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!
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Rattlesnakes! Wonderful! |
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This is what it looks like at dark o'clock on the trails. |
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Yes, there was elevation. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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.
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Titanium Score Board: 41 down, 11 to go! |
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