Review: Sleep Inn Charleston (Savannah Highway)

Okay, this might not going to be "review" but more a "rant" about the Sleep Inn Charleston on Savannah Highway. I wrote "review" in the title of this post in the hopes that search engines are going to pick the title up and people get to read what I have experienced with this "fine' establishment so far and the issue is not resolved in the meantime.

It's a long one, please bear with me. Here is what went down:

Team "Do Not Resuscitate" needed accommodation in Charleston for after the Palmetto200. So I set out to find our team rooms early in March. We ended up choosing the Sleep Inn on Savannah Hwy in Charleston because of practical location and good pricing. Since it would be almost another 2 months until the relay and a lot of the team's family didn't know yet, if we they would join us down there, I ended up making reservations for 10 rooms. The thought process was to secure enough rooms and if we don't need them, we can always cancel them - right?? Yeah right! In order to make reservations on the rooms, I gave my credit card.

Fast forward to our last team meeting one week before the relay. We finally got the final headcount and found out that not many of us would have the family coming along. So we decided to cut the rooms in half and order rollaway beds for two of the rooms. Since I made the original reservations, I was in charge to take care of the rollaways and the cancellations. Which I did, first thing Monday morning. I had a young lady on the phone, whose name I can't recall (which is really extremely unfortunate) that went through all the confirmation numbers that needed canceling and all the confirmation numbers that we needed to add rollaways. In the course of our conversation, there were a couple of questions which she verified with somebody in the background. She said she is going to take care of it, we ended the phone call and I forgot all about it.

The morning we checked out of the hotel, the receptionist asked me what happened to the other five rooms that haven't been used from the group and I told her that I called the previous Monday and canceled those rooms. She then asked me who I talked to and I told her that I can't remember the name, but I can remember that I called Monday in the AM and that the girl kept on relaying questions to somebody else. She then responded: "Well, it must have been the new girl! I am going to take care of those cancellations for you." And we left and I forgot all about it again.

A couple of hours later while in the van on our way back to Greenville, I received a call from the receptionist again, trying to verify "my story" because her manager wouldn't let her take those reservations out of the system without a cancellation number. So she asked me if I had gotten a cancellation number which I didn't and I really didn't expect to get one, because nobody mentioned a cancellation number before this. She once again asked me, if I could remember the name of the person I talked to and again I said I couldn't. She said she is going to talk to her manager again and get back to me.

By Thursday of that week, nobody has gotten back to me, so I thought this whole topic has most likely been resolved, but I checked my credit card statement and low and behold, I had six hotel room charges on my CC. One of the room, that I actually used and the five canceled room... We are talking about around 600 bucks here that my CC has been charged with for canceled rooms.

What followed over the next couple of hours sure wasn't pretty... I called the hotel, I was promised a return call from the manager. Several hours later, I called again, finally got the manager on the phone and she basically just told me that I never called and I am making up this whole story and they kept those rooms for us in good faith* and now we have to pay for them. I then asked for her manager and she gave me the reservation hotline for the ChoiceHotels and those guys basically told me that billing related topics are the hotels responsibility, there is nothing they could do for me and if I don't agree with the charges, I should go ahead and dispute the transaction with my CC company.... How handy of a solution is that FOR THEM!

*I came to hate this phrase over the next couple of days.

I ended up disputing the transaction and as of now my balance has been corrected. But I also filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), since I believe they need to refund that money instead of pushing the responsibility over to the CC company.

The response by another hotel manager for my BBB complaint was going with the famous "in good faith" theme and that he spoke to each of his employees and nobody can remember talking to me (of course they are going to step up and say that they screwed up) and besides, group reservations cannot be changed anymore after 30 days prior to arrival. I have a confirmation e-mail that states, that I can cancel the room up to 6PM of the day of arrival.... So much for that and that's what I wrote in my response to the BBB.

That's the last thing that happened in this matter and I will keep you posted how things developed.... if anything else is going to happen from this point on.

Palmetto200: The Review

First of all, the official results for the inaugural Palmetto200 are posted and I am more than happy to announce the following:

Team Do Not Resuscitate All Stars
Time: 30 hours 24 minutes
Pace: 9:03 minutes per mile
Overall Rank: 15/37 finisher
Pace Division Rank: 3/22 in the 9 minute/mile division (Thanks Alex for pointing out this valuable information!)

WAHOOOOOOOOO!

Now let's move on to a little review of the relay in case you are planning do a relay sometime in April of 2011 and find South Carolina most interesting or close to home or both.

THE GOOD

• you just can't beat a finish line at the beach
• nice transition areas, a lot of gas station and restaurants, that means every now and then you got a break from the porta jons and access to tap water
• plenty of access to food, gas etc
• access to the showers at Santee
• beautiful scenery
• everything went off without a hitch (at least I didn't notice a problem), especially knowing that this was the first year
• the course was marked EXTREMELY good
• that it isn't against the rules to shadow your runner with a bike at night... we didn't have bikes with us, but we thought that was a neat idea
• the race shirts are really nice
• they handed out finisher medals (nice ones)
• race directors and wives of the race directors were SUPER NICE as well as all the other volunteers

THE BAD

• a lot of the roads were high in traffic and a lot of them didn't have a shoulder
• when there was a grass strip on a road with no shoulder, they sometimes haven't been mowed and the grass was knee high
• because the relay was in it's first year, there were just 39 teams on the course and that felt very lonely at times even until the very end... this will go away once they have more entries
• registration was still old school with filling out papers and mailing in a check... it's the first year, I am sure they will change that soon

THE UGLY

• the BBQ... well, that was our own fault
• the crazy drivers... the organizers can't change that, unless they find a way to utilize less traveled roads and even there can be crazy motorists

Overall, I think this was a great race and I would definitely recommend doing it.

If  the D.N.R. All Stars will be back next year is not decided yet, but I think it's a possibility.

So long! ;-)

Race Report: Inaugural Palmetto200

After having a blast at our first relay experience at the Blue Ridge Relay last year, team "Do Not Resuscitate" was itching to get back out there.

Our first goal relay was the American Odyssey Relay from Gettysburg, PA to Washington, DC, but the we found out about this new relay Palmetto200 that was going to take place in our backyard just a week after the American Odyssey that we were eying already. The decision for the Palmetto200 was easy, because the travel logistics were so much easier and cheaper and the prospects of ending a relay directly on the beach, be there at the inaugural event and get a leg named after our team just was to good to pass.

This is my race report out of the perspective of van #1.

Prepare For Take-Off

With the starting line just being 1.5 hours away from home, we didn't have to travel the night before, instead we took off three hours before our starting spot at 9AM. We also traveled separately from van #2 which made the logistics even easier, because we didn't have to coordinate 12 people between two vans. Speaking of which... After squeezing 12 people plus gear into an Explorer and a Suburban at the BRR last year, we decided to spend the extra money this time and rented two vans. Seriously, there is no going back from the van after having experienced the comfort and the space that a 14 person van gives! The ride down there went smoothly and I think I got a nap in or two on our way to the old Columbia race track were the start was going to be.

Once at the starting line, we picked up the packages and started decorating van #1... Dubbed the "Love Van" due to having the newlyweds (Terry and me - DUH!), newly dating (Christina and Ken) and to finish up our group, there was Joel and Jeff that were a great sport even though they got stuck with the couples. And this was the crew of van #1 and the sequence for the race:

Runner 1: Christina
Runner 2: Kathrin
Runner 3: Terry
Runner 4: Ken
Runner 5: Joel
Runner 6: Jeff

The "Love Van" decorated with team name and L.O.V.E.

Christina modeling the race t-shirt. The girl's version had the light pink inserts at the side and the boy's version had a dark blue insert. Those are technical t-shirts too and the logo is really nice. Bottom line, those are some nice shirts!

9AM start and the first legs for van#1

Van #2 arrived at the starting line with maybe 10 minutes to spare. We took care of giving everyone their race numbers and t-shirts, relayed the information received from the race directors before snapping a couple of pictures in front of the race banner. Then the race directors had some last minute instructions and the race was ON with Christina on the road.

 With the race being in it's first year, there were just 39 teams on the road and the teams took off spaced out based on projected pace between 6AM and 12:30PM. The team pace is always an average, that means only because you start in the same wave doesn't mean that the other runners you start with are your level, but it should mean (if nobody was sandbagging) that after 12 runners, it should balance out and you should be close to the team again that you started with. Well, the other teams must have had their fast runners as their first runners, because Christina was right on pace, but everyone around her was running faster. But she stuck to her guns and did her thing in hot, humid and windy conditions and she send us off good.

I was up next and had a 6 mile leg to do. I was hoping for a fast leg since it was a flat stretch of course. My first mile was under 9 minutes, but it got worse fast. The first mile of the course was still on paved road, but then I got on a dirt run and that sucked bad. The heat and wind and the gravel drained all life out of me and going out so fast certainly didn't help. The first two miles already felt like they were stretching forever and then I didn't hear the beep of the Garmin for mile 3... I just felt really crappy. After the dirt road came a sand road and I just wanted it to be over with and still had over two miles to go. There were also some rough spots with big rocks that I walked... CRAP... That was certainly not how I hoped to start off this race for me AND the team. After crossing a bridge over I-26, I was in a residential area again and things felt a little bit better but the pace kept on dropping. On the last mile I started cramping in the back and from there it was run/walk for me. I finished up the leg in under one hour still... I was hoping for more, but it just didn't happen... There were still two legs more to go, though.

Terry took over from me and quickly got on his way for an 8 mile leg. We were all kinda expecting this race to be pretty flat, but while driving to the next exchange zone, we saw some good rollers out there. On top of it, it has gotten warmer and windier all the time. He set himself the goal to catch some people, but he would have to wait for his later leg to do so. Still, he set a great pace despite terrain and weather conditions and handed over the wrist band to Ken our new edition to the team.

The exchange zone from Terry to Ken was next to a small sandwich shop and several people of van #1 picked up chicken salad sandwiches from there and just loved it. For my part, I felt pretty funny in my stomach after my run (and eating a sub) and that would be a pattern for me for the rest of the relay.

Ken was off for his first run and he later also mentioned that it just felt hard to him due to the conditions. I guess we were all not used to the temperatures being this high, so it just bothered all of us. But he stuck it out, finished his leg with a good time and handed over to Joel for his leg.

The pattern of hot, windy and hilly continued for Joel too and he had a tough time out there. He got some of the meanest hills, but the worst out of all of them was left for Jeff to tackle on his first leg.

Jeff refused to take water with him on his eight mile leg, so we stopped close to his half way point and waited for him with an ice cold water bottle. We also saw some of his competition out there and we saw that he was closing some gaps to the other teams. We offered him the water, but he said he felt fine and didn't need anything , so we took off to meet van #2.

Handing over to van #2 and taking a break in the Santee State Park

We met up with van #2 and Jeff handed off to Brian and this started the race for them too, while we could take a break at the next transition zone at the Santee State Park.

It was nap time and rest time and shower time for some of us. I skipped the shower, because I was just way too lazy to do so and thought that it's just not going to be worth it! ;-)

What is always so fascinating for me is that time flies during these relays. You would think that you would get bored while your teammates are running or while your van is inactive, but really there isn't much down time and before we even knew it, it was time to get ready again and take over the wrist band from van #2.

Second Legs and the BBQ Challenge

By the time we took over, the sun was already setting and it finally cooled down some. Christina had a fairly short leg, so I got ready in Santee already, not to get in any time trouble. Christina was able to close the gap to another runner and when she handed me the wrist band she just told me to go and get him and that was my assignment for the second leg.

I was our first runner lit up like a Christmas tree, because it was going to be dark by the time I would have completed my 6.4 mile leg. The cooler temps felt good, but I was focusing on starting out fairly easy and not repeat my mistake from earlier... So the first mile the runner, I was supposed to catch didn't get that much closer, but by mile two I had passed him. Only to get passed by this kid a couple of miles down the road that zipped by me and was out of sight fast. This leg was kinda scary at times, because it traveled a busy road and there was almost no shoulder. Sometimes, I would just step over into the grass, but sometimes the grass was knee high and I just refused to step into knee high grass, so I gestured oncoming traffic and most of the time, they would react by slowing down or moving over. I still had to step into the grass once or twice. This leg was fun once the congestion around I-95 was over. By the time I handed over to Terry it was pitch dark.

We had to exchange the safety gear too... This year, we were running a little low on that stuff, but it hardly took us any time... As long as I don't have to put on a sweaty safety vest, I am good anyways! ;-) Once I got back into the van, I could smell it before they told me.... They picked up BBQ at the Lone Star BBQ place one exchange earlier. Terry organized some food for me too, but I waited until he was done with his leg to eat it. The food was good, but I passed on the meat except for couple of bites from Terry's plate. After my first leg my stomach was funny and I finally felt better and didn't want to start from scratch again. Even though I hardly ate anything, I felt the BBQ... Not as much as anyone else though! One after the other had their food after finishing up their night runs.It's never fun to run at night, but fortunately, we didn't have any incidents while on the road. Honestly, the remaining night runs are kind of a blur to me, since I was drifting in and out of sleep. Maybe around 11PM we handed over to van #2 again and taking our night break at the next transition zone.

Second Break and Thank Goodness, We rented a Van! 

After reaching the exchange zone, where we would take over again from van #2, everybody got themselves as comfortable as possible, to get a couple of hours of shut-eye. We already enjoyed the advantages of all that space in the van all day, but if you want to get some sleep in, it really counts. Some of my van mates, didn't want to stay inside and opted for some fresh air instead, so half of us were able to stretch out on the benches. We were expecting to take over the wrist band again around 4AM. Once everyone was up, 2/3rds of the van was complaining about stomach stuff... especially the people choosing the sweet over the spicy BBQ-sauce. My stomach was also back to it's angry self, but it was skewed up before, so I really can't blame the BBQ for anything. We also had a couple of rain drops in the early morning hours but nothing to crazy. It was a mild night and the air was humid... We expected it to get really steamy once the sun would come up. Before we even knew it, van #2 was pulling into the parking lot right beside us and we were back on!

Final Stretch for Van #1

Christina took over and she had her longest leg (close to 9 miles) early Saturday morning, in the dark and through the forest with no runners in sight. So we decided to shadow her for her run. She struggled with stomach stuff and since we were around, we were able to assist. For the last couple of miles, Jeff volunteered to be her companion runner and that gave us the chance to go ahead to the exchange zone and gave me the chance to hit the bathroom one more time and battle my own stomach stuff. I took over with the first light of dawn, setting out for another 3.9 miles to finish up my portion of this relay. It was nice and cool out there and fortunately, despite of feeling crappy a lot during this relay, my stomach always felt fine while I was running. Normally it's the other way round for me. Once I did my last turn, I could see this long straight road and a couple of runner's ahead of me... far ahead. I kept my eye on them and waited for them to turn, because I knew that once they turn left, this is were the exchange zone is going to be. Maybe half a mile before I was done, I could hear chatter behind me and turned around and saw some runners. I decided to kick it in high gear and make sure that I wouldn't get passed. Well, one of the runners flew by me in the last 100 yards before the exchange zone and that was a speedy one that I didn't even see when I looked back a couple of minutes before. I was able to hold off the other runner though. On the other hand, next runner up was Terry and he likes to catch people... ;-)

And indeed he was passing some people. Actually, Ken was "complaining" later in his leg that Terry set him up to get passed and he really had a point there. Ken was also the first to hit the swamps and so we knew that we were getting closer to the coast. Once he was out of the forest, he had scenic views over the marsh lands and like he said, he was always on the look-out for the gators! ;-) Ken's leg ended on US-17 where Joel took over for a straight shot down the highway. Terry offered several times to be Joel's companion runner until the later finally broke down and let him go along for the ride. Obviously, my new husband was itching to get some more miles in after he already ran 23 of the relay! ;-) What Terry didn't expect was, that Joel kicked into high gear and that he actually had to work to catch back up with him, since Joel got a couple of minutes of a head start, because Terry had to change first and Joel accepted the companion runner offer seconds before taking off. But once the two were running together, they strategized how to demoralize the competition and they were able to catch several people on that stretch. When Joel handed over to Jeff, the last runner of van #1 was on the last leg for van #1 and Jeff was burning it up! He was predicted a 7:30 pace and that's exactly what he delivered. We almost didn't make it in to the next exchange zone before him! ;-)

Shower and Food! PRONTO!

Once we were on the road again, we punched in the address of our hotel and got going. Everyone just wanted to have a shower, but we called the hotel earlier and they said they couldn't give us our rooms yet because it was so early. Once we were at the hotel, we send out most diplomatic team mate (Terry volunteered) in the lobby and 10 minutes later he had a key to one room. So we took showers, one after the other until all van #1 runners were squeaky clean... The last person wasn't even toweled off properly and we were already in the van again on the quest to find some food. Boy, that was yummy... If it was the food or we just were very hungry.... Who knows.

After lunch, we headed out towards Folly Beach to await the arrival of our team mates from van #2.

The Finish Line

Once van #1 and van #2 were reunited, it was fairly easy to spot who was in which van because half of us were clean and the others weren't.  Van #1 arrived maybe 20 minutes before the others at the finish line and once van #2 arrived they projected another 20 minutes for Kerrie to come in. In all this time, we maybe saw five teams crossing the finish line... Also one four runner team that hobbled over the line. It's amazing what these guys did... And all the other ultra teams out there.
 
Kerrie came in as projected and we ran the last couple yards together and finished the Palmetto200 in an official time of 30 hours and 24 minutes. Our projected finish time was 30 hours and 15 minutes, so we were spot on when it came to our calculation.

I said it before and I will say it again... This team is an awesome group of people, no matter which van you are talking about. We had two new members compared to the BRR that fit right in. Most of the original team members have already committed to do the BRR in September again including me.

This is the race report, but there will be a review of the race itself in a couple of days to wrap this puppy up.

What a ride! ;-)

30H 24M Of Fun, Sweat And BBQ

I guess you figured out by now that the blogging from the road didn't happen! Technically it wouldn't have been an issue, but once we were out there, it just didn't seem practical anymore or something that I wanted to do... Chatting and napping was just much more important! ;-)

There will be a detailed report coming up hopefully by tomorrow, but in the meantime, I want to show you the first couple of pictures from the weekend.

It was a fun adventure with a great group of people. Our time was 30 hours and 24 minutes for a total of 201.7 miles. That is a 9.04 pace which is very close to our predicted pace of 9.0. SWEET!

Here are the teasers:

Team D.N.R. All Stars at the starting line at the Columbia SC race track.

Waiting for the gun to go off.

Team D.N.R. All Stars are off at 9AM on April 30th 2010.

Van #1 was the "Love Van"! ;-)

Lone Star SC: Home of 15 people and some serious BBQ... I told you, these are teasers... You got to come back for the full story! ;-)

Handing off to Terry for his second leg...

The D.N.R. girls!

 

 Team D.N.R All Stars crossed the finish line at 3:24PM on May 1st 2010.

 

The finisher medal.

Have a great Sunday.

Done

WITH SWIM CLASSES

This morning I had my last swim class for 2010. Now with most of my swim workouts out of the way for the year (if you think I am kidding... I am not!) I might have a chance to shed that chlorine scent, grow some finger nails again and make my scalp a happier scalp. I am still planning on getting in the pool once a week, mostly for continuous swimming, hard efforts etc. Drills can be neglected, there is nobody there anymore to correct them. No, I don't hate swim class.... If Coach Katie would do those year round, I would most likely be in the pool twice a week all year, but she doesn't and so I don't. HAH! ;-)

Anyways, I am very happy about the progress that I made in my swimming in the last four months and it didn't go unnoticed. Even one of the "big" guys that I ended up doing one 500 (he is still faster than I am, but I'm getting closer) today was complimenting me on my progress this season... I also tied for second in a kick-board race with four other guys, so yes... I have plenty of reason to be happy about my swimming...

WITH PACKING

I leave you with some impressions on how it looked when I  packed everything on my relay check list into an as small as possible space. I will let you judge, if I have been successful.

So... This is all the stuff from the check list above... I hope that's it!

And this is all the stuff in bags.... Okay okay.... I did a little cheating... Terry's bag is huge and still had tons of space, so I sneaked some stuff in there. ;-)








Now it's time to get some good rest in, before we'll grab the relay bull by the horns tomorrow!

As mentioned earlier, I will try to blog from the road, but you'll never know into what kind of technical difficulties we'll run, so I am not going to sweat it, if it doesn't happen.

So you either read from our adventures very soon or Sunday/ Monday night... Either way.... Wish us luck! ;-)

Relay Check List

Oh boy, not mentioning sports AT ALL in yesterday's post was kind of tough, especially because I am soooooo excited about the Palmetto200 starting in less than 36 hours*!

*Our team has a 9AM start time Friday... How we ended up with such an early slot and a projected average of a 9 minute/mile... I have no clue. The advantage of such a "late" start time is, that we can get up at a decent hour Friday morning!

Having several races under my belt, gives me some experience on what I am having with me for a race. If I have to travel to a race, I take several outfits with me to decide in the morning, what I feel like and when I get a better feel for the temps and general weather conditions. A relay brings on several additional points to consider when packing your stuff:

1. three legs = three outfits
2. weather conditions can vastly differ due to extended time of the race, day and night running, traveling a route of 200 (in this case) from the Midlands to the Low Country
3. limited space (I say this even though we'll have much more space this time because we are going to rent two HUGE vans)

When it comes to the clothes, I will work with versatile pieces, arm/leg warmers and bright colors. But of course the packing goes way beyond the clothes, so I better start a check list to make sure I won't forget anything (in no particular order):

• three versatile running outfits (I will spare you the details, you'll see on the pictures)
• three pairs of running socks
• recovery socks
• two pairs of running shoes (in case a pair gets wet)
• Birkenstock's for in between runs
• hat and shades
• sunscreen and bug spray
• running fanny pack (for cell phone, b/c we'll be running in the middle of nowhere)
• RoadID
• Garmin
• inflatable camping mat, sleeping bag and pillow (oh yes!)
• one "going out" outfit for after the finish line
• bathing suit (the finish line is right on the beach! ;-) and small towel
• baby wipes (for a quick clean-up in between the runs)
• hand-held water bottle, blok shots (for emergencies) and TUMS
• race belt
• reflective vest and reflective ankle bands
• head lamp, red and white bike lamps, batteries for the lamps
• van markers for a little decoration
• team t-shirt
• bathroom tissue b/c you never know how the porta john's look like
• GPS for the car
• description of my legs to memorize on the drive down there
• camera and transfer cable b/c I will try to blog from the road from a team mates laptop
• print-outs with hotel directions and confirmation numbers

That looks like an awful lot of stuff... But I kinda doubt I will be able to thin this out.... Just glad that we have a big van this time! ;-)

I AM SOOOO EXCITED!!!















Didn't I tell you that a post without a pic is just not complete! ;-)

Rebooted

Sometimes, I have to remind myself that I do the tri-sports for fun. It's not my profession, nobody pays me to train, it's just in order for me to lead an healthy lifestyle and do something that I really enjoy. But the truth it, that sometimes I don't enjoy it. Sometimes, I just dread to get out there and do the workout that I was planning on doing.... It doesn't happen a lot of the time, but sometimes it happens... Even more rarely than me blowing off a workout, because I just "didn't feel" it, is blowing off a whole weekend of workouts. But this weekend, this is exactly what I did. Scary right?? Kind of yes and kind of no. I just feel like I needed a weekend of doing NOTHING. No workouts, no house renovation, no wedding planning, no entertainment of guests.... Just a couch, comfort food and "The Hills" marathon... Don't judge me!

Half way through my Sunday, I finally feel back to my normal self again.... Kathrin rebooted so to speak. Swimming, Biking, Running after all? I don't think so... I am just waiting until my husband is getting back from his run and then we'll pack up the doggy and go to Paris Mountain State Park for a little hike. Change of pace and scenery can work wonders.

Only because I didn't do any running of my own doesn't mean the weekend didn't revolve on some level around running and sports... That's how we roll in this household.

Upgrade for the Foam Roller

You all know that I love my foam roller, but sometimes, I feel like I cannot really target those really tight spots the way I wanted to. So while we were browsing through a local running store, I found this puppy here:

There are several products like these out there, but this one is locally produced and we kinda got a deal on it. Anyways, let me tell you that it works.... I am extra sore today.... But in a good way. I feel like I finally got some relieve on my butt pain issue... If this is too much information again... Sorry! ;-)

Last D.N.R. All Stars Team Meeting before the Palmetto200

We also met most of the D.N.R. All Stars team members for the last time before we head out for our second relay experience. I start to get really excited about it, even though I haven't been training all weekend... I feel good about this race and confident that I will have good legs. Of course, those meetings are supposed to get the last bits and pieces of information down, but really, it's just a lot of chatter. But we know now where we are supposed to be Friday morning AND we also got our team t-shirts! YAY!

First pic is the front and second pic is the back. Design as usual by Alex! Thanks!

So long! ;-)

Dress Rehearsal For Relay: Day Two

So here we are at the second day of relay running practice. Original plan was to get up early and get the run out of the way before church. Well that didn't happen. I got myself another hour of sleep in instead and did the running once we got back from church.

In the meantime, temps have risen and so I ended up running in the noon heat. Smart, but well... I didn't want to push it out even further to not screw up the relay specific training effect.



Three hours before heading out for my run, I had my usual Sunday morning breakfast at our usual Sunday morning spot. No troubles here.


12:41PM: 4.00 miles in 38:56 minutes (9:43 pace - YAY)

For a change of scenery, I started running from the house today and did our usual 4 mile loop. Way more hills that anything I ran in the last couple of weeks, but well, it's good training. Here is the elevation chart.



The first two miles felt pretty labored for me, but after that it got better. My body certainly hasn't adjusted to the warmer temperatures yet, but I feel like I am slowly getting there. I tried out a new approach to me on this run and power walked up the hills instead of knocking myself out by running up the hills. I think that worked pretty good. My last mile was actually under 9 minutes which is very good for me. This was a good run and in total, I am also very happy, how this relay practice weekend played out.

After the run, I did a very easy spin on the bike for 15 minutes just to shake out the legs. After that some household duties and for the rest of my Sunday, I am just going to relax.... Nice!

So long!

Dress Rehearsal For Relay: Day One

How do you prepare for a 200 mile relay when you have to run around 16 miles out of that 200? Well you gotta run, that's for sure, but a relay has a separate set of challenges than running 16 miles at once. Those challenges is to run on little sleep and run while you spend the rest of the day on your feet as well in order to cheer on the other team mates and to in general enjoy the whole experience. Of course, sooner or later you also have to eat something in between your runs, because running without fuel over a 30 hour period is just not going to fly... Having stomach trouble on your run is not going to fly as well, so you have to find stuff to eat that is not going to mess up your next run. In the spirit of this, I set out on my first run this morning on three Oreo cookies! Yes, I know.... It doesn't seem to be an obvious choice, but I did the BRR basically on M&M's and Tums and I have to broaden my horizon here.... Just kidding.... I don't know what I was thinking, but it worked! I had a great first run this morning!

9:12AM: 6.85 miles in 1:02:46 hours (9:10 pace - YAY)

I headed out for an out and back course on my trusty Swamp Rabbit Trail. No need to practice hills, the relay is in the Low Country. The direction I run the trail, I have a gradual incline on my first half and a gradual decline on my way back in - perfect.

Here is a pre run shot. Notice the beautiful weather and the stray strand of hair! ;-)



I first headed out a 1 mile out and back section to the south end of the Furman portion of the trail and am happy to report that the construction work to connect the Greenville and the Furman portion have started! YAY! Can't wait!

For the last year the trail was blocked of by this white barrier. The barrier was pushed aside today and they had equipment there and people working!



I did a quick stop to take a picture of Paris Mountain... Over the last week, green has made it's way back into nature big time! Perfect foliage for wedding pictures! ;-)



And after the run, I gave my legs and hips a nice stretch. Yesterday, I did some strength work over lunch and I am sure sore today.



I was moving around all afternoon, running errands and doing some cleaning. For lunch I had a grilled chicken sandwich straight from a fast food joint, because that is most likely what we are going to get while we are on the road. I made sure to drink TONS of water.... As I said.... It's all about practice what is going to work and what is not going to work. ;-)

4:40PM: 7.20 miles in 1:12:58 hours (10:08 pace - MEH)

And for the second time today, I was heading out to the Swamp Rabbit Trail. It has warmed up, so I opted for shorts, but of course still a long sleeve.... Tan lines - remember? ;-)



I headed out from the train trolley northbound all the way to Sunrift and turned left towards the Travelers Rest YMCA a little while before I turned around. After my turnaround, I noticed this beautiful blooming tree and just had to snap a picture.



Well, after the turnaround, the trouble started. I wasn't fast before, but half way through my run I started feeling a little queasy and got side stitches (on both sides!). At the gas station I bought myself more water (since I didn't have enough with me) and took a pit stop, but still didn't feel good afterward. Also, my legs started to really get heavy. Anyway, I made it back to the car and did another good stretch.



When I got home, my soon to be husband already cooked dinner! You gotta love him!!

And now excuse me, I have to do some serious foam rolling and get tons of shut eye tonight. I know that it would be more realistic to not sleep at all tonight and then run tomorrow, but I won't take the rehearsal that far! ;-)

So long!

A Tale Of Two.... Updates

Palmetto200

There have been more changes to the course of the Palmetto200 relay. I guess, if you never think about it, you can just not appreciate the amount of work the race directors have to put into a race that covers such a distance (I am not saying that organizing a shorter race is no work). The new changes have been made necessary due to construction on one of the roads. On top of changes in the course, we once again scrambled around the legs between the runners in van #1 and now I am runner #2. That means in total, I have to run a mile less than before and the split between the legs are: 6, 6.4 and 3.9 miles... So that's my new game plan for my race dress rehearsal over the weekend. Here is some more detail in case you need to look for me on Apr 30th or May 1st 2010:




New Hair

I was sooooo overdue for a hair cut. Finally, I got it done today. For whatever reason, I never look forward going to the appointment, but I always feel better and beautified once I am done.

I made a picture, but for whatever reason, I can't upload it.... Oh well... I guess you have to take my word for it.

Walk To The Beach: Stats Week 2

Just when you think that it can't get any worse.



Don't get me wrong. When I added up the numbers this morning, I was pleasantly surprised that I was still able to log over 40 miles for the week. Actually, compared to last week, my regular walking and cycling ended up around the same mileage and with two swims instead of one last week, I was able to increase the swimming mileage. But the run... The running is going really bad and this little exercise makes my slacking very visible.

Well, on the other hand, you can might as well call it taper for a big weekend of runs coming up. (Excuses, excuses, excuses) I will do a 4 to 5 mile run sometime during the week and then the big dress rehearsal for the Palmetto200 on the weekend. 10 mile run Saturday morning, 4 mile run Saturday afternoon (maybe on a trail) and then another 4 mile run Sunday morning before church. This should give me a fairly good idea how the relay is going to feel like... Hopefully my legs are going to survive this number.

Our team number was around 160 miles last week compared to 190 miles the week before... So I guess I wasn't the only one having some scheduling problems... We are still going strong, but I don't know yet where we are compared to the other teams.

So long! ;-)

Like A BRICK Wall

Hmmmm... All kinds of sporting fun is up on the horizon and I am really looking forward to it. Only every now and then the craziness, I got myself into, is hitting me like a brick wall.



Soooooo.... Just to get things straight.... I am planning on running 17 point something miles of the Palmetto200 relay at the end of April and will attempt my first century ride EVER the week after the relay. If that is not stupid enough: I do this off a training plan tailored for a SPRINT DISTANCE TRIATHLON!

Well, I addressed half of the issue already by putting in more miles running as needed according to the plan, but the cycling portion... Not quite. Right now, I am at around 50 miles on the bike PER WEEK and really don't know how that translates into 100 miles in ONE DAY. Let me illustrate the problem a little more: The longest time I have been sitting on a bike in the last couple of months are two hours... And to complete ONE HUNDRED MILES, I am looking at more than six hours... Even if it's on the trainer or a pancake flat course.

Oh and to make things even more complicated... There is also this wedding that I am currently planning and where people count on me to be there... So that workout weekend is pretty much toast! ;-)

To prioritize things in my head and put them into perspective, I made a list:

• last year I ran the Blue Ridge Relay after several weeks of little to none running due to an overuse injury... and I survived and not total tanked my legs either!
• this year, I am smarter when it comes to training (hopefully that is not wishful thinking here) and also have a better base for longer distance running to begin with
• last year I did a metric century (60 miles) ride with less than 40 miles as my longest training ride... but I had tons of mileage per week going on leading up to the even... I finished the thing in four hours.... My right hand was numb for about a week due to the pressure on the palms for the time of the ride... Fun stuff!
• this year I stink in the cycling department so far.... and the weekends were I will be able to squeeze in long rides are almost non existing.... Make it work! ;-)
  

This was the perspective list and now on to the priority list:

• focus on the running, because it's an actual race in which you are part of an actual team

It's that simple. It really is. Yes, I do want to complete 100 miles on the bike on May 8th, but if it's not happening, then it's not happening. There are no results and no DNF's in this event. I may start out on the road and then move to the trainer and take off the resistance... I may to 50 Miles Of Nowhere instead. Bottom line... I am not going to put myself under pressure for this... The priority clearly lies on the Palmetto200... and the wedding... and a little kitchen renovation and my family coming to visit....

Nuf said! ;-)

Palmetto200 Updates

With everything else going on, I hardly had time to mention the Palmetto200 relay more than on a couple of side notes over the last couple of weeks. Let's get you up to speed with the scoop and the current planning situation.

As you know, the team is complete. We have 12 runners and out of the 12, we have 10 original DNR members and 2 replacements (16.6% bounce rate is not too shabby)... Those 12 runners form a team with the sweet name of "DNR All-Stars" and the t-shirt logo looks something like this... But this is all still in the draft stage of things.

We also had a naked Calvin on our t-shirts from last year, so this is kind of a natural progression in team name and logo.


There was also some crazy talk about the three wolves t-shirt partnered with another 80's essential... But I think we are over this stage by now. Remainders of this discussion is a statement, that parts of the race will be run in Chuck's... For my part, I thought it would be fun to run one leg in a tutu, but really, the space is limited in vans! :-)

Design credit for the team logo goes to DNR team graphic designer Alex S.

After deciding on team name, logo and actually completing the team, it was time to assign the team members to the legs of the relay. I mentioned earlier, that I signed up for runner #3, then the course got changed around and I swapped for runner #6. Well, they changed the course again and as of now, I am up to 17 miles for the total relay once more... I guess it's just meant to be. Here is a comparison between the old split and the new split courtesy of Brian:




E is for easy, M for medium and H for hard... Since the course is pretty flat, the difficulty of the legs is really determined by the distance. My first leg will be 9.9 miles (longest of whole relay)... That is going to be tough, but at least it will be out of the way early. My next two legs are rated easy with 3.4 miles and 3.7 miles.

That's the status as of yesterday, we'll see if there are going to be more changed to the route.

Still in the works is van rental and hotel reservations for Charleston for after the relay. Since we ran to the beach, we figured it would be nice to stay there for one night before driving back home.

So long! :-)

Tuesday Tidbits

1. I don't want see this crappy weather anymore, but it doesn't look like it's going to get better anytime soon... More ice on Friday... Oh joy!
2. After feeling drained for over a week, I start to feel human again... And my feet start itching (no... I am not talking about athlete's foot) and want to RUN... Tomorrow, I will do an easy run! YAY!
3. Not working out for the last couple of days, but already feeling better, made it possible to have social commitments two nights in a row... I have a dim memory of a time where I had a social commitment every night of the week. It was fun, but for the long run, I prefer my new fitness lifestyle.
4. The D.N.R. All-Stars are officially registered for the Palmetto 200 relay! Today's e-mail trail back and forth makes me look forward to this race already. Currently, I am up as runner #3 with a total mileage of 14.1 over three legs (3.4 - easy, 3.1 - easy and 7.6 - hard), but we are still early in the game!
5. I try not to freak out about the Myrtle Beach Half... Que sera sera. Whatever will be, will be.
6. I used to be a complete music snob... Stressing "USED" here... At the Grammy awards last Sunday, I didn't know half the people being honored and maybe 2/3 of the people that tried to make an impression with a skimpy outfit on the red carpet.
7. Planning a wedding is tough... Planning it on a tight schedule is tougher... Just sayin'.
8. I think it's time for a new laptop... The laptop I am currently using goes into it's 8th year... All the time my point was that as long as it still works, why replace it. Over the last couple of days I changed my opinion on this a little... I think in favor of my sanity, it's time for an upgrade... Like wireless... Crazy - right? ;-)
9. Speaking of crazy... Last weekend while grocery shopping, I felt a little crazy (yeah right!) and got me some Greek yogurt after every health blog out there is gushing about it... It's yummie... I can only recommend it.
10. There are a couple of possible additions to my tentative race schedule for 2010: 3-6 Reedy River 10K, 5-29 XTERRA 15K and 8-14 XTERRA 7K.

Sidelined

As mentioned yesterday, I am a little under the weather. First there was this head cold that wouldn’t go anywhere and as soon as I started to relax a little on our winter vacation – BOOM – I got really sick. Right in time for our trip to Bavaria which I didn’t want to cancel and that was also tons of fun, but I just didn’t get the rest in, I would have done if I had been home.

So my last real workout has been on the last Saturday in 2009 and since then I didn’t do anything than hiking and walking and actually since I am back from Germany…. I didn’t do ANYTHING AT ALL. This might be the longest stretch of workout free time in a year.

Of course the timing is BAD. There is no good time for getting sick and there is much worse out in this world than having a cold. Nevertheless, in the absence of having real problems, I am frustrated to say the least. I signed up for my first half marathon and the big day is less than six weeks away. On top of it, I haven’t managed to run the 13.1 miles in one of my long runs yet.

Considering all these current events, I decided to scramble my planning around a little. The planned 10K in Asheville in two weeks is OFF. I prefer to have this weekend available for a quality long run instead of doing a race. That means that I didn’t do a race in December and won’t do one in January. Looks like this cold has also induced the longest stretch of non-racing months, since I started racing in November 2008. I try not to go to crazy over that, but I show tons of nerves at the starting line and doing races on a regular basis helps my brains to remember that there really is nothing to be nervous about. Terry always says: “Why should I be nervous, it’s just running!” – I wish I could adopt that attitude.

As of right now, I plan to get back to my workouts tomorrow morning with a swim class at 6AM… Today, I stopped by the nurse in our facility and got the green light for working out. I was planning on starting back up, but it gives me some peace of mind that she agrees with my assessment.

On brighter news (brighter than the green light): Team D.N.R. will be back in action end of April at the Palmetto 200 Relay from somewhere close to Columbia, SC to Folly Beach, SC. Originally we talked about doing the American Odyssey Relay from Gettysburg, PA to Washington D.C., but then we heard about this new relay in our backyard and decided to it instead. So far it looks like the original cast will get together for a new installment of running insanity and a sleepless night and tons of stories to tell. STAY TUNED! ;-)