Burro Loco 5K Trail Race: Tall grass, shoelaces, and the unknown

This past weekend I ran in my first trail race. I wasn't planning to run and really wasn't prepared, which was probably a good thing. It was definitely an interesting experience. I had gone down to Myrtle Beach to run with the Black Dog Running Co. at their weekly social run and someone mentioned this "Burro Loco" 5K that weekend. I saw it was a trail race but didn't really think it would be a big deal, so I signed up. Little did I know what I had gotten myself into. Not one to be able to "race for fun" I realized very quickly how different trail racing is from road racing. For one thing, you don't go as fast. I had warmed up on the course about a half mile that morning and wished later on I had seen the entire thing. There were about 125 racers that morning and as we lined up, I still had no clue what was getting ready to happen...Off we took through the woods and after the first half mile I realized that I had better pay attention to the ground or I was going to fall flat on my face. The tire tracks I had been following suddenly disappeared. Umm...what now, I thought? The grass was as high as my knees and there were dips in the trail, too. My shoes were soaking wet and I could feel the grass and other weeds tearing at my legs. Through the first mile I was the lead woman. I figured I would be passed pretty soon but was giving it my all. Not once did I ever consider the creatures that were lurking in those woods. haha! Yea, I guess there probably were some snakes around. I was too busy trying not to fall and twist my ankle and then for the first time ever in a race my shoelaces came untied. I always double knot and have never had a problem but the high grass worked them loose. I was going to just ignore it but figured my shoe would come off sooner or later so I begrudgingly stopped to tie it. Would you believe I had to stop and tie the same shoe two more times and the other one time!! That cost me about 15 seconds! I crossed the finish line with one of them untied but I was not going to stop anymore! And then there was the long jump I took. I came up on this creek thing and with only a split second to decide went soaring across. Not sure how I made it but, I did-then there was a second one. Good grief...not wanting to chance it, I ran to the outside and a shorter jump. I had already been passed by two women, but I did end up finishing strong as the third woman overall. My time was 25:04. And then there was the issue with my shoes. I had my Brooks Green Silence on, not a smart choice for a trail race, but all I had other than my brand new Kinvara 3's. Thanks to the mud runner who told me how to care for my shoes. They are as good as new...well, I can tell they've been through something other than road work but still usable.

So, I am not sold on this trail racing stuff...trail running for training, yes...but I am a long distance runner and do not want to injure myself. If I couldn't run my marathons because of some trail race, well...let's just say, I'd be pretty upset! Kudos to all you mud runners and trail racers though! Next time, if there is a next time, I will see the entire course before I decide to run...


I did meet some new friends! Tammy, Daniel, and Tina-I will be in touch!!

                                            Burro Loco 5K

Tobacco Road Marathon Race Report March 18, 2012

Let me begin by saying that the last I heard, the man who went into cardiac arrest at Myrtle Beach was going to be okay! Very happy!!


Following my disappointing finish at MB, Bobby and I discussed my doing another marathon pretty quick like. I didn't push myself too hard at MB so he thought it would be okay. We waited a couple weeks to see how my long runs went-how I felt, etc.-before deciding. I seemed to be doing pretty good, so he said I should try again...only this time we decided I would not "broadcast" my plans. In my defense, I know there are many of you who like to read my posts and follow my running, so I enjoyed having you along for the ride on my way to trying to BQ. We thought that maybe the expectation of wanting to BQ and everyone knowing my plans added to my stress of the day and may have hindered me--now I'm not making any excuses--I tanked at MB and couldn't qualify. It was my fault. But, we wanted to try something different this time so, I signed up for Tobacco Rd 2 weeks ago. It was very weird not putting anything on facebook about the race and having only a handful of people even knowing I was running. So, if you think I was a little irritable last week, now you know-I was tapering! LOL! I didn't try to hide it, if I was asked what my next race was, I told them. 

Anyway, on to the race itself...I did a good job of carbo loading this week (I do not want any pasta for at least a week for sure haha) and keeping hydrated. Someone asked me on Friday how I felt and I said-the same way I did before Myrtle (which was good and ready to run) so we will see. Race morning was normal for me-I had gone to bed about 8:30pm and woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 1:00am! I tried to rest until 3:30am and then it was time to get ready! Yay! I'm feeling good, legs feel good, and it has stopped raining. My "taxi driver" aka Will, who was not so bright eyed and bushy tailed, rallied out of bed at 4:30am so we could leave for the race. He had to work but had graciously offered to drop me off--I love my husband!! We only got "lost" once but managed to find the drop off zone by 5:45am. It was a short walk to the baseball complex and one of my favorite and necessary places--the bathroom! Now it is time for my pre-race warmup and once that was done I went to the bathroom again and went to meet my 3:45 pacer. I told him if he helped me BQ he would become my new best friend and he assured me he would be able to help! Cool! One last trip to the potty and off to the start line. Man, was it crowded as I weaved my way to the pace group. I planned to stick like glue to the 3:45 man. The race started off great...until after mile 6 and then I started losing pace with my group. I felt good, I just couldn't keep up. Slowly, I saw them inch away from me. Not again, I thought! I kept on and tried to keep an even pace-it didn't go so well. Many things are going through my mind (you do know that racing is as much mental as physical right? it can be tough-the mental part!). I began to think that I needed to change my goal for the day. I wanted to finish in 3:50 or under 4 hours. I had done it before--I could do it again. I was also thinking how in the world did I run the entire marathon at Disney without stopping one time. I can't believe I ever did that! So, I had good miles and I had not so good ones. I stopped when I needed to and ran as "fast" as I could for that particular moment. There was a time that I realized I could actually still BQ but it would take extreme effort. Of course, I didn't have extreme left in me this day. Finally, I reach mile 23, then 24, then 25. One more to go. When I hit mile 26, I thought, okay this .2 will be the longest ever! I was booking it--as much as I could, almost at 4 hours and I needed to finish quick. I forgot we were going to finish uphill-good grief-my last 10 steps were almost slow motion-I had nothing left to give. But, I finished in 4 hours-I haven't seen my official time yet though. This is what my watch said...it will be right around that time. So, my take on today is that, for now, I'm not going to worry about Boston. I mean, if it was easy to qualify, everyone would be doing it, right. I love running too much to keep stressing myself over this. Once I turn 45, my time goes up by 5 minutes anyway haha! I am looking forward to some shorter races over the next few months, a relay race with my Cap Run buddies in November, and I am pretty sure I will be running the Dopey/Goofy Challenge at Disney next January! That is a 5K, Half and Full all in a 3-day period- worth 4 medals!! And Disney medals are THE COOLEST!


Thanks to all who came out to cheer me on today-a few were missing that I wish could have been there but it meant a lot for the others to come! My 2 sisters were there to give me a ride back home. Thanks to Jenna Pearsall for taking such great pictures! Mel, Scar, Karen, Paul, Debbie, Charles, Blanka, and all the others too! I didn't mean to leave anyone out! Thanks to the wonderful volunteers at the race! They were awesome!!! See below for my intervals today and a few pictures!

                                    Near Mile 23--almost done!

                                Me and Jack! He BQ'd at MB!

                                           Me and Jenna!

INTERVALS

MILE	TIME	AVG. PACE
1	8:12	8'12"/mi
2	16:28	8'16"/mi
3	24:32	8'04"/mi
4	32:55	8'23"/mi
5	41:11	8'16"/mi
6	49:34	8'23"/mi
7	58:17	8'43"/mi
8	1:07:24	9'07"/mi
9	1:16:43	9'19"/mi
10	1:25:49	9'06"/mi
11	1:35:20	9'31"/mi
12	1:45:20	10'00"/mi
13	1:55:00	9'40"/mi
14	2:04:26	9'26"/mi
15	2:13:25	8'59"/mi
16	2:22:00	8'35"/mi
17	2:31:37	9'37"/mi
18	2:40:56	9'19"/mi
19	2:49:28	8'32"/mi
20	2:59:39	10'11"/mi
21	3:09:01	9'22"/mi
22	3:17:49	8'48"/mi
23	3:28:30	10'41"/mi
24	3:38:25	9'55"/mi
25	3:48:21	9'56"/mi
26	3:57:33	9'12"/mi

My "that didn't go as planned" Myrtle Beach Race Report

Myrtle Beach Marathon February 18, 2012

Race Report:

I woke up that morning feeling pretty good. All the normal stuff that happens to me on race morning happened. As I was warming up before the race, I noticed my legs a little tight, but no big deal, I still felt good. I'm ready...let's do this thing, I was thinking!!

Race splits:

10K (6.2 miles)                        53:44

Half (13.1 miles)                   1:53:14

30K (about 19 miles)           2:49:02

Full  (26.2 miles)                   4:26:12

•  I didn't panic at the beginning and went out at a comfortable pace. There were a lot of people but I didn't feel boxed in and didn't have to weave in and out much at all.
•  My Garmin decided to go wacky and the pacing feature read a 3:20 pace the entire race...I still didn't panic but ran by feel and kept thinking about how my coach, Bobby, never uses a pacing watch and I knew I would come up on the mile markers to check my time. I did have my pace band on as well.
•  Up to around mile 5 I was on pace to qualify. I was about a minute and a half ahead of pace but was feeling pretty good.
•   I started feeling a little bad close to mile 4 so I took my first GU then. It was hard to get down. I remember thinking this might not turn out to be a good day for me. Little did I know...
• My stomach started hurting...I didn't have to use the bathroom-it just hurt. My hamstrings started tightening up. I envisioned getting a DNF. I was fairly certain I would not be able to finish-it was too far.
•  I took my 2nd and last GU at mile 10. Usually mile 8-10 are not good in my training runs, so I thought it might pass. It didn't.
•  I first stopped to walk around mile 11 or 12. Once my stomach stopped hurting, I ran again. Then I would stop, and then run...this was the cycle…along with crying uncontrollably.
•  I took a pepto bismol tablet-it helped a little.
• Ronnie Jones came alongside me and encouraged me not to quit but persevere.
• Charles Akers passed me and I told him I wasn't doing well...
• Mike Walsh came along to check on me and gave me a salt tablet. That was near mile 16 or 17. By mile 20 I did feel better but my hamstrings were still tight.
•  Mile 18 was where I saw them doing CPR on the man. We had to go around him on the sidewalk and I had to stop for the ambulance to get by...the race didn't seem so important at that moment. I was crying. I had been crying off and on since the half mark. I’m not sure if he made it or not…
•  A little after mile 18 I see Charles stopped on the side of the road, he was waiting for me to help me out. He was only using this race as a training run and he was coming off a foot injury, so he was hurting some too. We would run some and walk some. He talked most of the time and kept my mind off of the fact that I had failed. He is a big reason why I didn't stop at the medical tent and quit. He was very encouraging. Everyone was-they know how important it is to me.
• Charles and I matched each other step for step at the finish--funny to hear the announcer say, "looks like we have another race to the finish" like we were trying to beat one another. I owe him big time.

I think I may have been a little dehydrated. I did drink regularly during the race but I wonder if I started off dehydrated. I didn't drink too much after 8 the night before. I was too worried about going to the bathroom during the race. That was the least of my worries…I didn't use the bathroom from 6:15am until 12:15pm on Saturday.

I'm very disappointed, not upset, but very sad. I had put my all into this race and worked my tail off at each training run. I feel like the last 3.5 months are in the toilet. I know they aren't but that's how I feel right now. I'm not going to give up trying to qualify until I have that "perfect" race and just realize I am not fast enough to meet the time goal. I will be okay-it's just going to take a little while…just finishing wasn’t my goal on Saturday. I know most who are reading this can’t understand why I am disappointed even though I finished 26.2 miles-you think, isn’t that an accomplishment in itself-most people never even attempt that distance but…some do understand. I will be crying for a while, I can’t help it, just accept it, and know this was one of the most important things to me. You are all very supportive, I just need some time. Please understand and don’t try to make me feel better. I know you care and I sincerely appreciate it, but this is something I have to get over on my own. I know you are proud of me!

On a positive note: I am very excited that Jack Smith did qualify for Boston, Scarlette Chappell and Melissa Hamilton ran their first marathon and my nephew Ricky Buffaloe ran his first half marathon. I am very happy for the more than 25 WCA people that participated in the races this weekend. It was a fun time overall!! Small things can make a difference! You can get active!! Start today!!

24 hour countdown

The 24 hour countdown is on...I have been training for this day for a long time now. It is surely one of the most important races of my life. There is nothing particularly special about the Myrtle Beach Marathon, except that this is where I hope to qualify for the Boston Marathon. All of my training plans and effort since October 31 has been geared to running a 3:45 time. As far as the data goes...I should run that time, no problem but unfortunately, there is more to a marathon than the data. I have learned in these few short years that I've been racing how much the mental aspect is along with the physical aspect! You must be prepared for both or you will not do very well. I am still learning a lot about myself as a runner and person. One of my favorite quotes has been, "the minute you think of giving up...remember the reason why you held on for so long." running has become a very important part of my life, as all of you know. It's not just about me, but I want to help others get active--whether that is running or some other type of activity. It has been an awesome journey...filled with victories and pain. Yes, I will be super disappointed if I don't qualify tomorrow but it won't be the end of the world. There is always another race! "The pain of discipline is far less than the pain of regret" and I can say that I have no regrets from this training cycle. I have followed the training plan that Bobby had for me pretty much to a tea. My interval workout split times have been dead on or faster. I wanted to weigh 10 pounds less than my first marathon a year ago and as of yesterday morning, I am down 9 pounds. That's close enough and for all you thinking I didn't need to lose anymore weight, I am well within the suggested weight for my height, so all is good there, no worries. Now, this last day before the big race I must do this...trust my training, trust my coach, and run the best I can! As always my races are in memory of my mom and dad, affectionately nicknamed Fred and Ethel! They never saw me race a marathon but made me the kind of person that has the discipline to train for such a race. I love and miss them so very much. A huge thank you to my husband, Will, my biggest supporter! My sisters, Donna and Connie and the rest of my family and friends for always believing in me! And my coach, Bobby Mack! Thank you! I love you all! Now...off for my last training run!

24 days...ut oh...

Holy cow!! 24 days--I'm not ready! How did it get here so quick? (for you reading this blog for the first time--I have a marathon on Feb 18 in Myrtle Beach) Okay, so the paranoia is setting in a little earlier than with my other races but this is a pretty big one. I know that I have worked very hard in my training and have been consistent as well! That doesn't change the fact that I pretty much second guess everything I do. I know it shouldn't be that way but-it is what it is...

Other running news: the 2 ladies I am coaching are doing a great job! Their endurance is increasing little by little. I joined the running club in Myrtle Beach and may have some opportunities to coach a few clinics there this summer. 

I appreciate all of you that encourage me and keep me in your prayers. 

I will check in later...

Caffeine or no?

I got my USATF Level 1 certificate in the mail. That was pretty exciting, I knew I had already passed the exam but getting the actual certificate was very cool. So, what is next? Well, I will continue to train the 2 women for their first half marathon (April 15) and then I will work on the Level 2 certification. That will take a couple of years to earn. I must have experience coaching track and field for that one. I am going to sign up for the next class in the Personal Training certification from the US Sports Academy after my marathon in February. 

For now I continue to work toward my goal of qualifying for Boston at the Myrtle Beach Marathon on Feb 18. I must admit that I am a little nervous. I have 5 weeks left until the race and I'm almost scared to put it in print, but my training has been going very well! I am feeling  really good, my interval workouts are great, my long runs are great too (of course there are always a few miles here and there that aren't so good but that's normal), my weight is steady, my diet is pretty good (I do indulge sometimes), and overall I am feeling good about it all. The only complaint I have is this waking up at 3am several times a week...I mean, getting up at 4am to go running is one thing, but 3? Really? I do try to make it up on the weekend though. Nothing seems to have suffered. And by the way, I am getting average of 6-7 hours of sleep a night-so I sleep even less than most of you. I just have a different schedule. I do get teased constantly by my friends and family about going to bed early but I know that means they love me. Haha!

I've been trying to stay away from caffeine over the last month. If you know me well, you know that I always have to go to the bathroom and even take medicine to help me not have to go pee so much. It's really a pain and so much more so when I am racing. It stresses me to think that just because I have a small bladder, I potentially lose 30 seconds or so off my time. Those seconds are important!! So, I have noticed a difference, not sure how this will translate in the race. When you gotta go pee, you just gotta go. I have it in my mind that I will stop at least once for the potty during the race and this has helped relieve some stress. Not much I can do about it...well, I guess I could wear a diaper like the guy did in the Disney marathon (go read that blog for a laugh) but I'm not ready to go there yet. LOL!

 I did find an app for my iPad2 that will locate bathrooms for me! :)

 Take care and get out there and run...or walk. Just do something.

USATF Level 1 Track and Field Coach

Yes, I'm a running coach!

Tomorrow begins a new chapter in my life. I will take two ladies under my wing and attempt to help them complete their first half marathon. I've known for a little while that I wanted to coach others to meet their running goals but was not thinking it would be so soon. I was approached by one of these ladies about helping her train for her first half marathon. Her friend decided she wanted to train as well. After much consideration, I agreed. We officially begin on Monday. I am excited to see how they do. I'm confident they will finish well...regardless of me. Yes, I will plan out their weeks of training but a runner must do the work themselves in order to see the fruit. I've seen that firsthand, but I also understand the importance of encouragement. There are times the training is tough but when you know your coach is behind you and rooting for you, it helps a lot. I have a lot of runner quotes and this one is a good one. "The body says quit, the heart says never." I want to help them learn, as I have and still am, that we can go farther and faster than our mind thinks. Heart makes all the difference. I believe running is as much mental as physical and sometimes more mental. I am a little nervous, but I know both of them and feel comfortable with them. So, to Karen and Nancy, I appreciate the confidence you have in me, the opportunity to begin my coaching career, and I promise my dedication to help you reach your goal!




On another note...my coach, Bobby Mack finished 2nd in the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country race this weekend! Here is a podium picture. Cool flowers...even for the boys! Way to go Team USA and Sir Speedy!!