I signed up for Aravaipa Running San Tan Scramble as a training run because I have not trained on trail or hills since last summer. Since I signed up for Black Canyon 100K I felt like I needed a race to assess where I am really at right now. The answer to that question, I got some work to do, but it's not as bad as it could be.
But, with teaching a new class at the community college and trying to write my dissertation along with teaching the two classes I normally teach and elementary school… the work I needed to do never happened.
I spent the week going into Black Canyon dreading the race. Not normal nerves, but full on fear that I was going to make ass of myself because I knew I was way undertrained. I just wanted someone to tell me not to go. I cried all the way to the race. In case you are wondering, this is not a good sign.
My plan was to start easy and work my way up as the miles went on. The plan worked for a while. I came into aid stations happy and feeling good. Then everything fell apart. My legs felt dead. I was tripping and stumbling constantly. I decided to drop at about the 50K mark. I knew I was undertrained and I never regretted my decision to drop.
But… after the race my confidence was at a low. I was running again and I felt good, but I was not racing the way I wanted. Cheryl Miller has become an invaluable friend, confident, cheerleader and mentor to me. When we talked about he direction I should I go with my racing schedule she recognized that my face lit up when I talked about sky running. The last two years, I tried sky running while injured. I either DNF’d or barely finished races. But I love it! I love climbing mountains.
So I signed up for some US Sky Series Ultra races. I’m scheduled to run Broken Arrow, Audi Power of 4 and Flagstaff Sky race. Knowing that downhill is my weakness, I have been working on that as much as my climbing. My downhill still needs work, but I am so much more confident than before and I am really happy.
I don’t get to race very often because I teach a Saturday morning class at GateWay Community College. When Aravaipa announced a Sunday race at Lake Pleasant, I signed up right away. Starting and finishing at the lake was beautiful! There were views of the lake during the run. I pushed myself and raced hard. It paid off and I won the race first overall. I was super happy with my performance and my mindset during the race. It just felt really good to feel good racing again. Congrats to my team mate Del for coming in first women in the 26K. We have become friends and training partners. We have lots of fun running up mountains together. Thanks to Del for the picture below.
So, that’s the quick catch up. June will take us to California so I can race and also a long weekend for Vidcon (for my son, not me). In July, we will spend a weekend in Oklahoma to visit my family. Hard to find mountains, but I will make friends with the treadmill. Then off to Colorado! Volunteering at Hardrock, training, family camping and finally racing at Audi Power of 4. I missed this race last year due to the car accident so I am extra excited to finally see the course.
But, with teaching a new class at the community college and trying to write my dissertation along with teaching the two classes I normally teach and elementary school… the work I needed to do never happened.
I spent the week going into Black Canyon dreading the race. Not normal nerves, but full on fear that I was going to make ass of myself because I knew I was way undertrained. I just wanted someone to tell me not to go. I cried all the way to the race. In case you are wondering, this is not a good sign.
My plan was to start easy and work my way up as the miles went on. The plan worked for a while. I came into aid stations happy and feeling good. Then everything fell apart. My legs felt dead. I was tripping and stumbling constantly. I decided to drop at about the 50K mark. I knew I was undertrained and I never regretted my decision to drop.
But… after the race my confidence was at a low. I was running again and I felt good, but I was not racing the way I wanted. Cheryl Miller has become an invaluable friend, confident, cheerleader and mentor to me. When we talked about he direction I should I go with my racing schedule she recognized that my face lit up when I talked about sky running. The last two years, I tried sky running while injured. I either DNF’d or barely finished races. But I love it! I love climbing mountains.
So I signed up for some US Sky Series Ultra races. I’m scheduled to run Broken Arrow, Audi Power of 4 and Flagstaff Sky race. Knowing that downhill is my weakness, I have been working on that as much as my climbing. My downhill still needs work, but I am so much more confident than before and I am really happy.
I don’t get to race very often because I teach a Saturday morning class at GateWay Community College. When Aravaipa announced a Sunday race at Lake Pleasant, I signed up right away. Starting and finishing at the lake was beautiful! There were views of the lake during the run. I pushed myself and raced hard. It paid off and I won the race first overall. I was super happy with my performance and my mindset during the race. It just felt really good to feel good racing again. Congrats to my team mate Del for coming in first women in the 26K. We have become friends and training partners. We have lots of fun running up mountains together. Thanks to Del for the picture below.
So, that’s the quick catch up. June will take us to California so I can race and also a long weekend for Vidcon (for my son, not me). In July, we will spend a weekend in Oklahoma to visit my family. Hard to find mountains, but I will make friends with the treadmill. Then off to Colorado! Volunteering at Hardrock, training, family camping and finally racing at Audi Power of 4. I missed this race last year due to the car accident so I am extra excited to finally see the course.
