Jake got to bed at a solid time and didn't look too anxious/nervous about the next day. He told me coach instructed him to run a good pace for the first two miles, but not at 100% effort until the last mile. He was not expecting his time would therefore be super fast (it's early yet and coach is focused on one race for Jake - districts).
The varsity boys race in East Newton (kind of south of Carthage and west of Monett) started at 9am. The kids left at 5:15am and we (Deb, Marla, Wes, and I) left at 6:05am. Got to the race site and had time to go over the course, help set up 'the compound' (two canopies), and scope out my plan of observation. The course if pretty flat with several turns (not a runner's friend) and is a two lapper. Not a bad observation course as there is only around 800m not viewable (wooded section). 20 schools (ranging from 4A to 1A) were present and some of the top runners (Kickapoo, Glendale, Parkview - saw Rainey running around, College Heights, Lebanon...) in SWMO were there for the kickoff to the 2009 season.
I saw Jake a handful of times running by briefly, but didn't talk to him before he ran (which is how we like it). He is the team captain for the first time and it's something he takes seriously. He led the crew through warm ups and then toed the line for the gun. I could tell in the first 200m he was not pressing the start like years in the past and he was sticking with coach's plan. He came through the 1 mile looking so much easier and stronger than in the years past, but the thing I noticed the most was he was moving with an aire of confidence and not timidness. By mile 2 1/2 I could see his arms tightening up some, but he was staying focused on runners ahead. He finished with a new PR at 17:38 and 2nd in the 3A division (26th out of 158 overall). It took a while before we really got to talk as he was immediately busy after his race encouraging/congratulating the rest of his teammates and making sure the next harriers on the team were getting proper warm ups for their races. From the quick times I did chat with him I could tell he felt good about his run, but he was far away more excited with his younger teammates who ran their hearts out and posted solid times (especially since the majority were in their rookie race). Jake, this whole year, has been so focused on team.
A little before noon we left East Newton and headed back to Bolivar. We packed up some stuff for our trip to STL and waited for Jake to get home (rode back with the team). Once he got home we loaded up and turned the car northeast. Got to Mandee's in the evening, ate a great dinner she cooked, and did a bunch of nothing (nice timing for relaxation).
Saturday morning Deb and Mandee took off on a bike ride with I watch Rambo - First Blood (classic) with the boys. We loaded up a little before noon and went down to Busch Stadium (no, the Cards were out of town) for a tour. We had a little time to kill before the tour started so we grabbed some grub (not far off being accurate) at White Castle. I have to say I had never eathen there before and will not be making a trip just for it again (not good!). Ian was on cloud 9 as the 1:30hr stadium cruised ends with you in the Cards' dugout and right on the field. It was a cool thing to do and highly recommend it to any baseball nut. In the parking lot adjacent to Busch was the team pit area for the Tour of Missouri so we took a walk through as the mechanics were scrubbing and dialing in the rigs. Saw none of the riders, but plenty of the bikes. I was amazed at how many are going with a flatter/wider top tube and super beefy headtubes.
After our downtown trip we spent the rest of the day (4:30pm to 1am) at some of Mandee's family's house for their annual pig roast. 110lbs pig on the grill/smoker since 3:30am (incredible; even though we did eat a section of the brain for the heck of it). They had tons of kids games (paying cash to the top finishers) and loads of entertainment for the old folks (that's me Crusty). Ended up running a billiards table for a couple hours with my bro-in-law (and taking a Foosball champ game); fun times. It definitely helps that I was one of the few who could see and walk straight.
Slept in Sunday and after a leisure morning we made our way home in time for Jake's XC practice (no rest for the weary). I planned to get in a couple hour ride, but after lawn work, a couple championship b-ball games and a trip to the park on bikes with Ian I called it a day and skipped it.
It was a good weekend spending time with the boys (all together instead of individually) and we even got James Patterson's latest Maximum Ride read in the car (thanks to a lot of travel time). Quite disappointed in the book as he tried to tie in some personal 'global warming' soapbox issues and it didn't flow with the rest at all; I am a huge Patterson fan - usually.
So, from a fitness standpoint it was a major rest weekend after three good efforts during the week. It was bugging me a little (OK, plain itchy for me) this afternoon, but you know I don't get paid to do this, I sure don't want to miss out on fun stuff with Ian, my butt drags after late nights (two in a row and I figured what ride I did get in was probably going to be poor quality), and my fitness is pretty solid right now and a couple days off is probably good. Still waiting for the Blue and hope to get some word on it tomorrow. The others who ordered frames and already riding and seem to be digging the new rides. Looks like I will probably make HUL my opener for the year (and skip Bearcat - we'll see).
***More pics to come***
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