The 2012 Songlist

There are no rules for the songs, but they are chose not because I like them but because they captured a moment in time for me. In previous years, even if I just can't stand the song and I'll include it anyway because it's part of the story. But so far this year I like them all, with the exception of the back-to-back Tim McGraws.

1. Lose Yourself by Eminem Yes this was on the 2011 Songlist too. But it was my CDA song and this was the year of CDA. "Here I go it's my shot; feet fail me not"

2. *Let it Go by Tim McGraw It was the start of a new year, and the start of a life free of certain responsibilities I've been carrying. I kept going back to thinking about them, but they were no longer mine to think about. I feel like I spent 2011 fighting depression and doubt, and wondering what badness was going to hit me next. I had let it start to define me, and I let it become a way of life. I needed to let it go, move on, and put the focus back on me and DH. "Today, I'm gonna stand out in the rain, and wash it all away".

3. Kickstart My Heart by Motley Crue Soon enough CDA training took a turn for intensity and I started cranking up the intensity. The unbelievably warm weather was a blessing for us mid-season IM'ers as we were able to squeeze in long rides as early as March! With 3.5 months to go-time, my training plan started including speedwork and increased heart rate work. "When I get high, I get high on speed".

4. 5-1-5-0 by Dierks Bentley Heard this one while driving home from work shortly after spraining my ankle.  I was going nuts, driving  past my local track and staring longingly at other runners. Here it was just 3 months out of CDA and I couldn't run!!! All I wanted was just one run, just one, and I'd be back to normal! "And I, I just need one more kiss; From you, and I'll be good as new; If I don't get some of your sweet loving; No telling what I might do".

5. Don't Stop Believing by Journey Played as we lined up for the super sprint at TTT. This to me felt like the first test of my fitness for CDA. I was ready to rock, ready to roll, and believed I had it all my hands. I had come back from the injury, pushed through a quick spring ramp-up of training, and wanted it all. "Payin' anything to roll the dice just one more time".

6. Poker Face by Lady Gaga Played at the swim start for one of the TTT races, I forget exactly which one. I stood in line behind my red-bearded Kroger-guy friend and bopped to this song as other swimmers started their race. I still had a great feeling about the weekend. Here I was looking at only a few more weeks of tough CDA training then a taper. I had it all. I was ready to play it. "I promise this, promise this; Check my hand cause I'm marvelous".

7. Enter Sandman by Metallica I can't say for 100% certain that this played at TTT, but there was a heavy bias to Metallica music played the entire weekend, so I'll bet it played at one point. I liked this song a few years ago and had it in a music mix. This race was nuts, awesomely nuts and by far crazier than any ironman I've done (and I'm saying this after finishing the Redman & Glacial Trail Month of Miles). This race opened my eyes to the fact that by body and mind really are capable of amazing things, that my health is truly a blessing, and that I'm a mad-crazy endurance geek! "We're off to never-never land".

8. Wild Ones by Flo Rida Played at the CDA swim start, the first minute or so was played just before the cannon. I didn't know the song, and it took a few weeks after the race to identify the source of the female vocals I heard while adjusting my swim cap, trying to stay calm at the start of what I knew would be a rough 90-100 minute swim. "Hey I heard you were a wild one".

9. Bad Romance by Lady Gaga Played on the bike course at CDA in the first 10 miles from an aid station. It captured the "bad romance" I was having with this race. It's probably safe to say I endangered my life in the cold water, yet here I was still in the race and knowing full well I'd do it all over again. "I want your love and I want your revenge; you and me could write a bad romance".

10. Lightning Crashes by Live The first 40-some miles of the CDA bike were not fun. I was battling headwinds and dealing with stomach upset. But I came back on-line around mile 45, I found my focus, caught a tailwind, and got back in the game. "Oh I feel it, coming back again, like a rolling thunder, chasing the wind." Finally that "coming back again" wasn't referring to the InfinIT that refused to stay down.

11. Where the Streets Have No Name by U2 The song playing as I crossed the CDA finish line. "I wanna run, I wanna hide; I wanna tear down the walls that hold me inside". I was unfamiliar with this song prior to the race, and wasn't sure I would add it to the songlist. It grew on me.

12. Even If It Breaks Your Heart by Eli Young Band The Redman song. I knew before the plane from Idaho landed in STL that I wanted another crack at 140.6 in 2012. CDA just wasn't my race, and I wanted redemption. I heard this song on the radio and decided right there that I was doing Redman. This was my dream, and I knew--I believed--I could finish this race and hit my goals. "Some dreams stay with you forever; drag you around to back to where you were; Some dreams keep on getting better; gotta keep believing if you want to know for sure".

13. Wheel In The Sky by Journey Played while I finished my final practice swim the day before Redman. So many thoughts spin through your head the day before a race like this, and it's hard to resist doing the 'this time tomorrow I'll be ...' mental mathing. "The morning sun is rising, it's kissing the day; The wheel in the sky keeps on turning; I don't know where I'll be tomorrow".

14. Sexy And I Know It by LMFAO The Bikini Race song for the Redman sprint. This one goes back to TTT, when we saw the kid at the grocery store wearing a shirt that said the title of this song. I didn't know the song, but TH did, and this just stuck with us all summer. Finally at Redman I got to hear the song!!! When I came through the tent area for the last time, I danced with my mates do this beat. Of all the memories this year, this one tops most all. This also took some time to grow on me. "Wiggle-wiggle-wiggle-wiggle-wiggle-yea!".

15. Hard To Love by Lee Brice Now here's an odd song to have on a racing songlist! This song is about me as it regards DH. He'll do anything for me and supports my racing lifestyle--"I don't deserve it but I love that you love me". He's patient, understanding, and puts up with all my mental triathlon OCD's--"I wish that I could be more like you".

16. Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain) by Gary Allan I heard this song just day's before Glacial Trail, the 50K in which it rained for the entire race. I didn't even know the lyrics for the race, the song was so new to me. "Just put your feet up to the edge, put your face in the wind".

1000 MILES! In a creek!

RUN: 6.4-some miles at Castlewood, it took over an hour but it's a group trail run so who cares.

I was happy to squeeze this run in as I'd planned to take the rest of the weekend off to visit with family.

I hit two things on this run. The first was the dirt after I tripped over a root and *SMACK* hit the ground on my right side so hard and so fast I couldn't even get my hands under me. The second was my 1000 miles of running mark for 2012! Somewhere around the creek crossing with BE I crossed the benchmark. YAHOO!

The next day my right shoulder started to hurt in a muscle used to raise my arm, and my neck was sore and tight. It took most of the day to realize why--it had to be the fall. So no swimming just yet. And my legs and ankles are beat up. The left knee is popping funny and feels like it's slightly out of place. The left ankle is just a little sore on that lateral spot that's been hurting.

This has me thinking I need to rest more and just get recovered from this big season. The Skippo race is not next weekend, but the next, and between now and then I just need to maintain 20-some miles a week on good surfaces and get recovered!

Birthday Run

RUN: 6.6 miles in who cares minutes

I was very excited for this run for many reasons. First, it was my return to the Thursday morning run since the week after Redman during which I rolled my ankle again, and that day was the first Thursday run with the group since the pre-Redman injury. So I was happy to be back on schedule.

Second, DH prepared a special treat for the group presented after the run. Some friends joined us, some that I haven't seen in weeks!!!!! That was the greatest gift right there :)

After a short day at work DH and I dropped the top on the car and drove out to C-field to enjoy the sunshine and 84F degree weather. We stopped at a pumpkin patch, bought some pie pumpkins and 3 honey sticks (what's a little honey on your birthday!), then continued on to see the hills and trees.

A storm front blew in on the drive home, so that night had 51F before bed with a thunderstorm and rain. This day had it all for weather and I just loved that.

I got to enjoy so much--great weather, friends, a fun run, pumpkin, an afternoon with DH. And to top it off, I've decided to sign up for the 60K in Kentucky next April--a 37-miler for a 37th birthday! :)

Glacial Trail recovery, and what's next?

Monday: Day OFF!

Tuesday: another day off

Weds: 45 mins, ~11 miles on the bike, indoors of course

Thurs: nothing?

Friday? I think nothing?

Saturday: 60 min and 4mi trail run with TH, then just over 2hrs on trainer (40 miles!)

Sunday: 60 mins on trainer (18 miles) and ~2.4 mile run

I can't remember if I did anything Thurs or Fri, and it doesn't matter really. Well it does. I don't know why, but it does. 

I quickly recovered from the race. Monday was a painful day for the quads, Tuesday was better but I still had trouble sitting, Weds was notable better with a little quad tightness, by Thursday I felt great was hesitant to run, Friday was like it never happened. Yeah, right. 

After a looooong day at work Friday TH texted about running Saturday morning. Oh yes! I answered without really thinking about it. We just did 56-some minutes and her Garmin read 3.9 miles. It was all new-to-me trails in CCP that seemed to be little bitty loops wandering around and over each other. The trees and leaves were a bright golden yellow, the hills were short and fast, and the conversation great :) 

For whatever reason I came home and wanted more, but my right hip was unhappy. It didn't hurt before or during the run, but it's not too hard to connect it to the run. So what do I do when I have energy to burn, an ankle that is still healing, wonderful weather, and time on my hands. Indoor cycling :(  If I'm getting tired of it, I can't tell. But what's gonna happen in January after weeks of this? I'll be hating it! So why am I doing it now?

Because the ankle is not healed yet. Don't be fooled by it's "hey I feel good let's do more" feeling, don't buy into the pain-free stride and step. I was sharply reminded of this Sunday morning while volunteering at the RnR race. I went to sweep a water cup off the street with my left foot and stupidly swiped it to the left, thereby turning my foot under (like an ankle roll... DUH....) and OMG that hurt! And kept hurting for awhile. 

Nuts. NutsNutsNutsNuts. 

I had some crazy idea about hitting the 1000mi running mark on my birthday (only 5 days away!) but I'm pushing for an injury if I go for that. My right hip still hurts and the ankle is still injured. 

Which brings me to my next topic! I'm still shopping for my 50-miler race and I think I have one picked out. And better still, I think I have a 60K prep race picked out too!

So I need to heal and rest. I don't want to look back a few months from now and wonder why I didn't just sit back for a few weeks to heal up and prevent burn-out. It's hard to look forward and see how that could happen when I feel so good right now. But it can happen. Now is the time to rest up and recovery. Get life back in order. Let goals and plans and 

Hall of Trees from the Glacial Trail Race?

Been looking for a picture of the Hall of Trees on the Wade House trail, I think this might be it!

Copied from http://picasaweb.google.com/landyann/GlacialTrail50k2007#5123143842757141010

Every Storm Runs Out Of Rain...Except the Glacial Trail 50!

Glacial Trail 50K Race: 50K (31 miles) in 6:31, pace averaging about 12:30

One or two days before we left for the race, I heard for the first time a new Gary Allan song: Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain). It spoke to me, it spoke to this race. Little did I know...We knew from the weather forecast that there was a high probability of rain, but who knew it would rain all but 2, maybe 3, minutes of the entire day? But like the RD said in the pre-race meeting, this is an outdoor sport.

Packet pick-up was 5am, gun time at 7am. In between at 6am was the start of the 50M--in the dark! There wasn't much to the packet, it was wonderfully simple. A number, a fleece, a small Hammer Nut bag with pamphlets  That's it. The rest of the day followed suit.

BG, TH, and I had time to hang out in the meeting room, I munched some sport beans and enjoyed the crowd. Very different from triathletes. Less gear, for one thing. More rugged, too. All of the faces, shirts, hats, and cred was different from what I was used to. New races, new faces! Being on a  minimalist shoe kick, I noted few if any minimalist shoes here. I think I found out why later--rocks!

After a brief pre-race meeting we gathered in the street for the start. The expected crowd of 120-140 runners was reduced, probably by the weather. It was in the low 50's, a light rain was falling and the sun came up behind a thickly clouded sky. For this too, the rest of the day followed suit. Speaking of suits, I wore 2 long-sleeved tech T's, my Nike capris, my favorite BRR hat, and the brown Cascadias. Oh, and the Camelbak!

The first half mile was on the streets of the tiny town hosting the event. Believe it or not, I tried to avoid puddles. I had seeded myself nearer the back so I didn't get caught up in too fast of a pace. That and I wanted to be able to see the trail ahead of me so I could focus on good foot placement on the rocks and roots. Trail running started on the Wade House Trail which was 1.5 miles long for us and the most memorable part of the trail. We were immediately immersed in a tall pine forest, with a trail lined with trees like a long hallway. It was darker here, the rain became like a fog, and the only noise was the quiet running of our field. OMG--if it wasn't raining and I had my phone I would have stopped for pictures. Who am I kidding, it's a race, I'm not stopping. But it was so pretty, it felt like cathedral...or an aisle in a great hall. Overall, a magical start to the race.

Next up was a wood path made of two 14" planks lined up lengthwise. Slick! I wonder what we were running over? Marsh? Bog?

Through these sections, TH was just ahead of me. But I let her go, I didn't want to be pulled into a faster pace or feel like I should keep going if my ankle started to hurt. I'd decided this on Friday--that I needed to run alone for this to avoid being pulled or pushed. This needed to be my race, mine only. Soon enough she was gone, and I missed her. It was habit to run with her, but this was my race and my 6-7hr meditation.

I broke the race up into sections based on the aid stations. The first AS was at 7 miles. My goal for the first section was to settle in to a "forever" pace that I could all day long. This came easy enough. At the first aid station I grabbed a gel and hurried out with the hopes of leaving behind the group I had been running with. BG was in the group of 3-5 runners, they were a bit of a distraction for me. I enjoyed the conversation, but it kept derailing me from my meditations and pussy-footing I was doing for the ankle.

The next AS was around 13.3 miles. Between now and then my goal was to hammer out a solid nutrition plan that kept my stomach light and my head focused. Eating too much makes me feel heavy, eating too little leaves me stumbling and mind-wandery. I initially thought that 40-45 mins would be enough, but soon enough I realized that 20-25 was better to keep the brain sugars at sufficient levels.

Around mile 8, while still running alone, I lightly rolled the left ankle. Lightly. I kept going. Around mile 10 my stupid right shoe came untied. I was just under 2hrs into the race, and already the cold had my hands stiff. So re-tying the shoe was a struggle. During this time, the group I'd hope to avoid running with came up behind and passed me. Ugh. Started running, not the shoe is too tight. Started running, and again untied! More struggle. When I pulled the laces, water squeezed out. I couldn't tie a bow for nothing. Dammit! I put a knot into them and figured that would be the last time I needed to think about it. It was.

Around mile 11.4, I really rolled the ankle. OUCH! I stopped. My HR went high, I felt the adrenaline rush. I looked around, not so much to look for help but rather to make sure no one was seeing this. Head rush. It's hot. It's cold. It HURTS. All the hurt was focused on that one spot that's been bothering me. Now what? I leaned on a small tree to steady myself. Took a few deep breaths. Waited. Thinking. I looked for what tripped me up--a rock, a root?--nothing visible.

I saw you standing in the middle of the thunder and lightning; I know you're feeling like you just can't win, but you're trying; It's hard to keep on keepin' on, when you're being pushed around; Don't even know which way is up, just keep spinning down, 'round, down…

OK, let's walk a bit. Oh damn it hurt, it was a 4 or so one the pain scale of 1-10, so not an excruciating pain, but probably enough to derail the race. Deep breaths. Wait. Remember how in New Town it faded once I calmed down? Calm down.

Every storm runs, runs out of rain; Just like every dark night turns into day; Every heartache will fade away; Just like every storm runs, runs out of rain

A runner came up to me, asked if I was OK. I'm OK, I just need to shake it off. It felt good to say that. He offered to let the next AS know I was coming. The next AS was only 2 miles away--I can walk to that if nothing else. Another runner came by, again it felt good to hear myself say I was OK. He left, and again I was alone with racing thoughts.What do I do? I tried walking again. It felt better. Kept walking...kept thinking. It felt like long minutes falling by but in reality it was probably only a few. (The Garmin says 3-4 minutes of stoppage). Potential outcomes were playing in my head. If I walked to the next AS and quit...if I quit how would I explain it to others...what would I say...would I regret it...would I spend the next 6 months hating my choice...would I injure myself if I kept going...if I kept walking I'd eventually see TH on her way back...I can't lie to her, what would I say? More importantly, what would I say to myself in a few hours, a few days, on the drive home, when I'm signing up for the next race...I will not quit. I will keep going. I WILL NOT GIVE UP. HTFU and get moving.

This got me going. Walking at first then a slow jog. My mind was more of a mess than anything else.

Soon enough I was running again, the pain reduced to maybe a 2 or 2.5. Totally manageable. Off to the next aid station! Somewhere in this next 2 miles I came up behind BG and came with him into the AS. A volunteer alerted by the other runner asked if I was OK, I said I was, and that was it. I had some fear that I'd be grilled a little harder about it. Back to the race. I knew I needed salt but I didn't want to eat a non-Whole30 white potato. BG pointed out a pile of salt on a plate near the potatoes, it was a wet pile. How to get it in my mouth? A banana! I took a half banana, peeled it, and smushed it into the salt pile. Believe it or not, this worked. Lots of water from my now-refilled Camelbak, and off!

The next section was mile 13.3 to mile 17.7 or something like that. In my head, it was "only 4 miles" and would go by fast since we turned around here, so it was only 2 miles then 2 miles again. That and I'd get to see TH in this section! The section started off with a stair climb before hitting a wide track that varied between single and double track. Nothing remarkable, it's what I'd been seeing all along.

Now that I had 2 things to look forward to (TH and the turn-around), I had good focus in this section. I was still worried about the ankle--I still had at least 15.5 miles to go--so I structured a set of priorities that started with keeping upright and healthy, supported by eating, drinking, and staying at a good pace so that those primary goals were attainable. Periodically I'd ask myself if my actions were supporting those goals. Soon enough TH went by, fast and with a group so I didn't get to say much. Now I get to look forward to the turn-around, and soon enough that came and went. The Garmin had it at 14.97 miles. For once I was happy with the Garmin being "off" distance :)

15.5 miles to go, and the nice thing about trails is that they look different in the other direction. A few mins I saw BG on his was to the turn, nice high-5 and I was off. I was feeling pretty good now and found my pace stronger than before. At the top of the steps above the AS I was joking with another runner about how we had "only a half marathon to go", he said "I've done that before", and I laughed "yeah you just did!". More salted banana, a stop at my drop bag for another powerbar, a potty break, and back on track for that last half mary distance.

So hold your head up and tell yourself that there's something more; Walk out that door; Go find a new rose, don't be afraid of the thorns; Cause we all have thorns; Just put your feet up to the edge, put your face in the wind; And when you fall back down, keep on rememberin'

My pace was definitely better in the return trip. Miles 18-24 just flew by! I'm often asked what I think about while running, since I'm not listening to music and often running alone. What goes through my head in 6.5 hours? A mental soundtrack of music, thoughts, and random jumbles. The Gary Allan song was stuck solidly in my head, especially the chorus: "Every storm runs, runs out of rain; Like every dark night turns into day". Problem was I didn't know the song well enough to get the lyrics right! It kept coming out "like every darkness runs out of day" or "like every dark light  turns into night" or something wrong. And I couldn't remember the 3rd line, so only those 2 were going over and over and over. And over, and over, and over...

I tried to find other songs, and got stuck for awhile on "Hard to Love", "She's My Kind Of Rain", finally somewhere around mile 20 another Gary Allan song from my 2010 soundtrack: Sometimes I Think I Get Off On The Pain. I sang this one out loud to myself (I was alone on the trail at this point). I especially sang the line "I ain't really happy; Til the sky starts driving rain" and it all fit so well together. How amazing that just days before this race I found GA's Every Storm song which was released sometime around Redman weekend!

Every storm runs, runs out of rain; Just like every dark night turns into day; Every heartache will fade away; Just like every storm runs, runs out of rain

I'm not going to detail the return trip, except to cover a few other points about the race.

Rocks. Rocks everywhere. Nice, black, rounded rocks buried under a bed of leaves. I think these are glacier deposited rocks, and since this was a glacial moraine there were plenty of them. The rain was a blessing in the end, it flattened out the leaves and made the rocks easier to see.

Rain. Rain all day long. I like running in the rain, especially when I have a hat on. It keeps my face dry and that for me is enough to feel shielded. But I was completely, 110% wet. It didn't bother me, except I was sure my hands would be permanently pruned by the end.

Food. By the way, I need to make a note of eating in the cold or cooler weather. I tried to eat a gel around mile 22 but my fingers refused to work. I was eating powerbars (instead of Lara bars, they tend to sit heavy) and those too are hard to eat in the cold. They start to get hard and difficult to bite and chew. But I was ticking along on a 20-30 mins schedule of good food that agreed with me.

Water. Ugh, could you imagine the irony of getting dehydrated in this race?! Well I didn't. The Camelbak was a rock star. Every time I slowed to walk and every time wondered how TH was doing I'd sip water. I didn't have to pee more than once in the race, but I don't think I got dehydrated.

Colors. Usually when it's cloudy out people describe the day as drab and colorless. But today something about the constant gray sky set up a contrast with the perfectly timed fall colors. Bright, dazzling yellows, oranges, purples, set against a gray sky and gray mist of rain. It was like living in a black and white world with sparks of color. My eye was resistant to leave the trail (rocks!) but when I did look up it was rewarding.

Somewhere around mile 22 I came up behind TH! I was thinking that my faster pace in this section would put me closer to her, but still thought that if I did see her it would be because she slowed or was injured. She looked a little ragged, not surprisingly given the distance so far, but she was trucking along solidly. I was behind her for a bit, then kept going. I really wanted to run with her, but all along I was telling myself to run my own race and not hers, although that was originally intended to keep me from speeding up to catch her earlier in the race. I thought she might be able to keep up with me, but no. I was on my own.

26.2 miles came and went at about 5:35, although with the Garmin off on distance that's just an approximation. I came into the last AS with 7 miles remaining in the race with a runner who was half joking-half joking with the AS volunteers about making this a 40K race. HTFU dude. Ugh, I had to get moving.

The last 7 miles were not as good as the previous 7. When the anticipation of finishing starts, suddenly distances and times get distorted. I'd mess up my race math, keep looking for familiar turns or landmarks, or get ahead of myself. So this section dragged a bit. I passed someone at one of the road crossings who said "3 miles to go!" and I mentally marked it--the last 5K!! But this was starting to hurt. My legs were feeling the fatigue, my hips were tight, my hands cold, the soles of my feet pained. My ankle had plenty of competition.

It's gonna run out of pain; It's gonna run out of sting; It's gonna leave you alone; It's gonna set you free; Set you free 

And the distance still distorted. And my mind wasn't as focused here. I kept mentally mapping this last 5k-- I knew 0.5mi would be on streets, and 1.5mi would be on the WH trail, so that left 1 mile left on the IAT! Even though the trails were indistinguishable, I was looking forward to a change. I'd been following yellow, yellow, yellow trail markers all morning. Even just a blue marker would be a change.

Soon enough, blue! And now I was able to recognize landmarks. The planked section of trail. Then the cathedral of pine trees. I wanted so badly to stop in this section, to pause and soak it in. I'd been running alone for the past 7-9 miles (with only TH's race buddy Jody passing me at the AS) and my mind was in such a hurry to finish. But now my 6.5hr mediation was nearly over. 30 miles of beautiful trail, fall colors, mud puddles, rocks, hills, sweat, rain...most of it alone in my own head. And here I was, nearly finished with what would be my 7th marathon-distance race. Nearly finished!  The cathedral of tall trees, the mist of the day, the quiet air of solitude...it was a wonderful moment, regal, inspiring, powerful. From the GA song came the lyrics, "it's gonna set you free", and I knew that after everything that happened this year, I was free. Free of doubt, of wondering if I could hit these seemingly crazy goals, free to challenge myself even more, free to take on whatever came my way in life with confidence. It's so hard to put into words!

Every storm runs, runs out of rain; Just like every dark night turns into day; Every heartache will fade away; Just like every storm runs, runs out of rain
It's gonna set you free, It's gonna run out of pain, It's gonna set you free

Only half a mile to go, and on the streets of the little village. Surprisingly, after miles of rocks and roots I found that I'd rather run on the grass along the street! The road surface was a harsh adjustment and the Cascadias don't feel good on pavement. But I can do this. I followed the orange cones (they seemed to go on forever) around a corner to the finish...where's the finish? It was a small white tent at the building! LOL, all that running only to not know where the finish was. And once I finished I didn't want to stop! I felt the need to keep moving, but no doubt I was done. My bird was cooked :)

After a few minutes of rest, I found my dry clothes bag and went to change clothes. My hands were so cold I couldn't pull my clothes off! And my hips were so tired that I almost couldn't get my feet up to the sink to wash off the mud. And I wasn't alone, many womens in the bathroom were in a similar state. It took about 30 mins for me to clean up and change! But once dry I warmed up. I munched my bag of apple chips. And I waited for TH to come in, and right as I looked out the window I saw her round the last corner :) She did it!
BG came in soon after, he did it too! :)

This race had a lot of meaning for me, and it's hard to convey that here in words. From CDA to Redman, from injury to recovery back to injury, from over-trained to doubt about enough training, I'd run the gamut of  up and downs. Every storm I encountered this year did run out of rain, and in the end it set me free. It's still amazes me that the Every Storm song was so perfectly timed with this race. I have a song for every big race, sometimes picked months in advance and sometimes a song that loop plays in my head during the race (sometimes the last thing I heard on the radio driving to the race).

Every Storm Runs Out Of Rain

         "Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)"

I saw you standing in the middle of the thunder and lightning
I know you're feeling like you just can't win, but you're trying
It's hard to keep on keepin' on, when you're being pushed around
Don't even know which way is up, just keep spinning down, 'round, down…

Every storm runs, runs out of rain
Just like every dark night turns into day
Every heartache will fade away
Just like every storm runs, runs out of rain

So hold your head up and tell yourself that there's something more
Walk out that door
Go find a new rose, don't be afraid of the thorns
'Cause we all have thorns
Just put your feet up to the edge, put your face in the wind
And when you fall back down, keep on rememberin'

Every storm runs, runs out of rain
Just like every dark night turns into day
Every heartache will fade away
Just like every storm runs, runs out of rain

It's gonna run out of pain
It's gonna run out of sting
It's gonna leave you alone
It's gonna set you free
Set you free

Every storm runs, runs out of rain
Just like every dark night turns into day
Every heartache will fade away
Just like every storm runs, runs out of rain

It's gonna set you free,
It's gonna run out of pain,
It's gonna set you free