Dear Technology: Thanks!

Guess who got a fancy new watch from the best wife in the world?  Mr. B, that's who!

No longer will I spend time tediously measuring my runs on Google Maps or mapmyrun.com.  Now, I can just let space technology and the intertubes be anal retentive for me.

Thank you, Dr. A!

Mount Diablo Challenge

For the past few weeks I've been thinking about running up the local peak, Mt. Diablo. It keeps sitting there, saying, "Hey, B, I wonder if you can run up me. I'm probably pretty fun. Check me out.". So, Sunday morning was the First Official Brian McFeely Mount Diablo Challenge. 20 miles, 3700 vertical feet. 4 hours 11 minutes. Four Clif Bars. Many salty pretzels. Two tarantula sightings. Booyow.

It's a big, squat mountain, and it was interesting to be on foot moving up it -- it felt just like they say, like moving up the side of a big, sleeping monster. Views were beautiful but smoke from fires in the state obscured the bay. Ms. A and Erin met me at the top and drove me home.

Hi, Liam!

Last weekend we headed up to see David, Linnea, and Liam. This was our first time meeting Liam. He was very cute, very smiley, a very happy kid. Also, pretty farty, so I know we'd get along really well. David and Linnea have a really nice place, in a beautiful neighborhood a few blocks from overlooking Puget Sound. We spent a lot of time outdoors in the sunny weather, eating some great food on their patio.

Saturday was the Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon, followed by beer and lounging in the grass. Sunday we headed to the park, then had to head home.

Of course, there were pictures:

Cheetah yet again

Brian ran his 4th marathon this weekend - the inaugural Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon. He did amazing - not only did he have a PR at 3:37:30, but he maintained an excellent pace the entire race, achieving his first negative split. He was in the top 9% overall and 18% for his division. Not only that but he somehow managed to get on the front page of the Seattle Times this morning. I'm not kidding. It's a bit of a Where's Waldo, but he's there right under the start banner.







Found him yet?






Still can't find him? Here's a cropped picture:


Brian is, indeed, a cheetah.

Why Running Is Rad

As I get my stuff together for a long run in the morning, it's funny to think about what little equipment this sport requires. This is it: shorts, shirt, socks, shoes, Clif bars, iPod, money, ID. Pretty cool.

Mother's Day is Race Day!

McMillerPDX celebrated Mother's day early this time and Saturday morning, B and E accompanied Ms. A to Champoeg State park where she ran the Hippie Chick Half Marathon.  In 2:00:45 (approximately).  Woot!   Christie, from The Condo, completed the quarter marathon and was cheered on by her own Darren, Henry, and Beauty the Wonder Dog.  The coolest thing (and it was perhaps the coolest race I've ever run) was we got a necklace at the end. And mimosas. 

The weather was phenomenal. Sun, warmth, fields of grasses and flowers.  The company was even better.  900 happy, supportive mellow women all running/walking because it feels good to do so.  And the coolest thing was a surprise: Christie found awesome shirts for the kids proclaiming the proclivities of their respective mothers. 

Of course there were pictures: 

Sham Rockin' 2009

This morning Erin, Ash, and I met Christie and Henry for the Shamrock Run, which is an enormous event with something like a bajillion participants.

The little tykes ran-slash-were-carried for the 1K Leprechaun Lap, which they surprisingly enjoyed, given the wind and the rain and the loudspeaker and their adoring fans cheering from the course sidelines.



I kissed my ladies goodbye as they went for warmth and pancake-y sustenance, then I started the 45-minute wait for my 15k to begin. The rain was coming down so hard and so cold I had to queue up ol' reliable on the mental iPod just to keep myself psyched waiting for the race to start. Not a good sign to have to pull out my trump card even before I started running.

Even though Erin pulled her usual I'm-Erin-And-Psychic-And-I-Know-You-Have-A-Race-Tomorrow shtick of two hours crying in the middle of the night, I felt strong and finished 1:10:33. Seriously, this kid has powers -- the last time she was up at night and inconsolable was before the Hagg Lake run last month. I'm like, "Um, Erin, can we negotiate some other schedule? I'll trade you Sunday night for Saturday -- deal?"

The weather was pretty crazy. For about thirty minutes the rain was coming down sideways. I had to take off my hat so it didn't blow off my head -- I saw quite a few people running the wrong way on the course chasing after a hat (and one poor guy who somehow managed to lose his bib). The volunteers keeping cars off the course looked completely soaked. Sort of a heroic job to do on this particular day.

Booyeah! 50K!

Saturday I ran my first 50K, the Hagg Lake Trail Run.



If you happen to live south of the 49th parallel, it's a 31 mile run. It took me 5 hours, 45 minutes.

Last year I did the 25K there, and had such a good time I wanted to do the 50k. It's a beautiful park -- here's the view as I pulled into the parking lot:



It was a tough run -- I was feeling really worn out even before the race. However, by mile 20, I was feeling pretty bad-assed. That is, until I overheard two ultra vets chatting about their 100-mile, 24-hour runs. One laughed to the other self-deprecatingly, "But you know, the only skill needed in this sport is not stopping." Hmm, touché.

I took my time. It was hard to been on my feet for so long. However, I was able to pace myself enough to have kick left for the last mile and to finish with a smile on my face. It occurred to me that we should be so lucky with any of our endeavors.

Portland Marathon

This morning was the Portland Marathon. Weather was nice and cool, a little misty. Ash and Erin braved the rain and cheered heartily.



I wasn't planning on running, but four weeks ago I got the bug to run, signed up, and then commenced my patented "wing-and-a-prayer" training program. Really, I should write a book, something like "The Half-assed Guide to Non-competitive Running". My time was a non-heroic 4:13:30, but I really enjoyed being a part of the run.



Thanks to Ang, who ran with me most of the way (she kindly slowed a crawl to do so).

Hood To Coast 2008

This Friday and Saturday was Hood to Coast, a 197-mile relay race. Sounds pretty impressive, but with a team of 12 people splitting up the miles, the really hard thing is staying up all night. 12,000 people (from 1,000 teams) pass along the route over 36 hours. Our team started at 5:30pm Friday at Timberline on Mount Hood, and finished on the beach at Seaside at 7pm Saturday.

The teams are split into two vans of six people each. Greg and I were in a van with four extremely fit women wearing small running clothes. We were famous. I felt like we were roadies for some popular grrrl band. Everyone was checking out the women on the team and Greg and I were like, "Um, yeah, we're with them -- we're with the band."



John, Ash, and Erin met us at the beach for beers, food, and a ride home.  Thanks, drivers!  

It was a great race -- good weather, a really friendly team, fast running.

Go, Magic Pony!

Ash and I ran in a marathon relay this weekend with friends Becky and Ang.  It was a big day, with hundreds of other people picnicking, listening to the bands, playing in the bouncy castle, getting faces painted, drinking beer.  Oh yeah, and running.

Our team had the fear-inducing name "Magic Pony".  It's all about the mind games.  

Here's Ash finishing her third lap with our talisman, the Magic Pony.  Please note that without the sweatbands she is not completely wearing the required uniform.  She claims it was an oversight.

Here's me and Erin in the bouncy castle.  I love bouncy castles.  It's nice having Erin, because the staff let me in when I lie, "Oh, yeah, my nine-month-old daughter really, really wants to go in.  Really." Erin loved it.  She totally went bananas.