Race Report

Every Damn Street Race Report

Posted on January 14, 2021 by Lisa Pozzoni by Lisa Pozzoni

The only thing that should surprise us is that there are still some things that can surprise us. Francois de la Rochefoucauld

Who would’ve ever thought that this race would motivate me as much as it did? DEFINITELY NOT ME!

We all know what a crazy year 2020 was. Virtual races became all the rage for many runners. Not only was this a good way to stay in training mode but it also gave us the opportunity to support some of our favorite race companies that were being effected financially by the pandemic. Honestly, I didn’t do that many of them because I don’t race for medals or swag (well, sometimes 🤣). I picked my races this year very strategically.

When I heard about Every Damn Street (and Every Damn Trail), I was intrigued. You can read more about it here. I was immediately attracted to the idea of running in my community. I love the idea the race was built on. I also love first time experiences.

From the Aravaipa website:
“inspired by Ricky Gates’ Every Single Street project where he toured the streets of San Francisco, we are asking runners everywhere to connect to each other by sharing their hometown with this virtual community.”

If you know me, you know I am not a big fan of road running. However, I had a plan to run my first 100 mile race over 2 days on 12/30 & 12/31 at Across The Years as we entered 2021 (the year I turn 50!) This race is flat, mostly road and a 1 mile loop. I figured Every Damn Street would be a great way for me to get road miles in as training for my 100 miler. Bonus: the logo and feel of the race swag was Sesame Street, which was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid. It was a 3 month challenge and my goal was to run my 85283 zip code. I started out not thinking that I would do the whole thing because it looked like A LOT. But the more I kept chipping away at each section of my zip code, I could start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. At the end of November, I decided I was going to run every damn street in my zip code.

Love the swag!

I decided to document my journey via Instagram Stories. I actually had to create a Part 2 in my Highlights because apparently you can only have 100 stories in each one.🤪 I may have got a bit carried away with them but this was a fun part of the challenge for me. Not sure if you need to have an Instagram account to view them or not but here is EDS Part 1 and EDS Part 2 (you can use your arrow keys to scroll forward).

Here are some things I learned in the last few months while doing this race:

Strategy was more important than I anticipated: From Day 1, this was all about strategy. My first run was Labor Day weekend and I wasn’t sure what the best way to start was. Greg (my BF), suggest to start out with the perimeter of the 85283 zip code.

My first run for this race

And so it began…

- Tools: Aravaipa suggested using the Caltopo app. After every run, I could upload my Garmin file and it would continue to add my mileage as I went (see pic below). I would keep this open in my browser on my phone so I could tell what I had done on previous runs. I couldn’t see what I was doing real time though. I finally figured out to use my All Trails app and record as I was running so it would capture what I had just done. It sounds crazy but when you start going in and out of streets, it’s easy to lose track of what you did. I had to keep taking out my phone to see what I had done and where I was going next. This was much more mentally challenging than I expected.
- Brought to you by:
  - I was an Altra sponsored athlete last year so every shoe I wore was theirs (they are the only brand I wear and love)
  - My Noxgear Tracer 360 vest for early morning and evenings helped me be visible and safe. My Noxgear 39G Bluetooth speaker kept me company with music, podcasts and audiobooks. I am also an Ambassador for them: use code RUNNINGU1 for 35% off
  - I am always focused on my technique and there is no way I would’ve been able to do all that mileage without ChiRunning and ChiWalking. No injuries in 7 years because of it! (and I walk/run a lot of miles! I averaged 31 miles a week in 2020! I never say this to brag but to really point out how much I avoid injuries because of good technique).
Miles flew by: I was really surprised at how quickly I could get mileage done in a small space. I would assume 3-4 miles and it would end up being double. As much as I don’t like street running, I know I will use this in the future because time went by quickly.
- I did anywhere from a 2 mile run to a 22 mile run for this project.
- My total miles were: 202.95 in 23 runs! I just totaled this up yesterday for this blog. I would’ve been so mad if I ended at 199 on 12/31. 🤣
- Speed work goes by faster this way than on a track
- I did 20 miles on Christmas Day since my family had decided to not get together
- My boyfriend Greg joined me a few times for exercise dates!
- In the last month, I felt like a drug addict having to get a fix. I was obsessed and have never been that motivated to go out for runs on the road in my life before.
- It was awesome to finish my last run on 12/31/20 with a rainbow!
I love my neighborhood: when I first moved to AZ as a freshman in HS, we were in Tempe. I went to McClintock High School and I am an ASU alumni. I have always loved this city but I have a much bigger appreciation for it after this experience.
- There was a Little Free Library on just about every run I did!
- Ironically Sesame Street was in my zip code and I loved seeing it every time. The theme song would come in my head and it would always make me smile.

- So many treasures found! From beautiful lakes and houses to funny election signs. In one neighborhood I was staring at house all decked out with human rights signs and across the street there was a house full of Trump signs. My favorite election sign was “In Dogs We Trust” “Dogs 2020 Because Humans Suck”🤣 From election signs to fun Halloween decorations to Christmas ones. At one point I even found a purple house! (you all know this is my favorite color!). I had no idea Mission chips was local and also found The Early Bird (have not checked them out) yet but I saw their cart parked in a driveway so I had to google it. I love supporting local businesses.

I challenge you to try something like this out. Pick your immediate neighborhood and/or zip code and just start chipping away at it. This blog post and my Instagram Stories don’t even do my experience justice. As I rewatched my IG stories, I got fuzzy feelings of the memories I created with this event. As a matter of fact, it ended 13 days ago and I still have weird withdrawals. I know I can go out and run in the neighborhood (I am about to as soon as I get done writing this!) but it’s not the same without the deadline of the “finish line.” This has given me a new appreciation for road running for training as canals get old after awhile.

Huge thank you to Aravaipa Running for giving me something new and fun to do in the crazy 2020 year. I just thought this was going to be another virtual race but I had no idea that it would impact me the way it did. 🥰

The final map!

Race Report

Race Report: Old Port Shipyard Half Marathon

Posted on June 27, 2018 by Lisa Pozzoni by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Another first time experience in Portland ME running in a new place! I love having the opportunity to run in new places and the only reason I was there was because of my running friends.

Quick history on why I was there because it wouldn’t have happened for any other reason. I was promoting my Moab Ladies Training Program and Amy, who comes to Running for Brews, emailed me and asked if she could join the program but not do the Moab race. She wanted the benefits of the program but was already committed to running this half marathon in ME because she was on a trip with her husband. First time this happened so I figured why not. I asked her to send me the race info so I could adjust her training plan accordingly to include hills or whatever the race profile looked like. When I looked at it, I realized I was going to be back east during this weekend and only 2 hours away…….HMMMMM….I marked “Interested” in the facebook event and then a friend that I met while I was teaching at Kripalu with Danny last year, saw it and said that it wasn’t too far from her and maybe she would come too. Well before you know it, 3 friends from the Kripalu trip were doing the race too….so why not?!

Race Report

As you know, I love trails so another road half marathon 3 weeks after Moab may have been the only reason I wouldn’t have done the race. But to be able to see Amy through her training and then get to be at the finish line and see my other friends was a huge motivator for me.

This was one of the most organized races I’ve attended. As an out of towner, I got enough updates via email with info for the event. I was able to find an AirBnb for Laurie and I (that was another crazy experience that I can’t even begin to address here but nonetheless part of our adventure). The race directors even did a facebook survey at one point to decide if people wanted t-shirts or tank tops. Tank tops won!

The race website had all the info from addresses of the parking areas to how much each one cost. I was a little disappointed on race morning that the weather was cloudy. I am not crazy about running in the rain but I was so excited to be running a new route, in a new city, with friends even if it was road!

We got to the start line early enough and all of the sudden I could hear the MC of the race motivating people! OMG, this is the start line I was missing since Moab! Completely opposite experience! This guy was awesome! So many motivating words to get us pumped up…and he looked so cool! Dreads and barefoot…..Here is a quick video of him at the finish line doing his thing! I would go to a race just to hear this guy do his thing! His name is Michael Bernier and apparently he MCs many races and does some pretty cool stuff.

I usually always encourage people to run their own race and this is what I normally do. Amy was doing her thing and the other girls said they were going to do Galloway for 1 min run and 30 sec walk intervals. They hadn’t trained as much as they normally would like so seemed like a good idea for them. They said they probably would finish in 2.5 hours. I had no goals for this race at all. I just did the Moab Half in about that time frame 3 weeks ago (still haven’t officially checked my results LOL because it doesn’t matter). I’ve never done intervals that short before so I told them I would start with them and see what happened.

At the start line all pumped up!

We started out together and it the first part of the race was in neighborhoods. Apparently they changed the route but it was all new to me. We had a few rolling hills and since I hadn’t seen these ladies since their ChiRunning training in Kripalu, I was able to share some reminders from class about hill technique and give them a few pointers on their form. Then it started raining! To my surprise, I was not concerned in the least bit! Might be because it was a very light drizzle or because I was in good company or because it’s been awhile since I’ve had this opportunity so I went with it and enjoyed every minute of it.

Then we got seaside. I was bummed that it wasn’t sunnier as I think it would’ve been a bit prettier but it was still beautiful. Here are a few photos:

Beautiful views!

More beautiful views!

Was going to be a selfie but a runner insisted to take the photo!

Time was flying! We hadn’t seen each other in a year and had a lot to catch up on. We leap frogged here and there but I mostly stayed with them doing these intervals. I’ll admit I wasn’t too crazy about them. We skipped some when we went downhill or uphill going more on body sensing than timing (the ChiWalkChiRun way). By the end of the race, I felt like Pavlov’s dog waiting for the walk intervals.

At about mile 10 I had an awesome surprise! Vince (a ChiRunning Master Instructor from NH) was there cheering me on! He drove an hour to do this! Most of ChiRunning instructors work on our own so when we have a chance to see each other (we are like family!), we try to make it happen.

Here are a few more pics from the route:

Vince!!

Wish I could get a better pic of this but it just looked cool..

Always have to have some selfies 😉

Cool graffiti on a wall…

and on the ground!

and we were on this trail for a bit!

More graffiti on the ground…

We had a few more hills and could hear the finish line approaching. The last 1/4 mile was on cobblestone and my least favorite part. I believe there was more cobblestone in previous years and this was one of the big changes they made. I am happy for that because it was uneven and uncomfortable but as ChiRunners learn to do, we figure out how to neutralize our “opponent” rather than meeting a force with a force. (In Tai Chi, warriors always neutralize their opponent rather than meeting a force with a force….in ChiRunning, our “opponent” is the environment so we use technique to help us flow with it rather than fight it). So, I picked up my feet a little faster while staying slightly on the forefront of my feet (I’m normally mid foot) to avoid the dips. Vince was there again and cheered me on and I could hear Michael, the MC, doing his thing which completely drew me to the finish line (my audio ychi rather than visual!)

Unfortunately a few of the ladies had to leave right after the race so they missed one of the best race after parties! As part of our race entry, we got a slice of pizza, an ice cream and two beers from Shipyard Brewing Company…..you know where I went first, right?! BEER! and I had extra tickets for Vince too. There were 2 beer gardens! After the first one, we decided to go to the second one because a disco tribute band, Motor Booty Affair, was playing and they were awesome! I did a facebook live from there and I clearly had a few beers 😉 While I was on the coast, I had to get some clam chowder and try some lobster so we did that and called it a day. Here are a few more pictures:

Amy finished and PRd!! So proud of her!

Kripalu gang finishers!

Cool signs! https://www.runawaysrunclub.com

Best name for a porta potty company ever!! Genius marketing!

Lobster traps

Yummy oysters!

Motor Booty Affair! This band was covering 70s music and were killing it!

Laurie and I…one of the official race pics…they won’t let me post the others ;(

Aha moment: An interesting side bar on my soreness a few days after the race….I was sore on both legs in a place I am never sore: the bottom of my hamstrings, close to the back of my knee. I was trying to figure it out and I was talking to Danny about it and eureka! In ChiWalking, you straighten your leg behind you not in front of you. Because I walked much more in this race and changed my form frequently from ChiRunning to ChiWalking, I was extending my leg back which caused this to happen.

So do I recommend this race? Hell yes! I am posting this blog 5 days after the race and they already sent a survey to get feedback. Beautiful half marathon course, very organized event, amazing MC and the best after party! If I happen to be back east at this time of the year again, I would definitely redo 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!)

Race Report

Race Report: Thelma & Louise Half Marathon in Moab

Posted on June 13, 2018 by Lisa Pozzoni by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

My first time in Moab did not disappoint! When I heard about this race, I got excited because there are not too many women only races anymore. I’ve been doing Ladies Training Programs for races and this one seemed to fit perfectly. I’ll start with the areas of improvement (in my opinion) and finish on the positive!

The Not So Good Stuff

I picked this race with some hesitation because it was a road race and not a trail. I prefer trail over road any day. The course was beautiful so it made up for the fact that it was on road.
I believe this race either had a new race director or new to this race so this might be why there were a few things that I think could’ve been improved.
The slope in the road drove me crazy. I had to keep moving from side to side because I could feel it effecting my hip (through body sensing it was exactly the same feeling I had when I ran this marathon and had the same issue).
I heard this was a low key race but the start line was too low key for my taste. I love it when you get pumped up by the music and MC at a race. It seemed like they were scrambling to get things set up. There was some music but you could barely hear it and it was not the type of music that gets you pumped up before a race. There was no one making any announcements. Since many people come from out of town for this race and it had a theme, I’d figure they could’ve been asking questions and interacting with the participants more: “how far did you come?”, “who came the furthest?”,”who’s first half marathon”, etc. There was none of that and at 6am, we just left the start line just like that.
Start line picture! We pumped ourselves up 😉
They said there would be aid stations every 1.5 miles but I don’t think that was true. I had plenty of water because I know better but the first one was at mile 3. I heard the 1.5 mile one was set up late, after I went by that spot, but considering I’m a middle of the packer, it should’ve been there. Aid stations volunteers were good but I would’ve expected much more fun with the theme. We only saw 3 “Brad Pitts” going around at the start/finish line. I’d suggest a theme contest for the aid station volunteers.
I would suggest to hold the award ceremony earlier. The race had a generous time limit but when they did the awards, most of those participants had already taken off.
I can’t believe that with that gorgeous scenery there weren’t more photographers. There were some amazing views the whole way and I noticed one photographer on the way back. When I get the email the other day about the race photos, I had 2 pictures from the same exact spot. Glad I stopped to smell the roses and take pictures myself but I wasn’t in most of them…

The Good Stuff

My first experience with the race director was emailing him and asking for a discount code that I could offer to my group of ladies and he was very accommodating.
The scenery was breathtaking! I’d have to rank this as one of the top 5 most scenic races I’ve ever done. I had no time goals for this race and purposely walked several times because I wanted to be present, soak it all in and remember the moment. Might as well get my money’s worth! The pictures don’t do it justice! (more at the bottom of the blog)

As we started the race, this was the view!

Red cliffs and rocks on both sides of the Colorado river

It was an out and back course which I’m normally not crazy about but in this case, we had great scenery the whole way and it was cool to run it back. One of the funnest parts was watching the front of the pack and the winner come our way. We got to cheer them on as they flew passed us and they shouted thank you back at us. I got to see all my running crew while running on the course which was awesome.
We had to take busses to the start line from an elementary school and that process was well organized.
The expo was small as I suspected it would be but we got some good swag: a tech race shirt, socks and the medal was the car jumping off the cliff in the form of a small belt buckle. Very cute!
Finisher with my belt buckle!

After the race we headed to Moab Brewing company to get our free beers earned as part of the race. Swag shirts!
The road was closed off which was nice. At one point, I could hear some type of music…then I realized it was drums. It kept getting louder and louder until I reached the sound. It was a female group of drummers that stayed there the entire time! They were the highlight on the course for sure!
All female drumming group on the race course rocked it!
There was plenty of food at the finish and the Thelma and Louise trivia contest was fun after the awards ceremony. They gave away some pretty cool prizes. Our group had just watched the movie on Thursday evening when we arrived there and I am sure we were not the only ones.

Would I recommend this race? Yes! The things that I mention that could’ve been better were not deal breakers and maybe just an oversight.

Would I do this race again? No. The main reason is becauseI like trail so I rarely do road races, especially out of town. I will however be looking at some of Mad Moose Events trail races in Moab because I love the location! I just want to experience it on trail.

The best part for me was spending 5 days with 6 amazing women. I trained them as part of the Ladies Training Program so we got to bond leading up to the race and the weekend was the icing on the cake! We did some awesome sight seeing, our first relay beer mile and laughed so hard our stomachs hurt. One of the best weekends of my life! We had way too many pictures so I found a few to share some of the highlights 😉

Dead Horse State Park where Thelma and Louise jumped off the cliff with their car (sorry if you haven’t seen it!) Thanks to Michelle for making us cool hats, getting us matching shirts, and making lots of themed goodies for us!

More gorgeous race scenery and couldn’t pass the photo opp of the back of one of my The Running University shirts. Jug Handle is the name of the one of the cliff structures.

For obvious reasons, the Jug Handle 😉

The initiation for most of these ladies to the Beer Mile Relay! Thanks to Lori for organizing it! Thanks to ChiRunning, we were all still ready to keep going after the half marathon. This was one of the funnest parts of the weekend!

Arches National Park! More breathtaking scenery! I wanted to get under the arch with a few of the other ladies but chickened out because of the heights.

Drove my Monument Valley and had to stop. One of my favorite places in the world!

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: Across The Years-Miles are Miles!

Posted on December 31, 2017 by Lisa Pozzoni by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Yesterday I had the opportunity to run in the 24-hr Across The Years race. This is my 2nd year in a row and I get a free entry by filing up a 24 hour shift of volunteers from 12/31-1/1.

Before I started, I read the race report I did last year.

I was pretty excited as I knew what I was getting into. One of the days I will use the full 24 hours but my goal was to stick to my training plan and get my 40 miles in. This would be 2nd longest distance to date with the 50 miler being my first.

As a quick reminder, this is a 1-mile course and you go around it as many times as you can for the amount of time that you have. Basically it’s truly your race to do whatever you want. There are people our there setting aggressive mileage goals and trying to break records but bottom line, you do what you want. You can take as many breaks as you want, I know people that leave and come back….and the longest event here is 6 days! Not sure how people do that but there are plenty that do! Some people seek these types of races out specifically.

How I passed the time:

I’m always working on my ChiRunning technique so focused on that of course. 40 miles went by talking to old friends and new friends, listening to a few podcasts and some music. Was over before I knew it! There were times that it did get harder but overall I stayed focused on my goal.

What I like about this event:

Such a fun social event if you are not on a mission with aggressive goals. I can’t tell you the amount of friends I saw that were either doing the event, volunteering or just hanging out to cheer their friends on.
No pressure! (unless it’s self imposed!) I knew I had plenty of time to reach my goal of 40 miles and I was in no rush. I ran, I walked, I stopped and talked to friends and just kept moving. No need to prepare a ton because there is an aid station on the course (remember it’s a mile course…people have been know to gain weight because it’s too easy to stop every mile) and a water station at the other end. No need for hydration pack or anything because it’s all there. I think this a perfect event for anyone wanting to do a longer distance (marathon and above) and is worried about cutoffs or getting lost on a trail. You have plenty of time and pretty impossible to get lost on a mile course 😉

What I don’t like:

The course is pretty but it’s a bit monotonous. I much rather be on a trail. They do change the direction every 4 hours so it’s look a bit different. I am actually considering Aravaipa’s Silverton event in 2018. The website is not updated yet but it’s the same concept: 1 mile course but you are on a trail in Silverton CO with 250ft of gain every mile. Dates are changing to 7/6-7/12 2018. So a bit more challenging but I am sure it’s gorgeous! This may even end up being a Group Training program I am considering to offer.
People attend this event to get mileage but are not necessarily trained for that mileage. I’m all for pushing your body and mind to the limit but I’ve seen people take this to a level that can be dangerous as far as injuries go. As much as I wanted to do more miles because I had the time, I stuck to my training plan and didn’t want to push it.

Biggest takeaway:

It doesn’t matter if you run a 50K or 50 miler on trail or this event. Miles are miles! It’s so easy to “downplay” the mileage at this event. Maybe because trails are “harder” or because it’s a one mile course but it doesn’t matter!! This is a whole different kind of hard! I’m planning on getting more people to check this out (and/or Silverton!)

Some highlights from my run yesterday:

Thank you to everyone who has been donating to my Girls On The Run fundraiser for my first 100K! Means so much to me! I almost doubled where I was in the last few days!

I did 4 short Facebook Lives from the event and you can see them here:

Right before the start and already hanging with some friends!

More friends! Tommy is one of the most positive people I know in our running community!

More friends!

Minion on the course!

Minion and Pikachu on the course!

Cheryl Miller from Miller Coaching out on the course with this awesome shirt!

My friend Lori at this point had surpassed her longest run ever which was a marathon!

Motivation!

New friend! Frederick Davis III He will be 70 on January 2nd and does many of these timed events. He was telling me about 15 day events and he recently completed one in South Africa: 1,000 km (620 miles) in 15 days!

Friends know my Fireball history 😉 There was a Fireball station that I had been eyeing out before the race even started but waited until mile 38 to make sure I would complete my goal. Freddy joined me and told me he usually does a shot for breakfast on these events. Love this guy!

Every time you go through the start/finish line you can see where you are. Here is my last lap!

Just a few steps 😉

Lori completes her first 50K

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

Image

….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!)

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!

I was invited by a friend to do this race awhile back and I read some blogs and some info about it so I knew it was not going to be an easy one. Click here to see the map and elevation profile. Looked like a great opportunity to visit a new place I’ve never been to (one of the main reasons I love ultra/trail running is that it brings me to places I would not visit otherwise). I was ready for the day to finally be here as you may remember my last blog post on Burning Out.

Our road trip up to Capitol Reef included a quick stop at Monument Valley which I had never seen before. It was absolutely stunning and I am sure I’ll be doing that race at some point as well.

We went and grabbed our packets on Friday and had the honor of meeting Arnulfo Quimare, the famous Tarahumara Indian from the Born To Run book. I already had Caballo Blanco’s autograph in my book so I added his as well.

On race day, we arrived at the finish line where we would be bused up to the start line for this point to point race. This is the 2nd time that my friend/trail wife, Elaine and I ended up wearing the same shirt…which fit well with this race #RunSteepGetHigh. Matt Gunn, the race director, gave a briefing at the beginning and I tried not to worry about some of the words he was using like “bushwacking” and “boulder mountain”.

Run Steep Get High 😉

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

Matt Gunn, race director giving the briefing.

The three of us agreed ahead of time that it was each woman for herself and if we ended up together that would be fine but we were “running” our own race. My goal was to finish and not got lost (this is their 2nd annual and blog reports from last year mentioned people getting lost. Matt does a great job in taking feedback from his post race surveys as the course was marked very well in my opinion. Actually looking for those pink flags helped keep me focus and made it “funner” by seeming like a bit of a scavenger hunt.) The 50K course had an 11 hour cutoff (my average has been a little over 8 hours) and Ultrasignup forecasted that I would end at 11:45 (not sure what their algorithms are based on) and I was determined to prove them wrong.

I knew the first 8 miles were going to be an uphill climb so my plan was to hike this entire part to save energy so I could “run” later. These pictures don’t do it justice. I will say that I could feel the elevation change but it didn’t effect as much as I thought (giving some credit to some exercises I’ve been working on from The Oxygen Advantage book).

The scenery was breathtaking and such a different experience from running in the desert which is my usual trail running play ground. The first half of the course was a combination of beautiful meadows (mainly single track but fairly runnable although you couldn’t see the terrain under the grass sometimes so you had to be careful for rocks); rocky trails; and boulders:

Cow bones?? Dead trail runners??

more nonrunnable terrain…for me anyways!

Caught Arnulfo with some amazing running form in his sandals!

Seriously??

Channeling my Spiderman skills again..

Boulder Mountain…this seemed like at least a mile of this type of terrain.

Lori and I “ran” together up to about Mile 14. We were bumming a bit as we had done some good training and really just wanted to run. We would find a good runnable trail but then 50 feet later it became unrunnable again (although clearly runnable for the many other experienced runners that are used to this type of terrain). She got ahead of me and at this point I was comfortable being alone as I knew the course was marked well and I was not worried about getting lost.

More beautiful water scenery on this course with lakes and creeks…I used to be “afraid” of crossing creeks and we had several of those. When it worked out, I would use rocks or logs to cross but I got over that fear after some of our Black Canyon trail runs so when it didn’t work out, I would just walk right through them. The cold water felt good on my feet and I knew I wouldn’t get blisters as I’ve done this several times in my shoes before.

I finally got to the Donkey Reservoir Mile 19 Aid Station. A lady said that my friend Lori was about 2 minutes ahead of me but I was ready to take a little break here. There was a 4pm time cutoff at this aid station and I got there around 2:30pm so all was good at this point. I had been following my nutrition plan and was feeling great (outside of being bummed that I wasn’t running as much as I wanted to). The volunteers were great. I ate some quesadillas and had a little Coke (I only drink Coke on trail aid stations and it always hits the spot!). Got my water pack filled up and off I went. The next aid station was going to be 10 miles away so I was prepared for that…or so I thought…

I noticed the battery in my Tom Tom was close to dying. I wasn’t too worried about it at this point as I was comfortable finding the course markers. It died at about mile 21 and I was fine for a bit. This is when my mind started playing tricks on me. It was really hard to gauge how long it would take me to get to the next aid station. I wasn’t doing my normal pace for sure and it’s so hard to do math at this point on the trail. I started doing one of my favorite ChiRunning meditations on the 5 senses to keep me present and distracted. I focused on all my senses:
Eyes: I had to keep my eyes on the trail a lot since it was pretty technical but I loved to see the pretty flowers, the views, the pink markers that were guiding my way…
Ears: I could hear the birds chirping, the wind in the trees, the water flowing through creeks..my heart rate going up on the uphills (at points it sounded like it would jump out of my chest!)..at one point I played music on my Iphone via the speaker so I could still be part of nature..I kept it low but needed some more distraction to get through it…I could hear footsteps behind me once in awhile as runners were passing me (this messed with my head a bit too as 50 mile people who started an hour before me and had completed more mileage were actually running this course…I knew they had more experience running in this terrain but still!!…)…I could hear my breath as I was focusing on my cadence and breathing together..
Smell: I could smell cow patties but never saw any cows which was weird (I heard some too) and my favorite was going through a few patches of pink flowers (which could be easily mistaken as the pink course markers) and the smell of them was overwhelming yet soothing.
Touch: sometimes the wind would pick up and I could feel it on my skin…the sun on my skin…being brushed by the bushes on the side (wait for the bushwhacking part in a few)
Not much to do with Taste outside of the ginger candy I picked up at the last aid station.
Even though this worked for periods of time, the non runnable parts seemed to never end…and the steep uphills and downhills continued…THEN we got into the bushwhacking part Matt had mentioned in the briefing…

Can you see the pink marker in the top left hand side of the photo? You can barely see the trail but we were literally going through shrubs..so hard to see the ground and run this part too..

Do you see the pink marker in the top left hand side of the photo again? Yes, I crawled over logs and this was not the only place..

I kept wandering when the heck I would get to the aid station at Mile 29. There were several times that I could feel a lump in my throat and I just wanted to cry. Mentally I can usually get through races by working on the meditation above or just enjoying nature and knowing that I am doing what I love to do most: run around in nature….but by this point, I was so freaking ready for it to be over…a few times I just wanted to sit down and have a helicopter come and get me..I’m not a religious person but I prayed to God, Jesus, and Mother Mary several times..and then there was Rikki (bottom line, my friend Lori M bought these for our adventure..there is more to that story but I’ll save that for another blog post)
rikki

A few times (and yes, I realized I was talking out loud) I said “I just want my Mommy”..or I would think about my boyfriend and how bad I just wanted to be in his arms…I’ve never felt like I wanted something to be over so bad before…Every time I turned a corner, I kept hoping for that dang aid station…I had to be close….
Finally I reached it….it was 6pm and I had been on my feet for 10 hours. The volunteer said that there was only 3.8 more miles to go…yeah! but were they runnable miles? He said yes but again, I couldn’t rely on his idea of runnable as clearly my definition is a bit different. I had Coke and M+Ms and took off. If it were truly runnable, no matter how tired I was, I could do this! I know I can run 4 miles in an hour! And thankfully it was mostly runnable! Heck, all of the sudden there was sand and I was so happy to run in it!
These were some of the views from the last part of the race:

Since my Tom Tom died, I was using my phone for time…I kept pulling it out to check and see how I was doing..I am sure if I had the info, my last 4 miles were the fastest in this race…I still had to walk a few times and at this point, my goal was to finish within the 11 hour cutoff…that’s all I kept thinking about…I finally saw the road that we would be crossing before the finish line..my phone time was 7pm so I’m thinking it’s too late…I wasn’t going to have the same epic finish as my 50 miler…but I kept running as fast as my legs could take me as I was SOOOOOO ready for this to be done! I couldn’t wait to see my friends at the end…I finally see the finish line and the clock…the clock is at 10:59:55 and I’m running as fast as I could…the seconds were counting down…I crossed the finish line at 11:00:01 (unofficial time)…and then there I was standing there, finally done with this darn race and no one was there to greet me! Where the heck were my friends? Lori M came up right after and was so bummed she missed my finish..apparently Lori C had told them I was about an hour behind her so they figured they had time (it was a long day for all of us so I think we were all confused by this point!)…..it didn’t matter…I WAS FINALLY DONE WITH IT!

I realize this is a long blog post but here are my Thorns, Roses and Learning Lessons (in addition to what was already mentioned)
Thorns:

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.”

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

seriously gorgeous views!

Yes! Not only did I inspire myself but love to hear that I can inspire other people to do epic shit too!

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

50 Miles of Gratitude: (6) My Boyfriend!

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Lisa Pozzoni by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

My boyfriend, my BBE (Best Boyfriend Ever), my running widower, Greg, Gregorio (that’s what my Italian parents call him 😉 )….whatever we call him, he is one of the biggest reasons I am able to do what I do. Continue Reading →

50 Miles of Gratitude: 50 Posts about my first 50 Miler

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Lisa Pozzoni by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Here is a list of my blog posts that I am writing after my first 50 Mile race. It’s combination of what I learned, what I am grateful for and a way for me to keep the memory alive. It was one of the proudest moments of my life! My goal is to have 50 of these 😉

Updated on 7/30/17: I’m realizing this just isn’t going to happen. It was a great idea when I had it but I have other ideas for blogs, etc and too much time has gone by now. I have found that writing blogs works best for me when I feel inspired and too much time has gone by now to continue with this series. I hope you still enjoy these 😉

I’ve learned this… #neversaynever

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 October 25, 2015 by Lisa Pozzoni 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!

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!)

OMG! I just signed up for my first 50 miler!

Posted on October 6, 2015 by Lisa Pozzoni by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Are these the words seriously coming out of my mouth and fingers now? Seriously?! OMG, it’s still crazy to me that they are….

I remember when I used to be a distance walker and I wouldn’t have even considered being a runner. Training miles to complete the Breast Cancer 3-Day with my Las Bombas team for 6 years. I even walked 100 miles in the middle of summer in 2012 for Marriage Equality (had started running at this point).

I remember when I used to go hiking and I would see trail runners. I’d call them freaks in my head….who would want to go running on a trail? That just looked stupid and certainly a good way to hurt yourself. (Running Tips for Beginner Trail Runners)

I remember when I said I would never do more than a 5K. Why would anyone ever want to run any more than that anyway?

Well, as you write your own running story, my biggest piece of advice is: NEVER SAY NEVER. As of today, according to Athlinks, I’ve run:

22 5Ks
6 10Ks
16 Half Marathons
5 Marathons
1 50K (not on Athlinks)
and a bunch of various distances in between.

I’m not telling you this to brag! I know people who have done way more than this! We are all writing our own running story so by any means, please don’t compare yourself (this is my #1 rule for beginner runners and why my blog is called My Own Running Story).

Before I injured myself from overuse last year, my next goal after my 1st 50K was to do a 12 hour race. I was hoping to do 50 miles in that time but I knew that would be aggressive. I also injured myself so had to drop down from that event.

Once I healed, I took baby steps as I started getting back into my normal running routine. I knew at some point, I would be making this crazy decision. I started toying around with the idea of doing 2nd 50K (signing up for the McDowell Mountain Frenzy by Aravaipa in December)…..then I did it…I started googling 50 mile races since I would already be training for a 50K.

Can someone explain to me why pretty much most ultra races go from a 50K to a 50 miler? That’s a 20 mile difference! Nothing in between? Well, OK then….I guess that’s the next distance to do then…

I started thinking about Aravaipa’s Coldwater Rumble race in January. They have a 100 mile race which would give me 32 hours to complete 50. No problem! I could take a nap in between if I wanted to…..

But then, while at the AZ Distance Camp a month ago, I started talking to my friend Elaine. She’s an Ironman and already completed the Old Pueblo 50 miler last year. She’s a great athlete and one of the nicest people I know…as a matter of fact, I met her while training for the 3-Day and she joined our team. She started talking about Antelope Canyon….

First question: when is it? It’s on 2/20/16….WHAT? The day after my 45th birthday? I love doing things over my birthday weekend! I ran my first marathon on my 41st birthday.
Second question: what’s the cutoff? 15 hours…that’s an average of an 18 minute mile…sounds doable but average that for 50 miles…starting to get a bit freaked out…
Third question: how is the route? Does it loop? What’s the scenery like? Well, first of all, you are in Antelope Canyon. The only way to see this canyon is if you go with a tour or you do this race. I started googling race reports and looking at pictures and videos from previous participants. The scenery looks AMAZING! But wait…. there’s 30 miles of sand? I have to go down a 30 foot rickety ladder into the canyon? There are points that may not be suitable for someone who is afraid of heights? Yikes……

After weighing out the pros and cons for quite some time….AND Elaine texting me with something like this “They serve birthday cake at one of the aid stations for February birthdays..”…AND remembering what I tell everyone all the time:

“Always do what you are afraid to do.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

I went to sign up…….AND it was SOLD OUT! What? After taking all that time to make the decision and it’s sold out?

I emailed the race director, gave him my sob story about my birthday AND how this was my first 50 miler AND I’m on the Board of Directors for Girls On The Run AND this was going to be my fundraiser event….He told me we could get on the waiting list and chances were pretty good (we were the first two on the list!).

Long story short, we got on the waiting list (I think I was the first one!) and we are now both in….$180 later, Happy Birthday to Me?!?!

I’m pretty freaked out about it but I know I have a lot of people in my life that have done these and can help me. One thing to remember is that it doesn’t matter if it’s your first 5K or 50K…Fear is fear and it can hold us back from doing new things….so regardless of where you are in Your Running Story, the choice is yours:

Forget Everything And Run

Forget Everything And Rise

I’m rising…still doesn’t mean I’m not scared! BTW, I’ll be writing another post about my Girls On The Run fundraiser but here is my link.

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: first time experiences

Every Damn Street Race Report

Race Report: Old Port Shipyard Half Marathon

Race Report: Thelma & Louise Half Marathon in Moab

Race Report: Across The Years-Miles are Miles!

Across The Years: Race Report & 6th 50K

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Race Report: Capitol Reef 50K with Ultra Adventures

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50 Miles of Gratitude: (6) My Boyfriend!

50 Miles of Gratitude: 50 Posts about my first 50 Miler

Week #7 Recap 50K/50Mile Training

OMG! I just signed up for my first 50 miler!