Pineland 50K, redemption, insanity and giant *ahem* roosters

Wow.
It certainly has taken me long enough to do this recap. I guess it goes without saying that I've been really, really busy!

Sunday May 25th I departed on a mission quest to redeem myself in the 50K. Good life choice.
Did this mean shooting for a PR?  No, definitely NOT. In this case, the terrain definitely required a reality check. I ran the 25K 2 years ago- and despite my blistering pace then (yes, I was indeed running like someone was chasing me) it has stuck in my head over the years as one of the most challenging races I have run.

While I might be crazy I am not dumb. I completely understand the mistakes I made at GCI and I learned from them. I also recognized the fact that as far as "ultra" training goes I had not even scratched the surface! My best guess going into this was that in ideal conditions I might be able to run a JUST barely 5:30. My recent "trail" running attempt, plus my Boston time, plus recent years Pineland results corroborated this evidence and I felt totally ok with this!

I awoke on race day seriously questioning my motives.
The traditional Pre-Pineland long distance day dinner might have made me feel less crazy but did little to calm my feelings of complete uselessness/unease.
I hate waking up feeling nervous but it happened. I admit it.

Pre Pineland Pizza, proving that Beer is a legit means of carb loading.

The good news? It was shit cold on race morning. Maybe 50 something, cloudy and definitely damp. IDEAL!!!!! SO IDEAL!!!! FOR REALZZZZZ!

By the time Eric and I got there, confirmed with Sean that we were all insane, set up the tent and such I was feeling quite alright. I was basically double fisting bagels and smearing body glide everywhere per the norm. We also established that Maddy was the lead 50 miler woman at that point- she won by a ridiculous amount. (we are not worthy!!!) (this made me feel like I could handle a puny, wimpy 50K....)
But really I felt calm and it was all good. so I busied myself getting ready. 

Or, texting per the norm. Whatever. We had a sweet tent.

But in reality, as always, I waited until the last minute to get properly ready and Eric was sounding panicky. He likes to be prepared to race hours in advance where I prefer to mosey to the start with my GPS still frantically searching for satellites! (I'm ok with this. We like different things)

Everyone lined up, there were some instructions which I tried to listen to (failed) and they rang the cowbell.
We were off!
It was chilly and damp and lovely.

Going out HABANERO!!! Or slowly and carefully. Or dancing, who the hell knows.

 Many runners went charging off READY TO FUCKING WIN THE DAMN 5K!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good job.

As I previously mentioned, I learned my lesson at GCI!
My pace for the first 10K was methodical and downright pedestrian. I simply kept reminding myself "You don't finish a 50K in the first 10K. don't do something now that you will regret at any point in the last 10K... seriously woman keep it together!!!"

I had a GREAT plan. I was 100% committed to taking in the sights and sounds for the first hour, making sure to hydrate and drink as needed, being very sure to start walking up any annoying hills as early as needed! For the second hour I was going to turn on some tunes if I needed them (I did not) and focus on getting to the point where I would see Eric again at mile 10-ish and mile 15-ish.

After that I had no plan. Z-E-R-O-. Nada. Wow, expert ultra runner!!
And taking in the sights? How about looking dead ahead, about 1.5 feet so ya don't fall. That's more like it. 

As it turned out not having a cohesive plan was no big deal. After seeing Eric around mile 10 I found that the uneven terrain had already taken a toll on my dainty road running left hip.
While starting the second loop (of the first loop... yeah too many loops) feeling my hip and hammy twinging like crazy I seriously said "What the ever loving hell, shut the fuck UP! I don't want to hear any more from you little JERKS!!!!!" Believe it or not, I never felt that pain again. Go figure.
And plan or no plan, I managed to carry for those remaining 300 (or 3ish) hours with no mental struggle.  Plans are overrated!

Right about the time I was cussing my legs there was a creeper photog to capture the special moment.

So, I ran the first loop in just under 2:30, according to plan. I felt fine. I needed to go pee. Angie was hanging out with Eric (and Quinners! baby genius) at the half way point and I stopped for a very quick chat with them. I was super ultra paranoid that anything longer than a quick word would result in Boston level cramping so I moved on quickly! I found a port-a-pottie, went pee and carried on.

About halfway there. Looking squinty. And alone!

I was pretty conscious of the need to not screw up my eating and drinking plan so I was consistently drinking coconut water (seriously... it's a life saver) and over the course of the run I ate a picky bar and about 6 small salted potatoes- as well as several cups of water. The temps stayed nice and cool until the 3.5-4 hour mark, I seriously credit my good day to the weather gods!!!

About 2 miles into the second loop I took my first "real" break (meaning- not just walking up a random hill) to focus on having a substantial snack since I definitely noticed that I was losing steam.
In retrospect, this was a really good idea as I was actually pretty happy for the rest of the race! At this point I felt like I was completely alone, in no mans land. There really was not a damn soul in sight! Nothing!!!! Totally alone. Super awesome (like, the best. Notttttttttttt.) Anywhoo, feeling pretty good, I chugged along watching the kilometers tick by.

Which was super annoying.
At the 11K mark (in the second loop) I was so grouchy! "UGH!" I thought to myself "GREAT!!! THE 11K MARK! THAT is SUPER critical to know!!!!" This made me laugh since I was in the grumpy cranky stage of running not the oh holy hell I am going to die stage.
There s a clear difference, in case you did not know that...
Oh an guess what? I was still alooooooooone.....
And I noticed, with annoyance, the 16K mark (critical) the 18K mark (lifechanging) and so on, laughing and grumping all the while!

At some point in this ridiculously long race (so the start of the last 5K or so...) Danielle ran by my all full of "WHOOOO" and high fives and what not. I had just left Eric behind and had told him that "I just need to finish..." Apparently I was still coherent and honestly I felt good but... It seriously took me 10 minutes to figure out it was Danielle who was the super pumped cheerleader!
Something about looking at the ground 1.5 feet ahead of you for 4 plus hours really takes a toll!

Close (well, close-ish) to the finish prior to handing my pesky fuel belt off to Eric...I love my flower.

 So those final 5K. Aside from feeling like my feet were broken they were amazing.
All the energy conservation that I had done meant that whenever there was a flat spot I cranked it up. It was really, really fun. Totally different than the final 5K death slog at GCI.....
My legs hurt, my GPS wasn't acting right (not that I cared) but I had enough energy left to pick up the pace and run strong to the finish.
The good news? I was no longer ALONE!!!! Ther were all kinds of 25k-ers everywhere and it was so fun having friends to chat with. (or pass. I'm a jerk sue me)

I actually couldn't believe it when I ran in in 5:07:49- just 3 minutes slower than last year at GCI.

Done. Thank the sweet lord baby geezes.

According to my GPS the course was appallingly short- I hope this is not the case! I know that I was having satellite issues and I certainly do not trust my Garmin 100% (but it would be a bummer to have a course measure a mile short- I ran the 25K before and it measured as a 25K so I'm assuming it was my dumb device malfunctioning!) At this point it was HOT out and I was pleased to be done. Oddly, I barely noticed the heat while on course, I really had gone into a "zone" and was totally turned inward. (this is a skill that makes me a ballin' equestrian since I am completely unfazed by chaos, not sure how it impacts me as a runner. I will assume it's good.)

As is often the case after a long run I walked around stupidly for a while, drank copious amounts of Gatorade (so the 30 oz of coconut water and additional H2O weren't sufficient!) I took a shower and felt human again. I ate a red hot dog which freaked Eric out (silly vegetarian) but it was like a little slice of heaven.
I drank a beer.
Kissed a giant Cock.

Well what else would you do?

Was 3rd in my age group.
And went home to contemplate my strange decisions.
(and had ice cream.)

And really, my pictures with this silly bird are quality.

What's Next? Stupidity.

I have had a master plan all year of how this running season would play out.
It got a bit derailed with a close-but-no-cigar non PR day at the Hampton Half and then of course, the semi disaster that was Boston.
However. Back in January I decided that Boston wasn't the end goal for this 5-6 month training cycle but another crack at a 50K was. Since I was quite healthy after Boston it was deemed acceptable by Coach Kelsey to piggy back the marathon training into an ultra.
WHY????? She should have shut me DOWN!!

Yeah I haven't really publicized this. I totally wanted to be able to back the fuck out, shame free.
Honesty on the internet. Always fun. 

Really though, I've only been about 50% committed. Or maybe 25%. Or 10%.
Until today. when I sucked it up and signed up.
(so now, I should be 100% committed in the other sense of the word.)

Please note my semi-depressed reply to "how I learned" about the race.

The race is Sunday so it's not like I could exactly continue to contemplate it.

How I feel this exact minute about my choices.

Hmmm. OK time to get excited.
I'm excited because it will be an adventure.
I'm excited because last year I learned how NOT to run a 50K.
I'm excited because my friends will be there and Pineland is FUN!!!
I'm excited because there is beer at the finish and this will be a quality test of my stamina in regards to running towards beer.
I'm excited because I am badass and can do anything I damn well set out to do
I'm excited because when I spend $$ I better get excited, haha!!!

I think this is stupid because:
It's 31 miles
I'm in it to finish, certainly not to compete
It's 31 miles over HILLS
There will be nature. and ticks. I hate ticks.
I might get muddy and I dislike mud. 
(all valid reasons)

I think we need to call upon divine intervenion.
Kate, please buy me this!!!
HAHA.
Please 6 pound 5 ounce sweet lord baby geezes, get me to that finish line!!!

Alex and Ani... They have bangles for every occasion. Even 50K's.

Anyway, I'm all in and plan to finish the full 50K with a smile on my face and to implement my ultra running plan far better than at GCI last year. (more on this later this week)
I really, deep down in my heart am excited. I think this will be a big challenge but why not, right? 

Of course, Sunday is scheduled to be the warmest day of the week so I will probably melt at mile 10 and require assistance to get to the beer tent at the finish. (I am currently accepting volunteers for on course hospice care I mean assistance.)

Oh Boy. sometimes I wonder what I'm getting myself in to!!!
After this it is all 5K races people, ALL 5K races...

Counting down to 2014 and through my good choices of 2013!

Continuing on with my end of the year wrap up!
I really can't believe it is time to count down the last few days of 2013. Shit, where did it go?

So, I'm going to start with my list of good things that I learned and good choices I made in 2013.
There are 10 of these, and they are not in any particular order. Except number one. That's a winner.


10: BETTER CHOICES:
I have been known to make some pretty foolish choices over the years in my athletics which have sidelined me a few times. I am pretty bright though and pride myself on not making the same mistake twice (because that is the definition of stupidity, and is the definition of wasting your coaches time.)
So what brought about this change? A few things. One- as I said, I learn from my mistakes. Two- I had damn good guidance which brings me to our next good choice......

Yes, I still looked like this on occasion. Good choices are relative!
(also proving that I do NOT, I releat- DO NOT always photograph well!)

9: Hiring Coach Kelsey. A great choice. She made me walk the damn line. No more junk miles (well, fewer. I love junk miles...), no more avoiding cross training, no more obsessing over weekly miles. Total life changer. I think about where I am now vs where I was a year ago and I'm dumbfounded. I'm JUST as fit as I was then (or more fit) with NO nagging, repetitive injuries. Furthermore (and this is a big one) except for a month of so in the height of a training cycle when I know I need to be hitting 50+ weekly miles I don't care how many I'm doing. I can now see the big picture better- and the big picture contains more than constantly doing 50 junk miles a week for months at a time.

8: Backing wayyyyyyyy off on the racing. I didn't have a lot of extra cash to blow this year what with Boston AND NYCM costing me a mint. And in all honesty.... I might do fewer races in 2014....

This little medal cost me hundreds of dollars. F'n worth it. Hmmmm strange priorities.

7: Realizing that I do NOT need to PR at every distance: It is just a nice recipe for constant injury. This is a lesson I actually learned in 2012 but implemented successfully this year with good results. I PR'd at the distance I cared about and trained for!

6: Doing an Ultra. I discovered that I can do it! I discovered that perhaps, 26.2 is more my jam....

See, After a 50K I look close to death. Blerch.

5: FINALLY figuring out how to eat during a marathon. THANK YOU running Gods (picky bars) and a year of trial and error. This one is HUGE.

4: Only having 1 goal for my "A" race. It kept me from doing any negotiation with myself. It was BQ/PR or bust for Smuttynose and it worked like a charm! I think I can pull this off maybe twice a year as it was a pretty significant physical/mental effort!

Angie is holding me upright. That's what happens when your legs fall off at mile 25!

3: Realizing that I can't do an "A" race every month. Duh. What a shock. This is another lesson that I learned in 2012 to be honest. I definitely applied this amazing concept until October when I did all the races and quit running. ....it was bound to happen....

2: Applying to be on the Oiselle Team, and being accepted! After meeting so many Oiselle athletes in NYC this Fall I really feel that I'm running with the right people. They are a serious but FUN group of ladies, and they love, love, LOVE running and racing. I loved talking to some of the elite woman- they are SO fast but were so down to earth and friendly- a real pleasure to converse with. I have enjoyed my time with Oiselle thus far and feel that it is a group of people, and a company that I believe in and can picture myself with for a while.

1: Deciding to marry my super wonderful exclusive dating partner. The best choice ever! My feeling is that if you have the opportunity to marry your best friend you should. I'm petty excited to tie the knot in 2014 and to spend the rest of my days having hot athletic dates with him and looking at his sexy physique. We really do have ALL the fun!



Love!

The end of 2013, the begining of the recap posts!

I love year end recaps! I enjoy writing my own to relive the year's fun moments (from back in the days when the world was not coated in ice- bleeerch!) I also like to read everyone else's recaps, I like to see what other crazy people have been getting in trouble doing.
It's also amusing to remember the worst, stupidest races of the year too so rest assured I'm going to do that too. 

I think I might do a few of these in a similar manner to last year. I'm so cool, I have multiple year end posts whooooo!!!

Okie Dokie. On to the good stuff.

Best Race.
Oh man... How I want to say Boston! That was supposed to be the race that sticks out in my memory like a shining beacon of amazing athletic accomplishment! I wanted it to be my perfect race so badly, and as fantastic as it turned out (my personal race, not anything else clearly) it isn't at the top of the list. Boston wins for other things though so stay tuned.

OK so REAL best race. It's an effing tie. Between a race that counted for a lot and one that totally did not.
Smuttynose (October-Marathon, 3:25:45)
And... The run leg of the Rev3 OOB team I was on (I know, random...?) (August-13.1, 1:37:10)

It was perfect and amazing (and VERY much worked for) for things to be perfect at Smuttynose. I had never had a marathon like that before and I know they don't play out that way every time. I went in determined to BQ with a time that would enable me to sign up earlier than this year- NO more squeaking in for me! Despite the crapola weather my race went exactly to plan. Every mile flew by, I did everything right, I left it all out there and was not 100% happy in the leg department for a few weeks.... And it was amazing. Whenever I need to remember why I do marathons I just remember that and I'm like "oh right..."

Smuttynose.... The last 400 hurts like a bitch. Woof.

As for Rev3 that was a complete surprise, and I don't get many of those since I pretty much know how my legs are going to react. It just happened that I was at the exact point in my marathon training, on a course that played to my strengths, on a day where the humidity finally broke (somewhat) and I was able to crank it up and run fast and badass. I had encountered a couple 13.1's this year that left my confidence shaken slightly- mostly just wondering if I had lost quite a bit of speed with ultra training. This took care of that nonsense and reminded me how much I like the Half Distance.

Rev3 OOB.... If I can show boat like this I'm clearly not pushing hard enough!

 

Best race because you only get one first time, and DUH I got engaged...
Well Boston Obviously. (and I did run a PR that day which I then killed at Smuttynose)
Other fun facts from this race: I did not have a great first half but then felt better and better, I certainly was tired at the end but maintained pretty well after I made it over the pesky hills. This was a huge confidence boost since my previous marathons had been a struggle for the final 10K.
I'm really excited to be qualified again this year. I have a feeling that I am going to enjoy myself even more since I know what to anticipate. I also expect the aftermath to be requiring fewer swat teams.... I'm not sure how Eric is going to top 2013 but he has 4 months to think about it (kidding Eric, kidding...)

Yay! A happy post race moment!!!

Worst stupidest biggest waste of time races.
UGH Effing Old Port Half. On the merits of sheer stupidity. I will never ever do this race again because it was terrible on so many levels and I don't make repeat mistakes. Like signing up for races that are awful more than once.

Stupid Old Port Half.

Also.... I just hate the Derry 16 miler. It's a well run race! They do a nice job running a decent sized race, in the dead of winter, in a pretty tiny town. What I hate about this race is nobody's fault- it's a race that leaves me questioning everything and 98% dead. So yeah, no thanks.
(and for 1st time Boston runners who do this race for the "prep" quality of it- the hills here do NOT accurately represent what you will see in Boston. Boston has hills. Derry has mountains. So actually, if you want Boston to feel easy do this ASAP!!!!)

Race that I ran on a whim to get an aided training run, which had a bad reputation and I ended up really enjoying.
Bands On The Run in Lewiston.
Who knows why I enjoyed this. Maybe because all I had heard was that it was a shit show in 2012 so my expectations were low. Reaaaaaaaaly low.
Now honestly, the majority of the course is nothing to get excited about. But it is fairly challenging without being brutal, has a section of trail that is entertaining if you aren't going at a blazing speed, and they did a good job this year with plenty of water stops and bathrooms. So, all in all not a bad race. I would consider going back in 2014 and I'd suggest it to friends as well.

Races that will be perennial favorites of mine, forever.
Mount Desert Island, Full or Half
Now that I have run both I can honestly say that the full is one of my favorite courses to run on, hands down. It is not an easy course or one that would be ideal for a guaranteed PR or BQ (although it is doable!) I really missed doing the whole course this year- although it would have god damned killed me.
As far as the half goes same deal. Challenging course for sure, but I expect that it will draw some very fast people in the upcoming years ending my reign as a podium finisher. There are a few wrinkles to work out after this year but nothing major or worrying. It was definitely "MDI lite" in 2013- a little messy at the start (and much less exciting! the start of the Marathon is legendary) and it would be nice to have a little pomp and circumstance for future podium finishers (*ahem* *use the podium* *ahem*) But those minor silly things aside, I'd definitely force my friends to get up to MDI and run this. Yearly.

MDI is even pretty in the rain! (good thing...)

My favorite picture.
Because why not? It's my blog and if I want to post all the pictures of myself I can!
This is the winner, from GCI back in July when it was warm and not snowy out.

It looks like I am winning.
I'm not.
I am, however, leading the peloton...
(before I bombed at mile 19 and they all caught me! Hah!)

 

So that is it for today's recap post. Much more to come since I like to string these things out for as long as possible!

You are not me, but if you WERE!

You are not me, but if you were...

Duh, you'd be awesome.

Every now and then people ask me for suggestions on how to train, eat, recover and maintain a sleek, well groomed physique (ahem.) Since I am clearly an expert on all these things I am happy to help them out with wise words of wisdom and brilliant suggestions which stem from my years of expertise in all things running. And life.

 

Yes I am making fun of myself.

 

However, I do feel fully qualified on how to make myself as awesome as I can be. Pshhhh YES INDEED! Taking that into *serious* consideration I have compiled a list which should really help the rest of the world reach its full and amazing potential (at what, we are not sure.)

Read at your own risk. This is an awesome post.

You are not me, but if you WERE!!!
You would take compression, and matching, seriously!

No lie. During this epic training cycle I relied heavily on compression. I only use it for recovery but from socks to shorts to full on dead sexy pants I rocked it the eff out. And I am 100% convinced that it aided my recovery time significantly. This is actually a very helpful tip. Maybe the only one. I am not committed to any one brand of compression- pro compression has been sucky in the sizing department lately, Zensa's are almost always too big, 2XU is fine but costs ten thousand dollars... You get it. I don't have a favorite.

I also have a very cute dog. Too bad he is not too bright.

You would also.... Recover with BEER!!!

I will never run for team refuel with milk products. I can not imagine swigging down a creamy vat of dairy post race. BARF. After I chug some high quality h2o I grab a beer. Or two, apparently. Never more, because I am blindingly responsible and wish to be a fine role model for the youth of America. Which I am because it is practically un American to run a race and not to drink a beer, eat pizza, bacon and ice cream immediately thereafter.

I am a wonderful healthy eater and you should be TOO!!!!

 

All I can say to this is "YES PLEASE!!!"

Too bad I can NOT eat donuts before running. *sad face*

If you were me, you would buy your actual running food in BULK.

After years of searching for the correct nutrition for running I found it in these amazing little nuggets of happiness. If you have a picky belly get some damn picky bars. They are like magic for your mouth. And your GI tract. The unbelievable bonus is that they are delicious like candy and fabulously easy to eat and calorically dense and they have REAL ingredients. BIG FAN!

(this is another helpful tip which brings us to TWO! Success!!!)

 

 

If you were as much of a beast as I am...

You would learn to change your own tires. It beats waiting for help!!! (I'm not going to share my skills on HOW  to change a tire but it is actually as easy as picking up the manual... And practicing a few times. Even if you don't want to, haha...)

And those tire irons are really good weapons, should your Ninja skills fail you.

(FYI, my Ninja skills never fail me. But it is good to have a back up plan...)

 

If you were as fashion forward as THIS GUY!

You wouldn't always wear running skirts. But when you DO they would be Oiselle bum wraps and they would be awesome.

I am not a running skirt girl AT ALL NOT NEVAH!!! But I make exceptions for this one. It is all kinda functional but most importantly it is cute without being all frills and fluff.



If you need a little nap like I DO....

Apparently you would lie down in the sun and take a cuddle nap with your BFF. What can I say? We were a little tired. She has a super new baby and is Half Marathon training like a BOSS. I'm just lazy. That is all...

If you, UNLIKE ME, had a crazy streak...

You would HIDE your 50K race medal and fabulous extras. Because if you did NOT hide them they might be a constant reminder of how (if you were CRAZY) you might really want to do another 50K someday as legit redemption. Clearly, this is NOT a problem for me as I would never want to do such a crazy thing ever again. Ever. Yeah, that's right!

 

That brings us to the end of my amazing and helpful lecture on how to get better in all aspects of life. I am sure that this will be much appreciated by the entire internet and that everyone will eagerly await my next installment!

Great Cranberry Island 50K. It was a long race.

After pondering for the past 2 days about a clever way to begin this blog post about my recent 50K adventure I have given up hope. Clever is not going to happen. I am also going to avoid waxing poetic about how damn happy I was (am) about having the opportunity to run this race in its last year (who am I kidding, I am clearly going to do this. I might even give a whole friggin' press release like I did to Mary Ropp on Sunday morning. I get a bit verbose when I am running on no sleep, haha sorry :-))

 

I might be lacking in clever opening lines but here are a few titles that I considered for your enjoyment:

"The tale of two races in one, one amazing, one less so"

"The time the DJ dropped the bass one too many times and broke it.. or maybe there was a noise curfew?"

"The time we learned that Sara calls people who get frisky in the tent next door "campground sex offenders" (but really, go for it you guys. high five.)

"One time I was racing... to the next porta potti....."

 

Now to the good stuff.

 

Eric and I headed to Bar Harbor in the pouring rain on Friday after I wrapped up one of the busiest work weeks I have had this summer. I was feeling good despite having a few aches and pains from being on my feet 9 plus hours a day all week- it's life! We are all busy and that's that.

We had a normal evening of feasting on pasta, me eating cookies in bed and preparing for an early day. I slept quite well and woke up in the exact same head space I was in before Boston. I saw this as a very good sign. I call it my "staring space" because if you were to look at me or try to chat I might look totally spaced out. Here's the deal though, I'm just ALL inside my head in a weird and slightly creepy way. (it is creepy.) We hit the road on time, had a wicked fun ferry ride, accidentally stole one guys tent (whoops!) and got set up in plenty of time.  

 

Yay for racing friends!!!

As everyone knows I went into this race feeling good about my training cycle, uninjured, and with a flexible but pretty well thought out plan. I was getting a little pissed off at myself though because no matter what I could not figure out if I should treat the race like a slow-death-march or a run-fast-it's-only-5-miles-longer-than-a-marathon-wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!! Totally undecided. My final brilliant plan was that it was only 5 miles longer than a damn marathon and I should run it like a friggin' boss, leave it all out there, puke, break, murder myself in the face, be badass and NEVER EVER say I should have gone harder.  

Dudes. Goal accomplished. Which might not have been the best plan!!!

 

At the start! So excited! TOO EXCITED!!!!

As soon as I started running I pulled my head out of my creepy staring place and got SO PUMPED. I WAS OMG SO EXCITED. Ridiculous person that I am, I sped off to conquer the 5K I was running. Whoops. I was excited about everything, I met ALL the friends, I found my name on a phone pole, I saw the scary brown geese for the 1st of many times, I shouted everyone's name and jumped up and down. The miles must have flown by because the first time I looked at my watch it was at mile 8. And my watch read just a touch over 1 hour. OH SHIT. I was having ALL the fun though so this small detail did not concern me (it should have.) There were some hills, just little bitch hills at first later in the race they felt like Mt Everest- I'm sure other runners might agree with this... Other than those pests the course was freaking FUN- so pretty, so sunny, such a nice breeze all around fab.

 

Eric jumped in to run a couple laps with me at mile 11. I was clearly still in my very happy place at this point and we very happily chugged along at a blazing BQ pace, me yelling at the ducks, my new friends, anyone who would listen and generally being very enthusiastic. 

Mile 15 rolled around with a bit of GI disturbance that I took care of with plans to resume my kickass race domination. My plan worked well until mile 19. At mile 19 things took a turn for the worse, the unexpected, and to a place that I have never traveled to as a runner.

 

 For better or worse whenever I have hit the wall before I have been able to sneak over it, crawl under it, or kick it in the face until it breaks. At mile 19 of GCI I hit the hugest wall I have ever seen. From mile 19 to 21 I tried to pull it back together, knowing that I had been hydrating and eating properly, knowing that I had put in the damn work and knowing it was a perfect day to run.

At mile 21, with Eric reminding me that 10 miles is no biggie for me I basically lost my cheese off my cracker (there may have been tears.) (10 miles seemed impossible!) I knew there was no way I could make my "A" goal, I knew that my "run however you feel like running" plan wasn't panning out, and I knew that from my dumb belly to my feet I hurt worse that I ever had before while running. TOTAL system failure. I was stopping at every porta potty, I could no longer keep up with my hydration and every time I moved faster than a shuffle I felt like I was going to puke or just die. UGH EFFING UGH! Eric was planning to stop running at mile 21 but he stuck with me thru another lap and having him there was a huge morale boost. We ran thru the marathon split in 4:00 and I knew I could still make my "B" goal, or close to it, even if I had to walk most of the final lap.

 

 Sometimes in any competition when things aren't going according to plan one has a choice, quit, pout, or make the best of it.  At mile 27 I seriously considered sitting on the side of the road to cry for a bit, I said to Eric "I think I can finish" and not only did he agree but a couple of girls ran by and they were like "DUH, of COURSE you can." At that point I decided that no matter what I would enjoy the final lap. It would, after all be my final lap in the final chapter of this race on GCI and I was determined not to sob and snot my way thru it. So I manned the fuck up. I ran/walked/hobbled my way as fast as I could (not fast) over those last few miles. An untimely additional porta potty trip made me nervous about coming in under 5 hours, and when my legs cramped up when I tried to run faster than a turtle I decided my "F" goal was going to have to be ok. (F goal, Fucking Finish. Yes, we all have those days...)

 

I ran thru the finish in 5:04. I have no idea how I felt or what happened or anything. I was in a gross amount of discomfort so went and sat down.  

 

 

 

Me. Done. Thank Heavens!

Right away I felt much better!

I was exhausted.

I was very glad to be done and sat in a stupor for a few minutes before taking a fantastic shower (I have never been so salt covered) drinking a bunch of Gatorade, talking to my new running friends and taking a short grass nap.

Then we took a mile walk to look at all the pretty things!

 

 It took me a couple of days to get around to writing this because I had to mull it over for a bit. It was quite an enormous accomplishment and even though I did not meet my A goal I learned a lot. I know a bit better now what I could improve on if there is another 50K in my future. I also know that even thru a shit ton of problems I can push myself for 31 miles- which is fairly insane from a normal perspective!
I feel like the people made the event. It was really fantastic, well run and a group of awesome cool runners. My kind of people. These are people that I will be happy to see again, snuggle with (although our snuggle-buddy had to leave the party early!) share beer and war stories with and commiserate over all the struggles of running with.

I'm not going to lie. If this race was going to take place again next year I'd be signing up on day ONE ready to tackle it again!  (Gary Allen/Mary Ropp comeonnnnnnnnn! one more year! pleeeease???)

It was an amazing adventure. I keep looking back on the weekend with only positive feelings (which is weird for my type-A self to do when I crash and burn in such a spectacular manner!) I'm so happy I got to experience the race, the island, the people and new friends.....

(see you all at MDI. less than 3 months not that I'm counting!)

This is it!

Race hair is firmly in place. Now I can be found in a crowd!

Legs feel good.

Weather looks ok. It isn't now but tomorrow will be better!

I'm pretty pumped, and after a long busy week am super glad to finally be on my way to stop one, which is Bar Harbor. (with an early ferry ride to GCI tomorrow AM)

Wish me luck at 11:30 tomorrow. I can NOT wait to run the best race ever with about 180 of my new best friends. I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

Pink hair, orange tank, purple socks, yellow dog.
Kickass!

GCI 50K: 5 days and counting....

5 days to go.

Yikes.

 

Luckily, with only a few more days to go I don't have much time to worry about it.

I spent a few minutes this weekend really trying to decide how prepared I feel, what my race plan is and if I have settled on a goal finishing time.
I came to the following logical conclusions.

1: I feel fine. My training cycle has been legit. The one thing I wish for was to have completed a run over 20 miles with success... No point in stressing over that detail now- I run marathons happily *ahem* with my longest run at 19 so... fingers crossed!!!
 I have been extremely happy with the vast majority of my runs, my pace, my legs feel good and my crosstraining has been significant. I signed up for this race with the goal to challenge myself and push beyond my comfort zone and I believe I will meet both those goals. I certainly have pushed thru the training and the race is absolutely outside of my comfort zone. **insert vomiting noise HERE!**

2: My race plan is still a work in progress but I have decided upon several things. I'm not going to charge out of the start like a lunatic but I'm not going to hold myself to a 10:00 mile either. That has not been working well in my training runs so why should it in a race? I know I can hold an 8:10 pace for 26 miles. I do not plan on doing so for 31. (according to the internet I should plan to add at least 90 seconds per mile to my current marathon pace. my goal is to keep it closer to 60 seconds.) I plan to hydrate after every lap (at races I hydrate every 4 miles) and to try to eat at mile 5, 10, 15 and 20 (as I would in a marathon if all went well.) I imagine that by mile 20 and beyond I simply will not be able to choke anything down and that's ok. Eric is all ready to run a couple laps with me for moral support and I believe I have coerced (aka blackmailed) Andy into being ready to run a lap if I'm dying a horrible agonistic death.

3: My goal finishing time is, as stated above, something around a 9:10 pace. I hope to finish in the general ballpark of 4:45. In this plan I have chosen to eliminate all rude variables such as 90 degree temps, bad GI situations, deciding to stop and take a break at mile 20, and so forth. I am not sure how things will play out after mile 26 so taking that into consideration my "B" goal is to maintain a 9:30 pace, which still seems perfectly reasonable for such a ridiculously long effort and would be well within the range of times that would make me happy.

The moral of the story is that while I have had a solid, uninjured training cycle and am currently feeling both mentally and physically prepared to conquer this ridiculous volume of running there are things that I simply can not control. I have said before that if you put in the time and consistent effort then there should be few surprises on race day- either negative or positive. Knowing my bod the way I do reminds me that in a high mileage situation, especially in the hot humid summer this isn't always a true statement.
However. I plan to run a solid race. I am certainly going to be fit starting up Fall marathon season, if nothing else!!! I am excited for a new adventure, one which I have heard SO many good things about and feel lucky to be attending in its last year.
In a week I should have some damn good stories to tell too- if you want to hear about tedious miles, bleeding feet, chaffing and gulping Gatorade that is!!

Ultra Training thus far: OR: What am I THINKING??!

I am pleased to say that for the most part my Ultra training is going quite well. On a side note, i believe that from now until race day I am going to refrain from calling this race an ultra and simply call it a 50K. To me, 50K sounds worse. To most (or so it seems) an ultra needs to be at least 50 miles. I'm doing an ultra-lite, haha! That's enough for me thank you!

Indeed, race training is marching along. Less than 3 weeks to go and I am still sound, sane (for the most part) and thinking that this cycle of ultra training could happily continue into fall marathon season.

Well. I was thinking that until this Sunday's long run of death and horror.

It had to happen. All my long runs have been in 62 degree weather- I kid you NOT! I had a feeling that on the first day that my multi hour run fell on an 85 plus degree day that I was going to eat shit.

I knew it was going to be hot so I pre planned, ate right, got hydrated, set up aid stations and pledged to never even INCH above a 9:30 pace.

The best laid plans.... 

Getting ready. Thank you Eric for this *amazing pic*

How I felt about this particular photo montage. Heehee.

I was a little sad to discover that I did not have ANY of my favorite outfits clean and ready to go..
Oh well... I knew I'd just sweat on and destroy this one anyway!

Being a glamourous weirdo, per the norm... *sigh*

And then... I WAS OFF!!!!!

If this run had finished at 2 hours I would have proclaimed that it was perfect! I ate and hydrated properly (until I ran in to start lap 2.) My legs felt great, my mindset was perfect and I was convinced that I was going to dominate this long run like a boss! Of course, I also noticed that the air was HOT, like hot to even breathe- and there was not a breath of wind. I was sweating so much that I pulled off my tank at mile 13 (my rest stop/lap 2 point) and mopped my face and disgustingly wiped my nose on it. Eww. The good news was that lap one had really gone according to plan: good hydration, good nutrition, good slow as molasses pace.

                                        Running into mile 13 and my turn around for lap 1.
                                             I was shooting for about 23-24 miles. UGH.

This is the point when I think I made a critical error. I had been consistently sipping water and gatorade, and having my normal running snacks. I was feeling like the fricking Sahara desert at this point to I made a terrible choice, chugged about 20 ounces of gatorade and chased it with a hefty dose of water. At this point, I also decided to carry along a water bottle even though doing so drives me crazy, and I had another aid station a few miles away (the choice to carry the h2o is an important detail for later.)

One mile into lap 2 terrible things began to happen. WHO knows why!!! My stomach became disgustingly sloshy with the 20 ounces plus of ill advised hydration slopping around. Very shortly thereafter I began to experience some most unpleasant hiccups which varied between being heinously painful and charmingly vomity. So awful. By the time I was 5 miles away from home I was fairly certain my day was done but tried (and tried, and tried) to shake it off and talk myself thru the tough moments. That is what long distance sports are all about after all.

I carried on in this truly horrible condition for quite some time. I was really ready to man the fuck up and get this run done! I tried to eat (failed) tried to drink more (drank maybe 10 more ounces of my water bottle- again, important detail...)

I think I was due for a horrid long run. THIS WAS IT. It could NOT have been worse.

I stopped counting miles and counted steps. I was rather annoyed because until mile 15 or so I had really been enjoying myself and feeling strong! The weather continues to be hot, humid, airless and stale. I wished I had my phone because by mile 18 I was struggling every step- and for someone who ran 20 2 weeks ago like it was NBD this isn't a great feeling.

At mile 20 I looked up, groggily, to see a large light colored dog running at me, barking ferociously. Over the din I could hear his owner's panicked cries and when I looked at the dog bearing down on my I knew why. I was about to get fucking killed... I had no idea what to do and I knew I didn't stand a chance if he really meant business. Without even thinking (and literally- as I felt his breath ON ME) I squirted my water bottle in his eyes. I was just enough to startle him and he swerved slightly. As he rounded back on me I bashed him in the face with said-super-hero-water-bottle and squirted him again. Bottom line, I can't play the quick thinking tough guy here. If this dog had REALLY wanted to bite me he would have. I was lucky. And scared shitless. And I will ALWAYS carry mace from now on, and I'm not scared to use it!

The owner was quite upset. As she should have been. The dog had been tied but broke his run when he saw me. she openly admitted that he was a dog who is dangerous and unfriendly to passers by but still "a good dog." I'm a dog lover but I'm not quite sure that being that unfriendly is a good trait.

I borrowed her phone and called for rescue. I had had enough of the whole experience!

Done. UGH.

I was pretty destroyed for a couple hours. Lots of complaining about how disgusting I felt.

 If I learned anything from last years summer marathon training (which is debatable since I swore never to do it again- yet here I am...) it was that one horrible long run doesn't affect the outcome of the race. I did wake me up to the need to re-think (AGAIN. again, UGH AGAIN) my hydration on hot days. If it's 60 degrees and raining I have this shiz down to a science but I'm not well practiced this year for the hot temps. With only a couple weeks to go it might not happen.  Since the weather is out of my hands I'm not going to stress, because what can I do? I'm just going to wrap up my final weeks of training and I'll see all of you crazies at the start line. I have no idea what is going to happen on race day (but who does?) Honestly, if it is that hot I might be chugging along in survival mode. Or turn into a spectator at mile 8, HAH!

2.5 weeks to go.... We shall see what happens.

(A quick housekeeping note as well. you can find me on Bloglovin, along with the rest of the blogger world apparently!)

 

Training for a 50K. So far, so good.

With The GCI Ultra looming on the horizon my Ultra training has begun in earnest.

I say this with my lying voice somewhat on, as I have probably been putting in the base work for this since December or so.

The real deal however, is that I have recently noticed a definite increase in the length of my workouts.

My Brilliant award winning coach seems to have devised a genius plan of having one of my long, slow, boring as hell runs actually be a mega miles bike excursion. Since biking is still a fun new adventure for me I think this is splendid. With the added benefit of lessening the pounding on my poor old legs.

 

However. Most of my cycling adventures have been in 50 degree drizzle.
Or an ass kicking thunderstorm, which equals unbridled terror.

A quick example of what my workouts have looked like (this was last week)

Monday: Track ladder

-1600 @ marathon pace

-1200 @ 1/2 pace

-800@ 10K

-400 @ 5k

1600@ marathon (warm up, cool down)

-And 30 minutes of core

 

Tuesday- Rest (yeah, on my "rest day" I'm usually on my feet teaching for 8-10 hours. Fail..)

 

Wednesday- 2 hour (30 mile) Bike with drills

30 minutes core/foam roll

 

Thursday- 50 minute (6 mile) Base run

Added drills, including high knees, skipping, vines, etc

 

Friday- 2:45 endurance run at easy pace (so, 18 miles at 9:00)

 

Post long run to my BFF's house.
Tired and sweaty but alive.

Saturday: 1 hour easy bike (so just over 15 miles or so) (and it was awful!)

30 minutes core/foam rolling

 

Sunday- 2 hour endurance run at "absurdly easy pace" (ok....)

This turned into a 12.5 miler with some fairly decent hills.

It was not exciting...

 

I'm feeling fine. Yeah, I am a little tired but my legs are holding up well and thus far there is not even a hint of pain or a suggestion from my bod that it is preparing to fall apart. I feel that this is good news.

 

I have been asked what my goal time is for GCI and I don't have that answer yet. I'll mull it over and throw some numbers out there soon just for the hell of it.

 

And on a final note.
I found the perfect athletic wedding cake!
Of course, we haven't set a date or made ANY plans but to me, the cake is critical!