Seattle Marathon

Last year this race beat me. This year I think I got the better of it. I ran a 4:01, not the greatest time but 10 minutes faster than last year. My first half was 1:54, not exactly even splits but considering the hills at the end, I think I ran as even as I can. And since I've been sick all week and was still sick on race day, just to finish was a win in my book. Plus I had all three kids Friday and Saturday by myself. My kids are pretty easy but they sure do tire me out.

The weather was not a factor for me. Yes it was snowing at my house when I left but I chose the right amount of layers and was not too hot or too cold, other than standing around at the start. Even with the two sections that are dog legs I think I only saw half the maniacs that were out there. It was really great to be able to see so many friends out running this marathon. And those marathon walkers, WOW! To be out there in the cold rain for 7 or 8 hours walking. My hat's off to them.

Today my quads are really sore and there’s a little swelling in my ankle. I didn’t think I was pushing it very hard but I guess I was.

I really like my almost new hat. Thanks Hippo!

Ron Herzog 50k

This is a fun but hard race.

Four of us met up and rode to the start arriving an hour early. It was a little warmer but wetter than last year. I started out slow running the flats and downs and doing a walk run on the ups, walking a lot more the running. About 200 yards before we leave the dirt road and finally get to run on trail, Shawn went to water the bushes. So I decided to just walk until she caught up. Once I got to the trail I turned and still couldn’t see her. I decided to head in and take it easy until she caught up. About a mile and half later I noticed my foot pod was gone. I knew it was only about 100 yards back because I remembered my foot got caught on a branch and almost pulled me down. So I turn around and started running back. I passed a guy that asked if I was looking for the girl I had been running with. “Nope, I’m looking for my foot pod.” I thought to myself, self that was strange. Then I come to another guy that asked me the same thing and then told me she was looking for me and that she got some “wrong” information. I guess he must have been the person that gave her that “wrong” info. Then I found the pod and kept going back. I didn’t want someone lost looking for me thinking I was lost. Finally after over 20 minutes of going backwards Shawn comings running up the trail, “there you are” we both say.

So we’re off in the right direction. I figure I lost about 30 minutes to this detour. Running the traps is the most fun part of this race for me. I expected the Tank Traps to be real messy because of all the rain but they were about the same as last year. A tank trap is a steep narrow washout in the road wide and deep enough so a tank couldn’t get across. Well we ran them pretty fast but not as fast as last year. I’m still not getting enough rest in between races. We passed the five people that I passed going backwards. After about 3 miles we hit snow but nothing like the 8” last year. Dang that was fun last year! Last years snow covered a few bogs that were pretty wet this year.

We finally got to the halfway aid station at about 3:35. I figured with the delay and extra 1 ½ miles that wasn’t all that bad. The rest is pretty much downhill so I can make up some time. Well I just could not get my legs to turn over fast enough. I had dropped or lost my bag of tricks, so I had no Salt or Tums or Advil, all of which I needed. The lack of salt was the worse. It made it so my sports drink was going right through me. I had to stop at least every mile to pee. It seemed like it took for ever to get back to the finish. My time was 6:42:49. If I take the extra 30 minutes off that’s faster than last year, but not much. Not enough!
Next year maybe I’ll be rested. Next up Seattle. It’s payback for last year.

UWR Marathon

Well what can I say about this race? It was an hour slower than last weekend. I felt like giving up at around 10 miles but there was nobody around to tell. My legs were dead after about 4 miles. I tried taking short walk breaks but it only helped me to go faster for about a minute each time. I was overdressed. It was warmer and dryer than I thought it would so I was sweating like a pig wrapped in Palm leaves, buried in red hot rocks on a beach in Hawaii (see Luau). I did finish before it started raining. And the only wind was during the last 2 miles along the water. And that Chowder at Spuds was Awesome. I know where Shawn’s going to be hanging out this summer.

I guess I ran a lot harder for that PR last weekend than I thought I did. Hopefully I’ll be more rested for R.H. 50k on Saturday. That river crossing is going to be dicey with all this rain we’re getting.