Marathon Archives ~ Page 2 of 2 ~ TRAILMOMMA

September 13, 2015September 14, 2015

HEADLANDS MARATHON RACE REPORT

At the beginning of August I had gone on a trail run with some trail friends. One of them mentioned that the Headlands Hundred race had other distances besides the hundred miler. In fact, they have a 75 mile race, a 50 mile race AND a marathon. My friend was doing the marathon. It got my brain thinking (which is trouble, I know).

Even though I have been road training lately, I really miss the trails from time to time. Trails just provide a sense of adventure, some recovery for your body and ultimately, depending on the distances (and how you run them), are way easier.

So when I got home I looked up the race and started planning. I texted Stonegate to see if she was game for this. She had been mentioning that she wanted to get something on calendar recently so why not?

Turns out she was and the rest was history. For the month of August, I continued on my road CIM training way, barely stepping foot on the trails for more than a few miles. I knew from the get-go this marathon would be just a fun adventure on the trails for me. As it turns out, Stonegate didn’t do much training either! HA!

I am used to spontaneously running marathons on a whim with little to no training. She is not. She got her first dose of it this weekend and rocked it.

Stonegate and I arriving at the start – when the sun was up

In typical Trailmomma and Stonegate style, we worried about the parking situation at the start. So, we were pretty much like the third car in the lot when we arrived at 5:45 am in the pitch blackness. We sat and waited a bit before heading down to get our race bibs and check in.

The start/finish area was insane. It was literally just steps from the ocean.

Start/Finish and drop bag area during pre race talks

AND there's the ocean... — AND there’s the ocean…

I got to see so many people I knew at the start. I had a few friends doing the 50 mile distance and throughout the course we would pass each other and give support.

The ultra distances started 5 minutes ahead of us and we also had to run an extra 1.2 miles around the parking area before hitting the trails to make up some distance. It was fun cheering on the ultra peeps as they took off.

Stonegate noticed her fashionable outfit as we were waiting... — Stonegate noticed her fashionable outfit as we were waiting…

As we were standing there, Stonegate noticed that her outfit some what clashed in terms of patterns and colors. haha I thought she looked great.

Finally we were off and running. Like I said above, we had to run a little ways up the road/path and then turn around before hitting the trail and then … it was instant climbing.

900 feet straight up. Some people ran more people hiked. We did a combination of both and then eventually settled into a good hike.

That's the trail we hiked/ran but this isn't the top yet... — That’s the trail we hiked/ran but this isn’t the top yet…

The views were amazing. I kept pulling out my phone to take photos realizing we were not even at the top of the first mountain yet.

Time for some stairs! There always stairs on these bay area trails!

Nothing but up for a long way.... — Nothing but up for a long long way…can you see the people up above?.

Finally we made it to the top and we weren’t the only ones in awe stopping to take photos.

We're above the fog — We’re above the fog

From the beginning, Stonegate and I decided this race was all about adventure and fun. We planned to stick together and enjoy the day.

You can see the trails below we took to get here. From this point, the trail was runnable for a while – as in down hill

Literally the course went up and down up and down. Very little flat sections.

Stonegate and I would just and run and talk and talk. At one point I met a girl named Paulette who is from my Oiselle racing team! It was so nice to meet her and chat for a bit. She’s running her first 50k in October.

11b — Look at all the trails down there!

At one point I realized we were not nearly as far into the race as I had thought and that I probably should start fueling and hydrating a little better. I was thoroughly engaged in the views that I was neglecting what I needed to do. Even though we weren’t “racing” it is important with all these intense climbs, to continue fueling well.

I took a page from Pigeon‘s playbook and brought some of the Peanut’s apple sauces from Costco with me. However, I threw them into the freezer the night before and put them in my pack frozen.

Get these at Costco - then freeze — Get these at Costco – then freeze

I pulled one out afraid it would be warm and it wasn’t! It was fully defrosted but still amazingly cold. I downed one instantly and I have to say, I REALLY liked this. A lot. Normally this kind of texture is not my thing … but these were great. They have 45 calories, about 8 grams of sugar and 12 grams of carbs. They are kind of like Gu (with about half the calories so keep that in mind) but they offer a great rush of sugar before you have to begin any kind of climb. They are also very easy on the stomach.

Happy Trailmomma – you can see my apple sauce in my pocket haha

After running up and around this crazy foggy mountain with amazing views of the ocean below … we entered what we called the rain forest!

It was actually dripping some drops on us at times. We couldn’t help but squeal at the insanity of how beautiful this course was.

But after a few miles in the “forest” you are quickly dumped back out onto a trail with crazy views again.
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And of course more climbing…

Just keep running up that hill into the fog and the unknown!

There were times when we felt like we were on the edge of a cliff. Like above, there is nothing to the right of that trail except down down down.

I must mention that the wind on the these precarious trails was definitely starting to pick up. Poor Stonegate’s nose started to run from time to time … I just happened to take a selfie and accidentally caught her in full blow … it was pretty hilarious.

And when I say the wind picked up … I am talking about 30 mph winds while we were trying to run on this cliff that was open on both sides! In a few spots there was little guide rope that I think was there to prevent people from literally blowing off the mountain.

Hard to tell but Stonegate is doing her best to standstill so that I could get a photo to show how crazy the wind was at times. She had to remove her visor and carry it.

Finally we get dumped onto some pavement right in the middle of a crazy tourist attraction. I am talking hundreds of people standing there watching you come out of this trail wearing nothing but a tank top and shorts while they are bundled head to toe because they are about to go across the Golden Gate Bridge.

We have to run down this long long LONG road that basically has us run UNDER the Golden Gate Bridge. YES! The freaking Golden Gate!? It was crazy.

I kept taking a bunch of photos and Stonegate kept telling me that there would be better views … so down we ran. There was an aid-station at the bottom, this would be mile 19 of the race.

Stonegate seemed pretty anxious to get to the aid-station. She wanted to get some fuel in her fast. I just kept telling people, “LOOK! Look at that view!!” 🙂 I was beside myself. I kept thinking Vans would absolutely love this and I also kept thinking, “Um, the further we go down means the harder the up later.”

We passed Oiselle teammate Erin here as well. She was out crewing her boyfriend Seth. Erin is also an insanely talented runner. She’s also incredibly sweet. Even though she was out crewing for Seth, we got to see her at every aid-station and it really gave us a boost of energy. We’d stop and chat with her for a bit at every aid-station, clearly not rushing through the race. 🙂 Seth and I used to work together many years ago (pre-Squeaker) and he now owns The Ranch Athletics in Loomis. This was his first 50 and he was battling some hurdles but looked great every time I saw him. Another bonus to this course is that I got to see him and give him a high-five a few times throughout the race. He looked good each time!

Stonegate and I got our fill at this aid-station and then made the grueling hike back under the bridge and back up to the trail head. It didn’t seem to take that long to get back up as it had to get down to the bottom.

Now, now we were on our way home. 7 miles to go until the finish! But first we had to go back through that crazy windy section again.

Another bonus in this race is that the 50 milers when they go out on their second loop of the same course, they do it in reverse, so we get to see all the front runners coming in. Everyone was so supportive and nice. We only had 7 miles to go and they were on mile 32 out of 50 (I think I did that math right … haha).

Back through the crazy rain forrest! — Back through the crazy rain forest!

The return, once you go back up a few of the big hills, is mostly downhill to the finish.

Stonegate and I just ran and ran and ran. All the runners coming in the opposite way would cheer for us and us for them. We’d pass quite a few runners too and we’d always give them some encouragement. I was feeling good and excited to get to the finish but I still felt strong, which was a great feeling to have.

The last mile is along the coastline. It is flat and on a nice little trail with the ocean to our left and a road to our right. Along this route we saw Seth heading out on his second loop and he looked great and was smiling. Erin was running with him too.

The ending was sort of anti-climatic though, no big hoopla going on. No one really announcing your name which is fine, because really, there were 3 other races still going on.

We crossed the finish line and received all our awesome schwag and our medal. We grabbed a few things to eat, said hello to a few people. Chatted with Erin again thanking her and her friend Monica profusely for being such an unexpected shining light on our day.

We did it! We finished! By the ocean no less!

Overall it was a great day. I couldn’t ask for anything better. I felt great, I fueled well. I really enjoyed the frozen apple sauce packets. The company with Stonegate was fantastic. We laughed, we joked and we had a great time.

I also got to meet and see a few of my new Oiselle Volee team mates!

Me, Paulette and Erin Oiselle Volee! — Me, Paulette and Erin – Oiselle Volee!

After the race, Stonegate and I returned to Mill Valley’s house where we were spoiled with a shower and a nice hot lunch. We are truly lucky to have Mill Valley be so gracious as to let us crash at her house the night before the race and to let us shower before our long drive home.

When I got home, I celebrated with an old marathon tradition of mine … champagne!

This race was my 10th marathon. I had not planned for it to be that way. CIM in December was supposed to be my big day (and it still will be I hope) but it was nice to have my 10th be on these amazing trails.

It was a memorable day for sure. I won’t forget my 10th marathon now. Fun, adventure, laughter and views that could blow the mind?! What more could a girl ask for?

Thanks Stonegate for joining me! This may be one of those races we run again … it was that fun. 🙂

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

July 2, 2015July 26, 2019

PACIFIC CREST MARATHON RACE REPORT (VACATION IN OREGON)

Have you ever said something along the lines of, “If I say I want to do this next time, remind me that I said I would never do it again.” Those were the thoughts that were going through my head the first few miles of the Pacific Crest Marathon last Saturday.

I ran this same marathon in 2012. You can read that race report here. I even re-read my race report before we left on vacation and recalled that it was a tough race mentally because it is two loops of a half-marathon course. You basically run right past the finish line and back out for another 13.1 miles. Also, because this race is in Oregon, specifically Sunriver, Oregon, one has no idea what the weather will be like. In 2012 when I ran the full marathon, it was 40 degrees at the start and it hailed. In 2010 when I ran the half, it was warm but not miserable.

This year the weather would be a force to be reckoned with and the nemesis in every runner’s side. I knew this when we left California as the temps were slowly rising towards 100 degrees. The weather in Sunriver was predicted to be in the high 90s or low 100s.

We stopped in Ashland, Oregon on Thursday. I have always wanted to visit Ashland as I hear it is an ultra runner’s dream. We stopped at Hal Koerner’s store, Rogue Valley Runners and did a little shopping and photo op’ing.

We also stopped and had dinner at Standing Stone Brewing Company, a recommendation from Hal himself (thank you social media) and I saw Jenn Shelton sitting at the bar having a beer.

We spent the night in Medford (interesting) and then drove to Sunriver on Friday morning. In the past, I felt that if I didn’t have enough time to acclimate to the elevation, then it was better to get there and just run the race right away. Sunriver is at 4200 ft above sea level. That’s a significant difference compared to my usual 768 ft.

We were vacationing with Be-Well-Run and her family again. In years past, we all participated in some kind of event since Sunriver hosts the Pacific Crest Sports Weekend Festival. This year however, only Vans and I had signed up for events (the marathon for myself and the 10k for Vans). Be-Well-Run signed up for the 10k at packet pick-up which was a nice surprise.

Walking around the expo I wasn’t really nervous. I kept telling Vans that I was more disappointed because I really wanted to do well and try and break my previous time at this race, but based on the way I was feeling … I just knew it wasn’t in the cards. I was tired, my legs were toast and I had a bunch of internal things going on that proved to be just really bad timing on my body’s part. Finishing became my goal. Or perhaps, this is just a “training run” for my pacing duties at Tahoe Rim Trail in two weeks? That is what I kept telling myself anyway.

Race morning I woke up and got myself dressed. It was warm already. Luckily, in preparation I made sure to bring a bandanna with me. This bandanna has saved me at many an ultra so I figured I would carry it with me (more on this later).

I had a Picky Bar breakfast and then sat with my legs up a wall trying to move the circulation around a bit. My legs just felt stiff and tired and sluggish. Riding in a car for hours on end will do that I suppose. I tried to just relax. I tried foam rolling too. My right hamstring has been bugging me for a while. I can’t quite pinpoint what triggers it or what caused it, but I know when I think about it, it tightens up.

Soon it was time to head to the start. The thing about this marathon is that even though it is a Boston qualifying race, there is never that many people running it (in fact, I just looked, there were 73 people who ran). I think I finally understand why now.

The race started on time and we were off and running. It goes up hill at first and we were to expect aid-stations and porta potties every mile (not necessarily at each mile marker). I decided not to carry any water with me based on there being water so frequently.

Within the first few miles I just knew my legs were not working. They didn’t seem connected to my body at all. My pace was hovering around 8:50 which was surprising to me since I felt like I was a slug on the sidewalk.

After I passed mile 2 I saw some friendly faces. I put on my best smile and waved.

I just assumed that I would slowly begin to bounce back to normal and eventually get into a groove. Somewhere around mile 6 or 7 though, my paced started slowing and the heat started coming on strong. My 8:50s started hovering around 9 and then 9:10 … and then 9:15.

The last time I ran this, I only allowed myself walking breaks on the second loop and only when I was going through an aid-station. This year, the walking started early. “Oh, is that an aid-station I see way up there? Okay, that means I can walk now.”

That’s kinda how it went for a while. Part of the course goes past the Sunriver Airport where there is absolutely positively zero shade cover. Not that there was a ton on the other parts of the course but at least there we had some cloud cover … the airport seemed to make the clouds disappear.

The aid-stations were great. They had water and I was enjoying the mental break of knowing they were coming every mile. There was a bit of a mind game for a while as they were not at the mile markers but in-between.

Somewhere around mile 9 or so I started thinking, “There is no way in hell I am going to finish this race. Forget this. If the family is at the half-way point, I am stopping. Who cares if my first ever DNF is on a road marathon!? This is insane!”

Mile 10: “You can’t quit. You can’t! You’ve run 8 other marathons before this. You’ve run ultras for goodness sake! How can you possibly quit!?”

Mile 11: “Yup, you can quit. This is the pits. Can you feel this heat? It has to be 100 degrees outside!” (it was 97).

Mile 12: “Ugh, more rolling hills? What the hell? Why? This is ridiculous. Look! Those people are walking. You can walk too. Almost to the half way point. Almost to the point where you are going to quit!”

Mile 13: “Why the heck do they have to add a .1 to a freaking half marathon?! Why can’t it just stop at 13?! Okay, there is the finish shoot, where is my family?”

Course marshal: “Half marathoner’s go right, marathoner’s go left for your second loop!”

Me (in my head): “But, but …. I don’t WANT to do a second loop! Where are they? Where is my family? They have to be here. Sure they didn’t say they would be here but they have to know I am dying right?”

Off I go … on my second loop. They had no water at the finish area. The last water station was at mile 12. The next one wouldn’t be until almost mile 15 or 16 … in 97 degrees and in my completely fragile emotional state, that seemed like 115 miles to me. I think I started hallucinating.
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I had been running with a salt tab in my hand since mile 13. All I wanted was a cup of water so that I could take my salt tab. I saw my family ahead of me. I started walking and blabbering about “no water, where is the water?” and “if you were at the half way point, I’d be done. I can’t do this. This is so hard.” I stole my 7 year old’s water bottle and I took my salt tab.

Be-Well-Run rode her bike up ahead to the aid-station and I think informed them that I was coming and desperately needed water. A nice volunteer ran up to me, “Are you Pam?” Me: “Yes, I am.” Nice volunteer: “Okay, you can do this, you can make this. Here is some water. Is this your first marathon?” Me (oh dear lord, it looks like I am dying doing my first marathon): “Um, no, more like my 9th.”

Vans told me how hot it was (gee, I hadn’t noticed) and informed me that I was moving pretty slow (ya think?). He said, “See you at the finish?” and I think I said, “Sure, but we’re looking at a 5 hour marathon here. I see a lot of walking in my future.” He assured me that I only had about 6 miles to go. I don’t know if he was trying to mess with my math challenged dehydrated brain or what, but I kind of believed him until I got a little further and realized I had like 10 more miles, not 6. Thanks honey. 🙂

I am not sure when, but they had run out of ICE on the course so all the water we had to drink was WARM. Ugh. Around mile 10 however, they had buckets of cold water (guess that is where all the ice went) and I started using my bandanna. I’d soak it in a nice ice-cold bucket and then wipe my face and wrap it around my neck. My saving grace. That bandanna makes the world a better place.

The rest of the course was a ghost town. There were one or two guys who I had been playing leap-frog with. I had to use a porta potty twice so they’d get ahead of me but I’d eventually catch up and pass. At about mile 18, I started feeling way better.

When I reached the airport (mile 20) there was a kid manning the aid-station. I asked where his water bucket went and he said it was gone but that he had ice. ICE? What?! I had him fill my bandanna (sorry other runners). I carried that bandanna full of ice the rest of the race cooling my neck and face.

Where is she? This is taking a really long time Dad.

I wasn’t running 100% of the time, but I was running more than I had before. I had passed those two guys for good and a girl (who didn’t enjoy that). When I saw the 21 mile marker, I knew I could finish. Walk run walk run. Run run run run. Walk. Run.

Here I come! Told ya it was a ghost town of a race.

When I saw the finish shoot, I tried so hard to gather up enough energy to just keep running. I saw and heard my family cheering my name. That gave me a nice boost.

Smile and it doesn't hurt right? — Smile and it doesn’t hurt right?

In my head I am thinking "oh thank goodness!" — In my head I am thinking “oh thank goodness!”

My girls joining me for the final few steps.

When I crossed that finish line I was filled with a bunch of emotions. There was a lot of “Oh thank goodness you are done,” but there was also the, “Holy crap, you did it!? You stuck it out!”

This is me telling Be-Well-Run "holy crap that was hot" — This is me telling Be-Well-Run “holy crap that was hot”

This is, "NEVER LET ME DO THIS RACE AGAIN!" — This is, “NEVER LET ME DO THIS RACE AGAIN!”

I was stoked that I had finished, shocked at my terrible time (4 hrs 40 minutes) and desperately searching for one thing ….

Post race massage by this guy … he was blown away by my right hamstring. I was too to be honest. It didn’t feel great but after he dug his elbow in it a few million times, it felt a lot better.

Upon completion of your race (any races in Sunriver), you get a free Deschutes Beer. Of course, being gluten free, I cannot drink beer but Vans was not about to let this opportunity pass so he rushed me over to the Bier Garten.

We hung around the race for a little bit but the kids were toast. My long marathon had taken up most of the day and everyone wanted to get moving on our vacation. So we left.

So bored that balancing rocks on her head was more exciting than waiting for me.

Overall, I wasn’t too sore from the race. My quads were pretty tight the following day but I didn’t stretch nor did I foam roll or anything (I know, I know, bad!).

In the end, I am proud of myself for sticking it out and not quitting. On the other hand, this is fueling me towards some serious marathon training for CIM in December. I am due. I want to get back to my sub 4 hour marathon time.

I say it all the time, but for me, road running is harder than trail running. They are both very different in so many ways. I am faster on the road but the endurance for running continuously isn’t there. I’ve been so mentally trained to be conservative on the trail because usually, you are out there for the long haul. You have fuel. You have aid-stations that are like a giant smorgasbord of everything you can imagine. When I passed my first aid-station in Sunriver my heart sank a little bit. Water?! Just water?? 🙂

I know that no matter what, I can manage the distance but I am getting tired of just “managing” … I want to do better. So, we shall see. I have some pacing duties to attend to in a few weeks and then, who knows, maybe I will start migrating to the pavement again. CIM training IS just right around the corner. 😉

Stay tuned for another post. I have a million photos and a few more stories to share about our vacation that involve more running but since this post is already almost as long as my last marathon time (har har), I figure I should end it here. 🙂

Happy ~~Pavement~~ Trails!

~Trailmomma

May 2, 2014April 21, 2015

MINERS REVENGE TRAIL MARATHON RACE REPORT

Have you ever had a race on your calendar that you absolutely dreaded? I never have until Sunday, April 27th. I was signed up to do the Miners Revenge Trail Marathon and when I signed up I was super stoked to run this race mainly because the Race Director is my old coach and friend, Coach Nikon. But life seemed to hijack the month of April on me and I felt like I was driving a car that I had no control over on a busy highway. Going in the wrong direction.

It started with the American River 50 Mile race, quickly followed by a trip to Whistler Canada for six days to visit with Be-Well-Run and her family. When we arrived home from Canada I jumped into ‘hostess’ mode as Jersey Dad was in town for a visit to celebrate the Peanut’s 6th birthday and attend her party (along with the other 49 guests who had RSVP’d). You could say, I had my hands full … just a touch.

The birthday party was on Saturday and Miners Revenge was on Sunday. When I came home from the party on Saturday I was beat. I might have fallen asleep standing up at one point I can’t be sure. My legs felt like heavy weights and my whole body just sighed with exhaustion. The last thing I wanted to do was pack my race vest with fuel, gather my post race clothes and prepare my mind for 26.2 miles on the trails. Very hilly trails mind you.

So instead, the Trailmomma family went to Whole Foods for dinner and to listen to a friend’s husband play guitar and singÂ (he is awesome, so if you are local check him out here).Â Um, yea, probably not the wisest of choices to go to the Bier Garten but hey, I was a full of poor decisions leading up to the race, why stop now? I behaved myself though and ate and drank well.

When we arrived home from Whole FoodsÂ we had to get the kids to bed and I hopped into bed myself, after 8 pm. I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned a lot and got up a few times. I just had a lot on my mind, mostly the race and also the day’s events.

When my alarm went off I was already awake. I just didn’t have a great night of sleep and my whole body just felt tired. Great. If that doesn’t send the mind into a negative tail spin I don’t know what will.

Luckily my body cooperated most of the morning as I got things organized. Pigeon and Missouri were picking me up at 5:30 which was a lot later than they usually pick me up for races so I had no excuses for being late. They surprised me by arriving a bit early but soon we were on our way driving the long windy road to Cool.

They humor between these two will make anyone smile so it was nice to ride to the race with some laughter. When we arrived, Coach Nikon gave us a clue as to where to park so we were not stuck on the Haul Road (the only location of parking for the race).

We parked and chilled. We did our usual pre-race routine of eating what we normally eat, using the porta potties and justÂ relaxing ourÂ bodies and mindsÂ in the car. Â I also had to pick up my race packet. Instead of a t-shirt, the race schwag was a duffel bag! Sa-weet!!! I have a million raceÂ shirts that I don’t wear but a bag?! Awesome!

On one of our trips to the bathroom, Coach Nikon stopped us. He told us that the course was tough, as in REALLY tough. A few have mentioned that it may be TOO tough actually with some really gnarly climbs on both loops. I have to say, this didn’t ease my already less than stellar excitement for the race but I do appreciate his honesty. 🙂

Soon it was time to get dressed and head to the start line. It was chilly but not too bad. The forecast called for some clouds and rain but I knew that once I was running that I would get warm. Missouri was a true crew person and she took our warm up jackets from us just before we headed to the starting line.

I believe Coach Nikon said there were only about 144 people total for the event whichÂ consisted of aÂ half marathon, a full marathon and a marathon relay. 44 of those runners were doing the full marathon and there was a chance that some, if not most, might drop to the half once they came through the 13.1 mile check point.

The race itself was basically a figure 8 with the “middle” being the parking lotÂ Â (aka the mile 13 aid-station).

Before the race start, Coach Nikon had us all line upÂ as he gave us a little pep talk and some additional information about the course.

He told us about the massive amounts of poison oak, the fact that one of our aid-stations had moved to the bottom of a climb instead of the top (best thing ever!) and he wished us luck. When the horn (?) went off, we started running.

Pigeon has been steady in her training to date. Me? Not so much. The sky was an ominous gray color but luckily it wasn’t raining. On the first loop we had both the half marathoners and full marathoners all running together on some very tight single track trails. It definitely felt like a race.

Pigeon and I just ran. We had agreed prior to the race that this was a nice “training run” for her and a chance for me to pace her but as soon as we started, I knew this was going to be a challenge for me. My head and heart were just not in it.

Eventually the crowd thinned out a bit. Pigeon was bombing the down hills and I wasn’t too far behind. The ankle has improved tremendously since surgery so I feel better but the ground was muddy andÂ tacky and the rocks slippery which always makes me a bit nervous.

We were just running along the trails talking when we could, letting some of the half marathoner’s pass us when eventually Miss P and Poison Oak came up behind us and ran with us for a ways. It felt like a Saturday training run … almost. I couldn’t lose the feeling that I was running too slow for everyone behind me.

Soon we approached the first climb that seemed to go on for ever and ever! Pigeon took off, she was ahead of me to begin withÂ so I just put one foot in front of the other and kept moving.

When you reach the top of this VERY long climb, you have a turn around. So as you are climbing this monstrosity, you have runners coming down cheering for you and telling you that it isn’t much further to the top. Some were even honest enough to share that coming down was much easier than going up. I am not kidding when I say, this climb felt like it went on forever.

On the way down I lost Pigeon completely. She was on fire and I was battling the same IT band issues I had the second half of the American River 50 mile race. Of course this set my mood off even more since we were only on the first loop and I was battling knee pain on the downhills.

When we reached the aid-station, they knew that I was running with Pigeon and they told me that she hadÂ stopped to use the bathroom which was great because I needed to use it as well. It made me feel better to reconnect with her again. I was also happy to see that we really only had 3 more miles until we were back at the parking lot and were alreadyÂ half way done with the race.

I will not lie, I had entertained thoughts of dropping down to the half marathon a few timesÂ but I knew deep down that I could notÂ leave Pigeon nor did I want to. She kept believing in me and I was trying to dig deep and find my mojo to turn my race around.

I was wearing my heart rate monitor for the first half of the race. I dropped it at the half way point because it was starting to fall off but it was really informative having it on for the first loop. Looking back, my heart rate was steady, never spiking too much, not even on the climbs. It wasn’t low either.Â Â It just read my usual marathon pace heart rate which tells me that I was having a mental battle and not a physical one. If I was over trained or battling a cold, my heart rate would be super low or super high, not even and steady. It was clear, my issues were mental and I needed to overcome this and quick.

As we came through the half way pointÂ aid-station, Coach Nikon greeted us with his usual bellow and laugh. No matter how down you are, his smile and positivityÂ are infectious. Missouri was there as well. Pigeon was in and out of this aid-station not wanting to stop. She knew that if I had a moment to sit, that I might not continue. So less than 5 minutes for a quick fuel up and we started our second loop.

If I can say anything about this race, it would be that it totally felt like two DIFFERENT races when we started the second loop. I have run one marathon wherein I have had to do two loops (two of the same loops at that). I used the same jedi-mind trick here wherein basically I “ended” the first race andÂ just started a new race in my head.Â The Miners Revenge course is two different loops whichÂ helped meÂ create that feeling of aÂ “new race,” veryÂ easy. With the half marathoners finishing at the parking lot, we felt almost as if we were completely alone on the second loop. It felt like a true training run between Pigeon and myself.

We had crossed a few streams on the first loop but it was nothing compared to what we had to cross on the second loop. It was on the second loop that Pigeon and I had some fun.

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Before we really started diving into the stream crossings, someone thoughtfully placed this board across the trail so we wouldn’t get wet.

Pigeon and I approached the board like it was made of oil. We both cautiously crossed it and then stopped to laugh. Pigeon agreed to go back and recross so that I could get a photo.

I enjoyed this. We were running but we were no longer racing. We were having fun which is what running trails is all about for me. Occasionally Pigeon would pick out a runner ahead and tell me we need to get close to that person but for the most part, we ran and we laughed.

I was still battling my demons but they were subsiding slowly and surely. I decided to let go of eating the bars I normally eat and I started consuming gels. I don’t really enjoy them but I was just tired of the solid food. I haven’t used gels in a long while. I don’t carry them so I was stuck with the variety of gels provided on the race course as well as the potato chips they had as well. This wasn’t an ultra so the aid-stations had minimal food (rightly so) but they had gels and potato chips and boy did those salty potato chips taste great.

All the food aside, it was time to start swimming. Our first stream crossing was upon us and it was probably the deepest of the day.

The second loop had a lot more fire road type trails compared to single trackÂ and it just seemed easier. The views were gorgeous too. My mood was clearly starting to come around.

There was one major climb on the second loop, it was about 2.25 miles long but before we reached that we had to descend quite bit and my knees were not loving this section. Pigeon was flying and I felt like I had a peg leg.

When we got to the bottom of the hill it got really warm and sticky. We felt like we were in the middle of no where. It was kind of creepy. We saw a few runners ahead of us so we just kept moving.

Pigeon was great. She was doing everything she could to get me back to my happy Trailmomma self. I was coming around. The closer and closer we got to the finish, I felt better and better.

The last few miles of the race are gorgeous. The sky was darkening and it looked as if a Â storm was coming. I think that made the trails even more beautiful.

When we passed our last aid-station at mile 24 (ish), I felt great. I am not sure why, maybe it was the adrenaline kicking in that we only had about 2 miles to go, but I really started running. Soon we connected with the fire road, the same fire road that Way Too Cool finishes on and I knew we were on the home stretch.

Vans, the girls and Jersey Dad were all supposed to be at the finish. Â I was a bit worried because the race took us a lot longer than I had anticipated due to all the intense climbing.

When we entered the fire road straight-away before the finish, I could see two little blonde heads ringing a cow bell up ahead with a big birthday balloon and my heart just filled with joy and my eyes teared up just a bit. My girls were cheering for me!

As Pigeon and I rounded the curve, I high-fived my girls! I started sprinting and turned to find Pigeon “where are you?” I yelled. She was quick to be by my side as we sprinted full force to through the finish!

I could be wrong, but I would venture to guess that it was probably the best finish of the race. 🙂 We laughed, we hugged and we posed with our Race Director,Â Coach Nikon.

Pigeon won first in her age group. I took second. Coach Nikon wins for best trail marathon.

This was my 7th marathon and the first time Jersey Dad has ever seen me finish a super long tough race. I wish the weather had been a bit warmer for him but he gave me a tentative hug (poison oak) after the race. My little Squeaker hugged me and softly said, “Congratulations Mama.” 🙂

Everyone at the race loaded them up with candy and cookies. Lucky girls.

This was probably my toughest race to date. The course itself was tough but mentally, I have never felt so low in a race and I can definitely attribute my low energy to the busy schedule I had leading up to the race. Yet, it makes me kind of proud that I was able to power through to finish. I don’t think I would have done so if it had not been for Pigeon. She believed in me, more than I did in myself at times and that is what friends and runner partners are for really. Even Vans thought I would drop down and only do the half.

Nope. I rallied. Overall, I felt okay. My tummy didn’t have any issues. MyÂ fueling, although completely different than I have done in any other race, seemed okay and never really caused any problems. I do think the gray skies didn’t help my mood as I tend to like things a bit sunnier, but running this same race in warm weather would have been pretty harsh as there were many exposed sections of trail.

My knee pain is an issue. It would alternate between knees. The left would hurt on the down hills and the right would hurt on the uphills. I need to work on my IT bands I guess. I did take some Aleve during the second loop but honestly, I didn’t really touch the pain in my knees at all.

I plan to do a post about recovery soon. I have a lot to say about that actually but I also have a few other posts in the works so be on the look out.

I have another small race on my calendar and a few big training runs with Pigeon as she continues on her training schedule for TRT100. Miners Revenge was my last big “paid for” race of the season but I have a few training runs lined up that will make for some interesting posts.

What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger and I will say that this race proved that for me. I also think I under estimated this race quite a bit thinking that I had just ran 50 miles 3 weeks prior so running only 26.2 should have been easy… right? It might have been if I had treated my body properly with rest, proper nutrition and sleep. Live and learn and boy did I learn a lot. Thanks Pigeon for your support and thank youÂ Coach Nikon for one helluva race!

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

December 8, 2013April 21, 2015

CIM 2013 RACE REPORT

Three months and 3 days ago I had my ankle surgery and today I ran the California International Marathon.Â Â A few weeks ago, this was not my plan. A few weeks ago I Â thought about perhaps running 13 maybe 15 miles of it and then calling a friend to come and pick me up.

What changed? I am not really sure. I think when Pigeon and I ran our 14 miles in Auburn I felt a little stronger and more confident but at the same time, I had finished that run in some ankle discomfort. Then we went to Tahoe for Thanksgiving and I had some decent 5 mile runs on the road and figured, “Why the heck not? Why not start the race and just see what happens?”

When my friend and running buddy, TiggerT offered to get my packet and give me a ride to start she joked that doing all of that would require that I run all 26.2 miles with her as she had not had the best training either for the marathon.

The day before the race I had attended the Western States Lottery in Auburn and then I traveled up to Apple Hill with the family to find a Christmas Tree … in the snow.

It was a wonderfully cold and wet day that resulted in a larger than life tree that is currently taking over our living room.

I went to bed immediately after the girls and had probably one of the most restful sleeps I have had in a while. I woke up at 4 am feeling rested and excited about the race. I dressed and made my way to the kitchen to have my bowl of oatmeal and tiny cup of coffee.

Soon TiggerT arrived with a truck full of ~~trouble~~ friends. It was 24 degrees outside. That.is.cold for this area. Super cold. Luckily I found our goodwill pile in the garage at the last-minute and discovered an old pair of yoga pants that I was going to toss. I grabbed them and cut the ankles a bit so they’d fit over my running shoes.

I have to admit, TiggerT had the whole morning of CIM dialed down complete with multiple porta potty stops. Eventually we found ourselves near the starting line ready to go. The first mile was pretty uneventful. I never stripped any of my layers the entire race because the temps never seemed to rise very much.

Mile 3 is when insanity started. All the aid-stations were sheets of black ice. We’d approach them running only to slide about 3 feet trying eagerly not to fall. I saw quite a few men slip feet in the air landing flat on their backs. I heard that a few people fell and hit their heads. It was brutal. At one of the aid-stations I slipped while walking and holding my water cup only to have the water fly up and up and out of my cup and land on my head. The lady next to me laughed. I did too.

By mile 13 the bottoms of my feet hurt. It felt like I had no padding on the bottoms of my feet. It was not the feeling I wanted to have that early in the race but I couldn’t help but notice that my ankle was doing great.

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At one point we caught up with one of TiggerT’s friends and ran with her. She mentioned to me that the bottoms of her feet were killing her too and for some reason, that made feel a lot better. My shoes are pretty new so the only explanation is that perhaps it was lack of training (imagine that).

I took two Tylenol around mile 15 hoping that might help the pain. A lot of the in-between miles TiggerT and her friend would be chatting away to waving to people they knew. I kept fairly quiet trying hard not to go into a mental zone but I was doing an internal check to see if perhaps I might pull off and call a friend to pick me up.

The next thing I know we are at mile 20. The miles truly flew by and we walked through almost every water station (at my request) as it seemed to break up the monotony as well as keep us safe during the icy conditions. Mile 20 is a special mile. Not only is the aid-station near my old house but Vans and the girls had surprised me by being there!! It was the lift I needed. I don’t think I would have quit (who quits with 6 miles to go!?) but it made it much easier to continue having seen them.

The last six miles of CIM are brutal though. You start running through a neighborhood where the streets are numbered so of course mentally you are looking at the street numbers counting down. This year I was smart and never once looked at the street numbers, not even through the downtown stretch (okay, maybe I looked once and it was bad idea).

I believe around mile 24 I turned to TiggerT and said “Tell me a story. I don’t care what, but tell me a story.” TiggerT came to my rescue and told me a story about running in Boston. You have to love her. At one point she turned to me and said “are we stopping for water?” and I was like, “no! no more stopping” and we pretty much jammed to the finish.

Soon the turn towards the Capital was there and we cruised into the finish. Our unofficial time was 4:30. That is by far my worst marathon time but I had a good time and I finished feeling okay. I still feel okay. Of course I am a little bit stiff and tomorrow may be a whole different story but today is a good day. This was my 5th CIM and my 6th marathon total and while I don’t recommend running one without training, I am kind of on a high that I actually did it. The body is an amazing thing and often times you can find strength when you thought you had none and sometimes, that takes having an awesome friend believe in you.

Fueling Session

TiggerT, Me and friend

~Trailmomma

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