Veteran's Day Marathon

The Plan: Fly out of Tampa Bay at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning, layover at O'Hare, arrive in San Francisco a little after noon, hop into the Mini Cooper, drive seven hours to Riverside, take a quick nap in the car, and then take the early start of the Veteran's Day Marathon. In order to hit my Titanium goal, I have to cram in a truck load of doubles and one triple, so this was the plan for this weekend. I didn't factor in the possibility of delays, and sure enough, the plane heading back to SFO had some mechanical problems.

Needless to say, I did not arrive back in San Francisco until 5pm, which made for an exhausting marathon weekend even more exhausting! Fortunately, Chewbacca's nanny offered to drive me to southern California so I got to get some shut eye in the car before starting this trail race at dark o'clock!

Rattlesnakes! Wonderful!

This is what it looks like at dark o'clock on the trails.

Yes, there was elevation.

Didn't really need the head lamp once the sun came up, but I like that it takes the attention away from my rather large cranium. It's a good accessory for my forehead.

This is what my dog looks like when she pees. Yes, *she* lifts up one leg. I wasn't peeing when I posed for this photo though. Thought I'd clarify that.

Along with my medal, I got this very nice parting gift.

This was one long grueling race through Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park, and as you can see from the photos, "wilderness" is the operative word. It's no big secret that I am not a fan of trail races. I've figured out why. I am a people person and I like being around crowds. I like slowing down at aid stations to high five volunteers. I like running down the street and smiling at spectators with signs that read "Chuck Norris Never Ran A Marathon." I like stopping in the middle of the street and rocking out to what the live bands have to offer. I like the fanfare of the big road races, something I do not get with trail races.

I am often alone on a dirt path with nothing but trees when I run a trail marathon. I would probably like it more if the trees could talk to me like the ones in The Lord Of The Rings. However, the only time any flora ever had a conversation with me was in the 22nd hour of an ultra when delirium kicked in. I guess that doesn't really count. What I'm trying to say is that I do not love trails, but I have to run them in order to reach Titanium. I respect and applaud all the trail runners out there, but to each his own. It's just not my cup of Cytomax.

Titanium Score Board: 41 down, 11 to go!