Lunar Obverse

Every year, me and my buddies go on a road trip. The rules in the past have been simple: we drive as much as possible, we sleep as little as possible, and we drive for at least a 3 or 4 day weekend. Oh, and it’s almost always in late August or early September, due to school (not me, but my buddies).

Year before last, our goal was Mt. Rushmore, and we also managed to work in the South Dakota Badlands, Devil’s Tower, get very near the Geographic Center of the United States (there are rattlesnakes at the ACTUAL center!), and we covered something like 3700 miles.

Last year we only covered 3000 miles or so, and went to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and came back through the Canadian Rocky Mountains. So beautiful.

This year, for some reason, the rules aren’t enough. We want more. So an idea was kicked around, to wit: we drive somewhere far away, run a 5K race, and then turn around and come back (there was also the “eat some pie” idea but I’ll save that for another post). I think the running idea came up because I’m now running; my friends have been running for years.

So I was doing some research last night and found a couple of cool races that fit in the criteria.

Oh, and also, I have a secondary plan. Our previous two road trips have been across the US and into Canada. Wouldn’t the next logical place to visit be Mexico? I call this “completing the NAFTA trifecta”. I’m still trying to convince my buddies that it’s a good idea.

First up I found Cloudcroft, New Mexico. There’s a 10K race there on September 19 that’s billed as “the highest 10K in the world!” Cloudcroft, you see, is around 9000′ above sea level, up in the mountains. Just imagine: late summer, no oxygen, sleep-deprivation from the nearly 1800-mile drive from Portland, and then running a 10K? We would so earn that t-shirt. Y’know, if we didn’t die.

Second, I found an 8K in El Paso, Texas. The coolio-est part of this race is that it’s at night, which, if you think about it, is really the only way they could run a race in Texas in late summer. This one is on September 26.

Both of these places are within 50-60 miles of each other, but in the moutains. Cloudcroft is near places like Roswell, NM, or Carlsbad (where the caves are), and El Paso is near the Mexican border, which means it would be a simple matter to cross over and complete the trifecta.

I haven’t heard back from my buddies yet but I’m hoping they like these ideas…

Haven’t posted in a while. Although… I’ve written two posts, and they’re in the queue to be posted, I just… haven’t actually posted them. Not yet. It was good to have written them, I’m simply not ready to share them with the world just yet. Patience.

Normally I’d break different subjects up into separate posts but not today.

OK, in a recent issue of Runner’s World I read an article weighing the pros and cons of running barefoot. Then, while looking for something else, I stumbled across a website devoted to the subject — unfortunately, I can’t link to it this morning because for some reason the page is missing today.

After thinking about it for a while, I think I’m going to try to work in at least a mile or two of barefoot running each week. For one thing, it sounds fun. For another, there’s a visceral feel to it that appeals to me; the people who write about it talk semi-mystically about being connected to the earth and your body in a way that running clothed (shod?) just doesn’t do. There’s also a (probably really minor) safety issue, but, honestly, is nature that much safer? There’s sharp rocks and twigs and cooled lava… granite slabs have less give than any asphalt or concrete surface.

I’m planning on running a Tillamook trail run in a couple of weeks; that might be a good one to try barefoot, huh?

I updated my Trophy Page with my results from the Run Hit Wonder 10K.

I’m glad I finished and vow to do better in my next 10K. I trained so hard to try to increase my speed, and try to get around (or under) a 9:00 pace for the whole 6.2 miles, but it didn’t happen. It’s OK — it’s good to have goals.

I haven’t posted a running schedule this week because I’m taking it easy. Still trying to figure out what my next event will be. There’s a “trail” run on the beach in Tillamook Oregon that looks fun; a 5K and a 10K (the 5K trail is out to the end of the penninsula and back; for the 10K you just go out and back twice!). That’s at the end of August, and it’s an excuse to go to the beach…

Everything’s better at the beach…

So, what was I busy doing?

How can you ask that? I ran the Nike Run Hit Wonder 10K today! You never pay attention, do you? I’ve only been talking about this for freakin’ weeks now!

I think I did pretty good. (Yeah, I’m calmed down now. Don’t know what got into me. (Was it funny for you? It was for me!))

Funniest thing was spotting someone in the crowd I knew. I mean, it wasn’t like we were looking for each other. There were over 10,000 people there. Probably way more, since there were 10,000 runners plus all the support staff and security guards and friends and families… so the odds of spotting someone at any particular instant started at 1 in 10,000. OK, probably less than that; human faces are instantly recognizable and the brain is very good at pattern-matching, and even in a dense crowd there’s probably 10-20 people in someone’s direct view. But, what would you calculate the odds of spotting someone in the crowd, immediately after another friend asked me if that person was racing that day? Huh? Huh? That’s one of those weird coincidences that just jump out at you.

Me, being a materialist and not a believer in coincidences that mean something, I just shrug it off. But man it freaks people out when I tell them.

Jake (turning to face me in the crowd): Is Deb here?
Me (knowing that she was planning on running this race): Yeah. (pause) And there she is!

My chip time was over 2 minutes less than my gun time; that’s how long it took me to cross the actual start line after the race officially started. Wow, there was a lot of people. I wore a stopwatch, and started it when I crossed the start line, and paid attention to my splits for each mile, carefully judging my pace and all that… kept up with it, until mile 5 (around 48 minutes at that point)… then died on the last long hill up Columbia away from the river, and when I turned onto Broadway, it was sweet and all downhill, and I was flying, and I had a clear shot at the finish line, didn’t have to worry about blocking anyone else or having to slow down, and then I was through, and I’d finished my first ever official 10K race!

I was so excited I forgot to a) check the race clock for my time, and b) stop my stopwatch. Bummer. I’ll have to wait for the official results to be posted.

It was a fun race, though. My friend, being much faster than me, got to hear each of the acts playing their actual one hit. Apparently they started their sets with their most famous song. Me, lagging behind, got to hear them play, but didn’t recognize the songs.

For instance, who is General Public? What was their hit song? I’ll google it after posting this, but, for the life of me, I can’t recall.

Seeing Devo was great, and I was a little disappointed that the audience started leaving after they played “Whip It!” The younger friends in my group were impressed that I knew the words to some of Devo’s other songs, like “Freedom of Choice”. OK, just that one, but still.

I’m going to run that race every year. A fun, fun, race. Nike put on a great event (no surprises there) and the proceeds benefited Portland Parks and Recreation. Nifty!