THE 12 DAYS OF TRAINING A Bedtime Tale

 Momma Santa is tucking baby bears into bed. Little red bear asks for a bedtime tale. Momma says Ok, I'll tell you the story of long ago about training for a marathon.

Once upon a time, Momma trained for a marathon on the American River Parkway in Sacramento. It is a magical place. The story you are about to hear is

The 12 Days of Training.

 

On the 12th day of training, the Parkway gave to me:

12 Turkeys a strutting

 

11 deer a grazing

 

10 runners a running

 

9 geese a gandering

 

 8 Sac Fitters a Aid-Stationing

7 Pay Candy Bars for Carbo Loading

 

6 Toadstools a Standing

 

 

5 Otters a Salmoning

4 Fisherman a fishing

 

 

 3 Walkers a winning

 

 

2 Coyotes a devouring

 And 1 Magnificent A merican River Sunrise

 

Good Night my Dear Bear Babies. Sweet Dreams...

CIM 2012 THE RESULTS ::::::::::: DRUM ROLL PLEASE :::::::

 

 

And the results ::::::::: That's a drum roll.

 

 

 

6 Hours 30 min mas or less unofficial time.

Official results still not available.

 

Close to 20 minutes better than last year.

 

I am a Marathoner.



CALIFORNIA INTERNATIONAL MARATHON 2012 THE MEMORIES

 It's 3:34 on Sunday Dec 2. The alarm just went off. Geez,  time to get up. I can't believe I am getting up so early to get dressed in shorts to go out and spend next 7 hours in the rain and wind. The only thing worse, not getting up. At this point, I am on auto pilot, shoes, shirt coat, shorts, socks, uns all laid out. Just turn on the coffee, boil the eggs, tape the feet, wait for Mary and Erin to arrive at 4:30.
We follow the first round of yellow school buses down Hwy 50, park on K street and walk to the Sheraton to huddle in

alcove in front. We're on the first round of buses to leave to the start line. The wind is rock'n and roll'n the bus on the highway. We stop to get off the freeway and the folding door is actually blowing inward to a 90 degree angle. Not a good sign. At 6:25, we leave the sauna that is the inside of the bus to hit the porta- potties and check a bag. It is so wet and blowy.

 

"...give us your huddled masses..." under the eaves of a gas station, for us, a firetruck for a windbreak.

 

As miserable as we were, we had tears in our eyes, standing in the pouring rain with 10,000 fellow runners, listening to the National Anthem at sunrise. I closed my eyes and could have been the only person standing there.

 It is so windy, rain is blowing in the side of my raincoat. Out heads are down, just trying to break the wind. We try to duck behind other runners to let them do the hardwork. We go through ankle deep puddles. Erin's coat rips apart just due to the sheer force of the wind. She had water accumulating in her pockets. None of us are remotely dry. Water is dripping down my back.

The the wind stops around mile 10. Around Fair Oaks Ave and Grant Ave, the sun just kisses us through the clouds. We are just in front of the police lines but still walking in the street. Ok just let us get through FO blvd, ok, just let us get through FO and Arden, the FO and Watt and Munroe and Howe Ave. I've never seen the wall. OK let us get over the J Street bridge without the roads closing. Now, how about walking down J Street, over to K Street passed Sutter's Fort. We see mile markers 24, 25, 26. It's like the sign people are waiting for us to pass before taking them down. The police are asking runners to move over to the side walks. We ignore. Too much work 1/2 mile from the end. We turn the final corner and I am cooked. Mary takes my hand. She wills me to finish hand-in-hand, hand held high over our heads in triumph.

26.2 miles. The Marathon. The last .2 is so hard. 26 is not easy, but the body and mind so want to quit. You just don't let it. You can't. If you do, you might as well have stayed in bed. I am a Marathoner.



The Marathoners Finish CIM 2012

CIM 2012 THE FOOD: POST RACE ASSESMENT

 

 

 

It is so hard to know how much food to pack for 26.2 miles on Saturday

and to know what I am going to feel like eating at mile16 on Sunday.

 

About mile 3, I discovered my beloved sweet potatoes

were some where behind me on the wet asphalt.

Ok so that left me with grapes, trail mix, Coke, coconut M&M's

 and a banana to pick up at about mile 12.

 

I had eaten my  hardboiled eggs and banana for breakfast

so it was trail mix and grapes for a long time. Next real food was a bag of grapes and an avocado at mile 21. The avocado was cut in half so I just twisted it and squeezed half in my mouth. That peel is somewhere near Sac State. Other half peel is near 54th and J Street along with the pit carefully rolled in the gutter.

I was pretty well fooded out at that point but forced down a few more grapes and Nuun electrolytes for the next 6 miles.

 

I set a goal in January to completed races without the goos and gels, globs, and blocks. It worked. I felt fabulous during the race.

No ups and downs and proved to myself marathons can be run on real food.



California Internaltional Marathon 2012 The Feet

 

 

THE FEET

 

 

After 4 years of nasty blisters, it was time for a change in 2012. Merrill Barefit shoes became my shoe of choice. I was able to avoid blisters for any mileage under 16 miles, but after that, not so good. Duck tape is the next line of defense.

So this is my foot at 4am, getting the alcohol and duck tape treatment.

The tape held tight through 26.2 miles of wet feet.

 

 

I am also really tired of spending beaucoup bucks, up to $25.00 a pair of socks that  are supposed to guard against blisters. So This is a pair of Target $1.00 socks. Not only are they are cheap, they are quite good looking. I even had an argyle pair to match my 4th pair of Merrills.

Results, blister on 1 toe and above tape line below the toes on my right foot.



California International Marathon 2012, The Food

 

 

 

No goo, no gel, no blocs or shots. Doing the 2012 CIM with real food.

Yes coconut M&M's are real food. Yes that is an avocado and a sweet potato.

You'll also see bags of grapes and a banana in my aid station bags.

To prepare the sweet potato,

 slice the sweet potato thin, toss with olive oil, then bake for 20 min.

Chill overnight uncovered. They are ready for the road.

CIM 2013 OH THE PLACES I'VE TRAINED

Oh, the wonderous places I've gone, the sights I have seen, the trails I've hiked

SF 1/2 Marathon

 training for the 2013 CAllifornia Intl Marathon



Red Rock Canyon in the Snow

Marathon Texas

Terlingua Tx

Hiking Big Bend National Park

Walking in Terlingua Tx

LBJ Ranch Stonewall Tx

San Francisco 1/2 Marathon over the Golden Gate Bridge

Crater Lake National Park

Big Bear Ca

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

Garden of the Gods at Sunrise

Crater Lake Or



 Spiral Mountain Salida Co

Red Rock Park and Garden of the Gods Colorado Springs

Sonoma Coast and Hwy 1
 

And my all time favorite 

The one and only American River Parkway



American River Parkway at Sunrise

Fisherman at the bridge

Sunrise at the bridge

Otters feeding on the salmon. There were 5 right under the bridge.

Coyotes eating a deer. Two deer were on a rise about 20' away paying tribute to their fallen friend.

Colorado Sunsets

Colorado Springs

Arkansas River Salida

Sunset Cripple Creek

1957 Evans Restoration Part 2

Restoration of my 1957 Evans bicycle.

Part 2

This bicycle was a gift from my parents to me for my 7th birthday present.

My first bike.

It has been hanging in my parent's garage lo these many years.

 It got me to school in Cheney and Pullman Washington,

Sacramento and Davis California.

 

I didn't want to make this like one of those Sunday Parade Magazine puzzles.

Find the difference between picture a and picture b.

It has turned out to be.

 

I dropped off the bike in August and was told it would take about 3 weeks.

 I picked it up October 13. I was promised return of the basket, a vintage bell,new seat, original handle grips, original pedals, my 1970's era UCD bike sticker, and my Father's writing of my name on the underside of the frame.

I agreed to buttercup yellow paint.

 

So what I got was new handle grips

 no bell, new pedals, a new seat,  new tires

part of my basket, buttercup yellow on the entire bike.

 

Mike pointed out my Father's writing on the frame and the UCD bike sticker.

Good stuff.

He said my pedals were not safe so he put on new ones.

Ok I accept safety.

I wanted my old basket. I got the basket and 1 of the supports back.

He returned the pedals, the old chain, the old hand grips.

 

There was still something more that was not right.

I was baffled.

The fame was not gray.

The black writing on the frame was on a gray frame,

not on buttercup yellow.

My Evans was like an old pair of saddle shoes.

Yellow fenders and gray saddles.

It was like an old pair of broke in shoes that are comfortable, familiar.

This is like new bike. It's not the same.

 

I am still looking at is in it's new state.

Trying to figure out if this is something I should compromise on.

I don't think so.

I am ok without the shredded tires. I can get a basket.

I frame will soon be steel gray.

The fenders will have the gray and blue stripes.

 

I do see a Pink birthday cupcake bicycle bell in my future.

The Evans remains a work in progress.

 

May I will do a what do you see as the difference blog.

 

 

 

HETCH HETCHY

Hetch Hetchy.. How can you not want to go here just because of the name? I love it.

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir Water source for City of SF. No fishing, boating or swimming allowed.

Water shooting out of side of mountain below the dam

Two views from face of the dam.  Don't think I want to be on the stairs. Click to enlarge

We spent Labor Day weekend in Groveland, Ca, about 25 miles from the Yosemite entrance. We ended up in Groveland because it had camping reservation when we book a week before Labor Day and  it is in our 3 hour driving limit for 3 day weekend. It's an easy drive along Hwy 49, through Angels Camp and  Sonora, heart of the gold country.

Yosemite was not the destination.

 Estimated crowds for the 3 days were 76,000, not to mention the recent outbreak of Hanta virus.  National Parks are not dog friendly for trails and

Sam-the-Dog was along for the ride.

We always explore the surrounding area where ever we camp, stop at

 ranger stations or check out other possible campsites

At the ranger station, we discovered that Hetch Hetchy was only about a 45 minute drive, perfect for us and on both of our lists of places to see.

We used our or Golden Age Passport so didn't have to pay the $10 entry fee. It's day use only area unless you are backpacking.

It's a windy drive to the reservoir. In the late summer, it's pretty dry and brown but worth the drive none-the-less. Views were spectacular just walking over the dam.

Our next visit will be in the spring when the waterfalls are running, or in the summer when the wildflowers are blooming, without Sam-the-Dog.  We want to hike the trails.

The road  is cycling friendly although steep, narrow and windy in places.

 

THE COLOR RUN ... SACRAMENTO

PINK IS MY COLOR FOR THE COLOR RUN SACRAMENTO

 I got pink chalk dust in my color bag.

SF 1/2 Marathon, 13.1 in the bag



The Starting Line

Wow, 6 weeks after tearing the plantris tendon in my right leg, I finished the first half of the SF Marathon. It  was a cool, foggy SF summer morning, perfect racing weather.

My goal was just to finish as much of the race as I could. I wanted to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Best smell of the race: cheese garlic sourdough bread being baked at Boudin Bakery in Fisherman's Wharf.



The Bridge



Best sight: The Golden Gate Bridge. Over the bridge where the cars normally drive.  Too foggy for water picts but the bridge is beautiful in the fog. Pavement had great texture so took pict of the concrete.Now that is what happens when the 1/2 marathon is taking so long, start taking picts of concrete. 

Feeling good. Down a steep hill in the Presidio.  Passed the 10 mile marker. Geez at this point it's only another 3.1, so why not finish? It's just a couple of more hills, a little up, a little down, past a WWII bunker built in the hillside next to the ocean, past the golden church domes in the  Russian district off Geary, up a couple more hills, around a corner and the finish line ahead.



Remembering our fallen heroes





The Finish





Finish time about 3:30. Tortoise speed but the tortoises finished the race.





Worth the Hurt