under a rock
So, here it is almost the end of Sept and I just realized we've been stuck in the August thread. Clearly this is why we have had a never ending summer in my region. Hopefully starting a Sept thread will keep the 90's away until next year.
I finished up my last long run for my marathon training yesterday, 20.44 miles. I can hardly believe I am on my way to making it to the start line of my first marathon. I was accompanied on my run with two others running the same marathon. It was the best of times and the worst of times. Once the temps started inching into the 80's things started to get rough. I made it through with the help of my two fellow runners, Kay and Michael and was really thankful to have them along.
By about mile 15 we were all spread apart pretty good. Both of them have more miles under their belts than me, they ran almost half a mile more than I did before turning around. So by mile 16 they were both behind me about a mile. My friend Kay caught up with me around 19.5 miles and stayed with me until I hit 20 miles where I chose to stop so I could give my angry back a rest. She had to go on or she would seize up and I'd have to carry her in, that I couldn't do.
So I sat on a log, took a few deep breaths, stood up and stretched my back out and I was resigned to walking the final mile. By this time Michael caught back up with me. We walked a few minutes, talked and got my mood lightened up. I turned my garmin back on and he helped me to cover the last bit of trail and got my legs running again, only downhill and flats, but it was better than nothing. I stopped my watch at 20.44 miles and we walked the nearly half mile we had left to the parking lot. Turns out the tmeps were up to 88 by the time we were done, whew, I'm looking forward to the cooler temps this week.
I really feel like I can't thank Michael enough for sticking with me when he could have easily gone on since this trail is my regular turf and I know it like the back of my hand. He chose to stick with me and even offered to take my Camelbak for me to give my back a break. I've only met him once before yesterday's run yet he treated me like a cherished friend. This is what I love about trail runners!
Exactly! And when's your marathon, Ashley?
Leslie Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain -------------
Trail Runner Nation
Sally McCrae-Choose Strong
Bare Performance
My marathon is Oct 16th. I'm so excited that I'm at the start of my first marathon taper!
Oooh! Taper madness! Every little twinge, every little twitch - it'll drive you crazy. It'll be great!!!
Oooh! Taper madness! Every little twinge, every little twitch - it'll drive you crazy.
Ain't that the truth!
Ultrachick
Thanks for the luck, Leslie! I needed it this time!
Hi Everyone, here for a quick checkk in. Virgil crest 100 was last weekend and I finished it. I'm happy I finished but this was my toughest race yet. As my friend told me over the phone driving there-sometimes the hardest part is getting out the door.
My personal life has gone through another change so I was emailing the RD last week that I was coming alone and if he knew anyone that wanted to help crew and pace that would be great! But I also had to be prepared to go it alone. The RD put out an email to some friends and one volunteered to crew which was awesome and she did a fantastic job. The course was a 50m loop you do twice. Some changes had been made since last year and it was much more difficult. At the end of the first loop, I was ready to be done. I went out too fast and was not looking forward to climbing the same mtn 4 more times. I sat for a few minutes thinking about whether to go on or quit and then it was brought to my attention there was a guy there willing to pace me. Short version is I decided to go on to the next aid station and see how I felt.
Real short version, there was a lot of walking involved, behind in my nutrition, a lot of head games to be played and enough life metaphors came out to write a small book. I finished in 27:47, 102m (the course was long and we added to it a little by missing a turn), 4th place overall and 2nd female. Due to the course difficulty, all 100m finishers earned a buckle. 32 started, 18 finished, first place was the only guy to finish under 24 hrs. my watch registered 20,020ft of ascent.
So yes, one of the hard parts was getting out the door because it's a 6hr drive away but was greeted with smiles and hugs when I arrived from friends that live in that area. The race was tough and I'm grateful for the kindness and generosity of the ultra community and that's probably one of the many reasons I do these types of races. Then there was the ride home done on a 2-3 hour nap, a big cup of coffee and the satellite radio for company to keep me awake. I'll try to write a real race report soon because for me this is probably one life experience I want to remember and grow from.
cheers! Kelly
#2867
I finished up the Bradbury Series with an overall win for all 3 races, and managed to not hurt myself during the race (after cracking my head open a month out and then cracking a rib 2 weeks out). I broke the course record on the 12 miler, but was 7th overall. I've done a little cross country running since then, but this weekend I'm leaving the trails and running a couple of road marathons. No real taper, although after getting out of work 2 hours late yesterday I did skip my run. Unfortunate since Sunday's 10k cross country race had left me a bit sore.
Run to Win25 Marathons, 17 Ultras, 16 States (Full List)
Blaine - Just a "couple of" road marathons? Congrats on the series, and good luck on the "couple of" marathons!
Kelly - WAY - TO - GO!! Very proud of you, young lady! You are one tuff nut, and this race proves it beyond a shadow of doubt. I'm really sorry to hear things seem to have gone in the negative direction re your personal life, but look what you pulled out of it? Give yourself a huge pat on the back. You done good, friend. You done good.