Just Plodding Along

Catching the shuttle buses between 4am and 5am for the Mount Lemmon Half means an early wake up. The night before I laid out my stuff since I knew my brain would be dead at 3:30 in the morning.  I also remembered that last time coming down the mountain roads in a bus made me almost puke on the poor lady next to me so I popped one of these bad boys in my pocket to take after the race but before the bus ride down. No one deserves to be vomited on after trudging up Mount Lemmon. D got up to wish me luck and take the traditional pre-race double thumbs up picture and then went back to bed. Logistically having spectators at this race is kind of a nightmare. The only good place to park and hang out is at the finish but that means driving up 26 miles of switchback mountain roads behind a pilot car to get there. I gave D the morning off and headed out on my own to once again tackle the mountain.   The start was just like last time, just a timing pad. It seemed l...

Unofficial  Mount Lemmon time 2:47:40. Ten minutes faster than last time. Now must lay on floor in full compression gear and nap.  Full race review to come. I remember why I wasn't going to do this one again. Because it is flippin hard. Gosh dang my legs hurt.

Yesterday I headed over to Fleet Feet to pick up my race packet for the Mount Lemmon Half . It was a quick pick-up, there were no expo booths unless you count the entire running store as an expo. Which I did. Shirt: I think an improvement over last year They also gave us water bottles. My guess is that they were left over from last year since it is last year's logo.  My powers of deduction are incredible I know.  I had a $25 voucher to use at Fleet Feet (if you sign-up to be a member for every gazillion you spend (all right $200) you get $25 to use in the store. Getting to the $200 limit is pretty easy if you buy running shoes there and geriatric flip flops . My goal was to buy some Nuun. I have been wanting to try it. I also want to be on their hood to coast relay team next year if they once again sponsor female bloggers. Some of my favorite bloggers are on their teams this year and I think it would be so much fun. I figure the first step is to invest ...

So I am once again dragging my butt up Mount Lemmon. I am pretty sure after I did it the last time I wasn't going to do it again. It is completely uphill. Well there is a little bit of a downhill or as one guy last time described it: an eight mile hike with a 5 mile run at the end. Pretty much.  But the lure of the cheap half (registered for this one for $55) and proximity to my house (near Tucson) made it irresistible. Apparently they are cracking down and no music is allowed for real this time. Last year they said that and everyone and their mom had music except for me cause I am a rule follower. So ethical dilemma of my time: to bring the Ipod or not. It would be very helpful to have Beyonce, Katy and Lady Gaga pacing me up the mountain. There is some nice symmetry with doing this half as number 15. I am half way through my goal of running 30 half marathons before turning 30. This half kicked of the half madness for me last fall and was the first one ...

Horsetooth Half completed in 2:26:42  For some reason I thought I had only beat my time by a few seconds but last time I ran this I ran it in 2:29 so I beat it by a few minutes.  OH YEAH

Holy hills batman. The Horsetooth Half was a monster. I ran it back in 2006 and somehow blocked out how much this course makes your entire body hate you the next day. I made the BIL, sister and their dog River get up and drive me to the race start a few blocks away from their house because I am a baby and the thought of walking an extra half mile on top of running 13.1 was just too much for my little brain to handle. The race started near the CSU football stadium so there was plenty of parking for everyone. River was very excited for the race  In front of the race start, there was no banner or anything just a timing mat, see that huge dam behind me? In about twenty minutes from when this picture was taken I will be trying to not have a heart attack as a I run across it And we are off to conquer the mountain After the race started it was up a monster hill right away. My game plan was to just keep moving forward (as opposed to rolling back down the hills I guess). I ...

Yesterday I arrived in Colorado and my sister and future BIL (brother in-law) came by and slowed the car so I could jump in. Then I made them head to Chick-fil-a so I could get an ice cream cone (there was a salad involved but that was just an ice cream appetizer).  This morning we woke up to beautiful warm weather. I like to think I brought it with me from AZ because I am nice like that. The sister and I headed to the CSU campus so she could show me where she goes to vet school. I like that she is so smart and dedicated to helping animals. I also plan on getting free vet care for the rest of my life. For some reason she just smiles and nods when I mention this but no verbal confirmation that this plan is going to happen. Weird. CSU sculpture art CSU Spring time! Green stuff- what is it? I love that there is grass and green trees here, nice change from the constant color of beige in AZ Vet cubical: smart people alert Hard science: buildings I tried...