It’s been so long that writing a big, all-encompassing blog post about all that’s been going on is over-whelming. So here’s some randomness from our Fall.
Second Grader
Little Boy has started second grade and he’s kicking ass academically, socially, and athletically. There’s a quality of wonderfulness about him that I can’t quite articulate — his joy, his humor, his silliness, his empathy, his all-around good nature. He’s getting more independent, yet still follows me down to the basement when I’m doing laundry and no one else is home. Sometimes I randomly pick him up and hug him tight, and he’ll wrap his legs around my waist and let me. I’m not sure how much longer he’ll let me do that!
He’s obsessed with playing football. Both Mr. P and I are getting quite adept at throwing footballs, but Little Boy is the only one who can consistently throw a perfect spiral. He’s also still pretty good in soccer, although it is harder this year because some second grade boys are giants. We’ve started going to the rock-climbing gym once a week or so, which he enjoys. I have learned to belay him (which was terrifying at first, I had to resist the urge to call up to him “Is the knot still tied?”)
He’s still an artist, although far more interested in drawing cartoons than detailed pictures. Cartoons are great though, because he has to practice writing. His latest work is called The Adventures of Super Cat. It’s about a cat who terrorizes and attacks the people he lives with. It’s based on true events.
We still take him on walks in the woods (although frankly, they are more like forced marches).
Last week we went apple-picking.
Last month I ran a local 5K that had a 2K race afterward (the 2K was mostly for kids, but some adults did race both). I raced the 5K with the goal of setting a PR. It was a tough little course with about 250 feet of elevation gain in the first two miles. Of course, I like the hills 😉 I passed dozens of people on the climb and even a few on the eventual downhill.
The below picture was taken right before the finish line. As you can see, I am dying. Running ultras is one thing, but racing a 5K is an entirely different sort of pain. I finished in 22:23 (a PR by twenty seconds), 7th woman out of 177, and 3rd in my age group (for which I got a pint glass).
Dying at the 5K Finish line
Mr. P decided to race the 2K, while I ran with Little Boy — he kept a good pace until halfway through when he got a side stitch and had to walk a little. He finished strong though, sprinting to the finish line.
The TARC 100 Relay (25 miles)
After coming home from France, I had planned to take the Fall off from running and focus on hiking, swimming, weight-training, and maybe a bit of yoga (with some running here and there, for maintenance purposes). But since I didn’t finish the UTMB, I still had a little fire left inside. My knee healed surprisingly quickly and I was able to run within a week (this might indicate that I was too cautious in France, but I still think that those steep Alpine downhills would have ripped tendons).
I knew I wanted to do a 5K PR (see above) but I also looked for a longer trail race. All the ones I wanted to do were filled up (Stone Cat, Ghost Train, even TNF San Francisco). I considered doing the TARC 100 — the 100K option — but wasn’t excited about the course and distance. Then I saw on Facebook that another TARC runner was looking to form a 4-person relay team for the 100-mile relay (each of us would run one 25-mile loop). I signed onto the team. We met for dinner during the week before the race, and I was so impressed and enchanted by all three of them. I volunteered to run the anchor — which meant, by their estimations, I would be starting at 1am. Hey, at least I would get to spend Saturday with my family.
All day Saturday, I tracked my team’s progress on ultra live… and I could see that everyone was doing faster than projected. This bummed me, as I was hoping I could start at 2am and get some sleep in… but I had to show up at 8pm and spend time huddled around the campfire, with a bunch of expectant pacers, volunteers, and DNFs getting drunk. The third leg of the relay came in at 11pm. We enjoyed a warm moment (see photo below). He advised me that that the first part of the 25-mile loop was the fastest.
He’s smiling because he’s done. I’m smiling because I’m oblivious.
So yeah… this course is insane. The elevation profile was relatively flat, yet the relentless rolling hills with the occasional technical terrain wore me down. It was cold, dark, and I passed only two 100 milers runners in the first 10 miles. My pace was steady on the easy parts, cautious on the rough parts. I like running at night, but it can be a little freaky. I spent more time than usual at the aid stations, drinking broth and chatting with the volunteers.
I passed more people in the rough sections after mile 15. These were 100-milers on their third loop who probably were not going to make the 5am cut-off to start their fourth loop. I would say, “Nice job, keep it up. I’m on the relay and only have to do one of these!” because my pace just seemed blistering compared to them and I felt bad. “One of these loops is still damn hard,” one of them told me. “Nice job yourself!”
At mile 20 aid station, I had an insane, almost rabid craving for Oreos and ate six of them. The volunteers told me the most technical part of the trail was about to begin. Honestly, it wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t something one could run. There were a few big rocks that I had to descend on my butt and I actually got a hamstring cramp during one. I knew I only had a few more miles to go so I kept running when I could. When I passed a road crossing, the volunteers told me only 3/4 of a mile to the finish and I booked it to the end. I finished just before 5am, which put our team time at 24 hours and my loop time at around 6 hours.
My primary takeaway from the race was that there is no way I will ever, ever sign-up for the 100K or 100M on that course. My secondary takeaways include the enchantment and strangeness of running at night, the awesomeness of ultra runners in general, and the mystifying allure of Oreos at 4am.
