Paths of Choice

What a beautiful day it was. After a very difficult Friday night, Saturday embraced me as a new day should. Like a deep fresh breath, relaxing, calming, and energizing all at the same time. Today was destined to be a better day, a good day, and yes, a race day. Sharon and Heather were running a 5K in Mukilteo and invited me along. How can a guy say no to that? Maybe it was the need to run that made me agree to go with them. Maybe it was the chance to hang with them. The friendship I've seen grow between them has been very special, they click, they don't judge, they just have fun together. Shouldn't all relationships be like that?

We took off early in the morning, lattes in hand and time on our side. I like to get where I'm going early. It reduces stress and allows me to relax and enjoy the moment. Early doesn't work for everyone and I appreciated the girls accommodating me. We saw the most beautiful sunrise. The clouds were billowing with fire and the mountains had this incredible silhouette against the rising sun - the beauty of it made everything else disappear. God knocked it out of the ballpark with that one, I could have stopped and watched it forever.

We did however have a race to run and it would be interesting on two counts. The first being that I needed to run. I didn't feel like I could run hard, I just needed to run. To get lost in myself. To disappear to that place that only a runner knows. The world is gone, noises exist but aren't heard. You feel your heart beating and you become aware of every motion your body takes. It's one stride at a time, focusing on one point on the course and just prior to reaching it, quickly looking and landing on the next point. Those points you use to pull yourself forward while at the same time pushing yourself harder when you already feel taxed, strained, uncomfortable. These moments speak to you. Your brain tells you to slow and rest so your heart won't explode. Your lungs beg for oxygen. It's at this moment you succeed or fail. I've failed more often than I like to admit. Success changes you. Once you realize you didn't actually meet your maker, it becomes easier to do it the next time. Never easy, but mentally it's easier.

The other reason was that today Sharon was going to pace Heather to a personal PR. A sub 34 minute 5K. Sharon shared her plan with me - she would lie to Heather along the course, telling her she was running her target pace when in fact she would be pacing her much faster. Fool the brain and the body will follow. Lock and load baby, this was going to be fun! Maybe not for Heather but when it worked, the PR would be met. Sharon has trained me for some time now and I have learned to shut up and listen. She knows what she's talking about - even when I have to pull out the dictionary to understand exactly what she's said. She's freakin smart and doesn't forget anything....so be careful what you say! Think Einstein meets Rain man.

Between chit chat, potty breaks, and more chit chat, the next thing we knew the race was about to begin. What!?!?! I hadn't warmed up. No jog, strides, sprints. I zipped to the start line and hung up toward the front. I could see the course stretched out in front of me, the first half mile or so. I stared at it knowing that at that very moment I wasn't going to take my time, run at a semi relaxed 8:30 pace and enjoy it. I was going to run hard. Ok, so this run wouldn't feel good, it was going to hurt some. Then bam, we were off. I was sub 8:00 and feeling ok. Pushed it and soon was passing the one mile mark. Hit the turnaround for the out and back and pushed harder. It was no longer a choice, it was necessary to run harder, I had to run harder. Mile 3 was flat to slight decline and I managed a 7:03 pace. The final stretch had another in my age group hanging with me. He'd been slightly ahead the whole time but there was no way he'd finish ahead of me. I got shoulder to shoulder with him and picked it up. Sprint time. Everything in the tank had to go and the tank was low. I moved forward and never looked back. Hey, there's nothing wrong with small victories - we should all have more of them. I finished in 22:36, not my best but within 20 seconds of a PR.

I grabbed some water and moved back to the watch runners come in the final stretch. Figured I had 3-4 minutes before Sharon and Heather would run by. I figured wrong, there they were. I could hear the announcer calling out the time. Heather is pushing it now and I can see by her face that she is in the pain zone, the anaerobic zone. That wonderful place where you feel like crap and continue to ask your body for a little more. The announcer is speaking the impossible....29 minutes and change. Heather comes across UNDER 30 minutes, shattering her PR by over five minutes - incredible! That girl has guts and she showed them today. She was sweat drenched, spent, and the smile on her face reflected her success and sacrifice.

Our coach had done it again, helped another person cross over to a new plane with new expectations and promises of chasing dreams that weren't possible just minutes before. With that we grabbed a few freebies and headed off to Starbucks for the usual. We all felt great. Heather locked in her fastest run ever, Sharon's plan worked out as perfectly as she had planned it, and I ran fast and mentally I was feeling better. We got to Starbucks and Sharon's phone rang. It was Shelby from Run26. Turns out that I took first place in my age division and he had picked up my medal for me. Frickin A, what a surprise that was. The latte would taste even better now.

Today had become a very good day. Racing aside, I had the choice to struggle and let life pull me down or use today as an opportunity to make it a better day. I chose the better day. Heather had a choice to run her normal race or find something inside her that she wasn't sure existed - she dug deep. Sharon chose to help a friend reach a dream - her heart is massive. Maybe all the choices we make aren't the right ones. Sometimes they hurt others. Sometimes they seem selfish. Some may question your choices. Sometimes they put you on a path you didn't expect. At the same time those choices may be exactly the right ones. Listen to your heart, trust in yourself. Surround yourself with friends that won't judge but will support you. I'm lucky. Lucky to have people in my life that I can turn too, that turn to me. There are things I wouldn't change, things that I can say from the bottom of my heart that I'm all in. Today is a good day. Tomorrow will bring another choice. Whether you race or not, make your decisions and move forward, don't press the pause button and hope something happens. Run...don't jog.