Preview Chitown '08

The promised second entry. As I completed my morning run, it is Tuesday after all, my mind wandered to the Marathon, of course. I know that I'm not in the best shape I'll ever be in, but I'm in the best shape I've ever been in. The recent change from Top 100 to Elite has taken me back to another race. A high school race. The race that got me a scholarship to college.
Don't be mistaken, the change to Elite doesn't mean that I'm suddenly amazing. It means I've been given a place on the line next some women that already are amazing, an opportunity to prove myself. An opportunity of a life time. It's a cruxt moment, granted to me by a generous race director.

In 8th grade I won the largest Invitational meet of the year, the Rensselear Invitational. There were some 200 odd girls in that meet. It was wonderful. 9th grade I place 40 something. After that I was the only girl on the team so we didn't go, until my Senior year. About two weeks before the meet I told my coach I really, really wanted to run it even though it wasn't on the schedule. For the next two weeks he begged the AD to get us added, and the AD begged the Invite's coordinator to add us. The Thursday before the meet we got word that it was a go.

Saturday morning we arrived to find long row of neat boxes evenly divided by straight, fat, white lines looking very geometric and official. We walked this line to it's end to find our box; skinny, orange, uneven lines, an asymmetrical after-thought. The number was cockeyed. I liked that.
I led from the gun, won by over 30 seconds, and my future college coach just happened to be there recruiting. He kept asking, "who is that?" and no one could answer because we hadn't been to that invite in the two past years. Even if we had I would've sucked. It wasn't a PR, but it was what I had hoped it would be, a cruxt moment utilized perfectly.

I had a feeling about that race. I just knew that I had to be there. Going into it everything felt like it was just taking care of itself the way it was supposed to. I made that opportunity for myself. This time the opportunity has been presented to me. This time there are no boxes painted in rows. If there were, mine would be the lopsided misfit on the end, the after-thought (it feels better when it's the result of someone else's command). I have a feeling about this race. I have a really good feeling about it. So while I know someday I'll run faster, on race day I'll run the fastest I ever have. Somehow I know it.