Saturday, December 09, 2006

Hark the Herald Angels Run!

Welcome back Dayton. We just ask that you leave enough wine and beer for the rest of us. Although, it doesn't seem to be in short supply here. The end of the semester/Christmas party in the department last night was started by a 10-Minute-Party in the office with Champagne. Then down the hall for some crappy chardonnay. After that a cocktail at the Macaroni Grill a la Gergo. God I love free drinks, and I think the hooker/ex-girlfriend was there again. Dinner at Pasta Pomodoro was accompanied by even more wine. This made for a mild hangover this morning as I got up to run a 12K run on Angel Island. The Hark the Herald Angels Run is a grueling course. They run a 12K for the 12 days of christmas and a 25K for the 25th of December, cute huh? Not so, if you thought the Hayes Street Hill was hard, how about a 12K that is more or lest uphill for the first 8K. Yes, it was 50 some minutes into the race before I was confident I wouldn't be seeing the upside of another hill. It was a beautiful run and I'll post pics as soon as I get them back (I bought a camera with film, because I forgot my digital at home.
The run was mostly trails, and pretty narrow trails at that. For much of the race, there wasn't room to pass anyone without a game of leapfrog. It was muddy, a la Jason Witt. Yes, I did indeed just use a la twice in the same posting. Oops, that was three times. I thought at mile 2 that I wasn't going to make it. My shins started getting tight, which I'm convinced now is shin splints, but I kept on going. After another mile the shins felt fine and I joined in with a woman who was drafting behind me. We each cursed the hills as we approached them, and cheered the downhill when we got there.
All in all, a great run.

The Run:
Distance: 7.45 miles
Time: 1:09:38
Pace: 9:20
Overall Impression: Take That Jason Whitt! (TTJW) -- Not as clever as FLAB-A-SLAB, but I'm working on it.


Also, an official calling out! Dayton, if you are going to be in Germany in October next year, then we should be running the Köln marathon together. It would also be a perfect time to be qualifying for Boston!!!!! Think about it!

3 comments:

Dr. Pavement Pounder said...

I think your post should be retitled: "Hark the Hater Angels Run!" Having hiked around (literally) Angel Island, I should have warned you about the hills. I bet you have buns-o-steel (even more so than before, of course).

I am considering a half-marathon in January. Think it is doable? I am not looking for a specific time, just to finish. Is it too late to do a little crash training?

Sixpack Chopra said...

I think a half marathon is doable. Check out Runner's World for training programs. There are 3 articles here: http://runnersworld.com/subtopic/0,7123,s6-238-244-258-0,00.html. If you ran 7 1/2 the other day, you should be OK to at least finish the 1/2 in January. Keep us posted!!!!

BTW, those hills were hard, but felt great. That is, until today. I have sore thighs and it's day 2 after the race, I really worked em.

dr. deetschei said...

That sounds like a smokin' result! Way to go man! I'll think about October. I need to convince myself to get out of bed and into the cold!