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Measuring Your Running Success: (HINT) Speed Has Nothing To Do With It

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

What?  Not use speed or pace to measure your running success???!!!  That’s just crazy talk…..

Maybe for some people but not for me!  First of all, let me put you at ease if you do measure your running success based on speed.  This is probably the most common way most runners do it.  Again, not a bad way but also not the only way.

As a running coach, I hear this all the time with beginner and recreational runners.  They are constantly deflated because they are not “fast” enough or “I’ll be the slowest runner out there” and apply a lot of pressure on themselves because speed is what everyone talks about when it comes to running. This could ultimately lead to big disappointments because they get injured from trying to get fast or just decide to quit because “running is not for me”.

WHAT IF……
What if there were other ways to measure your running success?  Guess what? There are! Here are some of the ways I measure my success after a race, not in any order as they are all equally important (for me!):

  1. FEEL GOOD FACTOR:  my goal for just about any race is to feel good the entire time. This goes against the competitive grain of “go all out” and “give it all you got”.  Again, nothing wrong with this at all, but this doesn’t sounds like a way I want to spend my time. When I can finish a race and feel like a million bucks, that is a GOOD race!  Don’t get me wrong, I like to push myself here and there.  But generally speaking, I like to get into my body when I’m running.  I like to have my mind and body connected so I can feel what is happening. I like to see what kind of adjustments I can make to make it more effortless and feel good.  I don’t understand this idea of “suffering” through a run that many people talk about.  I’ve learned to respect that every runner has different goals.  If I’m suffering, I’m not having fun and what’s the point?  My first 100K is a great example.  I used the word epic to describe it.  My goal the entire time was to feel good and have fun….and I did! (by the way a much easier goal to achieve than worrying about speed!)

    My 100K took me 19 hours and 46 minutes. The cutoff was 20 hours. And here I am still smiling at the end….affirming that I was going to have fun and feel good, and making it so, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! If I would’ve set a speed goal for this, it would’ve changed everything for me.

  2. FUN!:  If a race is not going to be fun for me, why bother.  Many people don’t consider running fun but I do (of course there is a love/hate relationship with it!). If I’m not going to have fun, why do it?  Strictly my opinion but pushing myself to a point of complete exhaustion doesn’t sounds fun to me at all.  This means I’ll stop and smell the roses. I love to take pictures, especially if I’m in a new location.  I’ve hung out with friends I haven’t seen in awhile volunteering at aid stations . Heck, I even stopped at an aid station for 20 minutes because they had some good alcohol!

    Crown King Scramble 50K, getting ready to climb a big hill…yes, I’ll hang out and have a few drinks before I do that. Some people say why, but I say why not?

  3. LACK OF INJURIES:  If I can run as much as I want, have fun and enjoy it, and not get injured too?  Well, that’s just the icing on the cake!   Now I can keep doing what I love to do and not get sidelined by injures.  Last time I had a running injury that kept me from running was in 2014.  Keep in mind that I’ve done one 100K, one 50 miler, one 40 miler and a bunch of marathons and 50Ks along with many miles since then.  I give the biggest credit to ChiRunning as it’s completely changed my life.  Poor running technique is one of the reasons runners (especially newer ones)  get injured.  Everyone assumes you put one foot in front of the other and you are good to go.  If that were true, 65% of runners wouldn’t be injured every year. It’s not running that causes injuries, it’s HOW you run that does!  I also stretch regularly, strength train and follow a training plan which are all factors in my running success.

    Writing this post on 5/9/18 and this is how long I’ve been running (ultra running) without injuries…

Running has always been a competitive sport due to speed.  No matter how long you go, there will always be a first place winner.  Technology doesn’t help either.  Now there are software programs/websites like Strava, Athlinks and UltraSignup that keep public records of your race performance.  I’ve seen people have to explain on Strava posts why their run might’ve been slower because they were running with someone slower than them.  Heck, Ultrasignup even ranks you and forecasts how you will finish based on past performances.  This is a lot of pressure for beginner and recreational runners and it doesn’t have to be this way!

Imagine going into a race with no major nervousness about how you’re going to perform?   Imagine going into it thinking about how much fun you’re going to have and how good it’s going to feel?  Huge weight lifted off the shoulders!   This is how I go into just about any race and it’s almost never failed me!  When I go into a race thinking about PRing (setting a personal record), it changes everything.

So how do I do it?

My number one strategy is detachment and making a conscious choice not to care about how fast I finish a race.  I first heard about the Law of Detachment when I started meditating.  Definitely not the easiest thing to do in the world but like everything else, it takes practice and is great because it effects all other areas in my life as well.  I basically go into a race being detached from any speed goals. I may say “I’d like to PR this race” but if it doesn’t happen, it’s not the end of the world and I’ll focus on celebrating what I did do well which usually ends up being the 3 bullet points above.  This just happened to me at the Sinister Night Runs.  I LOVE this course!  I figured I had plenty of training since ultra season just ended for me and I’ve been feeling great. I pulled up my stats for the last few years and knew what I had to finish with.  However I also decided I wasn’t going to look at my Garmin watch once to see where I was (I’ve done this before and it causes a lot of stress when you keep looking at your average pace and how far you still have to go.  Then I tense up, I’m not relaxed AND I’m not having any fun again).  I had one of the best races as far as Fun and Feel Good Factor!  I mean I felt so amazing the entire time!  Imagine my disappointment when I crossed the finish line 3 minutes later than my PR! Yes, I went there.  I started getting a little bummed. But according to the Law of Detachment, another factor is dealing with uncertainty.  Who would’ve known that I replaced my headlamp batteries with old ones so my light was so dim that I could barely see the ground (this was a night trail race).  I was grateful for other people’s headlamps and the full moon that night. I couldn’t account for that.  How many times do things not go as planned that you had no control over what so ever?  So even though I didn’t PR, and I started with a bit of disappointment, I knew that I had a fabulous race that night and did not let my speed (or lack thereof) bring me down and suck the fun out of it for me.

So if you measure your running success based on your speed, I challenge you to take your Garmin off and go on a run without caring about how far or how fast you go.  Just go run and see if any of the measures above work for you.

If you are a beginner or recreational runner, take a big sigh of relief now!  It’s your running story and you can do what you want.  I am a coach and say this! As someone who does this for a living and has finished DFL (Dead Effin Last) before and is a back of the pack runner in general, trust me, you can make our own rules!

I would love to hear how you measure your running success!  Please share!

(This post was inspired by one of my recent Facebook Lives called: Why I’ll Never Qualify for Boston)

I love this!

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

Race Report: Coldwater Rumble 52K Fun!

Posted on by 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!)

“That’s our running coach!”

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Yep, first time ever lying in a cot getting help from the medics…..

Not my typical post race beer photo opp!

Not my typical post race beer photo opp!

Clearly not doing too bad as I’m smiling here but never had this experience before.  Of course, I need to share my learning lessons. I wish I could’ve taken the picture of my peeps all hovering over me, teasing me, “this is our running coach!.”  It was a pretty comical moment…but grateful that I can have these moments so I can be a better runner and coach.  There is always a lesson to learn!

This (Aravaipa’s Javelina Jangover) was my best race last year, I had a great blog/vlog about it too. I hadn’t really been training for this race but I was definitely prepared to do the mileage.  What I didn’t prepare for though, was the plan to PR (personal record) my time from last year.  My little sister, who is a great athlete, decided to switch from the 7K to the 25K to pace me and help me (this was her first 25K trail race!)

It was her first 25K race and at night too!

It was her first 25K race and at night too!

My plan for longer distances is to always take it easier for the first half so I conserve energy…then kick it up during the 2nd half which on this course tends to be downhill. I was mentally prepared to follow this plan but I always know that when I’m trying to keep a specific pace (to PR), I tend to be slave to my watch (some of my best runs happen when I’m not doing this...) and keep checking my pace. I still ChiWalked on the uphills because I conserve more energy and can do it just as fast so might as well be walking.

I did notice that I was thirstier than normal so I kept drinking.  We got to the aid station at mile 8.5 and put more water in my hydration pack. Had a few pieces of potato/salt and a shot of coke and ginger ale (this usually helps with a bit of energy/caffeine boost).  A lot of Team RWB peeps were there volunteering so it’s always great to see your friends and get some energy from them!

The course was now mainly downhill so I started trying to get my average pace up as I monitored my watch.  I was averaging an 11:40 for a bit. One thing I know about myself is that I don’t like being uncomfortable when I run…I know I could probably push myself more (I prefer to use my ChiRunning technique to improve my performance not muscling through it).  And I was very focused on my form: I continued to use the mantra Align & Relax, use by arms for the uphills as well as to counterbalance my forward lean and did as much active and passive pelvic rotation as possible to keep my legs from working harder. This was working great until…..

I started realizing I just couldn’t drink enough water to quench my thirst. My poor sister kept saying “come on, we only have a 5K left” “you can push harder” and all of the sudden my legs weren’t feeling it anymore and my stomach starting bugging me. I felt like I needed to throw up but couldn’t do it. When I realized there was no way I was beating my time, I decided I needed to stop running. At this point I just wanted it to be over.  I was grateful to have my sister there with me and we walked the last mile.

Those of you that know me, know that one of the things I enjoy most after a run/race is a nice cold beer.  You know I wasn’t not myself when the thought of a beer made me want to throw up!

We got to the medics who were amazing.  Checked my pulse and my blood pressure (all good there!)…they lay me down on a cot and elevated my legs so the blood could flow back to my stomach. Thanks to all my friends that came by to check in on me…at least I wasn’t one of the runners getting an IV and being taken away with an ambulance.

So, what happened?  I had to think about my last few days and here is my assessment:

  • In retrospect, I didn’t hydrate the way I normally do a few days before a race.  I was at a Toastmaster contest from 8am-1pm yesterday and only drank half a bottle of water but drank double the amount of coffee that I normally do.  The night before, I was hanging with some friends, had a few beers (not a big deal but probably didn’t help with the hydration issue) and ate a lot of salty foods.
  • I tried pushing too much at the beginning. My fastest mile was the 2nd one and I remember not being able to get my heart rate down until we stopped at the aid station for awhile. (I also had a double espresso a few hours before the race which probably didn’t help either). It was also hotter than I was expecting.
  • Basically I pushed my body more than I should’ve and wasn’t prepared for it physically.

I have no regrets….running is always a way to learn more about your body and yourself and last night was just another learning lesson for next time!  I finished with a 3:32 (last year was a 3:16).

1st half of the race..didn't realize until I looked at this as I'm writing that my 2nd mile was my fastest

1st half of the race..didn’t realize until I looked at this that my 2nd mile was my fastest

 

2nd half or the race..clearly faster than the first..

2nd half or the race..clearly faster than the first..except the last mile!

Any big learning lessons you’ve had from a run recently?

 

 

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: Capitol Reef 50K with Ultra Adventures

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….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!

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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”.

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Run Steep Get High 😉

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Obligatory selfie with Elaine and Lori (this was her idea in the first place)

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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).

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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:  IMG_9149

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Cow bones?? Dead trail runners??

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more nonrunnable terrain…for me anyways!

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Caught Arnulfo with some amazing running form in his sandals!

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Seriously??

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Channeling my Spiderman skills again..

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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.

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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…
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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…

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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..

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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)
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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:

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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:

  • I would train more on technical trails (not that I plan on doing this one over again), read more blog posts about the race and be better prepared in general
  • I didn’t get much sleep before the race..I had a total of 14 hours the 3 nights before the race and I know that effected me.

Roses:

  • ChiRunning:  I worked on my form as much as I could and I know that helped me mentally and physically! Used lots of the hill technique, arm swing and lots of work with my breathing/cadence especially when I could get into a running groove.  Lots of form work with my walking as well.
  • Nutrition: I followed the same plan I did for my 50 miler and never bonked. Felt good all the way!
  • Scenery: even though it was tough terrain, it was amazing scenery!

Learning lessons:

  • Running is always a metaphor for life. I learned that when I put my mind to something, no matter how hard I can do it. This race.pushed my mental limits like no other race has before.  This will certainly prepare me for any hard life experiences!
  • Being alone was hard but knowing what to do helped me. Make sure you have a plan on what to do if you get close to a break down. I’d love to hear what other ultra runners (or anyone doing long events) does when they know they are so close to that point.
  • I overcame a lot of fears and mental breakdowns…during this race I became my own inspiration! I don’t mean to brag but every time I made it through another mental mind fuck, I was cheering myself on. When it’s just you out there, you need to dig deep (like the photo above) so you can call yourself a bad ass!  I am so proud of myself for getting through that….even though my official time was an 11:03:03 and I was 2nd to last..I FUCKING FINISHED!!

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.”

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Finishers! 3 of us did the 50K and the other 2 did the half marathon (which was brutal too!)

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seriously gorgeous views!

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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!)

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

    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!

    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!

    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?!

    Last hill to get to the finish line..really?!

    Post Race with my friends!

    Post Race with my friends!

    Grabbed and beer and ran through the finish line! I love how happy I am here! I did it!

    Grabbed and beer and ran through the finish line! I love how happy I am here! I did it!

    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!

One of my new favorites!

Life is short! Do It!

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!)

My Biggest Struggle with 50 Mile Training

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Just finished Week #12 and excited to be into a taper week! I usually dread taper weeks because I feel like I lose momentum but it’s very important for the body to get rest before a big event (next weekend is the 50K which I first signed up for and has become a “training run” for the 50 Miler.)

My Biggest Struggle:  this is a part time job!  I’m getting frustrated  because I need to get my training runs in and I have several projects that I’m trying to work on for my business.  I can’t seem to ever get ahead…as a matter of fact, I keep falling more behind.  I had a conversation with my business coach and he told what I already knew: I need to figure out what to give up so I can get my stuff done…not sure I have decided yet but I need my sleep (rest is crucial for my mind and body); I cherish spending time with my boyfriend, family and friends; and I need to get work done! Hoping during this taper week I can get caught up a bit!

Here is what Week #12 looked like:  schedule and actual

Week Of Week Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Miles
23-Nov 12 CD 0 4 10 6 0 10 8 38
0 5.5 10 3 10 0 6 34.5

Tuesday 11/24:  Did 5.5 miles on trail at South Mountain with my friend Vicki.  Saw a coyote and a road runner!  One of the many things I love about trail running is you get to be closer to nature.  Here are some of my pics.
Wednesday 11/25: Did 10 trail miles at Papago with my friend Lori. I am enjoying running with different friends! We had fun just exploring around.
Thursday 11/26:  Thanksgiving morning!  Love our annual tradition.  It was the Friends 4 Fitness Annual Turkey Trot. So great to see many of my friends that I don’t get to see often!
Friday 11/27:  Decided it’s time to get a bit more serious about sand training (Antelope Canyon 50 miler apparently has 30 miles of sand!)  Elaine, Vicki and I went out to McDowell Mountain and started some sand wash training.  Our goal was to do 10 miles in the sand until Elaine mentioned it might be smart to work our way up…AGREED!  So we did 4 miles in the sand.  I was ChiRunning as much as I could…tried not to use my calf muscles but the sand was pretty deep…happy to say I wasn’t sore the next day so I that’s a good sign!
Sunday 11/29:  Did a 6 mile trail run with a few other friends (so grateful for all my running friends so we can keep each other motivated!)  Today I also took an amazing Restorative Yoga class from my friend Lisa Hecke from Sacred Harts. She does this class on the Sunday after Thanksgiving and I’ve done it for the last 3 years. A great way to relax the mind, body and spirit!

No major aha moments (outside of my biggest struggle).  I have not been sore, even after the long weekend of running last week. I’m grateful for my ChiRunning form as I know this is THE major reason why I can even attempt 50 miles mentally and physically.

Next Saturday is my 2nd 50K! I’m oddly jazzed up about it mainly just to see how I will do.

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!)

50 Mile Training: Week 10 and 11

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….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

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….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

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….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

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….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!

mcdowell

  • 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!)