Malaise

I has it. Rather than drinking a glass of red, I should be doing more household tasks or at least running or walking. Instead the past several days have felt like that terrible half awake half asleep feeling that sometimes happens during an ill-advised late afternoon nap. I am trying to bear in mind that just last Sunday I returned home after being gone for a week - a huge trial punctuated by a 12 hour adventure race. I reserved the weekend to do things like finally organize and put away ski gear (climbing skins still in the backpack I used more than a month ago is not good!) and do some life maintenance stuff. We did get a few things done but I feel a combination of too tired to do more and anxiety over the not put away gear and tasks that occurred to me as I was putting away laundry. I am a disorganized slob. I haven't gotten much exercise this week. I have been eating ice cream and drinking beer. I have been sleeping too much (which perpetuates the cycle no doubt). If I were Jill Homer I would climb a mountain or do an overnight run to force it out of me. Instead I will keep sipping this red and hope I find the motivation to put my gear away tomorrow.

Grizzlyman Adventure Race

courtesy of GMAR (me and Brian Miller paddling the easier of the Class III rapids on the Blackfoot River)

I've become an incredibly lazy blogger.  And, I think I will first muse briefly about something other than GMAR.  I had a big jury trial this month (the first where I was "first chair") and it ate every ounce of my brain and body.  It was a tougher test of endurance than any race I've ever done.  You work hard all day, devoting every neuron to fighting the good fight, end the day, prepare for the next and do it all over again.  This was only a four day trial.  Being a runner was my saving grace.  I was able to get up in the morning, shake out the cobwebs, work some problems and jump back in the fray.  Ultimately, I won my trial (with the help of a super fabulous underling), which was a huge relief, but more importantly I realized what I already knew, which is that many things are harder, more important and more satisfying than dragging a sled in the snow or frolicking in the woods for hours on end.  Duh. 

Back to the frivolous stuff.  Yes.  Grizzlyman Adventure Race.  This is a 12 hour event where you map checkpoints on a map and go find them.  At some point you must be on your feet, on a bike and in a boat.  Our goal was to win the co-ed division and qualify for nationals but we were beaten by a couple from Seattle whose strategy was smarter than ours it appears.  Mind you, I did none of the strategizing or navigating, and essentially came along for the ride.  In fact, Friday night while my team-mates Brian and Peter did all the hard work, I went to sleep.  (See the preceding paragraph).  On the heels of my week of insanity, I just needed and wanted to play in the woods.  And play I did.  It was fun.  I definitely want to do it again and enjoyed my first "adventure race."  I am grateful to be a runner.

Brew, Basketball and Buddies

Last weekend I went to Kansas City to visit my family and to do a relay from Kansas City to Lawrence (my hometowns) that appropriately went from brewery to brewery (my favorite thing!). 

Boulevard Brewery -- Kansas City, MO

 It was really hot.  The temperatures were at least in the mid 80s and there was definitely some humidity.  Coming from northwestern Montana this was brutal.  It was brutal for the KC folks too though since it's unseasonably warm for this time of year.  My team was a lot of fun though and included my dad, step-mom and a bunch of their good friends.

Our first runner, Luke, is a Division I cross-country runner who is ineligible this semester.  He did the first two legs, over 9 miles, in about 54 minutes.  We were late to the transition -- he waited 5 minutes before we even started leg 3.  We knew we wouldn't be keeping that pace so it didn't especially matter.

Frank destroys legs 3 and 4

 Frank took the next two legs and really did well.  I have no idea what his pace was but it seemed good.  We were able to beat him to the transition, which we all viewed as a success.

Mary Alice and John

 Next, a couple of our guys John and Bill split one leg.  How it is that some of us ran two legs while others split a leg, I have no idea.  My father was the team secretary and evidently approved this dubious arrangement.  Thankfully, both Bill and John survived their half legs and we beat them to the transition.

Mary Alice

 Mary Alice ran the next two legs.  She used to run with my step-mom before my step-mom developed a hole in her knee.  She is beyond question a woman who takes her running seriously.  And she does not let her "masters" status serve as an excuse to ramp down the effort.  She blazed through her legs looking perky and cheery the whole time.  Remarkable.

Danni between legs and Mary Alice

 I ran the next two legs.  Both were hilly and hot.  The first was 4 miles and I was pleased, despite having watched basketball with my family and drank my share of beer (and wine) the night before, to be able to maintain a roughly 8:40 average pace for the first of my two legs.  The second leg I think I ran closer to 9s or slower, but that was fine.  I was so hot I started to feel cold.  At one point I got shivers and thought at first I was overcome by the awesomeness of returning to my country roads of Kansas -- but I then realized it was some sort of heat induced malady.  Oh well :-)

 My stepmom Barb and my dad did the last leg to the finish.  I elected to join them because I thought it would be this wonderfully nostalgic and beautiful thing to run where I used to run AND be with my parents.  I'm sure it would have felt this way if I weren't so incredibly exhausted and unable to keep up with them.  I quickly regretted joining them for the last leg but managed to get to the finish line and the finish beer in one tired sweaty piece.  Fun was had by all I can safely say.  And, we finished something like 60th out of 300+ with our handicaps adjusted.

 Monday night my brother Dave and I went back to Lawrence to watch the Jayhawks play Kentucky.  It was no shock that they lost, and it was just as well since my mother-in-law is a diehard Kentucky fan and might have held it against me if the Jayhawks won (hahaha).  It was great fun spending time in Lawrence with Dave.

sister and brother

old friends

Joining us was my friend Jesse.  I first met Jesse in the 4th grade and then we became close friends sometime around junior high when all of life was high drama and we leaned heavily on our "group" for support and survival during this tumultuous stage of life (that I wouldn't want to relive for anything).  I think I last saw him around college or thereafter but when I went off to law school I lost touch with nearly everyone -- he was living in Japan in recent years.  It was so incredibly fun to hang out with Jesse - he came to watch the game even though he had to bike to the weird sports bar and doesn't particularly love basketball.  The amazing thing is that for me at least being around old friends feels really natural, even if I haven't seen them in a long time.  Don't know if everyone feels that way.

Anyway, a great weekend that ended too quickly.  Time to buckle down for work.  "See you" in a couple weeks.