Ironhorse 100 Miler

The weeks leading up to the Ironhorse 100 miler were filled with injury, doubt and fear. Fear that all of my training and planning would have to be stored away for another race, doubt that if I was able to run I would fall short of the 100 due to my Achilles injury. When the decision was made to attempt the race, I made up my mind that I would push forward through any amount of pain, barring a bone sticking out of my leg… of course. Runners are an irresponsible, short sighted and stubborn bunch, especially us ultramarathoners. I just recently read a quote, “Any idiot can run a marathon. It takes a special kind of idiot to run an ultramarathon.”

Friday afternoon Tyler and I headed north to Palatka, FL. We checked into our hotel and had an early dinner so we could make it to the race meeting at 6pm and go to bed early, after all we would need ample rest.

The pre-race meeting was held at the hotel next door, there was talk about alligators, panthers and yetis but other than that was pretty uneventful. The race director Chris Rodatz did hang carrots by telling us we could drop down to either the 50 miler or 100K mid race if we wanted. Thanks Chris.

We awoke at 4:15am Saturday morning and had breakfast. I chose oatmeal, ensure, a banana and coffee, then we headed towards the start line an hour later to meet up with Albert to set up our base camp. Tyler did an amazing job being our crew captain, the food and medical spread was pretty impressive.

The gun was fired just after 7am, and off we went. The three races all started together and the course would head west for 1.75 miles, turn around, head back through the Start/Finish line and then another 10.75 miles east to the other turn around. There were three aid stations, one at the start/finish, one 4 miles east of the start line and another 5.3 miles east of the second station. The aid stations we stocked with the typical ultra fare, cookies, candy, pretzels, soda, chips, peanut butter and jelly, potatoes and salt, HEED and water. In my head the course was broken up into 5 mini sections. 1) West of the start line which consisted 3.5 miles of paved trail. 2) East of the start line the pavement continued for another 2.6 miles. 3) Finally we are on dirt/rocks/grass for 1.4 miles till the aid station #2. 4) The section between aid stations #2 & #3, all trail with a couple crew access points. 5) 3 miles of trail (1.5 miles to the turnaround and back) following aid #3, which began with 320 ft of trestles, where we walked on two 2x6s to cross a patch of water (alligator filled water of course).

MILES 0-25:
I realized in the first few minutes how much I disliked being on the asphalt; it hurt my Achilles with each step. Albert asked me about a mile in, “how are you feeling?” “Fine” I responded. “Well that is great the ankle isn’t hurting!” “No, it hurts,” I said “but if I don’t talk about it maybe it will go away.”

The morning was decent temp wise, around 60 degrees, but super humid. It would eventually get into the 70s and feel really warm.

When we crossed the road the separates the asphalt and dirt trail I was relieved, at one point I said to Albert “I could do this all day” “Good cause we have to”.

The first lap I wanted to keep pace around 11 min miles, I was fine with slower if that felt comfortable, but knew that it would be tempting to run faster and I needed to resist that. It was hard. Looking back I probably should have implemented the walk/run strategy from the start, everyone advises that but I just couldn’t do it. I did walk a few minutes ever 40 min (gel break), while eating during/after aid, and when Albert had to stop to pee. Our plan was to stay together as long as it made sense. Around mile 16 I told Albert I needed to pick up the pace because things we stiffening up on me, and it felt like I was tensing my muscles trying to run a slow pace, we had slowed to around a 12-13 min mile. I wished him good luck and told him I loved him and off I went. During our time together I would sing “99…98…97 bottles of beer on the wall” each time we hit another mile, it was wonderfully annoying, I’m sure he missed it.

I came into our badass aid station (Tyler dubbed The Cave), which was set up 100 ft from the Start/Finish line in about 4:40. I had called Tyler 4 miles out to let him know I was getting close and what I would like to have ready, he is the most wonderful man in the world by far! I was already working on a blister so I decided to change shoes and put a blister pad on. I knew I needed to start eating something more than just potatoes and gels, so I had an uncrustable and a mix 1 to go. We switched out a couple of my hydration bottles and off I went. I think I passed the Start/Finish line at 4:45. I was feeling pretty good, it was starting to get warm so I had Tyler reapply sun screen while I was at aid, I was sticking to my hydration/nutrition schedule, drinking every 10 minutes and eating something every 40 minutes. I drank water when I ate and then alternated with Perpetuem and HEED when I wasn’t eating. I was taking Electrolyte Tabs (Salt Stix) every 1:30.

MILES 25-50:
I walked and ate my uncrustable and drank my mix 1. About 10 minutes later I began getting nauseous, dammit. I figured today of all days I needed and could handle sugar but as always it got the best of me. When I passed by the our aid station at 28.5 miles I took another uncrustable since I knew I had to force myself to eat, and picked up my mom who was going to walk with me while I ate. I ended up giving her my 1/2 uneaten sandwich; I just couldn’t stomach it. During training runs I have successfully eaten 1-2 uncrustables midrun and they have always gone down fine. Believe it or not they have a relatively low sugar content, I think the mix 1 is what pushed my stomach over the edge.

One bonus was seeing Diane and West walking up to our aid station. West was planning on running with Albert for a bit, so I was able to give them both quick sweaty hugs.

I made the phone call to Tyler around mile 33 that I would like him to meet me with new shoes, I could feel a blister forming on the bottom of my foot and did not want to risk it getting any worse. Tyler and my mom met me a couple miles up the trail where I tried popping a painful blister on my toe. I wrapped it with another blister shield and off I went. Tyler walked with me for a few steps while my mom got ready to run with me. It was about mile 35 and I was a mess, I was in tears and told Tyler I couldn’t do this, there was no way I was going to make it 100 miles.

I think there is at least one time in every long distance race where you lose it. This was the point in the race for me. It was hot, I was hurting, and the carrot dangling in front of me that I could drop to the 100K was looking awfully tasty.

Running with my mom started to lift me out of the funk. It’s not a secret that she wishes I would stop this ultrarunning, and because of those feelings I think I wanted to look extra strong and positive. With Tyler I can be myself, which is both good and bad. When I’m feeling good it’s great but when I hit those lows I tend to voice them more around him because he is a safe audience.

Mom ran with me till aid station #3, about 2.5 miles up the trail. Tyler was coming to meet her there and she would fuel up on allergy meds. I came into aid, grabbed my standard two potato pieces and salt and refilled my bottles. I covered the 3 mile out and back and returned the aid station to pick up mom again.

During miles 35 to 41 a huge shift occurred, I was going to do this and do it well. I looked Tyler in the eye, put my finger to his chest and said, “Don’t let me quit. No matter what I say don’t let me quit.”

My mom ran with me for another 2.5 miles and I could sense that she was pushing a bit to keep our pace. I got to see West, Fran, Meredith, and Jess at the road where mom exited the trail, so that was a boost. They all commented how super strong I looked, I felt like they were surprised and that made me feel pretty damn good. There are certain people in our lives whose paths we cross briefly and yet their significance is great. My former Gainesville running group is some of the most supportive, fun, genuine, and talented people I know. I am honored to call them my friends.

By this point in the race I had decided to implement a 20 min run/walk cycle. I would run for 17 min and walk for 3, hydrating on the 10 min marks and eating every 40 minutes. I decided to do this after I chatted with a guy around mile 44 who advised me to implement walk breaks early on. He was also recovering from an Achilles injury and had done a couple 100 milers. He said mile 80 was where he hit the wall last time, his theory was that he ran too much in the early miles.

I ran with my ipod and made sure I had some key songs on there before the race. One of my recently added songs was “Stronger” by Kelly Clarkson. It became my anthem through the last few weeks of injury. This song came on about mile 47, and it pushed me into a high that runners crave. I started singing and running effortlessly, my pace was 8 min miles.

When the song was over it was point in my cycle to walk, so I did. I called Tyler to let him know I was a couple miles out and the things I thought I needed. I told him I wanted to sit for a few minutes and change my socks and eat some real food, i.e. bagel pizzas. It was almost halfway and I knew I needed to eat.

The next couple miles were my fastest of the race; I was running between 7:45 and 9:00s when I looked at my watch. I felt like a machine. When I came into our aid I felt like my form was perfect and I was pumped to have made it 50 miles in 10 hours and 2 minutes.

I sat down, changed my socks (didn’t even look at my blisters, that would be pointless), chatted with Albert’s family, and tried eating a little chicken noodle soup. I had so much energy I was quite the chatterbox, but my stomach was not nearly as excited. Tyler was planning on running the next lap with me so I asked him to take to bagel bites with him to go, hoping I could nibble on them in the next miles. We crossed the 50 mile mark at 10 hours and 12 minutes.

MILES 50-75:
If you ever get to the place in your life where things seem monotonous I highly recommend ultramarathons. During the course of this race I cried, laughed, sang, danced, hurt, rejoiced, was scared and grateful. Every emotion you can imagine shows up during the hours on your feet. The miles in this lap were overwhelmingly positive, and ones I will forever remember as highlights of my running ‘career’.

It was a hard transition coming out of our aid and trying to begin running again. Tyler and I walked for over 10 minutes, during which I unsuccessfully tried eating a bagel bite. It was very frustrating not being able to eat, knowing how much I needed legitimate sustenance, but everything I ate just brought about nausea. I was still taking gels and forcing down potatoes but even those were getting more difficult to swallow. Tyler told me how Albert ate a hamburger, I don’t understand how people can do that! I am envious.

Once I was able to start running again, strength rose up in my body. We stuck strictly to my 20 min run/walk cycle and the pace we were putting down on the run portions was pretty remarkable. Once the headlamps turned on it got even more fun. There was a section around mile 63-67 where I was getting such fun songs on my ipod that I would sing/rap to Tyler and pump my fists. I was flying high. When we passed the fourth place woman, an incredible lady who is attempting to set the record for most 100 milers run in one year (her goal is 30!), I just squeezed Tyler’s arm. I did the same as we passed the third and second placed females. I was now in second!

The first place woman set the women’s course record two years prior was now only 3 miles ahead of me. Earlier in the race she was easily 8 miles ahead. I was gaining and feeling awesome.

The miles flew by as Tyler and I chatted and sang and conquered the mini goals of minutes not miles. At one point I had to calculate how many miles I had done because I wasn’t focused on that and my GPS was pretty inaccurate at this point. Focusing on the next 10 minutes is much easier then thinking about how many miles you have left to cover.

Around mile 65 Tyler spoke with Matt, a co-worker of mine at Track Shack. Matt was planning on driving up to pace me for awhile and wanted to see if that sounded like a good idea. I was stoked that he was willing to drive 4 hours round trip to support me. I quickly agreed and he was on his way. The plan developed that my mom would run with me through miles 75-78.5 which was a paved portion (night running on trails does take a bit of practice) and then Matt was up for running some miles with me after that.

By the time we approached our aid station, my right knee had been bothering me for many miles so I had taken a couple Excedrin Migranes over the last 25 miles. It definitely took the edge off and the caffeine was helpful. The knee would hurt really bad going from a walk to a run but once I got running didn’t bother me. When we got into aid I gave Karen a hug, she had come to pace Albert, took some broth and off mom and I went.

Tyler had talked to guys at Aid Station #2 when we were running through and asked about Albert. He had decided to drop to the 100K distance. It wasn’t his day for 100 miles, I was so proud of him for gutting out 62!

MILES 75-89.25
I came through the Start/Finish line at 15:43, I had done my last 25 miles in about 5:31, my 2nd 25 miles was 5:27, I was pretty happy with my consistency at this stage in the race. I saw the first place woman, we were still 3 miles back, so apparently we were holding the same pace.

Mom and I walked as I drank some broth. Broth, potatoes, gels, salt tabs, HEED and water were my race diet.

I informed mom of my 20-minute rotation, and we stuck to it. I was getting tired, I could tell in my breathing. An 11-minute run pace now put me out of breath, so I began slowing down. I knew I would need energy in the last 20 miles, I was on my last lap but still had a long way to go.

At mile 78.5 I traded mom for Matt and picked up another cup of broth. Matt and I walked while I drank it, this walk lasted longer than normal, fatigue was setting in big time.

When we ran we were still keeping about a 12 minute pace, which was fine by my standards. It was enough to keep our position and even pass a few folks. Everyone seemed to be walking at this point. It was great having Matt there, talking about random running things, keeping me distracted from the task at hand. Mom and Tyler met us at mile 86 to cheer us on, shortly after we took our scheduled walk break, which lasted nearly 8 long minutes. By this time I was starting to feel overwhelming nausea. I told Matt I wasn’t sure how much more running I would be doing and I didn’t know how to combat the nausea at this point. The only thing I knew to do was take another salt tab, assuming it was an electrolyte issue.

I decided to start running, because walking wasn’t making me feel better and at this point I just wanted to be done. The faster I could get to the finish the faster it would be over. We could see the faint light ahead from aid station #3 (88 miles) and my goal was to run until I got there. I felt like I was running really hard, I know my pace was slow, but I was definitely pushing myself. I told Matt that maybe if I could stomach more broth that would help.

Mom and Tyler were waiting and cheering for us, I took some broth, refilled my bottles and off we went to cross the trestles. Before leaving Tyler whispered, “Amy hasn’t been through yet she is still out there.” Amy was in first place and this meant I was within 3 miles of her. I told him I didn’t care, I just wanted to run my race and finish. I did care of course but I think what I meant was I couldn’t speed up, this was all I had. As we crossed the trestles Amy was passing us going the other direction. She knew we were gaining on her, and I’m sure that help to keep her going.

After we crossed the trestles, Matt and I heard a rustling in the bushes. We stopped to look and there was an armadillo. It was nice to hear Matt proclaim what it was so I knew I wasn’t hallucinating.

As soon as we started forward again, things got weird. I told Matt I felt really unstable and my lips were getting tingly. Then my hands and legs and arms followed suit, I asked to hold onto him because I feared I was going to faint. Things quickly got worse, my vision was going. Matt said I needed to slow down my breathing, apparently I was beginning to hyperventilate. I was scared.

Matt called Tyler and asked him to meet us at the turn around (89.25 mile mark) and walk toward us, that we might need some help. By the time Tyler got to us I had my arm around Matt and we were walking very slowly. I couldn’t walk by myself. The race had ended for me, I knew it the moment I asked for Matt to help me walk. Something wasn’t right and I feared that another 10 miles would be life threatening for me. Even if we had walked at the slow pace we were going we could have made the course cut off but my body was sending me signals that I needed to get checked out.

I told Tyler the race was over and you could hear in his voice that he was trying to hold me to my statement “don’t let me quit”. He was suggesting that we get something to drink, rest, eat something. I told him, “It’s over and I need to hear you tell me that you are okay with that.” I think he was sad for me because we had come so far.

They loaded me into the car and immediately I began shaking violently, it almost felt like a seizure. We called the race director to inform him I had dropped and that we were headed back to the Start/Finish line. The nurse on site met us there and checked my pulse. It was so faint she could barely detect it so she had me get out of the car, lay on my back and get my feet up to get blood back to my core. After a few minutes my pulse was getting stronger. It felt so good lying down, but I was beginning to get really cold.

After about 20 minutes of rest we decided to head back to the hotel. I was freezing and the nurse felt like I would be okay, but if anything got strange to take me to the ER.

We arrived at the hotel and I needed assistance walking, my legs were not working at this point. I walked a few steps and began throwing up. I don’t remember the last time I threw up that amount; unfortunately it was all liquid, liquid that I needed to hydrate me.

My mom wanted to go to the hospital but I believed I would be fine with some rest. I took a couple sips of Pedialyte and went to sleep. When I awoke two hours later I was ferociously thirsty and knew I needed food. I asked Tyler to help me to the bathroom and get me some toast. I made it to the bathroom and started getting sick again, not good. I tried taking a couple sips of water but couldn’t stomach it. I asked my mom to get my things, we needed to go to the ER.

I knew enough basic physiology that if I couldn’t drink I would not recover. My body needed to flush out the toxins that had accumulated over the last 24 hours and without fluids it couldn’t do it’s job. I figured we would just go in for a few hours, get some IV fluids and be out for Sunday brunch… wishful thinking. I left the hospital Tuesday afternoon.

My labs showed that my kidneys were in jeopardy without intervention due to a condition known as rhabdomyolysis. I’ve learned a lot in the past week, but still don’t quite understand where I went wrong. The Race Director told me after the race that I was going too fast for a rookie of this distance, which he later repeated in an email. So maybe that was it, maybe I should have started my walk/run routine sooner. I did lose about 13 pounds over the course of the race, which is almost 9% of my body weight. That is quite a bit. That leads me to believe that I was in fact dehydrated, it was indeed a hot day.

What I learned is that the 100-mile distance now scares me, I don’t like that but it’s true. The recovery has been really tough, Sunday after the race I told Tyler I wanted to die, what scares me is I wasn’t joking. The pain in my legs was beyond post race soreness there was pains in my bones that were excruciating.

Race weekend confirms my mental toughness and yet I am proud of my intuition and being able to feel the difference between pain and emergency. To all my extreme friends out there, may we push ourselves harder and further then we ever thought possible, bask in that ecstasy and pain and recklessness, and stay tuned into our bodies enough to know when they've reached the danger zone.

Now the journey begins to figure out what went wrong and how to prevent it, because as I told Tyler at mile 70ish, this is what I'm meant to do. I have never felt stronger or had more fun then I did during miles 60-75. I am a damn good long distance trail runner, and I never want to end up where I was Sunday again.

Mountain Masochist Trail Run

MMTR Recap:
Going into the race I had a naive goal of finishing under 10 hours and I knew I could make top 10 women if I could get down to around 9:30. About 22 miles in I realized how unrealistic that was, and actually pretty disrespectful to the amazing women that do run those times.

The day began at 3:45am and we loaded the buses at 4:45am. It is a point to point race so you get bused to the mountains (about an hour trip) and then get a bus ride back to the host hotel (another hour trip after the race). I felt really nervous but ready. It felt really cold at the start, probably around 30 degrees. I opted to wear all my warm weather gear, and I actually kept it on the whole day due to so many microclimates on the mountain. I started the race with my toes completely numb and it took 3 miles to get feeling back.

Miles 0-6: The race began promptly at 6:30am, on the Blue Ridge parkway and then SR 501. Tried to keep it really slow, because I knew I would need every ounce of muscle later in the race. Hovered around 9 min miles, which given the upcoming terrain was probably a bit fast. Ran with a guy for the first 6 miles who had been accepted into Badwater (if you don't know about this race look it up) which is pretty much the ultimate ultra marathon. He was a badass. The time flew as we chatted.

Miles 6-16: We entered the old Appalachian Trail at mile 6, and from here on our we would be on trails, until the last mile of the race. Met a great girl Jen around mile 7 and we ended up staying together till around mile 32 or so. This amazing chic had just run Marine Corps 6 days prior and qualified for Boston! The time FLEW by during this section. We walked the steep uphills and kept a great pace on the flats. There were several creek crossings so by mile 10 our feet were completely soaked. We were feeling really great and happy to have found each other.

Miles 14-22: Most of the time during the stretch we were running sub 8:30s, there were a lot of gradual downhills and flats, with a few climbs mixed in. Jen's initial goal was also to run sub 10 hours with the hope of top 10, so our little egos were feeling really good during these miles, we were passing men left and right and were feeling really strong. We even passed Andy Thompson who held the fastest completion of the Appalachian Trail until this past summer, with a record of 47 days. We should have realized that passing him meant we were running a wee bit fast!

Miles 22-27: The reality of the race set in. There is a 3,000 foot climb that starts around mile 21 and lasts till about mile 30. It was a beast. We walked a lot, everyone was doing the same. We tried running the climbs that weren't too challenging but we were afraid to tax the legs too hard because we had no idea what lie ahead, and we weren't even halfway. Around mile 25 I knew our goal was ridiculous and at that point I was worried that we would be able to finish within the 12 hour cutoff.

SIDENOTE, AID STATIONS: There were aid stations every 2-5 miles and were always a welcomed site. They were stocked with the standard ultra fare, pb&j, chips, pretzels, cookies, m&ms, soda, water, nuun, etc. and my menu choice of the day baked potato pieces that you could dip in salt. When you are running all day you must continually eat. You can't eat a lot at once so every aid station I stopped and got a few things, filling up on fluids when I needed them. I opted for carrying my 4 10z bottle Nathan belt which I had stocked with Heed and
Perpetuum, both Hammer products. Best decision I made, it kept my stomach happy and the caffeine in the Perpetuum that I had on the second half gave me the occasional burst. Jade, wife of my DM friend Jim, who ran MMTR, was at a few stations and cheered me on, this was so so helpful!

Miles 27-32: The halfway point was where the buses stopped and had our drop bags that we could access to get restocked for the 2nd half of the race. By this point I was really struggling mentally, the idea of having to do that distance again over the same terrain was daunting. Little did I know that the 2nd half was MUCH harder than the first. Had I know what lie ahead I might have dropped. My sciatic was hurting since mile 4 but I tried not to think about it and by this time everything hurt so bad that I didn't even focus on that pain. As I was collecting my things for the second half I saw Tyler taking pictures of me out of the corner of my eye. I think I said "What the hell are you doing here". He had dropped out of the race at the 1/2 way point. He was experiencing severe leg and back cramps and decided it wasn't worth it to try and walk the whole second half, given that he was unable to run at this point. Seeing him made me so tempted to quit and take the bus back with him to the finish, it would have been so easy. But, I didn't travel 14 hours to quit just cause I was tired. I wasn't injured, there was no option, I had to press on. I came to the 1/2 way point around 5:15, if you would have told me that I would run an exact even split for the second half I would have laughed in your face. Jen and I left the aid station together and continued up the 3,000 ft climb. It was brutal. I got a surge around the 50k mark and took it, you never know when they will come. It lasted a mile or so but it felt good run run somewhat normal again.

Mile 32-38: This was the hell that is called The Loop. I lost Jen as we exited the aid station entering the loop, she stopped for a bit and talked with her fiance but I had to keep moving. I knew at that point my body needed to keep moving. The climb heading into the loop was a beast. It was about a mile long and SO steep. I wish I had hiking poles at this point. After the first climb it was just an up and down battle. There was a bit of snow in the loop, just a bit, but it made me chuckle. This was nuts! The second half of the loop was pretty technical, I realized what our bus driver meant when he said "beware of the leaves". A lot of fallen leaves on the rocky ground makes it really hard to find stable footing, because they create a false ground. There was so much walking in the loop I began to get really worried that I would not make the cutoff.

Mile 38-47: Leaving The Loop was a great feeling, it's a mental beating. Coming out of the loop there was a very runnable section of gravel road. My legs were so tired all I could do was the old lady shuffle but it was good enough to pass a good number of folks. One of things that worked for me in this race was forcing myself to run when it was runnable. I know that sounds obvious but you get so depleted all you want to do is walk to give yourself a break. I knew I would have plenty of inclines that I would have to walk, so I forced myself to pick it up when I could. Some of these miles were a blur. One guy who I came upon said we were just picking away at the distance at this point and that it all would blur together. He was so right. During this stretch I passed a lot of men. There was one section where we were on single track and I had to use tree trunks to help me up, it was so steep and the leaf litter made it so slippery. During this section, which was around 43, I just wanted to sit down and cry it was so tough. We got to the top of that climb and I stopped for a second to enjoy the view through the trees. It was truly a beautiful, clear day and some of the scenery, if you could get out of your misery and raise your head, what breathtaking. There was one spot early in the race where it looked fake it was so beautiful, you could see a panoramic view of the mountains which were painted in fall colors.

Mile 47-54: I was doing pretty well by this point. Everything hurt but knowing you are within single digits of a 50+ race puts some pep in your step for sure. I got to the last aid station and was told that there was 3.8 miles left. I didn't believe them because there is a fake race distance of 50 miles and a real race distance of 54. The man promised me that it was a real 3.8 miles. By that time my Garmin had lost all credibility because of the woods (tradeoff you get with a 5 year old Garmin, battery lasts forever, but the accuracy not so great!) so I wouldn't have been able to tell was 3.8 miles was anyway. This aid station had hot tomato soup so I took a cup and moved on. I came to the last station at 9:59 and finished in 10:36, 37 minutes to do 3.8 miles at the end of this journey felt fantastic. I felt like, while it was hard, I was actually running. Normally that would have been a crawling pace in training, but at this point I felt like a gazelle! The last section was pretty much flat or downhill but very rocky with lots of leaves, but the downhill was so nice for me. The road came just after the 1 mile mark and hitting the road made me realized how much my feet hurt.

FINISH: Seeing the finish line was so amazing I'm surprised I didn't cry. It felt so good to run it in and get a handshake from the race director. Tyler was there and was cheering very loudly. I was so proud of myself in that moment, it was unbelievable that I "ran" (more like shuffled and hiked) an even 1st and second half! I pushed myself to places I have never been and it was the most challenging day of my life. I knew I didn't have the option of quitting, if I didn't make the cutoff I had to go out trying. I made the cutoff by 1:24 and finished 18th woman. I believe now that unless you train in the mountains you cannot expect sub-10 hour finish, there is no way. Given that, a 10:36 was very respectable. I ran with some amazing men towards the end, one guy who was doing MMTR for the first time and had run a 50 miler two weeks before (does this stuff all the time apparently) and finished in just over 7 hours! He was shocked how difficult this race was, I ended up leaving him way behind me, which lifted my sprits :)

Albert and Mary finished as well, and I am so proud of them. Mary had bad plantar going into the race but still rocked it. Albert came through and then headed right to the bench press where he won the Ironhorse award, he cranked out 31 reps of 135 lbs after 54 miles!!

Things I learned:
1) Nutrition is half the battle, without proper nutrition, hydration, and supplementation you will have no chance. Hammer products are a gift from heaven.
2) Don't stop moving, I never stopped for more than 30 seconds at an aid station.
3) Talk to others, companionship is priceless.
4) Run when you can and walk with purpose. The sections that were super steep I pumped my arms like I was running the damn thing.
5) Look around. It was so easy to get into your own personal hell that you miss the beauty around you, I was very guilty of this.

Catching up!

I realized I've failed to chronicle some things I know I will want to reflect on later, so here's the quick and dirty on my running adventures!

Ran my second 23 miler in Orlando, after being on the road for 9 days! Not literally on the road, but away from home. Tyler and I ran this on a Sunday, after spending the Saturday before at Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure. His work had their Spring Picnic there so I got into two parks with lunch for $20, pretty sweet. The week leading up to this I spent down in Jupiter helping my cousin with her 3 month old twins, because her husband was out of town for the week. My sleep schedule was pretty erratic but managed to keep up with my scheduled mid-week runs, which actually surprised me.

So, given the week's events I wasn't very confident going into the 23 miler. We ran an out and back on the West Orange Trail. Started out "slow" and then got progressively faster, our last mile was 7:54! Our average pace was 8:22 min/mile, I hadn't planned on us running that fast, but we felt good! It was the furthest Tyler had ever gone during a training run, so I was pretty proud of both of us.

The next Saturday 3/20 I ran in the first Trail of Payne 10K here in Gainesville. It was held at Payne's Prairie State Park and was mostly trail. It was really fun, perfect weather for a race, a bit chilly, nice and clear. Given the intense emotional week I had before it I had low expectations of my performance, but I ended up doing better than expected with a 46:53 time which got me 1st place in my age group! Pretty fun I must say!

It's funny how racing really does bring out the best in us. I very rarely feel like I could run 7:30s for 6 miles during a training run. So it's always surprising to crank them out on race day.

Hoping to solidify my Vancouver plans very very soon! My ticket WILL be purchased this week and I hope to book a place and car. This trip has changed a lot since the fall. What was going to be a big group of peeps in a house, might end up just being me and my friend Scott who lives out in Portland. I know it will be fabulous no matter what, because this is my big marathon dangit!! Seriously, even though things have changed drastically from my initial expectations, I will make the most of this trip!

Tampa GUR 2010 Details

So when preparing for the Great Urban Race in Tampa on March 6th, Tyler and I stumbled upon someone's blog giving a list of all the clues and answers as well as photos used. We found it very helpful in trying to understand what we might encounter, so I wanted to return the favor to future GUR teams!

Our team name was Pants On The Ground, which got us a #4 in the Stand-out Team Names list!

Strategy:
We took a laptop because the bar where the race starts (Gaspar's Grotto) had wireless internet. We received the clues at about 12pm and worked on answering them between using the laptop, calling a friend who was online helping, and calling local knowledge peeps. Once we solved the clues and planned out our route we hit the streets and ran really FAST. Not being familiar with Tampa we had a disadvantage in solving some of the clues, it took us almost 40 minutes to hit the streets. But once out there we figured we averaged about a 7:45 min/mile giving us a 20th place finish = qualified for Nationals!

Order in which we did the clues:
Part of 10, 7, 3, Part of 10, 4, 1, 1st part of 12, 2, 8, 6, 9, 2nd part of 12, Part of 10, accidentally skipped 5 so did that last, chose to not do #11, took that as our 1 freebie (couldn't figure it out!)

Clues (in the order they appeared on our sheet):
1) Get ready for the Chipotle Challenge! Make your way to Lykes Gaslights Park and find the Chipotle staff. One teammate must successfully throw a bean bag into the hole in the boards provided. The teammate throwing the bean bag must be blindfolded while another teammate verbally guides them. Once completed, you must receive a stamp on this clue sheet from the Chipolte staff to receive credit for this clue.

*This was downtown, easy enough to find location online. Park on the corner of Madison and Tampa. Tyler was the one who was blindfolded and it took maybe 10 throws to sink the beanbag. Didn't need a pic for this one, just the stamp on our sheet as proof.

2) Make your way to 901 West Platt Street and find the animal handlers on the outdoor patio. Take a picture of all teammates holding ONE of the creatures waiting for you.

*This was our second stop after crossing over from downtown into the Hyde Park area. We got to hold the Iguana! It was easy to find because the address was given

3) This clue will require two steps!
First, make your way to King Corona's Cigars Cafe and Bar and solve the puzzle hanging in the window. Once solved, fill in the circled word from the puzzle in the boxes on this clue sheet below.

Second, take a picture of all teammates in front of the wooden Native American statue in the window at King Corona's. To receive credit for this clue, you must have BOTH the word and the puzzle written on this clue sheet AND a picture of all teammates in front of the wooden statue.

*This was just two blocks down from the bar where we started. Hit this up after we did clue number 7. We didn't write down all the pieces of the puzzle that we solved, but they were questions like: What famous wrestler calls Tampa home (Hulk Hogan), 2003 Super Bowl Champs (Buccaneers), Florida lake over 700 square miles (Okeechobee). All the answers led us to answer of PIRATES, in our little fill in blank thing. Then we took a picture in front of the wooden Indian in the window.

4) Unscramble the letters below to find the location of this clue, located in downtown Tampa. Take a picture of all teammates standing next to this sculpture.
REHTA YENRGE

*This one was tough. I first unscrambled this as Heart Energy and we were unable to find anything under that name online. Luckily our internet phone a friend, Bill figured out it also could be Earth Energy. Once we looked that up, we were able to find that it was on the corner of Tampa and Twiggs, downtown.

5) Let's ride! Make your way to City Bike Tampa and complete the bike challenge waiting for you. Once completed, you must receive a business card from the staff as proof of completion.

*We somehow missed hitting up this one, located near the corner of Cass & Tampa downtown, on the way out. So, we did this one last on the way back to the bar. It was a simple task, each teammate had to ride a bike around a set of cones, maybe a 25 ft distance. Then we were given a business card as proof, no picture needed.

6) Make your way to the field at Hyde Park Art Studio and complete the soccer challenge. Once completed you must receive a Tampa Bay Club Sport magnet from the staff as proof of completion.

*This physical challenge was having to make either one goal with the soccer ball while not hitting any of the inflatable refs placed in the goal, or make 3 goals, hitting as many refs as needed. Tyler took the shots and made 3 goals in a row, got our magnet and moved on. No picture here either.

7) Take a picture of all teammates posing with the statue pictured to the right.

*This was our toughest clue. Not being from Tampa we had no idea where this was. We called our local friends and sent them a picture via cell phone, no luck. We ended up asking a woman at the bar and she said she thought it might be just up the road in Ybor. When we looked up Ybor statue we found it (but never came up under Tampa Statue). It's the Ybor Immigrant Statue and is located on the North Side of Centennial Park, 9th Ave & 18th St.

8) Hang ten! Make your way to the Hyde Park Village fountain to learn how to ride the waves. Once completed, take a picture of all teammates striking a wacky pose on a surfboard.

*Once we got to Hyde Park Village the fountain is easy enough to find, lots of other teams being there also helps! Tyler had to take a "surf lesson" which was pretty short and then we had our picture taken on the board.

9)Make your way to the Smoothie King on Swann Street where you will find a delicious "boost" waiting for you. Take a picture of one teammate pouring the smoothie into another teammate's mouth with a Smoothie King sign clearly visible in the picture.

*This was easy enough since we were given the street name, just looked it up online. Went in got our mini smoothie and I fed it to Tyler in front of a cooler with a Smoothie King logo on top.

10) Tic-Tac-Toe! This clue will require three separate pictures. You team must complete 3 of the nine challenges listed in the tic-tac-toe squares to the right. The three challenges you complete must be in "tic-tac-toe" order - either 3 boxes in a vertical column, 3 boxes in a horizontal row, OR 3 boxes on a diagonal. NOTE: All required items in the pictures must be clearly visible. "Strangers" must be non-GUR participants.

*This clue had a grid of 9 tasks. We ended up doing 4, changed our tic-tac-toe direction as we went. The three tasks which made up our tic-tac-toe were
1)Return to the finish with a real job application - we went into a couple places along our route, but ended up finally getting one at a Subway downtown.
2)Take a picture of at least one teammate shaking a dog's paw - This was actually the first picture we took. We were still in the bar and there was a guy there with two puppies.
3)Take a picture of all teammates with a real boat in the background. (Toys and pictures of boats will not be accepted) - We first had our picture taken when we were crossing into Hyde Park area, with a crew boat in the background. On our way back from Hyde Park into Tampa we decided to have our picture taken again in front of a more obvious boat, just in case.

The task we completed that we didn't end up using in our tic-tac-toe was - Take a picture of all teammates posing with a stranger standing on a skateboard. We came across these two guys on our way into downtown and had our picture taken with them. We realized later that they weren't actually standing on their boards. Oops.


11) Riddle: Ms. Shield is odd. She likes balloons but doesn't like parties. She likes books but doesn't like reading. She likes weeds but doesn't like flowers. She likes swimming but doesn't like water. She likes letters but doesn't like words. She likes noodles but doesn't like pasta sauce. She likes apples but doesn't like plums. She likes coffee but doesn't like tea.
According to the pattern in the riddle above, take a picture of all teammates in front of a street sign that Ms. Shield would LIKE. The street sign must be clearly visible and easy to read in the picture.

*You are allowed to skip 1 clue, this is the one we chose to skip. We had no idea. Turns out it was painfully obvious. Ms. Shield likes things with repeat letters. But we didn't find that out till we finished. Apparently all the other teams had trouble too, when we arrived at the check in area after finishing the woman told us that 6 teams had received penalties for not figuring out the clue properly. Glad we skipped it!

12) This clue requires three steps

First, purchase one of the following options (a, b, OR c). All items should be new and unused
a) A reusable plastic water bottle
b) A reusable hot beverage tumbler
c) A golf-type, small sports towel
Second, bring your item to the lobby of 1510 West Swann Ave and donate them to the Center for Autism & Related Disabilities (CARD). This non-profit organization provides information and consultation to individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders and related disabilities.
Third, you must receive a flyer from the CARD staff as proof of donation.

*We ended op stopping at Publix on our way into Hyde Park from downtown. We asked the staff there and they said they were all out of water bottles, but then a kid working there found us one. Sweet! We put it in the backpack and planned on going to donate it when we got closer to Hyde Park Village. We had difficulty finding it, as we were looking for the actual Center for Autism. We finally found the location, it ended up being our last stop before heading back towards downtown. They were accepting donations inside Lifestyle Fitness in Hyde Park Village... tricky!
_____
After we completed all our clues we started running back to the bar in Ybor from downtown. Tyler went over all the clues to make sure we had everything and asked me a couple times if we had a magnet from the Soccer Challenge. I knew I was handed something upon completing the task, but then started doubting myself. We stopped and looked through our items, and I couldn't find the magnet. I got pretty upset that I hadn't checked earlier. But, Tyler was the voice of reason and reminded me that maybe we did have what we needed and at this point it was worth just heading back and just taking the 30 min penalty, rather than trying to go and get a magnet.

Funny, although not too funny at the time, thing is our backpack kept coming open as we were running and random items would fall out. This was not good, as Tyler's wallet fell out several times. But, as I was in my magnet despair the backpack opened again, and out fell the magnet! Perfect! We ran as fast as we could and passed at least 5 teams as we got closer to the finish.

Did I mention our biggest advantage was our running ability!?

Such a fun time, the post race hangout outside at Gaspar's Grotto was fabulous. It was a beautiful day. Can't wait to write another entry in November after Vegas!!

50+ Mile Weeks

I'm presently trying to enjoy the down time of my Recovery Week. Last week I logged 56 miles. It started off with a 23 mile run on Saturday, which went really, really well. I logged 1 mile solo, 10 miles with the FTC Boston gals, and 12 with the rest of the Saturday morning FTC group. Kept my overall pace under 8:30, and it felt extremely comfortable. I even got this amazing 2nd wind at around mile 20, big confidence booster! The next week went well too, I was surprisingly full of energy despite the near marathon on Saturday 2/20.

Last Saturday was my big birthday run. My big 30th birthday was Friday and I went out to dinner with Jacque, Diana, Chrissy, Megan, Sam, Bill & Tyler. Saturday Tyler and woke up early, got out of our freezing cold tent (yes we camped out in the yard), and went to meet up with the brave FTC souls. I felt so honored that Han, West, Albert, Diane, Gaye, Mark & Albert's son Andrew came out and logistically conquered our Hawthorne Trail day! It was really cold and rainy, quite unpleasant weather wise, but we still had a great time. Some people did 8 miles, some 12 and then we did 16.5ish.

During the run I noticed a little tightness in my left knee, but didn't think much of it. By the time Saturday night rolled around and the birthday party was hoppin' out here on the Moore farm, my knee was feeling rough. Sunday I was a bit worried, glad it was a zero mile day.

Monday I ran in my new Vibram Five Fingers shoes, knee felt really good actually. Tuesday morning I woke up and it was pretty bad, chose to forgo my 60 min tempo run and log a big fat 0 instead. Wednesday I ran 30 minutes and it was pretty painful for the first mile but then felt really really good, and felt good the rest of the day. Thursday (today) I woke up with pain again, grrr... Ran anyway, did 50 min. The first mile was rough but felt really good after that. Apparently it feels great when I'm running and for hours after, dang tendons! My guess is tendinitis, but ice actually makes it feel worse, so who knows!

I'm hoping it goes away soon, although I'm grateful that running feels better than walking! This came out of nowhere, I've never had pain in this area before and with very little warning on top of it. My guess is that it might have something to do with the 8.5 mile trail run I did last week, maybe used some muscles differently than I have in awhile, that combined with the 56 miles that week. Hey, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right!?

Here's to healing quickly!

Conquering the Yassos!

Last night I finished 6 Yassos (over half way to 10!) each 800 in under 3:30!

Five Points 1/2 left my right calf surprisingly sore, that combined with some tummy cramps yesterday made me feel a little unsure about doing Yassos last night. But, I put on my new Florida Track Club singlet and warm-ups and headed for the track.

Did a 15 minute warm-up around campus then came back to the track, stripped down to my shorts and singlet and hit the Yassos. I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to run on such a wonderful track that is UF's. It's really spoiling that rubber surface and just the atmosphere of the collegiate scene. I love it when the hottie track stars (God their strides are BEAUTIFUL, I seriously fall in love!!) are there running in Lane 1, always Lane 1, it makes me feel a part of something.

I remember the first time I attempted the Yassos and only did 3, and on the last one I totally tanked. Last night I felt like I could have done 7 or 8 or 9 or more, which was really encouraging. Each week I think about my Vancouver running buddy Laura who has already gotten up to 8 or 9, it keeps me going knowing I need to keep up with her. The weekend before Five Points Laura ran a 1/2 Marathon in San Fransisco, her time was 1 second faster than mine! I LOVE the fact that we are running on opposite coasts using the same training plan and seeing the same results. It's truly amazing how the human body responds!

Tonight I'm heading out to run with the Florida Track Club for a hilly route, I'm so happy I've slid into the Gainesville running community recently. Fit, encouraging, fun, positive people. Runners rule!

Valentines

Well it's one of my least favorite days of the year, Valentines Day. I now have a solution to my aversion to this Hallmark invented holiday, RACING!

Today was the Five Points of Life Marathon and Half Marathon here in Gainesville. It's our biggest and longest distance event here in town. Today was my third time doing the Half Marathon. I finished in 1:41:25 and placed 2nd in my age group! I was running with two guys from the Florida Track Club and we had a goal of 1:40:00. We didn't make it, we all came in around the same time, but two of us PR'd despite the missed goal, so all was well!

We started out with 7:45 min/miles for the first 6, hills are pretty intense during those miles and then our strategy was to take off after that. Oh it was 28 degrees at the start! I had my fuel belt so didn't stop at the water stations, so after mile 7 or so I was ahead of Albert and West, but they caught up to me in the last mile. My legs were pretty heavy after the first 6 miles so I wasn't able to go as fast as I'd hoped, but I was very happy with beating my PR by 3 minutes! One strange thing is my feet fell very fast asleep, I literally couldn't feel them, around mile 5 and it lasted for like 3-4 miles. It was kind of a scary feeling to not feel your feet AT ALL while you are running! But, I'm guessing it was something to do with the way I was running the hills, my leaning or foot strike or something, because once it flattened out for a bit it subsided. Thank goodness!

It's really crazy to think back that 2 months ago I struggled so badly at the OUC 1/2 in Orlando with Tyler, coming in almost 20 minutes later than my time today! CRAZY!! I feel like a different person, in more ways than one.

There is this drive in me that has been quieted with the housewife life, and now I feel like it's bubbling over. I feel youthful and goal oriented, feelings I haven't felt since grad school. It's an interesting journey...

Today I'm reminded of why I began hating Valentines, goes back 13 years. I went to a party with my longtime boyfriend and fought the whole night and then he broke up with me in the morning. We ended up getting back together and dating off and on for a few more years, but I guess I maintained some PTSD from that, combined with my natural aversion to anything contrived which Valentines Day seems to be to me.

So here I am 13 years later, in a stable, loving relationship with my husband of 5 years. I still don't like the day, but it's more like a non-event. We don't really celebrate, I guess we really don't celebrate too many holidays with gifts, some people find it strange... maybe it is. But today, he came out to my race and met me at the end and was impressed and proud, which was good for my heart, I'll take that over a box of Wal-Mart chocolates any day.

Happy Day everyone. I hope you are loved and love, real, non-commercialized, non-packaged kind of love.

Back to Basics

This week was a tough one, but good in the way of introspection.

The high from the 15K last Saturday was great. But, where there are highs there are lows. This week I just felt worn out. Come mid week my legs were heavy, and I had a tough time keeping my Marathon Goal Pace (MGP) for 35 minutes on my Wednesday run. I've set my MGP at 7:55 min/miles, so it was a bit disheartening to struggle for 35 minutes at that speed when on Saturday I kept a 7:35 pace for 9.3 miles. But, that's why I'm not supposed to try and run a race every day I suppose.

Thursday I traveled down to Orlando and ended up squeaking a run in with Tyler before his soccer game, which I ended up filling in as one of their girls (only 5 of your 8 players can be guys). Run was great, as it always is with him, soccer was fun, even though I was beyond rusty. I think I paid for it the next days with some calf issues, getting old sucks because apparently you can't just play a random sport without some minor consequences.

Friday I was slated for 60 minutes with some strides mixed in but opted for a day off, as I was getting a clear message from the old body that she needed a rest. The next day I was running the run portion of an equestrian, mountain biking, running relay. Friday was a super fun day, I actually spent the early part with my dear friend Heather and the later part with Tyler and a myriad of his work friends. We started at 3pm with a baby shower/happy hour, then moved to another happy hour downtown, then another bar, and then ended the night at the UCF USF hockey game, getting into bed around 2am. Note: drinking from 3-10 with little water in between is not the best way to prepare for a wake up time of 6:30am to run 4 miles in the woods.

Saturday morning I realized I was not invincible and that dehydration and lack of sleep does in fact impair your physical and mental functions. My main problem that developed post Newnan's Lake run was I got cocky.

I ran decent on Saturday but felt terrible. The post race drive was probably the worst part. I was on the verge of tears for various reasons, all of which were a bit blown out of proportion by my physical state.

So what did I learn, or more importantly, what would I have done differently? I'm not sure. The obvious answer would be to have drank less beer and more water, or maybe eaten better, slept longer. But, I'm not sure that I would do those things in retrospect (well maybe the more water part). I had a really great time with good people that I don't see too often, and even though I don't like to invite it, humility is necessary, and I'm better for it.

Sunday I needed to run for 2 hours and 30 minutes, which equaled about 17 miles. Given my Saturday breakdown I was really nervous about hitting the pavement for that amount of time. The run turned out to be perfectly wonderful, weather, route, even my broken down body did great. It felt really nice to not worry about speed and just go, concentrating on form. What a perfect way to end a volatile week, it helped me find the old me.

Will I drink for 7 hours before my marathon in May? No. Will I try and keep my ego in check? Yes.

Newnan's Lake 15K

What a great morning! For whatever reason this is my favorite Gainesville race. It's simple, no frills out and back 15K (9.3 miles) on Newnan's Lake in East Gainesville. Florida Track Club puts it on and I just love it. This year was especially high inducing!

The weather was really perfect. Years past it's been colder, which is fine once you get going but the pre-race always feels a bit miserable. This was perfect before and during.

My goal for the day was 1:12:00, I ran a 1:10:51. Nice, felt great!

I did get passed at the very end by two girls, which put me 14th overall woman finisher (I think!). I came in 4th in my age group so I just missed an award... oh well! I was stoked by my time so that's what matters. If I had been one month older I would have placed 2nd, so that was encouraging!

Jacque, Diana and Chrissy all ran so we rode to the race together. All of them have been resting more than running lately, but I thought they all did great! It was nice to have friends around for a run that could be happy for each other and enjoy a great day.

The first call I placed was a text to Tyler, after all he was the one that helped me decide on my goal time. I swear the 2nd half of the race I was just hoping to finish below my goal so I could tell him the good news. It's such a great feeling to have someone that knows exactly what it takes to meet a goal, be proud of you. Don't get me wrong Bill and my friends and family are so great at rooting for me, but when someone has done all the hard work and can come alongside you while you do yours and genuinely be impressed and proud... priceless! His confidence in me is one of the main themes of this season of running. I really can't imagine this training without him.

After the race Bill and I drove down to Orlando to take Amy's kids to the Science Center. During the drive down I told Bill that I don't know of a better feeling than a post race bliss, it's really one of the best ways to start my morning! The Science Center was fun, I think the kids had a blast. Truthfully I'd rather run 30 miles everyday than be a parent to 3 kids at this stage in my life. It's completely exhausting, and I question that I will ever get to the place of wanting children. I love kids, I really do, but I know that I would want to give them 100% of me, and I don't think I could sustain that. But that is a whole other type of blog!!

Oh Mr. Yasso...

So, last night I decided that I would do some of those oh so famous Yasso 800s. No big deal right? I figured that I'm still a ways out from the marathon, and he suggests you start them 2 months out, so I thought "I'm gonna kill these things, I'm in such good shape right now!". NOT SO. I decided to start with 3 (eventually you are supposed to work up to 10 in your marathon predictor time, i.e. want to run a 3:30 marathon = run 10 800s each in 3 minutes 30 sec... in case you aren't familiar with this form of torture!).

The UF track is packed, I have a really hard time parking. All these shirtless people looking very serious. They're coaches everywhere I swear. I stroll up feeling pretty confident about this workout that I am going to tear up before heading over to run some slower miles at the ramps with a friend. First thing that puts me out of place is my headphones, I'm not sure where but somewhere there must be a rule that headphones on the track are an abomination because I swear everyone is glaring at me when I walk up. It might have also been that technically the track isn't open till 6pm to the public (I was there at 5:45pm), but there were a couple larger individuals walking so I felt better about that "rule".

I start with a nice easy 400 warm up. I was going to warm up for a mile or so, but because of the parking situation I was in a hurry. I have this swanky bounce in my step, jamming to my music. Okay, once around now time for the Yasso. I take off and kill the first 400 (because I did full loops it works out to be more like 440 each), then the second lap I struggle but still come in at 3:24. Not bad I think. See I could run a 3:25 marathon if I wanted... WRONG.

I do my little 3:30 recovery and then begin the second 800 (which I'm saying is 880 to make myself feel better). I start out slower, realizing that I started out a little too ambitious last time. Came in at 3:31, not bad, not bad. Still feeling pretty hot. During my little recovery I'm having the debate in my head, "well, I'm running late, maybe I should just do two."... "no, you told yourself 3, don't fall short of your goal, real runners wouldn't do 2". I think I knew what was about to happen, serious tankage. Last one is rough, I come in at 3:45. Big drop! Thank God I didn't set out to do 4!

I went to bed exhausted! My usual tossing and turning for 30 minutes while my brain sorts through stuff didn't have much power over me last night. This morning I woke up briefly to see Bill off to work and then didn't wake up till 9:45! I don't remember the last time I did that! From 3 damn 800s! ...well 880s

Humility is good for the soul... and getting your butt kicked makes you want to get back out there and kick the butt of what kicked you! So I'm determined to conquer those Yassos!

Running in Cemeteries

In the last week I've ran through two different cemeteries, on two different runs, in two different states. Neither one was a planned addition to the route, just spur of the moment, "hey, I'm gonna go in there".

I'm not sure why I'm always drawn to them. I remember taking a road trip with my lifelong friend Julie, up the east coast. We must have stopped at like 7, it was like the cemetery vacation. We took oodles of photos, spent hours amongst graves and underground bones. Personally, my plan would be cremation so my intrigue doesn't even translate to my own burial decisions.

Perhaps it's the strong sense of realness I get when entering those iron gates. The neighborhood surrounding them may be paved and decorated and humming with the days activities, but behind those gates are histories, years of sadness and joys and the reality that nothing and no one lasts forever.

Coming up on the big 30, it's beginning to sink in that if I am granted a long life, it's still about 1/3 over. I've been meandering around my 1/3 life crisis the last few months, and I've settled on not trying so hard. The expectations I've set for myself have always been just beyond what I'm doing. To some that might sound healthy, like having goals, striving for something better, but for me it's been hell. I've disliked myself most moments because I've never been good enough, never tried hard enough. I've lived in a constant state of guilt. It's a hidden misery.

I want to be done with that. My prayer is one of release. I want to let God have some room because I'm exhausted.

So, the last few months I've stepped away from my goodwill type of commitments, asking God to place small manageable things in front of me until I can handle re-entering the world of service. Yesterday, running through the cemetery I got a wave of desire to contact the person starting Girls on the Run in Gainesville (www.girlsontherun.com). As I've said before, running has become my form of worship to the Creator, so my hope is that through it he'll keep me balanced. I know what it's like to be unrecognizably depressed, put all your hope in boys, be obsessed with image, and feel like no one understands. Apparently, Girls on the Run works at dealing with those issues that affect so many pre-teens, and they do it through running and healthy lifestyles. Love it!

Cemeteries are alluring, but for now I prefer to run, very much alive, through them, acutely aware of the contrast. I'd like to think those buried there are cheering me on to live and run hard while I'm able.

Disney Half Marathon

WOW!

My week started off with three days in a row receiving sad news reports from different friends about the goings ons in their lives. I felt beat up, my heart ached badly for my friends. Empathy is funny like that I guess. It doesn't seem productive to feel others pain when there is nothing you can do to fix it. But, I realized that what we can do is be there, maybe this helps lighten the load? I'm grateful that I have the time to share that space of grief with the ones I love.

One friend lost his dad this week, with no warning. At the end of the week he played two concerts, played his guts out, lit up the room. God bless him. We all have those passions which can help us come through tragedy. Maybe that was part of God's plan all along, giving us talents not just to be enjoyed lightly but to create a spiritual link to him and his unexplainable peace.

So, on Friday (as well as Thursday and Saturday) night I got to hug my friend before he went on stage, one of those real I see you and love you kind of hugs. He made me cry with his music. Due to the concert we didn't go to bed till 1:30 AM. I stayed at Tyler's so we could head to Disney together come 4:20 AM.

Two friends of my parents had paid entries to the Disney 1/2 Marathon on Saturday and they were unable to run in the event. Tyler and I had planned on running for 2 hours together anyway, since I was going down for the concert, so we happily agreed to take their entries and have a Disney experience.

What a day! We got to Epcot at 5:00 AM and as we were waiting for the port-o-potties the SNOW was coming down! SNOW at DISNEY... REAL SNOW! It was fantastic! Magical really. During the race the snow turned to light sleet and then rain, but it was all worth it. We ran for fun not time and had a BLAST. We hooted and hollered, high fived spectators, even sang happy birthday to someone on the course. Having been one of the last 200 people to cross the start line (the original registrants are run-walkers), we were very pleased with our 2:02 finish time. I think we ran half the race on the grass or in the gutters!

This past weekend was one of the most special times I've had. I got to spend some treasured time with some of the most beautiful people I know, including my favorite author/prophet/speaker Shane Claiborne! I think I had a glimpse at what the community will be like in heaven, connecting with souls on a non-verbal level of deepness. The crap at the beginning of the week made us all vulnerable enough to need each other. I wouldn't call it God's will that crap happens, because I don't believe in that sort of deity, but I do believe in the God of love and relationships and that he is able to lead the intimacy that can come out of dark times.

DeLeon Springs 1/2 Marathon

1:44:35, PR'd by 13 minutes, placed 2nd in my age group!

What a great cold morning! I awoke at 4:20am to leave the house by 5am, to get to DeLeon Springs, race started at 8am. It was in the 20s when I woke up, so even though I like my runs cold, this was a bit too cold for the ideal Kim weather. But, nevertheless I arrived around 7am and shivered my way over to pick up my number and shirt and stand in the bathroom line.

It was a small race, only 167 runners for the 1/2 Marathon. A simple out and back course on a rural road. It was cheap, flat and semi-local, so it was great!

I started the first mile "slow" and then gave myself the liberty to speed up. From the first .10 mile I noticed an intense arch pain in my right foot. If you had asked me at mile 1 if I thought I was going to be able to complete the race I would have said no. But, I took 1 mile at a time, and it hurt like hell the whole way. What was it? Who really knows, I've never felt that pain before, not even slightly, but my suspicion is that it had something to do with the massage I got on Wednesday. Wendy (my massage therapist) worked on that particular foot for awhile, she said it was starting to buckle. My guess is something was loosened and wasn't prepared for an intense run. It's still sore today, but I'm hoping this week of running it will resolve itself.

So, I know in certain circles PRIDE is almost like a four letter word (even though it's five). But, I'm not ashamed to say that I'm proud of myself. I know I couldn't do any of this without the gift of my body, my health, and my husband, but I still have worked really hard to improve this quickly. It's been really fun overall, but there are still some days where I flat out just don't want to put on those darn running shoes. But running a sub 8:00 min/mile pace for a 1/2 marathon and feeling good doing it (minus the foot thing) makes it all worth it!

I just can't believe that this Boston Qualifying goal is actually reachable, like realistically reachable. It's moved from a maybe someday way far off to really really close.

ChiRunning

I'm not sure how I could forget to write on this subject, after all the book ChiRunning is one of the major factors in my attempt at Boston, so here it goes...

Nancy and I became friends through a Guardian ad Litem training. Every time I talked to Nancy, finding a little more about her, I knew we were meant to be friends. Nancy is an incredibly kind person, balanced with passion and peace. She is 20 years older, but feels like a sister. She has lived the mini-farm life and now lives in Gainesville, she has milked and eaten her goats, raised a child, run a marathon, and questions religion while loving God. One of our first conversations about running she told me how this book enabled her to keep running, as I was discussing my latest running injury.

Soon enough I got it from the library and was pulled in by the author's statement that he has not had an injury since implementing the ChiRunning techniques. Oh, by the way he runs ultra marathons (distances further than 26.2 miles).

I read through the book and within days noticed a difference in my speed and my perceived effort level, plus whatever nagging injury I had at the time (don't even remember now!) seemed to start to fade. I was hooked! I have recommended it to all my running friends, whether battling injury or looking to shave a couple minutes off the pace, it's so helpful.

There are certainly days where I don't feel very Chi-like, but as I get better at paying attention to my body and it's natural rhythm I can honestly say those days are a fraction of what they use to be (and I'm running A LOT more often!). I've switched from a heavy motion control shoe with custom orthotic inserts to a totally neutral shoe with no inserts. In running terms that is a modern day miracle I do believe!

I just got home from a 8.5 miler and realized that it was nearly effortless at a 8:45 pace. I felt that runner's high or Chi or whatever for the entire 2nd 1/2 of the run. Running for me has become sort of like an act of worship, and I love that.

Christmas time running

Having just peeked around my friend Jessica's blog (http://harristelligman.blogspot.com/) who lives in Winston-Salem North Carolina, I'm jealous of all the snow and yet relieved that I don't have to navigate my running through icy melts or, heaven forbid, do the treadmill thing.

I think the high today is 70.

This week is the first week of my new training plan that I'm not thrilled to go out and run each day. Not sure if that is a sign that the newness of my plan is wearing off, or that there are other things entering into my consciousness (i.e. Christmas), or if the reality of me not pairing up with my 3 week Orlando running buddy this upcoming weekend is setting in? Whatever it is, it feels normal, I was pretty surprised how stoked I've been each day of training, even on the sluggish days.

Sunday I was once again spoiled with Tyler's presence for my long run, 100 minutes = 12.4 miles. I was able to travel down to West Palm Beach to see my cousin's newborn twins, Jana & Steven, then head to the family's house for dad's belated birthday/early Christmas celebration. So, on my way back home Sunday, I stopped in Winter Park for a run. We ran a great route through town, and rocked it with a 8:04 min mile. The crazy part was that I felt amazing and could have run all day at that pace, which feels really encouraging. Two weeks before my long run was 9 min miles, 1 week before 8:30, then this week just over 8. I told Tyler that if I qualify for Boston I'm buying him a plane ticket. Hopefully he will qualify too, but having such a huge influence on my speed development, I want him there either way!

I think the biggest hurdle has been believing in myself, but I feel like I'm overcoming that. Surrounding myself with runners who are faster than me, who have improved their speed over the years, has been critical.

I signed up for the DeLeon Springs 1/2 Marathon on January 3rd. On my schedule that day I have a 1 hour 50 minute run or race... so I figured perfect! I'm hoping for a 1:48 time, which would put me under my Boston pace. We shall see!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah & Happy Kwanzaa friends!

Toe Drama

Apparently most runners experience toenail issues at some point in time. I was reading online and someone wrote "Getting your first one is a sign that you've moved your training into a higher level", well congratulations to me!

My two toes, the ones next to my big toes, started becoming sensitive after the OUC 1/2 Marathon. It wasn't unbearable so I kept running as usual, but did change out my shoes. After this last weekend's long run I announced to Tyler that I was definitely going to be losing some toenails.

Monday night I ran a great fast run in Haile, fastest 6.2 miles ever. There was some off road trail action, and I think this might have pushed the one toe over the edge. Monday night I could barely walk. Tuesday I hobbled around town doing errands and yet was determined to run Tuesday night (my schedule is 6 days of running this week, so a break isn't in the cards). So, I got to the UF track to do some fartlek before running with the Florida Track Club, and taped my toe all to heck.

I told Tyler "you know you are a real athlete when you start taping your toenail to your toe in order to keep running." The pain was so intense I seriously doubted this level of commitment. But, I started very slow and pushed through the pain, I think it became easier to run than walk. I was able to maintain my 8 min mile pace, which made me feel tough!

Last night I was seriously considering calling the doctor today, but this morning I woke up and it feels surprisingly good. Not normal, but not make me cry kind of painful. I think that having to pull off all my taping last night might have in some way lifted the toenail just enough that it reduced some pressure in the toe? Who knows but I'll take it!

Another weekend in Orlando

This past weekend I traveled down to Orlando again, a friend of mine was having a tough week so I wanted to spend some time with her.

It was actually a very full weekend, tears, laughter, drinking, and of course running. I did my long run on Saturday with my faithful Central Florida running friend, Tyler. We did a 90 minute out and back on the West Orange Trail, beginning at the Clarcona Horseman's Park. We ran about 10 1/2 miles at a 8:30 pace.

I didn't tell Tyler this but while I was running the last couple miles all these feelings of bitterness came up. It's interesting to me that when I'm struggling and in pain how I search out people to blame those feelings on. I'm just building the distance at which I ran keep my 8:30ish pace, so it still feels really difficult to maintain anything faster than that for longer than 6 miles. I'm confident in my training program, so I know that it will get somewhat easier as the weeks go on, but right now angry Kim emerges come the last few miles of a long run.

After we finished I was instantly grateful for Tyler's presence and with out a doubt knew that I would not have kept my pace up the last 20 minutes or so without him.

It's such an intriguing friendship to me. I find that, while at times I love my solo runs, that I crave that running time with Tyler. I love how he makes me want to work harder when I'm not around him so that when I'm with him I do better. This weekend's run was a stark contrast to the 1/2 marathon the weekend before. While it was still difficult I felt strong for 6 miles, and was definitely much more pleasant to be with! I guess the feelings Tyler brings up in me are similar to that coach-player relationship. Even if he wasn't a runner, I would still treasure our friendship, but with the athletic bond it deepens everything.

I'm still having a little tightness in my right quad/hip flexor, which has been nagging at me since the Relay, but ironically after Saturday's run it feels better. Yesterday I barely noticed it. Maybe my new neutral shoes are helping my legs to settle into a more natural form and rhythm when I run, versus the stability shoes I was sporting before. We shall see!

Dirt Roads

Someday I will post pictures of my routine running route. Sometimes I don't feel the energy to look out over the fields and take it all in, but the days I do I'm so grateful for the serenity of my dirt road running.

Today I went for a 45 minute run with some 100 meter strides in the middle. Just a quick out and back. Great run. Nice and cool, in the 40s. I had this revelation as I was running an 8:00 pace, jamming out to Kelly Clarkson (oh yeah!), that I was so fulfilled. There is a huge divide within me of wanting peace and nature and calm, and then needing that high energy intensity. For 45 minutes I get to have both. The vastness of the fields and sky met by the hard physical exertion with the soudtrack of anger and energy sums up this world to me.

So I'm going to claim that I AM fun, and I need both things, both extremes of calm and passion. I like that.

OUC 1/2 Marathon BONK

December 5, 2009 Tyler and I ran the OUC 1/2 Marathon in downtown Orlando.

Let me start with Tyler...
I met Tyler in the Tri-Cities Airport the Sunday following the 2009 Blue Ridge Relay. Tyler and his teammate John were heading back home to Orlando after running on an Ultra Relay Team (meaning they run with 6 teammates what everyone else runs with 12 = crazy runners!). Tyler noticed my race shirt (thank God for not doing laundry!) and struck up a conversation.

He is the kind of person you want to be friends with, instantly. I don't know how else to explain it. Our flight was delayed so we were able to chat it up. As we were getting on the plane, I mentioned that we had an open spot on our Florida Ragnar Relay team coming up in a couple months. Both he and John said they'd be happy to fill it and gave me their cards.

I wasn't letting this one get away...

Tyler did end up committing to fill in our 12th spot, and John found another team. Through emails, Tyler and I began our friendship, by the time the Relay rolled around I felt like I'd known him for years. He is one of the most positive, friendly, and genuine people I've ever met. Did I mention he is an incredible runner!? His average pace for the Relay was around a 7:15 min/mile.

So, when I realized that the OUC 1/2 Marathon wasn't "that far off" from my scheduled running time that day (actually I should have ran about 9 miles on Dec 5th, not 13.1), and knowing Tyler would be up for it... why not?

I traveled down by Greyhound Bus on Friday Dec 4th and stayed with Tyler so we could go to the race together the next morning. Friday night Tyler and I talked about how he wanted to help me finish in my BQ pace (which is 8:24 min/mile = race time of 1:50 for a 1/2 marathon). This made me feel extremely uncomfortable. Knowing he wanted to run at least a minute per mile slower that what he could run, just to encourage me, was almost too much for me to process. All of my issues bubbled up, the "I'm not worth it" feelings, "I will never be able to give back to you in this way" feelings, "What if you see me fail" feelings... yuck!

After sharing some of this with Tyler, I told him that he was an adult and I would let him make his decision. His decision was of course to start and finish right by my side.

The bubbling of personal issues led me to not fall asleep till around 2am, we had to wake up by 5am. Just to give you a contextual image, this race fell at the end of my first two weeks of training (a training that goes 2 hard weeks then 1 easier week). We ran the 32 hour Ragnar Relay, which I had a 21 mile piece of, 2 weeks before, and I PR'd at the Tom Walker 1/2 Marathon a week before that (with a 1:57 time).

If you are interested in the breakdown of my OUC BONK see the Running Log link on the right. But, basically I started out strong time wise, but never felt strong. I unfortunately struggled from the beginning. Around mile 7 I knew I was crashing, mile 9 was my official BONK, the last 4 were just rough.

I was embarrassed that Tyler saw me in that state, but as he said "that's what friends are for". We came in at 1:59:50, right at a 9 minute mile.

I learned so many things that weekend. Top two, I'm not as mentally tough as I think I am (working on it though!), and I have a new "treasured friend" (as Tyler put it).

Right now I've had three more runs following the race under my belt, and I'm slowly getting my confidence back. This is a tougher road than I thought it would be, but I'm looking forward to it, knowing I'm not all alone.

Boston Baby!

I've decided to start up blogging again, to document the highs and lows of Qualifying for the Boston Marathon.

The training plan that I've adopted is from Coach Bruce, affiliated with the Royal Victoria Marathon. Weeks 1-12 are Aerobic Conditioning Training, weeks 13-16 are Aerobic Capacity Training, weeks 17-20 are Marathon Specific Training and weeks 21-23 is the Sharpening and Tapering Phase.

So, why am I doing this? It's always been an idea that seemed so ridiculous, that it is alluring. I always thought of a Boston Qualifier as being a "real runner". When I did a small series of races, called the Tour de Pain in Jacksonville this past summer I realized that I, given the right training, I could at least TRY. I ran a 1 mile run during that series in 7:12. Yeah, I couldn't have kept that pace up for more than the mile... but, if it's possible to run fast for a mile it's possible to run fast for 26.2 miles. Not long after that weekend I went for a casual run in Satellite Beach and borrowed my mom's GPS watch. I did 6 miles at a sub 9 min/mile pace and felt pretty good, that was when I knew I had to push my doubt aside and go all in.

There are moments, right now about 1 run per week, where I think I'm just plain stupid for thinking I can keep a 8:24 min/mile pace for a marathon. But, then I remind myself that I'm only in week 1 or 2 or 3 and I feel encouraged.

My friend Tyler (more on him later) recently told me that "One of the things I’ve had to learn, especially as I’ve increased speed and mileage, is how to push myself through those times where you’re struggling physically and mentally. You’re probably going to have more of those than you’re used to, but you will always get through them." Bottom line... this is going to be hard. Why else would it be such a lifelong running goal if it wasn't?

Nancy told me the other day, after I emotionally blabbed on and on about my disappointing half marathon I did recently (see next post), that I should keep a journal. So this is what this is, a journal about my emotional, physical, and mental journey. There is a link listed on my blog that has all my runs and details regarding them, so I won't spend too much time doing that here.

I hope at the end of this training, which leads up to the Vancouver Marathon in May, that Laura and I will have qualified for Boston. If not, then it will still be one hell of a ride... or better yet... run!