1. planting a small herb garden
2. Ramping up my miles now that I have my insert into my new Hoka One Bondi Bs
3. Refinishing our front yard swing
4. Tackling our Backyard and...
5. Volunteering the swing shift at the Umstead Endurance 100 mile race
I'll start with number 5. I just realized that there was a 100 mile race outside my back door. I emailed Rhonda who is in charge of the volunteers asking if they needed any pacers. She informed me that they were filled up with pacers so she forwarded my email onto Joe Lugiano who is the assistant race director and a 22 time finisher of the Vermont 100M. He asked if I could help out with the timing at from 16:00-24:00. So, I packed up my puffy coat and my head lamp and headed into the park. The race is a 12.5 mile loop that each runner completes 8 times. After 4 laps or 16:00 they can pick up a pacer. If they did not plan on having a pacer then the volunteer pacers jump in on a first come first served basis. It's actually a really cool idea as most people just want the company and what better than a complete stranger to fill you in on their life story. My job was to shuttle between aid stations every couple hours and insert the runner's times into the computer data base (how it's done without timing chips). This process only took about 30 minutes to complete which left me 1.5 hours to help out elsewhere...and this is where the fun began. First, two runners came into the aid station all bloodied because they had been jumped by a drunk guy in the park, in mid day! Seriously, one of the runners apparently got punched right in the face. As if running 100 miles isn't tough enough why not throw in a fat bloodied lip from a bar brawl. After washing up a bit the runners were off. I love ultra running!
The first half of my shift, besides the brawl, was pretty uneventful as most people were chugging away pretty well in the daylight. The first finishers even started rolling in just as the sun was going down (somewhere around 14:08 was the winning time). As you can tell, this is definitely one of the 'easier' 100 milers as it's not a lot of elevation (maybe 8000 feet over the 100 miles which is mostly rollers). However, as the sun set and the elite runners were showering up the middle to back of pack runners were starting to show their wear and tear. This was a great reminder of what I love about the 100 mile distance, it is not about having the fastest time but overcoming the mental and physical obstacles that each person encounters during such a challenging event.Each and every competitor, whether they finished one lap or all eight, left all they had on the race course. You have to admire that. I could go on and on about the great experience but just call if you want to hear more stories. Overall, the Umstead 100 is an extremely well organized race with very experienced race directors. I'm not sure if I'll ever have the desire to run the same 8 laps for 100 miles but the fact that it's right out my back door I can't say never. Lastly, if you ever have the opportunity to volunteer for any race, especially an ultra, jump at the opportunity. It is a great way to give back to the race community and experience human perseverce up close and personal.
As for life, things are going well. I'm having more and more pain free runs which means my shoe insert and/or my Bondi Bs are rocking. I've ordered a pair of the Mafate to rotate between the two shoes and I do recommend ordering a half size up from your regular shoe as they do run about a 1/4 size too small with a pretty narrow toe box. Laura's herb garden is starting to show signs of life and I'll be planting cucumbers today or tomorrow. Now if we can just figure out how to overtake the weeds in our back yard :) Below is a few pics of what's been going on in the last few weeks. I'll be posting separately about my new $7 foam roller that is indestructable..stay tuned and enjoy the pics.
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| These are my new(er) Bondi Bs. You can see that the shoe on the right has a 1/2" full-length lift on the sole. This takes care of my short tibia and has really smoothed out my running, along with eliminating all knee issues. I won't be going back to my old NB 101s or 760s that I used to run with. Shoot me a holler if you have any questions about these kick ass shoes. |
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| Laura and I playing a little cribbage at our favorite coffee shop. If you've never had a European Cappucino I highly recommend one. It's basically a tall with an extra shot....you just sound so much more sophisticated ordering as a euro :) |
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| This is the face of sad dog listening to us Skype our Colorado friends Chris and TBone. Every time he hears their voice on the computer and doesn't get to sit in Tauna's lap he just goes to his bed and has this look on his face. |
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| This is the JackHammer (friend/co-worker) at $5 martini night. We were having a contest on who could order the girliest martini.....he won with his glowsticked Blue Orgasm. |
