Highlights and Heros

It was a great day. So many wonderful memories were made today. Thank you to everyone that either ran, volunteered or donated to Lace-Up Against Breast Cancer. I believe it will be record-breaking on all accounts ... certainly in numbers of runners and walkers, and hopefully in funds raised for breast cancer research.

My morning began at 4:05 when I woke up way before my alarm was set (which was 5:15 AM). So I decided to make a couple of batches of lowfat Chex Mix for the race.

Then it was off to the Heintz Center to set up the food. First obstacle: the custodian wasn't there yet and the doors were locked. It was supposed to be open at 6:00 and here it was 6:45 ... but Laura called someone and soon the doors were unlocked. Before long, we had the food set up and I was feeling more relaxed.

Then a short time later, my fabulous food crew noticed (second obstacle) that the roasters full of chicken noodle soup were still all cold and the "on" lights weren't! Yikes. Noah to the rescue. We'd overloaded the circuit and he was able to find another cord and another outlet, move 2 roasters to another location and we were back in business. THANK YOU Noah.

 

Then another very fun part of my day, meeting one of my "bleaders", Julie from Maple Grove.

What a really nice gal she is. She is a fellow blogger and runner. I love her "save the tatas" shirt. :-) There's a shirt on the website that's perfect for my physique. See if you can guess which one it is. Hint: it's NOT the "i my big tatas" shirt. :-) We have a mutual admiration for Trader Joe's and she brought me a tote of some of her TJ faves ...

So sweet!!

Soon, it was time to gather at the start line where there was another little hiccup. There was a gate across the road to the start line. But soon some (Rick?) figured out how to open it up and we were gathered on a crisp, beautifully sunny ...

Valentine's Day ready to traverse 13.1 miles of roads and trails around Rochester.

I'd decided sometime yesterday that I'd be running today, albeit on tired legs. And I'd planned to take lots of photos "on the run" (I took none) and just hang back and take it easy. Well, I'm pretty competitive at heart and it's tough for me to participate in a race, but not race. So, it did become a race, of sorts. What was out of sort was absolutely no taper or time off. Quite the opposite, actually. 10.90 miles yesterday (with Paul Melby occasionally chastising me for pacing the group at 8:30'ish pace instead of the planned for 10:00 minute pace :-), a pretty tough workout week, on my feet virtually non-stop the last two days. Not exactly prime preparation for racing. I did OK for about 9 miles and then had to tough it out. I literally stopped at the Silver Lake water stop and ate my GU and had some water. Probably lost a minute, literally. Also chatted with the Morrill family, offering my heartfelt thanks for the 5 hours that Dave spent yesterday chipping away at the ice. THANK YOU Dave. Just before mile 11 I stopped and removed my ice cleats as they weren't necessary today with the vastly improved course conditions since yesterday. (Again, thanks to Dave.) So I lost a little time there. And then I started having leg cramps and stopped twice to try to relieve them. My stride became the "marathon shuffle" after that as I was barely lifting my feet and I felt like I was barely making forward progress. My stride was all contorted coming across the finish line (and I think my face showed it too). But, I got 'er done. I thought it was actually a really nice day for the race. The temps were not at all unpleasant. I am glad that I didn't have on any more than I did (hat, balaclava, pink shirt, Running Room jacket (one of my faves--nice and warm), two layers on my legs. Sure, it could have been warmer, but it also could have been 20 degrees colder, snowing and a howling NW wind. :-) So ... here are my splits (and you can see where the wheels came off): 7:32  7:40  7:50  7:31  7:41  7:41  7:45  7:50  7:44 8:07 (here!) 8:11 8:02  8:33 8:31 (pace for last couple tenths). I had 8.33 on my GPS if I remember correctly. At one point, I'd been just behind this gal for about 7 miles and I went past her saying, "I just have to ask ... are you over 40?" (I'd only seen her from behind and had no idea!) She turned to me and said, "No. I'm only 25. Do I look 40?" A couple guys behind me got a big laugh out of it. I was relieved that I could relax a little if necessary. :-) My finish time was 1:44:something. Haven't seen anything official as I didn't look at the results posted at the race venue. I was happy to find out that I was the first female masters finisher.

It turns out there was plenty of food. Gave away lots after all was said and done. I didn't want to bring home even one single cookie, and I didn't. I've seen enough cookies for quite a while! I was soooo tired when I got home. I would have loved to crash on the couch immediately, but I don't like things sitting around waiting to be done, so I washed out all the roasters and coffee makers that we used for the soup and cider.

Since I've gotten home, I've acquired a very sore throat, headache, and I feel a bit feverish. :-( But this too shall pass. :-) I was TOTALLY craving a Diet Coke and a piece of dark chocolate. So I had a 24 oz. bottle of DC and 1/3 of a piece of Dove dark chocolate. :-) And then I napped on the couch for a couple of minutes before getting back to it, whatever "it" was. :-)

My little basket of cookies on the silent auction went for $35!! And bread and jam basket for $50!! Hip, hip hooray!! Mike Schmitt bought our Cooking Light meal, so it will be fun to deliver that sometime this year. I'm guessing his pregnant wife Jessica will find an appropriate time to take advantage of a home-delivered meal.

I have to mention a couple of unsung heroes from the race today, 2 of whom have already been mentioned. 1) Dave Morrill for spending 5 hours of his day yesterday chipping and chopping ice off the trail and spreading sand. I can't tell you how much improved the surface was. Had I known, I certainly wouldn't have worn my clunky cleats for 11 miles. 2) Noah Retka. He was there bright and early helping to set up and saving the day by getting the hot food hot. He then ran the race and stayed until the bitter end helping to clean up. 3) Randy Quint. John Shonyo, race director, was SO happy that Randy stepped up to a leadership role with the course marshals at the 11th hour and did a bang-up job with it. It's so important for race directors to be able to turn over pieces of the race to volunteers and not have to stress out about the job being handled effectively and efficently. You guys are my "unsung" heroes!!

And I'll give a very public thank you to John Shonyo (race director) and Laura Lenz (LUABC president) for your outstanding leadership in providing such an outstanding event. Kudos to the whole team. You guys rock!!

Here are Tom Woo's post-race photos. I have really bad hat hair, and generally look pretty bad in any and all after photos.

Well, I still have a list of things from the last few days to post, but I will leave that for tomorrow. Ramblin' Renee needs some rest.

Happy Valentine's Day