Oz Marathon Race Report

Since I began running marathons in 2001 it's been my fond desire to run one on my birthday. Unfortunately marathons on my birthday weekend, assuming my birthday even fell on a weekend, were few and far between. I had the poor fortune to be born right around Patriot's Day. As any rabid marathoner could tell you, there's only one marathon that matters on Patriot's Day: Boston Marathon. As I have as much chance of qualifying for Boston as I have of flying to Boston under my own power, I had to scrounge up a second choice.

This year my birthday was finally on a Saturday; next year it'll be Monday because of Leap Year. This was my chance to find a race. Good thing I'm trying for all the states so I had a few choices. I wanted an interesting and relatively "easy" race and ended up picking the newly rebranded Oz Marathon, formerly the plain old Olathe Marathon. I talked Sandy into joining me in collecting Kansas and we made plans for the great birthday marathon of 2011.

Getting there was easy enough. Southwest Airlines flies to Kansas City, MO which is a short drive from Olathe (oh-lay-thuh with the emphasis on 'lay;' Olathe is an Indian word for "beautiful"), KS. We met at the airport, gathered our rental car and headed out on the freeway. In less time than we'd expected we arrived in Olathe and found our hotel, the Fairfield Inn and Suites, and checked in.

We started Friday the best way possible: in a yarn shop! Knit Wit is in a little strip mall (as is everything in Olathe that isn't in a large mall). They had a very large selection of yarns and knitting implements. I managed to walk away with just a couple of skeins of a local yarn. I took pictures but they're so bad I don't want to reflect poorly on the shop which was charming and well stocked. The woman working and the one other customer were very friendly and helpful.

Packet pickup (not an expo) was on Friday only, at the Big Bass Pro Shop. Big shop. Big big big. Selling everything from sun hats to boats. There was a short line of incredibly friendly people from all over. We picked up our bibs and our white cotton tee-shirts, passed by the various tables of local vendors trying to sell assorted services and merchandise and went our merry way.


There was a storm brewing, cold air blowing and rain intermittently dripping down. Very cold, very windy. I had brought all sorts of choices for running attire and it looked like I would need all of it, in layers.

The start was at Garmin World Headquarters (which seemed the total extent of Garmin's involvement in the race). We arrived for the planned 7:00 am start and it was freezing. Literally. Wind chill was 28 degrees; the wind was blowing with 40 mph gusts. All of the signage and postings were blowing around and people walked back and forth, shivering. This was a small race, about 500 marathoners and 500 half marathoners. Possibly there would have been more if the arctic front wasn't present. People seemed to stay in their cars until the last possible moment which overwhelmed the dozen or so porta potties. Many people were still in line when the race started.

I kept moving back through the crowd. The time limit for the course was 6 hours so I knew I'd be one of the back-of-packers. Despite my two long training runs (Napa Marathon and Oakland Marathon) I knew my time wouldn't set any records because of asthma; my two biggest triggers are cold and wind and there was plenty of both. At the back of the pack was the 5:30 pacer (the last pacer) so I decided to stick with that group for a bit, depending on how fast they started. I thought they'd actually keep me from going out too fast and I was correct.

A note about my clothing choice: As I said, I wore everything. I had on running tights with my calf sleeves underneath. I wore a long sleeved tech shirt, a light weight windbreaker jacket and a sweatshirt over that. Gloves, hat, ear warmer and a buff completed my winter-in-April apparel. It was still cold and my toes were numb by the start, despite my Injinji toe socks. I was nicely coordinated in red and black.

There were about a half dozen people running with the 5:30 pace group. I'd never actually run with a pacer before (really, even after all those marathons and half marathons) and it was kinda fun. She told us her philosophy was to walk 1 minute at every mile, start slowly, go slower uphill and faster downhill, and she guaranteed we'd finish within 59 seconds of 5:30. All of that sounded pretty good to me! We picked up Sandy and assimilated her into the group at about mile 2 or 3.


I had my buff over my face to keep the air warmer for breathing, but like always I managed to lower it and smile for the pictures. The funniest part of this picture is my ponytail blowing in the wind; we have a joke that mine is the only pony that never moves when I run. Well, it did on this day.

The first part of the route was very boring. We ran down one of the main streets, looped around a commercial area, then circled the parking lot of the Great Mall of the Great Plains. Apparently back in the '80s this was a hot shopping spot. Now it's a mostly deserted group of buildings that play host to special functions. The almost 2 miles around the parking lot was windy and cold and boring. The street control was very good, the cops and volunteers all friendly and helpful.

The pace group was going along at a slow, then comfortable pace, but at about mile 5 the pacer stopped the walk breaks and picked up the pace to way faster than I was comfortable with. Since I could feel my breath tightening up I let them run ahead and continued at my own pace and started my regular 9:1 run:walk. I managed to amuse myself as I normally do during long runs.

It didn't really warm up but after about 2 hours my sweatshirt was bothering me so I tossed it aside. I still had my long sleeved shirt and windbreaker, and still had my buff covering my face. It would be like this for most of the rest of the race. I finally took off the gloves and the ear coverings at about mile 23. Then I put the gloves back on a little while later. I zipped and unzipped my jacket according to whether we had a head or tail wind.

At about mile 12 we moved onto a multi-use trail that we'd be on for the next 13 miles (6.5 out and back). It was pretty, winding and rolling. In theory the outbound direction was downhill; in fact it was the rollingest downhill I've run. The website map doesn't do all the little ups and downs credit. There was very little that was good old fashioned flat. But it was pretty, scenic and there wasn't any traffic. It was fun for me seeing all the other runners on their way back.

My asthma was very bad and I wasn't even trying to push the pace. I would have liked to run faster, finish faster, but that wasn't going to happen so I just ran and walked when I felt like it. At one low point of the trail, a man and his son were putting hay down to soak up the huge puddle that covered the trail and the surrounding area. Seeing me coming, he threw out pieces of hay as stepping stones. I came to a dead halt, knowing my balance wasn't anywhere near good enough to make it through without going ankle deep in water. The man, wearing high boots, took my hand and walked me across the riverpuddle, his son cheering the entire way. Thank you mister nice man! By the time I returned the hay covered the entire area so I didn't need an escort.

Blah blah running, blah blah asthma, blah blah cold, blah blah relentless wind. The only bright spot of the return journey, and a bright spot indeed, was a Cardinal flying along side of me. I think he was flirting with me, believing my bright red jacket was some lady-bird running along the trail. I saw him on and off for a few miles, tweeting happily from tree to tree.

I walked a lot of those last couple of miles. The sun was starting to come out, the temperature was probably all the way up to the upper 30's, I was tired and I'd already used my inhaler 3 times during the race. Despite how late it was the street control was still there with officers keeping traffic from killing the last runners.

Finally the end was in hearing, then in sight. I ran toward the end, hearing my name over the loud speaker. Sandy was waiting for me, having finished quite a bit before I had. I got my medal and a bottle of water, but she thought the food was all gone. Then we noticed the really big grill with something cookin'. I crossed my fingers that it was something I could eat and yep, it was. We each grabbed a chicken sandwich. The beer table was shutting down and unfortunately they were out of beer. Nope, they were out of the light bottled beer, but still had some of the keg beer, a local brew. We scored!

We sat down at one of the empty tables (they were almost all empty by then, nobody was hanging around in that weather) and consumed our goodies while elevating our legs and watching the final few people finish the race. Once again I was NQL. That's "not quite last" and yes, I did make that up. Three marathons in 6 weeks and NQL at all of them. Nothing like consistency.

There were finishers tech shirts but by the time we got there the women's shirts remaining were small sizes so we took the men's shirts. Bright yellow and a little ugly, but a finisher shirt nonetheless.


Final thoughts: if the weather had been better I would have had a great race and a fun time. For a small local race they did a very good job. The branding of the race wasn't apparent except in the name itself; there weren't any special touches to make it Oz-like. Several runners were in costume but I'm seeing that in lots of marathons, even those without themes. The course support was excellent, the course itself half-nice. The 2 shirts were (ugly, and) the same for all the races. I'd rather have one nicer race-specific shirt but as we know I'm pretty opinionated about my race shirts. The Olathians were almost all friendly and helpful. Olathe has every chain store and restaurant that I've ever seen, plus a few that were new to me. I would recommend this race for any 50-stater or Maniac out there!

Scarecrow Bear

Vermont Teddy Bear Company Factory Visit

Nine years ago I ran my first marathon. Not only did I discover that I love going the distance running but I also love going the distance to get to the race. When my number of completed marathons reached somewhere in the upper 20's, and my number of states where I had run those marathons reached the upper teens, I admitted that I would very much like to run a full marathon in every single state of our United States of America. I've completed all my local, close states and now I'm going for those that will take more effort on my part.

Along with my own obsession with running marathons is a country-wide growth of obsessed runners and the corresponding number of marathons. I decided that I'd like to combine my joys and travel to areas for marathons that also have something else that interests me. Thus, the Vermont City Marathon and the Vermont Teddy Bear Company. Hey, it's not that strange for me considering I ran a couple of half marathons in Chicago only because I wanted to be there the same weekend as the Stitches yarn market (and I've also visited yarn shops in every marathon city I've been to since I started knitting).

A common misconception among people who know me is that I collect teddy bears. Nope, I don't. I've just happened to accumulate a whole crapload of them! I got my first bear when I was in high school and somehow, many years later, I have a house full of bears. Big bears, little bears, tiny bears, black/brown/tan/purple/white/red/pink/gray/younameit colored bears. Hard bears, stiff bears, funny bears, sad bears, floppy bears, ornamental bears, fuzzy bears, naked bears and dressed bears.

I received my very first Vermont Teddy Bear in October, 2002. My sis sent me a bear to wish me good luck when I ran the Silicon Valley Marathon. On the back of this Superstar Bear's shirt is embroidered "Go Amy," which I did in the race by knocking 12 minutes of my previous fastest race time. That was the start of my sis and me sending each other Vermont Teddy Bears.


For birthdays, for achievements, for illness or injury or just because, one of us would go online and send the other a bear, usually as a surprise. Along with this, I started getting bears from the Vermont Teddy Bear Company for myself. First it was for special occasions, then for commemoration, then for "just because I like her!" or for no reason at all. All of a sudden, I realized that when I put together all my Vermont Teddy Bears, it looked like this:

yes, there are 14 bears on my sofa

Slightly disturbing for a grown woman, hmm (especially when you can see the other bears in the background)? But that didn't stop me, because a couple of years earlier I had discovered a full marathon in Vermont only minutes away from the Vermont Teddy Bear factory. Too many bears or not, I was going to see the mothership, I would get to tour the home of them all. I would just have to put on my big girl panties and not buy out the entire place.

You might remember that a couple of years ago I was contacted by a representative of the Vermont Teddy Bear Company and offered a free bear (an offer which I happily accepted). He's the little guy in the tux in the upper left hand corner of the picture. To satisfy the latest full disclosure laws regarding product reviews (which I guess this really is, in the long run), yes, I got a freebie. But that was after I already had bought oodles of Vermont Teddy Bears for myself, my sis and my friends and in no way changed my admiration for this "product."

Anyhoo, when I realized I would be in Burlington, VT in just a week I sent an email to VTB (sorry, tired of typing the entire thing out) and asked if he'd be available to meet me when I showed up. To my delight, he indeed would be there and would be able to come out to say hello.

Sandy and I arrived at the VTB factory early Friday afternoon. I seriously felt like a little kid going to Disneyland or having her first Christmas morning (full disclosure: I never went to Disneyland as a kid and I'm Jewish so I never celebrated Christmas. But I felt like I would imagine a kid would feel at those times). I was actually giddy. Sandy was amused.

We paged Nate and he came down to the shop to say hello. More than say hello. We got the grand tour, the behind the curtain view of Emerald City. We were introduced around ("this is the crazy lady who has as many bears as the factory and who runs marathons"), shown things that most visitors never get a chance to see, and made to feel right at home. Ok, maybe not right at home, I think Nate sensed that I could easily move right on in if given half a chance. Hell, I think he was a bit taken aback to see the tattoo on my leg (it's their logo bear. But only because it's the best line drawing of a teddy bear that I could find. I'm not their "biggest fan" and I'm not going to lock the employees in some room and break their legs until they design my perfect bear. I promise.).

Nate spent quite a bit of time with us, answered all our questions, gave us a good idea of the workings of the company and the sister companies (go to their websites and check them out yourself. I'm busy writing here). Since he then had to go perform his actual job, he left us in the capable hands of the general tour guide, where a tour was just starting. Thank you Nate, for a memorable time!

We joined the tour in progress and followed along with the (about) dozen parents and children. We seemed to be the only adults without little ones, which was a little surprising to me. But the kids on the tour added to my own wonder and joy at the whole experience. I took lots of pictures which I won't be posting here, mostly because of blogger's annoyingly inept picture interface.

It was fascinating to learn about construction of a VTB. Since obviously mine all arrive in one piece, I had no idea how many little bits it takes to make a bear. There were actual employees assembling little teddies while we watched (and kudos to them for not pacing nervously back and forth the way a caged bear in a zoo does). We were shown the bear hospital where injured teddies are repaired (yes, fully guaranteed, even if they're chewed on by the dog or spit out by a lawn mower). This tour was short, probably because a little kid doesn't have the greatest attention span, but quite complete.

Y'all know that I can be quite the grump when it comes to screeching kids. We didn't hear any of that during the entire tour (or indeed, the whole time we were there). Yes, there were a gazillion kids, both little and big. Yes, they were noisy. But they were happy laughing giggling noisy, not cranky greedy noisy. They were running and playing and not one screech came out. A small miracle in itself.

Along the tour route I found my newest friend, but they wouldn't let me take him home:

oh c'mon, he likes me! he wants to move to California with me!

Then came the tough part: the shopping. There's a room with almost every single bear that they make. Shelves and tables and displays of bears. I walked around and pointed out that "I have that one" "and that one" "and that one" "and that one" and on and on. But there were even more that I didn't have. Many more. And I had told myself I could have 1.

Hahahahah! Yeah, we all know how well that would work. The one bear I had permissioned myself to buy was a dark brown colored version of this sweet girl:

For some reason this lovely, soft, floppy, squishy, huggable bear had disappeared from the website and catalog and I hoped that I could find another one. I knew they originally came in this golden color, the dark brown, pink and pale blue (and maybe yellow, or maybe I'm just imagining that). Luckily I saw an entire display shelf filled with these bears. Unluckily I then had to instruct myself that I only needed to get the dark brown, and not the pink and blue.


But I didn't stop there. There was a bear that I had never seen, that belonged in my house. Most of you who have seen my knitting and my yarn know that my colors are black, red and gray (or white). The previously unseen bear was black fur tipped with white. Wait, maybe it was the other way around, white tipped with black. Anyway, he was a beautiful bear and matched my furnishings so he had to be mine also. Oh hey, I just found him on their website. Mine doesn't have the tie, he's nekkid and don't need no steenkin clothing.

But wait, there's more! I've wanted one of their little bears, but they're normally only sold with the mama or grandmama bears as a set. I just wanted a lil 'un for me. Ok, and one for my sis too.

No, I wasn't done yet. I've never been to the stuff-it-yourself bear emporium and VTB has their own select line of stuffers. Including a fluffy bright red teddy bear. I got the thrill of being there for the stuffing of my very own Friend for Life (Conceived by Vermont Teddy Bear, Born Abroad, Stuffed in Vermont) red bear.

At that point my arms ran out of room, my wallet ran out of money, and the day ran out of time. Sandy walked out of the VTB showroom with 3 bears, I walked out with only the one brown bear. One day this week, hopefully soon, the others will arrive in their cozy box.

I had the BEST TIME EVAH! Honestly, the people couldn't have been nicer, the merchandise was irresistible, my dreams were fulfilled and exceeded. If you're ever in that part of the country, even a couple of hundred miles away, you have to go visit.

Tell 'em Runner Girl Knits and her large family of bears sent ya!

MINE, ALL MINE! Bwahahahah!
oh wait, my sis gets one of the little ones

Runner Girl's Great Vermont Adventure

Last Thursday I gleefully hopped a plane to head to the eastern part of this country. I arrived on time in New York and proceeded to go nowhere fast. They were experiencing thunder and lightning at JFK and didn't think we should try to fly in it. Sissies. On top of my expected 3 hour layover, there were an additional 2 hours of delay. BORED! (Which is completely sad since I had 2 books, my knitting, several movies on my computer, airport internet, etc. etc.)

I finally arrived in Burlington, VT before midnight and made my way to the motel. Sandy had an easy drive up from New York and was comfortably snuggled in her bed. I made sure she was awake and we popped open a bottle of wine to celebrate seeing each other again. Chatter chatter until the wee small hours when we finally realized a little sleep would be helpful.

In a move that surprised both of us, we decided to actually go for the run we had talked about before sleeping. I slathered on sunscreen and dressed in a tank top and shorts - first time for sleeveless this season. We drove to the waterfront and after driving in circles for a bit, parked and started on our way. The plan was for 4 easy miles on the lakefront trail.

We were ignoring that "easy" means a different pace for us both. Although Sandy tried to slow down to my slug-pace, I'm easily rabbited and when she'd get ahead of me, I'd speed up too. The remarkable thing was that as long as I stayed slow enough, my breathing was better than it's been since that first cold I got this winter.

The trail on which we were running, the Burlington Bikeway, is part of the marathon route, toward the end of the race. I knew that even though it was "flat" or "flattish," the little changes in grade would drive me batshit beyond mile 20. The trail was well maintained asphalt with glimpses of Lake Champlain on one side and greenery or houses on the other.

It was fun to me to once again be in the type of vegetation in which I grew up (I grew up in a house, not a garden, but you know what I mean) (don't you?). I had just missed the Lilac bloom which was too bad since it's one of my favorite woody plants and they don't grow well in the East Bay. I seemed to hit peak Peony time though, and from what I could see they weren't the ant attractors that mine are. It was nice to see the varieties of maples and oaks and other hardwoods that don't grow as well (or as big) in the Bay Area, and the green green undergrowth of ferns and vines and flowers. I really felt completely at home. I also realized that I've quite forgotten the names of all the viney plants and wildflowers. They were pretty to look at, whatever they were.


It was a warm, breezy, sunny morning and after about 2-1/2 miles I started getting lightheaded. Because we had forgotten to eat anything or have coffee before starting. D'oh! Here I was, pushing it just a little past my comfort zone speedwise, and I was empty. Dummy. I should have known better. Luckily I had some Sport Beans in my pack and I knew it was only 4 miles. We made it to the end, feeling quite righteous.

After cooling down we returned to the motel for their free breakfast and then showers. We had a full day ahead of us and had to get on the road. Luckily Sandy had a GPS unit since the Gmap directions I had brought with me were complete confusion. We started out for our yarn crawl.

After a while of driving in circles we arrived at our first stop, Northeast Fiber Arts center. Since my stash is a bit out of hand I was only going to buy yarn if it was from a local sheep/spinner/dyer/company and whatdaya know, I found some. I bought a few skeins of a lovely electric blue hand dyed Vermont Border Leceister. [Note: this was very odd to me since I was reading John Scalzi's "The Android's Dream" which involves a sheep with bright blue wool, which I picture as looking exactly like this yarn. ]

I also fed my sock yarn addiction and bought a skein of Ella Rae Lace Merino. The shop was lovely and welcoming and the owner (I think she was the owner) showed me around and pointed out local yarns. The selection of yarns was great but I was being reasonable and stopped while I was ahead.

I thought See's was the candy store for knitters, but I stand corrected

That didn't stop us from moving on to the next yarn shop, Kaliedoscope Yarns. Although this looked from the outside to be someone's home, inside it was all yarn. Once again I was helped by the friendly staff, although they weren't quite as willing to just let me look at only the local items. Because of this, I walked out with a couple of skeins of Madeline Tosh DK Yarn in Tart as well as the relatively local (at least to a clueless Californian) Lobster Pot Yarn's Lobster Sox in Salt Rose (and I would have bought another skein in the gorgeous Lobster Bisque had it been in stock). If you're in the area I recommend visiting both of these shops!






We were getting hungry by then but didn't want to take too much time out of our busy touristing, so we found a local sandwich/Vermont-y store and got sandwiches. We gobbled them down and headed off to my real goal of the entire vacation, the Vermont Teddy Bear Company factory. That will be a story in itself. A long story with lots of pictures. And bears bears bears.

mine mine mine mine mine

After many hours (yes, we went well beyond "couple" and "few") we bid a fond, expensive farewell and left. Next stop, right up the road, was a brewery with free tasting. Marathon, schmarathon, we wanted beer!

The Magic Hat Brewing Company tasting room looked like a combination between a pub and a tourist store. I'm pretty darn certain I was the oldest person in there. Their beers were all listed on the wall and the kind servers poured us whatever we wanted. Between the two of us we tasted most of the choices, liking some more than others. We decided to buy a bottle or two for that night, although we never did end up drinking them (too much wine, I guess). Sandy got to take them home with her, lucky girl!

We were heading toward our motel when we remembered that we were supposed to go to the race expo between 4-7 pm. Funny, all that yarn and bears and beer and we forgot why we were in Vermont in the first place. We went to the expo, which I'll talk about in the race report, then finally made it back to the motel.We were exhausted by that time so we just had dinner at the motel's pub. Very healthy option: salad bar and wings. Well, we needed protein, didn't we? Then we headed back to the room to attempt to sleep.

We spent a night tossing and turning (usual for me, not as much for Sandy) and decided we should eat the free breakfast and get a move on. Again, we had lots to do. Our drive was a little longer this time, out to the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream factory.

ice cream cows!

We were just in time to catch the next tour and walked around the factory. Since it was a Saturday, nobody was working on the floor but the guide was still able to show us how ice cream would be made, if anyone was working. At the end of the tour we got our taste of one of the newest flavors, Boston Cream Pie. Very delicious. In fact, when the tour guide asked us to please take seconds because otherwise they'd be thrown out, we were happy to comply.

waste not, want not

a decent tour would let us taste each of these

From B&J's we moved down the road a bit to A Special Place where our first stop was the Cabot Cheese Annex Store. We sampled all of their tasty varieties of cheddar cheese and ignored the fact that this wasn't quite the nutrition we needed for the race. We ignored that even more at the Snow Farm Vineyard Tasting area, where we tried mouthsful of their wines from the Champlain Islands.


Next up was Lake Champlain Chocolate factory outlet, where the samples were ok and the chocolate was expensive. We bought not one thing there, the first place we'd gone to without spending money. Since we were there, we also went into the Danforth Pewter shop and browsed through their pretty merchandise. I didn't get off as cheaply there, I bought a hair clip and a letter opener.


Since we hadn't tired ourselves out enough, we decided to next (and last for the day) check out the Church Street Marketplace. This is a street that's closed to traffic and made into a pedestrian mall lined by restaurants and shops. And cows. Seriously, the cows came home to Burlington. For a change, these didn't scare me in the least.

the cow jumped over the moon

how pastoral

a porcelain bovine

groovy, man

ok, maybe this one scared me

a little busy

gift wrapped!

I'm seeing spots

mooing in a winter wonderland

We decided it would be nice to rest a little so we headed back to the motel and both took a short nap. We wanted to be lazy once again and had dinner at the motel restaurant for a second time. We tried for an early night but it didn't look like either of us would be having a lot of sleep.

We were right. Although it was late for a marathon (the race didn't start until 8:00 am) the alarm went off at 5:40 am. I spent the night with bizarro oddball dreams and nightmares and didn't mind getting up to shower.

The race was long, and hard, and wonderful and the race report forthcoming.

Sunday afternoon we didn't make it back to the motel until 4-ish. We took turns standing under the pouring hot water in the shower and each climbed into our bed for a little shuteye. Not much sleep, mind you, just resting. The vast quantities of caffeine Gu kept me from sleep.

No motel restaurant for us again, we wanted pizza and beer! We queried the motel staff and were told of a close-by pizza joint, Marco's Pizzeria & Grill, that was very good. A couple of minutes later we had ordered a Go Greek pizza (feta, sundried tomato, artichoke and black olives), wings and beer (that protein thing, again!). Despite not having had anything to eat all day except performance food, our eyes were much bigger than our appetites.

While we were lazily eating our pizza and drinking our beer, we noticed (couldn't have failed to notice) 2 little kids running around the restaurant and playing together. They were loud but not screeching. The sound of their laughing and giggles was fun to listen to. It turned out the family was part of the owner's family. We were talking to the owner's sister and told her we had run the marahton. She was so impressed that she offered to buy us another round of beer. Neither of us was too inclined to drink more but neither were we inclined to move, so we happily accepted her gracious offer. When we got back to the motel Sandy had to pack, I just had to pack it in. I crawled into bed, read a little, and hoped the beer would help me sleep. Notsomuch.

Although I was staying another day, Sandy had to drive home. We had breakfast and decided to go to the waterfront and take pictures. Upon stepping outside we noted it was very hazy. And very smoky. As people who live (or lived, in her case) in a place where a season is called "Fire Season" we knew there was a big fire somewhere. We didn't know there was a huge forest fire in Quebec and the smoke was drifting southward and piling up over Vermont. It was way beyond nasty. Our photo op was spoiled by the thick haze. We went back to the race finish area and walked around a little, but our breathing was bad enough that we didn't go too far or stay too long.

pretend you can see New York and a lovely shoreline

Oddly enough we were getting hungry again so we decided to take another look at Church Street and find a restaurant. We walked up and down and the air was clearing just enough to make it ok to eat on one of the shaded patios. We picked one of the very similar restaurants and I had my annual or semi-annual Reuben (I normally don't eat beef, but I make that exception). Along with the brightly fluorescent orange sweet potato fries, it was utterly delicious. A couple of quick stops later Sandy packed up her car and deserted me (sorry Sandy, just kidding).

yum, orange food!

I intended to take a walk, or knit, or read, or load picture onto the computer. Instead, I closed my eyes and took a nap. Mostly a toss and turn, but I think I grabbed a wink or two. Afterward, the rest of the day went quickly. I did a little of this and that, went for a walk and got a sandwich for a late dinner, watched a little tv and went back to bed.

And that was it. A great vacation with a great friend in a great area. I can't say enough about the friendliness and kindness of the Vermonters we met. Almost everyone was welcoming to these Californians (which isn't always the case). Even the worn areas around Burlington are pretty and lush and green. When I win the lottery I'm getting a summer home there!

Top ten reasons I'm looking forward to the Vermont City Marathon

10. It's my vacation;
9. I have almost a full week off work;
8. Reviews say it's a well run race;
7. I love running marathons, even when I'm not in great condition;
6. I'll get a lot of knitting done during my 3 hour lay-overs at JFK;
5. I'm going to visit at least 2 local yarn shops;
4. It's been even warmer in Vermont than it has been here;
3. I get to see 26.2 miles of this beautiful area up close and personal;
2. I get to see Sandy;

and the number one reason I'm looking forward to the Vermont City Marathon:

1. I'm going to tour the Vermont Teddy Bear factory!

Gratuitous Bear of the New Year

About a year ago I decided that I really had to curb my bearaholic tendencies or else Hoarders would come and start an intervention at my house. I told myself I could continue with the Medal Bears, as long as they were small, but I needed to stop accumulating big bears. This notion was reinforced last summer when I faced the prospect of winnowing through my mom's possessions. I felt that my needing to own more things was unnecessary and was just a displacement of other emotions that I wasn't facing. Nice little self-psychobabble, huh?

My one medal bear last year was from Chicago for my Chicago Marathon medal and was in fact small. I never found a bear for my Solvang Century medal; neither a bear representing cycling nor the Solvang area. I counted my Tri Teddy as a 2008 bear, even though I really dressed her in 2009.

I slipped in my conviction during the summer when I was in Las Vegas. We were wandering around the shops and cruised into a toy shop (I know, what was I thinking?). Apparently while I wasn't paying attention Steiff started a line of less expensive bears. I certainly wouldn't have bought a $150 classic teddy, but these were different. This is a line of "cloud soft plush" bears that come in their very own suitcase for a reasonable low price. My resistance slipped away and Bree and I spent quite a bit of time finding the perfect bear to take home with me (you know, of course, that if you're buying a bear in the store you must find the one with the best facial expression, best balanced body, etc. You can't just buy one willy-nilly off the shelf). With help from my sis I named her Bubble, because she looked like a big, soft bubble.

During the later summer when I was so frantic with trying to care for my hospitalized mom, my sis sent me Tinkerbearr. This sweet fairy bear helped me cope and gave me comfort when it was badly needed.

In fall that crack-dealer to bearaholics, the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, started developing new types of bears. The one that struck me the most was the Soft, Floppy Bear (which by the way, VTB, is really hard to find on your website). It just looked so CUTE! And it was low priced and I was depressed and yes, I once again displaced my feelings of sadness and despair with buying a new bear. It worked. Wow, what a bear! I was very impressed by the warm, squishy softness of a bear that seemed to hug back. I did manage to not buy one of their Go Green Bears (but give me time ...).

Last fall, this early winter, in fact the entire year was a tough one for not only my own family, but for so many of my friends. There were job losses, there was illness, there were injuries and there was death. If ever the comfort of a bear was necessary, it was 2009.

There was one more bear to come, one more surprise, one gift above all gifts. After our walk on Saturday, Bree gave me a gift and told me it was for various and assorted occasions (birthdays past and future, Christmas, Hanukkah). It was a large box, wrapped in very cute paw-print wrapping paper. I tore open the top of the wrap and knew immediately from the box exactly where it had come from. Yes, I know a VTB box when I see one.

My hands started shaking and I sat down. I broke the tape on the box and lifted out a bear I had coveted since I first saw it on the website. My eyes filled with tears and my breath caught in my throat. I lifted out the beautiful little bear and gave it a hug.


I reached a little deeper into the box and pulled out the bear's little stuffed penguin. Nothing like a bear having her very own stuffie.

Having spent not a little time with me in a toy shop choosing a bear, and even more time trying to find a perfect medal bear in varying locations, Bree knows exactly what a bear means to me. I don't think she realizes what receiving a perfect bear from a friend means to me. I've received many bears from friends, some damn fine bears from some damn good friends. But Bree had an even tougher 2009 than I had. Despite that, she spent time to think about me, to go out of her way to visualize what I'd like, to order and surprise me this way with something very personal and meaningful to me.

Do I have the best friends, or what?

Thank you Bree!

(L-R) Tinkerbearr, Feather, Bree LaBear and her mighty penguin Nitro

Late review: Chicago Marathon 2009

Yes, I do {heart} Chicago!

If a blogger runs a race and doesn't write about it, does that mean she didn't run?

Way back in February I had grandiose plans for the Chicago Marathon. A large group of us registered for the race the day it opened (hurry! it might sell out! do it now!). We made our hotel reservations, dinner reservations (yes, in February) and then flight reservations once they became available. Although I hadn't yet started running because I was too tired from century training, I knew that come October I'd be in tip-top shape, running fast and easy. I didn't know if I could PR but I planned on being close.

Then, as usually happens with good intentions, life intruded. My training was hit and miss. I had scheduled many runs in the 13-16 mile range so that distance would be comfortable; that was the only thing that made running a marathon possible. My during-the-week training was a joke and there were weeks when I only ran our long weekend run. In addition to all the family drama I faced blazing heat, smog and smoke and then a thunderstorm. I tried, and for the most part succeeded, to show up for each weekend run. They were my outlet and my therapy and without Bree and Anita I would have been lost. We laughed, cried and counseled each other and made the miles fly by.

Our 18 miler was a tough run because of the heat, mid-90s when we finished. The 20 miler was the best run of the year, despite the thunder and lightning and rain. My little mishap during the scheduled 22 miler turned the run into a limping 19 miler. I knew by that point I wasn't going to have the greatest marathon ever but I was certain that if I stuck with the plan I'd finish well with mostly even splits.

In 2007 it was so hot during the race that the Chicago Marathon shut down mid-way and pulled runners, those who hadn't collapsed, from the course. It was another hot race in 2008. We had prepared to run in shorts and tanks and weren't prepared for the blast of arctic cold that descended on Chicago this year. I packed for the cold, bringing tights, a long sleeved shirt, gloves, jacket and extra buffs. It wasn't enough so at the expo I also bought one of the cheap throwaway tyvek jackets and an ear warmer that I also wouldn't mind throwing at the side of the road. I ended up wearing running tights, the long sleeved tech shirt, the throwaway jacket, throwaway gloves, throwaway ear warmers, a buff around my neck and another around my wrist. I knew I'd be warm through my core but was afraid of my extremities.

We were frozen waiting at the start. After my last huge run, New York in 2007, I was afraid of what the start would be like. I'm not great in big crowds, getting a little claustrophobic. But this actually went pretty well. I thought there were enough portapotties and the lines moved quickly enough. The gear check seemed to be very organized and quite easy to get to. The corrals were a little harder to deal with, especially close to starting time when every single person decided they'd be the last person to enter. It was hard for people to squeeze into the faster areas and it wasn't very clear where all the pacers were. But we spotted ourselves just behind the 5:30 pacer and waited to start. It was freezing; my teeth chattered and my fingers were numb.

I stood in line with Bree, Anita and Sandy. We didn't see any of the others, they had left the hotel later than we had and in that crowd it would have been amazing to find anyone. My plan was to start out steady, running about a 12:15 pace. I planned to continue with the 4:1 run:walk since we had trained that way, but to not start walking until 14 minutes so that we wouldn't get run over by the crowd. I thought that running the entire first mile might thin things out a bit. Ha.

It finally turned 7:30 am and the gun went off. I think (we were too far back to be sure). It took us about 25 minutes to creep up to the start line. We crossed, started running, and never saw Anita and Sandy again until the race was over. They never looked over their shoulders to see how far back we were and we absolutely weren't going to try to catch up.

It was very crowded and hard to run at any set pace. It was slow down, side step, stagger, run, speed up, speed faster, halt, side step, repeat. Like usual people hadn't seeded themselves in the right place. Hell, we were passing people right and left and we weren't going as fast as our placement would have put us. For several miles we dashed and darted and probably wasted more energy going sideways than we did going forward. We kept up the 4:1 and were going strong through mile 11 or so.

It was amusing (and not a little annoying) that at one point we were being squeezed in by 2 very large pace groups; the 5:30 on one side and the 5:45 on the other. We had seen that both groups crossed the start at very much the same time, so either one was going too fast or the other too slow or maybe a bit of both. But one group was doing a 2:1 run:walk and kept passing us then slamming on the brakes right in front of us. We tried to drop them a few times and finally got away from them. I don't even know if they were ahead or behind, just no longer near us.

With this big of a crowd you expect some pain-in-the-ass people and this race didn't disappoint. My pet peeves during races (or even just on a trail) are runners not paying attention to their surroundings, people not glancing around before darting in front, people pushing and people who take walk breaks coming to almost a halt without moving to the side. With all those and more it was surprising that I wasn't cranky or crabby or mean. I rolled my eyes several times at idiots and muttered obscenities to Bree a few times, but mostly I just went with the flow. I didn't want to waste energy on jerks.

We started slowing down when we were getting close to the half marathon distance and I told Bree that maybe after mile 14 we should switch to a 3:2. She happily agreed and we continued on. Despite that, our paces were too different and before mile 15 I went ahead. I went back to 4:1 and continued with it until, I think, about mile 20. At that point the freezing air in my lungs really started to get to me. I know my form was off from the cold and that tired me also.

Yes, late morning and it was still only in the mid-30s outside. There was a steady breeze making the wind chill factor even colder. Once in a while the sun would pop out but mostly it was overcast. Cold and gray. Brrrr. I had shed my jacket at about mile 10 and threw it away at about mile 15. I alternated with gloves and bare fingers, sometimes one hand covered and one not. I didn't throw the gloves away and wore them continually for most of the last hour I was out there. I never removed my ear warmers and didn't feel that I needed to. The only problem was when I tried to wear sunglasses; my hot breath and the cold air fogged them right up.

Although I had slowed waaaaay down, at about mile 20 I figured that if I kept vaguely on pace I could finish under 6 hours. It became a goal to me to try to keep my time under 15 minute miles and that mean very little walking, except the regular breaks. I was sucking air so badly that I finally stopped regular breaks and just ran until I was gasping and walked until I my breath calmed. I came down with a lovely case of marathon brain and amused myself trying to figure out math and times and speeds. After every walk I'd re-calculate my time and for some reason at mile 24 I still thought I'd break 6. Then I realized that I must have hit the split button on my watch at a wrong time and that I'd have to run mile 26 in 9:30. Heh. Not likely. Then I realized that I had also forgotten to calculate in the .2 mile at the end. Crap. Then I saw that huge mountain leading up to the 26 mile marker and decided that walking was fine until the top (ok, it was a little hill, but it looked like Mt. Diablo to me).

I made it to the top, not even bothering to smile at the photographers like I usually do, and decided to "power" in the last .2 stretch. Despite "sprinting" there were many people who passed me there. I ran as hard as I could, gasping and wheezing, and crossed the finish line at about 6:04. Better than the 6:15 I had expected before starting but not as good as the 5:59 I had hoped for. Nevertheless, as my first marathon in almost 2 years, it was an emotional finish.

I got my mylar blanket and my medal, had my chip removed, and staggered forward. I got a bottle of water, a dry bagel (yuck), a banana and there might have been some chips offered. I was supposed to meet the girls at the beer tent and imagine my surprise when the "tent" was a table set up right after the food, before the baggage tent. Sandy and Anita were waiting for me and one of the beer fellows urged me to take a beer and rehydrate. Being the compliant type I did just that. I steadied my breathing, tried to stretch and almost fell over. Instead, I took my beer over to the nearest curb and plopped myself down while we waited for Bree to cross the line.

During the race there were aid stations at about 1 mile apart; a couple of places it was longer but they were frequent and well supplied. There was water and some electrolyte drink (maybe Gatorade?) at every station. Most of them had a couple of portapotties and a first aid tent also. The volunteers were, in a word, incredible. There were tons of them in that freezing air, friendly and encouraging and helpful. Lots of races have lots of volunteers but these were the nicest ones I'd ever seen. Gu was distributed at one later station and people along the course offered various fruits and candies and waters. And beer, don't forget that (yes, I did have a couple of sips of that, thank you very much). Even late in the race there were plenty of spectators cheering and supporting the runners (and walkers).

Retrieving our bags went smoothly but remember, we were among the last several thousand of people to get there. It's possible that people finishing in the 3-5 hour range would have had more trouble. Even there the volunteers were friendly and helpful.

After the race I was tired and a bit sore, but elated that I had finished. I was stiff and didn't know if that was because I was still so cold. My lungs hurt more than anything else but I had expected that. My knees felt fine and my back felt fine; I had been worried that the injuries last year would complicate matters but luckily, no. Nothing recently has felt as good as my 20 minutes under a hot shower after the race. It would have been even longer but I needed to collapse on the bed and eat something.

To finish this up backward, the expo was incredible. We took the shuttle bus Friday afternoon and it took forever to get there, damn Chicago rush hour holiday weekend getaway traffic! Due to that we had about 40 minutes to get our stuff and go line up for the return shuttle. We decided we'd have to go back on Saturday and spend time then. It was very quick to get our numbers but then we had to hike through the entire expo to get our shirts, located at the back. I wasn't excited by the shirt. It was a lovely blue tech short sleeve top, but Nike-sized. I think I've stated my preference here for looser tops. And my utter hatred for tight, form-fitting woman-specific race shirts that Nike keeps producing. Yo Nike: not every runner is built like a "runner" and not every runner who is built like a runner likes tight clingy clothes. Sheesh. At least offer a XXL for those of us who like loose shirts.

The cap-sleeved girly shirt, with goody bag contents

Anyhoo, we stopped and bought the throw-away jackets because I've seen that company run out in the past. We also stopped at the area with the marathon-branded clothes and other stuff since I've seen those run out in the past too. I got a nice running hat to add to my collection and a long sleeved top and we left.

Saturday we returned early and since it was so empty we realized how utterly huge the expo was. I'm not certain but I think it had more space and more vendors than the New York expo. Anything running-related and lots of things not running-related could be purchased there. Despite my very good intentions I ended up spending some money. My favorite purchase is perversely something I hope I never have any use for: a knee-specific ice pack from Moji. It not only ices, it compresses. Unlike my dependable frozen corn, you can move around while using it. I tried it on and it felt wonderful, even though my knee wasn't hurting. I wish I had had it when I tumbled during our Alameda run. In fact, I wish I had had one for each knee. I bought a second liner so that I could switch off while one freezes. Again, I hope I wasted money on it and that I never need it.

We all did our part in supporting the vendors at the expo. In addition, I was amazed at how much loot we got for free. The official goody bag didn't have much, but we got tons of other stuff. Considering there were about 35,000 runners and many of them had family and friends attending the expo, there was a lot of swag given out. Below is my haul and remember, I didn't take lots of things I knew I wouldn't use.

freebies, including my favorite yogurt

more freebies

the rest of the swag

Will I run this marathon again? Probably not. If I didn't want to run so many many other fall marathons I would definitely consider a re-run. The race was very well produced, the course interesting, the route fast and easy (comparably), the volunteers fabulous and Chicago is a great city.

Will I run any other marathon? Oh HELL yeah! Despite the cold, despite my lungs, despite my pitiful training regimen, despite the exhaustion, I love running marathons. I would like to improve my condition so that the end isn't so tough and I want to return to the old 9:1 interval, but I want to keep racing. Planning is tough right now; I know I could, at any time, have to rush out and take care of my mom since she's my priority. My spring goal race is Vermont (yes, because of the bears!) but I'd like to run 1 or 2 in-between. I'll let you know as soon as I know!

Happy National Teddy Bear Day!

I had no idea that there was a special day celebrating teddy bears. It's not an official government holiday (... yet!) but since I've seen it in a couple of places, I'll join in spreading the word. Go hug a bear. If you don't have your own I'll let you hug one of mine!