Ship Bottom Sprint for Life 5k, 4/14/12

This race is a fundraiser for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).  Team in Training (TNT) raises money for this organization by asking athletes to volunteer to fund raise to help the LLS fight the battle against blood cancers.  I am a captain for the Monmouth and Middlesex County TNT teams and love when a race I want to do also supports a cause I am involved with.

Bill, also a captain and fund -raising marathoner for TNT, joined me at the 5k.  He also agreed to come meet me early for some warm up miles.  I have been cutting back my mileage because my plantar fascia is feeling achy lately and I have an important race this weekend.  I still wanted to get at least 10 miles in today.  Originally I wanted 20... then 15... then decided, 10 should be enough ;)


This race started at 12:30 pm.  It was very warm by then.  People were grumbling in the parking area about the start time, but I was ready to roll with it.

I honestly feel frightened by 5k's.  I am a huge chicken at the start of each of these races.  I used to race a 5k once per week, but it has been a very long time since my last 5k.  I am more comfortable and less anxious starting a 24 hour race than I am at a 5k.  There is something about running full speed from start to finish that just hurts and there is no room to fall off pace and recover.

I lined up towards the front, decided to get a few rows back because I really did not expect to win the thing.. but would regret this later.   The race was large and when the gun went off it was as if my side of the starting line was made up of runner who were just out for a stroll.  I should have known I made a bad decision to start behind the guy in sweat pants and the row of young kids.  But hey, sometimes you just don't know what people will do.

Since the first turn was to the left, I started on the left, but it seemed the entire right side of the starting area beat my side to the first turn.  This created a situation where I was boxed in and had a lot of work to do.  It took me until the first turn to just get out from behind sweat pants guy and the children.  LOL!!

Like usual,  these slow starts are really not as bad as they seem and I was out of the pack before I knew it.  Through the windy turns, I began to pick off people and hit M1 at 6:38 and felt very good.

I was feeling good and as we hit the main straightaway into a noticeable, but not too bad, headwind I decided that I wanted to conserve a little.  We hit the circle turnaround and I counted two women ahead of me.  I saw a man heading into the circle point to someone behind me and hold up 4 fingers.  I did not look back, but I deduced that this meant the 4th place female was on my butt.  Although, I felt like I slowed down a lot, M2 clocked in at 6:46.

I could see the 2nd place woman ahead of me in the distance.  I have seen her before and I know she  runs well.  However,  I felt like this time I was moving faster than her at this point in the race.  We had a long, over a mile, stretch to go down the main street before me turned towards the finish. I focused on her and wondered if I could catch her. 

As I watched the street signs count down the distance, 24th street, 23rd, 22nd, 21st,... I knew I had to push myself to just hold the pace.  It was the longest mile and at about 17th street I could feel my form beginning to fall apart.  There was about .5 miles to go and I was proud that I held it together that long.

As I hurried towards the Starting Line (which we ran through on our way to the finish) I began to wonder if I could set a new PR.  My best 5k, 20:27, was a long time ago.  I have not run dedicated speed work. I just log LSD and do some progression runs mid-week. I was hopeful but I knew it would be close.

I could see that I was reeling in the woman ahead, but as we hit the last turn I knew she was out of reach. We both kicked it in and she finished about 5 seconds ahead of me.  As the clock ticked the time, I saw it was already 20:25 and I still had a stretch to go until I reached the finish.  I ran the last 1.1 miles in7:11 (6:32 pace), the fastest part of this race.

Looking back on my splits, I am very pleased with how I executed this race.   Although I don't feel very swift, I do feel strong.  As I told Bill at the finish line, this sport is amazing because it is honest.  If you work hard, stay healthy, and pace yourself smart, you will see positive results.  I am grateful to have been able to train very high mileage and now I am seeing how the LSD pays off even when racing the short/fast stuff!

Stats:
20:32 (6:38 pace)
15th OA
3rd Female

I won a really nice cookie jar with a note inside that said "We are proud of you" :)  (Thanks!)

Broadway Ultra Society (BUS) – 6 hour race. Crocheron Park, Queens, NY. 3/31/12

The weather report was not very favorable.  "Feels like 35 and rainy"… predicted for ALL DAY!  Ugh!  I was not looking forward to this, but I was registered and I was trained.  Thanks to some unexplained foot injury I was even a little bit tapered.  (Maybe it was a foreign body in my foot that caused an infection; or maybe it was a blister under a callus that created excruciating pain; whatever it was, it resolved itself in 1 week but lowered my mileage significantly).

I packed tons of clothes, and socks, and shoes, and things I might need, and headed up to the race with Ray and Jon. (Once again, Ray gets credit for being present with me when I need him most!)

We arrived with plenty of time for me to select my outfit for the start: Brooks T7 Racing Flats, hot weather Dry Max socks (b/c they are thin), calf sleeves for warmth, Brooks shorts, Run Happy Long sleeve Tech shirt, North Coast 24 hour Nationals T-shirt, and my convertible glove/mittens.   I lubed up the places that usually chafe pretty badly (under the band of my sports bra and where the seams of my shorts rub btw my inner thighs- ouch!)  I grabbed my blueberry smoothie (b/c I ran out of my mango smoothie) and two almond-macaroons. We parked just a few feet off course so if I needed anything I could make a pit stop.

In hindsight, as I write this, I realize that I completely forgot to eat breakfast before I left the house.  I usually have a gluten free waffle with some peanut butter and honey and a banana for the ride.  I just had a coffee and my blueberry smoothie.   I don’t feel it hurt me at all to not eat before this race. I believe this is due to me at training higher mileage.  My body seems to be adapting well at burning fuel more efficiently than I have in the past.

As the race started, I had two plans.  First to see how close I could get to 7:45 pace (7:30 lap pace on a .971 mile loop) and hold it comfortably in order to try to set a new 50k PR if the weather held off.  Second, to bank some fast laps early because the weather threatened to turn to cold showers at 10 am and running in miserable weather will slow things down. 

My first lap was about 7:40 and this put me out front of the women.  I ran few more in the lead around 7:30 -7:40 lap pace.  I threw my t-shirt to Jon as I felt warm. It was nice to have a person around for this minor stuff.  I was starting to settle into about an 8 min lap pace when I was passed by the woman who won the NY Ultrarunning Grand Prix series 5 years in a row. (Awards Ceremony for the Grand Prix took place after this race).   A guy running with her also passed me.  I sat behind them for about 10-12 laps and let her set the pace.  I am not against letting someone else lead if they want to.

The rain had already begun and it was cold.  About 2 hours in I realized I really needed to pee and this feeling was not going to pass.  It was distracting and we had 4 hours ahead of us. I did not want to leave the small pack I was moving well with.  It was very exciting to run our first 25k in 2:05 (8:03 pace).  I knew it would be unlikely that I would be just as smooth running alone.  

While in the bathroom, I realized my hands were absolutely frozen, even when in the gloves because they were just soaked.  I ran another lap and stopped at my car, frozen and miserable.  I asked Jon for my T-shirt and that helped.  I grabbed two macaroons.  The chafe under my sports bra band was horribly painful.  I lubed it again, but it was already bleeding.  This was not going to be fun.

My hands felt better in the damp air than in the wet gloves, but soon they were too cold.  I stopped again at my car, declared that "I hate ultrarunning because it is a stupid miserable sport and not fun at all!".  I made Jon promise to not tell anyone I said that out-loud. :)  I ate two more macaroons while finding a pair of dry throw away gloves that felt so much better. 

I realized that warmer clothes and the food all helped me get back into the race.  I tried some cantaloupe at the aid station and just loved it.  It was perfect and just what I needed.  Until that point, I was grabbing a plastic cup of Gatorade every 3rd lap or so.  I began to run harder just to get to more cantaloupe.

I saw Ray and told him, that I need to walk some in the second half of this race b/c I was already starting to feel miserable.  He encouraged me first to keep running, but conceded that if I needed a walk, to just keep it short and try to cruise in the rest of the miles.  I started added a small tiny walk break about ½ way around.  Between the cantaloupe on one side and the walk on the other, I had just enough things to look forward to, which helped me to keep moving. Often I skipped the little walk and kept moving.

I hit my 27^th lap (26.2) of this .971 mile course in 3:41 (8:25 pace).  I stayed moving through my 50k in 4:25 (8:31 pace).  I started 39 laps just as the clocked turned 5 hours. I knew I needed just over 41 laps for 40 miles and anything more than that would get my OA pace under 9 minute miles.

As I ran, I did not see the first place woman anywhere.  I thought about asking others if she was still out there running, but decided that I did not want to know.  Instead I wanted to know how many laps to 40 miles.  If run a good race, chances are I will win.  If don't win with a great effort, I am ok with that.  I was running so hard that I was feeling dizzy.  I was running my best.  My body felt tired, nothing hurt, but the fatigue was tough.   Someone asked "This isn't as hard as a 24, is it?" I recall responding, “Oh, this is very hard!”  I found Ray again and confirmed that 41 and change is what I needed for 40. 

As the final hours ticked down, other runners started to compliment me and tell me how great I was doing?  I wondered if this meant I was winning?  Where was that first place Female.  I continually scanned the course for her but could not see her while I focused on the laps.  I was still sub-9 for most laps.  I knew 11 minute laps would get me 40 miles and change.  I wasn't running that slow, but it hurt.   I realized that 9 minute pace is exactly 40 miles, so anything over 40 miles gives me a sub-9 pace.  That seemed surreal to me!  The marathon I ran in November was just sub-9. Many of my 7-12 miles training runs I do are 8:30 pace, but longer runs are always slower!  How is this happening?!

People asked me questions.  I grunted at them.  Once I even forced out "Cant... Speak.... Sorry."  I was so tired.  When I passed those girls again, one said cheerfully, "I know! You cant talk! It's ok!" :)

I wanted to start the small loop after I ran 41 laps, but since my 41^st lap was about 9 minutes, they sent me out on the big one for my 42^nd lap.  I was terrified about not making that lap in time, but I knew if I made it I had over 40 miles, so I pushed the pace.  I ended up with three minutes for the short loop and just kept moving as the clock ticked down.

I didn’t see the first place woman and thought I had a chance at winning this thing.  When the command to stop was issued, I notice that  she has stopped behind me.  I didn’t know if this meant I was ahead of her or her ahead of me.  She reported that she had done 2 plus some more of the small loop.  I had only gotten 1 plus some more of the short loop.  We both ran 42 big loops. Ohhhh, so close!

She ended up just about .18 ahead of me to take the OA Female Win.  Only about 900 feet separated us.  I would like to think that had I known I was gaining on her, that I would have dug to catch her.  However, had she known I was right behind her, she may have done the same.  The reality is I was hurting and working very hard.   I was dizzy and unable to even focus my vision as I ran.  I was very depleted by the end of the race. I ran a great race and so did she!  Two women over 40 miles in s 6 hour race is a great race!

I never expected to run 41.15 miles in 6 hours.  This calculates to 8:44 pace.  I am tired, but nothing hurts.

As I walked to my car, I thought about how people always seem to be working hard on the superfluous details of racing that they feel will help them get a better time, get an edge, or simply maximize their potential.  Salt caps, advil, chia seeds, pace charts, special shoes, heart rate monitors, garmins, or other fancy gear.  I have done and still do stuff like this, myself.  However, I seem to be discovering that there is one thing that I can do that makes the impact of all these other additions less meaningful and that is high volume training.  I am just 4.8 miles short of 1000 miles.   The more I run, the better I race.  I don't need to monitor much.  I eat and drink and run.  If I forget to eat, I get moody.  I don't need to worry about much except to try to run as fast as I can sustain.

In this race, I took nothing but a blueberry smoothie before the race, 6 macaroons total before and during, some Gatorade and cola, as needed and tons of cantaloupe as I felt hungry.  I didn't change shoes or socks.  I wore 4 oz flats that other people limit to 5k's. I didn't wear a garmin.  I didn't have a plan.  I just ran.  I ran tired.  I ran my butt off and I thank the miles and miles I run each week for giving me the gift of strength and endurance to tolerate another great (for me) performance for my personal log. 

Thank you for reading my report.  Your comments, feedback or varied opinions are always appreciated!

Two River Marathon. Lackawaxen, PA. 3/18/12

I wanted to run this race, just so I had a reason to say Lackawaxen out loud. :)  I wanted Sid to come with me because I really am not a fan of taking buses to starting lines. The only dog-friendly hotel was 35 minutes away from the finish area.  We booked it and drove out late Saturday.   Enzo seems to love to travel and enjoyed a night out of the house, especially when we came back with a small doggie bag of left over filet mignon and broiled salmon.

I had to register at the Finish Area which was about 12 miles from the Start.  Race was supposed to start at 9 am “near” a resort.   Sid dropped me and Jess at the start (after we found it) and we stood around waiting on the bus, which was late.  I was ok because I got to find two different bathrooms in that time period and no longer had anything urgent to do.  This tiny crowd of racers finally took off 20 minutes after 9 am. 

The first two miles were steeply downhill.  I believe I clocked a 6:57 and then a 6:40 for 1 and 2.   At some point I feared my feet were going to slip out from under me, but I think my legs were just shocked to be running that fast!  Even though this course was billed as a fast, net-downhill course, net-down does not preclude some ups along the way.  We did meander thought some rolling terrain for a little bit.  I recall thinking at least twice, maybe three times: “Was this the ONE hill they mention would be on the course?”   By mile 9, I was pretty sure that I found it as we traveled up a long steep up that kicked my butt!   I need more hill work.  

Once over that final hill, we headed down towards the finish which we passed on our way to the 7 mile out and back stretch along the river.  As the half-ers, who saw the turn around, peeled off, I was very happy to see two men ahead of me, moving about the same pace as me.  A solo 14 mile run would be rough after a hard 12 mile effort.  I was hoping to be able to focus on someone else other than how I felt.   

Just before the half, a guy ahead waved me up to him.  I am sure he was feeling that company would be nice.  Just like last time someone called me up to them, I responded by saying it was too early for me and that he should just keep it up.  I was in a comfortable but challenging pace, something I could imagine holding for a long time.  By trying to run someone else’s pace, I feared that I would be setting myself up to explode later.  

I hit the half mat at 1:38:00 exactly.  If I could hold that, I’d have a 3:16.  I had high hopes of something close to that since I tried to convince myself felt that the grade of this OUT was a teeny bit uphill and that is why I felt tired. :)   The river was running down while we ran against it, so I hoped that the way back would feel better.  

I spent a large part of the "out"trying to calculate when the "back"would start.  I knew we passed the bridge where I ditched my T-shirt at 11.5-ish miles.  I was not sure how much further the finish was once we got to head over that bridge, but I did see a 25 mile mark on the other side of the road a minute or two after the 11.5.  At the starting line, that RD said he thought the turn-around was at the “two cones around 17 miles”... then he asked if anyone needed him to bring their clothes back to finish area.  Small races rock!

17 miles was not correct, but I was so tired that I just couldn’t do the math.  This was important because several half marathoners missed their turn around mark.  At least, they had some comfort in numbers.  There was a good chance I would be solo at my turn around.  I really didn't want to blow past some cones and still have 7-8 miles to go after correcting for a mistake. 

After I convinced myself that I would not see the turn around until after 18 miles, I realized I was making up some ground on the two guys ahead of me.  By mile 17 a guy in black who was really moving well flew past us.  His energy was contagious and I passed the two guys in front of me.  I could not move as quickly as the guy in black, so I settled on just pulling away from those behind me. 

I was pleased to see Jess in the lead and on her way back.  I was hoping that I might be second, but before the turn around I saw #2 female moving well and already on her way back.  Maybe I would see her on the way in and feel motivated? 

Unfortunately, from the turn around all the way to the finish, I ran alone.  Spectators consisted of one creepy guy seeming to pretend to mend his fence as he stood in the bushes less than a foot from the shoulder holding some pliers.  I saw him there on the out and the back and the fence seemed fine to me.   Three people were standing outside of a corner store, or maybe they were loiterers?  They didn’t cheer or seem interested.    

I spent the balance of the run trying to not step on road-kill, or in the alternative, trying to not become road-kill as the speeders hauled up and down the road.  That kept me busy through 22 miles and by that point I was dying of thirst.  The temps went from 42-65 during the 3 hours I was out there.  I was struggling now with 2 to go.  Some Gatorade would have been nice, but there was just water the entire way.  I had 2 gels that I already took en-route.  I was feeling the legs get heavy, my pace had slowed to 7:50 and I was just hoping to see some sign that I was getting close to being done. 

Finally there was that mile 25 mark again!  I was at 3:10.  I knew I needed to be there by 3:05 to have a shot at a new PR.  It seemed like I ran forever after mile 25 before I saw the bridge to turn towards the finish.  I turned and saw mile 26 on the ground and three people waiving me on.  I could see the park and the shoot and realized that if I picked it up I could break 3:20.  

Official time: 3:19:14

3^rd place Female out of 8 women :)

5^th place overall… out of 16 total! LOL!!

Small races are the best!

Miles for Music 20k. USA-TF NJ State Championship. 3/11/12

I raced last week.  A 50k.  I ran a PR.  It hurt.  I recovered. I ran 70 mile miles in the next 6 days. I still showed up to race NJ’s USA-TF State Championship 20k 7 days later.  

I agreed to run my first race as part my new Team, the Do Run Running Club founded my Mark Washburne, the president of the United States Running Streak Association.  I met Mark at a Cupid Chase 5k a few years ago and he encouraged me to try streaking.  It didn’t work out for me back then.  However, 2012 has some promise.  Mark’s team looked like it needed more females, so I figured at the least I could be present and even if I had a bad day maybe I could still help the team compete.   

I wasn’t sure what to expect from my legs, but I had some guidance.  In consideration of my marathon split from the 50k, the “predictiors” tell me I should ideally be able to hold a 7:35 pace.  Last year, I raced a PR 50k and then raced a half the following week at 7:35 pace.  It seemed reasonable to shoot for that pace again, but I didn’t log a 101 mile week before last year’s half like I did this year.  I was a little concerned that I was going to have trouble holding the 8:09 pace for 20k that I was able to average last weekend.  I can honestly say I started off a little scared. 

Weather was confusing.  Maybe it is just me, but the National Weather Service has been blatantly lying to me lately when it comes to their “Feels Like” predictions.  It predicted that at 9 am it would feel like 25 degrees.  I am not sure about most of you, but that means tights to me.   However, someone once said to me “Shorts are for Racing, Tights are for Pacing!” and that just stuck.  I don’t know if it was an original rhyme or if this is some rule that I never heard before or after, but I think about it when I dress for cold weather races.  Figuring that I was not really expecting to be “racing” today, I threw on my tights.  As a last minute decision, I also threw my compression calf sleeves and a pair of shorts in my bag.

After getting my race packet, I spontaneously devised my new “face test” for how to dress:  If my face feels numb, then tights.  If my face feels fine, then shorts.  It doesn’t rhyme, I know.   My face felt fine, so I rushed back to my car and threw on my shorts and calf sleeves and my fresh out of the box properly sized bright yellow, black, and white T7 Racing flats.  I stripped off my jacket and threw a t-shirt over my favorite long sleeve Brooks Tech shirt (I have no rhyme to guide me about upper body dressing).  Last call for clothes in my car left me leaving with my favorite gloves that convert to mittens!

Off to the chilly start, I stood in the crowd wondering how to manage the pacing. Someone yelled go. The densely packed crowd began to shift forward and move.  I tucked behind a tall guy who's Garmin was beeping....beeping...beeping... I thought about asking him what the beeps means, but decided I really didn’t want to know.  I moved comfortably and didn’t feel like I was working hard.  I wondered if I was running really really slowly and that was why it felt easy.  The amount of people ahead of my surely suggested that I was not going out too fast.

As we moved up the slight incline into the wind, M1 approaches.  It’s a 7:03 and into a breeze!  It was fast, but I felt good, so I just kept moving.  M2 comes and it’s a 7:08.  No way!  Now I figure I am banking some time for that 7:35 average.  I felt strong and tall (which is ironic since I am just under 5’2”).   I hit M3 at 7:04. Nothing hurts so I don’t feel the need to back down.  5k clock reads 21:57.  I LOL! because had this been a 5k, I would not have bet money on me breaking 22 minutes a week after a 50k PR and 100 mile training week. I take advantage of my positive energy and the wind at my back.  M4 is a 7:03.  This is starting to feel surreal.  I get a rush when I dial in a pace and it just keeps on happening.  It is hard to run perfect splits without a Garmin.  It was just me and my Timex clicking off 7:04’s … so sweet. 

We start lap 2, with the wind still in our face.  I know it will not stop until that first turn around well over 1 mile into the distance and up the gradual incline.   I start to worry that I over-estimated my ability and decide to try to relax a bit.  I pass M5 in 7:09. The next mile starts to feel hard and now the work begins.  M6 7:12.  Ha! 7:12 was the pace of my best half marathon.  I still have a shot to average that by the end of the run or even better it.  The 10k reads 43:39.  I am getting tired and not sure if I can hold low 7s for much longer.  But as we turn around and hit the decline again with the wind from behind, I pep up.  M7 7:07.  

I begin to catch a woman who was pulling away from me earlier.  I decide to pass her with some authority to see if she comes along.  She does not.  Good because it was too soon to start racing it in for me. M8 7:06.  I know I have the “wind in my face” section to do again and I did not want to mess up the race by making a move too soon.  I try to maintain my rhythm and clock M9 7:04. 

As I pass M9 my Timex reads 1:04 minutes, I realize that I can break 1:30:00 for 20k if I keep it together.  The 15k clock reads 1:05:50, not too far off my 15k PR of 1:04.  However, we are heading back up the incline into the wind and I decided this is not my favorite part of the course.

I am gaining on another woman, who glances back and sees me.  She calls out something.  I have no idea what is it.  I don’t respond because I am trying to sit back and conserve energy for a shot at a “big finish.” M10 7:13.  She calls out something else and waives for me to catch up to her.  I don’t know her and I suspiciously wonder why she is encouraging me to hurry up on the crappy, windy, slightly uphill part of the course. I was right at my red-line at the moment and did not want to blow up trying to catch someone with over 2 miles to go.  I think to myself “Ignore her and run YOUR race.”  She waives me up again.  Finally, I call out, “Don’t worry about me. I am just fine. Thanks!”   

We hit the first and now last 180 degree turn and I decide to gradually make a move on the chick who was trying to get me to run harder earlier.  I pass her on the decline and expect her to hitch a ride along side since she was so interested in running with me just a few minutes before. With less than 2 miles left and no more wind, I was now ready to race, but she doesn’t come with me.  I wonder if she is saving herself and setting up to kick past me at the end.   I can't worry about her and look ahead to the guy in orange moving well.  I try to mirror what he is doing.  I hit M11 in 7:10 and feel ready to leave behind what I have left in my legs.  Orange guy picks up his pace.  I do too.  I start looking hard for  that M12 mark.  There is a sign.  Could it be?  So soon?  No, of course not!  It is some sign telling someone to "Run Fast!" or something like that.  Then I see it and hit M12 at 6:50.  I am thrilled.  I knew I had opened it up my stride.  If that girl passes me now then she deserves to because I am not making it easy. 

Four tenths to go and I can’t contain my own enthusiasm!  I let out a little hoot and holler.  I become that annoying girl who tries to encourage the people I am passing to come with me.   I feel compelled to report the remaining distance to all in my vicinity by yelling out “Only tenths to go!! Whoo hoo!”   But where is that darn finish line!  My watch says 1:26:xx.  Holy Cow! I know I am breaking 1:30 but I am not sure how much is left. 

Finally, I spot the the guy with the sign with the instruction to “Turn Left to Finish!”  I turn, and see the clock.  1:27:55… 1:27:56…1:27:57… Oh Crap, I am not going to make it! I try with everything I had.  Apparently, as per the race photography, I even put on my war face :) but I just couldn’t make it before it flipped past 1:28.  When I got through the shoot and stop my watch it reads 1:28:03…. Ooooo, so close! 

Official results have me at 1:28:07 and 7:06 pace!   As it was a State Championship Race, my 1:28 got me 18^th place female and 3^rd in my age group.  Women’s Open Do Run Runners did not place as a Team, but I was really happy to learn that I actually was the top female runner for us for the day.  That will likely never happen again, so I will enjoy it while it lasts. :) 

Thanks for reading.

USA-TF 50k Nationals: Caumsett Park, LI 3/4/12

Last year at the USA-TF 50k National Championship, I had a great race.  It was a surprising performance that I can only attribute to going into it well-rested and dialing into a perfect pace. In 2011, I ran a 4:15 for the 31 mile race and took 8^th place.  By April, I was sick with liver failure from a medication that was supposed to help me.  It took a while to recover and my fitness and motivation took a big hit.  I focused on school and work for the rest of the year.  I did very little racing that I was incredibly proud of,  except for winning a 24 hour race after some tornadoes sent most of the field home and surprising myself at a 6-hour race where I managed a 4^th place finish.  I spent most of 2011 suffering from my painful plantar fibromas that just never seemed to get better.  After cutting down my training to no avail, I knew the problem wasn’t from running TOO MUCH, it was from running TOO LITTLE.

At the 2011 24 hour National Championships, I ran in great pain the entire way.  At 10 miles into the run, my fibromas felt irritated. I already knew I was in trouble. Just hours into the run, I saw Dr. Lovey and he told me to stop by the med tent to see the podiatrists who would work on my feet. Every 2 hours or less I was back in the tent getting worked on.  They really saved my race, but by mile 85 or so I was done.  Before my compulsion to quit overcame my desire to fight on, I saw Dr. Lovey and walked with him.  He told me about his pain.  He complemented my running form (when I was able to run) and then advised, “Sometimes to get over something like this, you just have to start over from the beginning.”  This was back in September and his words echoed in my mind for months.

On January 2012, I started over with a 5 mile trail run at 11:36 pace. It was hilly.  It was slow.   But later that day, I ran 5 more miles at 10:36 pace.  I like the short slower runs that were over before my feet got a chance to hurt.  The next day, Monday, I got up before work and ran 3 miles, then 5 more that night.  The small goal of 3-5 miles of pain-free running seemed so pleasant.  I did very slow distance runs on the weekends.  Running was becoming fun and relaxing again, instead of a stress.  

My mileage quickly climbed to 60, 70, 80 miles.  Mid-January, I ran the Croom 50k just to see if my feet could tolerate 31 miles if I took it slow.  I wasn’t focused on racing but rather just running about 10-11 minute per mile or slower and taking a break between laps.  I finished in just under 7 hours.  I realized I would need to drop about 3 hours from that time by March to run like I did at the 50k Nationals last year.  That seemed ridiculous, but I didn’t dismiss it as impossible.

By February, I was able to log 50 mile weekends and 85-100 weeks.  All pain free.   Nothing was very fast, so I started adding progressions during some morning weekday runs.  My average pace was still slow, but I was ending most runs at a low to sub-7 pace.  I felt good.

But March 4 would be the test.   I wanted to see what high volume could do, even though I did very few 15-20+ milers at a "helpful" pace.  Most of my LSD was quite slow.  Most of my faster runs were quite short.  On 2/29, I even ended up in the Emergency Room with a serious allergic reaction causing my face and throat to swell.  This did not make a good formula for running an 8 minute pace for 31 miles.  However, I decided I had to take the risk.  I had to go for it. Sub-8's gave me a short at sub-to-low 4 hours for a 50k and that sounded nice.

I met Ray K in the parking lot.  Every one of my best 2011 races had one common denominator:  Ray.  He has been my ultra-guiding light since I meet him at the 24 hour Nationals in 2009.  He knows me.  He knows how I train.  He knows when I am on a roll.  He knows when I am crumbling.  He knows what to say to reverse my internal combustion (or create some internal combustion/? I am not sure.  Do cars run on internal combustion? I will have to ask Ray.)  He has been able to say things to me in the midst of implosion that has gotten me moving well again.  There have been days that even he couldn’t help me.  However, knowing that he was there gave me peace of mind.

The gun went off.  My plan was to run with a mindlessness that allowed me to focus on the moment I was in.  For miles I felt smooth and strong and easy.  Mile 1 was 7:44.  It felt easy.  We got chatty in mile 2 and slowed to 8:00, but recovered by mile 3.  The first lap was 24:50 and it felt too slow.  Each of the next 5 laps I worked on slowly speeding up my pace and did so by seconds per mile only.  I hovered around the mid-low 24 minute 5k for 7 in a row.  At lap 6, I have goosebumps and visions of seeing low 4 hour mark on the clock.  I could feel myself doing something amazing. I knew I worked hard, although not necessarily smart for a 50k.  I thought about how I managed a 100 mile training week earlier than I planned.  My feet felt numb, but not in pain.  My form was still fluid.  I thought if I can just make it to lap 9, I got this. 

But as I hit the back side of lap 7, I started to falter.  I could feel my body weakening.  I took the gel I had in my pocket and hoped it could revive me.  I was still moving.  Only once before had I ever run 31 miles non-stop and it was here.  I wanted that again, but I wasn’t so sure I would make it.

By lap 8 my arms started going numb.  My posture felt contorted.  I couldn’t find a reason to smile except that I knew the first half of the loop was kind to me and helped me recover from the mid-back part.  I cruised along, felt better and then hit the "rolling" section, which beat me down.  Lap 8 marked my first 25+ minute 5k split of the race.  I didn’t care.  I knew they would get worse from here. 

I started lap 9 feeling like I was going to die.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to finish 6.2 miles.  My stride was shrinking.  My legs were cement.  The splits were jumbled in my mind.  I no longer knew what my projected finish time would be, but guessed if I slowed to 30 minutes per 5k for the last 2 laps, I could still finish under 4:20.  I was just not fully confident I could actually run that fast.   I was no longer looking at mile splits, fearing the worst and not wanting proof.  People called my name and I couldn’t find a bit of energy to respond.  I believe I grunted at one guy and he laughed at me.  Ok, that made me smile.  I finished lap 9 as Byron Lane finished his 10^th.  I wished I could be him, finishing as the clocked turned 3:45.  I figured if the last lap took me an hour I could still break 5 hours!  I was feeling that low, but I was still “running” although it feel like I was running in mud. 

I hear Ray in the distance, yell out “Come Catch me!”  He was on his way out while I was coming in.  I know I looked in his direction, but everything looked blurry and I was not sure where he was.   As I ran from the start-finish and off into the distance, I felt surreal, overcome with light-headed dizziness, my legs buckled.  I was going to hit the pavement.  I had visions of being scooped up off the asphalt by emergency medical techs.  I had to walk a few steps to get my vision back. No!!! Grrr!!!  I walked.  Damn it!  Even walking a few steps, my legs felt like rubber bands that I could not control.  I felt disappointed in myself for breaking my stride, but after a few second I realized walking was just as hard as running and I found the will to get moving.  I did not walk a single step the rest of the race.

I could barely open my stride, but I was moving.  I made it all the way around the park and heard Ray again call out:  “You are going to PR!  Just 3 tenths to go!  Kick now!”   I really tried to will myself to kick.  I am certain I did not slow down, but I am not sure I really picked up the pace.  I have never felt so bad in a race in my life.  Despite the last two laps feeling slow, one was at 8:48 pace and the other was 9:00.  This was better than I thought it was.  I even managed to barely snag a new 50k PR at 4:13:04.  

I don’t like the feeling of falling apart a race.  It is incredibly painful.  However, I credit the higher volume training for keeping me in the fight.  I have never fought so hard for a finish line.   I was able to tolerate so much more distress that I reached new level of fatigue.  I never did collapse, but I was very close for a moment.  I am incredibly proud that I rediscovered my ability to fight.  Because I made it to that finish line, I earned 7^th place in the USA National 50k! What a great day for 10 x 5ks in the park. 

Getting to the Croom Zoom 50k: Plane maked unplanned stop...

 "Plane makes unplanned stop at Atlantic City International Airport"

A few months ago, Sid wanted to plan a trip to see his mom before the Air National Guard ships him somewhere overseas for a few month later in 2012.   He took it upon himself to find me a 50k to run in Croom Park (called something else, but we call it Croom) as part of this trip. Sid knew this park as he used to race motocross races there back when Fox sponsored his racing.

We planned to start in Summerville SC (to see V.),  then to Brooksville, Fl (to race Croom), then head over to Deltona (to see Marcelo), then to Boca Raton (to see Sid's mom), then to Key West (to race a half and see Kati) and then home.  Leaving Enzo is not an option, so Sid rented a Mooney and we packed up our gear, bought Enzo his own kid sized Ferrari suitcase from the Ferrari store (seriously the dog is spoiled!) and loaded up 10 days of dog food, toys, and other dog things, and got ready to go.

We departed Sid's Aero-club airport on Thursday January 12 at 3:48 in Instrument (IFR) flight conditions with a low ceiling of 400 feet (meaning the clouds and weather prevented us from seeing where we were going).  Due to some winds high up, we ascended only to 4000 ft and planned to stay there until we got to air with less turbulence higher up.  Generally we fly over 8000 feet when traveling.


Because there was rain on the ground when we departed, but in the air as we ascended would get colder, our biggest concern was possible icing on our winds, which can be dangerous.  As we flew up through the clouds I was asked to watch the wings.  I was happy to see the rain running over the wings and not freezing to them. Sid asked "How are the wings?"  I said "Great" as we broke through the clouds into the bright rainless sky. I felt that we had begun out trip and were on our way! 

Sid attempted to engage the Autopilot, could not get it to engage and mumbled something about working that out later.  He continued to plug in all the way-points to Summerville, SC into the navigation system. I did the same on my GPS.   Like a good boy, Enzo was curled up in his doggie sleeping position in his seat in the back.  He travels well, either sleeps or looks out the window.  We stuff his ears with cotton to help him not experience the painful annoyance of the prop noise. 

However, even with his ears stuffed with cotton it seems he heard something that caused him to react like he does at home when I set the firealarms off during my regular toast-burning episodes.   He started yelping, whining, and getting antsy in his seat, like he wanted to get out of the plane.   I tried to tell Sid that Enzo is acting crazy, and discovered my headset had failed and I could not communicate. I looked at the panel and all the digital readouts were scrambled and then went blank.  Sid attempted to communicate with me and he could not.  He tried to communicate with the tower and had nothing. 

Anything that was controlled by electric inside our plane was out.  We had our prop so we could fly, but we could not advise anyone of our location, our plans to deviate from our IFR course or get feedback about whether any planes were around us in the clouds. Our transponder was still running on battery power and able to let others know we were in the air, but that would last only so long. We were not going to descend blindly in to the clouds below because we could not make an IFR landing at any airport since you  need to see the ground to attempt to land on it. 

Without Sid's ability to remain calm as he dug out his back-up hand-held radio, this situation could have easily escalated to panic mode (for me).   With no autopilot set, the ride was bumpy. Sid and I searched the horizon, but all that we saw were clouds that eventually cleared.  Sid was able to make intermittent verbal contact on his handheld and asked ACY where the nearest airport with VFR (visual) condition was so we could land. 

Because we could fly a while if necessary to any airport that was clear, he advised that we were having "some equipment failure" and needed to land at the nearest airport that did not require us to use our instruments.   ACY advised that they were the closest airport with no weather issues.  Sid was not sure they understood, since we just left and were clearly in IFR weather.  He repeated, they confirmed and then we could see that the cloud shelf broke just before Atlantic City.

As Sid made a hard turn towards Atlantic City, I used the Garmin he lets me play with to plug in a direct route to ACY as a backup navigation devise to Sid's compass-based navigation.  As long as the Garmin had battery power, we could see the map and confirm in general where we were headed.  ACY  gave Sid a compass heading and he used the GPS to confirm his compass heading was correct.

Because we were close to ACY and needed to drop altitude to land, Sid had to descend as rapidly but as safely as possible.  At this point alarms were intermittently blasting inside the plane and Enzo had shaken out his cotton balls.  He was miserable and scared.  I had more cotton next to me and he sat still while I repacked his ears.   He began to bark and whine at the alarms.

Because the landing gear was electric, Sid had to crank it down by hand.  Although he could have delegated this task to me, it is more Sid's nature to just take care of business and ask for help only as needed.  I was busy trying to calm down Enzo whose barking was adding to the intensity of the situation.  Sid was busy holding the plane level while quickly descending with one hand, while cranking down the gear with the other, while intermittently talking to ACY when able to hear them since even the emergency radio was not working perfect.  I dont think I have ever seen Sid move so smoothly with such purpose.  He was not thinking, just acting and I did not interrupt.  It was clear he knew exactly what needed to be done.

As we were parallel to the runway, we were still too high and too fast.  The stall alarm was now constant and incessant. I wondered if that meant Sid was doing this on purpose or if the plane was stalling out because of some issue with power to the prop.  I was not about to ask any questions but rather just waited for him to instruct me.  

After he secured the gear, he gave a bit more power and he lined us up with the runway.  The firetrucks were coming from all directions.  Sid called out to me "They shut down the airspace.  Those Spirit pilots are going to be pissed  LOL".   He then more seriously, he said "The gear appears to be down and locked but I dont trust anything right now, so tighten your belt and be ready".


It seemed to take forever as he gently lowered the plane over the runway and as soon as felt the impact and did not hear grinding metal or see any sparks, I knew we were ok.  We cruised to a stop and were greated by three firetrucks.  We advised that we could park it and once directed to our spot, we exited the plane.   Enzo was like a bullet out the door, still barking and panicked. I may have even seen him kiss the ground, but I cant be certain. He jumped up to greet the emergency crew who noted "We thought we heard a dog barking in there!" 

It was 4:15, and only less than a half hour since take-off and we hadn't even made it out of NJ.  With my parents living 45 minutes north of ACY,  I gave them a call explaining "Sid noticed something odd about the plane and he wants to get his checked out" :)    I came back in and Sid asked "What did your parents say"  I told him, "My mom says I am not allowed to play with you anymore" :)  Then I advised that I told them the plan had an issue but he could explain what he wanted once they got here.
A hour later, Enzo had made friends with the entire general aviation airport staff.  My parents came to get us, Sid gave them the details, and we drove off leaving the plane for maintenance to assess in the morning.

Friday morning came and we were advised that alternator failed and parts could not be shipped for a few days.  We tried to find another available airplane that Sid was checked out in and able to fly. Our regular planes were all rented or in service.  After a 4 mile run at Enzo's favorite park by my parents house, my dad drove sid to our initial airport to retrieve his car and off we went to drive the 17 hours to Tampa, unfortunately skipping our first planned destination of Summerville so that I could make it to the Croom 50k race scheduled for Sunday morning.

Croom Report will follow...

NCR Trail Marathon

My inspiration to register for the NCR was Karen.  She wanted to run fast and she wanted my help with a plan to do it.  I was so honored to be asked to help her.  She is a dedicated runner, an amazing person, and good friend.

She too has a busy life, busier and more hectic than what most people experience because of some significant events.  With an unpredictable schedule and less time to commit to training plans, I devised something I thought could help her run fast, while also not take over her life.

I took my inspiration from a plan that emphasized cumulative fatigue and medium length runs along with weekly interval work that was pretty challenging.  This plan conspicuously lacked the "dreaded"  Long Runs that take up half the day.  What can a runner do on back-to-back medium runs at a moderate pace, in place of the usual long slow distance book-ended by rest days?  Is a PR possible?  How big?

Karen ran almost every planned workout at the prescribed paces for 18 weeks.  I can't say enough how much this fact demonstrates how dedicated and motivated Karen is.  The paces were selected in order to get her in somewhere between 3:30-3:40. The speed work was really tough.  As the weeks flew by and she was fighting to hit every pace as planned, I was more than impressed.  I really truly wanted her to see that 3:3x on the clock and I wanted to be a witness to her greatness, even though I knew I would not be running as fast at this race myself.  With her PR off a much higher mileage plan, a few years ago, and a 3:50 being her new BQ time goal, anything under 3:50 would be a success on this plan.  But anything within the 3:3x window would be super sweet.  She deserves super-sweet.

I wanted to help her in any way I could.  My plan was to pace Karen out to the 13.5 mile turn around at a pace that would set her up for a 3:3x.  I then planned to drop my pace down to a comfortable 10 min pace (hoping to cut down my own recovery and stay peppy for my 24 hour run this weekend).  

It was such a pleasure to run a race that had nothing to do with my performance.  I felt sorry that I was not able to suck it up and hang at her pace this whole race with her and see her finish.  As I enjoyed my comfortable jaunt through the woods for the second half of the race, I was dying to know how she was doing and whether this shockingly light plan could get her a good time.

I completed my own "workout" as scheduled and crossed the finish at 3:55.  A sub-4 hour marathon as training is really quite nice and I think I will be doing more of this in the future (if not too pricy).  Running a marathon with no pressure for time but for the benefits of a long run was just what I needed.   I don't recommend  trying to race a marathon, all out, at PR pace, if the training leading up to the race does not support such an intense effort.  In this age of runners having cardiac issues en-route, I felt I was being very safe and comfortable running 1:45 first half and then cruising in for a 2:10 second half since I have done little work to prepare for an effort much better than that. 

I dont want to give away Karen's story completely, but I can say that the lower mileage but more intense training plan I personalized to her lifestyle, schedule, and personal goals earned good marks.  She crushed her BQ time while setting a significant PR, although her "A goal" was not attained. 


I learned a lot from Karen as my guinea pig in this experiment.  In hindsight we both agree that even though the plan was set up for a 3:30-3:35 run, with the lower weekly mileage and the lower LR miles, it would be wise to train with those pace, but plan for a 3:35-3:39 with race day pacing and strategy set up accordingly.   Going out on 3:30 pace felt great but caught up to her too much in the later miles. This could also have been due to the warmer temps, the need for more fluids than available, or any other issue.  However, I feel that good solid training can help reduce the impact of other issues.  If I could pace her all over again, I would consider about 10 seconds slower per mile for the first half.

Now I need another guinea pig to test my theories.  Who wants to be my next experiment. :)

Gratitude Therapy : )

So tomorrow I have to co-lead a support group at the Cancer Center. The Topic is the Healthy Harvest, where... "Registered Dietician (Cheryl W.) and Art Therapist (me) will facilitate this demonstration on how to make pumpkin smoothies, and discuss how to make use of other fruits and vegetable from autumn's cornucopia."  

Ok. This has to beg the question: "What does an art therapist have to do with pumpkin smoothies?"  Well, anyone who knows me knows that I cant resist a good pumpkin anything.  In addition, I often just say Yes to things before I fully know what is going on.

For my part, I was planning to ask "the group" to make some Thanksgiving-related project while Cheryl whipped up the smoothies.  I found a simple pumpkin centerpiece that could be made by anyone with any ability.   However, this concept tends to move away from my style of practicing Art Therapy.

I often answer the question,"What is Art Therapy?" by describing a continuum where on one side is "Art-making for Joy" and the other side is "Projective Assessments that Allow Analysis and Insight."  Art-making for joy can be therapeutic, but in my opinion it is most effective at creating first order change (in this case, the change of mood of the person for the moment).   However, in my practice, I attempt to create interventions that at least have a shot at allowing for second order change (the lasting change that comes with the changing of a system). This could result from introspection and increased insight into the self as a result of creating some meaningful art product (even if that product is not very "good" and even if that product was made for fun.)  

What this means for me is that I am now scrambling to create some directive I can give to a group of unfamiliar people that would allow them to experience the joy of art-making, while also giving them the opportunity to change themselves... in one session.   What to do... What to do...

And then the light bulb went off.  I will ask them to create Thank You Cards.  But to who?  Maybe to themselves?  But that just seems so... first order.

I think people are so fast to see the negative, especially on a cancer unit.  Fortunately, John Gottman discovered in his studies about Positive and Negative Sentiment Override (in married couples), that what people focus on in the present has a huge impact on how they recall experiences of the past.  How the past is remembered will greatly impact how people anticipate the future.  If we focus on the positive in the present, we also tend to recall our pasts in the most positive light and therefore expect nothing less of the future.  If we focus on the negative in the present, we are more likely to remember the past in a negative light and expect the future to be just as bad.

As a result, there is some value is spending some time thinking about the people in this world that have positively impacted our lives.  In fact, a little Googling has uncovered that a man named John Kralick has discovered just how powerful thanking others can be.

I find his story fascinating.  In brief, Kralick was a lawyer who had practiced over 30 years in LA and had his own firm.  He found his firm was crumbling and his relationships were failing.  On a hike through the mountains, while on the brink of depression, he found the inspiration to write a Thank You note a day for 365 days.  One year later, he found that his life had completely changed for the better. He has since been appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to be a Judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court.  He has written a book that explains his story. http://www.365thankyounotes.

The part of his website that I find most fascinating is that if you click on About the Author, he has chosen to include two action photos of himself:  (1) one of him racing the Napa Marathon and (2) one of him racing a half marathon with a friend.   Both of these images are noted to be a depiction of some story described in the book.  Hmm, I am beginning to feel compelled to buy a copy :)

Well that is a lovely story, but is it therapeutic or even just wise to ask cancer survivors and patients to make Thank You cards to others during what is likely one of the worst times of their lives?  According to an article by Rita Watson in Psychology Today, published just last week:  "A blessing a day can keep the doctor away."  Watson shares that it is harder to count your blessings in sad times, but it can be life changing to do so.  A four step gratitude plan is shared and stated that it will open the door to more happiness in life.  I am not sure I agree with all steps of the plan, but I find this all quite interesting and simple to do.

The Psychology Today article mentions Kralick and concludes: "It was through thank-you notes that Kralik turned his life around. Kralik said: 'We get so wrapped up in the day-to-day that we lose touch...When someone receives a hand-written note they know it came from a person who evaluated their decision to write. Hand writing for me is greater admissible evidence of concern.'" 

Watson adds,  And it works in love relationships as well: Revitalize Your Love Life with a Three Day Gratitude Plan" http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/love-and-gratitude/201111/4-steps-gratitude-in-happy-times-or-sad-ones

So now Thank You Cards feel so much better to me as a directive.  This interventions leaves me with hope that some people will at least have a shot at second order change if they continue on with this exercise in gratitude outside of the support group.

And now it is my turn and I will start with you.

Thank You so much for reading and following my blog.  It gives this endeavor so much more meaning than it could ever have if my words were never given the chance to reach anyone but me. :)

- Shannon

Friends2Friends Alexa's Thunder Run, 13.1 miles of trail.

On Sunday, I got to test out my new pair of Brook's PureGrits at the Thunder Run.  Friend2Friends puts on this race to raise money for free mammograms for women in who cant afford one.  As a breast cancer survivor who needed medicaid for treatment, I appreciated that goal of this race.

I was excited to try my new trail shoes, but a little nervous about racing a trail half.  I like to run fast on pavement.  I really like to run in the woods when free to back off the pace in exchange for not eating dirt.  I have knocked parts of my front teeth out 4 times or so in my lifetime. After 3 times, the novelty just wears off.  As a result, I tend to be a clumsy blind slug in the woods so I knew this was not going to be pretty.

I have been waiting to find a light pair of trail shoes that have some substance to them and the Grits did well.  I didn't have a chance to run any trails in the Grits until race day, but I attempted to "break them in" a bit by wearing them to my mediation class the day before. :)   Sitting at a conference table for 8 hours is like running trails, right? 

What I did learn from my casual wearing is that my orthotics take up so much room that the strap across the top digs into the top of my foot.  This did not feel good and I contemplated cutting the strap off before the race, but I decided to see what happened on race day.  I have also decided I need to lose the orthotics at some point since after about 50 miles of running, they bruise my feet.

This race was so well done that I am going to try to get to the rest of the series.  First, the RD made point to leaf blow the entire 13.1 mile course.  I never heard of  a race doing this, but I can say that the result was that the race was much more runnable than it could have been.  People still fell down all around me, but for some reason I stayed on my feet. I believe it was because of two reasons: my cautious pacing, and the fact that I could actually see roots, rocks and holes that would normally be covered by leaves this time of year.

In addition to blowing a 13.1 mile line into the forest, the race was also marked with arrows and flour and managed to cart out water to 6 points on the course.  They even posted mile markers! Who does this in a trail race?  I have been completely spoiled.  :)

Regardless of the efforts by the RD to make running this race as mindless as possible, my brain still hurt from trying to focus on the ground the whole time.  This is my problem and I am sure many others would have just flew through this course. When running fast in the woods, I lose my ability to find my zone, I pay too much attention to each step and I miss being lost in thought.  The tediousness of each step becomes to apparent and I start to crave mindlessness even more.

I started this run a little aggressively because I noticed the tower on top of the mountain that we would eventually reach in the last 2 miles.   I haven't run enough hills so this was going to kick my butt and it did.  I must admit I spent the first 3 miles miserable, sucking wind as my chest felt completely inadequate in its ability to extract enough oxygen to propel me upwards.  At some points my feet felt odd and I was not sure if I liked the Grits.  After two hills in a row, my chest was so tight a guy hearing me wheeze became concerned.  I decided that if I got to the S/F line at 8.5 and I was not yet having fun, I was going home.

Fortunately by mile 4.5 things felt better, the course had very long runnable stretches where speed I lost on the hills could be made up.  I loved being able to close my eyes and run as hard as I felt I should.  When I hit the single track again, I slowed it down, especially after hearing people hit the dirt both in front of me and behind me.

At the 8.5, I didn't think twice about stopping.  My feet felt great, I was finding my stride, and I could breath.  There was huge out and back stretch on old rail trail that allowed me to make up time I would later loose on the climb up to the tower. I was running with a pack of guys until we hit that rail trail.  I did manage to pass them all and put a great deal of distance on them on the way back, so much that when I looked back I saw no one. When I looked ahead, I saw know one.  At this point panic set in and I thought I possible missed a turn while running inside my head. 

At mile 11, I saw an aid station and then began the climb up the hill. I was happy to be able to catch up and pass two more people. I was actually surprised because I felt just so inadequate on those hills.  One guy flew past me, but no one else caught up. I think knowing that once I got up that hill, I could race down to the finish propelled me forward.

The downhill was so steep that I actually took it cautiously.  A group of guys in hard hats and packs were walking on the trail that I was about to enter.  A course marshal warned them all to move over and they did.  He called out that I had half a mile to go and I got excited!  I picked it up and just as I ran past this crowd of guys, my right calf spasmed like it does when I try to take off one shoe after a long hard race by pushing on the back of it with the other foot. This is the fastest method I have learned to send my calf into contortions that normally drop me to the ground.  This has never happened in a race, but here I was with .5 miles to go and about to buckle in front of a crowd!  I managed to stay on my feet, but I did slow down a bit until I was sure the cramping was over.  Finally, I popped out of the woods and headed towards the finish, where the timer called out each finisher by name. 

Chicken soup and rolls were handed out while the band played. The RD called out raffle ticket numbers and I scanned the posted results.  2:12 for the 13.1 miles.  Although my last half was about a half hour faster, I predicted a 2:15 for my finish time based upon what runners ran last year and their own road times.  I was happy with 2:12.   I was also really happy to see that I was 9th female and 3rd in my AG.

My calves still feel abused but it is the good pain, not the bad pain that comes from leaving early. :)

Divorce Mediation: "People dont get OVER stuff, we get THROUGH it"

This weekend I began my journey to become a Professional Mediator.  The certification course, in conjunction with my education and experience working as both an attorney and a therapist will allow me to practice as soon as my course is completed in the middle of next month.

This is something that feels promising to me.  I was the only dually educated therapist/lawyer in the room although the panel of professional mediators was evenly divided between therapists and lawyers.

We focused much of this weekend on the interpersonal skills that therapists seem to have more training in when compared to attorneys.  Nuances of joining, body language, reframing, restating, normalizing, balancing, validating, empathizing, and facilitating the restructuring the family roles seemed paramount in this process this weekend.  Of course next weekend we will get into parenting time, child support, alimony, equitable distribution, and other budgeting issues which I expect the lawyers to excel.

I must admit that I tremendously enjoyed witnessing a room full of people attempt to reconcile the polarized perspectives offered by law compared to therapy and vice versa.  I have struggled with this for a long time.  I was pleased to discover the field of mediation was founded by a lawyer who turned therapist after his messy divorce and decided there must be a better way.  I have renewed hope the reconciliation of the left and right side of my brain is possible :).  

One of the things I heard today that resonated with me and hopefully will become incorporated into my work in all my capacities was a comment that goes something like: "People don't GET OVER stuff.  It is unfair to suggest that someone need to get over something in order to move forward. We don't float OVER problems to land safely on the other side where it cannot bother us any longer. People GET THROUGH  stuff, by fighting through the thick of it and emerging a little beaten down and scratch up on the other side. But the GETTING THROUGH is the hardest part.  Once on the other side, we can then begin to heal, repair, and move on." 

Blood Run Half Marathon 10 22 11

After my positive run at the 6 hour race last weekend, I started looking for something to do this weekend. I discovered the Pequannock Blood Run.  A portion of the proceeds of this race was donated to the  Children's Cancer and Blood Foundation.

At 5:45 I had a terrible moment of weakness and decided that it would feel much nicer to stay in bed and then hit the tow path after the sun came up. That lasted about 5 minutes.  Once I began to contemplate the DNS, I sat up, turned on the TV, and was advised by Sid: "If you are going be up, we might as well race it".  Ok.

Once at the race, I quickly filled out our apps, with freezing fingers despite my layers. 43 degrees and damp is not very comfy, unless you asked the guy in the singlet and shorts next to me.  He declared "Oh, I am warm! I am used to this!"  Sid and I got out bib and moved to the chip line.

Despite variation in chip technology, I am still someone who enjoys a good hand-scored race.  I dont mind chips, except when they fail. I am not a huge fan of the ankle strap since I question how they get cleaned.  I dont like the wired bibs that make them stiff and unfoldable.  I remember my XC coach was ahead of his time when he got bar codes on our bibs and a scanner for our finish line.  This was in the 90's and I am not sure anyone else was doing this. 

However, I had to chuckle when I over heard a runner say "Oh Wow! A CHIP LINE! this is so RETRO! when was the last time you saw a CHIP.  I dont even know what to do with that. What does it even look like!"  These happened to be the square chips that we secured to our shoe with twist ties.  I was unaware that chips were now old school? 

Another interesting conversation about racing occurred the night before. Sid and I were in a conversation with a person we just met and Sid mentioned that we needed to head home b/c we are running a half marathon tomorrow.  From that moment on, no matter how many times I inserted the word "half" in front of their questions about our marathon tomorrow, it was ignored.  That's fine. Not everyone is a runner and we have all hear the jokes about "non runners" calling every race a marathon.  That's ok. I am I sure I call things I dont know much about by incorrect names all the time.

However what really interested in was the confusion about why "Why" we were doing our "marathon."  Admittedly I was baffled for a good chunk of the conversation.

Me: "Why? What do you mean, why?"
Her: "What is it for?"    
Me: "Huh, what is what for?"
Her: "The marathon?"
Me:  "Oh the race?  This one is trying to raise money for children's blood cancer," I added thinking that is what she wanted to know.
Her: "So you are racing for that! That's nice!" she concluded out loud.
Me: "Well, we are really racing just because we want to race".
Her: "Huh, you aren't running for something?"

Her friend interjected to clarify.

Friend:  "Her daughter just ran a marathon to raise money for cancer" 
Me: "Oh... I see. That's great! But we are not charity runners in this race, we just want to run it."

Now I get the cockeyed confused look that helped me to understand that some non-runners believe that people are not free to simply enter a "marathon" unless they are planning to raise money for some cause.  It was clearly bizarre to her that Sid and I were getting up early to run for our own fun and enjoyment.

The final question was as follows:

Her: "So how long is your marathon tomorrow?"
Me:  (simply hoping to ease all our pain)  "Our marathon is only about 13 miles long."

From there we moved on to another less convoluted topic.

So back to the race.  It was bigger than I expected and I saw Elaine from last week and Zsuszanna C. who I haven't run into in a long time.  That was a nice surprise.  I started towards the front, too fast as usual.  I settling back after the first mile and stayed within seconds as I covered mile to mile.

I was under the impression that since costumes were encouraged and this was called the Blood Run I was going to be trying to outrun gory zombies or pale-faced sharp-toothed vampires.  There were very few in costume, but I did find that I was in hot pursuit of two frosty mugs of beer for much of the event.

The double loop with two turn arounds allowed me to spot Sid several times.  It also allowed me to count females.  I was comfortably and securely in 13th place by the end of loop 1 and this didn't change. I didn't look at my splits, until the end, so I was just trying to run comfortable.  I was surprised that my numbers were so close.

I ran a 1:43:35 and hoped to be a little faster.  I didn't really work too hard for it, so I know I have more to give.  I was 3rd in my AG so I was happy about that.  Now I am offer searching for another half where I can chip away a little bit more from my pace.