The Maze Race Report

You know you loved your race when you sit down at your computer on Monday morning to look for more races. My first trail race was The Maze at Walnut Creek park on Sunday morning. I ran the 10k. There had been a thunderstorm the night before so the course was definitely sloppy. Rainwater rushed the normally gurgling low water crossings and the normally dusty single track was muddy from the rain. I was so relieved it wasn’t actually raining on us, I didn’t care. In fact, I thought the wet course made the park new and exciting which was good. I had done soooooo many training runs out there that it was hard to get excited for race day when it felt like just another long run.

It turns out all the course training paid off, and my coach’s race plan was right on the money. We had practiced all the technical sections of the race so many times, that when it was race day, my only imperative was to run it faster than I had before.
I was able to lock in a quick pace for the beginning of the race, having measured the weekend before that there was absolutely no excuse to shoot for any thing less than road pace for the first 2.3 miles. The first half of the race was a breeze. The gps function on my older garmin cuts in and out on the trail, counting forward progress as rest time, or not at all, so I arrived at the aid station ahead of schedule. Of course, I am a total dork and run with my hydration pack so the aid station was exciting because my mom, Tiger and Dixie were waiting for me there (with signs) yay! Of course when I came by Dixie tried to break loose and run with me, but Tiger kept the terror saurus tethered.

The second half of the course was much more technical (I knew this) but the sun was starting to come out making it a lot easier to see slippery mud vs. regular mud (yes, there is a difference). I was also getting lapped by 30k dudes several of whom were from my training group and it was fun to see their speedy familiar faces and cheer them on. I felt like I pulled away from the walk-run crowd and narrowed the gap between me and the pace of the runners from my training group as I jogged (instead of walked) up and down rolling hills along the power lines.

I still had a good bit in the tank so I ran hard through the woods, Mark’s Art (which had been my nemesis on several hot afternoon runs) flew by and before I knew it I was trying to take the short cut home after the main creek crossing. Had there not been a man with a cute dog at the intersection who actually stopped me from going the wrong way, I would have missed the Severe Consequences loop AGAIN as I had on every long run up to race day. Always trying to avoid those I guess.

I had blast back in the woods and still had plenty left in the tank. I was looking at my elapsed time and looking at my distance and wondering if we were running windy loop. I saw the fence by the swimming pool and was still puzzled, then I saw the finish flags and knew I was done. My only goal was to do it in under 90 minutes. I probably could have done it in less than 80 minutes if I wasn’t holding back for an additional .5 mile that didn’t materialize.

I certainly feel like I could have easily raced another loop. There were a few climbs where I was tired, but nothing that could not have been handled with another pass at the aid station on the next loop. More caffeine! I’m not sure I could have done 3 loops (my original plan when I registered) but 2 was totally feasible. My time was 1:21:44. Only 13 minutes slower than my road 10k PR. I believe it is an easy task to shave a few more minutes off my time in the next few weeks leading up to the Loop at Emma Long on May 31 (I easily stood in line at various creek crossings and muddy embankments for 2 minutes).
I’m going to run some longer runs to get my mileage up, but there’s always the issue of longer distances at reasonable speed… I am not going to run a 4.5 hour 18 miler.

No complaints

I haven't been blogging about running, because all the blog would be about is how I am not running and I have this odd shin pain that won't go away. For starters, it is hard work to get to my weekly activity goals without the running. I pretty much have to do a hard yoga class OR swim hard every single day. No long run to burn all those calories in one shot. It's probably better, since I am doing all this low impact scuplty type stuff, always good to switch up the routine. Anyway, after reading rave reviews on the weight watchers message boards I purchased a "The Firm" dvd. It was less than $6 (shipping) included. It arrived yesterday in its plain brown wrapper and I popped it this morning for day 1 of the 5 day abs. Tiger read the box and proclaimed "Visible results in 10 workouts!" Sexy shirtless 1980s Ken-doll guy welcomed me to the workout where there were 80s ladies in legwarmers, brown aerobics tights and leotards, with ankle weights and sweatbands protecting fabulously feathered hair. I did a bunch of crunches with the lovely 80s ladies and then at the end,Ken-doll guy said "good job, see you tomorrow" I'm totally hooked. I can't wait to see my shirtless friend with the 6 pack again. The firm gets a firm endorsement from me!

3M Half Marathon Race Report

After nearly throwing in the towel with post-holiday depression, I came back from the time off strong to complete the 3M half marathon yesterday. It was an early cold start and I didn't find my friends until I got to the starting line. Just a lot of chilly runners pacing around in the dark. I wore my hat and gloves and a thermal shirt, which I had taken off before we left the arboretum. I started further up in the pack than I normally do, and was off to the races with a speedy first few miles. This was NOT my plan. My plan was to hang back and run 12 min miles and save my legs for the end of the race. Totally not happening. On the long downhills on Mesa and Spicewood, I would glance at my watch and see my pace steadily below 11 min miles. It was the same feeling when you are up at the slot machines..."I've got this much ... and it can do all these things with it." Consistently I was hitting my pace or exceeding it. Instead of pacing myself, I just used the watch and did the math. After the halfway point I could start calculating..."if I can keep this pace, even if I run 14 min miles for the last 3 I will beat my estimated time." That was entertaining, a little further down the road and slightly more tired and delusional my inner voice reverted to an oft quoted line in our household "It's still good!" It's in the Simpson's episode when Lisa sends Homer's BBQ flying through the air. He picks it up off the ground "It's still good. Just a little slimy" As I was running every time my pace would start to slip (like on that HATEFUL hill by Epoch and the Parlour) I would tell myself, "It's still good, just a little faster."
As I came to the 10 mile marker I came to a moment of reckoning. I was losing speed and becoming fatigued, but I still had 2:30 within my sights. When I came off my holiday training layoff and registered for the race, I was thinking I could be happy with 3 hrs. After a successful 8 miler and 10 miler I looked at my pace predictor which had listed 2:32, and at some point during the week I had boastfully told a running friend I was gonna beat 2:30. At mile 10, I was pretty certain that I was. Even if I ran 12 min miles (a pace I had not slipped to the entire race) then I would indeed. As the street numbers grew lower (51st, 38th, 26th, campus) I realized I could see the finish, it was NOT up another hill. I carefully tried not to look like a stampeding rhinocerous (which is always how I look when I try to pick it up for the finish) but stayed the course I had been on all day. And I did. 2:28 Ta-da! I'm sure the familiar downhill course (made of of parts of my usual tempo run) helped me too. Overall, my first half marathon experience was a positive one. I think it's a good strategy for me to line up with the 10 min milers at the start, I'd rather be pacing off faster folks in front of me than stuck behind the run/walk ladies at the back of the pack. Really my only regret was weather related, and purely beyond my control. I ditched my long sleeve shirt early, and I really could have worn it the whole time. The sun shined briefly on the Burnet rd. stretch, but retreated on North Loop and downright disappeared on Duval. It was cold and gray at the finish and I was getting a chill very fast.
I feel pretty good, minus a few random aches and pains, and have already started scheming on my next race, the Camp Eagle trail runs at the end of Feb. I'm thinking about a trail running training group and racing the Rogue trail series later in the spring, but for now I'm going to think about getting down the stairs at my office building and to yoga yoga in time for some gong therapy. Thanks to all my running friends and their own individual successes on the course yesterday. Namaste.

I cannot believe this..

So I rush home to get 3 miles in on the treadmill before a 7:30 yoga class. But I still had to jack with my ipod and by the time I was ready to run, there was no way I was making the class, which is cool, because I really wanted to run.
When I was putting on my running shoes, I noticed that my ankle was sore where my sock had been all day. On further inspection I noticed a HUGE purple bruise. I was puzzled for a moment, then remembered I had snapped the kick start from my motorcycle back against my ankle bone on saturday night. So 3 full days later, my ankle is f*cked. Totally weird. I blow it off and get on the treadmill.
I really suck at running on the treadmill. My normal turtle pace is like a minute SLOWER on the treadmill. Maybe I need to have someone watch me run? I don't know. I suck at the treadmill so I never run for very long. Last night was no exception. I ran for about a mile and the ankle really hurt but I figured eh, its a bruise, suck it up. After a half mile, my ass/hip area felt like someone was pushing on it with the fat end of a pool cue. Something from my ankle bone was irritating my hip and IT band. Lovely. I limped along for another half mile and called it quits after 1 mile.
Completely stubborn about sticking to my running schedule I suited up this morning to attempt the 3 miler again, this time in the cold. (32 degrees) It's hard for me to pass up an opportunity to bust out all my fancy technical gear and run in the cold. I can tolerate cold way better than heat and when I'm when I am sitting on my back porch in August, waiting for the temp to fall below 100 so I can go for a run, I will be glad I got my run in when it was 30.
I shuffled through the run. It felt great to be out in the cold, and I have already noticed an improvement in my lung function since I saw the allergist on Monday. With the pain in my foot I just couldnt get my stride to open up. I still had the throbbing pain in my ankle and the corresponding pool cue feeling in my hip but I pressed on enjoying the cold and the winter sunrise as I headed eastward, home. I'm going to put heat on the bruise today, keep it elevated at my desk and do some (seated) kundalini at home, in hopes that I can get it to behave and finish my last few training runs in before the race.

back at it

So after shaking the doubts and demons created by holiday overindulgence, I got back to training last week. I neatly completed my 3, 6 and 8 mile runs. I'm also getting the hang of the Garmin. When it wants to it gives you pretty useful data. I can see my splits for each mile. I've learned to take the pace times when actually running with a grain of salt, since there can be a delay. It was actually this phenomenon that caused me to stop running altogether. You run up a hill and your pace drops to like 13 min miles, then you run down the hill and you are haulin ass and it still gives the uphill pace. I really let this get in my head, but now I am over it and I realized that it's right more than it's wrong. Like on Saturday, my feet were moving at the same speed, but the nasty headwind and long uphill run back home had me standing still. The half in two weeks will be downhill with a tail wind, so I feel like the brutal uphill run was good training. I took off pretty much from Thanksgiving to New Years so I've got to make the few runs I can squeeze in between now and the race as productive as possible. Having taken a break my legs do feel much fresher, I was wiped out from my long run, but no serious soreness in the usual spots (knees, feet and IT band.) Of course my lethargy could also be attributed to the record breaking cedar pollen count (11,000)!!!! I'm looking forward to each and every one of my runs from now until Jan. 25 when I run my first half marathon. I'm even looking forward to getting this race over with and having some unstructured time to do some mountain biking and some trail running. I really wanted to do a trail run for this weekend's 10 miler (Barton Springs to Sculpture, anyone???)but I am not willing to risk running this fun and easy half marathon with stabbing screwdriver pain in my foot like the last 3 miles of the dirty du.
Since I took the long lay off realistically, I shouldn't get my heart set on a particular time, but as a runner, it is my obligation to be completely OCD, sooooo I am hoping to run it in about 2:30 or 2:40. The course actually follows my Thursday evening "quality" workout course, then follows the route I take when I ride my bike downtown. I've run the entire course many times before both directions (uphill and down) and in my pre-running days, I rode the course on my cruiser with a friend who was racing. It's a local race with lots of familiar faces. I'm sure it will be a lot of fun.

trail run

I spent a perfect fall morning running on the greenbelt on Saturday. Im going to attempt an organized trail run next weekend, so I figured I should get some practice in. I set out to run to twin falls and back from zilker park. I had done a couple of runs when I was tri training and one in preparation for the human race, 3 miles and 6 miles respectively. Those are both on the easy, flat part of the trail. The weekend before we had hiked in from the other end in Westlake and scoped out the Hill of Life to Sculpture Falls portion. I would definately recommend that section for a vigorous hike on a recovery day. I did it after the Wurst Ride and found it to be quite pleasant. I mention all this background to reinforce that I had a bit of experience on the trail. I did not go out completely blind, which I think would be a bad idea.

There had been a freeze warning the night before and it was about 45 when we left. Of course, excited to be bundling up, I wore a hat and gloves and a thermal shirt, before I even got to campbells hole i had to take it all off and stash it. I'm always hot. I can pretty much exercise in shorts and a t shirt anytime anywhere, but I love to make hats and mittens wear tights and hoodies, so consequently, I am always overdressed. I had selected selected some appropriate fall trail running music: The Rolling Stones and Van Morrison. I had a bunch of snacks in my running belt and had a good amount of coffee.
It was fun to run in the brisk air The sunlight illuminated the fall leaves like stained glass. I kept turning down my music to listen to the thumping of my feet on the trail. I ran and ran, making the markers and keeping on the pace I had set for myself. For the whole first half of the run everything was super. To push it, at an hour out, I decided 10 more minutes... maybe I WILL make it all the way to Sculpture, clearly I was getting delusional so at and hour 10 minutes I flipped it around. On one of the creek crossings I was so busy hopping throught the rocks and singing Moodance I missed the turn and ascended on a very narrow, barely there, single track, mountian bike path and ran up the side of the hill until it evaporated in a stand of cedars. I was LOST. I called my trail buddy, freakin out. He was trying to ask me to describe where I was. Really, I had a pretty good idea, I was behind the shopping center and apartments by Hobby Lobby on South Lamar. I felt like I was in the woods where rapists hung out, but as far as features, it was pretty nondescript. Go out on the greenbelt and see how many places "I'm kinda on the top of a hill in the middle of a bunch of cedars." I'm on the far side of the creek and the last crossing had medium rocks." describes, really, its harder than you think. So 30 minutes in to part 2 of the run, I've wasted a bunch of time and energy running around in the woods cursing and tripping over shit. Finally I pulled my head out of my ass and followed the path back. I found my way in a matter of minutes, crossed the creek and went on my way. Thankfully I had covered a good bit of ground before I lost my momentum. I was about 3.5 miles out. I had to re-warm up and start over with tired legs. Having gotten lost and judging that the markers on the trail are far from accurate this was the furthest I had a ever run. I remembered how this happened when I ran my 10 miler. The first 8 miles we ecstatic and the last 2 on the trail downtown took me a brutal 45 minutes. I ate another goo and sipped my water. I had one bottle in my running belt, and with no other water access on the trail I was not adequately prepared. I was losing my legs, so I slowed to a walk in a few rocky patches I could have run, but might have twisted something. Thankfully as you near civilization the surfaces improve. I jogged past landmarks and mile markers, even the turnaround landmark on my well measured 3 mile run oblivious to my where abouts. I was really tired and tingly from lack of hydration. I kept on running. About 3 more times in the last mile I could have sworn I was gonna round the corner and see the skyline in the distance and the fence at Barton Springs, but really it was a mirage. Finally I was back at the car, sitting in the sun, gulping down water and snacking on a banana. The first 8 miles were grand, but the last 3 were hell. Next time I'll know to bring more water and snacks and maybe slow down my early pace even more. It was a great run, on a pretty day,

DOs and DONTs and race/ride reviews

So Ive tried to write a review of the trick or treat trot 10k I ran in Chicago last month like three times, all of them (obviously) unsuccessful. Now, a month later, nobody cares about the costumes ect. So instead I have a few 10K do's and don'ts. 1) DONT try to run back to back 10k's. If you fail to follow this advice and decide to throw down the back-to-back 10k gauntlet and you slaughter your PR in the first one, you are probably not going to revise it further in the second. 2)If you are going to partake in-town urban racing and run to the start... make sure you stay on top of your pre race distance and pace, DONT have a partial panic attack as other runners fly past you headed to the start on their bikes, and run your warm up so fast you have nothing in the tank when you turn back in to the wind for the final two miles of the actual race. 3)DO NOT allow members of the opposite sex to hurl thinly veiled compliments (pick up lines) at you at the finish line, especially if your parents are standing there and your face is encrusted with salt, snot, chap stick and gu. 4) DO proceed directly to the Melrose diner and shove copious amounts of greasy eggs and home fries. 5) DO NOT fail to stretch, cross train, attend yoga class ect. for two weeks after the race and then get on your bike for a 30 mile ride while still recovering from the flu.
6) DO be sure to take ridiculous and strange pictures while on the bike ride that have absolutely nothing to do with bike riding.
7)DO drink lots beer after the bike ride, eat various meats on a stick and participate (even if it is with comically sore hamstrings) in the Chicken Dance with elderly German folks wearing Lederhosen.