I can't think of anything in life that really matters that doesn't come with a few obstacles. I've heard people say that nothing worth having is free. I occasionally have people say things to me like that it's easy for me to fit running in because my kids are older, or because I don't work very many hours, or something else. That's all true. I can often leave my kids home alone so I can run. Not always though. Adam isn't a fan of being home alone, so if it's just the two of us and I need to run I have to figure something else out. I also don't work a lot of hours. I start at 9 most days and am off by 3:30. However, I also have kids in lots of activities and a very busy husband, and still have a house to keep clean, laundry to do, and prepare meals and sometimes extra snacks for my food allergy kid. It's not like I have all the time in the world.
My point is, everyone has obstacles. It's easy to look at other people that are accomplishing their goals and dreams and thinking it must be easier for them than it is for you. I'm guilty of that from time to time. I have a friend that is the single mother of 4 little boys, works full time, is working on her masters degree, and just finished her first 50K. Oh, and by the way, one of her boys is special needs. I can promise you, if she can find the time to train anyone can. You just have to want it. If you don't want it and have other priorities? That's perfectly ok. I'm fine with everyone doing their own thing. What I get annoyed with is when people assume that if other people are doing what they want to be doing then it must be because it's easy for them. Everyone has crap you don't know about. Even someone that you think you know really well has stuff going on behind the scenes that you're not aware of.
I like to think that when you come to an obstacle you shouldn't tiptoe around it. Don't try to crawl over it or under it or just hope it goes away. Crush it. Acknowledge that it sucks and you wish you didn't have to deal with it, then just plow right through. One obstacle I've face in the past and will again in the future (every.freaking.summer) is the heat. I used to just hibernate in my house and wait for fall. Wanting to do ultras in the fall was not conducive to that. Early on I could finish races without training. The further I wanted to run, the less of a valid option that was. This summer I decided I was not letting the heat stop me. I got up and ran at 5 am, I finally got over my body issues and just ran in a sports bra, I had my husband bring ice, I froze my snacks, etc. I figured it out. I stopped letting the heat be an obstacle. I couldn't let hot summer days ruin my dream of a fall 100 miler.
I mentioned earlier that Adam doesn't like to be left alone. When I can run in the morning that's not a problem. Running in the afternoons in the winter does cause an issue though. Last winter I was training for a spring race, so I had to run. I let Adam be an excuse way too often. He would look at me with his tiny little Adam face and I'd melt and not run. Sometimes though it wasn't an option. I had to go. I ran short one mile loops so I could check in on him, or if it was a nice day I took him to the park and ran laps around it, or I begged Rick to let him come hang out at work with him.
Injuries can really be obstacles that there's just nothing you can do about. Sometimes not running is the best and only answer in that case. Sometimes though, shit just hurts. There's no injury, your body is just tired and sore and you have to just run through that. I had several issues during this training cycle. I had a hip that was constantly cramping and achy. It didn't matter what distance I ran. Same with my foot. When I got to the end of my training I ended up backing off a bit because I knew those two places needed to calm down a little for my race. The rest of the time though I just ran through it. Sometimes Deanna would look at me with a sad face and tell me I was limping. I did my best to not show that I was hurting, but when someone goes that many miles with you they'll see it. I'd stop and stretch and really just want to cry and go home, but I didn't. I ran anyway. I figured out how to manage it. Guess what? Neither of those spots are causing me issues when I walk. I still haven't ran, but before even walking to the bathroom hurt, so I feel confident that it's better.
Please don't think that I'm advocating neglecting your kids so you can run, or ignoring injuries. What I'm saying is don't let things be an excuse. I believe there's a difference between a reason and an excuse. An injury is a reason not to run. Running 20 miles on Saturday and being sore is an excuse to not run Sunday. Sometimes you can't find a babysitter, or don't have any other option with your kids. Heck, sometimes I just need to spend time with my family because it's important for our mental health, or my marriage, or whatever. Sometimes though I think we moms use kids as an excuse because it's handy.
I think fear of failure can be such an obstacle. A mutual friend of mine and Rachel's just started running. Monica is sweet and awesome and has been a huge cheerleader for both of us. Now it's our turn to cheer for her. She recently asked both of us if we thought she could do a half marathon in February. We both like to enable, so of course we said yes. She sent me a message that she was registered. I told her she'd be awesome, because she will. She replied back "or I might go down in a blaze of glory." I told her she should wear a tutu just in case. My point was, if you're going to fail, do it spectacularly. Go out there and give it everything you have and have a great time. I fail sometimes. I DNF'd a race once when I got sick. I technically DNF'd FlatRock since I didn't finish in the time limit. I've also gone into races undertrained and walk almost the whole thing. I skip important training runs and make excuses. I fail often. I keep getting back up and pushing through and accomplishing goals though. I always will.
I'm so guilty of skipping runs, or making excuses. I'm getting better though. My running is improving. I often think of Rachel and the fact that she doesn't just overcome obstacles, she punches them in the face. I want to be more like that. I want to crush my obstacles and laugh when I'm done.
I hope this inspires someone to go out and crush any obstacles you're facing. I hope it also inspires me to keep doing it instead of letting the fact that I don't have a goal right now make me slack. I've said for a very long time that I need to work on strength and speed. Then I don't. Well, I have to this winter, so I'm putting it out there on my blog. I need to quit making excuses. The reason I haven't done it in the past is because it's hard. I'm going to do my best to not let that stop me.
I've been resting, but I'm ready to get back out there next week. Happy Running!
Friday, October 31, 2014
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Pumpkin Holler Hunnerd Report
I've been sitting here staring at a blank screen trying to decide where to start. I told my friend Monica I didn't know where to start and she told me to start with the fact that I'm a badass. So, here it is. I ran 103.7 miles on a hilly, rocky road. I'm a total badass. For those that don't want to read a long, boring blog, let me sum it up for you. I had a plan, I executed it. I smashed that pumpkin!
My journey began at 8:00 am on Saturday. 29 hours and 24 minutes later, it was over. It is amazing what a person can go through in that span of time and over that many miles. We all lined up and it seemed like people were fighting to be in the back. At a lot of races people want to be in the front. Not this one. I think most of us knew we had a long day ahead of us, and no one wanted to go out too fast. We took off and as we were running through the campground where the start/finish is, I got a little choked up. I've wanted to run 100 miles for such a long time. I've worked so hard this summer, and it was finally going to happen. The course consisted of an 8 mile out and back and 3 loops of 31.9 miles. The total length is 103.7. Nasty trick, right? 3.7 miles may not seem significant, but I'm here to tell you, it is.
We started the race with the 100k and 50k runners. Not far in we veered off to the right to do the out and back. I had read some blog reports that indicated there was a big hill. I ran a couple of miles and hadn't seen it, so I decided the reports were exaggerated. I was so very wrong. I started going up the hill and went up and up and up. I got to the top and went a little further and came to the aid station where we turn around. I said something inappropriate about the hill I had just come up. I'll just let you all use your imaginations. The aid station had waffles and bacon. I picked up a piece of bacon, but the ends weren't as done as I like (I like it crisp) so I was pulling it apart. Another runner said he'd take the parts I didn't want. Aren't ultrarunners weird? I also grabbed a waffle and put some peanut butter and syrup on it. Refilled my bottle and was on my way. I had gone maybe a tenth of a mile and realized I had left my second bottle. Well crap. I had to have it. I ran back to get it. I got it and headed back. Going back down the big hill there were two guys behind me that were definitely gaining. I didn't consider this a race, so it's not like I was going to speed up. They caught up and we started talking. One was Kelvin and one was Jorge. It was their first hundred too. Jorge thought he knew who I was and we started talking and realized we had both run Flatrock 101k. I remembered him, just hadn't recognized him. I ran with them all the way back to the start/finish.
I was getting ready to take off on loop 2 and heard Kelvin ask if Jorge was ready to go. Jorge told him go on, he'd catch up. I left right after that, but the group Kelvin was in was a bit faster than me. Fairly quickly, Jorge caught up to me. He told me he was going to walk up all the hills, run the downhills and any flats (there were no flats!). I planned the same thing. We stuck together. We were around a mile out from the first aid station, Mad Dog, when we encountered the HILL FROM HELL. I just can't even describe it. Yuck. We finally got to the top, then dropped down into the aid station. There they had all kinds of yummy goodies. I ate a bit and kind of waited, but Jorge was doing stuff, so I just took off. A lot of people stayed there. I don't blame them, the food was good. I headed to the next aid station, which was only a couple of miles away. After it we had to do a 3 mile out and back. The first loop this out and back wasn't a lot of fun, but it was no big deal. That changed the more we did it. Coming back into that aid station on the way back Kelvin and Jorge caught me. We stopped and got pancakes and Kelvin said he was going to hit the restroom and would catch up. I walked and ate. At some point we ran and I told them I'm slow so they could go ahead. They assured me they wanted slow, they had a plan, and we were all going to do this thing together. Sounds good to me!
Nothing eventful happened through here. I was glad for company because honestly, I was having doubts. I was less than 20 miles in and just wasn't having fun. I had company all summer, even on my long runs. That didn't really help me mentally prepare for a long run by myself. If I could do anything about my training over again I would do a few long runs solo, just so I was used to it. As we were coming into Savannah Corner Deanna ran out to grab my bottles to refill. I asked how her 10K went and she told me. She had a huge PR! That just made my day. I'm so happy for her! We got what we needed and took off. The next section sucked. The sun came out and it was hot. There was no protection from the sun so we were baking. I don't think it actually got that warm, but it felt like it. I really slowed down. Kelvin felt great so he kept going. Jorge seemed to feel fine as well, but waited for me. I feel so blessed to have met these guys. They made such a huge difference for me. Once we got to the next aid station it was partly cloudy again and that really helped. We pushed on to Hard Up Ahead, where my crew was waiting for us. Right before we got there Ken pulled up beside us and we chatted for a second. I don't really remember anything about this stop. We got in and out as efficiently as possible, but didn't leave without some pics! Here are Kelvin and Jorge. This picture of me is dorky because I'm laughing, but I love it. I had a lot of fun with these guys and this picture really captures that.
This next section was run on the blacktop road. Early on we discussed this and thought we'd hate it. It turned out to be my favorite part of the course. A break from the rocks was nice. A 135 miler caught up with us during this section and Jorge stayed back to run with her while Kelvin and I pushed on ahead. The next aid station was Bathtub Rocks. They took excellent care of us. My stomach was a little queasy here and they offered me endurolytes. I said they mess with my stomach so one of the volunteers dug into his own stash and got me something else. Saltstick maybe? Anyway, that was very kind of him. They took great care of us. As we were leaving Jorge got there and we knew he'd be back running with us soon.
This was actually taken on the last loop but shows what we had to cross.
I've really got nothing to say about the last 6 miles of this loop. We ran when we could, walked this hills, and just kept going. We got to the start/finish and I went to the bathroom and I think I changed my shirt and sports bra. Then I changed my socks and relubed my feet. My crew had gone to Sonic to get me a cheeseburger. It was so sweet of them, but it had mayo on it, which I'm pretty sure is the most hideous food known to man, so there was no way I could eat it. I feel like an evil b*tch for not eating it, but I just couldn't. I did eat a hot dog though. It was good! This is where I got to pick up a pacer for the first time. I found a hottie that I thought I might enjoy spending a few hours with and talked him into running with us. Here we are:
In all seriousness, it was a big deal for him to pace this far. Ryan was supposed to pace, but got hurt at football and couldn't. Rick stepped up and ran over 14 miles, instead of the 8 he had planned. I can't thank him enough. On the way to the first aid station we told Rick about the big hill. I think I had been dreading it since we did it the first time. As we're going up it he said "Wow, this is really a hill, isn't it." I think he probably wanted to complain a lot, but he didn't. He's awesome. We made it to Mad Dog and I hit the porta potty. OMG. It was gross. I barely made it out before I started puking. Oops. I got some french toast and they were making soup. I really wanted some warm broth but was afraid it had carrots and I'm allergic. I asked and the wonderful volunteer read the label for me. It was safe! The broth was great. We left there and headed to the out and back. When we got there I was hoping for more broth, but the soup had big carrots in it, so that was a no go. I asked if they had bacon. They said they could start cooking it. I told them I'd be back in three miles and would love some. We did the out and back, which I'm fairly sure got longer. I think Ken tricked us by moving the mat every single time. We got back and I peed in front of a truck because I was not risking another porta-potty. We got what we needed and got out of there.
(a break from your regularly scheduled program to tell you I took a break right here to peruse the internet for my next ultra. Thanks Rachel!)
As were were running toward Savannah Corner Kelvin said "I don't remember all of these hills last time." He was right! I remember the first year of Pumpkin Holler, Ken and some friends did the race a few weeks after everyone else. It was the Pumpkin Holler Invitational. Being a long time stalker of his, I read his blog report, and I remember him saying something about the hills getting bigger each loop. It's so true. The aid stations move and the hill and rocks grow.
At Savannah Corner Rick handed off his pacer bib to Libby. She was also taking on more miles than originally planned and I felt some guilt. This would be her longest run ever. I got pretty emotional at this aid station and was pretty ready to be done. We started out and I knew this part of the course was a bit easier, so I was happy about that. Overall I was just in a bad mood most of the time though. It was also through here that I started having to pee constantly. I also started hallucinating. There were lots of leaves on the course and I kept thinking they were other things. Not just thinking "oh, that leaf looks like a mouse" but actually "OMG, a mouse!" It was special. I don't remember much about this section. At Hard Up Ahead I made Rick come in the porta-potty with me. I used the bathroom while he stood there inside. Poor guy. I just needed to break down a little bit and needed him. The more tired I got the more I just wanted my husband. I am so glad he was there. We left there and had the road section again. At bathtub rocks they had grilled cheese sandwiches that were so so good. This aid station was nothing short of awesome every time we came through. They were all great, but something about this one just made me look forward to it every time. I have no clue who the people were running it, but I hope someone knows and tells them how impressed I was. As we were coming to the end of the loop we passed a familiar spot that I knew meant we were almost there. It breathed new life into us. I gave Libby a list of the things I needed before the last loop and she cut off early to go get everything ready while Kelvin, Jorge and I ran around the parking lot and through the finish line. It's hard to keep running through there and not getting to stop!
This isn't a great pic of Libby and I but it's all I've got. Congrats to Libby on her longest run ever!
Me with Jason. I made him take this because when I paced him at Heartland last year I made him take a selfie. I thought we needed one during my race too.
I did what I needed to do and picked up my final pacer, Jason. I knew we had one loop to go and we had plenty of time. Jason was excited and full of energy, so that helped get me going. Kelvin and I looked around for Jorge but couldn't find him. He always caught right up with us so we headed out. We did a lot more complaining about the hill going into Mad Dog. Ok, fine. I'll be honest. I complained a lot. Kelvin probably didn't. Jorge did finally catch up to us, but passed us and did his own thing the rest of the race. I hate so much that I didn't wait for him and didn't get to finish the race with him. Waiting longer and looking harder for him is probably the one decision during the race I would change if I could. In the moment though I just didn't think enough. I just took off assuming all was well and he'd catch us within half a mile.
When we got to Mad Dog I headed to the porta-potty. You might be asking yourself right now, Why? I puked last time, why go in again? Well, I stupidly thought it might be better. It wasn't. I barely made it out before I threw up again. The only two times I threw up the whole race was due to stinky toilets. Jason made fun of me a lot, then kicked us out of the aid station and down the road.
I started getting really tired. I actually fell asleep in the porta-potty. I came out and started crying. I was exhausted. Jason mostly ignored me when I was being like this, which was the right thing to do. No one could fix it, so we just needed to move on. He handed me a pancake and I took a bite and gagged. It was not what I wanted. We headed out to do the out and back for the final time. Jason handed me a cup of coke and said to walk and drink. I needed the calories. The problem was that it was very cold. I was freezing and just couldn't drink something cold. When he wasn't looking I poured it out. He saw the evidence on the way back though! It gave me a good laugh when I needed it. Through here I started thinking people were running up behind us. I could hear the footsteps and even heard voices. Jason kept saying no one was there. Once I stopped to pee and as I was squatted in the middle of the road I thought some people were coming up behind me. I freaked out. Jason assured me that I was just crazy. We got that done and headed toward Savannah Corner. We were really cold and tired and just not happy. We knew the sun would come up pretty soon and that's all we could think about. By the time we got to Savannah Corner we knew we could put away our headlamps. That was something to look forward to! When we got there they had hot cocoa! It was so good. I think I had hot cocoa, broth and some coke there. Probably some solid food too. I really reloaded on the calories. The aid stations were close together at this race, so I mostly just ate at them and not between. It worked very well.
On the way to East of Eden, we kept thinking surely it was around the next corner. One time Kelvin even swore he saw it. It turned out to be a random building. We finally got there and I peed and I think I drank some coke or something. Jason handed me a cup of m&m's and told me to eat and walk. He put way too many in there though and there's no way I could eat them all. I ate several, and then when he wasn't looking I threw them in the ditch and stashed the cup in my pocket. I'm not sure if he knows I did that. Lets see if he reads my blog! Ha!
I looked very much forward to hitting Hard Up Ahead the last time because then the aid stations were only 3 miles apart and I knew it was almost over. Everything hurt. I think my eyelashes hurt. We got what we needed there and got out. We just wanted to be done so we were hurrying. When we left this aid station Kelvin was having severe calf cramps. Jason massaged it for a while, but there wasn't a lot that could be done. We just had to power through. We got to Bathtub Rocks and had Jason take a picture. He fell going over them and broke his phone case. Thank goodness he didn't break his phone!
We didn't even stop at the last aid station. Jason grabbed us cookies and handed them to us on the way by. We were on a mission! I took a bite and threw the cookie. For the record, I only littered food. No trash. I put that in my pockets. With a couple of miles left a vehicle pulled up and Kathy Hoover jumped out. She had ran 135.6 miles, so what was a couple more? She had coached Kelvin all summer, so she came to finish it with him. She was just what we needed. Lots of energy! We started moving faster. Kathy and Kelvin got ahead of me but I was going as fast as I could so I just let them go. Eventually they stopped because Kelvin wanted us to finish together. With maybe a mile to go Kelvin felt a pop. He had pulled or torn his calf muscle. He was in extreme pain, but no way was he quitting. We slowed way down and he hobbled as well as he could. I was holding back tears because I felt so bad for him. We had been through so much together and I couldn't feel his physical pain, but I knew how upsetting that must be. As we were coming over the last bridge I couldn't hold back the happy tears any more. I was getting ready to cross the finish line and get the buckle I've worked so hard for. I could see my crew down there waiting for me and we were waiving and so happy. We came into the camping area and began the long slow walk around to the start/finish.
Coming in we crossed a mat that told them who we were. A huge crowd gathered and was cheering us on. I was crying. We finally crossed the finish line in 29 hours, 24 seconds. Well ahead of the cutoff.
Some finish line pics:
This is what we worked so hard for!
And finally, thank you, thank you, thank you to my crew and pacers! Rick, Ryan, Deanna, Jacob, Libby and Jason. You guys are the reason I finished.
To Kelvin and Jorge: Running this race with you guys was just something special. I am so glad you tucked me under your wings and helped take care of me. You made all the difference in my race. I hope we can all run again together someday. If either of you ever need a crew or pacer, I'm there.
Thanks to everyone else for the messages and well wishes and for cheering for me. I knew so many people were pulling for me. When I wanted to quit, and yes, there were times, I knew how much support I had and I kept going.
Thanks to all of the volunteers! Those TATUR's know how to put on a race!
Now it is time for some much needed rest. I don't know when I'll run again, but I know it won't be for a couple of weeks.
My journey began at 8:00 am on Saturday. 29 hours and 24 minutes later, it was over. It is amazing what a person can go through in that span of time and over that many miles. We all lined up and it seemed like people were fighting to be in the back. At a lot of races people want to be in the front. Not this one. I think most of us knew we had a long day ahead of us, and no one wanted to go out too fast. We took off and as we were running through the campground where the start/finish is, I got a little choked up. I've wanted to run 100 miles for such a long time. I've worked so hard this summer, and it was finally going to happen. The course consisted of an 8 mile out and back and 3 loops of 31.9 miles. The total length is 103.7. Nasty trick, right? 3.7 miles may not seem significant, but I'm here to tell you, it is.
We started the race with the 100k and 50k runners. Not far in we veered off to the right to do the out and back. I had read some blog reports that indicated there was a big hill. I ran a couple of miles and hadn't seen it, so I decided the reports were exaggerated. I was so very wrong. I started going up the hill and went up and up and up. I got to the top and went a little further and came to the aid station where we turn around. I said something inappropriate about the hill I had just come up. I'll just let you all use your imaginations. The aid station had waffles and bacon. I picked up a piece of bacon, but the ends weren't as done as I like (I like it crisp) so I was pulling it apart. Another runner said he'd take the parts I didn't want. Aren't ultrarunners weird? I also grabbed a waffle and put some peanut butter and syrup on it. Refilled my bottle and was on my way. I had gone maybe a tenth of a mile and realized I had left my second bottle. Well crap. I had to have it. I ran back to get it. I got it and headed back. Going back down the big hill there were two guys behind me that were definitely gaining. I didn't consider this a race, so it's not like I was going to speed up. They caught up and we started talking. One was Kelvin and one was Jorge. It was their first hundred too. Jorge thought he knew who I was and we started talking and realized we had both run Flatrock 101k. I remembered him, just hadn't recognized him. I ran with them all the way back to the start/finish.
I was getting ready to take off on loop 2 and heard Kelvin ask if Jorge was ready to go. Jorge told him go on, he'd catch up. I left right after that, but the group Kelvin was in was a bit faster than me. Fairly quickly, Jorge caught up to me. He told me he was going to walk up all the hills, run the downhills and any flats (there were no flats!). I planned the same thing. We stuck together. We were around a mile out from the first aid station, Mad Dog, when we encountered the HILL FROM HELL. I just can't even describe it. Yuck. We finally got to the top, then dropped down into the aid station. There they had all kinds of yummy goodies. I ate a bit and kind of waited, but Jorge was doing stuff, so I just took off. A lot of people stayed there. I don't blame them, the food was good. I headed to the next aid station, which was only a couple of miles away. After it we had to do a 3 mile out and back. The first loop this out and back wasn't a lot of fun, but it was no big deal. That changed the more we did it. Coming back into that aid station on the way back Kelvin and Jorge caught me. We stopped and got pancakes and Kelvin said he was going to hit the restroom and would catch up. I walked and ate. At some point we ran and I told them I'm slow so they could go ahead. They assured me they wanted slow, they had a plan, and we were all going to do this thing together. Sounds good to me!
Nothing eventful happened through here. I was glad for company because honestly, I was having doubts. I was less than 20 miles in and just wasn't having fun. I had company all summer, even on my long runs. That didn't really help me mentally prepare for a long run by myself. If I could do anything about my training over again I would do a few long runs solo, just so I was used to it. As we were coming into Savannah Corner Deanna ran out to grab my bottles to refill. I asked how her 10K went and she told me. She had a huge PR! That just made my day. I'm so happy for her! We got what we needed and took off. The next section sucked. The sun came out and it was hot. There was no protection from the sun so we were baking. I don't think it actually got that warm, but it felt like it. I really slowed down. Kelvin felt great so he kept going. Jorge seemed to feel fine as well, but waited for me. I feel so blessed to have met these guys. They made such a huge difference for me. Once we got to the next aid station it was partly cloudy again and that really helped. We pushed on to Hard Up Ahead, where my crew was waiting for us. Right before we got there Ken pulled up beside us and we chatted for a second. I don't really remember anything about this stop. We got in and out as efficiently as possible, but didn't leave without some pics! Here are Kelvin and Jorge. This picture of me is dorky because I'm laughing, but I love it. I had a lot of fun with these guys and this picture really captures that.
This next section was run on the blacktop road. Early on we discussed this and thought we'd hate it. It turned out to be my favorite part of the course. A break from the rocks was nice. A 135 miler caught up with us during this section and Jorge stayed back to run with her while Kelvin and I pushed on ahead. The next aid station was Bathtub Rocks. They took excellent care of us. My stomach was a little queasy here and they offered me endurolytes. I said they mess with my stomach so one of the volunteers dug into his own stash and got me something else. Saltstick maybe? Anyway, that was very kind of him. They took great care of us. As we were leaving Jorge got there and we knew he'd be back running with us soon.
This was actually taken on the last loop but shows what we had to cross.
(a break from your regularly scheduled program to tell you I took a break right here to peruse the internet for my next ultra. Thanks Rachel!)
As were were running toward Savannah Corner Kelvin said "I don't remember all of these hills last time." He was right! I remember the first year of Pumpkin Holler, Ken and some friends did the race a few weeks after everyone else. It was the Pumpkin Holler Invitational. Being a long time stalker of his, I read his blog report, and I remember him saying something about the hills getting bigger each loop. It's so true. The aid stations move and the hill and rocks grow.
At Savannah Corner Rick handed off his pacer bib to Libby. She was also taking on more miles than originally planned and I felt some guilt. This would be her longest run ever. I got pretty emotional at this aid station and was pretty ready to be done. We started out and I knew this part of the course was a bit easier, so I was happy about that. Overall I was just in a bad mood most of the time though. It was also through here that I started having to pee constantly. I also started hallucinating. There were lots of leaves on the course and I kept thinking they were other things. Not just thinking "oh, that leaf looks like a mouse" but actually "OMG, a mouse!" It was special. I don't remember much about this section. At Hard Up Ahead I made Rick come in the porta-potty with me. I used the bathroom while he stood there inside. Poor guy. I just needed to break down a little bit and needed him. The more tired I got the more I just wanted my husband. I am so glad he was there. We left there and had the road section again. At bathtub rocks they had grilled cheese sandwiches that were so so good. This aid station was nothing short of awesome every time we came through. They were all great, but something about this one just made me look forward to it every time. I have no clue who the people were running it, but I hope someone knows and tells them how impressed I was. As we were coming to the end of the loop we passed a familiar spot that I knew meant we were almost there. It breathed new life into us. I gave Libby a list of the things I needed before the last loop and she cut off early to go get everything ready while Kelvin, Jorge and I ran around the parking lot and through the finish line. It's hard to keep running through there and not getting to stop!
This isn't a great pic of Libby and I but it's all I've got. Congrats to Libby on her longest run ever!
Me with Jason. I made him take this because when I paced him at Heartland last year I made him take a selfie. I thought we needed one during my race too.
I did what I needed to do and picked up my final pacer, Jason. I knew we had one loop to go and we had plenty of time. Jason was excited and full of energy, so that helped get me going. Kelvin and I looked around for Jorge but couldn't find him. He always caught right up with us so we headed out. We did a lot more complaining about the hill going into Mad Dog. Ok, fine. I'll be honest. I complained a lot. Kelvin probably didn't. Jorge did finally catch up to us, but passed us and did his own thing the rest of the race. I hate so much that I didn't wait for him and didn't get to finish the race with him. Waiting longer and looking harder for him is probably the one decision during the race I would change if I could. In the moment though I just didn't think enough. I just took off assuming all was well and he'd catch us within half a mile.
When we got to Mad Dog I headed to the porta-potty. You might be asking yourself right now, Why? I puked last time, why go in again? Well, I stupidly thought it might be better. It wasn't. I barely made it out before I threw up again. The only two times I threw up the whole race was due to stinky toilets. Jason made fun of me a lot, then kicked us out of the aid station and down the road.
I started getting really tired. I actually fell asleep in the porta-potty. I came out and started crying. I was exhausted. Jason mostly ignored me when I was being like this, which was the right thing to do. No one could fix it, so we just needed to move on. He handed me a pancake and I took a bite and gagged. It was not what I wanted. We headed out to do the out and back for the final time. Jason handed me a cup of coke and said to walk and drink. I needed the calories. The problem was that it was very cold. I was freezing and just couldn't drink something cold. When he wasn't looking I poured it out. He saw the evidence on the way back though! It gave me a good laugh when I needed it. Through here I started thinking people were running up behind us. I could hear the footsteps and even heard voices. Jason kept saying no one was there. Once I stopped to pee and as I was squatted in the middle of the road I thought some people were coming up behind me. I freaked out. Jason assured me that I was just crazy. We got that done and headed toward Savannah Corner. We were really cold and tired and just not happy. We knew the sun would come up pretty soon and that's all we could think about. By the time we got to Savannah Corner we knew we could put away our headlamps. That was something to look forward to! When we got there they had hot cocoa! It was so good. I think I had hot cocoa, broth and some coke there. Probably some solid food too. I really reloaded on the calories. The aid stations were close together at this race, so I mostly just ate at them and not between. It worked very well.
On the way to East of Eden, we kept thinking surely it was around the next corner. One time Kelvin even swore he saw it. It turned out to be a random building. We finally got there and I peed and I think I drank some coke or something. Jason handed me a cup of m&m's and told me to eat and walk. He put way too many in there though and there's no way I could eat them all. I ate several, and then when he wasn't looking I threw them in the ditch and stashed the cup in my pocket. I'm not sure if he knows I did that. Lets see if he reads my blog! Ha!
I looked very much forward to hitting Hard Up Ahead the last time because then the aid stations were only 3 miles apart and I knew it was almost over. Everything hurt. I think my eyelashes hurt. We got what we needed there and got out. We just wanted to be done so we were hurrying. When we left this aid station Kelvin was having severe calf cramps. Jason massaged it for a while, but there wasn't a lot that could be done. We just had to power through. We got to Bathtub Rocks and had Jason take a picture. He fell going over them and broke his phone case. Thank goodness he didn't break his phone!
We didn't even stop at the last aid station. Jason grabbed us cookies and handed them to us on the way by. We were on a mission! I took a bite and threw the cookie. For the record, I only littered food. No trash. I put that in my pockets. With a couple of miles left a vehicle pulled up and Kathy Hoover jumped out. She had ran 135.6 miles, so what was a couple more? She had coached Kelvin all summer, so she came to finish it with him. She was just what we needed. Lots of energy! We started moving faster. Kathy and Kelvin got ahead of me but I was going as fast as I could so I just let them go. Eventually they stopped because Kelvin wanted us to finish together. With maybe a mile to go Kelvin felt a pop. He had pulled or torn his calf muscle. He was in extreme pain, but no way was he quitting. We slowed way down and he hobbled as well as he could. I was holding back tears because I felt so bad for him. We had been through so much together and I couldn't feel his physical pain, but I knew how upsetting that must be. As we were coming over the last bridge I couldn't hold back the happy tears any more. I was getting ready to cross the finish line and get the buckle I've worked so hard for. I could see my crew down there waiting for me and we were waiving and so happy. We came into the camping area and began the long slow walk around to the start/finish.
Coming in we crossed a mat that told them who we were. A huge crowd gathered and was cheering us on. I was crying. We finally crossed the finish line in 29 hours, 24 seconds. Well ahead of the cutoff.
Some finish line pics:
This is what we worked so hard for!
And finally, thank you, thank you, thank you to my crew and pacers! Rick, Ryan, Deanna, Jacob, Libby and Jason. You guys are the reason I finished.
To Kelvin and Jorge: Running this race with you guys was just something special. I am so glad you tucked me under your wings and helped take care of me. You made all the difference in my race. I hope we can all run again together someday. If either of you ever need a crew or pacer, I'm there.
Thanks to everyone else for the messages and well wishes and for cheering for me. I knew so many people were pulling for me. When I wanted to quit, and yes, there were times, I knew how much support I had and I kept going.
Thanks to all of the volunteers! Those TATUR's know how to put on a race!
Now it is time for some much needed rest. I don't know when I'll run again, but I know it won't be for a couple of weeks.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Bring it on!
I can't believe it. It is a few short days until my first 100 miler. How did this happen? I started training for this in May. It seemed so very far away. All summer when I was suffering through the heat it seemed it would never get here. Now it's time. Of course I'm nervous and freaked out, but I'm also really excited. I've trained for this race harder than I've ever trained before. Obviously I ran more miles, but I was more committed and more consistent. If nothing else, I'm proud of that.
I have a big, awesome crew going with me. I want to tell you guys all about them so I'm using this post to do it. Otherwise my race report will be too long. Lets be honest. It will be too long anyway. This will make it shorter.
Rick-My amazing husband. He will be crewing and pacing and supporting and whatever else I need. I think he's very much looking forward to bossing me around! I'm so happy he has started running and so happy he'll be part of this experience.
Ryan-Super Duper Pacer Extraordinaire. Also, my oldest son. He's such a great pacer and really knows what to do to keep me moving. I still get tears in my eyes when I think about my 50 last year and how great he was. So happy he's going!
Libby-Gosh, what do I call her? She's so much to me! Best friend, wailing wall, supporter of my craziness, and so much more. She is going to be crew and pace. She'll be my first pacer and with any luck we'll still be friends when it's over. I will apologize now for anything mean I say Libby!
Deanna-My training partner, awesome friend and the person that can make me laugh like no one else. She's actually going to run the 10K (Go Deanna!) and then crew for me. She'll jump in to pace if I need her. Her son Jacob will be going too and is a really fun kid (guy? he likely doesn't want to be called a kid), so I'm glad he'll be there.
Jason-Oh dear. How to come up with compliments? Ha. Just kidding! Jason will be taking me to the finish line. He'll pace the whole last loop, which is 31.9 miles. It's perfect, because he won't take any of my crap or listen to any of my excuses. I can also say anything to him I want and we'll still be friends when it's over. Well, I hope. He's just the right amount of mean to get me to finish. He won't let me quit unless a bone is sticking out. Hell, he might not even let me quit then.
I've been shopping, and making lists, and obsessing over everything. My dining room table has turned into Race Prep Central. It's covered, mostly in food. Adam keeps eyeballing the snacks, so I'm thinking I may have to hide them or I'll get to the race without half of it. Speaking of Adam, he's not going to go with us. We talked about it and he'd rather spend the weekend with his Meemaw. It would be fun to have his cute, smiley little face there, but I can understand him not wanting to go. I do plan to face time with him a couple of times if I have good enough cell reception.
The watch I'm using for the race syncs with my phone via bluetooth and lets me get texts and fb messages, so anyone that has my number, feel free to text me! I likely won't reply, but I'd love to get messages. If you don't have my number and are dying to text me, send me a fb message and I'll give you my number.
My next post will be a race report!
I have a big, awesome crew going with me. I want to tell you guys all about them so I'm using this post to do it. Otherwise my race report will be too long. Lets be honest. It will be too long anyway. This will make it shorter.
Rick-My amazing husband. He will be crewing and pacing and supporting and whatever else I need. I think he's very much looking forward to bossing me around! I'm so happy he has started running and so happy he'll be part of this experience.
Ryan-Super Duper Pacer Extraordinaire. Also, my oldest son. He's such a great pacer and really knows what to do to keep me moving. I still get tears in my eyes when I think about my 50 last year and how great he was. So happy he's going!
Libby-Gosh, what do I call her? She's so much to me! Best friend, wailing wall, supporter of my craziness, and so much more. She is going to be crew and pace. She'll be my first pacer and with any luck we'll still be friends when it's over. I will apologize now for anything mean I say Libby!
Deanna-My training partner, awesome friend and the person that can make me laugh like no one else. She's actually going to run the 10K (Go Deanna!) and then crew for me. She'll jump in to pace if I need her. Her son Jacob will be going too and is a really fun kid (guy? he likely doesn't want to be called a kid), so I'm glad he'll be there.
Jason-Oh dear. How to come up with compliments? Ha. Just kidding! Jason will be taking me to the finish line. He'll pace the whole last loop, which is 31.9 miles. It's perfect, because he won't take any of my crap or listen to any of my excuses. I can also say anything to him I want and we'll still be friends when it's over. Well, I hope. He's just the right amount of mean to get me to finish. He won't let me quit unless a bone is sticking out. Hell, he might not even let me quit then.
I've been shopping, and making lists, and obsessing over everything. My dining room table has turned into Race Prep Central. It's covered, mostly in food. Adam keeps eyeballing the snacks, so I'm thinking I may have to hide them or I'll get to the race without half of it. Speaking of Adam, he's not going to go with us. We talked about it and he'd rather spend the weekend with his Meemaw. It would be fun to have his cute, smiley little face there, but I can understand him not wanting to go. I do plan to face time with him a couple of times if I have good enough cell reception.
Shopping:
Result of shopping:
In my defense, a lot of that is for my crew!
The watch I'm using for the race syncs with my phone via bluetooth and lets me get texts and fb messages, so anyone that has my number, feel free to text me! I likely won't reply, but I'd love to get messages. If you don't have my number and are dying to text me, send me a fb message and I'll give you my number.
My next post will be a race report!
Monday, October 6, 2014
The Last of the Long Runs
Ahhhh, it's finally here. The taper! I have worked my butt off the last few months, and now I get to ease off a little until it's time for my race. I'll run during the next couple of weeks, but not a lot. It's time to rest and let my body heal a bit before I torture it for 100 miles.
I had two long runs on my schedule for the weekend. 30 miles Saturday and 20 Sunday. Saturday Deanna and I went to Iola to run on the Prairie Spirit Trail. Well, she biked, I ran. I wasn't far into it when I knew 30 wasn't a good idea. I was still sore from last weekend and I have a couple of issues that are present, but not bad enough to be a true injury. Yet. I didn't want to push it. My plan was to run 5 and reevaluate. It was an out and back, so I'd get at least 10. If I still felt good at 5, I'd reevaluate at 8, then 10, then 12. At mile 5 I was good and at mile 8 I was as well. The wheels fell off around mile 9 though. My hip started cramping and my foot was making itself known. At this point, the only thing I can do is hurt myself or overtrain. This one weekend wasn't going to determine how my race goes, unless I get hurt. I turned around at 10 and ran/walked back. I wanted to walk all the way back, but I didn't. I ran a decent amount. This was not my best long run of the training cycle, but it was fine and I got it done.
Sunday the original plan was 20, but Jason asked if Rick and I would want to go to Elk City Lake and run the trail with him and Krystal. I'm always happy to have some trail time, so I said yes and talked Rick into coming too. The trail is 15 miles, but I figure if I'm doing what I like to call "Flatrock Math" it was at least 20. I was unsure of how my legs would feel after 20 the day before. I was also a little nervous about running with Krystal for the first time when I was tired and grumpy from a long run the day before. I did my best to not be a total jerk when I was feeling bad. The first few miles Jason and I traded off leading because there were so many spider webs. One of us would run in front until we couldn't take it anymore, and the other one would jump in and lead. Eventually I just let him lead. Rick and Krystal are both really quiet, but since Jason and I definitely are not, there was plenty of conversation.
I felt remarkably good in the beginning considering my miles on Saturday. I'd say we were about 5 miles in when I started feeling it and said I was pretty much done with the whole running thing. Thankfully the rest of the group was ok with a long hike. We did still run a little, but not a lot. I had a headache when I went to bed Saturday night, and still had it Sunday morning. By mile 10 it was pretty bad. When we left Oak Ridge I wasn't feeling great, but was still attempting to be cheerful. By mile 12 I was done with that crap. I felt horrible. My legs were still good and my energy was ok, but every step hurt my head and I was starting to just feel gross all over. At this point Rick had a couple of decent blisters and his knee hurt. I don't know that anyone had a lot of fun the last couple of miles. I was really happy to finally see the parking lot!
Picture of Rick and I a couple of miles in
This weekend was challenging, but fun. It's nice to have the big miles out of the way!
11 days, 18 hours and 47 minutes!!
I had two long runs on my schedule for the weekend. 30 miles Saturday and 20 Sunday. Saturday Deanna and I went to Iola to run on the Prairie Spirit Trail. Well, she biked, I ran. I wasn't far into it when I knew 30 wasn't a good idea. I was still sore from last weekend and I have a couple of issues that are present, but not bad enough to be a true injury. Yet. I didn't want to push it. My plan was to run 5 and reevaluate. It was an out and back, so I'd get at least 10. If I still felt good at 5, I'd reevaluate at 8, then 10, then 12. At mile 5 I was good and at mile 8 I was as well. The wheels fell off around mile 9 though. My hip started cramping and my foot was making itself known. At this point, the only thing I can do is hurt myself or overtrain. This one weekend wasn't going to determine how my race goes, unless I get hurt. I turned around at 10 and ran/walked back. I wanted to walk all the way back, but I didn't. I ran a decent amount. This was not my best long run of the training cycle, but it was fine and I got it done.
Sunday the original plan was 20, but Jason asked if Rick and I would want to go to Elk City Lake and run the trail with him and Krystal. I'm always happy to have some trail time, so I said yes and talked Rick into coming too. The trail is 15 miles, but I figure if I'm doing what I like to call "Flatrock Math" it was at least 20. I was unsure of how my legs would feel after 20 the day before. I was also a little nervous about running with Krystal for the first time when I was tired and grumpy from a long run the day before. I did my best to not be a total jerk when I was feeling bad. The first few miles Jason and I traded off leading because there were so many spider webs. One of us would run in front until we couldn't take it anymore, and the other one would jump in and lead. Eventually I just let him lead. Rick and Krystal are both really quiet, but since Jason and I definitely are not, there was plenty of conversation.
I felt remarkably good in the beginning considering my miles on Saturday. I'd say we were about 5 miles in when I started feeling it and said I was pretty much done with the whole running thing. Thankfully the rest of the group was ok with a long hike. We did still run a little, but not a lot. I had a headache when I went to bed Saturday night, and still had it Sunday morning. By mile 10 it was pretty bad. When we left Oak Ridge I wasn't feeling great, but was still attempting to be cheerful. By mile 12 I was done with that crap. I felt horrible. My legs were still good and my energy was ok, but every step hurt my head and I was starting to just feel gross all over. At this point Rick had a couple of decent blisters and his knee hurt. I don't know that anyone had a lot of fun the last couple of miles. I was really happy to finally see the parking lot!
Picture of Rick and I a couple of miles in
This weekend was challenging, but fun. It's nice to have the big miles out of the way!
11 days, 18 hours and 47 minutes!!
Monday, September 29, 2014
FlatRock 50k...Epic Fail
I went into this race full of confidence. My training has gone well, and based on the first half of the 101K on this trail in the spring, a PR was a sure thing. I had not a worry in the world. I knew that for various reasons it's likely my last year doing this race and I wanted it to be a good one. It never crossed my mind that it wouldn't be. Looking back I think this is the first place things went wrong for me. I failed to take the trail seriously, which is a mistake. I finished the race, but did not meet the time limit. I believe I was 39 seconds over. Yes, seconds.
Normally I go through all the details of my race, but I'm not today. First of all, I just don't want to. I need to move on and not dwell on it, and rehashing the whole day is not going to help me do that. I have discussed getting sick with a couple of people and think I have some good tips for going forward so that stops happening. I'm going to start explaining what happened with two miles left in the race. I had left the person I was running with and was trying to finish as fast as I could, while puking and feeling miserable. Heather and I finished together last year and it was horrible for me to leave here, particularly since she was having a lot of trouble. It really made me feel like a bad person. Anyway, I did go ahead and pull ahead. My watch had died, so I no longer had a running timer. I heard the race had started late, but I didn't know exactly how late, so I was running blind. I looked at my phone and I knew there was no way it was going to happen. Still, just in case I suddenly was blessed with the speed of a cougar, I pushed on. I had to sit a couple of times because I felt like I was going to pass out. I hated to do it, but I know it was the right thing to do.
When I was close to the end I saw Rick Mayo, the photographer. I told him I wasn't going to make it. He told me I still had 10 minutes and to run. I tried. I got to a spot on the course where I could cut the course and knew that would help me with time. I started to turn that way, but I couldn't do it. That is not the person I want to be and isn't honest. I went up and around, as we're supposed to. I got to the road and wanted to run so bad. I was just miserable. I didn't hurt, but I was nauseous and dizzy and just couldn't do it. I got close and saw Rick, Ryan and Adam running out to me. Adam got up next to me and said "You have 3 minutes!" I thought I was already past the cutoff. Rick told me I really had two minutes. I ran as fast as I possibly could. I truly wanted to die right then, I was so sick. Adam said "I'm tired, but if you keep running I'll keep running!" What a little sweetheart. I went around the corner and could see the clock. I was a few seconds over the limit. I kept running and finally crossed the finish line just seconds over the time limit. It was devastating. Just when I thought I couldn't feel any worse, someone came up to me and said "You know you didn't make it, right?" He's right. I didn't make it. That was absolutely not the right thing to do though. There are kinder ways to say that and perhaps maybe 5 minutes later when the world wasn't spinning and I'm trying to hold in my vomit would have been a better time.
I've tried really hard to not make this sound like I'm just bitter and whiny and complaining because I didn't finish the way I wanted to. I could have made a lot of different choices during the race. I felt great after Oak Ridge coming back and could have left Heather behind. She was struggling though and I wasn't going to do that. Please don't think I'm saying this is her fault! It's not. I'm simply explaining one of the choices I made. Heather is one of the reasons I finished last year. She pushed me when I didn't feel like pushing. She's great and I'm so proud of how hard she fought this weekend. Her finish was incredible. She was in extreme pain and she pushed on. I made lots of choices that added up to me not finishing on time. Honestly though, I don't think I'd change any of them. I'm not happy with the result, but if I continue to dwell on it I won't be able to finish my 100. I need to get my head in the right place.
To the people that love me and are always there for me: Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your endless support amazes me. I won't name everyone because I would miss people. I do want to say a special thanks to Ken and Dana Childress, who have never doubted me and continue to tell me I can do anything I set my mind to. I will see you guys at Pumpkin Holler!
I do need to make a special shout out to Max Walker. He is always at Aid 1 and does a great job. This year my son Ryan was doing the 25k (more about that in my next post!) and is recovering from a concussion. I asked Max to please look out for Ryan and ask him how he felt. He did, more than once, and made sure Ryan was telling the truth. It was nice to know someone was out there looking out for him. That was way above and beyond what an aid station worker should be asked to do, so I appreciate him doing it. He also taught Ryan how to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which is a story for another day :)
I said in the first paragraph that I went in thinking this would be my last FlatRock. I haven't changed my mind. I'm now more firm in that belief. I won't be back. It was fun, but I want to go back to running that trail because I love the trail and want to have fun.
18 days until Pumpkin Holler!
Normally I go through all the details of my race, but I'm not today. First of all, I just don't want to. I need to move on and not dwell on it, and rehashing the whole day is not going to help me do that. I have discussed getting sick with a couple of people and think I have some good tips for going forward so that stops happening. I'm going to start explaining what happened with two miles left in the race. I had left the person I was running with and was trying to finish as fast as I could, while puking and feeling miserable. Heather and I finished together last year and it was horrible for me to leave here, particularly since she was having a lot of trouble. It really made me feel like a bad person. Anyway, I did go ahead and pull ahead. My watch had died, so I no longer had a running timer. I heard the race had started late, but I didn't know exactly how late, so I was running blind. I looked at my phone and I knew there was no way it was going to happen. Still, just in case I suddenly was blessed with the speed of a cougar, I pushed on. I had to sit a couple of times because I felt like I was going to pass out. I hated to do it, but I know it was the right thing to do.
When I was close to the end I saw Rick Mayo, the photographer. I told him I wasn't going to make it. He told me I still had 10 minutes and to run. I tried. I got to a spot on the course where I could cut the course and knew that would help me with time. I started to turn that way, but I couldn't do it. That is not the person I want to be and isn't honest. I went up and around, as we're supposed to. I got to the road and wanted to run so bad. I was just miserable. I didn't hurt, but I was nauseous and dizzy and just couldn't do it. I got close and saw Rick, Ryan and Adam running out to me. Adam got up next to me and said "You have 3 minutes!" I thought I was already past the cutoff. Rick told me I really had two minutes. I ran as fast as I possibly could. I truly wanted to die right then, I was so sick. Adam said "I'm tired, but if you keep running I'll keep running!" What a little sweetheart. I went around the corner and could see the clock. I was a few seconds over the limit. I kept running and finally crossed the finish line just seconds over the time limit. It was devastating. Just when I thought I couldn't feel any worse, someone came up to me and said "You know you didn't make it, right?" He's right. I didn't make it. That was absolutely not the right thing to do though. There are kinder ways to say that and perhaps maybe 5 minutes later when the world wasn't spinning and I'm trying to hold in my vomit would have been a better time.
I've tried really hard to not make this sound like I'm just bitter and whiny and complaining because I didn't finish the way I wanted to. I could have made a lot of different choices during the race. I felt great after Oak Ridge coming back and could have left Heather behind. She was struggling though and I wasn't going to do that. Please don't think I'm saying this is her fault! It's not. I'm simply explaining one of the choices I made. Heather is one of the reasons I finished last year. She pushed me when I didn't feel like pushing. She's great and I'm so proud of how hard she fought this weekend. Her finish was incredible. She was in extreme pain and she pushed on. I made lots of choices that added up to me not finishing on time. Honestly though, I don't think I'd change any of them. I'm not happy with the result, but if I continue to dwell on it I won't be able to finish my 100. I need to get my head in the right place.
To the people that love me and are always there for me: Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your endless support amazes me. I won't name everyone because I would miss people. I do want to say a special thanks to Ken and Dana Childress, who have never doubted me and continue to tell me I can do anything I set my mind to. I will see you guys at Pumpkin Holler!
I do need to make a special shout out to Max Walker. He is always at Aid 1 and does a great job. This year my son Ryan was doing the 25k (more about that in my next post!) and is recovering from a concussion. I asked Max to please look out for Ryan and ask him how he felt. He did, more than once, and made sure Ryan was telling the truth. It was nice to know someone was out there looking out for him. That was way above and beyond what an aid station worker should be asked to do, so I appreciate him doing it. He also taught Ryan how to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which is a story for another day :)
I said in the first paragraph that I went in thinking this would be my last FlatRock. I haven't changed my mind. I'm now more firm in that belief. I won't be back. It was fun, but I want to go back to running that trail because I love the trail and want to have fun.
18 days until Pumpkin Holler!
Monday, September 15, 2014
Second star to the right...
...and straight on til morning! For those of you that don't get it (surely everyone does!) those are the directions to Never Never Land. I think of that all the time when I'm running. It won't really make sense to other people, but that's ok. The first time I ever made a reference to that was during FlatRock 101k. I was telling Jason we had to go this direction, then take a turn, run down the road, turn again, and we were almost to the turnaround. The way I described it just made the directions to Never Never Land pop into my head. I said that. He had no idea what I was talking about. I explained but he just looked at me like I was nuts. Then this summer I did the same thing to Deanna. Often on our runs I'll say something like "we will walk up that hill, then run the flat until we get to so and so point, walk the next hill, then turn towards home." I just always think of the directions that Peter Pan gave Wendy when I do that.
Right now, for me, Never Never Land is the finish line at Pumpkin Holler. Well, maybe the whole race is. It's something that I can't really imagine. I've been at other races where people run 100 miles. I've paced, I've seen the finishers. I even paced in this race last year. It still all seems like this magical, mystical place that I don't really understand. I think I know what will happen there and I definitely know what I want to have happen there. It's really just a great big unkown to me. I've followed my training plan, so I guess I have the directions down. I just need to keep following them and I'll get there, right?
Everyone knows Tick-Tock the crocodile in Peter Pan, right? He swallowed the alarm clock and you can hear it ticking when he's around. Captain Hook always freaks out when he hears the clock ticking. Well, I'm going to think of Tick-Tock and that clock that is ticking down the whole race. See, I think I can run 100 miles. Actually, I know I can. I just don't know if I can do it in 30 hours. My biggest fear is being pulled from the race due to time limits. I also worry that I'll go out entirely too fast because I'm worried about the clock and I'll end up blowing up and not being able to finish. I suppose if I were to continue this comparison, that would make me Captain Hook? Hmmmm. I think that makes Jason, my final pacer, Tinker Bell? I like it! I wonder if I can get him to wear fairy wings?
I guess I'm all out of Peter Pan references. I mean, just how closely can one compare Peter Pan to running 100 miles? I think it's probably weird that a silly quote from this movie pops into my head on a lot of runs. It's one of the things that makes me unique I guess! This post really has absolutely no point and is really not that exciting. It's just something that I keep thinking about, so I thought I'd share it with all of you. The closer I get to race day the more scared I am. 32 days!! As of today I'm officially registered! I put that off for quite a while, because now that I'm registered I suppose I have to do it.
I'll see if I can't come up with a much better post in the next few days. In the meantime, Happy Running!
~Mel
Right now, for me, Never Never Land is the finish line at Pumpkin Holler. Well, maybe the whole race is. It's something that I can't really imagine. I've been at other races where people run 100 miles. I've paced, I've seen the finishers. I even paced in this race last year. It still all seems like this magical, mystical place that I don't really understand. I think I know what will happen there and I definitely know what I want to have happen there. It's really just a great big unkown to me. I've followed my training plan, so I guess I have the directions down. I just need to keep following them and I'll get there, right?
Everyone knows Tick-Tock the crocodile in Peter Pan, right? He swallowed the alarm clock and you can hear it ticking when he's around. Captain Hook always freaks out when he hears the clock ticking. Well, I'm going to think of Tick-Tock and that clock that is ticking down the whole race. See, I think I can run 100 miles. Actually, I know I can. I just don't know if I can do it in 30 hours. My biggest fear is being pulled from the race due to time limits. I also worry that I'll go out entirely too fast because I'm worried about the clock and I'll end up blowing up and not being able to finish. I suppose if I were to continue this comparison, that would make me Captain Hook? Hmmmm. I think that makes Jason, my final pacer, Tinker Bell? I like it! I wonder if I can get him to wear fairy wings?
I guess I'm all out of Peter Pan references. I mean, just how closely can one compare Peter Pan to running 100 miles? I think it's probably weird that a silly quote from this movie pops into my head on a lot of runs. It's one of the things that makes me unique I guess! This post really has absolutely no point and is really not that exciting. It's just something that I keep thinking about, so I thought I'd share it with all of you. The closer I get to race day the more scared I am. 32 days!! As of today I'm officially registered! I put that off for quite a while, because now that I'm registered I suppose I have to do it.
I'll see if I can't come up with a much better post in the next few days. In the meantime, Happy Running!
~Mel
Monday, September 8, 2014
Birthday Miles
Several weeks ago I was looking at my training plan and realized that on Sept 6 I had 30 miles scheduled. Well, my 35th birthday is Sept 4 and I have the day off work, so I decided I could just do 35 and call it a birthday run. It's something I've wanted to do for years, even before I was running ultras. I made a route, stashed coolers, made plans, etc. I was ready to go. The biggest snafu leading up to it is that my Garmin watch died....again. So I was going to have to run it not knowing my pace. Yay! I was still set to go. The weather forecast looked awful as it was going to be really hot and really humid. I talked my partner in crime, Deanna, into going with me.
3 am rolls around and Deanna showed up. She had a present with her. I opened it up and she had given me the most hilarious present I've ever received. Toilet paper, wet wipes, vaseline, and bath salts. The first three are things I often use on a run and the last was for after the run. Perfect! I laughed a lot. We took off for the first section, which was a 4 mile out and back. Nothing exciting. Just ran. It was really hot. At the end of the 4 miles I was already dripping sweat. I put on my hydration pack, ate a small snack, and off we went for the rest. Within a few blocks my stomach was shaky. I didn't know what was up. I kept running, thinking it would settle down. For a couple of miles I really struggled. I just felt gross. Six miles into the run I threw up. Great. I still had 29 miles and I was already puking. I started again and still didn't feel great. I was worn down, just completely exhausted, sweaty, and my stomach hurt. Yuck. I kept going thinking it would get better. It didn't. I whined. A lot. Deanna finally said maybe I should go home and finish the rest that night. I didn't want to as it felt a lot like failure. I decided I had a couple of options to keep going and at certain points it would be easy to just turn around. By the time I got another mile down the road I just knew it wasn't happening. I could have kept going, but hey, it was my birthday. Why spend it completely miserable? I turned around. I was almost home and had to stop again to throw up, but this time it was mostly just gagging. So much fun! I got 15 miles total and just felt awful. I got home, went to the bathroom, and laid down on the bathroom floor. I was dizzy, the room was spinning, and I was wondering what the hell was wrong and why the hell I do this to myself. I then realized I was super thirsty and my lips were chapped. Had been for days actually. Sooo...my brain wakes up and I realize I'm probably really dehydrated. I had emptied a 20 oz bottle of water as well as a 2 liter hydration pack and a 20 oz bottle of gatorade on my 15 mile run. I had also had water before the run. That's a whole lot of water in a short amount of time, and I didn't have to pee. I kept drinking all morning. Finally at around 9:30 I had to pee a little. For those of you keeping track at home, that's twice in a few weeks that I did this to myself. Will I ever learn?
Late morning Deanna and I headed to Wichita to go to lunch at Olive Garden. My tummy was finally happy and I ate a ton. We also did some shopping and had a great time. I got home, napped a bit, then went to watch Ryan's first football game of the season. He scored a touchdown! I watched until halfway through the 4th quarter and went home to get ready to finish my run. All day I doubted my ability to do it. I know what a wimp I am and how tired I was. I got ready anyway and started. Miraculously, I felt great. I don't know what it was. I just felt good. I decided to just go with it as long as it lasted. The first 5 miles or so were uneventful. I was cruising and felt fabulous. Things sort of started going downhill at that point. The day had caught up with me. I was still doing ok though. Maybe 6 miles in I started noticing under my arms were chafed. I called Rick to see if he'd bring vaseline. He was sooooo excited to do it! Ha! While talking to him and not paying attention I almost stepped on a copperhead. In town. Eeeeewwww. I freaked out, then told Rick I had to go. I'm normally super scared of snakes (shocker, right?) but I guess I was too tired and delirious to worry about it. It wasn't moving, so I threw a rock at it. It didn't move. I decided it was dead. I ran up and through the country club, and Rick found me. I lubed up and took off again. On the way back past where the snake was I found out it was not in fact dead. It was gone. The only way for it to get off the road was to slither, so that meant it was alive. Aaaahhhhh! I got out of there ASAP. I was 8 miles in by then and just felt awful. I suggested to Deanna that maybe we could pretend I was 25. The meant when I got home I could be done. She wasn't having any of it. I think she was really ready to be done also, but she was kind enough to keep encouraging me. I finally got home and was 10 miles in for that run, 25 total for the day. Just 10 more!
I decided I would run as much as I could for the next 5 and Deanna said she'd walk the last 5 with me. Woohoo! I'd love to say I ran most of the next 5, but I'll be honest, I didn't. At one point I was bragging about my illustrious high school forensics career and unfortunately for Deanna, recited one of my pieces. I also tried to recite the Gettysburg Address, but she shot me down. Who doesn't want to hear the Gettysburg Address at 11 pm? It's exciting stuff! I think I also sang a little bit and who knows what else. I was way past the point of being tired. I just wanted to sleep. There was a lot of giggling. I got the bright idea that we could do the final four miles on the track. It's flat, I wouldn't have to carry water, and well, it just seemed like a brilliant idea. Deanna wasn't convinced of it's brilliance, but like the steamroller I typically am, I just ignored her and forced her to do what I wanted. It's shocking that I don't have more friends. I mean, who wouldn't want to be friends with someone like that? We got to the track and started walking. It was a blast! Ok, not really. I'm such a liar. It was awful. Then it was exciting! We were walking and suddenly see a lawnmower flying down the road away from the schoool. I mean, this guy was hauling. It was midnight. Why would someone be driving away from the school on a lawnmower in the middle of the night? We were sure it was one of the schools mowers. I called the cops and told them what was going on and they hurried to catch the guy. We felt all victorious, and like we had saved the school, etc. I call my husband to relay the news about his wife being a hero. He said "are you sure it wasn't soandso?" Ummm, who? He said the janitors get off work at midnight and one of them often drives his lawn mower to and from work. Oh dear. Well, surely it wasn't this guy! He was acting weird and driving super fast. He must have stolen it. Rick was laughing hysterically and telling me he's pretty sure it was the janitor. Huh. Well, maybe. Then Michael, my friend Misty's husband, (aka one of the cops in town) shows up at the track. The first humiliating part of this is that I wasn't wearing a shirt. I only had on a sports bra and capris. It was hot and the middle of the night, so who was going to see me? Well, someone did. The second embarrassing part was that it was in fact the janitor, on his very own mower, that we had called the cops on. Wow, this is humiliating. We talked to Michael for a few minutes and then started back on the track for the last couple of miles.
It was FINALLY time to head home. I live just 3/4 of a mile from the school. Longest 3/4 of a mile ever. I think I might have sang a couple more songs on the way home. I don't know. I know I was almost home and got really cold and was shivering. Since it was around 80 degrees outside I'm thinking it wasn't due to the temperature. I finally arrived at home with 35 miles complete!!! Victory is mine! I took a bath and crawled in bed and passed out. It was an amazing birthday! I will NOT be running 36 miles next year. I'm retired from craziness like that. At least until Saturday when I have to run 30 miles.
I wish I had felt a little better at the end of 35 miles. I cannot fathom how I'm going to run 100 when 35 was so hard. It doesn't make sense to me. I know though that before my 50 and my 101k that my long training runs were brutal and I felt the same way. I just can't quite imagine how it's going to work. Maybe it's not? Maybe I'll fail? I don't know. I'm going to give it everything I have though.
Race in 39 days!!!!
3 am rolls around and Deanna showed up. She had a present with her. I opened it up and she had given me the most hilarious present I've ever received. Toilet paper, wet wipes, vaseline, and bath salts. The first three are things I often use on a run and the last was for after the run. Perfect! I laughed a lot. We took off for the first section, which was a 4 mile out and back. Nothing exciting. Just ran. It was really hot. At the end of the 4 miles I was already dripping sweat. I put on my hydration pack, ate a small snack, and off we went for the rest. Within a few blocks my stomach was shaky. I didn't know what was up. I kept running, thinking it would settle down. For a couple of miles I really struggled. I just felt gross. Six miles into the run I threw up. Great. I still had 29 miles and I was already puking. I started again and still didn't feel great. I was worn down, just completely exhausted, sweaty, and my stomach hurt. Yuck. I kept going thinking it would get better. It didn't. I whined. A lot. Deanna finally said maybe I should go home and finish the rest that night. I didn't want to as it felt a lot like failure. I decided I had a couple of options to keep going and at certain points it would be easy to just turn around. By the time I got another mile down the road I just knew it wasn't happening. I could have kept going, but hey, it was my birthday. Why spend it completely miserable? I turned around. I was almost home and had to stop again to throw up, but this time it was mostly just gagging. So much fun! I got 15 miles total and just felt awful. I got home, went to the bathroom, and laid down on the bathroom floor. I was dizzy, the room was spinning, and I was wondering what the hell was wrong and why the hell I do this to myself. I then realized I was super thirsty and my lips were chapped. Had been for days actually. Sooo...my brain wakes up and I realize I'm probably really dehydrated. I had emptied a 20 oz bottle of water as well as a 2 liter hydration pack and a 20 oz bottle of gatorade on my 15 mile run. I had also had water before the run. That's a whole lot of water in a short amount of time, and I didn't have to pee. I kept drinking all morning. Finally at around 9:30 I had to pee a little. For those of you keeping track at home, that's twice in a few weeks that I did this to myself. Will I ever learn?
Late morning Deanna and I headed to Wichita to go to lunch at Olive Garden. My tummy was finally happy and I ate a ton. We also did some shopping and had a great time. I got home, napped a bit, then went to watch Ryan's first football game of the season. He scored a touchdown! I watched until halfway through the 4th quarter and went home to get ready to finish my run. All day I doubted my ability to do it. I know what a wimp I am and how tired I was. I got ready anyway and started. Miraculously, I felt great. I don't know what it was. I just felt good. I decided to just go with it as long as it lasted. The first 5 miles or so were uneventful. I was cruising and felt fabulous. Things sort of started going downhill at that point. The day had caught up with me. I was still doing ok though. Maybe 6 miles in I started noticing under my arms were chafed. I called Rick to see if he'd bring vaseline. He was sooooo excited to do it! Ha! While talking to him and not paying attention I almost stepped on a copperhead. In town. Eeeeewwww. I freaked out, then told Rick I had to go. I'm normally super scared of snakes (shocker, right?) but I guess I was too tired and delirious to worry about it. It wasn't moving, so I threw a rock at it. It didn't move. I decided it was dead. I ran up and through the country club, and Rick found me. I lubed up and took off again. On the way back past where the snake was I found out it was not in fact dead. It was gone. The only way for it to get off the road was to slither, so that meant it was alive. Aaaahhhhh! I got out of there ASAP. I was 8 miles in by then and just felt awful. I suggested to Deanna that maybe we could pretend I was 25. The meant when I got home I could be done. She wasn't having any of it. I think she was really ready to be done also, but she was kind enough to keep encouraging me. I finally got home and was 10 miles in for that run, 25 total for the day. Just 10 more!
I decided I would run as much as I could for the next 5 and Deanna said she'd walk the last 5 with me. Woohoo! I'd love to say I ran most of the next 5, but I'll be honest, I didn't. At one point I was bragging about my illustrious high school forensics career and unfortunately for Deanna, recited one of my pieces. I also tried to recite the Gettysburg Address, but she shot me down. Who doesn't want to hear the Gettysburg Address at 11 pm? It's exciting stuff! I think I also sang a little bit and who knows what else. I was way past the point of being tired. I just wanted to sleep. There was a lot of giggling. I got the bright idea that we could do the final four miles on the track. It's flat, I wouldn't have to carry water, and well, it just seemed like a brilliant idea. Deanna wasn't convinced of it's brilliance, but like the steamroller I typically am, I just ignored her and forced her to do what I wanted. It's shocking that I don't have more friends. I mean, who wouldn't want to be friends with someone like that? We got to the track and started walking. It was a blast! Ok, not really. I'm such a liar. It was awful. Then it was exciting! We were walking and suddenly see a lawnmower flying down the road away from the schoool. I mean, this guy was hauling. It was midnight. Why would someone be driving away from the school on a lawnmower in the middle of the night? We were sure it was one of the schools mowers. I called the cops and told them what was going on and they hurried to catch the guy. We felt all victorious, and like we had saved the school, etc. I call my husband to relay the news about his wife being a hero. He said "are you sure it wasn't soandso?" Ummm, who? He said the janitors get off work at midnight and one of them often drives his lawn mower to and from work. Oh dear. Well, surely it wasn't this guy! He was acting weird and driving super fast. He must have stolen it. Rick was laughing hysterically and telling me he's pretty sure it was the janitor. Huh. Well, maybe. Then Michael, my friend Misty's husband, (aka one of the cops in town) shows up at the track. The first humiliating part of this is that I wasn't wearing a shirt. I only had on a sports bra and capris. It was hot and the middle of the night, so who was going to see me? Well, someone did. The second embarrassing part was that it was in fact the janitor, on his very own mower, that we had called the cops on. Wow, this is humiliating. We talked to Michael for a few minutes and then started back on the track for the last couple of miles.
It was FINALLY time to head home. I live just 3/4 of a mile from the school. Longest 3/4 of a mile ever. I think I might have sang a couple more songs on the way home. I don't know. I know I was almost home and got really cold and was shivering. Since it was around 80 degrees outside I'm thinking it wasn't due to the temperature. I finally arrived at home with 35 miles complete!!! Victory is mine! I took a bath and crawled in bed and passed out. It was an amazing birthday! I will NOT be running 36 miles next year. I'm retired from craziness like that. At least until Saturday when I have to run 30 miles.
I wish I had felt a little better at the end of 35 miles. I cannot fathom how I'm going to run 100 when 35 was so hard. It doesn't make sense to me. I know though that before my 50 and my 101k that my long training runs were brutal and I felt the same way. I just can't quite imagine how it's going to work. Maybe it's not? Maybe I'll fail? I don't know. I'm going to give it everything I have though.
Race in 39 days!!!!
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