My Next Race
You know the feeling you start to get, one or two weeks before a race? The constant butterflies in your tummy and you wonder if you are really ready to tackle this next adventure? You barely sleep. You eat LOTS of carbs. You feel your stomach expanding. You second guess all of your training, and worry you've lost a lot of aerobic capacity in this sweet taper.I feel like I am tapering for school...Due to thicker air, and no sleep, I haven't run since Sunday. I haven't been able to breathe since Sunday. I haven't been able to sleep since Sunday.
I guess it's like a race. You sign up for it, 6 months before you go, and once you have gotten this acceptance letter, you get excited. Then the school year continues, and your teachers are warning you about all the hills, and they have you running the hills, and as many times as you run these hills, you never feel like your ready.
The taper for this race starts about two months before it. Summer vacation. Everyone is scrambling to earn money, for the expo. You got to buy your books, and of course you have have to have a race shirt. At the beginning of this two month taper, you are starting to feel good, actually looking forward to running this race.
Then comes the day when you have to go get your race bib (Student Card). You have the option of a pre-race run...You agree whole-heartedly, thinking it will give you an edge on race day...They give you a course map, tell you where you are, and tell you that you have to get to the finish line. It's like one of those unmarked courses. You wish that you had brought your Garmin to this event but you figured the course would be better marked.
An hour and a half later, you are at final destination. Turns out that it was only a 10 minute walk to finish line. You look at the map they gave you and realize how many other people did what you did. It didn't look that long--it doesn't do it justice.
This race has a strange twist though--after you taper, you go into a week and a bit of INTENSE TRAINING (Frosh week) It's constant training, from 9am to 2am!!
And then it's show time. Did I run those hills enough? Am I ready for the stress it is going to put on my body. Will I finish the race, and come out victorius, with a medal, or will I DNF? Did my coaches really train me for this race? What's my race strategy? Will I run it as fast as I can, or will I take the time to enjoy the sights along the way?
So many questions, uncertaincies...
SO, on September 5th, me and about 10,000 other first year students will line up for what may be the most important race of our whole lives (Or that's how it seems now)
Until then, I guess I just have to find a way to taper less.
posted by AddictedToEndorphins @ 5:56 AM
1 Comments:
Great post, Tiger :-)
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