No zombies but lots of water and soggy dogs

In an effort to get a bit more fit, back in 2009 I was convinced to join San Jose Fit's summer training program. Every Saturday we would meet at Los Gatos High School and head out on the Los Gatos Creek Trail. It was great and it certainly got me in shape (well, better shape at least), but I ended up a bit tired of that trail.

It's a lovely trail following a fun creek - kind of amazing considering how urban the area actually is. Since a lot of it parallels the freeway, you do get a bit of traffic noise in places, but for large chunks, it is pleasant. Maybe too pleasant, since it is very popular and tends to get crowded, especially with over-caffeinated bike riders that love to take advantage of the smooth pavement and fun curves.

So I wasn't all that eager to do today's Coastal Zombie Runner Vasona Lake Half Marathon. But then Weird Haired Mom signed up, and then The Boy was able to do it, so we all headed down to Vasona Lake for the morning.

By the time we got there, there were quite a few people already hanging around.

We found a few others that we frequently run with and managed this before-the-race group photo. Note that everyone is smiling - it actually stayed this way for the whole morning (well, except for when climbing That Hill).

Enirehtak the Canadian (not her real name or nationality, but it's fun to wind her up) and The Boy are demonstrating the kind of trail that made up a bit more than half of the course today - nicely paved (although you could often find dirt shoulders to run on) with rolling hills and nice lake or creek views.

The Half Marathon ended up having five aid stations - the longest distance you could go without hitting one was 2.4 miles! Each had great volunteers and lots of good things to eat and drink.

There were lots of pretty views like this.

One of the other things that convinced me to do this race was a chance to visit my favorite bench in the world (although to be honest, I haven't actually seen every bench in the world, yet) - the bench put in to honor Tom Kaisersatt, who started the San Jose Fit group. On the back of it, where absolutely nobody ever sees it, is his Western States 100 Endurance Run belt buckle. I love looking at this thing and remembering how cool and encouraging he was to us slow people, and how much he loved trail races.

Another cool thing is this massive mural underneath an overpass, not long after you leave the pavement and hit the real trails. Ultra Woof is demonstrating its interactive nature. (In the three years I've been going by this thing, I've always wondered about the steps that appear to lead to the hut, but actually take you to a cement wall. Leave it to UW to work out how to use these things.)

There was a too short stretch of great single-track trail that we got to go up and down. Here, Eirolav (not her real name either, and I'm not going to try to make fun of her nationality, but she is moving to So Cal, so there ought to be something in there to make fun of) slowed down just a tad so that I could get this picture of her.

The course was two out-and-backs. I knew I would see The Boy at some point and be able to judge how far ahead of me he was and whether I could catch him. When I saw him here, with WAY too much energy and WAY earlier than I thought I would see him, I knew that catching him was WAY out of the question.

WHM and UW however were comfortably behind me, so I knew I wouldn't be the dead last finisher. (Close, but not quite.) Here they are pretending to be running up That Hill - as soon as they heard the shutter they stopped and spent five minutes gasping for air. (Of course I'm kidding! It was more like ten minutes.)

There were a LOT of soggy dogs along the trail. I stopped and watched this amazing dog jump in the water, snatch this ball, then swim to this set of stairs and climb back up, only to start barking, demanding to do it all over again.

Eventually I managed to get close to the finish line and was met by The Boy (who had finished in 2:18 or so, and took second place in his age group!). He took this moving picture.

Here I am triumphantly crossing the finish line in a little over 3:06 - not a great time, but considering that I walked almost all of the paved bits, well, still not a great time.

Once I finished, we headed back out to find WHM and UW. Once they showed up, I pointed the camera at them and they ran nearly all the way to the finish line, ending up with a sub-four hour time.

And that's about it. It was a wonderful time and perfect weather (although it was starting to get pretty warm by the time we left). It was great to see so many friends out there. 

But here's the cool thing - WHM was only signed up to do the 5 mile race. When UW started making noises that she was going to stop after 5 miles too, WHM decided to go ahead and "pace" her and make her do the Half. The thing is, WHM did her first Half just last weekend, and she did not come to this race  expecting to do another one.

But she did it, and better yet, had fun doing it (even with That Hill). And she is now qualified to join Half Fanatics, which is a goal she didn't expect to attain until sometime in October. Amazing.

A HUGE thanks to Coastal and all the great volunteers for putting on a great event and hanging around for us slower people. Everyone had a blast.

And we didn't have to get soggy to do it. 

That's it - move along....

PS: You can see some more pictures I took here.

All about the grandkids

This is my first "R" word free post in a while, and it's been totally overrun with the grandkids.

Guess who's a second grader this year? That doesn't seem possible.

And guess who's a kindergartner this year? (And guess which school had an involuntary shudder when they found out?)

Here's a cool thing - they are both going to the same school that their mother, Weird Haired Mom, and their uncle, The Boy, went to. That's amazing. (Even more amazing, I think they all had Teacher Anin - not her real name - for at least one year.)

I love this picture - the kids were given these boards and told to have fun. The girl created something that an accountant or lawyer would appreciate. Riley created something like a dinosaur with its jaws open, ready to eat someone.

This is such a great picture. And the calm before the storm.

Meanwhile, Darci is presented with a large piece of paper titled "What I Want To Learn In Second Grade." It is NOT true that the first thing she wrote was "How to get extra desserts." (It was at least third down the list.)

Riley has been doing real good at keeping out of the hospital, but Sunday night was a reasonably close brush with it. The kids were at a party when he started coughing and having some breathing issues. Since our house was between the party and home, they stopped here to get a breathing treatment.

You can see how much Riley is suffering, playing with a slingshot. In the living room.

In the meantime, Darci showed me her face paint.

After the treatment was over, we headed out to the garden. There were cucumbers, crookneck squash, and a couple of tomatoes that needed to be picked. (There were also a LOT of weeds that needed to be pulled, but we saved that for another day. Like maybe next year.)

Darci did manage to pull up a nice little carrot though.

When I mowed the lawn, Riley told me to leave two patches tall, I've got no idea why He then spent some time hacking at the grass with a deadly garden implement.

In the meantime, Darci planted some nasturtiums since you can NEVER have too many nasturtiums.

Darci was just promoted to "Yellow Stripe" in this Martial Arts class she's been taking, and she is really excited. She can't wait to break her first boards. Fortunately, that didn't mean I couldn't get an embarrassing picture of her.

Even more fortunately, she thought that was funny and didn't decide to Kung Fu my butt. (Note the stylish feather on her head - Mrs Notthat, when she wasn't busy kicking rattlesnakes off the trail at a recent, ummm, ironing event, found this wonderful feather that Darci loves.)

And I will close with a picture of Riley, showing off his latest medal for, well, a kid's ironing event.

And that's it - lots of grandkid pictures and the "R" word didn't appear once!

It was a near thing though...

That's it - move along...

The Boy whips me again. And it never gets old.

The Boy and I signed up on Friday for Sunday's PCTR Sequoia 20K trail race. I know that's cutting it close, but I wasn't sure I should do a race since my right heel has been bothering me and I was pretty sure these would be the perfect trails to REALLY aggravate it.

But on Friday afternoon when I asked The Boy if he was interested in a "scenic" (code word for "difficult and treacherous") 20K and he agreed, I had to sign us up. I've done races on these trails twice already this year, here and here. I love these trails for their challenge and beauty. But after today, I could swear someone has added some bonus hills that weren't there before.

I knew the day was going to be a bit abnormal when the vehicle we parked behind turned out to have these two in it - Nimsaj and Latsyrc (not their real names). They also did the 20K race.

And there is Nerak (not her real name either), alertly listening to the pre-race instructions that mostly consisted of "follow the pink ribbons, don't pet the snakes, and don't eat the yellow snow." (The RD did ask if anyone couldn't tell the difference between pink and orange ribbons. As it turns out, there is a good chance that The Boy can't - he's pretty color blind. "I'll be right behind you" he told me. HA! I lost sight of him in the first mile and never saw him again. Once a race starts, he's off like a shot!)

Mud! There were a surprising number of muddy spots, most easy to avoid (if your brain is wired that way, which I suspect very few trail runners are - I saw a LOT of foot prints in the mud, right next to mine).

This was my first race with this new rugged camera that I'm hoping will have a longer life than the other cameras I've carried with me on these races. Unfortunately, I need to learn how to use it, and am really aggravated this picture came out so bad. Last May, Weird Haired Mom had seen this dog leading the pony through the meadow at the start line. And then, here they are, on the same trail that we were running on! So cool - how many people can say they've shared a trail with a dog and his pet pony?

The first aid station. This was about 3 miles into the race, and the next aid station (which is actually a return to this one) won't be for a bit over seven hill- and occasionally sun-infested miles. The RD in his pre-race talk stressed to make sure you filled up your water bottles here. I filled mine to the brim and thought about carrying some extra water in my cupped hands - I'm a tiny bit paranoid about running out of fluids.

A sun-infested stretch of trail. Not as flat as it looks (seriously - you were almost always going up a hill or down a hill).

I made it back to the aid station (adorably named "Moon Gate"), and now have a bit over two miles to go to the finish line. My heel was screaming at this point (wow am I glad I didn't sign up for a longer race), my legs were shot, but other than that I was feeling good.

And then the Cinderella Trail, designed by her ugly step-sisters no doubt, reared its ugly head. This is a bit of downhill trail that has bits that are so treacherous even that dog and his pet pony would never tread on them.

I keep trying to get a picture that does justice to this bit of trail, but they never do. Falling here would not end well.

And then, just like that, there is the finish line. Since I was the last of the group to finish, I got a nice cheer as I approached the finish line (although I'm not so sure "What took you so long?" is the most encouraging cheer I've ever gotten).

Nimsaj and Latsyrc trying hard to convince the RD that it wasn't a huge mistake to let me do the race.

Ahhhh - after-race chili! This stuff tastes great at the end of a cold winter race, and surprisingly, still tastes good at the end of a warm summer race.

After a bit of a wait, the 20K results were updated and The Boy ended up getting second place in his age group, missing first place by a tiny bit over a minute! He did amazing, and finished 15 minutes ahead of me.

These trails are a blast and the weather was fine (although I'm sure it got a bit hot by the time some of the 50K people were heading to the finish line).

"Scenic" indeed!

That's it - move along...

PS: You can see more pictures here.

No bears, but still exciting!

Mrs Notthat and I did the Brazen Bear Creek Half Marathon. This was her first Half Marathon since the Turkey Trail Half in Colorado in June, and she picked a doozy.

Here's how someone who is only barely fit to do these sorts of races should NOT spend the day before the race - standing in the sun for three hours judging people trying to catch water balloons from this catapult.

The company I work at had their corporate games, and the timing was not good for me. However, while my legs were a bit tired on Saturday morning, I figured it wouldn't be that bad. (Spoiler alert: It was.)

Sorry - I need to get the porta-pottie picture out of the way. Notice all the sunshine - it was heavily overcast around the bay, which gave me some hope of cool weather at least for the first part of the race. But once we crossed into the part of the East Bay where the race was being held, there was nothing but bright sunshine. Mrs Notthat rejoiced!

Just before the race. Mrs Notthat asked me to smile. I need to work on that.

Mrs Notthat started out fast. I was a bit worried that she had maybe forgotten how long a Half is, and how much climbing we would be doing, but was thrilled to see her moving along so well.

Mrs Notthat was the only runner with walking sticks, and she took a bit of heat for that. She sure liked them on the uphills like this though. The race started with mostly uphill for the first 2.9 miles. And it was all mostly exposed like this - even though it was only 8:30 or so, it was getting hot already. That aid station you see at the top of the hill marked the start of a long downhill. Yay! (Or so I thought at the time.)

Mrs didn't even pause at the aid station - she was feeling great and loved being so far ahead of me. Plus this was a nice long downhill stretch, and she does well on these.

Unfortunately, not long after I took this, I saw her coming back up the hill. It turned out that she had lost her iPod somewhere between the aid station and about two-thirds of the way down the hill. (Her playlist had ended at about the aid station and she didn't go to restart it until she was near the bottom of the hill, which is when she noticed that her ear buds were dangling.) This left a LONG uphill stretch where the iPod could be - so we both headed back up the hill to look for it. I made it all the way back to the aid station, but no luck.

So we headed back down the hill. And just like that she had gone from an unstoppable sprite to a tired, unmotivated runner with sore feet. After a bit she grudgingly agreed to try my Shuffle, which has maybe 20% songs she really likes, 20% songs she will sit through, and 60% songs she could not possibly hit the skip button fast enough to avoid. But it was better than nothing, and her mood picked up a bit.

That didn't makes the hills any easier though.

Because we lost so much time going back up that hill searching for the iPod, we ended up in last place. Once the Shuffle was pressed into service though, we started making up ground and passed Einre (not his real name) a little bit before the next aid station. (Note that we were finally in some shady areas at this point. This course had a lot of very exposed sections, but also a lot of nicely forested sections.)

At the second aid station (5.8 miles), Mrs Notthat's iPod was there waiting for her! I loved that it was making better time around the course than we were! (And a HUGE thanks to whoever found it and dropped it off there - you made Mrs' day!)

This totally picked up Mrs Notthat's spirits and she charged up the hill out of that aid station.

There was a very nice stretch of trail along a mostly dried up creek. I had managed to pass Mrs Notthat - I think the reality of this being a Half was starting to set in (this was about 7 miles into the race - a bit over half way).

The nice trail ended with a stunningly difficult uphill stretch.

We had been seeing a lot of soggy dogs coming down the hill, and once we finally got to the top, we could see why - there was a great little pond that the dogs would swim around in, trying to catch a couple of ducks that were having a great time teasing the slow dogs. (It's hard to see, but that's a duck being "chased" by two dogs.)

It was very hot by this time. To make matters worse, all the excitement of the iPod saga led me to forget to fill up my water bottles. Mrs Notthat ran out at about mile 8 or so, so I gave her the rest of my water (I still had some Nuun in my other bottle) and headed out to get to the next aid station at mile 9.9.

As I was going along a dirt road, I heard a horn honk at me. I couldn't believe some rancher or tourist was out there harassing us runners, so I turned and glared and saw the unofficial Brazen Mobile driving up to the aid station. I'm not sure why they were there, but I know they picked up at least one struggling runner - it was hot and dry and if you weren't watching your hydration, you were going to be in trouble at this point.

In any case, I got a quick cool down with a sponge on the head, filled my bottles, and headed back down the hill to catch up to Mrs who I knew would be really needing some water by this time. The two of us then headed up to the aid station and filled our bottles and enjoyed the shade for a bit.

There was only a 5K left to do - 5Ks are easy! Yeah right - we were both tired and ready to be done. But a bit over three more miles certainly seemed doable. Barely.

Mrs Notthat headed out first, and almost immediately we heard a sound that you never want to hear - a rattle followed by a startled yelp. Mrs had come very close to stepping on a less than pleased rattlesnake.

It was a bit ironic that it was so close to the aid station - I suspect it was hoping to get relief from the heat as well. Lots of pictures were taken (from a nice, safe distance) and it posed politely through all of them. After it grew bored, it slithered off to the right and was gone.

I had scientifically worked out that, after that aid station, it would be mostly downhill to the finish line. I told this to Mrs Notthat, and she believed me. We then spent the next mile climbing a lot of small hills, which by this time, felt like mountains. She stopped talking to me. There were two things that were true though: There was another aid station at mile 12 and there was only a mile to go after that - we were actually going to finally finish this thing!

If you get a chance to run a race behind Mrs, do it. She is very entertaining and creative in how she keeps herself moving. Here she is airing out her pits. I thought she was trying to scare the snakes away. (We did see a second rattler later on. Who knows how many we missed.)

A cruel tease. That's the 12 mile aid station, but it's still about a mile away. Thankfully it was all downhill though.

The two of us triumphantly making it to mile 12! ("Run for the camera" I yelled. Once the camera was put down though, the running stopped.)

Me giving myself a sponge shower. These were amazingly effective at cooling me off for a bit - I would also get my hat wet but was amazed at how quickly it would dry out. Mrs Notthat declined to let me squeeze a sponge over her. I don't get it either.

In addition to the sponge shower, I was remarkably sweaty. When Nyleve (not her real name - a volunteer photographer who had been at this aid station since the early morning) asked to get a picture of the two of us, Mrs made it very clear that I was NOT to touch her. Again, I don't get it either.

Shortly after we left that station we came upon an outhouse. Remarkably, I actually needed to use it (that's never happened this late in a Half Marathon before - I had been taking saltsticks and I think they helped me a LOT during this hot race). Mrs could smell the finish line, so she took off and I didn't see her again.

I did manage to hear Einre at the aid station asking how far ahead of him we were, so I knew he was close. So once I left the odor-filled comfort of the outhouse, I tried to make some good time, and possibly catch Mrs (HA!).

The trail was fantastic at this point - nice single track with rolling hills. Unfortunately, there is a lot of poison oak in those shrubs. And apparently earlier in the day, a lot of bees. (The medic at the finish line had spent a lot of time rinsing off people's legs to remove the poison oak and treating bee stings, not to mention the dehydration issues which resulted in one person leaving in an ambulance.)

Just before the finish line, you go down a set of stairs, cross a creek (that actually had water in it!), and go up a second set of stairs. Many people worked hard to not get wet while crossing this creek, but I loved the cold water on my tired feet. I stood there for as long as I dared, fearing that Einre would start down the stairs and pass me.

But I still managed to beat him by a couple of minutes.

This was an odd race. It was my second worst time in a Half Marathon, but the backtracking had a lot to do with that. It would have been interesting to see how this would have gone without the distraction of the lost iPod - I suspect the toughness of this course would have caught up with Mrs Notthat eventually, but she still would have had a respectable finishing time.

As it was, we were both thrilled to have finished at all.

And survived, bite free! (No bees, bears, or rattlesnakes got us!)

That's it - move along...

PS: You can see a lot more pictures here and here (sorry for some confusion in them - there were some irritating upload issues).