See ya later, Saudi!

This was supposed to be a relaxing year.  When it came time to renew the contract, we decided that it may be nice to just hang out for one more year and not have to stress about moving somewhere new and starting a new job.  Of course, as soon as Matt signed the new contract he started getting contacted by headhunters.  Not a bad thing, but certainly not great timing.  Also, these interviews go on for weeks, then if you get a job offer, the negotiations turn the whole process into about 3 months.

So, first up there was an offer from Jakarta.  We went over it a million times! It all sounded well and good but something about it did not feel right.  Also, when I looked it up, I found one report where it ranked number 2 in the worst places to live as an expat.  (Riyadh ranked number 3!!) Factoring in worse air quality and (I find it hard to believe...) worse traffic?? Anyway, I was not eager to pack my bags just yet.  In the end, Matt turned it down. And then of course, second guessed that decision for months!

Next up, Xi' an, China.  This one sounded very interesting.  And after about 3 months worth of interviews and contract negotiations we decided to go to China.  With the contracts signed, we kept quiet until we were sure that Matt's work visa would go through.  So then Matt had to resign from his current job, which he did, giving the required 3 months notice.

During this time was when his Dad got sick and we went to Germany for three weeks.  When we returned, Matt's current company offered him a position in Vancouver Canada which despite having already signed contracts with China, we absolutely had to consider.

I must say, although I really do enjoy the expat lifestyle, it can be really exhausting and stressful.  The thought of going to Canada sounded like a really nice break.  And Vancouver? I hear the quality of life there is amazing.  Also, it's so close to home.  It would be such a short flight! No more 30 hour travel times!

So we went back and forth a million more times.  Meanwhile, I had to book my flight home because of my marathon plans and we still didn't know where we were going! It was nice that we had two really fantastic choices to consider but that really didn't make it any easier.  So one morning (about 2 days before I was scheduled to fly out) we went to breakfast at the compound restaurant and made a pro con list and we decided that we simply had to choose Canada.  I expected a feeling of relief to wash over me but it never happened.  I started packing my bags for Canada.  Of course by that evening, we both said, "You know, I don't think Canada is the right choice."  And, after much more discussion we were back on China, and I started repacking my bags.

So when I left Riyadh, we were still on China but Matt had still not yet turned down Canada.  And so, even though many, many people thought we were crazy for turning it down, eventually he did turn down Canada.  It's official, we are going to China!!  In fact, Matt is currently on a flight for China right now!  See ya later Saudi!!

The Marathon!

So way back in July I started thinking about registering for a new marathon.  I didn't want to wait until March for the Riyadh Marathon since last year it ended up being quite warm.  Also, the course was an oddly shaped out and back in one direction and then out and back in another direction repeated 6 times!! And at the end of it last year there was some arguing about whether or not the course was short. (Matt and I ran it as a relay.) I was hoping to get it in before the end of the year.  Since I figured that I could count on going home for the holidays, I chose the California International Marathon which is held early in December in Sacramento.  Since Thanksgiving was late this year, I figured that it would work out well and I would be home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and then go back to Riyadh for New Years.  Also, coming for Thanksgiving would give me almost 2 weeks to recover from the flight.  (30 hours of travel time !!)

Having lived in Sacramento for 9 months, I was familiar with the area as well as the hotels near the finish line.  I was a bit hesitant to sign up because I knew the weather in Riyadh doesn't begin to cool down until October and I still wouldn't actually call the weather "cool." I knew training would be even more difficult (and boring) since I would pretty much have to do it by myself, what with both my running buddies having moved on.

About a week later, I was chatting online with Andrea and she mentioned she was looking for a race around November/ December.  I mentioned, that I was seriously considering CIM and she was welcome to join me... I had already booked the hotel (cancelable) but I had not yet actually registered for the race.  A week later we had both signed up. (Not cancelable or transferable.) This gave me about 20 weeks to train.  About half of which was during the hottest part of the year.  Oh well, it couldn't be helped.  And I really needed a race to focus on.

Of course, as soon as I signed up, life just happened as it does with everyone!  First we went on vacation which was actually quite a nice change.  Then I went home for the summer to deal with the kitchen.  It was nice to be able to run outside, but Vegas in August is not much better than Saudi!  It was seriously getting to the point where I just had no concept of what the temperature was.  One day I went out for a 10 miler and I ran out of water and I was just dragging at 6 miles so I called it quits and went home wondering what the heck was wrong with me? It definitely felt cooler than Saudi, but when I loaded the run from my Garmin onto the computer, the temperature came up as 97 degrees.  So even though it felt cooler... 97 degrees is still pretty hot to be running in! (36 C)

After that I started planning a bit better.  I started running a 4 mile loop around the lake.  I would park my car in the shade with a frozen bottle of plain water and a frozen bottle of coconut water so that every four miles I could refill.  I also started checking the weather for cloudy days and I would do my long runs then.  Still hot, but much more manageable.  Just before flying back to Saudi, I did a 15 miler at the Rosebowl.

Once back in Saudi I continued to scour the weather report for a rare "cool" day and I would schedule my long runs then.  I would get up early but my 16 miler took me three hours.  The first hour was quite pleasant, then the second got a bit warm, and the third was a bit miserable as the sun was now out full force.

My 18 miler was in Germany.  It was a few days after the funeral.  Definitely my most pleasant training run with the temp being about 60 degrees.  Unfortunately I caught a pretty bad cold 2 days later and as a result I had 2 very low milage weeks which followed while I recovered.  My 20 miler on compound was a pathetic 4 hours and was probably about 24 laps around the compound.  On my Garmin it looks like this:

The compound is a tad bigger than the pic but it's enough to get an idea. It's a bit maddening.  Which is why when my husband offered to take me to the DQ for my second 20 miler I was extremely happy.  He planned to do a 12 miler and I didn't want him to have to wait for me for an hour and a half so I got up early and did 7 miles on the compound and then when he was up and ready we drove 20 minutes to the DQ and I did the remaining 13 miles.  It was not good.  My legs stiffened up on the car ride over and I felt like crap.  Also, I ran out of water for about 2 miles and felt even crappier.  We met up at the car when I still had 2 miles to go. Still, I refilled my water bottle and dragged my sorry butt the last 2 miles where we met up again at the Starbucks just in time for prayer!!! So after all that, I didn't even get my latte!!

I week later I did the ten mile race at Ranco Farm and finished in about 1:38 something.  Not great but it was under a 10 minute mile which these days is good for me!

When we finally showed up for CIM, I knew my training was definitely not up to par but really, it was the best I could do given the circumstances and I adjusted my goal accordingly.  I decided to shoot for a 4:40 time and just try and enjoy myself.  I was actually making it to the starting line! This alone was farther than I got last time!!  But did I mention it was FREAKING COLD!  I mean freakishly cold! The weather said 27 degrees at the start but it "feels like 21."  (-3 C but feels like -6 C) A couple of the buses had a foot of snow on the roof and it wasn't melting!!

Here we are waiting to board the bus at 5 AM.  The race started at 7 and sunrise wasn't until 7:09.  It was so cold that the water at the first two water stops froze all over the street.  People would drink some and then throw the half full cup on the ground and it would promptly freeze over.  I slowed to a walk and tried to go right down the middle where the least ice was and I still slipped on it!  I didn't fall, but Andrea said that she saw 3 people go down when she went through.  Very dangerous!

Everywhere there was frost on the grass and it NEVER MELTED!  At 11:20 I ran by a bank and the temperature said 33 degrees!  My final results were no big surprise.

That said, it really wasn't too bad! My longest run up to that point was 4 hours and 20 miles.  On the plus side, I hit the 20 mile mark 22 minutes earlier than on my training run so I was actually at mile 22 when I hit the 4 hour mark. I felt fine up to about mile 24.  At that point I was still soooo cold! Also my hip hurt.  I walked for about a half a block and then started back up. After that, I just said screw it! There are only two miles left!!  I can so do 2 miles.  And I did.  And when I stopped running I was so freaking cold that I could barely feel my fingers.  I felt a bit like the final scene in Terminator 2 when they pour liquid nitrogen on him and he freezes solid as he's walking.  Luckily, I didn't freeze solid and I made it back to the hotel.

So, am I happy with 4:49? Well, I would have been happier with 4:45.  Especially after looking it up and seeing that I lost 3 minutes waiting in the line for my one bathroom stop and about 2 minutes with my half a block walk at mile 24.  But live and learn.  And this way it will be easier to PR on the next one.  And there will, eventually, one day, be a next one.  But not for a long while and not when I have to train entirely by myself because that sucks!  But that said, I was so glad Andrea did it with me because it would have been really weird to do it by myself!  Oh, and Andrea did freaking awesome! She did  4:09!! Way to go!!  Marathon DONE!