The day after school got out we loaded up the car and headed to Truckee and later Cupertino. We ran the Lake Tahoe Relay again this year and it almost wiped me out. I was diagnosed with Greave's disease in January and have been taking medication to get it under control. The medication combined with my workout regime have caused me to pack on about 20 pounds. Usually when I am running races I am around 150 -155 pounds. Currently, I am more like 170. That extra weight takes a serious toll on the body when you are pounding for 10.7 miles. Also, I had been nursing a calf injury and had not put in many runs over 9 miles. So, around mile 9 I was spent and had to mentally push the last two miles or so. I was tough, but I told myself I could not stop running even if I was going slow. My pace was about 8:14. Shauna on the other hand had a pace of 7:48 for her 9.6 mile leg. She was looking and feeling good. I on the other hand was not feeling good at the end.
John ran the hardest leg by far--13.1 miles and a good portion of that was uphill at altitude. He, as usual, did really well. Jill, Blake and Servando also did well and we finished with a time of just over 10 hours. This is a little slower than we are used to (probably due to me) but it was cool with blue skies, so any day you can have that it just a blessing.
The weather was rough for the kids because they did not spend as much time outside because of rain. They did go on a couple of walks, but Friday was rainy and cold. On Sunday when we drove over the pass heading to the Bay Area we hit a major spring storm with snow, hail and rain. It rained on us all the way to the Bencia Bridge.
We hit the aquarium in Monterrey and the kids tried to swim in the pool that had not heated up that much yet. They did a pretty good job. I even jumped in after a run with Shauna. A
About 30 minutes before I was supposed to leave to catch my flight home, I tried to start the van and the battery was obviously dead. Blake and Aubrey gave us a jump and I ran to the auto parts store and bought a battery and quickly installed it. I made it back and caught my flight without a problem. I did not want to leave Shauna out there with a bum battery.
We celebrated Jon Glenn's birthday with some Jazz.
Meadow next to the cabin.
Truckee River overflowing its banks onto the bike path.
We got piped in when finishing.
We finished on the beach.
John running to Spooner Summit.
Obscured Emerald.
Shauna making good progress.
The team at the finish.
Waiting to go to lunch at Bubba Gumps in Monterrey.
This series of pictures tells you a bit how Sam was doing.
Thought he might be done.
Perked up though and made it the next four hours.
Inside.
Outside.
My run on Saturday. All up hill!
