Nott What You'd Expected...

Distance Medley

For the overly ambitious, or even slightly unambitious but mildly talented high school runner in Iowa, the year is divided into seasons... not seasons in the traditional sense, but more along the lines of 'miles per week', 'aerobic vs. anaerobic', and 'low weight, high rep' trips to the weight room..

Time moves in an almost cyclical pattern, a rotation from Crosscountry Falls, Training Winters, the melting snows of February bring Track, which concludes in the final days of May, and the Training of Summer begins anew..

Likewise, these seasons are divided within themselves by the Big Meets, the dates that will be forever imprinted, seared into the mind- October 30th, State Meet Cross, May 30, State Meet Track, April 29th(ish) Drake Relays...
Even abroad, it's hard to forget... Too many hours spent baking under the Des Moines sun, too many shin splints forgotten, ibuprofen taken, too many splits and mental wagers floating around- numbers, facts, past results...

This weekend is a national holiday in the community that is Running. Granted, my dedication of late has been wavering if not completely lost, but an intrinsic feeling of longing emerges at the mere mention of Jim Duncan Stadium, the Drake Relays...

To be fair, I've been running at Drake since I was in third grade. State Champ, long jump Boys under-10. Not to mention my illustrious career of finishing second at every meet to Hugh Schreffler in the 400, but still managing to make it to a few Regional Championship meets along the way. It was different back then- no fancy lcd screens, no metallic chairs.... I remember the spartan doors, massive gates of plywood hastily painted blue, huge cavernous hallways providing shade for nomadic preteens as they tried to find solace from the sun on long meet days.
The Blue Track. Luther's own version is a little tough, a little hard for my liking... not to mention the lanes are 2/3 the size of Drake's very own.... but I digress. Ha, I still remember the joy of returning to track practice on the Monday following and showing off the Blue paint that had rubbed off on trainers or spikes while warming up on the blue oval. Underclassmen look on with gaping mouths, knowing that, if they set their minds to it, they too could be traversing on the greatest stage in Iowa High School Running.

I won't pretend to be a running aficionado, or even someone up to date with the community.... well, maybe pretending is an accurate description.... but there's something rare about belonging to a somewhat off-color, unappreciated sport or activity that, for one weekend of the year, is glorified- maybe for the wrong reasons- but celebrated nonetheless...

I wouldn't say I've 'missed out' on a lot this year by being abroad, but events like Drake, holidays like Christmas, and other mainstays in my diet of tradition- are little reminders of what I love about home, and how no matter what I experience abroad, have been a part of the construction of my being- my memories, my stories, my history- and will never forget.... except enough to leave off that extra .8 from my split, or exactly who blew the lead for us in the backstretch...


Best of Luck, Luther, Urbandale- Alan Webb for that matter- Mom, if you could pick up some Peggy's cups, that'd be great......

posted by Kevin @ 1:29 PM