Beach to Bay Marathon Relay

I'm a little behind in posting - and, really, everything.  I was going to catch up on EVERYTHING this weekend, but I got tired and, well, this happened Friday night/Saturday morning...

Yeah, that purple section in the center - that's me.  We got around 12 inches of rain in 24 hours.  And San Antonio does not know what to do with rain...

 that's a city bus - about 1.5 miles from my house

and US 281 - about 2 miles from the house.  It didn't open until early evening on Monday.

So, while I'm paddling/drying out - here are the ugly pics from the Beach to Bay Marathon Relay on May 18, 2013 - from Padre Island to Corpus Christi, TX.  It was HOT - and I ran the last leg, after sweltering in the sun in the middle of a park for about 3 hours.  (I know, I'll be running in 100+ degree temps soon and laughing the whole way - or maybe just running - but May is always a difficult acclimatizing time.)  All the better to make some funny finish line pics....

that's a bit of crazy running chicken

but I didn't want to leave other birds out - so here's a little goose-step

And here, the buzzards were circling this full-out crazy running chicken.

Thanks to MV Productions, WOAI, and TransDOT for the pics.

Ragnar Cape Cod

Even though I may have mentioned that I'd never do a crazy 200-mile, 2 day relay again, I rejoined my teammates from team Don't Tell Deb in Massachusetts for the Ragnar Cape Cod relay on the first weekend of May.  We ran from Hull to Provincetown, Massachusetts on May 3-4 - almost 200 miles.  And it was WINDY, but fun.

home for two days - Van 2
(when not running)...

Channeling the Crazy Running Chicken, while fighting the headwind, on my last leg

My next costume for Dia de los muertos?  ELECTRIC crazy running chicken?
And - Team Don't Tell Deb at the finish

After the race, John and I headed to Nantucket for a day - and saw a seal!

Sally Seeker likes seeing seals on the seashore.

We're already semi-planning the next relay...

Thanks to Team Don't Tell Deb, John, Tara, Alyssa, Erin, and Mike for the pics and great time!

Marathon #6 - Hartford

About 19 years ago, my good college buddy, Tara, suggested that we try out the Army - and I said "sounds good" - and off we went to Basic in Fort Knox, KY....

and I ended up in the real Army for the next 8ish years.  (We were about six years old in that pic.)  Fast forward to 2012 - the year I dislocated my patella, became hypothyroid, and discovered I have terrible arthritis under my kneecaps.  But, dangit, I was still going to run a marathon and searched for a flat, cheap-ish one. 

So, Tara suggested that I come run the ING Hartford marathon "with" her - and I said "sounds good."  So, there I was on October 13, 2012, freezing my buns off at the 35 degree start.  Didn't sound (or feel) good. 

(We're still about 25 years old.)  And here we are with team MAD (Making a Difference) - don't hate me because my pants are cool.  This group rocked - 7 private portapotties for 44 folks - most excellent.

This was my slowest finish - but it was the first marathon where THAT voice did not creep into my head and say "maybe you can't do this."  (Somewhere along the 26.2 miles, that voice always finds me and haunts me for a mile or so - until I grab it by the throat and choke the life out of it.)  This time, I was just taking it easy, and that voice never found me - maybe the voice found the Kenyans (or Tara - who finished in a blazing 3:37ish - but that's unlikely), and it didn't get me. 

The ugly race pics did get me, however.  Here are my cold running pics along the route:

Man, the fat face got me!

And then there was the inglorious finish....through the arch

That was pretty cool.
And they announced "Sally Seeker from San Antonio" - and I did a crazy running chicken warm-up

Then, I went full out crazy running chicken to the finish - check out the chicken wings

And that I did - finish.  But why does that chick in the blue look so happy about it?

I caught up with Cliff around mile 24 and we finished the run together (nevermind that he carried that flag the WHOLE time)

and then I finally looked at my watch and said "really? you couldn't break 5:00?"

But, in the end, I did it - broken-ish elbow, bad knee, and all.  And Tara managed to capture a not-so-ugly-I-rock-this pic

And then I froze a little more

But it was good. And now, Tara says, "we should run this"

And - wait for it------I say "sounds good"
Thanks to Tara, Kevin, and Brightroom for the pics - and super thanks to Tara for hosting me - it was really a great trip (especially when it warmed up).

Big Bend 25k secret canyon pics

As I mentioned, I chickened out from attempting to find Whitney's secret canyon during the Big Bend 25k.  Remember?  The possibilities of bears, snakes, mountain lions, SPIDERS, and my dead body never being found due to my absolute lack of a sense of direction?  Yep, that's it - that time.

Anyway, my buddy and runner extraordinaire, Kimberly, ran it with Whitney - buddy, crazy, and runner extraordinaire, the day before the race....and here are her pics I swiped of the secret canyon.  I'm TOTALLY running this next year!

Thanks, Kimberly for the pics that I swiped :)  Next year, we run it - Saturday!

3M half marathon

On the heels of returning from Big Bend, I ran the 3M half marathon in Austin this Sunday.  (Note:  I normally put about 7,500 miles or less on my car per year - and drove almost 1,900 solo miles in the past two weeks!)  In the interest of full disclosure, I mainly ran this run for the swag bag of 3M products:

Also, the course is net downhill, so it should be "Fast. Easy. Fun."  No such hope.

Well, the night before, I attended my running buddy, Julia's, 80th birthday.  I actually have to create a new 80 and up age group now for the Women's Run this year.  She's truly a remarkable friend and an icon of the running community (every time she enters a new age group, most race directors add the new 'and up' 5-year age group).  I can merely hope to be running and rescuing animals like she does - at even approaching the age of 80.

Then, the race started at 0645 the next morning in North Austin, so it was an EARLY start for me.  And, after about 9 miles of downhill-ish-ness, I realized my calves still hated me after the Big Bend 25k and driving and driving, and they rebelled.  But I finished - not my best, not my worst, but still a painful drive home.

Here's the view from the finish line

And my shiny medal

While I was in Austin, I was called by compadres I served with in Bosnia - Mark and Laurie - who are now RET and passing through town.  We met up for dinners the past couple of nights, along with Jessica, another CJSOTF-Sarjevo compadre now stationed in San Antonio - and regaled each other with some old war stories.  Here's Laurie 'playing' with a monkey at Bass Pro Shop

It's hard to believe that it was over 10 years ago that we were 'playing' in the Balkan mountains over there.  Next thing you know, I WILL be 80 years old!  Until then, next up is 'just' a local 10k trail run which may hurt.

thanks to Brightroom and 3M for the pics