See Diva Run

Where: Orlando, FL
When: January 9 & 10, 2010
What: Half Marathon on Saturday, Full Marathon on Sunday

When Mr Diva first suggested that we participate in the inaugural Goofy Challenge in 2006, I declined and called him something stronger than “goofy”. I suggested that something this stupid should be shared with another guy, and nominated our son to go along. And yet somehow, I ended up doing it, too. Imagine our surprise when we arrived in Florida and discovered frost on the ground in the early morning? All in all, it was mostly fun, but one of those things you really only need to do once. Make that one of those things I only needed to do once. As the 5th Goofy Challenge loomed, and registration re-opened, Mr. Diva decided he needed the new set of medals. Sigh… I sometimes speak of him as the long suffering Mr. Diva, but the truth is, he gives as good as he gets.

So we packed our bags with our shorts, running skirts and the other things one packs for a trip to Florida, and then repacked with all of our winter running gear after seeing the weather report. The melt down in Hononlulu was still in my head, and I was really stressing about our ability to take 15 minutes off our marathon time the day after a half marathon. We hit the expo Friday and had the full Disney “stand in many long lines” experience. We shopped a little, then headed back to our room to rest up. We jumped out of bed at 3:00 am (midnight on the west coast), to get to Epcot before the roads closed. We stopped at the Waffle House for a little breakfast, then headed to Epcot to wait in the car as long as possible. Our friend Jeff joined us, and before long, we were watching moisture accumulate on our windshield. It was about 37 degrees. By the time we got to the starting line, the rain was forming into little needles of ice that stung when they pelted your face. We got to enjoy another 30-40 minutes of that while waiting for our corral to go.

It was cold, wet and miserable, but we were dressed for it. By mile 6, a sharp pain was radiating from my left knee. After that I was reduced to a long, cold, wet walk, imagining what it was going to be like to do this for 26.2 miles the next day. Did I mention that this was really messing with my mind? The miles slowly ticked away, but finally it was done. We headed back to our room to pack ourselves in ice and rest up for the next day. This time I had no trouble sleeping, and crawled rather than jumped out of bed at 3:00 the next morning. To my surprise and delight, nothing hurt. We stepped out of the hotel and discovered temperatures were colder, but there was no wind, and no precipitation. After a big breakfast at IHOP, we were back on our way to Epcot. I was disappointed when my knee started to ache during the long walk from the starting village to the starting line. I told Mr Diva we were going to need to try a run/walk plan, to keep the knee from getting too bad, too soon. We agreed to run for the first 5 minutes of each mile. Eventually that dropped to 4 minutes, but we maintained it for the first 20 miles. I could have gone the whole distance, but he started to cramp up, and had to walk the rest. The bright sun and cold temperatures created perfect running conditions. I felt great and really enjoyed the whole 26.2 miles. We finished in 6:20, nearly an hour faster than our Honolulu time, and faster than our previous Goofy marathon.

I’m feeling much better about distance now. If I am going to keep doing marathons, I probably shouldn’t let too much time pass before the next one, or it is likely to become a mental problem for me again. My 50th birthday is coming up. After I’m done eating, maybe I should run another marathon? Or not…. Next up the Mardi Gras Half Marathon in New Orleans, which is now a Rock N Roll event.

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A week after the Honolulu Marathon, Mr. Diva was ready to run again. I was ready to sleep in, but I had to get up and walk the dogs. As long as we were up, we jumped into our Santa suits (everyone has them, right?) and headed to Kirkland for the 12Ks of Christmas fun run. It was Friday’s first race, and he was surprisingly well behaved while waiting in the registration line. The weather had been decent at home, but in downtown Kirkland the wind was whipping up, and it was starting to rain. I was starting to shiver, so I slipped out of my Santa jacket and pulled on the long sleeved cotton race shirt. Shortly after we started running, the wind died and the rain quit, and I was slipping out of my Santa jacket to pull off the race shirt. The weather was great for the rest of the event. Friday did great, but was more than willing to nap all the way home!

This was our first time running the 12Ks, and we were very impressed. It was very well organized, and a lot of fun. Even though we showed up a few minutes before the start, we were able to register, and get shirts in our size! Maybe next year we will sign up in advance!

Link to photos on Facebook

When we walked the 2004 Honolulu Marathon, it was a bit of a whim. We had completed 4 half marathons that year, and had trained for them. We were starting to make the transition from walking to jogging until our legs gave out, and walking the rest. We’d never been further than 13.1 miles, but I had this crazy notion that we could do it. I knew Mr Diva would resist, so I made sure to tell him how many people in their 80s had finished the previous year. Married people fight dirty. He took the bait. How could he not? We were vacationing in Hawaii for both our birthdays, and his just happened to coincide with the marathon, so I signed him up and called it a “gift”. By the time marathon morning rolled around, I had the flu and was coughing uncontrollably, and running a fever. We still managed to finish in under 7 hours. That was the beginning of the marathon madness.

Since then, Mr. Diva has been talking about repeating the marathon for his 50th birthday. I think the goal was to go back better and stronger, and finish with a better time, despite being in a new age bracket. That is not what happened. Mr. Diva has never been a fan of training. His idea of training is signing up for a race every couple weeks. We did just that for most of 2005-2007, but in 2008 injury, work and family made it necessary to take time off. The combination of injury and lack of training was pretty much fatal for me, and not much better for him. But there we were in Honolulu with our running shoes, so why not suffer through it?

We got off to a good start, no flu, no fever, no coughing. Instead of walking at a 16-17 minute pace, we were jogging at 13-14 minute pace. We passed the 10K mark with an average pace of 14, it was closer to 15 by the time we reached the halfway point. After that, things just slowly went to pieces. In 2004, the weather remained overcast for much of the morning, and we finished faster than we started. This time it was bright, sunny and warm. The trek back to Waikiki from Hawaii Kai got slower and slower with each mile that passed, even though we felt like we were making the same effort. Our finish time was 7:15, without the lengthy break we took to rest and change socks in 2004. Age and training matter. If you are planning to walk/run a marathon without training, don’t wait until you are 50.

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Last year we ran the inaugural Expedition Everest Challenge with our son Jason and daughter-in-law Krista. The guys teamed up as the Yeti Chasers, while Krista and I teamed up as the “Kelley Girls”. This year, we decided to make it another family trip. This time we were joined in Florida by our daughter Cassi and her family. Krista had to stay home, but son Jason was able to make the trip. He and Cassi signed up as team Yeti Set Go. Richard and I teamed up as The Dog Walkers.

We arrived at the Animal Kingdom shortly after 6pm, and then realized that the race started at 7:30, not 7:00. We made the same mistake last year. At least we are consistent! This left us a lot of time to stand around and become stiff and achy. As we stood and waited, the clouds rolled in, and the sky became somewhat ominous. Last year we signed up early and were in wave 3. This year we signed up late, and were in lucky wave 13.

Since there was a 5 minute wait between waves, this delayed our start until 8:35. Richard took off way too fast for me, with Jason & Cassi not far behind. I told them I’d see them at the end, and settled into a very slow jog. After a few minutes, Richard ran back to look for me. That is when we noticed the first few rain drops. The light rain felt good, and I was wearing my Goretex shoes, so I wasn’t concerned. As we entered the park, the wind picked up and the rain started coming down more steadily. By the time we got to the water stop, I wasn’t thirsty. After that, every low spot in the path turned into a puddle. Some of them were quite deep. Water ran down my legs and into my Goretex shoes, where it couldn’t get out. As I ran through puddles, it ran over the top. It was like running in a pair of swimming pools! By mile marker 2, we’d caught up with both kids. They were walking. I was still jogging slowly. The rain just kept coming down harder, with thunder and lightning to let us know that Nature was cheering us on. The puddles were so deep that we started splashing through them like little kids, giggling because we weren’t going to get in trouble for getting our shoes wet! The last 1.1 miles felt longer than the first 2, but finally we were sprinting toward the finish line, and the deepest puddle of all. The water was up to my mid-calf, and I was struggling to lift my feet above the water line. We finished in 40:50 and headed for the obstacle course.

I was amazed that they hadn’t shut it down because of safety issues. I attempted the first obstacle, but was too stiff to swing my leg over. I climbed over the cargo net, and then waited while Richard helped a lady who was struggling. Next up was the balance beam. I skipped that one. Richard made it half way before giving up. We did crawl under the cargo net, then headed toward the scavenger hunt. As we were picking up our books, we heard an announcement that the obstacle course was closed. As we entered the park, we saw that many of the finisher’s were leaving. We wandered through the different areas, hunting for clues and writing the answers in our books. We crossed the finish line and collected our medals just as the rain stopped falling. There was a lot of confusion at the finish line. We tried to turn our books in, and discovered that they were no longer checking answers. A few minutes later they sent the volunteers home and stopped giving out medals.

The after party was a bit of a bust, because most of the rides were shut down because of the weather. We hung around for a while, and the Expedition Everest ride was started back up. We rode it once, and then started heading for the gate. It was a very different experience from 2008, but fun in a very weird way.

THE DOG WALKERS 1882 40:50 5:47 39:59 2:26:38 1:26:35
YETI SET GO 1887 40:50 45:46 2:26:40 1:26:36

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It wasn’t exactly a bad weekend, but it was a very busy one. The kind where you don’t even have time to sit down and write a short blog post. You may recall that Saturday was Valentines Day, and I swear that I will mail my Valentine cards tomorrow. I get partial credit if they get there this month, right? Oh yes, back to Saturday. Not only was it Valentines Day but it was also the date for the Freakishly Flexible 5K, where the running blogging world paid tribute to our beloved friend Nancy, who is so flexible that she has damaged her hip and brought a premature end to her running career. This has been devastating news, not just for Nancy, but for the many people who have come to love her (in the platonic, blogging-running kind of way). Nancy has been a source of moral support to just about everyone in the running, blogging community, and this was our chance to “share the love”.

I confess, it wasn’t too difficult to get out for a run Saturday afternoon. The sun was out, the sky was blue. I had planned to head over to the trail, which is not flat, but at least more gentle terrain than that in my neighborhood, but I was pressed for time, so I decided to go for a lap around the lake. I grabbed my Garmin and headed out the door. The lake was so beautiful with Mount Rainier in the background, I opted to head down the big hill so I could enjoy the view. I went way too fast, and paid for it for the rest of the run. My course was not very precise, and I ended up running 3.29 miles in 35:48, which depressed me because a 5K shouldn’t take so long, or be so hard.

Later, when I checked out the stats from the Garmin, I got a few surprises.

1. My first mile was in 10:04
2. My average pace for the run was 10:53
3. There were 5 hills with a grade of 10% or more in the first mile
4. There were 16 hills with a grade of 10% or more (max grade 33%)
5. I’ve been doing my faster treadmill runs at 11:20 - 11:30 pace
6. No wonder I was tired!
7. Have I mentioned that it is hilly here?

When I wasn’t thinking about how hard it is to run uphill, I was thinking about Nancy, and how much fun it would be to have her running with me in her cave girl outfit. I’m sorry that we won’t be able to run together in the future, but I appreciate all of the kind thoughts and funny anecdotes she has shared. I wish her all the best in her recovery, and hope that she continues to blog so we can keep up with her and those adorable little boys! Nancy, if you are reading this, best wishes for a full and speedy recovery. I hope you find a satisfactory running substitute!

Speaking of sharing the love. The Runner’s Lounge has extended the deadline for submitting articles for their book project until February 28. All runners are welcome to submit articles. Visit The Runner’s Lounge for more details.