So once we hit the 20K mark George handed me over to Laurie Diamond. We passed the Wellesley College Scream Tunnel and it was LOUD and we tried to settle into a good pace. One thing I realized in training was that having different Guides was like a horse having different jockeys during a race; each had their own style, approach, and feel, so it was great to have Laurie because she is a blazing runner (that is why you don't see any pics of us training... she is that fast!!) but also works as a nurse in the Newton-Wellesley ICU. Little did I know I had picked my Guides and thier course sections perfectly. When we got past the 13 mile mark it seemed like Laurie was trying to sell or git rid of me. ;-) No, actually she hadn't met my family and with the crowds of Hunnewell and Wellesley supporters it was hard to see them in the crowd but we found them!! I was psyched! What Laurie doesn't realize is though she tried to hang back in the pictures she's now a part of Team Cav forever and I can't thank her enough for being such a solid friend and Guide. When I met up with my family and friends I was super excited and happy but as soon as I left I knew I had set my own trap and I was in it. In my celebration I had lost focus and physically my body was fighting me. Now I know to expect this "WALL" but even the signs on the road didn't expect it until 20+ miles into the run. Certainly not Mile 13. At this point I told Laurie I was in survival mode. She and I needed to do everything we could to restart the physical and mental engines and get to 30K. If that meant run/speed-walking so be it and that is what we did. Now I'm sure Laurie was super fresh and energized but she dialed things in so we could push on. The whole time I never asked myself, "Why" or "What" or "I can't" instead I kept asking myself, "How... how are we going to do it?" setting the next victory be it 100 yards / a hill / a mile and "We are doing it!" I heard the familiar voice of Warren Cross after mile 14 which gave me a lift and I had trained on this section all winter. Laurie was keeping me paced and safe and we ran/walked smart. As I told someone post-race though it was dark and I couldn't see it didn't matter I had a light in me and the best Guides... period. Laurie told me we were at a huge downhill going into Newton Lower Falls and I was psyched. So we flew down it and I asked her, "Where are we at?" expecting she would say, "At the bottom." Instead she replied, "We are on the hill". Ok, I thought, I'm going slower than I thought... a few moments later, "where we at?" (thinking we were off the descent and heading for the up hill section). Laurie responds, "still on the hill." Ok, now I know whatever I had in my memory or head, whatever my body was telling me, was not even CLOSE to reality. I really needed to listen to Laurie's cues and make this race a smaller one so as not to set myself up for failure. We passed by Newton-Wellesley Hospital and heard Ernie Parizeau, a CFNE/rowing warrior and brother of my third Guide Will Parizeau, as he ran along and cheered. That was awesome! At that point I just stuck to the plan without any expectations and before I knew it Laurie and my mind/body got me to the fire station in Newton where the HeartBreak Hill section of the course awaited and Will Parizeau was ready to get me to the finish. This whole time I didn't fear the heat I just respected it and stayed as well hydrated as I could. The water/rest stops were thinning out as was the course so that helped a ton. I will say though that the pools of gatorade turned your sneakers into fly-paper and running on the cups at times was like trying to run on ice but once we got out of those spots the best words I heard were, "free and clear" and I would just dig down and go with what I had. I knew if I could get to 30K it would be all guts and determination from there and I know I've got an indomitable spirit to get this done.
This so spoke to me – I constantly oscillate between creating/consuming and feel guilty when my reading pile or my google reader backs up to the point of overload…I feel better after reading your post here. I guess a lot of us are in the same boat…I like your guidance to set aside time EVERY day to create though.
http://www.warriorrunmountainseries.com
Posted by: Syracuse 5K | January 13, 2013 at 12:56 AM