Shepherdstown 26.2

So, apparently I can win marathons...rather unexpectedly finished First Place Female with a time of 3:18:42, and even set a new female course record (according to the website).  May not be close to my PR (3:09 at Delaware marathon in 2010) but I am happy with the results, as I had decided to treat this as a training run and certainly went into it on "unfresh" legs. What was probably even more exciting this day was that my mom ran her first 10K (yep, I signed her up for Mother's Day this year) in 54 minutes (that's 8:50mmi pace) and placed 3rd in her age group in doing so!  I knew I got my genes from somewhere :-)

                                                                                Mom and me both get awards:-)

I was a bit nervous about how my body was going to perform on race morning for this one considering I had a pretty hard 50K course race just last weekend at UROC and I have pushed myself hard in training the past 2-3 weeks logging around 85 miles per week.  Additionally, Shepherdstown is a supposed to be a pretty tough course, with lots of challenging hills and all of them coming after the 15 mile mark.

Race morning was cold (48 degrees) wet and drizzly.  Yesssssss!  I have been waiting for this heat to drop and the chill to set in for months and it seems that now that time of year is finally here!  I love the cold.  Not snow, just cold.  Plus I don't mind running in the rain (as long as I have a good supply of Bodyglide and Vasaline).  Probably saves my body some precious electrolytes and sweat.  Yeaaa admittedly, when I'm running I tend to be a pretty heavy sweater.

Going into the race, I knew this wasn't a fast marathon, as there is no prize $ and the previous female course record time was 3:28, and so I was rather surprised to see so many people gunning it right off the start.  Less than a mile into the race on a little out-and-back and I saw the leading female had to be almost half a mile ahead of me.  Then I counted three or four other women close behind her.  I mean, I was taking the pace pretty conservatively, but whew, maybe the female CR was going to get blown out this year.  A little demon suddenly appeared on my shoulder looking to push the pace, and it was at that moment I told myself NO CHASING.  There was just no way.  And it turned out to be the decision that saved my race.

My legs felt pretty decent starting out, or at least better than they had all week when I was walking around "like a cowgirl" on Monday and taking the stairs sideways till about Wednesday-ish.  I kept the pace seemingly tame, making sure I wasn't reaching out of my comfort zone, but the bright yellow mile markers that marked every mile let me know that I was running pretty even 7:30mmis.  But it felt comfortable so I went with it.  I found the mile markers ever mile kind of annoying because it always seemed to cue me to look down at my watch every seven and a half minutes and do mental math, so soon I just pulled my sleeve over my hand and kept my thumb through the slit to prevent this.

Made it down the little metal grated spiral staircase of Harpers Ferry with no difficulty, although I heard some horror stories about some people behind me.  I kept things consistent on the canal, still knowing that I was in 5th place and not seeing any of the other women, even in the distance.  I did need to take a pit stop in the woods around mile 6 that cost me about a minute and a half, but no further difficulties after that.  At the half marathon point I did note the time on my watch to be 1:41.

At mile 15 we turned off the canal and the hills started.  We joined up the half marathoners at this point and there were a lot of them, so I was constantly passing people.  But it wasn't too hard to tell who was half and who was full because we were hitting the end of their pack and their pace was significantly slower.  I had met a friend on the canal and we ran together for a couple of miles, and then he passed me going up the first couple of hills.  I caught up with him a few minutes later though, right after I passed the woman who I noted had been leading during the first couple of miles of the race at the smoking fast pace.  So I must now be in 4th.

I figured I probably slowed down some on the hills, but for the most part I was feeling pretty strong.  It felt like a mini accomplishment everytime I peaked over the top on one.  I could tell my legs were a little sapped though, so I just tried to keep the pace consistent and not push anything here.  Soon I had lost my friend and saw the 3rd female in the distance.  She seemed to be keeping a pretty good pace but I was gaining on her and soon I passed her on an ascent.

There was a point soon after this where the marathoners turned right to do an approximate 1 mile lollipop loop up a pretty big hill and back down again before turning right again to join back up the with half marathoners and go up another hill.  When I turned to start this loop, I saw the first place female and her pacer just leaving the loop, followed by the 2nd place about 2 minutes behind.   So they had to be about a mile in front of me around mile 18 and they both looked pretty good.  I was feeling pretty good, but not that good, so I kind of doubted I would catch them if they were both strong finishers.  But if they faltered...:-)  When I hit the top of the hill and did the turn around, I saw 4th female place was less than a minute behind me, 5th place seconds behind her, closely followed by 6th and 7th place.  Yikes!  Well, I guess now that I had made my move to pass I was going to be chased for the rest of the race rather than playing chaser. Can't say that I really liked the position, but it is what it is and I just went with it.

We hit an especially hard hill on Antietam battlefield a mile or so later.  I saw it and my heart fell a little.  I thought I might have to walk up a part of it.  But I put my head down, started plowing up, and before I knew it I had reached the top.  My aunt was waiting for me towards the top and I heard her cheering, but I think I had my head down.  I tried to smile and grabbed a bottle of water from her but I probably didn't look good.  Surprisingly, I was feeling better than I probably looked, but it was a hard hill and I needed a gel.  She had come at just the right time and I was able to choke one down pretty easily with the water bottle, since I was not a big fan of the Styrofoam cups at the aid stations and the mini handheld I was carrying was dry.  Thank God I have dedicated supported like my aunt, waiting around for me in the freezing rain for hours just catch me running by for seconds.

We finally crested a hill soon after mile 21 and I knew the rest of the race should be pretty smooth sailing from there.  I kicked the speed up a notch.  I can't say it was really because I thought I was being chased or because I thought I had a chance of catching the first two women.  I think I was just used to finishing my training runs strong and if this was to be treated as a training run, this is what I wanted to do.  It was raining a little harder now, which made things colder and I was enjoying it.

2.2 miles left to go came around sooner than I expected and I started pushing more.  The congestion from the half marathon provided some obstacle, but they would usually move aside and most would cheer me on, some saying "First woman!" which I knew couldn't be true.

Then I saw her.  First place woman.  I recognized her from behind and her pacer had already turned around and spotted me.  I also saw the 26 mile marker ahead.  I gunned it.  As I passed, I heard her pacer say "Wanna chase her?"  I was pretty gassed at this point.  I didn't feel like I was going to be very competitive if things were going to come down to a quarter mile sprint.  But as Devon Crosby Helms puts it, I went to the well.  The well was dry.  So I found a shovel and dug deeper.  I dug.  I had no idea if she had accepted the challenge or not, but I wasn't looking behind me.  I can't push any harder!  I dug deeper.  I flew across that bridge and around a tricky sharp turn, try as I may without knocking (too many) of the half marathoners over, and burned it across the football field to the finish line insight.

The final sprint might have taken a bit out of me because one of the volunteers followed me from the finish asking if I needed medical attention.  No hahahah just finished a bit hard.  She crossed the finish less than a minute later, so I guess she hadn't actually tried to catch me, but still the finish sprint felt good.  My digital watch time, which is the official time they went with since the timing mats didn't pick me up, was 3:18:42.  I was the first female finisher, so I must have passed the other second place chick at some point and not realized it.

 Finally managed to get my prize at the "awards ceremony" but not before they missed me finish, missed my chip time that never came through, and almost gave away my trophy to the girl I out-sprinted!  At least I did sneak away with a $50 gift card. 

This is actually the first marathon distance I have ever placed first (although I've had a few close calls with seconds) and probably the most thrilling finish I have ever had.  I am also pretty psyched about negative splitting in a race with all the big monstrous hills in the last half of the race!  But what's worth more to me perhaps, is that, coupled with last weekend, has shown what I am capable of doing on tired legs, which is going to be critical in this year's JFK.  My confidence is boosted and I am counting down the days!

Check out Martinburg's newspaper The Journal's article write-up on the race!

 Just talking to the press. nbd :-)

My winners plaque.  Note the white foam tape coming out from underneath...don't do this race for the trophies and medal which is about comparable hahah.

UBER Rock 50K and meeting the Elites

 

You know you're an ultrarunner when...it takes more than 2 hours into the race before you feel "warmed-up".  I'm never going to win marathons, am I.? :-)  First Place Female 50K Champion:-)  

Chip time, 4:59:48.  Clock time, 4:59:59 (whew!)

PRE RACE:

The prospect of signing up for this race had been on the back of our minds for months, but the final commitment didn't come until the Saturday night one week ago.  After an amazing day's 27 mile run on the JFK course, a few shots of tequila, and a mini blow to my bank account later I was officially registered.  I mean, so many world-class elite ultrarunners all in the same location at once AND on the east coast is unheard of.  We just couldn't pass up this opportunity.  The race is centered around the 100K with the big prize $, the race in which all the elites would be entered.  Matt, Mike and I had signed up for the 50K, which would work out perfectly.  We would get to see the elites off at the start, then wait around for them to finish, so we might as well kill some time and run a 50K while we were at it :-)  I was ecstatic about meeting the people I read about doing crazy stuff all the time, and I absolutely could not wait until race day Saturday.

I had been feeling pretty good about my training the past couple of weeks, with my strong run finish in the DDT Halfironman to win my age group, beating my last year time by twenty minutes, and my run of the JFK course with Mike, Matt and Kara the week before, finishing things up strong in the last couple of miles on the C&O with 7:10mmis.  Additionally, the times of my tempo runs had been dropping in the past few weeks, hopefully indicating that I was doing something right.   Even though I had decided to train through this race (not taper beforehand) so I wouldn't be completely fresh, I was feeling pretty good about my fitness. 

RACE DAY

Race day morning was overcast with lots and lots of fog that would only get worse as the day went on.  On the drive to the starting line and packet pickup that morning, we had driven through a lot of hilly roads, but none would match the final 3 mile climb up the final mountain to get to the resort.  The road seemed to go on forever and as the grade continued to increase my car kept revving up gears until it was practically maxed out.  Then I literally watched the lit up bars of my gas tank level drop as we burned up the ascent.  But I think the most scary thing about this drive was the fact that there were neon orange flags with arrows and signs that said "Caution Runners" to mark the course along the entire ascent.  Are you serious???  But we thought that this must surely be marking the course of the 100K only, not the 50K.  We'd be in for a pleasant surprise at mile 28 :-)

Things were bustling at the start, but not as busy as I expected.  We picked up our packets and stood around giddily waiting.  Soon enough the elites started rolling in, with Ian Sharman walking just feet in front of us to the starting line!  Inside the resort building, we saw Devon Crosby-Helms and Geoff Roes stretching and getting ready for their race that would be starting in less than 10 minutes.  We exchanged a few words with all of them and I just kept thinking how awesome it was to see these magnificent physical specimens in person.  We saw the elites off at their start.  After I got over the thrill of finally meeting Devon Crosby Helms, I remembered that I had to start running that 50K I signed up for in less than an hour.  Better check out the course and get ready!

And probably before I was really ready, I was in the corral of the starting line ready to face the mountains.  I started out feeling decent, but I wouldn't say much more than that.  I had essentially completely trained through this race, logging 40 miles last weekend at home in Maryland and with already 45 miles in for this week to add on to that.  I was not really burnt out, but I didn't have that nice fresh-leg feel of any other race morning.  I was ok with it though, because this day was all about meeting the elites and reaping in some of the training benefit for the JFK 50mile while at it.

                                    Little stretch before the little ultra.

  Out of the starting corral, we headed across the small parking lot out of the start and took a turn onto some rocky trail and must have immediately started descending the three mile mountain that we must have just driven up to get to the start.  Even though downhill single track is usually my favorite, this trail was a bit more steep and technical for my liking with lots of loose rocks and tree roots for some hard footing that were wet from the previous day's rain storm.  As usual, several guys went out hard right off the mat, but Mike and Matt must've stayed pretty tame initially because they hung with me for the first 25-30minutes.  It was hard to gauge the competition in this race because the half marathon and the 50K had the same start.  No 50Ker wants to make the fatal mistake of going out hard to chase someone, only to find them turning around 6 miles out at the half marathon and leaving you completely gassed and with 25 miles to go.  I saw one or two girls go ahead of me in the first couple miles of the race, but really had no idea who they were and how many more of them there could be.  I just kind of put it in the back of my mind and tried to settle in to something sustainable. 

Less than two miles into the race when we started hearing people in the distance screaming.  Did someone fall?  The screams kept getting closer.  Soon the guys in front of us were screaming and swatting at themselves and then just as Mike and Matt let out a scream, I felt an intense sharp sting directly on the lower part of my right butt cheek and I let out a nice screech myself.  Someone must have stirred up and angered a bee hive and now swarms of yellow jackets were attacking everyone that ran through.  I thought the sting would let up after the first, but a few seconds later I was stung again around the same place.  Arrgghhhhhh!!  I ran faster, furiously swatting around in the air at nothing.  The stinging only seemed to get worse and more intense for the next couple of minutes, and then finally, I reached under the elastic inseam of the undergarments of my shorts and pulled out the yellow jacket stuck inside.  Ekkkkkk!!!  Ok. Gone.  Now I'm done.  Ready to get my mind back in this race.  The stinging finally subsided over the next few miles, although it did take a while and it never really went away for the remainder of the race.  So that part kind of sucked, but the day was only going to get better from there. 

We got on the road after the first few miles and a couple of small muddy creek crossings.  I probably would have been more glad to see some road after my recent rather unpleasant encounters with mother nature had it not been that this road section involved a good harsh pounding down a 15% grade on pavements on treacherous windy road.   I am definitely not used to going down stuff this steep and my legs were taking a good hammering.  I felt lost with no good form or technique, just anxiously trying to get through this part.  The hammering was so rough that it was almost painful.  Actually, it was kind of painful.   I was practically cringing the entire way down as the pounding relentlessly jarred every segment of my body, even causing me to develop a side stitch.  Just over an hour in and I was sure that this mountain must be shredding my quads from the inside out with all this high demand eccentric contraction.  Ohhhh god this could be a long race.

Finally we merged onto some more trail, still descending, but at least now I had some soft dirt under me that I could work with.  The single track was still a bit steep for my liking however.  It wasn't long before we were ascending back up a steep mountain on the road again.  This must have been just as steep as the previous one, except this time we were going up.  After a few minutes I was succumbed to a power hike.  I tried to run as much of the mountain that I could while safely conserving some energy that I knew I'd be needing in the subsequent hours.  And as pathetic as I felt less than 2 hours into a race and having to get up this thing in hike/run intervals, I knew I was racing smart because I could feel my heart rate through the roof even in my power hike.  I mean I knew this race had some elevation, but holy crap!  I  remember there being repetitive moments during this race where I just thought this is ridiculous!  And I knew I wasn't exactly running on fresh legs so this could get interesting.  Mike and Matt had pulled ahead a bit after the bee incident but I could see their yellow Navy marathon jerseys in the distance up ahead chugging away.  They are both strong climbers, as I found out in our training last weekend and I knew they'd do well.  I found myself around a  few half marathoners at this time, and chatted with them for a bit (well, as much as the mountain would allow).  For once in my life, I was being called only "half crazy," as the "full crazies" were the ones out there running the 100K. Just goes to show craziness is all relative!  I wondered how the elites were doing and who was winning at this point.  Obviously, someone who knew how to climb.  This must be the ultimate fantasy course of Kilian Jornet. 

After finally reaching the top of that RB we finally came to an aid station where the half marathoners were told to turn around and continue back down the way we had just come.  I had been thrilled to find that Cliff was the official nutrition sponsor for this event.  It was now a little less than 2 hours into the race and I had eaten less than a pack of Cliff energy block shots.  I knew I needed more calories, and probably some caffeine, so I filled my handheld with Cliff electrolyte drink, downed a cup of Mountain Dew and took a pack of block shots with caffeine to go.

 I immediately started feeling better after finally peaking over the summit of that mountain.  Don't know if it was a sense of accomplishment, relief, or maybe just the Mountain Dew.  After leaving  the aid station at the top, we immediately began a road descent on the other side of the mountain.  Only descent was gradual, and it felt pretty nice.  Within minutes, I started feeling good and I settled into a nice rhythm.  It was like I finally felt "warmed-up." I began to pick up a pretty good pace going down this part, but didn't push past comfort level and didn't try any chasing.  The pace just felt automatic and so I went with it.  To my own shock and amazement, my legs still felt pretty fresh considering. 

 I realized that we were now passing people in the 100K race, so unless I spun around to look at the color of their bib number, I couldn't know for sure what race they were in.  I was passing a good number of people, even some women, but really had no idea of my current placement in the race.  I didn't really care too much at this point. 

Then came my favorite part of the race.  After a few miles more miles of road, we took a turn off into an aid station where I grabbed a gel, chugged another Mountain Dew (this 4:30am wake up thing is killing me!) and hopped back onto single track trail.  Well, it definitely wasn't flat, but it wasn't as technical as the first part of the race and I was actually enjoying the undulating hills throughout. I started passing a good number of people here, so the only downside was things could get a little congested at parts, not to mention there was a pretty steep cliff off the edge on one side.  This part was an out and back part of the course, so I was seeing some of the 100Kers coming back towards me, which was interesting to watch...Ooooo that guy looks good..Ekkkk that guy's lookin a little rough...annnnd holy crap that guy is...DAVID GOGGINS??!!!!  I saw the chiseled physique of rippling muscle mass coming at me from a hundred meters away.  There was no mistaking this guy, from the videos and quotes that have helped inspire me through some of my toughest training moments.  I almost toppled over falling down the other side of the cliff trying to get out of his way.  What a beast. 

And on with the race...I was feeling pretty good on the road leading up, but I started feeling really good after hopping onto this trail.  I was having a great time.  After emerging from the trail we headed down a wooden staircase to get to the point of the course where we would do a one mile loop around a lake along some more trail.  I  met Mike and Matt coming back up the stairs.  They looked good and strong, and I thought that they must be  two of the leaders in this race because I had not recalled seeing more than even one guy with a 50K number on coming towards me and even he was not that far from them.  We cheered each other on, and recalling the fond memories of our three man wolf pack from the weekend before training on the JFK trail, I was lifted further :-) 

I quickly filled my handheld with the Cliff electrolyte mixture they had at the aid station before heading out to the loop around the lake (grape was definitely the best flavor, but remind me never to buy that stuff.)  I was feeling good, but I felt like my stomach might be a little queasy and I hadn't had much of an appetite so I forced myself to drink some and take gels for calories.  The lap around the lake was fun, especially since I was starting to chick some guys in the 50K at this point.  Still no women in sight, but I knew that if there were women ahead of me, then they had to be less than a mile ahead of me since I was pretty sure I had not seen any coming back my way before I entered the trail. 

Taking the same single track back in felt good, and I was actually very much looking forward to getting back on it.  By this time we were 3 plus hours in and I could tell  people were starting to get tired.  I was now flying by guys, all looking a bit surprised but usually calling out words of encouragement to me.  I passed one particular group of two guys and a girl who were walking up a small roller in the middle of the trail.  They all had on 50K bibs.  One of the guys actually picked his pace back up as I passed and followed me closely for a couple of miles until we emerged from the trail.   He was actually following me really closely, almost too much for comfort, and at one point I asked if he wanted to pass, but apparently he was just using me as a pacer.  Well, I was using him as an informer.  "Sooooo how many women have you seen up in the front other than your friend?"  He informed me that I had just passed the second place woman who had been with him and there was only one more ahead, not too far.

 I flew through the next aid station, back on the road and staring a gradual slope down, still feeling immaculate.  The guy who had been running with me dropped off, and I had a feeling I would be running the rest of this race alone.  That was ok.  I had one chick to chase down.  And I knew I could start kicking up the pace with a little more than 10 miles to go and still feeling as good as I did. 

And so the pace quickened.  When I emerged from the trail and got back onto the road, a thick fog had settled in, which made it difficult to see more than a couple hundred feet in front.  I began running kind of blindly through the fog, just staying alongside the road, hoping I wouldn't miss any flags if they told me to turn and praying that I wouldn't get run over by a car or truck who wouldn't have a chance of seeing me in this stuff.  I squinted starring ahead at nothing for a while, until I started to see  silhouettes in the distance.  Runners or road signs?  Nope, they were runners slowly plodding along.  As I grew closer I realized they were 2 guys in the 50K I had caught up with.  They cheered me on as I passed and then disappeared again into the fog.  I passed one or two more guys soon after, with each pass trying to tell if it was the girl I was trying to catch.  Nope. Nope.  But still, I was clipping away at a pretty good pace and I started to get the feeling that I must be close.  If she was slowing down, I'd have her. Then I saw another silhouette in the distance and as I grew nearer I could barely make out the hazy movements of knee genu valgus that usually accompanies female gait.  Got her:-)  I passed by her pretty quickly, so I realized that her pace must have dropped considerably.  She commented how good I looked as I passed by.  I sure felt it.

Now I was fairly sure that I was the first female, but couldn't be positive.  Also, it was about that time in the race for me to see how many guys I could pick off before the finish, so I tried to keep up the pace.  But when the gradual downhill road leveled out at some points though, I realized I did not have as much gas left in the tank as I had thought.  I contributed this to going into a race like this without frest legs, but who knows.  Aerobically, I felt good..smooth calm breath, good rhythm.  But I could tell that my legs were brinking the border of shot, undoubtedly from the unhealthy amount of mountains I had encountered a couple hours prior.  Still, I didn't want to slow down, and knew there was less than 10 miles to get through, so I pushed through a bit.

 Soon I came to the aid station on the road at the top of the mountain I had climbed earlier.  Oh noooooo.  My worst fears had come true.  We were going to have to go back down that thing and then back up the mountain on the other side to get back to the finish line.  Welp, good news is it's only 4.2 more miles!  Bad news..I had over 3,000 more feet of elevation to get through. 

The descent was painful, I am not going to lie.  Whatever part of my quads was intact before this part was certainly being ripped to shreds now. But I got through it, only to find myself following those orange flags and caution runner signs right back up the original 3 mile mountain ascent we had driven up this morning.  Once again, I was humbled to the power hike.  I passed by road signs that informed me I was running up a 15% grade.  Awesome.  At this point I was getting pretty gassed, but I knew the end was near.  I wanted to get to the finish line.  I looked at my watch and began doing run to hike intervals, pushing the run for as long as possible, and then just getting my body up that damn mountain any way that I could.  Before reaching this mountain I had looked at my watch and hoped for a finishing time under the 5 hour mark.  However, faced with this RB, I let go of this hope of the seemingly impossible.

A foggy finish

I had absolutely no idea where the top of this thing could be.  The fog was still thick and getting thicker.  Soon, I could barely see twenty feet in front of me.  Then, after a good bit of hard work, the orange flags marking the road turned to arrows that were popping up beside me from somewhere within the fog, pointing me upwards still.  I knew the end must be near.  I pushed harder.  A minute later I heard music.  I glanced at my watch.  4:57.  Oh my gosh I just might make it!  I took off.  Except now the fog was so bad I could barely see five feet in front of my face.  I had no idea where I was going, just trying to follow the road the best I could. If the edge of a cliff appeared in front of me right now I would have run right off it because I could not see a thing!  Then the road split.  A random group of bystanders were standing near it and started cheering for me when they saw me and pointed me towards the right direction when I started to stray from the now invisible orange flag.  I glanced at my watch.  4:59!!!  I only had seconds to get to the finish line, but I knew where I was--I could make it!  I pushed hard and blindly towards what looked like the gated runway that I knew was the finish line.  I ran alongside the gate towards the finish mat I could now see, except---CRAP!!! IT'S ON THE OTHER SIDE!!!  I had just run in on the wrong side of the runway and now the finishing mat was beside me but I was gated in from it on the other side.  I didn't even want to look at my watch.  I did what felt like one of those suicide line toe-touch turn around things I'd done throughout so many years of basketball practices and booked it back to the entrance of the gate and then back through to the real finishing mat.  Push, Sprint, Boom.  Chip time, 4:59:48.  Clock time, 4:59:59.  Whew :-)

At the finish line, Mike was there to greet me and confirm that I was the first place female.  He had won the entire race overall!!  Matt was right behind him with a close second.  The wolf pack dominated that 50K.

MEETING THE ELITES:

We waited around for a couple of hours after the race for the elites to come in.  It was a really close race with a lot of strong guys.  Geof Roes, course record holder of the Western States 100 mile, came in first after the leader Mike Wardian took a wrong turn to go off course for 10K!  He still finished second though, passing four more guys on his way back in.  Third place was taken away by Matt Flaherty, a younger guy who I hadn't known, as he battled his way up the mountain just minutes infront of Ian Sharman, who took in fourth.  For the women, Devon Crosby-Helms took in second place, but still seemed very happy and accomplished with her finish.  

With Ian Sharman.





















With Devon Crosby-Helms.

Just Follow the Blue...

It all started at the crack of dawn on Saturday with an early 7am start at the Trail Dawg PUTZ run.  Not twenty minutes after the start of the run, I found myself in the middle of the woods, blindly led by the pink flags that loosely marked the "23K" course for the day.  My legs felt pretty good but I started out keeping a pretty tame pace, probably due to a bit of an uneasy stomach feeling (ate a bit close to the start..unfortunate mistake). 

I took my first plunge of the day at the second creek crossing, with water levels high enough up my thigh that I pulled my shorts up in attempt to keep from soaking this early in the run.  There were two guys were a few yards ahead of me as we began the creek forge.  I wasn't even halfway when my footing slipped on the slick rocks and I fell sideways into the creek, bashing my tibia on a rock somewhere beneath on the landing. Yawzaaahhhh!  One of the guys called back asking if I was ok.  I was just climbing back up to say yes, when I slipped again.  KURPLLSSSSHHH.  And somehow hit my tibia again in the same point on a rock.  Some small voice inside my head that was somehow still remotely in touch with the real world reminded me that that's going to be a nice one to show off on Monday:-)

From the start of the run, I took the lead with two other guys who were running together, and we really didn't see anyone else for the entire race, with the exception of some random 9Kers who had gotten lost and somehow wound up running backwards on the 23K course.  I ran some of the course with the two guys, keeping good company, and a couple of times pulled away, only to find myself back with them after I was stuck at a fork in the path with no visible markings or ran off course (which was very easy to do when you're eyes are on the trail trying to keep up with the rocks and roots beneath your feet) and had to trace back my steps.  It was great fun though, and the trail was pretty muddy, always keeping  things interesting.  There were a couple of short segments when there was no way around the deep mud in the path, so I was forced to cross straight through it.  Just fractions of a second later I found that this mud was really more like quicksand and I had to use my arms to pull my legs up and out of the stuff, now halfway up my shin!

The real swim happened with less than a mile left to go (thank goodness, but not that I was not already completely soaked).  It was the 5th creek crossing of the day and I was getting hot and grimy  from all my detours (which included a not-so-friendly encounter with a thorn bush) and sporting some fresh cuts and scrapes, so I was kind of looking forward to getting my legs in the cool waters again.  I splashed through the first few steps into the water, but each time I took another step across, it got deeper...first the knees, then waist, chest, shoulders...and one more step and WOAHhhh! Yea, nothing there.  Really, Traildawgs...Swimming???!! And there I was, feet kicking wildly beneath me as I desperately threw my hand holding my handheld up in the air to spare it from entrapping some parasitic creek water (NOT going there again).  My pathetic one handed doggie paddle was not helping with the current washing me downstream though, and I was soon clenching my waterbottle in my teeth as I bust out my best front crawl under the conditions to make my way across. 

Once finally completed the swim, I clawed my way up the muddy embankment on the other side and took off squishing my way to the finish line.  On my way  I saw Traildawg Phil, the organizer of this madness coming towards me.  Oh god, am I going the wrong way again??  Nope, I was actually right this time, he was just going to find some more hopelessly lost 9Kers.  "You must be the really fast girl who keeps getting lost!"  Apparently I have established a reputation. 

When I finally rolled into the parking lot of the finish, I saw the two guys I was with earlier already there.  I had pulled ahead of them a bit at the end, but then went off course for probably close to a mile when I missed a tricky turn towards the creek, and then wasted a few minutes getting caught in a mean thorn bush and earning a few more battle wounds.   It was a great early Saturday morning run though, and good to get out on some unfamiliar Fairhill trails that I normally do not run myself (for fear of getting lost on the unmarked single track).  I was only disappointed that we did not see any dog sled races like the last Traildawg Fairhill race.  Always next time though!

I was feeling really good by the end of this run.  So good that I decided to head out for a few more miles when I got home to call it a good long run day.  I was not really ready to take on the trails and mud again, so I defrayed from my normal White Clay Creek route, pulled on my road shoes and headed up to the Reservoir to enjoy some sunshine and a nice breeze.  It was turning into a really nice day, not too hot.  I ran the three or so miles up to the Reservoir from my place and at the top of the hill, was feeling motivated to do a couple of fast mile repeats to wear myself out.  I was more that satisfied with being able to pull two 6:18 min miles  after all of that.  Training is coming along just fine:-)  Then I ran back to my apartment, pushing the pace a bit and called it a day.  I headed to Philly to get a bike tour from Trevor, on somewhat tired legs.  Good thing Brett decided to sport his monster downhill mountain bike on this one, and so miraculously I was even still passing some people up those hills:-)

Still have some left in the tank at the end of the day to sprint up the Rocky steps!

Sunday MDLD Training Run

Sunday morning was another early start, arriving at Steve's around 7am to catch a ride down to the segment of the Mason Dixon trail I would be doing with Traildawgs Steve and Patty.  We had planned to do the last 14 hardest miles of the MDLD, but somehow I convinced Steve to tack on an extra 4 miles for us at the beginning, which was quite nice of him to agree to, especially since none of us would exactly be running on fresh legs.  With Steve just doing the PUTZ run, Patty a 105 mile bike ride, and myself the PUTZ run plus whatever other subsequent mileage I had managed to tack on at the Reservoir, this could turn into a true test of endurance.  We parked a car at the finish line of the race and planned a point-to-point run of about 18 miles. 

We started off on some up sloping road and were on the single track within a mile or so, pounding down what seemed like an almost straight vertical descent.  Downhill single track is usually my absolute favorite terrain to run on, but the steepness of this mountain was intense, and I found myself having to slam on the brakes more than I like to just to keep some form of control.  I could instantly tell this was going to do a number on my quads, and I couldn't imagine having to control around such a decent after just running 50 miles like I would have to do for the MDLD next year.  It was pretty fun though, as you always had to be looking ahead on the drop for the next thing, planning how you were going to take on the next treacherous swithback.  That is, if you were lucky enough to actually get a switchback to help provide some level to this madness.

 We had all stayed together for the first road segment, up until this downhill, at which point I found myself pulling ahead a bit, and I planned to either wait at some distance up ahead or turn around and run back to them at the first point I got lost.  Well that didn't last long.  I made some stupid mistake turning down the wrong path when I looked at the blazes from the wrong direction as the terrain finally leveled off.  I ended up going back across the creek down another footpath for about half a mile until the missing blazes made me turn around go back.  I caught up with Steve and Patty at one of the first real beauties of the day. 

First creek crossing after the tough descent!

At least I was able to stay dry on this one.

We came back out on a road before heading back on the single track to take on the four infamous "raging bitches" (aka 'RB's).   I knew this next part was going to be tough, but I really had no idea what to expect.  I don't think anything I have ever run would have ever prepared me for what we were about to face.

Enjoying a little dirt road and feeling in my quads before heading to the RBs!

We were back on the single track and I stayed with Steve and Patty for the first bit of it, as I had been warned about a tricky part to the navigation approaching.  Some parts of the trail are confusingly marked because they are rerouting old sections into new sections of it, but have not taken down the down blazes.  This could leave even the best blaze follower yet unsuspecting runner into a maze of backwards loops, doubling back on the trail you just came from and headed in the wrong direction, the whole time still following the blue.  Very confusing.  Gladly we had veteran Steve there for some of those turns, as even Patty admitted she would not have known where to go (really, it's not JUST me!)

And there we were ascending some of the first switchbacks.  It was tough work, and I found myself succumbed to the power hike on many parts of the climb.  I was alone back on the single track for a while after the mountain leveled off and descended again, parts when I took advantage of the opportunity to run as much as I could.  Now the downhill was still steep, but not too bad compared to the first one we had just taken on.  . Since the start of this run, I had immediately come to realize that one of the roles that comes with being the leader of the pack on this trail was taking down the spider webs.  And man, was I taking some.  If anything was slowing me down on these runnable segments, this was it.  The first time I looked down and saw a big black furry spider stuck to my stomach I shrieked.  But after the fourth or fifth occurrence, I decided it was time to put on my big girl pants and deal with the spiders and the baited meals of their webs stuck all over my sweaty body.  I even took a few full webs equipped with creatures directly to the face. 

Steve's ingenious water aid station.  Find it right behind the tree, and just walk right through the huge aggregation of......POISON ??!

The good thing about this downhill as opposed to the last was that I did not feel like I was killing all the toenails I might have left jamming up on the forceful braking.  It was also nicer to not be so concerned that I might lose footing and tumble down the side of a cliff at any moment.  Ok, so there was a little of that on some of the switch backs, but still fun!  One second I was gasping for breath coming up over the peak of the mountain, and the next I was flying back downhill.  And on some of those sections, I was flying, about half a notch off from the point of complete uncontrol.  My brain almost couldn't keep up with the turnover of my legs, and it was almost more mentally challenging than physically to stay tuned to my surroundings as they zoomed by, and always aware of that intermittent flash of blue that assured I was actually flying in the right direction (hopefully). 

View from the middle/ top(ish?) of the first RB. 

After one of the earlier creek crossings, there was a pretty technical part of the trail that forced me to break my run to a tip toed climb up and around some pretty large rocks.  At the time, I considered that this must have been the famous "bouldering" that we were going to be doing for the day.  I was so wrong.  When I finished the descent from the downhill and was back to running on a single-track paralleled with the river, I came to face the true bouldering of the day.  

Real bouldering. 

And just in time for the thunderstorm.  I heard the drops on the leaves of the trees before I felt it on my skin.  It actually felt great, but bouldering up the top of wet mossy rocks beneath your feet presents some traction issues.  So there I was, handheld waterbottle now in mouth, climbing up boulder cliffs, searching desperately for the next blue blaze, which I could not seem to find.  After some time, I heard Steve's voice coming from another direction, at which point I realized I was doing all this climbing the wrong way and had to climb back down.  I was finally back on the path now vertically ascending again (but not before I fell completely through a huge rotting log. Gross.)  Annnnndddddd back up we go, up the next RB!

At the top of this one there was a pretty sweet looking rock crevice that looked like it had been especially chiseled through the middle of the massive boulders on either side just for people passing through the Mason Dixon trail.  

Inside one of the crevices within the side of the boulder there is a log and a container with pictures (and snacks!  definitely traded in a Powerbar gel and some block shots for a Cliff bar:-)  We made our mark and signed the log.  

It was a long and challenging adventure, with some stunning views and breathtaking scenery.  We had another spectacular downhill, followed by another steep RB ascent, followed by one last switchback downhill quad pounder.  I was by myself again and had absolutely no sense of mileage or time.  I was just on a mission to reach the end location of our run, to never let blue blazes fade from my sight, and to cross the finish line of the MDLD.  When the single track finally let out on a road, I knew I was close, and I sprinted the last mile or so in with whatever I had left in my legs.  I have to say that the Mason Dixon trail is probably my favorite trail I have ever run, even more so that the Appalachian.  And I have explored quite a bit of trail in my day so far.  It's like you never even have to leave the trail to experience what seems like running through a dozen completely different worlds all in one.  It's so hard to believe that it's all the same trail and you can be led through everything just by following the blue blazes.  Blue blazes.  Blue blazes.  Good god I am going to be seeing those freakin blazes in my sleep!

RBs...you make me suck up some wind, but sure is worth the spectacular views along the way:-)

MDLD Finish!!

Ahh, accomplished weekends.

Endless Summer 6 Hour Race

6 hours.  100 degrees.  41.53 miles.  This was probably one of the hardest races I have ever run, and certainly in the most extreme conditions.  I was able to take home the First Place Female Champion trophy, finishing third place overall in the field.   I surpassed my expectations for this one and am really happy with the results!

Female Champion:-)

Pre Race:

With temperatures of 115° on the heat index predicted for race Saturday, I was getting pretty nervous in the few days beforehand. The east coast was actually under a heat advisory starting Friday that would last through until Saturday night. You know..the kind where everyone is supposed to avoid any and all physical activity outdoors and small children and elderly should stay inside. After obsessing over the forecast for a few days, the day before I had pretty much let go of even trying to keep up with it.  It was going to be freakin hot. And humid.  Did it really matter anymore? 

At the start of the race.  Representing JMU with my Tri shorts (preparing to swim in my sweat), old Mizunos and Extreme Energy buff.

I had tried to let go of all my goals and expectations for this race.  I hate the heat.  I can run twenty miles comfortably pretty much any given day of the week, but put me outside at lunchtime during a noon sizzler and I might wither crash and burn less than three miles in.  Last summer I practically became nocturnal, waiting until the sun finally went down for the day so I could get in my long runs.  On top of this, I had been living in the overcast 50° ideal coolness of England for the majority of this summer already and was in no way heat acclimated for this one.  Why oh why did I sign up for this thing??

The race directors were playing things as smart as they could, taking extra precautions of having extra medical personnel on call during the race and requiring that runners weigh in every 2 hours to make sure they weren't becoming dangerously dehydrated.  There was talk of cutting the race short if conditions became too dangerous and enough people dropped. 

I tried to focus on the positive aspects of this race to keep my mind off the extreme conditions:

 #1: I was fit.  And crazy endurant.  And I felt well-rested for the event and ready to go.

#2: For the first race in a while, I wouldn't be alone; I finally had my family back to support me and crew me and Mike to help pace.

#3.  I had essentially just done this only a few weeks before when I ran 38 miles on Day1 of the Isle of Wight multistage ultra in less than 6 hours.  Yes, it was alot cooler, but I was also climbing cliffs, crossing streams, and getting lost!

 #4: However hot it was going to be, it couldn't possibly be hotter than the 123° on the heat index for Friday, the day before.  Really, things were only looking cooler from here!

The course consisted of a 4.15 mile loop that had an aid station at the start and at just over two miles. 

Race Day

At the 7:30am start, the early morning temperatures did not feel too bad, but the humidity kept things pretty sticky.  And the mosquitoes were eating my fellow racers alive (for some strange and lucky reason, the things don't really like me so I rarely get bitten).  I stood at the start with about 60 other runners and relay teams.  Secretly, I was still hoping that I would still be able to pull off my previously set goal of maintaining 9min/mi averages and pulling in 40 miles for the day, but at the same time trying to be realistic and not be too let down if things didn't turn out the way I'd like with the heat. 

The first two loops of the course I felt good.  Almost too good.  During the first I was averaging 8:16s, which was almost 45 seconds faster than my previously set ambitious goal pace.  I felt the humidity right away.  It was almost like my skin could only half breathe the way it wanted to.  It was not the most comfortable feeling, but I felt confident that this could not ruin my race.  At least not right now.  Less than half a mile in and I was looking forward to ripping my shirt off at the start of the next lap.  Second lap felt better than the first and as I passed mile marker 4, I quickly calculated that I was averaging 8:14s.  The course was a bit more hilly than I had anticipated.  From mile 1 to mile 2 there was one gradual hill and right before mile 2 there was a short but very steep hill that had full sun exposure and soon-to-be scortching hot pavement beneath my feet.  This was probably the hardest mile of the course because of the hills and the direct sunlight.  Mile 3 to mile 4 soon became my favorite mile, possibly because it was flatter, more windey so I couldn't see all the distance ahead of me, and shaded, and probably more so because I ran with the anticipation of seeing my crew, consisting of my mom, dad and Auntie Ann, soon to greet me with a fresh bucket of ice water to dump on my head, cold lemonade Gatorade, and more cold water.  

The heat was not as bad as I had expected.  Not comfortable, but not debilitating.  I was barely aware of my body hard at work to keep me cool, but I knew that it was.  By the start of the third lap I could feel things heating up.  Thanks to my amazing crew, I was able to manage the heat quite well.  I had a container (or two) of ice water dumped over my head at the start of every lap.  I would quickly swap out my empty handheld water bottle for a new one filled with ice cold Gatorade and drape a frozen towel over my shoulders so that it cooled the back of my neck, snaking it around the back of my neck and tucking each end into the straps of my sports bra and running with it.  I wasn't wasting time at these aid stations, and all this was usually done on the go while I was still moving. 

This was usually enough to keep me cool up through lap 5 or 6.  I was also pulling consistent laps, averaging between 8:15s and 8:20s every time.  The only times I ever stopped the entire race was once at lap 5 when to use the bathroom and twice to weigh in.  I had been drinking early and lots because I wanted to be safe and didn't want to get pulled from the race.  My first weigh in after 3 laps was the same as my starting weight, 115lbs.  My second weight after 6 laps was 114lbs.  So I was staying pretty well hydrated for the majority of the race.  It was so hot that I had absolutely no appetite.  Still I knew I had to keep the calories coming somehow, and copious amounts of lemonade Gatorade probably saved my race.  Hydration AND energy.  Perfect. I missed Gatorade in England.  I also forced down 4 gels at intermittent times.

Around lap 7, or about 4 hours in, I cannot say that there was ever a moment when I consciously noted the heat surge, but I know that I did start longing for that ice water to be dumped over my head and face a lot sooner than I had been during the previous laps.  I started grabbing cups at the second mini aid station at mile 2 to dump over me and drink along the way because what I was carrying was no longer enough.  Mike was great too.  He ran beside me during one of the earlier laps, and rode his bike beside me for about a lap and a half during the later half when things heated up.  He gave me more water to dump over myself and more to drink. 

The volunteers for the race were great.  There were a couple of girls who stayed out pretty much all day around mile 1 spraying down runners with a hose as they ran by.  I told them to hit me every time. 

The second place guy and I had been neck and neck since l caught him at lap 2.  We were both running pretty much the same pace, but I felt like he must have sped up at a few moments to pass me because I was pulling the same pace up through the first 8 laps.  He might pass me someplace on the course, but then I would usually pass him again at the aid station where he took a short break and I flew through, thanks to my amazing crew.  I was flying through the aid stations so fast that I barely even glanced at the array of goodies or even the big clock that was on the stand by the start/finish, counting down how much time we had left.  I almost didn't want to know.  I had my digital watch, knew my current lap, was able to calculate my pace and that was all that I needed.  I didn't want to think about things in terms of the hours I had left.  That made things too hard to gauge. 

The end of the 8th lap I was still feeling good.  And with only two more to go, my goal finally seemed realistic and within reach.  If I could just push aside any discomfort that would undoubtedly soon be setting in, and just hold the pace right there for a little bit longer, I would be there!  Things were definitely looking encouraging, especially when I passed Ted, who had been leading the entire race, going into my 9th lap.  My lead of the race didn't last long though, because he flew out of the aid station where he was hanging at and passed me at a pace I knew I could not sustain so I didn't try and chase him.  If he couldn't keep the pace, that's where I would catch him.  I was still ahead of Karsten, the second place guy at this point. 

Those first hills of the 9th lap coupled with the now 100 degree heat hit me hard.  The fun run was over and now I knew I was entering the tunnel of pain. The familiar shaky soreness of my quads was setting in.  I felt like I had to brake more on the steep downhill segments just to keep them from giving out underneath of me.   My feet hurt from the five continuous hours of pavement pounding.  A couple of times I looked down to make sure my shoes weren't melting beneath me because the soles of my feet felt like they were on fire.  I had never before run this long on pavement before and this race was reminding me why.  And I was really really feeling the heat now in the noon day sun.  

Closing in my final lap for over 41.5 miles.  So happy!

At this point, one more lap seemed like such a long way away, but I talked myself up and was determined to crank one more out in the 37 minutes I had left on the clock when I rolled in to finish up lap 9.  Mike was off his bike now and running beside me again to pace me in.  There was not much left in me to start gunning it, but I wanted to stay consistent as best I could.  Karsten passed us on one of the steep hill descents where I was braking and took a little lead on me that he was able to keep through the end of the race.  Meanwhile, Ted was no place in sight.  They both ran good races and helped me to push myself and I am thankful for it.  As I came up on mile marker 3 of this lap, I knew I had met and surpassed my original goal of 40 miles, which made me really happy.  Still I had time to close in the lap and kept pushing through.  Although there was no finish line, seeing my family at the end of the lap kind of served this purpose of a final destination in sight.  And the clock with 24 seconds left...so of course I started drilling it with everything I had left, which was not much, past them until I head the air horn, signifying the end of the 6 hours.  I collapsed on the pavement and staked the small orange flag with my race number into the grass next to me.  41.53 miles later and 6.5 pounds lighter.

Ice water over your face after running ultra distances in 100 degrees.  The simple pleasures of life.

I have to say that I was confident of what I was capable of going into this race, but then with the heat index throwing a surprise wrench into things, I really did not know what to expect.  So I guess you could say I went in with an ideal "comfortable uncertainty."  I am more than happy with the results, and it was more than what I had even hoped for, especially under these conditions. First place female champion and third in the overall field.  I finished less than half a mile from Ted, who won overall, and about .2 miles behind Karsten, taking in second.  More importantly, I am extremely thankful to my family for coming out to support and crew me and withstand over 6 hours in the blistering heat themselves, and Mike for pacing me part of the way, especially in that last painful lap.  Running in a timed race was different, but definitely fun.  It is also cool because everyone finishes at the exact same time, so you see everyone that you started with and get to see how they did too.  Notably, I was motivated to sign up for a timed race after reading Scott Jurek's blog on his 24 hour U.S.A. championship race:

"... there is no finish line, just a moment in time when the mind will let the body stop. Just like all ultras [the race] is analogous to life. In life there is no finish line. We all need to keep living, exploring, moving forward, despite what life delivers, to the moment in time when our body and mind let go."

THE amazing crew.

My pacer <3

What six hours of pavement pounding will do to your feet.  Only 4 toe nails left!