Finding Motivation

I'm slowly rebuilding myself from my three months of apathy. I used some frustration today to push myself to a new 'long' run, a whopping 6.32 miles. While it would have been a short run just a few months ago, it is now the longest I've gone in 3 months. The good news is I feel fine and I even averaged a good (for me) pace.

I also found a new 'game' for passing time on the treadmill:

After every third song I increased the speed by 0.1MPH. I started at 6.1MPH and continued until I was at 6.8MPH. Then I was less than 5 minutes away from an hour so I just started mashing the up button. If I remember correctly I finished at 7.2MPH. I ended up with an average pace of 9:29 so I was pretty happy with that and I was never really bored because I was counting songs instead of miles or minutes. I think I'll keep this as a progression run game!

I took that moment of motivation and ran with it. I registered for the Lt. J.C. Stone 50k on March 22, 2014. I have 99 days to get myself back from 6 miles to 31. I feel like it's a very achievable goal and it has a sentimental value because this race was my first 'real' ultra (since the Rachel Carson is not billed as a race).

J.C. Stone 50k 2011

 

I haven't chosen a plan yet. I don't even know if I'll follow one. It will be hard to run long on the weekends that I have both girls. I'm guessing I will have to alternate long runs with tempos and hills on the weekends in between. Then there's the problem of the midweek longer run. My gym imposes a 30 minute time limit on equipment when they are busy. I usually feel like I'm getting weird looks after an hour even when there's fewer people. And with New Year Resolutioners just around the corner, I just don't see 10 milers happening during the week. It's going to be a challenge but it's one I'm looking forward to.

 

Hopefully this is what I needed to find the willpower I built over the 9 months of Burning River training! See you on the roads!

Glacier Ridge Trail 30k

My coach and I chose the GRT as my last long run before North Coast. I had pictures of a sunny day, a light breeze, and runnable trails in my head. My reality was somewhat different.

The weather was cool, drizzling on and off, and windy. I changed my outfit at the last minute (literally, I probably flashed half the field) to capris, a tee, and a jacket. I wished I had brought gloves but I hadn't thought I would need them after a week of 70+ degree weather.

I pulled into Moraine State Park right at 8am and collected my bag, shirt, bib, and chip. I threw the swag bag and shirt in my car and visited the restrooms. Then we lined up and off we went!

I was excited and happy at first. We were on the pavement for about 100 yards and then turned onto a crushed gravel path. It was easy running and I was holding back at just below 10 minutes per mile. People were blowing past me but I figured I would catch a good many of them later in the race. Then I hit the first mud pit and all my hopes for a good day flew right out the window.

Swag

 

For the next 9 miles I slipped and slid and walked and tried to gingerly pick my way around the above-the-ankle deep pits. Sometimes it was a quarter mile of mud, a small runnable section (like 100 feet), and then more mud. I gave up on picking my way around and just began sloshing through. My feet were freezing and felt weighted down. By the time I hit the turn-around at 10 miles I was wishing I had stayed in bed.

 

Elevation profile from the back of the shirt

 

After the turn-around the runners took a shortcut back to the trail we'd run out on. The short cut was in good shape and I began to hope that the return trip would be nicer than the out section, at least for awhile. My relief was short lived as the shortcut trail linked back to the main trail in less than a mile. It was back to mud and puddles.

 

I began to get really depressed and feel like this was never going to end. I ran Just A Short Run 30k in 3:07 just two weeks ago. Today I was only 13 miles in at that time. I was freezing, miserable, and probably surly. I just wanted to be DONE!

 

My shoes post-GRT

 

As I got closer to the beginning/finish and began to recognize landmarks I had passed on the way out I increased my pace but it didn't do much with having to walk every muddy hill. Finally I broke out onto the gravel path and then the blessed pavement and I was free! I crossed the line in 4:40 according to my Garmin. I collected my medal and quickly headed for my car to drive home shoe-less with the heat blasting!

 

medal

 

Official times and photos will probably take a few days since the 50k and 50 mile won't be finished until later so I will update when I have those! For now I'm just glad I survived!

Kicking off the New Year

I spent my first day of 2013 on the trails, in the snow. It was cold and it was slow going but it was awesome nonetheless! The crunch of fresh powder under my Altras and my warmest jacket over my new INKnBURN gear were just what I needed to feel like I was starting out on the right foot (pun intended).

I think I've made my goals for 2013 pretty obvious but for the sake of having them listed and quantifiable I want to put them here:

1. PR at every distance from 5k - 50 miles
2. This is a sub-part of #1: PR at the Shamrock Marathon
3. Run 80+ miles at the North Coast 24 Hour
4. Finish Burning River 100 Mile
5. Run my third leg of the Baker 50 Mile and complete my medal
6. Return to Oil Creek for a distance I haven't done there (either 50k or 100M)
7. Run at least 2013 kilometers in 2013 (1,250 miles)

These are my 'bare minimum' goals. These are things that I believe I can accomplish with my current training and history. I will refine these goals throughout the year and for most races I will have 'A', 'B', and 'C' goals. For example: Just finish, finish in X:XX time (time I will be happy with), and finish in Y:YY time (time I will be over the moon about). I try to make all of my goals attainable and reasonable but there's always outside forces. It may be snow or extreme heat or an injury, whatever.... It's important that I remember that just putting in the training and getting to the starting line is an accomplishment in itself. The rest is the icing on the proverbial cake.

So there's my 2013 goals in writing for all the world to see. So what's your goals? Have you made them quantifiable and attainable? Let's see them!

Haters Gonna Hate

Yesterday I ran the Hell Hath No Hurry 4 & 8 hour trail race. I ran it last year when it was just a 6 hour event. For some reason the race director decided to put some weird rules in place for the events. You had to finish a minimum of 25k to be considered a finisher in the 4 hour or 50k for the 8 hour. I thought it was odd to put a minimum distance on a timed race but figured I'd have no problem completing it anyway.

I arrived at the park an hour early to register. The 8 hour runners had already started and I said hello to a few I recognized as they came through. I talked with a few of the runners for the 4 hour event and soon enough we were lining up to get started. The race director, Peter, told us the rules (minimum 25k and you had to finish three 'big loops' before you could move onto the 1 mile loop) and then said a prayer and we were off.

Everybody seemed reluctant to take off so I took the lead. I knew that wasn't where I should be so I stepped off to the side about a half mile in and let the lead pack pass me. There were about 6 men and 2 women in the lead pack so I made it my goal to stay third woman until the end. I chugged along, running a comfortably hard pace and letting loose on the downhills. Halfway around the loop was a small table set up with water and Gatorade. I refilled my handheld with a mixture and moved on. There was nobody visible in front of or behind me and I mused about how I must run an awkward pace because I always seem to end up alone while others are in groups of twos or threes.

The elevation profile of the 'big loop'. It was supposed to be 5-ish miles.

I came to the last uphill of the big loop and saw the clock. One hour and twenty minutes had elapsed. I knew there was no way I was running an 8k loop that slowly so I asked one of the 8 hour runners what his Garmin was reading. He got 10k on the nose. Another runner told me he got 6.25 miles. I figured Peter had to know the loops were long. He assured me that I had nothing to worry about and I was running about average pace for most of the runners on the course.

I have to note that the aid station at the start finish was stocked with everything a runner could want. Gummy bears, pretzels, chips, ice, Gatorade, water, PB&J sandwiches, etc. I grabbed a handful of gummy bears and a couple pretzels after each loop while the volunteers filled my bottle with ice and water. This part of the race was outstanding.

I was moving into loop two in under two minutes from arriving at the aid station. I continued to go kamikaze on the downhills. On one steep section AWOLnation's 'Sail' came on and I pretended like I was Jeb Corliss flying over the mountains. I was having a blast and cruising along quite well. I ran every runnable section and fast-hiked the steep climbs. So I was even more worried when I finished the second loop with only 1:13 left in the race.

Another 4 hour runner was at the aid station when I got there and he asked if I planned to attempt the third loop in the time left. I replied that I guessed I had to and grabbed my gummy bears and took off. The other runner and I stuck together for a little while but I was fading as the temperature crept into the upper 80's and he left me after a bit. Just before the halfway water stop I caught a group of 8 hour runners. They took longer to refill their bottles than I did so I took the opportunity to pass someone for the second time in the race. (I passed a woman who was just walking one or two loops too.)

I made up my mind not to let them catch me and I pushed myself to grind down into low gear keep moving. I ran every somewhat level section and jogged every mild incline. I continued to speed hike steeper sections but my coordination was getting a little funky and I know it wasn't as quick or as graceful as the first two loops. Around what I judged to be 4 or 4.5 miles into the third loop I looked at my watch and saw it was 12:45PM. I had 15 minutes to finish the loop and I knew it wasn't going to happen.

I continued to push myself forward but the last steep climb saw the 8 hour runners catch me. I let them pass and then latched on to their group and finished strong. I made it back to the start/finish area in 4:18 with 30k under my belt. I sat down and drank some Gatorade and asked the guy I had run with on the third loop if he made it under 4 hours. He hadn't. I asked Peter if we were still going to be counted as finishers since the loop was 10k instead of 8k and we'd both put in the minimum 25k before 4 hours had elapsed. Peter said no and that we weren't the only ones, which I knew because I was never passed except by the 8 hour runners during the race. I pointed out that 25k was 2.5 loops and I had obviously done that much before 1PM but Peter's response was, "Sorry, I lied."

It was at that point that I gave up and left. For a race director to make a mockery of their own race by going back on their word and alienating all of the middle and back of the pack runners is disgusting to me. To say that you falsely advertised the 'minimum' distance required for the race is even worse. And to take $35 from all of those runners and let them run 4+ hours in the heat and sun for nothing, no t-shirt (cost extra), no goody bags, and no medal is completely rediculous. All I wanted was a finisher medal, which for this race is a handmade thing; a bunch of pieces of wire welded into the letters HHNH. I'm not asking for the moon here. I'm asking for what I earned and what the other runners just in front and just behind me earned too.

So to Peter and any race directors who feel this is okay, let me just say: NO! It's not okay. You make newer runners and slower runners feel unwelcome. You make experienced runners like myself begin to doubt themselves. You make our community of trail and ultra runners look snobby and idiotic. I for one will not take part in this again. I will welcome 5 minute milers and 15 minute milers alike and I will not let you make me feel bad for not being born with more raw talent.

So go ahead and hate but I know what I'm worth and I know I did what I was asked to do yesterday. I can hold my head high because I accomplished something. And now I'm going to go run, for free, with no one to tell me it's not far enough or fast enough.