10 Years and Counting

Yesterday I "ran" my 10th straight Cotton Row...yes 10th! Funny I kept saying it was my 9th but when I went back to read my recaps from the previous ones I've run I realized I ran my first one in 2010...that was year one...plus 9 more years...10. Yesterday was the 9th anniversary of running it the first time.

The plan about a month ago was for Dwayne to pace me. It wasn't that I was going to try to run fast, I just wanted to run as much as possible and I wanted him to push me just a little bit.

Then he broke his ankle while hiking! It's called an avulsion fracture. Basically the ligaments that hold the ankle bone pull the bone and break it. It wasn't a complete break but it was bad enough that he's in a cast for a while, then a boot, then a brace. Needless to say, he's not running.

Then just over 2 weeks ago I got sick. It turned out to (likely) be walking pneumonia! That caused my plan for Cotton Row to change once again to just finish.

And then something wonderful happen! A good friend of mine (she needs a blog name...) offered to run with me! She is "the girl with the broken foot", the one who ran the Grand Slam (3 50ks and a marathon) while pregnant...she's a multi-time IronMan finisher...you get the picture, she's a really good athlete. But... she had not run in like 6 (9?) months...and maybe only once in the last year. She was slightly concerned she wouldn't be able to keep up with me....but I was getting over walking pneumonia, and I haven't been able to run "well" in three years!! I never had one doubt that she'd be just fine doing the 10K with me.

But, really...who does that? Who has the ability to "just go run a 10K" having not run in like 6 (9?) months?! I think that's amazing. To me it highlights her athletic ability.

The race start moved this year due to construction and I LOVED the new start/finish. Thankfully it will be a permanent move. It's a Memorial Day race that now starts in our BEAUTIFUL downtown park. I think it's the perfect place for the event. We started with another friend who was telling us she had been dealing with an annoying cough for NINE MONTHS!! I have to say that freaked me out since I had been dealing with my cough for over 2 weeks. Our plan was to run 3 walk 1. I was concerned because the race now starts going up a little hill and I was struggling to complete that first 3 minute run. I was very glad for that first walk break! Our "coughing" friend said she didn't need to walk so she ran on.

We very quickly got to where the old Mile 1 used to be...and I just as quickly remembered it wasn't mile 1 on the new course! But then a couple more intervals and BAM...1 down, 5.2 to go. It was HOT. Really hot. But, I wasn't coughing NEARLY as much as I thought I would. In fact, I don't think I coughed much at all. The worst thing for me was that my saliva seemed THICK. I kept having to spit out yuck. Now, I usually spit a lot when I run but yesterday it was much worse than usual. I don't think it's sinus drainage...it's like gunk was bubbling up from my lungs! (I know...gross.) But given the fact that I had not even been able to WALK the dog without having to stop for a coughing fit, I was VERY pleased at the trade off of spitting out yuck for coughing up a lung! (I am always VERY careful to pay attention where I'm sending my saliva and VERY mindful of the people around me.)

We made the turn by the cemetery and the 3/1 intervals went out the window. I did feel bad about that because my friend is a spreadsheet kind of gal. She likes order. A chaotic interval is HARD for the body to manage because you never know what to expect. But I was walking more frequently than the interval called for so I didn't feel too horrible about it. We stopped and talked with a friend for minute and then before I knew it we were at "the hill".

I realize this hill doesn't look so impressive on this elevation profile of the course, but it's steep. There's a homeowner who plays the theme from Rocky every year and a lot of people cheer runners on all along the way. I have run up it once in the race (several times in training). That was the year Dwayne was sick...the year the tree fell and the start had to be delayed for an hour! I was in good shape that year. This year I seriously struggled to just keep moving! We had friends who were supposed to be at the top of the hill with MIMOSAS...and they did not disappoint!!! I was very happy to see them. The shot of Champagne and OJ hit the spot!

You can see this course goes up about three miles and then basically down about three. The first downhill is just right in my opinion. It's not so steep that your knees take a beating. Then there's a little uphill bump and a second downhill section. That one feels a little steeper and a little longer. Usually it's okay but yesterday that one was harder because my legs weren't turning over quite fast enough to really take advantage of the elevation loss. I could tell I was losing steam.

We got to a new section of the course and it was weird to turn a different way! I had not been on any of the preview runs and I had not studied the map at all so it was all brand new. It was a little disconcerting! I have run this 10k race 9 times but I've run the course A LOT more than that. It's like a familiar friend that you don't have to WORK to be around. Someone with whom the conversation just flows. Someone you don't have to be on guard with. That course has always been comfortable to me. But this was new. Now it's not like there weren't hundreds of people around. It's not like it was at the Knoxville Marathon where I was all alone and had to pay attention to make sure I stayed on course. But it was new and different enough that it caused me to have to focus.

...the brain is interesting. Most people don't even realize when their brain isn't functioning the way it should. Because of what I've been through with my brain the last three years, I'm more aware sometimes than I probably need to be. Everyone has had the experience of walking into a familiar place but it looks different so it causes you to stop a bit and look around. Maybe a room was redecorated or something that should be there has moved. You know that momentary "wait a minute...this isn't right" kind of feeling you get? That's what was happening with me. I mean...this was a new course. OF COURSE it's different. But it was weird because my brain was much more confused than it should have been. Looking back I know what was going on.

The frontal lobe is a very energy hungry part of the brain. That's the decision making and willpower part of the brain. I was struggling from the start with simple math on the intervals. (I should have just used the lap button on my watch but I wanted to keep up with mile splits so I didn't want to hit the lap button...I figured it was going to be easy to keep up with 3/1 intervals but I was struggling from the 2nd interval.) By that point in the race (mile 5) I was having to keep bringing my brain back. It's hard to explain. It's like herding kittens.

It wasn't BAD. I think it was a mostly just normal end of race low glycogen thing that I was hyper aware of because of what I've been through. 

My friend is a lot like me in that she's competitive. Even being at the back of the pack in a "race" we were never intending to "race" we were both looking for people we wanted to get in front of. She pointed someone out and said let's just make sure we are in front of that person at the finish. It's not really a matter of "I want to beat that person" as much as it is a technique to push through. It's much like "run to the next mailbox"...it gives you something to focus on other than what's going on inside your body. And it's a moving target when it's a person. I do it EVERY. SINGLE. RACE. No matter if I'm "racing" or "completing". EVERY TIME. I think almost everyone does it but maybe I'm wrong. 

We quickly got in front of that person. As we rounded the last corner we had the realization that we had an uphill blip before a little downhill finish. I spotted another moving target to try to get in front of. Then my friend saw the time clock said 1:24:45 and she said something like "let's get in before it hits 25"...so I kicked.

I usually have a very fast finish line kick. For a long while it's been a toss up if it will be there or not. I didn't think it would show up given how slowly my legs were turning over in that earlier downhill section. But, when I pushed the "kick" button, it was ALL THE WAY there! I LOVE THAT!! I love crossing a finish line not being able to talk! I love that feeling so very much!! Even in a crazy slow "race" I was walk/running with the goal to "complete".

It was NOT my slowest finish (YAY). It WAS one of the (if not THE) most fun Cotton Row 10Ks I've done. I've never been much of a "running with friends" kind of runner. I ran with Daisy A LOT for a long time but we didn't do races together. (I don't ever remember doing a race with her in fact...that's kind of strange given how much we ran together.) I think that's more logistics than anything else. I run from home as soon as I wake up. I don't make plans to meet up with other people to run. I actually like running alone. But the last two running with friends experiences (this one and Bridgestreet Half) have been REALLY REALLY good. 

But I think more than running with friends I like to push my body.

I've decided that my goal for this next year is to get back to a sub 60:00 CR10K. I've only done it once. I'm confident I can do it again. Right now that's my A goal for next year. That means more running and SERIOUS hill training. That fits in with my B goal...better time at Knoxville Marathon. I think that goal will be "easy" with proper marathon training and hill work. I won't run 2 other marathons leading up to that race so a "better time" really should just happen as a product of planning. All the marathon training miles and hill work will flow right into working on speed for CR10K. 

The fact that I'm even ABLE to plan this stuff out is such a GREAT THING!!! If you've ever pulled a muscle you have an understanding of what it's like to get to a point where you are using that muscle without pain. Imagine if that injury were to your brain.... I know I talk about it a lot but it's something so crazy... you just can't even imagine what's it's like to have your brain not fully functioning. I'm just so glad I'm not at that place in life anymore!

Thanks for stopping in and sticking around.

Will I? I Will...

Tomorrow I WILL complete my 9th straight Cotton Row 10K! I'm making that declaration now to set it in stone. It WILL happen.

my first Cotton Row 10K!

Let me explain by going back in time... For anyone who knows me well or who has been reading my blog, you can skip this recap. But for anyone else, hear me out so you'll have a more complete picture of where I am right now in my journey.

In 2009 I decided I would go from a mostly non-runner to a marathoner (I had tried several times in life to become a runner but it never really stuck). I started training and ran my first CR10K that year, injured (because I went from being a 40 year old "non-runner" to running too many miles too fast!). Fast forward through the years...triathlon training, becoming a coach, IMLT '13, IMChoo '15... I would argue that in 2015 I was in very good physical and mental shape. I had started a kids triathlon team and was race directing a kids triathlon that I had started. I was training HARD for a sub 13 hour IM and hitting most of my training goals. I had a near perfect day and got my goal. Shortly after that I started having weird symptoms. It was a long list of strangeness...that culminated in a diagnosis of Autoimmune Encephalopathy. Before I started steroid treatments I had started weakening and slowing. Autoimmune fatigue is like no other kind of fatigue I've ever experienced. I think at my "worst" I was only able to muster the ability to walk at about a 20 minute pace. Fast forward to when I stopped treatments...I thought I'd be making a swift and full comeback. Fast forward another 18 months to the beginning of this year....

I don't remember when the plan hatched but at some point I had the brilliant idea that my better half and I would participate in three marathons in four weeks. I picked three that had longer cutoffs to increase my chances of making the goal. (We direct the Rocket City Marathon...I wanted to be a Marathon Maniac and we had plans to work the expos of all three races. Does that make it sound better?)

Before the start

Marathon one was the Little Rock Marathon on March 3rd. I grew up in North Little Rock and went to college at UALR. Little Rock is like going home for me. They have a HUGE medal, a GREAT course, and like an 8 hour cut off! Their slogan is "a race for all paces". The back half of the course is HARD with some gnarly hills but I love this race. I did it in 2018 and came in at about 7:45 with a big blister on the bottom of my foot. My A goal was sub 6 for this year, but I didn't (couldn't?) train to that end. My longest run was 17.5 miles and my weekly miles were very low. But I still ended up coming in at 6:04! If I didn't have to visit almost EVERY SINGLE portopottie along the way I would have easily made my goal. (I still don't know what caused the bladder issue...)

One of the other things that made this race hard for me was caused because I FAILED TO READ THE PRE-RACE INSTRUCTIONS!! This is a classic "I've done this race before" mistake. I didn't think I needed to read the pre-race emails. In my defense, I don't think any of their email subject lines highlighted the fact there was new information there to read! (It's weak, I know.) In the past everyone (all paces) started together. This year you had to chose. If you were going to go over 6 hours you were supposed to get a special bib to start early (6am) but if you were going to be 6 or under you were supposed to start at 8am. I was HOPING to be under 6 but I really didn't know. I didn't get the special bib...and didn't really even know about it until the night before. The cutoffs were weird to me because it was supposed to be 8 hours from 6am. That would make it 6 hours from 8am but I had read somewhere it was 6:15 from 8am. I was concerned the whole time that I wasn't going to make it but overall I was very pleased with a 6:04 finish time.

Yes...I wore the Go-Pro!

Two weeks later was the Ashville Marathon. This one is held on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate! It's touted as "America's largest backyard" marathon! I got to run the front half with a friend I had met at RCM this year. When she peeled off, there was only one person in front of me and one person behind me that I could see. I quickly passed the person in front of me...and then found out the SWEEPER was right on my tail! The person who had been behind me caught up and started complaining. We actually had "plenty of time" according to the 7 hour cutoff but because we were the last people in the marathon the sweeper was with "us". He did NOT like that! He kept telling her to back off and saying how rude it was for her to be running with "us". I couldn't get far enough away from that guy! Other than his incessant complaining, that was such a LOVELY course!! The front half is mostly on paved roads but the back half is mostly on dirt roads. It ran through the estate and gardens, and through all the farms and the vineyard! It was so pretty out there! The worst part was the last couple of miles are this LONG out and back through a park. You go RIGHT by the finish like twice. It's so long and straight and flat I wanted to just stop. But I was happy that I passed like 15 people in those last few miles for a 6:15 finish! Again, I was pleased with that overall. I will say the thing I did NOT like about that race was the fact that they had PACKED UP POST RACE FOOD before I got done!!! Dwayne finished at just over 4 hours and they were packing it up THEN!!!

😡😡😡

I also had to pay for my post-race massage! That felt foreign to me since I've never seen that done before. But...it was also the BEST post race massage I've ever had! I was thankful for it because we drove back right after we were done (about 5 hours).

Two weeks after that came the Knoxville Marathon. It's been long enough now I can say I loved that race! That is one HILLY course. Start to finish. Hills. The half splits at like mile 12.5 or something and from then on I was pretty much ALL ALONE. Except there were still people at every aid station with PLENTY of aid and there were STILL people CHEERING on the course!!

I think the thing that hurts is the fact that there are about 2000 people who do the half and only about 600 who do the marathon. I could not get over just how ALONE I was the second half. And, it was so FREAKING HILLY. It was HARD. SO HARD.

At about mile 20 I hated everything (except the AMAZING people who were still out there cheering!) I actually called Dwayne and was talking to him when I realized the course was going onto a HIGHWAY ONRAMP!!! I was telling him I thought maybe he should come get me. I don't think I would have really allowed him to come get me but I really didn't know if I could make it another 6+ miles ALONE.

And then my watch started buzzing...(it's connected to my phone so I can see my texts). Apparently Dwayne made a facebook post with my live track asking for people to send me encouraging messages.

It worked. I actually starting crying. I wasn't alone anymore. I had people who were with me every step that last 10K. Cheering me on and being so encouraging.

I came in at 6:54. It's interesting because I can't say that I ever really wanted to quit and I didn't ever think I wasn't going to finish but it did make me doubt if I ever wanted to run another marathon as long as I live! But here I am wondering if I can train to run it better next year! Did I mention how HARD it was? But the people on the course were AMAZING. The town was AMAZING. And...there was SO MUCH post race food when I got done!! And, because of my sweet husband making a post and my sweet friends responding en masse with SO MANY texts, I can now say it was a great race overall. HARD but really good. I think I kind of have to do it again...

Somewhere along the way I saw the medal and shirt for the Bridgestreet Half Marathon. I didn't look at the timing of the race...I was just blinded by the awesome shirt and medal so I signed up.

It was one week after the marathon of marathons! But it also has a four hour cutoff so I figured I'd surely be fine. I ran with a friend who kept me running even when I didn't really FEEL like it to come in WAY under my A goal of "sub 3" ...2:40 to be exact!! I was STOKED!! That 12:13 pace was probably the fastest I had run in over 3 years! For 13.1 miles! After completing 3 marathons in the previous 5 weeks!!!

I felt like I was on my way BACK!! Finally!

I'm three years post-diagnosis. I've been off steroids almost two years. It seems like it's WAY past time to be coming back from all of this.

Post run photo!

Then...on May 2nd I did something I haven't done in all that time...I ran a FULL 5K!!! Ran the whole thing! I didn't walk even ONE STEP!!

Relive 'I ran a whole 5k!!'

I actually still can't believe I did it! 11:40 pace for 3.1 miles! NOT FLAT miles either.

I was so very happy. I thought ahead to Cotton Row and I got excited! My goal for CR10K was to run a mile and take a short break the whole time, walking up the big hill. But with this run under my feet I felt like anything was possible!!

Then, exactly one week later I got sick. Here I am 17 days later...still sick! Turns out it's likely walking pneumonia!! I have been on 2 prescriptions for coughing, 1 breathing med (that I couldn't take because it really hurt my stomach!), 1 antibiotic, 1 steroid shot and 1 round of prednisone. I do feel slightly better now than I did a week ago but I'm still coughing and still can't get a deep breath.

Just in time for my 10th straight Cotton Row 10K!

I checked with the doctor yesterday to make sure there was no medical reason I shouldn't do the race. She said I would cough the whole time...I can live with that. I don't know if the people around me will appreciate it, but I can deal with that annoyance so that I don't break my streak!

It's really not even a question IF I will.... I WILL finish. I might be the VERY LAST person to finish, but I WILL finish.

Thanks for stopping in and sticking around!

A Race Really Isn't About the Awards (Part 5)

I'm going to wrap this up today, I promise. (You can click the back button below to get to the first four parts.)

Here we are 10 days past race day and I still can't stop thinking about all that this race taught me about myself and about directing races. I don't think I'm even able to put it all into words...although I'm sure trying!

Just after the race started I got a call about the awards. I can't say at this point that I remember every word of that conversation but I was in shock because I realized they weren't right. The details of what specifically wasn't right doesn't matter. I just mentally added it to my list of things I needed to somehow fix.

Here's the thing about directing a race. It's NEVER about the logistics or the specifics. It's ALWAYS about solving a problem. Some races have just a few problems that need to be solved...this one seemed to have problems all along the way. I felt like I was barely able to keep up.

It's interesting to me because about this time (20 minutes into the race) I got a text that I didn't even see until the next day. (Or, if I did see it I realized there was nothing I could do about it at that point and I blocked it out of my memory!) I'll come back to that text later... When I got over to the finish line I had a conversation with someone about the awards and found out why they were wrong. I said I would figure out a solution...but I dropped that ball.

I was supposed to have given the timer a new list of the results I wanted. It was a very specific set of results that was very different from any other race I've done. Most races have 5 or 10 year age groupings for awards. But this race has so many little kids, and historically so few adults, they do more concentrated groups for the younger kids and broader groups for the older ones. Leading up to race day there were a lot of discussions between HICLC and the person making the awards and myself. One big mistake is that we never had a discussion where we were all together. And I didn't communicate my expectations in an email. It was all via messenger and text. Communication gets LOST in messages. And when you have three people involved in a discussion but they aren't all together that process gets further complicated. Add to that my failure in giving the timer the new list and you have a recipe for major confusion.

I wish that was the only "major" issue. I got word the day after the race that there were no cups on the

Not taken at this race...

course!! At least that's what a couple of people thought. There were two aid stations-mile 1 and mile 2. But at least 2 people only saw one of them (mile 1) and there were no cups at that one. Further investigation into the matter revealed there were in fact cups at the mile 2 station. But...remember that text I had not apparently not seen...it was telling me there were no cups at mile 1. (It was WAY too late into the race to do anything about it but I thought it incredibly ironic!) What really floored me was that the instructions I gave to the person setting up the aid stations spelled out how many cups to take to each station. WHY weren't they taken? (I still don't know and at this point I don't think the reason really matters. I know how to fix it next year!)

But, this race was about SO MUCH more than just the problems that came up. And it was more than just some people going out to run a 5K or a 1 mile race.

I can't even begin to write about all the stories I heard along the way...

There was a little girl who had apparently been told she only needed to complete the 1 mile event who lined up for the 5K. As she came around the final turn (about an hour and 20 minutes after the start of the race...that's a pace of about 25 minutes per mile!) the police car that was behind her started playing "Eye of the Tiger" over his loud speaker! She jogged in that final stretch looking like a CHAMP!!! Then, after she had some water, she WENT BACK OUT to do the extra mile so she could meet the challenge I put out to all the kids!!! I couldn't have been more proud!!! More kids this year did both distances than any other year past!!  AND other participants took that challenge right along with them! Many of the 5Kers had trained with a group to run their first 5K...and they topped that first 5K off with and EXTRA MILE!!!

I've never really been the "participation award" kind of gal. I think just to participate in something doesn't make you special...most of the time. But for some things it takes guts to even start the event. Heck, for some things it takes guts to even train to get TO the start. I think to step outside of your comfort zone and to voluntarily participate in something that you 1) didn't know you could do, 2) didn't really have a desire to do before you were pushed, and/or 3) was totally optional matters. It's means something JUST to do the thing. You don't have to beat the person next to you because you are probably not competing against them anyway.

Along my fitness journey there have been more times than I can count that I didn't WANT to train. I didn't WANT to swim, bike, run, pick up heavy things...towing the line at a race was the easy part most of the time. I get that for a lot of competitors out there a race is just that--a RACE against the others who showed up on that day. But I'm willing to bet that for most of us that's not what it's about at all. It's about fighting all the voices in my head (and in real life) that said I couldn't do it. It's about the determination it took to get up day after day to get my body ready for the event. It's about fighting all the obstacles to get to the start and then continuing that fight all the way to the finish. The award, or the participation medal, or the race shirt...those are just reminders of what it took to get there.

I'm not going to lie...I feel like I "deserve" an award for directing this race! And I got it. Or I should say I got "them". All the smiles and hugs! I wish I could describe for you the difference between this race and all the others but it's really something you have to experience. If I have anything to say about it though, you won't get to experience it as the RD...I'm vying for that job again next year myself. You'll have to settle for either being a sponsor, a volunteer or a participant. Save the date now....2nd Saturday in May, the day before Mother's Day.

Thanks for stopping in and sticking around. That's all I am going to say about that. :D

A Race Really Isn't About the Awards (Part 4)

This is part 4...I'm hoping you aren't picking up right here...that would be like someone trying to start watching Survivor with only 2 episode left in the season. You don't know who can be trusted and who is a snake, and you have no idea who is blindsiding whom because you haven't been watching! Go get caught up first. Here's Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3


We were just a couple of weeks away from race day and numbers weren't what I was hoping they would be (only about 60 participants other than the kids in the Learning Center). I know from experience that people are registering later and later for races, sometimes waiting until race morning to sign up, but I was concerned. We didn't have enough runners for all the kids to have running buddies and I simply didn't know how to get more.

Not only that but I found out the group who "always" works the aid stations wasn't going to be able to do it this year. And my volunteer sign up was looking pretty thin.

I don't usually worry too much about getting volunteers for a race because I have found that most people sign up for that at the last minute. I think it was easier when we didn't have on-line sign ups but just a spreadsheet of names. Joe-Bob says "hey I can help" and you put him on the list. Now you tell him "okay...will you go online and sign up"...it's just a little bit of a hassle. I know I don't usually sign up to volunteer for a race until last minute. Maybe that's why it's not so concerning to me when I don't see a lot of names on my list...I trust that people will actually show up to help.

But without runners I wasn't going to have enough buddies. AND Daisy wasn't having much luck in the fund raising department.

Many of the races I've directed are break-even kind of events. The goal hasn't been to make money but to put on a quality event  at the least possible price for the runner/triathlete. So I get sponsors only so that I can keep the registration cost low. I usually take all the projected costs and divide them by the expected number of participants. Then I look at what I think the cost per participant should be. Ideally, in a perfect world, those two numbers would be about the same. But they never are in my world of kids triathlon. Let me give you an example...the price to put it on one of the kids triathlons I direct, without any sponsors, would be about $7K. But the expected number of participants paying the max amount that would be a reasonable fee would only bring in about $4300. (That's mostly due to how many participants the venue can realistically hold not necessarily the popularity of the event.)

Sure there are two answers, charge more money or get more participants. Okay, there's a third option to not have the event. But I think some events are worth going to the extra work of getting sponsors. Charity/fund-raising events are different...sponsors aren't simply giving to the event to put the event on, they are donating to a charity. The event is just the vehicle to raise the money. It's like no one buys the school fund-raising crap so they can have the over-priced sheets, wrapping paper or cookie dough...they are giving money to help the school (or so little Johnny can "earn" his prize for selling the most crap!). (But why not just give ALL the money you were going to spend on the stuff to the school instead of most of it going to the cookie dough, sheets, or wrapping paper company? But that's another post for another day...)

This 5K is different for so many reasons.

This race NEEDS sponsors and donors because there are about 60 kids running for "free". The LC kids all get a shirt (which costs money). Although the funds do go to a non-profit, it's not really about making money, it's about giving the kids the chance to give back. If there's no money at the end of the day then they have nothing to give the non-profit they chose.

obviously not our awards..

There's at least one more thing the money has been used to pay for in the past...awards. In the past awards were purchased. When I received the box of stuff from past races I noticed there were A LOT of left over awards in there! These were awards that were purchased but not given out (because participation was low so there wasn't a winner of all these awards). This year I asked the LC art teacher to make them...and she did. She made BEAUTIFUL awards. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

One of the many confusing things that had come up along the way was the issue of post-race food. When I was first told about the race I thought the post race food was provided by the families of the HICLC kids. I thought that was a brilliant idea! Not many 5ks have great post-race food like they were talking about (tamales, enchiladas, flan, tres leches cake...YUM!). But at some point I found out that was just for the HICLC kids' after party. The racers got your typical post race fare along with some sandwich roll-ups. That food had been either donated or purchased by the RD. Now I'm not against donating to a race I'm directing but I certainly didn't want to spend money for sandwich roll-ups when there would be a huge post-race buffet prepared by the families of the kids that could be made available to runners who decided to stick around after the race! Thankfully the parents and kids LOVED the idea too!

As the race got closer the kids were in the process of deciding if they were going to run either the 5K, the 1 mile or both distances. In the past the kids trained and they were divided up into ability groups for the distances. But I knew there would be some slower moving adults out there, even some walkers. And I knew that there was no reason a kid who was able to run (or "run") a 5k couldn't also go back out and complete a 1 mile. So I challenged them ALL to do both distances.

As the race drew near we had a wonderful benevolent benefactor (who I believe would want to remain nameless) who donated a chunk of money so that they kids would be able to give something to Graces of Gurley after the race expenses were paid. We also had a flurry of registrations, despite the fact thunderstorms were predicted--right up until the MORNING OF THE RACE!!! That was crazy...I had to prepare as if it was going to thunderstorm the morning of the race by setting up alternative race day packet pickup and runner buddy matchup sites. Thankfully the weather that morning was wonderful!

Things seemed to be going very well race morning...until they didn't...

Thanks for stopping in and sticking around...one more part of this rambling story to go....

A Race is Really Not About the Awards (Part 3)

In case you're just popping in and you missed it...I'm writing all about the various lessons I learned while directing a small local 5K called the Give it Back Track.

I was asked with only a few months to go until race day to direct a local 5K. The race is put on by the Huntsville Inner City Learning Center so that the kids who attend the center can have the change to "give back" to the community that gives so much to them. The course starts about 1/2 mile from the Learning Center and finishes pretty much at it's front door.

Now I'm not sure what you think of when you hear the words "inner city" but I think of places like downtown Detroit or Chicago. The words that come to mind for me are poverty, crime, danger, and drugs. I don't really think of the Huntsville Alabama I am used to seeing, even though I drive past the housing projects on this course several times a month. I drive past them, I don't drive through them.

When I found out the course of this race runs in the heart of one of what I hope is the "worst" neighborhoods we have in our city, if I'm being completely honest, I panicked. MY name would be on the race permit. My name would the one where it says "person responsible for putting this event on". If someone got hurt I would be the one a finger would be pointing too. I don't go into those neighborhoods for a reason.

And yet...some of the kids who attend the Learning Center LIVE in those neighborhoods. LIVE THERE EVERY DAY. Sleep there. Wake up there. Spend weekends there. The ones who don't live in the race course neighborhoods live in areas like them.

LIVE THERE. They don't just drive past and they don't just run through.


When I started my own non-profit, one of my biggest goals was to bring low income kids into the sport of triathlon in order to teach them life skills needed to persevere in life. Mental and physical strength. Endurance. Integrity. Moxie. My goal would be to get kids in neighborhoods like these and give them some of the skills they need to be able to get out. And yet I found myself scared to event think about running through.

I was struck by that. If I wasn't willing to even go into the neighborhood how on earth could I think I would be able to impact the kids who live there. How can anyone truly help someone they refuse to actually SEE? Sure you can give money to a cause but until you are touched by it you can't fully connect with it. It's one thing to provide a meal for a kid, it's another to hear their stomach growl, and even yet another to go hungry yourself. It's one thing to donate a pair of shoes but quite another to see kids running in shoes that are too small (or too big because they haven't yet grown into them).

But I was struggling for so many reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that I did not (and still don't) think the race was the best way to accomplish it's MAIN goal. I was told the MAIN reason this race is put on is so that the kids can have the chance to know what it's like to give back.

But that's like saying kids raise the money in school fundraisers. Okay, maybe some of them do -- the ones who have a car wash or bake sale. But most kids' parents sell the crap the school has told them to peddle (cookie dough, sheets - yes, sheets! - wrapping paper, candy bards...the list goes on). The kids don't sell that stuff, the parents do. Then the kids get some little prize for how much the parents sell. For this race, historically, the organizer gets donations so that after all the bills are paid a check can be written to a non-profit. The kids aren't involved in the planning or the production of the race. They train to run it and then run it...that's about it. Well, they probably pose for a picture with the big check.

That was a big disconnect in my mind. I don't like when the thing you are doing isn't pushing you toward the goal you are trying to reach. It would be like saying I'm going to sit on a couch and watch someone else run to get ready for a marathon. ...it does't work like that.

But I also knew I didn't have time to do anything differently. I sort of tried, but I just wasn't going to be able to pull it off in the amount of time I had left.

Thanks for stopping in and sticking around...we are ALMOST there...

A Race is Really Not About the Awards (part 2)

If you are just popping in, you might want to read the back story to this post before moving on...unless you like starting a book part of the way in, or coming into a movie late.

But here's a little recap anyway...Daisy asked me to direct a local little 5K...for the Kids. Then she had me meet the director of the Huntsville Inner City Learning Center. Wow...that is one Godly man. He's wise (that is not code for "old"...) and he's probably one of the most affirming men I've ever met. He's not encouraging like a cheerleader. It's different. It's like he looks into your soul, sees all the good parts and then highlights them! But then she put the final nail in my coffin...she introduced me to the KIDS who go to the HICLC.

Oh these kids....they aren't your average bunch of kids. These kids have been taught, at the Learning Center, to be respectful and responsive. They aren't allowed to not engage in conversation with real words. They aren't allowed to fail in school. There are high expectations put on them and they are given the tools to succeed.

The schedule at the Learning Center is basically the same every day:

• arrive from school either via parent or HICLC "buses"
• physical activity or enrichment (art, music, dance, mindfulness...)
• Bible study 
• dinner
• homework
• parent pick up

They are amazing kids....and that sealed the deal. I almost heard God's audible voice..."say yes and I will give you the time and tools you need to get the job done". I found out that the kids actually pick the non-profit they give the money to which I truly felt like put me at a disadvantage because I wouldn't want to make a strong case for why MY organization should receive the money when I was the one directing the race. But I also didn't want anyone else making that case for us. It didn't matter at that point, I knew I was going to direct it no matter what because I was hooked on these kids. 

The organization the kids ultimately picked to receive the money was Graces of Gurley, an

organization that provides for the needs of children living the the Gurley area. It sounded like a super worthy cause but that did mean two things: 1) I was not going to be able to play a super active role in the fundraising aspect of the race because I am the ED of my own non-profit. It would get VERY difficult for me to go to a business and try to explain that...I'm the ED of OKT, I'm directing a race for HICLC that will donate money to GoG. Wait, what? So I talked to Daisy who said she would handle the fund raising aspect of the race.

I met with the the original RD's and the program director of HICLC early on to ask them if there were any aspects of the previous race they definitely wanted to keep. They all said no...other than running buddies would be recruited for each child for race day. I said it was my goal to get people to come to the LC to train with them too. But fairly quickly it became the mantra of the process that "this is the way it's always been done in the past". If I heard it once I heard it a hundred times. Everything from post race food to the colors on the tshirt. 

This created the platform for one of the biggest lessons I learned from directing this race. There can be only one leader. Well...you can have 2 co-leaders if you are committed to being in agreement with each other, but there can't be a panel of decision makers for every aspect of a race. It simply bogs down the whole process and everything becomes a discussion. And, with very little time to go until this race day, discussion couldn't be the norm of the day. Ultimately the director has to be in charge of the event. Because in the end the director will take the heat for any error that has been made.

I've always been reluctant to make decisions about things when someone else has a loud "voice". This comes from being someone who was taught early on that it was necessary to please people in power. Loud and firm voices typically come from people in charge. And, I have historically had a very hard time standing firm in the face of someone in authority (either real or perceived) over me. I crumble and I give in even when I believe I'm right. This doesn't make for the best race director. An RD is really just a problem solver. But, if a problem comes up and there are too many voices, the problem doesn't usually get solved, it just gets discussed.

I found out quickly that there were MANY aspects of this race that one person really wanted to keep in place. In fact, based on the number of times I heard "that's just they way it's always been done" I would say she wanted to keep everything EXACTLY the same as it had been. But why wasn't I told that from day one? Why was it implied that I would have the freedom to direct the race as I saw it needed to be directed? When I realized I didn't have the freedom to actually be the director I checked out a little bit. Not completely, I did still get some things done, but I didn't put my whole self into it because I felt like I was having my hands tied (true or not...that feeling felt real). Every decision began to feel like an uphill battle.

Added to that I had a fledgling program I was trying to get off the ground that I had to devote A LOT of attention to. And there were issues that were coming up with the marathon...big major issues that had to be dealt with.


And then I drove the course.

This course goes through parts of town I do not drive in much less run in. There is one small part that is the same as the marathon course (like 25 feet of the marathon course...). That one part caused me a lot of angst when we were videoing the course last year. We were riding our bikes along the course so I could produce one mile videos each week leading up to race day. We had to ride past that part a few times. Every time I would get a little nervous because it's an area that homeless people congregate. But this course is a running course. With kids. And that's NOT the worst part of the course. It crosses TRAIN TRACKS four times!! It runs past the tent cities, by the food bank, and through several Housing Project alley ways.

Then less than two months from race day there was a shooting in one of the housing projects on the course. 

I was told there had been like 4 shootings there in the last few months.

At that point I started having nightmares....

Thanks for stopping in and sticking around. Hang on, there's so much more...

A Race is Really Not About the Awards (part 1)

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I wrote a post in this blog. That's what being busy will do to me. I have so much to write about and yet there's just no time to sit and type. The thing that gave me pause this morning...the thing that was so burning that I couldn't NOT take the time to make the time happen was my experience directing a 5K that happened yesterday.

I came into directing races in 2014 when I had the audacity to put together a kids triathlon in EIGHT WEEKS!! If you have never directed a race before, that's just bananas!! No sane person would try to do that. I didn't know...and I had MAJOR help from an event planner! She really did all the hard parts and I got to do the fun parts that I love (coming up with ideas!). I got to hover high looking at the big picture while she did a lot of the logistical work to make the race happen (namely figuring out what volunteers we needed and then getting them all to show up!). I have always thought the real credit for putting that together went to her.

Yesterday was the culmination of about 4 months of work. It was the most difficult race I've ever directed. And, so far, it's the race that has taught me the most about myself out of all the races I've directed.

Back in maybe January my friend Daisy (not here real name because I try not to use real names in my blog) asked me to direct a little 5K. This race is put on by the Huntsville Inner City Learning Center.

I was exhausted from directing the Rocket City Marathon with my husband (!!did I tell you that we direct that now !!) but enough time had passed that the full weight of the responsibility had dissipated a bit. I was also in the beginning phases of trying to put together a training program for the non-profit I started the year before (!! did you know that? I started a kids triathlon non-profit called Omni Kids Tri! I'm the "executive director" and "coach" !!).

Here's the thing...I had been wanting to meet the director of an organization called the Huntsville Inner City Learning Center for quite some time. I had wanted to see if we (Omni) could scoop up some of their kids to scholarship into our program.

Side note: Omni's mission, simply put, is to enrich lives through triathlon. It's not about swimming, biking and running...that's just the avenue we use to enrich the lives of the children in our program, the coaches, mentors and volunteers that help us, and their families. A big component in our program is to make triathlon financially accessible to ALL kids.

As the Omni board and I had been trying to figure out where we would get our scholarshipped kids the Learning Center kept popping up in my mind. I had a friend who had told me she would facilitate a  meeting with the HICLC director but that had not happened when my other friend reached out to me about directing this race. My first, internal, reaction was just NO. NO MORE RACES. At the time the races on my calendar to direct were:

• 5 Splash and Dash races every week in the month of May (but those were supposed to be really small)
• The AL State Games Youth Triathlon on June 8th
• Beaver Shark Tri (a brand new kids triathlon in another town close by) on July 13*
• Kids Fly Tri on August 17th
• TRIblossomwood on August 24th
• Rocket City Marathon on December 14th

I am NOT a professional race director. Let me be clear...I am basically a volunteer. I do NOT get paid as the ED of the non-profit. I started it. I don't want to get paid. I want to get kids excited about triathlon (and only because I know how much they can learn about themselves and how much this sport can enrich their lives...and for a child who might not have a stable home environment, I believe triathlon can be a conduit to a better life). I only direct the kids triathlons that I do so that kids will have races to train for and participate in. I have NEVER done any of it to make money. And Dwayne and I volunteer as RDs for the marathon because he thought it would be fun! (HA...I think going on vacation is fun). I quit coaching adults (the job I used to make money to pay for my kids programs) because I simply didn't have time. The plan was to transfer the money generating responsibilities over to the non-profit so that I would have more time to devote to inspiring kids to learn about life through this sport that I love. Directing one more race didn't fall in line with that plan.

But...my friend asked me to just hear her out so I did. I had heard about this race (the Give it Back Track 5K) a long time ago but I didn't fully understand. All I had heard was that the race organizers wanted running buddies for inner city kids running a 5K. But I thought it was going to be on a track and that the kids were going to be super fast because they had been training to do this 5K all year. I had never done this race for those two reasons. I wish I had gotten more information... Daisy told me it's called Give it Back because they raise money for another non-profit organization so they can "give back" to the community that gives so much to them. (I found out later they added "track" only because it rhymes!)

She told me: they didn't care about how much money they raise because the amount wasn't the point, it's a very small race, the course is well established, the permit had been filed last year and then she brought out the big guns....it's for the KIDS.

UGH.

I thought it would be perfect...the race could raise money for MY non-profit. My board would be 100% behind it and help with it. It didn't have to be a money maker it could just be an outreach for us. And it would be a way for me to get to know some of the kids in the Center to draw them into the program I was planning. And...how hard could a little well established 5K be compared to kids triathlons and the MARATHON...

That sounds great, right?

Stay tuned for the next installment of "things don't always pan out the way you expect"... here are some scenes from the next episode:

"The non-profit the kids picked is Graces of Gurley"...

"Did you know there's been like 3 shootings on Binford (a street on the course) in the last 6 months?"

"If one more person says 'that's the way it's always been done' I think I'm going to lose my mind!"

"Seriously...train tracks on the course? Who came up with that? And WHY?"

"What do you mean you didn't make the right awards? That's okay, we'll figure something out..."

Thanks for stopping in and sticking around...

Hang on because we are going on a wild ride together!