OPSF Ultra 50/50 Race Report

This story starts out medium-good and then ends with a sad personal pity party.

My mom told me that her coworker's husband, Jay, was running the OPSF 50 mi race in Spencer, IN in Nov. so I looked it up and decided to sign up since it was in the Fall and was close to home. Bernie did it with me and crashed at my house last night. We ate a ton of food at Bazbeaux with some good beer---yumm.

Anyway, we met up with Jay in the morning and got to running. The course had a five mile loop, then a 14 mile loop that you did three times, and then you ran the five mile loop again. I guess they said it was 52.8 miles all together.

At first glance the course seemed pretty easy with a few hills but nothing major at all. Then as the time passed you noticed all of the gradual climbs and it made the legs pretty tired. Because of the recent rain most of the course was super muddy so your shoes were super heavy and then there were a million puddles and little creeks so my poor feet were soaked. Speaking of, why are my feet so screwed? I think my big toe is purple already and might come off. Off 50 some miles?? Ugh.

At the aid station at mile 31 is where the pity party kind of begins. First off, I was previously told that there was one 50 mile girl ahead of me. When we got to mile 31 I was looking for her but they said she was actually doing the 50k. Sweet, so I'm first girl. Then somehow we ended up taking a really long break at the aid station and in the meantime, the dang 2nd girl shows up and a minute later the 3rd girl shows up! Ugh. Then the 2nd girl spends one second at the station and then leaves while we're still there.

When we finally left I knew she was at least a few minutes ahead but I wanted to catch her. Finally at the next aid station I caught her and took off but I knew she was near me. Bernie and I cranked that stupid loop out and went faster on it than we did for the 2nd loop and were rocking it; we even passed a few others. I was feeling good and I knew the 2nd girl wouldn't catch me.

At some point we came upon like four huge horses (with riders) that just so happened to be standing RIGHT in the place where we needed to access to continue on our trail; no other way around it. Why did their riders think it was cool to stand there while us tired runners just looked at them and were afraid to push the horses away? Oh, you don't understand? Here, I drew you a diagram of how it happened:



The red represents the path that Bernie and I took. Yes, we almost ran on top of the horses, getting our clothes snagged on thorns and almost falling over while the horses kind of acted spooked and looked like they were going to attack us and while the riders just laughed at us (on the inside, I'm sure) while they looked down on us lowly peons without horses.

We hit the end of the loop and were ready to start the final last five miles, which should be nice and easy and quick. Welp, we get to a T in the road and there is no dang course marker so we randomly picked to go left. We went left for about .5 miles or so and realized that wasn't the right way, so we walked back all sad and annoyed and then looked around in the other directions and finally hit the right path after seeing other runners (we did end up seeing Jay and his wife again so that was nice). We had wasted about 30 minutes doing this.

At that point we had probably already run close to 50 miles and I was just ready to call it quits. Who wanted to run another dumb five miles after all that?

But anyway we started truckin and besides getting chased by some random dogs, the five miles were pretty easy and I finished.

What's dang annoying is that while Bernie and I were in la-la land getting lost, ole girl came up and beat me by 20 minutes and then the three people who we had passed finished, too. We were on track to finish in 5th place and now I think it was 8th or something. I don't even care about my place. What bugs me is that we worked our butts off to catch the girl and maintain the lead, and then right at mile 47 we got screwed. Ahh! How come those other people didn't get lost? Not saying I wanted them to but how did they know to go the other way?

Overall, it really was a good race. Everything was well marked except at the end, where I heard someone took the sign down (but really, why did it have to happen at the end? Reminds me of my sad tale at Gnaw Bone). The course was fun and challening enough and it was beautiful out and perfect temps. It was fun being out there with Jay and Bernie. And, Jay did AWESOME, especially for his first 52 miler!!! Enjoy the video.

Malibu Canyon Trail Run 50k Race Report

I went out to Santa Barbara, CA last Friday to visit my new cute little nephew and got to fit in a 50k race in Malibu last Sunday. The race consisted of a 15.5 mi loop that you repeated once. Most of the first half of the loop was climbing up a mountain and the last half was coming down it.

I was nervous looking at the elevation beforehand because it looked like I would make a 2,000+ ft climb in the beginning, which I don't think I've done before. I was envisioning standing at the bottom of the mountain and looking straight up to make a vertical hike. Also, I was intimidated at the start of the race because I had never raced out west before and I didn't know how the other runners would compare to the ole midwest. I thought they may run straight up the whole mountain instead of walking it since they lived out there and were used to those hikes.

The race started at 8am (seems late) and so the sun was already out and it was getting hot. The course going up turned out to be on a wide dirt path that curved and rounded, so it wasn't a straight-up hike, thank goodness. It was a good climb that worked me but it wasn't too hard. Annd, it was just beautiful being up there at the top. I was somehow passing people on the climb and it made me a little nervous; I didn't want to be some rookie Hoosier going up too fast on the mountain. But, I just kept going. The second half of the loop was awesome because most of it really was all downhill so I just flew by.

I started the second loop and I was already going slower. The sun was hotter and my legs were tired. I learned that I was first female but I didn't know how long that'd last. Around mile 22 or something I was super slow because of the heat and my warm water didn't quinch the thirst at all.

When I got to the mid-point aid station I sat down for a second in the shade and right as I left, I saw a female runner coming in to the statoin. She freakin stopped for a few seconds and was already out of there. Since I was feeling crappy and I don't like the pressure of another female on me, I was going to let her have it. There was a big climb right out of the station so I was just waiting for her to pass me anytime- I didn't want to look back to see how close she was.

I finally hit the downhill and knew I'd go fast, but I figured she would, too, and would pass me anytime. I kept going and kept wondering how close she was and if she could see me but she never came. At the end I was walking a little more and I was basically giving her the finish and I didn't care.

I knew the heat was getting to me because I started getting goose bumps. I was afraid to drink too much of my water because I didn't want to run out (7.8 mi in between the aid stations are too far apart for an ultra in the sun). A quarter mile to the finish I started gagging and puked up a little water- yuck.

I made it into the finish in 6:04 and somehow was first female and 4th overall. There were only 34 runners in the ultra but I am still proud of the finish. The second female finished just four minutes after me.

I'm glad I got to experience a race out there and loved the scenery. I think I still prefer the trail courses that I've done so far to this race since they're more technical and such.

DWD Hell 50M Race Report

I'll keep this report short. I didn't know how this race would turn out having come right out from Woodstock a couple of weeks ago but this race turned out to be the best ever. It was perfect weather, my legs felt fresh the whole time, and I beat my previous Hell time by over two hours.


Chris, Bill, Bernie, and I started out together and we didn't really have a plan other than to finish. Chris was planning on doing a 12:3 strategy so we tried it out with him. I was practically sprinting on the 12 minute part and I kept saying how dumb I was to be going out fast again but I didn't care- I kept going and kept feeling good and made it to the end. It was a great time with everyone; loved it.

Here are some gigantic pics (thanks Angel) and video:

Woodstock Hallucination 100 Mi Race Report

Finally another one in the book! Bernie and I drove to MI last Friday afternoon, we met up with Bryan (poor Chris couldn't make it) and we started the race at 4pm. I finished the race in 27:16 and it seems like it rained about 24 of those hours.

From the get-go we decided to do a plan of run 7 minutes, walk 3 minutes all the way to the finish. We laughed and disregarded this strategy at Mohican but when we DNF'd that race and the guy who followed that strategy, Mike, did finish, we were convinced. So, it was definitely hard to stick to that slow pace during the first 30 miles. People kept passing us and I was feeling good and wanting to run harder. Luckily the guys kept reminding me to hold back and then run hard at mile 80 if I still felt good. The first loop was in the light and even though my shorts were already soaked from sweat and I was chafing, I felt pretty good. We finished the first loop in 3:30 which was pretty fast so we tried slowing down our pace a little bit afterwards.

On the second loop we met a guy, Joe, who was out there running alone and he ended up staying with us until the end. It was rainy and dark but we kept truckin; finished in about four hours.

It was still raining on the third loop and so the course was getting muddier and harder to run through and my feet were still getting soaked, even though I changed out my shoes and socks. I was feeling pretty tired after the third loop and it surprised me since I had only run 50 miles. I think we finished this loop in four hours, too.

Bernie wasn't feeling too hot either but we convinced him to start the fourth loop with us. Right then at 4am, good ole Bill (whom I ran this race with last year) surprisingly met up with us out on the course and ran a few miles with us. He woke up at midnight, drove a few hours over, ran a few miles with us, then turned back around to make his 50k start at 6am. Crazy. Bernie ended up dropping at the end of this loop; just wasn't his day. It was hard when he dropped because it tempted me to stop, but I kept going because I didn't want three DNFs.

My blisters were getting worse on the fourth loop because of the non-stop rain and mud puddles we had to run through. I really didn't want to stop this race because of blisters so I was going to push through it even if it killed me. We were running a good pace so far so I knew I could walk a lot if I needed to and still finish within the cut-off time. By this time we were sick of the dark and just kept begging the sun to come up; that was our only motivation to start the fifth loop. I think we finished this loop in four or four and a half hours.

Same story for the fifth loop except we had day light which helped. It was hard to keep going. I was tired and my feet really killed. We finished the loop in 4:30 and I had a breakdown; just overwhelmed and in pain and I wanted to stop but knew I wouldn't. I knew if I did the fifth loop then there was no way I wouldn't do the sixth. I cried and cried but kept going and headed out for the last lap.

At the beginning of the sixth loop lucky Bryan was feeling awesome and somehow his magical feet didn't have any blisters so he ran on ahead and Joe and I struggled through the end. Joe's feet were jacked up, too, so we decided we'd change our running plan to run 1 minute, walk 2 minutes. It was so hard to run that minute and we really thought we were working hard and making progress, even though our feet barely left the ground. Joe's girlfriend came and paced us for a few miles and then headed back.

Bill had finished his 50k and caught up to us to finish the race. I couldn't believe he stayed with us until the end; I literally said about five words the last five hours. I couldn't be in a good mood and I couldn't make myself talk at all. Very nice and patient of him.

Joe and I tried the 2:1 strategy for awhile and then ended up just walking most of the miles and running occasionally. At the end Joe's walk was faster than mine so he went on ahead and Bill and I slowly finished the race 20 minutes after him.

Oh my goodness it was rough at the end. It seems like my legs were fine the whole time; it was just the darn blisters that got me again. I don't know what to do. I used the good Drymax socks; I used the Injinji socks; I ran in about six different pairs of shoes (two of which were brand new). Don't we all have the same type of skin? How come my feet were affected and others' not? Doesn't make sense.

Well speaking of, I saw Joe's feet after the race and they looked like ground beef. His blisters had actually already ripped off and a ton of his skin was exposed- yuck. He ended up going to the ER to have them get fixed. During the race he had talked about wanting to do that anyway; get hooked up to some meds and then have your feet worked on. :)

So I finished and that's all I care about now. I think 89 runners had at least pre-registered for the event; 27 finished.

Below's a video of some of the course. I apologize that it's not too entertaining; I'm pretty depressing in it. Warning- I show my nasty blisters at the end.

Canal Runs With Bernie

Bernie's in town so I was finally forced to actually go out and run straight miles (vs ultimate frisbee). He's been reminding me each week that Hallucination keeps getting closer and closer; I guess it's time to get ready. We ran 6 miles yesterday at the canal at 5am and then 7 miles today. Man, that's early but I'm glad we went out. My goal is to run at least 12 mi tomorrow morning; hopefully I'll make it 18-20.

DWD- Devil's Lake Pics

Pics from the recent race this year, thanks to Chris and Bernie:

DWD Devil's Lake 50M Race Report

Last year I ran this race and thought it wasn't that much fun. It was hot and hilly and I was tired. I somehow finished it in 11:07 and I remember being really disappointed with that time and feeling like I should have gone a lot faster. So anyway, I must have forgotten the pain over this past year and I signed up for it again. Hopefully I won't make that mistake next year. I'm done.

Well, crap; this year it took me 12 hrs 27 minutes to finish it! I've never been that close to the cut-off time. What the heck is wrong with me? I know it was nasty hot and all but dang, I'm definitely not making progress. Maybe it's this new running crew I have that's holding me back?? Ya right!

So anyway, Chris, Bernie, Bryan and I ran another race together which was very fun. Chris was having an awesome day and took off at mile 30 to finish an hour before us. I was dragging after mile 20 and Bryan and Bernie made me finish. It was super hot and I was really hungry the whole time and I'm sure it didn't help that I had only run twice in the last three weeks.

I tried out my new Drymax Maximum Protection Trail Running socks and I guess I'm pretty pleased with them. I still went through three pairs of socks/shoes during the race since they were soaked with sweat but I came out of it with only one small blister. I can't use this race to determine if the socks help prevent blisters since the course wasn't as technical and rooty and some other painful ones.

I camped out at the start and crashed early after the race. I woke up Sunday morning super hungry and chowed down on a McDonald's burrito, hashbrown, bagel sandwich and large Coke. That food would never have sounded good before but it was great this time. You can only take so many saltine crackers, quarter-sized PB&J sandwiches, and pretzals.

So anyway, I'll try to average a few runs per week until September's Hallucination. Here's a video from the race. I look pretty dead in it at the end.

Latest Workouts/ Races

Yesterday was the first day back at running since Mohican. I ran 4.25 miles in the morning, did Zumba in the afternoon, and then another 1.75 miles to call it six for the day. The legs were pretty tight; I definitely should have been stretching this past week.

I'm doing Zumba again today, maybe run 1-2 miles afterwards, and then ultimate frisbee tonight. Whoop whoop. Last time at frisbee my little running app said we did a total of three miles; not too bad.

So, even though I did not like Devil's Lake I decided to sign up for it again on July 9th. I figured it'd keep me running through the summer and it'll keep me on track with all four DWD races. Annnd because I don't like the DNF feeling I signed up for Hallucination 100 miler again in September. I'll probably get bored with the course again but heck, at least I know I can finish it. I think we'll have the whole crew there again for both races: Bernie, Bryan, and maybe Chris and Bill. Sweet.

Mohican 100 Mile Race Report

0/2 on Mohican attemps, darnit! Bernie and I made it 71 miles; I think we stopped after 18 or 19 hours. Mohican is hard!!!! I don't know if I'll ever finish it. I'll try my best to not be so pessimistic on my recap.

Last Friday morning I met up with Bernie and his fam in Bluffton and we drove three hours to OH.






We met up with Bryan and Chris and camped out.

Ya...the whole queen size mattress in kiddie tent doesn't really work anymore.

It poured down raining that night but I still got to bed okay around 8pm. Woke up at 3am and got ready for the race. Note to self: Will stay in hotel next time before a race. Too hard to get ready for a big race with everything in the trunk of your car and only a flash light to see.

Our race plan was for Bryan, Bernie and I to stick together as best we could, and then have Chris pace us at mile 53. We were going to try to meet up with Bill and Marit as well, but knew it'd be hard for the big group to stick together. We also weren't going to try intervals since that didn't really work out at Gnaw Bone.

I saw Bill and Marit at the start but somehow immediately lost them before the race began. I also ran into Randy whom I had run with a little bit at the end of my last Mohican attempt in'09. It was good to see he will still out there truckin. (I believe all three of them finished the 100 miles- great job!!)

They changed the course this year and it consisted of four loops: they were all the same except the last two had different middle sections. About two miles from the end of each loop was a set of four long-arse hills of each .5 miles or something and they SUCKED. Why would they want someone to want to kill themselves right before the end of each loop?

They also said no water crossings. Don't let that fool you in the future. Your feet still get wet. If not from the puddles from the rain from the night before or not from the tiny creeks, they will get wet from the sweat from the humidity. I changed my shoes and socks at every drop bag location; I think seven or eight times total.

So as we started the first couple loops we felt pretty good and were making a lot of progress. We kept wondering if we were going to fast but we decided to cover as much ground as we could while it was daylight. Bad idea, I guess. There were tons of hills and larger climbs than I remembered but we were still able to go up them with not too much pain.

Bryan wasn't feeling too hot at the end of the second loop and so with five miles left of the loop, Bernie and I sadly left him. We told Chris to hang back with him and convince him not to quit and Bernie and I would be fine without the pacer. (Turns out Bryan just rested for 20 minutes, ate some food, and was able to keep going with Chris- all the way til 83 or so. Awesome job!)

So Bernie and I started the third loop (mile 53) and we felt pretty good until around mile 62. I could feel just a few blisters at that time but nothing too terrible. I was so nervous because it wasn't until this point in '09 that I really felt the pain.

We passed the Fire Tower and these two HS girls asked if we wanted pacers so we said they could stick around. I guess their cross country coach was running the race and they tagged along to help runners out. They just ran behind us for about five to ten miles and said about five to ten words the whole time. One girl told me to think happy thoughts about butterflies and rainbows but unfortunately that didn't do the trick.

During the third loop we hit the middle section that was different and it was full of downhills with tons of rocks and roots. It may have been nice with fresh feet and some sun light but it really sucked when you felt blisters on your heels and had sore knees and quads and could only see a tiny circle of light in front of you. Uggh! I hated it.

We were all out of words at that point and the HS girls couldn't come up with any stories so all I thought about was quitting. I tried hard not to but I couldn't help it. It took us foreeever to reach the next couple aid stations and finally we made it to mile 71. I told Bernie I just wanted to rest for a little bit (knowing in my head I was done) and so we slept for 10 or so minutes. I looked up and those poor girls were just sitting on the side waiting for us. I thought they would have left by then.

Randy met up with us at the aid station and he and the aid station workers tried yelling at us to keep going, tried cussing, tried playing loud music- everything to get us to stand up and go but we couldn't! We were well on track in terms of time and we could have walked the rest of the race and still finished under the 32 hour time limit...but who the heck wants to walk a marathon?? I sure didn't. It already stunk walking two hours just to get five or six miles; I did not want to walk for ten more hours while I was in pain and couldn't see anything and then to go up those huge hills again. Ugggh! I'm sure we painted a really pretty picture of ultra running to those girls.

Bernie and I quit at 71. When I got back to the campsite and was about to take a shower, my body scared myself! I had huge scrapes all over my chest, back, thighs, armpits, and stomach from chafing. It was so humid during the whole race that my short and shorts were constantly wet and I guess it jacked me up. Next race I will definitely be switching clothes throughout it.

What's hard is when I was out there, I was DONE and didn't care if I didn't finish. I was hurting and knew more blisters would come and bla bla bla. Now at home, even just one day later, I forget the pain and wish I would have finished. Dang, I thought it would have taken at least a month for me to say that.

I make myself feel better by knowing that the winner of this race finished it three hours later than in the previous year, and that only 33% of the starters actually finished (58/174). Now that is crazy. Too bad I wasn't part of the 33% though. Boo.

They already said they're going to change the course again for next year and will cut out some of the harder hills they had right at the end. I wish I didn't know that because it tempts me to try it AGAIN, just in case the course is a little easier.

Below's a few short clips from the race up until mile 40 or so. I wanted to actually get footage past this point (since I didn't in '09) but I didn't get to. You just start feeling so crappy that you really don't want to pull out the video camera.

Last but not least- big thanks to Chris for being such a huge help before and during the race! He was constantly asking if we needed anything and even tried popping my nasty, dirty blood blisters that had Glide all over them. He was fantastic and it's too bad Bernie and I didn't get any miles in with him.

Also thanks to Bernie's fam and Bryan's fam for being so helpful at each aid station. You guys made it very enjoyable and fun!

No Training...

Man, no matter how many months in-between races I go I'm on a continuous "tapering" schedule. I've only run a few times since Gnaw Bone and Mohican is sooo close. I've been keeping up with the P90x stuff but that leaves little time (more like desire) to run. I'll probably keep doing the P90x for another week and a half and then stop so I don't overdo it.

Yesterday I ate a bunch of chocolate, napped for an hour, then tried running a measly six miles in 88 degrees. Ugh; I stopped once for water and almost puked and considered turning back home. That chocolate needed a lot more time to digest.

I'm sitting here at work debating running right now...I'd like to get in another six miles but the temp is not cooling down. :( Help!

3 Cardio and 3 Showers

Today was cardio-mania! Woke up at 4:50am and did P90x's Plyo, then showered. Went to work and did Beachbody's Insanity at 12pm, then showered. On way home from work I stopped and did Zumba at 5:30pm, then showered. That can't be good on the skin.

Btw, my new favorite cardio is the Insanity. I've only done it three times and I love it! I've never sweat so much in my life.

DWD- Gnawbone 50 Mi Race Report

Well the good news is that I finished with no knee pain!! I ended up taking four ibuprofen throughout the race as sort of a preventative measure but I'm feeling fine today so that's all I care about.

Bernie and I planned on meeting up and running the race together and we didn't know if we'd see Bryan (who we ran some with at Green Swamp) or not. At the start we ended up seeing Bryan and also met his friend, Chris. I also saw Greg who I ran the same race with in '09 so that was neat.

So Bernie and my plan had been to finish sub-10, if possible. That would be cutting 19 minutes off my '09 time. That would be great. So Bernie, Bryan, Chris and I got together at the start and ended up running the entire 50 miles together. That is the first that I've stuck with that big of a group for an entire 50 miles. It was great having different conversation and also having different people support you when you're feeling weak, and vice versa.

From miles 1-30 we ran at a 12:2 interval pace (as well as walking hills) and then around 35 switched it to 10:2 and then I think around 38 or 40 we switched it to 8:2. It was working great the whole time and I felt like we were strong and not all tired and slow at the end. There were a lot of hills like I remembered but I didn't mind them as much and I felt like we made good progress. From roughly mile 25 on we didn't pass anyone and no one passed us; that was weird.

So anyway, what I'm really confused/surprised/disappointed about is our time. Once we knew we couldn't make sub-10 I was hoping for at least a sub-10:19 so I could beat my previous time. Nope. Somehow we finished in 11:12. I guess the time was okay overall since we were like 12th/80 entrants but I'm still confused as to how it took so long if we felt so good. Did the intervals end up screwing us? We did them at Green Swamp and felt like it was working and I felt like it worked this time...but maybe not. It seems like in '09 I was feeling good but that the hills were really hard on me. So how come I felt better this time but with a slower time? The trail/temp conditions were very similiar.

Another thing that bothers me is that I got 2nd female in this race and the first female finished in 10:19. That was my '09 time which means I could have beaten or tied her if I was in the same shape. What happened?? I'm confused and concerned. Am I more out of shape this year? If so, what does that mean about the people I ran with? I know that Bernie and Bryan were putting in more miles than me and we stayed together.

Oh well. Oh well.

Here's us coming in the finish line (Thanks for the pics, Angel).




Enough about that. Post-race we jumped in the lake and it was glorious.



More post- race:

So, next on the list is Mohican and unfortunately this race kind of made me more scared of it. I just had all these memories of aches and pains and trying really hard to finish it. Ugh! I have to finish...I don't want to try to have to finish this race a million times. I doubt I'll get in a lot more training because of the P90x so it'll have to be 99% mental strength. But about Mohican- Bryan said he's probably going to run the 100 with us and Chris might pace us so that'd be tight. It'd be Bernie, Bryan, Chris, and good ole Señor Bill.

Vamos a ver!

Well looks like I got one run in this week again! How crappy. Oh well, it won't be the first time that I've been low before a race. My legs are starting to feel achy again for some reason so this morning I did some of the P90x stretching for 30 minutes. I took the last two days off of P90x so that I won't be sore at all tomorrow. I'm determined to finish this thing, with or without meds! This is a great race and I need to do it.

Change in Workouts: P90x

Well last Sunday, May 1st, my husband (Josh) and I decided to give P90x a real try for three months: the diet and the 6x/wk exercises. I've done the exercises before but never noticed a change, since I didn't do the diet. Everyone says that you get the most results if you do both together, so we want to make the most of it.

The best time to do the exercises for us is in the mornings before work, which means waking up around 4:45am (they last 1-1.5 hours). Uhh, I am so tired! So anyway, I am no longer running with Jon in the mornings and I'm trying to fit my runs in after work. I know that my mileage will be cut back even more. For example, today is Friday and I have only run ONE TIME this week- which was a measly six miles yesterday. Too many things get in the way, especially when work is busy.

Speaking of things getting in the way, the P90x diet has been the hardest thing so far. Not the change in food but the time it takes to plan out your meals to make sure you're eating enough! You have to get so many proteins (five servings for me) and carbs and veggies in a day. It seriously takes Josh and I at least an hour to plan our dinner and our lunch. For example we each had six egg whites and two pieces of turkey bacon for breakfast this morning. For lunch we'll have six ounces of tuna with an egg and cottage cheese and almonds. Ay ay ay!

But anyway, I've never really done any strength training or any other regular exercise for the past five years except running (which can be the cause of many injuries, so I hear). So, I'm definitely interested to see how this will affect my overall health and endurance and such.

I'm nervous now for my 50 miler, DWD Gnaw Bone, because I've been sore from these exercises and I noticed it yesterday in my run. Ugh, I'm in this dilemma- do I cut back on my new P90x exercises so I can complete the race well or do I keep them up because I want to give P90x a full 100% try? :(

Worse comes to worse- at least I'm eating a lot better now and staying active; err something like that....

Another 10

So I'm on day 2 of kid duty and I don't know how people do it everyday! I chose to nap during the kids' nap time yesterday instead of run. Kids went off to play-group today at 9am so I made myself go out for ten miles.

Even though it was sunny and pretty nice out I couldn't make myself enjoy the run. My knee was hurting a little bit the whole time and I just felt lazy. Waaaaaaa.

At least I enjoyed the scenary and even got to stop and see the hubby at his work downtown.

10 Miles

Woke up at 4:50am again and it was 66 degrees with wind gusts up to 27 mph. Jon and I were tempted to cancel but thank goodness we went out and got ten done. I had a late night Greek burger and ice cream and wine and about five hours of sleep but I surprisingly felt good this morning and didn't puke up any food. Nice, huh? Weird how Jon and I can get 18 miles in in two days some weeks and then 18 miles for a whole week other weeks...

Chafing

Thank you, sports bra. I look like a freak.

Wet 8 Miles

Woke up tired this morning at 4:50am and had weird dreams last night so I was out of it and did not want to run with Jon at 5am. Was tempted to cancel but thank goodness I didn't. We went out in the rain and ran eight miles and it felt great.

I was disappointed to have only run 38 miles last week but oh well. I'm definitely going to try to spread out my miles this week...maybe run six more tonight.

Jon and my sister are going to HI on Wednesday and I'm gonna get my feet wet with what it's like to have kids. I'll be watching their three kids on Wednesday and Thursday. I was planning out my miles for this week yesterday and already realized that I probably won't be able to run those two days. I could run in the morning before the kids wake up but Jon will be gone and so I'm not gonna go by myself in the dark...and then when my hubby gets home from work, I don't want to make him stay with the kids alone during dinner time while I go run.

Ahh! It'll be hard when I have kids but I'll have to work out something. Anyway...I know I have it good right now with all my free time; that's all I'm trying to say.

26.2 Run

Jon and I planned on running this morning at 5am; he would do 10 and I would hopefully do 22. Well dangit I missed my first two alarms and thank goodness I woke up to him calling me at 4:58am. I grabbed the clothes and headed out the door in two seconds.

We went down to the canal and around downtown. I was hoping to see a hot pink sunrise but it must have been hiding in the clouds.

So Jon left at mile eight to head home and I was feeling good so far so I kept on.

I was getting pretty tired at the end so I took more breaks...took some pics, stretched, filled up water, and just stood debating whether to cut it at 22 or keep going to a marathon.

Lovely White River on my way home...

And then some beautiful flowers that smelled so good...

I made it home after 26.2 miles, all sweaty and nasty with white salt all over me. No pain during the run; sweeeeet!!!

Runs Recap, Bernie, Fish Oil/Pain

1) Runs Recap:
I just ran one mile last Sunday; didn't run Monday; was going to run Tuesday + Wednesday in the a.m. but didn't get to because the b-n-law couldn't; and I FINALLY ran 12 miles yesterday (which is sad that it only averages out to four miles the past three days).

2)Bernie:
I have a 45 minute commute home from work each day. It's crazy that from the first 40 minutes, I am thinking about the run I'm going to do and how many great miles I'll finish and so on. Right at minute 41, one mile before my exit to my running path, I think about how great it would be to go home, sleep, clean the house, watch TV, and not run. Ugh! I always do that...I'll get right to the exit and then say "screw it...I'm not running".

Well that all happened yesterday but somehow I at least made it off the exit to the running path. I parked the car and just sat there. I debated not running again for like three minutes, even though it was beautiful out and there were lots of people out exercising. Ugh.

So, I texted Bernie and begged for help and motivation. Before I heard back from him, I somehow made myself get outside and start running (I was probably thinking about the cinnamon roll I wanted to eat when I got home and I knew I'd feel better if I ran).

Bernie texted back and forced me to keep running. He was just starting his run, too, so we agreed to do 12 miles. Somehow that tiny little text to a person in another city was enough to make me keep running; it changed my mentality immediately. Woohoo! That's what I'll have to do everyday now.

3) Fish Oil/Pain
So a couple weeks ago my cousin said she was having similar knee pain as me. She said she was told to take fish oil to help it. So, I took fish oil, too, for like two days and then just got lazy and stopped. Well I'll be darned, the other day she said she doesn't have anymore knee pain.

Caca. Why didn't I keep up the fish oil? So, I think I'm on day four of taking it again three times a day and yesterday my knee didn't hurt at all. I doubt it has a ton to do with the fish oil, but I'll try anything.

However, my dang calves were sore since I switched my stride last Saturday. Whoops. I know you're not supposed to change your stride but I don't care...I'd rather have my calves be sore than my knees. err?

Monumental run

I had been eating crap the past few days; yesterday morning I woke up at 10:30am, ate a cinnamon roll and had two cups of coffee, went back to sleep...and then at 12:30pm decided I needed to run. Isn't that nasty and lazy?

My goal was to run 22 miles; mainly because that's what my little route from home would equal out to. It was in the 40s, sprinkling, and had winds from 20-25 mph but I was so determined to finish the miles since the most I've been able to run at one time lately was 11.5 miles.

I set out and already at mile two my knees felt tight. I decided I needed to change my stride somehow because obviously the current one wasn't working. I didn't know if I should stretch out the knees and lengthen my stride or shorten it by heightening the knees and almost do butt-kicks. I randomly chose the high-knee stride and I kept it up the entire time.

The stride made me feel like I was running slow, especially against the wind, but I didn't care how long it took me- I was going to make myself finish. For some reason I had the most powerful, detrimental run and I pumped out 22 miles; probably an 8:15-8:30 pace.

It was the best run of my life and I would have shot for a marathon or 50k had I had the time. My knees would tighten everyone once and awhile but I would heighten my knees again and it would go away. I have been so nervous about Gnaw Bone and this run boosted my confidence a ton. If I could just have another 20 miler before the race then I'll be set.

I iced the knees and my quads feel a little sore today, but that's it. I might go run a few more miles this afternoon if I feel up to it.

Indianapolis Bloggers

Hey everyone-

This is a little break from my daily routine to let you know I joined Indianapolis Bloggers. It's a little community of bloggers from Indy; go check them out!

Poor Runner Etiquette

I went running on the canal just now and had my first runner-to-runner collision. :( Of course everyone knows you're supposed to always run on the right side/ pass on the left, especially when you go around turns and under tunnels where no one can see you. I get so annoyed when people don't do that and aren't paying attention and have their music too loud and so on.

Well why was I running on the wrong side today, going around a big curve? I don't know but I smacked right into another guy who was running on the right side. Dangit....I felt dumb and I know he had to be annoyed. We hit hard but luckily didn't fall (probably because of my darn-slow pace) and then we kept going.

Stupid stupid.

Tiempo en España

I was in Spain again from 4/4-4/13 and got some good runs in with my co-worker who was there and runs super fast. He's the guy that I was supposed to be in the Boston bet with in '09 but I backed out.

I should have taken more pictures...it was beautiful out there and in the 70s everyday. We ran about 55 miles together and only on the last day did my knee feel tight. What the heck?

I did just 2 miles yesterday then Zumba at night and I hope to get at least 6 in today.

Land Between the Lakes Race Report

Last Friday Bernie and his fam and I drove down to KY for the LBL 50 mile race, which consists of four loops. There were a lot of small rolling hills that were easy to run through but we knew we'd get worn out later on if we didn't walk some. So, thanks to Bryan again, we started with a run 12:walk 2 minute routine, including walking up the bigger hills- felt pretty good.

We started the 2nd loop and were passing people and got in a groove and then bam, at mile 14.5 my darn knee started acting up again. :( The pain wasn't that bad but I knew it was the same injury or problem that I had been having since Swamp. So very sadly to say, I walked to the next aid station and called it quits at mile 16. I've yet to finish the 50 miles on this course.

Since I didn't have my phone and didn't know where Bernie's fam was, I waited at the start/finish line for seven or so hours...but it actually wasn't that bad. It was awesome weather out in the 70s, contrary to my previous LBL races in the snow. I took a nap, cheered other runners on, and just hung out.

Bernie did freakin awesome and finished in 9 hours, faster than the Swamp time that was a flat course! Sawweeet.

Anyway, I'm really hoping that this DNF pays off and that I heal up and am ready for big Gnawbone in May.

But what is wrong with me? Why am I having these dumb leg problems? I'm gettting ollllder.

So stretch, ice (maybe), and strengthen other muscles. Yesterday I was doing that sit-down weight machine that curls your legs and works your hamstrings. It was only on 10 lbs and it hurt all around my knees. What the heck? Does that mean I keep doing it to strengthen something or do I stop so I don't hurt it more? Ay ay ay

Oh well. Here's a little race video for your enjoyment:

Recent Activity

Oh ya...I know how to do it right. We really didn't think they'd be that big...

The week after Green Swamp I went to see Heath-ther and her little babies in WI. I went running for the first time since Green Swamp and my darn knee started hurting again. I think I made it three miles and I stopped a million times during the run to stretch.

So off and on the inside and outside of my knee was hurting and I got a little scared. I continued stretching and it finally (knock on wood) has temporarily gone away.

I made it 34/50 miles two weeks ago (stopped b/c of leg) and then 50 this past week. I'm shooting for 20 miles this week and then on Friday I'm off to the LBL race in KY with Bernie and the fam. Woohoo!

DWD- Green Swamp 50 Mi Race Report

After only meeting Bernie once at Hallucination last Sept. and then another time in Indy, I somehow let him convince me to hop in a van with him, his wife, and this other couple (all of whom I've never met) and drag me 14+ hours away to FL in a three day period to run the last DWD race that I haven't scoped out yet: the DWD- Green Swamp race. Thank the Lord I am back home alive and they did not abduct me or make me too crazy. I know I am naive sometimes....that's all I'll say.

So anyway, we left Thursday afternoon and made it to FL Friday morning. We stopped at a Yuengling (huh?) brewery, walked around, ate some blizzards, then went to bed early.







The race started early Saturday morning in the dark and I've learned my lesson that I will always carry a good headlamp with me during runs. Mine was low on battery and very dim but I tried to manage. Nope, I had to pee around mile 3 and when I started back at it, everyone had left and I could barely get around...I was tripping and worrying about getting lost this early on. I somehow carefully made it back to the start/finish aid station at mile 5 and caught up with a faster group who had gotten turned around. I didn't know where Bernie was at that point.

To my surprise, the course was flat the entire way and a lot of it was on either a soft sandy path or on some kind of horse trail path. So, the footing was kinda hard because your feet were sinking in every other step and were getting twisted around in different foot prints all the time. I immediately felt blisters forming on the sides of my arch and stuff. Anyway, prior to the race I hadn't really been running. It was too bad because I could have really gotten a good, fast run out there.

So, I met back up with Bernie at mile 15 and then shortly afterwards I could tell my legs were pretty tired. I took my first salt and meds and I got my 2nd wind. At mile 25 you hit the start/finish aid station again, repeat the same last 20 miles, then repeat the first five. I didn't know how I'd repeat those miles but thankfully we met up with Bryan, whom I briefly met at last year's DWD- Devil's Lake race in WI. Bryan told us about the little 8:2 exercise where you continuously run 8 minutes, walk 2, and repeat. You save energy, run better when you're running, and there ya go. It worked beautifully. We finished the last 25 miles doing that and it was amazing how we kept up our pace. Ole Germany girl was running the whole time while we did our 8:2 and we kept passing her; amazing.


Here's a short video from the race:



That's about it. I enjoyed being out in the sun and getting miles in in Feb. but don't know if I'd do that particular race again...course was kind of boring; similiar to Hallucination. The good thing was us three finished together in 10th, 11th, and 12th place out of apx. 50 runners and I got 2nd woman. I'll get that Krystal another time! :)

Ahhh---Mohican Again!!

Well crap- I just went out on a limb and registered for the 100 mile Mohican again. Scary! I guess that means I won't be attempting Kettle Moraine's 100 miler this year on June 4th. Oh well, I wasn't a huge fan of that course anyway.

So I know I had tons of blister problems during Mohican '09 but I think I can come into this race prepared now and finish it out! I will change my shoes and socks OFTEN (I think I only changed them once in '09), even though it'll make my time even slower, and I already know the course and made it up to 80 miles, and I already have a 100 under my belt...

The difference this year will be that I won't be going with a pacer and that means I might be in the scary dark by myself, which would suck because I'd be thinking of ghosts the whole time and also I would be more likely to get lost. Oh well, I guess. I hope the determination to finish this one is enough to keep me going.

It's scary signing up for a race four months in advance but at least they offer 1/2 refunds up thru May. Here we come, MI!

Spain and Running Slacking

I made it back from my short trip in Spain last Thursday and had a pretty good time. I didn't make it out for any runs but I kept to my bet and did random exercises in the hotel room. Hope no one saw me. Here are some pics from my trip:

La Plaza Mayor:



Flamenco dancing:



Random bar:



Yummy paella:

So anyway, once again I'm writing to say that I didn't meet my 2011 goals in January. I keep forgetting that I made those, dangit. I'm still hopeful.

And nope, due to the traveling, ice storm, and overall laziness I haven't run in a couple of weeks and I have DWD-Green Swamp 50 miles coming up in a week. Ouch. At least I think it'll be a fun race so that will make up for lack of endurance.