P31

Ever since I learned that there were people who ran beyond 26.2, I have been intrigued by ultramarathoning.  I was signed up for a 50K a year ago but had to take a DNS due to injury, and I've had to wait for my chance to join the club.  Today was my day.  :)

No race.  Just a training run.  Me and the road.  I had my sights set on 50K.  I had my choice of routes and considered running a 4.5-mile loop seven times around my neighborhood.  It's fairly flat, and the houses offer some protection from the wind.  But I didn't take the easy route (literally).  Instead I opted for a more challenging course that combined two others I like for semi-long runs.  Some of the hills are doozies, and I knew I would be much more exposed to the wind.  But I didn't want to punk out on my first ultra, so I opted for the tougher route.  At least being farther from home would make it harder to quit!

I prepped to fuel my run with various forms of peanut butter...

But I also fueled this run with the Word of God, which has been compared to bread, so it's basically like carbs for your spirit.  :)

The first ten miles or so, I meditated on Romans 12:1, which urges us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices as a form of spiritual worship.  I kept coming back to the idea that this run was an act of worship.  When you think about it--a girl who used to have life-threatening asthma, was once grossly overweight, and who still has a malformed heart valve and hardware from four foot surgeries...running an ultramarathon just for kicks--that is a testament to the God of the Impossible.  My running is a miracle.  And living the miracle is a way of worshiping the One who brought it into being. 

Then I figured if I was going to run 31 miles, what better time to focus on becoming a Proverbs 31 woman?  Starting at mile 10, I meditated on one verse every mile, praying for God to form those things in me as His bride and so that I can be a godly wife for my future husband.   There are some real gems in there, but these were two of my favorites, perfect for distance running:

Mile 17: She is energetic and strong, a hard worker.  

Mile 25: She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future (like what will happen over the next 6 miles!).  

Those verses, a new one every mile, really kept me going.  

As for the run itself, the first half was pretty good.  I opted for a 4/1 run/walk strategy to be as gentle with myself as possible.  I enjoyed a few Reese's pieces every 15 minutes (which probably gave me more of a psychological boost than anything) and gels at miles 5 and 10.  Halfway through the run, I came back by the house, scarfed down a peanut butter and sugar sandwich, picked up more fuel and refilled my water bottles for the second half, changed socks, etc.  I was cruising along for the next few miles after I resumed, but that's when I hit the hills.  After 20 miles, running up steep hills did not seem like a wise use of my remaining energy, especially with a third of my run still to go, so I committed to walk the hills and run the flats and downhills until things leveled out.  

It was also during this stretch that I found myself running low on water...already.  It's been a while since I've had to run when it was close to 80 degrees, and I was going through it faster than normal.  I was planning to refill my three 10-oz. bottles at the park that was the turnaround point 7.5 miles from home, but halfway there, I was concerned about making it there on what little I had left.  I prayed for a solution.  I happened upon a guy sitting on his front porch, asked him for water, and he kindly obliged.  As I walked past his front door, I noticed a picture of Jesus sitting on the entry table.  Perfect!  :)

I resumed my journey to the park and turned around to head home.  The wind was brutal.  I kept telling myself that it would only make me stronger, reminded myself it was just a hint of the power and force God is capable of, thought about Jesus as the One whom the wind and waves obeyed, and remembered that the Spirit had been described as a mighty rushing wind.  I reasoned that the Spirit of the Living God inside of me propelling me forward was stronger than the wind that was against me.  Still, hours of running against the wind (and having Bob Seger in my head) had taken their toll, and I got text support from my folks and a friend for the home stretch.  

Once I got past the hilly part, I more or less resumed the 4/1 run/walk plan with only a couple of exceptions (one being stopping at a model home to refill my bottles once again).  I had already given myself permission to walk the hills that would pop up the last couple miles...but when I got there, I decided not to.  Though I hadn't had a specific time goal, I saw that I had a shot at being under 6.5 hours.  I wasn't 100% sure on the math for how much walking I could get away with and still hit that, so I decided just to go for it, skip the walk breaks (though I did have to stop for 2 traffic lights!), and run the rest of the way. 

As I pressed on, I thought about my grandparents.  Although I've been blessed to share my running adventures with my dad's parents, my mom's folks have been gone for years and only knew me as the asthmatic child.  They never got to see me become a runner...at least in this life.  I thought about my grandfather, who had always reminded me of John Wayne...a man with "True Grit."  And I thought about my grandmother, who was a P31 woman...strong, ambitious, industrious, creative, and definitely a smart cookie!  I thought about the strength and qualities that both of them have passed down to me and how that was being manifested today.  It drove me up those hills and to my goal. 

I am so happy to have completed today's run, and I know based on how I pushed those last couple of miles, I could have kept going if I'd had to...but I'm not sure how far.  Knowing that people do races of 50 and 100 miles and more, I think of 50K as "baby ultra."  Today's run gives me pause about going farther.  It was tough.  With my current plan, I probably won't have another chance to take a crack at anything beyond 26.2 until after Utah Valley in June, but I'd like to do another 50K before I decide whether I want to try 50 miles.  Maybe if I could take out the hills (1000+ ft elevation gain today versus 68 ft for the Erie marathon!), tone down the 17 mph winds, or not run in temperatures 25 degrees higher than what my body has become accustomed to over the past couple of months, it wouldn't seem so daunting!  Any one or two of those would have made it challenging, but the combo of all three was humbling.  So I'd like to try it again under different conditions and see how I feel.  Maybe this is like childbirth...they say you forget the pain before you do it again!

We'll also have to see how God wants me spending my time.  Training beyond 50K would require more time than I'm putting in now, and He may want to me allocate my time and energy elsewhere...or not. I definitely felt His presence today throughout the run.  I had to stay connected so I could draw on His strength.  So perhaps ultrarunning will prove a path to deeper intimacy.  Time will tell.  But in any case, I am grateful to have completed my first 50K and trust that God used it to forge endurance and the qualities of a P31, melding them together to make me more of the woman He created me to be. 

Catching Kayla

This girl knows what it means to NEVER give up.  As if running with MS (and not being able to feel her legs) wasn't enough, her determination to get back up when she falls in a race is inspiring.  Her story is worth a few minutes of your life. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdLEmE138xA

Chocoholic Frolic 10K - Race Recap

I was pretty pumped for today's race.

The chocolate theme was evident everywhere...

(Incidentally, the award for best sign today actually goes to a kid on the course holding one that read, "Run faster!  I just farted!")

I arrived at the race plenty early with my friend Brian, who was doing the 5K.

I had a good warmup and plenty of time to think about my game plan.  After going into nearly every race hoping for (and perhaps honestly expecting) a PR, I adjusted my expectations for today's race based on the weather forecast.  I had PR'd my 10K in training just 2.5 weeks ago under perfect conditions.  It seemed unlikely that I would be able to beat that so soon while fighting double-digit winds.  So I scrapped my time goal and set a different kind of goal: Pass at least one person every mile!

I had a good first mile.  I had to pull back to keep from going too fast, using my recent PR pace as a gauge. 

As it turns out, what was a perfect first mile pace a couple of weeks ago was too fast today.  Though my legs had been sore all week, cardio became an issue in the second mile, and I knew it wasn't going to be my day.  The tendon that has been hurting off an on since early October flared up, too, so I figured out early I did not need to push too hard.  I switched gears from racing to making it a hard training run--as hard as I could without further aggravating the tendon or compromising future workouts.

I kept setting my sights on passing people, and that turned out to be a great strategy.  It kept me really motivated, even though my splits got worse with each mile.

I had hoped to run a negative split and realized that wasn't going to happen.  I had also hoped to make the last mile my fastest, and that didn't happen either...but I gave it a pretty good go based on what I had left.  I fell in step with a fellow Team RWB member (even though I was wearing my runhappy shirt today!).  His legs were about a foot longer than mine, but I kept up.  I felt like I could have passed him, but something told me not to, and I asked him to stay with me.  He did...and then encouraged me to kick it up the last .2!

My last mile was not my fastest, but it was more than 30 seconds faster than the previous mile, and my pace for the last .2 was sub-8, so I finished strong!

My heart rate hitting 193 and my tendon pain persisting post-race is telling me not to fault myself for not running harder.  Compared with last week's race, I am happier with my mental discipline today.  I adjusted expectations, but I never gave up and pushed appropriately based on the circumstances.

Speaking of last week...

I think that's the big lesson to be learned from today.  Maybe the last 2 weeks, if you factor in the long run I did 8 days before the Blue Red Half.  My Garmin calculates a "training effect" based on the duration and intensity of the workout, rating it on a 1-5 scale.  Last week's race was a 5.0/5.0.  Though I backed off mileage and only did easy runs, I felt sluggish most of the week, and the training effect for today's race was 4.5.  To put things in perspective, the TE for my last marathon was 4.4.  So in a sense, today was just as hard--even though I didn't have to run an extra 20 miles!  Note to self: allow more time for recovery between races!

Even though my pace for today's 10K was lousy (comparable to my pace for last week's half!), I had fun.  Running for chocolate is quite motivating and made the finish extra sweet!

Blue Red Run - Race Recap

Race: Blue Red Half Marathon

Place: Campion Trail in Las Colinas, TX

Time goal: < 2 hours

Non-time goal: Encourage at least one person every mile. 

The Blue Red Run exists to honor our firefighters and police. Participants are encouraged to run for blue or red. I was torn. Although several people I care about are police officers, I've never gotten a ticket from a firefighter! ;) Instead of choosing sides, I ran for the veterans' organization Team Red, White and Blue. 

Conditions:

Plan: Stay with my friend Pam, who happened to be the 2:00 pacer, for at least 10 miles (then take off if it was a good day) or as long as possible (if it was a bad day). 

Recap: From the very first mile, I felt significantly more challenged to maintain 9:00 pace than I had holding that pace four days earlier. Every single mile felt tough. My heart rate was over 180 by mile 9 and stayed there the last five miles. I stayed with Pam through mile 10, but the 2:00 group ran through that aid station--the first one I walked through.  They pulled ahead of me, and with my HR so high, I just didn't have the umph to catch up.  I knew that with an average pace of 9:00 for the first 10 miles, I had a bit of a cushion to stay under the 9:09 required to get under 2 hours, IF the course was accurate. Measurements had been dead on to that point, so I figured I'd be okay. I was too far gone to do the math on exactly what pace I needed to maintain the last 5K. I tried, but my brain wouldn't work, so I just kept running. I turned in a pretty strong mile...then the wheels started coming off. 

After three miles of my HR being around 90% of max, I let myself walk one of the short but steep hills.  (I blame my beloved ultra buddies, some of whom care nothing about time, for putting this idea in my head!)  I resumed running but lost my resolve. I thought about my previous attempts to break 2 hours, the first ending in disaster and the second in disappointment, as the long course cost me my goal. I started having thoughts like, "Well, you know what it feels like not to meet this goal. You'll survive."  Yuck. 

I turned a corner, got smacked in the face with strong winds and freezing cold drizzle. Though the headwind probably slowed me down, it made me think about "Pain You Enjoy" and made me mad enough to just want this to be over.

I never saw the marker for mile 12, but I slogged up the last big hill and about halfway through heard a paraphrase of Winston Churchill ringing in my head: Never, ever, ever give up. I looked down at my watch, realized I still had half a shot at coming in under 2, and found whatever gear I could find. 

Long before I could see the actual finish line, I saw this:

I gave it everything I had left running toward that flag. 

The good news is that I checked my watch and hit the lap button when it said 13.1. Time: 1:59:41. Yay!

The bad news is the finish line was still .16 miles away. Official time: 2:01:05. Rats!

The better news is I'm pretty sure I did meet my other goal of encouraging someone every mile. I kinda lost track the last 5K but was still making the effort. It was energizing to encourage others, especially my teammates from Team RWB!  This was the only part of the race I actually enjoyed, so I'm very grateful God inspired me to make it a goal. 

The best news is that it my suffering for that day was over, and I got one of these...

Final thoughts: My best guess is that the weather impacted my race. Though I am still adjusting to running in unseasonably cold temperatures, it was even colder for my great pace run on Wednesday, and my heart rate had stayed in a reasonable range. But with it drizzling the entire race, wet air was harder to breathe. For the first time, I had to have my sprayer soon after finishing, and I was still wheezing hours after the race. The fact that this is an exception when it used to be the rule is a reminder of how far I've come. 

The weather was truly miserable the entire time, so I must give props to the supporters (thanks, Mom!) and volunteers who came out, as well as the firefighters, police, and military personnel who have to get out and do their jobs no matter how bad the weather is. 

Between being cold and wet and my cardiovascular system going haywire, I cannot think of a single mile of this race I would characterize as "fun."  Yet I was able to embrace the experience as my best training run of the year, sort of in the vein that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  Being able to adopt this attitude reflects a kind of mental toughness I have developed...while what happened in mile 12 shows me where I need to get tougher still so I won't be vulnerable to quitting. 

Honestly, I could have pushed harder. Not much, but a little. Had I known I was going to be 10 seconds off my PR, I would have. (Because the course on my last attempt was even longer, I would have gotten it at Blue Red, even with my overall pace being slower in this race.  Then again, I'm not sure how much satisfaction I would have taken in PR at a slower pace.)  But I wasn't even thinking about PR. Just the two-hour mark. There's some consolation in my HR data suggesting I could not have taken 66 seconds off this race no matter how hard I pushed, which is what it would have required to get under 2.  But it's an important lesson to carry forward:

NEVER, EVER, EVER GIVE UP!

I Am Second - Race Recap

This was my just my second time racing a 5K, my first in 2 years.  My left leg had been acting up since a speed session in early October, so I'd backed off my training and had no idea what kind of time I'd put up.  I was hoping to PR (over my best time from a training run last summer) but remembered the morning of the race: I should probably set an additional goal so I can succeed even if I don't PR.  My other goal was to run a smart race with a negative split.  I wanted to run by feel and not be in my head, so I put a happy face sticker on my watch and just ran as fast as I could.

I could tell I was having a good race when I found myself surrounded by men because most of the ladies were behind me.  But I had no way of knowing how good until I crossed the finish line.  Not good enough to PR.  :(

And not good enough to get a medal that day.  They announced winners for ladies ages 30-39, and I didn't hear my name called.  Oh, well.  I was still grateful that my friend Mark had been gracious enough to wait around with me, and I was happy that I had at least run a negative split with my last mile being the fastest. 

Just for grins, I checked the official results.  My initial disappointment was more than offset when I saw that I had actually come in third among females 35-39 and finished ahead of 90% of the field--including the boys!

I flashed back to gym class and the Presidential Physical Fitness Test we had to take every year.  I remember the humiliation of having to call out my run times.  (Insofar as these were supposed to be measures of physical fitness, I think they should be treated as Private Health Information protected by HIPAA!)  It seemed like I was always dead last in my class.  And now I am in the top 10%???  Must be a God thing!!!

Upon checking the website and communicating with the race directors after the fact, I learned that they made a mistake with the 5K awards and that the age groups were indeed supposed to be in 5-year increments, not 10. 

Today, I got this in the mail. 

So, now it's official: I took third in my age group at the I Am Second run--my first running award ever!

Because of the way things unfolded, my first win was anti-climactic to say the least.  But in a strange sort of way, I think it's perfect.  The whole story behind the I Am Second movement is the idea that God comes first, and everything we do is for His glory. Not hearing my name called or getting a medal on race day--not even knowing I would get one until several days later...this was not about my glory.  It's about God's.  I am second.

That Dam Half! - Race Recap

I ran That Dam Half with my brother, and it lived up to its name, at least for him.  J battled injury for weeks leading up to the race, which significantly hindered his ability to train.  To his credit, he persevered.  He wisely opted for a 4/1 run/walk ratio from the start, and we pretty much maintained that the whole way.  

We got to run along the dam at Lake Lewisville, and it might just be the prettiest course I've run yet.

His calf started acting up a little over halfway through, but he hung in there.  He ran the first 8 miles on training, the last 5 on guts!

We were thrilled to see our support crew holding signs about a mile from the finish!

I'm so proud of my bro for finishing his first official half, and I had a blast pacing him.  It felt good to be able to return the favor he'd done me at Erie.  All told, he ran a great race, and when it was over, there were smiles all around!