Ultra Ridiculous!

Be prepared to hear about practically nothing but the Moab 100 until... probably April. It has taken over my life! I thought I would share an update of my training. When I first registered, I got a training plan from my hero, Fast Cory, and posted it here. This is what it looks like with almost all the runs completed (all that is left are the days in black):

Interestingly, I am one week into taper, and obviously running WAY less. I am down three pounds to the lowest weight of my entire training cycle. I am actually really enjoying my taper! I can sleep in until 8 am every day!

Three Things Thursday

1. Sometimes life surprises me. In addition to L registering me for MCM yesterday, I was awakened to an email confirmation from my sister in law that she registered for the New Years Double - half marathons both days! She has never run a race, but cheered me on when I ran this year and said she was inspired. To be sure she wouldn't be alone, she registered me for double FULL marathons. So I'll be back to run that awesome race 2012/2013!

2. Saturday I make a 140 mile drive to Salida, CO to race the "Run Through Time" half marathon. I probably will not be doing much "racing," as there is a 2,000 foot elevation gain for the half. It is a smallish race, I think only 250 participants, and there is NO bling. It is, however, inexpensive, and rumor has it, a fun and challenging race. AND, it is my LAST DOUBLE DIGIT RUN. Which brings me to...

3. HOLY. CRAP. It is almost here. In just TWO WEEKS, I will be headed to Moab where I will be (hopefully) running and finishing my first 100 miler. I will admit, I am starting to freak out. Including the half this weekend, I seriously only have SIX runs left. Six. Now is the time where I sit back and wonder... have I done enough? Am I trained? Will I succeed? Ahhhhhhh!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Looks like L registered for me, because I sure didn't have the money. THANK YOU!!

Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans (Race Recap)

New Orleans, LA
Sunday, March 4
Half Marathon #56
State #44
Weather - Chilly at the start, SUNNY and ROASTING by 7:30 am

I registered for RnR NoLA as a pre-registration last April. So I had been planning this for a while. What I did NOT count on was airfare being so ridiculously expensive. I had been watching fares for 10 months, and they never went under $300. I waited so long to book that by a month out they were pushing $400. When I was on the fence about whether I could go or not, a schedule that would work for me was over $500. Luckily, I was able to fly into Baton Rouge for about half that cost, and had friends that drove me to and from the airport... for only $25!!! I also needed a place to stay near them since they were driving me around, and I pricelined a super ghetto place to stay (more on this later). So... the journey begins.

In order to get to the expo on time (thanks, RnR for your incredibly stupid and rigid policies on packet pick up), I had to take a 6 am flight out of Denver. That meant waking up at 3:45 am. I hadn't gone to bed until midnight, so I was TIRED. Everything went smoothly at the airport. The flight was delayed about 25 minutes, and it was super bouncy. But, I made it to Houston in enough time to make my connection so it wasn't a big deal. The flight from Houston to Baton Rouge? Even MORE bouncy. I have never felt so panicky on a flight in my life. At least it was only about 25-30 minutes in the air.

Only in Texas

My friends, Daniel and Ruth, picked me up about 20 minutes after I landed (THANK YOU!). We drove right to the expo, where we wandered around, and I again stocked up on awesome headbands from Razzy Roo (link at top of my blog). We managed to run into Kim and S. We chatted for a few minutes, but they wanted to walk the rest of the expo, and we were heading out. My friends had dinner plans, so they needed to drop me off. So no bloggy dinner :(

Best headbands EVER!

We did, however, make a quick stop to wander around at the Riverwalk. There were tons of restaurants, but all that did was make me super duper hungry. Walked into a few shops, and I did pick up an awesome pair of tights to race in.

I went to check in at the hotel... and when I went to the room it wasn't ready yet. This should have been a sign. They luckily had a little time and we all went to Target. Just as I was stocking up on bread and frozen dinners, they found out their plans had been cancelled and asked if I wanted to go to Applebee's. DUH!!! OF COURSE I DO. I ate even more than usual, and it was great. I had been pretty hungry all day.

We stopped at Walgreen's on the way back. Did you know that in Louisiana you can buy hard liquor at the drug store? True story.

By the time I got back to my room, it was 7:00. I was so tired I debating going to bed then. So. About the room. Floors not vacuumed. Cigarette burns all over the comforter. Cockroaches. Yep. All that. I was too tired to really care. Sorta laid out my stuff, watched some tv, and headed to bed around 9:15.

Race Day


I slept exceptionally well, especially considering the state of my room. I woke up at 4:45, got ready, and Daniel picked me up at 5:15. We drove (literally right across the street) to pick up Ruth, then headed into New Orleans - about a 15 minute drive. After parking in a lot and discovering it was $30, we looked across the street and found a FREE metered spot. Score. We walked to the start line (only a few blocks away. I was wearing a throw away AND a jacket. Since Ruth was checking her bag, I was just going to throw my jacket in her bag at the last minute. We were waiting around an hour and before the sun came up it was chilly and I was glad to have had that extra layer.

We were trying to meet up with L, Kim and Elizabeth before the race, but I just could not find their hotel. Ruth checked her bag with about 8 minutes to the start. Kim called me and we were pretty much in the same place, but she was on one side of the corral fencing and I was on the other. Looks like we weren't going to start together after all. (Spoiler: We wouldn't have run together for too long anyway. Chick was a speedster!)

Starting Area

We think we started somewhere between corral 6 and 7, about 9 minutes after the gun. Within 2 minutes, I saw Kim ahead of us! So glad she is so tall! I sprinted to catch up, and we ran together for oh, 4 minutes before they sped off. My dumb calves got tight again and it was all I could do to not walk. Luckily, they loosened up about a mile and half in. Right before the first aid station (just before mile 2), I noticed the numbing in my feet again. Luckily walking while drinking my water it went away and never came back. About mile 2.5 and I saw the leader already running past...

The Fireman's gear weighs 65 pounds! The flag another 15!

The buildings were so "historic" and pretty!

By about mile 3 I was sweating. Who knew it was going to feel SO. DAMN. HOT. I was mildly regretting the leggings that were making me feel even HOTTER. At least they LOOKED awesome? Course was partly shaded, but it still seemed hot. The road was torn up and hurt my ankles to run on. Second aid station about mile 4. I saw L on the out and back, it seemed she was about .35 miles in front of me. Not too bad!

The turnaround was somewhere around mile 4.5, and then the course ran directly on into the sun. I was ON FIRE. Not fast on fire, just FREAKING hot. Did I mention that starting at the second aid station, I was dumping a cup of water over my head? I have never done that in ANY race, and I did it at every aid station this one after the first one. It was HOT. I was feeling a little better, but sorta like I needed to stop and use the bathroom. The lines were so long though, so I didn't stop.

According to my splits, I was running right around a 10 minute pace, which, considering my mileage over the past few weeks, was fine with me. I ran into my buddy Chuck, and we chatted for a minute, then I headed off. The course ran through some pretty neat areas of the city, but having never been to New Orleans, I didn't know what any of them were. I will say, for a rock and roll race, there was virtually NO bands on the course. I think I saw 5 or 6 MAX. And also, crowd support was not that big.

It's Chuck!

The end of the out and back - Brooks arch

Anyway, I finally stopped around mile 9.5 to use the bathroom since there was no wait, and then I felt a lot better for the rest of the race, although my ankle was hurting pretty bad the last 2 miles from how bad the roads were. Pretty much right after I started running again, I saw arm sleeves in the middle of the road that looked like Ruth's. I couldn't get over to them in time though (turns out they WERE hers).

Not sure where this was, but I liked the buildings

It. Was. Hot. I kept on going, hoping I could finish around a 10 minute pace. The last two miles were brutal. The roads were so torn up that it hurt my feet/ankles. Knowing that the chutes at RnR races are always long, I saved my kick for the 13 mile sign and sprinted to the finish. Pleased with myself for keeping a pretty steady pace most of the race.

Just before mile 13

Almost immediately after crossing the line, I see L. She had to get another medal because hers "fell off." WTH? Anyway, we reconciled with Ruth and Daniel, and after getting some beers, we managed to run into Kim and S. We only had time to chat a few minutes and take a picture, then we had to be on our way to collect bags and find the shuttle. FYI, RnR, your signage SUCKS. We wandered around for a good 10-15 minutes trying to find the shuttles. Their signs seriously pointed in different directions. The line was long, but it didn't take us an unreasonable amount of time to get through it. I had to call the hotel and ask for a late checkout - which, they thankfully gave me.

Finished!

Colorado Finishers - L, Daniel, Ruth, Me

Apparently it is never too early for beer!

L, Ruth, Me, Kim

Bib #6829
Official Time - 2:11:38
Official Pace - 10:03
Official 5K - 30:31
Official 10K - 1:02:08
Official 10 Mile - 1:40:56
Overall Place - 5116/13066
Gender Place - 2424/8326
Division Place - 542/1611
Garmin Time - 2:11:42
Garmin Distance - 13.24 miles
Garmin Pace - 9:57
Mile 1 - 9:15
Mile 2 - 10:03
Mile 3 - 9:40
Mile 4 - 10:17
Mile 5 - 9:51
Mile 6 - 10:03
Mile 7 - 10:00
Mile 8 - 9:50
Mile 9 - 9:52
Mile 10 - 10:56 (bathroom)
Mile 11 - 9:40
Mile 12 - 10:22
Mile 13 - 9:45
Mile 13.1ish - 8:10

I coordinated PERFECTLY

Quick stop at Dunkin Donuts on the way to the hotel, and they I thankfully got to take a hot shower and packed. Even though I'd been given the late checkout, I got walked in on TWICE by employees. My room did not have a functioning deadbolt, so a key was all they needed. NICE.

Checked out right at 12, hung out in the lobby for about 15 minutes until they were ready. Ruth was studying and not hungry, so Daniel and I went for lunch. Drove around for about 30 minutes until we found a place to get pizza. Who knew it was so hard to find?? After a delicious lunch, we hung out for about a half hour, then it was time to head back to Baton Rouge. So soon.

Baton Rouge airport is teeny tiny, and the hour I was there was plenty. My plane was NOT as small and the ride was not as bumpy. Arrived in Houston for a 2.5 hour layover.

Again... only in Texas

Sigh. I should have eaten at Chili's but decided to get closer to my gate. Only burger option was Wendy's. So I had a burger, fries, and then a gigantic banana chocolate chip muffin from Einstein Bros. Then came the headache. All sorts of little things annoy me, and they were ALL ON MY FLIGHT. From the woman who walked into me and hit me with her bag about a dozen times, then ended up sitting behind me and kicked my seat about a BILLION times, the woman across the aisle that sang and hummed under her breath the whole flight. The people boarding 2 minutes before we are supposed to take off and each have huge suitcases and big backpacks and open all the overhead bins looking for places to put it. The woman who threw a fit because her armrest didn't move and the flight was delayed so a tech could fix it. Headache did NOT go away throughout the flight. We landed late, but at least the shuttle came fast and I got home right before midnight. LONG. DAY.

February Rewind

Can you tell where ultra training started? (Week of Thanksgiving)

Miles Run - A.JILLION. I thought I rocked it last month? This month, with only 29 days, was HUGE for me. I completed 6 runs of 20 miles or longer, for a total of 277.71 miles. That's the equivalent of TWO REALLY GOOD MONTHS for me in normal training.
Races Run - 2 (1 half marathons, 1 marathon)
PR's Set - Zero. But I feel good about the half I ran, and the marathon I ran was only two days after running 20 miles, I treated it as a training run (since I had a 24 and 30 miler to run only 4 days after), and the marathon was super hilly & hard and still only about 7 minutes off a PR. Not bad at all.
Minutes of Plank - 96

What's on the agenda for March? Well, I ran my last "long" run today (March 1) of 25 miles. I am officially in three weeks of "taper" for my 100 Miler. What does a taper look like for a race like that? I only have two double digit runs left. One is RnR NoLA this weekend, the other is a hilly, sorta local half I'll run next weekend. Other than that, I have only SEVEN runs left, and they are all 6 miles or less. So less than TEN runs before I will be toeing the line at a race that I can only imagine will be the scariest event of my life.

Wordless Wednesday

What Was I Thinking? (And a Winner!)

So remember that one time that I signed up to run a 100 mile race? And remember that I posted a super awesome training plan? And remember that towards the end, I was going to have to do some CRAZY LONG RUNS?? Well. This week was MADNESS.

Sunday - Austin Marathon
Monday - No run (I moved it out one day)
Tuesday - 6 miles
Wednesday - 6 miles
Thursday - 24 miles
Friday - 30 miles

I. RAN.  ALL. THAT. All those miles. Everything but the Austin marathon was done on a treadmill. That's a LOT of iTunes. Anyway, I am super proud of myself for completing all that running. Next week is actually my PEAK mileage week. And then... taper. I'm back to 20ish mile weeks. I don't even know what to do with that. My lowest mileage week was about three months ago, at 40. MIND BLOWING.

Anyway... a winner!

And the winner is... Abbi, from Higher Miles! Shoot me an email with your address and I'll mail out the YMX shirt asap! I hope you love it as much as I do!

Austin Marathon (Race Recap)

Sunday, February 19
Marathon #7
Texas Marathon #2
Austin, TX
Weather - Chilly at the start, warm and humid at the finish

Pretty sure the only reason why I signed up for the Austin marathon was timing/location related. Nothing to really race near Colorado in February, and since I have family in Austin, it's not as expensive for me to travel there. And why the full? Well, it fit nicely into my training schedule. Later found out that Kim and Lisa were running (Becca was also supposed to run, but got injured in Phoenix)... and therefore...  GIRL'S WEEKEND WAS PLANNED!

Saturday

Flight out of Denver was uneventful. We met up with Kim and Lisa at the airport, and since Austin's airport is tiny and they are super tall, we found them immediately without any problems. We got a taxi and it $25 later, we arrived at the Embassy Suites. (Thanks, Kim, for booking us such a sweet suite!)

Did I mention that we landed, I noticed it was rainy and chilly? Curse it, Austin, it was supposed to be warmer than this. We spent a few minutes in the room, then walked over to the Parmer Events Center (luckily just down the street) to pick up our packets.

L, Kim, Lisa, Me (Seriously, I am so short!)

We briefly listened to Bart Yasso speak, but then we saw the crazy long lines for packet pick up and decided we should probably just head over there and get our stuff.

Oh, wait. No lines for ME!

It only took a few minutes to get our packets, then we just wandered around the expo. Which, by the way, was super crowded. About 4:00, we start to head out and notice it is pouring rain. Did I mention I didn't even bring a coat?? BRRR. We cowered inside for a few minutes, then braved the rain and headed back to the room until it was time for FREE HAPPY HOUR in the lobby.

I also had some chips/salsa, but didn't want to ruin my appetite

We had reservations for 5:30 at the TGIFriday's down the street, so after slamming a drink, we walked over:

View of the capital from Congress Ave.

Arriving at TGIFriday's, and we got to meet up with another blogger (also a Laura!!) and her husband and daughter. They were running a pasta buffet special, and since I am not picky, that's what I got:

OK, this is just plate one. I had seconds, but about half as much

But wait... we also wanted bread. (We didn't get regular bread sticks because the waitress said they were "fried" - apparently all that meant is they were regular bread sticks. Anyway, this was good too):

And dessert split between me, L, and Lisa:

As always when with other runners, the conversation was all about past races and performances and goals for the current race. The other Laura? SUPER DUPER CRAZY FAST, but planning to run conservatively, Lisa going for a PR, the rest of us pretty much just wanting to finish in respectable times (all while having fun of course). Laura's husband made sure to get a bloggy meet up picture:

L, Lisa, Me, Kim, Laura

We headed back to the room and made sure to get everything ready for the morning. Lisa forgot her Garmin (sad face), but super nice Kim said she would let her borrow hers. What a nice group of runners I have managed to make friends with! I headed to bed around 9:45, and since we weren't planning on heading out until 6:15, I didn't have to get up crazy early.

Race Day


We all managed to get ready and out the door on time. Again. Four females, one room, only taking about 35 minutes to get ready. We are so amazing. One of the nice employees at the front desk took a pre-race picture of the four of us. MATCHY, MATCHY!!

L, Lisa, Kim, Me

Did I mention that even though it had stopped raining that it was still freezing? Stupid me, I forgot half my stuff this trip. I luckily remembered all the super important running related things. But, I forgot extra pants (since I was spending more than one day here), and a throwaway. I was cold. Luckily, on our walk to the start line I managed to accost a city worker into giving me a trash bag. That helped a ton.

Lisa is SUPER goofy

Aren't you loving my trash bag? It's about 5 min to the start (stolen from Kim)

Kim, L and I had plans of lining up with the 4:25 pace group and running together as long as it made sense. After some stretching, Lisa ran ahead to get closer to the front since she was going for a PR. We found our sign, and pretty much a minute later we were getting ready to cross the line.

Stolen from Kim's recap :D

Holy cow, what a crowded start! There were tons of people and the goal (for me), was to run easy. I hadn't looked at the elevation profile in advance, but discovered that the course was really hilly.

So, plan to run easy, take it easy on the uphill, cruise the downhills and walk the water stations. Easy. Well. I was freezing. L managed to find a pair of fuzzy gloves on the course. AWESOME!! I kept them on for a few miles, but man, my hands were cooking in those suckers! The hills started about mile 2, and I lost Kim and L at the second aid station around mile 3. That was ok. If I was only running the half, I might have tried to chase them, but it was way too early for crazy things.

I kept having to jump on the sidewalks to get around people. The course was congested, and people were just stopping in the middle of the road to walk or stretch. C'mon people, you know better than that. TO THE RIGHT, TO THE RIGHT!!!

Around mile 5?

Somewhere around mile 5, I caught up with L, although I never did see Kim again. We ran together until about mile 8, and then I had to stop and use the bathroom again. I had to wait about 2 minutes, but since it was NOT a false alarm, it was well worth the wait.

Mile 8.5ish

Easily one of the best aid stations was the Livestrong one around mile 9. What a cheerful group of people! My hands were still freezing, and at some point I picked up a new pair of gloves and ran with them for another 4 miles or so. The course split a bit earlier than I thought, and again, I was a bit sad I had to head to the left:

I caught back up to L around mile 11. Which surprised me. I didn't think I would catch her again after my long stop. We ran together until the hills started again somewhere after the halfway point. Overall, I wasn't super crazy about the course. It was all road, and it wasn't anything spectacular to look at. UNTIL... mile 15 or so, when I was lucky enough to run behind LMFAO (well, not the real LMFAO, but they were super fun and energetic and got tons of cheering from the crowds which helped me out a ton).

I'll say that there were some pretty crazy hills on this course. I wouldn't call them "gentle" or "rolling" - some of them were seriously like roller coaster hills. Proud to say that I didn't walk up ANY of them. Although, I think I would have been screwed if there weren't 25 aid stations on the course! I stopped again to use the bathroom at mile 20, but at least this time I didn't have to wait. Two different places in the second half had beer, I stopped at both. Thanks, random citizens! I also had to run about a half mile between miles 23 & 24 with my eyes closed. My eyes were STINGING with sunscreen/salty sweat. Gross.

I think this is about mile 25 - near UT

Kim and Lisa had gone back to the hotel to shower and change and were planning on meeting us at the finish. Kim got this shot of me somewhere in the last half mile. I was so focused on not walking up the stupid hills at the very end that I never even saw them!

Somehow managed to finish the race without collapsing, but that was the longest chute EVER, and my legs were DONE.

Finishing area 

Cool race app on my phone

I texted Lisa to let them know I was done, and they said as soon as they saw L cross they would head over to the finish area. I hugged a tree until I found L, and then we again, found Lisa and Kim very easily in the crowd. (Have I mentioned how TALL they both are?)

Thoughts on the race:

• Pretty organized, although they might benefit from doing a bit of a staggered start in the beginning to ease congestion
• Course very well marked
• LOVED the billion aid stations, although they were super long and spread out, and it was hard to toss a cup without it landing on a volunteer. I also probably should NOT have had Gatorade at every single aid station because I think that contributed to my stomach angst.
• With a course this size, they might have benefited from a couple more potties at the aid stations. Almost all of them had decent sized lines
• NO GELS ON THE COURSE??? WTF. That was not cool. Luckily I am a BYOG, but still... A race that costs over $100 should provide this
• Crowd support was AWESOME.
• Liked the app on my iPhone. I could track other runners very easily, as well as look at maps, etc. Neat.
• Liked the race shirt and the medal.

Bib #3419
Official Time - 4:30:29
Official Pace - 10:19
Official 5K - 31:21
Official 5M - 51:17
Official 10M - 1:44:32
Official 13.1M - 2:17:43
Official 20M - 3:29:27
Overall Place - 2143/3881
Gender Place - 614/1429
Division Place - 110/237
Garmin Time - 4:30:29
Garmin Distance - 26.36 miles
Garmin Pace - 10:16
Mile 1 - 10:03
Mile 2 - 10:09
Mile 3 - 9:39
Mile 4 - 10:53
Mile 5 - 10:02
Mile 6 - 10:33
Mile 7 - 9:50
Mile 8 - 9:42
Mile 9 - 12:10 (bathroom)
Mile 10 - 10:31
Mile 11 - 10:48
Mile 12 - 10:40
Mile 13 - 10:37
Mile 14 - 10:22
Mile 15 - 10:11
Mile 16 - 10:05
Mile 17 - 10:37
Mile 18 - 9:50
Mile 19 - 10:24
Mile 20 - 10:52 (bathroom)
Mile 21 - 9:44
Mile 22 - 9:41
Mile 23 - 10:03
Mile 24 - 9:52
Mile 25 - 9:33
Mile 26 - 10:05
Mile 26.2ish - 9:09

Did you notice I had a SIGNIFICANT negative split??? 2:17:43 for first half and 2:11:xx for second half?? That's INSANE.

I'M A WINNER!!!

We walked back to the hotel and showered, then we walked to get lunch. Man, I love going to Texas because I get to eat... WHATABURGER!

L had to leave for the airport, and I had plans to meet up with my family, so we spent a few more minutes chatting in the room, before we parted ways. My brother in law picked me and L up at the hotel. We dropped her at the airport, then I head up to north Austin to spend about 24 hours with my family.

After having a delicious dinner of rib eye and potatoes, my best friend/sister in law, (also a) Lisa took me to the bar. I planned on having one beer:

But apparently had some shots too.

MONDAY

I woke up Monday feeling VERY sick. Lisa felt badly for buying me too many drinks (although I should have just stopped drinking) and took me to get a pedicure!

And then Texican food! (Cheese enchiladas from Fuzzy's!)

We also went shopping at Lulu, and they had a BIG sale. Apparently everyone else in Austin is the same size as me, because there was NOTHING in my size. Bummer.

Picked up a salad at Whole Foods for the plane, and then had some time to kill because my flight was delayed. Long story short. Salad was the best ever, arrived only a little late in Denver. As a side note, I lived in my Aspaeris shorts after the race and am not at ALL sore. Magic shorts???

Austin race weekend a success.

I've been fighting a cold the last few weeks, and it hit me full force last night. I can breathe mostly ok, but congested and have now completely lost my voice. I have 6 miles on schedule for today (because I skipped yesterday). So unmotivated.