Running Log #5

Grabbed a few Ninkasi IPA's for the road; caught the office up as much as I could before we all hopped in the car for Portland. A, our new teammember, took us in her husband's car, which was lush. Picked up B in Mercer Island. Grabbed lunch in some creepy by-city off-highway town, where someone was really angry about the line length & chucked his sandwich to the ground, leaving us all to consider the sadness of a sandwich on the ground. We drove straight to the course; Club Regionals was hosted by the Red Lizard Running Club, the final race in their series, held at Bluelake. Bluelake is a dead circus tent park with cold wide views of the water, home to a thousand squawking geese, soft grass, and Nobody. The course wasn't marked so we jogged around to get a feel for the footing, chasing geese, fighting a strong wind with silence. We were chilled & A drove us to our prospective hotels. Ber & I were hangry, her more than I, evident in the questions she had concerning the Blazer's bros who had come to party at the sexy kitty Red Lion hotel, meow meow. I hadn't been in a car with a load full of beautiful, interesting women in a long while, so I was more so mentally exhausted than hangry, but hangry pants Ber got us en route to a pizza parlour outside of Chinatown, just shy of Voodoo Donuts. We found ourselves sprinting across/against/in front of several max's, with all those tracks bleeding into each other like cursive on the streets. Many a time it was, "You think we can make it?" Which was followed by a non-response on my end, rather, a sudden sprint.
At the parlor we ordered a $30 veggie pizza somehow & 2 excellent IPA's. I wanted more, but put the race first (your welcome teammates).
We fell asleep to some juicy McConaughey movie. Ber was sleepless, anxious, and then all of a sudden it was morning & we were gearing up. Picked up by K & her man, we headed to the course, which was still not entirely developed. We hid in our cars as long as possible to avoid the chill & the wind. Warmed up for a few miles on the grass. Ber got to sit on the porto after K. Goucher & was pretty thrilled about it. The field of 80 or so women lined up & began.
The course was a 2k loop, spectator friendly, flat, soft in areas to the point where it felt like I was sinking. Some hoes elbowed me around a corner & blazed by. Much to my ego's disappointment, I was unable to reel them back in...Until next time orange team...D & his lady came to support us, took us to Borderclash to watch the amazing young athletes compete & later out for beers.
We finished 2nd by 15 pts. Most all of us with pr's.
After the race we went for coffees at Portland's Stumptown, thrifting. I took a walk to the Lloyd Center, a place I used to go when I lived in Portland. Had a feeling to get a piercing, and was hoping to find that old place D & I went to get pierced back in 2005. Sadly, it was no longer there. I watched the people ice skate at the center, walked back to the hotel to rest before we'd meet up for Borderclash, dinner, beers.
The Nike Headquarters is rad. The cannon shot, the high schoolers erupted. In high school racing, I'd missed my opportunity as 16th @ state, when they take top 15, so it was cool to see what I'd been missing.
At a swankier place we ordered underfueled Long Islands, waffle fries with bleu cheese. Ber & I went back to our room to watch tv & rest.
I woke from bad dreams in a sweat, but Ber & I had hotel coffee & poptarts to dissuade me from realizing the weight of them. We met with the others for a long run along the water. It was a gorgeous blue-sky day with runners & walkers all along the way. We got 12 miles on our legs, packed up & were on the road back to Bellingham.