Lake Run 2008

Yup. That's me, sprinting toward the finish line! We ran the Lake Run this past Saturday (May 10, 2008). It’s a 12k (7.5 miles) with lots of hills. I haven’t run a competitive race in a long time. Well, technically, I guess it was the Lake Run…in 1991! I remember it well because I was in 8th grade, ran the Lake Run in the morning, then later that afternoon watched the Blazers, the team with the best record in the NBA that year, get eliminated in the Western Conference Finals by Magic Johnson’s Lakers. Bitter sweet. OK, so it’s been a while. But this reminded me how much energy swirls around events like this. I want to do this more often. My sister traveled from Bellevue, WA to run in the event as well. She’s a tough one, for sure! We ran together for the first ½ mile or so, then we decided to go at our own pace. Man, the hills on that run are tough! But the challenge makes it that much more satisfying. Melissa had a van full of 6 small kids, and wanted to find us on the course. While I was running South Shore she honked the horn and all the kids were cheering me on. That was a fun moment for me.

Then I had a funny moment. I had grabbed a drink of water at a previous water station where volunteers hand drinks to you as you run past. As I rounded the turn from South Shore on to Lakeview (by the Lake Grove Swim Park), my iPod was playing Dave Matthews Band and I was feeling good about the immediate flat stretch ahead before the daunting summit hill lurking in a half mile or so. There was another water station here, so I took another cup of water and tried to drink again while running. Big mistake. Uhh, you’re breathing pretty hard after 4 or 5 miles. I took it down the wrong pipe and started hacking up a storm. Bad. People were giving me funky looks while I tried to soldier on running and hacking. Then I noticed the song that was playing. Dave was belting out “Don’t Drink the Water” in a live, energetic version of the song. I cough-laughed to myself, realizing …”of all the songs I could be hacking up this water to…”

The summit was tough, with lots of people slowing and walking. Once I got to the top, my legs were pure rubber, but I took advantage of gravity and sprinted down the back side. The last mile or two were tough, but for the last few blocks I could see the finish line and I decided to push as hard as I could and sprint. It just so happened that Melissa and the van of kids showed up right then as well, and she saw me turn on the afterburners right then. It hurt, but it felt good, if you can dig. I finished with a 54:05 time and am pretty sure I can shave at least 3 minutes off that time next year. Possibly get under 50 minutes. I’m glad I have something to shoot for. Abbie finished strong and I think she was glad she did it as well. It looks like we may make this a tradition, running the Lake Run every year. Join us if you can. Come one, come all!