Fitness

It usually happens around a restaurant table following a run and after we've all consumed at least half our beer.  Someone says something like, "We should all sign up and do x" (where x is a slightly more crazy than normal event). That's how it happened for the 2009 Goofy Challenge; I'm pretty sure that's how it happened when five of us (Melissa, Susan, Jim, Bill, and me) decided to run this year's Marathon du Medoc.

Several days in Paris.  Several days in Bordeaux.  A week in the Dordogne region.  What could be bad about all that?  Oh,...I almost forgot: it's that little 26.2 mile run that I'll have to survive during one of the days.  Did I mention that there is wine served at every water stop?  Did I mention that food (i.e., oysters on the half-shell, cured ham, grilled beef, and ice cream) is served on the course over the final three miles?  I can tell you that nothing prepared me/us for the experience that is Marathon du Medoc.

On a day with a temperature forecast to hit 80F, the five of us set off with ~8,500 other runners (most of whom were in costume) to "run" through the Bordeaux wine region.  That there are better ways to see the famous wineries of Bordeaux goes without saying.  The sheer spectacle of event is what makes it the most unique way to see the wineries.  As I perspired more than I ever thought possible -- enough to short out my iPod by the ninth mile -- some of the other runners were pushing homemade floats that measured as much as twelve feet in length and required a team of four to navigate.  It was complete insanity and our group's finish times reflect that fact.

Melissa: 04:56:25; Jim*: 06:09:59; Bill: 06:14:51; Richard: 06:19:11; Susan*: 06:22:41

* Jim and Susan ran an extra 2 kilometers out-of-the way about half-way through the race.  They likely beat my finish time as a result of the extra distance if you take total distance into account.  The point is that nobody (except possibly Melissa) was running this event for time.

Melissa made a bet in October of last year (2009).  She said that she would register me for the 2010 Napa Valley Marathon and pay the registration fee if I would actually run the race. Her wager was that I would owe her the entrance fee come March 7th, 2010 when the start gun fired and I wasn't anywhere near the start line in Calistoga, California.  (She may have stipulated that I not only run the race but that I also train for it -- I don't recall the exact terms of the bet.)  Her willingness to enter into such a bet could stem from my having registered for the 2009 Napa Valley Marathon and not having run it; or, that I'm a notorious for "running from the couch" (which is a polite way of saying that I don't usually train).

In my defense, I didn't run the 2009 Napa Valley Marathon due to an illness.  Not just mildly sick -- I had lost my voice and part of my hearing.  The fact that I wouldn't have run the 2009 race simply due to the horrid weather Napa was experiencing in Spring of 2009 somehow counts against me in Melissa's book.  (Have I mentioned that I'm a fair weather runner?)

Well,...this year was a different story.  Not only did I get some actual training in prior to the race, but the weather was perfect come race day.  Blue sky; not too hot.  Melissa, Heidi, Lily, Teresa, Susan, Jim, and I got up early Sunday morning and started the 26.2 mile jaunt down the Silverado Trail from Calistoga to Napa with ~2,300 other people.  While Melissa and Lily ran faster than lightening (3:37:15 and 3:40:49, respectively), Heidi pushed me to achieve a personal best time of 4:51:50.

I now have one more shiny medal for my collection.

I've been remiss in my posts about races.  Excuse: the 2009 Royal Victoria Marathon occurred shortly after the wedding and just before a three-week honeymoon in New Zealand.  None-the-less, 2009 was my sixth metal for the Royal Victoria race: five half-marathons and one full-marathon.  It is my favorite race -- there's just no question about it.  As I have posted in the past, we make a weekend of the race event.  At least six of the running crew went this last year.  It's a time for the creation of found memories.

The other reason I felt the need to post about RVM is that a bunch of us are running another race this next weekend.  I'd hate to end up with a log jam of race metals. ;)  In all seriousness, congratulations to everyone who ran the RVM in 2009!  I hope to see you all later this year (October 10th) in Victoria for Dim Sum, Lululemon shopping, carbo-loading at Il Torrazo, and the race.

Pick your poison now: 13.1 or 26.2.

With only a little more than two months left before the "Big Day", Melissa and I took a break over the weekend to run the Inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon.  Melissa ran the full (26.2 miles) and I ran the half (13.1 miles).  The number of runners was just insane.  Who would have guessed that you could convince 20,000 people to run a race like this in Seattle.  I'm so happy I did, though. The weather was excellent.  The race was well managed.  The course was fun (at least the half-marathon course). And, I now have another nice metal to add to my collection.

Since Melissa ran the full-marathon, I teamed up with our friend Heidi to run the half.  (We both agreed during the race that it would be wise to get some training in for the Royal Victoria Marathon that our group of friends runs each October.)  The finish line at Qwest Field was crossed a couple hours after our start in Tukwila, and was followed by a bus ride home, a shower, and brunch at the 5 Spot.

This year (2009) saw my return to Disney World for what amounts to a kick in the groin for my struggling race career.  Career, in fact, isn't really the right term to use, considering that I've not kept up with my training.  But a set of shiny new metals, peer pressure, and a touch of insanity made me step in line with a dozen other friends for a chance to run with the "Mouse".  It was not just any race -- it was the 39.3 mile Goofy Challenge.  (The Donald Half Marathon on Saturday and the Mickey Full Marathon on Sunday.)

The trick with racing (for me) is that -- following my first marathon -- I have this crazy capacity to accept that almost anything is possible.  This affliction must infect most marathoners.  That's the only explanation I have for how my friends keep "upping the ante".  "Let's do the Wenachee duathlon," they say.  "Let's sign up and train for the 200 mile Seattle to Portland bicycle tour," their mouth virtually foaming as the words cross their lips.  Running, cycling, relays, duathlons, triathlons, ultra-marathons, and, finally, iron man.  That's how you end up at Disney World in January for a 39.3 mile race over two days. (Point of clarification: I have not done a relay, triathlon, ultra-marathon, or iron man.  Although I have joined a couple relay teams, none of my teams have won the lottery for the premier local relay, Hood to Coast (yet).  I don't have any interest in a triathlon or iron man, but am giving some thought to the Tahoe ultra-marathon.)

I'm not a fast runner right now, but I can complete the race.  I can get those metals.  I do get bragging rights.  Let's be honest: anybody that can complete a marathon is doing something that only a tiny fraction of the world's population can accomplish.  Of course, that isn't a legitimate excuse for why I don't train as much as I should.  I know that I need to do some life reprioritization if I want to become a better athlete.  Back to the race, though.

Orlando, for those of you that don't know, is in a different time zone than Seattle.  2:45 AM on Saturday morning in Orlando is 11:45 PM the day before in Seattle, and that's exactly when our alarm went off to get up for the race.  We had to get dressed and prepped and on the bus to the staging area at that ungodly hour.  The start gun (in this case, fireworks) went off at 5:50 AM.  All of this while keeping in mind that we had to do the same thing the next day for a race that is twice the distance.  But I was in really good spirits.  Why?  For one simple reason: no rain.  You see, I can tolerate a lot of discomfort related to these stupid feats of endurance, but rain is my Kryptonite.  It destroys me.  Friends are seriously cautious about running marathons that I plan to run, because of my track record related to rain during the race.  Not just any rain, but torrential downpours.  But this time was different.  We had beautiful weather.  The temperature was perfect.  They sky was clear.  The almost full moon was bright in the sky and only just fell below the horizon when I crossed the finish line that first morning.  All this while running through the Disney World parks.

The next day was a little more difficult.  It seemed a little colder in the morning, and there were almost twice as many runners (> 20,000).  I'd mentally prepped myself for a long, slow race (which it was).  What more can I say?  We had such a great time, and the metals made it all worth the effort (for me). Oh,...and Melissa ran the full marathon in a little over 4 hours!  Now that's what I call Goofy.

For those geeks reading this post, I've got Google Earth files for the 2009 Disney World Half Marathon and the 2009 Disney World Full Marathon.  They were created through MotionBased from the routes recorded by my Garmin Forerunner 305.

The Royal Victoria Marathon, held every year in the Fall, is without question my favorite race.  Beginning in 2002, I've made the trip from Seattle to Victoria every year -- aboard the Victoria Clipper -- for the race weekend (which also happens to be Canada's Thanksgiving holiday).  The weather in 2003 and 2006 was horrible, so I didn't actually run the race those years even though I was there for the race.  Yes, I'm "fair weather runner".  When you wake up at 6:00 AM to ready yourself for the race, and looking out the window feels like you're looking out the portal of a submarine, you shouldn't have to line up at the start line for a 13.1 (half marathon) or 26.2 (full marathon) mile run.  That would just be crazy.

Last year (2007) I ran the full marathon for the first time.  It wasn't my first full marathon, but it was my first full in Victoria.  The weather gods hated me, though.  It started out perfectly pleasant, and stayed that way through the first 13 miles.  That's when the clouds opened up and ruined my life.  For the remaining 13 miles I had to fight cold, torrential rain.  My expected finish of 4:30:00 to 4:45:00 ended up a sad 5:14:53.  I hated it so much that most of my failure to train during our last winter, and even most of the spring and summer, can be attributed to how poorly Victoria went last year.  I'm trying to claw my way back now, and since it has become such a tradition, I revisited Victoria this year (2008), but only for the half.  Melissa, and a whole host of other running friends, hung out in Victoria and ran the race.  Melissa ran the full this year while the rest of us (Bill, Lily, Jim, Theresa, Heidi, and me) ran the half.

I'm happy to report that the weather was pretty much perfect this year.  I'm not anywhere close to my "peak running fitness", but I still shaved 15 minutes off my most recent half marathon time.  That makes me satisfied with this year's 2:19:28 finish in light of how little I've trained.  It also gives me confidence that I could do a sub-2 hour half if I'd just get my act together.

If you are a data geek like I am, you'll appreciate the histogram of 2008 half marathon finish times that I threw together (click here).  It shows that my time was right of the median (~2:04:00) and mean (~2:10:00), but not by very much.  Of course, this analysis hides the fact that I am not near as good if you filter for my age and gender.

Congratulations to everyone who ran!