Running with the Devil, 6 Hour Mountain Race, Mt. Creek Resort, Vernon NJ

I might as well sit in bed and write up this race report, seeing that my quads and glutes are so beat up that walking is joke!  I will run at least one mile later, but for now I will enjoy what it feels like to be pain free by not moving.

Yesterday I competed in the 6 hour version of Running with the Devil. There is also a 12 hour as well as a 3 hour.  I always run the 6 hour and feel that the workout I get from 6 hours on that ski slope is more than enough.

Course Description
This race takes place in the hottest time of year.  Yesterday was the last day of a week long heat wave.  It is a 3 mile loop up a ski slope where we climb about 1000 ft per mile to the summit. The worst of the ups occurring in two steep ascents, one being about .3 miles long and straight up to a false summit, then a few tenths later we hit the next shorter but steep up hill to the summit at about 1.5 mile.

At the peak we are greeted with jugs of water, which despite the fact that they are sitting out all day and end up quiet warm, they are just such a happy site to see.  The descent is runnable for those who are not as chicken as I am to haul butt over sections of super steep loose gravel.  My descent speed is an embarrassment. I am sure I could improve my performance significantly if I could gain more confidence on my descent.

I did not upload my Garmin data from yesterday yet, but the course was similar to last year, especially the uphill segments.  The graphs (at least for now) are from last years data.

Multiple loops of the course from 2012. 

The race starts with us first running out of the ski lodge, off of the back deck and then up the first climb.  I tend to hike anything uphill because I know burning my quads/glutes/calves out early on in this race is a bad idea.  This race is an exercise in pain management.

Alanna and me with the first "warm up" up hill behind us

After the warm up hill, we get a short dirt trail break as we make our way over to the worst the course as to offer.  At about .7 miles into the race, we see this pictured below.  I found a two photos on the Running with the Devil FB page that shows the intensity and absurdity of this hill.

It may be hard to tell just how long and steep that hill is because you cant see the top of it from the photos.  Here is graph to help.

The steepest longest climb

After that stretch, we get a nice, but somewhat rocky dirt trail, that is runnable if your quads don't feel like chop meat and you arent afraid to lose your teeth.  After that reprieve, we hit the second shorter climb, possible steeper in some places, to the summit.  Finally we reach the ski lift where water awaits us.

The decline begins kindly with a nice grassy trail, that soon start to pitch steeper as we head down.  The very dry dirt paths were a bit precarious due to the the loose gravel.  I was able to run most of the decline straight through on my first lap (making sure to run a complete consecutive mile) and found that  about 1.3 miles of non-stop running was possible for me on fresh legs.  As the laps went on, I choose to hike over some of the loose gravel where the descent were very steep, and still had my feet slip out from under me a few time since my body was too tired to be very stable (I did not fall but it was still uncomfortably jarring).  This is where I lose a lot of time in comparison to my competition.

The final stretch of descent gave us a view of the lodge where spectators can cheer there runners in.  Crew can also begin prepping for their needs if necessary because it will take a few minutes for the runner to get down the hill, under the building's walkway, then up the last incline, onto the porch and into the building where Rick sits timing us.

We run past Rick, through the bar, which is now an aid station managed by Jennifer, and out to the porch before leaving again.

My Race:
I started out slow, because it was not like I actually had a choice.  I was pleased to be able to hike that steep hill non-stop the first 3 times I did it.  But, by lap two the heat was getting to me and I started with ice bandana, which helped.

I initially started with my 16 oz bottle, but I was not going through it all on lap one so I downsized to a 10 oz which was perfect for the first 5 laps. On lap 2 I would drink about almost 10 oz on the way up, but try to run hard down hill drinking less as I moved faster.  By lap 3 I was drinking about 10 oz at my aid station, then filling my bottle to empty on the incline, then drinking another 10 oz at the top, then filling my bottle to drink on the way down.  As you can see, I started with about 10 oz per loop, then as each lap progressed I was up to 40 oz per loop, which is by far the most I have every drank in a race.

The heat was getting to me.  My hands were swelling a lot and I assume it because I was consuming so much fluid that it was running out of places to go.  I did take some sodium (4 E-caps) before I started.  I had no cramping so I did not want to pump in more salt.  I did not see the need to add something to my body that it was not craving and if the salt causes my body to crave more fluid to balance it, then I just don't know where it would be stored.   I had not peed the entire race, despite drinking a ton.  I was sweating most of it out.  However, I did not feel like it was a good idea to drink more than I was since my rings were getting so tight it was uncomfortable.  I found that on the descent, when I drank less, the swelling decreased, while on the ascent when I drank more (almost mindlessly to help stay cooler) my hands would swell.  Had I felt crampy I would have then tried salt, but I prefer to not take it if I dont feel I need it.

Beside the fluids (Gatorade (24 oz total), a half bottle of Mt (6oz total) and the remainder just water), I also found myself feeling hungry twice.  I brought 100 calorie packs of pringles and twice I grabbed a few chips from the pack.  I had half of that pack left at the end of the race.  I find that in 6 hour races and even my last 50 miler, I eat very little as long as I am drinking calories.  I also find I am more likely to drop out of a race if I push in too much solid food.

Kathleen :)
On lap 4, I notice Kathleen W. heading up the first hill while I was refilling my bottle and while Alanna helped me refill my ice bandana.  I knew she was ahead of me, but I had time to reel her in.  Kathleen impresses me so much.  She is a nurse who works 12 hour shift and still finds the time to train when she can in such as way that she is just incredibly fit and strong. She is new to ultra running and will likely turn into a force in this sport if she makes it a priority.

On lap 4, I worked my way up to getting close enough to her on the steep part to wave, but I am not sure she saw me.  By then we were both reduced to the same technique.  Walk a few steps, turn around to face down hill, then turn back walk a few more.  It was a slow motion pursuit. We had hours left, so I didn't want to work too hard to try to pass her and get myself in a hole.  I started to plan out my strategy and hoped to catch and pass her on lap 5.

On lap 5, I headed out and it took half the loop for me to work my butt off to catch her. She asked me where everyone else was.  I just assumed most were done with the 3 hour race or dropped from the 6 hour.  This is a race of attrition.

Despite moving past her at the summit. I was concerned she might pass me back on the down, but I did work extra hard to move as fast as I could.  She did not reel me in and I wasn't sure how far behind me she was.  I found out at the finish that I was 2nd and was told first place was a full lap ahead of me.  I had one more lap in me and figured I could not catch first.  As long as stayed ahead of Kathleen, I would be able to hold second.  At this point, I was feeling like the heat was beating me up and this was now a race for placement.

I headed for the last lap, hoping to have time for a few short loops.  However, the mountain had other plans.  I was stuck on that mountainside like I was in quick sand.  I emptied my bottle very early in the hot sun. I was feeling odd, confused, not well.  I had gotten bit by some large insect on the lap before and started to wonder if that was impacting me.  With my view of the course, I could see not Kathleen.  At this point for me the race was just about finishing lap 6 and holding second.  There was a small chance Kathleen did not come out for her 6th.  There was a small chance that lap 6 could take us both so long that neither of us could do smalls.  As long as I complete 6 before her and neither of us do smalls (of if I do smalls faster than her, I hold my second place). However, I really did not want to head back out for smaller half mile loops.  I needed to stop moving.

After the slowest ascent of my life, feeling like it took me 30 minutes to get up just the .3 miles, I was in really bad shape.  I drank 10 oz od fluid, filled my bottle, and started my final descent.  I started to question whether or not I was on course (because I was feeling that confused). I worried that if I passed out, how long it would take someone to find me.  I slowed my ascent hoping it would keep up upright.

I came down to the finish with 12 minutes left.  I was asked if I wanted to do any short laps.  I tried to formulate a sentence and the unintelligible garbling left me realizing I was simply done for the day. . .  as long as Kathleen does not come in and head out for a short lap in the next few minutes, I will have 6 laps done, a great training run, and secured my 2nd place finish. People were running the loop in under 8 minutes.  It was possible but very unlikely she would have time for a final lap.

I got a cup of ice to help cool me down and clear my head. I sat down with a few friends, mindful of the time, watching the door, and waiting for the clock to tick down so low that I had secured my placement. Sitting just for a minute or so helped me feel a lot better. Then ice did good to cool me down.

Then, with about 9 minutes to spare, Kathleen runs past me, heading out the door for a short lap.  I believe after a string of profanities I cannot repeat here, I jumped up, yelled to Jennifer (one of the RDs) that I was going back out and I bolted out the door behind Kathleen.  This was now exciting!

I really like Kathleen but I didn't want to lose 2nd place b/c I chose to sit down and cool off rather than run the short loop.  As I run up to Kathleen, she was so sweet and said "Omg, I am so done with this."  I laughed and said, "No, you not... you are out here.  I WAS done with this, but now you are making work!" LOL! Clearly exhausted she said "No, I am not... Rick is making me run more!"  To which I countered, "If you are running then I have to run, so Rick is making us both run more! That jerk!" ;)

A few minutes of rejuvenation and the jolt of adrenaline helped to propel me past Kathleen and up the mountainside.  Once at the top, I looked back and knew I was going to beat her through the lap with less than 2 minutes until the end of the 6 hours.  It felt great to find a second wind in that final 9 minutes, I am grateful she gave me a reason to get back out there. I love a good competition!  Turns out that first place female slowed down a bit as well, and I ended up just one mile behind her at the end of the day.   I am not sure if I knew more about her during the race whether it would have mattered at all.  She was likely working strategy for placement like the rest of us.

Stats:
18.5 miles in 6 hours
2nd place female
5th OA
Prize: Mt Bike passes to the same mountain...(for Sidney). I am done with that mountain until next year.
Weight loss: 5 lbs

In Pursuit of My Perfect Handheld Bottle / Hydration System

I just ordered two different handheld water bottles and one race vest from Amazon to test out.  I have a long race coming up in the future and I know I will need to carry fluids due to the distance between some of the aid stations. Personally, I prefer to not carry anything in races except for maybe a few calories. I would rather use race supplied aid stations for fluids if the race is the type that does not allow me to access my own aid (like short loop ultras where I just crew myself).

I own a few race vests/hydration packs as well.  They are useful for training when running long without support or aid, but in a fast race I just don't find that I feel swift when I am wearing a hydration pack.  In a race setting, I find the aid stations are usually plentiful enough to allow me to go without the pack.

If racing seriously, I just don't want to be weighed down by a pack or even a bottle if I can avoid it.  For example, at Jack Bristol Lake Waramaug, I ran my fastest 50 mile race carrying nothing.  It was a 7.6 mile loop with 4 aid stations per loop.  I just ran from aid to aid and it was more than enough for me to run a 7:41, finishing first female in that event (coming in 4th OA).

Right now my favorite bottle is a simple 10 oz Sprint bottle (with

Nathan's Quick Shot 

out the pocket) made by Nathan Sports.  It seems that it is now called the Quick Shot.  I have 6 of these bottle.  Some have pockets, some have an insulated wrap. My favorite version has nothing but the strap and the bottle.

After assessing my own fluid consumption, I find that I drink 10oz -30oz per hour depending upon many factors (i.e. how far I am running, how hot/humid it is, how fast I am running, etc.)  For ex, if I am running 6 miles easy on a cool day, I often do not need to take any fluids at all, so carrying 10 oz of water for that run is more than enough. However, when I do speed work on a hot humid day, I have easily consumed up to 30 oz of fluid in one hour.   I know this because I spent a lot of time paying attention, logging what I consume and even weighing in and out after each run to see whether the amount of fluid I was consuming made sense.

Quick Note on sweat test and hydration planning:  Regardless of what you may read elsewhere, the body cannot always replace fluid at the same rate it can sweat it out.  Making an attempt to do so can be dangerous and even life threatening.  According to Noakes, on average a body can process approximately 400 ml to 800 ml of fluid per hour  (13.5 oz to 27 oz per hour) and therefore Dr. Noakes warms that trying to push in substantially more than that amount of fluid can, at worst, create a situation where the brain can swell, which is a very bad thing.  For the most recent resource about hydration, check out Noakes' new text, Waterlogged. 

So knowing that I consume approximately 10-30 oz per hour, I really dont need to carry alot of fluid if I know I will have a chance to refill within the hour. I love the Sprint bottle for loops that are less than an hour long, for short loop races where I can swap out pre-filled bottles, for shorter runs where I can refill if I need to, etc.  The bottle fits like a glove, it has a valve that simply holds fluid in until you squeeze and the pressure shoots fluid out. There is nothing to open or close.  It is perfect... except in the summer 10 oz is rarely enough, even for a short run of less than an hour.

Nathan's larger bottles, the best I found was the Quick Draw Elite, do not have the valve that I love (no other bottle does that I know of) and only the Quick Draw Elite bottle by Nathans has the same glove-like hand strap but b/c the bottle is 22 oz, it is not as well-balanced as the 10 oz in my hand. Unfortunately this bottle is no longer available on the Nathan's site and instead there is now just a QuickDraw... with a less ideal hand strap, in my opinion.  If you do get your hands on the Quick Draw Elite, you may also find that because the overlapping velcro closure is located on the bottom of the Quick Draw Elite bottle, this makes it hard to stand the bottle up when setting it down somewhere.

Nathan's Vapor Draw Bottle

Since I am a smaller person, with smaller hands, I find the circumference of 22 oz bottle to be too large for my comfort level, so I have been on a mission to find bottle smaller than 22-20 oz that are no of poor quality. (I thought Amphipod, with it's 12 - 17 oz ergonomic bottles, was my answer, but I had too many issues with the quality of their products to even want to try again... not only did the threading around cap wear out creating leaks (twice), the hand strap seams were weak and started to break from the bottle, but not after the zipper closure would repeatedly stick. The whole amphipod system just failed me.)

In a few days I will be testing out a Nathan's Vapor Draw Bottle.  At 24 oz, it is much larger than I know I would be comfortable carrying.  However, I could not resist the unique shape and wonder how that little grey hook thing will help balance it. I find that pouches seem like a good idea, but when ever I put stuff in them it seems to throw off the balance of the bottle making it feel awkward in my hand after awhile.  That little hook thing appears like it will help keep the balance.  I believe the nozzle is a twist nozzle, which I am not sure I will like.  We shall see.

UltrAspire 16 oz handheld.

The other bottle I ordered is an odd shaped UltrAspire 16 oz bottle.   I have high hopes for this bottle because the hand strap looks similar to the Nathan's Sprint.  The stretchy encasement is advertised as "pockets" to store things like gels or other thing that you can squeeze in there, like maybe a baggie of electrolytes?  That could work.  The rectangular shape throws me off a bit.  It seems odd and looks uncomfortable, but if that hand strap is comfortable and holds the bottle secure, the shape of the bottle may not be as relevant.



Finally the last thing I bought was a new ultralight race vest by Nathans 1.5L Minimist Race Vest.  The reviews claim that because the 1.5L bladder just sit in the pocket in the back it bounces too much, but I have some ideas to try to resolve that issue.  I like that fact that this vest has two front closures.  I altered my last Nathans race vest by adding a simple top closure and sliding the factory closure down as low as possible to stop the bounce of the front pockets.  I find I wear that vest more than my hydration pack and I prefer to carry bottles of fluid in the back pocket and when I want to carry them up front, I put them in the front mesh drawstring pocket.  The only problem I have with carrying a bottle of fluid in the lower front mesh pocket of the old Nathan's Race Vest is that the pocket bounces and eventually the incessant tapping of the the bottle against my rib-cage get obnoxious... in addition, if it is hot and I am only in a sports bra, then then mesh itself starts to take on a cheese grater effect. ouch! It always occurs to me half way into a long run that I may want to carry some moleskin and just stick a square of it where the bottle rubs and it would be perfect.

However, because this new pack has two front closures and one being low on the pack, below the bottom of the front pocket that I would use to possible carry a bottle the bounce may be less.  But, since the other race vest has a bungie closure on the pocket, which I use to tighten than tie down the bottles, I am not sure if that front pocket will effectively carry bottles the same way. I also added a second tie down to my race vest to hold down the top of the bottle when I stick it in the pocket.  I may need to do some personal alterations to this one as well to get it to do what I need it to do.

So in a few days, the experimentation begins and hopefully by the end of the summer I will have figured out a system that allows me to carry fluids in a minimally disruptive way.

Belmar 5 miler. Belmar, NJ. 7/13/13

I always like the idea of this race, but I just don't like the start time.  It is so humid along the shore by mid-morning mid-July that I always find myself wishing this race started at 7:30 am instead of 8:30 am.  The last 5 miler I ran was a night race and also quite humid.  I hoped to run a little faster than I did last race.  This race is flat, that one was rolling, so I had a shot.

I got to the race at 7:00 and hoped to run about 5-6 miles before starting (right now I am training through my races so I am not truly showing up race ready), but between parking, packet pick-up, shoe changes, potty breaks, socializing, I ended up with just over 3 miles.  I already knew it was going to be a tough day for me as humidity and I just don't get along.  I know that this is true for most people, but I often feel like it hits me harder than those I generally compete against.  However, running hard in hard conditions for me, even if the time is slow, usually does me a lot of good come fall.

Off we go and I am happy to run with Jim O. and "Guy in Blue" Jamie B. :)  I think of these guys as my race people, the people I look for out there on the course to help me gauge things.  After settling in to a 6:4x pace, I just felt good and wanted to go a little faster.  I hit M1 at 6:37.

I was happy with that.  I felt good and wanted to stay around 6:45's until one mile left.  As long as I was under 6:48's I should be able to beat my last 5 mile time.  M2 6:44.

I felt very much in control at this point, except for the fact that I just did not feel very loose or very peppy.  As I ran through mile 3, I started to feel like I was losing my "umph" ... I wanted to run harder but my body just felt slow and heavy and unresponsive.  I struggled for turn over and felt like I was simply over-heating.  When I was able to douse myself with water, it helped, but only for moments.

My memory from the last time I raced this event was similar.  Between miles 3-4 I recall feeling like I was overheating. Last time I ran it it was much warmer and I remember walking part of mile 4 just to get my heart rate back under control. I remember being quite bummed after that experience.  I always worry about my heart rate in hot weather because I have a minor leak.  Running in the heat always seem to make me very aware of my heat rate.

I slowed down a lot in mile 3, hitting it in about 7:03. I tried to stay positive by focusing on regrouping, using the time to recover so I can find something to dig into later that could bring my pace down.  But as ran through mile 4, I just did not feel any better.  I ran through hoses, grabbed cups to cool me off, but nothing really helped.  I just wanted to be done.  M4 7:05

With the final mile before me, I tried to pick it up, but I had nothing.  I also could not find any good reason to dig in that moment.  This race was just for fun and I felt I was running hard enough for it to be a good workout.  I did not see any women I could catch.  I did not feel I was at risk for being caught.  I just felt Blah, like I was trying to run in a dream where I want to move but I am are stuck.  It did not help me to see the finish line from over .5 miles away.  At one point I recall thinking "Come On... why does it not seem to be getting any closer."

I did my best to stride into the finish strong, but I had already known I was not going to beat my last 5 mile time. I feel like the humidity sapped my mojo and that bummed me out.  M5 6:50

Despite feeling so horrible I only ran about 5 seconds per mile slower than I did last time, so this was not a complete train wreck.   However, I would like to be moving forward not backwards in pacing as I work towards the fall.  Thank goodness I race often, so I can get a do-over soon and get my paces back down into 6:40's or better where I would like to be.

The reality is that even if I race again soon, my paces wont drop until I get stronger and leaner from higher mileage training and the humidity level lowers.  So for now racing is about showing up knowing I will not do a great job and trying to be ok with that by focusing on how this physical and psychological beat down will help me come fall.

Stats:
Time: 34:21 (6:54)
OA Place: 124 of 2368
Female: 24 of 1162
Age Group: 3rd
Prize: $25 gift card to a local restaurant and $10 cash prize

Sunset Classic 5 Mile, Bloomfield, NJ. 6/27/13

I was looking forward to running Sunset Classic 5 miler.  Besides that hill just after mile 1 (and this is a bona fide HILL), the rest of the course is pretty benign.  I needed a 500 pt Category II race to complete my scorecard for the Series, so this was perfect.

Prior to the start Tom Fleming was introduced to us and his running background shared.  Tom himself, did not say much. Tom used to be the RD of the Sunset Classic.  He also won the NYC marathon in 1973 and 1975 and was also the runner up at Boston twice, amongst many other running accomplishments. He lived in Bloomfield in his prime and he is a local legend.  The last legend I met at the Sunset Classic was Bill Rodgers.  He was such a sweet guy.  I always go back to the Sunset secretly hoping to see Bill Rodgers again. :)

Soon we were off.  I knew I wanted a fast start because the hill was going to kill my pace.  It was not incredibly long, but it was steep and tiring.   I settle into a 6:30 pace and feel that is just about right for now.

A few minutes into mile 1, Beau comes up on my side.  Beau, one of the fastest runners on our team, should not be running with me.  I see him and say "OMG, what are YOU doing?"(thinking maybe something was wrong).  Then I wonder if maybe I am running WAY too fast and say "Oh Wait, What I AM I doing?" (and then I check my garmin for pace and see it read 6:29)... Then I say "No, I am ok, are you ok?" The only thing Beau says is "Have you run this before?" I say, "Yes" and he says "So you know about the Hill?" I say "Yep" and he says "Ok" as he pulls away slowly.  Apparently my strategy of banking time before the hill was the opposite of Beau's of conserving energy for it.  The world made sense again and I watched Beau fade off into the crowd.

We then hit the Mile 1 clock which reads, "6:08" and now I convinced my Garmin is broken and I was really running way too fast and that is why Beau passed me when he did.   However, a glance down at my Garmin after I split it shows the marker was short at .94 (giving me an average pace of 6:31 for that mile).  Ok, that works. M1- 6:31 is fine.

Now to focus on the uphill.  Shortly into the hill, I see my pace fade into the 7's but I am ok with that.  I pass some people but I am sucking wind.  Humidity does not makes hills feel good.  I pass a female and I know I am in 4th place now.  I hope to settle into a good rhythm and save something for the finish, hoping maybe to reel in 3rd place.

As I crest the top of the hill, I glance down at my watch to see how far into mile 2 we were and read 0.94.  Ugh!  I hit Stop instead of Lap.  Rookie mistake! It is not like I just got this watch!

Well, it really doesnt make a difference because the instantaneous pace is still working and I usually dont review my splits until after the race anyway.  I may glance at my watch during races to see what I a doing, but I usually do not run to hit some pre-determined time.   I focus on those running around me and try to make an effort to run hard but under control.  I see the next clock and start my watch there.  M2 Clock-13:10

What? 13:10?...  that is 7:02 from the Mile 1 clock? Wow, that hill kicked my butt!  (Later Beau tells me that Mile 1 was short while Mile 2 made up the slack by being long).

I end up running almost the entire middle of the race with a small pack of guys, with all of us taking turns leading. It was a lot of fun!  The watch fiasco, although not really that important, only acted to make me feel uncertain about how well I was racing.  I decide to forget the clocks or the time.  I hit mile 3 and split my watch.  I dont even look at the clock or my watch.  I just run.  M3 - 6:44

I try to run a strong mile 4 while having something to drop in mile 5.  I am no where near the top 3 ladies anymore.  I can't see them as we roll and turn through the neighborhood streets.  We hit a slight incline in this mile, but I keep thinking about running a Fast Last mile!  I see the one mile clock on the way in across the street, realizing that it is actually the official 4 mile clock.  I split my watch but I don't look at the time. M4 - 6:49

I can see a woman in pink in the distance, but I just don't think I have enough speed or enough time to catch her.  Soon we are directed into Foley Field for our final lap.

OMG, the track is amazing. The cushy spring of this track just makes me want to sprint.  I have no idea if any ladies are behind me. When I had opportunity to see those close behind, I did not see any women, but you never know.  I hear breathing behind me.  I know someone is trying to run me down.  I see the girl in pink on the back stretch as I round the first turn toward the back stretch.  I am moving faster than her.  I dont think I have enough time, but I dont want the guy behind me to pass me so I kick.  The track is responding back, almost encouraging me, all of us, to run FASTER!, so I do.  So does the guy behind me. I am pulling up on the girl, but as I start off the final straightway, she is almost done.  I cant take her. But I don't get passed either which for me is small victory.  I see the finish line clock just turning over to 33:00.  I come across in about 33:15... M5 - 6:35.

I happen to see Beau again (he is just everywhere I am today!) and check in.  He tells me the finish clock is wrong.  What?  Which direction?  He says he has a watch time of 40-ish seconds slower.  Oh, man, really?  My Garmin is off a mile but when I add 7 minutes watch time I get a time about 45 seconds slower than the finish line clock.

I find Jim O. I ask him to cool down with me. We run 2 easy miles around the cushy track and gorgeous new football field lit up by the lights since it was now dark.  It simply looked surreal, like we were in a movie.

Stats
Official Time: 34:00
Overall Place: 45 out of 531
Gender: 4 out of 199
Age Division: 1st
Award: $25 gift card (to be retrieved later).

Jim and I cool down while waiting for the awards. As soon as I hit stop on my watch, it starts to rain.  It then rains so hard that all the runners hide under the few canopies still set up to wait it out. It is a deluge. There is some lightning.  We are all in a field.  Oh boy.  An announcement gets made that no awards would be given out.  CCR plays "Who'll Stop the Rain" (which I always hear in my head as Who'll stop Lorraine, as I am reminded of a lady I once worked for). The rain slows up and I safely jog back to my car.

Fitzgerald Lager 5k Run, Glen Ridge, NJ. 6/23/13

Right now my focus is to build volume safely over the next many many weeks.  I have not been working on speed, with the exception of that first silly mile at the 5k this past Thursday.   I was hoping to log about 30 miles this weekend before I got to the Lager Run.  Logging the miles were more important to me than running fast.  I actually only managed 27+ miles between Sat and today, which is close enough.

Today, I ran my first run late in the morning abt 10:30 am, after we took Enzo swimming before it got too hot for him.  It was about 88 degrees when Sid and I ran our 6.5.  It was slow, about 10 minutes per mile.  I was starving after, so I ate and waited a bit before I rounded out my mileage to 10 by running another 3.5, also easy.  After running some errands, I made my way up to the Lager run.

I find running in hot weather really hard on my body (as many people likely do) and during my 1 mile warm up, I could feel how tired my legs were.  5k's terrify me because I get about 3 minutes of running before the suffering starts.  I knew the course was fast, so at least I knew the suffering would be as "good" as it gets.  I was hoping for some rain to cool things down, but no such luck.  South Jersey was getting the weather and I was racing north.

This race is huge. 1148 runners lines up at the start.  I looked for "my people", the runners I tend to end up running with (lately it has been Karl L., Ben T., Jim O. Jamie B. ) and I seeded myself near Karl.

Photo by Mark Nyhan

The Gun Goes Off.
I heard mile 1 was declined, then mile 2 was rolling mostly uphill, followed by a mostly declined mile 3,  ending with about half a lap on the track to finish it.  The course is basically flat with some mild rollers.  Regardless of the road part of the course, I just love Track finishes!

I tried to not make the same mistake as I did on Thursday, by pummeling myself in the first declined mile.  I watch the pace on my Garmin and we are all sub-6. (LOL!)  I try to slow it down and find it very hard to hold back while watching people I run with or that I am faster than pulling away.  I think about being disciplined and I ease off the pace.  M1: 6:20  

As soon as we hit the 1 mile clock we start to go through the rolling mile. The course is not significantly hilly by any means, but mile 2 seemed to have most of the up hills.  I try to stay steady while keeping something in the tank for mile 3.  If mile 3 is fast, I want to use it.

I also want to have something left to use on the track!  There is nothing better than pretending to be in a track meet and running as fast as possible.  I like to imagine I am back in high school running the 400 meters, when I used to run so hard that I would black out at the end.

Photo by Mark Nyhan

I am feeling a little weak and tired in mile 2.  I try to tell myself that it because of the inclines and I will be fine once over them.  I can see two ladies that I would like to be in front of since this is a 700 pts race.  I start to think about my strategy.  They have some distance on me and I know I will be working to get to them.  They are running together.  Based upon the way I feel to have a shot at beating them, I have two choices.  I either have to pass them with authority or I need to get up there, sit behind them, hope I can hang on, and if I can then try to kick past on the track.   As I think about it,  I focus on trying to run a bit more relaxed (since I catch a glimpse of my shadow and it does not look pretty). I hit M2 6:41.

My two mile time is 13:06, which is 6 seconds slower than my 2 mile time from Thursday, where I ran 21:00.  I knew this finish was faster than Thursday's last mile, so as we hit some declines, I pick up the pace. I was told there was an incline again before the track so as I approach the two ladies, I know I need to put distance between us before the incline for me to have a shot at holding my position on the track.  I go for it.  I manage to pass both ladies by about 2.6 miles and now I am running scared, which is kind of inspiring! :)

I hit the track and I can't tell if they are coming on me.  I don't need to look back because I know I am running hard.  Once on the track, we hit the M3 6:27.  

I hear Elaine A. cheer me on.  This is special because I am already in "make-believe-I-am-in -high school-running-the-400 meters" mode and Elaine was my 4x400 meter relay buddy. So hearing Elaine cheer track side was just perfect!

With one tenth to go I run right up on two guys running side-by-side around the back stretch turn.  I have been taught to hug the turns and it goes against my everything in my being to try to run out in lane 2 to pass two guys running the same speed as me. They are pushing the pace so I don't think I actually can pass them and that would leave me out in lane 2 for no reason, but don't know if the ladies are coming up on me or not.   So I start calling out "Go. Go. Go." to the guys I am behind and we all run harder!

Photo by Karl Leitz

From there it is all a blur.  I recall running down the back stretch stride-for-stride with one guy in white as the other pulled away. I believe the guy in white finds another gear at the very end that I don't have and he beats me in. The kick was awesome!  Final .11 in 36 seconds (a 5:27 pace)

As soon I stop, I cant catch my breath. Someone hands me a towel soaked in ice water and it feels great!  But I feel dizzy, I still cant catch my breath, and I feel incredible unsteady. The med tent guy decides I need to be walked over to the tent where I can sit down.  I put up no objection.  I get to the med tent and someone pours two bottles of ice cold water over my head, which helped a lot.  A few short minutes of sitting and I was up, able to breathe and back out onto the track to cheer!

Stats:
Time: 20:12
Overall Place: 125 out of 1148
Gender Place: 7 out of 500
Age Group: 2 out of 140 
AG Award:  A hefty beer mug. :)

Flag Day 5k, Basking Ridge, NJ. 6/20/13

I havent raced for almost 3 weeks.  I wasn't feeling well, suspecting my immune system was a little tired.  Then I lost my voice completely for almost 4 days. I decided to take some rest.   My next big push for fast races will not be until the Fall/Winter, so now seemed like a good time to relax a bit.

This 5k race was the first race on the calendar for my Veteran's Running Group.  In May, I started a running group that is open to all Veterans.  Each Friday we train together, set weekly training goals, and they train on their own the rest of the week.  On race day, 6 guys showed up ready to race.  We discussed before hand whether they wanted to run as a team or every man at their own speed and they decided that people should go at their own pace.

Because I have done no fast running in 3 weeks and my mileage was lower than usual, I knew I was not going to set a PR.  However, I knew it was important for me to run well, just so my guys know that I can actually run a decent pace and trust my training advice.  Training Vets is hard because the mindset is to push through everything and never accept backing down as an option or a good idea.  Even though a good coach doesn't need to be a good runner, I think it helps me to earn my runner's trust when they see that I can practice what I preach and demonstrate how running easy sometimes actually allows me to run faster on race day.

This race was also special because I would get to run with a co-worker who is an Olympic Marathon Trials level runner.  She usually wins this race, beating all men and women, but today she said she is just doing a tempo run.  I briefly thought, "maybe I can run with her!"... until I realize she tempo's in the 18's. LOL!!!  She did her workout, won the ladies race, and took second OA.  Our staff and my guys all signed up for the same team, so it was a great experience for my runners to get to be invited onto the Staff team for the day.  (My running group is really about stress relief and management, health and wellness, and and about assimilation through group, community, social, recreational activities, since many Vets report feeling like they don't fit in to civilian life very comfortably after becoming a soldier.)

The Race:
The weather was not incredibly hot, but it was warm and very humid.  Humidity is just so tough on race day.

The race itself is an out-and-back.  We run downhill out (nothing extreme) until just before the turn around where then we reach a short steeper incline before we head back towards the long gradual uphill on the way in.  The first mile is quite fast and even though I was warned to go out easy, I knew I wanted to take advantage of the decline to see what I had left in my for the uphill.    M1: 6:08

As we approached mile 1, I noticed one of my guys up ahead of me. I was both surprised and happy to see him running a sub-6 minute mile (granted we had the down hill assist). I wasn't sure how long he would hold on.  We had both begun to fade as we came up on the steeper part of the course just before the turn around.

At that point, I was running next to a guy and my asthma was kicking in (humidity triggers my asthma).  He hit mile one and he asked me if I was going to hold that pace.  I laughed as I told him I definitely would not.  He then started to try to help me by telling me how to breathe.  I just said "I have Asthma, it just sounds bad." Then he looked up and saw the uphill part and said "Holy Crap!"  It was really not that bad, but in comparison to the down hill, it seemed bigger.  Now I ended up helping him by telling him that he could do it, that it was not that bad, and if he slows his pace to get over it, we then get to run right back down it.  He slowed a bit and I decided to gradually try to reel in my guy.   Just as we came upon Mile 2, I caught my runner and told him he was awesome. M2: 6:55

My runner he wants to push the pace, but I tell him to try save a little for the up hill we will cover on the way back in.  The incline is not extremely steep, but it is very long.  As we go up it, he fades more than me.  I try to hold steady as I hear footsteps behind me and I wait for him to catch me.  I glance back when he doesn't and I see it is not actually him behind me.  My guy had decided to slow up a little. I cruise it in since I am tired. M3: 7:06 

The last .14 is down hill into the parking lot.  I pick it up and make up some speed.  Then my shoe becomes untied and too lose to kick in the finish without kicking off my shoe! I just finish it off, coming in just as the clock shifted to 21:00.

I wait at the finish for my guys to finish strong and they do.  I was happy to be a part of their first 5k race. Even the ones that had a hard time out there still want to do it again.  I hope to get them out to a few more in the future.

Stats:
Time: 21:00 (6:46)
Place: 11th OA
Gender: 2nd Female

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.