The Last Big Long Run of 2020

Oh my! I haven’t blogged in awhile. I could blame the coronavirus and, honestly, that is part of it, but that’s not all of it. Here’s to getting back on the blog horse!

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When you wait until the last minute to do something, it doesn't always go as planned. Despite that, I’m pleased with how well my body held up today.

The Story

I've been thinking about doing The Golden 6 Hour Virtual Run put on by my friend, Gretchen Walla, for a couple of months. My idea was to re-run the Lake Washington loop I ran as a member of the US Team for the IAU 6HR Virtual Global Solidarity Run in August and try to do the entire distance in 6 hours.

Instead, I went on more exciting mountain adventures. None of which were conducive to me running faster around the lake. 😬

Friday evening I decided I would probably go for it (seeing as how the final day is today - Sunday). BUT, it would depend on how my back was feeling.

I had taken Wednesday off because my back was hurting badly for a few days. With age and experience comes wisdom (thank goodness) and I knew that continuing to run with this type of back issue could mean a week or two of laying flat on my back to recover.

So by Friday, while my back had improved, it still was far from 100%. I decided to do a mini workout Saturday to test it out. If I could get through that without negative repercussions, I thought/hoped I'd be fine for a big, slow run on Sunday.

Saturday's run went well, so the next step was to figure out a course I could run that wouldn't aggravate my back. That meant it couldn't be very hilly. Uphill running had caused the initial aggravation and the downhill I ran Tuesday hurt so much I knew I needed to stay away from that, too. Running flat ground presents its own set of difficulties - both for my back and general muscle fatigue - but it was the best way to ensure the least amount of aggravation to my back and make it more likely that I could run the entire time/distance.

This resulted in me finding the Snoqualmie Valley Trail (SVT). I've only run on a couple of short sections of this trail in the past, so I thought it would be a fun challenge to run the whole thing, from Rattlesnake Lake to Duvall. The problem is that the stated distance is "only" 31-31.5 miles (depending on the map) and I needed something longer for a 6 hour run. I found a side trail that, combined with a stop at Snoqualmie Falls for a photo op, would give me enough distance and then decided to go for it!

SVT map

While Saturday’s weather was nice, Sunday’s forecast was for rain and wind. Oh well. That’s what you get when you wait until the last day to do something. Fortunately, the temps looked decent and for that I was thankful.

It was pouring rain when I started and ended up raining fairly hard for most of the first hour and being quite windy for the first 2-3 hours of the run. At some points early on I had flashbacks to Tuesday’s adventure with my friend Kate where it got intensely gusty and trees were cracking and falling. Thankfully, I didn’t see or hear any branches or trees fall today, but it was still a little nerve wracking.

Which one’s the trail and which one’s the river? OK, it wasn’t quite that bad, but I felt almost as wet as if I had gone in the river. PC: Trisha

The side trail I took to add mileage ended up being a little more interesting than planned. It wasn’t much of a trail for a good portion and there were a lot of “no trespassing” and “private property” signs. I don’t believe I was ever on private property, but eventually the “trail” appeared to go directly onto someone’s yard. Ironically, there was no sign deterring people from continuing on there, but I decided to turn around before someone got irritated. I didn’t want to get yelled at on an otherwise peaceful Sunday morning, especially when there was still lots of running left to do.

You can kind of see that there is a little bit of a trail here. PC: Trisha

Since I didn’t make it to the end of that side trail, I figured I’d better add on some more mileage soon as I didn’t want to be doing that at the end of the run when I was tired. Fortunately, there was another, very nice trail a few minutes further down the SVT. I didn’t know how much I needed to add on, but figured somewhere between a half mile and a mile. I ran to a road then turned around and headed back, which ended up being just over a mile. On my way back, I saw a beautiful coyote! It stopped to look at me while I stopped to look at it. Of course, the coyote took off the moment I reached for my phone to snap a photo.

My next stop was Snoqualmie Falls. It was drizzling when I got there, which encouraged me to keep this stop quick. The Falls were impressive as usual and kicked up quite a bit of fog and mist, making a good photo difficult in addition to my screen being wet and hard to see and focus.

Snoqualmie Falls, PC: Trisha

After the brief stop at the Falls, I ran up the hill to rejoin the SVT. The next couple of hours weren’t too exciting. Mostly I focused on eating every 40 minutes, maintaining a decent pace, and saying, “Good morning!” to other trail users with whom I crossed paths (there weren’t many people out). There were a few places where I wish I had taken a photo because it looked like the quintessential fall photo of a trail with beautiful trees lining as far as the eye could see, but I wasn’t in the mood to stop and get my phone out.

Actual photo of the SVT, PC: bikingbis.com

There are blue mile markers along the entire length of the SVT (on my left) posted every half mile, except for where they aren’t (there are quite a few areas that don’t seem to have any of these markers - where did they go?!). After the earlier side trail snafu, I eventually was able to see one of these blue markers and figured out that I would hit 39 miles when I got to the end of the SVT. I had planned on 38-38.5 (depending on whether the SVT is actually 31 or 31.5 miles), so 39 was fine. I’d rather run further than planned than shorter.

When I saw the “17.0” marker, I looked at my Garmin and saw more specifically that I would have 39.15 miles by the end. However, there appeared some sage green posts on the right side of the trail that showed different mileage. Near the 17 mile blue marker the green post said 14. What?! What were these green posts? Was I going to be 3 miles short?? These blue markers appear on other trails I’ve run and were accurate, so I decided to trust them. Besides, the mileage matched up with how long the trail was including the additional mileage I estimated was added on earlier via the side trails.

The “4.0” blue marker was the last one I saw. At this point, Uli had come from his run in the mountains to join me for my last few miles - what a nice surprise! I told him there were only a few more miles left and that I was confused by these green posts that were telling me I only had one mile to go. To my surprise, he told me that the trail did indeed end in one mile. What?!?! But the blue markers said 4 and that is what I still needed to run!

We continued past the end as there was still something that looked trail-like to follow. I was convinced it would continue on and kept looking for a blue marker.

No blue marker was found and the trail ended (the wall of blackberry bushes and other foliage made that quite clear).

So, I ended up doing the one thing I had strived to not have to do: We turned around and ran back the way we’d come. No! I wanted to be done when I got to the end!

We added on a trail through a small park, then back out on the SVT, then turned around, ran to the “end” and then came back again to near where the car was parked to get 39 miles. I could’ve stopped at 38 or 38.5 like I had initially planned, but when you run for a few hours thinking you’re going to do 39 total, you run 39 total! Even if you’ve already been to the end of the trail.

STATS:
Time: 5:35:05
Distance: 39.01 miles
Watches worn: 2 - Garmin so I could submit my track and, of course, my trusty Timex
Pee stops: 11 (what the heck?!)
Hydration consumed: 1.75 soft flasks worth (you’re right, that’s not much)
Gels consumed: 8 apple cinnamon Hammer, 1 Tastefully Nude GU
Bloks consumed: 7 orange Clif (would’ve been 8, but the first one was as hard as a rock)
Wildlife seen: 1 coyote (literally nothing else “wild;” there were also some birds and a few squirrels)
Comments on the BLM sign on my pack: 1 - thank you for noticing and for your positive comment
The individuals with the top three longest distances for the Golden 6HR are all women (as of this posting)!

For those who are curious, to my surprise, my back ended up faring quite well. It got tight, but nothing terrible and this run didn’t seem to make it feel worse - hurray!

Thanks to my friend, Michael, for being willing to help me, even if it didn’t work out as planned.

Footnote: I still would like to know why the blue markers are off. Anyone more familiar with the trail in that area (Duvall) know what’s up? What/where are the last 3 miles supposed to be? Even what Google Maps shows as the last portion of the trail (which isn’t actually the trail) isn’t long enough to make up the difference. 🤷‍♀️

Neat cloud line over the valley in Carnation. PC: Trisha

Michealene's Orcas Island 50k Recap

Michealene has generously allowed me to share the email she sent me about her race experience. She put together a strong mental and physical race in the incredibly muddy conditions this year’s race presented. I thought it would be fun for others to get to experience the race through her eyes. So, without further ado….

Finished 111 overall (out of 164 that finished) 48 DNF, 25 DNS
36th female
28th OA in age group
7th female in my age group
Finish time 8:14:16

The good: It did not rain, extremely beautiful course, mostly uninjured, I had the best cheering squad and I finished!

The bad: The trail conditions were kind of sucky but really, what does one expect on a February race in Washington?

Rick, the dog and I set out in our Westfalia early Friday morning. Our ferry reservation was for about 11 am and we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to get there. The crossing to Orcas Island was uneventful. The bonus of traveling in a mini home on wheels is I got to just sit back and relax with the dog and read. After disembarking the ferry we stopped in East Sound for a quick bite to eat before checking into our home for the weekend.

Our lodging was a yurt at Doe Bay resort. Tucked away, up in a hill it was heated and cozy. We had to use the community kitchen for our meals. That was a bit inconvenient as it was a little ways from our yurt and I wanted to have easy access to all my food and drinks. I will remember that for next time. 

The forecast called for rain...lots of it and it did not disappoint. It absolutely poured all night long. I made a deal with mother nature that it could pour rain all night long (get it out of her system) but then had to stop in time for the race. She, thankfully(?), obliged. I'm a bit of a weather witch in case you didn't know. 

The morning of the race went smoothly. Ate my usual large breakfast and had a little coffee. It was hard getting the hubby motivated though. As a result we got to the bib pick up later than I wanted. I still managed a 15 minute warm up. 

Soon it was time for the pre-race meeting and we were off. I ended up starting almost at the very back due to our tardiness and the hubby's desire to take my picture. Which, by the way, ended up blurry. :) I was a little frustrated to be starting so far back because I knew I would have to pass some people and wait on people at some sections. Lesson learned...start the day earlier then I think I should. :)

I knew this was going to be a tough race and so I was exercising patience at the start. The leg to the first aid station was uphill. And, like I said in the training log, I tried running it with an "easy" effort but then decided to alternate between speed hiking and running. The road just kept going up. I didn't have my timer set on my watch so I picked physical markers to run to or hike to. The road was wide enough that I was able to gain some ground after starting in the back. 

PC: Glenn Tachiyama

After the first AS it is a pretty steep descent and was fairly technical. The water on the trails certainly didn't help matters either. So, a lot of the gain I made on the way up was lost as people passed me going down (*note to self: work on those descents and build confidence). Then it was sort of a rolling trek through many streams and standing water. At one point we had to cross through a 10 foot section that was above our knees. My feet were completely numb by the time we got out of there. That water was cold! 

AS #2 was at Mt. Picket. The descent into there was tough because my feet were so numb and I had a hard time with foot placement. I just really didn't want to roll an ankle or something. The steep climb out of that AS warmed me back up but brought on the leg cramping. I was surprised to feel that so early in the race. I am not sure if it is due to all the climbing, the conditions (read: cold ass legs and feet), wearing shorts, or too much effort at the start. I don't think it was too much effort though. I really tried to keep your advice in mind and stay patient. 

Anyway, the trek to AS #3 was brutal. Even though it was a "net loss" in elevation there was some climbing and I had hit the proverbial wall. This is the point when I thought I wasn't going to be able to finish. And there was just so...much...water on the trails. It was unbelievable. When I began the climb to the North Arch AS I could hear and see my cheering squad. It made me so happy! My sister, brother-in-law and nephew made the trek out to cheer me on along with my hubby and the dog. I had a drop bag at this station so I sat down and changed my socks and ate some food and kind of assessed what was going on. My nephew told me I was faster than a panther and was doing great. Also, he was going to get a bearded dragon. :) He also let me know my legs were super muddy. It was so awesome to have them there and encouraging me. I really needed it. I also had my inner dialog with myself and my body. I was like "okay, everybody, I know this has been tough but we've only got one more section to go. A big climb and then cruise control it down. We can do it!" I'm dead serious about this. Before I set off for the next section I had my nephew give me a fist bump and I was on my way.

My fresh socks were wet within minutes. LOL! After taking a sip of whiskey from a guy dressed as the grim reaper I began the climb up Power Line (I'm not sure if you want to know that but there you go. ha!). Good lord that is a climb. But I just chanted my mantra that I use for all the hills "it has to stop eventually, it can't go on forever". Also, "what goes up, must come down." I said this out loud to some fellow runners and they appreciated it. There are two big climbs before the final AS. The section between the climbs is a real joy to run. I was sooooo happy at this section. The trail was in good shape for the most part and it was just sort of a gradual rolling descent. I just stretched my legs and ran. It felt really good. This is where the random songs popped into my head. I had Monty Python and the Holy Grail songs make an appearance, but then a mountain biker passed by singing Lizzo so then I had that stuck in my head. My watch also died in this section. That was a bummer. The second climb to the summit of Mt. Constitution was tough. It has switchbacks though so I could make myself little goals. "Just get to the next switchback". My cheering squad was at this AS too! I couldn't believe it. Evidently my nephew was worried I got lost. LOL! I ate some more food, assessed how I was feeling, got some encouragement from my squad and a picture and then headed out. 

PC: Glenn Tachiyama

The final leg was pretty awesome. I would say that only about 1/4 of it was technical. So the rest of it I was able to kick it into gear and haul ass down. There was still quite a bit of water crossings and mud. I found myself saying "Seriously?" many times. I didn't have my watch so had no idea how far I had to go or a timer for eating/drinking. So I just ate as soon as I started to feel like I needed to. That seemed to work out pretty well. FINALLY, I saw some cars and thought I was getting pretty close. Nope, you get to the main road and then turn back into the woods for some more fun. They threw in another steep climb for good measure and my foot sunk into some mud up to the shin right toward the end too. That is when I swore at the mud. The last little bit was up a gravel road and then down into the muddy finish line. I made it!     

My cheering squad was there too. They were congratulating me and all I could keep saying is "That was hard". Ha! I was totally beat and cold and muddy. The biggest feeling though was disbelief that I had finished that race. I had been training so hard for it and then it was here and now it is over. Crazy. 

Post race consisted of a delicious dinner in town and then a soak in the soaking tubs at Doe Bay. And a good nights sleep. 

Sorry if my text had you worried. I was pretty tired and had limited service so was keeping it short and sweet. I was also still a little bit in shock too. That was quite the challenge and I can't believe I did it. Thanks for all your training, advice and encouragement. You are like a little bird on my shoulder guiding me through things while I'm running. 

The Cat's Out of the Bag!

…the Brooks Hyperion “cat,” that is.

I’m excited that the cat's out of the bag regarding the new racing flats coming out from Brooks later this year!

I've been extremely fortunate to be a part of the testing group for the Hyperion Elite for the past ~2 years, especially since all the others were professional runners! These shoes will be coming out at the end of February - you'll see lots of them at the Olympic Trials marathon.

The Elites are a fairly aggressive shoe. I haven't worn them in quite awhile and I'll tell you why in a moment. They generally will work best for runners who are naturally more of a midfoot or forefoot striker. That said, how they are designed can help a person land that way more naturally even if they are a heel striker. While they are a fairly stable shoe, I do remember them not feeling as stable as other flats that are lower to the ground. The cushion is significant and also on the more dense/firm end of the cushioning spectrum. Definitely worth checking these out. I know I ran a lot of really good workouts wearing them.

The final version of the Hyperion Elite before Brooks gave them cool colours.

I should also note that I put 190 miles on one pair of the Elites while I was doing wear testing. I think the only reason I stopped wearing that pair was because an updated version came out that I needed to move on to testing. Generally I put more miles on my shoes than most. I could've put even more miles on these, so I have a feeling that they may be able to handle more miles than what's being currently stated.

The reason I haven't worn the Hyperion Elite in awhile is because I was testing the Hyperion Tempo. This, too, has been a fun process!

For me, the Tempo is the holy grail marathon racing shoe. I've done a significant amount of training in these shoes over the past year, including some long run workouts. I have also run quite a few races in these and they always feel great. The cushion feels less dense than that of the Elite version. That said, I've never had my feet feel good during the last few miles of a marathon before, but while wearing these, my feet felt spectacular. I kept waiting for my feet to start hurting during the Houston Marathon and they never did!

These shoes are very stable and the cushion is fantastic while still being incredibly light and flexible. I have put close to 250 miles on a pair of these. That seemed to be the life end for me, though I might be able to squeeze out another few workouts in them and have them still feel all right.

The Hyperion Tempos in action. My feet feel fantastic as I near the finish line at the Houston Marathon. PC: Amon Mende

The traction on both the Elite and Tempo is far superior to the current Hyperions, which tend to be quite slippery when it’s wet (it’s something I provided a significant amount of feedback on :) ). The fit of each is great as well. Both felt good right out of the box. They’re comfortable, “form fitting” without feeling suffocating or too tight, and very light.

UPDATE: I decided to do a short workout in the Elites to remind myself what they felt like so I could provide more insight.

As I stated above, they are less stable than the Tempos., the toebox is narrower, and they are more aggressive. Maybe it’s due to all the calf raises I’ve been doing lately, but the aggressiveness didn’t seem as daunting as I experienced previously.

For the workout I ran, the warm up was faster than I would normally run without trying. That was definitely the shoes. The workout was a fartlek, so it’s not easy to say whether I was running faster than I otherwise would have, but I could feel that it was easier to run on my forefoot.

By the cool down, my legs felt more fatigued than usual. I believe that is due to the little bit of instability I mentioned above. I wear neutral shoes for racing, but the more stable they are the better. Because of this, for me the Elite isn’t the perfect shoe, but if you are a neutral runner, they may be your holy grail shoe like the Tempo is for me.

Remember, everyone’s biomechanics are different, so give each of them a test run and see which one feels best for you. Both of these shoes are a significant, positive step forward for Brooks’s racing flats.

Is It A Comeback?

My 2020 Houston Marathon experience:

FRIDAY

Anna and I arrived in Houston in the mid-afternoon. This worked out well as it provided ample time to accomplish things we needed to do without any stress.

Once we got to our Airbnb (and figured out how to get inside), we situated ourselves, then headed out the door to scope out the finish of the race. I always like to run the last 1-2 miles of a race beforehand so I’m familiar with it on race day. It provides a sense of familiarity at the end when you’re tired and, if you happen to be racing someone else, it can give you a leg up on when to start kicking into the finish.

After a successful scope-out run and a quick shower, we met up with my friend Joe for dinner at Benihana. Though I’ve known Joe since sometime in 2001, I haven’t seen him in a few years, so it was nice to catch up.

Anna and I capped off the evening with a grocery store run, then back to our home away from home to relax before heading to sleep.

PC: Amon Mende

SATURDAY

I slept for 10 hours! I almost never sleep that long. After doing a good job all week of incrementally going to bed and waking up earlier, the night two days before a race I allow myself to sleep however long my body says it needs. It said 10 hours and I obliged.

Shortly after eating breakfast Anna and I ran to the expo to pick up our numbers and scope out the starting area. While at the expo we ran into an acquaintance of mine who has run this race 10 times and got some good intel from her. That, plus the information we gleaned from a guy who has worked this event - including structuring the starting area - also for 10 years, was instrumental in forming our logistics plan for race morning. The rest of the day was spent eating, hydrating, and chatting.

Amon joined us in the evening and we all had dinner together. As we were driving “home” from another grocery store run, “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses came on the radio (KKHH 95.7 The Spot, adult hits - an awesome station I highly recommend next time you’re in Houston!). I turned it up loud and sang and car danced my butt off, to Anna and Amon’s enjoyment (I think; sorry there are no pics/video of this). This song played before I set a FKT (fastest known time) a couple of years ago and it’s a song I love from my childhood. Apparently this was what I needed to let out some energy as well as gain some energy because I felt positively different after hearing/belting out that song.

PC: Wikipedia

Before going to sleep I talked with Uli, did a little reading*, then got the usual don’t-sleep-much-the-night-before-a-race type of restless sleep.

*I was reading The Expedition by Chris Fagan about her and her husband’s unassisted, self-propelled journey to the South Pole and felt compelled to finish the chapter that ended with them at the Pole. In the book, Chris mentions saying the words “be strong” to herself over and over to get through rough patches. That ended up in my mind during the marathon. I used it to help me through my rough times and reminded myself that what she and her husband had dealt with was way harder than anything I was going through in my marathon. Fun fact: Chris told me, “Funny that you read that we arrived at the SP last weekend - that is the date we actually arrived there 6 years ago.” Crazy, right?!

RACE DAY

Pre-Race

I woke up early and ate my breakfast feeling calm. Anna, Amon, and I jogged to the start together using our predetermined route. It worked out well, putting me right where I needed to be to get into the ADP (athlete development program) corral. I took off and said good-bye to my tights and the training shoes I had been wearing, changing into my awesome Brooks racing flats and grabbing my gels for the race. I got a hug from Amon, wished Anna a good race, flashed my bib to the security guy, and went into the ADP corral, immediately getting in line for the porta potties.

Don’t worry, they didn’t give me the medal until after I finished.

A lady got in line behind me and struck up a conversation. She was wearing the Brooks racing shoes that are debuting at the Trials, so we talked about those for a bit (I have been fortunate to be a part of the testing process for these shoes from the beginning which has been really fun, especially since I was the only non-professional athlete). While standing in line, I was surprised by how many people I knew - one person I hadn’t seen in close to 10 years, a couple others from the Seattle area, and more. It was fun to briefly catch up. Finally out of the porta potty line (oh, hello there again, Joe!), I went to do my drills and strides. Then everyone in the ADP corral bunched together and inched towards the start line, casting aside our final layers.

Race

The gun went off and I managed to forget that many of these people were running the half marathon. I was wondering how I was so slow compared to many of those around me. I looked up to see the pacer for the women trying to qualify for the Olympic Trials was not far ahead, which helped me realize I was on pace, despite feeling like I was running too slowly.

Hitting the split button on my watch at mile one confirmed I was right on pace. I felt so relaxed and controlled that the time surprised me as I figured I would need to speed up. The first mile has a bit of downhill, though, so I made sure not to get complacent.

A woman seemed to be running the same pace as I was and asked me my goal. It turned out we had the same goal, though she seemed to think we needed to run faster than we were (we were right on pace), so I let her go ahead. Shortly thereafter, someone yelled my name. I turned to my left to see Sierra Brisky running by looking effortless. It was wonderful to see a familiar face. We chatted very briefly and wished each other a great race.

Unfortunately, I “fell asleep” during mile four. Seeing my slow split fully woke me up and I was on high alert from there on out. Right around this time, I started to feel hungry. It was far too early to be hungry. What the heck?! I was carrying more calories than I thought I would need, just in case, but I was worried that it might not be enough if I was already hungry less than a half hour in (I usually eat every 40-45 minutes). I waited a bit longer, then decided if I was hungry, I’d better eat. I could tell it was hampering both my mood and making my effort harder and I was only a little over 5 miles in. Too soon to feel like this! I ate a gel and while it didn’t magically make running feel effortless, it definitely improved how I felt. Phew!

I don’t remember exactly when I first started feeling the wind, but it was fairly early on. The first time I remember swearing because of (at?) it was mile 8-ish. The effort to hold my pace had already been feeling awkwardly harder than expected and now I had to deal with swirling, gusty winds. As usual, I had no group to run with or to shield me from the wind. The half marathon course had recently parted ways with ours, so the masses had thinned. I had been taking it on head first already and that wasn’t changing now in these whipping winds and with even fewer people around.

Mile 9’s winds were simply cruel. They’d hit me hard from the side, then swirl around to get me again from the front. No fair! There should be a rule that wind is only able to knock you down once per gust. Despite this craziness, I was holding my pace, which boosted my confidence in the moment.

Coming up to the halfway point, there’s a decently big hill. I think we go over a freeway, but I honestly wasn’t looking around. It was enjoyably sunny here, but also fully exposed to the wind. Going up the hill felt good. Coming down the other side felt strange, but also in a good way. Then we hit 13.1 and a hairpin turn to the right. I was dismayed at the time I saw on the clock for the half. Was it correct? How could I possibly be running that slowly? My splits had mostly been within a couple of seconds of where I wanted to be (mind you, two seconds per mile over the course of a marathon adds approximately a minute to your overall time). I was feeling bummed that I might not even hit my lowest goal. Particularly in the windy conditions I was unlikely to speed up in the second half.

The wind was sure to remind me of this. Over the course of the next 2-3 miles, we encountered some of the nastiest, swirliest winds along the entire course. I ran faster to catch up behind a guy in front of me so I could use him as a shield. That didn’t last long. He wasn’t taking the tangents and he was slowing down. It also wasn’t extremely effective since the winds were coming from all directions thanks to the tall buildings in the area. I think I swore the most during this part of the race.

I stayed determined to push hard. My minimum goal was to break 3 hours and I had to make that happen, so I figured I’d better put out as much energy and effort as I could, ideally without being stupid about it. Carrying more calories than I needed was reassuring at this point. If it turned out I was working hard enough to need more, I had them. I also had some caffeinated calories. Since I don’t drink coffee or consume much in the way of caffeinated stuff, these give me a little boost as long as I don’t have more than 25-30mg of caffeine at a time (I learned that having more actually makes me feel sleepy and terrible - let’s just say that wasn’t fun to learn during the latter part of a 50k trail race).

For some reason I tend to feel good somewhere between miles 16 and 18 when I run marathons. I reminded myself of this when I hit the mile 16 marker and convinced myself I must be feeling good or at least would be at any moment. It was also around this time I started passing women - and men - who had been quite a bit ahead of me. I tried to gain energy from every pass and use it to propel me forward faster.

When I hit mile 18, things got serious. With 8 miles to go, I knew I still had quite a distance to cover, but also knew it was less than an hour and that I could be strong for that amount of time. I decided to go all in and push hard. Mind you, it was still windy and, even more than before, I was on my own into the wind. I was bearing down, breathing hard (and loud), not allowing myself to give a second to the conditions.

And it worked! Every time I took a split, I’d be surprised at the time I saw on my watch. I was hitting my goal pace! How was this possible? Every mile gave me more confidence and helped me continue to push hard.

Finish stretch! PC: Amon Mende

At mile 19 I finally took off my gloves - thick gloves I would never consider wearing on a run that I figured I’d toss a mile in (I wanted to go back and get them, they were great)! It felt good to let the sun and wind hit my hands. We were out in the open with the sun on us with very few or no shady spots left. It was perfect - minus the wind.

Except for the last mile, the last 4-ish miles felt like they were close to 100% into a headwind. That plus a couple of hills made for a couple of much slower miles. I didn’t care, I was giving all I had. Well, mostly…I do recall some time between miles 23 and 25 where I realized I wasn’t pushing as hard as I had been earlier. Once I realized that, I got mad at myself and dug deeper. Despite my renewed efforts, the slight uphills were made more difficult due to my tight right hamstring. That coupled with the nasty headwind and no one to hide behind continued to make for slow splits.

Finally, I had less than 1.5 miles to go. This was where Anna and I had run to two days earlier while scoping out the finish stretch. That practice paid off again and I told myself that even though the last part would be windy (experienced it Friday and was told that by multiple other folks who had run the race previously), it was flat and I was almost done so I had to give everything.

Turns out the last mile-ish was almost not windy at all - what a nice surprise! My mile splits show I took full advantage of this. My last mile was my fastest by almost 20 seconds! It didn’t hurt that there were a couple of women to catch, including one who had clearly been WAY ahead of me and was now struggling. I knew it didn’t mean a lot to pass someone who was clearly having such a rough go, but I also knew this woman was fast and I was going to pass her with all I had. Any extra motivation at the end of a race is helpful.

I passed her right around the “1/2 mile to go” sign (thank you for that sign!). I tried to push even harder, quickly realizing I only had one gear left, which was for a sprint and it’s not possible to sprint a half mile. I kept pushing hard, giving the best effort I could muster. I was digging deep! I could feel my pace and effort ebb and flow. I was continually telling myself that I needed every second as I had no idea what time I was on pace to hit.

“.2 to go.” Thank goodness for this sign! I pushed harder. Finally I could see the clock. It said “2:57:xx.” What?! I thought I was barely squeaking under 3! Go! Go! Go! Dig deeper, run faster! Break 2:58! I didn’t break into a full on sprint (having a woman right ahead of me to catch or coming up behind me would’ve been the necessary motivation for that kind of effort at that point), but I quickened my turnover and approached the finish line with excitement and a sense of calm because I knew I was going to break 2:58. YES!!! I did it!

My second half ended up only 20 seconds slower than my first half!

Postrace

While I was walking away from the finish with all the other marathoners and half marathoners, like cattle towards the barn, I started to tear up. Here I was all by myself, didn’t hit the time I really wanted, didn’t run an impressive time in the grand scheme of women’s marathons or even in the grand scheme of my marathon career, but I felt incredibly proud of my effort. I also knew this was the fastest I had run in a long time. It was also the strongest I had felt in years - physically and mentally. I really wanted to share this moment with someone - ideally Uli - but I was alone amongst hundreds of people. What a roller coaster ride of emotions!

Less than a year ago I was questioning whether I would ever be able to train well and race strong again (heck, I was even questioning that in the early miles of this race). Was I never going to run sub-3 again? What about my loftier goals? What was the point of continuing to figuratively hit my head against a brick wall training hard and trying to do every. little. thing. right as one must do when trying to maximize their abilities in the sport they have chosen to pursue? It takes so much effort, energy, and focus and I was becoming convinced it was all for naught.

Instead, I ran a big masters PR, the fastest time I have in a long time (I decided I didn’t really want to figure out how long it had been), and proved to myself that I can still get uncomfortable and really push myself. I gained confidence in my body and my mind; confidence I haven’t had in at least 3-4 years. I don’t know if it’s a comeback, but at least it’s a solid foundation upon which I’m excited to build.

The Road to a Marathon PR Paved, In Part, by Taylor Swift

This is Steidl Running athlete Greg Miller’s insightful and fun account of his PR race at the NYC Marathon:

As the sun made its way over the horizon and began to peek through the cables of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, I had two thoughts running through my mind: “Hopefully it starts to warm up a bit,” and “man, my friends would give me a pretty hard time if they knew I was sitting here listening to Taylor Swift.” The first thought is easy to explain. Even with layers of “throw clothes” covering my singlet and inappropriately short shorts, Staten Island is cold on an early November morning. The second is a bit trickier...

The Taylor Swift album “1989” had become my unlikely training partner leading up to the New York City Marathon. Under normal circumstances, you’d find Led Zeppelin, The White Stripes, or something of that nature queued up on my playlist heading out the door for a run. At least when I’m not seeking solitude (leaving my headphones behind) or engrossed in some podcast or audio book. But compared to the past few years of running, the buildup to NYC was far from “normal” in a number of ways.

For starters, I began working with Trisha back in July, focused on some big goals. I’d come agonizingly close to breaking three hours at the California International Marathon at the end up 2018 (3:02:22), and after seeing significant improvements in each marathon I’d raced for the first couple years of training, I’d plateaued—and I was frustrated. I wanted to shake things up. I wanted to get faster. I wanted to break three hours.

Enter Trisha and cue the “shakeup.” In my first training log entry, Trisha wrote about the need for “blind faith” in all the changes we were going to make, and that it was going to be a “big transition” from what I’d been doing. She delivered on that promise, and I had a blast! I could feel my fitness rapidly improving, and by the time I started tapering for NYC, I was confident. I was ready to go have a big race. I believed in the training and I was ready to “trust myself” as Trisha instructed. I was also hooked on Taylor Swift.

The 1989 album by Taylor Swift begins with a song called “Welcome to New York.” This struck a chord for obvious reasons and I found myself coming back to this album over-and-over during my training. “You can tell me when it’s over if the high was worth the pain,” Taylor sings on one of the tracks. I mean come on, this is clearly an album meant for distance runners! Plus, I’ve danced to “Shake It Off” with my three-year-old daughter more than I might like to admit. So there I was, waiting around on Staten Island for my corral to open, listening to Taylor Swift. Who’d have guessed? (For the record, I don’t race with headphones. The atmosphere at NYC is incredible and shouldn’t be missed with headphones in. I found a 20-pack of cheap earbuds for $15 and I bring a pair with me to the race start, tossing them in a donation bin before entering my corral.)

The gun went off and we all surged forward. Somehow I got to start at the front of the first wave, right at the tip of a 53,000+ mass of runners all ready to tackle 26.2 miles through the five boroughs of New York City. I looked to my right and saw the professional men’s pace car take off followed by the lead pack (NYC has three start lines side-by-side, meaning the professional men start right next to everyone else). It was surreal watching some of the who’s who of distance running pass by, right on the other side of a waist-high lane divider. I took a deep breath to settle down, and reminded myself of the plan: consistent 6:40 - 6:45 splits all the way to mile 20, then see if I can speed up a bit. “Settle into a rhythm and run your own race” was my mantra going up-and-over that first bridge.

The first 20 miles were pretty uneventful, as hoped. I knew Trisha would be tracking me, and I sure didn’t want to explain myself if I went out faster than planned. It became a game of how close I could come to 6:40 min/mile pace on each split. Mile-by-mile, the race flew by. About 10km in, I started thinking about how well the day was going and how it might be a really big day for me. Each time that happened, I reminded myself to stay in the mile I was in and not think ahead. “Just hit your split for this mile.” I focused on form and made sure I was staying relaxed, hydrated and taking gels on time. I soaked in the incredible environment and crowd support of the NYC Marathon.

Mile 16 brings runners from Queens to Manhattan, going up-and-over the Queensboro Bridge—the second of the more significant bridges on the course. I knew this climb was going to be tough, but when I split my watch at mile 16, coming down the backside of the bridge into Manhattan—and saw a 6:44—I allowed myself a little celebration. I knew it was going to be a big day for me. The crowd support coming off that bridge and into Manhattan is unreal. It’s one of the loudest points on the course, and after the silence of the bridge, it’s almost disorienting. I gave myself permission to soak it in for about 10 seconds, waving my arms in an attempt to get the crowd even louder (this works and it’s pretty amazing to interact with the crowd in this way—highly recommended even if you look a bit silly in the race photos after). Then I got back to focusing on the mile I was in, not letting myself get carried away.

The last six miles of NYC are tough, with some of the more significant hills coming late in the race. My early thoughts of speeding up gave way to thoughts of just maintaining my pace. Each mile felt progressively harder, requiring more-and-more effort and focus to hold on. Reflecting back on my training, I told myself, “This is just another fast-finish long run. Finish strong!”

By mile 25, with my body screaming at me to stop, I just kept thinking, “What’s one more mile after all those months of training?” I reminded myself that I chose to be there and focused on being grateful for that moment. There are loads of people out there that would love to run NYC and there I was, coming down the home stretch through Central Park. I had to make the most of it! When I looked up and saw the “800m to go” sign I kicked with everything I had left. I imagined, “Just two more laps around the track and you’re done! Finish this thing!”

Looking up before the finish line and seeing a time that started with a “2” was super emotional. It hit me all at once: how hard I’d worked for this and how much support I had from family, friends and Trisha getting here. I put my hands over my mouth in disbelief and bounded across the line with an official time of 2:56:05. I’d had a really big day!

I met up with my wife and friends after the race and hobbled around the city eating everything that got in my way before flying home to Seattle. Now it’s time to recover and set my sights on the next race. The California International Marathon is only one month out and I have plenty more big goals. I guess I’ll have to find a new training partner though; I don’t think Taylor has written “Welcome to Sacramento” yet…

Colin's Incredible First 50

HERE’S A RACE REPORT FROM STEIDL RUNNING ATHLETE COLIN MITCHELL ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCE AT THE 2019 WY’EAST WONDER 50 MILE:

Waking up race morning I felt a jumble of emotions course through me, excitement, nerves, fear and oddly, confidence. As I donned my race day attire, laced up my shoes, and did a last check of my gear, I realized 6 months of intervals, hill repeats, and “easy” runs had prepared me both physically and mentally for my first 50 mile race.

Boarding the shuttle to the race start, it was obvious everyone around me was going through the same range of emotions and were coping in different ways. Many people were quiet and reserved, inwardly reflecting, but a few were boisterous and chatting. I found myself on the reflective side as I visualized how it would feel to cross the finish line. Thinking through all the decisions I would need to make to ensure a successful race and repeating the words Trisha said the night before, “Be patient, be strong and be relentless.” Before I knew it, the bus pulled up to the start line and the nerves crept back into the pit of my stomach.

After a few deep breaths and a quick bathroom stop, I took off for my warm-up run. It was incredible how quickly my nerves faded away once I started moving. It was easy to convince myself this was just another run, one more to the hundreds I had completed over the last few months of training. By the time I returned to the start I was excited to see how far I could push myself. After a quick race report from the organizers, we queued up, counted down, and were off. As simple as that, the race has finally started.

Photo provided by Colin Mitchell

I knew the first 20 miles of the race had the majority of the climbing, so I exercised patience, following the lead of the runners around me and walking some of the first steep hills. As the pack started to thin and my legs warmed up I found myself running at longer and longer stretches. I constantly reminded myself the day had only begun, so I kept to whatever pace felt natural, slowing through the climbs, flowing through the flats and declines. As I got into a rhythm my mind went blissfully blank, relishing the sights and sounds of the Cascades, loving the feeling of movement in my body, and downing a gel each time my wrist buzzed. As the miles ticked off, I began to get excited about seeing my family at the aid station.

Passing through the aid station at 20 miles I felt in control of the race, my legs felt great, my stomach was behaving and I was enjoying the experience. My family helped me through the aide station in what felt like moments, restocking my gels, filling my water and spraying me down. I left the aid station with confidence, with little understanding of what the next 30 miles had in store.

Just before the next aid station at Mile 24, as I guzzled the last bit of water I had in my pack, I realized how hot the day had become. Being a heavy sweater the heat started to make me nervous. After I refilled at the aid station, I made a mental note to to try and conserve water, but the next thing I knew, I was out of water again. I quickly realized a battle against dehydration had begun as I consistently failed to stretch my water between aide stations. As my body started reacting to the dehydration, I felt my mental fortitude slipping. My legs started to feel heavy and the gels made my stomach feel like I swallowed a cannonball. Luckily, Trisha’s words to be relentless were key to pushing myself through the discomfort. Taking occasional walking breaks to lower my heart rate and reset my body enabled me to keep moving towards the finish despite the growing fatigue.

PC: Rachel Vranizan

As I staggered back through Mile 40 and saw my family again, it was like having a reset button. It is incredible how much their encouragement rekindled my energy and gave me the strength to finish. It helped me remember this race was about pushing myself and enjoying the experience of what I was capable off. I took off with confidence that I could finish, but fully aware that it would be painful. The last few miles of the course were completely downhill as the trail dropped from the ridge line to the valley. I kept reminding myself that if I was strong enough to make it this far, the last few miles would be nothing. As my legs slowed I kept wishing the next turn would reveal the finish. As my legs gave their last gasp, I rounded the final bend and emerged into the finish clearing. Crossing the finish line, I couldn’t believe that I was finally finished. With my head still reeling from dehydration and exhaustion, it took a few moments for reality to set in, that after months of training I had final accomplished my goal, I had completed a 50 mile race. Though my body and mind felt completely depleted, I couldn’t help wonder if maybe next time I could go just a little bit further.

Catching Up on Race Reports

Things with Steidl Running have been going well. Those I am coaching have been training and racing well, the roster is nearly full, and the seminars have received overwhelmingly positive feedback. With that plus my own running training, taking care of the responsibilities of the many other hats I wear, training our puppy, and making time for friends and family - I’m not complaining as these are all great things - I’ve been lax about keeping my blog up-to-date.

I’ve competed in four races since I last blogged. Here’s a recap!

Vancouver Marathon

As positive as I tried to be heading to the start line of this race, it wasn’t my day. So many reasonable excuses: Ridiculously windy, kilometer marks were incorrectly posted along the course, fairly hot conditions, and a big time bathroom stop. None of these were in my control, but that didn’t stop me from being illogically upset about it all (fortunately, I am a better coach than athlete :) ).

Additionally, I knew that despite trying my best to rectify things, what had occurred leading up to the race didn’t set me up for success either.

After - and even during - the race, I couldn’t have been more disappointed. I had trained hard and consistently only to run a time that was significantly slower than where I felt was my level of fitness. As an invited athlete, a representative of my club, myself, and my business, I also felt a sense of embarrassment and that I had let people down.

Go get that last woman!
PC: Sophia Liu

It helped to hear some of the other invited athletes talk about how tough the conditions were for them as well - I wasn’t just imagining it! - and how they ran significantly slower than they had expected. Finishing 10th overall (just amongst the elite entries I was slated to finish 11th, not taking into account all the other fast women toeing the start line that day) and 2nd masters also lessened the disappointment.

The best part of the race was the final 5k wherein I had the opportunity to finally compete! Another masters woman passed me, so I kept right behind her; another woman was up ahead as well. I stayed right behind the masters woman and with 3k to go, dropped the hammer and knew I would have to give everything I had those final <2 miles to beat her and catch the next woman. i passed both women and had no idea whether they were trying to stay with/catch me because it was too windy to hear breathing and footsteps and I wasn’t about to look back. Eyes and energy forward! I felt strong and confident that they wouldn’t catch me.

…and then there was another woman up ahead. My friend was on the side of the course yelling at me about how tired that woman looked and how I’m strong on the uphills and to, “Go. Get. HER!!!” Well, shoot. I didn’t want to get her. That meant digging even deeper and I was already digging deep. But my competitive drive couldn’t let her go, so dig deeper I did. While I didn’t feel strong going uphill, I caught her with 500m to go and ran as fast as I could. I ended up beating them all to the finish, earning me the coveted top-10 placement. Racing is fun.

Rhody Run 12k

The Rhody Run is the one race Uli and I make sure to attend every year. No matter where we are or how we’re feeling, we do everything in our power to be at this event. It’s a wonderful, small town race that is well organized, fun to run, and we get to have a reunion with many of our friends.

The race was two weeks after Vancouver and while I recovered quickly from the marathon, my legs were tired from having done a very challenging workout a few days earlier. On top of that, it was quite windy this year, which had a significant impact on the times. My energy was good and I felt strong, but I wasn’t able to run fast. I finished 6th overall and clinched the top masters spot feeling satisfied with the effort.

As always, it was fun to catch up with many of our friends and enjoy the beautiful area that is Port Townsend. Thanks again for another great year!

Whistler 30k

Until last year, I had never been to Whistler. It is a beautiful area with so much to do and see; I could happily spend a good chunk of time there checking out all the trails.

The Whistler Half Marathon (as the event is officially named) is actually comprised of four race distances: 5k, 10k, half marathon, and 30k. The races are a mix of pavement and trail. Unlike last year, the sun was shining and the skies were clear, showing off beautiful mountain views that were not visible last year.

The half marathon and 30k start together and run a majority of the half marathon course together until they split with about 2 miles left to go in the half and shortly before the 18k mark of the 30k. This is fun because it provides more people to race with than if the two distances started separately. Like last year, I found myself primarily racing with women in the half. To my surprise, at about 7k into the race there is an out-and-back section where I learned I was in the lead for the 30k and already had a significant lead over the second place woman. There were three half marathon women ahead of me, with two of them not far ahead, so I kept my eyes on them. I caught the two shortly before the 10k mark and never saw them again, while the first place half marathon woman was too far ahead to see. From here on out, it was a race against myself and the clock.

Thank goodness the finish is near. Last year at this point I looked and felt so much stronger.
PC: Uli Steidl

From the start I was feeling better than I had felt for any race this year. What a wonderful feeling. I was thinking to myself, “I do have good fitness. I knew it! Finally it is coming out to play. I am so happy to be feeling this way. Enjoy it while you’ve got it, Trisha.” Remembering that I was in the middle of three races in 4 weeks and that this was a 30k, I made sure to keep it calm early in the race. Running felt smooth, quick, and completely comfortable, and I was able to cheer on those I saw in the three sections where there are out-and-backs.

Despite the fact that I’m usually spot on with sticking to my race nutrition schedule, for some (dumb) reason this day I decided not to eat my last gel. Bad idea. On top of that, I had been feeling really thirsty. Those who know me know that I don’t need to drink much when I race, so when I felt like dunking my face into a creek flowing alongside the course so I could drink out of it (I did not actually do this), I knew something wasn’t right. I realized that sitting in the hot car significantly longer than expected on the drive to Whistler and not drinking or eating enough in part due to that was now hitting me like a ton of bricks. …or should I say lead because that’s what my legs were starting to feel like.

I’m usually a strong closer and last year I smoked the last 3k. This year was the complete opposite. With 8k to go, I felt great. With 7k to go, I felt like death. It hit that hard and quickly. I was barely moving the last 7k and it was seriously all I could do to keep myself from stopping to walk, but there was no way I wasn’t going to win this race after being in the lead the entire time. Fortunately for me, I had created enough of a gap earlier on that I was able to cross the finish line in first. (This is one of the only times in my life I was happy the race wasn’t longer.)

It felt good to hang on for the win. I wasn’t too upset about how my race finished up because I knew it was due to things completely within my control that I could easily change in future races. I was still really happy with how good I had felt early on and that gave me confidence as I pondered the bigger picture of my future goals.

Fragrance Lake Half Marathon

Initially the Fragrance Lake Half was scheduled to take place in February. Due to some serious snow and ice that caused portions of the course to be inaccessible in case of emergency, the race was postponed until June. This happened last year as well, though due to different circumstances, and I was unable to make the postponed date, so I was excited that this year the timing worked out.

The half marathon course has 3300’ of elevation gain (and loss) and most of the gain is in the first 6-7 miles, so it’s quite hilly. Having been focused on road marathon training since mid-February, I hadn’t been doing much at all in the way of hill running or even trail running for that matter. Because of that, I knew this course was going to be tough for me. Additionally, my SRC-Brooks teammate, Jenny, is a strong uphill runner, which meant this was going to be an interesting race.

Ugh, when will I be done with all these stairs?!
PC: Uli Steidl

From the gun, I was in second place to a local woman, and was soon in third place after Jenny passed me going up Cleator Road, my legs clearly feeling that I hadn’t done uphill training in months. I was able to keep the two women in sight heading up and around Fragrance Lake and eventually passed the local woman near the base of the long uphill after Fragrance Lake. For quite awhile I could see Jenny up ahead, then all of a sudden she was gone! For a minute I wondered if she took a wrong turn (I knew the course well from racing and training on those trails over the past 15+ years), but the course was well-marked so I figured that could’t be it. Simply put, she was motoring up the hills, loving every step, whereas my legs were wondering WTF was going on, especially going up those stairs (I despise stairs).

At the aid station, which is around mile 7, Uli told me I was 1:20 behind Jenny. I was actually surprised it wasn’t more. I wasn’t sure how good she was at more technical terrain, but I am extremely familiar with this section and knew I had to push it here if I had any hopes of trying to catch up.

By the end of the ridge trail, I could see Jenny and figured she was about 20-30 seconds ahead. I had made up some serious ground! That was motivating. We made a sharp turn to the left and were running on a smooth trail that was generally either flat or slightly downhill. I used this opportunity to quicken my turnover and hoped I could take the lead. It’s always a little weird passing a friend. I told her good job and that she was a beast up those hills! She was kind in return. I had no idea how she was feeling or how the rest of the race would go. I only knew that most of the rest of the way was downhill or flat and that I’d better do all I could to create a gap.

Awesome being on the podium with my teammate!
PC: Uli Steidl

I ran down the hills pretty close to as fast as I could, feeling fortunate that a hip flexor issue I had been dealing with surprisingly wasn’t getting too bad since the downs are what had been causing the most irritation to the area in previous runs. I crossed the finish line in first and we secured a 1-2 SRC finish with Jenny coming in soon after. Go Team Blue!

It felt good to win two very different races on back-to-back weekends and I was also excited to start some time off after having raced so much. I am looking forward to building on top of what I’ve gained over the past year as I realized at the Whistler 30k that it had been not-quite one year since I had gotten over my three-year long hamstring injury. I can’t wait to see what I can do in another year from now, assuming I can continue to stay healthy and train consistently like I have this past year - fingers crossed!!

Anna's Brush with Fame at the Capital City Half

Here’s a race report from Steidl Running athlete Anna MCCONNELL about her experience at the 2019 Capital City Half Marathon:

Had a really good day today and felt strong for the whole race. Went out a little fast for the first mile, had a brief “oh shit” panic moment, but told myself to just correct it and move on and thought, “Trisha said to be patient -- this is when to do that.” About mile 4, I saw another woman within a quarter mile and knew I wanted to pass her, so I slowly worked my way up. I was kind of hoping to work together for a bit, but I think she got nervous when she noticed me and put in a few surges that I knew were too early. I kept working my way back up to her, not ready to move around her and just let her do the work while tiring herself out by surging. I knew once I decided to pass her I was committing to dropping my pace.  I went by her at the halfway point, got kind of nervous and unsure if I could keep it up for the rest of the race AND try to run a fast final 5k. I mentally landed on, “Trisha said fierce, this is probably time for that.” Apparently I listen to you. :)

I let myself cruise down the long hill at mile 8 and considered it a “free mile” and a way to prepare for the hill that is basically all of mile 9. I felt strong up the hill and was running with some guy. We caught up to a couple other guys, and my plan was to attach myself to them and just let them do the work up the hill. Then, the person I was running with said to the others, "Hey guys, let her through” (thanks, I guess?). This derailed my plan a little, but I just said to myself, “OK I guess I'm going,” ran ahead, and stayed pretty steady for the hill. My new escort was coaching me a little, which was obviously unsolicited, but turned out to actually be kind of helpful. And I'm also surprised I wasn't completely annoyed. When we were cresting the hill he reminded me to not back off and this was the time to go leading into the final 5k (I'm guessing he could have been running harder himself since he was talking at me, but whatever).  

I started to really push, running away from my adviser. I could sense a couple people coming up on me -- it turned out to be Joan Benoit Samuelson and her daughter! I thought something like, “Well, if anyone is going to pass me, I'm OK with that.” But then I quickly switched it to thinking I would probably never get this chance again, I should at least try because “Hey, why can’t I stick with them?” and maybe I can learn something from racing an Olympian/badass running legend. I ran right with them from about mile 10.5-ish to mile 12, and it was crazy. Usually when I'm racing with people, I can feel them (and myself) kind of back off on the little rollers and turns, and it's a weird game of who is kicking too early and a lot of back-and-forth. But Joan and Abby were non-stop pressing and steadily cranking it up. I had the thought of, “Trisha said relentless. That's what they're doing. I should go too.” They broke away from me a little at mile 12, but I regained some ground during the last stretch and finished pretty close.  Joan greeted me at the end and told me I got her to actually race today knowing that I was right there -- definitely one of the coolest experiences of my running life. I'm A LITTLE frustrated that they bumped me out of the top 3.  But I'm OK with it.  

Overall, a really good day, and I feel a kind of sense of relief getting to race and run in the way I know how.  I was very disappointed and kind of heartbroken after Boston (your newsletter was once again very timely for me), so today just felt really needed.  And it was so nice to have fun with it.

This was also almost a 4.5 min CR for me and almost a 45 second PR.    

Continual Learning

Training for the Vancouver Marathon was going really well. My easy runs were faster while staying easy, my body was feeling good, week after week I was able to run longer intervals on the track at the same pace and effort as I had for shorter ones…I was firing on all cylinders. And I wasn’t taking a moment of it for granted.

As is typical when an athlete is pushing their body, usually I have some sort of niggle. This time things were feeling smooth and the niggles were fewer. Having dealt with two partially torn hamstrings last year and wondering if I’d ever be able to consistently train again, much less run fast, this felt like a dream. I was thankful everyday for what my body and diligence (with the help of Dr. Zach) was allowing me to do. I even allowed myself to start thinking more realistically about big goals I had pushed aside.

All good things come to an end.

During my big mileage/training weeks, things were feeling good and I was running strong. Until I wasn’t. It was fairly easy for me to figure out why the wheels felt like they were falling off. It’s normal to feel fatigued and crappy when doing your hardest training. Having run for as long as I have, I know my body well and I could tell this wasn’t normal fatigue. It was my body no longer recovering well. I wanted the confidence boost that comes with hitting high mileage, but during my final week of big training, I realized being stubborn about hitting the mileage wasn’t valuable. I wasn’t going to get faster by digging a bigger hole, but I could ruin everything I had worked so hard for if I stuck to the plan. Instead of running my last big week as planned, I ran 10-13 miles less. I was determined to be smart and back off. Still getting in decent mileage and a final, solid long run including a half marathon race), I wasn’t going to let this get me down.

Just before the big hill at the Whidbey Island Half Marathon.

What I figured out was that I wasn’t consuming enough calories to support the high mileage and two speed workouts a week I was doing. Mostly this was due to laziness. When I get tired and hungry, the last thing I want to do is make food. That means I’m not eating enough, so my body doesn’t rebuild well, I don’t sleep well, my body doesn’t recover well, and so on. The important lesson I learned is that I need to be willing to spend extra money on food when I’m in a heavy training block. Going to PCC (Seattle’s version of Whole Foods before Whole Foods existed) to buy healthful, premade food is worth the time and money. The mental anguish that has come from not doing this has cost me far more, not in dollars and cents, but in worry, stress, frustration, and likely, performance (which could end up impacting the dollars and cents part, too). I know this now and will be sure to follow through in future big training blocks.

In addition to figuring out the problem, I realized that damage control was necessary. I had been contemplating starting my taper one week earlier than usual anyway, now it was a necessity. A lot can happen in three weeks, so I focused on that. Trying to stay positive, but being realistic about what was truly possible, I have focused on doing all I can to put myself in a good place: eating enough and healthfully, doing all of the important “little things” to the best of my ability, and simply running less.

My race is this Sunday so the jury is out on whether this worked. And what will that even look like? I’m scared and excited about the race at the same time. Road marathons are relentless and unforgiving. They really are an incredible test of fitness, a smart race plan (and following said plan), will, and determination. I’ve had to adjust my goals for this race, knowing that I have lost some of the speed and strength I had a few weeks ago. I am also hopeful that having made smart adjustments soon after I realized things were going south will lead me to a better result than I might otherwise have had. We’ll see. No matter what, I have learned a lot from this experience. I can run faster, my body does hold up well (as long as I feed it enough), and I’m already looking forward to building off of the training I’ve put in over the past few months.

Vancouver Marathon, here I come. Ready or not.

2019 US 50k Trail National Championships

FOURmidable/US 50k Trail National Championships Race Report

The evening before the race I was still trying to decide what to wear. Rain was forecast along with morning temps in the upper-30s. Would some sections be windy? Rain and 30s is already a recipe for cold. Adding the potential for wind, a known creek crossing, and being out there for a few hours means potentially getting really cold. No wind changes things significantly and little or no rain does, too. Racing for hours can heat you up, especially when the course has four significant climbs, adding up to ~6000’ of elevation gain. What’s a racer to wear?!

Sweet race bib

Along with wearing my trusty Brooks Mazama shoes, I ended up choosing a light-but-still-warm long-sleeve (of which I cannot roll up the sleeves because they are too tight) with my singlet underneath, capris, and gloves, plus my race vest to carry my gels and some water.

After a brief warm up and one last porta potty stop, I did a couple strides and went to the start line. I chatted briefly with the lady next to me and then the countdown began. Strangely, I wasn’t nervous (unlike one of the ladies standing near me who looked petrified). I don’t know if it was because I have run so many races or because I knew my training hadn’t been ideal, but I knew I was as prepared as I was going to be and being nervous wasn’t going to change anything for the better.

As the race started, I reminded myself that I needed to run my own race. Generally one of my strengths, I didn’t do a good job of that at the 50k championships in August and I was determined to do so this time. Having been warned that people bomb down the first downhill and not wanting to blow my quads up early I kept things calm, but strong. This also meant I ended up being alone.

On the first climb, I caught up to and passed a few guys. Some of the guys and I ended up forming a pack for a few miles. During that time, the guys nicknamed me “The Little Climber.” It was fun to have a group, but I had hoped to be around some women and none were in sight in either direction.

The middle of the race was a jumble of things with none of it being particularly exciting. There was some mud, SO MUCH WATER, and still no women. I continued to play leap frog with one of the guys from the earlier pack. Every downhill he would eventually catch up and pass me and every uphill I would eventually catch up and pass him. It was nice to have that friendly face there, but still no women.

Shortly after mile 17 I was completely alone. Now it was even more important to keep pushing. I had continued to remind myself that I didn’t know what was going on ahead of or behind me. If I didn’t stay focused to keep pushing hard, I might not catch a lady ahead who I couldn’t see who was faltering. And I sure didn’t want anyone creeping up from behind!

Early in the race with my pack.
A taste of how wet the trails were.

This section was ridiculously wet. It had been wet earlier - including the creek crossing I had been warned about around mile 12-13 and  the one I didn’t have a clue about that was thigh-high (and, fortunately for me, they put up a rope to hang onto by the time I came through– but that didn’t hold a candle to the amount of water we would encounter on the trails in this section. Every trail was a creek, flat sections were ponds, and there were bridges that lead you over water only to end in another “pond.” At one point (ok, this happened more than once), I exasperatedly said out loud to myself, “You’ve got to be kidding! No more water!”
There was more water.

Just before the second-to-the-last aid station, there were people standing, yelling at me to, “Go to your right! Go as far to your right as you can!” I did what they said and only ended up going through water that was knee deep, unlike my SRC teammate Evan who apparently went for a swim here earlier. As I emerged from the water hole, a lady told me I was the 6th woman. “That’s impossible,” I said in response. I had been in 9th place since mile 2 and hadn’t passed, been passed, or even seen a woman since then. There was no way three women ahead of me had dropped out. They again told me I was in 6th and that the 5th place woman wasn’t too far ahead and she looked terrible.

The aid station was a bit past this area and as I ran past I asked, “Am I really in 6th place?!” Someone yelled back, “Yes! Go get her!” And again, I said out loud, “That just can’t be.” Buuuut, I also knew it was wet, slippery, and muddy in spots. Maybe it was possible that a few women had to drop out due to taking a weird step in the wet, bumpy grass and mud. I didn’t think it was true, but if it was, the top 5 earn prize money and if the lady ahead was feeling like crap, I was going to hunt her down and pass her!

More water awaited on the trails, making it that much more difficult to pick up the pace. I was still alone and in some sections I could see 3 or 4 minutes ahead. No terrible-feeling woman was in sight. No man – feeling good or bad – was in sight. No one. It was just me and the creeks, er, trails. At one place, three people were standing next to the trail. I sarcastically asked, “Is it always this wet here?” “NO!!!!” they exclaimed. I laughed as I ran off, tromping through more wet trails.

I didn’t see any racers again until I was running through the ankle deep water on No Hands Bridge. Up ahead was someone in a teal singlet. It must be the woman! I’m going to go get her! There’s only 4 miles left! I had no reason to believe it was a woman, other than having been told long ago that I was chasing one down and I really wanted this person to be her.

When I finally caught up, I felt let down when I realized it was a guy. That woman who looked terrible so long ago must not have felt *that* terrible or she had been so far ahead of me that it didn’t matter (never trust people who say, “She’s just up ahead a little.”). Incredibly disheartening. I again reminded myself that it was the last few miles of a hilly and wet 50k and I’d better keep on it because the last few miles of a 50k are tough anyway and there were still two pretty demanding uphills to go, so it was still possible that “The Little Climber” could still catch someone.

I also had no idea who was behind me and how close they were. I knew Bree Lambert was back there somewhere. She’s a fast, tough masters runner and I didn’t want to get caught in the last few miles and end up not defending my masters title from last year after being in the lead for so long.

At this point, I started to feel hungry and thirsty. The sun decided to show itself a bit and, having chosen to wear a black long-sleeve with tight arms, I couldn’t roll up my sleeves. Go away sun! This section was dry (yes, dry!), open, and I was nearing the end of a long race with steep climbing ahead. I didn’t need to get too warm now.

Finally, I saw a woman ahead – for real this time! Unfortunately, she was walking. She is a crazy fast runner and was walking, so I knew she was feeling terrible (mad respect for walking it in). I stupidly said, “Good job,” when I went by because I was tired and couldn’t think of anything else to say. (Yes, it would’ve been better to not have said anything at all. I immediately regretted saying it.)

After I passed her I wondered, was I in 5th or 8th place now? Who knows? All I knew is that I was going downhill again. That meant the upcoming uphill section was going to be even steeper. And it was quite steep. At one point I tried fast hiking (which I never do) to see if it was more efficient. It wasn’t and it didn’t feel good, so I went back to “running.”

As I neared the finish line, there was a trail to the right and a trail going up. The lady I talked with at the start had told me that the end was convoluted and they made you run around the finish line before crossing it, so I thought I probably had to go to the right. I was trying to break 5 hours and my watch said 4:59, so I was getting close! Fortunately, two ladies were sitting there. “Which way do I go?!?!” “Go straight up!” “Thank you,” I huffed as I pushed up, crossing the finish line in 4:59:14.

Did I finish in 5th or 8th? I had already prepared myself not to get excited. I’m good at counting what place I’m in. No woman had passed me and I had only passed one, so I must have been in 8th. Sadly, nothing was announced as I came in other than my name and that I was from Seattle. What place was I?! Didn’t I just win the masters national championship?! A woman put a medal over my head and I somewhat frantically asked her, “What place did I finish?!” “I don’t know.” Pointing to the lady to her right who was writing on a clipboard she said, “She should know.” I again asked, “What place am I?” “I don’t know,” she replied (what was on the clipboard then?). Finally, a guy I had met the evening before came out of a tent near the finish to congratulate me. He gave me a big hug and I asked him, “Do you know what place I finished?!” He said he didn’t and went back into the tent to find out. He came out quickly and told me I was 7th.  7th?! That wasn’t one of the options. Was he sure? Yes. Was I the first masters woman? Let me check…Yes. Yes!!

US 50k National Championship Awards Ceremony

Uli hobbled over to hug and congratulate me, telling me how he finished. I waited for the lady behind me to finish and told her how much I respected her for finishing even though I could see it was a frustrating day for her. Soon after the guy I had played leap frog with for a few hours finished. We gave each other a hug. He asked me how I finished. I told him. As we walked away from the finish line he said, “My age group is the toughest. Uli’s in it and he can run a 2:19 marathon.” I cut him off. “Ha! No, he can’t anymore. He’s my husband, so I would know.” “You’re Trisha?!” “Um, yeah. What’s your name?” “I’m Scott Dunlap.” “No way! I finally get to meet you after knowing of you all these years.” What a small world.

SRC representin’ in CA!

Shortly after walking into the finish area tent, I learned that my teammate, Evan, had finished 3rd overall. Awesome!!! What an incredible showing by SRC! Third place male overall, 13th place male overall and 2nd masters, and 7th place female overall and 1st place masters. Go Team Blue!