Month: April 2015

I went into today’s 50k hoping for a 5 minute PR. That is what I had set in my head. With my next 24Hour Ultra only two weeks away, and a goal of 100k, I didn’t want to overdo it, yet I didn’t want to NOT PR.

The course was beautiful. It is normally in June but they moved it to April because of the heat (yet it was 80).
The woods are covered in blooming flowers in the Spring and it was just so lovely.

I was 16 into it in just under 2.5 hours. By the time I got to 20 I was pacing to come in under 6 hours. WAY under 6 hours – even if I padded on lots of extra time incase I ever hit a wall (I never did) or needed to take a sick break or do a lot of walking in the end (plus there was a great deal of steep hills yet to come), I’d still be PRing by an hour. I was blown away.

There were many moments that I had to face things that terrify me. Let me explain. I’ll throw in a little supporting data point. I suffered TBI over 15 yrs ago. Subsequently, I have equilibrium issues – hence I fall. I can go UP hill, all day, any day – no problem. But doing downhill is very difficult for me. This is when I have fallen on the trail in the past. Once I fell going down Bull Run Mountain on a training run and broke my hand. Last year, at this race, I fell and gashed open my knee, resulting in my first DNF.

So – Terror No. 1 Running Down Hill. And this course, is not only very hilly (a little over 3k total elevation gain), but it was muddy and technical, with roots and boulders galore.

Terror No. 2 Boulders. They scare me. I have night terrors over them. Sometimes I lucid nightmare about them and jerk awake just before my head hits them. During my first 50 Miler, I hallucinated them (yes really). So yeah, boulders.

Terror No. 3 – Ok its not a terror –Im just not a fan of balancing over narrow things – and bridges. In this course, there are river crossings, where you have to either run over a flimsy narrow bridge with only one railing, or literally you just have to go over a tree that is knocked down over the crossing. And with people behind you, you just have to GO.

Speaking of fearing the fall – I actually saw the EMT who drove the jeep and taped me up last year – as well as the kid who marked my bib right before I fell, and called the EMTs. They both remembered me and we had a little laugh over it.

You get it. I had to deal with things I was afraid of. It felt good to do that. I also saw a snake, but I almost always do out there and they don’t really scare me – not as much as spiders 😉
Oh yes lets get back on track here (youre about to see the pun in that).

I get to an aid station around 20 miles. Im feeling really good about my time and potential PR. As I am leaving the station, I just take off with a few guys, w out looking at their bibs and without even looking up and noticing that there was a fork. And no one was standing there directing folks according to their bib color, which is typically the case. So I just gave away how this turns out I get, but I’ll just keep going (another pun).

I’m so excited about my time and pace, and feel so great, I start sprinting, uphill. Passing everyone.
I get to the top of the hill, and I realize, Ive been here. And sure enough, the person marking bibs (there are several deadends where you turn back. She says, You’ve been here. And I’m like WHAT.
So yeah, I ran an extra TEN miles.

Goodbye PR. At least officially. The official time for me will be 7:26 – and it wont say 41 miles, it will say 50k. So no credit for the extra miles and no PR ((officially)). But I did make a point to notice my time when I got to 32 miles, and if I’d crossed the finish line at that time, I’d have PRd over 90 minutes. If I even pad in lots of time for climbing and walking, I’m still coming in around 6 hrs (my PR is 7:02)

AND – I even said to myself, Wait wow – this is cool – If it took me two hours to run 8 more miles, that’d be a 9 and a half hour 50 miler. Not bad self, Not bad (considering my 50 Mile PR is just under 12).

I do not feel bad. I have a story to tell. It didn’t turn out the way I had planned, and I didn’t really need to run 40+ miles two weeks before my attempt to run 100k, but Im proud of myself.

*Here’s how awesome I look after a 40 mile run*

I hope I can get all these blisters lanced before Athletic Equation.

I’ll report in after I finish and let you know how far I get 😉

Last year about this time, I bailed on a half because it was a week before my #ultra – and although it would be a good training distance, I didn’t want to a) make the effort of traveling to the race location & dealing with the logistics for such a short distance and b) I didn’t want to risk injury.

Similarly, I just sold my Cherry Blossom 10 Miler bib, as it is a week out from my first of two ultras in the next few weeks.

I’d really like to get to the finish line of both races in once piece so I can check that box and move on to speed work for the summer, into the fall – when I attempt my first BQ.
I do feel slightly sad I wont be running it, but will get over it quickly Im sure. The medal will be pretty, as was the half I bailed on, but – hey – its not all about the medals right…OK, I would like both medals, but whatever.

Oh how I just want it to be #race day!!

I did just hear that I’m having a romantic training run date on Sunday on the C&O Canal towpath…complete with a picnic etc. Some girls dig dressy dresses and fancy dinners – and I don’t complain about those of course, but I cant think of a better date than this!! Wonder how far we’ll go *punny*

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So that and, I watched the Reese Witherspoon movie, Wild, chronicling the adventures of a girl who stepped out of life for a bit and walked a trail from Mexico to Canada, during my plane ride home from California a few weeks ago. And of course I decided – Hey I want to do that. But I want to do it from one end of the Appalachian trail to the other (Georgia to Main) – approx 2,000 miles. No biggie. I figure it would take around 2 months?
Maybe I can get my husband to join me?? This is probably something I have to wait for my kids to be off to college to do…just a few more years I guess.
😉

I do hope everyone is doing well and taking positive strides in the right direction – one step at a time
Xoxo

K