"You can do more than you think you can" RNR Half RR
Hope everyone had a terrific Labor Day holiday weekend!! Do anything fun? This particular holiday will go down in the books as one of the best ever! First, Badwater Legend Marshall Ulrich was in town promoting his book, Running on Empty. The local running store Running Etc. hosted a run and book signing where we were treated to a presentation of Marshall’s transcontinental run – the main theme of his book. Probably one of the most inspiring presentations I’ve been to. He is truly down to earth and talks about his once-in-a-lifetime adventures as if anyone can go out and achieve them too. And he even told us throughout the presentation – “You can do more than you think you can.” Hmmm….
Moving into Saturday, Marshall joined some of the Hampton Road Runners for our pre-race dinner. For the past eleven years Virginia Beach has hosted the Rock N Roll Half Marathon every Labor Day Sunday. Carb loading, sharing race stories and goals, my buddy Frank, Marshall and I talked about our goals for the race. Frank was ready to tear it up telling us he had some “wheels to burn!” (Easy for him to say, his PR is a 1:25). I shared my over-the-top goal of running 1:40. Now let me stop here for a second because for some of you who can very comfortably run a sub 1:30 half marathon – YES, I get 1:40 is slow. But for me, this is reallyreally fast. So fast in fact that every year prior I simply made the goal of finishing in just under 2 hours because *that* was comfortable, not to mention attainable. I explained to Marshall that my PR was a 1:52 and how 1:40 was a stretch. Oh and the other part of all this is that somehow I made this goal without taking into consideration that I didn’t train for it specifically. I was counting on all the Badwater training which is quite different from half marathon training. So there you go. Probably seeing the scared to death look in my eyes Marshall wasted no time in helping us find a mantra to focus on during the race, “Frankly, I can do this” he decided should be the race mantra. It’s more of a play on Frank’s name but I was quick to adopt it too.
Sunday morning, race day. Woke up, got dressed and jogged to the start. I did a few last minute strides to warm-up before getting into the assigned corral. With 11k+ runners at this race, everyone is assigned a corral based on predicted finish time. I was lucky to have fellow runner Brian J. agree to pace. Brian is one of those 1:20-ish half marathon runners, which blows my mind! 1:40 pace would be a cake walk for him and thankfully so because I was looking to him to continuously calculate pace making sure we were on target.
As the gun went off I took my last nice and easy comfortable breath before heading out. One mile into the race, Brian asked how I was feeling. Looking down at Garmin I told him I was in Heart Rate Zone: Heart Attack. He laughed and told me not to look at my watch anymore until the end. Abidingly, I not only avoided Garmin but also looked away when passing the course clocks.
Settling into pace I could feel Garmin vibrating on my wrist as we clicked off the miles. Approaching mile 6, I pulled out the mantra, “Frankly, I can do this!!” repeating it over and over in my head. Mile 10 was sort of a wall. In two-year old-like fashion I huffed and puffed to Brian “TANK! EMPTY!” Brian very cool, calm and collected looked over and said, “Your tank is not empty, you’re still running. It will be empty when we cross the finish line.” Very nice I thought. A pacer with no sympathy (and exactly what I needed). By mile 11 I pulled it back together focusing on the mantra… “FranklyIcandothis–FranklyIcandothis!! – FRANKLY, I’M DOING THIS!!”
The last obstacle was the Rudee Bridge (about a 30ft climb). My legs felt like solid lead weighing me down. Brian looked back at me trying to get me to push but rigor mortis was taking over and pace was way off. The downside of the bridge helped me regain momentum and speed. Taking the last two corners hard I had a mile left to run on the boardwalk. Every step felt knee deep in cement. Brian instructed me to leave it all on the course. I could feel the legs wanting to buckle but just when the finish line came in clear view I conjured up one last surge to the line.
In a time of 1:41 I finished, running an eleven minute PR for my eleventh Rock N Roll Half Marathon and “Frankly, I did it.”
Thanks Marshall and Brian!!
Moving into Saturday, Marshall joined some of the Hampton Road Runners for our pre-race dinner. For the past eleven years Virginia Beach has hosted the Rock N Roll Half Marathon every Labor Day Sunday. Carb loading, sharing race stories and goals, my buddy Frank, Marshall and I talked about our goals for the race. Frank was ready to tear it up telling us he had some “wheels to burn!” (Easy for him to say, his PR is a 1:25). I shared my over-the-top goal of running 1:40. Now let me stop here for a second because for some of you who can very comfortably run a sub 1:30 half marathon – YES, I get 1:40 is slow. But for me, this is reallyreally fast. So fast in fact that every year prior I simply made the goal of finishing in just under 2 hours because *that* was comfortable, not to mention attainable. I explained to Marshall that my PR was a 1:52 and how 1:40 was a stretch. Oh and the other part of all this is that somehow I made this goal without taking into consideration that I didn’t train for it specifically. I was counting on all the Badwater training which is quite different from half marathon training. So there you go. Probably seeing the scared to death look in my eyes Marshall wasted no time in helping us find a mantra to focus on during the race, “Frankly, I can do this” he decided should be the race mantra. It’s more of a play on Frank’s name but I was quick to adopt it too.
Sunday morning, race day. Woke up, got dressed and jogged to the start. I did a few last minute strides to warm-up before getting into the assigned corral. With 11k+ runners at this race, everyone is assigned a corral based on predicted finish time. I was lucky to have fellow runner Brian J. agree to pace. Brian is one of those 1:20-ish half marathon runners, which blows my mind! 1:40 pace would be a cake walk for him and thankfully so because I was looking to him to continuously calculate pace making sure we were on target.
As the gun went off I took my last nice and easy comfortable breath before heading out. One mile into the race, Brian asked how I was feeling. Looking down at Garmin I told him I was in Heart Rate Zone: Heart Attack. He laughed and told me not to look at my watch anymore until the end. Abidingly, I not only avoided Garmin but also looked away when passing the course clocks.
Settling into pace I could feel Garmin vibrating on my wrist as we clicked off the miles. Approaching mile 6, I pulled out the mantra, “Frankly, I can do this!!” repeating it over and over in my head. Mile 10 was sort of a wall. In two-year old-like fashion I huffed and puffed to Brian “TANK! EMPTY!” Brian very cool, calm and collected looked over and said, “Your tank is not empty, you’re still running. It will be empty when we cross the finish line.” Very nice I thought. A pacer with no sympathy (and exactly what I needed). By mile 11 I pulled it back together focusing on the mantra… “FranklyIcandothis–FranklyIcandothis!! – FRANKLY, I’M DOING THIS!!”
The last obstacle was the Rudee Bridge (about a 30ft climb). My legs felt like solid lead weighing me down. Brian looked back at me trying to get me to push but rigor mortis was taking over and pace was way off. The downside of the bridge helped me regain momentum and speed. Taking the last two corners hard I had a mile left to run on the boardwalk. Every step felt knee deep in cement. Brian instructed me to leave it all on the course. I could feel the legs wanting to buckle but just when the finish line came in clear view I conjured up one last surge to the line.
In a time of 1:41 I finished, running an eleven minute PR for my eleventh Rock N Roll Half Marathon and “Frankly, I did it.”
Thanks Marshall and Brian!!
Rocky Raccoon 100
Huntsville, Texas February 5, 2011. Five loops, 20 miles each loop. All trail.
Snap-Crackle –Thunk…That about sums up what the first few miles at Rocky Raccoon 100. Race morning began at a cool 25 degrees in Huntsville, Texas. Getting to the start line, I gave kisses and hugs to my husband, and my Dad who was able to come up for the race. At 6AM we were off and running.
Lap 1 - As soon as we hit the trails, I knew instantly this race was going to start off much-much slower than I planned, for two reasons: 1. I have terrible eyesight to begin; in the dark I might as well be blind and 2. Wooden bridges the first three miles were frozen over with ice and all of the roots just waiting to eat up my ankles.
My friend Doug ran this race last year and had to bail within the first five miles due to a terrible ankle injury - now I know why - ROOTS! Tons of evil roots hiding under pine straw. All I could think of the first few miles was, Do NOT get injured!! I decided pace was not as important as preventing injury and slowed way down.
I passed my loved ones around the first aid station hoping to catch a little sympathy when I yelled, “I can’t see!!” But eh, all I heard back was, “Keep rolling.” Oh. Ok. Thanks.
The rest of the loop didn’t get any better. As the sun came up, I was thankful for the warmth, but it’s been a long time since I ran trails that my stride was off. I ran like a road runner forgetting to lift feet high enough to miss roots. Within the first lap I managed to fall four times. The first time I remember thinking, “Ok, well that wasn’t too bad a fall.” By the fourth fall, for a fraction of a second I wanted to just stay on the ground and have someone carry me off. My body ached so bad, my knees and right quad felt terrible and knotted up. I’m not a graceful faller either. It’s more like a THUNK-SPLAT! I usually never think to use Aleve or anything during runs until at least the last 30 miles or so of a 100 but geez – first 20 miles and I was begging like a puppy for Aleve. No such luck.
Lap 2 – I don’t really remember much except that I hurt all over. The sun was up and I struggled a lot to find a good line in the trails. I’m so blind that the sun played tricks with my eyes, casting shadows through the trees. I think this is the lap where I asked for my prescription eyeglasses. It was a last minute thought I had in hopes of seeing better. Unfortunately, no such luck. The glasses made me dizzy and I stumbled once more. Stored in my pocket, they would stay until the next lap.
Lap 3 – I need better eyesight! Here’s the problem, I have one extreme far sighted eye, and one near sighted eyeball and they don’t get along at all. Ugh! Depth perception on trails is incredibly difficult. Having said that, I don’t think it was my eyesight this time when I zoned out and took a wrong turn. Somewhere on the back stretch I did the back loop and almost did it again. Things started to seem awfully familiar (like hey, didn’t I *just* pass this?!!?). Came up on two other runners who graciously helped me figure out that I was going the wrong way. Darn it! Heading back I felt tears rushing down my face and my clenched up throat would barely let me breathe. Runners coming toward me yelled to me that I was going the wrong way. Yes – I know!! It felt like eternity on that trail and I started to worry I was still lost. More tears. Two more runners asked if I needed help. We compared distance from our GPS watches and they told me to keep going I was almost back on track. And yes finally – I made it back to DamNation aid Station. It was so upsetting because I had passed the third place female and now I knew my 25 minute screw up threw me back into fourth place. Coming into the aid station I saw a volunteer using his blackberry to take pictures. I came up on him and asked if I could use his phone. He dialed my husband’s number and I quickly told Russ what happened. My fear was that the delay would create additional worry for them and I just needed them to know what happened. (Ok, and maybe I just needed to hear Russ’ voice to calm me down a bit too.)
Lap 4 – This is when we were allowed to have pacers. Yay!! My first pacer was Russ. I had asked him on the fly toward the end of Lap 3 if he would meet me and run the first three miles. He was there waiting to run. I was sooo happy to have him running beside me. He pep talked me and updated me with all of the texts , and messages from friends. All of it made me feel so much better about things. We came up on the first aid station said goodbye and picked up my next pacer Keith. I had never met Keith in person until the night before the race. My friend Sarah recruited him to be my pacer and not until later would I know how incredibly lucky I was to have an amazing person pace me. The first few miles Keith talked and we got to know each other. It was getting dark so our focus was finding the best way to light up the trails so I could see. What a massive struggle! I think we switched light positions three or four times. I was very achy from the ankle twists and falls from the morning so I took some Aleve and starting feeling better. Moving at a decent clip I could tell my pace was still completely off track. I didn’t know what my target time and with Keith there it made more sense to just let him take control of timing. The night slowed us down in the heavily rooted section but we were able to pick up the pace a bit on the flat straight sections. I remember laughing with him because on the sections I hated the most, he loved. On the sections I couldn’t wait to run on, he couldn’t stand. It actually made for a good team. No telling what my pace would have been if my pacer couldn’t run on rooted trails either.
It was getting late into the evening and as we made our way back to the Start/Finish area the idea of having one more lap seemed incredibly daunting.
Lap 5 – Back out for one last loop. Russ confirmed I was holding second place female overall….although it seemed a bit hokey to still be 2nd when the first place female, Liza Howard, had won hours ago. I think at that point the 3rd place female was about 15 minutes behind but who knows if that was Russ trying to get me to run faster or actually the case…
This was the hardest lap of all. My body ached all over from the falls, the ankle crunchings; fatigue in general . Keith and I talked about my previous races and I told him how the other races seemed so picture perfect, seamless. This one was testing me. Everything that could go wrong did but I told him quitting was not an option. I wanted so badly to push through and see for myself what happens when the wheels fall off. Sure, I’ve had other races that didn’t go completely perfect but goodness, this race so many things went wrong altogether. Keith was incredibly patient, remaining positive and upbeat despite my slow pace. Pretty much the entire last lap I had explosive stomach issues. Explosive being the key word here and I apologize for the graphic details but you just can’t imagine. At times it was just explosive, but possibly violent! And worse yet – the rashy feeling after was terribly painful. Thank goodness for Bodyglide or I may have used GU as a last resort to stop the chafing (talk about creative!). The last six miles Keith and I realized that running of any kind caused more frequent explosions. It really became a matter of what’s faster – running with more explosions or walk fast with less explosions. We walked. Of course that had negative effects too because temperatures were back to freezing. We were shivering trying to stay warm. With the last three miles to go, Keith grabbed some hot chicken broth in hopes of warming me up and helping the stomach. It felt like a death march. My heart wanted to RUN, my body had enough that day.
Finally in a time of 22:36:31 I came across the finish line placing 2nd female overall. What a day!
When I think of all the races I’ve done. This is my proudest race. There was never any wavering on my commitment. Did I cry? Several times. Did I ache? Yes. Was there an option to quit? Heck no. There were many (and I mean, many) times throughout the day when I thought of my friend Arthur Webb, The Grinder. He’s a legend at Badwater and has had to push through some serious moments but always comes through to the finish. My friend Sandy was also in my heart and mind. She’s an incredibly strong woman who has been fighting cancer and always has the most contagious smile and laughter despite! It’s people like Sandy and Arthur that make anything seem possible.
There are so many people to thank too. I posted earlier that morning that it takes a village to run 100 miles, not just one person. It’s the truth. So many people go into helping out. Not just Joe P., Race Director, and awesome volunteers but friends and family who literally go above and beyond the call of duty.
My darling husband Russ who was instrumental in handling logistics, crewing and communicating time splits, among a million other things. Coach Amanda who has been an incredible help getting me trained, Keith G. unbelievable pacer. Keith and I started as strangers and ended up as family. His wife Rebecca was there helping out too! Doug R who spent countless hours working the numbers to create pace scenarios and kept in touch with Russ on the phone going over time splits. My Dad who drove up pulling his camper for the first time ever in the crazy ice weather just to be there for me. And of course all my friends sending super awesome messages throughout the day! Thank you all so very much!!
Now – what’s next? Recovery…and yes…I can *FINALLY*apply for Badwater!!! Stay tuned.
Snap-Crackle –Thunk…That about sums up what the first few miles at Rocky Raccoon 100. Race morning began at a cool 25 degrees in Huntsville, Texas. Getting to the start line, I gave kisses and hugs to my husband, and my Dad who was able to come up for the race. At 6AM we were off and running.
Lap 1 - As soon as we hit the trails, I knew instantly this race was going to start off much-much slower than I planned, for two reasons: 1. I have terrible eyesight to begin; in the dark I might as well be blind and 2. Wooden bridges the first three miles were frozen over with ice and all of the roots just waiting to eat up my ankles.
My friend Doug ran this race last year and had to bail within the first five miles due to a terrible ankle injury - now I know why - ROOTS! Tons of evil roots hiding under pine straw. All I could think of the first few miles was, Do NOT get injured!! I decided pace was not as important as preventing injury and slowed way down.
I passed my loved ones around the first aid station hoping to catch a little sympathy when I yelled, “I can’t see!!” But eh, all I heard back was, “Keep rolling.” Oh. Ok. Thanks.
The rest of the loop didn’t get any better. As the sun came up, I was thankful for the warmth, but it’s been a long time since I ran trails that my stride was off. I ran like a road runner forgetting to lift feet high enough to miss roots. Within the first lap I managed to fall four times. The first time I remember thinking, “Ok, well that wasn’t too bad a fall.” By the fourth fall, for a fraction of a second I wanted to just stay on the ground and have someone carry me off. My body ached so bad, my knees and right quad felt terrible and knotted up. I’m not a graceful faller either. It’s more like a THUNK-SPLAT! I usually never think to use Aleve or anything during runs until at least the last 30 miles or so of a 100 but geez – first 20 miles and I was begging like a puppy for Aleve. No such luck.
Lap 2 – I don’t really remember much except that I hurt all over. The sun was up and I struggled a lot to find a good line in the trails. I’m so blind that the sun played tricks with my eyes, casting shadows through the trees. I think this is the lap where I asked for my prescription eyeglasses. It was a last minute thought I had in hopes of seeing better. Unfortunately, no such luck. The glasses made me dizzy and I stumbled once more. Stored in my pocket, they would stay until the next lap.
Lap 3 – I need better eyesight! Here’s the problem, I have one extreme far sighted eye, and one near sighted eyeball and they don’t get along at all. Ugh! Depth perception on trails is incredibly difficult. Having said that, I don’t think it was my eyesight this time when I zoned out and took a wrong turn. Somewhere on the back stretch I did the back loop and almost did it again. Things started to seem awfully familiar (like hey, didn’t I *just* pass this?!!?). Came up on two other runners who graciously helped me figure out that I was going the wrong way. Darn it! Heading back I felt tears rushing down my face and my clenched up throat would barely let me breathe. Runners coming toward me yelled to me that I was going the wrong way. Yes – I know!! It felt like eternity on that trail and I started to worry I was still lost. More tears. Two more runners asked if I needed help. We compared distance from our GPS watches and they told me to keep going I was almost back on track. And yes finally – I made it back to DamNation aid Station. It was so upsetting because I had passed the third place female and now I knew my 25 minute screw up threw me back into fourth place. Coming into the aid station I saw a volunteer using his blackberry to take pictures. I came up on him and asked if I could use his phone. He dialed my husband’s number and I quickly told Russ what happened. My fear was that the delay would create additional worry for them and I just needed them to know what happened. (Ok, and maybe I just needed to hear Russ’ voice to calm me down a bit too.)
Lap 4 – This is when we were allowed to have pacers. Yay!! My first pacer was Russ. I had asked him on the fly toward the end of Lap 3 if he would meet me and run the first three miles. He was there waiting to run. I was sooo happy to have him running beside me. He pep talked me and updated me with all of the texts , and messages from friends. All of it made me feel so much better about things. We came up on the first aid station said goodbye and picked up my next pacer Keith. I had never met Keith in person until the night before the race. My friend Sarah recruited him to be my pacer and not until later would I know how incredibly lucky I was to have an amazing person pace me. The first few miles Keith talked and we got to know each other. It was getting dark so our focus was finding the best way to light up the trails so I could see. What a massive struggle! I think we switched light positions three or four times. I was very achy from the ankle twists and falls from the morning so I took some Aleve and starting feeling better. Moving at a decent clip I could tell my pace was still completely off track. I didn’t know what my target time and with Keith there it made more sense to just let him take control of timing. The night slowed us down in the heavily rooted section but we were able to pick up the pace a bit on the flat straight sections. I remember laughing with him because on the sections I hated the most, he loved. On the sections I couldn’t wait to run on, he couldn’t stand. It actually made for a good team. No telling what my pace would have been if my pacer couldn’t run on rooted trails either.
It was getting late into the evening and as we made our way back to the Start/Finish area the idea of having one more lap seemed incredibly daunting.
Lap 5 – Back out for one last loop. Russ confirmed I was holding second place female overall….although it seemed a bit hokey to still be 2nd when the first place female, Liza Howard, had won hours ago. I think at that point the 3rd place female was about 15 minutes behind but who knows if that was Russ trying to get me to run faster or actually the case…
This was the hardest lap of all. My body ached all over from the falls, the ankle crunchings; fatigue in general . Keith and I talked about my previous races and I told him how the other races seemed so picture perfect, seamless. This one was testing me. Everything that could go wrong did but I told him quitting was not an option. I wanted so badly to push through and see for myself what happens when the wheels fall off. Sure, I’ve had other races that didn’t go completely perfect but goodness, this race so many things went wrong altogether. Keith was incredibly patient, remaining positive and upbeat despite my slow pace. Pretty much the entire last lap I had explosive stomach issues. Explosive being the key word here and I apologize for the graphic details but you just can’t imagine. At times it was just explosive, but possibly violent! And worse yet – the rashy feeling after was terribly painful. Thank goodness for Bodyglide or I may have used GU as a last resort to stop the chafing (talk about creative!). The last six miles Keith and I realized that running of any kind caused more frequent explosions. It really became a matter of what’s faster – running with more explosions or walk fast with less explosions. We walked. Of course that had negative effects too because temperatures were back to freezing. We were shivering trying to stay warm. With the last three miles to go, Keith grabbed some hot chicken broth in hopes of warming me up and helping the stomach. It felt like a death march. My heart wanted to RUN, my body had enough that day.
Finally in a time of 22:36:31 I came across the finish line placing 2nd female overall. What a day!
When I think of all the races I’ve done. This is my proudest race. There was never any wavering on my commitment. Did I cry? Several times. Did I ache? Yes. Was there an option to quit? Heck no. There were many (and I mean, many) times throughout the day when I thought of my friend Arthur Webb, The Grinder. He’s a legend at Badwater and has had to push through some serious moments but always comes through to the finish. My friend Sandy was also in my heart and mind. She’s an incredibly strong woman who has been fighting cancer and always has the most contagious smile and laughter despite! It’s people like Sandy and Arthur that make anything seem possible.
There are so many people to thank too. I posted earlier that morning that it takes a village to run 100 miles, not just one person. It’s the truth. So many people go into helping out. Not just Joe P., Race Director, and awesome volunteers but friends and family who literally go above and beyond the call of duty.
My darling husband Russ who was instrumental in handling logistics, crewing and communicating time splits, among a million other things. Coach Amanda who has been an incredible help getting me trained, Keith G. unbelievable pacer. Keith and I started as strangers and ended up as family. His wife Rebecca was there helping out too! Doug R who spent countless hours working the numbers to create pace scenarios and kept in touch with Russ on the phone going over time splits. My Dad who drove up pulling his camper for the first time ever in the crazy ice weather just to be there for me. And of course all my friends sending super awesome messages throughout the day! Thank you all so very much!!
Now – what’s next? Recovery…and yes…I can *FINALLY*apply for Badwater!!! Stay tuned.
Seashore Nature Trail 50k
December 18th I raced in the only local ultra 50k for this area, Seashore Nature Trail 50k. At First Landing State Park, the course has some some hills, and flat sections making it a fun race. Last year there was a Nor'Easter causing the course to be modified but this year, luckily, we got to run the originally intended course. It was a very last minute decision to race (signing up the week of), and even still, I had planned on using it as a training run until Coach Amanda said I could push the pace if I had any interest. I literally got the 'ok' the night before!
The trails still had snow and ice in some sections from an early winter snow drop in the area but for the most part, still runnable. I started out a little slow just to make it onto the trail without cracking my head up on the ice and slowly made my way down the main trail. Feeling really sleep deprived, I wondered what the day had in store for me. It took a miracle to get out of bed and wake up - not a good sign for race morning. At any rate, this wasn't an "A" race for me but rather a training run to test the legs a bit and simply get in scheduled mileage. I had a few time goals in mind that I wanted to meet and surprisingly I did given my lethargic state.
All in all, a good race/training day for me getting to focus nutrition, hydration and staying awake while running. Hahaha. No really. Somehow I managed to run a PR in 4:53 landing 3rd place Sub-Masters Female. Um....when did I get old people?!!? Masters? Hmmm...I don't feel that old, but ok, I'll take it.
The trails still had snow and ice in some sections from an early winter snow drop in the area but for the most part, still runnable. I started out a little slow just to make it onto the trail without cracking my head up on the ice and slowly made my way down the main trail. Feeling really sleep deprived, I wondered what the day had in store for me. It took a miracle to get out of bed and wake up - not a good sign for race morning. At any rate, this wasn't an "A" race for me but rather a training run to test the legs a bit and simply get in scheduled mileage. I had a few time goals in mind that I wanted to meet and surprisingly I did given my lethargic state.
All in all, a good race/training day for me getting to focus nutrition, hydration and staying awake while running. Hahaha. No really. Somehow I managed to run a PR in 4:53 landing 3rd place Sub-Masters Female. Um....when did I get old people?!!? Masters? Hmmm...I don't feel that old, but ok, I'll take it.
Javelina Jundred
So many amazing things happened at Javelina that I don’t know where to start. From the beginning I suppose…the flight in to Phoenix was uneventful – until just before landing when I looked out the window and saw a gorgeous rainbow in the sky. It’s been a long time since I saw a rainbow and being up in the airplane it seemed so close to us.
After arriving I caught up with one of my friends and pacer for this race Ben. I hadn’t seen Ben since before he moved from the beach to AZ. Shortly after that Amanda arrived as well. Thursday was an early night to bed and thankfully we didn’t have to be any where Friday morning.
Friday was low key. Amanda and I woke up mid morning and went out for my last little run before the big day. This was my first time running with her; I was so nervous! My only saving grace was I knew she wasn’t going to kill me on the run since it was a day before the race. This girl has skills! She kept me entertained most of the run, chatting about her running adventures meanwhile I died on all the hills. We got a little off track and stopped at a Starbucks for water. To quote Amanda, “Hi, we’re lost and don’t have money, can we have some ice water?” LOL. Love it!
After our run it was time to eat, shower and get the gear ready. The day seemed to pass calmly and we even had time for a little kitty nap. (Yay!)
Late afternoon Ben picked us up and off we went to packet pick up and dinner. It was the first time Amanda and I would get to see the race headquarters and part of the course. Dinner was sponsored by P.F. Chang’s and super yum. I definitely liked it much better than the usual spaghetti and tomato sauce.
We wrapped up the evening and went to sleep early hoping for a good night rest. I’m pretty surprised by how soundly I sleep before races.
Race morning: The jitters appeared a little but it’s normal so I went with it and did my morning routine. It was so exciting to get all sorts of text messages so early in the morning wishing me good luck. Friends and family rock!
Ben and Amanda were awesome. They loaded up the gear and food and kept me on track. Without them I could have piddled around another hour.
Javelina is known as the 100-mile Jalloween party meaning, the majority of runners dress in costume. I had planned to dress as a modified bumble bee (stinger & antenna) but decided not to at the last minute (I’m kind of glad I didn’t, more on that). True to form runners were dressed in all sorts of costumes. Nurses, caveman/women, pink flamingo, Spiderman, etc. Amazing!
Race start: As the gun went off we all headed out on the trails. It was difficult to see at first because of the darkness and not knowing the course, I was a bit cautious. At day break the sky lit up with brilliant reds and pinks. The view choked me up a bit as it sunk in what I was about to do.
Lap one was mostly about getting acquainted with the course and waking up. It takes a while for a sleepyhead like me to fully function in the morning. As I came around the first loop I could see the leaders start to come back out and start their second loop. Just then I realized I was glad to not dress in my costume because Jaime Donaldson dressed as a bumble bee too. I was star struck! Jaime is the current female record holder at Badwater and has won the race the last three years – not to mention a list of other major wins at other big races. She is an amazing ultrarunner and for all the years I couldn’t train or race because of college, I lived vicariously through her running exploits by reading her blog. I was glad she sported the bumble bee costume. No one can buzz along on a course the way she does!
Lap two was uneventful. I just remember Amanda telling me what time to be back and like that, I was looping back around. The course seemed different going the opposite direction and the day was starting to warm up.
Lap three - not so much fun. I had stomach issues and had to stop eating because I didn’t want to make things worse. My focus was to stay hydrated and tune in to what I was feeling and think about what I needed to do to get back on track without losing time. I was happy to get back to Amanda and Ben and tell them what was going on. We quickly fixed the stomach issue and they sent me back out. The entire lap was hot which would have been ok but the stomach issue was a little worrisome.
Lap four’s focus was about getting back on track with nutrition and continuing to stay hydrated. I felt so much better and could feel the pace pick up a little. Before I starting the fourth lap, Amanda told me that she thought I was in 3rd. Apparently it was kind of confusing because the woman in second place was also named Brenda.
Fifth lap was exciting because I finally picked up my first pacer, Amanda. I had full faith that she would push me to keep moving forward and was excited to run with her. She shared funny stories along the way and kept my mind at ease. She ran in front of me most of the time and I remember thinking she reminded me of a butterfly bouncing around a garden effortlessly.
Six lap – shame on me. I switched pacers and picked up Ben, who is new to pacing and 100-milers. He didn’t really know he should push me to keep pace and I totally took advantage of poor sweet Ben. We walked and talked while I watched the minutes tick away. At the time it was great but taking advantage of a pacer comes with bad karma. . .
I was passed by another girl toward the end of lap six and had to push the pace to get back into 3rd. The thing is, the trophies were so darn precious that I was determined to get one whether it was trying to win Best Ass, or something else. I *needed* one of those cute trophies. Halloween is my favorite holiday and kicks off celebration of fall weather, Russ and my engagement/wedding anniversary, and for Russ – the hunting rut. Halloween is a BIG DEAL in our house and represents good times. So trophy: hadtohaveit.
Lap seven – Final Lap – Amanda was back on for pacing and could tell someone took total advantage of the pacer. Eeek! ;) The last lap is slightly shorter but requires going back up the rocky section to the first aid station. From there you had to present a glow-in-the-dark necklace to signify your last lap allowing you to take the final trail down 4.4 miles to the finish line. At the time, I was [pretty] whiny. The quads had worked harder than ever and were letting me know. But as I look back now, I realize that the last 4.4 miles were really nice in terms of smooth trail. Amanda was awesome at keeping me on track. We had one or two 10 second walk breaks but otherwise ran hard. Just as we crossed over the final road to go into headquarters and finished she looked at her watch and realized I was close to finishing sub-20 hours. All of a sudden I heard her yell, “RUN-RUN YOU’RE ABOUT TO GO SUB-20 RUN!!” At that moment, I emptied the tank giving everything I had left to the finish line. Nothing left but pure shock from having run a race I never thought possible! Final time 19:56:44, 2nd place female overall, 9th runner overall. It still seems so unreal. Jamie Donaldson smashed the course record and finished over two hours ahead of me in 17:11:32 1st place female, second runner overall! What a day! When I’ve talked about the race to friends, it is tough talking about how it felt because the day flew by. It is difficult describing something that I didn’t even dream could happen. My friend Doug Ratliff sent me a text before the race that said, “Dream BIG.” I thought I had. Sure, I’d hope to break my time from Umstead, but not like this.
I owe this race to Amanda for her incredible coaching talent. What she has done to my running no words can describe. Russ is still shocked that I even did some interval training because *no one* has ever convinced me to push the pace in training, except Amanda.
Special thanks also goes to: Ben for being a super pacer and perfect host in his new city of Phoenix. Russ who kept up the house and nightly dinners so I could get all the miles in during the week. Jon for putting up with whining during miles and miles and miles of training. And of course – all my friends and family who were keeping track of the race from the webcam and internet, sending all sorts of positive messages. Thank you all so much for your love and kindness!
After arriving I caught up with one of my friends and pacer for this race Ben. I hadn’t seen Ben since before he moved from the beach to AZ. Shortly after that Amanda arrived as well. Thursday was an early night to bed and thankfully we didn’t have to be any where Friday morning.
Friday was low key. Amanda and I woke up mid morning and went out for my last little run before the big day. This was my first time running with her; I was so nervous! My only saving grace was I knew she wasn’t going to kill me on the run since it was a day before the race. This girl has skills! She kept me entertained most of the run, chatting about her running adventures meanwhile I died on all the hills. We got a little off track and stopped at a Starbucks for water. To quote Amanda, “Hi, we’re lost and don’t have money, can we have some ice water?” LOL. Love it!
After our run it was time to eat, shower and get the gear ready. The day seemed to pass calmly and we even had time for a little kitty nap. (Yay!)
Late afternoon Ben picked us up and off we went to packet pick up and dinner. It was the first time Amanda and I would get to see the race headquarters and part of the course. Dinner was sponsored by P.F. Chang’s and super yum. I definitely liked it much better than the usual spaghetti and tomato sauce.
We wrapped up the evening and went to sleep early hoping for a good night rest. I’m pretty surprised by how soundly I sleep before races.
Race morning: The jitters appeared a little but it’s normal so I went with it and did my morning routine. It was so exciting to get all sorts of text messages so early in the morning wishing me good luck. Friends and family rock!
Ben and Amanda were awesome. They loaded up the gear and food and kept me on track. Without them I could have piddled around another hour.
Javelina is known as the 100-mile Jalloween party meaning, the majority of runners dress in costume. I had planned to dress as a modified bumble bee (stinger & antenna) but decided not to at the last minute (I’m kind of glad I didn’t, more on that). True to form runners were dressed in all sorts of costumes. Nurses, caveman/women, pink flamingo, Spiderman, etc. Amazing!
Race start: As the gun went off we all headed out on the trails. It was difficult to see at first because of the darkness and not knowing the course, I was a bit cautious. At day break the sky lit up with brilliant reds and pinks. The view choked me up a bit as it sunk in what I was about to do.
Lap one was mostly about getting acquainted with the course and waking up. It takes a while for a sleepyhead like me to fully function in the morning. As I came around the first loop I could see the leaders start to come back out and start their second loop. Just then I realized I was glad to not dress in my costume because Jaime Donaldson dressed as a bumble bee too. I was star struck! Jaime is the current female record holder at Badwater and has won the race the last three years – not to mention a list of other major wins at other big races. She is an amazing ultrarunner and for all the years I couldn’t train or race because of college, I lived vicariously through her running exploits by reading her blog. I was glad she sported the bumble bee costume. No one can buzz along on a course the way she does!
Lap two was uneventful. I just remember Amanda telling me what time to be back and like that, I was looping back around. The course seemed different going the opposite direction and the day was starting to warm up.
Lap three - not so much fun. I had stomach issues and had to stop eating because I didn’t want to make things worse. My focus was to stay hydrated and tune in to what I was feeling and think about what I needed to do to get back on track without losing time. I was happy to get back to Amanda and Ben and tell them what was going on. We quickly fixed the stomach issue and they sent me back out. The entire lap was hot which would have been ok but the stomach issue was a little worrisome.
Lap four’s focus was about getting back on track with nutrition and continuing to stay hydrated. I felt so much better and could feel the pace pick up a little. Before I starting the fourth lap, Amanda told me that she thought I was in 3rd. Apparently it was kind of confusing because the woman in second place was also named Brenda.
Fifth lap was exciting because I finally picked up my first pacer, Amanda. I had full faith that she would push me to keep moving forward and was excited to run with her. She shared funny stories along the way and kept my mind at ease. She ran in front of me most of the time and I remember thinking she reminded me of a butterfly bouncing around a garden effortlessly.
Six lap – shame on me. I switched pacers and picked up Ben, who is new to pacing and 100-milers. He didn’t really know he should push me to keep pace and I totally took advantage of poor sweet Ben. We walked and talked while I watched the minutes tick away. At the time it was great but taking advantage of a pacer comes with bad karma. . .
I was passed by another girl toward the end of lap six and had to push the pace to get back into 3rd. The thing is, the trophies were so darn precious that I was determined to get one whether it was trying to win Best Ass, or something else. I *needed* one of those cute trophies. Halloween is my favorite holiday and kicks off celebration of fall weather, Russ and my engagement/wedding anniversary, and for Russ – the hunting rut. Halloween is a BIG DEAL in our house and represents good times. So trophy: hadtohaveit.
Lap seven – Final Lap – Amanda was back on for pacing and could tell someone took total advantage of the pacer. Eeek! ;) The last lap is slightly shorter but requires going back up the rocky section to the first aid station. From there you had to present a glow-in-the-dark necklace to signify your last lap allowing you to take the final trail down 4.4 miles to the finish line. At the time, I was [pretty] whiny. The quads had worked harder than ever and were letting me know. But as I look back now, I realize that the last 4.4 miles were really nice in terms of smooth trail. Amanda was awesome at keeping me on track. We had one or two 10 second walk breaks but otherwise ran hard. Just as we crossed over the final road to go into headquarters and finished she looked at her watch and realized I was close to finishing sub-20 hours. All of a sudden I heard her yell, “RUN-RUN YOU’RE ABOUT TO GO SUB-20 RUN!!” At that moment, I emptied the tank giving everything I had left to the finish line. Nothing left but pure shock from having run a race I never thought possible! Final time 19:56:44, 2nd place female overall, 9th runner overall. It still seems so unreal. Jamie Donaldson smashed the course record and finished over two hours ahead of me in 17:11:32 1st place female, second runner overall! What a day! When I’ve talked about the race to friends, it is tough talking about how it felt because the day flew by. It is difficult describing something that I didn’t even dream could happen. My friend Doug Ratliff sent me a text before the race that said, “Dream BIG.” I thought I had. Sure, I’d hope to break my time from Umstead, but not like this.
I owe this race to Amanda for her incredible coaching talent. What she has done to my running no words can describe. Russ is still shocked that I even did some interval training because *no one* has ever convinced me to push the pace in training, except Amanda.
Special thanks also goes to: Ben for being a super pacer and perfect host in his new city of Phoenix. Russ who kept up the house and nightly dinners so I could get all the miles in during the week. Jon for putting up with whining during miles and miles and miles of training. And of course – all my friends and family who were keeping track of the race from the webcam and internet, sending all sorts of positive messages. Thank you all so much for your love and kindness!
Umstead 100
“Only those who risk going to far can possibly find out how far one can go” TS Elliott
I found out on Saturday I really can run 100 miles. What an amazing day.
The weekend started out Friday driving down to the race site for packet pick-up, a pre-race meeting and dinner. Everything was meticulously set-up to make things easier for the runner and crew. Race Director, Blake Norwood, did a fabulous job of making sure things ran on time to the second and gave us a heart felt pep talk.
Saturday morning we were up by 3:51AM. Actually Russ and I were up all night trying to sleep but the memory foam beds at the Hilton Garden Inn had someone else’s memory and it was like sleeping in a bowl. At any rate, I may have managed to get a few hours of rest before getting up.
By 4:50AM we pulled into our parking spot at the race. It was cold in the morning below freezing because there was frost all over the cars at the hotel. That can actually be a good thing when it’s the temperature you’ve been training in for months.
After getting my nutrition together and one last bathroom stop we stood in the lodge where the rest of the racers were waiting for the start. This is a top notch race with every detail completely thought out and nothing done halfway. They had an enormous breakfast spread for not only the runners but also for crews. It says a lot when the race director and staff also think about the crews too. They may not be running but they are certainly awake and working non-stop, giving up their weekend.
Race started at 6AM. It was a quiet start in a way. Usually there’s a big count down or someone on intercom telling us how much time we have to the start. But no, just a simply sound of a cap gun going off to let us know. Also different was how slow we all started. There was no sprinting off. Everyone just shuffled through the start line walking, and jogging. There’s really no sense in running when you have one hundred miles ahead of you. Russ took some video footage of people still in the lodge eating donuts even after the gun went off.
Lap One: First lap was relatively uneventful except for the cold and darkness. I wore one headlight versus the two I used at CMMM 50. Since the course was on a finely ground granite surface it was easy to see and navigate with only one light. The second half of the lap I ran with Daren and his friend Lisa. This was Lisa’s second time running Umstead 100, Daren’s first 100. We plugged along nice and easy walking all hills, running flats and downhills. This lap was painful because it felt so slow. I knew it needed to be slow but because of tapering for three weeks I felt like a bull waiting for the gate to open. By the time we finished the first lap I was about four minutes behind schedule coming in 8:24AM instead of 8:20AM. Russ was there waiting for me. As I passed by him to go up to the turnaround I gave him my water bottle and vest. Coming back past him again he gave me a new loaded up vest and full water bottle. We knew we needed to minimize the amount of time I spent at aid stations.
Lap Two: The sun was out by lap two and I wish I had my sunglasses but still the lap was uneventful. I felt really happy to be out running, doing what I love to do. Umstead Park is really pretty to run in too. There were geese, deer and other small wildlife with beginning notes of spring. I ran a very comfortable pace and stuck with my nutrition. Basically every thirty minutes from the start I took in one Power Gel and at the top of the hour I took a Power Gel an electrolyte pill. By the end of Lap Two, however, the day started warming up just a bit. My wedding band was starting to fit snug which was an indicator to take in more electrolytes.
When I got back to race headquarters (this is where we started and finished each lap) I gave Russ my bottle and vest and let him know I needed to more electrolytes, sunglasses and my black Nike visor. In exchange I gave him gloves, red jacket and beanie to hold until later. He said I came in ten minutes ahead of schedule. Everything was going so well the first two laps all I could do was smile and laugh. You never know what kind of day you will be dealt so I was very happy to get through the first two laps with no problems….kind of.
I managed to make my first rookie mistake. Ok, well maybe it’s not even about being a rookie but rather just plain not thinking straight…After a certain amount of time nature called. Unfortunately I wasn’t near any of the port-a-potties and was left to be one with nature which wasn’t too bad; after all what runner hasn’t hidden behind trees. My mistake came the moment after “relief” when I leaned my bare butt against the tree as I fumbled with my iPod cord and tights trying to pull everything back up. Once my tights were pulled up, I walked back onto the course to start running again. Only, it felt like I had ants in my pants! I reach behind me and felt weird stuff in my tights – tree bark! I had tons of tree bark stuck to my butt and now it was all over the inside of my tights in places one should never have tree bark. For the next ten minutes I ran with my hands and arms inside my pants trying to get all of the bark out. Most of it fell down toward my ankles which would end up scratching me skin but not bad enough to cause blisters. Whew.
Lap Three: I don’t really remember Lap Three except that there was one section toward the end of the loop that is flat or downhill. It was a good section to hit it hard and make up time. There was an abundant amount of sunshine and I remember thinking to myself that the day couldn’t get any better. Finishing lap three, Russ and I repeated our plan with bottle and vest exchange and he told me that I was ahead by about three minutes (I think…we are still waiting for the official time results to come out). I could hear Russ’ voice crack with emotion as he cheered for me and it meant so much. Seeing everyone at the headquarters was enough to get me back out and running.
Lap Four: Last lap before the halfway point of the race. I knew I was feeling good but going into the fourth lap wasn’t sure what to expect because this meant I would reach 50 miles. The last time I ran a 50 mile race I fell apart ten miles in. That memory remained in the back of my mind. Everyone I’ve talked to about running a sub-24 hr 100 told me that you *have* to get the first 50 miles in under 10 hours. My PR for 50-miles was only 11:54, that’s a big gap of time to make up. Before heading out to start the fourth lap Russ told me what time I needed to be at the halfway point. I felt like I was checking time every 10 seconds to see if I slowed down or not. Arriving at the halfway point I was a few minutes behind schedule but with the way the course was, the second section was faster. Luckily I was right on about making up time. I made my way through the half mile of off-road section that lead us back to race headquarters. A surge of adrenaline pumped through me and I could feel myself wanting to tear up. I knew I broke a 50-mile personal record but wasn’t sure by how much. Again, I still don’t have official time but we think it was a sub10 hour 50-miler. This was such a highlight point of the race. In a way, I knew that even if I fell apart during the second half I had at least set a new PR and would walk away happy.
The end of the fourth lap also meant PACERS! Originally I had four pacers scheduled, one person per lap. For a myriad of reasons I was left with only two pacers, Russ and running partner Jon, who had just arrived at the race while I was on the fourth lap. Having only two pacers meant they would have to run more then planned. Jon was more then happy to run whatever was needed since his mileage was up. That said he had just raced a 50k trail ultra two weeks before and paced the Shamrock Marathon the weekend prior so I felt bad dumping more mileage on him. Well, maybe not that bad. Ha! Russ on the other hand was a different story. He ran a marathon back in 2008 during his Ironman but since then his running mileage hadn’t exceeded 10-miles for a long run. When we talked about having only two pacers he told me the week before he would only be able to run one lap meaning either Jon would have run three laps or I would have to run five laps alone. At the time it was fine with me. Jon told me he would run the three laps. Race day was a different story. Before starting lap four Russ had me change into dry running tops. With the sun going down he knew wearing a wet clothes would make me cold. While I changed, he asked if I would be able to run the fifth lap alone. At first I said yes but quickly followed it up by suggesting one of them be ready to run just in case things changed. I also made a rookie mistake. When I changed clothes I should have also loosened the laces on my shoes but didn’t. This would come back to haunt me later…
Lap Five: Russ was dressed and ready to run with me. Umstead 100 allows muling so we took full advantage. Muling is when pacers are allowed to carry the racers’ gear. In my case Russ and Jon wore my running vest with not only my energy gels but food for them as well on top of two handheld bottles. I have to believe for the times I’ve paced others this was good karma coming back – at least I’d like to believe that’s the case. Russ and I set out and managed to keep a pretty good pace. My Garmin was starting to die so Russ had the second Garmin ready to go in order to keep time. Just like the other four laps we stuck with the fueling plan. One Power Gel and electrolyte pill every 30 minutes. The funny part about this lap was when Russ and I got to the hilly section. All along he kept saying the course was really nice, he scouted for deer (surprise-surprise) and then – HILLS. Russ joked and said he didn’t know hills were part of the deal. I told him he wasn’t allowed to complain seven miles in. It was nice to laugh for a moment and know I still had a sense of humor despite the miles.
A few people have asked how I managed to take so many energy gels and stay away from solid foods. Personally, the thought of having to chew anything seemed repulsive to me during the race and I was thankful all I had to do with squirt the gel in my mouth and wash it down. Just like breathing in and out it was a function I didn’t want to spend time thinking about. I needed energy – gels gives energy – take a gel. Simple enough.
Russ and I finally made our way back to race HQ where Jon was ready to run with me. While I looped around the start/finish to clock in the two of them discussed where I was in the race, fueling, time, etc. This is the part of the race that I didn’t know about until after the race was over….apparently Russ and Jon felt I was running a good enough clip that I may have a chance to finish sub-22. Jon had recalculated the last three laps and the two of them agreed to “gently” keep me moving within the new time frames. I’m so glad they didn’t tell me because I may have gotten a little lazy!
Lap Six: Jon and I headed out for lap six keeping a decent pace. The first half of the course always felt so much slower even though the hills were steeper the second half. Maybe it was the never ending inclines. Around mile 3 there was an incline that felt like it went on forever with no leveling off in sight. That was a down point for me each lap because I had to walk for so long leaving me to feel like I lost a lot of time. Jon was very helpful keeping me on track and focused at the task at hand.
Lap Seven: Jon ran lap seven with me as well. Before we started lap seven I changed out shoes and socks which helped a little bit because it got rid of the debris and tree bark from earlier. Also because I loosened the laces a bit which helped to some degree it just wasn’t enough by that point. I started struggling by lap seven. Fatigue was definitely setting in and I could feel myself getting snippy. Poor Jon kept getting griped at for being a step ahead of me. When I saw him in front it played head games and felt as though I was going to slow and couldn’t catch up. For the first time during the race I also got overheated from too much clothing and started feeling nauseous. I had to take my jacket and gloves off to cool down. To help with the nausea I also keep a Burt Bee’s peppermint chapstick with me at all times during training and racing. Not only do I love it on my lips but the scent of peppermint helps me feel better during bouts of nausea. Jon gave me ol’ trusty chapstick and I dabbed some on my nose inhaling it. Here’s something I learned…never-never touch a persons bodyglide or chapstick after they’ve run 100 miles. You have no idea where it’s been, I’ll leave it at that. :)
Final Lap: Russ surprised me with the news that he would run the final lap with me. Meaning – he would end up pacing a marathon distance. That’s a lot for someone who has only run 10 miles of late. He did fantastic though and not once complained – at least not to me.
I had great expectations for lap eight and wanted to set the course on fire as a grand finale. Yea right. I was so exhausted. By this point I was also starting to have some serious stomach issues causing me to jump behind trees in a moments notice. Thank goodness for Wet Wipes. They became my best friend the final lap when my stomach had it. Lap eight was another rookie mistake…despite the stomach trouble during lap seven it never dawned on me to take some of the Imodium AD specifically purchased for the race. Duh! I knew there was issues but told myself to suck it up. I certainly didn’t think I should feel fresh and springy after 90-something miles so the stomach dilemma seemed normal and hence I skipped the medicine which could have very well put an end to frequent pit stops….possibly getting me to the finish line sooner? Who knows….
I could sense Russ stressing a little at the beginning of lap eight. He kept looking at the Garmin leaving me to wonder if I would make it. He also kept trying to get me to go faster which ultimately caused a brief melt down on my part. I felt so bad but couldn’t help but be snippy. The long inclines were beating me down again and all I could think of was how bad I wanted to finish. We finally made it to the halfway point after what seemed like several hours. The hills lifted my spirits some. Russ told me about all of the text messages people sent in which gave me the final boost I needed to get going. Around mile 8ish I asked him if I would make the sub-24 hour cut off. He paused for a moment and in a serious tone told me that if I could keep running and hold the current pace I would make it. His tone seemed serious. It concerned me enough to start running the last hills of the course pushing as hard as I could. Until that point I had not run any of the hills but my finish goal was at stake and it was now or never.
We made it over the last big hill turning into the half-mile trail section to the finish. Russ took off to dump the handhelds at the truck and let Jon know we were coming. They rushed up to the finish line and I came through. The final last steps to the finish line we actual steps going up hill but I didn’t care how steep that hill was or how tired I felt. My legs pushed and pushed. Finally, after running all day and all night I was done. I’d given everything I had to finish. Russ, Jon and I hugged and took some pictures at the finish line. And then the best part – the race director asked if this was my first time. I confirmed it was and he awarded me what I have been dreaming about for months!! My very own 100 MILES - ONE DAY finisher’s pendant.
It was so exciting! For all the months I trained and all the times I looked on the race website to see the finisher prize it was now in my hands for me to keep. The race director gave me hug and we took a picture. I knew I finished under 24 hours but it wasn’t until Russ asked if I knew what my finish time was. The race didn’t have a finish time clock so I looked over and the race director said, “Your finish time was 21 hours and 42 minutes.” I don’t really remember what I did or if I said anything. There was a rush through my head, I felt tears pressing against the back of my eyes and I felt like I was choking. Sure my goal was to finish in 23:30 and maybe once or twice I secretly hoped to get a little closer to 23 but NEVER in my wildest dreams did I dare to consider anything less than 23 hours.
Russ and Jon laughed and told me how they had discussed the sub-22 finish and how they changed the times without letting me know. We laughed some more and finally they helped me up the stairs into the lodge where a roaring fire was warming everyone up. The place looked like a morgue. Bodies tucked away in sleeping bags scattered all over the floor. Crews were whizzing around feeding their runners and taking care of them. An occasional camera flash went off here and there. We found a spot on the floor for me to elevate my legs while Russ put together some food. About the only thing I craved was chicken broth or potato chips, probably because the salt. I sat there for a while inhaling potato chips while Russ and Jon filled me in on the “behind the scenes.” I felt so incredibly lucky and honored to have both of them crew and pace me. They both worked so hard going above and beyond to not only help me reach my goal, but also exceed what I never dream possible. Words cannot express how thankful I am to have them as my husband and running partner. Guys – thank you very-very much. I also have to thank Carrie, Jon’s wife, for letting him come down and pace me during their normal day off together. Thank you!
Recovery: The last few days I’ve had really swollen feet and have been completely exhausted, which I guess is to be expected. LOL. The first night I kept waking up from the soreness and starvation. My stomach has been a bit rebellious but I think we’ve come to terms and are close to getting back on track. I don’t see myself running this week and plan on taking next week off too (from running). That said….stay tuned because I see another 100-mile race coming soon. Oh yeaaaa…..
On the way home I got to read all of the twitters, text messages and listen to voicemails from all of our friends. WOW! What an incredible support system. I cannot thank you all enough for your kindness, support, encouragement and love. Your positive words helped me keep pushing forward during times when I wanted to stop and sit down. I thought about the HRR runners and how hard they ran the weekend before at Shamrock giving everything they had. I thought about my friends who are currently overcoming injuries but remain positive throughout the waiting process. I thought about Bill Bradley and his epic performance last year at Badwater, after cycling 3000 miles nine days and then running 135 miles. I thought about Running Man Dave at Bataan Memorial Marathon meeting the P.O.W. survivors and running with a 35lb pack. I thought about Sandy and how she’s been fighting cancer without missing a beat on living life. There were so many times throughout the race where the personal stories of our friends kept the fire inside me lit and burning bright. Thank all of you for inspiring me to keep going and pushing the limits!
A special thanks to Orange Glow for the ipod music, su-weet! My family for their unconditional support, Amy for the leg massages after long runs, and of course Lance for pulling the leash a little harder and getting me to run a little faster. I am humbled.
I found out on Saturday I really can run 100 miles. What an amazing day.
The weekend started out Friday driving down to the race site for packet pick-up, a pre-race meeting and dinner. Everything was meticulously set-up to make things easier for the runner and crew. Race Director, Blake Norwood, did a fabulous job of making sure things ran on time to the second and gave us a heart felt pep talk.
Saturday morning we were up by 3:51AM. Actually Russ and I were up all night trying to sleep but the memory foam beds at the Hilton Garden Inn had someone else’s memory and it was like sleeping in a bowl. At any rate, I may have managed to get a few hours of rest before getting up.
By 4:50AM we pulled into our parking spot at the race. It was cold in the morning below freezing because there was frost all over the cars at the hotel. That can actually be a good thing when it’s the temperature you’ve been training in for months.
After getting my nutrition together and one last bathroom stop we stood in the lodge where the rest of the racers were waiting for the start. This is a top notch race with every detail completely thought out and nothing done halfway. They had an enormous breakfast spread for not only the runners but also for crews. It says a lot when the race director and staff also think about the crews too. They may not be running but they are certainly awake and working non-stop, giving up their weekend.
Race started at 6AM. It was a quiet start in a way. Usually there’s a big count down or someone on intercom telling us how much time we have to the start. But no, just a simply sound of a cap gun going off to let us know. Also different was how slow we all started. There was no sprinting off. Everyone just shuffled through the start line walking, and jogging. There’s really no sense in running when you have one hundred miles ahead of you. Russ took some video footage of people still in the lodge eating donuts even after the gun went off.
Lap One: First lap was relatively uneventful except for the cold and darkness. I wore one headlight versus the two I used at CMMM 50. Since the course was on a finely ground granite surface it was easy to see and navigate with only one light. The second half of the lap I ran with Daren and his friend Lisa. This was Lisa’s second time running Umstead 100, Daren’s first 100. We plugged along nice and easy walking all hills, running flats and downhills. This lap was painful because it felt so slow. I knew it needed to be slow but because of tapering for three weeks I felt like a bull waiting for the gate to open. By the time we finished the first lap I was about four minutes behind schedule coming in 8:24AM instead of 8:20AM. Russ was there waiting for me. As I passed by him to go up to the turnaround I gave him my water bottle and vest. Coming back past him again he gave me a new loaded up vest and full water bottle. We knew we needed to minimize the amount of time I spent at aid stations.
Lap Two: The sun was out by lap two and I wish I had my sunglasses but still the lap was uneventful. I felt really happy to be out running, doing what I love to do. Umstead Park is really pretty to run in too. There were geese, deer and other small wildlife with beginning notes of spring. I ran a very comfortable pace and stuck with my nutrition. Basically every thirty minutes from the start I took in one Power Gel and at the top of the hour I took a Power Gel an electrolyte pill. By the end of Lap Two, however, the day started warming up just a bit. My wedding band was starting to fit snug which was an indicator to take in more electrolytes.
When I got back to race headquarters (this is where we started and finished each lap) I gave Russ my bottle and vest and let him know I needed to more electrolytes, sunglasses and my black Nike visor. In exchange I gave him gloves, red jacket and beanie to hold until later. He said I came in ten minutes ahead of schedule. Everything was going so well the first two laps all I could do was smile and laugh. You never know what kind of day you will be dealt so I was very happy to get through the first two laps with no problems….kind of.
I managed to make my first rookie mistake. Ok, well maybe it’s not even about being a rookie but rather just plain not thinking straight…After a certain amount of time nature called. Unfortunately I wasn’t near any of the port-a-potties and was left to be one with nature which wasn’t too bad; after all what runner hasn’t hidden behind trees. My mistake came the moment after “relief” when I leaned my bare butt against the tree as I fumbled with my iPod cord and tights trying to pull everything back up. Once my tights were pulled up, I walked back onto the course to start running again. Only, it felt like I had ants in my pants! I reach behind me and felt weird stuff in my tights – tree bark! I had tons of tree bark stuck to my butt and now it was all over the inside of my tights in places one should never have tree bark. For the next ten minutes I ran with my hands and arms inside my pants trying to get all of the bark out. Most of it fell down toward my ankles which would end up scratching me skin but not bad enough to cause blisters. Whew.
Lap Three: I don’t really remember Lap Three except that there was one section toward the end of the loop that is flat or downhill. It was a good section to hit it hard and make up time. There was an abundant amount of sunshine and I remember thinking to myself that the day couldn’t get any better. Finishing lap three, Russ and I repeated our plan with bottle and vest exchange and he told me that I was ahead by about three minutes (I think…we are still waiting for the official time results to come out). I could hear Russ’ voice crack with emotion as he cheered for me and it meant so much. Seeing everyone at the headquarters was enough to get me back out and running.
Lap Four: Last lap before the halfway point of the race. I knew I was feeling good but going into the fourth lap wasn’t sure what to expect because this meant I would reach 50 miles. The last time I ran a 50 mile race I fell apart ten miles in. That memory remained in the back of my mind. Everyone I’ve talked to about running a sub-24 hr 100 told me that you *have* to get the first 50 miles in under 10 hours. My PR for 50-miles was only 11:54, that’s a big gap of time to make up. Before heading out to start the fourth lap Russ told me what time I needed to be at the halfway point. I felt like I was checking time every 10 seconds to see if I slowed down or not. Arriving at the halfway point I was a few minutes behind schedule but with the way the course was, the second section was faster. Luckily I was right on about making up time. I made my way through the half mile of off-road section that lead us back to race headquarters. A surge of adrenaline pumped through me and I could feel myself wanting to tear up. I knew I broke a 50-mile personal record but wasn’t sure by how much. Again, I still don’t have official time but we think it was a sub10 hour 50-miler. This was such a highlight point of the race. In a way, I knew that even if I fell apart during the second half I had at least set a new PR and would walk away happy.
The end of the fourth lap also meant PACERS! Originally I had four pacers scheduled, one person per lap. For a myriad of reasons I was left with only two pacers, Russ and running partner Jon, who had just arrived at the race while I was on the fourth lap. Having only two pacers meant they would have to run more then planned. Jon was more then happy to run whatever was needed since his mileage was up. That said he had just raced a 50k trail ultra two weeks before and paced the Shamrock Marathon the weekend prior so I felt bad dumping more mileage on him. Well, maybe not that bad. Ha! Russ on the other hand was a different story. He ran a marathon back in 2008 during his Ironman but since then his running mileage hadn’t exceeded 10-miles for a long run. When we talked about having only two pacers he told me the week before he would only be able to run one lap meaning either Jon would have run three laps or I would have to run five laps alone. At the time it was fine with me. Jon told me he would run the three laps. Race day was a different story. Before starting lap four Russ had me change into dry running tops. With the sun going down he knew wearing a wet clothes would make me cold. While I changed, he asked if I would be able to run the fifth lap alone. At first I said yes but quickly followed it up by suggesting one of them be ready to run just in case things changed. I also made a rookie mistake. When I changed clothes I should have also loosened the laces on my shoes but didn’t. This would come back to haunt me later…
Lap Five: Russ was dressed and ready to run with me. Umstead 100 allows muling so we took full advantage. Muling is when pacers are allowed to carry the racers’ gear. In my case Russ and Jon wore my running vest with not only my energy gels but food for them as well on top of two handheld bottles. I have to believe for the times I’ve paced others this was good karma coming back – at least I’d like to believe that’s the case. Russ and I set out and managed to keep a pretty good pace. My Garmin was starting to die so Russ had the second Garmin ready to go in order to keep time. Just like the other four laps we stuck with the fueling plan. One Power Gel and electrolyte pill every 30 minutes. The funny part about this lap was when Russ and I got to the hilly section. All along he kept saying the course was really nice, he scouted for deer (surprise-surprise) and then – HILLS. Russ joked and said he didn’t know hills were part of the deal. I told him he wasn’t allowed to complain seven miles in. It was nice to laugh for a moment and know I still had a sense of humor despite the miles.
A few people have asked how I managed to take so many energy gels and stay away from solid foods. Personally, the thought of having to chew anything seemed repulsive to me during the race and I was thankful all I had to do with squirt the gel in my mouth and wash it down. Just like breathing in and out it was a function I didn’t want to spend time thinking about. I needed energy – gels gives energy – take a gel. Simple enough.
Russ and I finally made our way back to race HQ where Jon was ready to run with me. While I looped around the start/finish to clock in the two of them discussed where I was in the race, fueling, time, etc. This is the part of the race that I didn’t know about until after the race was over….apparently Russ and Jon felt I was running a good enough clip that I may have a chance to finish sub-22. Jon had recalculated the last three laps and the two of them agreed to “gently” keep me moving within the new time frames. I’m so glad they didn’t tell me because I may have gotten a little lazy!
Lap Six: Jon and I headed out for lap six keeping a decent pace. The first half of the course always felt so much slower even though the hills were steeper the second half. Maybe it was the never ending inclines. Around mile 3 there was an incline that felt like it went on forever with no leveling off in sight. That was a down point for me each lap because I had to walk for so long leaving me to feel like I lost a lot of time. Jon was very helpful keeping me on track and focused at the task at hand.
Lap Seven: Jon ran lap seven with me as well. Before we started lap seven I changed out shoes and socks which helped a little bit because it got rid of the debris and tree bark from earlier. Also because I loosened the laces a bit which helped to some degree it just wasn’t enough by that point. I started struggling by lap seven. Fatigue was definitely setting in and I could feel myself getting snippy. Poor Jon kept getting griped at for being a step ahead of me. When I saw him in front it played head games and felt as though I was going to slow and couldn’t catch up. For the first time during the race I also got overheated from too much clothing and started feeling nauseous. I had to take my jacket and gloves off to cool down. To help with the nausea I also keep a Burt Bee’s peppermint chapstick with me at all times during training and racing. Not only do I love it on my lips but the scent of peppermint helps me feel better during bouts of nausea. Jon gave me ol’ trusty chapstick and I dabbed some on my nose inhaling it. Here’s something I learned…never-never touch a persons bodyglide or chapstick after they’ve run 100 miles. You have no idea where it’s been, I’ll leave it at that. :)
Final Lap: Russ surprised me with the news that he would run the final lap with me. Meaning – he would end up pacing a marathon distance. That’s a lot for someone who has only run 10 miles of late. He did fantastic though and not once complained – at least not to me.
I had great expectations for lap eight and wanted to set the course on fire as a grand finale. Yea right. I was so exhausted. By this point I was also starting to have some serious stomach issues causing me to jump behind trees in a moments notice. Thank goodness for Wet Wipes. They became my best friend the final lap when my stomach had it. Lap eight was another rookie mistake…despite the stomach trouble during lap seven it never dawned on me to take some of the Imodium AD specifically purchased for the race. Duh! I knew there was issues but told myself to suck it up. I certainly didn’t think I should feel fresh and springy after 90-something miles so the stomach dilemma seemed normal and hence I skipped the medicine which could have very well put an end to frequent pit stops….possibly getting me to the finish line sooner? Who knows….
I could sense Russ stressing a little at the beginning of lap eight. He kept looking at the Garmin leaving me to wonder if I would make it. He also kept trying to get me to go faster which ultimately caused a brief melt down on my part. I felt so bad but couldn’t help but be snippy. The long inclines were beating me down again and all I could think of was how bad I wanted to finish. We finally made it to the halfway point after what seemed like several hours. The hills lifted my spirits some. Russ told me about all of the text messages people sent in which gave me the final boost I needed to get going. Around mile 8ish I asked him if I would make the sub-24 hour cut off. He paused for a moment and in a serious tone told me that if I could keep running and hold the current pace I would make it. His tone seemed serious. It concerned me enough to start running the last hills of the course pushing as hard as I could. Until that point I had not run any of the hills but my finish goal was at stake and it was now or never.
We made it over the last big hill turning into the half-mile trail section to the finish. Russ took off to dump the handhelds at the truck and let Jon know we were coming. They rushed up to the finish line and I came through. The final last steps to the finish line we actual steps going up hill but I didn’t care how steep that hill was or how tired I felt. My legs pushed and pushed. Finally, after running all day and all night I was done. I’d given everything I had to finish. Russ, Jon and I hugged and took some pictures at the finish line. And then the best part – the race director asked if this was my first time. I confirmed it was and he awarded me what I have been dreaming about for months!! My very own 100 MILES - ONE DAY finisher’s pendant.
It was so exciting! For all the months I trained and all the times I looked on the race website to see the finisher prize it was now in my hands for me to keep. The race director gave me hug and we took a picture. I knew I finished under 24 hours but it wasn’t until Russ asked if I knew what my finish time was. The race didn’t have a finish time clock so I looked over and the race director said, “Your finish time was 21 hours and 42 minutes.” I don’t really remember what I did or if I said anything. There was a rush through my head, I felt tears pressing against the back of my eyes and I felt like I was choking. Sure my goal was to finish in 23:30 and maybe once or twice I secretly hoped to get a little closer to 23 but NEVER in my wildest dreams did I dare to consider anything less than 23 hours.
Russ and Jon laughed and told me how they had discussed the sub-22 finish and how they changed the times without letting me know. We laughed some more and finally they helped me up the stairs into the lodge where a roaring fire was warming everyone up. The place looked like a morgue. Bodies tucked away in sleeping bags scattered all over the floor. Crews were whizzing around feeding their runners and taking care of them. An occasional camera flash went off here and there. We found a spot on the floor for me to elevate my legs while Russ put together some food. About the only thing I craved was chicken broth or potato chips, probably because the salt. I sat there for a while inhaling potato chips while Russ and Jon filled me in on the “behind the scenes.” I felt so incredibly lucky and honored to have both of them crew and pace me. They both worked so hard going above and beyond to not only help me reach my goal, but also exceed what I never dream possible. Words cannot express how thankful I am to have them as my husband and running partner. Guys – thank you very-very much. I also have to thank Carrie, Jon’s wife, for letting him come down and pace me during their normal day off together. Thank you!
Recovery: The last few days I’ve had really swollen feet and have been completely exhausted, which I guess is to be expected. LOL. The first night I kept waking up from the soreness and starvation. My stomach has been a bit rebellious but I think we’ve come to terms and are close to getting back on track. I don’t see myself running this week and plan on taking next week off too (from running). That said….stay tuned because I see another 100-mile race coming soon. Oh yeaaaa…..
On the way home I got to read all of the twitters, text messages and listen to voicemails from all of our friends. WOW! What an incredible support system. I cannot thank you all enough for your kindness, support, encouragement and love. Your positive words helped me keep pushing forward during times when I wanted to stop and sit down. I thought about the HRR runners and how hard they ran the weekend before at Shamrock giving everything they had. I thought about my friends who are currently overcoming injuries but remain positive throughout the waiting process. I thought about Bill Bradley and his epic performance last year at Badwater, after cycling 3000 miles nine days and then running 135 miles. I thought about Running Man Dave at Bataan Memorial Marathon meeting the P.O.W. survivors and running with a 35lb pack. I thought about Sandy and how she’s been fighting cancer without missing a beat on living life. There were so many times throughout the race where the personal stories of our friends kept the fire inside me lit and burning bright. Thank all of you for inspiring me to keep going and pushing the limits!
A special thanks to Orange Glow for the ipod music, su-weet! My family for their unconditional support, Amy for the leg massages after long runs, and of course Lance for pulling the leash a little harder and getting me to run a little faster. I am humbled.
Mountain Masochist Trail Run 50
Since it's been a while I'll start back with the Mountain Masochist Trail Run 50-miler. This was back in November and my second 50. After such a fun and easy going CMMM 50 I hoped MMTR would be the same. Unfortunately it wasn't in the cards. I started with having stomach issues a week before leaving me dehydrated going into the race. To fuel the fire, anxiety was high due to the course being "Horton Miles." Horton Miles are those pesky races where according to the course map, it could be 3 miles from one aid station to the next or it could be five miles. Mileage is approximate and therefore difficult for someone my pace to gauge how fast I need to run. Now this race was a little different because of the 16 time cut offs. Every aid station has a time cutoff and if you don't make it, you're cooked. To make a long story short I stressed myself out so bad about the time that from start to finish I felt delirious. Russ was my brain for the race and crewed me. Thank goodness for that because had he not been there, no telling what might have happened. Also because on top of the dehydration, and time stress, I also decided to try something new – in a race. Only the NUMBER ONE RULE one should never break! Ummm, yea that's me, Little Miss Rule Breaker. Basically wanted to try and use a liquid fuel in my handheld instead of water and instead of one GU every half hour, I would drop down to only one GU per hour. The plan seemed to make sense....until I couldn't keep up with how much I drank and how often along with what happens when I'm due for a new bottle of fuel and there's no aid station around. Oh and let's not forget how difficult it is to keep drinking when one has to pee *really* bad and there are no trees around. Not happening. Anyway, by AS 2 I was a mess. Crying, confused, upset with my fuel, etc. Russ met me at the following AS and we decided to switch me back to my normal routine. It was early enough in the race that I could recover, and I did. The rest of the race was spent running against the clock. Only, my time calculations were non-existent. Russ said I would ask him how much time I have and two minutes later would be upset thinking I had less time. Irrational. He paced me about 15 miles in total to make sure I stayed on track. That was the best part because the course is so beautiful and knowing Russ was part of it to was special. I've done a lot of races this year that he couldn't make it to so he finally got to experience a 50 miler with me. And of course, it was good practice for us to work together and make sure he could crew me, navigating around my ups and downs, fueling issues, etc as preparation for my upcoming 100. He knew how to read me, when to be quiet and when to be bossy. This is critical for a runner in the longer distances. All in all, it was a very tough race mentally. I just didn't have it. The good side is that despite that, physically I did have it and managed to push through to the finish and met the cut offs. It also qualified me as a Lynchburg Ultra Series Finisher meaning I received the coveted LUS Patagonia Vest. It's soooooo nice and is getting a lot of use. :)
As an aside, during the pre-race dinner we met Valmir Nunes. A world-class ultrarunner and frankly, an incredibly humble down to earth genuinely kind person. He's from Brazil and by chance we were introduced to him. Since Russ speaks Portuguese, he helped Valmir translate and speak with the runners in the room. Valmir currently is the record holder for the Badwater race, the World Toughest Footrace aka, my dream race. What a neat guy. He needed some tape for his toes to prevent blisters so I gave him my scissors and tape I had in my Zombie Runner Foot Care Kit. When he brought the tape back he gave me a very cool tech shirt from one of the races he puts on in Brazil. So nice of him!
As an aside, during the pre-race dinner we met Valmir Nunes. A world-class ultrarunner and frankly, an incredibly humble down to earth genuinely kind person. He's from Brazil and by chance we were introduced to him. Since Russ speaks Portuguese, he helped Valmir translate and speak with the runners in the room. Valmir currently is the record holder for the Badwater race, the World Toughest Footrace aka, my dream race. What a neat guy. He needed some tape for his toes to prevent blisters so I gave him my scissors and tape I had in my Zombie Runner Foot Care Kit. When he brought the tape back he gave me a very cool tech shirt from one of the races he puts on in Brazil. So nice of him!
Trail Running Rampage 40
This weekend I drove up to Douthat State Park in Clifton Forge, Virginia to run in the Odyssey Trail Running Rampage. Odyssey Adventure Racing is known for putting on technically challenging races through this area. Actually I raced in their Lake Anna Half-Iron Distance triathlon a few years ago where OAR’s name lived up to the event as well. That was one of my favorite half-iron races but I heard they are doing away with it. Such a shame. For this particular race, OAR hosted three distances: Half-Marathon, Marathon and 40-mile ultra. I’m sure I need not tell you which one I choose…40-MILES of course!! This was a looped course. One loop for half-marathoners, two loop for the marathon and three loops for 40-milers. Excuse the length of this RR. In the end, I'm sure you'll agree it was worth the read....
Pre-Race:
At any rate, I left Friday at noon for the long haul drive to the foothills of Virginia’s mountains. Unfortunately due to a big mountain biking weekend, campsites were sold out at the state park. I had phoned the Race Director, Ronny, earlier in the week and he pointed me in the direction of Buckhorne Campgrounds. This family-owned campground facility is located roughly two miles down the street from Douthat State Park. Not only does it have very clean bathhouse facilities, but it has the cutest little grocery store and restaurant. My favorite part was walking into the store to find 15-20 different flavors of ice cream. Oh, and if the ice cream wasn’t enough, Buckhorne boasts Wi-Fi internet throughout the campgrounds! Just in case you were wondering – yes, I must confess to eating a large scoop of their Peanut Butter Chocolate ice cream. Really though, I just wanted to make sure it was safe for others to consume. . . .
Race Morning:
Using my trusted Blackberry, the alarm went off at 5:05AM. Considering I slept with the world’s population of chirping crickets outside the thin walls of my tent, I was already up and ready to take down the campsite. 15 minutes later I was sitting in the car and ready to roll to the race site. I chugged chocolate milk - breakfast of champions, and sipped water.
Arriving at the race site there was quite a bit of time before the 6:30AM pre-race meeting. This gave me time one last time to go through my gear, drop bag, and prep the mini ice chest I planned on using at the staging area.
The staging area was four cones in a grassy area. There weren’t too many 40-milers runners; only 5 women total. I stood there feeling calm and ready. Calmer then I usually do at most races probably because this race was a last minute decision. I really didn’t have any expectations other then to have fun and finish. In the midst of calmness, I stood next to this woman who was one of the 40-milers. Listening to her talk about the course was interesting. Yes, I knew there was 2400ft of elevation change for each loop but didn’t know much else. She described the course as difficult with lots of rocks - *lots and lots* of rocks. I could tell this was a seasoned ultra runner, plus she also said she trained on the course on occasion. Regardless, I stuck to my guns of being calm and carefree.
Loop 1:
As the gun went off our large wave start took off. A combination of half-marathoners, marathoners and ultra runners made for an awkward start. Some were running all out. Still others stayed in the back knowing they had a long day ahead. I think I was somewhere in the middle to back of the pack. More importantly, I knew that woman from the starting line was behind me.
Approaching AS1 she flew past me going in. We both grabbed water but luckily I wore my running vest and didn’t need to stop for food. She stayed back to eat and I took off. We were done with the toughest part of the course until the next loop. At this point all bets were off. Remember that calmness? Yea, it fell by the wayside. I didn’t want her to pass me. Something inside clicked and as I left AS1 starting to go down the mountain, I felt a change inside. Now, I’m not the best downhill runner. Errr…I could potentially be one of the worst downhill runners actually. From past experiences, my standard approach has been to plant my butt firmly on terra firma and slide down carefully ensuring avoidance of face plants or uncontrollable tumbling downhill. But today was different. I had a quick talk with myself and decided it was now or never. I needed to learn how to run downhill - and fast at that! That woman was behind me again and this was my moment to breakaway. I punched it. As hard as I could, with all my might (leaving all common sense behind, I might add) ran down hill as fast as I possibly could. Gone were my worries of falling. Gone was my fear of breaking bones. All I could think about was getting her off my back. (Ok. Side note here – I am NEVER like this!! Usually I could care the less of what place I’m in, even if it’s last!)
By mile 9, AS2 I dropped her. Quickly refilling my bottle and heading out again I occasionally glanced back to check but never saw her. The rest of Loop 1 was an all out effort to add distance from her. Finishing up my first loop I ran in to the staging area. Refilled bottle, threw out trash from pockets, refilled GU packets and took off. Before leaving that woman’s boyfriend told me that the lead woman was ahead of me. Of course I knew that because we passed each other as she started her second lap and I finished my first.
Loop 2:
Heading back out I ran with vengeance. The woman behind me was at least six minutes behind and I was about ten minutes behind 1st place. My concern was going back up the four-mile climb and losing time as a result. Not this time. I pushed and gave everything to get up as fast as possible. And I should point out that by “fast” I mean, I was actually averaging 14 min/miles. Somewhere during that climb I reached into my pocket to grab electrolytes only to find out they were gone! No electrolytes! It was getting hot and humid. The thought of running another loop without them was horrifying! I made myself calm down and think about how I would approach this situation. First, I knew an AS was coming up. I would ask if they had any. If not, I would have to drink the HEED they had available despite my preference. This day, the running gods were with me. The nice folks at the aid station had a large bag of electrolytes for us. I took two packets to get me through the loop, refilled my bottle and took off. Following this AS was the fast downhill portion of the loop. I punched it again running without hesitation over rocks and roots that filled the trail. Throwing caution to the wind, I ran fast down the mountain. Unfortunately the four mile climb without electrolytes took a small toll on me. Thinking it was dehydration I kept drinking and drinking. By the second to the last aid station, I had to refill my handheld again – creating another mess for me down the road.
Loop 3:
By this point in the race I never saw that woman again. But I didn’t cross paths with the lead girl either. I was holding on to 2nd place but my careless mistake of going out too fast on the first lap was catching up. I made the big climb for the final time. This time I had a bottle of Gatorade with me from the staging area and my water bottle. With the heat I decided to use my water bottle to spray my head and neck and drink the Gatorade. My pace was getting slower but I managed to give it a good push through my “favorite” downhill section. Unfortunately, my over hydration fest caught up with me. I felt very dizzy; my stomach was huge. There was only one way to fix the issue and that was to cut myself off from drinking until I could pee enough to get back to normal. It worked, though it took about three miles.
At the bottom of the mountain, mile 9 AS, another runner came up behind me. I asked him if he had passed another female racer. He said no – which is about when he gave me news that derailed me. He said we were the last two runners on the course. “NO WAY!” I yelled out loud. How could this be? The news completely deflated me. All of that effort, energy, excitement – gone.
I kept going down the trail trying to figure out what happened. No one had passed me so I knew they weren’t in front of me. It didn’t make sense. To add insult to injury the flies and mosquitoes were starting to swarm my head. Flapping my hands around my face and ears but nothing helped. Between the bad news and buzzing noise lumped together I thought I was going crazy! Just then an a-ha moment - I realized why, in the middle of a race with nine hours of sweat, I was the object of desire for swarming bugs. The water I filled my bottle with wasn’t water, it was HEED! I had been spraying myself with HEED!! Oh for crying out loud!
With one mile to go, I kept walking to the finish line laughing at the days events. With no expectations I was happy with everything that had happened because all of it was completely outside the norm. Sure, I made mistakes and pushed the envelope but at the end of the day the run was fun and my personal little race against “that” other woman took me out of a comfort zone I never wanted to leave before.
At the finish line, the race director along with volunteers cheered me to the end. I finished 2nd place and last place all in one with a time of 9:49. Ha! The first place woman finished in 8:57. I suppose our time difference would have been closer had I run the last four miles. Come to find out, “that” woman dropped down to the marathon distance after the first loop citing hip flexor issues. As for the other two female runners - they never even showed up.
As for the swarming flies – the back of my neck now looks like chicken pox from all the bites. I guess I should have stopped and opened the little OFF bug wipe I had stored in the back of my running vest. Oops! (laughs / shaking head) PS: Drymax Maximum Protection Socks came through for me yet again! NO BLISTERS!
Pre-Race:
At any rate, I left Friday at noon for the long haul drive to the foothills of Virginia’s mountains. Unfortunately due to a big mountain biking weekend, campsites were sold out at the state park. I had phoned the Race Director, Ronny, earlier in the week and he pointed me in the direction of Buckhorne Campgrounds. This family-owned campground facility is located roughly two miles down the street from Douthat State Park. Not only does it have very clean bathhouse facilities, but it has the cutest little grocery store and restaurant. My favorite part was walking into the store to find 15-20 different flavors of ice cream. Oh, and if the ice cream wasn’t enough, Buckhorne boasts Wi-Fi internet throughout the campgrounds! Just in case you were wondering – yes, I must confess to eating a large scoop of their Peanut Butter Chocolate ice cream. Really though, I just wanted to make sure it was safe for others to consume. . . .
Race Morning:
Using my trusted Blackberry, the alarm went off at 5:05AM. Considering I slept with the world’s population of chirping crickets outside the thin walls of my tent, I was already up and ready to take down the campsite. 15 minutes later I was sitting in the car and ready to roll to the race site. I chugged chocolate milk - breakfast of champions, and sipped water.
Arriving at the race site there was quite a bit of time before the 6:30AM pre-race meeting. This gave me time one last time to go through my gear, drop bag, and prep the mini ice chest I planned on using at the staging area.
The staging area was four cones in a grassy area. There weren’t too many 40-milers runners; only 5 women total. I stood there feeling calm and ready. Calmer then I usually do at most races probably because this race was a last minute decision. I really didn’t have any expectations other then to have fun and finish. In the midst of calmness, I stood next to this woman who was one of the 40-milers. Listening to her talk about the course was interesting. Yes, I knew there was 2400ft of elevation change for each loop but didn’t know much else. She described the course as difficult with lots of rocks - *lots and lots* of rocks. I could tell this was a seasoned ultra runner, plus she also said she trained on the course on occasion. Regardless, I stuck to my guns of being calm and carefree.
Loop 1:
As the gun went off our large wave start took off. A combination of half-marathoners, marathoners and ultra runners made for an awkward start. Some were running all out. Still others stayed in the back knowing they had a long day ahead. I think I was somewhere in the middle to back of the pack. More importantly, I knew that woman from the starting line was behind me.
Approaching AS1 she flew past me going in. We both grabbed water but luckily I wore my running vest and didn’t need to stop for food. She stayed back to eat and I took off. We were done with the toughest part of the course until the next loop. At this point all bets were off. Remember that calmness? Yea, it fell by the wayside. I didn’t want her to pass me. Something inside clicked and as I left AS1 starting to go down the mountain, I felt a change inside. Now, I’m not the best downhill runner. Errr…I could potentially be one of the worst downhill runners actually. From past experiences, my standard approach has been to plant my butt firmly on terra firma and slide down carefully ensuring avoidance of face plants or uncontrollable tumbling downhill. But today was different. I had a quick talk with myself and decided it was now or never. I needed to learn how to run downhill - and fast at that! That woman was behind me again and this was my moment to breakaway. I punched it. As hard as I could, with all my might (leaving all common sense behind, I might add) ran down hill as fast as I possibly could. Gone were my worries of falling. Gone was my fear of breaking bones. All I could think about was getting her off my back. (Ok. Side note here – I am NEVER like this!! Usually I could care the less of what place I’m in, even if it’s last!)
By mile 9, AS2 I dropped her. Quickly refilling my bottle and heading out again I occasionally glanced back to check but never saw her. The rest of Loop 1 was an all out effort to add distance from her. Finishing up my first loop I ran in to the staging area. Refilled bottle, threw out trash from pockets, refilled GU packets and took off. Before leaving that woman’s boyfriend told me that the lead woman was ahead of me. Of course I knew that because we passed each other as she started her second lap and I finished my first.
Loop 2:
Heading back out I ran with vengeance. The woman behind me was at least six minutes behind and I was about ten minutes behind 1st place. My concern was going back up the four-mile climb and losing time as a result. Not this time. I pushed and gave everything to get up as fast as possible. And I should point out that by “fast” I mean, I was actually averaging 14 min/miles. Somewhere during that climb I reached into my pocket to grab electrolytes only to find out they were gone! No electrolytes! It was getting hot and humid. The thought of running another loop without them was horrifying! I made myself calm down and think about how I would approach this situation. First, I knew an AS was coming up. I would ask if they had any. If not, I would have to drink the HEED they had available despite my preference. This day, the running gods were with me. The nice folks at the aid station had a large bag of electrolytes for us. I took two packets to get me through the loop, refilled my bottle and took off. Following this AS was the fast downhill portion of the loop. I punched it again running without hesitation over rocks and roots that filled the trail. Throwing caution to the wind, I ran fast down the mountain. Unfortunately the four mile climb without electrolytes took a small toll on me. Thinking it was dehydration I kept drinking and drinking. By the second to the last aid station, I had to refill my handheld again – creating another mess for me down the road.
Loop 3:
By this point in the race I never saw that woman again. But I didn’t cross paths with the lead girl either. I was holding on to 2nd place but my careless mistake of going out too fast on the first lap was catching up. I made the big climb for the final time. This time I had a bottle of Gatorade with me from the staging area and my water bottle. With the heat I decided to use my water bottle to spray my head and neck and drink the Gatorade. My pace was getting slower but I managed to give it a good push through my “favorite” downhill section. Unfortunately, my over hydration fest caught up with me. I felt very dizzy; my stomach was huge. There was only one way to fix the issue and that was to cut myself off from drinking until I could pee enough to get back to normal. It worked, though it took about three miles.
At the bottom of the mountain, mile 9 AS, another runner came up behind me. I asked him if he had passed another female racer. He said no – which is about when he gave me news that derailed me. He said we were the last two runners on the course. “NO WAY!” I yelled out loud. How could this be? The news completely deflated me. All of that effort, energy, excitement – gone.
I kept going down the trail trying to figure out what happened. No one had passed me so I knew they weren’t in front of me. It didn’t make sense. To add insult to injury the flies and mosquitoes were starting to swarm my head. Flapping my hands around my face and ears but nothing helped. Between the bad news and buzzing noise lumped together I thought I was going crazy! Just then an a-ha moment - I realized why, in the middle of a race with nine hours of sweat, I was the object of desire for swarming bugs. The water I filled my bottle with wasn’t water, it was HEED! I had been spraying myself with HEED!! Oh for crying out loud!
With one mile to go, I kept walking to the finish line laughing at the days events. With no expectations I was happy with everything that had happened because all of it was completely outside the norm. Sure, I made mistakes and pushed the envelope but at the end of the day the run was fun and my personal little race against “that” other woman took me out of a comfort zone I never wanted to leave before.
At the finish line, the race director along with volunteers cheered me to the end. I finished 2nd place and last place all in one with a time of 9:49. Ha! The first place woman finished in 8:57. I suppose our time difference would have been closer had I run the last four miles. Come to find out, “that” woman dropped down to the marathon distance after the first loop citing hip flexor issues. As for the other two female runners - they never even showed up.
As for the swarming flies – the back of my neck now looks like chicken pox from all the bites. I guess I should have stopped and opened the little OFF bug wipe I had stored in the back of my running vest. Oops! (laughs / shaking head) PS: Drymax Maximum Protection Socks came through for me yet again! NO BLISTERS!
Cheat Mountain Moonshine Madness 50
Here it is!! My first 50-mile ultra race report!! I must have been delusional when I signed up for CMMM because come last week I kept asking myself what I was thinking when I signed up for my first 50-mile NIGHT trail run in the mountains! Knowing I had put the miles required for training, it still seemed daunting at the thought of covering 50-miles for the first time. I carefully packed all of my gear taking several days to make sure nothing was forgotten. Regardless of race preparation, there was still some stress about what I would do if I saw a bear. I needed advice so I e-mailed Adam Casseday, RD and asked him about the bears. Adam was very gracious in his response, “You shouldn’t worry about bears as much as you should worry about lightening.” Hmmm..was this meant to make me feel better, I thought to myself. But if the Race Director says, not to worry I had no reason not to believe him. Friday morning I hit the road at 7:30AM and set off for a weekend of unknown expectations. The drive up to Beverly, WV was beautiful, except for the rain. Driving on twisting cliff roads through the mountains was exhausting for someone who lives at sea level. Rain made it especially nerve wrecking. Thankfully I made it to the race site safe.
It was about 2:30PM when I arrived at Camp Pioneer and only race staff was there setting up. The long drive left me hungry so I opted to drive into Elkins for lunch. Wendy’s seemed like a perfect choice and the double cheeseburger, large fries and drink went down too easy. Back at Camp Pioneer runners were starting to arrive and take their place in the large parking field. I felt very nervous inside. This was really going to happen! 50-MILES! A few people asked how I was doing and all I could respond with was – NERVOUS! Some of the seasoned runners were so kind and thoughtful to give me pep talks. One even gave me his spare whistle to use in case I spotted a bear! Nice…I thought. I’m either going to get mauled by a bear or struck by lightening. Possibly both, simultaneously. After putting up the tent and sorting through all the gear, closest, kitchen and bathroom sink I brought, I finally figured out what to wear and what to store in my Nathan pack. I sent some last minute text messages to my friends and family and walked over for the pre-race meeting. I don’t remember much about the meeting except for the description of the reflectors that we would be following out on the trails – and - hearing Adam talk about how some reflectors might be missing. Goosebumps covered my skin at the thought of missing reflectors. It was questionable if I could make the distance but the possibility of missing reflectors put butterflies on steroids in my stomach.
At the start of the race we lined up, sang the National Anthem and just like that, we were off into the dark. Lucky for me my buddy Rob said he would stay with me. I questioned how long he would run with me because he’s much faster and more experienced. He said I was going to cry. What? Cry? What did he mean? Why would he say that? Did he think I was going to sit down on the trail and start crying? I didn’t ask. Given the conditions of the race there was potential for maybe a little bit of crying so I left it alone. We ran at a pretty fast clip considering the race was 50 miles but it made sense to make up as much time on the roads before hitting the trails.
Entering the first trail head was an interesting experience, to say the very least. It was not what I expected. Sure I have run on trails before, but this wasn’t a trail! It was more like a jungle scene from the movie, Romancing the Stone! There was no trail but rather a quasi-path from where all the faster runners pounded down the plants and brush. Seriously, I couldn’t believe this is what I was going to be running on. Every step was a surprise. I couldn’t figure out how to look up for reflectors and watch my footing at the same time. Now I know where every greenhouse in America grows their ferns. And it’s not “Where the Red Fern Grows,” it’s where the Green Fern Grows. I’m telling you they all grow along the CMMM course. Trust me. All hundred thousand ferns are there sprouting their limbs as wide as humanly possible playing hide-and-go-seek with my feet.
The trails never did “clear” up into defined paths. After about two-miles I got an attitude adjustment and told myself that I must have wanted this because I signed myself up for it. No one held a gun to my head so no whining allowed. Rob and I got into our groove, a slow groove but nonetheless. The goal was forward progression. I knew I had to keep moving forward as fast as I could to make the cut offs. With the fog being so dense there were times where pace was completely off because of how tough it was too see. Mud was another point of contention. There were muddy sections so deep my shoes were being pulled off. I wondered to myself if they planned the course on purpose because after each mud fest we had stream crossings to wash it all off. This went on for the whole first half of the course. There was also a point where, surprise-surprise, we couldn’t see any reflectors. None. The problem was that we also couldn’t tell where the path was. Rob and I circled around and around trying to find some sign of path. I shined my lights into the woods only to have several sets of eyes peering back at me! We took a lucky guess and went upward into the brush, finally spotting a reflector up ahead. Dodged that bullet.
We made each cut-off with [I think] 30 minutes to spare. That’s not a lot of time difference when it’s raining, incredibly foggy and exhaustion is setting in. Every now and then I asked Rob if we would make it. His response? RUN. And I did. Nearing the last aid station the long downhill allowed me to run hard and make up time. My original finish goal was 12 hours which at that point was a far afterthought. The new goal was just to meet the 13-hr cut off. Day light finally broke through the dense fog and clouds. We turned off our lights and kept running / walking as allowed.
Finally back on the paved road; the finish felt close. I wanted so badly to run but couldn’t. My right soleous started twitching the same way it did when I tore it two years ago. Being that close to the finish I wasn’t about to push it. Walking was the better option. We made our way to the white fencing and with the finish line in sight I tried shuffling when all of a sudden I felt it happened - Tears. Rob was right, I did cry. An emotional rush ran through every ounce of blood in my body. All of those miles in training, the aches and pains and heat from summer, the weeks of being exhausted. The sun, moon and stars were aligned and there I was crossing the finish line of my first 50-mile ultra. Adam and Michelle were waiting at the finish holding our coveted Finisher’s Patagonia shorts. What a memorable moment in time.
I must say it would not have been possible without all of the incredibly kind volunteers that helped us at the aid stations. Each one of them went above and beyond, especially in those conditions. In the wee hours of the morning they kept smiles on their faces, kept their energy high and bent over backwards to help us to the finish. Rob was an awesome running buddy despite his tendency to bark like a drill sergeant. LOL.
Driving home was an ultra in itself. With no sleep and 50-miles on my legs I slept for an hour before departing the race site and around the half way point pulled off for another Wendy’s feast and another nap. Russ was instrumental in staying on the phone with me listening to my non-stop gabbing. I didn’t feel as exhausted as I thought, probably from all of the caffeine. When I got home my two boys were at the door with smiles. Lance did his little buckaroo dance in the yard and Russ was so helpful. He helped unpack the truck, and had a yummy sushi dinner waiting. The next morning Russ treated me to a home cooked breakfast - lots of bacon (my favorite post-race thing to eat), eggs and chocolate milk on the back deck! I should run 50-milers more often. Ha!!
Would I do it again? Absolutely! This race completely exceeded everything I hoped for in my first 50-miler and all races hereafter have a tough act to follow.
As I write this four days following the race. I still feel excited and proud. In a strange way it almost seems surreal, like it never happened. My legs are on the mend and already I’m itching to find another ultra. :)
It was about 2:30PM when I arrived at Camp Pioneer and only race staff was there setting up. The long drive left me hungry so I opted to drive into Elkins for lunch. Wendy’s seemed like a perfect choice and the double cheeseburger, large fries and drink went down too easy. Back at Camp Pioneer runners were starting to arrive and take their place in the large parking field. I felt very nervous inside. This was really going to happen! 50-MILES! A few people asked how I was doing and all I could respond with was – NERVOUS! Some of the seasoned runners were so kind and thoughtful to give me pep talks. One even gave me his spare whistle to use in case I spotted a bear! Nice…I thought. I’m either going to get mauled by a bear or struck by lightening. Possibly both, simultaneously. After putting up the tent and sorting through all the gear, closest, kitchen and bathroom sink I brought, I finally figured out what to wear and what to store in my Nathan pack. I sent some last minute text messages to my friends and family and walked over for the pre-race meeting. I don’t remember much about the meeting except for the description of the reflectors that we would be following out on the trails – and - hearing Adam talk about how some reflectors might be missing. Goosebumps covered my skin at the thought of missing reflectors. It was questionable if I could make the distance but the possibility of missing reflectors put butterflies on steroids in my stomach.
At the start of the race we lined up, sang the National Anthem and just like that, we were off into the dark. Lucky for me my buddy Rob said he would stay with me. I questioned how long he would run with me because he’s much faster and more experienced. He said I was going to cry. What? Cry? What did he mean? Why would he say that? Did he think I was going to sit down on the trail and start crying? I didn’t ask. Given the conditions of the race there was potential for maybe a little bit of crying so I left it alone. We ran at a pretty fast clip considering the race was 50 miles but it made sense to make up as much time on the roads before hitting the trails.
Entering the first trail head was an interesting experience, to say the very least. It was not what I expected. Sure I have run on trails before, but this wasn’t a trail! It was more like a jungle scene from the movie, Romancing the Stone! There was no trail but rather a quasi-path from where all the faster runners pounded down the plants and brush. Seriously, I couldn’t believe this is what I was going to be running on. Every step was a surprise. I couldn’t figure out how to look up for reflectors and watch my footing at the same time. Now I know where every greenhouse in America grows their ferns. And it’s not “Where the Red Fern Grows,” it’s where the Green Fern Grows. I’m telling you they all grow along the CMMM course. Trust me. All hundred thousand ferns are there sprouting their limbs as wide as humanly possible playing hide-and-go-seek with my feet.
The trails never did “clear” up into defined paths. After about two-miles I got an attitude adjustment and told myself that I must have wanted this because I signed myself up for it. No one held a gun to my head so no whining allowed. Rob and I got into our groove, a slow groove but nonetheless. The goal was forward progression. I knew I had to keep moving forward as fast as I could to make the cut offs. With the fog being so dense there were times where pace was completely off because of how tough it was too see. Mud was another point of contention. There were muddy sections so deep my shoes were being pulled off. I wondered to myself if they planned the course on purpose because after each mud fest we had stream crossings to wash it all off. This went on for the whole first half of the course. There was also a point where, surprise-surprise, we couldn’t see any reflectors. None. The problem was that we also couldn’t tell where the path was. Rob and I circled around and around trying to find some sign of path. I shined my lights into the woods only to have several sets of eyes peering back at me! We took a lucky guess and went upward into the brush, finally spotting a reflector up ahead. Dodged that bullet.
We made each cut-off with [I think] 30 minutes to spare. That’s not a lot of time difference when it’s raining, incredibly foggy and exhaustion is setting in. Every now and then I asked Rob if we would make it. His response? RUN. And I did. Nearing the last aid station the long downhill allowed me to run hard and make up time. My original finish goal was 12 hours which at that point was a far afterthought. The new goal was just to meet the 13-hr cut off. Day light finally broke through the dense fog and clouds. We turned off our lights and kept running / walking as allowed.
Finally back on the paved road; the finish felt close. I wanted so badly to run but couldn’t. My right soleous started twitching the same way it did when I tore it two years ago. Being that close to the finish I wasn’t about to push it. Walking was the better option. We made our way to the white fencing and with the finish line in sight I tried shuffling when all of a sudden I felt it happened - Tears. Rob was right, I did cry. An emotional rush ran through every ounce of blood in my body. All of those miles in training, the aches and pains and heat from summer, the weeks of being exhausted. The sun, moon and stars were aligned and there I was crossing the finish line of my first 50-mile ultra. Adam and Michelle were waiting at the finish holding our coveted Finisher’s Patagonia shorts. What a memorable moment in time.
I must say it would not have been possible without all of the incredibly kind volunteers that helped us at the aid stations. Each one of them went above and beyond, especially in those conditions. In the wee hours of the morning they kept smiles on their faces, kept their energy high and bent over backwards to help us to the finish. Rob was an awesome running buddy despite his tendency to bark like a drill sergeant. LOL.
Driving home was an ultra in itself. With no sleep and 50-miles on my legs I slept for an hour before departing the race site and around the half way point pulled off for another Wendy’s feast and another nap. Russ was instrumental in staying on the phone with me listening to my non-stop gabbing. I didn’t feel as exhausted as I thought, probably from all of the caffeine. When I got home my two boys were at the door with smiles. Lance did his little buckaroo dance in the yard and Russ was so helpful. He helped unpack the truck, and had a yummy sushi dinner waiting. The next morning Russ treated me to a home cooked breakfast - lots of bacon (my favorite post-race thing to eat), eggs and chocolate milk on the back deck! I should run 50-milers more often. Ha!!
Would I do it again? Absolutely! This race completely exceeded everything I hoped for in my first 50-miler and all races hereafter have a tough act to follow.
As I write this four days following the race. I still feel excited and proud. In a strange way it almost seems surreal, like it never happened. My legs are on the mend and already I’m itching to find another ultra. :)
Skyline Endurance Run 50k
Skyline Challenge 50k
May 2, 2009
Front Royal, Virginia
Start time: 6AM
Skyline started at 6AM. It was a bit dark, which you can see from the pictures but by the time we started running I didn’t bother to use a headlight. The race director started the race with a special surprise - instead of hearing a gun go off we were treated to a firework show! This was the inaugural year for this race meaning it wasn’t well known and therefore there was only 65 racers total making the beginning of the race even more intimate.
The race started out a bit chilly and rainy. It wasn’t torrential rain, but rather that misty crap that no one likes to run in because it’s tough to figure out what to wear. I started out with shorts, tank top and a long sleeve thin pullover thinking that would be good enough. Eventually the thin pullover came off and the arm warmers came on and stayed on until roughly mile seven when they got ditched.
Approximately 24 miles of the course was on smooth paved road with only seven miles in the middle on the AT. I wish it would have been the other way around because the AT was breathtaking! Don’t get me wrong though, the road portion was difficult due to the constant rolling hills and pounding from the pavement. It’s been a few months since I spent that much time running on the road! At any rate, the scenery couldn’t have been better and three of my running buddies came to the race too. For two of them, this would be their first ultra distance race. The third buddy, Jon, had just finished running a 50-miler two weeks prior and would be kicking back enjoying the race to finish. Jon has done several ultras in the 50-mile distance and is my partner in crime for all the training runs I did through the winter and rain. The other two I knew would be fine going the distance. One of them, David, is an accomplished marathon runner who can clock a 3:30-ish marathon! The other guy, Carter, had never run more than a half marathon race before but I had written a training schedule for him to follow and he was ready to roll by race day. It would be an interesting day considering three of us started out together, the fast marathon took from out of the gate…
Jon, Carter and I ran taking turns leading as we covered the first half. This was my first time running an ultra with guys as usually I run with Megan and well, for all practical matters it is easier to run with the same sex especially during potty stops. . . At any rate, the guys were courteous enough to run ahead and let me take care of business without giving me too much grief. We stuck with our nutrition plan eating every thirty minutes – on the dot. For 12 miles we ran as much as we could since there were hardly any long flats and also did the 10:2 (Run:Walk) ratio which always helps. My legs were still sore and tired from running Promiseland 50k the week before so it was obvious to me that I would have to race smart. Downhills were painful, but uphill’s were ok. Of course, it only took TWELVE miles to figure that out! If I planned on making it to the finish, my strategy would have to change.
We pulled up to the AT aid station 3 where our drop bags were located and I was happy to not only see food and water but also happy to rip off the road running shoes and slide on my trail shoes. My feet had just one the lottery and went rags to riches! For seven glorious miles I enjoyed the trails. Carter took off about a mile into the trail section and David, well, who knows where David was…more on that later…Jon was further back complaining about the rocky section but he eventually caught up before Aid Station 4. As we approached AS 4 Carter passed us heading back. He mentioned that he hadn't seen David, which meant David was more than likely lost. The irony of this is that on the drive up David us showed us his map of the course he had printed out to bring with him during the race. When we told him the course would be marked, he said it didn't matter he wanted to make sure he didn't get lost. Of course, the rest of the trip we gave him endless grief. (Doh!) We hadn't seen David since the start of the race so we knew he was in front of us, to not cross paths at the halfway point only meant one thing. David. Was. Lost.
This was the first ultra race I’ve done that there was a section where I felt in a dark place inside. Call it a bad out of body experience but it felt like my brain was going in one direction and my body in another. I would look down at the rocks and think about where to place my feet but it wasn’t matching what the feet were doing. I attributed this to fatigue from the weekend before. Nutritionally and hydration wise I was good and felt no problems so it had to be fatigue. At any rate, one foot in front of the other. I stuck with my plan and remembered the advice Rebekkah Trittipoe gave me at my first ultra training run, “Run an ultra aid station-to-aid station and if you can’t, run tree-to-tree.” Very good advice from an expert. That’s what I did. Jon dropped me after the fourth aid station and took off. We managed to catch back up when I finished the trail section. I was a little concerned that the second half would be painful because my feet didn’t feel spectacular. I was certain blisters were forming and the idea of running in road shoes made me nervous. Had the road portion been shorter, I probably would have ran in my trail shoes but given I had another 12 miles on the road I desperately needed cushioning. So, I switched shoes against my better judgment and we hit the pavement.
Just before leaving the trail aid station I told the volunteers we hadn't seen our friend in a while and asked if he had checked in twice. No, he hadn't. At that point they called on the radios to alert everyone that a runner was lost - - "The guy in the red shorts."
The first few miles were a bit painful. Jon was on a runners high; far ahead. I had to stop several times and empty out road pebbles from my shoes to make sure nothing extra agitated the already blistered feet. Roughly about 5 hrs 10 minutes into the race we hit mile 25. The past few miles were relatively uneventful and it dawned on me that I could potentially PR! I looked over at Jon and told him I wanted to go for it and PR. He kind of had this look wondering what I was roping him into which was about when I told him that in order to PR I needed to finish in an hour and we still had seven miles to go. Hee… If looks could kill, Jon would have. For the next mile we ran an 8:20 pace until my legs gave out. I was reduced to a walk. Agh…this was so frustrating!! I wanted so badly to PR but there I was, walking. Finally Jon picked up the pace back to a good jog and I followed suit. One of the things that messed with me were the cars coming at us. The roads did not have shoulders and in the hilly sections as cars came over the hill, they were blinded and couldn’t see us. Frightening!
By the time we reached the last aid station I was 45 minutes from reaching my PR. Jon stopped and asked if I was going for it. I asked the volunteers how far we had and as soon as they said a little over four miles I took off. This was my last ditch effort to make it. Of course, just past that aid station was a LARGE hill. Ugh. Again reduced to a walk. The clock was ticking and my legs were only going so fast. As if that wasn’t enough I really had to pee – bad. Hydration was certainly not an issue for this race. The problem was this, there was only enough time to run and PR but if I had to stopped to tinkle it could really mess me up. What to do?
I decided this was the moment of truth for me. I was going in for the PR kill AND pee’d in my pants all at the same time. Ok, a little weird, soggy and well, not ideal, but with three minutes from missing my PR I came through crossing the finish line in 6:12, a PR, AND I finished third female.
Life is good.
Carter had finished before me completing his first 50k ultra in 5:48. Not bad for a first time!
Jon finished about ten minutes after me and said he felt fine considering his 50-miler two weeks prior.
David. By the time I finished they had located David. Apparently he instead of taking the 50k turn to the halfway point, he cross the main trail in the direction of the 50-milers! The race director told his he had finally made his way back to the aid station at the edge of the trail and was on his way back toward the finish. We waited. And waited and waited. Finally - in 8:31 David crossed the finish line completing what would have been his first 50k, but panned out to be his first 40-mile ultra! Everyone was joking with him as he came through. The race director thought it was so funny that they even created an honorary 40-mile category and allowed him to win! Needless to say, David has one fantastic story to tell for while now.
What a race!
Final note – when I took off my running shoes and socks I discovered only ONE blister on the bottom of my pinky toe. Not sure what all the pain was but heck – one baby blister, I’ll take it!
May 2, 2009
Front Royal, Virginia
Start time: 6AM
Skyline started at 6AM. It was a bit dark, which you can see from the pictures but by the time we started running I didn’t bother to use a headlight. The race director started the race with a special surprise - instead of hearing a gun go off we were treated to a firework show! This was the inaugural year for this race meaning it wasn’t well known and therefore there was only 65 racers total making the beginning of the race even more intimate.
The race started out a bit chilly and rainy. It wasn’t torrential rain, but rather that misty crap that no one likes to run in because it’s tough to figure out what to wear. I started out with shorts, tank top and a long sleeve thin pullover thinking that would be good enough. Eventually the thin pullover came off and the arm warmers came on and stayed on until roughly mile seven when they got ditched.
Approximately 24 miles of the course was on smooth paved road with only seven miles in the middle on the AT. I wish it would have been the other way around because the AT was breathtaking! Don’t get me wrong though, the road portion was difficult due to the constant rolling hills and pounding from the pavement. It’s been a few months since I spent that much time running on the road! At any rate, the scenery couldn’t have been better and three of my running buddies came to the race too. For two of them, this would be their first ultra distance race. The third buddy, Jon, had just finished running a 50-miler two weeks prior and would be kicking back enjoying the race to finish. Jon has done several ultras in the 50-mile distance and is my partner in crime for all the training runs I did through the winter and rain. The other two I knew would be fine going the distance. One of them, David, is an accomplished marathon runner who can clock a 3:30-ish marathon! The other guy, Carter, had never run more than a half marathon race before but I had written a training schedule for him to follow and he was ready to roll by race day. It would be an interesting day considering three of us started out together, the fast marathon took from out of the gate…
Jon, Carter and I ran taking turns leading as we covered the first half. This was my first time running an ultra with guys as usually I run with Megan and well, for all practical matters it is easier to run with the same sex especially during potty stops. . . At any rate, the guys were courteous enough to run ahead and let me take care of business without giving me too much grief. We stuck with our nutrition plan eating every thirty minutes – on the dot. For 12 miles we ran as much as we could since there were hardly any long flats and also did the 10:2 (Run:Walk) ratio which always helps. My legs were still sore and tired from running Promiseland 50k the week before so it was obvious to me that I would have to race smart. Downhills were painful, but uphill’s were ok. Of course, it only took TWELVE miles to figure that out! If I planned on making it to the finish, my strategy would have to change.
We pulled up to the AT aid station 3 where our drop bags were located and I was happy to not only see food and water but also happy to rip off the road running shoes and slide on my trail shoes. My feet had just one the lottery and went rags to riches! For seven glorious miles I enjoyed the trails. Carter took off about a mile into the trail section and David, well, who knows where David was…more on that later…Jon was further back complaining about the rocky section but he eventually caught up before Aid Station 4. As we approached AS 4 Carter passed us heading back. He mentioned that he hadn't seen David, which meant David was more than likely lost. The irony of this is that on the drive up David us showed us his map of the course he had printed out to bring with him during the race. When we told him the course would be marked, he said it didn't matter he wanted to make sure he didn't get lost. Of course, the rest of the trip we gave him endless grief. (Doh!) We hadn't seen David since the start of the race so we knew he was in front of us, to not cross paths at the halfway point only meant one thing. David. Was. Lost.
This was the first ultra race I’ve done that there was a section where I felt in a dark place inside. Call it a bad out of body experience but it felt like my brain was going in one direction and my body in another. I would look down at the rocks and think about where to place my feet but it wasn’t matching what the feet were doing. I attributed this to fatigue from the weekend before. Nutritionally and hydration wise I was good and felt no problems so it had to be fatigue. At any rate, one foot in front of the other. I stuck with my plan and remembered the advice Rebekkah Trittipoe gave me at my first ultra training run, “Run an ultra aid station-to-aid station and if you can’t, run tree-to-tree.” Very good advice from an expert. That’s what I did. Jon dropped me after the fourth aid station and took off. We managed to catch back up when I finished the trail section. I was a little concerned that the second half would be painful because my feet didn’t feel spectacular. I was certain blisters were forming and the idea of running in road shoes made me nervous. Had the road portion been shorter, I probably would have ran in my trail shoes but given I had another 12 miles on the road I desperately needed cushioning. So, I switched shoes against my better judgment and we hit the pavement.
Just before leaving the trail aid station I told the volunteers we hadn't seen our friend in a while and asked if he had checked in twice. No, he hadn't. At that point they called on the radios to alert everyone that a runner was lost - - "The guy in the red shorts."
The first few miles were a bit painful. Jon was on a runners high; far ahead. I had to stop several times and empty out road pebbles from my shoes to make sure nothing extra agitated the already blistered feet. Roughly about 5 hrs 10 minutes into the race we hit mile 25. The past few miles were relatively uneventful and it dawned on me that I could potentially PR! I looked over at Jon and told him I wanted to go for it and PR. He kind of had this look wondering what I was roping him into which was about when I told him that in order to PR I needed to finish in an hour and we still had seven miles to go. Hee… If looks could kill, Jon would have. For the next mile we ran an 8:20 pace until my legs gave out. I was reduced to a walk. Agh…this was so frustrating!! I wanted so badly to PR but there I was, walking. Finally Jon picked up the pace back to a good jog and I followed suit. One of the things that messed with me were the cars coming at us. The roads did not have shoulders and in the hilly sections as cars came over the hill, they were blinded and couldn’t see us. Frightening!
By the time we reached the last aid station I was 45 minutes from reaching my PR. Jon stopped and asked if I was going for it. I asked the volunteers how far we had and as soon as they said a little over four miles I took off. This was my last ditch effort to make it. Of course, just past that aid station was a LARGE hill. Ugh. Again reduced to a walk. The clock was ticking and my legs were only going so fast. As if that wasn’t enough I really had to pee – bad. Hydration was certainly not an issue for this race. The problem was this, there was only enough time to run and PR but if I had to stopped to tinkle it could really mess me up. What to do?
I decided this was the moment of truth for me. I was going in for the PR kill AND pee’d in my pants all at the same time. Ok, a little weird, soggy and well, not ideal, but with three minutes from missing my PR I came through crossing the finish line in 6:12, a PR, AND I finished third female.
Life is good.
Carter had finished before me completing his first 50k ultra in 5:48. Not bad for a first time!
Jon finished about ten minutes after me and said he felt fine considering his 50-miler two weeks prior.
David. By the time I finished they had located David. Apparently he instead of taking the 50k turn to the halfway point, he cross the main trail in the direction of the 50-milers! The race director told his he had finally made his way back to the aid station at the edge of the trail and was on his way back toward the finish. We waited. And waited and waited. Finally - in 8:31 David crossed the finish line completing what would have been his first 50k, but panned out to be his first 40-mile ultra! Everyone was joking with him as he came through. The race director thought it was so funny that they even created an honorary 40-mile category and allowed him to win! Needless to say, David has one fantastic story to tell for while now.
What a race!
Final note – when I took off my running shoes and socks I discovered only ONE blister on the bottom of my pinky toe. Not sure what all the pain was but heck – one baby blister, I’ll take it!
Promiseland 50k
Promiseland 50k+
Bedford, Virginia
April 25, 2009, start time 5:30AM
Promiseland was the third race in the Lynchburg Series. I was excited about this one because many people who have run the course said it is also the prettiest and toughest 50k on the east coast. The hardest part of this series has been each race is spaced one month apart meaning, after the first race I had to recover, train enough but not too much and taper just before the next race.
I arrived Friday after a five hour drive. The exciting part was that I rented an SUV that I planned to use as my sleeping station instead of getting a hotel. This particular race starts and finishes in the middle of a big grassy field which makes it ideal for camping at the site. Of course, with the race starting at 5:30AM and the closest hotel being 18 miles away it also made sense to stay at the race site so I could sleep in a little longer. Hehehe..
My running buddy Megan decided to run Promiseland after all. Initially she decided against is because she had just run Boston five days beforehand but then e-mailed and said that while she ran Boston she kept craving trails and chips from the aid stations. So, as luck would have it we would run the third race together.
The race started in complete darkness. Most of us were wearing small headlights to guide the way. Knowing it wouldn’t be dark for long, I opted to use the Princeton Tek headlight Russ gave me because the light is compact and clips to my visor instead of using a headband. We started down a wide gravel jeep road which eventually turned into a rocky jeep road that got steeper by the second. Eventually there was a point where everyone stopped running and started walking (hiking) up the mountain. This was the first ascent up Onion Mountain. Finally we arrived at the first aid station just before hitting the trails. The initial ascent was so steep in fact that despite the aid station being a mere 2.64 miles from the start of the race it felt more like four or five miles!
As we made our way onto the trails the run seemed to be going smoothly. Since Megan was still sore from Boston we took the course easy walking all ascents and descents. Some of the beginning of the course is difficult for me to remember. Mostly because it was so incredibly gorgeous that I kept looking around enjoying the scenery instead of thinking about what I was doing. Ok-ok – I’ve decided part of doing these races is not just focusing on the race itself but also the surroundings. How can you not?! There was a point in the early morning where we switched off our headlights cresting over the first mountain. The sunshine greeted us by casting rays of light all over the mountains. There was this deep valley filled with beautiful colored purple, pink and white trees. A perfect way to start the day and it wasn’t even passed 7AM when I’m normally asleep!
We made our way through the trails which for the first half were mostly wide grassy trails winding along the side of the mountain. Eventually the tougher single track trail appeared. Still though, it didn’t seem too bad. What was evident, however, was the heat. From the start of the race is felt like a sauna. We wouldn't have a break for the rest of the day.
Miles past with ease sticking to the usual routine of running on flats or easy downhills and walking the uphills. Around mile 20-ish though Megan started having blister problems on her heels. We tried moleskin but no such luck. Her feet were saturated from the creek crossings. Somehow she managed to run to the next aid station where she tried duct taping her foot. I questioned whether the girl at the aid station knew what she was doing because she literally wrapped Megan's foot with duct tape. Aside from the duct tape though, this was the aid stations of all aid stations! They had frozen lemonade and ice cream!! We didn't try the ice cream but the frozen lemonade pops were well received and refreshing. Oh and I also found some bug spray too. The nats and mosquitos were terrible. Several times through out the race Megan or I would start gagging from having swallowed a little critter.
After we left the famous aid station about a mile later the duct tape trick proved unsuccessful. Her feet were still too wet for the adhesive to work so we pulled over so she could pull it off. Megan was such a complete trooper because it was right around here when she really started to feel the fatigue from Boston, the heat and possibly consuming too many calories. Our pace slowed for the next few miles. Poor Megan was feeling really bad by that point. We found the next aid station but I think by that point it was too late for her. She tried to take in more sodium but nothing worked. The worst of all of this was that from that aid station we had about just shy of four miles of climbing to do before the next aid station. The climb would be tough with large boulder rocks to climb over and very little smooth trail. Included in this mix were steep wooden steps here and there. What a mess. I tried to keep things upbeat for her but was unsuccessful. She felt terrible and her stomach was starting to blow up like a balloon. One of the other runners gave her two electrolyte pills and even that didn't help. She was in bad shape. One of our miles during this section took us 48 minutes to give you an idea of the pace we were going. I tried and tried to calculate the remaining miles we had to reach the ten hour cut off and realized that unless we had a miracle happen we wouldn't make the cut off at the pace we were going. Less then a quarter mile from the next aid station I finally took off to try and make the cut off without her. She arrived at the aid station and abandoned the race. Or should I say, they would not let her go on given her condition. Luckily they took care of her and brought her back to the finish area after a while.
Usually in races I don't stress about running fast but given the cut off that was closing in on me, I had no choice but to give it everything I had. The last 2.6-something miles to the finish were the same that we started the race with which meant instead of climbing I was practically rolling down the hill uncontrollably. If I ever had an opportunity to learn how to descend, it would be this moment when I stopped caring about falling and focused on reaching the finish. My quads were screaming and my feet had shooting pain all over but it was well worth every step of agony as I rolled in to cross the finish line in 9:24:40. Boy did I earn my Patagonia running shorts, the finisher's prize for Promiseland. :)
Shortly crossing the finish line, I inquired with the race officials if Megan had DNF'd or continued in the race. They said she had DNF'd (Did not finish) and would get a ride back at a certain point. In between waiting for her and cooling down, I shoved a hamburger down along with some fruit. For some reason, the food just didn't go down with ease. Thinking about what Megan went through. Our bodies can be so strong at times and yet a random variable can derail us in a second.
All in all the race was still a success considering everything. Megan got her fix of potato chips that she craved during Boston and I got to run all over the trails and some cute shorts to wear. Not too shabby. :)
Bedford, Virginia
April 25, 2009, start time 5:30AM
Promiseland was the third race in the Lynchburg Series. I was excited about this one because many people who have run the course said it is also the prettiest and toughest 50k on the east coast. The hardest part of this series has been each race is spaced one month apart meaning, after the first race I had to recover, train enough but not too much and taper just before the next race.
I arrived Friday after a five hour drive. The exciting part was that I rented an SUV that I planned to use as my sleeping station instead of getting a hotel. This particular race starts and finishes in the middle of a big grassy field which makes it ideal for camping at the site. Of course, with the race starting at 5:30AM and the closest hotel being 18 miles away it also made sense to stay at the race site so I could sleep in a little longer. Hehehe..
My running buddy Megan decided to run Promiseland after all. Initially she decided against is because she had just run Boston five days beforehand but then e-mailed and said that while she ran Boston she kept craving trails and chips from the aid stations. So, as luck would have it we would run the third race together.
The race started in complete darkness. Most of us were wearing small headlights to guide the way. Knowing it wouldn’t be dark for long, I opted to use the Princeton Tek headlight Russ gave me because the light is compact and clips to my visor instead of using a headband. We started down a wide gravel jeep road which eventually turned into a rocky jeep road that got steeper by the second. Eventually there was a point where everyone stopped running and started walking (hiking) up the mountain. This was the first ascent up Onion Mountain. Finally we arrived at the first aid station just before hitting the trails. The initial ascent was so steep in fact that despite the aid station being a mere 2.64 miles from the start of the race it felt more like four or five miles!
As we made our way onto the trails the run seemed to be going smoothly. Since Megan was still sore from Boston we took the course easy walking all ascents and descents. Some of the beginning of the course is difficult for me to remember. Mostly because it was so incredibly gorgeous that I kept looking around enjoying the scenery instead of thinking about what I was doing. Ok-ok – I’ve decided part of doing these races is not just focusing on the race itself but also the surroundings. How can you not?! There was a point in the early morning where we switched off our headlights cresting over the first mountain. The sunshine greeted us by casting rays of light all over the mountains. There was this deep valley filled with beautiful colored purple, pink and white trees. A perfect way to start the day and it wasn’t even passed 7AM when I’m normally asleep!
We made our way through the trails which for the first half were mostly wide grassy trails winding along the side of the mountain. Eventually the tougher single track trail appeared. Still though, it didn’t seem too bad. What was evident, however, was the heat. From the start of the race is felt like a sauna. We wouldn't have a break for the rest of the day.
Miles past with ease sticking to the usual routine of running on flats or easy downhills and walking the uphills. Around mile 20-ish though Megan started having blister problems on her heels. We tried moleskin but no such luck. Her feet were saturated from the creek crossings. Somehow she managed to run to the next aid station where she tried duct taping her foot. I questioned whether the girl at the aid station knew what she was doing because she literally wrapped Megan's foot with duct tape. Aside from the duct tape though, this was the aid stations of all aid stations! They had frozen lemonade and ice cream!! We didn't try the ice cream but the frozen lemonade pops were well received and refreshing. Oh and I also found some bug spray too. The nats and mosquitos were terrible. Several times through out the race Megan or I would start gagging from having swallowed a little critter.
After we left the famous aid station about a mile later the duct tape trick proved unsuccessful. Her feet were still too wet for the adhesive to work so we pulled over so she could pull it off. Megan was such a complete trooper because it was right around here when she really started to feel the fatigue from Boston, the heat and possibly consuming too many calories. Our pace slowed for the next few miles. Poor Megan was feeling really bad by that point. We found the next aid station but I think by that point it was too late for her. She tried to take in more sodium but nothing worked. The worst of all of this was that from that aid station we had about just shy of four miles of climbing to do before the next aid station. The climb would be tough with large boulder rocks to climb over and very little smooth trail. Included in this mix were steep wooden steps here and there. What a mess. I tried to keep things upbeat for her but was unsuccessful. She felt terrible and her stomach was starting to blow up like a balloon. One of the other runners gave her two electrolyte pills and even that didn't help. She was in bad shape. One of our miles during this section took us 48 minutes to give you an idea of the pace we were going. I tried and tried to calculate the remaining miles we had to reach the ten hour cut off and realized that unless we had a miracle happen we wouldn't make the cut off at the pace we were going. Less then a quarter mile from the next aid station I finally took off to try and make the cut off without her. She arrived at the aid station and abandoned the race. Or should I say, they would not let her go on given her condition. Luckily they took care of her and brought her back to the finish area after a while.
Usually in races I don't stress about running fast but given the cut off that was closing in on me, I had no choice but to give it everything I had. The last 2.6-something miles to the finish were the same that we started the race with which meant instead of climbing I was practically rolling down the hill uncontrollably. If I ever had an opportunity to learn how to descend, it would be this moment when I stopped caring about falling and focused on reaching the finish. My quads were screaming and my feet had shooting pain all over but it was well worth every step of agony as I rolled in to cross the finish line in 9:24:40. Boy did I earn my Patagonia running shorts, the finisher's prize for Promiseland. :)
Shortly crossing the finish line, I inquired with the race officials if Megan had DNF'd or continued in the race. They said she had DNF'd (Did not finish) and would get a ride back at a certain point. In between waiting for her and cooling down, I shoved a hamburger down along with some fruit. For some reason, the food just didn't go down with ease. Thinking about what Megan went through. Our bodies can be so strong at times and yet a random variable can derail us in a second.
All in all the race was still a success considering everything. Megan got her fix of potato chips that she craved during Boston and I got to run all over the trails and some cute shorts to wear. Not too shabby. :)