Allegra Kent
Wednesday started early for me today. The mind awoke the body at 4:03AM. The day started to run around in the gray matter between my ears about two hours before the body propels me around the track. Was Ellie going to feel better today? Will she go to school? Is this just a normal strain of the flu? Will any of more of my employees break their new computers today that they just received? Is Sarah awake? What does Sarah have on her busy plate toady? I guess she will not swim if Ellie is home? Should I stay home this morning? No…Need to show face at work. Who won the baseball game last night? Yankees or Angels? I hope the Angles, but the Yankees are hot right now. I wonder if all my managers finished their assignments before the close of business last night. I wonder how many runners are going out to the track this morning. I wonder if it is cold outside.
The thoughts continued to spin around in my mind until I decided to stop thinking of them and start to do them. 4:45AM: I pulled back the covers and made my way across the caliginous room towards the closet to get my track clothes on and schlep my bag and clothes downstairs.
The weather has been unseasonably cold for mid-October in Georgia. The temps have been in the 30’s & low 40’s in the mornings driving the questions for winter run gear or not? Since the morning consisted of a track workout and the temperature was in the high 30’s the decision was to dress in running tights, two layers of shirts and a hooded sweatshirt. This way when I started to warm up I could shed the layers as I ran.
As I navigating myself downstairs to let the dog out, I could feel the cool morning air on the hardwood floors on my bare feet. In opening the back door, I was reassured of my decision to dress in layers when a slow stream of cold night air made its way into the house sending a chill from my feet traveling up my back to my shoulders. This foreign entity of coldness reacted to my body sending a shiver throughout my core. Good call, I thought on the layers…
I stood in the threshold of the door taking in the early morning temperatures, I looked up into the nebulous sky, populated with the Milky Way’s constellations. Due to the lack of manmade lighting that pollutes the suburban skies this particular morning you are able to witness Aquarius, the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper coming off the Polaris star. Mars and Jupiter also showed brightly in the sky as I searched for Saturn but the dog’s abrupt return inside broke the concentration of the search as I closed the door behind her. From the picturesque early morning sky, the indication for the rest of the day was going to be clear and no signs of rain.
I arrived at LTF at 5:15AM and packed in another section of the lot to mix up the monotony of it all. I saw Jerry who had just finished Ironman World Championships in Kona a week and a half ago getting ready to run with Calvin for a short 6-7 miles. Jerry said Kona was amazing when I asked. The venue was a memory that will not quickly fade for him. Jerry looked remarkably fresh for racing IMCDA in June and then making and participating IMKONA 4 months later. Jerry’s definitely wired different from us mere mortals.
I decided to hit the “hamster wheel” for about 10 minutes before I was to meet the fellow trackers in the lobby at 5:45AM. I set the pace at 8:34/mile and ran an EZ 10 minutes warming the legs up for the workout at the Alpharetta High School.
At the 10-minute mark, I jumped off and headed to meet, Jay, Bob, Jeff, Ann Marie, Stacy, Michele and Susan in the lobby. The large group of athletes shuffled out the doors of LTF to make the small 1-mile pilgrimage to the track. We chatted about runs, workouts, shoes, football and a fellow cyclist that had crashed 65 days ago in Bulgaria due to a head on collision with a car. Ann Marie had ridden a charity ride for the fallen cyclist to raise money for her medical cost. It is always a sobering thought when you hear stories of cycling accidents and how blessed you and your friends are that ride without incident.
The band of eight cascaded through the dark early morning to the high school track. The skies were void of the Moon, which assisted in shining reflective light onto the track during the summer months, but with the presence of fall upon us, we had no guidance of light. The only redeeming feature on this void of light morning is the white lines on the black rubberized track that segregated Lanes 1 through 8 on the oval track.
Jay, Bob and I made our usual celebratory 400M jog around the emulsified surroundings to insure that all debris remained cleared for the runners on all lanes. Once the ritual was completed and we were back at the start each one of us had our own objectives to accomplish:
Bob & Jay:
1 Mile @ 6:39 – 400M RI
2 Miles @ 13:38 – 800M RI
800M @ 3:12
Ann Marie & Susan’s:
1 Mile @ 7:02 – 400M RI
2 Miles @ 14:24 – 800M RI
800M @ 3:23
Jeff
4 X 400M @ 1:30
2 X 800M @ 3:50
10 Minute EZ run
Stacy was on her maiden voyage on the track was knocking out 400’s. Not sure how many she was knocking out. Did not want to stress her with too many questions.
Michele ran half of her mileage on the treadmill and came out to run the remaining on the track. She had to leave before we had completed our sets.
As for me:
2 X 1600M @ 5:57 – 400 RI
1 X 800M @ 2:51
We all hit our marks among the picturesque sky with slight glimpses of space objects shooting across the atmosphere in a fiery streak. Well, most of us hit the marks…"Speed Racer” Ann Marie was too fast on most of her sets. She knew she was fast but did not pace the 200’s and 400’s correctly to hit the mark. Instead she obliterated them by setting fire to the inside lane with her speed.
As for Jay & Bob, again I am impressed on their consistent control in maintaining pace even though a few where well above the mark, (I think they wanted to show off in front of the ladies) they are learning.
On the way back, Jeff, Bob & I took the lead heading out of the field and making our way up the Webb Bridge Road hill back to LTF. At this point Ann Marie, Susan and Stacy peeled off and headed to their cars to pick up their gear. I believe they had indicated to me that they were going to ride this morning right from this destination. We said our good-byes and headed in out of the dawn’s chill to stretch. Bob, Jay, Jeff and I made our way upstairs and positioned ourselves in our regular spot to chat and stretch.
And the rest is getting myself to this point to write this entry for Wednesday.
The morning started out with the power of the mind propelling me out of a deep sleep, which lead my body to power me around a 400M oval track in the break of a new day with a group of individuals that I considered my friends.
If Ann Marie and Susan are out there cranking it out on the bikes this morning, I wish them a safe and fun ride.
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