Friday, November 8, 2013
Marine corps marathon
Marine Corps Marathon
I did my third marathon yesterday. Holy moly that was hard. I think what made it the hardest was that I was t really properly trained. Due to the 100 mile triathlon three weeks ago, the furthest I had gone was 15 miles.
My friend was doing her first marathon and when her other friend who was to do it with her backed out, she asked me to run with her. I agreed, but "with her" meant id start with her and find her at the end! She's a much faster runner than I and there was no way I could do it "with" her.
The expo and packet pick up the day before went pretty smoothly except for the long lines and the crowds. We cooked some spaghetti for dinner and stopped by the Goodwill for some throw away clothes and then went to bed early. What? Never heard of throw away clothes? It was supposed to be in the 30s in the morning. We bought sweatshirts, hats and gloves to wear before the race until we got warmed up, and the you toss the clothes aside. We assume the organizers gather up the clothes and donate them back to charity. I actually found great pair of pink gloves on the side of the road and snatched them up and tossed my others aside.
The race itself was I in a beautiful location through downtown DC and the local parks and monuments. As far as the running, I didn't to be fast. Miles 1-19 felt pretty good. 20-23 were very hard. I had to count steps and I did some walking and was in a lot of pain. I would run 200 steps and then walk 50. And the. Do it all over again. When I got to mile 24, I knew I could run the last two harder, so I did. But my goodness, that last half mile is a killer! Plus, my Garmin says it was actually 27 miles. So did my friend's. Sanctioned races are supposed to be spot on, so I don't know how it's off, but it was! I finished in 5:35 officially. Goal was to go under 6, so I'm pretty happy with that. When I finished, I was hurting more than I ever have at the end of anything. I laid down, and moaned and groaned and tried to make the pain go away. I stretched and moaned some more. Then I got up to go find my free beer. I got my medal from a Marine who saluted my (I saluted back), got a book of snacks, a water and a couple of bananas...moaning and limping the entire way. I made my way to the beer. My friend saw me and called my name and I said I couldn't stop. She caught up to me and told me they were out of beer. That was the last straw. I actually sat down on the curb and cried. She rubbed my shoulders for a minute or two while the tears of frustration and pain leaked out. Then I decided it was over, took a Motrin and we got up and made out way to the metro. Her husband and mom were with us and were so supportive. She finished in 4:25, which is a great time.
We got home and I drank two beers. After the first one and a shower, I felt
like a new woman. That night, we went out for steak and I added French onion soup and a crab cake. Plus some wine. Gotta have wine.
I slept terrible last night... tossing and turning. Ended up getting about about 40 minutes early at 0410 to get ready for the airport. Made it there and onto my flight, where I am writing this, with plenty of time to spare.
Next marathon will be in March. I'll do the Bataan Death March again, this time in ABUs. In April, I'll be doing the Mighty Mujer Super Sprint Triathlon (which I vowed last year to never do again because it was so poorly organized). A bunch of of the wives want to docs triathlon and that is a great beginner one. It's in a pool, so you don't even have to know how to swim. Probably do some long bike rides over the summer. If the Air Force doesn't move me next summer, I'll probably be doing my first Iron Distance race next October. I can't believe I'm even saying that after yesterday. We'll see...that's a long way away. In the. Meantime, I think I'll schedule a massage for this week.
One Hundred Mile Triathlon
this is so late because i couldnt figure out how to log on!
The 100 mile triathlon My oh my. I'd been training for this for about four months. Getting up at 0430, to run, bike, and or swim for months on end. Biking after work a couple of times a week meant trying to get everything done do I could be out of the office by 4:00 or 4:30 for what might be a two or three hour ride. Saturday found me riding with my friend for three to six hours- up to 80 miles on a weekend. We did a few 100 mile rides as well, in the form of races/organized rides. We also did the RAGBRAI ride in July, which was over 400 miles across Iowa. One day was 112 miles! Towards the end, I started doing "bricks". That's where you ride a certain distance and then run. I didn't have time to do these during the week, so I did them on Saturday and then my long ride on Sunday. The longest one was 53 mile bike and 10 mile run. That's almost as long as my previous longest race! Mondays were long runs before work- up to 13 miles. Who does that? My half half marathon, i trained for months. Now I jump up and do one before work. That's crazy talk right there! Jack was kind enough to come with me. Going to a destination race by yourself is no fun. Better to have someone with you. We took my bike apart all the way down to the frame and put it into two boxes. That takes about an hour. Then I packed up all my stuff. You cannot possibly imaging how much stuff there is for one race. First, there's the swim. That requires, at a minimum, a swim suit, cap and goggles. For a longer race, or if your are more serious about your craft, you get more specialized and wear a special triathlon suit that is worn during all three phases of the race. If you are swimming in cold water, you need a wetsuit. If you re swimming in very cold water, you need neoprene booties and a neoprene cap to protect the feet and head. For the bike, you obviously need a bike, which needs to be packed for travel. Or you can have a company ship for about $350 each way. I have a beautiful bike box, that my bike and wheels fit into, but after the airlines started charging a fortune ($200-300 each way), I found that I could break my bike down to luggage size and ship for free on southwest. You also need shoes and helmet at a minimum. If you want to eat and drink on the bike ( you do in a long race!), you also need bottles, electrolyte mix, and gels. For the run there are the shoes and maybe a hat. There are also sunscreen, Body Glide, Chamois Butter, sunglasses, RoadID, Garmin, race belt, chip strap, towel, after the race clothes and numerous other items to remember. I have my regular packing list and then there's the race packing list. It's a little stressful to make sure nothing is forgotten! We arrived safely in New Your a and I checked Ruby over after picking her up from the baggage area. She was perfectly fine. Rudy's my bike. Yes, she has a name. We found out bed and breakfast and had a delicious dinner and hit the hay. Up the next morning for breakfast...tht was the most disappointing thing about the B and B. Usually breakfast is awesome at those places. Not there. Yogurt and a premise cinnamon pastry. We spent the next two days exploring Niagara Falls on foot and by speed boat. The night before the race, we went to packet pick up and I got all my stuff needed....bib number and bike number, pus some other stuff. Up before daylight the day of the race. Jack helped me get everything set up in transition- it is SO nice to have an extra pair of hands! Then once I was done, so was he. He had no desire to stick around. But he was there when they announced, as I was squeezing into my wetsuit, that the swim was changed to a one mile run. What!?! I was so upset! I was here for a triathlon, not a duathlon! Grrrrr! Apparently the waves were too high for the little boats to put the buoys out and too high for the little boats to rescue a swimmer if something went wrong. It was swimmable, but not boatable. Dang it! So the start was a one mile run from where the swim was supposed to come ashore. It was a beautiful trail run through the woods and I loved every minute of that. Then I made my transition to the bike and off I went. That's right when the rain started. For two hours. Goodness. It was a Bit chilly...about 60 degrees. I had put on my leg warmers and my arm Warner's and liked my gloves. But I didn't end them. Around mile 25, my quads and knees started to ache. That had never happened on a ride before and I still don't know why it happened that day. But for the next 61 miles, I was in pain. The bike leg was supposed to be 84 miles and it was 86. The wind kicked up something fierce for last two hours. Tree dewars tons of road kill...87 frogs, 8 snakes, 1 vulture, 1 red fox, 1 grey fox, a few cats, 2 possums, and 1 skunk. And that was on one 43 mile loop! In the transition, I was rarely so happy to get off my bike. I took off my helmet, threw on my shoes, loaded up on a few gels, and off I went! I knew those -5 miles were going to be hard. For about two miles, I could hear foot steps behind me. Then a lady got next to means stayed there for a half a mile or so. She said, I. Don't . Mean. To. Run beside you. But. I. Can't. Go. Any faster. Just like that. She was so funny. It's considered rude to run for a long time beside someone without asking them if it's ok. I didn't mind. Then she started talking to me. Then another lady who had been walk-running joined us for a bit. They talked and I listened. I don't have enough breath to talk and run at the same time. Celeste said she had planned to walk some because of a hip injury, but she kept up. Then we settled into a rhythm, eventually lost the other lady, and decided to stick together at some point. I think we were both hurting real bad and decided hurting together was better than hurting alone. At mile ten, her husband joined us and ran the rest of the way. He is a prosecutor and I got him to tell me stories to pass the time. Celeste and I cam across the finish line together in 9:32. I took third in my age group! Out of three. I got a prize and everything. It was pretty cool. I drank some beer, ate some pasta, then went back got he B and B and are more pasta. Jack was wonderful enough to take my bike apart while I took a bath. I packed it, though. If something happened to her, I would never forgive him, so it's better if I just take that responsibility on myself. I took a motrin and went to bed. My legs were achy and restless, the worst they have ever been. Ever. I kept waking up. Then, at 0200, I was awake and starving. I mean, I HAD to have something to eat. I I was getting up and asking jack where the keys were because I was going out for food. I didn't think we had any ( except my Swedish Fish...and they are yummy, but not what I needed). He reminded me that he had some airline peanuts. Then I remembered I did too. And there was a small apple. So I sat up and ate four bags of Southwest airline peanuts and an apple and read for two hours till I could go back to sleep. Then I slept for about two hrs and we got up for the airport. This race was one of my most satisfying accomplishments to date. My first marathon and this one are probably right at the top. Now I am seriously thinking I could an Ironman next year. I want to do one someday, I just have no idea when I will have time to train. I'm thinking if I don't move, I will do the Beach2Battleship Iron distance triathlon next October. Yikes! And Jack said I could get a triathlon bike! I didn't know five years ago I would really like this stuff, but I do. And I plan to keep at it. My goal is to outlive my competition so I can start winning things. It might take about 30-40 years, but that's my goal.
The 100 mile triathlon My oh my. I'd been training for this for about four months. Getting up at 0430, to run, bike, and or swim for months on end. Biking after work a couple of times a week meant trying to get everything done do I could be out of the office by 4:00 or 4:30 for what might be a two or three hour ride. Saturday found me riding with my friend for three to six hours- up to 80 miles on a weekend. We did a few 100 mile rides as well, in the form of races/organized rides. We also did the RAGBRAI ride in July, which was over 400 miles across Iowa. One day was 112 miles! Towards the end, I started doing "bricks". That's where you ride a certain distance and then run. I didn't have time to do these during the week, so I did them on Saturday and then my long ride on Sunday. The longest one was 53 mile bike and 10 mile run. That's almost as long as my previous longest race! Mondays were long runs before work- up to 13 miles. Who does that? My half half marathon, i trained for months. Now I jump up and do one before work. That's crazy talk right there! Jack was kind enough to come with me. Going to a destination race by yourself is no fun. Better to have someone with you. We took my bike apart all the way down to the frame and put it into two boxes. That takes about an hour. Then I packed up all my stuff. You cannot possibly imaging how much stuff there is for one race. First, there's the swim. That requires, at a minimum, a swim suit, cap and goggles. For a longer race, or if your are more serious about your craft, you get more specialized and wear a special triathlon suit that is worn during all three phases of the race. If you are swimming in cold water, you need a wetsuit. If you re swimming in very cold water, you need neoprene booties and a neoprene cap to protect the feet and head. For the bike, you obviously need a bike, which needs to be packed for travel. Or you can have a company ship for about $350 each way. I have a beautiful bike box, that my bike and wheels fit into, but after the airlines started charging a fortune ($200-300 each way), I found that I could break my bike down to luggage size and ship for free on southwest. You also need shoes and helmet at a minimum. If you want to eat and drink on the bike ( you do in a long race!), you also need bottles, electrolyte mix, and gels. For the run there are the shoes and maybe a hat. There are also sunscreen, Body Glide, Chamois Butter, sunglasses, RoadID, Garmin, race belt, chip strap, towel, after the race clothes and numerous other items to remember. I have my regular packing list and then there's the race packing list. It's a little stressful to make sure nothing is forgotten! We arrived safely in New Your a and I checked Ruby over after picking her up from the baggage area. She was perfectly fine. Rudy's my bike. Yes, she has a name. We found out bed and breakfast and had a delicious dinner and hit the hay. Up the next morning for breakfast...tht was the most disappointing thing about the B and B. Usually breakfast is awesome at those places. Not there. Yogurt and a premise cinnamon pastry. We spent the next two days exploring Niagara Falls on foot and by speed boat. The night before the race, we went to packet pick up and I got all my stuff needed....bib number and bike number, pus some other stuff. Up before daylight the day of the race. Jack helped me get everything set up in transition- it is SO nice to have an extra pair of hands! Then once I was done, so was he. He had no desire to stick around. But he was there when they announced, as I was squeezing into my wetsuit, that the swim was changed to a one mile run. What!?! I was so upset! I was here for a triathlon, not a duathlon! Grrrrr! Apparently the waves were too high for the little boats to put the buoys out and too high for the little boats to rescue a swimmer if something went wrong. It was swimmable, but not boatable. Dang it! So the start was a one mile run from where the swim was supposed to come ashore. It was a beautiful trail run through the woods and I loved every minute of that. Then I made my transition to the bike and off I went. That's right when the rain started. For two hours. Goodness. It was a Bit chilly...about 60 degrees. I had put on my leg warmers and my arm Warner's and liked my gloves. But I didn't end them. Around mile 25, my quads and knees started to ache. That had never happened on a ride before and I still don't know why it happened that day. But for the next 61 miles, I was in pain. The bike leg was supposed to be 84 miles and it was 86. The wind kicked up something fierce for last two hours. Tree dewars tons of road kill...87 frogs, 8 snakes, 1 vulture, 1 red fox, 1 grey fox, a few cats, 2 possums, and 1 skunk. And that was on one 43 mile loop! In the transition, I was rarely so happy to get off my bike. I took off my helmet, threw on my shoes, loaded up on a few gels, and off I went! I knew those -5 miles were going to be hard. For about two miles, I could hear foot steps behind me. Then a lady got next to means stayed there for a half a mile or so. She said, I. Don't . Mean. To. Run beside you. But. I. Can't. Go. Any faster. Just like that. She was so funny. It's considered rude to run for a long time beside someone without asking them if it's ok. I didn't mind. Then she started talking to me. Then another lady who had been walk-running joined us for a bit. They talked and I listened. I don't have enough breath to talk and run at the same time. Celeste said she had planned to walk some because of a hip injury, but she kept up. Then we settled into a rhythm, eventually lost the other lady, and decided to stick together at some point. I think we were both hurting real bad and decided hurting together was better than hurting alone. At mile ten, her husband joined us and ran the rest of the way. He is a prosecutor and I got him to tell me stories to pass the time. Celeste and I cam across the finish line together in 9:32. I took third in my age group! Out of three. I got a prize and everything. It was pretty cool. I drank some beer, ate some pasta, then went back got he B and B and are more pasta. Jack was wonderful enough to take my bike apart while I took a bath. I packed it, though. If something happened to her, I would never forgive him, so it's better if I just take that responsibility on myself. I took a motrin and went to bed. My legs were achy and restless, the worst they have ever been. Ever. I kept waking up. Then, at 0200, I was awake and starving. I mean, I HAD to have something to eat. I I was getting up and asking jack where the keys were because I was going out for food. I didn't think we had any ( except my Swedish Fish...and they are yummy, but not what I needed). He reminded me that he had some airline peanuts. Then I remembered I did too. And there was a small apple. So I sat up and ate four bags of Southwest airline peanuts and an apple and read for two hours till I could go back to sleep. Then I slept for about two hrs and we got up for the airport. This race was one of my most satisfying accomplishments to date. My first marathon and this one are probably right at the top. Now I am seriously thinking I could an Ironman next year. I want to do one someday, I just have no idea when I will have time to train. I'm thinking if I don't move, I will do the Beach2Battleship Iron distance triathlon next October. Yikes! And Jack said I could get a triathlon bike! I didn't know five years ago I would really like this stuff, but I do. And I plan to keep at it. My goal is to outlive my competition so I can start winning things. It might take about 30-40 years, but that's my goal.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Santa Fe Century
Today my friend and I did a 100 mile bike ride called the Santa Fe Century. We've been looking forward to it for months. I didn't really know much about it except that it was 100 miles long and there is a miserable hill called Heartbreak Hill that a lot of people can't even ride up. I was dreading that! We left on Saturday after doing a bunch of errands and chores around our respective houses. It took us about about five hours to get here. We went to the hotel first. Let me just say that my friend made the reservations after our other friend who is doing The ride said to make one quick because rooms are going fast. She did no research. Checked out no online reviews. Just booked it. On the recommendation of a GUY! W got into the room and there was this yucky smell. The carpets are stained and gross. The internet doesn't work. And there was no coffee pot. I could live without coffee ( although I can certainly live with it!), but that was the last straw for Friend. We called the front desk and got put on hold while the guy went to look for one. He came back and said No Go. Really?, I said. Followed by long displeased pause. Then I had an idea. Are all the rooms booked, I asked. No, he said. Well, can you go look in one of those rooms and see if there is a coffe pot we can have? He said he had just thought of that himself! I complemented him on his brilliance and waited to hear from him. Eventually, there was a knock at the door and there he was with a beautiful coffee pot and extra coffee packets. Which is a good thing, because they were single serve. And we had now had a regular coffee pot. So we threw three or four of them in the pot this morning to see what would happen. And wouldn't you know it...some fairly respectable coffee came out!
Turns out, that was the least of our problems. We live in Alamogordo at 4200 ft. It has been HOT the last week. The wind kicks up in the afternoon, but it's HOT. S drive five hours north. Turns out, it's 7200 ft here. And COLD!! And guess who forgot to check a weather report before we left town? You guessed it. The Wonder Twins left home for a 7-8 hour OUTDOOR event without check the weather. Sooooo.....we are both REI members and we knew Santa Fe must have one, being as how they are really outdoorsy here. Yes!!! Smart phone to the rescue! We hoofed it up there spit spot to see if we could find some warm clothes. Now, I know what you are thinking (Jack). Yes, I DO have warm clothes at home. But there are a few things I have been wanting and this was the perfect occasion. And they were having a 20-30% off sale! Woohoooo!! I found the arm sleeves I wanted that keep the sun off ( and are warm when it's chilly), the leg warmers I wanted (perfect for those rides that start early when it's cold and go until its warm), some medium weight gloves (I have fingerless and heavy weight, but no medium weight), some wool socks, and a cute T-shirt. Ok, I didn't NEED that, per se, but it was on sale. And did I mention it was super cute? Friend found some stuff she "needed" and so we were set.
Then we went to dinner. We wanted Italian. You simply must have a pasta dinner before a long endurance event. We went to one place on a recommendation and it was not what we were were looking for. So we did a quick phone search ( how did people live before smart phones? I have no idea. Phone books??) so off we went, walking in search of the other restaurant. It was exactly what we were looking for. We had an amazing bottle of Malbec, some delicious bread dipped in different olive oils, and a lovely pile of linguine with some kind of sausage sauce. Delish! We came home to the crappy hotel and went to bed. I was supposed to set the alarm for 0545. Not sure what happened, but it went off at 0445. Friend went back to sleep. Of course, I couldn't. We got our stuff together and off to the race we went.... Wait, it's not a race. It's a ride. I did have to keep telling myself that over and over when Friend was a bit behind and I needed to wait. We were in this together and had said over and over that its a ride, not a race! Well, try telling that to my legs when they see people passing us! They don't like it! We arrived a little later than we wanted to, at about 0645. Ate a Delicious breakfast of blueberry pancakes with pine nuts in them, sausage and oj. Plus more coffee. Then we set out. Overall, the first 63 miles were pretty dang good. There two rest stops. We actually did a custom route. We knew that the wind was going to be bad and we wanted the option of only doing 80. So we started with the century route, then turned off at the point where the 50 mile circuit would turn. At the rest stop, We went clockwise backwards on the century route. At that last food stop, we decided things were looking good and we had plenty of energy and wanted to do the full 100. That involved a turn to the west. That's where the wind was coming from. Oh my goodness. We did 7 miles straight into the wind at about 8mph. Very difficult. But we knew the return trip would be worth it..and it was! I flew at about 30mph for a good part of it, passing people like crazy. Friend is not quite as fast and fell back some. I waited at the end of the 7 miles. That was the best part of the ride for me. We ate at a pit stop and then headed for home. 22 miles to go. We felt great. No problem, right? Wrong!! Holy crap. They were the 22 hardest miles of the day. Many of them uphill, most of them either into the wind or into a very strong crosswind that threatened to blow us off our bikes a few times. One time, I was down in my aerobars going about 24 mph down a hill and a crosswind got me and sent me sideways. Freaked me out a bit. It was mostly a long hard slog. 14 miles in, there was a rest stop and that helped a lot. We had enough in us to power through. With about two miles left to go, we missed a turn and ended up coming back a slightly different route and finished with 100.56 on the odometer. My hooha is killing me, my legs are pooped, and my back is a bit achy, but it was a great accomplishment. We finished in about 7.5 hours. Not bad for all the wind. After the ride, we had spaghetti with chili on top ( we thought it was meat sauce!), salad, Cornbread and a yummy brownie. And beer. Yum. But I was full I couldn't drink my whole beer. Bummer. It's not too often I throw a beer away ( actually, I cant remember the last time), but I did ditch about half of that one. What a shame. We came home and crashed. Friend was able to take a nice nap. I tried, but I don't nap well. We got ready and wore our cute new matching shirts to dinner. We looked like 14 year olds, but we didn't care. Had a delicious steak for dinner...mine was buffalo rib eye- yum! A nice glass of Malbec and now we are home and getting for lights out. I have to be at work for a meeting at 1030, so we'll be up at 0400 to get on the road. This was one of those events that we're glad we did, but we won't be signing up next year. CRoss that one off the bucket list!
Turns out, that was the least of our problems. We live in Alamogordo at 4200 ft. It has been HOT the last week. The wind kicks up in the afternoon, but it's HOT. S drive five hours north. Turns out, it's 7200 ft here. And COLD!! And guess who forgot to check a weather report before we left town? You guessed it. The Wonder Twins left home for a 7-8 hour OUTDOOR event without check the weather. Sooooo.....we are both REI members and we knew Santa Fe must have one, being as how they are really outdoorsy here. Yes!!! Smart phone to the rescue! We hoofed it up there spit spot to see if we could find some warm clothes. Now, I know what you are thinking (Jack). Yes, I DO have warm clothes at home. But there are a few things I have been wanting and this was the perfect occasion. And they were having a 20-30% off sale! Woohoooo!! I found the arm sleeves I wanted that keep the sun off ( and are warm when it's chilly), the leg warmers I wanted (perfect for those rides that start early when it's cold and go until its warm), some medium weight gloves (I have fingerless and heavy weight, but no medium weight), some wool socks, and a cute T-shirt. Ok, I didn't NEED that, per se, but it was on sale. And did I mention it was super cute? Friend found some stuff she "needed" and so we were set.
Then we went to dinner. We wanted Italian. You simply must have a pasta dinner before a long endurance event. We went to one place on a recommendation and it was not what we were were looking for. So we did a quick phone search ( how did people live before smart phones? I have no idea. Phone books??) so off we went, walking in search of the other restaurant. It was exactly what we were looking for. We had an amazing bottle of Malbec, some delicious bread dipped in different olive oils, and a lovely pile of linguine with some kind of sausage sauce. Delish! We came home to the crappy hotel and went to bed. I was supposed to set the alarm for 0545. Not sure what happened, but it went off at 0445. Friend went back to sleep. Of course, I couldn't. We got our stuff together and off to the race we went.... Wait, it's not a race. It's a ride. I did have to keep telling myself that over and over when Friend was a bit behind and I needed to wait. We were in this together and had said over and over that its a ride, not a race! Well, try telling that to my legs when they see people passing us! They don't like it! We arrived a little later than we wanted to, at about 0645. Ate a Delicious breakfast of blueberry pancakes with pine nuts in them, sausage and oj. Plus more coffee. Then we set out. Overall, the first 63 miles were pretty dang good. There two rest stops. We actually did a custom route. We knew that the wind was going to be bad and we wanted the option of only doing 80. So we started with the century route, then turned off at the point where the 50 mile circuit would turn. At the rest stop, We went clockwise backwards on the century route. At that last food stop, we decided things were looking good and we had plenty of energy and wanted to do the full 100. That involved a turn to the west. That's where the wind was coming from. Oh my goodness. We did 7 miles straight into the wind at about 8mph. Very difficult. But we knew the return trip would be worth it..and it was! I flew at about 30mph for a good part of it, passing people like crazy. Friend is not quite as fast and fell back some. I waited at the end of the 7 miles. That was the best part of the ride for me. We ate at a pit stop and then headed for home. 22 miles to go. We felt great. No problem, right? Wrong!! Holy crap. They were the 22 hardest miles of the day. Many of them uphill, most of them either into the wind or into a very strong crosswind that threatened to blow us off our bikes a few times. One time, I was down in my aerobars going about 24 mph down a hill and a crosswind got me and sent me sideways. Freaked me out a bit. It was mostly a long hard slog. 14 miles in, there was a rest stop and that helped a lot. We had enough in us to power through. With about two miles left to go, we missed a turn and ended up coming back a slightly different route and finished with 100.56 on the odometer. My hooha is killing me, my legs are pooped, and my back is a bit achy, but it was a great accomplishment. We finished in about 7.5 hours. Not bad for all the wind. After the ride, we had spaghetti with chili on top ( we thought it was meat sauce!), salad, Cornbread and a yummy brownie. And beer. Yum. But I was full I couldn't drink my whole beer. Bummer. It's not too often I throw a beer away ( actually, I cant remember the last time), but I did ditch about half of that one. What a shame. We came home and crashed. Friend was able to take a nice nap. I tried, but I don't nap well. We got ready and wore our cute new matching shirts to dinner. We looked like 14 year olds, but we didn't care. Had a delicious steak for dinner...mine was buffalo rib eye- yum! A nice glass of Malbec and now we are home and getting for lights out. I have to be at work for a meeting at 1030, so we'll be up at 0400 to get on the road. This was one of those events that we're glad we did, but we won't be signing up next year. CRoss that one off the bucket list!
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Bataan Death March Marathon
Several months ago I was looking for a marathon to do in March and I came across this one. I had actually thought about doing it last year, I had a conference to go too, so I couldn't do it last year. This year, I live only 45 miles up the road from where I take place at White Sands Missile Range, so I absolutely had to do it. I worked early hard training,but my
Lst really long run was a month ago and the I got bad sick. I had a horrible virus that turned into a sinus infection and an ear infection and ulcers in my throat. I ended up on antibiotics, and the last week I was on steroids because eustacean tube was still full and my ear was clogged. I got the all clear on a normal ear on Friday..yay! That unrealized to racing, I'm just happy my ear went back to normal. Anyway,because of the sickness, I did not train at all for a week, then my volume the following week was half what it was supposed to be. So I did not feel I was very well prepared for this marathon . And I was scared! Everyone kept talking about how horrible it is. How high the hills are. How deep the sand is. How bad my blisters would be.how many toenails I would lose. How I needed to carry extra socks, extra moleskin, extra this or that. Don't forget my sunscreen. All that stuff. I sled two people who had done it and they said it was really hard. It they hadn't run it. So.....my plan was to train for a marathon, read all the race information closely, and then be flexible with my day. My last marathon was five years ago in Tokyo. It did not go well at all. It was cold, rainy, and about 20 mph winds. I went out too fast and bonked at mile 18 and was utterly miserable after that. I had no plans to make that mistake again! So I trained hard And the official race info said that if you planning to run, then wear good running shoes. That was the only runner specific advice!
He weekend started on Saturday when you have to pick up your race packet. We planned it so that we would have time to meet the veterans of the actual march. Oh yeah....if you are young and don't know...the Bataan Death March took place in World War II. The Japanese captured about 80,000 army and navy troops and forced them To march 65 miles. Many hundreds of Americans died and thousands of Filipinos died. They were then transferred to Japan to work in slave camps and there they stayed until the end of the war. Many survivors come to the march and they make themselves available for questions The day before.
At the end of the check in, there was a man who had written a book. I bought one on the spot and asked him to sign it for me. There is even a photo of him inside the book that the Japanese took of him. In a room was a man who had been working in the copper mines about 40 miles from one of the bombs. He told about things they did to the guards, how he stole things, they weren't allowed to speak English at all, they had no medical care, And sometimes the man standing right next to him would be shot for spoken small infraction. He had no idea how he lived. After the war, they were sent to the Philippines for 30 days to fatten up before they were allowed to go home. He still weighed 85 pounds after that! It was very rewarding to meet them.
This morning, I was up at 0300 and drove the 45 miles or so to the Army post where it was held. I slathered all my sensitive areas and anywhere that might chafe with body glide, it some Vaseline in key areas, slathered a thick layer of SPF90, put on my Garmin And my road ID anew set off for the start. They had a speech and did a roll call where they called the names of the attendees and then all the names ( about 10) of those veterans who had died over the last year. It took about 45 min to get to the actual start line be cases my category was the last to go. I was civilian light..that means I could wear whatever I wanted. The other main categories are military light, which means they hAve to wear a uniform and military heavy, which means they have to wear a military uniform And a 35 pound pack. Holy cow! I am NOT doing that! There was a short version which was only 15 miles. At the end of the race, I was passing people who had walked the short one.
Once I got going, I was able to run the first six miles or so. I had seen the elevation profile (hint...always look for an elevation profile for pane race you are attempting! It will save you surprises). I knew there was a six mile hill starting at mile six and it was downhill with a few up hills from there. And then people talked about "the wall" and the "sand pit" which was supposed to be ankle deep sand. I got to the big hill and realized that it was A. long and B. steep and C. I wasn't getting up it any faster running than I was walking. So I basically did a speed walk up hill for six miles averaging 15 min miles. Running felt so good after that! I started running after that and pretty much ran the rest of the way except for a few short uphills. Things got ugly from about mile 23-25 when I had to start counting. It's bad when I have to count. I did those two miles by running 200 steps and walking 100, then repeat. Oh my. Then mile 26 is almost home. I never was exactly sure what the sands pit was...there was one area of maybe a half mile where the sAnd was pretty deep and I had to walk and I think that must be it. But it surely was not ankle deep! There were a few other areas that had deep sand where I had to walk. I think the wall must have been the last few miles that wrapped around base housing. I didn't make much of it, but on the last mile, a lady told me that this part was so ward because we had to go ALL THE WAY AROUND base housing. They had mile markers every mile and I had my Garmin. Made no difference to me if there was a wall or what I had to run around...I knew the distance. People let crazy things beat them down. The wind was pretty horrific for the last two hours, but they were mostly crosswinds. And since I wasn't on a bike, it didn't really matter! My goal was to finish in less than six hours. My last marathon was 5:12 and I was miserable. This one was 5:43 and I was not miserable. There were parts that were really hard, but I might not wait five years until I do my next one! After the run, I did do my usual lay down in relative agony and stretch. Then I waited for the first time ever for a post race massage. That was a brilliant idea! I think I'm going to schedule another one this week. I ate a brat and sauerkraut, drank a beer, and then drove home. Took a nice shower... I was filthy! I thought I had some bad tan lines, but it turns out I had mild tan lines and a lot of dirt. No burns. Been lying on the couch watching the tube ever since! After I get the pictures out of the phone, I'll post them on the blog.
Lst really long run was a month ago and the I got bad sick. I had a horrible virus that turned into a sinus infection and an ear infection and ulcers in my throat. I ended up on antibiotics, and the last week I was on steroids because eustacean tube was still full and my ear was clogged. I got the all clear on a normal ear on Friday..yay! That unrealized to racing, I'm just happy my ear went back to normal. Anyway,because of the sickness, I did not train at all for a week, then my volume the following week was half what it was supposed to be. So I did not feel I was very well prepared for this marathon . And I was scared! Everyone kept talking about how horrible it is. How high the hills are. How deep the sand is. How bad my blisters would be.how many toenails I would lose. How I needed to carry extra socks, extra moleskin, extra this or that. Don't forget my sunscreen. All that stuff. I sled two people who had done it and they said it was really hard. It they hadn't run it. So.....my plan was to train for a marathon, read all the race information closely, and then be flexible with my day. My last marathon was five years ago in Tokyo. It did not go well at all. It was cold, rainy, and about 20 mph winds. I went out too fast and bonked at mile 18 and was utterly miserable after that. I had no plans to make that mistake again! So I trained hard And the official race info said that if you planning to run, then wear good running shoes. That was the only runner specific advice!
He weekend started on Saturday when you have to pick up your race packet. We planned it so that we would have time to meet the veterans of the actual march. Oh yeah....if you are young and don't know...the Bataan Death March took place in World War II. The Japanese captured about 80,000 army and navy troops and forced them To march 65 miles. Many hundreds of Americans died and thousands of Filipinos died. They were then transferred to Japan to work in slave camps and there they stayed until the end of the war. Many survivors come to the march and they make themselves available for questions The day before.
At the end of the check in, there was a man who had written a book. I bought one on the spot and asked him to sign it for me. There is even a photo of him inside the book that the Japanese took of him. In a room was a man who had been working in the copper mines about 40 miles from one of the bombs. He told about things they did to the guards, how he stole things, they weren't allowed to speak English at all, they had no medical care, And sometimes the man standing right next to him would be shot for spoken small infraction. He had no idea how he lived. After the war, they were sent to the Philippines for 30 days to fatten up before they were allowed to go home. He still weighed 85 pounds after that! It was very rewarding to meet them.
This morning, I was up at 0300 and drove the 45 miles or so to the Army post where it was held. I slathered all my sensitive areas and anywhere that might chafe with body glide, it some Vaseline in key areas, slathered a thick layer of SPF90, put on my Garmin And my road ID anew set off for the start. They had a speech and did a roll call where they called the names of the attendees and then all the names ( about 10) of those veterans who had died over the last year. It took about 45 min to get to the actual start line be cases my category was the last to go. I was civilian light..that means I could wear whatever I wanted. The other main categories are military light, which means they hAve to wear a uniform and military heavy, which means they have to wear a military uniform And a 35 pound pack. Holy cow! I am NOT doing that! There was a short version which was only 15 miles. At the end of the race, I was passing people who had walked the short one.
Once I got going, I was able to run the first six miles or so. I had seen the elevation profile (hint...always look for an elevation profile for pane race you are attempting! It will save you surprises). I knew there was a six mile hill starting at mile six and it was downhill with a few up hills from there. And then people talked about "the wall" and the "sand pit" which was supposed to be ankle deep sand. I got to the big hill and realized that it was A. long and B. steep and C. I wasn't getting up it any faster running than I was walking. So I basically did a speed walk up hill for six miles averaging 15 min miles. Running felt so good after that! I started running after that and pretty much ran the rest of the way except for a few short uphills. Things got ugly from about mile 23-25 when I had to start counting. It's bad when I have to count. I did those two miles by running 200 steps and walking 100, then repeat. Oh my. Then mile 26 is almost home. I never was exactly sure what the sands pit was...there was one area of maybe a half mile where the sAnd was pretty deep and I had to walk and I think that must be it. But it surely was not ankle deep! There were a few other areas that had deep sand where I had to walk. I think the wall must have been the last few miles that wrapped around base housing. I didn't make much of it, but on the last mile, a lady told me that this part was so ward because we had to go ALL THE WAY AROUND base housing. They had mile markers every mile and I had my Garmin. Made no difference to me if there was a wall or what I had to run around...I knew the distance. People let crazy things beat them down. The wind was pretty horrific for the last two hours, but they were mostly crosswinds. And since I wasn't on a bike, it didn't really matter! My goal was to finish in less than six hours. My last marathon was 5:12 and I was miserable. This one was 5:43 and I was not miserable. There were parts that were really hard, but I might not wait five years until I do my next one! After the run, I did do my usual lay down in relative agony and stretch. Then I waited for the first time ever for a post race massage. That was a brilliant idea! I think I'm going to schedule another one this week. I ate a brat and sauerkraut, drank a beer, and then drove home. Took a nice shower... I was filthy! I thought I had some bad tan lines, but it turns out I had mild tan lines and a lot of dirt. No burns. Been lying on the couch watching the tube ever since! After I get the pictures out of the phone, I'll post them on the blog.
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