I started cheering even louder! He started walking up the hill but then tried to run it. He got back up on the track (1/8 of a mile remaining) started walking again, but the final stretch he did run. He finished in 18 and some change (1.5 miles), I am so proud of him! He is really starting to enjoy it.
Tomorrow is a nice easy “long run”, ok, so there is a pain in the butt hill at the beginning (mile 2), but once I am over that, I am good to go! Now, I am not 100% sure how far I will go yet, I will let my body dictate that, since I am running the road it won’t be hard for me to call my sister and say, ok I am done. For better or worse there is MAJOR road construction going on along this route, but I am making sure I stop before that (the farthest I can go it 9.5 miles IF I make it that far, I can wait for my sister at Starbucks!!!!) Come to think of it, there is a Starbucks at miles 6.75 (ish) and 5.75 (ish) too! Mmmmm, a nice iced latte and some fresh fruit, Yum! Sunday I think a nice swim is in order – that will depend on how my neck/back is feeling (actually all my physical activity is completely dependent on my neck/shoulder). (Oh, and I didn't get my run in yesterday, I was just to tired. I did take Freddie for a walk so he could meet as many people as possible [and he got weighed in at 9 pounds!])
Oh! Yea, I went back to my doc for my follow up, he has decided it is time to pain and torture, I mean physical therapy. He was happy to hear I had started running again (especially since my neck and back started to relax during the run), he told me I can keep doing physical activity as long as I listen to my body and if says no, then don’t do it!
Here is to a great weekend!