Decided yesterday after running the Bridle trails 30k, to go to the Seafair Marathon Expo and sign up for the marathon. My legs protested as I tried to get out of bed without showing the level of soreness I was feeling. I did not want my husband Chris to question my judgment in running another race this weekend. I took 2 ibuprofen and made a bottle of electrolyte drink for the road. I am so glad I took my water bottle with me, it came in real handy during the race.
Summer finally arrived in Seattle and since there has been no warm weather to train in the 85 degree heat was brutal today! The course was very hilly and for this “mountain climber” it was humbling. Traditionally in ultra running it is completely normal to walk up hills, in a marathon not so much. It was fun to play the same mental games I play in marching up hills on the road. I do things like count steps, change my cadence with the tempo of my IPOD, pick a spot in front of me and only focus on getting to that point. The biggest difference is the speed at which the running is done.
I am very pleased with my two efforts this weekend. As the heat of the day continued and the muscle fatigue from both days set in, mile 23 was the beginning of a fight. The fight was against cramping to the point of hindering my finish. I began a walk, jog, run process and downed lots of fluid and took a couple of electrolyte tablets.
At mile 24 I looked to my left and there was Van Phan (I hope I spelled her name right). Van is a hero in the
Seattle area ultra scene. To give an idea of her level of running insanity, and at the same time validate my weekend effort, she ran the Capitol City marathon yesterday and Seafair today. If that doesn’t impress, how about this, next weekend she will “triple” 3 marathons in 3 days. She’s either totally stud or complete freak, I think she’ll take both titles :0 I would!
I am now sitting on the couch. I have terrible chaffing on my inner thighs: FIRST TIME! Wow does it suck. I kept pouring water on myself to stay cool and it soaked my shorts and the rubbing began. I am also icing my knee, took a minor tweak yesterday on the trail. My husband has made me fried rice, salad and a smoothie, life is pretty sweet. I did what I could this weekend to honor my need to run and race.
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 06/29/2008
- Time: 07:00:00
- Total Time: 3:53:25.00
- Distance: 26.2 miles
- Average Pace: 8:54.92/mile
Ran hard and finished in 3rd place overall. The course was a 10k loop that we ran 3 times. On the first loop I missed a turn that had been well marked before the race began, but was removed either maliciously or accidentally from the course. The first place woman made the turn, she won by over 11 minutes, she would have won either way as the mistake at most cost me 4 minutes.
I am plenty sore this afternoon! Happy to get on the trail today!
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 06/28/2008
- Time: 08:00:00
- Total Time: 2:34:48.00
- Distance: 18.6 miles
- Average Pace: 8:19.31/mile
……so what are you gong to do about it? After the cancellation of the Western States race, the cancellation of hotel rooms, rental cars and plane tickets for me, my crew and pacer depression really set in. I decided to allow a day of letting myself have a complete pity party
Here is the description of the cancellation of the Western States 100 pity party: Playing mindless Solitaire on the computer for hours, Bucket of Cheeseballs, 4 pints of Ben & Jenny’s ice cream (Cinnamon Bun ROCKS!), family “risk” Tournament (I am taking over the world session2 starts tonight with me in control), half pack of cigarettes -yes its true 
Today the sunshone literally and figuratively! Lisa came to my house and made sure I put some miles in. She also informed me that there is a local 30K trail run tomorrow. Thanks Lisa, I think it will feel right to be on the trail tomorrow. It isn’t Western States, but so what I am a ultra runner no matter the name of the race!
I am back with the help of my family friends, and steady running partner Lisa.
I found my own truth: I am a runner even if I don’t have a race to run.
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 06/27/2008
- Time: 12:00:00
- Total Time: 00:40:00.00
- Distance: 4.1 miles
- Average Pace: 9:45.37/mile
Numb and depressed. I just received an email from the Western States 100 President informing all runners that the race is in jeopardy of being cancelled. For the first time in the races 35 year history, it may not go on. After 6 months of training hard and being totally focused on my running for the first time in a decade, it all comes down to Mother Nature. On June 21st there were hundreds of lightning strikes that started more than 300 fires in
California. Currently one of these fires is within 2 miles of a race access point.
There are 418 runners signed up and each of us having support crew of 1-4 people or more. 2000 running enthusiasts are right now processing the fact that life is hard and unpredictable. In ultra running we know something will go wrong, sometimes terribly wrong and the beauty of being an ultra runner is overcoming difficulties. I had a plan for almost everything that could have gone wrong, except for a cancellation of the race itself.
DNF to most runners means Did Not Finish, for ultra athletes DNF means Did Nothing Fatal. The Race Directors, US forest service, Fire Fighters, and many more individuals are deciding right now if allowing us runners to be on the course this weekend means increasing the risks of DNFs. I pray that I can run this weekend in the Western States 100. I pray I have the strength to be okay if I don’t.
I have already decided that if the race is cancelled I will go down and volunteer to support the fire fighting efforts in any way I can. If I would be more of a hindrance than helpful I will have to make a plan B. My sister Julie was to be my crew, she is a fire fighter paramedic and maybe we can still make a difference down there for this beautiful forest and the people the fires are impacting.
The race race was offically cancelled. I don’t know what to do with all this emotion. My brain knows it is just a race…but my heart and soul are totally lost.
How long does it take to ready 9 drop bags for a 100 mile endurance race that may take up 30 hours in the Sierra Nevada Mountains?
Answer: 3-4 hours.
How much money can an out of her head ultra runner spend on her drop bag supplies?
Answer: $500-$600
What does a neurotic put in her drop bags?
Answer: You would be surprised……read on ….
I have been hyper-focused on the contents of my drops for the last week. I finally gave in to my need to prepare early for the race this weekend and put together the finest supply bags in ultra running history.
There will be 9 places on the course to access my bags. Here is a list of items in my bags: This list is by no means is all inclusive and depending on were the bag is on the course other specific items are added to help with the particular needs that will present themselves during the day or night.
Mini jars of Vaseline 6: $2 each, Band-Aids: $1, Blister repair kits 2: $8 each, Socks 7: $10, Energy gels 20: $2, Electrolyte capsules 1 bottle: $10, Bandannas 4: $1, Sunscreen: $ 10, Replacement Technical Shirts 3: $20-$30each, Replacement Shoes 2: $125 each, Hats 3: $14, Sunglasses 2 pair: $40, Flashlights 2: $100, Batteries: $16, Headlamps: $100, Rain gear: $60, Chapstick: $2
Two of my bags have complete clothing changes as I have one river crossing at night that will most likely soak me and since I do not tolerate the cold very well I will have to take the extra time to change all my clothing. The second set of clothes is a just in case set.
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 06/23/2008
- Time: 14:00:00
- Total Time: 00:25:00.00
- Distance: 2.5 miles
- Average Pace: 10:00/mile
Finally was able to hook up with Lisa after not running with her 2 months! Over the 9 miles we caught up on family, business, running and life in general. I think we ran out of running time before either of us were ready to stop talking. Since I am on a taper for Western States 100 and she is building base again after completing Boston Marathon, 9 was the max for both.
I have prepared the best I could (given my self imposed chaotic lifestyle) for next weekend physically. In the last week everybody who knows what I am doing asks me “are you ready?” The only possible answer to this is “I better be.”
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 06/21/2008
- Time: 07:00:00
- Total Time: 1:24:30.00
- Distance: 9 miles
- Average Pace: 9:23.38/mile
Had to get a little run in. Easy quick quickie….need to do more of these morning gigs! made it leisurely and super fun
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 06/20/2008
- Time: 08:00:00
- Total Time: 00:32:00.00
- Distance: 4 miles
- Average Pace: 8:00/mile
On June 2nd I had the most awesome opportunity to get my VO2max and Lactate threshold measured. I went to Seattle Performance and met with Dr. Cooper and staff. As an endurance runner I have always been extremely curious about my VO2max.
This number indicates ones ability to convert oxygen to deliverable fuel to the muscles. A person’s VO2max is a combination of age, genetics and fitness. I know I have decent genetics and I don’t think it hurts that I was born and raised in Colorado at 7000 ft.
The tests were performed on a treadmill. I started with a warm up and then the treadmill incline was increased ever 2 minutes until I was almost to exhaustion. This took just over 14 minutes at 6.2 on the treadmill maxing out at an incline of 7.5. It was relatively easy for the first 11-12 minutes, but when I fatigued I was done very quickly. My max heart rate was 180 and after a 2 minute recovery I was down to 130. This is a quick recovery!
My VO2Max is 46ml/kg/min. The oxygen uptake average for woman in my age group is 31-33, the excellent category for VO2max tops out at on most charts at 45ml/kg/min for woman. Seattle Performance works with endurance athletes and they came up with a revised chart reflecting this population. On this revised athletic chart I am still in the excellent range but fell short of the “Competitive Endurance” rating of 50kg/ml/min. This is the story of my journey….. I have labeled myself as “first housewife off the bench”, just shy of the real deal but having enough talent and desire to not settling for jogger status.
Now that I know my VO number I have a new goal (post 100 miler) to improve my VO to the coveted 50kg/ml/min. This can be done by building base miles over a 8 – 10 week period. These miles must be done below lactate threshold so as to teach the muscles to uptake oxygen and utilize it more efficiently. I will focus for the first time in my running life on using heart rate for training purposes. I have always trained hard and rested too much in between. Having this new information will help adjust after the race should I have some post race depression. It may also require an invetment in the new Garmin 405 
The training that I will do to improve my endurance and aerobic power will be done with my heart rate at, near or below 155 beats/min. My lactate threshold is at 174 beats/minute. This is very close to my max of 180, the goal will be to build my body’s ability to have a bigger buffer between lactate threshold and max effort. In other words give myself another gear.
Another part of the testing was a calorimetry resting test. This measures the amount of calories burned in a non workout day. I burn approximately 1600 calories a day just to exist and not workout. This is good to know also as I have not been able to maintain my weight during this preparation for the Western States 100, I have since started counting calories to put some weight on for the race! Can I say almonds are awesome for this purpose….so are breve lattes.
I am little scared as the big day approaches. Kept my mind on the race today and made sure I only thought positively.
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 06/16/2008
- Time: 14:00:00
- Total Time: 1:01:01.00
- Distance: 7.2 miles
- Average Pace: 8:28.47/mile
I thought the world would stop and wait for me to train and prepare for the Western States 100. This is not what I expected. All my normal responsibilities remain and somehow there seems to be more on my plate than ever. Is this self sabotage? Is this weird karma? Is this my way of making sure I taper? I don’t know the answer. For today I was able to enjoy a run, see my college Junior before her last final of the year, go on some great sales calls, sleep in until 7am, and tonight watch my new favorite show with my other daughter and maybe just maybe have some quality time with my husband.
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 06/12/2008
- Time: 17:30:00
- Total Time: 1:11:39.00
- Distance: 8.5 miles
- Average Pace: 8:25.62/mile
Digg! this story.
