3 Weeks

I can't believe I haven't posted since September and here we are on the final day of October! My first 50 mile is three weeks from tomorrow. I have new pictures and adventures to post (I ran most of a 50K two weekends ago) and new shoes! Actually they are the same trail shoes I always run in--just a different color.

I'm still working on my nutrition, but I think I've discovered a few different foods that work well.

Tonight I will be out celebrating Halloween with friends and then tomorrow I'll be up and out on the trail (should be quite an experience!). It would be wrong to dress the dogs up, right? ;)

Happy Halloween!

I'm here.Still.

Before my weekend of running started Saturday I got a rather unpleasant call informing me that a work colleague had been killed in an auto accident on Friday night. Stunned and sad for her surviving family, I spent my collective 22 miles of running this weekend in a meditative state. I also discovered a few more things about my on course nutrition that will hopefully help me prepare better for the 50K next month and to run stronger.

I've got a Pilates session tonight, a brief run after and then a day off tomorrow. I think my workouts this weekend are 3.5 - 4 hoursish each day. I need to do some route planning.

Survived my *first* trail race

JamGirlz/Guyz have probably already read this and should feel free to move on to something more fun, like speculating on Phish's comeback tour (I'm still hoping for a huge 12/12/12 show to celebrate my big day--but that is all tangential).

On Saturday I ran my first official trail race, the VHTRC Women's Half Marathon. I've run many road halfs, a full, several 10ers and various other shorter length races, but this was my first foray into something a little (oh, hell, VERY) different.

The day was beautiful, if a little warm and humid, and the crowd had great energy. KJ and I even ran into a woman from the shelter who helped us adopt our second bully, Hippo (she even checked in on my at the last aid station to make sure I was still okay). My fears going into this race were totally unfounded--somehow I always forget that IN a race I find a way to keep moving, to keep running, to shut off the head stuff. Trail races are by nature slower than road races, but overall I did fine. I just enjoyed the scenery (at one point in a loop in the course there is a broken down Nash Rambler and another old car--a Ford Fairlane, maybe), the women were incredible and supportive and I just had a really stellar experience. One of my old housemates came in 3rd place, but she's always been a crazy fast ultrarunner.

I fell once in the first 5.1 miles and again in the last 3 or so so now I have this huge goose egg under my left knee, but I didn't bleed or completely scrape off the top layer of skin (as I have in road falls) and was able to get up from both falls, brush off the dirt and keep running. In fact, I think falling just made me run faster.

So now that I've had my first trail race experience I know a bit more what to expect in the 50K next month (boy, I need to get my mileage up!).




Yay! and its done...now on to the rest of my training. ;)

Pre-race planning

My next race is three days away and I'm already mentally lining up my running gear, figuring out the hydration situation. This is all good but its giving me time to get nervous. I think this is just a weird race year/schedule for me. I started out the year with a half marathon and rapidly rolled through a Spring racing season and have not actually raced since May or June. So, here I am several months later, head chatter in full force as if this is my first race ever. I'm contemplating the new Nano for all the new whistles, the higher storage capacity and the distraction possibilities.

I KNOW I'll have fun on Saturday, rain or shine--I love trail running--I just need to stop thinking for a second.

Fountainhead practice run

I ran part of the Women's Half course yesterday as a practice run. Post-Hanna it was muddy and buggy, but its a really challenging course so Saturday's race should be *interesting*. This weekend I discovered a few things: the Stimulus pack is great for carrying all of my stuff but it makes me feel like I'm carrying around an extra few pounds and I'm not loving it. I think for the half I'll just bring a couple of handheld bottles and some gels and be satisfied with that. Also, my shoes are not the lightest, but they'll do fine for the road portion of the race. And I'm having a bit of a motivation issue. I'm not sure what it is. Hopefully, when race time comes I'll be able to find it somewhere, but I'm puzzled and concerned. I'm not usually like this--I have a race plan, I make adjustments, I provide my own motivation and most of all, I don't walk. I'm walking a lot these days and I just can't decide whether its motivation or fitness. Ay yi yi.

Bah!

I just created this brilliant post and the blogosphere ate it (okay, it wasn't really brilliant--it was more me whining and justifying couchsitting tonight). Anyhoodle, I'm taking an unscheduled rest day tonight, hanging with the pups and watching a documentary...but if that destroys the illusion of me as dedicated to the point of crazy, pretend I'm going for a beach run with my pup.

Back to Back to Back

I had a completely leisurely week of running so I decided to stick rigorously to my training plan over the weekend. Did 90 minutes on Saturday--primarily flat trail plus stair repeats. I felt good after, but developed a raging headache in the afternoon because I ate only an apricot before my run and subsisted on Nuun (and a shot of Gatorade during and after). Dumb. I know better and vow to do better.

Yesterday I did 3 hours on the towpath and the Billy Goat trail. Out and back on the Billy Goat trail and additional mileage on the towpath. Crowded, but I ran into three women (two hiking together, one with other friends) whom I had encountered the last time I was out on Billy Goat. One recognized me by my running skirt and the others probably by my white hat/locs in a bun combo. Each encounter gave me the opportunity to pause and allow the large family groups ahead of me to move further forward...and a bonus in meeting the pair of women: I got to introduce two new people to the Potomac Heritage Trail! The trail is narrow and overgrown and I don't exactly relish it being overcrowded, but I was happy to share the info with such nice people. (Sophia--Sofia?-- and Kim, if you happen to encounter my blog in your search for the Potomac Heritage Trail/PHT, yay and drop me a line! Otherwise, perhaps I'll see you next time we are both out on the Goat trail.) I completely kicked the Camelbak about 20 minutes before my run ended so next time I'll remember to bring extra water bottles! I also developed raging headache part II after yesterday's run, even though I seemed to be well hydrated, had taken a gel 60 minutes into my run and eaten a Probar about 2.5 hours in. I love Probars and eating definitely helped so I'm thinking the issue is one of hydration. I love love love Nuun for its sugarfree goodness, but may need to supplement with salt tabs or something a bit stronger. Like during the Honolulu marathon, I think my body just has a hard time absorbing fluids and minerals in that heat. So, back to back runs and back to back headaches--bleh! I guess I'll keep experimenting until I find the right combo.