Race Report

Race Report: Coldwater Rumble 52K Fun!

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Lisa Pozzoni by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

I think I found another favorite 50K! Well actually a 52K 😉

On Saturday, I completed my 10th 50K?? (I seriously can’t keep track…technically my 10th 50/52K not including the 60K/64K?).

Anyways, it doesn’t really matter. I picked Aravaipa Running’s Coldwater Rumble because I’ve done the 20 Mile event 3x and I wanted to get more mileage so I figured why not? This race is in the Estrella Mountains which are my old stomping grounds when I lived in Avondale.

The highlight of the entire run was being able to get a picture with Courtney while she was in the middle of her 52 miler (she still won the race in 7:10:22 , broke the course record and was 2 hours and 12 minutes ahead of the 2nd place runner!). She is truly an amazing athlete (she did the Moab 240 miler last year, placed first and the 2nd runner was like 10 hours behind her!). She had an amazing stride and my friend Nancy just yelled out and asked her to take this picture with us and she stopped and did! How cool is that?!

The amazing Courtney Daulwalter stopped to take a quick pic with us and she still placed first!

A few of my favorite things about this race:

There are distances for everyone: 4 miles, 20K, 20 Miles, 52K, 52 miles, and 100 miles.
Because of all the distances and some looping on the course, you get to see people doing the various distances. You can tell by their bib color which one they are doing. Trail runners are one of the friendliest people and there is always a “good job” or “way to go” as you pass someone or they are coming toward you.

Thanks to Surprise Running Club for being at the key aid station where we crossed several times on the course with the other distances.

This trail has so much diversity: uphills, downhills, sand, rocks, gravel, single track, wider trail, etc. Lots of cacti, chollas and white quartz too.

Great views and cholla forests!

Mounds of quartz! I love this spot! As you approach it, especially when it’s sunny, you can see it sparkle and it looks like 2 big mounds of snow in the middle of the desert.

Aravaipa just puts on a damn good race! Volunteers and staff are amazing and the aid stations always have great food and drinks.

I don’t really have anything negative to say about this race. It might be a bit of a drive out to the west side for some people, I’m not big on loops but the 52K was the 20 mile loop and a smaller one that was reversed so it looked like another trail in my opinion, I loved the diversity of the trail but I heard some people didn’t.

This was a true training run for me. I was so excited to see how many friends I had that were doing the 52K!

Kisha did her first official ultra trail race! Like a true ChiRunner, before the race she said she was oddly nervous because she felt so prepared for it. I stayed to watch her cross the finish line and she finished in exactly the time she expected to! Great planning and congrats!

ChiRunners Emily and Tricia at the start. Both are training for their first 50 miler (Antelope Canyon like mine!)

Always fun to see old friends and make new ones!

Sometimes I may get in “race” mode because I want to PR that event…since it was my first time doing this event, I wasn’t concerned about PRing but wanted to have a solid run.I am always prepared with podcasts, audio books, ChiSchool audios for these long runs. I did the first 9ish miles by myself and in silence. Sometimes there is nothing like being one with nature on the trail which is one of the many reasons I prefer trails over road.

I ran into my friend Tricia, Ragnar Ambassador and ChiRunner and gave her some tips as we ran in sand (see below). We picked up Nancy and one of my newest running friends, Aaron at the aid station at 11 miles. Unfortunately Tricia was having some cramping issues so she stayed at the next aid station to work through it. The three of us ran from mile 11 to the finish together. If it works out that I’m with people who can stay at whatever pace I am doing, I am happy to run with others. This running season I’ve done more long runs than normal on my own so I was happy to have some company. We had many conversations over those 22 miles while hiking and running that really helped the time go by! Before you know it, we finished our race in about 9 hours. Here is a video of our finish.

Lessons Learned/Technique Tips

I did this Facebook live after the event. I’ve talked about this before: the difference between attending a race and using it as a training run vs actually racing the event. When I’m in race mode (which only happens if I’m trying to PR the same course of a race), I have an entire different process: I taper the week before, I check my previous stats and know exactly what pace I need to average to get the PR, I’m more focused on how long I stay at aid stations and try not to waste any time on the trail. I usually prefer to stay by myself on these types of runs. If it’s just a training run, I treat it exactly as that. It took some practice to get to that point but you have to mentally just decided it’s just a training run. I love doing races as training runs because you have aid stations and you get to see friends and more runners on the course. It’s really just a mindset that you can decide!
I’ve done several training runs and races in sand and have learned a few things. From a ChiRunning standpoint, you always want to move your body to flow with nature rather than fight it (like in martial arts, you never meet a force with a force). When I’m in sand, I work on keeping a faster cadence (strides per minutes). The slower I move my feet, the more time I have to sink in the sand…so although walking was tempting, by increasing my cadence, I didn’t sink in the sand as much. I also work a lot on peeling my foot and leaning rather than pushing out of the sand. When pushing, calves are overactive, they are smaller muscles and I prefer not to burn them out. It’s still a work in progress but I felt this was the easiest time since I’ve done this part of the course several times so something is working!
My abs were more sore than my legs yesterday! I always take this as a good sign! ChiRunning is about learning to engage gravity while in good posture (requires working the core muscles) and using legs for stability NOT propulsion. My abs worked hard on Saturday!
I could also feel my upper back and shoulder muscles. This is typical for me when I do uphills (use more arms than legs to propel me up the hill) but I noticed in several photos (including the finish line video) that my shoulders were hiked up. I try to work on relaxing them but looks like I will be focusing on this more as I train for Black Canyon. One of the things I love most about ChiRunning is that you are constantly focusing on becoming more and more efficient with your body movement. Running therefore becomes a practice and not just a means to an end on race day. I get excited when I have a new “project” to work on with my running form!

With all of this said, this was truly one of my favorite races…not just the course, but the entire experience! Thanks to the volunteers, Aravaipa, and running friends for an awesome time!

Connie was ahead of us on the 52K but the great thing about this course is that she had to come back towards us on her 2nd loop so we got to take a picture. It was fun seeing people going in both directions completing various distances!

Gorgeous sunset after our finish! Apparently I didn’t take any pics with beer or Fireball after the finish but it happened 😉

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

Race Report

McDowell Mountain Frenzy 50K Race Report: Success Redefined

Posted on December 3, 2017 by Lisa Pozzoni by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

This is the 3rd year in a row that I do this 50K. It’s one of my favorites and perfect timing in my 100K Training Schedule to have a nice long training run. This has been my 2nd, 5th and 9th 50K! Still unbelievable to me that I swore I would never run more than a 5K when I started running!

McDowell Mountain Regional Park has some of my favorite trails and Aravaipa Running always puts on a great event. This was meant to be a training run but since I was doing the same race for the 3rd year in a row, I did have it in the back of my mind that PRing (personal record) would be an added bonus. I went into the race with that idea but was also detached from it since technically this was supposed to be a training run. I normally don’t have a race pace but I definitely get into a different mindset if I’m wanting to PR or “race” an event. I also had to consider that I had run 20 miles the Sunday before so I didn’t taper for this race and I did a tough marathon downhill marathon 3 weeks before. I was so close to PRing and made a “fatal” mistake which cost me the PR…but all good and that story is down below….

Miles 0-12.5

Rachel’s 2nd 50K and Joan’s first one! Waiting for the start….

The energy before a race is always exciting, especially when you realize how many friends you have out there! Several of them were doing their first 50K. It was great to start out the race after getting so many hugs from friends! I love the Escondido trail as it’s rolly polly . I knew I could easily get started too fast here so I tried to keep a nice pace, walking the uphills and running flats and downhills. The last third of the race is the hardest and I’ve struggled on this part the last few years. My goal was to not let that happen again. I immediately started focusing on my ChiRunning form. At about Mile 5, I decided to listen to some ChiSchool lessons so I could continue focusing on my form. I put this on shuffle and even though I listen to some of the same lessons, there are always some great aha moments. This time it was with the lesson “The World’s Largest Treadmill” and some cueing from Danny (the founder of ChiRunning) about feeling your leg get swept back by the trail every time it hit the ground. I’ve heard this lesson many times and it’s one of my favorites but something different clicked with me this time. I skipped the first aid station strategically so I didn’t “waste” anytime as I had plenty of water and fuel. The 2nd aid station was at mile 12.5 and I knew there would be a 10 mile gap until the 3rd one and it would be during “the hill”. Refueled and filled up water and was off again. I knew I had to keep under a 14:58 min mile to PR and I was doing great! At this point I was averaging a 13:23 min mile and I knew I would be hiking that hill. My goal during the first third of the race was to run as much as I could without using up too much energy because I had that last third of the race always in the back of my head.

Miles 12.5-22.5

I had forgotten about the part of the course before “the hill”. Pretty runnable and great scenery. I was still feeling pretty good here. Ran into my friends Jennifer and Rachel and took this quick selfie.

The hardest part of wanting to PR is that you need to stay focused as any extra minute can add up. I felt leaving them so quickly but I was on a mission. It’s also hard for me to do this as a coach as I always like to give words of encouragement and hang with people but sometimes I have to run my race and I was determined since I was on track. I had stopped listening to ChiSchool from the aid station and at mile 18 decided to listen to a few motivational TED talks I had downloaded. Sometimes I like to listen to stuff on long runs but I only listened to a few as I was truly enjoying being out there and present on the trail. The weather up to mile 15 was perfect. There was cloud coverage and we even had a few sprinkles. After my last Black Canyon experience (my character builder run) I was no longer worried about running in the rain but it didn’t happen. At about mile 15, the clouds were gone and the sun came out…I immediately stripped off my sleeves and the weather got hot really fast. I think many of us were impacted by that change during this race. I hiked the entire hill and ran the downhill more than last year…I remember it was rocky so I was careful but was still tracking to PR. Even though I completely filled my hydration pack, I went through my water and couldn’t wait to get to the aid station. I was out of the water for the last 1.5 miles and it kept getting warmer.

Bottom of the hill…it’s not steep but a long hill…you can see runners on the other side of the trail

Beautiful chollas and Rockknob in the background

I think this is Rocknob..its the name of the trail but beautiful rock formations!

Another angle of Rocknob

Miles 22.5 to 31

I knew I had to stay focused on the aid station. A friend of mine, Suzanne was there and she hooked me up right away. Helped fill my pack, put some ice in my buff and hat, I grabbed some munchies and I was off again. At this point, due to the hiking, I was averaging a 13:58 mile so I knew the PR was closing in on me. I did something I don’t advise people to do but decided to take two ibuprofen. I figured even though my legs weren’t too bad, they were a bit achy and I knew this would help me run more. Unfortunately my TomTom died at mile 24 so now I had no idea how I was doing. There is an uphill after the aid station but then a nice steady downhill, although a bit rocky. My goal at this point was to keep running as much I could. I was doing a lot of body sensing since I didn’t have a watch to tell me how I was doing (this is truly a better way as the GPS watch can be a distraction and play into the ego more than listening to your body) I listened to music for a bit but my MP3 player died. I just keep running as much as I could until I reached the last aid station. My first question was how much longer do I have to go. They said 3.4 miles, I looked at my phone and it was 3pm. I had to be done by 3:44 to PR and this was cutting it pretty close but doable. I usually don’t do much sugar until the last aid station (thanks to my nutritionist) I drank some Coke, had a piece of potato with salt, and handful of peanut M + M’s. I left and took my phone out to text a few friends that were waiting at the finish line for me. Here is where I made my mistake. I wasn’t paying attention as I was texting and walking…Before you know it, a guy yelled out “What distance are you doing?” I said the 50K and he said, “You’re on the wrong trail”. So grateful for this guy as I would’ve kept on that wrong trail for who knows how long! I was 4-5 min in so I turned around right away but I knew this set me back and I would’ve been cutting it even closer. Even though I ran as much as I could towards the end, I knew it wasn’t happening. I could start hearing the finish line (they have a DJ!) and knew I was almost there.

One of the several hills on the last 3.4 miles on the technical trail..

It’s a great feeling when people could say they recognized my running form from far away. As I finished through the last section on the technical trail, I was getting excited to be done. Always great to finish and see friends cheering you on at the finish line…even though it was my 9th 50K, finish lines never get old!

Biggest Learning Moment

So how do you define a successful race? Everyone has their own definition. I think it depends on the race too. Although I didn’t make my PR on this race, it was a great success for me. First of all, it was the first time doing this race that I felt strong on the last third even though I ran into some challenges. I crossed the finish line feeling really good! And considering I didn’t taper last weekend and have been building mileage, I was very happy with how I felt at the end! I attribute this to my race strategy and more importantly my ChiRunning technique. As I was by myself for this whole race so it was easier for me to focus on my form and adjusting it as needed to the environment coming at me. I may have conserved to much energy since I finished strong but I’ll take that over being miserable and injured any day! As mentioned, I follow my fueling plan that I learned from my nutritionist and that makes a big difference too!

The After Party

Much like the beginning of the race, at the end of the race there were so many friends around. There is always a beer garden for people to hang out and it’s right by the finish line so you get to watch people coming in. I for wanted to wait for Joan as I had been training her for the last 3 months for her first 50K. She finished strong as well and we shared a celebratory beer (ha, she drank the koolaid and is already talking about her next 50K! She done 20 marathons but moving on to the ultra/trail world 😉 )
This year, Aravaipa added night races and I love the fact that several women from my recent Ladies Training Program, had decided to either do the day or night race! I missed the morning ladies but had a chance to see those at night time as they got ready. Is it bad when your running coaching is encouraging you to do a Fireball shot before you go? Even worse that they listened to you?! Ultimately this is about enjoying the experience! I/we (my peeps) are never going to win the race because that’s not our goal…the goal is making friends and having fun, while staying in shape and doing some crazy things along the way! This is how we roll…….

Gorgeous sunset!

Joan finishes her first 50K! So proud of her!

Oh no….here comes the Fireball 😉 LOL

And encouraging others? Bad coach, bad coach!

It didn’t take them long to succumb to the peer pressure…although this was pre race!

One of my proudest coach moments?!

Part of the Ladies Training Program reunited! Thanks for volunteering Kisha! I better have good finish line pics 😉

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

Across The Years: Race Report & 6th 50K

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….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:

The course is a 1.04 mile loop so there is no way to get lost. It’s probably one of the safest ways to get rack up mileage.
You set your own goals and it’s just you against the clock. This will also be a Con. For me, I liked that my plan was to stick to my training plan and I purposely scheduled dinner plans later because I knew that I could be convinced to keep going since I technically had many more hours to go. But if someone was “afraid” to do a marathon because there are normally cut offs, you can sign up for 24 hours here and finish a marathon no problem in 24 hours…you could crawl it!
I’ve never eaten so much at a race! LOL There is a main aid station with lots of goodies. We purposely skipped it many times. I’ve taught my body to go for longer periods of time with little fueling but it’s so hard not to stop by and visit at the aid station…and maybe grab a few M & M’s or piece of pizza or peanut butter pretzels (my main trail staple). I’ve heard people say they actually gain weight on this event.

Should’ve got a better picture but this is the main aid station…lots of goodies here!

No need to carry anything. There is also another water station half way through which means you really don’t have to worry about carrying anything with you on this race as you have it all right there.
Seeing lots of friends! It was fun to see so many people I knew. Unfortunately because I was on a mission to get done by a certain time, I couldn’t stop and slow down much to talk with them as most of them were going longer so moving slower that I wanted to at that point. But there are a lot of local runners along with people who come internationally for this event so a great place to listen to people’s running stories and goals.

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 😉

Relaxed atmosphere. People are all just doing the same thing going around this loop…some running, some walking, some talking, some listening to music or whatever. There didn’t seem to be much “race” pressure that you can normally feel in a race. You get to do whatever you want when you want.
Strategy. You basically create your own race strategy. I met people who were planning X amount miles in X amount of hours, some people were just going with the flow and people like me were using it as a training run. Your time, your strategy.

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

The course is a 1.04 mile loop and all you do all day and night is go around in the same circle for hours even though they change the direction every 4 hours. One of the things I love most about ultra running is being out on a trail and seeing places I’ve never seen before. I don’t know how people do 6 days of this but all power to them!
You set your own goals and it’s just you against the clock. As a running coach, this type of race can really push people to a level that I believe is not healthy. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for people pushing outside their comfort zone mentally and physically! However, to be smart about doing that, training your mind and body really helps too. I know several ultra runners that were out there and used to do this kind of mileage…however this race brings some people out that have not been spending the time training and it’s an injury or many waiting to happen. It’s easy to get wrapped up in your goal and I can’t tell you the number of times I heard people complaining about body parts hurting (there is a difference in knowing when you can push through “hurt” or “injury”) and when you are mentally exhausted, you are not always making the wisest decisions. It was painful for me to watch some of these people limping along (there is a medical tent on site and they do an amazing job…but I know people who wouldn’t go in there in fear of hearing they needed to stop). As much as it’s an inspiration to watch an 82 year old with a walking stick or a 10 year old achieve a 100 mile goal, it’s still begs the questions, when is too much too much?

So, 4 days later, do I still want to do 100 miles in 48 hours next year?

WonderWoman

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!)

The Running University

Walk.Run.Play

Tag Archives: 100K training run

Race Report: Coldwater Rumble 52K Fun!

McDowell Mountain Frenzy 50K Race Report: Success Redefined

Across The Years: Race Report & 6th 50K

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