Hob-knobbing...

It has been a long and exhausting week. In an effort to combat the impact of this economy, I've taken a second job. So now I am working 6 days a week (4 full days, 2 half days). I haven't worked this much in the last 5 years and it's going to be a bit of an adjustment for me as I get used to getting up at 4:30 every morning. I did manage to get all my workouts done last week. I moved a few things around and didn't always go as long as I would have liked, but it was a good training week and we capped it off with a half marathon race this morning.

It's hard to get worked up over a half marathon. SkirtChaser and I were both laughing over the hoards of people who were.... freaking out over splits at mile 2... sounding like they were dying as they pushed the pace way to hard in the first 3 miles... etc, etc, etc. What struck me most about the race is how fast the miles flew by. Literally every time I blinked another mile marker was going by. Not that I didn't feel those miles, but compared to a 12 hour Ironman, this was a walk in the park. As usual I went out too hard (7:00 for the first mile... oops) and died at mile 6. I was able to finish in 1:43 which I was happy with since my only real goal was sub-1:45.

I think the best part of the day was meeting some American icons. Skirt Chaser's store carries one of the major sponsors (Sugoi) so we scored some VIP passes. This allowed us into a restricted area in the morning to stay warm pre-race, and into a special breakfast/ recovery area post-race. We got to meet the following super-stars:

1. Senator John McCain. Enough said. I was so excited to meet him and he was very friendly and personable. He was the emcee for both full and half marathon so he got to give the start signal. I was wearing my pink vintage Marathon Dress and knee-high socks which I had converted to arm warmers. They had a fluffy white cuff on them. I'm sure I looked fabulous in the photo we posed for!

2. Deena Kastor. Olympic bronze medalist, Athen's marathon and American record holder for the marathon. She is an inspiration to female runners everywhere. And she is soooo tiny!

3. Ryan Hall. Olympic marathoner and American record holder in the 1/2 marathon. Won the Olympic marathon trials in NYC prior to the Beijing games.

4. Matt Reid. Olympic triathlete. He won at least 8 major triathlons last year (including Oceanside) and placed 3rd (first American) at Clearwater (70.3 World Championships).

5. Dean Karnazes. OK, I didn't actually have a conversation with him, but it went like this: he comes walking up the stairs in the VIP pre-race area and I see him. My jaw drops. He says "good morning" to me as he walks by. I was completely speechless. Argh! Dean is THE ultramarathon man. He is host of the Boston 2 Big Sur Marathon Challenge this April so I am hoping to have my tongue back from the cat before we meet him again. He is a lot smaller than I imagined him. Probably because he seems so larger-than-life. He really is built like a runner, though for whatever reason I have always envisioned him more like a football player-turned- runner. And, yes, Ladies. He is hot.