"This one's for Stephano," I proclaimed as I crossed the starting line. I was running the 10 mile Monster Dash in Minneapolis and I dedicated the race to the Black Knight, who will be undergoing another surgery on October 31st. He is an avid runner and the recovery will have him sidelined for a while. But hopefully he'll be running faster than ever when this ordeal is done.
I was visiting the City of Lakes for the weekend. A friend was having a 60th birthday party and since SD had to be in town for work, I tagged along. I had always wanted to run the Monster Dash, because they have a cool t-shirt--a running skeleton! Yes, I will run for a shirt. :-) I was disappointed with the color, though; I was expecting a black technical shirt, but this year's was grey. The Monster Dash started a few years ago as a 5K, then they added a half-marathon. This year was the first 10 mile distance, so I got to run an inaugural race!
Some members from my old running club group ran the half: AmyBee, Mary, and Marcia. Coach Gary was a course marshal. I had contacted Marcia a week ago to let her know I'd be in town and that maybe we could all go for a run together. That's when she told me about the race. Since I have a half marathon coming up in two weeks, I didn't want to run that distance. The 5K wasn't far enough, so the 10 miler was just right. Of course, when I realized that I wouldn't be getting in to town until midnight Friday and I'd have to get up at 6:30 the next morning to race, I had my doubts.
The sky that morning was overcast and the temperature was chilly. The Central Coast was having unseasonably warm weather, so I went from running in tanks and shorts to tights and long-sleeves. Smartwool socks, jacket, gloves, and ear warmers completed the ensemble. I kept all my cold-weather gear, and I'm glad I did! I picked up my race packet and as SD was taking my picture, Marcia and the others came up. So we took a group shot, and as we did, a guy dressed as the Grim Reaper walked by. He was wearing a mask and everything, but Amy yelled out, "Hi Steve." It was triathlete Steve-In-A-Speedo, and it was pretty funny that Amy immediately knew who he was.
The race started at 9 and the starting line was at the Rose Garden, near Lake Harriet. That was a different starting line than the half, and a lot of people got confused. I jogged over to the start and did a couple of strides to warm up. There didn't seem to be more than a handful of people as the race started. The first thing I noticed was there was no chip mat, which worried me since it was supposed to be chip timed. I had my Garmin, so I wasn't too worried, but I did want this to be "official."
My strategy was to run 11:30 minutes per mile for the first half, then kick it up to 11 for the final five. Well, I never seem to manage to stick to my plan. As we went out, I realized this was a fast field and if I slowed down to 11:30 I'd be running by myself. I forced myself to slow down, but ran faster than I planned. I felt OK, though. The other thing I did differently was I didn't take any walking breaks, although I did walk through the two water stops.
We ran along Lake Harriet, and then down Minneahaha Parkway. There were stll fall colors and I was really happy to be running there. I have a lot of memories of running the lakes and the parkway--it's part of the Twin Cities marathon course. As I ran east, I saw a familiar person--Coach Gary! I haven't seen him in almost a year and he wasn't sure it was me, either. I high-fived him and kept on running.
A few people were in costume and one runner was wearing a red suit. I had to ask her who she was--she was also carrying a baby and a (toy) gun. Her answer: Sarah Palin! She ran the Twin Cities 10 miler a few weeks ago and hadn't run since. I saw her a few times on the course and would give her encouragement. When I saw her cross the finish line, I asked if I could take her picture.
Anyway, I was feeling strong on this run. I hooked up with a guy named Kevin for a while; he was a veteran of many marathons but can't run that far any more. We chatted as we ran, and he was a good rabbit, then I peeled off to use the portapotty. That was around mile 6 and I decided to pick up the pace. I passed a lot of people that had passed me and then I finally caught up and passed Kevin. He gave me some encouragement as I went by. There were a couple of small hills at that point, but I thought about the hills I've climbed on my training runs and took them in stride.
At around mile 8, I said, "OK, Stephano, let's go!" and pushed myself. I was breathing so hard, I sounded like a charging rhino, and people would give me encouragement as I ran past. My heart rate peaked to 177, so you know I was hurting, but I thought about Stephano's courage and kept on. Then in the last mile, the back of the 5K pack was on the course. They were walking their dogs and strollers but I wasn't about to sacrifice my PR. "On your left," I shouted, trying not to be obnoxious about it. People got out of my way and I thanked them. The Black Knight's spirit was with me and I crossed the finish line in 1:50--an 11:01 minute per mile pace!
When I looked up the results, I saw that there were only 3 of us females in the 55-59 age group. I was number 2--I placed in my age group! Did I win anything? Uh, no. The awards category was age 50-99. :-(
No matter. I hooked up with Coach Gary and we waited for the half-marathoner's to come in. Amy came by first, and I tried, unsuccessfully, to run ahead to take her picture. I did better when I saw Marcia coming in.
Here's a picture of the proud finisher's and running club friends Cheryl and Gary.
Afterwards, we carbo-loaded at AmyBee's house. Her hubby kindly made pancakes for all of us and Coach Gary brought real maple syrup. Now that's what I call "Minnesota Nice". :-)
A funny thing happened at the airport. I was in L.A., waiting in the lounge during my 3 hour layover to SLO, when a guy wearing running shoes and a Boston Athletics jacket walked in. Uh, oh, you know what that means. I had the decency to let him put his luggage down and get a bite to eat before I pounced on him. He ran Boston in 2007 and we talked running and marathons. I recommended Twin Cities to him, saying it was a pretty course and told him what a great city Chicago is. It turns out he went to high school in the same town I did, although he attended a private school. He mentioned that he'll be running the California Int'l Marathon and I asked his name, saying I'll look him up in the results. He looked surprised, but he told me and I introduced myself. We talked about Runner's World magazine and just before he left to sit down, mentioned he was in the "Green Issue." Hmmm. I looked it up this morning and it turns out I was talking to California State Assemblyman, Lloyd Levine! I imagine he thought I was talking to him because I knew who he was. You can read about him on page 76 in the November issue. It's a good thing I wasn't able to work up the nerve to ask if I could take his picture for my blog; he probably would have thought I was harassing him. :-)
Greetings from Tokyo. I’ve been having a wonderful time. SD was here on business, so I joined him at the end of his week and we are spending a week vacationing here. SD has been to Japan many times over the years and has made a lot of friends. Since he’ll be retiring at the end of the year, this will be his last reason to travel to Japan for business purposes. So this is a bittersweet trip for him.
This is the second time I’ve been to Japan—I spent two weeks here 5 years ago and it was one of my favorite vacations. SD was here on business then, too, and we were treated like royalty! On this trip, we are only staying in Tokyo, but we took a side trip to the Hokone National Park, We were there for two nights, and stayed at a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn. I’ll tell you more about that later; I’ll start with the beginning of my trip.
I arrived on Friday night, and went straight to dinner with SDs business associates. I was kind of proud of myself, as I got to the hotel from the airport without any mishap. I don’t do well in strange situations. In reality, it was very easy and SD gave me very good instructions. We stayed at a very nice hotel, and I slept comfortably for about 5 hours. I woke up about 3 a.m. and stayed awake. That’s been the pattern ever since, but I’m able to stay awake longer during the day.
Imperial Running
“You never let rain keep you from running before,” SD pointed out when I whined about getting out of bed for this, referring to the threatening sky. I hate it when he does that. So I bucked up and laced up my running shoes. The weather in Tokyo had been extremely warm and humid, so I packed accordingly—running skirts and tank tops. Unfortunately for me, the weather changed and it was drizzling when I headed out. I had on a windbreaker and figured that would have to do. We are staying in the Ginza district, and I headed to the Imperial Palace, where there is a 5K path.
There were a few other runners out, and I wasn’t the only gai jin; nor was I the only woman. I was however, the only woman gai jin. So I felt self-conscious. But the running felt great! The path around the Imperial Palace runs alongside a moat; I’m sure that is the first time I ran along a moat before! The grounds were beautiful and I was able to pick up the pace on some of the long, straight stretches. There was supposed to be a path inside the grounds as well, but I didn’t see it. Besides, the light drizzle at the start of my run turned into rain. I wished I had packed my running cap to keep the water off my face.
After the Imperial Palace run, I crossed the street to Hibiya Park, a beautiful park in the style of European parks. It may have been the first one in that style. I ran around there until I reached 5 miles, then headed to the Segafreddo where I met SD for our morning latte and croissant.
Culture Shock
Tokyo is quite modern and cosmopolitan, especially in the Ginza. The rain never let up all day, and since it was Monday, the museums were closed. So we went to the movies, something we never do in a foreign country. Our concierge was very helpful and found a English-speaking movie for us to attend. Movies here are expensive--$17 per ticket! And the seats are reserved, like in a theatre. We saw Ironman, which we missed at home. It was a good movie, in case you haven’t seen it. It had Japanese sub-titles, so there were a lot of Japanese people there. No one made a sound through the entire movie—the Japanese raise politeness to an art form!
Seaweed. It's Not Just for Breakfast Anymore
On Tuesday, we took the train to Hakone, the mountain range west of Tokyo. We stayed at a Ryokan there, a traditional Japanese inn. We sat on the tatami to eat our meals and slept on the tatami at night. It wasn't the nicest ryokan, but the food was excellent. We were there for two nights and were served traditional Japanese dishes for breakfast and dinner. Lots of fish and pickled vegetables. In truth, I didn't know much about what I was eating, but it was all good. The only thing I disliked was some smelly condiment they seem to be quite fond of.
One of my favorite things about Japan is the baths. They are communal, but segregated by sex. You sit at a shower area and wash from head to toe, then climb into the hot tubs. It's kind of like a small swimming pool, but filled with mineral water from the nearby hot springs. There are several different pools, with hot, hot water that comes up to your chin. It feels so wonderful! They also had an outdoors pool, which was within a garden. I like the outdoor ones the most because of this.
When you have all the heat you can stand, you climb into a cold tub. I think the Japanese must have created the ice bath. :-) The first time I climbed in, I could only go as far as my knees, but after climbing back into the hot tub, I was able to immerse myself in the cold water on the second try. It's a strange sensation to sit in such cold water. You get a little lightheaded and it feels like you're breathing in menthol. I made myself get out before I fainted or something.
On Wednesday, we did the tourist thing in the Hakone area, which was fun but the rain followed us there. At one point, we were on a ropeway, kind of like the sky ride at Disneyland, and hovering up into the mountains. It was a little unnerving, but the clouds obscured the emptiness below. The sun was shining the next morning, so we went back up and were rewarded with a birds-eye view of Mt. Fuji! It was great.
Sushi for Breakfast
Back to Tokyo on Thursday and we stayed at a fabulous hotel called the Conrad. It is not the kind of place we usually stay (too expensive), but SD cashed in his Hilton points so we didn't have to cough up any money. I figured that was my reward for all the years of shoveling snow while he was off on his business trips. This hotel had a beautiful spa and workout room on the 28th floor and an infinity swimming pool with walls of glass. It was just the thing to loosen up after a day of traveling.
On Friday I wanted to go out for a ten mile run. The web site that I found mentioned a river that was a good place for a long run, because it had bike paths. Unfortunately, that was too far away, so I went back to the Imperial Palace. I ran through Hibiya Park and then once around the palace. There were a lot of runners there this time. Then I reversed direction for another loop around the palace, only I found another park and ran through there for a bit before finishing the loop. I managed to go 8 miles and I had it. I like a change of scenery when I run, and this wasn't any fun. Plus, I had no one to talk to, so I went back to Segafreddo for a latte.
Back at the hotel, I got ready for lunch. We had reservations at a beautiful Japanese restaurant where SD had dinner last week. We sat on tatami and were served course after course of delicious food by a kimono-clad waitress. Don't ask me what I had, but it was all good. We had a private room which looked out to the gardens. Lunch lasted three hours! We skipped dinner and just wandered around the Ginza that night.
This morning, Saturday, we went to the Tsujiki fish market, where the majority of fish comes in for the country. Wandering around there is like walking through an old Humphrey Bogart movie. It's old and foreign and just wonderful! In addition to the fishmongers, there are peddlers selling other things. SD wanted to buy a knife, so we found a good place for one.
My plane is boarding now, so I have to run! I'll post pictures when I get home. Sayonara, Tokyo. Arrigato gazaimas!
