A fun part of being in Northern Michigan in the summer is the annual Cherry Festival, held in Traverse City, Michigan. While we gave up actually attending the festival a couple of years ago (due to large crowds and craziness altogether), a member of the Kennedy family can usually be found running in the Meijer Festival of Races during the festival. It's a great way to be part of the festivities in a controlled, fun manner :-)
I signed up to run the 10k back in the spring. 5ks are becoming too short of a distance for me to run to feel any kind of challenge (isn't that a lovely thing to say), so I figured the 10k would be better for me. Afterall, on any given day, I walk 5-6 miles so I figured running it wouldn't be much harder.
The hardest part about the whole thing was trying to get the time off work. My boss at Interlochen wouldn't approve the time off, so I had to find someone who would cover for me. I initially had someone who was willing to do it in exchange for a couple of gift cards to local restaurants, but sadly, his father died unexpectedly. Thankfully, another health assistant was willing to cover for me, but she wanted payback in me working for her. Groan. I'm fiercely protective of my time with my family, and I don't like to stay an extra minute at work. However, I had no other choice. If she would cover me on Saturday morning, I would cover her Sunday morning. Church starts at 9 a.m., and her shift started at 6 a.m. Three hours to trade.
Three hours. In that time, I would need to drive into Traverse City (a 30 minute drive), run the six miles (anywhere from 72 minutes to 90 minutes), get to my car (10 minutes at least), drive back (another 30 minutes) and shower and change before heading back to work. Holy smokes. It was going to be tight.
Hannah accompanied me the day before to pick up my packet. She felt bad that she wasn't running, so I told her to sign up (at packet pickup) which she did. As she likes to put it, she runs for the t-shirt, and this year it was a winner: "Will Run For Cherries". She decided to run the 10k too.
While in Traverse City, we actually dropped off one of our cars near the finish line. I knew from past years that catching the shuttle back to the starting line (and our car) was at least an hour ordeal. I didn't have that kind of time to waste, so we left it, knowing that we would need to return later to pick up our other car at the starting line. I actually prayed that night that "Bluey" would be safe, sitting in a random parking lot during the festival.
I threw caution to the wind and showed up for work on Saturday morning out of uniform and wearing my running clothes (bib attached!). This is a serious infraction here at Interlochen, but I hoped that my coworkers wouldn't rat me out. I took care of everything I could, waited for my relief, and literally ran out the door at 7 a.m. when Hannie showed up in the Volvo.
We booked it into Traverse City, found parking, used the bathrooms (Hannah smartly used a hotel bathroom while I stupidly waited in line at the Porta Potties at the race), and got to the starting line with five minutes to spare. It was a gorgeous day (when isn't it a gorgeous day here?). The race began at 7:55 a.m.
Hannah is so loving. She ran the first two miles with me, but I could tell that she could run faster. I finally convinced her to go ahead.
Oh, the joys of being young. No training. No preparation. And she's off, running faster than me. I've spent months, trying to get to where I can just run constantly (with no stopping), and she doesn't even give it a wink. As John says, youth is wasted on the young :-)
It was a long race. While I had no problem finishing the first three miles (or a 5k), running six straight miles with no stopping was definitely a challenge for me. It wasn't terribly hard, thinking back on the pain of two half marathons, and two full marathons, but in the final mile, I came undone mentally. We 10k runners had merged with the half marathoners, and they were cruising past me. It was humiliating, and unfortunately I didn't deal with it well. I walked for probably half of the last mile.
I believe one of the greatest benefits of running is the lessons I learn during a race. Seriously, there's always something to take away (besides the t-shirt). This time, I came to appreciate women more. That's right....women. On any given day, I am embarrassed by our gender. We cause a lot of problems because either we think we know better, or we get involved when we shouldn't, or we treat other women like they are less than us because we feel bad about ourselves. I like men much more. However, on this day, the women stepped up.
It was obvious that I wasn't going to take any medals for being the fastest, and there were a couple of women who I think knew what I was going through mentally. I was still pushing on (and both of these instances happened when I was still running), and two separate women, probably 20 minutes apart, and both running the half marathon, brushed by me and told me that I could make it. I didn't see their comments as condescending, nor did I discard them because of my own emotional instability at the moment. There words struck me to the core, and I remembered that I could make it. That I walked this distance on any given day, and for this moment, I was just completing the distance faster.
Too, one other woman was instrumental in helping me finish. A wonderful 18-year-old woman. Hannah. I called her once (and I think she called me once), and each time she told me what to expect in the next mile. Too, she was so encouraging. In fact, as I type this, I'm overcome with emotion, thinking back to how wonderful it was to have her there with me. Through thick and thin, Hannie always believes in me. She always sees me as beautiful (and tells me so). She appreciates everything I do and thanks me for all of it. While I knew she was just running for the t-shirt, I was thankful that she was there, running the race to be with me.
In the end, she finished in 78 minutes, and I finished in 82. I was thrilled to beat my goal of 90 minutes, and I was relieved to know that I now had 8 minutes extra to get back. I grabbed some water and some cherries (yay!) before heading out of the winner's circle.
One problem. I had needed my purse to drive to the race (because it had my driver's license), but I obviously wasn't going to run with it. And I needed it to drive back to work in the second car. Yep. Best laid plans of mice and men....
We booked it back to the first car and drove like speed demons back to Interlochen.
As it turned out, I showed up just fifteen minutes late (so the whole process took me 3 hours and 15 minutes), and my hair was soaking wet, but I made it. And I still made it to church the next morning after covering my sub's three hour shift.
And having worn my t-shirt for the past two weeks almost non-stop, it was definitely all worth it.
I signed up to run the 10k back in the spring. 5ks are becoming too short of a distance for me to run to feel any kind of challenge (isn't that a lovely thing to say), so I figured the 10k would be better for me. Afterall, on any given day, I walk 5-6 miles so I figured running it wouldn't be much harder.
The hardest part about the whole thing was trying to get the time off work. My boss at Interlochen wouldn't approve the time off, so I had to find someone who would cover for me. I initially had someone who was willing to do it in exchange for a couple of gift cards to local restaurants, but sadly, his father died unexpectedly. Thankfully, another health assistant was willing to cover for me, but she wanted payback in me working for her. Groan. I'm fiercely protective of my time with my family, and I don't like to stay an extra minute at work. However, I had no other choice. If she would cover me on Saturday morning, I would cover her Sunday morning. Church starts at 9 a.m., and her shift started at 6 a.m. Three hours to trade.
Three hours. In that time, I would need to drive into Traverse City (a 30 minute drive), run the six miles (anywhere from 72 minutes to 90 minutes), get to my car (10 minutes at least), drive back (another 30 minutes) and shower and change before heading back to work. Holy smokes. It was going to be tight.
Hannah accompanied me the day before to pick up my packet. She felt bad that she wasn't running, so I told her to sign up (at packet pickup) which she did. As she likes to put it, she runs for the t-shirt, and this year it was a winner: "Will Run For Cherries". She decided to run the 10k too.
 |
| Me, sitting in the infirmary waiting room :-) |
I threw caution to the wind and showed up for work on Saturday morning out of uniform and wearing my running clothes (bib attached!). This is a serious infraction here at Interlochen, but I hoped that my coworkers wouldn't rat me out. I took care of everything I could, waited for my relief, and literally ran out the door at 7 a.m. when Hannie showed up in the Volvo.
We booked it into Traverse City, found parking, used the bathrooms (Hannah smartly used a hotel bathroom while I stupidly waited in line at the Porta Potties at the race), and got to the starting line with five minutes to spare. It was a gorgeous day (when isn't it a gorgeous day here?). The race began at 7:55 a.m.
 |
| Starting line selfie! Hannah bought those headbands for us last year. |
Oh, the joys of being young. No training. No preparation. And she's off, running faster than me. I've spent months, trying to get to where I can just run constantly (with no stopping), and she doesn't even give it a wink. As John says, youth is wasted on the young :-)
It was a long race. While I had no problem finishing the first three miles (or a 5k), running six straight miles with no stopping was definitely a challenge for me. It wasn't terribly hard, thinking back on the pain of two half marathons, and two full marathons, but in the final mile, I came undone mentally. We 10k runners had merged with the half marathoners, and they were cruising past me. It was humiliating, and unfortunately I didn't deal with it well. I walked for probably half of the last mile.
I believe one of the greatest benefits of running is the lessons I learn during a race. Seriously, there's always something to take away (besides the t-shirt). This time, I came to appreciate women more. That's right....women. On any given day, I am embarrassed by our gender. We cause a lot of problems because either we think we know better, or we get involved when we shouldn't, or we treat other women like they are less than us because we feel bad about ourselves. I like men much more. However, on this day, the women stepped up.
It was obvious that I wasn't going to take any medals for being the fastest, and there were a couple of women who I think knew what I was going through mentally. I was still pushing on (and both of these instances happened when I was still running), and two separate women, probably 20 minutes apart, and both running the half marathon, brushed by me and told me that I could make it. I didn't see their comments as condescending, nor did I discard them because of my own emotional instability at the moment. There words struck me to the core, and I remembered that I could make it. That I walked this distance on any given day, and for this moment, I was just completing the distance faster.
Too, one other woman was instrumental in helping me finish. A wonderful 18-year-old woman. Hannah. I called her once (and I think she called me once), and each time she told me what to expect in the next mile. Too, she was so encouraging. In fact, as I type this, I'm overcome with emotion, thinking back to how wonderful it was to have her there with me. Through thick and thin, Hannie always believes in me. She always sees me as beautiful (and tells me so). She appreciates everything I do and thanks me for all of it. While I knew she was just running for the t-shirt, I was thankful that she was there, running the race to be with me.
In the end, she finished in 78 minutes, and I finished in 82. I was thrilled to beat my goal of 90 minutes, and I was relieved to know that I now had 8 minutes extra to get back. I grabbed some water and some cherries (yay!) before heading out of the winner's circle.
One problem. I had needed my purse to drive to the race (because it had my driver's license), but I obviously wasn't going to run with it. And I needed it to drive back to work in the second car. Yep. Best laid plans of mice and men....
We booked it back to the first car and drove like speed demons back to Interlochen.
As it turned out, I showed up just fifteen minutes late (so the whole process took me 3 hours and 15 minutes), and my hair was soaking wet, but I made it. And I still made it to church the next morning after covering my sub's three hour shift.
And having worn my t-shirt for the past two weeks almost non-stop, it was definitely all worth it.
This is John on our home computer. This is a great story and I am so proud of Larisa and Hannie!!
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