Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Dream Diary

I dreamt I was trying to get to a destination. I can't remember where it was, or maybe in my dream the destination was never revealed to me. I was traversing a trail up a mountain, and it began to snow. I lost the trail and turned back, and saw a guy on another trail that I had not seen, paralleling the trail I was on. We chatted for a few minutes and he told me that the trail he was on would get to the place I was going, but it skirted the mountain and the lower elevation allowed for the abscence of snowy conditions.

I reached a point where the trail ended, and there were several guys on a treasure hunt. They were looking for a fortune that had been lost and believed they knew the location. We spoke for a few minutes comparing ideas and then I continued my journey.

The trail ended at a body of water that was man made. It was like a big lake, surrounded by a kind of shopping center or mall; similar to the Streets of Tanasbourne or Bridgeport, some upscale stores in the Portland area with an open, 'village' setting.

To get to the stores, I needed to swim. The water was bitterly, bone chilling cold but the clarity was amazing. I could see every detail down to the bottom. It was filled with all kinds of tropical fish that were amazing colors - I remember clearly one fish that was as big as a Volkswagen with blue and yellow stripes. There was another fish that had a horn like a unicorn, it had big brown eyes like a deer.

There was a concrete ledge about 20 feet below me. There were two guys walking along on the ledge (it was about 15 feet wide) talking animatedly. They seemed to be friends, and were wearing what appeared to be medieval clothing. I could hear their voices but not understand the words.

Soon I arrived at the stores, and pulled myself out of the water. I was so cold and my teeth were chattering as I stood outside a restaurant. A waiter came out, he was dressed all in white with a white apron. I asked him if I could have an extra apron to dry off with. He said, sure and walked back into the restaurant...

...and then I woke up.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Mid Year Race Report

The Shamrock Run is the traditional season opener for the Portland area racing community. This year was a big dog deal is it was the 30th anniversary of the event!

This year saw 16,000+ participants -The event achieved its fourth consecutive attendance record and had an incredible 45% increase over last year's record total of 11,000 runners and walkers!

It's a fun race as a lot of people dress up in goofy costumes. I showed an admirable restraint and ran in normal running gear. It was quite cold, but not raining which in Portland is a bonus, especially so early in the year. I ran well and felt good. The course was incredibly crowded and as I maneuvered through the throngs. At one point I hopped a curb and almost lost my balance. I stumbled and instinctively put my hands out in front of me. Unfortunately my left hand landed on the buttocks of a young lady. Out of the corner of her eye she had seen me stumble so my appalled apologies were accepted gracefully and I finished the race without further incident....except the parking.

I like to be early for a race, and the Shamrock was no exception. I found a parking place a block away from the start line. I was able to sit in my truck with the heater on and enjoy a half hour of visualizing myself striding across the finish line with my chest like the prow of a battleship breaking the tape as I stride across in first place, 3 minutes ahead of the second place finisher. In reality my stomach crosses the finish line before my mighty chest. Anyway, I digress. My strategic parking led to my inability to egress the downtown area! Runners still on the course blocked all potential exits. Oh well, I had picked up the newspaper on my way out the door and had another peaceful half hour of waiting with the heater on as I waited to cross the course.


Next up was the Race for the Roses. The website claims that:

"Portland is a town of two halves, one part cosmopolitan quirkiness, the other active outdoorsiness. The same could be said of those of us who live in and around it. For years, this locally run race has allowed runners to exercise both halves in the name of an outstanding, local, cause: Albertina Kerr Centers. Come experience why Race for the Roses has become a must-do event on the Northwest running calendar."

While not as quirky as the Shamrock, it's still a great race that goes over two Portland bridges, the Broadway and Steel bridges. It's cool to see the views, and I mean that literally in the sense of both visual and temperature purposes! It was quite windy on the Broadway bridge, to the point of being quite chilly. Off the bridges and on the streets though it was comfortable. I saw a few friends, and it was a much smaller race. I suppose one quirk is that every finisher gets a medal, and a rose! The tables of cut roses were beautiful to behold.

My next race was one of my favorite events of the year, the Pole Pedal Paddle relay race. This year was memorable for two significant reasons.

First was the heat. It was the hottest race I believe in the 32 year history of the race. It was 85 degrees at the top of Mt. Bachelor and the snow was very slushy. I learned a new term, our downhill skier called it a 'yard sale' as the slope was littered with skis and poles. At the transition from the downhill ski to the skate ski, I watched a poor young lady fall about 10 times in a 15-20 yard stretch!


The second was that yours truly blew the transition from the skate ski to the cycling (my event). I have never, ever missed a transition but I suppose their is a first time for everything. Our skier, when arriving at the transition and not seeing me, left the transition area to look for me. I must have missed him by no more than 5 minutes, and ended up waiting for him not knowing he had been there already. It blew our overall time, but I was pissed and rode very agressively to make up as much time as I could, even knowing that there was no way to recapture our estimated time. The anger and adrenaline gave me a great ride. I flew by the other cyclists on the course at the same time as me like a TDF rider on HGH.

It was 95 degrees at the finish line with no shade! After a few beers we were a team again, and all was forgiven. But I still feel bad!

I once was lost...

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