First of was Oztoberfest. It was oddly in september but they had planned it the only weekend KSU wasn't having a game. Unfortunately every other organization planned something this weekend too (Jazz fest in JC, Pumpkin patch in Manhattan, HUGE consignment sale in manhattan among other things). It was hard to just pick one thing but since Oztoberfest is 2 minutes away from our house, it was a no brainer. I had another 10 miler planned for Saturday morning but when I got up at 7 (the sun now rises at 7:30), it was pouring rain. I just am not that dedicated yet. So andrew and I snuggled up and went back to sleep till 8ish. Still raining. Waited, waited, waited. Finally at 9, the rain stopped. It was still cool and drizzly but it was perfect for running. Because of the rain, I was a little worried about the gravel roads being soggy and I am sorry, I paid way to much for these shoes to ruin them in mud:) So I had to be creative on my route to get 10 miles in. I was concerned about traffic coming into town for the festival so tried using old 24 and then looping onto new 24. The problem was, the shoulder of new 24 was not very wide at the end of old 24 so I spent much of my time running in muddy loose gravel which was the very thing I was trying to avoid. Also stella was with me (her first big mileage run) so was trying to keep her away from noisy truck traffic but succeeded in putting her in more than she has ever been. Sigh. Oh well, got it done. Tony was watching me run live on the mapmyrun app and was wondering where the hell I was going. Had my first squat in a cornfield moment. I had been to the potty before heading out but it hit me and I had to go. Was planning on ducking behind a big semi that was parked in the industrial area I sometimes run in but a cop showed up out of the blue for no reason so not wanting to get a public urination ticket,I kept trucking. He turned out of the park and I booked it for the nearest corn field. The funny part about the whole thing was, I got my shorts pulled back u p, no problem but my undies stuck to my sweaty butt and I couldn't get them up. I was running and pulling, running and pulling. I am certain that the guys working in the nearest shop were having a great time laughing at me. I was for sure laughing at me:)
After my run, we headed to Manhattan for an information meeting on what my duties were for the conquer the konza. I some how lucked out and got put at the highest hill on Konza. I was the luckiest volunteer for sure! I was located at the top of the radio tower hill as they called it at the top of the stairs.
This picture does not do it full justice. They are coming from that trail way out by the trees, all the way up and the stairs start way at the bottom of this picture and wind around. It was a killer and they had to do this twice!!!!
After we hiked up and down, we headed back to wamego for Oztoberfest. In true fashion, andrew went to sleep so we were stuck sitting in our van till he woke up. Of course by the time he woke up, the festival was almost over so we caught the tail end of the events and vendors packing up. We did however get one beer at the beer garden before it closed. I think all of the original munchkins are dead now so I am not sure what they actually do at the festival now. We use to have so much fun seeing the munchkins out and about the town after the festival.
an old pic of munchkins. I think both of these have passed on now:(
Sunday dawned early with me having to be out at the prairie around 6ish. Thank goodness I am use to getting up at o dark thirty. As previously mentioned, I was escorted to my spot via mule and had to hike down a small hill.
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This was before the sun rose. It was beautiful. The deer were out as were other wildlife. I could see for miles. The gun started the runners at 7:44 am. It took the first place runner 26 minutes to get to my spot. He was a beast.
See that little dot? That orange dot? That is the beast taming the stairs. He ran up those things both times and never missed a beat. Finished 15.5 in an hour 30ish. He is a monster. I had so much fun cheering the runners up these stairs. I had a real cowbell and I ran it furiously for those runners. I got so many compliments on my cheering. I will be doing it again next year!
The runner's high I felt after watching all of my running buddies top this hill for the second time was amazing. Would that be considered a contact high? The best part was the hugs I got from the last place finishers. They were so grateful for my cheering and staying for them. I know what it means to be cheered for and helped verbally in a very tough part of a course. OF course none of my races were like this one but still, I had some semi tough hills for sure. I am SO proud of all of my running buddies for doing this race. It was the toughest races of all the ones in our area. It was mentally and physically challenging and they all finished!
After the race, I had to run home, shower and get my dog for teaching. Lucky for me, Alice had the field set so all i had to do was drag a few pieces out of the beginners. The best part was we had a live class for our online class. I learned what a lap turn was and how to use it in a course. I see some opportunities maybe in gamblers or snooker in the future. Plus we got to address deuce's bar issue. It still seems like lack of conditioning. Sigh. This never was an issue for miller so struggling to figure this out. We don't have access to swimming and he isn't a ball dog. I can take him running on slow short mileage but need to wear stella out too. Thoughts, ideas????
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