Sharpei'd!

Here I am finishing the Estes Park marathon, with lousy form, after suffering through the second half of yet another one of these things I said I wouldn't do until the second half of this year. I've already run 4 marathon-length races this year and haven't felt good at one of them.

Katy and I drove up together. We saw Wayne and his friend Al at the start. Al and Wayne are from New Jersey. Katy ended up running the whole marathon with Wayne. Al was close to me at times early in the race, but I slowed way down in the second half. Dennis drove up later and watched us all finish.

With Wayne's help, I invented a new word. Sharpei'd. Middle-aged male runners, I feel your pain. It's like getting chicked, except by someone older than you, with a lot of wrinkles. Wayne was celebrating his upcoming 50th birthday this week and said he's in a new age group, the Sharpei group. That's what I'll be in next, now that I'm halfway through the Geezer Lite age group.

I was probably in the top 5 women while my legs were still fresh, and then in the last 8 miles I got passed multiple times. My butt got sharpei'd. By a woman with WAY more wrinkles than I have!

Usuaully I feel great coming down from Devil's Gulch on the McGregor Ranch side of the final loop. This time I had nothing left, I was mostly walking. At one point I looked to my right as I heard another person flying past me, and all I could see were wrinkly arms. Old lady arms. Much older than mine. Passed me like I was standing still.

I love this run, I would do it anyway even if I ran nothing else during the year, it's close to home and the scenery can't be beat. I am an idiot for running it without my camera, but I was trying to run fast. I wanted to.

The truth is, I ran a great first half. I am not used to running fast for a long time, in long ultras I don't do that, and my recent training has consisted of only two 10 mile runs where I ran fast for that distance. I'm not surprised I pooped out after 15 in Estes. But I felt great until my legs died!
Wayne and Katy finishing on the track.

Coming up the last hill before the finish. I was running with a younger ultrarunner from Denver. She is not the one who Sharpei'd me. We finished together, so I guess by ultra standards, I sharpei'd her!

Sitting on the grass after we all finished, we talked about how getting old is not pretty, it's not for those who are weak or vain. Wrinkles, hairs that grow in places you didn't know could grow hair, increasing girth around your waist, gray hairs or hair falling out, slowing down, jiggling skin that you can see when you look down at your legs...DON'T LOOK DOWN!

Sitting on the grass afterwards, Wayne's tongue still hanging out, and he's not even in the Sharpei division yet!

Katy on the grass after the finish.