….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 →
Category Archives: Trail Running
Getting High….and a Meltdown
….and My Story Runs On….
Forget about writing every week for my first 50 Miler…there is no time for that! It seems I can barely get my weekly runs in and my work done these days! But I had to share about my weekend experience….because I was on a serious high on Saturday and a serious low on Sunday….and realized this is probably a normal thing that could happen while training for a 50 Miler or endurance event? Anyone else relate?
Getting High! Saturday I did Aravaipa’s Coldwater Rumble 20 Mile race. My plan was to do this as a training run (always great to have aid stations and be around other runners for a change!). I was oddly psyched up for this event. 20 milers don’t seem like a big deal anymore (yikes! did I just say that?!) and I love Estrella Regional Park (my old stomping grounds). My plan was to be as strategic as possible with my energy conservation on this run. I got a good nights sleep and was excited to see some friends that morning, including Bob, one of my client’s who was doing his first trail race, the 20K. Not too long ago, I wrote a blog post about my best run ever but I just had another one! Here are some reasons I had a runner’s high all day on Saturday and why I yelled across the finish line “I feel f%$#king awesome!”:
- Like Javelina Jangover (my best run to date), I planned. I knew I had to strategize and manage my energy for the race. It started out on a hill so I ChiWalked right away rather than wasting energy so soon in the race. I looked behind me and I was 5th to last…everyone was ahead but I didn’t care.
Hill at the start of the race!
- I didn’t want to race the event but I did want to see how well I could do. I was alone most of the race which was perfectly fine with me. I focused on my form, took in the breathtaking views, listened to music once in awhile and all around just focused on enjoying myself. I’ve been listening to a lot of the audios from the ChiSchool on my canal runs so I kept focusing on my form and most importantly, trying to stay as energy efficient as possible. My race performance is a clear example of how I am deepening my running practice.
- 2nd Aid Station was at Mile 11 and since I was half way, I knew I could start tapping into that reserved energy I had been conserving all along.
- I’ll be doing a separate blog post about my nutrition (after my 50 miler) but this has been huge for me. I’ve been working with Brooke from Fuel to Finish. Long story short, I’ve been feeling amazing during the week, during my runs and races. I’ve never been this dialed in to fueling my body for performance and it feels amazing.
- My last 9 miles were amazing. I still ChiWalked up the hills but I was very focused on changing my technique based on the environment that was coming at me. I was paying attention to my pace and my goal was to be comparable to Javelina which was a 13:03 for 15 miles (although I was detached enough by listening to my body first) It was hard to tell who I was passing since there were several distances going on.
- The last few miles were downhill and used up all that free energy to my advantage. I was truly feeling f%$#king awesome by the time I crossed the finish line. I felt strong and was happy knowing that I could do more miles at that point if I had to (pretty soon I will be!)
- When I checked my GPS, I found out that my fastest mile was my last one! and when I checked my placement in the event (not normally a big deal for me but was curious), I was 56th out of 80 people. By conserving my energy and being strategic, I was able to get in front of 24 people. I posted this quote on my facebook the other day and the highlighted is definitely how I measured my success on this race!
“Some runners judge performance by whether they won or lost. Others define success or failure by how fast they ran, whether or not they matched their time expectations. Still others judge performance by how good they felt running, focusing on the experience. Only you can judge your performance. Avoid letting others sit in judgment of you.”
– Hal Higdon
And now for my Meltdown:
Note to self: Don’t schedule 3 ChiRunning Alumni classes, a networking event, a 6 mile training run and dinner with your family the day after a big event (and add only getting 5.5 hours of sleep the night before). I’ve told myself this before and for some reason I thought I could handle it…Well, I did handle it but at the cost of being a nervous wreck and having a complete crying meltdown at my parents house by the end of the day. I love love teaching Alumni classes as I get to help my runners deepen their ChiRunning practice but they are always very draining for me as I cover a lot of material. I started by day at 7am. I haven’t attended Sisterhood of Superwomen in a while but I had a few friends that were going so I wanted to be there with them…then I had scheduled another training run but had to kill some time in between (when all I could think of is why did I schedule this rather than just doing my own thing so I could start/finish at my convenience)…then add on going to my parents house for dinner with the family. I left the house at 6:30am and was on the go ALL day. By the time dinner came, I just wanted to break down and cry as I was physically and mentally exhausted….and I DID! It’s been a long time since I had one of those moments but I just had to let it out.
Once I got it together, I looked back at the scenario and some things were beyond my control while some where within….
Learning lesson: Don’t underestimate the amount of rest my mind and body need while training for endurance events. To go from a huge high on Saturday to a meltdown on Sunday seriously messed with me. Not the first time I learn this lesson but apparently I need to remember this more often when planning my schedule….
So today is a rest day and I’m honoring getting done what I can and realizing that whatever doesn’t get done today, will get done tomorrow….or the next day…
always love seeing friends at a race!
Finish line feeling amazing!
pretty happy with these numbers but more importantly by how good I felt at the end! my pace was a 13:05 which is 2 sec slower than Javelina but 5 more miles sustained at it. I don’t pause my watch at aid stations as I like to see my true time.
From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)
2nd 50K: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
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….and My Story Runs On….
My 2nd 50K is in the books! I finished the McDowell Mountain Frenzy put on by Aravaipa Running. Not sure where to start but will try and make this as short and sweet as possible. I’ll start in reverse with the Ugly and saved my biggest aha moments for the end…….
The Ugly
WARNING: this part contains some material that might gross you out.
The worst part about the whole race which impacted me more than I wanted or expected it to was being on my period (feel free to skip down if you aren’t interested in this 😉 ). Sorry, I know this might be TMI but seriously, this is a real issue for women. I realized too late in the week that it was happening so had no way around it. I don’t eat until I’m hungry when I run in the morning and I can’t take Motrin until I eat so I started out the first few hours dealing with cramping. I hate taking Motrin anyways but knew it would help me. I also couldn’t get control of my heart rate for those first few hours. In addition to dealing with the cramping until I could take some Motrin, I had to deal with no bathrooms. Therefore I had to get off the course so no one would see me. Only women will understand this but I didn’t bring enough products and was torn between not going to the bathroom and holding it OR going and not having a tampon to handle it..this impacted my ability to run so I had to walk more than I wanted to.
Lesson #1: Be more prepared.
The Bad
- I wasn’t attached to any results for this race as it was a training run but I still wanted to do better than my last one. I finished at 8:19 and my last one was an 8:24. So it’s better but I was really hoping to do it in 7 hours. Issue above impacted me and I’m over it.
- I trained on part of this course but couldn’t do the whole thing. I wish I had. Even though I’ve been doing quite a bit of trail running, the 3 mile climb at about mile 20 did me in. I pretty much hiked most of this way and was hoping to catch up on the downhill…I did a bit but it was a rocky downhill and my knees were starting to bug me.
Elevation profile
Lesson #2: Try to run the entire course or talk to more people that have completed it or just be better prepared.
ChiRunning: As my knees started bugging me, I realized that I was over striding which was causing the pain. As soon as I realized I was doing this, I immediately shortened my stride and the pain when away. (In ChiRunning you learn what causes pain and how to address it. You become your own detective). Every time I felt myself getting tired uphill, I realized I wasn’t being efficient and I would start using my upper body. This is one of my favorite techniques for ChiRunning hills.
The Good
So much to say here and trying to summarize:
- Before I left for the race, I had a chance to see many of my good friends, my sister, niece and nephew. I was creating the conditions for Chi to flow by relaxing and doing my body looseners but being surrounded by my family and friends was a great way to start! (They started counting down for the start and I had to rush to the start line…this frazzled me a bit but I tried to get back into my “mode”).
Pre Race photo with some of my friends and sister!
ChiRunning: Make sure you are relaxed before you start and get together mentally and physically. Nervous energy serves no purpose and doesn’t help with relaxing your body.
- Shane! He seriously helped me get through several rough spots during the race. He was doing his first 50K. We met earlier this year as his wife used to take boot camps from me at her work. We ran a bit before together in the Javelina Jangover race. We carry a very similar pace so we started together. Unfortunately he had to deal with me griping about my “girlie” issues. We made a deal though. I told him not to wait for me when I had to get off the beaten path to take care of my business. So we ran probably about half the race together in total. We ran the first 6 miles together then we split up…then we found each other at an aid station at mile 12 and ran until I had to go again…then the hardest part of the race came (hilly part) This was the hardest part for me mentally and physically. I was sooo happy to see Shane at the next aid station at mile 22. We fueled up and he carried a great pace downhill and we made up some good time. At the end, my legs were tired and there were some steep up and downhills so he went ahead and finished a bit ahead of me.
Lesson #3 Make a deal if you are running with someone on what you are doing. I wouldn’t have wanted him to wait for me as this was his race too. This could go either way..either stay together no matter what happens or decide it’s your own races and it’s OK to separate if necessary. But have no regrets…if you want to finish the race, do it, with or without your friend. These take a lot of training and time and you have take ownership for your race.
Shane and I… nice and fresh at the beginning of the race!
- The trail! McDowell Mountains are one of my favorite spots to trail run. I love our Arizona desert. The trail had a lot of variety.
ChiRunning: One of the many things I love about ChiRunning is keeping my mind occupied with form focuses. Not only is focusing on my form a good way to be as efficient as possible (and injury-free) but when you have a long way to go, being in the present moment helps time go by. I also love doing a running meditation where I am focusing on each sense one a time for a few minutes. So great to hear, smell, see and feel the desert. - My amazing friends! I could hear people cheering as we approached the finish line. My legs were pretty tired and the last few miles were the technical part of the trail. I told Shane to go ahead! I could hear cheers for him and realized these were my friends! Several of them had done the shorter distances and they waited for HOURS to see me finish! My boyfriend also drove up to see me finish too. The last few hills sucked and I was cursing at this point (well, I had cursed more than once before this point 😉 ). As soon as I crawled over the hill, I could see my friends who were all cheering for me. Elaine was leaning over the fence and handed me a beer….I ran through the finish line, cold beer in hand getting hugs from all my friends. Couldn’t think of a better way to end a race!
Last hill to get to the finish line..really?!
Post Race with my friends!
Grabbed and beer and ran through the finish line! I love how happy I am here! I did it!
I did it!
Other AHA moments:
- #NeverSayNever this is my new favorite hashtag. I remember saying I would never do a half marathon! I have discovered the art form of running. I love that I can run short or long distances, on road or trail, etc. There is so much to this sport that people don’t realize. I want to enjoy it for the rest of my life and the possibilities are endless..but always remember, it’s your running story! You choose where you want to take your running journey (and coaxing from friends doesn’t hurt either sometimes!)
- I had this thought SEVERAL times….and I signed up for a 50 miler? How the hell am I going to do 20 more miles? As I’ve been told, you just don’t think about this…this is true regardless of distance….I remember wandering this same thing after a half marathon while in preparation for a full marathon…but somehow, and sometimes you just can’t even remember how you do it, you just do it.
- Biggest AHA moment: Don’t downplay your mileage! Up until midweek, I kept thinking, “this is just a training run”. I said that to myself and others several times. Maybe I kept saying it so I wouldn’t get nervous and waste energy…or didn’t want to make it a big deal…but dang it, I finished my 2nd 50K and that’s the 2nd longest distance I have ever ran in my life…so yes, it is a big freaking deal! So don’t downplay your mileage (whatever it is) and celebrate that heck out your finish line!
Thanks to Aravaipa for putting on an amazing event as always and all the volunteers!
Antelope Canyon 50 Miles, here I come!
(P.S. I am raising money for Girls On The Run for my 50 miler. I’m on the Board of Directors of this amazing organization. The 50 mile run is the day after my 45th birthday. I wish I had this program when I was a kid as I would’ve started running much earlier in my life. Running has changed my life and I want to help as many young girls as possible realize their full potential. Any donation is greatly appreciated!)
One of my new favorites!
Life is short! Do It!
From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)
50 Mile Training: Week 10 and 11
….and My Story Runs On….
Well, I just got too busy last weekend to blog so I’m doing a quick recap for the last 2 weeks. I am doing these blogs strictly for my own personal journaling of my 50 Mile training. I wish I would’ve journaled my first marathon and 50K so here I am now 😉
This was the plan for the last few weeks:
| Week Of | Week | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Miles |
| 9-Nov | 10 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 10 | 54 |
| 16-Nov | 11 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 24 | 10 | 56 |
Week 10 was tough as I left for Asheville NC on Wednesday 11/11. It’s my favorite weekend every 2 years that I get to go and have uptraining with ChiRunning founder Danny Dreyer and get to be with my fellow instructors from around the world. I learned so much and it always baffles me how much there could be to learn about the art of running. But more about that at a later time….
Week 10 Recap: Because I knew I would not get a long run in while I was traveling, I did the Pemberton Loop as my first run of the week on Tuesday 11/10. This is a 15 mile loop and it’s the first time I do the whole thing during the day. I’ve done it at night time a few times for the Javelina Jangover race with Aravaipa Running. I went with my friend Vicki and we took our time so I could get more time on my feet (4 hours). I traveled on Wednesday. On Thursday, I spent most of the day at a track and a hill doing some advanced work with Danny and fellow ChiRunning instructors. We were working on improving performance without increasing perceived rate of exertion. During our lunch break, I ran 2 miles effortlessly on the track and got at least 5 in that day (I was supposed to run in the morning with the group but was too exhausted so I chose to listen to my body and sleep in). On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I did a few miles each day on the grounds of the Crowne Plaza in NC with fellow instructors. On Monday, several of us had the chance to do a 3 mile trail run with Danny. My goal for the week was 54 miles but I only got in 24. I decided to not let that worry me at all.
Week 11 recap: I needed some serious rest after my trip. I was exhausted physically and mentally! On Wednesday I was excited to get out. I used to be solely a social runner but I’ve learned to really appreciate solo running. When I am alone, I really focus on my form and become as mindful as possible to what my body is doing. I was going to do 6 miles around the hood but decided to do 7 because I was feeling so good.…and I used my ChiRunning app the entire time to focus on cadence, breathing (I focused on nose breathing almost the entire time) and my other form focuses. On Thursday I got 3 miles in with my track group. I had workshop scheduled this weekend so I had couldn’t run on Saturday. I decided to do 18 miles on Friday at South Mountain. I broke up the run as follows: 1st 5 miles focusing on form, 2nd 5 miles I put music on speaker phone and the last 8 miles were with my friend Vicki. It was almost 5 hours total with stops in between which is good time on my feet. On Saturday, I wanted to get 10 miles in the afternoon after my workshop. Vicki, Denise and Lori joined me for 4 on trail and then Lori and I finished the rest on the canal. On Sunday, I had a private lesson so I was able to get 3 more miles in. My goal for the week was 56 miles and I did 45. Good back to backs this weekend and feeling pretty good! Did leg drains daily and foam rolled, hit the hot tub a few times this week and got a free massage at the Girls On The Run event.
I’m excited about a taper week coming up! In a few weeks, I’ll be doing my 2nd 50K (McDowell Mountain Frenzy) which will be a training run. I like to use races as training runs when the mileage fits. I didn’t have to pay because I had volunteer credits but at least I get a pint glass and aid (food/drink) on a long run which is easier than going back to my car to refuel. Plus I get to see my friends and have more company along the way!
So here is how the weeks finished:
| Week Of | Week | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Miles |
| 9-Nov | 10 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 10 | 54 |
| 0 | 15.3 | 0 | 5 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 2 | 26.7 | ||
| 16-Nov | 11 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 24 | 10 | 56 |
| 3.1 | 0 | 7 | 3.1 | 18.5 | 10 | 3 | 44.7 |
Fundraising update:
Haven’t really done much with it this week. Every little bit helps though!
Previous blogs posts in this series:
From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)
Week #9 Recap 50K/50Mile Training
….and My Story Runs On….
These next few weeks are going to be tough as I have stuff going on that could interfere with my training. Here was my plan for this week:
| Week Of | Week | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Miles |
| 2-Nov | 9 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 10 | 52 |
I had to alter my plan because Ragnar Trails Relay was this weekend and I needed to try and get ahead of the training schedule earlier in the week.
Here is how it went:
Monday: This is normally a rest day but I needed to get ahead of the schedule. I ran on the road around my neighborhood. I did a 4.5 mile run first, had to run some errands, and then went back out an hour or so later to get another 5 miles in. These were some good tempo runs for me. I prefer trail all the way but road miles are easier to fit in some times and I can work a bit more on tempo.
Tuesday: I have my regular trail run/hike scheduled with my friend Vicki. I get at least 2 miles of sand in which is not enough but will get there. We did 6.5 miles at South Mountain (saw a gorgeous coyote from afar). Then I did 3 more miles at Running for Brews Tempe with my sister.
Wednesday: I was not very motivated this morning to get out because it was colder than normal but I knew I had to get my run in. As soon as I walked outside, I noticed there was no sun and a few big black clouds. It had rained the night before and I’ll admit to being a spoiled AZ runner because of the gorgeous weather we have. Not really crazy about running in any other conditions. I started my run reluctantly and was immediately cheered up by a some beautiful rainbow sightings. I love rainbows and they have a spiritual meaning to me and those pictures don’t do them justice. Then it started drizzling….I though of cutting the run short and then figured I could stop by my parents house if it got any worst. It didn’t so I ran with a light drizzle and got my 5 miles in. When I got home I decided I wanted to hit the hot tub (never done this at 9am in the morning but it was a cool morning and it just sounded good).
Thursday: I decided to be my rest day to prepare for Ragnar weekend (I knew I wouldn’t get much sleep either so wanted to be fully rested). I still managed to get 21,421 steps in between some very light running at track and walking back and forth as we set up our camp at McDowell Mountain in preparation for the weekend.
Friday: Our Ragnar Team, Dust Bunnies, started at 9:40 am. I did my first 4 mile run and then did my 2nd run in the evening. I love McDowell Mountain and enjoyed some gorgeous views on my first run. My first night run was a bit of a bummer because the green loop was a fast, easy one but unfortunately both my headlamp and back up light were on low battery (lesson learned!). I wanted to be careful so it slowed me down. I haven’t seen my results from the race yet and haven’t uploaded my Tom Tom data either. I remember thinking trail running and night running was absolutely crazy and now it’s my favorite kind of running. Nothing like being in the middle of the desert at night time…it keeps you very present in the moment. I was happy that my next one would be at night as well.
Saturday: As a matter of fact, one of my teammates got sick and I covered her 6.6 mile loop a few hours after finishing mine. I was happy to do it even though I was on about 3 hours of sleep. I know I needed the miles anyway. Two beautiful runs! My Tom Tom battery died on the 2nd run but I was very lucky to watch the moon rise (along with the alignment of the planets and several shooting stars from the Taurid Meteor shower!) and I saw the sun rise on the 2nd run. Doesn’t get any better than that!
Sunday: Purely a rest day…literally was in bed all day…unfortunately once I finished with my Ragnar runs on Saturday, I decided to start drinking. Between doing 4 runs totaling 22 miles in 20 hours on 3 hours of sleep, it caught up to me…needless to say, I’ll be making better decisions next time. I planned it as a rest day but more rest than I was expecting. Maybe my body needed it. Happy to say that I was not sore at all though! I attribute this to my ChiRunning form as well as my conditioning.
My training for the week finished like this:
| Week Of | Week | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Miles |
| 2-Nov | 9 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 13.2 | 0 | 46.2 |
I was 6 miles short but feel OK with it because I know I got a lot more steps walking around at Ragnar for 2.5 days. I know the time on my feet is part of it so I’m OK not getting the exact mileage in.
AHA moments:
- Felt good about my planning this week by getting more miles in ahead of time.
- I love practicing my ChiWalking, especially my hill technique. Did quite a bit of this at Ragnar as several of the loops had some hills. Ultimately goal on every run is to be as energy efficient as possible and that helps me strategize my runs.
- Loving the variety of runs I’m getting from road miles, to miles with friends and events like Ragnar. My running is mainly social and glad I have a big group of crazy friends who join me on my crazy adventures 😉
- Just realized this was the most miles yet so far in my training by 6 miles and grateful that I have no pain or soreness at all!
Fundraising update:
Haven’t really done much with it this week. Every little bit helps though!
Previous blogs posts in this series:
I’m leaving for Asheville, NC on Wednesday. So excited as I’ll be attending a Performance Workshop to learn to be more efficient (learning how to get faster and more efficient with less effort!). I’ll also get to see my ChiFamily…being the only Instructor in AZ, this is one of my favorite weekends we have every 2 years so I get a chance to see my peers, run together and share ideas.
From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)
Week #8 Recap 50K/50Mile Training
….and My Story Runs On….
Trying not to beat myself up as it’s Tuesday morning and I swore last week that I would keep a draft and update this daily as so much happens I forget by the time the weekly recap comes up! (thankful for my Tom Tom app so I can go back and look at the maps of my runs which helps jog my memory!). I also was short 10 miles last week so I’m deciding not to beat myself up about that either…..
Last week was a Cycle Down week which means it was a week where the mileage was lower to help the body rest and recover. I decided I was going to try and get more miles in during the week as I knew the weekend was going to be tough. Here was the plan:
| Week Of | Week | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Miles |
| 26-Oct | 8 CD | 0 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 8 | 36 |
And here is how it went:
- Monday: Rest day. Today was a rough day…the last few Mondays have been…I think part of it is due to the adrenaline and all the running from the weekend that when Monday comes, I feel like I’m missing on something and it’s hard to start my day without a run. There were other factors going on this Monday…it was so bad that I actually posted on my Facebook page about and was overwhelmed by all the love and responses I received from my friends!
- Tuesday: I normally have a standing running date with my friend Vicki but had to change my plan to help out my sister in the morning. I didn’t wake up early enough to run before so I ended up running back and forth from my chiropractor’s office which is about 1.5 mile away from my house. Then I ran another 3 miles at Running for Brews that night with my friend Jan who is in town from Ireland. As much as I don’t like road running much anymore, it is much easier after doing longer runs on the trail. I can focus more on form and cadence.
- Wednesday: 6 mile trail run/hike with my friend Vicki at South Mountain. There is a sandy wash so I can get a few miles of sand training (I need so much more though!). On this day we ended up going a little further and found a trail connector and ended up in a new place which is always fun to explore.
- Thursday: Had to cancel track in the morning due to rain. Thursdays are a busy day for me so I wasn’t able to get back out because it was also running on and off. I ended up getting to PSCU early (where I teach boot camps) and was able to get one mile done on the treadmill. Not my favorite…I guess one mile is better than zero miles. Today I also started tracking my food for my nutritionist, Brooke from Fuel to the Finish, who is going to help me get prepared for race day by fueling my body properly. My homework was to do this for 3 days.
- Friday: In retrospect, it was good that I rested on Thursday. I volunteered to mark the Javelina Jundred Endurance Run course this day which is the 15 mile Pemberton trail at McDowell Mountain. I knew it would take longer than usual due to the stop and go of marking the bushes. Part of this journey for me is running with different people and making new friends. Today I had the opportunity to run with Erica and Tessa from the Dirt Bag Running group. This is also one of my all time favorite trails. Ironically I realized that I had done this full trail twice and both times it was night time so this was my first time doing it during the day. I blogged about my last experience as it was one of my best night runs ever. It was a great morning and I was on my feet for 4 hours and 26 minutes which is good time on my feet.
- Saturday: My plan was to get out and do at least 5 more miles at some point this weekend. This morning my legs were pretty tired from the day before and I had quite a few things to do. I guess I got more good time on my feet as we volunteered to work the main aid station of the Javelina Jundred from 11pm-7am. It was a long night but it was fun to help out these amazing runners who were either doing 100K or 100 miles. I know 100 miles is something I want to do at least once but not making any plans now until I finish the 50 miler. I thought this might be the course I would do since it’s an AZ race and run by our local Aravaipa Running group. Now I’m not sure that I could run around a loop 6-7 times. We’ll see….
- Sunday: Was able to get 4 hours of sleep but a run was not happening on this day either. I was too tired from the weekend..
My training for the week finished like this:
| Week Of | Week | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Miles |
| 26-Oct | 8 CD | 0 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 8 | 36 |
| Actual | 0 | 6.14 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 27.14 |
AHA moments:
- Planning as much as I can but I don’t want to beat myself up if I don’t get my mileage in. I tried hard not to do this since I was 10 short on a cycle down week.
- Nervous about the next few weeks. Ragnar Trail is coming up and then I’ll be in Asheville NC for 5 days for a ChiRunning Instructor weekend. This is one of my favorite weeks that happens every 2 years and even though we run daily, I know I won’t be able to get all my mileage in. I’m going to have to get creative and get as much as I can done.
- This training is like a part time job. I had some struggles this week with my time management and realize I need to re-prioritize some things as this training is taking over my weekly schedule.
- Volunteering to mark or sweep a race course is a great way to get mileage and time on my feet….and I got some race credits for it too!
- ChiRunning: Nothing earth shattering this week but love how much easier the road feels after doing more trail running. I continue to focus on my nose breathing and trying to stay as relaxed as possible. I’ve also been focusing on my ChiWalking as I know I won’t be running the full 50K or the 50 miler. The goal is always to be as energy efficient as possible!
Fundraising update:
Haven’t really done much with it this week. Every little bit helps though!
Previous blogs posts in this series:
This process is a bit time consuming but I really want a record to remember how training for my 1st 50 miler went so I will keep on with this journaling process…
From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)
Week #7 Recap 50K/50Mile Training
….and My Story Runs On….
This was my 50K training plan for the week:
| Week Of | Week | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Miles |
| 19-Oct | 7 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 20 | 10 | 48 |
Here is how my week went:
- Monday: Rest day and I got 9 hours and 5 minutes of sleep according to my Jawbone (this also gives me 3 sweepstakes entries for Krowdfit! More entries means more chances to win the $250 monthly prize for sleeping). I love Mondays!
- Tuesday: Did 5 miles at South Mountain with my friend Vicki. Did a few miles in the wash to get some sand training done. Also ran 3 miles at Running for Brews to start getting ahead of the game, knowing I wouldn’t be able to follow the schedule as it was.
- Wednesday: I didn’t have time to get out in the morning so I just did 2.5 miles on the treadmill at PSCU, where I teach boot camps. Focused on nose breathing the entire time and tried to keep my heart rate lower…although I forgot to turn my heart rate sensor on my Tom Tom so I couldn’t tell what it was.
- Thursday: I canceled track this morning as I didn’t have enough people. My plans changed several times so I ended up doing 5 miles on the Western Canal. Some great aha moments: worked more on nose breathing, arm swing and leaning by relaxing more towards the end which worked out well considering I had negative splits. One of my ChiRunners commented on my facebook post because she said she recognized me out there due to my arm swing!
- Friday: I scheduled a night trail run for a few of my Ragnar team members that haven’t ran at night yet. Since I was going to be out there anyways, I figured I’d get a few more miles in since I knew I wouldn’t get them all in over the weekend. My friend Lori joined me for that earlier run on the canal. It was the first night run for 3 of my friends! Love first time experiences!
- Saturday: I knew I would be getting a great back to back because Ragnar was previewing 2 of their trails. The first one was at “night” at 5am which meant my alarm was set for 3:50 am to get there in time (this is why we didn’t go celebrate the night before as most of us had to wake up early for this). Running trails at night time is my absolute favorite. I would’ve never done this a few years ago!
- Sunday: My friend Lori had a good idea to go run on the canal by OHSO brewery so we could end there and have brunch and a beer. I did 10 miles with Lori and Elaine. Great morning with friends!
My training for the week finished like this:
| Week Of | Week | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Miles |
| 19-Oct | 7 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 20 | 10 | 48 |
| 8 | 2.5 | 5 | 6 | 9.9 | 10 | 41.4 |
I was a little short again but had a few back to backs and I’m good with this mileage.
AHA moments:
- Someone asked me the other day why on earth would I run 50 miles. Outside of getting outside of my comfort zone because that’s where the magic happens, I realize I’m using this as a learning process as well. I took a Foam Rolling and Stretching workshop with Sacred Harts on Sunday and I’m looking into working with a Registered Dietician who specializes in endurance athletes and Metabolic Efficiency training. #neverstoplearning
- I love looking at my schedule for the week and figuring out how, when and who I’ll be running with. I’m working on making this a fun experience as it’s becoming a part time job and I don’t want to burn out.
- No soreness again! Maybe a bit of tightness and legs feeling a bit heavy but I continue to foam roll/stretch every night and do leg drains.
- ChiRunning: Nose breathing is getting easier and I’m enjoying working on this on solo runs with cadence. Had some great aha moments working with my arm swing (and not rotating my upper body which is wasted energy and makes my legs work harder). Also worked on my gears and speed while relaxing my lower legs. As long as I’ve been ChiRunning, I’m always amazed how much I keep learning when I’m focusing…as we way, practice makes progress.
Fundraising update:
Haven’t really done much with it this week. Every little bit helps though!
Previous blogs posts in this series:
From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)
Week #6 Recap- 50K/50Mile Training
….and My Story Runs On….
This was my 50K training plan for the week:
| Week Of | Week | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Miles |
| 12-Oct | 6 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 10 | 44 |
Here is how my week went:
- Monday is a rest day and I’m really starting to enjoy these. I love not having to schedule my alarm and I let my body/mind sleep as long as I can. I got 8 hours and 37 minutes according to my Jawbone (this also gives me 3 sweepstakes entries for Krowdfit!)
- Tuesday: Did 5 trail miles at South Mountain with my friend Vicki. I focus on some hiking as I know I won’t be running the entire time during the event. I also started on some sandy washes since Antelope Canyon is 30 miles of sand.
- Wednesday: I woke up later than I wanted to (Running for Brews the night before) and it was tough to get motivated. Did 6 road miles. Focused on Y-Chi as I learned some new things between Danny’s ChiSchool webinar and the lesson for that week. Had some great aha moments with it!
- Thursday: Training plan called for 6 miles today and was trying to figure out how and when to get them in..had an epiphany before I went to bed…so I ran to my track workout, coached my peeps, ran to my parents for breakfast and then ran back home! (I always get less mileage than my track participants as I’m coaching them individually on technique)
- Friday: Rest day (traveled to Tucson for a free ChiRunning clinic on Friday night and a full workshop on Saturday)
- Saturday: I knew there was no way I was getting 18 miles in since I had a 4 hour ChiRunning workshop from 12-4pm. My original plan was 12 (I figured I would do 12 on Sat and 12 on Sun). My friend Lori happened to be down there visiting her family so we made plans to check out the Sweetwater Preserve (I’ve been there once but remembered how much I liked it). The plan was to meet there at 6:30am….unfortunately the rain and lightening kept us from starting at that time and I almost blew it off because I fell back asleep but thankfully she texted me and said “Let’s do it.”. Her nephew Joey, an avid runner came with us to explore the trails that we hadn’t been on. We were going for 6 miles since I needed time to get ready for my class but somehow we got lost and ended up doing 8 beautiful miles with a bit of rain as well. I had to rush to my class but it was a beautiful run.
- Sunday: My goal was to do 12-14 miles at McDowell Mountain and do part of the 50K Frenzy course. A few friends came out with me and we did another gorgeous trail run…thankfully the sun stayed behind the clouds for most of it and we explored another new trail.
My training for the week finished like this:
| 12-Oct | 6 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 10 | 44 |
| 0 | 5.3 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 37.3 |
I did a little less of the weekly mileage than I was supposed to do but still happy all considering. As always, I foam roll my calves almost nightly, do leg drains and hit the hot tub a few times just to loosen up the muscles.
Aha moments this week:
- I may have been a little tight but overall not sore at all! I really attribute this to ChiRunning as my goal is to always be as energy efficient as possible and use my body correctly so I don’t re-injure myself as I’m adding miles.
- As mentioned above, focused quite a bit on YChi and had some great aha moments, the biggest one was feeling total leg relaxation as my mind/body were so focused.
- ChiRunning Form Focuses: working on peeling my feet (especially in sand) rather than pushing with my calf muscles which takes up a lot of energy and more potential for injury.
Fundraising update: I’ve set a goal for myself to raise $5,000 for Girls On The Run. I’m on their Board of Directors and this is a charity I’m really passionate about as running has changed my life and I wish I would’ve started earlier. I sent a blast to my newsletter about various ways people/businesses can help out with the charity. From that email, I received two $50 donations. Find out more here.
Previous blogs posts in this series:
From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!
)
Week #5 Recap- 50K/50Mile Training
….and My Story Runs On….
I swear I mentioned this in one of my videos on my You Tube channel but I can’t seem to find it right now…one of the things I wish I had done while preparing for my first marathon was journaling my experience. This just came to me the other day…I’ve also been wanting to blog at least weekly so I decided to write a quick blog about my previous week training.
I’m following a training plan I created here. I created one for the 50K on 12/5 and then will change to the 50 mile training plan after that race is over.
My plan called for 40 miles last week and I did 39.6. Close enough for me:
- Monday is an off day. I just signed up for 2 months with Flip N Fit since they had an awesome deal. I tried a Yin Yoga class at Naam Yoga.
- Tuesday: 4 trail miles at South Mountain with my friend Vicki
- Wednesday: I was in Tucson doing 2 free clinics (Davis-Monthan Air Force and Performance Footwear). My boyfriend and I were told to go to Sabino Canyon. It was our first time and I logged 4 trail miles there. I love first time experiences and it was a beautiful location!
- Thursday: I did 3.1 miles at track and 3.6 at the Ragnar Adventure Run.
- Friday is an off day
- Saturday: I spent Friday night on the west side for girl’s night and because I was attending Yoga For Runners and doing a free ChiRunning clinic at Eleutheria Wellness. I know a good 4.7 mile loop at Estrella Park (not crazy about looping but it works for safety reasons, especially if I’m alone). Was very excited to have my friend Karyl, join me for the first lap. We met at the Breast Cancer 3-day and is a Las Bombas. She started getting into running last year and has completed her first half marathon and doing Ragnar with us! I did 4.7 with her and then 9.3 alone.
- Sunday: I did 11 miles at Warpaint trail at South Mountain. Invited several friends and people were doing their own distance and their own speed. Five of us did the 11 miles. I believe this is my longest back to back run? I can’t remember what I did with my first 50K so maybe not…if I would’ve only journaled…I’ve done it walking for sure with the 3-Day..
I’m really making sure I focus on recovery and taking care of my body as I have a big fear of Plantar again or having my heel spur give me trouble…the Yoga for Runner’s class on Saturday was great timing. After my back to back weekend, I spent some time in the hot tub, did a lot of stretching and leg drains (my favorite!) last night. As I’m writing this now, my legs are heavy but feel much better than I expected. I suspect it’s because of my recovery practice and my ChiRunning focuses during my runs.
Next week will be a bit of a challenge as I’ll be in Tucson Fri/Sat for another clinic and workshop. If I can’t get my daily mileage in, my goal is to shoot for the weekly mileage.
From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)
To Plan or Not To Plan? That is the Question!
….and My Story Runs On….
Should you set a goal before a race or not? Many runners do…..I always tell new runners not to worry about what everyone else is doing and do your own thing. Running is social for me so I don’t tend to set many concrete goals before I do a race. Read my blog and/or watch my video to find out about my last race;)
This past Saturday night, I completed my longest run in a long time…since dealing with my plantar fascitiis. It was the 25K Javelina Jangover with Aravaipa Running (15ish miles). A night trail run that started at 8pm. I used think people were crazy to do night trail runs but now they are my favorite type of run.
Last year I did this same race with a few friends and we had a blast. It was their first longest race, and at night. We had not any goals and completed it in 3:57.
This year most of my friends weren’t doing it and since I love this trail, I decided to go for it (I have been training for it).
As I said, I rarely go into a run with a solid plan but this time was different:
- I just got back from assisting Danny Dreyer, the founder of ChiRunning, at a 5-Day ChiRunning retreat in MA.
- I’m on Week 22 of ChiSchool
- I had delivered a free ChiRunning clinic the night before
- I taught a 4 hour ChiRunning workshop the morning of the race.
Needless to say, I was craving a nice long run where I could really focus on my form… and more importantly energy efficiency. Here was my plan:
- Beat last year’s time with a goal of 3:27
- Not wear my Garmin so I could run strictly by body sensing rather than having the time/mileage rule my mind. I wrote another blog about this before.
- I actually looked at the map. I new the first half of the race was hillier and that my 2nd half would be easier (was hoping for negative splits-when the 2nd half of your race is faster than the first half)
- Be as energy efficient as possible by using the ChiRunning form focuses as much as possible. I also wanted to focus on applying the rule of matching my running to the environment.
I’m happy to report that my plan went very well:
- I ended up with a 3:16:28 time (ended 7th in my Age Group out of 27 other women). I averaged a 13:02 pace for 13 miles which I was happily surprised with.
- I looked at my Garmin a few times to gauge the Aid station but happy that it did not “rule” my run.
- I was alone most of the run, didn’t listen to any music and was happy to run into a friend after the aid station and we chit chatted for a bit which helped the My favorite part was working on all my form focuses! Time went by so fast. You have to be very present when night trail running already but when you focus on form, it gives you something to work with as well. My abs were pretty sore at the end which means I focused well on my posture the entire time and allowing gravity to pull me forward. I focused on letting the trail pick up my feet and did a lot of work with my upper body. I focused on not rotating my upper body. I strategically ChiWalked up every hill which is very efficient and used short strides and my upper body to do more of the work. I focused a lot on breathing, especially nose breathing. I never focused this much on breathing during a race and I have to say, this paid off. I felt great the entire time and I believe it was the breathing that had the biggest impact. (I also give credit to Dr. Al Lundeen, my chiropractor, from Fast Forward Chiropractic who I’ve been working with for several months. We are working on some of my posture issues that effect breathing).
- My other favorite running meditation is to focus on all my senses and be present within each of them. Try it next time. Focus on what you hear for a bit, what you see, smell, feel and taste.
I’ve ran quite a few training runs and races but I have to say, that had to be one of my best runs ever if I were to measure it specifically on energy efficiency. I felt great during the run and after the run.
AHA Moment: It’s up to you if you want to have a plan or not. But if you do have a plan, don’t get too attached to it. Sometimes things happen that are out of our control…I’ve seen this happen where people make plans for an event and they couldn’t keep the plan and then they are beating themselves about it for days. It’s not worth it. Make a plan and see how it goes. If it doesn’t go as planned, figure out why and use it as a learning lesson next time. No need to beat yourself up about it!
Have you ever planned for a race? How did it go?
From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)