Mauled By A Raccoon

I headed down to Texas to pick up my 50th ultra finish, my ninth hundred mile finish and a shiny new belt buckle. Instead I came home with a DNF and a whopping dose of humility.

I was rapidly stripping clothes as I headed to the starting line at 6 am. As the start time  approached it was already 61 degrees with 93% humidity and it felt muggy. The first couple miles I was in a nice conga line, struggling to stay smooth. Being behind many people made it hard to see and there were a lot of roots in this section. My legs just didn’t have that strong feeling, and I had one minor ankle turn. But when I hit the jeep road, I could stretch out the legs and I felt a lot better. But it was already hot and sticky and I was asking for water down my back at mile 6! I must’ve been running pretty well on the jeep road because I soon caught up to Nicole Studer, Michele Yates, Gary Gellin, Ford Smith, and Jason Fingar, all of whom had gotten out ahead of me and were running together. I think my presence fired up the competitive drive in Michele as she quickly took off and the rest of the group strung out with Nicole and I hanging in the back. I ran the rest of the loop with her and enjoyed getting to know her and having someone to chat with for a bit.

As we came back down the rooted trail to the start finish I felt really good and figured I had just needed a bit of time to warm up. 2:47 was a bit faster than the 2:50-52 I was aiming for, but I also knew it was a slower first loop than several of the women’s winners in the past couple years and Michele was already 8 minutes up on me. On the out and back, Michele looked like she was already in focus mode and Connie Gardner assured me she was going to blow up and I just needed to stay steady. I wasn’t concerned if Connie was right or not, I just knew that Michele’s pace was definitely too hot for me and I needed to stick to my plan. What I didn’t know was that my plan wasn’t right for me either! 

As soon as we hit the roots once more, I was hurting and struggling again. Much of the Rocky Raccoon course is like an M.C. Escher drawing: you have to go up and down lots of steps, but your elevation really never changes. Spending September through December training for a track race and only getting two short trail runs in January, this was incredibly hard on my legs, particularly my hip flexors, which just weren't prepared to lift a few inches higher than usual to clear all the roots (not to mention I am a low clearance shuffler to begin with!).

The enigma of RR: there's really not much climbing or descending, but there sure are a lots of steps!

But I held on and kept pace with Gary and Nicole through this section and through the Dam Nation loop. Gary was pretty cheery as he announced us going through 50k in 4:26 (8:35 pace). It was a touch faster than the 8:45 pace I was hoping to keep up through 60 miles, but in theory it didn’t seem unreasonable to me. The reality was different: “Gary, my legs really don’t feel good.”

“Yes they do. They feel great!”, he answered. My nutrition and stomach had been good but I quickly chugged a bunch more drink mix to see if that would help. It didn’t.

I stopped at Dam Nation 2 and really took my time to drink, soak myself and eat more. But by the time that minute or so was over, my legs had completely locked up, particularly my hip flexors, which felt angry and inflamed. I let Gary and Nicole go and walked a bit. I figured I would jog as slow as I could for a while and I was aghast to find my slow jog was 12:45 pace, and even that was killing me! I had three miles on the road till the next aid station and I made a couple more jog attempts but they would all end after just a few minutes with cramping and pain in my hip flexors and a bit in the hamstrings. Neal Gorman was also having a major low and we walked in to the aid station. He had an impressive comeback from the dead to finish 5th, but my day was done.

You know you are in bad shape when your crew gets so bored waiting for you, that they have to start knitting!

I don’t like to be a quitter, but I don’t regret my decision. I was honestly in more pain than I have ever been in during any ultra. Could I have gutted it out to the finish? - yes, I am absolutely certain I could have. But I exorcised that demon with my 29 hour finish as Western States in 2012. I embrace a certain amount of suffering for these events (and even thrive on it a bit), but I am not out here to torture myself for 65 miles just to prove I can. I run because I love it, but at mile 35, I didn’t love running. In fact, I didn’t even like it in the tiniest bit, and so I am ok with my decision. What’s eating at me, though, is that I let myself get to that point.

***

Unfortunately, things didn’t go too smoothly for me after Desert Solstice. I did a little too much running right after the race so that I could be part of our group’s annual “Elf Run” leaving goodies on all our friends doorsteps, so my legs were flat and tired for longer than usual. At Christmas my sister came out with her three kids, and some mega- GI bug that knocked me out completely for three days. I had the toe surgery, which went really smoothly and I am completely happy with it, but there was certainly some stress and a few days of missed running for that. And then MLK weekend, I got hit with another crazy GI bug that took me out for a week after losing 6 pounds in three days (via numerous bathroom trips). What was meant to be my biggest training week went from 90 planned miles to 42 actual miles, and all of them slow; I did only three speed workouts and essentially no real trail running between DS and RR. My longest run in seven weeks was 19.5 miles. But the Monday before Rocky Raccoon I had one of my fastest 6x400 sessions ever (sub 80 sec on a couple- great for me) and I grasped on to the idea that the low training meant I was well rested and ready to run. But conditions at Rocky Raccoon were less than ideal; humidity can be brutal to run through and the only other race I have done at high humidity did not go well for me, either. It is just not something we are accustomed to in Oregon.

But I am not offering these as excuses to exonerate me, because the reality is that none of these were the true cause of my demise. Plain and simple: I messed up.

I have success in running lately and success breeds confidence. But there is a fine line between confidence and self-delusion or hubris, and I stepped over that line. I convinced myself that I was capable of running a certain time at Rocky Raccoon and even though my legs felt bad from the start, I stubbornly held on to that goal and kept pushing, hoping for things to get better. I don’t think the pace I was running early on was egregiously fast and in theory I believe I should be able to do it. Indeed, Nicole was right with me through 50k and held on strong for the win. But for where I was at on that day, with that training, it was too much. I have never had any kind of psoas muscle pain or cramping and can only assume they just weren't in shape to handle that terrain or the conditions. There was certainly a common theme: many of those pushing for a faster run succumbed to the oppressive humidity with only a 58% finishing rate. Those who ran more relaxed and focused on finishing over running a specific time fared much better, and there were many impressive performances in the 17-24 hour range, with lots of runners showing how an even, conservative pace will get you to the sub-24 buckle. I tend to be a conservative runner and I pride myself on pacing, but I failed at this completely on race day. I kept running the pace I so desperately wanted to run, until I just couldn’t run anymore, and sadly that was pretty early in the day. It’s good for me to get out of my comfort zone, but it is also good for me to learn how far is too far, and Saturday I got that lesson: if it feels too hard, it is too hard and it is time to back off and let go of time goals.

Perhaps the hardest part of dropping, is explaining it to others. It kind of feels like the walk of shame in college (not that I would know about that!). Even though I was convinced I made the right call for me, the guilt and the apologetic feeling was overwhelming. To explain why I dropped felt hollow and lame. I understand why you don’t see most people right after they DNF, but I wasn’t about to the let the pride get the better of me. While no longer running, I spent another 9 hours enjoying the race as a spectator, cheering folks on, and offering a little bit of help to those who were having a better day than me. And you realize pretty quickly that you’re the only one having a pity party and you need to snap out of it because there are so many wonderful stories around you - maybe not yours today, but you can still live vicariously and be moved by the people still out running. I loved hearing crews tell runners after their 4th lap that they were well ahead of 24 hour pace. Watching guys like Steve Moore and Neal Gorman rally to strong finishes was inspiring. Roy Pirrung blew me away with his steady determination. And my favorite moment all night: when Shaheen Sattar started her final lap and her crew yelled,”Keep this up and you’ve got Western States!” So many great achievements  out there, and while I was bummed not to have one of my own, I am still glad I got to be a part of it. Plus RD Joe Prusaitis made me a honorary Texan. He said it was because I have been to Texas seven times in the last five years for running events, but I think it is because I look so good in a cowboy hat! ;)

So, now I am going to take a couple easy weeks to make sure I am healthy and completely recovered (and to make sure I don't miss any of the Olympics - I am a sucker for them!). Then it heavy duty training time. The good thing is, I know what I need to do (ie. pull out last year's WS training plan and copy it exactly). Plus, I am motivated and hungry with a little something to prove once again - and that sure worked out well last year. A DNF isn't fun, but it's not the end of the world either. The failures are great lessons and a good way to grow for the future. So while I am disappointed, I am not going to beat myself up about it. Like I said to someone Saturday, "You're not a real ultra-runner if you don't have a few shitty races!" One more positive: My big toes feel awesome! No regrets on parting ways with my toenails!

The "elite" meet and great Friday morning: Gary Gellin, me, Ian Sharman, Connie Gardner, Ryan Ghelfi, and Dave James. Or more like "Club DNF." Seriously, what did they put in those sandwhiches?!? Thank you, Ian, for brining some credibility to the group!

Nutrition, Part 1: Your Perfect Nutrition Plan

There seems to be some belief that Western states needs drug testing, because it is quite lucrative to win, even in the absence of prize money. I did score two new sponsors - Injinji and Ultimate Direction - and La Sportiva generously upped the ante on their support. I am grateful for the support, but the reality is, it won’t even cover the costs of my racing and travel this year. Basically, I haven’t seen the bags of money pouring in since Western States! What I have gotten is 500 new “friends” (in the Facebook meaning of the word) and loads and loads of questions from people. I have no training secrets and I am happy to share what works for me. Since a good deal of the questions involve nutrition, I thought I’d write a post (or two!) about the subject.

Nutrition is a lot like politics or religion: there is a lot of conflicting information available, but many people have very firm beliefs as to what is right and wrong. To me, the only true “wrongs” of nutrition are habits that cause states of poor health, such as obesity, high blood sugar, and nutritional deficiencies. However, I do certainly have my own set of beliefs on what optimum nutrition is, particularly in terms of ultrarunning performance, based largely on what has worked for me and the changes I have noticed in the past year.

The first schism amongst ultrarunners are the camps of “eat to run” and “run to eat.” Certainly when you are running all those miles it is easy to feel like you earned a beer, a burger, a cookie or whatever. Besides not smoking, staying at a normal weight is probably the best thing you can do for your health. If running keeps you at a normal weight but you are eating a lot of junk food, you are still better off than you would be by not exercising. Medical literature also shows that normal weight individuals have much better glucose tolerance and higher insulin sensitivity than overweight individuals, so normal weight individuals are better able to process junk food and return to baseline. The literature also shows that people who lose weight see improvements in glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, triglyceride levels and cholesterol, no matter what their diet was. My favorite example of this is the so called “Twinkie diet” where a Kansas State University professor lost 27 pounds eating a high percentage of his calories from junk food, yet, many common measures of health actually improved. So if you are a normal weight runner and want a cookie after you run, your body can probably handle it without much consequence to your overall health.

However, many runners, and ultra runners in particular, are striving to be as healthy as possible and many are looking for ways to optimize performance. But what should you eat to be as healthy as possible and perform at your best? There are so many choices out there and plenty of highly successful runners in each group: Vegan, Vegetarian, Paleo, Low-carb, Gluten-free, ketogenic... Aargh too many choices and plenty of passionate (and convincing) people advocating for each one. The reality is that the human body is quite adaptable and can thrive on a variety of diets, ranging from 90% carbs down to about 10% carbs. So there is no One Perfect Nutrition Plan (sorry!). That being said, I’ll give you what I consider the most important nutrition elements for optimum running performance.

1) Eat lots of plant derived foods. Fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds are packed with vitamins and nutrients. They are high in fiber and anti-oxidants. Diets high in vegetables lower the risk of heart disease and likely lower the risk of cancer. Plus, most vegetables are filling while being fairly low in calories.

2) Eat a lot of protein. It only takes 0.5 g of protein/kg body weight to avoid protein malnutrition - that’s only about 35 g of protein a day for your average man. But this is a minimum and not necessarily the amount that promotes optimum performance. Studies on endurance athletes suggest 3-4 times that amount may be necessary for you to be at your best. That’s because hard training damages muscles and more protein is required to build them back up and to make them stronger. Vegetarians and vegans will have a harder time getting this much protein, but I certainly don’t think meat is a necessary ingredient for optimal performance.

3) Cut out the processed carbs. White flour and sugar provide a lot of empty calories, cause insulin to spike, and create wide fluctuations in blood sugar. Additionally, most prepackaged snack foods have a lot of chemicals and preservatives that you don’t need.

4) Have a source of iron. I am not a big fan of supplements as I think a well rounded diet is the best way to get all your nutrients. Plus, new studies show supplementation with anti-oxidant type vitamins (C, E, beta-carotene) actually increased cancer risk! Iron is important as it is a major component of heme in your red blood cells, which is the oxygen carrying molecule. Not enough iron means not enough oxygen! Some iron is lost due to cell turnover and perhaps foot strike trauma in runners. Premenopausal women lose more iron than men due to menstruation. If you eat meat, you probably don’t need iron supplements (carnivorous men should NOT take iron supplements). But vegetarians may need a supplement.

Basically, this list could be incorporated into any type of nutrition plan, again underscoring that there is no One Perfect Nutrition Plan. What is best for you depends on your ethics, religion, food allergy status, motivations, and personal beliefs about food.

Last year I made a lot of changes to my nutrition which primarily addressed #2 and #3 above. I ate too many processed carbs and I needed more protein. I tried Paleo, thinking I might jump on the low carb band wagon and I hated it. It was like running in a constant state of bonk. Plus, I have a serious sweet tooth, and while I was ready to cut down on my junk food, I wasn’t willing to give it up entirely. And I didn’t have a burning desire to cut out all grains. Eventually, I settled on Carb back loading (aargh - one more nutrition label to add to the list!).

Here’s how I described it to David Hanenburg at Endurance Buzz (Check out his Rocky Raccoon preview):

The best descriptor for how I eat is 'Carb Back-loading.' Basically, I eat the majority of my carbs at dinner time with some carbs coming in the form of a recovery drink after workouts. It is a reduced carb diet as compared to the standard American diet, but it is not truly a low carb diet. And while I have tried to cut out most sugar and wheat, I am not trying to be grain free. In fact, most of my nightly carbs come from grains such as rice, polenta, and quinoa. Potatoes, squash and a couple of desserts each week account for the balance of the carbs I eat. I don't ever plan to give up dessert entirely!

This is what my food intake looked like today:

Post workout: recovery drink

Breakfast: two eggs plus red peppers and onions sauteed in coconut oil and half and avocado

Lunch: Braised cabbage with carrot puree, a small halibut fillet, and a small handful of cashews

Dinner: Quinoa salad with half a chicken breast. No dessert tonight since tomorrow is an easy workout (and I don’t need as many carbs to get through it)

I cook a lot of my food in big batches on the weekend, so it is ready to go when I need it.

Bon Apetit!

(Part 2 is Race Day Nutrition, but this took me 2 weeks to finish - I actually had it half done a week before Geoff Roes published his piece on iRunFar, which inspired me to get this done! Anyway, part 2 is coming... but don't hold your breath! I've got a trip to Texas and a hundred miles to run before that happens!)

Lucky '13

What a year! To think all I really wanted to do was not embarrass myself at Western States!

Rather than regurgitating this year's race reports and running activities as a year in review, I thought I'd check in with last year's goals.

So here we go:
1) Run 3,000 miles. Check! Last year I ran 2,969 miles and was over 2800 the two years before that, but never broke the 3k mark. This year: 3051 miles. While my mileage was not all that different than last year, my big weeks were bigger and my low weeks were lower (or off altogether), which I think provided a "bigger bang for my buck" - basically, I was fitter with about the same number of miles. At this point, I am happy with this range and I am not really trying to push it much higher.

2) Race fewer miles. Well, by the letter, I did this: 563 racing miles in 2012 vs. 538 racing miles in 2013, but I wouldn't call this a significant difference. However, I did have a couple of races this year (Nueces and RunRabbit Run) which were not 'A' races for me and so I wasn't as drained going in or coming out. But really, this was a stupid goal - I love to race and I am going to keep doing it! Plus, I think my recovery has gotten a lot better. Good thing, as my race schedule is already packed for 2014!

3) Nail Western States. Yeah, nailed it! Fourth time is a charm. :) I feel like I finally understand how to run a 100 mile race. Will I nail them all? No, of course not, but I feel like I have a sense of what I am doing now and the idea of racing 100 miles no longer scares me.

4) Another gold for Team USA. Since the World Championships were cancelled this year, we didn't get a chance to defend our title. So this one is going to carry over to 2014 which will be August 31 in Latvia. Unfortunately, I am not even qualified for the team right now! I'll be at the  Mad City 100km national championships this April to hopefully rectify that problem.

5) Break the 200km American Record. Some goals change; this one did. This was a goal for me because I thought it was a respectable record/distance but something I thought I could easily do. I still do (my husband points out that I failed to get the record twice, so maybe it is not so easy). But I was selling myself short and I feel strongly that changing this goal to get the 100 mile track world record was the right thing for me and a much more meaningful record overall. So this goal has been tabled. Now I want to see how I stack up against the overall 100 mile world record!

6) Nutrition. I didn't have any concrete goal for this and yet, it may be the place where I made the most radical changes. I did way better with my junk food consumption, but I will likely always have a sweet tooth. But carb back loading has been a good fit for me. I cut out a lot of processed foods, plus added meat back to my diet after 17 years.

7) Do Yoga. I went about 20 times this year. It made a huge difference for me. I don't even hate it and all the stretchy people in the world anymore! This is no longer a goal, just something that is part of my training.

8) Address my lower ab/groin/hip pain. I never went to any doctors, physical therapists or other medical personnel. Basically, yoga and a few other stretches and hip mobility exercises were all I needed.

So on to 2014! Goals for this year:
1) Make the US 100km team. Help the team get another gold medal. I'd love to improve on my 5th place finish from 2012, too.
2) The 18/21 Western States/AC double. This is swinging for the fences, especially since I don't have any experience running 100's in relatively quick succession (five weeks). I feel like I could take off another 20 minutes from my WS time (18:37), but I am not sure where I'll find another 17 minutes (cooler temps??). I have nothing to go on for AC, and that may be an unreachable time, but it is a place to start for my planning. Times at both races may be significantly affected by weather conditions, so things aren't entirely in my hands, either.
3) 100 mile world record attempt - Ann Trason has a stout record which may be out of my league and that's ok, but no shame in trying.
4) Get blinds for the living room and remove the carpet from my son's bathroom. Ok, this isn't a running goal! But I try to be a model of how to juggle training, job and family and I've dropped a few other balls! Time for a few home projects to get done. And when you have carpet in a bathroom with a six year old boy... well, let's just say that's gotten to be a high priority home improvement project! And I decided three years ago we need blinds for the living room - maybe time to get on that!
5) Take a non-running vacation. My kids are at an awesome stage: they can do a lot of things we enjoy but they aren't old enough to totally hate us yet. :) Last year was a lot of fun with them and I am looking forward to another, but we probably should get to a few places just to enjoy the place itself. Yellowstone and Glacier are top possibilities right now. Time to make some reservations!

Tentative Race Schedule:
2/1 - Rocky Raccoon 100M National Championships
3/15 - Pac Rim 24hr with my daughter Megan, perhaps my best racing experience from 2013
4/12 - Mad City 100km National Championships
?? 5/11- Ice Age 50M
6/28 - Western States
July- family vacation!
8/2 - Angeles Crest 100
8/31 - 100km World Championships
12/14 - Desert Solstice

I hope you have many wonderful things to look forward to and many goals to challenge you in 2014. Happy New Year!

Desert Solstice Teaser

It's been a while since I have posted anything. I think the early darkness gives me writer's block! Well, mostly it just makes me want to go to bed early and it is very hard to blog in your sleep!

After running the 8th fastest North American 50 mile at Autumn Leaves, I spent the last 7 weeks trying to get comfortable running 8:45 pace. Basically, I failed! But I got so comfortable running 8:30 pace I was able to do it for 100 miles to break the world track record by 14 minutes and Ann Trason's US track record by 18 minutes. Race report is up now at iRunFar.

This was a great way to cap off my season and I have a lot of confidence going in to 2014. But the race was supposed to "cure" me of the desire to run loops and instead it has only gotten me more fired up. The overall 100 mile world record (13:47) is still a long way off from my 14:11, but I still feel like I have a better 100 mile time in me. With training more specific to 8:16 pace, a more aggressive start (I spent the first 5 hours thinking I was running all 24 hours), better race nutrition and a lighter pair or shoes, I think I can run sub-14. Can I break 13:47? I have no idea! Maybe not, but I want to try.

On the other side of the spectrum, I still really want to finish a 24 hour run. I am so in awe of those athletes. Seeing them pushing on through the night and keep going the next morning is so inspiring. But I keep getting distracted by the 100 mile distance! With four 100 milers scheduled for next year, plus two (I hope) road 100k's if I make the US team, I am not sure it'll be something I get to in 2014, but it is on my bucket list for sure!

Hope you had a "thumbs up" year!

More F's at Autumn Leaves

Last week I wrote about the Four F's of Poor Running. After taking last weekend off to remediate a few of the F's that I was suffering from, I was feeling pretty good going into Autumn Leaves and that let me experience some F's of good running: Fun, Fast times and Friends! Plus, there was lots of great Fall Foliage to boot.

Autumn Leaves 50k/50M is a low key local ultra that tacks place on a 6.25M loop in Champoeg State Park, a mere 40 minutes from home. The loop is 80% paved bike path and 20% trail/grass. It's pretty flat, but with a couple little rolls each loop, such that my Garmin 910XT recorded just shy of 2,000' gain for the 50M. One nice feature is that the loop contains an out and back section so you see everyone on course multiple times. The autumn colors have been splendid this year with our dry weather plus there were lots of crunchy leaves under foot, so the race definitely lived up to its name! But maybe the best part of this race are the RD's - Bret and Gail Henry are wonderful people and such a cute couple. They travel around the country running marathons (and formerly ultras) together. I want to be like them when I grow up!

Last year, I had a good run, but with pouring rain all day and slick conditions I just missed my goal of sub-6:30. I was certainly looking to go under 6:30 this year, but I have been feeling pretty strong all year and though sub-6:20 would be doable. And then right before the race, I learned about the realendurance.com lists for fastest times of the year and saw the leading female 50 mile time for 2013 was 6:19:44, so that was the goal! I am well aware that fastest time does not equal best time since most of the big 50 mile races take place on difficult courses, but if you are running on a fast course, why not try to run a fast time?!

However, my most important goal of the day was to win the costume contest! My costume win streak at this event is almost as good as my race win streak. I didn't win my first year because the RD's thought I looked so good in my orange dress that it couldn't be a costume (I don't know, I guess they are getting old and their vision isn't so good anymore). But Medusa and Cleopatra brought home the big basket of goodies! This year I didn't really have a vision, but perusing the racks at Goodwill, I had a instant connection to a metallic purple and silver swirl shirt. Add three dollars worth of silver polyester from Jo-Ann crafts and a pair of $1.25 sock sleeves from Walmart and Space Girl was born! Woohoo - let's go rock 50 miles!

My Autumn Leaves history 2010-12


Ready for take off, er, race day, complete with matching purple Injinji socks (I've been upgraded by Injinji from coupon-only status since WS! Thanks, Injinji.)


Nothing says "Ready to Race" better than caked on lilac eye shadow and a little bedazzling!

We started at 7am with headlights for the first lap. 200 meters in I was leading the race with no one around. Umm, hello?? But Jeremy Tolman and Ian Little soon caught up and we ticked off two laps together, with Jeremy and I chatting it up and Ian interjecting some commentary on Comrades in his gentile British accent. We joked he could be mistaken for Ian Sharman! Ian was running the 50k so he picked up the pace after two laps, while Jeremy and I hung back. Jeremy told me he had posted on Facebook the day before that his goals were to 1) finish his first 50 miler and 2) not get beat by Pam Smith! Haha. So I guess it was no surprise when he pulled ahead in lap 4. We were already a good bit under the 7:35 pace needed to hit 6:19, so I let him go, but at the start/finish he hit the port-a-potties and I got ahead and managed to stay ahead for the loop as Jeremy was starting to struggle with some nagging injuries.

Ian won the 50k in 3:43, I came through next in 3:49, and Jeremy called it a day when he hit 50k, picking up 4th amongst the 50k finishers. I was a little jealous that my companions were done, but fortunately, I had an awesome running buddy who had agreed to do his long marathon training run as my pacer. I like road running, and I don't want to say it is boring (especially after Killian got lambasted) but after 5 loops of the same thing, let's just say it's nice to have a diversion. So thank you, Grant, for keeping me company. Besides accompanying me, Grant's main assignment was to be "my voice". It's nice to see so many people on course and I really want to give out encouragement, like they were giving to me, but late in the race it is just hard to find the energy, but Grant was awesome giving everybody props. He's such a social guy!


The end of loop 6 was where that cement-in-the-legs feeling started to set in and I stole another F phrase from Amy Rusieki: "Finish this F*cker!" and so we did without the pace slipping too much. 50 miles in 6:11:40, first overall and breaking the course record by 19 minutes (previously held by some lame chick from Salem, OR)! And more importantly, costume contest victory! (which is really all my kids care about since that means a basket of candy for them).

Splits (6.25M):
1- 46:48
2- 45:57
3- 45:48
4- 45:53
5- 45:52 (marathon 3:12; 50k = 3:49)
6- 47:05
7- 47:27 (includes my only stop (~15-20 sec) to drink a 6 oz can of Sunkist before my final loop)
8- 45:52

My kids were pretty happy with the prize basket. Liam said, "Mom can you do this race again next year and win the costume prize?" I told him I had already done this race four times and maybe I should do something else next year. And he fired back,"Well, how many times have you done Western States?" Touche, little man. Good point. :)

The real reason I run this race!

I celebrated with a hot bath, a bag of candy corn and a Jello No-bake cheesecake - because even low carb eating needs a day off sometimes! And being a doctor does not put me above enjoying white trash desserts!

Prize basket goodies that I shared with my own two little boogers.

I am very happy with my race and the way I am running right now, but I am bummed that I wasn't at the 100km World Championships instead of Autumn Leaves on Saturday. One of my New Year's resolutions was to help team USA repeat as gold medalists, but we didn't get the chance. Even though Autumn Leaves has been wheeled and GPS measured multiple times, it is not certified, so I still have to qualify for the 2014 US team. It is in the plan for 2014 (probably Mad City). But the current focus is still on Desert Solstice. This weekend proved I am fit and fast, but now I have to practice getting slow! As silly as this sounds, I had a hard time with this last year and I need to do better in training at hitting paces that are a minute per mile slower than my typical run pace. I know I need that kind of discipline and comfort with that speed in order to be able to keep moving for 24 hours. On the bright side, I can't move anything but SLOW today. :)

Happy Halloween!

The Four F's of Poor Running

As I was finishing up my fellowship and beginning my job hunt, my mentor told me that when evaluating an employment opportunity, one must consider the four F’s. As it applied to the job market, these stood for: Fame, Fortune, Fun, and Flexibility, with fame not really referring to actual fame, but more the prestige of the position, respect from peers, ability to help you move up, etc.

Along these lines I have come up with the four F’s of poor running: things to consider if your running is not going the way you feel it should be. They are: Fitness, Fatigue, Function and Frazzled.

Fitness- I think as athletes, when things aren’t going well, fitness is the first thing we question. Yet in my experience, this is rarely the cause of a stretch of poor running. I routinely take two weeks off or very easy after big races with no major impact on my overall fitness. Missing a workout or two (or even a week or two) is unlikely to have a major impact on your fitness. I think fitness may impact your hard workout times by a few seconds per interval or mile, but if you aren’t feeling good on your easy runs and you have been pretty consistent with your training, it is likely not fitness. However, if you are new to running, are running significantly harder/longer, or have taken an extended time off, a lack of fitness may be leaving you a little low on your runs.

Fatigue- I think this is a major cause of feeling “blah” while running, especially amongst ultrarunners, particularly because ultrarunners aren’t good at taking recovery. Heck, we celebrate runners who pack races close together with little recovery! Think of revered feats like the Western States/Badwater Double or the Grand Slam. We hold these types of runners as exemplary “Badass” individuals (indeed they are!), but it does propagate the notion that a quick turn-around is not only possible, but something we should strive for if we want to be “badass”, too. I am not necessarily chasing a “badass” image, but rather I am excited by so many events and I definitely suffer from a bad case of FOMO, which can cause me to pack races closer together than would be advisable. Fortunately, the cure for this is straightforward: take time off. But for neurotic ultrarunners with training logs to fill in, this is often easier said than done! (trust me, I know!).

Function- If you feel “off” when you run, maybe you are having functional issues, either injury or a biomechanical issue that needs to be tweaked (I am sure that is the official PT term!). This is especially true if you are having pain, your gait feels sloppy or unnatural, or your issues seem to be asymmetric, with one side bothering you more than the other. My primary strategy for dealing with injury is ignore it and keep running. ;) That is certainly NOT what I recommend, though! Figure out what is wrong, which may include internet searching or a trip to your favorite diagnostician, and then come up with a plan to address the issue. On the occasions when I can't keep ignoring an injury, I am always surprised by how much just a few days of focused therapy will improve the situation.

Frazzled - Life happens and sometimes it happens even when you are supposed to be doing peak mileage. Don't discount how much the non-running stressors in your life can impact your training. A friend of mine is in the process of moving and remodeling a new house and she said was surprised how much those things were impacting her training. But mental stress takes a toll on your body and leaves you with less energy to put toward physical endeavors. Other things may make it harder for you to find time for training, such as a tough work schedule or children's schedules. And of course, illness can sap your energy and leave you feeling drained when it comes to running. It is important to accept these life stressors and modify training as necessary to accommodate for these events.

Nine days ago, I found myself contemplating something along the lines of the Four F's above, as I struggled through a Saturday morning workout. My friend Mike was doing a 13 mile marathon pace run (6:45) and I agreed to tag along for 8 as part of my planned 22 miler. I met Mike after 7 miles and joined him for part of his workout. 6.5 miles into the tempo portion, I was dying! I managed to finish my 8 (and marveled at Mike for doing all 13) but I felt like I had nothing left to complete my planned run. I walk/jogged 2 miles back to the car and was done at 17 miles. My first thought, of course, was "Oh my god, I am not in shape for marathon pace. I have gotten too slow from running ultras." Fortunately, I was able to do a bit of a reality check: I had a 6 minute PR at the Condor 25k the weekend before, so I knew my fitness was good. But, oh yeah, I had pushed myself hard at that race, not to mention my workout with Mike was only four weeks after Run Rabbit Run - maybe a couple of tiny reasons I was still feeling fatigued. Plus, the workout was the end of my call week - something that leaves me frazzled. 

The week following the bad workout there were two more issues to compound the problem. First, last Tuesday we had another "Life Event", or more specifically, a lice event! Liam's itchy head turned out to be a critter infestation and Megan had a rare bug, too. YUCK! But beyond the yuck, lice is a huge pain in the ass (or should I say neck??). We spent hours shampooing, cleaning, laundering and putting toys and blankies through the dryer on high heat. By the end of the night, we were worked! 

Nothing out of the ordinary here. Just Mac shaving my naked son's bug infested head on our front porch at 9pm.

Then Thursday I fell on a very easy five mile run. Even though the pace was easy, the impact was not and I banged my knee up good. Friday, it was completely swollen adding an improper function to my list of F's. And so last weekend, I did not run a single step despite a training plan that called for 40 miles in those three days. And this week I felt great! I feel like all my "F's" are back in line, and to that I say "F-yeah!" :)

I am hoping this pans out well for a good race this weekend. I am headed to the nearby Autumn Leaves 50 miler. While this race is primarily for training and having fun (I'll be in a costume again), I am hoping for a fast time, especially since the weather should be ideal instead of the usual dreadful rain. While the race doesn't boast of a highly competitive field, I often think the clock is the stiffest competition a runner can have. Last time, I'd say it got the best of me as I ran 6:30:44 to my goal of sub-6:30! I am hoping the good weather and well rested legs are worth at least 45 seconds!

Ghost Hunting and Condors

Wednesday night, the our family took a Haunted History walking tour of downtown Salem. With the Groupon it was six dollars a person and it came with a free cupcake and drink. I figured it was an easy way to entertain the kids for a couple hours, or at least give them a supervised way to burn off their sugar fix in downtown Salem. The tour was really more of a description of Salem's sordid past including the underground city and the masonic influences. It was really quite interesting. Maybe it got a little hoaky when we got to "communicate with the spirits" but the tour was actually a lot of fun. My ghost "told" me that she was female, that Liam would lose his second tooth this month, but not this week, that I would live past 90, that Liam would outlive us all and that I would break the 200km American record (yes, I asked!). But I didn't ask how this weekend's Condor 25k would turn out. I wish I had because even at mile 13, I still had no idea and if I had put my money down at that point, I would have been wrong!

Megan making contact. Are you scared, yet?

The Condor 25k is in its second year of tribute to Dave "Condor" Bateham, a guy that really encouraged me and gave me lots of advice when I was first getting started in the crazy sport of ultra-running. As much as I wanted to honor his memory, I would have been happy helping on the sidelines of this one as there is still some fatigue in the legs from Run Rabbit Run. But last year's victory came with a comp entry for this year and I am a sucker for free things. And so, I found myself on the starting line feeling completely blah. A friend pointed out a young girl on the front of the line doing strides before the race and noted, "She looks serious."

Well, she was serious and she took off fast. She was strong up the first hill and was even stronger on the single track downhill. At the first aid station (6.5M), Meghan and Dennis told me she was 40 seconds up. The next three miles were gradual uphill logging road- my strength- so that right as we were about to hit the turn to go back down, I came up on her shoulder. She took one look at me and found a new gear! And when we jumped back onto single track she opened up a gap. There were a couple more miles of dirt road and I was closing but I couldn't close the gap. Up Powder House, I could tell she was hurting on the climb, but so was I! Then on the short little bit of trail to the third AS, she looked great. I was impressed with her fight and figured it was game over for me, even though I was only 10 seconds back because it was all downhill to the finish.

Fortunately (or not) for me, I have this inner race gremlin that comes out when I have a number pinned on and I am in the hunt. Also fortunate for me, my competitor was a 5k/10k specialist and the distance was starting to take it's toll. Yes, it was downhill to the finish, but it was basically all road, so I was comfortable. Well, comfortable isn't the right word. I was working hard enough to make audible sighs with each breath, but I wasn't being a downhill chicken like I usually am on steep downhill trail. I passed her shortly after the aid station kicked in for the win in time of 1:55:56, a huge improvement over last year's 2:02:02. It's good to know there is still some good fitness there as I start ramping up training for Desert Solstice. But mostly, I am just happy that I won't have to put up with another year of RD Tia telling me how lame I am for not breaking 2 hours on her course! ;)

With all that, I am pretty motivated to get back into training (and eating right after a day of gluttony today!). However, I haven't been really motivated for my Halloween costume this year. Some of this week's "training" time will have to involve hitting up Goodwill to find something that speaks to me (besides the ghosts of Salem). Any good suggestions??