Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Space Cadet Reporting In

Sonya and I went out for a run this morning for the first time in quite a while. She had to take a little time off after Portland to deal with her ITB, and then she went off on a long vacation, then we had snow and didn't run. Needless to say, we had a lot to talk about. In fact, we talked so much I forgot an entire mile loop of our run! Sonya was planning to run five and I was going eight, so after we swung back past my neighborhood I continued on. About 10 minutes later, I realized we had left off part of the route. I wasn't too sure about the mileage so I decided to run a longer loop than my original plan so I'd be sure to get eight miles in. I ended up with 8.5. Somehow, in my muddled post-run state I was feeling really bummed about this, I'm not quite sure where my brain was at, but I thought I'd run short. I showered and ate and rushed off to work, where I finally came to my senses and realized that I was over my mileage for the day, not under. What a goofball!

This morning I met with one of the media instructors at the campus and we went to visit a preschool. He filmed about five minutes of me talking about the program, then filmed the kids at play. His class produces a half hour TV program that is aired on an obscure cable channel in our area. Our program will be featured in a five minute segment in January and it will be aired four different times. I'll be a TV star! Of course, only the channel surfers will see it. I'm home now for a brief break, then it's off to the monthly staff meeting, home again for an hour or two, then back to campus to teach a two hour evening class. After next week, things will slow way down at work for a couple of weeks. I'll probably spend most of the winter break working from home, which will be nice.

WS100 planning is well under way. Rob and Steve have both volunteered to be Eric's pacers and help me crew (and navigate). We are going down early to visit friends, then to all the pre-race clinics and the race, and then, my personal favorite, a tour of the wine country and traveling up the coast to come home. We are stretching it into a nice vacation. An old friend, Bob, is going to meet us in California to help crew as well. He was one of the people who helped start the Y Run Club, and was one of my favorite running partners till he moved to Kentucky a couple of years ago. I'm really looking forward to seeing him. We are not lacking for offers of support help for this race - what we are lacking in is car space for everyone who'd like to help out. Right now my car is full and I believe we are only allowed one car per runner.

This is going to be a big adventure and I am going to enjoy every minute. Eric will be doing a lot of training over the next six months and I have a feeling we'll be heading to trails and races that will be new to us. It's going to be fun!

17 comments:

Wes said...

I won't take up any space, since I'll be virtual ;-)

Olga said...

I am jealous, I want to be a aprt of Eric's kick-ass WS! I'll be virtual too, hopefully helpful enough to be considered a crew:)

Sarah said...

Says a lot about you and Eric to have so many friends who want to help out! : ) I'm certainly looking forward to hearing all about the journey and hopefully we'll cross paths somewhere along the way.

Unknown said...

Eric will be running so he won't be out on the course. That leaves 4 of us in the car. We'll be fine and if it gets crowded you can kick me out and I'll run to the next aid station.

Anonymous said...

Hey TV Star...Ya I can see it now WHO is that CREW in the Stretch LIMO...OH that Is ERIC's Crew---LOL

Sounds like U have a great START to your Game Plan -- Look Forward to Following this Journey!

and Thanks Michelle for your FOOD post :)

Bob

Anonymous said...

Oh #2, just another adventure! It'll be so much fun! Hopefully great weather too. CA. Wine country is fantastic! I'm a bit jealous and will sign up as virtual crew--you'll need some more female to balance out all those crazy males you''ll be couped up with for so long! Who is going to keep you sane! Hey- I got it, I'll be YOUR crew! I'll get Sonja too!!! :)
#1

Anonymous said...

You were already a celebrity in my book. That's great news about Eric getting into the WS100. A great opportunity and an unforgettable experience. Hope you both make the most of it. Give him my best wishes.

tryathlete said...

WS100 sounds like fun - well, not so much for Eric, maybe, as it is for the fans who track the progress of both runner and crew.

Did you plug for Eric while doing the video?

Anonymous said...

WS100 will be a fantastic experience, but make sure to stop Rob from attempting to sneak into the course early.

Anonymous said...

Never a dull moment!

This is going to be a fun 6 months to "watch." :)

Joe said...

Give my best to Sonya, please, Michelle...glad to hear she's back at it!!

We're gonna enjoy the WS prep!! Wow!

Anne said...

No wonder we seem to "connect." I lose track of time and pace when I talk and run too!

runliarun said...

You are blessed to have so many friends.

Envious in NM

Anonymous said...

So when is your WS100, maniac #402?

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a fun filled day.

Legs and Wings said...

All the details will iron out. You've got 6 exciting months to fiddle with your plan and I get the impression that you are the ultimate planner...unless of course you get distracted - and, like forget how many miles you ran.

Anonymous said...

Michelle, don't worry so much about mileage ... if you get hung up on that, you'll forget to enjoy the run and company. Isn't that why we do this stuff anyway? Forget about the numbers!

RE: WS. I don't think there is a one car limit unless something has changed. I was down there only once as a crew memeber. One crew spot is Dusty Corners. They recommend not going there unless you have two crews because it's so far from the previous crewing spot. (it is, we missede our runner by 10 minutes but I got to see Olga come in so it wasn't all loss). Anyway, that would imply that you would have to have two cars - for two crews that is. Anyway, it'll be fun no matter how you work it.

*tc