Hell Hath No Hurry

I did this 6 hour trail race on a whim (no it's not my big secret!). I found out about it two days before and was still debating whether or not I would go the night before. I had run the Lisa Clay Styles Memorial 5k on Saturday pushing Ash in the stroller and I was a little sore in my back. I decided to set my alarm and if I got up then I would go.

My alarm went off at 3:30 AM and I shut it off but I couldn't go back to sleep. I almost felt guilty not getting up. So I nudged my husband and told him I still wanted to run. He said he didn't mind so off I went. I don't really remember getting dressed or eating but obviously I did.

I left around 4AM and drove the hour to the park where the race was being held. There were no exact directions to the start so I just drove around until a shaggy hippy looking guy drove by in the opposite direction and asked if I was looking for a race. Turns out it was Peter, the RD, so I followed him around as he put out the rest of the signs and then made his way to the start. Another vehicle joined our parade and we found our way down a dirt and cinder road to the dead end.

We helped Peter set up a table and canopy that would act as registration, aid, mileage tracking, etc. A few more people began arriving and we chatted and ate some donuts. I noticed there were few women and I wasn't sure if that was good or bad. We chatted and most of the runners had done many, many ultras. I got lots of good advice and insight on my upcoming fall ultras from people who have done them before.

Peter sent us on our way at 6AM almost on the dot. I got in the back of the line except for one guy who insisted on being behind me (turns out he had to pee and quickly passed me after a mile or two). I was directly behind another woman and we almost immediately started chatting. It was kind of hard on the muddy, rocky single track trail but we became quick friends and stuck together until she dropped out.

The first loop I was wondering if I would make 6 hours. I haven't done much of that kind of trail since I moved into our current house. I was constantly side stepping or leaping over mud puddles and trying to avoid roots, rocks and logs. There was a really steep muddy downhill that ended with two stream crossings. There was a short road portion and a few field crossings. The rest was forest and it left me with a good many scratches and whip marks from the foliage.

After the first 5.5 mile loop I grabbed some chips, gummy bears, and mountain dew (thought it was Gatorade!) and headed back out with my new friend. She told me she was going to stop after this loop and I was a little upset. I haen't enjoyed a conversation that much in a long time! I guess I was finally warmed up for the second loop because I didn't feel like I was working as hard and it seemed easier to avoid the puddles and obstacles.

At the end of the second loop my new friend decided she didn't want to ditch me yet so we headed out together for a third (and final for her) loop. We discussed everything from running to work to relationships and the loop flew by. It was on this loop that we were finally lapped by the leader. I really expected it to happen much sooner! The 5 mile (9AM start) racers started to catch us at this point too. One of the 5 mile racers is a local hasher and brought her dog along. She let him off leash and we spent half this loop with him at our heels. I was scared at first because he kept jumping on us from behind and then he calmed down and just hung out with us. I hope the owner got him because on the road portion I had to stop him from chasing a truck and getting smushed. After I took away his fun he would no longer stay with us and I didn't see him again. At the end of this loop I realized I had almost 2 hours to finish another big loop and then head for the smaller 1.6 mile loop to add as much mileage as I could.




I bid my farewells to my friend, refilled my bottle with Gatorade (the real stuff this time!) and headed back out. The fourth loop was really hard for me mentally. I felt great in the physical sense but I really missed the easy banter I'd been having with my friend and since I'd been following her the whole time I hadn't paid attention to the course. I had to pay close attention to the ribbons and be careful not to miss a turn. I almost got run over by a couple mountain bikers who didn't have the curtousy to yell before they were right behind me and I heard their bikes on my own. Luckily, I had foregone my iPod for this run.

I saw the leader again going the other way on the 1.6 mile loop and again when he decided he had time for a fifth big loop. I tried to stay with him but he was blazing and he was much braver in the slippery, sticky mud than I was. I lost him after about 3/4 of a mile. After that I was on my own until the last 1/2 mile or so. I enjoyed the scenery and the wildlife (2 deer, many chipmunks and squirrels, rabbits, crows, and something big crashing through the tall grass a few feet to my right). About a 1/2 mile from the end a man and a woman came tearing by me. I couldn't believe how fast they were going so I made up my mind to stick to them and see if I could finish this loop in time to do a 1.6 mile loop. On the last little bit, a BIG uphill along a powerline, to the finish they seemed to die. I was still feeling good so I asked to pass and ran the hill to the finish. I had 18 minutes left on the clock and I *might* have been able to get in a small loop in that time but I was happy enough with finshing 22 miles in 5:42.

Turns out the woman who passed me at the end was the one who took first place. She'd had the male pace her to get in one last big lap so she could overtake me. Guess that's why she was moving so fast! I was a little disappointed that I didn't get the award because it was a neat little handmade metal thing that had been welded together into the letters HHNH and Peter hand inscribed the 1st place male and females names and mileage on each. Very different!

The men's leader finished with 32.3 miles and the first woman with 27.5. The rest of the runners ranged from 11 miles up to 26.8. Overall I'm pretty pleased with my 22. I took second place and got a nice Mizuno shirt from the owner of the LRS. He told me pics would be up last night but they still aren't. I hope they go up soon because I look forward to seeing them for sure! We all chatted for a little while as we helped break down the tent and chairs. I scarfed down a PB&J before driving home and contemplating how much faster I would have to go to make 5 big loops next year!

Shameless Self Promotion

Sometimes it's healthy to toot your own horn so I thought I would give myself a pat on the back today instead of never feeling like my accomplishments are good enough. Today I set a new PR on the deadlift for 3 reps. Not only did I set the new PR but my trainers said my form is perfect! That excited me more than a new PR, which by the way is 65 pounds heavier than my old one. I also got my trainer to take a picture on what I thought would be the last set. Here's me deadlifting about my own body weight, 135 lbs.



But 135 wasn't my max! I went on to deadlift 145lbs 3 times, even after doing 8 sets of 3 before it. The coaches think my 1 rep max would be around 180-185 pounds right now. I can't wait to see if they're right and if I can break into the 200's before fall! Sweet!

So what was your accomplishment today?

Mission Impossible?

It's been awhile since I've posted (what else is new?) but that's because I'm working on something big, EPIC is probably even better (though overused). It's a top-secret mission only my husband and I know about but the clock is ticking down and planning is in the works for something incredible!

In the interim I've been working hard at CrossFit. I went from a 3 rep max of 75lbs on backsquat to a 3 rep max of 95lbs! I wanted to go for the triple digits but my trainer wouldn't let me. I guess a 20 pound PR will have to do for now! I'm also nailing kipping pull ups on almost every attempt so I've moved on to mastering double unders. Hopefully I'll achieve one soon! My WOD's would go so much faster if I could do this:


To top it off I'm aiming for my highest ever mileage this month. I'd really like to make it a 100 mile month. I know there's so many runners out there that are pushing 100 mile WEEKS but I have a life ya know! I've never broken 90 for a single month so that is my base goal! Only 29 miles to go and 10 days to do it.

So I'm off to do more online shopping and research and then maybe some running before bed! I've got goals to reach and missions to accomplish! Oh I can't wait to post about what I'm about to do but you'll just have to stay tuned in for that day!

I am a warrior!

I'm a little late getting this up but I was waiting for the amazing (and over priced!) photos to go up from the Warrior Dash in Logan, Ohio on June 4, 2011! My husband and I both took a stab at our first obstacle course race and both did pretty well (34:07 for him and 39:19 for me), coming out in the top 25% or so for our age groups. So on to the good stuff!

We made the four hour drive out to the race site in good time! Can I just say that I LOVE my new 2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara! It is a blast to drive and did pretty freakin' awesome on gas for a huge 6-cylinder sport wagon (averaged almost 22MPG)!

We ate Wendy's about an hour out from arrival but thankfully that not-so-bright idea didn't backfire on us! Thinking that signing up for the 2PM wave so we could drive there and home in the same day was another story!

Once in Logan we parked at some fairgrounds that looked like they were undergoing renovations. Thankfully they had buses running constantly to shuttle us from the parking to the race. The temperature was rising quickly and was close to 90*F by the time we checked our gear and did last minute potty stops. We found the starting line in time to watch the 1:30PM wave start with fanfare and flames!

We baked in the sun for another half hour and then it was our turn! Boy were those flames hot running underneath them! The first mile or so was all uphill. I wasn't brave enough to wear my Garmin so I don't know the exact distances or elevation gains but it was brutal trail. The 300 or so runners in my wave were all bottlenecked in and it was basically a nature hike. Not so warrior in my book! BOO!

Finally, we came to the first obstacle which was just tires swinging from ropes. According to the website the first obstacle was supposed to be Tornado Alley, a wind tunnel. Guess they wanted to surprise us? I dodged the tires pretty easily and managed to break away from some of the people slowing things down.

The next obstacle was an over-under. It was under barbed wire, over a wall, under more wire, over another wall, and under one more set of wire. I flew through that pretty easily as well. Thank you CrossFit! Next I believe was the lake! And that was HARD but mostly because I had 30 or 40 other people in front of me kicking me, splashing me, and dragging me down. Going over the four rolling logs in the lake was the easy part! For some reason the girl in front of me had on a rubber glove? Not sure if she had a broken hand or what but more power to her!

Next was the junk yard. Three sets of destroyed cars to climb over or through. I chose over to save time. Next was highstepping through tires which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I passed quite a few people who seemed afraid of the cars and tires.

Soon after was a crawl through mud under a black tarp. I was amazed at the number of people that refused this obstacle saying they would have a panic attack or whatever because it was dark and confined. It was advertised as part of the course so what gives with that? And if any of those people are ahead of me in the rankings I hope they feel ashamed! ;)

Finally nearing the end was a cargo net climb. I believe it was about 25-30 feet and a lot of people froze on this. I really didn't think it was that bad overall but I guess I'm not as afraid of heights as I think I am? I managed to pass a few more people here. Almost immediately after we made a sweeping right-hand turn and had to traverse several thin, angled planks. I really thought I was going to fall off and bust an ankle at a few points. Guess I need to do more balance work!

A VERY steep downhill run/slide/jump brought us to the last few obstacles. A wall you had to use a rope to climb up and a knee-high (thigh-high on me) creek we had to run down. I hit shin first into a rock sliding down the hill into the creek but the cool water soothed the burn almost instantly.

A quick pull up some ropes to get out of the creek and I could see the finish! However, there were two fire pits and a barb-wire covered mud pit to traverse first. I leaped the fire fairly easily and was happy that my skirt didn't catch fire! *Hint: Don't wear a running skirt to an obstacle run!*

The mud pit was fine at first. I slid in and got on hands and knees. It was relatively soupy at the start but got thicker and thicker as we went along until it was hard to move at all. Finally I clambered out the other side and made a dash for the finish where I happily collected my medal.

At the end there were guys with fire hoses to clean us off. It was refreshingly, shockingly cold but got the job done. However, my shoes, along with many others', were toast. Shane and I dropped our shoes in the growing pile and headed for the car. We even wore our warrior helmets the whole way home!

All in all it was a neat experience. Not sure if we'll do it again but it was definitely worth doing once!