….and My Story Runs On….
I have learned that I have to write these within a few days of the event or I lose the event mojo 😉 Like my normal race reports, I’ll break this down into a few sections so you can skip through the parts you need to know about depending on why you are reading this. Continue Reading →
….and My Story Runs On….
Wow! Where to even begin? I know I have to keep this succinct but very hard to do, especially for those of you that want to get a detailed report about the race and what to expect if you plan on doing it. Continue Reading →
….and My Story Runs On….
Where to even begin? One of the recent facebook posts about this event was something like “people will be talking about the 2017 Black Canyon Ultras for years to come.” And the memories will probably not be pleasant for most of us.
First of all, I want to give a huge congratulations to everyone who participated. Whether you finished, dropped from the 100K to the 60K, or DNF’d (Did Not Finish). The weather conditions were ridiculous and just being out there was an amazing feat! Also a huge thank you to all the volunteers and Aravaipa staff who were out there taking care of all the runners!
This was supposed to be my first 100K race. I blogged last week about some of the changes that happened to the race course due to the upcoming weather conditions. I was pretty bummed that everything was not going as planned with the weather but I finally got over it….
4:30 am: Alarm was set to go off but I woke up about an hour earlier and couldn’t fall back asleep. I checked weather.com one more time hoping that a miracle might happen and the rain would not be in the forecast. No such luck. (I had weather.com up on my computer all week and had been checking it at least 5x a day!)
6:20am: I arrived, picked up my packet, chit chatted with some friends and waited impatiently to just “get this party started!” (I say this almost every morning when I start my day).
Before race start. Had to go visit the Altra booth. Love my Altra shoes!
Quick selfie before race start…it was raining at the start..see below for note on yellow colored glasses 😉
7:00am: We are off! I always stay towards the end as I’m never in a hurry, especially with that many miles to go. We did one loop around the high school track, ran through part of the town of Mayer and on the road to get us to the trail. And here is where the “fun” began…
Jeep road portions of the trail were a muddy mess!
This is what were dealing with on the jeep road portions of the race…Photo credit: Jennifer Berry
It might’ve been at mile 2 or 3 or so that we encountered this and my first thought was doing this again on the way back at mile 60 in the middle of the night with my pacer. Yikes!
Then we hit the Black Canyon trail (I really do love this trail). It was better on the single track and things were starting to look just a little brighter! On a side note, I highly recommend wearing yellow colored lenses in this type of weather (I have them in the start photo above). Knowing there would be wind, and it would be too dark for sunglasses, I brought them and was so happy I did. All of the sudden I was seeing the world through yellow colored glasses and it was so much brighter! Every once in awhile I would remove them from my face and then the world was all dreary again (literally and figuratively). Highly recommend them for running when it’s not sunny out.
I had created a race day strategy with my crew/pacers. My plan was to skip the first aid station (although had to stop to give a quick hug to my friend Dan Pena who was volunteering). The rain had stopped and the trail was getting better. The downhill portions were a blast to run down and there was no mud on this part of the trail. Hallelujah! I was having a blast and happy that things seem to be going better than I expected with the weather…..until….
I’m almost at the 3rd aid station and was tracking exactly as I planned. I see my friend Senovia, who was also doing the 100K and she was heading back towards the start. I asked her if she was injured and she told me that the at the next aid station, they were recommending that the 100K people turn around (which is where the 60K turn around was) due to upcoming bad weather. Whhhhaaaat?? Although you could see black clouds all around the area, the weather seemed to have backed off. I had about a half a mile to get there and now was trying to figure out what do with this information. So many thoughts started rushing through my head…”I am not a quitter”, “I trained months for this race”, “this was supposed to be my first 100K”, etc, etc…
I arrive to the aid station and check in. Sure enough, they said that the race directors were recommending that 100K people turn around as the storm would be getting worse after 4pm. They also said they would allow us to drop down so we could get credit for the 60K. Dang it! I was feeling really good at this point (mile 20) and was not ready to make this split second decision! I called my very supportive boyfriend first...poor guy, why I am calling him and adding this pressure on him? He doesn’t know what to say other than “I’ll support you in whatever you decide.” I know several of my friends decided to keep going and I kept thinking, if they can do it, so can I….something in my gut was not feeling right though…I called my pacer/friend/trail wife Elaine because she is my rock when it comes to this stuff. She’s a great athlete, mentor, friend and I knew she would give me objective advice. Sure enough, she knew all the right questions to ask me. Within a few minutes, I knew what I had to do. This was one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make in that short of time. Elaine gave me my sanity check and I know I needed to respond logically to this situation rather than react emotionally. As much as I really wanted to do the race I had trained for, I needed to trust the race directors advice. I also had to take into consideration that there was a chance that my pacers could not get to me for the last 20ish miles due to the weather conditions. I could be on that trail, in cold, wet, dark, muddy conditions all alone. One of the things she said to me was: “you can have a good 60K race or a bad 100K”. All of the sudden, everything was in perspective and I knew that I had to make the decision for my safety more than anything. Do I think I could’ve finished the 100K? At that point I believed I could but after being in the horrible weather after 4pm, I believe I would’ve DNFd this race had I continued on. So I did a quick facebook live video on my business page, told them I was choosing to drop to the 60K and back to Mayer High School I went.
One other important thing I took into consideration is that even though this was MY race (not coaching anyone else for it but me), as a running coach, I am setting an example for others. My client and friend, Sharon, said it best in a text I received while still at the aid station “I know it must’ve been hard for you, but your decision gives other permission to make good decisions.” This really stuck with me and helped me feel better about the decision.
I ran into a few of my friends doing the 60K on the way back and shared the news. It was so weird because the weather seemed to be cooperating…as a matter of fact there were a few moments where a few sun rays came out. But you could clearly see the black clouds surrounding us. I was second guessing and feeling disappointed in myself. Did I make the right decision? I knew I had to let those thoughts go as I couldn’t go back now. So I got refocused and reminded myself that a 60K is still an amazing distance! and this was still my 2nd longest distance ever…and it was my first 60K (I still have to keep reminding myself of these things as my ego can’t help but get in the way).
I knew I would be power hiking quite a bit as now we are going up all those hills. I met a new friend, Pancho, from AK at about mile 28 or so. We ended up staying together the rest of the way to keep ourselves motivated. We also ran into Lara who was from Canada and leap frogged with her a bit. As if the uphills weren’t bad enough, the weather took the turn they were expecting it to. It started raining harder (almost felt like hail at one point), the wind started blowing and it started getting colder. I am glad I switched my shirt out and the second to the last aid station as it helped keep me warm, although I was freezing a few miles after that. We know what was coming…we had to get back through all that mud on the jeep road portion of the race. Pancho helped me find the best paths to take on the mud so it wouldn’t be so bad. At one point I realized that running where the water had pooled, was the easiest place as the mud had been compacted down. Unfortunately I couldn’t feel my feet already because they were so cold. It was either struggle through the mud slower or get through this faster by running in the cold water puddles.
More mud…(photo credit Jennifer Berry)
And more mud…photo credit Melissa Ruse from Sweet M Images http://www.sweetmimages.com/
The last 5 miles were just ridiculously brutal between the rain, cold and mud. I was so ready for it be over at this point. I don’t like road running but I remember telling Pancho I couldn’t wait to get to the road. I kept thinking about how awful it would’ve been to be doing this segment after 20 more miles and way later at night with worse weather and reassured myself that dropping to the 60K was the right decision. We finally got to the road and knew we only had a few more miles to go…felt like forever! We turned at the high school and all of the sudden I could hear my name being yelled out. I could barely see and realized, there was my crew: Elaine, Lori and my honey! So happy to see them and know that we were finally done with this! Best cheering section ever!
Elaine & Greg hanging while waiting for us!
We crossed the finish line, high fived each other and I needed to get warmed up. I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. So grateful that Mayer High school opened up their gym to us so we were able to get into the locker rooms. My clothes were soaked and stuck on me already but I barely recall getting into the hot shower with Lori and Elaine helping take my cold, wet clothes off while I heated up my body…warm broth and hot chocolate helped too! My first thing when I cross most finish lines is having a beer..but I was too cold for one!
This was a blur of a moment!
We waited for our other friends to come to repeat the hot shower process for everyone. Everyone was hanging in the warm cafeteria. Mayer Fire Department and the race EMTs were working like crazy…so many people with hypothermia.
Post race reflections
Sooooo no buckle for me this time. People have asked me: what now? I am trained for a 100K so why not find one and do it? Well, I have the Monument Valley 50K on 3/25 and on the following weekend, Crown King 50K (I am one of the coaches for this race via Aravaipa’s Women’s Ultra Training Program and can’t wait to see them cross the finish line! For several of them, it will be their first one!). I have not made any decisions at this point but my gut feeling is that I’ll want to take revenge on this course next year. It’s around my birthday and I love this trail.
I’ll leave you with this quote…never knew this about the lotus flower!
“Whenever you should doubt your self-worth, remember the lotus flower. Even though it plunges to life from beneath the mud, it does not allow the dirt that surrounds it to affect its growth or beauty.” Suzy Kassem
Pancho, Lara and I after finally warming up after our finish.
Only took one photo of the views…just love this course..better with sunshine though! 😉
Thanks to AZ Traileggers Aid station where I stopped for awhile on my way out and back! Great motivational signs!
More good signs!
From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)
….and My Story Runs On….
Where do I even begin? First I have to try and explain how this type of event works. Across The Years is described on the Aravaipa website as:
“the original fixed-time multiday running event celebrating the New Year. Runners have 24, 48, 72 hours or 6 days to cover as much distance as possible. Each runner is free to walk, stop, eat, and sleep whenever they wish, but the clock is always running!”
What does this mean? It’s basically you against the clock. You can sign up for minimum of 24 hours to a maximum of 6 days and log as many miles as you want or your body/mind will allow you.
I’ll be honest, I have very mixed feelings about this event. In 2014, my boyfriend and I volunteered during the midnight shift at New Year’s Eve and we had a blast! We decided to do it again this year and The Running University sponsored two volunteer shifts on New Year’s Eve so I received a free entry for filling those spots.
I was excited to have the opportunity to try this type of event out. The course is a 1.04 mile loop at Camelback Ranch and you basically go around the loop as many times as you want or your body/mind will allow you. I’ve done an event before that was looped but it was a 4 mile course so this was a first experience for me. Every 4 hours they change the direction so you go around the opposite way.
I can’t wait to get my official bib number. It’s yours for the lifetime of the event. Apparently once you get to 1,000 miles you get a jacket! not sure I’ll ever shoot for this goal!
I ran this mostly with my friend Heather and we decided that we were “just” going to follow our training plan for the weekend and our plan was to do a 50K (31.1 miles). I also had dinner plans that night so I was on a bit of time crunch. We started at 9am (the 24 hour clock is from 9am-9am). The first several loops felt great…actually most of it wasn’t bad at all..as a matter of fact at one point I was thinking, maybe I can do 48 hours next year and do my first 100 miles…break it up in four 25 miles segments over 48 hours…that sounds doable, right? Well…..by the time I was done, I was done with those loops. Heather and I spent most of the time chatting together and with other people on the course. At one point she needed to make a stop so I kept going knowing we find each other on that loop at some point. I started listening to one of my new favorite Running Deep playlists that I purchased awhile ago and had not had chance to get into (guided meditation for runners). It was perfect timing to be zoned out and zoned in at the same time. I was also hoping to PR my 50K time. Doesn’t really mean a whole lot as this type of event is much different than running a 50K on a trail with an actual elevation profile. But still, I was running a lot more than I would’ve on a trail so that had to count for something. I did set another PR and I found my results from my Tom Tom amusing. Mostly the elevation profile and the map of my run. 😉
It might be easiest to break this up to pros and cons (of course just my opinion!). Would love to hear comments from anyone who has done these events!
Pros:
Should’ve got a better picture but this is the main aid station…lots of goodies here!
Heather and I at the start line getting ready for the 9am start 😉
Had to get a selfie with the pretty “lake” behind us. There were some scenic spots on this loop!
Hanging with Ed The Jester. I found out today that he placed 1st with 451 miles completed in 6 days! Just google “ed the jester” and you’ll find out some amazing things about this guy!
Sharill! Her and her husband used to own Solemates which was a racing company that only did these type of timed events but shorter starting with 6 miles up to 24 hours.
Ron! I see this guy volunteering everywhere! And you can’t help but love that shirt!
Ila! Still waiting to hear on her finish as of right now. She is an inspiration and I blogged about her too: https://myownrunningstory.wordpress.com/2016/09/22/running-marathons-at-70/
We reached our goal of a 50K! 31.8 miles on my watch 😉
My strategy was to complete a 50K but my mantra is the same thing I have on the back of my The Running University shirts 😉
Cons
So, 4 days later, do I still want to do 100 miles in 48 hours next year?
Will I do the event again next year? Hell yes! My plan would be sign up for the same 24 hours with friends, hopefully convince some people to do their first marathon, and have a walking/running party and just have fun with it!
Have you ever done a timed event? What’s your experience? Would love to hear your opinion!
From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)
….and My Story Runs On….
I still can’t believe this was my 5th 50K! Last year this was my 2nd one and I blogged about that one too.
This was a training run for my first 100K. My training plan called for 20 miles on Saturday and 10 on Sunday so I combined them in one day (although these were “Aravaipa” miles so it was actually 32.2 on my TomTom).
Since I had some trouble with this one last year (you can’t really try to PR (personal record) different trail races due to the variety in the terrain) and I was redoing the same one, I decided I really wanted to do better than last year. As I set this goal in my head, I was also detached from it. If I did PR, great but if I didn’t, I knew there would be lessons to learn (always!) so that took some of the pressure off.
One of the hardest things for me to do is run my own race. I tell people to do this all the time but as a coach and someone who knows a lot of runners, it’s hard not to get caught up in hanging with friends and helping them out. So I had to make a decision that this was going to be MY RACE.
This is what I have on the back of my The Running University shirts 😉
Leading up to the race, I did a lot of mental preparation. Since I knew the course, I reviewed it again, reread my blog from last year and started making a strategy. Thankfully I didn’t have the “girlie” issues from last year so that would shave some time off for sure. I also looked at the aid station locations and I remember running out of water on the toughest part of the course. I decided I wasn’t going to stop at the first aid station and I would run as much as possible on the easier part of the course so I could hike the big hill. I took the day off before the race and relaxed and got mentally psyched up (McDowell Mountains are one of my favorite places to trail run).
I started the race with my friends Katie and Mitzi (it was their first 50K!) and Will. We had nice pace going and it was fun to start out relaxed with friends! I told them that I had a plan though and that I wouldn’t be stopping at the first aid station. We split off at mile 7.
They finished their first 50K! They are now ultra runners!
I remember staying very focused on my ChiRunning form a lot (as always!) so I could be as efficient as possible. I made sure to refill my water so I wouldn’t make the same mistake as last year since there was an 11 mile gap between aid stations and it was the hardest part of the course.
The one thing I don’t like about trying to PR, is that I tend to be much more tied to my watch. I’ve had some of my best runs when I’m not paying attention to it as it can be mental stress added on that keeps you from relaxing. Knowing this, I tried not to be too focused on it but I had an average mile that I wanted to keep to reach my goal so I was more engaged with it than usual. I knew I had to stay ahead of the game because the hill was coming. The trail started getting rockier and I remember this from last year. Not my favorite terrain to be running on as it’s harder but I know I need to keep practicing this for my 100K race. I ChiWalked the entire hill with a few spurts of running when there was a little flat area or a little downhill. I used my arms so much to help me up the hill that my biceps were sore the next day! I’ve never had this from a race before but this is part of the ChiRunning strategy. Use the arms more and legs less. The downhill was rocky so I wasn’t able to go as fast as I normally like to.
Hills…
More hills…
I got to the aid station at mile 24 where I got so see my friends. I love our local running community and there are always so many familiar faces either running or volunteering! I was still pacing to PR but I was definitely getting tired at this point. More rocky uphill and then some good downhill that was rocky on and off. My pace was slowing down between the rocks and being tired. I always go back to my ChiRunning form as soon as I start feeling tired. Outside of always checking in on my postural alignment (first thing to go when you are doing long distance running is your posture), my cadence is what really helped me out. Every time I felt my legs get heavy, I would increase my cadence (strides per minute or foot turnover) and I immediately felt a relief. There is a magic number of 170-180 (not unique to ChiRunning but recommended by just about every running form) and harder to maintain on trail. Most people run at lower cadence and this wastes a lot of energy because you are holding your body weight on each leg for longer periods of time which is inefficient.
I finally texted my friends that were at the finish line and told them I had 3 miles to go and someone please make sure I had a beer at the finish line 😉 I get to the last aid station and the guy said I had 3.2 more to go! What?! That was one more mile than a 50K. I forgot to put this in my blog last year so I forgot about this…I was a bit irritated and it made that last few miles harder mentally. I don’t normally listen to music but I put my playlist on my phone on speaker so I would be a bit distracted. At about mile 30 you can hear the finish line and it’s a mind f%$k because you just want to be done at this point. This part of the trail was up and down and it finished with a nasty steep hill. My friend Bill was at the top yelling “hammer it” which really helped me push through it!
I could hear my friends cheering me on and I crossed the finish line (Chris, thanks for the Koffee Kolsch!) with a huge smile on my face. I didn’t have the official results but I knew I had PR’d. It was about a 34 minute PR which translates to a minute a mile for 32 miles of improvement! Pretty proud of that! I will say that I was hoping to do better but I will take it!
One of the coolest things is that my friend Jenni even made me a medal! She was making one for Katie and Mitzi. Some people run for bling and I normally don’t but I knew she was making a few for them and I wanted in on it too. At Aravaipa races you get a pint glass when you finish (I have a bunch of them) but getting a homemade medal from Jenni was the icing on the cake! (and she isn’t crafty either!)
Love my medal! The only one I’ve received for a 50K 😉
Running never ceases to amaze me! So much to keep learning about myself and the sport. Having a plan doesn’t always pay off but I feel the mental preparation ahead of time was crucial to my success. As always, ChiRunning and the advice my nutritionist gave me for my 50 miler were two key components to my success.
What is your strategy when you want to try and PR a race?
These are the results from my TomTom.
3rd aid station with more friends!
Terry and Raul at the 2nd aid station!
Ila! She is 70 years old and I’ve blogged about her before. After this 50K she was driving to Santa Monica to do a half marathon the next day!
From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)
….and My Story Runs On….
On Saturday, I completed my hardest race to date…The choice words for the day were FUCKING BRUTAL (there are a few more swear words in this blog)…..it was also the most humbling race experience I had and one of the most gorgeous courses I’ve been on. It was Ultra Adventures’ Capitol Reef 50K. Now I get why they are called “Adventures”. You may remember that I did my first 50 miler with them at Antelope Canyon. This was the highest elevation I’ve ever ran in with the steepest uphills and downhills I’ve ever done in my life. Based on my standards, mostly an unrunnable course as you’ll read and see my pics below. Before I break this down, I found this photo online yesterday as I was googling “mental toughness” and dang it, it pretty much summarizes my event!
I was invited by a friend to do this race awhile back and I read some blogs and some info about it so I knew it was not going to be an easy one. Click here to see the map and elevation profile. Looked like a great opportunity to visit a new place I’ve never been to (one of the main reasons I love ultra/trail running is that it brings me to places I would not visit otherwise). I was ready for the day to finally be here as you may remember my last blog post on Burning Out.
Our road trip up to Capitol Reef included a quick stop at Monument Valley which I had never seen before. It was absolutely stunning and I am sure I’ll be doing that race at some point as well.
We went and grabbed our packets on Friday and had the honor of meeting Arnulfo Quimare, the famous Tarahumara Indian from the Born To Run book. I already had Caballo Blanco’s autograph in my book so I added his as well.
On race day, we arrived at the finish line where we would be bused up to the start line for this point to point race. This is the 2nd time that my friend/trail wife, Elaine and I ended up wearing the same shirt…which fit well with this race #RunSteepGetHigh. Matt Gunn, the race director, gave a briefing at the beginning and I tried not to worry about some of the words he was using like “bushwacking” and “boulder mountain”.
Run Steep Get High 😉
Obligatory selfie with Elaine and Lori (this was her idea in the first place)
Matt Gunn, race director giving the briefing.
The three of us agreed ahead of time that it was each woman for herself and if we ended up together that would be fine but we were “running” our own race. My goal was to finish and not got lost (this is their 2nd annual and blog reports from last year mentioned people getting lost. Matt does a great job in taking feedback from his post race surveys as the course was marked very well in my opinion. Actually looking for those pink flags helped keep me focus and made it “funner” by seeming like a bit of a scavenger hunt.) The 50K course had an 11 hour cutoff (my average has been a little over 8 hours) and Ultrasignup forecasted that I would end at 11:45 (not sure what their algorithms are based on) and I was determined to prove them wrong.
I knew the first 8 miles were going to be an uphill climb so my plan was to hike this entire part to save energy so I could “run” later. These pictures don’t do it justice. I will say that I could feel the elevation change but it didn’t effect as much as I thought (giving some credit to some exercises I’ve been working on from The Oxygen Advantage book).
The scenery was breathtaking and such a different experience from running in the desert which is my usual trail running play ground. The first half of the course was a combination of beautiful meadows (mainly single track but fairly runnable although you couldn’t see the terrain under the grass sometimes so you had to be careful for rocks); rocky trails; and boulders: 
Cow bones?? Dead trail runners??
more nonrunnable terrain…for me anyways!
Caught Arnulfo with some amazing running form in his sandals!
Seriously??
Channeling my Spiderman skills again..
Boulder Mountain…this seemed like at least a mile of this type of terrain.
Lori and I “ran” together up to about Mile 14. We were bumming a bit as we had done some good training and really just wanted to run. We would find a good runnable trail but then 50 feet later it became unrunnable again (although clearly runnable for the many other experienced runners that are used to this type of terrain). She got ahead of me and at this point I was comfortable being alone as I knew the course was marked well and I was not worried about getting lost.
More beautiful water scenery on this course with lakes and creeks…I used to be “afraid” of crossing creeks and we had several of those. When it worked out, I would use rocks or logs to cross but I got over that fear after some of our Black Canyon trail runs so when it didn’t work out, I would just walk right through them. The cold water felt good on my feet and I knew I wouldn’t get blisters as I’ve done this several times in my shoes before.
I finally got to the Donkey Reservoir Mile 19 Aid Station. A lady said that my friend Lori was about 2 minutes ahead of me but I was ready to take a little break here. There was a 4pm time cutoff at this aid station and I got there around 2:30pm so all was good at this point. I had been following my nutrition plan and was feeling great (outside of being bummed that I wasn’t running as much as I wanted to). The volunteers were great. I ate some quesadillas and had a little Coke (I only drink Coke on trail aid stations and it always hits the spot!). Got my water pack filled up and off I went. The next aid station was going to be 10 miles away so I was prepared for that…or so I thought…
I noticed the battery in my Tom Tom was close to dying. I wasn’t too worried about it at this point as I was comfortable finding the course markers. It died at about mile 21 and I was fine for a bit. This is when my mind started playing tricks on me. It was really hard to gauge how long it would take me to get to the next aid station. I wasn’t doing my normal pace for sure and it’s so hard to do math at this point on the trail. I started doing one of my favorite ChiRunning meditations on the 5 senses to keep me present and distracted. I focused on all my senses:
Eyes: I had to keep my eyes on the trail a lot since it was pretty technical but I loved to see the pretty flowers, the views, the pink markers that were guiding my way…
Ears: I could hear the birds chirping, the wind in the trees, the water flowing through creeks..my heart rate going up on the uphills (at points it sounded like it would jump out of my chest!)..at one point I played music on my Iphone via the speaker so I could still be part of nature..I kept it low but needed some more distraction to get through it…I could hear footsteps behind me once in awhile as runners were passing me (this messed with my head a bit too as 50 mile people who started an hour before me and had completed more mileage were actually running this course…I knew they had more experience running in this terrain but still!!…)…I could hear my breath as I was focusing on my cadence and breathing together..
Smell: I could smell cow patties but never saw any cows which was weird (I heard some too) and my favorite was going through a few patches of pink flowers (which could be easily mistaken as the pink course markers) and the smell of them was overwhelming yet soothing.
Touch: sometimes the wind would pick up and I could feel it on my skin…the sun on my skin…being brushed by the bushes on the side (wait for the bushwhacking part in a few)
Not much to do with Taste outside of the ginger candy I picked up at the last aid station.
Even though this worked for periods of time, the non runnable parts seemed to never end…and the steep uphills and downhills continued…THEN we got into the bushwhacking part Matt had mentioned in the briefing…
Can you see the pink marker in the top left hand side of the photo? You can barely see the trail but we were literally going through shrubs..so hard to see the ground and run this part too..
Do you see the pink marker in the top left hand side of the photo again? Yes, I crawled over logs and this was not the only place..
I kept wandering when the heck I would get to the aid station at Mile 29. There were several times that I could feel a lump in my throat and I just wanted to cry. Mentally I can usually get through races by working on the meditation above or just enjoying nature and knowing that I am doing what I love to do most: run around in nature….but by this point, I was so freaking ready for it to be over…a few times I just wanted to sit down and have a helicopter come and get me..I’m not a religious person but I prayed to God, Jesus, and Mother Mary several times..and then there was Rikki (bottom line, my friend Lori M bought these for our adventure..there is more to that story but I’ll save that for another blog post)
A few times (and yes, I realized I was talking out loud) I said “I just want my Mommy”..or I would think about my boyfriend and how bad I just wanted to be in his arms…I’ve never felt like I wanted something to be over so bad before…Every time I turned a corner, I kept hoping for that dang aid station…I had to be close….
Finally I reached it….it was 6pm and I had been on my feet for 10 hours. The volunteer said that there was only 3.8 more miles to go…yeah! but were they runnable miles? He said yes but again, I couldn’t rely on his idea of runnable as clearly my definition is a bit different. I had Coke and M+Ms and took off. If it were truly runnable, no matter how tired I was, I could do this! I know I can run 4 miles in an hour! And thankfully it was mostly runnable! Heck, all of the sudden there was sand and I was so happy to run in it!
These were some of the views from the last part of the race:
Since my Tom Tom died, I was using my phone for time…I kept pulling it out to check and see how I was doing..I am sure if I had the info, my last 4 miles were the fastest in this race…I still had to walk a few times and at this point, my goal was to finish within the 11 hour cutoff…that’s all I kept thinking about…I finally saw the road that we would be crossing before the finish line..my phone time was 7pm so I’m thinking it’s too late…I wasn’t going to have the same epic finish as my 50 miler…but I kept running as fast as my legs could take me as I was SOOOOOO ready for this to be done! I couldn’t wait to see my friends at the end…I finally see the finish line and the clock…the clock is at 10:59:55 and I’m running as fast as I could…the seconds were counting down…I crossed the finish line at 11:00:01 (unofficial time)…and then there I was standing there, finally done with this darn race and no one was there to greet me! Where the heck were my friends? Lori M came up right after and was so bummed she missed my finish..apparently Lori C had told them I was about an hour behind her so they figured they had time (it was a long day for all of us so I think we were all confused by this point!)…..it didn’t matter…I WAS FINALLY DONE WITH IT!
I realize this is a long blog post but here are my Thorns, Roses and Learning Lessons (in addition to what was already mentioned)
Thorns:
Roses:
Learning lessons:
Would I ever do this one again? HELL NO! As a matter of fact, if someone told me I had to redo the Antelope Canyon 50 miler in sand or Capitol Reef 50K, hands down I would be doing Antelope! But this race had a huge impact on my character..sounds cheesy but I’ve been feeling like my soul was shaken up a bit …I know that during those 11 hours, my mind/body/spirit grew a little bit more…isn’t that why we do these things? To reach out of our comfort zone and stretch ourselves? To see how far we can push our body, mind and spirit and conquer things we never thought possible?
I absolutely love the Grand Circle Trail series. Matt and his crew do an amazing job. My goal is to do all of them at some point since they are all strategically placed in amazing locations…who knows which one will be next?
I tweaked this quote: “A mind, body and spirit that are stretched by new experiences, can never go back to their old dimensions.”
Finishers! 3 of us did the 50K and the other 2 did the half marathon (which was brutal too!)
seriously gorgeous views!
Yes! Not only did I inspire myself but love to hear that I can inspire other people to do epic shit too!
From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)
….and My Story Runs On….
I guess I’m more likely to blog while I’m on “vacation” since this is my 2nd blog in a week!
About a month ago, I realized I needed to get in 20 miles on Sat and 10 on Sun during Memorial weekend for my next 50K race (Capitol Reef, UT on 7/9/16). I knew it would be hard to get this is in MA by myself. My trip consisted of: being in my friend’s wedding in Boston last weekend, 5 days at Kripalu assisting Danny Dreyer, the founder of ChiRunning for 5 days and then a weekend in Pittsfield MA to visit family (my home town). I knew I wouldn’t get any long runs in the weekend of the wedding so I started googling races…lo and behold I found this marathon: MASS Gathering Memorial Day Marathon.
I started looking into it and figured: it’s 30 min from Pittsfield, 26 miles in one day is close enough to 30 in 2 days, it would be my first marathon out of state (7th one), first marathon in my home state and the icing on the cake was that it was benefiting Team RWB (I’m a member of the Phoenix Chapter) and Soldier On. I thought about it for a few days and then decided to go for it.
This past week I tried to follow my training plan but also was on my feet a lot due to teaching and coaching. Even though I took Thu and Sat “off” of running, I went into the race with some mileage on my legs (61.2 according to my Jawbone but that’s including all my steps so a bit exaggerated…still a lot though).
I was on tired legs already!
The eve of the marathon, my head starting messing with me a bit. It was my first marathon where I didn’t have any friends or people that I knew. I couldn’t find any information about the course and elevation (I used to not care about this but as my running story evolves, I realize knowing this information really helps me prepare for the race and strategize). I knew it would be a hilly course so that made me feel better since I love hills due to the unique way we go up and down them with ChiRunning technique. I was also worried about the weather as it was supposed to rain (I’m too used to perfect weather conditions in AZ) and it was going to be humid (I’m used to a dry heat.) I even started googling ‘running in dry heat vs humidity’! Then I started thinking, do I want to “race” this? Could I possibly PR (have a personal record) on this course with the hills (my best time for a full is in Sedona with a 4:58 and it was because of my hill strategy). Then I realized, I was wasting too much valuable energy so I decided to go run it as the training run it was meant to be. I knew the cutoff was 7 hours (race director said they wouldn’t leave anyone on the course anyways) so I had plenty of time.
My aunt drove me the morning of the race and I was there in plenty of time which is rare for me. I had 50 minutes to kill so I did my ChiRunning body looseners and found a seat to relax in. 
I noticed a guy from afar doing the body looseners and I knew he was a ChiRunner as we are the only ones who do this sequence (later I talked to him and he had been in the Kripalu class I assisted with last year!) He was doing the half though. The race started 10 minutes late and I felt good right away going down the gentle downhill. The race started with 80% humidity which I was not used to.
My biggest goal in a long race is pacing myself. I had to slow myself down as I knew I was going faster than I should, especially knowing there would be some uphills and I had several miles to go. The course was beautiful! I was bummed that I couldn’t find a trail race as I prefer that over the road but this race was hilly and nice enough scenery where I felt I could’ve been on a trail.
Roses:
Added to the humidity I’m sure!
Lots of pretty flowers along the course!
Honoring Memorial Day
Love New England scenery!
Hills….
More hills…
Settled in 1750!
Thank God for the rain!
Great running stalkers!
Finisher showing off the dog tag and my Team RWB shirt!
Great craft beer from Big Elm Brewing. Had the stout…yummy!
Souvenirs from my training run 😉
Thorns:
At the beginning of the race, my pace was good and I started thinking I could PR until the humidity got to me. I am still happy with my results. It’s my 4th best time out of 7 marathons and considering the amount of running I had done the week before, the humidity, etc. I was happy.
Placed 56th out of 98 total and 18th out of 38 women.
Dark blue is the elevation change
I normally judge my “success” on how I feel when I am done and how I feel the next day or two after a big race. I finished strong, I was a bit sore the day after and felt great 2 days after. My abs and obliques were sorer than my legs which is always a good sign that my ChiRunning form is good 😉
Overall, I would recommend this race! Not sure I would take a special trip for it as I like to experience new scenery and prefer trails… but if I happen to be up there and I’m trained, I would do it again.
What is your favorite race that you’ve done out of state?
From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)
….and My Story Runs On….
“Come on, you’re already trained” she said. These words coming from my friend Suzi who years ago swore she would never trail run yet ran me in my last mile of my 1st 50K, just did her first ultra in February (Black Canyon 60K) and now decided to do her 2nd one. My boyfriend Greg kidded around and said, “Serves you right. Now you know what it feels like when you’re trying to get people to drink the Kool Aid.” Soooooo….I signed up for Aravaipa’s Crown King Scramble 50K.
This race is no joke…The Crown King Scramble is a point to point uphill 50 kilometer foot race which starts at 1700 feet elevation and tops out at mile 28.7 at 6520 feet elevation before a final 600 foot descent into the finish. This is the elevation profile:
Elevation profile!
We had an option for the early start at 5am and I’m glad we took it. Not only did it get us out of the heat for the one hour but more importantly, it took the edge off for getting to the first cutoff (disqualification point) at mile 15.3 in 3.5 hours. (After the cutoff experience at Antelope Canyon, I knew I didn’t want that extra stress again.)
I considered going for a personal record (my best time for a 50k is 8:19 but I knew this race may not be the right one). And of course, I was “lucky” again and had the same issue as my last 50K (yes, it was that time of the month again!). I decided I was just going to enjoy the race and our beautiful Arizona landscape. One of the things I love most about trail running is being outdoors and enjoying nature.
We barely got there in time and got in the start line about 2 minutes before starting. This was the first ultra for Deb and Kerri, Suzi and Krista’s 2nd, and my 4th. Unfortunately Elaine had the flu and wasn’t able to join us (she’s done two 50 milers but hadn’t done a 50K yet).
I normally like to do my body looseners but didn’t have time for that. My plan was to run the first 15 miles as much as possible as I knew I would be hiking a lot of the 2nd half. The weather was perfect. It was still dark so we had headlamps but we got to see an amazing sunrise! I love that I know quite a few people that are trail/ultra runners. I ran into several friends along the way and got to catch up with them a bit. I met Deborah and Mark a long time ago when I co-taught a ChiRunning workshop for the Mountain Milers group in Prescott. As much as I wanted to run this part, I was in no rush and wanted to conserve energy for later. This first half had some rolly polly hills but nothing crazy yet. The night before, I had reviewed a few of my ChiSchool videos on breathing and steep hills so I started focusing on my form and matching my breathing with my footsteps.
From miles 15-19 we started getting the harder hills. I was by myself on and off and totally OK with that. I love to run with people just as much as I love being alone on a trail. I saw Chris, Amanda and Mechaela. I couldn’t wait to get to the Mile 19 aid station as I know several of my friends were volunteering there. It’s always great to see your friends at aid stations (it’s always a hard choice to pick in between running a race and volunteering at one!). I normally stick to my nutrition plan (thanks to Brooke who helped with my 50 miler!) but the theme of their aid station was Fiesta and they had some Tecate so I had to have a small shot glass of beer ;). Surprise: Baby G Growler was there as well! He is the mascot of Running for Brews Tempe (a social running club that I’m in charge of) Right before this I saw my friend Krista and she wasn’t feeling too well. We got up the aid station and I told her to cool off (it was getting warm) and get some food down. There is also an elevation change to consider for this race and it’s easy to feel nauseated (I felt it several times). She felt better and we moved on. My TomTom died at some point because the storage was full. This never happened for me and was a good learning lesson.I hadn’t downloaded quite a few of my training runs apparently so it didn’t have enough storage for my run. I was a bit annoyed at first but it was a blessing in disguise. When you don’t know what mile you are at, it’s quite liberating. We just kept setting our next goal to get to the next aid station.
Cooling off and getting food at the aid station with Krista
Beer shot with a random stranger names Patrick at the aid station
My good friend Lori at the aid station volunteering 😉
I ran into a few more friends. Marina and Jamie were doing their first ultra. Marina’s been having some calf issues so I gave her a few tips on how to limit using it. I also met Becki and ran into Lynsey (both of their first ultras too!). We did quite a bit of leap frogging for the remainder of the race. At some point, I tripped over a rock and had a little tumble. Not a big deal…it’s actually been a long time since I fell trail running so I was due for a fall. I normally am able to catch my balance before falling but my hydration pack was full and I couldn’t counter balance the fall. I barely got a few scrapes on my hand and we kept moving. I heard my friend Tommy coming up behind us and he’s a great runner and positive guy. He ran with us for a bit, shared his big smile and positive energy and then moved on.
Selfie with Tommy and Krista
The Fort Misery Aid station was at mile 22.3. Apparently they win Best Aid Station contest every year and it was evident by the amount of alcohol they had available. Again, not something I would normally do but I was feeling good so I had a small Bloody Mary and was proud of myself for resisting the Fireball shot.
Open Bar coming up!
Why not have a Blood Mary?
This was the hardest part of the run. You can see how far we climbed. We passed creeks which were great for dunking our hats and buffs. I walked through them purposely as the cold water felt really good on my feet. I had an extra pair of socks for back up but never used them. We also had to deal with ATVs and cars four wheel driving. We knew this would be possible as they can’t close the forest road down. It was a bit annoying although most people were very nice.The smell of diesel from their vehicles was worst than the dust they were creating.
Creeks! We were looking forward to these!
We came a long way up that hill!
It’s really weird because sometimes you look back and think, wow, what was I thinking/saying for all that time? Somehow the time goes by chatting with friends and enjoying the scenery. I have lived in AZ for over half of my life and have never seen this part of our state.
One of my favorite parts was when we started getting into the pines. The tag line for the race is “spines to pines” because we leave the desert landscape at Lake Pleasant and get to Crown King which is at 6700 feet of elevation. I love the smell of pine trees and hearing the wind blow through the needles. The slight breeze felt good too. The last aid station was 2 miles away from the top of the hill and we knew we had 2 miles of downhill after that. We were close! We kidded around about our heavy legs and whether they would remember how to run downhill (free energy!) after doing so much hiking.
Running downhill was no problem and before we knew it, we were in “town” and people were directing us to the finish line.
My official time was 8:45:22. Considering I had no expectations for this race other than enjoy it and finish it, I’m happy with it! As a matter of fact, this is a 50K I would consider doing again. I love a challenge and I love hills. If I do it next year, I may try and PR the course but for now, I’m just happy to have my 4th Ultra under my belt. I will say finishing a 50 miler 6 weeks prior to this definitely boosted my confidence. I also love to finish a race feeling strong rather than feeling like a truck ran over me. I finished strong and even though I was a bit sore the next day, I felt great!
I personally would recommend this race. It’s no joke so make sure to train for the hills and elevation (physically, nutritionally and mentally). Read other blog posts to get the scoop but make sure to have a buff to cover your mouth and nose when there is dust being kicked up. If you are worried about time, do the early start. It was well worth not worrying about the cutoffs and having an hour in the cooler weather.
I would also recommend spending the night. We stayed at one of these cabins (highly recommend them!) and enjoyed Crown King. We had dinner at the Saloon and breakfast at Prospector Mall (both were yummy). And last but not least, you cannot leave Crown King without visiting the Cleator Bar and Yacht Club on the way back to I-17.
Not only was this another great race, but another great weekend with good friends! Love my running friends and the fact that I have more of them getting into trail running but more importantly into ultra running! Thanks to Aravaipa Running for putting on another amazing event!
At the Cleator Bar and Yacht club and “ran” into Jamil, the Aravaipa Running Race Director
Hanging with my friends and the Cleator Bar and Yacht Club 😉
Mascots! Baby G Growler and Baby E-vil from Running for Brews and Vaip Daddi from Araviapa Running chilling at Cleator Bar and Yacht Club 😉
Sunrise!
My first finisher jacket! Well deserved I might add!
From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)
….and My Story Runs On….
Where do I even begin? It’s only been about 40 hours since I crossed the finish line and I’m still on Cloud 9. I’ve decided to write a race report about the Antelope Canyon race today. Continue Reading →
….and My Story Runs On….
Well, I wasn’t really in last place but I was second to last 😉 and you know what, I AM OK with that!
The reason I started this blog was to encourage runners to write their own running story. Everyone’s journey is different..more importantly, I like to encourage people to get out of their comfort zone and try new things when running.
This was my first time participating in this type of a timed event. Basically you pick the time (I was going to do 12 hours but I had to drop down to 6 as explained in this blog post). In this race, there was a 3 mile trail (Brownlow Trail in Prescott) and you get to go around as many times as you want, can, etc. As a first timer, and I’ll speak for the other 3 friends that I convinced to do it with me, it was awesome! People asked me if I was crazy and why would I do this? It’s hard to explain but I’ll give it a try…
You could be someone who doesn’t want to be pressured against the clock that most races impose (like being at the end of a marathon with a swag wagon on your ass because you have to finish by a specific time) OR you might like the security of being on a shorter trail where you have consistency/safety for the run OR you might just want to challenge yourself to see how many miles you can finish in X amount of hours OR you might just want to do your first ultra marathon (over 26.2 miles) and you can pick a time that you know you could do that in (for example if you can’t do it in 6 hours, you could pick the 12 hour event and you would have PLENTY of time to finish 26.2 miles)….not sure I’ve still explained this well enough but long story short, I loved the fact that I knew I had 6 hours on the course and I could do whatever I want!
Since I’ve been dealing with an injury, I decided I was not going to push my body and changed my mind frame from “getting as many miles as possible in” to “I’m just going to have a good time today”.
The race was put on my Solemates’ Ultra Running Events and Mark and Sharill did an amazing job! First, I’m soooo glad that they did a preview run of the course so we could know what it was like. The biggest thing we learned (even though the race was called CYA Cool Your Ass because it’s cooler in Prescott), it really wasn’t that much cooler 😉 Knowing this helped us prepare for the heat on race day.
The course was well marked, there was a major aid station at the start (which you run by every 3 miles…another plus of these types of events) with amazing stuff. There was the usual (electrolyte replacement and water) AND then there was the “other” stuff: dates, potatoes, M + M’s, fruit, grilled cheese, etc. They really took care of the runners! There was also a mini aid station in the middle of the 3 mile course with water/electrolytes. So basically you were covered every 1.5 miles.
The 3 mile trail had a variety of terrain. Some single track but it was mostly double track. Some of it was rockier and some of it was sandier. Overall it was a good mix of trail. Great thing about knowing the trail is you knew when Mount Orth was coming too. This was the big hill at the end. There was only one shady spot on the trail and we took several photos at our favorite bench. It never seemed repetitive to me which was odd. I stayed as present as possible and focused on seeing different things every time. It was also great to “run into” other friends along the route.
Kicking it on the bench
This is one of my ChiRunners and Mountain Miler friends Steve Orth 😉
Due to my injury, I knew I needed to really listen to my body and take it easy. This is another thing I loved about this event. After 9 miles, I could feel my heel bugging me a bit so I decided to sit a loop out while my friends did one without me. It was a tough decision to make but I knew it was the right thing to do. So I stretched, iced and did some facebook updates. I also decided to ChiWalk most of the race. I wanted to run and I did on downhills and flats but knew I wasn’t in any hurry to get any mileage in so I just enjoyed the scenery and time with my friends.
My stuff!
When I signed up for this event, I’ll admit that I was intimidated by it. I know my friends were too. The great thing is that there were competitive people who were trying to beat the clock but there were also a lot of “regular” people who were just out there to see what they could do in 6 hours.
I think I’m hooked now to a new type of event! Most of these races usually start with 12 hours which is not realistic for most “regular” runners. I appreciate that Solemates’ has a 6 hour option that is a more reasonable time frame for “regular” runners.
Thanks to Solemates’ for hosting an amazing event. Thanks to my friends who decided to get of their comfort zone to join me!
So who wants to join me for their next one: Solemates’ Thanksgiving Tryptophun Rhuns the weekend of Thanksgiving at White Tanks? I’ll probably be marathon training or something by then and it would be a perfect “training run”. Another benefit of these types of events: you can make it a long training run and you don’t have to worry about bathrooms, food and water. Plus you get a medal, shirt and other cool swag!
Swag!
Me being goofy!
Not registered yet but pretty sure I’m in…who’s with me?
From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)