I received Meb for Mortals as an early birthday gift. YAY!!! I am ready for all your “secrets*,” Meb! Ha ha.
So far, I’ve only read the first chapter, on the importance of setting goals (basically, using the SMART criteria). I like that Meb emphasizes that goals DON’T have to be pace based and I especially liked what he said about goal sharing:
I’m not advocating telling the whole world your goal. Stick with a small group of people who you know will care enough to want to help you reach it. With everyone else, underpromise and overdeliver.
When I read that I was hoping he’d go in to more explanation behind his thought process on underpromising and overdelivering, but he didn’t. Obviously, I get that you should share your goals with people who actually care about your progress and will help you be successful. But with some athletes being more publicly open about their specific goals (see Shalane Boston 2015), I wonder what it is that tells Meb to keep some things to himself – is it an innate feeling or something a coach advised him on?
I wonder because that’s how I am – I share very little (if I have a goal at all). It just doesn’t work for me** to publicly announce a goal and have more than those few, caring people know about it. I hadn’t thought about it as “underpromising and overdelivering” with everyone else though. That’s interesting. I wonder what other things I’ll read in the book that make me go “hmm.”
Who would be in your small group of people you share goals with? Or does broadcasting them work for you?
*Which he specifically says aren’t “secrets,” ha ha.
**And I am not denouncing this method for other people! I just know what works for me.
Mother Nature was working against me Friday and Saturday!
Or rather, Mother Nature has been working against Kansas City since… May. Ha ha. And we just got to experience some of the aftermath.
It started at the Royals game Friday night. Last year, when Rachel and I traveled to Kansas City for the Psycho Psummer Trail Run, we ended up dropping from the 20 mile to 10 mile distance because the race was taking us longer than we thought it would, and we didn’t want to be too wiped out to enjoy the Royals game the night of the race (priorities!).
So this year, we REALLY wanted to do the full 20 mile distance (two loops on the course), and decided to attend the Friday night Royals game, so we wouldn’t feel like we had to be anywhere after the Saturday race. Perfect planning – attend the game, get to bed by midnight, and get six hours of sleep – that works!
Only… not so much. Ha ha. A storm started coming in right before game start, and then it POURED rain. For almost two hours.
We had fun hanging out and goofing around (and complaining about how much our feet and legs hurt from standing so much) while we waited for the game to start…
Steven and his dad were there too
… but it didn’t start until after 9:00! Eek!
We watched as much of it as we could, but left after the fourth inning so we’d still get a decent amount of sleep before the race. Bummer. But – the Royals won! Woot woot!
Before we got to Kansas City, I was wondering how all of the rain they’d been getting would affect the trail course for the race (and even more so after the pre-race night of rain!). The race organizers (the awesome Trail Nerds!!!) addressed it on their Facebook page and in a race email. They changed the course a bit so less of it would be in the mud, and gave us a warning that the first two miles would be mud, and it would clear up after that.
I was thinking, “Wow, only 2 miles? How is that possible?” followed by “Well, I can deal with it for two miles.”
No. No I can’t. Too much of the course looked like this:
I love trail running, and I love getting dirty – running through puddles and mud, and falling in them doesn’t phase me. I expect to get dirty and fall on the trails, and laugh about it.
I don’t expect to walk, at a 25 minute per mile pace or SLOWER for most of the course (it took us 4:14:30 to cover 10.2 miles – last year it took just under 3 hours). I don’t expect to lose my shoe (ha ha!). I don’t expect to feel completely demoralized. I don’t expect to run only about 10% of the course.
Sigh. This was hard, guys. Mentally, not physically (I wasn’t even sore from the race the next day).
Within the first two miles, yep, Rachel and I were both thinking about dropping to the 10 mile distance. But who was going to say it first? I am happy she did – I thought I was just being weak-minded, but I wasn’t.
And guess what? That mud didn’t stop at two miles (how could it? and could you imagine what a second loop would have been like?! even worse!). I would say 60% of the course was like that. Just when you’d get going, you’d come across more mud. How do you run through this?
That’s not safe for us non-local runners (I really shouldn’t have even stopped to take pics – that alone was dangerous – you could totally fall and hit your head on one of these rocks!) who aren’t good on the large rock terrain to begin with to TRY to run on.
Of course, I am happy the race was still held AT ALL! They could have canceled, due to the trail conditions. And Trail Nerds did a ton of race prep to clear the path (brush, etc) so we could make it through. They had awesome aid stations, amazing volunteers, and a rocking DJ. And race photos included in your entry fee!
I like how deceiving they are about the conditions of the course, ha!
Trail Nerds put on an AWESOME event. Why else would we be back, wanting to go for the full 20, another year? It’s just too bad the trail was like this.
But we felt better when we heard other people coming up behind us (the 10 milers started at 9:00, an hour after us, so they did catch up – HOW DO PEOPLE RUN THROUGH ALL THAT MUD?!) and cussing about the course. We felt better when we saw that TONS of people dropped from the 20 to the 10, and from the 50K to the 20 or 10. We felt bad when we saw posts of people who DNF’d (did not finish) because of the conditions. But… even those people were cheery about it. Trail runners are a happy bunch!
Although I do have to say, I had a very whiny moment on the trail. During mile 2, my right shoe decided to stay behind in the mud when I was walking through it, ha ha. So I fell in the mud and was trying to pull my shoe out (it felt suction cupped in!) to put it on my muddy sock, which took longer than I thought it would. Then I was walking through the mud, when a slippery muddy sock in a muddy shoe.
I looked at my watch and saw that we were almost to an hour and I hadn’t eaten anything since race start. I pulled out a Clif gel to eat and when I tried to open it, the top ripped off but left the package closed, with the gel squirting out the side. My hands were covered in mud, and now the package was too, and I just started whining. Rachel asked what was wrong, probably thinking I was hurt or something, and when I whined “My Clif gel didn’t open right and is coming out the side!” she was just like “… um, why don’t you eat it out the side, then?!” So logical, but I was all EFF THIS CLIF GEL I HATE YOU!
Sigh. Not my best race moment. I was surprised to see myself go to such a dark mental place. That rarely happens to me at races. But, I don’t think I have done a race before that mentally beat me down so much. Rachel and I just wanted to run, but couldn’t.
It was either like this:
or this:
Okay, we did get to run in some spots:
But like I said, we MAYBE ran a mile the entire time. Ha ha! We went out for a (dry paved trail) run on Sunday to make sure we were still runners and get our runner cards back. Luckily, we were successful with that run.
And luckily, we were laughing about the race and making fun of ourselves shortly after. I was surprised though, as someone who almost always tries to put a positive spin on my “athletic” endeavors, that I did not hesitate to tell anyone how horrible this was. But! It made us stronger runners, and we got to bond with other people on the trail. And I know Rachel still wants to be my friend after seeing my crazy clif gel frustration. Ha.
Oh, and maybe all that mud is good for our skin? Not. It dried out and felt itchy. As do all the mosquito bites we got on the trail. Hmm, what else can I complain about? The heat? Nah, with this being mostly shaded, it was no big deal that it was 86º with a feel like temperature in the high 90s. I mean, we were soaked, but had no issues other than that!
Now to decide what to do for next year! I love visiting Kansas City with Rachel, but maybe we’ll have to send a scout over to check out the trails before we register for this race again. Or, pick a new race. The I-35 Challenge is calling our names…
I hope this didn’t come off as me complaining about the race organizers, because I am not, at all. They rock. What control would they have over the trail, and rain? They did an amazing job with what they were handed. I could really see myself doing more of their races and hanging with this group if I was local – they seem like a lot of fun. And how amazing would it be to train on those hills and terrain? I would come back to the trail races I do where I live and find them much easier!
And I LOVE the race shirt and cup we got this year. We got a medal too (same one as last year). It may take me awhile to wear that shirt though, ha!
The rest of our day and visit was FANTASTIC! We spent Saturday prepping food with my snister for a cookout, then the three of us went to a local pool (which felt amazing!). After the pool, my in-laws came over to my snister’s for the cookout and games. On Sunday, Rachel and I ran, went to a big cat sanctuary and hung out at my father-in-law’s place before flying back to Chicago. It’s funny, we flew (instead of driving) this year so we’d feel like we had more time there but it still felt SO short! Maybe next year’s trip will be a bit longer!
Highlight of the Week: Running with Rachel, and laughing about how miserable Saturday’s race made us, and how whiny I got at one point.
Monday | July 6, 2015: 5 m run + teaching strength class Loc: hood, Temp: 78°/80°, Time: 47:59, Pace: 9:36 avg, Difficulty: medium/hard, Felt: hot
Strength: Body Bars & One Dumbbell, Difficulty: medium, Felt: still out of breath Tuesday | July 7, 2015: 6 m run (incl. 3×800, 3×400, 4x:30) Loc: hood, Temp: 64°/64°, Time: 56:05, Pace: 9:21 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: decent, but out of breath at the end Wednesday | July 8, 2015:3 m run
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 60°/60°, Time: 27:48, Pace: 9:16 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good Thursday | July 9, 2015: 10.3 m ride Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 68°, Time: 44:36, Pace: 13.9 mpg avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good Friday | July 10, 2015:5 m run + teaching strength class Loc: hood, Temp: 59°/59°, Time: 46:47, Pace: 9:21, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Strength: AireX pads & medicine balls, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good Saturday | July 11, 2015:Psycho Psummer 10 Mile (w/Rachel) Loc: Wyandotte County Lake Park, Temp: no data°/86°, Time: 4:14:40, Pace: 24:57 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: mentally demoralized Sunday | July 12, 2015:9 m run (w/Rachel) Loc: Indian Creek Trail, Temp: 73°/78°, Time: 1:42:09, Pace: 11:21 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good but hot!
Notes:
I was tired, tired, tired this week. Not physically – just so sleepy. I tend to stay up later in the summer due to there being more daylight, and, well, duh – it just makes me tired when I try (emphasis on try, ha ha) to follow the same wake-up schedule! The good news is, I am getting much better at running in the middle of the day heat! I hope I get more sleep this week.
Rachel and I traveled to Kansas City on Friday to give the Psycho Psummer 20 mile trail race another go. And dropped down to 10 miles, AGAIN. Ha ha. It took us an hour and 15 minutes longer than last year to complete the 10 miles, because at least 60% of the course was straight up mud. Needless to say, the race was NOT the highlight of the weekend, but we had super fun trip, overall!
Doing an Independence Day race isn’t a tradition for me. We’re always* in Guttenberg, Iowa for the holiday, and the neighboring town of Garnavillo has been putting on this race for 28 years, but this is only my third time running it! I ran it for the first time in 2009 (and it was my PR for a few years!) and last year with my dad, and that’s it! Oops!
Do you usually do an Independence Day race?
This year, my epic plan for the race was to ride our bikes to and from it. Which doesn’t seem like a big deal since it’s just over 12 miles each way. But then you consider that the race starts at 7:00 am and you need to leave the house at 5:30 am, and, oh yeah, go up this big hill to get out of town:
Ha! That was fun! I actually didn’t have to switch out to my smaller gear until I stopped to take this photo at the overlook:
Then realized, duh, it’s really hard to clip back in and get going UP A HILL on your bike. Lesson learned – don’t stop on a hill!
But the rest of the ride went great. It was early in the morning so there was hardly any traffic, and the highway had a very wide, smooth shoulder for us to ride on! There was no wind and it was in the high 50s! Great riding temps!
When we got to the race I told my dad I’d be happy to run it in 25 or 26 minutes. I was still having breathing issues because of my cold, and the course is kind of hilly. And… I just biked 12 miles to get there. Ha.
This race is SMALL! Maybe 40 participants?
When we started though, I didn’t feel like that pace was possible.
It wasn’t my legs that felt trashed, but yeah, my lungs. I watched quite a few people get ahead of me and felt dumb for starting in the front!
But something crazy happened. As I focused on running the tangents, having good form, and pumping my arms, my pace started to get faster. My watch said I was running 8:30s at the start but my first mile clicked off in 7:58. I was surprised to see a split under 8 minutes!
There was a lady in front of me for the first mile, and I managed to pass her and two other people in the beginning of mile two. Not wanting to get passed again, I tried to keep the pace going, even on the uphills, and ran my second mile in 7:47!
After that, I had my eyes on the only other woman I could see. She had been quite a bit ahead of me for most of the race, but I was gaining on her. I didn’t think I had a chance of passing her though – this course has a loop in it you run twice, and the end of the loop is an uphill I was sure would slow me down. But I caught up to her on the uphill, and passed her on the last downhill, running the third mile in 7:37.
The last bit of the course is uphill. After passing that lady I didn’t want to look like a total idiot and get passed in the last tenth of a mile, so I booked it and ran the last tenth at a 6:47 pace.
I finished in 24:02 (which is a course PR for me!) and she finished right behind me in 24:03! Eek! After the race, I thanked her for being my rabbit and keeping me on pace**. The lady I passed at the beginning of mile 2 came up to me and said something similar when she finished.
Ha, immediately when I finished though, I stopped and went over to my dad, gasping for air. He laughed and said “Why’d you run so fast?!” I told him I really didn’t know. I never know how competitive I am going to feel at a 5K! Since I could see that woman in front of me for most of the race, and knew the race was so small, I wanted to see if I could pass her.
Passing her didn’t really mean much though (since we are in different age groups… this year). They only do age group awards*** for this race (not, overall awards) and the age groups are kind of big – mine was 19-30! And I was first of four in the group. Small, small race. That lady was first in the 31-45 age group. I was second overall (a 10 year-old girl ran it in 22:54)!
They put the names on the wrong certificates – ha ha
I was truthfully very surprised to run the race in this overall time, and ESPECIALLY with negative splits. I am not someone who negative splits 5Ks. EVER. My first mile is usually the fastest, and my last, the slowest.
Dad and I hung around after the race, talking to other runners, then listening to the awards ceremony. I think it’s so fantastic they use the money that this race brings in for the Sheriff’s K9 program! The race shirt logo reflected that:
We had an easy ride back. Riding in the beautiful Iowa countryside got me really stoked for the two days we are doing of RAGBRAI this year! And we had a blast going down that huge hill to get back to town. We were going 30 mph… and that was with using the brakes! Crazy!
I really cherish this time I get to spend with my dad… and am happy he goes along with my crazy ideas!
*Except those two summers I missed it and it felt so very wrong
**Which sounds like a jerky thing to say, but I didn’t mean it like that – she was hundreds of feet ahead of me for most of the race – I wasn’t using her as a rabbit to block the wind
***The awards are a free pancake breakfast. Three other people gave me their awards cause they didn’t plan on using them, so we gave them to our family and they used them when they went to Garnavillo for the parade at 10:00 am.
Highlight of the Week: My last run with Kelly and cycling with my dad to (and from) a 5K!
Monday | June 29, 2015: teaching strength class
Strength: Mixed Mode: Body Bars & One Dumbbell, Difficulty: medium, Felt: out of breath talking and working out Tuesday | June 30, 2015:8 m run (w/Kelly) Loc: Millennium Trail to Nippersink FP, Temp: 64°/69°, Time: 1:19:06, Pace: 9:53 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: better! Wednesday | July 1, 2015:4 m run
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 54°/54°, Time: 35:37, Pace: 8:53 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: strong Thursday | July 2, 2015: 15 m run Loc: Around Round Lake, Temp: 62°/61°, Time: 2:33:36, Pace: 10:14 avg, Difficulty: easy to medium, Felt: pretty good! Friday | July 3, 2015: teaching strength class + 5 m run (w/Adam) Strength: Mixed Mode: Body Bars & One Dumbbell, Difficulty: hard, Felt: shredded
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 51°/55°, Time: 48:36, Pace: 9:43, Difficulty: medium/hard, Felt: tired Saturday | July 4, 2015:12.5 m ride (w/Dad) + Firecracker 5K + 12.2 m ride (w/Dad) Loc: Guttenberg to Garnavillo, Temp: 57°/59°, Time: 59:29, Pace: 12.6 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: Garnavillo, Temp: 59°/61°, Time: 24:03, Pace: 7:46 avg, Difficulty: hard then easier, Felt: good
Loc: Garnavillo to Guttenberg, Temp: 61°/69°, Time: 51:08, Pace: 14.3 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good Sunday | July 5, 2015:5 m run (w/Dad on bike) Loc: Guttenberg, Temp: 65°/68°, Time: 52:38, Pace: 10:31 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: like I was going so much faster
Notes:
Since I was sick last week and most of this week, I was totally expecting my runs to feel horrible. But besides a few bouts of coughing, I actually felt really energetic. I don’t know if it was the two days off running (Sunday and Monday), the amazingly cool temps on Wednesday and Thursday, or the Mucinex in my system, but I’ll take it!
However, I felt totally zapped teaching strength class this week. My lungs hurt and it’s really hard to count or speak in class, while doing anything (I even cut back how much of the workout I am doing). I hope this week is better.
I saw so much wildlife on my runs this week! A vulture eating parts of a carcass, a deer with a bird resting on its butt, donkeys, horses, and countless birds and bunnies. And that was all around my house in Illinois!
Kelly and I had a fabulous last run together. I’m really going to miss starting out my days with a run with her. We’ll have to be virtual training partners now.
I got to workout with my dad this weekend when I was in Iowa for Independence Day! I brought my bike so we could ride to the next town over to do their 5K… which involved going up a giant hill to get out of town! Ha! It was a lot of fun and made me even more stoked for RAGBRAI! More on that when I get the race report up!
June recap time! If you’ve been reading my blog for a few years you know I cut back on running in the beginning of the summer, and this year is no different! In June, I ran 136.9 miles, and cycled 92.8 (two outdoor rides, three indoor… sigh). I taught nine strength classes and went swimming once! I am excited to see that biking number DOUBLE in July!!! And I need to get my running back up a bit if I want to make my 2000 miles for the year goal. I am on track and don’t want to fall behind!
Highlight of the Week: Getting a lot of runs in with Kelly before she moves / teaching fitness boxing!
Monday | June 22, 2015: teaching strength class
Strength: Mixed Mode: Body Bars & One Dumbbell, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good Tuesday | June 23, 2015: 5 m run (w/Kelly) Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 68°/65°, Time: 48:25, Pace: 9:41 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good Wednesday | June 24, 2015:7 m run (w/Kelly) + swim
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 59°/56°, Time: 1:07:16, Pace: 9:34 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: Grayslake Pool, 500m freestyle 11:56, 500m breaststroke 14:20, 250m backstroke 6:57 Thursday | June 25, 2015: rest (sick) Friday | June 26, 2015: teaching strength class + 4 m run (w/Kelly) Strength: Mixed Mode Body Bars & One Dumbbell, Difficulty: easy (mostly observed), Felt: okay
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 60°/63°, Time: 41:43, Pace: 10:26, Difficulty: medium/hard, Felt: ok, challenging on the lungs Saturday | June 27, 2015:4 m run (incl. 8×1:00) Loc: hood, Temp: 66°/68°, Time: 39:34, Pace: 9:53 avg, Difficulty: medium/hard, Felt: okay, hard to breathe Sunday | June 28, 2015:7.15 m ride + teaching fitness boxing + 7.65 ride Loc: home to Efit, Temp: 58°/65°, Time: 33:56, Pace: 12.6 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: calm
Strength: boxing and body weight workout (BOSU), Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, super sweaty, raspy voice
Loc: Efit to home, Temp: 70°/70°, Time: 34:56, Pace: 13.1 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: exhilarated
Notes:
This was Kelly’s last full week here, so we tried to run together as much as possible! Rain and me getting sick messed with our plans a bit, but we did the best we could, and I am happy for that!
Yeah… I got some nasty chest cold… thing. My colds usually run a very typical course – sore throat, painful unproductive cough, draining face, finishing with productive cough (which sometimes lasts weeks). This went straight from sore throat to difficulty breathing with a painful cough unproductive/productive combo. Makes me wonder if it’s something more serious with my lungs. I am going to visit the doctor this week if my breathing doesn’t get under control!
It probably didn’t help that as I was getting sick, I decided to hit up the pool for some laps, for funsies. I hope I can go back soon, when I am feeling better. I’d love to pay a coach for some pointers in the water! I am a confident swimmer, but I bet my form is all over the place, ha ha.
I rode to and from my Sunday class at Efit. It’s a short ride, but pretty exhilarating because some of it is with traffic, and while I am brave enough to go out in it, I prefer riding in traffic in a group (or solo, on a trail). I’m grateful to have one of those sunglasses mirrors for my bike, so I can see behind me – even if it makes me look like a dork!
I am amazed by the passion of my team and their commitment to Alzheimer’s advocacy. I am in awe of those with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, and their caretakers.
I am forever grateful, and truthfully, just floored by the amount of donations I received for the Alzheimer’s Association. I have so many thoughtful people in my life. And unfortunately, I have a lot of people in my life who have a direct connection to someone with Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia. (You can still donate here!)
I am hopeful. I am optimistic. I believe will we see major advancements in Alzheimer’s and dementia treatment and care in our lifetime. The majority of funds donated (see here) to the organization go toward Alzheimer’s care, support, research, awareness, and advocacy. This is an organization I believe in. We are making a difference!
The Longest Day is a team event to raise funds and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association. Held annually on the summer solstice (June 21st), the duration of this sunrise-to-sunset event symbolizes the challenging journey of those living with the disease and their caregivers. Teams are encouraged to create their own experience as they fundraise and participate in an activity they love to honor someone facing the disease.
The super cool thing about The Longest Day (TLD) is that you can do ANY activity you want with your team. Yes, our team chose running, but you could bowl all day. You could knit. You could garden. You could fly your plane. You could kayak. Whatever the activity is, the idea is that you are active from sunrise to sunset, as it says in the quote above, to symbolize the challenging journey of those with the disease and their caretakers.
Team Running to Remember has been together for four years. Rachel and her friend Kim started the team in memory of grandparents they lost to the disease. And why did I join? Also in memory of a grandparent. My paternal grandfather had Lewy Body Dementia, and I saw the disease take away the man I knew and put someone else in his body (as well as give him hallucinations, disrupt his sleep, and mess with his muscle control). And honestly, it took a few years for me to come to grips with and be brave enough to face. I selfishly hope it’s not something I go through again, but, the odds aren’t super low.
For the first three years, Team Running to Remember ran from sunrise to sunset on a track. This year, we mixed things up! We ran a 47-mile relay from Monroe to Madison, WI. We chose 47 miles because in 2015, there are 47 million people living with Alzheimer’s disease, worldwide.
Our day started with a sunrise wake-up, and travel to Monroe. We had originally planned to start running at sunrise, but we delayed it until 7:30 am because The Weather Channel wanted to do a segment on us!
And then we were all off! Our course had 12 legs, varying in length from just over 1 mile to just under 7 miles, and our plan was to run the first, fifth (you’ll see why, soon!) and last leg together as a team.
The night before the event, we divvied up legs. I preferred to run more legs together, with less breaks, and chose legs 1-2, 4-6, 9-10, and 12. Another teammate stacked legs like I did, and others wanted to go every other leg, or so. Our goal was to have at least two runners on each leg, and we always did!
The first 9 legs were on the Badger State Trail, a crushed limestone, rail trail (read: flat, yay!). We started our first run off in the fog, which made me think of TLD 2014 when it was foggy for almost the entire day! The sun quickly burned it off though. By Leg 2 (which Rachel and I ran together), it was sunny and started to warm up (63° when we started leg 1 and 68° when we ended Leg 2).
We wore bibs to honor the people our donors donated in memory of
Steven called me during Leg 2 to let me know the exchange point I selected (Rachel chose the overall route and I picked all the distances and exchange points) was actually an overpass. Oops! John ran back to meet us, and we ran just a little bit further to the next major road. That was probably the only issue we had with the exchanges all day! Yay!
Southern Wisconsin is so beautiful! (Northern probably is too – I have never been.) I loved seeing the rolling landscapes and native plants!
Kim and Mattie took off for Leg 3, and we met them half way to cheer them on.
Right before that, Rachel got a call that a local news station wanted to interview them! Neat! I’ll have to post that video whenever I come across it. UPDATE – here it is.
Amy and I ran Leg 4 together and I enjoyed some one-on-one chatting and getting to know her. I did NOT enjoy the bugs. Yikes! At the end of our leg, our entire team ran back to finish the leg with us for the news anchor to video tape. Then as soon as we passed her I stopped to get some bug spray. It really burned when I put it on my neck and I started off Leg 5 feeling a bit… uncomfortable.
But Leg 5 may have been the coolest (literally, for sure) of all – we got to run through a tunnel!
We grabbed what flashlights and headlamps we had, but it didn’t help much! We walked through (as no to trip) and enjoyed the cool air in there.
Kim, John and I went off on Leg 6, after. We decided to do a 3:1 run:walk ratio, which is what John trains at for his marathons. I was happy to take walk breaks. It was 68° when I started Leg 4 but 79° by the end of Leg 6! And there was starting to be less shade on the trail!
I was looking forward to my big break until Leg 9! After I finished Leg 6, I changed clothes and shoes (I did after Leg 2 as well), then we drove around cheering our runners on and going to exchange points. We had four cars – ours, Rachel’s, John’s, and Sarah’s. I greatly appreciate our drivers for hauling us all around, cheering us on, and putting up with our smell!
It was getting hotter and hotter. We started to modify some of the runner plans – Kim took my leg 9, and Sarah ran part of Leg 8 for Mattie. We all did run/walk ratios as to not overheat, and we met our runners mid-leg to give them ice and make sure they were doing okay.
I got to run Leg 10 with Amy, again! By that time, we were in Madison, on the Capital City Trail, in an open, prairie-like park. We ran to the mile mark and walked a tenth or fifteenth of a mile then ran again. We were going along at a great pace, and I was still blabbing away (my sign that I am feeling okay), despite it being 81° when we started and 82° when we finished! The team met us half way, and was worried about how hot it was getting, so they told us they modified the course a bit – we were going to run two more miles (instead of three), then they were going to take more of a straight shot toward the Capitol Building, to stay safe.
So we probably ended up running 46 miles on our relay, instead of 47. But, better safe than sorry (and we still ran A LOT more, cumulatively!).
Rachel, Mattie and Alicia took off for Leg 11, and we met them halfway (where Kim joined them and Mattie left the leg), and again near downtown Madison so we could all run the last .4 miles to the Capitol.
That .4 miles was the hardest part of the day for me! Ha! I had my short sleeve Team Running to Remember shirt on and the sweat was just dripping down my arms. That was my hottest run at 85°! And… I was starting to feel the heat. I was getting a headache, getting sun-sick.
But there was no time for that! We had an after party to go to! This is supposed to last until sunset, remember? John was nice enough to let us all clean up at his nearby hotel, then we went to One Barrel Brewing, which donated $1 from every beer purchased to the organization! Ha ha, Amy, Steven and I stopped at Chipotle first though, and I do believe that was the BEST burrito I have ever had from there. You know how relays are – you have all that snacky food (we had fruit and other “healthy” stuff too) but you just want a MEAL when you finish! (Well, a meal and a shower!)
Somehow, my headache left me at the party! We stayed until 8:00 pm then made our journey back to Illinois. Some of the rest of the team did make it until sunset!
It feels funny to talk about how important this cause is to me then pair it with something that sounds like a race report, which is something that benefits me – something I enjoy! But that is the idea behind TLD – do something you enjoy to honor those facing and supporting the disease! Win win!
I hope I can participate next year, when TLD will be on a Tuesday. I really love this group of people and am honored they include me (and Steven – he is not pictured but he was there all day – driving and taking pics and providing support!)!
I was looking in my “Crap I don’t use” folder on my phone today and found an app in there that’s secretly (really, unbeknownst to me) been tracking my steps, walking and running distance, and flights climbed. Stalker alert!
I wonder in what other ways I am completely under-utilizing my smart phone. Ha ha.
A lot of people I know are in to tracking their steps each day, and I’ve been kind of curious where I am in comparison to the standard 10,000 goal, and now I know. Well, at least now I know how many steps my phone takes with me (I have it with me for most physical activity, but not for teaching strength class, and I don’t have it on me all the time).
I have wondered if people using activity trackers count running toward their steps, or if they try to get to 10,000 steps with only walking. Does it defeat the purpose to accumulate all your steps in one fell swoop, for instance, on a run? If you run at a 180 step per minute cadence, it would take you about fifty-five and a half minutes of running to get to 10,000 steps for the day. I probably don’t have a cadence quite that high, so it would take me an hour of running to hit 10,000 steps for the day – which is a typical run length for me, meaning I would get to 10,000 steps quickly.
But… if I just run in the morning and sit on my butt all day, like I did today, that doesn’t seem like a good measure of my health! I need to move more throughout the entire day! I suppose that is why people get the fitness trackers that vibrate to let them know they’ve been on their bottoms too long.
Highlight of the Week: Participating in The Longest Day with an awesome group of people and raising money for the Alzheimer’s Association.
Monday | June 15, 2015: 5 m run (w/Kelly) + teaching strength class Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 71°/70°, Time: 49:13, Pace: 9:50 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: tired
Strength: Lebert – bodyweight & kettlebells, Difficulty: easy, Felt: okay, ready for a new mode Tuesday | June 16, 2015: rest Wednesday | June 17, 2015:3 m run
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 62°/62°, Time: 28:57, Pace: 9:38 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: okay Thursday | June 18, 2015: 7 m run (w/Kelly) Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 62°/64°, Time: 1:09:56, Pace: 9:55 avg, Difficulty: medium/hard, Felt: too humid Friday | June 19, 2015: teaching strength class + 4 m run (incl. 4×400) Strength: Mixed Mode: Body Bars & One Dumbbell, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: hood, Temp: 59°/59°, Time: 38:49, Pace: 9:35, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good, but hot Saturday | June 20, 2015:45 m ride Loc: Prairie Trail & Fox River Tail, Temp: 59°/70°, Time: 3:25:47, Pace: 13.1 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good Sunday | June 21, 2015:6.29 m run (Legs 1-2) + 8.95 m run (Legs 4-6) + 5.55 m (Leg 10) + .4 m (Leg 12) Loc: Badger State Trail, Temp: 63°/68°, Time: 1:04:53, Pace: 10:19 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: Badger State Trail, Temp: 68°/79°, Time: 1:41:58, Pace: 11:24 avg, Difficulty: hard, Felt: okay
Loc: Capital City Trail, Temp: 81°/82°, Time: 1:00:02, Pace: 10:49 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: pretty good
Loc: Downtown Madison, Temp: 85°, Time: 5:42, Pace: 14:14 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: way too hot
Notes:
My calves and hamstrings were stupid sore Sunday-Tuesday. Luckily (???), Kelly’s were too, so I knew it was from the 5K! It was weird – I normally don’t get sore in those spots. Let’s just call it a good thing and say I was waking up muscles I don’t typically use as much when running.
I kept the week pretty light because I didn’t know how many miles I’d end up running for The Longest Day relay. But I did get in a 45 mile bike ride, which was a lot of fun! And I saw another fawn, this time, with the mother deer. That is the third fawn I have seen in person this month!
The Longest Day event to raise awareness and funds to fight Alzheimer’s was on Sunday. This year, Team Running to Remember did a 12-leg, 47 mile relay from Monroe to Madison, WI. I really enjoyed doing the event relay style, and that I got a chance to run with almost everyone (including a cool person I hadn’t met yet – Amy!)! I’ll share more when I’ve had a chance to process it… and have recovered from all the sun I got!
Monday | June 8, 2015: 8.4 m run (w/Steve & Dad (on bike)) Loc: Line Creek Trail, Temp: 69°/75°, Time: 1:26:31, Pace: 10:18 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: ok! Tuesday | June 9, 2015: 6 m run (w/Gina) Loc: Line Creek Trail, Temp: 68°/72°, Time: 57:17, Pace: 9:33 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: good, hot! Wednesday | June 10, 2015: rest Thursday | June 11, 2015: 3 m run Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 60°/60°, Time: 25:52, Pace: 8:37 avg, Difficulty: easy then medium, Felt: great to run in cooler temps! Friday | June 12, 2015: teaching strength class + 10 m ride Strength: Lebert – bodyweight & kettlebells, Difficulty: easy, Felt: surprisingly energetic
Bike Time: 38:25, Pace: 15.6 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good Saturday | June 13, 2015:Rock n’ SoleThe Big Gig 5K (w/Kelly) Loc: Milwaukee Summerfest Fairgrounds, Temp: 55°/55°, Time: 23:14, Pace: 7:30 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: good Sunday | June 14, 2015:11.05 m run Loc: Millenium Trail to Nippersink FP, Temp: 62°/73°, Time: 2:03:04, Pace: 11:08 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: slimy, sore legs, agitated with bugs, etc, etc, wah, wah
Notes:
I’ve officially hit the sweet spot of training – where I am signed up for races but with no goals beyond having fun! Woot woot! This is perfect timing, as I am starting to slow down as I experience nasty humid runs. Ugh. That was my long run this week – really humid with no breeze (where is the wind that plagued me all winter?!), looking for shade in the woods but getting attacked by bugs, the CeraVe sunscreen the dermatologist recommended making my face sweat like crazy (I will give it another try), sore calves and hamstrings from my race on Saturday… gosh, it seems like I forgot to complain about something. Ha!
I did hit 1,000 miles run for the year during my long run though! I am going to see if I can get to 2,000 for the year, so I am about two and a half weeks ahead of schedule.
This may have actually been my lowest mileage week all year, but that is okay – my body needed the rest, and I think next week will be one my highest mileage weeks of the year. I am running in a 47-mile relay next Sunday for The Longest Day and to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association. My team has a goal of raising $1600. Please see my donation page here if interested!
It’s crazy how much doing speedwork every week has paid off for my 5K times – they’ve stayed consistent over the last few, even though my weight hasn’t. It would be crazy to see how’d they change if I actually stayed at a consistent weight. Ha!
Hi! I'm Kim, a 34-year-old living in Chicagoland with my husband, Steven, and our cats, Khali, Apollo, and Starbuck. I work in the design industry (architecture), follow a vegan lifestyle, am addicted to running, and am an ACE certified personal trainer (working at Essential Fitness, LLC ("Efit"))! I write about a variety of topics, and consider this a "life" blog - a place I can share anything that's on my mind. Please visit the "About" page to get a better idea of who I am! :-)
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