Luck of the Irish – A Race Report!
My favorite Florida runner is in Rhode Island for his annual vacation, and managed to talk me in to running the John J. Kelley 11.6 mile race in New London. By “talk me into” the race I mean that he mentioned he was considering running it to which I replied that I’d happily meet him there. Next thing I know, we’re agreeing on a meeting time, and I’m committed to running a race that I know is notorious for being a hot, humid one. But it starts and ends at the beach, and David would be there so how could I resist?
We found each other easily and fell into conversation like old, familiar friends. David is one of those people who can instantly put me at ease with his laid-back manner and friendly smile. For every question we asked each other, the conversation moved off into a million tangents, leaving some few initial conversations incomplete as we got more and more distracted. I could have talked to him for hours.
We went about our race-readiness routines and did our warm up. The warm-up helped us realize just how warm it already was, and we made our wardrobe adjustments. We found some other runner friends of mine as we neared the start and the energy level started to pick up a few notches.
As I toed the line, it felt odd to not have any real race goals, strategies or aspirations in mind. I really had no idea what I wanted to accomplish or how I wanted to tackle the race. I haven’t raced in almost a year and my training is still less than stable. Rather than rest the day before the race, I went out for a 32 mile bike ride. Part of me thought it would be cool to just hang with David for the whole race but that Other part of me really wanted to gauge my fitness level.
By the end of the first mile, I was feeling pretty good so I pulled away from David as we moved up one of the few noticeable hills on the route. As I caught up to Beth, my friend and former arch-nemesis, I settled comfortably into her pace and thought ‘Yeah, I can do this pace for the whole race’. When I looked down at my watch and realized we were doing 8:10’s, I was shocked but decided ‘What the heck? Let’s see what happens!’
A mile or two later, my friend started to fade in the heat, just a little. I stayed fairly consistent, and got a little nervous when I read the timer call out ‘41 minutes’ at the 5 mile mark. The heat and humidity were beginning to make themselves known and I started to doubt my ability to keep this up for another 6.6 miles. Then I thought ‘Well, maybe I’ll finally get to experience ‘blowing up’ at a race.’
Before I even hit the hill at mile 8, I felt my body begin to protest. The nagging side stitch I’d had from the start was really making itself known, and my quads started to feel heavy and tired. We were running along a main route out in full sun, dodging cars and dealing with sidewalks and curbs. I choked down a warm Gu, hoping for some energy. I walked a few times, trying to find relief and digging deep for some motivation. Mile 8 saw my slowest mile at 9:25 and my heart rate maxed at 187 beats per minute. I was suffering and it was my own fault. For a moment, I considered walking until David caught up with me and then finishing the race with him…but my curiosity got the best of me and I had to see what would happen next if I pushed forward.
I got the pace back up a little and just focused on finishing. I made small talk with other runners, walked through the water stops and ran through all the hoses. I kept dreaming of the cold ocean swirling against my legs. My stomach wouldn’t allow me to think of anything other than cold water to drink. All other foods and drinks were banned for the time being.
Finally the finish was in sight, and I gave the most pathetic finishing kick of my entire career. I got my fill of water, cheering for Beth, hobbled over to my car, changed shoes and made it back to the finish line in time to cheer for David. As we gathered our beach gear from the cars, David broke open the delicious bag of potato chips that he brought especially for me, knowing about my ‘chip’ addiction. The salty treat was just what I needed!
We wandered through the post-race area, then made our way down to the beach to dip our toes in the water. I wasn’t brave enough to go all the way in, as it felt too cold to me, but David didn’t hold back. I made sure to get my legs in far enough so my quad muscles could benefit from the cold water. When Beth found us, I went back out into the water with her, and thought that a whole-body dip might help to get rid of some of the stinkiness of my post-race clothes. It felt wonderful, once the initial shock turned to numbness.
Back on the towels, we relaxed in the fading sunshine, as the storm clouds began rolling in. As an added surprise to the day, Jank’s wife tracked us down and brightened us up even more with her smile. We’d heard that she might be there, so we loved the celebrity sighting.
Reluctantly we began to part ways – David was first to leave, then Beth and I walked out to our cars together. As I got closer to my car, I could see David just pulling out of the parking lot. When I got to my driver side door, he had attached the bag of chips there for me to enjoy on the ride home. I smiled and thought ‘What a great day!’
The story should end here. But it doesn’t.
As I fished my car key fob out of my pocket – the same key fob that I had in the pocket of my running shorts during the race…the shorts that I had worn out into the water…as I pressed the button to open the door – and watched as nothing happened, I felt my stomach sink. I had gotten the fob wet. It was useless. I couldn’t get into the car without setting off the alarm.
Now, normally there would be easy solutions to this predicament…but my car has never made things easy for me. See, my driver side door lock is broken, and the key does not work in the lock. Therefore, the door is always unlocked, even when the alarm is on. In order to disarm the alarm if the fob doesn’t work, you need to be able to lock-unlock the driver side door. If you can’t disarm the alarm, the car won’t start. To sum up: there was no way for me to drive my car, even though I had a key and the car was unlocked.
I spent the next 20 minutes taking the key fob apart, drying it out and trying it over and over. I just had to get the alarm to disarm ONCE. I didn’t want to open the door and set off my alarm until I had to, so I wandered around trying to find out if there was a dealership in the area (yes, but the service department would be closed). I borrowed a cell phone and tracked down a phone book to try to contact a dealer directly but then couldn’t get through. Brick walls at every turn.
I had a mini-meltdown in the middle of the snack bar and left my husband a tearful message.
Finally, I pulled myself together, went back to my car, warned the people near me that the alarm was about to go off and opened the door in order to retrieve my cell phone from the car. The people near me were so sympathetic and everyone wanted to help but no one quite knew what to do. One gentleman, Dennis from SNERRO (the race timing company), offered to drive me home…which was sorta on his way home but not really. As I tried to turn down his offer, he said with a shrug and a smile: ‘I don’t have anything else to do today!’
I called AAA to arrange for a tow and then Dennis sat and waited with me. The storm clouds were thick and dark overhead, the promised storms were imminent. Every once in a while, I would press on the key fob, hoping for it to work just that one time. Dennis went to get his car, and I called my husband to give him an update. We’d been waiting about 40 minutes so it shouldn’t be long before AAA got there. I commented once again to my husband that I just need the stupid thing to work ONE TIME.
Dennis came back with his car just as the sky started to spit out some sprinkles of rain. As I sat on the ground contemplating the situation, I absent mindedly pressed the key fob for the millionth time. The lights flashed on my car. I looked up at Dennis in total disbelief…’DID YOU SEE THAT?!’ I jumped up and pulled open the car door, bracing myself for the alarm…but was greeted by blessed silence.
It worked! I could leave!! I gave Dennis a big hug and thanked him for being so wonderful. Dennis refused to leave until I started the car and he was reassured that it really worked. Then he said he didn’t want to leave until he saw me drive out of the parking lot. I agreed to follow him out, as I wasn’t familiar with the area and could use a hand getting back to the major route.
Needless to say, I called AAA to cancel my order and then promised myself to get the door lock fixed once and for all. I haven’t touched the key fob since the ONE TIME and will likely not try it again until the door lock works. Lesson learned.
As we pulled out of the parking lot, the skies opened up, and the thunder and lightening commenced. Perfect timing…it was still a great day, now it had an added adventure to it.
