What Happens to a Race Deferred?

Longhorn cattle on hill country ranch
The ranch where Wild Hare 50 / 50k / 25k are staged is beautiful.

Streak Day:1106
YTD Mileage: 24
(2300 mile goal / 2018)

We had taken all the precautions we could to make sure the day would go smoothly. We left the dogs in San Antonio with our much-trusted and beloved dog sitter so that we wouldn’t have to plan time to walk and feed them before our planned departure time of 3:45 am from Austin to reach the race site by 5 am. We went to bed early enough to allow for a long stretch of sleep before our 2 am alarm went off. Perhaps the fact that our neighbor allowed her elementary school-aged children and their sleep-over friends loudly run and play between our building and hers well past midnight was an omen for what the next day would bring. No matter how much time we allowed for sleep, sleep didn’t come. Continue reading “What Happens to a Race Deferred?”

Pine Bark Extract: Help for Runner’s Ischemia?

Streak Day:1027
YTD Mileage: 1919
(2222 mile goal / 2017)
(2112 miles / 2016)

I’ve neglected this blog for a few months, and one reason for the neglect is

Austin Marathon 2017
Eldest son, daughter-in-law, me, and Hubby, at the ATX Marathon start line (Feb, 19, 2017)

that I’ve been discouraged since I finished the 2017 Austin Marathon (February 19) in the St David ER instead of at the race finish line. The day was unusually warm and muggy, which led to many runners having troubled runs. For me, it meant that my usual distance running issues were more pronounced and at mile 23.8 my race ended (I KNOW! SO CLOSE! UGH!). One bag of fluid administered by a race medic at curb-side was not enough to satisfactorily improve my vitals, so off to the hospital I went in an ambulance – which made this race the MOST expensive race I’ve ever run. The ER was full of runners in bibs, waiting to be seen. As the EMTs wheeled me through them to a room, I thought that the waiting room was much like scene from a war movie in which wounded waiting for medical attention in a medical facility are seated or laying in every available empty spot. Continue reading “Pine Bark Extract: Help for Runner’s Ischemia?”

Learning While You Run

Streak Day:765
YTD Mileage: 220 / 2017
(2112 miles / 2016)

credit: http://www.gq.com/story/exercise-without-headphones

During the 2009 Austin Marathon, I was running on the far right of the crowd, just inside the orange cones that marked the line between the runners and the traffic. An ambulance with lights and sirens blaring was creeping in the traffic lane just on the other side of the cones, impeded in its progress by a racer running on the traffic side of the cone. This runner, with earphones embedded in both ears, was completely oblivious to the commotion caused by his inattention to his surroundings. As the ambulance blared the sound of its presence, Continue reading “Learning While You Run”

Running Through the Mist: Oregon Coast 50k, Part 2

Streak Day:733
YTD Mileage: 8 / 2017
(2112 miles for 2016)

October 8th, 2016: Oregon Coast 50k race day arrived. We picked up our packets in a meeting room at the lodge, shortly after the 7 am packet pick-up start. Packet pick-up was well-organized, and the volunteers were very friendly. The race registration for the OC 50k does not include a shirt, but registrants can buy a shirt or a hoodie at the time they register for the race. The registration site has a warning that items purchased at the time of registration will not be shipped to race registrants who cannot run the race for some reason, so one does take a risk paying for a race garment he may not receive if he orders it when he registers, but then has to miss the race for some reason. I accepted the risk and ordered a race shirt for Phillip and a Rainshadow Running sweatshirt for myself when I registered the two of us for the race. I slightly worried that somehow we would have a problem with the purchases when we picked up our packets, but all went 100% smoothly. Continue reading “Running Through the Mist: Oregon Coast 50k, Part 2”

Running Through Mist: Oregon Coast 50k, Part 1

Streak Day:733
YTD Mileage: 8 / 2017
(2112 miles for 2016)

October 8, 2016, is a day I had eagerly anticipated for six months. img_4793Knowing that the Oregon Coast 50k sold out within the first couple of days of registration the previous two years, I waited up on April 26, 2016, to register for the 2016 event as soon as registration for the race opened. Oregon is two hours behind Texas in time zone, which meant that I had to wait up until about 2 am Texas time to register for the race. After I registered Phillip and myself for the race, I was able to sleep easily, knowing that I had secured two spots for the spectacular 50k. Now, the one thing I did not do, which anyone planning to run this 50k needs to do immediately upon registering, is to reserve a room The Adobe Resort, the official race hotel. Two days after I registered for the race, I remembered to call The Adobe Resort and reserved one of the last three rooms available race weekend, and the LAST room with an ocean view. Continue reading “Running Through Mist: Oregon Coast 50k, Part 1”