Running the Prickly Pear yesterday was sooooo much fun! The race started at 7:00 am, in the dark. I lined up just behind a group of guys, one of whom was wearing the yellow lead jersey. The weather was perfect- crisp and cool. I ran a bit behind the lead guys for a couple miles before they picked it up even more and were out of site. To my surprise, I rounded a tight corner less then 30 minutes later to see a guy peeing on the trail. He ran off just in front of me. A couple of minutes after that I came up to the whole group of guys. They had slowed quite a bit, and I hopped passed them on a down hill stretch. But all 3 of them stayed right on me. Around mile 8 I told them they were welcome to pass any time. One of the guys said, "Thats alright. I figure the footing is better a few feet behind you." Then he repeated this comment to his buddies....(hu???)...who laughed....(okay..).
The four of us finished loop one together, with me in the lead. As we were leaving the aid station, one of the guys said he was finished. The other 2 guys asked me if I wanted to lead. I told them to go on ahead. Boy did they! I didn't see them again until I came in to finish loop 2. My splits for the first 2 loops were the same, and I got out of that station about 2 or 3 minutes after the lead guy. The other guy had only planed on running 2 loops of the 50k, so there was only one runner ahead of me.
By this time it was HOT out. My legs were cramping, and Amanda (my coach) gave me extra electrolytes and pinned some Shot Blocks on my shorts. I had hoped to run the first 2 laps in about 1:20 and the last one faster. So far I was on pace. But I wasn't sure about running faster for lap 3 with the cramping and heat.
Just before mile 4 of lap 3 (mile 25ish), I passed the lead guy. He was walking in a hot, unshaded section and said, "Go get it" with a smile. So I kept going. I was running quite a bit slower now- almost one minute a mile slower then I wanted. But I did what I could, and fought the urge to slow my pace further. I finished in 4:08:14- first female and first finisher . :)
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Gosh, I'm just feeling so down lately. I don't even know why. I don't want to clean my house. I don't want to eat good foods. Or drink water. Or even sing. Blah. What is wrong with me??? My running is suffering too. My mindset is just bad. I need to snap out of this funk before I gain 15 pounds, give up speed work, and have more house work then any one person can handle in a day.
I have been kinda sick with a sines infection for over a week now. My head, ears, and jaw are in such pain. But no fever yet. I almost wish I would just get a fever so I can get some antibiotics and get well.
Hum....maybe that is really what is wrong. My body is just a bit sick, so I am in a funk. Well snap out, Aniejoy!!!! Snap out.
I have been kinda sick with a sines infection for over a week now. My head, ears, and jaw are in such pain. But no fever yet. I almost wish I would just get a fever so I can get some antibiotics and get well.
Hum....maybe that is really what is wrong. My body is just a bit sick, so I am in a funk. Well snap out, Aniejoy!!!! Snap out.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
When I started a blog, I wanted to write at least once a week. But that just isn't happening yet. I guess writing some is better then none. I will try to write more often. But I just don't feel like writing right now. Be warned.
On January 5th I ran the Bandera 100k, my second ultra. Dan and I stayed at a little ranch 9miles out side of Bandera. On race morning, we arrived at the race at 7:20am-10min before the start. I barely made it through the porto line when Joe (the RD) said "GO!". After running to the tent and yelling, "Number 54 is here!!", I ran to the starting line, asked a lady if she could validate my check in, and took off. A couple miles before reaching the 1st aid station I meet a guy named Dalten. He said I beat him last year by a few minutes, and he wanted to do better this year. His buddies gave him a hard time about having been beat by a girl. He was great company for the next 40 miles. We talked a lot and took turns leading up the trails. But the heat was getting to him, and he had to stop to try and get his hydration situation settled. Boy, it did get hot out there! I think the high was 76. After all the cold weather we have had, 76 felt quit hot! Especially since there was no cloud cover. But I am still grateful for the dry ground and the fact that it wasn't any hotter then it was.
The first 50k flew by in 5:05:02 (opps...). My quads were feeling the pounding I had given them and were cramping up pretty bad by the time I reached the lodge (50k). But I knew I needed to just keep going. I wanted to call it a day, but I didn't. I kept telling myself I would run to at least one more aid station. It got dark about 10:45 into the race, maybe 4 miles from the finish line. I turned on my headlight and kept running hard, finishing in 11:25:45. About 7 minutes short of a course record. Well, I did what I could do this year. Hopefully next year I will be faster.
On January 5th I ran the Bandera 100k, my second ultra. Dan and I stayed at a little ranch 9miles out side of Bandera. On race morning, we arrived at the race at 7:20am-10min before the start. I barely made it through the porto line when Joe (the RD) said "GO!". After running to the tent and yelling, "Number 54 is here!!", I ran to the starting line, asked a lady if she could validate my check in, and took off. A couple miles before reaching the 1st aid station I meet a guy named Dalten. He said I beat him last year by a few minutes, and he wanted to do better this year. His buddies gave him a hard time about having been beat by a girl. He was great company for the next 40 miles. We talked a lot and took turns leading up the trails. But the heat was getting to him, and he had to stop to try and get his hydration situation settled. Boy, it did get hot out there! I think the high was 76. After all the cold weather we have had, 76 felt quit hot! Especially since there was no cloud cover. But I am still grateful for the dry ground and the fact that it wasn't any hotter then it was.
The first 50k flew by in 5:05:02 (opps...). My quads were feeling the pounding I had given them and were cramping up pretty bad by the time I reached the lodge (50k). But I knew I needed to just keep going. I wanted to call it a day, but I didn't. I kept telling myself I would run to at least one more aid station. It got dark about 10:45 into the race, maybe 4 miles from the finish line. I turned on my headlight and kept running hard, finishing in 11:25:45. About 7 minutes short of a course record. Well, I did what I could do this year. Hopefully next year I will be faster.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Race report
I wanted so bad to have a great race. I trained well. Worked hard. Tried to eat right. But today just wasn't my day. I should have admitted this days ago. My mind was beat up and worn done. Racing any distance- really racing- was out of the question. But I wanted to be tough. I wanted to over come my emotions and fears from this past week and accomplish what I had trained my body to accomplish. Some how I thought I would be able to do it. I was just going to run. Hard. I know my body was ready. I had proven that to myself well in training. So I found myself standing at the starting line at 7:00am, my body feeling great, and mind full of hope over racing this marathon. The first mile passed easily in 6:29. About 10 seconds fast, but that should be okay. By the time I finished mile 2, I was running at a 6:43 pace. My legs felt good. My breathing was light. But something inside me was saying, "Just stop. You don't want to do this." I tried to turn that voice off for the next 6 miles. I kept telling my body to go. This is my marathon pace, I feel great. Just Go! But that darn voice wouldn't give. A piece of me was saying to stop. "Don't make yourself uncomfortable over nothing. Racing is nothing. You want to run? Great. You wan to run a marathon? That is just silly. You want to RACE a marathon. Now that is stupid of you. Just quit now while you are still feeling great." Around mile 9 I shared my thoughts with a running buddy of mine.
"I don't want it. I just can't find my desire to make my legs go right now."
"You can always recover from that," he said. Looking down at his watch he added, "We are right on pace. Just run with me and we will be under 3hours."
I ran with him for a couple of miles. But that darn voice in my head was being awfully persistent. "God, help me do this," I pleaded. "My desire to go is gone.... I want to work with all my heart in all I do for You, Father. Give me the strength to pour myself into this now. Let me be yours above mine." But I just couldn't get myself to push.
Soon after, I saw my husband. "Would you be made at me if I quite?" I asked.
"Your doing great. Just hang in there!"
So I kept going. Mile after mile I just put one foot in front of the other and ran. Every so often I would glance at my watch, see how slow I was going, take a physical inventory, realize how great my body felt and tell myself to pick it up. But it was like I had a demon on my back. Something was sucking my will to run right out of me. "GO!!" I told my body. "Just quit. You are way off pace now," some piece said to my will. But I didn't want to quit. "Yes, you do. You don't want this," I heard in my mind. I can do this. I can run hard for the last 8 miles in still finish well. "But that would be silly. You already are too far off pace to recover. Just walk off the course. Everyone has bad days. Just quit."
Some how I didn't quit. I never could make my body go, but didn't stop trying. When I saw my husband at mile 20, he gave me words to hold on to. "Go what ever pace you want. You are almost there. You can do this." I knew he was right. There was no reason for my to walk off that course. Mentally, I was having the worst run of my life. But physically I felt great. I just had to except that I was running what I was running on this day and let go of what I wanted to have happened. When I hit mile 25 I said "Go!!" On last time to my legs. Only this time I said it out loud. Actually, I said, looking at my watch as I approached the 25th mile marker, "On your mark, get set, go!" My watch read 3:08:something. I felt silly trying to get my legs going for the last 1.2 miles of this race, but I wanted to conquer my mind. So I ran. The clock read 3:15:something as I crossed the finish line. About 7 minutes for the last 1.2 miles isn't too bad. If only I could have gotten myself to run that for the whole last half! But I felt good about having crossed that finish line. Sure my time was far from where it could have been, but that made crossing that finish line much harder. Getting a DNF would have, in some ways, felt better then finishing so far off pace. Now I officially am a "3:15 marathoner"(Not that that is bad. Just... I could run so much better.) . But I didn't let that darn voice win! It could ruin my race, but it couldn't conquer me. HA!
"I don't want it. I just can't find my desire to make my legs go right now."
"You can always recover from that," he said. Looking down at his watch he added, "We are right on pace. Just run with me and we will be under 3hours."
I ran with him for a couple of miles. But that darn voice in my head was being awfully persistent. "God, help me do this," I pleaded. "My desire to go is gone.... I want to work with all my heart in all I do for You, Father. Give me the strength to pour myself into this now. Let me be yours above mine." But I just couldn't get myself to push.
Soon after, I saw my husband. "Would you be made at me if I quite?" I asked.
"Your doing great. Just hang in there!"
So I kept going. Mile after mile I just put one foot in front of the other and ran. Every so often I would glance at my watch, see how slow I was going, take a physical inventory, realize how great my body felt and tell myself to pick it up. But it was like I had a demon on my back. Something was sucking my will to run right out of me. "GO!!" I told my body. "Just quit. You are way off pace now," some piece said to my will. But I didn't want to quit. "Yes, you do. You don't want this," I heard in my mind. I can do this. I can run hard for the last 8 miles in still finish well. "But that would be silly. You already are too far off pace to recover. Just walk off the course. Everyone has bad days. Just quit."
Some how I didn't quit. I never could make my body go, but didn't stop trying. When I saw my husband at mile 20, he gave me words to hold on to. "Go what ever pace you want. You are almost there. You can do this." I knew he was right. There was no reason for my to walk off that course. Mentally, I was having the worst run of my life. But physically I felt great. I just had to except that I was running what I was running on this day and let go of what I wanted to have happened. When I hit mile 25 I said "Go!!" On last time to my legs. Only this time I said it out loud. Actually, I said, looking at my watch as I approached the 25th mile marker, "On your mark, get set, go!" My watch read 3:08:something. I felt silly trying to get my legs going for the last 1.2 miles of this race, but I wanted to conquer my mind. So I ran. The clock read 3:15:something as I crossed the finish line. About 7 minutes for the last 1.2 miles isn't too bad. If only I could have gotten myself to run that for the whole last half! But I felt good about having crossed that finish line. Sure my time was far from where it could have been, but that made crossing that finish line much harder. Getting a DNF would have, in some ways, felt better then finishing so far off pace. Now I officially am a "3:15 marathoner"(Not that that is bad. Just... I could run so much better.) . But I didn't let that darn voice win! It could ruin my race, but it couldn't conquer me. HA!
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Today I ran my 6th Marathon. I was so excited going into my taper for this race. The goal: run under 3:00, hopefully closer to 2:54. The plan: run the first 20 miles at about 6:43 per mile and kick hard for the last 10k. I was sooooo ready for this.
The reality: today was not my day.
Last weekend I went on a retreat with a singing group I am in. It was a wonderful weekend! I woke up early, had my quite time, drank some coffee w/ soy milk, went on my short runs and got back just in time for breakfast both days. I got to spend good quality time with my female friends, and just loved the whole weekend. When I got home Sunday, I heard the news. Ryan Shay had died while running in the Men's Olympic Marathon Trials the day before. My response was complete denial. How could a young, fit runner, who just months before ran a 2:14 marathon die while racing? And when I learned he had passed so early in the race (just past mile 5), my heart sank to my feet. I was so confused. How, why?
Things got more stressful for me when I learned he had likely died because of an enlarged heart. When I was in high school, I had arrhythmias in my heart. I had a whole battery of tests run and wore a heart monitor for weeks back then. My cardiologist diagnosed my with Super Ventricular Tachycardia. A mild heart arrhythmia requiring absolutely no medical intervention at that time. But I vividly remember his words during my ECHO 12 years ago, "Your heart looks health. Strong, but big. You have an athletes heart." Red flags were going of in my mind over this. Ryan Shay died, likely because he had an enlarged heart. My heart is "..big...an athletes heart". The term athletes heart popped up several times on Google when I searched for information on Ryan Shay's death. This was not what I wanted to hear 7 days a way from racing a marathon.
I made an appointment with my doctor to discus this. In all honesty my hope was for her to tell me I was being paranoid. But she didn't. She suggested I have another ECG and we compare this one with the one I had 12 years ago. Smart lady, my doctor.
Ultimately I am glad I had tests run this past week. All the results have been very reassuring. But this week took a toll on me mentally. I just wasn't ready to pore myself into this race today. I trained well and hard. I wanted my body to just take over, but my mind was having non of that. My drive to run hard was gone. So I decided I would just run, not race. Push if I felt like it, but just run to finish. I finished in about 3:15, and place 3erd. Just putting one foot in front of the other for 26.2 miles earned me 500 dollars. Not too shabby. And I have nothing to recover from. My legs feel great, like I feel after 20 mile training runs, not after racing- even a half marathon.
I am hoping my drive to compete will come back. But for now, I have closed this chapter in my running life and am opening the next...................
Look 100k, here I come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The reality: today was not my day.
Last weekend I went on a retreat with a singing group I am in. It was a wonderful weekend! I woke up early, had my quite time, drank some coffee w/ soy milk, went on my short runs and got back just in time for breakfast both days. I got to spend good quality time with my female friends, and just loved the whole weekend. When I got home Sunday, I heard the news. Ryan Shay had died while running in the Men's Olympic Marathon Trials the day before. My response was complete denial. How could a young, fit runner, who just months before ran a 2:14 marathon die while racing? And when I learned he had passed so early in the race (just past mile 5), my heart sank to my feet. I was so confused. How, why?
Things got more stressful for me when I learned he had likely died because of an enlarged heart. When I was in high school, I had arrhythmias in my heart. I had a whole battery of tests run and wore a heart monitor for weeks back then. My cardiologist diagnosed my with Super Ventricular Tachycardia. A mild heart arrhythmia requiring absolutely no medical intervention at that time. But I vividly remember his words during my ECHO 12 years ago, "Your heart looks health. Strong, but big. You have an athletes heart." Red flags were going of in my mind over this. Ryan Shay died, likely because he had an enlarged heart. My heart is "..big...an athletes heart". The term athletes heart popped up several times on Google when I searched for information on Ryan Shay's death. This was not what I wanted to hear 7 days a way from racing a marathon.
I made an appointment with my doctor to discus this. In all honesty my hope was for her to tell me I was being paranoid. But she didn't. She suggested I have another ECG and we compare this one with the one I had 12 years ago. Smart lady, my doctor.
Ultimately I am glad I had tests run this past week. All the results have been very reassuring. But this week took a toll on me mentally. I just wasn't ready to pore myself into this race today. I trained well and hard. I wanted my body to just take over, but my mind was having non of that. My drive to run hard was gone. So I decided I would just run, not race. Push if I felt like it, but just run to finish. I finished in about 3:15, and place 3erd. Just putting one foot in front of the other for 26.2 miles earned me 500 dollars. Not too shabby. And I have nothing to recover from. My legs feel great, like I feel after 20 mile training runs, not after racing- even a half marathon.
I am hoping my drive to compete will come back. But for now, I have closed this chapter in my running life and am opening the next...................
Look 100k, here I come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
San Antonio Marathon! Decision Made.
I have finally picked my next race. I will run the San Antonio Marathon on November 11th. Man, I'm not sure if I have ever been this pumped about running a race in my life! Here is the plan: Run the first 20 miles at a 6:43 pace and then start pushing if I can. And I think I can! Today I ran 13.1 miles in 1:27:59 no problem. It took all the will power I could muster to keep from pushing the pace, but my goal was to feel my body run 13.1 at my goal marathon pace. As soon as I hit 13.1, though, I decided to run a few fast 200s. Total time to the 14 mile mark: 1:33:30. WooHoo! Not only that, but I ran 9 miles on tough trails yesterday and then hiked for 2 hours w/ my kids. And on Friday I ran 16 miles (fairly fast) on trails. I am feeling totally ready to tackle this marathon! And if I bonk, then I bonk. I am going to go for a 2:56 marathon with the hopes of finishing faster then that!
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Welcome Halle
All last week my Mac was out of commission. Oh how I missed my beloved computer! I almost kissed the Genius who handed it back to me. This is the 2end time I have had a problem w/ my Mac Book and the 2end time I have been pleased w/ how Apple handled my problem. Thank you to Apple for great customer service and incredible products that you know how to stand behind (and fix for free).
I am still tied for 1st in the gozone contest. Just over a week to go, so it looks like I will be one of several names in the drawing.
My good friend Rae had her little girl this past Friday. Her labor went so fast that the midwife was only there for about 45 minutes before the birth. What a God send! Everything went perfectly and little Halle was welcomed into this world in full joy by her happy family. I love that Rae took up her responsibility in childbearing and learned how to care for herself as well as her baby during pregnancy and delivery. Delivering a baby is a learned skill that requires preparation before hand. And even then a midwife or doctor is needed to help out. Sometimes doctors are need for more, but so much of that is in a womens control. At least over 90% of the time. I wanted the same thing in childbearing that Rae wanted. A healthy baby first and to birth my child myself second. Educating myself on pregnancy, labor, and delivery is the only reason I was able to achieve my goals through all three of my pregnancy's. It always urks me when people say, "you were so lucky to have uncomplicated pregnancies and deliveries." While I realize that there was some luck (or genetics) involved, the larger reason for my successful childbearing came from me taking an active roll in my health before and during pregnancy. My husband and I practiced- yes we actually did practice- labor and delivery. I learned non focused awareness (NFA) and other ways to deal with labor pains. I practiced yoga as a way to learn deep breathing, relaxation, and how to isolate and use specific muscle groups while keeping all others at total rest. Having a baby is hard work, harder then any race I have ever run. I approached pregnancy, labor and delivery like I would any other thing in life I wanted to succeed at. I learned how to increase my chances of attaining my goal, found someone (or lots of someones) to help me ( my doctor and midwife), made sure that my goals were understood by myself as well as my helpers, and recognized the valied possibility of things not going as planed. But I had a lot of peace in knowing that my Doctor and I had done and were doing all that we could to reach my goals. If I NEEDED a cesarean then it would be done in order to reach the number one goal of this pregnancy- the delivery of a healthy baby.
Wow. I sorta went off there. But being this is my blog, thats ok. Childbearing is something I feel passionately about. Bring new lives into this world is an incomparable gift from God. The memories I have from my three pregnancies and deliveries form so much of who I am as a women. Child birth can be so empowering. The bond I have with my kids because of the work I did to get them here and the respect I have gained for my own body through bearing them is incredible. It saddens me that so many women are too afraid to birth their children. But I still try to be respectful of their decision. It is hard b/c I feel like so many women would choose differently if they were educated about it. But it is also, at least some of the time, their decision on whether or not to get educated. So when my friends are all talking about epidurals and the crazy women who go with out an epidural, I try to smile and keep my moth shut. I honestly mean them no disrespect for choosing as they have, and there is no reason to try and make a women feel bad about a decision that can't be taken back.
I am still tied for 1st in the gozone contest. Just over a week to go, so it looks like I will be one of several names in the drawing.
My good friend Rae had her little girl this past Friday. Her labor went so fast that the midwife was only there for about 45 minutes before the birth. What a God send! Everything went perfectly and little Halle was welcomed into this world in full joy by her happy family. I love that Rae took up her responsibility in childbearing and learned how to care for herself as well as her baby during pregnancy and delivery. Delivering a baby is a learned skill that requires preparation before hand. And even then a midwife or doctor is needed to help out. Sometimes doctors are need for more, but so much of that is in a womens control. At least over 90% of the time. I wanted the same thing in childbearing that Rae wanted. A healthy baby first and to birth my child myself second. Educating myself on pregnancy, labor, and delivery is the only reason I was able to achieve my goals through all three of my pregnancy's. It always urks me when people say, "you were so lucky to have uncomplicated pregnancies and deliveries." While I realize that there was some luck (or genetics) involved, the larger reason for my successful childbearing came from me taking an active roll in my health before and during pregnancy. My husband and I practiced- yes we actually did practice- labor and delivery. I learned non focused awareness (NFA) and other ways to deal with labor pains. I practiced yoga as a way to learn deep breathing, relaxation, and how to isolate and use specific muscle groups while keeping all others at total rest. Having a baby is hard work, harder then any race I have ever run. I approached pregnancy, labor and delivery like I would any other thing in life I wanted to succeed at. I learned how to increase my chances of attaining my goal, found someone (or lots of someones) to help me ( my doctor and midwife), made sure that my goals were understood by myself as well as my helpers, and recognized the valied possibility of things not going as planed. But I had a lot of peace in knowing that my Doctor and I had done and were doing all that we could to reach my goals. If I NEEDED a cesarean then it would be done in order to reach the number one goal of this pregnancy- the delivery of a healthy baby.
Wow. I sorta went off there. But being this is my blog, thats ok. Childbearing is something I feel passionately about. Bring new lives into this world is an incomparable gift from God. The memories I have from my three pregnancies and deliveries form so much of who I am as a women. Child birth can be so empowering. The bond I have with my kids because of the work I did to get them here and the respect I have gained for my own body through bearing them is incredible. It saddens me that so many women are too afraid to birth their children. But I still try to be respectful of their decision. It is hard b/c I feel like so many women would choose differently if they were educated about it. But it is also, at least some of the time, their decision on whether or not to get educated. So when my friends are all talking about epidurals and the crazy women who go with out an epidural, I try to smile and keep my moth shut. I honestly mean them no disrespect for choosing as they have, and there is no reason to try and make a women feel bad about a decision that can't be taken back.
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