Disney Vacay!

If you're wondering why my Baker recap took so long to post the answer is... DISNEY WORLD! It wasn't even the cliche joke when I told the race director I was celebrating my victory by going there. Immediately after the race Shane drove me to the airport where I spent the night with my girls, mother, and grandmother at a hotel before flying out early Sunday morning.

We only had three days so we made the most of it! Instead of giving you an entire overview of our vacation, I will just share some pics. Suffice it to say the girls had a blast and Ash did really well for her first flight and WDW visit!

Ash on a plane

Ariel and Prince Eric

Ariel dancing

Little artists at the Artist's Palette restaurant

Mommy and Ash on a carousel

Mommy and Ash kiss on the monorail

Ash at Planet Hollywood

Princess Ash

Long day

Castle

Dumbo ride

Epcot

Ariel's Grotto

waterfall

Tiger!

tiki man

Gigi and Ash on the train

Magic Kingdom

 

Amazing mahi mahi at the Coral Reef restaurant

monorail

Nemo

Nemo's friends

Planet Hollywood

Gemma at Planet Hollywood

Pooh!

Princess Tiana

My princesses

The UP! characters

 

 

And now I will return to our regularly scheduled programming.... :)

 

Half Baked

This was my third year and final leg of the Baker Trail Ultrachallenge. In 2011 I ran the North section and in 2012 I completed the Central section. This year I would face the toughest section, the South. The challenges of the southern end of the Baker Trail are not single track trail, rocks, roots, or bush whacking but pounding pavement and country roads for 30+ miles while baking in the sun on relentless climbs.

Elevation Profile

 

This section also features some tough obstacles right in the first 10 miles to help wear you out long before you ever touch the long stretches of pavement. At mile 4.1 there is a rope climb up a 40 foot sheer cliff face covered in loose shale. And at 7.4 miles there is a steep descent and ascent out of a hollow. This was a slide down on your backside and crawl out on your hands and knees type of valley!

The rope climb

 

I knew I probably shouldn't even line up for a 50 mile race just four weeks after my first 100 miler but I really wanted the final piece of my medal. I have reserved every August for the last three years to complete a leg of the Baker so I was really looking forward to finishing it for good.

 

Shane was running the last leg of the relay so he didn't need to arrive until Saturday afternoon. The 50 miler began at 6:30am and buses to the start left at 5:15am so I drove up alone the night before. I checked in and ate and hung out at the farm house just like last year. And I once again slept in my Jeep. All in all it wasn't a bad way to spend an evening.

A blurry pic of me with my friends, Tom and Jeff

 

After a restless night I awoke before my 4:30am alarm and began to dress. I had chosen my INKnBURN cherry blossom camisole and denim shorts along with my Altra Torins. Other than that I carried only a 20 ounce Ultimate Direction handheld. I wandered into the farm house for some coffee and socializing until it was time to load the buses.

 

Kim and I in the farm house

 

The bus ride was about an hour since the Baker is point to point. I chatted a bit and dozed a bit but really I just wanted to get started and get done. I wasn't nervous and I wasn't really excited either. It just felt like something I had to complete. I arrived at the starting line and found my friends, Allison and Patrick, who had paced me at Burning River 100. I knew Patrick would take off quickly but Allison and I decided to stick together with our friend, Brian, for the first several miles.

 

The gun went off about 15 minutes late and we all headed up a country road. Before long we were traversing single track trail and Jeep roads. Then we reached the line for the rope climb. As I was climbing I heard branches cracking and a curse from Brian. I yelled up to ask if he was okay and it turned out that he had surprised a deer at the top which almost ran him over in its rush to get away. Thankfully no animals or runners were harmed and we all continued on, laughing about the different scenarios that could arise from a runner on deer collision.

 

Somewhere on the way through the steep valleys and peaks of the hollows we all got separated. My legs were not responding well on the climbs and I felt like I couldn't really pound the descents like I usually do. I knew I was going slow but I promised myself I wouldn't stop unless I got pulled for missing a cutoff. I had been hoping for 11 hours but it was obvious early on that I wouldn't make it so I tried to keep pace with my previous year's splits.

 

Coming into an aid station

 

Somewhere around mile 10 a huge group of us followed some blazes down a path and then they suddenly stopped. We finally found our way back to where we had gone astray and it turned out someone had purposely blacked out the real blazes and laid a false trail. That was a new experience for me and added a lot of time and about a mile to my day.

 

I hit 21 miles in 5:23 and looked forward to the beginning of the road section that would take me to the finish line. Around this point I was at an aid station stuffing my face when Allison and Brian popped up behind me. They had gotten lost as well and added about two miles which put them just behind me. Brian had also twisted his ankle and was having trouble keeping up with Allison. After a few miles of running together Brian and I let Allison go and continued on together. For her first 50 miler on a tough course, Alli was really killing it!

Bridge on the course

 

Brian and I ran together, running and walking, chatting away. We slowly began to overtake people who had gone out too fast or who were having issues with the heat. As we reached the exposed road that we would follow for the next 20 miles to the finish it was easy to see that many runners were not acclimated to the conditions. Thankfully Brian and I both love to run in the heat and sun!

Take me home country road

 

We enjoyed wonderful views such as some goats taking a dump, an old folks home painted pink like Barbie's Malibu mansion, and a wiener dog that chased us down the road a ways. There were also lots of Amish horses and buggies, lifted trucks, and very large dogs chained outside of very small trailers. It was very obvious that we were in the deep countryside.

 

Allison at Barbie's Dream House

 

 

 

 

If memory serves me I reached the marathon point in roughly 7 hours. I was feeling fairly certain that I would be racing cutoffs for the 14 hour finish. But as Brian and I counted down the miles we began to pick up the pace. A couple runners joined us on the push to the finish. I had met Dave the night before and Murray recognized me from this blog! It was really neat to run with two new friends for awhile! Brian's friend, Tom, joined us as a pacer for the last 10 or so miles and we really began to push. A mile from the finish I saw Shane waiting at the top of a hill. We took off together with Brian and Tom at our heels. And, just like last year, runners were directed up and over a furrowed hill to a tractor lane rather than running down the driveway to the farm.

 

 

As I ran down the tractor lane I pushed as hard as I could. My Garmin was long dead by this point so I have no idea what my pace was but I'm pretty sure I would be proud. I crossed the line in 12:44:52 and was awarded my medal and my rolling pin. This was also the first time I negative split an ultra. First half in roughly 7 hours, second half in approximately 5:44!

 

After that it was time to eat before Shane and I headed to the airport for my girls' trip to Disney. No rest for the wicked in this house!

 

Crossing the finish line

Swag

 

I had to wait four entire days to get home and see my medal and rolling pin again. But now I have finally assembled the final product of three years of toil in the hot August sun!

All three years' medals prior to disassembly

Now all three medal pieces rest together on a marble rolling pin seated atop a wooden base. In about six weeks an inscribed plaque with all three years and my finish times will arrive to be affixed to the base. I have to say it feels really good to have this one checked off the bucket list!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ski Slope Scramble

I started my 'new job' two weeks ago only to be informed I was being laid off after 13 days. This put a squash on any racing plans I may have had for at least the next few weeks. I switched my focus to training instead of racing and began adding speed work to my schedule. Today called for a 10 mile long run.

The Greater Pittsburgh Road Runners Club came to the rescue with a $1 race like the one Shane and I hosted last week. I headed to Boyce Park after a late breakfast for the 10am run. I say run and not race because 5 runners showed up for all three distances, 2 miles, 5 miles, and 10 miles. We started out by walking up a ski slope to the start line. What a warm up!

walking up the slope

After a brief description of course markings we were off. Three runners were doing the 5 mile and one other plus myself planned on 10. We scrambled up and down the slopes and over the trails on the backside of the mountains. After two days of speed work this week, the last one being yesterday, my legs were protesting long before I hit the final brutal climb of the loop.

Ski Slope fun!

 

I made the not-so-fun decision to cut my run short but instead of finishing with just 5 miles I would tack on a tour of the 2 mile loop. I got some quick instructions since there would be no one else on that loop and headed out. The last two miles of my day went quickly and I saw lots of wildlife. Before I knew it I was making the final climb up the last ski slope again and I was done.

 

Trail

 

I stuck around to cheer the last two runners in, the 10 miler and the last 5 miler. Then I chatted with everyone for a bit before heading out. All in all, I'll take it. With the elevation change and tough trail sections I'm sure this was equivalent to a 10 miler. It took just as long! Now I get to taper and relax for 6 days heading into the Baker 50.

P&LE Express

Shane created this event as a 'low key' race with our local friends and some not-so-local runners. Thanks to the Greater Pittsburgh Road Runners and Miles of Smiles Timing Service he was able to put together a relatively inexpensive event with a few perks. There were 4 & 10 mile options, run concurrently, with a water stop at mile 2 and 8. We bought cookies, chips, and some candy on our grocery trip and added these to the finish table. Shane also ordered awards for the top 2 men and women in each race. The cost was $1 for GPRR members and $3 for non-members.

The alarms sounded at 4:30am and Shane and I were up to prepare for the event. He was picking up our timing volunteer while I set up the water stop. It was interesting to have to drive on the trail I run every day. I was surprised to see a single cyclist at 5:30 in the morning with his headlamp on. I put on my own headlamp and assembled the table, water dispenser, and cups. Then I set out a cooler full of popsicles in case it was hot. Two more volunteers would be arriving around start time to man the water stop. We couldn't have done it without them!

After the water stop was complete I returned to the start line two miles down the trail and assembled the table there. We had a bin full of ice and bottled water as well as food. Bib numbers were assigned in the order of arrival and I began to worry when there were only two runners at 6:45. I decided to take a quick warm up walk down the trail and when I returned I realized my worries were unfounded. There was a large group of several of our friends and a few new faces gathered around the table while more figures were materializing around the bend in the trail. All together we had 33 runners between both races.

Waiting to start

 

At 7:00 Shane gave a little speech telling everyone to come to our September race and where to turn around. With a simple, "3, 2, 1, Go" we were off. I stayed at the back of the pack with our friend, Scott, and we settled into an easy pace. I didn't wear my Garmin because I didn't want to push too hard on my first double digit run post-hundred. We passed a few people and were passed a couple times before everyone settled into their pace.

 

Scott and I finishing

 

The miles flew by and pretty soon we were at the turn around. On the way back a few more people passed us as they picked up the pace but Scott and I continued with our easy run. The miles went by even faster on our return trip and soon enough we could see the clock. I made a joke about sprinting it in and Scott took me seriously. He picked up his pace and I followed suit, just beating him to the line by 1 second! My official time was 1:36:56.

 

I found out Shane won the 4 mile in 31:17. Our friend, Jen, won for the women in 35:08. Our friend, Emery, won the 10 mile in 1:02:38 and newcomer (to our races), Danika, won for the women in 1:06:43. All total there were 10 4-mile finishers and 23 10-mile finishers. It was quite the turn out for our little race!

 

Afterwards it was just a matter of reversing my setup and cleaning up everything. It was made a little more challenging by the fact that it was a beautiful day and the trail was packed with cyclists and runners. The only snafu was that the fully charged timing clock began to inexplicably dim after about an hour until the numbers were unreadable. Shane didn't know the plug in my Jeep had to be turned on by a button and couldn't understand why the display wouldn't brighten back up. Once I finished and turned the plug on the clock righted itself and all was okay again. And we all got a good laugh out of Shane's frustration with my vehicle! Overall I think it all went pretty smoothly!

Why I INB

In the five years since I've started running I have learned a valuable lesson. It's fine to be a bargain shopper... but not when it comes to your athletic gear.

When I first started the Couch to 5k program I wore some craptastic shorts from the bargain basement and a cotton t-shirt. I would slap on the same socks I would wear for every other activity and the same shoes I wore to mow the lawn or walk the mall. I've never been a fashionista and that applied to my workout wear as well.

Then I graduated to half marathon training and, with the longer distances, came more discomfort. Chafing, blisters, sweat that just wouldn't dry, even nagging injuries. You name it, I had it. I realized that I had to invest in my gear so I could live this new, healthy lifestyle. I started with a real shoe fitting at the local running store and then I started paying attention to what other runners were wearing or talking about.

I'm not sure how I found INKnBURN to begin with but I'd guess it was a post on a running forum. I went to their site and found so many styles and colors that I really wanted to try. I decided to start with a Run or Die shirt and fell in love from there.

There are three very important factors in athletic wear: fit, function, and flattery. INB has all of this! Every article of clothing is designed to fit your body. Not hug it, not squeeze it, not hide it, just lay over it like a second skin. The function of the INB line is unbeatable. Want to run a 100 miler and never change your clothes? Do it in INKnBURN! Want to feel dry in humid weather? Do it in INKnBURN! And, as for flattering, the colors and styles speak for themselves. Who doesn't love to wear fun clothes?

Everything I do... I do in INKnBURN

 

I'm not even close to kidding when I say that you need to go to INKnBURN's website, register an account, and then use the code 'saratoldme' at checkout. It's not because I'm an ambassador. It's not because I was paid to say that (I wasn't!). It's seriously the best and coolest athletic gear ever made.You won't regret it!

 

 

I wouldn't own this much INKnBURN if it wasn't true!

I am Not an Athlete

When I started running just 5 short years ago I wanted to be lean and defined and 'athletic'. I wanted the body and the attitude that went with it. I assumed that once I completed the Couch to 5k program I would feel like an athlete and be well on my way to looking like one too.

Then I finished my first 5k in 29:59 and realized that I am not fast in any sense of the word. I didn't have an excuse for not being able to beat that mark for a long time. I wasn't overweight. I quit smoking. I followed training plans. But I was still slow.

After my first half marathon

 

I convinced myself that I must be a distance runner. You know, all slow twitch. So I set my sights on a half marathon and finished in 2:29. I was still slow and I still looked exactly the same. The pattern continued and I tried the marathon, the 50k, the 50 mile. And the results were the same. I finished in the back of the pack, sometimes even dead last.

Shane and I after my first ultra in 2009

 

Every distance I tried I succeeded in finishing but it was never good enough. When I failed at 100 miles it was a real shock. When I failed a second time I was doubly convinced that I must not be cut out for it. So I hired a coach and gave training my all and finally 'succeeded' on my third try. I thought for sure that NOW I would feel like an athlete.

 

Well, the truth is, I don't. I still finished at the back of the pack. I didn't do anything impressive. All I did was endure. That's all I've ever done; Hold on until the finish line is in sight and then heave myself across. I still don't look any different. I still don't feel any different.

 

I'm not saying running hasn't given me anything or changed my life. I am more confident because I feel more comfortable in my skin. But it's still the same skin. And I have made tons of great friends and travelled and gotten to experience many great things. But I'm still just me. I am still just average and I'm still scatter-brained and eccentric.

 

The Pretty Muddy experience

 

I don't know what it will take to convince me that I'm 'good enough'. Obviously, distance wasn't the answer. I'm not sure there IS an answer. Maybe that's the telltale sign of a competitor. Maybe I'm overly competitive. Maybe I'm just insane. In the end, all I know is that I still want to be better. The question now is what kind of better? And I think the answer is speed.

Boston Harvest 5k 2012

 

I want to consider myself fast. I want to take a podium spot because I ran a great race, not because the fast women were somewhere else that day. I want to be able to dream of Boston. I want to be in the front waves of my next marathon. I'm not sure how I'll get there or what it will take but I plan to find out. And I can only hope that the same initiative and drive that got me over 100 miles will push me to new race times as well. At least now I have a base to build on!

 

When did you feel like an athlete? What are your favorite speed workouts or training plans?