Hitting the Track

Pyper looks like she belongs on the track. Here she is cooling off after a hot muggy practice.  She does get in a lap or two during practice. 

Last month I started participating in track workouts with the Greenville Track Club.  It's actually something I've been meaning to do for quite some time, but haven't gotten around to.  That's motherhood for you.  Things that should take an hour, even a couple of minutes, can span weeks, months, or even years. Time is a completely different animal with kin. 

The Greenville Track Club meets up at the Greenville High School track every Wednesday at 6pm.  So once a week I attempt to make it.  So far I'm three for seven, but one wasn't my fault as the track was in use that evening.  Two of the times I was sick, and one of those evenings Pyper was sick.  There's that time factor slipping away again.  

Pyper comes to the track and happily plays with her friend Charlie while the group does about five miles worth of work.

I have an interesting relationship with tracks.  I've spent so much of my life on them, that I feel at home on them, but not necessarily in a good way.  It's like a kid growing up in house they can't wait to move out of when they are of age.  When they move away and come back to visit, it's home, but they're glad they moved out when they did. 

A lot of those feelings might be the years of mental struggles I've had on those rubberized surfaces.  There's the constant practicing, the many many losses, coupled with the occasional win.  When you are up against a field, or one of eight runners on the track, the odds aren't good that you are going to win.  Seven people loose, sometimes more with multiple heats, for there to be one winner.  There's also that pressure when you are expected to succeed.

I started track in middle school and continued on through high school.  I was recruited heavily for college all over the country, but I stayed at home attending the University of Washington.  My collegiate track days are few in number as I quit even before the season began.  I just wasn't into it anymore.  Maybe it was the lack of support or motivation, but I moved on.  Yes, I often wonder about my life had I continued, but I guess I wouldn't be here.  I like it here.  

Maybe you're wondering what races I ran, or what events I did.  Most people are pretty surprised when I tell them that the high jump was my specialty.  Almost since the beginning of my track life, I've always been able to jump over my height.  My highest jump to date is 5'9", I'm still 5'4", unless I've started the shrinking trend already.  I also ran the 100m hurdles and 300m hurdles, and alternated between the long jump and the triple jump.  If the team needed a relayer too, I was there.  I also did the heptathlon when it was an option.  As of this posting, I still hold the Newport High School High Jump record at 5'7.75", and I was the Washington State AAA High Jump Champion in 1998, my senior year.  Ah, reliving the glory days briefly is always fun.

Now a days I just consider myself a runner, in the generic sense.  I'm okay with that.  The track workouts are still a mental struggle, but I feel a new sense of power emerging since there is absolutely no pressure behind the trainings other than showing up and doing the prescribed workout.  I even feel like they are making me a little faster.