All Downhill From Here

I had a hard time tearing myself away from watching the Winter Olympics this morning. I got very excited watching the lugers zip by on the track and the speedskaters had me jumping up and down and yelling at the T.V. Somehow I managed to get my running gear on and pick up Dawn with lots of time to get to the community hall, make a potty stop, and walk the 1/2 km to the start in Nose Hill Park. The sun shone, and we were excited to hear that there would be NO ICE on the course. I think watching the competition in Turin really had gotten my adrenaline flowing – I was SO ready to race.

Just before the start, I unrolled the big Canadian flag I’d brought, in honour of our teams competing in Turin, and told my buddies that I planned on running down the big finishing hill, holding the flag up behind me. It was suggested that I wear it, like a cape, and Dawn produced a very practical big safety pin before I could protest. I had a blast with the flag. It inspired me, and it made other people smile at me, which in turn made me smile more back. Dawn took most of the pictures here below. Isn’t she a gem!

This race is run on a BIG prairie hill, and it begins with a lung-busting climb up to the lovely plateau on top. My buddies and fellow Penguins Nadine and Nancy walked breathlessly up to the top with me and jogged along the plateau still patiently with me, chatting away. I waved goodbye to them at the 4k turnoff and also said goodbye to the plateau. I then descended downdowndown doobiedoobie downdowndowndowwwn, wowowoyeah. I love that part!

With no snow or ice, it was just dirt and rocks and more rocks and dirt. There was a breeze making my eyes tear up, but I still managed to catch up to Kansas Greg towards the bottom. I was running harder earlier in the race today. I tried not to think about how I would feel later. I think the speed training I’ve been doing at the track gave me some more confidence, too.

Roger Davies shouted to us as we pounded around his corner “Is there anyone after you?” We shouted back that we had no idea and kept on pounding. Greg promptly passed me back on the next long up hill. Remember how far we went down? Well dang it, we had to climb back up it again, on a winding, relentlessly calf-hurting up. I was pretty much ready for this. Greg’s got long legs and I rarely keep up with him unless there’s a lot of ice and snow to slow him down.

Some volunteers who saw my flag shouted out to me “Did you know we got our first gold medal this morning?” We. Our. When one of ours get’s gold, it belongs to all of us, eh?

I managed to keep Greg in sight somehow, but George the course marshal radioed in as I puffed past, “Got the last one here” and proceeded to pick up flags behind me. Heh. So there was a smallish crowd today – I could handle being last. Heck, there’s a whole blog dedicated to noble souls who do.

We still had another down-and-up to do. I ran like a crazy maniac downdowndowndown to the bottom again (different part of the hill), leapfrogging with Greg again and bravely trying to put as much space between him and me as possible. I had to tell myself out loud NOT to look up at the hill again as I climbed up to the top of the world. I felt like I was climbing Mount Everest without snow. I kept waiting for Greg to pass me on the hill, but he didn’t. I thought he might catch up as I ran across the plateau, but he didn’t.

As I approached the big rocks that marked the big long hill back down to the start/finish, Coach Derek was there with his new camera. I had un-pinned my flag, ready for my triumphant descent to the finish, but he had me climb up on the biggest rock (funny, I don’t remember that part of the race course), and he took a very patriotic picture of me draped in my flag.

Then I hopped off the rock, hoisted the flag above my head, and ran down the hill. Heck, that’s a long hill. What was I THINKING to run with my arms up the whole way down?! Coach Derek ran alongside me, apparently making a very bumpy video. I felt like a star. A very tired, breathless star. My breathing was ragged and the flag got darn heavy by the time I had sprinted all the way to the bottom. I did manage one big whoop as I approached the finish. It took quite some time for my cardio to recover, but it felt good to have pushed the envelope.

Hugs and high fives all round and we headed back to the hall for soup, sweets, and a pleasant surprise. Not only had I managed to come in second last, I’d also managed to come in third in my age group! Sylvie got first in her age group, but my cookie-medal was better – more candies 🙂