Musings

Normally I would have saved this for a Thursday post, but I have the time today and I likely won't tomorrow.

• Mother Nature obviously hates me. Last year it was 82 for a high in Moab. This year (and the number keeps dropping) the HIGH is projected at 46 degrees. Which means I am going to freeze to death at night.
• Poor L is actually racing in Denver this weekend. Forecast here is even worse. HIGHS in the mid 20's (which obviously it will NOT be at the time she is racing) - and Saturday is predicting 4-8" of snow. I think I'll pick a cold 24 hour jaunt over that. Blech.
• Really curious to see how Moab goes. Last year I put in about 1000 miles of training for it. My brain broke and I dropped after 64ish miles. I have... less than half those miles in training this time around, and even the miles that I have been running have not felt easy or strong. Sooooo. Should be, um, yeah. Interesting.
• After Moab, I guess I need to maintain my mileage a bit since Eugene is just over 5 weeks away! Other than the Big Horn 50k in June, it is my only "distance" race on my schedule... um for the foreseeable future. There are, however, TONS of half marathons coming up. I guess that means I should work on speed a little bit. I'd love to "shatter" my current Colorado half marathon PR - 2:10ish range.
• Thanks to my "flash giveaway" the other day, WE raised $205!!! Thank so much to everyone that donated, I've notified the winner - Alex Detrick (he was in my tour group when I ran the Athens marathon in Greece in 2010) and I will be sure to post what he picks!
• I'm a little over a third of the way to my goal (YAHOO!!) - but of course, please donate if/when you can. You can donate HERE ($10 will still get you in my raffle - and the GUARANTEED prizes right now are Pro Compression marathon socks, Nuun AND a gift card for INKnBURN!) I am still working on getting more prizes, so keep checking back!
• Lately, A has really been into taking silly candid pictures. So, if you missed this on social media, here ya go!

I posted this on Facebook. My dad asked, "who is in the pictures with A?"

Terrifed.

Seriously, terrified.

Today I started week 12 of my 18 week ultra marathon training program. Training to run 100 miles. I have reached the stage where I am having my doubts. I am starting to freak out. I remember being afraid for my first marathon. My first 50k. And DEFINITELY for my first 50 miler. But this just seems insane. Can I do it? What if I can't? What if I fail? What if I completely fall apart? What if I get sick? What if I get injured? What if I run xx miles and then get pulled for being to slow and DNF? What if I am too afraid to even start?

I'm sure this is all normal. But the closer the date gets, the more apprehensive I get. I have virtually NO support going into this. While I train alone, I don't know if I can get through 100 miles alone.

How do you approach things that TERRIFY you? I need some inspiration!!

Rock 'n' Roll Denver Marathon (Race Recap)

Sunday, October 9
Marathon #5
Denver, CO
Weather - Chilly at start (upper 30s), sunny, no wind

I registered for the Rock 'n' Roll Denver marathon WAY back on February 4. That was SO long ago, I had only run ONE marathon. A month or so ago I signed up to volunteer as a leader for A's Girl Scout troop, and all day Saturday was to be spent doing "training." In Colorado Springs. If you aren't familiar with Colorado, that's about an 85 mile drive from where I live. I woke up to light rain by my house. And it was COLD and WINDY. By the time I got to south Denver, it was snowing. Long story short, glad that weather came on SATURDAY, not Sunday.

Anyway, typical carb loading dinner at our FAVORITE restaurant. Yes, I had dessert too. And a beer. Actually, make that two. I went to bed around 10:00. Early? Yes. But I had to be up before 5:00.

Alarm goes off at 4:46. Get dressed. In layers. L had warned me that bag drop at the RnR last year was total chaos. We had gone shopping for throw away clothes, and over my race clothes I had an awesome sweatshirt and some pajama pants. I also decided with starting temps around 40 degrees, I would wear my arm sleeves. R met us at the house, quick breakfast, and we were on our way. He knew exactly which lot to park in, and there was surprisingly no traffic. Plan was to stay in the car as long as possible to stay warm. We knew we had about a mile to walk, so we planned on heading to the start shortly after 6:00.

Brr

Check out L's awesome track suit!

There were a few port-o-potties outside the parking garage, we figured since there wasn't much of a line we would stop there instead of trying to find one at the start. Did you know that when dudes use the urinals in super cold weather steam comes out of the top? Yep. True story.

It was still dark on our walk to the start line. Again, luckily R knew where we were going. We had to pass the Convention Center on our way to the start. R was in a hurry to drop his bag (didn't he learn from last year?) and get into his super fast corral 4. L and I decided to take advantage of the indoor bathrooms and stopped again. Had an interesting conversation with a woman about how nasty it is that people don't flush toilets. If anyone can answer me this, I would like to know. I use public restrooms quite a bit, and I bet at least 30% of the time, the person in front of me hasn't flushed.

Anyway. By the time we leave, we have about 15 minutes before the gun goes off. I'm in corral 7, L is assigned to 9 (don't ask me how she was in a corral further back than me). We get to the start line probably 5 minutes before the gun went off. Good thing we DIDN'T have a bag to check...

About 2 minutes until wheelchairs start

We try to weave through the crowds to get to our corral. (Insert loud, crazy, maniacal laughing here). No one was moving. At all. AT ALL. We got stuck about corral 3 or 4. Everyone apparently decided it would be easiest to just wait for their corral to pass by then jump in. Problem is that there isn't any sort of sign saying where the corral WAS, and no one seemed to be running in the correct place anyway. We shed our throw away (goodbye, track suit) and took a quick picture:

I'm assuming we fed in somewhere around corral 7 or 8? The beginning was SUPER congested and crowded. There were sections where we were barely even able to jog. Once we got past the first 3/4 of a mile or so, it thinned out enough to where I didn't feel like I really had to weave in and out of people. Not really the point of this race.

There was a TON going on in my head. I mean, I only ran the Bear Chase 50 miles TWO weeks ago. My legs didn't feel like they had fully recovered. I was running in a pair of Newtons that I hadn't worn in over 6 months. It was the coldest I've run in since spring. I was secretly hoping to PR, but my real goal was to run under 4:45. A pretty tall order since I have been running consistently a minute per mile SLOWER than I was a year ago. I ran my first marathon, the Athens Marathon in Greece, last Halloween in 4:42ish, so yeah, lofty goal.

Anyway. The course weaves up and down Downtown Denver. I'm feeling pretty good the first few miles. I forget that I'd be taking pictures if I was racing out of state. So I take this one of Coors Field (where the baseball team, the Rockies, play):

There were TONS of spectators on the course and we got lots of compliments on our running outfit. I commented to L that I wasn't having my normal "early race leg cramps," but no worries, they eventually showed up (maybe around mile 5?) Saw one of my favorite signs of the day "Bet this seemed like a good idea 6 months ago." Yep. Sure did.

Once we got out of the downtown area with all the super tall buildings, it was a bit less shady, and I took off my arm sleeves because I was getting warm. Yeah, I know it was probably only about 42 degrees, but I'm acclimated... Tied them to my race belt, but dropped my towel in the process. Stopped to get it. I still had my gloves on, which I would alternate wearing and stuffing in my pocket until about mile 17.

Enter City Park just after mile 5 (I think?) Had to remind myself... more pictures:

I probably should have started writing this last night, I already seem to have forgotten quite a bit. I do remember that roughly around the 10K point, L and I were wondering how on earth a). We ran 50 miles, and b). How on earth we were going to finish this race.

The miles go by, we exit the park around mile 7.5. There is an out and back section about 1.5 miles long.  On the way back, I am killing time by commenting on the various outfits people have on. I managed to spot Cheryl from Razzy Roo when I was about at mile 9.  She looked great AND saw me waving at her.  How weird IS it to actually spot someone you know when you race? I only knew a handful of people running this race and most of them were ahead of me (aka, MUCH FASTER).

I was feeling like I was going to need to use the bathroom. They had plenty on the course, but there were also billions of people running, therefore, long lines. L remembered the course would be splitting around mile 11, I figured I could hold it. Get to the split in the road, and yeah, I sorta wished I was following the large portion of runners that were running the half... Bathrooms right there, so stopped real quick. Then off we go with a MUCH smaller field of runners for the last 15 or so miles.

Pretty nice out and back section through a neighborhood. I made sure to take a picture of how pretty the leaves look:

Wish I'd have thought to take a picture of the whole street, but, I was a bit brain dead already. After leaving the aid station (maybe around mile 12?) I saw a Marathon Maniac up ahead that I thought I recognized from another race... L and I chased him for about a half mile, caught up to him at the turnaround. I asked him if he had run the Bismarck Marathon last month... he had. Small world! We wished him luck and were on our way. I was pretty psyched to see our half marathon split as right about what I've been running lately. And I even felt a little better. But then... every mile lasted FOREVER.

Mile 14 took like 5 days to get to. Finally pass mile 14 and a billion hours later I see a group of guys with a keg of beer. I stopped and drank a cup. Of note? L did too. And she HATES beer. Thanks, random citizens at roughly 4th and Downing!

Still feeling... decent. Obviously my legs hurt, and I'm having a minor bizarre knee pain. But overall, ok. Still running. I'm getting pretty excited because my Dad was supposed to be bringing the kids to Washington Park to spectate. That's where I watched L run last year. We saw her 3 different points of the race over the course of about 3 miles. I was really looking forward to it. Get to mile 16, getting ready to enter the park. Half expected to see them along the street (where we lined up last year). Didn't see them, then figured they would be in the park area by the playground. Kept running... lots of random people out since the park wasn't closed for the race. Stopped to use the bathroom a second time. And by now I know that my family isn't coming and it totally bummed me out. :(  There was a course photographer somewhere around mile 18.5 or so:

Go around the corner and there is ANOTHER beer tent. I take another. And so does L. FYI, I think this is probably the most beer L has ever had in her life. She thinks she is getting drunk. Hilarious. So now we still have like 7.5 or so miles to go. Getting tired. And I'm a bit sad about my family not coming so my mind is totally in a negative place. Exit the park. Wait. Everything looks the same. Have we run this already? It looks familiar. I swore I gave that kid a high 5 earlier... we actually asked another runner if we were going the right way. We came to the conclusion we were in the right place. Then we run across a bridge over I25 (I think it must be Franklin?) and then running through more neighborhoods. I think. I honestly don't really remember this section of the course.

We had at least 2 people tell us that they remember us from the Bear Chase race. Either we are finally "famous" or we run to much...

We are still running. Some people are walking, so it is a pretty good boost to actually be passing people for once. The herd has thinned. We get to an aid station somewhere around mile 22.5 and there was some chalk lettering that said "Only 3.3 to go!" only when we left the aid station, it was a few minutes before we even GOT to mile 23. I know people mean well, but nothing irritates me more than things like "you're almost there!" No. We are not. At this point a 5k might as well be a marathon.

Still running. L had said the only hill left was towards the end. And boy, was it a hill. I think me and L were the only ones who actually ran up it. Well, in my head we were running, but we were probably jogging at about a 4.0 mph pace. But at least we weren't walking. Get to mile 26. Holy crap, we are actually going to finish this thing! I have the Glee version of "Friday" jamming through my headphones, and we do our best to "sprint" through the line, even though we don't have much left. We did pass a half dozen people in the chute, but the guy with the sandals? Yeah, he smoked us.

Last push for the finish!!

DONE!!!

Official Time - 4:41:45

Official Pace - 10:45

5K Split - 32:11

10K Split - 1:05:02

13 Mile Split - 2:16:10

20 Mile Split - 3:33:09

Overall Place - 1537/2381

Gender Place - 557/1020

Division Place - 109/207

Garmin Time - 4:41:40

Garmin Distance - 26.32 Miles

Garmin Pace - 10:42

Mile 1 - 10:13

Mile 2 - 10:21

Mile 3 - 10:11

Mile 4 - 10:22

Mile 5 - 10:39

Mile 6 - 10:26

Mile 7 - 10:00

Mile 8 - 10:07

Mile 9 - 10:23

Mile 10 - 10:13

Mile 11 - 11:07

Mile 12 - 11:18

Mile 13 - 10:40

Mile 14 - 9:50

Mile 15 - 10:17

Mile 16 - 11:12

Mile 17 - 11:09

Mile 18 - 11:01

Mile 19 - 11:22

Mile 20 - 11:10

Mile 21 - 11:27

Mile 22 - 10:35

Mile 23 - 11:26

Mile 24 - 11:23

Mile 25 - 11:13

Mile 26 - 10:41

Mile 26.32 - 8:50 (!!!)

As a random aside. My Garmin pace is EXACTLY what my predicted pace is per my RLRF program I've been on. EXACTLY. Since I wasn't doing the program for speed, but to build up mileage, I can't complain. Maybe when I fully recover, I'll speed up the training and see where it leads me. So yes, I plan on continuing RLRF. Love it.

4 minutes after finishing we don't even look that sweaty!

Awesome Finisher Medal!

So. The finish is somewhat underwhelming since the headline band, Smashmouth, was already long done by the time we finished. (HEADS UP ROCK 'N' ROLL, MARATHON RUNNERS MIGHT LIKE TO SEE THE BAND THEY PAID FOR TOO). Some food at the end, but I wasn't in the mood to take anything but water. It was a little chilly and we had a long walk back to the car. Plus, I was still upset about my family not showing up. :(

Marathon #5, COMPLETE!

We saw R briefly, then headed back to the car. The walk that only took us about 15 minutes on the way TO the race took about 40 minutes on the way back. Yeah. My legs were toast.

Thoughts on the race?

Good:

• Plenty of water stations. Wish they would have had electrolytes at all of them instead of just every other one.
• TWO GU stations. One at mile 8 and one around mile 20. AND... they were actually handing out Blueberry Pomegranate Roctane. Score! I'll admit, I took extras.
• TONS of spectators. TONS. And the way the course was set up, we saw lots of people in multiple locations. One couple stopped us after the race, told us they liked our outfits and said we looked strong all race, and that they had spotted us a few times along the course.
• I guess the music would be awesome, but since I listen to an iPod it doesn't do much for me.
• Scenic course. For Denver metro, it was pretty flat.

Bad:

• Really really chaotic and unorganized at the start. There should be a better way to line up at the start, but have to cut some slack since Denver IS set up pretty obnoxiously.
• Again. It might have been nice to see the band. By the time we were done (1:19 before course cut off), there wasn't even EVIDENCE that they had been there.

Would I run this again?

No. probably not. Partly because they have already announced their date for next year, and I think it's going to be the same weekend as Bear Chase, and I'll be honest, I like the challenge of that race over the "competition" and "ease" of the RnR race.

Recovery... well, by the time we picked up the kids and got home and showered, it was after 2. I picked up burgers and fries from Wendys. After a quick lunch, L had to sleep since she was working later (poor thing). I had promised to take the kids to "Fright Fest" and this was really the only opportunity I was going to have. They had a blast:

And of course I was wearing my post-race "winter" gear, complete with my new socks from Razzy Roo:

Congrats to everyone who ran this weekend. And huge congrats to my Internet BFF for her new Half Marathon PR at Long Beach, Congrats Heather!

(If I'm leaving anything out... sorry. I really should have written this sooner. My memory sucks).

Bear Chase Trail Run 50 Miler (Race Recap)

Lakewood, CO
Sunday, September 25
Ultra Marathon #2
Weather - SUNNY, very slight breeze in the morning, cool temps at start, HOT (mid 80s) at the end

"Never Say Never" - Justin Bieber

**Warning. Super duper long.**

I'm not sure WHAT I was thinking when I signed up for the Bear Chase 50 mile trail race. I mean. I sorta read the website. I sorta glanced at the elevation profile:

I sorta looked at the course profile. I mean. I should have realized what I was doing. But. I often do things without REALLY thinking about it. So. I registered. And other than building my mileage base a teeny tiny bit (I started the RLRF marathon program at the beginning of August), I didn't do ANY specific training. No trail running. No runs longer than 20 miles. And yet. I found myself waking up at 4:50 am on a Sunday morning and heading out to the lake to run FIFTY MILES. Seems unbelievable. I hadn't even been really THAT stressed out about it. Which seems weird. I mean, I remember how worried I was for my first marathon. And my first 50k. But this? I mean, it was just too insane to even think about.

So we left the house at 5:10 am, for the 25-30 minute drive to the lake. We get there in plenty of time, especially since we ended up being able to park like 50 feet from the start/finish area. SCORE!! It was still SUPER dark. A bit windy and chilly, but since it was still dark, we knew it was going to warm up.

Fifteen minutes until the start

We sat in the car and waited until about 6:05 before using the bathroom. Using the port-o-potty in the dark is TERRIFYING. By the time we got back to the car we had to apply our sunscreen and get our drop bags ready. I still wasn't freaking out. Have I mentioned that 50 miles is just not even comprehensible?? We drop our bags, L makes another bathroom stop. And then, we barely have enough time for a few pictures:

Still pretty dark!

We started back of the pack

So. How do you mentally prepare to toe the line of a FIFTY MILE RUN??? Well. You just go... I wanted to start in the back, mainly to pace myself well. I mean, for 50 miles, I do NOT want to tire myself out.

Yes, that is Marshall Ulrich in green. He only did three loops...

We were pretty much in the VERY back, but we settled into a pretty decent pace, following 4-5 other runners. The course was pretty well marked, but if you weren't paying attention, there WERE lots of splits in the course. So it was even more important in the beginning that we were following other runners.

Miles 1-3.2 (36:46)

The course is really nice. Shaded, wide and beaten down trails. This is going to be nice later in the afternoon when it starts to heat up. Even though L and I were running "together," there is a lot of single track, so we can't run side by side. Pretty uneventful first few miles. Feeling good.

Look how clean my shoes still are!

Miles 3.2-7.8 (55:18)

First lap there is only fluid at the aid station. No big deal. The course is "green" so since I only have one small bottle on my belt so I had purchased a hydrapouch for my electrolyte drink. This thing was AMAZING. I am notorious for messing with my belt and it just clipped right on and I swear I never even noticed it was there. Grabbed my drinks and off we went. So. Where is this major elevation change? A few ups and downs, but we haven't encountered anything yet. Not too long after we get passed by the super fast 50k'ers. This was tough, on the single track we had to jump off the path. One girl fell... I stopped to make sure she was ok, she said she was. And off we went. We leave the nice tree covered path and enter the first of the barren wasteland... We see a ginormous mountain. And what looks to be... people on it. Yep. There it is... We run to the base and then we are walking. It is steep. The insane super crazy fast people waste their energy and run up it, we walk. Some conversation with a random guy who has also run Greenland. We agree this section of the course is similar to the crazy hairpin uphill around the 4 mile mark of Greenland. We make it to the top... and REALLY narrow & rocky single track with a slight downhill. Literally you would fall down the side of the mountain with one wrong move. Hard to go fast. Get to the base and and we enter a tree covered area by the golf course. I misread the sign about the river crossing. (This is when reading course profiles might be helpful. The sign said "Three River Crossings" - I read it as "Three Rivers Crossing") There is a nice cool breeze I would describe as "cave wind." We run by the golf course, up a small incline and then down a steep, wide, rocky decline. We then arrive at the river crossing. At the time I thought it was THE river crossing, turns out it was the FIRST river crossing. Deeper than we thought:

Toward the middle it was upper calf deep

Squish, squish. We are in another wooded area, wider path. Then we come across a second river crossing. Huh. That was unexpected. This one was not as deep. 

Crossing #2

More running through the woods, a pretty muddy section and then... ANOTHER river crossing. I'd argue the third was the deepest. 

Crossing #3

We come out of the water, a short run and then hairpin turn onto pretty much the only paved section of the course. Golf course on the left, houses on the right. Jog all the way up to the second aid station at Fox Hollow.

Miles 7.8-10.1 (31:47)

Use the port-o-potty. It is placed on a hill and I almost fall in. Terrifying. Dump the sand/gravel out of my shoes. Use some hand sanitizer and grab a handful of skittles (oops, thought they were M&Ms and a pretzel, refill my bottle and head out. A wide open space of skinny single track. One pretty big hill fairly close to the aid station, and then lots of little uphills and rocky downhills. The downhills are really hard, I feel like my ankle keeps rolling. Then along a creek and I'm running off to the side of the trail, discovering it is easier to run in the longer grass. Keeping a good pace.

Go around the bend and see a skinny trail along the road and the next aid station.

Mile 10.1-12.5 (29:58)

Grab more food and fluids and then head out, we cannot believe we have only covered 10 miles. This is insanity. We are still with a decent sized group of people and then we make a 180 and see... YET.ANOTHER.HILL. Blech!!! This hill is steep. No attempt at jogging/running up this. And of course... what goes up, must come down. Skinny, rutted single track down the back side. Through a wide open barren wasteland, another 180 turn, down a wider trail. Back up (again), and then a turn, across a footpath and a few zig zags. Gradual downhill, and then... we are at the street! HUGE downhill, around the parking lot, past the boat ramp, through the parking lot and athlete village and...

I think I'm saying, holy crap, we are only done with ONE??

...we cross the line for loop #1.

Loop 1 - 2:33:43

Mile 12.5-15.7 (40:01)

Stop at the bag drop. Grab more gels and a new piece of gum. Reapply sunscreen. Get more food/fuel, and then off we go. We are pretty much alone this time around. We start running, and after a few minutes, we wonder if we went the right way... We come across the right path, but yeah, we went the long way. Oops. L starts running a bit faster.

I stop to take a quick picture, and by then L is really too far ahead. I can't comfortably chase her on the trail. She is not turning around to make sure I'm behind her. She waits for me at the aid station, where yadda yadda, we refuel.

Mile 15.7-20.3 (59:45)

The course is not closed and there are other people out and about. I come across some horses (yes, horses) and then turn a corner and she is gone. She is so far ahead of me that I can't see her :( I keep going, but at a comfortable pace. I use this time to make sure I get a shot of the mountain that we have to run up:

See it in the distance? I promise, it's huge. Probably two minutes after I take this picture I trip over a loose rock and fall. Into horse shit. Yeah. Not something I ever thought I would say mid race. Sucks even worse because I don't want to contaminate any of my stuff. So no water, no wiping the sweat off my face. Just grumbling about how dirty and smelly and gross I am now. And I'm not even halfway through the second loop...

Flat barren part of the loop right before we head up the mountain, and there is this sign. I find it amusing:

I see L coming up from the middle of the base headed toward the mountain. Turns out she started chasing some random people out for a morning run and went the wrong way. Oops.

Head up the mountain AGAIN and take this shot of the lake:

Notice that there is not ONE cloud in the sky? Yeah. It was HOT. So we struggle up the hill, scary single track along the side of the mountain and back down again.

I have like 4 pictures along this section but I'm not heel striking in this one...

Get to the sign announcing the riverS crossing and no cool "cave wind" this time. Boo. The river crossings were even BETTER this time around. Got to clean up my arm and legs from some of the dirt and horse shit. Exit the woods, head back up the paved path and arrive at Fox Hollow.

Miles 20.3-22.6 (36:27)

Use the bathroom again. Almost fall in again. Dump the sand/gravel out of my shoes again. Refuel again. (Sensing a pattern?) Off we go... it's getting INSANELY hot. Melting. Still some people on the trail. Hot. Tired. Feeling ok, but man, this is taking forever. If I could actually look off the path without fear of tripping and falling, it would be a nice view:

Mile 22.6-25 (34:12)

L stops to use the bathroom, I refuel and hang out to wait for her. A guy sits down on the medical cot and says he is quitting. I think he is joking, he was ahead of us. Nope, he is not kidding, he is done. The volunteers have already arranged for him to take the short cut back to the start. Hmmm. We walk off together and are still with a small group of runners. Up that other stupid gigantic hill. Scary, skinny, painful single track down the backside. Hot, hot, hot through the barren wasteland. Up that hill, around the corner, across the bridge, yadda, yadda, yadda... L runs off ahead of me, I can't/won't chase her.

But look! Still smiling after 25 miles!

Cross the line, still feel... as good as can be expected.

Loop 2 - 2:50:21

Halfway done

Miles 25-28.2 (45:24)

Grab more gels. Grab new gum. Reapply sunscreen. Refuel. Blah blah blah. Start off again. Yep, we had taken a wrong turn the last loop. We laugh about how we got confused. Course is pretty well marked, we should have been paying more attention. We run past a group of cyclists waiting on a picnic bench. They are trying to be inspirational telling us we have already run a marathon so we are halfway there. Yeah, yeah. Best part was the little toddler with them. The kid kept yelling "you guys are nuts!" Hilarious. L stops to use the bathroom. I tell her I'll keep going (walking) and she can catch up. I use the opportunity to "tweet" for the first time ever in a race...

There are a group of people ahead of us. Wow. We thought we were alone on the course. Yay for people!!

Still appreciating the scenery. Sort of. It's shaded but the sun is coming through the trees and it is DAMN HOT. Roasting. L is running ahead of me again a bit. Where on earth is she getting all this energy? I'm tired. Two of the women in front of us stop to use the bathroom. I have a little bit left in me, so I'm determined to run as fast/far as I can while still in the shade.

Trees on one side, empty space on the other... I kept expecting some of the 3-4 people we passed to come running past us, but it never happened. Caught up to a girl "jogging" (more like walking with jogging arms), and passed her right before the Pelican Point aid station.

Miles 28.2-32.8 (1:10:29)

By the time we are refueling the "jogging" girl is coming up. She tries to cut a corner around the aid station. They make her turn around and go around. Heh. I ask what time the cutoff is to start the last loop. They say they don't know. Off we go. Woman chases us down to tell us it's 3:00. O.M.G... is this EVER going to end? I'm so tired. HOW ARE WE GOING TO MAKE THE CUTOFF? WE ARE GETTING SLOWER. L still running ahead of me a bit. Not fast enough so I can't stay with her. Through the last of the wooded area, back in the barren, to the base of the stupid, stupid, huge mountain. !!!!! Up we (slowly) go. Another first. I send super whiny texts to J about how tired I am. By the time we get to the top, start jogging, we are getting passed by more of the 50 milers. Hard to jump out of the way with a cliff on one side and a mountain on the other. HOT. Run out of water this loop. SO THIRSTY.

Come to the river crossings. Man. This is awesome. I love these. Exit the wooded area, take off my shoes halfway up the path. My feet feel AWESOME with no shoes on. I decide to walk in just my socks until the Fox Hollow station.

Miles 32.8-35.1 (32:12)

I have to sit on the cot to put on my shoes. They seem concerned. I ask what happens if we don't make the cutoff. Told that if we don't cross the line by 3 we will be pulled off the course. OMG. NO WAY. I HAVE NOT BEEN RUNNING ALL DAY TO GET PULLED OFF THE COURSE. I suck it up and start to run. L is struggling. She tells me her knee pain is back and that it feels like it is going to explode. I tell her we have like 57 minutes to go or we will have done this all in vain, and what does she want to do. She wants to keep going. So we keep going... as best we can. By the way, the song "Friday" by Rebecca Black is an AWESOME race song (although I have the Glee version). Totally pumped me up.

It is at LEAST a billion degrees out. Maybe more. I have never been so hot and thirsty and tired in my life. Super super super super SUPER happy to see the next aid station.

Miles 35.1-37.5 (32:38)

The volunteers are super nice at the aid station. I am super grumpy because I don't think we have enough time to get back to the start. They cheer us on and tell us they "know we can do it." Annoyed. Refuel and head out. Stupid hill, skinny single track, 180, wider trail. We come across two men that are STRUGGLING. One is sorta trying to jog, the other has literally given up. He is stopping after the 3rd lap. I'm disoriented, have no clue how far until the start area. We have 12 minutes. J is texting asking if we have made it to the start area yet. Do not respond. Irritated. Volunteers from the last aid station come by on a bike and tell us we can do it, we have a mile to go.

WTH. I can't run a 10 minute mile right now!! I'm about ready to cry. I cannot believe we are not going to make it. Screaming. Then, all of a sudden I see the street. I have never been so happy. Come down the bottom of the street and start heading toward the boat ramp... and J jumps out. OMG! He has never come to a race! Gives me the boost I need (and a kiss) and off I go. We cross with literally, less than 5 minutes to spare.

Loop 3 - 3:00:45

3/4 of the way done... barely made the cutoff!

Miles 37.5-40.7 (58:40)

Immediately mixed feelings. I mean, I would have been pissed if I would have missed the cutoff. But I'm so tired and now I still have another loop to go. Grab GU, gum, cake Icy Hot on my thighs, apply MORE sunscreen. Refuel, and we walk off... Literally, we are walking. My legs hurt SO freaking bad. Unsure I will ever be able to run another step. We probably walked about a mile. Try to jog here and there, make it maybe a tenth of a mile and then stop again. How are we going to do this??? The best part of the last loop is commenting on how "this is the last time I will see you ____." insert TONS of profanity. I was kind of looking forward to the aid station more than usual because L's boyfriend had volunteered. We hadn't gotten a picture of the two of us yet, and I was going to have him take one.

Realize that just keeping moving isn't going to be enough. We can't even walk a pace fast enough to finish in 3.5 hours. Running by now is literally torture. My legs ache. No one is behind us. We are pretty sure we are the last ones that made the cutoff. Blech. Do not see L's boyfriend at the aid station.

Miles 40.7-45.3 (1:14:43)

Cannot take any more of this heat. I think I am going to faint. Pretty sure I am not eating enough, but been so stressed with the cutoff times that I don't have time to eat, much less chew anything. All of a sudden, we see L's boyfriend monitoring one of the major turns. SUPER quick picture (hurry, we need to make the cutoff!)

We really were out there. Really!!

Get to the wasteland before the mountain and we actually see someone at the peak. Maybe we aren't so far behind after all. We need to make up some time after all the walking at the beginning of the loop. We actually jog the whole side of the mountain and downhill to the sign for the crossing. Mostly to a run/walk, the best we can. The river crossings are freaking amazing, and when I get to the paved section I walk without my shoes again. Seriously. Feet never felt so good.

Miles 45.3-47.6 (41:05)

Hear the volunteers - "Yay, the twins are here!" (We don't correct them). I ask at the aid station what happens if we don't cross before the "course closure" at 6:30. She says it will be a DNF. I am devastated. We have come SO far. I know we only have like 5 miles to go, but I really don't think I can do it. I grab a half a banana, and we do an even more pitiful run/walk then before. This time I am texting with Heather. Thank you Heather! It really helped motivate me to run for the bling (seriously, I'm not being sarcastic). L then tells me she hates me and wants to choke me. I don't really blame her. I'm pretty miserable too. If I had the energy to do the jig when I saw the last aid station, I probably would have done it. Too weak.

Miles 47.6-50 (32:32)

We thank the volunteers. They tell us we look pretty damn good for having run over 47 miles. Thanks. We feel... as good as can be expected? We actually had made pretty good time the last loop, and I was "mostly" confident that as long as we jogged at least half of the last section that we would be able to finish in the time limit. Up stupid gigantic hill, down steep single track. The sun is FINALLY behind a cloud (gee, thanks) and the diminished blinding sun helps a bit. I finally start to think... holy shit. I am going to ACTUALLY RUN 50 MILES. L is ahead of me and I make sure to tell her that I have nothing left and ask her to make sure not to leave me in the dust so we can cross together. I see the street and sorta tear up. OMG.

We feel like we are running really fast. We can hear the announcer (yay, there are still PEOPLE AT THE FINISH LINE!!) We jokingly ask the last course volunteer if there is a shortcut... no, not if we want to run the full 50. Fine. Around the boat ramp, through the lot... and thanks to L's boyfriend, here is a video of us "running" to the finish:

Loop 4 - 3:27:23

Official Time - 11:52:20
Overall Place - 53/80 (Only 54 finishers, 26 DNF)
Division Place - 13/14 (Includes DNFs)
Gender Place - 16/22 (Includes DNFs)
Lap 1- 2:33:43
Lap 2 - 2:50:21
Lap 3 - 3:00:45
Lap 4 - 3:27:23

I hit the lap button on my iPhone. Collected my GINORMOUS medal. All while making the comment... "I may never run again." I was psyched to see that there was still BEER!!! The guy gave me two :) I had J take a finish line picture of me and L:

Yep. I can SMILE when I am done running FIFTY. FREAKING. MILES.

So. What are my thoughts? Well. This was by FAR the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Even while I was running, the thought of actually RUNNING 50 miles seemed impossible. I don't know if I just never thought I would be able to do it. I don't know if I thought that if I just tackled a little bit at a time that I "might" do it. But we did it. We finished with 7:40 to spare for an official time. There was still one runner behind us, and she is still listed in the results and got a medal, even though she finished almost 15 minutes after the cutoff. 100 people were originally registered. Only 80 started. And only 54 finished. I think that makes me pretty damn awesome.

The volunteers on this course were AMAZING. Always running to meet us to ask if we needed anything, always being supportive. Definitely couldn't have done so well without them! And the course itself? I'll admit, tough, but pretty amazing. I might be back next year... but maybe just for the 50k...

I recognized someone I friended off Facebook, and we chatted for a few minutes before we headed off to pick up the kids.

FYI. I can barely move. But I promise... I'll be running again. Soon.

November Already?

October Goals (Recap)

• Run twice a week outside of racing (minimum). SUCCESS! I ran all scheduled runs.
• Get a 20 mile run in. SUCCESS! Did a 20 mile run (16 loops around a lake!)
• Try for another PR, but at minimum keep all half marathons this month sub 2:10. SUCCESS TIMES TWO!! PR'd the course in Maine, then beat THAT when I raced in Alaska. All races were sub 2:10. 
• Fix my foot. SUCCESS! Not sure what I did, but I continued to ice every night, whether I was running or not.
• Be a badass at the Athens Marathon - SUCCESS TIMES 26.2!! I did much better than I ever hoped I could!

November Goals

• Continue running twice a week outside racing.
• Try for another PR (of course), but keep both races this month sub 2:10.
• Start working on Yasso 800s again. Start from ground zero since I haven't done them in over a month.
• Stay healthy!!
• Not running related - GET.A.JOB. :( Still unemployed.

My goals this month are pretty simple. I am entering a month where I have very little racing, so hopefully I can start incorporating some speed work back into my training. I have continued doing hill training on the treadmill at least once a week, and I really think that has helped immensely during some of these races that are not "flat and fast."

As an aside, I'm only a little over 75 miles away from running 1,000 miles this year. How cool is that??

Greece - Days 6 and 7

Day 6 - Ancient Agora, Plaka
Day 7 - Athens to Amsterdam to Detroit to Denver


We optimistically thought we could arrange an island tour, but that never materialized. We got to sleep in a bit, and after breakfast we got on the bus to head back to the ancient part of the city - the "Ancient Agora" - an archaeological site.

Church

Statues inside Ancient Agora

Temple of Hephaistos

Temple of Hephaistos - Looks like the stone was burned

Me, Bill, John outside the Temple of Hephaistos

Turtle!

Hard to believe this was once a "city"

View of Temple of Hephaistos from Ancient Agora

This looked like an alien!

11th Century Church

Bill - causing trouble

Amazing detailed stone carvings!

Original painting inside the church

floor inside church

Right in the middle of a neighborhood!

More Ancient Agora

An example of the graffiti that is literally everywhere

After we got done touring the archaeological site, we stopped in a sidewalk cafe and had some lunch. More bread and Greek salad, and I sampled some spanakopita (which was delicious).

Lunch!

After lunch, John and Bill and I decided to wander through Plaka while we waited for Greg and Jennifer to meet up with us.

Museum of Greek Folk Art

Downtown Plaka

We sat at another cafe and snacked a bit waiting for Greg and Jennifer. They showed up later with Greg's mom and Will. We decided to change clothes and try to head back down for dinner. We didn't want to wait to take the tour bus, so we finally used our free passes and took the tram. Which took freakin forever!!! Stopped at every stop, and since it was rush hour, it was packed!

Me, Will, John

Changed clothes and then took the tram back down. It didn't take quite as long, but it certainly is not fast! We walked a few blocks to Greg's parents' hotel and then headed to a restaurant down the street for dinner.

View of Acropolis from the roof of Greg's parents' hotel

We decided to head back toward the hotel, it was starting to get late and none of us had packed yet. We ran into Alex and Lynda who had not eaten dinner. We sat with them and most of the others ordered some drinks. I had already had plenty of alcohol this trip, so I passed. I was starting to get tired, and most of the others seemed to want to stay out a bit and not sleep tonight since we would have to leave so early for the airport. After Alex and Lynda finished eating, we headed back to the hotel on the tram, the rest stayed behind to drink.

I got to the hotel, packed and got to bed at 12:30. My alarm went off at 3:10 because the bus was to depart at 3:30 am. I was one of the last people on the bus at 3:27. Long drive to the airport and all sorts of complications checking in. Most of the people had traveled with more than one roller bag, and in Athens they were making people check the one that had previously been carry on!

Got on the plane with no major complications (I packed light) and I fell asleep almost immediately. Woke up long enough to have breakfast (a sandwich?) - then fell asleep again.

We were supposed to have a two hour connection in Amsterdam. Plane landed on time but we were in the next to last row and it took forever to get off. At least a half dozen of us were on the same flight, and since Alex knew the airport he walked us in the right direction. We split ways since they had a much longer connection. It took 45 minutes to get through "passport control" since there were no corrals of any kind. It reminded me of the swarm that occurs when you are leaving a concert or something. Totally disorganized. Once we got through there, we only had about 10-15 minutes to get something to eat or shop before getting back on the plane.

Amersterdam airport

I couldn't even buy something to eat since in Amsterdam the security is right at the gate, and no liquids >:( Annoying!!!

The plane was mostly full, so I was VERY happy to find that I was on an aisle seat in the center row and there wasn't anyone sitting by me. SCORE!! I couldn't sleep, so on the flight I watched two movies ("Salt" and "Just Wright") and read a few books.

Arrived in Detroit, had to go through customs again - but it was a LOT easier than in Amsterdam. Landed a bit early in Denver around 4:30 in the afternoon. Since it was rush hour I didn't get picked up until about 5:30.

Another super SUPER long day of travel.

The trip to Greece was a complete success. I had a lot of fun, I met some really cool people, and I had an unforgettable first marathon. Thanks again to everyone who helped make this happen for me!