Hey Everyone! Nice dirty talk! Didn't bother me a bit. Greg, feeling out of the loop chatting about peri-whatever? No doubt. I'm clueless. 26.2 in the Wiss Yesterday on the trails. Feeling very fit. I'll check back in with more chat in a bit. Trying to serve my wife today on Mother's day, not lot's of time.
Hey Everyone! Nice dirty talk! Didn't bother me a bit. Greg, feeling out of the loop chatting about peri-whatever?
No doubt. I'm clueless.
26.2 in the Wiss Yesterday on the trails. Feeling very fit. I'll check back in with more chat in a bit. Trying to serve my wife today on Mother's day, not lot's of time.
"Run slowly, run daily, drink in moderation, and don't eat like a pig" Dr. Ernst Van Aaken. Sorry ultrasteve.
Happy
Hey Everyone! Nice dirty talk! Didn't bother me a bit. Greg, feeling out of the loop chatting about peri-whatever? Hanging out here in Stowe watching the sun come out, the rain come in, the sun come out....you get the idea. So lets set some goals!!! How many miles each day? each week? each month? I usually set weekly mileage goals and then break it down to daily goals. Like this week I'd like to hit 80 miles including a 50k race on Saturday. If I end up in the 70's I'll be happy. The 50k is the Northface Endurance Challange and very hilly so we'll see how I feel on Sunday. I just made Sunday 12m-that may take a while if my quads are sore :-) Psych class is done-woohoo! I'm looking at a pre-calculas class for the summer. It's a pre-req for physics. ugh! Things are goign well with Jack. We're going to the Northface race together. Otherwise, it's the usual busyness. Both boys are playing lacrosse and my oldest is playing baseball too. I'll let you know how Saturday goes.....cheers! Kelly
Hanging out here in Stowe watching the sun come out, the rain come in, the sun come out....you get the idea.
So lets set some goals!!! How many miles each day? each week? each month? I usually set weekly mileage goals and then break it down to daily goals. Like this week I'd like to hit 80 miles including a 50k race on Saturday. If I end up in the 70's I'll be happy. The 50k is the Northface Endurance Challange and very hilly so we'll see how I feel on Sunday. I just made Sunday 12m-that may take a while if my quads are sore :-)
Psych class is done-woohoo! I'm looking at a pre-calculas class for the summer. It's a pre-req for physics. ugh!
Things are goign well with Jack. We're going to the Northface race together.
Otherwise, it's the usual busyness. Both boys are playing lacrosse and my oldest is playing baseball too.
I'll let you know how Saturday goes.....cheers!
Kelly
Hi Kelly - How did your 50K race go?
It sounds like your training is going very well and that you are once again able to build up your mileage week after week. Aren't you preparing for another 100miler? Which one and when is it?
I'ld love to hear more!!
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This race was very special to me as my husband along with our 12 and 14 years old sons were manning aids station 2. This was David's gift to me - taking a day off and heading out there to celebrate mother's day with me in the woods. Hopefully the boys learned something about giving to others - the volunteering aspect. Without a doubt they saw and experienced something they have never seen before; those are the kind of things that may inspire them in ways that we aren't in control of.
Their aid station was placed at the 10 mile point of the out and back course. The runners would return to the aid station on the way back after having run 30 miles. Some runners were completing 30 miles (not 40) and turned around either at the 15 mile aid station or they continued to the 20 mile turn around and then finished the race at the 30 mile aid station, which was my husband's, and their family members would pick them up there. It created an exciting atmosphere at the aid station when people would come and go to catch a glimps of their loved one as they passed through on their run.
Long before the first aid station at 5 miles I had fallen into running with Evelyn and Charlie, Evelyn was a Marathon Maniac who was running her 50th Marathon in 50 different states (she had missed the Myrtle Beach Marathon in February due to snow - and SC was her last state to complete a marathon in.) with us; she had come down from Illinois to do this before her 50th birthday, which is today, May 10. Happy birthday Evelyn!! She was an incredibly humble and inspiring person to run with.
Charlie and I ended up running the entire 40 miles together. Charlie is the essence of the word "friendly" - he was very good company and we had small talk going almost all the way. When we had completed 30 miles and left my husband and kid's aid station we still had 10 miles to complete; we were tired and knew that we were going to need to dig into some resources in order to keep the steam up. Well, the small talk was replaced by a mutual focus on keeping up a good solid pace and effort while making sure we didn't make any wrong turns. We had already wasted 1/2 hour early in the day by getting off the track for a while. We knew we didn't want to repeat that.
We took turns leading and ran some solid stretches of the mostly single track trail. I think we surprised ourselves with how much we were able to dig in. My Garmin ran out of power after 38 point some miles so I lost track of our pace and how far we were from the finish. However, Charlie still had a watch so we knew how many hours and minutes we had been out there. We just stayed put with our best effort, running as much as possible and walking as fast as we could when not running.
At the 20 mile turn around point the clock showed 5 hrs and 58 minutes when we left. We finished in 11 hrs and 35 minutes. So we actually ran negative splits - the last half of the race a little faster than the first. However, we actually waster 1/2 hour on the way out due to runnning off course, so it works out pretty close to 5.5 hours for each half. I am satisfied with this result. I don't know why I can't run a little faster than that - I had hoped to be able to do 4 miles per hour for the duration of the event but it slipped. The course wasn't as hilly as the one we did 3 weeks ago but it was a trail that is not used much. Many parts of the trail were covered in weeds, vines and shrubbery that spread in from the sides. The poison ivy and much more brushed on our legs all day long. I wished I had put tights on but I was wearing shorts. I used to be very allergic to poison ivy so we will see in the next few days if my skin breaks out. The tall weeds and the many stumps and vines made it a little difficult to run many parts of the trail. I fell twice and stumbled many times. None of my falls were bad. Charlie fell once and one time he stumbled and ran into a tree- he reached out with his hands and prevented his head from slamming into the tree trunk. Evelyn fell once before she turned around at the 15 mile aid station - after that, we don't know what happened with her. She was hopefully accompanied by Jim from California who had joined our little group shortly before we reached the 15 mile mark. He was also doing 50K.
The weather was dreamy - cool in the morning, stayed in the 70s for a high, no humidity; out there on the trail I thought of how much it seemed like I was in California - the air was so fresh and the sky so blue. There were several gorgeous lakes and one large swamp with the most incredible pond irises in full bloom. I am glad the alligators and snakes didn't want to get up on the board walk to taste our dirty legs and feet as we slapped across. The course was incredibly beautiful - I loved every moment of it and all the surprises it offered.
I wish you guys could have been there with me.
under a rock
Ultrachick
Congrats Flower on your race!! Bummer about getting off track for half an hour but it looks like you didn't let it get you down and out which is fabulous!! Very cool-more 40 milers than 50k's.
My race went well too-I'm very pleased with how I did. I haven't done this race before and it's been a while since my last 50k. I went in to this to be with Jack, have fun, see some friends and as a training run for my next race-a 50m in 3 weeks. The course had over 9000' of up and down which it's still randomly snowing here so I don't have that much of vertical miles in yet this year.
The day wasn't bad-one little sprinkle and some thunder in the distance in the morning but then the sun started to come out and warm up the day. The course was mostly single track with some good stretches of loose rock to run through, similar to Flower's race with over grown bushes making fallen down trees hard to see until you were right on top of them. There were some sweet stretches to of jeep trail and at the end through some pine trees so it was soft and downhill to boot so it was nice cruisin'.
I finished in 6:32, placing 51st overall out of 2005 starters, 8th out of 47 women and 3rd in the 40's age group. I was around 45 min behind the first woman and about 15 min behind the first 40's woman which I'll take. This race was a total barometer for me and for how my training is going and considering I haven't done any official speed work-imagine how a little speed work could help! I hired a nutritionist to help me with eating-not just for races but for everyday. I had gained about 3-4 pounds back in February and couldn't get rid of it-with her help I've lost what I gained and a couple more so i would like to think that being a little lighter has helped improve my VO2 which means running faster with less work. Best part too-I finished before Jack! He ran the 50m race that started 2 hours earlier and i was passed by the guys who finished 3rd,4th and 5th. He finished about 10min after me in 7th place overall, first in the 50's age group and about 20 min faster than last year which he's happy with.
There's my mini race report! I got a new picture of me with Dean Karnazes to post and it was neat to chat with him for a minute.
Good job on the trails Greg! and I'm sure you're wife appreciated the extra attention on Mother's Day-you have a busy household.
Hope everyone else had a good weekend! Kelly
Congratulations, Flower and Kelly, on a couple of great races! Very awesome, Flower, that you have completed more 40 milers than 50ks.
We don't have that kind of diversity close enough to us out here. As it is, we have to drive a minimum of 3-4 hours one way to get to any race in which we want to participate. Makes it a tad expensive to go to very many.
Kelly - I've contemplated hiring a nutritionist for a short while. Although I try, I don't think I'm very good at eating the right amounts of the right foods. Telling me to eat x-number of grams of carbs, protein, or calories is like me trying to do calculus. Just doesn't computer. Now telling me to eat x-food x-number of times a week, etc., that computes. I've thought of contacting someone at the local university who is studying to be a nutritionist. We could both learn!
10 miles on the trails this weekend, followed by helping my dad get a recliner from a co-worker, then about 3 hrs of yard work yesterday. Not a real exciting weekend, but good all the same.
Later ~
Leslie Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain -------------
Trail Runner Nation
Sally McCrae-Choose Strong
Bare Performance
Flower, your run with your family sounds great. I'll be doing something similar in June on Father's day in WV.
Kelly- you just kick ass and inspire me. Your life is pretty full as well if I recall.
Leslie, gearing up for something? Losing motivation? Read some good trail running books or running stories and set a goal. Love watching you grow. You're the anchor around here.
Everyone sounds good. Keep plugging. We've got a good year ahead of us. I'm excited to log some serious attempts this year. Later.
Thanks for the info, Buddo. I definitely need to increase my veggies and fruits, and mostly decrease my carbs. And keep my hands out of the candy bowl at work. It's become a bad habit. Alcohol isn't a problem as I rarely ever drink. Maybe a glass of wine in a month. I don't know why, but at this new job I find myself wanting to munch a lot.
In about a week I start gearing up for SOB on July 10. Although I've enjoyed my lax time, I'm ready to get going again. My running buddy has found some new running ground in Trinidad (that would be CA), so I'll be going out there for the first time this weekend. It'll be nice to run someplace new. The Forest is definitely getting tiresome.
Okay - Off to look at some race web sites.
Yeah, I know I should be in bed but not having the greatest night so thought I take a peak at some happy chatting.
Leslie-I'm not counting too much. The nutritionist I'm working with is Meredith Terranova and she lives in Texas. I forget what her credentials but she has some and she runs ultras. She's helped some other running friends and she doesn't preach anything too radical unless you consider natural, real food total craziness.
She's got me on 1600 calories a day but I know I'm eating a bit more than that with my increased miles. Breakfast and lunch are my biggest meals at 450 calories each and dinner the smallest at 400 with two snacks of 200 each in the morning and afternoon. One change is that any bread I have (like a sandwich) can't be more than 160 calories so I've switched to the Pepperidge Farm mini slices at 70 calories each. No more carbs like pasta or potatoes at dinner. I can have couscous, orzo-no more than 1/2 cup servings or one whole wheat dinner roll. It's easier for me just to have lean meat (fish and chicken) with salad and veggies for dinner. She gave a few ideas for each meal-always a combo of protein and carbs. I no longer snack on the Kashi TLC crackers while making dinner-it's baby carrots and hummus!
Going the no/less bread route has been really helpful in dropping some weight and just helping my head to feel clearer.
Yo! to Philly! Awesome Greg!!!! I'm so happy for you! Dropping some pounds yourself, you talking 7 min/mile pace? Holy Cow! I can barely do that on a treadmill! Yeah, I have a busy household too and I love my boys but they don't always step up to the plate the way I'd like them too at times. Tonight, my oldest was giving me grief about being a nag. Maybe my lap top and the power cord to the XBox should disappear this week. I realize it's the age and that their frontal lobes are not completely developed but I asked for the lawn to be mowed last week and it never got done....
Tomorrow is another day and maybe we'll have classical music on the radio for the half hour ride to lacrosse practice.... :-)
I think I need to pull a couple of plugs on some WOW (World of Warcraft) games myself; yesterday, we received an email from a Math Teacher claiming she caught one of my sons copying some results off the board and trying to pass them on as completed work. His story to us is different. He says she was in the Hall Way talking to another teacher while he completed the last question which he had forgotten to do ahead of time. How can she stand in the hall way and then come back and claim that she caught him copying? Something is fishy in that story. My son doesn't want me to contact her because he is afraid to get stronger repercussions than the zero she gave him for homework. This is a first!
What would you do?
Congratulations on loosing weight Kelly and Buddo. Leslie, you'll find a way to do it too. It wouldn't hurt if I lost a few pounds myself but it's been almost 10 years since I dropped the 30 pounds that I really needed to drop at that time and my weight has been relatively stable since then. I don't eat much in terms of refined carbs and I do think that's a good way to help control one's weight. I recommend reading the book "Protein Power" in order to better understand what refined carbs do in your body and why they make us fat. The book is written by two MDs, they are husband and wife, last name is Eade or Eades.
____
Over night and into the morning I have had some swelling of my feet, ankles, hands, and face. I am not sure what is going on. I don't know if I have had too much salt yesterday or if I have been drinking too little or both? Does any of you have any clue? Remember I ran 40 miles in 75 degree weather for 11.5 hours Sunday - my body is sore and trying to recover. I wish I knew what to do to get rid of the swelling.
Glad to see everyone is having a good time running.
I did 6 miles in the pouring rain with a friend this morning. We actually did just over a mile in the pouring rain then thunder started so we headed back to the visitor center to wait for it to blow over. We really didn't want to be on top of the mountain in a thunderstorm. We waited about 30 mins with no thunder and headed back up the mountain and had a blast. The run up was slow and tough but the reward of running down it was well worth it. Big grins and lots of laughing as we dodged trees, rocks, and roots. I wish all my runs could be as much fun. It's like the rain just washed away all the grime of real life for a bit and let us act like kids for an hour.
Glad to see everyone is having a good time running. I did 6 miles in the pouring rain with a friend this morning. We actually did just over a mile in the pouring rain then thunder started so we headed back to the visitor center to wait for it to blow over. We really didn't want to be on top of the mountain in a thunderstorm. We waited about 30 mins with no thunder and headed back up the mountain and had a blast. The run up was slow and tough but the reward of running down it was well worth it. Big grins and lots of laughing as we dodged trees, rocks, and roots. I wish all my runs could be as much fun. It's like the rain just washed away all the grime of real life for a bit and let us act like kids for an hour.
I love those kind of runs. It's one of the reasons I love trail running. I just love being out in the elements.
9 miles today, 4 tempo intervals of 13:30 long @ 8-8:30/mile pace. Felt easy.
Hey everyone. Just got back from a week long trail running trip in southern Utah. I'll catch up on reading everyone's posts and I'll put up some photos soon. Hope you all are having a wonderful week.
- Chris
The one thing I refuse to give up is my morning egg salad special on a toasted bagel. However, I definitely could do with decreasing carbs through the rest of my eating. I, as I'm sure others did, got into the ole trap of needing to carbs, carbs, carbs to fuel the running. If I back away from that and the candy, I'll be a lot better.
And on that note, instead of getting a burrito for lunch, I had yogurt and granola and a couple of small cut up Asian pears.
The Friendly Staff at Aid Station #2 - yeah, that be my family and Charlie, co-runner for 40 miles. I'm in orange.