The Race That Wasn't

I have this silly habit of checking my emails right when I wake up. It really helps me to get moving in the morning... maybe the retina burning brightness.

As I said, it's a silly habit, but it kept me from driving to Paris Mountain State Park for nothing, since the race had been cancelled earlier that morning, because it was storming all night and more storms were forecasted for the morning.

Can't say that I am mad about it. Also, I think it was the right decision, because the descent off Paris Mountain is daunting enough without wet roads. This is just the 3rd year for this event, but already the second time that it had to be postponed due to weather conditions. I would probably be mad, if I had been traveling for this race, but this way I just went straight back to my own bed.

In the meantime, the race director has communicated, that the registration can be rolled over to any SC series event for the remaining 2012 season or even next season. My first reaction was to sign up for the Greenville Sprint this Sunday, but I really don't like pool swims races and not feel like racing in general, so I might transfer the entry to next year. I have until Wednesday to decide, if I want to go for the Greenville sprint.

So instead of racing for 1.5 hours on Saturday, I decided to go for a 1.5 hour run.... and it was pretty miserable. This humidity really sucks all the life out of me. I was so happy, when I was finally done and was able to collapse on the couch for some extreme Olympics watching.

Sunday morning started with the Women's marathon at the Olympics, but fortunately, I had a bike date with a tri buddy of mine that forced me out of the door, so more wasted time on the couch could be avoided. We had a total of 50 miles on a hilly route on tab. Great conversation and bearable weather conditions made this ride just fly by.

Training wise, this week started off with bang. 7 miles track workout and a tough one too. After the warm-up it was intervals: 1x mile, 3x 1000 meters and 3x 400 meters. I looked like I took the shower with my clothes on by the time I was done. The rest of the week will also be packed with big workouts, especially in the biking department, since I will miss out on biking while in Germany for two weeks. I just hope that the weather is going to cooperate with my plans!

Paris Mtn Sprinternational Bike Course Preview

Sometimes, the best laid plans fail. Good thing, that there is always option B... and option C is maybe a good idea as well.

So the original plan was to hit the Paris Mountain trails for a little off road action. After my complaints from last week, that I don't have a trail running buddy, Lindsay offered to join me. Unfortunately, we were not aware that the state park would not open until 8am and we stood in front of the locked gate at 6.30am. Option B was to head over to the Swampy and knock 4 miles out there... Run and done. Can't even remember the last time I ran with somebody, so that was definitely fun!

The original plan also consisted of the idea, to head out and do the Paris Mtn Sprinternal bike course, right after completing the run. But since the trail run didn't happen, I headed back home and got changed there and rode to the course from the house.

I intended to ride the course twice, but Coach Katie mentioned that the route can get pretty busy, so I wanted to keep the option of doing a complete second loop open.

As I mentioned above, I rode from the house and it's about two miles to the bottom of Altamont on the Furman side, where I would pick up the course. In the race, you don't hit this climb until mile 11, about half way through. Since I just started riding and was planning on doing the climb twice anyways, I took the first ascent fairly easy... If you can ever call a climb up Paris easy.


Paris Mtn Sprinternational Bike Course

 Within the first mile of the climb, I could see three riders a little up the road and while I wanted to take it "easy", if you see a rabbit, you might as well chase it. It took me a while to finally catch up with them and pass, only to drop my water bottle one minute later, having to stop and being passed by them and then the chase started all over. I caught two of them, but the third guy made it up Paris before me...Dang! First ascent in the books with 19m 44s.... I am happy with anything under 20 minutes on this climb.

I didn't take a break at the top, just kept on rolling... Boy, do I suck at descending. I think for me it's probably going to be more important to practice that descend, because you can lose a ton of time and it's basically for free, especially when you about killed yourself getting up the mountain. During this first descent, I also decided that I am going to use the road bike for that race. The roadie (I used the road bike on Saturday's ride) just corners better and the whole course is either up or down, so really not a lot of opportunities to utilize the aero bars.

So the next section I rode today would actually be the first 11 miles of the bike leg and it's no fun... And yes, the traffic was rough and made me rethink my decision to ride this thing twice. On top of an already difficult course, I made my life even harder by turning on "Little Texas" early and catch the climbs on that road as well. Good job, Kat. Quite honestly, I was pretty over the ride, by the time, I approached the Paris climb for the second time.

I was already tired and it had gotten really hot in the meantime... There were no rabbits anywhere, but funny enough, the climb didn't feel harder to me than the first time around. I hit the lap button at 19m 24s on the second ascent... goody goody.... Unfortunately, I descended even slower the second time around... Practice, practice and more practice.

Instead of completing the whole loop a second time, I opted to find an alternative route back to the house, to avoid some of the traffice and quite honestly, more of those hills. But I still wanted to hit my total of 40 miles for the day, so I hit up the Swampy for the second time, but this time on the bike. At this point, it must have been close to 11am and the trail was packed!!! No way to go fast with so many people around, but I was toast anyways, so I pedaled up to Travelers Rest on the trail and the looped back home on the road.

Bottom line: I am glad that I took the time to ride the course in advance, but it's not going to become a regular thing. Traffic on Mtn Creek Rd and State Park Rd is just way too heavy. I am certainly planning on putting Paris on the calendar more often and not only work on the climb, but really try to improve my descending skills as well.

Pretty Day Trail Running

What a pretty day it was today. Lucky me, the schedule was calling for a trail run with the dog and once the dog got all whiney in the house with pinned up energy and all, I finally made it on the upper loop trail in Paris Mtn State Park a little after 1PM.

It sure was beautiful and obviously, everyone else in Greenville had the same idea and with all the dodging for hikers, mountain bikers and other dogs, it was hard to get into a rhythm.

Those extra stops at least provided me with tons of opportunities to snap a couple of pictures to capture the run.

This was my first run since the race last Saturday and it felt pretty good. I am very happy about that, especially with Ragnar Relay Tennessee coming up next weekend.

The colors start to get really pretty in the Upstate, but I don't think it's already at it's peak. It's going to be interesting to see, how much we'll see of the fall foliage when traveling to Chattanooga and through Tennessee... Can you tell, that I start to get excited to spend 30 hours in a van with 5 of my team members???? Sleep deprivation, silly jokes, runner's poop talk and the smell that comes with running three times, don't get to shower and store you sweaty gear in the van as well. Are you jealous already?

Anyways, I ended up with 5.5 miles at a 12:30 pace, which isn't all that bad on the trail. I am okay with that. Added bonus: The dog is completely pooped right now... Glorious... I wonder, if this one is ever going to calm down.

Tri Relay and Paris VII/2011

Note: Yesterday, I promised the video from the Sunrise Track workout, but after watching the video last night, I decided not to waste your time. Maybe next time, the end result is a little more interesting.

*******************

Tri Relay

If you are a friend of mine on Facebook, you have already seen what I got in the mail last week:

So shiny!

TA-DAH... The award for 2nd in the 30-34 age group..... out of 4, but who's counting anyways! ;-)

I don't have conclusive proof, but I guess this little streamer has something to do with my newest "gig": Being the swimmer in a relay at the Off-Road Triathlon at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte NC.

When my friend asked me, she said it's a 750m river swim... After already committing, I read the description on the event webpage:

 AWESOME!!!! I guess, I am going to bust out my Vibrams and start doing swim-run-swim bricks! ;-)

"550 meters in the Catawba River followed by a 500 meter run then another 200 meters in the whitewater holding pond.  The swim across the lower holding pond is a straight line and is 200 meters."

Last year, we spend a day at the Whitewater Center* and I have a pretty good idea where I have to run in between the two swims and it's not going to be pretty! ;-)

*I just read the post from that day again and there was one picture of whitewater kayakers on the canal with the caption "This time we were just spectators... Next time, we'll be on the canal." Well, I won't be "on" the canal, but in the canal. Who would have thunk!


Paris VII/2011

In other news: I made it back on Paris Mountain for the first time since April... This climb just doesn't seem to get easier and of course, I haven't done any real climbing since Mount Mitchell, so I guess I can just be happy to be still alive... Oh and it was stinking hot last night too!! I had two water bottles for an 18 mile ride, that normally doesn't happen.

Not only did I climb Paris, but also did cadence drills while we were at it. Originally, I thought about doing the cadence drill (alternate between 75-80rpm and 90+rpm) and then roll down the mountain for recovery. But I was out there with some co-workers and wanted to stick to the group, so my recovery was still going up the mountain, but at a lower cadence (around 60rpm), waiting for the urge to throw up to subside and then start all over again. Good times!

On Monday, I am celebrating Independence Day by doing a 67 mile ride in the mountains, so I am glad that my legs still remember how to climb.

A big Week including Paris VI/2011

This post is going to be all over the place, I do have a lot of ground to cover because there wasn't much time for anything this week besides work and working out.... And working out I did.

It's Thursday evening now and I have logged 8 hours of physical activity since Monday. That also means that I have a huge pile of laundry sitting in the laundry room that desperately needs my attention and the house needs some TLC in general. Before I take care of my domestic diva duties, let me run down this week for you.

MONDAY - Rest and Walk

Desperately needed rest after our Mitchell attempt. I woke up sore, but after sitting on my butt for most of the day, I was also pretty stiff. To shake things out a little, I took the dog for a longer walk.

She gave me quite a scare, when she stepped into a bee and then ended up eating the bee. I already pictured her having an allergic reaction and me carrying a 50 pound dog home... At this point we were around a mile from the house. After some initial head shaking and paw licking, she was fine.

Ms Karma, looking a little dumb here.

TUESDAY - A.M. Swim, P.M. Ride

The swim on the training plan was quite a number and sounded scary hard, so I was relieved when the coach suggested to take it easier that day because of our long ride on Sunday. I ended up with 2,100 yards. On days like these, the cold pool is actually pretty enjoyable and I think it helps with the soreness.

At the top of Paris Mountain.

 For the ride, I decided to conquer Paris Mountain at least once and try for another time if I am feeling alright. I rode a 10 mile warm-up lap, then climbed Paris all the way up to the antennas. I took this whole ride pretty easy. Actually, I felt good once I was up, but I was loosing daylight fast, so instead of climbing it a second time, I took a couple of small detours on my way home to hit some shorter climbs. At home, I finished up the ride on the trainer, giving me around 2 hours of biking in total.

Looking up Paris Mountain on my way home.

WEDNESDAY - A.M. Run, P.M. Ride

I joined the team's track workout in the morning. The warm-up is running the two miles to the track and I was exhausted by the time I even got there. So once again, I got a modified workout and ran/ skipped 2 miles on the track and then another 2 miles back to the Y. While I was supposed to do 8 miles, 6 miles is pretty good before breakfast too! ;-)

For the afternoon ride, I selected a flatter route close to work. The ride had a couple of intervals, but was mostly just about being on the bike. I found a couple of nice roads to ride on, that I have never tried out before and that always makes me happy. Overall, I felt pretty good, just my neck is giving me some trouble due to the high mileage of the last week, I assume. Really makes me think to invest into a professional bike fitting, but if I want to do that, I need to pull the trigger fast in order to get it done in time for Mitchell and still have time to adjust to it.

THURSDAY - A.M. swim

Today I felt like my usual grumpy self again. The soreness and fatigue seemed to finally have given in under the pressure of training demands! ;-) We had a fun workout on schedule... If you ever feel like adding an extra layer of challenge to your swimming, just asked somebody to push down on your shoulders while you are treading water and then hang on to your ankles while you make it to the other wall of the pool. After that, swimming without a human anchor feels like nothing!!!!

Those blossoms are gone by now, but they were pretty while it lasted.

Okay, gotta go... I need to carbo load, because we have a 100 miles on the bike on tap for tomorrow. Hopefully the weather is going to halfway cooperate... Oh and there is also still the laundry waiting for me.

A Good Ol' Quad Pounding!

What do you do a day after a 65 mile bike ride with a couple of thousand feet of climbing? Get some more climbing in, but this time on foot... You know, to mix things up a little!

Because, I am really dreading running these days and the training plan allowed for trails, I picked out my favorite trails that just happen to be 10 minutes from the house to make the activity "running" more appealing to me.

And I took the doggy, because she has way too much energy and needed a good run to calm her down some... Besides, I feel more comfortable having a canine companion with me on these trails.

We got on the trails via the parking lot close to the Mountain Lake, then hit Sulphur, Fire Tower, Kanuga, North Lake, Pipsissewa and then Brissy Ridge to get to the top parking lot. I thought for a moment to go down on Sulphur again, but I was fading and the dog was fading, so we took the short cut and ran down the road instead of trails. The total was a little over six miles. Then we ran to the Mountain Lake one more time before getting in the car, so Karma could cool off some more.

At times, I was really worried that she is overheating, but then again, she dragged me along behind her a lot of the times as well.

I let her take a dip in every stream and lake that we came across, to make sure that I don't have a dog with heat stroke on my hands in the end.

Once again, I was wearing the leash belt, which makes such a difference running with her. She just pulls like crazy sometimes, especially in the beginning, and having her pull on my arms, just made running with her miserable for me. Now that she is pulling me on my waist, it is so much more comfortable... and easier... for me. ;-)

The downside with the leash belt: you better clip the leash out of the belt fast before Ms Karma launches into the water, just to make sure that you are not going to follow her into it.

And while her dragging me comes in pretty handy on the uphills, they turn into quite a quad pounding experience on the downhill... And I certainly feel that more today than the 65 miles from Saturday.

Our last water stop back at Mountain Lake. Good run... Still don't like runnning right now though.

Les Miserables OR Paris IV+V/2011

Let's start out with the good of last Sunday's ride: The weatherman has been proven wrong and it never did anything more than drizzle... So we were actually able to ride outside. The bad news:

We had a wintery throw-back (no snow, but pretty cold) and it certainly didn't feel like South Carolina in March. But we've been riding all winter in the cold, so no excuses.... Just a lot of choice words.

I also used this ride to fine-tune some nutrition and gear stuff.... On the nutrition side, I tried out coconut water for the first time. Pure coconut water was a no-go taste wise when trying it the night before and after I made a comment on Facebook about it, a friend recommended to just mix it in something I don't mind drinking! Thanks, Kelly. That was certainly the way to go.

I filled half of one bottle with coconut water, than added a quarter of organge juice and another quarter of tap water. I normally drink my orange juice half-half. Coconut water is one of those super foods and are supposed to be great for hydration. Lately, I heard from more and more people that tried it instead of sportsdrinks during exercise, so I thought I give it a shot. Normally, I drink only water on the bike, but with my mileage increasing and once it's getting warmer outside, I don't thing water is going to cut it in the long run.

 Also to prepare for increased temperatures in the near future (pretty please!), I added some "butt rockets" on the bike to carry two additional water bottles. This was my first ride out with them and I didn't have any issues... Other than adding two pounds to the bike and having to lift my leg up higher on the mount and dismount.

But now coming to the ride on Sunday... The title says is all.... It was pretty miserable out there. We did a 10 mile warm-up loop (on the Green Valley Road Race course pretty much) and then headed to Paris Mountain for some climbing. We went up and over Paris twice, which brought our total climbing miles to 12 (We were supposed to do a double Caesars Head climb, but decided to stay close to home due to the weather conditions). The rough thing of this ride was warming up on the climbs, than freeze back solid on the downhill, rinse repeat that four times. At the end, I never properly warmed back up again and my feet felt like ice blocks, despite the toasty toes and shoe covers. After the climbing was done, we got another two hours of riding in on a rolling course.

In the books for the day were 63 miles. 17 miles short of the goal for this ride, but those 17 miles are not going to make or break Mitchell... At least we got spared by the trainer this time.

On other news... I fell over again. My cleats are driving me CRAZY. I fell more times the last couple of months since I have the new pedals/cleats than I did the two years riding my other pedals. I am getting more and more annoyed. Clearly, it was also partially my fault, because I didn't lube them after the shoes got drenched last weekend during the Marquis de Sade ride, but even if they are freshly greased, it's hard to unclip. On top of that, the right cleat also came lose, which made it even harder to clip in and out. This was the hardest I went down yet. I have some nice road rash on the knee and a couple of bruises on the hip and the ellbow... For good measure, I also clonked my head into Stacy's wheel, which fortunately didn't make her go down.

I guess, I will need to keep on fine-tuning those issues, so that eventually everything is going to clip in and out click on the big day... At least in the nutrition and gear department... With everything else... We'll see.

Paris III/2011 and Caesar's Head

Sooooooo.... Yesterday, I did my longest ride yet.... A little over 70 miles.... And a couple of thousand feet of climbing.

I started things off with a ride up Paris Mountain. All the way up to the antennas. Up there I snapped a couple of pictures and then zoomed down the mountain again, to meet up my training partner for Mitchell at Furman. This was the 3rd climb up Paris this year, but now that it's finally daylight savings time, I am hoping to get that climb in during the week sometimes as well.

The second portion of the ride was with my training partner and we had our eyes set on an out and back from Furman up Caesar's Head. Most of the ride was on roads that I have never cycled on before and that's always fun and makes time pass so fast, because there is always something to discover... Like this, for example:

That's an old church (I assume) flooded in a lake.

The climb up Caesar's Head is six miles. The first 3 miles were decent, mile 4 was a little of a flat and gave you a little breather and the last two miles, I felt like I have to hurl any second. It made me question doing Mitchell... Quite a lot. When I got to the Caesar's Head State Parking Lot, I sat down in the shade for a little while before refilling my bottles. And then I got me a coke and a bag of Cheetos... After having SportsBeans and GU Chomps for the ride so far, I just needed something salty. My stomach was seriously peed off at me when I got up there, but the coke and chips really worked like a charm. The climb took me around 55 minutes and it took us 17 minutes to get back down... I am such a chicken on downhills, but it seems like I am also getting better at that.

The way back to Furman was uneventful, the miles just ticked away like nothing and when it was all said and done and I was back home, I felt like I could have a gone a while longer. I definitely think, that my nutrition helped a lot with how I felt this time around. I had more calories for breakfast and ate constantly during the first half. If anything, I might ate a little too much before the Caesar's Head climb... Therefore the upset stomach stuff. But, I think I am on the right way with this eating while on the bike, so I have enough juice in the end.

*********************

This morning, we spend several hours cleaning the house, so when we were finally done, Terry headed out for a ride and I got myself a little frozen yogurt treat. When I was done, I gave the itsy bitsy leftovers to the dog.... That kept her entertained for over 10 minutes! ;-)

Now some time for yoga!

Slowest Ride Ever or Paris II/2011

16.17 miles in 1h 23 mins. That's an average of 11.7 miles per hour. This is quite possible the slowest ride I ever did... aside from mountain biking.

For the first time ever, I rode up and over Paris and back. From the house, that's a little over 16 miles... Slow and hard miles.... 2,545 feet of climbing anyone?? It certainly was a great workout, especially since I was once again pressed for time.... That's a lot of bang for the buck.

Things that I am doing differently next time: dress better for the temps (I was completely overdressed today) and bring a camera... There were some stunning views on the way.

The only problem with stopping for pictures on the way? I am worried that I won't be able to get going again, once I stopped.

Up next? Doing this twice in the same workout. Oh boy!

Paris I/2011

Yesterday, I looked for takers for a Sunday afternoon ride per Facebook status... What else, right? I did have tons of comments, but no takers.... Words like "nuts" were being used! The temperature was over 40 degrees, so why is everybody calling me crazy??? ;-) All in good fun.

Fortunately, I was able to motivate one of my training buddies that are not on FB to join for the ride and with one of her girlfriends and Terry, we ended up being a nice group of four.

The two ladies were looking at a 3 hour ride, I was looking at something between 2 and 3 hours.... And they rode up from Greenville, so it kinda all worked out.

First we did the Green Valley Loop with some nice rolling hills from Furman to Travelers Rest (TR). With the right gear, the weather was actually pretty good for riding. Actually, once we stopped in TR (around mile 20), I had to take the "toasty toes" out of my shoes, because my feet were cooking!

At this point, Terry took the direct way home, while the girls and I decided to go up and over Paris Mountain. With Mitchell being on the plan for this year, Paris is going to be a basic in my training, but this was my first trip up Paris in 2011 and actually my first ride up there in several months. While I consider myself a pretty good climber on the bike, this climb is just kicking my bootie, especially after a little break from the hills for the last couple of weeks.

Yeah, that's right... 800 ft of climbing over 2 miles (when you start from Old Buncomb Rd)....  And it's really save the best for last with a steep steep section right at the end. While I pedaled up there, I mostly thought about how embarassing it would be to topple over because I couldn't pedal fast enough to keep me moving. But all was good at the end. I didn't time my ascent (or descent for that matter), but I wanna start doing that, to see how and if things progress.

The base of Paris on the Old Buncomb side is just 2 miles from the house, so once it's light outside longer in the evening, I want to tackle this climb during the week too. Maybe even more than once per workout at one point. What's good enough for some local cycling pros, should be good enough for me... right?

Race Report: 2010 Paris Mountain Trail 11K

Results (based on Guntime):
1h 25m (12:10 min per mile average)

Overall 127/165

Pre-Race:

Set the alarm for 6am, rolled over to switch off alarm, rolled back and something popped in my neck... Instant pain. That's a great way to start a day... Honestly, I felt like ditching the whole race right then. But of course (paid the entrance fee, part of a series... remember, you LOVE trail running!!!), I got up and got dressed... After consulting the weather forecast, I started digging into my pile with cold weather gear. Didn't need them thus far this year. Opened up the packaging for a pair of "Wollie Bullies" (woolen cycling socks) that I bought this spring at a winter clothing closeout... Go buy a pair for yourself NOW! Those things are AWESOME!

Got the doggie into her harness and geared up, because Terry decided last minute to be my sherpa and come along and this way, we got Karma's exercise for the day out of the way already too.

When we got to Paris Mountain State Park, it was still dark and needless to say, it was COLD. There actually was a line at the package pick-up, but it moved pretty fast. As soon as I got the package, we headed back to the car to stay warm.

Eventually, it was time to start!

Race:

Did I mentioned, that it was cold.... This was the first cold day of the year that I was out and about. My body sure wasn't used to that and let me know right from the start. I had slight difficulties breathing and probably should have warmed up some to avoid this. This time, we headed straight to the trail and didn't have to loop over the parking lot to string out the pack like we did in the 7K in August. The trail was a little wet in some spots, but overall it seemed to have less leaves on the ground than last year... That was good news and should make things a little easier.

I was extremely non aggressive in this race. Normally, I try to push the pace some in the first 2 miles before hitting Sulphur Springs Trail (steepest portion of the race), but this time, I just tucked in behind the person ahead of me and plugged along. I guess, I was a little too pre-occupied with finding a position were my neck and shoulders didn't hurt too much and also just hoping that breathing is going to get easier eventually... And it did.... Well, the breathing did, the neck... Oh well... It made a rough race - Nuff said.

Sulphur Springs Trail reminded me more than ever of a death march and it felt pretty hard that day again, but 18 something minutes for the second mile is actually not the worst I ever did on this piece of trail. Needless to say, I was very happy when I finally reached the top. The next mile would be fun! And it was, even though I was alone at times. I have no idea how that happened, since we have been one line of humanity snaking up Sulphur and a while after that, I didn't see anyone in front of me or anyone behind me. But before I was all alone, I actually was recognized by a fellow runner (Hi Beau!) that found my race report from last year when he was looking for some information about the race. We chatted a little bit, but at one point he took off looking strong!

Then it was time to run down on the other side of Sulphur again. This is also a very steep section and quite the ankle twister. Considering in how good of a shape my quads were the day after the race, I know, I didn't hammer down this piece as usual.... I guess, I was in full on "neck protection" mode.

Once we hit the bottom of Sulphur, I just tried to maintain a good pace and avoid to walk for the remainder of the race. Glad to see the finish line as usual, also if it bugged me a little that I was never able to catch that girl that was running a couple of hundred yards in front of me for most of the race.

Post-Race:

After crossing the finish line, I was just instantly cold (felt fine during the race). This is the pancake run (they serve pancakes at the finish) and I didn't even want to wait in line for three minutes, but wanted to head out right away to grab a long hot shower.

Right before we left, I had the chance to quickly get caught up at friend's races (great jobs all around) and then we hightailed it home.

At home, I looked up my race time from last year at this race and saw that I ran it faster this year... a whopping 5 seconds.

I try not to be too disappointed about this... You know, the usual shoulda, coulda, whoulda... Too late now anyways.

Race Report: 2010 XTERRA Paris Mountain Trails 15K

Results (based on Guntime):
1:52:53 (12:05 min per mile average)
Overall 129/175

Here we are back at the Paris Mountain State Park for the second XTERRA trail race of the 2010 series (first race was back in Nov 2009 and the third one will be in August).

I was looking forward to this race, because I really enjoy trail running and I felt good about our training run last weekend.

 

So pre-race routine was same as usual. We got there, picked our packages up and then walked over to the start area at the first picnic shelter. Team D.N.R. was represented by Alex, Brian, Chris, Dave, Kerrie (not racing, but sweeping the trail), Terry and me.

Most of the boys lined up closer to the front and I moved to the back of the pack. The first portion of the race is on the road until you take a right turn on Mountain Creek Trail. Fortunately, which helps a little with the congestion. Also, Mountain Creek Trail is one of the wider trails that we would be traveling today. This is a good section to just find your rhythm and warm up. Somewhere during this time, I noticed that I had my Garmin on "biking" and while I was running, I switched to "running" and the clock started at zero again. So I didn't know how long I was already running and I also didn't know how far I already was. Both things really didn't bother me too much, because I know the approximate mile markers along the trail. But still, I really need to start checking the setting of the Garmin before I head out for a race.... This stuff just happens way to often to me.

From Mountain Creek we crossed the road at the other picnic shelters (1. aid station) and headed into Sulphur... That is where the fun begins. On this trail, we would be doing the most and the steepest climbing of the race. It was also during that piece that I first "met" two fellow runners (let's call them 2dudes) that I would see multiple times during the race. This is me climbing Sulphur and since I was hiking at that point, I took my phone out and snapped a pic... You can see my new acquaintances in the background.

Once we hit Firetower Trail, they asked me how much more climbing we have to do from now and I told them, that this is going to be our highest point. There will be a little more climbing, but nothing like we did before. One of them asked me then, if I did this before and I responded "last weekend" and took off since I knew the next couple of miles will be where the fun is. From Firetower we turned on Kanuga... A long rolling downhill to the North Lake, the around the lake the trail flattens out and you can enjoy the scenery of the place a little. On the dam was the second aid station and this is where this picture was made.

From the North Lake Trail we headed on to Pipissewa and then the rolling uphill started and wouldn't end until we would get to the top parking lot (3. aid station) over Brissy Ridge Trail.

So far I felt great. I left 2dudes behind somewhere on Firetower Trail and was able to pick up several people in the next couple of miles. I felt like a did a good job with eating shotbloks every now and then and taking in plenty of water. But somewhere on Brissy, I all of the sudden felt sick to my stomach. I didn't even take any chances and popped an Immodium right away and decided to take it slow on Brissy to the top parking lot with the hope that my stomach would settle until then and I get catch up once we hit the big downhill. In that area 2dudes and 2gals (2 girls that I met several times later on) caught up with me. We were in a hiking/ running section with rolling uphills. Basically, we hiked the little uphills and then jogged the downhills. My stomach was still weird, but I tried to stick to that group. And then it happened... I didn't lift up my right foot high enough, tripped and fell.

 

OUCH... That was my first thought. One of the girls helped me up and we picked up my Garmin from the trail that got ripped of my arm. After a first assessment, I knew that I was hurting, but that I was fine and nothing major happened, so I asked 2dudes and 2gals to keep on going. Shortly after they left, I tried to start back running again and it worked and so I kept on going..... The pain down my leg actually distracted me from my stomach stuff and by the time I remembered that, the stomach felt back fine again.

I finished up Brissy, crossed the top parking lot, climbed the steep and short piece of Sulphur and down we went. I already saw 2dudes/2gals again and I was set on catching up with them again while chatting with a girl running behind me (seriously, trail running is so social). By the time we hit the bottom of Sulphur I passed them and from then on, just kept on running, feeling pretty good again. We later chatted a little in the finish.

A couple of yards from the finish line, I saw a guy whacking his iPod. I told him to just keep on moving, the finish is just around the corner. He kept on working on the iPod

I kind of expected to see hubby with the camera at the finish line, but he was standing there chatting with Alex and Brian.... He said, he didn't expect me there yet! I guess that means I had a good race hmmmm??

And really, I feel good about this one.... Even with the stomach stuff and the fall, I ran this race 20 seconds faster per mile than the 11K in November... SWEET!!

About the race: I think they did a great job with this race! It was great that they had three aid stations on the course and that they had t-shirts (in November it was a string bag and finisher socks) again!

I am already looking forward to the August 7K!

Fun Run in the Sun.... ummmm.... Rain....

This was much better... Eating properly the night before and in the morning sure helped along with the the cooler temps and less humidity.

So this is the loop we ran, which is the race course for next week. It totaled 8.85 miles and the remainder of the race distance will be the road from the state park gate to the trail head where we started.

This is the elevation chart for this version.... Two hills for the price of one. Good thing is, that the really rough portion is out of the way early! ;-)

Right after we finished our run, this group of geese crossed the trail right behind us.

 

Back at the parking lot. Ready to stretch and really happy with my new Nathan race vest..... Super comfy and no chafing going on at all... I might just have to customize (cut off) the drink tube.

Well and now I have to get the house ready for the BBQ.

So long! ;-)

Trail Run Fail

Today, I made it back on a trail to run the first time in months. I signed up to run the Paris Mountain Trail 15K in two weeks and I thought it might be smart to run the course since it has been a while... like a year or so. To explain the "fail" portion of the post title right away... I didn't  run the 15K course.... I ended up close to 8 miles. Once I reached the top of Sulphur Springs Trail, I just knew that I wasn't going anywhere. I felt weak, my legs felt heavy and my heart rate was all over the place. True, this portion is the most difficult section of the course, but I didn't feel like pushing myself through the whole thing. So Brian (Team D.N.R. member) and Terry kept going towards Kanuga and I headed into the opposite direction back down to the car.

Once I was back at the state park office, I decided to add the Lake Placid Loop and then even added the Turtle Trail... The trails there are a little flatter and I also had the security of not being stranded exhausted on top of the mountain, but being close to the car.

Here is the map of today's run.

And here is the elevation chart... When I said "steepest section" above that translates into a 11% grade.

Yeah... I didn't look too fresh after that number.

A little gear side note: I took my Camelbak M.U.L.E. with me and it certainly is not the best hydration pack for running. It's a little on the heavy side and the water sloshes around a lot. At least it stays put on my back better than the smaller Camelbak Charm that I own. And I sure was glad that I had that much water with me... it was humid out there, even in the morning. Well, in order to get the best of both worlds (lightweight and stays put) I ordered the Nathan Hydration Vest. So far, I only read good reviews about this product and can't wait to take it out next week, when I once again try run the WHOLE course of the 15K race.

So long! ;-)