Quick Kristen from track, said she and a friend needed a third woman to join their team. The team division is called it the Tethered/Worm Race, where members are tied together by the waist with a 16 ft bungee rope and run/crawl/slide through mud and obstacles for a distance of 10K.
I didn't really think much of it until after Ragnar. It didn't seem like anything overly competitive and Kristen, who's got amazing speed and discipline, assured me that they were not going to be fast. However, two weeks before the race, the friend was out, suffering from sports injury. We were left searching for another member.
Cue Carole, super tough, mother of four, seriously fast, masters runner, and recently recruited by TNB. All of a sudden our mud run went from good dirty fun to a fast dirty win. I panicked because you're only as fast as your slowest member, and that was me!
One slow tethered track practice
To compare, let's say my fastest 10K is a 7:47/mile pace. Not to shabby, right? I'm proud of that. But the C and K of Team KCJ are not only elite status in the Corporate Cup this year, but hit paces of 6:53 and 6:55, respectively. Now, for non-runners these numbers mean very little. If I said it takes me just under 50:00 to run 6.2 miles and it takes them 42:00, the non-runner would say, it's only eight minutes. But in reality this is a huge difference!
Think about all the things you can accomplish in eight minutes....How about you give me an eight minute head start and then run behind me to catch me...Think about how much trouble a baby or toddler can get into if you turn your back for eight minutes...Gee Whiz, I was scared.
__
On race day, we met at our house and drove down together. Being the first time we'd all been together off the track (it's all work there), we were like hens in a hen house. We chatted and laughed the entire way from Omaha to Lincoln. We got so engrossed in conversation, that we actually missed our turn.
The race was a riot. We started off as the first all-woman team, and we fought to hold on to that place.
I spoke very little. I worked frantically to keep up. We ran in V-formation and would announce left or right so we could pass 10K individuals, 5K individuals, and 5K teams efficiently.
And then... the mud pits and obstacles. Finally a time to slow down, catch my breath, and just go for it!
Our overall time was 53:08 (8:34/mile pace), good for first place female 10K team.
Funny thing is...it didn't matter.
It was a dirty Mom's Day Out - totally relaxed, laid back, and fun!
No comments:
Post a Comment