It was very, very cold Sunday morning. And wet. And snowing. But it wasn't enough to deter us -  me and a few thousand other runners gathered outside the EMP for the 2006 Seattle Half Marathon.

 

Here's the breakdown by mile:

 

-Mile 1: There was about a two minute gap between the time the starting gun went off and my timing chip actually crossed the starting mat. Because there were so many people my pace was regulated at ~13min/mile. This ended up being a good thing. I'm sure had there been no one in my way I would've gone balls out and crashed halfway through. There was a crash, but more on that later.

 

-Mile 2: Still downtown. Still crowded. Still colder than shit. First water stop. Route went onto I-90 express lanes.

 

-Mile 3: Still on I-90. People kept jumping the median because there was no damned room to run all on one side.

 

-Mile 4: Express lane tunnel on I-90. I didn't know that thing was so damned long. Totally different in a car. Exited tunnel and turned onto Lake Washington Blvd. First Gu stop.

 

-Mile 5: Crowd broke up some and I was able to get on my training pace. Still on Lake Wa Blvd.

 

-Mile 6: More of the same. Wet. Wet, wet, wet. Hit halfway mark!

 

-Mile 7: Finally turned off that damned street. Kept jockeying for position with a lady wearing a garbage bag.

 

-Mile 8: Hit the hilly section. Some lady in the support crowd was shouting: Make that hill your bitch! Sweet...

 

-Mile 9: Hills and switchbacks. Running through some kind of forested area now. Giant rain drops from the trees.

 

-Mile 10: The pace of the group picked up dramatically because we're now going downhill. Probably an 8min/mile. Here's where it gets fun... At the base of the hill is a water stop and a van blaring that freakin U2 song - It's a beautiful day!! Bah bah bah... I hate that damn song, but for some reason it was mildly inspirational - 3.1 miles left to go - I can do this. Time to pick up the pace. So with renewed vigor I dove into the next hill. Literally. Left toe+right shoelace= sprawled mess on asphalt. Luckily the most jagged piece of road broke my fall via left knee. I stood up amidst a shower of hey-are-you-alrights and hobbled over to the side. While looking down to fix my lace a trace of crimson caught my eye. Not on my knee... my chest. WTF! I thought my new dry-fit shirt would solve any nipple issues. So not only is my knee fuct up but I've got twin 8" streaks of nip blood covering my torso. Beautiful. Whatever, just get to the finish Finley.

 

-Mile 11 and 12: Holy SHIT my knee hurts. I hauled ass to get back to my pace group... at least I can see the Space Needle and EMP now.

 

-Mile 13.1: Sweet! Finishers crowd is huge, people are yelling, the stadium speakers are blaring. A glance to the right reveals my clock time - 02:06:42. Damnit. Thats 6:42 off my goal. Cross the finish line, grab medal, return time chip, grab moon blanket. Head to recovery area and dry clothing check. God it feels good to change into my hoodie... get that wet shit off...

 

Thats it! I took off my running pants when I got home and discovered why my knee hurt so bad. Check out the pictures. Shit, I'm bleeding through my jeans as I type this. Awesome...

 

Fin

 

Overall Place: 1422

Division Place: 175/348

Chip time: 02:04:16

Clock time: 02:06:42

 

 

 

Runners knee, sore ITB, shin splints... naw, not this time. This one is special...

 

So I got bored of watching the Seahawks getting their asses beat by the 49er's and decided to head down to the gym and add a few more miles to my base. 3 miles turned into 5 and 5 turned into 7 and I started feeling really good. A sweaty wreck.. but good nontheless. Now, in our gym the treadmills face a giant wall of mirrors, so you're forced to stare at yourself while you workout. At about mile 7.5 I noticed a crimson dot had appeared right below the NorthFace guy on the left breast of my t-shirt. It looked like blood and I thought maybe I'd gotten a nose bleed. Check... nope... hmm. I dismissed it thinking it was a stain I'd overlooked er somethin. But it started to grow... and all of a sudden I was aware that my nipples were overly sensitive. Chapped nipples! To the point of bleeding. I didn't stop til I hit 10, but by then I had a decent blood trail coming from my left nipple.

 

Well now what? I can't stop running. How does one combat chapped nipples? Tape? Bandaids? Saran wrap? I'm open to suggestions.

 

Fin