Race Notes: Country Music Half Marathon and Avenue of the Giants.

Two races, eight days.

Country Music Half Marathon - The race was hot and hilly. Not steep hills, but constant rolling hills. The entire race was going up or down; there were no flats. My nutrition was a mess. Sometimes the heat gives me nausea and I can't eat, then I bonk. Other times, the heat makes me ravenous. That's what happened here. I was through my entire stash of Gu's and trail mix by mile 7. Thankfully, Nashvillians were giving nibbles along the course (including a yummy, ice cold beer at mile 9).

Overall, this was a very sloppy race for me. I never really got tired, but I wasn't putting in much effort. It was great to go slowly through my old neighborhoods. No regrets.

Avenue of the Giants - I planned to walk this entire course since I was doing it with TNT walk alumni including Steve. My absolute favorite race ever - the California redwoods are magnificent and you have a few hours to simply enjoy the peace and beauty of the forest. Dear Heavens, I want to do this race every year.

Also, the Avenue is surely the recipient of the most improved finishers medal. Last years was sort of lame - that part in the center is a sticker. This years is lovely - also, great tee shirts.

Damn

Most of you know that I started with Team In Training because we lost my uncle to myeloma, a blood cancer. Sometimes I get bored of the grind of fundraising. And sometimes it feels like trying to raise money to find a cure is spitting into the wind.

Last week, Steve learned that his honored teammate from the Tuscon team had lost his battle with cancer. Yesterday, I found out that, Roy, a friend and former coworker died of cancer also. When I started my job 5 years ago, Roy was a big help to me. He didn't meddle, but he gave me good counsel and generally kept me out of trouble. He was diagnosed with late stage cancer last fall.

Losing anyone is tough, even someone you don't see or talk to everyday. Sometimes you just like knowing that they are in the world and on your side. I was chatting with a friend and she explained why I'll miss Roy better than I can. She said, "He saw my potential when I couldn't." That is a truly fine quality in friend.

Vacation - Destination 2, Oregon

We decided to fly from Nashville to Eugene and then drive to our next half marathon. This was sort of an odd choice, but it was the practical decision. First, flying to Eugene required only 1 flight connection instead of 2. It was also relatively inexpensive. The clincher for Eugene was I found a lovely suite at a bed and breakfast with an ensuite washer and dryer. Midway through a 10 day trip you need to do some laundry.

That simple 1 connection trip turned into a 20 hour battle with United Airlines. When we finally arrived in Eugene, Oregon we were both exhausted. I had actually slept for 2 hours on the floor of the "Mediation Room" in the Nashville airport. Lets just pretend it was a very, very deep mediation.

Steve had been to Eugene before, but my only visits to Oregon have been in Portland. We had planned to hang out in Eugene and visit some of the places he remembered. Then we'd take an entire day for a leisurely drive, stopping at whatever spot interested us. Of course, the snafu with United put the kibosh to that plan since we lost an entire day in airports.

We only had a few hours in Eugene before we needed to start the drive south. Luckily it was a beautiful day. We did a little walk in the neighborhood near the university. We had lunch a brewpub that Steve remembered fondly, perused a used record shop and got a yummy Americano at a coffee shop. (The photo is Steve enjoying a hot day and a cold beer. Great combo!)

Then it was back in the car for the drive to Northern California. Oregon is beautiful and I definitely want to go back there when we have about 6 days to make that drive instead of 6 hours. I wanted to stop at Crater Lake and Caves National Monument, but alas there was no time.

Oregon, next time I promise to give you the attention you deserve.

Today's Adventure in Grammatic Irony / Facebook Follies

Found this post on my Facebook news feed:

{friend's name} took the Are You Smart? quiz and the result is Your Pretty Smart.

If you're writing quizzes about smartness, you may want to learn the correct usage of your and you're.

Home - Updates pending

In no particular order, the following posts are pending:

• Race reports for the 2 half marathons
• A "How To" post on dealing with airport delays
• Why the Bluebird Cafe is the best accoustic music venue.
  
• Some photos of the trip.