Here we are, week 2 of training for High Lonesome 100.
Monday:
I really thought after 29 miles of running yesterday and 3 days of hard workouts that my legs would be wiped today. I was surprised at how great I felt today. I could definitely tell my legs were a little tired on the climbs, but over all my legs felt great. What didn’t feel great was my stomach. How I did not sleep like a rock after a high mileage day, I have no idea. But I was up off and on all night and my stomach felt a little off. I was so thirsty, but every time I would drink it would feel worse. Luckily, my stomach wasn’t bothering me when I was running. Every time we stopped the nausea and pain would return. With 3 miles to go I wasn’t sure I would make it without puking or worse. I successfully made it home and my stomach settled down before too long.
Tuesday:
Well I knew the good streak had to come to an end. Today it came to an end with a bang! We left the house when it was still dark out. It was immediately apparent that my headlamp was not working so well, even with the street lights. When we got to the trail I could see nothing. I had Norm go in front of me because when he was behind me all I saw was my shadow. But Norm quickly pulled away from me because I was running a bit slow as I was having trouble seeing. I just don’t see well in the dark. I never have. Even when I was young, I hated driving at night. Let me reiterate, I don't see well in the dark. I was thinking, “this isn’t working, I can't see” I tripped and flew into cactus spine and shit ton of briars. Poor Norm I just started yelling at him, “Why were you running so fast?” Because it was dark I couldn't see much, but we pulled out the spines we could find. We walked back to the road as I tried to get as many briars out of me as possible. We started running back home. Norm offered to finish my run on the road with me, but I had briars in a lot of places that you don't want briars. I pulled off my shirt only to realize I had briars in my hair too. We got home and I realized that what I thought was dried up blood, was just blood. I lost a lot of skin on my arm. My leg is a little cut up, but it is my arm and hand that are destroyed. Luckily, I don't need my left arm and hand to run.
Wednesday:
I left for my speed work out and I felt a bit wonky. I felt like I had been a crash and not just a fall on the trail. I did my normal 2 mile warm up before starting my fast running. The plan was to run 12 miles at 6:50 pace. This shouldn’t be terribly hard for me. But it felt terrible. My right glute didn't feel like it was firing properly. Everything felt terrible and achy. Despite this, nothing felt like an injury or real problem so I kept pushing myself. With 5 miles to go I really wanted to quit. At mile 10 I thought I had 2 miles to go, but then realized that I had forgotten about the 2 mile warm up. Finally, 12 miles at 6:50 (or better) and 15 miles total.
I had an appointment with Charlie at Cadence Physical Therapy to find out what was going on with my foot. The good news, not plantar fasciatis. The bad news, a different foot tendon was acting up. I got a nice massage, that was sometimes painful, but still left me feeling sleeping. Tight calves and a need for more flexibility in my big toe seemed to be the problem. I’ll keep up my exercises and stretching and everything should be all good. I am pain free at the moment, hopefully that continues. I can't thank Charlie enough for all his support and help.
Thursday:
My oldest son had a friend stay the night on Wednesday night and they kept me up all night, The alarm went off at 5am and I guess I turned it off and fell back asleep. Next thing I knew, it was 6 am I had to make a mad dash to get ready for my day of teaching and meetings. Oh, and I developed a facial tic that WedMD says is from stress. Sigh.
Friday:
Norm offered to run Mt. Ord with me today. We wouldn't technically be running together, but just knowing he was there made me feel safer. I am always a little nervous running Ord by myself. I often hear shooting around me. It’s hard to tell how far away it is and I worry about what direction people are shooting. I also worry about be a woman alone in the middle of nowhere. And if you follow my Strava or just drive by the parking lot, you know where I am every Friday. (If you are making any stalker plans, my husband is going with me now so make a new plan.) So, I was thrilled Norm was going with me, but to get him home for work we had to leave at 5:15am at the latest. We did not. We did not leave until 5:40. I almost told him to just forget because I knew we were not going to have enough time to get the run done. But, I didn't say anything and off we went. When we got to Ord I really had to go. I took my “supplies” and headed behind a bush. Great, I started my period. I yell to Norm “I started my period, look for a tampon.” No tampons to be found. Oh well, no excuses, right? (I know, the boys are grossed out and the girls are all like, been there.)
Monday:
I really thought after 29 miles of running yesterday and 3 days of hard workouts that my legs would be wiped today. I was surprised at how great I felt today. I could definitely tell my legs were a little tired on the climbs, but over all my legs felt great. What didn’t feel great was my stomach. How I did not sleep like a rock after a high mileage day, I have no idea. But I was up off and on all night and my stomach felt a little off. I was so thirsty, but every time I would drink it would feel worse. Luckily, my stomach wasn’t bothering me when I was running. Every time we stopped the nausea and pain would return. With 3 miles to go I wasn’t sure I would make it without puking or worse. I successfully made it home and my stomach settled down before too long.
Tuesday:
Well I knew the good streak had to come to an end. Today it came to an end with a bang! We left the house when it was still dark out. It was immediately apparent that my headlamp was not working so well, even with the street lights. When we got to the trail I could see nothing. I had Norm go in front of me because when he was behind me all I saw was my shadow. But Norm quickly pulled away from me because I was running a bit slow as I was having trouble seeing. I just don’t see well in the dark. I never have. Even when I was young, I hated driving at night. Let me reiterate, I don't see well in the dark. I was thinking, “this isn’t working, I can't see” I tripped and flew into cactus spine and shit ton of briars. Poor Norm I just started yelling at him, “Why were you running so fast?” Because it was dark I couldn't see much, but we pulled out the spines we could find. We walked back to the road as I tried to get as many briars out of me as possible. We started running back home. Norm offered to finish my run on the road with me, but I had briars in a lot of places that you don't want briars. I pulled off my shirt only to realize I had briars in my hair too. We got home and I realized that what I thought was dried up blood, was just blood. I lost a lot of skin on my arm. My leg is a little cut up, but it is my arm and hand that are destroyed. Luckily, I don't need my left arm and hand to run.
Wednesday:
I left for my speed work out and I felt a bit wonky. I felt like I had been a crash and not just a fall on the trail. I did my normal 2 mile warm up before starting my fast running. The plan was to run 12 miles at 6:50 pace. This shouldn’t be terribly hard for me. But it felt terrible. My right glute didn't feel like it was firing properly. Everything felt terrible and achy. Despite this, nothing felt like an injury or real problem so I kept pushing myself. With 5 miles to go I really wanted to quit. At mile 10 I thought I had 2 miles to go, but then realized that I had forgotten about the 2 mile warm up. Finally, 12 miles at 6:50 (or better) and 15 miles total.
I had an appointment with Charlie at Cadence Physical Therapy to find out what was going on with my foot. The good news, not plantar fasciatis. The bad news, a different foot tendon was acting up. I got a nice massage, that was sometimes painful, but still left me feeling sleeping. Tight calves and a need for more flexibility in my big toe seemed to be the problem. I’ll keep up my exercises and stretching and everything should be all good. I am pain free at the moment, hopefully that continues. I can't thank Charlie enough for all his support and help.
Thursday:
My oldest son had a friend stay the night on Wednesday night and they kept me up all night, The alarm went off at 5am and I guess I turned it off and fell back asleep. Next thing I knew, it was 6 am I had to make a mad dash to get ready for my day of teaching and meetings. Oh, and I developed a facial tic that WedMD says is from stress. Sigh.
Friday:
Norm offered to run Mt. Ord with me today. We wouldn't technically be running together, but just knowing he was there made me feel safer. I am always a little nervous running Ord by myself. I often hear shooting around me. It’s hard to tell how far away it is and I worry about what direction people are shooting. I also worry about be a woman alone in the middle of nowhere. And if you follow my Strava or just drive by the parking lot, you know where I am every Friday. (If you are making any stalker plans, my husband is going with me now so make a new plan.) So, I was thrilled Norm was going with me, but to get him home for work we had to leave at 5:15am at the latest. We did not. We did not leave until 5:40. I almost told him to just forget because I knew we were not going to have enough time to get the run done. But, I didn't say anything and off we went. When we got to Ord I really had to go. I took my “supplies” and headed behind a bush. Great, I started my period. I yell to Norm “I started my period, look for a tampon.” No tampons to be found. Oh well, no excuses, right? (I know, the boys are grossed out and the girls are all like, been there.)
Cute baby cows! These cows just start at us like we were crazy as we went running past.
The views at Mt. Ord are beautiful!
It was much colder at Ord than it has been at home. A cold front just happened to move in so all of Arizona is much colder than it has been, and the wind was wicked! Going up it wasn’t too bad because it was pushing from behind. I ran with my phone so I could watch the time. At 5 miles I knew that it was better to turn around. I can fly down, but I didn't think Norm wanted to run 6:15 pace down the mountain. I was feeling good. I had been able to run the entire time without walking and I was able to keep the pace under 12 min mile pace without every feeling like I was working hard. I felt really good about the effort. I turned around and when I met up with Norm he turned too. We ran down together at a leisurely pace. Although I am not sure how much faster we could have gone with the wind blowing into us. My fingers were so cold they were hurting. They hurt so bad that I couldn’t think about anything else. I told Norm, “I know I am not going to get frostbite, but it really feels like I am.” I was so happy to make it to the parking lot.
Saturday:
I needed to get 10 miles in before going to teach at the community college. Because I was waiting for enough light to be able to see (you remember the headlamp incident on Tuesday, right?) I was worried about not being fast enough on the trail. So I split up the run and did the first half on hilly road before picking up the trail. It worked out perfect and I had enough time to clean up and get to work. After work I stopped by iRun to get another pair of Saucony Kinvara. With my mileage climbing I am looking at 2 a days. This means I need another pair of shoes. Not to mention I am quickly racking up miles on the pair I just bought. My shoe budget is about to become a situation. I see more potatoes and rice in our future. I also looked at headlamps, but my paycheck would only for one item today.
Whiskey Basin is looking like a no go for me. Last weekend there were plenty of hotel rooms, this weekend there are none. While Phoenix is not terribly far from Prescott, a 5am start makes it too far. I am running this as a training run, but I also don't want a terrible day because I am exhausted from getting up in the middle of the night. I would still like to run a 50 mile race at some point before High Lonesome so I’ll have to go back to drawing board.
Sunday:
Let’s run something different I say. Words I will come to regret. Because we can get on trail steps from our house we tend to run the same trails. I decided we should head to Dreamy Draw and run through the park over there. The trails in that part of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve are interesting because there is a million off shoot trails. It’s so easy to get lost. I can’t count how many times I have had no idea where I was just by taking random trails. But the good news is, you are never more than a mile or two from a major road. Even when you are lost, you aren’t really lost.
Norm and I ran into our friend Albert at the 40th street bathrooms. We chatted a bit and then headed out Trail 8 to the white house. I have run in this part of the PMP a lot more than Norm, but we have done this route a lot. I felt confident he knew where to go. There is only one turn, but I knew he knew to go straight (or so I thought). I typically wait for Norm if there is a turn he might not know about or if I think there will be any confusion about where I went. I kept running to the white house without ever stopping for him to catch up. When I got to the white house I waited and waited and waited. I have no idea how much time went by, but it was too much. He should have shown up. Part of this trail isn’t heavily used and now I am worried about Norm. I have never run so fast over sketchy technical trail in my life. I see someone in a blue shirt coming. “Oh thank G-d!” I yell. But then he comes around the corner and I say, “You’re not my husband.” “No” he laughs. I describe Norm and ask if they have seen him, but they haven’t. Crap. I keep heading back. I run into some ladies I had passed earlier. Yes, they remember him and he was behind me. He has to have made the turn marked. Most people turn here as it keeps you on trail 8. Some people come up from trail 8 and I realize I know these people. They would recognize Norm, but they haven’t seen him. People trying to help me keep asking what parking lot I came from. I didn’t I say, I ran from home, in Sunnyslope. No one can believe I ran from Sunnyslope which is hysterical because it’s not that far.
I decide to try to find Norm by following trail 100, thinking this is the way he would probably go. Maybe he decided to go to the bathrooms at Dreamy Draw and wait for me there. I follow 100, but sometimes it goes in 2 directions. UGH! I finally make it to the bathrooms, but no Norm and no one has seen him. At this point I have to make a decision. Norm is carrying all our fuel. I have nothing. I am already at mile 15 and I have 4 miles to get home. I decided to head home rather than bonking on the trail. I am hoping that I will find him at home.
I get home and no Norm. I ask the kids if maybe he came home. I check the phones to see if he called (does he even know my phone number?). I need to run 3miles to finish my run and tell the kids I am heading out. The 12 year old does not approve of this and is being very judgmental. I wait around for a little more than an hour. Finally Ava and I head out to find Norm. It’s a long shot because if he is on trail or the canal, I’m not going to see him. We drive to Dreamy Draw and check the bathrooms, ask some people if they have seen him and come up with nothing. We had back home and then half a mile from the house see Norm walking down the street.
Norm isn’t sure where he turned (I am because he only had one choice). He didn’t take trail 100, but instead was 302, 304, and 1A. He ended up in the parking lot at the top of Squaw Peak. He looked at a map and made a plan to make his way to the bathrooms at Dreamy Draw, but ended up making a loop and ending up in the same parking lot again. Best we can tell, he made it to the bathrooms after I had already left. From there he decided to go home on the canal, which explains why I did not see him when I drove to the trailhead.
No time for a nap, we had errands to run so I could get back home and start my 2nd run at 4pm. This was my last hard workout as I move into a modified taper for Whiskey Basin. I ran a 7 mile progression run with 12 miles total. It went really well. And despite Norm getting lost, I only ended up 2.5 miles short of my mileage goal for the week and 400 feet short of climbing.
While I originally wasn’t sure I would run Whiskey Basin since there are no hotel rooms or campsites available, right now I am a solid maybe. Norm and Brandi have to be up there at 4am to work. I guess I might as well go with them. I am just running as a training run, but I still would like a decent nights sleep and to know that I can get some coffee in the morning. Mostly I am just hoping that there will be a hotel cancellation and I will be able to get a room some place.
Did my second run in the Kinvara 8 yesterday. Much sadness. They seem more narrow than the Kanvara 7. Having a wide toe box is important to me. I have a bunion that needs the room. I will now be making a mad dash to buy up all the Kinvara 7’s I can find.
Saturday:
I needed to get 10 miles in before going to teach at the community college. Because I was waiting for enough light to be able to see (you remember the headlamp incident on Tuesday, right?) I was worried about not being fast enough on the trail. So I split up the run and did the first half on hilly road before picking up the trail. It worked out perfect and I had enough time to clean up and get to work. After work I stopped by iRun to get another pair of Saucony Kinvara. With my mileage climbing I am looking at 2 a days. This means I need another pair of shoes. Not to mention I am quickly racking up miles on the pair I just bought. My shoe budget is about to become a situation. I see more potatoes and rice in our future. I also looked at headlamps, but my paycheck would only for one item today.
Whiskey Basin is looking like a no go for me. Last weekend there were plenty of hotel rooms, this weekend there are none. While Phoenix is not terribly far from Prescott, a 5am start makes it too far. I am running this as a training run, but I also don't want a terrible day because I am exhausted from getting up in the middle of the night. I would still like to run a 50 mile race at some point before High Lonesome so I’ll have to go back to drawing board.
Sunday:
Let’s run something different I say. Words I will come to regret. Because we can get on trail steps from our house we tend to run the same trails. I decided we should head to Dreamy Draw and run through the park over there. The trails in that part of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve are interesting because there is a million off shoot trails. It’s so easy to get lost. I can’t count how many times I have had no idea where I was just by taking random trails. But the good news is, you are never more than a mile or two from a major road. Even when you are lost, you aren’t really lost.
Norm and I ran into our friend Albert at the 40th street bathrooms. We chatted a bit and then headed out Trail 8 to the white house. I have run in this part of the PMP a lot more than Norm, but we have done this route a lot. I felt confident he knew where to go. There is only one turn, but I knew he knew to go straight (or so I thought). I typically wait for Norm if there is a turn he might not know about or if I think there will be any confusion about where I went. I kept running to the white house without ever stopping for him to catch up. When I got to the white house I waited and waited and waited. I have no idea how much time went by, but it was too much. He should have shown up. Part of this trail isn’t heavily used and now I am worried about Norm. I have never run so fast over sketchy technical trail in my life. I see someone in a blue shirt coming. “Oh thank G-d!” I yell. But then he comes around the corner and I say, “You’re not my husband.” “No” he laughs. I describe Norm and ask if they have seen him, but they haven’t. Crap. I keep heading back. I run into some ladies I had passed earlier. Yes, they remember him and he was behind me. He has to have made the turn marked. Most people turn here as it keeps you on trail 8. Some people come up from trail 8 and I realize I know these people. They would recognize Norm, but they haven’t seen him. People trying to help me keep asking what parking lot I came from. I didn’t I say, I ran from home, in Sunnyslope. No one can believe I ran from Sunnyslope which is hysterical because it’s not that far.
I decide to try to find Norm by following trail 100, thinking this is the way he would probably go. Maybe he decided to go to the bathrooms at Dreamy Draw and wait for me there. I follow 100, but sometimes it goes in 2 directions. UGH! I finally make it to the bathrooms, but no Norm and no one has seen him. At this point I have to make a decision. Norm is carrying all our fuel. I have nothing. I am already at mile 15 and I have 4 miles to get home. I decided to head home rather than bonking on the trail. I am hoping that I will find him at home.
I get home and no Norm. I ask the kids if maybe he came home. I check the phones to see if he called (does he even know my phone number?). I need to run 3miles to finish my run and tell the kids I am heading out. The 12 year old does not approve of this and is being very judgmental. I wait around for a little more than an hour. Finally Ava and I head out to find Norm. It’s a long shot because if he is on trail or the canal, I’m not going to see him. We drive to Dreamy Draw and check the bathrooms, ask some people if they have seen him and come up with nothing. We had back home and then half a mile from the house see Norm walking down the street.
Norm isn’t sure where he turned (I am because he only had one choice). He didn’t take trail 100, but instead was 302, 304, and 1A. He ended up in the parking lot at the top of Squaw Peak. He looked at a map and made a plan to make his way to the bathrooms at Dreamy Draw, but ended up making a loop and ending up in the same parking lot again. Best we can tell, he made it to the bathrooms after I had already left. From there he decided to go home on the canal, which explains why I did not see him when I drove to the trailhead.
No time for a nap, we had errands to run so I could get back home and start my 2nd run at 4pm. This was my last hard workout as I move into a modified taper for Whiskey Basin. I ran a 7 mile progression run with 12 miles total. It went really well. And despite Norm getting lost, I only ended up 2.5 miles short of my mileage goal for the week and 400 feet short of climbing.
While I originally wasn’t sure I would run Whiskey Basin since there are no hotel rooms or campsites available, right now I am a solid maybe. Norm and Brandi have to be up there at 4am to work. I guess I might as well go with them. I am just running as a training run, but I still would like a decent nights sleep and to know that I can get some coffee in the morning. Mostly I am just hoping that there will be a hotel cancellation and I will be able to get a room some place.
Did my second run in the Kinvara 8 yesterday. Much sadness. They seem more narrow than the Kanvara 7. Having a wide toe box is important to me. I have a bunion that needs the room. I will now be making a mad dash to buy up all the Kinvara 7’s I can find.
I could tell these were going to be more narrow just looking at them. Boo!
