Sacramento Beer Week 5k PR

For the last 7 or so months I have been going to a once a week running club called Sloppy Moose! We do a 5k every week at a local brewery and then hang out and drink beer after! I have met some nice people, including a random guy who seems to be hanging on me a bit, but he seems nice enough!

This week I did a 5k race for Beer Week and I even PR'd! So exciting! The race people got a nice shot of me jumping too!

They ran out of shirts, so I got to wear my Oregon shirt, but I was totally okay with that anyway!

 And because I was wearing my Oregon shirt, I got randomly introduced to other Oregonians! Like this guy with this awesome tattoo! I loved it!

 Free with registration! Donuts and beer! YES!

 Also, funfetti cookies. Not so good for the waist line!

 There I am! Official time, 38:10!!!! The record still stands! So exciting!

Race Report: Beat the Blerch Half Marathon (My First!)

I finally did it, my first Half Marathon! I signed up for this thing months in advance because it sold out just hours after registration opened up- they even had to add extra days on the tour schedule because so many people tried to register. It was a little insane!

The night before the race, I picked up take out from Jack's Urban Eats and headed over to Daniel's to hang out. Urban fries (sweet potato fries covered in blue cheese dressing, blue cheese crumbles, spicy chili oil, red pepper flake and parsley!), mac n cheese and I think I might have had salad or something in there too. lol But I think my bottom line goal was to just have carbs. It was my excuse to eat badly after our crappy week and all of the junk food put me in an AWESOME mood and I felt great. I chowed down on the couch and did a little happy dance and Daniel just laughed at me. We hung out and talked and watched tv and cuddled a bit and then I headed home for a full nights rest before the race!

Saturday, November 14th I drove over to Raley Field in West Sacramento and lined up to the tunes of "Circle of Life" (yes, from the Lion King) and did my very first 13 mile run! I had basically stopped training for the race when Daniel and I started dating in September, so I was a wee nervous about how this was going to go, but I was still fairly optimistic because the course had an incredibly long time limit- something like 6 hours because there was also a full marathon also going on at the same time. I had picked this race specifically because it was a theme race and a fun run. All of the aid stations were stocked with nutella, birthday cake and "magical purple drink." The course also had couches for people to crash out on in case they wanted to quit! If the race hadn't been coming to Sacramento already, I would have flown to Washington where the race originated to take part in the main race. I did get to see the creator, the author of The Oatmeal when he was posing for pictures with people, which was fun and I got to take pictures with the Blerchs. (People in fat suits who chased us on the course route!)

Pre-Race Selfie!

 The Oatmeal!

These are BACON WRAPPED MARSHMALLOWS. (I passed...)

We ran a large portion of the course together, running alongside the river, crossing over Tower Bridge, weaving through Old Sacramento and Downtown and Midtown- I realized I was going to be running super close to Daniel's house and wished I had warned him so he could have come out and cheered for me! I ended up snapping him a picture of me waving at him instead as I passed nearby and we texted throughout the race. After I passed by his house (literally we live that close to each other) and then headed over into Discovery Park.

Waving Hi to my Sweetheart from a few blocks over, and yes, I was wearing fancy earrings. lol

My pace was pretty consistent, around 14 something minute miles, which was pretty great since I hadn't trained and was run-walking. I also had to take a few time outs because my sock rolled down pretty early on in the run and my heel started bleeding which stressed me immensely. I was able to find a first aid station though and got some band aids, although it was a pretty big bummer because my skin was sweaty and the band aids wouldn't stick. I tried to make due but my heels was pretty raw by the end.

Running through Discovery Park was the sketchiest part of the course and I for sure saw people having sex in the bushes along the river. I also very nearly saw a homeless fight start to break out going over one of the bridges, but it calmed down really quickly. This lady was telling this man to not mess with her, and I was thinking, yeah, I would not mess with you either!

After I got into double digital mileage I really started losing steam and sort of wanted to die a little. I started texting Daniel more and he was sending me encouragement and telling me I could do it, and I was so close! I stopped and took a bathroom break and accidentally stopped my time on my iPhone and lost about a .25 mile on the screen which about killed me! At the later aid stations I started getting a little more desperate and I switched from using my Gu and shot blocks to taking some of their birthday cake, and the electrolyte drink hoping it would help with my crashed out stores. I think it actually did help a little- probably the sugar, or maybe just having something different after all those miles of the same thing? I had never actually gone that far in training, not even close.

Coming into the finish was VERY exciting. We ran across Tower Bridge, down the street, behind Raley field and then finished ON the field. I smiled big like Runs for Cookies always says to do and got great pictures! I was very proud! I had really hoped Daniel would be in the stands waiting for me- I had hinted as such but we hadn't made actual plans to do so. So while I hadn't exactly expected it- I had hoped, and I was a little bummed I came into the stadium alone. It really made me miss my Oregon running friends A LOT after such a huge achievement.

 

 

 We got free downloads of all of our photos with our race registration but I never looked at them on a computer so this is all I have!

 

The food station was set up right at the finish, which I really appreciated because I didn't have to fight anybody for the food! I got potato chips and a banana and water and plopped into a seat to have a few bites of everything before hauling my butt up all the stairs to head out. I got pictures with a Blerch, and posed on one of the couches with a big jar of Nutella while I texted Daniel. He actually had come into West Sac to run some errands and was waiting for me over at my house, which was right near the stadium. So I headed out and met him back at home and he picked me up!

We went to In N Out for a celebratory lunch- burger for me, double-double for him, I think, and we both skipped fries and then ran around to some motorcycle shops a little further from town looking for a part to fix his bike from that accident back on Halloween. It was really fun to watch him nerd out with shop owners and listen to him talk about stuff he often knew more about that they did (he knew how to modify his bike to make other parts work on it) and one guy, the place he ended up ordering the part from said he must be on the online forums a lot and we both chuckled a bit. The nerding out was just cute to me and I said so. I wish we took a picture!

I was really sore and tired after the race so after shopping Daniel took me home and tucked me in and he went home to work on homework. Sunday we had plans to prep me for a (pretend) deposition he had at school. Busy weekend!

 

Not bad at all for my first time!!!!!!!! I'll have to come back to include my splits! But for my first time, without training, I am totally happy with my time. :)

The Hot Buttered Rum Run 12k (#14 of 14) Grief and Mourning

It was our very last race of 2014!!! November 30th, 2014 in Vancouver, Washington! The grand finale to all of my and Sarah's hard work all over the state of Oregon- we wrapped up our big adventures just over the border! I honestly didn't do much to train for this race other than walking the dog regularly, but I did finish the race!

 

The big stop in the middle was waiting outside the bathrooms for a lady I ended up bonding with. I promised to wait for her, and I did! It was very cold and by the end I was pretty much walking all of it (or it felt like it). I was just so cold and tired! And it was so windy!

 

 

This race was the Saturday after Thanksgiving. On the Thursday before, my friend Natalie who I had known since kindergarten, and who had lived around the corner from me all of my childhood- her mother died from brain cancer. I felt numb. I had messaged my parents on Wednesday night letting them known Sandy was going home on hospice if they wanted to go see her- the family was asking for visitors. But Natalie posted on Facebook Thursday morning that Sandy was already gone.

 

My best friend Kristin's dad Jerry had already died in August, and that had been so overwhelming I had just gone into "helper" mode. Another good friend whose mom died too young had helped me make goody bags to entertain all of the kids at the funeral so the grown ups could just focus on taking care of themselves, and I had just tried to pitch in and help wherever I could. Jerry always treated me like a spare kid- even added me and labeled me on Facebook as one of his children (a loving act I didn't feel I could acknowledge without upsetting my parents, but one that endeared me to him forever.) Sandy dying unleashed those feelings much more so. That was Thursday.

 

On Monday (before Thanksgiving) I had been at school talking with the program assistant in the office and said goodbye and walked out of the building to go home. My phone beeped with a text message from my friend Kristin, Jerry's daughter. It said, " Did you see Kelly Dorn died."

 

My brain talked to me like it was a separate entity from my body. I heard it say, "Do you want to go to your car and be in private when you react to this? Or do you want to go back into the office and be with people? You have about 20 seconds to get where you want to be, and then it will be too late."

 

I met Kelly Dorn in 7th grade. She was a really good friend. She was a fellow wedding photographer . She asked me to shoot her wedding actually (I was booked though; something I will always regret), and came to me for advice regularly. Kelly came to my birthday parties, was a confidante, and signed my year book every year. We sang in choir together, took craft classes and had dozens of mutual friends. Her best friend Barbara was another mutual friend. Kelly used to read this blog. Kelly knew all of my secrets.  

 

When Kelly delivered her daughter 4 years before her death she was diagnosed with a fatal heart condition (PPCM) Peri/Post Partum Cardiomyopathy. Her heart functioned like an old person's. With careful care and monitoring she could live awhile, but Kelly didn't have great coping mechanisms with the stressors in her life and probably shortened her life because of it. Her husband came home from a late shift at the hospital and she was gone. She had been home alone with their daughter at the time. It was the first night their daughter ever slept through the night without climbing in bed with mom and dad. Ever. Tender mercies.

 

The day I found out I stared at my phone for a second, and then turned around and ran back into the law school. I wanted to be with people. I didn't want to do this alone.

 

I burst back into the program assistant's office and said "My friend died. Close the door."

 

Another student was in the office- a student whose parents had passed away a few years ago and she reached over and closed the door. They both looked back at me wide eyed- horrified at my words.

 

Then I lost control.

I hyperventilated.

I sobbed.

I shook.

 They tried to put me in a chair or on the floor and tried to get me to slow down my breathing until I just started crying that everybody dies, and why does everybody have to die? 

 

I don't remember much about being there. I don't really remember anything else about the rest of the day. Sarah picked me up at home that night.

 

Saturday I ran Hot Buttered Run, and I ran it with this shirt I made.

The front said, "You are so dear to me." And the back said, "Jerry, Sandy, Kelly."

 

About halfway through the race a woman struck up a conversation with me about my shirt and I told her about all three of my friends who died, and we talked about them for the whole second half of the race. I cried off and on, but I finished.

 

And that's all that really was important about that day.

 

 

Pie in the Sky, Harvest Festival 5k (#13 of 14)

Race #13 of our 14 in 2014 Race Series. Time: 39:53

 We did this last 5k race up in Salem, near my mom's house in Silverton! It was a nice flat course and I felt great! The ony sucky part was doing that last 100 yards or so over grass- it was bumpy and uneven and I couldn't sprint to the finish because I was afraid of falling and twisting an ankle! It was dumb! We had told my mom where we were racing but she didn't realize until afterwards how close we were so she zipped over to say hi and we checked out the pie store. It was good to see her and fun!

 We also got a free handheld pie as part of our race package! Our favorite races are ones that have food!!!

 My "pie in the sky!"

Cosmos 7k Race Report (#12 of 14)

Race #12 of our 14 in 2014 Race Series. Time: 1:00:12

This race was all drama, and the course was definitely short, but I loved it. I flew back very early in the morning from a wedding in California, and because my flight was delayed, I had to drive straight from the airport 2.5-3 hours (no memory of how long it was anymore!) to Bend, Oregon. I was supposed to be able to go home to Eugene first, and then Sarah was supposed to drive, but my flight was so delayed I might not have made it. We decided to drive separately, and Sarah's boyfriend Mitch ended up driving her the two hours to Bend, dropping her off and going back home.

This was a night race, and all women. It was very cool. It was also extremely hilly, which drove me crazy. There's no way to PR if there's going to be that many elevation changes because I struggle to keep going just on the flat! The elevation changes were around 260 feet. That's alot! All of my splits were over 14 minutes. And according to my Garmin, the course was only 4 miles, instead of 4.25.

That said, this race came with FOUR mixed drinks, a commemorative glass, and a purple tech t-shirt, which is my favorite of all our race shirts. The party afterwards was very fun!

This race also had the best swag EVER. This is everything I brought home in my goodie bag or got at the after party. I would for sure do this again!

Like I said, this trip was full of drama though. In addition to the plane problem, and the separate cars and Sarah and Mitch running late, I ended up getting sick on the way home. We had a nice sit down dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Three Sisters and just about as soon as it was over I started panicking that I was going to throw up or "have to use the bathroom." We rushed to a gas station and I ended up both vomiting and having a quakey tummy. I was really car sick the whole way home too. It was gross. It was about this time I started having a sensitivity to tomatoes and raw tomatoes started making me throw up, almost instantly. It seems to have calmed down a bit now, but the last few months I have throw up each time I forgot and ate them- within like 5 minutes. I suspect it's some kind of an acid problem and I'm also having a ton of gas and belly aches from eating uncooked vegetables. I don't really understand where it's coming from but it seems to be getting better.