Wow. What a weekend. After following each other's blogs, corresponding via e-mail, attending the same races and living in the same town for two years, I finally met Troy, who affectionately referred to me as his "run dealer" as I pointed him in the right directions for trails and hooked him up with other trail runners in town :)
I'm operating on just a few hours sleep and leftover caffeine; my laptop has decided it's touchpad will not work, so I'm on a friend's computer, simultaneously researching what the hell is wrong with my 'puter while writing this post. I won't have photos up on flickr until I can figure out how to upload them with no mouse....
The highlights:
- The golden yellow moon hanging low over the horizon....
- Getting lost in fields of suburbia trying to find my mom's new home, where I was to bunk on Friday night. Seriously, the farmers in the southeast Valley decided to plant houses one day instead of cotton. At least I stumbled upon a coffeeshop that sprouted in a field on my way to JJ100 Saturday morning where I picked up a peppermint mocha....
- Reading Breaking Dawn while runners are in and out of heaquarters, animated conversation rolls all around me and the breeze caresses my face....
- Hanging with David, a runner from Casa Grande who was to pace Troy for his sixth lap, and Troy's mom....
- Flying down a ridge in the dark towards an aid station, 10 miles into the my pacing loop, feeling happy and alive and absolutely no twinges in my knee....
- Laughing and joking and talking and eating and running with a great companion (even if he did have "ultra brain" :) )....
- Running an amazing 15-mile loop from 7 p.m. to 11:05 p.m., bringing a happy, well-fueled Troy into headquarters 25 minutes ahead of schedule....
- Meeting Tony, Eric, Bob, Rick and Julie (a hero of mine), a mom and daughter attempting to crew their 18-year-old son/brother to a junior world record (didn't quite make it), among other awesome crew and runners....
- Reconnecting with Steve, Lisa, Kirk (the gentleman I paced last year at JJ100), Lindsay (a woman I ran with for a few miles at Zane Grey; she was crewing her hubby this weekend), Chuck, Bob/MaryAlice/Molly, and more...
- Laughing at the runners with great costumes: a man as Wonder Woman, Steve as a course marker and a zombie, among others....
- Worrying at 6 a.m. on Sunday morning when I realize all of Troy's stuff is at headquarters and he's no where to be found....
- Finding him a little while later, and then sitting on the ground to dissect what happened the night before: heading out too fast for his fifth loop, sports blocks going undigested, blacking out, collapsing at an aid station, staggering down the trail. Oof....
- Talking about strategy for the upcoming year on how to make the move from 50-milers to 100-milers. At least he made a great step forward here, completing 76 miles....
- Driving back home singing along with Sia and drinking yet another peppermint mocha. Mmm....
Sounds like a lot of fun!
It was great seeing you there. Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend. Sorry your runner didn't finish, but, I'm sure he learned a lot from the experience.
Dude you so rock!
I got as far as I did because of you!
Awesome weekend, Ang!!!
Great to see you ! Hope to RUN into you again soon.
Hey Angie,
It was great to finally meet you. I knew it was only a matter of time since I always see you commenting on some of the usual blogs that I visit, that and we have some mutual friends. Is she really moving to Texas:) Anyway, I would never have thought that I would like the course as much as I did. I knew it would be fun with all the people I knew attending but I was so blown away by the beauty of the park. I really enjoyed myself and a little sad now that it's all done and over with. The good times always seem to go by too fast.
DO NOT visit my blog for the obligatory, polite return comment:) You are free of that obligation. However there are videos up there now that are quite fun.
Rick
Great highlights! Glad to know another adult reading the Twilight series. I bought it for my sons (they couldn't get into it), read the whole thing, one book after the other, and cannot wait for the movie!