From owner-ius-l@AMERICAN.EDU Mon Sep 15 22:42:25 1997 From: TrailPatty@aol.com Date: Tue, 16 Sep 1997 00:20:41 -0400 (EDT) To: ius-l@AMERICAN.EDU Subject: Cameron Park 50-From the Rear Cameron Park Lake is located 25 miles east of Sacramento. The 50-mile run consists of 40 laps of the 1.25 mile groomed horse trail around the lake. While I didn't see any horses, there were plenty of ducks, geese and other colorful waterfowl strolling back and forth across our path. There was also an out-of-place rooster cock-a-doodle-dooing very loudly. He sure wasn't going to find any hen house out here--or maybe he just followed Earl Looney out here from his chicken ranch. John Scott and I were the very first to arrive at the park, and then there was Stan (glutton for punishment) Jensen so soon after Wasatch, and listers Eric Robinson, Mike Palmer, Allan Kaplan, and Brian Purcell. Race Director George Staub puts on a super race, and he was in perpetual motion all day long making sure everything was running smoothly and that all the runners were well taken care of. I've DNFd this race the past two years due to heat problems, so not finishing today was not an option. Luckily, we had a cool breeze, even a slight headwind all day long! And being out in the sun all day, I did get to improve on my "San Francisco tan." I had fun for about the first 12 laps running with Barbara Elia at a comfortable pace. But then my hamstrings started to tighten (as they always do on totally flat courses) and I shortened my already really short stride. When I told Barbara my hamstrings were getting tooooo tight, she gave me one of those "What do you mean" responses I get from people who've never even had tight hamstrings. And I've talked to a lot. I can't figure it out. I think it has a lot to do with body build... I also had a new interesting pain. At first I thought the unthinkable--that my bounce free/burn free bra was rubbing and I kept trying to pull it down. But my bra wasn't rubbing at all. Instead, my whole rib cage was actually sore as if it were bruised and it stayed sore the following day. I had no breathing problems, I wasn't wearing a bottle belt, nor did I feel that I was stressed--other than not being able to stretch out my hamstring muscles. Any thoughts on what might cause a sore rib cage while running around in circles? Many thanks to all the volunteers, and a special thanks to Renda Gail and Errol Jones, who were timekeepers ALL DAY. Renda was in charge of my group number and if she took a break, I sure don't know when. 40 times around the lake and there she was every lap with a smile and words of encouragement. Errol was right beside her providing good cheer and encouragement also, although he did manage to stretch his legs doing a lap or so around the lake. Your support was much appreciated! I love the high-quality Coolmax shirt--good choice! And finishers received a unique decorative bottle with race logo commemorative award, which was a nice surprise. I love ya, George, but please don't put this run on the Ultra Grand Prix next year :-) Pat (hamstrings from hell) Wellington TrailPatty@aol.com