2016 Jack and Jill Marathon

 I forgot my pants!

Today was the first day since April that I rode my bike to work. That in itself is not so interesting but the fact that I remembered 15 minutes into the ride that didn't have a pair of pants at work makes the story a bit more interesting.

Luckily, for my coworkers, my wife was still home and drove the pants to me a few miles from home. Crisis averted!!

So that was a teaser just to get you to read my blog of sorts.

Jack and Jill marathon. The marathon course was beautiful. If it was closer I would cancel all my other marathons (I dont have any but that's not the point) and solely run the Jack n Jill. It was just like the old days, or so they tell me,

small group of people. We almost missed the american anthem. We crowded into our corral and we were off.!!

I started in the 3:10 corral. The 3:30 was pretty big and I figured it was better to be at the front of 3:30 than at the back.

I kinda felt bad ditching Grant but he was going to run a smart race and I was going to run as far as I could before

something blew up. I wont go into the story of the dogs running into my knee two weeks ago but it was certainly on my

mind. Alick also correctly reminded me that when I signed up in February, I was barely running at all. There is another

story I wont go into but I had not been running for two years due to a freak injury. On the plus side, this was the first

training season that I started and was well rested, there was not some sort of injury that I was turning a blind eye to. All

of the training was pretty injury free !

A friend of mine, a long time ago, showed me how he would study all the horses for a specific race. Our training season

is sort of like a horse race. All of the factors come into play. Good lead up races. Solid training going the whole

distance. Rider and horse weight. Injuries. Has the horse run at this track before? These all factor into our prediction of

how we will race and therefore our pace. Let's see... How did I stack up? Good lead up races. NOPE. Solid training

going the whole distance. NOPE. Rider and horse weight. HEY I AM A BAKER, WHAT CAN I SAY. Injuries. ONLY

ONE TWO WEEKS OUT Has the horse run at this track before? NOPE. Oh, did I mention the old horse factor? I did

have that going for me.

So, if I was a betting man, I would definitely put myself in as a long shot.

What conclusion was I left with? Disregard all indications and run like a 3:00 marathon and see what happens. I will

definitely admit, I thought two, no three, wait four.... four factors were in my favor.

1. It was down hill. 2. It was a trail. 3. It was the perfect start temp. 4. Our wives (just one for each of us) were at the

finish line.

Rather than torture you with all the details, here is how it worked out. (if you have a weak heart or watery eyes, stop

here)

1. It was down hill. The whole run! Most of the time I would look at my pace watch and it kept saying sub 7 min miles.

Sure I was working at it but not over clocked on my LT. At mile 7, I was cruising it. Still plenty of blood sugar. It was

so nice to be running again. The emotion in me welled up and flooded my eyes for a bit. My engineer mind that controls

things chastised my emotional mind for wasting energy so early in the race. So I got it back under control and just

stopped looking at my pace watch. I crossed the 1/2 at 1:33 (a 3:06 marathon) frankly I thought I would've got there

sooner but the gps was all over the place. Now a 3:06 that would be a PR treat ! I just told myself to hang on until mile

20 or so.

2. It was a trail. It was pretty. It was the forest. It was amazing. We ran through a 2 mile tunnel right at the start. Ok

so that part really screwed up my GPS. But the course was just like a post card! As trails would have it, the last 6

miles was brand new crushed granite. It was like running at the beach. The problem was the last 6 miles, I had no

small muscles left to adjust the fall of my foot and adjust for the push off, I am really surprised I didnt fall flat on my

face. My right leg went numb from the knee down for the last 400 m!

11/15/2016 Gmail Forgot

my pants (and other stories of running)

https://mail.google.com/mail/ca/u/0/?ui=2&ik=a32199e2ff&view=pt&q=in%3Asent%20forgot%20my%20pants&search=query&th=15672df4b8ac1c55&siml=156… 2/2

3. It was the perfect start temp. The day before, the last mile of the trail was totally shaded. Our start was overcast

and 58 deg. By the half, I was thankful that the trees were big and shady. It really warmed up for the last 6 miles. The

aid stations were small. Basically a little more than 4 peeps at each station. It is not a big deal since the dixie cup they

were using delivered about 2 tablespoons of water to your lips. Oh and for some reason, they were all on the left side of

the trail. Trying to grab a little cup at a full trot with the left hand is harder than the right. Grant and I both ran with water

bottles. I sucked mine dry by mile 13 and let them load it with Gatoraide while I jumped into one of the porta potties

cleverly called "Honey Bucket". The water bottle was a good call as we ran past a few collapsed runners in the last

miles of the race. Correctlon, Grant stopped for a guy who was all alone and laying on the side of the trail. The runner I

saw had about 4 people already helping him.

4. Our wives (just one for each of us) were at the finish line. Actually they were about at mile 25 which was a real help.

I had nothing left and was seriously ready to walk but knowing they would see me walking allowed me to keep running to

the finish. Usually I have some gas in the tank to make the last 100m look like I was ready for another 26.2 but this

time, I was gassed out. I crossed the little line in the dirt and went looking for some post race sugar.

I sucked down another gatoraide and then thought, 'I better get one of these out to Grant.' as there was no aide station

near the finish line. I started to walk backwards on the course. I was surprised how soft it was and took quite some

energy to walk. I think I made it almost one mile and decided I had to sit. So I just plopped into a little bit of shade.

Just as I was starting to relax, here comes this guy down the race trail. He looked fresh as a daisy. He had a blue shirt

on. I think it was Grant but I wasnt expecting him for another ten minutes or so. I had to lift my sunglasses to make

sure my eyes were not playing tricks. He just buzzed right by me. I didnt even have the time to hand him the drink. I

muscled myself to stand up and walked towards the finish just like the tin man from the Whizz. Theresa and Janice

caught up to me walking ! Ha ha ha We all got to the finish together. Grant looked great. I still couldnt believe it! He

ran the perfect race. Then he started to show me all the pictures and movies he shot on his phone while he was racing.

Ha ha ha What a Grant !

We were going to cool our legs in the river that was near the finish but bailed on the idea of walking down the

embankment. (or maybe the thought of not getting back up). One of the gals mentioned a chocolate shake and that was

all I needed to head to the car. We stopped at one of those old tyme Frosters Freeze and ordered up a good cold

recovery drink. Grant was still looking spry.

What a great race! I thanked God out there a few times that he has gifted me with running again, wonderful friends, and

the bestest wife.

Like my mom always says. If someone gives you a gift, take it. And I will add... Don't waste it, give it your all