Anyways, today was the big day. I went to bed last night with butterflies in my stomach just thinking about this morning. Trish thought it was funny that I have played in all these big state championship games and I never got nervous before them but here I was at 5a.m. this morning absolutely FREAKING OUT about this race. I think it was because this was something new for me, I have never competed in any kind of race before, and I had no Idea what to expect.
We showed up and there were over 800 people registered in this race. I was put in the Clydesdale Under 30 group (Clydesdale is the group they put males over 195 lbs. in). I was excited I didnt have to try and beat the 140 lb. 21 yr old from Kenya. Thank God! I was still worried because some of the guys in Clydesdale were just over 200 lbs. and here I am weighing in at 228. Back to the story...Butterflies going like crazy, trying to stretch thinking I am gonna throw up. Ready to get the race over with, but excited about the opportunity to compete. Horn goes off, everybody takes off running, AC/DC blaring in my iPod, first two miles go by fast, third mile, fatigue starts setting in, still pushing hard...last turn, probably about 3/10 of a mile from the finish line. Freak of nature soccer mom pushing her 2 year old in a "racing stroller" starts to move like she is gonna pass me, competitive nature steps in and the adrenaline overpowers the fatigue and I take off. Dead sprint for the last quarter mile, a lot of friends from class come out to cheer us on, I see them running with me to the finish line. 24 min. 11 sec. Finished. Best feeling ever! Ended up taking first place in Clydesdale under 30! Couldn't believe it. My goal was to try and break 25 minutes, goal completed. Belinda, a girl from class that we have been running with, won first place in her age group females 20-24 with a time of 21:59. Incredible day! Next race July 19th, I will let you know how it goes. Here are some pictures from the race.
Before the Race.
Post-Race.
Belinda and I with our first place trophies!
"Da Eagle"
2 comments:
Congratulations Carl! I'm proud of you!!! You sound like you now have the running bug. Nice trophy - that is definitely a keeper trophy.
Have you subsribed to Runner's World yet?
We miss you at the PR Sunday afternoon football games. Next time you play with us, Caleb and Tyler may have trouble catching you! I better start doing my sprints in case they ask me to cover you instead ;-)
You're awesome. I love the pics. I can't believe that it has taken you all these years to realize that you are smart and can run too. Keep it up. You're really putting the pressure on dad to stop working so much and start working out again.
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