about getting from point A to point B in the most interesting ways possible

If you're a large woman in America, your whole life is an opportunity to feel self-conscious, embarrassed, resentful and way too big. You can hide in the corner or on the couch, you can go to therapy, or you can put on your lycra bike shorts and get out there and move.
—Jayne Williams, Slow Fat Triathlete

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January 2, 2005

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There was ice on the road, but it became sunny once I got to Forest Grove, and warm. I ended up wearing just a short-sleeved shirt under a long-sleeved faux bike jersey.

The start and end of the race was at an elementary school, and so the packet pickup, if it could be called that, was in the lunch room. I work in education, but I can't remember the last time I went into a school. It was kinda fun to see all the scaled down stuff, including toilets. I picked up my number, and my fleece vest(!), which had pockets so I immediately put it on.

In the bathroom, in a stall, I dropped my water bottle. "Hey, I haven't even passed you yet, and you're already throwing things at me!," said the woman in the next stall. Another auspicious sign—these folks are competitive. I didn't stand a chance.

Back in the lunchroom, I did a look-see. Anyone I recognized? Nope. Anyone as fat as me? Nope (though some women my size did come in a few minutes later). Anyone with metallic gold nail polish? Nope, just me.

The race started with the 10 & 20Kers together. Ice was still on the road. As usual, I started a little fast, and realized that I would be in a bad way at the end—especially if I had to listen to the women ahead of me complain about the gifts their kids had gotten. I don't know why it irritated me so much, but it did. I hung back.

Forest Grove is a little agricultural town, with a center that revolves around a small liberal arts university. As we walked through town, there were plenty of beautiful and decrepit houses to look at. After a mile and a half, we were out in farm land, walking by growers who produce bushes and trees and christmas trees, by farms with black chickens, geese, cows, dogs, and a house with a pond which had its own blue heron. Blue herons are gorgeous birds, but to pond owners, they're a big nuisance, as they can clean out a pond of koi almost overnight. This blue heron stood right at the edge of the pond, waiting for the right fish to appear.

Before I even hit the one mile marker, I was having trouble. I was having a case of weak-knee-syndrome (my name), which I assume has to do with my problematic hamstrings. Anyways, if I tried to walk correctly (toes up, swing from the hips, etc), as I would go through my stride, the right knee would feel like it couldn't bear my weight. This didn't happen with each right step, but it happened often enough to be very unsettling.

But still, it was gorgeous. Heading west, we saw the Coast mountain chain, and heading east, Mount Hood. And while most of the route was flat, there were some hills, including one at the 6 mile marker which went straight up. A volunteer called out that I looked fabulous, and I asked if it was my nails, flashing my hands at him. "Oh my gosh, yes!", he said, off-guard.

I finished, unofficially, at 1:35 according to my watch, and 1:43 according to theirs. No chip for this race, so I'll be curious what my "final" time will be. I'm pretty certain I was not the last one, which of course pleases me to no end. I stopped in for some pancakes, and finally recognized someone—an older man who does lots of races. I signed up for a membership, bought some flasher lights, and started making the long journey home. Luckily, I had brought some of that yummy un-homogenized chocolate milk with me!

Posted at January 2, 2005

Comments

Sounds like you had a great time in spite of your earlier dread. Glad you got some pancakes. I think it should be required that all races end with pancakes!

Sory to hear about the knee. Have you had someone look at it? Take care of yourself and congrats. on the race.

Posted by: Marshall at January 2, 2005 4:11 PM

Wow, sounds like a really beautiful day and location for a race. And pancakes! :D Hope the knee is ok. Do you ice it after a race?

"Anyone with metallic gold nail polish?" :D

Posted by: Jon in Michigan at January 2, 2005 4:34 PM

I loved this post....my favorite part was that you got the pancakes. You were worried that you'd "run away", even though you wanted the pancakes. But you didn't. You got your pancakes. Lovely. - Mia

Posted by: Mia at January 2, 2005 6:52 PM

I'm glad the race went well after all. I would have been very nervous about going alone and may have even let it deter me (back in 2004, of course) :D Good for you for seeing it through.

PS - I hope your knee's feeling better.

Posted by: Lara at January 3, 2005 2:23 PM