High Cliff Ultra 25K

High Cliff Ultra 25K - August 3rd 2019

time = 2:49:52
pace = 10:56
placed 1 in my age group (45-49) out of 15
placed 12 in women out of 76
placed 25 overall out of 124
link to strava data


what to say about this... well, i've DNS'd the past 2 years in a row due to my near-constant injury after injury.  this year i really wanted to run this so i waited until 3 weeks before the race and signed up.  i suppose i should mention that when i signed up the longest distance i had run since may was maybe 10 miles.  i figured i would run it and not really race it and just make sure that i finished as the goal.

i ran a 15 mile training run out at nordic with sid the saturday before and it went well with no aches or pains but we took it really easy and ran pretty slow.  then on my tuesday run the next week my left leg felt so bad!  my quad was all kinds of knotted up and i could barely roll it without tears.  because i wanted to run this race i decided not to run the rest of last week (leading up to the race) so i could just roll the knots out of my quad and be good for the race.  it proved to be the right tactic because my legs felt great going into the race!

high cliff state park is approximately 1:47 minutes from my house.  i drove up the morning of the race since my race didn't start until 9am so i could get up at a decent time and make it there with time to spare.  my gps sent me to the wrong place at first but it must happen all the time because that place is a storage area for the park and they have a sign right out front that says so much and gives directions on how to get to the actual park entrance.  so i turned around and headed into the quaint little village of sherwood, wi.  i finally found the park and drove up to where all the hand written signs were telling me to go.

once i arrived i got a primo parking spot right at the starting line.  i think people thought it was a handicap spot as it was right next to the actual handicap spot, but it was not... don't worry i checked... it was just for me!

i got there just in time to see the 50K start.  denny was running that and i cheered him on, but alas... he did not hear me.  after that i went looking for my bib.

got my bib and noticed that there was no timing chip!  what the hell?!?  i got all nervous and fb'd a friend who told me that Mark, the race director, does it old school and they write down your time as you come through the finish.  craziness... hard for my type-A personality to be ok with it but what the hell?!?  i went with it and hoped that they got it right.

the race starts pretty bare-bones... like a lot of trail races i've run... just a little yell and off we went.

the first 2/10 of a mile was a steep service road downhill.  it spread people out but only by a smidge.  then we ran a bit of flat paved trail for the other 8/10 of the first mile to go ahead and start climbing single track trail back to the bluff.  to be honest... i don't remember the flat being that long but in all the excitement things get weird.

the single track was frustrating because it was up down up down up down and i was stuck behind a couple of people.  when i'd finally get past them there'd be an incline and we all know how well i "run" those... so i'd be walking and they'd pass me again.  i make up my walking time on the downs so i was really frustrated that i couldn't get away from these people so that i could really open up my downs.  finally, we got to some flat area (maybe near mile 4?), and i was able to give it some gas and put a little space between us.  i ended up running with a really nice woman until about mile 6 or so.  we kept passing each other as one of us would walk and the other would run by and this went on for a couple of miles until at an aid station in the prairie i lost her for good.  it's too bad too because i was really enjoying her company and it would have been nice to run with her through the prairie that came next.

miles 6-12 were basically scorching hot as balls prairie in full sun and about 85º with very very short brakes of woods for about a stride or two throughout.  to say the prairie was hot as balls is an understatement.  it was more like running on a treadmill in an oven with a heat lamp beating down on you.  there were very short bursts of a gentle cool breeze but they were few and far between.  it was freaking hot!  when i was coming back around to the aid station between miles 12 and 13 i noticed that my fingers were swollen up like sausages.  i needed some salt.

i want to take a moment to thank the volunteers at this aid station.  they were absolutely the best and really boosted my mood both times i went through.  they worked tirelessly to make sure that each and every runner that came through felt special and cared for and it was just what i needed at that moment.  so the space between 12 and 13... i asked one of the volunteers if anyone had any s-tabs and no one did but he offered me a potato.  here's the thing about trail races (if you've never done one)... they have real food.  real good food.  all of the things really...

so i took a tiny potato out of the water it was hanging out in and dipped it in the bowl of salt sitting next to it.  there was so much salt on that damn potato but i sure as hell popped it in my mouth and got it into my belly.  grimace and all.

then i chugged some water, ate some watermelon, and was on my way.  the sign leaving the aid station says 2.3 miles left so i thought... i got this.

my hips had started hurting a couple miles back so i was walking a lot more than anticipated but i felt good and wasn't crying.  i kept running when i could and taking walk breaks when i needed to.  i didn't think i would be winning any placements so i really wasn't pushing through the pain.  i walked a lot in those last 2 miles.

i passed a couple of dudes who smoked me earlier in the race... they were walking now.  the heat really got to a lot of people i think.  i just kept drinking like crazy and making sure my bottle was filled up each chance i got to fill it.  thankfully they had tailwind so i didn't take in anything weird that my belly isn't used to.

so i'm run-walking through the 2.3 miles to the finish and i realize i'm walking more than i'm running so i push a bit harder and that's when i trip.  i saved myself so all was well with the world but i tend to not lift my feet when i get tired so i started paying a little more attention to that so i wouldn't actually fall.

when i'm about a mile out (or so i thought based on what a 25K distance is supposed to be and comparing that to what my watch was telling me) i am passed by 3 women. one right after the other...

so i start to run.  i start to run as hard as i can because hell... i'm almost done and i should be able to run a mile without stopping... right?  i pass 2 of the women who just passed me and then my right hip was all... nah... we're gonna walk.

so i walked.  my watch clocked the course at 15.67 which is why i got confused when i didn't see the finish at 15.5.  it's prairie and then woods and then prairie and then turn into the woods and finally some single track and poof!  we're out of the woods and back at the start/finish where i'm proud to say i ran it in.

i'm pretty proud of this race.  i don't think i was properly trained to be racing this distance and even tho' i said i would go in and just run it... i've never gone in and just run a race.  i race all races.

i did race it conservatively tho' in that i didn't finish with tears or so spent that i couldn't have run a few more miles if necessary.  my hips were hurting which is why i would have had any trouble running farther otherwise i felt pretty good.

this was a really fun race.  it was a lot harder than i thought it would be and i would absolutely run it again.  they had stone-fired pizzas at the end and that was amazing!  i also drank a can of coke which also tasted amazing.

the race director sends out a handwritten note to each participant when they register which i think is a really great touch.  it's meaningful and really drives the olive garden feel home...

"when you're here, you're family"

the bullshit elevation profile for the first 5 miles

all of the next photos were taken by ohwow images.  you can see all the photos they took here

coming down

... and going back up

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

Summerfest Rock 'n Sole 1/2 Marathon

Summerfest Rock 'n Sole 1/2 Marathon - June 14, 2014

time = 2:24:53
pace = 11:03
placed 170 in my age group (40-44) out of 230
placed 1572 in women out of 2102
placed 2904 overall out of 3581

ready to run!

this time around was very different than my first time running this race.  last year this was my very first 1/2 marathon and i was terrified!  this year, i decided to use this as a training run and pace my very good friend kellie.  as we all know i've been battling some stupid issue with my left leg, and haven't really been able to get in all the long runs i've been needing to for training. so to run this at full speed and try to race it maybe wouldn't have been in my best interest physically after having just done the ragnar relay.

my friend krista is home from colorado for the summer visiting her parents and she decided to run the 10K so we drove together.  i slept pretty poorly and was up at 4am.  even so i felt pretty good.  the weather was perfect.  low 50's and almost full sun.  couldn't ask for better weather actually.  quite chilly to start but once the body gets moving it is all good in the proverbial hood.  this year the race was beginning in a new location because there is construction being done on the hoan bridge.

hoan bridge - milwaukee, wi

last year the race began in front of the art museum, went south over the hoan bridge, turned around at the end and came back north over the bridge again.  it is truly the best part of the race and the whole reason i ran it in the first place.  this bridge is iconic to milwaukee, and in fact, my father and grandfather had a hand in building this great structure so i feel some emotional attachment to it.  it feels like home to me.  getting the privilege of running over it was meaningful in a way i cannot accurately describe, and emotional in a way that almost feels silly upon first thought.  i feel bonded to my city.  it is a part of me and the joy of running over it as the city expands and contracts before my eyes is a journey i plan to take every year as long as the bridge is involved.  it truly is the best part of the run.  this course over all is really spectacular.  the race directors did a fantastic job changing the course this year.  it was really seamless and smooth.  i love everything about this race.  kellie and i started out really strong and stayed that way for the majority of the race.  i think she started to lose some steam near mile 7 and in hindsight i think it may have been fueling.  i'm going to have to ask her about that.  i feel like she was really really strong up until then and then it started to fall apart.  we did some walking so she could catch her breath but ultimately i think fatigue was just taking over.

splits

at mile 8.8 we were cresting lincoln memorial drive and hitting that beautiful downhill which couldn't have come at a better time!  it was a spirit lifter when a spirit lifter was necessary.  the most amazing part of being a pacer is helping someone through the most difficult and challenging parts of their run.  there were a few for kel.  i know that when i'm running a race and i get to the point of tears it would have been really great to have someone i love and trust tell me to keep going.  hell, just having someone there by my side might have been enough a few times to get me through the thick of it on occasion.  i'm not sure i did that for her but i like to think that i did. i try to be encouraging and maybe i'm too chatty most of the time.  i also try to be quiet when i think she needs me to be quiet.  it's hard to know what exactly someone needs when their in the thick of their pain.  hard to know what they need to triumph over their challenges and defeat the voice in their head that is telling them that they can't possibly take another step.  so we walked a bit here and there to give that voice a rest and quell it into submission.

splits

there was a point at about 11.8 (right outside the art museum) where i decided i was going to sing "eye of the tiger" for her so i was searching siri and once i found it kellie turned up her headphones.  apparently i think i'm funnier than she does.  i started making the hand gestures to the beat of the music and in that moment kel said something along the lines of i was ruining her life and that she hated me for it... well... not really anything at all like that but whatever she said i knew that the kidding must end because she was deep in her pain and i wasn't helping.  so i stopped screwing around and let her feel all the feels... there may have been some tears.  sometimes these things happen when the physical pain of exertion becomes too much.  happens to the best of us.  so we took a walk break to get the emotions and heart rate in check.  once those were in order we took off strong again to bring it home.

the volunteers for this race are second to none.  really great!  always cheering and smiling.  i always thank the volunteers.  if it weren't for them these races couldn't happen.  so make sure you thank your volunteers at the next race you run.  krista was a trooper and was waiting for us at the finish since she had run the 10K and (obviously) that wasn't going to take as long as the 1/2.  we went to check out the after party and use a REAL bathroom.  all in all i have to say this was such a fun time.  i think kellie had fun but maybe the jury is still out on that... i enjoy running with her and i'm really glad i got to experience this race with her.  running it with her was a totally different experience than when i ran it last year at my fastest race pace.  i'm not sure which i enjoyed more... i think i liked them both equally but for very different reasons.  i will always recommend this race to everyone as it is well put together, organized, fun, and has such great support all around.  you really get to see a beautiful portion of milwaukee when you run it.  until next year...

right before this picture was taken i asked krista
if the photographer was taking pictures
of people waiting in line for the port-o-potties.
he was.

me & krista - pre-race chill & banana

me & kellie @ mile 6ish still all smiles

F my face!

krista, me, kellie - happy finishers!

krista, me, kellie - happy finishers!

krista

kellie

Run Like a Mother (5K)

Run Like a Mother (5K) - May 11, 2014
time = 25:22
pace = 8:10 average
placed 9th in my age group (40-44) out of 64
placed 29th in women out of 420
placed 29th overall out of 424

i had a great running streak from saturday to monday and then it seems that those 3 days of just over 6 miles was overdoing it because on wednesday when i wanted to run again... i simply couldn't.  my leg hurt so badly that i couldn't even do a little jump on it without pain.  i went for a long dog walk with the husband and then thought that it would be loose enough after that for a short run.  not so much.  got home and took off for my run and didn't even make it down the driveway.  went to PT on thursday and i feel really defeated.  all the PT did was give me some exercises to do at home and quite frankly i don't think that's going to do anything for my issue.  so here i am today after not having run for the past 5 days and i try to run a 5K.  i am so slow now and it is really disappointing.

i'm trying to be optimistic and positive.  i'm trying to cut myself some slack given the current circumstances but i'm really pissed off.  i'm pissed off because no one seems to have an answer on how to fix me.  no one has been able to say to me... i can help you fix this problem in x amount of time and you'll be back to running your normal pace pain free in x amount of time.

so basically i have nothing to look forward to but more of this weird numbness and non-pain and weakness and nerve stuff.  my heal is numb right now... my heal!

so this morning when i got up for the race i was pretty indifferent about it.  i wasn't sure i was even going to bother going because i feel like i'm settling into this slower race pace and i don't want to get comfortable here.  once i got moving this morning tho' i decided that i would probably regret it if i didn't go and i've been getting more and more bummed out the less i've been able to run so i figured all the activity and the other runners would do me some good.

i got my boys up and we all left for the race.  the 1 miler kid race was first and the kid that won it did it in 5:58!  insane!  kids are so fast!

when it was time for the 5K to start suddenly i had to go to the bathroom.  3 minutes to start and i need to go to the bathroom?!?  sheesh... in and out in a jiffy and i'm at the start line.  no one wanted to be at the front so there i was... in the front.  of course, i took off too fast and was clocking under a 7 minute mile out of the gate and when i realized it i dialed it back.  good thing too because by mile 2 my leg was hurting.  not exactly hurting but feeling tight and weird.

still feeling fresh

by 2.5 miles there was a double loop which i managed to slow down down down for and then i got stuck behind a 2 deep team that was clocking a 8:30 mile (yes i checked my garmin).  while i was stuck behind them i was debating staying there because it was comfortable or trying to get around them because i can run faster.  i stayed behind them and then when the water station came up i decided to stop, walk, and drink some water.  i NEVER stop in a 5K so that was deeply disappointing.  This was an out and back which i always like because i enjoy seeing all the people in the race as well as seeing who is in front of me.  i finished strong and am a little afraid to see the pictures because (of course) i wasn't working on my "race face" as i was uncomfortable and my leg wasn't feeling good.  i really just wanted it to be over as i was thinking about my lack of endurance the whole time.  i need to figure out how to build my endurance while not aggravating my leg further.  i just don't know what to do about that.       

my beautiful children on mother's day

these beautiful faces

afterwards my boys were right there and that was wonderful!  we went to brunch at juniper 61 where my little brothers are chefs and had a lovely meal.  all in all it was a worthwhile experience and i would do it again.  hopefully faster.

the shirt, the bib, the medal

only one mile left to go

still trying to be positive

almost done

the finish!