Reflection – The beauty of the Olympics
Every 4 years, we make an honorable attempt to bring the world a little closer together through the venue of athletics. Despite our differences in language, culture, and nationality, we are bonded over our pursuit to master a sport and give it our best effort. Pick a sport, and you’ll see the same real life drama unfold of the ups and downs, trials and tribulations, and ah yes, ‘the thrill of victory & the agony of defeat’. In my book, everyone wins even as we need to still crown a gold, silver, and bronze medalist.
So far, I’ve watched badminton, table tennis, basketball, soccer, equestrian, triathlon, swimming, gymnastics, BMX, tennis, golf, and cycling. Wow, the things our fellow human beings are capable of!!! And yes, I so look forward to my favorite sport, track, which starts today! While I’ll be rooting for USA, there are many athletes from other countries who have my utmost respect and for whom I will also cheer for. While many enjoy their share of TV series of all genres, mine is simply watching sport and this summer has been jam packed with the Diamond League Track & Field meets, Tour de France, our amazing Kansas City Royals, and now the Olympics.
I encourage you to record any sport that tickles your fancy and take the time to watch one match, one game, one event. Check out the athletes and how they prepare themselves for each attempt, each point, and you’ll have a greater understanding of why they react the way they do to the outcome. The announcers do a good job with each athlete’s back story to draw you a little closer to their world in that moment.
Through your experiences in races and all the training that goes into them, you’ll relate to these Olympians, even as their performances are on another level 🙂
Ordinary People Achieving the Extra Ordinary – Erin Keehn-Majeske
Please provide a brief description of both races you did on back to back days
I ran the Pacifica foothills trail run May 18 in Pacifica, CA. They offer a 10k, half marathon and 30K. I chose the half distance. There was over 3,100 feet of elevation gain! You are essentially running two separate loops with the aid station between. The race is uphill switchbacks for 3 miles, running an even steeper sand trail for a mile, turning around at the summit and taking a different trail of switchbacks back down. The second loop is thankfully not as steep and includes more rolling, but still has a lot of uphill!
Bay to Breakers is the longest consecutively run foot race. This was the 112th year! There were corrals A-G to stagger the start, with over 21,000 runners this year! It felt like the start of a race the entire time when everyone is crowded around each other, which was interesting.
Why did you decide to take such a unique challenge?
My brother lives in San Francisco and I figured if I was out there for a weekend with two races… might as well do both! I did the Pacifica race in January 2018 and really enjoyed it. I had not done Bay to Breakers yet and always planned on going out this year for that race. We really just lucked out that they moved the Pacifica race to the day before Bay to Breakers!
What are some of the more memorable sights you witnessed for this race ‘parade’?
There were 27 nude runners that I saw. THAT was interesting! There were a lot of really fun costumes, including a team of “salmon going upstream” – they dress as salmon and run the entire race backwards!!
Are you glad you did both races that weekend?
Absolutely! It was fun running both of these with my brother and sister.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to do a trail race like Pacifica?
I wish I would’ve practiced on some trails here and invested in some shoes! The last time I ran on a trail was this race in January of 2018… I was a little trail rusty! Take the first (yellow) loop easy going up, it’s literally four miles of uphill! If feeling good at the aid station, kick it into gear as the pink loop has more up followed directly by down. The terrain on the second loop is not so rocky as well, so there is less to contend with as a falling-risk. When you do fall, do it with grace! And get back up!
What advice would you give to someone who wants to participate in the Bay to Breakers?
Do not go into this race with ANY kind of time goal! It was impossible to run even close to my usual pace due to wardrobe malfunctions (dinosaur costume) and the crowds of runners.
Any advice on the type of costume you recommend for a more comfortable experience at Bay to Breakers?
I wore an inflatable dinosaur costume along with my siblings and they were not “running friendly” by any means. My costume continually fell down and I had to hold it up! My sister’s costume got a hole and had to be taken off 3 miles in.
What do you plan to dress as next year for this race?
We are thinking of going as mimes – makeup and striped shirts might be a little simpler!
Streaker Update – Great job to the following people for keeping their daily exercise streaks going: Laura May (93 days), Scotty Todd (456 days), Megan Hamilton (579 days), Ryan Kimbrell (720 days), Karen Hayse (946 days), Sarah Johnson & Sylvia Davison (1,158 days), Eric Leigel (1,392 days), Greg Schultz (1,531 days), Kenny Miller (1,532 days) Amanda Bradford (1,554 days), Kallie Flexman (1,555 days), John Pitzel (1,569 days), Rebecca Kandt (1,581 days), Dawña Garza (1,595 days), Chau Smith (1,598 days), Micah Jacobsen (2,147 days), Stephanie Michaelis (2,646 days), Tomi Duffett (2,818 days), Ken Skrien (3,024 days), Emily Lott Viebrock (3,168 days), John Crum (3,174 days), Cheryl Lentz (3,625 days), Ben Chan (4,147 days)!
We invite you to consider crafting any type of streak that helps you release stress while boosting your health and joining us for positive accountability but keeping it simple with trusting in the ‘honor system’. I’m happy to add you to our list!
Have a great week!
Eladio Valdez III