I am super happy to announce that I am on the Aravaipa Racing Team again this year! It is such an honor to run for Aravaipa. I love hearing stories from people when I travel about how they love the races and the youtube videos. And I love Aravaipa races! Like a lot of people, it's where I did my first trail run and fell in love with trail running.
Monday:
Back to the community college! I actually really missed teaching there. I love teaching psychology and I am super happy to be back in the classroom. Since I teach at 8am and it’s pitch black outside until about 7am, I am running after I teach.
I was home by 9:30. Chatted with the kids, changed clothes and headed out for a 9 mile run. Holy crap my legs are feeling tired. I am also getting really sick of running in circles in the same places. It's convenient to run the trails right behind my house, but I could use a change. The problem is I am short on time and adding drive time isn't usually an option. I could go straight from work, but with all of the break ins at trailheads I get nervous about having my purse and backpack with my computer in the car. I always hide them in my grocery shopping bags, but I still don't like the risk.
I really did not want to run 9 miles and thought about cutting short, but I reminded myself to make my thoughts, words and actions align. I am also thankful to the person who posted on twitter last week that the right amount of clothing for a run in n-the last piece you added in a panic. It was cloudy and cold when I left and I was sorry I was in short sleeve top, but a few miles in the sun came out and it was sports bra weather.
I came home, showered, ate and headed to work at the kindergarten. I am listening to a podcast called The End of the World with Josh Clark. The episode today was about the Fermi Paradox. After reading The Sixth Extinction last summer I am super fascinated by this idea that we are headed to extinction and in the end will be the ones responsible for our own extinction.
Drive home, get some work done and leave again for yoga.
Tuesday:
Speed work day. My legs are feeling tired and I am not looking forward to this. Plus, I am starting out running into the wind. After a 3 mile warm up I ran 2.5 miles (times 3) at what I wanted to be around 6:40 or better with a half-mile easy in between. I was only hitting about 6:50 pace but felt like I was sprinting running into the wind. Luckily I got to turn and then 6:35 pace felt like a stroll in the park.
I skipped morning yoga to color my hair. Norm says he can't see the gray, but he is also pretty blind. To me they are constantly screaming at me. It kinda makes me sad because I really like my natural hair but I am not going gray. Good for everyone who is embracing it, but I have always said I will go to my grave with blonde hair.
My boss stopped me to ask how conversion was going. So maybe you are also wondering. I have stopped going to classes at the reform synagogue. I think the Rabbi there was right. I wouldn't feel right about a reform conversion. As my boss said “once you know you can't un know”. I am not saying anything bad about any one who is reform. I love the Rabbi there and hope to continue a relationship there with her. So for now, I will continue to practice and continue to study and maybe I will never convert, but I know I have a home at Chabad and for now that is enough.
I did go to afternoon yoga.
Wednesday:
Today is a recovery day so I am meant to run easy. Luckily my legs are so freaking dead that it's pretty easy to do this. 9.5 miles relaxed and easy.
Thursday:
I am running Coldwater Rumble as a training run this weekend so I dropped hill repeats from the work out today. I ran 12 miles. My legs felt so much better! I guess taking those easy days easy really does work!
I have had a $50 gift card to Poor Little Rich Girl since November. I decided to go buy some yoga clothes. It kinds grosses me out to buy someone’s used yoga pants, but I only have two pairs of yoga pants and I go to yoga 5 to 6 days a week. I also do not have $100 for yoga pants. Used yoga pants are $18. It was buy three get one free so I got three pairs of pants and yoga tank for $4 after using my gift card.
Wore my new yoga pants to yoga in the afternoon.
Friday:
I woke up at 2am with a terrible stomachache and ended up be pretty sick. I had trouble going back to sleep after that. Ugh! This is not what I wanted right before Coldwater Rumble. After tossing and turning for almost an hour I turned on a podcast about roundabouts because I felt certain that would put me right to sleep. I was right.
Luckily I was able to sleep in.
I got up and had some coffee and breakfast. My stomach was still feeling a little off. After some grocery shopping I went for a short run just to keep everything loose. I really didn't want to have to force myself to run on a Friday after work. I ended up getting home later than I wanted because I was trying to find some Skratch. I never did find any. Luckily Enzo agreed to go by REI and pick some up for me. I get home and realize I forgot to wash running clothes and I need them clean for tomorrow morning. I ate dinner early and packed my bag for the morning.
Saturday:
Coldwater Rumble 52 mile is on the schedule for today. This is a chance to practice for Black Canyon 100K. I woke up feeling dehydrated, which didn't seem optimal. I had my coffee and got ready to leave. It always seems like no matter what I eat for breakfast it sits like a log in my stomach. I really wanted toast, but we have no food in the house so I settled on a cheese quesadilla. (That shopping trip on Friday was things like dog food, laundry detergent, and other household crap.) The quesadilla was not gluten or dairy free but I felt like I could get it down. Brandi was nice enough to drive me to the race. I was so nervous in the car. I kept telling myself that it was just a training run and to calm down. It wasn’t working. Brandi drops me off and I find Norm to tape my watch on. Yes, my watchband is still broken. If I haven't mentioned it, we are barely getting by so watch bands are not in the budget. Hopefully my classes at the college will fill up (enrollment is down 17%) and we can get on stable financial footing.
Time to start and everyone is standing so far behind the start line. I push my way up right before the count down. I know we are headed straight to a climb and I just want to get as far out front as possible so as not to get stuck in the conga line. A couple guys pass me as we start the climb. I step aside and let a guy pass me on the downhill. He tells me he is a terrible downhill runner and I assure him that title goes to me. I end running right behind him for a while. I ask if I am bothering him. He says no. I tell him that if I pass I will be running faster than I want. He says he is happy to have company and we chat for a bit. He asks my goal time and I say 8 hours while I worry he will judge me and think I am crazy. He doesn’t. Later we are talking about upcoming races. When I tell him I am running Black Canyon he asks if I am going for a golden ticket. I tell him that isn’t the plan. I just want a good day. He tells me if I can run 8 hours today he will be putting money on me getting a golden ticket. Then we talk a bit about running 100 mile races and Western States. We hit the flat section on the back half of the course and I lose him. The sand isn't slowing me down. Norm says he thinks it’s because I run more on my mid foot that on my toes.
At about mile 17 my watch dies. I must not have had it on the charger correctly. I usually double check it and for whatever reason I didn't check it this time. I try to not let this throw me off. I can still the see the time and I know at what time I should be hitting aid stations. Ad I am hitting the aid stations exactly on time. The first 2 loops went mostly well. After leaving Pederson AS I knew I was going to run out of water and I did. And even though I knew it was the wrong thing to do I guzzled water at the next aid station. This caused my stomach to be less than happy. Now my stomach hurts, but I am also so thirsty that I keep drinking. I head out on the final 12 miles and I am really not thrilled about this. I just want to be done. My watch totally dies and now I can't see the time either. I also had told myself no walking until I got to the final 12 mile loop. Looking back I regret the walking, but oh well. I don't normally look at maps. I prefer to not know, but I had looked at the map and now I am confused even though I followed the signs. It doesn't seem right. I start walking thinking that I have messed up and ruined my race, but I don't know how. Why do I walk when I think I am lost? I always know I shouldn’t but I still do. Luckily I run into Becky and Pete and we chat and they tell me I am going the right way. Thank Gd! They saved my race.
At the last aid station I know I have 4 miles but with no watch I have no way to count it down. I had put my headphones in for this loop so I decided that 3 songs is a mile. It must have been shorter than 3 songs because I think I have a mile and a half left but all of sudden I can see the road. I yell, “Are you fucking kidding me?” to no one. And have never run so fast down a hill and I pushed it hard on the road to finish as fast as possible.
8 hours and 21 minutes! I know it was my goal, but I still kinda can't believe I did it. It’s a 2 hour and 24 minute PR for the 50-mile distance. I mean my 50-mile races have all been a disaster so it's about time. I don't think I will be making these big PR’s at this distance any more. I feel like I lost about 10 minutes talking to people who were asking me questions and waiting for horses to pass me. I was in and out of aid stations in 2 minutes or less. . A huge thanks to all the aid station volunteers! They could all tell I was on a mission and they were all hands on deck getting me in and out of aid stations. It was noticed and appreciated. As for that last 12 miles, maybe I should have walked less, but I’m happy. After the race Norm told someone that I was ecstatic. I corrected him and said, “I'm happy. I would have been ecstatic if I had finished in 8 hours.”
The mental training I mentioned from the Outside podcast last week was a huge part of my day and my success. I just kept reminding myself to stay in the moment. Even if things were not so great, I just acknowledged it and told myself moments change so do what you need in this moment and don't worry about future moments. I had good moments and I had bad moments and I when things were bad I told myself to back off a bit and when I felt in the groove I told myself to enjoy that moment and push the pace. Maybe it was good that I never knew my pace?
I made a change to my drink strategy and started with Skratch instead of waiting to add it later in the race. I went through 3 singles over the course of the race. I alternated with water and Skratch. I ate pb&j sandwiches at the aid stations. It worked well so this will be the strategy at Black Canyon.
I saw my new friend finish his race. He ended up being first male in a little over 9 hours. I went over to congratulate him. He asked about my time and when I told him he said, “you have a big race coming up this summer.” Very kind of him, but my goal for Black Canyon is still to have a good day. I can finish in the top 5 women I would be happy. I would like to finish in 10 hours. I know it's aggressive and maybe out of reach, but I might as well try.
I always remember the song playing when I do really well in a race. It was Uproar by Lil Wayne this time.
Monday:
Back to the community college! I actually really missed teaching there. I love teaching psychology and I am super happy to be back in the classroom. Since I teach at 8am and it’s pitch black outside until about 7am, I am running after I teach.
I was home by 9:30. Chatted with the kids, changed clothes and headed out for a 9 mile run. Holy crap my legs are feeling tired. I am also getting really sick of running in circles in the same places. It's convenient to run the trails right behind my house, but I could use a change. The problem is I am short on time and adding drive time isn't usually an option. I could go straight from work, but with all of the break ins at trailheads I get nervous about having my purse and backpack with my computer in the car. I always hide them in my grocery shopping bags, but I still don't like the risk.
I really did not want to run 9 miles and thought about cutting short, but I reminded myself to make my thoughts, words and actions align. I am also thankful to the person who posted on twitter last week that the right amount of clothing for a run in n-the last piece you added in a panic. It was cloudy and cold when I left and I was sorry I was in short sleeve top, but a few miles in the sun came out and it was sports bra weather.
I came home, showered, ate and headed to work at the kindergarten. I am listening to a podcast called The End of the World with Josh Clark. The episode today was about the Fermi Paradox. After reading The Sixth Extinction last summer I am super fascinated by this idea that we are headed to extinction and in the end will be the ones responsible for our own extinction.
Drive home, get some work done and leave again for yoga.
Tuesday:
Speed work day. My legs are feeling tired and I am not looking forward to this. Plus, I am starting out running into the wind. After a 3 mile warm up I ran 2.5 miles (times 3) at what I wanted to be around 6:40 or better with a half-mile easy in between. I was only hitting about 6:50 pace but felt like I was sprinting running into the wind. Luckily I got to turn and then 6:35 pace felt like a stroll in the park.
I skipped morning yoga to color my hair. Norm says he can't see the gray, but he is also pretty blind. To me they are constantly screaming at me. It kinda makes me sad because I really like my natural hair but I am not going gray. Good for everyone who is embracing it, but I have always said I will go to my grave with blonde hair.
My boss stopped me to ask how conversion was going. So maybe you are also wondering. I have stopped going to classes at the reform synagogue. I think the Rabbi there was right. I wouldn't feel right about a reform conversion. As my boss said “once you know you can't un know”. I am not saying anything bad about any one who is reform. I love the Rabbi there and hope to continue a relationship there with her. So for now, I will continue to practice and continue to study and maybe I will never convert, but I know I have a home at Chabad and for now that is enough.
I did go to afternoon yoga.
Wednesday:
Today is a recovery day so I am meant to run easy. Luckily my legs are so freaking dead that it's pretty easy to do this. 9.5 miles relaxed and easy.
Thursday:
I am running Coldwater Rumble as a training run this weekend so I dropped hill repeats from the work out today. I ran 12 miles. My legs felt so much better! I guess taking those easy days easy really does work!
I have had a $50 gift card to Poor Little Rich Girl since November. I decided to go buy some yoga clothes. It kinds grosses me out to buy someone’s used yoga pants, but I only have two pairs of yoga pants and I go to yoga 5 to 6 days a week. I also do not have $100 for yoga pants. Used yoga pants are $18. It was buy three get one free so I got three pairs of pants and yoga tank for $4 after using my gift card.
Wore my new yoga pants to yoga in the afternoon.
Friday:
I woke up at 2am with a terrible stomachache and ended up be pretty sick. I had trouble going back to sleep after that. Ugh! This is not what I wanted right before Coldwater Rumble. After tossing and turning for almost an hour I turned on a podcast about roundabouts because I felt certain that would put me right to sleep. I was right.
Luckily I was able to sleep in.
I got up and had some coffee and breakfast. My stomach was still feeling a little off. After some grocery shopping I went for a short run just to keep everything loose. I really didn't want to have to force myself to run on a Friday after work. I ended up getting home later than I wanted because I was trying to find some Skratch. I never did find any. Luckily Enzo agreed to go by REI and pick some up for me. I get home and realize I forgot to wash running clothes and I need them clean for tomorrow morning. I ate dinner early and packed my bag for the morning.
Saturday:
Coldwater Rumble 52 mile is on the schedule for today. This is a chance to practice for Black Canyon 100K. I woke up feeling dehydrated, which didn't seem optimal. I had my coffee and got ready to leave. It always seems like no matter what I eat for breakfast it sits like a log in my stomach. I really wanted toast, but we have no food in the house so I settled on a cheese quesadilla. (That shopping trip on Friday was things like dog food, laundry detergent, and other household crap.) The quesadilla was not gluten or dairy free but I felt like I could get it down. Brandi was nice enough to drive me to the race. I was so nervous in the car. I kept telling myself that it was just a training run and to calm down. It wasn’t working. Brandi drops me off and I find Norm to tape my watch on. Yes, my watchband is still broken. If I haven't mentioned it, we are barely getting by so watch bands are not in the budget. Hopefully my classes at the college will fill up (enrollment is down 17%) and we can get on stable financial footing.
Time to start and everyone is standing so far behind the start line. I push my way up right before the count down. I know we are headed straight to a climb and I just want to get as far out front as possible so as not to get stuck in the conga line. A couple guys pass me as we start the climb. I step aside and let a guy pass me on the downhill. He tells me he is a terrible downhill runner and I assure him that title goes to me. I end running right behind him for a while. I ask if I am bothering him. He says no. I tell him that if I pass I will be running faster than I want. He says he is happy to have company and we chat for a bit. He asks my goal time and I say 8 hours while I worry he will judge me and think I am crazy. He doesn’t. Later we are talking about upcoming races. When I tell him I am running Black Canyon he asks if I am going for a golden ticket. I tell him that isn’t the plan. I just want a good day. He tells me if I can run 8 hours today he will be putting money on me getting a golden ticket. Then we talk a bit about running 100 mile races and Western States. We hit the flat section on the back half of the course and I lose him. The sand isn't slowing me down. Norm says he thinks it’s because I run more on my mid foot that on my toes.
At about mile 17 my watch dies. I must not have had it on the charger correctly. I usually double check it and for whatever reason I didn't check it this time. I try to not let this throw me off. I can still the see the time and I know at what time I should be hitting aid stations. Ad I am hitting the aid stations exactly on time. The first 2 loops went mostly well. After leaving Pederson AS I knew I was going to run out of water and I did. And even though I knew it was the wrong thing to do I guzzled water at the next aid station. This caused my stomach to be less than happy. Now my stomach hurts, but I am also so thirsty that I keep drinking. I head out on the final 12 miles and I am really not thrilled about this. I just want to be done. My watch totally dies and now I can't see the time either. I also had told myself no walking until I got to the final 12 mile loop. Looking back I regret the walking, but oh well. I don't normally look at maps. I prefer to not know, but I had looked at the map and now I am confused even though I followed the signs. It doesn't seem right. I start walking thinking that I have messed up and ruined my race, but I don't know how. Why do I walk when I think I am lost? I always know I shouldn’t but I still do. Luckily I run into Becky and Pete and we chat and they tell me I am going the right way. Thank Gd! They saved my race.
At the last aid station I know I have 4 miles but with no watch I have no way to count it down. I had put my headphones in for this loop so I decided that 3 songs is a mile. It must have been shorter than 3 songs because I think I have a mile and a half left but all of sudden I can see the road. I yell, “Are you fucking kidding me?” to no one. And have never run so fast down a hill and I pushed it hard on the road to finish as fast as possible.
8 hours and 21 minutes! I know it was my goal, but I still kinda can't believe I did it. It’s a 2 hour and 24 minute PR for the 50-mile distance. I mean my 50-mile races have all been a disaster so it's about time. I don't think I will be making these big PR’s at this distance any more. I feel like I lost about 10 minutes talking to people who were asking me questions and waiting for horses to pass me. I was in and out of aid stations in 2 minutes or less. . A huge thanks to all the aid station volunteers! They could all tell I was on a mission and they were all hands on deck getting me in and out of aid stations. It was noticed and appreciated. As for that last 12 miles, maybe I should have walked less, but I’m happy. After the race Norm told someone that I was ecstatic. I corrected him and said, “I'm happy. I would have been ecstatic if I had finished in 8 hours.”
The mental training I mentioned from the Outside podcast last week was a huge part of my day and my success. I just kept reminding myself to stay in the moment. Even if things were not so great, I just acknowledged it and told myself moments change so do what you need in this moment and don't worry about future moments. I had good moments and I had bad moments and I when things were bad I told myself to back off a bit and when I felt in the groove I told myself to enjoy that moment and push the pace. Maybe it was good that I never knew my pace?
I made a change to my drink strategy and started with Skratch instead of waiting to add it later in the race. I went through 3 singles over the course of the race. I alternated with water and Skratch. I ate pb&j sandwiches at the aid stations. It worked well so this will be the strategy at Black Canyon.
I saw my new friend finish his race. He ended up being first male in a little over 9 hours. I went over to congratulate him. He asked about my time and when I told him he said, “you have a big race coming up this summer.” Very kind of him, but my goal for Black Canyon is still to have a good day. I can finish in the top 5 women I would be happy. I would like to finish in 10 hours. I know it's aggressive and maybe out of reach, but I might as well try.
I always remember the song playing when I do really well in a race. It was Uproar by Lil Wayne this time.
I thought this was my award and Norm laughed at me and told me that these were for everyone. Oops!
This is the actual award.
I actually hate having shoes on so as soon as I am done I take them off and put these on. I do not run in teddy bear house slippers. :)
Sunday:
I was so looking forward to sleeping in! I should have known better. I slept like crap. I was up so many times during the night. This is typical post race. I always think I will sleep like a log and I never do. By 5:30am I couldn't go back to sleep. I am out of coffee and there is still no food in the house so I treated myself to coffee and a bagel from Starbucks. I could have just gone to the store but I was wearing my robe and house shoes and did not want to put on actual clothes.
I won’t be doing any running today. I finished out my week with 100 miles. I did go to yoga thinking that I would have to take it easy, but nope, I was my regular yoga self. The only thing sore is the bottom of my feet. I have been rolling them with a golf ball.
Did some grocery shopping, which everyone appreciated and cleaned up a little around the house.
A huge thank you to everyone who keeps me running! Mark Cosmas at iRun for keeping me in shoes. Not the house shoes, but actual running shoes. Charlie Boeynik at Cadence Physical Therapy for dealing with my many text message questions. Rabbit for the amazing running clothes they supply for the racing team. Madison Improvement Club for all their love and support.
I was so looking forward to sleeping in! I should have known better. I slept like crap. I was up so many times during the night. This is typical post race. I always think I will sleep like a log and I never do. By 5:30am I couldn't go back to sleep. I am out of coffee and there is still no food in the house so I treated myself to coffee and a bagel from Starbucks. I could have just gone to the store but I was wearing my robe and house shoes and did not want to put on actual clothes.
I won’t be doing any running today. I finished out my week with 100 miles. I did go to yoga thinking that I would have to take it easy, but nope, I was my regular yoga self. The only thing sore is the bottom of my feet. I have been rolling them with a golf ball.
Did some grocery shopping, which everyone appreciated and cleaned up a little around the house.
A huge thank you to everyone who keeps me running! Mark Cosmas at iRun for keeping me in shoes. Not the house shoes, but actual running shoes. Charlie Boeynik at Cadence Physical Therapy for dealing with my many text message questions. Rabbit for the amazing running clothes they supply for the racing team. Madison Improvement Club for all their love and support.
I usually just spend time on my phone before class, but today I was one of those people doing "weird things" before class.
