Picture by a nice, random person
To say I struggled would be putting it lightly. As soon as the crowd started moving, I knew I was in trouble. I had started near the front with my friend, but made sure to stay off to the side so I wasn't in anyone's way.... and everyone passed me easily as I tried to get going. I fought to stay in the middle of the road so I was fighting the least amount of camber, but since that meant I was going the opposite of the tangents I probably added on some distance. And then came the inclines; I wasn't very good at those yet. The one on the street wasn't so bad, it just seemed to never end. The first one on the trail was horrible... luckily there was a very nice family with me when I realized I was in trouble. They saw me stop where I was and asked if they could help; when I asked them to just make sure I didn't backwards, the father and son grabbed onto the back of my chair and helped me the rest of the way up. I lost them on the downhill, but they were right there with me when we got to the next incline... not as bad as the other one, still a problem. They simply asked if they could help and grabbed onto my chair again as I thanked them. After that, all I had to do was keep pushing to the finish. I think it was my longest 5K, but I was rather proud of myself to have kept pushing.
Fast forward to this weekend... A friend had announced he was running the Shamrock 5K and asked if anyone else was coming. After running a different race last year, I had to admit I had missed this one, but my lack of funds made it hard to justify going. With some help and an extra push, I was able to sign up. I was worried about those inclines because I remembered them being so horrible, so when I went to the packet pick up, Saber and I headed over to the trail. As I came to the first one, it didn't look so bad and halfway up was when I realized the last time I had done it was just a month after I got my chair. Don't get me wrong, it was still hard.. just not nearly as hard. Two years ago I wouldn't have made it up on my own, this year it was no problem to head up completely alone on the trail. The second one was just fine as well.
Picture by another crazy in our group ;)
Tsunami got to come this time, so I got up front (thanks to the friends I was with!) and was able to take off with all the fast runners... my first mile was pretty fast with my newly discovered speed. I was a bit unprepared for the first incline on the road; I haven't been on any long uphills since the coaching/seat adjustment, so when I lost momentum near the top, I could only muscle upwards so much. I called out for help when I wasn't moving anymore and someone helped me push the rest of the way up. Heading down and onto the trail, I tried to hold onto as much speed as possible, knowing the next incline would be pushing my abilities... I still hadn't taken my seat adjustment into account, so halfway up as my momentum went down I had to call out for help (help! help! help!) because my front wheel was coming up. One runner grabbed the front of the chair and two came up behind me, and they got me safely to the top. On the next incline I was doing okay, but someone that had helped me before was behind me and gave me a shove as he caught up to me, which got me to the top. I thanked him and headed down the trail. And again, I just had to make it into the finish. And I think this was my fastest 5K yet.. I didn't get a chip so I don't have an official time, but my Garmin read 22:12 and I think my fastest 5K was 23 or 24 minutes. Also, I start my Garmin at the ten second countdown and stop it maybe ten seconds after I cross the finish, so the time is probably closer to 21:52!!!
Despite needing to call out for help both times, this year marked a huuuuuuge improvement. Especially in testing those same inclines with Saber. In having the confidence to try it out on my own. And still heading straight into the inclines with Tsunami, despite not being prepared.
It is good to have these moments. An unchanged challenge that shows you how far you have made it in whatever amount of time. To prove to yourself that are stronger than you think. Next year, I'll make it up those inclines by myself.
Watch me!
Side note: a huge thank you to the race organizers, who made sure I felt welcome and were quick to figure a way to get Saber near the finish for me!
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