Rodeo Run 2007, 4Wheelin, Human Salt Blocks and Overall Fun Day!

Jesus it was HUUUUUUUUUUMID out there today, now I like it warm, but I dont like it humid as hell...but I still managed a PR thanks to Marianne, SteveB and HSteve! More on that later!

About 7:30 my phone rang and it was Marianne! She had indeed made it to register so she was running! Swung by and picked her up and we were on our way...just sprinkling rain so it looked good...We were hurrying to make it there in time to catch SteveB for his costume contest!!! As we neared Texas Ave...we were stuck in freaking traffic, and thankfully HSteve called again and told me what to do to get past it all. Little did I know that it would have us 4-wheelin over the curb, grass and a wheelchair ramp to slide into the back parking lot while everyone else was just gridlock!

Hopped the shuttle and ended up having to run before the run to make it time but we did!!! And SteveB won FIRST PLACE!!! He looked great!! Since he became an instant celebrity and was being interviewed by all the news stations, Marianne and I set off to to portapotty lines...and then finally meeting back up with SteveB; somewhere along the way we lost HSteve, but he was waiting for us near the start as we finally got close. Took forever to cross the start!

It had started raining but not too terribly bad and then it stopped. It didnt rain the whole race until we were actually leaving. I mean a sprinkle here and there but nothing to complain about.

I think we started out too fast, not sure what the first mile was because well, in the laughing so hard about the 4wheelin incident I left my Garmin in the car!

They paced me well, but I was having a bit of situation with my knee and after the first up over the Elysian my hams were crying...I didnt eat well yesterday or the day before, I hadnt slept much either...but I kept on and they kept me going when I didnt want to. You see I hadnt run this distance without intervals before. EEK!! If I had to guess I think I might have walked 4 minutes of the entire thing. Mostly during water stops. I cant be sure though. HSteve kept me at 30sec walks here and there until he left us at the start of mile 5. The headwinds the last couple of miles were brutal too especially having to come back over the Eliysian. I swear there were just too many factors today...but I still did it (PR'd) , and I am happy about that!!

I think I am more proud of that fact (the no intervals) than I am about the PR. Hard to say.


SteveB was the highlight of the run though because he had so many people cheering him on as we would pass crowds of people. And thats another thing, there were alot of people out today, throughout the course! That part was great. I am sorry but I just dont know how he ran 6.2 miles in that thing!! And still had so much fun, mostly egging me on with annoying whoops and hollers and "june's gonna PR! june's gonna PR" ... Way too funny but there were times I f'ing wanted to smack him. ;o) ;o)

I don't have an official time, but unofficially (according to Marianne's watch) I did it in 1:08:54; thats a 4 minute PR from the same race last year, and 3 minutes from the Turkey Trot. I can live with that. I picked it up at the last .2 but there were so many people in my way that it was hard to manuever that last .1 as I was trying to stay on the inside. Eh, whatever.

I didnt see many Striders, but I did see Pony at the finish and ended up running into Jessica too!! Saw John "pizza man" Yoder too as he was kicking some serious ass on the way back in. And I think we talked Jessica into joining Marianne and I at the cookoff later! Yay for girls going out!!!

Highlight for me was seeing Drew (without a shirt) in the number 2 spot bringing in it (behind Sean)...That Drew is one fine, fine male speciman. :o) There were others, but well, we'll leave it at Drew.

And you know when you REALLY just want a beer, an O'Douls will do in a pinch. At least it tasted like beer ;o) Went really well with all the salt caked all over my body by the time it was said and done. Too bad they didnt have tequila....Oh wait thats for later....Watch out cookoff here we cooooooooooooooome! The rain has stopped and the sun is already peeking out... Whoop!

Crossing the (Finish) Line in the Sand....

Its just my most favorite new running skirt...

The Low Down On Surfside

Clute, Texas. La Quinta. Not Spanish for anything other than horrible sheets! I'm an one spoiled puppy when it comes to my sheets dammit! Ugh, we didn't sleep solid for more than an hour + at a time I don't believe...But you know, it was cheap and it was close to the race...

We headed out to scope out where we had to go in the morning so as not to get lost. Good thing. I still ended up calling both Erica and SteveB for information and finally we knew what we had to do the following morning. I don't think Surfside has enough money for street lights. Its really dark there, hard to get your bearings, but we were close enough to know what was what.

We drove 'around' Clute looking for food. We ended up at a taqueria and DAYUM GINA if the food wasn't freaking awesome. We did wonder 'hmmm, should we be eating this the night before? Eh. Sure we should!!



After getting back to the no-tell mo-tel, I needed chocolate. I walked out to the truck knowing I had a stash in my book bag. As I was in the truck I heard a wail!! JUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNEEEE!!! As I rushed back in, there was Suzy, crap sprawled all over the room, with the exception of............are you ready? Shoes. Yes. Shoes.....Panic set in. We are in the middle of NOWHERE I tell you...thankfully I am one smart cookie, picked up my cell phone and called information begging for any sports related place in the vicinity of 1/2 hour or so..it was getting late. The nice dude told me there was an Academy in Lake Jackson!! Whoohoo! Lake Jackson? Thats like 5 miles from here!! So me in my pjs freezing my ass off, and Suzy take off for Lake Jackson. Shoe crisis averted...

We made it to the pavilion way too early but at least it was warm in there, they had food, but we both had had our pre-race nana's and I had a mini Clif bar as well, so we just sat around, talked to her Bay Area Fit folks and I ran into quite a few Striders that I actually knew!! Yay for Striders!!! We ended up missing the photo op at the beginning; you had to walk about 1/4 mile to the start, but whatever. And then we were off!



The first 2.5 miles were fine. Wind at our back and our first mile was 10:42 which I was shooting for 11:30's till mile 9 or 10 then I wanted to pick it up. Suzy and I ran together through mile 10 I guess, maybe just past that before I said my goodbye and went on my way. At that point I thought I had a chance at breaking 2:30 but it would not be. At the 2.5 we turned to run the opposite direction, and thats when the wind was bad. Coming at you, against you one way, and then it would switch. This went on until the 9 mile turnaround to head back. Lord oh Lord I was so happy to turn back at 9!!!


It was weird because then it felt LIKE NO WIND..where's the wind? Why isn't it PUSHING me now? Stupid wind. :o) I made up some of the time I lost on that long stretch and I was pulling in 10:50 and 11:00..but then as I said at the start of mile 13 I knew that the sub 2:30 would not be.

But you know that run, as afraid of it as I was, I felt damn good the whole freaking way and pulled out some miles that I was proud of today. At the end, I waited for Suzy to bring it on home, we took some photos and headed inside for the bbq...no beer. Seriously? Beer. People. Beer. :o)

All in all a GREAT run today for me. I am very pleased with my time and effort, and really thought I was going to come in like 15 minutes behind my PR due to the conditions. I will tell you this much...It obviously took alot more out of me than I thought. My body hurts like a muther.... Oh and can you guess who got herself a new camera?? Expect more photos from here on out! I know how some of you looooooove your pictures!

Total Distance: 13.24 Time: 2:32:11

Surf and Turf

I'm home.

Wasn't as hard as I thought, but 7 mile-ish (the longest stretch) of it was into the wind which made for some tougher times.

I didn't PR but I didn't really expect to given the sand and the wind. Garmin said 2:32:11 and 13.24 miles. I believe Suzy's Garmin was close to that as well as far as the extra distance.

Clock said 2:33 and some change. No chip timing. Wasn't happy about that but whatever. I must have missed that on the sign up, not that it would have made a difference if I chose to run or not.

I'm taking a nap then Marianne and I are out for beers. Full report later.

Flash Your BIBS!!!

Seems someone at the marathon does have a weird sense of humor. Here, check this out...

After getting my medal, hugging Erica, catching my breath, getting my Finishers shirt and stein (what? not a martini glass?) :o), we were standing around looking for others from our group.

I hear this woman say "Is your name REALLY June?" I turned to see who it was, and I laughed and said "Yes."

You see that morning I had Erica take a sharpie and block letter my name down both of my upper arms to help with the spectators yelling the right name and not JULY as someone had oh so casually printed on my bib....it helped some. And then it just confused others on the course who would yell "July" and then "oh its June..."

Anyway, after I said yes to the woman, and she slowly pulled back her medal that was covering her bib and lo and behold her bib said JULY too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my goodness, I was floored! I said to her "is your name supposed to be June?" and of course she replied "yes" and then I pulled my medal away and we both busted out laughing. April got a picture of us together with our JULY bibs and all, but I dont have it yet.

And yes while to some it may be funny, when it comes right down to it, now its plainly obvious that someone doing those bibs did this ON PURPOSE. I could have possibly believed (although I never did) that a mistake was made once, but twice?

I think not.

I fully intend to send that email that I told that race volunteer about that first day, because I think I should get free entry next year....or something. An apology maybe? I dont know maybe I am making too big a deal out of this, but dammit it was my first marathon and I wanted at least my name to be right on my bib! They got it right everywhere else.

Anyway, June Harris kicked my ass and shes 50. So there ya go. See ya next year June Harris!!!

Recovery Update: Tuesday of course was much better than Monday. Today (Wed) when I got out of bed there was not an ache or pain to be found. Nothing. Woohoo!!

So I went for a light and easy 3 miler on the treadmill. My legs felt like lead at first, so I just walked for about 4 minutes before I started running. From there I took it super easy as I said. Feels good!

I Believe in Angels (The Final Steps to 26.2)

mraAfter eating the piece of best orange ever, seeing the man with the balloons and being in front of the Doubletree and seeing said man turn the corner ahead of me, the emotions as I previously mentioned were starting to swell.

My senses seemed to be heightened as I began to feel hot air and then cooler air and then hot air again. What the hell? The winds in downtown were confused. The cool front and the not cool front were fighting each other.

And my heart was fighting with my legs. Go. Stop. Go. Stop. Go.

As I turned on Louisiana I remember seeing the first angel. And she was yelling my name. Loudly. It was Sarah. And next to her was her boyfriend, Jose. Yes angels have boyfriends.

I ran straight towards her and she stepped off the curb to run out to meet me. I distinctly remember how good she felt as I hugged her as tightly as I could. I dont remember letting go. I think I didnt want to so I just held onto that in my head. And then I kept running.

Up ahead of me I could see the other runners turning and it seemed so close. So very close. And it was. I turned.

And there it was. The light blue of the Finish line paraphenalia. To me it said COME ON IN JUNE. You are almost there.

I was alone. But then out of nowhere a man stepped in line with me and simply said to me "Hows it going June?" (I had my name on both arms), I dont remember now what I said, but I do remember him asking me "is this your first marathon?" and I replied "yes." I told him I wanted to walk and he said "nice and slow, easy pace. Speeding up now is pointless. Just keep going, you're doing great." I thought oh my God hes SO smart. He kept talking to me and I kept trudging along ignoring the beep that told me it was ok to walk right now.

Then there was angels 3 and 4 to my left, screaming...Pony and Pizza Man. I remember Pony jumping up and down and yelling Junebug, and I remember John's smile. Said angel #2 (the man) was still nearby. After I passed Pony and John, I told the man "I cant do it." "I cant get there."

It was so close now. I went to say something to him, and he was no longer there. I didnt have the energy to turn my head and he wasnt in front of me either. I kept going.

From there I only remember reaching up and wiping tears from my eyes, again and again. I wonder if my pics will show me doing that at all. I usually try and make sure for a good pic at the end, but I dont even remember holding my head up at all.

The clock said 5:36 (and of course I still had the wits about me to subtract 3 or 4 min from that)...A runner always is aware of time. Always.

and then it was all over.

A man was at my side asking me if I was ok. Yes. Yes. Yes. He must not have believed me cause he asked if I needed to sit down, and I said "No." And he led me to the door of the GRB.

I then heard Erica. I dont know what she said, but I was trying so hard not to cry and someone was putting a medal around my neck. I went to Erica and April. I was having a hard time breathing.

I think the first words out of my mouth were: "Did Steve BQ?".....Thats the other thing about runners, at least the ones I know.

We are always thinking of others in our most painful times.

I never saw that man again and I wonder if he was real....

I know one thing that is real: I am a marathoner.

And she ran happily ever after.

Whose Idea Was This Anyway? (Miles 20-25)

I figured it anything was going to go south, it was going to happen here (even though I was running East). Here in this zone that I had never been before.

Well I sorta was there. Once. But only to mile 21. After that I didnt know.

I knew ABOUT where mile 21.5 was but where I thought it was, it wasnt.

I was in a bit of pain. I was in a bad mental place. I kept trying to think. Think. Think. It was here that I started thinking of people. People I love. And those that I dont love too. Hey you pull inspiration where you can find it.

Sorta like throwing darts at a picture of a boyfriend who is no more. Yeah him. Oh and him too. And lets not forget the her's. There were a few of them.

I wondered "where are the Striders?" "How much farther can it be?" I dont remember alot of hoopla on this stretch before reaching Shepherd. I too remember the Clif Shot place and thought, big whoop. :o)

And then FINALLY I can see the water station, and I thought, oh thank God for the Striders. I had made it to 21.5.

Here is where I dont remember much at all. I remember passing Starbucks and seeing my car. I bet you know what I was thinking. Yeah, that. But I didnt have my keys. Good thing too.

After that I dont remember running till I got to Allen Parkway, and even now I wonder where that time went? Had I seen any people? Were there any bands? What? Where? When? How?

Had I just ran through "the wall?"

Had I been beamed up to Allen Parkway somehow? Then I realize that no, no I hadnt because if I had I wouldnt be hurting so much. I had definitely gotten there with my own two feet, and my own two very tired legs.

I was walking here. I asked a woman what time it was and she told me 11:50 I think it was, and I looked at the inside of my left forearm and next to 24 it said 5:11. That meant I had time. I had time to walk. And walk I did. Yeah I knew if I kept running I would have a shot at 5:20, but right then and there, 10 minutes just didnt seem all that damn important to me. What if I didnt walk and then something went wrong in mile 24 or 25?

As I walked down the first of the underpasses, I thought "you are gonna run up these two damn hills". I took deep breaths and then I ran up the first hill.

And I ran up the second one too. I then saw a water station somewhere in there. What I knew was to be the last water station. It was here that there was Christy. Jumping up and down and yelling my name. Oh my goodness I love you to death Christy. Seriously. She walked with me for a bit and asked me what I needed. I believe my response was M&M's. There were no M&M's. I really wanted M&M's.

The only other real thing I remember was the smell of beer. There was a lot of people trying to give you beer. I passed without flinching. And then there all by herself a woman with oranges. I took a piece of orange and I swear it was the best orange in my whole life.

It was time for me to close the door on this thing. I had 2 freaking miles to go by God and unless I was gonna drop dead there on Allen Parkway I was going to get there on time.

And I started running again....As I ran under I-45, the non-existent 5:30 pacer passed me, carrying his red, white and blue balloons. Oh THERE you are you sneaky little fart. I then realized I had stayed WELL ahead of that group even with my walking that 23rd mile.

I did good huh?

And as I entered downtown, following the man with the pretty balloons, I allowed myself to cry just a little bit...

to be continued...