Running with Resolve: January Runs

[SadieKate]

Congrats, Kat. Two races on the same day with any kind of break is tough. Warming back up ain't easy.

Jeez, Oak, I'd need a checklist to keep track of all that prep and post treatment. It'd be hard to get out the door with all that.

My first snowshoe race is in the bag. What a variety of terrain. They started us on a wide icy road that went up "The Wall" and then careened off onto fresh cut singletrack traversing a soft slope. Amazing amounts of the 4k loop, which we did twice, were freshly cut trail. They even cut steps up a ridge. Much of the course was absolute mashed potatoes. I perfected my windmill technique on the downhills in hopes I'd get a time bonus for artistic effort. Yeah. we got to go up that wall twice - 400+ feet gain in the first mile of each loop.

If we're reading the rules correctly, I also qualified for Nationals. Now, you have to realize that the top 5 in your age group qualify and there were only 5 of us. However, the next level of qualification was to finish within 130% of your age group winner's time. Since a slew of women in their 50s usually show up for races an in our areas and many are incredibly fast, I've been focusing on the 130% time goal. Fortunately, I've been training every weekend trying to keep insight the seriously fast woman who did win the age group (a former Nike-sponsored racer). I'm stoked that I met the 130% with minutes to spare. I know I would have qualified even if I'd DFL'd but I blasted through my hoped for time. I'm delirious.

Back to training now though. The next races are full 10Ks. You know how long it takes to run through 10 kilometers of mashed potatoes?

[Crankin]

Congrats.
That sounds like serious competition!

[skhill]

SadieKate, that sounds like so much fun. I've never been on snow shoes, but we spent a lot of christmas breaks CC skiing when I was growing up, and snowy woods are so beautiful. But I don't miss the cold!

As it was the coldest morning in 2 years, it was the treadmill, as expected. Some guy I don't know was giving me a hard time about running in VFFs, saying they would ruin my feet and leave me crippled, basically. Of course my 2 years in VFFs have been injury free and I'm running much faster and easier than before. Some people... Today's 5 miles put that pair of VFFs over 1000 miles, btw, making them an economical shoe as well.

[Catrin]

Congrats Sadie, and good luck! Oak, that is seriously good news that you made it over the mark you wanted to make and your neck is behaving...wooooo

Katluvr, that is very cool that you did back to back races like that. I need to think of you women when I am challenged by a couple of laps around the track!

[SadieKate]

Thanks, guys. Now I'm extra glad I focused on that time because I just found out that the 3rd overall women was in my age group. Honest to goodness, do all the fast old ladies live in Oregon? But I'm listed on the official qualified athletes page. Woohoo!

skhill, our race wasn't cold. I wish I'd worn a t-shirt. I didn't wear gaiters because I opted for wet feet instead of spontaneously combusting feet. I have to say running is so much more fun below 60F.

BTW, Catrin, I'd be challenged by laps around the track. I hate the track. It's all headology. If my brain isn't required to prevent up close and personal encounters with the ground, it b!thces and whines, and generally throws a temper tantrum. Basically, it focuses on every little ache and pain. Running on a track would be purgatory.

[Tri Girl]

Kat- NICE job!!! Impressive runs on those back-to-backs!!! The shorter stuff is always harder for me because you have to go so darn fast.

Oak- great job on your 14!

Sadie- LOVE the pictures! Congrats on your snowshoe race!!! OK- so not only did you have fun and enjoyed it- you qualified for Nationals. SWEET!!!!

Keep it going, ladies! Reading about your runs keeps me inspired!

[skhill]

4th day in a row on the treadmill. This frigid weather could go straight back to North Dakota and no one would much mind! I intended to go 5 miles today, but stopped at 4.5. Turns out that "Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart" by Camper van Beethoven runs exactly that long at the pace I was going! I'd just put the album on my mp3 player last night, and hadn't listened to it in ages. It was really strange, there was one point when I was running that I remembered so vividly listening to the same song nearly 25 years ago on my walkman, while riding in a van on a school trip heading to the Junior Classical League convention. Remembered the view out the window, the road we were on, the other people in the van, so very vividly. The mind (and memory) is such a wondrous and mysterious thing!

I'm very hopeful that I may actually get to run outside sometime next week. If the warmer weather doesn't bring rain, that is...

[Anelia]

Garmin HR and pace and Sportstracker.
I named my run Charity because I fed a cat who is homeless and lives on the steps that I run on