Eat Drink Run Woman

While the calendar may have claimed summer ended a week ago, we continued to be blessed with some absolutely glorious weather.  Sure, the morning’s were a tad nippy, but the afternoons have been clear and cool — perfect for running.  That said, I knew it couldn’t last, and indeed today there’s a storm a brewin’.  I’m not quite ready to bring out my winter running clothes, but I did appreciate my long-sleeved tech tee during this morning’s run.  (Edit — I wrote the previous paragraph last night.  Tonight — to guard against the whipping wind and horizontal rain — I did indeed break out the long pants.  Summer’s over.)

As we watched the clouds come rolling in my darling commented how much he’ll miss this past summer.  While many folks think Seattle is all rain and gloom, those of us who live here know better.  Yes, we’ve had years where our summer was merely a week or two.  But this summer?  Couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Not surprisingly, we were running fools.  Here are some of the highlights:

Wild Thing Summer Fling
Marathons are serious affairs.  The word “fun” has no place when discussing the marathon.  Yeah, right.

Granted, only a Maniac could appreciate a race such as this — 10 loops around a 2.6-mile trail, each runner MUST wear a dress for at least the first loop (as well as red lipstick), then perform a designated task after each loop.  Runners not possessing a sense of humor or silliness need not apply.  This wasn’t my fastest marathon, but I know I had the most fun. I’ll let the pictures tell the tale:

New Orleans
While my trip to NOLA wasn’t running related (I was attending a personal chef conference), I did manage to get in a couple of short runs.  I really don’t see how southerners can do it — it felt like someone threw a wet blanket on me within minutes of starting my run.  (The first picture was taken at the start of my run, the second shows how drenched I got.  And this was after just 3 miles!)

Of course, I couldn’t go to Nawlins without experiencing the food.  From old school (Paul Prudhomme’s K-Paul, Emeril’s NOLA), to new (Susan Spicer’s Bayona, John Besh’s Luke), I savored it all.  And there was NO WAY I’d leave the city without some coffee and beignets at Cafe du Monde.

I was so inspired by my trip I had to share some of my culinary experiences with my darling (shrimp & grits):

Half & Half
In mid-July the brain trust behind the Marathon Maniacs decided to launch a sister organization: the Half Fanatics.  I wasn’t sure I’d sign up, but once I realized I could get a low membership number, I figured I’d go for it.  To help folks qualify, a fellow Maniac organized the Half & Half race — half marathons on August 8 and 15.  (Truth be told I finagled my way in before these races, thus allowing me to sport my new Half Fanatics shirt.  I’m #91).

Since I wanted to see if I still had some speed left in me, I raced day 1; while it wasn’t a PR, I was pleased with my 1:55 finish.  After the race my friend mentioned she was going to run the Port Gamble half the next day in order to become a Fanatic (she too wanted a low number); by joining her in that race I jumped to the “Jupiter” level of membership, thankfully bypassing “Uranus.”  Not surprisingly, I ran that race much slower, but had a ton of fun.  (An Adidas rep brought a keg of beer for the barbecue afterwards, and my darling, my friend and I proceeded to shut down the bar).  The following weekend was day 2 of the Half & Half, and again I took it slow, running it almost a half hour slower than day 1.

Hood-to-Coast
Thankfully the vertigo that plagued me last year was a no-show, however, I also wasn’t quite as fast this year.  I ran leg 12, which meant I would be the last runner in at Seaside.  I started my first leg at almost 11 p.m.; not a problem considering I’d be on a paved trail the entire way.  Or so I thought.  About a half mile into the race I came upon a Y; it looked like I was supposed to go to the left, so that’s what I did.  I then heard a couple of runners behind me so I figured I was fine.  But when I got to a parking lot of a condo complex, I got nervous.  Was I going the right way?  I asked another runner but got no answer (I couldn’t tell if he was wearing earphones or perhaps didn’t speak English).  Several of us got off course at that point; while it only ended up being about a quarter of a mile, it still pissed me off.  That said, I managed to run an average 8:34 pace for 6.61 miles.

My second leg was a flat 5-miler.  I felt pretty good throughout, although I pushed it as hard as I could.  I got passed by a couple of speedsters, yet I managed to catch one of them in the last mile (let’s hear it for endurance!)  I averaged an 8:19 pace for 4.93 miles.  Last up was leg #36; after a brief uphill we were rewarded with almost two miles of downhill into Seaside.  I was passed by two women from the get-go; one I passed on the downhill section, the second just before the finish line.  HA!  I averaged 8:12 on that leg, and the Femme Fatales came in 4th in women’s masters with a time of just over 27 hours.  (I’m already signed up for next year as well!)

Michelle’s Grande Ass Marathon
Another super-fun free race put on by a couple of fellow Maniacs, it winds through the streets of Puyallup and Tacoma, Washington, hitting several Starbucks along the way (they had tables set up outside with water).  While the days preceding the race were rainy, it appeared we’d be blessed with perfect running weather.  Unfortunately it wasn’t to be as the skies opened up just past the halfway point and we got completely drenched.  However, on the bright side the rain washed away much of the blood that ran down my leg after I biffed it along a busy section of highway.

Note to self: be sure to place the directions in a plastic bag next time.

IronGirl 10K
When several of my friends said they were signing up for the IronGirl 5K, I decided to join them.  But when I realized there was also a 10K option, I figured it would be a great opportunity to gauge my fitness level (I’m hoping to run a sub 4 at Portland this weekend).  So even though it was the day before the Skagit Flats Marathon, I signed up.

Unlike the previous weekend, the day promised to get toasty.  Since the race is held on the other side of Greenlake from where we lived, I ran/walked over to the start to get warmed up.  I chatted with my friends, then lined up with the 8 min/mile group.  There were approximately 1,800 runners — 1,300 for the 5K, 500 for the 10K — but fortunately the front of the pack wasn’t terribly crowded.  I ran sub 8-minute miles for the first two, but then the heat started getting to me and I slowed to an 8:07 for the third mile.  Since I hadn’t had much to drink that morning, I started to get somewhat dizzy, so I slowed to take in some water at mile 4 (it was my slowest mile at 8:17).  Then it was back to an 8:07 pace for the final miles to finish in 51:47 — not my best, but great considering I don’t do well in heat.

As we sat eating our breakfast parfaits they began the awards ceremony.  My darling had stationed himself on the other side of the lake to take pictures, so he had a pretty good idea of who the leaders were.  “I think you may have placed in your age group,” he says to me.  Could it be?  Sure enough — I won a MAJOR AWARD!  (Third in my age group).

Skagit Flats
I have a love/hate relationship with this race.  It’s very well organized (a fellow Maniac is the race director), and it was our qualifying race for the Marathon Maniacs last year.  It certainly lives up to its name — the “high” point in the race is just 70 feet — but I actually prefer some hills as they work different muscles.  While I knew I’d be running this as a training run, I had hoped to beat my 4:27 time from last year.  Alas, the heat had another plan and I melted in the latter miles, finishing in 4:42:59.

Tunnel Medal Marathon
Since the race director for the “Not” Tunnel Marathon had several medals left over, he figured it was a great excuse to hold another marathon on the course.  And with the inception of the Half Fanatics, he threw in a half marathon distance as well.  While I wasn’t planning on running this one all out, I figured I’d try to run it at my goal marathon race pace (9:10/mile).  It’s an up & back course, gaining 700 feet in elevation over 6 1/2 miles.  While I ran my first mile rather slow (9:25), I averaged about 9 minute miles for the rest.  I felt extremely good at the turn around, so I decided to kick up, running each mile at a sub 9-minute pace, finishing in 1:57.

So that brings us to today, the last day of September.  As previously mentioned, I’ll be running the Portland Marathon this coming Sunday (Portland, Ore.; the Portland, Maine marathon is also held Sunday).  Then it’s off to San Francisco for the Nike Women’s Marathon on Oct. 18 (my darling will be running it with me, assuming his ankle heals.  Yes, he rolled it again).  On October 31 we’ll be running what’s billed as the “toughest 12-hour race out there” — the Carkeek 12-hour.  It’s a 2-mile dirt trail loop with several steep sections; you run as many loops as you can in 12 hours (I’ll probably stop after hitting the marathon distance).

Happy running everyone!