Just past mid-September and we’ve reached the end of summer. Here in northern climes our first frosts are near, the early trees in the hills are showing the beginning of fall color; and most daily runs are now in the dusk and dark. Poof! Another season has passed into the rear view mirror. Always a good time to stop and reflect on the runs logged since those first long days in May and how to put the miles to work in the fall races.

This weekend, we’ve got two Half Marathons and a 10K on our race calendar.

Hog4life will be working the hills at the base of the Great Smokey Mountains outside of Knoxville TN. A review of the course map confirms what I expected…uphill all the way! (I had the pleasure challenge of running this area last fall, and all I can say is it’s rugged running.)

Barbs595 will be running the shore of Buzzards Bay of sourthern MA through the land of the Pilgrims, with an after party at a brewery. Sounds wonderful.

Apparently, Zelanie is planning on outrunning a comic character at her 10K with visions of cake at the finish.

Good luck, fleet feet and following breezes to all our racers this weekend!

Barb, hope your day goes well!

I think I am just going to have fun with my race today. I have a bit of a costume and will bring my camera. It should be an adventure!

Hope the race's went well for our racers!

Mitch- Glad you got it done!

I had a ton of fun at my event.

Executive summary- Fun run based on this webcomic that is now a book.

This weekend, I ran the Beat the Blerch 10K in Carnation, Washington (just outside of Seattle).  It's only two weeks until my first full marathon, so although I really wanted to participate, I wasn't sure I wanted to really race it all out.  Plus, from the race description, it sounded like it would be a fun event, so it made sense to relax a bit and enjoy myself, Scottydog style.  So, I kind of viewed it as a way to bring the fun back into running after 16 long weeks of marathon training.

But if you know me, you know that it's not always easy for me to just chill, so I still had to have a plan.  This Tuesday, I had an interval workout coming up- supposedly 6 x 1 mile at a bit faster than MP.  Hmm, 6 miles of quality work, did you say?  So I decided that when I was running, I'd aim for that MP or slightly faster pace, but that I'd stop for anything that I felt like stopping for along the way.  I figured that would still be less recovery than the "interval" workout called for, right?

I also came up with the idea for a bit of a blerch costume on a run last week- Oatmeal shirt, green sweatband and shorts, and wings.  Thanks to the magic of the internet, everything even arrived on time.

My SIL lives about 30 minutes away from the race, so DD and I drove up the night before.  SIL was out of town for a tennis tournament, but her husband was kind enough to put us up for the night.  We got there in time to go out for Malaysian food the night before- the nice thing about not stressing on the race was I also could relax and enjoy dinner!

The race had a full marathon, a half marathon, and a 10K.  We arrived just in time to see the start of the full (each race start was 30 minutes apart).  Matthew Inman, the creator of The Oatmeal, was out on the course at the start in a green Blerch suit.

Then he went and posed for some photos before the HM started.  He also ran the half yesterday.  He seemed like a pretty nice guy, acting like he had plenty of time and attention for everybody who came up, even though it must have been a pretty exhausting weekend for him (including the book signings, event details, etc.)  He complimented me on my headband color- he noticed that I had gotten a pretty accurate Blerch color for it, actually the color they had been looking for, but they hadn't been able to find it, so had gone with a darker green.   And how dorky am I that I felt like, "OMG I met the Oatmeal and he liked my headband!!!!1"

I got a lot of compliments on my wings, and several people asked where I had bought them.  So I am thinking the little anime internet shop is going to have a sudden spike in wing orders this week, hah!

I ran a couple of miles as a warmup and took some photos.  I am not as good as Scottydog at just going up to people and asking for photos, but I got a few, plus DD took some of me.  And Runners' World took a photo of my wings!

Plenty of portapotties.  There was never a line!

This woman was dressed as a Grizzly Bear in underpants.

I lined up pretty much in the back.  I could see 7, 8, and 9 mm signs up front, but didn't go up at all, because I figured if something was cool at the start, I might just want to take a photo, and wouldn't want to get in somebody's way if they had a time goal.  I figured even if it was congested, I would get clear soon enough.

The start was actually really smooth.  They had two ropes that went across in front of the mats.  They opened the back rope and let one small group of runners up to the front one, then closed it off, and started that group.  Then they would repeat the process with another little group.  The start was on a pretty narrow asphalt trail, so that was a good idea.  Plus, I suspect there were a lot of participants who don't do a lot of races, so rather than grumping at people for not lining up properly, this system meant that it wasn't really a big deal.

There was a couple near me that each had a box of Voodoo donuts that they were going to be giving out during the race.  A tall guy in a 5th Ave. mile shirt took a half, then went back for the other half before the race even started.  "It's just race fuel!" he said.  He said the mile race was fun, and still enough work that you could enjoy donuts after that one, too.

Finally up to the start.  You can see the last group that just went through.

Our group started, and of course I'm pretty much passing everybody right away.  But there isn't really any bunching, so there's plenty of room.  People are in a good mood, there are lots of costumes, and it's overall a good time.  There's almost a mile of asphalt path before we go over a bridge and onto a gravel trail for the rest of it.  I didn't quite hit the 9:00 pace I had planned on, but was holding pretty steady at MP (9:10) after a slightly slower first mile.  Of course, my brain was telling me "how do you plan to run 26.2 miles at this pace in two weeks, dummy?  You shouldn't even be sweating by now" but for the most part I just tried to relax and run.  I got lots of compliments on the costume, plus there were friendly volunteers.

These guys were running with all of their medals and race bibs.  I am assuming they had a personal story of having beaten their own personal Blerch?

The aid station was just before mile 3.  There were Blerches going around encouraging everybody to slow down and rest a bit.  It was really well organized, too.  First, you passed the people with gels, then cups with little pieces of birthday cake, then water, then purple sports drink.  On the other side of the road, there were 1/4 size Nutella sanwiches, bananas, and water.  There was plenty of each, no congestion, and everybody was pretty good at announcing what was where.  I stopped at the couch, ate some cake, and drank some grape drink.

I also got my photo taken with a sasquatch.

You can see how spread out it is to avoid bunching.

I ran ahead to the turnaround.

On the way back, the couch was much more crowded.  I took this photo, then took one for the two girls in front.

Then I had a Nutella sandwich, and got some more photos.

Then it was just run back, nice and easy.  I was definitely having fun with it, and glad that the cake and sandwiches had been cut pretty small, so weren't really an issue.

Managed to get this photo while running

I did stop to get a picture of these great Blerch costumes.

And then I was feeling silly enough to photograph the photographer.

I gradually picked up the pace towards the end.  I was past most of the 10Kers on the way out, so there wasn't really much that was new to see.  Also, the front of the HM was starting to come through, so there were finally some faster runners to pace off of.

After the final turn, I was ready for a last kick, and had some competition!  First, a woman went by me like I was standing still.  I called out, "nice kick!" and she called back that she wasn't about to let a Blerch (me, in costume) beat her.  Then I came up towards a third woman who was clearly NOT going to let me pass.  I realized that she was working hard and wasn't going to let me pass, but I also was enjoying running hard and maybe pulling her to a faster finish.  I think she had me by a nose at the mat.  I finished in just under an hour, which was what I had been aiming for, more or less, with the stops for cake and photos.

I said hello to DD and got my medal and some Blerchendise.  The new Running book isn't officially out yet, but they were selling copies there, and the Oatmeal would be back to sign them after his race.   We took a silly photo, then I went out for a cooldown jog while she got in line for the signing.  We ended up not staying for the signing, though, because the Oatmeal wasn't due back from the HM for a while still, plus we would still have to wait once he was back, and we still had a long drive back to Oregon ahead of us.  She had homework that she still needed to do too.

They even had a bunch of foam rollers out at, so I got a good rolling in too.

Nutella sandwich for DD:

The medal was included, of course, but then I bought the other stuff.  The Blerch might live on my desk and discourage evening snacking.

All in all, I thought it was a fun and really well organized event!  I definitely recommend it if it comes to your area!

Nice job Mithc and Zel!

My half was not the best race I have had, but at least I finished. It was 68f and extremely humid and sunny. (you could cut the humidity with a knife) I figured I couldn't control the weather so just give it a shot. It was a small field of 400 runners and they took off fast. I have never run in the small a field. We had to run with traffice, which normally isn't a problen n this ares, but they just happened to be having a horse show on the same day, so runing with horse trailers and oncoming traffice wasa little sketchy for the first 4 or so miles. Not a fan of running with traffic.

I started out what was faster than training runs, but I felt really good, so went with it. ( I was at the back of the pack, but didn't care) The first 6 miles I was averaging around 11:20-11:40 with a 168HR. Higher than it should be, but I felt strong. Started slowing in mile 7 & 8, as I suddenly felt like I had pulled a muscle in my back. It was hurting to try to breath deep. We were in 100% sun and humidity and I knew the hills were coming, so I tried to slow the pace and catch my breath. I stopped to walk a bit and that was my downfall. For some reason I cannot get started again after I walk. I started getting worried that my back -breathing was taking som much out of me. thought maybe I was tensing up and not realising it.

MIles 7-10 I averaged about 13:30 with some walkig thrown in. By this time there was some cloud cover, but no relief from the humidity. I was taking the water at the water stops and just pouring it down my back. I just kept plugging along -thought about quitting at one point, but said to myslef - nope you signed up and you will finish it. At mile 10 I was still on course to be close to my goal, and then I fell apart at the hills, Walked most of them as I just couldn't seem to get going again. The finish was a left turn into the rock/shell covered driveway with a slight incline. Well evidently there was a medical emergency and the rushed us to the side (2-3 feet of grass) so the amublance and police could get in to help the downed runner. I will say I don't think I have ever seen a dwoned runner looking so gray/blue. They did take him by ambulance and I assume he is okay.

Oh well, crossed in 2:49:49 13.2 miles per my Garmin. At least I finished and looked cute per the photographer. More like a drowned rat.

My goal ws 2:30 and I think if not for the humidity I would have done it. Back still sore today, but the breathing is much better, not sure what happened there, but I had been dealing with a stiff neck most of the week. I think I am done with the half distance for now - it has not been a good year for me..Not looking for pity, just the way I feel right now.

It was a beautiful course, no crowd support, plenty of water/gatorade/gu stations, only 1 porta potty at 6.2 miles and no water or refreshments by the time I finished. That really irritated me. Plenty of beer - it was at a brewery. My personal feeling was it was a field of 400 you should have never run out of water and fruit at the end. Luckily as I was walkng thru the tall grass to my car, there was a volunteer coming back from a water stop who had a few bananas left and I was able to snag one. It think a little more organization and it could be an awesome race to keep doing. I had fun and met lots of people, that is what these races are all about.

Oh dear, Barb, humidity is a bad lover. I'm hoping your back pain is temporary.

Z - great photos, thanks.

A

Tough day, Barb. You are strong for sticking it out and finishing. It's too soon to say you are done with the distance; you need to settle this race in your own mind before you can know that going forward. I had my first bad race this month and I've decided that you learn something from every race, possibly more from tough and/or bad races. *hugs* (And give the RD that feedback about the water and fruit. Seriously!)