Week 6: Red Poppy 5k

Today was my long run of the week. It was also Red Poppy Festival 5k day. Do I do the fun run or my long run?...Decisions, decisions. I decided to do both. So, I woke up around 8 and headed up to the race site. I went out for about 5k before the race, then joined the field of 200 at the start line to run the course.

The run before the race was really fun. I met a man named Mike. Mike had run in the Texas Roundup yesterday and was doing this race to support his friend. Mike started out excited and ready to run, then about 500m into the warmup decided he didn't have enough left in his tank to do the race and warm up with me, so he turned around.

Luckily, there was a couple running just up ahead of us. I say by to Mike and caught up with them. They were out for a 10 mile loop, so I joined them for about 20 minutes when I turned off and headed back to the race. Along the way we got to talk about them, them and more them. Normally that would be a bit of a stretch for me, but these were some pretty cool people. They met at 18, married at 21 and got their masters degrees together a couple years later. They took the first 11 years just to enjoy each other and see the world before deciding to have kids at 33. Now, they have 3 kids ranging in age from 5 to 18 months.

I asked them what brought them out this morning. She said she's training for Danskin and he's training just to stay in shape. Sundays are their "date mornings." They make time every Sunday morning to go out and run together. It's something they did when they met at 18 and have clung to it ever since. When I asked what has been the greatest lesson they've learned, they said, "Communication. Not just on the big things, but the little things. Communicating with each other all the time is so important. Also, keeping up your common interests. The things that brought you together are what will keep you together. You've got to work to keep them alive. When we met we were athletes and we've grown up together as athletes. It doesn't matter what it is, just work to keep it alive."

I couldn't have asked for better running partners this morning. I was kind of sad to turn off and head back, but I was glad to make some new friends along the way. It was a good warmup.

Back at the race site, the field was everything I though it would be. Small town 5k. Everyman field. No timing chips. No worries. I changed into my Servolution shirt and joined a couple other Celebration folk at the start line.

We took off at a 10 minute pace and sped up a little after the first quarter mile. Instead of signs and banners, they had locals standing on the side of the road waving and saying "turn here." I love small town races :)

At the 2 mile mark some of the people around me started fading fast, so I kicked into motivation mode and began willing them onto the finish. Huff, wheeze, stride, affirm, repeat. We rode that mantra all the way to the finish. Crossing the finish line, their smile returned, the pain faded away, and they realized it was all worth it. That's the great part about a struggle: it gives you something to overcome.

There are good days and bad days. They had themselves a good day. So did I. Maybe next year I'll figure out what a Red Poppy is.