That's right - 15.2. For reals. Your run-of the mill half-marathon goes only for 13.1 miles. Apparently I decided that was for sissies. So Flat Jenny and I not only went the extra mile but the extra two. How? Keep reading.
Here we are getting out of the car. As you can see, poor Flat Jenny was already suffering from an injury. Luckily my friends Emily and Amy helped tape her up and she was good as new at the race start.
This particular half-marathon benefits the American River Trail. The trail is over 30 miles through trees, poppy fields, gigantic turkeys, deer, rattlesnakes (yes, I saw one once) and, of course, the American River. It's down the street from where my husband grew up and I wish it were that close to my family. I'd be on it every day!
I hope it's not too embarrassing to admit that I love, love this movie. Listening to it as Jenny and I zoomed past all the slow pokes who caught up to me during my sojourn in the wilderness put me in a much better mood. Shout out to Socrates Johnson, Ted Theodore Logan, Mr. The Kid and Bill S. Preston, Esquire. I finished the race feeling really good and thanks to all the extra endorphins I didn't want to harm anyone anymore. (I did write a strongly worded letter to the race director though. He hasn't responded yet. Maybe he got lost too.)
This particular half-marathon benefits the American River Trail. The trail is over 30 miles through trees, poppy fields, gigantic turkeys, deer, rattlesnakes (yes, I saw one once) and, of course, the American River. It's down the street from where my husband grew up and I wish it were that close to my family. I'd be on it every day! 
This was my second year for this race. There were some problems with running out of water at the aid stations last year. (Are you kidding me? You CAN'T run out of aid for people who are paying for it!) This year's stations were much better. The signs, on the other hand, were another problem.
Last year I won for my age group. I planned to do so again this year improve both my overall position and my time. I have been training for a full year for this race, as there are not many walking races around. According to my GPS watch, as of mile 6 I was averaging 11:30 per mile, was in 5th place overall and easily first in my age group. I was thrilled. (Remember, I'm walking - this is a pretty fast walk!)
THEN I got to the turnaround. First of all, the people at the aid station seemed confused, obviously they weren't in to their role yet, as there hadn't been many racers and we were slightly spread apart. I didn't know which way to go and had to yell to get someone's attention to see if I was supposed to go straight or right. I also had to go over to the table to grab water since no one was watching out for the early racers. No big deal, I thought, I turned right and continued on the path.
Here's the major problem. The path was not marked well - at all. I don't know if there was supposed to be someone there directing racers or if there were signs, but I did not see anything or anyone to let me know where to go. Since I hadn't seen anyone either in front of me or behind me since mile 5.5, I continued along the path I was on, assuming I was OK. I didn't want to cheat and try to cut to the left, but I hadn't seen a turn sign yet so I continued on until the path stopped. I panicked and began to hyperventilate. I had been exerting every bit of effort I had into the race and when I realized I was lost I became disoriented and couldn't find my way back to the aid station. I found some bikers who told me which direction the race was but they were teasing me and I ended up going even farther the wrong way.
By the time I finally found some racers on the turnaround, I continued on until I found the EMTs. I have asthma and wasn't able to breath well. I sat with the EMTs for about 15 minutes as I tried to calm down. I was very, very angry and if I had found a race official there I would have probably been taken to jail for bodily harm (they lucked out this time). As I was there I looked at my watch again. I had gone almost 9 miles instead of 6.5 because the race was poorly marked.
THEN I got to the turnaround. First of all, the people at the aid station seemed confused, obviously they weren't in to their role yet, as there hadn't been many racers and we were slightly spread apart. I didn't know which way to go and had to yell to get someone's attention to see if I was supposed to go straight or right. I also had to go over to the table to grab water since no one was watching out for the early racers. No big deal, I thought, I turned right and continued on the path.
Here's the major problem. The path was not marked well - at all. I don't know if there was supposed to be someone there directing racers or if there were signs, but I did not see anything or anyone to let me know where to go. Since I hadn't seen anyone either in front of me or behind me since mile 5.5, I continued along the path I was on, assuming I was OK. I didn't want to cheat and try to cut to the left, but I hadn't seen a turn sign yet so I continued on until the path stopped. I panicked and began to hyperventilate. I had been exerting every bit of effort I had into the race and when I realized I was lost I became disoriented and couldn't find my way back to the aid station. I found some bikers who told me which direction the race was but they were teasing me and I ended up going even farther the wrong way.
By the time I finally found some racers on the turnaround, I continued on until I found the EMTs. I have asthma and wasn't able to breath well. I sat with the EMTs for about 15 minutes as I tried to calm down. I was very, very angry and if I had found a race official there I would have probably been taken to jail for bodily harm (they lucked out this time). As I was there I looked at my watch again. I had gone almost 9 miles instead of 6.5 because the race was poorly marked.
After leaving the aid station my body still felt good but I was DONE mentally. I could have given up and hitched a ride back to the start but, and I quote Flat Jenny here, "Baby, that's just not our style." I have a great race playlist on my ipod but I didn't really fell like listening to it anymore. Luckily we'd just come back from a really long car trip. I'd loaded the ipods with movies and guess what was on mine - Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure!
I hope it's not too embarrassing to admit that I love, love this movie. Listening to it as Jenny and I zoomed past all the slow pokes who caught up to me during my sojourn in the wilderness put me in a much better mood. Shout out to Socrates Johnson, Ted Theodore Logan, Mr. The Kid and Bill S. Preston, Esquire. I finished the race feeling really good and thanks to all the extra endorphins I didn't want to harm anyone anymore. (I did write a strongly worded letter to the race director though. He hasn't responded yet. Maybe he got lost too.)Somehow I was still 5th in my age group this year. This is amazing to me. Obviously all the people under 40 are still running. They should try speed walking. It's full of glamorous prizes.
Yeah Flat Jenny! We did it!
PS - San Dimas High School football RULES!
That is SO AWESOME---not the getting lost part, but the finishing strong and still in 5th place part! Way to go Laurie and Flat Jenny! So, should I just assume that if I ask you to go an extra mile with me that you will, in fact, go twain? ;o)
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