March 26, 2010

Eagles Take the Podium!

Yep, we got third place on Monday night!!!! Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that meet to go the way it did. I hope I'm not alone in saying this, but many times life is a like this huge roller coaster- up, down, up, down, curvy, turvy, etc. Let's start with Sunday. I really wanted to get in a semi-long run of 15 miles, but honestly, I felt like complete death. I was pretty sure that I had a fever, but my strong-willed (aka stubborn) personality pushed me out the door to get the run done. It wasn't sooooo bad once I got going, just my throat KILLING me. Sunday night I could hardly sleep b/c of the pain and when I looked down there with a flashlight, it was a not a good scene. That little thing that hangs down in your throat was pretty swollen, plus the white bumps had gotten worse. We had a meet the next day, so...

Monday morning I was near tears so I took a Darvacit. No, I am not in the habit of taking prescription pain meds and teaching, but this was a dire situation. I would NOT miss school OR the meet. See, we also have State testing this week, complicating my situation even more. Then I found out like 4 of my team members were also sick and wouldn't be going to the meet. Therefore, my expectations of our success were pretty low. Before I left school Monday (to go to the meet), I was near tears. My throat was killing me and I could barely talk. My neck had broken out in some sort of rash, likely due to the fever.

Fast forward to the meet. Yeah, the hosting school didn't have enough timers. So, guess who had to time EVERY heat of EVERY event. Yep, me. Not to mention the fact that I couldn't even coach or TALK to my own kids. I think I was in this Darvacit kinds of daze b/c I really don't remember EVERYTHING about Monday night. I know that one of my 400 runners that has been working SUPER hard PRed by almost a minute! That was huge. Since our first meet, he has gone from 1:01 to 56!!!! He was beyond stoked. I was really, really happy for him, but couldn't really cheer or do anything but press the start/stop button on the timer.

Also, our girls 4x100 relay team did really well. I have been working hard with them on the spirit stick (We call the baton the spirit stick. haha) hand-off and it is starting to save us some seconds.

Because of the missing athletes (sick ones), we had to scratch the 4 x 800. This was the last event, so we decided to leave early. At this point, it was established that I probably needed to go to the ER since that thing that hangs in my throat was swollen to my tongue. Gross, I know. We left without hearing the final results. We got back to town and I drove myself to the ER. The whole ordeal took 3 hours, but the summary is that I had a severe case of strep, pharyngitis, and laryngitis. I got a shot (ouchie) and some other prescriptions. Side funny story about the shot. My nurse was a male and I guess they have a policy not to be alone with female patients. I totally understand and respect this, but this forced me to pull down my pants part way with the door open. Hello pink undies! Normally stuff like this would totally freak me out, but I was in so much pain that I didn't even care. Tuesday morning I got to school and had the nice surprise of an email saying that our team got 3rd out of 8 teams!!!!! Yeah us!

Alright, on to Wednesday- a meet in the BIG city vs. big fancy schmancy schools. We got completely annihilated, but...

I convinced one of my girls to run the 2 mile. She FINISHED dead last, but I was proud. Why, you ask? Our team really rallied around her and made her embarrassing situation a lot better for her. They all lined up by the finish line fence and cheered for her while she finished her last lap ALONE on the track. It was really a feel good moment for all of us, and made me realize (again) that this coaching deal isn't all about PRs and never-will-be State Championships. Two other cool things- one guy PRed in the 200 by 0.45 of a sec and my 400 guy PRed AGAIN by 20 seconds!!!!! This shows we are making some serious progress. I think one of my guys PRed in the mile, too, but I think I screwed the timer up on him.

My own running- um, I am sucking. I lost a lot of motivation this week, mostly b/c of being busy and recovering from that awful throat ordeal. I am running the Azalea Trail Run tomorrow, but I'm feeling mad at myself right now. I'm mad b/c I haven't been out running as much as I would like, nor have I been cross training or doing my pilates like I should. Next week is a new week and I have GOT to get back on the horse. NO MORE EXCUSES!!!!!

9 comments:

  1. Anonymous3/26/2010

    Oof sorry to hear about the sore throat - those are the worst!! But congratulations on 3rd place! That's so exciting! I'm glad you guys are making progress and all supporting each other, that's great!

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  2. No need to apologize for the low-level painkiller for something that was clearly miserable! Great job at the meet, and awesome on placing.

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  3. How thrilling!! Congrats to the team and to you, of course. Give yourself a break about your running for a week at least, silly girl with major sickness. You won a race last week, can't you live off that for a a few more days? :-)

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  4. Big congrats on your team's success! You are amazing for sticking it out while being so sick. That girl who ran the 2-mile and finished last? Yeah, that was me in high school. I can certainly relate.

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  5. My gosh, girl, no wonder you felt horrible!!! Congrats to your team. I love hearing the stories about your kids being such hard workers and good sports.

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  6. Anonymous3/26/2010

    congrats to your team. those kids appear to be amazing people. coached by an amazing person :)

    hope you feel better soon!

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  7. thing in the back of your throat=UVULA. It's one of my fave words.
    And cut yourself a break! That's a tough week, I would have been in bed crying.

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  8. Anonymous3/26/2010

    Oh my gosh! I can't believe you made it through the meet that sick! 3rd is awesome. 400 guy's PR also awesome! AND that is great, really great, how your team rallied around the girl running the 2 mile. You have made them a TEAM!!! Awesome job Coach!
    Now take care of yourself too - your team needs you healthy!

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  9. Congrats! You rock and are such an inspiration. With teaching, running and coaching....truly amazing. Please give yourself a break and take care of yourself. :)

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