This is real!

Yesterday, I did a four mile race in 28 minutes and 32 seconds. The first Dutch man to finish raced a time of 18 minutes and 41 seconds. So approximately... ten minutes faster than my time. Incidentally, this is the same man who brought me my race number and chip (which I somehow managed to drop in a soaking wet parking lot on Thursday night) so that I could do the race. The reason he had my information is because he lives at the race headquarters of Team Distance Runners. Is everyone understanding this? I'm training with the same organization as a man who runs a sub 19 minutes four mile time! There are runners with this organization that are national champions and European championship finalists. Every time I think that I can't be any more impressed, something more impressive comes along.

These athletes run in zones, they drink protein shakes, and time their laps. They keep training logs, keep track of their goals, meet with their coaches, and so much more. Every minute I spend with the runners and the coaches of Team Distance Runners I learn something new.


Yesterday, before our race, we went to a meeting for "invited athletes" or all of the top of athletes at the Groninge race. A group of African runners walked right by us to get to the front, and when the meeting started they were introduced. They all had olympic places, world championship places, or they held some sort of record. From the minute I walked into the room for the meeting, until the minute the race started, the same thought was going through my head, "How did I end up on this team?"


The race yesterday had 16,000 people and we were the very first ones to start. The runners from our team were all packed in at the starting line with the professional runners, and we went out right with the first gun. No one was wearing spandex under running uniforms, or long pants, like we do at home when we race cross country. All of us wore tank tops and short spandex shorts, but because we warmed up so well, it wasn't at all cold at the beginning.

It started so fast, I was supposed to keep up with two of the girls from our team. One of the girls took off right away, and I stayed close enough to the other girl that I could see her for maybe half the race, but then she was gone too. The whole time I was running as hard as I could and people were flying by me like I was standing still. It was fun though, with lots of music, and people cheering, and so many fast runners.


After the race I stood around and froze for a while because there was a total mess of people and trucks everywhere, and I had absolutely no idea where to go. Also, instead of the long pants and long sleeved shirt I would usually wear, I was wearing that skimpy little spandex outfit which made it extra cold (though, I have to admit, it probably did make me go faster- I felt way more intense). I wandered around for a little bit, and then found some of the other people from the team. Finally one of the coaches found my clothes, and then put one of the guys on the team in charge of walking me back to the hotel where our cars were parked. The poor guy was probably just wondering how he got stuck babysitting the clueless American girl, but he was friendly anyway. The long walk back to the hotel wasn't bad, because Groninge is a beautiful city. We walked over all sorts of bridges, there were house boats in the canals, and the leaves are just starting to turn here.



Once we finally got back to the hotel, everyone wanted a shower, but they wouldn't let us in to take one. In the end, the coaches finally bought two hotel rooms for us to shower in, but that whole process took a while. Then, we drove to this absolutely enormous Chinese restuarant. Let me tell you, I don't think I've ever been somewhere with that much food that I wanted to eat. The dinner was a buffet. And there was a sushi bar, a stir fry bar, and (get this): a chocolate fountain. We sat at the restuarant for three hours, and I ate so much food. The food was great, but most of all it was nice to sit with the other girls from the team and just to talk. I know enough Dutch by now that when they have a conversation I can understand enough not to feel left out.



Sunday was the kind of day that for a while makes me feel confident that I can stay here and be happy for a whole year. It doesn't make me miss anyone at home any less, but it makes me feel like I belong here too. Sunday night when I was sitting there, completely stuffed with chocolate and sushi, it felt a lot like the weekends we spend at home during the ski season or the evenings after a cross country meet. It was familiar, but different too. I never would have dreamt that I was going to come here and find a running team like Team Distance Runners, and that I would get to be a part of a team like this. There's been so many moments when I'm with the team, and actually all over here when I just have to stop for a moment and think, "I'm really here, this is actually happening to me."



To sum it all up, this was a good week. There were the regular moments when I felt frustrated and stupid (for example, how did I lose my racing chip five minutes after walking out of a meeting about dedication and focus?). Before this week though, every time something frustrating like that would happen, I would start to be homesick right away. Something about this week was different, I'm not really sure what, but it can only be good. I can never tell, maybe two weeks from now I'll be more homesick than I've been before. For now though, we'll count it as a step in the right direction.



Slaap lekker!

xoxo