Last year, I had seen the signs for the World Run but didn’t know much about it.  At the time, all I knew was that it took place in locations around the world.  I knew that this year, I wanted to participate.  This year, I also met an amazing person named Jessika at my first Special Compass run.  Jessika let me know that she started up a team for the run this year and invited me to join.  I immediately took her up on it.  Darin, my friend Laura, and I signed up and I watched Jessika’s journey in preparation for the race as an ambassador for the event.   I also learned a lot more about the race.  The World Run is hosted to benefit research for spinal cord injury and since there is currently no cure for spinal cord injury, the race has no finish line!  Instead, 30 minutes after the race begins, a catcher car starts down the race path.  When the catcher car passes you on, your race is over.  I cannot tell you how much I love this concept!

In any race your mind goes through all different phases, well mine does anyway.  I find that when I start a race, I’m excited and full of energy and I have to hold myself back a bit or I will go too fast and burn up my energy.  I have to tell myself, “slow down, you have X many miles to go, pace yourself”.  Depending on how many miles the race is, I push as hard as I know I can without overly exhausting myself.  When it’s a 5k I allow myself to push a little harder than if it’s the first mile of a half marathon.  I generally make my way through the miles and find a new energy when I realize I’m half way.  I usually try to push a little harder at that point, though I am not always successful in maintaining that through the end of the race.  I think most people find a renewed energy when they see the finish line.  I know I do.  At that point, I always speed up, especially if I see the time clock and want to accomplish a certain time.  I generally end the race with a sprint.  But, how would I do this time?  I have no idea how many miles I will go before the car catches me!  How will I know how to pace?  If I don’t push enough, I could get caught early.  If I push too hard, I will burn out and get caught early.  What’s a girl to do!?  I had no idea and that’s what made the concept of this race so much fun for me.  I could not wait!

Being the research junkie that I am sometimes, I searched the internet trying to find out how fast the catcher car would go.  I found a calculator where you put in how fast you plan to run per mile and it will tell you how long you will be running before the catcher car gets you.  I put in my average per mile for a longer run, hoping to see that maybe I could get in a good 10 miles or maybe even a half marathon.  I was kind of surprised to see that I would be caught in a little over an hour!  That’s not very many miles at all!  That would be a 10k essentially, which is only 6.2 miles.  I started looking at some of my recent 10k times and thought it was about right.  I would set the goal of at least doing a 10k but really wanted to push myself and get to 8 miles.

Unfortunately, I got a cold a couple days before the race.  I wanted so badly to be able to push myself come race day.  I took a sick day from work and just slept.  I also took days off from training, trying to get rid of the cold as quickly as possible.  No luck.  Race morning, I still felt crappy.  I decided that I would go with what I felt.  I would push if I felt like I could, or I would just be happy I got in a 5k for a good cause.  I wasn’t going to beat myself up for not doing as well when I felt as lousy as I did.  I took all kinds of meds and vitamins, did nasal spray treatments, anything I could to get the junk out of my head so I could function.  Darin and I intending on walking to the race, since the start line is only about a mile or so away but that didn’t happen.  My sinuses weren’t my only issue.  I spent most of the morning in the bathroom.  You see, when I don’t feel well, I tend to eat garbage.  I don’t know what it is, comfort food I guess, but I eat things I should not be eating and then I end up paying for it. Not sure what part of me thought a zinger mountain melt was a good idea the night before a race.  I totally know better, but when I am sick I guess that part of me looks away.  We ended up driving because there was no way we would get there in time otherwise.

The start line was the usual chaos when you have more than 5,000 people all trying to line up.  There was a huge screen showing all the different countries lining up.  It’s an amazing feeling to know that when that start goes off, something like a hundred thousand people are running at the exact same time, all for the same cause around the world.  I can only think of one race morning where, on a scale of 1-10 I would say I felt like a 10.  This certainly was not it.  I would say at the start, I felt like a 5-6.  As we talked with fellow runners discussing our goals or their miles last year, I stated my new goal for the day was 5 miles, there was no way I thought I would get any further feeling like I did.  I told myself this run was a learning experience.  I would see how the whole thing worked, and push myself as much as I could, considering I felt like my head was wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and throbbed with every step.

The race began and the usual navigation challenges ensued, but this time things were a little different.  Even the walk/run method folks were moving a bit faster this time.  The feeling that something is going to fire up behind you not long after you start, and will be trying to catch you, gets the adrenaline flowing a little more.  I immediately decided I was not going to look down at my watch.  I would not look at my pace, the fear of disappointment was too much.  I just had to keep telling myself to run by feel and not worry about pace.  I didn’t feel great, and that was ok.  I was not going to beat myself up.

I ran by feel, but my feel was a little off and I knew that.  I generally don’t run with that burning sensation because that means I am going too fast, but with a cold it is just kind of there so I just dealt with it.  I was not sure how fast I was going but accidentally looked at my watch when I hit 1 mile and it buzzed.  I had forgotten I left the audio on, so the beep caught my attention.  Oops!  I looked and saw that I was running a little over a 10 minute mile.  That’s a little hot for a long run, but since I would probably be caught soon, I told myself to just keep plugging away if I felt like I could.  There were water stations every two miles or so, but I missed getting water at the first one.  The tables were set up with water first, then Gatorade, then red bull.  I didn’t know that and just reached mid table set up and was told I would need to go backwards for water.  Backwards?  Um, no.  So I told myself to just deal with being thirsty for two more miles.  I at least learned the set up, so I would know for the next one.  After that, I was able to get water at each station.

At the 30 minute mark, right about the 5k mark for me, I heard someone say that they just got a text that the catcher car had started moving.  I didn’t change my pace at that point, because I knew that it was going about 9 mph and would take at least a good 20 minutes to catch up to where I was.  I knew at that point I should be able to push and squeeze out the just under two miles needed to make it to 5.  When I got to 5, I thought, “hey, I can make a 10k after all… get moving.”  I pushed some more and was really happy to pass the 10k mark.  That’s when all the chatter started among everyone coming up from behind.  The catcher car was not far behind.

After turning onto  Oakland, I could hear the beeping of the catcher car horn behind me and people freaking out.  I looked back and I could see the car coming but was not sure exactly how quickly it was moving.  While it starts at 9 mph, it increases in speed as it makes its way through the course.  I did my best to push my pace just a bit.  Then I could hear the horn beeping louder.  I looked back and it was coming up way quicker than I expected!  I looked at my Garmin and saw that it read 7.42 miles.  In that moment, I thought “I need an even number!” and I took off as fast as I could.  I’d be ok if it got me, I just needed it to get me at 7.5 miles.  Yes, I am one of “those” people.  Sure enough, just as I was about to putter out anyway, the sweet relief came as the catcher car officially, and finally passed me.

I stopped my watch and relished in the fact that as crappy as I felt, I surpassed my goal.  I had made it 7.5 miles and averaged 10:13 per mile, which was a great time.  I was able to push myself when I was feeling lousy and reminded myself of how good it feels to just run.  I was also really proud of Laura who did great  and Darin who got in 7.6 miles.  Darin and I walked back to the BB&C center together to get our medals.  It was a great race and they had a great after party with food, drinks and music.  There was even a dance off, so you know I jumped into that and got my groove on with the MC!  It was a great time all around.  We didn’t stay too much longer after the finish as we wanted to get home, showered and off to pick up D2.

This race was a fantastic experience and I highly recommend it to anyone.  Even if you walk, you could get in maybe 2 miles before the catcher car gets you.  It’s a great cause and 100% of the proceeds are put towards it.  I can’t fully express how much fun it is, or the excitement that builds inside when you hear that car beeping behind you and you push that little bit more to see how much farther you can get.  In races, we generally push ourselves toward something.  We push towards that goal of a time for the race or that personal best.  In this race, you are pushing yourself in a new direction.  You are pushing yourself away from something chasing you, you are pushing yourself to see how far you can go before being caught.  It was a very unique experience and I can’t wait to do it again next year!