Track and Field Blogs - Dot McMahan

Another day, more rain, and the humidity rises. It’s officially wet season here in MI. The trails are muddy and the mosquitoes are getting more annoying everyday. Running feels like a chore on these sticky days. I’m exhausted, thirsty and muddy at the end of nearly every run. But it’s the Midwest and by next week we’ll have a different “season”.

Unfortunately we had to endure a track 10k during this wet season. All of us ladies ran at the Midwest Distance Solution in Hillsdale, MI. Luckily for us, they had cups of ice cold water every lap. There’s results at http:/hansons-running.com/ and photos at http://www.runmichigan.com/images/

The week before MDS, we went to Albany, NY to take part in the Freihofer’s Race for Women. It was a great event but the best part of the trip was visiting local schools on Thursday and Friday. I was nervous about talking to an auditorium of kids with a microphone. However, after the first school I quickly warmed up to talking about being a professional runner. Those kids asked some interesting questions. What’s funny is when we compared our experiences and the kids asked a lot of the same questions.

How fast can you run a quarter, half, mile, etc?

How much money do you make?

What do you do if you have to go to the bathroom while running?

Do you run in the rain?

What other sports do you play? (Someone specifically asked me if I played hockey, followed by…..do you play football?)

Why do you like to run?

What do you eat….do you like vegetables….how many do you eat

everyday?

Have you ever fallen during a race?

All of these are great questions. I answered most of them without giggling. Although the hockey and football question made me wonder how large did I look to them? In all seriousness, I thoroughly enjoyed talking to the kids. I hope to make it back to Albany next year.