This should really be called what not to do when you're not in shape to run a half marathon (on trails no less) and have a turned ankle that just won't get better.
Loren and I (and Barb!) signed up for Horseshoe Lake months ago. Since then, Barb came down with a stress fracture, I tripped over a street sign in front of my house badly turning my ankle, and Loren stuck with her usual training plan: running with the dog, going long when I tell her to, and riding the 40+ miles to work once a week. In short, not good training conditions for anyone.
I really hemmed and hawed in my head about even running. While my ankle did not hurt to run on, it would ache after, all up my leg. So I would tape it, and wear a sleeve, and try off and on running with a brace. Most of my runs were short, 3-5 miles. This, of course, is not enough to run a half on.
Last week I figured I should try and go longer than that, but I didn't want to do it in my hilly neighborhood. I went and ran 8 flat on the Embarcadero. For this run, I KT taped by ankle ( using the method for peroneal tendonitis), wore an ankle brace, and a compression sleeve. This is ridiculous. I miss my NYC physical therapist. I had no pain running and a wee bit of soreness post run but I figured this was a green light. It feels the best when I run with that silly ankle brace, so there you have it: run with the brace for now.
Still, I spent the week lamenting. My biggest concern really is not running, it's being able to climb Mount Hood in early June. Loren and I are heading up there for a summit attempt with Highpointers. This coincides with the annual convention (or as they say konvention). Yes, there is a club. Yes they have a convention. Yes this is terribly nerdy, to the point where Loren is almost embarrassed. I think it's kinda cool. We're gonna meet some crazy ass people who, like it or not, are kinda like us. Plus, we're going to climb Hood! This will be my first glacial peak so I'm really excited and don't want to risk hurting myself. My mind the last few weeks has been very much like it is when marathon tapering. Um. Yea.
Part of the reason we've been running all these trail runs is to stay in shape for the climb. It's also a ton of fun. As you can see, the last month or so has been a bit of a mess, so I went in to this with low expectations. Very low. Like, finish, maybe, most importantly, not get hurt.
The field was kept very small due to lots of single track on the course. There was a 5 miler (different course) half, full, and 50K. I'd say less than 200 for all distances with the half being the largest. As far as elevation, it gained 1800' which considering some of the other Coastal races we've done, it's not bad. (Click here for elevation chart).
There was one point on the out portion that was simply not runnable. It was like a straight up wall. The rest, not so bad. The bummer for me was my being cautious on the downs. I'm usually a really good, aggressive downhiller. I wanted to be careful not to turn or twist anything so I backed off. That was the smart thing to do but a little frustrating, esp. in the last few miles as I was stalking a woman very close in front of me who I just could not catch.
The wall we had to run up was no picnic coming back down either. Lots of roots and rocks and oh so steep.
My legs started getting heavy and tired by mile 8. Ooops.
I was trading places with a couple who was running the full and we were chatting. I said I was doing the half but was really only in shape for about 8. The guy said well, I'm doing the full and am really only in shape for a half.
Close behind them were 2 women running together who I really didn't want to catch me. I could see they had gained a lot on me since the turn around. I just didn't have a lot in the tank to try and pull away from them. They did pass me, but one of them was struggling so I was able to pass back and stay ahead. That got me through to the end. I was never able to pass the woman who was close ahead of me, but I was able to hold them off for good.
As I approached the finish, the couple doing the full were on their way back and there were high fives all around.
I ran through the finish to see Loren, Barb, and Pete all waiting. I didn't feel terrible, I didn't hurt myself, and no one soiled themselves so I'd say it was a success.
Stats:
Finish time: 2:10:56
Over all: 17/97
Women: 7/56
Age Group 2/6
Loren was 7th OA, 2nd woman, and 1st AG.
No more big runs until post Hood! I of course will update about that when we get back!
Monday, May 21, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
I'm swimming, I'm flying, I'm dying
Welcome to another installment of Audra Learns the Trails of the Bay Area by Running Trail Races. On this week's adventure, we take on the Berkeley Hills by running the Grizzly Peak Trail Half. Your distance may vary, it was actually 12.8 miles which proved to me more than enough. Let's start with the course profile shall we?
There were 5 distance for this race: 10k, half, 30k, marathon, 50k. Usually with so many distances, there will be different start times. The field for this race was kept pretty small (and sold out) so we all started together.
I thought the first mile would be pretty bad but it wasn't. I'm still learning how to pace myself at the start of these races. I'd say almost all of them start with an uphill and I don't do any warm up. Ok, this time I did: a sprint from the bathroom to the starting line, but that doesn't really count. I'm trying to just ease myself into a comfortable pace to start, as comfortable as one can be while gaining 600' in the first mile.
I'm had some butt/high hamstring twinginess the past few weeks so I told myself I wasn't going to run hard this week. Good luck with that! Well, the course certainly helped slow me down. For 1, there's a lot of up and down, it was tough to find any kind of rhythm. It was also rocky, like East Coast rocky so watching your footing was key. I was cruising down hill on a very gutted, rocky section and just kept thinking someone is going to seriously eat it here (I've seen 1 bloody photo and heard reports of 1 dislocated finger). We've also had some rain in the last week or so so there were muddy sections. It's funny to see people try and tip toe around mud and puddles. I try to pick the best line so I don't get stuck but I don't really worry about getting dirty, I'll run right through if that's the best way. A real down side to this mud is the mud drying, leaving fossils of foot prints, hoof prints, bike tire tracks and who knows what else to navigate. I imagine if the trail had been in better conditions I would have been a few minutes faster. But that's what you get with trails, you just never know how things are going to be out there and it has a huge impact on the outcome.
For most of this race, I did have others around me. I wasn't sure who was running what distance and of course, even when I say I'm not going to "race" I start keeping track of the women around me. On the very steep down hill, I lost 3 of them. Only 1 came back to me (though in the last mile, 2 would come FLYING by me, though only 1 of them was racing my distance). Some of these folks out there doing the longer distance stuff are no joke: they really MOVE.
At about the half way point, we were rewarded for suffering up the steep inclines with the most amazing view. We came to a clearing and there in front of us was the Bay Bridge, all of San Francisco, the Golden Gate, Marin, and Mt Tam. I'm so glad it was a clear day, it's an amazing sight. The guy in front of me peeled off to take a picture.
After a lovely almost 2 miles of downhill came what I was calling in my head The March to the Gulag. We had run down this steep rocky section. It didn't realize I'd be running back up it (mile 8.5-9.5). It really wasn't runnable, too steep and so rocky. There was just a line of us walking up it. The silver lining to this is I know it's the last real hill, and the rest of the course is downhill. I can't recall the last time I had such a slow mile. It took me over 18 minutes (my fastest mile of the race was just about 8 minutes). Trail running=coming to terms with sometimes having to walk.
So before I get to the end of this tail, I'm going to take a time of you tell you about one of my co-competitors. This is the 2nd time I've encountered a guy like this in a race. I passed him around mile 10 (he did pass me back). I took one look at him and winced at the thought of what it was going to feel like when he took a shower. He was wearing cotton underwear under nylon shorts, cotton socks, Vans (hey props to you dude if you can run 13 miles in Vans), no shirt, and was carrying one of those cheap backpacks with strings for straps. Sir, that is a one way ticket to Chafe City.
Now back to our regularly scheduled misery:
I hit the last water station and know there's about 1.7 miles to go. I can hear a couple of women coming up behind me and peak back, I don't want to be passed this late. Well, 2 come FLYING by me. I catch a number of 1, she's not in my race so I'm not worried. The other one is and there is no way I'm catching her. Then I notice my shoe coming untied. I'm not stopping to tie it and just hope I don't trip in the last half mile. Stupid laces.
I don't trip and no one else comes around me.
I finished in 2:22:38 ( a blistering 11:09 pace)
Loren is at the finish with Barb who couldn't run. I ask Loren how she did and she hold up her first over all medal, her 2nd win of the year (she was also 6th over all and will just say a woman doing the marathon was ahead of her as well as someone who was a bandit but she was still first in the half).
I was 2nd in my age group (behind Loren of course), 9th woman (out of 45), and 26th over all (out of 89).
Steep Ravine is still the hardest one of these races I've done, but I'd put this at 2nd for sure.
Yesterday I wasn't too sore. My butt/hammy feel fine. I have some quad soreness and some soreness along the outside of my left calf. I rolled my ankle a bit during the race which is what's causing it, but it's just sore. As is my big toe, ouch.
Coast Trail Runs who puts on these races does something called the Trail Blazer awards, it's a points standing for their races over the course of the year. As of mid March, Loren was leading in the half distance as well as in our age group, I'm 3rd in our age group. I think I'm 23rd or something over all. All of this is of course based on who shows up!
Next race is in Palo Alto in Mid May. Stay tuned!
There were 5 distance for this race: 10k, half, 30k, marathon, 50k. Usually with so many distances, there will be different start times. The field for this race was kept pretty small (and sold out) so we all started together.
I thought the first mile would be pretty bad but it wasn't. I'm still learning how to pace myself at the start of these races. I'd say almost all of them start with an uphill and I don't do any warm up. Ok, this time I did: a sprint from the bathroom to the starting line, but that doesn't really count. I'm trying to just ease myself into a comfortable pace to start, as comfortable as one can be while gaining 600' in the first mile.
I'm had some butt/high hamstring twinginess the past few weeks so I told myself I wasn't going to run hard this week. Good luck with that! Well, the course certainly helped slow me down. For 1, there's a lot of up and down, it was tough to find any kind of rhythm. It was also rocky, like East Coast rocky so watching your footing was key. I was cruising down hill on a very gutted, rocky section and just kept thinking someone is going to seriously eat it here (I've seen 1 bloody photo and heard reports of 1 dislocated finger). We've also had some rain in the last week or so so there were muddy sections. It's funny to see people try and tip toe around mud and puddles. I try to pick the best line so I don't get stuck but I don't really worry about getting dirty, I'll run right through if that's the best way. A real down side to this mud is the mud drying, leaving fossils of foot prints, hoof prints, bike tire tracks and who knows what else to navigate. I imagine if the trail had been in better conditions I would have been a few minutes faster. But that's what you get with trails, you just never know how things are going to be out there and it has a huge impact on the outcome.
For most of this race, I did have others around me. I wasn't sure who was running what distance and of course, even when I say I'm not going to "race" I start keeping track of the women around me. On the very steep down hill, I lost 3 of them. Only 1 came back to me (though in the last mile, 2 would come FLYING by me, though only 1 of them was racing my distance). Some of these folks out there doing the longer distance stuff are no joke: they really MOVE.
At about the half way point, we were rewarded for suffering up the steep inclines with the most amazing view. We came to a clearing and there in front of us was the Bay Bridge, all of San Francisco, the Golden Gate, Marin, and Mt Tam. I'm so glad it was a clear day, it's an amazing sight. The guy in front of me peeled off to take a picture.
After a lovely almost 2 miles of downhill came what I was calling in my head The March to the Gulag. We had run down this steep rocky section. It didn't realize I'd be running back up it (mile 8.5-9.5). It really wasn't runnable, too steep and so rocky. There was just a line of us walking up it. The silver lining to this is I know it's the last real hill, and the rest of the course is downhill. I can't recall the last time I had such a slow mile. It took me over 18 minutes (my fastest mile of the race was just about 8 minutes). Trail running=coming to terms with sometimes having to walk.
So before I get to the end of this tail, I'm going to take a time of you tell you about one of my co-competitors. This is the 2nd time I've encountered a guy like this in a race. I passed him around mile 10 (he did pass me back). I took one look at him and winced at the thought of what it was going to feel like when he took a shower. He was wearing cotton underwear under nylon shorts, cotton socks, Vans (hey props to you dude if you can run 13 miles in Vans), no shirt, and was carrying one of those cheap backpacks with strings for straps. Sir, that is a one way ticket to Chafe City.
Now back to our regularly scheduled misery:
I hit the last water station and know there's about 1.7 miles to go. I can hear a couple of women coming up behind me and peak back, I don't want to be passed this late. Well, 2 come FLYING by me. I catch a number of 1, she's not in my race so I'm not worried. The other one is and there is no way I'm catching her. Then I notice my shoe coming untied. I'm not stopping to tie it and just hope I don't trip in the last half mile. Stupid laces.
I don't trip and no one else comes around me.
I finished in 2:22:38 ( a blistering 11:09 pace)
Loren is at the finish with Barb who couldn't run. I ask Loren how she did and she hold up her first over all medal, her 2nd win of the year (she was also 6th over all and will just say a woman doing the marathon was ahead of her as well as someone who was a bandit but she was still first in the half).
I was 2nd in my age group (behind Loren of course), 9th woman (out of 45), and 26th over all (out of 89).
Steep Ravine is still the hardest one of these races I've done, but I'd put this at 2nd for sure.
Yesterday I wasn't too sore. My butt/hammy feel fine. I have some quad soreness and some soreness along the outside of my left calf. I rolled my ankle a bit during the race which is what's causing it, but it's just sore. As is my big toe, ouch.
Coast Trail Runs who puts on these races does something called the Trail Blazer awards, it's a points standing for their races over the course of the year. As of mid March, Loren was leading in the half distance as well as in our age group, I'm 3rd in our age group. I think I'm 23rd or something over all. All of this is of course based on who shows up!
Next race is in Palo Alto in Mid May. Stay tuned!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
There's a feeling I get when I look to the West
Thank you for tuning in for another installment of trail racing reports. This week is brought to you by Coastal Trail Run's Montara Mountain Half Marathon. A beautiful course covering 13.1 miles and climbing 2900' in the lovely coastal town of Pacifica, CA (that link will take you to the elevation profile, take a look!).
A few things since January's Steep Ravine race:
First, that race beat me up. Man that was hard. It make me realize I have some work to do and not just with my running. I have some weak spots. In early Feb. Loren and I started on a strength routine based on the Iron Strength work out. It really focuses on getting a stronger ass, something runners tend to lack. Now, this thing starts out with like 5 minute intervals of things. Um. No. We cut everything do like 2 minutes, and ya know what? I was still sore as hell the next day. It's getting better and I'm upping the times of the intervals but it's still a workout. In this transition to strength training, I've cut down on my milage. Not that it was high to begin with but I just don't want to over do it. I figured this would really help with my trail running and hills and in the long run, my goals for the year: climbing Mt Hood and Mt Rainier.
It didn't take long to see an improvement.
Last weekend we went out to check out the course, while we didn't run the whole thing, we ran 10 miles and did the first 2 climbs. I could tell the difference, I felt like I had more power going up those climbs (the first one was 3 miles and gains about 1600"). I really like having an idea of what the course is like.
Race day: beautiful morning. Temps in the high 40s and clear clear skies. The RD said the trails were in the best condition he had ever seen them and the weather was just picture perfect. There were 4 distance: 10k (2nd half of the half so we never ran with them) half, full, and 50k. I'd say less than 200 people total for all races.
The first couple of miles were narrow single track. I wanted to be up frontish as to not be blocked out and lost in the bottle neck, but I didn't want to be so far up that I was going out too fast and causing those behind me to have to wait. I feel like I positioned myself well, we all moved like a snake up the switch backs with some passing here in there but no major issues.
I'm glad I had run up this hill the week before. After about 2 miles, we hit a service road up to the summit.
Not before long, the leaders started coming down. First a spate of guys, then 1 woman doing the marathon, and next was Loren. She was 2nd woman in the field, but first woman in the half.
I hit the top, grabbed my orange rubber band that indicated I made it to the top and started bombing down the 3 mile decent. By then the field had thinned out and there was no problems going down the narrow trail. There would be the occasional hiker but they were aware there was a race happening and were all considerate.
After that, there was a short flat with the aid station. I grabbed a 2nd gel, since my spare fell out of my pocket at the start, and some clif drink and headed for the 2nd climb.
The 2nd climb wasn't bad, about a mile long and not too steep. The thing I didn't like about this climb was coming back down. It was a narrow trail with a gash down the middle of most of it, perfect to ankle busting. I didn't get to go down as fast as I'd have liked to, not wanting to break my ass. Another small flat patch, maybe a half mile, then up to the 3rd climb: 2 miles of fun.
I wish we had run this one too. Not knowing what was coming and going up hill for 2 miles at mile 9 was tough. There were lots of switchbacks, some really steep sections, and lots of trees so I couldn't see where the path was leading me and I couldn't see anyone behind me or in front of me. It was a tough climb. I dug in and just kept going up up and up.
FINALLY, a clearing and the down hill started. The footing here was much better so I could really move. I was getting into the mid 7s going down, I knew I was almost done. I could hear them announcing winners and I was pretty sure I heard them announce Loren as the first woman in the half.
Once I hit the bottom of the hill, just a couple of turns through a flat parking lot to the finish.
My goal for this race was sub 2:20, I finished in 2:17:37, almost 10 minutes faster than Steep Ravine. It's not really fair to compare races. While it's the same distance the courses and terrain are very very different.
Results:
3/14 in age group
7/39 women
23/89 over all.
I'm happy with that.
Now a note about Loren. Yup, she won. She also set a course record (I will add this because she keeps adding it: the woman who won the marathon was a few minutes ahead of her at her halfway point. She also flat out won the marathon, first over all, but anyhooo) Loren finished in 2:03:59. At mile 8, Loren dropped her only remaining gel and stepped on it, hearing that lovely pop that a gel exploding under a foot makes. Because she is hardcore (and may have bonked otherwise) she picked up said popped gel and carried it with her, licking the gel off her hand and spitting out the gravel for then next 5 miles. I'm just glad she didn't lick it off her shoe. She ended with mocha gel on her hand, leg, shoe, and face. Sexxxy proof here.
Yup. That's my girl!
A few things since January's Steep Ravine race:
First, that race beat me up. Man that was hard. It make me realize I have some work to do and not just with my running. I have some weak spots. In early Feb. Loren and I started on a strength routine based on the Iron Strength work out. It really focuses on getting a stronger ass, something runners tend to lack. Now, this thing starts out with like 5 minute intervals of things. Um. No. We cut everything do like 2 minutes, and ya know what? I was still sore as hell the next day. It's getting better and I'm upping the times of the intervals but it's still a workout. In this transition to strength training, I've cut down on my milage. Not that it was high to begin with but I just don't want to over do it. I figured this would really help with my trail running and hills and in the long run, my goals for the year: climbing Mt Hood and Mt Rainier.
It didn't take long to see an improvement.
Last weekend we went out to check out the course, while we didn't run the whole thing, we ran 10 miles and did the first 2 climbs. I could tell the difference, I felt like I had more power going up those climbs (the first one was 3 miles and gains about 1600"). I really like having an idea of what the course is like.
Race day: beautiful morning. Temps in the high 40s and clear clear skies. The RD said the trails were in the best condition he had ever seen them and the weather was just picture perfect. There were 4 distance: 10k (2nd half of the half so we never ran with them) half, full, and 50k. I'd say less than 200 people total for all races.
The first couple of miles were narrow single track. I wanted to be up frontish as to not be blocked out and lost in the bottle neck, but I didn't want to be so far up that I was going out too fast and causing those behind me to have to wait. I feel like I positioned myself well, we all moved like a snake up the switch backs with some passing here in there but no major issues.
I'm glad I had run up this hill the week before. After about 2 miles, we hit a service road up to the summit.
Not before long, the leaders started coming down. First a spate of guys, then 1 woman doing the marathon, and next was Loren. She was 2nd woman in the field, but first woman in the half.
I hit the top, grabbed my orange rubber band that indicated I made it to the top and started bombing down the 3 mile decent. By then the field had thinned out and there was no problems going down the narrow trail. There would be the occasional hiker but they were aware there was a race happening and were all considerate.
After that, there was a short flat with the aid station. I grabbed a 2nd gel, since my spare fell out of my pocket at the start, and some clif drink and headed for the 2nd climb.
The 2nd climb wasn't bad, about a mile long and not too steep. The thing I didn't like about this climb was coming back down. It was a narrow trail with a gash down the middle of most of it, perfect to ankle busting. I didn't get to go down as fast as I'd have liked to, not wanting to break my ass. Another small flat patch, maybe a half mile, then up to the 3rd climb: 2 miles of fun.
I wish we had run this one too. Not knowing what was coming and going up hill for 2 miles at mile 9 was tough. There were lots of switchbacks, some really steep sections, and lots of trees so I couldn't see where the path was leading me and I couldn't see anyone behind me or in front of me. It was a tough climb. I dug in and just kept going up up and up.
FINALLY, a clearing and the down hill started. The footing here was much better so I could really move. I was getting into the mid 7s going down, I knew I was almost done. I could hear them announcing winners and I was pretty sure I heard them announce Loren as the first woman in the half.
Once I hit the bottom of the hill, just a couple of turns through a flat parking lot to the finish.
My goal for this race was sub 2:20, I finished in 2:17:37, almost 10 minutes faster than Steep Ravine. It's not really fair to compare races. While it's the same distance the courses and terrain are very very different.
Results:
3/14 in age group
7/39 women
23/89 over all.
I'm happy with that.
Now a note about Loren. Yup, she won. She also set a course record (I will add this because she keeps adding it: the woman who won the marathon was a few minutes ahead of her at her halfway point. She also flat out won the marathon, first over all, but anyhooo) Loren finished in 2:03:59. At mile 8, Loren dropped her only remaining gel and stepped on it, hearing that lovely pop that a gel exploding under a foot makes. Because she is hardcore (and may have bonked otherwise) she picked up said popped gel and carried it with her, licking the gel off her hand and spitting out the gravel for then next 5 miles. I'm just glad she didn't lick it off her shoe. She ended with mocha gel on her hand, leg, shoe, and face. Sexxxy proof here.
Yup. That's my girl!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Like you were just a wish that could turn out well
It's been quiet over here at Dog Pound enterprises. I haven't been training for any big goal race or anything like that. I've been keeping steady low weekly milage and trying my hand at some local trail running. It's fun to mix it up and try something different. No pressure since every race has new challenges and all the CA trails are pretty new to me.
Saturday was Steep Ravine. This is a pretty well known hiking trail. The race also hooks up with the Dipsea trail which is known in running lore for the The Dipsea, the oldest trail race in the states. It started in 1905. Anyway, I mentioned on RWOL that I was running Steep Ravine and someone said, wait, I've hiked that trail, isn't there a step ladder? Why yes. Yes there is a step ladder. It's interesting to climb a step ladder while running a race.
You can see the course map here and the elevation chart is so lovely to look at:
I didn't have much of a plan going into this. Usually, I look over last year's results and try to figure out where I should be placement wise. This was new territory for me since I've never run a trail half and they had changed the course from last year. The course is now much more challenging.
When we got going I felt like every one had really bolted out. The field wasn't that big, less than 200 people. I tried to settle in, obviously, we go straight up from the get go. Oh and for the next 4 miles. I tried to just settle in and be mindful of my foot falls. This trail is much rockier and rootier than other trails I've run on out here. Not to mention the step ladder, ducking under fallen trees and some tiny streams.
The trail splits from pink to a yellow loop right after the aid station/check point. There was some confusion on which direction to go to the check point. After some discussion with the pack I found myself in, we decided to go right, which did lead us to the aid station. I know there can be some lingering at aid stations on trail runs but I like to just keep at it so I gulped down some sports drink and split. I was now with just 1 other guy bombing the down hill section. It is so much fun to go from 13-15 minute miles to 7-8 minute miles.
For a while, I wasn't sure I was going the right way. I could see the trail markings and I was going counter clockwise as we had been instructed but I didn't see anyone else. There were 5 races going on with variations on route so there were people all over the place just no one near me. Then some guys come flying by the other way and tell me I'm going the wrong way. I was pretty sure I wasn't and had already decided if I was, it was just going to loop back to where I needed to be and I wasn't turning around.
After a couple of miles I saw Loren. She was with a pack and said "hi, we're going the wrong way, you're going the right way so keep going".
There were a lot of confused people out there in them woods. Some poor 7 mile folks ended up doing 10 miles, some 12. I'm not really sure how they got so turned around.
I got confused again when it came to getting back to the aid station. At this point, I was with 2 other people, a man and a woman. The woman was like, ok, he's really fast, let's send him ahead to make sure this is right. He called back to us and we were going in the right direction.
Once I got back to the aid station/check point I was surprised to find Loren there. She decided since she went the wrong way and cut the course she would wait for me at the aid station so we could run the last 3 miles together and she'd DQ herself at the end.
A lot of people went off course. After the fact, the RD went back to check the course and saw that the directional arrows were no longer there, causing the confusion. He counted everyone and gave everyone race credit (there's a points competition that goes on through out the year) and adjusted times for the short course.
I am pleased with my results. While it took me a lot longer than I had expected, I set a half marathon personal worst and a trail half marathon person best with a time of 2:36:52
Stats:
Overall 47 out of 172
women 8 out of 78
AG 2 out of 21
Even though Loren asked not to be counted she finished right behind me for 3rd in AG. That may never happen again. I'm sure if she hadn't waited for me she would have been 2nd woman. She gave herself a nice 15 minute handicap waiting for me at the aid station.
It was a tough run but I had a lot of fun. I'm enjoying this for now. I'm sure at some point I'll start setting different goals and go back to more road racing. After all these years of running, I just need to mix it up a bit.
In other news, our other trail running partner in crime Barb aged up for this race and nabbed 3rd in her age group in her debut race. Way to go Barb!
Saturday was Steep Ravine. This is a pretty well known hiking trail. The race also hooks up with the Dipsea trail which is known in running lore for the The Dipsea, the oldest trail race in the states. It started in 1905. Anyway, I mentioned on RWOL that I was running Steep Ravine and someone said, wait, I've hiked that trail, isn't there a step ladder? Why yes. Yes there is a step ladder. It's interesting to climb a step ladder while running a race.
You can see the course map here and the elevation chart is so lovely to look at:
I didn't have much of a plan going into this. Usually, I look over last year's results and try to figure out where I should be placement wise. This was new territory for me since I've never run a trail half and they had changed the course from last year. The course is now much more challenging.
When we got going I felt like every one had really bolted out. The field wasn't that big, less than 200 people. I tried to settle in, obviously, we go straight up from the get go. Oh and for the next 4 miles. I tried to just settle in and be mindful of my foot falls. This trail is much rockier and rootier than other trails I've run on out here. Not to mention the step ladder, ducking under fallen trees and some tiny streams.
The trail splits from pink to a yellow loop right after the aid station/check point. There was some confusion on which direction to go to the check point. After some discussion with the pack I found myself in, we decided to go right, which did lead us to the aid station. I know there can be some lingering at aid stations on trail runs but I like to just keep at it so I gulped down some sports drink and split. I was now with just 1 other guy bombing the down hill section. It is so much fun to go from 13-15 minute miles to 7-8 minute miles.
For a while, I wasn't sure I was going the right way. I could see the trail markings and I was going counter clockwise as we had been instructed but I didn't see anyone else. There were 5 races going on with variations on route so there were people all over the place just no one near me. Then some guys come flying by the other way and tell me I'm going the wrong way. I was pretty sure I wasn't and had already decided if I was, it was just going to loop back to where I needed to be and I wasn't turning around.
After a couple of miles I saw Loren. She was with a pack and said "hi, we're going the wrong way, you're going the right way so keep going".
There were a lot of confused people out there in them woods. Some poor 7 mile folks ended up doing 10 miles, some 12. I'm not really sure how they got so turned around.
I got confused again when it came to getting back to the aid station. At this point, I was with 2 other people, a man and a woman. The woman was like, ok, he's really fast, let's send him ahead to make sure this is right. He called back to us and we were going in the right direction.
Once I got back to the aid station/check point I was surprised to find Loren there. She decided since she went the wrong way and cut the course she would wait for me at the aid station so we could run the last 3 miles together and she'd DQ herself at the end.
A lot of people went off course. After the fact, the RD went back to check the course and saw that the directional arrows were no longer there, causing the confusion. He counted everyone and gave everyone race credit (there's a points competition that goes on through out the year) and adjusted times for the short course.
I am pleased with my results. While it took me a lot longer than I had expected, I set a half marathon personal worst and a trail half marathon person best with a time of 2:36:52
Stats:
Overall 47 out of 172
women 8 out of 78
AG 2 out of 21
Even though Loren asked not to be counted she finished right behind me for 3rd in AG. That may never happen again. I'm sure if she hadn't waited for me she would have been 2nd woman. She gave herself a nice 15 minute handicap waiting for me at the aid station.
It was a tough run but I had a lot of fun. I'm enjoying this for now. I'm sure at some point I'll start setting different goals and go back to more road racing. After all these years of running, I just need to mix it up a bit.
In other news, our other trail running partner in crime Barb aged up for this race and nabbed 3rd in her age group in her debut race. Way to go Barb!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Laying low and wasting time
IT LIVES!!!!
I have not updated in a while. Not that there's been much to update, but I have been internet running related laying low. I figured I would do the old year end/new year wrap up.
In 2011, I ran 1264 miles. Not setting any records there, but it was 200 miles more than 2010.
I PRed in the half, but missed my goals of breaking 1:40 in the half and 3:40 in the full. I felt like I had a lot of solid running. With moving across the country, it's taken me some time to get my running routine together. I'm still working on that. I've set no solid running goals for 2012. No marathons, no halfs, nothing really planned other than some trail races. I feel like after years of chasing Boston, I need a break for serious goal chasing. I don't think I'm done, I know there are faster times in me. I'm just going to focus on some other things.
Since moving, I've been doing more trail running. I love it. It's a nice change from road running. Time is less important. It's very mental. It's also very beautiful. It's also making me stronger which is awesome.
My biggest goals for 2012 are high points. I have 32 done. In 2011, I did 4. HI, FL, AZ, and AL. It's getting tougher to get a lot done in 1 year and several done in 1 trip. We should be able to get 3-4 in a trip to the midwest. IL is tough because it's on private property that is only open 4 weekends a year. Another challenge is the high points themselves. A sample of what's left:
Mt Rainier: 14, 410' glaciated peak.
Mt Hood 11, 239' glaciated peak
Granite Peak 12,799', 22 miles round trip, plus technical climbing
Gannett Peak 13, 804' 40 miles round trip, plus technical climbing
Denali the name says it all.
This year, we're planning on Hood and Rainier. The High Pointers club is having the yearly convention in OR so Loren and I have been in touch with people about planning a climb. An old friend of Loren's is a former professional guide and has agreed to do Rainier with us. I'm really excited about both of these trip.
This weekend, we're running Crystal Springs (the 11 mile course). We went out last week to check out the course. Should be lots of fun! As I said, I'm digging these trail runs.
I'll sign off with a picture of us at the AL high point, which was also Bea's 8th.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
I really f*cked it up this time, didn't I my dear
I'm 40 years old. I started running track when I was about 9 and continued to do so off, but mostly on since then. And apparently that's not long enough to learn not to do stupid things. This weekend I am chalking up to another f*cking growth opportunity (this is my post of profanity). I wasn't even going to write about this, but I'm actually glad it happened because I did learn a few things and I'm glad for that, even if I had a sucky race.
On Sunday, I ran the Zombie Runner half marathon. After my terrible run at San Jose, I wanted to try again. This race was put on by Coastal Trail Runs. They also put on the Diablo race I did last month. They really do put on great events. They're small and mostly train runs. This course was very flat and a variety of not very technical surfaces, dirt, some gravel, road. There were 4 aid stations on the course and I figured that would be enough and I wouldn't have to carry my own water. This would come back to bite me right in the ass.
From looking at past events on this course, I figured I could start close to the front. The half marathon and the full started together. Based on previous women's times, I figured I'd be in the top 5ish. Since it was the day before halloween, there were a lot of people in costumes which was fun. Personally, I don't think I could race dressed up, but it was fun to see others.
I started out feeling great. I fell into a nice rhythm and didn't get sucked into the faster pace of the guys ahead of me. The first aid station was at about 2.5 miles. When I went by, they really weren't set up or I didn't slow down/stop to really see, but I didn't see any cups out as I went by so I kept going.
I fell in with 2 guys, 1 doing the full and 1 doing the half. I knew there were 3 women ahead of me. Far ahead of me. As we came up on mile 6, I took a gel knowing there'd be another aid station soon. I could see the tent and as I came up on it I grabbed a cup as I was running by.
It was empty.
@&*^*%^!!!!
I'm now 6+ miles in, I've got gel mouth, and no water. I was not happy. I was, however, still on 1:40 pace but knew this was going to get tough. The next aid station wasn't until 8.5 miles.
In the distance, I could see 3rd place woman coming back to me. I kept my eyes on her and made it a goal to pass her. Once I did, I dropped her like a bad habit. I think she may have gone out a bit fast. I knew not far behind her was Loren who had a sore hamstring and was just running easy.
By mile 8, I was slooooowing down. I was so pissed. Dude I had been running with earlier came up on me with encouraging words. Before the next aid station , I took another gel, which hit my stomach hard. When I hit the tent, I gulped 2 cups of water but I knew it was too late. From the way the course snaked around, I could see Loren was gaining on me, or rather I was slowing so much I was going to fall behind her.
For the last 2.5 miles or so, there was an out and back and another aid station at mile 11ish. I took more water and Loren was really close to me. I was running like 8:15 pace and couldn't go any faster. Ugh.
While I was feeling like complete ass, it was fun to see all the other folks on the out and back in costume and being very encouraging, that did help even though the last mile was total hell. With about a half mile to go, Loren passed me and said not to worry she had no kick. I was like please, no kick? I go no nothin. This is it for me. The finish could not come soon enough.
So in the grand scheme of things...I ran a 1:45:25. Slower than San Jose by about 20 seconds. Continuing with the them for the year, I was 4th woman (22nd over all) and I won my age group. Little consolation, as I said to my pal Flo, I'd rather have a good race than an AG win. Loren was 3rd woman and won her AG. Since her birthday is soon, this is the last time in a while we won't be in the same AG.
There are 2 big things I came away with:
1. Water. Carry it. If there isn't aids stations at like every mile from now on, I'm carrying water. Clearly that was a huge mistake on my part.
2. I'm not in shape to run as fast as I'd like. After these 2 races, I've put a lot of thought into this. ALL my PRs have come when I'm marathon training. When I'm marathon training, I'm running higher milage. This was the first time I trained just for a half. Clearly, I'm not running enough. This is something that can be easily fixed.
Another part of this is I'm still adjusting to a new city. I have some running routes mapped out that I do but it's not the same comfort level I had in NYC.
So I know what I need to do. I'm not in any hurry to get out and race another half, I want to put in some more milage, do some more trail running and set this goal on the back burner for a few months until I feel more ready for it.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
What you had, And what you lost
I ran the San Jose half today. This race has been on the calender for a while. I decided to take a break from marathons for a while so I set my sights on actually training for a half and FINALLY breaking 1:40. I set up a training plan and enlisted Loren to run as well. Best laid plans and all of that, turns out she had to go to HI for work. Rough, I know.
My training cycle went well. I felt really good about this race going into. I did until Friday anyway, but I'll get to that in a minute.
2 guys from the CA forum on Runner's World offered to run with me since they had similar goals of running under 1:40. Very sweet of them and I took them up on it. It lasted about 5 miles. I just did not have it today. My legs felt heavy, I tried to rally and it just wasn't happening. Actually, it really went down hill after 10k (I was pretty on pace until that point). I phoned it around mile 7 and just ran to finish. Not like I could have run any faster if I wanted to. I finished in 1:44:01. No, it's not a bad time. Yes it's way off my goal. I can deal with that. I'll pick another race and give it another shot.
I know what's partially responsible for my poor run today, though as I was running I told myself I was not going to use this as an excuse.
As I was getting ready to leave the house on Friday morning, I was reading Facebook when some horrible news came across my feed. Yes, this is how we find things out these days. My old friend from my HS days posted that his sister, someone I was also friends with and who I went to HS with, passed away while giving birth. Her son also did not make it.
This news is beyond horrifying and I instantly burst into tears.
Even now...it's totally surreal. The last few days have been a sea of sorrow and reconnecting with people from the past.
My high school experience was not the best. I very much looked forward to the day when it would be over. I had a great extended group of freakish friends from out side of school, a very John Hughesesque group of kids. Gia and her brother were both a big part of that crowd. Going to see Rocky Horror, trips into Philly for all age punk shows, and nights dancing at Revival. Scott is a year older than me and went to a different school, Gia a year younger. It was great to have Gia at school during the day, an ally in otherness.
We had kept in touch over the years, though college and when she came to NYC for grad school we'd hang out.
Like most people these days, we had connected again on Facebook. It was great to be back in touch, see how her family had grown to include her husband Charlie and their twin boys, Charlie and Nate.
She was so excited about being pregnant again and sharing all the changes and how her boys were adjusting to a new one coming along. I was excited for her and looked forward to her updates. She was always supportive of my adventures.
As I was running today, my mantra became "sorrow into strength" but honesly, there was none of that. I haven't slept well the last few nights. My mind is constantly thinking about this huge loss.
I'm sure I could go on and on but I'm not going to, there just aren't the right words for this.
Gia was an amazing person. Smart and beautiful and full of talent. The loss is immense for all those who knew her and most certainly for her family.
If you're the praying type, please keep her husband, her boys, her brother and mom in your prayers. If you're not the praying type, please keep them in your thoughts.
My training cycle went well. I felt really good about this race going into. I did until Friday anyway, but I'll get to that in a minute.
2 guys from the CA forum on Runner's World offered to run with me since they had similar goals of running under 1:40. Very sweet of them and I took them up on it. It lasted about 5 miles. I just did not have it today. My legs felt heavy, I tried to rally and it just wasn't happening. Actually, it really went down hill after 10k (I was pretty on pace until that point). I phoned it around mile 7 and just ran to finish. Not like I could have run any faster if I wanted to. I finished in 1:44:01. No, it's not a bad time. Yes it's way off my goal. I can deal with that. I'll pick another race and give it another shot.
I know what's partially responsible for my poor run today, though as I was running I told myself I was not going to use this as an excuse.
As I was getting ready to leave the house on Friday morning, I was reading Facebook when some horrible news came across my feed. Yes, this is how we find things out these days. My old friend from my HS days posted that his sister, someone I was also friends with and who I went to HS with, passed away while giving birth. Her son also did not make it.
This news is beyond horrifying and I instantly burst into tears.
Even now...it's totally surreal. The last few days have been a sea of sorrow and reconnecting with people from the past.
My high school experience was not the best. I very much looked forward to the day when it would be over. I had a great extended group of freakish friends from out side of school, a very John Hughesesque group of kids. Gia and her brother were both a big part of that crowd. Going to see Rocky Horror, trips into Philly for all age punk shows, and nights dancing at Revival. Scott is a year older than me and went to a different school, Gia a year younger. It was great to have Gia at school during the day, an ally in otherness.
We had kept in touch over the years, though college and when she came to NYC for grad school we'd hang out.
Like most people these days, we had connected again on Facebook. It was great to be back in touch, see how her family had grown to include her husband Charlie and their twin boys, Charlie and Nate.
She was so excited about being pregnant again and sharing all the changes and how her boys were adjusting to a new one coming along. I was excited for her and looked forward to her updates. She was always supportive of my adventures.
As I was running today, my mantra became "sorrow into strength" but honesly, there was none of that. I haven't slept well the last few nights. My mind is constantly thinking about this huge loss.
I'm sure I could go on and on but I'm not going to, there just aren't the right words for this.
Gia was an amazing person. Smart and beautiful and full of talent. The loss is immense for all those who knew her and most certainly for her family.
If you're the praying type, please keep her husband, her boys, her brother and mom in your prayers. If you're not the praying type, please keep them in your thoughts.
xoxoxo
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