There I was sitting in a parking lot, knowing what I needed to do, but not sure if I had the guts to do it. Finally, after mustering the courage, I got out of my car, walked into the Goodwill, and started looking for a skirt for the next week’s race. I knew there would be “men in skirts” at Hagg Lake 50k, and I wanted to be one among their number. I found the skirt I was looking for, and with some trepidation I went to go try it on. Now at this store, you have to be let into the dressing rooms by someone with a key. I attempted to explain myself to the man in charge of the dressing rooms, but if\t was of no avail; he obviously didn’t believe it was a one-time use kind of thing. When I finally got to try on the red-plaid-pleated skirt, it fit well. I was glad; I didn’t want to go back out there and look for another skirt. On my way towards the counter, a good half dozen women asked me if the skirt fit. With a smile, I was able to reply yes, and then I started to pass by the skirt rack where I had originally picked out the skirt. Now there had been this woman there giving me an odd look as I had been picking out the skirt, but now she spoke up and asked, “Did you go to Westside Christian High school?”
I was horrified at being recognized while picking out the skirt, but I still had to reply, “Yes.”
“Are you Melody Lawson’s little brother, Tim?” she inquired.
She even knew my name! I have never been so embarrassed in my life, but I tried to explain my way out of it, and by the end of our conversation, she decided it was “for a good cause” and went on to tell me that she wasn’t sure what to think of this guy she recognized from a Christian High school trying on a skirt. I got out of there quickly, paid 5 bucks for the skirt and made my escape. Next time I need to go buy a skirt, I’m going to bring a girl with me; it’ll be less embarrassing.
-Part Two- Hagg Lake 50k (in a skirt)
Steve “Marathon Freak” Walters and I got to Hagg Lake about 45min before the race start. I wasn’t yet brave enough to don the skirt until I saw others in them also. As soon as we got down to the pavilion where we were to pick up our race packets, I saw Mike “Bushwhacker” Burke wearing his skirt, a little hot pink skirt with matching gaiters. Ha Ha. After seeing him and a few others, I decided it was time for me to finally show off my skirt. I got changed in the car, and on my way back down to the pavilion, I received quite a few compliments on my skirt.
Now the funniest thing happened while I was there; Olga came up behind me before the race start, lifted up the back of the skirt, and looked underneath to make sure I was wearing something else also. I was caught completely off guard but it was absolutely hilarious. Most simply asked if I was wearing anything.
As the start of the race neared, all the runners gathered around and all the “men in skirts” were pulled to the front for judging who looked the best. I have to say, there was no contest; one of the guys showed up in a full out granny dress and fake teeth. He looked so bad that he was immediately everyone’s favorite.
The race started, and we could not have asked for better weather:
Sunny, 35degrees at the start, and about 55 at the finish.
Technical trail, muddy in parts, lots of little hills.
In spite of having “stupidly” injured myself the day before, I has pulled a tendon in the arch of my foot, I ran fairly hard during the start. After about 10 miles, my foot was bothering me pretty bad, so I slowed way down until I got to the second loop. I ran virtually the entirety of the second loop around the loop with Carrie White. I was in pain and didn’t want to slow down too much, so running with her forced me to push a little. My biggest concern at the race was to finish injury free, I guess it was a little late considering I didn’t even start injury free, but I got through the race in a time of 6:01:17 without severely aggravating the injury.
-Part Three- Yours Truly 50k (on a treadmill)
Still tired and sore from the previous day’s adventure, Steve and I went over to 24hour Fitness to run a treadmill 50k. I can see how treadmill races have the potential of being incredibly fast, as long as you didn’t run a 50k the day before. We were able to keep an eye on exactly how fast the other is running, and how much you lead or trail by.
For the majority of the race, I was between three-quarters and a full mile behind Steve, but I passed him up with about 10min left. My splits were:5k ----- 34:02 ----- 10:59 min/mile pace
10k ----- 1:06:46 ----- 10:46 min/mile pace
Half Marathon ----- 2:21:06 ----- 10:46 min/mile pace
25k halfway! ----- 2:46:36 ----- 10:43 min/mile pace
Marathon ----- 4:41:15 ----- 10:44 min/mile pace
50k ----- 5:28:26 ----- 10:34 min/mile pace
I ran the second half 4:46 faster than the first half, most of which I made up in the last 3 miles averaging about an 8:30 min/mile.
I would have probably been able to run faster if I had real food with me, but we were trying to be discreet about hogging the treadmills for 5 ½ hours, so all I had was a couple bottles of diluted GU20 and a couple bottles of PowerAde and a single Hammer Gel, not exactly the best way to run a 50k, but at least I survived.Thankfully, because of the way the internationally run Yours Truly 50k is held, this run will count as a run for me, I doubt I will ever do this again unless it counts as a race, but I’m sure I will be running some treadmill races in the future.
-Part Four- Post Races
Monday I went for a three-mile walk, and then later that afternoon, I went for an easy 7mile jog to get my legs moving and the blood circulating. I’m still nursing that foot, and during the Hagg Lake 50k I tweaked an ankle, which I aggravated on the treadmill at Yours Truly. Right now, I am wearing a ProTech Ankle Wrap to help speed up recovery. I’ve also been icing my foot to help further that cause. I am no longer sore, just slightly injured, and I need to recover fast; I’m now entering into my taper for the Pacific Rim 24hour Race, and I need to be healthy for the race.
