Girlfriends Half Marathon - 19/10/2008

I had an awesome time at the Girlfriends half marathon. Thank you Jeanne for providing the spark and everyone else who helped turn it from a crazy idea into an awesome, awesome event. It was wonderful to meet so many great friends in 3D as well as make some new ones.

When I arrived to Portland airport, my body had no idea what day or time it was. East to west jetlag is brutal for me and I had just adjusted to East Coast time. Jetlag was only one of many challenges I faced in my journey. I had registered for the event ages ago but only two weeks out did I know for sure that I would make it. A well-placed trip to Canada made it possible. In Canada, one of my boss’ kids, aka the petri dishes with legs, shared some germs with me. Bring on the bronchitis. I never got full-on congestion but spent much of the week coughing and hoarse. As if those were not enough challenges, a week before the race, I fell down the stairs at the apartment where I was staying. The stairs were steep, uneven and very slippery. I made the mistake of walking down them in socks and slid about a third of the way on my back and my butt. There was no denying the bronchitis but I told no one of the fall – my focus all week was willing the pain away.

I arrived in time to join up with Lynette, Debby and Jeanne for a scenic drive around Mt Hood. It was the perfect activity for the day: great company, beautiful scenery and mostly indoor rest. By nightfall, my body clock said it was ready for bed. I missed the Friday evening arrivals.

Saturday morning, we ate breakfast as a group, surprising Joe Brown’s Diner with a party of 11. I ate breakfast with Coothie, Lynette, Tara and Dale, while sharing the occasional laugh with the table behind us. After breakfast, we picked up nearly everybody’s race packets. We snuck into the gym and watched Lynette rock out another pull-up, as promised. She had done the same the day before and impressed one of the staff trainers. Saturday’s crew was more concerned with the invasion into the PT space and shooed us away pretty quickly.

Saturday activities varied, with many choices on offer. I opted out of the trip to the coast and other options. My hope was by laying low, I would chase the remaining cooties away as well any soreness. I wandered the farmers market with Robyn and Lynette and picked up some fruit. Southern Washington state’s weather seemed much like Scottish weather, so I was very pleased to enjoy one last hurrah of local raspberries. Poor Coothie showed her Florida spirit, shivering beside Leslie (in sandals!). In between farmers market visits (we went back for lunch) I found my way to the hot tub. Pratima arrived just after lunch. A fellow academic, we immediately had lots to talk about.

Saturday’s dinner was amazing. I don’t remember the final tally for the meal, 22 is the number I heard somewhere. I sat near the middle of the table surrounded by so much inspiration. I expect at least 1000lbs were lost by the women in the group ahead of us sitting together at that table. I don’t remember much of the conversations that night. I just remember feeling really blessed.

The meal was lovely. Early in the afternoon, I phoned the restaurant to make sure they could accommodate me and ended up speaking to the chef directly. First he proposed a salad. I said, "No, I am running a half marathon tomorrow. I need food." My meal was saffron chickpeas, vegetables and mashed potatoes with a salad as an appetiser. I have to learn to make saffron chickpeas. Yum.

Bedtime followed not long after the meal finished.

Race morning, I woke up ahead of my alarm again thanks to East Coast time and started my morning ritual. Thank you, East Coast time. I had a hot shower to chase away the morning sore back and got breakfast downstairs. My roast veg omelette was not as nice as the JB’s omelette from the day before but the fresh berries as a side were a nice treat.

There were a few separate groups heading to the starting line in the morning. The weather report was not promising for warmth until much later in the afternoon, so I chose to run in a jacket and hat. I opted for the as late as possible 8:20am group, soaking up the warmth of the hotel lobby while it lasted. Several other groups were meeting there as well. I got to be photographer twice. I called one group of women hardcore as they walked past in sleeveless tanks and skorts. Cute outfits, but I think in Scotland I could run one month of the year in something like that!

I started walking to the start with the late as possible crowd and jogged about half the distance as a first warm up. Our group met up across the street from the podium. I stretched a little and laughed a lot. The race organiser read through the list of states and territories of the participants. We knew what was coming. I won the award for farthest distance travelled. Being short, my wave to the organiser was unseen. The group moved closer, Kim pointed me out and I got my moment of minor embarrassment over with.

After much shivering, the race organiser led us through a warm up with her ham of a husband serving as DJ behind her. It felt good to move and shake away the cold. She instructed us to support each other in the race, cheering women who passed us and encouraging women who we passed. We snapped a few photos as a group and were sent away to the starting line.

Our group scattered quickly based on the pace placards. I started somewhere between the 10 and 11 minute mile lines, with my usual strategy of a slow start to avoid burning out too fast. In an instant, I was alone in a sea of women as we lurched forward through the starting corral, around the bend and through the farmers market. I knew Robyn and Janet were not far behind me in the starting group and Carmen and Alyssa (Jan’s daughter) were somewhere ahead of me. I hope that Alyssa got enough rest to not be affected by her cold.

The early part of the course is a bit of a blur to me as my focus was controlling my pace in the midst of the chaos around me. I do remember waving to Vicki’s husband at a bend. It was nice to see a familiar face. Mile 1 had me right at 10 minutes according to the watch of the loud woman behind me. The run along the waterfront is a blurry memory as well, for the same reason as the starting mile. I looked for blue tanks ahead of me but saw no familiar shapes.

After the first run along the water, we turned through a neighbourhood and wound our way into a park eventually. The park forced a switch from tarmac to concrete, which I found a little rattling. I am spoiled with the tarmac pavements (sidewalks) in Scotland. Soon after entering the park, the front runners were passing us on the return journey. The park took us out to the riverfront again, including some interesting turnaround points. Normally I don’t like these types of courses and do my best to avoid out and back training runs. Very quickly, I discovered a huge benefit to out and back. I could cheer on my friends and they cheered me on. First I saw Carmen disappear around the roundabout but I cheered Alyssa who was not far behind her. As we doubled back, I smiled, cheered, encouraged and/or high fived Janet, Robyn, Tara, Leslie, Coothie, Kim, Pratima and Debby. Paths separated slightly at the water station, so I waved and cheered others behind them, including Vicki, Lynette, Jeanne, Jan and Rashmi. I went through my mental list and wondered who I missed in between.

The marker at mile 7 surprised me because I missed markers for miles 5 and 6. I felt my energy levels running low and started a gel. I nibbled for a mile until the water station provided a nice chaser. Apparently at all of the water stations, I had been saying "Cheers", which is a typical thank you in Scotland. The guy who handed me the cup replied "Cheers to you too" with the tone of voice that suggested I should be downing a shot.

Aside from the loud woman behind me in the first mile, I had no other markers of pace throughout the run. I ran as fast as I felt comfortable, which meant pushing against some building soreness after mile 8. I did my best to appreciate the scenery around me, including some of the outfits, anything for a distraction. Somewhere ahead of the crossing under the railway(?) bridge, I waved hello to Vicki’s husband again, even more grateful for a familiar face.

The jacket came off at mile 9. I finally felt warm enough without it as we hit the industrial park. Alyssa was just barely ahead of me and looked to be struggling. I caught up with her just before the airstrip and encouraged her to keep going. A slight uphill followed the loop around the supermarket. After mile 11, I entered virgin territory and my energy level began to falter again. I got into gel number 2, hoping it was soon enough to see me to the finish.

Along the next return to the park, I waved and cheered to more familiar faces, including Kim and Coothie, Pratima and Debby. The race route intended for us to run on the concrete sidewalks but I ran in the street as much as I could. After the next turn, I saw Carmen ahead of me in the distance. I think I saw her walk twice and I remember think/shouting at her to keep going and be strong. The slight uphill on the park sidewalk made my legs feel like they were filled with rocks. The race magic really began for me then. A few runners, ladies I had never met before, passed me here and said a few encouraging words on their way. I said something encouraging, too. Another woman caught up and we runner chatted for about a minute. When the path levelled again, I pulled ahead but not before encouraging her. I passed a few more runners with more encouragement and they encouraged me, too. Don’t ask me what anyone’s words were. I remember the spirit, not the details.

Another turn and I crossed the familiar bridge near the start. The end was not in side but I could taste it. I forced my rock legs to move just a little bit faster. I waved a thank you to the traffic cop as I zipped in front of hopefully patient drivers and turned into another gentle uphill. My legs howled in protest as I picked up the pace again. One more turn and the finish was just in front of me. I saw 2:01 something on the clock and grinned as I invented a sprint for the finish. Smile turned to wobbly relief as I slowed to a stagger. No denying my quads were tight. The de-chipper was quick. I manufactured a smile and a thank you for the hot firefighter who gave me my bracelet. It probably looked more like a grimace to him. I found Carmen and Scott just ahead and congratulated her. He apologised for not taking my picture at the end. We cheered and collected more runners as they crossed the finish line. Our numbers grew as Alyssa, Janet and Robyn finished, followed by Kim and Coothie. I jumped out of my place in the stretching queue to go back and hug more finishers. The group at the finish grew quickly. Pratima, Debby and Vicki all finished soon after.

Scott and Dale put themselves at the last turn, cheering the runners and walkers. Dale gave Tara flowers to congratulate her. Rightly so. She was one of four who decided at the last minute to run/walk anyway despite the lack of training going into the event. It is a testament to their fitness that all four finished the race strong and without incident. Jeanne crossed the line and celebrated a new personal worst. Originally planning to run, a seemingly minor injury earlier in the week derailed her in walking the event instead with a promise to bail if anything hurt. She ran the last couple miles.

I checked the board for my official times. My race was 2:02:28 according to the gun and 2:01:49 according to the chip, not far off from my aggressive, perfect conditions goal of 2 hours flat that I set blindly weeks ahead of the event. It is neither a personal best nor a personal worst. I am very pleased with the result. Considering my journey to the half marathon and all of the recent as well as long-term obstacles that it entailed, I think I am right where I should be.

Lynette rocked out a pull-up for us.

Coothie demonstrates a useful running technique, for Midwestern foliage I think.

Jeanne's group photo before the start of the race. Top row: Sabika (Sam), Tara, Leslie, Kim, Lynette, Robyn, Debby, Janet, Pratima, Alyssa, me, Rashmi, Jan and Carmen. Bottom row: Coothie, Vicki, Jeanne. Missing: Chaili, Gail and Sabika's friend Laura.

In Jeanne's photo, I look like I am sneaking through the woods. To read Jeanne's race report and see her photos, visit her website.

The locals had already headed for home. The rest of us, some more tired and sore than others, enjoyed the rest of our Sunday together.

Mount Hood Scenic Loop - 17/10/2008

After my Canadian adventure, I headed farther west to meet up with some friends near Portland, Oregon, for a long weekend. I woke up in London, ON, at 4.15am to catch my wickedly early flight from the local airport, which led to my arrival to Portland early enough for a drive to Mount Hood. On the way in to the airport, the pilot had played tour guide and we swooped wide at Mount Hood so everybody could see it. Apparently the people on the right side of the airplane could see Mount St. Helens, too. I could not. I remember feeling disappointed that I would be too late arriving, but luck had it that I did not miss out after all.

I met Jeanne in the hotel lobby when the van dropped me off. Lynette and Debby were back at the airport renting a car. I did not feel like I would hold out long enough to drive safely in the evening, so I didn't mind the inefficiency one bit. We left the hotel right around noon and followed the directions that Lynette's friend for a few hours on the airplane sketched for her. We enjoyed a lovely drive through Oregon's countryside just as the trees were thinking it was autumn. A few pitstops allowed for photos of Mount Hood and vicinity. One vicinity stop let us explore a tiny bit of the Oregon Trail, a very steep trail where the pioneers of the day dragged big fir trees behind their wagons to act as brakes going down. Imagine how the oxen felt with all of that stuff dragging behind them! Someone suggested they used sleds as well because the wooden wheels would not be up for it, but the cartoon by the hill said otherwise.

We arrived to Mount Hood and the famous Timberline Lodge just as the cloud shifted at Mount Hood's summit. Perfect for photos. Inside, the food was wonderful and apparently the hot chocolate was worthy of its legendary status. Nothing on their menu was substantial enough to feed me properly, but the waitress was really cool about helping to combine pieces of other meals to make something good.

The drive home took us along the Hood River (looks like awesome whitewater!) and then the Columbia River before we jumped onto a scenic road along the gorge walls. The waterfalls were spectacular and some are marked on the Interstate nearby as well. Sunset made them even more beautiful, which unfortunately did not translate as well to photography. As sunset descended upon us, so did my jet lag. I was very glad to not be driving. I managed to stay awake to 9pm local time, but then slept very, very well.

The Oregon Trail snakes its way toward Portland and we crossed its path several times on the journey to Mount Hood. People with oxen and wooden wagons with wooden wheels came down this hill on their way to the coast. A sign by this trail had a diagram of an ox-drawn wagon with a huge fir tree dragged behind it as a brake. Amazing. I would struggle to walk down it just on my own, nevermind leading several tonnes worth of stuff down it.

The clouds parted from the summit of Mount Hood just as we reached the Timberline Lodge.

The Timberline Lodge is a massive ski resort at Mount Hood and an easy drive from Portland.

The hot chocolate at the Timberline Lodge is legendary.

Lynette, Debby, Jeanne and I were among the first arrivals to the Portland area.

I think this view is the north(ish) face of Mount Hood.

The waterfalls along the scenic drive back to Vancouver were beautiful. The photos from my boxy little camera do not do them justice.

The Columbia River looking upstream towards the Hood River confluence. Apparently the Columbia River is a hotspot for wind-related sports because it is wide and runs east to west for a lot of its run.

The Columbia River with perhaps Vancouver (Washington state not Canada) blinking in the distance.

Canadian Adventures - 10/10/2008 - 12/10/2008

My visit to Canada started with a bunch of work stuff while the jetlag was at its worst but followed with some downtime over a long weekend. I spent Saturday exploring London, ON, and Sunday running London's Gobbler Gallop (think Turkey Trot) 6K and then exploring Niagara Falls. The Falls themselves are beautiful, just don't turn around. Tourist Trap. I spoke to my mother on the phone this morning and she said she and my dad nearly took a week's vacation at Niagara Falls. My jaw hit the floor at the word week. A few hours of that and I was done. What would they do for a week?

A photo for my dear LL, who has a thing for squirrels. Apparently, the black squirrels are beating up the gray squirrels, who had a bad reputation for beating up the red squirrels.

Upstream, looking towards Niagara Falls and the tourist trap below it.

Above the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Thinking as a boater, that's one hell of a horizon line...

The mist at Table Rock made for lots of wet and lots of photos of the wet.

This shot of Canada's Horseshoe Falls is my favourite, with the Maid of the Mist giving a great sense of scale.

Maids of the Mist run from both the American and Canadian sides of the Niagara River. The American side of Niagara Falls has never been run successfully in a barrel. The size and abundance of rocks beneath it make that lack of success not much of a surprise.

The cyclists slogging up Tourist Hell I mean hill seemed to enjoy being in my photo. It would not have been my choice of cycling route, but all the power to them.

Not a great place to get stuck considering what waits below.

Niagara-on-the-Lake was just as infested with tourists as Niagara Falls, but I found a quiet(er) spot. The mouth of the Niagara River forms the border between the US and Canada. An ill-fated US invasion of Canada at Fort George and this surrounding area during the War of 1812. Probably a few times.

Lake Ontario had the can't see land for miles view but lacked the salty air of being at a beach.

Go Ape - 4/10/2008

Fiona's birthday outing was to a place in Aberfoyle called Go Ape. Have I mentioned Fiona isn't fond of heights? Have I mentioned neither am I?

The path into the park is a ~400m zip line, not optional. We had the safety briefing just before the zipline. Our instructor had us clip into several pretend rides to show that we knew how to do it. Clips included a pulley and two karabinered stringy things. The pulley was essential to the wires, though the karabinered stringy things were what supported our weights in each of them.

Each of us climbed up a rope ladder, clipped into a wire crossing and walked across the wire to the zipline launch. Birthday girl Fiona went first, followed by Lisa who spun herself around a few times while showing off. The zipline makes a loud whiny sound when someone is still zipping. Lisa's whiny sound stopped early. She got stuck about 50m from the end and had to be "rescued" by a member of staff. Someone clipped in from the landing end and climbed out the wire to her, pulling Lisa along as she climbed back to the landing paddock. A few more people followed and then Brian. I followed Brian and Lisa's dad followed me.

I wasn't all that excited about zipping but it turned out to be a pretty cool ride. As long as I didn't look down. The scenery was beautiful with the Trossach hills all around us. It took about a minute to get across but felt like much longer, zipping over treetops. The instructor suggested that those of us on the light side of the weight range would do well to keep our legs tucked and not follow Lisa's example of getting stuck. I landed gracelessly on my butt, the downside of careening into the landing paddock backwards. Lisa's dad Joe followed me and I captured his landing for posterity.

The second play park had us climb up a ladder, across some wooden slats and then tarzan swing to a cargo net before several more slatty or wire traverses and a zipline out. The tarzan swing was not optional. The instructor who stood there suggested that it would be in our best interest to grab the cargo net on our first pass, as it would become more and more difficult on subsequent passes. Going tarzan had two difficult parts. The first was the leap of faith and the second was the climb up the cargo net. Some of the weaker members of the group struggled with the climb. Most of us struggled mentally with the initial leap.

The remaining traverses were easy in comparison, though it took a little while for my legs to stop shaking.

The third play park started with a rope ladder to a hamster tunnel followed by a rope swinging step traverse a static ladder up to a wire traverse and a zipline out. The static ladder and high wire traverse were the hardest for me, again all mental. At this point, Joe, Brian and I led the way. Alternately Lisa or her sister followed behind me. Typically Lisa stayed back helping talk people across whatever obstacle.

Joe, Brian and I waited at the end of the third park for everyone else to catch up but got shooed along by one of the staff members. The fourth play park started with yet another rope ladder to a cargo net traverse followed by a funny slatted traverse and a choice between the "difficult" log swinging step traverse or "extreme" jungle gym and diagonal swinging log traverse. Joe and Brian went the "extreme" way and I chose the "difficult" traverse for at least for Brian and me what turned out to be the same reason. "Difficult" looked far too hard for Brian and "Extreme" looked far too hard for me. It took me a long time to get across the swinging logs -- the swinging ropes were far easier in part because they offered much better traction than wet logs. The high wire traverse with handles felt so much easier in comparison. On this zipline out, I used my camera to capture the experience, including the splat at the end.

The instructors chased us to the fifth play park in an attempt to make sure that we didn't run out of time/daylight. Though the fifth play park became optional to the rest of the group, the majority of us did it. It started with, what else, a rope ladder up to a slatted traverse followed by a static ladder up to an optional tarzan swing into a cargo net and rope crawl back to another static ladder to the penultimate zip line of the day. The optional tarzan was bypassed by a second slatty crossing to the static ladder. Brian chose the tarzan option, so I stayed to take his photo. I could feel the platform shaking from his leg shaking. The swing required a much bigger leap of faith, a full at least six foot plunge before the swing took hold and flung him the 20ish metres to the cargo net. As he landed with a splat, I took the cheater route across. I met Brian at the base of the static ladder to the zip line and gave him my camera to play for a little while. He shot video of me landing properly with a very silly run instead of a splat on my bum. Most of the women behind me chose the tarzan route instead of the cheater route. I was very impressed.

The final zipline out was more beautiful than the ride in. It started higher than the first one, requiring two static ladder climbs to reach it. I zipped across a waterfall, more treetops and had about a minute to enjoy the panorama around me before landing a bit more gracefully than the zip out. We stayed for everyone's landings and then bid our farewells. A very adrenalised, still twitching Fiona invited us to join them at the pub later.

Not quite convinced it would be fun, Fiona went ape.

Lisa showed off by spinning herself around when leaving. She got stuck about 50 metres before the end of the zip line and needed to be retrieved by a member of staff.

Lisa's dad demonstrated the typical landing from a zip line.

Brian was just behind me on the rope ladder. I found the rope and static ladders to be the hardest things on the course.

The first crossing was pretty easy, but the Tarzan swing beyond it was neither easy nor optional.

Brian made like Tarzan.

Post tarzan swing, the climb up the rope thing was definitely a challenge.

Joe ran the second zip line slightly more gracefully than the first.

Julie crossed the dangling ropes after much of the group finished the hamster tunnel. As with many of the crossings, there was a trick to doing it efficiently.

Lisa between crossings

Jungle Joe (aka Lisa's dad) led the way through much of the course.

Lisa took the very hard path, too, instead of just the hard path.

The second tarzan swing involved a leap of faith from the tree tower. Brian had much more faith than I did. I watch him drop at least 6 feet before the rope "caught" and swung him over to the net.

Be warned, the video of my ride down the second to last zip line is a little nauseating.

By the fifth zip line, I figured out a little bit of steering and how to land gracefully.

Jenny seemed happy to be done.

Whitewater Safety and Rescue - 26/9/2008 - 28/9/2008

It was a cold weekend! Report coming soon! In the meantime, enjoy the photos.

What does a whitewater safety and rescue course entail? Swimming. Lots of swimming.

The strainer drill didn't get any easier.

Tamsin ran the first rapid smoothly.

The huddle river crossing...

Ended badly.

The vector lower drills made for interesting photos. Whose hands? Who knows?

The Admiral shows how its done.

Dave demonstrates a more creative line at the carnage corner.

I think the foot in the foreground belongs to Caroline.

Not Nearly Fit Enough - Wan Dae Adventure Race - 20/9/2008

Wednesday afternoon, Tamsin emailed the ssppp list to remind people that the Wan Dae adventure race was happening on the weekend and places were still available. Friday night, Brian and I decided to give it a go.

One thing I like about races in Scotland is the leisurely start that we are afforded. We arrived to the Harlow visitor centre in the Pentland Hills a bit after 12pm for a 1pm start.

Just ahead of 1pm, we were handed our maps with funny symbols on it and a second sheet of paper that identified the symbols as checkpoints including point values. Around 1pm, the race organiser, who reminded me of Patrick from NashvAR, led us on a brief run through the muck and sent us on our way to whichever checkpoints in whichever order we wanted.

We chose a bike route first then the run route then the kayak. The bike route was very familiar terrain and the first two checkpoints were easy to find. The third involved a slight disagreement between Brian and me ("others went that way" is not always a good rule to follow in an adventure race) a few hundred extra metres of cycling before a long slog over a hill to other familiar terrain. That checkpoint was subdivided to three requiring some orienteering along the way. We had found the third on our way to the start. The first was easy but we missed the second and ended up combing an awkward hillside before I spotted it. Brian had more of a slog uphill than I did but soon we were on our way to revisit checkpoint 3 and back on the bikes out.

Another long and occasionally squelchy slog on the bike took us to another checkpoint and then a creative (also squelchy) route over a hill gave me the entertainment of watching Brian stop his bike with no brakes. He would sort of heave himself into the grass and then hop back on it. We found another checkpoint and spoke briefly to a non-racing mountain biker before enjoying a long descent to one of the reservoirs. My back was quite sore at this point, so I was grateful for the restful downhill.

We followed the pavement along the reservoir onto trail to the checkpoint transition for the "run". To get the points, we had to answer a riddle. Mary's mother has four children. The first is April. The second is May. The third is June. What is the name of her fourth child? Easy stuff. The run, however, was not.

We walked most of the run, which was more or less straight up and down Carnethy Hill with a few detours. We went downhill to reach one checkpoint and then realised the rest were at the top of the hill beside us or beyond it. Brian thought it would be best to climb the side of the hill, which alternated scree and shrubbery. In retrospect, I think the more sensible thing would have been to consult the map, realise that the contours meant steep slope and backtrack to the path. In any case, after much slipping and "Your fault!", we made it past the worst of it and took a few minutes rest. The mist rolled in, which motivated a premature end to the rest and a more pronounced effort to reach the top. The summit checkpoint was ours and we decided we had enough "running".

We returned via the trail, collected our bikes and finished the loop to the steep downhill. Sadly, we missed a checkpoint hidden by a creek crossing but less sadly, we found the checkpoint hidden in the trees near the unpronouncable carpark.

Last stop was the kayak. By the time we reached the kayak starting point, we had about 15 minutes left to the race. The mist hadn't reached Harlaw reservoir but the cold wind had. The support crew were not keen on us starting the kayak and one woman told us repeatedly that we would not make it back to finish on time. I don't mind her opinion but I did mind her arguing it repeatedly when I tried to talk to Brian. I wanted to scream at her to shut up and leave us be, but didn't because she had been out there all day in the cold, too. We decided no kayak in the end and cycled to the finish. I should have said something to her, because that was such a negative to end the day.

Cold, tired, sore, I wasn't so sad to not stay for the awards. Brian and I packed up and headed home for a well-earned evening of laziness.