November 1, 2008 - Lakefront 50/50: Official support team

Bethie was running a 50K so I commandeered babysitting (Matt had to work) and headed downtown with my bike to cheer her on. So as to not have to backout in case kid-watching fell through, I decided to surprise her. I made it down to the start with about 15 minutes to spare so I was able to say hi before she started her 31 mile race.

Here's me, Bethie and Danielle before the race starts. Notice I already have helmet head. Sad.

I decided to bring my bike because I wasn't confident that my foot would hold out to actually run with her. Since the course is in 3 loops, I figured my bike would be an excellent way to jump from spot to spot as needed, cheering as necessary. The only problem with that method is that I have not ridden my bike in, oh, about 4 years. As a result, my rear end, quads, shoulders and even hands were not happy with me by the end of the day. But they can just deal with it because the whole experience was totally worth it!


After saying hello to Bethie, I road a mile or so to the first water spot. Here I found Kathy, who's husband was running. She was at the table by herself and asked me if I had seen any porta-potties. I hadn't but offered to stand it while she went searching. I ended up staying at this water station until well after I had seen Bethie and crew run by.

Here they are now!

I stayed and chatted with Kathy for a while after that and then went on my merry way. I found the next station that was about half-way through the out-and-back and hung out there briefly. Then I met up with Bethie and crew at the final station near to the turn-around. I road next to them (feeling very lazy for being on a bike) until we got back to the original water station. I filled in for Kathy again and waited until Beth came back by. The rest of the time I spent riding next to her.

Here we are together!

Beth was amazing! She had a blister since mile seven but finished strong! I'm so very proud of her. We had fun chatting along the way then singing for the last 8 miles. Seriously, that woman knows a lot of lyrics! I was having lots of issues effectively getting off of my bike and getting the correct seat height and not having the seat slide down with me on it! In the end, I think I biked ~25 miles with ~21 miles as official Bethie support crew. What a reintroduction to biking!

And I'm happy to report that biking does not make my foot hurt. I will be attempting to run again but at least I have a suitable cross-training if I need to rest from running for some time. (More on that later.)

A big congratulations to Beth the Ultra-Marathoner!!! I'm so proud of you!! Thanks for letting me be part of your first 50K!!! And if I haven't said it recently....

You're AWESOME!!!