Here Comes The Sun Fat Ass Therapy Run

Yesterday I went to Arvada, a suburb of Denver, and ran the Here Comes the Sun Lake Arbor 12 hour and 9 minute Fat Ass. March 21 was the first day after spring equinox, and the time from sunrise to sunset was 12 hours and 9 minutes.

My goal was to stay on my feet the whole time, I didn't care how many miles I got. I didn't expect much.

My friends Marissa DeMercurio and Pete Kardassis held the Fat Ass gathering in a park, on a 1.15 mile walking path around Lake Arbor. It was mostly flat with a couple of small, almost imperceptible hills. The park has a view of Longs Peak and the Indian Peaks.

It was one of those perfect spring days, it was sunny and warm but there was enough of a breeze to cool things off without making it difficult to run in the wind.

Driving down from Fort Collins in the morning I got lost for about 10 minutes once I got into Westminster. It was dark so I couldn't see the mountains, and I ended up going in the opposite direction that I was supposed to go. I pulled over and realized I didn't have my reading glasses and I couldn't see my phone to look at the map. Last week I got my first pair of progressive lenses and now I can't see $&@#!

Finally I found Lake Arbor. It was dark and no one was there except for a lone figure with a headlamp in the dark unloading stuff from a car. I pulled over, put my window down, and said, "Marissa?".

I set up my table in the freezing cold and dark, placing my Peeps on sticks all around.

Soon more people started to show up, and my running buddy Dale Perry, aka Sasquatch, arrived. He set up his stuff next to mine in the Peep garden.

At 7:00 we started, about 15 people were there at the start. Every time we completed a lap, we would take a stone out of a big jar and place one in our own jar. The stones looked like marbles. At the end of the run we would count the marbles and see how many laps we did. My friend Cat always talks about how you keep track of your miles by dropping a marble every time, and whoever loses their marbles first, wins.

I started out super slow, walking a lot, with a little running here and there. I only ran 5 full laps by noon. Dale and I stuck together for a long time, walking and talking. My friend Connie, Marissa's mom, was there early in the day, and Eddie Metro showed up later for a few hours.

There were a few speedsters accumulating laps but by mid-day most of them had disappeared. A few people would come and go, do a few laps, and leave. After a while it seemed like there weren't many of us left. Pete was out there doing fast laps in between helping Marissa with the event, and as far as I could tell, Dale and I were pretty much the only ones left. The two old farts, Ratched and Sasquatch. photo credit: Vince Gerber

Our friend Vince Gerber showed up and did a few laps, I walked with Vince and Dale for a while and then I started to run more. Vince and Dale continued on together. Later on Matt and Anne Watts showed up, they saw the pictures I posted on Facebook and decided to check it out. Matt joined me for a couple of laps. And Danie, an old friend from Western State College, showed up and did a lap with me.

Early in the day I had my iPod and stuck it in my bra for a lap because I had nothing on me to anchor it. I forgot to bring my pack on that lap. By the time I got around the lake to get my pack, I pulled my iPod out, and it was all sweaty. Then the stupid thing wouldn't work. It would start and play for a few seconds, then shut off. I thought maybe it got too much moisture in it, and it might dry out. Later on it started working again, but it would cut out every so often. I finally got frustrated with it and grabbed my old MP3 player with all the trance music on it, and listened to that.

My legs felt slow and tired but not too bad. I've only run 120 miles so far this year, an average of 12 miles a week. I have done a lot of walking, though. I think that helped. I was surprised that I had as much energy as I did, and I actually did more running in the last 3 hours of the race than I did all day. My back didn't hurt, either, that was the other thing I was concerned about.

In the last hour Dale was sitting in the aid station talking with Matt, Anne, and Vince, and every time I went through they would give me a hard time. Vince ate the butts off my Peeps and left the buttless Peeps on the sticks.

Late in the afternoon Marissa joined me for a lap and she told me how many miles I had. I was already at 40 miles, which I never expected. I realized I had enough time, if I did a decent amount of running, to hit 50 miles. photo credit: Eddie Metro

As the laps progressed, I found the motivation to run a few minutes each lap, and it was enough to get me just over 50. I finished with 50.6 miles at about 12 hours and 2 minutes, not enough time to do another lap. I had time to take pictures of the sunset, too.

Pete took a picture of me with a bouquet of buttless Peeps at the end. Looks like the Peeps ran their asses off. Fat Ass runs are not competitive, but I had lost more marbles than anyone, so I guess I got the official "lost the most marbles" award. I got to keep my jar with the stones in it.

It was the most fun event I've attended in a long time. A day with lots of sunshine, running in circles, and the company of many friends. It doesn't get much better than that. Marissa and Pete did a great job. I hope they'll do it again. photo credit: Pete Kardassis

I love Fat Ass runs, no pressure, no big deal, you just show up and have fun. And I was really surprised I whipped out 50 miles without too much effort or discomfort. That was encouraging. Maybe, finally, I'll be motivated to lose the 12 extra pounds I'm still carrying and be more consistent with running now. photo credit: Pete Kardassis

I gave away most of my remaining Peeps with the intact butts to a group of kids who walked by on one of my last few laps.

I drove home, and Dennis went to Whole Foods and got a pizza, and brought home some Corona beer. It was awesome.

I'm not moving too bad this morning, not sore or stiff except my toes hurt. My shoes were pretty worn out, so that might explain it. Sometimes it takes a couple of days before I feel it. I have some interesting tan lines, a stripe around my ankles between the compression sleeves and my socks. And a farmers tan on top, raccoon eyes, and the beginning of my annual watch tan.

I feel "normal" again.

Hell YES!

It's official, spring has arrived. I saw little green leaves popping open and these flowers along the run yesterday. It's been warmer and windy, feels like it usually does this time of year. And tomorrow it could snow.

I had a little setback the other day. I was taking the girls to the vet for their annual checkup and Isabelle wouldn't get out of the car. She knew where she was. She sat there and trembled, dug her paws into the carpet in the back of my car, and refused to move.

I had to get her out of the car somehow, so I moved her slowly, a few inches at a time. She weighs 60 pounds, ten more pounds than Iris. When I finally scooted her to the edge of the back door, she dug in even more and resisted. I took her front paws and tried lowering them to the ground and then pushing her butt end out the door to follow. In the process, I strained my lower back and now the muscles on my right side are screaming.

I didn't realize it of course, and later I ran 10 miles and got in the hot tub at the end of the day. The hot tub was the wrong thing to do. That night, my back was screaming. I couldn't get comfortable on that one side. I iced a gazillion times yesterday and today, I am actually more sore today. But I was able to take the take the girls for a walk. I did something like this last year that involved picking up the girls, and it took a few days before it settled down. I rested and iced and then I was fine.

I'm not overly worried, even though I have a race coming up, I needed an easy week and had planned it anyway. Today I am uncomfortable in any position, sitting, walking, standing, and lying down, so I have just been doing my usual activities except I took today off from running.

Yesterday we played with Peeps. I pulled out the orange and yellow Peeps. I planned to make a peep wreath in the colors of the woman cave and hang it on the door. But it was a disaster. I should have stuck the peeps in the freezer so they wouldn't be so soft. They were a mess, and some of them ended up falling off the string so the girls got them anyway.

Now I have a sticky mess and orange and yellow sugar all over my desk in the woman cave.

I did have a productive day, even though I was uncomfortable in between icing my back, I got my business website updated. I have some forms to work on, and then I'll meet with the attorney, and I'll be ready to go.

I found myself on this first day of spring thinking about goals and running and other things. I was thinking about Across the Years and whether I want to run the 48 hour this year. I love the 48 hour event itself, but it seems like it takes me so long to recover, and I'm not sure I want to start off next year with a long recovery. I'm trying to get faster, and 48 hours is not a way to get faster. I can get stronger training for 48 hours, but I think I can also get stronger in other ways.

I am good at planting positive thoughts in my head and focusing on strengths when I need to. I know the importance of locking into my mental focus and building on positive cues. I also know that when I don't put my mind to something, it doesn't happen. One of the great things about Wheaties Boy is that he always reminds me that there are no excuses. Last week I was talking out of my butt about being 50 in regards to my 5K time, and he stopped me. "No way. Absolutely no excuse. That is not an excuse."

He was right. I was getting soft, being squirrelly. That attitude is not going to help me achieve any of my goals. Hell yes is the attitude I need to have.

I've decided to focus on 24 hours for now. I feel like I need to do what I can do with the speed I have. I'm curious to see how this weight loss will help me and I know that it's a long shot, but I think I'm still capable of running some of the ultra performances I did years ago. The 48 hour event will be there, and I can come back to it.

Friends help with this kind of thought process, too. I was e-mailing with my friend Nick today about something else, but we were talking about our respective aging processes and performances, and staying sharp. He's getting ready for Western States and he'll be turning 40 this year before race day. I told him what my dream goal is for 24 hours, and he sent me a simple reminder back.

He's absolutely right. Hell YES! That's what friends are for.

Pre-Peep Season and Marathon Man

The weather is still undecided about whether it wants to be spring. After hitting close to 70 degrees this afternoon, it cooled down and got windy. I don't care what the weather gods say, I'm moving forward.

I have two packages of Peeps in the woman cave, waiting to be opened. Iris and Isabelle found them and were sniffing the cellophane wrapping today as I worked out there.

Tomorrow we go to the vet for their annual checkup, vaccinations, heartworm test, check on Isabelle's arthritis and Iris's teeth, and then when we get home, I will open the Peeps. Hopefully that will be my redemption for taking them to the vet, which they hate. Isabelle usually trembles and hides behind my legs or under the chair the whole time, and Iris tries to protect her sister even though she's trembling herself.

So tomorrow I will have to come up with some form of Peep entertainment for the girls, to make everything okay again, post vet visit. I'm considering a Peep wreath this year. If I'd thought of it earlier, I could have found some green peeps and used them for today.

Sunday I had another great workout on the track, getting ready for Cornbelt. I need to get some time in on the track curves. I had the track mostly to myself except for the last hour. I did 20 miles in lane 2, running 8 laps and walking one lap, until I was done. I was surprised there weren't more people out there but I was thankful for it. When I first arrived, Crazy Backwards Running Lady was there, but she was about done with her workout, and she left soon after I started. Then a couple showed up, I see them at the track every time I'm there. They must walk there every day. They stay in the outer lanes and are always friendly.

I got going on my workout, starting out at a slow pace, about my 24 hour race pace, but running gradually faster with every 2 mile interval. By the last half I was running solidly and well under 9 minute pace. About 14 miles into my workout another runner showed up on the track. He looked like he was probably in his late 50s to 60 years old, looked like a former hard core runner, skinny body, legs without a trace of fat on them, gray hair and scruffy beard, wearing old, short (circa 1980s) running shorts and a late model Boston Marathon jacket.

Something about this guy told me he was really proud of that jacket. Maybe it was the way he avoided eye contact with me after I walked my 9th lap as he started his warmup, so he probably pegged me for a walker/potential nuisance jogger to get in the way of his sacred Yasso 800s, or who knows. I had my earbuds in place listening to hard core trance music. All I know is, I said hi to him as he jogged by me and he said nothing. Anyway, he had the look.

As he was doing his warmup laps with strides thrown in, I was back to my running, which by then was around 9 minute pace. I cruised past him easily when he slowed down between strides, but he passed me back, as soon as he got back to his warmup pace. I continued at my steady, trance-fueled pace dipping down into the 8:30s and finished my 2 mile interval, and it was getting warm, so I took off my fleece jacket I had been wearing all morning. I still had a good 4 1/2 miles to go. I got back on the track and did my walk lap, and launched into my next 2 mile interval.

I observed Marathon man as he did his intervals, he appeared to actually be doing 800s, and he was moving pretty good for a guy his age. Probably close to 6 minute pace. I kept on my steady pace, and a couple of times as he was recovering and catching his breath, walking backward on the track after finishing his intervals, I noticed him staring at me, as if he was trying to figure out what I was doing. I kept my game face on and pounded out the laps to my music.

I was on my last 2 mile interval and saw him staring at me again, then I realized he was trying to read my shirt. I was wearing my Oklahoma Ultrarunning tshirt from 24 the Hard Way from a couple of years ago underneath my old Across the Years fleece jacket that day. When I finished, I walked a last cooldown lap on the track before going home, he was finally able to read my shirt and that time, he made eye contact and gave me a nod, as if he had finally accepted my presence on the track, as a legitimate athlete doing a legitimate workout.

Who knows, I'm probably completely wrong with all of this but it sure was funny to watch his reaction and see his face when he read my shirt. I imagined him thinking, There really are people out there who can run longer than 26.2 miles. They really exist. I just saw one. And...some of them are middle-aged women with gray hair.

If I had been wearing my Team PearlIzumi workout attire that day, who knows what he might have done. Introduced himself? Said "Hi"? Bowed down and kissed my feet?

Back in the days when Dennis was still running competitively, it always blew me away, the geeky runners who would act like he was some kind of running god, they would approach him so carefully, like talking to him was a once in a lifetime privilege, for which they would gladly pay large sums of money, and if Dennis had said, "Kiss My Feet for I am a running god and you are beneath me" they would have puckered up and bent over.

The way they got all nervous, you would think Dennis was going to ask them for their running credentials before he'd give them the time of day. As if he'd say to his agent, "Tell them I only speak to people with a 10K PR under 32 minutes".

It was just an interesting observation of human behavior in the subculture of running. Dennis is the nicest most unassuming guy you'd ever meet, he'd be more likely to talk to the last place finisher than the guy who finished ahead of him or behind him, and he never even had an agent.

Anyway I just have to laugh at runners because I forget, the ultra world is so different, and then I get around some of the road racing world and it can be a whole different experience. Culture shock.

Well I hope marathon man runs his sub 3 hour marathon at Boston in April because that's about what his Yasso workout would predict. Even if he runs 3:30, it's impressive for an old geezer, I sure couldn't do it or come close.

But I hope he learned something, by sharing the track with me, watching me run 2 mile intervals with my eyes focused ahead of me, between the lines, running a steady pace for 3 hours, systematically clicking off the miles in my relaxed trance-like state.

Maybe when he's hurting in those final miles, he can flash back to that day on the track, and remember that there are some people out there who keep going beyond the finish line, and that 26.2 miles is just the warmup.

But since he didn't even say a word to me, I doubt he even considers it. Probably doesn't even cross his mind, and he probably doesn't even care.

But it kept me entertained. Whatever mental games it takes to get through multiple laps on the track.

Different world.

Spring: Everywhere But The Legs

It might be spring outside everywhere, but there is no spring in my legs, they are as stale as an old Peep.

Each week since I got back from Delano, I have made plans to run a certain number of miles and have ended up falling short, except for last week when I planned to do only 30 and that is exactly what I did.

I got out today and ran 11 after yesterday's 15. Yesterday morning I got excited, it was my work hangover day but I still felt pretty decent on my morning pre-nap run. My legs actually had a little energy in them. I was so pumped I texted Wheaties Boy to tell him. Not so fast. In my afternoon run, they were dead meat again.

This morning I took the girls running, it was just barely spitting raindrops. I finished out 6 miles on my own and then did some errands before meeting my friend Cat for an easy 5 mile lunchtime run. It rained pretty hard right before we started running, and then went back to light rain. It was good to catch up with her, we do our own types of races and rarely get to run together these days. We are planning an easy trail run later this week.

I must be feeling courageous to plan a trail run, since I haven't been on trails more than twice all winter and certainly haven't done anything resembling a hill. I'm thinking someone gave me a frontal lobotomy during the night and I wasn't aware of it. If a lobotomy would stop my hot flashes I probably would agree to it.

My new name could be "The Flasher". I have been constantly hot and cold all night, waking up in a sweat, and during the day, same thing. I'll be standing there at work and all of a sudden I am pouring sweat inside my scrubs. Fortunately they dry fast!

If I could do something about it, I would. There isn't much I feel comfortable doing. I don't need to take any more pharmaceutical products...and most of the herbal remedies out there are full of dangers to your liver function and who knows what else they do to your brain and kidneys and other organs.

I won't do hormones due to my sister's breast cancer history, and I'd rather have hot flashes than cancer, but this really is annoying. It's the lack of sleep that is hardest. If it didn't interrupt my sleep a gazillion times a night, I could be okay with it.

I've tried not drinking alcohol, and that doesn't help. Avoiding spicy foods doesn't help. Afternoon naps help, only because they help me make up for the sleep I lost during the night, they don't solve the thermoregulation issue. Everyone says that eventually it gets better, but for the several years while I have to endure this "personal summer" as my coworker Connie calls it, I'm going to be a B.I.T.C.H!

On the positive side, the anxiety attacks I was having a month or so ago seem to have left me alone lately. I don't know why that is, nothing has changed. But I'll take it.





Along the way on my run with the girls this morning, someone had lost a pack of cigarettes out in the street. I always like to think that came from someone who decided to quit smoking and threw their last pack of cigarettes out the window.




Another sign of spring: pesticide warning flags on front yards. Which reminds me, this summer we will be under watering restrictions in Fort Collins due to the drought, something that should have been implemented years ago, but hasn't been until now. It's kind of silly to expect to keep your lawn green, and I always hate seeing that people have applied pesticides to their yards, but at least the warning flags help me keep the girls away.


Xeriscaping would be a better way to go. We plan to slowly convert our yard to xeriscape over the next few years. Except I refuse to put in gravel like we had in Arizona. I hated those pink rocks all over the yard. I prefer something like wood chips, boulders, and wildflowers.

I am so looking forward to taking a break after Ohio. This was not a good idea, the way I stretched out this season to last so long. But I will give my best effort in Ohio and shoot for as many miles as possible. I have a strategy that I am going to try out, that worked well last year on the track in Iowa.

I'm modifying it based on the course, but it still calls for about 75% running, 25% walking in the first 12 hours. It will give me plenty of slack time for eating, drinking, using the bathroom, or whatever else I need to do. The second 12 hours plan will be modified to include less running but to stay on a strict pattern of long stretches of running, then some walking.

I find that once I start running, even when my legs are dead, it's easier to keep running than to try to do too many run/walk shift changes. It helps to talk to another runner who is running and keep my mind off my discomfort in the later hours.

I go back to work for a short 8 hour shift tomorrow, then afterwards is the Team PI party in Louisville. More about that, with pictures of all the cool gear, later this week!

A Few Peeps Out of Me...

Twenty-one miles in 3:17 with Wheaties Boy mostly on the bike paths, which are clear, but a few icy stretches to slow things down. It was 9 degrees when I left the house to run. By the time we were done it was 20 degrees. The wind never became an issue, which helped.

My legs were okay until about 15 miles, then the wheels came off and I really struggled to keep any decent turnover for the last few miles, I was driving my arms as hard as I could, trying to keep myself going, but it was pathetic. I think I'm still another week away from being recovered from Delano Park. Wow. It's taking a while.

NorthCoast will be here soon, and then we go into our mandatory no-vacation summer at work. I'm looking forward to the down time after NorthCoast, I'll get on the bike some, and use the month of May to recover and refresh my legs. Then I'll be spending the summer working on the basics, strength, hills, speed, and a little racing with my PI outfit on.

Sleep has been an issue, due to the waking up in a sweat several times a night. I'm trying to make sleep a priority because if I'm exhausted from not sleeping well, then nothing goes well. I have my share of stress right now and I don't need poor sleep to make things worse.

I just got off the phone talking with my stepmom for an hour. I needed to vent about all the changes at work and the stress it's causing. Healthcare reform has not addressed the problem of the profitmongers, and until our society decides it's had enough of profitmongering, we're all going to suffer.

I don't know what the tipping point will be.

Fun with Peeps

It was raining this afternoon so I spent some time in the woman cave. I was really tired today. I was motivated to go to the track this morning but after just 2 miles of warming up I was dragging my butt. There was no way these legs were doing anything fast, I could barely get through the warmup.

I thought maybe I needed some food, so I came home and ate something, but later when I took Iris out for a run, I could only get another 2 and a half miles in and I was dragging butt. Grand total of 5 miles for the day, way off the 20 I'd planned.

It's been nearly two weeks since Delano. I don't know if this is normal to feel tired for two weeks after a 12 hour run. Maybe, maybe not. I'll see what I can survive this week and that's all I can do.

It felt more like November than spring today, but late this afternoon it cleared up and now it's just cool and windy, but the sun is shining. Maybe tomorrow I can give it another shot at the track. Or wait a few more days.

It was fun to hang with the Buffs today. Iris is a peep snatcher.

Happy spring!

Delano Park 12 Hour Run: Yankee Princess Goes South

Birthday weekend. What better way to celebrate than to take off on a mini-adventure, run a new race, go to a place I've never been before, and see what happens.

I've been hearing about Delano Park 12 Hour Run for a while on the ultra list. I needed another 12 hour event this spring to prepare for my upcoming 24 hour run, and I'm also looking for more competitive races. This one seems to attract a lot of good runners, especially among the women, and I wanted a race with some competition.

I went into this to race intending to do well mileage-wise. Before the race I looked at the entrants and it looked like there were at least half a dozen women who could win the event, including me, so I was looking forward to being pushed, and if the situation unfolded well, the plan was "going for blood" at the end. I wanted to improve over my performance in Oklahoma City last fall, because I'm definitely more fit and faster than I was then. I told Wheaties Boy I was going for at least 65 miles this time.

The only way to get to Decatur, Alabama for a weekend was going to be flying. I like Southwest Airlines, and I found flights to Nashville but there was only one nonstop flight per day. There was no way in hell I was going to travel all day and change planes.

So I bit the bullet and booked the Thursday 6 am nonstop flight out of Denver, which meant I'd get into Nashville by 9:30 am but...I had to get up no later than 3 am in order to drive to Denver and catch my flight. I was flying to central time, so I'd have to be up earlier anyway for the race. It would be a good way to get my body on an earlier schedule.


So...I found myself up at the butt crack. Literally. Leaving Denver was one of those airport experiences you savor. It's the middle of the night, you're going through security, and you know how things get backed up while everyone is taking off their shoes and belts and placing them in the bins to go through the Xray machine? Well I was standing there waiting for the people ahead of me to do their thing. This HUGE guy in front of me bent over to take off his shoes, and I was standing a little too close to the slot canyon, and almost fell in! HELP!

Not the way I wanted to start my day. I was fresh out of quarters, too, couldn't even play slots. Then I was stuck sitting there waiting for the flight while the trash TV porn was blaring at the gate. That crap obesifies the brain!

Flying out of Denver the sky was beautiful at sunrise. I managed to grab this blurry picture of Pikes Peak, it was glowing pink.



The flight was quick, and I landed in Nashville, an easy airport to deal with. I picked up my rental car (Nissan Maxima, not easy for getting in and out of when stiff from race) and drove toward Franklin, where I'd found a hotel to chill out in for the night before driving to Alabama the next day. I purposely chose a comfortable suite so I could have peace and quiet, do my pre-race organization and shopping nearby, and generally avoid people. I always need my pre-race isolation ritual.


It was cold and overcast in Nashville, the weather had been gray, cold, and rainy lately, but by race day things were expected to get better. It looked like it might even be a little warm. I knew I'd have to be prepared for heat with lots of ice and I brought my ice bandana just in case, and would buy a cheap cooler. I was ready for any weather, rain, snow, cold, ice, or heat.

Having grown up as a young kid in Pennsylvania, I am definitely a Yankee. I talk like a Yankee, I have a Yankee attitude, and Yankee biases. I've been to the south several times before, but not too many small towns in the south. My stepmom is a southerner, and I am well aware of many southerner customs and characteristics, including southern hospitality.

My ear is well-trained for southern accents and drawls, having friends from Arkansas, Virginia, North Carolina, Texas, Louisiana, even New Orleans' unique accent. I had never been to Tennessee or Alabama before, so I wondered if I'd have any trouble understanding anyone. I expressed this to a friend from Texas who cautioned me not to say "you guys" because that could expose me, and some great advice from a former coworker from Alabama, who advised me: "Just say Roll Tide every once in a while and throw in a y'all here and there".

My Yankee prejudices regarding the south consisted of: lots of hugely obese people, lots of smokers, lots of churches, as it is the Bible Belt, and fried food everywhere. Getting off the plane and just walking to the rental car area, the fried food smell was quite overwhelming. Other than that I really didn't see more smokers or obese people than I see in Colorado. There were quite a few churches, neat little buildings with white steeples surrounded by huge parking lots.



I soon found out two things about Tennessee. First, there were runners, as evidenced by the "Running is cheaper than therapy" sticker. Second, they like donuts there.

I had heard in the past about Krispy Kreme donuts, when they first came west, and forgot about them. When I went into the grocery store in Franklin, I was amazed at the size of a donut display opposite the dairy case. I don't know why I noticed, I guess it was the number of boxes of donuts stacked on this freestanding shelf, it looked impressive. Then it struck me that they must be perishable. How many donuts would the store have to sell to justify making such a huge display of donuts? Could they really sell that many?



As it turned out, I came back to the same grocery store later in the day and discovered that the donut display had been decimated. Wow.

I spent the rest of the morning doing my pre-race shopping, I hit Publix, the supermarket, then Target, and back to Publix. I found some $3.99 foam coolers at Publix and a cheap folding table and chair at Target. Perfect. No need to spend lots of money on stuff I'd have to end up giving away after the race. I didn't need too much more stuff. I got a few drinks to keep in the cooler for variety, some yogurts, a case of water, a plastic container for my race table supplies, some wooden barbecue skewers, and some Peeps.

I had a plan.

I booked the hotel in a big suburban shopping area on purpose so it would be easy to find everything I needed before the race, I wasn't sure I'd be able to find everything I needed in Decatur. It was a good plan, and I got things done efficiently that morning, leaving me time to rest.

I soon realized it was feeling like naptime, but it was only 1 pm. I'd been up since 2 am Tennessee time. I went over to my hotel to see if I could check in early, and the guy at the front desk was awesome. So nice, and he called housekeeping to find out the status of my room. He told me it could be ready in another 30 minutes, and he'd call me when it was ready if I wanted. I decided to do a few more little errands and he did call me soon after that, and I checked in, and my room was perfect. I took a 3 hour nap.

When I woke up from my nap, my eyes were bright red, watery and itchy, and the tear ducts looked a little swollen. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I took out my contact lenses and wore my glasses for a while. I thought, Shit, what if I got pinkeye! Is the taperworm really THAT cruel?

I thought about it for a while. Traveling around who knows what kind of crap you can pick up in an airport or on the plane, they don't clean that stuff. I am good about not touching my eyes, nose, or mouth if I haven't washed my hands. But I was grossed out momentarily. After a while it seemed like my eyes were clearing, and there wasn't any yellow or green crap coming out. Was I allergic to something? It seemed to get better as the evening went on, so I forgot about it.

Later that evening I had almost everything organized and ready for race morning, all I had to do was drive to Alabama. I went out of the hotel to get something to eat. I stopped in an Italian restaurant to order something to go and while I was waiting, I stood up and crashed my leg into a bench. That hurt. It wasn't as bad as the bedpost lady crash, but it was enough to remind me that I wasn't free of the taperworm's reach.

Fortunately it hardly even showed a bruise, even by race day, and it didn't affect me. I was extra careful with furniture and lighting in the hotel rooms from that point on.

I got a good night's sleep at the hotel and the next morning I opened my window to look out over a bright, beautiful clear morning.


As I looked closer, it looked like there was some sort of traffic jam in the parking lot below. Tons of cars were turning into the driveway below the hotel and turning into...


the drive-through window of the Dunkin Donuts in front of the hotel!



I went downstairs to eat breakfast, they gave me a coupon for a free breakfast when I checked in, and I figured I should start packing the calories in. The waitress was about my age, and she had a thick drawl. "Where would you like to sit, sweetheart?"


Yes ma'am, I am in the south. She was very nice, so was everyone at the hotel. I went to get food and they had everything I would expect: eggs, bacon, biscuits, sausage gravy, grits, you name it. I got a little of everything. And it was good! It's a good thing I don't live in the south.

I sat there for a long time and enjoyed the food, then I checked out of my room and started to head south. It was about a 2 hour drive to Decatur, I wanted to have enough time to take pictures and stop along the way if I saw something interesting, and get there with enough time to check out the course and maybe take a nap before the pre-race dinner.






Driving down, Tennessee was very hilly with thick trees. Once I crossed into Alabama, it was a lot flatter and more open, looked more like swamp areas and open cotton fields. I saw cotton fields, and some old Plantation-style houses with little run-down shacks nearby. I also remembered that they like to get people for speeding in the south, and the second I crossed into Alabama, there was a state trooper car in the median, waiting. I stuck to the 70 mph speed limit.



Most of the trees were still leafless, but some of the underbrush was greening up. Every once in a while I'd pass some big beautiful leafed-out trees, the leaves reminded me of the rhododendrons we had in Pennsylvania, the leaves almost look like plastic, they are big and shiny. They weren't blooming yet. I wanted to know what those trees were. I wondered if they were magnolia trees, but I'd have to look it up later or ask someone.



After I crossed the state line there was a rest area with a tourist information center, so I pulled over and went inside. The woman inside was eager to talk to me, she wanted to know where I was from, why I was there, and so on. I didn't want to go into the details of ultrarunning and get going on explaining that, so I asked her questions instead. I asked her about the trees I'd seen. She told me it was some kind of pear.

I have a degree in Forestry and I knew it wasn't any kind of pear. No pear tree gets that big, even in a swamp. And pear trees don't have rubbery-looking leaves. I didn't argue with her, but I knew I'd have to ask someone else. She did tell me that everything is blooming right now, she pointed to some daffodils in a bed outside the building. Then she told me about how her daughter has such bad allergies this time of year. So that's what was wrong with my eyes the night before!

After that useful tidbit of information, I thanked her and walked outside, took a picture of this giant missile with the appropriately, serendipitously, and politically timed and placed headstone in front of it. The snark was racing through my mind.


I texted Dennis to let him know I'd arrived in Alabama and sent him this picture above with the text.


As I headed south on I-65, I became quite amused by the contrasting billboard placements nearby each other. In one case, there was a church almost directly underneath one of the sleazier billboards.







If you had a choice, would you spend eternity at the Boobie Bungalow? Or would you go the Strait (sic) & Narrow Way?







Then I crossed the Tennessee River, and on the other side was Decatur.



It was too early to check into the hotel, so I went over to Delano Park to check out the course. The town is pretty small, it was only about a mile from the hotel to the park.


It was a nice park, there was a nicely groomed and landscaped rose garden, that wasn't in bloom yet, and the trees were still leafless, but I thought it was beautiful even in winter.



The course looked like loose dirt, a lot softer surface than I had anticipated. I'd planned to wear my lighterweight Adrenalines, but immediately I changed my shoe choice back to my clunker Brooks Addictions. I haven't run enough on soft surfaces to trust the Adrenalines and I wasn't about to let race day be my first opportunity. It would be a gaiter and compression sleeve day.

It also looked like part of the course was under construction. I found out later that it had flooded and the city had filled it in. There was a 90 degree turn at the bottom of the course in an area where the dirt was uneven and soft, trail-like conditions in that little corner. It's a one mile loop, exactly.



There were bathrooms with real flush toilets, sinks, soap and paper towels. There was also a portapotty. I ate lunch in the park and checked out the course. There was one hill, broken up in two grades with a flat section between, and on the other side there was a nice downhill.

I found the church where the pre-race dinner was to be held, and scoped out a McDonald's for the morning just a few blocks from the park, and found where I could buy ice at 5 am. Then I headed for the hotel, the most tenuous part of the entire adventure...

Decatur's infamous hotel choices were already known to me before the event. I'd had lots of forewarnings. Two people had recommended the Holiday Inn, said it was the nicest place in town. Least likely to find creepy crawly things in bed with me, so they said.

When I drove up, the parking lot was jam packed with cars. It couldn't be the race, there's no way that little race would fill a hotel. When I got in the lobby I was hit with the strong greasy aroma of fried food again. There was some event going on, lots of people milling around in the lobby and restaurant. I couldn't tell what kind of gathering it was. The parking lot had a few seedy-looking characters in it, like an old redneck with no teeth smoking a cigarette, wearing a Roll Tide shirt...

The lobby looked worn and marginally clean. The front desk staff were nice and they got me checked in. They pointed me in the direction of my room. I passed through the lobby and a hallway that opened up into a huge recreation area, with video arcade games, foos-ball, and the indoor pool.

The musty smell of the indoor pool was what hit me as soon as I walked in there. I walked up a flight of stairs to the 2nd floor where my room was. There was no elevator in that part of the hotel, so I'd be dragging my stuff up and down the stairs. I found my room and stuck the key in to open the door. It was old, heavy, and rusty, and shut with a loud "clunk".

This room was also a suite, the front room was a living area and kitchen, and the back room was a bedroom and bathroom separated from the front by another heavy door. The carpets looked worn and nasty, the furniture didn't look much better, all the curtains were filthy-looking and the beds definitely bowed in the center. The bedroom and bathroom were actually pretty clean and well-lit. It was almost pleasant in there, if I didn't look too closely at anything.


I decided to take a shortcut back to the car to bring the rest of my junk up to the room. There was an outdoor stairwell with a little corridor that led to it. It looked like no one had cleaned it in years. The doors were almost fuzzy with fingerprints and some other streaky sludge, couldn't really see through the glass, the walls were stained, and the stairwell appeared to have pigeon shit in it, on the walls, on the floor, on the steps. Nasty.



I told myself, just for two nights, and as long as I stayed in the room, it would be okay.

I went back out and drove around town. There were cute little neighborhoods with big trees, and some industrial looking parts of town along the river. It was pretty spread out for such a small town. I thought about checking out the downtown area but I remembered I should be staying off my feet, so I went back to the room.

I hung out in the room, drank a lot of fluids, and finished organizing everything for the morning. I was way ahead of myself, there wasn't much to do so I sat on the bed with my feet up, tried to take a nap but didn't sleep, and then it was time to go to the pre-race dinner.

I had already eaten a lot of food prior to the dinner, but I grabbed a plate of pasta and salad. I saw Tammy Massie, whom I know from multiple races over the years, and her husband Tristan. I saw Liz Bauer, whom I've raced against at Across the Years, and favored to win Delano Park this time, and really, I didn't know anyone else. I was hoping to run into a few local people from the ultra list, but I figured I'd see them on race day. I sat with Tammy and Tristan and we talked Badwater, Tammy just found out she got in the race this year and she's very excited.

There was a lot of chatter about running and I tend to avoid that before a race. I don't like a lot of hype, stimulation and discussion the night before a race. It gets my head in the wrong place and I like to just forget about it all. I didn't stick around long, just put some food down, met a few people, socialized a little, got my race packet and took off.

I took a long shower, and I was tired by 8 pm. I called Dennis and we talked for a few minutes, and I was ready to sleep. I slept well and woke up a half hour before my alarm went off in the morning.

At 5 am I left the room and took the back way down the nasty stairwell to go to my car. It was still dark outside, but the stairwell itself was lighted.

When I was at the top of the stairs, something flew by, with a familiar chaotic flapping motion. I saw some kind of little pellet thing drop down and hit the ground. Bats!

So all that crap in the stairwell, that wasn't pigeon shit. It was bat shit! Holy Hospitality, Batman, I was staying at the Guano Motel!

I did my pre-race stops for ice and a McDonald's sandwich, and when I arrived at the park, people were setting up. I parked and set my table and chair up in between some canopies that the relay teams set up. I was next to a Crimson Tide canopy. Roll Tide!





I got all my stuff set up. It was just getting light. They sky looked partly cloudy and it was cool. It felt like perfect running weather. I took out my skewers and the package of Peeps and set up my area. The Peeps were a hit!

The race got started and we were off. I ran a lot in the first few hours with Tammy, who quizzed me on different aspects of preparing for Badwater. Tammy has run so many ultras that she really doesn't need to worry about the running part of it. She just needs to prepare for the heat and having a crew. Tammy was bundled up in layers, including windpants, she said she was cold. It was cold, but I was wearing shorts.

I finally met Heather from the ultra list. She's awesome! She's a local, from Huntsville, and an amazingly strong walker. She kicks butt. She wears colorful clothes, has purple hair and tattoos, and you can't miss her because she's the most colorful runner on the course. She was very excited to have her cute little grandson come out for part of the day. It's always fun to meet people you otherwise only "see" on e-mail or Facebook.

I was also hoping to meet a couple of other runners from the ultralist, they were out there but we never actually talked or met. I did meet so many nice people. There were some seasoned multiday runners like Fred Davis from Cleveland, who is quite the character. He's headed off to do a Sri Chinmoy 10 day race next month.

I met Di and Susan from Atlanta, who both placed first and second in the women's race, we shared lots of partial laps and walk breaks throughout the day. Di is fairly new to ultrarunning and she is very strong, she is going to do well. She won the women's race and got 66 miles, with Susan in second with 64 miles.

Liz Bauer was out there, too. She ran something like thirty 100 milers last year and she says she's injured and broken down, still she ran a strong race out there. She placed third behind Susan. Sounds like she needs more of a break to run the way she could.

I placed fourth among the women, with a mediocre 61 miles. I was disappointed in the number itself, but it definitely was one of those races that isn't your day. It wasn't a total disaster, but I wish I'd done a few things differently. Still, you need to race a lot in order to get to the good performances, they aren't all great.

For me, the race felt like three different days all smashed into one. The first 4 hours were cool and cloudy, I was actually cold, and it looked and felt like it might rain. The next four hours got very warm and sunny, probably about 70 degrees, and I started to struggle with the heat. I haven't been in the sauna in nearly a year, and haven't done any heat training at all since last summer. The last four hours, it got cloudier and cooled down some, and then the sun started going down.

Given my lack of warm weather training, as soon as I realized I was getting in trouble with the heat, I slapped some ice on my neck in a bandana, and it didn't take long before I got my body temperature back under control. I ran pretty hard the first 4 hours. Not fast, but the mistake I made was not enough walking breaks. I think that's the biggest mistake I made all day. Also, I am definitely a better asphalt runner than on dirt.

Hydration and electrolytes were perfect. I didn't swell, I didn't get a single blister, and I kept the calories going except for a brief time at midday when I was hot and feeling a little queasy. I stuck to yogurt during that time, and once that passed, PBJs and pepsi at the aid station kept me going. I did a few gels too.

I did slow down a lot in each third of the race. Again, more walking early on would have helped with that. I will keep that in mind at North Coast and be diligent about my walking. I made it to just under 24 miles in 4 hours, which was comfortable enough that I didn't feel the need to walk. The lessons will be repeated until they are learned.

I slowed progressively, with only about 44 miles at 8 hours during that middle section when it was so hot, and made it to 50 miles in 9:17, exactly a minute faster than Oklahoma City, but by that point I was hurting and had nothing left in my legs, by the last few laps I was averaging maybe 15 minute miles or worse. I kept my tunes on after my little bout with the heat, that helped me stay focused on moving.

I ended up as 4th woman and 10th overall, 61 miles. I just didn't have anything left at the end, most likely a result of the lack of walk breaks. It was about 7 hours into the race when I started feeling my legs deteriorating. I thought maybe I'd bounce back, but I never did.

I did have fun talking with people. There was one guy from Alabama named Murphy who was in his first ultra and he wanted to run his age of 44 years in miles, and he ended up with 45. He was thrilled. It's so fun to watch new runners in these events and see them amaze themselves when they reach their goals.

There were lots of relay runners flying by us all the time. I wish I'd been feeling better and would have been able to put it in that gear, some other day, I guess.

I also managed to find out what the mystery tree was, and it was a magnolia.

Liz looked like she was seriously competitive and running scared out there, I'm not sure what was going on or if she knew that Di was ahead by so many miles, but I saw Liz constantly looking over her shoulder even as early as 40 miles into the race. She even asked me at one point where I was, and I told her I was a mile behind her, that I had 39 and she had 40 at that point. I think she was hurting.

On one of our walk breaks together Susan told me not to judge the south by the motels. She asked me how my place was. She said their motel didn't have any hot water.

I'd heard all sorts of horror stories about other places in town with stains, odors, and live four, six, and eight legged companions in the rooms. Maybe the Guano Motel wasn't so bad after all.

The relay team guys at the canopy next to my table kept cheering me on. They'd say "Go Colorado!"

On the second to last lap, I was coming up over the hill and one of the guys in the race was next to me. We both had our heads down, focused on our suffering, when suddenly this car drove by on the street next to the park. There were three big dogs leaning out the windows on the passenger side, with their paws hanging out the windows, down on the door. At first I thought it was people with their arms out the window until the car got closer. It was the funniest thing, we laughed so hard. We needed that entertainment at that point in the race.

There are no partial laps counted so if you get to the finish line and can't do another full lap, you stop. I got there in 11:51:33 and I couldn't have run an 8:27 mile to save my life at that point. My last few laps were about double that time. So I stopped there with my 61 miles. I didn't even know my total until the post-race dinner because the timing system went down around 10 and a half hours into the race, and they needed to use the backup system to get the miles added together right.



It was getting dark and cold, I broke down all my stuff and loaded it into the car, the guys from the relay team took my chair and table for me, and Tristan helped me deal with the heavier stuff. I went over to the church for the dinner and awards, sat with Di and Susan and met a few other people, and that was it. It was short and sweet.

I went back to the Guano Motel and left most stuff in the car to deal with in the morning. I took a shower, called Dennis and then left Wheaties Boy a message, then I had to turn the clocks forward, I set my alarm just in case, as I had a 2 hour drive to Nashville before I returned the rental car and flew back. I drank a Corona, and crashed.

I woke up early again on Sunday morning. It was my birthday. I was 49 years old. I was in Alabama. I was alive. As they say, on the right side of the grass.

It was cloudy but warm as I drove back across the Tennessee River and up I-65 to Nashville. The sunrise was pretty over the swamps.



I stopped off at a Whole Foods and got some breakfast, I was hungry. Even Whole Foods has sausage gravy and grits in the south! I scarfed a huge breakfast, filled the car with gas and took it back to Hertz. Then I went into the airport. Security was really slow and there were screaming kids. I had plenty of time before my flight so I treated myself to a chair massage while I waited.

I actually slept a little on the flight home, which was quick. It was sunny and very little snow had fallen in Denver. I went from swamp to snow on my birthday, in just a few hours. I survived my trip to the south as a Yankee Princess, bat guano and all.




When I got home, I discovered the TSA had been in my stuff. Apparently they liked the smell of my dirty running clothes. Or maybe someone told them my birthday was the same day as Osama bin Laden's. Anyway, I didn't get detained or busted for my suspicious white powder-filled S-Cap capsules.

Six weeks to North Coast. I'm not going to sweat it, it's a training run, intended to be a learning opportunity in my quest to improve at 24 hours. Even though I didn't have the best performance at Delano Park, I know I'm onto something, and one of these days, I'll pop one out.

How would I rate this race? Awesome! It was a great little local event, low key, well done, no frills. Just perfect. The people make it fun. I don't know that I'd travel all that way just to do this particular race to race again, I wouldn't choose it for a race performance, it's definitely not my type of course that I do best on, but for some people it could be a fast course.

If I happened to be out that way, or caught a great deal on travel expenses, I would absolutely run it again! Everyone was so nice, the people at the race: the race directors, the volunteers, the runners, the spectators, are what make the event.

I would recommend this race to anyone and I feel it was worth the travel time and expense, if anyone from the west is looking for something different I'd say go do this one. It was my definition of fun. I can't think of a much better way to spend my birthday.

Speaking of birthdays, I feel pretty good today. I'm training to turn 50 now. I think I'll take the girls for a run...