Wednesday, May 31, 2006

All the details fit to print

Yay! We all get medals! My sister and I at the finish line - I think the most exciting thing about finishing was the cookies at the end. What a _great_ race! I think, perhaps, that I was a little manic for the first 8 miles or so - my sister will tell you that she thought I was going to hurt myself, what with running circles around her, kicking rocks, elbowing her in the shoulder, and so on. Me, I was just excited to be running with my sister, to be finally doing it! As a refresher, the course map is here: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=169262. The "hill" at the turn around point was indeed a decent sized hill, and it followed the road, so it was inclined around the curves - made me feel like a mountain goat going up it. What it was not, however, was a problem. The meager training I did had more hills than the final course, which was to my benefit.

Race day was overcast and chilly, with occasional showers. It had been raining for several days beforehand, and the forecast called for rain on race day as well, with temperatures in the mid-40s. We hoped it would hold out until after the race, but that turned out to be wishful thinking. As we crossed the start line and headed out on our collective adventure, the rain began, and didn't really let up until the last two miles of the race. Fortunately, it was mostly the light misting type variety, which, while it still soaks you, does it in the most gentle and loving way possible. The temperature stayed in the high 40s - to my surprise, the combination of light rain and cool temperatures, along with the long sleeve Under Armour shirt that my sister got for me, actually made for a nice run.

The first 11 miles or so went well, and we were maintaining something close to a 10 minute mile. The last 2 miles, however, sucked - not too surprising, as this was consistent with my training runs. The final quarter mile really sucked, as we ran a circle around the finish line - you could mostly see, and definitely hear the finish for what seemed like an eternity. The cool thing about finishing, though, is that you cross over a chip reader just before the finish line, which allows the announcer to shout out your name and where you're from as you cross the finish line. So as I'm coming into home, he calls out "Chris Re-ah" (no one pronounces it right) "from Arlington......" long pause here "Virginia! You came a long way!". Apparently this is not a destination race after all :)

See the final results here: http://results.racecenter.com/2006/cdahm06.htm#orm. Scroll down to #261. My final time - 2 hours, 14 minutes, 4 seconds - a better time than my 12 mile long run the week before.

Final parting thoughts:

  • My sister kicks ass - she got me to sign up and hounded me through it all. Thanks Mel!
  • Orange Blast Gu - must be specially formulated to only taste kinda good after running 10 miles. But it works!
  • Walking back to the car we passed two people going the other way - they called out to us "hey - it's our pacers!" Apparently we were setting the pace for this couple on the last several miles - for some reason that made me happier than even finishing the race.
  • Hotel hot tubs are your friend
  • Mel is talking me into the Seattle 1/2 marathon at Thanksgiving...

Posted by Picasa

Crossing the finish line

And here I am, 2 hours, 14 minutes, 4 seconds later... Posted by Picasa

Pre-race

Sister and I, pre-race Posted by Picasa

Monday, May 22, 2006

12 miles down

Yesterday I had my 12 mile long run (course map here - http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=192948), which was a modified version of the previous week's 10 miler. This time I took a wider loop through Arlington, and continued through Georgetown, down through GW, and back across Memorial Bridge. Total elapsed time was 2 hours 15 minutes, which included a 5 minute potty break. A few additional observations - I finally got an UnderArmour shirt - and it really does make a difference! Although, still had some chaffing. I also really enjoy running this loop - plenty of neighborhoods, city, nature, the works. I feel "ready" for next weekend, which is a pretty cool feeling!

Friday, May 19, 2006

Dopplegangers

Have you ever Google'd yourself, with disappointing results? Apparently I have a checkered past, with the occational flash of good fortune. I've been indicted for conspiracy as the leader of an ectasy ring, face "numerous charges" for leading police on a three hour motorcycle chase, and narrowly survived a crash where a "friend" drove into a tree while drunk. On the other hand, I also won $100,000 in a lottery, and am a Euorpean guitar legend.

So, what have you been up to lately?

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Overheard...

Every now and again I get really weird hits from people doing searchs that stumble across this site - here's one for "when does the nose stop growing on a adolecent" - SEARCH - WEB SEARCH - Comcast.net. Now, ok, makes perfect sense if you're Geppetto. The best part is that "Can you swim?" is the third most relevent page :)

Monday, May 15, 2006

Gorilla feet!

Heh - this looks pretty fun, if not a little disturbing... I want a pair! - Vibramfivefingers

10 miles - _done_.

10 miles, 1 hour 56 minutes. Several things that surprised me during the run...

- Arlington is much smaller than I had even realized. And very diverse - I started running up Columbia Pike, which is in the beginning phases of revitalization/gentrification. Then across and through Walter Reed Drive, which turns into residential neighborhoods. At first they were more run down houses, and then transitioned into houses that have been upgraded/remodeled/expanded. Then hang a right at Clarendon, which is yuppie central - upscale, pricy condos, lots of people out for Mother's Day brunch. Down the hill to Rosslyn, a true city. Across Key Bridge to the edge of Georgetown - 5 miles! Turn around, savour the Rosslyn skyline and Potomac river. Hang a left at the exit off of 66, and head down the hill and pick up the river at Rosevelt Island. Detour over to the island and run 1 mile "off road" around the island, enjoying the nature preserve in the middle of the city. Exit the island, and back to the trail along the river for a mile or two, then back up the hill, past the Pentagon and Arlington Cemetary.

- At mile 7 as I was exiting the island, it occured to me that I can do this! What a cool feeling.

- Salt deposits on the face. Interesting...

- I stepped into the shower afterwards, and OMG! what's that burning on my chest?!?!?! My first run-in with chaffing I suppose :) Which raises a question - I've been running in a cotton t-shirt, which is soaked by mile 3, and is probably not the best material for running - what do you other runners run in? Any suggestions?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JKRUNNING!

What is it with May? Everyone go over to jkrunning - Just Keep Running, and wish jkrunning a very happy birthday!

Sunday, May 14, 2006

10 miles...

Today's long run, to be embarked upon in the next hour or so... http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=181007. Let's see what kind of impact staying up late all week and not getting any other short run in has on this endeavor.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAMER-GEEK!

Everyone now go over to gamer-geek and wish him a very happy birthday :)

Thursday, May 11, 2006

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEL!!!

Everyone should go over to to Adventures in Vet School and wish llamawrangler a very Happy Birthday! (I'm a very bad brother, her birthday was yesterday)

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Today

I just returned from today's "long run", which was 8.1 mile. It took me 1 hour 25 minutes, which is a respectible time for me. This also helped me conquer my fear of not being able to consume enough food in the morning to do a long run, which is reasuring. This week is tech week for a musical I'm working on, which means I go straight from work to the theater until midnight, then back up and do it all over again, so it will be challenging to get any real runs in during the week... next week's 1o mile long run might be interesting.

Coeur d'Alene 1/2 Marathon Details - CORRECTED

God I love this online pedometer. I've outlined the Coeur d'Alene half marathon course that I'll be running with my sister, Llamawrangler - http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=169262. The turn around point is not exact, so I'm missing about 0.3 miles somewhere in the coure I've outlined.

***note - I've corrected the course map link :)

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Tomorrow...

I submit for your approval, tomorrow's "long run"... It's a re-hash of the 8 miler I did about 3 months ago - it destroyed the arch in my left foot back then - clearly a sign of too much too soon. Hopefully the results will be different this time around. You can see the course here: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=143565.