Out of My Comfort Zone

I admit it. I was nervous over nothing. I was asked to run a leg for a team for the very well known, to most runners, except me, the Ocean to Sound Relay.  The race is 50 miles from the Atlantic Ocean at Jones Beach to the Long Island Sound at Oyster Bay, NY. 8 legs run a variety of distances from about 5.4 miles to 7 miles.  My leg,  #5, was located in a picturesque spot of Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, New York . Since I'm a new runner in the "senior 60+" category I was a bit anxious wondering if I could hold my own and run a respectable time as the leg of a team of much faster and more seasoned runners. All 8 runners were 60+ years old.I had never really traveled through the roads and decided I would make a dry run in my car the day before.  I was under the impression that it was just "a little hilly."  I found out that the route was filled with beautiful homes, 2 lane very hilly roads with no sidewalks and no shoulders.  My leg consisted of 15 turns.  I was definitely stepping out of my comfort zone and giving myself a new running challenge. As soon as I got home from the dry run the the nerves started to unravel into "what have I gotten myself into this time!"  No one at home wanted to listen to me and gave me a solid suggestion: call your coach! Awesome idea! Thanks to my coach I started to relax about this race and put it into perspective. Sometimes that is just who you need when you are blowing everything about competing out of proportion. So, finally, with my nerves under control I got ready for this race just like all the others I have run.  I had a restless sleep that night, but for me, it is not uncommon before a race. I woke up early so I could have a light breakfast. I decided on the advice of another runner to write the directions of my leg on my hand just in case there were no signs or guides on the route. And then I left off for my race.  I got to the start of my leg fairly early so I had time to take a run in the somewhat hilly parking lot of Cold Spring Harbor. There were very few people around waiting. After my warm up I chatted with a few people and ironically 3 or 4 people had not even thought about the leg, the conditions or the directions for the route. They just showed up. Was I over prepared? I didn't care I felt comfortable and ready.
I should have brought my fold up chair as there was a lot of waiting for my team mate or the driver to show up.  I got to see a cool peloton of cyclists racing down the road just before the first runners came through!  Finally! The hand off to me of the "chip on a velcro strap" from my teammate! The hand-off was seamless and I was off! The first about .75 of the leg was uphill. Very much uphill! I could not seem to get into a rhythm it took a lot of effort to "get up that hill."  As soon as a downhill came up and that flattened out I got into a rhythm and a good pace. I felt confident and comfortable. Breath was ok. Legs were ok. I was just running!  After about a half mile I heard my name being shouted by a former student, "Mrs. Zimmerman!! You go girl!! You're awesome!" Along the route a few challenges did arise. There were no shoulders and the impatient and impolite drivers that passed forced me to hop up on the grass incline so as not to get hit by the cars! There were quite a few up and down hops!  The next challenge that slowed me down was a car that screeched to a stop behind me causing me to slow down and glance back. It had almost rear ended another car! Scared me good!! About 1/2 mile to the finish line I had to cross a very busy road. No crossing guide was there and tons of cars.  I had to literally stop, and run in place until a car in either direction stopped and allowed me an opportunity to cross! .2 to go! The condition of the sidewalk that now appeared was awful.  It was more like a dirt trail.  But there was a course guide encouraging me to keep it up because I had only 300 yards to go! My breathing suddenly became much more labored and I was desperately trying to pick up the pace! But there ahead I saw the finish and heard a few people on the team shouting my name. I started taking off my velcro chip and pushing toward that finish line. The hand off went so smoothly! Best part of the finish? I heard someone shouting, "Mrs. Zimmerman!! What are you doing here? Wow! You're in the race!" That was cool to have another former student give me a hug at the end! It really was a fun type of race and I'm glad I said yes and ran a leg of a 50 mile race! And the results for my leg? A 10K (6.2mile) PR....1:01:56.  And my team? First place for the super senior masters category! 8 hours and 11 minutes!! Not too bad at all! A great finish for September!