Triple Crown Trail Marathon: I ran & ran

I ran and ran everyday and I acquired a sense of determination .
A sense of spirit that I would never, never give up.
The triumph cant be had without the struggle.
-Wilma Rudolph

Last year at this time I would have been tapering for my first ever marathon but life would have it differently and was instead just returning to running from an injury. Then last fall I tried again for a marathon but life decided that it would be way more fun to run a 50k! Now I am training for another 50k and decided to run TC marathon as a "training run". No big deal right? Just another long run....

Saturday morning was chilly and overcast. Stacey's perfect running weather! We got to the White Clay park of Delaware early and checked in. Then nervously chatted with friends until the start of the race. Why so nervous for a long training run you ask? Because this race has a creek that is 80yards wide and can be anywhere between calf to waist deep. FYI-I have an extreme fear of water that is not in a pool! I wasnt the only one interested in how deep the creek was that day because it was one of the first questions asked. The RD said something about it being 5ft high while pointing right above his knees...

The half marathon people started first and then 10mins later we were sent on our way. Started out nice and easy while chatting with a friend. Things were going good and then I heard it...the creek. We got down to it and I realize that it is not near as bad as I had pictured it in my head. Whew! But man was it cold. Got to the other side and had to walk for a couple of steps until I could feel my feet again. Then we start winding our way around some single track following the red pie plate markers. This section had alot of little downed trees to jump over. Then came the section of little MTB roller hills-they were fun! I passed the aid stations as I had my pack on and didnt need anything. But my stomach started to bother me which is weird because I never have issues and certainly not this early in a run. I thought maybe I was pushing to hard so I backed off my pace a bit.

By mile 8 my gut was hurting and I was mentally calculating how many miles to the bathrooms. I quickly decided 5miles was to much and head off trail and up the hill for a big tree. I turned around and saw runners down below so I headed up a little further to another tree. I squatted for a bit and nothing as I watch more runners fly past below. I realize that this is not going to work so I stand up and my quads immediately scream at me for squatting to long. I hobbled down to the trail and start running again. My quads are fine. My stomach, for what ever reason is now fine. But my left knee is so tight, sore and almost locked up. WTH?! I keep running happy to be following the blue plates now which means I am on the return trip. I am happy to get to the creek this time because I knew the ice cold water would feel good on the knee. I go running thru with a couple of other people and up the muddy hill. My time is slower then what I was hoping but I am still moving at a pretty good pace.

Mile 13 is the half way point and the end of the first loop which is the start/finish area. I stopped to fill my pack and take some Ibuprofen. My knee is really hurting bad. I know that my goal time of 5:30 is out because it is almost 3hrs at that point. My friend tells me she is dropping because her husband dropped and she doesnt want to make him wait a couple more hours for her. I said that I was gonna run back down to the creek (3miles) and if my knee wasnt any better I was going turn around...hoping that was enough time for the meds to kick in. I catch up to two girls who are walking and I walk with them while eating my Fig Newtons. They seem to be about my speed which is cool so we hang together with them chatting and me saying one or two words, the usual. Find out that the one chick is running her first marathon but has already run a 50k, like me! And the chatty one is doing 12 marathons in 12 months deal. She is on #8 today.

We do good for these three miles. Walking the hills and running the rest. My knee continues to hurt but I just keep jogging along. We get down to the creek and without thinking about it I cross with my new friends. Except that they are taking forever to cross so I take off running awhile and at that point I realize that I am in for the full marathon. No turning back now! Still walking the hills my knee is starting to finally settle down and we get to the really nice section of single track which is fairly flat, nice greens and a bunch of small downed trees. My knee must have been feeling okay because I went to jump over the first very small tree and about died of pain when I lifted my leg that high. I continued to run along but at every tree I have to stop and either lift my other leg over first or do an almost straight leg pass with the left one. Grrr!

About an hour into this loop I get to an aid station and ask the girl to get my other Ibuprofen out of the back of my pack. I have never taken two doses of Ibuprofen on a run but I also have never had pain like this before and knew that if I wanted to finish this thing that this is what I would have to do. Onward. Mix of walking hills and running the rest. Chatty girls caught back up to me going down a hill. Which surprised me because I though I was running pretty good at that point.

At about hour 5 the pain meds have taken hold and I am running with more of a stiff knee then pain. Get to another aid station and chatty girls hang out and I head off on my own. I hear them behind me once or twice but they never do catch up and I run the rest of the race alone. I cont to follow the red plates. At one point I am crossing a field and start to walk just because I am tired and am ready to hit the blue plates and be on the return already! All of a sudden I see the turn onto a fire road where I know that this is where the blue plates start and I start running again. The fire road is downhill and this is where, on the first loop I had stomach issues and think how good I am feeling this time around.

I hit more single track and feel like I am flying. I look down at my watch and think that if I can keep this pace I will be under 6:00. Everytime I wanted to walk or started to walk I would look at my watch and would start to run again. I really wanted to get under 6hrs now. I wind down to the creek one last time and it hits me. I am alone. Just me and the creek. I wont lie, anxiety came over me and I stood there for a couple of seconds just looking at it. Every other time I just ran right through it with everyone else. This time it was just me and the creek. I took a deep breath and thought "man this is going to feel SO good on my knee" and I stomped right on through that creek!

Up and out the other side I have about 3.5miles to the finish. I just keep trying to run the best that I can. Although my knee left knee wasnt to bad I must have still been running weird because my right knee was starting to get sore too. I pass the last aid station and up the last fire road and onto an uphill single track. I hiked it up the hill the best I could but could see that I was not going to make my 6hr goal either. So I pretty much just had it in my head to keep moving as fast as I could so that chatty girls wouldnt catch up to me! Once I got to the top of that hill was one last section of single track where I saw Rik waiting for me! Out of the single track and up one last grassy hill-I am pretty sure it was the biggest hill of the whole race! At the top people start yelling my name so of course I have to start running again. You run the field along a tree line. Around the end of trees and back up to the finish. Came thru at 6:12 in the end. It was so awesome to have everyone cheering me in!!!

There is actually so much more I would love to say but this is already long enough! Thanks so much for reading if you managed to make it the whole way through!

Highlights:
-Finished my first official marathon and did it on the trails.
-Rik PR'd his marathon with 3:58 and came in 4th place.
-Got to meet Kelly & his awesome wife Jo.
-Cheered in Jody and then her 70yo friend who was completing his 900th marathon!

Spring Valley Adventures (aka LOST!)

This blog was started and still remains as a folder for my races. However, my run today was more exciting then some races so I feel like I need to document it.

You know how you can sing along to a song on the radio and know every word. But take away the artist singing and you fumble with some of the words. Yeah, well my run today was kinda like that!

Spring Valley Park is only about 900 acres of old agricultural fields and uneven aged forest but the trails are not well marked and it has many little roads (which are often not marked either) that run through it. Its easy to get lost driving thru the park let alone running there! But its only about 7miles from the house and offers lots of hills so Rik & I like to go there every so often. We always run the same 6mile loop even though there are alot of other unmarked trails. In fact we ran there just the day before and were pleasantly surprised that some trail work had been done and even some new trail markers were up!

To bad that it was a warm day yesterday and I had a bad run. My asthma was acting up and it just sucked. As usual I followed behind Rik and every turn he made I already knew that that was where we were to turn. I was so mad at myself for being so slow and having to hike so much. I was mad at myself for making him wait for me. I had vowed to return the next day for a more productive run and I wanted to run it by myself. That way he wouldnt have to wait for me & could go explore some of the other trails! I was confident of the trails I was going to run after all!

Fast forward to today...the weather is 15* cooler then yesterday and it is drizzling out. My perfect running weather! Im going to Spring Valley and I am going to have an awesome run all by myself! We leave the parking lot and head down the stone road together. As soon as we turn into trail 1 it is uphill so of course Rik is gone flying up that hill. No problem. I start heading up the hill and feeling pretty good...much better then yesterday. So I continue running and running knowing every which way to go. I am now on trail 2 and making good time. I really thinking this is going to be the fastest I've ever run this course! Next I head up trail 3 which is a long hike of a hill. I cant ever run any bit of this hill and today was no exception. However, I didnt have to stop to catch my breath today either, winning! It runs along a field and turn into the woods again and up another hill. I am chucking up this hill to. My head is down and I have my hat on because of the rain just looking down directly in front of me. I get to where I need to turn right and I do just that. Everything looks familiar and I keep going until I get to an intersection that I dont remember. It splits and I can either go left and up or right and down. I know that at this point I should be going down. I know that its a real nice down hill section here. But I also have an uneasy feeling because this just doesnt look right.

But I decide to take the down trail for a little to see. Yeah, I go down and then it starts taking me back up and by this point the trail looks quite unworn. I realize this is wrong and go back to the unfamiliar intersection. I stop at the intersection and try to decide what to do. I decide to go all the way back out  to the last main trail, its just straight ahead afterall. And as I start to run there doesnt really seem to be a trail. Where did it go. So I turn around again to go back to the "intersection" to start over again. Shit where is the intersection! Where is a god damn trail?! I start to panic. It is one thing to be lost on the trails. Its another thing to be lost with NO TRAILS! I stopped and looked all around. Nothing but trees. I am in the middle of nowhere. I want to cry but am to panicked to even do that.

I debate heading in the direction of the big trail but then I started to question my judgement on to which direction the big trail was. So I actually decided to go the opposite direction because that is atleast the direction I think I am supposed to be headed...just on a trail. And I decide that I need to start bushwacking my way down to the bottom of the hill/mountain to hopefully find a road or creek. All of a sudden I think I see a road down at the bottom and make a b-line straight down for it. Within a second I realize that it is actually the roof of a house. Good enough for me! I continue bushwacking my way down. All of a sudden I notice someone staring at me. "HI!" I yelled. I think she yelled hi back. I got a couple of steps closer down the hill and said Hi again and told her that I was lost and that I had been running in SV Park. She said she thought I was a deer. Haha, I would like to think I was galloping down that hill like a deer!

She started to give me directions on how I could get back to the park (because obviously I was no longer even in the park!) when a man pops his head out the door to find out what is going on. He asks if Im parked by the pond. I have no idea where the pond is in the park and tell him that Im parked on Line Rd. He says, "oh, Line Rd goes a couple of different directions" GREAT....just great. Just get me to Line Rd and I'll figure it out from there. So he tells me that I need to follow the stone road out to the paved road. Then follow the paved road to the guard rail blocking a road that says "road closed". He tells me to cross the guard rail and follow that to the creek which I will have to cross at some point. And then I think he said that was Line Rd but Im not sure because with the whole "follow the closed road and cross the creek" part were enough for me. Yikes! He did offer me a ride twice but declined because so long as I could get to a road in the park Rik would find me (I had my cell phone and Riks was in the Jeep). My legs are stinging from all the thorns I ran through and with the rain hitting it...ouchy! This is a picture of my leg after the run. They both look like this.

So I head down the road and was actually quite happy to see the closed road and jumped the guard rail without thinking twice about it. I was headed the right way after all! Then came the creek. I was blessed to find that it was only ankle deep and crossed it quickly and up onto a stone road. I stopped for a minute to decide which way to head on this road. And decided to go right. I took off running while I text Rik "LOST". I figured that would get me a phone call as soon as he saw it. I quickly came upon two guys fishing and their truck was parked on the road. I asked if I was on Line Rd. And the one guy says, "I'm not sure. I think it Line Rd". Thats what I mean about this park, there are so many little roads that you dont really know which one you are on sometimes. So I asked if he knew if I was headed in the direction of rt. 216. He said, "oh yeah".
I smiled and said, "AWESOME"! We all laughed and I kept on running. Now feeling better that I was back in the park and headed in the right direction!

Not much past the fishin dudes I see trail 4 on my left and where I was supposed to come out of trail 3 on my right. Now if I would have just kept on Line Rd it would have taken me back to the Jeep eventually. But I dont really know that road. I do, however, know trail 4! And without even thinking twice I turned onto trail 4!
I handle trail 4 fine and cross over onto trail 5. Rik finally text me back so I called him to let him know that I knew where I was now. Its funny how I knew trail 5 to but kept second guessing myself at intersections and even stopped twice to look all around to make sure I was going the right way.

Trail 5 is by far the nicest trail in the park and it was my reward for the run!

Now thats a trail! I actually passed the Jeep on the opposite side of the creek and yelled at Rik who was standing there patiently waiting for me. Ran down to the bridge and back up the stone road to the Jeep. Whew-what a run! Rik and I talked a bit when I got back to try to figure out where I went wrong. Then we even drove down and hiked back up the hill. And it ends up that I went the whole way up the trail on 3 instead of turning onto a trail about 3/4 of the way up. I think because I had my head down and hat on as I was chucking up the hill I never even saw the very nice and obvious trail that I should have turned onto.

I was so scared at the time but now we are laughing at me getting so panicked and the thought of me running back and forth and in circles trying to find the trail. And I think it was kind of a good thing in that I am proud of myself for getting out of the situation and finding my way back! Rik also did find some new good trails today but he says he wishes he would have ran with me...sounded like way more fun!

Mt. Penn Mudfest & Conestoga Trail with Christopher McDougall & friends

Oh what a day. First of all, I had trouble deciding where I wanted to run on Saturday morning. Ultimately I ended up with the original plan and headed for Reading at 8am to run in the Mt. Penn Mudfest 15k. It was nice that this was a later start race of 10am and I could get a little extra sleep. Still wanted to get there early seeing as there were to be 800 people in this race!

I have never run this race before but have heard what a fun race it was...as are all Pretzel City Races I think. The only problem was that one of the local parks said that they couldnt use their trails for the race this year and therefore the course had to be redone. This cut out 1.5miles of hill and 3water/mud crossings from what I understand. We still had one mud pit to cross and this "man made" one...haha!

And because I am a back of the packer it looked like this until I got to it! The cold water sure did feel good on the feet though!

It really was a fun run. The temps were in the high 40s and sunny. It doesnt get much better then that.
The race starts on a road section to try to spread people out a bit. But there was still alot of congestion for the first 1 1/2miles. After that it was very runnable. PCS is known to have alternative beverage stops at their races and while I know about the beer. I did not realize that they had margaritas! Which I mistook for Gatorade! Oh wow, that will wake you up. I would have preferred to stick with the beer had I known!!

And what trail race wouldnt be complete without falls. I paid my dues today with a good one coming up the steps right before the finish line! Ouchy! But I still finished the race feeling great. Good thing too because we had another run to do in the afternoon.

Fast forward to 4pm. And now we are at Tucquan Glen getting ready to run the Conestoga Trail with a small group including Christopher McDougall, the author of the book Born to Run. He is a neighbor of my good friend Gary and they offered for other people to come along...even slow people ;)

I have never been on the Conestoga Trail before but have heard about it and how hilly it is. It runs along the Susquehanna River and is just beautiful! I loved every minute of this run. Here is a view high above the Susquehanna:

Just follow the orange markers up the rocks...

And then, yep, keep going over these rocks too!

And then you are rewarded with some awesome runnable trails in between!

I ended up running a total of 17miles for the day and with ascent elevation totaling 3250ft. It felt like more and that is a very good day of running for this girl!
Run Free!!

Buck Ridge Burn 1/2marathon RR

This was a free half marathon in its second year. A run through the woods of Pine Grove Furnace State Park. They asked for donations for Susan G. Komen organization. Interestingly enough, the RDs own sister was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer and is currently cancer free between the first race last year and this years race. And they had double the turn out this year! I was glad to see a group of my Lancaster friends and a couple of York friends show up!! However, next year will be by registration because its just to hard for them to plan how many people will actually show up vs. sign up. Case in point...we had 1 bathroom for everyone today! Good thing we are trail runners. Lots of trees for me ;).

Anyhow, this race comes after a month of rough running for me including 2weeks of no running due to a bum ankle and then severe asthma issues for another 2weeks. I really needed a good run. The temps around here have been warm for March but this morning was alittle cooler which was good but humid and foggy. I wasnt sure how it would go.

The race was later start of 9am. We took off on time for a short 1/2mile loop to break up the group. Then headed into the woods on some single track. It wasnt long before I was in the back of the pack and we head up a long steady incline. I see Carli & Gary ahead of me and think I want to catch up and run with them. I am running good and breathing good. Even passed one or two people. But they are to just to fast and quickly fade away. At this point I am running with Angie & Amy. They are doing the talking and I throw in a word or two here or there. Angie is newer to trail running and is doing great.

Then comes the big hill. Its a good one. We basically hiked the entire thing. I really admire people who can run hills like that...someday! But I notice that I keep moving forward and at a pretty good pace. This is excellent! My breathing is great! We finally crest the hill and slowly start running again. I cant believe I didnt have to stop in the middle of the hill. My breathing has been so bad that I have been having to actually STOP midhill to regulate my breathing lately. Sometimes more then once. Not today! And this starts my runners high thats lasts the rest of the race and beyond :)

We head into the first AS where I grabbed a sip of Gatorade and kept moving. A group of 4 ladies hung out a little longer as did Angie & Amy. I figured I would keep moving down the stone road and they would all catch up with me, as usually happens with me. I ran down the stone road and left onto the most beautiful single track of the race. The fog was just beginning to lift so you couldnt see to far around you. This was a lollipop loop and little ups and downs with pine needles and rocks thrown into the beauty. I felt like I was cruising. I could hear some other girls but couldnt see them.

After I came out of that section I am still running by myself. I occasionally hear voices but never see anyone. At this point I kind went into auto pilot. Just running and running. Enjoying my surroundings and just how great I am feeling!

I eventually see another girl in red ahead of me. I follow behind at a decent distance. And here is where I need to get better. Most people see someone ahead and want to reel them in and pass them. Not me. Although I want to be a faster runner, the idea of catching up to and passing someone isnt really incentive for me! But I am getting better at passing people that are directly in front of me atleast. We come up to the steep decline that we were warned about. They said that you might have to butt slide it. But while I thought it was steep and happy to be going down instead of up it...it definately wasnt a butt sliding hill! And I was closing in on red shirt girl on the down hill.

Alittle bit more running and we come to the fire road. Alot of little rollers here (but mostly at an incline). It was just enough to keep a good pace going. And I hear no more voices from any of the girls behind me. Good sign! Then just when I am getting sick of the fire road we hit an AS where I grab a banana! Yum! Then hooray-single track! Great time to stop for a bathroom break. And I lose red shirt girl off into the distance...
I am running alone again and my pace has slowed but I am still feeling great! I just cant believe it! I kind of get lost in my thoughts and surroundings at this point. Run through a creek or two and the cold water feels great on my feet.

With about 3miles to go...what is that I see ahead?! Red shirt girl again! That gave me a little boost to pick up the pace again. And the fact that we are cruising downhill! I close in. Stomping full force thru the middle of the creek, fun! Until we hit the last uphill. Dang! Another hill?! You know how you think you are close enough the the finish that there cant possibly be another uphill?? And then there is one last uphill. Yeah, it sucks!

I make it out of the trail and onto the road and down into the park to the finish. 2:48:01. My goal was to be under 3hrs. Yay, I did it and I felt great the entire time!

It turns out red shirt girl is actually a friend of mine and she finished about 30seconds ahead of me. I had no idea it was her. It just never occured to me that it might be someone I know. I could have been running with her the whole time. That'll teach me next time...reel 'em in!!

I cant wait to do this race again next year. Great race. Great trails. Excellently marked. And best of all great volunteers...many which were kids! AND Rik over heard them saying about longer distances in the future...next year?!

Oh, and I even won a Mary Kay pedicure kit at the end raffle! Just what every trail running chick needs!!

Thanks for reading! Happy trails!!

Squirrelly Tail Trail 1/2marathon-RR and ramblings

What a cold morning for a run! 6* at the start. Oh, and a slightly sore achilles. So I decide to still run the race but to run it slow and smart. I will warn you that I did not take one picture because I was to worried about my running on the snowy/icy trails to think much about it! And Rik didnt take any because he was actually running this race at a fast pace instead of just his normal bebopping along ;) So the pics are from Scott Newcomer, RD.  Here is the picture of the swag though...

This is a local race at Pinchot which is a park around a large lake. Its about 9miles around the main trail that goes around closest to the lake. So add a couple of extra trails and you have 13miles!

This weekend we had a couple inches of snow (1-3) and it was actually below freezing overnight. So a trail that is usually VERY nasty and muddy except in a drought was instead frozen with only small areas of mud. Perfect! Here is what the trail looks like most times of the year...


The race started at 10am and it was freezing with wind gusts over 25mph. It seemed like alot of people didnt show up but that was fine with me. Off we went up the road and onto the trail.
Another picture of the usually muddy but frozen today trail. This is of the flater area that run close to the lake.


I was running this at a slow and steady pace today because I have been having trouble with a sore achilles for the past two days. So I just wanted to get the miles in. It was a nice race everything was great, especially for a first year event. Except I will complain about the first aid station being at over the 6mile point which I thought was a little long for a half but not to bad. Here is a pic of a creek crossing that leads into the lake...


Everything went well until a little over the 8mile point where my achilles started to remind me that it was sore. This only lasted for about a mile and the subsided.


Then for the last 2-3miles are the only really hills of the course and these are small hills in comparison to most hills we run around here except, what makes them difficult is that it is where the water drains so alot of ice and loose rocks. I did pick it up for the last mile just because I wanted to get done and passed atleast 4 people...yay me!
I ended up finishing in 2:38. And thought that was a good days run...until I looked at my Garmin afterwards. I saw that my last 3miles were 2-3mins per mile slower then the previous ones! Not good because I think that my achilles was really bothering me but I didnt feel it because I was so frozen! After the race I felt fine, no pain. Until we drove the almost hour home...i got a shower...and warmed up did the stiffness and moderate pain of the ankle and achilles become apparent.
Needless to say, I iced and rolled. Tomorrow I will make an appointment to get it checked out. I dont want to wait and self treat like I did last year with my groin. I have a busy spring running schedule ahead!

BTW, Rik finished in 1:50 which was good enough for 9th place. He is really running well and I am so proud of him. Now if I could just figure out how to get some of that speed!!!

Thanks for reading...Happy Trails!

CHILLY CHEEKS 2012

BRRR!!
Luckily for us the race didnt start until 11am. Which means it was able to warm up to a balmy 10* at the start. Cant really complain because last year we had 2-3inches of snow.
Last year (2011) this race was my first ever race of any kind and had no idea what to expect except that it was very hilly, cold and fun!

At the start of the race you walk less then 1/4mile to the start on the road. The race start time was 11:00 and as we have found...that means start walking to the start at 11:00!! I find that my toes are already frozen after less then 20mins standing outside. After some quick musings all 600 runners took off down the road and onto a wide trail. After about 1/4mile you scramble up the first hill which has no actual trail...make your own!

Here is a short video of the first climb thanks to Christopher Hand!

It is a blast and is needed to try to spread out the hugh pack of runners!
Once you get to the top you get a few minutes to catch your breath while you are bottle necked for the single track. I think my first mile registered at over 18minutes per mile! Then you start to spread out again with the next climb. I feel good at this point and just keep moving along passing several people and others passing me.

The first aid station is at mile 2.5 which actually seemed to come pretty quick. As we are coming out of the woods to the AS was a slippery slope that everyone was sliding on and of course I tried to step gingerly and instead crashed to my butt and wrist. But jumped up quickly and sucked down some water.

Then up to the next single track!  Again, another hill. I felt like I was doing more of a fast hike then any kind of actual running. When someone behind me askes their friend if THIS is the much talked about  Mt. Whatdafuck. Friend says, "NO. You will know when we get to Mt. Whatdafuck!" As in- whatdafuck was I thinking ;) I just laughed.

The other AS quickly comes upon us. This is the one with the alternative beverages! I, however, choose water. And experience my first brain freeze of the race...ugg... After this 4mile AS comes a really nice and really runnable section! The trails are in so much better shape this year with no snow on the ground and I feel like I am cruising! Even passed a couple of people! But soon enough comes the next hill and find that I am in the front of a line of about 20 people. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate to be in the front with people right behind me. And I really didnt like it because hills are my weakness. But I started up anyhow. Got about halfway with heavy footsteps behind me-I cant belive I could hear them over my incredibly loud breathing! So, I stepped off to the side and let about six people pass before I jumped back in line. Again, someone askes if THIS is Mt. Whatdafuck?! NOPE!

Ahh, but yes, we come to the top of this hill and before our eyes is Mt. Whatdafuck...straight up... It is short but steep. At the top you are on a 3ft high ledge that you jump down onto the road. Not bad except your legs feel like jelly! Took me a couple of steps to get my legs back and then took off running down hill and onto our last stretch of single track that is all down hill!

People were moving slow over the rocks so I passed and took off with about three other girls. Across the park and up the very last climb to the finish.
The last climb to the finish is very steep. Hand over hand steep. And I love it because all the crazy people are standing at the top yelling at you! Last year I thought it was just because I was so slow and they were already drunk and yelling! Indeed they are just having a great time cheering the runners in!

I managed to cross the finish line in 1:47 which is a 20min improvement from last year! I was very disappointed in my time. I thought for sure I was moving faster then that! 7miles in 1:47 YIKES!Oh well, it was a great improvement anyhow.

I come to find out that all of the after race candy and drinks are frozen! We had to dip our cups inside the container to scoop out our Gatorade. It was still that cold out. And then came brain freeze #2 hits. Dang that stuff is cold! The great thing to is that you are served a hot breakfast afterwards of egg, panckaes and sausage! Cant beat that.

I thought this would be the last year that I would do this race-that thought esp crosses your mind during the 2nd, 3rd, 4th hills. But infact it is so much fun that I cant wait to do it again next year and plan to improve my time even more...by ALOT...darn it!!

Happy trails :)
Stacey

PHUNT 50k 2012 Race Report

Whats better then getting together with 300 people to run on the trails in 50* sunny weather?!

Especially considering the fact that this race is a FatAss with a very well marked course and awesome aid stations. Run at Fair Hill Reserves and put on by TrailDawgs. Everyone was asked to bring canned goods for 2012 Runabundance for Philabundance to help local food banks and shelters. As well as something for the aid station. Thats the kind of race fees that I like!!


So everyone gathers at the start at 8:45am for the pre-run meeting. Yeah....no meeting. Which was fine because I used that time to get to know two new friends, Carol & Sharon who are running together. Carol has run this race before and says how poorly marked the course is. Yikes! I already told Rik that he didnt have to run with me and my biggest fear in running these long trail races is getting lost! I have zero sense of direction!


At the bottom left is Carol, Sharon, the back of me and Joe bending over stretching...

Finally at about 9:15am the race starts with a dud blow horn and everyone just decides to take off. And off we go. Its a nice start down a field and across a creek. People bottle neck at this point but it is really the only bottle necking of the race which was good. The ground was still frozen in this area and I over heard a guy say about how muddy this would be on the second loop. And his buddy mentioned how muddy it would probably be on the other side of the mountain...noted, but didnt think to much more about it.

Then the hills start almost immediately as did the creek crossings. This is a two loop race. So I was trying to run the smaller hills and walk the bigger ones trying to save my legs for the second loop. My legs were great, I was just having trouble getting my breathing under control with hills at the beginning...I have EIA and used my inhaler before the start but sometimes it still takes awhile for the breathing to find a rhythm. There ended up being so many creek crossings that I lost count in the first 5miles! It was mostly single track with some field crossings from one trail to the next. Beautiful day with the sun shining all day.

I was running along when Carol came up beside me and started chatting. Sharon was just behind us. I thought they were long gone but it ends up they were about my speed. That was kinda nice to run with other people and not be so afraid of getting lost! At about mile eight I took my first shot blok. I bit right down into it and out comes my brand new shiny crown that I just got about two weeks ago. Thank goodness I didnt swallow it! I stuck it in my pack pocket and kept on running. Then right before the 10mile AS was....THIS! Fun!

I wanted to hit the AS at 2hrs but instead it was about 2:10. Not a big deal, I still had plenty of time to hit the half way before cutoff. At this point my friends decided they werent gonna do the whole thing so I took off. I ended up running the next 5miles with a guy that was doing a run/walk thing. Kinda sucks when a dude is walking as fast as I am running!! Although, right after the AS we hit the MUD. Oh I'm not talking about up to your ankles mud. I'm talking about slippery as ice surface mud! I'm not talking about mud here and there. Oh no! This was miles of mud!

Needless to say, I was doing more of a power walk then a run most of the way with trying to run whenever I could on the berm of leaves for traction. At one point I crossed a bridge and then continued to focus on the trail immediately in front of me that after several minutes I looked down to my side and saw the bridge that I crossed and didnt even realize that I had been traveling uphill since! The trails were so slippery for me. I fell once but was able to catch myself with just one hand down and atleast  a half dozen almost falls. By now the speed walker dude was gone and I realized how slow I was moving and how much my knees were starting to hurt from all the slip sliding. I started stressing that I wasnt gonna make cutoff. I would try to run, slip a bit and then slow to a fast walk again. It just seemed like I was getting nowhere fast.

 Then I came upon a turn. It was a sudden turn as the trail seemed to continue straight but the sign/arrow said that I should turn right and go straight down the hill thru the leaves. As I stop to contemplate if this was really what I was supposed to do...speed walker dude comes up from behind me and says that he missed the turn and ended up doing a loop but saw me from above and was watching to see which way I went. So...down the hill we went...to another creek crossing!

I dont know how well you can see it but this was the trail of leaves that didnt seem to make sense. After the race I came to find out that several people missed the turn.
Finally we have about a mile that was fairly runnable with little mud to the finish. Of course this was uphill! And I realize that I will not make cutoff (missed it by about 20mins). Those last 5.6miles took me 1:30! What?!! But at that point I was almost thankful that I missed it. I was hurting and exhausted. These were the toughest 15.6miles I have ever run.
Me, exhausted, sitting in the grass at the end...

In hind sight I realize that I only ended up taking in about 300cals while I was out there because of the broken tooth. I didnt realize it at the time and 300cals for 15miles isnt so bad. Its the 300cals in almost 4hrs that might have been a problem especially considering I was fueling for 31miles NOT 15. That may have been part of my problem and not just the mud and knees slowing me down. Lesson learned either way.

Since I missed cutoff, that meant I could hang out and chat with friends while waiting for Rik to finish! Usually it is him waiting for me! He ended up coming in at 5hrs 56mins!

So even though my race was cut short I had a fantastic day! And I am so glad that I let Rik run his race and not hold him back with me. I am getting more confident in my running in races with less fear of getting lost and potential water crossings! I am thankful for new friends met today and friends I know from online but got to meet in person today as well...Sharon, Carol, XtremeTaper, Leon & Gary-even though I missed you at the end! And thankful to run yet another crazy race with Joe! Cant wait to do it again next year!!

Happy trails!
Thanks for reading :)