the king and I

So, remember my Get in Gear race where it poured rain and I decided I needed a new jacket?  Well, last night I bought one for today's race out of desperation because I KNEW it was going to rain.  Or at least, that's what the Weather Channel told me and I always believe the Weather Channel.  

Anywhoo, I found a red jacket at the running store when I went in to get my race packet.  The jacket looked just fine in the store, the price was right (sale!) and the sleeves were long enough for my orangutan arms.  So I bought it.  

I tried it on again at home and thought, "Holy crap, I'm channeling Michael Jackson."  

I wore it anyway.  

We already share a birthday, so why not ride his coat tails (so to speak) to snazzy fashion history?

The King 'o Pop (LA Times)

My new jacket is a Thriller!

I should totally get some matching red pants too.  That would soooo complete the ensemble!!

Here's something that's funny: when I was driving to the race this morning, "Thriller" came on SiriusXM.  I can't even remember the last time I heard that song but there it was.  I took it as some sort of sign but still haven't figured out what the heck said sign was supposed to indicate.

So.  The race.

Northern Lakes 30k.  That's 18.64 miles, people.  

It went well!  I ran with the 11:00 mile pace group and ended with an "official" pace of 11:10 over all.  My first time running with a pacer and it was great.  Super nice guy, he even took pictures of us!  (When I get my photo, I'll add it to the blog.  Unless it's hideous, of course.) Official time was 3:27:57, but I was a little faster than that - there was no starting mat so that's gun time and of course, we slowpokes started at the very end of the line.  My not-so-trusty Garmin Electra let me down today.  It quit - shut off COMPLETELY - right after mile 16.  I had 'er plugged in overnight and this morning before we left the house, that lying tart told me she was 100% charged up and ready to go.  My pace up through the end of mile 16 was 10:59 min/miles, with a time of 2:55:33.  My pace remained pretty consistent so I think I ended up with about 11:03 min/miles. 

So why do you think she just shut down completely at the end of 16 miles?  I have to figure that out before my next long run (20 miles!!!!) in two weeks. 

Anywhoo, I had looked at the finish times for the last couple of years and was pretty concerned I would be dead last.  The field is small (about 120) and based on past race history, pretty much everyone is way faster than me.  My hip has been bugging me, my knees seem to both have Baker's cysts now,  I've had to NOT do kettlebell while my muscle tear heals, and I am getting concerned that maybe my body just doesn't have the cojones to run 26.2 miles.  

But, I decided that finishing last was something with which I could deal.  Better to finish last than not at all.

As promised - photo from pacer Matt.  I think
it was somewhere around mile 15.
Thanks Matt!

The good news is that the hip pain wasn't nearly as awful as last weekend.  I didn't have to walk (other than the water stops) and I just really concentrated on my form and not getting sloppy when I get tired.  It wasn't a walk in the park, but it also wasn't as hard as last weekend's 18 miler.  Yay for that!!

It was a crappy, crappy day, weather-wise.  Cold. Rain. Wind. My hat almost blew off a couple of times.  So my Thriller jacket was a good call.  And I totally rocked it!