kirsten's thoughts, mostly running-related

Just another blog ~ some helpful stuff ~ some feelings etc

Tag: trails

ultra#12 – Thank you sir, may I have another

April 22, 2018 /

OK first, lets start here…

FAQ:

faq2

That about covers that stuff I get asked all the time.

Here is what happened yesterday.

The setting is a trail once used by the CIA to train cadets, before it was the CIA (OSS) and adjacent to where Marines and FBI are trained today.

After a week  of not eating or sleeping properly on a trip to the West Coast, I landed then headed to the race.  So in my head it was only 4am when it started and I don’t sleep on planes so I hadn’t slept since Thu.

I started training for this race beginning of Nov.  I trained 5 or 6 days per week for three months and was just starting to feel like I was in a groove and making progress.  My goal was to get a new PR.  Then on the first day of February, I deadlifted 175 lbs.  I have no business doing such a  thing and I paid the price (sciatica). <ouch man

Here’s the thing about that, I think my trainer and I share responsibility in the foolish move that I ended up paying the price for.    I mean, I did say, No, I cant (after two pulls) and he said, Do it.  And I did.  And then, I just kept working out.

I could have stopped.  And during the weeks of significant pain that followed, I could have done more stretching, then worked from that to push ups then squats,  and been strict with my nutrition etc but I didn’t – I got depressed and gained weight and got wicked out of shape.

So ironically all that workingout lead to me being  less prepared rather than more.

It was 5 years ago, on the day, I did a Bad To The Bone series 50k.  It was very hard (it is on a mountain).  Until yesterday, it was my slowest 50k finish, at 10 hrs.  BTTB races have waist high water and significant elevation.  I ran that one an hour faster than the one yesterday.  In fact, this is the slowest of 9 50ks Ive ever done, all on tough courses.

Loop one I was fine.  I finished it feeling like I was possibly going to do 8 or more (each loop is 10k so 8 loops is 50 miles).  Loop two the sciatica started talking to me.   First a whisper, then a shout.  It’s the first sensation of pain it’d given me for weeks.  I thought I was healed.  Maybe something like that never fully goes away though and can be aggravated  and if ever I was going to exacerbate it, I guess running on choppy terrain on no sleep w no training, would be the way.

I however, was not going to at least do 5 loops so it would still be an ultra.  Midway through loop 4, I wasn’t sure I could do one more.  Every step I took on the left side felt like what I imagine being stabbed with a knife would feel like.  And if I have learned one thing in ultra-running, it is that if you start favoring one side, something will go wrong on the other side (100% true).

Sure enough, I started feeling bad in a few different places.  But the trail quality was perfect and the weather could not have been better and the best part, I hadn’t fallen (huge for me – long story).   Probably because I was going so slow, but still.  For perspective on the speed, I can run a 10k in an hour or less.  I was doing these loops in about 90 mins, taking about a 10 minute break after each loop by the time you add up grabbing food and doing first aid and using the facilities (not to gross you out but my stomach was a disaster the whole time and its that time of the month on top of all that).  Woohoo!

So I end loop 4 (marathon distance) and I just keep on going.  As I said, it was a perfect day – and all the beauty of it overwrote the discomfort…

trailbeauty

Loop 5 wasn’t that bad.  By the way, it’s a lollipop loop, so after you head up the base, you can go left or right.  Most people choose right, because they find its easier to do the majority of the climbing on fresher legs then zoom downhill to the finish.  This  really makes sense and I should have done it but I got this thing in my head a long time ago (Ive done this race 4 times) that I want to go in the same direction every time and since I went left the first time, it’s the only way I go.

When I finished loop 5, I knew I could do more.  Alex, the RD, he knew it too, and told me he wouldn’t cut my timer chip off.  Technically I could have rested and gone back out.  Afterall, its whatever you can do in 24 hours, and I’d only been  our there 11.  I had 13 more hours to go.  Maybe if I rested, or had a crew (aka nitro coffee) or took a few advil, I could knock out a few more loops.  But I wanted to be in my bed for the first time in a week and I wanted to see my doggie and just be home.  So I cut the chip off myself.

So Athletic Equation Trail Race #6 done.  By far my favorite Trail Race series of all.  Cant say enough about the crew and amenities and course.  Love it

Final message, If I can do that, in the shape and condition I was in, anyone can.

And yes, I just signed up for my next one!!

a month away

March 27, 2017 /

Today I went out and got new shoes and couldn’t wait to try them out on the trail. It was like I had to spend that $100ish dollars to force myself to run. I had to right? Race is a month away, one little run wont matter but still…

I hate to write too much about my upcoming race, since I don’t even know if Im going to run it, but here it goes. If I do show up, despite that it is a conflict with an important work event, and Im in the worst shape Ive been in since I started running in Oct 2010 – my Level One Goal is to do 4 laps, which would be a full marathon. I haven’t run longer than 5k in a year, and Ive maybe only run a half dozen times.

I did just do a 6 week metabolic fitness challenge and it didn’t change my life or anything, but got me back on the right track.
My handful of excuses for the worst shape ‘of my running life’ is new job (with just as much travel and a ton more commuting etc), moving (after 9 yrs in one place, which is the longest Ive ever lived anywhere) < and 2 months later Im still not even half done, kid stuff and other stuff – whatever. No matter what life throws at us, we’re always in a position to make choices and what we do or don’t do fitness and wellness-wise, is on us. I think I can do the full – which will be a lot with zero training and my plan is one lap at a time after that. If I do one more lap, that’s ultra #11 in a little under 6 yrs. 3 more laps would be 50 miler #3, and another 2 laps would tie my distance PR for 100k – but before I start talking about how many more laps to get to a new distance PR or 75 miles etc – I know that Im not in the shape I was in two years ago when I did 100k. And, that year Id done a full and a 50k just 2 and 3 weeks prior to the 100k That would be like expecting to have done 4:20 at FlyingPig like I did at Shamrock, when I was simply no where near the same shape. What I really love about the Athletic Equation timed races is that you just go out there and race yourself. There are no cutoff points and Im not saying that makes it easier, its just a very different race dynamic. Its metaphorical of each day of our lives isn’t it? Facing ourselves, maybe our greatest opponent and ally!! Think about it. Be well Love ~k

Not The Race Report I Fantasized About Writing

October 10, 2015 /

I wont be closing out the month of my 5 year marathon-anniversary with a 100 miler. Yeah, a full, two halves, 2 50ks and a 100k in the last few months – but I did not finish the Grindstone100 – but I started. It rained on us the majority of the time. The terrain is brutal – at least the part I managed to finish.
I love that this race started with the director, Clark who amazingly managed to get this all pulled off after the permits were pulled last week due to storms – prayed for us and our safety. Then we all sang the National Anthem – then we were off.

The two runners I paired up with were vets, to say the least. Between them they’ve completed such great feats as Barkley, Bad Water, Leadville and Grindstone – as well as other insanity runs to include countless 100s, some 200+s and one of those amazing cross-state runs totaling over 600 miles. One of them, Dave, was the only reason I wasn’t curled up in a ball in the pouring down rain crying. OK slight exaggeration but we both were there for each other in different ways to including noticing which way to go or helping each other up from a fall.

When I got to the last aid station before dropping, there was a handful of
people waiting for a ride back to the start. The worker who was driving them basically said – ‘You just did the hardest part of the race, it will be light in a few hours. Youre almost an hour behind the hard cut off. Not to be rude, but you need to make your decision fast – either get in my car, I need to get up and back – or start running.’ At this point David was out – how can he be out – he has done BAD WATER – he has done LEADVILLE etc – and no one was behind me, they’d all gotten in a car to go back. The next runner back was 30 minutes up, a super nice guy who’s name I forgot that left a shirt for me at the station because I didn’t properly prepare in terms of change of clothes and drop bags – it wasn’t likely I’d catch him, and I still had nearly an hour to make up to not be DQd.
Its not that I cant handle the miles, or time on my feet, I’d done twice that distance or duration 4 times already this year. It was this gnarly course, this day – this moment…my nutrition – whatever. I inspire myself usually by just saying, Do it for your kids so they can never say they couldnt beat the odds – because you always do – but alas.

This is not the same as my JFK story I love to tell when I didn’t make the cut off then made up the time plus 15 to finish under….I wasn’t 10 miles from the finish – I was like 70 – and this course was like no other Ive ever seen.
I had plenty of energy still – but that didn’t matter at all…Im certain I can go a solid week without eating or sleeping – but I cant make myself faster. I’d taken too much precious time avoiding falls while I watch people fall all round me. The paths are narrow, the edges are slick and soft, and the drops were steep and rocky. I watched someone’s foot go off the path and they slide right down the hill. And for me, much worse than the steep climbs, was the declines that were very much like Slip & Slides.

I went from being massively over heated to shivering in my soaked clothes. All the water crossings were over flowing from the rain the past two weeks and my feet were a soggy mess. I didn’t bring enough pairs of shoes either….
All that sounds like a whiney bitch-fest and none of it is an excuse. The race is still going on now as I am writing this – and will for a long many hours for whoever is still in it. Over half the registrants didn’t start and I have no idea how many DQs will happen – but all the journeys are unique.

We all have our own challenges in training and races. Priorities, responsibilities, disabilities – and gifts and strengths. Prior to this moment I’d say my grit and stubbornness are my truest game changer. It was no small task to chose not to keep going. I was fearful of being alone and lost for hours on end in the rainy darkness. I was already seeing shit that I knew wasn’t real, and I’d only been in it about 8 hours. Normally it takes at least 12 hours for me to loop out like that – but the fog, rain and leaves all made the path crazy to look at. Also, if I headed out there alone – if at some point I needed assistance – I was going to be HOURS from any other human, as it was taking several hours to get to each station. That and, unless I got a tremendous boost of energy, I was looking at a finish that likely wouldn’t even make the final cutoff by at least an hour.

I love the wonderful people I added to my life, like every endurance adventure
I partake in – it’s a special breed.

grinstone graphic

Same ;)

October 4, 2015 /

Yes, all of us are unique individuals. I had a person tell me last week that surfing for however many hours equates to 25 miles of swimming which by effort on a mile to mile ratio is the same as running 100 miles. Ive never surfed an inch, I wouldnt know.
Ive also seen and heard, I don’t know how many times – the question asked, what’s harder, a century ride or an IronMan or a 50 Mile run etc.
Yo. Really. I don’t know. I suppose we’d all like to think whatever we’ve done is the hardest. Was your run assisted or unassisted etc? Its all debatable.
I know that I’d rather be sitting on a bicycle seat on a down-hill, with no more effort that the wind in my face than running down that sucker. And actually, I can run past people on bikes on the hills where I live. So, there’s that.
They say a mile is a mile. I get it. It is said to encourage the slower runner. I should’ve prefaced to say, I am one of those slower runners. And I can tell you – at least for me – a mile is not a mile. An 8 minute miles is a hell of a lot harder *for me* than a 12. I actually have been more worn out crushing a 5k than meandering a 50k. Depends on the day.
A flat mile is a lot easier than a steep incline. The road and the track and the trail are all very different. So no, a mile is not a mile in running. Going all out on a flat, lit, short loop for 24 hours might be just as ‘hard’ as holding back on a crazy technical mountain single track trail for 30 hours – I don’t know – I have yet to do either – I actually imagine that would be mentally horrific – but I know what Ive done and as much as I don’t mean to discourage anything that anyone else does –Im here to tell you – it is NOT the same.
But here is what IS the same. Doing and trying. Do it. Try. Or else all the pontificating in the world equates to a big fat zero. Get your butts out there, every day – and DO something.
Be well all my friends
Xo
~K~

cinque anni

September 27, 2015 /

As anyone who has talked to me recently probably already knows – October 30 is the 5 Year Anniversary of my first marathon aka “marathon-versary”. And in just a few days – less than a week, I am attempting my first 100 Miler.

It will be my 40th race, and 9th ultra.
Oh, how my life has changed so much! Ive added so many new and wonderful people to my life. Ive learned so much about who I am, and what Im capable of.

During this journey so far, starting with training for my first full, five years ago – I have been in so many different places, in terms of fitness and training. There were races that I ran EVERY day for. I remember following plans to a T. I remember between work trips or my kids’ basketball, football and lacrosse games, I would use those periods of time to hit the trail – I always had my shoes and gear on me or near me. Football practices were 6 nights per week, so why not run around the practice field the whole time? People in the community just came to know me as a stinky person.

That’s what I did.

Ive been injured to the point of completely incapacitated. Ive had a pulled back and a ripped open knee. Ive been just plain old lazy and my weight has ranged up and down in a 30 pound window!!

For me personally – Ive over trained. I dislocated a toe (that is still not connected to my foot) doing incessant hill-repeats for hours. And I’ve under-trained, driving hours away to a race where I found myself barely able to walk anymore, nevermind run! What a lesson!!

When you don’t listen to your trainer about how to fall (roll into it) not only do you break your hand – sometimes you end up with enough rocks in your knee (and left over flesh on the trail) that your ass is stuck on crutches for
weeks.

Every step of the journey is a learning experience. Ive had to learn about what nutrition works by trial and
error. Ive learned about shoes, socks, jackets, lights, hats, bottles and gloves – and every kind of gear you can imagine. What treatments are effective? Do I want a collagen injection for tarsal tunnel? Do I need KT Tape? Are compression socks going to help me? How much fluid do I really need?

And all of this has to be learned by experience. Since each of us is different, no two stories will ever be alike.

When people ask me what to do – I try to always tell them what worked for me with the caveat that all advice is a nothing more than guideline that they have to adjust to work for themselves by listening to their own bodies.

Please know this, no matter who you are, what youre attempting and how you’ve prepared for it – there’s no telling what race day has in store for you. Whether you are doing something you’ve done before or something brand new – there are many factors that all work together to determine the outcome – positive or negative. There’s weather and nutrition – there’s every aspect of your health, to include a bonus element if youre female – theres unexpected mishaps like falling or getting lost (hey, it happens).

This isn’t just a running thing or an ultra-running things. This is a life thing. You do your best and you hope for the best but there is always the unknown, no matter how unlikely, even if its only an iota of a percent of a chance for things to turn out in the unlikely way possible – you cant control anything – other than your will.

Be well and move forward.
<3 ~K~

here we go

September 13, 2015 /

Well, this is it. I have three business trips and three races in the next three weeks.
Not different than any other autumn but they are big races, and important trips (and a bunch of other stuff).

My overall attitude for the 12 hour in a couple days is that Im more than satisfied with 50k, which is a million percent achievable, and will be my 3rd ultra in less than 6 months. If I finish with miles greater than that, its just a bonus. Likely I’ll do more but Ive given myself permission to be satisfied regardless, viewing it as a training run. I’ll just enjoy the experience (it’s a great course and amazing crew) and avoid injury – as my first
100 miler is just two weeks later!!!

I am also pretty relaxed when it comes to said 100 miler and here’s why.
My mantra is I’d rather DNF than DNS. Last year 55 people out of 262 did not finish, that’s almost a fifth of the runners (17 didn’t start).

That means, Yes Im going to attempt it, and Im going to find out what Im capable of. Not what Im capable of forever and always, but in that specific moment. And it might be more or less than what Ive done before but Ive never done this course before and it is a significantly difficult course – no one can argue that.

So it is an adventure. A journey. Something I cannot predict the outcome of. It is very exciting.
Ive run 50k on a trail in 7 hours before – and guess what – it took me that long to do 20 miles on this course. Its brutal but lovely and fun.

My dream. Well, my dream specific to this race – is – that I finish of course. Im even cool with last place. I just want to make all the cutoffs and not get DQ’d, but I know that that is not unlikely (note aforementioned stat).
I am not letting myself off the hook here, Im fully hooked. I have just been going over and over this in my head lately, usually while riding my bike and I really am ok with just figuring out just what I can do – and then using that as a point to play off of in the future.

I have definitely shifted from wanting to BQ, to wanting a Western States Qualification.

I am an Ultra Runner. Lets go.

where I belong

June 19, 2014 /

I have no idea why I registered for the Diva race in Sept – impulsivity I guess.   Everything about [the race] annoys me and/or does not appeal to me.  I don’t want to wear a tutu or a tiara.  Not that Ive never pretended to be a girly-girl, but that is not who I am and not the sort of crowd I even want to be around.

I guess if someone were doing it w me I could enjoy it w that person, but, I don’t think I will enjoy the experience.  Honestly, I don’t really see myself doing any street races anymore.  Something will really have to twist my arm to compel me to run a non-trail race again.

I just want to be on the trail – yes, the place where I cut my knee open – its where I am happy.

I want to be around people like the BadToTheBone and NorthFace and AthleticEquation crowds.

Theyre my kind of people.

So – I just registered for the AE 12-Hour Race in Sept (the week after the Diva that I likely wont do) *does anyone see a pattern here ie not doing Zooma the week before NF 😉

And yes, I plan to do the AE 24 Hour again next Spring.

Beyond that, I get my stitches out tomorrow – and I’m gonna fix the tires on my bike and start riding in addition to strength/core, that’s how I plan to spend my summer.  See you in Sept along the Quantico River 😀

12 hr map

ultra-training

March 16, 2014 /

In response to some twitter posts recently,  let me start by saying I do what works for me and feels right.  You have to do what works for you as well.  I hope that the successes and failures I share will help you, but by no means do I think there is one way to do things that will work for everyone.  We all have to do our own thing.

People often ask about what is the big differentiation in terms of training for an ultra, rather than a marathon.  There are a few things I had to learn, to include bricking, pacing-down and ‘learning to walk’, but today I’ll start with nutrition.  If youre running for 8 or more hours, you’re going to have to consume more than just a sports drink or energy gel to keep going.

While you are doing your long training runs (and hopefully you’re doing back-to-back longs, but not more than 20 miles imo) – bring food.  Try one thing at a time, so you can test how you will react to it.  This doesn’t mean that you’ll react the exact same way every time, or that the same things will always appeal to you – every run can be different – but just try one thing at a time.

Aid stations are going to have things like fruit, cookies, crackers and chips etc.  Since I am gluten free, I can not always indulge in what is being provided.  So I have to bring my own stuff, by way of drop bags, backpack and/or crew.  Examples of things I have eaten are pretzels, nut butter sandwiches, doubleshots (this is probably not good advice because coffee is a dietetic but I crave it during runs), roasted salty potatoes (omg yes); and crispy turkey bacon (don’t judge me).

I also water down sports drinks – I don’t drink them straight – they irritate me.  I water them at least half and half or even one part electrolytes and two parts water.  Salt is important – it can take cramps away, as can bananas ie potassium.  Some people like fruit and candy etc, but I usually cant stomach anything sweet.

Anyways – when youre out training for 3 or 4 hours, bring a little food.  Youll be glad on race day when you have made a habit out of eating-on-the-run.

<3 K

 

 

Categories

© 2024 kirsten's thoughts, mostly running-related

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑