Daily Workouts Recap 05/11-12/11

Cleaning up the side bar...

5/1/11: P90x: Chest &
Back, Ab Ripper
5/2/11: P90x: Plyo
5/3/11: P90x: Shoulders
& Arms, Ab Ripper; Zumba
5/4/11: P90x: Yoga
5/5/11: P90x: Legs & Back, Ab Ripper; Run 6 mi
5/6/11: P90x: Kenpo
5/7/11: Run 13 mi
5/8/11: Rest
5/9/11: P90x: Yoga 40 mins
5/10/11: Run 6 mi; Zumba
5/11/11: P90x: Chest & Back, Ab Ripper; Zumba
5/12/11: Rest
5/13/11: Rest
5/14/11: Run 50 mi
5/15/11: Rest
5/16/11: Rest
5/17/11: Rest
5/18/11: P90x: Chest & Back, Ab Ripper; Zumba
5/19/11: P90x: Plyo; Insanity; Zumba
5/20/11: P90x: Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper
5/21/11: P90x: Yoga
5/22/11: P90x: Legs & Back
5/23/11: Rest
5/24/11: Run 10 mi
5/25/11: P90x: Ab Ripper; Run 6 mi
5/26/11: Rest
5/27/11: P90x: Kenpo; Insanity
5/28/11: Rest
5/29/11: P90x: Core Synergistics
5/30/11: P90x: Yoga; Run 6 mi
5/31/11: Zumba
6/1/11: Run 6 mi; Zumba
6/2/11: P90x: Chest/Back/Triceps, Ab Ripper
6/3/11: P90x: Plyo
6/4/11: P90x: Back/Triceps, Ab Ripper
6/5/11: P90x: Yoga; Ultimate Frisbee
6/6/11: P90x: Legs&Beck, Ab Ripper; Insanity: Cardio
6/7/11: P90x: Kenpo; Zumba
6/8/11: P90x: Ab Ripper; Run 3 mi
6/9/11: Run 3 mi
6/10/11: Insanity
6/11/11: Rest
6/12/11: Ultimate Frisbee (3 mi)
6/13/11: Rest
6/14/11: Zumba
6/15/11: Zumba, Run 5 mi
6/16/11: Rest
6/17/11: Rest
6/18/11: Run 71 mi
6/19/11: Rest
6/20/11: Rest
6/21/11: Rest
6/22/11: Rest
6/23/11: Rest
6/24/11: Rest
6/25/11: Rest
6/26/11: Rest
6/27/11: P90x: Chest & Back; Ab Ripper
6/28/11: Run 6 miles; Zumba
6/29/11: Zumba; Ab Ripper; Ultimate Frisbee (4.11 mi) 6/30/11: P90x: Shoulders
& Arms; Insanity
7/1/11: P90x: Yoga, Core Synergistics
7/2/11: P90x: Legs & Back, Ab Ripper
7/3/11: P90x: Kenpo
7/4/11: Rest
7/5/11: Insanity; Run 3 mi
7/6/11: Ultimate Frisbee
7/7/11: Rest
7/8/11: Rest
7/9/11: Run 50 mi
7/10/11: Rest
7/11/11: Rest
7/12/11: Zumba
7/13/11: Run 5 mi
7/14/11: Stretch; P90x: Ab Ripper
7/15/11: Rest
7/16/11: P90x: Chest & Back
7/17/11: Rest
7/18/11: P90x: Arms & Shoulders
7/19/11: Rest
7/20/11: Insanity; Ultimate Frisbee
7/21/11: Run 5 mi
7/22/11: Rest
7/23/11: Rest
7/24/11: Rest
7/25/11: Run 3 mi
7/26/11: Run 3 mi
7/27/11: Run 2 mi
7/28/11: Rest
7/29/11: Run 3 mi
7/30/11: Rest
7/31/11: Rest
8/1/11: Rest
8/2/11: Ultimate Frisbee
8/3/11: P90x: Ab Ripper
8/4/11: Ultimate Frisbee
8/5/11: P90x: Legs &
Back
8/6/11: Ultimate Frisbee
8/7/11: Ultimate Frisbee
8/8/11: P90x: Chest & Shoulders & Triceps
8/9/11: Rest
8/10/11: P90x: Core Synergistics
8/11/11: Rest
8/12/11: Rest
8/13/11: Rest
8/14/11: Ultimate Frisbee
8/15/11: P90x: (half workout) Chest & Back; Ab Ripper
8/16/11: Zumba, Ultimate Frisbee
8/17/11: Zumba
8/18/11: Run 6 mi; P90x: Ab Ripper; few arm weights
8/19/11: Run 7 mi
8/20/11: Run 15 mi
8/21/11: Rest
8/22/11: P90x: Legs &
Back
8/23/11: Run 3 mi a.m.; P90x: Ab Ripper; Run 3 mi p.m.
8/24/11: Run 3 mi; Zumba; Ultimate Frisbee
8/25/11: Run 3 mi; Ultimate Frisbee
8/26/11: Run 3 mi
8/27/11: Rest
8/28/11: Ultimate Frisbee
8/29/11: Rest
8/30/11: Run 3.5 mi; Ultimate Frisbee
8/31/11: Run 4 mi; Zumba
9/1/11: Run 3.5 mi; Ultimate Frisbee
9/2/11: Run 3.5 mi
9/3/11: Rest
9/4/11: Ultimate Frisbee;
Run 3 mi
9/5/11: Ultimate Frisbee
9/6/11: P90x: Biceps &
Back (3/4 of workout); Ab Ripper; Zumba; Ultimate Frisbee
9/7/11: Rest
9/8/11: Rest
9/9/11: Run 100 mi
9/10/11: Rest
9/11/11: Rest
9/12/11: Rest
9/13/11: Rest
9/14/11: Rest
9/15/11: Ultimate Frisbee
9/16/11: Rest
9/17/11: Run 5 mi;
Ultimate Frisbee
9/18/11: Rest
9/19/11: Run 4 mi; Ultimate Frisbee
9/20/11: Run 5 mi; P90x: Core Synergistics; Ultimate Frisbee
9/21/11: Run 4 mi
9/22/11: Ultimate Frisbee
9/23/11: Rest
9/24/11: Run 50 mi
9/25/11: Rest
9/26/11: Ultimate Frisbee
9/27/11: Zumba, Ultimate
Frisbee
9/28/11: Zumba
9/29/11: Rest
9/30/11: Rest
10/1/11: Rest
10/2/11: Ultimate Frisbee
10/3/11: Run 6 mi; P90x:
Chest & Back (1/2 of workout)
10/4/11: Run 5.25 mi; Zumba
10/5/11: Run 5 mi; Zumba
10/6/11: Run 6 mi; Ultimate Frisbee
10/7/11: Run 5 mi
10/8/11: Rest
10/9/11: Ultimate Frisbee
10/10/11: Run 5 mi
10/11/11: Zumba
10/12/11: Zumba
10/13/11: Ultimate Frisbee
10/14/11: Rest
10/15/11: Ultimate Frisbee
10/16/11: Ultimate Frisbee
10/17/11: P90x: Chest
& Shoulders & Triceps (1/2 of workout)
10/18/11: Run 6 mi; Zumba
10/19/11: Zumba
10/20/11: Ultimate Frisbee
10/21/11: P90x: Core
Synergistics
10/22/11: Rest
10/23/11: Run 31 mi
10/24/11: Rest
10/25/11: Rest
10/26/11: Rest
10/27/11: Ultimate Frisbee
10/28/11: Run 4 mi; P90x:
Arms & Back (1/2 of workout)
10/29/11: Rest
10/30/11: Ultimate Frisbee
10/31/11: P90x: Chest
& Back
11/1/11: Zumba; Ultimate
Frisbee
11/2/11: Run 5 mi; Zumba; Ultimate Frisbee
11/3/11: Run 5 mi
11/4/11: Rest
11/5/11: Run 54 mi
11/6/11: Rest
11/7/11: Rest
11/8/11: Ultimate Frisbee
11/9/11: Rest
11/10/11: Ultimate Frisbee
11/11/11: P90x: Legs &
Back
11/12/11: Ultimate Frisbee
11/13/11: Ultimate Frisbee
11/14/11: Run 5 mi; P90x:
Ab Ripper, Chest & Back
11/15/11: Zumba; Ultimate Frisbee
11/16/11: Zumba
11/17/11: Rest
11/18/11: Rest
11/19/11: Rest
11/20/11: Rest
11/21/11: Rest
11/22/11: Zumba
11/23/11: Zumba
11/24/11: Rest
11/25/11: Rest
11/26/11: Ultimate Frisbee
11/27/11: Rest
11/28/11: Run 3 mi; P90x:
Chest & Back
11/29/11: Zumba
11/30/11: Run 3 mi; Zumba
12/1/11: Rest
12/2/11: P90x: Legs &
Back
12/3/11: Ultimate Frisbee
12/4/11: Some Ultimate
Frisbee
12/5/11: Run 4 mi; P90x:
Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
12/6/11: Run 5 mi; Zumba
12/7/11: Run 4 mi
12/8/11: Ultimate Frisbee
12/9/11: Rest
12/10/11: Ultimate Frisbee
12/11/11: Ultimate Frisbee
12/12/11: Run 5.5 mi
12/13/11: Run 4 mi; Zumba
12/14/11: Rest
12/15/11: Ultimate Frisbee
12/16/11: P90x: Legs
& Back
12/17/11: Run 18 mi; Ultimate Frisbee
12/18/11: Ultimate Frisbee
12/19/11: Run 4 mi
12/20/11: Rest
12/21/11: Rest
12/22/11: P90x: Ab Ripper
12/23/11: P90x: Core
Synergistics
12/24/11: Run 12 mi;
Ultimate Frisbee
12/25/11: Rest
12/26/11: Run 6 mi
12/27/11: Rest
12/28/11: Rest
12/29/11: P90x: Yoga (1/2
of workout)
12/30/11: Ultimate Frisbee
12/31/11: Ultimate Frisbee

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!