I'm headed out in less than an hour to pick up Michael and Patrick to make our trek down to Laurel, MS. They are going to rock the 50 miler tomorrow and I'm looking to race the 20K hard then join them for about 13 more miles. I'm itching to run the 50K, but I'll have to see how I feel. The course is supposedly a fairly flat course - just rolling hills. They advertise it as a great course for 50K PRs and a good first 50 miler. I'll report back tomorrow and let you know if they live up to that!
Be thinking about Michael and Patrick tomorrow!
Happy running!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
10K PR, baby!!
What a day!! I picked Michal up around 1pm today and we headed over to Shelby Farms to run the WCCS 10K plus a few extra miles. It was cold, but after we ran one mile as a warmup we realized we were overdressed. Michael took off his pullover and I took off my tights...good thing I had some shorts! I was not feeling all that fast, but I was going to give it my best shot. As we lined up at the start I spotted the girl I had to beat and pointed her out to Michael. He offered to "accidentally" club her knees, but I decided that was probably not a good idea!
We started the race and she was about 10 yards ahead of me and she stayed that way until about mile 1. We ran mile 1 in 8:11 and her lead increased the next half mile. 8:11 is fast for me on a trail, so I decided just to focus on myself and run my own race. So I just plugged along and none of my mile splits were under 9:00 and I felt pretty good as I was running. Michael asked me what my 10K PR was and I tried to remember...I knew it was around 57:00 (57:09 actually) and Michael said we are going to blow that out of the water.
And blow it out we did! I pushed hard the last couple of miles and ended up coming in at 53:24 which is around an 8:36 pace!! And on this exact course at this exact race last year I ran 57:50!! So needless to say, I was pretty pleased with my time. Nope, I never caught the girl, but that is okay with me. The official results aren't up yet, so we'll see how the final standings shake out.
After getting some water, Michael and I headed over to the WRT for another 8 miles. We were both tired, but we kept a pretty steady pace...until one of my blisters popped!! It seems that no matter what shoes or socks or terrain, I get blisters. On my toes, on the ball of my feet - wherever. I just suck it up and run, but when that sucker popped, it felt like someone was rubbing flint on my foot to start a fire! We had 2 miles left, so what did we do? We sat down and Michael took his moleskin off his heel and I put it on my foot. I know, very sanitary! But after a few minutes the fire on my foot started to subside. I really wish I could fix this blister situation.
So our total for the day was 15.2 in 2:34:00. Not too shabby for lil me. Plus I've never done two long runs back to back like that. Michael and I did 10 yesterday and 15.2 today! I'm for sure taking tomorrow off, then doing 2-3 on Tuesday and Thursday and 8 on Wednesday. Friday off, then race Saturday in MS!!
Here is an old picture of Michael and myself after the 15M Death Run last year...
Happy running!
We started the race and she was about 10 yards ahead of me and she stayed that way until about mile 1. We ran mile 1 in 8:11 and her lead increased the next half mile. 8:11 is fast for me on a trail, so I decided just to focus on myself and run my own race. So I just plugged along and none of my mile splits were under 9:00 and I felt pretty good as I was running. Michael asked me what my 10K PR was and I tried to remember...I knew it was around 57:00 (57:09 actually) and Michael said we are going to blow that out of the water.
And blow it out we did! I pushed hard the last couple of miles and ended up coming in at 53:24 which is around an 8:36 pace!! And on this exact course at this exact race last year I ran 57:50!! So needless to say, I was pretty pleased with my time. Nope, I never caught the girl, but that is okay with me. The official results aren't up yet, so we'll see how the final standings shake out.
After getting some water, Michael and I headed over to the WRT for another 8 miles. We were both tired, but we kept a pretty steady pace...until one of my blisters popped!! It seems that no matter what shoes or socks or terrain, I get blisters. On my toes, on the ball of my feet - wherever. I just suck it up and run, but when that sucker popped, it felt like someone was rubbing flint on my foot to start a fire! We had 2 miles left, so what did we do? We sat down and Michael took his moleskin off his heel and I put it on my foot. I know, very sanitary! But after a few minutes the fire on my foot started to subside. I really wish I could fix this blister situation.
So our total for the day was 15.2 in 2:34:00. Not too shabby for lil me. Plus I've never done two long runs back to back like that. Michael and I did 10 yesterday and 15.2 today! I'm for sure taking tomorrow off, then doing 2-3 on Tuesday and Thursday and 8 on Wednesday. Friday off, then race Saturday in MS!!
Here is an old picture of Michael and myself after the 15M Death Run last year...
Happy running!
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Running down a dream...
I've had that Tom Petty song running through my head on my past couple of runs, but it's a good one, so I don't mind too much. This week has been a long one filled with more biking than running, but I feel good about it. I was a little sore after the 25K, but it was my knee that was bothering me from my fall. It was all bruised up, so I decided to bike more this week and so far I'm at 32 miles on the bike. I ran some short mileage with the track team, but they were fast miles and it felt good to go fast with them! I don't think I could ever keep up with them in a 1 mile or 2 mile race, but they could not ever keep up with me on a 17 mile run! I did get in one medium run of 7.5 miles and today Michael and I went to the Wolf River Trails for a 10 miler and that was fun. We went faster than I normally go and were talking the whole time.
Tomorrow is the last race of the WCCS series and it's the 10K at Shelby Farms. I'm going to try to run it as fast as I can so I can maybe take 3rd overall in the series. If not, that's okay with me - at least I'll get a good run out of it. Then I'll stay around and run about 10 more to get 16 for the day. This next week I could possibly break 50 miles, which is really exciting for me. The most I've ever done is 43 miles! I'll get the 16 tomorrow, do some small runs in the week with the exception of one 8 miler. Then Michael, Patrick, and I are headed to Laurel, MS for the MS50. I'm running the 20K and they are attempting their first 50 miler! I'm going to run the 20K, then wait on them and run the last 12-13 with them...so what is that...depending on how many small runs I do with the track team, about 52! Holy moly that is a lot of miles for me!
I'll drive Michael and Patrick back that night then the next day I fly to DC with some students for a week, so I'll use that week to recover from the 50+ miles. I'll run some while I'm there, but not too terribly much.
Alright, I'm outta there. I'm headed over to my sister's to hang out with my niece! I'll leave you with an AWESOME picture of her - she is starting to smile!!
How precious is that?!?!?!
Happy running!
Tomorrow is the last race of the WCCS series and it's the 10K at Shelby Farms. I'm going to try to run it as fast as I can so I can maybe take 3rd overall in the series. If not, that's okay with me - at least I'll get a good run out of it. Then I'll stay around and run about 10 more to get 16 for the day. This next week I could possibly break 50 miles, which is really exciting for me. The most I've ever done is 43 miles! I'll get the 16 tomorrow, do some small runs in the week with the exception of one 8 miler. Then Michael, Patrick, and I are headed to Laurel, MS for the MS50. I'm running the 20K and they are attempting their first 50 miler! I'm going to run the 20K, then wait on them and run the last 12-13 with them...so what is that...depending on how many small runs I do with the track team, about 52! Holy moly that is a lot of miles for me!
I'll drive Michael and Patrick back that night then the next day I fly to DC with some students for a week, so I'll use that week to recover from the 50+ miles. I'll run some while I'm there, but not too terribly much.
Alright, I'm outta there. I'm headed over to my sister's to hang out with my niece! I'll leave you with an AWESOME picture of her - she is starting to smile!!
How precious is that?!?!?!
Happy running!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Sylamore 25K!!
Despite the weather, the Memphis Ultra crew had a great weekend in Allison, AR for the Sylamore 50K/25K! Drew, Michael, and I left Memphis around 10:45 Friday morning and had a somewhat uneventful drive over to Allison. We did get turned around a couple of times, but the craziest thing we saw was the tornado damage in Mountain View, which is about ten minutes from Allison. There was a stretch of about 1/2 mile that was destroyed in the tornadoes last week and here are some pics:
There is damage like that in places all over the mid-south, so keep those folks in your prayers.
We made it to Allison just as check in started at this fishing resort called Anglers. We picked up our cool sweatshirts then headed down to our fishing resort, Jacks. The White River runs through this town, so it has all kinds of fishing resorts in it. And the word resort is completely misleading!! The first pic is of Anglers and the second is Jacks:
The rest of the crew made it in and we all had some pasta at Anglers, then we turned in pretty early to get some good rest for the next day. The 50K start was at 7:00 and the 25K was at 7:15. We watched the weather and were anxious to see what we would wake up to. They were calling for low temps and thunderstorms!!
We woke up at 5am and started to get ready and the weather wasn't all that bad. It was drizzling and in the high 30s. We all debated what to wear - it's so crazy trying to figure out what to wear for these races! We made it to Angler's and the guys got out and I sat in the warm car as along as possible! Here are the guys before their start:
I watched them go, then I was off shortly after them. The first 1/2 mile is on pavement, then the course veers off to the right and we start to work our way to the start of the trail. But the interesting thing is that right as the trail starts there is a creek crossing. In years past it has been as high as people's chest, but this year it was only up to my knees (I don't have these pics yet, but as soon as I do, they will be posted)!! We had all debated bringing extra socks, etc, but decided against it. That was a very good decision considering the rain!! My new Mizunos did excellent throughout the race. They drained quickly and were light and my hips felt better after this race than the last few in my Hardrocks.
I started right behind the lead pack and we were just trucking along and I felt great. We had to slow down here and there because of slick rocks, etc, but we were making good time...until we went the wrong way!! There was a spot where the trail had a couple of options to choose from and we chose the wrong way. I think it took us about 5 minutes off course and in that time about 25-30 people got ahead of us, so we had some time to make up and people to pass. I did the best I could and was still feeling pretty good. The first aid station was at about mile 5. I decided not to stop at any aid stations the entire time, so I carried my water bottle and one gel and that worked perfectly and saved me a lot of time and allowed me to pass quite a few people. The aid stations were not located right on the course - they were about 40 - 50 yards off course. I just hollered out my number and kept on going!
Once we cleared the aid station that is when the climbing really started. Since I was only doing the 25K I pushed it up the hills and tried to just zoom down the downhills. I caught up to Michael and most of the other 50K Memphis Ultra guys here. Right before the turnaround I was mowing down a downhill that had a lot of rocks on it. There was one big rock and I was going to jump on it with one foot and catapult myself off...that was the plan at least...I hit that rock and it was super slick and I slid down it on my right knee and shin. Oh it hurt...but the funny thing about it is that there was this guy right behind me and he saw it happen and he bent down and picked me up under my armpits and swung me like a ragdoll back onto the course!! I bet it looked pretty funny. As he was swinging me he said, shake it off, shake it off!! But I had to stop for a second to make sure I was okay. Nothing was broken except my tights (hole!). I eventually made it to the turn around, then I started trucking it on back. I played leapfrog with about 4 girls until the we reached the aid station when they all stopped and I kept moving. I never saw them again, but I did catch up with Vinny here. Vinny is another Memphis Ultra guy who signed up for the 50K but he got hurt, so he dropped down to the 25K. We ran most of the last 5 miles together so that was cool having someone to talk to. Up to that point I had just been listening to my ipod. He took some pictures with a disposable camera, so hopefully I can get a copy of those and post them here!
The creek crossing felt great on the way back - I probably could have stood in there for a while! We finally made it back and our time was right at 3:30. Here is Vinny and myself at the finish:
My time was good enough to be the 8th female overall, which is pretty cool. This 25K was 17 miles.
I had time to go back to the room and shower before those guys finished, so I headed back to do that. I did take a picture of myself in the room!
When I started back to Anglers it was raining even harder! I found a parking spot right at the finish line so I sat in the car and waited on all the guys to finish.
Drew finished first amoung our guys followed by Michael and Patrick then Patrick's dad:
We were all pumped to be finished and we were all pleased with our times. That night was grilled some steaks, listened to Michael and Patrick play the guitar and exchanged race stories!! It was a great weekend.
We woke up early to get back to Memphis and the whole way home I doubted that I could run the 8K race. My knee was swollen and I was limping. I tried to run down the street when we got back and I decided not to run that race. Running the 8K was not worth me hurting myself more - I have bigger races that are more important to me. I will still run the 10K next weekend and if I win my age group I will still place in the top 3 for the whole series! I'm going to bike today and give running a whirl tomorrow - until then I will continue to ice and stretch these sore muscles!!
Happy running!!
There is damage like that in places all over the mid-south, so keep those folks in your prayers.
We made it to Allison just as check in started at this fishing resort called Anglers. We picked up our cool sweatshirts then headed down to our fishing resort, Jacks. The White River runs through this town, so it has all kinds of fishing resorts in it. And the word resort is completely misleading!! The first pic is of Anglers and the second is Jacks:
The rest of the crew made it in and we all had some pasta at Anglers, then we turned in pretty early to get some good rest for the next day. The 50K start was at 7:00 and the 25K was at 7:15. We watched the weather and were anxious to see what we would wake up to. They were calling for low temps and thunderstorms!!
We woke up at 5am and started to get ready and the weather wasn't all that bad. It was drizzling and in the high 30s. We all debated what to wear - it's so crazy trying to figure out what to wear for these races! We made it to Angler's and the guys got out and I sat in the warm car as along as possible! Here are the guys before their start:
I watched them go, then I was off shortly after them. The first 1/2 mile is on pavement, then the course veers off to the right and we start to work our way to the start of the trail. But the interesting thing is that right as the trail starts there is a creek crossing. In years past it has been as high as people's chest, but this year it was only up to my knees (I don't have these pics yet, but as soon as I do, they will be posted)!! We had all debated bringing extra socks, etc, but decided against it. That was a very good decision considering the rain!! My new Mizunos did excellent throughout the race. They drained quickly and were light and my hips felt better after this race than the last few in my Hardrocks.
I started right behind the lead pack and we were just trucking along and I felt great. We had to slow down here and there because of slick rocks, etc, but we were making good time...until we went the wrong way!! There was a spot where the trail had a couple of options to choose from and we chose the wrong way. I think it took us about 5 minutes off course and in that time about 25-30 people got ahead of us, so we had some time to make up and people to pass. I did the best I could and was still feeling pretty good. The first aid station was at about mile 5. I decided not to stop at any aid stations the entire time, so I carried my water bottle and one gel and that worked perfectly and saved me a lot of time and allowed me to pass quite a few people. The aid stations were not located right on the course - they were about 40 - 50 yards off course. I just hollered out my number and kept on going!
Once we cleared the aid station that is when the climbing really started. Since I was only doing the 25K I pushed it up the hills and tried to just zoom down the downhills. I caught up to Michael and most of the other 50K Memphis Ultra guys here. Right before the turnaround I was mowing down a downhill that had a lot of rocks on it. There was one big rock and I was going to jump on it with one foot and catapult myself off...that was the plan at least...I hit that rock and it was super slick and I slid down it on my right knee and shin. Oh it hurt...but the funny thing about it is that there was this guy right behind me and he saw it happen and he bent down and picked me up under my armpits and swung me like a ragdoll back onto the course!! I bet it looked pretty funny. As he was swinging me he said, shake it off, shake it off!! But I had to stop for a second to make sure I was okay. Nothing was broken except my tights (hole!). I eventually made it to the turn around, then I started trucking it on back. I played leapfrog with about 4 girls until the we reached the aid station when they all stopped and I kept moving. I never saw them again, but I did catch up with Vinny here. Vinny is another Memphis Ultra guy who signed up for the 50K but he got hurt, so he dropped down to the 25K. We ran most of the last 5 miles together so that was cool having someone to talk to. Up to that point I had just been listening to my ipod. He took some pictures with a disposable camera, so hopefully I can get a copy of those and post them here!
The creek crossing felt great on the way back - I probably could have stood in there for a while! We finally made it back and our time was right at 3:30. Here is Vinny and myself at the finish:
My time was good enough to be the 8th female overall, which is pretty cool. This 25K was 17 miles.
I had time to go back to the room and shower before those guys finished, so I headed back to do that. I did take a picture of myself in the room!
When I started back to Anglers it was raining even harder! I found a parking spot right at the finish line so I sat in the car and waited on all the guys to finish.
Drew finished first amoung our guys followed by Michael and Patrick then Patrick's dad:
We were all pumped to be finished and we were all pleased with our times. That night was grilled some steaks, listened to Michael and Patrick play the guitar and exchanged race stories!! It was a great weekend.
We woke up early to get back to Memphis and the whole way home I doubted that I could run the 8K race. My knee was swollen and I was limping. I tried to run down the street when we got back and I decided not to run that race. Running the 8K was not worth me hurting myself more - I have bigger races that are more important to me. I will still run the 10K next weekend and if I win my age group I will still place in the top 3 for the whole series! I'm going to bike today and give running a whirl tomorrow - until then I will continue to ice and stretch these sore muscles!!
Happy running!!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Gearing up
Well, it's been a good week of tapering so far. I've biked about 24 miles so far and ran a little over 5. I had planned on doing a bit more, but the weather has been bad, plus I started track practice this week and I am getting home later than normal. I have thrown in some speed and agility work with the track team, but I've been taking it easy for the most part. Track is good, but it's been mostly short stuff this week because we are all working out together. That will change next week when we split up, so I'll have just the distance girls and we can get some longer runs in.
I need to give a shout out to Fleet Feet for helping me find a new pair of trail shoes! I went last week and they introduced me to the Mizuno Wave Ascend 3 trail shoe. I ran in them at the store and wore them around the house and they felt fine. Yesterday I went on a small run that involved a couple of hills and my toes were jamming up against the front! So I took them back and they very graciously exchanged them for a half size bigger! I'm planning on wearing them this weekend, so I'm going to take them on a run this afternoon to make sure the are good to go. The folks are Fleet Feet are always very helpful with everything and I think it's important to support your local running stores.
Drew, Michael, and I are leaving town tomorrow around 11 or so. We need to pick up our packets and there is a prerace supper at 5 tomorrow night. We hear the weather is going to be bad (snow!) so we don't want to be late. I'm sure I'll have some good stories to post when we get back!
I'll leave you today with some pictures of my niece relaxing in a little beach chair - looks how her hands are grabbing the chair!!
Happy running!
I need to give a shout out to Fleet Feet for helping me find a new pair of trail shoes! I went last week and they introduced me to the Mizuno Wave Ascend 3 trail shoe. I ran in them at the store and wore them around the house and they felt fine. Yesterday I went on a small run that involved a couple of hills and my toes were jamming up against the front! So I took them back and they very graciously exchanged them for a half size bigger! I'm planning on wearing them this weekend, so I'm going to take them on a run this afternoon to make sure the are good to go. The folks are Fleet Feet are always very helpful with everything and I think it's important to support your local running stores.
Drew, Michael, and I are leaving town tomorrow around 11 or so. We need to pick up our packets and there is a prerace supper at 5 tomorrow night. We hear the weather is going to be bad (snow!) so we don't want to be late. I'm sure I'll have some good stories to post when we get back!
I'll leave you today with some pictures of my niece relaxing in a little beach chair - looks how her hands are grabbing the chair!!
Happy running!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)