Lost in the Dirt

Weekly Summary: 2/6-2/12/12

2012-02-12T22:40:00.003-06:00

Day Distance (mi)/Elevation Gain (ft)

Monday 3.7/negligible

Tuesday blah

Wedneday AM 1.6/negligible

PM 9/450

Thursday blah

Friday 20/400

Saturday 20/400

Sunday 7.6/1200

Totals: 61.9/2450

Achievements

Back to back long runs! Woo!
Highest mileage week this year. Probably within a few miles of my highest mileage week ever.
Even with the high mileage my legs still felt pretty good. Sore muscles but no joint or ligament pain.
Saw wild turkeys, bald eagles and a fox.

Disappointments

The week started off slow.
Not much climbing this week.

Take Away

Sometimes the barriers to training are physical and sometimes they're mental. This week started off with a pretty big mental barrier. I was tired of snow and mountain trails. On Monday I drove down to Denver to attempt a snow-free 30 mile run but the trail I chose was far from snow-free. I only managed a few miles before I decided to call it a day. I could have tried to find another trail that was cleared of snow but it was just one of those days. I wanted to go home and pout. I kept the pouting up for several days in fact. After another failed attempt at a long run on Wednesday, due to the unexpected bitter temperature in the Platte Canyon, I gave up on the week being productive at all.

But Friday brought a renewed urge to visit that chilly canyon, so I donned many layers of clothing and emerged successful from a 20 mile road jaunt. Then I decided to try something crazy by doing it again Saturday. I recruited Nick and Ben to accompany me which made the run so much more pleasant. The views are truly beautiful so I wouldn't have been bored but the company kept me from focusing on my tired legs. And I was thrilled that even after 40 miles, I had no odd tweaks. Sore/tired muscles but no aching joints, IT band, achilles or anything. I guess this is what it feels like to be properly trained for something!

So despite the not-so-fun start to the week it turned out to be one of my best so far. I didn't focus on the big climbs or trudging through the snow. I managed to take a mental health break without compromising my training. But even if I had only run 20 miles this week, I would have stood by my decision. Sometimes when you've been training hard you just need a break. A few days to stop obsessing over mileage, pace, elevation gain, etc.

Etc
Lesson "learned". Sometimes you have enough knowledge to understand something but not the foresight to use it. I'm talking about weather! After experiencing the bitter cold mornings in Platte Canyon (10-15 degrees colder than home), I slapped myself on the forehead and said "Duh!" It's a narrow canyon and the road is right next to a river, of course it's going to be colder in the morning. So now I know to bring extra layers just in case when I run Platte River Rd. I haven't found any way to find weather information in this area because there is no town along the way. So I guess I'll just stick with the excessive amount of gear approach.

Week Summary: 1/30-2/5/12

2012-02-05T23:37:00.001-06:00

Day Distance (mi)/Elevation Gain (ft)
Monday slacked
Tuesday AM 4.3/300
PM 7.7/2100
Wedneday 7.4/600
Thursday 13.1/1600
Friday tired
Saturday 6.2/1000
Sunday ate too much cheese

Totals: 38.7/5600

Did a little shoveling Friday.

Achievements

Ran all the way up Green Mountain without stopping for the first time on Hill Tuesday (1.25mi/720ft).
Was able to run more (fewer walk breaks) at Buffalo Creek than I have before.
Got in a nice 13 miler before the snow blew in.

Disappointments

After the first hill at Green Mountain, I mostly walked the rest.
Didn't get my long run in this weekend because of the snowpocalypse.

Take Away

I've been pretty spoiled with the weather so far this winter, so this week's snow storm came as a big surprise to my training schedule. As a trail runner I have a hard time thinking of doing anything but trail running, but I've had to reevaluate my plans lately. I'll be augmenting my training with some city miles. I think it's pretty unlikely that I'll be able to pull off a 20-30 mile training run in the mountains within the next week or two. So that's that. We'll see what I can do with next week.

At the bottom of Buck Gulch Trail (Buffalo Creek) with the pups. Time to snowshoe.

Heading up Buck Gulch. Nice snowshoeing conditions. Not as much

snow as at the house but would still be a pain to run in.

P.S. Retrying this format with the weekly summaries. Will still write race reports and post on any special topics that come up, but I'm hoping this keeps me regular. Like metamucil for my blog.

Sourdough Snowshoe 30k Race Report

2012-01-22T15:24:00.003-06:00

I signed up for the Sourdough Snowshoe race a few months ago, as soon as Ryan Kircher posted the link and told all of his trail running friends in CO to do so. I follow orders well. Besides, it was FREE! Can't beat that.

I can't say a did a lot of training for this race. I did a snowshoeing hut trip back in November (about 3 miles) with a 20-lb pack strapped to my back. Then I did 2 or 3 "runs" with the running snowshoes I got for Christmas from the Nickster. The longest distance I traveled in my snowshoes was 9 miles and a good deal of that was walking. I came to realize that this 30k race was definitely going to be a challenge.

As the race date approached, I went back and forth as to what I wanted to do. On one hand, I thought this would be a great training race to get me ready for 3 Days of Syllamo. On the other hand I thought, I'm not ready for this. Maybe I should just drop down to the shorter distance (11.4 mi). Or not go at all. I would miss a KU basketball game after all. And that would be sad. I kept thinking that a bunch of my other friends would decide not to go too. But a few days out, everybody was in. So I decided I'd do it, but I wasn't excited about it.

In Nederland, race day brought high winds. Though the temperature wasn't very low, the wind made the start of the race a little uncomfortable. But once I got moving, the wind didn't play a very big role with most of the course being sheltered by trees.

Wardrobe
Because I had never snowshoed this far, I don't think I dressed quite appropriately for the conditions. As a person who gets hot easily, I don't like to pile on too many layers. But snowshoeing is different than normal running. For one thing, snow builds up around your shoes. After a while, my shoes were completely covered in big clumps of snow. Several times, I started to worry that my feet were getting too cold. But eventually I'd get over some hill and be able to pick up the pace to warm up my feet. In the future, I might entertain the idea of carrying an extra pair of socks to change into, but once your shoes are packed with snow, it's a significant effort to get them off, especially with cold hands. So I'm not sure the 10 minutes or so it would take to change socks, all the while being cold from not moving, would be worth it.

Also, snowshoes, especially the running variety, kick a lot of snow back onto you. So you have a constant spray of snow hitting your legs, butt, back, hands, etc. I even had some going over my head! So even if you're generating a lot of heat, you're losing a lot with all the snow hitting and clinging to you. Luckily, I was smart enough to wear my rain jacket as an outer layer, which kept my core nice and warm. But my legs did get a little chilly with just my medium weight tights to cover them. In the future, I would probably either wear a heavier pair of tights or better yet, a pair of loose running pants, to keep the snow away from my legs. I definitely realized the importance of wardrobe in a long winter race. You never know what's going to happen. If you have to slow down, you're going to get cold. What happens if you get too cold and you're far away from an aid station?

I also had trouble keeping my hands warm from time to time. The gloves I wore would've been perfect in an ideal situation, in which I never fell into the snow. But several times I would unexpectedly sink into a deep section of snow, forcing me to catch myself with my hands. Then all of a sudden you have wet gloves! Several times I had to take my fingers out of the glove's fingers and just ball my hands up inside the palm of the glove to keep my hands from getting too cold. Anyway, I'm not positive about the solution to this problem. Perhaps bring an extra pair of gloves to switch out from time to time when they get wet? Be less clumsy?

Nutrition
I probably should have eaten much more during the race. I ate just 1.5 packs of Honey Stinger Chews during the 6 hour effort. But when you have cold, wet hands, fiddling around with zippers and opening tiny packages slides farther down on your list of things that you want to do. More than once, I removed my glove so that I could use my practically useless frozen hand to remove some food from a pocket, all the while trying not to drop bits of trash on the trail, only to look back and see that I've dropped my glove 20 ft back. Drats! So I probably have nobody to blame but myself for feeling nauseous and tired for the last 7 miles. Perhaps next time I do a winter race I'll rely on something like Honey Stinger Waffles. At least there is just one piece of food in a package, unlike the chews, and they're not gooey like gels. Who wants to have sticky, glove hands??

Course
If I were running this course, without snow, I would say it's difficulty would be moderate. But when you add snow and strap a few extra pounds do your feet, the slightest incline feels like a mountain. The first couple miles are uphill. I spent the first half mile or so trying to keep up with Abby. She was running and setting a good pace, but I was already feeling really tired. My lungs weren't warmed up and my legs felt like lead. I imagine Abby felt similar because soon we were both walking. Early in the race I passed a couple people, which stole an incredible amount of energy from my legs. In order to pass someone you'd have to run past through unpacked snow. So eventually I started carefully weighing whether a pass was worth it. After a while I decided to pass Abby just because I was keeping a faster walking pace. I figured she'd catch up running. I wanted to reserve as much energy as possible so I didn't push myself to run sections that were difficult just for the sake of telling myself I ran them. I wanted to FINISH.

The next mile or two were flat and I got much more running done here, though there were some sections of deep, powdery snow which made it difficult. I remember being on a ridge, with the wind howling and the snow blowing, thinking I was very thankful that at least it was at my back. A woman named Vicki caught up to me after a bit and we ended up running/walking together for the rest of the race. I found out that she had lots of snowshoe experience and had been competing in this race since its inception. Vicki was like an energizer bunny. She ran and ran and ran, up and up. So I did my best to keep up with her by working on my speed hiking. It worked out pretty well! I was worried that I'd been working so much on hill running lately that I'd lose my walking edge. Not so. Though I can't really know for sure unless I test myself against my friend Coleen, the embodiment of the uphill speed walker. The last mile or two to the aid station consisted of some rolling hills and Vicki and I passed the time getting to know each other. Time seemed to fly.

When we reached the road and didn't see the aid station we spent a few minutes walking around aimlessly before we saw the volunteers waving at us from down the road. It seems we missed a turn. Well, when you're snowshoe racing I guess once the first person makes a wrong turn, everybody else is likely to make the same mistake too. You get into the mindset of just following the tracks. I felt good when we got to the aid station. Not super tired. Still cheery and optimistic. I knew I would finish the race unless I took a serious turn for the worse on the 7-mi lollipop we were about to embark on.

Vicki and I decided to stay together and soon we were running a nice downhill section. I didn't realize how long or steep this section was until we had to go back up into the aid station. This part wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There were a few sections of deep loose powder on the loop but they weren't ver long. I think what really broke me was the last couple miles back to the aid station. It was pretty much a continuous climb. Vicki ran a lot of it and I just kept pushing my hiking pace. I was really starting to feel it in my glutes. And then came the nausea. I felt like barfing but I was convinced I'd feel great once we got back to the aid station. It would be a cake walk from there!

When we got back to the aid station, which I managed to reach without barfing, I had a bit of hot tea then we headed out. I know I SAID that these couple miles were rolling hills before, but it didn't register with me on the way out. But on the way back in, when I was expecting a mostly downhill trip all the way into the finish line, I realized I'd been wrong. My stomach didn't feel any better, though I managed to choke down a couple more Honey Stinger Chews. I walked more than I liked, considering this was the home stretch. The last 5.5-6mi. I even walked a lot of flat sections because I thought I would throw up. I managed to run downhill, just letting gravity carry me. The last couple miles were all downhill or flat so we made good time there. At one point we approached a clearing where I was convinced I saw the parking lot on the other side. Not so. It was just a bunch of trees. I kept looking through the gaps in the trees, thinking I was seeing cars, when it was really just more trees. That's when you know when it's time to be done with a race. When trees start looking like cars. Of course I had to trip and nearly face plant one more time for good measure. But I picked myself up and raced back to catch up to Vicki.

We decided to cross the finish line together. I don't know if I could have finished the race without Vicki's company. Not only did she set a good pace physically, but having never run a snowshoe race before, I think I would have gone off an emotional deep end, trudging along out there alone in the snow. I might have finished but it wouldn't have been nearly as pleasant!

Other snowshoe things
You know when you're running and you get tired and kick yourself? The same thing happens when you're snowshoeing. Except kicking yourself with hunks of metal is more painful. And if you do it, you always end up kicking yourself right in that knobby ankle bone protrusion thing. I'm sure my friends in the medical profession can fill in the technical term there. So at the end of the day, my ankles were purple.

Post-race
Despite the race being free, it still has great support (hot tea, water, gels at aid station) and tons of raffle prizes. So when I reached the finish line I had a $25 gift certificate to Boulder Running company waiting for me! Yipee! Also, being one of the last individuals to finish (probably just because a bunch of people dropped to the shorter distance and having nothing to do with me being slow), the other folks in our group had prepared some post-race food. Ryan K. had brought a little propane grill and hot dogs. So I happily scarfed down a couple of his wieners. And that's the end! I'm happy to have found great people in CO to enjoy these weekend adventures with. But next up I'm getting pumped for a long weekend with my KS running friends in lovely Arkansas. 3 Days, here I come!

Suck it up, buttercup

2012-01-16T17:16:00.001-06:00

…a favorite saying of my KS trail running friends, comes to mind, along with "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." And so on. I knew it was going to be hard moving to our home in CO, where the rolling hills turned to mountain ranges and the air pressure was 25% lower, but somehow I thought it would be something I could overcome in a couple months.

In truth, it has been much more challenging, which probably explains why I've been so uninspired to write about running for the past few months. I write about things like, making big improvements! Or maybe I'm at a low point but ready to fight back out. But the past two or three months have seemed uninspiring. I didn't feel like I was getting worse but I also didn't feel amazing. Like when I lived in KS, after two or three months of hard work, I'd be ready for a hundred miler. Or whatever I wanted to do!

But what is exciting about doing a 13-mi training run at a 14:30 pace?? Not much, seemingly. I keep wishing that the snow, though there is apparently much less than usual so far, will go away, so it will be easier to work on hills. But if I stop to put the pieces together, I realize that slowly things are coming together. And the hard things, even the snow and sometimes frigid air, are only helping me.

For instance, on the rare occasion that I run at lower altitudes (Denver or KC), I can run a sub 8-min training pace without barfing. The other week while I was running with Leila on the easy trail in town, she commented that I was not only holding a "good pace" but that is was also "not easy". Now when LDG tells you you're keeping a good pace it means something. Her first two 100's were Leadville, both times finishing under 25 hours.

And today I decided to run around the neighborhood, which might sound pleasant, if not for the 1300 ft of elevation gain in 3 miles. In the past I've always had to take SEVERAL walk breaks on the way up. And the higher I got, the more frequently they'd occur. But today was magical, or perhaps just a result of 5 months of high altitude training. I took two short breaks to stop, breathe, and hack up a bunch of mucus. But my legs felt strong the whole time. I never got to that point where I felt like I just couldn't run another step. And all of a sudden I found myself thinking, why has this always been so hard??

Well probably because it was hard. I learned that some things just don't come easily. And sometimes you don't see big improvements instantly. But every time you drag your ass off the couch and do something that is hard, that you feel you suck at, or is going to KILL you (if you're overly dramatic like me), even if you have to take a walk break or a breathing break or whatever, you ARE improving. Even if your run the next day sucks. In materials science, it's called strain hardening. When you make a material stronger by stretching it to (and beyond) its normal limits.

Technological Advancement

2012-01-09T09:39:00.000-06:00

Remember those kids who asked really dumb questions in class?

And grownups said you'd be in charge of them some day?

Yeah. Sorry.

Customer Feedback

Cool beans. This phone is tight. But it would be really awesome if I didn't have to talk to anyone.

texting

This phone is off the chain, buuuuut, if it was like, a computer too, that would be pretty badass.

smart phone

OMG. I looooove this phone, but my fingers get REALLY tired using it.

Siri

LOL. Totes 4 sure, I luuuuuurv swimming pools, but idk, I wish they weren't so wet. LOL.

compressed air pools?

Dear Piece of Crap,

2011-12-12T16:38:00.002-06:00

If you hate me and my blog so much, maybe you should do something more productive with your time, like try becoming a better person. Also, grow a pair, and stop commenting anonymously.

Merry Christmas,

Laurie

Getting Creative…With Food!

2011-12-04T18:19:00.001-06:00

Disclaimer: This post has nothing to do with running.

I know. It seems weird, but occasionally I do other things. Over the years cooking has become one of my hobbies. If you would have known me in college, you would know I used to hate cooking. Perhaps because I never really did it. My mother loved feeding me when I was young. Sometimes when I visited from college she would set a plate in front of me and just sit in the chair across from me and stare at me while I ate. She said she liked to watch me eat. And being the self-sacrificing mom that she was, my childhood involvement in the kitchen help usually consisted of eating the discarded peels when she made her delicious apple pie. Hey, garbage disposing is a useful task!

As I've grown up and eventually discovered there is more to cooking than a box of Kraft macaroni (although I'm still a fan), I've found that cooking can be extremely rewarding. Just like my mom, I love it when my food gives someone a happy tummy! And more recently, I've found that making something unique and creative is just as rewarding.

Now, I'm no master chef, but I used to be a complete slave to recipes. This isn't surprising given my personality. I'm the kind of person who is a staunch rule follower and law abider. I'm the one in the passenger seat who will nag you for not using a turn signal or for coming to a stop a few feet past the stop sign. So when I started cooking I always followed the recipes exactly. I thought the lack of one little ingredient, even if it was a useless garnish, would totally ruin the food. It didn't help that I subscribed to Bon Apetit magazine. Don't get me wrong. They have wonderful recipes in Bon Apetit! But if you follow most of the recipes exactly, you're likely to spend a $100 on a dinner at home for two. Eventually though, you learn it's not necessary to roast star anise then roll it in glitter to sprinkle on your grilled chicken. I did just make that up.

In addition to discovering that some ingredients were not essential to a delicious meal, I also found that I could get creative and replace some ingredients with others if I didn't have everything on hand and make my own twist on a given recipe. So this weekend when I was looking to make the Chiles Rellenos recipe that I made back in August with my BUBF's (best ultra buddy forever) hubby, Justin, I succeeded in making a delicious dish that diverged from the precise recipe.

I didn't really look at the recipe before I went to the grocery store to get the ingredients, but I remembered I needed zucchini and poblano peppers. I managed to grab the zucchini but I totally spaced on the peppers. Fortunately I didn't have to go back to the grocery store for just peppers. I managed to grab them during a necessary Denver outing. Every once in a while we have to head to the city to get things you just can't find in the mountains. Like, DSL modems. So when we headed down the mountains to Best Buy, of course I suggested a trip to Target to get Christmas decor! And I could always get poblanos at Super Target.

While our trip to Target was a successful decoration retrieving quest, the poblano peppers proved elusive. There was a single, sad poblano remaining in the produce section. Unfortunately my goal wasn't to make stuffed pepper, it was to make stuffed pepperS. With extreme apprehension, I decided to buy some Anaheim peppers. I hadn't cooked with them before, but they were about the right size and I was pretty sure they weren't super spicy. Maybe they would work!

When I finally got around to making the Chiles Rellenos today, I found that I was lacking frozen corn AND whole canned tomatoes. OMG! My first instinct of course was to rush to the store for the two ingredients. Upon further consideration, I decided that since the whole tomatoes went into a sauce that was eventually going to be blended, the crushed tomatoes that I had on hand would serve just as well. They're already in sauce form. The tomato volume might be slightly off but not by much. And instead of frozen corn in the zucchini/onion/corn filling, I decided to sub in some chopped mushrooms. They don't taste the same as corn, but I like them just as much and I figured they'd be a good texture for the filling.

In the end, everything turned out just swell. The peppers were delicious. I think the anaheims were a little spicier than the poblanos would have been, but I love spicy! So I know my mother would be proud to know that I've grown up to be a decent cook. And maybe the next time she's over I'll stare at her while SHE'S eating. I don't know if I'll ever like making pie crust though. Sorry mom. The frozen ones are just too easy!

P.S. I didn't have enough peppers for all the filling, so I'll be using the leftover zucchini/mushroom/onion/cheese mixture to mix up with eggs. I bet it'll make a good scramble which could be turned into a breakfast burrito.

P.P.S. One of my other secrets to leftovers: pizza. I put the leftover toppings in the leftover pizza sauce and voila, it's fancy pasta sauce.

Progress

2011-11-30T10:30:00.001-06:00

It's been hard to tell if I've been making any progress in my mountain running pursuits lately. A full week of runs out here usually leaves me feeling like a slug with shoes. Fortunately, I took it pretty "easy" last week. Easy on the running anyway. Not easy on the dessert eating. It takes a good amount of over eating to feel uncomfortable even in pants with an elastic waste band (running tights). I pulled it off yesterday though.

It had been 5 and a half hours since I ate lunch in Ft. Collins, but I still felt bloated, heart burny and not at all graceful plodding up Green Mountain. We were a few minutes late, so Nick and I missed the first hill repeat with the gang (Becca, Leila, Ryan K, and Donnie). It was just as well. I don't know if I could have done a 5th repeat. Anyway, the point is, despite feeling gross and not energetic, I still felt way better than I did the last time I ran Green Mountain. For one thing, I didn't have any fits of wheezing. Also, my walk breaks were shorter.

So the main trail up Green Mountain, where we do repeats, is 1.25 miles long with 730ft of elevation gain. No, we don't do repeats up and down that entire length. If I could do that, I'd be like…Anton. The repeats start 0.3 miles from the top, next to some trees. Or maybe they're large bushes. Anyway, it's the largest vegetation out there. Over the 0.3-mile climb, there is 260ft of elevation gain. In comparison, the super hard hill repeat I used to do in Kansas, Ogg Rd, was 0.5 miles long with 190ft of elevation gain. I never thought I could consider Ogg Rd to be easy, but I just might some day.

Well, I know I said it was a pretty easy week in terms of exercise, but Sunday was actually a pretty hard day, and I learned a lot too! I was really excited to go on my first hut trip. A hut trip consists of traveling several miles to a hut in the mountains. The hut is pretty much a cabin, without running water, which you share with up to 15 other people. I was a little anxious about the lack of running water part. Nick managed to trick me into thinking I would have to go to the bathroom in a snow cave. LOL. But it turned out they actually do have outhouses, like you would see at a park. And there were even cool posters of animals to look at while you were taking care of business. Bonnie (Nick's stepmom) wasn't fond of the one containing the snake poster.

When we first started talking about hut tripping with Nick's dad and stepmom, I was all gung ho about doing LOTS of snowshoeing. The farther the trek the better, I thought! I was a little bummed to find out we were headed to the Sangree M. Froelicher hut, which was only 3.5 miles from the trailhead. Only 3.5 miles?! How boring! I soon discovered that 3.5 miles was a LONG way. Here is a scale of difficulty for your reference. I was at level 6.

Walking without snow.
Running without snow.
Snowshoeing (in snow, of course).
Snowshoeing uphill.
Snowshoeing uphill, carrying 20lbs.
Snowshoeing uphill carrying 20lbs after eating a sausage breakfast sandwich and drinking coffee when you're a person who doesn't drink much coffee because it makes her stomach upset. Also, you don't eat meat very often. Ok ok, make your meat eating jokes. Haha, very funny.

So, I pretty much felt like barfing most of the way. And my back and shoulders hurt a lot. I think the trekking poles helped in the snow, but sometimes they made things worse. Like when the snow is 3ft deep on the sides of the trail, the poles get stuck and you exert just as much strength pulling them out as you would gain from their support.

Well we ended up being all by ourselves in the hut, which was cool with me. I'm not much of a socializer anyway. And I'd rather not sleep next to a stranger if I can avoid it. It turned out to be a really good workout and a good learning experience. I'll definitely have to think hard about whether or not I want to try the 11-mi trek out to the Skinner Hut this winter. It would be good training for all the ultras I have planned for this spring though!

Scary Exhausted

2011-11-20T18:59:00.001-06:00

I asked Nick if he wanted to go for a short run or hike on Saturday and he suggested Meyer's Ranch. Meyer's Ranch is a beastly trail that climbs 850ft in 2 miles then goes right back down. In terms of difficult climbs in our area, it's one of the easiest though. I've succeeded in running all the way up a whole TWO times. Walk breaks are not unusual here. But when he said Meyer's Ranch, I was totally thinking he said Flying J Ranch. Flying J is pretty much the easiest trail out here, though I would say it's harder than most in Kansas. So I'm thinking of Flying J until Nick realized that I was and corrects me.

At this point I was thinking, "Ughhhhhh." I had been doing tough runs all week and wanted to run 20 on Sunday. This 4.4 mile run was not going to help. Before we got dressed, Nick asked me if I thought the trail would be icy. I didn't know. I hadn't been out there in a 3 or 4 weeks. I should have guessed though. The trail is on a north facing slope and the other trail in town (Flying J) was moderately icy. So of course we went out wearing our most minimal shoes, with puny tread. We were also dressed for 45 degree weather. 45 degree weather on a trail with sun. Not 45 degree weather on a north slope with wind.

It wasn't too bad to start out, there's a steep ascent but it's fairly exposed so the ice wasn't bad, then it flattens out for a bit. About half way up, you reach a long steep hill. Of course it was incredibly icy the rest of the way. I was getting totally worn out going up hill, trying to keep traction and finding the best route through the ice and snow all at the same time. I took several walk breaks. And as we got closer to the top I started thinking about how much it was going to suck to come back down. I mentioned this to Nick and he just said, "I'll think about it when we get there!" Easy for him to say, I thought. He's not the one who falls on his ass every other day on much gentler slopes.

Fortunately, we were at the top before I knew it and I got a few minutes of flattish trail to relax on. The rest of the way the trail was a moderate downhill though and very icy. It was really slow going. We were taking baby steps and running on the side of the trail a lot, to gain traction on the unpacked snow. I ended up falling twice, both times on my butt, hands and elbows. The feel of the snow and ice on my ungloved hands was the worst. They were burning, and I later found out I had a bunch of tiny splinters in one hand. THOSE were fun to remove. No bad injuries though. Good thing there were no rocks under my tailbone!

Today, we went out to Golden, where I was theoretically going to run 20 miles with my friend Courtney. Courtney's fiancé, Luke, told us that there was a pretty serious climb over the first few miles. I was a little worried after doing Meyer's Ranch yesterday, but I figured I would take some walk breaks going up and be alright once I got up the climbs.

Apparently we took a wrong turn early in the run and we ended up having to ascend a short portion of trail that was EXTREMELY steep. Like, you had to use your hands steep. The biggest problem with it was that this short section of trail consisted solely of loose dirt. No rocks or roots to hold on to. So I found myself half way up the trail, frozen with fear. I was close to tears. In front of me and behind me was loose dirt. Off to my left was…air or a steeper fall off. I don't know. I just knew I thought I was going to die. So, as I clutched the trail, terrified, I removed one of my gloves to make it easier to grip…the loose dirt. And as I started moving again, I saw that Nick had come back to help me up. Thank goodness! I don't think I've ever been so scared on a run.

Once I got up I was so relieved but immediately started panicking when I thought I'd have to go DOWN that thing. I was reassured though, that we had simply made a wrong turn and that we wouldn't have to go back that way. Once everyone was up, David (Manthey) joked that he hoped there wouldn't be ice on the concrete. I laughed internally. Surely there's no concrete. We're on a trail 100ft above Golden! I was WRONG. It was no joke. All of a sudden the foot traffic slowed and I found myself on 1ft-wide concrete wall. On my left side, was nothing, until you hit the ground 100ft below. On my right side was a 3 ft drop to a grassy section. After a bit of walking on the wall, I decided, this is DUMB! I'm going to pee my pants or die. One of those things is definitely going to happen. So I was the first to hop off the wall to walk on the grassy section below.

To sum up the rest of the run, my legs were totally tired. I did ok for the first mile or so but ran out of juice. On top of that, I kept having fits of not-being-able-to-breathe. I don't know what the deal is. Maybe once I start feeling a LITTLE short of breath I have panic attacks or something, due to being frustrated about being short of breath, which just makes it worse. Stupid mountain asthma. That's what I've started calling my old lady wheezing problems. Anyway, once I finished most of the climb, walking most of the rest of the way, I decided to turn back with Nick. Leaving me with a whopping 6.16 mile run. That number is significantly different than 20. But I will get there. You just wait and see!

So there you have it. You have learned that I am afraid of falling on my butt on the ice, partly due to the fact that I broke my tailbone in FEBRUARY and it still bothers me. You may never again see me "plop" down on a couch. But that Saturday run definitely made me want to try the Kahtoola Microspikes. They're a little pricey and I used to just screw my shoes, but some of my shoes are a little too minimal to be screwed. So I will let them keep their maidenhood.

I also found out that I am WAY more afraid of heights than falling on my butt. I've improved a little bit though. I used to be terrified of ascending Hope Pass. But that's child's play compared to my experience today. I was pretty scared for parts of the Jemez Mountain 50k, but not paralyzed by fear like I was today. I don't have any plans to improve my fearlessness like I want to increase my mileage though. The next time I visit a new trail, I will be sure to ask if a) I will have to use my hands or b) I will be forced to walk on any trail narrower than 2ft across with a vertical drop on one side.

I think I can, I think I can

2011-11-17T11:57:00.001-06:00

I'm really trying to get in gear for my racing season. So far, my next race is the Sourdough Snowshoe race (30k) in January. Aaaaand since I haven't even RUN 18 miles since Leadville, I have a lot of getting in gear to do before I can snowshoe that far. Oh wait, I did do a flat 22 miles a few weeks ago. In Kansas.

Lately, I've been trying to increase my mileage and work on hills. I've started doing hill repeats once a week with running buddies Leila and Becca. They're both much faster than me and much better at hills, but in the end it'll only make me a better runner.

My biggest challenge lately has been the hills. It's not just the tired legs either. I've been having a really tough time breathing. I guess it's a combination of the cold air, the elevation and the climbing. Every few minutes I have to stop and spit all over the place so I can keep breathing. And as far as I can tell, I'm not sick. Maybe I have mountain asthma. I'm totally making that up. But even just hanging out at home, I get out of breath drinking water. Bah. Maybe I just need a few MORE months of acclimating. Anyway, I also plan to spend more time at the gym (I've been slacking), doing leg strengthening exercises to help with the hills too.

So hills are my biggest challenge, but my big goal is to just keep trying and not get bummed out just because I don't feel like I'm improving exponentially. I'll get to where I want to be a little at a time.

One of These Days...

2011-11-09T12:37:00.000-06:00

…I will be happy I moved to Colorado. I haven't been blogging as much lately, because, well I tend not to blog much when I'm in a major slump. And that's what I've been in ever since Leadville. But in the last week or so, I've tried to concentrate on being positive and patient, instead of obsessing over things that suck right now.

My recent visit to Kansas was equal parts happy (to see familiar faces and places) and depressing. With every familiar face I saw, came the questions. How are things? How's the job search? And every time I answered them, I realized more and more, how I'm not where I thought I'd be with my life right now. I thought by now I'd be running more than 10-20 miles per week. I thought by now I'd be better at running hills (mountains). I thought by now I'd have a job. It pretty much boils down to feeling useless in every aspect of life. I'm not bringing any money into the household and I have lots of extra time on my hands. But even with the extra time my running doesn't seem to improve.

Maybe the running boils down to a lack of companionship, i.e. running partners. There are people I run with sometimes, but they're much faster than I am, so I'm not really running WITH them so much as chasing after them as best I can. In Kansas, I had lots of people to run with. Especially my BUBF (best ultra buddy forever), Sarah. And even if I did run alone, I never felt like I would fall over and die on any of my runs. It's tough to encourage yourSELF to run all the way up a 1500ft ascent when it's just you and the trail. So I guess my adventures in running improvement are equal parts physical and mental.

Perhaps it's a good thing. Maybe a little mental fortitude and independence is what I need. But I sure did like having girlfriends like Sarah, Coleen and Debbie by my side to reassure me and tell me everything would work out. In Kansas, you give me 3 weeks and I could go from being an injured mess to being competitive in a 50k. In Colorado, give me 3 weeks and who knows what'll happen. I might have 1 good week of training and 2 pathetic ones.

As for the job situation. I think it boils down to me being irresponsible and totally ignorant of the job market. When I graduated from college, the job market was not great but I still found a good job. And I stayed at that job for six years. I didn't work at securing a job before I left Kansas. I figured I'd find one a few weeks after I moved. WRONG. I just had this mentality of having a comfortable job for six years, where I was never too worried about being laid off, that finding a job would be no big deal. Now I'm realizing the engineering job market in Denver is not so great. I've gotten to the point that I'm just looking for A job. But getting just any job when you have a bachelors and masters degree in mechanical engineering is also not easy. Being overqualified doesn't help you either.

Sooo there it is. Life is tough, but I know that little by little things will improve. And maybe a year from now, this will all be a distant memory. Anyway, there are people who have it a lot rougher than me. My boyfriend is supporting both of us and still has enough money to replace the Kindle I broke with a Kindle Fire (I did not ask for a replacement). So maybe that thought will also shut up my whiny brain.

Things I'd Like to Do

2011-09-19T15:52:00.000-05:00

Now that I've gotten over my usual month or so of "I never want to run another ultra," I've started thinking about my race calendar again. Of COURSE I want to run more ultras! Well this is my theoretical to-do list for the next 6 months or so.

One or more of the Front Range Fat Ass series. There's a marathon-ish in Boulder in October, a 50k in Ft. Collins in December and another 50k in Colorado Springs in January. I definitely want to do the one in Ft. Collins.
Sign up for Western States 100 lottery in November. Watching all the coverage this past year made me really excited to try this one out sometime. A lot of people who get into the race decide to try for the Grand Slam, because it's so challenging to get into WS100. I'm not sure if I wanna try that. Four hundreds in four months. Eeeek.
Nick's dad told me about a 20-mile snowshoe race at Turquoise Lake in Leadville. I'm not sure about the date though. Sometime in the winter. I think this would be excellent ultra training. In my experience, it can be difficult to train for ultras in the winter depending on the amount of snow cover on trails. A 6-hr snowshoe trek should to the trick.
Rocky Raccoon 100, February, Texas. I'd really like to run a faster, easy-ish 100. And this is the place to do it. It's in Texas, pretty flat, and pretty warm in February. The down sides are…it's a 5-loop course which can be boring and I'd have to train through the winter which can be hard, as mentioned above.
3 Days of Syllamo, March, Arkansas. Well I actually forgot this race was in March and not April. Hmmm. Wanted to go out here and redeem myself this year. It's a 3-day stage race: 50k, 50mi, and 20k. I ended up injuring myself at the 50k this year, so I didn't run the 50mi the second day. I ran the 20k on the third day, but it was a bad idea and very painful. So I guess I might have to choose between RR100 and 3 Days.

Well that's what I'm thinking about right now. If I get into WS100, it'll be end of June. No decision on whether I'll run Leadville again next year. Perhaps. Would be nice to get the big, sub 25-hr buckle.

Home

2011-09-15T11:18:00.002-05:00

This past weekend, as Nick and I were driving to a new friend's place in Denver, I told him Colorado didn't really feel like home yet. I'd been living in Colorado for almost a month. I'd become familiar with the highways and major roads in Denver. Like, I-25 is the most irritating stretch of highway I've ever experienced. It's ALWAYS a pain in the ass. It could be Saturday afternoon and you're still crawling at 30mph. And Wadsworth is a big north/south street. And 285 runs east/west through the city and will take you to the new IKEA if you're brave enough to go there. But it still felt like I had just been on a long vacation.

But something must have changed over the span of a few days, because as I was driving home from stair repeats (at Red Rocks of all places) on Tuesday, I felt like I was really driving HOME. Maybe it was the realization that I was familiar with all the little bends in 285. The knowledge that when you see a sign that says "Windy Point" you are actually past the worst of the really sharp bends if you're heading south. (I think this reaffirms my argument that it is really WIN-DEE point and not WINE-DEE point.) Maybe knowing that Sourdough Dr, which Nick and I like to call "sourdough doctor" musing that a master baker lives down that road, is between Tiny Town and Windy Point.

Or maybe it was finally feeling like I fit in, socially. I had new running buddies in Leila and Becca. I spent Sunday evening enjoying dinner and games with my other new running friend, Kate. Luke and Courtney came over for dinner a couple nights before, to a house that wasn't totally full of boxes.

It was probably a combination of all of those things. But I'll stick with knowing 285. If you know 285, then you're home. Those are my words of wisdom for today. "But I don't live in Colorado," you say. "That doesn't make any sense!" Well too bad. I guess you're not home yet.

Colorado Life + Chalk it up 5k Report

2011-09-12T15:17:00.000-05:00

Ever since finishing Leadville I've been itching to get back to training. Not for any specific race. Just to become a better, faster, Colorado runner. Days after the race I began to feel deflated. I had just finished a high profile 100. It was amazing. I couldn't believe it. But where would I go from there? It didn't take long to figure out I had tons to improve upon, which is actually quite exciting. Getting better is a huge part of what makes running fun for me. I don't know how I'll feel when I stop getting better, but I guess I'll deal with that as it comes.

So I've just been dying to race lately. I'm not quite ready for another ultra just yet. And I definitely don't have my eye on another 100 right now. So when my friend Luke said he was timing a 5k this past weekend and only 40 people were signed up, it sounded like a fun race to see what my legs could do. I'm really not a big fan of large races. I get anxious around huge crowds and annoying parking situations. Big races just aren't fun for me. Of course it also occurred to me that I could probably place well in a small race. So why not?

When I woke up in the middle of the night before the race and was hungover, I didn't think I'd be running, but by the time my alarm went off in the morning I felt fine. So I got ready, convinced Nick to come spectate and we were off to Denver. I wasn't feeling very peppy that morning so didn't know what to expect out of the race, especially knowing that it was a FOUR loop course.

There weren't many cars in the lot when we arrived at Arapahoe Community College. I registered, thought about refusing the tshirt since I just end up giving them all to Good Will, and put on my number and chip. Luke was setting up his timing gear and speculated that I would finish top 2. I wasn't so sure, though I hadn't seen any competition yet. Since it was such a short race I figured I should do some warmup laps. The laps felt long to me, considering we had to run 4.

At the race briefing, I looked around, and I don't mean to sound conceited, but I was confident that I was the fastest woman there. And there weren't many men I was worried about either. We walked to the start line, which was about a tenth of a mile north of the loop we'd be running. I lined up front and center. We started a minute or two early which was fine by me. At the word go, I took off fast, but my legs felt really weak like I might collapse at any moment. It was an odd feeling. So my lead didn't last long. I relaxed into a steady pace.

The first guy to pass me was a ridiculously tall 50-something. I could tell by his pace that trying to catch him would be a lost cause. Green shirt passed me a little later going a more reasonable speed. I let him go but kept my eye on him. I had noticed green shirt before the race and he looked strong, probably a trail runner, which doesn't necessarily make you a speed demon, but he was in way better shape than most of the other runners.

I was already worrying about my time and the length of the course after my first lap. I knew I couldn't just multiply by four because of the extra distance from the start line to loop, but I was still expecting faster than 6-something. I was putting a lot into it. My chest was burning like mad. I felt like barfing. The next few laps were challenging, because I was pushing as hard as I could and had to spend a lot of time winding side to side along the course because I was lapping big groups of walkers and runners.

It was clear that I wouldn't catch up with number one, but green shirt seemed to slow down on the third or fourth lap. But I held back not wanting to burn out before the finish. I felt kind of ridiculous the whole time, flying past so many people. Like I didn't get the memo that nobody was really here to race.

I ended up finishing in third place. I probably should have made a move on green shirt, but it wouldn't have made much of an improvement to my time. 23:55. I was SO irritated with my time. I keep telling myself that the course was long, but what irritated me more was thinking I might just have been slow. I didn't feel slow. My lungs were burning like I was running faster than a 7:42 pace. I felt like puking, which I didn't think was indicative of a 7:42 pace. I was kicking (see above). I probably won't let this rest until I drive back out there and run the course with my Garmin.

Ah well. If yesterday's race isn't an indication of any increased speed, at least today's run indicated that my hill training is progressing. I haven't been out to Meyer Ranch since before Leadville. It has a big climb. 880ft over 2ish miles. I wanted to run all the way up today. No stops for walking. Well I didn't quite make it, but I ended up running about 3/4 of the way up, which is still a major improvement from my other visits - walking most of the way up. So improvements ARE being made! And I did earn a $50 gift card for Boulder Running Company with yesterday's win. Life doesn't suck!

Leadville: The Other Prep Work

2011-08-30T16:56:00.001-05:00

I can say with absolute certainty that I would not have been able to finish this race a year ago. Last October I ran my first 100 miler, Heartland 100. I trained pretty diligently for that running-wise. Right after I completed that race, I started mixing in strength training. First in a 30-minute group session: Sunday Smash, with Whitney Samuelson. I knew my upper body strength was going to be pathetic but I really thought my legs would prove to be outstanding. I had run 100 miles after all. After the first workout, my legs burned like mad for a solid week. I was definitely knocked down a few pegs there. Then I decided to start seeing Whitney for 2, hour-long, one-on-one sessions per week. And what a difference they made!

If you asked me 4 years ago if I'd be happy to know my thighs GREW an inch, the answer would absolutely be no. If you asked me that a year ago, the answer probably would have been the same. But I experienced a major body image change when I started working out with Whitney. Thanks Whit! All through high school and college and even after that for a while, my ultimate goal was seriously to look like a J. Crew model. I wanted a teeny tiny nonexistent butt. I was too stupid to accept that my wide hips would never allow my bum to get that small. And I was also too stupid to know that I had a nice butt already and could look even better if I focused more on strength training than losing weight.

But I was "young" and stupid. And 4 years ago I was really depressed (divorce) so not eating came easy. But I was running! Oddly enough, not eating much does not make you a very strong runner. You end up having conversations with people during 5k's.

Am I a J. Crew model yet?

Actual J. Crew model: Almost!

This is the first time you'll ever hear me admit to having had an eating disorder. I have admitted to being depressed, sure. But not to having a fundamentally jacked up view of what is healthy. But Laurie, you're still skinny! What's up with that? It is true that I'm still thin but I have put on at least 5lbs since that Skeletor picture above. And I eat like a horse. And check out the extra muscles on my legs!

Old Laurie: Oh no, not leg muscles! New Laurie: Oh yess!

Still I can't claim that I don't get a bit obsessive even now. But I've learned to love my body (and the extra inches on my legs) and I'm not afraid to look athletic. I don't want pecs to replace my boobs or anything (scary) and I no longer want to be a J. Crew swimsuit model either. Hooray!

Well, THAT was a long aside! What I'm trying to say is that coming from Kansas, where we have no mountains, there is no WAY I could have physically finished this race without all the strength training I've done over the past year. And I got the added bonus of a mental improvement too. When you see the women who toe the line at LT100, you realize this. You CAN NOT fake Leadville. There are no out of shape women there: either overweight or underweight. So coming in the bottom half (31st out of 53) of the women does not make me feel bad at all. These were all amazing, strong women!

Amazing like Junko and Amy! (Who both kicked my booty.)

Leadville Trail 100 Race Report

2011-08-24T10:43:00.000-05:00

Prologue

Reader: "WTF? She wrote a prologue?! I better go get some coffee."

The days leading up to the race were marked by a mixture of worry, intimidation and excitement. After hiking some of the toughest parts of the course, I was feeling fairly confident about my strength and ability to deal with the altitude. Excitement. On the other hand, I had to take into consideration that these were individual several-hour hikes, and I had to string them together with the rest of the course in between and multiply by two come race day. Intimidation. I was also dealing with a bruised, swollen right foot…the origins of the injury unknown, except that it probably happened at some point hiking Hope Pass. Worry. After an awkward 1-mile test run, I began to envision a DNF at Mayqueen outbound, just 13.5 miles into the race.

This photo I snapped on a hike around the shore of Turquoise Lake sums up my emotions. You can see Hope Pass, the 45 mile point, far off in the distance. I was overwhelmed by the distance I had to traverse to reach that point. But at the same time, I imagined the great sense of accomplishment I would feel reaching that point.

Getting Down to Business

The night before the race, I headed to bed around 7 or 8, trying to outsmart the 2:30am alarm I set for the morning. I tossed and turned for several hours before I finally conked out. I still got a good 4 or 5 hours of sleep and woke up 10 minutes before my alarm went off, alert and ready to go. I threw on the clothes I had laid out the night before, brushed my teeth, braided my hair (something new), and grabbed some breakfast (zucchini bread).

Pre-race. At the house with my crew: Nick, Sarah and Coleen. Sarah and Coleen came all the way from Kansas!

Time rushed by. We left the house at 3am and we went to Provin' Grounds, the local coffee shop, for a supplementary breakfast. I ran into friends, got a lot of hugs, posed for photos and before I knew it, it was 3:45 and I decided it was time to leave the comfy environs of the coffee shop. Perfect timing too. The starting area was already packed with runners. I squeezed in about 2/3 of the way back from the start line.

Start to Mayqueen (13.5mi)

Before long, all 600-something starters were bobbing along down 6th street through town. It didn't take long for a good portion of the runners to start taking a walk break, including me. It's downhill a bit from the start line, then a good uphill to the outskirts of town. Definitely a hill you would run in most races, but not a 100 miler. And definitely not for a first-time Leadville attempt by a girl from Kansas.

In case it's not obvious by now, my intention was to walk every uphill of any significance. And there were definitely some "hills" of significance (see below). But I had been practicing my speed walking and I was confident that I could maintain a 15-20 minute/mile pace, even walking (with the exception of Hope Pass).

Most of the first 13.5 miles were fairly flat to downhill, so I got a lot of running done. As we made our way out of town, runners headed off the course in every direction, "taking care of business". So after the first mile or two, it smelled like a rank porta potty the rest of the way to the first aid station. I was seriously starting to wonder if people weren't smearing poo all over their bodies, perhaps to keep the competition away.

I guess about 6 miles into the race, we reached the trailhead which would lead us around Turquoise Lake. It was a steep climb on a rocky trail, which I rather enjoyed. A nice little test of the legs. I passed a few people. After this initial ascent, the trail becomes soft, sandy and flat. Just a nice little jaunt along the shore.

A few miles later, we reached the boat ramp, which isn't really an aid station. It's just a place where a LOT of people hang out to cheer. From this point, the trail becomes hilly: short ups and downs. The trail also becomes fairly technical: lots of rocks, and lots of areas where streams cross the trail (slick). No worries. I powered on through. Passing people when there was space. On this section, I remembered that Nick had told me to relax and keep my heart rate down. I wasn't really doing that, but what else could I do with those initial race jitters?

I caught up to a group of guys, including one who was in the Navy, telling a story about diving. He said something along the lines of, "they had 80lbs in their BCs." I had no idea what that meant, but to be a smart ass, I replied, "Did you say 80lbs of feces?" That earned me a chuckle and a glance back, which was refreshing since the rest of the runners seemed to ignore my random banter. I figured why not at least enjoy a few laughs during the hardest race of your life? There would be plenty of time to suffer all day and night. I later learned that BC stood for buoyancy compensator?? I think.

Well before long (about 2:20 in), I found myself running into Mayqueen, met by Nick. I told him I'd been eating like a horse - 1.5 packets of Honey Stinger Chews and 3 gels downed - so I needed my food refilled in my pack. I chowed down on some pbj's at the aid station and when I was done, Nick had my stuff all ready to go. The crew is the most important element to success in a 100 miler, for MOST people. Your crew pretty much waits on you hand and foot, because most of the time you're too delirious to figure things out yourself.

I knew I needed to keep my calorie intake up from the beginning so I didn't crash and burn later in the race. If I kept eating well for the first half, I could relax and just do whatever my crew told me to for the rest of the race.

Mayqueen (13.5mi) to Fish Hatchery (23.5mi)

I loved the cold air around the lake. This was a great temp for me - probably 30's to 40's. Others complained that it was too cold but I though it was JUST right. I might have made a mistake by eating a gel shortly after leaving the aid station. Soon I was feeling queasy. I suspect from the large amount of calories I had ingested in a short period of time - pbj's + gel. "OMG," says the tummy, "too much to process!"

The tummy calmed down before long, and I enjoyed running and hiking a pretty section of the Colorado Trail. We were gradually winding our way up to Sugarloaf Pass. When we left the Colorado Trail we were directed to run "up a gradual incline" on Hagerman Road. This section was really deceiving. Nobody could actually figure out if we were going up or down hill for a while. It was really weird. But we had great views, so most everyone just relaxed and settled into a run/walk routine. Eventually, it became obvious that we were going uphill, and I spent most of the time wondering when the course was going to get steep. Apparently, this side of Sugarloaf never really does. It's just long.

It didn't seem long though! I chatted with people on my way up. I met a guy with crazy socks who lived in Boulder. He turned out to be a Mizzou grad, which I tried not to hold against him too much. It seemed like we were at the top of Sugarloaf and making our descent in the blink of an eye. I took it easy going down, letting lots of people pass me. I didn't want to tear up my legs on the first big descent. Mizzou passed me and I saw him a few more times throughout the race, but I think he ended up beating me. Damn.

On the way down I saw the 20 mile marker. A few minutes later, it occurred to me to check the time. 4 hours. I was amazed by my pace. I didn't think I'd be at a 12min/mi pace, especially with all the walking up Sugarloaf plus the aid station. Oh did I forget to mention that my bruised foot didn't bother me at all, like I was expecting. Didn't feel it. I DID feel my knees aching on the steep descent from Sugarloaf though. The last mile is so steep you have to make your own mini switchbacks, winding left to right across the path, so you don't lose footing on the loose dirt.

The run along the short portion of paved road down into Fish Hatchery is fun. There are lots of spectators. And the spectators cheer extra hard for the women. Not sure why. Women typically have a better finish rate than men in these races. It's the dudes who really need the extra cheering! This was the first time I saw my whole crew. Everyone but Nick went back to the house after the start to get some much-needed rest. Not sure how much they managed. Probably not a lot, based on my experience.

Going to check in at the Fish Hatchery aid station with Coleen.

Fish Hatchery (23.5mi) to Treeline (27mi?)

The next little jaunt was all on roads - some paved, some dirt. It's all exposed and I disliked it all. 1) It was getting warm and you all know I like the cooler temps and 2) it was really flat and you could see a long way. But I settled into a run/walk routine that got me to my next point efficiently. On the way, there was a sign that read, "Any idiot can run a marathon. It takes a special kind of idiot to run 100 miles." Or something along those lines. It made me LOL. We're all a bit off in the head you know. It's good to see confirmation in writing.

When I reached Treeline, which isn't actually an aid station, just an intermediate place for crews to meet their runners, I glanced eagerly around for my crew. But I didn't see them. I began to freak out a bit once I passed by all the crews and just kept running along Pipeline Rd. I was sure they wouldn't forget about me or show up late. I reassured myself that they were set up further down the road, since it's practically Nick's dad's back yard. Sure enough, a few minutes later, I saw them set up on the side of the road. Relief.

I think I felt kinda crappy. Coleen offered me some raspberries, which tasted excessively sour and didn't sit well in my mouth after all the stinger chews and gels I had already eaten. But I kept eating them for a while. Every time I saw my crew, they gave me a swig of mouth wash, which helped with the buildup of sugary film on my mouth for a while. A few minutes until I would eat again. But it helped me for a while anyway and was a boost, mentally. Nick put a little moleskin over a hot spot on my foot and I was back up the road.

It hurts there.

Back at it.

Treeline (27mi) to Twin Lakes (39.5mi)

There was actually a full aid station between Treeline and Twin Lakes (Half Pipe - 29.1mi), but crews had no access to it, so I was in and out pretty fast. Plus it was pretty close to where I had just seen my crew. Shortly after leaving my crew, I ran into Aaron from Panama City, Florida again. He was the 80lbs of feces I was talking to earlier. I think I passed him, then took a pee break shortly after. So I ended up having to pass him again. Life is rough.

We started chatting more after we passed through Half Pipe and eventually fell into a run/walk rhythm. We would take turns decided when to run. Ok, we're gonna start running at that grouping of trees. We can take a walk break when we get to the bend in the road. Sometimes I felt better and sometimes he did. We just kept each other going. We talked about subjects ranging from relationships to farting. We had a gentleperson's agreement not to fart on each other. Yeah, ultrarunners are a gassy bunch. If one of us had to relieve some pressure, we'd walk behind the other. I had no such agreement with anyone else though. Hahaha. The rest of the racers were outta luck.

Things really started getting sore a few miles into this section. Pretty much my whole right leg: IT band at hip, knee, arch of foot. But amazingly, by the end, it started to loosen up and feel better again. This would happen a few more times throughout the race.

We finally reached a steep downhill section that would lead into Twin Lakes. It was probably over a mile long. The final descent is wicked steep and you have to be careful of your footing. But I made it down without face planting. Yay!

My stomach felt pretty crappy here. It was hot and exposed at Twin Lakes. None of the solid food I grabbed at the aid station was sitting well with me. I ate half of the cookie I grabbed and eventually handed it off to my crew to toss. I changed my socks, which I knew might be pointless since I was about to cross a river, but it felt good anyway. The pair that I was wearing was getting loose and bunching up in my shoes. I got out of there eventually, leaving without my hiking poles. I didn't want the burden of carrying them this early, even if it would be a tough hike up Hope Pass.

Stuffing face at Twin Lakes.

Twin Lakes (39.5) to Hope Aid Station (45mi)

As I ran out of the aid station, I spotted Aaron and sped up my trot to catch him. This apparently impressed the crews down in the parking lot and they cheered me on. Once I caught up to him we settled into a more relaxed pace. He really pushed me here. For at least a mile, we wound around a marshy grass area. I didn't feel like running any of it, but that jerk made me anyway.

Maybe a half mile out from the actual river, we started wading across large "puddles" of water - some 20-30ft long and a foot deep. Apparently it had been a wet year, because people who had done it before said it usually wasn't like that. I liked the feel of the cold water on my legs even if it was making my feet uncomfortable in my wet socks and shoes. Aaron thought the water felt way too cold. Wuss. The river felt even better. Race officials had strung a rope across it, because the water was moving fast. I think the water was maybe thigh high, but I might have dipped myself in down to my waist because it felt so good.

Once we crossed the river we began our ascent up to Hope Pass. The climb is ROUGH. Most of it is very steep. You start your climb at the lowest point on the course (9200ft) and hike up to the highest (12,600ft), in about 4 miles. Aaron had the excellent idea to take rest breaks every once in a while. Had I been alone, my ego probably wouldn't have let me stop. But the breaks really helped get out heart rates down to reasonable levels. They also helped when I started feeling queasy due to the high altitude and exertion.

Not long into the climb, I realized I had NO salt with me. Apparently it had fallen out at the aid station, or somewhere. But Aaron let me borrow some of his. What a dear. Well eventually after several rest breaks and a lot of uphill stumbling, we made it to Hope Aid Station. It's also referred to lovingly as Hopeless Aid Station by runners.

I ate a bit and Aaron and I grabbed some rocks to sit on and rest for a bit. We also had fun checking out the llamas. You know the aid station is hard to get to, when you gotta bring everything in with llamas. A few feet away from us, there was a gentleman barfing up everything he just ate. I was worried I might get hit with some accidental spray but it all turned out ok. When he got done puking he introduced himself as David Manthey. It turned out he was a friend of one of my crew members. I don't think I'll ever forget the way we met!

Hope Aid Station (45mi) to Winfield (50mi)

Well Aaron and I finally departed our comfy rocks and began the final ascent to Hope Pass. We weren't at the top yet! Aaron, being the amazing boyfriend that he is, decided that this was an appropriate time to call his girlfriend to find out how she did at the USAT Age Group National Championship in Vermont, which oddly enough was where my friend Sam was that day too. Seriously, this was the most difficult part. Loose gravel, steep switchbacks. I don't even know how he was able to talk. That is a dedicated dude. But we FINALLY made it! This was a huge milestone in the race. We still had to go down and come back over, but heck we got there once we could do it again. It was such a momentous occasion that Aaron got out his camera and snapped a photo. Is that a sweet backdrop or what?

Aaron, Devin? and me at Hope Pass.

We had a blast going down the back side of Hope. We walked the really steep parts and ran the rest. We saw the second place female running up as we began our descent. Yeah, RUNNING UP. Like 9 miles ahead of us. No way I would be running up that beast. Whew. I was ok with it though. Traveling 100 miles in less than 30 hours is still a respectable accomplishment don't you think?

Well we were just giddy on our way down. Joking like crazy. We thought our crews would tell us to stop being such slackers when they saw what great spirits we were in. It turned out, I wasn't really in great spirits by the time I reached the aid station.

Once you leave the trail, you have a 2.5mi? trip up a dirt road to the Winfield aid station. I've been told that this section is disheartening for some people. I wasn't really bothered by the fact that it was uphill. I was bothered by the fact that the pain in my right leg had flared up again all of a sudden. Aaron and I started our run/walk routine, but I let him go ahead after a bit, because I just couldn't keep up anymore. I actually reached the aid station relatively quickly. At least it felt quick mentally.

It had started to rain and I was a bit chilly sitting in the aid station getting taken care of. I had to weigh in here and found out that I was up 5lbs from when I weighed in on Thursday. I don't think that I gained all 5lbs that day. I was admittedly about 3-4lbs light when I weighed in initially and I think I gained a couple pounds over the next couple days. I also had wet shoes on when I weighed in at Winfield, so that can account for some excess too. But ideally, they want you to lose a LITTLE weight during the race, not gain. Gaining weight means you're overhydrating or just retaining water in general, which can dilute the needed electrolytes in your body. I've also read that when you're stressed out some chemical can be excreted that prevents you from peeing. Oh well, my weight gain problem is still a mystery to me. There are SO many factors in play.

Anyway, I changed my socks, had some salt and was eventually on my way WITH MY PACER!!! After the first 50 miles, you're allowed a pacer for the rest. This is great, because you start getting pretty off mentally around that point. You have a hard time remembering to feed yourself - important stuff like that. Nick was my first pacer. I chose him for Hope Pass because he had done it many times before, and actually just hiked it a few weekends before.

Winfield (50mi) to Hope Pass (55mi)

On our way out of the aid station, I saw Aaron sitting with his crew and told him to hurry up! I figured he would have been out of there already since he was doing way better than me going in. My leg was still bothering me a lot going down the road to the Hope Pass trailhead. I couldn't run a whole lot, even though it was mostly down hill. My IT band was so tight and I think my right foot was bothering me too, although not in the location of the bruise. I saw tons of people heading toward me with surgical masks to keep the dust out of their mouths and noses due to the vehicle traffic on the dirt road. Apparently they handed them out at the intersection of the trail and road (outbound) but I didn't catch on. Actually the dust didn't really bother me. It was raining when I went into Winfield after all.

Nick was carrying my hydration pack AND his, as well as my hiking poles, which I decided to employ up the back side of Hope. The trek back to the trailhead wasn't so bad and I started off feeling pretty good on the Hope ascent. About 1/3 of the way up I started feeling fatigued and slightly nauseous, but I kept trudging along. I stepped off the trail to make way for the people coming down since they were facing the cutoff time at Winfield. But really I just liked the rest breaks.

About 2/3 of the way up, everything hit me like a sledge hammer. The altitude, the incline. I felt like barfing and passing out, maybe at the same time. I sat on a rock, holding on to my poles, head down and started to cry. It didn't last long because I realized the crying was interfering with my breathing, so I had to calm down. Hey, I made it more than half way through the race without crying. I consider that an accomplishment. I sat for a minute or two then renewed my assault on Hope. Or it renewed its assault on me. Probably the latter. I got passed a LOT on this climb. I think Aaron had passed me before the crying incident. I didn't really care who passed me as long as I got to the top without dying.

As we got closer to the top, a light rain started up. It was nice and chilly. I thought it felt amazing. I was so hot from the energy it was taking to make the ascent. Once we MADE IT to the top, I kind of shuffled down to the Hope Pass aid station. The trail is pretty steep toward the top, with lots of loose rock, so I would either have to go pretty fast or pretty slow. I opted for pretty slow since my legs were NOT 100%.

At the aid station, I grabbed some "coke" and sat down on a log while Nick got me some soup. I think the coke was really half coke, half water. And the volunteers announced that they were "reusing" cups. Yummy. Well, it's tough for them out there. They have the supplies that they have. It's all carried in by llama. So when they start running out, it's for real. I think we got out of the aid station pretty quickly. Aaron was still there, talking on the phone I think.

Hope Pass (55mi) to Twin Lakes (60.5mi)

This part went by pretty fast. We ran the whole way down. David caught up to us on the way down and we chatted for a while until he decided to fly the rest of the way down. He was feeling GOOD. Which is awesome, after the barf fest he experienced on Hope. I was excited that we made it down from Hope before dark. We even made it through a good portion of the marshy area at the bottom before the lights went out completely. I spent about 30 seconds just sitting in the river. It was cold but felt really good on my legs. It definitely helped my stiff joints.

Being stubborn and all, I refused to get out my headlamp for the last half mile in the dark. I have pretty good "trail feel", so I just ran slow and carefully and reacted to the terrain if there happened to be a rock or something. And soon we were back to the Twin Lakes aid station! Hooray! I felt really good when I got there. It was dark, cool and I had just RAN a good 4.5 miles. I changed socks at the aid station and Sarah and I were off like a couple of prom dresses. Just kidding, I never took my prom dress off. Not in the presence of anyone else at least. I can't speak for Sarah though.

Twin Lakes (60.5mi) to Treeline (73mi)

There's a big long climb out of Twin Lakes. Several miles long. But I liked it a lot. My legs were feeling fresh after the soaking in the lake. I kept up a good hiking pace. Passed a lot of people on this stretch. I think I started feeling a little queasy at some point because I remember asking Sarah for ginger. She was ALSO carrying my pack for me. Damn, my friends are too good to me. We also discovered there was no salt in my pack, so Sarah gave me some of hers periodically. Nick had set me on a strict food schedule. Eat every 20 minutes. At 20 and 40 I would eat 2 Honey Stinger Chews. At 60 I had to eat a whole gel and take a salt cap. I didn't like it much after a while but I dealt with it. I was pretty sick of eating.

After several miles, there were some good downhills that I ran. Eventually, the pain in my right leg crept back in and running long stretches became more difficult. I also had to go to the bathroom, which made it uncomfortable to run downhill. After a good stretch, I decided I couldn't wait for the aid station and found some good trees. Felt tons better. We were actually pretty close to the Half Pipe aid station (the one crews aren't allowed to visit). I call this, pulling a Debbie Webster. She once took a bathroom break during a race and we found out a few minutes later that we were a quarter mile away from the finish line.

I sat down at the station and Sarah brought me some soup and coke. Yeah, when you run 100 miles you pretty much get treated like a Supah Star! I can't even imagine doing a 100 miler unsupported. Gives me nightmares. We got moving again and I was really getting stiff. I tried stretching my IT band but that was really painful. Sarah asked if I wanted ibuprofen and I held off as long as I could but eventually decided that I'd take ONE. We got to Treeline, where my crew was waiting, much sooner than I expected. The sign at Half Pipe said 4 miles, which I thought was long. And I think I was right. We were to Treeline way too quickly for it to be 4 miles. I wasn't gonna complain though.

At Treeline I changed my socks and shoes. I was really going out on a limb changing into my old Inov8's. They're a half size smaller. I ran my first 100 in them and then my feet "grew" so I had to go up a size. But I thought dry shoes would feel good for a bit. So Nick took the insoles out of my old shoes to give me some room and I put 'em on.

Treeline (73mi) to Fish Hatchery (76.5)

Once Coleen (my third pacer) and I got going, I realized that I would have to change back to my wet shoes at the next aid station. The shoes were still small even with the insoles out. And I had no foot protection with the insoles out. I felt every rock. Fortunately, we were mostly on the road so the terrain wasn't too rough.

I did a LOT of running on this section. It's mostly a gentle downhill. When we weren't running, Coleen kept me walking FAST. I knew she would be a great pacer, because she's a ridiculously fast walker and she doesn't put up with whining. The definition of a good pacer. I think the ibuprofen really kicked in on this section. Once we got closer to the aid station, I started to slow down a bit. A combination of the course being slightly uphill and my legs getting a little stiff from all the running. I passed a bunch of people on this section. Everything went smoothly at the aid station. I got my shoes changed, ate a bit then we headed out.

Fish Hatchery (76.5mi) to Mayqueen (86.5mi)

I took my poles with me on this section, because I would have to go back over Sugarloaf. Actually, Coleen carried them for the first mile on the road. We walked a bit, ran a bit. The usual, by this point. And when we reached the powerline trail, it was all walking. I was nervous that this would take forever, but I just did what Coleen told me. Put my head down and just kept going. This part went by in a blur. I couldn't believe it when Coleen told me we were at the top. Really?? Maybe it went by so fast because I was only half awake.

So obviously I was psyched at this point. Downhill into Mayqueen. It'll go fast right?! No. Way. Despite the excessive amounts of running I managed. It took forEVER. I remember this part just flying by, outbound. Well I guess I was fresh then and spent all my time gabbing. This was the most demoralizing part so far. You'd think it would've been going up right? Damn. Then we reached my nemesis, the Colorado Trail. I didn't know it was my nemesis yet, but I would soon find out.

It wasn't really downhill like I thought (misremembered) it would be. It was rolling hills. It was also dotted with large rocks all over the place. I really thought I'd be running this, but I was so tired and clumsy at this point, I just kept tripping whenever I tried to run. It was so frustrating. When I saw a sign along the trail that said "85 miles," I lost it. I felt like I had been stumbling along this trail forever. I still had 1.5 miles to get to the aid station??? It took one more trip on a rock and I started crying again. Coleen heard me sniffling and asked what was wrong. I said something like, "I'm just SO tired." I stopped whining after a bit and soon we were to the LAST aid station. It sounds a lot more exciting than it actually is. You still have more than a half marathon to go from here.

I didn't need to change shoes or socks. I just needed to drink some caffeine. I tried eating a variety of things. Sandwich? Too dry. Bleh. Soup? It was the most disgusting soup I had ever tasted. I guzzled some Red Bull, which was also disgusting. Everything was disgusting. At one point during our run, Coleen gave me a gel and I told her it tasted like corn tortilla. My sense of taste was shot. All I knew was that everything was gross.

Mayqueen (86.5mi) to Finish (100mi!)

We left Mayqueen at around 5am. We had 5 hours to finish ahead of cutoff. I could have walked the whole way if I wanted. I did not want to. I have never wanted to be at a finish line so badly. I wanted to be done, lying in the grass next to the finish line. Nick was pacing me again for this section. I paced him on the same section when he ran it 2 years ago. I thought it only appropriate.

I started off a little stiff. It was pretty cold near the lake. I had my hat, gloves and jacket on. I loosened up a lot once we got on the trail around the lake. I mean, I was really moving good considering how far I'd gone already. I was power walking uphill and running downhill. I felt like a million bucks. This lasted a couple miles before I stiffened up again. Knees hurt. Ankle hurt. Bah. I kept up a slower version of the run/walk routine for a couple more miles until I was overcome by pain. I also got a little sassy with Nick, announcing, "I am NOT eating any more gels. Only Honey Stinger Chews." At one point I said I wasn't going to eat every 20 minutes anymore, but I got hungry 2 minutes after I said it.

I really wanted some ibuprofen again. I just wanted some pain killers so I could get to the finish line ASAP. Nick didn't have any. He said his dad and stepmom would be meeting us on the road and maybe they would have some. It turned out they weren't there, so I was extra grumpy. They probably didn't have drugs anyway. Shelley and Kelly found us on the road and walked with us for a bit. Kelly kept saying how good I looked! I felt like the crappiest of crap. All I could pull of was a fast duck walk. After a bit they headed back to their car to drive to the finish line and wait.

Next up, I saw Courtney and Luke across the road. Luke had run too, but was forced to DNF with a stress fracture. They were cheering for me and so nice. But I was pretty antisocial by this point so I probably seemed bitchy. Nick couldn't really remember what the mileage was at various points on the course so I was just thinking the worst. That we were really really far away from the finish line.

The turn onto the paved road into town actually came much quicker than I expected. And I realized I was going to BEAT NICK'S TIME! Hahaha. Not by much though. There is a surprisingly long uphill section on the road before you reach a point where you can see the finish line at 6th & Harrison. I was walking as fast as my legs would take me. I had aching blisters, but I said "F you blisters! I'm goin' fast. Deal with it!" I told Nick I would run the rest of the way once we reached the downhill section. And so I did. I started running, running, running. Then we got to the section that goes uphill to the finish line and I thought "Uhhhhhh ohhhhhh. I don't know if I can pull this off. It's a long way." But I knew there was no way I could start walking in front of all those spectators. So I did the only thing that would make it better. I ran FASTER. I just ran faster and faster, squishing all the blisters on my feet, ignoring my aching knees, so I could get to the finish line as quickly as possible. And then there I was! Running the red carpet, tears streaming, getting my finisher's medal and flowers.

It's the red carpet!

And then it was over and it was all hugs. Hugs, hugs, hugs, and tears. I still really can't believe I finished. I keep thinking, really? that was me? Maybe it was all just a bad dream. That's what it seemed like when I was done. I couldn't figure out WHY I ever wanted to do this race.

With my crew, after the race.

Leadville was quite a test, physically and mentally, but there is absolutely no way I could have finished without my crew. I always say crewing for a 100 miler is more difficult than running it. Crew members hardly get any sleep but instead of doing fun stuff like running all day, they're taking care of you. They'll do anything short of wiping your butt. Nick might even do that if I asked nicely. When they're not waiting around on your slow ass, they're spending two hours driving from one point to another on a crappy dirt road. It is not a cushy job. And while you feel wonderful when it's 35 degrees at night, they're freezing their butts off, because they're just sitting around waiting for you. So thank you from all of the locations of my heart, Nick, Coleen, Sarah, Chris and Bonnie.

Anticipation

2011-08-17T19:36:00.000-05:00

I really wanted to wait on this post until I had a few pictures uploaded but I won't have the equipment necessary until Friday and I don't plan on doing anything but freaking out the day before LT100. I'm also experiencing a bit of cabin fever/taper madness since I'm alone in the woods outside of Leadville right now. So I figured this would be a good way to occupy my time.

So in case you weren't "in the know", I moved to CO a week ago today. I sold my car to my good friends in Kansas, so I know it'll be taken care off, and I flew off to CO with just a few bags containing some of my clothes. Nick had moved out to our new place a few weeks before. I spent a couple days at our new place in Conifer which is about 20-30 minutes west of Denver, then Nick and I headed up to Pb-ville. Get it? So if you see a "Pb" sticker you know what it means now.

I had some good runs and hikes while I was at the new place. I felt 100% better than I did the last time I visited CO. No headaches or anything. It made me feel more confident about the race, since the altitude was my biggest worry.

We went up to Leadville on Saturday with the pups and decided to camp in the back yard since animals aren't allowed in Nick's dad's house. It pretty much turned out to be a nightmare. The dogs were misbehaving so Nick put them in his truck and Juko ended up chewing up a seatbelt. Nick had planned to hike/run Massive on Sunday but since he had a rough night with the dogs, he ended up sleeping in instead. You have to get up pretty early to ascend Massive and not get caught in storms. It's about a 13 mile trek.

So we ended up going up the powerlines together. This is part of the course that I will be going down outbound and back up inbound (at night) during the race. It was a good hike. It goes uphill for about 4 miles, but only a short portion of it is really steep. We got some great views of Turquoise Lake from the top.

Powerlines. The peak you see in the distance is not really the top.

Turquoise Lake as seen from Sugarloaf.

Overall it's not a bad hike. You just happen to be going the same direction (up) for a long time, which can be boring. Regardless of the steepness, after 76 miles of traveling, I will definitely be walking all the way up this thing. But my no nonsense pacer, Coleen, will be making sure I get up Sugarloaf as efficiently as possible. She's probably the fastest walker I know!

Monday I decided to go for a walk around Turquoise Lake. Not all the way, mind you. That would be a lot of walking. Anyway, it was a gorgeous brisk morning and I got some really amazing shots with Nick's camera. Unfortunately, Nick left Sunday night and didn't bring a cable to transfer the photos to my laptop. Apparently his fancy new Macbook Air is equipped with a card reader, and my not fancy old Macbook isn't. Probably too many negatives in that sentence.

Well the views were just amazing. When I got to the north shore of the lake, I looked south and could see Hope Pass looming FAR away. I was located on a trail 8-10? miles from the start of the race. The top of Hope Pass is at the 45 mile point. It was equal parts intimidating, beautiful and exhilarating. Just overwhelming. It made me super excited for Saturday.

Tuesday, I went for a walk from the house out to Pipeline Rd and back into the forest on the other side. I spent maybe an hour and 45 minutes just roaming around. That was all I had planned for the day. So I went into town to visit the local coffee shop, Provin' Grounds, for some breakfast and caffeine. This has become my tradition over the past few days.

Well by the time I left Provin' Grounds I had two hiking partners and was headed out to Hope Pass. I really had not planned on hiking Hope because I felt it was too close to the race and didn't wanna work my legs too hard. But I was pretty bored in the house all alone, so it was nice to be doing something with other people: Barefoot Ted and his business associate Bookis. I felt bad for Bookis sitting in the back of my little borrowed pickup truck. It must have been cold going 60 on the highway.

It had been a couple years since I had hiked Hope so I didn't remember a lot about it. I'm in way better shape now than I was back then, so I figured if I took it easy it wouldn't be very hard. Well, it WAS hard. There is really no way of getting up Hope without feeling the burn. There were some pretty long, steep ascents. But I was pleased with my lungs and the lack of headaches and illness on the climb.

The good news is, I hear going up the other side is much harder! Oh, that's not good news? I always thought the people who took trekking poles back from Winfield (the halfway point) were pussies. But after my ascent of the easy side and hearing Coleen say, "I would've cut my mom for some poles," I will no longer refer to these people as pussies. And Nick ordered me some poles of my own.

Well we made a successful ascent anyway. The timing was perfect actually. A nasty storm blew by a lower section of the trail while we were at the pass. We just caught a little rain up top and things had cleared up by the time we were further down. Even saw some leftover hail on the trail.

So there I was hours later, back at home, safe and sound, pleased with my efforts and looking forward to the race. But when I got up to use the restroom I felt pain in my foot. I wasn't too worried thinking it was just a minor bruise. When I eventually looked down, I saw what appeared to be either an extra toe or maybe a small alien emerging from the side of my foot.

I was in full freakout mode, fearing the worst. Maybe I broke something! It later occurred to me that if I had indeed broken something, I would have noticed when it happened instead of several hours later. Well I'm still in freakout mode a bit. It's been more than 24 hours and the swelling hasn't started to go down, but I do have a lovely bruise. This injury is really a mystery to me. My doc friend, Mike, told me this type of injury is usually caused my rolling an ankle. This is entirely possible. I probably rolled my ankle several times during the hike/run, but nothing was so severe that I noticed or stopped.

The degree of swelling is just somewhat baffling to me considering I didn't notice the insulting injury. Well I've been icing anyway and resting as much as possible. I can walk around in shoes without pain. But casually walking around and running 100 miles are not on the same sides of the pain spectrum. Anyway, I plan to toe the line at 4am this Saturday. I'm pretty sure there's no way my foot will be 100% healed by then, but I'll try my hardest anyway. I've got my eyes on that buckle!

The Heat Beat Me

2011-08-03T09:52:00.000-05:00

According to the Lawrence Journal-World, July was the 6th hottest on record for this area. Years that beat 2011 were 1980, 1936, 1934 and 1954. I wasn't alive for any of those, so that means this has been the hottest summer of my life. I've gone on several 100+ degree runs lately. And each one just gets hotter. As soon as I think it is impossible for a run to get any hotter, Kansas reminds me that it is.

So far, I've been able to categorize my hot runs into the following levels of hotness:

I start out thinking it's hot, but this isn't so bad. After a couple miles my body starts heating up and all of a sudden I feel like I'm on the surface of the sun. But I can still run. 95-100 (associated temp or heat index)
See first sentence of level 1. Running slows down after a mile or so and I have to spray myself with water every 30 seconds. 100-105
I start out thinking this is f-ing insane. This sucks. I run a mile then mostly walk. 105+

My last couple runs have been level 3's. Yesterday I e-mailed my friend Coleen, to see if she wanted to run in the afternoon. After I sent the e-mail I checked the forecast and saw the high was supposed to be 111?! I thought for sure Coleen would get back to me saying she would not be running and I would spend the afternoon indoors. Yeah, I was wrong. I forgot she's the one who LIKES summer and I'm the one who breaks her tailbone sitting in snow. It turns out 111 was 5 degrees hotter than the previous record for that day. And it's just 3 degrees shy of the all time high recorded temperature for ANY day in northeast Kansas EVER, 114.

So we were running. I was psyched to have company though. I ran the Shawnee Mission Park trails on Monday too (108 heat index) and it was rough. I figured it would be more pleasant with company. It was.

We ended up doing the 2.5 mile loop, so we could meet up with Deb at 4:30. Well we ran the first 1.5-2 miles. I felt more and more fatigued the farther we went. I drank plenty all day, had plenty of water on hand, had plenty of electrolytes, but my body could just not cool down. I told Coleen and Chris to go on without me, because I needed to walk. Of course they were not on board with the going on without me plan of action. So we all walked. Coleen speed walked, which was too fast for me. I would walk for a bit, then jog a few steps to try to keep up. My legs were like lead.

I'm pretty sure that was the hottest I've ever been. When we left the trail the sun was beating down on us and I went to the water fountain so I could splash water all over my face. Of course I had to wait several seconds for the water to go from HOT to warm, which was as cool as it was going to get. We walked back to the parking lot to grab more ice and to meet up with Deb for another loop. I did not want to go back out. I tried hiding in the shade on one side of Coleen's car, but it didn't help a whole lot. The metal from her car was radiating a bunch of heat. There was no escape from the heat ANYWHERE.

I had a bit of a meltdown about...everything...before Coleen, Chris and Deb could convince me to go back out for another loop. I was frustrated that it was so hot I had to walk. I was frustrated that I didn't get my long run in over the weekend because of my achilles (which is better now). I was having one of my occasional Leadville panic attacks in which I feel severely undertrained. But Coleen got me going again and told me I would be fiiiine. So my buddies let me lead the next loop, and I was able to maintain a brisk walk, which was better than what I was managing at the end of the first loop. I think putting ice in my bra really helped. Sometimes it's so hot that just drinking water will not cut it. You need some other cooling mechanism besides sweating. At least it's that way for me. Like I said, I'm not so good in heat.

So what's the benefit of running in the extreme heat if it reduces me to walking and makes me miserable?? Well supposedly it's good for flatlanders training for high altitude events. It definitely is difficult to breathe out here right now! So I'm working on it. I have a suspicion that this is Kansas's way of being all pissy about me moving to CO. Kansas says, "Oh, so you're just going to LEAVE me after 20 years?! Well take this!" I bet as soon as I leave, a week from today (!), the temps will drop into the 80's. Yeah, it's all about me. I'm not conceited or anything.

While I'm not "running", I've been hanging out with my temporary roomies, Sarah and Justin, and their kiddo. It's been a blast. I've totally been jealous of Nick being in Colorado and going on runs. But I bet he's jealous of my 2 week long sleepover. We've been doing a lot of giggling (or in Justin's case, chuckling, because men don't giggle right). We haven't done makeovers yet though. Maybe this weekend.

Change is in the Air

2011-07-26T10:07:00.000-05:00

I think it's pretty amazing how a physical environment can affect feelings. As I've been leaving and driving to work the past couple days I've noticed significant changes in my surroundings. The most obvious is that my morning commutes are getting noticeably darker. And aside from that, the air just feels "different". I don't know how else to explain it. I can feel fall coming. I can feel change.

Yeah, I know fall isn't really close. But the shortening days will eventually lead to cool fall weather. This makes me want to ramble on about heat transfer (on a large scale), but I'll shut up. Anyway, for the same reason that the hottest part of the day is later than when the sun is shining on us most directly, the shorter days don't immediately translate to cooler temps. As a matter of fact it's unbearably hot right now. I'm starting to get surprised when it DOESN'T reach 100 around here. But even if the high is 105, I'm content now, with my ever darker mornings.

There is another reason for my growing excitement beside the prospect of my favorite season arriving. I'm moving to Colorado in...*checking calendar*...15 days. So I'm getting pretty excited about that. And the prospect of having a few weeks off work. Or maybe more, since I don't have a job yet. Sometimes things interrupt my daydreaming though. Like packing and cleaning. Alas, these things get in the way of running too, but I guess it's all worth it to be one step closer to living the dream with my sweetie.

Fortunately, enjoying change doesn't mean that we have to devalue the past or present. I'm so thankful for all of my relationships with Kansans and even Missourians and wouldn't trade my past 20ish years here for anything. I was lucky enough to see bunches of my friends at our going away party this weekend. It was a BLAST! Clearly.

Way to capture the ridiculousness, Elizabeth! And if you thought that was ridiculous, you haven't seen anything!

This is a long story.

It appears Nick was so forceful with his offer of whiskey, Elizabeth had to beat him off with a pan! And yet our friends still tolerate us. It's amazing. We're the luckiest. So of course we'll cherish all our memories of our midwest peeps and look forward to their visits and return for ultras from time to time. And we'll also appreciate all of our new experiences and friendships. See what you have to look forward to Courtney and Luke! Now you're in trouble.

Lunar Trek 100k?

2011-07-18T11:25:00.000-05:00

I took the day off Friday, hoping that I could stay up late Thursday and sleep in a bit Friday to lessen the strain of staying up all night for Lunar Trek. I'm not sure why I cared. This was supposed to be a training run for Leadville after all. Well I didn't end up staying up late Thursday or sleeping in, or even napping on Friday. I spent all Friday morning and afternoon preparing my bags. I would be crewless because Nick was running the 50k and needed to sleep after the race so he could drive me home. So I was taking extra care to get my drop bags in order.

With my best running buddy, Sarah. Waiting for the race to start.

The doggies and I left the house shortly before 3 to go pick up Sarah. Her husband, Justin, would be driving out with Nick a few hours later. It was already a hot day. The thermometer read 100 and climbed as we made our way to Scandia. In Manhattan it reached 104!!! We took a route that I hadn't tried in my previous 2 trips. It was actually really nice. The other way is pretty boring. You spend most of your time on 1 highway going west. Boooorrrriiiing. This way had plenty of turns and it was really pretty. Lots of cute little towns on the way.

I was getting pretty anxious about the heat, thinking it could still be in the 90s after the sun set. So when we started seeing dark clouds to the west as we approached Scandia, I felt relieved. The temperature was dropping fast. It was cool and in the low 90s by the time we arrived at packet pickup. Hahahaha. Cool. 90s. We arrived just before 7 and were the first to race day register. It turns out Sarah and I were only the 2nd and 3rd women to register for the 100k in its 3 years of existence. Fun!

The guys in charge - John Neal, Rich Cox and Steve Breeding were great. I know Steve from a lot of other races and KUS events. John and Rich work for Pike Valley High School I think, so I only see them when I visit Scandia. The race benefits their track and cross country team. They are great guys and make everyone feel welcome. Well every year KUS, the Kansas Ultrarunners Society, of which I'm a member, picks one race and pays entry fees for its members. This was that race! So not paying was nice.

The next couple hours was rough. It didn't take me long to get all my stuff together, so I spent a long time waiting. A quick storm came through town with heavy rain but was gone in a snap. The general thought was that we were done with the storms. The sunset shown on the horizon. But before long, the mother of all storms took hold and didn't let go. I worried about the dogs in the car. I worried about the car seats which were being soaked from the deluge. I worried about the fact that I couldn't go to the bathroom. I mean, there was a bathroom and I could go to it, but...

Just a little more waiting.

Well once the RDs took a look at the radar it was clear that the storm wasn't going away any time soon. They pushed the start time back an hour. We finally got going at about 10:20. There was still plenty of lightning off to the southeast, but we couldn't hear thunder so it was a ways off. I urged Rich to let us go. We had signed waivers after all. He asked if everyone was ok with starting and in a few minutes we were off. Fireworks signaled the start.

It was quite cool and windy for the first several miles. So windy that I couldn't keep my hat on. I chased after it about 5 times before I decided to just carry it until the wind calmed down a bit. We headed east on a dirt road for a couple miles before we reached "the loop", which is 18 miles. There's an aid station at this intersection but I don't think anyone stopped for anything but to let the volunteers know our bib numbers.

Sarah and Gary. More waiting. And face making.

These first 4 miles, heading east, were on a dirt road with no gravel. So the rain had made it muddy. As far as mud goes, it wasn't the worst. It was soft enough that it was challenging to run through, causing strides to shift, ankles to rotate and muscles to work harder. But at least it wasn't sticky. We were on this road for a little less than 4 miles then we turned south on a nice crushed gravel road.

It was a little soft from the rain but better than the mud. And the gravel was really fine so it didn't bother my feet at all. There was a good pack of us running together. Dustin and another guy had taken off pretty quick from the start. But Gary Henry, Adam Monoghan, Eldon (of Wichita), Sarah and I were hanging together. A few times I thought I should be walking the hills, but they weren't very big in the beginning so I just went on over them.

I don't remember when Terry Rider passed us but it was fairly early and we were a bit surprised. He was definitely having a good day. The 5 of us continued on together and as we approached the next aid station about 6.5mi into the race, we were surprised to see the guys of the cross country team lined up outside the station (an oversized garage for tractors? barn?) doing a synchronized clap to bring us in. They had stepped up their game from last year after the coaches kept nagging them about how the girls' station got all the praise. It is true that they were slightly less than enthusiastic volunteers when I did the 50k last year. So this was refreshing.

I picked up a pbj rollup here. I really like the idea of doing pbj in a tortilla. Easy to carry. And they don't get stale or soggy like sandwiches. Sarah and I were in and out quickly. I think she was actually ahead of me so I did my best to catch up. After a bit of running, the rest of our pack caught up. The course is somewhat of a blur to me. Perhaps because it was dark. You'd think after running parts of it for 3 years, I could put it together. Nope. This might have been the section that we caught up to Dustin, who was walking. I guess he was starting to have a tough time. We passed Terry too.

I think there was a hilly section between the guys' and gal's aid station. Gary and I ended up out in front of the pack. Gary ran all the hills and I would run part way up the hills and power walk the rest of the way. We made it to the gal's aid station with no trouble. I think we were 12 miles into the race. I spent a bunch of time getting stuff from my drop bag. I grabbed some gingero-s that I'd packed and downed a 5-hr energy after spending several minutes trying to get the plastic off the lid. I had a few pringles and when I finally left the aid station Sarah apologized for making me wait. She hadn't made me wait though. I was taking forever myself. I was already a little fuzzy.

The next section was painfully flat. I think it was perfectly flat for about 3 miles. I liked the hills better. I suggested taking walk breaks on this section but nobody wanted to, so I just kept on goin'. We finally reached some nice hills, including Hill 88 and I was happy for some walk breaks. Hill 88 is a steepish hill that's maybe a quarter to half mile long. Not bad for Kansas. The cross country coach makes the kids do repeats on it.

I tried a new gel while I was walking, Accel Gel I think. It was completely disgusting. It was really liquidy and when it hit my throat it felt like I was swallowing vomit, which of course made me want to vomit. I didn't though. I managed to get it all down. My stomach was starting to hint that it was getting unhappy with this run or my feeding of it, or something. It didn't help that I started forgetting to eat at aid stations.

The next aid station had an actual toilet. A camp toilet that is. I tried to go to the bathroom but again no luck. I think I had a few cups of coke here and they were absolutely amazing. The coke, the ice, perfection. The wind had long since died down, so the last section had been stangnant and mosquitoey. I like to refer to it as Mosquito Pass. It made me giggle. Because, you know, there's a Mosquito Pass in CO which is nothing like this.

Adam was a dear and waited for me during my attempted bathroom break. He didn't want to attempt the upcoming mud bogs on his own because he wasn't carrying a light. I was glad for the company. Sarah had gone on to get a head start on us. So the mud bogs were pretty bad. This was STICKY mud. And the mud was covered in puddles in many sections. The best strategy, of course, was to go straight through the puddly sections. They weren't so sticky. We caught up to Sarah as we sloshed through "the bog". It wasn't very long. Maybe a half mile but it was definitely taxing.

Not long after we left the bogs, I decided I really needed to stop and deal with my socks and shoes. My socks were stretched and misaligned from all the water and mud. I could also feel mud accumulating under my toes. Continuing to the next aid station without fixing this would be a mistake. A mistake I've made before. The challenging part was balancing on one foot while I cleaned out my shoes and readjusted my socks. I kept losing my balance and dropping my unshod foot into the gravel. There was a lot of falling over and removing gravel from my socks. But after 5 minutes or so I managed to get everything fixed up and my shoes back on.

I was immediately happy that I'd stopped. My feet felt so much better. It took me a while to catch back up to Adam and Sarah but I managed it after 10 or 15 minutes. Before we knew it, we were back at the loop aid station, the first one we passed. We'd run 20 miles. I grabbed more gels from my drop bag and a water bottle which I filled with some Succeed! Amino drink. Coleen gave me a sample to try and since this was a training run I figured it would be a good time. Oh I also grabbed some socks. We had to head right back toward the mud we left, so I put them in my pack to change into right after we got through.

Again, I think I forgot to eat at this station. But I had plenty of gels. I PROBABLY ate some. Apparently I cannot be trusted to keep myself properly nutritioned at night. Well my first impression of the Amino was, "Gross! Barf!" But I continued to sip at it and maybe 15 minutes later, the nausea that was threatening to set in had completely stopped. Not sure if it was the Amino or what. I was also taking S!Caps about every hour. But I can't remember how often I was eating gels now. Probably because I wasn't eating them enough.

This was my first attempt at not eating Honey Stinger Chews in an ultra. I seriously love them. But they make my mouth so sticky after a while that it's unbearable. So I attemped an all gel diet. Not so successful. Maybe I'll just start putting a little bottle of mouthwash in all my drop bags so I can rinse the taste out.

Well back to the run...Adam and I ran for a bit and saw Gary and Sarah heading toward the aid station as we headed back for the mud. We kept up a good run/walk routine. This part of the course made it easy to decide. Walk the steeper parts of the hills, run the rest. By the time we got back to the mud pit, another storm was coming through. It started pouring. It felt great!

When we got back to the aid station, most of the volunteers were piled in cars. I happily sat down in a chair to change my socks. Yes, it was pouring, but these socks would still be better than the muddy, stretched ones I was wearing. While I was sitting, Adam was grabbing food and asked if I wanted a peanut butter sammy. Sure! I grabbed the sandwich with my grubby, just-changed-my-muddy-socks hands and chowed down. So if you can picture it, I was eating a peanut butter sandwich that was covered in mud from my hands and being soaked in a deluge. But I couldn't be happier.

Before we knew it, Adam and I were back to that forever flat section. We decided on a run/walk scheme. It was easy to tell how far we'd gone because major roads intersected every mile. We walked for about the first minute and a half of the mile then ran the rest. We also got in the habit of switching sides of the road every once in a while so we didn't get any lopsided injuries. We still managed about a 12 minute per mile pace even with the walking. It was great. But the flatness was definitely boring. And we were back in mosquito pass.

When we got back to the girls' aid station I filled my bottle up with more Amino and drank another 5-hr energy. I'm not really sure why I did that. I wonder if it didn't cause some of my later intestinal distress. From now on I might just try to stick to good ol' fashioned coca cola. I did remember to grab some cookies from my bag and I think I got some pringles from the aid station too. The food selection was starting to look unappetizing. It was all pringles, M&Ms, pretzels, peanut butter, and ham sandwiches. Meat pretty much never appeals to me during a race, nor does cheese. Some watermelon or oranges would have been really nice at the aid stations. At some point those salty dry foods are just not what you want.

We didn't get far from the aid station before I announced to Adam that I needed a bathroom break. He walked on ahead. I felt a little better after finally going. It took me about 10 minutes to catch back up to Adam and I was still in pretty good spirits. I started to eat a gel and was talking about the third loop or something and Adam was sounding a little doubtful of finishing. His stomach wasn't feeling very good and we both realized that we would be finishing no earlier than noon due to the storm delay.

Before I knew it, MY stomach started talking to me. I couldn't finish the gel that was in my hand. Could not. I started guzzling Amino and water thinking that they'd make me feel better. I think we walked for a whole mile at one point. Adam was really nice to stay with me. But we got running again. We were running fractions of a mile now before I needed to take walk breaks. But I could still run so that was a good sign. Sometimes I get so sick I can't run at all. When we got back to the guy's aid station I went around the barn to take a bathroom break again. Adam and I sat for a bit at the aid station and I had a coke but didn't eat. I think I had pretty much sealed the deal that I would not finish, since I refused to eat at this point.

Hannah, a 40 miler who started early, and her friend Scott, a 100k-er, passed us at this aid station. I swear they came outta nowhere. Sandbaggers! Hahaha. Adam really kept me going at this point. He would say, let's run to those trees then we can take a walk break. Then he would say, oh we can make it to that second set of trees before we walk ok? And I said ok. The sun had risen and we could see forever. I just wanted to get back to the high school. I wasn't in a terrible amount of pain. I was a little stiff in the hips and my ankles ached a bit but I had no debilitating injury.

I just did not want to face running into the middle of the day (it reached 106) for 20+ more miles, uncrewed. Adam and I were partners in drop out crime. This was a training run for both of us and we agreed that running 100k was not necessary training for our races. We managed our way through the last 4 muddy miles with the following technique: run 2, walk 1 - telephone poles that is. Telephone poles are great motivation. Although, running on a trail and not on the darn country roads would be even better motivation.

I crossed the "finish line" and asked Nick if I could drop. He said "no" of course. I was totally expecting that. But I didn't give in. I listed my reasons. My feet are pruney, it's going to be really hot, I don't need to run this far today, I haven't eaten in several hours, etc. On top of that I sat down in a chair and took my socks and shoes off. He wasn't going to get me back out there. LOL.

Everybody else who came through dropped to 40 too, except for Terry Rider, who came in a half an hour to an hour after me and is a serious badass. There were 3 100k finishers overall. Adam and I probably would have been 3rd and 4th if we continued on. We ended up having to wait a couple hours to get our drop bags back from the course. I considered driving out to find them myself but wasn't sure how to get around the mud on the course so just waited. I was STARVING by the time we left. I ate one biscuit at the finish line. The eggs, sausage and gravy did not appeal to me at all.

There wasn't really anywhere to get a decent meal on the way back either. I tried to wait until we got back to Lawrence, but after about 45 minutes of driving I told Nick to stop at a gas station. I bought some Combos and ate most of the tiny bag before I started feeling sick. The rest of the drive consisted of me feeling sick to my stomach and thinking I was going to poop my pants. Oh and I also had an emotional breakdown, complete with tears, because I felt like I wasn't ready for Leadville.

But as my friend Coleen pointed out, it was good to get the bad run out of the way early. After all, my legs did feel strong. And even with the stomach problems, I still kept a pretty decent pace (13:09) for 40 miles, for me. And if I had done the 100k, I would've needed to take several days off running and potentially would have risked injuring myself before Leadville. I probably should have just signed up for the 40 in the first place. Leadville is THE race I'm getting ready for. No use putting it all out there on a training run.

Well I had a great time running with my friends at my last Kansas ultra for a while. I'm going to work hard at getting my nutrition in order over the next couple weeks. Our group is hosting a Sweaty Ass run the weekend after next. You complete as many 3 mile loops as you care to between 6pm and 6am. I will probably end up doing something in the 30-40 mile range. Don't wanna overdo it as it's just three weeks from Leadville.

Thanks to the RDs and volunteers who made it a good race. Thanks to my friends for running with me. And thanks to Nick for driving my crazy, emotional butt back home!

All cleaned up after the race. We didn't plant to match, but this stuff happens when you're BUBFs.

Itching to Go?

2011-07-14T08:39:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I will run the second longest race I've ever competed in. Lunar Trek 100k. It's a race that's held every year on the Friday night closest to the full moon in July. Distances range from 10k to 100k. This will be its 4th year and the only year I didn't compete was in 2009. The first year, I ran the 20?-miler. Last year I ran the 50k and came in first! (Out of three female finishers. Hahaha.)

The 100k starts 2 hours before the other races, at 9pm, so we don't have to run into the hottest parts of the day on Saturday.

There are awesome aspects about the race.

It's at night. Running in the dark is fun.
The fireflies hover in the trees like Christmas lights.
It's at night...so it's cooler.
It's a loop course. Don't have to pack a bunch of drop bags.

And there are not so awesome aspects.

It's on dirt/gravel roads. Can be tough on the feet.
Even at night, it can be really freakin' hot in KS in July.
At some point in the 100k, the sun will rise and I'll be running in the HEAT. Because I'm slow.
It's a loop course.

Of course this is supposed to be a "training run" for Leadville, but naturally I've started setting goals anyway. And obsessing over them. My crazy agressive, unlikely goal is 12 hours-24 minutes, which is a 5mph pace for 62 miles. My I-hope-I'm-not-this-slow goal is 15 hours-30 minutes, which is a 4mph pace. I know without a doubt that I can run a 50k at a 5mph pace. What will happen the rest of the time, I'm not so sure. I DO know that I've been practicing my walking a lot lately though. And even if I walk a LOT the second half, I can still probably average a 4mph pace over that distance. Unless my feet turn into hamburger like they did at Heartland, which I guess could happen. So I'm hoping for something in the 4.5mph range overall.

The other things beside pace that I'm obsessing over right now are...

The heat. Highs in the high 90's mean it might still be in the 80's at night. Sweatfest.
My legs are still a bit sore from my intense leg workout on Monday, but at least they feel way better than yesterday.
Sarah, my running partner, got me thinking about this. What am I going to eat all day?? Starting a race in the morning is nice, because you've had all night to digest your food from the day before. I don't know if there's a good answer, except, you're GOING to have to go to the bathroom at some point in the race that is probably inconvenient. Should I eat more fiber to help things along? I dunno. You'd think after 10 or so ultras I'd be more prepared, but I usually just wing it. I vow to attempt to be more responsible from now on.
The distance is scary to me. 50k's are pretty much old hat to me. Knock on wood. The last time I said 50k's were sort of easy, I jacked up my achilles tendons. I feel like 50 milers are slightly more daunting, even though I've only done one. They're 20 miles longer than a 50k. That's pretty serious. Then you add 12 miles on to that and you get the 100k! Geeez. At least in a 100 miler, you just relax in the knowledge that, you will NOT be done ANY time soon.
I'm literally itchy. I'll leave it at that.

While there seems to be an endless list of things to worry about, there are a few reassuring points. I'll be running with my BUBF (best ultra buddy foreva) Sarah, who is excellent at maintaining a steady pace. And she's just great to be around in general. She wanted to run an ultra with me before I moved. I think the 100k is a good choice, because by the end of spending 14 or 15 hours together, she'll definitely be ready for me to leave! Also, Nick will be out there running the 50k. And hopefully he will sleep for a while after he sets an awesome PR, so he can drive me home in the morning. So between the friends and fireflies I don't know how things could go wrong!

Colorful Colorado

2011-07-07T10:44:00.000-05:00

Last night, we got home from a trip to Colorado. It was to serve several purposes. The first, to see Nick's brother who would be making a rare appearance in the states. Matt has been on a job assignment in Australia for the past year or two. Rough, huh? We also decided to move some of our stuff out to our new place in Conifer. We're not moving permanently yet, but this would ease some of the burden in late July when the rest of the move would be completed. And since we'd be out there, I figured why not take a few extra days to relax and enjoy ourselves.

We didn't stick to all of our plans. For example, we never hiked Mt. Massive, which I was set on before we left. But it just didn't work out. We were too tired to do it on the day we planned, plus I was nowhere close to being acclimated enough for a 14er that day. Plus, we heard it was too snowy to make the ascent anyway. We did have tons of fun outdoors though. We went running and hiking every full day we were there. Every day on a different trail.

The first night was really rough for me. I started getting a progressively worse headache as we rose in elevation. Going from 900 ft to 8300 ft in one day was tough on this KS girl. I learned my lesson on many counts this evening and throughout the trip. The first being, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. If you think you've had enough water, drink more. Margaritas don't count. Trust me. So by the time I landed in bed my first night I was in tears from the pain of this headache. I thought my head would explode. Even my TEETH hurt! Finally, Nick came to bed bearing water and drugs and I was able to sleep through the night.

Day 1
That night I thought there was no chance I'd be getting up in the morning to head out on a 1.5 hour drive to run a 10k at Copper Mountain. But when I woke up I felt 10 times better. I still had a headache but at least it wasn't tear-inducing. Luckily, this race started at 9am, so we didn't have to wake up super early to make the drive.

When we arrived at Copper Mountain, I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out to be a relatively small race. Less than 200. I'm not a fan of big races. They make me nervous. Well all races make me a little nervous, but big ones are worse. It was just a beautiful morning. And before long, we ran into Nick's dad, stepmom, brother and sister. I was excited that everyone was doing it. I think it's been 3 or 4 years since I've done a 10k, but I was just so thrilled that the whole fam was participating that I was all in.

Copper Mountain. Chatting with Nick's bro, Matt.

I wasn't feeling very racey that day, plus I knew the altitude and hills would be an issue. The hills turned out to be much steeper than I realized based on the course maps. Before the race, I said I wanted to finish in under an hour but it didn't take long for me to accept that wasn't going to happen. Aside from the headache I was expecting, my legs just felt like lead. The first mile was all uphill, mostly steep. I was actually astounded to look at my watch to see I had completed an 11 minute mile. I had walked most of the way. Guess my walking training has helped.

Fortunately, there were also several long steep descents which I took advantage of. Well nothing too crazy. I'm sure I was in the 8-9 min/mile range at the fastest even going downhill. My legs were pretty useless. When we finally reached the second half of the course, which I had described as roughly "flat" by glancing at the course map, I realized it was not at all flat. But at least it would have been runnable at a lower altitude. So you guessed it, I continued to walk hills, even small ones. I don't know if the fatigue in my legs was all altitude or a little bit lingering from my workout earlier in the week, but they were just not working.

We finally left the Colorado Trail (did I mention we were running on it?). The departure was a bit odd as we just made a sharp turn down an extremely steep grassy slope that contained no trail. Spray painted blue arrows led the way down the slope. I heard lots of people cursing the course, but I rather enjoyed this little challenge. The reset of the course was mostly road and paved trail that led us back to the finish line. I ended up chatting with a girl that I had traded places with a few times throughout the race. If I were really racing a 10k, I suppose I wouldn't have been so chatty. Good thing I wasn't racing.

Kate even pushed me up the last hill. I was going to walk it but she kept me going. Something along the lines of..."You can do this! You're doing Leadville woman!" Hahaha. Well that got me going. Can't look like a whimp after I tell the girl I'm doing Leadville. So by the end I had made a new running buddy who lives in Denver. For the record, I now have 3 new CO running buddies: Courtney, Luke and Kate.

Finish line. Kate's right behind me.

Chatting with Kate. Amazed at the fact you can sit directly on the grass. No chiggers?

Day 2

We kept it easy on Sunday and decided to visit a trail right off 285, a few miles north of our place. It was at Meyer Ranch Open Space. The trail consisted of several loops and a lollipop. I think they were Lodgepole, Sunny Aspen and Old Ski Run trails. I'm probably missing something there. I like how all the trail sections have specific, meaningful names. At Clinton Lake, we just have "red", "white" and "blue". Anyway, you can guess from one of those names that we went up a hill that used to be a ski run. It was a little over 800ft of climbing total. We kept a pretty brisk walking pace, but my legs were still just too tired to attempt running.

Meyer Ranch. It used to be a ranch. Duh.

We stopped to check out the view from a granite outcrop on the way back down the hill and I had a strange moment. I put my hand down on the rock to steady myself and look down to see, OMG bugs! Gross!!! Oh wait it's not bugs. Whew. OMG it's not bugs it's chipmunk poop!!! I stuck my hand in chipmunk poop! Ah well. What can you do, besides complain about it until you wash your hands. There was actually no visible poop residue on my hand but still. Gross.

Anyway, we managed a nice running pace all the way down the hill. It was a beautiful cool morning. It was in the 40's - 50's every morning in Conifer. SO nice.

Meyer Ranch: Sunny Aspen Trail

Day 3

We did a little more driving Monday morning to go to Reynold's Open Space. It was about 6 miles east of 285, down in Kennedy Gulch. The loop we took was about 4 miles and had 1000 ft of elevation gain. Of course that's over the first couple miles. In CO the trails go UP then DOWN. Well the interesting ones anyway. We didn't spend much time climbing before we ascended out of the lush valley and found ourselves on a dusty, hot trail. The low elevation (only 7000ft or so) and the fact that this part of the trail didn't see any moisture combined to create a desert-like effect. The CO climate is fascinating.

Well all of a sudden we make a hairpin turn and find ourselves on a lush section of trail alongside a stream. At this point, I start complaining that the online review I read said that there was some amazing view and it was clearly full of poop. Because we were on the specified, Eagle's Crest Trail and had yet to see anything spectacular. A few minutes later we found the view. Holy cow!!! You can see Pike's Peak way off in the distance and some really cool rock formations closer up. I think one of them might be Long Scraggy Peak but I'm not positive. That might be the best name for a mountain I've ever heard though.

Reynold's Park. Eagle's Crest view.

We soon descended back down into the gulch where we found ourselves on a steep technical trail. It was pretty fun, but I went slow because I didn't want to die.

Reynold's Park. Looking back up at a rocky section of trail.

After we finished up, we went in search of second breakfast. It became a tradition. First, go to Starbucks for a scone. Second, go hiking and running. Third, eat second breakfast.

Day 4

Nick had to work a bit on our last full day in town, so we got a later start than usual. That was ok though. I had lots of time to research the trails and find a new spot. We finally settled on Maxwell Falls Trail, which was northwest of us, up on Shadow Mountain. As a result of our late start, it was a bit toasty when we started. The combination of dusty sections of trail, the hot sun, and the strong pine scent could be overwhelming at times. I never thought I could find the scent of pine unpleasant, but when you combine it with dust and heat it can get there. Despite the less than ideal conditions, this actually started off as my best run of the trip. I was able to run up the moderate hills and didn't have a splitting headache.

Because I'm smart and stuff (and didn't look over the map closely enough), I decided to chose an unmarked section of trail to start on. It ended up working out ok, I just had no idea where or how far we had gone. We eventually hooked up with the marked section and turned back the other way. We stopped in the "falls" for Roxy and Juko to grab a drink and to act like snakes. Roxy spent a good deal of time wriggling around in the water like a reptile. Apparently she enjoyed the cool down.

Maxwell Falls. Roxy snake.

Once they were sufficiently cooled down and snaked out, we continued on and soon found a section of trail called the "Cliff Loop". It sounded difficult, so of course we took it! As expected, we spend a good deal of time on a steep hot climb. I was starting to realize that the single bottle of water was probably not enough for the two of us, but what could I do but start conserving. I started getting a headache. When we finally reached the top we found some excellent views.

Maxwell Falls: Cliff Loop. Nick, Roxy and Juko.

At the top, we could see dark clouds out to the west and started hearing thunder so we made our way back down the way we came instead of doing the loop. In hindsight it might have been shorter to do the loop, but we didn't know where we were going.

Once we hooked back up with the Maxwell Falls Trail, it started getting pretty dark and pleasantly cool. I kept thinking we should hurry up, but I kept being confronted with good photo ops. So of course we had to stop to take pictures. The "falls" might not be what you're thinking of in terms of falls. The largest distance I saw any water drop was about 2 feet. Not quite Niagara, but still pretty.

Maxwell Falls: The Falls

I started getting pretty lethargic and hungry toward the end of the hike and asked Nick if we got lost out on the trails which dog should we eat. He didn't want to eat either dog, but suggested that we all eat him. Bleeding heart. LOL. Nick offered me some Honey Stinger Chews but I declined, stating that I wanted REAL food. It never did rain while we were on the trail, but I was definitely thankful for the clouds.

Maxwell Falls. The doggies get tangled around a bush.

After we finished and made 2 unsuccesful attempts to obtain lunch (one restaurant closed on Tuesdays? and one "out of food"), we ended up at the Crossroads Grill and Pub. The food was delicious and I was ravenous. I ate like there was no tomorrow. And when we got home I slept just as hard.

I learned many lessons on our little vacation. 1) Drink crap tons of water! If you think you've had enough, repeat. 2) A scone and a bowl of cereal is not enough to fuel a hike/run at noon in the mountains.

A Sense of Relief

2011-06-26T15:12:00.000-05:00

I did it! I completed my weekend run training plan! Well, with the exception of that 10 miler I left out last weekend. But that doesn't disappoint me much. Now, you might ask, "Why this sense of relief and why the word 'complete'? You have almost two months left before Leadville silly!" Well, in three weeks I will be running the Lunar Trek 100k, a very long training run in the form of a race. So now I'm beginning to taper for that race. Next weekend I'm going to CO and aside from a 10k I'll be doing with Nick's family and a couple new running friends, I don't have any solid plans to run that weekend. We WILL be hiking Mt. Massive though, which I'm super excited about. We'll see if I can make it up a 14er without hurling. I've been wanting to hike Massive for a while. You can just see the beast of a mountain from Nick's dad's living room window. I took this picture while I was lying down on the couch after puking on an 4-wheel drive up Mt. Zion. Tip for flatlanders: if you have just traveled from 900 to 10,000+ ft in 24 hours, do NOT go on a 4-wheeling trek up a mountain.

Anyway, I'm not DONE with long runs. I'll probably do 2-3 more 20+ mile runs, but this was my longest training weekend, with the exception of Lunar Trek, of course.

Well since I jumped the gun, I guess I should recap my weekend in running. Friday night I did a 30 mile run to celebrate my BUBF's (best ultra buddy forever) upcoming 30th birthday. Friday night runs can be nice because you get your running done early on in the weekend and they don't eat into your Saturday. I'm not really sure what I did Saturday. But it definitely involved eating and napping.

We started off with a 10.75 mile loop + mini loop of the Lawrence River Trails. Recently, Art King and the Lawrence Mountain Bike Club added a 1.75 mile loop that shoots off the side of the current 9 mile loop. The small loop conveniently spits you right back out onto the 9 mile loop very close to wear you left it. Lots of folks joined us for this part: Amanda, Allie, Nicole, Chris, Constantine, Renee, Jim and a guy who works at Sunflower (don't know his name). I probably missed someone. I don't have the greatest memory.

After the loop with the group, we (Sarah, Nick and I) continued on the levee. Nicole and Chris joined us for a few miles before they turned back to satisfy their 16 mile goals. Once we reached the end of the levee we turned onto the notorious ALEXANDER ROAD. I have run Alexander Rd before. It's probably been a year since I did this course with Debbie and Julie. But either I didn't recall or the road had been regraded and it was EXTREMELY rocky. The road apparently sees very little traffic. I don't think we encountered a single vehicle along the two mile stretch. Anyway, there were no gaps in the gravel where tire tracks would theoretically exist. There was an even coating of gravel across the WHOLE road. Great for vehicle traction I suppose. Crappy for running on.

I enjoyed running Alexander nonetheless, because of the hills. The levee is so flat and boring, I was just dying for some hills. It also gave me the opportunity to do a little walking. Before we knew it, we were taking the left onto 238th St. This street apparently saw more traffic. There were patches of road on both sides where the gravel had been pushed away. We saw a few cars on this road. They were all really nice and slowed down so they didn't kick up too much dust. Very friendly!

We were only on 238th for a mile before we turned onto Golden Rd. In the country, the roads are conveniently space exactly one mile apart. We speculated they designed them that way specifically for runner convenience. Must be true. Golden Rd was relatively flat which annoyed me a little. I took a couple walk breaks along the way since there were no hills to force one. We ran on Golden for a little over 2 miles before we turned back.

On the way back, I mentioned how the miles didn't seem so long in the dark. No sooner did I say that than I began to get VERY sleepy and the miles seemed forever apart. Good one, Laurie. Once we got back on 238th my stomach became rather unhappy so I had to stop for a bathroom break. Things just seemed to slow down from this point. I took a bathroom break, and Nick kept looking for water sources at all the houses along the way. We were all sucking down water way fast. If anything, as the night progressed it seemed to be getting hotter. This made some sense as their was supposed to be a storm rolling in the next morning. That old hot and cool air mixing thing I guess.

I "tried" to give Nick half the water from my pack but I managed to spill some on the ground in the process, which left me with not a whole lot of water. We were ecstatic when we finally reached the levee, not really because we like running on the levee, but because it was the home stretch! Less than 4 miles remained. It seemed to go by quickly for a while, because we could see headlamps ahead. We knew it was Gary and other Hawks who were doing an 11 o'clock-start run.

Once we chatted with them for a couple minutes we got going and the last three miles seemed pretty long to me. I've been struggling with pain in my butt for a while. I broke my tailbone back in February, which still bothers me when I sit for long periods of time. But the pain I've been feeling lately when I run, seems to be coming from some place further up from where my tailbone was broken. I think the pain is coming from my sacrum. I can only assume I have some strange misalignment and the muscles that attach there are pulling funny. Anyway, I was experiencing an intermittent stabbing pain in the butt, which was slowing me down. I ran behind Sarah for a while until the pain subsided enough that I could run faster. I think we both picked up the pace quite a bit when we finally hit the last mile. Once you start seeing back yards again, you know it's the home stretch!

Well we finished right on time, because we were all out of water. Nick went to grab some water from a house nearby, while Sarah and I…I don't remember…I was probably checking twitter. I didn't feel too bad except for my quads being toast. Just before the run I did a workout with my trainer. She had me doing squats, squat jumps and lunges. Thankfully she only made me do 2 sets instead of the originally planned 3. I think one more would have done me in.

After a fitful night's sleep and Saturday morning and afternoon coming and going, I decided to complete my scheduled 15 miler on Sunday as I had originally planned it. I just wasn't ready to get back out there Saturday night. Plus I wanted a glass of wine. After much deliberation, I decided on a road course *gasp*, which would fit in with my Sunday Smash session and allow me to finish running before it got too hot. I would run from our house in Old West Lawrence, which is actually nowhere near the west side of town (hence the "Old"), to Clinton Lake. From Clinton Lake I would run to Dad Perry Park, which was the meeting spot for our Sunday Smash - a high intensity 30 minute group workout. And then from Smash I would run back home.

It worked out pretty well. I knew the course was going to be really hilly because I drive it all the time and when I see people running the hills I think "That must SUCK!" It actually wasn't TOO terrible. I think the worst hills were: going up Bob Billings toward Kasold (I was actually weezing) and the last hill up Clinton Parkway before I got to the lake. I arrived at the lake at the perfect time! I had to go to the bathroom and whatdya know, THERE'S a bathroom. But don't think I'm starting to get too civilized now that I've used an actual bathroom. This road running stuff just requires a little more decorum.

I finally made it back to where we'd be doing Smash, AFTER I went to the wrong side of the park. And oddly enough, despite the fact that our workout included running back and forth and doing split squats, my quads actually felt a little better after I finished. The last three miles breezed by. It was nice to be running through older neighborhoods with tall trees and some decent shade. So that's it! I'm done running for the weekend!

When I got back I watched the live feed of the Western States finish line in hopes of seeing my friends Coleen and Danny finish. Unfortunately, the feed cut out write before Danny crossed! And it was out for Coleen's finish too. But it turns out video was captured of their finish and we got to see it anyway, just not LIVE. :( Now I'm thinking of trying to get in next year, but I'm not sure yet. Nick will probably try for the lottery too. He actually got in last year but couldn't go because he had to have back surgery. It was a major bummer. And if by some freak chance I got in and he didn't, I would feel terrible! But it would be really cool if we BOTH got in.

So if you didn't tune out after the first or second bathroom break, I have something MUCH more important to go on about. My good friend Elizabeth is running the New York City Marathon to raise money for Alzheimer's. This means a ton to her, and to me too. I don't have any loved ones with Alzheimer's, but Elizabeth is a great friend and it affects her family directly, so I want to see her efforts succeed! You can follow her marathon training and her reflections on how Alzheimer's had affected her family. You won't be disappointed. She's an excellent writer! And if you feel so inclined you can donate to her efforts to raise money for Alzheimer's research.

I Fell Off the Wagon and I'm Moving On

2011-06-21T08:28:00.000-05:00

Last week was definitely an off week for training and life in general. I only totalled 40 miles for the week, which was about 20 miles less than I was planning on. This was the first week I didn't even execute to my "weekend plan" which was a 30 miler on Saturday and a 10 on Sunday. I got the 30 in on Saturday but it wasn't in a single run. I think we've had a thunderstorm with torrential rain every frakkin day since Friday. I love thunderstorms but they are not good for trail running!

So instead of doing our planned 30 miler on the trails at Clinton Lake, Nick and I set out for 20 miles on the levee. Ughhhh. The levee is a levee. And there is a fine crushed gravel trail that goes along the top. It is perfectly flat. It is a little over 10 miles long. There is shade along MAYBE a half mile of it, depending on the time of day. Before Saturday, I actually had no idea how long it was toward the west, so we decided to run west. It was only 6 miles that way, which was disappointing. We had to run back and do the east wing of the trail too. Now the run wasn't ALL bad. The weather was actually fairly decent. It didn't get too hot, and since the trail is so dang flat, we finished the 20 way faster that we normally would on a trail.

After we had our traditional post run brunch at Mirth, I took a nap. Duh! If it weren't for work, I would nap every day. We set out to do our final 10 miles at around 5 so we would finish up at dinner time. Because of the aforementioned rain, we ran on the only dry trail in town. The Lawrence River Trail dries particularly quickly. At least parts of it. Keyword is parts. Soooo we ended up doing two, 5-mile loops. I run on this trail so much, I'm starting to get a little sick of the 5-mile loop. We ended up averaging 10-minute miles overall. Nick pushed our pace a little on the first loop so I said I was leading the second loop and backed off a bit on the speed. Overall, we ended up running 30 miles in about 5 hours. I have never run 30 miles anywhere close to that fast. I've actually only run 30 miles under 6 hours once.

Soooo I shouldn't have been surprised that my legs were incredibly crampy that evening and all day Sunday. Probably should have treated myself to an ice bath. Well I didn't end up doing the 10 on Sunday. Shame on me. But I just could NOT convince myself to do another 2-loop trek of the river trails or another run on the levee. Well it's a new week, and while I haven't "zapped the zero" yet (Dailymiile speak), I am determined to rock the heck out of this week. Next week marks the beginning of my taper for Lunar Trek 100k.

In other news, I'm moving to CO in August. I am announcing it to the world. Most everybody knows anyway. I spend a lot of time complaining about the weather and running conditions in KS, but I am sure I will miss it when I move. So far, Nick and I could only pinpoint that we would really miss fireflies though. Maybe I will miss the large number of deciduous trees? I will miss the drive through the beautiful Flint Hills, but I'm sure we will be visiting KS quite frequently so we'll see them about as often as we do now. It goes without saying that we will miss all of our dear friends. I've lived in KS for almost 20 years, so it will be a huge change for me. Believe it or not, I've historically been a bit shy and antisocial, but I've made so many great friends just over the past four years since I got involved in the trail running community. You've all made me feel loved and welcome. We encourage all of you to move out to CO so we can run in the mountains together! Or at the very least, come visit. You have a place to stay.

P.S. No, that's not Nick on the wagon.
P.P.S. Did I mention I will miss my parents?! You didn't think I would forget you, did you mom? They're pretty awesome. Nobody can do a Donald Duck impersonation like my dad and I'm pretty sure my mom's full time job is trying to fatten me up. She is the dessert queen. I might waste away in CO. No, that is not an invitation to mail me cakes!

Weekdays are Lame

2011-06-16T14:15:00.000-05:00

I'm calling it quits already. After two weeks of an adjusted schedule which would allow me to run in the morning (I've still only run 2 mornings), I am 100% sure I don't like it. It's not the running that's the killer though. My number one reason for quitting cold turkey is the *expletive expletive expletive* traffic. I commute from Lawrence to KC. Now the first day or two, I was pleasantly surprised that the traffic in KC was not TERRIBLE at 4pm. However, I discovered after two weeks that about 75% of the days, some jack*** gets in a *expletive expletive expletive* accident. This turns the reasonable amount of traffic into...something that makes me curse nonstop for 20 minutes. I talk to the traffic like we're on a soccer team together: "Come on guys!!! Get it together!" So in the interest of my health and sanity, I will go back to my early morning commute.

Executing

2011-06-13T15:22:00.000-05:00

I'll be the first one to tell you that I'm not the best when it comes to executing plans. Oh sure I can plan plan plan, but when things get tough, I'm quick to bail. Take, for example, my two morning runs in two weeks. I wasn't really planning to run EVERY morning, but I was certainly planning to run more than one morning per week. Well enough about my weekday runs. We all know I fail at those.

A few weeks ago, I decided to plan out my weekend (long) run schedule leading up to Lunar Trek 100k. It's easy to say, ohhhh there is PLENTY of time before that race. Until...you think about other commitments you have. I was pleased when I saw that I had a whole month of no travel or other big events. This is what I came up with for a plan:

June 4/5         10/20
June 11/12     25/10
June 18/19     30/10
June 25/26     30/15

I was successful last weekend. It always helps to start things off with a success. Instead of doing a single 20 mile run last Sunday, I split it up into two 10 milers. This is an acceptable approach to me sometimes, but I definitely like to have some continuous long runs to really simulate the kind of fatigue that's experienced in an ultra.

This weekend's scheduled miles made me a little nervous. Not because I was afraid I couldn't physically do them, but because it was just going to be a busy weekend. Saturday we were having a Trail Hawks officer meeting, which wouldn't end up taking TOO much time. But Sunday our group would be volunteering at the Kansas Ironman. The name of the race is actually much longer and it starts with K-Swiss, but the order of words didn't make much sense to me so I couldn't remember. It definitely involved "K-Swiss", "70.3", "Kansas" and "Ironman".

Saturday was actually rougher than I thought it would be. The 20 mile run in the morning felt great! I ran with Nick, Coleen and Levi on the Clinton Lake North Shore Trails. It felt just like old times. We used to have a big group that got together every Saturday morning to do long runs at the lake. It was fun to relive those times, now that I'm finally in good running shape. We ran pretty consistently and kept up a good pace the whole time. Levi turned back a little earlier to get in about 15, I think. Nick ran ahead the last few miles while Coleen and I kept chugging along at our long distance pace. The weather was just gorgeous. It was cool and we didn't get any of the forecasted thunderstorms.

One of the most "memorable" parts of the run was running into a dead something-or-other on the trail. We don't usually see dead animals smack dab in the middle of the trail, so this was a real treat.  The only sort-of recognizable part of the creature was its head. The entire body appeared to be a pool of rancid goo. So there was a lot of screaming and holding my breath involved.  I even managed to totally forget about it on the way back and did the screaming part all over again. Sorry, no pics on this run. Disappointing, I know.

After the run, we ate some watermelon and stopped by our friend's moving sale and eventually ended up at the officer's meeting - at Chipotle! I think I filled up too much on burrito bowl because I don't think I drank nearly enough water. I took a little cat nap when we were done and upon waking up, I felt like a zombie. I was just beat. My legs felt ok but I was just exhausted in general. But I was a zombie determined to run FIVE MORE MILES! Because that's what my schedule said I was gonna do. Zombie Laurie did not realize she was still full of burrito bowl, even 4 hours after eating it. Zombie Laurie don't care. Zombie Laurie has to run 5 miles. I convinced Nick to come with me.

My first steps on the trail told me that I was still crammed full of rice and guac. Ah crap, this was gonna be a tough one. I wasn't completely sure I would get through this run without something coming out of somewhere. So I waddled along in front as Nick and Allie (who we ran into by coincidence) obliged my slothy pace. At some point after the turnaround for our 5 miler, I let Nick and Allie run on ahead and kept chugging along on my own. Oddly enough, I think this was the hardest run I did all weekend.

When I woke up the next morning to get ready for volunteering at the Ironman, I still felt like crap and had a headache. I was still dehydrated from the day before! So I guzzled some water and headed out with my camp chair and cowbell. One of our members, Chris Wristen, took a bunch of awesome photos during the race. I can't take any credit for these, except for the ones with beer.

We met up at our usual Clinton Lake meeting place for runs, then carpooled into the park. We had to park almost a mile away from our aid station and walk in. Not too bad since the aid station supplies were already dropped off at the station. We spent an hour or so getting things ready: putting up tents, cutting up food, etc. I was assigned the duty of directing people at the turnaround. The turnaround had a sign that said "turn around", but ya know, never underestimate a tired person's ability to not read or pay attention to cones. I was pretty happy with my assignment because it meant I would be able to ring my cowbell all day!

I also got a close up view of all the pro hotties! I was jealous of the folks handing out water at the aid station though. The pros might have even sweated on them! I did feel kind of dumb ringing my cowbell and cheering for the pros though. For one thing, they were spaced pretty far apart and for another thing, someone who runs a 5:30 for 13.1 miles probably doesn't give a CRAP if I say "good job" or not. The only pro who actually smiled at me was Chrissie Wellington. She was a doll.

Hotties In Action

The real fun started when the middle pack started coming through. It was an endless stream of runners. It was fun. These folks actually smiled when I cheered and said thanks. The day started out cool and it even sprinkled for a bit, but by afternoon it was warm and sunny. The forecast was full of it again! I didn't put on sunblock because I thought it was going to rain all day. Great, all I need is another ridiculous looking sunburn. Well altogether, it was just an amazing day. It was so much fun to cheer the athletes on and help out. Our aid station definitely rocked. As a wonderful end to our day, some racers offered us all beer! I'm not usually a beer drinker, but they were so nice I couldn't decline. I ended up drinking half my beer on our walk back to the cars before I called it quits and had to pour it out. Shhhhhh.

We ended up getting done an hour or so later than I expected (4:30?), so the prospects of doing my 10 mile run were seeming pretty slim. I technically had time, but I was tired. And I hadn't spent any time with Nick that day.

So the obvious choice was to call off my 10 miler plans and go home to relax with my man. I had spent all day eating cupcakes, granola and pulled pork. Instead, on my drive home I became more and more determined to run. I walked in the door, put my stuff down and asked Nick if he wanted to do a full loop of the River Trails (9 miles). He said "ok" with very little eagerness.

I wasn't super pumped by the time we got to the trail but I was determined to do this run. The more I ran, the more excited I got though. I was setting a brisk pace. I wanted to finish this run ASAP to end my weekend right and have time to eat dinner and chill on the couch. The first four miles, I felt like I was flying. I managed about an 8:30 pace. The next three miles I had to push myself to keep up the pace. We wound through parts of the trail that had been flooded by the river the previous week. There was debris all over the place and the short rolling hills were taking a toll. I was frustrated when I kept looking down at my watch to find I was running 9-minute miles. The last two, my legs were tired, so I decided that I would just take it easy instead of working my butt off for the 9's...and did 10's.

Well, I was just really pleased with this weekend. I managed to get all-but-one of my miles in despite a busy schedule. And I managed to pull off a tempo run the day after a long run despite beer, cupcakes and cowbell exhaustion. You didn't know that was a thing did you? Seriously, my shoulder did not feel good after playing the cowbell all day.

The Difference

2011-06-08T08:21:00.000-05:00

Today I ran my second, potentially ever, pre-work run. A few months ago, I wanted to try running in the morning, but I did not want to change my work/training schedule. I normally get up at 5am for work, so I set my alarm for 4am. Short story short, I NEVER got up at 4am.

Last month, I decided I would try again, but this time I would rearrange my schedule. I couldn't just start going into work later all willy nilly. I had to push my personal training sessions back too. What has happened to my life? I used to just do whatever I wanted and still have time to spare. Alas, the life of an ultra runner is busy and AWESOME.

I was going to start my morning runs last week, which I did. Sort of. I ran one morning last week and have run one morning this week. I had lots of excuses for not running the rest of the days. Some were good and some were not. For some reason, I have a difficult time getting motivated to get out of bed and go running on a week day morning. But why?

I'm used to getting up at 5am for work, and all I had to do was get up at 5am and run instead. Sometimes I even get up at 4 or 4:30 on a weekend to get in a long run before it gets too hot. And I actually look FORWARD to those runs. What is wrong with my crazy head? The best explanation I have is...expectations. On the weekend, it's the weekend. Once I'm done with my run, I go out for brunch, sometimes take a nap and usually get to do whatever I want for the rest of the day. On the weekday, what do I have to look forward to? Work, no brunch on the patio and NO nap. I really like sleeping ok? You are correct in surmising that I don't have children.

Not sure what will cure me of my weekday morning dread besides repetition, and maybe having a good run for once.

This Weekend in Photos

2011-06-05T20:53:00.000-05:00

Saturday

I started off at 7:30 Saturday morning with my spider webbing stick, of course. That's right. A stick. For knocking down spider webs, so I don't cry all the way down the trail. I ran with it for a couple miles before I realized that runners had been through and there weren't many webs left.

Tree down. Managed to make it under without going off the trail. I try to avoid going off the trail at Clinton. It's tick central.

Snail! Can you tell I was slacking yet? I promise I did some running.

Something really disgusting growing on a tree. No idea what it was. Looked like there was a cocoon stuck to it though.

Pretty trees!

This little puddle was a chest deep water crossing last May when I ran the Hawk 50.

This trail used to go somewhere. Now it just goes into the lake. There's been quite a bit of erosion on the north shore of Clinton.

Went to eat at our favorite breakfast place. Juko gets some good pets from daddy.

Roxy poses for me. What a pretty face!

A baby bunny on my way downtown.

Sunday

Run #1. Ran at the River Trails. The poison ivy is INTENSE out there! So is Nick's beard. Never came home with a tick from the river though.

Snake! Sorry didn't get a shot of his/her whole body. He was shy. Also, I saw a LIVE mole for the first time, but he burrowed into the ground before I could get a pic. He was a cutie.

Second run. Snake skin. Always something interesting to see. That's why trail running rocks.

Do What You Love With the One You Love

2011-06-03T10:40:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that Nick and I both love running, trail running, ultra running, hiking, pretty much anything we can do outside with our legs. I also love all the fun places our hobbies take us. I love our road trips to races in Arkansas or the Flint Hills of Kansas. I sometimes say that I want to go on a vacation that doesn't involve racing, but if it weren't for the races, we might never go visit those awesome places.

Just like any couple, we have our rough spots from time to time. And when I think about the circumstances surrounding the difficult times, it usually comes down to one or both of us NOT being able to do what we love.

Me

I was in grad school and working part time for two years of our relationship, which caused me to cut way back on my running and almost eliminate all ultra running. I could get pretty grumpy with all the stress and all the NOT running. On top of that, I found myself becoming extremely jealous of and resentful that Nick was still running ultras, running his first 100's, while I sat on the sidelines handing off water bottles and salt caps. Hey, I'm not proud, but I'm not perfect. All I can do is recognize I have flaws and work on minimizing my b****iness.

Him
Last summer, after months of butt and leg pain, Nick found out that he had to have surgery to remove some broken off chunks from one of his discs (the back kind). He was in a lot of pain for the month or two leading up to the surgery. Pretty much everything was uncomfortable for him. And of course he could not run. There was nothing I could do to make it better. No going for walks, no hiking trips. Even sitting at a restaurant was out. He was nice enough to volunteer at my first 50 miler for 13 hours while I ran. I imagine he felt some of the same jealousy that I did during his races.

Now!

But now I'm all done with school. I'm still not sure the stress was worth the diploma. And Nick is all healed up. And we're back to running races together! This is our golden age of running happiness. Hopefully it lasts for a long long time. So the moral of the story is, try your hardest to do what you love with the one you love. And if one of you can't do what you love, be understanding when the one you love is a total pain in the butt.

Getting Serious

2011-06-01T09:50:00.000-05:00

I've come out of Jemez Mountain feeling mostly warm and fuzzy about Leadville. I made it up climbs that were steeper than the steepest climbs at Leadville. Go me! My last four runs have been hill workouts, two of them in Colorado. I'm feeling strong, but something is definitely nagging me.

The biggest naggy thing is the elevation of Leadville - 10,200ft in town. 12,500? at Hope Pass. I'm planning on going out to Leadville at least a week before the race and that's pretty much my plan for dealing with altitude. I suffered from altitude sickness at Jemez and that race was several thousand feet lower. Ugh. So that's probably my biggest worry. My other attempt to deal with this is heat training. Yesterday I ran my campus hill repeats when it was 90+ degrees. I felt like I was back in CO. It was hard to breathe and I felt like barfing. All good signs! So I will probably keep doing that too.

The other thing I need to focus on is logging those miles. This ain't no 50k. So I need to start taking it seriously. No more of this 20-30 mile/week crap. There are only 80 days left until race day! I need to do some good long runs. I've also started running in the mornings, so some weekdays I will do two runs. The Lunar Trek 100k (July 15th) will serve as my last LONG run before I start tapering. I'm pretty excited about that one. At least the running-with-friends-at-night part. The race starts at 9pm, so at some point the sun will come up and I will remember it's July. And I won't be happy about it.

Well that's what's on my mind now. Nothing interesting or funny. So sorry. I'll work on it a little and get back to you.

2011 Jemez Mountain 50k

2011-05-23T20:19:00.000-05:00

We started our trip spending the night with the Voekses in Kansas City. They would be watching our dogs, Roxy and Juko, and they kindly let us crash at their place so we didn't have to make an extra Lawrence/KC trip. We figured bringing the dogs at 10pm would be much kinder than 4am the morning of our flight. Their house is pretty awesome and you can tell they put a lot of time and effort into personalizing it. Take, for example, this giant painting of a...musical type thingamajiggy...(amp?) They both love music and Erik plays bass in a local band. They are awesome.

Our flight to Albuquerque (by way of Denver) was to leave at 6:45am. While it was painfully early, it got us into town at 9:30, which would leave us with plenty of time to travel to REI, travel to Los Alamos, scope out our campground, etc.

We drove up to Santa Fe and stopped at REI to pick up last minute stuff, stuff we couldn't bring on the plane (camp fuel), and of course to buy stuff we didn't really need. It's REI! Nick got a new 70L pack because...it was on sale! We got lunch at a decent, but not overwhelmingly awesome, brewery near REI. Nick got whatever was on the menu that he could put green chili on.

We drove to Los Alamos and figured out where packet pickup and the race start/finish was then headed out to Bandalier National Monument to find a campsite. We knew we were in the right place when we ran into Kansans, Terry and Sherri Rider along with Phil Sheridan. Terry and Phil would be running the 50 miler and Sherri would be crewing for her husband. After a bit of chatting, we decided to head back into town to drive around town a bit before the packet pickup and race dinner. I was fading fast and snoozed for a bit while Nick picked up a few things from the grocery store.

We were some of the first in line to pick up packets and eat dinner. I wanted to go to bed ASAP. I think the altitude was really sapping my energy. We chatted with a few new people at the pre race dinner and ran into Steve Breeding, Jordan Breeding, and Theresa Wheeler (also from Kansas) before we booked it back to camp. It didn't take long to set up camp (thanks to Nick) and get our race gear together for the next day, so we enjoyed some hot chocolate and read Trail Runner magazine until it started raining. This seemed like a perfect time to head into the tent.

Luckily, mountain rain is much lighter than Kansas rain, but it was still nice to be inside the tent. It was a little chilly, so I snuggled into my sleeping bag, wearing my jacket and gloves and began snoozing soon after. I was surprised at how well I slept. I tossed and turned a bit but never had trouble getting back to sleep and I didn't get too cold. So that settles it. I CAN camp the night before a race and not feel awful. I should say, as long as it doesn't get much below freezing. I think it was probably in the 30's to low 40's.

We woke up at 4am and Nick boiled water so we could have oatmeal and a hot drink. Him - coffee. My weak stomach - hot chocolate. We got on the road right when I was hoping, at 5am, the start of the 50 mile race. I was glad we left so early, because we were able to park in the same lot as the 50 milers. Later in the morning, the road would be closed up to the start/finish and runners would have to park farther away.

Once we got checked in, we did a lot of meandering, put on sun block, and finally removed our extra layers of clothes to expose our skin to the chilly morning. The race director kept things happening right on schedule. We started exactly when we were supposed to, at 6:30. I admired his punctuality. I decided to start off with my rain jacket strapped into the back of my Nathan pack. I figured my Moeben sleeves would keep me warm enough at the lower elevations and I would keep my jacket with me, in case it got cold or rainy in the mountains.

The course started off with a little decline, but that didn't last long. Once we got on the trails, we started gradually heading up. I chatted a little bit with a guy from Albuquerque who was training for Leadville. We both picked the race specifically to get ready for the LT100. Everybody around was tickled that I was from Kansas. They were probably waiting for me to keel over and die any minute. I lost track of Albuquerque man for a while. I never did get his name darnit. I tried finding him from the results but there were tons of people from Albuquerque who ran.

I started walking a little more as the terrain got a little steeper and we entered a barren region that appeared to have been stricken with fire and/or disease, because ALL of the trees were dead. Nick had run with me for a while but we got separated and he ended up a little ahead of me, but I made no effort to run faster to catch up.

Once we passed through the first aid station, where I didn't stop, we began a steeper climb. When I finally noticed the conga line of "runners" going up what seemed like a never ending series of switchbacks, I realized we were about to ascend Guaje Ridge. I was keeping an ok walking pace but some places were so steep I just had to put my hands down on the ground to stabilize myself because it was so hard on my legs. Every once in a while we'd hit a slight downhill for about 10 or 20ft and could run a few steps.

We had a great view from the top of the ridge and I jokingly asked the volunteers at the top of the aid station if this was a false summit. It wasn't. If I thought the ascent was hard, going back down the other side of Gauje might have been worse. It was terrifyingly steep at the top. The trail was about 8 inches wide, with loose dirt and gravel and a steep drop off on the side. My footing slipped at one point and I almost slid off the side. There were extremly sharp switchbacks and when I was lucky I could grab a tree going around the corners.

I managed to get down the really scary parts without any injury. The valley below Guaje Ridge was absolutely gorgeous. Green and lush with a small stream running through it. I believe it was at a water crossing that I received my first and only owie of the day. I stepped on a split log that spanned a crossing and either the log turned or my footing was just bad, but my foot slipped off and the inside of my calf got up close and personal with the roughly split surface of the wood.

Albuquerque man, who I had met back up with going down from the ridge, asked if I was ok. I glanced down quickly and just saw some scratches. I was afraid I would be loaded with splinters. Luckily not. I shook it off and kept truckin'. I noticed that it started bleeding a bit and thought about getting it cleaned up at an aid station, but never rememberd when I was actually at one.

Eventually we began another gradual climb to the base of Caballo Mountain. This looked to be the most daunting task of the day based on a view of the course elevation profile. I grabbed some food from the aid station at the base and grudgingly began my 2 mile ascent to the peak of Caballo. It was extremely difficult. I figured it would take an hour if not more to reach the top. For my KC friends, think about how it feels when you're running Ogg Rd and multiply that by 3. But in this case you're walking not running. That's how it feels to hike Caballo. For people who have done Leadville...it's significantly steeper than Hope Pass. I have no idea how long it took because I wasn't paying attention, but I do remember thinking that it seemed shorter than I was expecting. Somehow I figured I would have to be walking long enough to start bawling before I reached the top.

Well it was plenty long and plenty steep. As 50 milers and 50k-ers descended, I would step off the trail to let them through. Just as much for selfish reasons as for politeness. When a runner came down I felt justified in stepping off the trail just so I could take a little break. Bring on the runners, I thought! It was nearly impossible to eat anything on the ascent. When I did stuff food in my mouth, I chewed with no regard for manners. That's right, wide open. Bite, open, gasp for air. Bite, gasp, bite, gasp. Swallow. Sometimes I didn't even taste the food!

I suppose I started feeling a little "off" about half way up. I wasn't sure if I was feeling altitude sickness or if my nausesa was due to a late start to fueling. I didn't start eating until 1.5 to 2 hours into the race. When I started getting a headache and feeling lightheaded, I recognized that at least a good part of it was altitude. But it was all worth it for the view at the top. I stopped to take pictures with absolutely no regard for my time or passing the next person. This was a training run. And a true adventure.

The descent down Caballo was not as treacherous as I thought it would be. I found it easier (less scary) than the descent from Guaje. My buns were burning, which I took as a good sign. Nick and I had just read an article on good walking techniques, and it pointed out that you should try to use your glutes more and not drive with your calves and quads. I found this difficult to accomplish given the steep grade up Caballo, but I must have done ok because my quads weren't trashed coming down. I started feeling better once I descended a thousand feet or so and hoped the altitude sickness would not continue to plague me.

Once I got back to the Caballo base aid station, I took my time eating, electrolyting and discarding trash from my pack. Of course, since I had just been going down down down, it was time to go up up up. The initial climb leaving the aid station wasn't so bad but after about a half mile, the steep grade set in. This was actually the shortest of the 3 really big climbs but it might have been the hardest after the cumulative pain of the first two.

I walked and chatted with a couple girls on this ascent. One lady from Santa Fe and another from Laramie, Wyoming. We commiserated about the difficulty and treacherousness of the course. They both decided to slow down and let people pass, so I trudged on, slowly. Luckily, this climb wasn't as long as the other two but it definitely felt like the hardest after surviving Guaje and Caballo. The trail finally stopped torturing me and there were even some nice downhills and flat parts on the way into the Pipeline Road aid station.

I ate a big piece of watermelon there and headed out to the Ski Lodge aid station, which was 2.9 miles away. This was a beautiful section of the course. Lots of tall trees, fields of grass. I managed to drop my phone somewhere along the way after taking a picture of said trees. I backtracked to look for it once I realized I'd dropped it. You'd think it would be hard to not notice a) you dropped your phone instead of putting it in your pocket and b) a black phone lying in the grass. But somehow I managed to not notice both of those things. After adding a half mile or so and getting passed by a whole bunch of people I decided to continue on.

When I saw Nick coming back from Ski Lodge, I let him know where I dropped it so he could keep an eye out on his way back. But the day was so beautiful, so I didn't spend much time worrying about the phone, even though I would have loved to snap some more pictures on the way. One day, I may rival Gary Henry's efforts to spend more time taking pictures than running. One can only dream though.

Unfortunately I was still struggling with a sensitive stomach. I did ok running down hills but any time I tried to run the slightest incline the tummy threatened mutiny. This was rather frustrating since my legs felt amazingly good considering what they'd already been through. I had no signs of pain from my recent achilles tendon or IT band injuries.

I made it to Ski Lodge feeling happy. Enjoying the weather and scenery at least. It also felt closer than I was expecting. I wasn't keep tracking of time at ALL, so this was just my gut feeling. The Ski Lodge was a really cool place. There were loads of people there cheering and they called out my number as I ran toward the aid station, which was on a big wooden patio. As I perused the food at the station, a volunteer came up with my drop bag. I was surprised and delighted by this! I'm used to getting my own drop bag which is no problem. This was just one example of how these volunteers went the extra mile to put on a great event.

While I was at the aid station a volunteer yelled out and asked if anyone named Laurie was there. More than one person piped up, including me. He was looking for a RUNNER Laurie. Ooh, still me! Someone had found my phone and dropped it off with the volunteers back at Pipeline. Awesome. Not only were the volunteers great, but the runners too!

I then began feeling just the slightest twinge of competition. I wanted to leave the aid station before a girl who got ahead of me while I was searching for my phone, so I put on some sun block, ate a sandwich and skedaddled. The trip back to Pipeline was slower than the trip out. It was a little more up hill going back, and my stomach was not getting better. Run down, walk up was becoming a habit. I also walked the flats sometimes. I was still in good spirits though and glad to get my phone back at Pipeline.

I didn't stop long at Pipeline. Just long enough to get directions for a volunteer. The remaining 11 miles would be MOSTLY down hill. Well the first half to three quarters of a mile were up another steep hill. The volunteer said this was the last big one.

It was getting warm and it turned out that most of the remaining miles were totally uncovered. After a couple miles, I left behind all signs of grass and the remaining vegetation was low lying bushes and dead trees. My stomach was in bad shape. I really thought I'd start feeling better as I was descending quickly to a more reasonable elevation. Maybe it was the heat or maybe I just couldn't get past the elevation once it hit me, but things only got worse.

I could still run down hill and when I finally hit the second to last aid station I drank some ginger ale and ate some ginger snaps. I have no idea why I continue to consume ginger like it is the best thing in the world to cure an upset stomach. I can't remember a single time that I've run an ultra and ginger has miraculously cured my stomach problems. Well at least it tastes good anyway.

The next aid station was 5 miles away, and I was really thinking I'd descend out of this hot, open, dead tree hell at any time! But the course just wound around and around these barren foothills. I eventually had to make a pit stop to take care of some business which I became convinced would not wait to be dealt with at the end of the race. The good thing about mountain races is the plentiful supply of boulders. They're great outhouses.

And of course I got passed by about a billion people while I was taking care of business. Well it could have been 5 or a billion. Who really knows? Now I was starting to feel a little competitive and also encouraged by the presence of other people. For a long time I couldn't see anyone in front or behind me. I kept a pretty good pace down into the last aid station.

I grabbed some chips but didn't stop for anything else. Not the beer or whiskey or pumpkin pie, all of which were merrily advertised on signs leading into the station. I spotted a couple leaving the aid station who had gotten ahead of me earlier when I was looking for my phone. "I can catch them," I thought. I kept up with them for a while and even started closing in, but my stomach was just not having it.

I backed off and just coasted the rest of the way. I'm used to finishing my races strong, but I went into this one just wanting to finish. Just wanting to train. Just wanting to have fun. And honestly, it didn't matter if I passed that nice lady from San Antonio. This would be my slowest 50k time ever and two minutes wasn't going to change it, nor would it make my day any more awesome. It had already been so wonderful.

Well my day did get a little better when I saw Nick's bright yellow calf sleeves. At first I thought he must be heading back toward me to keep me company after his finish. But when I called out to him and he didn't answer, I realized he was walking away from me. I surmised that he was having about as tough of a day as I was. When I finally caught up to him, I found out that he too had the dreaded upset tummy. I definitely wasn't happy that he was feeling bad, but it was a wonderful experience to cross the finish line with him for the first time ever, in 8:55:20. Yes, I did succeed in breaking my personal record for worst 50k time! Hooray!

Well I learned some things from the experience. 1) My legs are strong enough to run/walk/trudge a mountain course. Thanks to hill training, working out with my personal trainer, and luck. 2) I am in for some serious unpleasantness at Leadville if I don't go out early to acclimate. The Jemez course peaked at just above the elevation of the town of Leadville, which is one of the lower points of the race.

Anyway, we had a fabulous time at the race and we LOVED Los Alamos. This was a perfect vacation for the two of us. It was almost a vacation vacation. I keep saying that one day I would like to take a trip that doesn't revolve around a race, but I'm not sure that will ever happen.

Getting Ready for Jemez

2011-05-16T14:39:00.000-05:00

I finally started thinking seriously about the Jemez Mountain 50k on Sunday. Now that I'm done worrying about that daunting 5k and the Hawk 50 and Marathon has come and gone, my mind is freed up and I'm surprised by how casually I've been approaching Jemez.

To be clear, I had little to do with the execution of the Hawk. Perhaps too little, but the Pi Day River Rotation Half Marathon really sapped my desire to be heavily involved in race planning for a time, and it was being handled extremely well by Gary Henry, Karen Collier and Coleen Voeks. I DID manage to drag my butt out of bed at 4:45 Saturday morning to manage an aid station* and volunteer for 14 hours though.

*I left Nick all by himself at the aid station for several hours so I could run with Coleen. I felt pretty bad when I came back. Apparently the tent was blowing all over the place, the dogs were being a pain, and runners were coming through, all at the same time. So I definintely owe him, but I like to think I earned something back by removing a tick from his...unmentionable area.

Yesterday, aside from the major question, "Can I actually finish this race?", I occupied myself with details and logistics. Things that required consideration included: we're flying, we're camping, and the race is in the mountains.

Flying
Flying to an ultra can be difficult, I assume... It will require careful planning so that we have everything we need AND it's not too much to take on a plane. Our normal strategy is to just hurl everything we might possibly need (and more) into Nick's truck and go.

Camping
I've never camped the night before an ultra so this should be an interesting experience. As a matter of fact, I think it's been 20 years since I've been camping. Luckily I have experienced outdoorsman, Nick Lang, to educate me. I suppose some might view this as a bad idea. A lot of people don't like to camp the night before an ultra, but I know I'm not in the running to win an award or break my PR, so I'm not going to worry much about it. I'm thinking of this race as a long hike with some running sprinkled in. As a matter of fact I fully expect this to be my personal record for WORST time. That's 8:40-something right now. Let's see if I can get above 9! Shouldn't be too hard. My bigger worry is not finishing at all.

Mountains
Finally, the race is in the Jemez MOUNTAINS. I'll need to be sure I have the right gear. My plan is to run with my hydration pack with a rain jacket strapped into the bungee cords in case of rain or cold. I will also NOT forget to bring my gaiters (which I usually do), because the race guide specifically suggested them. Oh you don't want rocks IN your shoes?? Stop forgetting your gaiters!

In terms of my actual performance at the race...if you haven't caught on by now, I live in KANSAS. While northeastern Kansas might not be as flat as you think, we definitely do not have any several mile long climbs. I have been doing some hill training lately, but my mileage has been pretty low the past few weeks so I'm worried about being undertrained. I did manage a 63 mile week a month ago. But that was a month ago. Nobody really tapers 5 weeks for a 50k, Laurie...

As far as I can tell the most difficult part of the race is ascending Caballo Mountain. According to the mileage/elevation chart, it is a 2 mile climb with 1800ft of elevation gain. I'm wheezing just thinking about it. Actually, the most difficult part might be going back down for me. I'm notoriously whimpy about hiking steep, rocky descents. Notice the word "hiking". I have a feeling there won't be a lot of running down this "hill". Anyway, that's just the worst climb from what I can tell. There are 3 big climbs total and they are all in the first half of the race. So my quads should be good and trashed for the second half!

The End is Near
In conclusion, I am extremely excited and a bit nervous, but I'm sure it will be a fabulous weekend. I mean, I'll be with my sweetie in the mountains! What could be better?!

P.S. Can you tell I really haven't done much planning yet? So far you just know that I'm taking socks and shoes. Well, we're taking a tent too. So there.

Corporate Challenge 5k

2011-05-09T14:20:00.000-05:00

Two years ago after an extremely disappointing finish, I vowed never to compete in the Corporate Challenge 5k again. I wanted to break 24 minutes. I ended up finishing in 25:52. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't run anywhere close to fast enough to earn team points for my company. I got the participation point. I didn't know why I kept running it and setting goals when I knew there was no way I would get more than one point. I would have to run 2-4 minutes faster for that. My most promising time was 24:38 which wasn't very promising. I had run the race 3 times out of my previous 5 years of employment to this end...

2007    26:54
2008    24:38
2009    25:52

But this, my 6th (maybe 7th?) year with the company, I decided to try it again. I'm not sure why. Maybe because I had set a new 5k PR back in November of 23:31 and after looking at past results I noted that this time might possibly get me some points. It also helped that I was no longer in grad school and working part time. And most importantly, when a runner says he/she is never going to do something again, it usually means he/she is DEFINITELY going to do that thing again. Because it probably didn't go well. And when something doesn't go well, you always have to prove you can do it better. Right?

So of course I sat down with my friend Coleen, who had been newly certified as a running coach.  She asked me about my goals and would make a plan for me! Well I set the goal, which I was already regretting days later. A goal time of 22:30?? Ridiculous. A full minute faster than my PR, on a much tougher course. What was I thinking? Well the training plan never really came to fruition as I was out of the running game for about 3 weeks due to a variety of runner type ailments. By the time I was running normally again, the race was only a few weeks away. Not really enough time to execute a "plan".

Despite my lack of speed training, I had daydreams of 5k grandeur. "I can run sort of fast", I thought. Maybe I'll end up doing really well just by shear determination! I envisioned myself with an unexpected, tearful finish among the top runners. Childish dreams. My hopefulness was knocked down a peg after doing a test run of the course that I felt was pretty quick. Upon actually looking at my stop watch, I was disappointed by the 8:11 pace. Pretty far off my desired 7:30. No more daydreams for me. That PR was seeming pretty far fetched.  And the "goal" of 22:30 was way off in la la land somewhere.

I was already quite nervous the day before the race. I always am for big races like these. You might not know it, but I'm sort of socially awkward, and large crowds of people don't make me feel any more comfortable. My stomach is also socially awkward and likes it best if I spend most of my pre race time in the bathroom. Not this race day though! Only...THREE visits to the bathroom. Gee what a breeze! I had a banana for breakfast before heading out for the 40 minute drive and had a chocolate agave gel about a half hour before the race started.

Because of the large number of competitors the men and women race separately. The 15-minute delay of the men's race of course put the women's race behind by about 30, making it nice and WARM by the time we started! That nice and warm part is sarcasm. Everybody knows I hate running in the heat. Ok it wasn't super hot but it was maybe in the low 80's.

I initially lined up by the 7 minute pace sign being a little optimistic. But a few minutes before the race started it was clear that nobody was going to actually line up for the 5 minute pace group so we all shifted forward. I was in the second row of runners. When the clock started I was running at a pretty decent clip down the first hill, but I noticed my friend Amanda was running a little faster. In the interest of being able to chat, I decided to pick up the pace a little to try to hang with her. When I looked down at my Garmin, I was a little surprised by the 6:30 and below pace, but I kept at it because I figured I would need that extra time when I slowed down going up hill. I remember thinking and saying to Amanda that I didn't know why I was so close to the lead runners. I was ready to hit the wall at any point.

I think Amanda got ahead of me a few times on the first of not many flat sections, but once we hit the first hill I started pulling away. Oh and no, I wasn't chatting any more at this point. Maybe that should be part of my Leadville training. Practice having a full on conversation while running up a steep hill. My legs were already getting tired at this point so I just kept putting one foot in front of the other, knowing that this hill was a little steep but not actually very long. I was prepared to be passed by anyone at any moment.

As a matter of fact, I believe I was passed by a girl in a hot pink shirt. I was also passed by running buddy and serious speed demon, Jonette Kilmar. I wasn't surprised or upset about being passed by Jonette. In fact I cheered her on! I've never even come close to beating Jonette at any race, ever. So I was pretty stoked to have run a whole mile before she passed me. As I ran up the hill, I glanced down at the Garmin again and saw my pace was at 8:10. Crap! I need to pick it up or hall balls down hill.

After that initial steep hill, the course flattened out for a bit before ascending an annoyingly gradual hill. We ran around the park's administrative offices where volunteers held out cups of water. I don't typically drink water at short races like these but it was getting warm and my mouth was feeling particularly dry. I was stupid to think I would be able to actually drink the water. I was not willing to slow down, so I splashed the water in the general direction of my mouth and ended up swallowing about a teaspoon of it before I decided to pitch the cup (in an actual trash can).

After the water station it was back to a nice down hill. For the next mile or so, pink shirt and I traded places several times. Me passing her going up hill, her passing me going down hill. There was one long down hill before we headed up the hill to the finish line and I tried to keep my pace under 7. I think I managed 6:30-6:45.

By the time I reached the last hill I was feeling a bit queasy and quite daunted. Compared to what I do for hill training on a regular basis, this hill was a baby, but at the end of that 5k it seemed like a beast. I took it easy up the first of 2 small climbs. But once I reached the second I decided I needed to push it in. I passed pink shirt and amazingly, I passed Jonette. Once I was up the final hill and hit the flat section that leads to the finish line, I was starting to doubt my choice to push up that hill. I'm normally pretty good at sprinting to the finish line but it was seeming pretty far away at this point. All I knew was, I would look pretty silly if I passed a couple people on a hill only to be passed at the end, on a flat section. So I sucked it up and stopped thinking about how I felt like I was going to poop my pants and finished the darn race.

I was flabbergasted when I saw the clock at the finish line and it said twenty ONE? forty. There was definitely NOT supposed to be a one after the two. I was shooting for 23:30. How the heck did this happen? And on top of that, there wasn't a hoard of runners moseying around the finish line refreshments table. The whole experience was totally surreal. Running in the "front", where people are actually spaced apart and not elbowing each other for a better time at the finish line? After the race, I hung out for a while to see other coworkers finish and congratulate them.

But I felt bad for my boyfriend, Nick, who took this fabulous photo. He had been standing around with our dogs for the past couple hours while I picked up my bib, chatted with coworkers, ran and chatted with coworkers some more. I knew the final results weren't usually posted for a few days after the race, so I figured they didn't have an awards ceremony. No idea why. Probably because I had never been anywhere close to getting an award before.

So we ended up going home and I got a call Monday morning that I had won a silver medal! Whoa! The medals are given by age group, which I guess is less impressive than overall. But I'm still pretty psyched. The 25-29 group typically has the largest number of and fastest runners. I didn't think I had a chance at a medal. But it turns out I came in 10th overall out of 1029 runners. And I came in 2nd out of 167 in my age group. And my official time was 21:44. It was exciting to actually live out my wildest, off in la la land dreams this weekend.

I definitely think wearing the Garmin was a great idea, despite the fact that I pretty much hate wearing it any other time. It was perfect for keeping me on track for the 5k. So I guess in response to whether or not I have something to prove, the answer is yes, and I did prove that a trail and ultra runner can occasionally kick some butt at a 5k.

Schedules

2011-05-05T11:58:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I wish I could be like my boyfriend who really could give less of a crap about schedules, appointments and time in general. But unfortunately I'm the type of person who is constantly thinking about what I have to do next. It's a bit of a curse. Or maybe it's a mental disability. I spend so much time thinking about my schedule that even the fun things on my schedule, like spending time with friends, seem like work.

I admittedly have a fairly light schedule compared to my friends with kids. Things that fill my time include my Lawrence Trail Hawks presidential duties (writing e-mails, organizing activities, leading runs, volunteering), training for the Leadville Trail 100, cooking, and cleaning for house showings. My least favorite of all these activities is of course the cleaning. We rent our house and the owner wants to sell it, so we pretty much get nothing out of this deal. We spend a lot of time cleaning and Nick spends a lot of time leaving work to pick up the dogs, so the owner of the house can make some money. The realtor actually asked us to move all of our shoes and jackets out of the entry way, which was a serious undertaking. See below.

When not forced to, we usually clean our house on the following schedule: before a party, and a few days after the party when we get tired of stepping in sticky margarita residue. I know. You'd probably mistake our place for an episode of hoarders. Hoarders that collect stinky running socks in the living room.

Oh and I forgot to mention that we have a puppy who acts like a total s*** if we a) leave him alone too long or b) he doesn't get enough exercise but c) he can't run more than about 10 miles at a time. It makes our weekend long runs a little challenging. Anyway, as a results of the picture below, in addition to stuff like breaking a window, eating a mac power cord, eating a remote, eating the blinds, eating the couch cushion etc, we have no other choice but to crate him during the day.

But enough about how we're slobs! On a typical day, I get up at 5, head out for my 45 minute commute to work, leave work around 3...which you think would leave me plenty of time to chillax, but no. After I leave work I either head to a session with my personal trainer or go running. Or clean. Grrrr. It's usually about 8 when I get home at which point I spend about an hour preparing dinner or cleaning. Then I eat and it's 9 or 9:30 and I go to bed. WTF? Can't a girl sit down and read a book? If I were less of a baby, I could stay up later and survive on 6 or 7 hours of sleep. But I am definitely a baby.

Weekends typically involve long runs, trail maintenance, racing, volunteering at races, leading runs or a combination of those things. I like all of those things, but they're all SCHEDULED events and apparently I have an aversion to those things right now. What I'm saying is, it's really nice to have an evening or a weekend without any plans every once in a while. Wouldn't it be fabulous if I could sit around and read for 6 hours? Or maybe this pointless babble just means I need a vacation.

The Green

2011-04-29T10:45:00.000-05:00

After a long winter, we welcome the arrival of spring and its lush greenery with open, finally non-itchy arms. It's like a whoooole newwwww woooooorld. It's beautiful! If you're not a trail runner you are really missing out. There aren't many things more wonderous than trails in spring. But before you know it the grass and weeds have grown a foot in the blink of an eye.

Let's take a moment to realize what this means. During the warm months, vegetation grows at an incredible rate. Now think about the length of the trails you run on. Now think about how long it takes to constantly keep that vegetation from encroaching on those wonderful trails. In Lawrence, the River Trails are about 9 miles long and the Clinton Lake North Shore Trails are about 23 miles long. The Lawrence Mountain Bike Club and Kansas Trails Council maintain our trails in Lawrence and they do an amazing job. Find out what organizations do trail maintenance in your area and lend a hand!

But back to running now. As the spring turns into summer, the vegetation grows and becomes difficult to keep under control everywhere at once. We run down the trail in an increasingly narrow path to avoid the encroaching greenery. Why would you avoid the greenery, you say? Well in case you aren't familiar with the Kansas climate, it's damp. Lots of things love the damp climate here: chiggers, ticks, poison ivy and stinging nettle. And I assure you, regardless of the precautions I take, I encounter all of these every year.

By mid to late summer, a midwest trail runner's feet and ankles are usually covered in red dots which may or may not be oozing (from ticks/chiggers). I finally became sensitized to poison ivy last year, which had never bothered me in my 27 previous years. I discovered that poison ivy starts off looking like a bright red scratch. You might think you got it from running into a branch. Then it explodes into a giant itchy mess. And you know you have poison ivy.

In addition to the uncomfortable state my body is placed in due to these external assaults from plant life and parasites, I also tend to suffer from eczema (can they come up with a less disgusting word, seriously sounds like I have herpes or something), another itchy enemy. So by the end of summer, luckily my skin is not dry, but it is decidedly hot and itchy.

By late summer, the spiders are approaching Aragog size and they can build webs across the trail that are strong enoug to knock you on your ass (or at least slow your momentum) before you can say "Holy Aragog!" I'm not ashamed to admit that I usually put off my August morning runs until I've seen a few bikes ride through. I will say one positive thing about spiders. In August, on a dewy morning, the light glistening off hundreds of spider webs high up in the trees is truly gorgeous.

If you're not squeamish about eating web, you might be turned off by the giant horseflies that will chase you for miles if they really want a piece of your flesh. Yes, they bite. According to Wikipedia, it's the females that bite. B****es! The one benefit of horseflies is that they usually get you into a good tempo run. If you can't run fast enough to beat a horsefly, your best bet is to trade places with a friend (don't tell them you're trying to pass the horsefly). Horseflies can be easily distracted by other tastier treats. If you don't have a friend, you just have to pray that you will run into some other poor schmuck on the trail.

In conclusion, The Green is awesome for about 4 weeks until it turns into hell, but do I want to stop trail running? Heck no! Like my mother always told me, "No horsefly bites, no gain." She might argue with the truth of the statement, but I'll just claim it's her failing memory. Kidding mom!

Got Something To Prove?

2011-04-22T09:58:00.000-05:00

I've been a little obsessive lately...over a 5k. Yes, you read it. The girl who seldom runs a race shorter than a 50k is stressed about a 5k. That's because 5k's are hard! Running hard for a short period of time can be just as difficult as running easy for a long period of time. So you may ask yourself, "Why is the slow poke running a 5k?"

I feel some small amount of company spirit and would like to earn some points in the Corporate Challenge competition.
I want to prove that I can still run "fast".

Corporate Challenge is like the Olympics for people with boring, non-sport-related jobs. There are a bunch of different events: soccer, 5k, tug-of-war, track events, etc.. In the past, before we started hiring a butt load of young folks, we excelled at fishing, trapshooting and horseshoes. There is a complicated scoring system which consists of participation points, division points and medal points. Individual events also include age groups. You basically need a masters degree to figure out the point system. Fortunately I have a masters degree. Unfortunately it's not in advanced score keeping. Here's what I do know:

You get 1 participation point in any event whether you win or come in last place.
It's freakin' hard to get more than a participation point in the 5k, unless you're in division G. This means you're competing against a bunch of other 20-employee companies. (I didn't actually look up that information, but you get the gist.) Anyway, I'm in division A, the 2000+ corporate monster division.

So you can probably see this coming, but out of the 2 or 3 times I've competed in Corporate Challenge, I have never scored more than a participation point in the 5k. So many people participate that they actually have to split the 5k up into 2 separate races: one for males and one for females.

My goals for the race are to break my 5k PR of 23:30 (which I set on a pancake flat course, very unlike the CC course) and to score some division points for once! I know, a 7:30 pace is not very fast for some people, but it's pretty speedy for me. I do most of my running on trails and my "trail fast" ranges from 9-12 minute miles depending on terrain and length of run.

I decided to run the course the other day before I met a group of friends for a trail run and ended up with a slightly disappointing 8:11 pace. I felt like I was going pretty quick too! Well, I know I probably won't be able to break my PR on a training run. It's just not the same as a race. I need a competitor. You know. Some girl who just looks WAY too cute in her perfectly matched outfit, or someone who is 5 inches shorter than me and 20 lbs heavier. The kind of thing that really gets you going. I'm not kidding when I say I was once passed in a 10k by an adult woman who was about 4'7" (I'm 5'4"). Fortunately I will have a few more opportunities to run the course before the race. I'm hoping I can get my training time down around a 7:45 pace.

I am definitely looking forward to this race being over, so I can obsess over the Jemez Mountain 50k which is two weeks later. There is no doubt in my mind when I say it is going to chew me up and spit me out. The elevation speaks for itself. Oh yeah, you're seeing correctly. It starts at 7000+ ft. And yes, I do live in Lawrence, KS at 800ft.

Tattoo

2011-04-15T09:50:00.000-05:00

In case you weren't in the know, I got a tattoo last week. I was pretty nervous. Not about the pain, but more about the "I'm the type of person who thinks everything she did or said or wore more than a year ago was the stupidest thing EVER." Isn't growing up fun? Well I guess 28 is sort of grown up.

So I wanted to get a tattoo to commemorate running my first 100...which was 6 months ago. You can tell I was really dragging my feet. I spent a long time thinking about what to get, asking people where I should go to get it, driving by the tattoo place and being too chicken to go in and talk to anyone, etc. Finally I accumulated enough gumption to step foot in Big Daddy Cadillac's on Mass St. After looking through the artists' portfolios, I settled on Steven.

Steven came out, sat down with me and sketched up my idea. He was pretty quiet, which led me to believe that he hated me for being a dumb tattoo newbie, or something along those lines. He asked me when I wanted to get it done: "Tomorrow?" he asked. Panic set in. "Uhhhh, no, I have to go out of town." I really did have to go out of town to crew at Rockin' K. Eventually we settled on Tuesday of the next week. After I set up the appointment and paid my deposit, I turned to Steven and said, "I'll see you Tuesday then?" He gave me a nod. Nothing else. Maybe a mumble. Yeah, I was pretty sure he hated me.

Leading up to Tuesday, I worried a lot about how big the tattoo would end up being, what it would look like, etc. All I had seen was a rough sketch Steven put together on the spot. I had daymares of it turning into this giant monstrous thing I would regret for the rest of my life. After sitting in the waiting room for a while, listening to a gaggle of sorority girls conspiring over which tattoos they wanted to get that very day, Steven had me follow him to his area? room? office?

I stood awkwardly as Steven cleaned the chair I would be sitting in and covered it in plastic wrap. I kept shuffling around as he rotated it this way and that. Eventually I sat down, took off my shoe and sock and after several misunderstandings realized that Steven wanted me to rotate my body so that I was resting on my hip. Oh, I suppose that DOES make it easier to access the outside of my ankle. We finally started talking as he prepared everything, which involved covering a lot things in plastic. Ink is messy I guess!

When Steven placed the ink template of what he'd drawn up on my ankle, I finally started to relax. It was bigger than I imagined wanting my tattoo to be, but after seeing it, I realized it was the perfect size. It was smooth sailing from here. Relatively. Steven was actually pretty cool once I started talking to him. Plus, his "office" was full of fantasy books and figurines. A fellow nerd!

The process was more painful than I thought it would be. I struggled to keep my leg from quivering and was afraid I would make him mess up the tattoo, but all went well. The outline hurt the most. I suppose it has something to do with the needle used for outlining. Surprisingly, the filling was much more manageable.

So in conclusion, I'm very happy with my new artwork. On the topic of regret, well I like the tattoo, and I can't see myself every saying, "Self, running 100 miles is super lame. Why would you ever want to remember that?" So there you go.

Good Health: The Death of Interesting?

2011-04-01T08:51:00.000-05:00

The past few days I've been thinking about how happy I am to be back to running, pain-free, mostly. If you've been following my sob story over the past couple months you might know that I have had:

a broken tailbone
achilles tendonitis
IT band syndrome, and
I cry a lot?

Currently, my achilles tendons are just about all better. My IT band feels good. I've tested it up to 5 miles. This being said, I'm not going to run the 50-miler this weekend (Rockin K) just because I had a couple good 5 milers after 3 weeks of pain. In the absence of these pains, my body is now reminding me that I still have a broken tailbone. There are a couple things that are irritating about this. The first being that it feels about the same as it did 1 week after I injured it which was...2 months ago? The second being that it doesn't hurt very much. It hurts when I sit for a long time, like when I commute to work every day. Or when I use a rowing machine. So it's a long term nagging, but not debilitating injury. Gosh, why couldn't I have something REALLY debilitating like a broken leg? Ohhhh, I guess I'll stick with the tailbone after all.

So yes, aside from the tailbone, things are starting to look up! This made me start pondering about what the heck I would write about once everything was all better. Nobody wants to read, "I had a good run today," every day. If I'm not telling my sob stories what will I talk about?? Well, I guess really good stories would be nice. That assumes I have to be achieving new things. But what new things do I have to achieve? I've run 100 miles. I don't want to run more than that. I'm going to have to start being a LOT funnier if I can't come up with some real drama.

Luckily humans are highly evolved to be idiots. So we spend our entire lifetimes learning and achieving new things! Maybe it's because I was a late bloomer to this whole running thing, starting after college, but I'm still getting faster. That's nice. I'm also getting stronger, because I started working out with a personal trainer. Now I realize I have so much more to learn and try. I'm attempting my first mountain 100 in August. Once I do that, I'll have to do another one, you know, to get good at it.

I don't see my learning and improvement process slowing down any time soon, but I am certainly terrified of a plateau. I'm also sure that I have plenty more crappy runs in my future, as we all do. So not to fear! I may still have some intersting posts left in me.

3 Days of Syllamo: Day 3 + The Plan

2011-03-28T09:26:00.000-05:00

I was still hurting when I got up on Sunday for the third day of the race, but gosh darnit I wasn't going to be held back by a paltry 20k. Not even if parts of my body that were very important to running, such as both achilles tendons and my right IT band, hurt a bunch. My ultra ego said, "20k? Pshhh. That's nothing. I could sneeze and be done with that." I had already whimped out on the 50 miler. Surely I could convince my worthless body to do a mere 20k. I would be done before lunch.

I wasn't sure how long the race actually was. Technically 20k is 12.4 miles, but this was a trail run, so all bets are really off if you're concerned with a precise distance. I think I'd been told that it was closer to 14. This didn't bother me yet.

My first thought was that once I got going I would start feeling better. I was surprised by how much it hurt to run, but I told myself to just go as fast as I could so I could get this thing over with as soon as possible. I soon abandoned the "this will start feeling better" idea and adopted the "grit your teeth and bear it" idea. I could see Deb Johnson up ahead, so I focused on trying to catch up with her so I would have company.

I probably started crying 20 minutes into the run because I was in a lot of pain and kicking myself for even starting the race. But I still focused on Deb. Grit your teeth and bear it, Laurie. Just keep going like this and you'll be done before you know it. I finally caught up to Deb and was happy to have some company. I stayed with her for all of about 3 or 4 minutes before she started pulling away. Or I started slowing down. Probably the latter.

The tears were flowing steadily when Sarah caught up to me as I walked across a road. She patted me on the back and said something encouraging I'm sure, but I probably didn't say anything, because I was frustrated. I tried to rally myself again. "Try to stay behind Sarah, Laurie." I needed feet to follow. I followed, followed, followed. I think I even stopped crying. I stayed with Sarah for maybe a mile until we got to the unmanned aid station. I'll admit I didn't read up on the info for the race or pay attention to the pre-race briefing so I didn't know there would only be an unmanned aid station. I had no idea how many miles we were into the race. The time was about 1:15. I thought it was pretty unlikely that I had even gone 6 miles at the pace I was keeping.

Just after the unmanned station, I felt a sudden sharp pain in one of my achilles. Left maybe. That was surprising. I felt relatively sharp pain with every step I took, but this was REALLY sharp. I was surprised, so I walked a few steps, then started running again. I ran a few more yards. Another stab. The tears were welling. I walked a bit, then started running AGAIN. Another stab. Crap! What did I do? I was afraid I might have or would tear my achilles if I kept running. I stepped off the trail, spiked my water bottle on the ground and started sobbing. Runners passed, asking if I was ok. I told them I would be alright.

I was in a bad spot. I was potentially 6 miles into a loop race. I couldn't just turn back now. The only sane thing I could do would be to stick it out. I resigned to walk the rest of the race, which made me cry more, because I didn't want to walk for who knows how many miles? I wasn't sure how far I'd gone. I wasn't sure how long the race was. I just wanted to be back at the car. I wanted to eat lunch at a normal time. I wanted to get back home at a normal time. I did NOT want to be out on this darn trail all day. It's not often you'll hear or read me say that I'm tired of being on a gosh darn trail.

I was still not sure about that unmanned aid station. I thought for SURE there'd be a manned aid station somewhere. Some way that I could get out of this hell I was in. Surely there would be some volunteer or race official I would come across who would save me from this never-ending death march through the woods. Sob sob sob. I was now positive that I was absolutely THE last "runner".

I walked and sobbed for what seemed like forever. I was trapped in this endless loop of thought, trying to figure out how far I'd gone, how far I had left, when I would be done. It was absolutely useless. I had the ultra loonies, even though I wasn't running an ultra. I refused to eat anything, even though nobody was making me, in protest of my awful situation. There, I'll show you! As if my parents were trying to force feed me and I refused. I didn't want any effing gels. I wanted an effing sandwich and some effing fries! After a long time of running and sobbing I decided I had to try to run a little bit or I'd never get anywhere.

I did an ok job of hobbling the flat sections for a while, until I got to a particularly rocky area. Eventually I got past that and was able to hobble again. I reached a section of switchbacks and realized that somehow I was NOT dead last. How could this be? I didn't know how, but I did know that there was no way I was letting anyone pass my second-to-dead-last butt. I quickened my hobble and even hobbled up some slight inclines. I basically dragged myself along by my left leg because my right IT band was so ridiculously tight that my right leg was useless for propelling me forward. No more tears. It was time to "race". It was time to finish.

I was unbelievably hopeful when I saw ribbons marking a turn in the course. I was heading downhill now. I thought this could only mean that I was finally heading down into the campgrounds and on to the finish line. I didn't get my hopes up though. I ran down, down, down. Things felt like they were loosening up but that was probably just that rush of adrenaline I get when I'm close to the finish line. I finally came across the photographer on the trail and she told me there was about a mile to the finish line. Wooo!!! It seems like I always have some kick that propels me to finish strong, even when my body is broken.

I finally reached the road and ran through the campgrounds. People cheered me on. It did not make me feel good. I was angry with the whole day, but I think I waved and tried to say thank you to a few people. The race director, some volunteers and friends cheered for me as I crossed the finish line, but I was basically a jerk and ignored everyone. I was mad at myself for running, mad at my body, mad that I was never able to drop. I didn't talk to anyone for a while. I changed my clothes. Didn't feel like showering. I just wanted to get lunch and get on the road.

I managed to break out of my grump-fest after several minutes of stewing and remember that my friends were with me and they all loved me whether I completed a 3 day race or not. Whether I finished first or last.

So now, just over 2 weeks down the road from the race, and less than 1 week from Rockin K, what is going on? Well, things are going better. My left achilles feels almost 100%, my right achilles is maybe 80%, and my right IT band is still a bit of a pain. The IT band doesn't hurt when I'm walking but it tightens up after about a mile of running. I'm doing a lot better but still in no condition to run a 50 miler or to even drop to a marathon this coming weekend. I'll volunteer while Nick runs the race and it'll be a blast. I've started doing short runs, 3-4 miles. I'm also doing a lot of stretching and foam rolling. I'm confident that if I'm smart, I will be in shape to do Jemez Mountain 50k in May.

Pi Anyone?

2011-03-21T09:49:00.000-05:00

I must apologize to all of my loyal readers (my mom) for taking a brief hiatus from the "3 Days of Syllamo" series. I thought sharing my experience of directing my first race was more important than going on about how I spent 3.5 hours crying in the woods. There you go. I just wrote my 3 Days report.

I can't tell you the names of these 2 right now, but I'm going to figure it out, because I have their jackets!

Saturday was the culmination of several months of planning for the Pi Day River Rotation Half Marathon. Alright, I really spent several months thinking, "This is cake. All I have to do is order some shirts and get some awards." The last few weeks was really when I did the most work. If I looked back through my old blog posts, I could tell you exactly when I came up with the idea for the race. It was definitely in November or December.

The Lawrence Trail Hawks didn't have a race on the Lawrence River Trails yet and I thought it was about time. In trail running, timing is important for several reasons. 1) You can't schedule it too close to your own races. 2) You can't schedule it too close to other trail races people want to go to. 3) You have to take into account seasonal trail conditions. Taking all of these factors into account, I decided on March. And everyone knows the most special holiday in March is Pi Day (3/14). St. Patrick's Day?! As my friend's 2 year old would say, "No way!" On Pi Day, you get to eat pie, which is far superior to green beer.

Once I decided on a math-themed race, I had to come up with a clever name, like...

In case you don't remember, pi r-squared is the formula of a circle. Don't feel bad if you didn't remember. I'm an engineer and somehow I forgot too. At first I was thinking there was a 2 or 1/2 in there somewhere. Shhhh, don't tell. Good thing I have lots of engineering and math books at work.

Justin Henning designed this fabulous logo. It took a week or two to settle on the final design. The beginning of the decisions that seem tougher to make than you would think. How big should the font be? Should we put the RRCA logo on it? Should it say Lawrence Trail Hawks? Should it have the date?

Early on in the race-planning process, Jacob Kaplan-Moss offered to make the post-race food. Pies, of course. This was one big task that was off my plate. I also knew I wanted the awards to be pie servers engraved with the race name.

Unfortunately I didn't get any closeup shots of the engraving before I gave them all out. Silly me!

So, I just deleted about 6 paragraphs of this, because I was getting way too long-winded. Here are just a few dilemmas I faced.

How do you order shirts/sizes when you only have 12 people registered?

You make a bad guess. If you were really smart you would have historical data to guide your decision, like a) what is a typical size distribution, b) during what time frames do certain percentages of runners register?

What do you do when you told all your volunteers to run the race because you only had 12 people registered and all of a sudden you have 60 runners and 5 volunteers?

You make your boyfriend volunteer. He's big enough (tall) to be 2 volunteers anyway.

What do you do when you're 4 days away from the race and you forgot about porta potties?

You freak out. Then when you're done freaking out, you reserve porta potties and call the city to make sure it's ok.

What do you do when you realize you have more racers than shirts?

You make a decision. I decided not to order more shirts but to allow runners to pay a discounted rate once I ran out.

What do you do when you're trying to stuff packets and you have a puppy walking all over them, eating kleenex and peeing in the kitchen?

You scream, cry, clean up the pee, put the dogs outside, and pour wine into a pint glass because it's St. Patrick's Day.

What do you do when KU is playing in the NCAA tournament during your packet pickup?

You hang out with the Garry Gribble's employees and watch the game.

What do you do when it's race day and you're brain isn't working?

You forget you put a bag containing cutting boards and paper towels behind your car and back over it. Then you dust it off and call it good.

And they're off!

Well in the end, everything turned out pretty well. I was just positive that I would piss somebody off no matter what I did. I figured something would go wrong. It turns out nothing really did. At least I didn't get any complaints directly. There were some things I think I could have done a little better. I forgot to mention some things in my pre-race briefing, like that Justin had designed the logo, that Shelley Flones had provided the granola for raffle prizes, etc. But as Justin, pointed out, you're lucky if people listen to anything you say in a pre-race briefing, but I'll try to do better next year. There was also some confusion when Rick Mayo and Keaton Davis came through on their second loop. I was confused about which direction they were coming from, so I stopped them for a few seconds to figure out what was going on. It turned out they were running the course correctly. It was just my overly-coffeed brain that was confused. I don't think they harbor any hard feeling about the setback. I gave out free hugs to make up for it. They also received awards!

Everybody finished great. We had plenty of pie and granola prizes. We ended up having just the right number of volunteers. The race wrapped up and everything was put away before the rain came through. I couldn't have asked for a better day! Here are the stats.

72 registered
66 runners/finishers
Top 3 males: Rick Mayo, Matthew O'Reilly, Keaton Davis
Top 3 females: Kelly Carlton, Kelly Cool, Step Cundith

And my thanks go out to...

Gary Henry - for advice, bringing the tents, table, water jugs, sign and probably a lot more
Coleen Voeks - for advice, course marking, course directing, course de-marking
Nick Lang - helping with last minute (5am) race day stuff, time keeping, course de-mark
Jim Beiter - lending a table, course directing, course de-marking
Kristie Campbell - course directing, registration
Caroline Wroczynski - lending a table, running aid station
Sarah Schmidt - registration, course directing, helping with aid station
Shelley Flones - donating granola for prizes, serving pie
Amanda Ernlund - de-marking while searching for her keys
Justin Henning - designing the most awesome logo in the world
Karen Collier - for being a wonderful treasurer
Garry Gribble's for letting us have packet pickup in the store
Everybody involved in the wonderful book and signing of "Pi: A Biography of the World's Most Mysterious Number", which I later realized is also signed by the author!
All of the runners for coming out! You made my day.
If I forgot you, I am extremely sorry and owe you 10 pushups. I can do 10 pushups now, Gary. I think I still owe you 3. I can even do 10 pushups several times.

We gathered at the finish line for a post-race group shot.

3 Days of Syllamo: Day 2

2011-03-17T10:46:00.000-05:00

After packing my supplies for the second day of the race, the 50 miler, I retired to bed EARLY. Probably before 8. I knew we were going to have to wake up insanely early to get ready and out the door for the 6am start. I thought I would sleep great after a long warm day of running, but that was not the case. I tossed and turned all night trying to find a comfortable position. My IT band was hurting bad at my right knee. It was so tight I couldn't straighten my leg. I had to sit up in bed and push my knee down with my hands to get it straightened out.

Somehow I was not yet worried about the next day's race. I finally gave up on sleep and got out of bed at 3:30 even though my alarm was set for 4. I made breakfast: coffee and a mini-bagel with peanut butter and Nutella. Mmmm. All the while I hobbled around. After breakfast, I got dressed and put on my shoes. Once I put on my shoes I realized not only did I have this insanely tight IT band but my achilles tendons hurt like heck everytime I took a step.

Once I had all my stuff ready to go and sat down, I started thinking. And the more I thought, the more I started dreading the race. My initial thoughts were just, I hurt and I don't want to be on the course for 14 hours (the cutoff for the 50 miler). I went back and forth several times and Nick and the others tried to encourage me. "Just go out and see how it feels," or "You can do this!" I even rode out to the race start dressed and with all my gear. But when I searched my brain for situations in which I've had severe IT band pain, I could think of no way running this 50 miler would end well for me. I've never known an IT band to LOOSEN up after running a while, especially not after 50 miles on a hilly course. I did, however, remember running a 50k on a sore IT band and it took me months to recover from it.

So I put some pants on over my shorts, threw on a jacket and decided to play crew for the day.

In retrospect, I should have taken off my running shoes and put on my crocs but because my IT band hurt so bad, I didn't realize my shoes were causing me unneccesary pain in my achilles.

Well after the race got off to a start, I spent a good half hour looking at the course map, trying to figure out where to turn to get to the first aid station. I turned into a lot of dead ends. Of course I couldn't ask for directions. That would be too easy. Eventually I figured I would just have to take the long way around to the aid station, about a 15-20mi drive. The map had these very nicely labeled roads, like CR-52. I don't think any state or national park actually labels their roads this way. CR-52 only exists on maps. When you actually get out there, the only sign you see is "Mountain Bike Trail This Way". This is pretty much how I found my way around. Let's see...I have to make a left turn. Oh HERE'S a left turn AND a sign for a trail. I'll try it.

Once I found the first aid station, I decided to take a walk on the trail. Try to loosen up. It helped a little bit. It was a gorgeous morning and being out there really lifted my spirits and made me feel better about the day.

It was still cool and the sun was rising. Once I got to a rocky area I sat down for a little while and just took everything in. It's amazing what you hear when you just sit and listen. Birds and stuff. By the time I got back to the aid station it had warmed up a bunch and I had taken off my jacket and gloves.

I chatted with volunteers at the aid station, waiting for people to come in. There were 3 dogs keeping us company. They kept us pretty entertained. One woman, I actually remembered from the White Rock 50k last year. I probably wouldn't have except when she called her dog, River. Yep, I remembered her by her dog.

Eventually people started coming through the aid station. The first guy was way ahead of everyone else, so it took a while. When I saw Coleen, Deb and Sarah come through and I hadn't seen Nick yet, I was more than a little worried. The girls went on through to complete a 4 mile loop and return to the aid station. After a few minutes of worrying, I finally saw Nick and a few other guys coming running up the road from the wrong direction. They got off course and the RD sent them to backtrack a little to where they misstepped.

At this point, I was just starving. The girls were out on the 4-mi loop, Nick had to backtrack about 3 miles, so I decided to head into town to grab a bite to eat. It ended up taking a little longer than I thought it would, but the breakfast sammy I picked up was delicious! "Town" basically consists of this place called Anglers, which is a gas station, restaurant and fishing supply store.

Well I missed Nick after his backtrack but I would still see him after his 4-mi loop at the 18 mile point, so I wasn't too worried about him. Everybody came through at 18 miles looking good. It was starting to warm up quite a bit, but people still seemed like they were chugging along just fine.

I got turned around a bit heading into the next aid station at 24 miles but I found it in the end. It was getting really warm by this point and the people coming through the aid station seemed pretty hot and tired. I tried to help people out even though I wasn't a volunteer by giving them sunblock, salt caps and filling water bottles. Sorry Sarah, I owe you some sunblock. Everybody loved it though! It was at this aid station, in the heat of the day, that the 3:30am wakeup started taking its toll on me.

After I got all my friends through, upset tummies and all, I headed to the next aid station. The 31/45-mi station. I sat outside Nick's truck for a while, reading for a few minutes, until I decided I just wanted to sit in the truck and doze off. So I did. I heard Nick, Coleen and Deb come through, gabbing away, and I thought, "They'll be fiiiiiine. I can just keep zzzzzz-ing." Nick said knocked on the window and I think I stuck my hand up to wave but continued to snooze.

I got up, not long after, to find Sarah coming through. She still wasn't feeling very well and asked if I would stay at the aid station because she thought she would miss cutoff. I told her she'd be fine and that I'd see her at the next aid station, at 41. The trail between 31 and 45 was a loop, but there was an intermediate station at 41.

When I got to 41, I decided I'd get out my hydration pack and run out on the trail to meet Sarah and give her some encouragement. This didn't last long. I hobbled along for a few minutes, then walked for a while, then realized even if I did meet up with Sarah I wouldn't be able to keep up with her. So I went back and waited at the aid station.

When Nick came through he said he was hurting but he still seemed in good spirits. When Deb came through, she was in good shape. Coleen came through behind Deb complaing of nausea and threatening to drop. I told here there was no way she was dropping. She said that she felt sick whenever she ran. I told her she had 4 hours to travel 9 miles and she could walk for all I cared but she was going to finish. I knew she'd appreciate some tough love! When Sarah came through she was still worrying about cutoff, but she was a half hour under, so I told her to just keep going at a steady pace.

I thought about pacing Sarah to the end, once she reached 45, but I was suddenly faced with a whole mess of logistical nightmares. 1) I needed to put gas in the truck, 2) I needed to get the truck back to the finish line for Nick and the others because their clothes were in it, 3) I needed a ride back to the aid station. Well somehow I managed to get these things accomplished and got back to the aid station, with a ride from Brad Bishop, just in time to catch Sarah about to leave for the last section of the course.

I was so happy I could be there to encourage her over the last few miles. And I was also more than happy to be walking as my achilles tendons were pretty cranky. After a mile or so it got dark and I'm glad I was there, because we had to traverse some steep declines covered in slippery rock steps. It was hard enough for me to traverse alertly with my gimpy legs. I would be worried for anyone doing that at the end of a long day of running in the heat...on gimpy legs.

Before we knew it, we started seeing lights in the distance. It was the campgrounds. As we got closer, my phone chimed at me. I checked it to discover KU had one the Big 12 Championship game!!! Woot woot! We couldn't get any cell service in town or at our cabin, but on the trail, sure. We (maybe just me) yelled "Rock Chalk Jayhawk!" This was a seriously exciting finish. A great accomplishment for Sarah AND a win for the hawks. It was meant to be.

Well I have to say despite the emotional rollercoaster I was on because I didn't compete, being there for my friends made it all worth while! To be continued again...

3 Days of Syllamo: Day 1

2011-03-15T13:01:00.000-05:00

I woke up on Saturday thrilled to get going. The race didn't start until 9am so when I woke up at 6 I had plenty of time to leisurely eat breakfast and get my pack together. I was sharing a cabin with some of my best running buddies: Nick (my VERY good running buddy), Coleen, Sarah, Debbie, Julie, Deb and Stu. The excitement was just overwhelming. As you can see we had this awesome cabin, the sun was shining, my best friends were with me, and we had 3 days of awesome trail running ahead of us! It felt like I was at summer camp. I've never been to summer camp, but I thought it would be exciting like this. But who knows. Maybe summer camp actually sucks.

You couldn't beat the scenery and weather at the start of the race. A bit chilly in the morning, but clear and sunny! Just look at these views! The race was on much of the same course as the Sylamore 50k that I ran a few weeks ago. The start/finish was the first and last aid station at Sylamore, so I knew we would be going up a big hill to begin with.

Once we started, I hitched onto the tails of Coleen and Sarah. Within a mile I realized I was going too fast, especially since I had 2 more days of racing. I was breathing heavily and I didn't see Debbie, Deb and Julie behind me. I hadn't run all week and that usually makes it hard on my lungs for a while. So I stepped off the trail to wait for the rest of the girls.

I was really excited to run with Debbie, Deb and Julie. Sometimes I go several weeks without seeing them since they live in KC, so being able to spend the whole day with them was definitely a treat. I also liked their pace. I didn't really come out to this race to "race". I thought of it more like a nature hike, with light running sprinkled in. This was pretty acurate, considering the length and steepness of some of the hills.

Debbie definitely has a special place in my heart, as my trail mom. She was the first good friend I made when I started trail running, and she's always treated me like family. And she's cheery. And she just always makes me happy! So running on these beautiful trails with my Debbie and all my wonderful friends on this sunny day was like heaven, until....

Three or four miles in I started getting some significant pain in my IT band. I thought this was pretty odd as I rarely have trouble with my IT band anymore, and if I do it just gets a little sore toward the end of an ultra. Not this full-on-downhill-limp-3-miles-in crap! I had a lot of miles left to run! I had a bit of a meltdown which hopefully nobody noticed since I was running in the back. But somehow I pulled myself together. Possibly with the help of some ibuprofen. I don't remember exactly when I took it, but I know I had some earlyish in the race.

I went back to being a happy cheery camper with some dull background pain. Thank you drugs. I think. We were running around, happy as can be. There was a steep long climb after the 2nd aid station (around 10 miles?), and the slope was exposed to the sun. We started complaining about the heat, although in retrospect it was really mild compared to the next day.

A couple miles in, we saw our KC friend, Brad, who informed us that the unmanned aid station was out of water. None of us had filled up at the previous aid station but I wasn't particularly worried with my 2 liter pack. I also figured the RD would just go out there and refill the water. I was wrong about the refilling. Apparently that location is impossible to reach in any reasonable amount of time. I didn't end up running out of water, but a lot of people did. Some people were running with single water bottles and were not prepared to run 10 miles at midday with no refills. Some people started filling their bottles in the waterfalls along the course. I guess that was a better option than refilling from the stream but I was glad I didn't reach the point where I had to do that. I don't want no giardia!

At the turnaround point, things started going to hell for some of my friends. Deb was out of water and had an upset stomach. I ran for a while thinking my friends would catch up, but I couldn't see them behind me. I stopped and waited for a while and still, nobody showed. I thought I heard Debbie telling Julie to go on ahead but I couldn't tell what was going on. Eventually, I decided to run on. I found out later that Debbie had turned her ankle pretty badly. Luckily she had friends to keep her company.

I, on the other hand, had unwittingly been bitten by the competitive bug I had vowed to ignore. One of the girls we were running with, Laura, had run on ahead while I waited for the other girls. I started thinking about catching her. Silly me. So I started running faster than I did the first half. Then I started thinking that I could get a negative split. Now I was racing against people AND myself. Drats.

Eventually I had Laura back in my sight, but when we reached the aid station she was in and out like a ninja. It took me a while to get in and out. I was waiting for access to the water. My hydration pack is also a pain to deal with in general. I have a Camelbak bladder inside a Nathan pack because I prefer the bite valve on the Camelback, but it doesn't fit very well inside the Nathan. Requires a lot of cramming. Well when I finally got everything filled and recrammed, Laura was long gone.

I slowed down a lot in this section. At least I felt like I did, because I couldn't see Laura anywhere. Eventually the pain from my IT band started creeping back and I took another dose of ibuprofen. I struggled a lot in this section and did more walking than I would have liked. My stomach was also pretty grumbly, so I was glad when I reached the last aid station.

I made a pit stop then grabbed a few bites to eat: pringles, cookies. Mmmmm. The volunteer at the aid station asked if I needed anything else. "Nope," I said, "just want to get to that finish line!" Leaving the last aid station is almost always an energy booster. It certainly was for me. I had a renewed desire to reach the finish line as soon as I could. I looked down at my watch and it said 6:20-something (time on the course not 6:20 in the evening). I was pretty sure there were about 5 miles to the finish line, so I set an agressive and hopeful goal of getting to the finish line in an hour.

Seems like a pretty slow pace, but when you're talking about technical trails, 12-minute miles are pretty good. And I knew there were some big hills I'd have to walk. So I tried to keep a decent pace on the flat parts. Probably 10-minute miles. I wouldn't let myself walk unless I was going up a particularly long, steep hill. After a while I caught up to and passed Laura. We guessed about how much mileage we had left and decided it was probably 2 to 2.5. I knew I'd have a big hill coming up, because I knew the end of the race was downhill for about a mile. So I ran as much as I could. I even ran part way up the steep hills.

I felt like I was probably running a little recklessly for the first day, but man, when I'm near the finish line, I can't help but kick it into gear. As I was power walking the big hills, I noticed a new pain. My left achilles tendon was starting to ache. I figured it was just irritation on the surface due to my low-cut socks and high-backed NB 100s. I was stupid to wear the low-cut socks. Not only did they slide down on my ankles, they also allowed a bunch of leaves and crap to get in my socks. By the time I realized I had a problem I was too committed to the finish to slow down or care about anything. I ended up finishing well, in 7:23. I had a 17-minute negative split. Of course, this was much slower than my 6:27 finish at Sylamore, but I ran the first half slower on purpose. And there were some pretty gnarly hills at the end of the course that weren't part of Sylamore.

I happily gathered my clothes and towel and headed to the stream with Coleen. Who needs the trouble of making an ice bath when there's a cold stream nearby?! It was really cold when we stepped in, but after hanging out for a few minutes, it became pretty comfortable. The water was clear and I saw tiny fishes swimming around my feet. I thought they were cute until Coleen started making jokes about Jaws. One of the fishes was gray like a shark. I kept imagining a tiny shark approaching me. I moved my feet around and yelled at the fish to move along. They didn't pay much attention to me. But they also did not tear the flesh off my ankles, so everything turned out ok.

I was definitely sore after the race, but I wasn't worried about the next day yet. To be continued...

A Major Breakthrough!

2011-03-10T08:39:00.000-06:00

I felt I should let the entire universe know that yesterday I did several unassisted assisted chin-ups. What exactly is an unassisted assisted chin-up, you say?? Well, because I have weak, feeble T-rex arms, I can't do REAL chin-ups. My trainer, Whitney, ties a big rubber band to the bar and I stick my foot through it. Hence, assisted. But because of the aforementioned weak, feeble T-rex arms, I ALSO require assistance, in the form of a little push, from my trainer to get my chin up above that darn bar. Until yesterday! Yesterday, I did several (maybe 5 out of 30) chin-ups without any help from my trainer. Just that beefy orange band.

In other news, today is very exciting, because I get to go down to Arkansas for 3 Days of Syllamo with all my awesome friends! I've never been before, but I'm told it's a blast. I imagine it being like summer camp, except for adult runners, and it's still winter. The forecast says it will be sunny and in the mid-60s every day though. So you can't beat that. If anything, it might be a little too warm for this hot-blooded runner. Well I guess I have to get ready for summer sometime.

Switchin' It Up

2011-03-04T13:18:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was my boyfriend's birthday and we had plans to go out to our local brewery for dinner and drinks. Normally I run with the ladies for our scheduled group run on Thursdays, but it being Nick's birthday and all, I figured it would be impolite to make him wait until 8:30 to eat dinner.

For some reason I was of the mindset that since I couldn't do the group run, I couldn't run at ALL. On my way home from work I realized I had plenty of time to get in a run if I cut out travel time to the trail and the chit chatting that goes along with group runs. I love chit chatting and trail running. It just doesn't help on days when I'm operating on a schedule.

As a trail runner, the thought of running around the neighborhood doesn't come naturally. But the more I though about it, the more I thought DUH, of course it would be awesome to do a short little run around the nearby KU campus with my man. He probably wants to run in this 65 degree weather just as much as I do! And we don't get to run together, just the two of us, very often. So that was another plus. I think he was equally surprised and cheery when I proposed the idea. Sometimes seemingly intelligent people can be real dolts (both of us, not just him).

Sometimes we all get into ruts. We think things have to be a certain way. I LOVE trails. I do not love running on the road every day. I wouldn't be happy running around campus every day (even though it would be good hill training). But just the act of doing something different every once in a while can be refreshing. And convenient! So don't forget to switch things up every once in a while.

Those Nagging Injuries

2011-02-28T14:51:00.000-06:00

As many of you know, I injured my tailbone several weeks ago. I wish I could relate some interesting account of the event which led to this injury, but it was simply unamazing (probably not a word). This might actually add a layer of comedy to the whole situation. Most people injure their tailbones by falling down. Pretty easy to imagine during the winter in KS, eh? So I will attempt to paint a picture of this most unmomentous occasion.

I am a total weanie about being cold while I'm standing still. When I'm waiting for people at group runs in the winter you can forget about me being social. I will stay in my car until the last person arrives before I tear myself away from the heated cabin. Ironically, I heat up very quickly when I'm running. Before you know it I've got my jacket tied around my waste and my hat and gloves stashed in my sports bra. One time I even took my shirt off and ran in a sports bra and tights. If you're guessing that I suck at running in the summer, you'd be correct! Ding ding ding ding!

Well this was one of those jacket-around-the-waste days. One of the guys I was running with needed to stop and retie his shoelaces, so OBVIOUSLY I decided it would be nice to sit in the snow. 1) I did not consider the depth of the snow before sitting down and 2) I had no knowledge of what this trail looked like without snow. Sooo there was a sharp rock under the shallow snow where I decided to sit, which was perfectly aligned with my tailbone. Lucky. I remember thinking, "Darn that smarts!" I moved my booty off the rock and took some deep breaths before getting back up. I just assumed this experience would be like...when you hit your shin on something and you curse for a minute or two then feel all better.

The soreness didn't go away as we finished the run and driving home was one of the more uncomfortable things I've experienced. I think the day after was the worst in terms of pain. Who knew the whole body revolved around the butt? Everything I did hurt. Lying on side. Ouch. Lying on other side. Ouch. Lean forward. A little better. Learn farther forward. Ouch.

The good news is that my state was greatly improved over the first week. The bad news is that it hasn't improved much over the past couple weeks. I mean, it's not excruciating, it just hurts enough to be highly irritating. So my doc friend tells me it's probably broken. So I say, "Should I not run my race in a couple weeks?" And he says, "You're not going to do any more damage. If you can deal with the pain you can do it, but your butt will take longer to heal." Hmmm.

Now I have a dilemma, because this isn't my only race coming up.

3 Days of Syllamo: 50k, 50mi, 20k - March 11-13
Rockin K 50mi - April 2
Jemez Mountain 50k - May 21
Lunar Trek 100k - July 15
Leadville Trail 100 - August 20-21

So my current course of action is to try to take it sort of easy. I'm not ready to throw in the towel on any of these races yet. I'll try to stick to shorter, slower runs over the next couple weeks to reduce the amount of impact being trasmitted to my booty. I'll take the 3 Day race one day at a time and might just do 1 or 2 days. If I HAD to pick a race to not compete it, it would probably be Rockin K. I could still volunteer and have a blast out there. I really want to do Jemez. I think it will be great training for Leadville and would really boost my confidence going into the race.

How annoying is it to have an injury that bothers you both when you're inactive (sitting too long) and too active (running too much)?!

Run Out Those Frustrations!

2011-02-24T09:44:00.000-06:00

I had high hopes for running earlier in the week. I don't remember exactly why I didn't run on Monday. I wanted to go to the grocery store and cook dinner maybe? Tuesday I had to leave work early to take care of some bs, which caused me to miss my planned run with the girls in KC. It also meant I had to work late from home to prep for a meeting the next day.

Most of this week's grief has been caused by...ohhh never mind! The bs mentioned above. I don't want to get myself in hotter water.

So my first weekday run was last night. My legs were feeling 100% post-race. Nick started out in front but before long had to step off to the side, because our new dog had to use the trail facilities. I took the lead and after a few minutes was feeling the burn. In my lungs. I thought about slowing down, but my legs really wanted to go that speed. So I said, "Ok legs. Have it your way. Let's go!" I also figured, "Hey, we're only going 4.5 miles. I might as well give it all I've got." Honestly, I didn't feel like I was going that fast. I just figured my lungs were being lame.

I think I did pretty well at keeping the same pace the whole time when Roxy Dog wasn't causing me to trip over my own feet. She usually runs ahead, so I know she's pooped when she's running next to me. I don't think it was my pace that was the problem but the fact that she had run 3 days in a row. She's not a young pup anymore but she can still run 5-10 miles pretty easily.

Well it was just a fabulous run. We gave new Lawrence Trail Hawk member, Chris, his hawk name. Giving someone a hawk name involves asking many probing questions. We found out that Chris had climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. We all agreed that was pretty badass so set about coming up with a name based on this awesome achievement. Kilimanjaro Hawk? Too long. Kil Hawk? I liked that one because it was my idea. Kili Hawk? Sounds girly. Finally Micah came up with Summit Hawk. And we all loved it.

When we got to the final section of switchbacks which always seems like more of a pain than it looks like, I decided to power up it. I always feel like the slower I run up hills the more torturous it is. So why not just get it over with? Clarification: I do not use this philosophy in ultra running. I also like to run the last section pretty fast. After the switchbacks the trail is flat and straight. I've always worried that I would trip and fall on my face running the last section but it never happened until last night. Fortunately, I didn't fall on any rocks and the trail was moist and spongy. Thank goodness for falling on the blue trail. The white trail, which is parallel to the blue, is dotted with quite a few rocks. I often have visions of myself falling face first into rocks and losing a bunch of teeth, but it hasn't slowed me down yet. I hopped back up, said I was ok, and finished up the run at a good clip.

Gary was hanging out at the trailhead when we finished and commented that we were running along at a good pace and that he was glad he turned back at the road. Nick said I splintered the group going up the switchbacks. Well I guess my lungs weren't joking around then! Anyway, feeling pretty good about my speed. And looking forward to Coleen (newly certified RRCA running coach) getting my butt into gear for some short distance PR's: 5k, 1 mile and 400m. I also owe a lot of my current fitness to my trainer, Whitney. I even have a slightly noticable bulge where my hamstring is now. Crazy.

2011 Sylamore 50k

2011-02-21T22:12:00.000-06:00

I was already excited at the end of my work day on Thursday. I had wrapped up a meeting with some customers and had NO more meetings for the rest of the week. I would also be leaving work early Friday to head down to the race with some of my best ultra friends. What more could you be excited about?! Oh yeah, it was 70 degrees outside. My happiness was slightly deflated when I had to spend my evening cleaning the house and packing for the race instead of sipping a margarita on a street front patio downtown then walking to Sylas & Maddy's for ice cream. I guess when it's nice out I feel like doing every single nice weather activity at ONCE!

Well Friday was pretty awesome too, and when Nick picked me up from work I had that going-on-a-road-trip giddiness. That stuff rarely lasts more than an hour in the car. And most times the trip never ends up being as exciting as you've built it up in your head. I'll admit that after 2 or 3 hours in the car I was wondering, "Are we theeeeerrrre yet???" I've never driven by Branson before, but I'm still pretty confused about what and where it actually is. I saw signs for what seemed like hours. Meanwhile, the side of the highway was dotted with an never-ending stream of businesses, gas stations and homes, which made it seem like we were driving through a very very long small town. I still have no idea whether Branson is a city or a small country in Missouri.

We caravanned with a couple of lovely ladies: my oldest (not talking about age) ultra lady friends, Debbie and Coleen. After what seemed like an eternity, we arrived in Mountain View, Arkansas, ate at Pizza Hut then headed to our hotel to meet up with the rest of our posse: Deb, Stu and Paul. We settled in, chatted and giggled. Ok, the guys laughed and the girls giggled. Don't want to offend those male egos. I think we turned the lights out by 8:30. And not long after...after we were done laughing about farting stories...silence came.

We got up dark and early at 5am! I was already pretty excited. More excited than nervous actually. And I was literally bouncing around by the time we were getting ready to drive to the start line. We arrived 1.5 hrs before the start and we spent most of that time discussing our trips to the bathroom. "I think I need to go again." "I've gone three times!" The general consensus is that ultra runners were raised by very impolite wolves, who promote discussion of farts, poop and chafing.

We finally saw Micah arrive, a runner from Lawrence who would be doing his first ultra! It suddenly occurred to me, that as newly elected president of the Lawrence Trail Hawks, it was my responsibility to gather everyone together, grab a stranger to take a photo, then exclaim "Picture formation everybody!" I learned this from the previous president, Gary, who takes a photo at every group run. I think he'll be proud.

I ran with Debbie, Deb and Coleen from the start. We started off on a flat road and after a quarter mile or so we went up a big hill. I thought we'd walk but everybody just kept running. It was like a game of hill chicken. Nobody would walk because they thought nobody else wanted to walk. I tried walking for a few steps but nobody else joined me so I started running again. Once we got to the top of the hill we turned onto a dirt road and got a nice downhill section. We soon arrived at the infamous water crossing, which was reportedly at a record low this year. In the deepest section, it was a little over my knees.

Right out of the water crossing, we began our trek up a steep hill. We walked of course. Sections of the course reminded me a lot of trails from home. Sometimes I thought of Clinton Lake. One time I actually felt like I was heading toward Land's End except the drop off was on the wrong side. Sometimes I thought of Perry Lake and there were even a few spots that reminded me of WyCo (minus the mud). The trail conditions were great. There was very little mud and it was confined to the few miles around the river.

I remember thinking, after the first aid station, that I was surprised to still be hanging with the girls. In case you don't know, I run with some pretty tough chicks. Just two weeks earlier I was on a training run with them and lagged behind most of the way. Well I suppose my legs were pretty fresh after taking a week off running for a tailbone injury and a very light pre-race week.

I was even more surprised when I accidentally dropped Deb and Debbie after leaving the 2nd aid station. We had started an unofficial leader rotation. I think the Double D's had both lead for a while and eventually I stepped up, although I was worried I'd just slow everybody down. Running order is an interesting thing. For the same speed, I always feel like I'm being pushed harder when I'm following somebody. When I'm in front I feel more comfortable and sometimes even run faster. Well the gap was growing between us and the Double D's, and I thought about slowing down but Coleen reminded me that it was a race and it was ok to run ahead.

So we went on but after a while I did realize that I was breathing pretty heavily and decided I needed to back off a little on the pace. I started to let my breathing dictate the pace since my legs felt pretty solid. The course is an out-and-back, so it was easy to size up our competition. And say hi to people. We started counting the number of women who were ahead of us. 1, 2, 3, 4, and before we knew it 15! I haven't been in many ultras that HAD 15 women total. And we definitely didn't feel like slackers. Just speaks to the awesomeness of the ladies who were out there.

We reached the halfway point at 3:15, and Coleen mentioned that we could finish in 6:30 with even splits. I thought that was pretty unlikely, until Coleen started leading out of the aid station. She was a machine and I was hanging on to her heels for dear life. If anyone could get us to the finish line with even splits it was her.

It turned out Coleen was the perfect running partner. I kept thinking, "There's no way I'm going to keep up with her. I'll just hang as long as I can." My thoughts were grounded in a good deal of statistical evidence. I have never beaten Coleen at anything. Maybe a 10k once a few years ago? Anyway, she generally kicks my butt at any distance from 5k to 100mi. The only advantage I have over her is in sprinting, and that is pretty much useless in an ultra. She ran hills I probably would have walked. I told her later that I felt like I was cheating, running behind her, because I probably wouldn't have run those hills. She replied that she ran them because she thought I would give her a hard time if she didn't. I guess sometimes lack of communication pays off! Maybe there is some benefit in bottling up your feelings in an ultra. If I told Coleen I was getting tired, maybe she would say she was tired too so we would both agree to walk more instead of run.

Coleen started having trouble about a mile out from the last aid station. Her calves were tight I think. Since I was feeling the urge to visit the facilities, I agreed to go on ahead so I could go to the restroom at the aid station and not lose too much time. Well it turned out she was only a few seconds behind me when we reached the aid station, so she graciously grabbed some food for me and walked while I took care of business. Once we started running again Coleen was going like she was on a mission. She had her headphones on. I started doubting myself again and thinking I wish I had some awesome tunes to listen to. By the time I asked her what she was listening to, thinking maybe she could sing to me to share some energy, she wasn't wearing her headphones anymore. I was obviously clueless. I was feeling a little spacey the last 10 miles of the race. Not particularly tired, just fuzzy. I ate and drank when I started feeling off.

The last 6 miles didn't last nearly as long as I was expecting them to. The trail was also much less hilly than I expected it to be. I guess I didn't study the elevation map very carefully, but I was really expecting a BIG climb. Actually I was looking forward to it. I wanted a walk break. Before I knew it, I was back at the water crossing. Coleen started crossing as I reached the other side and I shouted words of encouragement at her. I was really looking forward to crossing the finish line with her, but she urged me on ahead. I asked the volunteers at the crossing how far the finish line was, and they told me it was a little over a mile. At this point, that seemed like a long way to me.

I felt bad leaving Coleen behind after she had pushed me for so long. She had even filled my hydration pack for me at the last aid station so we wouldn't lose time while I took a bathroom break. But knowing Coleen, she would probably smack me around if I didn't try my hardest. After all, it was a race, as she had pointed out to me. So my first goal was to finish strong. My second, to catch that dude in the yellow jacket. And my third, to catch the chick in red who was ahead of the guy in yellow. Hint: Two out of three ain't bad.

Before I knew it I was at the dirt road that was mostly up hill. I walked the hill, meanwhile keeping yellow shirt in my sights. I wasn't sure I could catch him, but before I knew it I noticed him turning the corner to get on the paved road and head down hill. When I reached the road, I realized I had no chance of catching "chick in red". Yellow shirt also had a good lead so I tried my best to close the gap between us. I was getting pretty close to him toward the finish line, so I decided to sprint it in. I felt it would only be fair to warn him that I was about to pass him, but he couldn't match my pace. We joked about it at the finish line. He felt that the crowd should have warned him that I was sneaking up on him. I think my time was 6:26-ish, but I haven't seen the official results yet.

Coleen finished just a minute or two behind me. Micha finished in 6:55, and the Double D's finished just under 7 hrs. I have to say the race was definitely a success. The course was beautiful, the weather was perfect, and I was able to push myself the whole time without crashing. This wasn't a 50k PR for me, but if you take into account terrain, I feel like it effectively is. My 50k PR was 6:07 at Lunar Trek. It was neither as hilly nor as technical as this race.

Micah crosses the finish line at his first ultra.

So when I think about what went right and what went wrong, here's what I come up with:

Positives

Coleen set a great pace. She is awesome!
I've been practicing walking lately. I've been setting the treadmill to max incline and walking as fast as I can for 10-15 minutes. A suggestion of Coleen's. Although I could not match her HOUR. I think I would shoot myself on the treadmill for an hour. Besides, speed walking is a lot harder than you might think. I also walked with my coworkers at lunch time. I have a coworker who can walk a 35-minute 5k! So many ultra runners take walking for granted, including me, until recently. But practicing walking will teach you how to walk efficiently, and that definitely helped me on those hills.
Strength training. I've been working out with a personal trainer 1-2 times per week for the past couple months. Like so many runners, for a long time I only ran. But a strong core is also important, especially for trail and ultra runners.
Great weather. I prefer cool weather. I suck at running in the heat. I think it was in the upper 50's to low 60's, which was pretty good for shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. A few degrees cooler would have been nice too, but I really can't complain.

Negatives

???
Ok, I guess my mileage has been pretty low lately. Maybe I could have pulled off a better performance if I spent a little more time running during the week.

Debbie and Deb at the finish line.

P.S. Sorry I didn't post more pictures. I didn't actually take any except for this one of the Debs. But they do exist! I'll post them when I get more.

Who's Behind the Stuff?

2011-02-16T21:24:00.000-06:00

Today my boyfriend, Nick, informed me that our landlord would be showing our house in a couple of days. Of course, this sent me into a house cleaning flurry, which only happens when people are coming over. But "showing the house" means we have to clean the WHOLE house. After that initial housewarming party, you really don't have to keep that second floor tidy, because nobody ever goes up there right??? Well, it's been a year and a half since that housewarming party and we're moving out in July, so I guess it's time to tidy the whole place up.

I tend to freak out when faced with daunting tasks like, having to clean the house in two days AND pack for an ultra trip (Sylamore 50k in Arkansas) at the same time. So grabbing a glass of wine early on was definitely a good choice. I should point out that if child services came by our house on a typical day and we actually had children, they would probably be taken away. One glance at the pile of dirty running socks and shoes piled in the middle of our living room - the location in which most living rooms have a coffee table - and the box of cheezits resting serenely on the couch would send most people running away. FYI, the cheezits belong to Nick. I don't eat junk food like that! Unless...Nick buys it and it's sitting on the couch saying, "Eat me. I taste nothing like cheese but you know you want me."

So there I was. Cleaning. I grabbed some clothes to wash from the landfill of laundry that extends from our bedroom to the "closet" which is a totally different room than the bedroom. Once I sort of organized the upstairs to the point that I could do no more, i.e. there was still a landfill of laundry that would not fit into the washer or laundry baskets, I headed downstairs to tackle the kitchen. Since I've been healing from a bruised tailbone and I didn't run or work out last week, I did a lot of cooking. I like cooking. I do not, however, like cleaning the kitchen after I cook. Sooooo, there were a lot of dishes. I washed them.

By the time, I started putting things away in the office, I was feeling pretty good. I had been carrying the wine everywhere I went. Walk 10ft. Bring the wine. Go upstairs. Bring the wine. Go downstairs. Bring the wine. I walked by our entryway, glancing at our hallway full of shoes. I'm not kidding. We have a HALLWAY FULL OF SHOES. Mostly running. So I started thinking about what these potential new tenants would think about various aspects of our living quarters, such as:

1. Ok, I already mentioned the hallway full of shoes. Here it is.

2. The wall of jackets...at the end of the hallway of shoes. I didn't use to own so many jackets. But Nick got me hooked. I blame him.
3. Cabinet full of water bottles.
4. Office loaded with fantasy/sci-fi books, Magic the Gathering and pewter models of dragons. I'll cop to loving fantasy and sci-fi but the dragons and games are Nick's.
5. Bags scattered around the house. I think every ultra runner has plenty of bags on hand. We have a lot of baggage! Shoes, clothes, food.

So my conclusion is, people will probably think we're very nerdy people who are very addicted to running and being outside. And that's just fine with me! It does make me wish that I could be there to see the looks on those faces though.

Need the Miles

2011-02-06T15:53:00.000-06:00

It's been a slow first month of the year. My mileage has been low and I just haven't had much of interest to write about. I completed two long runs in January: 25 miles at Coleen's Fat Ass, and a 20 miler with my friend Sarah on the North Shore Trails at Clinton Lake. The Fat Ass is a casual run at the Prairie Center in Olathe. There's a 3.2 mile loop of trail. You can do as many loops as you want. And everyone brings snacks to share inside the Prairie Center museum, which is filled with taxidermied (not sure that's a word) animals native to KS. There's always a new surprise in the freezer every time we go out there. Last time there was a beaver.

So I haven't done many long runs and I haven't been running much during the week either. Some of my slacking was due to weather, some was due to other commitments, and some was just slacking. So yesterday I got together with a group of friends and we cranked out 32 miles on the country roads outside of Gardner, KS. Our friend Darin crewed for us out of his truck so we didn't have to do a bunch of short out-and-backs. What a dear! I was feeling a little anxious about the upcoming 3 Days of Syllamo toward the end of the run since I was getting pretty stiff and sore, but after a good 7 miler today, I've decided to attribute yesterday's performance to a tough session with my personal trainer Friday evening.

Today's run went pretty well. My legs weren't too sore and I was able to keep a decent pace. Ironically, I injured myself out on the trail today, but it wasn't caused by a running accident. While we waited for a fellow runner to tie his shoes, I decided it would be nice to sit in the shallow snow. This was a bad idea. I landed directly on a small sharp rock and bruised my tailbone. So walking and running feel fine! But sitting is rather intense. Hope it heals up soon. I have a desk job!

Finally, in other news, I was elected president of our local trailrunning group, the Lawrence Trail Hawks. I'm pretty excited about my new role. I know it will be challenging but I'll do my best and hope I leave a positive mark. Lately I've been planning for my debut as race director of the Pi-Day River Rotation Half Marathon. I'm getting all my ducks in a row: purchasing awards and t-shirts, verifying course measurements, planning for packet pickup and of course, thinking about the 12 pies we need to make for post-race snacking. Mmmmm. You know you want to come!

Back At It

2010-12-23T09:33:00.001-06:00

With a packed ultra schedule coming up -- 1 in January, 2 in February, 1 in March and 1 in April -- I realized it was time to get back in training mode. I've been having fun sleeping in on weekends and doing my little 10 milers, but that's not gonna cut it for 3 Days of Syllamo. And I can honestly say that I'm ready to get back into the long runs again. I don't know that I'm mentally ready for the back-to-back long run weekends, in which I spend half of my time running and the other half eating and napping, but I have a while before I have to do that again.

So with that in mind, I decided last weekend was THE weekend. The weekend to start back up. I made plans with my friend Sarah to meet up Sunday morning for a 20-miler at Clinton Lake. I've spent a lot of time at the smooth, fast River Trails lately. Far too much time actually. The advantages of running the River Trails are:

Fairly non-technical. You can keep a decent pace and get your run knocked out quickly. In contrast, Clinton Lake is quite technical with lots of rocks, roots and hills.
Close to home. Clinton Lake is about 7 miles away, so it's kind of a waste to drive out there for a short run.
Good drainage at the river. The trails at the lake can get very muddy, especially in the spring time. Last year was especially challenging, due to the large amount of snow we got in the winter. Recently however, the Kansas Trails Council added a great deal of armoring to the normally soggy sections and it has helped a ton!

The disadvantages of running at the river:

Non-technical. I know I already referred to this as an advantage but well...it can get a little boring when you're not challenged much. In addition, very few trail races are on trails this smooth. My reflexes and ankle strength seem to have deteriorated a bit due to my months-long hiatus from the lake.
Short on length. A full loop of the river trail is only 9 miles. Loops get boring. A full loop at the lake is 23 miles. And the scenery is constantly changing.

So all things considered, I decided it was time to get back to the hills, rocks and roots of Clinton Lake. As far as I can remember, my last long run at the lake was back in May when I ran the Inaugural Hawk 50. Wondering why it's been so long? Well for one, remember when I mentioned the trail could be a little soggy? Here's a water crossing at the race, which is normally calf high on me.

Anyway, the trail was soggy for a LONG time. Like, until July. I should also tell you that I hate summer and I also hate spider webs. So running on a trail that would extend my run time by 30% or more wasn't very tempting. Nor was the prospect of breaking through hundreds of spider webs on this less-traveled trail. I'm pretty good at coming up with lists of excuses, huh?

Well it was the perfect time to get back to the lake! It was in the mid-30's for our run. My favorite temps for running. And the trail was nice and dry. We started out at 7am and after the first mile we had both warmed up quite a bit. So I stopped to take off my jacket and my brand new glove/mittens, bungied them into my Nathan pack and put on my thin liner gloves. I'm getting pretty good at having the right gear on hand at all times. The quirks of a runner I guess. I actually keep headlamps in my purse all the time. What kind of odd things do you keep in YOUR purse?

The rest of the run was just wonderful. I probably wasted a lot of time stopping to look at things, but I was just having too much fun. It felt like I was on vacation! I would look down and see some cool bird feathers with bright orange accents and point them out to Sarah. I'm sure by the fifth time I pointed out bird feathers she was thinking, "Enough already!" All along the way, I stayed fueled with the energy balls Sarah made at home. They are sooo good. Made with dates, figs, and apricots. I think there was some yummy coconut in there too which provided a nice texture. We were a little nervous at times, because we kept hearing what sounded like gun shots. And to my knowledge hunting is not allowed in the park, so I can only assume someone was hunting on nearby public land. I was wishing I had worn a bright orange shirt instead of my all-black ninja-esque getup. At least I wasn't wearing a white fluffy tail. The good news is, we never got shot!

On our way back to the trail head we spotted a big bird, which I thought might be a hawk, because I'm not good at identifying birds. I commented that I wish our friend Kristi was there to tell us what it was and to identify all the feathers we kept seeing. Not a minute later, we came across Mike Goodwin (president of the Kansas Trails Council) hiking the trail. We greeted him and he asked if we had seen the baby eagle fly by. Well that answered our question in a timely manner. We saw a baby eagle! Pretty big for a baby! I asked him about the next trail maintenance day and he said it would be sometime after the new year. I forget what it would involve. Something about a water crossing maybe?? Anyway, sounds like a fun project for January!

We did a bit more walking toward the end, but I didn't feel totally exhausted or unbearably sore. We finished up in about 4 hours and 45 minutes, which I was pleased with--taking into account eating breaks, staring-at-birds-and-feathers breaks and the challenging nature of the trail. I mean, if I'm really bookin' it, I can maintain a 5mph pace for about 10 miles out there. And I don't think of myself as a slow runner. This trail just takes it out of you.

After the run, I grabbed a Jimmy John's sammy, went home, ate, showered, planned on doing stuff around the house, but ended up just conking out. The effects of the long run hit me like a sledge hammer. I didn't mind. I got in a great nap, anyway! I did not envy Sarah, who went home, took a shower, then had company over to bake cookies all afternoon. Zzzzzz. I don't know how she does it all, AND wrangles a 2 year old.

Well, I can definitely say that I was excited about my first weekend back at distance training. Ask me what I think about it in a couple months when I'm doing back-to-backs.

My First Race

2010-12-17T11:03:00.000-06:00

Don't let the title confuse you. The topic of this entry is not "the first race I ever ran". That was probably the Parkville Turkey Trail Trot 5k in 2002, and I was really slow. I'm talking about...drum roll please...the first race I will ever DIRECT! A very exciting milestone.

So how did I come across my first race directing opportunity? It was a weekend. Sunny I think. Maybe 40 degrees. I was running on the Lawrence River Trails. I had turned around early. My initial plan was to do two, 9-mile loops. Then my revised plan was to do one, 9-mile loop. Then my double revised plan was to do 5 miles. If I recall correctly, the reasons included chafing and wanting to spend time with my boyfriend.

So on my trek of shame back to the trail head, I started thinking about how we (the Lawrence Trail Hawks) don't have any races on the river trails. To date, they've all been at Clinton Lake State Park. In my quest for branching out, I began brainstorming when such a race would be. And based on the dates of the other races we already host and the fact that I hate the summer, I decided on early spring. Then I thought about what the name and distance of the race would be. It's all a blur to me now, which order I decided on what. But the result was...the Pi-Day River Rotation (πr²) Half Marathon. The reasons being, 1) Pi Day is in March, which fit my time frame, 2) Pi Day is nerdy and I like that, 3) the title can be abbreviated πr², which is the area of a circle (more nerdy), 4) it's a loop course with alternating counter clockwise and clockwise directions and 5) we don't have a half marathon yet.

So now I should probably back up and tell you what Pi Day is in case you haven't heard of it. Pi Day is a holiday held to celebrate the mathematical constant π, 3.1415… It is held on March 14th (3/14). Get it? π (sometimes written pi) is a mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of any circle’s circumference to its diameter in Euclidean space. -source http://www.wikipedia.org/

Also, Pi Day is generally celebrated by eating pie and other round foods. So even if one was totally unappreciative of the clever name and not nerdy at all, he or she would still be lured in by pie (and running). Unless you're Sarah, and you don't like pie. Weirdo. If you were Sarah, you'd still have to come, because you're my friend. So there.

In conclusion, because I came up with the idea I have to direct it! That's the way it goes 'round here. So here are the details! It's March 19th at 8am. Sorry, couldn't actually swing Pi Day. It's a Monday. But you could still celebrate by running around in circles if you want. Online registration will be open soon, but if you like writing checks and mailing things and not paying extra fees, you can register RIGHT NOW! So check it out!

Running Family

2010-12-10T08:06:00.001-06:00

Since it's the holiday season, I've been getting all soft and sappy feeling. So I thought I'd take advantage and write a bit about the importance and awesomeness of my vast running family. If I had to guess, I would say I'm friends with 100+ trail and ultra runners in the Kansas/Missouri area. And if you have any experience with the trail/ultra community you'll know that any of those people would probably donate an arm and part of a leg to help out a fellow runner.

I'm always amazed when I think about how very different many of my running friends are in terms of political views, religious beliefs, everything! But it never stops us from loving each other to death. We all share a few things. 1) Loving the outdoors. 2) Need for a challenge, test or struggle. Builds character! We've all been in a race and thought, "Gosh, this is the hardest thing EVER. I hurt like hell, why am I doing this?" And after the race you're still thinking, "I'm never doing THAT again." And a few days to a few weeks later you're saying, "When's the next race? I wanna sign up!" 3) Friendliness. If you meet someone at a trail race, the next tme you see them, you're on hugging terms. The third time you see them, you're old friends, practically BFFs. Unless it's Stacy Sheridan or Debbie Webster you're talking about. They'll hug you the moment they meet you!

So to my running family, whether you celebrate Christmas or not, you can always take those few days away from work to reflect on all the special people in your life and remind them that you love 'em all!

Love you dearly ,

Laurie

Cold Weather Running

2010-12-02T10:31:00.000-06:00

So if you didn't know yet, I like to run when it's cold! But I do have my sweet spots. Tuesday night got pretty chilly - upper 20's and windy. My hands were pretty cold at the end. I ended up running with my water bottle tucked under my arm for a while. Last night was just lovely. I think it was upper 20s or low 30s, but no wind. If it's light I'm pretty comfy with low to mid 20's. If it's dark, my sweet spot is low 30's. If I had a limit I would say it's somewhere around zero.

The legs start getting super stiff down around zero. I suppose one could throw enough layers on to run at lower temps but then the weight and bulkiness of your clothes starts hampering motion, and it's just not as much fun. Although...running with extra weight would probably be a great workout, I run because I like to feel free and light! Not because I like to feel like I'm carrying around a small child.

My coldest run, most painful run? Well, coldest-FEELING. It was 9 degrees, not taking into account wind chill, and it WAS windy. Also, it was night. Nick and I ran along the levee for 1 mile to the trailhead, did the 4 mile loop, then headed back on the levee. I never warmed up. My legs burned the whole time. In all fairness to the winter weather, I was wearing extremely lightweight tights. I think Nick and I can both agree that this was our most painful run. He has his own reasons. Maybe having something to do with the fact that he had to stop for a bathroom break?? He loves telling the story. Just ask him.

What's New?

2010-11-06T15:16:00.000-05:00

So it's been about a month since Heartland and my current attitude towards running has changed a lot since then. I wouldn't characterize it as good or bad. This is just my current state of mind. After several months of training for Heartland and ultimately completing it, I'm just burnt out on "training". At least 100 mile training. Don't get me wrong. I still love running and I always have. But towards the end of my training for Heartland, it was definitely starting to feel more like work than fun. Maybe this is because I'm sort of obsessive about planning. I was ALWAYS thinking about the next run. How far do I need to go? Where should I run? When should I run? Who will run with me? What if it's too hot? What about the spider webs? Do I need to split my runs up? This is just how I am. A planner. And a bit of an obsessor. You can ask my boyfriend, Nick. I'm always talking to him about plans, for everything. He flies by the seat of his pants. I like to know exactly what I'll be doing for the next two weeks. Anyway, you can imagine that my own personality was a bit of a hassle for me while training for my first 100 miler. Who knows? Maybe it will be easier the more 100's I run, but for now I'm content with just running.

Ok, maybe JUST running is an understatement. I think runners always have goals. Right now I'm enjoying my shorter runs. I'm enjoying the cooler weather (I totally SUCK at running in the heat). I'm enjoying getting home on weeknights at a decent time and being able to make dinner and eat it before 9pm (usually). I'm enjoying sleeping in at least one day on the weekend. I'm enjoying spending more time with my boyfriend. Along with the pure pleasure of the shorter cooler runs, comes the enjoyment of faster runs! When I was training for Heartland, I was purely training for distance. I was also training in the heat, so even if I wanted to do a short, fast run, I couldn't. So right now, I'm focusing on increasing my speed, doing more hill training, and hopefully starting to work on my core. I'd really like to do some faster 50k's. And maybe in the spring or early summer I'll try another 100 miler. Something not on gravel and not in the mountains. Perhaps Kettle Moraine.

So finally, I guess I'll document what I've been up to and what I want to be up to more. Here are some shots of Ogg Rd hill. I used to run it more often but it's been a while since we've gotten together for hill repeats. Well since I was early for meeting up with Coleen on Tuesday, I decided to do one Ogg Rd trip. It's about a half mile long on the steepest side. The pics are a little blurry, because I was taking them and running at the same time.

Ok, this is the easy part. It's a hill but it ain't the worst thing in the world. You can see at the bend farther down the road it starts to get a little steeper.

Going around the beeennnnnd...getting steeeper.

I'm around the bend. It's officially STEEP! But wait, there's another bend coming up!

You mean it gets steeper?! Yessss!!! This is the hardest section. And there's Jim Megerson driving past me and probably laughing to himself. There's one more turn and a short jaunt past that is the official top. Then you run down the other (easy) side of the hill and you can get back to the Marina where we all meet to run the trails. Wooo! The End.