Athens Marathon 2014

The Athens Marathon

     I had the great privilege of running the Athens Marathon in November 2014 with many wonderful friends, both running and spectating. I have been overwhelmed by emotion at t he end of many marathons, but this is the only one so far where I have cried at the start. Being there was so spectacular!!!!!

Despite the thousands of people that swarmed the expo, I managed to spot one of my favorite Marathon Maniacs, Lichu Sloan. Lichu is an inspiration in so many ways!! Athens was her 170th marathon and she went on to run the Istanbul marathon the next weekend.

       The start of the race was so exciting. The swarms of people, the Olympic flame burning, and beautiful, clear sky promised a wonderful experience.

       People were hiking up and getting pictures with the Olympic flame!!!

       Every race start is nuts and this was no exception. Trying to get my bag to the transport van was one of the bigger challenges of the day! 

I ran into a fantastic number of Maniacs. It was such great fun!!!

       All along the race route people were handing olive sprigs to the runners. I took one early on and managed to finish with 2 out of my 3 olives, LOL. You can see one just below the white of the hat band. 

        When we stopped to get pictures with the statue, a Greek yelled at us, something about "no photos, MARATHON!!!" I guess he hasn't heard of Maniacs yet, LOL. 

I couldn't resist stopping for this shot. 

         I can't imagine running pushing a baby in a stroller, let alone a nearly grown child! These runners are amazing!!

       I don't think I've run a marathon yet where there weren't at least a few people in costume. Athens did not dissapoint. 

This sweet priest was so patient with me! My phone was not cooperating at all for pictures, but he just kept smiling again and again :-) 

       There is great signage alone the entire route. These aren't the usual temporary distance signs, these are permanent signs that are up all year long. 

       Athens is well known for its 13 mile uphill slog. I trained for it by doing most of my mileage on either a 4% incline on the treadmill or on a nearby hill with a nice 2% grade that matched the average for Athens. Thanks to that preparation, it wasn't bad. Not that I wasn't very happy for my walking intervals, but other than a couple of short bits, (up from an underpass, etc.) I was never forced to walk by the angel of incline. It definitely added 10-15 minutes to my finish time, but considering how much time I spent stopped for pictures, it didn't matter much. 

       Nothing beats a great camera man on the side lines! Big thanks to my parents for waiting for me in the sun to get a perfect race shot. 

       Coming into the stadium is so incredible! So much history, so much emotion, and so much cheering!

       Yes! I stopped for  a selfie right before the finish, LOL. After all the time I had spent taking pictures, another minute wasn't going to matter. 

       My good friend Elizabeth and her Husband Antonis were waiting for me at the finish too! Elizabeth assure me next year she will be IN the marathon instead of watching it. 

This will definitely remain one of my favorite medals and memories.

Walking around town that night was so cool. Nothing like the acropolis lit up on a clear night! 

Loch Ness Marathon

Loch Ness Marathon 2014

  I was really excited about the opportunity to run the Loch Ness Marathon. I had heard so many wonderful things about the race and it was a great excuse to venture farther north into Scotland.

  The race and the city of Inverness was everything that was promised!

  To begin the race, all the 2,500 or so runners were loaded on buses of every sort and shipped up around Loch Ness to the race start. It took nearly an hour, but the mood was wonderful and it is always fun to be on a bus full of runners!

  When we arrived at the start area, there were lots of porta-potties and, of course, free hot tea with all the appropriate fixings.

   The runners spread out to enjoy the views and prepare for the race. It was a perfect, misty morning on the moors. 

I was quickly hailed by a group of Maniacs, two from the US, and another from Canada. Later we found a 5th from Edinburgh that was running her first race as a Maniac.

Waiting for the start gun

En Route entertainment was great!

This silly horse was trotting up and down the fence matching the pace of the runners. He would hit the end of his pasture, race back to the other end, and do it again.

Maniacs are always fun :-) 

The weather brightened as we wound our way through the country side.

Loch Ness

Where?

The dark, mysterious, loch looked just like I expected!

Yes, the course is a "Wee Bit Hilly", but it is far more downhill than up so still a reasonably fast course and there were always lots of people to chat with during the uphill marches

"Humpty Dumpty had Wall Issues" The signs were very creative!

Had to stop for a spectator photo with the "Invisible Boy" LOL

It was great having my daughter at the finish line with the camera ready

Just a few more yards.......

Such a spectacularly beautiful town alone the River Ness

Tah-Dah! All done

A bit of local color

Wee Nessy looks a bit like a dinosaur, hmmmmmm

  It really was a great race and wonderfully managed. Even the safety pins for our bibs were great quality, (a first!) The expo was nice and the town really turned out for the runners. 

Seoul Open Marathon

Seoul Open Marathon (the Half)


       I really tried to behave myself on St. Patrick’s Day knowing I would out the door before dawn to head to my race start. I had one beer, which was good, and two helpings of corned beef, which was very, very bad. I woke up race morning having had no sleep and an uncomfortably full tummy that felt like a large, food filled balloon. UGH!


Me and Christina,


       The good news is I was driving in with my friends Jay and Christina so we left really early and got to the race start with enough time to sit in the car for an hour between running to the bathroom 5 times. Thankfully, by the time the race started I was feeling a bit better and my stomach had settled.

       It was cool, just above 40, but brightening quickly as the morning fog burned off. I decided to hand my jacket and wind pants to Jay right as the gun went off and to wear a small back pack to put my Merrell’s in once it warmed up a touch more. I should have just left my shoes with him too because after a mile I was ready to ditch them. Into the back pack they went and which instantly improved my mood.

       For the first 3 miles I really piddled around. I stopped to take my shoes off, I ran for a while with some ladies from my running club that were doing their first Half, and I walked while I got out my MP3 player and untangled the cord. I was using pretty much any excuse I could find to not run. Finally I decided to catch the 2:20 pacer that I had been player leap-frog with, and get down to business. By this time he had gotten pretty far ahead of me and I could barely see his yellow balloon bobbing in the distance.

       Slowly and steadily I closed the gap. I felt better once I passed him and started enjoying a more suitable pace. At one point I spotted mud on the side of the path and decided to indulge in a little play. I avoided the water, but let the cool mud squish between my toes and cake the tops with goo. It made me feel like a rebellious kid and I picked up the pace again.

       I was not watching my Garmin at all. I had the screen set up to only show me my heart rate so I wouldn’t go too nuts, but I had no idea what my time or distance was. There were kilometer markers, but I usually forget what they say 10 seconds after passing them, so I had no idea how far I was from the turn around when a large hill came into view. UGH! It was a steep slope that seemed never ending. It would climb and then level off teasingly before beginning to climb again and again. I was sure the turnaround would be at the top because this hill was going on for miles! As I ground my way up the hill, determined NOT to walk an inch of it, the 2:20 pacer started creeping up on me again. ACK! In my head I screamed “NO YOU DON’T” and forced my feet to pick up the pace. I never saw him again.

        Of course, the climb was only about ¾ of a mile, but we had to go down the other side before the turnaround, which also meant doing it all over again on the way back. Just past the turnaround, there was a water stop. I had been sipping at my small hand bottle because I was too full to gulp water, but too dehydrated to run without. When I stopped to let the volunteers refill my bottle here, they quickly shooed me on my way. I guess dawdling at the water stop isn’t the Korean way, LOL. Back up the hill we went, grinding away at the incline before coasting down the other side.

       At this point I finally broke through the last of my mental blocks. Having lost the 2:20 pacer, I knew I wasn’t going to be too disappointed with my time and I settled into a nice cruising pace that was hard, but not painful. I let my mind drift, sometimes listening to a podcast, other times just zoning out completely (some areas we were so near traffic I couldn’t hear what was in my headphones.)
   
       Finally I was down to the last few miles. I was getting tired, but not so tired that I didn’t think I could hold my pace to the end. I started focusing on picking off runners one at a time. Towards the end of races, the other runners have already seen me at least in passing from the turn around, so I stop getting the gasps and comments about my bare feet. This was a quiet march, each at his or her own pace, grimly determined to get to the finish line. The last mile brought us into the full force of a bitter wind off the Han River. I actually had to lean forward to keep from being blown back and it was the only point I wished I had kept more layers with me.

        The finish line was a sharp right turn and then about 10 ft to the timing mats. I had kind of forgotten I was barefoot until the exclamations of the finish line crew went up. “Ahhh, Barefoot!!” with lots of pointing and cameras going off. I hammed it up a bit and saw someone with a news camera and reporter running over to video my feet so I did the obligatory dance to show the tops and bottoms. At that point I realized I had big chunks of dried mud still on my toes and moved to use my heel to scrap it off. A very helpful man, in true Korean fashion, came to my “rescue” by pouring ice cold water on my feet, AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! My feet immediately began spasming and cramping as if I had stepped onto a cake of ice. It hurt so badly, but there was nothing I could do except say thank you and head off to get my swag.

       Fortunately, they had hot food for us; a bowl of soft tofu with sauce. Umm, okay. I’m one of those people that leave a race course ready to eat an elephant and new food doesn’t really deter me so after a brief moment of tentativeness, I took my paper bowl of tofu and headed to the sauce table. One tiny taste assured me it wasn’t going to blow the top of my head off with peppers so I added a bit more and dug in. It was amazingly satisfying! Carbs, protein, salt, nice onion and sesame flavor, YUMMY! I wolfed it down like I hadn’t eaten in a week.

Tasted way better than it looked

       After collecting my stuff and finishing my tofu, I headed across the street to the Olympic Stadium to watch the Seoul International Marathon. It was great fun seeing people finish and made me sorely wish I had gone for the full. Later, after showers and probably some naps, the club got together for dinner and had a great time. It was a long and tiring day, but I had a blast!

Finish time: 2:06:56

Lessons learned:

Lesson 1, do not protein load the night before a race!

Lesson 2, I am capable of a lot more than I give myself credit for.

Lesson 3, my brain slows me down more than my body.

Lesson 4, I am totally capable of running UP hills!

Lesson 5, trail running does not prepare you for a road race, I need more road miles if I’m going to survive China.

Lesson 6, I need to practice hills in bare feet, as attested to by one small blister on my big toe

Lesson 7, bashed knees can come back to haunt you at mile 12, give them more rest time!

Next up, Hwasong Filial Piety Half Marathon April 22nd

Onward and Upward: New Running Year

       I have written my opening blog for the year about 4 times and just filed it because I can’t seem to decide what I want to say. I was hoping by now to have run my birthday Cooper’s Test so I could report on that, but I’m sick with a wicked head cold so until I can breathe, I’ll put off a fitness test. In the meantime, I’m reflecting on my past running and looking forward to my future goals.


       I wish I could go back and talk to Beginning Runner Me. I would tell her first off to keep better records! I wish I knew what I was running at the start. I have vague memories of 2 mile run/walks, but have no idea what my time was, or heart rate, or feelings. I’ve logged so many miles now that runs I was sure I would never forget have faded into blurred memories. I started running in 2007, missed a lot of 2008 to surgery, and finally started keeping records in 2009. I know I didn’t run a lot those first couple of years, but being able to look back and see how we have grown is one of the greatest motivators so I wish I still had a window to those first months.

       With the records I have, I can see that in the last 3 years I have logged over 2,250 miles, about half of which have been barefoot. The miles show in my races, where times have gotten shorter, the efforts lighter, and the recoveries much easier! There is no doubt in my mind that I have increased in health, strength, and endurance, but I also know that I have great room for improvement.

       I have lots of great running plans for my future! Of course, I have the Great Wall of China Marathon in May, and will probably run a half marathon in March as part of my training plan. For the fall I want to work on my shorter distances and strength training. I need to keep an eye out for chip timed 5Ks (which are in short supply in Korea) and continue with my newest tangent, which is CrossFit. I have goals there too! I want to be able to handle the weights prescribed for women without having to scale down and I’d love to do even one hand-stand push up and a good pull up. I’ll even put out there that I want to lose 10-12 lbs before the GWC marathon just so I won’t have so much weight to haul up all those stairs, but weight lifting and marathon training do not lend themselves to significant weight loss so that isn’t a primary goal for now.

       So here I am, poised at the start of my 6th year running (WOW, that just hit me!) looking forward to another great year! Marathon training Starts Monday, Jan 16th

Onward and Upward!

Chuncheon Marathon and a New Marathon Maniac

       WOW, where do I begin! We spent the night in the city of Chuncheon so I wouldn’t have any problems getting to the race start in the morning and my parents and daughter could sleep in. This meant a chance to drive the marathon route before race day. I’m so glad we did because I got a much better look at the scenery when I wasn’t focused on running.

When we ran through the tunnel, all the runners yelled.
When we got to the other side, we could hear all the yelling from the tunnel!

       This view would be solid runners for miles less than 24 hours later! With the race being run around a long lake, created by damning the river, we had many points where we could see runners for many miles. There was no point in which the crowd thinned out! It was solid runners as far as I could see ahead and behind!

       I got up early and puttered around while breakfast settled and my coffee sunk in. I had planned to have a bigger breakfast, but I was still somewhat full from my big bowl of Bibimbap the night before, a lovely Korean dish with rice, veggies, an egg, and hot sauce all baked in an earthenware bowl and then stirred up, YUM!

       When I asked the desk clerk to call me a cab, he indicated that I should just walk. Umm, no thanks, I’d rather not take a 30 minute walk before a 5 hour run, let alone get lost on the way! The cab driver got me within a block of the start area and refused to enter the fray of marathon traffic so I still had about a 10 minute walk to find the my club tent (guess I should have walked afterall). Turned out, the club never found the tent and settled near the changing rooms. The only poor soul at the tent site was a guy that had traveled up on his own like me. Unlike me, he had registered for the race through the club and they had his bib and chip! (I believe he did finally track down his bib.)

     With a field of 20,000 runners, Chuncheon is huge! There were 9 corals that started in 3 minute increments, beginning about 10 minutes after the elites started. The race has a 6 hour cut off, which is generous by Korean standards, but pretty much eliminates the mostly-walking crowd that usually brings up the rear in US marathons. There were also pace groups in each corral that overlapped the pace groups of other corrals. In other words, when I was running with the 4:00 pace group I was really excited until I realized they were from 3 corrals behind me, which meant I started at least 9 minutes before them and we were only a few miles into the race.

       The course was hilly, but the hills were not steep. Unfortunately, steep or not, it seemed like every mile of the course was either uphill or downhill. I was doing great for the first half, my splits were:

5K 33:04,

10K (29:41) 1:02:45,

15K (29:06) 1:31:51,

20K (32:02) 2:03:53

Half 2:13:31

       Despite taking a bathroom stop and eating a traditional Korean race treat, the ubiquitous Moon Pie, I was still doing well by 25K, (34:01) 2:37:54, this is about when my calves decided they had had enough of the hills. Following a stop at the aid station for something like Ben-Gay to be rubbed all over my legs, one look at my calves told me I was toast. They were swollen up and hard as rocks. From 25K-30K I managed just under 39 minutes (30K 3:16:58), and 30K-35K was about a minute longer, but by then walking wasn’t reliving my cramping calves and my 35K-40K split was a painful 44:29 (40K 4:40:34). By this time I was mentally shot. I thought there was no way I was going to PR, but I could crawl and still finish the marathon so I resisted the urge to sit on the curb and cry. I tipped the bill of my cap down and stared and the asphalt in front of me while I ground out the last 2 kilometers in just a touch over 17 minutes.


joined by my daughter after crossing the finish line


       Even though I was hurting and discouraged, I did manage to perk up and run across the finish line, stopping to hug my mom and daughter before running over the timing mats.

      I missed a PR again, by 3 minutes and 31 seconds, but I met my goals for my double header. Even though the wheels fell off I managed my nutrition and didn’t run out of glycogen, I finished a full marathon in bare feet (the first of the two marathons), and qualified for Marathon Maniacs (#4381). So I’m happy with my results.

        After the race, we walked over to where the Seoul Flyers were supposed to be (again, never found them) and after hunting around for a while I finally gave up and decided to put my feet up for a few minutes against a statue. A nearby running club handed me a bottle of Makoli (Korean rice beer, very yummy) and I put my feet on the small pedestal. I was afraid to actually put my feet on the statue since I didn’t know who it was and didn’t want to offend anyone. Then something very Korean happened. They are wonderfully helpful people, but can be a bit abrupt and personal. A total stranger walked up and told me I needed my feet higher. I guess I didn’t react fast enough because he picked my feet up and moved them up so my legs were straight. Then he told me to take my shoes and socks off. I guess I didn’t react fast enough to that either because he then proceeded to remove my shoes and socks! Frankly, I was too worn out to care so I just let him do it. My parents assumed he was someone I knew, “Nope, never seen him before in my life!” With my feet properly airing, he moved on and I rested for about 10 minutes before putting my shoes and socks back on (a complicated and painful process I would rather have avoided by keeping them on in the first place,) and we headed back to the hotel to pack up the last of our things and for me to get a shower so my family could stand to be in the car with me.

AFTERMATH: Following a shower, I donned my knee high Injinji compression socks and draped my legs across my daughter’s lap for the drive home. Once I got home, I switched to thigh high compression socks to sleep (yea I know, really sexy, LOL). I don’t know if it was training or the compression stockings that get the credit, but I was not in pain the following morning. My legs were no more sore than the day after an aggressive workout with weights. I could walk down stairs fine, get up from chairs, and put my socks on all by myself! I can’t tell you how shocked I was not to have sore calves. After my first marathon I could hardly walk down stairs for days. My secondary goals were to PR, and to not be in pain for days. I may have missed the PR, but being able to go about my business the day after without hanging on the rails to go down stairs or taking 10 minutes to get up from a chair is a pretty big success in my book, and important for someone with RA.

COMPARISON: In both races I felt like I managed my nutrition and hydration well and I had a couple of gels still in reserve at the end. I believe it was running slow that just about ruined me in Seoul. It changed my gait and stressed my hip flexors. For Chuncheon I walked more, but when I ran I ran faster, but at a more comfortable pace. Unfortunately, I was flat out unprepared for the hills and paid dearly for my lack of hill training. Bowing to the piriformis problems I have been having, hill work seemed risky and my higher priority was to run barefoot. I stuck to a flat training route and didn’t develop the muscles I needed to deal with hills. (Note to self, if the race elevation map looks like a sine wave, TRAIN ON HILLS!!)



RA Update: The RA is fine, no flare from the stress of the race or the 5 hour drive. No stiff hands or hurting joints or any residual problems. Although I hurt plenty during and the rest of the day after the race, it was all very short lived.

       For the next couple of weeks I’ll take it easy and enjoy my family visiting, then hit the gym with a vengeance! I plan to do a lot of stair and weight work over the next couple of months in preparation for my next round of marathon training. I still have the Great Wall of China on the docket and am crossing my fingers that nothing gets in the way. My piriformis is responding very well to bi-monthly deep tissue massages so I hold hope that it will be healed in time to use steep trails to prepare for China. I have to admit, by mile 20 of Chuncheon, the half marathon in China was sounding pretty good, but now that the post marathon amnesia is setting in, I’m ready to register for my next adventure in 26.2 miles.



Korean Royal Palanquin



Marathon training: Quick Update

Quick update:


       Runner’s World has been interesting the last couple of months. July was about the relationship between cancer and running, which is very strong. They talked about how distance running gives people back control over their lives. I agree with that 100%! Running gave me control over my body despite RA and I’ve seen it give people control when they felt they had lost it over illness, abuse, or just a bad run of luck. In the August issue there is an article about pain that asked at the end if people with chronic pain would react differently if they were feeling the same pain while crossing the finish line of a marathon with a cheering crowd. Well, DUH, of course, but there is no cheering section for chronic pain sufferers. We didn’t ask to be there, we didn’t work to be there, there is no gain from chronic pain.

       People often wonder at why I would train for and run a marathon. Why would I want to put my body through that kind of pain? It is very simple. I have resigned myself to the fact that pain is part of my life. When I don’t run, I have RA pain, when I do run I have all the aches and pains that go with pushing your body to its limits. Obviously on the running side one has better health, a better figure, and a more positive outlook, but there is one other factor and that is CHOICE. If I’m hurting at the end of a speed work out or pushing the last mile of a race, I’m hurting because I choose to and I can make it stop any time. By choosing that pain and pushing the envelope, I am exempting myself (for the most part) from the uncontrollable, unchosen, unending pain of Rheumatoid Arthritis. I did not choose to have RA so when it takes over my life and rides roughshod over my decisions, it makes me bitter and angry. I choose to run and when I am sore and aching I know it means I am getting stronger. When months of my life were spent surviving and never getting on top of all the things I needed to do, let alone get around to something I wanted to do, it plunged me into the depths of despair for months at a time. When months of exhaustive efforts see me successfully crossing the finish line, I am elated and on a high that lasts far longer. To me that makes marathon training a no-brainer.

       I ran 3 miles this morning. They were slow, but good. I didn’t start feeling wiped out until the last mile and considering I haven’t taken my Enbrel in over a week that is very good. My chest has cleared up, but my head has not, which means I’m still coughing from the gunk in my head, but no more of the deep chested stuff. I am better, but not yet well and it is okay. I ran today.

On the Road Again

    I haven’t blogged in a while. Well, actually I blogged on my notebook and the whole thing disappeared, so it didn’t make it to the internet.


       Mostly I haven’t had much to blog about. The three week long virus really took its toll. Then I had a good week before going on vacation where I busted a toe (either sprained or broken, but definitely purple,) and strained my already over sensitive Achilles. So I have been resting and fighting an RA flare.

       One thing I have been working on lately is running for the fun of it and not letting running run my life. Being on the verge of marathon training, I’m looking at my 18 week plan and realizing this will be my life for the next 4 ½ months. Often, after a course of marathon training, people are burnt out and swear they will never do it again. Most eventually forget their negative feelings and start up the next year, but my goal is not to get to that place. I want to enjoy my training and finish my marathon thinking about the next one. I want to work my training around my life so that I don’t feel like I am giving up living to run. Part of the way I am doing this is by picking a less aggressive training plan than I had originally intended and rearranging the days so that my long run is on Friday, I can cross train by doing an extremely easy run/hike with a fun group on Saturdays, and take Sunday totally off to be ready to start again on Monday.

       I’m also learning not to be a slave to a schedule. I love to count things, nearly to the point of being obsessive so it thrills me to see my miles adding up, calculate my averages, and fill in the pages of my log. Unfortunately, I often get lost in the numbers and fail to listen to my body because I don’t want to fall behind on my mileage goals, but this is a recipe for disaster. I will track my training miles, but if it miss a run, oh well, I’m not going to let it make me a worried wreck about race day. I know I can finish a marathon, training is just about how fast and how I’ll feel the next day. Yes, I’d love to set a personal record, but more importantly I want to ENJOY the process and race!

       I hate when I feel like RA has won a battle so I was really unhappy when I finally caved and went in for a steroid shot. I really didn’t want to resort to steroids again, but after all the things that have added up to set off this flare, I just could not seem to get a handle on it on my own. RA is about staying ahead of the flares and once you get behind the 8-ball it is hard to get ahead of it again. Maybe I should have been patient and let it subside on its own, but I have run out of patience and want to get on with my life. It has been 7 months since my last dose of steroids, which is longer than I have gone in a couple of years so I guess I have made some progress. I nearly had a car accident Wednesday morning because I was so tired I wasn’t paying attention. That was what tipped the scales. I won’t take steroids just to run, but when I become a road hazard, it is time to do something.

       The good news is that I ran 4 lovely miles yesterday with great splits. The first mile was really rough as I was sore and my muscles felt like leaded rocks, but once I was loosened up I felt great. Today I’m hitting the gym and tomorrow I have 2 runs with different Hash House Harrier groups!! They are the most fun people I have ever run with and even the long bus ride to and from the first Hash will be a ton of fun. I needed more raw fun in my life and this has really done the trick! If you are ever in the mood for abject silliness, I highly recommend finding a group near you.

12th Hwaseong Filial Piety Marathon Competition



Me down front, barefoot

     
  Being associated with the military here has lots of perks. One of which is being invited to fun events like the Hwaseong Filial Piety Marathon Competition. In Korea, all races are called “marathon” (likely something is being lost in translation) so today’s race was actually a half marathon, 10K, or 5K fun run. Either way it was a stunningly beautiful (if a bit warm) day. The City of Suwon provided busses to pick us up at our base and they gave us free registration! Awesome!

       I decided to go for the 10K, which was good because I spent the three days before laid out with a head cold and definitely could not have handled a 13 mile race. Our race started with an immediate downhill, and then a long uphill. That is pretty much how it continued, uphill, downhill, long uphill, longer downhill….. I was a little worried that I would spend a lot of this race walking.

       That was okay though, this time my race was dedicated to a good friend who is battling a far more serious illness, cancer. Bruce went from being obese to a Boston Qualifier and although he never smoked, is now undergoing chemo and radiation therapy for lung and throat cancer. Life can be terribly unfair! For the 12 weeks that he will be in treatment, everyone in our close knit group is dedicating all the miles we run to Bruce to support his fight!

       The race was well run, but the water stops seemed miles apart! The fact is, over a 6 mile course, we probably had 4 or 5 stops, but it was about 70F, 15 degrees warmer than our recent daytime temps, so it felt down right HOT! I had grabbed my 10oz. hand bottle, knowing with a head cold I would need to keep sipping. It worked out really well because I was able to refill it twice and have water the whole way.

       For the most part it was an uneventful race. We ran up and down the hills, did some High-5’s, got a few comments on my feet and my Team Bruce t-shirt, but it was mostly city scape so not terribly interesting and I was totally focused on the road in front of me. I feel bad sometimes when people ask why I didn’t respond when they waved or shouted to me, but when I am running I go into my own little world and totally miss shouts and waves, even though I rarely wear headphones. I could have used music on this run though. Somewhere just past the half-way point I was really beginning to flag so I started reciting long ago memorized poetry, the effort of remembering each stanza kept me focused and moving to the rhythm of the verses.

       5.5 miles in, we turned a corner and I could see the long, long, long stream of humanity slogging up a half mile long hill. UGH! I seriously did not want to run up that hill, but I didn’t want to walk up it either. Most people were walking at this point, the really strong runners having finished 10 minutes or more prior. I focused again on the road in front of me, knowing I was way better off taking it one step at a time than looking at the top of the hill and feeling like it will never get closer. Time is so relative, 5 minutes can seem like a year, and a year can seem like 5 minutes. That half mile felt like it took me an hour!

       As I crested the hill I felt relief and my heart rate settling back down a bit, just .2 miles left to go. Then we turned the corner and the steep downhill we started on suddenly snapped back to the front of my mind. In racing, what goes down must come up and staring me in the face was the payback for my fast start. The last 2/10ths of a mile were steeper and more painful than the half mile climb before it, but at least I could see the finish line! I could also see the clock which was ticking past 55:00, better than I expected under the circumstance. My final Garmin time was 55:14.

       Looking back, I think a lot of my friend’s struggles are reflected in this race. Bruce has a long hill to climb. He understands the baby steps we need to take to gain strength in running and I know he is applying that to getting through his treatment. One step at a time, looking only a few feet ahead, not focused on the top of the hill that seems impossibly far away right now. At some point, he will turn a corner and it will look incredibly steep and scary, but at the top of the hill will be the finish line, ready to welcome a tired, but strong runner into the crowd of proud finishers who would not quit, not matter how hard it got!

VICTORY FOR BRUCE!!