Now that it's almost a week after the 50K I've had more time to think about how things went. While I am still disappointed that I didn't at least break 5 hours, I think I gave it pretty much all I had. But something very unexpected happened out of the whole thing; I was selected as the USATF Athlete of the Week! It's quite an honor, with the list usually filled with Olympians and World Champions. And it wasn't an easy week either! NCAA had their Cross Country championships, so some good performances there to contend with. Here's the article:
http://www.usatf.org/News/Race-Walker-Erin-Taylor-Talcott-named-USATF-Athlet.aspx
There are a few factual inaccuracies (my time and that I set a national record. I already have the national record with my 4:33:23) but it was very nice.
Another thing I was thinking about was how tough a lot of the people out there were on race day. Everyone has goals and dreams and hopes for what they'd accomplish. It's hard when something like the weather gets in the way of your race plan. I saw a lot of people going out smart and still hurting from the heat. I saw some people succumb to the heat. And I saw some that were going to finish no matter what. So here's my nominations for the most amazing/gutsy/stick-to-it-iveness performances I saw out there.
Darlene Backlund is no stranger to the longer events, getting out there and strutting her stuff with the best of them. Having just turned 70 she was out there to prove something, a big something! And boy did she, and in style! No 70 year old woman has ever raced a 50K, at least until Darlene! I was lucky enough to witness Darlene finish, with such a huge smile on her face! As she then proceeded to wibble-wobble for some timey-wimey (anyone catch the reference?) across the line, then hit the ground with leg cramps. What a champ! I'm so amazed by all she does and continues to do.
For the men I had a hard time deciding, but I'm going with Matthew Forgues. Matt is no stranger to race walking, having been quite successful in his younger years. However we haven't seen much from him in the last few years. I will admit that I was quite surprised to see him on the entry list, and entered in the full 50K no less! But he went out smooth and smart, I think just about on pace to hit the 50K Olympic Trials qualifying time. I'm not sure at what point it was, but eventually the heat did do a number on him (as it did everyone!). But he never gave up! I could see he was determined to finish, and he did! He finished his first 50K after not racing in quite a while in 90 degree temperatures! I'm super impressed. That type of mental fortitude to me means he could be a fantastic 50K walker. I really hope that he continues and focuses on the 50K!
Dave and I were able to use some of our recovery time working on the bunkhouse, and I'm so happy that we have all the siding done! I'm done being up on ladders and scaffolding for a while for sure! And we got it done on what will probably be the last nice day of the year. Whew!
There's a turkey trot held every year in Cortland that we like to do. It's a 5K, really flat, pretty fast, and they have great race shirts. This year we didn't know if we'd want to do it four days after a 50K, but we signed up for it figuring we could just do it as an easy walk if we needed. We ended up pushing it fairly hard and doing quite well! The time on the clock showed 24:10, but it seems a fair number of people's watches were showing it being short. But we figure, even if it was the shortest that some watches were showing it that effort was still a sub 25:00 5K. I'm pretty darned happy with that! Still feeling just a little tired, but really pretty good. I'll be ramping training back up starting next week. Then the week after that I go to train for two weeks with Ian in South Carolina, so that'll be two really solid weeks of training.
I have 12 weeks before the 50K Olympic Trials. I have goals of what I want to accomplish and a plan of how to do it. I just need to get out there, put the work in, and work as hard as I can. No excuses, no slacking off, no giving up. Twelve weeks of being tough and working hard.
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