Lets Run for the Tatta's(aka Moms on the Run)...

Its Sunday May 9th in Reno, Nevada which means that its time for the 10th annual Moms on the Run! Waking up the usual 3 hours prior to race time and eating breakfast happened to be like clockwork this morning also. However, one thing was happening that is a little different than usual. My parents were up and they were heading to the race with me......oh not to support me this time but to support the Boobies and run the race as well! Nice props to the parents. Okay, my sister was coming along too and pushing her little ham of a child, Kyra, in the stroller in the race. She just wasn't up yet so I failed to mention her in the beginning. My bad sis! As designated driver to Reno High, I wallowed my way through the backstreets as we discussed race strategy between us. They had all changed their clothes at the house into their running garb so upon arrival and parking next to the Industrial Arts building, they ventured to the tailgate for race prep. Me, you ask, well I have a weird superstition type thing where I don't change into my race apparel until I am at the race. We will skip the R rated version though and proceed to the warmup...after said changing had occurred.
Well, I was pretty sure that I knew exactly what the course had in store for us since the majority of races run in Reno, at some point, go along this particular area. I walked to the starting line which was a hug arch of pink balloons. Okay, Garmin on and Ipod on, time to roll! Running westbound along Foster was a nice straight run, turning left onto..yeah that street(have no idea what name it was), I skipped the middle section of the course and turned left onto the finishing 1.3 miles of the course as the final prep for warming up. I had the good upbeat songs playing on the Ipod which helped me find the "groove" for racing this morning. Finishing the warmup back at the pickup truck, I changed shoes, took off the Ipod, reset the Garmin, and walked to the starting line. Finding my parents and Katelyn, I gave hugs and best wishes to all of them and lined up in post position #18 which was pretty much all the way to the right hand side of the starting line. Hey look, it was Chris coming over to give me a handshake and wish me luck. He had run from the gym to the race to check it out. Familiar faces are always a great way to ease the nerves a little bit.
Okay, the countdown was completed after the singing of the National Anthem and a quick prayer from the Mayor. Off to the races we were! I started out okay, not fast but not too slow either. I wasn't too sure how the legs were going to hold up from the day before but so far they were feeling the flow. 1.4 miles into the race I had taken over 2nd place and was holding strong. 2 miles into the race, feeling the burn now from the Runamuck, I had caught the leader and we were running side by side until the last quarter mile. Turning back onto Foster heading for the Pink Arch of Balloons this was going to be my time to shine....NOT! He kicked, I kicked....but his worked and mine didn't. Have you ever heard legs talk back to people before? I hadn't really ever heard it either but my legs skipped talking to me and began a kind of screaming that seemed to be like a child who dropped his ice cream cone in the dirt. Damn the bad luck! Oh well, 2nd place finish in the Moms on the Run 2010 isn't too bad. I didn't hit my time of 16:30 either which bummed me out but that just means more work to be done. Next up No Excuses 5k in Sacramento on Memorial day. No races between now and then so I wont have any....excuses!
Everybody else had solid races as well. My sister finished 178th overalll and was the 3rd stroller to roll in. Mom and Dad finished well under the 10 minute per mile mark and no walking occurred this race. Props again! Katelyn finished well too in under 28 minutes(I think thats what she said). All in all, a great day and a happy mothers day to all involved.

2010 Edition of the Run A Muck.. Wait, are those...Shorts???

So its a Monday which means one thing..... There must have been another race and it is time to do this blog thing about such race event. This time I was running/racing in the Run A Muck for the Reno River Festival 2010 with my buddy Chris Badolato from Reno. The only information that I had recvd on this doosy of a race was what I had read from Chris' blog from the year 2009. Hey, why not join the fun and whip out a quick 2.35 mile race on a warm Saturday afternoon? Well, enough leading up to the action...let's dig into it.

Race time wasn't until 2 in the afternoon. What in the world was I to do all morning long? Sit around and think how I would look in these shorts, well underwear(yes, you read that correctly; its not a typo), until race time? Yeah, thats what I pretty much did! Along with modeling my "costume" for my dad and his friend, I was hoping that it wouldn't get much colder outside or I would have to make a trip to the store and buy a smaller version of my costume! You know, it was all shrinkage!! :) Okay, so 1 finally rolled around and I met up with Chris, Abby, and Hannah at the Library parking garage and we walked to Abby's post at the corner of First and....ah, Idlewild? Got me as to what street it really was. Sounds good though. After a quick shoe change which is a pretty cool feeling cause now I feel like a real runner with switching shoes all the time depending on the situation in which I am running. That's a whole other story! Shoes changed, check. Shirts changed, check. Okay time for the warmup which was going to be the course so we could see what was going on with it this year. Okay, Reno 911 officers with fire hoses and squirt guns...okay okay I can handle that. Next up, straw bales to hurdle.....consider it done. Football players with pads, helmets, and hitting pads....piece of cake. Mud pit was next on the course....not a problem considering it wasn't all packed with kids having fun at my time. Okay, rounding the turn for home and then a gate maze....Okay okay, weave through that and haul butt back through The Super Troopers with water guns, one little round of hopscotch like a 5th grader trying to impress the ladies, a bubble bath and the finish line! He shoots and he scores! Phew, the warmup was completed!! We did a little extra warmup as we needed to hit a certain mileage for the day but that's not important at the moment.

Race time, 2pm! Chris whips off the shorts and I go blind! I whip off the shorts and the world goes blind! Good thing that everybody else was there too in off-the-wall costumes so my junk wasn't on total display for every spectator to oogle over. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-go; Chris was off and, wow, somehow started in like 7th place or something crazy! Get out of the way though cause here comes Captain Banana Hammock rolling through the field, junk and all, to hit the course. By the time that he had blown through all of the obstacles and raced back, oh yeah he lost the soap bar(our baton) in the mud pit, a commanding lead had been taken. What was my job then? To NOT relinquish the lead and bring home the bacon....or sausage in this case! :) Nasty! Anyways, this is turning PG-13 or NR pretty quickly, isn't it? We do the traditional high five as I take off from the starting line on my quest to run in most outrageous race the Reno offers. Reno 911 officers downed me with a quick squirt of Truckee River water, Straw bales cleared with only almost tripping on 2 of them, football players diverted(they were focused on some cute ladies at the time), mud pit slosshed through, maze(surprisingly easy) weaved through, another dousing from the officers, junk hopscotch completed, and the bubble bath which made me wish I had a rubber ducky with me, and finally the finish line! Task completed! 2010 Run A Muck champions! This would pose as a repeat for Chris, as he had won the event in 2009 also. However, we bested a lot of teams on this day. I hurried back to the corner at which Abby and my parents were posted for viewing pleasure only to change quickly and take off on the course for the cool down. We avoided all major obstacles and rounded out the day in good fashion at the awards ceremony. A pretty sweet helmet that is officially heavy and too big for my little head and a season pass to Alpine Meadows(which is restricted beyond belief) and the day was complete!

Thanks Chris for asking me to partner up with you on the run. Abby and Hannah, outstanding job at holding down the stop sign and for great picture taking. Although, Chris pointed out that I may want to change legs while injecting! :) Mom and Dad, once again you are always there to support me and all my wacky adventures. Good times were had by all and hopefully we can crank it out again next year.

Reno Rock N River 2010.........

Looky Looky Looky, its a fine Monday morning and Im writing another blog. I have come to many conclusions after 3 straight weekends of my midget legs pumping out the miles in races. Conclusion #1: Coach Rick is a stud!!! Amazing how far I have come in the past some-odd number of weeks with his coaching.
Conclusion #2: Coach Diane and her nutrition wonders are also amazing. Who really knew that eating the right foods at the right times would really help that much? Oh....You did?? My bad! Thanks for telling me sooner.
Conclusion #3: My parents, what else can be said, are the best support crew in the whole world. They have been at every race for the past three weekends along with many more before that. It's the best feeling in the world when you are crossing that finish line and they are standing there there to give out the congratulatory hug and high five. Careful guys, I could get used to this and then you would have to become Kirk Groupies and follow me all over the country. :)
Conclusion #4: Reno actually got the race right this year and had an outstanding turnout!!! Yes yes yes, I am surprised as well.
Okay, guess you figured out that I am going to head off on another blog about the Reno Rock N River 2010 version. Damn your smart! Well, I am assuming that the marathon went off without a hitch at 6:30 like it was supposed to do. Why am I just assuming? At that time, I was snoozing in the pickup truck over by the Sands Regency waiting for the alarm to go off so I could get ready. Hey, had to get there early enough for a good parking spot. Whoa, off on another tangent....back on track here, come on Kirk. Okay, I did watch the start of the half marathon at 7 though and was very impressed by the turnout. It seemed like the line of runners/walkers crossing the starting line would never end. That is awesome considering last year it was cold, rainy, and flat miserable. Not too mention that the course was poorly marked last year as well. Hmm, would that be the case again? No! 7:30 finally rolls around with all the 10k starters in the blocks. I would make a bang at this point but they didn't have a little fake gun or anything so I'll just say "Go". The usual faces were in the front....you know, Chris B, Fred Z, and some other intimidating factors. At this point, I was a tad nervous and looking for a porta potty! Good thing I was planning on a fast race so I could find one later if needed. Im not the quickest starter in the world but I could actually see Chris B for pretty much the first 2 miles. After that, he seemed like a spec out there on the horizon....or wait, that may have been a bead of sweat on my shades. Run Run Run, that is all that I could think of and the fact that I wanted to finish in the Top 5..at least. Out and back we strolled through Idlewild, down some other roads, back along the Crooked Mile, finally coming to a close back under the arch in downtown. With one final turn to go, my new Asics finally passed Scott Young for 4th place overall. I could hear him breathing down on me until Dad yelled for me to kick it up. Hey....and I listened to him! Not too bad for a little guy from Carson City. 34:42 and and 4th place finish overall. Chris B ran a 33:01 which is awesome and, one day, I'll hopefully be giving him a run for his money.
So congrats to Reno for finally getting the course correctly and managing what seemed like a good race. Weather held up and was beautiful while there were no shootings or drug busts along the path either. Win Win situation for everybody! Good race to Chris and Fred! Next up: The Run a Muck next Saturday! Good times!