A Strange Season

Glenda personifies the current oddness of life

Since my last installment, pretty much everything that was on the calendar for 2020 was cancelled...but that doesn't mean we just gave up.  Sometimes you have to embrace the strange and do what you can with it. So this blog is a catching up for this strange season an there will be more focused posts going forward. I think it mainly goes to show that life changes, but at least for me the REALLY important things haven't stopped (just maybe gone a bit virtual).

VIRTUAL VACATION SHENANIGANS

In June, we took a virtual running cruise to Alaska!  It was appropriate, since Alaska is one of our favorite places to go...and running cruises are one of our favorite ways to travel.  The "trip" included a FaceBook page where there were several activities such as telling jokes on hump day and karaoke on friday as well as just general sharing.  

We definitely went all in on the jokes...here's an example

There was also Karaoke and other photos and videos. 

And at the end of the cruise we got an "Oscar" for all our shenanigans...and Shenanigans Studios was born.  (A bit more on that later)

And of course there were virtual races.

The first virtual Alaska was the Moosehead 5k.  We repped for Bullwinkle Moose's alma mater (and it was my latest 5k so far this season)

Who better for a treasure hunt than a pirate and a prospector

A couple of well-fed Ravens (in honor of the Skinny Raven running store in Anchorage) ran a trail predictor race the "Ward Lake Loop"

Claiming to be "Fittish" for the final 5k 

MORE VIRTUAL RACES (AND ONE REAL ONE!)

Besides the Alaska Races, there have been a number of other virtual races including a Summer series put on by some of the same people that do the Virtual (and real, when it is possible) running cruises.  As such they each had a different way to win the race, which I find very appealing. 

The Summer 5 x 5k series

Race #1 was a patriotic themed "treasure hunt" that we did on July 4. (I also added on to complete the Have a Blast 4-miler)

Race #2 was the Lemonade 5k...a prediction race (I never predict well!) So of course we were lemony!

Race #3 was the Ice Cream 5k, to win you had to have the median time.  I was slower and Glenda was faster, but we definitely had the ice cream gear

Race #4  The Lightning But was all about speed (and Glenda won!)...we ran in at dusk with firefly skirts and blinking lights

And finally, race #5...the Roller Coaster.  Cue the hills, the rollercoaster skirt and the silly shirts

Plus 2 Virtual 5ks, a Du and a Tri (or 2)

Also in the last couple of months, I did a couple of other virtual 5ks which appealed to me, the 2nd in my progressive Du series, and a Virtual Triathlon that replace a travel race slated for October.  I also did another tri, but I'll talk about that later. 

On July 13 I did my second du of the year, one I completely made up, based on one I did years ago...The Suellen's a Tough Cookie Du

On July 28, I repped for Wisconsin in the Big Ten Network 5k, a race I've been meaning to do for awhile that was virtual this year

On August 7, I completed the Ramblin' Rose Virtual Tri (250 yds/9 mile bike/2 mile run) which took the place of the race I was to have done in Chapel Hill, NC.  Incidentally, I got one of my favorite run pictures of the year so far

August 18, 2020 was the hundredth anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment "Women's Suffrage" ...I ran a 5k to honor the day.

And a racetastrophy

And then there was the real life Du that wasn't.  I signed up for the Screw City Du months and months ago.  It was actually held on the 26th of July (after a postponement from May).  There were lots of precautions in place and masks were required except while actually racing.  The day came and the heat index at the 8 am start was over 90 degrees and the heat was oppressive.  By the end of the first run I knew it wasn't my day...so I dropped to the 2 mile run option.  Probably my worst race day ever. 

Masks and medals at the hottest race(s) ever

A BIG BIRTHDAY REIMAGINED

On July 8, 2020 my Mom turned 90 years old.  Originally we had planned for a big party, but COVID-19 put a stop to that. So the family "divided and conquered" to come together

The birthday girl on her 90th...doesn't she look great?

First came the "card shower" before the birthday...she got cards and letters from many.  There were signs in her yard and on her door into the hall in her condo. 

On the day of her birthday, my son's family brought candy and the girls made a giant card, my brother and his wife brought her a steak dinner, and later we stopped by with cake. 

A few days later there was a firetruck parade, photos, another cake and a family Zoom meeting with special guest appearances by several old friends and co-workers. After all of this Mom declared herself more than sufficiently celebrated.

SUCKING IT UP FOR MY KIDDO

On July 21, 2020 my daughter. Melanie was scheduled for back surgery to extend her spinal fusion.  She was allowed one support person and I was elected.  

I hadn't been able to see Mel for some time as for several weeks her group home was being very careful about visitors. But once the surgery was scheduled, I attended her last two pre-op appointments. I also spent the night in a hotel the night before the surgery and sat in the hospital most of the day of surgery.

I was glad to do those things for her, but the anxiety about these visit was pretty overwhelming. 

Pre-surgery photo in her stylish chapeau. After a month, she is healing well, through inpatient rehab and back home.  Surgery appears to have been a success.

TAKING A CHANCE WITH A SHORT TRIP

We had MANY trips cancelled this year.  One of them was a trip with our granddaughters and their parents to Branson, MO in July.  At that point the virus was high in our area and blowing up in that area of Missouri/Arkansas, and none of us was comfortable with the trip.  

So we decided that we needed to try to find something safer.  We settled on a big house in Door County, WI with amenities that meant that we didn't have to interact with the rest of the world any more than we wanted. We were fortunately able to be quite certain that no one had the virus before we went.

There was fishing both in Sturgeon Bay (directly behind the house) and the stocked swimming/and fishing pond in the front of the house. 

Fisher Ellie

Fisher Maeve

Some of the fisher crew

Swimming was another favorite activity

The pond had a floating dock

And we put on our own triathlons,  one for us and one for the kids

Ellie finishes the tri

Maeve dashes to the finish

Glenda and I preparing to start our tri

And of course, there were s'more...because, s'mores!

S'mores!

BECOMING UNRETIRED

About 18 months ago I announced my retirement from adjunct teaching,  mostly because helping to deal with all of Melanie's issues before, during and after her major bladder surgery was consuming. Between that and our athletic and travel pursuits I couldn't really give my work the time and energy it deserved.  But I really never fully adjusted to being retired, I frankly did not like it.

Once Melanie was settled not quite a year ago, I told just one school (that I'd been adjunct for for almost 9 years at that point), that I might be willing to teach again. I early August they contacted me to see if I would teach a class...and by the time all was said and done I was teaching two, and have been assigned two more for the Spring. 

MORE SHENANIGANS AHEAD!

So what's next?  Lots of things.  For instance starting August 30 we will be doing another virtual cruise...this time Hawaii! And there will be more videos and races and general goofiness. All of our videos are now "credited" to Shenanigans Studios, an idea born in the wake of our Alaska videos. 

Weather or not?

Ragnar Chicago to Madison was  coming up when I started thinking about this blog post.  The number of times I had checked the weather for those two days  approached 2 billion and 12. Not that I could do anything about it.  I think it is just something runners do. And in the end we had surprises anyway.

But as I was checking the weather for the 49th time one day, I got to thinking about the times that weather really did create a race day ruckus. 

I have run in heat and rain and wind.  But probably the weather that has created the most havoc for me running is snow. 

So this is the story of the only two races that were ever cancelled in all the races we have done...one of which we found a replacement for and one of which we didn't...both in 2013. 

The first was shortly before Easter in Colorado. 

The view from the "replacement race" in March 2013

As always we watched the weather closely before we left and we knew there was a "slight" chance of some snow and that if it was icy the race, ironically called the Spring Fever 5k/10k,  would be cancelled. The closer to the day we came, the higher the chances of significant snow became.  But being the hearty (or perhaps foolhardy) folks that we are we headed north from Texas anyway. It was sunny when we arrived, and we dared to hope that the, by now dire, weather reports were wrong.  But by late afternoon the snow had started and there was ice accumulation and by evening the race had been cancelled.  

I was reconciled to the fact that I might have to do Colorado later, but Glenda was not.  She started digging for other races in the area.  She even looked at some that were an hour away in good weather which I said was a bad idea.  After digging around for a while at all kinds of race lists she found an announcement that said that the Quick Like a Bunny 5k/10k was on regardless of weather.  It was in City Park in Denver, about 12 miles from where we were staying and they had same day registration...so it was on!

A couple of crazed runners

By the time Saturday morning rolled around it was still snowing and there were about 7 inches on the ground. The temperature was 19 degrees F with a windchill of 3, and blowing snow. The visibility on the highway driving in was about a tenth of a mile (Glenda commented that I could say I had run in a blizzard)…and we thought that this was the single craziest thing we had ever done.  Then we arrived at the park and were sure. The wind was wicked the course was snowy and I, at least, was wondering if I was up to this. I added the race t-shirt to the other layers I was wearing (thus having 5 on top), added a second pair of socks and hung out in the heated bathroom for a while.

There were maybe a dozen hardcore, crazy souls doing the 10K and before they were out past the first turn Glenda was well out in front of everybody, female and male. told one really fit looking guy that we had flown in just to do a race and when we had been foiled had found this as a back up. I explained it was important to find one as this was state 19 in my quest to do all 50…he high fived me, and said “That’s hardcore! I have to know your name.” So I introduced myself. And reminded myself what Glenda and I have often said, “There is a fine line between crazy and hardcore…and you are not always sure when you have crossed it.”…we had!

Glenda won the 10K overall, I had checked off state 19, and we high fived our way back to the pavilion and out of the wind..and into the only heated spot (a small bathroom) to wait for awards. Eventually the time came for awards and the raffle.  They had $2000 in donated prizes, but only about 50-60 of their registered (and we two un-preregistered) had actually shown up, and even fewer had stayed. So there were lots of prizes for everyone and we all had a great giggle over it. Glenda got her winners’ award, but we also won a Powerbar pack, a pair of sunglasses, a restaurant gift card  and…wait for it…a WHOLE cherry pie.

It was unquestionably the craziest, coldest, most hardcore and most fun thing I’d done at that point. And to me, it really was all about the fun!
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Later that same year though, the weather totally shut down our racing plans. It was early October in the Black Hills. Once again, it was temperate on our arrival, but it did not last for long.

Glenda checking the snow the first morning...18 inches then. The final total would be 30.

The flurries started late that afternoon, by morning there was a foot and half and it was still snowing.  With the race still a day away, we were hoping beyond hope that they would be able to do some kind of race...we were hanging on update e-mails and Facebook notices.  All the while it continued to snow, and reports in the area were of downed power lines and closed roads.  For awhile it looked like they might still be able to put on a 5k...but when the snow picked up it became obvious.  Toward evening the power in Hill City went down and everything closed up.  The race was called off.  At some point we decided we would just go to Rapid City and leave early.  But when we got to the interstate we hit a literal wall of snow and a closed interstate.  So, back to the motel to wait it out.  Dinner was cheese and crackers as there was no way to heat anything.  A few hours later the emergency lights in the motel went out as battery power failed and cell service went down. 

Breakfast the next morning was cereal and bagels and anything that didn't need cooking.  The milk and juice were cooled in a snow bank!

This is the trailhead on race morning...the snow was hip deep and you couldn't see any trail, just a sign

By later that morning the power was still out, but the temperature was better and the local streets were plowed.  So we went for a run.  I went back to the hotel after 3 or 4 miles, while Glenda continued.  I will admit, alone in the hotel room, I shed a few tears.  I'd had the best training season of my life...and no race.  But my spirits were raised a bit when the lights came back on.  When Glenda got back we began talking and decided we would just have to find another half marathon to do very soon. 

So we began looking at upcoming races.  First near home in the next few weeks, and had half decided on one in Salado, TX (just up the road from Austin, where we lived at the time) in the next few weeks.  But I wasn't quite ready to pull the trigger. I was still hungry and grumpy, because although the power was finally back, there was still nothing open in town.  

A little while later, Glenda checked again to find that the cafe up the road had just opened...and off we went.  I may not have run the race, but I ate a race worth of some of the best food I can ever remember.

This is my "not really post race" meal.  I was so hungry I ate half before I took a photo.

While we were at the restaurant it occurred to me why I couldn't bring myself to sign up for the Salado race. I wanted to get a state, and it seemed silly to run a half marathon just to run it.  So we decided to look for something else. 

When we got back to the room we did more searching and settled on Richmond a few weeks later.  It was actually a nice choice as someone else we knew was doing it as well. The good news?  Richmond was probably the best half marathon I ever did!

We had many adventures getting home as well. When we arrived at the Rapid City airport, we discovered that most of the power was still out there.  Not only had the weather shut down power, they had also had a generator fire in the back up generator. We were not at all sure that we would be getting out. But after hand-written tickets and manual bag search and numerous delays...we finally made it on the plane to Denver.  But I confess, we did not really believe we were getting home until the plane was in the air. 

In the end, I had a good story, a good race a few weeks later in Richmond...and eventually a different race in South Dakota...but it took a while for this one to become "something we laughed about later."