Saturday was the Golden Days Parade. Since our humble town was founded upon goldrush times, we celeberate in all kinds of crazy ways! A parade is on the last day of the week long celebration. Also on this last day is a rubber duckie race.... is it fun to see rubber duckies float down the river... of course since it is based on a raffle, I'm sure it is even more fun for those who win!
Preceding the parade is a mile long race along the parade course... so everyone lines the sides of the road waiting for the parade while a modest few hundred (if that) people run a mile. I ran with my 4 year old. The other two ran together, but from what I see, E beat her brother by 15 seconds... good for her! (12:30.2) and C. at 12:45.7! I guess her playing soccer works on her running, weather I'm thinking about it or not! That is pretty cool, if you know other things about these two.
I was wearing flip-flops... thinking, I'm staying with D. how fast could I possibly go? Huh! So we start off walking, then she wants to run, she sprints off for probably about 30 seconds, then decides she needs to walk, okay then.... I take my shoes off or else I wouldn't keep up with her on her sprints. She claimed to have a rock in her sport sandle that would stay on...and told me that if I can have mine off why can't she. I saw her logic and let her. She should be able to run however made her comfortable. And at these early years we are lucky to get any shoes/clothes on these kids in the summer. So we go again. At first she acted shy because people were cheering for her... we were pretty much at the back of the pack. But she got into the swing of things. About 100 yards from the finish she doubles over in mock fatigue (or rather played up) and said she was tired.... was this the same as a marathoner hitting the wall, since she's so young it probably hits earlier :-) But again she sprinted, this time while I wasn't ready... and we made it to the finish in 15:56.6 her and 15:56.9 me.
It was fun, and we got a lot of comments about our "hard core" barefoot running :-)
Sunday was my 16.5 mile race. It was hot and a lot of it was without shade :-( I think I stopped sweating around 4-6 miles in.
The race starts in pretty much the middle of nowhere... what am I saying, it ends in pretty much the middle of nowhere also... but they feed you at the end! :-)
We meet up in a (could you call it a) town at a closed down road house, that has been closed for renovations longer than 3 years and it doesn't look like anyone has done any work, but the bar/counter from inside that was outside, worked great for us to get our fixins on for our hamburgers after the race.
We take a bus up a dirt road and are dropped off, no buildings in sight. A few people joke that they hope someone had done this before or else we'd all get lost and die of starvation or something.. haha... We line up on a side trail off the road and run away from the road... the first 7 miles are on uphill and down hills rarely ever flat ground, add in some roots, ruts, loose rocks, and giant mud puddles that you get to find a way to navigate around because in most areas it covers the width of the trail, then there are the little crevasses created by rain fall! I tripped shortly after mile 2, checked for any red leaks from my hands and left knee, saw none and kept going while looking over my shoulder to see if anyone saw it, phew no (but yet I'm admitting it to all of you folk!).
I meet up with the lady in black, I've seen her at many races in the past, plugging along. I remember her being in front of me the last time I did this. We chatted a bit, she introduced me to her hubby at mile 4 as he was manning the water station... he had to drive a 4 wheeler to it, I guess last year he made it with the water but sadly lost the gatorade along the way... this year, everything made it up... I never did figure out what her name was... oh well.
I saw the lady in pink that I had followed during the 1/2 marathon... I like that as runners in Alaska (maybe other areas too, but I don't know) tend to wear the same outfits over and over for races. Maybe we only have a few outfits because our outdoor season is so short... if we run in the winter, you'd better believe we will be wearing more clothes than short and a tank top! We chat for a bit and I pass her... I can't explain the small victory that felt inside of me! Then I pass several others. Why am I picking up speed and others aren't? Should I be worried? Uh, no because you're still going super slow!
I keep going, and meet up with two guys that I had overheard talking in the earlier miles. They were part of a bunch that passed me on the first hill. It sucked getting passed by about 15 people all at once! But we keep going!
I follow these guys and realize that one is pacing the other... cool maybe we'll get decent splits and consistancy if I tag along. They soon rope me into their conversation. I think to myself, is this what it feels like to have running partners? It was awesome.
I was constantly surprised when we ticked off mile markers and I still felt good. Wasn't this the race that tore me up so badly in '03? The scenery looks the same the couse hasn't changed, but why do I feel so good? Should I be wary of the second half? Mile markers keep coming and going, around mile 9 the first male from the late start got us. The slower folk taking over 3 hours started at 8, the studly folk started at 9. We chatted on about jobs and my going to basic, as both men were military one an officer, the other retired from the Infantry. They've been friends since the fateful day they both had complications with their chutes on a jump, and ended up sharing a hospital room. What a tragic way to start a friendship... but yet, they're both running a 16.5 mile race so they aren't worse for the wear.
Over all it was a great race. I took it slower than last time, but I felt a whole lot better when I finished. I've really bought in to my goal for this running season to just stay injury free and get more consistant with training. The rest (speed) will come with time.
No comments:
Post a Comment