Spring Fling 2018

I ran the Sizzlin Sasquatch Spring Fling this year for the second time. This time around, I opted for the 6-hour event--well for a lot of reasons. 

1. I was not really trained/conditioned enough to go 24 hours like last year.

2. My knee while it has let me run, it has started giving me a little more trouble.

3. I had the chance to see my grandson play in a baseball tournament at 2:00 a mere 15 miles away from the race.

That's 3 decent reasons. There are others--like I have a toenail that is sore. Maybe some more if I can think of some.

 IIt's always good to see friends--some of which I see a lot, like Mark and Brandon.

 And some like Lisa and Eric--two of my favorite people EVER. They had just got back from the west--every state west of Oklahoma (except Hawaii.) They converted a fabulous Mercedes cargo van into a roving Earth Station. It was quite possibly the nicest conversion I have seen.

 I drove down in the wee hours of the morning and quietly drove my Prius to the edge of the camping area and slept for a couple of hours, I set my alarm for 5:45 uz I thought the race started at 6:00. But shucky damn, it started at 7:00 and another hour of sleep would have been SO AWESOME.

RJ had a captive audience and went over the few rules of the race. Were there actually any rules? Go counter-clockwise. Make sure your lap gets counted. No one got lost. Only one person missed getting a lap accounted for and that was fixed.

I was in no hurry. I actually ran the first lap in sandals, which might not have been the best idea, but did no harm.

Part of the 3.6 mile loops are single track, some are wider mowed swatches along the edge of open grassland, and you cross a gravel road once. The trail is a good mix of a lot of things. Never any steep hills, but some longish gradual ones and nice gentle downhills. It's a great course for running. But I shuffled.

This was about as close as I got to getting my feet wet. I just kept going and going. I'd do a slow lap, then a faster lap, then I'd walk a lap at a brisk pace, then run one, then walk a slow one. 

I did manage to pick up a tick or three. Fortunately, I did not get any chiggers.

The one manned aid station was actually womanned. There were the basic snacks, and oddly enough, they'd have something new on every loop. I ran for 6 hours and gained 6 pounds. I finished with 5 laps, good enough for last or next to last. I then left to see my baseball game.

My finisher award was this glass cutting board, which I have by my computer and use for a mouse pad.

After the baseball game, I came back and hung out well into the night. Did a moderate amount of drinking--just to the point to whee I turn into a comedian. Alicia and Cat were nice enough to humor me by laughing at my jokes. They're such good friends. Realistically, I probably was being stupid.

I always try to find something from the race to hang my hat on--a good overall pace, a speed-up in pace for the last part of the race. Nada. I guess I learned that it's a good idea to pull over and sleep when you're too sleepy to drive straight home. Maybe the best thing was meeting some new friends. Cat Carr--you are one of US.