Neewollah 10K

Oh dear. I had such hope for this race. My training has been going to well and my last few races were great. Unfortunately, I did not have a great race. Oh well.

I got there at 7:50 or so to pick up my packet. Ryan and I got our numbers pinned on and found Rick and Adam. They had dropped us off and went to park the car. I then met up with someoldman and decided to run with him. He looked sad and lonely, so I took pity :p

Ryan and I before the run.. How cute am I?

We lined up. The 5K and 10K have differnt start lines, so I had to part ways with Ryan. They said go and I took off. Remember last week when I said my first mile of the race was too fast? I ran it in 10:00. Well, yesterday I ran a mile in 9:45! Way too fast. I could keep coming up with excuse about why the race went bad, but they don't matter. Ok, a little more whining. I had stomach cramps most of the race. And all day yesterday. And today. Woohoo!

Ok, back to the race.I don't really have a lot to say. Every mile got harder. I walked way too much. I don't think I enjoyed even one moment of this race. I hated it last year too, when it was only the 5K. I'm just going to move past this and start focusing on my next race, which is a trail race. It should be fun.

Ryan finishing the 5K:

He got third place in his age group! He's so fast. Today he is very very sore though. Why does that make me happy? Oh, I know! Because he thinks he can do stuff like that without preparing. Maybe he will have learned a lesson.

Me finishing the 10K:

After the big races, they have a 1 mile fun run. It is insane. Tons of kids, no organization. Adam wanted to do it this year, so I let him. Ryan decided to do it too, since his friend was. He was so tired though that his friend finished way before him and so did his little brother.

Adam finishing:

Yes, he's wearing jeans. Sigh. Things like wearing appropriate clothing escape Adam. He is definitely his own person!

I had a good day overall and I'm so glad my kids participated. Rick was again our pack mule and photographer. He does everything we ask when we run and I appreciate him so very much.

Some thoughts on the race in general:

The road markings were better this year than last and that was great. Also, they had people at the turns telling you where to go.

No aid stations. I can see not having anything for a 5K race, but they really should have something for a 10K. This is the only race I've done over 5K that doesn't have some kind of drinks along the course. This is something that bugs me. Perhaps I'm spoiled, but I need a drink when I run that far!

The fun run needs to be done differently. They have way too many kids start at once. Ever year some kids falls and gets stepped on for a while until he gets up. I don't know if that happened this year because I couldn't the start, but I know it has every other year. There are people from 2 years up to probably 80 years old that do this race. Perhaps starting in a couple of groups would be helpful.

Ok, don't whining. I had a great run/walk with Rick this morning. Some wonderful person gravelled the dike that goes around Elk City. I have found a wonderful new place to run! Rick and I did it this morning and it was great until we had to cut it short so I could rush home to the bathroom. Perhaps it is technically trespassing, but I doubt I will get in trouble. I guess we will find out! I plan to run there again Tuesday.

~Mel

Tomorrow, tomorrow....

....is less than a day away!

Tomorrow I'm running the Neewollah 10k. Last year when I started running, my goal race was the Neewollah 5k, which I ran. It had a horrible run. By far my worst race. I'm hoping history doesn't repeat itself tomorrow. I need a good race!

Instead of the 5k, I'm doing the 10k this year. Why? Who the heck knows. I just like a challenge, and running that cemetary road twice is certainly a challenge. It is such a mental block for me. Anyone who has run the road I'm talking about knows exactly what I mean.

I've talked someone from out of town into coming to run with me. Mostly because I'm afraid I will get lost on the course. I've run on this course a ton, but  the course markings are almost non-existant. And I"ve never run the exact course. I normally just run wherever I want in whatever random order or direction I want to. I'm such a rebel. 

Ryan will be running the 5k again and hopes to win a medal. Adam is running the 1 mile fun run and I'm probably running with him. He asked if he could run ahead of me because he's faster. Ryan mentioned training early in the week and when I told him he could go with me he said, "no thanks. I want to run fast." Well. I'm just not sure what to think. I guess I'm raising honest children.

I will let you all know how the races go and I'm sure I will post plenty of pics!

~Mel

Route 66 Quarter Marathon

I should start this post by telling you all how awesome I am. I rocked the race yesterday! Ok, maybe not awesome, but I did do really well and had a good time.

When I signed up for this race we had nothing on our calendar. I was happy because that meant Rick and the boys ould come. After the race we could spend the day in Tulsa. Fun times, right? Well, Ryan had a football game get rained out and they rescheduled it for the day fo the race. I had already paid my entry fee, so I decided to go anyway. I hate going by myself, so I talked Judy into going with me. We left at 5:30 am to make sure I had plenty of time to find parking, pick up my packet, get my number on, visit the port-a-potties, etc. I was about 10 miles from home when I realized I forgot my ipod and my garmin watch. Crap. I thought about turning around but decided to just run "naked." I've never done a race without Nike+ or my watch, so I was really nervous. I knew I could live without the music since I've been running without it sometimes.

We got to Tulsa in plenty of time, but finding parking was not as easy. Well, it was easy to find it, but to get in the lot was a little more difficult. I will spare you the details about my crappy driving skill, but I will say I will probably get a ticket in the mail soon for the red light I ran.I swear it was an accident! I didn't see it. Anyway, I finally made it and actually parked really close to the start/finish line. Unfortunately, I still had an hour before the race started. I went and picked up my packet and we came back to the car. It was really cold!

The race numbers were pretty cool.

I eventually left the warmth of my car to go line up.

And we were off! Not having my watch, I didn't really know what my pace was. At each mile they haoutd  a clock. I ran the first mile in 10 minutes! That is way too speedy for me. I know I couldn't maintain that pace so I slowed it down. Honestly, the race was pretty uneventful. I don't have a lot to say about it. One thing I will say though is Holy Hills Batman! I was not expecing all of the hills. I was really doing great even with the hills until mile 5.5. At that point my energy just crashed. I don't know why. I kept going though and finished with a really good time. Right before mile 6 I heard someone beside me tell her friend she wished we could cut through. I looked where she pointed and saw a huge hill. We had to run around the block, up  the hill, then we were almost done. I said, "We have to run up that hill?" She said, "yep, it sucks doesn't it?" Yeah, you could say that. About half way up the hill there were some people that had already finished the race cheering us on. That was awesome! I finished in 1:12:45! That is an average pace of 11:06 per mile. I couldn't be happier with that.

There were so many spectators you had people cheering for you for about 2 blockes before the finish. I very much enjoyed that. Judy was right at the start line waiting to take a pic of me. Unfortunately, she missed me while working with the camera on my phone. She felt bad but I thought it was funny. They gave us the medals and ushered us to where the drink and food were. I had a very yummy pretzel roll!

After the race was an afterparty hosted by Oktoberfest. Each participant got 2 free beers. It was a little early and I didn't really want a beer, but they were free, so why not? Judy and I got in line and got our drinks.

Me under the sign:

Judy and I:

We took a few drinks and then threw them away. We left and went to eat and go shopping. First I had to change clothes though. I went to a QT to change in the bathroom. I heard some women complaining about all those "damn runners." Sorry for inconveniencing you lady!

This morning I did a 5 mile trail run which was very enjoyable. Next up is Neewollah 10k next Saturday!

~Mel

Why?

Just a warning, this post is a vent. I am going to act annoyed and cranky. Stop reading if you don't want to experience that.

I came across this picture the other day on a blog that I absolutely love.

People are always asking me why. Why do I run? Why do I run as far as I do? The answer is, I don't know. I like it. It's fun. It challenges me. It makes me thinner than when I'm not running. There is nothing like the ache you feel after you have completed a long run. It is so satisfying. I could go on an on. I could come up with funny reasons, philosophical reasons, stupid reasons. There are just so many reasons I run. But my question is, why do people always ask me why? Do I ask you why you don't run?

I get tired of being made to feel like a freak because I run. Yes, I ran a 25K on trails recently. It was hard. That doesn't make me a freak. I was one of 125 people that did it. Actually, I was one of around 50. The other ones ran 50K! That used to seem crazy to me, but now I think I will probably do it next year.

Rick has always been very understanding and supportive of my running. I love that about him. The other day I was discussing something that I'm thinking of training for. Asking his opinion. He was so baffled by what I was talking about and seemed so upset about it I started wondering if I am crazy. Then I remembered other people do it and so much more and I'm not. But the conversation really upset me because I'm so tired of people looking at me and shaking their head when I talk about running. And Rick isn't that way. In the end he told me he would support me if this is what I want to do and he really meant it. I hope!

One thing Rick said during the conversation was "I just don't get it. I don't understand this need to run further and further." But why does he have to get it? Why does anyone? I get it and that's all that matters. I'm not asking anyone else to do it with me, so why do they care what I do? Ok, sometimes I ask people to run with me. They normally don't though and that's ok. I think what bugs me is that when someone asks what I'm training for and I tell them, they act like I'm a freak. They could say, "wow, that's really cool. Good job!" But instead, they say, "why would you want to do that? That sounds horrible." I get that running a lot of miles sounds horrible to some people, but stuff they do sounds horrible to me. Say I was talking to someone who at 5 cheeseburgers for lunch every day. It wouldn't be ok for me to say, "Holy crap! Why would you do something like that?" So why is it ok for people to say that to me?

Maybe I should quit talking about running. In fact, I am going to make an effort to do so. If people want to know how it is going I will tell them, but I'm going to do my best not to talk about it first. Except on here. And I assume if you are reading this then you are interested.

Here is my lesson for everyone. Try not to make people feel bad for choices they are making. Don't judge your friend that eats a large pizza for dinner every night and don't judge the person who runs several days a week. Or anyone else. Focus on you!

Saturday I'm running in a quarter marathon. I'm really excited! Since I've never run that distance I'm guaranteed a PR. Sweet! I will come back with a happier post to tell you about my experience. Oh, and I am looking for someone to go to Tulsa with me to the race since my family can't come. Let me know if you are just dying to get up at 5:00 AM and drive to Tulsa and spend the day with me!! There will be food and shopping after I'm done running.

~Mel

Weird things I see while running

I think in the past I have talked about some weird stuff I see while running. Last weekend at the race I saw something I never thought I would see. I didn't add it to my race report as I knew it was possible that it would be linked on the race website (it was btw).

Ok, so I'm running along and I saw two people stopped on the trail. A man and woman. Not really unusual since a lot of people stopped to take breaks. They were on each side of the trail so I had to run between them. What were they doing just stopped there, you ask? Smoking. That's right. They were taking a break from the race to smoke. So not only was this weird and confusing, I had to run through their smoke. I could barely breathe anyway at that point and then I'm stuck inhaling smoke. Who does that? Who smokes during a race?

I'm not sure what else this couple did along the trail, but suffice it to say it couldn't have been all running or walking. I passed them with 3 miles to go. I finished about an hour later. They finished 2.5 hours later. That's right. 2.5 hours to run/walk/crawl 3 miles. Hmmmm.

On to other weird stuff. Lately I have been seeing lots of dead armadillos. Maybe not so much weird as gross. One run I saw three, all dead. Reminds me of the time I kept seeing dead frogs on my run. The most entertaining thing? People at houses that they do not live at early in the morning. Too early to have just stopped by for coffee. More like they spent the night. Living in a small town, I know everyone, so this amuses me.

Trash. I see lots of trash on the road. I don't know if I've talked about this before or just imagined that I did. Regardless, I'm going to. My favorite piece of trash is some Alli diet information. The box that it came in along with an information booklet. I ran by it for months out on a country road. It alwasy amused me to be out there kicking my own butt and trying to get healthy and someone else was sitting in their recliner watching soap operas taking diet pills. I wonder how that worked out for them?  In the same area as the Alli trash, there was a tylenol bottle. I have no idea if it had any in it or not. I will say there were times I was in enough pain and almost desparate enough to find out. I never did though.

Right now I can't really think of any other interesting things I see. I'm sure I will see more and think of more though. Perhaps I should start a list. When I get a certain number of items on the list I can share with all of you. What do you think?

Happy Running!

~Mel

Flatrock 25 Report

The last time I posted about this race I was trying to decide whether or not to do it. I had decided I definitely was not going to. I hadn't trained and the furthest I had run since my half marathon in May was 10 miles. I was in no way prepared for the race. Then I got an email from the race director informing me there were still slots open. I must have been on drugs that I wasn't aware of because I signed up. I decided I would do it just to do it and who cares what the results were. I could do 20 minute miles and still finish in a little over 5 hours, so why not?

Why not indeed. This was hands down the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life. And I've given birth to two children. And for some reason I'm already thinking about next year. While it was difficult, nothing can compare to the feeling of crossing the finish line. I'm not sure if I've told you how hard this trail is, but it is ridiculous. Here are some good pictures from another year.

Friday night is packet pickup and a pasta dinner. When I got there to pick up my packet and said my name race director Eric Steele said, "oh, you're from Elk City!" This race has been going on outside of town for 17 years and no one from Elk City has participated. Until now that is. Anyway, it was cool that he knew who I was. Also, the spaghetti was the best spaghetti I have ever tasted. Ryan was with me and he loved it as much as I did. Here is a picture of us filling our plates:

Saturday morning I woke up way too early and couldn't wait to get out there. I sort of compare this race to childbirth. You know it's going to be hard and hurt like hell, but you can't wait to do it anyway. And while  you know it is going to hurt and take a long time and you will be exhausted, you don't really know. You just think you do. Anyway, I got there, got everthing ready and listened to the RD brief us. Then it was time to line up at the starting line. I had my usual pre-race nerves, but nothing too bad. The gun went off and we started running. I had forgotten to turn on my ipod, so that took a little bit. Right away my calves and shins were hurting and I have no idea why. Since they hurt and I was still on the road I was kind of freaking out.

After a little bit of running on the road we hit the trail. Right away you start going up. And over, around and through rocks. Big rocks, little rocks, sharp rocks, round rocks, moving rocks, etc. Rocks are the theme of this race. Note the name. Except I'm not sure where the "Flat" part comes in. Anyway, I was prepared for this as I had hiked this trail before. I'm tough! No big deal. Yeah right. I could not catch my breath. It took me a good mile to level out and breathe normally. By that time my legs were already protesting a little. The first 4 miles of the trail are the hardest in my opinion. This also means the last 4 are really hard as it is an out and back. Right before mile 4 is the first aid station. The aid stations were awesome and the volunteers are really great. I cannot say enough good things about them.

The next part of the race had a lot of flat areas that were pretty runable. I say that because this course is really not runable for the whole distance. I suppose some people can run most of it, but I am definitely not one of them. I read a quote last week and Rick repeated it to me before I left for the race. I said it to myself over and over. "Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if must, just never give up."-Dean Karnazes. My entire goal for this race was just to not give up. I only wanted to finish and prove to myself that I could do this.

I got to the second aid station where I had the best pb&j ever made. Or I was just really hungry. I spent a few minutes shoving food in my face and drinking and headed back. I ran pretty well for about a half mile. At this point I knew I needed to walk more or I wasn't going to finish. Everything was starting to hurt. Hips, ankles, feet, blah blah blah. Everything! I ran probably half the distance to the next aid station and walked half. This was alternating walking/running. It was sometime around here that my garmin became stupid. Right before the aid station it said I had 8 miles to go. It's a good thing I knew better or I might have cried at that point.

At the last aid station I had some more food and drink. Then I was off to complete the last 4 miles! Relief is in sight! While everything was aching I was still doing pretty well. For another half to 3/4 of a mile anyway. Then I just hit a wall. I had no energy left and I was in pretty bad pain. When I got to the point where I had to climb back up through a crevice that I had went down I really didn't know if I could do it. I somehow drug my butt up there and started going again. By now the bottoms of my toes were raw and I thought I would probably have blisters and bleeding toes. About 3 miles from the end I started to hear celebrations from the finish line. It was so neat to be able to hear it. Finally I was coming down a hill that I thought was close to the end. I saw a photographer and knew he hadn't hiked too far, so I must be close. He took this picture:

When I hit the end of the trail and saw the road I cried. Seriously. I was so happy and relieved. I had planned to run the length of the road to the finish line but I just didn't have it in me. I maybe ran half. Rick and the boys had planned to arrive at 1:30 because I thought it would take me at least 5 hours to finish. At one point I knew I was doing better than that, so I texted him to be there at 1:00. I kept looking at my watch at the end and it looked like I would be really close to 1:00. As I was running down the last stretch of road I heard a vehicle behind me and hear a camera. Rick took pics as he was driving by. Unfortunately, none of them turned out as the camera was set to manual from the last time I used it. I yelled "Hurry!!" because I wanted them to see me cross the finish line. Shortly after I turned onto the gravel road and there was the finish. They were making all kinds of noise and I assume my name was called along with where I'm from. I don't think I could hear anything at that point. I was just focused on the finish. I crossed the finish line right at 1:00, so 4 hours, 30 minutes after I started. Unfortunately, Rick and the boys didn't make it to see me finish. I got my finishers prize and met up with my family who were there just a few seconds too late.

I sat down to take my shoes off. To my surprise, my toes weren't bleeding. I did have some blisters though. Ryan went to the car to get my flip flops because there was no way I was putting those shoes back on. I may never wear them again.

Here I am with my finishers award. That's right. I finished. Faster than my goal. I ran/walked/whatever 25 kilometers.  I expect applause.

My legs were so dirty. It was disgusting. Here is a picture of the dirt. For anyone who knows me at all, you know I was not very happy about this. Do take note of my pretty toenails though. I'm not going to let a little race prevent me from having pretty toes :)

As I crossed the finish line Eric asked if I had fun. I told him to ask me later. I'm still deciding. I am very proud of myself for accomplishing this. I imagine I will do it again next year. I also had fun at times on the trail. Overall I can't say if I had fun or not. It was a fantastic experience and one I hope to repeat. It was inspiring to me to be able to push myself beyond what I thought I was capable of doing.

I'm still waiting on official results and finish line photos. I will add them to a future post. In the meantime, I will still be running and training for my next race, which is the Route 66 Quarter marathon. Can't wait!

~Mel

My Support Team

Ok, first things first. I said I would update you all when I got back from vacation. All I can say is it was great! I didn't run as much as I should have for various reasons, but I did run! I had a birthday while I was there and ran that day. I thought I should start off a new year of my life with a run and was very glad I did it.

Now, moving on to the actual topic of this blog. My support team. I have so many people that support me in so many ways. I'm constantly amazed at how great people are. When I started running I really didn't think I would keep doing it or would ever want people to know I did it. At some point I wanted people to know what I was doing. I wanted to have people at the finish line of races cheering for me and I wanted people to ask how I was doing. I also realized I needed people. I need people to watch my kids while I run if  my husband can't be there. I need people to bring me water or kleenex or come pick me up out in the middle of nowhere when I have to go to the bathroom RIGHT NOW!!

I'm amazed at the people that I know or talk to that don't have anyone encouraging them or supporting them in any way. They go to a race alone, run, and go home. I like to make it a celebration. Perhaps I'm vain. That is all part of the experience for me.

I would like to introduce you all to my team:

My husband: Rick is awesome. I don't know what else to say. He gets up early and brings me stuff, he comes and gets me when I need to go to the bathroom. He drives me to races and sometimes sits in the car when it is cold and raining and waits for me. I could go on for hours about how wonderful he is, but I do it in a lot of posts, so I don't need to say it all again. I can't say enough about how great he has been and continues to be.

My kids: They both ride their bikes or run with me on occasion. Ryan always has positive things to say and is encouraging. He also enjoys coming to the races to cheer for me. At least most of the time. I can always count on Adam to be honest with me. Really Mom? Didn't you say you were running 10 miles? Why did you only run 5? Or I say I was proud of a time and he says, "that doesn't seem that fast." He isn't being mean. He's just brutally honest. At my toughest race Adam was at the end running beside me to the finish line. Nothing is better than seeing his little smiling face waiting for me at the end.

My Mom: My mom has this thing where she doesn't like to say "I'm proud of you." Don't freak out. It makes sense. She says she is always proud of us. She would be proud of me if I never ran again. She's not more proud because I ran a half marathon. She always tells me how excited she is or how great she thinks I'm doing. I love that. She has also come and stood outside for hours waiting for me to cross the finish line. She came to Tulsa when I did my half marathon. She had to drive 2 hours the night before, rent a hotel room and get up before dawn to go watch. I can't tell you all how happy that made me.

My aunt Tammy. Before I did my first 5k race I found out I wasn't going to have anyone there to watch me. I really wanted someone that was at the finish line waiting for me. I asked her if she would do it and she did. She got there an hour before the race and stood out in the cold and mist waiting for me to start. She was there when I came around the corner with 1k or so left to go. Then she was at the finish line. It meant so much to me to have her there. She has come to other races since. Last weekend she was there to see me repeat the first race I ever did. When I crossed the finish line 2 minutes faster than last year I think she was just as excited as I was. It was so special to me that I got to share that with her.

I have many other people who support me. The ladies on car-seat.org are always fabulous and continue to encourage me. Also, everyone on the C25k forum. I'm constantly being asked by people in town how my running is going and people seem genuinely happy for me when I tell them. My cousins Tricia and Jennifer are always complimenting me on my running and encouraging me to keep going. They can't come to my races, but they are always cheering for me in spirit. Jennifer even ran with me while in Connecticut and Tricia got up early and drove us to a park to run.

Edit to add: I can't believe I forgot this. My friend Coleen got me a reflective vest so I don't get run over and die while running! I love that she likes me enough to not want me to die :)

Also, the ladies on car-seat.org bought me body glide and mailed it to me when I lost mine. That proves what true friends they are.

I'm sure a lot of other people have helped me at some point or will be there for me in the future. I am so thankful for every single person who encourages me or supports me. And thank you to everyone who reads this blog and listens to me complain or brag about myself.

This week is race registration week for me. I will be registering for the Neewollah 10k, the Route 66 Quarter Marathon, and the Route 66 Half Marathon!!