Weekend update

It was an eventful 24 hours from Friday afternoon through Saturday afternoon. Here are some of the highlights:

State championship basketball game

Austin supports his team 100%!

Friday night we headed to Arco Arena for the Division 2 basketball championship game. Before the game we ate dinner at Mel's Diner -- big mistake for this veg girl who planned to run long the next day. Dinner was a sandwich of iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado on wheat. Not exactly the pasta feast I'd anticipated, as Mel's doesn't serve pasta. At the game I supplemented with half of a huge bag of M&Ms and a giant Snickers bar. Tim tried to convince me to stop, but I would not listen. :( This did not bode well for Saturday's long run. The game itself was really exciting, but alas, Rocklin did not win.

AR 50 training run

I draw on myself before every long run!

Got up early Saturday and drove to the Auburn Overlook. There were two busses: one for the 21 mile people and one for the 31 mile people. My bus had 20 men and 4 women. (Note to single girls -- get thyself immediately into ultra running, as the odds are fabulous and there are some very handsome ultra runners out there!) We were driven to the 19 mile mark (31 miles from the finish for the "real" race) and started running.

The run started going sideways almost from the get go. By mile 5 I had a pretty good headache going. By mile 7 or 8 my back was aching and my right calf was tight and feeling just not very good. By mile 10 my stomach was protesting the run. But what do you do when you're on unfamiliar trails with no option but moving forward? You keep on going.

By mile 17 or so I was practically in tears and mostly walking. Now it was raining, so you can add cold and shaking to the list of "symptoms." By this time I was telling myself I never had to run ever again after this day. I've never been so happy to see an aid station, and would have paid any amount of money for a ride back to my car. Thankfully a super nice volunteer was heading back with a bunch of stuff from the previous aid stations and was happy to give me a ride.

AR 50 training run aftermath

My shoes agreed to have a photo taken. Me myself absolutely refused! :) Note that these shoes were 100% white before the run.

I got home and took a shower. Tim had picked up a grilled veggie sandwich with pesto and a vegan cookie. I ate half of both and laid down for a nap. Has my bed every felt so good? I think not.

Last night we had 3 of Austin's friends spend the night. Thank goodness Tim's happy hanging out with teenage boys, because I was in bed by 9:00 and didn't wake up till after 7:00 this morning. I can't remember the last time I got more than 8 hours of sleep, but I guess I really needed it.

So am I running the AR 50? I dunno. More about that next time... Have a lovely Sunday!