Golden Hills Marathon 2013 - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good

• I felt really positive with my training and my strength training leading up to the race.  
• I lost 10 pounds since last year (we're talking body fat here, the less to 'carry' the better).
• Felt confident on Das Beast, and actually did conquer it in the race!  By first aid station I was well on my target pace.  That felt great!
• Pace was slightly faster on entire course compared to last year.
• Despite some issues, I was surprised by how good I felt for the most part.
• Didn't want to get caught behind any slow 'trains' this year so I passed on the downhills and ran at my own pace.  And actually ended up with a couple of runners that stuck with me for about 16 miles!  I kept asking if they wanted to pass.  Love the silent bonding of miles on the trail.
• No tight hamstrings!!  Every race I've ever done the back of my legs were on fire.  Not this time!  And I attribute that to the strength training.  
• I did beat last year's time.  Even if by only a few minutes.
• I got to high five three of the five people I knew running the 50 mile race (all of whom I met while volunteering at the WS100 Duncan Canyon Aid Station).  It really made me feel like I'm starting to become part of the trail racing community.
• Even though my running buddy Torie was in Japan, I summoned her spirit plenty... especially on that first ascent.  Running with her has helped break a barrier in my mind about my running and I am deeply grateful for that. 
• I had a hard time deciding if it was comforting or insulting that in the last 4 miles of the race I was being passed by 50 milers.  Just whizzing by, I felt like I was doing 55 on the highway.  I decided it gets put in The Good because they are Beasts and totally inspiring! 
• My phone didn't die until I went to turn it off at the end!  This means I have all the split information recorded in RunKeeper.  Now I can obsess on that... 
• No port-o-potty stops!  (Or side of the trail behind a bush) ...
• (added two days later)  Best recovery after any race!  I woke up the next morning and wanted to move, so I went for an easy hike with the dogs.  Last year it took two weeks before I had the desire to get out again... there is some specific soreness, but I don't have the usual "hit by a truck" feeling.  I attribute this to all the running specific strength training that I did.  This is a huge positive!

The Bad

• The wheels came off at mile 6.  Can't figure out why.  Did not push the first five too hard, had taken in calories.  Felt strong up until I had nothing.  About 10 people that I had passed earlier passed me.  Started to feel better around mile 8.5.  But this was a blow.
• Zero uphill gears, other than doing really well on the beast.  This was really confusing because I had trained well on hills, knowing that this was a weakness I needed to improve.   In fact I had granny geared every single ascent on the route at some point in training.  I went in with confidence on the hills.  This may be the most baffling and disappointing part of the day.
• Calf cramps between mile 15-17.  Third time in a race, never in training (but only trail races... hmmm... downhill!). Not fun.  Came on later than last year (mile 11-15), and not nearly as bad, kept running, took salt tab, they faded.  A sneaking suspicion that the plantar fasciitis, the tight achilles and calf cramps are related...
• Felt bloated in second half.  Drank to thirst.  Had a bite of potato with salt at most aid stations (hoping to avoid calf cramps).  Related to salt?  Liquid? Food?  Didn't feel like I over ate/drank at any point.
• Side and diaphram stitches.
• Sharp stomach cramps - shortly after only gel used on the trail (mile 17.7), have used gels in training with no issue.  I've had success with Perpetuem (liquid food), a few gu chomps and gels are last resort pick-me-up backup.
• I hiked instead of granny gearing most of the hills that I had planned on tackling, but I just didn't have "go" in me...
• Even though I thought I felt good and strong, I just couldn't get myself to push the last 6 miles as much as I planned. Kept saying 'after x, I won't walk any more' and that kept getting pushed back, until about mile 24. 
• Negative Mind Monster - I ended up very close to last year's finish time and it was curious to note that last year I was ecstatic to finish in a faster time than expected.  This year, finishing around that same time was quite a disappointment and I felt my mind turn quite negative after mile 20.  At the start line, I felt confident of my ability to shave off at least 20-30 minutes, so 7 minutes felt quite disappointing considering the training effort I had put in and how much I felt I had improved my fitness (and dropped weight!)...

The Ugly
Nothing ugly about this day!  It was typical Bay Area beautiful Fall weather, awesome trails, stellar race organization, amazing volunteers.  Fun to run with the two runners that joined me.  It was great to have the support of my family and friends at the finish line.  Looking back, I did my best in that race on that day...  and that's all anyone can do.

Generally it was a fantastic experience.  And I am hooked.  I will look at the information from this experience, where I had issues, and figure out how to solve them.  I don't need to be a fast runner, but I do want to extend my race distances and remain injury free.  I'm am already looking forward and hoping to get into the 2014 Way Too Cook 50k (it's a lottery entry) and trying to figure out a good beginners 50 mile race in the next year, so I can get focused on training.

Also, Congratulations to my friend and running buddy Holly on completing her first full marathon!!  She's one tough cookie and kept going despite a knee issue.  She is the one responsible for getting me to run my first Half Marathon three years ago!  We continue to inspire one another, but who knew we'd one day run a full trail marathon together. 

Thanks to NorCal Ultras and all the amazing volunteers!!  Thanks for a great day on the trail!

Happy Trails!

Elevation Profile

Me and Holly, photo bombed at the Start

6 hours and 44 minutes later...

One of the things I love about this video is how happy I look! 

The Taper-Mind-Monster

It is upon us.

Tapering is a time before a race that you ease up in training so that your body can recover from the push... Fitness has been gained by the last several weeks of ridiculously long runs, now is the time to recover and rest. 

You would think runners would look forward to the taper.  And maybe even enjoy it.

The problem is that your mind freaks out.  About all kinds of silly things.  It convinces you that you will lose all your fitness (even though tapering is part of the plan!).  Any little thing becomes inflated to seemingly pose a threat.

For instance, three nights ago I awoke knowing that a head cold was descending upon me.  Even though I had almost two weeks for this cold to cycle through and be gone, I panicked that I might not be able to run the race.  I had to summon another calmer part of myself to realize that I did have time for the cold to cycle... and that the two SHORT runs I had to miss will NOT erase all of my fitness.  I think I'm convinced.

My friend Holly, who is doing her first full marathon, threw her back out a few days ago.  Her text informed me that she did not know if she'd be able to do the race.  Again, chances are that her back will recover in time.

In both of our cases, better this week than next.  However, it is a reality that there are many things out of our control that could happen.  I was unable to run the Way Too Cool 50k due to the memorial of a family member.  But the reality of things out of our control is totally different than the Taper-Mind-Monster that scares us into believing that the change of wind direction will stop us from attaining our goal that we have worked so hard for...

Jitters, Rookie Mistakes and Triumph... The Golden Hills Marathon

The Short Version

Jitters: Homemade Mac+Cheese, Spinach Pie, Brownies, Hummus and Pasta... What do these things have in common?  I made them all the day before my first marathon!  I spent the day in the kitchen.  It gave me something to focus on.

Rookie Mistakes: Forgot to start my Runkeeper app (that keeps track of splits and elevation, etc), went out too fast in the first half... Classic.

Triumph:  I finished!  I finished 50 minutes ahead of expected!  And, the best part, I was NOT last!!



The Long Version

I don't know what possessed me to want to do a full... trail... marathon.  It was just two years ago that I was nearly offended by my friend's invitation to run a half marathon.  But I did it.  And then I did five more (three this year).  Early this year I came upon the Golden Hills Marathon and it called me.  I had to.  Running friends actually tried to talk me out of it because it was 'too hard' and they didn't want to see me injure myself.  When I found out there was no official cutoff time (due to the fact that the 50 milers take even longer) I decided to go for it.

The training went well.  The tapering played with my mind.  Nerves the day before had me cooking up a storm.  But come race morning I felt good.  The previous days had clouds and some rain but waking up in the dark early morning, I saw stars.  It would be a gorgeous day.  I could have been dropped off at the start of the race but decided to take the shuttle bus from the finish so that I could spend more time with the other runners.  Since I'm not actually competitive in the races it really is more about the experience.  I ended up sitting next to a woman that was volunteering, her job would be to 'sweep' the course.  She was very nice but I hoped not to see her again once the race started as it would mean time was up.  The best pre-race quote "I'm looking forward to another medal to put on my Wall of Self Loathing".

Off we went... the first four miles are up... up... and up... In training I had hiked the first four but knew that the first mile was actually runnable, so that's what I did.  As the wave of runners took off I was left by myself.  Feeling I must be last, until a curve in the course revealed plenty of people still way behind me.  That's a relief.   I only took two photos the whole day (in order to conserve battery).  It was the first one that I realized that I had forgotten to turn on the running app.

The view of SF from near the top of the first 4 mile climb.

I have never been in a race with aid stations and was blown away by how attentive the volunteers were.  Obviously runners themselves.  On each approach I'd hear "What do you need?"... "water?", "electrolytes?"... Almost before having time to answer they would take the bottles out of my hand, refill and hand back, all ready to go!...  the table had a smorgasborg of sugar and salty treats... "Do you need sugar or salt?"... At one aid station words were simply not forming... but the woman understood: one bottle filled with water, one with electrolytes.  I thanked them all, but I sure wish there was a way to express full gratitude.  It has inspired me to want to volunteer.

At some point around mile five I found myself in a little pack of runners.  They were holding a very comfortable pace and I found it pushed me exactly where I needed to be pushed.  There were about seven of us, compact.  So much so that the 50 milers coming the opposite direction each made comments about the choo-choo train we seemed to form.  Eventually the pack separated up a big long hill.  But we continued to ping pong by each other on various parts of the course, some of us were faster going down, some faster going up.  I ended up hooking onto two of the women for quite a few miles from Sibley through Huckleberry into the Skyline aid station.  Again, they held a comfortable pace but pushed me in all the places I need to be pushed, the spots that I hiked in training but knew I needed to tackle in the race.  Not a word between us the whole time.  Until we got to the aid station and I told them how great it was to run with them.  After downing an orange wedge, a banana slice, boiled potatoes rolled in salt I grabbed a handful of potato chips and exited the aid station.

At mile ten my calf muscle started threatening to cramp.  Each time I flexed it (uh,  yah, every step) it flirted with cramping.  I couldn't believe it!!  My guess is that this was due to pushing my pace and running more of the ups than I had in training.  I was being very conscious of drinking my fluids and consuming gels on a regular basis.  So leaving the aid station I hiked the fairly flat West Ridge trail in order to give my calf a break.  My plan had been to start pushing once I reached the French Trail but this was looking iffy at this point.  At some point I heard "there you are!" and it was the ladies!  They caught up with me and I assumed we'd have our little pack again... but French came and I bombed down the hill.  I lost them.  Figured they'd catch me on the ups (they were stronger on the ups)... but they didn't.  I never saw them again in the race.  I ended up catching the leader of the original choo-choo pack and stuck with her for awhile.  But the calf was NOT happy... and now I was having a stitch, full diaphram... from the meal I ate at the aid station!  It was hard to run and it was hard to breathe!!  The french trail is one of my favorites on the course and I was completely miserable.  If I was struggling this hard at the mid-section how the hell was I going to finish?!  My mind was already composing the text to family of my defeat.  But I kept going.  And somehow took the lead over the the engine lady of the choo-choo.  Everything I'd read about ultra running taught me that so many runners go through incredible lows... if you keep going eventually you feel better.  We'll see about that.  I carry salt tabs on long runs but have never used them.  This would be the time.  A brief exchange with another female runner sealed the deal, she was taking them.  I popped one.  Another 20 minutes later.  I don't know if I felt any better.  It was the next aid station that I mumbled through.

The hill after mile 18 is... well how shall I say this... a long, hard mother******.  I hated this hill when I trained on it with fresh morning legs.  I hated this hill every time climbed it in the long training runs.  I hate this hill.  But one must keep moving forward.  The goal was to not stop, no breaks.  So up I went at the pace of a banana slug, one foot in front of the other... being passed by the 50 milers also hiking...  "Good Job"... I heard and said this thousands of times throughout the day.  Apparently it's the 'hello' of the ultra trail world.  Pretty awesome, it is such a supportive community.  Didn't matter if you were crawling, if you were still out on the trail, you were doing a "good job".  One 50 miler that passed me added "just think, we do this for fun!".  Eventually, I got to the top.  I had done it.  And guess what, by the time I got to the top of that gruesome hill my stitch was gone... and my leg cramp was now just tight, it was no longer spasming and threatening to take me to the ground.  So off we went...

The view from the top of the long hard M*F*.  Off in the distance, that's the finish.

By the BORT meadow aid station at mile 20 I was downright giddy.  I felt great!  How could this be?... Only a 10k left... and now we were entering the most runnable stretch of the entire course.  "Do what you can" became my mantra of the day.  I ran (something just above a walking pace) what I could, just keep it moving.  At this point I was realizing that my average pace was 15 minute miles.  This would put me at a finish well above my projected time.  But could I maintain it?  "Do what you can".  So I did.  One foot in front of the other.

The lake was in sight.  Still being passed by 50 milers.  And the choo-choo woman!  She (and her husband) were so steady, it was impressive.  As they passed me he said "you can't let us take over now" my response "I... can't ... help ... it..."... and off they went, but I kept them in my sights.  The last mile and a half must have been the longest mile and a half of the course.  My clock said I had 25 minutes to beat a 7 hour finish... I wasn't sure I could make it.  With about a mile to go I see my friend Holly running towards me!!  Wow!  That was a lift... my friend, my trail buddy, my running inspiration came to run it in with me!  She said I looked great and strong... I saw a crowd... got a tingly shot of adrenaline, picked up the pace...  I heard my name... the finish line had come!! 

It was an emotional moment for me.  I did it.  And I far exceeded my expectations and goal.  My family and friends were there to witness it.

It was an awesome adventure!!

Official time:  6:51:49 for my first marathon.
(I was 128 out of 151 finishers and the last finisher was at 10h25m!)

P.S.  The engine lady and her husband finished 40 seconds ahead of me.  And I found the two ladies that I dropped at the French Trail... They both hugged me immediately and it struck me how fast this bond forms on the trail.  We only had a few words between one another, we don't know each others names... but we had huge smiles and hugged after the finish.

Training - Golden Hills Marathon

Today on my trail run I was mulling over the question why do I enter races... I'm super slow, back of the back-of-the-pack.  I can be hard on myself for going too easy on myself... part of me wants to get faster and to run farther... but another part of me is just happy to be out on the trails... and happy that, even if I'm not fast, at least I'm out there... What I enjoy about the races is
a) the goal - Life gets busy and sometimes it's easy to put off a run or keep it short.  When I have a goal in sight it gives me the feeling that I must get out there...
b) the camaraderie - It makes me feel part of a group, part of something bigger than just my own delight.  The others are fitter, faster, more fashionable... but we all are doing something we love to do, and it's the same thing.  I like that.
c) the experience - It's a great excuse to discover a new place or trail...  or destination!
d) bragging rights - It makes me feel like I can claim it.  In training I covered the full Golden Hills Marathon course... but I can't claim a full 26.2 marathon until race day is over.

I don't know why I feel like I need to justify it in the first place.  LOL.

Tapering always plays with the mind!  I fear I may have peaked too early.  So I changed my strategy to try to run more hills and get my mental game up, to not do long, long runs.  My body was definitely feeling a little ragged after peaking... but now I fear that I won't be up for the distance.  Sigh.  This is what happens.  But at least I'm aware of it... and I know I will try my hardest out there.

GHM - Progress Report

So... Here is a progress report on the GHM training;   I have been training on the GHM course and, as I was warned (!), it is very hard!!... At first I did out and back of each section (based on the printed out sections, a few got combined because they were shorter) and then I started to stitch the sections together and do them one way (getting picked up and driven back to my car).  Last Friday was 22.85 miles!!  From Lone Oak in Tilden all the way to the Grass Valley Staging area!   I won't pretend I run the whole thing, I hike most of the uphills, which is probably a good 50%... but I do move forward in whatever manner (run, job, hobble, crawl) I can... I fight with the mind demons that I am a hack and in way over my fitness level... and that I'll be dead last, etc, etc... but believe it or not there are at least 4 people predicted to be slower than me on the entrants list!  So maybe I won't be dead last!... I anticipate, if all goes well, that it will take 7 1/2 hours.  Next Friday I will add the last little bit to cover nearly the full distance and that will give me a better assessment of finish time.  I'm sure on race day I will push in some areas that I take it 'easy' in training.  But the plan... the main goal... is to FINISH.

Here's the craziest part; I wasn't sore the day after any of my long runs!  I'm guessing it's because I am allowing myself to go so slow.  But so what, I feel good!

Crazy, no?!

Photos

The Halfway Point

Every time I have crossed the finish line after running 13.1 miles I ask myself - as I am in pain, fatigued, cramping, out of breath, did I mention PAIN - if I really want this to be halfway.  I have not found a way to explain it.  Yes.  I want 26.2.  It's been tricky to find a race that I want to enter.  The marathon 'season' coincides with my professional busy season, so many conflicts.  Recently I came across the race that calls me.  I have a work conflict, but I found a way around it.  I really want to do this race.

It's the Golden Hills Marathon.  It takes place practically in my backyard, the East Bay Hills. It's put on by an ultra race organization, so the marathon is kind of tossed in there.  When I inquired about a cutoff time they said there really isn't one because the last 50 milers come in hours after that last marathoners.  I feel confidant that, without a cutoff time, I can at the very least finish.  I will undoubtedly have to walk the hills.  But I will finish.  I looked at previous times and it looks like the last finishers come in around 9 hours.  I'm hoping for somewhere between 7 and 8.

Early this year I read Born to Run.  When it ended I stumbled upon irunfar.com, and it has been the continuation... in fact, I'm finding it all quite exciting, inspiring and quite nearly addicting.  I consume information about ultra runners...

Through this information I have distilled endurance running down to four factors;

1. Fitness
2. Nutrition (ie; calories consumed during exercise)
3. Hydration
4. Mental Toughness

I can increase my fitness level through training just as I did to run my first half marathon.  It seems impossible at the moment, but keep putting one foot in front of the other - don't overtrain - and I'll get there.  I'm experimenting with what works for calories, trying to find things that do not make my intestines want to purge (if ya know what I mean!).  I carry water.   This may may be my biggest challenge; mental game.  I am learning ... and improving... but I have found my mind to make some very STRONG arguments.  Just walk.  Just stop.  Why do you do this anyway?! You're too out of shape.  ETC.... This is why I am very grateful that I get to train on all segments of the GHM course.  I will know what to expect.

Today I did Section One.. the first 4.3 miles of the course.  Oh my.  Can you say HILL?!... It nearly discouraged me until I remembered an article on a runners blog about her struggles with this very part of the course... granted, she was doing the 50 and so she was doing this hill after 26 miles... but nevermind that.  My fitness level says this was a hard frigging hill!  However, at the top I was rewarded with vistas that made my heart go pitter patter and filled me with a feeling of this is why I do this stuff... 

The next few months are going to be very challenging.  But I am looking forward to it.  In fact, I'm nearly giddy.....