Congratulations Susan! Well done.

camille, it was cold when I ran (below freezing at the start, I think, don't know the temp at the peak) but luckily the storm moved through beforehand so it wasn't super windy. Plus the first part (the part the marathon covers) is pretty sheltered I think. Something I am glad I did but don't need to do again! Your hikes sound pretty awesome.

Gatsby, how many marathons have you run?

Laura, nice streak! And good to see you.

Ginny, how cool that your GD made state!

Marjorie, nice run as usual. I'm thinking I probably won't be able to run much faster than 8 minute miles, probably need 7:30s to win. A couple months ago I'd have expected 7s, since it is supposed to be a flat course. Oh well.

Panic in the house when I couldn't find the cowbell. I searched everywhere. I'm afraid I may have gotten rid of it when I was cleaning out a bunch of junk in the basement, DH thinks it might be in a gym bag that he left at the office. So, here is my solution for the marathon tomorrow:

My friend Michael that used to post as BigManRunning on RWOL is running and I promised him a sign. Posted this on fb and he is excited. I think this is only his second or third marathon. I'm set up to track several runners, it looks like a beautiful day, should be fun.

Marjorie, do you want to know where the squeaky toy is, or is it that Hammie wants to know where the squeaky toy is...??

Susan, congratulations!! That distance is impressive.

GatsbyBird, have you done CIM before?

Camille, it's always fun to find a new hiking area.

Karen, you're spectating MCM tomorrow? That is good news about Jake. I am sorry to hear about your sister.

Went to GD's birthday party last night at my sons.  We had a surprise, my youngest son proposed to his girlfriend!  So I will be gaining another daughter in the near future!  So excited for them both!  They have been together a while and I knew he was going to propose, but didn't know when....it was cool in front of the whole family!

Ginny

Ginny, Congratulations! And welcome to your new daughter-in-law! Happy Birthday to your GD!

Karen, LOL on having to sneak out the squeaky toy. Hope BigMan is doing well. So sorry to hear about your sister and BIL. Hopefully, the marriage counseling will help. Marriage is challenging with all of the many conflicting demands – especially with kids.   Good news about Jake! Glad to hear!

Camille, that’s strange about the power – I would have thought it was better to unplug things but I guess not. I have to admit, we don’t unless we’re going to be away for quite some time. Nice to be able to explore the area. Lisa’s showed me several great running/hiking locations recently – all within about 50 min of my house. J A friend of mine just moved to NC – love the picture she posts of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Gatsby, Good luck next week – but quick question.. How can the marathon in Sacramento be international? No border crossings into Canada, right?  Nice job on the speedy run.

LC Runs, 58 day-running streak! Wow, that’s awesome. I’d like to be able to say I could do that with combination of runs/walks with DH. Can’t though!

Marjorie, great job on the 12 miles!

Cindy, I’m sure you’ll do awesome in the marathon! Yes, before you know it, you’ll be a marathoner!

Lisa, love the photos you posted of your run this am. Absolutely gorgeous.

So more on the race yesterday…

So this was a 12 hour run – I could run as many laps (4.06 miles) in 12 hours – and as long as I got back to the finish by 11:59:59, I could go out for another lap. (Yeah, right!)

So up at 4:15, dressed, ate my oatmeal and banana and had a cup of coffee (hotel staff member was setting up breakfast, which wasn’t supposed to be ready before 6 am, but it was – nice addition!). Met my friend, Leslie, in the lobby at 5:10 and headed over the start tent, which was only about a quarter mile away, but Leslie wanted to get a choice spot near the tent so she could change clothes/shoes as necessary. Hung out in her car to stay warm. Used the rest room a couple times (glad someone else has the same pre-race routine as me). Took a photo in the darkness,

and then at 6 we were out. I’ve never run a race in the darkness before and rarely even run in the dark. But it was pretty cool though. It was easy to see the reflective ribbon and aluminum pie plates in the darkness, illuminated by our headlamps. Leslie and I, along with two other runners from the LRC group, were together for about the first mile and a half – then they scooted off and we were left alone to navigate through the darkness, avoiding fallen apples and squashed pumpkins (did I say it was in an apple orchard), fallen twigs, etc. We admired the way the light reflected off the dew drops on the grass and off the reflective tape on our friends jacket. Made it one loop without falling, in less than an hour – both of us were happy with that. Called out our numbers, grabbed a quarter p&j sandwich, and away we went.

There weren’t many stars and besides, one couldn’t look up anyway – at least not safely. We did see Orion though. Through the second aid station at mile 2 (or so) – sip of water and a piece of banana. Lap 2 done, mostly in the darkness. The smell of donuts baking


signaled we were close to the start/finish again. Came through the start/finish area, called out our numbers, said hi to Simon, got another quarter p&j sandwich and off we went.

By now, it was starting to get light. It was amazing how different the trail looked in the light. We were essentially alone as the 37 runners were pretty much spread out along the route. Got lapped by a couple of the faster runners. And back to the start. Short bathroom break and through the start. Again, before the hour, so we were happy. Forgot to call out my number, said hi to Simon and gave him my jacket, got another quarter p&j sandwich and off we went.

Pretty much the same routine through lap 6, except that by the 4^th lap, they were making grilled cheese sandwiches at the second aid station. Grabbed a quarter of grilled cheese sandwich each time through. 20 miles: got my m&m treat. By lap 7, I was hurting and could no longer keep up with Leslie. She went off ahead of me a bit (I could see her in the distance for most of the race).   I still wanted to finish in less than an hour, so I pushed as hard as I could… down hills were really hard on my right toe. And believe it or not, the thing that hurt most was my left shoulder. Finished mile 28 strong (at least for me) in 14:16, which made me happy. I knew the last lap would be much easier and slower as DH promised to walk it with me (earlier in the race I thought I would go all 8 laps with Leslie, and do a victory lap with DH, for a total of 36. By lap 6 that just seemed nuts). So back to the start/finish, got another quarter p&j sandwich and a couple of m&m’s, filled up my water bottles again, and off we went. Did the first mile together at about a 17 min pace, which was pretty awesome

for DH. The others we did at a 20-22 min pace, but that was fine by me. Through the 2^nd aid station, another quarter grilled cheese

sandwich, past the pumpkin train, took a few photos, and finally back to the start finish. Sort of run it in… just to at least pretend I finished strong. All in all 32.5 miles in 8 hours and 19 min!

With great trepidation, took off my right shoe and looked at my feet. Yep, big toenail was black. Took off left shoe – and this big toe had a massive blood blister. Didn’t expect that one as the foot never hurt. Put on sandals, got my medal (which is not a medal, but a pair of

gloves – they said they went with something more useful than a medal). Simon and I walked over (or should I say I waddled) over to the store to get some donuts, apples, and an apple pie. Left two donuts for Leslie, offered another to one of the race organizers, and headed home. We were home in time for dinner!  All in all a great run race.  Course was really well marked.  Aid stations were grade.  Volunteers helping with aid crossings were great.  Runners were amazing - and so encouraging - even when I was almost crawling in the last loop.  Would I do another ultra - not sure - although the atmosphere/people were awesome!

Figured out how to post photos! 

LC Runs,

Upload the photo to http://tinypic.com.  Go to the image icon and past the url given under "Direct Link for Layouts" into the Source box.  Click ok then resize the photo using the cursor.   Hope this makes sense.

Susan

Birthday run complete. I did 17.8 miles today. With yesterday's I got 48km done. I turn 48 on Wed. At least I did it over two days and km instead of miles. I could not have done 48 miles.  Happy with that. It got really hot too. When i started it was 59 but by 11 miles it was in the 80s. I stopped at 11.5  and 14.6 for water

Tessa I think it was Lisa asking about the squeaky toy. But, Hammy would like it too!

nice job Susan. Love seeing the pics

Karen hope the spectating went well

Ginny how exciting for the wedding!

Laura directions to insert pics is stickied at the top of our forum page.