Week 18 of 24: Training for the Run Amok 50 miler

Just surpassed my biggest week of running and back to back long runs of 20 and almost 15 miles!!!!  Feeling great, but tired of course and ready for another big week.  Lots going on this week including working at both jobs, a car race, and coaching.   Let's GO!

missed hearing his rock concert due to coaching but daddy got lots of pics and videos

Monday:  Rest day.  2 miles with the girls at GOTR.  Woke up feeling great other than a little tired, which is to be expected.  Long day at Coleman Electric and then long night at KSU.  Then I couldn't sleep.  Two jobs is really stressing me out.  I am stress eating and not sleeping and i don't know what to do.  I can't walk away from my KSU job, but for the sake of my sanity, I may have to.  Andrew had his concert for rock band, probably his last.  He has decided he wants to take piano lessons and i am super happy that he chose the piano.  As a kid, I was always jealous of those who took lessons, and I am intrigued with the format they use at Miss Emily's.  It's called a deluxe lesson and there is private instruction as well as group instruction all included in that hour of class time.

Tuesday:  gulp.  12 miles on super tired legs.  I know there is a method to this madness and I am trusting it, but boy am I one tired person.  I didn't sleep well at all, but somehow my body woke me up at 3:58 am ready to go.  Robin and Ebby did 6 with us, and Stella and I finished the final 6 solo.  It was chilly but humid and surprisingly, instead of slowing down when i left robin and ebby, I managed to stay the same or a little quicker.  I blame or rather give credit to the cooler weather.  Now if the humidity could just dial it down a notch, that would be great.

Wednesday:  8 miles.  Funny how this use to be too much for me during the week and now I see it on the schedule and I am like, ah, only 8 miles.  Started a little earlier again and got 6 with Robin and then switched out stella for boom and got the final 2.  It was SO amazingly humid that we were drenched by the wet dense fog it was creating.  The wetness was also making me cough for some reason, so we had to stop a few times while I was fighting the mucus in my chest.  I don't think this cold/virus/whatever is ever going to leave my body.

Thursday:  10 miles.  Well, at least it isn't 12.  That is what I had to tell my brain when it woke up at 3:56 am.  Day 1 of my monthly friend, a little bit of a headache, and a tummy ache from some yummy pumpkin beer at our favorite bar/eating place the night before, and some soreness from all of the running I had already done greeted me when I woke up. I decided to just do 8 since we had been doing around 2 or more at Girls on the Run, and add the mileage together instead of putting the mileage on top from GOTR.  I am worried about these extra miles, especially since the girls are really running this year and loving the run/walk method.  Yes, our pace is slightly slower than my normal pace, but not by much!  I did 4 with robin, ebby, and stella and then grabbed boom and did 3 more.  When we headed back out to finish our three, the young foxes were out playing on the gravel road.  They didn't even notice/hear us as they played until I tried to get my phone out to video and then they abruptly stopped and then ran in the soybean fields.

Storms building to the south of the ball field

Friday:  Rest day, glorious rest day. We had our first baseball scrimmage with the fall ball league we have been doing.  Andrew did great, getting a few hits and fielding a few grounders and one pop fly that he kept to a double.  While i grumble about the fact that we have something every friday night, it really is helping his confidence immensely. This first year of baseball was such a rude awakening for many of the boys coming off of t-ball, made even harder by the addition of a pitching machine that throws 35-40 mph.  I've said it before, the kids in the next level in kid pitch don't even pitch that fast. 

Saturday:  1 hour and 45 minute run.  Since we had racing all day, I couldn't get my 24 done pre race ,so I had to shift  my long runs around.  It was a PERFECT morning.  I so wish i could have done my 24 but oh well.  I ran a little over an hour with Stella and then exchanged her with Boom to finish out.  The foxes were out as well as the coyotes.  SO much fun to see foxes, not so much with coyotes, especially when they aren't scared of you AND they move towards you when you are yelling at them to GO AWAY. 

Post running I had to get cleaned up and head to Topeka for Andrew's second time in junior honda.  We never know what kid we will get and Cautious Coleman was in the house.  He qualified with a decent time, but then let pretty much everyone pass him in the heat race and again in the main.  Oh well, he's 7 and his nerves got the best of him.  We have another race this coming weekend, so fingers crossed that competitive andrew comes back.





Sunday:  Long run day!  Once again the weather reports were horrible for Sunday.  I had hoped they would be totally wrong as they were the day before.  I woke up at 4 am and looked at the radar and all of the storms were north and south of us all and lightning was at least 28 miles away.  Does anyone know where the 25 miles with respect to lightning comes from?  There was a very tragic death at a local race the day before due to a lightning strike, so I was very aware of the lightning.  We delayed our run long enough to let the northern closer storm pass and then we headed out.  Still saw lots but according to our apps, no where close.  I just don't know what to think anymore about lightning.
 

I did 3 out and backs, two of 10 miles with Stella ella and then the final 2 out and 2 back with Boom.  It was super humid and I sweated major salty.  There was water on the roads so I didn't have to carry water for stella but boom apparently doesn't know how to drink out of puddles, so stella is going to have to teach him.  It was nice to have a gentle pull the final 4 miles because honestly I was so done after 20 miles. 

goodbye corn :(

61 miles this week for me!  I am so ready for a cutback week!  I think i have one HUGE week left and then taper time.  I seriously love cut back weeks with all of my heart and soul.   Have a great week!!!!!  Hopefully fall is in your area because it keeps teasing us here and then going away. 

Runfessions

I know I am not part of the Runfessions link up, but I love getting stuff out and on paper.  Basically it's the whole reason I blog so here ya go!

I runfess that while we have heard 0 from Andrew's teachers, I know it's coming, the whole attention thing.  We have been working with a tutor that specializes in kiddos with attention issues and or learning disabilities and she has done AMAZING things with him.  I have loved watching a kiddo that has struggled even having private instruction, to a kiddo that loves to learn now and is confident.  I hate that we only see her once a week for an hour, but I believe she is giving him LOTS of tools for his own toolbox to help with focus and attention.  She is not a doctor but she says that there is something or many things going on with not only focus but also processing but we are going to watch it this year and do lots of testing probably next year.  We still don't want to medicate if at all possible.  I think we can accomplish this as he has already made lots of improvements.  I am not judging any parents who medicate, I think every case is totally different and sometimes medication is the only answer, but I am hoping we can avoid that if at all possible.  I love my child so much and I want him to love school as much as I did growing up.

humidity makes you sweaty and salty

I runfess that while this summer wasn't a cake walk, the humidity didn't kick my ass as much as it use to.  I am still trying to figure out how.  I know I run slower and the walk breaks every 4 minutes for one minute help but still.  Last summer I swore I would never EVER train in a the summer and then this year, I did double the mileage and was so much better.  I runfess that I hope this happens next summer too so I can train for more 50 milers and maybe even a 100K:)  Of course i don't want to brag too much because summer isn't over here in KS and just today as I type this it's feels like 96 outside.  Sigh.

I runfess that I really really want a coach again.  Mainly because i like someone else making the plan and helping me with the changes as I go along.  I know I will be fine this race, even if I am under trained for this race, but sometimes life happens and I would like an expert opinion on what to do.   Plus, I already have another 50 miler that I really want to do and I need advice on how to approach since it is in April and I would only have 4 ish months to train.   I would also like someone coaching me and keeping me accountable with weights and strength training. I runfess I am SUPER excited to be getting a set of weights and a bar so I can have a home gym, but I am going to need guidance on how to be safe and what  to do.  I have looked at options on both and both are a bit expensive to do what i want to do, so I may have to chose one over the other.  I runfess I am still looking for that money tree growing somewhere.

That is all from me from the runfessional!  See ya next month!

Week 17 of 24: Training for Run Amok 50 miler

Welcome to the world that is training with a pulled chest muscle!  You don't realize how much you use those muscles until one of them wants to leave your body in protest.

Monday:  Rest day.  2 miles with the girls at GOTR.  We have some girls that truly want to be runners this year and they are doing amazing jobs.  We stuck with our 4 minute run 1 minute walk scheme and it was HOT, but many of them stayed right with me (trying to stay at a 12 minute or slower pace) and they did it!!!!! I am having SO much fun this year with this group of girls!

Tuesday:  10 miles.  This is about the max I can get done before I need to stop and take the kiddo to school.  I was treated to another beautiful sunrise and lots and lots of wildlife.  I had decided to invest in another very nice headlamp and  I was excited to see how it performed.  My friend Cindy recommended the Fenix HL55 with 900 lumens and boy did it not disappoint.  We pretty much didn't need Robin's head lamp at all, and we saw so much wildlife that is probably always there but not usually in view.

my new head lamp lights up the entire neighborhood

Wednesday:  5 miles.  After working all day at Coleman Electric and then all night at KSU, I did NOT want to get up.  I was so tempted to cancel and go back to bed but with Robin waiting on me and no other time really to fit a quick run in, I had to just do it.  The wildlife was very active this morning and we saw a deer, some foxes, and one stupid cat that thought the dogs would be fun to meet.  The coyotes down at the river were singing the song of their people, which is both neat and scary to hear.  They generally stay down by the river, but you just never know, so we made sure to talk loudly for the rest of the run.

Andrew's first time at pizza shuttle, a grad student hang out for cheap and good pizza

Thursday: 7 miles.  Rockin Robin did 5 with me and then i traded out Stella for Boom and headed out solo.  He was SO happy to run and he pretty much pulled me for a solid 2 miles.  Kind of nice at the end of my run to have help!  Boom was all over the place at times, but mostly out in front pulling where I want him to be.

Friday:  Rest day.  I entertained the thought of trying to get my 3 hour run done so I didn't have to fight the weather/race Sunday, but I was tired and i wanted to be 100% for my 20 miler.

Saturday:  20 miler.  We had several weather reports saying rain all night and possibly all day.  Some had storms in there as well, but I figured I would get up, look at the radar, and then make a decision.  It was very humid, but with a cool wind blowing, and as long as you were headed south, the wind made the humidity less painful.  I did a 10 mile out and back with Robin and then headed back to re fuel and get another 10 out and back.  The interesting clouds kept me worried about the weather and the humidity made me very watchful of Stella.  There was oddly no water on the roads, even though we had rain the day before.  Glad i had her water in my bladder so she could drink when she needed to.   Of course the heavy pack irritated my pulled chest muscle by putting a ton of pressure on it, but I just tried to not think about the pain and solider on.

Sunday:  Well...I was suppose to volunteer for Konquer the Konza, our local 25k/10k out at Konza prairie.  This is a big money maker for Konza and I either race or help with it every year.  Due to the crazy weather forecasts of locally heavy rain, not only did they have to re route the race to stay out of water crossings, they also had to move the start time back to noon.  Andrew has tutoring at 12:30 and we had a meeting with the tutor that i did not need to miss. I reluctantly told them I couldn't help and luckily my spot was more of a cheer spot than a formal volunteering spot.  This freed up my morning to get my 3 hour run in, but when I got up at 4 am, the radar looked horrible, so I went back to sleep.  Back up at 7 am to see what we could do.  I had two choices.  I could try and get most of my run done before the second wave of storms hit or I could just wait till post Andrew's tutoring and pray the clouds and cooler weather stuck around. I waited till after Andrew's session and while we had periods with sunshine, it was mostly cloudy with a cool breeze. Fall, are you there????  Stella did about 10ish with me and then boom did close to 5 with me.  He did amazing so once again, I can't wait to get him more mileage and get him built up for longer runs!  He is turning into a super awesome running dog!

So nice to have a normal week.  Looking forward to making to to the TAPER!  4 more weeks with a cutback week thrown in!!!!

Week 16 of 24: Training for the Run Amok 50 miler

OMG!  8 more weeks!  One more BIG run to go before the big day, not counting of course a 22 and a 24 yet still.  Still trying to find a 50 K or decide If I am going to do the 4 x 48 modified instead at home or on a local trail.

someone decided to redecorate another couch cushion.  NAUGHTY

Monday:  Trip to the DR.  I had decided enough was enough.  I was pretty sure I had had two illnesses, one old one with a cough that I was getting over, and one new one with head congestion and allergy like symptoms.  Since i was running a low grade fever this time and this is the third week overall of being sick, I figured a check up wouldn't hurt even if it was viral.  My PCP is a runner, so he understand my brand of crazy, and we ended up talking about him training for his first marathon this fall instead of me LOL!  Runners like to talk about running don't we?  In the end he didn't give me a diagnosis, but he did give me antibiotics and prednisone for both my cough and my itchy trail mess whatever it is. I have strict instructions to not run till I am 2 days post fever and I have to come back for a chest x ray if I am still coughing next week.  I started my antibiotics that day post lunch, but waited on steroids because I had hoped for sleep.  For whatever reason, my cough medicine/melatonin/vicks on the feet trick didn't work and I was up pretty much the entire night hacking and coughing.

AT lego club at our little local library or as they call it "Plastic Masons"

Tuesday:  Fever free YIPEEEE!  I still didn't really feel like running thanks to no sleep, but I am counting this as day 1 fever free.  I started the steroids, so I wanted to drink all the things and eat all the things.  I tried my usual recipe for better sleep and nope, not having it.  Not even sleeping sitting straight up and down helped.  Sigh.  I need sleep to train, to coach, and to work.

begging Jason for goodies

Wednesday: Fever free day 2!!! The Dr. actually said I could run Wednesday, but I wanted to stay with his original plan of 2 days total.  I need to be 100 percent to tackle next week's mileage.  Who am I????

corn is finally starting to dry out

Thursday:  Monday was our first day of Girls on the Run and today was our second.  We have almost 20 girls with 2 teams and 5 coaches.  I am so excited because we have such a great mix of girls and LOTS of positive hard workers.  This year is going to be AMAZING!  We did about 1.26 miles in laps with the girls, and then I went out post practice and did 3 more to get my 4 total.  Our new lap area has two big hills and we are working on pacing and getting some hills in at a nice slow conversational pace I am loving the strategy this year.

The AMAZING sunrise!

Friday:  The weather was amazing so I had to partake even though it was supposed to be a rest day.  I figured it wouldn't hurt to get one of my 7s I missed.  Feels like 56?  YES!!!!!  This is prime time running weather!  I did a quick 5 with Robin and then switched Stella out and grabbed Boom for the final 2.  He is running SO well and I am excited to start adding more distance to his repertoire. Friday night we headed to the track for a QUICK practice and I mean quick.

By the time we got there and unloaded there was very little sunlight left (the only bad part about the changing of the seasons for me) and we got just  a few good laps on the new engine.  We stayed around and let andrew play with one of his new track friends Joe (he plays Roblox and minecraft so lots in common) and just talked to some of the other parents and then ate a late dinner and headed home.  Andrew was asleep before we even got out of the parking lot of the Chick Fil A.

Saturday:  Race day!  I had intentions of getting up and doing a quick 7, but with the late night and my coughing the entire ride home, I decided any and all sleep would probably be the best and runs could come post race day if at all.  Today was Andrew's first race with the big boys in Junior Honda. Y'all, I was scared to death.  This is the next level  he would be in, but we had planned on him moving up next year.  After the last novice race and the fact that he has practiced a lot at the next level restrictor plate and even at no plate at all to learn handling of the car, we decided it was time.  He didn't seem nervous or scared and handled it like a champ.  Due to him moving up, he had to be at the back for all races, but he kept his bumper to bumper status, he bumped indicating he wanted to go, and he did lots of moves imitating the bigger kids which was SO cute!   One of the biggest parts of racing is holding a specific line.  Andrew likes to run high and at the speed at the next level, you just can't do that safely.  I am SO proud that other than a few wide turns, he held near perfect lines and even managed a 4th out of 7 in the feature his first time out!!!!!

The club was amazing giving him applause during the pit meeting for moving up and then giving him this cool trophy for moving out of novice that he carried around and even kissed a few times LOL!  I don't think he has ever gotten a trophy and I think the bug may have just hit him for more.  He even wanted to sleep with it!!!! Alas post dinner celebration, it was almost 9 pm when we got home, so no running happened and that is A-OKAY with me.  

One more picture and I promise I will stop :)  This is post race going into the weight shed to weigh his car.  He was met with several of his friends post his first heat race for high fives, fist bumps and congrats.  THIS is why I love racing.  The kids are so awesome to each other even when they are competing with each other, and I just love it.  We may only see each other once a week but they play and have SO much fun on race day and I LOVE it!

Sunday:  Long run day.  4 am sucked but summer is still here and we needed to get as much done pre sun.  We only had 14 on the plan for the day so Rockin Robin did 11 with me and then I switched out Boom for Stella and did the final 3.  I think we will try for 3 runs next week because he really is looking good and running great.  The only issue I had during the run was I have pulled a dang chest wall muscle from coughing it wasn't feeling great during the run but I made it through and have been trying heat and compress to keep it happy.  

Again, it wasn't the week I wanted but it was the week I got and I am moving forward.  Not dwelling on missed runs. Hoping to get back on plan and give it a good go if this chest wall muscle behaves. I am knock on wood pretty much done with coughing and am getting good sleep so I probably won't go back to the Dr. since he said I needed to be 95% or else come back.    Have a great week!

What I LOVE and HATE about training for a 50

I have had lots of thoughts running through my head from my 22 miler the other day and I thought I would write them down.  SO much good and bad about training for a 50 miler.  Here goes nothing.

1.  BAD.  Missing out.  Most nights I am in bed by 7:30-8:30 pm and out by 9 pm.  This works great during the week when I am getting my 7 year old to bed, but the weekends, it sucks.  Most weekends and well most week days I am up at 4 am to beat the heat and humidity.  Some times I have to be up at 3 am and I have to go to bed around 7-7:30 pm.  I have been missing A LOT and it sucks, not going to lie.  My kiddo and hubby have been going to lots of movies/practicing his race car at the track so I can get in bed early  They have been eating out without me, and just in general having lots of alone time, which is awesome, but makes me sad that I am not with them.   I try to always adjust my schedule so that I long run the day after or before his races so I don't miss those, but I am going to miss one of his races due to doing a marathon and I am just sad.

love adding back hill repeats and hilly courses!

2.  GOOD.  I feel SO strong right now.  I feel so in control and the ever increasing mileage is SO doable (this of course was written pre sickness).  I have never run more than 45 miles in a week and I just topped 55 and feel great.  Any little niggle thus far has been negated through stretching, self massage, massage by Trina, or rolling/the stick.  I feel so good this training cycle and other than two blips because of Andrew sharing his colds (edit now three blips LOL), I have had lots of great runs.

3.  BAD. I have gained weight again.  I am not religiously counting my intake, but I don't feel like I am eating more than I usually do.  This seems to happen every big training cycle.  I had someone say the other day, "you can't be fat, you run all of the time".  I wish this didn't happen to me every time I train, but I am sure the quality of my diet isn't what it should be.  I just don't have the gumption right now to shake things completely up like I probably need to.

4.  BAD.  I am not lifting and i should be.  I really miss going to Cross fit right now but the two mornings I have to get a couple of extra hours of sleep I use.  Even though everything is going on really well, I am fatigued a lot.  When I can get sleep by going to bed super early or sleeping in (and by sleeping in I mean 7 am because the dogs won't let me truly sleep in), I take it.  I had hoped I could lift over my lunch break with some guidance from my coach who graduated  and moved, but I have heard nothing from her in weeks.  Sigh.

5.  GOOD.  My run walk intervals of the bomb.com.  I can get through some pretty nasty weather knowing that i just have to make it for four minutes before I get a break.  The crazy thing is, my speed is the same or even a little bit faster than last year even adding in the walk breaks.  Weird right?  I've been reading over and over again, start your ultra the same speed you intend on running at mile 40, so I think the run walk intervals are going to be perfect!

Look at this swag, isn't it neat?  Wouldn't you say my collections complete?

6.  GOOD.  It's been fun to use races for long runs.  I am not fast so I don't "Race" them anyway.  Usually I do 10 miles before I have access to aid and now I can get aid every 3 or so miles.  Brilliant!  Plus, I get swag!  Who doesn't love swag????

7.  GOOD/BAD.  I am on week 14 and I just had to get new shoes and will probably have to get another pair before my race.  Yeah for all of the shoes:).  My shoe rack is looking pretty colorful and full at this point.  It's definitely time for some donations.

8. GOOD.  My local running store employees all know me by name and are keeping my tailwind and shoes in stock because they know I will be in every couple of weeks for something.

9.  GOOD.  Stella is tired all of the time.  Tired Stella equals good Stella and not naughty Stella. 

I am looking forward to the next few weeks of training and can't wait to peak and then TAPER TIME!

The Hawk marathon: The Good, the bad, and the ugly (or lack of ugly)

Okay, so once again I totally am copying this idea from another blogger and I give her full credit for these types of posts.  I also did a recap like this for the Rockin K marathon we did in the spring here.  Plus, I need a place to dump the amazing photos from Mile 90 as always!  Note:  I didn't even know the photographer was in some the places they were, so my facial expressions are not on point LOL!

Let's start with the GOOD:  Gear. ON point again.  I wore a tank I got from Running with the Cows and my ever favorite Gypsy runner shorts. I had just gotten this new design in a couple of weeks ago and just LOVE them.  They are a softer material and I just love the feather design.  My pack was full and I was carrying a bladder with Stella's water in the back but nothing chaffed or felt wrong.  I made sure I put lots of deodorant in all of the usual chaffing spots and it worked like a charm!  I did have some chaffing on the inside of my legs from my undies not getting back in the right position post pee break in the woods, but that happens often and doesn't really bother me all that much anymore.  I actually wore my older Stinsons since I hadn't put in a good long run in the newer version, and they were perfect. I only had one mishap where my Velcro I had just attached to the backs of my shoes came off that keeps my gaiters in place, but oddly enough they still stayed down and in place without the attachment point.  Dirty Girl Gaiters for the WIN!  I wore my usual Belaga socks (no mohair, just the performance line) and other than a couple of small blisters on the balls of my feet from probably the rocks, my feet felt great.  

GOOD:  My nutrition seemed on point.  I never felt bad or bonky, or too full of water or sloshy.  I started with my 200 calories of Tailwind every hour in 17 oz bottles and alternated between the naked version and the cola.  I also started out with some Run Gum to make sure I had plenty of caffeine to avoid any post run headaches.  I usually wait till after the first hour to begin fueling, but I had eaten breakfast about 3 hours before we started as i had to get on the road early and my body likes to eat as soon as i get up or I feel icky.  I did my normal pre race breakfast, the belvita dark chocolate sandwich pack (2 little sandwiches) and my pumpkin coffee because a girl can wish for fall can't she :).  I don't know how many bottles I actually got through because I lost count and forgot to count how many packets I brought with me.  I think i went through about 5 bottles and one honey stinger waffle and lots and lots of watermelon.  I didn't see any nutella wraps at the aid stations, but someone said they were there.  I did get a little behind from the last aid station on, so really the last two hours I probably needed more and will HAVE to stay on top of this for the 50 miler.  I think I probably got through 1 bottle of Tailwind in that time, which is not enough for 8 plus miles that took me over 2 hours to do.  I had 0 stomach issues and only peed twice and those time were not a "I have to pee" but a more like "this is a very safe and secluded spot pee".  

GOOD:  I felt very strong on the trails even though I haven't been lifting OR running on trails.  I need to get back to doing both post race, and yes I will hit it hard soon, but here lately I just haven't had the time or direction for either.  My body felt STRONG on this trail and that made me smile.    Other than the front of my right hip being a little tight and sore, I feel really good post race and ready to train when I get over this stupid cold.  

BAD:  I had that same tooth issue again I had at Rockin K.  I couldn't chew on one side during the race and post race, I couldn't  even gum the softest of melted waffles.  It is the Tailwind and I am not sure why it does this in races but not always in training.  This will be a problem at the 50 because I want to consume solid foods versus all liquid. I would like to mix it up and maybe just take a bottle of caffeinated cola every 3 or so hours and use my Honey Stinger Waffles/aid station food instead. I have tried multiple times just breaking my waffles into 4  pieces and taking them about every 15 minutes and I have felt great.  I like doing this method versus just eating a whole one every hour, kind of mimicking the slow intake of the Tail Wind.  Plus,  I won't need the hydration and electrolytes as much as I did in this race since it shouldn't be as hot in November.

The Ugly:  Well, I really don't have any ugly to share which I think makes this go back into the GOOD category?  I couldn't really eat post race even though I kind of wanted to due to not being able to chew.  I really, really wanted some salty chips and I just couldn't chew them.  I settled for some liquid calories in Coke and then tried to gum a pork quesadilla.  I felt good though, just a little off thanks to the cold i have been battling for a few weeks (spoiler alert, I was running fever post race but pretty low grade).  I was worried it would get ugly when it did get hot and didn't let up, but Stella and I just power walked like a boss and got it done.  I can't really run the White trail anyway, so power walking was the best option for both of us.  I did not do my 4:1 intervals, just ran the sections I could and walked when it was impossible and i felt fine.  Hopefully this means I am fully heat adapted at this point. I never did exactly look at the temps and humidity, but someone said it got up to feels like 90s with pretty high humidity.  

As always the pictures from Mile 90 are amazing and I just love them.  The one of me talking to Stella over the finish line is going to have to be printed and framed.  She did so amazingly well and after a short recovery for us both, we will be back on the training train strong as ever!   THis race was a HUGE booster to me to know that i can do hard things and we can conquer this upcoming 50 miler.  Thanks for joining me for the Good, the bad, and the not so ugly!  

Week 15 of 24: Training for the Running Amok 50 miler

Well, last week did not go as planned thanks to the crud coming into our world.  This week was race week and I was determined to get better, get some sleep, and run my damn marathon.

Monday:  Rest day.  I did get some sleep as the Delysum 12 hour cough syrup seemed to help the most, but there still was some coughing and some awake time.  I think my body has just shifted to it's old ways since I am not getting up at 4 am. I use to be a night owl and have horrible insomnia and this feels a little like that.   I didn't cough as much, but had to work both jobs and was pretty tired by the time I got home from work.  Labor day in our world = work day.  AH the joys of owning your own business.  Of course I also let my parking pass lapse at KSU and now we have samples that actually work, so I will have to do any and all KSU work on weekends and nights.  I am hoping once I get through this samples that this may be the end.  I am sure I will be wrong as I always am.

in today's edition of where is boom....

 Tuesday: Easy ?  I knew if I could just get some sleep that running might be okay.  I decided to throw all the things at my cough including Delysum, vicks on the feet, Sudafed, and melatonin and low and behold it WORKED!  I did still wake up a couple of times but mostly I felt like I had very deep restful sleep.  Of course a dog woke me up at 4:30 am puking but such is life.  I decided to try a run loaded up with cough drops just in case and WOW, I was fine!  It was feels like 76 ,but I took it easy and let my running partner talk the whole time and I had little to no coughing.  I am actually getting excited about my upcoming marathon! Let's hope I can continue this sleepy streak!  5 miles which was half the miles I needed for the day but it is what it is!

Elvis and pumpkin beer.  I am ready for fall!

Wednesday:  Easy ?  I am so off my mileage that it isn't even funny.  I did  4 with Stella and 2 with boom boom.  I really need to start upping Boom's mileage and honestly I don't think Stella is going to mind as long as she gets her run first.  I didn't get as much sleep the night before, totally forgot to add vicks to the feet and I am sure that is what did it.  Why I didn't just get up and do it is beyond me.

Thursday:  Easy ?  6 miles.  I did 5 with Stella and 1 with Boom and we all LOVED the cooler weather.  Boom could have gone more but I needed to be back to shower and head to Manhattan for a dentist appointment.  He is LOVING running and that frees up our walks to school to be with Deuce who is getting a little neglected in the running department these days.  At 10 he can't really tolerate the heat very well so he is a fall/winter runner and is not so patiently waiting for summer to be over here in KS.

Friday:  Rest day and prep day and baseball practice.  Yeah. Running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  I wanted to get to bed super early but that just didn't happen.

LOVE the swag!!!

Saturday:  Race day!  The HAWK!  Recap to follow.  SO much goodness, badness, and heat.  We did it though!

Sunday:   Well was suppose to run for two hours but that just didn't happen.  I chose to walk instead for recovery.   As I am posting this, I still haven't walked or done anything yet and I am pretty sore and sickly so it may not happen.  I am not running a fever, just coughing pretty bad again and super congested.   I will go to the DR now because we are starting the third week of this and i am tired of it. 


Have a great upcoming week!  I am going to enjoy a cut back week and recovery from my sickness and from my marathon!

The Hawk Marathon

Last year's adventure with the Hawk 100

The Hawk.  What can I even say.  It's an epic race.  Last year I crewed for my friend Lindsey at Living Loving Runner.  I wrote a few blog posts about it here.  I knew had to do this race in some sort of capacity the next year (this year) and I knew looking at my schedule that it fit nicely in the weekend I needed a 26 mile long run. Why not do a long run with fully stocked aid station and lots and lots of running friends?  Yes, the trail is very technical and I haven't been on a trail in forever, but I have been doing hill repeats and working on strength so there is that.

If you follow my blog or my personal page, you know I have been sick.  I have battled upper respiratory yuckiness that knocked me out of my long runs last weekend and knocked my mileage way back the week before the race.  In some ways it was kind of nice to have a taper of sorts.  The plan had me doing some pretty high mileage the last few weeks and I was feeling SOOOO good and ready for it, but my body had other plans.

The nights before the race I actually got some decent sleep. I was still coughing, but it had changed honestly for the better if that is possible as in it wasn't as deep and hurtful.  The day before the race I actually started having some pretty serious head congestion. WTH body?  My son is also sickly again with congestion, so I figure he re infected me since I was already down.    I wanted to stay the night in Lawrence, but Andrew had his first fall baseball practice Friday night and I wanted to watch since we weren't coaching.  The marathon didn't begin till 8 am, so I didn't have to get up so bright an early, but I did need to pick up my packet and get stella's bib pre race.

I got up at 5 am and was on the road a little past 5:30 am.  I rest assured that the Trail Hawk aid stations would have anything I needed if I forgot something.  I didn't lay out a flat Michelle or flat Stella because we just had too much going on and when I got home I wanted to go to bed.  Luckily I didn't forget anything, but Stella in the meantime did eat some of my Tailwind singles that I had bought to carry in my pack.  She even ate one that was caffeinated, whoops.  I had them way back on the counter so I have a feeling that Elvis helped her by batting them closer.

When we drove up, someone was leaving the parking lot right by the start/finish, BONUS!  I got checked in quickly and got my swag.  There was SO much good stuff including a really, really nice drawstring bag, a collapsible cup for aid stations, a long sleeved soft T shirt, and a Hawk buff.  The rest in the picture came later :)

Stella was all smiles with her pacer bib. She always get so much love pre-race.  There were so many groups of adults and kids giving her love.

She ate it up.  At 8 am we were lined up and off!   If I could figure out how to download the video Todd got of the start I would so you could hear her barking her head off.  She pulled like a sled dog for at least 2 miles.  We ran around the playground and then dumped on white where we had a conga line. I was fine with it, I was not in a hurry at all.  This race is about finishing for me and not about a time.  I have said previously, but this is a technical trail.  Very rooty, very rocky, and lots of up and down.  No vert or huge elevation climbs except for the up for bunker hill.

You have to keep your eyes on your feet, pick up your feet, and watch out for snakes.  I had so many almost super man events where my toe caught some thing and I almost went flying.  I managed to catch myself every time, lucky for me, but I stubbed my toes multiple times and I am pretty sure I will loose both big toe nails.  

There are several small sections of runnable to me trail.  Some people run the whole thing and to them I say, way to be a mountain goat!  I am just not sure footed enough to do that.  That lady in the picture is one of my new trail sisters Indika.  We ran together for quite a while before she started feeling bad and we had to leave her at an aid station.  The humidity felt like it stuck around instead of dissipating.  The tree cover seemed to hold it in, and I was very quickly covered in sweat that was going no where.  I knew it was suppose to get hotter later but the forecasts had been all over the place with regards to the actual ending temps.  

We not only had technical trail, but we had steps, we had grassy fields that were mowed, we had gravel roads, and we had gravel hills.  

I am not a purist when it comes to trails, so this change in trail to open field was a welcome difference.  The only problem was we were exposed on these parts and it was getting hot.  The aid station workers at EVERY aid station took such great care of us.  They refilled our bottles, wetted stella down, helped me get Tailwind powder in my bottles, and fed me watermelon.  Stella got watermelon and peanut butter sandwiches and wraps.  She also got lots of love by many trail runners and just ate it up.  This year there was some parts of the trail where we actually met other runners this year due to the re route.  For the most part, it was fun to see the 50 and 100 milers coming through.  We had one gentleman that made some derogatory comments about Stella being out there,  but I tried to put that out of my mind and not let him rattle me.  

We had a section of out and back on a HUGE gravel hill.  We had to get a trail trinket before heading back down.  Of course we had to get the little dog :)

Back up and over Bunker hill.  The views were amazing, but the heat was getting real.  I was ready to head back to the trail and to the cover of the trees.  At least without the direct sun beaming on us, we were able to stay  cool enough.  I caught up with several runners and ran with a few over the course of the race.  Sometimes it's just nice to have company for a little bit.  I didn't get any pictures of the rooty and rocky trail parts which is pretty much the whole of the White trail that is on the way back because I was afraid of falling.  

there is a trail down there somewhere

You can see how flooded some areas where.  They RD and Trail Hawks did an amazing job with the re routes and re planning of the course.  They were dealt a ton of challenges this year, and they rose to the occasion as always.  I honestly can't say enough good about their races.    The course is also marked perfectly for a blonde like me. I can get lost easily on trail races and I never got confused or felt the need to back track.  

  It was about mile 17 according to my watch that I felt like it was getting a bit hot for both of us.  We were power walking at this time anyway, as for me most of white is not runnable due to the rocks and roots.  My watch seemed very off, especially when we saw a sign that said 6.5 miles to the finish.  We as marathoners needed to do another out and back around Sander's mound base before heading to the finish, but still the numbers weren't adding up.  I decided to not trust my watch since trails do crazy things to watches and just trust the signs that said we were almost done.  I think I did beg and plead to the lady at the spot where I had to do the out and back  to let me finish instead of going to the loop, but like a good trail course marshal, she made me head down anyway.  Mean lady :)  The out and back was again in full sun on grass that some of which was over deep mud which sounds weird but you had to see it to believe it.  Again power walking was all we had and we gave it our best.  One of the only complaints I have about this race is that we didn't have aid from Land's end to till the end.  That I think was about 8.5 miles and I ran out of water and tailwind.  I had Stella's water, but I was trying not to drink it, plus she gets sink water in the bladder and i think it has a weird taste.  I stopped several times to give her water because it was stupid hot at that point.  We finally headed back up the hill and to the finish!  

Ah the finish line!  Such a great sight until some lady was screaming out asking for my number. I honestly had to stop as at that point I didn't know my number, so who knows what my pictures will look like :(  Stella was pulling in front of me and then at that point she was stuck to my side looking at me because we had stopped.    

I was given my beautiful hand made medal and my sticker and I quickly had to get Stella some water and me some water.  As always, the Trail Hawks made sure we were good to go, bringing me a cup of cold water and Stella a bucket of clean water.  Stella quickly got a sponge down from the RD Sherrie.  We got a coke and some food, but I couldn't eat because my teeth hurt so bad from the dang Tailwind.  I have NO clue why it does that sometimes and other not but it's very annoying because all I wanted post run was some salty chips. Many of the runners snuck Stella food and she got lots of pets that she loved it all.  She is such a ham for attention!

We sat for quite a while before heading back.  I couldn't eat, but I tried to get something in other than just Coke.  One of the awesome volunteers made me a BBQ quesadilla that was quite tasty, but I just couldn't chew well enough to enjoy it.  The drive back was tough because I was so sore, but I talked to my mommy the whole way which kept me alert and awake.  When I got home I was running a fever and not feeling great, but so goes life lately.  I can't seem to shake whatever it is that i have.  I felt fine during my run other than being a bit snotty and having to spit, snort, and or cough.  I can't wait to see the Mile 90 photos as always.  I felt so strong during the race minus the heat.  If you want a great fall trail marathon with RDs that truly care and volunteers that are out of this world, this is your race!  I already can't wait till next year and maybe just maybe we can do the 50!

I will do another post about the good, the bad, and the ugly since I enjoyed doing that for the last trail marathon plus I will add Mile 90 photos because i know they will be amazing.  Thank you Trail Hawks, volunteers, spectators, runners, and all.  We had an amazing time and we will be back!