Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Lean Horse 100 Mile Trail Run: Am I Dreaming?
I feel very emotional today; in a good way. Tears of relief and amazement. I find myself feeling overwhelmed, feeling gratitude and joy. Yesterday on the drive home from Lean Horse I was feeling numb and feeling relief. I had an absolutely fabulous trip to Lean Horse and an even better race. The outcome was better than I ever dreamed was possible. That is one of my (many) shortcomings. I don't always dream big enough or set my goals high enough.
I have been training hard for Lean Horse. I have been adding in speed workouts at the track, hills at the ski hill and tempo runs. As I have stated before, the track workouts and tempo runs are new to me. I haven't run them consistently in the past. I wasn't sure if it would make a difference in a 100 miler.
Some people run 30-50 miles a week and can finish 100's, I and others (I think?) run 80-100 miles a week in preparation. Some don't run speed or hill works, some of do. This is such an individualized sport, I think an 100 mile runner needs to experiment with what works. We are each so different.
Because I post publicly my training, my race results, my eating patterns, etc. I receive constructive criticism and some not so constructive criticism. The negative: I've been told that I over train. That I run too much, that I put in too many 'junk' miles with Topaz on my daily runs, that hills, speed and tempo don't go together, that I need to eat a high carbohydrate (processed) diet to recover, that I shouldn't eat a high raw, vegan diet, that I shouldn't lift, that I should put away the crutch (iPod) and run like a real woman.
I also receive many comments that are quite positive. The love I have for running, the passion that I feel for the running lifestyle, the time I spend with my boys, that I am open to trying new things, that I am willing to reach out to beginners and show them that they, too, can run and follow their dream.
I often wonder why I blog. I began blogging 5 years ago, before blogging was what everyone was doing. I began to blog while trying to change my body from a 23% body fat form to a leaner body at sub 10%. I thought I could shed some light on the process, share the journey and see what the outcome would be on the other side. Pretty soon this blog changed from a Body For Life journey to a Julie Journey. I grew into a runner, into an ultra runner, I changed from the inside to the outside, I have grown as a person and many of you dear readers have followed my journey. I think that I now blog to show the beginning runners, the people that aren't quite sure of themselves, those of us that trying to reach our goals..that we can! We can put our mind to what we want to do, we can set our goals and we can achieve them!
For quite some time I was the last place runner (Ice Age and Voyager), fighting the cut offs and barely finishing. It's OK. It's OK to be last! The winners are those of us who are standing at the start line, stretching out of our comfort zone, getting out there, trying it, dreaming it, doing it.
I had such a shock when I realized that people that I knew in real life read this blog and I was just never comfortable knowing that. Strange, I know. Now that time has passed on I am finally comfortable knowing that those that I know in real life are reading this blog. Now that others are blogging I guess I am not so embarrassed by it. I think I am going to change my tune, I'm going to write knowing that many of my readers are people that I know, that I have met in races, etc. and I am OK with this. I am now going to celebrate that you, dear readers, are out here, reading this blog and must be enjoying it, or you wouldn't be here. Thank you for being a part of my journey.
OK, I'm going off course here. this is going to be a post about Lean Horse, really, I will get there. I'm just feeling so many emotions right now.
For so long I have felt like an impostor runner. You know, I put in the miles, I am coaching, I'm passionate and loving the running lifestyle..but yet, I felt like maybe I was an impostor..the feelings of inadequacy, the feelings of not being a 'real' runner. I was expressing these feelings to a friend this weekend and realized how absurd this was! I have finished 14 100 mile races. The first only 5 years ago. I think that qualifies me as a 'real' runner, one that can give advice when asked, etc. What a concept, hu?
OK.. Lean Horse 100 Mile Trail Run. What a Trip, Man.
This will be long..so scroll to the end for the outcome if you prefer.
I was very excited to travel with Tom, Nancy and Alicia. We travelled to Ice Age and Vermont together and had a wonderful time. I knew it would be just as fun, and it was. Fabulous. We get along well together, we have a similar lifestyle, it's all good.
Having never been away from home before for a full five nights I had many preparations to take care of for my family. I really don't need to do all that I do, but I like to take care of all that I can. I made a few pans of lasagna, about 20 burritos, a big pot of chicken dumpling soup, a bunch of pancakes. They weren't going to get hungry while I was away!
The only guilt I felt about leaving was that Tyler began his first day of college (PSEO as a Senior in High School) yesterday and I would miss it. Tyler gave me a huge eye roll when I told him I felt bad about not being home when he would be going off to his first class. He told me it was no big deal and that I could send him off on day two. I did that this morning.
As I left my driveway on Wednesday morning I saw that a light was lit up on my dashboard that I hadn't seen before. It didn't blink off, it stayed on. After a few miles I pulled over and looked at my manual. Damn. The manual showed me that the light meant that the air pressure was low in one of my tires. Tom and Nancy's was about 35 miles away, I didn't want to risk a flat tire on the way. I turned around and headed back home. I saw that I needed 44 pounds of pressure in my tire. The gauge told me I only had 19 pounds. I figured out how to put in the air and watched it inflate. OK, back on the road. I was glad that I always leave early so that I won't be late for 'just in case' emergencies. There was a bit of early morning rush hour traffic but I did make my arrival at 6 AM as scheduled.
Tom had a Pathfinder for our trip; it was a great vehicle to pack all of our stuff into. We packed in my items and went off to pick up Alicia. After a stop at Caribou we were hitting the road.
A few stops for potty breaks, lunch of a fabulous salad that I brought along, a hike through the Badlands, and pretty soon we were in Rapid City, our first destination, about 10 hours later. We had an awesome hike up Harney Peak, another great picnic of Nancy's fruits and veggies, spent some time some Custer Park and headed off to Hot Springs on Friday.
South Dakota is Beef Country. I've been eating a mostly raw/all vegan diet for the past 6 weeks. I felt wonderful and wasn't about to change this. My traveling companions did not bat an eye when I told them how I was eating. They embraced it. Wonderful! We found a restaurant in Hot Springs with a salad bar. A salad bar of iceberg lettuce and cherry tomatoes! Oh, and veggie soup. I had two cups. Back at the room we had our stash of veggies and fruits. Thank goodness.
It was hot in Hot Springs. My iPhone was showing me that the Saturday high was 93, Sunday was 96. It was very warm and quite windy. I felt like I was in a blow dryer. Now I like heat, but running 100 miles in this heat and on this exposed trail was kind of worrying me.
We scouted part of the race course. The course is an out and back; beginning in Hot Springs, up to Hill City and back to Hot Springs. The first 16 miles is upon a rolling gravel road, much like the road I run upon near our cabin on Lake Vermillion. Lots of hills with a chunkier gravel. After the 16 miles of gravel we would run upon the Michaelson Trail for the remainder of the course, up to the 50 mile turnaround in Hill City and back on home. The trail would go through the cities of Custer and Pringle, along the highway for quite some time, even past the Crazy Horse monument. We were told that the course had a net gain of 2000 some feet on the way out so I was looking forward to the way back, figuring it would be all downhill and easy going.
100 miles is never easy going.
Race day! After sleeping for a good hard 5 hours I awoke at 3 AM and couldn't fall back to sleep.I I began to complete the visualization/affirmation exercises I had been practicing since reading Running Within. I did this for about an hour and then climbed out of bed for the pre race rituals of breakfast, Foot Potion, dressing, bottle and vest. I decided on one 24 oz handheld and my Nathan Vest without hydration, just the pockets for gels and things (thanks to Krissy Moehl!), a skirt, tank top and hat. I decided to wear Ascis Gel Kayano road shoes instead of trail since there were no roots or rocks on the trail. This was not a Superior Sawtooth!
Alicia and I, Tom and Nancy walked over to the start and began to visit with everyone. We had about a half an hour to start time. The high was still forecast in the mid 90's, the low in the mid 70's, pretty warm. There were quite a few Minnesotans at the race. Wynn Davis, Zac Pierce, Matt Long (WI), Eric, Kel and Helen Lavin were running the 50 mile, Steve Quick, Daryl Saari, John Taylor, Pierre Ostor, Dawn Long (WI), Alicia Gordon, and myself were running the 100. It was fun to see so many familiar faces. There were 28 women entered in the 100! How exciting!
The first four miles took out us through and out of Hot Springs, we followed markers up to Aid Station 1 at a campground at the four mile mark. I don't think anyone was wearing sleeves by this time, already 70F and 630 AM. Yikes. I filled up my bottle and mosied along the way, remembering the warning relating to the rattlesnakes upon the course as I ran through the grassy field up to Argyle Road.
Argyle Road is approximately 11 miles of rolling gravel through cattle farms. I hooked up with Dale from Texas who was running his first 50 mile and Jenny from New Jersey who was running her 9th 100. AS 2 (11 miles) came along and I found that a box of raisins sounded good. I sucked back a gel and placed the raisins in my vest.
As we were running along Jenny and I were talking about our past races, our favorites and our goals for today. She mentioned 20-22 hours and I just became scared. She voiced the 22 hour that I was kind of hoping for but hadn't said out loud. My 100 mile PR is at Javelina Jundred at 23:13 but I was too afraid to think 22 something. I was hoping for a PR, but thought 24-25 was more of a reality and of course the main goal was a finish. As we were talking I re planned my goals. I was now going to strive 1) 22:45, 2) 23:12 and 3) 29:59. Jenny helped me to reach higher.
At AS 3 (16.6 miles) there was crew and drop bag access. As I was coming in I glanced at my watch and think it said 3:08. I was planning on reaching AS 3 in 4 hours. A bit ahead of schedule, but I was feeling great and not pushing at all. I had walked all of the hills. Tom was sitting in his chair, Nancy was taking pictures, Lynn was crewing for Daryl, Jen for Zac; it was great to see familiar faces. I filled up my bottle, dumped gel packs, grabbed another box of raisins and grabbed gels from my bag. I was in and out of the AS in less than a minute as I was most of the AS during the race. No time to linger.
After this station we were running on the Mickelson Trail; a slight upgrade but it seemed like it was going down hill. I kept looking in back of me to see if I was going up or down. It was really strange. I knew that the course should be going up hill but it wasn't hard to run, so I ran, passing many runners and thinking to myself maybe I should be walking? I decided to just do what felt good: run.
Before I knew it I was at mile 20 AS. I couldn't believe 20 miles had already passed. I was drinking more than I had anticipated. I was wondering if one 24 ounce bottle was going to be sufficient. I didn't think it would be. I was sweating quite a bit, too. I hadn't peed at all so that was a concern. I didn't feel hot yet, but was getting there. Someone told me it was 85F. I didn't want to know that. I began to see the 50K runners coming back but I didn't know any of them. They looked hot.
The course seemed that it was going uphill but it didn't seem very steep so I was able to run most of it. I was beginning to worry about the heat. Mile 24 brought Pringle AS. I clicked my heels together in excitement! 24 miles and I felt great, I was happy, I was high on the endorphins. Pringle is a small town, mostly a trailer court and a few bars. My drop bag was here so I grabbed more gels from it, had my bottle filled and grabbed another box of raisins. I also ate a few slices of potato with salt added. Now I was hot. I felt like I was running in a blow dryer.
As I left Pringle I began to think about Pierre. He has run Badwater a number of times, most recently finishing this past July. I knew he was out on the course today and began to think that this is nothing compared to the Badwater heat. He runs 135 miles upon asphalt at 125F. I could run 100 miles at 100F. Get going and quit complaining!
During this next section I saw Wynn approach, the 50 mile lead man. Unfortunately Wynn suffered cramps and had to drop at mile 36. This must have happened shortly after I saw him. Pretty soon I saw Helen Lavin! First 50 Mile woman approaching. Helen went on to WIN the 50 Mile race OUTRIGHT. Yeah, she beat all the boys. She broke the woman's course record, too. She's a rockstar.
I wasn't keeping track of my fluids from mile 24 to 30. I was thirsty and drinking without rationing. Before I knew it I only had 4 or so ounces left in my bottle. I looked at my Garmin 50 and saw that I still had approximately 3 miles to go to the next AS. Damn. How could I make such an error? How could I run without two bottles? I knew it was going to be in the 90's (it was the 100's). I didn't take any S or E caps because usually HammerHeed is enough. Hammerheed wasn't on the course, Poweraid was. These temperatures weren't usual. Luckily I had Alicia place two packets of caps in my vest on our way out to the start for just in case. It was just in case time. I began to walk at mile 27 because I could feel my stomach begin to cramp. I hadn't had this happen before. I could imagine my body organs looking for water and not finding any. I could picture my stomach rolling upon itself, begging for water. I sipped a bit of water every 8 minutes.
I was in a line of about 5 people. We were all hot and thirsty. Most of us were walking. A man on a bike came toward us and the man in front of me begged him for water. The man on the bike stated he didn't have very much but that he could give him a few ounces. I was surprised the runner even asked for any. It was our own fault that we ran out. We should have planned better. I didn't ask for any. I continued on, walking, because I was afraid to tax my body any more than it already was. Here I was, 28 miles now into the race and I was already dehydrated and putting my race finish in jeopardy. I couldn't believe that I was so stupid. Was I going to be able to come back from this? Geeze.
Finally, thank God, finally I saw Carroll Creek AS at mile 30. Good grief I was dieing of heat and thirst. I stood at the aid station table and filled my 24 oz bottle with cold water. I guzzled it down. I then refilled it drank down another. I was still thirsty. I drank 10 ounces of cold coke and 5 ounces of cold iced tea. I couldn't get enough. My stomach was bulging out from my skirt and my top. Oh well. I didn't feel sick, or stuffed, just thirsty. I asked the woman if she had a spare bottle..I'd take anything. She didn't so we looked through the garbage for a bottle someone may have thrown away. I found a discarded Aquafina bottle, without a cap. I didn't care. I told her I'd fill it and just put my hand over it as I ran. I figured if I was going to get the flu or something it would happen after the race. If I didn't have another bottle I may not make it to the end of the race. That wasn't going to happen.
I filled both bottles, grabbed a box of raisins, a few slices of potato and walked out of the aid station, so relieved that I had water and was no longer thirsty. I walked another half mile, letting my body drink in the water. I removed my vest and found the E caps Alicia had tucked into the back pocket. I took 4 of them, the first of the day. The first of the past few years. I could feel cramping in my calves and feet. I had to stop and work out the cramps. I had never had cramping before. I walked along, telling my body to use the water and salt that I gave to it, and hurry, because I'm ready to rock and roll. Pretty soon the cramping went away and I was running. Amazingly there was no sloshing in my stomach! I felt new life. I was going to recover and I was going to go on.
I began running and was so thankful for the water bottle and the E caps. AS Harbaugh at Custer was next at 35.5 miles. I was running alone, hadn't seen anyone in quite some time, I was just enjoying the race and enjoying the fact that I was able to run and that I had an adequate water supply!
At Harbaugh I had a drop bag so grabbed a few more gels, dropped off my empties and had both bottles filled. I saw Lynn waiting for Daryl; she asked if I could use anything so I told her E Caps. She dug out a pack for me and noticed my half assed bottle situation. I told her it was better than nothing!
I was feeling very good running out of Custer, the heat was unbearable but I tried to block it out and just kept on placing one foot in front of the other. I kept thinking that as I went north the temperatures would cool but they didn't. It was 97F as I left Custer. Egads.
Mile 40.5 AS and I couldn't believe it. I was recovered from the cramping and running well. I hadn't had to walk since miles 27-30 so I was feeling pretty strong. I kept on saying my affirmations out loud 'I am strong..I can run long'. I hadn't used my iPod yet, but I was getting about ready for it. I was breathing loudly because of the exertion of the heat, I believe. The AS volunteers were worried about each runner, making sure we had what we needed. At this point I asked for some ice for my hat. It felt awesome!
Before I knew it I began to see many runners coming back toward me. I knew I must be coming up on the turnaround. My watch had gone kaput on me so I didn't know what time it was or how many more miles I had inbetween aid stations. I wasn't so worried now that I had two bottles.
Sure enough, I came upon the final AS before the half way point, I just ran through and shouted my number as I knew the turn around was a half mile or so ahead and I would be right back. I saw Jenny, who I had run the early miles of Argyle Road with. She looked great, I was hoping she was on pace for 20-22 as I was not far behind her.
I turned around and headed back toward home! I was high high high, feeling so good, on my way home. I asked at the AS for the time and was told it was 4:30 PM. I made it 50 miles in 10.5 hours. I was feeling very good about that. My feet felt great, I had no aches or pains, I was good to go. It was early, but here I had my lights and warm clothing. I asked a volunteer to place my lights into my back vest pocket. I then filled my two bottles, grabbed a box of raisins and headed out. Then I came back. I decided to grab a long sleeved shirt for my vest just in case it became cool before I reached my next drop bag in 15 miles at Custer. It wasn't necessary. The volunteer rolled it up for me and placed it into my vest.
Off I went. I loved the out and back. It was nice to see John Taylor, only 15 or so minutes in back of me, fun to see all of the other runners heading for the turnaround. John had a PR Race, finishing in 23:something.
I came across Sue from Canada. She had contacted me about McNaughton and I saw her at Leadville, too. She's a great runner and person. She had hurt her knee at mile 20 and had been hiking since. She ran a 24 hour just two weeks ago and was feeling it. Get this: she PASSED me while she was hiking and I was running. I just cheered her on and said you go girl! She hiked for 40 freaking miles and finished 10 minutes before me, who ran the whole race but the three miles between 27-30. At mile 60 Sue was able to begin running again and I never saw her again until the finish. Great job, Sue!
On the way back to the next AS I saw Dawn Long, running her first 100. She was having difficutly with her stomach. She was knocking out the miles, making her way to the turn around.
I came upon Pierre. He gave me a huge smile and told me I was really moving along, told me to have a great race and to keep it up. I told him I was thinking about him running at Badwater while I was whining to myself about being warm. He was an inspiration to me. Pierre finished in 27 something.
Pretty soon I came upon Alicia. It was SO wonderful to see her! She had suffered through the heat of the morning and was on her way to the turn around. We gave one another a good luck hug and kiss and went on down the trail in opposite directions.
As I headed into Custer the sun began to set. It didn't feel quite as hot, the sun was losing some of it's steam. I crossed a street in Custer and noticed 4 deer in a front yard, eating out of the owner's garden. Too cute! I continued on, into the AS. As I stated my number (5), a woman spoke up: Julie Berg! Come over here! I have something for you! I'm wondering what in the world is she talking about. She pulls out a Nathan hand held! OH, happy days! I said Oh, I can throw away this garbage bottle? Yes, you can! I asked her who dropped it off. She told me a man. I assumed that Tom had dropped it for me after Alicia had seen what I was carrying. I assumed wrong. Get this: Here Lynn had told Nancy that I had a bad bottle, Nancy told Tom, Tom had a spare and Matt offered to drop it off at the AS for me. I was so grateful! A bottle with a lid, one that didn't leak! Woohoo! I dug into my drop bag and grabbed a jacket, asked a volunteer to pack it into my vest. I could see lightening in the distance. I was hoping that I wasn't going to run into a storm at this point.
I went off, feeling so happy that I had two working real running bottles! I felt like I was on fire, like I could run forever. The grade of the trail was going downhill, the running was easy. As I was going down the trail I noticed a big huge buck off of the trail. I counted his 12 points. I had my lamp on my head and was staring right at him. He didn't move. He stared me down. I finally drug my eyes away from him and continued on. He was beautiful.
I ran into mile 70, the aid station where the woman helped me find the used bottle. I thanked her over and over, telling her how grateful I was that she dug it out of the garbage for me. She saved my race.
I ran onto the next AS, Pringle. It was dark now, mile 75 or so. I was still running the race solo. There was nobody near me. I saw no headlamps in front or back of me. I just kept on running, running as well as I could which wasn't too bad. I was feeling good. Pringle was kind of freaky. Trailer Courts and bars. I could hear loud drinking voices in the distance and just felt weird, out there running through town alone in my pink and black skirt and tank top. I would turn off my lamp when I came near a group of people that were not involved in the race.
Pretty soon I heard "Julie, is that you" Yeah, it was Helen! What a treat. Helen and Eric were there, with my drop bag in hand. It was just a treat. Helen asked what I needed, I told her caffeine gels from my bag and vaseline. She was right on it. She placed all that I asked for in front of me and made it so easy for me. Eric asked if I knew how the 50 mile race ended. No, I didn't. He told me Helen broke the woman's course record and WON the race outright! Woohoo. Way to go Helen girl. Eric finished the 50 mile, too. They were fabulous. I spent a few minutes in the AS, longer than I had the whole race, so I had to get out of there. I said my goodbyes, congratulations and thank yous and headed out into the darkness. Alone.
Mile 80 was coming up next. During the whole race I was thinking about mile 80. I knew that once 80 came I was nearing the end. I didn't want to get too excited yet, but boy, I was feeling great about it. I was cooling a bit, now it was in the 80's and the sky was FULL of stars. I could see the big and little dipper and make out some of the other constellations. I loved it. I was running hard .. well, as hard as running feels as mile 80! I was now singing to Ozzie and enjoying it all. As I came upon the AS I turned my iPod off as well as my light. I approached the AS and heard all of this clapping. Wow, I grinned, feeling kind of foolish that all of this clapping was for me. As I came up closer and could make out faces I noticed one of the people there was Nancy! Oh what a treat! Nancy, Tom, Alicia, Helen and Eric were all there clapping and supporting me. It was amazing. I didn't stay more than a minute. Enough time to grab a box of raisins, fill my bottle, give hugs and thank yous and move on out of there.
I left the AS feeling real good emotionally, but real tired physically. The bottoms of my feet were so tired and achy. I kept telling myself you made 80 miles! 83, 89, 96 AS and you are home! Come on Jul, keep on moving.
Pretty soon I was at mile 83. Wow. I couldn't believe I was here. Back at Argyle. I had thought about being back at Argyle all during the race and what it would mean to me. It would mean that I was going to make it. It would mean that I was on the final leg of the race. My final drop bag and onto Argyle Road. Wow. Surreal.
I made my way onto Argyle and still didn't see any lights! There were a few cars so the road was dusty and I couldn't see at all through the thick dust and my headlamp. It was horrible. The gravel was big and chunky and felt like it was cutting into my feet. I had to laugh. I imagined this portion would be all downhill, that I'd be running like the wind. In reality there were big climbs, then the downhills came but I couldn't run the whole downs. I would have to take a walk break half way down due to being exhausted! I cursed myself and told myself this is downhill baby, run, run! I didn't have a clue as to what time it was. There wasn't a hint of light in the sky so I knew it wasn't near 6 AM yet. Hmmm..how close to 24 hours am I?
I noticed a gal up in front of me walking the down hills. She looked pretty sore. She had a car driving along by her side, he was kicking up so much dust that I couldn't see the road. As I passed her I saw AS at mile 89.9 Holy crap. Now I'm getting excited. I'm going to finish this hot bastard. I only had one bottle filled here and asked the volunteer to place the other in my pack. I had a gel and was on my way out.
Running about two miles out of the AS I could hear a vehicle in back of me. I went to the side of the road to let him pass, a bit in the ditch. As I stepped down I noticed that I stepped into a snake!! It was curled into the shape of an 8 and I stepped right into the middle of it, onto the gravel. I looked down and quickly jumped out of the snake, back onto the road. The truck pulled over and asked if I was bit. No, I said I didn't have a bite. He told me he could hear it's rattle, that it was a rattlesnake. I told him I was pretending that it wasn't. He removed a shovel from his truck and shoveled the snake off of the road. He told me to be careful. Sure. One more thing to worry about.
I just wanted this done. I was tired and sore and sick and tired of this whole race. I was stinky and hot and icky. I wanted a shower and my bed. Be happy, you did it! You are finishing! Quit complaining, just put one foot in front of the other.
As I came into the final AS I went numb. I couldn't really believe that I had come this far in these hot conditions. The woman at the AS told me it was still 75F. She had a clock radio showing the time of 340. Is it 340 AM? Really? Oh my god. I'm going to break 24 hours. I have 4 miles left. I can break 23 hours. Oh my god. I can do this.
I filled my bottle and was on my way. This was it. I was so tired but I knew I was finishing. I looked for markers out of the campground into the town of Hot Springs. Many of the markings were on the ground, in the ditch, as cars moved them. They were glow necklaces placed upon the road. I became nervous, thinking I wouldn't find my way through the town. I tried to remember the way. Crew drove by and caused dust to cover up my light. It was horrible. I couldn't see. I continued on and was able to find my way. Pretty soon I saw the Evans Plunge pool. I remembered looking at my watch on the way out and seeing the Evans Plunge was 2 miles from the start. Oh my gosh, I'm almost done! I continued running the asphalt through town, hearing parties in the background, smelling cigarette smoke and hearing noise. I was kind of nervous, running through town alone at this hour. I continued on, knowing that I'd be finished soon.
Sure enough, there was the Dairy Queen, the hotel we were staying at, the Civic Center. Amen. Amen. Under the FINISH LINE banner. Done. A lone woman was sitting at the table with a clock. 22:36. Oh my god. I told her I was 5. She stood up and clapped and told me she was the cheering committe. I was numb. Just numb. I walked into the Civic Center, through the front door and across the parking lot to the hotel. I was so happy, so relived to be done with this furnace of a race. As I unlocked our room door I couldn't believe it when I saw Alicia standing, getting ready to leave. She couldn't believe I was at the door! Pretty soon there was Tom and Nancy. They had all woke up to see me finish at the finish line, but I beat them. They thought I'd finish at 23 hours or so. I was so flattered to see that they were going to get out of bed at this early of an hour just to watch me finish. Amazing, it truly is. Pretty soon Helen and Eric arrive. Oh my gosh, I was just stunned. Eric is a good friend of Helen's, I had just met him for the first time at dinner the day before. Amazing. I am truly blessed.
We talked and reminisced about the race, the last 20 miles, laying upon the beds, enjoying the accomplishment. Eventually everyone went back to bed and I hit the shower. It felt so good to wash the days dirt, grit, filth and heat from my body. I didn't have any chafing, hardly any muscle soreness, no Advil necessary during the whole race. My stomach was very upset. I had no appetitie or thirst. I just laid upon my bed, thinking about the accomplishment I had achieved. I couldn't believe it. 22:36.
If Jenny Chow hadn't run with me in those early miles, chatting about our experiences and goals, I don't know if I would have set mine so high. You know, I don't really have any other multiple 100 mile woman runners as friends. I don't train with others. It was really nice to talk with her, to talk as 100 mile runner to 100 mile runner. I don't think I have done that before. She made me realize that I am an experienced ultra runner, that I am worthy of setting high goals, that I can achieve them. Thank you, Jenny. You inspired me to reach higher.
I woke up around 930 and my stomach was just nasty. I had no appetite. I walked out to the finish line and watched the runners come in. It was already 85F and sunny as could be. Amazingly hot. I was so glad I wasn't out there anymore.
Tom, Nancy, Alicia, Pierre, John, Dawn, Matt and I sat in the grass watching finishers arrive. Pierre and John headed back to Minneapolis and we stayed for the lunch and awards at 12. We added Lynn and Daryl, who also finished the 100, and listened to the awards. I went home with a Sub 24 Buckle and a 3rd Woman Age Group Award. I haven't yet seen the results so I'm not sure where I placed overall.
It was a hell of a hard day, but so worth it. I'm so grateful to Tom, Nancy, Alicia, Helen, Eric, Matt, Pierre, Lynn all of you volunteers and Jerry, our Race Director. What a day. What a memory. What a race.
I feel so good today. My coworkers commented that I didn't look sore or stiff today, that I didn't look tired. I don't! I feel great. The bottoms of my feet are sore but that is about it. After work today Topaz and I walked the trail for 5 miles, it felt great to stretch my legs after sitting all day. I don't know. This vegan thing seems to be working pretty damn well.
The trip home was safe and sound, the only catch was my tire was completely flat upon arrival to Tom and Nancy's. I bought new tires for my car today!
I still can't believe it. What a race.
Oh no. The spell checking isn't working on this. I apologize!
I'll post pictures this evening. Time to get some dinner cooked for this hungry family of mine :)
I have been training hard for Lean Horse. I have been adding in speed workouts at the track, hills at the ski hill and tempo runs. As I have stated before, the track workouts and tempo runs are new to me. I haven't run them consistently in the past. I wasn't sure if it would make a difference in a 100 miler.
Some people run 30-50 miles a week and can finish 100's, I and others (I think?) run 80-100 miles a week in preparation. Some don't run speed or hill works, some of do. This is such an individualized sport, I think an 100 mile runner needs to experiment with what works. We are each so different.
Because I post publicly my training, my race results, my eating patterns, etc. I receive constructive criticism and some not so constructive criticism. The negative: I've been told that I over train. That I run too much, that I put in too many 'junk' miles with Topaz on my daily runs, that hills, speed and tempo don't go together, that I need to eat a high carbohydrate (processed) diet to recover, that I shouldn't eat a high raw, vegan diet, that I shouldn't lift, that I should put away the crutch (iPod) and run like a real woman.
I also receive many comments that are quite positive. The love I have for running, the passion that I feel for the running lifestyle, the time I spend with my boys, that I am open to trying new things, that I am willing to reach out to beginners and show them that they, too, can run and follow their dream.
I often wonder why I blog. I began blogging 5 years ago, before blogging was what everyone was doing. I began to blog while trying to change my body from a 23% body fat form to a leaner body at sub 10%. I thought I could shed some light on the process, share the journey and see what the outcome would be on the other side. Pretty soon this blog changed from a Body For Life journey to a Julie Journey. I grew into a runner, into an ultra runner, I changed from the inside to the outside, I have grown as a person and many of you dear readers have followed my journey. I think that I now blog to show the beginning runners, the people that aren't quite sure of themselves, those of us that trying to reach our goals..that we can! We can put our mind to what we want to do, we can set our goals and we can achieve them!
For quite some time I was the last place runner (Ice Age and Voyager), fighting the cut offs and barely finishing. It's OK. It's OK to be last! The winners are those of us who are standing at the start line, stretching out of our comfort zone, getting out there, trying it, dreaming it, doing it.
I had such a shock when I realized that people that I knew in real life read this blog and I was just never comfortable knowing that. Strange, I know. Now that time has passed on I am finally comfortable knowing that those that I know in real life are reading this blog. Now that others are blogging I guess I am not so embarrassed by it. I think I am going to change my tune, I'm going to write knowing that many of my readers are people that I know, that I have met in races, etc. and I am OK with this. I am now going to celebrate that you, dear readers, are out here, reading this blog and must be enjoying it, or you wouldn't be here. Thank you for being a part of my journey.
OK, I'm going off course here. this is going to be a post about Lean Horse, really, I will get there. I'm just feeling so many emotions right now.
For so long I have felt like an impostor runner. You know, I put in the miles, I am coaching, I'm passionate and loving the running lifestyle..but yet, I felt like maybe I was an impostor..the feelings of inadequacy, the feelings of not being a 'real' runner. I was expressing these feelings to a friend this weekend and realized how absurd this was! I have finished 14 100 mile races. The first only 5 years ago. I think that qualifies me as a 'real' runner, one that can give advice when asked, etc. What a concept, hu?
OK.. Lean Horse 100 Mile Trail Run. What a Trip, Man.
This will be long..so scroll to the end for the outcome if you prefer.
I was very excited to travel with Tom, Nancy and Alicia. We travelled to Ice Age and Vermont together and had a wonderful time. I knew it would be just as fun, and it was. Fabulous. We get along well together, we have a similar lifestyle, it's all good.
Having never been away from home before for a full five nights I had many preparations to take care of for my family. I really don't need to do all that I do, but I like to take care of all that I can. I made a few pans of lasagna, about 20 burritos, a big pot of chicken dumpling soup, a bunch of pancakes. They weren't going to get hungry while I was away!
The only guilt I felt about leaving was that Tyler began his first day of college (PSEO as a Senior in High School) yesterday and I would miss it. Tyler gave me a huge eye roll when I told him I felt bad about not being home when he would be going off to his first class. He told me it was no big deal and that I could send him off on day two. I did that this morning.
As I left my driveway on Wednesday morning I saw that a light was lit up on my dashboard that I hadn't seen before. It didn't blink off, it stayed on. After a few miles I pulled over and looked at my manual. Damn. The manual showed me that the light meant that the air pressure was low in one of my tires. Tom and Nancy's was about 35 miles away, I didn't want to risk a flat tire on the way. I turned around and headed back home. I saw that I needed 44 pounds of pressure in my tire. The gauge told me I only had 19 pounds. I figured out how to put in the air and watched it inflate. OK, back on the road. I was glad that I always leave early so that I won't be late for 'just in case' emergencies. There was a bit of early morning rush hour traffic but I did make my arrival at 6 AM as scheduled.
Tom had a Pathfinder for our trip; it was a great vehicle to pack all of our stuff into. We packed in my items and went off to pick up Alicia. After a stop at Caribou we were hitting the road.
A few stops for potty breaks, lunch of a fabulous salad that I brought along, a hike through the Badlands, and pretty soon we were in Rapid City, our first destination, about 10 hours later. We had an awesome hike up Harney Peak, another great picnic of Nancy's fruits and veggies, spent some time some Custer Park and headed off to Hot Springs on Friday.
South Dakota is Beef Country. I've been eating a mostly raw/all vegan diet for the past 6 weeks. I felt wonderful and wasn't about to change this. My traveling companions did not bat an eye when I told them how I was eating. They embraced it. Wonderful! We found a restaurant in Hot Springs with a salad bar. A salad bar of iceberg lettuce and cherry tomatoes! Oh, and veggie soup. I had two cups. Back at the room we had our stash of veggies and fruits. Thank goodness.
It was hot in Hot Springs. My iPhone was showing me that the Saturday high was 93, Sunday was 96. It was very warm and quite windy. I felt like I was in a blow dryer. Now I like heat, but running 100 miles in this heat and on this exposed trail was kind of worrying me.
We scouted part of the race course. The course is an out and back; beginning in Hot Springs, up to Hill City and back to Hot Springs. The first 16 miles is upon a rolling gravel road, much like the road I run upon near our cabin on Lake Vermillion. Lots of hills with a chunkier gravel. After the 16 miles of gravel we would run upon the Michaelson Trail for the remainder of the course, up to the 50 mile turnaround in Hill City and back on home. The trail would go through the cities of Custer and Pringle, along the highway for quite some time, even past the Crazy Horse monument. We were told that the course had a net gain of 2000 some feet on the way out so I was looking forward to the way back, figuring it would be all downhill and easy going.
100 miles is never easy going.
Race day! After sleeping for a good hard 5 hours I awoke at 3 AM and couldn't fall back to sleep.I I began to complete the visualization/affirmation exercises I had been practicing since reading Running Within. I did this for about an hour and then climbed out of bed for the pre race rituals of breakfast, Foot Potion, dressing, bottle and vest. I decided on one 24 oz handheld and my Nathan Vest without hydration, just the pockets for gels and things (thanks to Krissy Moehl!), a skirt, tank top and hat. I decided to wear Ascis Gel Kayano road shoes instead of trail since there were no roots or rocks on the trail. This was not a Superior Sawtooth!
Alicia and I, Tom and Nancy walked over to the start and began to visit with everyone. We had about a half an hour to start time. The high was still forecast in the mid 90's, the low in the mid 70's, pretty warm. There were quite a few Minnesotans at the race. Wynn Davis, Zac Pierce, Matt Long (WI), Eric, Kel and Helen Lavin were running the 50 mile, Steve Quick, Daryl Saari, John Taylor, Pierre Ostor, Dawn Long (WI), Alicia Gordon, and myself were running the 100. It was fun to see so many familiar faces. There were 28 women entered in the 100! How exciting!
The first four miles took out us through and out of Hot Springs, we followed markers up to Aid Station 1 at a campground at the four mile mark. I don't think anyone was wearing sleeves by this time, already 70F and 630 AM. Yikes. I filled up my bottle and mosied along the way, remembering the warning relating to the rattlesnakes upon the course as I ran through the grassy field up to Argyle Road.
Argyle Road is approximately 11 miles of rolling gravel through cattle farms. I hooked up with Dale from Texas who was running his first 50 mile and Jenny from New Jersey who was running her 9th 100. AS 2 (11 miles) came along and I found that a box of raisins sounded good. I sucked back a gel and placed the raisins in my vest.
As we were running along Jenny and I were talking about our past races, our favorites and our goals for today. She mentioned 20-22 hours and I just became scared. She voiced the 22 hour that I was kind of hoping for but hadn't said out loud. My 100 mile PR is at Javelina Jundred at 23:13 but I was too afraid to think 22 something. I was hoping for a PR, but thought 24-25 was more of a reality and of course the main goal was a finish. As we were talking I re planned my goals. I was now going to strive 1) 22:45, 2) 23:12 and 3) 29:59. Jenny helped me to reach higher.
At AS 3 (16.6 miles) there was crew and drop bag access. As I was coming in I glanced at my watch and think it said 3:08. I was planning on reaching AS 3 in 4 hours. A bit ahead of schedule, but I was feeling great and not pushing at all. I had walked all of the hills. Tom was sitting in his chair, Nancy was taking pictures, Lynn was crewing for Daryl, Jen for Zac; it was great to see familiar faces. I filled up my bottle, dumped gel packs, grabbed another box of raisins and grabbed gels from my bag. I was in and out of the AS in less than a minute as I was most of the AS during the race. No time to linger.
After this station we were running on the Mickelson Trail; a slight upgrade but it seemed like it was going down hill. I kept looking in back of me to see if I was going up or down. It was really strange. I knew that the course should be going up hill but it wasn't hard to run, so I ran, passing many runners and thinking to myself maybe I should be walking? I decided to just do what felt good: run.
Before I knew it I was at mile 20 AS. I couldn't believe 20 miles had already passed. I was drinking more than I had anticipated. I was wondering if one 24 ounce bottle was going to be sufficient. I didn't think it would be. I was sweating quite a bit, too. I hadn't peed at all so that was a concern. I didn't feel hot yet, but was getting there. Someone told me it was 85F. I didn't want to know that. I began to see the 50K runners coming back but I didn't know any of them. They looked hot.
The course seemed that it was going uphill but it didn't seem very steep so I was able to run most of it. I was beginning to worry about the heat. Mile 24 brought Pringle AS. I clicked my heels together in excitement! 24 miles and I felt great, I was happy, I was high on the endorphins. Pringle is a small town, mostly a trailer court and a few bars. My drop bag was here so I grabbed more gels from it, had my bottle filled and grabbed another box of raisins. I also ate a few slices of potato with salt added. Now I was hot. I felt like I was running in a blow dryer.
As I left Pringle I began to think about Pierre. He has run Badwater a number of times, most recently finishing this past July. I knew he was out on the course today and began to think that this is nothing compared to the Badwater heat. He runs 135 miles upon asphalt at 125F. I could run 100 miles at 100F. Get going and quit complaining!
During this next section I saw Wynn approach, the 50 mile lead man. Unfortunately Wynn suffered cramps and had to drop at mile 36. This must have happened shortly after I saw him. Pretty soon I saw Helen Lavin! First 50 Mile woman approaching. Helen went on to WIN the 50 Mile race OUTRIGHT. Yeah, she beat all the boys. She broke the woman's course record, too. She's a rockstar.
I wasn't keeping track of my fluids from mile 24 to 30. I was thirsty and drinking without rationing. Before I knew it I only had 4 or so ounces left in my bottle. I looked at my Garmin 50 and saw that I still had approximately 3 miles to go to the next AS. Damn. How could I make such an error? How could I run without two bottles? I knew it was going to be in the 90's (it was the 100's). I didn't take any S or E caps because usually HammerHeed is enough. Hammerheed wasn't on the course, Poweraid was. These temperatures weren't usual. Luckily I had Alicia place two packets of caps in my vest on our way out to the start for just in case. It was just in case time. I began to walk at mile 27 because I could feel my stomach begin to cramp. I hadn't had this happen before. I could imagine my body organs looking for water and not finding any. I could picture my stomach rolling upon itself, begging for water. I sipped a bit of water every 8 minutes.
I was in a line of about 5 people. We were all hot and thirsty. Most of us were walking. A man on a bike came toward us and the man in front of me begged him for water. The man on the bike stated he didn't have very much but that he could give him a few ounces. I was surprised the runner even asked for any. It was our own fault that we ran out. We should have planned better. I didn't ask for any. I continued on, walking, because I was afraid to tax my body any more than it already was. Here I was, 28 miles now into the race and I was already dehydrated and putting my race finish in jeopardy. I couldn't believe that I was so stupid. Was I going to be able to come back from this? Geeze.
Finally, thank God, finally I saw Carroll Creek AS at mile 30. Good grief I was dieing of heat and thirst. I stood at the aid station table and filled my 24 oz bottle with cold water. I guzzled it down. I then refilled it drank down another. I was still thirsty. I drank 10 ounces of cold coke and 5 ounces of cold iced tea. I couldn't get enough. My stomach was bulging out from my skirt and my top. Oh well. I didn't feel sick, or stuffed, just thirsty. I asked the woman if she had a spare bottle..I'd take anything. She didn't so we looked through the garbage for a bottle someone may have thrown away. I found a discarded Aquafina bottle, without a cap. I didn't care. I told her I'd fill it and just put my hand over it as I ran. I figured if I was going to get the flu or something it would happen after the race. If I didn't have another bottle I may not make it to the end of the race. That wasn't going to happen.
I filled both bottles, grabbed a box of raisins, a few slices of potato and walked out of the aid station, so relieved that I had water and was no longer thirsty. I walked another half mile, letting my body drink in the water. I removed my vest and found the E caps Alicia had tucked into the back pocket. I took 4 of them, the first of the day. The first of the past few years. I could feel cramping in my calves and feet. I had to stop and work out the cramps. I had never had cramping before. I walked along, telling my body to use the water and salt that I gave to it, and hurry, because I'm ready to rock and roll. Pretty soon the cramping went away and I was running. Amazingly there was no sloshing in my stomach! I felt new life. I was going to recover and I was going to go on.
I began running and was so thankful for the water bottle and the E caps. AS Harbaugh at Custer was next at 35.5 miles. I was running alone, hadn't seen anyone in quite some time, I was just enjoying the race and enjoying the fact that I was able to run and that I had an adequate water supply!
At Harbaugh I had a drop bag so grabbed a few more gels, dropped off my empties and had both bottles filled. I saw Lynn waiting for Daryl; she asked if I could use anything so I told her E Caps. She dug out a pack for me and noticed my half assed bottle situation. I told her it was better than nothing!
I was feeling very good running out of Custer, the heat was unbearable but I tried to block it out and just kept on placing one foot in front of the other. I kept thinking that as I went north the temperatures would cool but they didn't. It was 97F as I left Custer. Egads.
Mile 40.5 AS and I couldn't believe it. I was recovered from the cramping and running well. I hadn't had to walk since miles 27-30 so I was feeling pretty strong. I kept on saying my affirmations out loud 'I am strong..I can run long'. I hadn't used my iPod yet, but I was getting about ready for it. I was breathing loudly because of the exertion of the heat, I believe. The AS volunteers were worried about each runner, making sure we had what we needed. At this point I asked for some ice for my hat. It felt awesome!
Before I knew it I began to see many runners coming back toward me. I knew I must be coming up on the turnaround. My watch had gone kaput on me so I didn't know what time it was or how many more miles I had inbetween aid stations. I wasn't so worried now that I had two bottles.
Sure enough, I came upon the final AS before the half way point, I just ran through and shouted my number as I knew the turn around was a half mile or so ahead and I would be right back. I saw Jenny, who I had run the early miles of Argyle Road with. She looked great, I was hoping she was on pace for 20-22 as I was not far behind her.
I turned around and headed back toward home! I was high high high, feeling so good, on my way home. I asked at the AS for the time and was told it was 4:30 PM. I made it 50 miles in 10.5 hours. I was feeling very good about that. My feet felt great, I had no aches or pains, I was good to go. It was early, but here I had my lights and warm clothing. I asked a volunteer to place my lights into my back vest pocket. I then filled my two bottles, grabbed a box of raisins and headed out. Then I came back. I decided to grab a long sleeved shirt for my vest just in case it became cool before I reached my next drop bag in 15 miles at Custer. It wasn't necessary. The volunteer rolled it up for me and placed it into my vest.
Off I went. I loved the out and back. It was nice to see John Taylor, only 15 or so minutes in back of me, fun to see all of the other runners heading for the turnaround. John had a PR Race, finishing in 23:something.
I came across Sue from Canada. She had contacted me about McNaughton and I saw her at Leadville, too. She's a great runner and person. She had hurt her knee at mile 20 and had been hiking since. She ran a 24 hour just two weeks ago and was feeling it. Get this: she PASSED me while she was hiking and I was running. I just cheered her on and said you go girl! She hiked for 40 freaking miles and finished 10 minutes before me, who ran the whole race but the three miles between 27-30. At mile 60 Sue was able to begin running again and I never saw her again until the finish. Great job, Sue!
On the way back to the next AS I saw Dawn Long, running her first 100. She was having difficutly with her stomach. She was knocking out the miles, making her way to the turn around.
I came upon Pierre. He gave me a huge smile and told me I was really moving along, told me to have a great race and to keep it up. I told him I was thinking about him running at Badwater while I was whining to myself about being warm. He was an inspiration to me. Pierre finished in 27 something.
Pretty soon I came upon Alicia. It was SO wonderful to see her! She had suffered through the heat of the morning and was on her way to the turn around. We gave one another a good luck hug and kiss and went on down the trail in opposite directions.
As I headed into Custer the sun began to set. It didn't feel quite as hot, the sun was losing some of it's steam. I crossed a street in Custer and noticed 4 deer in a front yard, eating out of the owner's garden. Too cute! I continued on, into the AS. As I stated my number (5), a woman spoke up: Julie Berg! Come over here! I have something for you! I'm wondering what in the world is she talking about. She pulls out a Nathan hand held! OH, happy days! I said Oh, I can throw away this garbage bottle? Yes, you can! I asked her who dropped it off. She told me a man. I assumed that Tom had dropped it for me after Alicia had seen what I was carrying. I assumed wrong. Get this: Here Lynn had told Nancy that I had a bad bottle, Nancy told Tom, Tom had a spare and Matt offered to drop it off at the AS for me. I was so grateful! A bottle with a lid, one that didn't leak! Woohoo! I dug into my drop bag and grabbed a jacket, asked a volunteer to pack it into my vest. I could see lightening in the distance. I was hoping that I wasn't going to run into a storm at this point.
I went off, feeling so happy that I had two working real running bottles! I felt like I was on fire, like I could run forever. The grade of the trail was going downhill, the running was easy. As I was going down the trail I noticed a big huge buck off of the trail. I counted his 12 points. I had my lamp on my head and was staring right at him. He didn't move. He stared me down. I finally drug my eyes away from him and continued on. He was beautiful.
I ran into mile 70, the aid station where the woman helped me find the used bottle. I thanked her over and over, telling her how grateful I was that she dug it out of the garbage for me. She saved my race.
I ran onto the next AS, Pringle. It was dark now, mile 75 or so. I was still running the race solo. There was nobody near me. I saw no headlamps in front or back of me. I just kept on running, running as well as I could which wasn't too bad. I was feeling good. Pringle was kind of freaky. Trailer Courts and bars. I could hear loud drinking voices in the distance and just felt weird, out there running through town alone in my pink and black skirt and tank top. I would turn off my lamp when I came near a group of people that were not involved in the race.
Pretty soon I heard "Julie, is that you" Yeah, it was Helen! What a treat. Helen and Eric were there, with my drop bag in hand. It was just a treat. Helen asked what I needed, I told her caffeine gels from my bag and vaseline. She was right on it. She placed all that I asked for in front of me and made it so easy for me. Eric asked if I knew how the 50 mile race ended. No, I didn't. He told me Helen broke the woman's course record and WON the race outright! Woohoo. Way to go Helen girl. Eric finished the 50 mile, too. They were fabulous. I spent a few minutes in the AS, longer than I had the whole race, so I had to get out of there. I said my goodbyes, congratulations and thank yous and headed out into the darkness. Alone.
Mile 80 was coming up next. During the whole race I was thinking about mile 80. I knew that once 80 came I was nearing the end. I didn't want to get too excited yet, but boy, I was feeling great about it. I was cooling a bit, now it was in the 80's and the sky was FULL of stars. I could see the big and little dipper and make out some of the other constellations. I loved it. I was running hard .. well, as hard as running feels as mile 80! I was now singing to Ozzie and enjoying it all. As I came upon the AS I turned my iPod off as well as my light. I approached the AS and heard all of this clapping. Wow, I grinned, feeling kind of foolish that all of this clapping was for me. As I came up closer and could make out faces I noticed one of the people there was Nancy! Oh what a treat! Nancy, Tom, Alicia, Helen and Eric were all there clapping and supporting me. It was amazing. I didn't stay more than a minute. Enough time to grab a box of raisins, fill my bottle, give hugs and thank yous and move on out of there.
I left the AS feeling real good emotionally, but real tired physically. The bottoms of my feet were so tired and achy. I kept telling myself you made 80 miles! 83, 89, 96 AS and you are home! Come on Jul, keep on moving.
Pretty soon I was at mile 83. Wow. I couldn't believe I was here. Back at Argyle. I had thought about being back at Argyle all during the race and what it would mean to me. It would mean that I was going to make it. It would mean that I was on the final leg of the race. My final drop bag and onto Argyle Road. Wow. Surreal.
I made my way onto Argyle and still didn't see any lights! There were a few cars so the road was dusty and I couldn't see at all through the thick dust and my headlamp. It was horrible. The gravel was big and chunky and felt like it was cutting into my feet. I had to laugh. I imagined this portion would be all downhill, that I'd be running like the wind. In reality there were big climbs, then the downhills came but I couldn't run the whole downs. I would have to take a walk break half way down due to being exhausted! I cursed myself and told myself this is downhill baby, run, run! I didn't have a clue as to what time it was. There wasn't a hint of light in the sky so I knew it wasn't near 6 AM yet. Hmmm..how close to 24 hours am I?
I noticed a gal up in front of me walking the down hills. She looked pretty sore. She had a car driving along by her side, he was kicking up so much dust that I couldn't see the road. As I passed her I saw AS at mile 89.9 Holy crap. Now I'm getting excited. I'm going to finish this hot bastard. I only had one bottle filled here and asked the volunteer to place the other in my pack. I had a gel and was on my way out.
Running about two miles out of the AS I could hear a vehicle in back of me. I went to the side of the road to let him pass, a bit in the ditch. As I stepped down I noticed that I stepped into a snake!! It was curled into the shape of an 8 and I stepped right into the middle of it, onto the gravel. I looked down and quickly jumped out of the snake, back onto the road. The truck pulled over and asked if I was bit. No, I said I didn't have a bite. He told me he could hear it's rattle, that it was a rattlesnake. I told him I was pretending that it wasn't. He removed a shovel from his truck and shoveled the snake off of the road. He told me to be careful. Sure. One more thing to worry about.
I just wanted this done. I was tired and sore and sick and tired of this whole race. I was stinky and hot and icky. I wanted a shower and my bed. Be happy, you did it! You are finishing! Quit complaining, just put one foot in front of the other.
As I came into the final AS I went numb. I couldn't really believe that I had come this far in these hot conditions. The woman at the AS told me it was still 75F. She had a clock radio showing the time of 340. Is it 340 AM? Really? Oh my god. I'm going to break 24 hours. I have 4 miles left. I can break 23 hours. Oh my god. I can do this.
I filled my bottle and was on my way. This was it. I was so tired but I knew I was finishing. I looked for markers out of the campground into the town of Hot Springs. Many of the markings were on the ground, in the ditch, as cars moved them. They were glow necklaces placed upon the road. I became nervous, thinking I wouldn't find my way through the town. I tried to remember the way. Crew drove by and caused dust to cover up my light. It was horrible. I couldn't see. I continued on and was able to find my way. Pretty soon I saw the Evans Plunge pool. I remembered looking at my watch on the way out and seeing the Evans Plunge was 2 miles from the start. Oh my gosh, I'm almost done! I continued running the asphalt through town, hearing parties in the background, smelling cigarette smoke and hearing noise. I was kind of nervous, running through town alone at this hour. I continued on, knowing that I'd be finished soon.
Sure enough, there was the Dairy Queen, the hotel we were staying at, the Civic Center. Amen. Amen. Under the FINISH LINE banner. Done. A lone woman was sitting at the table with a clock. 22:36. Oh my god. I told her I was 5. She stood up and clapped and told me she was the cheering committe. I was numb. Just numb. I walked into the Civic Center, through the front door and across the parking lot to the hotel. I was so happy, so relived to be done with this furnace of a race. As I unlocked our room door I couldn't believe it when I saw Alicia standing, getting ready to leave. She couldn't believe I was at the door! Pretty soon there was Tom and Nancy. They had all woke up to see me finish at the finish line, but I beat them. They thought I'd finish at 23 hours or so. I was so flattered to see that they were going to get out of bed at this early of an hour just to watch me finish. Amazing, it truly is. Pretty soon Helen and Eric arrive. Oh my gosh, I was just stunned. Eric is a good friend of Helen's, I had just met him for the first time at dinner the day before. Amazing. I am truly blessed.
We talked and reminisced about the race, the last 20 miles, laying upon the beds, enjoying the accomplishment. Eventually everyone went back to bed and I hit the shower. It felt so good to wash the days dirt, grit, filth and heat from my body. I didn't have any chafing, hardly any muscle soreness, no Advil necessary during the whole race. My stomach was very upset. I had no appetitie or thirst. I just laid upon my bed, thinking about the accomplishment I had achieved. I couldn't believe it. 22:36.
If Jenny Chow hadn't run with me in those early miles, chatting about our experiences and goals, I don't know if I would have set mine so high. You know, I don't really have any other multiple 100 mile woman runners as friends. I don't train with others. It was really nice to talk with her, to talk as 100 mile runner to 100 mile runner. I don't think I have done that before. She made me realize that I am an experienced ultra runner, that I am worthy of setting high goals, that I can achieve them. Thank you, Jenny. You inspired me to reach higher.
I woke up around 930 and my stomach was just nasty. I had no appetite. I walked out to the finish line and watched the runners come in. It was already 85F and sunny as could be. Amazingly hot. I was so glad I wasn't out there anymore.
Tom, Nancy, Alicia, Pierre, John, Dawn, Matt and I sat in the grass watching finishers arrive. Pierre and John headed back to Minneapolis and we stayed for the lunch and awards at 12. We added Lynn and Daryl, who also finished the 100, and listened to the awards. I went home with a Sub 24 Buckle and a 3rd Woman Age Group Award. I haven't yet seen the results so I'm not sure where I placed overall.
It was a hell of a hard day, but so worth it. I'm so grateful to Tom, Nancy, Alicia, Helen, Eric, Matt, Pierre, Lynn all of you volunteers and Jerry, our Race Director. What a day. What a memory. What a race.
I feel so good today. My coworkers commented that I didn't look sore or stiff today, that I didn't look tired. I don't! I feel great. The bottoms of my feet are sore but that is about it. After work today Topaz and I walked the trail for 5 miles, it felt great to stretch my legs after sitting all day. I don't know. This vegan thing seems to be working pretty damn well.
The trip home was safe and sound, the only catch was my tire was completely flat upon arrival to Tom and Nancy's. I bought new tires for my car today!
I still can't believe it. What a race.
Oh no. The spell checking isn't working on this. I apologize!
I'll post pictures this evening. Time to get some dinner cooked for this hungry family of mine :)
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Out for an Adventure...Lean Horse 100 Mile Trail Run
..To Lean Horse 100 Mile Trail Run in Hot Springs, South Dakota.
Tomorrow at 5 AM the adventure begins and I can't wait! I just packed my drop bags, my gear, my food, I'm ready.
Almost a week with great friends doing great things!
Myself, Alicia, Tom and Nancy will be adventure-mates for the week. Tom is pacing Alicia who is running the 100, I'll be running the 100 and Nancy will be crew chief for Alicia and probably at times for me too, as the course is an out and back.
I took a peek at the forecast for race day: 90F Saturday 10% rain and 93F Sunday with 30% rain. Not too shabby.
A big cheers to all of the runners running Lean Horse and of course, Leadville this Saturday. Ah, Leadville. A part of me would like to have been back there this year but that will take place for me next year. So many races, so little time...
Back Monday evening !
Tomorrow at 5 AM the adventure begins and I can't wait! I just packed my drop bags, my gear, my food, I'm ready.
Almost a week with great friends doing great things!
Myself, Alicia, Tom and Nancy will be adventure-mates for the week. Tom is pacing Alicia who is running the 100, I'll be running the 100 and Nancy will be crew chief for Alicia and probably at times for me too, as the course is an out and back.
I took a peek at the forecast for race day: 90F Saturday 10% rain and 93F Sunday with 30% rain. Not too shabby.
A big cheers to all of the runners running Lean Horse and of course, Leadville this Saturday. Ah, Leadville. A part of me would like to have been back there this year but that will take place for me next year. So many races, so little time...
Back Monday evening !
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
It's A Wrap
I've wrapped up my training for Lean Horse 100 Mile Trail Run. Last week I had real strong workouts; my track workout was faster, my tempo run was quicker, my hills were stronger and my long run was a piece of cake.
I haven't run tempo runs in past training. For the last 6 weeks I've been running a 10 mile tempo run which began at a 815 minute mile average 6 weeks ago and ended at a 748 minute mile average last week. I like that! My heart rate average began at 173 during each session and ended at an average of 168.
For hills I went to Powder Ridge as there was road construction heading East into the Twin Cities over the weekend, I didn't want to bother with that. I was able to run 8 hours of the ski hill and the tubing hill for variation. As I was leaving I was told by the caretaker that I was welcome to come and run the hills any time during the summer. I haven't seen a caretaker out there at all when I have run hills in the past. I was happy he wasn't there to tell me I was trespassing. I was glad to have finished my workout before the thunder and lightening storm hit as I was driving home.
Sunday was my final long run. I slept in, not reaching the trail until 630. With the later start I knew Topaz would become too warm to get in a full 40 miles so I decided to run 20 with him on trail and finish up on my own later. With the recent rains a few of the ponds where he likes to lay had adequate water for him to drink and soak. We ran 20 miles and then headed for home.
I changed out of my Inov 8s into my Ascis road shoes, mixed up some Heed, grabbed some gels and left him at the door. He screamed in agony as I went running down the driveway. Poor pup. He just couldn't understand that he would become too warm running 40 miles at 80F.
The road run went very well. I left my iPod at home, wanting to visualize/meditate as I ran, practicing some of the Running Within techniques I have been studying. I ran the 6 miles into Big Lake, stopping at Cobornes to refill, off around the lake 2 times, back to Cobornes and then home. Total for road run = 23 miles, trail run = 20 miles. Not a bad day!
As I was nearing home I was wondering what I would do first: eat the steel cut oats that I had in the crock pot or jump into the pool. I didn't realize I had made a decision until I was stripping out of my ishy running clothes and jumping into the refreshing pool. Ah, how wonderful! The oats post swim tasted pretty wonderful, too.
Today Topaz and I went for our final summer vacation morning trail run. My 8 weeks of summer vacation has come to an end. Tomorrow I head back to work. It's been a wonderful summer but summer vacation can't last forever. It will be nice to have a pay check again :)
Now I need to formulate my new workout schedule between the boys fall sports, school and working. The first few weeks are always take a bit of getting used to.
I haven't run tempo runs in past training. For the last 6 weeks I've been running a 10 mile tempo run which began at a 815 minute mile average 6 weeks ago and ended at a 748 minute mile average last week. I like that! My heart rate average began at 173 during each session and ended at an average of 168.
For hills I went to Powder Ridge as there was road construction heading East into the Twin Cities over the weekend, I didn't want to bother with that. I was able to run 8 hours of the ski hill and the tubing hill for variation. As I was leaving I was told by the caretaker that I was welcome to come and run the hills any time during the summer. I haven't seen a caretaker out there at all when I have run hills in the past. I was happy he wasn't there to tell me I was trespassing. I was glad to have finished my workout before the thunder and lightening storm hit as I was driving home.
Sunday was my final long run. I slept in, not reaching the trail until 630. With the later start I knew Topaz would become too warm to get in a full 40 miles so I decided to run 20 with him on trail and finish up on my own later. With the recent rains a few of the ponds where he likes to lay had adequate water for him to drink and soak. We ran 20 miles and then headed for home.
I changed out of my Inov 8s into my Ascis road shoes, mixed up some Heed, grabbed some gels and left him at the door. He screamed in agony as I went running down the driveway. Poor pup. He just couldn't understand that he would become too warm running 40 miles at 80F.
The road run went very well. I left my iPod at home, wanting to visualize/meditate as I ran, practicing some of the Running Within techniques I have been studying. I ran the 6 miles into Big Lake, stopping at Cobornes to refill, off around the lake 2 times, back to Cobornes and then home. Total for road run = 23 miles, trail run = 20 miles. Not a bad day!
As I was nearing home I was wondering what I would do first: eat the steel cut oats that I had in the crock pot or jump into the pool. I didn't realize I had made a decision until I was stripping out of my ishy running clothes and jumping into the refreshing pool. Ah, how wonderful! The oats post swim tasted pretty wonderful, too.
Today Topaz and I went for our final summer vacation morning trail run. My 8 weeks of summer vacation has come to an end. Tomorrow I head back to work. It's been a wonderful summer but summer vacation can't last forever. It will be nice to have a pay check again :)
Now I need to formulate my new workout schedule between the boys fall sports, school and working. The first few weeks are always take a bit of getting used to.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Running With The Boys
I normally perform my speed work on Tuesdays. I know, Jenn Shelton would disapprove that I run upon a schedule. However, since running Voyager 50 Mile Trail Run on Saturday I thought I'd skip it this week, if necessary.
Yesterday I was still a bit tight in the calves so thought I'd pass. Today while running with Topaz for our morning 5 I was feeling real good and decided I'd go for a speed workout today. I had the mind battle going on: you may be tired from V, therefore a crappy speed workout, that will crush your ego and make you sad; yes, but any speed work is better than none, just go give it a whirl and see how it goes. OK. You win.
Off I went.
I was surprised to see action at the track. The 3rd and 4th graders were on the football field practicing and the Strength and Training workouts were taking place on the track. I recognized many of the guys as Tyler's friends. I stood around, watching, then heard hellos and how ya doing Julie. I'm fine, came for my track workout, how long will you guys be? Oh, about an hour. Dang, I was thinking to myself. Oh well. I sat down and watched a bit. Pretty soon a real good friend of Tyler's yelled to the Coach "Can Julie Berg run on Lane 8, we aren't using it" Coach said "Why don't you move over and give her Lane 1" Sweet!
In speaking with Coach I realized S&T work outs are scheduled on M,W,F; I'm usually at the track on Tuesday, that is why I haven't seen them out there before. He told me he had no problem being there and was welcome to work alongside with them. I then was reminded that he graduated from Proctor. I remembered Scott Jurek graduated from Proctor. Bingo! He ran with him on the track team. Small World.
So, the workout was fabulous. I'm so shocked. I ran 800s again with the thought that I could quit at any time but on the other hand I would then feel my ego deflate so I thought I'd try to hang it and it would be OK if I were slower than last week. I wasn't! I can't believe I wasn't tired or slower with the race on Saturday. What is up? I ran a 1 mile warm up, (being sure to tell the boys it was a warm up) and a 1 mile cool down (they were already gone) and 8x800. My fastest was #3 at 327 and slowest #5 at 345! I'll take it.
Having other people on the track really helped. I was thrilled! It was a great workout and it is amazing how it makes everything well within the world for me this afternoon. Makes me want to set a goal time at Lean Horse. Isn't it funny how a good workout can make everything dandy.
The scrambled tofu I had post run #1 may have helped as well! I'll have to post a picture/recipe. My first try with tofu and I loved it. It was so good I think I'll eat the leftovers in a wrap this afternoon.
From now on I believe I will be hitting the track on Wednesday instead of Tuesday.
Yesterday I was still a bit tight in the calves so thought I'd pass. Today while running with Topaz for our morning 5 I was feeling real good and decided I'd go for a speed workout today. I had the mind battle going on: you may be tired from V, therefore a crappy speed workout, that will crush your ego and make you sad; yes, but any speed work is better than none, just go give it a whirl and see how it goes. OK. You win.
Off I went.
I was surprised to see action at the track. The 3rd and 4th graders were on the football field practicing and the Strength and Training workouts were taking place on the track. I recognized many of the guys as Tyler's friends. I stood around, watching, then heard hellos and how ya doing Julie. I'm fine, came for my track workout, how long will you guys be? Oh, about an hour. Dang, I was thinking to myself. Oh well. I sat down and watched a bit. Pretty soon a real good friend of Tyler's yelled to the Coach "Can Julie Berg run on Lane 8, we aren't using it" Coach said "Why don't you move over and give her Lane 1" Sweet!
In speaking with Coach I realized S&T work outs are scheduled on M,W,F; I'm usually at the track on Tuesday, that is why I haven't seen them out there before. He told me he had no problem being there and was welcome to work alongside with them. I then was reminded that he graduated from Proctor. I remembered Scott Jurek graduated from Proctor. Bingo! He ran with him on the track team. Small World.
So, the workout was fabulous. I'm so shocked. I ran 800s again with the thought that I could quit at any time but on the other hand I would then feel my ego deflate so I thought I'd try to hang it and it would be OK if I were slower than last week. I wasn't! I can't believe I wasn't tired or slower with the race on Saturday. What is up? I ran a 1 mile warm up, (being sure to tell the boys it was a warm up) and a 1 mile cool down (they were already gone) and 8x800. My fastest was #3 at 327 and slowest #5 at 345! I'll take it.
Having other people on the track really helped. I was thrilled! It was a great workout and it is amazing how it makes everything well within the world for me this afternoon. Makes me want to set a goal time at Lean Horse. Isn't it funny how a good workout can make everything dandy.
The scrambled tofu I had post run #1 may have helped as well! I'll have to post a picture/recipe. My first try with tofu and I loved it. It was so good I think I'll eat the leftovers in a wrap this afternoon.
From now on I believe I will be hitting the track on Wednesday instead of Tuesday.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Voyaguer 50 Mile Trail Run: A Perfect Day :)
I must say I was a bit apprehensive about running Voyaguer 50 yesterday. I fretted it over it a bit as I don't have all of the long distance running miles as I have had in the past two years. I didn't run the Afton 50K as I went up to the lake with the family, I didn't have two 100 finishes prior either as I have in the past. I was also concerned about all of the lifting I have been doing, maybe the effects would show up on the trail. You know, I had to have something to worry about.
Before I left the house yesterday morning I took a look at the weather forecast for Carlton and Duluth. Duluth showed thunderstorms and Carlton showed showers. Great. The power lines become orange mountains of lard when they are wet and you know how I enjoy running in the cold rain. Not.
I headed out at 330 AM, a bit tired as I was totally Godsmacked at the Myth Friday night. Fabulous! I had plenty of time to make my way to Duluth, arriving around 630 for the 700 start. Lots of visiting friends and visiting the bathroom. The beans Friday were making themselves known. Yikes.
I saw Uncle Al Sauld, but where was Debbie McKenzie? Debbie, we missed you. Were you golfing, instead of running?
I wore a new top yesterday, one that has a good sized pocket in the inside, in between my boobs. I decided I'd stash a few gels in there as I can't stand the way my race ready shorts fit and I didn't want to wear a belt or pack. Sadly Voyaguer doesn't have gels on the course. Or Heed. I had gels in the small inside pocket of my shorts as well as my bottle pocket. I also had gels in two drop bags with a Red Bull in each. I have never tried Red Bull while running before but figured if the RockStars (Helen, John Duke..) use it then I should try it.
So the shirt, it worked great! I looked like I had a third boob but who cares? The gels fit in there perfectly along with an 11 hour pace chart. I was hoping to finish in 11 but didn't really know what might happen.
Off we went, leaving the High School in Carlton, up the street, onto the asphalt bike path and into the woods and rocks. This first 4 miles is a bit like the Superior Hiking Trail. I like it on the way out, hate it on the way back.
I found myself with Matt Long, Kevin and Paul; listening to their conversations as I ran along. It was a really nice morning. The sun was shining and it didn't look like rain. Happy days.
It was great to see so many women running the race. I never looked at the entrants list but I think I will to see how many women ran. Alicia registered in the morning and was number 137! Lots of runners for a 50 mile.
Over the swinging bridge, before the first aid station. Be sure to smile, click, they take your picture, have it developed and it is ready for pickup at the end of the race. Cool.
Wayne was working the aid station, refilled my bottle with Ultima, the race drink, and off I went.
OK, rant about Ultima. You know I favor Heed but drink Ultima at Voyaguer because it is there and I didn't feel like dragging Heed in drop bags, having to take the time, etc. Well, I noticed this morning in my race bag there is a sample of Ultima. Get this: 10 CALORIES per 16 ounces. TEN!!!!! 3 grams of Carb. WTF is up with that? This is more of an Scap in drink form. I can't believe it. I can't believe I haven't researched this and just drank it, thinking it must be relatively near Heed's 130 calories/35 g of carb per bottle. NOT. Dang. More work for me next year; dragging along powder. No wonder I feel totally wiped out at mile 40. I am mistakenly thinking that I am consuming 1000 calories/350 grams of carb when I am getting like nothing. Wow. Eye opener. I'm glad the sample pack of Ultima was in my packet.
I kind of think I must be reading the label wrong? How could this me an energy drink?
OK, enough of that business.
I ran along, feeling great, strong no worries. The clouds looked friendly, it was warming up, it was going to be a super fine day. Indeed.
About 2 hours in I approached the power lines. Crazy 300 feet hills of orange mud hills over and over again with a few rivers thrown in for added entertainment. The hills were actually in pretty good shape. A few slippery spots but not too bad. It's been MUCH worse!
As I crested the top of a hill I heard Kevin yell "ICEBERG". I gave him a pump of the arm. It was the last time I was in front of him.
I wore my Garmin Forerunner 50 and as I was running through the river I saw that it still had the footpod signal. Cool.
Out of the powerlines, no damage, all good. Onto the bike path for a bit and then an aid station 15.5 miles I believe. I had gels here so dropped my trash and refilled my boob pocket. Sweet.
I wasn't really running in a pack anymore, I was hanging out on my own, totally enjoying the scenery.
As I was running a downhill section deep in the woods I was thinking about how I was really in a zone. Really running hard, feeling good, listening to Ozzy now. As I was thinking about how great this all was a man was at my side. I about jumped out of my skin. I felt bad because I was not paying any attention at all and I should have had one ear bud out so that I was at least paying attention to other races. I apologized, he apologized for scaring me, I said I should have been listening for runners, it was embarrassing. This is why some don't like us to wear headphones while running. I totally broke the rule. Oops. The man was running really strong and was a good 40 minutes ahead of me at the turnaround.
Before the final section before the turnaround I began to see the front runners approach. Andy Holak was first and ended up winning the race in 7:16! Good job, Andy. 7:16. Just floors me! I believe Dusty ( Scott Jurek friend and pacer) was next, and John was next. Woohoo! Not too much later and here comes Helen, looking as strong as can be! Helen took first woman in 8:07 I believe! Incredible. I can't imagine.
Onto the final section before the turnaround. At 25 I had a Red Bull and more gels. I slammed the Red Bull, it was tasty. No aftertaste, no burping, just numminess. I emptied out my used gels and refilled with some more. Up and out of there.
I saw Doug Hansel at the turnaround and told him to get going. He is so much faster than I, he had no business running my pace! I decided to take out my pace chart and saw, much to my almost horror, that I was on pace for 10 hours. Oh oh. I needed to slow down, didn't I? Then I saw Julie Treder and was even more concerned. She's usually a good piece ahead of me too.
I didn't feel bad so figured I'd just keep running as I had been. I knew I would eventually slow down. I might as enjoy it while I was feeling strong.
Out of the zoo and uphill forever. It's so much fun to see the rest of the runners running into the turnaround. Lots of good jobs and high fives.
At Becks Road I ran out with Connie, Kami, Julie and Doug. On the way up the hill, Steve Q passed us. He exclaimed "road section, I'm faster here" or something like that. He was too! He zoomed right by us.
Steve posted on his blog that he felt it was time to beat me at this race. As we entered the woods I told Doug to take off and quit hanging with me. You should have seen him fly! He zoomed out of there and ended up finishing in 9 something! Wow.
I was feeling strong and fast so ran hard down down down the path, passing Steve, but saying "you can still beat me"! I didn't feel like I was going too fast, but who knows. Again, figured I might as well spend what I had.
At mile 35 I couldn't believe how good I felt. I had a drop bag, slammed another Red Bull and realized I hadn't been grabbing any solid food. I had depended entirely on Hammergel, two Red Bull and Ultima. I was calculating each Ultima to be 130 calories.
My shorts were really bothering me. I was SO wet! I was sweating like crazy, more than usual. Well, I never used to really sweat much running these things. My shorts were soaked and clinging to my thighs. This was causing horrible chafing. I looked at my legs and the girl that had been telling me how great and strong I looked gasped. Ooh, raw. I grabbed a glob of Vaseline and rubbed it onto the chafing. Ouch.
It was only about 65 so I don't get the sweating so much. Maybe it just took 5 years of ultra running for my body to begin to work correctly.
Each aid station I looked for Vaseline thereafter and lubed up. Thank god each aid station had some! Pain I tell you. Pain.
Back over the power lines. Now I was back with Connie and Kami. I thought I recognized Connie from Superior 50K, she won. At the awards ceremony she told me she had ordered some of my Foot Potion and loved it. If this was Connie, I had just mailed her out two MORE canisters of Food Potion Wednesday! I didn't ask her if she was Connie until after the race while we were showering, yes, it was Connie! I could have saved her the postage.
The rivers felt good on my feet which felt hot for some reason. There was a very light shower, but nothing much, more like a mist now and it actually felt good. The power lines were in great shape, they had dried out were actually tacky.
Mile 39.5 aid station came and went. Onto the final 10 miles. This seems like it is all uphill at first. I was so happy I made it through the power lines unscathed, then it is miles of uphill grinding. I was now on 1020 pace. Still thrilled but worried that I hadn't peed at all the whole freaking race.
Mile 44 aid station is coming up and I see Kami is missing it. I yell out to her so she turns around to make it. That would really suck, to miss the aid station at mile 44! Ugh.
Now I'm just trying to get to the finish. Everything is tired, I keep telling myself this is how it is supposed to feel..hard. If it was easy there would be more than 130 people running and I probably wouldn't be here. So suck it up and get it done.
Final aid station. Wayne is still working, tops off my bottle and I'm out of there. Wrap this baby up. It begins to pour out as I'm running over the bridge. Downpour. I know that the next section is my nightmare on the way back. Now it will be wet and slippery. I tell myself to be happy..you are now at the last section, you made it. Enjoy the final miles. Ok, Ok.
I let Kami go ahead, I could not talk anymore. I just had to grind this out. I recall that it took me 39 minutes to reach AS1 so it will probably take me an hour to get to the finish. Hmph.
Rain rain rain. But at least it waited until the finish. It could have been so much worse, it could have been raining through the power lines so be happy. Be happy that you are able to do this, that you don't have any blisters and the only pain is the chafing. That's pretty good!
Ok, across the bridge, amen, and onto the bike path. Run Run Run, onto the road and I can see the school. Thank goodness! Lots of cheering, there is John and Helen, there is the finish line in 10:44. I think. I forgot to stop my watch. Woohoo!!
Celebrate the race!
Even with the rain many spectators and finishers stayed at the finish line to cheer on the runners. I sat down with Helen and John and learned that Helen BEAT John in the final 1/4 mile. I said " Helen is the winner, see her prize...John is the loser that sits and cries", all in fun, of course. John was pretty excited that Helen beat him! Nice stuff.
After chatting for quite some time I went in for a hot shower. Fabulous. Wash away the chill and the dirt.
More visiting, awards and hot coffee. I even received an award for a 5 year finisher. I didn't realize it! I enjoyed talking with Kim Holak about Hardrock. Wow. What an epic adventure. This was her second year and she'd like to go out every year forever. She loves it that much! Amazing.
Eventually I called it a day and packed up for home, hoping to get pretty close before dark. I have horrible night vision.
Back home by 1000 to revisit the day with Steve and the boys. What a great day!
This morning Topaz and I went for a five mile run. Slow and easy. No pain but for the chaffing. Oh man. What is up with that? I slathered Foot Potion all over it so I could run. It felt so much better. I'm down 8 pounds today. This is strange as I used to always be up and bloated with water / salt post race. My body is beginning to act differently during racing. I don't pee every hour, as I used to..I didn't pee during the race once and not until I arrived home last night. I still drink the same amount, at least 24 oz each hour. Yesterday I drank more. I am not eating all of the sandwiches during the race, this may be the weight difference/bloat. I'm not sure. I no longer take eCaps or Scaps because I became so swollen during the race. I found that Heed was enough. I didn't take any salt yesterday, maybe this is one reason I'm not so bloated/heavy the next day? Interesting.
Thanks to the race committee and all of the volunteers that make this race what it is!
Up next: Lean Horse 100 August 21
Before I left the house yesterday morning I took a look at the weather forecast for Carlton and Duluth. Duluth showed thunderstorms and Carlton showed showers. Great. The power lines become orange mountains of lard when they are wet and you know how I enjoy running in the cold rain. Not.
I headed out at 330 AM, a bit tired as I was totally Godsmacked at the Myth Friday night. Fabulous! I had plenty of time to make my way to Duluth, arriving around 630 for the 700 start. Lots of visiting friends and visiting the bathroom. The beans Friday were making themselves known. Yikes.
I saw Uncle Al Sauld, but where was Debbie McKenzie? Debbie, we missed you. Were you golfing, instead of running?
I wore a new top yesterday, one that has a good sized pocket in the inside, in between my boobs. I decided I'd stash a few gels in there as I can't stand the way my race ready shorts fit and I didn't want to wear a belt or pack. Sadly Voyaguer doesn't have gels on the course. Or Heed. I had gels in the small inside pocket of my shorts as well as my bottle pocket. I also had gels in two drop bags with a Red Bull in each. I have never tried Red Bull while running before but figured if the RockStars (Helen, John Duke..) use it then I should try it.
So the shirt, it worked great! I looked like I had a third boob but who cares? The gels fit in there perfectly along with an 11 hour pace chart. I was hoping to finish in 11 but didn't really know what might happen.
Off we went, leaving the High School in Carlton, up the street, onto the asphalt bike path and into the woods and rocks. This first 4 miles is a bit like the Superior Hiking Trail. I like it on the way out, hate it on the way back.
I found myself with Matt Long, Kevin and Paul; listening to their conversations as I ran along. It was a really nice morning. The sun was shining and it didn't look like rain. Happy days.
It was great to see so many women running the race. I never looked at the entrants list but I think I will to see how many women ran. Alicia registered in the morning and was number 137! Lots of runners for a 50 mile.
Over the swinging bridge, before the first aid station. Be sure to smile, click, they take your picture, have it developed and it is ready for pickup at the end of the race. Cool.
Wayne was working the aid station, refilled my bottle with Ultima, the race drink, and off I went.
OK, rant about Ultima. You know I favor Heed but drink Ultima at Voyaguer because it is there and I didn't feel like dragging Heed in drop bags, having to take the time, etc. Well, I noticed this morning in my race bag there is a sample of Ultima. Get this: 10 CALORIES per 16 ounces. TEN!!!!! 3 grams of Carb. WTF is up with that? This is more of an Scap in drink form. I can't believe it. I can't believe I haven't researched this and just drank it, thinking it must be relatively near Heed's 130 calories/35 g of carb per bottle. NOT. Dang. More work for me next year; dragging along powder. No wonder I feel totally wiped out at mile 40. I am mistakenly thinking that I am consuming 1000 calories/350 grams of carb when I am getting like nothing. Wow. Eye opener. I'm glad the sample pack of Ultima was in my packet.
I kind of think I must be reading the label wrong? How could this me an energy drink?
OK, enough of that business.
I ran along, feeling great, strong no worries. The clouds looked friendly, it was warming up, it was going to be a super fine day. Indeed.
About 2 hours in I approached the power lines. Crazy 300 feet hills of orange mud hills over and over again with a few rivers thrown in for added entertainment. The hills were actually in pretty good shape. A few slippery spots but not too bad. It's been MUCH worse!
As I crested the top of a hill I heard Kevin yell "ICEBERG". I gave him a pump of the arm. It was the last time I was in front of him.
I wore my Garmin Forerunner 50 and as I was running through the river I saw that it still had the footpod signal. Cool.
Out of the powerlines, no damage, all good. Onto the bike path for a bit and then an aid station 15.5 miles I believe. I had gels here so dropped my trash and refilled my boob pocket. Sweet.
I wasn't really running in a pack anymore, I was hanging out on my own, totally enjoying the scenery.
As I was running a downhill section deep in the woods I was thinking about how I was really in a zone. Really running hard, feeling good, listening to Ozzy now. As I was thinking about how great this all was a man was at my side. I about jumped out of my skin. I felt bad because I was not paying any attention at all and I should have had one ear bud out so that I was at least paying attention to other races. I apologized, he apologized for scaring me, I said I should have been listening for runners, it was embarrassing. This is why some don't like us to wear headphones while running. I totally broke the rule. Oops. The man was running really strong and was a good 40 minutes ahead of me at the turnaround.
Before the final section before the turnaround I began to see the front runners approach. Andy Holak was first and ended up winning the race in 7:16! Good job, Andy. 7:16. Just floors me! I believe Dusty ( Scott Jurek friend and pacer) was next, and John was next. Woohoo! Not too much later and here comes Helen, looking as strong as can be! Helen took first woman in 8:07 I believe! Incredible. I can't imagine.
Onto the final section before the turnaround. At 25 I had a Red Bull and more gels. I slammed the Red Bull, it was tasty. No aftertaste, no burping, just numminess. I emptied out my used gels and refilled with some more. Up and out of there.
I saw Doug Hansel at the turnaround and told him to get going. He is so much faster than I, he had no business running my pace! I decided to take out my pace chart and saw, much to my almost horror, that I was on pace for 10 hours. Oh oh. I needed to slow down, didn't I? Then I saw Julie Treder and was even more concerned. She's usually a good piece ahead of me too.
I didn't feel bad so figured I'd just keep running as I had been. I knew I would eventually slow down. I might as enjoy it while I was feeling strong.
Out of the zoo and uphill forever. It's so much fun to see the rest of the runners running into the turnaround. Lots of good jobs and high fives.
At Becks Road I ran out with Connie, Kami, Julie and Doug. On the way up the hill, Steve Q passed us. He exclaimed "road section, I'm faster here" or something like that. He was too! He zoomed right by us.
Steve posted on his blog that he felt it was time to beat me at this race. As we entered the woods I told Doug to take off and quit hanging with me. You should have seen him fly! He zoomed out of there and ended up finishing in 9 something! Wow.
I was feeling strong and fast so ran hard down down down the path, passing Steve, but saying "you can still beat me"! I didn't feel like I was going too fast, but who knows. Again, figured I might as well spend what I had.
At mile 35 I couldn't believe how good I felt. I had a drop bag, slammed another Red Bull and realized I hadn't been grabbing any solid food. I had depended entirely on Hammergel, two Red Bull and Ultima. I was calculating each Ultima to be 130 calories.
My shorts were really bothering me. I was SO wet! I was sweating like crazy, more than usual. Well, I never used to really sweat much running these things. My shorts were soaked and clinging to my thighs. This was causing horrible chafing. I looked at my legs and the girl that had been telling me how great and strong I looked gasped. Ooh, raw. I grabbed a glob of Vaseline and rubbed it onto the chafing. Ouch.
It was only about 65 so I don't get the sweating so much. Maybe it just took 5 years of ultra running for my body to begin to work correctly.
Each aid station I looked for Vaseline thereafter and lubed up. Thank god each aid station had some! Pain I tell you. Pain.
Back over the power lines. Now I was back with Connie and Kami. I thought I recognized Connie from Superior 50K, she won. At the awards ceremony she told me she had ordered some of my Foot Potion and loved it. If this was Connie, I had just mailed her out two MORE canisters of Food Potion Wednesday! I didn't ask her if she was Connie until after the race while we were showering, yes, it was Connie! I could have saved her the postage.
The rivers felt good on my feet which felt hot for some reason. There was a very light shower, but nothing much, more like a mist now and it actually felt good. The power lines were in great shape, they had dried out were actually tacky.
Mile 39.5 aid station came and went. Onto the final 10 miles. This seems like it is all uphill at first. I was so happy I made it through the power lines unscathed, then it is miles of uphill grinding. I was now on 1020 pace. Still thrilled but worried that I hadn't peed at all the whole freaking race.
Mile 44 aid station is coming up and I see Kami is missing it. I yell out to her so she turns around to make it. That would really suck, to miss the aid station at mile 44! Ugh.
Now I'm just trying to get to the finish. Everything is tired, I keep telling myself this is how it is supposed to feel..hard. If it was easy there would be more than 130 people running and I probably wouldn't be here. So suck it up and get it done.
Final aid station. Wayne is still working, tops off my bottle and I'm out of there. Wrap this baby up. It begins to pour out as I'm running over the bridge. Downpour. I know that the next section is my nightmare on the way back. Now it will be wet and slippery. I tell myself to be happy..you are now at the last section, you made it. Enjoy the final miles. Ok, Ok.
I let Kami go ahead, I could not talk anymore. I just had to grind this out. I recall that it took me 39 minutes to reach AS1 so it will probably take me an hour to get to the finish. Hmph.
Rain rain rain. But at least it waited until the finish. It could have been so much worse, it could have been raining through the power lines so be happy. Be happy that you are able to do this, that you don't have any blisters and the only pain is the chafing. That's pretty good!
Ok, across the bridge, amen, and onto the bike path. Run Run Run, onto the road and I can see the school. Thank goodness! Lots of cheering, there is John and Helen, there is the finish line in 10:44. I think. I forgot to stop my watch. Woohoo!!
Celebrate the race!
Even with the rain many spectators and finishers stayed at the finish line to cheer on the runners. I sat down with Helen and John and learned that Helen BEAT John in the final 1/4 mile. I said " Helen is the winner, see her prize...John is the loser that sits and cries", all in fun, of course. John was pretty excited that Helen beat him! Nice stuff.
After chatting for quite some time I went in for a hot shower. Fabulous. Wash away the chill and the dirt.
More visiting, awards and hot coffee. I even received an award for a 5 year finisher. I didn't realize it! I enjoyed talking with Kim Holak about Hardrock. Wow. What an epic adventure. This was her second year and she'd like to go out every year forever. She loves it that much! Amazing.
Eventually I called it a day and packed up for home, hoping to get pretty close before dark. I have horrible night vision.
Back home by 1000 to revisit the day with Steve and the boys. What a great day!
This morning Topaz and I went for a five mile run. Slow and easy. No pain but for the chaffing. Oh man. What is up with that? I slathered Foot Potion all over it so I could run. It felt so much better. I'm down 8 pounds today. This is strange as I used to always be up and bloated with water / salt post race. My body is beginning to act differently during racing. I don't pee every hour, as I used to..I didn't pee during the race once and not until I arrived home last night. I still drink the same amount, at least 24 oz each hour. Yesterday I drank more. I am not eating all of the sandwiches during the race, this may be the weight difference/bloat. I'm not sure. I no longer take eCaps or Scaps because I became so swollen during the race. I found that Heed was enough. I didn't take any salt yesterday, maybe this is one reason I'm not so bloated/heavy the next day? Interesting.
Thanks to the race committee and all of the volunteers that make this race what it is!
Up next: Lean Horse 100 August 21
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The Cake Slice: Marbled Lemon-Blueberry Butter Cake
This month we voted for the Marbled Lemon-Blueberry Butter Cake. I find that the flavor of blueberry and lemon go very well together. Last year was the first time that I combined the two flavors, in Dories Blueberry Pie. Since then, I have created many recipes using the combination of flavors. Very tasty. After tasting a slice of Troy's cake this month, I gave it to Steve to bring to work. It was just too good to have laying around the house. Very dangerous for me. There isn't even any chocolate. What's up with that?
The lemon butter cream frosting is fabulous. I did add a bit of lemon extract to the frosting-it was just too buttery without. The homemade blueberry jam in between the layers is wonderful. The butter cake delivers a very tight crumb. Yum all the way through.
I think I will try this with the raspberries that I picked last week. I think raspberry/lemon would be tasty as well and I have a get together that I could bring it to.
I will decorate the top of the next one a bit more with the raspberries. In looking at the other blogs/cakes I just can't get over how beautiful they make them look!
You can check here for other cakes and here for the recipe.
From Sky High: Irrisistable Three Layer Cakes
The lemon butter cream frosting is fabulous. I did add a bit of lemon extract to the frosting-it was just too buttery without. The homemade blueberry jam in between the layers is wonderful. The butter cake delivers a very tight crumb. Yum all the way through.
I think I will try this with the raspberries that I picked last week. I think raspberry/lemon would be tasty as well and I have a get together that I could bring it to.
I will decorate the top of the next one a bit more with the raspberries. In looking at the other blogs/cakes I just can't get over how beautiful they make them look!
You can check here for other cakes and here for the recipe.
From Sky High: Irrisistable Three Layer Cakes
Monday, July 13, 2009
BETA IV
It's hard to believe that we have been running a "BETA" run on the Superior Hiking Trail for the past four years! Thankfully this was a ritual that began because Larry Pederson was going to direct the Superior Sawtooth 102.5 Mile Run as a point to point along the Superior Hiking Trail. He wasn't sure how long it would take the runners and wasn't sure how long the aid stations would have to be open. He asked if anyone would be interested in running the first 50 miles to see how long it would take. He didn't have to twist my arm!
Scott Wagner set up a weekend and organized BETA I. Maria and I were the only two that ended up finishing the 50 mile BETA run. We had great aid the whole way as Doug and Alicia had the van filled with anything we might need. They met us at each 'aid station' we would use in the race. It was a great beginning to an annual event.
This year 10 of us took on BETA IV. We planned on a day run (one year we ran a night run of 40 miles through the Manitou River area-hard as hell) from Beaver Bay to Co Rd 6. Approximately 25+ or so miles.
Friday I left home early so that I could run a portion of the trail. I decided on a section I haven't run before. I began at Castle Danger and ran to Gooseberry Falls. Ran back to Castle Danger, filled my bottles and then went in the opposite direction; Castle Danger to Encampment River. It was a great day for a run. Sunny and warm, just how I like it. The creeks were all dry. I took a picture of a creek with a big bridge over it..all it consisted of were rocks with no water at all. Even Gooseberry Falls was a trickle.
While I was running deep in the woods I would find myself in the throes of a panic attack. I could feel the worry escalate as I was all alone deep in the woods and I felt claustrophobic .. from all of the trees I guess. I sat down and took deep breathes, calming myself. It was quite odd. I did get over it and tried to smother those feelings when they arrived later during my run. I never did see another person within those miles and I think that is why I felt so panicked.
After my run I headed toward Tofte where our weekend house was. I unpacked, sat on the shoreline of beautiful Lake Superior and waited for the rest of the crew.
As everyone arrived we congregated on the beautiful deck outside, soaking in the last rays of the day. We ate together and planned the course for the next day.
Saturday was another beautiful, sunny and warm day. We hit the trail at 7 in Beaver Bay, running toward Little Marias at County Road 6. We stopped at County Road 1 to drop water..about 17 miles into our run. County Road 6 would bring us to 27 miles.
We were all going to go our own pace, we left three vehicles at the finish. Helen led our pack, Holly followed and then me. As I came up to Bill he told me that Holly was only a few minutes ahead. I never found her.
I had a great day. It was warm, I drank heavily. 72 ounces of Heed to Co Rd 1 and 72 ounces from 1 to Co Rd 6. If I had been carrying 4 24 oz bottles I would have definitely consumed an additional 48 oz. I conserved my Heed until I reached our refueling points. I was surprised as I came upon our water at Co Rd 1 that there didn't seem to be much water gone. I then realized that Holly must be in back of me. I learned after our run that she took a spur trail and went off course 3 or so miles. Luckily she found her way back and was running in back of me with Tom and Nancy.
Bill ended up hurting his knee and Jim convinced him to walk back to Tettegouche Visitor Center where we picked him up later.
I finished the 27 or so miles in 6 hours, then decided to run back toward the group. I ran another 4 miles up the trail, then back down to Co Rd 6, never seeing anyone! I then walked to the gravel pit where we parked the vehicles but our vehicles were not there. I was at the wrong spot. I walked up Co Rd 6 a while longer and eventually came across our vehicles. As I was climbing the hill I saw Helen up in front of me, then saw her leave in her vehicle. She didn't see me so I removed my pack and sat in the lot, waiting for someone to finish. I became bored so began to walk back to the trail head when I saw Jim and Alicia coming up the hill. They both had a grand time.
Jim, Alicia and I went back to pick up Bill. In our ultra induced brains we passed Tettegouche and ended up at Beaver Bay when Jim let us know that we were where we began our day. We passed Tettegouche. Oops. Back to Tettegouch where Bill was waiting for us.
When we arrived to the house John had arrived, having run the 1/2 Voyaguer. Helen was back and soon Maria, Holly, Tom and Nancy arrived. We spent the afternoon on the deck telling stories, speaking of past BETA's and just enjoying ourselves.
Sunday morning came all too soon and we were all off for our own runs. I decided to drive into Duluth, grab a coffee at Dunn Brothers, drive back out to Lester River and run the Grandmas Marathon route from Mile 19 to 26. I wanted to run the stiffness out of my legs and run upon stable smooth ground. I wasn't the only one running that route; many others were out as well.
Another fine weekend at BETA IV. We are already looking forward to BETA V!
Scott Wagner set up a weekend and organized BETA I. Maria and I were the only two that ended up finishing the 50 mile BETA run. We had great aid the whole way as Doug and Alicia had the van filled with anything we might need. They met us at each 'aid station' we would use in the race. It was a great beginning to an annual event.
This year 10 of us took on BETA IV. We planned on a day run (one year we ran a night run of 40 miles through the Manitou River area-hard as hell) from Beaver Bay to Co Rd 6. Approximately 25+ or so miles.
Friday I left home early so that I could run a portion of the trail. I decided on a section I haven't run before. I began at Castle Danger and ran to Gooseberry Falls. Ran back to Castle Danger, filled my bottles and then went in the opposite direction; Castle Danger to Encampment River. It was a great day for a run. Sunny and warm, just how I like it. The creeks were all dry. I took a picture of a creek with a big bridge over it..all it consisted of were rocks with no water at all. Even Gooseberry Falls was a trickle.
While I was running deep in the woods I would find myself in the throes of a panic attack. I could feel the worry escalate as I was all alone deep in the woods and I felt claustrophobic .. from all of the trees I guess. I sat down and took deep breathes, calming myself. It was quite odd. I did get over it and tried to smother those feelings when they arrived later during my run. I never did see another person within those miles and I think that is why I felt so panicked.
After my run I headed toward Tofte where our weekend house was. I unpacked, sat on the shoreline of beautiful Lake Superior and waited for the rest of the crew.
As everyone arrived we congregated on the beautiful deck outside, soaking in the last rays of the day. We ate together and planned the course for the next day.
Saturday was another beautiful, sunny and warm day. We hit the trail at 7 in Beaver Bay, running toward Little Marias at County Road 6. We stopped at County Road 1 to drop water..about 17 miles into our run. County Road 6 would bring us to 27 miles.
We were all going to go our own pace, we left three vehicles at the finish. Helen led our pack, Holly followed and then me. As I came up to Bill he told me that Holly was only a few minutes ahead. I never found her.
I had a great day. It was warm, I drank heavily. 72 ounces of Heed to Co Rd 1 and 72 ounces from 1 to Co Rd 6. If I had been carrying 4 24 oz bottles I would have definitely consumed an additional 48 oz. I conserved my Heed until I reached our refueling points. I was surprised as I came upon our water at Co Rd 1 that there didn't seem to be much water gone. I then realized that Holly must be in back of me. I learned after our run that she took a spur trail and went off course 3 or so miles. Luckily she found her way back and was running in back of me with Tom and Nancy.
Bill ended up hurting his knee and Jim convinced him to walk back to Tettegouche Visitor Center where we picked him up later.
I finished the 27 or so miles in 6 hours, then decided to run back toward the group. I ran another 4 miles up the trail, then back down to Co Rd 6, never seeing anyone! I then walked to the gravel pit where we parked the vehicles but our vehicles were not there. I was at the wrong spot. I walked up Co Rd 6 a while longer and eventually came across our vehicles. As I was climbing the hill I saw Helen up in front of me, then saw her leave in her vehicle. She didn't see me so I removed my pack and sat in the lot, waiting for someone to finish. I became bored so began to walk back to the trail head when I saw Jim and Alicia coming up the hill. They both had a grand time.
Jim, Alicia and I went back to pick up Bill. In our ultra induced brains we passed Tettegouche and ended up at Beaver Bay when Jim let us know that we were where we began our day. We passed Tettegouche. Oops. Back to Tettegouch where Bill was waiting for us.
When we arrived to the house John had arrived, having run the 1/2 Voyaguer. Helen was back and soon Maria, Holly, Tom and Nancy arrived. We spent the afternoon on the deck telling stories, speaking of past BETA's and just enjoying ourselves.
Sunday morning came all too soon and we were all off for our own runs. I decided to drive into Duluth, grab a coffee at Dunn Brothers, drive back out to Lester River and run the Grandmas Marathon route from Mile 19 to 26. I wanted to run the stiffness out of my legs and run upon stable smooth ground. I wasn't the only one running that route; many others were out as well.
Another fine weekend at BETA IV. We are already looking forward to BETA V!
Thursday, July 09, 2009
800s, 1200s, Tempo Runs, Heart Rate Training..Oh My
So this is a little embarrassing. I purchased a Garmin 50 last May. The 50 because the battery lasts a year, versus 8 hours that the other Garmin with GPS last. I mainly wanted it as a pacing tool to use at FANS last year, which I did. Worked great. What good is an 8 hour battery going to do me. Really.
I haven't really used it since. I sprayed mosquito spray on the face and it is now all scratchy, but still readable. I never took the heart rate monitor out of the box or the ANT stick until today..over a year later. Yeah.
This morning Topaz and I ran our usual 5 fun miles on the trail, taking it easy, knowing I was going to try my first tempo run this afternoon. I took out my Garmin box and read the instructions for the heart rate monitor and the foot pod as it has been forever since I used the foot pod. Of course the watch shows a low battery signal. No matter, I was taking it for a spin as soon as I dropped off Tyler at work.
I looked up a quickie heart rate calculation at Runners World. By plugging in my last 5K race pace, last month at the Princeton 5K at 26 minutes I came up with a tempo run at 8:33 minute mile pace. Don't laugh. I'm not real fast. For the max heart rate I did the 220-44 and came up with 176. Ta da. Now this should be my max heart rate. Well, after my tempo run today there is no freaking way that 176 is max for me.
I'll have to try the method of running 3x800, 1 200 recovery and another 400 full boar to figure out max heart rate I guess. (I should have brought this along with me when I ran at the track on Tuesday. Yes! Another track workout; this time all 800s :) I read this somewhere, is this a good enough way to figure max heart rate? At least it is more individualized than the standard 220-age. I mean come on. We are all different. Don't tell me all 44 year olds are going to have the same max heart rate.
I ran the certified Big Lake 8K course this afternoon. Apparently I don't know how to toggle between pace from the foot pod and heart rate or the 50 isn't capable of this feat. I was stuck at heart rate and recalled that 156 heart rate would be 'tempo' if 176 was max .
OK, so maybe the 405 with the 8 hour battery would be a good item to purchase for speed workouts. I'm seeing the light.
The first 3 minutes HR was 150 to 171, then stayed 171 to 173 for the next 36 minutes. I saw 176 as I ran up a hill and I wasn't dieing or gasping so I really don't think it was max. 39 minutes for 8K, not full out, just a quick pace that I was able to sustain..but couldn't sustain for an hour and half I'd imagine. 39 minutes was plenty. Now I have a starting point.
How do most of you figure your heart rate? Do you train with a HRM? I'm never too old to learn.
Heading up north to the beautiful Superior Hiking Trail for three days of long slow running with friends. BETA IV!
I haven't really used it since. I sprayed mosquito spray on the face and it is now all scratchy, but still readable. I never took the heart rate monitor out of the box or the ANT stick until today..over a year later. Yeah.
This morning Topaz and I ran our usual 5 fun miles on the trail, taking it easy, knowing I was going to try my first tempo run this afternoon. I took out my Garmin box and read the instructions for the heart rate monitor and the foot pod as it has been forever since I used the foot pod. Of course the watch shows a low battery signal. No matter, I was taking it for a spin as soon as I dropped off Tyler at work.
I looked up a quickie heart rate calculation at Runners World. By plugging in my last 5K race pace, last month at the Princeton 5K at 26 minutes I came up with a tempo run at 8:33 minute mile pace. Don't laugh. I'm not real fast. For the max heart rate I did the 220-44 and came up with 176. Ta da. Now this should be my max heart rate. Well, after my tempo run today there is no freaking way that 176 is max for me.
I'll have to try the method of running 3x800, 1 200 recovery and another 400 full boar to figure out max heart rate I guess. (I should have brought this along with me when I ran at the track on Tuesday. Yes! Another track workout; this time all 800s :) I read this somewhere, is this a good enough way to figure max heart rate? At least it is more individualized than the standard 220-age. I mean come on. We are all different. Don't tell me all 44 year olds are going to have the same max heart rate.
I ran the certified Big Lake 8K course this afternoon. Apparently I don't know how to toggle between pace from the foot pod and heart rate or the 50 isn't capable of this feat. I was stuck at heart rate and recalled that 156 heart rate would be 'tempo' if 176 was max .
OK, so maybe the 405 with the 8 hour battery would be a good item to purchase for speed workouts. I'm seeing the light.
The first 3 minutes HR was 150 to 171, then stayed 171 to 173 for the next 36 minutes. I saw 176 as I ran up a hill and I wasn't dieing or gasping so I really don't think it was max. 39 minutes for 8K, not full out, just a quick pace that I was able to sustain..but couldn't sustain for an hour and half I'd imagine. 39 minutes was plenty. Now I have a starting point.
How do most of you figure your heart rate? Do you train with a HRM? I'm never too old to learn.
Heading up north to the beautiful Superior Hiking Trail for three days of long slow running with friends. BETA IV!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
June Daring Bakers: Bakewell Tart...er Pudding
The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.
I can't believe I almost forgot to create and post this recipe today. I guess that will happen with only 3 hours of sleep in a 40 hour span of time. After running all night I arrived home, made the boys waffles, showered and crawled into bed from 900 to 1200. I couldn't sleep any longer! I wanted to play croquet and swim in the pool with the family. I couldn't stay in bed. The sun came out, we played..the rain came back so I watched The Dark Knight..and looked at the calendar to see what was up for tomorrow. Before I looked at tomorrow I saw today. OH NO! The tart/pudding recipe I hadn't yet made.
Luckily this was an easy recipe to put together. I chose to make a lemon curd for the filling, I used lemon zest and juice in the tart crust and topping.
Steve loves lemon/almond flavoring. The crust has crushed almonds and there are almonds on the top layer. He had a slice with ice cream and declared it delicious. I don't care for lemon so I will pass.
Now, I will go to sleep.
Jasmine has the recipe posted on her blog.
I can't believe I almost forgot to create and post this recipe today. I guess that will happen with only 3 hours of sleep in a 40 hour span of time. After running all night I arrived home, made the boys waffles, showered and crawled into bed from 900 to 1200. I couldn't sleep any longer! I wanted to play croquet and swim in the pool with the family. I couldn't stay in bed. The sun came out, we played..the rain came back so I watched The Dark Knight..and looked at the calendar to see what was up for tomorrow. Before I looked at tomorrow I saw today. OH NO! The tart/pudding recipe I hadn't yet made.
Luckily this was an easy recipe to put together. I chose to make a lemon curd for the filling, I used lemon zest and juice in the tart crust and topping.
Steve loves lemon/almond flavoring. The crust has crushed almonds and there are almonds on the top layer. He had a slice with ice cream and declared it delicious. I don't care for lemon so I will pass.
Now, I will go to sleep.
Jasmine has the recipe posted on her blog.
Midnight Run O' Fun
I received an email from Alicia last week asking to join her on a midnight rendezvous at Afton State Park. How could I resist?
Running through the park-in the dark-at midnight-when most sane people are sleeping. An offer that was incredibly enticing.
John, Kevin, myself, Alicia, Tom, Pierre, Helen, Maria and Amy all met at the visitor center before midnight. We applied mosquito spray, donned headlamps and headed out into the dark woods. Fabulous!
As we were running the race course I noticed two bright, round lights just past a large tree. My first thought was that it must be John spooking me, as he had been running just up ahead. Eventually I voiced my find in the woods. "Look at those two lights, is that someone else out there or what is that?" It was the first of many, many deer, peering back at us as we were interrupting their nighttime rest.
A while later I saw Pierre and Kevin stop abruptly, I heard raised voices. As I walked up to them I saw what Pierre almost ran through. A HUGE circular web with a large spider attached to the middle. Creepy! Pierre could have had that web spread across his face.
We continued to run and as predicated, within 2.5 hours the thunderstorm began. Loud cracks of lighting with booms of thunder followed. There were a few very scary bolts of lighting that were loud, that had struck something out there and lit up the sky like the fireworks on the 4th of July.
It felt warm and humid during our run so the rain was actually welcomed. The storm we could have done without.
Eventfully we reached the lot and were welcomed by Nancy. She was at the park, early this morning, to begin a wonderful breakfast of grilled grass fed beef burgers for us! We changed out of our wet clothes - except Pierre who forgot dry clothes - and reminisced about our hours on the trail as we were drinking hot coffee and eating burgers, a mixture of salads, birthday cake for Tom and brownies for a second dessert.
A wonderful way to spend the dark dark hours; running with fabulous friends. I'm grateful to be a part of such a wonderful friendship.
Running through the park-in the dark-at midnight-when most sane people are sleeping. An offer that was incredibly enticing.
John, Kevin, myself, Alicia, Tom, Pierre, Helen, Maria and Amy all met at the visitor center before midnight. We applied mosquito spray, donned headlamps and headed out into the dark woods. Fabulous!
As we were running the race course I noticed two bright, round lights just past a large tree. My first thought was that it must be John spooking me, as he had been running just up ahead. Eventually I voiced my find in the woods. "Look at those two lights, is that someone else out there or what is that?" It was the first of many, many deer, peering back at us as we were interrupting their nighttime rest.
A while later I saw Pierre and Kevin stop abruptly, I heard raised voices. As I walked up to them I saw what Pierre almost ran through. A HUGE circular web with a large spider attached to the middle. Creepy! Pierre could have had that web spread across his face.
We continued to run and as predicated, within 2.5 hours the thunderstorm began. Loud cracks of lighting with booms of thunder followed. There were a few very scary bolts of lighting that were loud, that had struck something out there and lit up the sky like the fireworks on the 4th of July.
It felt warm and humid during our run so the rain was actually welcomed. The storm we could have done without.
Eventfully we reached the lot and were welcomed by Nancy. She was at the park, early this morning, to begin a wonderful breakfast of grilled grass fed beef burgers for us! We changed out of our wet clothes - except Pierre who forgot dry clothes - and reminisced about our hours on the trail as we were drinking hot coffee and eating burgers, a mixture of salads, birthday cake for Tom and brownies for a second dessert.
A wonderful way to spend the dark dark hours; running with fabulous friends. I'm grateful to be a part of such a wonderful friendship.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Summer Fun in the Sun
The second week of my summer vacation is closing in on me. I can't believe how quickly it goes. I no longer 'wish for Friday'; Friday is here all to soon. Instead, I enjoy each and every day.
I love summer. Oh, how I love summer. No snowshoes, no snow, no boots, no booties, no Minnesota Hunch of my neck and back, I'm not wearing three layers of clothing to run in. Lots of running on the trail and track. Running in shorts, running with the deer flies. They aren't even getting me down. I'm happy. I love summer.
The past week has been absolutely Minnesota Perfect. 90's, clear and sunny. It has been raining during the night, clear and gorgeous during the day. Awesome.
I have 6 weeks left of summer vacation. I'm very lucky to have this time off. I am enjoying each and every day.
Each day it seems Troy is playing baseball. I love it. They don't have a very good team, they've won two games. They are all having fun and that is what counts..I keep on telling the boys that. They may believe me one of these days.
Tonight Troy plays at 7 and after the game..off for a midnight run under the moon, and maybe under a storm as well. The plan is a good 6 hour run on the trail. Just what I need..physically and mentally. I'm really looking forward to it.
Enjoy summer. I am!
I love summer. Oh, how I love summer. No snowshoes, no snow, no boots, no booties, no Minnesota Hunch of my neck and back, I'm not wearing three layers of clothing to run in. Lots of running on the trail and track. Running in shorts, running with the deer flies. They aren't even getting me down. I'm happy. I love summer.
The past week has been absolutely Minnesota Perfect. 90's, clear and sunny. It has been raining during the night, clear and gorgeous during the day. Awesome.
I have 6 weeks left of summer vacation. I'm very lucky to have this time off. I am enjoying each and every day.
Each day it seems Troy is playing baseball. I love it. They don't have a very good team, they've won two games. They are all having fun and that is what counts..I keep on telling the boys that. They may believe me one of these days.
Tonight Troy plays at 7 and after the game..off for a midnight run under the moon, and maybe under a storm as well. The plan is a good 6 hour run on the trail. Just what I need..physically and mentally. I'm really looking forward to it.
Enjoy summer. I am!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
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