run like hell

great name for a race right? i liked it. it's meant to invoke fear of running from zombies, the theme costume for this year. it could also have meant how people literally ran, like hell. heel strikers galor. so many marshmallow shoes. bad form everywhere. i didn't even notice one pair of vff nor any other minimalist shoe. then again, i started at the VERY back.

i did pass one lady "speed" walking. she had her arms swinging far across her body with her forearms parallel to the ground. she was swinging her legs so far out in front of her she could have touched her toes with her heel on the ground. it was a horrific site. she made it her mission to tell me how i was going to destroy my feet. she kept yelling at me as i passed and once again when she was headed to the turn around. i told her my feet are fine. she kept yelling. i played nice instead of going back after her. it does no good to scream at a brick wall so why waste my energy? i was having a good time and some battles aren't worth fighting.

now that i got that part off my chest, rewind to the beginning. My friend Jen posted about running this race so she could dress up like a zombie. her and her husband would be doing it and she wanted other bf'ers to go with. i signed up as well as our friend Daniel. other people apparently went from the BRS, barefoot runners society, but for one reason or another didn't meet up with us. i'll tell anyone now who wants to find us at a race. if you don't see us before the start then you'll find us at the finish near the beer garden and if they don't have one then we bring our own beer.

i never go for a run until i finish my morning business. it took me a while this morning for some reason. it's usually two and good but this morning was i think twice more. so i got downtown a little later than i wanted. oh, this was my first road race and it was through downtown portland, near the waterfront and touching into the nw part. i parked in a my boss' parking lot since she didn't need it. the race organization recommended public transportation and carpooling saying there would be limited parking there. so i parked over a mile away only to see there was a lot of parking even closer. oh well because it was a great warm up for me. like i said i was running late so i had to run to the start, after i fixed my huaraches. it seems the knots on both luna sandals wore off at the same time. no biggie. just a five minute fix.

i was calling Daniel to let him know i would be there. we both agreed to meet in front of the bathroom. see above. when i looked for him i knew the race was about to start so i went to the bag check to drop off my backpack and clothes so i could run in "costume". i think only the tweeners got my costume. i believe i heard some girls get it right like twice. not sure but i'll stick with that number. i told myself i would run around screaming for Bella but i never did. i'm a bit shy, sober that is. i tried to emulate Jacob, from "Twilight", but as my little girl reminded me, i'm too fat, old, and hairy to look like him. doh! oh, i'm also not dark enough. damn. oh well i still did it.

when i came out of the bathroom and got into "costume" i couldn't see Daniel. i knew the race was starting as they kept announcing it. i headed toward the start and before i crossed the street the horn blew.  i didn't really panic. starting in the middle slows everything down. i ran down the side towards the front as far as i could. i didn't see him so i headed to the back. it put me nearly two minutes behind the starting gun to cross the start line.

Daniel and i were the only ones running the 10k so Jen said she's try to find us after since she did the 5k which started a half hour after. when Dan and i finished we went to the end and the 5k was still running so we stepped in the middle and found Jen and David. they had great zombie costumes. David had a baby eating his brains if you can't figure it out.

so where was i? oh yes, racing. i have recently bought a garmin forerunner 405cx so that i can use the hrm, heart rate monitor. i want to do some MAF training. if you don't know, look up Phil Maffetone. he developed a great way to build your aerobic capacity by training with a hrm. according to my zone, my aerobic fitness sucks. i wasn't supposed to race according to the training. i was planning on a different costume so i could run the race with my hrm but i swear the news said it was going to rain so i changed costumes for one better suited to running in the rain, which i love. going as Jacob i couldn't wear the hrm so i decided to run as close as i could to my zone and only pick it up if i feel i should. i ran the first 4 miles at my max zone and then picked it up quite a bit.

i was questioned by a few people. congratulated by others. harassed by the one lady. heckled by one mom pushing a stroller. only thing was i gave her back more than she bargained for. she was funny but i kept hitting home runs off of everything she threw at me. don't ask me to repeat because remember, i was at the beer garden after and had my share as well as other's free beers. yes, two free beers per racer and not everyone drinks. lucky me. if that women was faster i would have loved to stay with her. she was funny and her friend was hot. i tried to talk to the hot one after the race but she shied away from me. c'est la vie.

i felt great through the run and somewhere around mile two i felt something on my left pinkie toe. i looked later and i got a big blood blister. i was able to adjust my form and ran comfortably. it's made me aware that i land on the very outside of my left foot and roll in and that's what caused the blister. i had never run more than four miles bf on pavement but i think i did well. like i said at mile 4 i had decided to pick up the pace and felt great. i usually race on the trails and always go out too fast. i end up chugging along the middle and finish at a leisurely pace. this time i did it different and i'm glad i did.

my friend's wife had posted on fb that she was doing the 5k. i had planned on looking for her after. my buddy saw me cruise to the finish line and has a picture of me from behind. he had no idea i was there, or at least was unprepared to see me. if he ever gets me the pic i'll post it. he said i was booking even though i felt like i was just coasting. hung out with them after the race also. he also took one of me with a guy dressed like a spartan who ran the half marathon with a heavy ass shield. couldn't believe he did that. and people think bf'ers are crazy. oh well. at least Jen got this pic of me with officer Dangle.

i saw many costumes during the 10k. i made fun of gumby. he said he was fine in that thing. i laughed at a guy in a dog suit. many zombies including this group here. we kept passing each other until mile 4 where i left them behind. i was kind of annoyed but one girl was hot. she had an amazing ass so i kept my mouth shut and just tried to follow her. sadly, she wasn't in this pic taken by the local big paper. there were quite a few fine asses there. i'm going to do more road races for sure since there are more women there than at trail races. i think the stats at the end had twice as many women as men. love those odds.

i ended up finishing the race in 1:06:23. not fast but i finished strong. i'm happy with the results as my energy was great the whole run. i never slowed. didn't hit the wall. i could've sprinted to the finish if i wanted but there were so many people walking to and after the finish line i just took it easy. they gave me an official pace of 10:41 m/m. i had to have started at about 13 m/m then picked it up to 9 m/m. i came in at 968 out of 1425. slow, i know but i'm doing MAF training. not like i would have finished much faster if i had ran and i would have been wiped out from the effort. the way i ran left me feeling great.

since it was early, the day continued from there. took the kids, Jen, and another friend to a pumpkin patch. good times.

i can't forget to post some pics of Daniel. i laughed hard when i saw him. i looked for him when runners passed by me at the turn around. i was totally shocked when i saw his costume as it was a bit out of character for him. it's no wonder i didn't notice him. warning, the last shot is what was underneath the grass skirt. i laughed even harder when i noticed his speedo.