F E B R U A R Y

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My way to “Just say NO” to potential  marathon blisters..an ounce of prevention was worth it :  )

FEBRUARY
Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
1	2	3	4 Pizza Nite 6:15 PM : ) AWARDS NITE!	5	6	7 FM           7:00 AM
8	9	10	11 Pizza Fac   6:15 PM run	12	13	14 FM 7:00 AM
15	16	17	18 Pizza Fac   6:15 PM run	19	20	21 SRP     7:30 AM
22 Dripping Springs:  8AM	23	24	25 Pizza Fac   6:15 PM run	26	27	28 FM 7:00 AM
1	2	3	4 Pizza NITE   6:15 PM	5	6	7 FM           7:00 AM

From Ingy:  Beth and I have arranged for a guest speaker at the 3/4/09 pizza night:

Dr. Alex Espinoza, the newest physician at the OUCH clinic, and an accomplished triathlete, is planning on running with us at 6:15 and then give a short talk during pizza. 

Legend:   Pizza Fac:  Pizza Factory                   

FM :           Farmer’s Market  (old town )           SRP:   Santa Rosa Plateau

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FEBRUARY MEMBERSHIP EXPIRATIONS (DUES DUE—-$40):     Mari Fuentes (Jones)     Victor Lopez     Monica Rigali     Kiki Burnick

 

FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS 5th—Darcy Hernandez 16th-Mari Fuentes (Jones) ————————– KEEP SCANNING DOWN FOR :  Herman at the  International Sports Festival,   PALM SPRINGS HALF   MARATHON AND 5   K DATA WITH GREAT PHOTOS – both located below DATA ON 22 FEB DRIPPING SPRINGS HIKE N JOG,   Wed night’s fun run data,   REDLANDS TRIATHLON,  DVL Marathon,  CARLSBAD HALF AND SURF CITY MARATHON DATA What’s not in yet – A slew of us had a really nice  time at dripping Springs, and i’ve got the photos to prove it … except I haven’t got the time right now  to do the write up/place the photos in here so for now  this will  have  to  do….the ’stranger’ is Roger, associate  of Eric, who bit off a speck more than he expected when this group ran the 7.25 miles to the top and down again…but note he hung tough and finished with them in just under 3 hrs.  We’re hoping he’s hooked and will join the club.  Uhhh, I hope I got   his name right : )   Most frequent comment I heard:  ”YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY, IAIN!!” Referring to the way he kept up with this league of speedsters, not just at Dripping Springs but also on the Wed night runs.  He must be eating his wheaties.

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  Photo’s of the new REDLINER  high tech shirts. Females: Note the fitted seam configuration to help makes us all look our best : )

Available colors: White, the grey shown, and “bright green”.  Ingy’s hoped for  price is $20. each, which is based on assumption 50 shirts are bought.  I’m guessing those of us present on Awards night signed up  for about 15 total.  See below for sales pitch about the shirts.  

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Below input is from Doug:

Climb to the Clouds

Ok maybe not the clouds but up high enough to see for miles and miles

Time: 8:00AM Sunday February 22nd.

Location: Dripping Springs Parking lot (DP is located about 1.5 miles east of the entrance to Vail Lake on the right hand side of the road (hwy 79 so.). Pay attention as its easy to pass.  Park on the right side as soon as you enter) This is only about 5 miles from Town.

Carpooling isnt a bad idea if convienient, as there is limited parking. Meeting at the Ralphs Center on 79 and Butterfield Stage Rd might be an option.

After you park you walk thru the camp ground on a paved road about a 1/4 mile to the trail head. Right at the trail head is a “normally” dry stream crossing.  But it may be wet this time of year so be prepared to take off your shoes and socks for a minute to cross it.  After that its a nice serpentine trail that never exceeds a 6% grade. This is a pretty easy climb for anyone that is in decent shape and thats probably everyone reading this.  The difficulty comes in the distance up you go.

Where Ground squirrels the world over vacation

All up the side of the mountain are beautiful vistas.  You can see all of Temecula/Murrieta.  You get great views of Vail lake and all the surounding mountains (provided its clear out)

Views that make Eagles jealous

Running shoes are appropriate as long as they have some lugs on the soles. Anything with a smooth bottom will be a “E” ticket ride on the sometimes loose sand.  

Check the weather but always be prepared and dress in layers as it can get much colder the higher up one goes. 

Bring water or electrolyte drinks appropriate to the time you’ll be out there.  For someone like myself the climb to the top ( about 7 miles or so) and back down takes about 4.5 hrs. For someone like Eric its about 27 minutes .  Of course not everyone will want to go that far.  Many people go up about 3 miles and turn around.  That may take about 2.5 hrs or so. If your running it could be appreciably faster.

 

If you dont feel like hiking/running to the top you can also just stop on the trail and have a snack and wait for the others to come back down or just head back down to the camp ground and snack there.

I wear long pants, gloves and a few layers on top. I take along my camelbak.  If its cold you might want something to keep the ears warm.

Might want to bring a camera.

If your last name is Parris you might want to bring along an EMT or at a minimum a first aid kit. 

Those of you who havent been here will be amazed that this place is in your backyard.

And theres no telling who you might find up there.

Ingy:  ”Not too shabby a spot even if I didn’t find  any change”

Any questions:  …..dgstephens26.2@netzero.com

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The 11th ANNUAL PALM SPRINGS HALF MARATHON AND 5K

 Photos and story courtesy of Dougie : )

 

THE HALF

Good race for some, not so great for others (me)  Yep I decided against racing, or more accurately my body said “Nope, not gonna happen, No Way, not this weeknend”.  Lower back went out again last week while lifting weights and to top it off Ive now got what I think is Sciatica. Ok, enough of my pity party….. So I just stood around and looked handsome while all my female friends… err club members, had fun racing. 

And quite a few friends were there on Sunday.  I had the pleasure of carpooling out there with Taimi.  Once there we ran into Beth and her good friend Bubbles err I mean Susan (We’ve got to get this woman in the club, she’s a riot. I understand her and her hubby are both serious Triathletes).  Boston Barb was out there as was Brigid.   Monica (lil’ mo’) and her husband Mark were there to run in the 5k.

Race started at 7AM which meant I needed to get up at 3:15AM.  Barb who stayed in Palm Springs/Desert the night before had the pleasure of sleeping in until 5AM!.  It was cold when we all arrived but it was dry.  It was about perfect weather for racing. Overcast and low 60’s I’d guess.  The women were all pondering over what to wear and they all had on a couple of layers. Just before race start they started peeling off their tops and tossing them to me. I felt like a rock star .

The race got started a few minutes after 7AM.  The course ran such that I was able to see the gals at the start, the one mile and the 3 mile marks. 

I did notice at mile 3 that Susan was no longer in the race. Apparently she had some shin splint problems and had to pull up just past the first mile marker.  Her Bubble burst and she was pretty sad.  Put Susan down in the DNF column next to me in the DNS column…..But for the rest of the gals it turned into a pretty good day. 

 

 Both Taimi and Barb really liked the course.  I’ve been trying to get the gals out to do this race the past couple of years.  I think they’ll be back. (Editor’s note:  Barb told me she’d definitely recommend this race to others and has placed it  on her ‘do it again’ list.)

There were 882 runners in the race and of that 423 were women.

Taimi was the first to cross the tape in 1:32:44. She was 1st in AG and 7th OAW.

Click on the link for a very short video: http://s18.photobucket.com/albums/b143/Trexx77/?action=view&current=2009PalmSpringsHalfMary002.flv

 

Brigid was next across.  At the 3 mile mark she was a bit ahead of Taimi but T caught her somewheres out on the course and put a few more minutes on her.  Brigid crossed the line in 1:38:15. I didnt know she even did long course running. She was 4th in her AG and 18th OAW.

Check out Brigids new compression tights: Shes on the outside- that’s her passing a gaggle of runners:

Beth was next up as she crossed the line at 1:45:29.  She was 13th AG (tough AG) and 40th OAW. Excellent considering she’d paced Susan thru that first mile. 

Boston had another GREAT Half Mary. Hot on Beths heels she turned in a 1:46:47. 2nd in AG and 44th OAW.

THE 5 K

Check out this photo of our very own Lil’ Mo’.  Look at her fly.  Notice the woman in the black. Look familiar? Thats Ceci St. Geme. 

 Ceci would go on to win the race for the women but Mo’ was in good company.  Mo’ crossed the line in 20:10. Just a tad off her elusive goal of 19:59. But she’s gettin’ close.  Mo’ would end up 3rd OAW and 1st AG.

Mo’s significant other Mark has come out of running retirement.  (He was telling me “yeah I’ve been training since the middle of January”)  Yeah thats like 3 weeks ago Mark, lol. Still the young speedster crossed the line in 23:18 and for his efforts he too took home hardware as he garnered a 3rd in his AG.

The awards were pretty cool. They used 4″ square white bathroom tiles and had on them the logo for the race and your finish position.  The tee shirts as always were top quality long sleeve “keepers”.  Nice finisher medals for all participants both 5k and Half.  Goody bag was a bit enemic and the only thing of note was a GU packet.   I didnt sample the post race food (except for a water and some cooookies Taimi snagged for me) but it looked to be the normal fair. 

Results are posted and can be found at http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventID=1610903&pubID=3

Thanx Doug for the write up and better yet for the pics. It’s good to know you at least got a nice shirt and had a nice time out there thus the race entrance fee wasn’t a total loss. 

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  INTERNATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL

HERMAN C.  made the Redliners proud at the Palm Desert International sports festival earlier this month.  This festival has a Master’s division in each of a wide variety of track and field events.  Herman took home the gold in his golden age group in both the 400 meter and the 800 meter sprints.  His 400 meter time was a blitzing 1.06.53….uh, for all we longer distance types who are use to 3 sets of numbers representing hrs,  minutes and seconds, switch your brain into sprint mode and think minutes, seconds and hundredths.  Yeah, Wow.  Equally impressive, he finished his 800 sprint in 3.05.03.  I can see all those furrowed fellow Redliner brows right now wondering how someone who’s 60 can get their bodies to explode off starting blocks that fast, maintain the speed, and cross the finish line without pulling every leg muscle and tendon out of whack for a year.  Don’t ask me how he does it.  It must be a  Herman secret. Good going Herman!

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 WED NIGHT RUN:

A slew of Redliners braved the cold and came out for Wed.’s  night run.    Couple of things came out as we jabbered after the run:  One is that I made a mistake (Don’t everyone gasp at once) ref. Iain and  the Ingy Killer Quiz. I said he won nothing for his knowledge. I must have zoned out for a moment because he actually got a $50. gift  certificate which, per Iain, “Was the best  prize of the entire evening.”   Second, Steve A.,  for reason known only to  himself, ran up Dripping Springs at 3:30 PM on Tuesday and re found his car huddled up in the cold and dark at 6:30 PM.  He said it was both exciting and beautiful up there due to about 2 inches of snow that covered the path from about mile 5 to mile 7, and that ice cycles dressed the bushes at that elevation.  (He would  have  been happier if they hadn’t splatted wetly against his clothing en route down, in the dusk and dark).  He suggests that some time when snow hits again, some Redliners might want to bundle up and head up there to enjoy the (BRRRRR) beauty. Third, we have a fairly new member named Greg Tolle thats interested in mt biking around DVL at some point in the future when it’s nice out so stay tuned for that.  4th:  Ingy’s pushing the new T shirts -recommending those doing the Ragner Relay race sign up to BUY BUY BUY them and remember Christmas is only uh, you know, a certain number of days away and wouldn’t it be nice to already have some of your Christmas shopping done by mid Feb??  Oh, and remember Halloween’s just (kind of) around a few more corners and think what a motivational costume running attire  will  make for that slender nephew or niece or maybe you can get  one as a humorous costume for any not so running oriented friends or family members you know.  Anyway, the scoop is order them now so Ingy knows what sizes to order.

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WED NIGHT AWARDS MEETING:

  WED night a slew  of Redliners showed up for the annual awards  Cake N pizza  N’  Killer Quiz fun.  Notice the cake   got  first mention there.  Shows  my priorities!  A few redliners actually ran that   night too but I think I saw  more  beer drinkers than runners. 

   The business end of the night:

1.   Victor passed around our new high tech future Redliner T’s and everyone got a chance to sign up for size and choice of white, grey or “bright green” .  The shirts will hopefully be 20 biscuits each but Ingy’s gotta sell  50 of them for that price  to   work so if anybody hasn’t bought one yet who wants one, contact him ASAP.  You can also  bring in your own shirt and for about $7., just have the Redliners  new  motiff screened onto your shirt.  Coming  here soon hopefully:  Photo  of the shirt/motif.

2.  Other business:  Doug’s planning on making his way up Dripping Springs, all the way UP  which = about 7. 3 or so miles  on 22 Feb (Sunday) and he’s  invited us all to join him.  Lots  of Redliners acted interested, some hikers, some joggers, some runners.  Keep your eyes peeled to   this web site for a time announcement for that day.  This will be the day after the SRP run and there don’t seem to  be many races that weekend.

FUN STUFF:

1.    Once again Iain  took the quiz prize.   Oh, wait  there   is  no   prize.  But he’s  got  braggin’   rights for  the second year in a row.  He  got 7.5 answers correct and PATTTTTT  H.   …..where are you to  give this guy some competition!!!!  But Doug took the prize for  guessing closest to how much money Ingy found through out the year ($ 67.55).  Doug’s secret:  He’s with Ingy a lot when Ingy finds it.  Noticed  who gets to the money first every time though.  Note to Doug: When Ingy points behind him and says, “Hey look, CUTEEEE girl!!”,….   Doug,   ya gotta quit lookin’ back….ya need to put your eyes to the ground and look for  somethin’ shiny!

2.   Beth did her usual superb job as cake  baker, awards buyer (maker?),  awards presenter and general MC of the night. Hey gang, I think we  need to see  she gets something for her part next year since she’s doing such a fine job insuring we all  get very nice awards.  And a great cake.  And she keeps track of those fun little points we  all  rake up.   My dog’s are also  now in love with her even though they’ve never met her -for those who didn’t hear my yell of delight,  she  got   me/my critters 3   pounds of chicken jerky specially made  for  very good dogs,which of course   mine are.  That’s for  my Newsletter stuff : )

3.   Doug who had said not  kind things about the Diamond Valley Marathon medal and shirt got a marathon medal with enough zinggg to be seen from half a mile away.  Who was it who told him he needs to wear  it during his next marathon??  Make a hole through the middle  of his chest probably.  And the T shirt with it’s flaming skull and “death trudge” statement probably met his high standards of what a shirt should be.   For his newsletter hours of frustration before I took over, Beth got him a very nice jersey top.  Long sleeved so he finally has a layer of material to cover up his  arm bones on cold days : )

4.  I know Ingy got something from Beth as club pres but Ingy hasn’t shared what it was yet…..maybe a change counter???

AS for the point awards:

1.  Eric (for the second year in a row) got the Runner of the Year award for  most points,  or at least  most points reported since some folks still apparently aren’t reporting them.  Asked his secret, Eric said:  ” It’s gotta be the clothes”  Oh, and part two: “When ya get  injured, ignor it”  Please tell  me he wasn’t a doctor in his past  life.   (Did everyone out there know he makes and sells running tights/attire  on line?  Yes, you too may be able to run like he does according to his above statement,  just buy his home made attire : )…..and then run a couple thousand miles.       A month.

2.  Ingy took second place,  points wise, barely edging out Maurice who pulled in 3rd.   I noticed no one asked Ingy his secret to second or to finding so much money.  As for Maurice, maybe shooting for beating Ingy in the ‘finding change’ department might be more fun than the points bit. 

3. Kim  P.  and then Taimi took the next 2 places, getting those gorgeous winged shoe trophies -as if either of them need (more?) wings on their feet.

4.  Jane took home the prize for the person who participated the most in Trotter/now Redliner  specifics -I think that means club runs,  shirt wearing, yelling “GO GO GO”  and “BEAT INGY to the change!!!”

5.  Another new prize came about this year with the increased number of us doing triathlons.  This award went to Kim P. for doing the most or getting the most points for doing (I’m not sure which) tri’s.  I guess this proves to all  of us but her  maybe that she really can swim after all despite what she seems to think.

Thanx again to Beth for ‘Running’ a fun evening and to Ingy for his continued leadership…oh, and you thought I wasn’t going to mention his special badge to Victor, huh.    Well, move over John Wayne, there’s a new sheriff in town and it’s Victor.  So now when Ingy raps for everyone’s attn on meeting nights,  he’s  got himself an enforcer!!

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REDLANDS  TRIATHLON

Thinking outside the box:  Using a bike as an umbrella??

 Doug,  Brigid, Dan, Victor L. and Kim’s friend Polly formed a school of fish and swam through the Redland’s Sprint distance tri  on Sunday.  Doug  may be fishier than the others since  he confessed to liking not just the race but the rain also.  Ingy, who was also  present,  figured why get wet in the pool when one can do  it running so he did the 5k run and skipped the tri experience for the day. In fact, this was his 10th year of doing just that.
      At 8AM the gun went off,  and so did they.  Splish Splash Splish.  Ingy splished himself into first in age for the 5 K with his 27.05 time which was something like 16 minutes faster than his fellow age grouper 2nd place person.
      After he quit the splish splash part, he and Kim P. formed a rooting section and cheered the rest of the Redliners and Polly on.  Dan led the Redliner group during the bike while Brigid and Polly played ‘pen the tail on the bike’ with each other for the entire ride.  About the time speedsters  Brigid, Polly  and Dan were nearing T-2 and Doug and Victor still had 1/3rd of the bike to  go, God decided to end the drought and the sky poured forth with rain. Doug and Victor both got a very nice (?) pre-wash cycle to prepare them for the swim.  
          As Doug and Victor got pre-washed, Dan zipped through T-2 then into and out of the pool  fast enough to take 2nd in age and 8th overall with a time of 50.45.  Of the gal’s,  Brigid hit T-2 first having gained a bit on Polly near the bike’s end but when Polly hit T-2, she donned wings, flew through T-2, passing Brigid, barracuda’ed the  swim, and ended up taking first overall female with a 53.26.    Brigid came in second overall  female less than 1 minute later. Listen up here gals, the 3rd place female was a mere 10 seconds back and she’s 51 years young. Now that’s flying for my age group!
        Now with the top Redliners  off the field, Doug and Victor hit T-2.  Maybe not in that order.  I’m not sure.  Doug, who doesn’t do barefoot real well  under ideal conditions, decided to try something new.  At T-2 he put  on thongs for the race to the pool.  Anyone out there ever tried to run in thongs?   (Did I just hear Eric say, “Yes”?) Even on dry ground it ain’t easy. (Unless maybe you’re Eric).  Now these thongs of course were as wet as slug snot and twice as slippery.  When Doug added his not dry feet into the mix, his feet slipped and slid their way around on the thong’s surface as he tried to trot to the pool.  Note the word ‘tried’.  Thus Doug did not set a new 100 yard dash record getting to the pool.  So by the time Doug entered the pool, Victor was already reaching for a towel to dry off with. His finishing time: 1.04.12.   Doug took the plunge and ended up   finishing in 1.09.34, about 5 minutes slower than his time during last years fair weather race.  The one without the slippery thongs.
            After everyone got toweled  off and awards were handed out about a century later (the only bad side of the race, unless you did the duathlon and were one of those who got lost on the 2nd run course), the race director made a special announcement for Ingy to come forward.  He did..and to his surprise got presented with a very nice engraved plaque for having done the 5 K race for each of the 10 years it’s been held : )  !!
      It says something about a race when a group of people can go out during not perfect weather and still have an enjoyable experience, which is what seems to happen at Redlands year after year. Who  knows, maybe it’s the water!

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MERRY TALES OF ‘MARY’ TRAILS:  THE DIAMOND VALLEY LAKE MARATHON:

Photo’s by Glen : )

The gaggle prepares to play

OVER VIEW:  Cool misty day on predominantly perfectly packed mostly flat dirt roads interspersed with several long paved dams. Eagle at the 12 mile point with 10 X vision watched we 135 finishers: 96 males and 39 females. Average finishing time: 4.31.19   Fastest male: our very own Thomas Beyer in 2.43.50 Fastest female:  3.15.03.

Why is it easier to smile before a marathon then right after one?? You’d think it would be other way ’round.

I’ll write this by answering all those teaser questions I listed in the Jan. newsletter:

 ‘No’… Eric’s running cap’s propeller didn’t take off without him….it spent the entire race just trying to keep up with the Jester’s  lickity split pace that ultimately saw him take 7^th over all and 1^st in age with a time of 3.14.35.

Runner A to Runner B: ” I think ‘Scotty’ just beamed somethin’ down instead of somethin’ up”

       Eric’s reaction to his time:  “Uh.., it wasn’t uh…,  as fast as uh.., last year”.  Right-o. Mr Survivor Man Eric then went out later that same 24 hrs and topped off his marathon with something like 8 more miles.  THEN… Encore Performance:  He skipped thru yonder hills for another 24 Monday.  Yeah, that’s miles, not kilometers. What planet did this guy beam down from??  I asked him if he felt as wiped out as most of us earthlings do at marathon’s end and he actually said he thought so, he just recovers faster.  No kidding.

When Eric flashed me a thumbs up as he flashed by me at around my 1.7 mile point (his 2.5 or something), what I didn’t know is that Trotter, make that Galloper now turned Redliner Thomas Beyer, who I haven’t seen in ages, had already blitzed by me in route to taking over all first with his 2:43.50 time.  Per the race web site, he took first in the marathon back in 2002 also : )

Thomas:  ”I forgot how EZ these things are minus the swim N the bike!”

 You old timers in the club remember Thomas- the low key fellow who packed away the ironmans like they were sprint tri’s.  I spoke to him afterwards (Hey, look everybody, look who I know –the overall number 1 guy here today!).  He’s recovered from that weird never really fully diagnosed body aucho that took him off the runner’s field for so long.  He got back into the ‘sprint’ of things 6 months ago and oh wowWWWW did he recover well or what!

 Back to my list of questions:  Did Kim qualify for Boston??:  YEE HAAA YES!! She qualified with her 4.05.05 !  That was fast enough to give her a 3^rd place in age : )

“Yummm..nylon N salt never tasted soo good!”

Kim starts her calorie consumption early, doing a taste test on her jacket.

 She probably would’a taken 1^st  but Kim’s got this curious ‘follow-the-center line’ concept (curtesy Coach Glen?) about the fastest distance between two points being the long side of the curve.  This started at mile 1. I know because:

About mile 1, after we’d chatted a bit, I told Kim I was dropping back because I couldn’t match her hoped for 4 hr time. Except as soon as I dropped back, I didn’t. I immediately cut a series of corners Kim didn’t and I lurched ahead of her.  She spent the next 26. 6 miles taking the scenic route every chance she got.  Note ’26.6’, not 26. 3 like the rest of us.  That’s about how much further Ms Curvy Kim ran. Guess she wanted to prolong the delight or would that be the delightful agony??

Rare photo: The only corner Kim cut

   Anyway, re Boston, she said she ain’t doin’ it and I’m sure her feet gave this huge sigh of relief when she said that.  That’s because she’s donating 3 dead toe nails to the ‘lost during races toe nail’ collection Ingy  keeps on his wall.  (Vicky:   GET THAT THAT THING OUTTA MY HOUSE!!)   Plus expect stock in bandaid companys to raise a notch as she treats her 6 oh-so-sore blisters.  AUCHO!

Kim to Ingy:  ”You wanna swap feet for a week?”

Ingy: “Only if you stepped on a quarter and it stayed there.”

  As Curvy Kim worked at not cutting corners, Doug dug deep into his past, pulled out his knowledge of geometry, and did cut.  Just like we other 133 runners.

There’s this movie out right now- the Curious Case of Mr Button or some such that I think might explain Doug some how.  In the movie, the person grows younger instead of older.  I can’t help wondering if Dynamic Doug’s found some magic formula  (he’s keeping it to himself since he’d hate to be a multi- millionaire) that’s letting him grow better, if not exactly younger.

MR  Dynamic   ‘AM I THERE YET’  Doug

“Did ya see that…my vortex almost swept that porta potty right off  it’s feet!!”

 His 5:10:45 finish was appreciably faster than his last DVL mary despite his being several years NOT younger.  And top that off with this:  When he emptied his shoes in the parking lot, enough sand to build a 5 pound sand castle fell out!  In fact, when you factor in this was off road and thus more difficult than his past mary’s, this equated to his best ever.  Leave it to Doug to magically pull that off. 

When I passed Doug on his approach to the U turn he looked amazingly normal (read that gimp free). We slapped hands and some of that intestinal fortitude that gets him through these things must have jumped hands from him to me, slithered down my legs, and helped my feet complete da’ feat.

My winning philosophy:  “JUST SAY NO to  training runs : )“

In the ‘Don’t let your kids try this at Home’ dept., most of you know I ran this unexpectedly and untrained.  Here are the answers to the 2 questions a bunch of you have asked:

1.    I felt virtually the same or better (!) as I have during my other trained for marathons both during the run and in recovery afterwards.

2.   My longest training run (in years) was a 16 mile jog n walk that I have Doug to thank for at DVL in mid Nov.  Til my early Dec race in Hawaii, I ran 10 to 13 miles at Dripping Springs on 5 occasions.  After Hawaii, in Jan., I did two 8 mile runs thanx to Barb and Noni/Eric and I did a 13 mile hilly  ‘test’ run 7 days before the marathon. 

My getting through this marathon was a group effort with a bunch of you deserving bits and pieces of the credit. Small comments made by Eric about any one’s ability to do Ultra’s combined with Steve’s comments about his longest training runs for his upcoming Boston being 14 miles ran thru my brain.  These gave me an ‘I can’ attitude.

 Scratching notes in the dirt to Doug and Kim (til she passed me: ) distracted my brain from my body’s efforts and kept me chuckling.  Trying to more or less hang onto Kim’s footsteps as they got further and further ahead of me pushed me through those hardest last 6 miles.

Winner’s circle : )  ”Can I trade the medal for Band-Aids?”

 There was the ‘home team’ advantage of having Ingy and Glen present to cheer all of us on and grab our excess clothing right and left.   They could’ve started a swap meet with all the clothes they ended up with and Thank You Ingy, I can’t believe you even left the change in our pockets : )   That meant each of us could start out warm and comfy and not end up hot and heavy, over burdened with clothes. 

Topping off this best ever most fun cake of a marathon was seeing everyone cheering me on in my little sprint finish. Then I got my full 15 minutes of marathon glory and post run support as I hobbled N’ wobbled about and Monica and Barb grabbed stuff for me hither thither and yon!

So you see, I didn’t run this alone.  A bunch of you ran it in my mind with me, leading not just me but all of us onto victory.  You all deserve credit and you all really really rock!

  Last, Thanx so much, Glen, for letting me run in your place… may you have as much fun next year as I did this!

Oh, the rest of those questions I listed, yes. Doug  did have a leg left to stand on the next day and he tells me he actually stood on it better than other post mary days (see, he IS getting younger!). Yes, I ate 2 tons of food, and Maurice and Steve race info follows the Merry mary stuff.

CURVY KIM’S post race INPUT:

.I’m sore, but not too bad. I can actually make it down the stairs without too much pain. (Read that: Glen doesn’t have to carry her.) I was starving Sat. afternoon as well. Yesterday, we took Charlie for a walk too, and I felt much better after that. My legs aren’t as sore as my feet. I think I will probably loose at least 3 toenails, and I have 6 blisters that hurt when I walk.  I might run on Wed., but I guess, it all depends on if I can get my running shoes on and be able to move.

Monica to Barb/Barb to Monica:  ”Been there, Done that aucho!!”

I didn’t track my splits except for the half which was 1:59 something, so I wasn’t too far behind you. (Editor’s insert: That means you were less than 2 minutes behind me at the half)  I had 6.2 to go at 3 hours, but I just couldn’t pull out of the fatigue after mile 23. I was DONE!!! I’m mad at myself, because I had it to break a 4 hr. mari. Oh well, it happens, I just pooped out! 

JUST THE FACTS: DYNAMIC DOUG’S INPUT:

DVLM  1/24/09

OK, its a bit tough for me to share my DVLM race report with those of you that run at or near the speed of light. But that said I want to share my race report because it was such a special race for me. 

This was my 6th Marathon.  I didn’t have many expectations as my training times were slower than years past.  That said I also enjoyed my training more this time around. Maybe that was due to going slower or maybe it was due to the fact I did all my long runs at DVL.  I love running there. I love the quiet, the smog less air, the wildlife and I like running on dirt. And at my age having a bathroom every 5 miles gets a big thumbs up. The only things I don’t like about training there is the $7 parking fee (although I could have parked at the bottom of the hill and ran in)  and the fact I need to carry all my water with me. On a 20 miler that means 8 lbs of liquid. (Editor’s note:  Ever thought about getting a pet camel to carry it?)

Well I got real lucky this year as I had almost zero bad weather for training. Did have one cold day.  But other than that day I was blessed with beautiful sunny cool days.

My back had gone out only 3 days out from the race and I showed up on race morning jacked up to the gills on Ibuprofen. (Editor’s note: YUM!)  Again I got lucky as my back behaved the entire race.  As did my Bionic Ankle.

I arrived at the lake and it was raining very lightly. Maybe more of a heavy mist.  Not real cold.  Field was small yet bigger than normal with 135 participants.  The gun went off and the pack took off. 

Doug: “Am I there yet?”

I’d not taken more than 25 steps when I heard “Go Dougie Fresh!!”.  Well that could only be one person.  It had to be Lil’ Mo’. I had no idea she would be there to support us.  What a pleasant surprise to turn and see her big smile.

The race started out counter clockwise. We’d run out just over 2 miles and turn around an come back and then head out clockwise for a circumnavigation of the lake (21.7 miles)  This was good as it allowed some of us cold blooded types to wear an extra layer for a few miles to warm up.ngy, Glen and Lil’ Mo were all there supporting those of us running (Eric, Kim, Tracy E, and yours truly.)  As I came back to the 4.5 mile mark I had in my hand my gloves and long sleeve shirt which I passed off to Ingy without losing a step.

“Am I there yet??”

  Now it was time to settle in for the trip around the lake.  I felt a bit like Magellan.  I went out just a tad faster than my goal pace and would stay that way for the first half of the race.  By the 1/2 mark I’d put 7 minutes in the bank and didn’t want to put any more in. (I’ve made that mistake before)  Also last week Ingy and I went out and rode around the lake and I stashed 2 – 10oz bottles of Grape Juice. That stuff had 53 grams of carbs per bottle. I’d use it on the half hours between Gels.  Seemed to work pretty good and I never had to carry much weight that way. I only had one problem and that came at 15 when I was running alongside a cute young woman and flirting and I tripped on a rock and went down. (Editor’s Note: Did the rock laugh?)  That’ll teach me, yeah right on.  I’d land on both hands and it was pretty much no harm no foul.

 I felt great until maybe Mile 16. Then the wheels on the wagon developed a tiny shimmy. About Mile 18 (the west dam) the wheels were wiggling more noticeably. By mile 20 they were wobbling.  At mile 23 the wheels came off and the rear of the wagon was dragging on the dirt road.  Then it got ugly. My legs shut down and I just did what I could to squeeze all that I could from my old bod. I knew that as I came around the corner at about mile 25 or so that I’d be able to see the gang standing on the last corner.  I’d heard that Boston Barb was coming out to see us finish the race. So I was really looking forward to hers and those other warm friendly faces.  About 13 minutes later I came around a blind corner about a 1/3 mile from the finish and off in the distance I can see two figures. One looked to be Ingy in his red jacket and next to him it had to be Barb. As I got closer my guesses were confirmed. By this time Eric had joined them and they all started jogging beside me. 

Doug to Ingy:  ”OH..pant… WOW!!  Pant…I’ve got thissss many friends runnin’ me in, and pant… pant, AM I THERE YET???“

Ingy to Doug:  ”Did Ya Find any money?  Ya ain’t there yet til ya find some money. I can usually find like $3.31 for every 26.2 I do.”  

A few hundred feet later we came to the corner to find Glen, Kim, Tracy and Lil’Mo all smiling and cheering me on.  What an absolutely fantastic feeling that was!

 Doug  bursting into song:  ” OHH WHAT A FEELINGGG!!” 

Monica: “GO DOUGIE FRESH!!” Ingy:  ”Is that a penny??”  Tracy: “Don’t scare the crows!”

Eric:  ”OK, Scotty, mission’s almost done, prepare to beam me back up”

Kim:  ”I think I’m gonna cut this corner”.

   
They all started jogging with me down the hill towards the parking lot.  Some split off to head over to the finish line and Eric stayed with me until the last few feet.  Good thing cause my needle had been on E for quite some time. 

“WHYYYY aren’t I  there YETTTT????

I’d make it across the line in 5:10.  That’s about 15 minutes better than my last DVLM and less than 5 minutes off of my PR. And 20 miles of this race was dirt.  So all in all I was happy with my time.  But the best part was yet to come.  After Id walked it off for a few minutes and knew I wouldn’t get sick I found a curb to sit on. In zero time there was Barb with water and a banana for me and in a few more seconds I was surrounded by the rest of the gang.  They all sat there listening to me share my race story.  As I looked around at their faces I realized then and there that I wasn’t surrounded by a bunch of Redliners, nope, I was surrounded by a bunch of good friends.

 

 Doug :  ”THANKs GUYS!!”

Ingy:  ”I can’t believe NONE of you found a single penny!”

I Came, I Conquered, and finallyyyyy  I’m here yet or is that “here now”? 

WHAT whew EVER!!!

EXTRA EXTRA from Doug:  re DVLM:   Organization: pretty good, no complaints.  Volunteers: Great. Post race food, OK,  Tee shirt: kinda dorky. Goody Bag: actually pretty darn good. Finishers medal: One of the worst ever. Price: average. Course: Loved it. Gatorade served on the course: Was that really Gatorade? Nah____________________________________________________________

 

THE STAT’s:

THOMAS BEYER:  2.43.50, FIRST OVER ALL EVERYTHING OF 135

SURVIVOR MAN ERIC:  3.14.35, 7^TH OVER ALL, 1ST IN AGE

CURVY KIM:  4.05.05, 47^TH O/A, 11 OF 39 F. , 3^RD IN AGE

DOUG: 5.10.45, 108^TH O/A, 82 OF 96 M., 5^TH IN AGE

TRACY :  4.10.02, 53 O/A , 12 OF 39 F., 4^TH IN AGE 

—————————————————

DIAMOND VALLEY HALF MARATHON and 5 K:

Steve and Maurice decided to be nice to their bodies and opted for the half and the 5 K respectively.  I haven’t talked to Maurice but Steve said it was his first time running at DVL. He really enjoyed the scenery and the course.  (As Doug later said, “…And he didn’t even run the pretty side..”).  Steve was quite pleased with his 1.42 finish which earned him silver in his very competitive age group.  He’s been running 14 miles at Dripping Springs every other week so I’ve no doubt DVL’s gentleness was a nice change for his body!

“I gotta run here more often!”

 Maurice kinda’ flitted into the race scene, zipped through it, then flitted out again so fast it was hard to even catch him for a photo.  Guess he was eager to get back to dive through those really good goodie bags we all got that day.  Here’s what he had to say about his day of Gold N Glory:

 I did the Diamond Valley 5K last year also, and I wanted to see if I could run it a little faster.  So anyway, I did win my age group and was 11th overall. (Editors note:  I think 11th overall trumps age group at his age!)  Not sure how many ran it-last year there were 180.  I was 20 seconds ahead of last year at mile one, so I felt good about that, but by mile 2 I was only one second ahead.  Either they moved the mile markers, or I was on cruise control.  I pushed hard and managed to finish in 22:08, 56 seconds faster  than in 08.  (Editors note:  That was one heck of a last negative split you laid on there!!)

To answer your other question, I usually don’t eat anything before a short race, especially if it’s early in the morning.  For a 10:00 race like Diamond Valley, I usually have an energy bar. Maurice

Maurice :  ”No way is that kid gonna beat me!!”

Miscellaneous notes:

I read other runner’s comments about the DV races and several pertained to that clear substance we were told was Gatorade.  It was later identified as “Some Sort of Health drink”.   OK, I heard some runners joking about it being “sugar water”.  Some how I missed : ( the homemade brownies at mile 20ish.  In the GPS dept., Doug’s and my Garmins read almost the same at about 26.33 and the course was officially measured (listen up Ms Curvy) via cutting all corners.

 Half  of  the ‘Harpy trails’ gang

———————————– 

  CARLSBAD HALF…THE RACE JUST ABOUT EVERY OTHER REDLINER NOT DOING THE DVL MARY DID:

THANX to BETH, we’ve got more  data on Carlsbad : )

If only we had a camera at Carlsbad!!  It was a very nice race and the temperature was cool for racing perhaps even a little cold when the sun went away at the end.  The staggered wave start really improved the race and allowed us all to get up to pace speed quickly.  Didn’t feel like I was playing “Frogger” at the start like last year.

Good turn out for the running club (Taimi, Barb, Beth, Victor F. , Dina, Victor L., Dan, Craig) and everyone seemed to post excellent times.  Even some PRs!  The best part was all the free stuff at the finish!  Pat & Oscar bread sticks, Starbucks samples, Yogos, Rice Krispie Treats, Fruit Snacks, Clif Bars, Sambazon Acai drinks, and even a free loaf of Nature’s Own Whole Wheat Bread!!  Barb, Taimi & I all staggered to the car with all our loot!  (NOTE: SOME CLIFF BARS HAVE BEEN RECALLED -PEANUT PRODUCT) Beth P.S.:  I also saw times posted for Daria Wegner, Leslie Delaney & Kiki Burnick in the results! Editor’s note:  I see Petco now sells tiny cameras one attaches to  one’s pet’s collar -it takes photos automatically, recording what your pet sees every 5 or 10 minutes.  The cost  is 17 biscuits. maybe the club needs one of those……..

Dina was nice enough to slog through the race results and get them to me to share with all you.  I was told both Boston Barb and Taimi too somehow managed to warp time and finish in the same number of minutes as last year.  Is that too weird??

Other feed back I got was that it was crowded as always but fun as always.

Dina  wrote:

Hi Tracy,   Here are the people that I know competed at Carlsbad Half this past weekend   Taimi Schweighardt 1:28:48  She got 3rd in her AG!!! 13th female of 4,284, 169 of 7,149! pace: 6:46 Dan Detienne 1:40:40 Beth Abshire 1:43:28 Barb Fanelli 1:48:43 Victor Flores 1:54:37 Victor Lopez 1:55:50 Dina Flores 2:04:39 Perfect weather conditions, cloudy and cool. Scenery was beautiful along the ocean.   Dina Flores

Beth tipped me off about a few  more Redliners who did Carlsbad half:  Leslie Delaney finished in 2.32.35 , Kiki Burnick in 1.51.04, Craig P. in 1.37.01 and Daria Wegner in 1.58.02

Beakbytes is taking chit chat and race impressions from everyone from these races at this time.  Please send your comments re these races to me!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SURF CITY MARATHON:

Old Huntington Beach town area, home to Surf City Marathon

“I’d rather run the coast line then have to pay 25 cents/gal for gas to drive it”

The Mercury ‘twins’ – Taimi and Monica up staged  Punxsutawney Phil the Ground Hog by bolting through the Surf City marathon course so fast their shadows won’t catch them til Easter, I’m thinking.

“Tomatoes just don’t give me that Gu style energy burst”

 Taimi’s 7:27 pace was fast enough to make the local Hummingbirds look slow.

“Hey flit, did you see thatttt…I think it’s a HummerTaimitus”

Monica clung in, hot on Taimi’s heals, and  tried to snatch Taimi’s running short’s hem line with her own blistering 7:45 pace.   Ultimately, they finished only 4 females and roughly 8 minutes apart from each other.  Taimi snagged bronz and Monica just barely missed out on bronz herself. Scott H. , also present, paced his way through the crowds such that it appears he has a two speed transmission in his body.  His first 3 miles and last portions of the race were done at a 9:27 pace and everything in between seemed to come out 9:07. He finished in 4.18.53, a remarkable accomplishment since he’d been in a gimp boot for an entire month during critical training.

STRAIGHT FROM MONICA’S MOUTH:  

There was no “gliding” for me.  It was work!  I felt pretty good until 20, OK until 23, used all the mental tricks (repeating “Run the Mile You are IN” and “Pay the Price”)  to maintain from 23-24 and literally just hung on from 24-26.   All in all, it was a terrific experience.  I LOVED the mostly-flat course, fed off of the energy of the 15,000+ people, and was continually inspired and kept alive by my “crew” of Mark (husband) and Ryan (son).  They met me every 3 miles with a Gatorade/water cocktail and GU.  Their help shaved at least 2 minutes off my time.  I am so thankful to them.  They rode the course on their bikes.   More than anything, though, today I feel like I can do anything!  I am filled with a sense of accomplishment.  IT FEELS GREAT!!!    

1. I woke up at 4:15 and forced down a bowl of Special K (guess her race proves ‘K’ deserves to be called ’special’) with red berries with Soy milk around 4:45.  At 5:00 AM I choked down a π of sesame bagel with peanut butter and a banana, sipping water throughout.  I was so nervous I could barely talk, much less eat.   I always drink coffee before a race and didn’t want to break the routine, so after stopping at two closed Starbuck’s, we stopped at McDonalds.  I  drank a cup of black coffee around 5:35.   5-7 minutes before the race, I took a chocolate GU with caffeine.  I believe it helped juice me for those first few miles.  

1. Every 3 miles, I drank 5-6 ounces of a ∏ orange Gatorade, ∏ water solution.  Every 6 miles, I took a chocolate GU with caffeine along with the 5-6 oz of water/Gatorade.  The Gatorade/GU combo wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be (tastewise).  (Editor note: Sounds better than a fear factor fish cocktail…maybe)

1. I was in shock for the first 3-5 minutes after the finish. (Read that:  She hadn’t quite made into her happy space yet)  Miles 24 – 26 were very tough and I kicked in the last 50 meters to pass a girl (who ended up being a bandit and was DQ’d).  I was dazed and depleted.  The thought of heading to the Med tent crossed my mind, but it felt like a wimpy thing to do. (Ed. note;  It’s not – I hang out around the med tent after most of my marathons)  I knew I needed salt and fluids and felt I could achieve that on my own.  My legs immediately stiffened up and every time I tried to stretch I cramped.  So I stopped stretching. (Wow, her brain was still working : )  I sat down on a curb to relieve my aching feet, and felt nauseous and dehydrated.  Then I realized I had a bottle of water in my hand.  (Gee, how’d that GET there??) The more I drank, the better I felt.  I found Taimi and Kim after about 15 minutes and the more I walked around with them, the better I felt. (Misery loves company?) Taimi gave me 2 Motrin and some Fig Newtons and both helped.   At home for the rest of the day, we had company and I was up and down a lot without too much problem.  The quads and calves are sore, but on a scale of 1 – 10, 10 being excruciating, I am around a 4.  Not too bad one day later, though instead of running today, I think I’ll hit the bike to work out the bugs. (I can’t believe you people who hit anything but a bed for extra naps the day after a marathon!!)

1. I felt the course was spectacular.   The beach and water are beautiful, and you have both in sight for 2/3 of the race.  You start on Pacific Coast Highway at Huntington Beach Pier. 

 Old Salt water pool that use to be adjacent to pier

1.  The start was well organized and on time.  First 3 miles are flat, then you turn off of PCH at mile 3 and head toward an incline which lasts from mile 3.5 – 4.5.  The hill is no big deal.  In the elevation chart online it looks daunting, but running it was easy, especially compared to the hills we do around Temecula.  After the hill, you run a few miles through a wooded park near a bird sanctuary.  Lots of ducks, geese and seagulls. (EVERYONE DUCK!!) Tons of kids cheering you on.   It is beautiful.  Once you come out of the park and down the hill back toward PCH, you feel like you have seen the worst of the course.  The rest is flat and open, within view of the water.  I liked the course a lot and would recommend it to anyone.   

1.  (I asked Monica if she lost weight during the marathon or was able to drink enough to keep her weight the same -I asked her because I came out of DVM 5 pounds lighter than I went in): She said: I didn’t weigh myself after.  Logic tells me I did lose weight, but I drank so much water all day after the race that I figured I might be heavier due to water weight and I didn’t want the scale to betray me.   So I decided to remain ignorant and just feel good about the day.

THANX MONICA for the input! 

 Per the marathon’s web site: 

 

The Surf City USA Marathon serves as a “qualifier” for the Boston Marathon, and is rated among the top five marathon experiences in America by Marathon and Beyond.  It is an integral part of the all-new California Dreamin’ Racing Series. Combined with the Long Beach International City Bank Marathon and San Francisco Marathon, the three races let runners competing in all three events within two consecutive years qualify for the California Dreamin’ Series Medal and Finisher’s Jacket!

Taimi  was 64^th of 1,953 over all, 5^th of 846 females, and took bronz in her age group of 136 gals.  Time: 3.14.57 with 7:27 pace.  Get this:  She DOESN’T gets the Most Consistent Split award despite her splits for the first 20 miles staying within 10 seconds of each other.  Monica took that instead by 1 second…Her splits over the same distance ranged from 7:37 to 7:46…a mere 9 second variation.  How do these girls do that?? Maybe The Jester’s not the only space alien amongst us!

 

Monica’s stats looked like this: 102 of 1953 over all; 10 of 846 females; 4 th of 133 in age; Her time: 3.23.03 with a 7:45 pace

 

Scott finished with a time of 4.18.53 for a 9.53 pace.  That placed him 812 of 1953 over all, 565 of 1107 males and 89 of 178 in his age.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GETTING LOST IN THE MARATHON SHUFFLE:

Ingy spent a day repeating the Mission Gorge 5 K X terra race he’s  done before.  Not easy terrain, not easy racing.  I’d tell you how he did but there seems to be some confusion under race results …rumor has it he placed second but that’s all  I’ve  got for the curios.