Flight Report: The first ever official "Sidney's Freedom Flight"

(Some Photos: Photos by Liz.  More to come)

Even before we found Enzo, Sidney has talked about rescuing dogs.  Lately, he was becoming a bit obsessed.  If you look at Sid's FB page, it is all photos of dogs in need of homes. There are no pictures of places he happens to be or things he is about to eat.  He doesn't rant about how decaf tea tastes like medicine.  He definitely doesn't post up the miles he ran.  He keeps it simple.  Sid loves dogs. 

I love running and Sid gives me all the support I need to race my heart out.  In return, I wanted to give him the support he needs to do what he loves.  So one day while he slept, I registered for a Go Fund Me page, wrote up a little message explaining how much he loves dogs and how, as a pilot, he can rescue them if we could raise some money to help with the cost of the flights.  I created a FB group to help share our simple idea of how a bunch of small donations can save discarded dogs from being put down.

On May 8th 2013,  Sidney's Freedom Flights was born.  By the time Sidney woke up, a few hours later, we had already accumulated $450 in donations.  Before he even knew what happened, I told him he needed to get to work planning a rescue flight.  In two weeks we had almost $1000 and he was ready to save some dogs!

Sid coordinated with his contacts and was able to locate dogs that needed a flight to freedom.  By June 2, we were officially scheduled to head down to Lumberton, NC to pick up a momma dog and her 9 babies.

Liz our tireless helper ...

It takes a lot of coordination and some good fortune to make sure all the elements for a trip fall into place.  But Sidney worked with  Jim B. (a very experienced dog saving pilot) and Laurie (a tireless volunteer from the Dillon Shelter in South Carolina) to arrange to get dogs from a kill shelter to an airport in North Carolina.

and our official photographer!

By Friday, Sidney confirmed the details and somehow instead of 1 dog and her 9 babies,  we were going for 11.  Then it was 12 and by Friday night we were going for 14!   It is my understanding that all these dogs were scheduled to be euthanized on Saturday June 1st, but because of the coordinated efforts of Jim and Laurie and Sidney and probably many other volunteers, these dogs were given an extra day and chance for a good life.

Friday night I sent out a request for crates and within minutes, I had two medium sized crates made available to me from Janet D'Angelo Moley and Liz Jimenez.  Although we know we can contact Pilots and Paws and have them ship us loaner crates or we can borrow crates from our local shelter for our trips, there was not enough time to get all we needed. We also decided to purchase an extra crate just in case we ran into issues.

"Is this not the flimsiest step stool ever!" LOL

Not only is Liz my very good friend, she generous with her time, a fellow dog lover,  and a darn good photographer.  I asked her to join us and to bring her camera.  She was ready to go with a day's notice!  Thank you Liz!

The Trip!
At 4:00 am Sunday, Sidney and I awoke to begin our day. We had to take care of last minute prep and get Enzo down to my parent house and hour away and fortunately in the same town as the airport we were departing from.  Once Enzo was settled in, we headed over to the airport so Sid could start his pre-flight check and we can load the plane.

Liz arrived at 7:00 and by 7:21 we started the engine.  I posted a link to Flight Aware in our FB group with our tail number so if anyone did wish to track our flight, they could do so with Live Flight Tracking! It would take about 3 hours each way, with about an hour or more time on the ground to refuel, file for the return trip home, and load dogs.

Once in flight, things were looking good until the GPS stopped working. The weather was clear so we were able "fly the airways" as Sid kept requesting when we were handed off between air traffic controllers along the way.   As long as bad weather did not crop up, we would be just fine to continue as planned.

With about an hour to go, Sid checked the weather and saw some trouble ahead.  The last available weather update at our destination indicated conditions that required the aid of our GPS to navigate the landing.  Sidney started planning to land at our alternate,  the nearest clear weather airport where we would need to rent a car to go pick up the dogs.

However, as we got closer, the updated weather report indicated that skies had cleared up and we were good to land as initially planned!  Phew!  Once we reached Lumberton, we met Laurie.  She was very patient with us as we usurped much of her Sunday morning scrambling about trying to figure out the logistics of handling so many dogs.

Puppies waiting in the Shade of the Magnolia Tree

We could not load them up too early because the airplane gets very hot when not moving.  We needed to give Sid some time to do his pilot stuff like refuel the plane and file for our return trip.  While Sid did his thing, I asked about walking the dogs and realized that the dogs did not have leashes or even collars.  (Rookie mistake on our part... next time we will bring leashes!  In fact I plan to order a bunch of these slip leads before our next trip.)

Kelly, Koon, Judy, and Kadie loaded in the plane 

All the pups looked a little hot so I went to get some water for the dogs while we tried to figure this the how to walk dogs without leashes.  By the time I returned, someone from the airport had gone off to find us some rope.  With the make-shift leashes on the dogs, we learned that the puppies clearly lacked leash walking skills and decided that playing in the grass was more important than peeing.

It was so incredibly beautiful to watch the puppies, who were scheduled to be euthanized yesterday, playing with utter joy today.

As a group of dogs, they made our work easy.  They all got along with each other.  The mom (Shelly) was mellow and not upset if her puppies were handled. The 2-3 month old puppies (Judy, Kadie, Koon, and Kelly) were adorable and once they warmed up to us all they wanted to do was play and give kisses.

Shelly 

In over an hour, we had loaded the puppies into the plane, and we were taxing for our return trip.  The four puppies were placed in the cargo area in one crate and all were fast asleep.  Mom and her babies was in a second crate on the passengers seat next to Liz.  We were packed so tight that we could not fit another thing in that plane!

As we made the return trip, we started contemplating our wish list for next time, when suddenly the cabin was filled with the most horrific smell ever.... baby puppy poop. OMG! With no windows to open it was hilariously horrendous.  One at a time, 9 puppies were taking turns torturing us and all we could do was laugh while trying to not to throw up.  As we got closer and started to descend, the hot cabin stunk so bad I truly thought I was going to puke, but it didn't matter one bit!  LOL

Once we landed at Toms River, NJ, I saw a couple standing outside the gate.  As I stepped out of the plane and walked over, the gentlemen looked as me and said "Woof! Woof!", which I thought was hilarious because had I not been part of this rescue trip that greeting would have been very bizarre!

I tried to answer Jim, but since Friday I had suffered almost 100% loss of my voice and I could not speak.  In fact, I had been writing notes all day when I wanted to say something or I had to force speech when I could not write notes.

As we got Jim and his girlfriend over to the plane, I noticed my parents had stopped by as well.  They tracked us on Flight Aware and knew we had landed.  We took the puppies for a walk in the grass and to play a little bit before we had to say goodbye.

We got them into Jim car and off they went for their final trip to Buddy's Precious Angels Rescue
in Albany, where they will be placed for adoption.

After picking Enzo back up and heading home, we finally settled in by 6:00 pm.  It was a long amazing day.

The hand off to Jim B.!

We sincerely thank everyone who donated to our flight costs (Sidney's Freedom Flights) and thank those who already started to donate to our next flight.  With the collective efforts of those who donated and those who volunteered their time, 14 dogs were saved (an unusually high number for one flight).

Thank you!

Fred D'Elia Ridgewood Run. 10k/5k Double. Ridgewood, NJ. 5/27/13

Last week I was having a rough time. I was feeling incredibly tired with brittle nails, hair filling shower drain, incredibly itchy skin, so bad that my sleep was ruined.  I was sleeping too much, running too little (still every day, but short exhausting runs) and just feeling badly.  Saturday night, after the one decent run I had all week (a 10 miler with my usually partners, Alanna and John and some other TNT runners), I ended up with an incredibly sore throat.  In addition to some knee pain that I have been taping for protective measures, nightly heart burn, and an odd pain in my chest bone where muscles seem to attach (which I think is from lugging around a super heavy bag of art supplies), I just felt like I was falling apart.  This was ok because I don't have any ultras or marathons scheduled for a bit and I think I can still gut out the 5k/10ks...

Well at least I hoped I could because this morning I had a 10k/5k double to deal with.  One gift I appreciated was the perfect 10k weather.  It was not too cold for shorts, but cold enough to make me feel like I needed a tank top rather than just a sports bra, at least for the pre-race ambling about.

I was a little nervous about this double. I am sure the only reason it went as well as it did was because I ran only 4 miles yesterday, due to the sore throat.

The 10k
I was clearly lacking focus since somehow I ended up in the starting corral without running a single step to warm up.  Time got away from me as I chatted with people (Big Congrats to Stephen B for his 50k/10k back-to-back races!).  I also waited a bit on the bathroom line, then caught up with friends, before I wandered over towards the start to see many already in the starting corral.  I guess I was still in 24 hour race mode, where conserving energy prior to the race is my focus rather than warming up.

I lined up next to Mark W. and he asked if I had a goal today.  I told him what I pretty much say before every race when asked that question... that I am not sure what I can do today, but I will go out trying to set a good pace, in this case I said I would aim for about 7:00 pace, and if I feel good I will try to pick it up and if not then I will back off.  I explained that I just haven't felt great lately and this is my "rest" period until the fall when I hope to be in better racing shape again.

Gun goes off: 
I saw Jim O. lined up just a few people over from me in the starting corral.  As soon as we were off he was gone!, This race was quite large for a local race, with 1202 racers, but had no organization to the starting corral.  Joggers were up front, fast people in the back.  This was really not a big deal at all except the start was just a big bottle next for a bit until we got sorted out.  I tried to wait for it to open up, but I was boxed in too badly.  I had to weave just to get on pace if I wanted a short to try to catch up to Jim. I was hoping we would run some together.  As a result, I went out a little faster than I thought I would, even with some up hills in this mile.  M1 - 6:45

Ben, Karl, and Me in the early part of the 10k

At some point I end up catching up to Karl L. and Ben T.  For many miles made an awesome pack of energy, talking too much and joking around as we covered the miles.  After climbing up in mile one, it seemed that miles 2 and 3 had some nice declines to assist. I was so grateful because I felt anything but peppy.  I was actually surprised to realize my pace was as fast as it was considering how I felt.   M2 - 6:42,  M3 - 6:43

By mile 4 I started to feel everything falling apart.  My only consolation was that we did hit some ups again, all though these were not mountains.  The hills were just big enough to impact my pace, but they could have easily been tackled with greater ease by person much less whiny than myself. ;)

By this point, I was slowly making up ground on Jim.  I wanted to get up with him, but I just could not find the strength to push harder without risking falling apart. I felt I was already red-lining a bit and any more effort would be the end of me.  I was working so hard, despite the mile splits, that Jim could hear my crazy asthma noises and knew it was me before I was even near by! M4- 7:04, M5 - 7:00

At some point into our 6th mile I finally finally caught up with Jim. I had a female right on my butt who was leap frogging with me for the last many minutes.  I had finally pulled ahead and I wanted to keep that. I hoped Jim would come with me.  He encouraged me to go for it and to finish strong.  When we hit the decline I started to find my legs again. It felt good to open up the pace and I could feel just a bit of space being put between me and my competition, which could mean I was pulling away or she was sitting, and timing a kick to blow past me. M6 - 6:31

I wasn't about to look back to see, but rather I decided to use the only defense there is against a "sit and kick" strategy and that is to kick first.  If I pull away sooner, then that makes it a lot harder to be caught and overcome before the finish.  So I kick.  It does not help matters that the last .2 contains an uphill finish. I manage to make it to the finish with my competition finishing 4 seconds behind. Last .2 = 1:21 (6:06 pace).

I worked so hard for that finished.  Trying to catch my breath quickly turned into coughing and that turned into dry heaves.  While trying to not puke in public, again, I was happy to see Jim had finished as well! (Running a PR! Go Jim!).

Stats
Time: 42:07 (6:47 pace)
OA: 113/1202
Gender: 11/508
AG: 3/89


The 5k
The last time I attempted a double it worked out well.  I ended up running pretty much the exact same pace for both races! Part of me wanted to do this again.  The other part of me wasn't sure what I could do.  However, I knew I was going to do what I usually do, which is to go out at a good pace and adjust as I go along.

Back in the corral, with Jim, Ben, and Karl again with Ann K behind us in the pack, we all were running the 10k/5k double (along with many others).  We were peppered amongst a sea of fresh-legged 5k'ers.  For some reason I still thought I had a shot to run for a good place in the 5k.  The start was about 1 hour after I finished the 10k.  I was tired but not feeling horrible. The 5k seemed so short in comparison to the 10k. And the 10k was a 700 pts race attracting the faster runners.

Gun goes off 
And Ben and Karl are gone.  Ben is a fast 5k'er so I don't see him again.  I do manage to catch up to Karl and hang with him.  My legs feel like they are rebelling.  I feel like I am running in quicksand. I look around and can't believe how many fast ladies are in this race. I try to hang. M1 - 6:38

Finishing up the 5k.

I am not sure if it was in this race or if it was the 10k, but while approaching a water stop, I managed to poorly time my cup grab so that the last one was snagged just before I got there ... and then Karl extend his cup back offering it to me (later mentioning that he thought he had accidentally blocked me from getting a cup... but he didn't, I just missed them).  I just thought that was one of the nicest things a person could do in a race.   It is nice to be part of a group of athletes who push each other while looking out for each other at the same time.  Thank you Karl!  M2-7:04

Mile 3 starts off feeling like a death march.  I just keep pushing forward, hoping to not see to much more of a fade in the pace, but then we start a decline and again I find my legs. I feel like finally things are starting to loosen up and I push. There are women near me but I cant take them.  I catch up to Karl once more, but it took a tremendous amount of work.  He mentioned that I may be able to take this one (btw him and I) but tell him I am not so sure.  I know I am fighting to stay on pace.  He pulls ahead. M3-6:45

However, although Karl is ahead of me, when he kicked I kicked.  I had no chance of catching him, but I felt inspired.  I ran as fast as I could, so glad the double was about to be over and so glad I did it!  Last .11 = 38.8 second (5:53 pace).

Stats
Time: 21:04 (6:47)
OA: 101/1692
Gender: 13/855
AG: 1/98

After the 5k ended, I looked at my average pace and realized that I had actually managed to do it again, to run the same pace in both races!

3 Days at the Fair, Sussex County Fair Grounds, NJ. 5/18/13

Oh boy... :)  New personal worst in a 24 hours for me :)  LOL!  But this is not a disappointment by any means.  I never planned to run a good 24 this weekend.  I just wanted a long run and the chance to have a good race.  If it wasn't going well, I was going home.  

I would have never registered for a 24 hour race at this point in my year. My focus after last year has been on shorter races (50 miles and under) and those races have gone very well for  me.  I registered for 3 Days, only because it is the only 24 hour race in NJ and an hour drive from my house.   If I felt good, I had a chance at running well, but I haven't had a good 24 hour race in a long time so I didn't expect to run great.

I actually would have preferred a 12 hour race over a 24 hour race, but the 12 hour started at 9 pm.  I didn't want to run a 12 hour through the middle of the night, because the late start would just slow down the effort.  If I ran a 12, I wanted to test nutrition and hydration at a brisk pace and see what I am doing that is messing me up in the second half of a 24.  I signed up for the 24 and planned to run a hard 12 and see how I felt after, but at the same time I wanted to be able to try to stay in for 24...

Where I messed up this day is that I was thinking about running a good 12, while trying to stay in it for a 24 hour run.  I should have just focused on one goal, and it should have been to stop at 12 from the gun, rather than having conflicting goals.   I didn't run a good 12 or stay in it for 24 because my focus was all over the place.

What I learned was not new information. Most, if not all, of my issues with 24 hours is that I no longer LOVE the idea of 24 races because I have had so many horrible nights trying to run fast and getting sick.  I have thrown up so much in them that as soon as the gun goes off, all I can think about is when will the puking start.  Everything I eat or drink in a 24 hour makes me worry, but if I don't eat or drink I will not be able to function in the later hours.

In a 50 or under, I can run well on very little. I can run until I am ravenous, then stop and eat.  In a 24, I can't run myself into that kind of deficit and still function later in the race.  I know enough to know a good strategy in a 24 is to try to stay on top of hydration and nutrition by grazing as I go.  Too much or too little is going to be a problem.  Trying to figure out what is just enough has been hard for me.

Historically, I learned that I do better with liquids vs solids and I also do best with gluten free carbs.  I tried to drink until I felt my stomach was getting full, allowing maximum but comfortable amounts of fluid to absorbed.  I would let things settle for a lap or two and then snack on a small amounts of solid food (a few potato chips, a few bites of something gluten free) that did not make me feel too heavy or to queazy.  I found alternating sweets and salty foods works for me.  I tried to stay at a point where I didn't feel like I wanted to throw up, but the nausea was present, lurking in the background, and just waiting to make it presence known.  This was the case at 20 miles in. At 40 miles I fully was fighting the urge and it made little sense that I felt nausea so early.

As for pacing, I don't ever plan to go out and not plan for a good run.  I started off with one 8:30 mile and then worked on slowing it down and picking walking spots to add so I can get my splits to 10:00.  It took about 4 laps to work out my system.  Soon,  I was cruising along with Kathleen through laps at 9:55's.  I allowed more fade into the 10's. Added longer walks here and there to make it slower and less intense (hoping that will stop the puking).  

I hit 25 miles and notice tendons around my right knee was getting painful.  Nothing has hurt me all year, so this aggravated knee was new and concerned me a lot.  I did not want to run a crappy 24 and come home truly broken from it.  I figured it would pass and considered taping it, but also suspected maybe my mind was playing tricks on me and the knee was just fine.

I started walked to see if the pain would go way.  I walked several laps with Trishul and his Jack Russel, Dart.  We had a wonderful discussion about my cancer history, my struggles with 24 hours, his experiences with racing, and whether the way my body functions under stress is impacted by what I have been through in the past.  Sometimes I think it is related and others times I am not sure.  He recommended some great things for me to try and I will look into it all.  We both also considered that a lot of what I struggle with is somatic and based on the idea that I am expecting to struggle so I do.  He referred to it as "The Law of Attraction." I understand it as a "Self-Fulling Prophecy".

Regardless of what we call it, the beauty of races going poorly for stress-related issues is that there is a good chance that once I figure out how to manage the stress I am creating, I will likely have an amazing break through run.  When a race goes poorly for physical reasons, it can sometimes be harder to break through.  I actually have hopes that some day (way into the future) I will find my flow in these longer events.

After 40 miles, when the nausea returned, I walked again with Alanna and aimed to hit 50... but as I hit 45, I decided that my knee was still angry, my nausea was in full force and I just really wasn't happy at all.  I cut my losses and packed up.  And as soon as I stopped, surprise, the nausea was getting better. I stuck around the race, still running around to help other runners while trying to find a new purpose for being there.  Then I left to get a shower and meal.

It was nice to not throw up, but sad to run so poorly.  However I had invested so little in this event that I not too upset about it.

What I really want to do now is return to my focus of 50 mile races and under and see what I can do at those shorter distances.  50 miles fits better in my life at the moment.  I feel to much guilt asking Sid to travel to far away places while I run, and then I am too worn out to do anything fun with him.  He ends up spending a lot of time in nice places alone or doing nothing...  Short races at least allow me to spend more time with him when he does travel with me and I feel better about that decision, despite him never complaining or asking me to change anything.

Newport 10000, USATF Team Championship, Jersey City, NJ. 5/11/13

Feeling a little off this morning when I woke up, I thought if this wasn't a 700 pts Team race I would just sleep in. But I pre-registered and looked forward to a short race with fun people.  I really like my team and look forward to team events so I went.

It was supposed to rain, but with the warm temps, that was actually a good thing.  I tend to run well in the rain. I brought my Senna hat, which I love to have a good excuse to wear. Senna was a Formula 1 racing car driver who was very good at racing in the rain.

The race is fast and flat.  Elites are lured in with the promise of lots of prize money.  The 10k was won with a time of 33:07 (5:20 pace)... and that was just the women's race.  The men's race was won in 29 flat (4:40 pace).  Mortals are lured in with promise of a good raffle. I won a $25 gift certificate to a restaurant.  Stupid stuff like that makes me happy :)

So we start off in the rain.  There is not much to say about the course except despite many reporting it measuring long (btw 6.35-6.5) many still manage to run well here.  It is city street with lots of turns, I believe with one teeny incline in mile two that is really not an issue.  The rest of the course is just fast.

I did not take off super fast because I already felt slow and I didn't want the race to turn into a death march when I ran out of steam.  Rather I wanted a chance to finish fast and feel good at the end.

I was also worried I would slip since I just took a new pair of T7's (racing flats) out of the box this morning and I wondered if the brand new shoes would be a little slick on the wet roads.   After losing my car in the parking deck when returning to it with my bib and t-shirt (yes, seriously I did) and after freaking out for few minutes until I found it, thereby allowing me to change into my racing flats, I didn't get as much time for a warm up as as I would have liked. As a result, the shoes were still brand spanking new as I stood at the start.

Just before the start I adjusted my laces and clearly failed to do a good job b/c at about .5 miles in, one came undone. I immediately started mumbling profanity to myself, apparently loud enough for others to hear (sorry), while trying to pull over through a massive amount of runners all moving at a 6:30 pace, so I could stop to fix my act of brilliance.

It was really only a few seconds of wasted time and before I knew it, I had caught back up with many I had been running with.

Running in the rain feels so nice, but when it stopped raining it became overwhelmingly humid.  My asthma does not do well in humidity (despite most people asthma having the opposite experience).  My chest hurts and I don't fell like I can inhale enough air fast enough.  I end up making whooping or other odd noises that helps but makes me sound ridiculous.  I learned that if I fight the noises I run slower, so I just do it and try to run as fast as I can.  It is all very painful and I have just learned to deal with it.

I tried to find a comfortable rhythm and something that I could get faster from which, with the exception of mile 5, is just what I was able to do.

At 3 miles to go, I could see my friend Jim up ahead and I was wondering if I could catch up.  He ran an awesome race two weeks ago, so I was not so sure, but I wanted to try.  It took about 2 miles for me to catch up to him which happened exactly as we approached the tracks for some trams.

Generally the trains are stopped during the race, or at least I assume they were b/c I never noticed this as a problem in the past. Today, I could see one tram moving across the race course, hear an officer telling people to stop, while signally for the second tram to stop which it did.  I am not sure how long they were stopped for.

I was still running full speed as I approached the tracks, just as I caught up to Jim.  Originally, in my mind, I imagined that if I did catch up to Jim we would end up pushing each other through the last mile. But the tram got me all worked up and since I was approaching the tracks just as the trams were stopping, I was able to blast over the tracks (unfortunately passing a handful of faster runners who had to stop)

I had made a push to pick up speed that was so hard that I just went with the pace.  My chest hurt, my wheezing was horrible, I grabbed a cup of water and just tried to run that last mile as fast as I could.  I was passed by a girl who was moving well and I tried to stay with her but just wasn't able to.  I was already running as fast as I could.  I hoped to keep her in range so by the last few tenths I could go for it, but when the last few tenth came I had nothing more to kick with.  However that entire last mile was the fastest of the race so regardless of who passed me, I am very proud of what I was able to do.

Mile 1 7:04
Mile 2 6:56
Mile 3 6:50
Mile 4 6:42
Mile 5 6:47
Mile 6 6:28
Last .2 2:00

Stats:
Time 42:46 (6:53 pace)
OA place:  162/1354
Gender:  31/586
AG: 2/85

New Jersey Marathon, Oceanport NJ. 5/5/13

I am very tired and beat up a bit from a lot of races.  I still started out with the 3:15 pace group, but fully expected to fade away into the distance behind them as the miles accumulated.  Anything around a 3:30 would be fine with me.

At mile 7, I stepped on some road debris that created a very sharp pain in my foot.  I thought I slammed a rock and with racing flats that hurts.  I kept going.  Each step hurt.  I did not hear anything clicking so I did not want to stop, but I did slow down.

By mile 12 the pain was getting worse, and I contemplated bailing at the half finish line. So I finally stopped to check my shoe and sure enough a chunk of some mangled metal was embedded under the ball of my foot into the sole.  I popped it out and kept going figuring it would start to hurt less.   It didn't.

It was not terrible pain, but coupled with the fact that I was so very tired, I reached my low frustration tolerance for the day and I just knew this race would feel much better if I just slowed it all down.  I saw Les and he ran some with me.  I told him today is not my day.  He said I was probably due for a not so great day. I agreed that I thought I was due for a "bad" race by now and this was it. :)  He told me to just do what I could.  Thank you Les! It helped to run with you.

I was passed by Aya, who is so pleasant. I ran with her and we covered much of 12-19 miles together at a comfortable pace of about 8:20's.  That was nice but as I approached 19, I needed a break from pounding on my foot.  I was twisting my foot oddly to avoid the tender spot and that was just throwing other things off.  So I walked a bit and it felt a lot better.

Once I started running again, I took it easy and when the pain grew enough to change my foot strike I would walk a bit.  I figured I would just do that all the way in.

I saw a girl in pink, looking like she was struggling too, but she was up on the grassy part next to the sidewalk, not on the road. Runners around us were moving well but she looked just as tired as me.  I ran over and asked her if she wanted to walk some with so we both could have some company.

That is when I noticed how unwell she looked.

She mutter that she needed help and told me how she was losing control.  She looked liked she was about to faint.  Her eyes appeared to roll back a little and I immediately asked her to sit down, so she would not fall down.  I ran back (not very far) to the Aid Station we had most recently passed.  I asked them to call for help and I returned to her.  Spectators had walked over and told me that I could continue on with my race, but it really wasn't that important. I wanted to wait for the aid station volunteer to come to her before I left, since I had said I would be with her when he got there.  I wanted to know help was coming to her before I left.

At 22 miles in, I was pretty tired and had no idea what I could do for her, except to talk to her. I asked her named and she told me, so that was good.  She said she wanted to call her dad and tried to give her cell phone number to someone to call him.  She pointed to her shoe where she had her Road ID tag and that was a big help once people knew it was there.  She asked me my name and I told her my first name. She asked for my last name and asked someone near her to remember that for her. I really wanted to make sure she was ok, so I pulled my gear bag tag off my bib, since I didn't check a bag, and gave it to her so she would not try so hard to remember it.  I know it had my name on it and I thought it had my contact number,  (but later I realize it did not).  I don't know why I did that, except I felt horrible just continuing on with a race with no way to know whether she was ok.

When the Aid Station volunteers got up to us, reporting that an ambulance was coming and that they would watch her, they told me I could go on with my run.  At that point she was covered in a blanket and in good hands, so I continued on.

I was very concerned and a little overwhelmed with adrenaline and my pace quickened until I saw Bill. I stopped to tell him what just happened because I just could not concentrate on running a race at that time. We pondered where John and Maria might be and then I took off again to finish off the last 3 miles.

By the mid-to-end of the final mile, I was passed by two guys who signaled me on to run with them so I did.  Whenever we passed anyone we tried to convince them to join us.  We got a group of about 4-5 at one point all running very well together.

I noticed one man in our group had a bloody face and he said he fell down at mile 20.  Another man had no shoes on... just socks!  He said his shoes were hurting his feet so he took them off an gave them to someone on the course about 5 miles back. What a group! :)

My foot still hurt, but knowing I was almost done helped so we all picked it up.  I found that running faster hurt less so I picked up pace as fast as I could and I hurried to finish it.

Total time was 3:47.  It was never going to be a great race, but I am grateful I stayed in it to help someone out.

As I walked through the shoot with Alister (Ali), the guy with just the socks, some random runner arrived asking "Are these yours?" He said, "Yes!" as he collected his shoes from her.  He asked how she got them and a random spectator had given them to her from the sidelines and asked her to catch up to Ali.

Ali proclaims "I LOVE people!" and we walk on out and say our goodbyes.

Playing "Race Chicken" with John Phelan @ some random 5k, Bridgewater, NJ. April 28, 2012

John and I have a tendency to get caught up in games of "Race Chicken." This happens when one of us, usually me, finds a ridiculous race and claims "I want to do it!"  Then other says "Me too!"  But really we both know it is ridiculous but no one wants to be the first to say we really dont want to go.

This is how we ended up running a 6 hour Pajama Romp that started at 5 pm in Queens. I ran that morning, but since John was still going so was I!

This is how we ended up driving 3 hours to Albany in February to race a 5 loop marathon in 2 degree wind chill with 40 mph wind gust!  We both DNF'd that day but neither one of us bailed out in advance.  On the ride home I said, "You know if you had said you didn't want to go, I would have stayed home... but I didn't want to be the first to be a chicken!"  He admitted the same.  So now we play Race Chicken at random :)

Today we planned to meet at Duke Island Park for 10-12 miles of easy running.  We both have a race coming up on Sunday and I raced a hard 15k race yesterday.   While on my way to the park, John calls to tell me "There is a race here!"

Of course I immediately say, "Let's do it!"  Then I ask, "What is it? How far? What time does it start?"  John goes to find out.

I get to the park, in my too warm capri pants and non-racing training shoes, planning to jog around for 2 hours only to find John with his bib pinned on.  That big jerk ;) didn't even wait for me to get there so we could discuss whether racing a 5k today was a good idea!

I have no intentions of standing on the side lines while he races so of course I register and then spend the next 45 minutes trying to figure out what to do with myself.  I have no racing flats.  I dig through my bag, hoping I packed a pair of shorts... no luck. I knew that, but I would have loved a pair of shorts.  I was overdressed because I thought training slow but warm would help me begin to acclimate to the warmer temps coming.

I had planned on running 2 hours in a fasted state.  No breakfast before but now that I am racing, I looked for a gel.  None to be found, but I did have a small gatorade and I drank half of that.

We warmed up for 2.5 miles, then headed to the starting line.  It was a small race, on a flat course, but I knew my tired legs were going to hate me!

M1 - 6:24.  Ok, this hurts and I really wish I had on some T7's.  I love my Launch but not for a 5k.  At least I wasn't wearing my heavier Ghosts for this.  I already feel tired and know I cant hold that pace for very long, so I settle down a bit and slowly try to reel in those who had a faster start than me.

M2 - 6:43.  Oh Boy this is hard.  I am trying to run as fast as I can, and I just don't have anything. I feel like I am running in quicksand.  Nothing hurts, but I just cant seem to go any faster.  There is a girl just a step ahead of me who is making it a point to stay in front of me.

M3 - 6:43.  At the start of this mile, I pass the girl and begin to reel in Tara, a incredibly fast runner just ahead of me.  She is usually much speedier and I believe she is recovering from something.  As I pass Tara, I tell her that there is one female behind us that I just passed, hoping she can hold her off too.

M3.1- 39.15 (6:24 pace).  I try to kick it in, and know that the female in front of me is just way too far away for me to catch. I am not sure who is behind me, but I would like to not be passed in the last 10th, so I hurry.

Stats: 
Time: 20:30
Gender: 2nd Place
OA: 4th place

John finishes strong shortly behind me, running what I think is his second fastest 5k ever... on a whim.

We meet John's friends after the awards and run the balance of 10.5 miles for today.

Had John not registered before I got there, I am sure I would have chickened out of this race.  But now, I am glad he tricked me into racing it in the middle of "our easy day" :)

p.s.  I didnt even know the name of this race until just now, after looking it up.  It was the Homesharing 5k and it was a very well organized event.  It would be a great first 5k race for anyone new to the sport.

Clinton Country Run 15k, Clinton, NJ. 4/27/13

I registered today for this race.  I need to get some 700pt USATF- NJ races for my score card.  The timing for this is not ideal, but if I want to run ultras, run marathons, and be a part of the series, nothing is going to be ideally timed.  I have 2-3 goals races per year which I try to taper for, at least, but this race was not a goal race so I ran abt 90 miles this week (including that 50 miler on Sunday) leading up to this.

I really didn't care too much about what I ran today, as long as I made a good effort.  I believe as slow race on tired legs can be just as challenging as a fast race on fresh legs. However, admittedly, I was a little anxious about this race because at this race last year I tore my Plantar Fascia somewhat significantly.  I just want to get through this ok.

Even thought this is my "rest week" with lighter mileage planned from this past Monday, I still always start off at a competitive pace while assessing how much I need to back off.  My plan was to run around 7:00's for as long as I can, expecting the first mile to be fast since it is mostly downhill, and the last miles to be slower b/c they are most uphill

The Course:
I dont think this race is easy.  The first mile starts with a steep downhill, then rolls a little bit through some streets. Then we level out and run along a gravel trail for a few miles.  All of that is easy.  But, at 5 miles we pop out of the trail and hit the roads again, but much of this half of the race includes larger rollers, mostly uphills, that bring us back up to the park.  As we get closer to the park, we hit a very short but steep part that is really just mean.  Finally we enter the park, recover with a decline while making our way around the parking lot on a bike path until we reach the final incline to the finish.

M1 - 6:26... or 6:50???   Last time I ran this I remember the first mile being marked long.  Here again, all the Garmins are beeping before we were even close.  At the beep, my split was 6:26 and it felt like it, but at the mile mark it read 6:50.

M2 - 6:59.  As the road level's out, I settle down, run comfortable and try to reserve something for the rolling hills that will come in the second half of the course.  As we hit mile 2, the Garmin beeps on schedule, reassuring me that the first mile was marked too long.

M3 - 7:04.  We are on the trail section.  I am starting to feel worried.  It was on this part that my PF pain began.  I remember feeling trapped at the half way mark of this shorter race with a lot of pain. Finishing the race only made it worse.  Despite this section being flat and on hard packed dirt, I tend to slow down.  I kept noticing my Garmin reading slower pace and I had to make a focused effort to get the pace back down.

M4 - 6:59.  I know those hill are coming soon and I start to wonder what will happen.  They always seem to slow me a lot in past years here. I am passing some females while getting passed by some men.  I feel like it is too soon to push myself hard so I sit at a comfortably challenging pace waiting for the hills to come.

M5 - 7:00.  We pop out of the trail, turn a corner and cruise down a decline before we start to approach the mild inclining road that will turn into larger rollers soon. I start to make a effort to hold my pace and wonder how many miles I can stay 7 or under.

M6 - 6:58.  I am working hard on the ups to stay steady and working as hard as I can to use gravity to help me on all the downhills

M7 - 6:50.  As we level out again, I try to pick off as many people as I can.  I know the last mile is going to be mostly uphill, so if I want a shot at PR, I need to make up some time and Mile 7 and 8 are the miles to do it.  I don't get as much back as I thought I could in this mile, but I am happy to still feel strong.

M8- 6:48.  Any downhill I find I work hard. Any up I hit I try to stay strong.  I hear what place I am for the women and it becomes my goal to not lose my position.  There are no women near me, in front or behind, that I can see.  However, I don't want to give anyone a chance to pass me on the last uphills in mile 9.

M9- 7:00.  This is a cruel mile.  We have to get back up to the park and we do it with some short steep ups that make my chest hurt.

M9.3 - 2:32. Once up the last of the ups we run a lap around the parking lots on a bike path and finish going up an incline.  I make an effort to finish as fast as I can. Garmin has me a 6:45 pace for .38... but whatever it is, it took me 2:32 to run it.

I am happy to have such a good run after many weekends of longer hard races.  A 15k is a nice change of pace from ultras or marathons. :)

Stat:
1:04:44 (6:57)
5th Female OA
1st AG

Jack Bristol Lake Waramaug 50 Mile, Kent, CT. April 21, 2013

Originally I registered for the 100k at Lake Waramaug.  This was an impulse decision after I ran a PR 6 hour (41.48 miles) on April 6th at the BUS 6 hour.  I had been looking for a road 100k and it seems they are few and far between.  The two I considered (Lake Waramaug and Mad City) both occurred this weekend.  Ray inspired me to give Waramaug a shot so I signed up.

However I ran a (surprising, considering how tired I was) 3:24 at Boston on April 15. That did not give me a lot of time to recover for a 100k.  On the drive up I did some math and realized I would likely not get home until 10:30 -11:00 pm tonight if I ran the 100k, but I had a actual shot at getting home with some daylight if I ran the 50 miler.   I was likely to drop to the 50 miler en route because the time crunch was stressing me out.  If I did drop down, my pace would be a 100k pace from the start which would likely ruin my shot for a good 50M.

As soon as I got my bib I asked Mike Melton, our timer, to please switch me to the 50M.  I felt so much better making that call pre-race.

Gun Goes off. Somehow Ray, who I swear was half way back in the pack a second ago is up in front of me now.  LOL.  I catch up and we run a little, but I end up cruising along with Joe Laskey for the first 2.2 out and 2.2 back.

Joe had a handheld and I carried nothing.  I noted that I would likely lose him at the aid station where I will need to grab something to drink, which is exactly what happened and I never saw him again.  It was great to distract myself with chatter during the early miles.  Joe's pace was a little fast for me so it was ok that he pulled off ahead.

The course is mildly rolling, with only 2 parts I consider long or steep enough to call a hill. One comes in the first 1/3 of the loop while the other is somewhere around 2 miles to go (or something like that).  You would think I could remember, I ran it 6 times!  After the out and back, the 50 milers run 6 x 7.6 mile loops around the lake.  The entire course is road.  Road is Fast!  I love Roads!

After losing Joe, I ran a lot by myself feeling very very beat up.  I was not sure how this race was going to go or how long I could stay in it.  The wind on the back half was rough.  Wind is Slow! I dislike Wind!  I would have been ok if I did a few loops and left, if I found that I just not recovered enough.  I have a lot of races on my calendar and don't want to really do unnecessary damage.

Eliot ran up to time at about mile 13 and he was moving well!  We stayed together for a few miles, but I could not stick with his pace. He was racing the 50k. I was already talking about an eminent DNF.  I started to plan my escape, but first decided that I needed to get to 3 laps to figure out what I was going to do.

However, every time I thought about how tired my legs felt, I looked at my Garmin and my pace was sub-9.  I slowed down to well over 9:00's, and started walking up parts of the hills and through the AS.  I realized that was just so much better.  I grabbed a Mt. Dew from the Aid Station.

Lesson #1 (for me and unlikely to be true for everyone): Never ever under-estimate the value of a well-timed Mt. Dew.  The burst of energy I felt after the sugary sweet caffeinated liquid hit my stomach was undeniably a game-changer for me.  I felt much better and when running I was moving well, but I needed to take care of some issues at the start of lap 3, which I knew would take some time.

As I completed lap 2, my feet would feel the hard road surface and they were getting very achy.  At 20 miles or so by the end of loop, I decided to swap from my Brooks T7 to my Brooks Lauch (The T7's did me well so far, but were just not enough shoe for the next 30 miles, especially since I ran Boston in them and much of the 6 hour run from early April, in addition to all my shorter races and I need a new pair).  

Lesson #2 (for me and unlikely to be true for everyone): The right pair of shoes really can make all the difference. The Launch is just an incredible shoe for my feet.  Loose enough to allow my swelling feet room, light enough to not tired me out, cushioned enough to keep my feet happy and protected. After I made the shoe change in Lap 3 and also made a pit stop, I was back to running comfortably again.

As I continued to run, I felt so comfortable that I was actually beginning to get faster.  What I believed helped me was staying hydrated and consuming most of my calories from liquids.

Lesson #3 (for me and unlikely to be true for everyone):  Solid food hinders my performance. 
I spent years trying to sort out my stomach trouble by trying different foods. I was told early on in my ultra "career" that to run an ultra well, we needed LOTS of calories from densely caloric food.  For me, now, this seems to be just a lot of extra work that my body does not want to do.  Packing in calories makes me stop craving foods and drinks.  I sweat a lot, especially if warm out.  I get dehydrated, get nauseated and throw up and dry heave until I can't function.

My most successful races have a few things in common: (1) Cool temps, around 35-40 degrees, (2) very little calories from solid food and (3) Carrying NOTHING with me.

This race was setting me up nicely by starting off around 32 degrees, but warming as we ran. I knew hydration would be important, yet I did not bring a handheld or pack.  The idea of running unencumbered is how I prefer to do it.  This race has AS about 2 miles apart.  By not carrying a bottle, I find that I create a sense of urgency that forces me to drink at each AS rather than simply tote around fluids and forget to drink.

I grabbed two cups of fluids (water, gatorade, Coke, Mt. Dew in any combination) at each AS.  I found that a Gatorade and a Mt Dew combo works best for me.  I drank enough that I had to pee several times during this race (this is odd for me, so I knew I was drinking well and running slow enough).

When I was feeling a bit hungry, I tried one brownie bite which upset my stomach, then I had approx 2  potato chips.  Yes 2 chips.  Not a handful, or a sleeve of pringles, just 2 at separate times!  I had one small chunk of honey dew melon (approx 1.5 square inches) and one orange wedge on my last lap. That is ALL I ate.  All the rest of my calories came from liquid.   This seems to work for me.

The last three laps of my race were quite steady and evenly paced.  Each lap felt harder, but the paces were close.  What helped tremendously was that Carl, the RD was actually driving around the course backwards cheering on all the runners!  That was really motivating for me.  Carl seems like a really wonderful guy!

With one lap to go, I knew I was setting a PR.  I felt great and gave what I had left.  I was running fast, which gets exaggerated by the others who are fading.  I had to work hard to finish strong while my legs were starting to rebel.  Again I found myself with 3 miles to go and things started to get rough, but not as rough as in the last race, which was about half the distance!

I finish the race, learn that I was First Female in the 50 miler and was promptly awarded my prize and medal.  I check the leader board and learn I was 5th Over All.  That made me happy.

I asked Mike if splits would be posted and he showed me mine. If I remember correctly, my splits went something like this:

- First 4.4 out and back - no idea of time.
- Loop 1 -1:06  
- Loop 2- 1:12
- Loop 3- 1:15
- Loop 4 -1:09
- Loop 5- 1:11
- Loop 6- 1:08

Stats:
Time: 7:41:52 (9:14 pace)
Place: 1st Female and 5th OA

Boston Marathon Race Report, 2013.

2:15 p.m.  I had just collected my gear from the bus and put on my warmer clothes.  I was wet and cold and my plans to stick around and cheer on runners while waiting to see John finish was sounding like a very bad idea.  I could not stop shivering. I only packed a long sleeve T-shirt and it was not enough to block the wind.  I hear an announcement about the location of the busses to back to Hopkinton, which I was hoping to find so I walked over and got on figuring John would understand why I left. 

2:25 pm.  Busses started moving and we were on our way.  

2:45 p.m.  Explosions at the finish, but I am on the road already.

3:05 p.m.  Ann K sends me a message... “Are You Guys Ok?”  “What’s wrong with Ann?" I think. Just 25 minutes prior she sent me a text congratulating me on a good run.  Why is she now asking me if we were ok? Why does she think I am not ok?   

“Something Exploded here!” Ann clarifies.   Now I'm getting worried for her.  Ann was spectating.  She is a passionate New Jersey TNT Runner who traveled up in Boston to watch her friends run.  I still didn't understand the gravity and think “Maybe a water main blew? Maybe a boiler in a building?” I hope she is safe. 

“They are evacuating us!” She adds.   OMG, evacuation. What is going on there. The phones of my fellow bus-mates are buzzing like crazy now.  Others were reporting the same.   

3:08 p.m. John, my friend and training partner was able to secure two actual Invitational Entries to Boston.  He invited Enrique, a fellow TNT runner along to join him.  Enrique brought his wife to cheer!  I text John. “Call me ASAP when you get this to let me know you are OK.”

3:10 pm.  I update FB to say something exploded at the finish line and I am NOT there. 

3:08-3:15 p.m. Texts, FB messages, emails, posts are piling in faster than I can handle them. All asking me if I am safe.

3:15 p.m.  Michele, John’s friend who I just met yesterday when she housed me for the event, has collected me from Hopkinton State Park. She has no idea. I update her.   “Something has exploded at the finish, people are being evacuated, I don’t know where John or Enrique are on the course.  I know John does not have his phone.  I know he should have been close to the finish line. They may have been there!” I tell her. 

3:15-3:20 p.m.  My phone and now Michele’s phone is going nuts.  I call my family to tell them I am safe. 

3:20 p.m. We are back at Michele.  In the short time I have known Michele I already know she is a fast thinker and a problem solver.  She bolts to the computer and starts reviewing chip data of Enrique and John.  She quickly deduces that there is no way they could have reached the finish line in time to be harms way.  (There invitational entries required them to start at the back of wave 3). 

I know from my pre-race conversation with John that he was checking his phone in his gear bag and leaving it on the bus to get it at the finish.  I realize John has no phone and his wife is probably having a melt down.  

3:20-3:33 p.m.  Before I can call Jenn, I get a few more calls from friends and I let them know I am safe.  Everytime the phone rings I hope it is John. It is not. 

3:33 p.m.  I call Jenn, John’s wife, to tell her that I know John did not get all the way to the finish line at the time of the explosion, I know he does not have his phone, but I don’t know where he is.  John has been brilliant and borrowed a cell phone which he used to call his wife.  Good Man!  I know he is safe.  We don’t know where Enrique is, but we know he was behind John. 

News reports another bomb at the JFK library in a different part of Boston.  We don’t know when this will stop, but Michele and I want to get John and Enrique and Gaby out of there, but  we don’t know where they are.

3:40 p.m. We are trying to figure out how to reach Enrique’s wife.  Michele and I know that Gaby, Enrique’s wife, was planning to get herself to the finish line to see Enrique gloriously complete his first and maybe only Boston.  I don’t have Enrique’s number. Enrique is John’s friend. I only just met him for a 60 seconds at the Village, pre-race.  I never met Gaby.  But these were the NJ TNT people that were connected to me here at Boston and I was not leaving until I knew where everyone was.  I try to call Ann back, but she is not answering and I know she has evacuated.  She has been texting so I believe she is ok.

3:45 p.m.  Michele is scanning Facebook to try to leave a message somewhere. I post a note on TNT’s page reporting that I am worried about Enrique’s wife.  Enrique’s page is set up for maximum privacy so we cant get a note on his page or read any updates.  I call Jenn to see if she had Gaby’s number.  No luck.  

4:00 p.m. Phones are buzzing off the hook with FB messages, emails, text, calls from people trying to confirm I am safe. None from John.

4:20 p.m.  I remember that Enrique is a TNT runner.  That is where John met him.  I call Sue, our TNT coach. She is in NJ. I ask her if anyone can pull Enrique’s file. I know he had to fill out a application with emergency contact.  I assumed he would put his wife’s contact info or at least someone who knew her number.  Sue is a great help and calls several TNT staff. Finally she gets Margo, who forwards me a phone number.   

4:45 p.m. I get the forwarded number from Margo. I assume it is for Gaby so I leave a message.  As I hang up I remember John telling me that Gaby actually is not a native English speaker and I am not sure she will understand what I am saying or even call me back. 

4:45 - 5:00 pm.  My cell battery is dying from the sheer volume of communication.  I plug it in to charge it and scan FB on my Ipad for messages about John, Enrique, and Gaby.  Michele is doing the same.  There is nothing there that helps us find them. We don’t know what to do but the phone calls, texts, messages, keeps us busy.

5:00 pm. I call Jenn back. I leave a message to ask her to please call me if she learns that John or Enrique have left Boston because I was not leaving until I found them. 

5:20 p.m. Jenn calls me back. She tells me John made contact with her.  He got to his gear bag. He has his phone.  He made contact with Enrique and Enrique talked to Gaby.  John is still stuck in Boston, she doesn’t know where.  We want to get him out of there.  She reports that he plans to call us soon.

5:25 pm. John calls Michele while I am still talking to Jenn.  Michele, a local Bostonian, tells John how to walk to MIT where Michele works. This is a location she believes we can physically drive to.  We dont know what to expect.  I overhear her saying she doesn’t want to ask him to go to far because she worries he is likely tired from the run. I reassure her John is an ultrarunner and she can send him as far as she need to to get him out of there.  He can walk.  He can run if he needs to.  She gives him directions.

We jump in my car because I have more room and figure we will try to collect Enrique and Gaby as well.  Michele directs me to avoid areas she things will be crowded or dangerous. 

From the news we learn they have found two more devices that failed to detonate.  

6:00 p.m. We are getting close and make decisions to bypass some bridges, worried that maybe things are not done being blown up. Radio is giving us latest reports, which are repeating the same information. Two explosions on the course, two undetonated devices found, one explosion at JFK Library... etc.   The injured tally has gone from 22, to 43, to 57... 

6:30 p.m.  We get into Boston. I step out of my car realizing my bib is still pinned and I am still in my racing gear.  We find John sitting on a bench.  He is safe but looks tired.  He reports that he contacted Enrique and he and Gaby are safe and returning to the training center.  

I tell him that I was planning to wait for him at the finish line!  But I was cold and wet from dumping water on me during the race.  My t-shirt was not warm enough so I decided to look for the bus and heard an announcement for it.  If I wasn’t so cold I would have been there at the finish. I told him I was worried he was there. I knew he should have been btw 20-40 minute behind me in real time, and with his delayed start maybe a bit longer.  If he had a great race I knew he could have been there at the finish when it blew.  

7:30 p.m.  It takes about hour to get back to Michele's as we sit in traffic of those still trying to evacuate, of which we are now included.  We see lights and sirens traveling back in towards Boston. That is not a good sign.  We listen to the radio to see if something else blew up.  The news reports the injured count is rising. Two are reported to have died, over 100 injured. 

7:45 p.m.  Everyone I know is finally accounted for. John is safely out of Boston.  I finally get a shower.  I am starving. 

8:00 p.m. I check a few more Voicemails, answer some texts and then begin my journey home to NJ.  One stop at Dunkin Donuts for my first "real" meal (bagel and hot chocolate) all day.  I head home. 

12:00 a.m.  I make good time and get home just about midnight, update my FB status that I made it back.

Tuesday morning John reports that Gaby was near the finish line, but stopped to use the rest room at a resturant when everything outside blew up.  I am glad my friends are safe.  I am so sorry for those who were trapped in harms way.  I sincerely hope justice gets served and whoever is responsible is held accountable for this horrifying travesty.

As for my plans: I ran a BQ last November that is about 24 minutes below my BQ time... I fully expect to be there next year.

BUS 6 Hour Run, Valley Stream, NY. 4/6/13

Two days ago, there was a family crisis that is not my story to share so I won't.  However, along with many others, my life is likely to be significantly changed as a result.  The lack of control over my world plus all the worry for those directly impacted and all the praying for a positive outcome is exhausting.  All of this from what amounts to a blameless accident and it had me feeling like I was suffocating.

The last thing I wanted to do today was to get up at 5:00 am to head out to Valley Stream to run for 6 hours in a bit of a cold day (which turned out to be perfect weather).  I could not image anything good coming from this.

I had a minor melt-down this morning, explaining my distress to Sid.  I hoped he wouldn't think bad of me for feeling shook up when so many others are in a much worse place. He did not.  He is a good man.  He understood.  He validated.  He did not judge me.  He shared that some of his concerns are the same.  He helped me to feel better.

And then he ushered me out the door, telling me that I should get in the car and go run.  There was nothing I could do from home anyway.  If I ran even just part of the 6 hours, it would likely help me decompress.

Photo Credit: Donna Sajulga-Tabios

So I left much later than I wanted to, but I arrived with 30 minutes to prepare.  It felt comfortable when I stepped out of the car, maybe mid-30's. But once in the wind I was cold.  The loop was short, 1.43x miles.  This meant I could layer up and strip down lap by lap until comfortable.

Richie says GO! The course was mildly inclined on the way out along a river. At the peak of the up, we turned right over a bridge and ran the decline down the other side of a river (with view of the runners behind us).  By mile 1, we ran around a lake, then a right turn through a large parking lot, and final right turn back to the S/F line. Pretty flat fast course with enough slight elevation variation to help the speed.

Photo Credit: Donna Sajulga-Tabios

I started about 7:50-8:05 pace for the first few miles,  As I ran along, I kept accidentally running past the Aid Station. By lap 4 I finally started fluids.  I grabbed abt 6 oz of gatorade when I did drink. I ate cantaloupe when I ate.  I alternated between those options or nothing at all for many hours.

I led the women's race from the gun and hit the 14.4 miles in 2 hours (8:20 pace).   Last time I ran the BUS race, Jodi beat me by about 900 ft and I had no idea I was even that close to her.  I don't know Jodi except by her reputation as an incredible runner who I tend to get beat by.  I was closely paying attention to where she was in relation to me.

At some point, I was passed by a woman in purple who was running very fast and easily putting distance on me.  I figured she was on 45 mile+ pace and since I did not recognize her as someone who could run 45 miles or more in 6 hours, I concluded she would either be phenomenal and crush the ladies,  crash hard at some point later in the race, or maybe she was just out to run a hard 20 mile, marathon, or 50k and call it a day. Regardless, my pace was perfect for me and I wasn't going to chase anyone this early.  I just let her go and watched her trail off.  I saw her later on the massage table and then she left... likely after about 26 miles.

Photo Credit: Donna Sajulga-Tabios

I hit 20 miles at about 2:47 (8:20 pace).   I ran with a girl in black who looked extremely fit and strong.  I believed I was a lap up on her at that point.  As I attempted to pass, I could see it was very easy for her to stick me with.  I knew that with 3 hours to go, I needed to pay attention to her.

I started to get a little tired.  I grabbed one small macaroon and drank some Mt Dew that I had brought with me.

I hit my marathon in about 3:42 (8:28 pace). I had to laugh because this was faster than my Cape May Marathon time last weekend and I didn't feel nearly so terrible today.

I did a lot of thinking out there, for the entire 6 hours, and it made the "pain" of running pale in comparison.

At this point the race within my mind begins.  I was moving well but getting very tired.  I had started with my racing flats (Brooks T7s).  My feet were starting feel very achy, like the ground was so very hard.  I had a pair of Brooks Launch as well. They are not as fast as the T7's but I hoped the extra cushion would help keep me running.  I ran my PR 6 hour race of 41.15 miles completely in T7 so I had no trouble opting to start with them.  However I am a few pounds heavier than I was so my feet may have more of a right to complain.

Photo Credit: Donna Sajulga-Tabios

A lap after the marathon I took about 3 minutes (timed it) to sit down and change shoes.  It took longer than it should have, with no chair and non-functional cold fingers.  In comparison to the racing flats, the Launch felt heavy at first. I was not sure if was a smart move, but in a few minutes all I felt was happy cushioning.   Soon I was back to the pace I left off at.

I hit my 50k in 4:26 (8:34).  At this point I remembered my 50k split from my best 6 hour was about 4:25.  I was actual happy for the first time in a few days.  I tried to not think of the time left.  An hour and a half of running can seem daunting after running for 4.5 hours. I tried to think of miles left and LESS THAN 9 to go until 40 sounded possible!

But things started to slow down. I felt like each mile was taking forever. I was hovering around 8:45-9:00.  I started to reassess the position of my competition.  I knew when I stopped to change shoes the girl I was worried about had passed me and was now on the same lap as me.  But where?  I could still see Jodi about .5 miles behind me or less each lap, but we were staying pretty much in that position, give or take (except for when I stopped for my shoes, when she got a little too close for my comfort).

Photo Credit: Donna Sajulga-Tabios

At an hour to go, I was slowing down in to the 9+ minute mile for a bit. I could see Jodi reeling me in and I knew I had to fight, but I wasn't able to spot the girl until 5:35 into the race.  At that point she had entered into the .5 mile window I could see clearly.  And she was moving fast.

Crap.  I really needed this win.  I know it seems so insignificant, but I felt like with my life becoming so out of control, running was something I could control.  I wanted to know that when things get tough for me, I can dig deep and find more when it matters. (I dont feel every single race is a test of my will, but today I did).  I needed to believe that it takes a lot to break me (even if it doesn't always seem that way).  I wanted to call Sidney and tell him I thought about him for hours and because of him I won. I really wanted to make that call even though winning this race is meaningless in the scheme of things.

I marked a checkpoint by selecting an object that she would likely pass in my view. I checked my Garmin to see distance. I watched and when I saw her pass me, I checked my Garmin again. I discovered she was about .25-.30 miles behind me now.  She was running a phenomenal last hour!  With 25 minutes left and only .25 of ground to make up, she could very well catch me.

Photo Credit: Donna Sajulga-Tabios

I didn't want to loose this race in the last 25 minutes so I dug and ran harder.  I got parts of that loop back to under 8 minute pace (not for entire miles... but for segments). With some effort I clocked an 8:10 mile while literally counting down: 24 minutes to go... 23 minutes to go... 22 minutes to go.  Those were the longest minutes ever.

I compared the clock to my watch time and saw that the official clock had me with less time to go than my watch, which I started a few seconds late.

I just ran hard and planned to be prepared to fight with a kick if needed.  With less than 6 minutes to go, I took off for the last lap, hurting, grunting, and hoping that when I saw her again she would be too far behind me to make up the distance in the time left.  And when I saw her, I noticed she was still .25 -.30 behind me with 3 minutes left. All I needed to do was move forward and I should the lead!

I kicked hard to be safe and ran until I heard the horn.  I was overwhelmed with emotion and did all I could to hold back tears. I was so happy to stop moving.  I plopped right to the ground at the last little red flag marking partial loops and sat there until a race official recorded my partial lap number.

And then I made the painful shuffle to the finish line, realizing that I was probably exactly half way around the loop!  After running 41+ miles, walking .7 seemed like it would hurt! LOL!  (But there was a short cut that make it ok).

I am happy I went. I am proud of this race.  I was not prepared to run this fast.  I had a whole lot of tension built up within me that needed to come out.  I felt a lot better for those 6 hours.

I called Sid and told him I thought of him all day and because of him I won.  He told me that it was because of me I won, but I know better.  Now back to waiting for change to happen, whatever that may entail.

Stats:
Distance: 41.48 miles (new PR) (8:40 per mile)
1st Female
5th OA

Ocean Drive Marathon, Cape May, NJ. 3/24/13

There is not a lot to say about this race. It was not a goal race. I have run it twice now and it never goes well, but that doesn't mean I am disappointed.  I returned to try to run a supported long run that I could use to jump start a bigger mileage week. For the next several weeks, race performances will be sacrificed for better training. This is part of my process.  I enjoy training through races so I will still be racing (cheaper events), but most of them will be tired runs until I taper again for the next goal.

Friday I ran a hard 7 miles. Yesterday, I ran 15.2 miles with Team in Training, almost as a reverse progression (not intentionally).  I started with some faster runners. Well, I should clarify.  I started with Alanna who forgot her watch and therefore ran freely.  Apparently Alanna likes to run a low 8 minute pace when she forgets her watch!   That felt ok and I knew we would slow it down.  Steve joined Alanna and me for 4 miles.  He is one of our speediest TNT runners.  We did slow it down, since both Alanna and I were going to run this marathon today.  Alanna left and I stayed with Steve. I talked him into an easier pace for the next 5 mile loop about 9:20's.  After Steve left, Maria stilled needed 5 more miles so I headed out with her, Sue and one more TNT runner at an easier pace.

My allergies and autoimmune system have been acting out lately.  I did not feel great yesterday, but the pace only averaged out to mid-9's so I didn't really feel horrible.  However, I was wiped out after the run and spent the day doing things around the house (made soup, tried to make gluten-free rice crispy bars with coconut and chocolate chips).

Usually I try to take Enzo out for his run after TNT's run, but I just didn't have the energy. Enzo has taught us a new trick.  When Enzo wants to run, he goes over to his leash on the wall and hits it with his nose so it swings.  We learned this means we are being asked to take him out.  It is irresistible and thankfully Sid complied with Enzo's request leaving me home to vegetate (and make soup).

Today, I got up at 4:30 am and headed down to the race.  I feel exhausted in the car and figured that was because I got up at 4:30 am to drive 2 hours.  Once at the bus pick up, I found Alanna and we took the bus another 30 minutes, maybe?, to the starting line.  We had about an hour wait until the start.

During that time, I had a lot of trouble figuring out what to wear from my gear bag.  The weather was in that odd state of being above 30, but feeling like sub-30.  Some people were in singlets and shorts. Others were in winter gear.  I thought about the last ultra I ran in sub-30 and dressed like that. (T7 racers, Dry Max sock, calf sleeves, capri pants, long sleeve tech shirt, sports bra, light jacket, winter hat, and throw away gloves). Before I checked my gear bag, I decided that I felt too warm, so I swapped my jacket for vest and put my hat and gloves in my drop bag. I should have worn less, but at times I was cold, so no matter what I wore it would likely not have felt ideal.

I was a little cold at the start, so it seemed perfect.  The wind was reported online to be 7 mph from the North so although we had to run in the entire way, 7 mph seemed ok.   I know from law school, when I used to study a lot on the beach in Key Biscayne in Miami, that if the winds were under 13 mph I could ride my bike to the beach because I could sit on my beach towel and my beach towel, books, and a snack fit in my bike baskets.  If the winds were 13 or more I had to drive my car to the beach because I needed to bring my beach chair since the winds would kick up sand into my books if I was sitting on the ground.  So I figured 7 mph wasn't even enough wind to kick up sand, how bad could it be.

Off we go and I figure a 7:15-7:25 pace to start is reasonable.  I expected a fade.  I did train for this to be  PR.  But, I just ran 12.4 miles at 6:53 and 31.06 miles at 7:50.  I have run a marathon at 7:27 and 7:29 paces at best, so I didn't feel this speed was too ambitious. However, because I started off feeling under the weather, any additional frustrations along the way just made me feel worse.

By mile two I was already getting frustrated from the noise of the constant wind blowing past my ears.  I realize that sounds crazy, but at one point I covered my ears because I just wanted to sound of the wind to stop.  We pretty much had to run into the wind the entire race so the force of it plus the noise was relentless. Next windy race, I have to wear something over my ears.

As we ran with the 10 milers, I remembered that the first 11-12 miles of the course is only stocked with water.  I tend to rely on course supplied sports drink as my fuel and carry only two gels on me.  I planned for my first gel at 9 miles (or nearest aid station). I don't think much of running the first 9-10 on just water, but in hindsight, my best 50k and marathons have always been fueled from 3 miles on and every 3 miles throughout on gatorade.  When gatorade was finally on the course, the powder mix seemed to be very dilute.  I do think that going so long without any calories and when I did get some it was watered down a lot simply added to how tough this race became for me at the end.  Of course we are all free to be carry our own stuff to meet our own needs and the race website said no gatorade until almost the second half.  I do feel that when a race charges about $100 per runner, it would be nice of them to get some sports drink on the course before mile 11, and if using a mix, make sure it is mixed properly at the stops that have it.

This race was not a goal race for me, so training in a depleted state works out to be better training anyway for me.  I just didn't plan on it for today. I know that less than my preferred access to sports drink is not sole the cause of my crash, but it did become just one more straw for me today.

At one point, just past 13.1 I stepped on some crushed sea shells and a few shards became jammed in the sole of my shoes.  I had to stop to remove that.  That made me laugh so I thought I would share. :)

Last time "ran" the ODM, it was by far the worst marathon of my life.  I pretty much walked in the last 10 miles, learning at that race that eating a bagel in the morning was the worst thing I could do.  It was the race I decided to experiment going Gluten Free with running fuel.  As I passed the halfway point, I tried to stay positive but I was already feeling terrible physically and knew it wasn't going to go well for me today, again. I felt like it was 2012 all over again.

If I was able to DNF at that point, there was no doubt in my mind that I would have walked off the course today.  Everything about me was achy.  I had no pep in my stride.  I felt completely exhausted and overly fatigued, more than I should at this distance. No pace felt comfortable.  My large muscle groups like my quads felt weak.  I was having trouble not slouching over.  Coming off another low mileage week and running a flat course, it was so very odd for me to feel so beat up.   I am not a fan of that feeling.

Just like the last time, at 16 miles, everything just fell apart for me.  Today, I had already slowed down to about 7:50-8:05.  After 16 miles it was just a matter of making to finish line so this could all be over. I cruised along at 9-10 minute pace, walking through water stops, stopping to use the porta-potty.

Over the next 10 miles, I hid my watch so I didn't have to look.  I slowed way down because I had to, not because I wanted to.  It would have been better for my body and mind to get it done faster, but I felt so weak and harder running made me feel dizzy and queazy.  It felt like I was out there for days and when I finally looked at my watch with 2 miles to go, I was happy to see that I was still going to finish around 3:45, which is what I did.

Admittedly, I am a little frustrated that in my 50k, my marathon split was about a 3:22 and felt easier than today's 3:45. At the 50k I even kept on going. That was 3 weeks ago. Here I wasnt prepared or planning to PR, but I did expect to be able to cruise in around a 3:30-ish without much suffering.  I suffered pretty much this whole race and I am not sure why, except to say sometimes these things just happen.  My body has been fighting off some allergies for a few weeks now and I suspect I am just really tired from it all.

I left before the results were posted so I have no official stats at this time.

I am not terribly disappointed.  I am bummed to not get that High from a job well done, but I know hard days are part of the process.  Any day spent running is a good day no matter how long it takes :)