Blogging Slacker

Well, let's see...since I left off some time last month, I've been pretty darn busy. Busy getting the Fleet Feet ready to open, busy hiring and training employees, busy opening the store, busy getting all sorts of Rumble stuff ready, and busy trying to fit in some training and a tune-up race or two in my Boston-prep.

On March 29, I was hoping to get a group of Boston Bound Bendites to go to The Dalles with me to run the Wheatfield Half Marathon. At 3 weeks before the big day, I figured it was a perfect tune-up. Well, everyone bailed except Sascha, so she and I made the easy, early morning drive north. I saw some familar, friendly Red Lizard faces, and even another ultrarunner, William Swint. William was getting in some tempo running for the upcoming Rumble. During my warm-up with Sascha, I felt good...like, really good. Light, springy, bouncy, just excited to be out there.

I had a goal of 1:18ish, which was going to be a p.r. The course was gentle uphill going out, and gentle down coming back. With my goal in mind, I went out faster than normal. First mile, 5:18...okay, that mile was a bit on the short side. The rest of the miles going out were in the 5:50s - perfect. I felt like I was just floating up the hill. I turned around, gulped down a Gu, and let gravity take me down. I was cruising back, feeling great, hitting mostly 5:30s, with a couple 5:20s thrown in for fun. I seriously could not believe how great I felt and how effortlessly I was cruising.

Hitting mile 12 in 1:08:xx, I knew I was going to go sub-1:15. Sure enough, I finished in 1:14:41. I was elated...and, I knew the course was short. After talking with 3 people who wore gps's on the course, we agreed it was about 1/4 mile short. So that would have put me right about 1:16:00 (5:48 pace). Still a huge p.r., and I was still elated!

After that race, and how easy it felt, I concluded that I will now be disappointed if I don't run sub-2:40 at Boston.

So, less than a week after the 1/2, Fleet Feet Bend opened on April 4. Kathy and Dan Harshburger were sitting on their lawn chairs outside the doors when Rod and I got to work that morning because they wanted to be our first customers. They are awesome!

We opened early at 9:35, and by our 10 a.m. regular opening time, the store was full. We couldn't believe it - it was so cool! Some were our friends, some from CORK, some people who had just heard we were opening, and some were just driving by and saw the crowd inside.

Rod, Chad, and I took lots of people through our in-depth fit process, sold lots of shoes, met lots of new runners and walkers, and were just excited by our big first day. The rest of the weekend at Fleet Feet was great, too. Thank you to all who stopped by - we really appreciate it!

A couple of our customers on Saturday afternoon were two speedy ultra girls Krissy and Devon (well, they're nice, too). Devon was in town for the weekend visiting, and Krissy got to take her out to Smith for Krissy's first bigger run back since her injury. It sounds like she's finally healed up and ready to get rolling. I even got an invite over to Krissy's house that night for a grand feast, planned and prepared by master-chef Devon. Chile Chocolate Mole Squash & Sweet Potatoes, and Sauteed Greens with Carmelized Onions - mmm, good eatins'! To make me feel useful, they even let me build a fire. Thanks for the fun evening, girls!

On Sunday morning before work, I decided to run the Horse Butte 10 miler. I thought it would be a nice, fun tempo run on soft trails. Well, that didn't happen. I felt like crap, my legs were dead, I felt super-sloppy on the trail, and I just generally struggled the whole way.

Why was this little 10 miler such a struggle for me? The 1/2 only a week before? Well, I wouldn't have usually thought that, you know, since "I'm an ultrarunner and it was only 13 miles...". But after thinking about it a bit, and talking to a few people about it, I'm thinking that 1/2 took more out of me than I originally thought. Cool. Maybe that means my body is getting ready for the roads of Boston.

I hope so.