Jason's Workout Blog

Ultramaratón Fuego Y Agua 2009 Race Report (50k)

2009-12-22T05:42:32Z

Pre-Race:

I had gotten to Nica a just over a week before the race. It was a good call, it gave me time to adjust to the heat and humidity there. One acclimation run, a good 6 miles of hiking on the volcano and some swimming were my pre-race activities. I had a brush with sickness that I wondered if I would ever recover from that lasted 24 hours, but then all was well. I felt ready for this race physically and, more importantly, mentally. I was excited about this race, and I never had any doubts as to if I could finish it. This race was a celebration of my good friend Andy's life. I drew lots of strength from that. I had said I thought it would take me 14 hours to do this thing, and if I could finish in less than that, I'd be happy. I actually thought that was a pretty big over estimation, but I learned that you cannot estimate the unknown. There was lots of that on this run. :-D

Race Day:

The race started at 4am. Yes, I hate early start times, but with the tropical sun and heat in this place, an early start is a *good* thing. The sun comes up nice and early, too so we didn't have to run a lot more than 1.5 hours in the dark. A local eatery near the race start had graciously offered to open with free banana bread (it was SO yummy) and coffee for the runners. Both items were very gratefully received. I had my electrolytes, gels, drop bags made & sent...I was ready. I had my morning Vega protein shake and some coffee and 2 pieces of banana bread. We stood around socializing and then before I knew it, it was time to get to the start line. Some fireworks sent us off into the night, and just up the road to a trail that we would run on for a while. It was a nice, wide trail that was so cushy and easy on the feet. (hey I'm used to the greenbelt!) It would be 17.4 km until the first aid station. I had plenty of water on me in the hydration pack. I ended up loving where each of the aid stations was on this course, they were put exactly where they needed to be!

After some time on the trail, we hit road and we'd run quite a ways in on the road to the first aid station. Warmup for me went well, I felt super strong. The main thing I had to remember was to stay hydrated and take electrolytes every 45 minutes without fail. Once I hit the road, I felt really good, and warmed up, and I picked up my pace and just let myself go what felt comfortably fast, but not pushing. I knew that the volcano was NOT going to be running, so I figured I could run maybe faster than I'd run in any other 50k early in the race. I hit the first aid station, and they had watermelon cut up. YUM. Watermelon is one of my favorite things EVAR when I am running. They also had HEED. Normally, I don't do the HEED, but it sounded strangely good to me. I downed a glass of HEED. I ate half a piece of watermelon and the HEED came up violently. This would be my lesson to just not touch HEED. No more. Period. I had more watermelon while they refilled my water. I felt good and kept on trucking. Very soon after this aid station, we turned off of the pavement back onto dirt road, which is really more like a rugged trail. What was cool about this was that you were running through little villages. VERY frequently you'd run by little Pulperias - places you could buy a cold soda, and often various types of snacks and even freshly-prepared foods. When I got to what I realized was one of the last areas with a Pulperia before the volcano, I stopped to get an ice-cold Coke before hitting the volcano. Oh MAN it was good. When I stepped out, I saw my friend John coming up the road, so we ran a good stretch of this together. We were on the part of the course that ran near Ojo de Agua (best swimming hole EVAR) and Playa Santo Domingo. The wind on this side of the lake is very brisk and it felt just LOVELY on this stretch. I could see Volcan Maderas getting ever closer.

On this stretch of road, I had many friendly people offer me a ride on their motorcycles or trucks. They thought it was strange I should want to run. Hah! Our course control guy, Elmer would check in every so often on his motorcycle to see if I needed more water, or electrolytes or gels. He made sure we didn't' miss any important turns on the course, and he did a great job of it. Before I knew it, we were turning off to El Porvenir. This would be the last aid station before the climb, and the only place I was going to leave a drop bag. Gabi was working this station, and I was so SO glad to see her. She was the ray of sunshine I needed to keep my head in the right place before this climb. She refilled my water while I gorged on more watermelon. She made a bowl for me and I pigged out and requested one more bowl, and she gleefully cut it up and gave me more. I knew that I needed a Vega protein shake at this point, and I really REALLY did not want it, but I drank one, and I was very *very* glad I did. I felt so much better and so strong on the climb. When I looked at my time, I was amazed to be 1.5 hours of where I honestly thought I would be on this run. Wow, if my climb went well, I might finish this way earlier than I thought I would! Cool. Since it was so much earlier, I put my light in my drop bag since I figured I would not need it. BAD IDEA. VERY BAD IDEA. more on this later. I made sure to restock my salt tabs & gels/fuel and I set on on the volcano. This part of the story gets its very own section.

The Volcano:

I started up this pretty, narrow path. Unfortunately, my camera battery gave me a happy battery sign just before the race, but was lying to me. After taking only a few pictures, the battery was chirping that it was dying. Argh. I didn't get very many race photos, as a result. No matter, this is something you just have to see. It's hard to even capture the scale of it with photos.

As I made my way up the volcano, I went through fields of beans which were being happily attended by workers who waved to me as I passed by. I started out on a pretty brisk hiking pace. I made sure to stay on top of my electrolytes. I was sweating so much, and it was only going to get more humid as I got into the rain forest. At one of last open areas on the volcano before you get to the rain forest, there were some cool benches put there with an awesome view. It was a good place to sit, have a drink, take salt/fuel and catch my breath a moment. Plus I got some nice pictures. After a moment or two there, I started up into the rain forest. Maderas stays shrouded in clouds a lot of the time. The canopy gives lots of sun protection, but ohhhhh man it's humid. Luckily it's not baking hot, but it's pretty darn humid. Things were starting to get lightly muddy. Hey, it's the rain forest, what do you expect? The higher I got, the muddier it got. The trail was gorgeous, but quite gnarly. This was easily the hardest trail I had ever seen. It had narrow areas with sheer drops off the side, big shelves that you had to lower yourself and use lots of upper body/core strength to maneuver yourself on. The further you go, the wetter & cooler it gets. The wind whips around pretty good as you go up, and if you're wet you can catch a chill, but I never stopped long enough to feel cold. The mud was unbelievable in the cloud forest. In the cloud forest, I doubt things have been dry..ever..or for at least hundreds of years. There was mud that was mid-calf deep to me. SO slippery. Luckily, mother nature provided you with lots of roots and limbs to latch on to.

I was grooving on the beauty of tree ferns, all sorts of delicious looking berries and exotic plants, and the sounds of howler monkeys & insects. Once you get into the cloud forest, it gets a lot quieter. I remember having the thought "if the insects, birds & monkeys have sense enough not to be up here, why the hell am I?" Every time I thought I was at the top, the trail would turn and there would be more climbing. My legs felt good, my fuel felt right. Physically I felt good, but this was mentally pretty tough. It was *dangerous* as hell. Truthfully, if I had known exactly what it was like, there is no way in HELL I would have even tried this. The environment, especially being something I had never experienced before and had no idea exactly what I was facing, was a HUGE challenge. It was also very tough being a guy my size on this course. There was a LOT of strange little stuff you had to maneuver through, and being 6'3" with broad shoulders made this particularly tough. Also, being big & tall on this mud made for VERY easy falling. I fell so SO much on this course.

Speaking of falling...on the way up: Once it was getting super muddy..I was on one of the narrow portions of the trail with a sheer drop to the left. (one so bad that it had caution tape) About 200 feet *before* this caution tape, I managed to slip in deep mud, fall flat on my back, and pivot head first over the edge of this trail, with nothing by my butt &legs keeping me on the trail. There was NOTHING but slick mud to grab onto. I could not get a hold of anything to pull myself up. It was time to do the very hard situp that probably saved my life. This was scary as hell, but it was also a HUGE adrenaline rush. I went on, making sure to use even more caution than normal. I chuckled at the irony of the caution tape when I got to it...leave it to me to need caution before anyone else does :P

I had never done a climb this long. 6 miles, you just go and go and go. It was so muddy. I was absolutely caked in mud from head to toe. I had fallen a ton, but I was just muddy and scratched, I was not hurt in the least. I finally got to what I realized was the descent into the crater. Okay, this was even harder than getting up. It was SO muddy, and steep. Part of it there was this rope-rail thing you could hold on to, but parts you just had to grab onto limbs, jump down into more slippery mud and just hope you would not turn your ankle as you went sliding a ways. The crater aid station guys could hear me and they were calling out. I was pretty glad to see this station. I still had about half of my water, but I was out of gels and needed something like crackers or cookies. I had GROSSLY under-estimated how long this would take me. I thought it would take about 3 hours to do this climb. It took me over 5 hours. I think I got to the crater lake just before 2pm. I was almost in a panic when I thought about what it was going to be like on this very VERY dark, dangerous and extremely difficult trail in the dark. It was a very real possibility if getting down took me long, and I had no light. One of the guys at the crater aid station had an extra head lamp he lent to me. The thought it might take me until 7pm to get to the finish. I had no idea, I just knew I didn't have time to linger at this aid station.

They were very helpful, refilled my water and I ate a package of cookies and couple of these yummy fruit-gelatin candy things at the aid station. I also took a few more gels. Getting out of this crater was SUCH a bitch. The way we took out was so SO much harder than the way we took in. There were parts were you had to climb through this odd labyrinth of tree branches and the only thing holding you up above sheer drops were strong grids of tangled braches and roots. Actually after you get out of the crater, you go a ways and get to this bit open spot, this is the highest point on the volcano. It was WAY up there, and the breeze felt nice, but you were up in the clouds and could not see the big view, unfortunately. From this point, the trail goes STRAIGHT down. For one hour, this trail just goes down, down down down. There is very little traversing. The mud makes this very steep trail one of the most challenging trips you will *ever* take. I only thought I knew what mud was before this run. HAH.

I felt good going down. I KNEW I this race was in the bag, I was going to finish this thing. I felt strong, and my legs felt great. My fuel/salt plan had stayed right on target and I had no stomach/gi issues, and felt focused an good. I did take a pretty nasty faceplant going down the volcano, and I fell VERY hard face down onto my right side, right on my ribs, where my little metal camera was stored in my vest pocket. It hurt SO much, but it mostly knocked the wind out of me. I remember making a horrible sound when it happened, but I got up again after a couple of seconds and kept going. I got a huge endorphin rush from the pain and I just used that to keep moving. About halfway down, I ran into Tracy & Brian, who had moved ahead of me a bit before the crater aid station. (they reached that station 45 minutes before I did!) I was making good time and I felt pretty good. Tracy had been turning her ankles in the mud a lot, and was taking is nice and slow at this point. It was very nice to talk to these folks, they were fellow texas runners and Brian is even a HCTR member who lives in the Brian/CS area. We were making a good pace at this point and I decided to stick with them and enjoy our trip down. We got to the point where there was no incline left, and the guide coming down behind us said it would be about 1 hour until we were done. It was pretty much flat from this point, but the trail was crazy rugged. We kept getting to breaks to where we could see the lake, and it seemed that we could touch it, SOOO close!

Tracy, Brian and another friend of theirs had come to do this race all together. They had even packed their drop bag in the same bag. Unfortunately, she was struck with a stomach bug for the race and wasn't able to make it a lot more than 15 miles. I had suggested that we all cross the line at the very same time in honor of their friend who could not be there. I thought this would be a lot more fun that just crossing the line by myself. Once we got about .5 mile from the end it was runnable, and I honestly really REALLY wanted to run. I was so damn glad to be done, and I could not *believe* I was going to finish this thing, and before dark!!! Tracy and Brian did not seem as enthusiastic about running it in, so we hiked the short way into the finish.

The finish was in a pretty place, but unfortunately the guy in charge of the finish area/aid station didn't do the most stellar job. As we rounded the corner we could not even tell where the line was. The aid station guy (who also owned the place) was asleep in a hammock. We asked where the finish was, and he groggily waved a clipboard and said "this is it just come into my office." The aid station had been closed, for the most part. There were hammer gels, and salt tablets sitting there but the fruit/food had been put away. There was some delicious homemade fruit puree/punch of some kind there that I had a glass of, but there was just enough for the last 3 of us coming in. I was SO hungry. I mean starving, ravenous. There was nothing to eat, unless of course you wanted to sit down and order food at his restaurant. Everyone was ready to go, and I did not want to make anyone wait on me to order food. (the shuttle had to have 4 people to leave). We did get to the finish just in time to watch the sunset over the lake, how awesome!!

I was hoping for a more eventful finish to the most challenging thing I had ever done in my life, but what the hell, it was a FINISH. I could not believe I had done this thing, and how good that I felt. I was scratched, bruised, muddy and VERY happy. I finished in 13hr 28 mins. It's a little less time than I thought it would take, but the volcano part took LOTS longer than I imagined.

Thoughts:

There were so many times on this volcano trail that, despite what a good friend of mine Josué is, I wanted to absolutely beat the thunder out of him. This was hard, folks. HARD. It was an adventure. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever done, because it taught me that you can do *so* much more than you think you can. I never would have imagined I could have done this if I had known what this trail was like because I would *not* have tried it. I am so glad that I did this.
You can run 18.6 miles, climb a volcano & go down into the crater, out of that and down again..and you can even do with with a broken rib & torn pec and never know it. Yup. That fall broke a rib and did some nasty muscular injury to my right pec, and I didn't even know it until I got home. It was pretty sore afterward, but it was worth it. The pain is my trophy :D

Just after this event I said, "I am glad I did this, but I would *never* do it again." You know, I have to say, after what I learned on that volcano...I would be crazy NOT to do it again. I will be back. There were runners in this who did Cascade Crest (finished it), Moab & lots of other crazy races, and ALL of them said " this is the hardest thing I have done in my life." I felt pretty proud of this finish. It was not in a time I would brag about, but it was an amazing experience that was truly life-changing in what it taught me about myself.

Folks, I really *really* encourage you to do this. It's beautiful, wonderful experience that will challenge you in a very unique way. It's impossible to really capture or describe it, you just have to *do* it. You will not be sorry that you did. (okay it might take a few days, but you won't be!!)

Dedication:

This run was dedicated to Andy. I could not stand that we lost him from this earth, and there was never even an obituary or service for him. He deserved to be honored and remembered. He would have loved this place. I had originally thought I'd leave him in the crater, but it was a cold, windy, gray and dank place. Andy would have HATED that particular 'place, but he would have loved this island with all of this heart. I decided to leave the ashes of Andy's photo in a place I thought he'd love so much. I left him at La Punta de Jesus Maria. It's a gorgeous little beach with a view of Volcan Concepcion. He will be there on that beach forever, basking in the tropical sun. I am remembering him now, and thanking him for the strength I felt from him as I did this run in his honor.

Thanks:

Thanks so much to my friends & family who offered me so much support for this event. Paula & Josué did a phenomenal job planning & hosting this race, which has super tricky logistics. (Try setting up aid stations up on TWO different volcanoes!!) My special thanks to the AMAZING crew who setup Maderas..I cannot imagine doing that trek with gallons of water and supplies strapped to my back. Thanks to all of the volunteers who offered their assistance and awesome race support. All of these things insured the recipe for success for this race for me and so many of the other runners who participated.

Disclaimer:

I didn't proofread this really closely, and I am sure I probably left some things out, but this was what stuck out. This event was just so amazing it felt hard for me to even do it justice with a mere blog entry.

other:

I will post a link with photos soon.

please send healing thoughts my way, I am *dying* to get back out there and run, but oh OH the pain as this rib/muscle heals.

That is all.

Tuesday 17 November 2009

2009-11-18T00:40:33Z

what: 6.5 mile dexterity workout
when: 4:45pm
where: BCGB
who: just me

time: 1hr 25 min

Before I write about this particular workout, I'd like to backtrack some:

Man, oh man, did that dinky 5k street run KILL my knees on Saturday. I mean...ouch. I haven't felt pain in my knees like that once since I trail ran. Oof. Perhaps I need to do a little street running in my training to make my knees a tad more resilient. My knees began to hurt on the trail run I was doing after that. Sunday they hurt so badly that there was no WAY I could run. Hmm.
Saturday, on my trail run I tripped and began to fall forward but very acrobatically caught myself with the same foot I had tripped on by kicking it way out in front. Oh. My. God. The pain in my hip was unbelievable. It was suuuuuuch an extreme stretch, but it was totally an accidental thing. (and sadly, nobody was there to see it. I am sure it looked very cool!) Anyhow . . . That is the same hip that I have had repeated, and I mean repeated, issues with in the past several months. This concerned me, and it was so extremely sore and painful that I ended up just going back to the truck and cutting the miles a bit short. It was a bit sore Sunday, too. Well, whatever I did in that accidental, acrobatic stretch has cured everything that was going on in that side of my body. Seriously! Even the hip flexor stuff on that same side. My core & pelvic girdle felt SO amazingly free and strong today on my run. It's the best I have felt running in *months*. Hurray! I healed my injury while trying to avoid another!

And so now we are at today: I did not want to get into coooold water crossings today, so I took a different route than I normally run from home. The one thing I did want to do today was try to run a technical route, and try to run it at a reasonable clip for how technical it was. I did a good job, and this particular route is one of the most technical that I know of on the greenbelt. I ran out my place down to the creek, then over to the back of Shan's, went up that into the fields and then took the trails that lead over to Shark Rock and then wrapped around until I got to Great Oak at the powerline, and turned around and came back. I really have grown to love this stretch of trail, and man. is. it. technical!! I had a good warmup, then by the time I got to the crunchy trails I was ready to rock it, and rock it I did.

There was even more water in the creek, especially down by where I live. The trail has a totally new energy with the creek like this, and I absolutely love it. It's almost like there is a lifeforce or energy in the water that nourishes me. The tranquil sound of moving water in the creek has its own therapeutic value that adds to what I already get from running and being out on the trails. The fall colors and sunsets reflecting into the water are spectacular. I just love being out there right now: it's a treat for the body, mind & spirit.

When I got to the turn around point, I decided I wanted to beat my time back, and I beat it pretty good! (it took me 45 minutes to go to the halfway mark, so I beat my time coming back by a good 5 minutes or so) I did, however, get distracted by this huuuuuge buck that had gone darting across the trail in front of me, and I took a mean fall and bonked my right forearm onto a rock pretty good. It hurt, but the wonderful endorphins of running fast kicked in quickly and I used that moment of pain to help me get right back into my pace and then the pain completely faded away. I love when that happens :D

This was the best workout I remember having in a long time. It was good on many levels, and I feel like I am back in my groove :D

Saturday 14 November 2009

2009-11-14T17:25:43Z

Double Run Day!

what: Hokahey 5k
where: Freescale (south)
when: 7:30am

distance: 3.1 miles
time: 31'44"

Dano's benefit run, a FUN time, a great run and a fun time with friends! :-D I wanted to cover at little more mileage today, so a few of us decided to meet at the Moonshadow trailhead for some trail running afterward.

So, we visited for a bit, saw the awards ceremony and then headed out for the part II of our run!

what: 5 mile trail run
where: Moonshadow (bcgb)
when: 9:45 am
who: Me, Layla, Alicia

Alicia had said she didn't want to go very far, and her foot was also bothering her some, so she and Layla turned to come back a tad before I did. My original intention was to cover 15 miles for this part II of the run, but my knees started to really bark at me shortly after the halfway point of this loop I ran, and then my right foot started to hurt SUPER badly at the tips of my toes. I decided to run back in to the truck, and come back home to take care of my feet & knees. I think the pavement and different shoes this morning (street shoes) sort of freaked my body out just a smidge :)

So, I'm going to reverse my plans, and to more miles tomorrow!

I covered a good 8 miles today ( the 5k, then 5 more miles) so I called that good enough. (although it's SO gorgeous out there, I might be tempted to go out again later! :-)

Tuesday 10 Nov 2009

2009-11-12T01:31:40Z

what: Tuesday Night Run
who: just me
when: 6:30pm
where: Spyglass Trailhead

distance: 4.5 miles
time: 55 mins

This ended up being a most bizarre run, but still a good one. It was my first time running since Cactus and the flu-from-hell I had last week, so I chose and easy-ish flat section that I like to run, and my original intention was a favorite 6 mile route (3 miles out and back).

The last time I ran out here was roughly 3 weeks ago and it was my last distance run before Cactus. I remember there being lots of water in places I had never seen water before then, but it was daylight, and I could see much more clearly exactly how deep/fast the water was and, more importantly, I could see where to step (like avoiding deep pits and pointy rocks, etc)

I was VERY surprised within the first half mile or so of trail. The place I have always, 100% of the time, taken since I started running on this trail was under water, and I"m not talking just a little, I'm saying probably 3 feet of it. Uh..WOW. note to self: zomg Barton Creek is really a creek...REALLY!

I had my favorite light with me, so it didn't take my scouting to find a way around this, but it was a place that you could not run, it was a moment of hiking. There would be many of these odd moments on the trail during this run. I got to a few puddles and merely ran through those, but then I started getting to areas that looked like little puddles that were actually: 1. ankle deep or deeper 2. very slippery and/or deep/shoe-stealing mud.

These were most unpleasant or impossible to run through and hard to identify w/o full daylight so I opted to avoid as many as possible. There were many places this was impossible, so I got the "mystery night mud&water" treatment...mmm!. Then, I got to "the big water crossing"...the one just about 2 miles in...and uh...wow it was really full, and I mean FULL. It was also moving pretty fast, I could hear the water rushing and my inner instincts told me it was a bad idea to do this: at night unable to see the best; holding a light in one hand and water bottle in the other (if you have to aim your light, you can't use your arms for balance/support in water crossing)

I didn't really want my run to be quite this short, so I did a little out and back on one section of trail before the crossing to add in just a tad more mileage before heading in. It was a surreal experience being on this trail that I an normally so familar with, and see it in such drastically different conditions. It was like an adventure in a whole new place :-D

I felt really strong and good on this run, and it was nice to be back out on the trail again! I'm going to have to get out for more daytime running this week and figure out what I'm going to do for routes, since some crossings seem to be so challenging now. I don't mind don't those in the day, but at night it's a very different story.

I'm mixed about this creek business. I know it's wonderful that the creek is full and needs to be full to be healthy and vital, but man it suuure does change the trail running game out there. Some crossings that I prefer and love to use are absolutely impassable right now or you have to literally swim..and I ...hate swimming, and running in soaking wet stuff on long run days is....oh the chafing. Looks like I'm going to have to come up with some serious alternate plans for long run training, beacause I"m landlocked in a pretty short section of the greenbelt via my direct trail access right now, too! However, it's just GORGEOUS down at the creek and on the greenbelt right now, so I'll take it. The fall colors, the rushing, cool water..it's just amazing. Please go and savor it, if you have not been, it's as lovely as you'll ever see it.

Things I enjoyed on this night run:

-the cool evening air!! (mmm!)

-there was something blooming that smelled soooo amazing

-the sight and sound of water in the creek! loved hearing rapids and falls!

-a sense of a totally new and different place that I had to find my way to navigate through in places with only my hand-held light.

-critters! I saw several bunnies and one adventurous cat from the nearby neighborhood.

Cactus Woes

2009-11-11T04:38:51Z

Well it took a while to get where I was even able or willing to write this race report, but the time has come. This was my Cactus Rose 2009 experience.

We were having lovely fall weather and luckily missed out on some rain in Bandera the days before the race. That course can be naaaaaasty in the mud. Anyhow, I got there, picked up my packet and got my camp setup. It was fun visiting with friends old & new, and I saw more folks when I went into town and had dinner with more friends.

The weather was a mixed blessing. The fact that there was likely not going to be grueling heat in the full sun in Bandera was nice. However, the cold snap had it getting QUITE cold, even colder than they had forecasted that evening. I came prepared to deal with the cold in all of my drop bags, and what I selected to start the race in ended up being adequate, with the exception of wishing I'd worn my gloves. I was very surprised when I reached out to unzip my tent and it was COVERED in heavy frost. Uh, wow, the forecasted low was 37. I had never had to start a race that began at 5am. I understand why they start this one at 5am, but I have to say that I am *not* at fan of a 5am start time. Having to get up absolutely no later than 3:30am just sucks. Starting time will be an enorrrrrrmous factor in future races for me.

Anyhow, the first thing I noticed when I woke up is that I was extreeeeeemely congested, and I just plain didn't feel that good. I equated this to sleeping a night out in the tent, and also it being cool. Honestly, I was very warm and comfy in my tent & sleeping bag and I wore something on my head to stay warm, but sometimes just breathing the cool air can bother me when I am not acclimated to it. I figured this was just a combination of allergies and early morning and that it would go away. I got up, had my breakfast and since I had made it a point to sleep in my running stuff, all I had to do was put on my shoes and my fuel vest and I was good to go!

It was sooooo cold. It was at least freezing because everything was covered in frost, and even though I was in enough for the run, I could NOT stop shivering. I went into tent and huddled near the heater at the lodge with many others. Before I knew it, it was time to start the race and we headed out. My plan was to start this slooow and easy. I was not feeling quite awake yet, either. I had a bit of a cough starting out with the congestion, but that seemed to ease up some. By the time I got to lucky peak, I was sooo glad I had not put on any more than I had decided to wear, other than sort of wanting gloves. I knew it was going to warm up once the sun came up, so I didn't' worry much about the gloves. What was bothering me, was how incredibly sleepy I was.

After Lucky Peak, I experienced one of the oddest things I have ever experienced on the trail. I was so sleepy, and I"m talking so tired, that I literally dozed off a bit when I was running! I was in sort of flat section and I just kept zoning in and out. I wanted to sleep sooo much, but I figured if I just kept going, this would pass. I got to mile 5 and signed the book. I was sort of surprised I had gone that far, and I remember making the comment how much I wanted to sleep, but I kept on trucking. It was not long after this point that my run took a dramatic turn downward.

About mile 6 or so, I starting having these odd temperature fluctuations..I'd feel hot (but not sweating a DROP) and then I'd feel cold...really cold. Not like "my skin is cold" but more like "my bone marrow is cold" It was odd. I felt warm from running, like my muscle layer was warm and okay, but it was like the deepest core of me was cold. I knew I had a space blanket stashed in my next drop bag, and all I could think about was wanting to wrap up in that thing for a few moments and just get my core warm. I tried to run harder to warm up, but that did not seem to help, and I also seemed to have a hard time holding any pace. Hmm. Very shortly after is when I *knew* this was something more than just a bad spot I was going to run out of. My stomach started getting bad, and I was having aches, chills and all sorts of other fun flu-like symptoms. Yuck.

I made the comment to a couple of friends that I had that blanket and really wanted to put it on and they said "NO don't do it, you'll get too warm and then too cold when you start again", which I knew was really good advice but maaaan all I could think about was how badly I wanted to do that. I was barfing like crazy by mile 7.5 or so. I really thought I had dropped back to last, and so I had stopped off the trail to be violently ill when another runner shows up and says , "Oh My! I hope you get to feeling bettter!" This would be my fine how-do-you-do to a few other of my fellow runners. *facepalm* How freaking embarrassing.

I finally slogged into the mile 10 aid station. I felt HORRIBLE. I was really off my desired pace at that point, and I was so. cold. in my core. It was the oddest feeling of cold. The closest comparison I have is like a frozen dinner that is microwaved almost, but not quite..so that the edges are very hot but the center is sort of still cold. That is what I felt like. Gabe showed up and helped me SO much. I owe him a huge thanks. He had these hand warmers and he gave them to me and told me to put some of my extra socks in my drop kit over my hands. That REALLY helped. I didn't realized how cold my hands were until I needed to adjust my shoes and I struggled for what seemed like FOREVER with them and finally gave up because my hands were too cold. My stomach had been so bad up to this point, and Gabe questioned me about what I'd had for nutrition, and while I had tried to stay on top of it, it was not staying down. (the stuff I know works that I dont' have issues with)

I tried to have a little more nutrition and some electrolytes, but they didn't stay down long after I left the mile 10 aid station. I could just *feel* myself getting sicker and sicker once I left mile 10. I was not able to run at ALL. I bet I didn't run more than 1 mile of the next 5 miles. My stomach kept getting awful in waves, then would calm some. In the calm moments I tried to give it water and very tiny doses of nutrition in hopes I could absorb just a little something. I slogged through this next part of the course sick as a dog, and reached 15 mile aid station. I had a chair stashed at this one, and I planned to use it. I was sick as hell, but I wasn't ready to admit it or face it completely at that point. I thought maybe if I sat for a moment I could reel this in and reclaim this race. I felt weak at that point..incredibly weak. I had been tripping and having balance issues just *walking* the last few miles. It was that I had not kept down any nutrition or electrolytes and had lost most of the water, and it was catching up with me. I had some water, and tried more nutrition at the aid station, but it came right back up. This race was over for me, and at that point I was so sick I knew I needed to pack up and get OUT of there while I could even still get myself out. This was the flu. Damn.

I decided I wanted to walk back to the lodge from there, which I think is maybe 1.5-2 miles, so I set out walking. I was so disappointed. I'd trained pretty hard for this, and while I did have my doubts at times, since we had such a generous cut-off for this course, I just *knew* I was going to have that finish in me. I was not, however, going to have that finish in this shape. I was about .25 mile from the lodge when Joyce was coming back and picked me up and drove me the rest of the way in. I handed in my chip and it was over. I think I covered all of about 16 miles that day.

The very nice medical person helped me tear down my camp and I threw it into my truck and immediately headed out. I was sick physically, but also very sick in my heart as I left the park. I had wanted to finish that race, and I had wanted to be there for the finishes of my friends. It was a *very* good call for me to leave when I did. I can not *imagine* being as sick as I would end up being w/o a bathroom and having to crawl in and out of a backpackers tent.

The drive home was brutal. I felt more horrible as every minute ticked by. I was also mentally just shot to hell. I actually felt like I even wanted to cry, but I was so sick and so exhausted and so totally out of any fluid left in my body that I could not even shed a tear, nor could I spare the energy. I was so ill by the time I hit Blanco that I considered even just getting a room at the motor court there, but I decided that I could stop and regroup a moment, and then make it home, which I did.

I was sick as hell until Wednesday evening. So, I tried. I failed. I learned stuff in the process. I was feeling hugely sorry for myself, and was feeling angry and all sorts of things. This was a good lesson for me. I lived through it. It was not the end of the world, although it felt close to it at the time. I also realized how silly I was being: I've seen friends train for MONTHS very hard, spend hundreds and thousands on long trips and take significant time just to attend events that they were unable to finish or had issues keep them from the events. In comparison, my loss was only ego-related. What I gained in this training has made me much stronger and much wiser, and I will take that into the future and do better with it.

My eternal gratitude to my wonderful coaches and my friends and family who all supported me in their various, wonderful ways. It has meant so much and it has bolstered me at times when I really needed it.

Next up for me is Fuego Y Agua, and I plan to do well with it. That race is a special race: it's a dedication for me. I'll write more about that just before the race, it's something that warrants its own entry.

Thursday 22 October 2009

2009-10-25T23:09:11Z

what: Tejas Quality Workout
where: GCGB - HoL access
when: 6pm

workout: 4.5 miles (it was supposed to be 6, but I cut it short)
time: no idea uh...about an hour I think

We ran on new trails today, ones I had never been on, and they were FUN and challenging. These were some new, hidden trails over west of HoL that had tons of switchbacks and good technical areas. They were surprisingly difficult..as in...they felt way harder than they looked in places.

I was to do this 1.5 mile loop 4 times, going easy. I got there right about 6pm, and the group had started, so I did most of this by myself, although I did run into a couple of people on my last lap. I LOVED this course and had so much fun, and I was even doing pretty well. (I could not help but RUN some places, it was just too much fun)

I did 3 laps, and I really wanted to do a 4th except that I had, once again, just worn a tech shirt and no vest/hydration pack and I had uber raw nips from the day before and they were REALLY hurting and raw and awful so I decided 3 loops was enough.

Just call me Tendernips. I will go back to wearing my fuel vest now for every run. I love the pockets on it for my stuff, and I especially love the shirt-locking and, thus, nipple saving action of it! i wish I could get my nipples surgically removed. Too bad "nip guards" look like you just got out of a wet t shirt contest...with a super soaker full of liquid nitrogen as the "wet".

Wednesday 21 October 2009

2009-10-25T23:02:01Z

what: HCTR Wednesday Club run
where: HoL
when: 6pm
weather: cool & rainy

~6 miles
time: 1hr 21 min

We did a rather flat course this time, and were led by Roger. It was very apparent when we started the run that rain was on the way, and it started to rain maybe about 1 mile after we got into the run. It felt really nice!

My instructions this week were to run easy, so that is what I did. Most of the group was running fast (and when I say fast, I mean at one point I was running 9' 30" in the rain, and they were speeding so far ahead that I could not see anyone within about 30 seconds). I had no clue where they were going, so I had to choose my own way at a fork up ahead, and it turns out they took the different way. No matter, I knew I'd dead end pretty soon anyhow and need to turn around and go back, and hopefully I'd run into people there.

When I got back to the fork, I met up with the group as they were coming back. We made our way back in, and stopped to have a splash at the dam before heading back up HoL. It felt wonderful outside, the cool water crossings were nice, and the rain was just LOVELY. I really enjoyed this time on the trail. I did, however, run with a soaking wet shirt, and no fuel vest or hydration pack on (those hold my shirt into place) and oh. my. god. the nipples were grated nearly off.

Saturday 17 October 2009

2009-10-21T04:52:41Z

what: long run
who: just me
when: 7:45 am
where: BCGB - all around

distance: 31.02 miles
time: running 9hr 15 min, elapsed 9hr 54 min (counted lunch break and other stuff)
ascent: 11, 688 ft
descent: 11, 635 ft.
nutrition: 2 vega shakes, 1 honey stinger, 3 flasks of chia fresca, 1 bowl beans, ~200oz water.

Started at Spyglass and I ran out to top of HoL. Due to the creek being full, I had the pleasure of exploring a new little section of trail to get to my destination, some of which I really liked. Unfortunately, I *hate* the chain-wall section and after going through that once, I decided that I was going to not be doing that more than a couple of times for the day, so I decided I'd add most of my extra miles on down at the section near HoL and where I live.

It was GORGEOUS out, clear, sunny and cool. (upper 60's) I felt a little odd around mile 5 or so....almost a wierd flu-like light headedness and I got cold. I had decided I wanted to take a trip around Shan's loop on the way to HoL, so when I got up to the top in the fields I basked in the warmth of the sun for a few moments, and that made me feel a lot better. I think I was having some odd blood sugar thing, so I had a fuel just in case, and moved along. I saw some folks on my way to HoL after Shan's and then I headed down fox run, to the dam, and then I decided I'd run to my place and by then I should have a little over 10 miles. I could refill/refuel and then do another out and back to HoL for 7 more miles, then head back to spyglass to end up with around 24 miles or so, then have a little out n back to top off the mileage. This plan worked out well!!

The first 10 miles of my run went the slowest. At mile 15, I really hit a sweet spot and felt just amazingly well. I felt pretty good miles 18-24. I was really ready to be done at mile 24, but I was SO close to being done with my miles, there was no way I was going to quit. My feet were KILLING ME because I was wearing shoes that should have been recycled about 4 weeks ago. My legs were feeling very tight at this point, but I knew I could finish this. I refilled and had some fuel at my truck and then headed out. Starting back out was not easy at first, but then I started to feel great and before I knew it, I was running faster than I remember running since about mile 15. I must have been wearing my "TRAIL EXPERT" sign, because I got stopped 3 times by very lost cyclists wanting directions, and it was always somehow complicated. I think I lost a total of about 15 minutes just giving directions during this last 7 miles! I was at just over 26 miles at the "turn around spot" and I was feeling the need for more fuel, so I sat down on a rock at had a larabar. I ended up chatting there for about 10 minutes with a fellow trail runner and petted his dog.

Then I snapped to how long I had been there and told him I needed to head out. I had used more time than I really wanted between giving directions and chatting, so I tried to haul it back in. I felt pretty good until about mile 29, then my run sort of fell apart. It got really tough for me to stay running. I told myself if I could just get to 30 miles, I"d use the last mile as a nice cool down and I'd even be able to walk it. Fortunately, this bribery paid off, but I could not STAND to walk the whole last mile because I knew how close to being done I was, so I ended up running almost all of it. hah! Then, I was done! yaay.

This day was a rollercoaster ride: Mile 4, I felt sick (and wondered if I could have the flu) but then I got better. Mile 10.5ish, my hip was killing me heading back out from my first aid station and I was having thoughts of stopping, but it felt fine after a bit. Mile 15-24 was wonderful, 24 wasn't nice, but 25-29 were. miles 29-31 were hard and unpleasant. I think I'm getting better at this :-D (at least at "riding the waves"), now if I could just get better at doing it a little faster!!

Bandera Long Run (finally posting this! )

2009-10-21T04:29:41Z

what: long run (hills)
where: HCSNA/Bandera (Cactus Rose course)
when: 7:30am-ish
who: some of us Tejas folks training for CR and Bandera

distance: 28.37 miles
time: ~9hr 54 min (you'll see why below)

We lucked out in that one of the first cool fronts of the season was blowing through. The morning started out cool and overcast, and perfect for running. We knew that rain was possibly on the way though, so I made sure to pack a light raincoat in my pack just in case.

I did not realize we were going to run the actual course, and that I'd really need to have at least one good drop bag made that was not going to essentially be my truck, but I very luckily came prepared to make said drop bag. I was a tad late getting my drop bag out, and I got back just in time to see everyone run off, but I still had to get a few things readied, so I lagged behind the group I'd say a good 10 minutes. That was okay, there were only a few of us scheduled that day for big miles, and I knew it was going to be a day mostly spent by myself.

Warmup went well, and I was actually kind of shocked to get to the first aid station..5 miles already? by the time I got to the 10 mile station, I caught up with Donna and Janice and we chatted for a few moments and then headed out. The first 15 miles of the course went well, and while I had started out slightly slower than I thought I would, I was not ahead of the projected pace I thought I'd be running for the 25 mile loop. I refueled at crossroads and headed out. The next leg of this run I knew was going to be some of the hardest, and it was a section of the park I don't know very well at all.

Shortly after I left crossroads, I felt something on the back of my head, so I reached back and felt a sharp sting...damn, a bee got my right in the back of my head behind my ear. What a jerk! About 10 minutes later, I started to feel soooo sleepy. I knew this was just my body's reaction to fighitng off this venom, but I did not feel like I was sick or having difficulty breathing or with vision, so I just stopped a moment to drink some water and moved along.

I had said I wished it would rain. I got what I wanted, about 17 miles or so in, it started to rain. At first it was so nice, but I was amazed at how quickly the dried, parched ground there turned into a raging torrent at the hills, and ankle deep water in some places on the flats. The worst part was the mud. The mud in this place is just unbelieveable, and unpredictable. what looks like not much will be ankle-deep, shoe-sucking mud. Parts that looks like they were more stable ground with rock aggregate in would simply crumble under your feet, which made many of the hills treacherous. I somehow missed one of my turns during this section. I ended up running in a huuuge circle and ended up back where I had been at the 10 mile aid station earlier. I knew where this was, but I also knew how far this was from where I needed to be. Hmpf.

I looked at the map and figured out a way I could cut across to the trail that I had missed the turn on, and hopefully find my way. I headed out and found said trail, but I still thought either they had changed the trail markings, because what my map said and what the trail markers said did not seem to match up quite exactly. Anyhow, it had been raining for quite sometime at this point. I was getting cold so I put on my jacket and was SO glad I had taken it. I lost my footing in the mud on a downhill about mile 19 and turned my ankle REALLY good. It hurt, but I knew it was not *injured* so much as it was irritated. At this point, it really needed some tape, and sliding around in the mud was not doing wonders for it.

I looked at the map and figured out a way to cut across to the lodge and hobbled back in in the mud on an angry ankle. I got in (24.4 miles at this point), fueled up for a few moments, changed into some dry clothes and then taped up the ankle to head back out. I felt FINE. My core was extremely sore from the mud sliding, and my ankle was a big store, but I did not want to quit just yet. I felt like I had more miles that I could do. I headed out and the rain started back up again.

This last section of trail was about 90% un-runnable mud. It was unbelievably slippery, deep, sticky stuff and I was barely able to stay balanced in it when I tried to run, or unstick my feet from the deeper parts. Most of it was a very uncomfortable slog that was just exhausting my core and really causing far more ankle stress than I needed. I covered 4 more miles before I headed back in to call this run done. At this point, I was not getting a running workout, I was just risking more injury and I was also VERY tired of being wet. I think by this time I had run for a good 6 hours wet for the day.

I learned something about this course during this weekend. I have run in Bandera in the heat, the cold and many things in between. I had, however, never run in the rain there. I do NOT like that course when it's muddy. It's miserable and many of the downhills are very dangerous in the mud. I have decided if it's rainy or muddy there, I will *not* run, event or not. Most other times, that is my favorite place on earth to run, but when it's wet, it's hell on earth.

Even though I only covered 28 & change of the 40 miles for that day, it was a great learning day, and I also learned that my new nutrition plan is going to work very well. I also got just a slight idea that I just might be able to pull this 50 miler off. It's not going to be easy, but as long as I can stay un-injured (and NO DAMN RAIN), I think I have a good shot :-D

After I called the run, I packed up my stuff in the rain, and headed straight home, where I immediately started to treat my ankle with epsom salt, contrast baths, and moxa. By the next day, my ankle felt nice enough to run again. Yay for my voodoo magics :-D

Catchup Time, v. 1240908-0986093

2009-10-20T16:21:35Z

Hmm. How did 19 days go by so quickly, and how did I get out of the habit of blogging these things daily? I have been busy creating a few websites, some artwork, etc, and I guess I have not wanted more time at the computer. Oh well...here goes

Oct 3 - Bandera run. I covered 28/40 miles. There was rain, mud..hours of it..a turned ankle, and other stuff. Long entry on that one incoming, but for now..just the facts.

Oct 4-5: The trails were a *muddy* mess and my ankle was still tender, so I opted not to run on those days because slipping around in the mud was what injured me in the first place. Instead, I did 1 hour of stretching on Monday. (the 5th)

Tues 6 October: Hill repeats at St. Ed's. Catherine joined me for her first run ever here. I had originally planned to do a little over 7 miles, but it was SO slippery and muddy this time that it slowed us down more than I had anticipated, and so I went ahead and called it after a little over 5 miles. It was also suuuuuper humid and moldy, and I was having massive congestion. (this will be a common theme for a while)

Wed 7 October: HCTR Weds club run. Hills, Humidity. Mud. Fun. (water crossings!) 6 miles, ~ 1.5 hr.

Thur 8 October: Tejas Quality Workout at Bull Creek (dexterity). It was soooooo. freaking. hot & humid. I felt like horrible hell and had an awful time breathing the thick air, and with super congestion the entire time. I was slow on this run, but did all of it! yay. I think it was about uh..7 miles or so.

9 October - 11 October - rest. (and rest, I did!)

13 October: Tuesday Night workout was cancelled, the trails were super muddy and messed up.

15 October: HCTR Weds Club run. ~6 miles. It was a great run and we had lots of fun. Very humid, but lots of nice, cool water at the crossings.

16 October: Tejas Quality Workouts: Moonshadow- BCGB (speed) I did great on this workout and felt strong. The total was around 5 miles. (it was pre-race for our PD folks, so we ran shorter)

And that catches us up to this weekend's gorgeous 50K on the greenbelt, which is a long run with a long entry. (and seriously..it will be posted today! haha)

Catch Up Time

2009-10-10T05:08:53Z

Okay, so I have two or so weeks of workouts that I'm going to post. I have been doing the workouts, but not the blogging of them, as my usual. I've been busy with classes and a few other things, more on that in my not-workout-blog. :-D

Tuesday, 22 September 2009

what: 6 mile run
where: St. Ed's- Forest Ridge
who: Me & Layla
when: 6:30pm
weather: cooler - high 70's and raining

This workout started as a hills repeat workout, but it was SO muddy I decided that Forest Ridge was a better option. We treaded lightly on the muddy areas and were able to run a very nice clip for most of this run, since those trails are largely sandy and rocky. Layla had never run this section, and I had enjoyed it so much on our long run day that I took her on the short loop in Forest Ridge. We made great time. it was 1 hour 20 mins from the time I left the parking area until I got back, and it was raining on us about half the time.

Wednesday, 23 September 2009

Having some wierdness with my right hip that has been coming and going, and my feet were feeling some tender from the fast, muddy, rocky run the day before, so I rested this day. Good call, hip felt some better. (hip ligament issues, it seems)

Friday, 25 September 2009

what: 6 mile trail run
where: BCGB
who: just me
when: 6:30pm
time: 1 hour 22 mins

Ran from my place to HoL, went up HoL and back. I warmed up easy, it was quite humid, but cooling down and so green and lovely on the greenbelt, was nice to see water in the creek again. It took a while to warm up, it felt like but after about 2.5 miles I was feeling good. I got up to the top of HoL and realized I had PR'ed from my house to the top of HoL by about 1 minute, and I really did not feel like I was pushing. Coming back in, I feel great and I picked up my pace. I got the sculpture falls just in time to see sunset reflecting in it that was unbelieveable. What a gorgeous way to end a wonderful day. (I was in a particularly good class all day long) This was a great workout. I ran pretty hard back, took the last .5 mile or so to cool down.

Sat 26 Sept - Monday 28 Sept

I was still in classes from 9-5 all days. These were really long hours to be in class and I was mentally exhausted and physically pretty wiped too, since most of the time was hands on work. Since our miles were only 17 for Saturday, I did not end up doing my long run this weekend, just used this weekend for rest

Tuesday 29 September 2009

what: night trail run (with some hills thrown in here and there)
who: Me, Layla, Mike, Emily, Deb, Gordon, Alicia
when: 7:30 pm
where: HoL

distance: 6 miles
time: 1hr 30 mins

This was SO much fun! I lead us on a night run - we took fox run down to the dam, crossed and stayed on the outside loop, went up cedar chop, around the overlook and then to bologna, took bologna to the cutoff to HoD and took HoD down, then the trail to the far dam and back up HoL. I had a great time on this run and it was so run to see everyone! Good workout, too. I fell nice and hard coming in on the trail just near Indian Cutoff, damn roots! note: hip still being odd, especially at the beginning of this workout, but seemed a lot better once warmed up

Thursday 1 October 2009

what: quality workout (hills)
where: St. Ed's
who: Tejas Trails training folks
when: 6pm

distance: ~ 7 miles
time: 1hr 33 mins
calories: 966

climb (2098 ft)
descent (2017 ft)

AWESOME hills workout at St. Ed's. We were to push the ups, easy on the flat and hammer the downs. The urge to push on the flats was huge because it was EASY to push there, but I followed the instructions. my Laps got FASTER! Yay for this workout, I felt great afterward, and I had nearly talked myself OUT of coming to this one.

The next one is a long run in Bandera that warrants having its own entry :-) It will be posted later, I'm not quite done with it yet.

19 Septemeber 2009

2009-09-20T16:22:42Z

what: long trail run
when: 7:00am
where: St. Ed's
who: CR/RR training groups

distance: 30.87 mi
time: 10hr 47 mins

Today was a good day, overall, but was not without its rough patch. I learned from very good things today and was mostly pleased with my new nutrition plan but found where it needs some minor tweaking.

The main thing I learned was that I made a pretty huge mistake with my distance training for this particular event in that I did not do hilly enough courses for most of my long runs. I had decided I'd use those August races for distance, and those courses, compared to what I need to be doing, were relatively flat. Today's course was easily the hilliest and the most technical distance I have done. It is definitely good training for Bandera, but it showed me that I struggle a little more than I should when you combine hills + distance. This is a deep concern for me.

Our loops were 8.6 miles and we were supposed to do 4 of them, giving us roughly 35 miles. Loop 1 went really well. I knew this was going to be a long day of running, so I ran an easy pace and enjoyed exploring new sections of trail I had not run before. I saw lots of bunnies, some frogs and one of those giant desert centipedes (I'm sure everyone saw him , he was dying in the middle of the trail - I thought he was a lost hair scrunchy or something at first and it scared the hell out of me when I got closer and saw what it was!)

When I got in from loop 1, I spent about 7 minutes eating and refilling my stuff to head back out. I felt really good for about the next 2 miles, and then suddenly I started to have a really hard time. I just could. not. stay. running. I alternated between walking and running way too much of the time. It took me a while to realize that I probably needed some sugar. I am trying new nutrition options, and I underestimated how soon I'd need more sugar, I was going to wait until after my 2nd loop to start having more of that, and I wanted to keep the sugar NOT in gel/maltodextrin form, but more on that later. Loop 2 was just horrible and it took 45 minutes longer than loop 1. Uh...wow.

I got back and refueled up, and this time I had a little bit more sugar to get me back even. It took me a couple of miles until I got my groove back but then I felt pretty good. My legs were sore & tired, but my feet were what was feeling the run. They were not blistered, this was just a super rocky course and it was the longest time I had EVER run on lots rocks. (another thing I should have done: run more distance on rocks) Loop 3 was faster than loop 2 was, thank goodness. By the time I had finished loop 3, it was about 26 miles and it had taken me so long, I was not sure I should go back out. Coach Diana got back in and encouraged me to do either an out n back totaling roughly 5 miles, or I could just run to the halfway point and get a ride back, which is what I did. (she just did not want me to go more than 10-11 hours today). I am SO glad I let her talk me in to going back out. I felt pretty rough the first 1.5 miles or so, and then I caught this fantastic second wind and I just started to RUN. it felt great, and I was super happy to be able to say I had done the longest distance I have ever covered in a day so far. I really think I could have turned around and run back in, but my instructions were to do this, and it's good that I did. I think I got just what I needed from this workout, and learned LOTS.

I have come a really long way, but man I have a long way to go. I did circulatory work on my legs as best I could when I got home, and they felt pretty good this morning. My feet mended up pretty well too, they feel good today :)

Now for new things tried with MUCH success today:

I had breakfast, I did not have coffee. I had Chia Fresca and it made me feel SO good. I think that is a huge reason why loop 1 went so well. I will be carrying Chia Fresca to run with in the future. I did not have immodium. I felt perfectly fine.

I am no longer going to do this thing where I live on a high fiber, mostly plant-based diet and then throw my body into shock the day before eating a bunch of simple carbs and top that off with high amounts of whey/processed sugar on run day. I KNOW that is why I had so many stomach/gi issues in the past.

The Vega shake + chia was lovely after loop 1, but I now realize I should have also had some fruit then. I did not consume enough sugar, and that would catch up with me, but the protein NOT in whey form worked great. Also, both the Vega shake AND the chia seeds contain HUGE amounts of soluble fiber...which really helps you to stay hydrated better, and no, it did NOT bother my stomach or make me need the bathroom on the trail. I will not be listening to any more fiber fears. Seriously the Chia really does make you feel good when you run, but the effect of it seems to be such that you need to have a little bit every 2 miles or so, which is why I'd say carry Chia Fresca. I did carry seeds and I had a small amount, but I have to say the chia fresca seemed to make much more of an impact. For my sugar options, I carried and ate Larabars and also had pineapple in my cooler. This worked out MUCH better than the gels, lasted longer and did not cause stomach issues. I did consume 1 gel close to the end of loop 2 during my sugar crash, but never needed more after that, once I fine-tuned my nutrition.

Thursday 17 September, 2009

2009-09-18T04:58:02Z

what: quality workout - hills
where: HoL - BCGB
who: Tejas Trails Palo Duro, Cactus Rose, Rocky Raccoon & Bandera Training Groups
when: 6pm

workout: 8 miles plus change
time: 2 hours 5 mins
nutrition: 40 oz. water. My new fuel strategy was to eat more protein, raw veggies and less carbs today, and guess what? I never wanted a damn thing during this run but water. Post run I took Vega. (my favorite new product, thanks to Coach Robert for turning me on to that!!)

This workout was harrrrrrd. This was my first hills workout in a while and my first since coming back from my rest. I felt ready for this when I showed up, and warmup went well. The workout was the mudhollow loop, with special instructions to repeat all hills you come across...so...run the trail..go to the top of a hill...turn around and run back down and up again...proceeed. repeat, even with downhills. We were supposed to run one loop with repeats, and one more without.

This was really fun starting out because the first sets of hills were very close together and we were all bunched and talking back and forth an going in crazy directions. It was a little nuts, but also kinda funny to be horsing around with everyone. I felt strong from the start, and I reminded myself that I needed to use the appropriate effort, but still save enough energy for my final loop. This is a loop that i know well, and like, but have not run in a while.

There were a few of us that stayed near each other most of our first loop, then everyone dropped off and just two of us in the bunch that stayed together decided to go out for the last loop. It was fun to have company and I felt pretty good once we moved out and got started. We did not take much time to rest between loops because it was going to be dark soon. I was a little tired starting out after all of those repeats, but I was able to powerwalk a couple of the first hills and then I felt mostly strong. I was able to pick it up pretty decently on the flats for this last loop, and even felt stronger than I thought I would on some of the beefier hills at the end.

I felt so energized and strong after this workout that I almost felt like doing more running after my recovery drink. Here it is, nearly midnight, and I am still happy and bouncy from my run! (yay!) I loved this workout! I enjoyed the company of Coach Diana and David on my last loop.

Things I really tried to do on this run, and succeeded at:

- more forefoot strike, especially on the hills. Helps...so...much.

- no damn wierdo processed sugar products during the run. my stomach stayed happy, too

- I promised myself I was going to try to run every hill that I could possibly to on the first loop, even if it was slow and painful, which it was. It was hard, but strangely I felt stronger as it progressed.

- I did a LOT better on the second loop than I thought I would. I expected I would want to stop and walk more, and even though I did have to stop for a couple of maybe 1/2 minute stretches toward the end, I spent minimal time walking, and walked fast when I had to.

- The temptation was very huge to leave this run when most of the other folks took off and I knew I would miss beer & social time, but I stuck it out and I am glad I did. I felt super great after this run. yay!

Tuesday, 15 September 2009

2009-09-16T03:21:19Z

what: night trail run
where: BCGB - Spyglass trailhead
when: 8pm
who: me, Layla, Alicia, Elizabeth
weather: lovely! clear & mid 70's, but humid.

distance: 6.00 miles
time: ~1hr 20min

This was my first run since I started my nice, long break 8 days ago. I was a little concerned how this workout was going to be. I can't remember taking a break that long with ZERO workouts of any kind since probably my injury back in January.

I cannot even begin to tell you how nice, or how necessary I realized this break was. How did I know? Well, the major indication to me was that normally during "taper time" I am absolutely crawling the walls I want to run so badly. It took me at least 5 days to even think about running again. That is so so unusual. That tells me it was time!

To my surprise, even starting out felt just wonderful. Warmup felt effortless to me, and I felt better and better on this run. I was running a pace that would normally be considered fast for me on the trail, even during the day, and this was at night!

This was our usual no-drop route out a little past 360 & back, so we all caught up at the various "intersections." It is so glorious running in these cool temps! I remember thinking to myself about 2.5 miles in, " I seem to be running fast, even for me. I wonder if I can keep this pace up?" Well, I could! I think I even picked up MORE on the way back in!

This run was not only physically good, but it was such a mental boost for me. I went into this run with a little bit of doubt as to how it was going to feel and how I was going to perform, and I ended the run feeling absolutely thrilled with how well I felt. It seemed like we all felt pretty good on this run, and did well on it. Hurray for us!

Saturday, 5 September 209

2009-09-06T03:39:02Z

I'm not really going to bother logging workout data for this day. I had some pretty big realizations today about what has been going on with long runs not going well, and what I need to do to fix it. When I arrived and turned on my Garmin, the database was full and it kept immediately switching itself off. Apparently, the only way I could remedy this was to hook it to the computer, because the unit would not stay on long enough for me to select the menu option to do so. (not even with the Garmin reset trick) Argh. I had no other timing device and no way to know my distance. I do know the lost pines trail and their makers on that trail are also marked, but the spokes I had no clue. Diana had mapped out the distances when she figured out our loop and showed them to me, but I did not have a really accurate sense of where I was in this new territory until I reached near the end I knew this had to be (about mile 4) heh.

The weather was a mixed blessing today. It was considerably cooler than it had been because we had *finally* gotten some much needed rain. The ground was actually still quite damp, but with this lovely coolness came humidity that you could very nearly cut in the air. This also had made the mold count go up significantly and I woke up with lots of snot this morning. My stomach did not feel very good this morning, but it had no reason to be acting up. I had not done anything I have not been doing with successful pre-long running day nutrition before. Allergies were horrible and I felt absolutely awful this morning from those. I felt so awfully, in fact, that I really considered simply not going. I had everything ready to go and I decided that I needed to show up and give myself time to possibly shake this off. I have felt bad and ended up having a spectacular run more than once before, so I thought this deserved a chance.

The workout today got off to a rough start, and it spiraled horribly downward from there for most of the time. Today I would run the spokes for the first time, and I really liked this side of the park. It has some nice hills, and it was quite gorgeous. I had the treat of seeing two beautiful road runners very close up hunting for food in the pine tree bark there. I was having lots of breathing issues during this section, there was just no way I could get air through any other airway but my mouth, my head was totally clogged and swollen. It was so humid, I felt like I should have had gills! I was sweating like nobody's business and I knew it would be important to stay on top of hydration and salt for this run. That is one thing I did very well on this run. About mile 4 I'd say, my GI was bothering me and I had to make a stop. Oh Crap, I thought (and I snickered) but I really hoped that was not going to set the tone for this run.

After maybe about mile 6, my stomach started to get really really bad. I started to cramp so badly that I wasn't sure I could run anymore. I volleyed back and forth with this feeling, sometimes being able to run, but never for long and mostly just walking it in to the truck. This hilly 9 miles took me damn near 3 hours with the gi issues and related walking. Yes, you heard that right. I was absolutely shocked...good lord! I have never in my life taken that long to run such a short distance. I could understand if I was in some new elevation or something, or it was like HUGE climbs, but this...was ..ridiculous! It was incredibly hot feeling to me, even though the temp wasn't that high. Man I am not used to that level of humidity and it was kicking my butt!

I made a trip to the park bathroom in my truck before going out for a another loop, this time the 8 mile lost pines loop. It was hard to go back out, but I was determined and I did feel MUCH better after my pit stop. The first few miles were extremely hard. No matter what I tried, I simply could not stay running. It was not only that I felt physically exhausted and awful, it was that I did not even have the will to run. I did not want to run. This is not normal or right for me. I ended up getting to a bench and I let myself lie down on it for about 1 minute, and I felt like an entirely new person briefly. I felt better for the next mile or so, but then something unpleasant happened.

I thought for sure the 70oz of water would get me through this loop, but the with increasing temperature and humidity not decreasing, I was sweating a lot and needing to drink more water. I ran out of water half way through this loop. Not. Good. There is absolutely nowhere to stop for water until you get basically back to about where the cars were. Not only was I out of water, but I desperately needed to take more nutrition, which requires water. You do not want to take a gel or perpetuem paste w/o water. It's ugly, and it usually will make you sick. Hooooboy. I decided at this point that I should stop running and basically speed walk this in. I could still get somewhat of a workout, get back fairly quickly and hopefully not feel the need for quite as much water as when I am running. Luckily after just over 2 miles of walking with about 1 mile or so left, Diana had run out toward me and she had extra water and gave me one of her bottles. GODS I was thirsty, I had even stopped sweating, which was a little concerning.

This section was almost like an epiphany for me. The further I walked here at a good pace I felt better. This is not what I was scheduled to do, this was a run, but this, somehow really felt like what I needed and I felt better doing this than I had felt in a couple of weeks. I was enjoying the trail and feeling good, this was how I remembered long run day being out here. (only I wasn't running.) My stomach was definitely back on board, but I had now gotten behind on food & drink and my inner wisdom just said, "this is done. go home. rest." As I started to feel better, I started to feel a lot clearer mentally about what I felt was going on with how tough the long runs were going for me. There were undeniable physical things going on with me, but it was the mental part of this that was really playing the biggest role, I think. I have been under a lot of stress, not sleeping the best and I have also just run myself into the ground. I started out this year with a big injury and that derailed two major races for me that were really pivotal distances and training I needed to do to feel good about attempting the big race in Bandera this year (which I also reminded myself I did NOT sign up for, but won in a lottery sort of thing). This put me at least 5-6 months behind where I really needed to be in terms of fitness, experience and other factors. I thought I could catch up, and I'm not saying it is out of the realm of possibility, but i have not given myself any real and significant time off of running since January. I have busted my butt pretty much constantly, but I did get quite a few GOOD runs under my bet. I have gained a lot of strength and come a long way, but now my body is asking for something different. I am run into the ground both physically and mentally, and if I don't reel this in, it's going to have many negative effects. Really, it already has. I can no longer continue training feeling like this.

I realized that the thing I normally stay the most excited about and plan my life around, is now something that I cannot say I have felt good doing or enjoyed for a while on long run days. Yes, I even enjoyed the struggles before, because after those came the incredible feeling of accomplishment and amazement I had been able to do something so hard for me and break into new territory. I have even almost dreaded running at times recently. My body has felt like hell and my mind is not really on board any more. Endurance sports are at least 99% mental, and if your head is not in the game, it is not going to happen. That is just what was going on with me. I simply don't have the push in me to keep going right now. I feel more worn out physically and mentally than I have felt since I started running and it's time for a break. So I am taking one. I really feel and somehow know this is what I need to do. My body needs to heal and rejuvenate, and so does my mind. So, I am not working out for a week. I am giving my entire self a break. I will stretch daily, and do work with my Trigger Point Kit. These are also things I have gotten out of the habit of and been neglecting that have had a major impact, and that will have to change.

I will start running again one week from Monday, and then see how it goes from there. I need to feel happy about running again, to enjoy and feel good doing it. If that means I have to change my plans about events, distance goals or anything else, so be it. This has been a journey of immense lessons for me, and this might be a good lesson about being adaptable, and also accepting when you need to sit down and fine-tune some plans.

The only way I am going to get any better than this is to stay healthy & whole..and that means body, mind & spirit for me. I have also decided to take on a new nutrition plan that I think will make way more sense for me. My body's pH level is normally nice from the type of diet that I eat, and I think that all of these gels and other refined sugar products are making my body's pH too acidic and wreaking havoc on my system. There are better ways, and I plan to use my next several long runs experimenting with new natural types of foods and supplements that I think make better nutritional sense for me, and for long trail running in general.

I am prepared for a week of good stretching, bodywork and some yoga. It's time to rest & renew and rekindle the fire inside that I seem to have lost in my running. I think this time will have me coming back strong and ready for the challenge once again.

Thursday 3 September 2009

2009-09-04T06:27:43Z

what: quality workout (hills)
where: St. Edward's Park
who: Tejas Trails PD/CR and personal training groups
when: 6:00pm
weather: pretty warm, upper 90's-100

workout: 6.2 miles (I was supposed to do 7.5 but left 1lap early)

First stuff on this workout, then just stuff in general.

I got there just as the workout was starting, traffic was a bugger today! It was warm out, but somehow felt better to me than it has the past few afternoon workouts. I liked the route we ran today, it had been a while since I took the canyon ridge trail.

Warmup went pretty well today, but my legs are STILL sore and heavy feeling from last weekend at Inks. You'd think after sunday and monday resting, and the workouts on tuesday and wednesday that my legs would be rested and flushed out..but wtf? Oy. Energy wise I felt great on this run the entire time, and my stomach was onboard, which was nice. I drank a LOT of water, though. I think I drank about 120 oz of water today, but it was quite hot and I was sweating a ton.

The route we did was a 1.5 mile loop and it was mostly hilly and technical, it was a great workout. We were supposed to do 5 laps, changing directions each time, but on the 4th lap my legs were SO amazingly wasted feeling I realized that I should call it there and rest them. I am scheduled to run 30 miles on Saturday, and I need to cover all of it, or as close as I possibly can without death or injury. I felt like I did pretty well on the workout today given how difficult it was, the temperature and how left over my legs felt even when I started.

And now, we come to where I feel that I am now, and I cannot say that I find it pretty. I was training pretty hard there for a while. I gave myself a down week (easier workouts, and fewer of them), and that seemed good. The workouts I had after that were nice, and I had the longest run I had ever done go relatively well immediately following that. That race (pedernales) left my legs feeling wasted to the point of not being able to go up and down stairs for a couple of days. I gave myself fewer workouts that week, to rest them, and then the following weekend after that I took COMPLETELY off of running.

Then, when I came back, it seems like everything has progressively sucked more since then. I did have a good training run or two, but my long run at Inks was awful, and while i am covering more distance and doing better, I still feel like I am at such a crappy place at this particular moment. The heat tolerance I seem to have gotten up SO high before Pedernales seems to be enormously diminished.

Covering the big distances is hard stuff, especially in this hotter weather. The new miles toward the end are in the hottest temperature, and endurance + heat is a vicious combo. It has been so much more of challenge to build distance for me now than it was in the winter months. Anyhow, everyone else, and there aren't many others training for the distance I am doing right now...but everyone else in the group with me that is scheduled to run the same miles as I am are SO much faster than I am. I have gotten faster, but it's just utterly discouraging to me how much faster everyone else is. What this results in is me running the entire time by myself. I don't mind that, but it's at the end of the run when I really feel like I want company. I am having a very hard time right now with pushing past 24 miles and up. I am soooo tired and so miserable at that point, and it's so helpful to have someone else to pace with and talk to during that time. That is a luxury I will not EVER have in this program. I don't expect anyone to hold my hand on race day, everyone runs their own race. But having friends in training helps immensely, and right now I'm out there all alone on these days.

Further frustrating is that I try SO damn hard to be faster and it just collapses on me. I do my speed workouts, I push as hard as my heart rate will let me and not bust my head open on the rocks, and I still feel like I'm moving like a damn bag of sand out there. I've lost more than 20 lbs in the last year, and I thought lightening the load would help, but that has not made that much of an impact either. I just cannot figure out what in the flipping hell I am doing wrong and I am ready to bash my freakin head into the wall. It sucks when you are coming in from an exhausting lap with 2-3 hours left of running and see everyone else sitting around finished with their run while you have 2 laps left to do. I'm doing everything in my human power to get better at this and it seems right now that I am at a complete stand-still, if not moving backwards.

The result is: I'm having the hardest time pushing myself. I"m having a hard time pushing myself to do any of it: to run fast, to push on hills, to just keep moving when the new distance is making me want to sit down on the side of the trail and quit. I"m not sure what the deal is. I don't know if I'm just overtrained as hell and need to not run for a while (it's WAY too close to my event to feel like that is "safe"), or if I am going through a "growing pains" and am just in an incredibly rough spot in training. Whatever it is, I haven't felt this before, and I don't much care for it.

Right now, I would just love to do a long run where the last 10 miles or so of it wasn't a death march. No, I don't expect it to be easy, but I am tired of feeling like I am fighting off death and mental decay at the end of these long runs. I do not consider iPods an option on the trail. I like to hear snakes, critters, mountain bikers, horses and other runners. Your awareness is the ultimate weapon you have on the trail, and losing that could cost you your safety or hurt someone else. I'm sure it would help, but I don't need to be *that* disconnected from my surroundings, that could lead to bad things.

I, for the life of me, just do not see how the hell these people can maintain paces like this for long miles. I can do it for maybe 9 miles tops before I am just absolutely freaking wasted and cannot keep up. I try for the life of me to keep up and I get absolutely sick trying to do so. It would be super nice if I could find someone that was covering the distances I am that ran at least within 1-2 minutes of my pace or so (in the positive direction, god knows I do not need to go any slower). Right now I am sick as hell of going it alone. The whole reason I joined the groups was so that I 'd not have to have such crappy, lonely long run days, and ...here I am. super sigh.

I'm trying as hard as I can, and it's pretty crappy when that feels like, not only "not enough" but also "not even scratching the surface." I'd love to see and feel some progress on distance. That is the weak spot for me right now. Everything else is getting better, but that is the one thing that is just in the crapper, and sadly, the one thing I need to be doing the most right now.

Wednesday, 2 September 2009

2009-09-03T03:17:48Z

what: HCTR group run - uh..sorta
when: 6:00 pm
where: HoL - BCGB
who: just me until the very end, then with Jeanette
weather: mid 90's, sunny very pleasant

distance: 5.8 miles
time: 1hr 19 min
nutrition: ~50 oz water

As I was pulling into the street, I saw the group walking up toward one of the two trailheads, but could not tell which one. I had to park way back from everyone, and by the time I hoofed it up to them they were nowhere in sight, and I could not hear them. I thought if they went down the way we go about 80% of the time, I could catch them, so I started out in a huge hurry, immediately tripped and full down super hard. Thank god I was running with 2 water bottles, they took the fall and saved my hands from being emaciated on the rocks, but my shoulder took a lot of force. I was fine, and kept running.

I never heard or saw anyone, so I decided I'd just do a favorite route there and I'd maybe run into them on the trails if we happened to cross paths. I chose this route today: HoL -> dam -> cedar chop - >outside loop to Bologna cutoff (or bambi road) - > bologna - > cutoff to Hill o Death - > Hill o Death - > to the main trail and back to the dam near Indian Cutoff. I had not run this route in forever, and it's a favorite of mine. It's a pretty technical workout, and it has some reasonable hills thrown in.

Warm up took a long time for me today. My legs were still feeling quite heavy from Saturday night at Inks. I did not really feel warmed up and *good* until about 2 miles in, and I remember being a little disappointed with my time when I looked at it at the 3.5 mile mark. There were times I felt I was pushing pretty good and I remember looking at the pace meter and being surprised that I was going much slower than I felt I was. Hmm. Oh well, I felt like I was getting a good workout and this *was* a pretty tehcnical route.

Bologna is one of my favorite trails. I know a lot of people hate it, but I love love love it and I opened up and went as fast as I could go on this trail and not break my neck. I also love going down HoD and hauled down it pretty good. Once I got back to the main trail and was running back toward Indian Cutoff, I got a nice jolt of energy and picked up and pace and ran that section at a really good clip. My legs were really tired & heavy. Oof.

I got back to HoL and made the trek up HoL and to the cars with Jeanette, who i ran into just as I was crossing the dam on the way back. It was a good workout!

Karl's Kanoe 60k Race Report

2009-08-31T05:13:24Z

I was excited about this last race in this series, and what's more, I felt ready for it. My original goal was to finish this one, and I felt ready to rock it. I had never run at Inks Lake, and had never checked out the trails there, either, so this would be a new adventure for me. The drive out was beautiful, but took just slightly longer than I thought, but I still arrived in what I thought was ample time to park and get things ready before the event start.

At the last couple of event sites, there was ample parking very close to the start/finish, and I essentially had made my truck my aid station/drop bag, and just sat in the tailgate to refill/refuel and then take off, with everything inside the truck. The parking at this site was sparse and scattered all over the place. I could *not* find a place to park, I drove around in circles forever. I finally found a place that was about .5 mile from the start finish and had to park there. At this point, I began to wonder what in hell I was going to do because I did not have the drop things packed in a way that would make them easy to get to the start/finish, especially in a huge hurry. Argh. My stomach had also begun to feel bad, not nauseated, but like heartburn just as I was getting to the park. I had hoped this would be something that I just ran off in the first few miles.

Luckily, I had left a duffel bag in my truck, so I feverishly grabbed at things and stuffed them into it. Luckily it held pretty much what I needed and I grabbed my mini cooler and hoofed it to the start/finish. There was a little list of things I had wanted to do, like put ice in my bottles, get out my lamp & hit the porta potty, but when I got to the start/finish, I did so just in time to see the runners take off. Argh. I had not even gotten my chip yet. There wasn't going to be time for anything, I was just going to have to grab & go, which is what I did. Luckily, I was out within 4 mins or so. I was still really aggravated about the parking, and the lateness, and the not-being-able to do what I wanted/needed before I had to start. Within a few miles on this gorgeous trail, I had forgotten all about that.

My stomach was cramping, and I had to stop at the bathroom that was about 1.5 miles into the trail (yay that there was one, though!) By the time I got close to the 3 mile aid station, I had caught up to the back people in the group of runners, so I felt less panicky about being "behind." My stomach continued to be cranky, but I was so busy soaking up the gorgeous sites of this trail and also trying to commit what I could to memory so dark would be easier, that I was able to disconnect from how bad my stomach felt. About mile 4.5-ish, you climb up onto this granite dome, and the view is spectacular. The sunset was breathtaking and I got to stand up on the dome and soak it in. Wow. It also felt AMAZING outside, and it was only going to cool down as dark settled in. There were 2 more stops for my stomach on the way in, but I stayed determined, and just took my electrolytes and kept drinking. I turned my left ankle pretty badly on this loop, but luckily I kept going and it set fine. (that's the one I hurt so badly in January) I made better time that I expected to on lap 1, and still felt very strong, except for my cranky stomach.

I headed out for loop 2, and it went well. I felt like my time on that loop was okay, but this trail was considerably harder to run in the dark. I kept asking myself WHY this trail seemed so much harder. I run rocky places in the dark a lot, but this seemed so different so so much more difficult! It seemed so much easier to trip & fall in this place than any other I had run. The new thing for me was the granite domes/shelves. They were SO hard and so incredibly uneven, and my knees did not like them. They even hurt for me to walk on. The upside of these areas is they all had gorgeous views and were usually up high so you got this magnificent breeze on them. What was mind boggling for me is that I considered the MAJORITY of these trails to be fairly easy in terms of surface, but the sections that were rocky were brutal. This made for a particularly challenging run for me. It also slowed you down and seemed to take immensely more muscular effort than I remember using on any recent runs. Loop 2 was still replete with lovely stomach cramps and GI issues, but I continued on, reminding myself to constantly replenish. I was getting tired of *constantly* monitoring this, this course was challenge enough. When I fnished loop 2, I remember being relatively pleased at where I was in relation to the cutoff. if I was able to maintain this I could beat the cutoff by around an hour, which would ROCK. I still felt pretty strong after this loop, but I knew I needed to eat as much as I could stand at the aid station, my body was losing a lot with the GI stuff + running. I also slightly turned my right ankle on this loop, this place was easy to turn an ankle, I'd have to watch this!

Loop 3, my feet started to feel kinda beat up, which isn't unusual. They had no blisters, and were in good shape, they were just sore from the hard granite and a little tender, but nothing I could not continue on. My knees were "tired' feeling but not in any real pain, and my legs felt great! I could tell i was slowing down some on this loop, but I really enjoyed all of the critters on this loop. I saw a baby runny, and a baby racccoon, and 2 field mice and I heard a pack of coyotes gathering for a cry at the moon :) It was wonderful! It also felt amazing outside. I don't remember ever feeling "too hot" on this run. I was sweating lots, but I felt good temperature wise. Stomach wise, things were still not going well. I was starting to feel weak: the kind of weak you feel when you get the flu. I was not having muscle cramps, or nausea, or anything else, this was merely depletion from all that was going on. I did everything I could to stay on top of it, and it seemed constant. I was averaging 70-80 oz of water per loop, which is crazy amount of water on a cool night run like this for me. I was taking a dose of electrolytes for each bottle I drank, which was working out GREAT for electrolytes, they felt good this entire run. At the end of loop 3, I knew I needed to refuel again and try as hard as I could to catch up. My stomach felt okay, no nausea. It was all GI stuff pretty much. I had more fuel and had so much help from my friends and coaches. Everyone was being so encouraging and telling me how well I was doing and how strong I looked. I felt like I was turning inside out through my GI tract, but just hearing all of that gave me SUCH a boost. I headed back out on loop 4, feeling determined.

Loop 4, sadly, is when this run really fell apart for me. The stomach cramps were worse, the bathroom stops were more frequent and it was just SO hard to keep going with the stabbing pains in my gut. I even had to stop and sit on the rocks in a couple of places it hurt so badly. I was also feeling increasingly weak. I was drinking as much as I could and not run out of water between aid stations, and taking the fuel/electrolytes like I was supposed to. Stomach was fine, but GI was not fine and I just could not seem to catch up with what I was losing. I was tripping a lot on this lap and having a hard time with any pace, and I could tell my body was weak and almost like it just wanted to shut down. I was so frustrated with this. If I could just have stopped the GI stuff, everything would have been a-okay. My legs felt FINE. Two doses of Immodium in a few hours did nothing for this, so I decided not to take more. Toward the end of this loop, I bashed the hell ouf of my ankle on a rock. OUCH. The pain actually was kind of nice, it gave me a rush of endorphines and it totally distracted me from my stabbing GI cramps for a few moments. The last part of this loop was tough. I just felt so *weak*. I wanted to go, but there wasn't much energy, it was a feeling I had not experienced before during a run, and it was miserable. I realized that I needed to end this, before I went out and fell and busted my head open. I had made less-than-pleasing time on this lap. When I finished the lap, I decided I had to stop, and I removed my chip. I wasn't glad to have to do it, but I still believe it was the right thing to do.

The drive home was very depressing. I went through all of those stages: I was pissed at myself, then I was angry & upset for letting myself and everyone else down by dropping (I had SO much encouragement, help & support and I was SO grateful for every bit of it!), then I decided maybe I COULD have finished and I should just turn around and try (bhaha how dumb is that?), and finally I accepted that I had done it, that is was right for me to make that call, and that really I could not believe I had gone THAT far (just over 24 miles) with constant cramps and diarrhea. I can assure you I would NOT have made it the last 2 laps had it not been for the amazing encouragement I was receiving, but after that 4th lap, I just did not have 12 miles left in me at that point, encouragement or not.

This wasn't what I had planned on, but I realized WHY it happened, and I was 100% to blame. The night before this event, I decided to eat cake. Things made with white flour are the devil and make me sick in this way. I didn't even think about what it was going to do to my stomach the following night, and this stupid call set me up for difficulties. What makes me mad is how avoidable this was, but live & learn. :-D

Despite the adversity I faced during this run, I did take some lovely things away from it. This was a GORGEOUS trail, and I enjoyed the company of some wonderful folks. I was challenged in some very new ways, and learned a lot from these challenges: everything from intense physical discomfort; new & challenging types of technical terrain; and the power of encouragement from others. More importantly, it's always important to remember that the sum is the whole of its PARTS. The vast majority of this trail was terrain I would rate as "medium-easy", but the parts that were rocky or technical were brutal. So, while this rather un-hilly and sand/crushed gravel/dirt trail did not seem too menacing at first, it presented physical and mental challenges that rivaled trails I would rate far more difficult, like Bandera.

All-in-all, this was easily the most uncomfortable run I have ever done, but I still somehow managed to learn something and even have a little fun so I will not count it as a total loss :-) I covered a little over 24 miles of trail, most of it in the dark, in a little less than 7.5 hours. (with 14 bathroom stops..YIKES) Not bad considering.

Wednesday, 26 August 2009

2009-08-28T03:08:31Z

what: HCTR group trail run
where: BCGB
who: lots of us!
when: 6:00pm
weather: 100 degrees at the start, then clouds moved in and it cooled slightly

distance: (guessing - garmin in truck) 5.5 miles
time: ~ 1.5 hours

This was the hottest temp I have run in since last Thursday. After the previous night's marvelous night run, I was eager to get out and run again, but I wasn't feeling particularly inspired by this heat. I have been pretty chipper most of the summer about dealing with training in the heat, but I have officially reached the end of my rope. I am cranky and just downright bitchy about it now. I. have. had. enough. :P

Mostly, I wanted to see my friends, which is why I decided to come to this run and not just do another night run by myself. I'm super glad I showed up. We had such a great group!

We did an entirely new route this time (for me). I had covered these trails once before, but in an opposite direction, and these aren't trails I know by memory yet. WOW these were so much harder. They had TONS of very tall rocks. It was like super duper mega core workout. Jeanette and I had talked about how it was almost like those football workouts where you have to run through the tires!

The first half of this run, I ran like hell. I started out near the very front of the group, but after a mile of running an 8'00 minute/mile pace on the trail, I realized that this was not a realistic pace for me to maintain. I dropped back a few folks, but stayed at a very good clip for me. The only hill I remember walking on the first half of this run was Hill o Death. Other than that, I ran at the fastest clip I could keep my heart rate okay in, I ran all the hills and nasty technical sections. I did this the first 2.5 miles of the run.

I can't remember when I gave this much to a run as I did the first half of this one. My plan was the do the first half hard, and REALLY slow down for the last half, which is what I did. Hah, I must have looked just like *hell* I think I had about 6 people ask me if I was okay once I slowed my pace down. I had to drop to the back and sneak off for a bio break, which I did not announce, and so when I was late to the next no drop spot, I guess everyone thought I had fallen apart or something. I was hot, but felt okay. Maybe it was because I went from running faster to running so much slower, or maybe I just looked like I was about to die. I was definitely hot, but I as far as the running goes I felt good.

once we came down shan's and got onto a flat section, I actually picked up my pace pretty good, up to the dam. After the dam, I decided to take it really easily in to HoL, and then I was was going jog/powerwalk sections as I could to the top, which is what I did. This was a GREAT workout.

I can tell that I have had a super duper workout when I do 10k or less and have to come home and sleep. I had a snack, a shower and I literally passed out asleep for 2 hours. WIN!

Thursday and Friday I am resting myself to prepare for my longest run yet! Here's to finishing the 60k this Saturday night. I think I can do it :-D I expect the last 2 laps will be the toughest.

Tuesday, 25 August 2008

2009-08-26T06:09:56Z

what: night trail run
where: BCGB- spyglass access
when: 8:30pm
who: Jeanette, Leah & Me
weather: high 80's and muggy (it had just showered earlier)

workout: 6.00 miles
time: 1hr 12 mins
nutrition: literally one sip of water. I felt so good, and my body wanted nada.

In light of the fact that I have a big race this weekend, I decided not to use up too much mojo on a hill workout this week, and I am currently on a damn-near boycott of triple digit running. So, I decided that it would be fun to do a night run on a rather flat section of trail this time.

I felt awesome every single minute of this run. We started out an easy pace, and warm up felt great to me. (which is odd, warmup normally feels pretty awful.) The heat didn't phase me, nor did the humidity. It was unbelievably humid, as it had just rained earlier. I was sweating like crazy, but I felt really strong.

I realized, about 1 mile into the run, I had forgotten to turn on my garmin at all, but I know this route and the distances by heart, so I just left it off. As I felt stronger, I picked up the pace. I didn't have a pace meter to look at, but I"d just bet this was negative split run. I felt extra good coming back and ran at a pace that I normally don't even run during the broad daylight, it felt magnificent!

I felt well-trained and well-rested. That is the most amazing combination of things you can feel when you are out there running. I hope to be able to feel that more often :)

We three had a wonderful time running and chatted most of the way. It was very hard to believe we had covered 6 miles when it was done! yay us! this was a pretty decent time for a night run of this distance on the trail!

running strong

2009-08-26T05:59:42Z

You may have noticed a bit of a lapse in entries. That is because, there has been one, and it has been with a purpose.

My last run was on Thursday, and it seemed especially difficult, but I managed to get some good out the workout. I was set to do a long run Saturday, but I had two things working against me. First, I had horrendous insomnia Friday night. I could not sleep to save my life. I finally went to sleep I think at around 2am, and decided I'd just run on a nap's worth of sleep and perhaps a few espresso beans toward the end, if I needed.

When my alarm went off saturday, I felt like I had been attacked by a snot bomb. My head was clogged, my eyes were gummed up and my lungs were full of congestion. It was like trying to breathe underwater. I got up and tried to shake it, but it was one of the rare occasions when it was so bad I actually took a decongestant. I hate taking decongestants and rarely do so. Running (especially in the heat) and decongestants do not mix. I ended up not doing my long run on Saturday. This meant I could possibly try it Sunday.

I had similar sleep problems Sunday, and add to that, I did not set myself up for success by eating fried food on Saturday evening. My stomach felt utterly like hell on Sunday morning, and by the time it felt better later, it was *much* to hot to start a long run.

Given the fact that I ran 29.3 miles last weekend, that that I am going to attempt the 60k (37.2) this weekend, I decided that having that weekend off was not so bad. I took a light week last week after that big race, and it was just what I needed.

I was on the verge of total training burnout. I had not given myself some me time, and slack time in a while until the past couple of weeks. The result was, that today I had the strongest and best run I have done in what seems like months. I felt absolutely AMAZING, and I really think it had to do with taking this much-needed time. I feel revitalized in body and am very much mentally back in the game. yay. I need to remember to take these times every so often, even if they don't fit in to "the schedule" whatever/wherever that schedule may come from.

I'm feeling better than I have in a while, and I feel like I have a finish in me this weekend. It might take me every second of the cut-off to do it, but I just think I can do it ;-D

Thursday, 20 August 2009

2009-08-21T04:30:29Z

what: trail workout (speed)
where: BCGB
when: 6:30ish
who: just me
weather: 101

distance: 5 miles
time: 1hr 05 min
nutrition: 40 oz water & 1 s-cap

This was not one of the best workouts I have had. First of all, I was in an utterly vile mood when I started this workout. (lots of things going on in my life right now that I have no control over that are really stressful) I did not, with all of my heart, want to do this workout, but I knew that I needed to do it. Not just for training, but for me. Almost always, a good run will lift me, at least temporarily, out of a bad mental space.

Anyhow, I started out, and I could tell within 1/4 of a mile that this warmup was going to be a little tough. No physical factors were bothering me, it was all environmental, and it was the heat. I swear that rest time I took last week seems to have utterly destroyed my hot running tolerance I had built up.

The first half of this run was highly unpleasant. I knew I needed to warm up easy before I started to speed part, so I did that, but I did not feel warmed up when i should have. I decided to go ahead and start the speed part after 1.5 miles. By that time, I had gotten to the flat/easy part of the trail and away from the worst technical part of this route. (and I hadn't run on anything this technical in a bit, either)

I just could NOT seem to keep any pace on this run. I was so frustrated with how horrible I felt from the heat, and when I thought about how well I was doing recently in it, I got all that much more frustrated. I was ready to throw my water bottles down, scream and cuss and rip my hair out (if I had any). Argh. My stomach was having heartburn and I felt kinda gross, to boot.

I told myself it would get better: just keep going. Maybe this run needed to just be a run, and not a speed workout, like usual. I backed off (or thought I did) my pace some, and slowly it started to get better. I remember being shocked when I looked down at my pace meter for a few sections and had NO idea I was moving at the clip I was. Hmm, maybe this workout wasn't going as badly as I had thought it was going to.

My plan was to do 6 miles tonight, but I realized at 2.5 miles out, I needed to turn around there and not do the extra distance for two reasons: I was going to run out of water, and it was *hot*; and I was also running out of daylight and didn't have a lamp. The section up to my house is VERY wooded and so even when you can see other parts of the trail fairly well, it's quite dark on the one up to my place. It's really getting dark earlier now! (where is fall, hurry UP fall!)

I was a little disappointed to have to cut my run a mile short, but it was a very wise decision to do so. When I turned around to come back, I started to feel some better and decided I was going to do some good intervals. I did intervals all the way back to the trail leading up to my place, and then did a nice cooldown pace the last .75 mile in. Funny: when I got to the paved parking lot and was jogging back and what I thought was "easy" I was going over 1min faster than my normal "road" pace used to be, yet felt like I was not pushing at all. I was glad that I turned around when I did, because there was enough light to see okay on the trail up, and I drank my last sip of water as I got to the parking lot. If I had gone a mile more, I would have been super out of water, and that would have been bad.

For a "speed" workout this short, I wasn't that thrilled with my time, but I did feel a lot better after the workout than I did before it. I have to say that even though they're much harder, I just love technical trails. They are so much more fun and interesting to run to me.

Tuesday, 18 August 2009

2009-08-19T04:15:21Z

what: quality workout (hills)
where: NW Hills area
when: 6:30 pm
who: Layla, Me, Stephanie, Dawn, Cheri & Jeff
weather: Bhut Jolokia

distance: 6.04 miles
time: uh...my garmin is out of battery but I think it was around 1hr 20 min
nutrition: about 40z of water and 1 s cap.

I should preface this by saying what kind of shape I was in the previous days. That all nighter race was the farthest I've ever run, and certainly the most time I"ve ever spent on a course. My legs were *trashed*.

Sunday, I literally could not walk up or down my stairs. I had to actually call a family member to make a store run for me. Ouch. Monday, my legs were hellishly sore, and I walked with an odd hobble, but I could tell they were on the mend. I did some work on them, and kept them slathered in Biofreeze as much as possible. Stretching really helped, too.

So, today, my legs were only slightly sore, but I was anxious to see how running was going to be, especially on hills. I decided to move our workout to the street this week because I think it's nice to mix it up, and running hills w/o having to worry about tripping on rocks is nice.

We started by running the 1 mile loop around murchison/doss a couple of times, and then headed down NW hills to Far West & Ladera Norte. Since I had given myself most of the week to rest last week, I had NO idea how much of my heat-running mojo I had lost. Argh. Starting out seemed okay, except I am able to run a LOT faster on the street, much faster than my body is used to moving/breathing. I think I started out too fast, beacuse I felt like utter HELL after 2 miles. It was only about 3 miles into this workout that I felt human, and warmed up enough to do any good.

The last half of the workout went pretty well. I had forgotten how steep these uphills and downhills were (it has been a while since I ran there), and my quads are BARKING at me after the downhills. Ooof.

After we got up the grueling last hill on Far West, I was able to pick up my pace and run it in pretty uptempo. I felt great afterward, and I was very grateful because the early part of this run had me just about as disappointed as I have ever been with my running performance. I had to remind myself this should be treated more like a recovery type workout, since that looooong night on Saturday running, but even with that, I was just SUCKING out there for the first bit.

I have done well in the heat all summer, but I swear to god I have NO idea how much more of this triple digit BS I can stand. I was incredibly used to it, and just after a few days off it seems like I never ran in it before. I would say that'll teach me to take rest time off, but you HAVE to do that. Dear Hell: please check your GPS coordinates and re-locate to the proper location, I'm sick of you in my face.

Timber Knoll Long Run

2009-08-17T05:50:57Z

what: long, night trail run
where: Pedernales Falls State Park
when: 7pm-extremelylate
who: me and many others
weather: 100 starting out, cooled at dark some, but with higher humidity

distance: 29.29 miles
time: uh (will update) 8hr 20 mins or so
nutriton: many bottles of water, at least 6 s- caps, 3 endurolytes, fresh watermelon, cheez its, a sip of cola, 2 perpetuem flasks, 1 hammer gel

This race was a series of 8.5 mile(ish) loops, with a 1.6 mile out n back at the very beginning. My original goal with this race was to run for 7.5 hours. I didn't have a particular distance in mind, as much as I had time on my feet in mind. Not very long before the race started, this very bizarre (and not in a good way) person came up and started talking to me. This person would appear throughout the evening, and shall from this point be referred to as Captain Crazy. Weird, I can handle, hell I wrote the book. This guy was crazy. Somebody missed their dose of lithium...or something.

I felt ready for this, I had given myself a pretty good week of rest, and had been training rigorously the previous weeks. I got there early enough this time to actually visit some, which was nice. The out and back at the beginning was the perfect warmup, it was hot outside, and I was very glad it was going to be getting dark soon after that first little jaunt.

My first loop went pretty well I remember actually being surprised when I got to the aid station at 5 miles in and thought...wow 5 miles already? I had only run on this trail once before, when I first started about a year ago. I remember thinking how MASSIVE this hill looked and seemed near the aid station..hahah no big deal at all. While I was refilling my stuff, Captain Crazy showed up and started saying his usual repertoire of random and increasingly socially awkward things. He was having hard time with the heat, I was not and I got the hell out of there while I had the advantage of being able to get some distance.

By the time I had finished the first loop, I had gone about 11.5 miles, and I was ready for a little bit of real food. I had some cold watermelon cut up and I had that, and some cheez its. I had some more electrolytes, and headed out. This section of the run got ugly for me for a bit.

First, at around mile 13 or so, I really hit the wall. I've never experienced it like this, I was such a cranky jerk. I had decided I hated summer running, and I had not enjoyed running for a while in it, I dreaded my workouts and that I wasn't doing ANY more hot running after this. Screw it, I quit. I wasn't even going to do cactus rose anymore, and I was going to quit training groups. Oh really? WTF? I trudged on, trying not to trip over my own bad attitude.

I started getting stomach cramps around mile 14...oh man. I had been staying on top of my hydration, electrolytes and fuel..this was just my stomach being my stomach. It became very clear to me by 14.5 miles that I was going to need the bathroom. I had to duck into the woods and have a bio break. I had quite a bit of distance between me and the last runner, but I had still gotten off the trail enough not to be seen really clearly, besides, it was dark. Anyhow, I'm just about finished, when none other than Captain Crazy comes along, spots me and COMES TO ME. Uh, no kidding, I am there, doing my business and he's just talking to me like nothing is going on. UNCOMFORTABLE. I finished up and headed out. He was really wiped out. I felt a LOT better after my stop. I picked up my pace and hauled ASS to the next aid station. I left him in my dust, at least for a while. I felt like I needed to rest at the aid station this time. I stopped and sat down a moment, the sky was SO gorgeous. I took salt tablets, ate a little something and just let myself recharge while I stared at the star-filled sky. Here comes captain crazy.

Oy. He was there for a few moments with me, and then I was ready to go before it was impossible for me to get out of that chair. I had just about decided then that I was going to call it at 2 loops. I was making better time than I had thought I would (nothing fast) so I knew that I was going to come very short of my goal if I did that. I didn't care. my legs were SO sore. My quads felt like I had been doing 450 lbs squats. I have never felt my quads this sore. EVER. It wasn't cramping, they were just *sore*. Captain Crazy had said he was really struggling with the heat, and was probably wanting to call it at 2 loops, too. I didn't want to run the rest of the way in with him, so I headed out early and ran the hell back to the finish...again. :P I had convinced myself that I was done when I got near the finish. I felt *great*. I had energy ,but my legs felt SO tired. My feet felt fine, I was good, all except tired/sore legs.

When I got in, everyone thought I looked strong, and I explained how bad my legs felt, and especially that right hip flexor was upset. (the one I have mentioned many times before) I was having trouble standing up straight the flexor was so short. Olga came and worked on it and it was AMAZING what she did in just a few moments of work to it. Seriously, I am not sure my last loop would have been possible w/o her. Thank you, Olga!! While was receiving my lovely work (commissioned by Joe), Captain Crazy came over...argh...bad timing man I am relaxing!! Joe *knows* I can do this last loop, when I am very unsure that I can. I felt okay, but it was my legs, I could not get past how badly they felt. That is something you have to get past to get better at distance running, and I think he saw that was what I needed, just a little encouragement. It worked. I ate some food, and took my other Perpetuem flask out. Captain Crazy had said he wanted to go out on another loop if I went. I really didn't want to do this whole loop with him.

Thankfully, I decided to drop back a few moments around mile 23 and I stayed way back and didn't catch him again until the last aid station. I was *so* glad that they encouraged me to go back out. I started to feel a lot better. I would have *never* thought I could have done this lap. I"m not saying it was pie or anything, but I had no idea I would be able to feel good again on this run. Mile 24.5 I started to have some problems. I started to get really bad muscle spasms in my left quad, it took my leg out from under me. I knew this was electrolytes, I took another tablet, drank water and kept going. This bothered me so badly that I could only run about 3-4 mins before the spasm came back and I had to walk. this would last until I got to the aid station, about 26 miles in.

Once I got there, captain crazy was there waiting. I had a double dose of electrolytes and I was also hungry again for a bit of real food. I had some food, a hammer gel and refilled my water. Captain Crazy said a bunch of insane crap to the next runner that came through, including jokes that he had peed in the ice and a bunch of other crazy babble. God I wanted out of there. I decided no matter how badly it hurt, I was going to get a good lead. I took off from there. I ran as fast as my body could take at the time, and I kept going, and going. I finally lost my steam about 1.5 miles from the finish, he came around me around that time, but kept going..thank god. I had friends coming by me that were finishing the 60K (that means one more loop of 8.5 than I had run) in the same time I was pushing like hell to get my miles done. I was impressed, and humbled :P

I had to walk again there for about 1/2 mile because cramps had started again. I have NEVER felt sweat pour out of me like it did past that last aid station stop, not even in 108 degree workouts. I could actually FEEL it gushing out of my pores just like if I was in a steam sauna. Then I started to feel pretty good, and was able to run it in. I could not believe I had put in 29.29 miles on the trail. yay!!

When it was done, I really wanted to sit down, but I had forgotten my folding chair. I was also ready for a hot meal, and I felt like I had just enough mojo to get myself home, fed and cleaned up for bed. I was correct. I felt AMAZING the whole drive in, even if my legs were sore. It was a great night, but I wished I had taken my chair and some food with me so I could have stayed to watch some friends finish. I will learn to do these things next time :)

This run was very good for me. It contained many lessons, but the most important was that I could do it, even when I wasn't sure I could. I learned that if you can keep moving, even when it's awful, it will get better, usually. I learned you can go from a pit of despair right back up into the air and feel great again (and go back and forth). I learned how fortunate I am to have friends and coaches giving me just the encouragement I need when I need it. Thank you, all of you!

This was a great training run for me, it was a great race and I was honored to share the course with some incredible runners. Thank you Brad, Joe & Joyce and all of the volunteers who helped make this possible.

note: nutrition ROCKED For this run. Hydration went well. I had to drink a LOT. I thought I was taking enough salt, but late in the race it became clear that I needed more than I was taking. Many athletes I talked to on the course were having similar problems.

recovery week

2009-08-14T21:46:42Z

One of the wonderful things about having such a widely-experienced group of friends that I run with is the invaluable input you can get from them. It's easy to get wrapped up in your own schedule, your own observations, etc that you sometimes forget to take a step *back*. That is precisely what I had done.

I have not given myself a recovery week, or really even an easy week in a very long time. Yes, I have had the weekend off here and there, but that is really not the same. I'm not sure why I considered this crazy amount of remodeling work a "break" just because i was not running much, because I was certainly putting my body through way more than I ask of it normally when I was doing all of that, but I went from that right back into running and it finally all caught up. It took someone else asking me when the last time I had taken an easy week for me to really think about that...and you know, it was way way too long.

Running is so much more than "just exercise" for me: running is what keeps me sane. It's what helps me find clarity when things get too jumbled up and stressful in my life, and I actually have found lot of answers when I was out there just allowing my mind to clear. I love being out on the trails, the connection with the nature around me; there just really isn't anything else like it. So, I don't always do great with having to take time off. I truly miss it., but I needed a super break. No hiking even just time OFF of my feet. I made myself promise I"d only do Tuesday and Thursday workouts this week, and I"d not do them too hard.

Tuesday's easy workout was successful, and I felt great afterward, it seemed like just what I needed, and I was getting pretty antsy to run by then. Thursday I was *very* ready to workout, but I didn't feel very good that day, and I didn't have the best workout either. That's a separate story for a separate entry, though. . .

I can tell this week is what my body has needed, but it has not been easy Why do I fight these rare rest periods when I can see and feel the benefit so much? I feel like a cranky 4 year old arguing that they are not tired WHILE they are falling asleep: silly! Tuesday's run was so strong because of the couple of days I gave it, but my body really needed the bigger rest. I think Timber Knoll this weekend is going to go well. I am prepared for it, but also rested enough, I just hope not too rested. That is what makes rest hard for me..skating that line between what is enough and what is not enough. I should just listen to what my body says, that is what I did this time.

I need to make recovery weeks something I put on my schedule, especially since I seem to go from one training program into another..many times from in-between time when I've kept a similar schedule on my own. Sometimes I become workout lemming and just follow the schedule when it's not what I need, and I've gotta stop doing that. I don't want to feel like I felt Friday night toward the end of that run, not for a loooong time. Overtraining fatigue/burnout is a horrid feeling. There is a fine line between pushing yourself to the next level, and being your own bully. It takes a lot of finesse to know the difference: that or the wisdom of good friends around you to guide you when you've clearly missed a turn.

I still have quite a bit of time before Cactus Rose, but lately I've really been freaking out about thinking of that distance. Time to remember my promise to myself about running for me and enjoying my training and running on the path to accomplishment. Also, I"m starting to feel REALLY excited about Nicaragua. I'm not sure if that's because it's Nicaragua, or the race is about 20 miles shorter. haha!

note: despite a lot of stretching and all of the work I could do myself, my iliopsoas group, especially on the right, remain shortened, it's even hard to lie completely flat at night without feeling them pull a little still.