Tired Today

I've been tired today. (Duh, I wonder why, ran a good 25 miles on trails yesterday.) I went to the gym and did an abbreviated core workout. My left leg ITB Band is making itself known, which isn't good, since it was the right leg that I hurt last year. So more stretching for me and take better care of my legs.

I've actually had quiet time to myself and sat outside in the sunlight and pondered my drop bags/shoe changes for Mohican. I know it's 6 weeks off, but why not get these details down while I have the time to do so? I quibbled and scribbled, trying to figure out where I could leave shoes after which water crossings. The Mohican 100, if the small stream has dried up, will have 9 water crossings. 3 on the red (which you do twice) two on the green (which you do twice) and one crossing the Clear Fork River to the Covered Bridge. If the newer stream is high on the green, and you can't jump it, count on two more stream crossings. This makes figuring out sock and shoe changes challenging.
Do you need to change shoes or socks the entire 100 run? Or maybe twice? I don't know. I'm a solid experiment of one. I know the course now, and have run 1/2 of it last year, so I think I have a good opinion.
Shoe/Sock Changes:
Change from # 1 pair of shoes to # 2 pair. Rockpoint, 10 miles into race.
Wear # 2 shoes through green section (with one water crossing), Blue loop, Orange loop, back to COvered Bridge, with the river water crossing. Change into #3 Pair Shoes AND socks in Drop Bag.
Run Red Loop with three water crossings.
At RockPoint, change socks, keep same shoes. Run green section again (with one water crossing.) Run Orange loop again. Run Red loop, back to Rock point.
Change into Shoes # 1 that I left there 24 hours previous. AND new socks. Scamper on home to the campground, 10 miles to go.

So I need to buy a few more pairs of Injinji socks before Mohican!!

Water Crossings at Mohican

Gabe, Regis, and I arrived at 8am at the Covered Bridge. We were going to run the "Blue Loop", a 4 mile loop on the 100 Mile Course. Gabe was a newcomer to Mohican, who is running it in 6 weeks!! with the rest of us, but has never been on the course. We had fun introducing Gabe to this pretty little section, complete with a climb UP, over roots to the top of one waterfall, 2 miles in between, then a climb DOWN the next waterfall!
We finished right in time, at 9 am, to join the two others running with us today, Dave and Kyle. We started up the "red section" and the four guys quickly pulled away from me. I was having problems breathing on this hard uphill section; I don't know whether it was because I tried to use my inhaler without getting my breathing settled. I hit the top of the hill and had to make two bathroom breaks. After this, the last guy was completely out of sight and I knew I was on my own!!
No worries. I knew exactly where I was going, and while I do love having folks to chat with, I was also fine being by myself. That's what is going to happen on race day.
The red section at Mohican has three water crossings. After the flash flood storm of last July, the stream beds have become cut much deeper. It has rained in the area all the past week, so I was confronted with this at water crossing #1:

Hmm. I waded in cautiously. The current was swift. I got midstream and got stuck. I lifted my leg to step onto a flat rock--and the current started to carry my foot downstream. I stopped completely. Now what? I finally summoned the courage to quickly plant both feet on the slick flat rock--since I carry so much natural ballast around, I didn't get swept away. Whew!!
Water crossing #2 comes just 4/10 of a mile further on. (I know, because my Garmin was actually working today.)
The second crossing was not so bad, the water was just up to my thighs.


Water Crossing # 3 was a different story. The stream bed has become much deeper after the July storms. I was actually worried here. There was no way I was crossing right here. So I headed downstream. I walked and walked, trying to find a spot to cross!! I was actually considering heading back uptrail, when I found a spot I could actually see the bottom in. I made my way across, the water again up to my thighs. The guys got a kick out of this crossing, because the water actually came up to their groin area--so they knew it would be about waist high on me. I told them if I hadn't had my camera with me I would have just swam across.
After this, I was walking uphill, eating (of course!!) and I run into a female runner headed downhill. This was Karen or Kathy (in my running brain depleted state I can't remember) who has run Mo before; knew who I was; might sign up this year despite her bout with pneaumonia! I must have spent ten minutes or so chatting with her, then I was getting cold and had to move on. Now I knew for sure the guys would be done WAY ahead of me!!
The red section ends at the Rock Point Aid Station. This is where the green section begins, which will take us back to the Covered Bridge. There is another water crossing here, 1.4 miles into this section:


This one I scan carefully, and wade through. Again water to my thighs. Have I mentioned I am 5'2"??


The water crossings get all the attention on this run. I wore my Injinji socks, with my "Dollar Store" thin socks over them. No blisters!!! Good deal. My feet were wet and muddy throughout the run, yet came through.
I wore my Atalanta Running Skirt and have to give them high marks. The shorts never rode up; totally comfortable; and the two pockets rocked!!! They stashed my inhaler, camera, cookies, and later, my empty Adrenalin shot. I will look to buy a new pair if they happen to be at the Flying Pig Expo; OR I will just buy online.

This was not my best run. I had the breathing issues at the start of the red loop; then I didn't have my normal running pattern on the downhills. My knees felt funny. I have no idea why. I just couldn't flow as well as I normally do on the downhills. I will chalk the run itself as "average" but my usual Mohican experience was awesome, as always!!!

How to Monitor Blogs

I happened upon Greg Crowther's blog and found this very informational post:

"Do you keep track of other people's blogs by bookmarking them all and then visiting each one daily to see if they've been updated that day? That's what I did until this past Tuesday, when I finally admitted that this system is only practical if the total number of blogs you read is less than, say, five. I'm now using a news aggregator, also known as a feed reader, and am much happier because of it. I mention all this in case any readers of this blog are even farther behind the times than I am and have yet to discover the joys of news aggregators. This post is for you, you clueless Luddites! Turn off your record players and pay attention!

In brief, a news aggregator monitors your "playlist" of blogs, checking them for updates and notifying you when new content has been posted. Some aggregators are web-based, while others are downloadable programs that are launched from your hard drive. If you use a web-based aggregator, you simply log onto the aggregator website, which then displays and/or offers links to new blog entries that have been published since your last login.

The aggregator I currently use and recommend is NewsGator, although Google Reader also looks decent. To get started with either of these, you just create an account by providing a username/email address, password, etc. Then you tell the aggregator which blogs you want to subscribe to. The only tricky part here is that you can't always enter the blog's "home page" address (e.g., running-blogs.com/crowther); you may need to specify the address of the blog's feed (e.g., running-blogs.com/crowther/index.xml). A feed is a specially coded version of the blog that allows it to be exported to aggregators. Many blogs have little RSS or XML buttons (RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, which is written in XML, a coding language similar to HTML) that, if clicked upon, will show you the feed's address. However, if all you know is the address of the main blog page (e.g., running-blogs.com/crowther), NewsGator can usually figure out the feed address for you. (It does this in the "URL & Import" tab within the "Add Feeds" section.)

What if you only follow one or two blogs that aren't updated very often? In that situation, you might want to sign up at Blogarithm.com, which will email you when new content is posted to those blogs.

I hope this tidbit is helpful. If so, pass it on!"
http://www.running-blogs.com/crowther/2006/06/how_to_monitor_multiple_blogs.html

Thanks, Greg, I did.
I use www.bloglines.com myself.

TGIF

Okay, the plan is to leave work by 2pm today...I was at work until 8pm last night. Of course I also got an hour run in the late afternoon, so I wasn't technically working. I had to give a talk at the nurses' education program. I live 25 miles away (one way) . I could not see putting 100 miles on my vehicle in one day.
My husband feels neglected too, since he mentioned going out to dinner with me today.
Tomorrow is the big day at Mohican. I think there are four of us going. I was kind of surprised, I thought more people would be ready for a run, but who knows who may show up at the Covered Bridge in the am.

Skirt Review

I now own three running skirts. When I started running these longer races, I found it easy to wear compression shorts than deal with the short creep and chub rub that envitably happens. I really was not a fashion statement out there, but hey! I was comfortable.

I have found the Nike Power Skirt that works well. It has the longer compression shorts under it, with the skirt overlay.

It is very comfortable to run in. NO POCKETS THOUGH!!! The pic is courtesy of Mike's daughter from the Big Bear Lake 50k, don't I rock?


I have a running skirt from a new company called Atalanta Athletic Wear. This is a prettier skirt, with teal shorts under, and teal trim on the black skirt. The shorts did not seem to be as tight as the Nike, so I was a bit apprenhensive. I tugged on them a bit in the first ½ mile of the run, then kind of forgot about them, and they seemed fine. THEY HAVE POCKETS!!!!!!
Update on this skirt: I washed it, and have ran in it the last two days. It's been very comfortable and the shorts are not riding up.



The cutest skirt is the Triks, from Skirtsports.com. It is PINK (hello, yes, we women like color!!!). It has built in panties (called spankies). I’m not sure whether I am supposed to wear underwear under the spankies, or if they are supposed to function as underwear?
Skirts However, I need compression shorts for my chub rub. I am going to wear these in the Pig marathon, mainly because I’m doing the fashion thing that day. ALSO NO POCKETS!!!!


I will be running about 25 miles tomorrow in the Atalanta running skirt and post a review of how it goes.

Weight Day

Got out of work way late. Had to stop and buy groceries,and pick up my riding lawn mower tractor tire too..then eventually managed to get to the gym and get in a fast, abbreviated core workout..but at least it made my shoulder tension decrease a bit..

Two Left Feet

I found you can't just grab two purple Injinji socks and go. I changed into running clothes at work...and found I had two left socks. Oh dear. The Injini socks are molded too, so you can't just flip them over and make them fit.
I stopped at the "Dollar Store" and found a cheap pair of white crew socks...for one buck!! Sweet!!! The run was on!!
I ended up just doing 4 miles around the block from the gym. My ITB insertion point started to make itself known on the last mile, which concerned me a bit. I did stretch well after this run, and I now will get back into my normal stretching routine.

I saw that Horton has posted the sign up sheet for the 25th Mountain Masochist and there are already 111 runners signed up, and it is capped at 300. If you are interested at all you need to send in that app! I bet it will fill by mid May at the latest.

Training Commences

There will be no midweek Mo run for me. I checked my schedule and am booked at work with no time to duck out early. Oh well. I still have the big Mohican training day on Saturday. Hopefully a bunch of folks will come out for it, being so close to race day.

I went to workout at the gym, and actually quit not too far into the workout. I really didn't feel good. It felt like my blood sugar was dropping. My hands were shaking a bit. So I bagged it and came home and ate dinner. Then I went out and used our portable brush hog to mow some high grass, so I think it just was a flucuation in blood glucose.

So far I am keeping up with my small "todo" list at work and home. I've made myself small goals to do, so I get that good feeling of actually accomplishing something, instead of feeling time pressed and stressed.

Training Week

Okay, it looks like a go for the Red-Green Run at Mohican on Saturday, April 28. And I may still plan to get over to Mohican on Tuesday for a run!

Short Run Today

In the interest of time, I did a 4 miler around the block. This goes 1/2 mile downhill, into the valley, then a 1/2 mile uphill. I ran the whole thing. It was kind of funny. I kept thinking about walking, then just kept going.
I've become a stronger runner too. The 1/2 mile uphill, in the past, I've been gasping and wheezing for breath at the top, or even near the top. Now, I wouldn't say I just scootered up the hill, but it was considerably less of an effort than it's been in the past.
I wore a new running skirt today. I now have three different ones, and I keep meaning to write a review of all three whenever I have time to collect my thoughts.

Lloyd managed to freak me out today. Mohican is eight weeks away!!!!!!!! I got to get over to Mo and get some more runs in. Dennis mentioned a trip to the parents this coming weekend...crap. I was planning on going to Mo.
I may go over to Mohican on Tuesday of this weekend. I need to check the weather forecast. Apparently the weather is going to get colder later in the week.

Big Bear Lake 20K

What a wonderful day. I still have race endorphins going on.

Thank you Mike and family for driving down to race with me. That was so much fun. We didn't even finish all our chatting! Well, we'll have the drive to Cinti soon to expound on matters.

This was the inaugaral 20K run at the Big Bear Lake Campground, over in eastern West Virginia. It was about a 3 hour drive for me, after the twenty-minute waiting period at the truck stop (maybe they should have more than one cashier...?) anyways an uneventful drive over. Talked to some of the WV folks that I had met prior, either at the annual West Virginia Mountain Trail Runner meeting, or the fun North Fork Mountain run, where I got to know these nice WV runners to begin with. Mike and his family were already there. Mike and I discussed race strategy. This took about five seconds. I started laughing and we decided to 'just run'.

The race started with an uphill run on the road, for about two miles, then we went off into the woods. It was a bit rocky, alot more than what we have in Ohio, but less than what I had encountered on the North Fork Mountain. I had a bit of a trouble catching my breath for the first few miles. I don't know if it was the elevation, or what, or the fact that I noticed this and it bugged me. As we neared the last couple of miles of the race, I realized I wasn't wheezing anymore, and didn't know when that had stopped.
Mike and I were chatting so much that I couldn't give a mile by mile account. There were lots of rocks. It probably would have been easy to keep your feet dry, but once I got one shoe wet, I said "f*k it" and just ran through the rest. Oh well. Mike of course followed suit!!
The one magical part of the run was the pine trees. We entered this grove of planned growth pine trees. I have run in pine trees before, but this was somehow different. The pine needles were thick. The trail was soft, kind of mushy, but a good mushy. The noise seemed to disapear in this section. It was like the trees-or the atmosphere-sucked all unneccessary noise out. Very cool. And the trail! I was ahead of Mike in this section. The trail did not go straight. It meandered through the trees, taking sharp turns and curves-just like most WV roads!! It was a very cool section.
Another fun section was a downhill, totally rocky section which led to a creek bed. We caught back up to Billy here. We had caught up to Billy before, because he had fallen, rolled, and then couldn't figure out which way to go on the trail!! He had enough running sense to wait till the next runners showed up. Billy navigated us through the creek bed (and this is ALSO a mountain bike trail!! I don't know how they could traverse this area!!!) and then took off again. He must not have fallen again, because that was the last we saw of Billy.
Speaking of falling, I took the only spill. I hit some slick mud, under leaves, and took a nice fall. Luckily there were plenty of leaves to wipe most of the mud off my leg. Mike tried to have a better fall, on his face, in the creek, but managed to recover in time to keep all his limbs intact.

Before I knew it, we were seeing the finish line ahead!! Mike's girls were taking pictures like mad; we just ambled in as we had done most of the run. Too soon it was time to get on the road and go home!

This day really helped my spirits. I was just kind of down, being stressed with work and lack of time. It was good to have the whole day for me, to spend with my friends. I feel so much rejuvenated now. I'm ready for a 10 miler in the morning. I wish I could drive up and spend it with the BR training group tomorrow!

Still here

I'm still at work.

The running gods smiled

And must have taken pity on me. It was 515pm, I had just gotten back with my dinner, and the computer folks tell me..well, it's going to take a little longer than expected. A little hiccup. It might be 7 or 8 before they release the product.
Cool!! I'm going running. Always have the running clothes with you, people, you never know when a run will happen! I went to my little trail next to the park. It had greened up in my absence. It was a good run. I felt muscles work, I felt tension lessen, I smelled sweat. Ahhhhh! It was nice to have that unexpected run happen.

Of course, I am now back at work. It's going on toward 9pm and I am still waiting for my computer install to complete..so I can validate and then enter all the drug orders received all day long.

I bet I am working short hours tomorrow!!!

Running Dream

I had another of my running dreams last night. I used to have these much more often, mainly as a road runner, I think I had lots of anxiety about race logistics.
I was running the Mohican 100, but it wasn't on the "mo course" in my dream. AND I was running very well, feeling strong. There was a section where you had to swim across a wide creek. I had my camera with me, and thought, oh well, there it goes! I saw other people changing their shoes, and wondered where I had left drop bags...then I realized I believed I had forgotten about the drop bags and had none! So I just kept going. In my dream, I made a left and realized a section of the trail, that I had a previous dream about!
This course made loops back to a main house, then you reversed and ran the next loop counterclockwise. There was some sort of church service starting in a room, so I wandered in, talking with people I knew. Then I sat down, and the service started. I realized I was still in a race!! And couldn't sit there for 20-30 minutes. So I left during the first song, feeling all the eyes on me.
I headed back out, it was starting to get dark and I got my flashlight out. Somehow the night portion only lasted seconds. I checked my watch and saw I was running out of time for the race. But I decided to keep going as long as possible.

Sometimes I am too hard on myself. I was out of town on Monday and Tuesday on business. Last night I should have gone to the park and ran, instead of coming home and hitting the treadmill. It really was mind over matter.
I have a long work day today. I also need to get my oil changed on the vehicle. I need to run. I need to be at work from 0730 to 2000? Let me rephrase the running bit. I need to have a run that I can enjoy, not worry about the other 10 things I should be doing.

Treadmill Run

An uninspired treadmill run today. I've been lacking motivation this week.

Trail Run Mohican

It was a good trail running day at Mohican. I awoke at 1130pm to the sounds of heavy rain, I yawned and turned over. I was going to run at Mohican regardless.
Since it was a few miles north, that area had snow instead of rain. It was 31 degrees at start, 36 at the finish. 4 other runners came out, Mike, Ken, Rita, Regis Jr and myself. The orange loop is staged quite a bit on the mountain bike trail, and it's in very good condition. Trail was wet and muddy, but nothing like shoe-sucking mud. The 'fasties' headed out in front of me, and I had to yell at them a few times for wrong turns-I was the tour guide of the group.
The mountain bike group has done some work on the trail, cut a few new sections in order to let old sections rest; I have been very impressed with their work out on the trails. There were also some other new trails being cut too.
We stopped for water and some PB wafer cracker cookies that I had stashed....an enterprisng, hungry chipmunk or squirrel had chewed through the middle of the box and started in on them before we had our share! We ate the ones the critters had not touched and left the rest of the them. There must have been some sugared out squirrels at Mo this afternoon!
The North Rim Trail Section is only 1 mile long but it has three big climbs in it. We then hit the Hemlock Gorge Trail, 2 miles long, which leads to the campground where the CB is. Ken points out a higher trail around some of the low spots at the river level..doh. I never even saw that. Last time I ran the loop, I went right into the river, since the river was up!!! Not needed now!
Ken was doing great until he rolled his ankle with about one mile to go. We got back to the CB and wonder where Regis and Mike were-especially me, since Reg had my car key!
Ken Reg and I go back out on the "blue loop". The Blue is a lovely 4 mile portion, which showcases two waterfalls. I have been trouble finding the trail for Little Lyons Fall since the bad storms and blown down trees of last summer. Between both Reg and I, we found Little Lyons Fall and remembered how that section of loop went. Ken enjoyed the hand over hand root climb to the top of the waterfall. That's always such fun! We didn't run the whole blue section, just cut over the second waterfall, Big Lyons Fall. Big Lyons Fall has a much better trail to it, so it gets lots of tourist traffic in good weather. Not so today, the trails were all to ourselves. Nice that way!

100 Mile Advice

I just read a very good insightful post of Joey's on finishing a 100 mile. This quote matches something I have thought for quite some time:

"A lot of folks go into a 100 setting themselves up for failure. If you enter a race with the possibility that you might not make it then you probably won't. If you think that you get a certain distance or place in the event and you might drop there, then you will drop."

Mind over matter people!! If you don't think you can do it, you probably won't.

Another good website about 1st 100s: here; I have read his page more than one time.
This is another great post,by John Morelock.

I did one hour on the treadmill today. I mixed up jogging with walking, cranking the incline up to 5 or 6% for the walking. I am looking forward to a 13-15 mile trail run at Mohican on Sunday. We're back to winter weather again here in Ohio:
"Rain and snow showers in the morning. The rain and snow will change to rain showers in the afternoon. High 43F. Winds N at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of precip 60%."

Winds 20 to 30 MPH???

Friday the 13th

It's FRIDAY!!!! FINALLY!!!
Should I dare wear jeans to work today? What's the odds of an inspector showing up today, on a Friday, the 13th?

Probably pretty high. Too bad. I have my Umstead T-shirt on and my jeans. I'm doing some sort of workout this afternoon, it depends on the weather once I get out of work-run then weight training, or elliptical then weight training.

Training Secrets

I found this on the ultra list. I thought it was very interesting. I really like the 'can and will gap':

From Rich Schick:


With all the talk of magic potions and bionic shoes I thought I would share a few of my training secrets. Curiously enough I have found that a couple of these have helped to improve other facets of my life as well.



"Most people mean I won't when they say they can't and often don't realize this themselves. I call this the "can and will gap""

The larger this gap the farther you will lag behind your potential. Whenever you are faced with a difficult task be slow to decide whether it is within your capability. Once you say "I can't" even to yourself you have just greatly decreased the chance of success even if you later reassess your decision.


"If you fail in anything understand the difference between a reason and an excuse. There are many excuses for failure but very few reasons".

Whether it is being late for work, not doing your homework, eating a healthy diet or helping our spouse there are endless excuses but very few reasons.

If we fail to make this distinction again we will fall far short of our potential.

Weight Loss

I weighed in this morning due to Calorie King little email reminder. Oh happy day! 175.5 lbs. (See, I'm not proud. It's just a number.)
I have actually lost weight! Before Umstead, I was at 182 lbs. I wasn't real concerned with that number, because I was eating plenty of stuff with sodium (water retention).
I weighed myself last Wednesday, after Umstead. 187 lbs. Yes, run a 100 miles and gain weight! I wasn't concerned about that either, looking at my still swollen foot that day. Don't weigh yourself a few days after a long run or race, you might just disapoint yourself. I am usually up, due to water retention and eating more sodium than normal.
I feel that probaly 4-5 lbs is a real weight loss this week. I will take it!! It does make me feel better that I can drop some weight before Mohican.

Misc thoughts from Umstead

1. Practice eating things you wouldn't normally eat. The normal foodstuffs you have ingested...might not be so interesting 24+ in. I can eat PB&Ritz crackers usually; I love them! But I wasn't so interested in them at 8am (26 hours into race).
2. Practice eating different things. practice practice practice! I found the "Pocky Sticks" that I love (eating them now) I did not like eating while out on the 100. Consequently, it was all I had to eat between aid stations on loop 4, so I really didn't eat.
3. Note: I did NOT try eating hamburgers or hot dogs during training runs. However, it sounded good at the aid station, and since I have a pretty good stomach, I thought it was worth it to get the calories into me. I did recognize early on I need calories into my body. And I didn't have any problems with the hamburger, hot dog, pizza, soups, that I ingested along the way. So should I have eaten that hamburger and/or hot dog? Those are questions you will have to answer for yourself on the run. I felt they would not affect me adversely; and I needed the calories. It turned out to be the right decision for me, but that is just an experiment of one!

RUN Today

Woohooo!!!! 4 miles round the block, my normal little run from the gym. Wow, running a 100 miler gives you huge perspective on a 4 mile run LOL...it went by so fast LOL.
My quads were just a little sore into this, but man that felt good!!

Good workout

I did 20 minutes on the elliptical, followed by a good session of strength training. I think all my core training has really been beneficial with my 'pretty good' posture and being upright for my 100 mile finish.
Tomorrow, a run I hope, we may need to go get our vehicle from the dealership where it's been serviced.
Oh wait, I almost forgot, it will still be daylight, I can get a run in!

Training Commences

In my diligence in training for Mohican, I got a good workout today...I ordered 3 pairs of Injinji socks and a new pastel blue visor. It was a difficult workout to execute, here in dialup land, but I managed to nail the sales.
Tomorrow I plan on going to the gym, unless we have to go retrieve our other vehicle at Ford-land, and then Tuesday, after my follow up podiatrist appointment, I'm going running again!!
And maybe it won't be snowing by Tuesday.

The Flying Pig Marathon

I'm in. I just signed up this morning. I was waffling whether I should spend the time over on Mohican, or the weekend away in Cincinnati, and I decided to go for it. I would like to improve my marathon PR a bit. I've been wanting to run the Pig since I began running, and it always seemed like I wasn't 'trained enough' for it. Well, I am pretty much trained up for it, and it will be a good training run for me. It sounds like Mike and I can drive down together, and hopefully I can crash at Josh's place too.

Thinking abou the Future

Okay, first post after Umstead about races:

April 14 or 15th-run the Orange Loop on the Mohican Course;

April 20-mebbe: 20K run in WV, the The Big Bear 20K

April 28: 10K Trail Race at
The Wilds where I discovered trail racing. The start of all my passion. I may not actually do this, I may go over and run at Mohican, but I have to give a shout out to where this whole nonsense passion of mine started at.

May 6? The Flying Pig Marathon in Cinti? Talk to me people. Who is running this? Can we crash at Josh's place? Can I ride with someone? This might be a good training run. And I've been wanting to run the Pig for the last few years.

May 11 12 13-Mohican Training Weekend. As far as I know right now, run the road portion out and back from Rock Point Friday night; then the other sections the rest of the weekend. I'm sure Roy and I will talk and get things planned out. Roy and I somehow seem to be in charge of this.

Springtime in Ohio

How Long

How long a recovery does one take after their first 100 mile run? That's what this newby wants to know. I feel good. My quads are still stiff, my blisters are drying nicely. I haven't done any cardio all week long. Should I? I don't want to start up too soon and end up getting injured. This is my current dilemma. I'm going to root around on the ultra pages and see if there is mention on recovery. I'm also going to talk to my ultravet friends and see what they say.

Edited to say, I found a post already: http://www.ultrunr.com/recovery.html

Just wanted to share my feet pics. Pretty much the whole ball of my foot was blistered. They have almost dried out now.

I went to the gym today and just lifted weights and did some back excercises. I tried the elliptical trainer, but my quads are still a bit stiff so I warmed up on the bike, that worked better.

Mohican training began last night! I finally got out the splits for last year's race and started looking at times between aid stations. I have my splits from last year, up to where I dropped, at 61 miles, at the FireTower. On my next run at Mohican I will make an effort to time myself from aid station to aid station on whatever loop I run and see where I am at. Although Umstead was supposed to be a confidence builder for Mo, Mohican is a very different race than Umstead--single track vs a bike trail. I am hoping my familiarity on the trail will help me with Mo.

What's on the horizon in April? Not real sure. I may run a 20K in WV in two weeks, if I have recovered enough by then. I might try and get out to Mohican soon, but not this weekend.

Hallucinations

I didn't have any cool ones. I thought the wire to my iPod was a snake jumping out of the tree onto me-more than once. I thought I saw deer in the woods, but it was just runners up ahead around the bend. The only real hallucination would have been I saw a large mansion through the trees, but there were no houses in that area.

I feel surprisingly good. I actually didn't know how I would feel. I went to the podiatrist on Tuesday. He wasn't actually concerned about my blisters, he went ahead and removed my blacked big toenails! And then he removed another toe, which had blisters around it-I swear he took a 1/8 inch of skin off around it, my toe is shorter now. We discussed my blister problems. I have more strategies now. I think part of it was inability to treat out on the trail. Well, it won't be any easier at Mohican. I need to learn how to manage my blisters-or prevent them altogether.
I think I will buy more Injinji socks and add a thin pair of socks over them and see how that works next. And carry enough tape to properly take care of a blister. I had moleskin on the trail, but my feet were sweaty, and I couldn't get the moleskin to stick.
My quads are a bit stiff but I can go up and down stairs. They've been worse.
I'm going to the gym tomorrow to work on upper arms and back. My arms were great this time!! No soreness at all. See what weight training can do for you!

Umstead Endurance Run-Just a Run in the Park

Umstead Endurance Run is a loop course, 8 loops each 12.5 miles long. I have heard this makes it a race with a good attrition rate, since it is so easy to make it back to HQ and drop. I never really thought about it in those terms. I just focused on the loops. I really didn’t think of each ‘loop’ per se, for the first 4. It was just a matter of getting them done.



Loop One 2.47 6am to 847am
Loop Two 2.56 847 am to 11.43am
Loop Three 3.30 1143am to 1314
Loop Four 3.43 1314 to 1858
Loop Five 3.50 1858 to 22.49
Loop Six 4.17 22.49 to 306 am
Loop Seven 4.27 306 am to 733am
Loop Eight 3.46 733am to 11:20 am

It was a great day for running, fairly cold (and especially for NC’ians) somewhere in the 40’s-perfect for Buckeyes who had barely had any warm temps! The race starts with a ½ mile somewhat rocky dirt road from the campground (Camp Lampihio) and then turns onto this wonderful wide white bike path. The path is at least ten feet wide, made of white granite or limestone. It’s a softer surface, no rocks, just beautiful. I knew about the surface ahead of time, so I made sure I had my Dirty Girl gaiters on, and had Velcro on each pair of shoes I had brought.


I ran the first two laps too fast. I ran into Helen Malmberg, at the start, who was at Mohican last year, and is the Race Director of the Haliburton Ultra. She introduced me to Ruta Mazelis, who turns out to live in just about a neighboring county in Ohio, was the RD of the Dan Rossi Memorial Ultra, and knows some of the same runners I do. She is running the 50 miler, so she and I chat for the first five miles of the race. She tells me to go on around that time, and I run on ahead. The course is really nice. There are hills here, although I did make the mistake and say ‘what hills’ when Steve asked me about them later in the race. (ANY incline is a hill after twenty-some hours.) These hills are a little more gradual but long, kind of relaxing and casual in the early hours of the race to power hike up.
“Patience is a virtue.” I was impatient that second and third loop. I wanted to run. I wanted to log those miles in. I held back as well as I could. It’s hard when you’re a newby. But I knew I had many miles to go (somewhere I knew that, in the back of my head, I didn’t think about it so much).
I knew the fourth loop would be tough. It was predicted to be a high of 72 that day, and I had was not acclimated to that at all. It turned out that Raleigh Airport posted an official high of 79 degrees that day. I ran that faster that I should have with the heat. I was eating and drinking, but it seemed like I really wasn’t sweating too much. Or peeing much, considering I thought I was getting water in me. (I was taking Suceed caps every hour for electrolytes.) I was, however, getting sun burnt!!! I had liberally coated myself with sunblock at the start of the race, but I could feel myself turning pink like my shirt. The aid station had some lotion for me to use. (Later I did find I had tucked my sunblock bottle into my own drop bag.)
Toward the end of the 4th loop I was “thinking too much”. And everyone knows most ultrarunners don’t think too clearly after a few miles down the road. I knew I would be finishing the first 50 miles in over 12 hours. For some reason I thought I only had 24 hours for the race. What? There was no way I could do another 50 in less than 12 hours. Panic set in. Then I forgot what I was thinking about, probably got amused by some wisteria at the side of the road.. Minutes later I remembered it was a 30 hour race. Okay! I was really looking forward to meeting up with my pacer Steve Leopard.
Thank goodness for cell phones and reception in the park. Steve and I made contact as I started my fifth lap, he linked up with me after 2 miles. His brother in law, Troy, also joined us for the lap, which was very cool, because the constant talking helped. I have learned that it is good for a pacer to talk, it stimulates the runner. Steve and Troy talked to me, and also chatted with each other. Troy has just moved to NC from Ohio, and Steve was telling Troy all about the park.
Once it turned dark, I didn’t ask what time it was at all, although I knew it was around 11pm when Troy left so he could get out of the park. Of course, I then completely forgot to take my Succeed caps all night, because I was taking them every hour.
Steve was great. He talked to me, we chatted about races, running, drugs (I’m a pharmacist) health care; he made sure I was eating enough and drinking. When we had to stop at the Red Cross Station (twice) to bandage up my feet he went out to my drop bags and got whatever I needed out of them.
I would say the fifth lap was the hardest mainly because I just hadn’t been up 24 hours since college days (long long ago). I would feel bad, then I would feel good. Then I would feel bad, then I would feel ‘not so bad’ then it might even swing back to feeling good again. It was true then, about what I had read about ultras: there will be bad patches. Be patient, they will go away, to maybe become good patches. I kept having this vacillating up/down mentality going on.
Steve had to stop pacing me after this lap, because he was having knee issues, which he knew beforehand (and I knew too.) It has to be tough being a fast runner and then tone it completely down to a shuffle/walk.
I picked up my iPod for Lap 7. I also picked up Ann, as my last pacer! She caught up to me as I headed out. Ann was part of the volunteer pacer group that Umstead had set up, runners out there volunteering their time to shepherd us poor runners in. Ann actually had been a shepherd in her past career, and still had sheep on her property, along with her ten dogs. It was great to have Ann with me, she did a good job of talking to me, keeping me going, making sure I was drinking and eating.
I was wobbling on this lap, although I did have the mentality of ‘7th lap. 7th lap’ going. I had read “it is darkest before the dawn”. This is when armies attack, when you are the most vulnerable, the least with it. I had also read that you will feel better when the sun comes up. And you know what? It was true.
Ann and I hit the HQ around 730am. I finally looked at my watch at this time. I had not glanced at the time since dusk. I asked what the cutoff time was at the next aid station. I was told the cutoff was here, at 8am, they wouldn’t let anyone start the last lap if they weren’t in before 8am. So I made it, all I had to do was the last lap!
Yeah, right. Ann said she would like to go out with me again, and I was all for that. We walked the first six miles. I was so afraid of blowing up, I didn’t want to lose it for the last six miles. Now I understand how people drop out after 80 or 90 miles of a race. My leg buckled once or twice and I just kept moving. Blisters were growing on my feet, yet out of the aid station, I really didn’t see what I could do about it-just go forward.
Another volunteer pacer joined us around mile six, Rob I believe is his name. He did not end up with any runners, but was going to run ahead and see if anyone needed help. At the time I was DFL (dead fing last) which was just fine with me. You know what they call the last person across the finish line? A finisher. I asked him to see if there was any coffee left at the aid station, because I had drank all my Adrenalin energy drinks and had been caffeinating myself since about 4am on.
We got to the aid station and they yelled at us to keep going they would bring our drinks to us. I got a little scared here, because this was the first time I thought about not making the time limit. Ann and I shuffled forward, and Ann checked her watch, and asked me if it was important to just get the 100 miles, or finish in the official time. I told her I wanted to complete the race within the time cutoff. This was when she said something about “we’ve got two hours to go 3.5 miles so we’ve got to move.” So every downhill, she suggested we shuffle down it. I would say yes to about her every suggestion about the shuffle. The blisters were growing. I knew the course so well by this point I knew every little downhill. We kept going forward and forward. We hit the last good downhill, and actually saw other runners ahead of us! Huh!!
I knew after this downhill, we crossed a bridge, had another uphill, and then it was one mile to the turnoff to the campground. We caught more runners here, and passed 4 or 5 runners on the hill. Ann kept me shuffling forward.
The mile between mile 11 and 12 has to be mismarked. It was at least 4 miles long. I kept looking for the turnoff to the campground.
OHMYGOD there it was. Finally. I knew I could do it. We were well within the cutoff. We hobbled over the rocky road for the last ½ mile. The runner in front of me stopped to pee in the woods. I was amused. I was not stopping for anything at this point.
I heard my husband yelling at me from the top of the hill and I gave him a “Whoohoo”.
He said to run and as I hobbled up the hill I said I was running. About ten feet from the finish line, I sprinted it –I was done!!! 100 miles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I DID IT

" You've got two hours to do 3.5 miles so we best get moving."


-Or something similiar to those words from Pacer Ann at the remaining miles from Umstead. I found this quite hilarious..but oh so true.

I finished in 29 hours 20 minutes.

More to come soon, but first:

-it is true about the bad patches. There will be bad patches, then they will go away.To hopefully become good patches.
-it is darkest before dawn. And watching that second sunrise come up does make you feel better.
-no food really looks good after twenty some hours.
-any small uphill (despite any earlier scoffings about what hills on the Umstead course) become hills after twenty some hours of running.
-pacers are angels in running shoes. THANK you Steve and Ann!!!!