So a few years ago I attempted to blog- "run tashy run". I think I got through two of them before I quit. I just got really lazy. This time around I promise it will be different! So I'm gonna start off by telling you two important things- I am a terrible writer and even worse speller. So please don't judge or correct me:)
I guess the first thing I should talk about is my most recent race- Canadian Cross Country Nationals at Jericho Beach last saturday. It was a good day. I was so nervous before the race, I could barely eat. Once I started my warm-up, the nervousness went away and I was feeling good. My friends and family started arriving during warm-up, and I was getting really excited to race! My coach was not happy with my sociallizing before the race and gave me a talking to....I got in trouble:( So I removed myself from everyone for a good 20 minutes, where I was able to focus. My goal for the race was top 5. Top 5 make the team to go to NACAC and World XC. I wasn't concerned about my time- the course was muddy, so I knew it would be slow anyway. Here's a quick breakdown of the race- (7Km)
Gun goes off and I am happy to finally be racing. I find myself in the lead. What the heck? I don't want to be leading! Oh well- I feel strong and relaxed so its ok. I continue to lead a large pack for about 1km
Megan Brown passes me and I stay right on her shoulder for the next 2km- I can hear the other girls, but they are about 15 meters back. I am surprised that there aren't more girls right up with us. But that's cool. I'm feeling good and happy with the race so far.
3k- Megan gets about 15 meters on me....I run past my coach who yells at me to close the gap. So I pick up the pace and close the gap a bit.
3.5km- The effort into closing that original gap was too much for me and Megan drops me more than she did before. I can hear the other girls gaining on me. I still feel pretty good, but just can't run at Megan's pace.
4.5km- Kate Harrison and Rachel Cliff pass me. Ok tasha its time to fight. Kate gets about 10 meters on Rachel and I. We are running side by side going through the 5k mark. At this point I say to her "lets work together!". She says "lets do it!" (Rachel is a BC girl and friend of mine. She's awesome!) So for the next km we ran together and pushed each other. It was awesome. Thanks Rachel! But with 1km to go, its race time. I'm still feeling strong and I'm confident in my "kick". So with about 600 to go I pass Rachel and just keep running as fast as my little legs will go. I was able to get about 20 meters on her and hold onto 3rd place!
My friends and family all started to arrive at the finish line and it was very overwhelming! I felt so incredibly loved and supported! Thank-you Brent and Megan Braeder; Kim, Riley and Andrew Copp; Marilyn, Kevin, Aly-boo, and Christian Yeo; Nick, Veronica and Raiden Wodak; Ruth and John; Rebecca Johnstone, Kim Hollaway, and Christie Crump! You are all amazing and I couldn't have ran like I did without all of you there cheering me on!!!
So the race went well and now I'm on the National Team going to World Cross in Poland in March. Pretty pumped about this- I've gotta a lot of training to do this winter! Speaking of training, I did not really get a "down" week like I thought I was gonna get. Nope- just right back into it. Although I skipped my sunday run....world's worst hang-over (we won't go into too many details. It was rough. Lets just say I couldn't eat anything until 730pm that night.). But besides that one missed run, training has been good this week. 1km repeats on tuesday and then hill training up at SFU on thursday. Which brings me to a story I want to share with you.
On thursday I am doing my warm-up in the trails around SFU. I realize that this is the first time I've run alone on those trails without being scared. Scared of what you may be wondering? COYOTES. One tried to kill me this year. This is the story of how I almost got killed by a coyote (ok maybe killed is a bit extreme....but that fucker would have really hurt me.)
Last June I was warming down after a pretty intense track session up at SFU. I am alone in the trails on our warm down loop- about 700m loop in the forest. I'm happily jogging thinking about the awesome workout I just had when I see the coyote. He's just standing there in the middle of the trail. I see them quite often, so I wasn't scared. Just kept running at him and he ran into the bushes. As I ran by the spot he ran into the bushes, I hear him come out right behind me. I stop and turn around, and he's standing on the trail about 15 meteres behind me just staring at me. I did eveything I was supposed to at this point- made myself "big" and yelled at him to fuck off. That's when he started running at me. Oh fuck shit. What the fuck is he doing???? I immediatly start sprinting like a crazy person. I am screaming for help and running for my life. I keep looking behind me like one of those stupid girls in a horror movie when she is being chased by the pyscho killer. The coyote is gaining on me. He is going to bite me. Then all his coyote friends are gonna jump out of the bushes and bite me too. I'm gonna die. Tears streaming down my face and me screaming "SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!!!! HELP MEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!" as I'm running frantically toward the trail head only 50 meters ahead. Finally I hit the trail opening and cross the street (totally could have been hit by a car, i didn't look just ran out). I stop and there he is on the other side of the street, just looking at me. He's thinking- you're lucky bitch. I'll get you next time. I am hysterical at this point, and some random guy waiting for the bus asks me if I'm ok. I go on to tell him that the coyote was chasing me and it was gonna attack me and I barely made it out alive. The random guy definitely thinks I'm crazy. I jogged back to the track where the SFU group is. I tell them this story and most of them laugh at me! It's not funny! I almost got attacked by a diseased coyote. Not a laughing matter at all. People tell me that coyote attacks are very random and almost never happen. Well let me tell you, that coyote was gonna bite me. I was lucky. So ever since that day in June I have been scared to run alone on that warm down loop. I know that coyote is waiting for me. He's probably really hungry this time of the year too. And he's mad I got away the first time. Angry, hungry coyote is waiting for me.
Ok I think that's enough for my first blog. Hope you all enjoyed your first installment of "life in the tash lane".
Congrats on your race...against the coyote I mean. Its a good thing you are fast.
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