What's Under the Hood?

I think of runners like cars. Just by looking, one can't tell what is under the hood. Yet there is still a broad judgement made by appearance—mostly by people that are non-runners. One can have a rusted-out beaten truck packing a roaring, powerful engine. Or, a sleek exterior that rumbles quietly, with no get up and go (or worse, runs out of gas at an intersection!). And this is one of the reasons I train and enjoy people watching on race day. Some of the warm-ups, well... It's like a strange spoof of So You Think You Can Dance. I do feel for those who have been injured and need to warm-up and stretch well. I am not talking about that routine. Maybe I am just not serious enough. But I had to look away at a recent 15k when witnessing the dance routines of one woman—who I was afraid was going to biff it on asphalt, followed by boys talking smack about their speed and my husband thought one of them looked like a girl. Yep, he was pretty with a nice head band alright. To each their own.

Sure, some people look fit or like thin sprinters and they are, but one can not tell the speed and endurance of the majority of runners—the normal people—at these races just by the outside presentation. I will never—oops I said never—be that skin and muscle on bone sprinter. I work with the genetics I have. But, what I can change is the conditioning of my engine from the inside. And that is golden.

I am very proud of my husband who says that I inspired him to start running a few months ago. He ran his first race—a 15k—with me two weeks ago. It was the first time he had reached that distance. I knew he was ready and had been consistently running 2-6 miles 3xs a week for a couple months and had been working out for a few years. He knew he was beyong a 5k and was looking at a 10k. But I figured he should run both at the same time...HA! It was time for him to experience the thrill of the event from the inside of the track. It was a great experience to pace him and pull him back when I felt he was going too fast with a huge hill coming at mile 5. Something happens in a race where people just get excited and go too fast in the start and run out of gas at some point. We ran that hill passing many who started walking. The rest of the run clicked on by, although my husband was wishing he was on his last lap on mile 7. A race in July is going to be HOT and that adds the possibility of over-heating. Not to mention the mental barrier, if one has never ran this far before. For the most part, we had an enjoyable run and I have a photo to prove it. On the last stretch, which is about 4 blocks on a parade route, he asked where the finishline was. When I told him it was at the end of the street, his response was "Oh God!" It was hot, he was hurting and he just wanted it over. Yet, in the last block he still found the strength to sprint and leave me 8 seconds behind. To his credit, he did ask for me to come with him, but my engine doesn't go under 8-minute miles at the end of any run. I told him to just go. I have no problem with him or other people getting the race experience they want.

I didn't feel like I was "racing" the 15k and was running happy.Yet, I had another PR by 6 whole minutes. With a few people hurly on the course—that's right, barfing—and at least one running into a fence at the end, I feel pretty good about that PR and this smooth ride.

Just what is roaring under my hood? My Ultra training has made me faster, stronger and running smarter. Yet my exterior, just doesn't show it, which I think I could change that by weight lifting and less cardio....but I am a runner after all. I have set 4 personal records this year—out of the 4 races I have ran. So I have to think, and not to sound cocky, that I know what I am doing. A rest day to me, has become a day that I workout just once. That's right.

A look at my weekly training plan:

I have had some lurking injuries that have pulled me back in spacing my tough hill repeats to the beginning of the week, so the long runs don't end with injury—part of running smarter. 30 repeats is grueling. That's on today's schedule with Insanity. Off for today's double workout!

Time for me to focus and drive.

Finding My Happy Pace...

I never thought I would run below 9 minute miles, and am still in awe that I did it and did it for 13.1.  For someone who started running so slow and so late in life, it just feels magical to me. I feel like I have nothing left when I finish and can't imagine finding more, but I do. What an awesome journey to become better than I was yesterday.

Another PR in my Rock40 year: 1:55.03. A 3.5 minute PR. Breaking 2 hours was such a feat in March and it didn't come easy. I remember how it felt to push so hard and demand more than I had ever put out there and to believe without seeing it. And yet, I did it again two weekends ago with less angst. (Sorry, it took me a while to post this one.) Sure I have trained a few more months now, but I have not been doing much speed work. Actually, I can count the days I feel speedy on one hand and it isn't planned. So my speed and strength is coming from my cross training, which I will go into on another post.

I had all the mental strength I needed. I have been experiencing some lower leg pain and decided to base whether I was going to run this one for enjoyment—run casual—or "race it" on how my leg was feeling the morning of. If it started hurting, I needed to pull back. 8:50 would be my finishing average goal pace, in which I had to take in account the slop out and incline coming back.  That is 13 seconds per mile faster than my last PR in March. I was a little worried in the beginning thinking that I just wasn't feeling it and already pulling out the tough love. But it worked. Faith over fear. Choose faith. And to those that say I cannot, watch me!!

I kept watch of my pace mile after mile and knew I was still in it. I looked for a good pacer person and found myself passing people that seemed strong for a while but I had to stay on track. I found one veteran runner that was running strong in the second half and focussed on his hat. Yes, my pacer at last.
Chasing him down was rough. I felt like laughing at one moment, because I felt like he just might kill me and the wheels may come off this bus. He slowed in the last 2 miles so I left him and went on. I couldn't let go.

In the last mile I thought of one of my power songs that wasn't even playing on my iPod. You must be willing to bleed and I was. You have to want it more I told myself, and I did. I passed quite a few people in those last couple of miles that had ran out of gas. I actually was willing to puke. I felt ill going around a corner. I even looked at the roadside and thought about how much time that would cost me. Luckily pushing thru it, it passed.

8:47/8:27/9:01/8:57/8:52/8:22/8:33/9:12/8:49/8:29/8:40/8:56/8:31/8:19 last .25

Mama has some powerful legs. Look at all the boys behind me!

Ragnar Repeats, Oh My!

I don't know how this Rock 40 party can get any sweeter... well it just did since I have WON a spot on the Sarah Shea Ragnar Relay Team in Washington DC this October!! If you are not familiar with Sarah Shea and Dimity McDowell, you are missing out on a lot of laughs, some tears and a whole lot of motivation. They are the authors of Run Like a Mother and Train Like a Mother, bloggers and podcast producers for Another Mother Runner and write for numerous publications including Runners World.
They have a facebook tribe of more than 30,000 and that is originally how I found them.

This year they ran a contest giving away 24 spots on their relay teams for Ragnar. Ragnar is a 196 mile relay race = two days. All I had to do was submit some form of entry to convince them to pick me for their team. After much thought and a few hours behind the screen I came up with my submission.

Winning is a thrill and I am excited for this adventure. I admit, that I dislike traveling and sitting...okay I detest it with a passion. But this is one experience I gotta have. There will not be another chance at this. Below is my submission that I based my "Finding Strong" comp on afterwards.

How strong am I? 20 Ragnar Repeats currently strong!

When I pleaded the importance of this race to my husband he changed his own mindset from, "you're nuts!" to getting it. Yep, love that man. I will be with 24 women that I already have a lot in common with, yet are strangers...and will obviously get to know them. That is my kind of event. Life is for living.

All I can add is that my little running hobby is taking me places and I intend to soak up every moment and opportunity. Find your Focused Drive and floor it.

Running Authentic

I know this is one long race report. But this one deserves it.

What can I say about a marathon journey except to expect the unexpected and roll with it in the most positive manner possible. That is my goal every time. I surprise yourself with my willingness to shift course, which brings an unexpected well-worth journey. There is a challenge around every corner. I think that is why I love marathons and I really love the Bayshore marathon in Traverse City. Besides being only a 35 minute drive for me, the course is fast and beautiful and the crowd is enthusiastic and kept meeting us at different points along the course by the bus load. My run buddy, Evie, and I decided to go for 4:17 PR and I was the pace master to keep us going. This would mean a 15 minute PR for me and a 21 PR for her. The McMillian calculator said we could do it faster. So I thought this was "playing it safe" as well as a challenge. We knew that things could change mid-race and were prepared to accept what ever came.

Medals are not for eating, but we had to try it one more time.

We wore matching "Sole-Sister" shirts from Another Mother Runner and Fellow Flowers for running in our hair. I wore the orange flower and I just realized that it was assigned this by the maker: The Original. Bold Honoring the journey of friendship. Fiercely United...To cherish, to protect always.

Wow. How true it was this day.

It was awesome to have the crowd yelling "Go Sole-Sisters" throughout the course. And slapping free high-fives is always a charge for me.

At the coral line-up, we ran into a friend of Evie's who was running her first marathon and she decided to join us for the race. She was extremely talkative and we enjoyed her company for the first eight miles and then we lost her at a rest stop and she rejoined us mile 15. I loved her enthusiasm and that she was  into slapping high-fives with the crowd with me. We had to space ourselves out to each get a chance to do that. Hysterical!

Pacing was going very well. Every time we sped up too fast, I pulled us back and we were well on our way until mile 18. There is where things went a little off course. My run buddy just wasn't feeling it and I totally understood that. She was having trouble breathing freely. Evie had had bronchitas 2 weeks prior and when you are feeling off your game hitting a faster speed than you are use to, as in a race, it happens. To her credit, there are many days she out-runs me, so I get it. She has run 7 Ultras and I have ran zero. She knows the mind game it is, but I had to make her dig deeper, so I did pull out thoughts that I knew would inspire her and have her pain feel not nearly as significant. I felt like I was playing dirty, but I came prepared. Digging deep can go to an emotional core to find that strength that we all have. She said it worked after the race and felt she needed to write about it.

Our newbie racer was complaining about pain and suffering more and more, and although it did not effect my mental state (because hey, try dragging your leg in pain like I did in last year's Charlevoix race, when I could hardly bend it and I finished it after 5 hours), I just kept shuttering her down. NO ONE needs any negative thoughts during a hard race. Especially when you are suffering like my run buddy was. A marathon is pain at some point, and you have to respect it and welcome some of it or you will never get beyond it or to your goal. I know she didn't mean to do this, but "no doubt" and pain talking is allowed on my race course.

My buddy let me know twice that it is was alright to move on to finish strong since I was obviously pulling us along. I told her "no way" the first time, and the second time I looked her in the eye and said, "There is only one Evie Ultra and there is always another marathon." I sincerely meant it. I am not about to write my journey any other way. It is a team event at times. And that just isn't the marathon I wanted. Running 6-8 miles alone to shave that 7+ minutes would have seemed like agony, loneliness and completely idiotic. Again, not who I am or want to be.

When she gave me the final, "This is all I got" at mile 22, I knew it was time to back off. That is our code. I looked at my watch and thought okay, we can accept this and cruise in at a 10-10:30 pace. 30 seconds here and there is just fine and still a good finish.

In the last half mile we found a familiar face. Karen: a teacher, track coach, amazing runner, friend and yeah we needed her right now. She coached us to the track and I have to say, boy is she GOOOOD
…she inspired me and got my mind in check.

I saw my family waving on that last quarter mile. There is a wonderful feeling I have every time I see my husband at a race. I look right at him and I feel like I am home, and I feel a calmness and happiness. It helps that my kids look pretty darn happy too. This man lets me train for hours on weekends and takes care or our children while I am away without any complaints. He doesn't necessarily understand it, but he supports my need to achieve and listens to my remarks on running. THAT takes a lot of patience. He has kind words for me daily and I could make a list that doesn't have must to do with this race report, so I will refrain. I am grateful to my lord for giving me this partner through life and I don't say it nearly enough to him.

We hit that last half mile in close to a 9 minute pace and sprinted (well sprinting to us at that point) down the track side by side. In the last 30 feet I looked at Evie and said, "Take my hand," and we crossed victorious arms up and holding hands. Now THAT is the marathon I wanted!

Evie was elated that she just ran a 15 minute PR and I had just ran another 9 minutes off mine. Hey man, I just beat Oprah by 6 minutes and I didn't have a pacer!

Crossing the finish line and proof that it's hard to capture the feeling of a moment, which was much better than the photo. Thanks Evie, for giving me this moment.

Dig Deep and Repeat

I have found a new love in of all things: hill repeats

What is wrong with me?? I was intimidated to start doing these. 

Why? Because they are excruciatingly hard! At least, that is what my brain told my lungs and legs. 

Enter hard rock'n music…and we have lift off!

The biggest obstacle was actually keeping track of the count. So I came up with something simple: 

• Run down the hill and pick up a small rock at the bottom

• Run with it up the hill  and place it in the mailbox 

• I started with 6 and have added on weekly by one to two repeats (I am currently at 15, yeah me!)

• Repeat 2x-3x a week

The reviews I have read from North Country's mentor program echoes that the best training strategies include MANY hill repeats—followed by then by many more.  I have to agree with that after running the half and I literally just want to survive and see my family again. Geese, need to get that thought out of my head.

Not only will this make me stronger, faster and condition my legs for the downhill beating I will take, but I am also gaining mental toughness. I feel like a fist pumping Rocky The Italian Stallion at the end. I am just missing the them music in my iPod to carry out this crazy. 

With the Bayshore marathon this weekend, I am looking forward to see just how strong my run buddy and I have become in these last 6 months. I already have a game plan for what comes next and will share those training changes after the race report. 

Until then, find your Focused Drive.

Seek and you find…Inspiration

I need to search for those that inspire, educate and make me want and believe I can achieve more. I don't have all the answers and this experiment of one is not nearly complete. I want the joy in moving forward and setting new goals...forever and always. But how to get there??? People living their lives motivate me.

Below are some of my recent sources of full throttle inspiration:

PODCASTS:

Another Mother Runner: I can't say enough about how much I have learned from Sarah Shea and Dimity McDowell on their many informative vehicles: facebook "Tribe" page, blog, books and available in voice in this podcast! I have laughed and chokes back tears during these podcasts and ticked by the miles effortlessly. They interview a variety of experts—and a few of the rest of us—to keep life in perspective balancing running and triathlete goals, career and family to make it all doable. Their facebook group is called the "tribe" and has more than 13,000 members that feel free to ask questions, share moments and obtain answers from anyone checking it. It's actually THE place I went to find support—and got it!—when I was considering running my first full marathon. It's where I learned about Body Glide,  running skirts and TMI Tuesdays.

Ultrarunnerpodcast.com: These tale spinning interviews make me believe that all things (and distances) are possible. They make me feel sane! HA! Not only do they interview interesting people—ultra runners—with insight and real experience, but they let them share their journey without much interruption, except to add to the quality of the story. I find myself hardly being able to wait for the next one. I found myself laughing out loud and stumbling listening to Russ Thomas talk about his BAD-past eating habit of grabbing left over food off hotel trays. WHAT!!?

BLOGS:

http://keirahenninger.blogspot.com: Besides being a gifted trail runner killing it on the Ultra trails and beating the boys (yup, love her already don't you), Keira Henninger lives and breathes positive energy and is authentic in sharing her own struggles with self doubt, work and family. She is a nutrition coach, race director and a thought provoking writer on her blog. I particularly enjoyed her account of what to do with negative opinions that drag you down, but should not hold such value on your day or goals. Her advice: Hit the delete button.

This is her list of top 30 Life's Most Important Stuff. Read it and read it again.
http://keirahenninger.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-repost-of-lifes-most-important-stuff.html

http://liftingmyspirits.wordpress.com: This amazing female body builder went from looking 10 years older than she was—think garage sale heavy grandma (see her photo on the left)—to looking 10 years younger than her age....and she is 50! Believe it! Sweat, eating right, positive energy and commitment oozes from her blog and I can't get enough. This woman has so much focus that she transformed herself in three years to a competitor.

http://trailgirl.blogspot.com: Catra Corbett is living color and go-go unstoppable energy. She went from being a addict 17 years ago to a frequent 100 mile ultra runner—running more than 250 ultras. She holds the women's record for completing the John Muir Trail twice (out and back), a total of 424 miles. Nope, nobody else can say that. For her 48th b-day she ran 48 hours = 140 miles! WOW! Is all I got!

BTW…she is a fellow Hoka One One shoe lover. So we have one thing in common. Go Catra, Go Catra, Go Catra

VIDEOS:

How Bad Do You Want It? Part 2: I love what the speaker says in this video. "Success in intentional… You have to be willing to stay up three days in-a-row to be successful…You have 24hours to be successful…" I couldn't agree more.

MUSIC:

runningmixes.com: Free music...let me say that again FREE Music! Download FREE DJ mixes for hours of running specifically geared to 180 beats per minute for that perfect cadence. There are some slower mixes available as well. I don't always have time to create something all new for my ears and feet, and this site has frequent updates and a variety of fresh beats. Load and go!

Half Marathon Sub 2 Hours! Rock On!

1:58:34 and 60 out if 260 in my age bracket of women.

Payday came at the Sarasota Third Watch Half Marathon after a trip to Disney with the family—entailing horrible processed food that I will not go into details of the gasteral effect if caused—and NOT getting much of a run in all week, referring to all that walking around at Disney my taper.

I am still in a bit of an awe that I was able to pull this off. It has been a goal for some time now. Going into this challenge I knew that this race would be my best chance to PR this year in a half since I need to pull my speed back for the Ultra training in the next few months. It would be a now or never mindset and although I have been faithful to my speed work I had never ran 6 miles in a 9 minute pace.

The Journey
I set myself up in the corral near the 2 hour pace setter and didn't allow him to get more than 50 feet away. The area was a little more crowded than I had experience before. So I had to watch my step to not get bumped or stepped on. This run was a mental struggle the entire time to convince myself that I was alright and still breathing well. There was one hill bridge that we crossed—twice. I had to keep saying "Believe." Mile 6 I felt pretty good and relaxed but by mile 8 I was glad to hear Josh Wilson's Carry Me on my ipod.

Being on a family vacation with my little ones, I was feeling pretty undeserving after constantly trying to keep them in line, behaving well and telling them "no". Maybe it's a a mom thing. Guilt seems to go hand in hand with being a parent. So Lord have mercy and let me be the best I can be at this moment. And seriously, please carry me across that line.

It really is amazing what the body can take and what the mind can feed it. I was fearful of bonking thru much of the race. And I kept thinking that I was just impressed to last this long. I fed my head a line I had heard over the past few months from my Jillian Michaels DVDs, "You have more to give." I certainly did this day even though I had visions of walking...I couldn't make my feet go any faster and walking or slowing down would mean total defeat. The GU station was at mile 10 and I really needed it at mile 5. Mental note: do not  depend on a race to bring the GU to the correct spot. That is also about the time when a sweaty man brushed up against me going around a corner and slimed me… eeeewwww!

When I hit mile 11, I knew getting to the last mile would be epic. Almost to the last glorious mile where I could indeed hold this pace for just one more mile. For the first time ever I had a surge in the last half mile to the finish line. Victory was in front of me. And that man with the sign for sub 2 hours was just a couple strides ahead and somewhere we had lost many of the people that once crowded. I wanted to harness the surge and stretch it out. Feeling this moment was the best finish ever. I saw my family cheering on the side and waving animal balloons—they were happy. I sprinted what I had left to get under the clock's 2 hour mark.

 

Almost immediately after I crossed that finish line my body readjusted to normal like I hadn't done a thing in the last 2 hours. Amazing.

FYI: The Sarasota Half Third Watch Marathon consists of around 2600 marathon runners and another 1000 in a relay. There are some beautiful views along the route, but watch out for face planting and ankle twisting on the bridge. I saw one woman take a full swan dive and skid across the pavement. I could hardly believe that she stood up and kept running.

Sarasota has a well organized event with free family entertainment and food & beer for the runners. It is the first time I have seen free face painting and balloon animals at a race! I can't say enough about their amazing dolphin medal.








Now, back to our regular program: I have slightly modified my training program in the last two months with moving onto Ripped in 30. I am sticking to week three in the DVD as it has a more intense quad workout—it hurts a lot! And, reminds my of the pain of  running down hill sides.

I have been following the Train Like A Mother "Own It" marathon plan which folds nicely into my 50Ultra plan.