Rollin' In The Deep

This was the third time Shane and I decided to race the Runnin' Outta Our Mine 5k in Wampum, PA. There were some changes this year such as the course and scheduling. Usually the race is held in February because the mine is a constant 55* F and makes for a great winter run sans long sleeves and tights. It also used to begin inside the mine with only about 100 feet outside to the finish line. It also had somewhere around 45 sharp turns. This year it was held in August, started and ended outside the mine, and the number of switchbacks inside the mine were reduced. Also shirts were $10 extra on top of the $25 entry fee so we opted out.

Our niece, Gabby, is visiting from North Carolina so we dragged her along with us. We arrived at packet pickup around 8:30 and stood around chatting with our friends for quite some time. I got some congratulations on my Burning River finish which was both embarrassing and amusing. Mostly because most of the people around me either appeared in much better shape or completely befuddled as to what Burning River might actually be and why it mattered.

Before the race with LAPS members Darlene and Donna

 

The race began a little late around 9:05. It started with a fairly steep uphill that lasted a good bit. I didn't bother with GPS since we would be underground for the majority of the run.We ran into an open mine entrance and I was suddenly blind from leaving the bright August light. I am sure I slowed a bit until my eyes adjusted somewhat but I never felt like I could really see. I had no GPS to guide my pace and no idea what to expect one week post-100 miler so I went purely by effort. I'm guessing my endocrine system isn't fully recovered because I felt aerobically taxed long before my legs even said a peep.

 

I hit the first clock marking the end of the first mile around 8:10. A little slower than normal but not bad for an uphill start and running over gravel.

 

map of the course

 

The second mile I just tried to hold the same effort with a slight increase to adjust for fatigue. My breathing became a little more labored but I was still okay and passing people intermittantly. Every few hundred feet we would make another sharp bend and I would see the people either ahead of or behind me on the other side of a row of rock columns. Sometimes I would see Shane and sometimes I thought I saw Gabby but mostly I was focused on not tripping over a rock or pothole in the dark.

 

I passed the clock for the second mile around 16:20. Still holding strong!

 

The last mile I began purposely trying to push with whatever I had left. I passed more runners and a few passed me. As we approached the end I could feel the warmer air and the gravel floor turned to concrete and pavement. I tried to fend off the women that were overtaking me but I couldn't hold on. Most likely I'm not as recovered as I would like to be and I pushed too soon because I really wanted a chance at an age group award this year.

 

I cleared the entrance to the mine and crossed the timing mat at 25:11. Nowhere near a PR but I will take it!

 

After the race with more LAPS members

 

Shane finished in 21:54 for 33rd overall and 9th in his age group. Gabby finished in 35:32 and 10th in her age group. I finished in 25:11 for 87/294 and 5/25 in my age group so none of us were able to take home our chunk of mine rock this year. Overall it was still a good day and any chance to get Gabby through another 5k is a good one. Now we just have to try to find another one for Gabby before she leaves for home!

Gabby finishing the race

 

 

Surprise Improvements

This is the second year I've run the Jerry Maher Sr. Memorial 5k for Parkinson's Awareness. Last year I finished in 27:46. It's weird to think of that as a good time now.

This year I went into the race not remembering what I ran last year. I remembered the race and the course but I couldn't remember what I ran and I didn't really care. I have run about 40 miles so far this week and my legs are trashed. I'm four weeks out from Burning River 100 and all I can think about is tapering. So I hoped I'd pull a 25+ minute run out of my behind today. I would have been thrilled with 26-27 minutes too.

When we arrived I noticed every fast local runner was there. Heath, Emery, Dom, Rich, and Dana were all warming up and chatting around the starting area. I saw plenty of women that had that lean, hungry look that usually signifies speed that I didn't know by name as well. I figured I was well out of the awards at this point and just hoped I'd survive without walking.

Shane and I collected our bags and hung out in the car until 15 minutes before the 9am start. Then I did a quick warm up run up the road and back to see what my legs were going to give me today. I had an easy 9 minute mile pace on the uphill and no problem flashing 7's on the way back down so I decided to go out like I was actually racing and let my legs dictate the pace from there.

At the last minute, literally on the starting line, they announced that a tree had fallen on the course and a bridge was out so the course had been diverted and would be almost entirely new. I was a little ticked that this couldn't have been posted earlier, whether online or by sign at the race. I had definitely arrived early enough that I could have run the whole course as a warm up but I assumed I knew it already. Now I was flying blind.

After a couple false starts (no kidding, they actually pulled us back for that) we were finally off. The lead pack was gone in minutes and I was pretty much by myself. There was a group of young kids all around me and I kept waiting for them to die off but they never really did. Every time one fell off the back another one caught a second wind and took their place. I tried to ignore their uneven pacing and labored breathing and focus on running as evenly as I could. I figured even 7:50's would get me a PR but it was still a long shot.

Mile 1: 7:53

The second mile turned out to be a long, gradual uphill. I kept chugging along and hoping for it to end. And it finally did right as I hit mile 3.

Mile 2: 8:51

The third mile was pretty gentle and I picked up the pace. There were a few small out and backs with sharp turns to eat into my steady pace. By 2.5 I wanted nothing more than to stop and walk but there were some older guys urging on the young kids that were still hanging with me and I did not want to get beat by any of them. I started focusing on picking them off one at a time until the finish line was in sight.

Mile 3: 7:56

I didn't have much of a kick and just tried to hold on through the chute. I ended up with an official time of 24:40 for 43 overall and 2nd in my age group. Considering this was on dead legs and in 80 degree heat plus on a hilly course, I'll take it. If it weren't for that darned second mile of uphill I very well might have PR'ed. I can pretty much guarantee that, if I survive Burning River, my first 5k post-recovery is going to blow my previous times out of the water.

Back To Back Halves

Part 1: Fox Township
This weekend I was feeling frisky. Well, actually I was feeling fed up, anxious, and antsy thanks to a bout of shin pain that cut my weekly mileage short. Shane and I were already signed up for the Fox Township Bicentennial Half Marathon on Saturday so I just hoped I would survive without too much pain.

We woke up at 2:30 am on Saturday morning (no, that's not a typo) and left at 3:30 am to make the 3 hour drive to Elk County, passing such wonderful towns as Weedville and Lickingville. We made it just after 6:30 and picked up our packets and shirts. Our goody bags contained 3 Gatorades and 3 Gu flavors. Can't beat that for a $20 race!

Around 7:30 we were all herded onto school buses and taken to the start line (point to point course). Rumor has it that some people misunderstood and showed up at 8 for buses that were already gone!

 

During the 20-ish minute drive to the starting line Shane and I noticed that we were doing an awful lot of up and down. There is no elevation chart on the site and I don't feel like trying to find USGS data so you'll have to take my Garmin's word for it. However, the hills at the end felt much bigger than they look here!

 

 

We were dropped off in Big Springs on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere and shortly after we lined up at a spray painted line and a guy yelled 'Go'! My shins were already giving me grief from step one and I was starting to worry that I'd made the wrong decision in running the half. I tried to hold my pace down as people took off ahead of me. There were overweight men, old ladies, and young kids just leaving me in their dust and I wanted to cry.

 

The first couple miles I wanted to just quit but I was in the middle of the mountains and forest and I hated to miss another day of training with Burning River approaching so rapidly. My shin pain started to fade, however, which brightened my outlook considerably as I approached the turn around (we started on a side road, turned left onto the main road for a couple miles, and then turned around and ran up the main road for the rest of the race).

 

Miles 1-4: 9:49, 10:27, 11:17, 10:19

 

 

Around mile 5 I started to feel good and began to pick up the pace. I caught a couple stragglers and set my sights on the next few women in front of me. I would reel them in and then run next to them for awhile until I felt ready to go after the next one.

 

Miles 5-7: 9:41, 8:55, 8:29

 

Around mile 8 the woman I was running near suddenly stopped and told the man she was running with that she felt like she couldn't breathe. The heat was pretty oppressive by that point and she was wearing all black. I instantly lost all competitive spirit and stopped to walk with her and offered her my handheld. Thankfully it seemed to revive her and as we approached the mile 8 water stop she started to run again. We ended up running most of the next 4 miles together and she even took a picture of me while we were walking up a hill.

 

 

Miles 8-12: 10:59, 8:59, 12:41, 10:35

 

As we neared the finish line we left the countryside and began to run along residential lots. The houses all had a lot of acreage but the trees had been cleared meaning there was very little shade. The last 5k was tough with lots of rolling hills and temperatures nearing 90*F or more. Some nice folks set up beer stops in the last couple miles. I gladly drained my cup at both stops.

 

 

As I reached mile 12 I realized I wasn't doing too badly despite the heat and decided to see if I could get 2:10. I was trying to pace it just right and as I approached the last turn a woman told me I was less than half a mile from the finish. I must have lost GPS signal in the trees because I had figured I had about half or three quarters left. I kicked into gear and cruised into the finish, catching one more woman before I crossed the line. Official time: 2:11:32

 

Mile 13: 8:47

 

 

 

I ended up 54th overall and 2nd in my age group. We also won two door prizes, a bunch of Gatorade and a hat. Overall, I'm thrilled with my performance. The last time I ran a half this hilly I was almost 20 minutes slower and it about killed me. This time I could have kept going and kind of wanted to. Which lead me to Sunday.....

 

Part 2: Peace, Love, Run

I knew I wanted to do a long run Sunday and I preferred to do it with people rather than by myself. I've really had enough of running by myself at this point. So I set my alarm for 5:30am knowing there were two group runs or a half marathon within an hour drive. I surprised myself when my alarm went off and I rolled right out of bed.

 

I chickened out of the group runs knowing that I might not be able to keep up on dead legs and I didn't want to be lost in Pittsburgh. I decided to go for the Peace Love Run Half Marathon (advertised as 13.22 miles?) thinking I could run some trails or another loop of the lake after I finished. My aunt and uncle were both volunteering at the race so that added incentive too. I hustled out the door with only coffee in my hand and inwardly groaned when I noticed it was already 70*F at 6am.

 

I made it to North Park with little time to spare and ended up parking a little over a quarter mile from the registration table. I jogged in and registered quickly and then checked my race bag and shirt since I was out of time. Thankfully my aunt was working the bag check so that saved me time! I then lined up for the port-a-johns and made it out just as the mass migration to the starting line began.

 

I lined up farther back than I normally would and missed the fact that there were no starting mats, despite chip timing and a large number of entrants, so my Garmin splits are probably way off. As I started I wanted to see how close I could get to yesterday's time. I could feel the heat picking up by the minute and I worried how bad it would get on a course with much less shade than yesterday's half.

 

Miles 1-4: 9:38, 10:13, 9:44, 10:03

 

It didn't take me long to decide to back off the pace and just enjoy the run. I was running beside another woman and we were chatting about the heat and our recent races when I heard footsteps behind us. A cheery woman asked if we minded if she joined us and we assured her we didn't. She told me this was her first race (not first half, first RACE) and she'd started running in January. She had also lost an awesome amount of weight in that time. I instantly liked her so we stuck together.

 

Miles 5-8: 10:28, 10:11, 11:44, 11:40

 

Around mile 7 it was pretty obvious my new friend was hurting. She began to take more walk breaks and linger longer at water stops. She kept encouraging me to leave her but I really didn't care about time. I was more excited to see her first finish. It brought back so many memories of my first half marathon and I remembered clearly all the pain and doubt of those final miles. I encouraged her and tried to be patient without letting her go slower than necessary (I hope I wasn't too pushy).

 

Miles 9-12: 12:54, 12:02, 14:19, 13:15

 

Once we were less than a mile from the end I started to push her a little harder. I told her everyone on the course was hurting (I was hurting) and the best way to end the torture was to get to the finish line. I pushed the pace on our running sections and tried to walk a little faster when she needed a break. Even though it was obvious she was really suffering she took it like a champ and ran the last quarter mile non-stop.

 

Mile 13: 11:53

Last .22 (0.34 by Garmin): 9:45 pace

 

I crossed the line in 2:31:38 and she finished 2 seconds behind me. We collected medals and ice cold water bottles and then I gave her a high five. She really earned her medal and I had a blast helping (I hope) her do it!

 

 

My official finish results are 157/181 overall and 26/35 age group. It may be my slowest half time yet but I wouldn't trade it for anything! It was way more fun than any other half I've run so far.

 

 

 

 

Laurel Highlands Ultra Relay

A couple weeks ago my friends posted on Facebook that they were looking for a few more runners for the Laurel Highlands Ultra Relay. The Laurel Ultra is a 70.5 mile race on a wilderness trail with difficult footing, steep grades, logs, rocks, and mud. There are 8 aid stations along the course, four of which are checkpoints and relay exchanges. So of course I volunteered!

Friday night I drove out to Seven Springs and found the condo where our teams would be staying. We had ended up with enough people to form two teams. John, Kam, Alisa, Sunshine, and I were to make up Team 1. Mike, Steph, Kelly, Rob, and Michelle were to make up Team 2. Relay runners who were not currently running were going to volunteer at the 26 mile aid station.

When I arrived at the condo I found out that Michelle had not been able to make it. Some quick restructuring led to the decision that Mike would run leg 1 and 5 for their team. We also decided that I would be the transport person since I was the anchor runner for my team.

So after an awesome potluck dinner and some beers I hit the sack around 10PM. Mike and John woke me up around 4 or 4:30am and I dressed in my Altra tank, INKnBURN shorts, and Altra Torins. We headed out to drop off Mike's car at the first relay exchange point (mile 19.3) and then I drove them to the starting line. I picked up the bibs and shirts for the rest of our runners and then watched the 5:30am race start. I saw a couple friends and chatted for a bit before heading back to the condo. I picked up coffee on the way which was surprisingly okay for gas station brew.

The coffee did the trick and everyone was up and moving shortly after my return to the condo. Alisa and Sunshine loaded our van to set up the 26 mile aid station while I followed Kam and Steph to the second relay exchange point (32.3 miles) to leave their car and then drove them back to the first checkpoint to wait for John and Mike. Thankfully I got them there just in the knick of time! John crushed the first leg, finishing at about 10am. Mike wasn't far behind coming in around 10:30.

view from the road to Laurel Mountain summit

Leg 1 elevation profile

I rushed back to follow Kelly to the third exchange to leave her car and then drive her and Alisa to their starting point. Once again our runners were rocking and their relief didn't have to wait long. I drove back to the aid station where Mike asked if I would run two legs instead of one. I agreed and we decided Rob would run my 5th leg for Team 1 and I would run legs 4 and 5 for Team 2.

Leg 2 elevation profile

 

I was suddenly out of time now that there wasn't another leg between me and my run. I rushed to the exchange point and then helped patch up incoming solo runners until Kelly arrived. I grabbed two handhelds, one with Gatorade and one with water, and headed out to tackle leg 4.

 

A runner I helped out at mile 46

 

Leg 3 elevation profile

 

The trail is almost entirely single track and technical. I took one good tumble about a mile into my first leg. The runner behind me let out a little curse and hurried to make sure I was okay. It must have looked pretty epic but I was okay aside from some scrapes. I averaged right around a 13 minute mile and arrived at the last relay point in around 2:20. My team had dumped my bag at the checkpoint with a headlamp in it so I quickly stuffed my arm warmers and one handheld in the bag and took the light with me. I talked to Rob, who was waiting for Sunshine, quickly and then headed out again.

 

Scraped up

 

Leg 4 elevation profile

 

I once again maintained about a 13 minute per mile average until it started to get dark. As the shadows lengthened it became harder to see the rocks and I began twisting my ankles more and more. I let fear get the better of me because I'm not willing to get injured before Burning River 100 so I slowed to a walk. A couple times I tried to run again but I'd quickly slip or trip and decide it wasn't worth it. I averaged about a 19 minute mile over the last 4 miles.

 

Beautiful and brutal single track

 

Leg 5 elevation profile

 

I finally popped out at the finish line where I found Sunshine waiting for me. We ate some chili and chatted with other runners until Rob finished about 15 minutes later. All total I ran about 24.5 miles in 5:52. Sunshine drove Rob and I back to Rob's car at the last exchange point and then Rob drove me back to my car. I was a little sad to say goodbye to the last of my teammates but I was ready to go home.

 

Finding this on the back of my Jeep this morning did help though:

 

Overall, I'd say it was a good day. I had about 50+ miles on my legs going into this relay and I only expected to run about a half marathon. Being able to handle the unexpected bonus miles made me feel really good about my current fitness level. And I have to say my first relay experience has left me ready for more. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again!

 

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