Running away from August! Onward into September!

Not a whole lot of running for me, but what I have done has been top notch in quality. I went to southern Utah to ride the White Rim with my buddy whose TE initials are SK :D and then we went over to Fruita, Colorado for a day of running around on the trails there. This is my buddy enjoying Steve's trail. I love running in beautiful places.

I might do an adventure run either this Sunday or next weekend, to the top of Kings Peak, the highest point in Utah. It will all depend on the chances for t-storms!

Attachment 16704

Did 3 miles on Thursday on the treadmill before a really long day on my feet. Then on Friday, I ran outside with a coworker before leaving for the airport. Managed 3.5 miles before my feet screamed at me to stop. ;-)

Tomorrow is my next long run (11 miles) and the weather should be interesting. 58 F and 70% chance of rain.

I did that fifth mile repeat today (along with the first four, again). I drove up to the farmers' market in the rain, and did the repeats on the nearby trail, so I had a nice flat place to run - just a very slight incline on the outbound direction. I ran pretty even splits, which made me happy.

It's a magnificent morning here, 51F with a cloudless sky when I went out running. I started with mittens on, then took them off, then put them back on, etc. 6 miles took me through part of the university campus, so I had the fun of effortlessly passing runners half my age. Also got passed by runners my age or older too. There were a lot of us out there before 7 am!

I had a kind of insight yesterday. Or maybe a "duh" moment. About how to approach Columbus.

All along I'd been thinking I'd just show up and have a good time since it's neither a goal race nor part of a training plan.

But what it is, is an opportunity to hunt for my current limit without penalty. I can go out a little harder than I think is really wise. Maybe I set a PR. Maybe I blow up and have to jog or walk the last two or three miles, and learn what it feels like to approach blowing up. Either way, it's all good.

skhill, the mittens on/off is why I love my convertible gloves. http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodHI_90299.html I do find that I have to keep a finger hooked in the mitt so it doesn't flap around if I slip them off, but that's no big deal - my hands cool off and the one finger gets enough ventilation.

Hellish run yesterday. I managed the full 11 miles (more like 11.5 but I was too cold to walk at the end so I just kept running).

It started out nice - 58F and cloudy. It was windy (had to put my head-down and drive into the gusts on occasion) but it was at least dry and I was perfectly comfortable. At about mile 5, the rain came. Sideways, down pours, crazy gusts, branches and sticks banging into me....and I can only image what all those who saw me out thought about the crazy lady wearing only a t-shirt in this weather! I was seriously considering calling my husband to come pick me up (and bring a big towel) but when I was really critical about how I felt, I was just unhappy...I was not actually that cold. I kept going. Then at about mile 9 - I started to get really cold. My arms felt like ice blocks and I couldn't use my fingers at all. I was still soaked, my feet were sloshing and I was flat out miserable. If I thought I could have operated my phone, I would have dialed it in but since I couldn't, I figured it would be faster to just keep going.

Made it home, took a hot shower and then hobbled around all afternoon and into the evening. I was not prepared to have been running for 2 hours and 40 minutes and my legs/feet were not happy with me.

I guess that's what I get for complaining about the heat the previous week, huh?!

So for future reference, how would one dress for that kind of weather? A jacket would have been too warm for all but the last couple of miles, a light wool jersey would have been horribly water-logged. I should have worn my winter shoes (more water resistant) had I been planning ahead but I don't know how I should have dressed my upper body. Oh, my legs were fine - capri's were the right choice there...

Oh, GLC, sorry you had a nasty run. Hopefully you are feeling better today.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GLC1968

So for future reference, how would one dress for that kind of weather?

---

I have a super duper light rain jacket that I either stick in my pack (if I am going really far) or simply tie around my waist if I don't have a pack. It's not a full-on shell, but it has saved me more than once. I hatehatehate running in the rain (give me snow any day over rain!) but when I do (or know that there is a good chance that I could get caught in it), I will wear wool socks (they do very well when wet!) and usually a thin, short-sleeved wool t-shirt. If it's cold enough for a long sleeved wool shirt (again, very light), then it's usually snowing where I live :D I seem to do OK with the short sleeves and the light rain coat.

Here is the coat I have. Not cheap but I'd buy one again in a heartbeat. You might be able to find it on Amazon or something like that:

http://www.goreapparel.com/gore-runn...efault,pd.html

I adore every single piece of Gore running wear that I own. They totally have it dialed. I absolutely love this jacket.

BUT! Your next run will be much better. I am sure of it!

Ugh GLC. That sounds awful.

Personally when I started yesterday it was 57 and cloudy, and it stayed that way through my whole run, and I never so much as rolled down my arm warmers or felt my gloves were overly warm. You and I are on different planes when it comes to hypothermia... but I can't see running in those conditions without being able to add and remove at least a hat and probably an outer layer too. I'd start with a microweight wool base layer under a long sleeve technical top ... of which my favorite one is also long discontinued.

I did poke around the internets this morning looking for the jacket Yellow linked to and found a site in the UK that still has them, but only in black (plus one XL in blue). Not for me, not in black, but just for reference, are they true to size? From Gore's US size chart it looks like I should take a medium, where I take a small in most tops.

Thanks Yellow and Oak. I have a local friend who is a Gore rep, so I'm going to send her that link and ask her if she knows of anywhere I can get myself one of those!

I was wearing a baseball style running hat which successfully kept the rain out of my eyes/face and I'm sure it kept me a bit warmer. I was also wearing wool socks (the only socks I ever wear running!), so at least my feet survived, despite the wet. I was worried about sloughing off all my skin, but they were fine once they dried out. Go wool!

Sounds like I now have a reason to buy more wool t's! I think I can handle wool t's and a light jacket until winter gets here. I'm ok with running in the rain, but typically if it's raining here, it's quite a bit colder than it was on Sunday and I think that's what threw me.

Call me crazy, but I do not mind running in the rain at all. I have a super light wool l/s zip neck for days like that. Now that being said, I have not run 11.5 miles in rain like that. hmmm...

Well today was our last run before our race on Saturday. I really am going in just to finish. I am hoping for 4 hours, it is somewhere between 26 and 27k, so 16-17 miles, rough terrain, all single track. I will be trudging for sure and remaining of cookies.

Run when you can, walk when you have to, crawl when you must!

I will report back after the race. Wish me luck. Please send good trail karma between 10am and 2pm est on Saturday.

Good luck rnrgirl! Have fun!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rocknrollgirl

Please send good trail karma between 10am and 2pm est on Saturday.

---

Trail happy karma coming your way. Have a good time and eat some cookies for me! ;-)

Ooooooo, RnR. Have a great race. I will carb up on some cookies for you this week :) TRUDGE ON!

Oak, the Gore jacket is true to size. I pretty much always wear a small and it is a small and fits perfectly. I also have this one, which I find too warm for running but I have worn it on colder, windy-er days when skate skiing. I luv it too.

http://www.goreapparel.com/gore-runn...vid=xsellpdprp

Yeah, I have a sh!t ton of jackets. :o

As for running, I went for a run in the mountains after work this evening and someone flipped the autumn switch over the last day or so. Wow. Absolutely stunning colors--aspens, maples, mountain ash, all kinds of yellow and orange and red and green going on. I am tired and really needed a rest day (haven't had one in a week), but knowing it's supposed to rain (snow in the mts) tomorrow and figuring that it was probably pretty lovely up there, I just had to go. Didn't have my camera. Stupid move. I hope the weather coming in doesn't put out that fire of color--I want to go see it again over the weekend.

Yellow - I just ordered that one off Amazon (previous year, for cheap)! Good to hear that it's slightly heavier since I just discovered that I already have a super lightweight water resistant jacket from Nike that I've never worn. It would have been perfect for Sunday's conditions had I thought to bring it with me! duh. :o

Next run will be tonight...but late, so I'll probably have to treadmill it. Poo.

Today was going to be 7 miles, but at 3.5 a piece of sidewalk reached up and tripped me. It's not too bad, some road rash on my left forearm and right palm, and a massive bruise coming up on my left hip. It happened near a firehouse, so I walked over there and checked that I was only oozing a little blood, not dripping. Since nothing was broken, I ran on home from there (the cute young paramedic suggested I call someone for a ride but it was 6:30 am and that's not nice). Ended up running about 5 miles. I was expecting my hip to be barking on my bike ride to work a little later, but that was fine; it was the scraped palm that was an issue. I'm sure everything will be more sore tomorrow...

Earlier on, I'd run in to a team for the upcoming Bourbon Chase, out for a group run in their matching team shirts. It's a 200 mile relay, usually teams of 12. Pretty cool. Someday I hope to be able to be a last minute replacement for an injured runner-- that's the bargain way to participate!

I hate to taper...just sayin'........

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rocknrollgirl

I hate to taper...just sayin'........

---

LOL! I love the taper. Usually when I get there I am so tired that I am ecstatic about the volume reduction. :p

skhill, hopefully you are feeling OK after that fall! I will never forget the time I fell years ago, on a sidewalk: I looked at the sidewalk pothole, told myself I would not step in it, and what do you think I did? Yep, stepped in it, and broke my foot (I knew better than to look at where I did NOT want to go)! I stick to falls on the trail now (generally softer). I haven't broken anything since the sidewalk incident (although I have torn a few things, but we won't talk about that).

I really wanted to go for a bike ride today but it was raining/snowing so I decided a run would be better. I went up high to try to get out of the rain and into all snow. The snow ended up stopping about 10 minutes in, so the rest of the run was slosh-splash-grin. The sun even peeked out a little. The trail was actually quite good, since it was mostly covered with leaves (and a little snow in places). Aaaaaaand I saw 0 people. Still lots of fall color. Quite a lovely evening, about 8 miles.

I hate to taper too.

Funny thing after my fall, my bruised hip doesn't hurt walking or on the bike, but only when running. I ran anyway today, but took it easy, just 6 miles.

My Garmin went screwy though, somehow missed about a quarter mile. The weird thing is that it happened around the spot where we had our neighborhood monthly street party last night. The only other time it's done this before was the morning after the August edition. I have no idea why.

Well. I survived. It was brutal. The hardest race we have ever done. I told a friend last night that we pushed the limit and it pushed back.

17.2 miles. Of that 17.2 miles there was only about a mile total that was actually runable. The course was very hill and very technical. Rock, rocks and more rocks. For some reason, I was having trouble getting gels or anything else semi-solid down. I had a liter or sports drink in my pack and that went down fine. I managed two gels for 4.5 hours and lots of coke. I was not nauseous, they just would not go down. Probably because there was no zone 2. Does that make sense? We were pegged the entire time because of the terrain.

Anyhoo, I passed my hubs on his way back from AS#2, and we figured he was at that time, about 10 miles in, around 20 mins ahead. That was exactly what we thought. I figured by the time the race was over he would be 40 mins or so in front.

At 12 miles they took us up a wall, super steep. Right after that I lost my "stuff' for a bit. I was really loopy and stumbly, so I just stopped running ( which was laughable to begin with) and walked as fast as I could. I was so light headed I was paranoid about going down and cracking my skull.

At 14 miles I forced a gel and kept it down. Three miles to go. Hubs will be waiting, and I know he will take care of me when I get to the end. At 15 miles I am trudging up a hill and I look up and there is a guy in the middle of the trail with his hands on his knees bent over. Just finished barfing. I look again...My hubs! Oh nooooooo. He was a mess. He had been vomiting for 4 miles. Even water came right back up.

So now even though I felt like crap, I had to get him out. So I walked him the last two miles. I could see his quads just spasm in cramps. He had to sit down multiple times and put his head between his knees. Now I am 5'3" and he is 6'6" and 220 pounds. If he goes down I am screwed. I kept him going and we walked it out together. Got him across the finish line asked for medical and they replied, " medical?, we do not have medical. Search and rescue is here, maybe they can help."

WHAT? on a course like this no medical? So I got the search and rescue guys and they took his vitals and we got a coke down him. Got him cleaned up and changed. More coke and some water. Got clean clothes on, and got in the car and drove 2 hours home. I got some chicken soup down him last night and he rallied, polished off half a bag of chips and went to bed.

So we are both very sore today and tired, but no injuries, which is a miracle. It was the hardest race mentally I have ever done. I have never wanted to just stop before. Not in any adventure races or in both 1/2 irons. I think because you could not get into a pace and relax. It was exhausting. The North Face Challenge was tough, this was just brutal. Not doing this one again.

We have no idea what happened to him. He was fine until mile 12. I checked his hydration pack. He drank 1.5 liters of sports drink. He said he drank at the aid stations, took his S-caps for salt. No idea. He feels really bad about it, but I told him heck, it happens to everyone eventually. He is a big guy and has lots of surface area so it is harder for him with sweat loss than us smaller folks.

My goal today is to move enough to not freeze in place! And eat!

That sounds just dangerous. I hope your husband feels better.
No medical help? I wonder what the sponsors were thinking? Definitely not about liability!

RnR,
OMG!Wow!
Sorry it was so a rough race but congrats on not only finishing but helping your hubby!
Hope you feel better soon! (and your hubby!)
K

Wow, RnR. I thought about you a lot yesterday. I am glad everyone is OK now.

I wouldn't do that event again either.

I find myself getting a bit frustrated with the trail racing world lately. Seems like there is this notion that brutal and gnarly is somehow better, desirable even. Maybe for some folks, but I think most of us want to challenge ourselves but enjoy the experience, enjoy being out in nature, and enjoy meeting other people who love to do the same. Creating hellish courses and not providing adequate medical support is, to me, just not something that facilitates that. I get so tired of the thought/image/idea that something has to be super brutal and difficult in order for its participants to feel like badasses when they are done. I am sure that many folks who do events like this feel great when they finish and like they have accomplished something very difficult and that 99.9% of the people in the world will never do but, you know what? I'd rather go for a nice run on a trail that I can actually run and not finish the day feeling like I've been run over by a herd of stampeding bison. I just don't get this whole idea that you need to suffer greatly. Is it a "keeping up with the Joneses" kind of thing? The more suffering the better person you are? I see this a lot in some of the races I do, where I choose the shorter distance. At many of these events, there is a palpable vibe that since you didn't do the longest distance, you really aren't a real ultrarunner. To that I say bullsh!t. OK, I will stop now. Rant over.

Congratulations on finishing. Now eat some cookies and rest! :p

Yellow,
I am glad that someone has finally said out loud what we have been feeling for a few years.

As far as the race yesterday, they ran us down steep hills for 3 miles only to turn us around and run us right back up. Not necessary, they did it just to increase the gnar factor. they tout this race as the toughest in the area. I agree, when challenge crosses over into absolute misery, count me out.

As far as the race attitude, yep we are getting that too. People around here treat me like I have like I have something wrong with me because I do not want to do a full IM. I trained for one last summer and pulled out with 4 weeks to go because I was miserable. If I never do one, does that make me less of a triathlete? Why does that have to be the end all and be all?

Same thing yesterday. All the runners that gasped in shock when I said I never want to run a marathon. My hubs and are trying to keep the training and racing in balance with a normal healthy life. This past year, we backed it down a notch and did the things that made us happy. We had zero injuries, went on 3 vacations and had a ton of fun. Not so crazy me thinks.

I am super happy for all of my endurance buddies. Will support in any way I can, but for right now, we are doing what we can handle.

If that makes me less of a badass, so be it. I am still a ninja!

And no cookies today. Today is about chips:)

I didn't race at all this season because I wanted to have fun and racing wasn't fun. We had a blast on our vacation in Crested Butte and I'm loving mountain biking right now. I like doing things with Thom. It's all about finding that balance. Off to mountain bike Diablo...

Veronica


PS You're both bada$$es to me! :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Veronica

I didn't race at all this season because I wanted to have fun and racing wasn't fun. We had a blast on our vacation in Crested Butte and I'm loving mountain biking right now. I like doing things with Thom. It's all about finding that balance. Off to mountain bike Diablo...

Veronica


PS You're both bada$$es to me! :D

---

My a$$ feels pretty bad right now:) AND I have a new mt bike on the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah, yes.
This is why I have never competed. At a certain point in my life, I think I would have done quite well, luckily, I had too many other things to do at that time. I feel this pressure at my gym, where the other people who take my boot camp class all compete, regularly, in triathalons and other running stuff. I help them with bike advice, but I steadfastly tell them I have no interest in joining them. Heck, we are all ninjas compared to the general population. I'm not against competition, but more the vibe that Rocknroll is describing.
Balance is good. Heck, I almost ruined my health at age 35, from teaching too many classes at the gym, so I kind of knew after that, that balance was the key for me.

RnR - I'm sorry that was so rough, but good for you for toughing it out (and helping your hubs!). Mental training is sometimes the best things we get out of these adventures!

I totally agree with you and the others about not wanting to 'go long' so to speak. I'm not even interested in a 1/2 Iron because at my speed, I'd be out there just too long for my liking. There are way too many other things I like to do with my life - I have zero desire to train for something like and IM or a marathon to the exclusion of all else. 1/2 marathons and OLY's are as long as I'll go. I'm fine with only feeling like a badass even if no one else ever thinks I am one! ;-)

I did think of you yesterday - I got dumped on again on my run (pouring rain, howling winds and about 59F) but this time I was prepared with the right clothing. I was 100% soaked through by the end (I think I weighed an additional 10 lbs!) but I wasn't freezing and I was only marginally miserable and only for the last 1/2 mile or so. I actually managed to do 12 miles 5 minutes faster than I ran the 11 miles last week!

Oh, man RnR. You are a total bad@ss. But yeah, no medical, wtf? Glad you and hubby are okay.

I hear you on the one-upmanship. Me, I'm perfectly fine never contemplating anything longer than 26.2, and not doing even more than one or at most two of those a year. If that makes me a lazy dilettante, so be it. :p It sure seems like it does, in some crowds, but it really doesn't bother me. (Also, it's probably true that since AFAIK longer races are trail races, and I don't run trails at all, it's easy for me to say no.)

I got bogged down in racing and football today. :rolleyes: I don't really mind taking the day off, I've been running pretty hard the last couple of weeks and it's been really good. Hilly 32-mile weeks at an average right at 10mm. I got out for a little ride yesterday, so by rights I should run today, but ... MotoGP in the morning, Bengals vs Browns right now, and then it'll be too close to dark ... :rolleyes:

I'm in pain. Saturday's run really did a number on my bad foot. I don't know why Saturday - if 12 miles was just too far or if it was the fact that I did it a little faster than usual, but holy cow, I had a huge ball of swelling around the area where I had surgery yesterday. It looked like an alien had built a nest in my foot or something because it was so localized to just the one previously injured joint. Even my ankle, toes and forefoot were not swollen! I could barely walk at all on Sunday. I did ice and elevate it on Sunday evening but it didn't appear to help at all.

I was running for a shorter period of time than the previous week, too...so it wasn't that. There was no pain WHILE running, either. I'm just glad that this coming weekend is only 8 miles.

Today it's a little improved, but still quite sore and somewhat swollen. Luckily, my next run isn't scheduled until tomorrow so hopefully it'll recover by then.

Ow GLC. That stinks. Hope it heals quick.

I did a pretty gnarly 12 miler today, up to the very top of the ridge and back around in a sort of lollipop route. There's a hill about a mile from my house that I don't often run in the returning direction because it's a lot to tackle on tired legs. Today, the hills I'd already done made that one feel like a blip. I sailed up it. Feeling good. :)