Race #26

Had a nice trip to Huntington, WV for the West Virginia Hot Dog Festival and 5K Bun Run. I think this was my very first trip to West Virginia in fact I don't think I've ever even driven through the state!

Huntington is set in a valley so the course was very flat. There was a slight incline the first half mile or so and then it was flat and mildly down hill the rest of the way. I needed a course like this after a couple weeks of not really training. I came out real fast, too fast to be honest, posting an 8:34 first mile! I heard this guy behind me tell his partner, "we're on pace for 8:34 minute miles," looked up to see the mile marker, confirmed the time on my watch and said to myself "holy shit, this is crazy!" Unfortunately I couldn't keep up that pace for the remaining two miles and ended up with a 30:20 for a 7th out of 14 place finish in my division. There were some fast old ladies in my division, http://www.tristateracer.com/Results/2010/July/BunRun5K-AgeGroups.htm, the winner came in 10 minutes before me!!

I realized during this race that I have a bad problem with negative self talk. Instead of encouraging myself and taking that great start and building on it, I immediately started figuring how I could slow down and still post a sub 30 result. I also let myself walk for two blocks when I should have just slowed the pace down in order to catch my breath. I also didn't push hard enough for the last quarter mile.

I hung around Huntington for a couple hours after the race to enjoy the hot dog festival activities, http://www.wvhotdogfestival.com/. This was the sixth year of this festival and I suspect it will only get larger as time goes by as this was a lot of fun and had something for everyone. There was a Cruise-in, wrestling, pooch/owner look-a-like contest, pooch parade, Dachshund racing, hot dog eating contest and root beer chugging constest and lots of live music. The look-a-like contest was largely about how much the owner was willing to humiliate himself and how much paraphanalia the dog is willing to wear. Hands down the guy in the middle was the winner!

Now the little guy on the end was a story in himself. He had a classic mullet haircut that was just unbelieveable! I was standing in the crowd waiting for the pooch parade to start when he came by with his dad and as I was thinking - oh my god, what a mullet - a lady next to me actually verbalized my thoughts! I turned to her and started laughing and told her to check out the dad. Yup, matching cut in salt and pepper!!

The big event, of course, was the Dachshund Dash, $100 on the line for the fastest racer. Now a little bit of advice to anyone who wants to get into weiner-dog racing, get one with black fur. The black dogs consistently won their heats and seemed to have the most focus going down the course. There was one curly haired dog, appropriately named Blonde, that when put down at the start turned around and looked at her owner as if to say "What?? You want me to run down the street in this heat?? I don't think so." Needless to say, she wasn't in the finals! But check out the finals:

Sunday I did my long slow 5 mile run as the temperatures were cool enough to actually do an outside run. Unfortunately, the temperatures are back up today so it is back to the gym. My legs are a bit sore but I want to run Monday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week in preparation for my Hawaii run. I'm expecting some fast runners. I looked at last years results and in my division, 40 - 49, there were 36 finishers and I would have finished right in the middle with my WV time.

I've signed up for the Worlds Largest Corn Maze 5K in Illinois! I'm trying to figure out my race scheule for the last 12 months of this quest. Should be able to get it done without too much struggle, getting Alaska scheduled will be the hardest.

Race #25

I'm half way there, race #25 is over!!

Team Camille in Kansas. Andre had a great time explaining my "quest" while I ran.

Clearly this was a weekend more about spending time with my sister than running and my time proved that out, but who cares! It just goes to show that running inside on a flat track isn't the same as training in hills and heat. Oh well 31:44 and 6 of 16 in my division will just have to be good enough for me this week.

Andre picked me up in Omaha then we drove about an hour south to Nebraska City to spend the night at the Lied Lodge. The Lodge is on property originally owned by the Morton family, the salt folks. After our lunch at Johnnies, I wanted a little local color, we toured the Morton house and grounds. 52 rooms. Andre was all agog over the grounds and gardens while I was asking which rooms housed the hired help? To my shock, they only had one or two servants for all that house. Clearly I wasn't in residence!

Since so much of our conversations that day revolved around relationships, it seemed only fitting that as we were going to dinner that night we saw a wedding gearing up. We proceeded to rubberneck out the third floor window like two rednecks. Luckily they couldn't hear our cries of "don't dooooooooo it!"

As some of you know, I have said that if I ever date again I would give a postcard to the guy after the third or fourth date that he would send to me if he decided to break up. This way, I would know unequivocally that the relationship was over. Being a good lawyer, Andre helped me lawyer it up. How does this sound? "Dear Camille, Whereas I have decided to take my life if a new direction, I will heretofore no longer be contacting you. Please govern yourself accordingly. Signed, XX" Way too funny!

I insisted we have lunch in Omaha. About a year ago I was in Omaha (won't go into why!) and had eaten a carrot dog at a local restaurant. This was one of the most fabulous eating experiences I ever had and I went on to tell everyone about this sandwich that looked and had the texture of a hot dog, but was really just a carrot. The only problem was that I didn't remember the name or exact location of the restaurant. Since I did know it was in the Old Town section of downtown, we headed down there and gave ourselves 10 minutes to wander around and find the place. I quickly decided to "ask a local" so went into the Second Chance Used Good store and asked the guy behind the counter. I barely got "carrot dog" out of my mouth when he said "M's Pub - take a left at the corner and go north about a block and a half. Tell them we sent you." So off we went, I had my carrot dog and even got Andre, who does not eat real hot dogs, to try one. We had just finished our fabulous feast when a guy and two gals sat at the table next to us. Not that Andre's conversation wasn't interesting, but I couldn't help hearing the guy next to us say to the ladies: "If I EVER order a carrot dog, just shoot me! Put a gun to my head if I ever order a carrot dog." Needless to say I couldn't contain myself and leaned over to tell them, that yes, my sister and I had just finished our carrot dogs and they were fabulous! We all got a good laugh over it and come to find out one of the ladies was from Naples, Florida. Small world.

I'm back to running inside on the treadmill. Temperatures in the high nineties just aren't made for running. My next race isn't until the end of the month so maybe I can have a bit better of a showing. I'm expecting it to be quite hilly as it is in the mountains of West Virginia.

Race #24 Photo

Sorry, this is the only one I have and with a little bit of editing, the only one I can post!

Race #24

So, do you just want the bare facts, or should I dress it up a bit? (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself!)

My arrival in Vermont started out a bit surreal. I stopped in a Rite Aid to get some sun screen and shampoo and ran into Paris Hilton. Okay, it really wasn’t Paris but the likeness was good enough to supposedly get the girl mistaken for Paris on a recent trip to Vegas, which she told us about in great detail. Then as she checked out her pack of camel no-filters, she started discussing the upcoming Red Sox game in great detail ala Frank Deford from NPR. I truly wondered what time warp I’d entered.

I tried to prepare myself for the initial “sighting” that I correctly assumed would be at the registration desk at the Coventry Resort (www.coventryresort.com). I was greeted by an upbeat bare chested gal, native Vermonter, who worked the front desk in exchange for her summer membership at the resort. From there I was quickly introduced to Gary and Susan Butts (yes, that is their real name) who are the race directors of not only this race but a series of naked running events (www.nudist5k.com). I have to say, it was a bit hard to make eye contact without doing a quick once over, but I pulled it off.

After checking into my cabin I went back out to the market for food. On the way back to the resort, my nerves kicked in a bit knowing I was going to be baring it all real soon. As soon as I got back to my cabin I stripped down. I figured it was best to acclimate myself a little bit while putting away my groceries in the privacy of my own cabin. I did glance out the window at one point and saw the guy next door who had wisely donned bib overalls to do the weed-whacking around his lot. One thrown stone and thing could get painful.

I packed up my beach bag and headed to the beach. The sun was out so needless to say, I wasn’t alone. I put on my game face (hell, had to put on something I’d already taken off all my clothes) and made a bit of small talk with a few people before settling down on my towel. I have to say it felt great to have the sun melt into my entire body, unhindered by clothes or even a bathing suit.

One of the couples I talked with had been coming to the resort for about eleven years and was around my age. This was definitely a 50 and plus crowd and as this guy told me, they’re just a bunch of good old guys and gals sitting on the beach, soaking up the sun, and drinking cold beer. The only thing different are they do it with their clothes off. And after spending a couple hours out there with them, I realized that’s truly all it is, how neat!

While at the beach I started talking to a guy from Rochester, NY who was there to run the race for the fourth time, he’d been coming since the inaugural race four years prior. He got me a bit nervous about the race when he started describing the mud, hills and bugs.

Race day dawned cool and overcast. About ninety minutes before gun time I heard the race director over the loud speaker getting people psyched up for the race, daring everyone to run nude, giving race information and generally keeping the atmosphere fun. He kept this up for the next four hours! During the race, after the race, he kept up the banter. I could even hear him while I was running through the woody (oops, sorry) part of the race.

I did get the answer to my question, where do you pin the bib numbers? You obviously don’t, they write the number with a black magic marker on your arm, thigh, butt or wherever you want. I got an arm and a thigh and then Sue wrote “50 by 50 Florida #1” all down my back!

The field was it’s largest ever, 65 runners. Most of the people in the race were first time nude runners but almost all of them were serious to semi-serious runners. They lined us up by pace so I was in the back – looking a lot of hairy butts. The first mile was through the resort grounds so though not flat, at least the path was wide and somewhat groomed. I started out behind the only clothed runner which helped make me forget that I didn’t have any clothes on. I quickly found out the race was going to be loud and painful. I’m not bragging, but I think I was the “loudest” female runner on the course – if you know what I mean! I also found out that if I ever need to record the sound of a galloping horse, I just need to run naked and mount the microphone in the vicinity of my chest!

In talking with my Rochester buddy and a couple other runners after the race they pretty consistently reported that they were about 5 minutes slower than their normal road 5k time. I can’t say the same for me. I clocked in at 42.47 a rather weak showing. Between the flopping boobs and muddy, hilly trail I just never got to a good running place.

Though I didn’t place in my division, a minor disappointment, I did get an award and recognition for my 50 by 50 in 50 efforts and for coming the furthest distance to run my first nude race – Wahoo, Run Naked!!!

After the race one guy asked me how long I’d been a nudist. When I responded, “oh about 24 hours,” he was surprised and said, “Wow, you seem so comfortable with this!” Maybe I’ll have to go back next year………………..

No go in Idaho

Had to cancel my trip to Idaho this weekend. Mom is clearly on the mend but we both agreed she would be more comfortable if I stuck around town this weekend. No worries, I'm still on track to finish up all 50 races by September 2011.

I had a long weekend in Florida this past weekend with my friends Rachel D., her daughter Karen M. and her daughter Michele M. We had a great time in spite of the 95 degree temperatures. Unfortunately, I didn't run once while I was down there. Even at 6 am the temperatures were just too unbearable for any strenuous exercising.

Today I finally got out and hit the pavement for a little while. It was a miserable run. Between the heat, humidity and overall laziness on my part, I don't have anything positive to say. I looked for a local race for tomorrow but I think I'm going to have to motivate myself in the morning to get out and try for 5 miles.

Good luck to Michael, Katy, Karen and especially Steve as they take on the Idaho Falls Scenic Classic tomorrow. I'm expecting some medals!!

Race #23

A picture paints a thousand words!

Got behind on my blog posting as my mother has come down with an unbelievable rash over her entire body, including in her mouth, and life for her has been pretty miserable since I got back from Wisconsin. My sister is here and we are hoping that soon they'll come up with a diagnosis, get the right treatment and be on the mend.
Hudson, WI is a quaint little town on the St. Croix river, right across from Minneapolis. The location worked well for me as I was able to not only bum a place to stay from my cousin Kris G. but she, and her friend Judy, gave up their Saturday morning to get me to the race on time! And serve as videographers.Judy and I before the race.

The race started at the local high school than basically ran downhill to the river. Therefore we were bused up to the race start for the opening ceremony. I didn't realize Kris was videoing me climbing on the bus like a kindergartner off to her first day of school. So I stood there waiting for her to take the picture - always the camera hog!

The race is held in memory of Monica Jensen who lost her life to melanoma. Before the race started they head of her foundation spoke then her son had everyone let go of the balloons we were holding. It was a neat sight to see, hundreds of balloons let lose in the sky.

For the most part the course was downhill. There was an uphill at the start and then another toward the end, but for the most part, it was downhill. And I love the downhill! Contrary to all the advice one reads on race management, I take full advantage of gravity. It paid off for me, I had a 9:05 at mile one in the cemetery and 18:55 at mile two. If I could maintain a 10 minute mile pace, I knew I could break 30. Giving the double armed wave at the end of the race wasn't the smartest move on my part. As soon as I got past I started sucking air just as I needed to come in for the big finish. It was great to be able to hear the announcer holler that we could still break thirty!

No, this isn't really Bob Dylan, but, this is the local ultramarathon man. I passed him just as we got out of the cemetery and heard him talking to the people around him about his racing. At first I thought he was blowing smoke but then realized he probably had run 80 marathons and dozens of ultras. Unbeknown to him, he ultimately ended up being my motivator during mile two. I wanted to beat the ultramarathon man!! And I did!

Race #22

Life is all about the lessons learned. I learned two important ones in Ohio: (1) if your bladder gives you any signal that it needs to be emptied one last time, don't ignore it, and (2) if you ignore lesson #1, always run in black nylon shorts! This was the second race in my triple crown. The Preakness will need to be renamed The Peeness. I was heading out at a good pace, 9:10 at mile one and felt good. I had a sip of water at the water stop and immediately started to pee in my pants! I got it stopped, thought I could keep going but after mile two with a time of 19:05, I just couldn't keep going. Luckily there were some tractor trailers parked behind one of the buildings so I veered off course, dropped drawers, grabbed the front bumper, leaned back and let if flow! It sure felt better but I lost at least 30 seconds.

Mentally at this point I was ready to throw in the towel. I knew breaking 30 minutes was going to be nearly impossible. Coming up the last incline I contemplated walking when I heard a guy yelling, "come on 50 by 50 get moving!"

(Look at that Forest Gump stride!)

Getting me moving in this clip is Bill A.'s friend Mark who I met before the race. Mark is a pretty serious runner and was looking to break 20 minutes. Neither of us got the PR we we looking for, but I definitely wouldn't have posted a 30:56 if Mark hadn't circled back after he completed his race to all but carry me across the finish line. He also made me realized that I have more in the tank at the end than I give myself credit for and need to dig a lot deeper. Thanks, Mark!

Waiting for the fun to start

Still all smiles - must be the first 10 feet of the race!

While in Cincinnati I stayed at Jane and Bill A.'s house on our old street. We lived in the house next door when I was little so it was fun to come back and see the old street and literally take a walk down memory lane. Unfortunately, our old house was the only one on the block that wasn't getting much tender loving care. I'd originally hoped to get inside, but once I saw the condition the outside was in, I decided I really didn't want to see the inside as it's probably pretty depressing.

Former neighbors, Jane and Bill and my host and hostess for the race.The old homestead - a little worse for wear and not nearly as large as I remember!