trail running article

read the article from monday's interview. a few quotes by yours truly, along with some video footage. (none of me swatting bees though. but oh, look at all that lovely poison ivy everywhere that is now coming up on me; at least my face is looking almost normal!)

the videographer should have told us to hush up, as mark's interview has lots of background noise. sorry!

paying the price...

for my 15 minutes of fame.... OR.... skipping my planned workout (sorry matt!)

i left work early yesterday to head over to krandyland for an interview the local paper was doing on the boonies (our trail running club). we did a short trail run (followed by a longer one afterwards) for the video they were shooting. 5 minutes in, i get stung by something right under my left eye. OUCH! it stung for awhile (ok, like the next hour) and felt like i had an ice ax jammed into my cheekbone. not much swelling, so we continued on with our planned longer run. 15 minutes later, OH SHIT, more. i only got stung one my time on my butt, but the two guys behind me were nailed 4 times each. needless to say, it was not a good time. 

i woke up this morning with  my eye all but swollen shut. definitely no hope of getting my contacts in today. now to figure out if i go to the dr for this sort of thing or not. ?!

i started to post a pic, but decided it was just too scary :)

running with the boonies

last weekend was the scenic city trail marathon, sponsored by rock/creek & the boonies and presented by vasque. the weekend kicked off with the trail running 101 clinic i gave at rock/creek. i was a bit nervous, but the presentation went great! there was about 25-30 people there and thankfully none of my friends made faces at me :)  

saturday morning started early - i was up at raccoon mtn a bit before 7 to get the east overlook aid station set up. lynn seeger & sheridan ames manned the station with me, which was mile 3 & mile 15 (the marathon was a 2-loop course). the day started cool, got hot, rained, and cooled down to a very pleasant afternoon. we had a great time keeping people fueled and hydrated. the first lap had people pretty stacked, but i was able to whip out the camera during the second lap.

while it was hard to sit this race out, i know it was what my body needed. plus it was great fun to cheer on all my teammates and friends during the day. next time i'll be out there with you!

trail running 101 clinic

I was recently asked to be a Vasque Ambassador, to spread the word on the great trail shoes they have (I've been running in the Velocity lately and love them!). Since the upcoming Scenic City Trail Marathon is part of the Vasque North American Trail Tour, I will be leading a clinic Friday evening at Rock/Creek. OK, I am a bit nervous about this - I've lead a few small clinics before about adventure racing, but this seems a bit more official.

On another note, I sadly will not be running the half marathon as planned. This injury from the Cohutta race lingered a bit too much for me. Last week's 45min run went ok, so I'll up the distance this week, but I don't feel comfortable jumping up to 2hrs of a hard effort. I'm sure I could pull it out, but I don't want to feel any negative effects, esp since this isn't my focus right now. (after Leadville I'll be turning it up again!) I will be at the race though cheering people on and keeping them hydrated!

market street mile

so i impulsively signed up for the market street mile this morning. it would be short, fun, and i'd get an idea of what my time for running 1 mile could be. of course i always have high expectations, but realistically, i have hardly done speedwork since the groin injury around thanksgiving. (that was right before a planned time trial in early december that was going to be my benchmark. oh well...)  i was hoping for around 7min. i think my fastest clocked mile was back in 7th grade: 6:59. (i just haven't timed one since!) 

we lined up by age group. actually, 2 were combined at a time, so the 30-39 females were together. i was disappointed at the turnout - maybe 10 of us total? i didn't know anyone so it would be interesting. the horn sounded and we were off. i sprinted to a quick lead and then settled in to my "pace" (who knows what that actually is). the course was U shaped - i used this turn to look back and see where the next girl was. (not close - yeah!) coming down the homestretch, some idiot driver pulled into a parking lot in front of me, almost making me slow. (i'd have been pissed if that happened). i crossed the mat at 6:33. WOW! my fastest ever. joey was cheering me on - i think i surprised him, with my lack of running as of late (he figured on a track i could easily knock another 10-15 sec off). my legs felt good, but my lungs were shot. my chest was hurting/burning for a good 15 minutes after. (maybe the cool air irritated them?)

awards were delayed (when they called me up, they announced a 9:27 mile. whaaa??  so i caused a 15 min delay while results were redone). i did snag 1st in my age group (probably close to 3rd overall - some chick ran a 5 something!). i think i might have set a new state record for my age in the mile - somehow it is listed at 7:39, so that would be supercool. (32 & 34 are both sub 6, so i had my birthday just in time!). fellow running buddy sergio whipped out a 6:02 to crush his age group and set a new record - he's 67!!

this afternoon i'm off to the ultra o-gaine. i'm sad i'm not racing it this year, but 12 hrs on my feet just isn't included on the road to leadville. i'll take my mtn bike and ride around for a few hours to cheer on the sufferers :)

--update: state record confirmed. cool!!

getting dirty at blankets

blankets creek dirty duathlon (directed by local adventure racer lisa randall), i jumped at the chance to race on the trails i learned to bike on. they are just north of atlanta (in woodstock), so it was one of our local stomping grounds. after the bodbikegroup xmas party, we rode out here and i was surprised how much better i felt on the trails (yeah, i've improved a bit in the 2 years since i'd been here! ;)   so this could be a good race for me!

first, i'll admit i slacked off with registering and before i knew it the race had filled! i got on the waitlist immediately and luckily a girl i knew couldn't make it, so i was in. phew! i was able to crash at a friend's house, so i drove down friday afternoon and was able to squeeze in a meeting with a client before meeting some people for dinner.

saturday morning came early and my plan to arrive at the race an hour early to get a decent transition spot backfired; oh, i was on time, but so was everyone else. i found a spot about 2/3 back - which technically didn't make a difference as we all made a full loop around the pit. after claiming my spot, i spent the next half hour catching up with friends instead of organizing stuff and testing my bike (afterall, i just had the failed brake lever replaced! fingers crossed the hoff had it all finetuned!) 

the race started in waves to alleviate potential backup. the women went off 5th. as we waited, i checked out my competition - fellow bodettes jackie & mindy, multisport specialists kim & marisa, and sorella badass kerry. it would be a tough day! 1 minute after the masters men, we began our run. i darted to the front and found my pace. from the parking lot, we ran straight back to the dwelling loop, running it counterclockwise. i caught the back of the pack guys quickly, which energized me more. 3 women did pass me (although 2 were in the relay division so i wasn't as concerned), but i was feeling strong and steady... that is until about 2/3 around the loop when my heart did that weird palpitation thing it does sometimes (like in the Waterfront Tri last summer and Hogpen Hillclimb 2 years prior). it was a very pronounce flutter, followed my a strange draining feeling throughout my body, leading to a bit of dizziness and my vision narrowing. scary, but at least i've gone through this before. i slowed, then stopped when i kept tripping. out of a lack of knowing what to do, i grabbed my inhaler which seemed to help settle things. i started jogging again after about 1.5 min, and was up to a run another minute or so later, although somewhat guarded. as we hit the stick of the lollipop that would take us back to the TA, kim caught up with me and we ran it into the pit together. (run time: 40:49.. approx 5 miles)

race pics by Wilderness Adventure Photography

after a speedy transition, i was on the bike racing down to the right side of mosquito flats. this would have been a nice flat warmup, but there was a bit of a backup and of course its not always easy to pass on singletrack. i was a bit concerned, hoping this wasn't going to be signs of things to come...   the course next took us through part of the new north loop (SORBA-Woodstock is doing a ton of work on this trail system, with this being their newest concentration - great job!!) kim passed me here, which was no surprise as she is an awesome cyclist; i had planned on chasing her anyways. next we hit the dwelling loop, again going counter-clockwise. this was interesting as all of times i've ridden this loop (like nearly a zillion), i've only been on it once or twice this direction. this will be interesting! luckily by now the crowd had thinned and i only had the occasional rider to pass (and vice versa). i had passed a few girls, so it was only kim in front of me - until kerry snuck by. grrr....   but a few minutes later (very near where my heart thing happened), i passed her on the side of the trail dealing with cramping. it did not sound good!  i crossed my fingers that the twinges i felt in my calf would not forth....

after dwelling we hit the south loop, which i have not been on in years. it is considered the advanced loop, with a few tricky technical spots and rock gardens - my favorite (not!) i was actually pretty impressed with my riding, easily hitting things that i don't think i could before. but sometimes i paid a price - the power to get through a section would cause my left calf or right foot to cramp up. yeowsers! yeah, they didn't stay away and i was left with a dilemma: power through a technical section and cramp, or get off & walk it (& feel like a tool), but not cramp. i ended up doing a bit of both... and at one point (with me off the bike and cramps attacking), jackie pedaled by. i cheered her on and got back on my bike. this loop seemed a bit long, but then again i couldn't hardly remember it so i wasn't sure how to pace myself. finally we started weaving through the pines and i knew we were close. after the drop off the hill (fun to zoom down even if i don't catch any air), it was home james! i boogied it back in (although not catching anyone), finishing with a total time of 1:55... good enough for 2nd place in my age group (right behind jackie) and 3rd overall woman (kim won).  woohooo!!

we cheered on all the other finishers (it was a perfect spring day!) then got ready for the 2nd big event of the day: Outspokin' Bikes had donated 2 sweet fsr specialized bike to give away. lisa devised a crazy race on clown bikes. it was hilarious! a young guy no more than 10 or 14?? won one, and the girl marisa i know won the other. congrats!!

the awards ceremony was short, sweet, and highly profitable. lisa really outdid herself the amount of prizes she was able to get for the race - over $14,000 of products & gear, with Outspokin' donating over $9k themselves. (Thank you!!) We got to pick our own prizes, so i immediately went for a Thomson gift certificate (good for a seatpost or stem!) and the collective's roam dvd  (the collective makes THE best videos out there if you haven't checked them out yet). then i was also awarded the fastest transition time out of everyone there - yep, more than 200 of us out there and i was #1. hehe! i snagged some tifosi sunglasses. (i also won a bottle of monavie juice - intriguing stuff, where one shot it gives you all your fruits & vegis for the day. and it's yummy!)

team amino vital! taylor & dayton raced the men's relay, placing 2nd. 

lisa (the RD) + me, 2nd place age group / 3rd overall woman!

that night, my mtn biking friends had a party, so it was good to kick back, catch up, and drink a few. i drove back to chatt the next day and had a good (although slightly uncoordinated) recovery/easter ride with the hoff at raccoon. 

more maps from black mountain

being the map geek that i am, jay sent a few others to me. looks like the elevation gain was around 2790' (most of it being in the first half!). also, robert from wilderness adventure photography sent me a pic right before the first aid station. it was a pretty steep area; i had to fake my run :)

black mountain marathon

i am back from a wonderful weekend in asheville! the drive over on friday started off with rain, but blue sky peeked through as i was driving through the nanty gorge. the weather for saturday ended up being perfect! temps began in the mid-40s and probably got close to 60. as we gained elevation, the wind did whip around a bit and temps remained lower, but it was quite comfortable thoughout. sections of the trail were wet & muddy from the rain, but nothing to slow you down too much. 

the race starts in downtown Black Mountain (elevation 2400'). after running through the small town of Montreat (all of this being on pavement), we hit the dirt. these 2 sections seems to be the steepest uphill of the marathon course - or maybe it's just the first one of any significance, so it feels that much worse. otherwise, the next 10 miles are just a steady uphill, with a few flat spots and maybe 1 or 2 teeny downhill sections. we spread out pretty quick, so the few miles on tighter singletrack aren't problematic. the majority of the marathon is spent on an old dirt road (trestle trail?!), littered with lots of rocks.with a good bit of rain this past week, some sections were muddy and the rocks slick;  while i had a few good trips, i thankfully didn't take any spills and my feet stayed dry.

map of the marathon

my plan for the first half was to remain consistent and strong, keeping any walking to a minimum (and only when my heart rate/effort felt too high). i kept fueled with the hammer gel & heed supplied at the great aid stations (and a few refreshing orange sections); i brought 2 espresso hammer gels for the latter half of the race to give me a kick. (i started the race with my water bottles filled with nuun - 1 kola, 1 lemon-lime. yeah, i did carry 2 water bottles - i tend to drink a lot and hate to go thirsty. while i do carry a bit more weight that way, i do save a little time going through the aid stations. not sure which is wiser though!) while i'm on the subject of gear, i was sporting my new orange shuffle, which arrived friday about 30 minutes before i hit the road - what timing! and on my feet, my trusty montrail hardrocks - hey, that's annette (marathon winner) featured on that page!)

at the marathon turnaround on the blue ridge parkway (approx elevation of 5100', around mile 14), the wind had picked up and we were covered in clouds. after checking in quickly, i turned around and picked up the pace. my time was 2:43 and if my counting was correct, i was in 10th place. it had been about 5 minutes since I had seen the last female, so i had my work cut out. (i had passed the leading female and eventual winner, annette bednosky, on her way down around 2:28; the winning male, jared crave, at 2:12). most of this section i was flying solo... i'd catch up to a few people (unfortunately always males), and a few would pass me (luckily just males). i got to the 2nd to last aid station shortly after 4 hrs. i was told almost 7 miles were left... hmm, a sub-5 time was going to be tight. it was mostly pavement which, while fast, hurt more. then there was approx .5 - 1 mile of what i think is the toughest section of the entire race - steep steep downhill, partly paved, partly dirt road. you want to fly down it, especially with it so close to the end, but that is just a recipe for knee issues and shin splints. after this bit of torture, we ran back through montreat (thankfully using a trail part of the time) then finally towards the finish at lake tomahawk. i felt great and ran as hard as i could (at a pace i knew i could sustain for 4+ miles). finally the lake came into view along with the finish line. now, just 1 loop around the lake path...  i came under the finish line banner feeling (& hopefully looking) strong, with a time of 4:52:53; 10th female, 50th overall (out of 139). this was 17 minutes faster than last year!

the post-race food was great, with homemade soups from the chamber of commerce. all finishers received full-zip fleece jackets embroidered with the race logo. after hanging out with friends, i went back to the curwens to force myself into an ice bath (i swear this was the most pain i felt all day, made bearable only with a hot latte & liz on the phone chatting). that night was the awards dinner back at montreat college - great food and more friends. the awards for the winners were amazing - gorgeous original watercolor paintings of mount mitchell by local artist scott lowrey (he has created something new every year the race has happened - this was its 11th year). 

the rest of the weekend was fab too. i went to the bike love party saturday night with a friend - this was a fundraiser for asheville on bikes to raise $ for the downtown bike locker initiative. it was a wonderfully diverse crowd, with young and old, athletes, industry folks & commuters, great live music and beer from the french broad brewery (abbey ale - mmm!) this was held at the wedge gallery, in the river arts district (looks like a cool place to check out one day). chattanooga really needs an event like this! sunday i got caught up on my play time with chilton - we goofed around with photobooth on my computer making pics & videos. we checked out a new place for brunch - cafe azalea. good food and away from the hustle of downtown, so service was quick.

i drove back to chatt sunday afternoon - a lovely 4 hours (not really; i got sleepy & my legs are now stiff). hopefully i'll feel ok tomorrow and can have a good recovery week, followed by a taper week :) as i prep for my next event in 2 short weeks: the checkpoint zero adventure race. 

race website

last year's race report

off to asheville for a little old run

tomorrow i'm headed to asheville for the Mount Mitchell Challenge; however, for the second year in a row, i'll only be running the Black Mountain Marathon. not that a marathon is anything to turn your nose up to, but I've had my heart set on the 40-mile Challenge for two years, and each time, circumstances have forced me to drop back to "a mere" 26. Last year it was ITB trouble not yet cleared up from the Mountain Mist 50k 3 weeks prior; this year it was my 6-week training hiatus during the holidays (the groin strain & sinus infection that caused me to sit on my butt way too long). i just have not been able to get the mileage necessary to safely run the full 40. in fact, i'm hoping to finish the marathon somewhat respectably; my longest runs post-injury have only been 3 hrs. my goal would be to beat last year's time of 5:09 (which earned me an 11th place finish in the women's division). hmmm, maybe a top 10 this year? the weather for saturday looks good right now (partly cloudy, 55/35), although right now they are under an ice storm warning!

KnoxieCross

Last weekend I headed up to Knoxvegas for the 3rd race in their cross series, at Melton Hill Park. Highland-Adventures put on this event (same crew that puts on the 12 Hours of the Hill of Truth); this crew puts on top notch grassroots events (no bells and whistles, but always a great course, great prizes, and attention to detail for a very reasonable price... and always a ton of fun!)

It was a gorgeous sunny day, but the wind kept it nippy out. I drove up alone, but met a few other Chatt friends there. The C race (with the women's division) went last, so I had a nice long warmup and plenty of opportunity to ride the course. It was pretty straightforward, winding through the field. There was a fun drop, 2 tight turns near the lake (with some dried mud - this had the potential to be quite nasty if wet!), one serious climb we switchbacked, and 1 barrier on a slight incline (although not steep enough to be a runup.... still gave me problems though on the remount. I definitely didn't earn any style points there!) The course in general was deceptive though, with several false flats that really wore you down. All the women raced together which made for a large class (and where did all these Bike Zoo chicks come from??!) It's really great to see lots of us out there; but it made for a tough race. I don't know what the final results are, but I think I was around 7th. Jeremy Chandler took some great pics - here are a few of me in action.

After the race, we refueled with some locals & Asheville folks, then I headed over to Michelle's for the weekend. On Sunday we did a great trail run at Norris Dam with some of the Runner's Market team. (OK, we started with them, but those speed demons did their own thing). We ran for 2:17, then I added another small loop to get to my 2:30 goal for the day. Yeah, I know, Iwasn't that far off before, but I'm really trying to stay on task with what Matt puts on my schedule. I was a bit short on my ride time for yesterday, so as soon as I got back to Chattanooga that afternoon, I rode at the Bend for 1:15.

Upchuck Adventure Run, TBARC Bike Nav

So it's a lazy Thanksgiving Day, so I thought I'd catch up on a few posts before braving the chilly temps & wind for a run or bike - trying to wait till it warms up a tad, but I don't think it's going to get much better (cloudy & 50 degrees, winds around 10-25mph, and pretty wet out after over an inch of rain yesterday).

The Upchuck Adventure Run was an "event" put on by the Boonies 2 weeks ago on the Cumberland Trail. A few run distances were available. Matt & Chad ran the whole thing, starting at Hotwater Road and running the 11 mile Soddy segment, followed by the Possum Creek Gorge and Rock Creek segments (20 miles). Another Matt joined them for the first segment, then Natalie, Kathy and I ran the last ones together...although we didn't time our start right and had to wait on the guys for about 45 min at the end. (or maybe we just ran that fast??! :) ) Big thanks to Chad for the pizza and beer at the end and the warm blanket from Nat since I forgot to leave a drop bag at the end.

Natalie & Kathy

the two (k)cathi(y)s

Last weekend was the local TrailBlazers' end of year party, consisting of a bike navigation event and mystery beer party. Jim put together a fun course that showcased our lovely townships to the north (Soddy Daisy, Bakewell, Sale Creek). Since my road bike is still not here, I borrowed my old one from Michelle and hit the course solo style. It was another beautiful day to be out. I nabbed all the points in around 4 hrs. Carol and Cecilia beat my time by a little bit to sneak in the win... but having someone to ride with in the wind definitely gave them the advantage :)


After the ride, I jetted downtown quick to see some friends that were in town riding Raccoon. Then I showered and headed back to the Farmer casa to chill in the backyard with cold beer & a hot bonfire (and s'mores). Oh, the mystery part of the beer was that the hosts handed you random stuff - you didn't get to choose what you got. But I did sneak my own stuff...Denver IPA from the Great Divide Brewing Company. It had a great label :)

Surviving Shut-In

I've heard a lot about this race... there's the challenge of getting in (it sells out every year), the challenge of the weather (warm or cold? how many leaves will be on the trail, hiding the rocks?), and the challenge of the terrain (17.8 miles, 5000' of cumulative elevation gain). I've been warned the last 2 miles are unrunnable. Despite all of this, I was excited for my inaugural event.


First, a bit of history... the trail was initially developed by George Vanderbilt, as a way to get from the Biltmore to his hunting lodge on Mt. Pisgah in the 1890s. Now, a large section of the trail is part of the infamous Mountains to Sea Trail (yeah, the same one I have a love/hate relationship with, from the Overmountain Extreme AR).

Saturday morning, my friend Stephen and I shuttled cars, leaving mine at the finish and taking his to the start at the NC Arboretum (luckily the race didn't start till 10am, so we didn't have to get up too dreadfully early). The drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway was stunning. Fall colors were close to their peak; the sun filtered through the trees and intensified the yellows, oranges, rusts, crimsons, and greens. The temps were brisk to start - mid to upper 30s? - but were to warm up to near 60 midday. The first few miles followed a gravel road through the arboretum and spread out the crowd of nearly 200. It was a gradual incline which was not my favorite way to start, so I took it a bit easy in an attempt to find my pace. Once we hit the singletrack, the trail alternated between hard packed dirt and rocky sections, and between ups, downs and flats. It was quite ideal; a gorgeous course. The variety kept it interesting and challenging.



Racers were encouraged to have a support person meet them at aid stations, as only water was provided along the course. I'm sure it helps the top athletes move quicker, but independent me got long ok without. I used my Ultimate Direction dual water bottle holder that had a small zippered pouch for a few gels and clif bloks. I also attached a small pouch to the belt to hold my inhaler and endurolytes. Sure, I could lighten my load a little bit, but when I'm used to my adv racing pack, it wasn't that bad :)

When the course crossed the Parkway at the intersection of 151, the "fun" began. We had a pretty intense climb, but nothing that wasn't doable with a solid hike. Then we were up on the ridge and could run some more. But then there was more... even steeper. And then more. Wow, it just wouldn't stop. It was the kind of hike where you put your hands on your thighs in order to move, praying you wouldn't cramp up with the next step. Luckily I managed not to, but I passed a few folks immobilized along the way. My back was pretty tense from bending forward in order to move ahead. As I finally crested the hill we were on and began the final descent into the parking lot (and finish line), the tenseness spread throughout my midsection and I was all but doubled over. I kept looking at my watch, which was creeping quickly to 4 hrs (my initial goal of 3:30 now a distant memory). Finally I could hear cheers at the finish line and knew I was close. 3:58.43. phew! That was good enough to crack the top 20 female finishers (19th), with an overall place of 114 out of 170 finishers.


After an ice bath back at the cabin (yeah, it totally sucks but the few times I've done it the recovery time has been incredible - and now 24 hrs after the event, I'm feeling great!), I realized that driving 4 hrs home was just not going to happen, so I headed over to the Curwens for dinner and a great night's sleep. Breakfast the next morning was at the Over Easy Cafe - very yummy! I had the hotcake special: strawberries, goat cheese, & chocolate chips (just a few so not overly sweet) with maple syrup. Delish! Asheville really has the best breakfast spots :)

Shut-In

I'm headed to Asheville tomorrow for the Shut-In Ridge Trail Run: 17.8 miles, starting elevation around 2000', finishing elevation around 5000'. and I'm sure there is some rolling terrain inbetween!

Here's a peek:

StumpJump 50k

Yes, I did survive the StumpJump even if it has taken forever for me to post anything here. This was my second year doing the race and even though I felt pretty fit, my training leading up to this point was much different than the previous year, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Last year there was a whole crew of us running it, so weekends were full of long runs with lots of motivation. This year there was only a few of us and we were all distracted by our other sports.

Race morning was a good 10-15 degrees warmer than last year. It has been a hot year though, so I didn't expect this to make a big difference. There is much construction on top of Signal Mountain with two new schools being built, so the start of the race was a bit different than previous years. We started with a 2.5 mile loop over hilly (sort of deep) gravel trails. This really was not how I wanted to start as this is my least favorite part of the trail. And to have to do part of it twice before hitting the main singletrack - ick. I was happy to make the turn towards Mushroom Rock and get on with the rest of the race.

©Wilderness Adventure Photography
the descent to Suck Creek Road, around mile 6

It was great to see friends along the course.... Dan on the gravel loop, Sam & Leigh at Suck Creek, Lynn at Indian Rock House and Jeffrey & Tara at Haley Road. The volunteers everywhere were great, helping me with endurolytes and water refills. Especially great were those at Suck Creek Road, warning us of a yellow jacket nest just past the top of ladder. We were advised to veer right around the sign and bushwack a bit, skirting the danger area. I did just this and could see where others had gone. Unfortunately this led me directly to where the bees were! I yelped a bit and darted forward, somehow avoiding any stings. I was lucky! My friend Sergio, not so much - he estimated 22 stings. (And he still finished!)

©McKnight Photography
entering Indian Rock House, around mile 11

The Mullens Cove Loop went well. I ran it the previous weekend and it was nice to mentally have it under control. The low points were discovering my iPod battery was dead (why did I not check this?) and having Mr. Bad Attitude hanging out with me. I don't know who he was, but all he did was complain. I think that's why I passed him a few times when he was on the side of the trail after tripping & falling. Trail Karma. I was glad to finally drop him as it was starting to wear me down.

The last push, from Suck Creek Road back to Nolan Elementary (and the finish line!) is always interesting. I had already figured out I was about a half hour behind my goal time (oh well), so that aside, I just wanted to finish as strong as I could. I passed a lot of people and while I kept hoping I'd pass another girl, the ones ahead remained elusive. (same deal as last year!) The finish line was a welcome sight, with the clock reading 6:29.34 - a few minutes slower than last year. However, I was able to snag a top 10 finish - 9th in the womens open division, and 51 overall (out of 174 racers). That I am happy with!

Stage Race: Day 3 & 4

Friday evening was a hard one - about 3.5 miles straight up Signal Mountain - about 1000' of gain. It's a time trial, so we go off one at a time. Signal Mountain Blvd (127) isn't runner friendly, but for the most part car are courteous. It's a long slow climb up and my legs felt every foot of gain. I finished in 34:10.... I think a tad quicker than last year.



Saturday morning: the Big Daddy trail run at Lookout Mountain - about 12.5 miles on very runnable trails. That doesn't mean I could run it all today though... I think I've been sweating a lot more this summer than past (maybe due to the heat, but it was actually quite pleasant on the mountain, with a cool breeze), and not taking in enough water sometimes. I carried 2 bottles with me (1 water/ 1 amino vital), and stashed a third at the bottom of Sunset Rock, the only place we'd pass twice. I still ended up running out of liquids about 25 minutes from Sunset, and had been rationing until that point. I felt run down (well, this much running in a few days will certainly do that to you!) and alternated between walking and running on the last Bluff View trail section. (running made me more thirsty, but would get me finished quicker... catch-22).

I hung with Brian most of the time (until the Bluff trail) - always nice to have company (especially one that likes to talk, which makes things pass faster!). We both walked up most of the John Smart Trail - a painful section as it is basically a 2mile climb... but it's good to practice a fast solid walk (at Mountain Mist, I could pass many people, as they slowly walked.)

Once I finally made it back to Sunset, I downed most of the water immediately. The climb out was rough on my tired legs/knees, but it was nice to finally emerge back onto West Brow Road. However, I took a wrong turn heading back to our starting point, which sucked. I just wanted to finish! My time was 2:50 by the time I made it back. Matt & Natalie had bagels waiting for us and hand-held water bottles as our finishers prize. They always do a great job with this for-fun event!

Final results to come, but only 3 women completed all 4 stages (Natalie, Me, Charlene), and I think 5 guys.

Sims' Stage Race: Day 2

6:30 am: 5k run. time: a tad over 24min. tough course running back and forth on the bridges. plus 2 times up 1st street. not exactly fun when you're still rubbing sleep out of your eyes :) the weather felt pretty great this early though!




6:30pm: 15k run. time: 1hr 9min 59sec. (no, not 1:10!) however, it was a tad short of 15k. it was a bit messy running along manufacturers where construction for Two North Shore is. This run is brutal. thankfully cloudy and post-rain, but it was long, flat, and seemed to never stop. Tonight I'm definitely stiff. Tomorrow night will feel...uh.... just dandy. (not.) -> 8k run UP signal mtn.

Sims' Stage Race: Day 1

With the end of summer comes the low key stage race put on by Matt & Natalie. Last year was tough, as I hadn't been running on the road much and had only been living here a few months. Tonight's crowd was a good one, with a few new faces. The route was the same as last year - a there & back course starting at the south end of Walnut Street, run along the northshore, head back over veterans bridge and east along the riverwalk. We had a storm late this afternoon so the temps had cooled down a bit but things were wet and a bit muggy. Still, I pulled out a pretty good time for me - 48:08.

a quick lok at the rest of the event:
tomorrow am: 5k
tomorrow pm: 15k
friday pm: 8k hill climb
saturday am: big daddy trail run (13miles)



the course:

mini orlando vacation

I came down to Orlando for a few days to visit my sister, brother-in-law & nephews... for some fun and suffering in the Florida humidity.

Sunday, Liz and I woke up early to run the Track Shack's Celebration of Running 3.0 mile race. It was their 30th anniversary, so there was a 70s theme throughout the day (70s funk music, costume contest, and their . They always put on a great race and this really was no exception, with one of the best swag bags I've gotten (next to the Stumpjump!) It was a hot morning, but despite added humidity, wasn't worse than what we've been having up in Chatt. I haven't run any short races since starting speedwork with Joey and crew, so I was really interested to see just how fast I could go. I was hoping to average 7:30min/mile. I think I was around an 8:15 for the country music half marathon, so I thought this was a doable estimate.

The first mile was a great start - 7:11, even with the crowded start (over 1500 runners started!) The second mile was at 7:19... a little slower, but still ahead of pace. Just a bit after the 2nd mile marker, the funky thing with my heart beat happened. I got a bit lightheaded and slowed, but didn't stop (I really didn't want to!) I took about 30sec easy and seemed to shake it off, so I pumped it up for the last bit. My final chip time was 21:57, which translates to a 7:19min/mile pace. Yeah!! Since this was a bigger event, seems like all the speedy peeps came out. I got 13th in my age group (out of 116), 47th overall woman (out of 882).

After we had a chance to cool down, the kid's fun run started. Both Evan & Ethan got shy right before the start and got Liz & Erick to help them across the finish line. They both got bright yellow ribbons, which they thought were pretty cool.

That afternoon we headed to New Smyrna Beach to relax - although the boys kept me very busy! Here's a few shots of the fun...

Boonies Stage Run

I ended up not running in this, but helped out at an aid station on Sunday.... pictures now up in the gallery!

more to write soon about all the biking i've been doing!

memorial weekend....

since the whole car clutch fiasco last week, my weekend plans went topsy turvy. instead of hitting a wedding down in hot, smoky florida, i was able to hang local and indulge in a few days of fun. i couldn't justify spending money on a race saturday, so instead i helped out and ran sweep for the first 16 miles of the inaugural scenic city trail marathon here in chatt. (mostly on the jones gap segment of the cumberland trail we've run a few times.) while the pace was slow, i got in a good run on a hot day.... however, i have a few mysterious welts on my legs that are a bit annoying and i see a huge patch of poison ivy surfacing on my forearm. big props to joey and the boonies for putting on a great event!

on sunday, i joined jeramie, jim & star for a long mtn bike ride out at the ocoee. after a delish pancake breakfast at cracker barrel, we headed to thunderrock campground, where we ran into fellow adventure racer kim moore from georgia. she joined us on a killer 4.5hr tour of some great forest service roads. we did see a black bear cub bounce off the road at one point, but luckily no momma was in sight. i swear we did more ascending than descending. my legs were sore from the previous day's run so i struggled a bit and bowed out of the single track finale (the snickers marathon bar i had towards the end wasn't sitting well either). after refueling at subway, we headed back to our cars at the cracker barrel... where jim's clutch decided not to work all of a sudden! (eek! i swear i had nothing to do with it!) luckily i had just renewed my AAA membership and used it to get a tow back to town. afterwards, the tow dude checked the clutch fluid levels, which happened to be low. topping it off with some brake fluid proved to solve the problem and jim lucked out. (unfortunately my problem was not that simple... or cheap!)

today i recovered and worked.. yes, worked, even though it was a holiday. my colorado cousin amanda arrives in the morning so i'm taking a few days off to show her what the east coast mtns are like!

update on the commuting last week: while it only equated to 2 full days, it was great. only some minor close calls with idiot drivers (nothing too close). i was definitely in super casual mode at work, but luckily i can do that. and i love being able to get stuff done around my house with my computer not being there! i'll definitely be making more of an effort in the future to do this more.

boogying to a PR

i can tell myself i wasn't expecting to run that well, since i don't run on pavement much and i haven't been training for/focusing on the half marathon distance. but of course i wanted to kick ass. it's one of those inherent qualities of a competitive person... even though i'm not fast enough to be competitive with other people, i do so with myself. my previous top time was at that atlanta half in '05... 1:49.40. my friend jim paced me and i couldn't have done it without him (and the personal frustrations i poured into the race). but oh, did i hurt bad that night.

while i wasn't excited to pound 13 miles of asphalt, i was looking forward to the weekend and helping my sister reach her goal of running another big race (we did the disney full marathon in '03). liz came up on thursday and we drove to nashville on friday. we stayed with my teammate mark and his fiance beth, who was running her first half. the last weather report we got before going to bed had us expecting lows in the mid 50s and showers likely in the morning. we got up around 5am CST and headed to the start at 6:15. they live right by vandy, so we had about 1.5miles to the start - a perfect warmup. this race is huge - over 32k people, so runners were divided into something like 32 corrals based on estimated finish times. i made my way up to corral #5 - for my estimated 1:48 finish time. i tried to hit the port-o-john one last time, but after standing in line 8 minutes and barely moving, i gave up and just hoped i would start sweating quick :)

liz, me and beth before the start

once i hopped into my group, i saw the official pace guy for those hoping for a 1:45 finish. hmm, that sounds nice. i figured i'd latch on for as long as possible, then hope that any difference would keep me close enough to my goal. luckily the morning warmed up quickly and i was able to shed my longsleeve shirt before the start. the first few miles went well, each right under an 8min pace. it was tough staying near the pace dude with all the people around. it's really amazing how many people we passed, and even more amazing how many of these people were barely moving along. (did they really expect to finish in less than 1:45??!) the course was great - a few rolling ups and downs, but nothing too bad. live bands every mile or so kept the spirits up (thankfully it wasn't all country music!) around mile 7, i felt an odd twinge in both of my calves. over the next few miles i had some hammer gel & ecaps and slowed my pace a tad, hoping to avoid a full on charlie horse. i kept checking my watch, hoping my overall time was still looking good. it was. unfortunately the twinges never went away and were kept at the forefront of my mind. quite annoying and unsettling. finally, we got to the bridge that would bring us to the finish line. i stepped it up the last mile, hoping the adrenaline would prevent any last minute cramps. it did, and i finished with a personal best of 1:48.36. i am quite happy with the time, although know that i could have really smashed my record if my calves had been beeling better.

after being herded through the finish line corrals (which was madness, but there was lots of good swag & food), i hung out looking for beth & liz. both had great races and finished just ahead of their goals as well. after showering & eating too much food at Noshville (great deli!), we hit the road and headed back to chatt.

post race!

Nashvegas, here we come...

Liz arrived yesterday and we are about to head to Nashville for the Country Music Half Marathon (which is on Saturday). You can follow us live here.

speed kills

speed workouts, that is. i joined the running crew for their weekly speed workout, something i tried a few months back (1/2 mile bridge repeats), but didn't stick with consistently. (not sure why i can't get it together on thursday evenings). tonight after a warmup around coolidge park, we headed over to the track at GPS (girls prep school) for some speed games. joey paired us up in teams, then we each ran 400m laps, alternating until we hit 4 miles. i ran each of my 8 laps hard, and since i'm not used to going all out, boy did they hurt. my fastest split was 1:28 and my slowest 1:46. i definitely fell off after my first 3 laps, and hovered in the low to mid 40s for the remaining laps. what is / will be interesting is seeing improvements in the future. (if i can stick with it!)

correction!

lorna pointed out that i did in fact squeeze into the top 10 in the marathon. wahooooo!!! i swear i counted differently before. perhaps the eye were tired too!

an ultra fun day.... even without the ultra

The 3 weeks since Mountain Mist went quickly... I did a lot of resting, trying to get my tibialis muscle all healed up. It was feeling good, so I joined the Wed Night Trail Run crew the week of my race for some confidence building - needed a nice run off road to ensure I was ready to go. It felt good, so I went with it... perhaps a little too much. The next day I woke up with IT Band pain on both legs. Yikes!!! The next two days were lots of self-massage, epsom baths, and some anti inflammatories.

Friday evening I drove to Asheville to check in for the Black Mountain Marathon and Mount Mitchell Challenge. I was signed up for the Challenge, the 40-mile race that takes runners over the summit of Mount Mitchell, the tallest point east of the Rockies. I had been preparing for this since... September or so? I was ready for this... but the small injury during my training run at Mountain Mist, and my ITB pain due to my silliness at the run this week seemed to be changing my plans. Jay (director of the race and a friend), understanding my conditions and desire to do the full thing, was trying to get me to run sweep on the Challenge (following the last runner to make sure they were fine). Hmmm.... long and slow, but perhaps a way to do it??

Saturday morning I woke up early and headed to the start in downtown Black Mountain. My legs just weren't feeling it and I didn't want to take the chance of injury so early in the season, so I decided to switch to the marathon (which sounds funny - I'm only running the marathon! As if that itself wasn't going to be tough!) We started at 7am, with about 250 runners toeing the starting line. The first 2-3 miles were on pavement, not ideal for my sensitive legs to warm up on. It hurt. I even doubted as to whether or not I'd finish. We wound our way up through Montreat and finally find some off road stuff. It was mostly forest service road, with some single/double track thrown in. The first 15 miles were uphill check out the elevation profile here. (remember it's showing the Challenge, so just look at the first 15 and last 6 miles). I kept my pace even and conservative to ensure that I wouldn't blow up for the last half. Part of the course is there and back, so when I saw the first female turn pass me, I started counting so I could estimate my place. I hadn't looked at the stats of previous marathons to see what the average female time was and guess where I could place, but I was feeling pretty good at this point and a bit optimistic at a solid finish. I counted 9 by the time I got to the 15mile turnaround point at the Blue Ridge Parkway. At the aid station there was another 4 or so... Hmm, so I'm around 14th now. Not so bad....

The aid station marked the turnaround for the Marathon folks, while the Challengers pressed on for the summit. Mount Mitchell loomed in the background. It actually made me think and almost reconsider. But while I was feeling pretty decent, the tightness in my ITB told me to play it safe. After taking a moment to put some band aids on my heel that was starting to rub, I took off feeling refreshed. It wasn't long before I came up on 3 women taking it somewhat easy. I passed them, thinking Hmm, around 11th. I was making good time on the downhills, despite the rockiness in some sections. Usually I'm a bit more timid on stuff like this, but race adrenaline can do wonderful things :) I passed a few guys, then another woman. 10th now?? Nice!! I came to an aid station that in my mind was around 20. I managed to pass a few more guys, hoping one of these short haired people would actually be a girl - no such luck. I noted the last 5 miles (where the last aid station was.. supposedly...) were done in 45 minutes, so I thought wow, maybe 60 minutes and I'll be done! My watch showed a time of 3h45m so far. Nice! During this last steeper section on FSR, the men's 1st place Challenger, Will, flew by me. wow. impressive! Then we hit some pretty steep sections on pavement, as we exited Montreat College. The guy I was running near wondered how pavement could stick at this angle. After about 45 min, we hit another aid station that I wasn't totally expected. They said another 3-4 miles till the finish. What?? By my calculations, I should be a mile or two away. Hmm... Then out of the blue another aid station appears... 2-3 more miles. I obviously didn't have the distances right in my mind and this was quite demoralizing. The pavement was hard enough to deal with; but having to run an extra 30 minutes was killing me! Finally the lake where the finish was came into view. I could see the banners off to my right a short distance... but oh, we had to run 3/4 around the lake to the left before we can get to the finish line!

My official time was 5:09.45... 51 overall out of 129 runners, and 11th out of 40 in the women's division. (dang! my counting was off...) Still, I'm quite happy with the time. It was only about 5 miles shorter than a 50k, where my times have been around 6 1/2 hrs... so I think I'm improving. (It was also a PR for my marathon time, but it has been 4 years since I've run a road marathon!)

Jay and the rest of the Black Dome Crew put on a fabulous race. The volunteers were great, the aid station packed with goodies, the post race meal by Montreat College was absolutely delicious and filling, and the swag itself worthy of the entry fee (we got custom embroidered North Face fleece pullovers for finishing, as well as SmartWool socks and a nice CamelBak water bottle). It was great to catch up with some friends there - Tony pulling in an awesome 6:22 for the Challenge, and Lorna & Stephen having solid Marathon times as well.

report from the summit of mt mitchell

3 weeks until the Mt Mitchell Challenge...
I'm a weather addict:
conditions at the summit
picture from the summit




uhhhh.......
wow.

a snowy recovery

So this week has been a bit lazy, but it's ok - I need a bit of a recovery, right?? Wednesday, Chattanooga woke up to a nice coating of snow - a nice (little) taste of what I'll be seeing next week in Colorado! Most of it melted by the next day, but some was still stashed on Raccoon Mountain for today's mtn bike ride (about 13 miles).





So this brings me to the rest of my recovery. I was feeling good, stretching, taking epsom baths, had a massage.. did a light session on my trainer on Tuesday. Thursday I wanted to hit spin class, but it was full so I did weights and hopped on the treadmill for a light run. I did a 5min light run, but my right shin area was feeling a bit off. I stopped & stretched, then did another 10 minutes before I realized I just couldn't do any more. Today's mtn bike went pretty well, but towards the end (where there was more climbing), I started to feel it a bit more. Not a bad pain at all, but more of a sensation that just doesn't seem right. a light tightness.

I stopped by Fast Break (local running store) to talk to Joey. His thoughts are that it is Anterior Compartment Syndrome. Bascially, the muscle becomes inflamed and too big for the sheath that surrounds it. When this condition is acute, bad things happen (that I'm not going to think about, but ironically, this was a condition shown on the Grey's Anatomy 2 days before Mountain Mist.) If this is what I have, it's not severe at all. But, I must be careful so it doesn't continue to be inflamed. That means... more rest. Ugh!! Not what I want to hear when I have another event on the horizon. I'll play it safe though, as this year is ramping up to be pretty good and I don't want to sit out and watch for 3 months like last year!

Mountain Mist: conquered!

The mist was nowhere to be seen at the start of this year's race; just an abundance of beautiful sunshine that warmed things up perfectly. I had put on tights originally, but it was actually several degrees warmer on top of Monte Sano, so I switched to shorts right before the start. The race began with a one mile run on the road, then we ducked into the woods right before a nice overlook. While the runners were stacked up through the first aid station, everyone remained courteous on the trail. I took a good tumble (the only one of my day) around mile 9... tripped on a rock or root and slid, knocking my left calf on a rock, upon which it immediately seized into a nice solid cramp (the effects of which I still feel a day later). I layed there grabbing my leg, probably moaning a bit, and someone starts yelling for a medic - as if any of them are around! Luckily I didn't need one (although at the pre-race meeting, the RD said someone always breaks something). One of the guys behind me grabs my leg and mashes my calf muscle a few times and works it out a good bit. Within another minute, I'm on my feet and back at it, slowing catching up to where I was before. I hear some people in front saying "I wonder how that girl was that fell???"... I think I surprised them when I said "Oh, I'm fine!" :)

I was hitting aid stations about every hour, which kept my hydration and nutrition in check. I used my Ultimate Direction Duo waist pack, along with a small side pouch a borrowed from Joey at the last minute - my inhaler took up so much room and I wanted to take a flask with my favorite caffeinated gel from Hammer Nutrition - Espresso! I also stashed a few squares of emergency TP, Sports Beans, Burt's Bees lip balm, Endurolytes, and a bit of duct tape in case my feet needed some help along the way. The aid stations were well stocked with drinks, munchies & wonderful volunteers. I was in and out quickly, having my empty water bottle already open to dump some water/gatorade in quickly, grabbing a Clif Shot or piece of banana to eat & run.

Around mile 14.5 I started a bit of a slump. I was running slower and felt I was dragging a bit. I decided it was a perfect time to power up my Shuffle and listen to some tunes. I hadn't listened to music running in ages (normally choosing to listen to the quietness around me, or the people I'm with). However now, it gave me the pick-me-up I needed. It was mostly music from my old spin class at ATS: a collection of loud, hard, wonderful stuff from Disturbed, NIN, Radiohead, Deftones, etc. The terrain was also getting tougher - more rocks, making it much less runable (for me at least). The downhills were treacherous - they are definitely my weakest skill, and I didn't want to take any chances and bust it. I was passed a good bit here; however, I caught many on the uphills. We would all walk them, but when some would take a relaxing pace, I was more agressive and powered forward. This helped me yo yo past one girl around mile 27 (and I stayed ahead till the finish - yeah!)

The waterline climb was real special - the pic below doesn't do it justice. Do see the elevation profile I posted a few days ago - it was literally a scramble up the rocks. It was a bit slick and muddy today; but I'll take that over the stories of ice in the past. I'm happy I got through this section with no cramps setting in.

The last aid station came with 1.8 miles to go. I set off with Henri, who I had caught on the final big climb. He had great energy and spirit and pushed me to the finish (although he claimed otherwise). He was running the MM for the 13th time (every year it has occurred), now at age 50. Wow!!

At the finish, I walked through the lodge to turn in my time card and retrieve my hand painted finisher's plaque (cool award, on a piece of slate tile). I could feel the lactic acid pooling in my legs and I couldn't stand still for a minute. I went to the car to change (the temps were now dropping quickly - big cold front moving through). I pulled off my socks and freaked out a bit when I saw the huge blood blister on my left foot. I knew they were sensitive and that I likely had a blister... but wow. I was not expecting this. I couldn't get a shoe on, so I hobbled back to the lodge and beelined to the ladies room. After a release of post-race emotions and a few tears, I hung with the Chatty crew, caught up with some Atl friends, and munched on a bit of food. After everyone from our group was safely across the finish line, we packed it up and headed home. Luckily it was a relatively short drive (less than 2 hrs), as I don't think our legs could have been couped up much longer!

I'm feeling pretty good today, although I still can't get a shoe on my left foot. I've indulged in 2 epsom salt baths and will have a painfully wonderful massage tomorrow. Gotta keep up the luv, with my next event 4 weeks away!

Stats:
official 2007 Mountain Mist website
distance: 50k
overall time: 6:36:39
overall finish: 155 (out of 285 starting)
330 people registered: 274 men, 56 women)
women's division finish: 17 (out of 43 starting)
age group finish (30-39): 6 (out of 13)

map of the course, taken by tony's gps

tour of the course
I grabbed some of the pictures posted there since I didn't take my camera...


lodge: start & finish