Wow! It's been nearly two months since I posted on here. I've sort of had some crazy stuff going on in my life and haven't had a lot of time to post. I moved! I now live in Eureka, KS. It has been so much fun to find new routes. I haven't been chased by any dogs! I run past buffalo sometimes. Gravel roads and hills have become my constant companions. I actually run in the dark, by myself out in the middle of the country and I'm not scared! See? Things have changed.
I've been running a lot, though of course not as much as I should. I can't seem to let go of my lazy, slacking ways. I have some big exciting races coming up. Saturday I'm running the Hawk Marathon in Lawrence. I'm especially excited about this because it means getting to spend some time with my awesome friend Libby. She's letting me stay at her house the night before the race, which is very sweet and will save me some money. On September 28 I will be taking on Flatrock again. Only 9 more finishes before I'm in the Hall of Pain! Why does that even appeal to me? I think it's a sickness. On October 12 I will be pacing at Heartland. The biggest race I have coming up is the Prairie Spirit Fall Classic 50 miler. Yes, you read that right! 50 miles. Besides my running friends, everyone else I know thinks I have lost my mind. Maybe I have. I don't know. I'm really excited about it.
My training plan is so crazy I mostly refuse to even look at it. If I do I open it really quickly to see what the next few runs are and then close it before I get a good look at the entire thing. If I were to actually follow the whole thing, and let's be honest, I won't, I might actually finish the 50 mile still able to walk. However, I won't, so I will probably be in so much pain someone will have to carry me to my car after I finish. And speaking of that, I really need to find someone to go to the race with me to drive me home.
Anyway, that's all I've got. I will update again after my marathon on Saturday!
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Lunar Trek 50K
Friday night I ran the Lunar Trek 50K. It was in Scandia, KS and started at 11:00 pm. I went into the race feeling well trained and full of confidence. I was sure I was going to totally rock it. Then a series of crappy things happened and it didn't work out like I planned.
I talked Rick into making the trip with me because it's over 4 hours away and I didn't want to go alone. We left when I got off work Friday and I think we got there at about 9:00 pm. Libby was already there and had picked up my packet. I talked to her for a few minutes and then Rick said he was going to do the 10k. We went in and signed him up and I changed into my race clothes. I chatted with Libby some more and got everything ready. Rick and Libby were going to crew for me so we went in to look at the crew map to try to figure out where they could meet me. The race director started talking about how muddy it was in sections and how the crew wouldn't be able to make it. I basically ignored what he was saying thinking it couldn't really be that bad. We went back out to the parking lot and were just hanging out talking. Justin and Joell Chockley got there and I finally got to meet them in person. I've been giving Justin crap for a few weeks about how he needed to have some gastrointestinal distress so Joell and I could beat him. When I told him I was running the 50K he volunteered Joell to run with me. Nice husband, right?
We talked a little more and took some pics. Here I am with Libby before the race. Sorry it's blurry. The lighting wasn't exactly ideal.
Right before 11:00 someone decided to walk around the high school because that's where the race was going to start. We got lined up right before it was time to go. We ran down a hill that was blacktop, then hit the dirt road. And by dirt I actually mean mud and sand. The road was pretty soft and not that easy to run on. I finally figured out there were parts of the road that were firmer and tried to stay on those. After a bit my friend Luke joined us and was going to run with us, at least for a while.We were chatting and doing well. A couple of times I thought I should stop and walk because I've been doing intervals on all of my long runs. I hated to ask Joell and Luke to stop though so I didn't. We hit the first aid station doing really well and kept running. We started walking some hills around this time. It had rained and was cooler than I thought it would be, but the humidity was really bad. Within a few miles I could squeeze sweat out of my skirt.
At mile 3ish (I can never remember) we hit mud. Thick, nasty mud. The kind that sticks to your shoes and starts wearing you down. I was already getting cranky because my legs were hurting more than I expected them to at that point and I really wanted to walk for more than a minute, but was running with people faster than me and was trying to keep up. It was stupid of me to do that and entirely my fault. I should have just spoken up and said I needed a little break. Oh well. We hit the 5 mile aid station and Joell and I shared a gatorade and I refilled my water bottle. When we took off we couldn't find Luke, but he caught up pretty quick. Not far past the aid station we started running down a pretty steep hill. It was muddy and we were sliding around. At the bottom of the hill we ran into a place that had standing water. Luke was in front and hit it first, so Joell and I had warning and went around it.
At maybe mile 6 or so I was done. My legs were hurting and my lower back was killing me. Joell and Luke had gotten ahead and Joell stopped and walked with me. Luke kept going. I told her I just needed to walk a while. I ended up walking most of the rest of the race. We walked as fast as we could and tried to run as many downhills as possible. I had to stop for a couple of bathroom breaks. About a mile or so from the turnaround we met Justin walking. He said he was done. He had twisted his ankle going down the steep muddy hill and was hurting. It sounded like he had walked as much as we had. We told him to walk back to the turnaround with us and he could catch a ride with Rick back to the high school. I felt bad because I had joked so much about something happening to him. I knew it wasn't my fault, but still. I know what it's like to drop out of a race. It sucks.
We got to the turnaround and Rick and Libby were there. They helped me change my socks and clean out my shoes because they were full of sand. It was also so humid that my socks were soaked. One of the volunteers filled my water bottle and got me some kind of granola bar which I tried to eat but it made me feel like puking. I also tried to drink some powerade but didn't want to hang around too long because I was afraid I wouldn't leave. After I was a little ways down the road I realized I forgot my fuel. Crap! I tried to flag Rick down but he didn't see me. That meant 15.5 miles with no fuel. Joell had some extra Gu and there were aid stations, so I thought I'd do fine, but it still sucked.
There's not a lot to say about the second half. I walked almost all of it and ran down some hills, but not all of them. I was disappointed in myself and felt bad that Joell was having to go so slow to stay with me. She was awesome. She stayed cheerful the whole time and stuck with me when I don't think anyone else would have. After the next to the last aid station we decided we need to run as much as we can because the more we run the faster we finish. Since more than anything else I wanted to be done, I was willing to start running more. At the last station 2 miles from the finish I was ready to just get it done. We started running as much as I possibly could. The last part of a race is up a hill to the high school. Who's freaking idea was that?! Rick and Libby were at the top of the hill cheering and taking pics. When I got to the top Libby started running with me. I was so thankful to be done that I started running faster.
Woohoo! The finish!!
I was ecstatically happy. It was slower than I wanted by about an hour, but we finished and we didn't finish last! It was so humid and so muddy and I was so not mentally tough in this race. I (again) learned some important lessons though. Lessons that will serve me well in the future.
They offered to let people use the showers in the locker room and I was nasty and miserable so I did it. I felt like I was back in high school and it is really not a good feeling! Add public showering to the list of things I never thought I'd do as a runner. Thankfully another runner had some shampoo so I was able to get my hair clean. Thank you mystery woman!
After I showered and got dressed I went back to the parking lot and loaded up my stuff. Rick was exhausted and ready to go home but I wanted to see Jason and Megan finish their 40 mile race, so I took my lawn chair to the finish line and waited. I visited with people and got to see a few finishers come across. That was cool. I saw Jason and Megan finish and talked to them a few minutes, then headed home. I slept a little on the way, but not much. We picked up the boys and came home and fell into bed. About that time my mind started racing and I couldn't go to sleep. I gave up and got up. I finally went to bed about 9:00 last night, completely worn out.
Now I'm ready to start getting serious about Flatrock. I can't wait!!
(Justin, if you're reading this, picture me sticking my tongue out at you and laughing! Sorry you didn't finish your race, but always remember I put in more miles than you. I'm never letting you forget.)
I talked Rick into making the trip with me because it's over 4 hours away and I didn't want to go alone. We left when I got off work Friday and I think we got there at about 9:00 pm. Libby was already there and had picked up my packet. I talked to her for a few minutes and then Rick said he was going to do the 10k. We went in and signed him up and I changed into my race clothes. I chatted with Libby some more and got everything ready. Rick and Libby were going to crew for me so we went in to look at the crew map to try to figure out where they could meet me. The race director started talking about how muddy it was in sections and how the crew wouldn't be able to make it. I basically ignored what he was saying thinking it couldn't really be that bad. We went back out to the parking lot and were just hanging out talking. Justin and Joell Chockley got there and I finally got to meet them in person. I've been giving Justin crap for a few weeks about how he needed to have some gastrointestinal distress so Joell and I could beat him. When I told him I was running the 50K he volunteered Joell to run with me. Nice husband, right?
We talked a little more and took some pics. Here I am with Libby before the race. Sorry it's blurry. The lighting wasn't exactly ideal.
Right before 11:00 someone decided to walk around the high school because that's where the race was going to start. We got lined up right before it was time to go. We ran down a hill that was blacktop, then hit the dirt road. And by dirt I actually mean mud and sand. The road was pretty soft and not that easy to run on. I finally figured out there were parts of the road that were firmer and tried to stay on those. After a bit my friend Luke joined us and was going to run with us, at least for a while.We were chatting and doing well. A couple of times I thought I should stop and walk because I've been doing intervals on all of my long runs. I hated to ask Joell and Luke to stop though so I didn't. We hit the first aid station doing really well and kept running. We started walking some hills around this time. It had rained and was cooler than I thought it would be, but the humidity was really bad. Within a few miles I could squeeze sweat out of my skirt.
At mile 3ish (I can never remember) we hit mud. Thick, nasty mud. The kind that sticks to your shoes and starts wearing you down. I was already getting cranky because my legs were hurting more than I expected them to at that point and I really wanted to walk for more than a minute, but was running with people faster than me and was trying to keep up. It was stupid of me to do that and entirely my fault. I should have just spoken up and said I needed a little break. Oh well. We hit the 5 mile aid station and Joell and I shared a gatorade and I refilled my water bottle. When we took off we couldn't find Luke, but he caught up pretty quick. Not far past the aid station we started running down a pretty steep hill. It was muddy and we were sliding around. At the bottom of the hill we ran into a place that had standing water. Luke was in front and hit it first, so Joell and I had warning and went around it.
At maybe mile 6 or so I was done. My legs were hurting and my lower back was killing me. Joell and Luke had gotten ahead and Joell stopped and walked with me. Luke kept going. I told her I just needed to walk a while. I ended up walking most of the rest of the race. We walked as fast as we could and tried to run as many downhills as possible. I had to stop for a couple of bathroom breaks. About a mile or so from the turnaround we met Justin walking. He said he was done. He had twisted his ankle going down the steep muddy hill and was hurting. It sounded like he had walked as much as we had. We told him to walk back to the turnaround with us and he could catch a ride with Rick back to the high school. I felt bad because I had joked so much about something happening to him. I knew it wasn't my fault, but still. I know what it's like to drop out of a race. It sucks.
We got to the turnaround and Rick and Libby were there. They helped me change my socks and clean out my shoes because they were full of sand. It was also so humid that my socks were soaked. One of the volunteers filled my water bottle and got me some kind of granola bar which I tried to eat but it made me feel like puking. I also tried to drink some powerade but didn't want to hang around too long because I was afraid I wouldn't leave. After I was a little ways down the road I realized I forgot my fuel. Crap! I tried to flag Rick down but he didn't see me. That meant 15.5 miles with no fuel. Joell had some extra Gu and there were aid stations, so I thought I'd do fine, but it still sucked.
There's not a lot to say about the second half. I walked almost all of it and ran down some hills, but not all of them. I was disappointed in myself and felt bad that Joell was having to go so slow to stay with me. She was awesome. She stayed cheerful the whole time and stuck with me when I don't think anyone else would have. After the next to the last aid station we decided we need to run as much as we can because the more we run the faster we finish. Since more than anything else I wanted to be done, I was willing to start running more. At the last station 2 miles from the finish I was ready to just get it done. We started running as much as I possibly could. The last part of a race is up a hill to the high school. Who's freaking idea was that?! Rick and Libby were at the top of the hill cheering and taking pics. When I got to the top Libby started running with me. I was so thankful to be done that I started running faster.
Woohoo! The finish!!
I was ecstatically happy. It was slower than I wanted by about an hour, but we finished and we didn't finish last! It was so humid and so muddy and I was so not mentally tough in this race. I (again) learned some important lessons though. Lessons that will serve me well in the future.
They offered to let people use the showers in the locker room and I was nasty and miserable so I did it. I felt like I was back in high school and it is really not a good feeling! Add public showering to the list of things I never thought I'd do as a runner. Thankfully another runner had some shampoo so I was able to get my hair clean. Thank you mystery woman!
After I showered and got dressed I went back to the parking lot and loaded up my stuff. Rick was exhausted and ready to go home but I wanted to see Jason and Megan finish their 40 mile race, so I took my lawn chair to the finish line and waited. I visited with people and got to see a few finishers come across. That was cool. I saw Jason and Megan finish and talked to them a few minutes, then headed home. I slept a little on the way, but not much. We picked up the boys and came home and fell into bed. About that time my mind started racing and I couldn't go to sleep. I gave up and got up. I finally went to bed about 9:00 last night, completely worn out.
Now I'm ready to start getting serious about Flatrock. I can't wait!!
(Justin, if you're reading this, picture me sticking my tongue out at you and laughing! Sorry you didn't finish your race, but always remember I put in more miles than you. I'm never letting you forget.)
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Storm the Dam Marathon Report
I ran a marathon! I really had no desire to ever run one because I have no desire to run 26.2 miles on pavement, but this was a trail marathon so I decided to go for it. I did not really have the training in place to do one, but Jason assured me that we would take it slow, just another training run, and he would get me to the finish line.
Rick and I stayed in El Dorado Friday night because the race started at 6:00 am. Yes, that's right. 6:00. A.M. I got up at 4:00 because we needed to leave around 5:00 to find the race, get a parking spot, get everything ready, etc. I think we actually left around 5:10, but still had plenty of time. We got there, finally found the start finish area (it was dark. I think there were signs but you couldn't see them) and waited for Jason and his daughter Carina to arrive. When they got there we talked to them, met a bunch of their friends from Wichita, and took a few pics. My friend Joanna arrived and we talked for a minute and took a pic. She was doing the half marathon (her first!!) but came an hour early to see me start.
Rick and I before the race. Isn't he a good man to get up that early and come hang out at a race for 7 hours waiting for me? He's pretty fantastic. Oh, and by the way, he ran the 5K and did a great job! I was so proud of him.
Joanna and I
And we're off! We started out on some pavement and then ran through some grass, then onto some dirt/gravel farm roads on private property. The first few miles went by fine. We were doing 4 minutes of running, 1 minute of walking. It was working nicely. The plan was to eat something every 30 minutes to keep our energy up. That was working ok at this point. We went on past the first aid station because we both had everything we needed as we had handhelds. Eventually we got onto some nice single track. I loved it! Running through the woods is my happy place. I was loving life. At the second aid station, probably near the 5 mile mark, I downed a whole cup of gatorade. This turned out to be a fatal error. My stomach immediately got angry. I also consumed some more chews at that point, so I just felt full and sloshy. Not good. We had some more single track that was mostly downhill, then popped out of the woods. Oh look! The dam! Wait. There's a mowed path up it. Straight up. It's steep and long. Is it too late to back out? Yes? Ok. Onward and upward!
We finally got to the top of the dam and started running across. It went on and on and on. My stomach was ok for a bit but I still just felt incredibly full. The next time it was time for fuel I only ate about half the chews I normally would. Besides the food being an issue, we also hit a part of the dam with big rocks that just tore us up. It was exhausting.
Going across the dam
Finally we were off the dam and at the next aid station. We refilled bottles and I grabbed a couple of grapes thinking real food might help. It might have if I would have had more than one. They were sour and dried my mouth completely. No thanks! At this time we entered a horse trail. Basically it's a prairie with a path mowed through. It was kind of tough because it was uneven, but due to the grass you couldn't really see the holes. I still felt pretty good here. We came out of the prairie onto some gravel road for maybe half a mile or so, then hit the next aid station. After that, more prairie. We went uphill for a while and at this point my stomach was very unhappy. I was really struggling. I knew it would pass, but still whined. Jason kept reminding me to just stay calm, breathe, and run. It would go away. It did and I felt great again. At this point I also knew I'd see Rick soon because we ran two loops and he would be at the halfway point. I did well the next few miles.
When we got to what we thought was half a mile left we decided forget the intervals and just run. We ran, and ran, and ran. There's the 13 mile sign so we're almost done! Wait, where is the end of the loop? Are we lost? Why are we still running? And running. Our watch passed 13.1 a while ago. It turns out, the half marathon loop was almost 14 miles. For some reason this pissed me off beyond belief. I'm already running 26.2 miles and you're going to add over a mile by the time we do both loops? No bueno! It just ruined me mentally. We finally got to the start finish and Rick and Carina gave us everything we needed for the second loop. I did not want to go back out. At all. Quitting was not an option for me though. After we left the turnaround I told Jason I needed to apologize to Rick because I was really bossy and just told him what to do and didn't even thank him.
Helping us get ready for another loop
After we left the start/finish my stomach was rebelling and threatening to do a volcano move. I just kept going and stopped eating. Jason suggested I switch to eating every hour and see if that helped. It did! Another issue right after the halfway point was that a blister was forming right between the last two toes on my right foot. At first I thought maybe my sock was just bunched up so I took off my shoe to check. Nope. A blister. It bugged me the whole time! Eventually I started stepping differently because it hurt and that started affecting other areas. Fun! I was also a lot more tired on this loop so we started doing 3/2 intervals. We hoped to keep that up as long as we could. Jason told me no matter what we were not walking more than 2 minutes at a time. It was getting much warmer and we were draining more water so we filled up at the first station. I also ate some pretzels here and my stomach was ok with that. Whew! Running, running. Whining. Walking. Whining. That became the theme of this loop. Also, dreading the dam. DREADING IT. Have I mentioned we were in last place? We were.
When we got to the second station we asked for ice and thankfully they had some. The first half of the course the water wasn't cold, but was ok. The second half it was warm. It was also getting warm outside and there was very little relief from the heat. We didn't see much shade at all. Mostly running in open prairie, on gravel roads or that long run across the dam. Speaking of the dam, I made it up the second time! Mile 18 and we had a really steep climb! Hey! Maybe this is why they call it Storm the Dam? Though I can assure you there was no storming as far as I was concerned. As we were going across the Dam I thought we had switched to running 2/2. Then Jason said something about switching to that at mile 20. I'm thinking "hmm. Weird. I thought that's what we were doing." I didn't say anything, kept going. He was keeping time by the way. He just told me what do do all day and I did it. Right before mile 20 he mentioned going to 2/2 again. I asked what we had been doing. We had still been doing 3/2. No wonder those 2 minutes seemed sooo long! I wanted to keep doing 3/2 as long as I could, so we decided to keep doing that.
We had been playing cat and mouse with a guy and finally got ahead of him for the final time at the end of the dam. Yay! At the aid station at the bottom of the dam we asked for ice again. No go. Warm water it is! If I have a complaint about the race this is it. When you are running in the sun for hours and it's pushing 80 degrees cool water is important. We asked at every station after that and none of them had ice. Anyway, back into the prairie. I started feeling really good through here. At one point I even decided to run 4 minutes instead of the three. Yeah, reading that makes me feel like a wimp. Whatever. It was a big deal at the time! We came out of the prairie, onto the road, and then came to the next aid station. Refilled bottles, drank gatorade, at pretzels. They pretzels really seemed to be working for me.
When we crossed the road we started running north. The wind had really picked up and was out of the south. This just crushed my spirit. I was done. I started getting upset and whiny. Not too far into this crap and we dropped to 2/2 intervals. A couple of times we walked an extra minute. Jason seemed to be doing great, so don't think he needed the breaks. It was all me. One time I asked if I had to run. He said yes. I asked what if I cried, would he let me walk then? He let me walk :) Finally we got to the last station and knew we were almost done. I kept going. The last part of the race has some more single track and I was happy to get back in the woods and on the kind of trail I like. Very close to the end we got to a place where we had done a little loop in the first half and people were standing there pointing us away from it. We asked if we had to run it and they said no. Yay! They had evidentally realized how much extra mileage it was adding and they didn't make us run it. Hallelujah. That meant we were on the blacktop in the home stretch! We were maybe a tenth of a mile from the end when pain shot through my foot. The blister popped! Oh, the pain. I kept going though. Limping.
Coming in the home stretch
We're done!!
The race photographer told us to make muscle arms, so we did. I fear it looks a little like we were too tired to hold our arms all the way up!
Jason and I after we got our medals. I was so happy!
Sitting in my chair, finally!
So, that's the overly long story of my first marathon. I could have at least doubled this, but I was trying to make it less than a novel.
What's next you ask? FlatRock. After that? We'll just have to see.
Rick and I stayed in El Dorado Friday night because the race started at 6:00 am. Yes, that's right. 6:00. A.M. I got up at 4:00 because we needed to leave around 5:00 to find the race, get a parking spot, get everything ready, etc. I think we actually left around 5:10, but still had plenty of time. We got there, finally found the start finish area (it was dark. I think there were signs but you couldn't see them) and waited for Jason and his daughter Carina to arrive. When they got there we talked to them, met a bunch of their friends from Wichita, and took a few pics. My friend Joanna arrived and we talked for a minute and took a pic. She was doing the half marathon (her first!!) but came an hour early to see me start.
Rick and I before the race. Isn't he a good man to get up that early and come hang out at a race for 7 hours waiting for me? He's pretty fantastic. Oh, and by the way, he ran the 5K and did a great job! I was so proud of him.
Joanna and I
And we're off! We started out on some pavement and then ran through some grass, then onto some dirt/gravel farm roads on private property. The first few miles went by fine. We were doing 4 minutes of running, 1 minute of walking. It was working nicely. The plan was to eat something every 30 minutes to keep our energy up. That was working ok at this point. We went on past the first aid station because we both had everything we needed as we had handhelds. Eventually we got onto some nice single track. I loved it! Running through the woods is my happy place. I was loving life. At the second aid station, probably near the 5 mile mark, I downed a whole cup of gatorade. This turned out to be a fatal error. My stomach immediately got angry. I also consumed some more chews at that point, so I just felt full and sloshy. Not good. We had some more single track that was mostly downhill, then popped out of the woods. Oh look! The dam! Wait. There's a mowed path up it. Straight up. It's steep and long. Is it too late to back out? Yes? Ok. Onward and upward!
We finally got to the top of the dam and started running across. It went on and on and on. My stomach was ok for a bit but I still just felt incredibly full. The next time it was time for fuel I only ate about half the chews I normally would. Besides the food being an issue, we also hit a part of the dam with big rocks that just tore us up. It was exhausting.
Going across the dam
Finally we were off the dam and at the next aid station. We refilled bottles and I grabbed a couple of grapes thinking real food might help. It might have if I would have had more than one. They were sour and dried my mouth completely. No thanks! At this time we entered a horse trail. Basically it's a prairie with a path mowed through. It was kind of tough because it was uneven, but due to the grass you couldn't really see the holes. I still felt pretty good here. We came out of the prairie onto some gravel road for maybe half a mile or so, then hit the next aid station. After that, more prairie. We went uphill for a while and at this point my stomach was very unhappy. I was really struggling. I knew it would pass, but still whined. Jason kept reminding me to just stay calm, breathe, and run. It would go away. It did and I felt great again. At this point I also knew I'd see Rick soon because we ran two loops and he would be at the halfway point. I did well the next few miles.
When we got to what we thought was half a mile left we decided forget the intervals and just run. We ran, and ran, and ran. There's the 13 mile sign so we're almost done! Wait, where is the end of the loop? Are we lost? Why are we still running? And running. Our watch passed 13.1 a while ago. It turns out, the half marathon loop was almost 14 miles. For some reason this pissed me off beyond belief. I'm already running 26.2 miles and you're going to add over a mile by the time we do both loops? No bueno! It just ruined me mentally. We finally got to the start finish and Rick and Carina gave us everything we needed for the second loop. I did not want to go back out. At all. Quitting was not an option for me though. After we left the turnaround I told Jason I needed to apologize to Rick because I was really bossy and just told him what to do and didn't even thank him.
Helping us get ready for another loop
After we left the start/finish my stomach was rebelling and threatening to do a volcano move. I just kept going and stopped eating. Jason suggested I switch to eating every hour and see if that helped. It did! Another issue right after the halfway point was that a blister was forming right between the last two toes on my right foot. At first I thought maybe my sock was just bunched up so I took off my shoe to check. Nope. A blister. It bugged me the whole time! Eventually I started stepping differently because it hurt and that started affecting other areas. Fun! I was also a lot more tired on this loop so we started doing 3/2 intervals. We hoped to keep that up as long as we could. Jason told me no matter what we were not walking more than 2 minutes at a time. It was getting much warmer and we were draining more water so we filled up at the first station. I also ate some pretzels here and my stomach was ok with that. Whew! Running, running. Whining. Walking. Whining. That became the theme of this loop. Also, dreading the dam. DREADING IT. Have I mentioned we were in last place? We were.
When we got to the second station we asked for ice and thankfully they had some. The first half of the course the water wasn't cold, but was ok. The second half it was warm. It was also getting warm outside and there was very little relief from the heat. We didn't see much shade at all. Mostly running in open prairie, on gravel roads or that long run across the dam. Speaking of the dam, I made it up the second time! Mile 18 and we had a really steep climb! Hey! Maybe this is why they call it Storm the Dam? Though I can assure you there was no storming as far as I was concerned. As we were going across the Dam I thought we had switched to running 2/2. Then Jason said something about switching to that at mile 20. I'm thinking "hmm. Weird. I thought that's what we were doing." I didn't say anything, kept going. He was keeping time by the way. He just told me what do do all day and I did it. Right before mile 20 he mentioned going to 2/2 again. I asked what we had been doing. We had still been doing 3/2. No wonder those 2 minutes seemed sooo long! I wanted to keep doing 3/2 as long as I could, so we decided to keep doing that.
We had been playing cat and mouse with a guy and finally got ahead of him for the final time at the end of the dam. Yay! At the aid station at the bottom of the dam we asked for ice again. No go. Warm water it is! If I have a complaint about the race this is it. When you are running in the sun for hours and it's pushing 80 degrees cool water is important. We asked at every station after that and none of them had ice. Anyway, back into the prairie. I started feeling really good through here. At one point I even decided to run 4 minutes instead of the three. Yeah, reading that makes me feel like a wimp. Whatever. It was a big deal at the time! We came out of the prairie, onto the road, and then came to the next aid station. Refilled bottles, drank gatorade, at pretzels. They pretzels really seemed to be working for me.
When we crossed the road we started running north. The wind had really picked up and was out of the south. This just crushed my spirit. I was done. I started getting upset and whiny. Not too far into this crap and we dropped to 2/2 intervals. A couple of times we walked an extra minute. Jason seemed to be doing great, so don't think he needed the breaks. It was all me. One time I asked if I had to run. He said yes. I asked what if I cried, would he let me walk then? He let me walk :) Finally we got to the last station and knew we were almost done. I kept going. The last part of the race has some more single track and I was happy to get back in the woods and on the kind of trail I like. Very close to the end we got to a place where we had done a little loop in the first half and people were standing there pointing us away from it. We asked if we had to run it and they said no. Yay! They had evidentally realized how much extra mileage it was adding and they didn't make us run it. Hallelujah. That meant we were on the blacktop in the home stretch! We were maybe a tenth of a mile from the end when pain shot through my foot. The blister popped! Oh, the pain. I kept going though. Limping.
Coming in the home stretch
We're done!!
Jason and I after we got our medals. I was so happy!
Sitting in my chair, finally!
So, that's the overly long story of my first marathon. I could have at least doubled this, but I was trying to make it less than a novel.
What's next you ask? FlatRock. After that? We'll just have to see.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Magical, Miraculous, Magnificent Porta Potties
Let me start by saying, normal people would probably never tell this story. They would hope no one ever found out. I'm clearly not normal because my first thought after this happened was that I have to blog about this. Before you read further, this is way TMI. I warned you. Don't blame me if you keep reading and wish you hadn't.
I was on my long run this morning enjoying life. I felt good, the weather was perfect, I was happy. All the stars aligned and my run was just about as good as it could be. Right before I got to mile 8 I had to go to the bathroom. Bad. I had to go off and on the first few miles, but it always passed. No big deal. Keep in mind, I ALWAYS carry toilet paper on a run. Always. Today I did not. My first though was "oh no. I'm going to have to call Rick to either bring me toilet paper, or just come get me and take me home to go." I kept going because I didn't want to do that. I really wanted to finish this run. I knew if he took me home it would be really hard to get back out there and finish. If he brought toilet paper it would be hard to not get in the truck and go home. So I kept running, hoping for the best. It didn't get better. Finally I decided I was just going to have go and sacrifice my underwear to wipe with. There was a car coming down the road so I thought I would do it after it passed. By the time it passed my stomach felt better. Whew! I can keep going.
I kept running and bit by bit I felt better. Thank goodness! I'm not going to have to do anything gross. I felt like if I could make it to mile 10 I would be happy to just call it a day. At mile 10 I felt pretty great, so I kept running. I got about half a mile and up ahead a saw soemthing blue with a white top. Is that a porta potty? Surely not. I'm way out in the middle of nowhere. No way. I kept running. OMG. I think that's actually a porta potty. Maybe I'm hallucinating. I mean, this is nuts. Run some more. Ok, that's a porta potty. I know I was praying for a bathroom but I'm fairly sure God has more things to worry about than my bathroom needs. I got to the porta potty and realized there had been an auction there yesterday. Ahh, that explains it! It's in a field, on the other side of a barbed wire fence. I have no problem crossing one, but thankfully there was a gate a little ways away. What's a little trespassing when you really have to go?
So I'm in the porta potty doing my thing. I heard a vehicle. I'm close to the road, so I assume it was going by. Huh. That vehicle is really loud. Do I hear voices? OMG. People are out there. Do I wait inside and hope they go away? What if it's the company that brought it coming to pick it up? They aren't leaving. A dog had been following me and it was scratching at the door, giving me away. This is horrible. I finally decided to just go out, apologize and hope they aren't too mad. I stepped out and there is a man and woman grinning from ear to ear. I said "I am really really sorry for trespassing. I've been running a long time and really needed the bathroom and it was here." They weren't mad, they thought it was hilarious. The lady said "I'm glad it was here for you!" Phew! I'm not getting shot, the cops aren't being called. Yes, this is embarrassing, but I don't know them and I feel so much better! I talked to them for a minute about the dog that was with me and ran off. As I'm running away I hear "Huh. Never would have expected to find someone in the porta potty this morning" followed by hysterical laughter. Yeah, it was probably the most embarrassing moment of my life, but I finished my run, so I can live with it.
For anyone that knows the microwave story, my husband said he can finally forgive me because I now know what it is like to be that embarrassed. Finally I'm forgiven!! If you don't know that story, ask me sometime. It's terrific.
Storm the Dam is less than a week away! Bring it.
~Mel
I was on my long run this morning enjoying life. I felt good, the weather was perfect, I was happy. All the stars aligned and my run was just about as good as it could be. Right before I got to mile 8 I had to go to the bathroom. Bad. I had to go off and on the first few miles, but it always passed. No big deal. Keep in mind, I ALWAYS carry toilet paper on a run. Always. Today I did not. My first though was "oh no. I'm going to have to call Rick to either bring me toilet paper, or just come get me and take me home to go." I kept going because I didn't want to do that. I really wanted to finish this run. I knew if he took me home it would be really hard to get back out there and finish. If he brought toilet paper it would be hard to not get in the truck and go home. So I kept running, hoping for the best. It didn't get better. Finally I decided I was just going to have go and sacrifice my underwear to wipe with. There was a car coming down the road so I thought I would do it after it passed. By the time it passed my stomach felt better. Whew! I can keep going.
I kept running and bit by bit I felt better. Thank goodness! I'm not going to have to do anything gross. I felt like if I could make it to mile 10 I would be happy to just call it a day. At mile 10 I felt pretty great, so I kept running. I got about half a mile and up ahead a saw soemthing blue with a white top. Is that a porta potty? Surely not. I'm way out in the middle of nowhere. No way. I kept running. OMG. I think that's actually a porta potty. Maybe I'm hallucinating. I mean, this is nuts. Run some more. Ok, that's a porta potty. I know I was praying for a bathroom but I'm fairly sure God has more things to worry about than my bathroom needs. I got to the porta potty and realized there had been an auction there yesterday. Ahh, that explains it! It's in a field, on the other side of a barbed wire fence. I have no problem crossing one, but thankfully there was a gate a little ways away. What's a little trespassing when you really have to go?
So I'm in the porta potty doing my thing. I heard a vehicle. I'm close to the road, so I assume it was going by. Huh. That vehicle is really loud. Do I hear voices? OMG. People are out there. Do I wait inside and hope they go away? What if it's the company that brought it coming to pick it up? They aren't leaving. A dog had been following me and it was scratching at the door, giving me away. This is horrible. I finally decided to just go out, apologize and hope they aren't too mad. I stepped out and there is a man and woman grinning from ear to ear. I said "I am really really sorry for trespassing. I've been running a long time and really needed the bathroom and it was here." They weren't mad, they thought it was hilarious. The lady said "I'm glad it was here for you!" Phew! I'm not getting shot, the cops aren't being called. Yes, this is embarrassing, but I don't know them and I feel so much better! I talked to them for a minute about the dog that was with me and ran off. As I'm running away I hear "Huh. Never would have expected to find someone in the porta potty this morning" followed by hysterical laughter. Yeah, it was probably the most embarrassing moment of my life, but I finished my run, so I can live with it.
For anyone that knows the microwave story, my husband said he can finally forgive me because I now know what it is like to be that embarrassed. Finally I'm forgiven!! If you don't know that story, ask me sometime. It's terrific.
Storm the Dam is less than a week away! Bring it.
~Mel
Monday, May 27, 2013
Curse You Flint Hills!!
Good news! I ran 18 miles yesterday, which is my longest run post-hysterectomy. Bad news: I ran those miles on a really tough route. If I were being honest, I'd say that's good because I finished and am stronger for having done it. I'm going to need a few more days of recovery before I really feel that way though. I mentioned in my last post that I met Jason Dinkel at FlatRock. He has been very encouraging and has been helping me stay motivated to run these last few weeks. We are doing the Storm the Dam marathon together in two weeks (not sure what I was thinking when I signed up for that!). Last week I was texting Jason and complaining that my trail would likely be flooded and I would have to do my long run on the road. He said I should come to Cassoday, KS and run 18 miles with him on the Heartland course. I get sick of running alone and wasn't looking forward to a run on the road, so I thought it sounded like a fabulous idea. I did no research about the course. I just knew it was a gravel road. I also knew it was in the Flint Hills, but that didn't really worry me.
As Sunday approached I kept an eye on the weather. It was supposed to be in the 80's and windy. Hmmm. I'm a wimp in the wind. Still, I went! I got up early and drove to Cassoday which is about 2 hours. When I got there we drove out to what would be our halfway point to stash a cooler with water and gatorade. Tony Clark is the RD for Heartland and he had told Jason we might encounter some bulls, so we thought we would have to drive further and do an out and back in the middle of the course. When we got to 9 miles we hadn't seen anything that worried us, so we left the cooler and drove back to the start/finish area. As we were driving out I could tell the wind was pretty strong, but I was determined. We started out going right into the wind on a little section of blacktop. Thankfully that didn't last long and we were on the dirt road.
The first 6 miles or so were pretty uneventful. We were doing run/walk intervals and I felt really good. I noticed there were a lot of hills but they seemed pretty gentle and I was happy to be out there. The wind was mostly blowing across us and we didn't have to run directly into it much. It was brutal when we did though. Eventually, rolling hills and 20 mph winds are going to take a toll though. Funny story here. The wind was so strong out of the south that it blew the sweat off whoever was on the south side of the road onto the person on the north side. It was really cloudy a few times and once I thought I felt it starting to rain. I said "Is it raining?" Ummm, nope. It's Jason's sweat hitting me. We switched sides because he felt bad so then I'm assuming my sweat was hitting him. Ahhh, the life of a runner.
I think it was about mile 7 that I started feeling the hills. They also got a little steeper at this point. By the time we got to the turnaround I was really feeling it. We drank a gatorade, refilled my pack and his bottles, and took off. UP A HILL. Really? We stashed the cooler at the bottom of a hill. We continued on and hadn't gone very far before my pack felt like it weighed 100 pounds. It was just killing me. We stopped and dumped some water and oh, the sweet relief!! Kept running, more hills. More wind. I was so bummed because I really wanted a good, strong run and all I felt was miserable. Thankfully Jason kept chatting and encouraging me. We still had 6 miles to go when I was just done. I wanted to cry because I was so disappointed with myself. I really felt like a complete running failure. This is the point in the run where I would normally call my wonderful husband and he would come rescue me. No chance of that here! That is really for the best though. I have to quit doing that.
You can see the Cassoday water tower off and on for a few miles at the end. It's torture! You know it's there and that's where you will end up, but I swear a few times it felt like we were moving away from it rather than toward it! We finally made it though. It felt so good to be finished. We walked a lot more than I wanted to and at the end I wasn't sure how I was going to manage 26.2 in a couple of weeks. I'm still not sure. I'll do it though. Race day helps a lot and hopefully the course will be a little less challenging. If not, at least I'm better prepared than I was before I did this training run.
Next stop: Storm the Dam Marathon!!
As Sunday approached I kept an eye on the weather. It was supposed to be in the 80's and windy. Hmmm. I'm a wimp in the wind. Still, I went! I got up early and drove to Cassoday which is about 2 hours. When I got there we drove out to what would be our halfway point to stash a cooler with water and gatorade. Tony Clark is the RD for Heartland and he had told Jason we might encounter some bulls, so we thought we would have to drive further and do an out and back in the middle of the course. When we got to 9 miles we hadn't seen anything that worried us, so we left the cooler and drove back to the start/finish area. As we were driving out I could tell the wind was pretty strong, but I was determined. We started out going right into the wind on a little section of blacktop. Thankfully that didn't last long and we were on the dirt road.
The first 6 miles or so were pretty uneventful. We were doing run/walk intervals and I felt really good. I noticed there were a lot of hills but they seemed pretty gentle and I was happy to be out there. The wind was mostly blowing across us and we didn't have to run directly into it much. It was brutal when we did though. Eventually, rolling hills and 20 mph winds are going to take a toll though. Funny story here. The wind was so strong out of the south that it blew the sweat off whoever was on the south side of the road onto the person on the north side. It was really cloudy a few times and once I thought I felt it starting to rain. I said "Is it raining?" Ummm, nope. It's Jason's sweat hitting me. We switched sides because he felt bad so then I'm assuming my sweat was hitting him. Ahhh, the life of a runner.
I think it was about mile 7 that I started feeling the hills. They also got a little steeper at this point. By the time we got to the turnaround I was really feeling it. We drank a gatorade, refilled my pack and his bottles, and took off. UP A HILL. Really? We stashed the cooler at the bottom of a hill. We continued on and hadn't gone very far before my pack felt like it weighed 100 pounds. It was just killing me. We stopped and dumped some water and oh, the sweet relief!! Kept running, more hills. More wind. I was so bummed because I really wanted a good, strong run and all I felt was miserable. Thankfully Jason kept chatting and encouraging me. We still had 6 miles to go when I was just done. I wanted to cry because I was so disappointed with myself. I really felt like a complete running failure. This is the point in the run where I would normally call my wonderful husband and he would come rescue me. No chance of that here! That is really for the best though. I have to quit doing that.
You can see the Cassoday water tower off and on for a few miles at the end. It's torture! You know it's there and that's where you will end up, but I swear a few times it felt like we were moving away from it rather than toward it! We finally made it though. It felt so good to be finished. We walked a lot more than I wanted to and at the end I wasn't sure how I was going to manage 26.2 in a couple of weeks. I'm still not sure. I'll do it though. Race day helps a lot and hopefully the course will be a little less challenging. If not, at least I'm better prepared than I was before I did this training run.
Next stop: Storm the Dam Marathon!!
Monday, April 29, 2013
Pacing at Flatrock 101K
This weekend was the first ever FlatRock 101K! Obviously I'm not in any shape to run it, but I wanted to volunteer. First, I could see some of my friends that I don't see often. Second, I think it's good to help out at a race when you can.Third, it's practically in my backyard, so why not? Friday night was the pre-race spaghetti dinner and though Eric (the RD) said I was more than welcome to go, I didn't think I would because not being in the race, I thought it would feel odd. Then a few of the runners commented on a pic I had posted on facebook of a water crossing on the course (more on that later!) and said I should come. Since they didn't think I would be intruding I decided to go. As Rick was out of town, I took the boys with me. We got there, ate, and waited for my friends Candi and Amber to arrive. In the meantime, Ken Childress arrived with his wife Dana. We visted for a bit. Candi and Amber came and we chatted, and then Epic Ultras Blogger Zach Adams came over and chatted with us. Ken said he didn't have a pacer for the race and I volunteered to pace him from Oak Ridge to the finish, which would be around 10 miles. I'm not far out from my surgery, but I knew we would be moving slow and I wanted to run that far that day anyway, so I thought I would give it a shot.
Saturday morning I got up and cleaned house. Started packing stuff we won't need in the next few months (have I mentioned moving? yuck) and fixed lunch for the boys. I decided to head out to the Oak Ridge station where Dana was working and see how everyone was doing. It was fun seeing the runners come through. They seemed to be doing pretty well at that point, but they still had a long day ahead of them. I checked on Candi's times in and out of that station and she was so fast! I was so excited for her. After awhile I decided I should quit neglecting my children and go home. Not long after that I found out Candi was about 5 miles from the turnaround for the second time (again, so fast!) and that Amber was at the highway waiting for her. Since that spot is about two miles from my house I thought I would go hang out with Amber and wait and get to see how Candi was doing at the turnaround. She was starting to get tired, but looked amazing.
Back home again and got the boys ready to spend the night with their grandparents. I went and dropped them off, came home and ate dinner. I then went out to Oak Ridge to hang out, help out and see how Ken was doing at that point. He had been pretty tired earlier in the day, so I told Dana I'd pace him all the way from the turnaround to the finish. For those that don't know, this would be a 25K. Ouch! I was excited though. I saw Ken at Oak Ridge and we told him I'd pace him from the highway. We talked about how long it would take him to get there so I would know when to be there waiting. I hung around a while longer and talked to Dana and Jason Dinkel and his daughter. Jason has promised to run the FlatRock 50K with me in the fall, which would be awesome. I'm slow and sometimes out there by myself for hours. Having someone with me would make a huge difference I think.
I got to the turnaround, got everything ready, and waited for Ken. Tony Clark (to get an idea of his awesomeness, check out this video) was working this station and I visited with him and the other guy (whose name I don't know) while waiting. I saw a couple of runners come in and they were definitely tired. Eric called Tony to check on things and told him he was sending a guy named Luke to sweep the course with the last person. I'm thinking: Crap. Who is this random guy that Eric is sending out here? I am going to have to spend several hours in the company of someone I've never met and who might very well be creepy and weird. And have I mentioned it will be the middle of the night in the woods? I'm thinking Ken isn't in good enough shape at that point to save me from someone, and I've sent my pepper spray with Amber during the day. Lovely. BTW, Luke, if you're reading this, sorry I had such mean thoughts about you! Luke arrived and seemed nice enough. Ken finally rolled in and we got him ready to hit the trail one last time. I think it was about 10:30 pm when we started.
It has rained and rained here and from being on the trail earlier in the week, I had a decent idea of what we were in for. Lots of mud and water crossings. Within half a mile I knew I needed to stop and tie my shoes tighter or I was going to lose one to the shoe sucking mud. We were mostly walking with a little of some zombie shuffling thrown in. We came to the first water drop and Luke said that he had agreed to break it down and carry it to Oak Ridge. Ok, maybe this guy is nuts! I couldn't let him carry it all alone, so I started out with one water jug and one milk crate, while he carried two jugs and one crate. I would like to pretend it weighed a lot and I'm really strong and awesome for carrying it, but that isn't really true. It was light. It still got really heavy after carrying it awhile. I switched hands off and on, then didn't think I could carry it anymore. I mean, I could, but we still had a long way to go and I'm not in good shape and I'm a wimp or something. I handed it over to Luke who is now carrying three jugs, two crates, the bungee cords and a bunch of flags. Ok, guilt washed over me at this point. He carried it all for a while until I couldn't handle the guilt anymore and took one jug back. Yeah, I'm nice. I still let him carry everything else.
I'm not sure what time we cruised into Oak Ridge, but I know I was glad to get rid of the extra weight. I had to go to the bathroom, which was lovely. I got as far away as I could and hid behind some trees. The world is your bathroom on a trail run. Too bad there are no actual bathrooms. I had some peanut m&m's and talked with someone about the food that would be at the finish. I was already hungry by then. We took off out of there with 10ish miles to go. Woohoo! We kept walking and talking and walking and talking. Earlier in the night Ken had told a story that was super creepy and I'm not gonna lie, I was freaked out a good portion of the first several miles. It was dark and scary in the woods. At some point I stopped being scared. Also, Luke turned out to be a very nice guy and was easy and fun to talk to. I suspect they both wished I would shut up, but if I didn't talk I was going to fall asleep. I started this thing a good hour or more past my bedtime. My back started hurting pretty bad but it's not like quitting somewhere along the way was an option. When we got to the next water drop Luke and I opened up all of the jugs of water to let them empty so that the person that was breaking down the station didn't have to. Ken went on, so we ran to catch up. It was so fun to run through the dark! It felt like we were going really fast, but we probably weren't.
Back to walking and talking and going through mud and streams. And more mud and more streams. Did I tell you guys it was muddy? Shoe sucking, slippery, sloppy mud. Everywhere. This trail is hard all the time. Add in night time, exhaustion, water and mud and you're in for a good time. Despite it being hard it was fun. My back was really killing me and with maybe a mile to the last aid station I asked the guys if they thought the last aid station would have ibuprofen. Ken thought so and Luke said he had some pain stuff if I wanted it. Because sure, taking medicine from someone you've never met seems like a great plan in the middle of the night when you're tired and in pain. I took it and it really helped. We FINALLY got to the last station. I tell you, between those two aid stations seems like the longest on the course every single time. I think we had 3.5 miles to go at this point. We weren't moving fast and it was getting colder outside so I was really chilled by then. And this is the understatement of the year, but my feet were wet. I started dreaming of warm, dry socks.
More walking, talking, shuffling with a little running thrown in. A couple more bathroom stops. We're almost there! I could feel the excitement building in Ken. I was excited for him. I was happy to have helped and was a little intimidated by him and Luke and their accomplishements.
Finally, the blacktop!! We turned our headlamps off as Ken thought it would be fun to sneak up on them. We started running. Wow, this road seems long! Still running. I swear I smiled the entire blacktop. We got to the finish and Ken had his moment of glory. I was sooo happy for him! I had my biscuits and gravy that I had been thinking about and we sat around and visited for a little bit. Dana took me back to my car, I took a bath and went to bed. I slept a little over two hours before the boys got home. Then we had to go to Iola for a couple of baseball games. Oh my goodness I was tired.
I really had a fabulous time. Ken and Luke, thanks for letting me hang with you and for telling me your stories and inspiring me to become a better runner. You guys are great!
Sorry for the really long post.
Edit to add some pics
Here I am at Oak Ridge with Dana, Jason and his daughter Carina.
Happy running everyone!!
~Mel
Saturday morning I got up and cleaned house. Started packing stuff we won't need in the next few months (have I mentioned moving? yuck) and fixed lunch for the boys. I decided to head out to the Oak Ridge station where Dana was working and see how everyone was doing. It was fun seeing the runners come through. They seemed to be doing pretty well at that point, but they still had a long day ahead of them. I checked on Candi's times in and out of that station and she was so fast! I was so excited for her. After awhile I decided I should quit neglecting my children and go home. Not long after that I found out Candi was about 5 miles from the turnaround for the second time (again, so fast!) and that Amber was at the highway waiting for her. Since that spot is about two miles from my house I thought I would go hang out with Amber and wait and get to see how Candi was doing at the turnaround. She was starting to get tired, but looked amazing.
Back home again and got the boys ready to spend the night with their grandparents. I went and dropped them off, came home and ate dinner. I then went out to Oak Ridge to hang out, help out and see how Ken was doing at that point. He had been pretty tired earlier in the day, so I told Dana I'd pace him all the way from the turnaround to the finish. For those that don't know, this would be a 25K. Ouch! I was excited though. I saw Ken at Oak Ridge and we told him I'd pace him from the highway. We talked about how long it would take him to get there so I would know when to be there waiting. I hung around a while longer and talked to Dana and Jason Dinkel and his daughter. Jason has promised to run the FlatRock 50K with me in the fall, which would be awesome. I'm slow and sometimes out there by myself for hours. Having someone with me would make a huge difference I think.
I got to the turnaround, got everything ready, and waited for Ken. Tony Clark (to get an idea of his awesomeness, check out this video) was working this station and I visited with him and the other guy (whose name I don't know) while waiting. I saw a couple of runners come in and they were definitely tired. Eric called Tony to check on things and told him he was sending a guy named Luke to sweep the course with the last person. I'm thinking: Crap. Who is this random guy that Eric is sending out here? I am going to have to spend several hours in the company of someone I've never met and who might very well be creepy and weird. And have I mentioned it will be the middle of the night in the woods? I'm thinking Ken isn't in good enough shape at that point to save me from someone, and I've sent my pepper spray with Amber during the day. Lovely. BTW, Luke, if you're reading this, sorry I had such mean thoughts about you! Luke arrived and seemed nice enough. Ken finally rolled in and we got him ready to hit the trail one last time. I think it was about 10:30 pm when we started.
It has rained and rained here and from being on the trail earlier in the week, I had a decent idea of what we were in for. Lots of mud and water crossings. Within half a mile I knew I needed to stop and tie my shoes tighter or I was going to lose one to the shoe sucking mud. We were mostly walking with a little of some zombie shuffling thrown in. We came to the first water drop and Luke said that he had agreed to break it down and carry it to Oak Ridge. Ok, maybe this guy is nuts! I couldn't let him carry it all alone, so I started out with one water jug and one milk crate, while he carried two jugs and one crate. I would like to pretend it weighed a lot and I'm really strong and awesome for carrying it, but that isn't really true. It was light. It still got really heavy after carrying it awhile. I switched hands off and on, then didn't think I could carry it anymore. I mean, I could, but we still had a long way to go and I'm not in good shape and I'm a wimp or something. I handed it over to Luke who is now carrying three jugs, two crates, the bungee cords and a bunch of flags. Ok, guilt washed over me at this point. He carried it all for a while until I couldn't handle the guilt anymore and took one jug back. Yeah, I'm nice. I still let him carry everything else.
I'm not sure what time we cruised into Oak Ridge, but I know I was glad to get rid of the extra weight. I had to go to the bathroom, which was lovely. I got as far away as I could and hid behind some trees. The world is your bathroom on a trail run. Too bad there are no actual bathrooms. I had some peanut m&m's and talked with someone about the food that would be at the finish. I was already hungry by then. We took off out of there with 10ish miles to go. Woohoo! We kept walking and talking and walking and talking. Earlier in the night Ken had told a story that was super creepy and I'm not gonna lie, I was freaked out a good portion of the first several miles. It was dark and scary in the woods. At some point I stopped being scared. Also, Luke turned out to be a very nice guy and was easy and fun to talk to. I suspect they both wished I would shut up, but if I didn't talk I was going to fall asleep. I started this thing a good hour or more past my bedtime. My back started hurting pretty bad but it's not like quitting somewhere along the way was an option. When we got to the next water drop Luke and I opened up all of the jugs of water to let them empty so that the person that was breaking down the station didn't have to. Ken went on, so we ran to catch up. It was so fun to run through the dark! It felt like we were going really fast, but we probably weren't.
Back to walking and talking and going through mud and streams. And more mud and more streams. Did I tell you guys it was muddy? Shoe sucking, slippery, sloppy mud. Everywhere. This trail is hard all the time. Add in night time, exhaustion, water and mud and you're in for a good time. Despite it being hard it was fun. My back was really killing me and with maybe a mile to the last aid station I asked the guys if they thought the last aid station would have ibuprofen. Ken thought so and Luke said he had some pain stuff if I wanted it. Because sure, taking medicine from someone you've never met seems like a great plan in the middle of the night when you're tired and in pain. I took it and it really helped. We FINALLY got to the last station. I tell you, between those two aid stations seems like the longest on the course every single time. I think we had 3.5 miles to go at this point. We weren't moving fast and it was getting colder outside so I was really chilled by then. And this is the understatement of the year, but my feet were wet. I started dreaming of warm, dry socks.
More walking, talking, shuffling with a little running thrown in. A couple more bathroom stops. We're almost there! I could feel the excitement building in Ken. I was excited for him. I was happy to have helped and was a little intimidated by him and Luke and their accomplishements.
Finally, the blacktop!! We turned our headlamps off as Ken thought it would be fun to sneak up on them. We started running. Wow, this road seems long! Still running. I swear I smiled the entire blacktop. We got to the finish and Ken had his moment of glory. I was sooo happy for him! I had my biscuits and gravy that I had been thinking about and we sat around and visited for a little bit. Dana took me back to my car, I took a bath and went to bed. I slept a little over two hours before the boys got home. Then we had to go to Iola for a couple of baseball games. Oh my goodness I was tired.
I really had a fabulous time. Ken and Luke, thanks for letting me hang with you and for telling me your stories and inspiring me to become a better runner. You guys are great!
Sorry for the really long post.
Edit to add some pics
Here I am at Oak Ridge with Dana, Jason and his daughter Carina.
Me and Ken at the bench 2 miles from the trailhead.
Happy running everyone!!
~Mel
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Still Alive
So.......I haven't blogged for a really long time. Really long. The last time I posted was about the 50k that I didn't finish. Lots has been going on since then, but not a lot of running.
On Feb. 28 I had a hysterectomy. Not sure what else to say about this, except my head was pretty messed up about it for a few weeks before, which had an effect on my running, and I definitely couldn't run after. I didn't particularly want to talk about it, so I just didn't post at all.
I've been back to running a little over a week. It's going pretty well. It's obviosly not as easy as it was before the surgery and I'm definitely not running as far, but I'm running, so I'll take it. The only race on my horizon right now is the FlatRock 50K in Septemember. I really wanted to have a great race there this year and not just finish it like I did last year. Maybe cut some time off. This long break may have ruined that for me though. Adding in some time I may need to take off this summer (more about that in a minute) and it looks like maybe another "just finish it" type of race. What will be will be I guess. I will bust my butt when I can and hope for the best. Is it too much to hope that we have a really mild summer? No super hot? Yeah, I thought it probably was.
In other huge news, for those of you that don't know, my husband got a new job and we are moving. I'm happy he got a new job and happy to move, but I suspect it will put a damper on my running at some point. I will just do what I can. I know last summer my training was horrible and I still finished. Maybe this year I won't skip a bunch of long runs in favor of sleeping in my air conditioned house :) If I still run as much as I can and only take off when I have to, I'm probably still doing better than I did last year.
I will try to post here more often. It helps keep me accountable! Tomorrow I'm running on the trail with someone and couldn't be more excited. It's always fun to run with others.
On Feb. 28 I had a hysterectomy. Not sure what else to say about this, except my head was pretty messed up about it for a few weeks before, which had an effect on my running, and I definitely couldn't run after. I didn't particularly want to talk about it, so I just didn't post at all.
I've been back to running a little over a week. It's going pretty well. It's obviosly not as easy as it was before the surgery and I'm definitely not running as far, but I'm running, so I'll take it. The only race on my horizon right now is the FlatRock 50K in Septemember. I really wanted to have a great race there this year and not just finish it like I did last year. Maybe cut some time off. This long break may have ruined that for me though. Adding in some time I may need to take off this summer (more about that in a minute) and it looks like maybe another "just finish it" type of race. What will be will be I guess. I will bust my butt when I can and hope for the best. Is it too much to hope that we have a really mild summer? No super hot? Yeah, I thought it probably was.
In other huge news, for those of you that don't know, my husband got a new job and we are moving. I'm happy he got a new job and happy to move, but I suspect it will put a damper on my running at some point. I will just do what I can. I know last summer my training was horrible and I still finished. Maybe this year I won't skip a bunch of long runs in favor of sleeping in my air conditioned house :) If I still run as much as I can and only take off when I have to, I'm probably still doing better than I did last year.
I will try to post here more often. It helps keep me accountable! Tomorrow I'm running on the trail with someone and couldn't be more excited. It's always fun to run with others.
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