Big Sur 2009 (aka: don’t cry, you were always an ugly crier)
April 28, 2009
This past weekend Eric, Chris, and I made our way to Monterey and Big Sur, California. And why? Because once again I talked Eric into doing the Big Sur marathon with me. But before I go into the details of the weekend let’s backup a bit….
So, just like the last time I signed up for a marathon (Big Sur 2007) the real purpose of the marathon isn’t really the marathon itself but instead the months of training. True to my Viking roots, I’m one of those people who gains about 15 pounds if I stop working out for more than a week or two. This means that I really have to be diligent about my exercise. And nothing spells diligent training like a marathon! And, let’s face it – I love food. And the body is a lot more forgiving for that Tartine morning roll and occasional donut (and big slice of cake with lots of frosting and strawberries with about a pound of homemade whipped cream, and …) when you ran 14 miles earlier that day.
And beyond all that, there’s a category at the Big Sur marathon called “Bonneydale” [sometimes it’s also called the “Athena” category]. It’s the category you can enter if you are over 145-150 lbs (depending on the race) and a woman. For men it’s called “Clydesdale” and is typically over 195 lbs. Anyway, I realized that if I ran at about a 9:30 pace for the marathon I’d have a real chance at placing in the top three for that. This would be a huge achievement because:
1) I’ve never placed in a sport. Ever. And to place for a marathon would be an epic win!
2) I thought to myself, “if you can place at a marathon than no matter what your body is like at that point, no matter how much you weigh, you’re really healthy. And that is enough.” Which is to say that I saw a win as validation that my body was good where it was – no matter what weight I was at when I crossed the finish line.
Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but none of that happened. Instead, Eric and I ran it ~20 minutes slower than 2007 and I was in extreme pain.
The Injuries
- I started keeping my exercise journal again on January 5th and on my very first entry I wrote “yesterday did 58 minutes/ 6 miles so today was rest as to avoid inflaming my right hip and knee” And basically that issue (my right hip) plagued me through all of my marathon training. The pain basically feels joint-related all up inside my middle to outer hip into the very top outer part of the booty. It starts kind of achy with this “I want to extend my leg out and pop my hip joint” feeling and then it gets sharper and sharper as I run. Soon enough I also feel sharp pain in my knee. So much sharp pain in fact that I started to wonder (during the marathon) if it was going to get so bad that my leg would just be unable to bend at all – like sharp pain rigor mortis! No lies!
On the Friday before the marathon (so the 24th) I had my first physical therapy appointment. Basically I needed the guy to tell me how I was going to get through the marathon with all the shin pain I had been experiencing. When Chris and I ran in Mexico, for example, the first lap or two I’d be hobbling and then it would slowly get better right up until we stopped – at which point the shin pain would cause me to limp around for the next twenty minutes. This injury was the one I was most worried about. I hadn’t experienced the hip issue for a while (it tended to come and go) but the shin could be a killer. I figured it was classic shin splints so I asked the guy to just tape up my leg, show me a stretch or two, and let me know the exact amount of Ibuprofen one could take before reaching toxic levels. Unfortunately, instead of that I was told that I had stress fractures up and down my left shin. He proceeded to tape my leg (and teach me how to do it for the marathon) but it was a really hard blow.
Friday Night
After getting the bad news on Friday afternoon I was pretty low. I still went out to sushi with Chris and Neil but by the end of it I felt fairly withdrawn. I was having an internal self-pity party of sorts. I thought about all the training runs I’d done – so many more long runs than the last time we did a marathon… I thought about all those cold winter mornings when I’d get my ass out of bed at 6:30am to go on runs three times during the week (plus long-run Saturday!) even when it sucked. And then I thought about how there was a very very real chance I wouldn’t be able to complete the race. How I could end up with a full-blown fracture through my shin, which would then totally fuck up my chances at completing the AIDS ride.
Eric made it the Bay Area by around 8:30 – 9pm and he picked me up in Palo Alto and we headed right up to SF. He wanted to study for the rest of the night but it ended up being me sobbing and sobbing with him trying to say it’d be ok no matter how it turned out. I was so stressed out and so very very scared.
Saturday
Well the gods must have taken pity on me because I woke up Saturday morning in a much better mood. Chris, Eric, and I got up fairly early and headed down to Tartine for a delicious breakfast and then started on our way to Monterey! The Big Sur race expo happens at the Monterey conference center so we bee-lined for that first. Eric and I picked up all our packet stuff and then we all meandered through the booths.
After all that, we ate lunch at a lovely little seafood place Chris knew about.
Then, Chris and I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium while loser Eric studied at the nearby Starbucks. The Aquarium just got a new special exhibit on seahorses and I’ve got to tell you – it’s seriously cool. Something about seahorses is so magical. Like I’ve said before, they’re like the chariots of Thumbelina-sized mermaids!
And, as you see here, apparently regular sized mermaids too! (who friggin knew?!?!)
After all that (oh and a glass of wine for Chris) we headed to a pasta place for our pre-race dinner. I wasn’t really that hungry (I’d already eaten so much that day!) but tried to get myself to down at least a little of my pasta! And, straight after dinner we headed back to our totally reasonable hotel motel and I went straight to bed.
Sunday
pre-race
The three of us all set independent alarms for 3AM. Those ended up being unnecessary because I was already awake. Laying there. Eyes open. In darkness.
Chris was super awesome and helpful and filled up my water bottle with half gatorade half water, put a few extra aleve in my little running bag, and drove Eric and I to the buses (for Big Sur you have to take buses to the starting area because they close down HWY 1)
The next few hours (and there were quite a few!) consisted of Eric and me trying to huddle in whatever way provided the most warmth. Turns out there really wasn’t a position that could keep us both warm. So that wasn’t so great. If you are reading this and will one day run Big Sur, bring a few blankets and a pillow!
race
About ten minutes before the start we all lined up at the starting area. It’s just amazing how many people sign up to do Big Sur. I mean it’s just a sea of people! How can there be that many crazy people?!
And yet when the epic champion music starts to play (of the eye of the tiger / start me up epic variety) you forget that it’s crazy. I just looked at Eric and we both just started screaming with excitement.
The race then started and we started all right. Sadly I put sports shield (which is like a friggin god send against chafing) around my stomach (sometimes you can get cut from your shorts on top) and that caused my slippery shorts to ride up my butt like crazy (too slippery to hold so they just decided to defy gravity and go up up up!) So the first two miles were me constantly pulling my shorts down (to no avail). Apparently showing the world my butt has become a favorite past time of mine anyways [see Puerto Vallarta entries].
But I do wonder if trying to pull my shorts down caused me to run with poor form, which then caused the hip to freak out.
Either way, by mile 7 or 8 things weren’t looking so good. My hip injury came on with full force and by mile 10 I couldn’t deny it any longer. I had to stop to stretch it (basically I stretch like I’m really trying to pop my hip out and that seems to help for a mile or so). Mentally doing that was rough because we were right with the 4:30 finish pace group at that point. And stopping meant we’d really lose them. And lose them right before Hurricane Point – the hardest climb in the race (about 520 ft over 2 miles). But I had to stop. The pain was so sharp I couldn’t properly put my right leg out in front of me – I was sort of doing a rounded stride (so instead of the leg going in a straight line it was pushed out to the side and up in a half-moon hoop instead). I just couldn’t take it any longer- after about two miles of it, it was just getting way too severe.
As you can imagine, having to take a stretch due to severe pain at mile 10 (especially when I should have stopped at mile 7 or 
is a mentally daunting thing. You still have 16 miles to go and, since I knew the course, the next 16 were the really had ones. Big Sur has some non-trivial climbing all the way to the end and pain that early means nothing good.
Eric was really understanding (later I found out that since mile five he was experiencing pains, but he didn’t want to “keep me back”) but for me it was rough. The pain was a familiar one – after many 12, 14, and even 16 mile runs with it I knew it was one that would not just disappear if I kept running.
Either way we made our way up Hurricane Point, where I had to stop many many times to stretch it out 
again. By the top my quads were shot. I think it was just a combination of my hip and shin just causing less than perfect form (so you’re using the wrong muscles to make your way up) and not enough hill training. Even though in 2007 our top run was only 12 miles, almost all our long runs were hardcore trail runs up in the LA/Malibu hills. And those runs made Hurricane Point seem not so bad at all. This year, Hurricane point seemed pretty horrible.
After that it was slow going on the descents and the hip pain continued. I got fairly emotional at a few moments because I was just so frustrated with myself. If only I would have trained better (better hill climbing and better as in injury-free) I could be achieving my dream 9:30 pace. But instead I knew I wasn’t even going to get what I got in 2007 (about 4:57).
I think it was around mile 20 that Eric and I finally realized we needed to seriously walk. We were both in so much pain and my hip felt way way better walking than running. And so we walked. And, to be honest, it was probably the most enjoyable part of the race. I laughed for the first time. And, once I realized I would still be able to finish, I felt ok.
At almost mile 24 Chris found us! He walked out to run the last mile with us (and take lots of pictures) but since we were slower than we hoped, he just decided to keep coming out to find us. Of course, that was after:
the 4:30 pace group ran past him
he video taped them, thinking we’d be there [video here],
we weren’t there,
he wasn’t sure we weren’t there so decided to run after the pace group just to be sure [video here],
then was sure and decided to keep walking (hoping we really hadn’t passed him!)
And then found us!
And with all that said, it was great to see him! Great and sort of funny and sad. Funny because the juxtaposition of his energy to our absolute exhaustion really showed me how dead Eric and I were. Sad because it meant that my marathon end wasn’t going to be what I hoped for (us running strong as we made our goal 4:30 time).
Either way, we all walked together until mile 25, at which point we decided to harness all our energy and run the final 1.2 miles in [video of agony here]. Near the end Chris ran ahead to get pictures of us, Eric grabbed my hand and we ran the last stretch and through the finish line together. A team and partnership. From start to finish. In 2007 and 2009.
And, just like in 2007, I got a bit choked up at the end. I was a bit too weak to hold back the tears. I was so relieved while also disappointed while also happy. Relieved it was over, that we made it. Disappointed it wasn’t what I wanted – that I failed in a way. And happy – happy for such a great best friend and boyfriend.
After that we dragged our bodies (with the help of Chris!) to lunch. And then, Eric and I both fell asleep as Chris drove us back to San Jose.
And that my friends, was my emotionally turbulent marathon weekend 2009.
You can see all the pictures (with additional inside commentary) here
And all videos can be found here
Race Report: Tour d’Organics (aka: Tour d’Rolling Hill Hell )
August 21, 2008
This past Sunday I attempted my first official century ride (official because it’s the first one I’ve ever paid to do… and when you pay for something it makes it official. Attempted because, well, you’ll see shortly).
The ride: the Tour d’Organics in Sebastopol.
Distance: ~97 miles
Elevation: ~7300 feet
So how’d it go? Well, you know how sometimes when things are like seriously traumatic, people can’t really talk about them? But if you give them a box of crayons they go to town? That’s pretty much how I’ve been for the last three days. The result (since I don’t have a box of crayons) is the picture to the right.
But now that the whole rocking-back-and-forth-in-the-fetal-position thing has gotten a little boring, I’m ready to share some words, pictures, and videos.
So, my friend from UCLA was up in the Bay Area this weekend for a wedding – which means, after quite a bit of bribing and begging, he agreed to come along. I knew some Googlers were going but I:
a) didn’t want to ride 100 miles alone
b) even if someone agreed to ride with me, I totally freak out at the thought of making some poor soul wait for me as I slowly chug my lifeless body up the mountains.
c) In case of crying, I can’t have Googlers there… bad for the image. You understand.
So Eric is was!
At 6:20AM we arrived at the start area, signed in, and got a big map. The map getting business was the first surprise. We both thought there’d be giant signs all over the place telling us where to go… but the big map with lots and lots of directions suggested we were mistaken.
After the second surprise (that there was no “Start” line), we sort of just rolled out of the parking lot and got started. At about mile 2 I had my first (and only) near-accident. The roads were super wet and I decided to brake right on the “T” in “Stop”. My back tire did the whole sliding thing as my mouth hung open in horror. But, luckily, I didn’t crash. Peed myself, but didn’t crash.
Fast forward a bit and we had our first serious issue (as explained in the video):
So it turns out we biked the first 8-10ish miles twice. And since we’re talking about 8ish miles with hills, I was a little upset.
But the good news is I got to see the most adorable baby donkey twice! And the second time around I decided I just couldn’t go on living if I rode by without petting him.
Finally we made our way to the first rest stop and bumped into Josh and Mark from Google. I didn’t recognize them but somehow they knew who I was. This was fortunate because they let me know they rode the first loop twice, too. And what can I say, misery loves company 
The rest stop people were super friendly and had loads of fruit, bread, peanut butter, and these little bottled juices. Those were delicious. And not only did they have good food, but they let us know all about how many gophers they’ve caught so far this year. And I’m telling you right now… this isn’t a catch and release situation.
So with that, we were back on the road.
Fast forward: I (and not Eric) got lost. Long story short we were finally on a nice descent when this blond chick sort of cut me off at the bottom and then zoomed off. And I, seeing some gradual hills coming up, decided I’d hop on her wheel and push it a bit. Now, thanks to gravity, I tend to go a bit faster on the downhills than Eric. And so, it was no great surprise that I didn’t see him for a while. This chick was hauling! But after a while of looking back and not seeing Eric I thought something seemed a bit off. So I went up a hill with her and decided to wait at the top. Minutes pass and there’s no Eric. I decide he’s probably been hit by a car (this has happened before), so I zoom on back. Turns out this chick led us the wrong way. She missed a turn. So poor Eric had been sitting waiting for me for something like 30 minutes… wondering if it was I who was squished by a car. hehe…oops!
Let’s just say I could see the satan flames in his eyes way before I pulled up next to him with an angelic smile upon my face. He was pissed!
After that he basically wanted to turn around and make the ride into something like 40 miles. I begged and begged and we finally agreed to go to this other shortcut – which, if we didn’t get lost and do the same loop twice, would make the ride about 70-75ish miles. But, with the first loop twice and my 30 minute extra jaunt, I would end up doing about 90 miles. And that was fine by me.
The rest of the ride consisted of trying to see ridiculously obscure green markers on the road, trying to make it to rest stops before they closed, and laughing at ourselves for pretty much failing.
The good news is that after we cut across the shortcut we actually were back among lots of bikers – which made the ride feel more like an official big thing.
Here we are at one of the final rest stops
I was pretty dead at that point. I think the lovely graph to the right explains why.
I distinctly remember going up one nameless, random, and what I like to call “rolling uphill of hell” when Eric pointed out a guy and gal going up on single speeds! And they were doing the century!!
At that point I went into fantasy mode. I thought… maybe this isn’t really a ride like I think. Maybe I’ve already died and this ride is supposed to absolve me of my sins. And maybe those two on the single speeds were just worse people than I was… and so it’s only fair that they suffer a lot more.
But then I gasped! Maybe this isn’t about absolution. What if I, like Sisyphus, was being punished…forever! But instead of having to haul a giant boulder up a mountain, I had to haul myself up. And whereas his boulder would fall back down at the last minute, they devised a new torture for me: I would make it over every hill only to be confronted with another one. And so it would go. Forever.
Luckily a few miles later it started to appear that the gods were done with their games, as a flat/slight descent seemed to be wrapping up the ride. And so, like Ebenezer Scrooge awaking on Christmas morning to find himself with another chance at a good life, I too shed all negativity and had a fun time pushing it for the last few miles.
And so we finished… sort of. In the car on the way back to SF, we decided to capture the lessons we learned from this ride.
Overall it was a challenging ride that would have gone a lot better if we didn’t do the first loop twice… and if I wouldn’t have gone the wrong way for 30 minutes.
Oh well! There’s always next time!
And for all the pictures go here.
Race Report: Angel Island 12k Trail Run
August 9, 2008
First, to get you in the proper mood, cue the tunes.
Alright, got that playing in the background? Good…very good
So Saturday. It was cold. It was early. It was Epic.
On this fateful day Savannah (sissy), Beth, and I made our way to Tiburon, where we got on a ferry with lots of other trail running fanatics.
Our destination: Angel Island.
Our mission: the Envirosports 12k Angel Island trail run of glory.
Beth’s mission: the Envirosports 25k Angel Island trail run of glory (+1)
(side note: I feel comfortable saying we were surrounded by “fanatics” because it was fairly obvious from the number of inside jokes and traditions thrown out by the race director that pretty much everybody there had done this race before. For instance, pause the music and check out one tradition in action: the “singing” of “America the beautiful” by a bunch of runners.)
Alright, turn the music back on. Good. I hope you’re feeling that shiat.
So, back to the story, funny thing… I had called and/or emailed and/or IM’ed sissy about a zillion times reminding her to bring water and some calories to this race because there would be no aid stations. And, let me tell you, running up and down hills for a little over seven miles without water sounds like a big dose of being in hell to me. So what happens race day morning? Savannah’s prepared. And me? Not only did I not eat breakfast, I also failed to bring water. But as luck would have it, Beth is one of those über prepared types (not surprising… she’s also an extreme-triathelete goddess who has successfully completed an Ironman! And we all know what type of personality is required to do that!) So Beth not only friggin baked and brought some delicious carrot cake (without frosting…sadly), she had extra water bottles in her trunk. So I happily ate said carrot cake and snatched said water. And again, all was good in the world.
Now, as many of you faithful blog readers know, this race was the encore to Savannah and my first trail run – which was a 10k. Since that one and this one I’ve been doing a lot of biking. Not so much running, but logging a lot of miles on the bike. As in, looking at my calendar, it’s got two runs marked. Two runs (each four miles) and ten rides (where the shortest [and most often ridden] rides are 43 miles). And, since the last race, Savannah had run somewhere between five to seven times. But with only two(ish) runs in the last week. So this race was going to be interesting!
And, after Beth zoomed off for her 25k race, Savannah and I got lined up and wanted to let you know how things were going so far…
So after that, we were off!
Now this run had what felt like a very different elevation profile from the previous run. Whereas Sequoia had some ridiculous “holy gods can I even run up/down this without going into cardiac arrest and/or tumbling to my doom (respectively)?!”, Angel Island was all about the gradual moderate uphill. Which I love love love. Your heart rate steadies and you get in the zone as you just cruise up. That and the views were gorgeous.
But of course, everyone is a bit different in their running preferences. For instance, we found out that Savannah in fact is a much bigger fan of the steep quick hills. And how did we find this out? Well, I kept accidentally speeding up and Savannah, bless her, would kindly remind me to “slow the hell down or go away”. So, after we calibrated ourselves to each other, things went a bit better for the sissy-team-spirit bit.
Here’s us after that first main climb (this, to note, was before sissy-calibration)
Savannah also had her first taste of mental games and fantasies one can play when racing. There were a few women who were doing the run hard then walk thing and Savannah was having none of it. We were running up this hill and I was totally in the zone when Savannah whispers “they are so annoying! I hate them!” So, to solve this issue, Savannah decides it’s high time we pick up the pace (much to my dismay, on this steeper bit) and get away from them. So me and my much shorter self picked up the pace and frantically tried and keep up with gazelle-sprinter Savannah. ‘Twas a success.
With Savannah leading the way, the pace was brought up again once I let her know all the uphill was over and it was downhill to the finish. A few others ended up behind us and I think this motivated Savannah to really kick it up. And so, we were zooming! Eventually we got stuck behind a lot of people and Savannah wasn’t exactly sure how to get around them so I took the lead and tried to pick up the pace again. We were making awesome time (and saw a few others sacrificed to the down-hill-tumble gods) all the way to the finish. And Savannah, with her iron will, really gave it 100%. At one point she gasped, “I’m going to cry. I just want to cry it’s so hard”. But I
a) knew how close we were to the finish at that point
b) thought, “well, she can still speak! So we’re ok!”
c) felt the pressure of the goal Savannah had set for us. When we first signed up for this race Savannah said “let’s do this 12k in the same time we did our previous 10k”. So that meant shaving off some serious time. I really wanted her to see it was possible and so, I really wanted to run her to her gazelle limits.
Here we are coming in to the finish (you can see she was a little feisty)
For our previous run we finished that 10k in about 1:31:06. And what was our time on this race?
drum roll please
1:29:19!!!! So that’s a huge improvement. To be fair, this course was much more runner friendly, but still! I was so so happy that we made it!
And it wasn’t long at all after our finish that I spotted Beth, running goddess, coming in for her own 25k kick ass finish! Here she is
Turns out she won for her age division! (now she of course didn’t tell me this, I had to do my own investigative reporting). I’m just bummed I didn’t get her autograph! 
So that was the race! I really loved it and highly recommend this course to those who are into the gradual continuous climbing style. But, I would not really recommend this as a first-time 25k course. The 25k course people run the 12k loop twice, which means they have to run right down to the finish line and then run right back up that hill – and I think that’s very mentally challenging. Especially for a first timer.
The best ending to this day was sitting on the ferry going back to Tiburon and watching as Beth took off her shoe and revealed a totally bloody sock (and, seconds later, foot). We aren’t quite sure where the blood is coming from (I voted nail-skin area), but I sure know all the other runners near us sure appreciated that special share!
After that I went home and went back to bed. The end!
To see all the pictures, go here.
Race Report: Sequoia Trail Run 10k (with sissy!)
July 19, 2008
Today something I never thought I’d see happen, happened (and not just happened mind you, but friggin rocked!) - Savannah and I ran a 10k trail run race together!!
The other day at work Neil told me that Beth (his hardcore triathlete girlfriend) wanted him to let me know about a trail run race I should do over the weekend. And, at first, I laughed. I haven’t been doing any serious running (actually… any running at all really) since mid-June. I’ve been biking a lot but no running. And definitely no trail running. So I certainly wasn’t inclined to somehow get my butt out to the Oakland hills to run up a hill alone. And again, let’s be clear - when I say “run up a hill” I’m really saying “slowly trudge… but with zeal!!”
but anyways…
So I wasn’t going to do it. But, it just so happened that I was messaging with Savannah at that instant so I thought I’d take a cheap way out - I told Neil I’d see if sissy wanted to do it with me. If she was in, I’d do it. If not, I’d pass.
Now I’ve asked Savannah to do a lot of races with me. And never once has she agreed. Ever. So I was guessing the probability of her agreeing was somewhere between zip zero nada and a solid 1%. But! I sent the message and what did she say? She asked for further information! And, after calling me to talk about it, she friggin agreed! Agreed that she’d run it on the condition that:
1) I’d run with her the whole way
2) I wouldn’t yell at her if she had to stop
3) I wouldn’t make her feel guilty if she stopped
These conditions seemed totally fine by me and so, I agreed. And so, we were good to go!
So this morning, at the crack of dawn, I made the BART-journey to Berkeley to meet up with Savannah and drive (her apparently very trusting boyfriend’s car) down to the race.
This first video let’s you know about challenge one: Parking
Then, after we registered Savannah realized that it was pretty cold out and she’d forgotten to bring something to cover her ears (see video for explanation). So, we improvised…
After that we were in need of a bathroom run. And, like seemingly all races, there were way more many bathroom-needing people than bathrooms. So we waited in line with the rest of the running masses. I then made sure to get a picture of Savannah having her first pre-race bathroom run. Why? Because they’re pivotal to any real race experience! And while (confusingly) Savannah yelled out “Are you serious?” from behind the bathroom door when the bright flash went off, I know one day she’ll appreciate.
After that we took some more video…
And then they called us to the start area - at which point the race director gave a little speech… a little speech that I misunderstood…
So after a bathroom break and that little mix-up, the countdown, well, counted down and we were off!!
So here’s a brief rundown of our race experience:
- There were no mile markers, which I’m totally not used to at all. And, considering neither of us have any sense of distance at all, we were pretty much off on how far we’d gone the entire time. But at least we were overly (way overly) conservative!
- I warned Savannah at the very start about the most common trail running issue: because the ground is very uneven, it’s very easy to roll an ankle if you aren’t careful. You must must must lift your feet and think about planting your foot firmly. And even then, if you haven’t been doing much running, it’s pretty much inevitable that your ankles will tire and you’ll roll a bit.
- Savannah rolled her ankle.
- Savannah persevered
- I diligently took videos while we were running
- Savannah and I got super pissed because this mother was yelling at her obviously not so in shape daughter (who I’m guessing was somewhere between 12-15 years old) to go faster. The girl was whimpering and pretty much crying. Savannah agreed we could speed up to get around them when I was on the verge of telling the mom to “back the F _ _ _ off” And I’m serious about being on the verge. I was already making eye contact with the mom and clearing my throat. Either Savannah was very perceptive or we just got very lucky. (lucky because me getting arrested for making a little evil woman cry as I strangled her would have pretty much ruined the rest of our day.)
- Savannah HAMMERED the hills. Whereas most people slow down on the uphill, Savannah decided the best way to deal with them was to just “get them over with” - which means she actually increased speed (didn’t even just maintain!) on the uphill. It was most impressive!
- Savannah did NOT stop! Even with all the crazy elevation Savannah never stopped. Before today the furthest she’d run was about 3 miles!!! She really gave 100% today!! And she friggin ROCKED! Seriously! I was so impressed! So happy! Turns out she’s a great running buddy!
- Savannah made a lot of jokes about rolling her ankles right and left.
- I started to pee myself laughing at said jokes.
- Savannah and I had no conception of distance. The below video (you know, where we estimate we’ve got about 2 miles left) was taken literally about 30 seconds before we turned a corner and saw the finish line.
- At which point we took an epic finish video.
And that was the race! It was great! Savannah really seemed to enjoy herself and it was exciting to have her out there! She’s definitely a natural!
After the race we took some more pictures, picked up our tshirts, ate some snacks, and then headed back to Berkeley. On the way we paused Mr.Toad’s wild ride stopped by Safeway to get Savannah some ice and something to wrap her ankle up with (it was looking pretty swollen) before heading over to Intermezzo’s for lunch.
After lunch we stopped by Amoeba, where I bought three new CDs (one of which I’m currently listening to), before picking up Savannah’s friend, Laura, to go see Batman. And let me tell you - it was EPIC! The entire cast was amazing.
After that we got dinner at one of Savannah’s favorites, Naan and Curry. I’d never been before so I was excited. And it was delicious! Plus, free chai and seriously generous naan bread proportions. And you know how much I love love love naan bread!
So that was our full race day report! Pretty awesome!
I suspect you’ll be seeing a lot more Whitney sister race reports in the future. (but in the meantime you can see lots more pictures of us (with commentary!) here)