Category: Uncategorized (Page 6 of 10)

So – Its time to start running. I did a full; a 40 Miler and a 100k in the last 3 months, but other than that, I haven’t been running (just biking and lifting).

So I have been on vacation for two days and ran each morning so far. I ran/walked 8.5 miles the first day and 5.5 yesterday. The first 4 yesterday I did in 35 mins, which, for me, is really fast 😉
*4 8 min miles with two 30 second walk breaks
Thanks #BurrStrength

I also turned in my requirements certification yesterday for my qualifying race and volunteer work for Grindstone 100. So its even more official now! Its like Officially Official.

8 more days of vacay including today, and I want to keep up the running each day – but I seriously dont feel like it today – but I will, here in a sec. I’d like to say Im doing great on my nutrition too, but alas – it is vacay!

Woke up late today…got coffee at our fav spot.

Today feels like a good day to hit the gym and stop drinking wine….like, seriously.

We’ll see.

On another note – I have seen a few posts lately asking folks that post athletic achievements and/or progress-selfies to be sensitive to those who may be struggling in their own journeys – and I’d like to respond.
Know that there will always be a flatter belly, or longer legs, or whatever it is that you personally feel you want to improve for yourself. For me, there will always be someone who ran further or faster. And that’s ok. Don’t let anything that anyone else did make you feel defeated or discouraged.

Five years into it I look at my brag wall of bibs and medals and it feels pompous & rude. But it is my little wall, you know. It is down in the basement, not bothering anyone. It is not poking fun and teasing. Its just there, encouraging me to push forward and never give up.

That is what we are all supposed to be doing in our little community and that is what my intent is. Its what I love about runners – when youre out there on the trail and you fall or want to give up. It is that person who leans down and picks you up. It is the Western States winner turning around 15 hrs later in his flip flops and finishing the final mile with that wonderful lady who finished with six seconds to spare.

Know that if it is 5 lbs or 50 lbs or trying to cut 45 mins off your full to BQ – The struggle is just as real for all of the above.
That is all. Gonna go lace up now.
*edit* Just did a 30 min 5k

Be well
XO
K

Not running related – and will seem like a bitchy list of complaints of the woe-is-me variety, but that’s not what this is at all.

In the last few months my car was in a minor accident requiring a few days in the shop repairing body damage, right after it was fixed; a hail storm wailed and dinged-up the [brand new] hood extensively; then a rock hit and cracked the windshield; then I popped two tires; then someone slightly backed into it…
OK.

Its just funny now (windshield, hood, fender and wheel-well still not fixed). Who cares right? No one was hurt in all of this and they could have been. Including and most importantly in two of the incidents, my oldest son.

There’s other stuff – annoying, unfortunate stuff, like thousands in lost rent and repairs on our rental home so someone else can move in etc (just after I finally built up a savings). Other random financial stuff. And that is life – it can always be much, much worse. We’re lucky someone is in there now – someone who I think is really going to take good care of what is left of the poor place.

*note* We were blessed by my inlaws getting my son a car so we wouldnt have to 😉

There’s a painful betrayal issue or two of late – but you know what, that’s humans for ya – and Im not perfect and since no one knows my closet of sins better than me I can say nothing that has ever been done to me is worse than what Ive done to others so instead of trying to control what people do to me or how they feel about me – or even understand it – all I can do is try day after day to be a better person.

So the other night – the kids were both gone – there was a crazy storm. We love storms. We were playing cards. We heard lightening hit – we knew it was close – Steve even looked out side to see – he didn’t see anything. We’d lost power then it partially came back on – and we had to trip it back to get the rest of it.
The next morning, I was gone to the office – he was supposed to be at a meeting – but for some reason, he wasnt. He went down stairs to check out the Internet connection….
He smelled something. Yep – propane.
He found a small flame going off a gas line right next to the water heater. Holy crap.
He called the firedepartment.

So what is amazing here – and I might not describe all of this correctly, technically – is that I guess the lightening struck the ground right next to our house, managed to tap into a piece of rebar or something as the house is not up to the latest code on being grounded – and the current traveled along an i-beam in the basement, landing right into the hose and piercing it somehow – then the gas starts leaking. Luckily a spark, a miracle spark, gets a flame going in just the right spot that it is enclosed in the beam, just inches from the ceiling/kitchen floor – and the house does not go up in flames – though it burns for well over 12 hrs before it is discovered.

Both the fire marshal, the electricians and the propane crew are all amazed and spoke what couldn’t have and should have happened. We get told over and over how lucky we are. Lucky by an inch.

I hear you God. I can see the writing on the wall every time Im about to mess up and even during…and yet I keep failing – and then I get another chance. Its awesome.
#Blessed – so blessed. The point of ALL that is it could have been so much worse and I am very thankful.

What a weekend! First 100k, in just under 20 hrs – and yeah, I sprinted to the finish line, and its uphill 😉

In looking back at last yrs ATR24 recap, I can say that much of today’s report is similar. I got to see Cori and Rachel again and meet a few other cool people. The Athletic Equation team is second to none and make you feel like a super star and part of the family the entire time. I made a few new random friends, as we always seem to do during an ultra – especially when there isn’t a soul to see other than yourself and one other person as far as the eyes can see. It is a whole different dynamic and breed of relationship when you share these adventures with others.
Oh, and a pre-race dinner with my friend Josh and loads of gluten free pasta and just enuf wine to help me sleep in the stupid cabin – and one cool thing that happened impromptu, I got to do a dry run on the trail the day before with my friend Charlie as he marked the trail for the race, and I helped a little bit with that. I cant tell you how much that helped me know my way the next day! Thanks guys for the encouragement etc.
I did most of my laps alone though, and enjoyed the solo time with my own thoughts and enjoying what I like to call Trail Treasures….

I feel God in every tiny beautiful flower or butterfly.
Steve did of course show up and do lap 8 with me, just as it began to get dark – and thankfully showed up with a light source much better than what I’d brought. I was thankful for the effort of the long drive and just being there for me 😉 then he had to go back home to the kiddos.
Then I did 9 alone. Then I met a friend that I did the better part of lap 10 with. His name was Manuel and was on his 12th lap, and had driven all the way from Ontario.
As we were in the last mile (which takes a good 20 minutes in the pitch dark after 20 hrs of running and hiking) we discussed if we would keep going. We knew we would have 4 more hours before the race closed. 4 hours is more than enough time to finish two laps in the day light on fresh legs, but not so much in the dark when exhausted. So should we go for one more? This would put him at 126k and me at 110. Then I’d be one away from 75 miles w/out enough time……”I need a break” I said – He sounded like a little disappointed kid in a store “OK”. I laid down, I didnt get up until 3.5 hrs later, the race was nearly over…and it was over for me.
Maybe if I had 5 hours – maybe if I just hadn’t taken those two long 30 min breaks – I would have taken the risk – I did manage to average a 90 minute loop (my longest was technically 2 hrs) but those couple of breaks…. ((usually spend picking rocks out of my shoes, going to the bathroom, refreshing glide, eating & waiting for Steve etc) pushed me to the point that 4 hours didn’t seem like it would be long enough for two laps….
I wanted to finish at 100k or 75 miles. Not 110k 😉 It doesn’t have to make sense. Hell, after 20 hrs on your feet, nothing makes sense really. And I did hallucinate a little bit in loop 9 (first time since JFK50). I couldn’t remember what Ryan (who trained me for my first ultra a few yrs ago) told me back then I needed to do or eat or whatever to resolve it, so I just told myself, The things youre seeing aren’t real, and kept going.
Then I resisted jumping in my car after all that running, like I did last yr – and I went and laid down in the cabin. As uncomfortable as I was, I was able to pass out quickly.

A few take aways & tips (skip this if you never plan to ultra):
– When youre running a technical trail – keep your eyes on your next step. That’s it. I personally would rather run face first into a tree or another runner than miss my step and wipe out on a root or rock or stump.
As you grow tired, its all the more important to just watch your steps – especially when its dark.
– Do NOT be distracted by every little thing. Snakes, animals rumbling around – noises, flickers — stay focused (ADD).
I cared less and less about bugs, snakes and spider webs as the night went on. I saw disgusting things. At night in the woods there are so many insects. There are slugs of mega proportion coming out of the water and onto the rocks that are getting slippier and slippier (yes I Just made that word up).
– Be wise to your personal nutrition needs and tolerances. I personally could not handle the sodium intake of Tale Wind – I was swollen and had lost all sense of thirst and hunger. I had to dilute it and go for straight water –and now that I think of it, I do the same thing with Gatoraide – so maybe, if you find your hands swelling or belly distending, just stick to water. I only did one GU the whole time and ate very little. THANK GOODNESS FOR FRIENDS AND CREW TO KEEP ME ON TRACK THERE!
– Watch the color of your pee and keep track of how often youre going. Gross right – but important. If youre properly hydrated, you should pee often.
– Tie your shoes TIGHT. Yep. You don’t want your feet sliding around – especially with lots of inclines. Wear good draining socks. *Smart wool*
– And lastly – for hilly courses, I have found (and this is opposite of most of the runners – which is why I spent so much time alone) – if you have a choice, going up the hill is better than going down them – I promise. Even today, I can run up the stairs, just cant hardly walk down them. And when you are climbing, hunch over like an ape and swing your arms (thanks Ryan for this tip that has saved me a million times).
That’s it for now I guess.

In closing, I finished 7th female overall (w the next female 3 hrs behind me and the next one an hr behind her)

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