Stopping to have dinner with another relay team. Mmm real food. And it's still warm. Heaven.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
At the finish
We finally got to see Dean Karnazes talk as he crossed the finish line in just under 48 hours for his solo relay run. Turns out he left at 4:30 on Friday to start the relay. Guess we know why he wasn't there to talk at six. Hmmm. Still, having run my 18.4 miles of they relay gives me a healthy respect for someone running the whole thing solo.
Humorous
Renee captured this shot of a guy running in costume. "do these shorts make my butt look muscular?"
Green Fever
Jim's last leg. So pretty. Although I'm kind of glad to now be enjoying it from the van in my sleeping bag.
And she's done
Done with my final leg down highway 9 through Boulder Creek and Ben Lomond. Kept myself distracted by thinking of all the crazy stories from the river sample sites in the area from my days at the Waterboard. (thanks for all the good memories Erin. I could almost smell the potstickers at the market). It was rough and i'm glad to be done. Despite the lies my Garmin told me on course I actually stayed on pace :) Maybe that's because its one of my favorite stretches of road, emerald green ferns and towering redwoods. Not a bad way to end the day. Did like the quote on the sign outside the Boulder Creek Community Church at mile 4 of my 6.3 leg "tough times never last but tough people do." True dat.
The hand-off technique gets a little sloppy when you've lost the baton in the middle of the night and the high five becomes more of a "yea! You're not dead" congratulations.
The sleep of ages
Finally got two of the most amazing hours of sleep. We stayed at the exchange of our previous set of legs. Thank you for your hospitality Cañada College. Your magical hot waters made me human again. I think on any other day that locker room would have creeped me out. But today it was the stuff of dreams. Dreams of unending hot water. It did take a full bottle of conditioner to tame my mane. Mike noticed in the middle of the night that straight is not its native state. In the sprinkling of rain my hair just got bigger and bigger.
We are now headed to the last exchange to relieve van one who have once again had to run in real rain. Funny that. Last set of legs to get us to the finish. Thank goodness for that. I was starting to think I was going to have to show a little leg to get on a Greyhound bus home.
A trip to the pain cave...
...with a headlamp and everything. I won't lie, that last leg was hard. 3 a.m., a little bit of rain, eucalyptus debris strewn all over 6.5 miles of road and legs of lead. At least I looked fast in my compression tights.
Fortunately for me, Mike joined me for a mile when I had to go down the dark bikepath to nowhere. What a gentleman.
Almost done with our van's second set of legs. Really looking forward to showers and a chance to rest.
Can you see me now?
Renee's handmade creation for late night running. We're awfully popular out on the course. Although someone did say we look like a cheap motel.
Renee's quote of the night is "the great thing about almost running is you're almost done." (waiting for the exchange)
Van two is up again
After two hours of lying in the darkness at the exchange, during which time none of us slept...instead spending most of the time thinking about how bad we needed to pee but trying not to wake up the others we didn't know weren't sleeping...we are back on the course for our second set of legs.
The fog is so thick we couldn't see the Golden Gate bridge eventhough we were standing just feet from it. And van one is finally getting their revenge as it's finally starting to rain on us.
Funny things we've seen written on vans:
-Will run for beer.
-It smells bad in here.
-Does this skirt make my butt look FAST?
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Compact parking only
Think the San Francisco police will tow us? I mean we almost fit.
On our way to eat for free at the USF cafeteria courtesy of Jim's daughter Janna. If we're good she might even let us sleep on her floor.
Slippery slope
Apparently Jeff's leg of 8.9 miles of climbing was a little muddy! Two more runners to go for van two then rest.
Runner 9
Just finished my first leg of the day. 5.6 miles and mostly dry. Only a slight misting :) I learned its better to go a little faster if that means you get company. I caught Jill about a mile and a half in. We decided having company made the whole thing more bearable. Turns out Jill is from the 'No (Fresno for all you non Central Valley types). This is her third relay and she also has four marathons under her belt. I don't think she learned as much about me, I was too busy breathing like a rhino (new phrase courtesy of my new buddy Jill). One down, two to go.
Road Wisdom
For those people that are responsible for designing public places (churches, hockey arenas, etc. ) a word of advice: if you plan for a men's bathroom with three stalls, put six in the women's. Better yet put twelve.
Consumerism
Q: What do you do when you're not the running van?
A: You go to Wal-Mart and buy all the things you forgot to pack. In our case towels and long sleeves.
And we're officially off!
Last minute interviews and Michelle is finally on the course. And just in case you were wondering...yes it's still raining. Sweetness!
Run Fast, Go S.L.O.
Messing around waiting for our nine a.m. start time. Someone should tell him we have real bib numbers.
Now we're all sitting in the vans trying to escape the rain as long as we can until the start. Apparently I wished against running in the heat a little too hard. Ooops.
Friday, May 1, 2009
False advertising
After an additional hour of driving and $30 a plate for dinner we found out the the guest speaker of evening, ultra-distance runner Dean "I never stop running" Karanzes wasn't speaking afterall. The hostess of the restaurant was kind enough to share that bit of info just AFTER we paid our bill. She did share that he had lunch there earlier. OoOoo.
Alright, I'm calling it a night. Last night in a real bed before the long haul in the van.
Beer is good
Renee gets her own post because I cut her out of the group photo (accidentally I swear!). She just joined us in Santa Rosa after flying "directly" from Houston this morning at 1 a.m. And "directly" means Houston to Phoenix, Phoenix to Seattle, Seattle to Santa Rosa. What dedication!
Can we get some bread over here? Pronto?
Dinner at the Calistoga Inn woo hoo! Last meal all together while we're all still clean.
Things I've learned so far...
1. Asking questions such as "Is this our exit?" are apparently unacceptable when you're the navigator. Fortunately the Australian GPS girl got us through. Phew!
2. It takes seven hours to get to Calistoga on a rainy Friday. (is it too early to have cabin fever?)
3. You know you work with computer geeks when driving options become binary. (I'd explain that if I knew what it meant).
4. I'm glad I didn't over-hydrate at lunch.
Yup its raining
We're on the road to Santa Rosa and have just hit our first rain in King City. Hopefully that's the last of it. Somehow I doubt it. Everyone is super chatty totalling up how many marathons the team has done. Sounds like there are 104 marathons among ten on the team (were starting the relay one short at eleven and I'm the only non marathoner on the team. That's how I tricked them into giving me the easy legs :) )
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