This past weekend both Stonegate and Burning Girl were out of town. I reached out to Pigeon early in the week and told her my plan for our run. She agreed and that was it. Easy peasy.
Glorious Day
I have a race this weekend so I didn’t want to push too hard but I did feel the need to test my legs a bit after last weekend’s not so stellar run. Pigeon was game but had one caveat …. we needed to start early, like in the dark early.
This past weekend was also the first of the Western States Training Runs for the season. I have done this run for as long as I can remember but the high price and mileage covered were two reasons that I did not sign up this year. This is also the year of Lance!
So 6:15 am Pigeon and I started off down the trail from the Overlook towards Cool. Luckily the sun was up fairly soon so we were not in the dark for too long.
My legs felt better than last weekend which was a welcomed feeling. I had made a deal with myself prior to the run that I wanted to attack K2 since K2 (and 3 other grueling hills) will be part of my run this coming weekend.
The top of Training Hill aka K2
I left Pigeon at the base and just power hiked myself up that hill. Hiking it solo really makes the hill seem that much longer but it also allows for more breathing room if you are not talking the whole way up. haha 🙂
Made it to the top!
Overall it was a glorious day. The temps were warming and fast. Most of the ground was fairly dry and not quite so muddy.
Here comes Pigeon up the hill!
Pigeon and I had a nice day. She’s getting stronger by the run and I was content to let my legs fly down the hills as usual but I was a bit more conservative this weekend as I didn’t want to hurt myself before Saturday.
Forresthill Bridge
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We reconnected at No Hands and ran together back towards the overlook. While on our way back we saw a KCRA news reporter at the top of Robie Point. She seemed to be waiting for us to run by so we just power hiked our way up the hill as she was doing her stand-up. ha! It was quite funny.
News Van on the trails!
We had a nice laugh about that on our miles back to the Overlook. The news crews were there because Lance Armstrong was running in the training run that day.
Overall my legs felt good. They were nice and tired. Just the perfect amount of tiredness actually. The rest of this week will have a sprinkling of runs but mostly, I want to rest up for Saturday. Once Saturday comes and goes, I gear up for a mini solo vacation so lots to come!
Beautiful
This past weekend was just the start of some amazing things to come. 🙂
Post run I ended up heading to The Purple Place, a local sort of “diner” joint here with the whole family and friends. That is no excuse for a poor recovery meal mind you.
Denise’s Veggie Salad ala Trailmomma
The Purple Place sells a great veggie salad. I ask for the portobello mushroom on the side (Vans loves it – I do not). I hold the cheese AND the dressing and I ask for salsa instead AND THEN I smuggle in my own veggie burger. 🙂 Yes, I am one of those people but this ended up being a killer meal post run.
After some errands, I was content to hang with my Peanut and read a book on the patio. Did I mention that Saturday was a glorious day?
This past weekend was the annual Way Too Cool training run put on by James Barstad. Every year he does this and every year I am amazed at how successful and awesome it is.
While I am not running Way Too Cool 50k this year, Stonegate is. She has some redemption with that 50k distance and I knew that she needed some time on trails in Cool.
Pigeon was down for it so we decided we would all head out to Cool on Saturday and start before the masses arrived. We opted for the longest distance (23 miles) but there is a 12 and 20 mile option to do as well.
When we pulled into the parking lot of the fire station it was still dark out but people were already arriving. We all hid within the warm confines of the car before nature called and we all had to hit the porta potty (separately, not together).
All of a sudden the sun was peeking out and we were ready to hit the trails. We ran with some new people on Saturday. It was myself, Stonegate, Pigeon, Stonegate’s friend Tri-Girl and MarCK. Everyone has had their share of time on these trails and/or has done some ultra running so we were a pretty solid bunch.
It was cold so the pace was pretty quick to start. I think we all wanted to warm up as much as possible. We followed the orange ribbons all the way to  highway 49 where Stonegate would be entering new-to-her territory.
The Quarry road isn’t anything too exciting and is actually probably the least pretty part of the whole Way Too Cool course but it is a good chance to get your head in the game, fuel your body and just relax from the quick down hill you just came from.
Quarry Road
On this section we all ran in various pairs talking as we ran. At one point Coach Nikon and friends came running by giving us a hard time. 🙂 I always enjoy running into him out on the trails.
Soon we were off Quarry Road and descending up onto some of the single track. For quite a while MarCK was leading our pack which was great. He was fun to run with too! So easy going and he set a good pace. I know the girls were probably worried we were slowing him down but he never let on or showed any signs of being frustrated with us (or our frequent stops).
The entire first portion of the run I couldn’t shake the sour stomach that I had no matter what I did or ate. It just kept hanging on keeping me on my toes and on the verge of worry that things may go south soon. I just kept up my nutrition the way I have been even if I didn’t feel like eating anything.
Soon we came to an aid-station and I ducked off to the side to handle some business. Not long after, Stonegate and Tri-Girl also had to take care of things. This made for a nice long(er) stop. There was nothing at the aid-station that I could eat so I just stuck to the cookies, plantains and water that I had with me.
When we started off again, Pigeon took the lead. At some point on the trail, she became lead runner, followed by me and then MarCK while Stonegate and Tri-Girl were chatting it up on the caboose.
Pigeon took off and I followed. MarCK was easily keeping pace behind me. This section of the trail is very runnable and it is super gorgeous. My camera duties have slacked since I cannot find a decent spot to put my phone that is easily reachable. I am still working on this and I need to figure it out soon as it is really beginning to hinder the quality of my blog! 🙂 I love taking photos – although I AM getting faster on the trails – so maybe there IS a correlation between the two? 🙂
The Crew from L to R: MarCK, Stonegate, Pigeon and Tri-Girl
MarCK and I had some good conversations about work and past jobs and our kids. Pigeon was feeling good I could tell because she picked up her pace considerably. She had started out slow (intentionally – that’s her style) and slowly built herself up. I was happy to see her confidence. She’s been struggling the last few runs trying to get her fitness back to where she knows she can kill it. She is almost there.
I just felt, great. My tummy was still not completely settled, but for the most part, I really started feeling well. Then we hit Goat Hill. Goat Hill is a pretty steep climb. It is just shy of a mile in distance but it consists of some solid switch backs. Some how I ended up taking the helm and I remember saying, “Oh man, I don’t want the lead!” and Pigeon just said, “You got this girl. One step at a time.” So, I started climbing. And talking. And climbing and talking. I was talking to MarCK, he was right behind me and I thought Pigeon and everyone else was right there as well but apparently, I had climbed pretty well. I had heard Tri-Girl say earlier that I looked like a Mountain-Goat when I was climbing … baaaaa! 🙂
I reached the top and I felt, well, amazing. In all the years I have climbed Goat Hill, that by far was my best attempt. I guess I am doing something right in my training these days.
At the top was an aid-station which was nice. Pigeon was hoping for some Coke but they only had water and gels. We knew there were only about 5 miles to the finish so we started running again.
Soon we heard Highway 49 which always gives me goosebumps because I know the end is near and I know that last mile is what lies ahead. The last mile of Way Too Cool is a bit of a grind. It is up hill, but the hill is this rock infested gully. Very hard to find proper footing at times and kind of hard to actually run IF you had the energy and leg strength TO run.
We crossed the highway and told Stonegate that this is where her last aid-station would be and to take advantage of it with SOMETHING before the climb. Then, MarCK took off like a bat out of hell! I swear, one second he was standing next to me and the next I saw his back side scaling up the rocky gulch! Bye bye MarCK! 🙂
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I climbed and power hiked as best I could. Then, something hit me inside. I did a scan and thought, “Hmmm, I feel good. Could I actually, for once in my life run this section?” Last year when I ran WTC (race report here) I wanted to punch Pigeon in the face on this section. She kept trying to motivate my butt up this hill and I kept resisting. Not today. I took a couple of steps … running and just kept going. I ran the entire way back at a pretty fast pace. I had energy to burn and power in my legs. I just went with it and I am glad that I did. It gave me some peace of mind that I CAN handle that hill to the finish.
When I reached the lot, MarCK had already cracked open a beer. That boy was thirsty for some beer I guess! 🙂 Way to go MarCK you crushed that final stretch too.
Soon all the girls came in and we high-fived and celebrated being done for the day. The parking lot started to fill up with hundreds of trail runners. I saw old friends, new friends and even met a few friends. It was glorious and the perfect end to a perfect day.
Helicopter
Sadly, one fellow runner did not have a stellar day out there. She fell and broke her foot/ankle and had to be airlifted out. I hope she recovers quickly (but it was kind of crazy watching that helicopter land right next to us!).
While I was out having a blast bombing the trails, Vans was home with the girls. He took them on a little walk/adventure to a nearby park by way of dirt trail.
Peanut & Squeaker
My recovery after Saturday has been pretty great. I feel wonderful. Whatever issues I had with my tummy seemed to resolve itself during the last 3 miles but I am still working on the source of the problem. I tend to go through these waves and so far, I’ve been able to handle it and manage it with only a few stops. It is all part of training though.
I’ve also been cooking in the kitchen. Playing around with recipes and stuff. I am always trying to find new and interesting things for my kids to try. Peanut is pretty good at trying new things, Squeaker however, is a bit more stubborn.
Little Miss StubbornSqueaker trying (and liking) my baked polenta fries.
As far as training goes, we have two more weeks of building mileage before I am in the home stretch of taper week. I am not looking forward to taper week as it always plays with your head that you should be doing more than you are. Yet, the body is smart and the body remembers. It actually needs this time to repair and refresh.
Happy February everyone! I know the east coast is getting bombed with snow while the west coast is drying out (ok, California is drying out). They are calling for a good amount of rain for this weekend so our run could become a massive mud fest. If it is, I’ll bring the old camera and be sure to take lots of photos! 🙂
That Dam(n) Race Half Marathon and 10k race celebrated its third anniversary this past Sunday and I was FINALLY able to participate! 2012 was its inaugural year and I was all signed up to do the half and Vans was signed up to do the 10k but unfortunately, Squeaker fell ill right before the race and I stayed home snuggling her all day long. Vans went on to run the 10k and had an amazing race.
The second year, the entire family volunteered to help at the race but Vans was super sick and it was quite cold so we didn’t stay long after the race. The girls and I had a blast though but I was due. I was due to finally run this race!
I registered pretty early for the race, determined to add it to my calendar. It did fall during a time in my training schedule where I was supposed to do a super long run but I tried to improvise. I reached out to my old Coach Nikon and to Pigeon to ask for their advice. Coach Nikon said I should do the race hard and then make up some of the miles before and after but he said that racing hard would be a great training run any day compared to a long slow day. Pigeon offered up running both Saturday AND Sunday. Well, as it turns out, due to a change in plans, I did end up running a little over 7 miles on Saturday and then did the race on Sunday. Boy did my legs feel it!
I left the house bright and early on Sunday because I wanted to get a close parking space. The fire-station at Cool is notoriously hard to park, particularly when a race is involved and I didn’t want to be a mile or two down the haul road from the start/finish area. When I parked it was dark and I realized that I had left my headlamp at home. Luckily the iPhone has that handy dandy flashlight feature!
Stonegate Girl quickly found me and we left our cars to get our packets. I saw Coach Nikon and the whole crew. It was nice to see everyone! I have missed my old trail people!
Stonegate Girl came and sat in my car with my seat warmers and we just talked until it was time to get ready for the pre-race briefing. Coach Nikon always puts on the best races. He had some neat raffle type gifts that he was handing out to everyone. I think everyone was smiling despite the chilly air and foggy skies.
Soon it was time to line up at the start. I still had my arm sleeves on and I wasn’t sure whether or not I would ever take them off it was that cold!
Coach Nikon blew his little horn and we were off and running. It took a bit for my legs to warm up and catch on that I was running and in this race, the hills come pretty quick. It felt odd at first to be running up some of the hills we typically walk during our training runs but I wanted the race to feel hard so I could say we gave it a good effort.
Stonegate Girl stuck with me the entire time. It was hard letting people pass us from time to time but we were focused on the task at hand, just running and not getting ourselves injured.
Up and down this race goes. Stonegate Girl had never been on some of these trails and was totally blown away by the beauty of it all. It was then that I wished that I had brought my camera. Luckily Stonegate Girl had her phone and snapped this awesome shot.
Fog!
Soon we approached the hill for which this race is named. That Dam(n) hill is brutal. Switch back after switch back you go. What a great training hill!
I was feeling pretty good minus my stomach. I have continued to battle stomach issues lately and it was just hovering below the surface on this run. I knew I would only be able to run for so long before I needed to find a place to duck off the trail. Unfortunately on this portion of the race, there are not many spots to do this!
The volunteers at the aid-stations were awesome. They cheered us on and wanted to know if we needed any water or fuel. I don’t think we stopped at one aid-station. We used our own water and our own fuel most of the race. Always good to practice using what you may use in a race down the road.
Stonegate girl and I finally came to a spot that allowed us to duck off the trail and take care of business. I hated stopping because I knew it was wasting time but I had no choice.
Once we were moving again we came upon a pond and Stonegate Girl was beside herself with the beauty of this race. It was super well marked too, no getting lost on this course!
Finally, we could hear the finish line and we could see the line of cars lining up and down the haul road. I was ready to be done. My legs were toast and it felt like I was running in quick sand at times. My legs were spent and so was my stomach (again). As we were approaching the finish line, I saw a sight for sore eyes … and I kind of teared up a bit.
There she is!
My girls and Vans were waiting right at the entrance to the finish line! I was so happy to see them and they were wearing their big clunky rain boots because it was muddy out (great for mud, not for running!). 🙂
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Brining me to the finish line!Stonegate Girl and I post race
My girls love this race and they LOVE Coach Nikon and his family. I think if the Peanut could, she’d go move in with Coach Nikon’s daughter Cheetah.
LOVE this race!
The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out at the race and just talking to old trail running friends. Peanut was put to work though. She had to earn those extra “finishers” cookies. 🙂
Helping Coach Nikon and Cheetah hand out awards!
Squeaker just follows along and was enjoying the pizza, cookies and music. I truly am so lucky to have such a great cheering section.
I like this song Dad!My cheering section waiting for me to finish!
This was a great race and I would really like to run it hard some day. I know what I need to work on though because twos days of running had my legs feeling pretty wobbly after the race. Luckily there was a massage tent which I took full advantage of! It really helped knock the kinks out of my legs. My recovery has been slower than normal lately and I truly believe my lack of stretching is to blame (I know, duh!). I have been working on it! I also think a lack of quality strength training is hurting me as well.
I am looking forward to Coach Nikon’s other race, Miners Revenge in April. This is an amazing course and I am spoiled. Coach Nikon really puts on one of the best events in town. He is race directing his first 50K this February too! Check out this link to the Salmon Falls 50K! I am VERY tempted even though I swore up and down that eventually, I’d like to go back to doing shorter distances for a while. At least until my girls get a little older. I know I say this all the time, but it is hard being away from them for so long and ultras require time to train which of course I have been doing a terrible job of lately.
This Saturday will be two weeks until my 50K. After my run this Saturday it will be taper time!! We have a busy weekend ahead which I hope to capture on camera this time around and blog about. There may be another race report coming your way involving the ENTIRE family so stay tuned (and cross your fingers). 🙂
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 sing (he is awesome, so if you are local check him out here). 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 Foods 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 just relaxing our bodies and minds in the car.  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 race 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.
The usual cheesy pre-start selfie!
I believe Coach Nikon said there were only about 144 people total for the event which consisted of a 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 lot  (aka the mile 13 aid-station).
Before the race start, Coach Nikon had us all line up as he gave us a little pep talk and some additional information about the course.
Pre-Race Talk
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 and tacky and the rocks slippery which always makes me a bit nervous.
Blurry photo but beautiful views
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 with 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.
Finally! The turn-around!
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 had 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 already half way done with the race.
I will not lie, I had entertained thoughts of dropping down to the half marathon a few times but I knew deep down that I could not 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.  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 point aid-station, Coach Nikon greeted us with his usual bellow and laugh. No matter how down you are, his smile and positivity 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.
The course elevation
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 and just started a new race in my head. The Miners Revenge course is two different loops which helped me create that feeling of a “new race,” very 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.
It was quite sketchy.
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.
hahahaha
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.
woah!
The second loop had a lot more fire road type trails compared to single track and it just seemed easier. The views were gorgeous too. My mood was clearly starting to come around.
Wild flowers!
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.
The bottom.
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.
Where are we?!
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  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!
We finished!
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, 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. My 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 you Coach Nikon for one helluva race!
 RACE HALF MARATHON RACE REPORT){kind=link}
