Dirt Cheap Stage Race series report: Adventures in Mendon Part 1

Exhausted selfie. The point is, I got the
coveted sweatshirt.

This weekend I ran 19 miles through the woods, split up over three races in Fleet Feet Rochester's Dirt Cheap Stage Race in Mendon.

Last year I did Stage #2, at Devil's Bathtub, billed as a 5.5 mile race but actually a little shorter. I was jealous of all the people who did all three and got the coveted sweatshirt. I vowed to come back.

Life being as crazy as it has been lately, though, there was a good chance I might have let this one fall through the cracks. Enter Allison. We decided to do this series long ago, before our marathons, and she kept reminding me. She had me on the hook, I couldn't back out.

I was by no means trained for a trail race. I've just run casually since the Wine Glass Marathon a month ago. I haven't done hill training in eons.

So I took it slow, walked all of the hills, Allison stuck with me in the last two stages (more on that saga, an adventure in itself, in Parts 2 and 3.) I finished the series with a combined time of 4:23:46.

This will be a 3-part blog. Stage 2 will post this afternoon, and Stage 3 Tuesday morning, then a special post on Wednesday.

STAGE 1: Time Trial

The first stage was a 3-mile hilly time trial Saturday morning, which I finished in 40:46.

The morning started with an adrenaline surge. Alarm went of. Hit snooze for ten minutes. Drifted away again. I wake up to the phone ringing. The caller ID says "Allison."

I immediately assumed it was a runner's first nightmare: I overslept and Allison was going to say "where on earth are you?" I relaxed when I saw it was still 7:30-something. The phone call wasn't good news, she had a family matter to attend to so she'd have to miss the first race. Bummer, but I'd still have her for the second two stages.

Took the dogs out. It wasn't that cold. Drove to Mendon. What a difference 20 minutes makes, burr, why didn't I bring gloves?

They lined us up, and we started one runner at a time, 5 seconds apart, I was #145, so I had about a 10 minute wait. In this time it started snowing oh so slightly. We started on a slight uphill grade, my legs hated me immediately.

When they said hilly, they meant hilly. These were some of the most treacherous, brutal climbs I've ever faced. I walked most of the inclines, some I couldn't have run if I tried. I laughed at my old self who might have forced myself to run the whole way. The light snowfall made the run absolutely beautiful.

The best volunteer ever stood at Mile 2. She cheered us on as we turned a corner and started to attack a giant hill. "This is a bad hill, it is not the last hill, and you are not almost there," she said.

The well-intentioned-yet-lying volunteers at Musselman constantly promising me that "this is the last hill" still haunt me. Gotta love the honest ones.

I clawed my way up the beast, which seemed never ending, and at the top was Boots, coowner of Fleet Feet. "This is a no standing zone" he says as I'm huffing and puffing my way to the top. I grin. "It's all downhill from here, right?" I say, repeating an oft-heard but rarely true phrase that comes from most volunteers.

"Nope. There's a little one, it doesn't last long."

"Thanks for being honest!!"

I slog my way through the remaining mile, then head back to the lodge for delicious Nutella and cashew butter. A chiropractor there adjusted my back, oh so good, then I got coffee and drove to Devil's Bathtub, the start of Race #2, put my headphones in and closed my eyes for a bit.

Race report: Fleet Feet Dirt Cheap Race Series, Stage race #2

This weekend was freakishly beautiful.

Fleet Feet Rochester had its stage races this weekend, three events in two days. I had wanted to do the 11-miler Sunday, but decided leading up to it that I was in no shape to do it. So, I made the split second decision to run the 5.5 miler instead.

Then I realized it was at a place called Devil's Bathtub at Mendon Ponds Park.

This is looking down from a steep grade. It looked brutal at first, but we came up in a spiral along a staircase so it wasn't bad.

The 5.5 miles turned out to be 4.6 miles and I felt great throughout. I finished in 54:55, 15 out of 22 in my age group. Not bad considering how little running I've been doing!

The hills weren't bad by any means. I walked it up a few of them, no sense in wasting energy given that I wasn't gunning for any kind of prize. Some of the downhills were also too steep. I managed one spill.

There was this really cool area around Mile 3 where we were hopping over logs.

To keep "dirt cheap" in the name (and it was!) there was no swag. Next year I must complete the full series, a 3 and "5.5" mile race Saturday and the 11 miler Sunday. Then I'll get a sweatshirt! :)

Marathon training: Season 4!

The new season of Fleet Feet's Marathoner in Training program kicked off today and I am officially excited to train for my fourth marathon!

Instead of trying to work my way back up to the 10:30s, I've ended up sticking with the 12:00 pace group as a coach. Last week I just ran two miles with the halves but this week I did six miles with the fulls. Right now I'm planning on running the Columbus Marathon.

I really think it's going to be a great season! The group is big, but not too big! Everyone in it is really friendly and talkative.

I do need to focus on my pacing, so I'm going to practice that during the week. Today I had Mandy and Laurie there to help with the pacing, thank you ladies!! After the run I went out on the bike, I did 24 miles with Bill B. The hills were a bit rough but overall it felt really good.

And another note, thanks to all of those who read my blog!! Last month was the highest-traffic month yet -- 2,288 hits -- mostly due to Google searches for the Flying Pig Marathon.

I'm going to cut this short since I'm a tad bit sleepy. I'm going to do a redesign this week, so stay tuned!

Diva Night photos!

Last night was Diva Night at Fleet Feet Sports in Columbus! They bribed us with discounts if we dressed up (and I was in the market for a new pair of shoes): 

A group of us in Run DMC were asked to briefly change out of our heels and dresses to model some running clothes on a makeshift (and wobbly) catwalk. 

I really liked my Saucony outfit!!

New kicks! Asics Cumulus 14

It never ceases to amaze me the situations I get myself in with the running community, whether it's running through a richy rich neighborhood in -2 degree temps or wandering into a Chipotle covered in mud.

Today, I found myself doing strides outside a Polaris shopping strip in a dress and hoop earrings.

Fleet Feet had a Diva Night! 20 percent off if you dressed up with bling! I'm sure photos will be posted soon, I'll add them when they are (I also got to play fashion model, but that's a whole different story!)

Back on track -- there was a discount to be had, and I was in the market for some new shoes. I left with a pair of Asics Cumulus 14s. Right now I'm on my fourth pair of Mizuno Precisions -- a neutral shoe, LOVE THEM!! But after my injury, my chiropractor suggested that I run on my heels instead of my forefoot.

(Pause for the running community to collectively gasp, and the non running community to collectively roll their eyes and wonder what the big deal is.)

MIT Year 2

This weekend I officially registered for Fleet Feet Columbus' Marathoner in Training program for 2012!

I make this case so often in this blog, MIT is a phenomenal program and I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to run a half or a full marathon!

So this means I'm committed to 2 marathons for 2012!

The spring marathon will either be the Flying Pig marathon in Cincinnati or the Canton Marathon.

Fall marathon is an easy choice: I'm going to run Columbus again! The MIT and crowd support was enough to make me want to do it again.

Expo time REDUX!!!

WAHOO!!!!!

I have just returned from the Columbus Marathon Expo! Fun flashback to the Cleveland Expo.

This is going to be a photo post. I'll do my more serious "Here's the Plan" post next, and then the playlist post!

Fun times at the expo! I spent an hour and a half working with Deb M. at the Bondiband booth, and got three Bondis out of it. One is a prezzy for someone, here are the other two -- not sure which I'm going to wear tomorrow:

Here's the shirt, front and back:

Vote for me and Lizzie

"Does this work? Is it working? Is she reaching for the cookies yet"?

Shameless promotion: Offering people prizes to get them to promote you.

Guess what, Fleet Feet, it's working :-P

Fleet Feet is running a contest -- post a photo of your favorite running buddy and get people to like it. The one with the most "likes" wins a prize.

I figure this pathetic look (and I mean that in the most loving way possible) has exploited me enough over the years for treats, walks, and romps with the red ball that usually end with something in my apartment getting knocked over. Now it's my turn to exploit her! Muhahahahaha.

Instructions:

1. Go to Fleet Feet Sports' Facebook page (link: http://www.facebook.com/FleetFeetColumbus)
2. Scroll down until you see Lizzie's begging look.
3. Hit "like"

After 18 miles, total exhaustion

At the beginning of the year, I didn't understand people who told me "I can't train for a marathon, I have kids." What's the big deal? At the worst of it, you're gone for 4 hours on a Saturday morning. With MIT starting so early, you're probably home by the time they wake up.

Then came the first 16-miler. I reeled for a few hours, then crashed. When I woke up, I had some of the worst soreness and exhaustion I had ever experienced. After that run, then my 18, 20, 22 and my race, I was out for the entire weekend. Anything that required the slightest bit of exertion was out of the question.

Parents who train for marathons (or those who have any other obligations on the weekends), how do you do it? Throwing the red ball to my dog takes special effort! Any chore I can't do sitting down can wait!

Yesterday I was scheduled for 16. I, errr, went 18. It was a great run, I felt really strong through the entire thing. Staying on my feet for so long after was probably a bad call. I did some shopping (pair 4 of Mizuno Precisions on their way!). Then I went to the 10TV Health and Fitness expo, which was a huge waste of time.

I had really good splits and my heart rate stayed where it needed to be:

My average pace was 10:20, average HR was 155. Splits:
Mile 1: 10:53, 171 bpm (doubt this is right, monitor was acting up)
Mile 2: 10:26, 164 bpm
Mile 3: 10:27, 152 bpm
Mile 4: 10:20, 152 bpm
Mile 5: 10:29, 149 bpm
Mile 6: 10:28, 150 bpm
Mile 7: 9:09, 149 bpm
Mile 8: 9:37, 154 bpm (potty break and subsequent catch-up)
Mile 9: 10:20, 149 bpm
Mile 10: 10:27, 150 bpm
Mile 11: 10:33, 149 bpm
Mile 12: 10:12, 153 bpm
Mile 13: 10:25, 153 bpm
Mile 14: 10:18, 152 bpm
Mile 15: 10:18, 155 bpm
Mile 16: 10:26, 158 bpm
Mile 17: 10:30, 162 bpm
Mile 18: 10:37, 159 bpm

Anyway, aside from the laundry that I absolutely need to do, my only mission for the rest of the evening is to find out if Jack Bauer can stop the pandemic virus in time! Netflix, I love you.

Song I'm currently obsessed with:

Summer is here, and 140 days until Columbus!

MIT, from Fleet Feet's Facebook page. 

I'm back! Did my first summer/fall training run with MIT this morning and it felt so great to be out there pounding the pavement in the sunshine with the 10:30s.

Who are huge this season, by the way! There are so many of us, it's fantastic! 

And the "long run"... a whopping 6 miles! Remember when I said this? Splits today were: 10:31, 10:14, 10:01, 10:10, 10:26, 9:57. 

Yea, yea, yea, I guess I remember saying this too :)

It's all relative. 

My alarm was buzzing at 6 a.m. and I was up and ready. I made a bagel and burned a CD for the ride since the iPod is still MIA. Getting ready to run in the summer is so much easier -- shorts, tech shirt, garmin, hydration, good to go! (continued)

Summer lineup

After a week of doing virtually nothing I'm trying to get back in the swing of things. I took the dogs for a good walk with some hills Friday, made like a floundering fish and jumped in the Y pool Saturday and Sunday, and did spinning, some lifting and ran a whopping one mile at a 12 minute pace yesterday. I'm shooting for spinning and lifting today and tomorrow, and then I'm going to jump into the MIT training schedule Saturday with 6 miles.

The good folks at Fleet Feet Sports have another pair of Mizuno Precisions ready for me to pick up Saturday, at 20% off plus a free pair of socks! My ultimate goal is to run the Columbus Marathon Oct. 16 in under 4:20. I'd like to beat a 10:00 pace so that should do it. I'm going to stick with MIT and their training plan, and keep going with the 10:30s.

But until then I have a few other plans. At some point I need to update my Daily Mile upcoming races!

My other goal this summer is to PR in a 5K. My time to beat is 24:27, set Jan. 1 of this year, I'd love to bring it under 24, that's a 7:44 pace.

JUNE 5 Warrior Dash -- I'm really stoked for this one! I'm doing it with my MIT friend Beth, Spark friend Sara and college friend Evelyn, in the 5 p.m. wave Sunday. We need to figure out ... something... costumes, war paint... something! It's in Hocking Hills, a 5K race, but with cargo nets, a mud puddle, a wind tunnel and a scrapyard to climb through, it's safe to say this won't be a PR contender! So instead I'll just toss back a few and have some fun.

Myself, Abbey and Anna.

JULY 17 Greenswell Triathlon relay -- Meet the Manic Mojos, comprised of myself and all-star Newark Advocate reporters Abbey Roy and Anna Sudar. We're doing a short triathalon relay at Alum Creek, women only, for breast cancer research. Since the run is the third leg, I don't know if this would be the best shot for a PR, either, but it will be a good time.

AUG. 26-27 Hood to Coast -- I am a proud member of Coasties and Ghosties of Sparkpeople.com. I'm stoked, and nervous, given that I've never met my 11 teammates before! It will be two days in Oregon, 197 miles starting at the top of Mt. Hood and running to the ocean. It's coming up fast, time to start planning my trip!

SEPT. 17 Hocking Hills Indian Run -- This was my first 10K, and my first trail run, last year, and I am definitely going back. Not sure on the distance yet, probably a 20K or a 40K, I'll compare it to my training schedule later and do what fits.

So, I still need to find a good 5K. I have a free entry for an M3S event, and there's something called the Bull Run in Columbus Aug. 6 that looks fun!

As long as the legs hold up, it's going to be a good summer!

Hitting the big 2-0... Now, I feel better

Today, I got up at 4:30 a.m. and ran 20 miles. Mentally I'm feeling great, race day is approaching very quickly and getting past 20 was a huge confidence-boost for the 26.2. Physically, my legs feel pretty much like you'd expect them to feel after running 20 miles.

This week was also my first 40-mile week.

The Cleveland Marathon is now 35 days away. May 15. Just over a month from now.

Most of the full marathoners were going early so I sucked it up, woke up at 4:30, and was at Thomas Worthington at 6. The first 9 miles were very peaceful, we ran on the Olentangy Trail to the gazebo, up through Worthington Hills and back to the school. Worthington Hill wasn't that bad the first time. The fatigue started to hit as we went up the hill to the school.

We met up with the full 10:30 MIT crew at 8 back at the school and headed out again. Things were starting to get sore, but I was distracted for the next three miles because the whole group was with us and they, just starting out, had a lot of energy.  (continued)

Class picture

Before our long run Saturday the MIT (Fleet Feet Columbus Marathoner in Training program) folks corralled us in the Worthington High School gym for a class photo.

Those are all the brave souls that come out every Saturday, what a good looking group! I'm in there somewhere, in a maroon jacket and blue headband.

I am really looking forward to this Saturday's run in Worthington where they keep the paths maintained. I'm just itching to be able to run outside, no matter how cold. After this winter in Newark, I'll be happy if I never see a treadmill again. 

A quick post for a lazy Sunday

This is going to be a quick post, namely because I just started watching Lost on Netflix and am seriously addicted. I just finished episode 4 of season one and all I can do is keep wondering "what did Kate do?? And Locke is a brilliant character.

First off, wanted to give a shoutout to my buddy Bill from MIT. The Marion Star, one of the papers I work for, ran a nice article about him. I'm also excited for my college friend Theresa, who is going to be starting the Couch to 5K program and blogging about it.

I had a great run yesterday, despite my Garmin dying a mile into it. Well, great for 9 miles, anyway. Ran next to a fellow journalist for the first leg and then on the way back ended up running with a really cool older guy named Bill who had all kinds of stories. The people in my pace team are all really wonderful!

The temperature was in the high 20s, which felt like spring compared to last week. (continued)

Holy runners!

My morning: 

• Get up at 6 and drive for an hour down a snowy 161.
• Wait in a long line of cars waiting to get into a high school parking lot at 7:40 a.m.
• Wait in a long line of people to check into the first post-holiday MIT workout
• Wait in a long line to use the ladies room
• Stand outside freezing waiting for my pace group to be called
• Run 5 miles
• Drink hot chocolate
• Go shopping

It was pretty awesome, all the standing and waiting notwithstanding. There are about 600 people in my marathoner in training program. 600! Our pace groups go from 8 minute miles to 13 minute miles to run/walk to walk. I love it, the energy there Saturday mornings is unreal. 

Plus they give us discounts at Fleet Feet Sports in Columbus.

I write a lot about the running gear I buy. Today I bought two new sports bras, of the straight jacket variety, at 50% off. I started to write a blog about the experience of buying them (and it was a new one), but my better judgement prevailed.

I got a ton of hydration products too. Including Margarita flavored shot bloks --- that made me happy. And 10-oz FuelBelt bottles. That made me really happy.

New shoes: Mizuno Precision

Old shoe

An ode to my old shoes: The Asics Kayano was a fantastic shoe, it was lightweight and had a lot of stability. I put in 350 miles (wow) on those shoes with few aches and pains and no injury. They took me through my first 10K and my first 10-miler. 


But it's time to move on.

A lot has changed since I bought my Kayanos -- I've dropped about 30 pounds, my running form has shaped up and my stability has improved tenfold.

I got the Kayano at Fleet Feet, but this time I went to see Tim at Star Power Running in Newark. I was in there in September to buy my FuelBelt and he really knew his stuff.

He's a fan of the barefoot running movement -- Vibrams Five Fingers and whatnot. It's something I'm intrigued by but not ready to try yet. Anyway, Tim immediately said the Kayano was "too much shoe" for me and I tried on some lighter pairs.

New shoes

First MIT run!

Fleet Feet Sports' Marathoner in Training program started today in Columbus! I ran 5 with them and it was a lot of fun.

I got to Worthington at about 7:30 and ran into Bill and Molly, it was nice knowing two of the 400 people there. Jeff, the head honcho of the program gave a brief introduction (I get a season's worth of Gu for signing up early, wahoo!) then we split off into pace groups.

I have no clue whatsoever what my goal time for the Cleveland Marathon is. They said to run a little slower -- usually I do my long runs around 9:30 - 10:00 so I went with the 10:30 group.

Running school is IN!

I can't decide if I want to do the Cleveland Marathon or the Flying Pig, but right now I'm excited for either because MIT started today!!!!

OK not really. Tonight was just the informational meeting for Fleet Feet Sports Marathoner in Training program. But it was enough to get me pumped.

Sans the holidays I'll meet up with more than 500 other brave souls early Saturday mornings to train for our respective races. Yes it is the middle of winter. Yes I still live in Ohio.

We break up into pace groups, there's a coach for every 20 or so people. We take off from a school in Westerville and run through the parks system. We get access to doctors, physical trainers, nutritionists, etc... They give us a plan to follow for our respective race, and there is just a wealth of information and, more importantly, camaraderie.

At the meeting there was such diversity in the room... young, old, fat, thin, athletic, not athletic. All wanting to run a full or half marathon.

So... what to train for...??????

Race Report: Holiday Run at Sharon Woods

The finisher's medal and shirt (wrinkly from being crammed in my bag)

The Holiday Run at Sharon Woods in Westerville was just a teeny, tiny bit cold and rainy. But, when you knowingly sign up for a run on Dec. 12 in Ohio, you don't have much room to complain about bad weather.

With that said, it was an awesome time -- both in terms of me having an awesome time, and me running an awesome time.

If you're keeping track, that's three races in three weeks. I wasn't going to take this one very fast. Note the word "wasn't". The short of it: 4 miles in 34:45 -- that's an 8:41 pace, my second fastest! I was 98/245 overall and 5/12 in my age group.

Except for a quarter mile in kickboxing I haven't run since the Salt Fork 10-mile trail challenge Dec. 4. Been trying to shake it up a bit and give my legs a break at the same time. So, I didn't really know how I'd do today.

At 9 am the weather hadn't turned horrible yet. It was cold and raining but not snowy. I wore my LL Bean running tights, athletic pants, my tech shirt and my lined rain jacket.

I really only ran this one for the long-sleeved tech shirt, thus my mission was accomplished once I arrived and signed in. I got there at 8:20ish and warmed up with Bill, who I know from an online message board, I'll get to that in a bit.

27 miles this week, and preparing for the long run!

As in, THE long run. The Cleveland Marathon is now 183 days away. Took a couple steps in preparing today. I'll get to those in a minute. But first...

This week marks a new record in weekly miles, 27! Old record was 25. I actually did two long runs this week -- did 11 Monday to make up for a miserable day Saturday, and 10 today. Of course, my short runs were very short, I did 2 miles of hill repeats on Tuesday, normally I do three, and Thursday was an easy four miles on the treadmill.

The old record was 25. Here's the graph:

Today's run was wonderful. I ran the bike trail but took a different route. I started at the Y and ran five miles out, all the way to the cow pasture. I was off today and I have a feeling this was one of the last times I'll be running in the sunlight for awhile. It went well, nothing hurt and I'm not really sore now. Just tired.

Then I went to Columbus. Fleet Feet put a note up on Facebook that there was a new model of my shoe out, the Asics Kayano, so they were closing the one I have out for wicked cheap. Of course when I got there they were already out of my size! But I'll poke around online and try to order a couple pairs, I'm sure it's out there.