the 31st day of the tenth month

today

woke up at 6:30am, nauseous, after pounding a falafel pita from Pita Pit last night at 1am. skipped b-fast (not really by choice), hopped into my bike spandex and headed out.

9am. Halloween Hustle 5k. (costumes encouraged)
i strap on my carbon fiber aero helmet (see pic above), my 80's tour de france oakleys, gaze at my freshly shaven legs (its was the first and probably last time), lace up my fancy ASICS and wait for the starting gun. as i gazed around at 25 of the jamokiest looking runners perhaps ever assembled, i felt many things. nervousness was not one.

the gun goes off and within 800 meters another "serious" looking runner and i have gaped the field by 150 meters. At the 1st mile marker my watch reads 5:18 and i felt dizzy and disinterested. the serious looking dude begins to pull away, and i start to feel apathetic and increasingly nauseous.

by mile two i am 50m off the leader and cratering. my stomach has thrown up the white flag and my body reacts. VOMIT! i slow to a walk, bend over, hurl up my double espresso along with the standard amount of bile, clear the liquid off my face and gaze around. a pre-pubescent 17 year old high school kid that has probably never touched himself passes me and beyond that...crickets. so, i mount a comeback but realize that "serious" running dude is history and little charlie is moving quickly. so i pulled the veteran card, put my legs into cruiser mode, and glided on in while blowing kisses to the audience.

finishing time= 17:40

i finished feeling refreshed, disinterested, and finally warmed up. (thats the problem with training for marathons and then attempting to run 5ks). the Trick 'r Treat One Mile Kids Runs promptly began and thus did my responsibilities. Addy (Kaylee's daughter/dressed as an adorable frog) toed the start line and looked at me and said "race?". the gun went of and we were promptly left in the dust. eight candy aid stations littered the course but we did barely saw half of them as i created our own course. conveniently we came in 3rd and bested a few other children who had run the ENTIRE course. suckers. we scooped addy's prize and bounced.

things i am learning

after a 14 week hiatus, i return to my blog.

todays topic: things i am learning (about life/myself)

1. its very important to rest. i hopped on the scale recently and much to my dismay it read: 154. oh god. somewhere in between juggling 3 jobs, working 60-70 hours a week, and running 50-80 miles a week i've been losing weight. so i've become intentional...intentional about rest. its painful to rest when you legs get jittery and all your favorite activities involve exercising, but my body is happy. well, sort of. im now dealing with something else. its called a cold. so...more rest.

2. a man's mettle can often (but not always) be directly correlated to the wear and tear he puts into a pair of Carhartts and which part of the pants wear out first. i can proudly say i've thoroughly destroyed 2 pairs of carhartts this summer. unfortunately, the first part to tear was the butt. i'll let that speak for itself. also..while shopping for Carhartts at a ranch supply store in western Montana, DO NOT show up wearing skinny jeans or a v-neck.

3. expensive aftershave is worth every penny. so is whiskey.

4. i am an extremely impatient runner. through thousands of miles of training, dozens of pairs of shoes and socks and 12+ marathons or ultras you would think i'd have honed in on racing tactics/strategy. NOPE. i ran 3 races this summer and executed an identical strategy for each race (and not one that i would recommend). it goes: GO out hot, like WAY too fast. attempt to hold on with the leaders or front pack (most of whom are sponsored by companies that make clothing you are probably wearing and payed a lot of money for). about half way through the race you will realize your folly as you begin to blow sky high/bonk/crater/implode/whatever you want to call it. the next stage is the best...you attempt to resurrect yourself through whatever means possible. singing/pissing/bacon/coffee/potatoes/daydreaming are all great methods. finally, after resurrection is complete, attempt to save some small shred of dignity and finish strong. generally you will still place well in the race, perhaps even win your age group, but you will get passed by 12 or perhaps 100 people which is only slightly demoralizing. right. SO...next summer...we will work for patience.

5. shoes can make or break an outfit.

6. hanging out with kids is very very exhausting...BUT extremely rewarding, fun, hilarious and a great learning experience. try it.

7. spending money to visit family or old friends is money WELL spent.

8. curry goes with everything. almost.

9. zicam is the answer to all the world's problems. well, at least for colds.

10. i love seasons and i love the season changes...and therefore i love MT. only in MT can you have a balmy 70 degree afternoon followed by an inch of snow the next day, with sunny skies and 12 degrees the following day, and another 60 degree day in the forecast. oh montana. if anyone needs a weekend supply of gizzards or PBR light tall boys, jus give a holler.

love

ejk