Instep Trail Races - 7Miler

InStep Trail Races, 7 miler - September 14, 2019
time = 1:05:33
pace = 9:48
placed 1 in my age group (45-49) out of 7
placed 4 in women out of 43
placed 15 overall out of 70
link to strava data

please note:  this is the fastest i've run this race in the past 3 years... yay!

the start of this report is going to look remarkably like last year's report in that i didn't run much prior to this race.  in fact, my last run prior to this race was the sunday before... so 5 full days with no running.  this is because about 2 weeks ago i ran this course (minus the tower) in new shoes/insoles (same shoes and insoles as always... just a new pair of each) and for whatever reason, my right shin got very very sore.  i mean, tender to the touch sore.  this, in turn, affected the rest of the lower leg on that side and i opted to see my physical therapist last friday as a ditch effort for some magical cure.  he said my soleus muscle was all jacked and was likely affecting the rest of the leg.  he did some deep tissue massage that left me hella sore the rest of the week and i opted for a short run on that sunday post PT, but rest the remaining days of the week.

i got to lapham early so that i could warm up incase everything was still jacked.  i ran a loop around the parking lot and wouldn't you know it... my stupid leg was weird.  now, i say it was "weird" because it wasn't painful.  it was weak feeling... like a pinched nerve sort of... or like it was going to give out and not hold my weight sort of.  i walked it off, stretched, stretched my ankle specifically, and then figured i was going to have to wing it.

i ran into the only other person i knew was running the same race, candice, and we talked and commiserated about our injuries.  then it was almost time to race.  incidentally, this is the last year that russ is directing the race.  instep was bought out by PRO so there would be no more of this race... until it was announced that silver circle sports events is going to take it over.  not sure what they will call it or how it will be run, but since this is my favorite course and favorite race of the year... i'm glad they're going to continue it.

so candice and i started the race together and nursed our injuries for about the first 1/2 mile and then we separated.  i had a time goal for this race and once my leg felt fine... i decided i was going to still shoot for it.  so off i went.

i try to run the whole first mile of the course (race or no race) and that means that i run approximately the last .25 uphill.  i know that doesn't sound difficult but that is very difficult for me.  i am not good at running uphill.  in fact, i would say that i am absolutely terrible at it and can't figure out how to get better.

so i hit 1 mile on my watch and promptly started walking.  oh sweet relief!  walking is wonderful... until it's not.  so i walk a little ways up to a specific dip in the trail where it sort of becomes a gentle incline instead of an actual hill and then i start running again.  this particular hill is called gut buster and is approximately .78 of a mile up.  it seems not so hard when you're looking at it but when you're trying to run it... it's very difficult.  for me at least...

so i run/walk up this hill and try to run as much as i can with certain spots where i take walk breaks to help get my heart rate back down and to not feel like i'm dying.

then the top comes and the sweet sweet joy of bombing the downhills begins.  i LOVE, absolutely LOVE bombing down.  it is my reward for trying to run up. lol!  i also make up significant time by doing this - quads be damned!


it was at this point that i caught up to a couple of guys as i bombed down a hill.  i kept trading places with them for a bit and started to get annoyed and too focused on where they were.  they were ahead of me for the whole first part of the race, but after gut buster i passed them on the down hill and then when i walked they passed me on the up and this went on for several different hills until i was finally tired and annoyed enough of being so close to them that i  took off on the flat at the top of asthma hill to get some space between us.  i lost them in the hills just prior to the tower, and i managed to maintain pretty good splits even with running up the tower in mile 4.  i meant to count the sets of stairs up the tower but forgot... i think there are 5 flights but i have no idea how many actual stairs.  once at the top i turn around and fly down... holding on so that if i eat it... i won't fall far.

i saw candice on my way from the tower as she was heading to the tower.  since i am so competitive and she was the only person i knew personally who was running the race i really wanted to stay ahead of her.  she is a much better runner than me and she kicked my ass at high cliff passing me in the last mile and beating me in the race so this time... i wanted to stay ahead... cuz... competitive.  duh...

thankfully right after the tower is the downhill (the big slide?) that parallels gut buster and is similar length so almost a mile downhill... running at full speed and making up time.  i passed a few people but this race is 3 different races at the same time on the same course so it's hard to determine who's in your race and who's running the 1/2 or the full marathon distances... and trying to look at someone's bib is just too tough so i have no idea if i was passing people in my race or not.  no matter... it feels good to pass people cuz... competitive.

i hit the bottom of the hill and at that point it's about 1.5 miles to the finish with another long hill (aptly named 2 tier because there are 2 parts of the hill with a small sort of flatish incline between them).  i passed a guy on the flat who passed me right back on the first portion of 2 tier, and back and forth until the downhill called magic carpet ride.  i zoomed past him on magic carpet ride because who cares about quads, and then there was one more man in front of me.  he seemed to be running faster than me but when we hit the final flat at the same time i pulled ahead by a hair.  it was then that i decided to try and stay ahead of him.  it was SO HARD!  i was literally only a breath ahead of him... i could hear him breathing on my right the whole time.  when we both hit the final straightaway and i could see the finish i started sprinting.  normally i do not do this because i simply do not have it in me.  normally i feel so bad at the end of a race that it takes all that i have just to keep running, however this time... i RAN!

i ran as hard and as fast as i could with him on my heels the whole time.  i came in first with only a 2 second different between our times!  TWO SECONDS!  man... that felt really good.  it felt really good to run as hard as i could and do as well as i did coming off a stupid weird injury.  i'm hoping that the injury is gone for good and that tomorrow when i wake up i will feel great and will be able to run a nice run with frank.

i've got some big goals for 2020 and need to go into the new year fresh and injury free!

as always i love the shit out of this race.  i love lapham and love running there as much as i can.  i'm not sure what the race will be called next year but i hope it's put on with just as much love and care as russ put into it all these years.

Beartrax 20K

Beartrax 20K - April 30, 2017
time = 1:58:14 (chip time)
pace = 9:30
placed 7 in my age group (40-49) out of 15
placed 11 in women out of 36
placed 36 overall out of 76
link to strava data
(i'm not 100% positive on these numbers as i had to tally them myself)

pre-race sporting my dirtbag runner's trucker hat

i ran this race last sunday and the plan was to utilize it as a training run and not race it.  i had run 19mi the previous day (strava data here) on the iceage course and my legs were feeling it.  i want to mention that it's really challenging to change the race mindset but i was happy that i did it.  the weather was less than awesome in that it had been raining all night and now was lightly misting with a temperature hovering around 39º.  when i woke up i was still on the fence about going to the race but since i had a generously comped entry from instep physical therapy & running center (who's trail team i am on) i felt more inclined to go than not.  besides lapham peak is one of my very most favorite places to run.

when i arrived the weather wasn't as bad as i expected it to be and i came prepared with a raincoat & trusty trucker hat.  i would have never worn that jacket if i had been racing the race because it was much too hot... but since the plan was to run it comfortably... i was not concerned and just wanted to stay as dry as i could.

i've never run the 20K before but have run the brownie shuffle several years.  i love this race.  the 20K course is fantastic.  you get a little bit of everything in the park and that was fun.  it begins in the middle of the park at homestead hollow and heads uphill right away.  the first two miles course through a bit of trail near the butterfly garden, and then loops back through the start.  once back through the start, the race goes backward on the black loop down to evergreen grove and then winds back up on the iceage trail where it again loops back down on the black loop towards two-tier turning off on the blue loop connector hopping back on magic carpet ride towards evergreen grove again.  once passed evergreen grove it's back on the black loop the right way back to the start/finish.  while my pace was all over the place my heart rate stayed pretty steady until the last little burst.

because of all the rain, there was ankle deep standing water and mud in the lower sections of the park.  i managed to not submerge my feet until the second time through those sections with less than 1/3 of the race to go.  i was jack rabbit-ing two women for most of the race and some strides behind a man the whole time.  when we hit the ankle deep section i was in front of the women and had caught up to the man.  we commiserated on having both gotten submerged and then we chatted for a bit until he got away from me heading up gut buster.  again i traded places back and forth with the two women until we hit a good downhill and i got ahead.  i caught up to the man, scott, and we ran together and chatted.  just before the finish was in view i blurted to scott that i just didn't want the two women to beat me.  he glanced behind us and said "they wont", and we rounded the corner to the straightaway before the finish.

scott & i at the finish

as we ran towards the finish he said to me "you're not going to let me beat you are you?" and that's right there was all the push i needed to sprint to the end.  (he still beat me).

i remember thinking to myself as he said that... "man, now i really have to go!"

i cannot stress enough how much i love racing and running at lapham peak.  it is a beautiful place so close to home.  lapham is where i learned to love trail running and it will always be my home trails.

i'm glad that i didn't try to race this per se.  my legs were so shot at the end and in mile 11 i rolled my ankle on a downhill and it was really throbbing once i stood around for a minute waiting on the results.  i was worried that i had actually hurt it but by monday it was fine.

i have the iceage 50K next and have decided to reassess my goals.  i've developed some really strange pain at the base of my left glute where it attaches to my hamstring (and a myriad of other things).  i want to enjoy the race more than i want to kill the time.  the original goals for iceage were as follows:

A goal = 5 hours
B goal = PR 2015's time of 5:34
C goal = finish the race

i want to finish the race with a smile on my face and enjoy my time out on the trails that i love.  i always always want to be fast, but under the circumstances, i don't think that's in my cards for next weekend.  running has become quite painful and i'm not sure that the two physical therapy appointments i have lined up next week are going to help all that much.  it is so hard for me to let go of those goals.  so hard...

so the new goals are as follows:

A goal = finish with a smile on my face
B goal = PR my time
C goal = finish the race

best picture of me from the race, feeling awesome!

but i digress...

all in all, beartrax was a lot of fun (as is evident by my face in the picture to the right).  it waited to really rain until i had completed the race which was nice.  this race is now run by silver circle sports events.  sometimes i wonder if these guys are even runners.  this is the 3rd race i've run of theirs and honestly... it's hard for me to want to run another.  their timing leaves something to be desired.  as a runner, it is important to me to have the stats from my races.  quite frankly, i like that shit.  for each race i've run of theirs there was some sort of issue with the timing.  i'm tired of hassling them for the information that every other race i've ever run has provided as customary.  they don't post overall results and it is frustrating to have to add up the people in the race and try to figure out what everything means so that i can get accurate stats. *sigh*

beyond that... the course support was great, volunteers are always great, and obviously, the location of the race is beautiful.

dave, myself, and nichole pre-race

a little stretch of the painful butt at the start

a bear-y fun high five as i ran back through the start around mile 2

InStep Trail Races - 1/2 Marathon

InStep Trail Races - 1/2 Marathon - September 19, 2015

time = 2:03:16 (42 seconds faster than last year)
pace = 9:25
placed 1 in my age group (40-44) out of 9
placed 5 in women out of 46
placed 23 overall out of 93
link to the strava data

interestingly i also received the masters award this year which (i think) means that i was faster than everyone 40 and older... or something.  not sure but i got a pretty sweet plaque out of the deal so that's awesome.

my sweet masters plaque

it rained on and off all night friday and i woke up to some rain happening at 3am.  i moved to wauwatosa from delafield so the weather can be totally different from here to there, but i had checked the doppler the night before and knew it would also be raining in delafield.  it was supposed to stop by the time of the race so i was not concerned.  before bed i took 2 imodium because i've been having a lot of problems with my gut on runs and wanted to avoid any issues whatsoever.  i had a goal for this race (2 hours), and i really didn't want my stomach interfering subsequently ruining that for me.  my alarm went off at 6:20am so i would have enough time to not have to rush.  took the dogs out, got dressed, had some juice, vitamins, and a banana.  once i handled all that morning business i headed out to lapham.

i got there around 7:30am.  it was low 50's, but was supposed to get to the mid-50's by race start.  it was cold.  i found dave since he was volunteering, and we chatted for a little while.  i ran into a bunch of other friendly faces and had some hugs and pictures.

at 8am i watched the marathoners take off... my friend nic killed it again with a 3:33:22 winning finish time.  it's always exciting to watch a race take off.

at 8:24am i lined up at the start.

at 8:30ish... we took off.  i had planned to run comfortably but still harder than normal.  i have completed the black loop 3 times in under an hour over the summer so i was feeling quite confident that i could maybe beat my time from last year.  all the overnight rain had made the prairies really wet and there were some puddles.  as we hit the first climb i was feeling really good.  my plan was to just motor along, try and run the whole of "gut buster", and not be pooped out once i made it to the top.  i managed to do all of those things and then get to BOMB DOWN the next mile of downhills.  so fun!  there were some mud puddles along the trail but they were easily avoided.  i really expected the trail to be much muddier than it was.  the temperature and cool wind that was whipping around now and again made for excellent conditions to run this race.

my strategy was to run everything that i could, and walk the couple of hills that i customarily walk... namely the one directly before "the wall", i also get to walk "asthma hill", and lastly one just before a long incline next to the tower.  i finished the first loop in 1:01:03.  not too bad but not exactly what i was hoping for.  i was definitely not bombing downhill as fast as i have been known to do which i believe directly contributed to adding some time.

moving on to loop two... i walked A LOT of "gut buster"... i simply couldn't make myself go any faster or harder up that damn hill.  everyone in front of me was long gone and there were really only a handful of people that were running a relatively similar pace as me.  none of which looked to be in my age group... and we all know that my goal is to win in my age group. lol!  running up that hill proved to be harder than i thought the second time around.  i tried... i really really did!  i commiserated with another male runner near the top who started walking just before we crested.  we lamented our misfortune of being on that hill a second time while alternately celebrated our good fortune in not having to run it again since we were only doing the 1/2 marathon.  silver lining people... silver lining.  finally got to the top and bombed my way down the other side.  it was glorious!

i run this loop so often that i know it like the back of my hand and can tick off the miles without even looking.  it is certainly an advantage in that i know exactly where i am and how much further i have to go.  it's a beautiful thing.  i think it makes it easier to run a race when you know what comes next.

by the time i hit "two tier" i felt so done.  my quads were burning.  oddly, my right shin (that i've been having so much trouble with these past weeks) was nearly painfree. whatever mike did at PT last week must have been well worth it.  even so... i walked A LOT of this hill.  in fact, i didn't even bother to try to run very much of it.  i figured i was nearly done and no amount of running now would make much difference in my time.  i suppose i could have maybe shaved off a minute on that hill... maybe.  although, the trade off might have been that i wouldn't have had the energy to bomb down the following hill... "magic carpet ride".  because "magic carpet ride" is longer than "two tier"  i'm going to believe that my choice to walk then run was the right choice.

i finished the final prairie strong and came into the finish with a smile on my face.  it was really great to see the faces of friends at the end.

i love this race.  i love this park.  everything about it is great.  it is well put together, great race director, and the volunteers are fantastic!  best of all it is so fun.  if you didn't get out there after last year's race report... you will really have to try your best to get out there next year.  there is a race distance for everyone now.  they even added a 5K this year... so there's that!

receiving my masters award

Beartrax Brownie Shuffle (4.2K)

Beartrax Brownie Shuffle (4.2K) - April 26th, 2015
time = 21:01
pace = 7:52 average
placed 1st in my age group (40-49) out of 30
placed 4th in women out of 86
placed 12th overall out of 121

photo by jeff crosby pre-race

47 seconds faster this year than last so that's something.  i love lapham peak and i love the people who put on this race.  the energy is always the best part.  this race is in memory of nancy sellars who was killed by a drunk driver in 2008 while out riding her bike.  the proceeds from this race go to help support the nancy sellars memorial foundation which in turn does awesome work to enhance public trails and waterways in southeastern wisconsin, promote bicycle safety and cyclists rights, as well as to educate the public on the dangers and impact that drunk driving has on our community.  it is a very worthy cause and one i wholeheartedly support with open arms and the smile i'm sporting in this picture.  with that being said... i am not a fan of the short and fast race yet here i am again.  last year i figured out that i'm a distance runner through and through.  i greatly enjoy running and getting to do it for a significant amount of time.  what i do not like is how i feel when i'm trying to run as fast as i can for a short period of time.  i hate the way it feels.   i even tried to warm up with a short run before the race and that didn't help as much as i thought it might.  i'm just not much of a sprinter at this point.  i mean... i could be if i worked on my speed but my goals are longer distance as opposed to short and fast.  those short races are no joke.  ugh...

did my best.  started out too fast per usual.  had about 5 guys and 1 girl in front of me who pulled away pretty consistently as the race progressed.

the start ~ photo by annie weiss

there was a little snafu at about a mile in where the course branched off of the 20K and the volunteer at that marker wasn't clear so i all but stopped to ask which way.  that sucked.  right then is where 2 people passed me.  one turned out to be a 5mo pregnant woman and the other was a heavy set man.  both of which i feel like i should have maintained pace with or been faster than... i'm disappointed in my performance from that point on.  before that almost stop i was hauling ass like nobody's business and i felt pretty good.  my ankle (oddly) doesn't hurt while running but is really really awful when i finish.  limping and everything.  *sigh*

why do i think i should have been able to stay ahead of those other two runners?  well, mainly because they had physical obstacles that i do not have and therefore i expect more from my body.  i feel like my body should be able to perform stronger and faster than someone who is in the midst of growing another human as well as someone who is carrying 2-3 times my weight.  it seems logical.  not that i would be a better runner exactly... just that my genetic makeup should make it easier for me to run harder and faster given that i am lighter and smaller. guess it doesn't work that way tho' and that is disappointing.  i need to work on my speed if i'm going to do anymore shorties.

the start ~ photo by kristine hinrichs

the start ~ photo by kristine hinrichs

this course is pretty nice.  just a few hills and mostly rolling trail.  the last (maybe less than) half is pavement AND downhill!  i kept coaching myself to make it to the downhill so i could just catch my breath there.  i thought i could catch up to the guy in front of me there but i simply couldn't make it happen.  he was just too fast.  i think he was maybe 15 feet ahead of me and while i was closing in i just couldn't catch him before the finish.  he finished 3 seconds ahead of me.  the amazing pregnant woman finished a whole minute ahead of me!  so fantastic!  all in all i'm happy with my time.  i was shooting for 20min but i'll take the 21min for now.  maybe i can get it down for next year. lol!

the finish... the guy who i simply couldn't catch
~ photo by kristine hinrichs

my typical "pained" finisher look ~ photo by kristine hinrichs

finished!  ~ photo by annie weiss

team instep! ~ photo by jeff crosby

2 weeks

iceage is 2 weeks away and my ankle is still being a brat.  i had some great running weeks and then my ankle was sore and oddly swollen on the outside just below my ankle bone.  i saw my PT and he was not concerned about the swelling as long as there was no pain.  lots of icing, some aleve everyday and taking a few days off with the hope that all would be well by my wednesday run.

on wednesday dave and i ran the majority of the beartrax 20K course since we both are supposed to race it tomorrow.  we cut it short because i was just having a really challenging time.  i haven't run since...

my ankle still does not feel right and since my A race this spring is iceage i'm making the decision to drop down from the 20K to the 4.3K tomorrow.  i'm disappointed but i know this is probably the right choice if i want to be my best for the 50K in 2 weeks.  i feel prepared for the race.  i ran the first part of the iceage course the past 2 saturdays to the tune of 21mi and 19mi respectively.  i felt like dying the first saturday and then absolutely fantastic the second saturday.  i am banking on my current fitness to get me through the race.

it turns out (after being examined and reviewed by one of the podiatrists i work for and my PT) that i am a light heel striker but a heel striker none the less.  what this means for me is that a zero drop shoe is not the best choice for me and they believe it is what has caused my ankle injury.  heel striking in a zero drop shoe is no bueno.  so i'm back in my new balance 1400's and that's just fine with me.  it's really too bad tho' because those altras were tax and now i've got two pairs of shoes i can't wear.

i just hope that the ankle thing isn't going to plague me through my whole racing season.  the podiatrist told me that 12 weeks of no running is what i would need to heal my ankle completely and what that would mean is another 12 weeks (give or take) to get back to my current level of fitness.  i took 2 weeks off last month and it was so incredibly challenging cardio-vascularly to do what i want to do... i am absolutely not interested in taking 12 weeks off.  that will have to wait until october after lakefront.

while this is disappointing it is also becoming my "norm" to run through some sort of stupid left leg, ankle, foot injury.  that left side is just a bummer.

i'll post my race report once everything is said and done.  i love running at lapham and i hope the weather is agreeable.  it's a beautiful course and i'm bummed i'm dropping down again this year due to injury.  i did the same thing last year.  gotta roll with the punches and keep my eye on the prize... under 6 hr 50K finish in 2 weeks.

achilles tendonitis

so sometime last week my left ankle started to feel a little weird post run.  when i would get up in the morning my ankle would feel stiff and sort of odd, but since it only lasted a very short period of time upon waking i gave it very little thought.

that all changed on yesterday's run.  in the first 4 miles of the run my left calf felt really really tight.  uncomfortably so.  by the time dave and i got to the 4mi turn around i really needed to stretch that sucker out.  i stretched both my calves out against a sign post and that seemed to help, but it felt wonky and strained in the back of my left heel.  again... i didn't think much of it and we were on our way.

by miles 8 or 9 every down stride where i landed on my left heel was painful.  it got more and more painful as the run continued.  by the end of the 11 miles it was pretty painful.  i was glad to be done.  it was so painful that i was really concerned that i might have hurt something.

it was at this time that i remember that i stepped hard on some uneven roots on sunday's run and tweeked the front of my left ankle in a painful way, but since that pain faded almost immediately i didn't think much of it at the time or since.

by the time i got home my ankle was throbbing.  i showered and massaged it.  took some ibuprofen and that helped some.  then i got on the internets and did some research.  all the symptoms i have been experiencing point to achilles tendonitis.

*sigh*

this is not good.  it's only 6 weeks until ice age.  this marks my very first "injury" of the 2015 season.

i decided that i'll lay off the running for one week and see how i feel after that.  i have also been fighting a migraine since tuesday so that sucks.  i went into work this morning and talked to my friend megan who is also one of the medical assistants.  she told me i should get ultrasound therapy done and so she did that for me.  we'll see how that pans out.  didn't feel like much.  i'm willing to try anything to help tho'.  she also gave me a boot to stretch the tendon which i'm supposed to wear while watching tv and sleeping when i've worked up to that length of time.  the boot holds one's ankle in a flexed position thereby stretching the tendon.  i wore it for about 15 minutes and it felt like my toes were falling asleep so i took it off.  i'll do it again for awhile and so on and so on until my ankle stretches more.

in the meantime i'm hoping that the pain goes away and by this time next week i'm able to run again painfree.  if not i'm prepared to take another week off.  i've got a really good base for my race so i'm not too stressed out about it just yet.  i think it's more important that i rest the injury than make it worse for sure.

my running has been going really well otherwise.  this little set back is just that... a little set back.

InStep Trail Races - 1/2 Marathon

InStep Trail Races - 1/2 Marathon - September 6, 2014

time = 2:03:58
pace = 9:27
placed 1 in my age group (40-44) out of 8
placed 6 in women out of 49
placed 24 overall out of 103

THIS.IS.AN.AWESOME.RACE! if you read my blog at all you know how much i LOVE LOVE LOVE lapham peak.

the start/finish BEFORE we start/finish

it's my back yard and an easy go to when i need to get in some beautiful miles without thinking about them.  this race was a no-brainer so i signed up.  admittedly i was very intimidated because i run this so often and i KNOW how challenging the course can be.  it can take a lot out of a person so i was a bit concerned that i wouldn't do well on the second loop or after running the tower.

i woke up to a perfect day.  58 degrees and the humidity had dropped considerably.  it was sunny and cool... absolutely wonderful.  i pulled into lapham and got perfect parking in evergreen grove as i had hoped.  great timing too because it filled up right after i arrived.  once i parked i looked up and saw that i was parked directly behind my friend nic!  how awesome!  so i got out and introduced myself.  we chatted (me, his mother, and myself) and then she and i headed to the bathrooms.  once that task was completed i ran into a couple of other LPTR runners and since the marathoners were about to take off we headed over there to cheer them on. nic was running the marathon (FOUR of the black loop) and i wasn't the least bit surprised to see him in the lead.

the marathon started a 1/2 hour before the half so we chatted a bit and milled around near the start for a little while.  i was looking for my friend jim but didn't see him.  once everyone started lining up there was a pretty good group of LPTR runners and i cannot explain how wonderful it is to start a race with a bunch of friends.  no nervous jitters at all!  jim showed up and we discussed our goal finish which was the same so we planned to run together.

we took off and i pressed the wrong button on my garmin!  good thing i noticed right away because i had turned it off!  i got it started again and all was well with the world.  we took off hella fast, but since that part of the course is mostly flat it felt ok.  we ran all the hills and killed it on the downhills. the first loop went by pretty quickly.  we kept pace with a pack of about 4-5 people in front of us, but once we had to climb the tower we totally lost them.  i have no idea what happened to them.  the tower climb wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be.  it was tough but mostly just the going up part.  the coming down was easy peasy.

throughout the entire race we were jackrabbiting this one guy in a blue shirt.  he was so good on the up hills!  it was crazy effortless.  he passed us every time and then we smoked him on the straightaways and downhills.  i honestly expected him to pass us at the end, but it never happened which was surprising.

we came through the start for the second loop feeling really good.  nic's mom told me at the end that she saw us but nic was coming through directly behind us and needed gear support so she couldn't say anything to us.  i had no idea he was right behind us!  so weird... the course isn't that big so we thought it was strange that we weren't really seeing anyone from the other race while we were running.

we started the second climb up "gut buster" and surprisingly were only a little bit slower.  11:50 min/mi pace compared to 11:08 min/mi pace the first go around.  this hill is crazy!  it's a half mile long (not counting a smaller part of the hill before it really starts to go up), and this is the fastest two times i've ever run it.



we kept trying to haul ass and we did really well.  there are only two splits that were not so fast.

mile 5 - which looks like the hills leading up to the tower, the climb at the tower, as well as the downhill after the tower so i guess that part was S-L-O-W...

mile 5

mile 8 - which looks like the little hills before "gut buster", "gut buster" itself, and then some of the hills after that.

mile 8

all of the splits

during the second loop we passed one girl on "gut buster" who was a marathoner, and the jackrabbit dude was with us.  after that we saw no one.  no one behind us and no one in front of us save for a couple of marathoners and a couple 7 milers that we passed.  for our race tho'... no one. jim and i decided that was a good thing because there was no way we were going to catch the people ahead of us and the people behind us we gapped big enough that they weren't going to catch us... all that was left was the damn guy in the blue shirt.  we decided he wasn't in jim's age group so not an issue. hahah!

eventually, we passed him up near the end on the "magic carpet ride" down hill and lost him.  i expected him to catch us here but he never came.  on this downhill we finally saw people ahead of us.  tim... one of the LPTR group was directly in front of us but we never did catch him.  much too fast for us.

at the very finish i put it in over drive and ran as fast as i could and got in just before jim.  funnily enough our finish times have him finishing seconds ahead of me.  we decided that he paid a higher entrance fee to get that done.  hahah!  actually, he probably crossed the start before i did and i just made up a little bit of time at the end because i think i was lagging a lot during that first loop compared to him.  he really is why i kept up that awesome pace.  if it weren't for him i would have probably had a much slower finish time and not gotten nearly so close to my goal!  i am so thankful for his encouragement and camaraderie today!  running something this challenging with friends makes it so much more enjoyable and endurable.  we had a magnificent time!  the gap between me and the second place finisher was 19:20 which i think is a significant lead.  i could have totally ran slower! hahah!  the gap between me and the third place finisher was 21:53.  (i'm talking age group placing here... just so that's clear.)  jim came in second in his age group.  the gap between him and the first place finisher was 11:24.  that's a pretty big gap.  then between jim and the third place finisher was a mere 2:03.  so close!  he ran such a great race! man, we killed it!  i'm pretty proud of that.

jim, maggie, and me right after we finished the race
photo by kristine hinrichs

my one complaint is that they didn't have any port-o-pottys right on the course.  i mean... i know where the bathrooms are all along this route but if you're running a race the last thing you want to do is go a few minutes off course to go.  there should have been a port-o-potty right on the sidelines of the start/finish so that all one would have to do is pull over, go, and start running again.  that would be my suggestion for next year.  other than that... aces.






if you get a chance to get out to lapham for a run, race, or hike... you will not be disappointed.  i will be doing this race again for sure!

all the bling with all the sweat and tireds

shows my 19 second time difference from starting my garmin a bit late

me and nic - finishers!

best news ever... right now.

since i refused to believe that i wasn't going to be able to run the instep 1/2 this weekend (due to the allegedly broken toe) i decided to go on a test run at lapham this morning.  i figured if it was TRULY broken i'd take a couple of steps and be in enough pain to know.

i got to the park to run the black loop at just after 7am.  there were quite a few cars there already which was surprising, but i guess not since it is labor day.  as i headed out i was acutely aware of all aches and pains.  notably there was nothing from my right foot aside from my second toe which was feeling a little irritated.  no pain whatsoever from my pinkie toe!  AWESOME SAUCE!

i was feeling a bit sluggish so i thought i'd just take it as it came and try to maintain and also run all the hills.  i simply wanted to see if i could do it at an even pace the whole way through.  i really felt like i was running pretty slow so i thought doing the little bounce jog up all the hills would be helpful in maintaining a decent finish time.  i figured i was fatigued from saturday's run even tho' i rested yesterday...

is that even possible?

so trying to keep an even pace and run all the hills it is!  it was actually quite manageable so i just kept it up.  i skipped the bathroom break and kept right on puttering along. nothing felt too out of whack except for the back of my right knee which i THINK might be my IT band, but the jurys still out on that.  i'm not entirely clear on what the problem is with my right leg.  i'm just hoping that after my race season is over that it heals up and goes away.

the weather was 95% humidity, wet from the rain the days before, and about 68 degrees.  the humidity is so awful that as soon as you start sweating it just drips off your skin and stays on your skin... there's no evaporation of any sort happening.  it's really quite disgusting.

when all was said and done i am happy to report that my foot was no worse for wear, and (barring any more injuries between now and saturday) i should be good to go for the race.  i am so relieved!  i was so upset saturday night i thought i was going to break down and cry.  i'm going through some personal things and this is just not something i need right now.  i need my running to be going right.

i really hope that i can get my speed up and my time down on saturday... not a lot but i'd like to get both loops down to 60min each if i could.  i know that's a lot to shave off but i think in a race setting it might be manageable since this is what i'm doing when i'm not REALLY pushing myself that hard.  i mean... i'm trying but i'm not TRYING if you catch my drift...   when i race i tend to push much harder than i do when i'm alone or running with friends.  when i'm alone i push myself harder than i do with most friend groups and then when i run with friends that are faster than me i push myself to stick with them so i'm pretty sure that i can run this faster than i have at my PR of 1:02 and some change.

i am interested to see what my body and mind can do on saturday... so cross your fingers and wish me luck!  here's to hoping i keep myself injury free between now and then.  ha!

ninja moves

on tuesday i ran the black loop at lapham peak the fastest i've ever ran it (1:02:28)!  i've been running at lapham a few times a week in preparation for the instep 1/2 marathon that's coming up on september 6th.  i'm a bit nervous about it.  the course is two black loops with the tower thrown in during the first of the loops.

the tower at lapham peak

it should prove to be quite challenging.  in fact, that's the only part that i'm not looking forward to.  at my slowest i finish the loop in around 1:12 or 1:15... so throwing the tower in... well, i'm not sure how much that will slow me down, but it concerns me.  i think i can get moving pretty quickly once i get to the top as going back down should be a breeze.  the last (and possibly only) time i ran two of the black loop i completed it in 2:20:06 and that wasn't racing it.  that was also missing the tower so there's that.  my goal is to finish the race in 2:10 or under.  i think racing it i should be able to accomplish that.  i run this course so often that it is an attainable goal.

when i ran on tuesday i also managed to pull the most crazy ninja fall of all time.  i was running a flat just after asthma hill when i tripped so fast that if one were to blink you'd miss it.  let me back up a bit.  when i was coming up to the bathrooms i decided to bypass them as i was feeling so good and i was alone so i wanted to try and run the loop as hard and fast as felt good to see what time i could get.  i was really interested to see just how fast i could complete it.  so i just kept going when normally i stop and pee.  i passed another runner who was running at a leisurely pace as we were turning the corner heading up to asthma hill.

the flat at the top of asthma hill

now, i don't know about you but i tend to naturally pick up the pace when people are around me to see it.  don't know why... i just do it before i even realize i do it.  i mean... normally, at this spot near asthma hill i might be inclined to do a little walking but not this day... not with this lady behind me... nope. no way.  so i ran as much as i could up the incline towards the hill, and actually part of the hill and then i walked.  i walked the second half of the hill to the flat and then kept going.  it was once i hit the flat that something happened.  i was running just fine.  good form, feeling strong, breathing normal and not labored... i have no idea what happened.  next thing i know i'm on the ground.

here's what happened:  left foot stumble, left knee down, left forearm puncture, rolled on my back, right arm down, right foot down, and back up running.  i never even paused!  it was AMAZING!

i looked down at my left arm and the puncture wound was already the size of a golf ball on my arm and oozing blood but not really bleeding that much so while i was a bit concerned about the weird immediate swelling i just kept running.  mainly because... well... that woman.  weird, i know.

i did glance down at my knee and noticed some blood but again... not much so no worries.  i figured that since nothing really hurt i was probably fine.  i moved my arm around and nothing hurt so i didn't think anything was damaged.  nothing started to hurt until a few hills later at which point i stopped and examined things.  just some superficial injuries that i could tell through all the dirt.  i decided that i'd wash everything off when i got to the end of the run (2ish miles away), and reassess then.  my arm felt weird because the flesh was so swollen it was bobbing around, but other than that and the stinging on the scrapes on my leg... i felt great and kept running as fast as i could to get a good time.

i know, i know... priorities.   the thing is that i have that race next weekend and it's really important to me that i do well.  in fact, i am such a weirdo that i looked up last year's competitors in my age group to see what times i would need to beat to place.  then i looked them up to see if they were registered this year.  then i looked up everyone else (all 5 of them) who were registered in my age group this year as well as searched them on athlinks.com to see what my competition is for the race.  ok... that sounds a little weird once i type it out like that, but it is what it is.  i like to know my competition and how hard i will have to work to beat them.  especially, on what i consider my home turf so to speak.  i'm not fast enough (or young enough) to win in general, but i've been doing quite well in my age group and i strive to do better.  i have less anxiety going into the race if i know my competition.  i also looked up how many women over all that are signed up.  there's only 50 of them not counting myself.

i have so much respect for the trail and for lapham peak.  i love sharing it with people, but at the same time i want to OWN the course.

at the end of my run on tuesday i took the following picture before washing off my injuries.

ninja moves injury photo

turned out that things weren't so bad.  today (3 days later) everything is bruised and i've got a few scabs but other than that i'm no worse for wear.  i'm planning on running 3 loops of the black loop tomorrow to complete 20 miles.  i'm a little worried that i won't bother finishing as i may get bored and feel too tired to finish.  when i did the 2 loops a few weeks back i was pretty tired after the 2, but i'm running with a group for the first loop at least so that should help.  3 hours of running just seems really daunting.

it will certainly be an accomplishment if i complete it.  i think there's rain in the forecast too so there's also that...

the black route

yesterday i ran at lapham peak again for the first time since february.  now that the snow is gone runners can be back on the ski trails which is absolutely wonderful!  i brought my dog luda, he's 9, since he's always so bummed when i leave him behind.  i figured that since i've been injured i'm slow enough for him to keep up.  when we arrived at the park (at 7 in the morning) there was only one other car in the parking lot and i was stoked!  it's hard for me to run with him leashed because he's so close to the ground and i tend to pull on him too much so i like to run without leashing him.  besides that he tends to lag behind a few feet once he starts to fatigue so i like him to be able to run his own pace.  he's a great dog and listens well so i don't worry about him bothering others or chasing animals.  generally, when i see other people i call him and leash him until we've passed.  yesterday tho'... i didn't suspect we'd see anyone considering the time and the fact that there was only one car.

we took off and it was pretty wet from all the rain the previous days.  i decided right away to skip the lower meadow as that area tends to flood pretty significantly and it is almost impossible to run (or even walk) through it without having to go through huge puddles.  unfortunately this cut off almost a mile from the route but better that than fully soaked shoes.  so i cut out the lower meadow and we were on our way.

it was glorious!

it was about 38 degrees and overcast.  no wind but very humid.  everything felt good and i was going pretty slowly so as not to aggravate anything.  luda was keeping up well and we puttered along.  i walked all the hills mostly for luda's benefit as he pooped out about 3 miles in.  we saw some deer, a black squirrel, and several puddles we had to walk around.

i felt good at the end of the run.  no pain in my leg.  just pain in the stupid bunion i developed in my left foot but let's not talk about that.

however... last night a few hours before bed my left calf began to ache.  it wasn't painful but it didn't feel good.  i kept stretching it and was feeling a bit panicked but this morning it feels ok.  i woke at 3am to take some ibuprofen for the ache.  i'm really excited to have my insurance kick in so i can go back to my doctor and try and figure this out.  i'm glad that i'm no longer experiencing the pain and/or numbness when running (fingers crossed) but the fact that i'm still having other weird symptoms is causing me pause.  i don't want to over do the running and make it worse.  i planned to run 3 today but i'm thinking i should hold off given the ache from yesterday.  maybe 6 was too much too soon?  i have 7 planned for saturday and 6 planned for sunday.  i guess i'll run saturday and see how i feel for sunday.  sunday's run will be slower than i normally run as i'm running with a friend who's pace is slower than mine so that mileage for those two days might be fine.

i just get so frustrated with my progress being so slow.  in other news i felt so good yesterday after my run that i was inspired to sign up for the rollie 5K fun run.

... and that's all i've got to say about that.

Beartrax Brownie Shuffle (4.2K)

Beartrax Brownie Shuffle (4.2K) - April 27th, 2014
time = 21:48
pace = 8:10 average
placed 1st in my age group (40-49) out of 29
placed 3rd in women out of 110
placed 8th overall out of 163

i was much slower this year than last.  my time last year was 19:53 but given i was uninjured, running consistently, and the weather was nice enough for shorts... well, i think i'll take my time today and be happy with it.  i should mention that i was signed up for the 20k but given the way my leg has been feeling i went early this morning and changed my registration to the 4.2k to be safe.  i'd rather finish well in something short than have a DNF in something long that i'm ill prepared for.

kellie, me, and amanda pre-race

it was raining this morning and the wind is really gusting something fierce.  makes for a cold and clammy day in spite of the temperature being in the upper 30's low 40's.  last year at this time i was lamenting running in lapham peak as i could not call myself a trail runner yet.  i hated trail running because it was hard and i simply wasn't up for the challenge.  this year... i LOVE it.  i was so happy to be on the trails.  i wasn't pushing myself very hard because as of this race it had been 12 days since my last run.  so i was running comfortably and not balls to the wall as i had suspected i might run.  my foot had gone numb pretty quickly into the run and i was just being cautious of any pain that might arise.  thankfully there was no pain... just the numbness.  so i powered on.  i started near the middle of the pack so as to not take off too quickly (plus it makes me feel faster if i pass people which is always a bonus).  so i started passing people right away and continued to do so most of the race until there was only one large teenager in front of me.  he was so gross!  he kept stopping (in the middle of the trail i might add) to spit and then he'd lope off like a lanky golden retriever who hasn't quite mastered his legs yet... only to stop dead in his tracks and spit again.  seemed like maybe he was fighting a cold.  i caught up to him pretty quickly.  then i got passed by a woman in blue.  i stayed on her heels for awhile and then passed her on a downhill to be quickly overcome a moment later.  i assessed her age and determined that she was  younger than me and therefore not worth killing myself to beat so i held my pace as she quickly became a speck ahead of me.  yes... i actually had that conversation with myself about whether or not she was in my age group because all that matters is that i place in my age group because i'm freaking old.

the course (as recorded by my garmin)

about mid-way through the race the beautiful trail gives way to pavement and that's about where the gap between the woman in blue and i got too large to close and for what it's worth... she was fast.  the golden snot boy on the other hand... had he just held his pace and figured out how to spit WHILE running probably could have stayed ahead of me.  no such luck for him and i was in front of him in no time.  i like to think that i rocketed past him at light speed but it was more of a gaining akin to a snail overtaking another snail.

in the final downhill stretch another teenage girl passed me and i made the decision to not try and get ahead of her because again... not in my age group and for fuck's sake... my leg was numb.  the whole time i was trying to figure out how many people were ahead of me because well... that's how i roll.  why is it that running looks so effortless for these kids?  i mean... i'm busting my ass out there and this girl just glides past me like she's doing a little waltz.  when i look at the stats tho' it looks like i came in just before her not exactly beating her as we both have the same 21:48 time... our milliseconds must be different tho'... i really pulled it out around the last bend but i didn't notice where she was at that point as i was looking at the finish.  no matter how hard i try i simply cannot shrug off my competitive bug.

lastly, a little kid passed me up around the same time that teenage girl did.  earlier on i passed him and 2 others who were 3 deep, but man, those little kids get that second wind and they are fast.  again... no effort was made in this 10 year old's passing me.  none... he just slid right past me like he was on some of those heely shoes or something.  *sigh*  that kid beat me by 3 seconds!  i wish i could get a second wind like that but no dice... i was simply glad that i was still on my feet given that i have no endurance from all NON-running i've been doing lately.

i really love this race.  it is really short and always beautiful.  it is well organized and if you're not a trail runner per se it's a good way to get your feet wet (or muddy or dusty as the case may be) considering that only 1/2 of the race is on the trails.  today could have been muddy given the rain this morning but the beauty of a forest is that it protects the trail from a lot of the rain and the trail was totally dry.  i can't wait to get out in lapham again for my weekly runs.  i miss it so much.  all that nature just wrapping it's arms around me.  also, once in the woods the wind was mostly nonexistent which helps a lot. the only thing i don't like about this race is that they don't do age group awards.  i'm guessing because it's so short of a race.  the after race foods are awesome!  this is the only race i've ever been to that makes fresh oatmeal.  i cannot say enough good things about this race, lapham peak, or my community.

if you get a chance to come out and run this next year please do.  it is so worth it.  if not... there's always the colorama which is in fall.

the finish as photographed by my husband

obviously i need to work on my "finish face"