Seattle, WA
3:18:00
10th place overall (out of 142)

     Before I get to the race, let me tell you about the 6 months leading up to this race. It was back then that I found an old high school friend, Jill, on Facebook. She is living in Seattle, found out about my running and told me I should come out and run one and see her. I found a nice little (free!) marathon in June and asked her if I could crash on her couch when I came. She said ‘Of Course!’ and so I booked the flight back in February. Now, this marathon-a-month thing is starting to get expensive, especially flying across the US, Detroit to Seattle. My original flight plan was Detroit to Chicago, Chicago to Seattle. The second flight was overbooked and they were looking for volunteers to get bumped for compensation. I glad took $380 to take a later flight that got me into Seattle at 7pm instead of 11am. No problem! That makes this flight free! Jill and I went out for a drink then back to her apartment on Queen Ann hill in Seattle (very posh ) We hung out there with some friends of hers until about 11 pm. Pacific time. I had woke up that morning at 4:45 am. Eastern time. A little more than 21 hours earlier. I was just a LITTLE tired, and of course, I had to run a race at 8:30 the next morning. For reasons I will not go into in this blog, I now confess that the last time I even ran was two weeks ago, at my last marathon in Madison. So I was low on sleep, had a bit of liquor in me, and was not in my best shape. What a great recipe for disaster! This was always going to be a ‘survival’ marathon, with me just planning on running strong, nothing too exciting. I needed a Washington marathon
     This race is only a few years old and has been (and probably always will be) absolutely free. This one is put on a group of volunteers (many!) most of which belong to the Marathon Maniacs, one of the handful of running groups to which I belong. There were no bib numbers, no finishers medals, no awards. Our ‘number’ was written on our calf with a big permanent marker
      The race itself was mostly along a bike path along the small Green River in West Seattle, with the last few miles along Alki beach on the southern side of Puget Sound. The weather at race start was perfect, completely overcast and about 55 degrees. The temp raised a little as the race unfolded, but the clouds stayed all darn day with the occasional sprinkle. Gotta love that great Seattle weather. Apparently there are mountains around here. I saw no evidence of any The aid stations were well run and plentiful. The course (with no marshals of course) was actually very well marked, and I never got lost. This was another marathon with my tried and true method of race eating/hydration, all I consumed during the race was water. No Gatorade, no gu gel packs, nothing but water. And again, I didn’t hit the glycogen wall, which I know how feels, I slowed because of my lack of sleep.
     After my hand stand finish, and a few glass of delish Gatorade, I headed back to Jill’s apartment for a shower. We had about 5 hours before we were going to dinner, so we did the downtown Seattle ‘thing’, including the Market (which is a tourist trap if I ever saw one) as well as the Seattle Art Museum, which was very cool including seeing a Jackson Pollack piece. Just before we entered the museum, Jill asked me if I liked chocolate. After an affirmation as such, we entered a chocolate store across the street from the museum. This was a high end chocolate shop, only selling bite size pieces (think mini Reeses peanut butter cup) for a mere $1.50 a pop. Granted, the chocolate we got was good, but a little spendy.
     After the museum we then went to a bar that had 15+ pinball machines in the back room. Gotta love progressive downtown Seattle. It was awesome. After a few drinks and more great conversation with Jill, we headed out to dinner with her boyfriend and a friend of his. It was a mid-high society restaurant. We had drinks and appetizers. 4 people. Total bill: $136. It’s all about the experience.
      After another late night, we headed home and I crashed (hard) before I had to wake up at 4:45 am to make my 6:45 am flight. Heading home involved no overbooked flights, and no delays, so in other words, pleasantly un-eventful.
      I am trying to stop saying after every race that it was ‘memorable’, because they all are for sometimes very different reasons. In this case it was memorable for the trip, and the marathon was only a minor speed bump that was hard, fast, and fun 54 hour trip. I can honestly say that I can only do the Seattle thing for 2 days. After that, I need to take a break.
      Thanks again Jill!!

3:00:19
18th place overall (out of 1495)
3rd in age (out of 147)

State #25 Baby!!

     Yes, that’s true! I am halfway to my goal of running a marathon in all 50 states before I turn 40. I have now run 30 marathons in 25 states in 36 months. I decided that the halfway mark of my 50 state quest should be one of significance, so I picked my home town to be it. Running along roads that I knew as a child, going by landmarks and parks that I know all to well, it was a cool feeling, one I rarely have during marathons.
     It being Memorial Day Weekend, I had my usual Geek Weekend trek, and again, it just happened to be near the marathon of the month. Last year, on little sleep and bad food, I won the race. This marathon is about 5 times as large and so I had no dreams of winning it. Finishing in the top 1.5% made me feel pretty good though, I must say.
      This will be a memorable marathon for several reasons, mostly good, but a few bad. The race directors need to get a freaking clue. I will give only two example of their buffoonery:
1. Race Start. There were three races this date, a full, a half, and a quarter marathon. The half marathon race took off at 7am from starting line A (labeled simply ‘Start Line’) The full and quarter marathons started later from starting line B (also labeled simply ‘Start Line’) a full half mile away from starting line A. I decided to watch the start of the half marathon (a high school friend of mine was running it) and then head over to my starting line in the 30 minutes in between starting guns. As I was walking to the starting line B, I saw a bunch of people with half marathon bibs running to starting line A, because, of course, they went to the wrong starting line. 2 minutes before my race start (28 minutes after the half started) I saw a marathoner explaining to a half marathoner that his starting line was ‘over there’. Poor guy. I wonder what happened to him. Just poor planning on the directors part. Never have different start lines, especially with crowds this big. I won’t even bother ranting on how the got people into the corrals, even that was dumb.
2. Age awards. I have run more than 60 races to date. Even the really small ones almost always go three deep in age awards, meaning the top 3 women, ages 20-25 (and every other age/sex grouping) get an award. Sometime it is a medal, sometimes a coffee mug, sometimes just a ribbon, but top three (at least, sometimes it is top 5) get something. Again, even small town 5K races with 150 runners do this. Here, at the Madison Marathon with 1500 runners, guess how deep age awards went? 1. Yup, you saw that right. 1 deep. In each age group.
    What a joke. These yahoo’s need to see a real race. I have never seen either of these ‘problems’ before, at any race I have EVER run. How could they be so clueless? Oh, and don’t get me started about the darn t-shirts… Ok, enough ranting on the bad parts, lets talk about the good parts…
     Ok, so the race itself was actually pretty awesome. Weather conditions at the start were perfect, overcast and 55 degrees. About 7 miles in, the sun started to break through and by mile 13 it was full on sun and 70, which slowed me down a little, but so be it. I started out feeling like I was walking, but hit mile 1 at 6:20, way too fast. I slowed myself down, letting the crowd pass me. I swear I was much father back than 18th place, I figured I was more in the 30’s. I wonder if people in front of me just dropped out… Who knows… Anyways, but mile 5 I was in my groove, 6:41/mile. I looked at my GPS watch almost every mile from there on and every time I did look, up until mile 18, my pace was locked on 6:41. I was in my groove perfectly. That is a 2:55 pace, and yes, I started to drift after mile 18. I blame the heat and a lack of sleep the week before. Don’t get me wrong, I very happy with my finish time, especially since this is the last marathon I am going to ‘race’ for a while. This summer I am planning on upping my mileage, training for two doubles in September (NM and CO) and November (GA and MS) so this was a last hurrah for speed for a while, or so I say
     Awesome places I ran through/by: UW-Arboretum, Wisconsin State Capitol, Memorial Union, Lake Mendota, Lake Monona, Tenny Park.
     The half way mark was right in front of the Memorial Union. A place that just over 12 hour earlier I was catching up with several High School friends whom I have not seen in 19 years. That was way cool. I wish more people could have showed up, but it was way fun. I love Facebook
      My mother, who just recently turned 70 years old was able to come cheer me on in a marathon for the first time. She really is proud of me, and we looked at the map beforehand and found 5 places (including the finish) spread throughout the race that she could see me. Knowing my Mom and how much she loves to talk to people, every time I ran by her, about 15’ away I would scream ‘Hi Mommy!!’ then give her a high-five. She enjoyed it as much as I knew she would, getting to talk to people who naturally asked her about me…
     The finish was actually really cool. Beer and pretzels I have had before, but never chocolate milk. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by how good it tasted post race. Gotta love Wisconsin. Also, the county fairgrounds that hosted the start and finish of the marathon also hosted this weekend the worlds largest Brat fest. I did my part, eating 1 of the 208,000+ (a world record or so they say) brats eaten in a 4 day stretch. Oddly, my taste buds loved the brat, but my stomach, not so much. Oh well.
     One of the perks of being in the top 1.5% of finishers is that you do not have to wait in line for the post race massage. That was pretty darn sweet. Hours after a 3 flat marathon, my muscles felt great. I honestly believe I could have done another marathon the next day, but maybe in 3:20 or so
     All in all a fun an enjoyable weekend. Halfway home. Bring it on…

3:25:50
2nd place overall (out of 76)
  What started out as just another marathon in yet another state that I rarely visit turned out to be a fun little trip. As with many recent marathons, this was another smash and grab trip. I left the Detroit metro airport at 9:30 on Friday morning, and was back in the ground at Detroit metro airport at 10:00 pm on Saturday night, a mere 36.5 hours later.
    My two step flight (through Chicago) got me to Kansas City International airport a little after noon, central time. Quick car pickup allowed me to be in Lawrence, KS by 2pm. The packet pickup was at this nice outdoors shop in downtown Lawrence (home of Kansas University, so it was a hip town, actually) This shop was actually really awesome. One of those places that I could easily spend thousands of dollars in short order. I ended up getting my race packet, (nice) shirt and a new frisbee for my daughter. I had already spent too much money just getting out here…
  It was still too early to check into my hotel, so I did something I had not done in a while, catch a movie the day before a marathon. Given the choices, the adrenaline filled ‘Fast and Furious’ seemed like a good choice. Testosterone coursed through my body appropriately.
  Earlier research showed that I had TWO Applebee’s to choose from. What was cool is that on the way from packet pickup to the movie I drove right by one of them. Sweet! I was low on sleep, so I did an early dinner (I’ll bet you $0.02 you can’t guess what I had to eat…) so I could be in bed trying to sleep by 8:00.
  I slept like a rock, and with an 8 am start, I got to ’sleep in’ on this race morning. I had my PB sandwich (Thanx Val!), but forgot my tea, so I had to resort to hotel room coffee for my race morning caffeine. Oh well, it did not seem to effect me negatively. Packed up, took off, arrived at the park just as the 40 mile and 100K races were taking off, 1 hour before my start. Pre-race rituals, now almost boring in there systematic registry, went on fine and 2 minutes before race start we got our last instructions. The course was ‘muddy’ in spots. Greeeeaaaat… 8 am and we were off.
  This was a small race (~80 runners) but I knew the course would be tough. I was in the lead for the first half mile, then got passed by a long hair hippy freak (I use that as a term of endearment) who eventually won the race. He asked me if I had run this race before. When I said no, he said it was a fun, but tough course. Truer words were never spoken. About a mile in I lost him in front of me, and I lost the guy behind me. Yes, a mere 4% into the race and I knew exactly what place I would end up at. Another second place, yummy!
  A harsher course I have never run. Mud in places so bad I had to walk and grab trees to prevent me from falling. Over large rocks that not even the most die-hard mountain biker dare tread. While the course was the roughest I have ever covered, it was the most well marked. Turns abounded, intersections too many to be counted crossed, but never was there any doubt as to which way I should go. I was pleasantly surprised. This truly was one of the most well supported races I have run.
  My poor Garmin GPS had me going rather slow, but considering the terrain, I was OK with it. At what my GPS said was mile 20.3, I got to a major aid station (with lots of food) I was told I only had 3.5 miles left to the end. When I protested and said my watch said 6 more miles, I was told that GPS watches are clueless in this forest. Happier words were never told me in my life. At that time I was just over 3 hours. I feared not breaking 4 hours, but now, with only 3.5 miles to go, breaking 3:30 was probable. Joy!
  One note about the aid stations. There were spaced out no more than 3.5 miles and I had to provide my own water container. I had a 16 oz Gatorade bottle which about twice as big as I needed. You see, I don’t drink that much when racing anymore. In fact, after I drank 16 oz of Gatorade 15 min before race start I had little need of anything except water for the entire 26.2 mile race. I had some energy drink at about mile 8 and sure enough, that gut rot started to come. My pre-race rituals seem to prepare me well such that (unless it is really hot) I can survive just fine with water and only a little gatorade/energy drink while actually running.
  After a gentle finish and a second handstand (for the official picture) I got to enjoy a freshly made brat. Yummy yummy. My prize for second place was two pieces of clothing from a local running store that had a make shift shop set up at the finish line. A nice long sleeve shirt and pull over sweatshirt made for a nice parting gift.

Smash. Grab. Second place. Niiice.

Two things learned this race:
1. Make a permanent packing list for marathons. This race I forgot my ‘food’ (bread, peanut butter, tea)and that was a bummer.
2. On those occasions you are to provide your own water bottle, take only an 8 oz juice bottle. Unless the water stations are >6 miles apart, anything bigger is just a waste. You don’t drink that much whilst racing.

Flushing, MI
1:26:31 (6:37/mile pace)
14th overall
3rd in age

     So I knew that I had 4 weeks between marathons and so I decided back in January to enter this small town half marathon. I had recently singed up on eHarmony (no snickers please) and about a week before the actual race, I met a woman there and we hit it off very nicely. We were planning on making our first date the day AFTER the race, but after some chatting, she decided to drive from Kalamazoo to Jackson to meet me at 5:45am on race morning. Yes, out first date was a 90 minute drive early ealy Saturday morning to Flushing, MI for a road race. My (now) girlfriend, Misty also decided to enter the 5K walk that was going on at the same time. I think that qualifies for one of the coolest first dates ever.

The race itself was ok. The race course was just around local city streets and then two large loops out on country roads. About a mile into the race, we had to take a left into a subdivision and did a ~0.5 mile keyhole loop which annoys me those rare time I have to do it. It just feels silly running into a circle in a road race. No hills per se, just a few gentle ‘rises’ every once in a while to keep you honest. At about mile 4, I got behind a guy who was keeping a nice steady pace. I didn’t feel like busting my butt this day, so I stayed behind him, vowing not to pass him until mile 10. At that point, I dropped the hammer and took off.

Having done over 25 marathons and only 2 half marathons before today, I knew I could keep a good 6:30ish pace for the duration. When I hit mile 6.5 and a I realized that I was already halfway done, I got really excited. This 13.1 mile thing is pretty cool. Once you get into your rhythm, it is almost time to finish up. The last mile I had so much left over energy that I flew it in a 6:15 pace.

Another race I will not forget, but this time not so much for the race.

Ruston, LA
3:47:30
1st place overall (out of ~30)
             Yikes, a 3:47 and yet you still get a top honors? What the heck?
Well, let me tell ya… The race was held in Ruston, LA, a small town on the I-20 corridor that time of year  gets a lot of rain. I mean a lot. It had been raining there for 4 straight days before I showed up. Blessedly, the rain turned to sort of a constant state of really fine drizzle by race morning, so it was just cold, not cold and rainy.
             The course was 2.62 times around a 10 mile mountain bike trail in Lincoln Parish Park (http://park.lincolnparish.org/) which is very beautiful, actually. Warm and dry it would have been better, but so it goes. Something about mountain bikers, I dunno, they just abhor straight lines.  Probably 80% of the race you did not take more than 5 strides without making a turn and/or jumping over a little bump. The hills were small, but there 3123267 of them.  (see pic below) Honestly, the course was great, just brutal. This whole race was just one guy’s ‘thank you’ to his old Cross country coach (Larry Yeagle, of course) Small town race feel, for sure.
              There was a 10 mile race (once around the horn) going on as well. At the start, I took off, in the lead after 2 steps, and never lost it, not even to the 10 miler winner. Yes, I could have won that race too if I decided to bail on the marathon.  During that first time around, I kept trying to look back and gauge how much of a lead I had on the 2nd place guy, but with some many turns in the woods and few straight aways, it was pretty much impossible. I tried really hard all day though, especially when I started to really slow at about mile 20. I just kept moving, telling myself “You’ll win if you don’t completely blow up”.  
              This being the end weekend of my spring break, I was planning on driving the 15 hours here, but again, 2 weeks out, I landed a cheap (relative to the drive travel costs) airline ticket, flying into Dallas-Ft Worth airport. However, I still had a 4 hour drive (one way) to Ruston. The ‘what did I learn this marathon’ take home message for THIS trip is if you are driving more than 2 hours, bring something to listen too. Podcasts, book on CD, something. I got lucky this time because there were a handful of good classic rock stations, but it was still frustrating.
              My hotel room was actually really nice and comfortable. And thank goodness, there was an Applebee’s less than a mile away. I did not get into town until 7 pm, 11 hours before race start, so everything being close by helps a lot.
              My flight was leaving DTW at 6:30 pm of Saturday. The race started at 8 am. The drive was just over 4 hours from Ruston to DFW. Yes, I was cutting it that close. I stayed at the race for about 15 min (eating some nice beans and rice moosh) before I took off and managed a quick shower at my hotel room before I started the long drive to the airport. I called lots of people just to chat to make the time go by faster and keep me awake. I broke up with my girlfriend earlier this week, so I have been low on sleep and spirits, which is never good the week before a marathon. 
             The knees today are not happy. I have been icing them 1-2 times a day for months now, and they feel fine for the first few miles of a race, but then a dull soreness overcomes them. I found some exercises to strengthen those muscles, so hopefully that will help. I will never break my 2:49 PR if I don’t solve this problem. Blah.
    A fun smash and grab trip.

3:13:10 (7:23/mile)
95th place overall (out of 1825)
14th in age (out of 204)

     I signed up for this marathon a long time ago, long before I realized my knee injury was not slight or quick healing. I had to bail on my registered January marathon, and I only decided two weeks ago (after a 14 miler that I did not die on) that I was going forward with this one. My first marathon in over two months and I was nervous as heck, considering my knees are not 100%. I had taken the Thursday off of work beforehand (I don’t teach on Fridays) so I could take two full days to make the 15 hour drive. A week before the race, Stephanie, my love, suggested I check out airline tickets as they might be cheap, even a week out. I did, and much to my happy surprise I got a round trip flight, all taxes and seat fees included for $197. A quick calculation proves that flying was actually CHEAPER than driving, and the bonus is I do not have to suffer 30 hours on the road. It would also provide me the opportunity to engage in the post race party, something I have never done before. More on that later…
   To get maximum enjoyment out of my brief SC sojourn, I left Detroit at 6:05 am Friday morning, which meant waking up in Jackson at 3:30 am. Shower, homemade mocha and I was on my way, through security and waiting to board at 5:30 am. Our flight left on time and actually arrived 15 minutes early. Of course, our gate was being occupied by some other airplane who WAS leaving on time, so we had to sit on the tarmac far from the terminal for 15 minutes. The pilot had a great sense of humor and let people get up and go top the bathroom and such. After about 8 minutes he came on and told us about how pilots get bored in traffic just like people do, and he started to show us how the ailerons worked and describing what happened when he does what. ‘If you look out your right side windows you see those flaps come up, that makes the plane turn’. It was a good 60 seconds of laughter by the whole plane full of people.
   Getting to Myrtle Beach at 8 am meant I had some time to kill, so I did what any guy from Michigan does when travelling to South Carolina in February does. I went to the beach. Clear blue skies, 65 degrees, it was perfect for sitting on the sand and reading a book, which is exactly what I did.
   The expo did not open until 11 and I was there at 10:45 so I would be one of the first into the joint. By 11:09 I was out of there, having received my bib, t-shirt (so-so) and beach towel (that was cool!) I even passed every booth there at the expo. Yawn. No expo will ever excite me again. I have been to the expo for the Boston marathon, and nothing can compare.
  On the recommendation of my friend Pat, I headed down to Brookgreen Gardens. A huge garden/sculpture park just south of Mrytle beach that is huge and beautiful and was actually the first public sculpture park in the US. This time of year the gardens are not really blooming which is probably why there were few people there, but that made it so incredibly peaceful. I was honestly thinking I had never been to a more peaceful place in my life. Very nice sculptures, few abstract (my fav) but still very nice. Lots of naked people, I must admit, and the women were all (ahem) good looking.
  I headed back to the hotel and got checked in and needed to relax and ice my knees. I hacked into a local wireless access point and proceeded to watch the film, Transsiberrean with Woody Harrelson and Ben Kingsley. If you like Hitchcock type (you have no idea what is going to happen next) type films, this is a good one. Very well done, awesome story.
   I was the off to the oh-so-predictable pre-race tradition of Applebees for dinner to consume an order of fiesta lime chicken. Delish, as always. On the way, I stopped at the popular gift shop, the Gay Dolphin on the recommendation of my friend, Dean. My daughters’ name meaning literally ‘Goddess of Dolphins’, I had a great time picking her up some dolphin themed stuff. There was even a cool dolphin sculpture there (pic on left)
     I was in bed by 8, asleep by 8:30. Long long day. Alarm goes off at 3:50 am, and the ritual begins, with the one added twist of icing my knees (again!) White tea, peanut butter sandwich, ibuprophen, Gatorade, blah, blah, blah. I left for the start a little after 5, arriving at the start line 45 minutes before the 6:30 start. My knees were still a little iffy, so I was nervous, but itching to race, as I have not felt the joy of a ‘good’ marathon since last October in Rhode Island (the race that gave me the shin splints, I should curse that race) I pulled out my illegal mp3 player to get pumped up the last 20 minutes before race start, called Stef to wish her a happy Valentine’s day and we were off, right on time.
   The weather really was great, with the starting temp a nice 59 degrees with little wind. I would have to say the race conditions were perfect all day long, overcast and cool. It made for a non-existent sunrise, but that’s ok. The race was crowded, with 4600 runners total (1800 marathoners, 2800 half-marathoners) and I was really only by myself the last few miles. During the race I got to talk to many people, some veterans, some fellow marathon maniacs, and even some newbies running their first marathon. Good stories to make the miles pass by. The course itself was boring with long (read: several mile) stretches of dead flat dead straight running. Blah. They did the best they could, I guess. We ran close to the ocean a few times, but with teh overcast skies, it was not really anything special to look at. I figured out that this is my 6th marathon where at least some portion of the race is along the Atlantic Ocean. I am a mountain lover and never much liked the Ocean. I guess it doesn’t trip my trigger. Oh well, another southern coastal state of the list.
  My knees did hurt a little after mile 2 which made me scared, with most of the race in front of me, but I kept plowing, They were a dull ache until about mile 22, and by then, it was too late for them to convince me to walk. This was the first no-walking-at-all marathon in a few for me, and I consider that a personal victory.
   My friend, Dean, ran the 2008 Myrtle Beach Marathon and was not happy with the course. He asked that I be especially mean to miles 21-24. So, at mile 23, I stopped and took a picture for him, giving that mile marker a message from him. It had no response.
    I had a strong finish, but no negative split this time, but that is OK, all things considered, thank you very much. This was a survival marathon, knowing I was going in at about 85%. I am delighted with a 3:13 finish, truly.
  I headed back to hotel for shower and a little rest (and more ice) and enjoyed a strange phenomenon. Since I did not drive, I could actually take my time, hanging out. I am writing this entry in the Starbucks mere yards from the beach, just killing time until the official post race party at the House of Blues. I have never been to a post race party (ever) as I am always getting the heck of dodge, either to drive home or to catch an early flight. Having time to relax before my flight is different, and I have to say nice. No rush, so I can relax and just enjoy the peace of the post marathon glow.
   A memorable marathon race for a few ‘new’ reasons.

Clear Lake, MI
28:50
7th overall (out of ~35)
   Ok, I have run 62 races in the modern era, and this one will be one of the most memorable. Yes, you see that right, a 28:50 for a 5K. Well, they admit it is a bit long. Just so you know, the winning time was 24:30. This week I was thinking about looking for a race to run this weekend just for fun. I kept forgetting until 9 am this morning when I checked and found this race that was 20 minutes away and was to begin at 10 am. The description from www.RunMichigan.com made me jump at the oppurtunity:
“Probably the toughest 5K you have ever attempted. Roughly 4 loops of what locals call “the switchbacks”. Dirt, rocks, uphill, poor footing predominately on tight, terrible trails. Hopefully icy, slippery, and/or drift-covered. Also- the course is probably long. The loops cover a section of the Waterloo trail system, and on Green Road, a little-traveled chunk of hills and dirt. Basically, it is the stuff that would make a Mule puke.”
  There is a summer version of this race, held July 30th at high noon. You can probably guess why. This is a fundraiser of sorts for the local HS running club, and 80% of the runners were between the ages of 15 and 19. There were just a handful of us old people.

The cost was a $5 bill. No check, no technology based payment. No pre-registration, no age awards. You got an award if you finished the race without ever walking, which was only half of us. (A nice little keychain) The hill was pretty bad, but the footing was terrible. There was 10″ of snow that was NOT packed down, even after the whole crew had run over it a bunch of times. You could not get a full stride, so it was just plain akward all the way around. The course was 3.5 times aroud a loop that was about a mile long. We started at the bottom most point of the loop and yes, finished at the highest point of the loop, doing the hill 4 times. Oh yeah, the temperature was 9 degrees with a windchill close to zero.
  I treated it as a hill workout, and yes, it was hard not walking. Each loop getting slower and on that short section that was on plowed gravel road, I took my sweet time catching my breath. 
  Exactly 90 minutes after I knew this race existed, I had finished it. The spontineity of the whole thing I think added to the enjoyment of it. It was such a blur, it almost feels like a dream. Good thing I took a picture, which by the way is with my new phone. 1000 times better than my other one, just compare the shot for this race to my last one, just 2 weeks ago.

Portland, MI
20:24 (Hey! It was freaking cold!)
9th place overall (out of 180)
3rd in age (out of ~12)

  A 5k? What the heck? This was the first run (not even training!) in the last 3 weeks and only my second run of any sort in the last 5 weeks. Ya see, I have been nursing my shin splints and knee issues for a while now and this was the first (short) test of my recovery. I knew I was breaking a 14 month streak of running a marathon every month, but I am going to keep the consecutive month ‘races’ streak going. The Portland Winter Run is a fun race, this being my 3rd time running it (2006 and 2007). They have some awesome homemade chili afterward, and is the only race I know that also has Krispy Kreme donuts for after race food. Yum!
  I did a 2 mile warm up, no problem, no pain (nothin’!!) then started the race, with my first mile in 6 minutes flat. Not my fastest, obviously, but did I mention I was running in 8 degree weather with 20 mph winds (wind chill -15) on half an inch of fresh snow? Yeah, that slowed us all down.
  At mile 2.5 into the race (4.5 miles of running) my LEFT knee started giving me (familiar) grief. The good news was that I have been icing my right knee (always the worser of the two) and right shin for weeks now. Those two things gave me no pain at all. Soooo, the experimental scientist in me says ‘Great! Ice your left knee for a few weeks and you might be all better, back ready for longer distances.’
  So that is the plan for now. Keep on the elyptical (or short runs) and ice left knee for 2 weeks, then do an 8 mile test run. Yeah!!
  Oh, so I got 3rd in my age, but had I been 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, or 40-44 I would have won my age group. What is up with my age division being the speedy ones?

Ok, so it seems in most of the race pics in this blog, you see me flashing a 2 finger ‘peace’ sign with my hand. It is not just a race tradition, it seems to be a picture tradition. I submit to you a picture from (about) 1986 when I was 14:

As you see, I seem to have started the tradition a few years ago…

 After the fiasco that was the Rocket City Marathon, and my lack of recovery since, I am officially bailing on a race I am registered for, the Mississippi Blues Marathon. My first DNS (did not start) is also breaking my string of 14 straight months with at least one marathon finished.
  Now I just need to concentrate on recovering from my injuries so I can race the other marathon I am registered for in the middle of February.