Muddy Trails Bash: 10k race recap

Saturday afternoon I ran the Muddy Trails Bash 10k at the Nature Preserve in The Woodlands, TX.  I finished in 53:45, that's an 8:39 average pace.  I was a little slower than I wanted to be, though I met my B goal, but also the race route was a little harder than I had anticipated.

The day started out pretty normal: breakfast, chores, kid stuff.  Every once in a while I would start shaking as I realized it was race day.  I didn't like that.  I needed to calm down.  Chill lady.  It's just a race!

My husband had taken the older kids camping, so I needed a babysitter.  She came right on time.  By 2:45 I was off to the races.

The temperature had been fairly warm in the days leading up to the race--think high 70s and 100% humidity.  However, the temperature dropped to the low 60's and 50% humidity.  The race weather was perfect, if not a little chilly for us Texans.

Parking was at a nearby church.  Shuttles were provided.  I had no trouble getting on one.  I arrived at the shuttle area and was immediately ushered onto a bus and within minutes we were at the race site.

The kids 1 mile was first.  I ran a little warm up and positioned myself at the last turn so I could cheer on the kids.  It was fun to see how my cheers helped them pick up their pace.

My race started at 4:20.  I lined up in the appropriate pace position (I was aiming to run 8:30 min miles).  The other races all seemed to line themselves up appropriately, too.  There wasn't too much passing going on in the early miles, or throughout the race for that matter.

My first mile clocked in at 8:06.  Way to fast. I was aiming to run a 9 minute mile for the first mile and then picking up the pace--aiming for negative splits.  Spoiler alert.  Didn't happen.   I forced myself to slow down.  I knew I would pay for it later and I probably did.

The course was so sandy.  I felt like I was running on the beach, and there were lots of tree roots.  I didn't trip, but I others around me did.  I don't think anyone was injured.  They got right up and continued on.  Water stops were nicely positioned every mile.  I didn't need water, but my mouth was so dusty from all the kicked up dirt that I did swish water in my mouth to subdue that gritty feeling.

Mile two came in right at 8:29.  That was right on with my goal.  I felt good.  Mile 3 was a little slower at 8:39.  This mile, and the next, were mostly uphill and the sand was thick. I was ok with that knowing that what goes up must come down.  I tried to keep to the edges of the trail, where the sand wasn't as bad, but I knew this was adding on mileage (not running the tangents).  I didn't know what was worse on my time though, the sand or ignoring the tangents.  I decided the sand.

Mile 4 was an awful 8:45. I was able to bring it down a little for mile 5 (8:35).  Still a little slower than I wanted to be.  Mile 6 was the worst.  I just wanted to stop.  I kept wishing I had just done the 5k so this all would be over!  I finished that mile in 8:58.  Not good.  Finally we were back on paved roads with a little over .2 to go.  I managed to find a bit of a kick and finished my last .2 (Garmin tracks me at .29, not running the tangents hurt me distance wise) at a 7:40 pace.  I really wanted to run mile 6 at an 8:19 or better. I guess I swapped mile one's time for mile six's.  Oops. I really need to work on my mental state in these later miles for sure.  I get really down on myself.

The route was harder than I had anticipated.  I knew it was a trail run.  I had planned for dirt and tree roots--not heavy sand.  But overall I was happy with my performance.  I managed to find a kick at the end and finished feeling like I had nothing else to give.  I definitely will work on my start.  I think it hurt me in the later miles. Also, the spectators at the finish were few and didn't cheer.  I would've liked a little more support from that area.  Oh, well, what can you do?

This was a great race and I will most definitely do it again next year!

Finish time: 53:45
Place: 7/60ish gender, 22/? women, 77/284 overall

Run Less, Run Faster and Muddy Trials Bash 10K

Now that marathon recovery is complete, I am ready to get back into the trenches full force.  For the past few weeks I have been analyzing my past training and researching new training plans.  During marathon training I had to sacrifice speed training to build my endurance.  I missed track workouts so much.

Because of that, I decided to train to increase my 10k pace.  I don't know if I will actually sign up to run a 10k at the end of my training schedule--I hate paying run on my own streets--but I do plan on doing a formal time trial.

The plan that looked the best to me was Run Less, Run Faster.  It incorporates a lot of key workouts I missed doing while I was building endurance.  I do think it might lead to a bit of burnout, and since I don't have a key race in mind, I plan on doing a fall back week every third week similar to what I did during marathon training.  During the fall back week, I will not focus on times for most of the runs, but instead focus on hills (a component that's lacking in RLRF) and just having fun, easy runs.  At the end of the week, I am going to do a 5k time trial. 

In RLRF, pace times for workouts are determined by your current 5k pace.  So the time trial and fallback week will serve two purposes.  First it will give me a rest and let me just enjoy my runs and talking with my run buddies, and, two, it will help me reevaluate my training goals.  If I've improved, I know to focus on new paces in my workouts.

This week is my first 10k time trial.  I haven't run a real 10k since, well, ever.  I am kind of nervous because it takes place in the afternoon, and I generally run in the morning.  I don't know how my body will react.  Also, it is supposed to be hot this weekend.  I am no stranger to running in the heat, but I prefer not to for obvious reasons.  Hopefully I will be able to race my best! 

I love my toes!

Yesterday, as I was clipping my toenails, my sweet Rose came to me.  Just as I thought to myself, "Huh, my toes don't look nearly as bad as I expected them to!" She said, "Oh, Mommy!  Let me kiss your feet!"  I know she meant because they were so broken looking.  But I chose to think of it in a different way.

I am a goddess.

I ran 26.2 miles in one sitting...er...running.  I trained for 18 weeks, pushing through niggling pains, pulled muscles, dead legs, and early, early mornings.  Sure, there was the occasional crazy fast run that made me feel like I was flying, but those mornings were far and few between.  But still, I persevered.

Thank you, toes.  Thank you for letting me do this to you. Thank you, Rosie, for recognizing the divine power in my toes.  Go ahead, kiss them, bow to them.

My toes are awesome!

The Woodlands Marathon 2014--Race Recap

I watched the weather closely.  At the start of the week, Saturday was projected to have a low of 40 and a high of 60.  Perfect!  Unfortunately life doesn't always go perfectly.  By Thursday the forecast had changed and instead we were looking at a low of 65 and a high of 79.  To top it off humidity was at 100 percent.  Ouch.

My six year old believes she is a nature fairy.  I told her if she was going to make it hot to please add a light misty rain to the schedule.  What do you know?  When I woke Saturday at 4 AM, there was a misty rain, though no rain was promised in the forecast.

Before the Race!

I ate a breakfast of toast and nutella and about twelve ounces of my favorite juice--Bare Naked Blue Machine smoothie.  It was perfect.

My friend picked me up and we all drove down the the race site.  We met our friends at Town Green where we used the bathroom for the first of many times.

The race started at 7 am.  The misty rain was still going strong.  Thank goodness.  The heat would've been unbearable without it.

My running buddies at the start.

The race started right on time.  I was a bottle of nervous energy.  The race started off feeling so easy, despite the heat.  Emily and I kept our splits just under ten minutes for the first six miles.  It hardly felt like we were working at all.  We talked to each other and those around us.  I wanted to speed up, but knew it was only going to get hotter and also every racing plan reminds you not to start out too fast.  The beginning miles shouldn't feel hard.  So they didn't and thank goodness!

Jon brought the kids to the 10k mark.  It gave me a boost of energy (Mario Star!).  Rosie was wandering in the grass and Hayden was cheering all us runners on.  She told me later that a lady thanked her.  I told her that it is a service to cheer people on, and it really helped me feel loved.  She said she must also be a Love Fairy as well.  Ha!

The poster my little Nature Fairy made for me.

Mile seven was the start of the hills.  Flintridge is not like the crazy hills I had growing up in Utah, but for Houston area, which is crazy flat, it is definitely a hill.  The hills last from about mile seven to mile thirteen.  None of these are hard hills, but my legs felt it.  Emily and I were sweating like mad due to the heat and humidity.  Around mile ten we took a salt packet.  I will never race without a salt packet again.  It was an instant pick me up.  I thought it would be gross to dump salt on my tongue, but my body wanted it.  I could've used more.  Next time!

We hit the halfway point at around 2:13.  Not bad.  It was right on pace.  The mist was still coming and it was still overcast, but we knew that was going to end.  Around mile 15 I had to use the bathroom.  Emily was nice enough to wait for me.  That added a bit of time, but not much.  There was no line, so I was in and out.  It was hard to get back into the groove though, especially because now the sun was coming out.  We saw our friend Ashley a few hundred yards ahead of us.  We had started the race together but had lost her in the first mile or two.  She must've been running the same pace as us because we couldn't catch her then.  A water stop or so later, we caught up to her and we all ran together for a bit.  

Mile seventeen I turned on my music.  I really needed a break from thinking about my legs which were now starting to hurt (this was also when it started to feel really hard).  Around here, I saw my friend Lara.  She had made a poster for me and I was so grateful to see her.  Another Mario Star moment!

The miles kind of blurred from here.  I walked the water stops, refilling my handheld water bottle and drinking Nuun instead of water or the provided drinks.  My miles slowed considerably as the sun pounded me.  I got to mile twenty and was overjoyed.  Emily and I had broken the race into short five mile segments.  We were now at our last five mile segment (well 10k)!   I told myself that I only had a little over an hour of running left.  That didn't help.  I had to change my thought process. Instead of five miles, I switched to one mile increments.  I just needed to run one mile.  This mile.  Elevenish minutes later, I hit the next mile and then the next.  I had to stop for another pit stop at this point.  I also remember some people standing in the road to cheer for us.  That was nice, except one couple was cheering right in my path.  They wouldn't move.  I kept thinking they would step out of the way!  But they didn't!  At the last moment I finally moved over so I wouldn't run into them.  That was annoying.  I really didn't have strength to move any more than I needed to.  It was already a chore to put one foot in front of the other, I really didn't want to have to move sideways!  

I got a second wind as I ran over the lake.  It didn't last long, but it felt good.  I would've liked to keep up the pace, but I started getting dizzy--though my legs were moving nicely.  I really didn't want to pass out, so I slowed down again.  At mile 24.5 a group of half marathon finishers were taking a walk right on the course.  Not a bad thing except they were blocking the WHOLE path.  They walked shoulder to shoulder.  A few yards behind them I yelled for them to move over.  I think I said, "coming through."  One girl moved over, thankfully, but another didn't.  I squeezed between them.  I wasn't very nice about it.  First off, several of them were pushing strollers which aren't allowed on the course AND they weren't being respectful to the actual runners in the race.  I was a little annoyed.  Okay, maybe more than a little.  I got over it and filled my water bottle one last time.  I was all out of Nuun so I had plain water.

At this point, I knew I would finish if I kept putting one foot in front of the other.  I wanted to walk so bad, but it was just as painful to walk as it was to run, so I ran.  

Jon waited for me about a half mile from the finish.  It was so good to see him.  He gave me a quick kiss and then I was off again.  

The finish is beautiful.  It goes along the waterway and was right at the Pavilion.  The only bad part is I couldn't see the finish until I was right there.  I only knew I was .1 from the finish because of the 3 mile marker from the 5k.  I pushed it as hard as I could--which wasn't very fast, haha, and crossed the line.  My official time was 4:42:26.  

All I wanted to do was sit.  I got my medal and Jon supported me until I found a spot under a tree.  I took off my shoes and socks.  No blisters!  Jon brought chocolate milk for me and I downed it.  Chocolate milk is the nectar of the Gods.  After changing my socks and resting for a bit I was able to move again.  

Emily had crossed the finish and Ashley shortly after.  We met and took some pictures.  Emily's dad and brother had also ran the race.  We split up, I went for food and she waited for her family.

The finisher shirt is nice.  The food was ok.  Breakfast sandwiches from Chick-fil-A.  I really didn't feel like eating.  I didn't eat much besides nuts and a piece of toast until dinner (a burger and fries from Jerry Built).

I fell asleep at 7:30.  My baby woke at about midnight, Jon went to take care of him, but he was still crying.  I was hungry, so I went to get my little guy.  I fed him stew and I ate a bit of oatmeal and drank some Blue Machine.   After he ate, he went straight to bed and so did I.  

The race was awesome, I was exhausted but never it the wall.  I think I kept a good pace in the beginning, drank a lot, and ate tons of honey stinger chews and shot blocks throughout the race.  I consumed about 500 calories total, mostly in the first 13 miles.  I will most definitely be racing a marathon again.  I'm a little scared though.  This time I was scared because I didn't know what I was getting into, next time because I do know what I'm getting into.

After the race. Finally starting to feel a little more like me.
I really didn't want to move from this spot.

Finding my kick

53:25.  It's not an official 10K PR.  I didn't sign up for a race, nor did I start the run aiming to race it.  It just sort of evolved into that.  Let me explain.

Neither I nor my running partner felt like waking up at 5 am to run in the freezing cold.  We decided to swap kids and run a little later in the day.  Perfect!

Mile 1, 9:20-
I dropped my babies off at Em's house and started my run.  I did my first mile at an easy 9:20.  I had decided to run the middle miles at a comfortably hard pace, so I moved my arms a little faster and my legs seemed to follow.

Miles 2-5 8:32, 8:22, 8:29, 8:42 (I had to stop at a light)--
 My legs just started to go.  It felt hard.  Not exactly a race pace, but definitely not easy either.  I told myself I could ease up at mile 5 and bring it home easy.  But then I changed my mind.  I haven't ever raced a 10k.  My normal runs settle somewhere around 5 or 8 miles, or are super long.  My watch chooses my records from those miles.  So they aren't exactly my fastest miles, and my previous garmin PR was around 59 minutes--taken from an 8 miler I believe.  If I kept moving, I could really see what I could do.

Mile 6 and .2, 8:19, and 1:40 (7:35 pace)--
I'll admit, mile 6 was not easy.  I wanted to slow down, but I also knew I only had eight more minutes of running to go.  I could do it.  I knew I could.  I kept my arms going and brought it home.  I wanted to jump for joy when I saw the 53:25 final time.

I can go faster.  I can see lots of room for improvement.  I always have a hard time two miles before the finish of a run.  I mean, I'm not almost there.  I'm just closer to the finish than I was in the beginning.  I need to change my thought process when I get to that point.  It will serve me well in the long run.  Running is a mental game as much as it is physical, if not more so.

Overall, I'm happy to get my running legs back.  Since Christmas my times have been steadily falling and I am so happy about that.  I don't want to push it to hard during these taper weeks, but after this marathon I can't wait to hit the track and start some hill work and see what these legs and lungs really can do.

You smell like a monkey, and you look like one, too.

My two year old is about to turn three!  Hurray!  Dutifully, I've been asking her what she wants for her birthday.  We don't want any tears on the big day.  So far her answers have been quite doable.  She wants a cake and jello.  Done and Done!  Whoo-hoo, no crazy expensive, impossible to buy presents for this little chica. (Just try to find an Elsa nightgown, it's nearly impossible.)

 Just yesterday, after I asked what she wanted for her birthday (again), she said, "I want to go to the zoo and see the animals.  I like the zoo with Daddy and the kids."  As I recited our conversation to my husband he pointed out that I was not invited to this party.  Seriously, kid?  You don't want me, your own mother, the one who gave you life, to go to the zoo with you?  Well, kid, we are done.

Happy Birthday, Rosie!  You are loved!

20 miles and more to go

A few months ago I thought I would never make it to a 20-miler.  I am so glad I was wrong.

I did have to adjust my goals coming into the training season.  I cut out a run a week after I realized five days of running was too hard on my newly healed body.  I've been able to keep the rest of the schedule, occasionally throwing in a few extra miles here and there.  Overall I've been really happy with my training.  I've powered through the hard days reminding myself that days like that are what prepares me for the final 6.2.

This training season, I've gone a little crazy preparing for the race.  I mean, there are so many socks out there.  Who knew?  I thought I'd share a sampling of my favorite gear.

Zensah Calf Sleeves.

As an injury prone runner these have saved my life.  I now have several pairs.  They have alleviated calf pain, shin splints, and tendinitis in my ankles.  I don't know if I will ever  be able to run without them.

I can't go on a run without my trusty shoes-- Mizuno Wave Riders.  I love the cushion in the forefoot.  The bright colors are bonus.

This Saucony Transcendence Jacket has been a lifesaver during the Texas winter.  Winter in Texas is not always very cold, but it is often windy and a bit rainy.  Today I ran a 5-miler in sleet.  This jacket kept me at the perfect temperature.  The windproof front blocks wind and rain, but the sleeves are thin enough to let my body breathe. The zipper front pockets are also waterproof. After a run in an unexpected storm, I took my phone out of the pocket and was pleasantly surprised to see that my valuables were safe and sound.   I bought this jacket from Amazon for $15--a steal!  I'd buy another one full price without question, it is that essential to my running wardrobe.

Spending money of running gear is arguably the best way to get out a running slump.  If you feel a little down about your performance, do as I do at hit the racks!  There is bound to be something that will make you excited to hit the streets again.

Happy Running!