See Diva Run

The much anticipated ET Full Moon Midnight Half Marathon race report is finally here. If you don’t have time to read this epic, I’ll give you the short version… Grab your Nike running shoes and “Just Do It”

We flew to Las Vegas late on Friday night. Our flight was late leaving Seattle, and when we got to Vegas, the airport was undergoing maintenance, so much of the power was out. By the time we got out of the airport, picked up our rental car and got to our hotel, it was well after 2:00 a.m. This worked out well, as our goal was to stay up late and sleep late the next day. Arriving late saved us a small fortune in bar tabs and gambling losses! At 11:00 a.m. we decided we couldn’t sleep anymore, so we got up and headed out for an In-N-Out Burger. Our yearning was so powerful that we neglected to attend to some of the more basic needs, like bringing along a room key. It was after noon by the time we finally got there. Since the meal was going to be both breakfast and lunch, we decided to go for the milkshake, too!

We killed some time before heading to the race expo at the Atrium Suites Hotel, arriving just in time for the 4:00 p.m. opening. We knew we were in the right place when we saw the first alien!

There were quite a few runners lined up, waiting to pick up their packets. We browsed the merchandise and picked up an insulated water bottle. It’s not that we were concerned about the temperature of the water, it’s just that I’d run off and left my Nathan water bottle & belt at home. The race director had asked that we respect the environment by carrying a bottle instead of littering it with paper cups. Since I have often pondered the irony of celebrating the beauty of nature by throwing paper cups on the ground, this made sense to me.

We didn’t recognize anyone at the expo, so we headed back to our hotel. We were back in our room just a few minutes after 4:30. We weren’t really tired, but we decided to take advantage of the Westin’s Heavenly Bed for a couple more hours, as we knew it was going to be a long time before we got another chance to nap. We got up at 7:00, got into our race clothes and headed for the car. At this point, I suggested to Mr Diva that if we were planning to eat before the race, we should grab something on the way. We drove through Jack-In-The-Box, and got a bag of food that didn’t match our order. We drove to the host hotel and saw that the first bus appeared to be fully loaded, and it was only 8:00. We inhaled the food and headed for bus 2. The LVM 21 group had met earlier for pizza, before heading to the host hotel. They were all on bus 1, hereafter known as “the fun bus”. We didn’t recognize anyone on “the dull bus”, so we sat quietly waiting for the fun to begin.

Finally the buses are loaded up and ready to go. The lights go out and things get pretty quiet. The two guys behind us haven’t met before, but they conversed most of the way. Runners never have trouble finding something to talk about, unless they are married to each other. We sat in the dark with our eyes closed for most of the trip, resting up for the big event.

We left Vegas around 8:30, and made good time. We arrived at “the black mailbox” shortly after 10:30. The marathon isn’t due to start until midnight, which leaves us with a little time to kill. I notice a runner with long, blonde braids who I think might be “Funk Monkey”, older sister of our dear “Monk_Monkey” (aka Ultra Monk Monkey). I jumped up and chased her off the bus. Imagine having some crazy woman run up to you in the middle of the Nevada desert to ask if you are “Funk Monkey”. Fortunately, she was. Funk, aka Sandy was running the full marathon. I was delighted to have the chance to meet her.

Here I am posing with Funk Monkey, those are some scary red eyes I have, but at least my reflective shirt is even brighter.

Soon I saw Martha (Ginger26.2) and Richard (DickieV). Even in the middle of the desert, in the middle of the night, Martha looks like she just just stepped out of a fashion magazine. I suppose it helps that she actually makes the effort. I tend to look like I just crawled out of bed, which is pretty much accurate.

After worrying that I might miss everyone, I was extra happy to get to visit with Martha & Richard. I also saw DonaldAZ, who I had previously met at the Disneyland Half Marathon. Though he will always have Captain Jack Sparrow dreadlocks when I picture him in my mind, I did recognize him without them. Don had spent 6 hours driving up from Arizona with RGilmoreAZ, another LVM 21 poster. It was my first opportunity to meet him, but now I can check another member off my list! I was very happy to see TOJ, the instigator of this little outing, and his lovely wife Linda. TOJ was running the full marathon, Linda was joining the rest of us for the half. Since one bus was leaving after the half marathon, and the other was leaving after the full, I wasn’t sure if we would get to see them after the race.

Jeff was wearing a special Spaceman jersey, accessorized with an “alien” license plate on the back. He said it was bothering him, so he was anxious to get going so his other parts would start hurting and keep him distracted.

I also got to meet Huichi, aka Kra-z runner. She was costumed in glow sticks. The outfit was quite spectacular in the dark, but the full effect was lost by the camera flash.

Time flies when you are having fun, and I was having a lot of it. Before I knew it, it was time for to get back on the bus, so the marathon could start. Mr Diva is not quite the social butterfly that I am. He sat on the bus patiently while I made the rounds outside.

The buses start creeping down the road to the half marathon start. Somehow they get lost in the dark and go too far. Being on a bus that is making a U-turn on a narrow, 2 lane highway in the middle of the desert in the middle of the night is an interesting experience. The bus behind us does the same, and we head back. Now it is almost 30 minutes later and we are 7 miles closer to the finish line. (The marathon starts 20 miles from the finish, and must do a 3.1 mile out and back on the other side).

I see Prncssrnnr, someone who has become quite dear to me despite not having met her in person. In addition to being a regular on the LVM21 board, I have also run with her in many Nike+ challenges. I’m all set to go say hello when the race director tells us to be quiet so she can call role. Understanding the importance of knowing who you are leaving in the middle of the desert, I cooperate. Tragically, they started the race as soon as the role was called, and Prncss was leaving me in her dust before I could say anything. In fact, everyone was leaving me except Mr Diva. It seems that heat (temps were probably low 70s at the start) and elevation are not conducive to great running performance among runners from Snohomish, elevation 30.

Mr Diva is definitely not feeling it. He starts walking before the first mile marker. He walks pretty fast, so I switch to a very slow jog, which is a little easier than walking fast, but tedious after a few miles. The first marathoner overtakes us before mile 3. This is not indicative of a fast finish time. Our wedding vows didn’t specify whether it was OK to abandon each other in the desert in the middle of the night if it would improve our finish time, but I can’t shake the feeling that it would be wrong. It’s a nice night for a walk, so instead of beating him I decide to join him after mile 4. We agree to walk to the top of the hill, and then run down. The desert is quite beautiful by moonlight, against the silhouette of the mountains. Most of the half marathoners have left us behind, so we are alone in the moonlight. It is really very romantic.

Insects chirp and hum in the background. I had been concerned about using the iPod, because I wanted to be sure I could hear the rattlesnakes. Mr Diva assures me that I just need to keep the volume down. He was right, the rattle is so loud you can easily hear it over the iPod. Hearing it added to the sense of adventure, but I had no desire to hear it a second time. We scoot down the road, scanning for snakes with our headlamps. These things are hot, and they give you a headache, but they give us confidence that we will see the snake before we step on it. Note to self, next year get one of those lamps that clips onto the brim of your cap. They are much better!

We continue to wander across the desert at low speed, taking in the sights and sounds. There is the occasional road kill and plenty of flying insects. The insects are attracted to my headlamp, so the keep swarming around my head. A huge moth gets so excited that it flies full speed into my left eye, temporarily blinding me. The race passes through open range, but we don’t see any cattle, but we did see plenty of evidence that they had been in the area. There are at least two cattle guards in the road. Cattle guards are steel grids that are difficult for cattle to walk on. I grew up around cattle, so I recognize it from a distance, but still almost get my foot caught while running over the first one. Silly Diva.

Eventually we get to the top of the hill, and we celebrate by running for a while. Mr Diva starts to cramp up, so we switch back to walking. We are more than halfway through the event, and having a good time. The iPod is playing softly, so I can still hear the insects, and the coyotes howling in the background. This is not a typical evening at home, and I am loving it. The further we go, the more energetic I get. The Beatles shuffle up on the iPod and I have a difficult choice, do I stop and dance in the middle of the road, or do I take off running. I run, leaving Mr Diva wondering what the heck is going on. The next song is just as good, but I stop and wait. We are in the last mile. Soon we are passed by “Funk Monkey”. She ends up finishing third among the women. Go Sandy! We see the lights of the Little Ale’ Inn in the distance, but they don’t seem to get any closer. Mr Diva decides it’s time to run again, hoping the Inn is closer than it really is. We stop and walk again, and are overtaken by the Cone Heads. I don’t know how they completed the full 13.1 miles with the giant cones strapped to their heads. I took my hat off before the first mile marker.

The Inn is getting closer, we are running again. Finally we are turning into the driveway and looking for the finish line. I’ve still got way too much energy, so I sprint toward the finish line. Mr Diva manages to ignore his achy parts and he paces me in. The Cone Heads are trying to figure out how to get the medals over their cones. I hold the medal and we play a weird form of ring toss. It’s getting close to 4:00 a.m., and I’m in the mood for a party. Mr Diva is in the mood to sit. We go inside the Little Ale’ Inn to partake of our breakfast buffet, and are greeted by aliens.

The Little Ale’ Inn is serving a breakfast buffet to the finishers, but it is surprisingly empty. I wonder where everyone is, but I’m more interested in breakfast. We buy a couple cans of Coca-Cola to wash down our breakfast and celebrate our triumph.

We are just starting to eat when the race director comes in to tell us there are still seats available on the bus that is about to leave. This is all Mr Diva needs to hear. He is out of his seat and sprinting for the door. It’s at least a 2 hour ride, so I’m shoveling scrambled eggs just as quickly as I can. We dash for the bus, where all our LVM friends except TOJ and Linda are waiting. There aren’t two seats together, but DickieV offers Mr Diva the seat next to him and I hear a voice saying that Jodie can sit here. It’s Prncssrnnr and I am so excited that I chatter like a chipmunk for the entire trip home! Note to self, don’t drink real Coca-Cola when you are already pretty wound up! Poor Prncss. She sat next to TOJ for the trip out, and now I’m trying to out talk him for the entire trip back. I bet she was happy to get some peace and quiet when she finally got home.

Finally we are back in Vegas, pouring out of the bus like conquering heroes. Someone suggests breakfast. This sounds like fun, but Mr Diva has already left for the car. I get a few more minutes with my new friends, but it isn’t enough.

Here we have Don looking an awful lot like a guy who drove 6 hours to ride a bus for 2.5 hours so he could run through the desert for 3 hours and get back on the bus. He is clearly thinking about the 6 hour drive home!

Here is Steffen and Martha with his new alien friend. Steffen looks like he could go out and run another half marathon. Maybe he got a little nap on the bus.

Here is DickieV. He is so darn fast, it is hard to capture his image without special equipment!

Here is Prncssrnnr looking tired but radiant.

Here is Rob (RGilmoreAZ) smiling because Don has to drive home!

Here is the LVM 21 group, except for TOJ and Linda who were still out at Area 51, and Mr Diva who was getting the car.

As soon as the last picture was taken, Mr Diva drove up with that “get in the car” look on his face. At this point I realize that I haven’t had a chance to chat with Steffen yet, and that I have lots of questions to ask everyone. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure I’m going to need to stay in Mr Diva’s good graces, and he clearly wants to get some sleep. We wave good bye and head for the Westin, where our Heavenly Bed awaits.

The bling

We took a little nap, and then went out for another round of In-N-Out Burgers. We killed the day wandering around in Vegas, then took another 2 hour nap before dinner and drinks at our favorite bar, Kahunaville. We decided to make an early evening of it, so we left about 11:00. There were thunderstorms throughout the night that periodically woke us up. We were glad we didn’t experience thunderstorms the night before! We spent the day visiting casinos, but never actually gamble. We mostly just walk around. I guess we needed the exercise.

Epilogue:

I went for my first post-ET run tonight, and quickly realized that I must have been abducted by aliens in the desert. They must have been so impressed with my superior cardio-vascular system that they decided to keep it and replace it with an inferior version from whatever cheap a$$ planet they outsource their manufacturing to. The new one doesn’t work at all. There is no elevation to blame this on, but there is heat. I’m sticking with the alien theory. This explains why we were able to finish ahead of Linda without having any memory of passing her. It also explains the 3:16 finish time! When they were done with us, they flew their spaceship to Seattle and crashed the databases, so I would be so busy when I got home, I wouldn’t notice. Those aliens are very clever! They are also quite attractive and winsome. They prefer warm places, so beware. If you happen to be traveling through the Medoc region of France during the next couple of weeks, be on the lookout for this lovely alien, for she will surely take your breath away.

We interrupt your previously scheduled ET Marathon race report in order to bring you this non-sense….

“Why run” has been the hot topic lately. It came up on the LVM21 board, and got some thoughtful replies, and a silly, Letterman-style Top 10 list from me. Tom and Amy have been discussing it at the Runners Lounge. Again, their posts have been thoughtful and interesting. They show a depth of character. I, on the other hand, am a party girl. I wandered around Las Vegas in my “Girls Just Want to Have Rum” t-shirt this weekend, after having been chased through the desert by aliens and rattlesnakes. What, that doesn’t sound like fun to you?

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of serious benefits to running. I can eat outrageous things like pizza and ice cream, and still zip the size 4s and 6s in my closet. Wait a minute, that is fun. Well then, there is the low blood pressure and cholesterol count. But I could also achieve those from an exercise plan that wasn’t fun. Well, maybe I could, or maybe I wouldn’t stick with something that wasn’t fun long enough to get there. But maybe I would. I don’t remember thinking that running was that much fun when I started. It looked like fun when other people were doing it, but it felt a lot like work when I did it — at least if I did it for too long. But the more I ran, the more I could run. Getting stronger and seeing the numbers add up was fun.

Then of course there are the races. I may run in a lot of races, but I rarely race them. I’m more about the good time than the finish time. Getting too caught up in the finish time usually diminishes the fun (see “There is More to Running than Racing“) I had a wicked good time leaving Mr Diva in my dust at the Love Em or Leave Em 5K (which was just wrong, by the way) in February, but I had just as much fun walking through the desert in the moonlight with him. The romance of it didn’t stop me from trying to out sprint him at the finish.

While some people are out training for Boston, I’m running from aliens and rattlesnakes in the desert, or being Goofy at Walt Disney World. I’ve been hung over in New Orleans for the Mardi Gras Marathon for two years in a row, and I’m planning to go for 3! There was the Disneyland Half Marathon, the Las Vegas Marathon, the U.S. Half in San Francisco where we ran over the Golden Gate Bridge. There is an upcoming Rock N Roll event in Arizona that promises 70 rock bands. Have you detected the theme here yet? Instead of embracing the pure spirit of competition and all of the other serious things that inspires people to run, I’m just jogging through life in pursuit of fun. Would you believe that someone recently implied it was a bad thing?

Do we look serious?

Even my daily run is about fun. Whether it is a social run with a friend or family member, or a 10K on the treadmill with my iPod, the main purpose of my daily run is to relax and enjoy it. My job is stressful, with some very long hours. I can defiantly hop on my treadmill with Aretha and demand a little RESPECT, without diminishing my 7×24 availability. I could get the same physical benefits from a bicycle or an elliptical machine, but that would be the opposite of fun. Life is short, and full of things that must be endured. You don’t get a “do over” because you were too busy enduring to stop and have a little fun.

When I see young girls watching me race, I yell to them “Girls who run have more fun”. It might be the fun of winning, the fun of participating, or the fun of having people yell “looking good” at you when you really look awful. It might be the fun of travel, the camaraderie of other runners, the feeling of accomplishment or just the sheer joy of being in motion. The great thing about running is that there are as many different ways to have fun as there are runners.

Are you having fun, too?

We survived our trek across the desert. It was a lot of fun, and I promise to bore you to death with every single detail in a day or two. In the meantime I’ll just say that we were not abducted by aliens, but it would be a great explanation for our finish time!

This weekend we are running a half marathon along the Extraterrestrial Highway in Nevada, near Area 51. The race starts at midnight, under the full moon (well, almost). There is a full marathon, too, but that sounds a little crazy You might think that I surf the Internet looking for crazy adventures to go on, but the truth is, most of them find me. This particular adventure was instigated by “The Other Jeff”, a ruthenium level Marathon Maniac who posts the most delightfully, colorful and lengthy musings on the LVM21 message board. I got to meet TOJ and his wife Linda when they visited Washington for the San Juan Island Marathon. TOJ and another Maniac named Matt were completing their 4th marathon in 9 days (and 3 states) which is how they got to the ruthenium level. These guys have an interesting sense of fun. When TOJ posted about the “ET Full Moon Midnight Marathon”, I checked the airfare, and then committed. Knowing that Mr Diva thinks there are no bad reasons to go to Nevada, this was an easy sell.

Since then quite a few people from the LVM 21 board have signed up. Osmium level Maniac, Ginger26.2 will be joining us for the half, along with her friend Steffen. It will be fun to see them again, and to meet the people that we’ve only “posted” with. It is going to be quite a party. Well, as much of a party as you can have while running through the desert, dodging rattlesnakes and other “crawly things” in the middle of the night. I hope it leaves me with a good story to tell. You should hope so, too!

While I’m out running from aliens and rattlesnakes, be sure to check out Paul Merca’s blog. Paul is one of the nicest people on the planet. He is currently in Osaka, Japan covering the IAAF World Championships. When he isn’t writing about world famous elite athletes, he writes the occasional tale about regular people who run with Nike+. If you are surprised that I know such important persons, so am I!

I was browsing Chef Betsy’s Eat Drink Run Woman blog yesterday, to see if she had written about her trip to Philadelphia. Indeed she had, and it was a very thought provoking post about running in strange places. Apparently I’ve not been paying attention, as a few days before that she posted that she had been tagged, and then she tagged me! WTF? If I understand correctly, we are playing blog tag, and now I’m it!

Jobs I’ve held

• Tutor
• Computer operator
• System Administrator (aka Unix Goddess)
• Supercomputing Systems Analyst
• Programmer/Analyst
• Database administrator (aka Database Diva)
• Civil Service Examiner
• Lingerie & Bridal boutique owner
• Model
• Non-profit president
• Web designer

Movies I can watch over and over
I can watch any movie I really like over and over, especially if it is funny. The two movies I have seen the most times are:

• The Blues Brothers
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Guilty pleasures

• Spoiling Jasmine (the dalmatian princess)
• Shoes!
• Malibu rum with just a little pineapple juice

Places I’ve lived

• Snohomish, WA (17 years)
• Seattle, WA
• Edmonds, WA
• Everett, WA
• Snohomish, WA (25 years at the same address)

Shows I enjoy

• Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe
• Monk
• Psych
• Burn Notice
• Just about any documentary on the History or Discovery Channel

Web sites I visit daily
I visit yahoo.com daily for news, weather, etc. I also visit http://nikeplus.nike.com daily. It’s an obsession. There are a lot of sites that I visit every two or three days.

Places I’ve been on vacation

• British Columbia (Vancouver and Whistler)
• Saskatchewan
• Montana (many locations)
• Yellowstone (Wyoming)
• Oregon coast
• California (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego)
• Hawaii (Oahu and Kauai)
• Washington, DC (technically it was for a funeral, but we acted like tourists)
• Orlando, Florida
• Missouri (St Louis & Springfield)
• New Orleans
• Mississippi (Gulf Coast and Meridian)

Nicknames

• Diva (short for Database Diva)
• Database Diva (my profession)
• Unix Goddess (for more than 20 years)
• Malibu Rum Barbie
• Jo (short for Jodie)

Awards

• I’ve actually won a lot of awards at work. The awards come with points, and points can be used to acquire stuff. A couple of years ago I started picking stuff that I could donate to a charity auction. Two years ago it was a fancy golf putter, last year it was a television. This year I have 500 points on file, I haven’t decided what to get.
• I’ve got 2 blue ribbons stuck to my refrigerator for winning my age group in a couple of very small local races.
• I was a National Merit Finalist, and won a bunch of awards and scholarships related to that.
• On Sunday I was awarded “Post of the Day” on the LVM21 board for this witty observation http://lvm.createmybb.com/showthread.php?tid=1371

Monk, if you are reading this, you are it.