Recap of Races

In order to keep up with the tradition from 05/08 and 11/08, here's this year's "Recap of Races":

Land Between the Lakes 60k- 3/14/09- I always enjoy this race and will most likely do it again in March. I had intended on running the 50 miles but I wasn't having too much fun sliding around in the snow so I got lazy and quit at the 60k. After reading my race recap again, I realized I ate way too much post-race. Oh well.

Boston Marathon- 4/20/09- Very happy to have completed this race. It was a lot of fun seeing the city and spending time with my friends. I probably won't run it again...just a one-time thing. I lost the bet at work but I had a good time running a consistent race.

Dance With Dirt- Gnawbone 50m- 5/9/09- This race reminded me that the course is very hard and challenging. I had actually trained well beforehand and felt strong the majority of the time; achieving a PR and 1st female.

Geist Half Marathon- 5/16/09- One week after DWD and also the day of Chris and Jamie's wedding!! This was the first time I had run this race. The course consisted of rolling hills throughout rich people's neighborhoods. It was fun but I probably won't run it again. I had an official half-marathon PR.

Mohican 82.5/100m- 6/20/09- Ahhh, the race that burnt me out. My first 100 miler attempt and a DNF at 80 miles on the course; stopping at 24 hours. Crazy you can stay awake that long. I really enjoyed the first 50 miles but my feet blisters were too terrible to make it much longer after that. I'll just have to invest in some expensive socks that work better. Who knows if I'll try this race again; probably shoot for an easier course next time.

Dances With Dirt- Hell 50m- 9/12/09- I basically stopped all running after Mohican so I was very unprepared for this race...but finished the 50 miles because the course was so fun. I love this race and was happy Señor Bill helped me get through it; mud and all.

Well I hate being one of those people who waits until the new year to start getting back on track but that's the way I'm playing it this year. By looking at my monthly mileage from this past year, I was averaging around 140 miles/mth for the first half of the year. Not bad. It'd be great to have a goal to maintain 120/mth for all of 2010 but that would take a lot of discipline and motivation. Who knows. I have a race coming up on 1/17/10 and I need to get back in shape!

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year everyone!

Sprints

Yesterday I made myself stay after work to run sprints on the treadmill. I ran a total of about 3.5 miles in .2-.5 increments. Baby steps.

November Miles!!!

I have finally run a total of three times since my last race in September:
Thursday: 3 miles
Friday: 25 minutes of random running; some hills
Monday: 3 miles

Since my relapse I've lost 1/7 of my whoopty whoop followers. Sowwwwy. Slowly but surely I'll get back into the groove. Maybe I'll get 5 miles in today. I'll leave you with this nice photo in the meantime.

Winter Run for Regis 50k----Bye Bye Winter Buckeye

*Ignore this post. I've learned from Nick's comment that the course won't be like the ole Winter Buckeye that I remember. :(

In order to maintain my "completed races" tab, I signed up for another race: Winter Buckeye 50k. It's on January 17 and fills up super quickly. I ran it in January '08 (race report here) and I believe it was my third ultra. It's a very fun course that consists of a five mile portion and then an eight mile portion that you repeat. However, if it didn't offer such a cute shirt I don't know if I'd drive 4+ hours to run it (and no, I don't like the color "Happi"). Anyway, I might start running in a month or something to prepare. Who knows.

DWD- Hell 50M Race Report

Welp...with the help of Señor Bill, I finished the 50 mile race. Woohoo! This was the second race that I entered not knowing if I would finish; Mohican being number one. It was a weird feeling.

Since I was already wingin it with the whole race, I decided to wing it even more and not carry my CamelBak for the first time during an ultra. Instead I carried my Nathan Vest with a handheld bottled water and a smaller bottle in it. It worked out perfectly and was awesome not having an extra 7-8 pounds on me.

At the start line, I met Nick for the first time and then saw Dorn and Michele too. Bill and I ran last year's race together and decided to do it again. We literally started out at the very back of the pack and that pace even felt too fast. After mile 8 or so, I started having more fun with all of the nasty trail path and so the miles came more easily.

This year they let the ultras run through an awesome mud bog section early on instead of just the relay runners and it was a great change. It felt like you were sloshing through some nasty, thick swamp-gunk and you could feel a million little pieces of crap getting all over you.

Here's a random video from last year's race. It's hilarious. I know this guy had to have gotten hurt even though he said he didn't.



Around mile 22 my legs were feeling tired but the combination of salt, ibuprofen, and an interesting course improved it all. Around mile 31 I got an 8th wind and felt surprisingly good and we finished strong together in 11:57. I looked in the mirror afterwards and looked like someone from Lord of the Flies; dirt all over my nose, cheeks, hat, shirt, legs, bloddy heels from too low of socks...

I saw Greg on the trails (from DWD-Gnawbone) and he sped off to finish in 11hrs. I found out that he drove to MI by himself from C'ville, 30 minutes away from me. Dangit! Why didn't we carpool?

Speaking of driving...the ride home sucked. I was tired after the race but thought I could drive a little, stop to sleep for an hour if I needed to, and then head home that night. Nope.

• Drove for 1 hr, stopped at a Bob Evans to sleep for 1 hr
• 20 minutes later, slept at McDonalds parking lot for 1 hr
• 1 hr later, went to cluster of hotels at midnight: lowest was $60, didn't want to pay that price for 4 hours of sleep; Slept in hotel parking lot for 2 hours
• 1 hr later, slept in another hotel parking lot for 3 hrs
• Got home at 8:45am on Sunday...full of swampy, foul stankness and unable to walk. Trifling.

That drive home was a hot mess! Yes, I would have camped out another night or paid the hotel price upfront had I predicted I'd be so tired. Caca.

I don't think I would have made the whole run if it wasn't such a fun, diverse course. I'll have to break 11 hrs next year and try to gain on some of these girls who pass me.

DWD- Hell 50M Attempt/ Awesome Training

Welp...I thought that signing up for a race would motivate me to start running but nope, it hasn't. DWD-Hell is this Saturday and I'm hoping to make 5 out of the 50 miles. I don't really care, actually, how I do...finish or not finish; just gonna wing it. I'm still lovin my sabbatical right now. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the awesome mud bogs and such like last year and mainly just laughing at Señor Bill again as he gets stuck.

I ran 6 miles last Saturday with Tim and it was pretty tough (that makes 22 miles since June. nice.). We didn't bring any water and it was kinda hot so I'll blame it on the rain, yeahhh yeeahh. huh?

I've been playing tennis about once a week and I swear that during the first 20 seconds of it, my heart beats faster than it ever has in my life. No joke. That's sad. ANDDD, I have realized even more so that I'm in no way a sprinter. I can't even run up and hit the net shots because that means I have to run faster. It's funny; I am just not used to it. How do pros run up and do it all the time? Am I some slow machine that can't move?

Why did I have to halfway follow the Weight Watchers diet in order to lose 7 pounds? I told you that running doesn't make me lose weight (or change dress sizes)...it doesn't do jack for me. And don't say that I'm just gaining muscle and muscle weighs more. I run (ran) a million miles and it takes stupid Weight Watchers to lose 7 pounds. Now watch me run this race this weekend, think I'm healthy again for running, eat a crapload of frostys and what not, and then gain back my 7 pounds. Aww.

Alright...wish me luck this weekend!

Lazy Summer Bum

Do I ever want to start to run again? Not running is so great. I love coming home and not feeling pressured to run and then shower and then have no life left after work.

I'm in a dilemma though because one of my favorite races, DWD Hell, is coming up in six weeks or so and I've run about 15 miles total since my last race at Mohican. Dangit. I could opt for the 50k instead of the 50m but who wants to do that? Me divertí demasiado la última vez con Señor Bill.

So anyway, I was at camp last week and as a counselor who sometimes likes to run, I was asked to lead the group of kids for a 20 minute run each morning. So, I ran about 2.5 miles four days last week and that's about the extent of my running. Whoop whoop.

Am I the only lazy one around here? What is your motivation for running right now? Help me out now.

Pretty Feet

I finally went to get a pedicure yesterday for the first time. Ahhhhh, why haven't I done that sooner? You go in and sit in a huge king-like chair that massages you, and then you put your feet in a warm bubbly thing of water...AND you get to read those good gossip magazines that you never buy for yourself. Nice.

I felt so bad for the poor guy who had to touch and stare at my nasty feet. I literally had about 10 places where my skin was torn off from old blisters. Gross. I gave him a good amount of disclaimers before he started.

When he first took off my nail polish, half of my big toe was black and he said it was nail fungus. I thought it was just a bruise from running but he said nope. Well that's even grosser then- I have some funky stuff growing in there.

So after my feet felt all soft and nice and free of the majority of the calluses, I went to Walmart and headed to the feet aisle. It totally felt like a Seinfeld episode or something...the only items in the aisle where I was for fungus treatment. There were these two guys behind me talking and they were probably wondering what kind of disease I have. Hmm.

Anyway, I may just get away without wearing my fake toenails this summer. We'll see.

Burnt Out!

Ahhhhhh!!!! I've been such a bad blogger lately. Thank you all very much for your comments; I'm sorry I haven't responded to them! I have not run once since the race and I've been lovin it. I've been anti-running-everything...so no blog, no running-related emails, nothing. I think I'm just burnt out from all of the race training and such (I know, I didn't ever really train...but there was still the exhausting guilt from it).

So who knows...maybe after another 2 week break, I'll be up and running again. No DWD Devil's Lake 50miler for me. I hope to be up and going for the Fall races.

I played tennis a couple of times last week and I swear that my heartbeat was faster in the first 15 minutes than it ever was after running 20+ miles. It was good to do little sprints and switch it up a little bit.

We'll keep in touch...just taking a little break for now.

More Mohican Pics

• Pics courtesy of Chris
  
• For other pics/video, click here
  
• For race report, click here

Pre-race/Start:

Thank goodness I didn't climb you, ole Fire Tower!



Mile 37:

Mile 68, wanting to quit:

Post-race Sleep:

Brave ole man:

No clean socks after pedicure so plastic bags on feet:

Mohican Pics/Videos

Here are a few short videos. Let me know if you know how to make that 2nd video vertical.
For the race report, click here.





Swollen feet, post-manicure:

Mohican 82.5/100 Mile Race Report

Nope, didn't finish. Ran apx 82.5/100 miles. Stopped at the 80 mile mark but had earlier gotten lost for 40 minutes so I'm callin it 82.5 miles, darnit! If you don't want to read this whole long report, just print it off and divide it up into 10 sections so it looks shorter.

*Click here for pics/videos.

Chris and Jamie and I left to OH Friday afternoon and arrived at the hotel that night; I went straight to bed; then woke up at 2:30am on Saturday. When we went to pick up my packet around 4:30am, it was raining super hard. At the 5am start, the rain stopped and it was super humid.

Since I didn't have many pockets to carry things, I wore my CamelBak and then my Nathan vest underneath it (which surprisingly didn't bother me). I had brought 5 drop bags for all of the locations that included: bagels, Ensure protein drinks, fruit snacks, electrolyte jelly bean things, beef jerky, tropical trail mix, and nasty electrolytle fruit snacks. Yeah, I overpacked and definitely didn't eat all of that stuff.

The course consisted of 10 miles on gravel roads and then a bunch of different, random loops. These random loops repeated themselves and then it's 10 miles back to the finish (I think, anyway). The trail wasn't very technical or hilly and my first impression was that it was pretty easy; much easier than Gnawbone. The hills were mainly just long, gradual ones that we all walked up. It was so hard for me to know how to pace myself since I would be running for a million hours. I started out at a slow-moderate pace in the beginning and since I felt good, I just kept going.

Around mile 21 we started the Purple loop. There was a really pretty section by the waterfall and some fun hand-over-hand climbing section that was about 5 feet long. This loop was only supposed to be 4-5 miles long. However, despite Mohican's website that states that they are known for having a well marked course, this was the loop that every person got lost on, including myself. There were at least 20 people that I know of that got lost. We finally got back on track 40 minutes later. This wasn't the only time that there weren't markings on the course...luckily we just happened to be running with someone who knew the area during those times.

Prior to the start of the race, I had predicted a 27-28 hour finishing time. Jamie and Chris met me at the 37 mile aid station. I lubed up my feet (no blisters yet), put on clean socks, and ate a lot of food. Since I had been maintaining a good pace and I was feeling strong, we talked about finishing at a sub-24 pace. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. How dumb of me to think such a thing so early on. Ohhh how things can change.

So overall up to mile 45 or something, I was having fun talking to people (thanks Doug, Stan, Mike, and Randy!!!). I finished 50 miles at around 13 hours. (I still have no idea how it took me so long...the course wasn't that hard and I was running at a good pace, so I thought. Maybe spent too much time at aid stations and the fact that I got lost?? Oh well, doesn't matter.)

But after those 45 miles, my feet just started killing me from blisters. I could feel a million of them all over which was also annoying because I usually never have blister problems. After Gnawbone's 50 miles a month ago, I had maybe 2 blisters and I never noticed them. Why did I already have a ton of them so early on? We had about 6 or so water crossings that affected it, but #1, there were water crossings at Gnawbone and #2, why weren't all of my fellow runners feeling the awful blister pain then, too? I've heard some people say they love those Injinji socks and that they never get blisters and then I've heard others say they hate them. I've never tried them but who knows what will work for me!

I made it to mile 60 at the Fire Tower where I met up with Chris who was going to pace me. Why the heck was I thinking/fearing for the last 5 months that I'd have to climb that awful Fire Tower during the race? For some reason I got it in my head that that's what we'd have to do before we kept running and I was dreading that narrow, 100+ foot climb. I was showing pictures of it to people at work and talking about how crazy that was. Whew, we didn't have to at all.

I don't want to sound all whiney and annoying but my feet were still killing me at this point. Literally- every single step I took sucked. Every stupid root, every rock, every little maneuver around something hurt me. I felt new blisters forming and then immediately popping and then skin ripping off and all that jazz. I would be limping to avoid pain on one foot and then the limping just caused another blister on the other foot. Going uphill put pressure on one part of my blisters and then going downhill put pressure on the other. I was cussing every 2 seconds. What a beautiful experience, huh?

So at this aid station at mile 60, Chris somehow had the guts to pop some of my blisters and put mole skin on them, then I changed socks and put on different shoes and we kept going. I had to just endure the stupid pain of the popped blisters and try to get used to them. I was afraid I was going to OD on Advil since I took a couple each hour.

It was now dark outside and I had my headlamp on. It was the first time I had run with one and it was pretty annoying to not being able to see all of your surroundings. We kept tripping on a million roots; partly because we couldn't see them and partly because we couldn't lift our legs up off the ground. It would have been really boring (Randy and I ran out of conversation a long time ago) and scary if Chris hadn't been there in the dark.

At mile 68 I sat down (I thought, screw the "beware of the chair" shit). I was in a bad mood because of the pain. Dangit, now I feel bad for the aid station workes; they probably hated me. Here they are at 11pm trying to help me out and I'm just complaining the whole time. I really considered quitting at this point. I was running and walking really slowly and we were getting closer and closer to the cut-off point.

After this station, I made a mental decision to SUCK IT UP and stop verbalizing my complaints. I knew Chris and Randy didn't want to hear it and it wasn't helping anything. I needed to get through it. I turned on my music for surprisingly the first time and I somehow made it to the next station- mile 75.

Jamie was there and was so kind to have bought pizza for me- that's all I had wanted. Unfortunately because I had been running for 50 freakin hours, my stomach couldn't handle it and I barely ate anything. Again, I talked about quitting right there. I was tired and in pain and going slow and it all sucked. Jamie suggested making it to the next aid station (mile 80) and then deciding what to do. So I continued.

I really thought I'd be able to keep going, just 5 miles to the next place. After about 1 mile, I had slowed down so much because of the blister pain that I just told Chris I was going to DNF. Randy had already passed us since he wanted to make the cut-off in time. I walked the rest of the miles and it took us about 2 hours to come in. It felt like forevvvvver. I wanted someone to just come and pick us up in a helicopter.

We made it to the station before the cut-off time but I told them I was done. We had been going for 24 hours. I laid down on the ground and fell asleep for a little bit before they took us to the finish line. Which reminds me- the lack of sleep SOMEHOW didn't affect me that much at all. I never hallucinated, I always knew what I was talking about, I never started to fall asleep on the trail. Of course I was really tired the whole time but I didn't notice a huge change or anything as we entered the night.

Despite my negativity in this post, I'm not super disappointed that I didn't finish. I think if I had DNF'ed because I was just tired or didn't want to continue, I'd be mad. In my case, I feel like I was physically unable to move, even though I really wanted to. It was frustrating because my legs and head and stomach felt totally fine, it was just those stupid blisters.

Having said all that, I don't know if a 100 mile race is that fun. Haha. Maybe if I do more of them then I'll get used to it...but it kind of sucked. Maybe I'll stick to 50 milers. Afterall, that's the part of this race that I actually enjoyed. And yes, 50 milers and 100 milers are different ballgames.

I slept for about 5 hours on the way home yesterday and then napped for about 1 1/2 hours later. Since yesterday was Father's Day, I spent time with the family in a wheelchair and fluffy slippers.

My feet are still swollen and so I tried icing my feet in water this morning. Nope, not gonna happen. I lasted about 10 seconds with each foot and decided it was way too cold to continue. I might soak them in warm water with epsom salt later on.

I still feel tired, kind of sick, and calorie-depleted now. A few days after Nick's 100 mile race, he said he was still losing weight. So I thought, "hmm...wonder what I weigh now". Why in the heck do I weigh 2 pounds more than beforehand? That's retarded! Only I would actually GAIN weight after having run 82 miles. That's bullcrap.

ANYWAY, to conclude everything...I'm sure I'll attempt another 100 miler just because of my dumb, competitive nature. I have to say I did one. Maybe I should just choose a flat, paved race to make it easy. Right now I'm saying I'll take a little bit of time off from running. We'll see what I say next week when I'm all healed up and have forgotten all of this junk.

Thanks again to Chris and Jamie who chose to give up a weekend to help a poor, complaining, slow-walking girl this weekend (!!!!), thanks to the runners who kept me going for all of those miles, and thanks to Mohican staff/volunteers for your hard work!!!!!!!

Mohican Countdown

Woooohoooo! I did a whoppin 8 miles last week. I tell ya what, I should never taper. Whenever I think of tapering I think, "Sweet, I no longer have to run at all". Anyway, I'm feeling good still and gettin pumped for this weekend. I can't believe the race is in 5 days!

I, of course, haven't even looked at the course, the amount of drop bags allowed, amount of aid stations, what I'm gonna wear, checklists, nothing. I still don't know how I'm gonna carry all of my food on me. I'm planning on bringing 6 Vanilla Ensure protein drinks, tropical trail mix, fruit snacks, and some blue jelly bean things.

I'm trying really hard to get at least 8 hours of sleep each night. Why did I go to bed at 8:45pm last night and I still have bags under my eyes? What's up with that?

Friday 60k

I PROMISE that I actually really wanted to run this past Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for the first time but I was unable to due to other factors and it sucked. I was able to run 10 miles on Thursday and knew I needed to bump it up before the end of the week.

Yesterday I woke up at 4:30am and went to work...got home around 12pm and then wanted to do 20 miles. I knew that once I got home I'd be super tempted to just run 5-10 or take a nap or something...so I called my friends and made a bet that if I didn't do the 20 miles, I'd pay them $50. Works everytime.

So I went off for the 20 miles downtown...and it had been awhile since I had #1, run and #2, run 20 miles. It was hot outside and I hadn't eaten enough and I felt tired and it was just a blah run. I really wanted to just quit but the bet forced me to keep going. I luckily finished.

Chris and I were originally going to run together this morning but I told him I couldn't. He had asked last Thursday if I wanted to do a Friday night run. Sooo...after thinking it over after my 20 miles, I decided I'd check to see if he still wanted to do a long one at 9pm, which he did.

I was still pretty tired and hungry at 9pm and when we met, I tried convincing him to just run 3 miles with me or something. Nope. We headed off into the dark and immediately I was already eating all of my food that I had saved. I was super hungry. Around miles 5-9 I just felt like crap and reallly wanted to stop...I was running so slowly. We made it to CVS and as I dragged around the store, I bought some gatorade and pretzals.

The food/salt helped but I still felt gross and like I couldn't keep going. I was seriously going to call my husband to come and pick me up. Chris practiced his pacing skills and was able to keep me going for the rest of the way and the miles eventually got a little easier at the end. Whew. We did 17 miles together and finished around 12:30am or something...37 miles for the day.

I knew back-to-back runs would be hard but this was the last weekend I had to get them in and so I had wanted to practice being tired. Why the heck hadn't I done that 2 months ago when everyone recommended it? Oh well. So yesterday was my last big one and now I'm ready for taper time- woohoo!

Today's the Kettle Morraine 100k/100mi race and I hope that Nick, Senor Bill, and Dorn are having a great time and finish strong!

Weekly Mileage

Just ignore all of these posts. I deleted my "weekly training" column because I never complete what I want to anyway. We all know I need to run more and that I still haven't yet, but that's okay- I'm going to start to run more this week (although Mohican tapering will already come next week)!!! Ahhh! Who cares? I'll be able to finish the race...right? As long as I'm not injured in the first 50 miles, I'll be able to finish (knock, knock).

Tim and I had a pretty good 10 mile run last Saturday. I had texted him and asked if he wanted to run "10 mi". The poor boy came to my house and thought we were gonna run 10 minutes. He was able to hold out and run with me the whole time- Good job Tim! It was great having someone to run with.

6 Hot Miles

Woohoo! I actually ran what I had planned to run today- 6 miles. It was freakin hot and humid out... I was soaked. The ice bandana came in handy.

I went over to the n-laws afterwards and they fed us some Greek food that normally would have tasted awesome, but this time (like last time), I wasn't able to eat much of it. Greek just does not go well after a workout.

Last Week's Recap

Mon- Off
Tues- 6mi
Wed- 12mi
Thurs- 10mi4mi
Fri- 10mi
Sat- 12mi16mi
Sun- 6mi

26/58 miles for the week- woohoo! Don't worry...I'll get my butt in gear and start running again.

I made a new friend last week, Bob, and he gave me the confidence I needed to know I can finish this 100 miler coming up. He's run a few 100s before and here are a few tips he gave me:

• Eat mostly solids for the first 50 miles, liquids during the 2nd 50 miles (I guess at the end of the run, you'll get the calories and protein faster if it's through liquids...if you're drinking protein drinks or something like that)
• When I'm at the starting line, I need to know and believe I'll finish...no doubting allowed at that point
• I neeeed to be peeing during the race reguarly (during my previous ultras, it was a goal of mine to not pee at all because I didn't want to stop)
• Go slow enough in the beginning so I can pass people in the second half...it'll boost my confidence.

When I told him that I was afraid I hadn't been running enough miles per week to be able to finish, he said he normally only runs 25-40 miles a week and was still able to finish the 100s....so that helped boost my confidence. Everyone is different and has differnt training styles and what not....so I know I can do it!!

He told me about ice bandanas and how to make them (see here). I tried them out on my Saturday morning run. Since it was only about 67 degrees out at that time, the cold ice kind of hurt my neck...and I didn't like having something on my throat tied tight...but I eventually got used to it. I bet they'd feel awesome during a super hot run.

So I ran 10 miles Saturday morning and then 6 miles that evening. No miles yesterday. Hopefully I'll get a few in today and get back in the swing of things.

Stuck in the mud!!!

How is it Friday and I've only run 10 miles so far this week? This is one of the weeks where I hate having a blog because I'm embarrassed to say that I'm sick of running and can't make myself right now!!! Ahh!!! Why do I always go through these little stages every other week? I'm just not disciplined enough right now. It's too dang hot out and I have just felt so sluggish and gross...and now I'm beating myself up because Mohican is so soon. I know that if I just get a really good long run in this weekend my confidence will be boosted 100%, so that is my goal: make up the miles tomorrow.

Last Week's Recap

Dangit...I accidentally erased last week's schedule. It's probably a good thing since I skipped out on a couple of runs. Nothing surprising. Instead of run, I chose to clean up the house and work outside in the yard. I fully enjoyed it.

This Saturday I'm going to spend all day working in my backyard, cleaning up the nasty jungle mess that it is. I've learned that I never end up doing long runs on Sunday like I plan so all in all, no big run for me for this weekend. I wish I could make a trip to OH to get some runs in at Mohican but unfortunately due to a number of factors, it won't work out.

Geist Half Marathon Race Report/ Chris and Jaime's Wedding

Chris and Jaime ran the marathon in the morning and then got hitched in the evening! WOOHOO! Congrats guys!

Jaime's friend made up wedding bibs for us all to wear while we ran. A couple people asked if I was getting married and the others congratulated me. Whoops.

I usually don't run half marathons but I did in honor of their wedding. It felt soo good to only run 13 miles and then be able to stop. I wasn't used to that. The unpacking afterwards was awesome too.

So anyway, I had an official PR today: 1:42:42...7:51 minute miles. The course was all paved and all rolling hills. It went through the super fancy, rich houses in the Geist area.

After the race we had a few hours to clean up and then we headed to Chris and Jaime's wedding. It was an awesome time!!!

10 Mile Run

Dangit...why can't I ever do sprints? I only scheduled a sprint workout for yesterday to ensure that I'd actually do them...but since I didn't run 10 miles on Tuesday I ended up running them yesterday and skipping out on the sprints. Dangit! Why do I hate them?

Anyway...the 10 mile run was at least good. 1:17 on flat pavement.

Dances With Dirt- Gnawbone 50M Race Report

All in all a good run yesterday. I drove down to the race by myself around 4am, checked in, and then met up with Dorn (who I ran with at last year's LBL and Kettle Morraine) and Michele (who I ran some with at this year's LBL).

My goals for this race were to not get lost (unlike last year), finish under 11hrs, maybe finish 1st or 2nd female, and to just enjoy myself.

It had rained on Friday night and so the first 1-2 miles were thick, ankle deep mud. On this course you run 6-7 miles on trail and then hit the first and only drop bag location. You then get on a 17-18 mile loop and do it twice, and then run the last 6-7 mile loop again.

There weren't too many females at the start line. I knew at least 1 of them was in front of me though. I never spent more than 5-10 seconds at each aid station and so at mile 6, I was able to pass 1 female while she refueled.

I kept on truckin and at around mile 15 I passed another female who I knew was in the lead. It was scary passing so early on because I never knew how close behind me she was and she could easily pass me again during the remaining 30+ miles.

So to sum it up: I felt pretty good during the whole race; I was able to keep my pace going (of course I kept looking behind me to see if that 2nd girl was going to catch me);
I ran with a couple guys, Greg and Andrew, for the majority of the race which helped me get my 2nd+ wind; I never used my drop bag or changed my muddy shoes (mainly to save time); I walked some of the last 5 miles because the course was literally full of huge, deep mud/horse crap puddles that no one could run in (unless you're a crazy relay runner who's just running 5 miles), and most importantly- I never got lost- WOOHOO! I tried so hard to pay attention to the course markings. This year the relay runners had a different path than us so it helped having less traffic on the course. I luckily finished first female in 10:19, 10th place overall (results here). Very happy with that time.

As a reminder for myself for next year- the WHOLE course is filled with 5 million little hills and then some really big ones you walk up. There were about 5-6 creek crossings where your feet got soaked on the long loop but it was actually refreshing. The course was a lot harder than I remembered...I think I was blinded last year by my "1st 50 mile race" bliss or something like that. Anyway, it was tough running that kicked my butt. I truly enjoyed my Corona with Dorn and Michele afterwards.

Oh ya- I'm really scared for Mohican now. If the course is anything like Gnawbone, I'll be screwed. Sure I'll be running 15+ minute miles but that's a heck of a course to keep it up for 100 miles, especially in the dark. Ahhh! Why did I sign up for it???

Weekly Recap

Mon- Off
Tues-6mi
Wed-3mi
Thurs-3mi
Fri-Off
Sat-50mi
Sun-10mi

Alright so I didn't stick to this past week's plan at all. Oh well. I was sick and tired and considered it tapering. I did finish the 50 miles at Gnawbone yesterday...race report here. I highly doubt I could run 10 miles today. It's not a matter of running on tired legs, but rather sore legs that feel like I'd break an ankle if I ran. It's a little hard to walk right now.

Sick

No running yesterday. I've had a nasty cold (luckily it's mainly coughing and sore throat) for the past week and I have just been tired. I'm really hoping it'll be gone by this weekend! I thought you were only supposed to be sick in the winter???

Last Week's Recap

Mon- 5mi
Tues-10mi
Wed-12mi
Thurs-12mi
Fri-5mi
Sat-11mi8mi
Sun-5mi13mi

Total: 60mi

-This is only the second time that I've run 60 miles in a week...wow. It felt good!
-Yesterday I had an awesome 13 mi run and a new PR for a half marathon (minus the .1 at the end). My time was 1:38.

12 Miles Yesterday/Today

*Update: I just got done running the 12 miles today. I felt OK during the first 6 mile loop. I stopped at my car to eat a banana and fill up on water and then I headed out again. SOMEHOW I had a "partial-runner's high" and I was able to run the last 6 miles at a fast, 10% effort pace. Huh? Does that even make sense? It was only a partial-high because I still had to put out energy, but it was still a high because I was unintentionally running at a fast pace and felt a lot stronger then than on the first loop. That's a rare feeling and so it's always encouraging to have one of those good runs. (am I retarded?)

-12 miles on a hilly, paved course yesterday....a little tired at the end
-hope to do the same path this afternoon in the rain

10 Miles on Trail Yesterday

Well I finally forced myself to get a trail run in yesterday and skip out on the easy, flat pavement course. For some reason I have a negative feeling about trails (because they force me to push myself) and so every time I park my car at the park and stand up, I consider getting back in and taking a nap at home. It's also hard for me to want to run because the trail doesn't have mile markers so I'm usually running around aimlessly, trying not to repeat the same path I just took. Ay ay ay.

Anyway, there is a small section of trail that I always love and it involves a lot of hills and some technical paths. I decided to run on it for 9:30 minutes, estimating that was about a mile, and then I turned around. I did that five times, thus (hopefully) running 10 miles.

For the past 5 or so runs, I have found that running fartleks the entire time has helped me tremendously. Well...I don't know if you'd consider what I do as a fartlek. What works for me is sprinting every other 15-50 steps, depending on how I feel.

Yesterday I ran the first 4 miles at the same pace and I was kind of sluggish and dragging my feet. Then I remembered that I should do fartleks and immediately my run was more entertaining and the counting kept my mind going and I immediately got out of that tired-feeling mood. If I don't do them, it's very easy for me to run slowly, forgetting that I can actually run faster and push myself.

Soo...I don't know if doing this for 5+ miles is a good thing or not because I'm not actually running at a consistent pace the whole time. However, I do know that this strategy picks my legs up higher and faster and my "slow steps" (when I'm not sprinting) eventually get faster too.

As I was on my 8th mile, Chris happened to be at the park and see me so we ran the last two miles together. Running with someone is always easier than doing it alone! All in all, I'm glad I made myself get out there on the trail. Twas a good run.

Last Week's Recap

Mon- 26.2mi
Tues- Off
Wed-4mi
Thurs - Off
Fri- 5mi
Sat- 10mi 11.5mi
Sun- 5mi 10mi

I ran 10 miles last night for a total of 51.7 for the week. Not too bad. This 70-80 degree weather is testing me for sure, making it tougher to run already. Like I said, it's doubtful I'll run the 40 miles after work this week to fulfill the Ten More Miles! challenge but who knows. Less than two weeks until Gwawbone.

11.5 Mile Run---10 More Miles! Challenge

I've been very surprised that this past week my legs have been feeling achey...not one particular muscle group sore but an overall heavy-feeling. I didn't end up running yesterday because of being so tired. I think last week's trip and lack of sleep is catching up to me.

I just now kicked myself in the butt because this is the last weekend in April and I have yet to run 40 miles for April's Ten More Miles! challenge. I was halfway planning on running 40 this morning but I slept past my 4am, 4:30am and 5am alarm clock and woke up at 8am. Dangit. I'm leaving out of town soon and so I didn't have six hours to go run. I don't want to drop out so soon because in May I'll be running 50 miles at Gnawbone and in June I'll be running 60 miles during my 100m Mohican race. If I hadn't won yet I'd probably have to drop out in July. Perhaps I'll get it in this week still but I doubt it.

So anyway, I ran 11.5 miles this morning and it wasn't the greatest. My legs were feeling tired and it was 70+ degrees out and blah blah blah. Oh well! More to come tomorrow.

Boston Marathon Race Report

Keep in mind that if you want a short recap, you should see my previous post.

I stayed with my friend Kathryn, her fiance, and her future in-laws at their beautiful home in Cohasset...about 30-40 minutes away from Boston.




The expo on Saturday was a lot of fun-TONS of people-waiting in line for an hour to buy stuff...










The Red Sox game on Saturday night was awesome.




My bday last Sunday:

Pre-Race: Monstering it up!

Athlete's Village: Around 6:30am we all got on buses and took an hour long drive to the starting point. We waited in this big grassy area behind a school for a few hours until the start time. It was a tad bit cold.

                                                                              GO COLTS! (no wedgy)

At the start line:


During the race: I was really proud of myself for pacing myself each mile and not running too fast early on, even though I felt good. There were rolling hills but nothing too big or bad at all. It was hard to notice them because there were so many people to look at. I felt like I ran a great, comfortable race and am happy with my time. Each mile was a lot of fun with tons of fans.

This was right after I crossed the finish line- 3:39:52...Disregard the last 10 seconds of it:


Post race:



I had an awesome trip and had fun with Kathryn and her family. The weather was perfect. The Boston people are very nice. A lot of strangers would randomly congratulate me on the street. I hope to be back again to do the race again.

Quick Boston Update

Update: See my updated Boston report here.

This will be a quick post about Boston for those of you that don't want to read a long arse post full of pics and videos tomorrow.

The weather was perfect for running: a little sun and no rain! I finished in 3:39:52 (and re-qualified for Boston) and felt great the entire time! It was hard to pace myself in the beginning because of the downhill portions. During the second mile one guy said, "If people are passing you in the first three miles then you're running a good race". I kept that in mind and made myself stay on pace for the whole race and it worked for me!

Initially I had a loose goal to finish under 4 hours...and then as I got closer to finishing, I wanted to finish under 3:40. This was my second fastest marathon (which when I think about it, doesn't sound very impressive), with Columbus being the fastest.

I polished everything off with a fat hamburger, fries, and two cider beers...and then an Auntie Anne's pretzal at the train station. Yum.

More to come later. All in all, a great day and weekend. Thanks for your support!

Weekly Recap

Mon- 4mi
Tues- 4mi
Wed- Off
Thurs-6mi
Fri- 4mi
Sat- Off (In Boston)
Sun- Off (In Boston)

Welp...the time has come. I ran 6 relaxed miles yesterday in awesssome weather and will run 4 this afternoon and then that's it. I might try to get in 1-2 miles on Sunday but I don't really want to get lost in a random Boston neighborhood.

Last Monday and Tuesday the inside of my hamstring was feeling a little sore which was odd... The pain has since gone away so I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope it stays that way.

-My plane leaves tomorrow morning around 7am and I get in at 11am. I'll go straight to the expo...then hang out around downtown or something...then my friend somehow got us tickets to the Reds game (I don't even know who they are, but that's ok!) that night so it should be a fun, busy day. (I just now found out it's "Red Sox"...not Reds. Dangit)

-Sunday's my bday (WOOOHOOO! Big 25!) which will be a low-key, relaxful day...

-Monday I have to wake up at the butt crack of dawn to get to the starting line and then wait for about 5 hours for the race to start, which hopefully won't be in the rain. Then I run a great marathon with tons of people and drink beer and such (track my run, Bib #14152, here are instructions). That night we'll hang out downtown and do whatever.

-Tuesday- who knows what we'll do...

-Wednesday- back to Indy in the morning after an awesome weekend!!! See ya then!

Hallucination 100 Miler!!!

Gracias a Bill, I finally got more information about an upcoming 100 miler in Pinckney, MI on September 26. Running Fit is putting it on and I believe the Dances With Dirt director, Randy Step, is organizing this race. I don't know though...not much information is posted yet. I had emailed the DWD people a few months ago and asked if they were going to have any 100 mile races any time soon...and they said there will be some new races this Fall. Soo, somehow they're related. Woohoo!

As you know, I love the DWD series and so I hope that I'll be up and ready for their 100 miler (course consists of 6 loops). The delimma (since when were there 2 m's in "delimma"?) is that the DWD Hell 50 miler is on September 12 and so either I run both and risk killing myself or I opt for the big one.

For those of you that don't want to run 100 miles, for whatever weird reason, it looks like there will also be the following races on the same day: 50m, 50k, marathon, half marathon, 50m relay and 10k. Holy moly.

Last Week's Recap

Mon- Off
Tues- Off
Wed- 4mi, 10 mins abs/arms
Thurs-Off
Fri- 4mi
Sat- 10mi, 10 mins abs/arms
Sun- 8x.25mi sprints, 4mi, 10min abs/arms

Well...as you can see, I loved tapering so much that I decided to take the whole week off. I had a great 4 mile run that one day! Awesome! I didn't feel like running and so I didn't. Ohhh well, can't win 'em all.

I think my mindset definitely changed after I decided not to do the bet. It's great not having that pressure to run fast at Boston. Sooo....6 days until the big race and now I'm just hoping the weather's good and we don't have rain!

Tapering's Awesome

I'm really loving this tapering stuff...4 miles yesterday (7:30 pace on flat land) and 4 miles today?? Sweet! It's too easy. It's nice having time left in your day after a run.

Boston Bet is Off

Update: I emailed my boss and the fast guy and they are fine that I'm dropping out. Whew. However, the fast guy (Gio) said he just ran another half marathon in 1:15 and ran the last 6 miles at a 5:35 pace!! He finished 4th place overall. That is ridiculous! I told him I was even happier now that I dropped out because there is no way I can compete with him. I would have set myself up for failure.

*(Note to reader: This post is merely for me to vent and feel better)

Today my husband and I were talking about Boston and somehow he convinced me to drop out of the bet that my boss put on for me (bet: my Boston time has to be within 40 minutes of this other super fast guy's Boston time, whose goal is 2:50) . Of course I know I could have dropped out all along, but for some reason I never felt like I truly could.

Although it seems so simple to you all, the decision was/is SUPER TOUGH for me. The guys at work keep asking about the race and keep saying that they know I'll win and whatever else. There's too much pressure. Tomorrow I'm going to email my boss and the fast guy and let them know that I'm dropping out. They can still compare our times but I know that guy will win.

Here are the pros to dropping out:

• I enjoy the race
• No pressure to run each mile at a certain pace
• Who cares if I go slow up those hills
• Take pictures during the race
• Drink beer during race
• Give high-fives to people and fans
• Participate with the fans instead of listen to my music, focusing on my time
• If I never do Boston again, I'll always have this good memory of it

Here are the cons to dropping out and the cons to not dropping out:

• Disappoint my boss and perhaps other coworkers (if I drop out ahead of time, or if I don't drop out and I lose)
• If I don't win the bet, I'll finish the race being disappointed and always have a negative memory of Boston
• The opposite of the above items will occur

Bottom line: (*again, I'm just saying this for my own sake) The day after I get back to work and tell people about the race, my coworkers will already have forgotten about the bet and whether I won. However, I will always have the memory and it's up to me as to whether it's a good one or not. I'm not a fast enough runner to both enjoy the race and run it super fast...I put too much pressure on myself. For that reason, I'm an ultrarunner.

AHH! It's still hard for me to get in the mindset that I no longer have to worry about my time, since that's all I've dreaded for the past four months! But as my husband said, I'd hate to waste this opportunity (that could be once in a lifetime for me) on this stupid bet and regret it forever.

Soo..just tell me that I made a good decision and all will be well.

Weekly Recap

Mon- 6m, 6x.5mi hills, 10min abs
Tues- 12m, 4x.5mi hills
Wed- 6m (1st/last fast), 10min abs
Thurs- 10min arms
Fri- 12m, 10min abs
Sat- 20m, 10min arms, 10min abs
Sun- 11x.25mi, 3x.5mi sprints

I didn't end up doing Friday's workout. My [honest] rationalization is that when I had planned out my training schedule for the week last Monday, I didn't pay attention to the amount of miles I was going to run...I kind of just randomly wrote down some miles to do each day. SOO, I didn't necessarily care to run what would have been 70 miles this week. 56 is fine. :)

Regarding the sprints...let's face it- I just hate running sprints for some reason and I don't know how to enjoy them. I know that for this next week, I'll definitely plan them in the beginning of the week so I'm not as tempted to ignore them.

It was pouring out rain today and I went to the track and ran 5/10 .25mi sprints. I was freezing so I came home and did 6 more on the treadmill. I was surprised at how much easier they were to do on the treadmill than on the track. #1, I can set my own pace and stick to it the entire time; #2, Looking at how much mileage I have left on the treadmill is much better than looking at the rest of the boring track circle I have to complete.

However, the treadmill doesn't make it so much more easier that I'll sprint more than .25miles. Yep, I attempted to do a half mile sprint and that's the point where I quit and didn't care enough. Por eso, there are 11x .25 mi sprints. I suck. Dangit.

Now I'll start tapering for Boston. I don't think I've actually intentionally tapered since I ran my first marathon in 2004. I don't even remember how to taper properly...I might have to go back and look at my weekly marathon training guide from 5 years ago (but I'm sure I'll just randomly pick some miles to do instead).

After Boston comes a change in gear to get ready for Mohican's 100 Miles: #1, Start running on trails again; #2, Quit worrying about my pace (woohoo!); #3, Run more back-to-back long runs; #4, hills, hills, hills, hills; #5, Prepare mentally!!!

20 Miles

I ended up not running the 12 miles yesterday as planned...I was tired and there were 41mph winds so I said screw it. I'm going to try to fit the miles in tomorrow on top of my sprints.

I ran 20 miles today at an 8-8:05 pace. I chose the flat course just so I could try to have a faster time...and I was hoping to complete them in a 7:30-40 pace but oh well! I felt good and it was a nice day out.

16 Miles in the Rain

Right when I got to the "start line" I told myself I didn't want to run. It was raining and I was the only one at the park, so why the heck should I run? I just ran yesterday...it won't be a big deal if I don't...and being in my warm house sounds sooo nice.

UGH! I somehow made myself start running and I'm so glad I did. I managed to complete today's goal: 12mi run, 4x.5mi hill repeats (I ran up and down the hill), thus finishing out 16 miles for the day. I felt strong and good and now it's alllll over. Woohoo!

Revitalization- 12 Miles

Yesterday's goal was to run 6 miles, 10 hill repeats, and then do 10 minutes of abs. When I got to the park yesterday, I measured the distance of that hill and it turns out it was .5 miles long. I forgot that after you run up .5 miles, you have to come back down .5 miles and so I knew it would take forever to finish 10 reps. I needed a bike or something to take me down.

Sooo...I ran 2 miles of my course, stopped and did 6 hill repeats (running up and down) and then finished the 4 remaining miles of the loop. I seriously felt SO GOOD while I was running yesterday. It was awesommmme weather out and for some reason I was energized- thank goodness! I needed that boost yesterday.

I thought that at the end of my hill repeats I'd start running slower and slower but I surprisingly just got stronger and stronger. I finally knew I could conquer that stupid, huge hill that I always hated. I then finished the night out with 10 minutes of abs.

This afternoon I'll run 12 miles and then try to finish up the remaining 4 hill repeats.

Possible Explaination to Sluggishness!!

Just two seconds ago I joked around in my comments of my previous post stating that I might be able to blame my sluggishness on my possible anemia. I then checked my email and my friend who is in nursing school randomly wrote me and said that she's been reading my blog and it sounds like I might be anemic.

I participated in a random blood study last week and they drew my blood. I wasn't supposed to talk to them again until September. The nurse ended up calling me the next day and said my sodium and potassium levels are very low and that my hematocrit is low...around 30%. She suggested that I was anemic.

Well, I haven't been eating meat for the past month and a half and I don't ever eat potatoes (unless I'm at a funky hotel restaurant before a race) and I rarely eat bananas...but I thought I did put salt on every piece of food I ate and I always took S!Caps during races of marathon distance or longer (however, that's only once a month at the most). Hmm...

So anyway, I called my friend up (who had emailed me) and talked to her about anemia. She said that if you are anemic, you could be out of breath a lot more and become tired more easily and definitely feel a difference in your energy level.

I don't want to blame 100% of my sluggishness on anemia (that I may or may not have...Dr's visit to come) but it could definitely be a factor in the way I've been feeling lately. It sure would be awesome to start taking some supplements to get my electrolytes back up and then notice a difference.

Any running doctors out there that can confirm or add to this?

HELP ME!!!

I need some encouragement/words of wisdom/motivation or some strong criticism or slap in the face to wake me up!

Ever since I've been running on my HALF-hilly 6 mile course, I've felt super slow and tired and weak. I've been running a lot slower on this course (maybe 9-10 minute miles compared to 7-8) and it's messing with me mentally. It seems like even though I've been running regularly for over a year now, my training has backtracked or something.

I ran the course 1 time yesterday and it was seriously hard for me to finish it and I was super out of breath. This morning I was planning on running it 3 times, for a total of 18 miles, and I stopped at 12 (even though I knew I would regret it and that I should just keep on going). I think I ran the 12 miles today at a 9:40 pace or something close- YUCK!

I need someone to tell me that it will all be okay and that I will be ready for Boston and I need someone to give me tips or SOMETHING. All of this could just be that I am NEVER mentally tough (and it's hard running by yourself) and so if I just shut up and think about something else during my runs, I'd be fine and we could disregard this whole post. However, if that's not the case...then what is it?

• Too much training and it's making me too tired? (doubtful!)
• Not enough [consistent] training?
• Other non-running-related factors (lack of sleep??)
• I don't want it bad enough- lack of passion to push myself?
• I'm just not used to training on hills (even though they're small) and so I'll be "normal" again in a few weeks?

Help me get back in gear mentally and stop thinking negatively and get my butt back in racing shape!

Crappy Sprints/ 11 Mile Run

I went to the track yesterday and only did a few sprints. There were soccer players practicing on the field and other runners on the track and I just don't like sprinting when others can see me- I get self conscience and think I'm "sprinting" way too slowly. I know it's dumb of me.

Today my work schedule allowed me to have a few hours break during the day and I took advantage of it and ran 11 miles, flat course.

12 Mile Run

I ran 12 miles yesterday on a course that actually had some hills on it. The hills weren't even big but they kicked my butt. Dangit! I'm going to try to keep running the same path to get ready for Boston that's in FOUR WEEKS! I'm getting a little nervous...only because of that bet that my boss put on. Yikes!!! I'm going to try to do some sprints today after work to get the legs moving a little bit more.

10 Mile Run

Yesterday afternoon I went out and ran for the first time since the race. 71 degrees out- very nice. I was planning on just running 2 miles...then I thought I'd do 3...then 4, but 5 sounded better as a number...then 6. After 6 miles, I knew it would take less than 40 minutes to run 4 more miles...and I didn't have any pressing plans....and I wasn't hurting....so I did 4 more miles to complete a nice/easy 10 mile run.

Chris is Gettin Hitched/ Geist Half Marathon

Congrats Christopher!! He's gettin hitched on May 16th 2009 and he, the bride, and some of the wedding party have decided to run the Geist Half Marathon that morning. I will also be joining in on the fun and encourage any of you to run it with us (but I doubt that'll get you a wedding invitation). WOOOHOOO!

Land Between the Lakes 60k (not 50m) Race Report Cont...

...in continuation from my previous post:

I just wanted to add a list of all the great food I ate after the race. Afterall, that is the best part about running.

• 2 pieces of vegetable lasagna
• cup of vegetable soup
• crackers
• 2 breadsticks
• 2 cookies
• 2 pops
• half of a banana
• coconut ice cream
• 4 tacos at Taco Bell

I can't wait to run another 37 miles so I can eat all of that again! Oink Oink

Land Between the Lakes 60k (Not 50m) Race Report

Chris and I drove to KY on Friday night and got to the hotel around 7:30pm or so (6:30pm their time). We were looking for a place to get dinner since there weren't any fast food places or decent restaurants nearby in that tiny county. There was this nasty little restaurant 2 feet from our hotel that Chris said we could go to. I laughed and said "ya right". We drove to the marina where the race starts and saw only one restaurant there, Patty's. Turns out that the whole town would want to eat at Patty's that night and there would be a one hour wait for Chris and I.

We decided we didn't want to wait forever and so we went back to the hotel and unfortunately decided to go to that nasty restaurant by the hotel that I had just made fun of. I tried to not think of how dirty the place would be or how gross it would smell inside or whether the cooks would wash their hands before cooking our food.

We entered and as expected, the air was thick of funky smoke. It had a nice decor full of Gone With the Wind items and also baptismal/confederate flag pictures. Anyway, although the special was "all you can eat- fried catfish" I ordered some potato skins (which turned out to be 3 huge potatoes cut up) and french fries (very healthy) and Chris ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and mozerella sticks. My whole point of this long story is that we ate gross, greasy food the night before the race and left the place smelling like someone who lives in my ghetto neighborhood.

ANYWAY, the race started the next morning and it was about 30-35 degrees out with rain. The first 1.7 miles consisted of running up this road to get onto the trail. For the 50m race (which was what I was planning on), you were to run 4 loops of the 11.something trail (and just 3 loops for the 60k race) and then everyone runs 1.7 miles back onto this uphill, horrible road with traffic/wind flying at you.

I ran the first loop in 2 hours and felt good. I realized I probably ran the first loop too fast when I started the second loop and quickly started walking up more of the inclines than I previously did. At this point I was still planning on running the 50 miles.

The rain made the trails super muddy and slippery and hard to keep your balance. At the end of the 2nd loop my lower back and shoulders started hurting which made me feel weak and mad that I never do any other exercises besides running. Josh had had warned me about this. After the second loop I was tempted to finish right then and make it just a marathon day.

I forced myself on to the 3rd loop and was already counting down the miles/aid stations. About halfway through the loop, I knew I'd quit at 60k. I was getting super hungry yet not wanting to eat much, and my toe randomly hurt really bad (time for new shoes, perhaps), my feet were wet and my shoes weighed 10 pounds each and it wasn't that much fun. (But speaking of being hungry and eating- I did discover a new, awesome running food: Fruit snacks! They were great. I ate two big bags in a few seconds. Yum.)

I knew that I would be able to complete a 4th loop and still finish within the 11hour time limit if I really wanted to, but was it worth it if I would be walking the majority of the time and not enjoying myself much? I didn't think so.

So I finished at 7:22 hours, 9 minutes slower than last year's time. I didn't place as well either; faster runners this year.

I know that sometimes you have good running days and sometimes you have bad running days. However, I'm still worried about some things:

• Last year when I ran this race, I had only been running seriously for 3 months and it was only my 3rd ultra. This year I have actually been putting in the training miles and I have run over 15 marathons/ultras. Why did I run so well last year and feel well during the whole thing and this year, with more experience, feel like crap the whole time? Not fair.


• Am I going to be able to finish a 100 Mile Race if I have trouble with 37 miles?


• Would I have been able to run better if going into it, I was only planning on running the 60k? I think I had negative energy because in my head, I was quitting and so I told myself I couldn't do it and I had to compromise with the shorter race.

All in all, 37 miles is still good and it helped me accomplish March's goal for the Ten More Miles! challenge. However with Mohican coming up so soon, I'm a little scared. I guess all I can do is continue with more hill/speed/miles training!

Continued report here.