{"id":41059,"date":"2022-10-03T16:18:34","date_gmt":"2022-10-03T20:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.runkevinrun.com\/?p=41059"},"modified":"2022-10-03T16:18:34","modified_gmt":"2022-10-03T20:18:34","slug":"mud-mountain-dam-marathon-october-2-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/?p=41059","title":{"rendered":"Mud Mountain Dam Marathon – October 2, 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Tacom-again? \u00a0Just another strong start and really rough finish.<\/p>\r\n

It’s a long way from one corner of the continetal United States to the other. \u00a0And this weekend’s trip was made all the longer as we had endured the build up and fallout of Hurricane Ian down in Florida (and beyond). \u00a0On the plus side, we were amongst the lucky ones — minimal tree damages and flooding and we kept power the whole time. \u00a0This is a marked contrast to the tragedies of Puerto Rico and the coastal cities. \u00a0But it still took a toll.<\/p>\r\n

This was always going to be a whirlwind trip — an early morning flight to Seattle, a quick packet pickup, and a snoozle before the marathon on Sunday morning. \u00a0I still tried to make some time for a few detours off the beaten path…<\/p>\r\n

Here’s a view of Mount Hood from the plane. \u00a0At least, I think that’s Hood and not Rainier. \u00a0It’s one of them.<\/p>\r\n

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The packet pickup at Fleet Feet was smaller than I anticipated. \u00a0But then the whole event was going to be smaller than I expected. \u00a0Last Initial “H” and I’m bib number 28. \u00a0The frequency of surnames would imply there’s well under 100 in registered for this thing.<\/p>\r\n

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Tacoma was apparently “founded,” “supported” or maybe “exploited” by a slick salesman<\/a> — and here’s a statue honoring that. \u00a0Me? \u00a0I thought it was a 2020s art installation representing “Pre-Pandemic Man” – because shaking hands is SO 2019…<\/p>\r\n

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Amongst the other fables Tacoma statuary — this fish story which packs a wallop. \u00a0Guy catches fish, shows it to his lady friend who swoons. \u00a0Or perhaps proves herself the put-upon friend who “reassures” the man. \u00a0Smelled a little off to me.<\/p>\r\n

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Speaking of being a little off — I felt the Museum of Glass in downtown Tacoma had missed a signage opportunity in its gift shop. \u00a0I mean, isn’t this location just begging for a “You Break It, You Bought It… for $1.75 million.” \u00a0I suppose most of the merchant wasn’t THAT pricey, but it certainly wasn’t going to be cheap to let a bull run through the place, ya know?<\/p>\r\n

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But this is a running blog, not a glass blog so quick recap of the 26.2 mile journey:<\/p>\r\n

If I was supposed to get 40 winks the night before a race, I think I may have cumulatively put together 0.3 winks. \u00a0Just a restless, sleepless passage of time before my 4:30 AM wakeup. \u00a0We had to park at a local middle school and then be bused to the starting line. \u00a0They only needed two school buses to transport us all… and even then there was ample social distancing. \u00a0I still wore a mask… as did six other people. \u00a0The magnificent seven ride!<\/p>\r\n

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Like I said, a small field at the starting line…<\/p>\r\n

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So small that I was running 3rd place for the first 15-18 miles (jockeying for place a few times but consistently running third).<\/p>\r\n

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It was as I said, a strong start to the race… that would quickly fall off in the final third.<\/p>\r\n

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Many, many people passed me as I slowed to a walk or struggled ahead. \u00a0Was it soreness from picking up downed tree branches in Florida? \u00a0Yeah, there were some aches and pains from that because those are muscles I don’t normally use. \u00a0But that’s just an excuse. \u00a0It was as all races have been this year — just a lack of consistency in running 26.2 miles. \u00a0The Pre-Pandemic Kevin, who could shake hands and had been running a marathon almost every weekend, had built up his endurance, recovery, and repeat muscles. \u00a0But these days I’m all over the map with mileage, pacing, and endurance. \u00a0And it has taken a toll — I’m just not as fast or as strong as I used to be.<\/p>\r\n

But there is a plan in the works to try and regroup. \u00a0So I tell myself. \u00a0With Boston 2023 looming, I’d like to put together a training regimen that provides a better foundation for the run. \u00a0I’ve said that before but this feels like I stand before the Rubicon and have to decide whether to cross or not.<\/p>\r\n

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Onward.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

***<\/p>\r\n

FYI – This race was SOOOOOO small…<\/p>\r\n

(HOW SMALL WAS IT?)…<\/p>\r\n

It was so small that I came in FIRST in my age group…<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tacom-again? \u00a0Just another strong start and really rough finish. It’s a long way from one corner of the continetal United States to the other. \u00a0And this weekend’s trip was made all the longer as we had endured the build up and fallout of Hurricane Ian down in Florida (and beyond). \u00a0On the plus side, we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41059"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41115,"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41059\/revisions\/41115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}