Returning To Racing

by Antonio Vega on October 2, 2012

I must admit: It feels great to finally be back training full time. This is what I do and what I love. The road bike that I bought to get me through my injuries when I couldn’t do much more than cross-train has been retired--hopefully for good. 

I’ve taken my training slowly and gradually but my workouts of late have been much better then I ever anticipated. In fact, my training has been going so well that I have decided to race the Twin Cities 10-Miler (October 7).  Originally, I had planned on just training through the fall with possible races sometime in the winter.  

But the TC 10-Miler is literally just around the corner and it’s a great opportunity to race in my backyard and get my racing mentality back. I feel good about it.

A couple of weeks ago I was at a high school cross-country meet and at the end of the meet, there was an “Old Timers Race”. Now I don’t necessarily feel old enough to be in a Old Timers, but it was a race nonetheless and I wasn’t even the youngest guy in it.

It was only a 2-miler, but it felt like a step back in time. As my old high school coaches happened to be at the meet, I was able to pick out their distinctive voices as I passed the one-mile mark. At one point, I remember thinking all this race needed was my dad running next to me with a camera yelling “Go-go-go,” and I would be right back in high school. 

Aside from those flashbacks, I was happy with the way I raced considering it was nothing more then a cross-country time trial. The best part though was it lit a mental spark in me to get back into racing mode.

With me, all I really need is to put on my racing flats and uniform and I’m ready to run hard again and push myself. It felt great to do so again.   

We’ll see what happens at the TC 10-Miler. My workouts with my teammates have been going well and I feel ready to have a great day at the TC 10 mile on my home turf.