Oiselle Archives ~ Page 2 of 2 ~ TRAILMOMMA

September 28, 2015November 7, 2015

BREAK FREE RUN 9.8 MILE RACE REPORT

Another weekend another race. Yes, that makes the third weekend in a row that I have had race. I clearly didn’t plan my September recovery period out very well. 🙂

Saturday’s race was the Break Free | End Human Trafficking race in Folsom. They have a kid’s fun run, a 5k, a 10k and a 9.8 mile race. I have never done this race before but the story behind it intrigued me.

This is taken directly from the Break Free Run webpage:

“Break Free Run was founded after a 17-year-old girl was taken from a sleepy suburb in Northern California and trafficked for eight days before she was found and rescued by the FBI. Together the mother of the teen, Vicki Zito, along with Ashlie Bryant, Stephanie Loos and Amy Johnson, founded Break Free Run.”

As the mother of two very little girls, this scares me tremendously. This happened to a family in our own area! That sleepy little suburb is here. No bueno.

So, I signed the Peanut up for the kid’s run and myself up for the 9.8 mile race. Vans, Squeaker and our friend visiting from Canada were our cheering section.

Going into this race I admit, I was tired. My legs had not recovered completely from my Headlands Trail Marathon, followed by the Emerald Bay race and then some random hill repeats with Stonegate at a nearby hill in our hood the very next day. Needless to say, I was not running wisely but I was happy. 🙂

Peanut - new runner kid — Peanut – new runner kid

The Peanut rocked the kid’s run. She has come a long way in the running world. There was a time, not that long ago, where she was too shy to run any races and just wouldn’t do it. Now that she is a cross country runner for her school, she has a whole new mind set.

She raced to the starting line of the race leaving me in the dust. “Well, I guess she is all set to run solo,” I thought to myself. And run she did! It was not an easy course and it was truly a hot day.

Super proud of this kid. She is really beginning to think about things lately. She used to not have a care in the world about “effort” or even trying for that matter. Now, not only does she try, she cares.

While she was finishing, I was lining up for my race. The 9.8 mile race didn’t have nearly the same number of participants as the other distances. There was 114 signed up total.

Our start was delayed by a firetruck and an ambulance in our path. A patron had felt dizzy and so our start was pushed back. I took that moment to race to a porta potty which apparently, was mentioned over the loud speaker. 🙂 Vans said everyone was concerned when I raced through the start arch and off the course … the MC had to inform everyone that I was just using the restroom bwahahahaha! That is awesome.

Finally the raced started and I took off … and noticed that there were only two guys ahead of me. “Where IS everyone? Why is no one passing me?”

I figured at some point, the wave would come by and all the elite fast women would pass me … but that never happened.

At mile 1, the kids cheering yelled, “first female go!” Okay, so that’s no big deal, it is only the first mile surely the fast people are coming (that first mile was a 7:12 pace which IS fast for me).

Then, mile 2 happens and mile 3 – no one is passing me. My brain starts churning … “Well, it is a small race, maybe there are no faster people? Could you? Really?”

Mile 4 and Mile 5 … still solo. Still pushing. Legs are feeling a little bit like jell-o at this point and my body is starting to revolt a little bit but I kept pushing.

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Mile 6 I see up ahead that all three races converge on the trail. The 9.8 mile course had us running like lab rats all around the Folsom bike path … I was dizzy from doing the same loop a few times. But when we reached mile 6, I could see the 5k, 10k and the 9.8 mile races all converge onto one tiny little bike path portion.

It was then, that a bright pink shirt Fleet Feet girl passed me. Sigh. It was bound to happen. For a moment, I was holding onto the hope that she was a 10k runner but then she made the same right turn us longer distance runners had to make and I crumbled.

We hit a tiny incline and my legs just said, “let her go” … which I did but I kept her in my sights for as long as I could. She was running effortlessly … I felt like I was carrying a sack of potatoes.

Still, I kept 2nd female over all for another 2 miles … until I hear the pitter patter of female feet behind me. Sure enough, this cute gal goes bouncing by me and said, “only 1.8 miles to go! You got this.”

Ugh, how could I get mad at that! She was too sweet and well, I was quickly losing steam and fast. My pace had dropped from 7:30 to a few 8 … and there were some inclines to deal with as well as the scorching hot sun and no shade.

Third. I’d settle for third but deep down, I was elated that I had held onto that #1 spot for a long as I had. Never in my life, for a race longer than a 5k, has this happened. Very cool.

The sweet heart that passed me and encouraged me. Gotta love that.

So the final outcome was 3rd female overall and 2nd place age group (the girl above was also in my age group).

Both girls that had passed me told me they had been chasing me the whole race. They clearly had more steam and a better pacing system then I had (which in translation means I have no pacing system).

It was a fun tough course. It was cool to have the Peanut there and Vans there as well. JD, our Canadian friend was super helpful in entertaining the kids and being photographer.

The flowers were from Vans since Saturday was also our 11th wedding anniversary. 🙂 Gotta race on our anniversary right?

The best part of the day was a nice little date night with Vans that included free babysitting from JD. Overall, it was pretty awesome day.

Now, I need to recover. No more races in my future until mid October which is good. I need to get back into the swing of speed work and tempo runs again. My mileage on the road also needs to get bumped up. Hopefully that will happen this upcoming weekend.

Lots to think about … CIM is just around the corner!

Happy Trails!

~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

August 31, 2015August 31, 2015

BUFFALO STAMPEDE 10 MILE RACE REPORT

Sunday welcomed the first road race that I actually “raced” in quite a while. I did not intend to race it per se, but well, things just happened along the way. 🙂

I am officially in CIM (California International Marathon) training. I have run CIM for a number of years, almost every year since I started doing marathons back in 2004. However, the last 3 or 4 CIMS have been ran for different reasons. Whether it was ankle surgery or running to keep a friend company, I just have not “trained” for a marathon in quite some time.

I know that sounds weird. Who goes out and just runs a marathon without training?! I do, that’s who but the end result is never one for time or PRs … I have done it this way for various reasons. Much the same way I am running a trail marathon in about 2 weeks with little to zero training under my belt for such a tough marathon. It is a bad bad habit of mine and I fully admit to it.

After my last marathon in Oregon last June, I just can’t escape the feeling that I am done with “half-assing” races like this. I want, more. That is not to say in two weeks I will kill this trail marathon, no. No, that will be a training run and pure JOY to experience trails once again amongst this road racing I have been doing. 🙂

But I have set my sights on the 2015 CIM as the year I would LIKE to get back to running with some heart and soul. So, in doing so, I have actually been, you know, training! What a concept!?

Sunday was the Buffalo Stampede 10 Mile race. I have been doing this race since I lived 4 miles from the start with Vans in our little condo after we were married. I wasn’t blogging then but I do have my race report from 2010 and 2011 if anyone cares to read. Actually, I encourage clicking above because the photos of the Peanut are just too precious. 🙂

Okay, on to the race report. The above drawing is the Peanut’s rendition of the Buffalo. 🙂 I kinda dig it and think it should be on the race shirts next year, just sayin. 🙂

The best part about road racing is that there is no excessive packing of a hydration packs or thinking about fuel. You just dress, eat and go. The worst part is that the WHOLE family has to wake up with you because generally, it doesn’t take as long to run a road race and therefore, they have to leave when you leave … which means waking up early.

Vans dropped me off with about 20 minutes to spare before the race started. I jumped in the porta potty line and saw LOTS of familiar faces including Dasie and June! Porta potties at road races seem to move faster too … it was pretty miraculous how fast that lined moved.

I wasn’t sure where to position myself at the starting line. I told Vans to expect a pace between 8:30 and 9 minute miles because honestly, that’s how I felt I have been running lately.

When they let us go at the start, I just ran. I tried not to think about pace too much. I figured I’d wait and see what my Garmin said.

Mile 1 – 8:01/mi : Mmm, really?! That’s what I am doing? Doesn’t feel that hard. Let’s stick with this and see what happens ….

Mile 2 – 8:01/mi : Ok, ok. Not too bad. This doesn’t feel that hard to me right now. Just going to go with it.

Mile 3 – 8:06/mi : Aaaah, okay, this must be where the slowing down happens. I did stop for water though, which I normally don’t do so early but it just seemed right and I was thirsty….let’s just keep running right between this group here.

Mile 4 – 7:58/mi : What!? I am speeding up because I know I am going to see my family in about 20 yards, that’s it. That’s why I am sub 8 right now.

Mile 5 – 7:59/mi : Okay, I stopped to high-five the girls and I am STILL under an 8 minute mile. What is going on here?! Oh no, wait! What is that!? Holy crap those are TURKEYS! BIG HUGE turkeys! Quick move to the other side of the road! Who cares about cars!

Mile 6 – 7:58/mi : Well crap, I have to keep this up now! I am over half-way … maybe the turkeys made me run faster?! I could have a sub 8 average if I can just keep going at this pace!

Mile 7 – 7:57/mi : Ugh, that turn around kinda sucks but now I can see people cheering for everyone. That’s kind of nice.

Mile 8 – 8:02/mi : Yup, through my old neighborhood where I would cool down after all my runs … that’s what is going on here. But it is mile 8, I can handle this for 2 more miles! Come on! Pick it up!

Mile 9 – 7:54/mi : Okay, 1 mile. You can do this. This is a super flat course, nothing in your way. Run to the 9.5 mile sign (yes there is a sign that says 9 1/2 that makes me laugh every time) and then sprint! Hold on and then go!

Mile 10 – 7:42/mi : go go go go! I passed this guy who cheered me on and told me ‘good job’ but then I could hear him really trying to turn it on himself. Never saw him again.

I saw the time on the clock and I knew that I was within seconds of my previous PR from 2010.
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I just couldn't move my legs fast enough! — I just couldn’t move my legs fast enough!

I crossed the finish line just in time to hear them mutilate my last name! 🙂 I did it! I had a PR. It was within seconds (like 40) of my last race but definitely not a planned situation at all.

I wanted to just run this race and see how I felt on a flat hard road … I had no intentions of racing let alone PR’ing for this race. I am not complaining, I am just in shock.

Just days ago I had begun thinking that CIM may not be what I want this year and that maybe I will have to settle for another marathon where I just run it to run it … but now, now I have hope. Big hope.

After my race was over, we waited around for the kids free half mile race to start.

Rio Americano High School is where Vans went to High School so he had a nice time sharing with the girls all the spots where he used to get into trouble or eat his lunch. 🙂

But the girls had a race to put on! I think the Rio Americano High School Cross Country Team was in charge of managing this race for the kids. It was cute. They had them do all sorts of drills to warm up.

Squeaker wanted me to run with her so I quickly got behind all the kids. Little did I know, that really she didn’t need me for support but instead, she wanted to race me!

They ALL took off like a rocket! The Peanut was up front for a while and I feared that she’d had gone out too fast. Squeaker was just smiling ear to ear and looking behind her to see if I was there.

The Peanut however did not fare so well. She had a rough race. I think she went out way too fast but Squeaker! Man! That kid passed her sister and just kept going!

She wanted that medal, more than anything, she wanted it! 🙂

Don’t let this photo fool you, she wasn’t tired in the least! The Peanut did finish and then went around two more times with me make it a full mile. We talked a lot about breathing and pacing, both of which she will have to do during cross-country season.

After all the girls racing events, we went to visit Grandma and Pappa who live in the old condo complex that we used to live in. The kids got to play with their cousin and I got to just sit. 🙂

Overall, it was a great race and I am pleased with the results. It gives me the boost to continue with the way I have been training thus far and shows me that what I have been doing is working more or less.

My trail marathon in two weeks will be something fun, a mental break from the pavement on some incredible trails with a good friend. Trail running also makes for better blog posting sometimes. 🙂

Until then…

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

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