Racing the Shoreline

The Shoreline 10K was on Saturday, July 14th. We try to run this simple race every summer. It is an out and back course along the paved riverfront pathway along the Columbia River. The 10k and the 2 mile races both start at the same time. Last year Jeff ran the 2 mile fun run with Rose while I ran the 10k, so this year it was my turn to run with our Rose-girl. I was feeling quite fit and rarin’ to really pound out a real race, so it felt like a supreme maternal sacrifice to hang back and jog the 2 miles with Rose while the rest of the field stretched out off into the distance ahead of us.

Rose was not feeling very enthusiastic or energetic or even very motivated during the race. Somehow she jogged the whole 2 miles without walking, but it was not a speedy run by any means (last year she flew in this race). It was all I could do to slow down enough to stay with her. I tried lots of positive persuasions to get her to speed up, but she decided that she wanted to take it easy (why did we sign you up for a RACE, then?) so we eased across the line in 21:34. Her time was about 4 minutes slower than she did last year. It’s all good–she’s only 7, and I never want to push my kids into running just because I love it. But boy that was a hard tiny run.

When we crossed the finish line, I pointed Rose towards Grama Leslie and Grampa Dan (who came to support us and watch Amber and Jay while we ran). Then I waved to the family, turned around, and took off back down the course. I wasn’t sure how far or how fast I wanted to run, but I knew I wanted/needed to pound down a few speedy miles, so I threw pacing caution to the wind and just let myself fly. The race official at the one mile mark grinned and said “back for more?” when I passed her on my way out. After a while, the front runners of the 10k race started passing me, heading back towards the finish line (out and back courses are fun that way). I cheered for all of the people I knew as I ran past them in the opposite direction. About 2 miles in I finally decided to take on the entire distance. I had gone out too hard and it was getting hot, but I still felt pretty good, so why not?

I started catching stragglers and ended up passing 19 people before finishing the 10k course. Even though I didn’t get to race people who ran my speed, it was still quite satisfying to chase down 19 people who had a 23 minute head start on me. My final time was 49:21. I squeezed by with a 7:58 average mile pace, a little slower than last year, but not too shabby for zero competition to push me. Twice during the last half of my “race,” I dashed down to the nearby Columbia River and paused to splash water all over my sweaty blazing skin. Those two stops may have cost me a faster time than last year, but I’m not sure I would have finished quite so strongly without them in that heat.

Jeff finished exactly how he predicted, third overall with a time of 37:25. The man is like clockwork. The race prizes were donated by a local pub and Jeff received a brown plastic bottle that looked like a big beer bottle. The top three finishers for each age group each got a beer glass with the name of the pub on it. We drove two boys who are in our ward (and Jeff also coaches their high school cross country team) to the race. They both came home with pub beer glass prizes too, much to our amusement. Jeff told them “make sure you show your parents those beer glasses and tell them this is what happens when you go out with the Whites.” Their mom is the primary president and their dad is the ward mission leader at church, so we got a hearty chuckle out of the prizes.

Warming up. Rose likes holding hands while we run. She likes to lean on me. After our warm-up I finally convinced her to run the race without holding hands, haha.

Grampa Dan took pictures for us.

Our cheering section: Grama Leslie, Jay, and Toby the dog (random runner stretching behind them)

THE START: Jeff at the front…

…Rose and I closer to the back.

THE FINISH: poor Rosie was so hot and tired, but she sprinted all the way to the end of the chute.

 Jeff’s finish (he’s in orange to the right)

Dan and Leslie’s dog Toby, looking aged and venerable with his white muzzle.

This girl has quite the steely game face. This is her stubborn/determined gaze. NOTHING will sway her or change her mind when she’s wearing this face. Once she cooled off and got some water, she was back to her playful self.  

 My good friend Leslie ran the 10k too. We ran this race together last year. It’s fun to have running friends.

Our crew after the race, laden with pub glasses.

BASTILLE DAY: Saturday, July 14th was also Bastille Day, so when we got home from the Shoreline races, Jeff planned a family gathering. He invited all of our local family members over, tossed together a large stack of tender crepes and made sure we all listened to La Marseillaise before we ate. It was 100 degrees outside, but our tiny kitchen simply would not fit all 13 of us comfortably, so we set up our trusty folding tables out in the shady front yard. (The grass was cooler than the concrete front porch.) I was worried about everyone getting too hot, but with our bare feet in the cool grass, we managed quite comfortably. The kids played all around us on the rope swing, the trampoline and in the dirt, and there was no sweeping to worry about after dinner.

We bring out a combination of our beefy kitchen chairs/bench and our flimsy folding chairs to create enough seating for the full famille. Tablecloths make cleanup a breeze–tossing them in the wash is much easier than scrubbing sticky jam off of those textured plastic folding tables.

Belle France, nous t’aimons.