Races

I just got back from our race weekend.   Kyle, Kristen, Erin, Wilson, Aaron, Steve, Ian, Tien, Dana, Maren, and Amy all ran the full marathon.  Lily, Tim and I did the 1/2.  I have to admit trips to races are very fun vacations for me.

Wilson wouldn't tell us his birthday because he didn't want us to make a big deal of it.  Of course, that's like telling a kid not to push the red button...it made us try extra hard to find out his birthday AND throw a surprise party.  Also, there's no point in trying to hide our birthdays and ages, we do enough races, that you can figure it out pretty easily by our age divisions.  Also, if you do a lot of races (like Wilson), you can see when someone ages up.  We (15 of us) all had our pre-race, carbo-loading dinner at Joe Federigo's.  We also celebrated Wilson's birthday (early).  Of course, we had to completely embarass him with cake, balloons and singing.   Plus, it was fun hearing all the smack talk about our times the next day.  We actually put money in to see if Wilson could beat Steve in the marathon.  Steve ended up winning the pot.

Boston Qualifiers!!!

Yes, we met at the crack of Dawn (actually before since the sun wasn't up at 5:30am!) on Sunday.  I forgot my timing chip, so I didn't get an official time, but I was only 1 minute off my PR, so I was pretty happy.  Aaron and Steve both qualified for Boston!!!  Was it really worth the IV and the stay in the medical tent, Steve?  Really, we're not having a good track record with our group...we seem to have someone "taking advantage" of the medical facilities at many of these races.  Ugh!

Even though this was the inagural Eugene Marathon, the event was well organized and well supported.  The couple who organized it actually has never directed the race AND they've never planned an event larger than a 40 person party.  They did a wonderful job.  Jared, the spokesperson from Subway, fired the starting gun.  There were water stations about every 2-3 miles.  There were fans throughout the course.  They even had food at the very end.  Plus, since Subway was one of the major sponsors, they even had turkey and veggie sandwiches at the finish line.  The course was absolutely beautiful, we went through streets and paved trails, along the river, and it was Eugene, a running town.  This was the land of Prefontaine, the running spirit was contageous.

Yes, I would totally do this race again.  However, I'd do the full marathon instead.  So, who's up for Eugene 2008?

Lily, me, Richard, Heidi & Bill before the race

Yesterday, we left at 5am to go to the Wenatchee Duathlon.  Other than Lily, none of us have done a duathlon.  I've done one sprint distance triathlon, but never a du.  This race was a 5K (3.1 mile) run, 17 mile bike ride, and another 5K run.  I was thinking that it didn't sound too hard.  Well, I was wrong. 

Here's a tip...always check the course before you sign up.  I assumed that the course would be relatively flat because it's near a river, but that was a very bad assumption.  It was the hilliest bike ride I've ever done.  It was also the hardest race I've ever done.  Yes, even harder than the five marathons I've ran.  Yes, I mean harder than Chicago, where I fell down a flight of stairs three days before the race.  Oh, yes.  That hard.  No wait, I'm not done complaining.  I've cried once during a race and that was during the Paris marathon.  In that case, I had bronchitis and wasn't supposed to race (according to the Dr.) and I lost 8 of my 10 toe nails.  In this Duathlon, I actually cried because I was completely wiped out during the bike ride.  I'm not talking about a dainty wimper.  Nor did I have tears glistening in the sun as I gritted my teeth and pushed onto glory.  No.  There was audible sobbing from mile 14-16.  I finally got it together before I reached the transition area.  I wanted to give up.  I wanted to disqualify myself, but there was no way I could.  I had to get back somehow.

By the time I got to the transition area, I knew I was going to finish, even if I had to crawl to the finish line. 

Heidi, Bill & I finishing.

 My friends thought I was injured because I was not looking good.  Lily even asked if I fell and she was looking for some signs of blood or other injury.  No, I was just tired.  My friends gave me the encouragement they could: Richard tried to give me a high five (then got scared when he saw the look on my face), Heidi told me "You are tougher than this race," Bill gave me a hug on the course, and Lily turned around after her finish and ran the last mile in with me.  That race was a big kick in the butt and it makes me want to train harder.  It made me really doubt my athletic ability.  On a good note, though, both Bill & Lily got 2nd place in their age groups.

Lily teaching Heidi how to use Mel's bike.

Lily laughing at Heidi.

Heidi cliping in for the first time.

At the beginning of the race, we noticed that there were quite a few elite athletes.  They were there early warming up on their wind trainers and sprinting in the grass.  They had their pro bikes and tri suits on.  This was serious stuff.  Then it was our casual group.  Heidi borrowed Mel's bike and actually used clipless pedals for the first time.  Lily gave her a 10 minute lesson on how to use the bike in the parking lot before the race.  And Heidi never fell.  She did great!

Richard prepping the bike.

Today was the St. Patrick's Day Dash in Seattle.  It's not an official distance and ends up being approximately 3.5 miles.  The start is near Seattle Center and the finish is outside Safeco Field.  Since the course is only in one direction, you need to figure out the logistics.  Typically, people park near the finish and take a designated bus to the start.  However, I prefer not to rely on any additional transportation.  There have been too many times, where the buses have been delayed or everyone arrives at the same time and there are huge lines.  Yes, the furthest I've walked in a race was 6 1/2 miles away from the start line, just so I wouldn't have to depend on the bus schedule.  This year I just bummed a ride.

The weather today was supposed to be nasty.  I figured it couldn't be worse than the last Seattle Marathon, so I decided to just go.  Plus, usually when the news gives dramatic weather predictions, the worst part of the storm hits another area (not us).  It did drizzle.  There was also a little wind at the end, but it was the perfect temperature for a run.  I felt comfortable in short sleeves during the race.  Every other time I've done this run, it was sunny.  There were also 3,000 more (that's what I was told, but I haven't verified it) participants this year than last year.  There were several elite/competitive runners striding out before the start.  Then the rest of the pack was pretty dense, so it was difficult to run a fast race.  That was a good enough reason to take this one easy.  Most of us ran long yesterday, so this was just a "fun run" for us.  We also have our secret meeting place, where it was easy to find each other after crossing the finish.  Really, this race was an excuse to "earn" our post-race breakfast at Kell's.

As a side note, I was happy to recieve another gift today.  I still love presents and celebrations; I don't think I'll ever outgrow them.  Of course, my friends love to give me gag gifts.  They are getting more and more creative and I may have to give one of them an award at the end of the year for outdoing each other.  Right now, my cousin's paperwieght is in the lead for Best Gag Gift.  I just think it's interesting that three people, independently decided on giving me the same gift.  It actually is the perfect size for my tea, and I've used one of them already.  Thank you Lily, Kristen and Richard.  I'm glad you got a good kick out of this, and I'm sure y'all are still snickering at the inside joke.

Nookachamps 5K, 10K and !/2 Marathon was this morning.  Despite the snow and ice, there was a large group that went up to run the 10K and 1/2 Marathon courses.  Yesterday there were a flurry of emails between us, trying to figure out who was still going up in these snowy conditions.  Of course, like most little planners, someone emailed the race director to find out the conditions.  We got the message that the race was on, the main roads were clear, and to "just use your judgement" when it comes to the icy parts.

The snow started to fall down when I reached mile 2, and I was REALLY glad that I was only doing a 10K.  6.2 miles is plenty in the snow.  I tip my hat to those who stuck it out for the 1/2 Marathon.  I wish I had my camera during the race because it was probably the most beautiful race I've ever done.  I've run through some amazing landscapes and spectacular cities, but the weather created an experience that was absolutely magical.  Imagine this...light snow flakes falling around you while you run through the countryside.  Trumpeter swans in formation flying above.  Mountains in the background.  An eagle perched.  A mile of snow covered trail winding through a park before the finish.  No wind.  No rain.  Sun shining through the clouds, and a sea of runners gliding on the roads.

This was the first time that I've run on ice and snow.  Only some of the course was icy, so wearing cleats was out of the question.  I think we still had quick times because we wanted to get out of the cold.  However, navigating through the icy spots was comical.  I remember running downhill on a snowy trail towards the end.  I concentrated on keeping a determined stride, just so I wouldn't tumble.  Actually, running on a snowy trail wasn't bad because I felt sure-footed on the fresh snow.  The tricky part was the icy patches on asphalt.  That's when I "ran like a girl" with my arms held out and tiny prancing baby steps.  I'm sure it was a funny sight.  All in all, I am so glad we went up and it's turning into a fun race season as we gear up for our big Spring races.

Like everyone else, I get really motivated to train again after the holidays.  I flew into town on Wednesday night and I was back in training the next day.  Cindy and I got caught up in the frenzy of plan our Spring Training Schedule.  We both agreed to wear our Nike Women's Marathon necklaces until we reach our time goals for 2007. 

It's been a pretty active weekend for me and I'm going to keep going since I'm got momentum.  Thursday was power yoga, Friday was a 5 mile run, Saturday was an 8 mile run, Sunday was a 22 mile bike ride along Lake Washington and a 10K Volksmarch walk through downtown, and we kicked off the New Year today with a 5K race in Steilacoom.  We've planned at least one race per month to keep us on track.  Tomorrow, we're going to register for all our big 2007 races and book our hotel arrangements.  Woohoo!

Last bike ride of 2006

Kathy teaching me how to change a flat tire

Cindy, me, Kathy, & Amy. Cindy placed 1st and Amy placed 3rd in their age groups.

Cindy w/ her 1st place ribbon