Lessons Learned at New Bedford 2009

[singlepic=3537,280,200,,left] When following Scoobie into the finish gate – don’t believe the clock when it is stuck – she runs so fast the whole display system freezes. Don’t believe the display time, just know you’re a Bimbler and you always do your best, give it your all, leave nothing out there, ya’ know stuff like that!

When the “sweaty, foot slappin’ – heavy breathin’ – running WAY too close to ya’ – guy” runs on top of you and pops the question “can I pace off you?” Spuds will tell you… “Just say no!”

Even though she’s run this race a zillion times through all elements snow, rain, sleet, and sizzle… next time she might leave her fleece jacket at the car when the forecast is in the 50’s. I was super over dressed for this occasion myself.

Having lunch with The Baron and Sandy it was easy to observe the secret to successful racing longevity and fitness – their healthy choices for lunch said it ALL. The Baron ate two Maui Maui’s! (nothing fried, and no chocolate cake!)

Quiet Runner was, uh, well, hmmm, quite unless the topic was Jack, the Irish or Jack or beer or Jack – seriously some great “one liners” from The Quiet Man – if you listen carefully he is very funny & bleary eyed from his efforts!

Superman was looking so relaxed at the start – I think that is the secret to a fast time, wow really fast!!

Hardware girl – we both had the idea of layering down if necessary – you had the right idea with fewer layers on a hot day. Hope you made it home quickly too!

It WAS a chilly start at the start line – nearly 2000 runners – I believe it is a championship half marathon race and a pre Boston run. The start was very serious – extremely extreme road runners, it seemed like everywhere you looked was an elite runner sizing up the competition and psyching them out while psyching themselves up. – Very different from the casual “go ahead and spit right into the wind” attitude at trail races I have grown to love and enjoy. None the less, a very saturated experience – at Spuds suggestion we blew the tension filled gym and headed for the outdoors to relax and prepare for our race. Ahhhhhh, brrrrr.

We were not sure if Miss New Bedford was merely a prop of if she would have a function – she sang the national anthem (never spilling her crown) after a few words from The Mayor of New Bedford and we were off….. over heated before we hit mile 1! I don’t remember much after that – inspiration and aggravation were both experienced by this runner – a lot of people to deal with in this big race. Some monster hills , but a lot of gradual downhill. I will run it again next year if anybody wants to join. I too like the bling…. Quote of the Day from Scoobie…”I LOVE THIS MEDAL!!” Congrats for 3rd place Scoobie – and congratulations to everyone – we all ran our best that day and left the finish line very satisfied with our efforts, all while enjoying our bling to the smell of some stinky fish chowder. Ah satisfaction!! Thanks again for the ride Spuds & Chipper. Let’s do it again next year! Keeping this short maybe the other Bimblers will share their race experiences too.
IGGY