This is for any of you out there interested in my crazy (yes! I said crazy!) review of my most recent to date 50 mile expedition:

Well, Friday the 4th found us (Glenn, Chris Rios and me) on the road to Sacramento for the annual American River 50 mile endurance run. Oh, in case you're wondering . . . Glenn was our driver and golf player. We encountered rain on the way up and rain while we were picking up our race packets. But then it started to clear up and ended being a loverly day (yes, I did mean "loverly"). Chris had his heart set on eating out at Chevy's ( a yummy Mexican restaurant chain) so after relaxing at the Motel for a spell we headed out to fuel up. Well, believe it or not, Mr. Chris ordered a nice frothy beer for his pre-race fuel - beverage of choice - and they insisted on carding him. Now for those of you who don't know Chris, he is the president of our running club and will be turning 61 this year. He has beautiful white hair and a white, white beard. And while he has an awesome pair of legs (that might pass for 20 years old) I think the hair and beard give him away. Anyway, they wouldn't budge on it, even after calling the manager, so we opted for El Torrito's so he could indulge in his pre-race drink.

Anyway, race morning dawned clear, crispy and beautiful. A race perfect day! Four of us Ridgecrestites huddled at the start trying to figure out how much of our clothing we were or were not going to need. Then we were off.

This was one GREEN course. Kinda hard on the eyes after being around brown so much, but I managed to get used to it real quick. The first 30 miles turned out to be pretty flat and fast (as they say) but I call it flat and brutal. By the time we got to some of MY kind of terrain - DIRT! - my knees were in noticeable pain and the fun was virtually over. From there on out it was a game (if that's what you wanna call it) of grunting, wincing, tearing, grimacing, hobbling, scooting and hiking to the finish.

The scenery was spectacular along the river and I tried to keep that in mind, but my mind had a hard time with the mind over matter mentality 'cause it was really mattering! D*mn*t!! But before you go thinking I am too crazy, I gotta tell you I hiked the last 3 miles in (the "Last Gasp" hill) with this dude that had completed this event 24 freak'in times!!!! And there was another lady that had finished earlier in the day that had done the same thing!!!! Now THESE are the people I wonder about!

Anyway, I think I managed to make it look like I was running the last 100 yards in or so for an 11 hr 50 min finish. I was initially a bit disappointed 'cause up until my knees wouldn't allow any more running I was on my target for a projected 10:30 finish. However, I had had miles and miles to work through those thoughts so by the time I finished I was just glad it was over. AR gives a finishers jacket to all those who finish and wouldn't you know it - they "ran out" of my size. Hmmmm . . . that's interesting, since I turned in my app months ago. Some "thieving", "undeserving" (cause she hadn't endured my level of pain) chick probably got it. Oh well, maybe it'll be all the sweeter when it comes in the mail.

My fellow Ridgecrestites were already at the finish line cheering me through. Chris had had a spectacular run (musta been the pre-race brew) and finished in 11:20 with Mitch and Randy coming in together at 11:44.

And just incase you're wondering . . . . NO! I will not be going back to AR. I have decided once-n-for-all that I'm sticking to the mountains for my running adventures. No more bike paths. No more pavement. (Oh! except for my aspirations of Badwater next year).

The hot tub at the hotel that night was MAH-vah-lous!! The trip back on Sunday FLEW by! I slept almost all the way! And the fish tacos at Chewy's in Bakersfield were wonderful!!

I did experience a spectacular recovery. Almost no soreness whatsoever, just the crippling, painful knees. However, today is 3 days after and they are well on their way to recovery. Lots of ice and massaging.

The following link has some pictures of me during the run.  http://www.brightroom.com/me.asp?1985619 (These pictures may not be here too long)  I'm making it look easy. Don't be deceived! You gotta look good for the camera, ya know!

Happy Trails!! Lisa

Check out Chris' pictures at:  http://www.brightroom.com/me.asp?1985622

I was really glad to say I finally qualified for Boston on my fourth try.  My run at the Cape Cod Marathon in Oct. 2002 was the best race I have had to date at the marathon distance.  I figure that is pretty good that at 50 I was actually able to run faster than my first marathon 20 years ago, the First Annual Ridgecrest Marathon.  However my Boston Marathon, 2 days shy of 20 years since my first marathon, more closely resembled my first.

I was expecting cool temps and showers the weather man was predicting for the race.  But actually the day was sunny and gorgeous.  I got to sleep in and Betty dropped me off at the Hopkinton Park at 9 am for a bus ride to the start about 3 miles away.  This was much better than getting up at 5 am to drive to Boston to then turn around and catch the 6:30 bus to the start line for a noon start.  Having visited the Boston several times over the past two years made it much easier to get around.

Boston is incredibly organized and the spectators are incredible.  The legends of Wellesly Women is true but Boston College students also put on a rousing cheer as you go by.

I had a good run in Boston but it was not a great day for me.  Its sad when a desert runner forgets his Succeed capsules for warm weather and ends up getting pretty dehydrated.  But that was my biggest mistake.  But the trip was well worth it.  Fortuneatly I felt good when I got to Natick, the 10 mile point of the race, that I was able to do a cabriolle for Emily and her ballet classmates.  Not quite as good as most of the male dancers at her school, but I felt it was fair for a 51 year old runner, at 10 miles of a run.

The highlight of the adventure though was Betty, Emily and her classmates made the center color page of the Boston Herald newspaper the next day.  Betty was holding a poster for me and the newspaper photographer took their picture and names for a little paragraph.  So Ridgecrest made the Tuesday Boston Herald.

So that is the report from the 2003 Boston Marathon.  The Ridgecrest Tom Miller 4:09:05.