can i tell you a story? it's a good one, but [in the words of levar burton], don't take my word for it.
it was may of 2008. we were in st. louis, for the national track meet, and landon got a phone call from coach.
i remember him laughing and saying "no, i don't care" to whatever coach's question was. he got off the phone and smirked a little.
"what did coach want?" i asked.
"oh, they assigned me bib number 666", he said. "coach was calling to see if i wanted a different number."
"but you don't?" i asked.
"nah, i don't care. it's just a number."
landon had qualified to run the 10k. that's 25 laps for you non-trackies, and about 23 laps too many for me. i was there as team photographer since i hadn't qualified in any of my events.
landon's race was thursday night, sometime around 9:30pm. the entire team had gone back to the hotel to recuperate for friday. that left me, our coaches, one of our professors, our athletic trainer and landon's uncle to cheer for him.
six of us.
about 30 minutes before the race, i realized the camera battery was dead. i was frantic. i buzzed around the facility looking for an outlet until the official photographer's booth offered to let me use their power strip to charge the battery. not only was a frantic, i was terribly nervous. the year before, landon had struggled in the 5k and finished near the back of the pack. i hoped this year would be different. he certainly had trained harder, but anything can happen at the national meet, especially when there's 25 laps involved. 25 chances to get off pace, get passed, or just stop believing in yourself.
i remember shaking the entire race. i stood at the 100-meter start, behind the fence, and screamed my little head off. he looked strong, determined, and was right on pace for about 12 laps. he hung in the number six spot, and was on pace to be an all-american. but then it started slipping. after a few laps he dropped to 7th. and then 8th. and then 9th. i could see our coach, standing in the bleachers shaking his head. i just kept screaming.
and then it happened. with three laps to go, landon took off.
"i knew i could go all-out for three laps," he told me later.
and what's even more amazing: no one went with him. suddenly he had distanced himself from the pack and flew until the race was over, which result in a third place finish for him, and a near-heart attack for the rest of us.
and he was right, his bib number didn't matter [although he did say it felt pretty cool to pass people with "666" on his back].
i cried. and i was still shaking when it was over. i ran up into the bleachers, hugged my coach, and waited for landon to walk over. i figured it would be a while before i would get to talk to him. his uncle, a former track and field olympian was there, and landon would probably want to talk the race over with him, and then he would need to explain to coach why he got off pace in the middle of the race, and then he would probably need treatment from the trainers and a good cool-down run. maybe i'll talk to him on the ride back to the hotel, i thought. i wanted to give him some time to enjoy the victory on his own.
but he walked up into the bleachers where i was standing, gave me a hug, and said,
"will you cool down with me?"
i was shocked, thrilled, and so proud.
even though we were dating, landon and i rarely ran together during college. he did his thing, and i did mine. but this time, he wanted me to join him after one of his greatest accomplishments.
heck yeah i want to cool down with you, i thought.
we giggled and cheered and had about a million "i can't believe that just happened!" moments the entire time we jogged.
it was 10 of the best minutes of my life, and i knew then that i wanted to jog next to him forever.
xoxo.
