trail running

50K out. Marathon in.

August 26, 2014 by Kristy 8 Comments

Turns out I’m running a marathon on October 18th. Something I distinctly remember saying that I would not do this year.

Months ago I registered for the Blues Cruise 50K after much research. I scoured photos of the course and read every race recap I could find. The course was hilly but not technical (per the race website). And the terrain didn’t look technical in course photos (the leaves on the ground were hiding something). I’m a terrible technical runner. I have issues with uneven sidewalks. The Blues Cruise 50K appealed to my clumsy side…and the hills I could handle.

So for 10 weeks I logged lots of slow miles on trails (some technical), ran up and down hills, and got 2 20-mile runs under my belt. A few Sundays ago I headed out to do a test run on the course itself. I wanted to see if my hill work was adequate or if I needed to step it up a notch.

bad omen (and I was wearing blue)

Turns out my hill work was adequate and the course is technical (in my opinion)! I did email the RD to see which portion of the course was the hilliest. I didn’t really notice the hills too much since I was too busy dancing around tree roots and rocks.

So this picture does not show how technical the course was. To add some perspective – I could only manage about 11:00 minutes/mile due to all the “dancing”. Feel free to mock me and my clumsiness.

I drove home defeated and not one bit excited about the race. I couldn’t imagine running 31 miles of terrain like that. I do have access to some technical trails but not 20+ miles of them. I emailed the RD (who was awesome) and found out they did offer refunds. Score! Now I could sign up for something else…

I knew another 50K around the same time and location would be unlikely so I settled for the Monster Mash Marathon in Dover, DE. Local? Yes. Good timing? Yes. These were my top requirements. The race had decent reviews on marathonguide.com but it’s the complete opposite of what I have been training for – flat, fast, and on roads.

I am excited though. This will be my first marathon since December 2012, a few months before I got pregnant (which was oddly also a DE marathon). Might as well rip off the bandaid and get back at it! And it will be good prep for a PR/BQ in Spring 2015 (my goal).

I’ll write a whole post devoted to training soon, including the challenges I’m encountering with training post-baby.

Speaking of baby…an unrelated picture of Fiona!

thirty-six

February 10, 2013 by Kristy 21 Comments

Yesterday was my 36th birthday. Since my birthday fell on a Saturday, I naturally turned it into a birthday weekend. I believe birthdays should be celebrated….even if I am closer to 40 than 30. On that note, let’s change the subject.

I knew exactly how I wanted to start my birthday – with a long run. Abby must have read my mind and emailed me mid-week asking if I was up for a birthday run. Of course.

It always snows on my birthday. Always. But luckily Nemo didn’t destroy our plans and we managed 13 snowy miles. It was a literal winter wonderland (much like my 16-miler a few weeks ago).

Next up was spending the rest of the day with Matt and Hawk. We strolled around Chestnut Hill (a cute neighborhood in Philly) briefly, until it became too cold.

I have been fighting a cold all week long. By 6PM I was a snotty mess and felt awful. I tried to rally to go out to dinner but we ending up ordering pizza and watching a movie. I was in bed by 10:30. Party hardy.

But, it being my birthday weekend, we are doing dinner tonight instead. Followed by The Walking Dead. Oh, how times have changed.

What’s your ideal way to celebrate your birthday? For one of my birthdays, I really want to “run my age”. Too bad I wasn’t running marathons back when I turned 26.

go with the flow

January 21, 2013 by Kristy 13 Comments

I didn’t feel like doing a long run on Saturday.

I stood in my kitchen and seriously considered going back to bed or lounging in front of the TV. The “feels like” temp was 23 degrees. I’m quasi-training. It doesn’t matter if I skip a long run. Especially since I ran 15-milers the past 2 weekends.

But then regret sets in. You know the feeling. That nagging you-should-have-run feeling that will eat at you all day long. Knowing that I would never regret getting my ass out the door, I got dressed and decided on 10 miles (impromptu drop back week).

I started out slowly.

M1 – 9:12
M2 – 8:52
M3 – 10:21 (I felt dizzy for whatever reason and walked for a bit)
M4 – 9:04
M5 – 9:00

I was doing an out-and-back on a trail. After I turned around an older man (50s?) started running beside me and asked me what I was training for.

I knew this guy. We used to work together (not together 1:1 but together on a much larger team setting). He was higher up the totem pole than me so I knew he didn’t recognize me. The funny thing is I see him on this trail almost every weekend. To discourage you from thinking I’m a total stalker I have to add that there are a few distinct places to run here in Philly. Run in any particular spot long enough and you will definitely recognize people.

We start running together. I explain my quasi-training. He tells me about his upcoming marathon. We start picking up the pace. This is so not what I had in mind for my 10-miler (remember…I wanted to stay in bed). I wanted an easy run. But there was no way in hell I was backing off or even glancing at my Garmin (a sure sign of weakness). I just went with the flow.

After a mile or 2 of conversation, I finally introduce myself and explain that we used to work together way back when. This leads to work talk which quickly (very quickly) goes back to running talk.

The final 5 miles.

M6 – 8:35
M7 – 8:03
M8 – 8:01
M9 – 8:17
M10 – 8:35

It felt good to pick it up a bit and force myself to go faster.

And to think I wanted to skip this run?!

Does regret work for you? What motivates you to run in the winter?

congrats

November 6, 2012 by Kristy 12 Comments

First things first – a huge congrats is in order for my nephew Philip! He placed 2nd in his cross country championship! That’s 1.25 miles in 9:48 (7:50 average pace). Did I mention he just turned 8?!

He also smashed 30 seconds off his old PR from this season. Philip’s strategy is simple – start out slow and then pick the other runners off one by one. Pretty impressive for an 8 year old. It takes years to master the art of pacing.

Showing off the trophy

Philip’s cheering section

In other news, winter has arrived in Philly. Time to ‘get up and go’ in the morning and not stop to ponder about how cold it is outside and how warm your bed is. At least the sun comes up at a decent hour.

I ran 57 miles last week with 16 miles on trails. I’m still in quasi-ultra training mode – only because I enjoy it so much and not because I’m planning to run another ultra soon. If the spirit moves me I may even throw in some “fast” miles. I’m really enjoying just running right now. Plain, simple, and uncomplicated running.

Turkey Swamp 50K Recap

August 20, 2012 by Kristy 27 Comments

Remember how I said a 50K isn’t a real ultramarathon and I felt silly calling it that? Well, forget that, I’m an ultramarathoner!

Let’s start at the beginning and I promise to get to the good stuff quickly.

The weather was perfect. At the start temps were in the high 50s! Talk about luck being on my side. 50s in August?!

The course…oh my god, the course. I ran 12.5 x 2.5 mile loops, with the first loop being 3 miles. That’s already over 31 miles. And the 2.5 mile loop wasn’t so much 2.5 miles. I knew going into this race that there was a strong possibility of running over 31 miles. Turns out all the 50Kers ran about 32.4 miles.

The course consisted of…

1. a dirt road – no issues there

2. trail running through the woods – I was OK with this too; everything was well marked so my fears of getting lost were put to rest. The trail had some tree stumps in areas which required some fancy footwork. Bonus – I didn’t fall once!

3. grass running – about 50% of the loop was grass running (a la Laura Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie, although I wasn’t nearly having that much fun). The grass was long, the ground was uneven, and it was slow going…like running in sand. I detested this part of the loop.

After each loop you had to cross over the timing mat in order to count your loops. More on this later…

After the first loop I knew it was going to take me awhile to finish.

loop 2 or 3, heading towards the timing mat

The race for the most part was uneventful. Loop after loop passed and I felt alright. My legs were more tired than normal because of all the extra effort on the grass portions. There was just so. much. grass.

Around Mile 24 or 25 (?) I asked Matt (my awesome 1-man support team) to find out from the race timers how many loops I had left. Doing the math from my Garmin, I figured 2 full loops and then the 1/2 loop to the finish line.

I already knew the course measured long. The guy that won the 50K told me (as he lapped me again) that I should “be prepared” to run at least 32 miles.

So imagine my surprise when I find out that I only have 1.5 loops left (after mentally preparing for 2.5 loops). OK, well I guess my Garmin is measuring short? While everyone else’s Garmin is measuring long?

Me: “Really?! Are you sure? Oh my god, that is the best news I ever heard!!!”
Matt: “Yes, that’s what the race timers told me” (not sure of his exact words but it went something like that).

I cannot tell you how happy I was. I bid adieu to the grass and finished my last full loop with a huge smile on my face.

As I neared the timing mat (about to start my 1/2 loop to the finish) Matt’s face didn’t look so happy. Turns out the race timers were counting wrong and everyone got the awful news that they had to run 1 more FULL loop.

I wish I could say I handled this well. I was pissed. F-bombs flew. How could they mess up? Mentally it was a HUGE blow. 1 more FULL loop + the 1/2 loop to the finish. F$%k!

I was exhausted and I was starting to get hungry. I walked for a bit to regain some composure and forged onward for some more grass running.

Somewhere out in the grass field my Garmin clocked 31 miles in 5:38.

I crossed the finish line in 5:54, running 32.4 miles, 10:57 average pace (Garmin stats). I’m slightly annoyed that 5:54 will be associated with a 50K even though it wasn’t a 50K. But that’s how these races go and I need to get used to it.

so happy to finally stop running

After I crossed the finish line the race official shoved a small trophy in my hand and says “you were 3rd female, congratulations”. What?! It was hard to tell where everyone was but I thought I was bringing up the rear of the 50K for sure. There were some speedy men and women out there.

Full disclosure: the field was very small (see pic below) and I counted 7 women total, including myself. Official results haven’t been posted yet but I do know 1 woman dropped down to the marathon distance (there were 3 other races besides the 50K). So 3rd place out of 6 isn’t so impressive but I’ll take it!

the 50K was a lonely race

ultramarathoner

with my 1-man support crew – thanks Matt!

This race was definitely my toughest – tougher than Boston in the heat. I completely underestimated how much trail (and grass) running slows you down. I definitely need a lot more experience running “real” trails before my next trail race… which isn’t anytime soon. For now, I am going to savor my mandatory rest week and enjoy the post-race high!

Big Marathon Weekend

October 7, 2011 by Kristy 8 Comments

10/7/11
10 miles / 1:30 / 9:00 avg pace

Brr, it was cold this morning but I loved it! Despite being someone who is always cold, I think the best running weather is about 47-50 degrees. Very technical, I know. Perfect for shorts, a long-sleeve tech T, and gloves.

I had a great run this morning. Me and the right hamstring have made amends. I decided to run on the trail for a change of scenery. For some reason, they keep laying down more and more rocks on the trail. Aren’t trails supposed to be left alone? Isn’t that the appeal of running on them? This trail seems more man-made…and I kept rolling my ankle on those damn rocks. I will make a terrible ultra runner.

Matt and I are headed to Brigantine this weekend for some R&R. It’s supposed to be a beautiful, warm weekend. Perfect for the shore! Since dogs are allowed on the beach after October 1, Hawk is heading to the beach for the first time!

I’ll be stalking (er, tracking) like a crazy lady on Sunday with Chicago, Portland, and Steamtown all taking place on the same day. I wish everyone good weather and a great race if you are running!

A few shout-outs…

Chicago: go Larry…think and believe sub-4:00!
Portland: go Claire go! You will, you can, do this!
Steamtown: Candace, enjoy your first marathon! Celia, 3:34:59, go get it!