And just like that……

I’ve reached 1400 miles for the year!!

Thanks friends for all your encouragement through the year!  I wish you all a great wrap up to your 2012 year of running!!

Cutting it close

So it’s December 27^th and I haven’t run since December 23^rd.  That generally wouldn’t make a blog post because I usually don’t fret over an extra couple days rest – especially around the holidays.  But if you read my blog post around my 2012 mileage quest, you know that I’m hoping to finish off 2012 at 1400 miles.  It all seemed very feasible when I wrote that post.  And then I became one of the cool kids and picked up “the cold”.

After over a year with no colds or flu or any other ailment, I awoke on Christmas morning to the sore throat, sniffles, chest congestion, ear ache, fever, and general malaise.  Groovy.

Who invited them to Christmas??

What I find ironic is that I remained super healthy throughout the past year of the hardest training ever, my longest training runs, 4 marathons +, and of course, my longest race to date.  And now that I’m in more “relaxed” mode, BAM, I become a germ target.  So I guess I just need to find another 50 miler to train for.  Clearly, relaxing is my kryptonite. 

OK, I’m not really going to sign up for another 50 miler (right now), but I am still gunning for my 1400 miles!  11 miles to go…wish me luck J

Best gifts ever

2 beautiful handmade gifts by Mom –

Cool mosaic tile art runner dude and a beautiful winter wonderland quilt

Close up of mosaic runner - check out the sweat drops!!  Does Mom know her son-in-law or what!

Can’t beat gifts handmade with love.

Sticker Shock

I notice stickers of all kinds on the back of cars.  13.1, 26.2, 70.3, 140.6.....  While driving home from work the other day, I noticed a sticker on the car in front of me that confused me.  As I got closer, I saw the sticker read 104.9.  I started doing the math.  I don't do math in my head very well, so started to chalk up my inability to equate 104.9 to some athletic distance to my own mathematical challenge.

As I got even closer to the vehicle (don't worry, I wasn't THAT driver), I realized the sticker’s small print referred to 104.9.....the local radio station.

Talk about a one track mind!

Define….”Productivity”

This week, I took a trip to my VT workplace.  It’s been too long since I’ve made the trip and, other than missing my Scott & Bella terribly, I enjoy seeing my coworkers again.  This trip was not the most productive one, but that’s only if you define productive as strictly “getting work done”.  To alleviate a little bit of stress over not getting work done, I chose to define productive as strengthening the relationships with my coworkers and celebrating some holiday cheer as well.

I did a little pre-work for this trip.  Along with the usual packing for a few days in VT, I grabbed my Rubbermaid drop box I used for Stone Cat and turned it into a Christmas Cookie Container.  Yep, 42 of these gems jumped aboard for the long drive.  Special delivery folks!!

42 bags was the result of a full weekend of baking….lots and lots of baking.  I felt like one of Santa’s helpers as I handed out the little snack bags to the people I’ve worked with over the past 11 months.  And it made me smile.  The baking, the packaging, and the delivery all made me smile.   The recipients seemed to really enjoy them, which again, made me smile.

Another thing that made me smile was helping the Salvation Army with their Christmas gift distribution effort.  Dressed in layers, a group of us coworkers arrived at the Salvation Army warehouse and got right to work.  Some of us organized toys and clothes that just arrived and others took on the role of “shopper”, armed with family lists and bags/carriages.  Shoppers walked around the age category labeled tables and shelves and tried to find each item listed for each family member on each list.  We QC’d the boxes of gifts, compared the contents against the lists, and marked them as “done”.  We noticed some age groups were lighter than others in the toy department and also that clothing was scarce.



Some of the toys made us screech with “OMG, remember this?” or “Wow, I used to love this toy!”  Other times, conversations became more somber, as we realized just how sad it was that some families were in such need.  We witnessed one man who entered the warehouse with his young daughter (maybe 7 yrs old), explained to her that some kids don’t have what she has, etc. and then quietly left.  Big life lesson unfolded right in front of us.

At the end of this trip, I’m tired but satisfied.  I’m also energized and in much more of the Christmas spirit than I was before I headed north.  I love having created my little cookie gifts and giving them out, I loved the look of surprise when they realized I thought of them, and I loved volunteering at Salvation Army and doing something that wasn’t at all about me.

So what if my emails are behind and many to-do’s aren’t even started!  Productivity this week came in a very different form – relationships, holidays, and humility.  Emails and spreadsheets will still be there tomorrow.  They always are....

 

1400???

I’m the first person to say “it’s not all about the number”, but I’m human and competitive with myself.  I’ve scratched and crawled my way to try to reach 1000 miles in a calendar year.  I’ve also had a handful of years where I had very few miles to celebrate, while focused on other things.  Not that I place a lot of energy on that goal, but of course, by around mid-December of any given year, it suddenly taunts me.  This year is quite different in my goal and expectation.  With three marathons and one 50 miler under my belt for 2012 (and all the training miles that supported those endeavors), I’m flirting with my first 1400 mile year!

Gulp.  I’m humbled.  I really am.

Every year – every day – is different.  2012 has been phenomenal for me in that it provided a new palate for me to dabble with all sorts of new colors in the form of ultra training.  I ventured into miles never even dreamt of prior to this past summer.  And I didn’t break!  I embraced a combination of faster shorter distances married with longer (31 miles long enough??) slower distances.  Even with such a solid training cycle, I never lost respect for this new distance I was contemplating. 

I’m excited for the New Year – in fact, it’s my most favorite holiday of the year.  No, seriously, it is!  I love it more than any other holiday during the year.  I love wiping the board clean, I love reflecting over the past year (good or bad), and I love pondering over what the new year might bring.  I don’t really get into “New Year Resolutions”, but I do love this time of renewal.

Whether I make 1400 miles for the year or I end at 1398, it’s all good.  Although I won’t hurt myself trying to cram in the miles over the next couple of weeks, I will continue to run and ask my body to cooperate as it has been doing.  And maybe a little more.

Cheers to a great 2012, a running mileage milestone, a marathon PR, a distance PR.  And cheers to all of you for following along so far.  Stay tuned to see if the DailyMile turns to 1400 anytime soon!

And soon, it will be time to begin again J

Traction

Recently, I’ve been feeling like I’ve been losing traction.  Not just from a running perspective, but from a life perspective in general.  Last Saturday, we had an almost all day snow that, although only amounted to a trace amount on the ground, created havoc on the roads.  While out running errands of my own, I came across two bad accidents, with one closing the road completely. 

I had headed out earlier for a run to find this in our driveway –

Gotta love friends who run by our house and leave their mark!

Running was tough that morning.  I felt like I couldn’t get my footing.  I’m anxious to get back into my normal stride again, my normal speed, and my normal natural running “feel”, but found it frustrating because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get any traction.  It would probably have been easier with a foot of snow instead of an inch.

Work is another area of my life that has recently found me losing traction.  Our team has been down a person since October, there are a ton of projects competing for attention…thus explaining the feeling that every step forward means two back.

And of course, there’s Christmas.  Christmas has a way of taking something that should be special (whether one is religious or not) and turning it into a crazy, chaotic spending spree.  I don’t consider myself a Scrooge - I love certain things (i.e. music, family, baking) about Christmas, but in general, I’ve had a hard time gaining traction in that area for a number of years now.

Wednesday felt like the icing on the chaotic cake I’ve been stuffing my face with.  I had a company meeting in the city next to my office.  It should’ve taken approximately 10 minutes to get there.  It took a little over 45 minutes, with 3 lanes of traffic trying to merge off of the busy highway onto an exit ramp that was snarled by an accident.  Super.  Later, I left the meeting only to rejoin more chaos and additional accidents.  On a good note, I was not part of any of the accidents I crawled by.  Glass half full folks.

So what is one to do? 

How do we go from this –

To this –

During that ride home, I started to relax as I realized I do have control over many of the slippery slopes in my life.  Traction is gained in different ways.  Sometimes, it’s about getting better shoes or better tires.  For me, most times it's about slowing down to speed up.

This week, I chose “slowing down to speed up” by doing this –

Which included some much needed “fixing” of the hair –

Fun to go "straight" for a day!  Don't worry, the curls are already back in force!

Chased with some of this –

 While watching/listening to this –

I think it's working!!  Aaahh....

How do you gain/regain your traction?

There's a new/old marathon in town!

Almost 1 month since running my first 50 miler at Stonecat and I’m finally feeling back on track.  I’ve been taking it easy and really, didn’t have much choice.  My first run post Stonecat felt terrific, but my shins let out a huge scream the next day.  Duly noted.

Yesterday, I ran at lunch and had the best run.  THE.BEST.RUN.  It felt effortless, it felt recharging, it felt natural again.  To celebrate this wonderful return back to natural running, I’ve found a new/old marathon to sign up for!!

I’ve been stalking this race for a little while and am now ready to pull the trigger.  I love that it’s fairly close by and so “easy” in the logistics arena.  I love that I have never run this particular race.  This marathon takes place in the beautiful Kennebunk, Maine area and has an interesting history of having been run in the 1980’s (hence the new/old reference), then stopped in 1986, only to be revived 26 years later.  Coincidence that this 26.2 course is being brought back after 26 years?

The relief in establishing a goal is manifesting itself in organizing/sorting through my running clothes (no more shorts for this girl until the Spring!), in suddenly caring again about what I’m eating/drinking, and best of all, in creating a brand new training calendar!

Nothing like a goal marathon and a new training calendar to keep me out of the jelly rolls….

Longevity

What a fantastic weekend!  I had an impromptu visit from this chica and her little chic-ette, including take out dinner and frozen yogurt in sweats – perfect!  Next, had a great visit with Mom (been way too long), who also brought gifts - little does she know SHE'S the only gift I need.  Added a lovely dinner out to celebrate a big anniversary with friends.  Sprinkled in some running and other random productive things and voila – fantastic weekend!  The weekend also seemed to point towards what I’ve gravitated to as the theme of this post – longevity. 

Thanksgiving morning found Scott and me at the Feaster Five race that’s grown to over 10,000 participants!  They even had Matt Damon take part one year.  Scott’s cousin Frank (aka Rusty) and his two kids Justin and Kara came prepared to walk the 5K portion of the race.  Nephew Keith rocked the 5K and PR’d by 2 minutes – go Keith!  When Justin commented something to the effect of “this will be boring/slow/etc for you guys”, I reminded him that it’s not always about the speed.  We’ve met up to walk this Thanksgiving morning race for the last 3 years for both the healthy and the social aspects.  Although we all live fairly close to each other, we’re all busy.  That means we, like many, don’t get together as frequently as we might like.  This race has given us an opportunity to catch up over an hour or so, while walking….while participating…. Yay for familial longevity!

We also got to see some very interesting and creative participants:

Random people dressed the part!  Homemade "Mayflower"
that carried the family dog and dressed to the hilt as Pilgrims!

Our motley crew posing at the end of our Feaster Five jaunt –



Justin, Me, Scott, Kara, and Rusty - Keith was way too fast to be in this shot!

This morning, my head wanted to run 10 miles, but my body knew I needed to reign it in.  I’m still practicing patience and after this weekend, feeling like it’s starting to pay off.  Today’s run was without my watch or any expectations.   So on this cold, windy November morning, I listened once again to my body and feel extremely satisfied with my 4 miler.  I’m banking on patience to insure I completely heal my muscles and don’t invite any recurrence later, when I’m ready to resume training for….something.  Yay for personal health & fitness longevity!

Even better, my run rid me of the food hangover from last night’s surprise anniversary dinner we helped our friends Sue & Wynn celebrate!

Happy 20th anniversary Sue & Wynn!

Sue was completely surprised as each couple arrived unexpectedly at their house.  She kept uttering, “I’m so confused!”.  It was great!  There were 6 couples in total, and of course, the topic of length of marriage came up.  Interestingly, all 6 couples have been married for 20 years or longer – which now includes Sue & Wynn.  In a society where the divorce rate is so high, it struck us as pretty amazing that we've all been married for so long to the same person.  Yay for marital longevity!

Longevity is my goal in all aspects of my life.  I want to stay healthy in body and in mind!  I want to celebrate my 50^th (or maybe more) wedding anniversary with Scott!  I want to appreciate and savor my time with family and friends!  I want to be running forever and someday be winning my 80-89 age group!  I want it all!!!  But I can’t have it all today.  And that’s OK.  I expect to have a long life ahead of me so I definitely need to pace myself. 

After all, it’s not always about the speed.

Patience

I’ve been afraid to run.  After my first run post-Stone Cat, I experienced some sharp pain in my right shin-ish area.  It hurt to walk, let alone run.  I’ve overdosed on RICE and expressed my fear to Scott once or twice or twenty times….  I said it once before, “Aren’t we all just one step away from injury?” 

Now, I’m not injured.  I agree with others I’ve tapped that I just needed to recover a bit longer from my crazy 50 mile run.  But it’s scary to step back out.  Why?  Because I don’t want it to become an injury – especially an injury that might recur.  I don’t have any patience for that.

So, I’m using my patience in the form of…..baby steps.  It’s been hard to simply stop.  After logging so many miles over the summer and having my first ultra just about take over my every waking (and sleeping) thought, I’ve stopped.  I have no race goals; nothing.  I’ve been tempted to sign up for something, but then I heard Scott’s advice and have decided to heed it.  He advised, “Why rush it….just enjoy running without the pressure of a race”.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first run post-post-Stone Cat run.  And felt no pain.  This I can be patient with.

“Old people….”

Hey, we’ll all be old one day.  We’ll demand the world reacts to our beck and call.  We’ll look for the senior citizen discounts.  We may hit the gas instead of the brake.  We may forget stuff.  We’ll hopefully start winning our age groups in races.  These generalizations are not true of all elderly people of course, but I think our elderly family and friends sometimes get a bad wrap.  Today, while shopping at TJMaxx, I got a great shot in the arm thanks to a trio of elderly men.  Allow me to set the stage:

I approached the store and noticed the 3 elderly men (EM for short) hanging around their car, smoking, and yuckin’ it up while waiting for the store to open.  I was already amused.  I headed to the women’s clothing and they headed to the men’s.  Eventually, I ended up in the men’s department to buy Scott a few things.  Here’s a snippet of their loud conversation:

EM #1:         What, you don’t like the shirt?

EM #2:         Yeah, I like it OK…on someone else.

EM #3:         It’s OK, but it’s got all that bullshit on it.

To the response of EM #3, I couldn’t suppress a smile.  A girl working there also heard their conversation and smiled; our eyes met.  We both quietly cracked up.  Next exchange:

EM #1:         So you gonna get it?

EM #2:         Yeah, it’s Izod

EM #1:         Well, you gotta try it on (in a very insistent “mom-like” manner)

Finally, as I stood in line to check out, EM #2 was in the process of paying for his purchases.  EM #3 was standing in front of me in line.  Once EM #2 finished, he waved his friend EM #3 over, loudly yelling and motioning –

EM #2:         Hey, this register’s open now!

EM #3:         [turned to me and, with a smirk/shaking head] Old people….

I laughed my ass off.

As I left the store, the 3 men had again congregated by their car, now with their bags from TJMaxx.  Smoking, laughing, and probably comparing purchases, I found the whole situation so endearing that I had to steal a picture of them.  They reminded me so much of Scott’s dad with their bantering, smoking, swearing, and smart ass comments, that I felt like I got a visit from him through these strangers.

I love to see elderly people independently doing their thing, laughing, and most of all, not acting elderly.  We can’t stop time folks, but we can sure learn from those paving the way ahead of us.  That’s what I want to be like when I become “Old people…”

RIP Hostess

I can’t believe Hostess is going down!  No more Twinkies, Wonder Bread, or these delicious gems a friend once Fed Ex’d to me:

I even found them safely stored in the vending machine at my Vermont based office.  Sigh.

Rumor is that Twinkies will last forever.  Better stock up! 

I want a do-over!

So last week I was struggling over my first run post-Stone Cat.  Not struggling because I didn’t feel good, but struggling because I didn’t want to overwrite this –

But by Sunday morning, 7 days post ultra, I was ready and even excited to slip into my running shoes and head out.  Bella was excited too, since she had also gone 7 days without her fun, lead-less run.  I took one last look at my DailyMile “last run” of 50 miles, and replaced it with a last run of 5 miles. 

I survived the DailyMile mileage replacement just fine.  It’s the post-5 miles I’m having a bit of trouble with….

During and immediately after my run on Sunday, I felt totally fine.  By Monday afternoon, after having been sitting at my desk for awhile, I got up to go to the printer.  Owie!  Something felt very sharp and almost burning just above my outer ankle and up my outer calf - approximately 4-5 inches.  The area seemed a touch swollen and continued to rebel each time I flexed my foot in any way. 

 

Later, I limped to my car, then limped into the local market for a quick purchase, and finally limped into my house.  Scott wrapped it tightly and we headed/limped out to dinner.  The compression was helpful during that time that I couldn’t elevate or ice it.  But man did it hurt!  I was immediately discouraged that I had just done something pretty bad to my leg with a stupid run that could have waited.  Afterall, I have no races in my future, so no pressure to pick right up with training.

Since Monday, I’ve been indulging in lots of R.I.C.E. activity and trying to embrace this new found post-race inactivity.  Of course, because I can’t run at this moment, that’s all I want to do!!  I have a firm grasp on perspective though; I am not a few days prior to a big race and I don’t seem to be formally “injured”.  I've self diagnosed, with the help of my physiologically smarty-pants friends, that I’m probably experiencing an over-use strain and, as long as I take care of it properly now, it should work itself out soon enough and not return.  So far so good!

Moral of the story?  Next time, leave the 50 mile “last run” intact on DailyMaile for a reallllllyyyyy long time.  Maybe I can take back the 5 miler, if not to avoid the strain, but at least to milk the memory of that “last run" for as long as possible...

How can I run again?

That means I’ll have to overwrite this crazy “last run” on my DailyMile….

I’ll enjoy the view for one more day J

What next?

Not really sure.  I’ve perused my usual running sites, but honestly, I’m happily chilling post-50 mile experience.  My legs feel pretty decent, but I’m tired.  You know, the tiredness you feel when you’re feeling run down.  I was up at 4am with a sick puppy as well.  Poor baby.

So, lots of these (for me, not Bella) –

And a little break from all of this –

But not for too long!  I am anxious to try my legs out and will probably venture out over the weekend.  How can I not run when this came in the mail yesterday?

I’ve had a phenomenal running year and am taking my time to reflect upon and relish in the memory of 3 marathons, including a new PR, and of course my most recent adventure – Stone Cat 50 mile trail race – which, as my first ultra, ends up being a PR as well!   

I’m looking forward to a healthy and strong 2013 and hope you’ll follow along!

Stone Cat 50 Miler - Race Report

How does one succinctly articulate a race report that covers 50 miles (4 loops of 12.5 miles of trail) and 10 hours, 37 minutes, 55 seconds?  I guess we’re going to find out…..

Pre-Race:

Stone Cat starts in the dark, so all the cool kids were wearing head lamps.  Pretty awesome sight –

We had great weather from the beginning until the end, which found most runners in shorts, long sleeves, and gloves.  No chip timing and no dramatic start of the race.  A simple “GO!” did the trick.

Loop 1:

The first loop started out very slowly.  There was an immediate bottleneck of runners as we all found our footing on a single track trail.  Pitch dark.  I was immediately grateful that Scott had advised me to practice running trails in the dark, because it was far less intimidating on race day.  I was laser focused to avoid falling and to keep Scott in my sight. 

As the bottleneck lessened and we approached some double track trails and hills, the crowds thinned and we were able to fall into our pace.  It was still dark-ish, but getting lighter every minute.  Still, I was focused on footing and trying to find a good pace to settle into.  We struggled with pace most of the first loop, trying to reign in the 10’s and replace them with 12’s.  12’s were the goal; 10’s had no business crashing my Stone Cat party!



Garmin died at just shy 44 miles - not bad!

Pulling into the first check point to finish Loop 1 found me at 2:17.  I honestly did not have a particular time goal, but seeing this time left me ecstatic.  I had been terrified of not meeting the cutoff which would average out to 3 hours per loop.  But at the same time, I knew some of the faster miles were likely going to catch up with me.  Took a deep breath and started Loop 2…



Loop 2:

Surprisingly, Loop 2 felt the hardest for me.  I think that had to do with my own expectations.  I thought Loop 3 would be my hardest loop, so when Loop 2 surprised me with the feeling that it would never end….well, it started to grate on me.  Along with the faster miles in Loop 1, I was also dealing with a bout of nausea since almost the beginning.  I knew I couldn’t succumb to it (aka not eat) because that would’ve been my ticket to a DNF.  For sure.  So, I sucked it up, tried to take less GU and settled on more real food, like my pre-made jelly sandwiches.  That seemed to work, since I did finally finish Loop 2.  And without allowing myself to think about the miles ahead, I grabbed what I needed from my drop box and headed back out for Loop 3.

Loop 3:

After 2 loops of feeling nauseous, a couple handfuls of saltines and some Coke finally settled my stomach.  The 2 fuel/aid stations in the woods were at approximately miles 4 and 7-ish.  A final station was set up at the school, where we checked in at the completion of each loop.  The volunteers were fantastic!  They had the music cranked, were dressed up as clowns, and, as runners, knew how to support us.  As we approached each aid station, someone was already asking, “What can I fill your bottle with?” or “What do you need for food?”.  At one of the aid stations, they were cooking grill cheese sandwiches and pushing them like they were gold.  I’ve gotten through 46 years without having eaten a grilled cheese sandwich; I wasn’t starting now.  But I digress….

Heading into the school checkpoint, I experienced a minor personal celebration, “Scott, the next time we run this field, we’re DONE!”  I definitely took a bit more time at this last transition.  Grabbing one more jelly sandwich square, a handful of mini 3 Muskateer bars (thank you leftover Halloween candy!), and my headlamp (my safety net), we set off on our last loop.  OUR LAST LOOP!!!!

Loop 4 - The Victory Lap:

The fourth loop was fondly referred to throughout the day as “The Victory Lap” and victorious it was.  As happy as I was to be into the last loop, I was feeling the effects of….everything!  Fueling had been funky, pace had been wonky, and I found myself completely on auto-pilot by mile 45.  We continued to walk all hills, but we also walked a bit more in between hills as well.  Whatever I had to do to finish this thing.

Friends Dave & Linda appeared out of nowhere to snap this shot at mile ~44

At the last aid station (mile 45), one of the volunteers asked me in a sarcastic/funny tone, “What’s the headlamp for?”  I answered, “First time….”  He responded while pointing to his watch, “You’ve got no worries”.  It’s amazing how a short exchange like that was so helpful at that point in the day.

Somewhere in the 40’s, a girl we had been leap-frogging with for a bit, finally passed us for good.  But not before complimenting us, “You guys are such a great team.  I’ve watched you and it’s really cool”.  Wow, what a great thing to say and for me such a great thing to hear that, after 22 years of marriage, we ARE such a great team and that other people observe that. 

Finish:

Nothing but smiles and tears.  Not in any particular order :)

Post-Race:

Some questions I’ve received since completing this amazing race –

Would you do it again?  Absolutely; not sure when, but would love to improve upon my pace and my fueling.  And now that I have a “first time” under my belt, of course it would be cool to set a time goal.

Did you get bored?  I really didn’t.  I got tired – really tired.  But I was lucky to have Scott there every step of the way, got to see other friends sporadically on the course, and actually do OK with being quiet.  In fact, Scott and I really didn’t talk much. 

What did you eat/drink?  Jelly sandwich squares really worked for me.  Other than mini 3 Muskateer bars, some chocolate chip cookies, and saltines, I didn’t eat very much at all.  Of course, I took a handful of GU over the course, but due to the nausea, didn’t take as many as I normally would have.  Drinking was much easier.  I stayed with my tried and true grape Gatorade.  Later at the aid stations, I thoroughly enjoyed the Coke.  The aid station at mile 45 served ginger ale – for some reason, that was like dessert for me J  I never broke open my pretzels or my chicken soup or potatoes.  My homemade peanut butter cracker sandwiches were just too dry (note to self for next time).  I took one salt tablet just for insurance.

Did you eat like 4 pizzas when you finished?  Not a chance.  As proven during the race, my stomach was not all that happy.  Even after a marathon, I usually have to force myself to eat something.  And at that, I usually wait too long and then feel lousy.  It’s taken me a few days to eat normal again.

How do your legs feel?  My whole body hurt that night.  My legs – from carrying me 50 miles.  My back – from leaning forward on the hills.  My shoulders – from carrying my water bottle.  My compression tights and I have been inseparable for the first few days post-race, but I’m definitely feeling better the last couple of days.  Still feel a tiredness, but I don’t think it’s all race related.  Sunsets at 4:30ish are more exhausting than running 50 miles!

I’ll leave you with some post-race pictures –

Hmmm, I wonder what’s next…..but for now, thank you for your interest in my adventure and all your encouragement!!