Monday, October 15, 2007

Final Thougts

Initial Thoughts

I'm over my disappointment with not getting my first time goal, it only took 3 glasses of red wine, a sushi dinner and a bit of sleep. My sleep was short due to overall soreness. While I may take a couple of doses of Ibuprofen in a race I stay away from it during the recovery process. I got more sleep than Donald though:) I woke up Sunday morning in a good mood, laughed as I remembed the race. Got away with another good one.

So the last post was a bit melo-dramatic with me complaining about being too tired from all the racing, boohoohoo, poor me. Everything I said was true though and I wrote it so you folks can see that all this activity does take a toll on me. Seems like I'm always running here, running there, biking here biking there, racing this and racing that. Yes, there is a cumulative fatigue and tiredness that I feel after all that. Those of you with similar or even harder schedules can relate. People with kids can more than relate! That's a non-stop event with no finish line. I was reminded of that at the post race bbq.

Overall it was a great race and it was as social as I thought it would be with all the friends I knew who would be in attendance. I'd like to make one correction to something I said about this race though. Last year I said that the race is mostly single track trails despite the name. I must have been delirious, again, because it actually does have a fair amount of fire road. Some people don't care, I don't, but there are folks out there like my friend Olga who prefers single track. Crucial information for people like her.

Enjoy the pictures and the captions.


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With the Donald himself.



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Zombie Runner was proudly promoting their new line of coffee. Don and Gillian giving away free coffee. The happy recipient is Steve "downhill bomber" Ansell.



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Chris Marolf and family. The race venue was family friendly. Lot of kids and parents everywhere post race. Chris told me that a picture of me that he took from Headland Hundred made it to Utra Running magazine, we're not sure. Neither one us has a subscription to the mag.



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Finally met Eric. Life has been crazy for Eric, causing him to cut down on training but he came away nevertheless with a sub-11 hour finish.



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Addy at the finish. Addy has a trademark sprint finish, it's a hair flying, grass tossing, dirt scattering finish. I heard the usual clapping given to finisher's raise to hootin and hollerin. A bunch of us looked over from the picnic tables and saw arms flying all over the place and I thought to myself, that must be Addy finishing. Like a tornado that girl. A runner with a good positive spirit.



17 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:12 AM

    hahaha "booohooo me"
    too funny!
    can't believe it's just ONE MORE WEEK!

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  2. Great pics! I always thought you and e-rod looked like twins, but after seeing you guys together I laugh at myself for even thinking it.

    I'll go over what you wrote later. My 2 kids want to view all your pics especially the dog on your sidebar again!

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  3. Coupla' good lookin' guys in that first pic, huh?

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me after the race about moving up to 100s. I think I've talked myself off the ledge now - whether that's a good thing or bad remains to be seen, I guess.

    Now I need to get my race report cranked out ...

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  4. Yes, there is a picture of you in the recent UR mag! I meant to mention it. I'm glad you had a great time. It's okay to whine a bit now and then...you do train hard! I'm feeling a bit jealous, but I'll be at Firetrails someday! : )

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  5. If you had drank 6 glasses of wine, not only would you have gotten over the disappointment of your first time goal but also whatever time goal you had next ;-) That's why I have a bottle of vodka with me at all times. Kidding!

    Great pics!!! ;D ;D

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  6. Anonymous6:55 PM

    wow you two finally met. running world is getting smaller eh? but in a good way of course. i was off running for a month but tomorrow i'll do my favorite VR :-) tara?!

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  7. Anonymous8:02 PM

    so i see YOUR DOG has been a big hit with kids! hahaahahaha, man that sausage on legs gets more attention than necessary!

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  8. Anonymous9:59 PM

    Rick, it was nice running with you. Here are a couple of photos I took early on. Let me know which ones you like: http://www.pbase.com/chrrrris/dick_collins_firetrails_50m

    By the way, 8:51 is not shabby!

    Chris

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  9. Rick, I have always appreciated your candor on your blog. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and reflections. I find them very motivating. Rock star!

    I hope you are recovering quickly!

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  10. haha, "like a tornado" :)Great description!

    Glad you're feeling better about the race now. It really is an excellent time, especially with the muddy sections! Going for a course PR generally seems more sensible than just an overall one, since all courses have their own differences. Hope you're getting a little break in your schedule now? What's next on the calendar?

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  11. Thanks for the tip:) We finally met Donald too, thatnks for your close-up! This is why I take a month off in a season...although I am jealous...

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  12. I know how disappointing it is to miss your time but you should be proud of the time and the fact that you ran that far!! :>) The pictures are great!

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  13. I forgot to ask, why do you take Ibuprofen during but not after? I thought that was opposite of what people advise. Let me know. :>)

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  14. There isn't anything some wine and sushi can't fix! :)

    Great pictures, Rick. I love to see all those smiling faces! Races are such wonderful, positive places to be!

    Again, my congratulations to you!

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  15. Dude! I'd kill for a sub-9 at Firetrails! I think hanging back with Chris and me early on must have slowed you down :-). It was great running with you at the start. You had a good race even if you didn't hit your time goal. See you out there next time!

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  16. Great job Rick, hope ur recovering well and ummm not on too much of that wine :-)

    Good Pics!!!

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  17. Great pics from the race. I hope Donald means that you talked him into moving into the 100's.

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