Made it

U.S. track and field might not have the largest fan base but I am convinced it is the kindest. Most of you that follow me my adventures know I made a plea to get to the USATF championships. Thanks to the Flotrack community I made it. First, a diehard track and field fan decided to pay it forward by western unioning the money for a plane ticket and giving me free tickets for all four days. This was with no strings attached. Secondly, an avid flotrack follower allowed me to crash and was kind enough to let me stay on the couch within walking distance of the track. More amazing is that he was ok with picking me up at the airport at 2:00 a.m.

I will admit that I was super nervous about the trip and I was constantly texting people to make sure that someone knew where I was. Thursday’s flight was super long and I ended up in San Francisco for about four hours. I ended talking to several parents of athletes who were participating. I was glad the flight came in when it did for nervous parents of athletes can be a powerful riot. After all of us finally arrived in routine and I had checked my phone several times for the 10k results (the races can be seen here on flotrack), I was picked up and settled down at my host house.

I arrived the next day at Hayward field around two and found my seat on the first row of the backstretch. The people around me were all knowledgeable about the sport but tended to have an Oregon bias. I had one of those starstruck moments when Kara Goucher came around for her victory lap.

I found the flotrack team (minus Mark there was 5) and was able to gain a press pass. We had a pretty awesome set up with the usual media tent but also the garage next to 1500 meters (where Kevin D. had set the video feed from the electronic boards) and above at what I will call the “important people” viewing area. This was where all the live audio and videos were filmed for the races but going on behind us was a constant who’s who of track including the whole Clark family, agents and Ceo Doug Logan.

The next morning, I covered racewalking (total of 5 hours this weekend) and ended up eating at the hotel. Sitting a table was Alan Webb who had a hard night dealing with air conditioning problems.

The rest of the weekend went amazingly and I ended commentating with Kevin Selby who knows his stuff. I could not have asked for a better way to experience the championships. My next goal is to make it to the Olympics but this time I will earn my own way. One day, I will hopefully pay it forward to the next track and field fan.

RC cola and Moonpie

At around 8:00 on Friday night, I sent a text message to a friend of mine “I’ll run moonpie in your place”.  This is when I should have thought my actions through.  The moonpie is a 10 mile race over the hills of bell buckle. It runs like a half marathon. Malorie allowed me to take her place as long as I gave her the shirt. I ended up getting to bed about midnight and leaving the house around 5:00 the next morning.

The race started at 7:00 and as soon as the gun went off, I knew I was going to take this as training run. I rolled the first four miles in around 32:15 and I was comfortable. Then this was when everything began to fall apart by mile five I was at 42:30.  By the time I hit six miles, I was just trying to live.

What I learned at this moment was that I am not mentally stronger. I was not feeling terrible but I thought I should be. I started readjusting goals and I hit the eight mile mark, I want to say in 72.  At this time I realized I only had two miles left and my legs felt fine. I did the last mile in 7:15-7:30. My overall pace was just under nine mins.

If I do this race ever again, I will get over 5 hours asleep and actually train a bit for it. I would love to be able to run it in below 1:20.
(I have no idea why I am smiling at this moment in time)

Can I do this for the rest of my life?

Since last week I have done 3 phone interview, 11 video interviews and have written 3 articles. If I could do this for the rest of my life, I would.

I had this conversation with my roommate from last year and she has decided to go to grad. school for public health."This is something I can be passionate about" she said.

I really think this is important in getting a job. You want to be able to enjoy it. I think right now people are just getting a job to have a job. I'm not saying don't work but figure out how to do something you can love. It just happens that I love the sport of running

I am making money on the side by training a few younger runners. It is fun to introduce someone to something I love so much.

Sometimes everything falls through

The end of the school year was bittersweet. I am excited to be done with my junior year but sad to see my roommates leave. I miss them and thier quirks. They became my best friends and it is weird to know they won't be around next year. They are going on to bigger and better things.

So out of the three internships I applied for I struck out. So I am currently home in Murfreesboro sleeping on a couch. I have applied all over town but the only problem is that I have no real experience in any kind of summer job. I have called several back but was rejected due to lack of experience.

I am interning for a new running website-runtheroads.com-I am enjoying it quite a bit. I am really inline with the mission of the website which is to try to bring the popularity of road racing to the gain followers to the pro end of the sport.

I am slowly increasing mileage starting out with 40 miles and hopefully ending with around 80 miles per week by the end of the summer.

A report of harassment at road races

Eugene, May 12 (The Cara Fake Newsgroup)- A report from Meet Directors USA is showing a rash of reports of harassment road races. Oddly, the reports are coming from women with the names of Sara, Kara, or Cara. There have been a few reports from women named Tara, Mara and Lara.

“I won Hillbilly 5k and as soon as I was handed my prize, the male winner come up grabs my bum and says ‘I’ll be your Adam if you be my Kara,” explains Cara Hawkins, “ Kara Goucher’s name and mine are not even spelled the same way.”

The only explanation for this odd occurrence is the rash of pro running couples with the female’s name ending in “ara”. These couples include: Adam and Kara Goucher, Ryan and Sara Hall, Brent and Sara Vaughn, and Steve and Sara Slattery. It appears that many male runners are looking for their running counterpart.

“It is a good pick-up line, much better then I like your stride,” said Steve (asked for last name not to be revealed) , “It has gotten me a few girls; numbers and running chicks are where it is at.”

Bad Poetry

I would like to propose a toast
please raise your glass with me
to a missed opportunity

I saw the door wide open
it was history worth making
it was mine for the taking

The trail last traveled
that I found
turned me around

So, I would like to propose a toast
drinks are on me
to a missed opportunity

Writing my own obituary

So for my online writing class, I had to write my own obituary; it is below.

Cara Hawkins-Symmonds, known best for her unrelenting efforts in making the sport of track and field one of the most popular sports in the U.S., died Saturday at home in Eugene, Oregon. She was 82.

Her husband, former Olympic 800 meter runner Nick Symmonds, reported to the Eugene press that she died in her sleep after her weekly long run. She had remained active still organizing and competing in local road races.

Mrs.Symmonds spent her childhood in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She graduated with honors from Carson-Newman College where she was a division II runner participating in cross country and the 3k steeplechase. She received her Master’s in sports marketing from the University of Colorado. She began her career working for a sports marketing firm representing athletes while there she met her husband, Nick Symmonds.

From there she moved to Eugene to become one of the original employees of Flotrack, the all running network. She became vice president of communications. While there, she helped Flotrack become one of the most popular sports network with the buying of the rights of all collegiate running events and Olympic track and field events.

Upon retirement, she began the grassroots organization, Running for love. The organization provided shoes and food for needy children from Africa to the U.S. She was active participate in the local running community with organizing road races and coaching along with her husband local high school athletes.

Mrs. Symmonds is preceded in death by her parents Bill and Pam Hawkins. She is survived by her husband, Nick Symmonds; her sisters; Savannah Kennedy and Victoria Hawkins-Beckham; her two daughters, Henley Williams and Emerson Thoreau; her five grandchildren, Aubrey and Jennifer Williams, Laura, David and Henry Thoreau.

A race will be held in her honor May 15, 2069 at Hayward field. Memorial services will follow in the infield. Visitation will be from 3-7 at Evergreen Funeral home on May 14, 2069. The spreading of her ashes will occur at a later date.