Yep, that was the super hero name I picked out for myself in this race. The only thing I was missing was my bright orange shoes (although the shoes I wore did have purple laces).
It was a really big struggle for me to wear my cape, in the end. My inner shyness crept out and kept whispering seeds of doubt over my decision to don the superhero cape. No one else is in costume. It hissed at me. You'll look silly.
Everyone will think you're an idiot.
Yes, those seeds of inner doubt that make me more concerned with being judged by other people than having fun. But do you know the one little thing that tipped the balance from non-cape-wearing to cape-wearing?
You.
Yep. That's right! It is you, my fantastic readers (whoever you are) that convinced me to get my colourful butt out there and Wear. That. Cape.
Yep. That's right! It is you, my fantastic readers (whoever you are) that convinced me to get my colourful butt out there and Wear. That. Cape.
Just me in my cape, hanging out at the tag line with a volunteer.
I thought about sitting down to stare at my non-judgemental computer screen as I typed out this blog entry and talking about how I chickened out of the cape. And I realized that I would be disappointed with myself for chickening out. I don't know how it happened, but years ago I made a pact with myself that I would step out of my comfort zone when opportunities came up.
So I took a deep breath and had my team mates help me pin on my tape. Did I feel ridiculous? Yep. Embarrassed? You bet! Judged? Absolutely!
But I put on a big smile and joked about how awesome I felt. Fake it til you make it, and all that. Draw a comfort zone snug around me, then take a giant leap outside of it!
The first 6k or so were a gentle downhill, and with the small head wind that flapped my cape out behind me, I really did feel like I was flying.
I had told my fantastic support crew to meet me every 3k for water. At 2.5k when they hadn't driven by yet, I became slightly worried. At 3k there was still no sign of them. I was rather disappointed! I had known that they might be delayed at the transition (long story. I won't even bother trying to explain it here), but I hadn't thought about how delayed they might be. I settled myself grimly in to my stride. My beacon of hope was that I saw a girl running ahead of me and I realized (with a competitive gleam in my eye) I could catch her!
Luckily, my crew zoomed up at the 4k mark to give me some much needed support and water.
They promised to stop every 3k thereafter, and kept their word. This was a good thing because the GPS on my watch cut out part way through (stupid mountains!) so I wasn't sure how far I had gone.
It was a bad thing because they always managed to stop on the uphill parts of my run.
So after that first 6k, the road was filled with what a driver might call "gentle rolling hills", but what I as a runner called...well, I will leave that to your imagination! My pace slowed considerably and by 10k I was exhausted. I had been hoping to run under 90min (about 5.40min/km).
At 10k I realized this wasn't possible. I just struggled to keep going. And I remembered from my review of the course description that the second half had a lot more uphills than the first half! The only one I can blame is myself. I had been overly confident in my fitness level a month ago and started to slack in my training. Naughty, naughty me. I suffered the consequences!
...After hill!
By the second support stop (7k) my team had all caught up with one another. Let me tell you, coming around the corner or up the hill and seeing their cars all pulled over on the side of the highway was a huge highlight for me. Not only because it meant water. Not only because it meant a big screaming cheer of encouragement from my race buddies. But because it meant I was 3k closer to the finish.
And when I saw that marker one mile from the finish line, I was as ecstatic as I could be given my state of exhaustion.
Coming into the finish chute, I felt slow. I felt awkward. And I felt more than a little disappointed with my own lack of training/fitness.
So I did what any super hero would do in such a position. Fake it til you make it!
I grabbed hold of my cape, plastered a fake smile/grimace shape onto my mouth, and "flew" to the tag line.
I didn't make my goal time of sub-90minutes.
I made it in exactly 96.00minutes. That's 6min/km.
Oh, and I did pass that girl in the end! Yes, I was also passed by probably 5 other runners, but that's not the point, right? To each, her own race.
I guess I'll have to train harder when I do this relay next year! And you know what? I think I may wear my cape again too!
This is Colour Clash Girl, signing off from the K-100 Relay.
Great story and photos. So insightful in describing feelings. Way to go Colour Clash Girl! Wendy
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