“My name is Jane and I suffer from Race Rage”

Disclaimer: The following is intended for entertainment purposes only

Brian Ó Murchú interview with Jane ‘Lightening Bolt’ Reegan

I recently met up with Jane ‘Lighting Bolt’ Reegan, and she was surprisingly candid about the reasons for taking a year out from racing recently, and wanting to dispel rumours of injury or loss of motivation. The following in an excerpt of our interview:

I was always a very competitive person, and growing up I knew that I could become an elite athlete. After trying a number of sports it took me a while to find which sport would be the one I would excel at. When I first tried running I wanted to be a sprinter. I was very good at acceleration over 5 meters but I didn’t have the speed to be a sprinter. Having that 5 meters acceleration was probably what kept me in field sports for so long. When I started running, I missed the agility part of field sports. So when I discovered trail and mountain running, I knew this was the sport I had been searching for.

What I additionally discovered and to my detriment, was that I also missed the physicality of team sports. I was getting very worked up during a race, and after I’d finish, even if I did well in the race, instead of glowing in the achievement I would find myself angry and wanting to vent. Then one race, there wasn’t an obvious marker on one of the corners. Even though I didn’t lose any time and I went the correct way, the uncertainty put me over the edge. When I finished, I let the race director have it. I cringe now when I think about it, but things would get worse before they would get better. It was the first step on a slippery slope and I started berating course marshals, registration officials, timekeepers for anything and everything. It was when I started getting DQ’d for abusing race officials that I realised the explosive side of me was getting too much, I was feeling overwhelmed and I had to seek help if I was to continue in this sport.

I took a full year out from racing, I needed to detach myself from the situation. There were times when I thought I would just hang up the running shoes, but deep down I really loved trail running. I just needed to get my race rage under control. I kept training the whole year and I didn’t race, additionally I needed to work on me and I took the time to do that. I needed to if I was to race again.

I use to think that if I turn a wrong turn in a mountain race, it wasn’t because I didn’t recce the course, it was because the race officials were incompetent not to know that a turn needed a marshal or more markings. I use to think that I wouldn’t have to get so angry if they just made smarter decisions. During the first few months out, I made the effort to try to contact as many of the race officials as possible that I had verbally abused to offer them an apology. I managed to meet a few face-to-face. It was part of a learning curb of how my race rage was impacting on others.

After 12 months I started to think about racing again and I was very nervous about my first race back. I had learnt about my triggers and developed coping techniques, but I was still concerned about how I would do again in an actual race environment. I didn’t know if it was too soon and I didn’t want to fall off the wagon, so to speak. It wasn’t easy and I still have difficult moments, but I am glad to say I’ve managed to turn things around and manage my race rage. It is still there, it never goes away completely. The key for me is managing it and being aware of the warning signs. As part of my rehabilitation I am now an advocate of ‘give respect, get respect’.

Disclaimer: The following is intended for entertainment purposes only

Brian Ó Murchú interview with Sandra ‘Fast Feet’ Higgins

‘Tribes and Therapy’

Sandra ‘Fast Feet’ Higgins burst onto the trail running scene in her mid-twenties. Prior to that she had been a promising field hockey player with a University scholarship. Sandra ‘Fast Feet’ opened up to why she ditched the hockey stick for the lure of the hills, The following is an excerpt of our interview, which was done ‘on the run’ at Sandra’s request.

I was always into sport, I was very active growing up. My mom had a load of activities she wanted me to do, and my dad use to encourage me to do a lot of different sports. Separately they both brought me to and from all kinds of practice. I did a number of different sports at different times, but there was one point at school I was on the athletics team, the soccer team, and the rugby team all at the same time. I wasn’t that skilful in those sports, but I could run, and I had so much fitness from running. Having a fancy touch is no use if you cant get to the ball first, right?

After going to University with a sports scholarship, it was when I started my Masters, I promised myself that I would put my study first. That’s when I stopped doing the other sports and activities, it was only then when I started trail running. I always found myself doing different sports in an intensely competitive way, did I mention I had barred my Dad from attending any of my sports games? My boyfriend is only allowed come to races if he does not shout! Trail running is one of the few sports I sought out and I find it in a way relaxing and energising. There is a quote that I love from Christopher McDougalls Born to Run that “if you don’t have the answers to your problems after a four-hour run, you aint getting them“.

There was one time I had a row with an ex live-in boyfriend, so I went for a run and it was four hours before I came back. It was 11pm at night, and I might have even played a field hockey game earlier in the day, I cant remember. The run helped me decide what I wanted to do next, if that relationship still had legs. Running is my therapy too!

Despite being very active growing up, I also use to get ill a lot as well. It was only when I started trail running and going for long runs I found I needed to bring food with me. I tried lots of different things, most of which I had trouble stomaching. What I found worked for me was cutting out the diary. I didn’t eat much meat anyway, but I started with Vegan Mondays and it went from there. With a change in diet I found that my energy levels didn’t drop off so much as before and they tended to stay up. This was a revelation for me. Recently I have even started growing my own veggie patch!

After doing all those activities growing up, I didn’t have so much time for friends. Sure, my teammates were my friends, but you don’t feel so warm and fuzzy inside when they are intensely shouting at you during a game. There was another guy I dated, and when we arranged to go mountain biking he showed up in jeans and totally unsuitable clothing. I realised at that point he didn’t get sport and I decided we were just too different. I feel with trail running people understand me better and I have started to find my tribe.