This is just to say that I found the Massage Therapist to end all massage therapist searching.
I have been having so many problems with my left hip, which I know deep down are related to the lower back problems I have had most of my life. Funny thing is, I really never could put my finger on what the source of my life long discomfort really was, I just knew that my left hip was always out of place.
So, I had been waiting to see the MT after I saw my retired doc. He never called me back, and I totally understand his not wanting to adjust my back when he is retired from medical practice... I broke down and called the new MT I had spoken to one day when she came in to the store to buy a mattress. She was able to see me two days before the Rocky Raccoon 50k trail race.
She practices CranialSacral therapy... which I read about in advance of my appointment. At first the plan was to see the doc, then see her for 30 minutes of massage. Since I could not see the doc, I decided to spring for the whole hour of MT... That was money well spent, because she got right to the root of the problem. Really worked on stretching the tightness out of me, rather than just giving me a rub down, which I could have gotten anywhere. As she worked down my spine toward my tail bone, I felt better and better. She started working on my hips and tail bone, and she stopped to ask me how I had injured my tail bone so severely. I thought about it for a minute... then the light bulb lit up. I was always the fat kid, as a matter of fact, my nickname as a child was BFBB (Big Fat Butter Ball). I remember wanting desperately to be able to go across the monkey bars without falling like most of the other kids. So, I set out to try my best. I fell so hard on my ass... that I saw stars and bit something on the inside of my mouth so that I was bleeding. The funny thing is that I had blocked that fall from my mind as if it never happened. Anyway, as the MT worked on my hips and tailbone, I could feel the left hip clicking as it worked itself back into place, all without ever touching the leg itself.
So, this woman is miracle worker and when I turned over and she started working on my head... my sinuses drained. I have suffered with seasonal allergies for years... now I know how to keep my sinuses clear without pills!
Needless to say, I have not had a problem with this left hip since I saw the MT. To think, at one point I was considering quitting the ultra walking because the hip was becoming so problematic that I could not even stand long enough to wash the dishes.
Who knew.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Rocky Raccoon 50k, 11/7/2009
I sent in my entry fee for this race right before I decided to do the Q50 50k. I signed the bottom of the entry form, and then I added a note to the race director, Paul Stone. You see, he is the guy who held the finish line of the Hog’s Hunt 50k open for me to get an official finish time in, even though I finished after the 8 hour cutoff. The note read: “I promise to finish this 50k within the cutoff time.”
Now, let’s get back to the beginning of the weekend. The plan was for me to pack my car Thursday night so that I could leave for Huntsville from work in Rosenberg at around 1pm on Friday. I have not figured out the specific reason I cannot get away from work when I say I am leaving. It turned out that I had to drive back to Sealy and go to the bank before I could start my trip. That was not so bad. The bad thing is that when I was about 10 miles from home, I realized I had forgotten my Garmin (GPS and Heart rate monitor) that I use for all my racing and training. I also forgot the last of the wonderful fig cookies that Mom makes for me. I really wanted to share a cookie with PC, who I was meeting for the race. I also wanted to try a shorter route from home, but all I had with me in the car was an atlas. The atlas shows secondary roads, but they are so small on the map, that they are not labeled really well. Also, country roads in Texas are not very well marked. I missed a turn and ended up in Conroe, just where I did not want to be on a Friday afternoon. My ETA for Huntsville State Park had been changed from 2:30pm to 4pm, and I finally arrived at about 5pm. I checked in and found PC. J-M was already there, too.
I walked over to the park lodge to pick up my race packet and introduced myself to Paul Stone, reinforcing my promise to finish the race the next day within the 8 hour time limit. I planned to stay at the park all weekend, so I brought home made pasta salad with hard salami and turkey pepperoni for our pre-race carb load. The pasta salad was delicious! PC brought veggies and some really good bread to go with our meal. I set up my tent, and then we had dinner. Afterwards we built a campfire and sat outside and talked for a while.
I think it was about 11pm when I went to get dressed in my race clothes and go to bed. (Remember, I always sleep in my race clothes, at least the bottom layer). It was kind of chilly, so I put on my thermal tights over my shorts. I was still cold when I got up at 5 in the morning, so I chose to wear my new CW-X compression tights to race in. They are also supposed to support calf muscles, hips and IT band while working out. My top layer was a Star Trek shirt a friend bought for me. I chose to carry my hand held Nathan water bottle and leave the fuel belt behind because I knew the aid stations would be well stocked and they were. I filled my Hammer Gel flask with a mixture of espresso and vanilla gel and stuffed it down my sports bra so it would be easier to dispense.
I was still worried at the start of the race about not having my heart rate monitor, but there was nothing I could do about it at this point, just go out there and get it done… I ran into a friend, Donna, (met her at my first 50k Sunmart 2008) who I have been seeing at a lot of races, and she will be at a lot more of them I will be doing in the near future, including the Davy Crockett Bear Chase in Groveton Texas which she WON last year!!! And, she qualified for Boston. What a thrill!!! Anyway, we stayed together and talked through the first 4 or so miles, and then I suggested that she go on and run her race from there. I didn’t want to hold her back, and I was afraid I may have started out too fast right at the beginning of the race. There was also an older man who races a lot that I traded race position with several times during the race. Now, everyone needs to remember that I am not in competition with anyone except for ME. My only goal in this race was to finish it in less than 8 hours.
The 25k runners started passing me and I commented to the third place woman as she passed me… I told her I thought she was running third and she said I am and waved her hands in the air! Exciting! Anyway, I always stay to the right when the faster folks are coming… A lot of them made positive comments to me as they passed. You know, that is the best thing about trail racing. The runners never begrudge sharing the trail with slower people like myself. There was a smooth stretch where I could get a real good walking pace going and a couple of guys told me I had a nice walking pace on the trail. When I told them they were a lot faster than me, they told me we’re all going the same place, the finish line. That always makes me feel good about what I am doing.
I came out of the woods toward the start / finish line where there is an aid station, and when I saw the photographer, I held up my hand and made the live long and prosper hand signal for the photo! Lots of the folks who had finished their race (25k or one loop) were milling around the aid station, and I really needed to get in there and refill my water bottle and grab a handful of cookies or something salty to eat, so I asked… “Please excuse me, you all are finished, but I still have to go out for another loop.” A young girl looked at me, said: “You mean you just walked 15.5 miles in 3 hours and 43 minutes? Now I remember passing you on the trail. You REALLY walk fast!” I mean to tell you, if that ever happened to me in a road race, I would faint. Trail runners are just DIFFERENT! They parted and let me get what I needed and I thanked everyone and headed back out.
I felt good that I was able to get the first loop done in about the time I thought I would get it done. I knew the second loop would be a little more difficult, and it was. I had a few really bad patches where I was wondering if I would finish at all, let alone under the 8 hour cutoff. It seemed like I was barely moving, so I did take some time to regroup by slowing down a lot to give my body a break. It seemed to work and I was able to pick up the pace again. One thing that was helping me keep moving was the knowledge that I was not in last place as I approached the second to last aid station. The 7 Hills running club from Huntsville always mans the same aid station, and they are awesome. I joked around with them a little and one of the guys teased me about catching the guy who was right in front of me. I told them I just didn’t care what that guy was doing, I just wanted to finish. So, I took off and seemed to be feeling better.
The last aid station before the finish is 2.8 miles out. I was starting to get a cramp in my left inner thigh so I asked for some coca cola and maybe some electrolyte capsules because I really did not want to eat anything else. They gave me a salt stick cap and about 6 oz. of coca cola, and I downed the rest of that Hammer espresso gel I was carrying in the flask inside my bra. As I was finishing up stretching that cramp out, they told me I had 38 minutes to make the cutoff. I hauled my butt out of there thinking, there is something wrong with me if I can’t walk 2.8 miles in 38 minutes, even on the trails. I trudged up the sandy hill out of the aid station and as soon as I hit more solid ground, I really stepped on the gas. I came up on the man that I was trading places with for most of the race, and I said, I need to pass you now. When I did, he tried to keep up with me side by side on the trail, and I asked him to please not try to walk side by side with me, because I was going to trip. Just as the words left my lips, I tripped hard, but did not fall down. I just kept going and never looked back.
I made it to the turn towards the finish, the last mile and the volunteer there told me I had 13 minutes to make the cutoff and I said, there’s just no way I can do that last mile in 13 minutes after the day I was having. Remember, I just did another 50k 3 weeks ago??? Then I thought about the fact that I had done some running in the first loop, so when I saw the long down hill section coming up, I started running. I don’t know where it came from, but I was running faster than I have ever run on a trail in my life. When I reached the bottom of the hill, I kept running a little farther just for good measure, and then I finished the race walking. I so wish someone else had seen me running as fast as I could after struggling for 30 miles. I am sure I was a sight. I still cannot believe that I did that last mile in 9 ½ minutes. Yes, I had 13 minutes to go, and my finish time was 7:56:32. Wow, I have never been happier at the end of a race. Yes, I was trashed and the first thought that came to mind was; “Oh, My God, I have to do a full marathon next Sunday.”
Now, let’s get back to the beginning of the weekend. The plan was for me to pack my car Thursday night so that I could leave for Huntsville from work in Rosenberg at around 1pm on Friday. I have not figured out the specific reason I cannot get away from work when I say I am leaving. It turned out that I had to drive back to Sealy and go to the bank before I could start my trip. That was not so bad. The bad thing is that when I was about 10 miles from home, I realized I had forgotten my Garmin (GPS and Heart rate monitor) that I use for all my racing and training. I also forgot the last of the wonderful fig cookies that Mom makes for me. I really wanted to share a cookie with PC, who I was meeting for the race. I also wanted to try a shorter route from home, but all I had with me in the car was an atlas. The atlas shows secondary roads, but they are so small on the map, that they are not labeled really well. Also, country roads in Texas are not very well marked. I missed a turn and ended up in Conroe, just where I did not want to be on a Friday afternoon. My ETA for Huntsville State Park had been changed from 2:30pm to 4pm, and I finally arrived at about 5pm. I checked in and found PC. J-M was already there, too.
I walked over to the park lodge to pick up my race packet and introduced myself to Paul Stone, reinforcing my promise to finish the race the next day within the 8 hour time limit. I planned to stay at the park all weekend, so I brought home made pasta salad with hard salami and turkey pepperoni for our pre-race carb load. The pasta salad was delicious! PC brought veggies and some really good bread to go with our meal. I set up my tent, and then we had dinner. Afterwards we built a campfire and sat outside and talked for a while.I think it was about 11pm when I went to get dressed in my race clothes and go to bed. (Remember, I always sleep in my race clothes, at least the bottom layer). It was kind of chilly, so I put on my thermal tights over my shorts. I was still cold when I got up at 5 in the morning, so I chose to wear my new CW-X compression tights to race in. They are also supposed to support calf muscles, hips and IT band while working out. My top layer was a Star Trek shirt a friend bought for me. I chose to carry my hand held Nathan water bottle and leave the fuel belt behind because I knew the aid stations would be well stocked and they were. I filled my Hammer Gel flask with a mixture of espresso and vanilla gel and stuffed it down my sports bra so it would be easier to dispense.
I was still worried at the start of the race about not having my heart rate monitor, but there was nothing I could do about it at this point, just go out there and get it done… I ran into a friend, Donna, (met her at my first 50k Sunmart 2008) who I have been seeing at a lot of races, and she will be at a lot more of them I will be doing in the near future, including the Davy Crockett Bear Chase in Groveton Texas which she WON last year!!! And, she qualified for Boston. What a thrill!!! Anyway, we stayed together and talked through the first 4 or so miles, and then I suggested that she go on and run her race from there. I didn’t want to hold her back, and I was afraid I may have started out too fast right at the beginning of the race. There was also an older man who races a lot that I traded race position with several times during the race. Now, everyone needs to remember that I am not in competition with anyone except for ME. My only goal in this race was to finish it in less than 8 hours.
The 25k runners started passing me and I commented to the third place woman as she passed me… I told her I thought she was running third and she said I am and waved her hands in the air! Exciting! Anyway, I always stay to the right when the faster folks are coming… A lot of them made positive comments to me as they passed. You know, that is the best thing about trail racing. The runners never begrudge sharing the trail with slower people like myself. There was a smooth stretch where I could get a real good walking pace going and a couple of guys told me I had a nice walking pace on the trail. When I told them they were a lot faster than me, they told me we’re all going the same place, the finish line. That always makes me feel good about what I am doing.
I came out of the woods toward the start / finish line where there is an aid station, and when I saw the photographer, I held up my hand and made the live long and prosper hand signal for the photo! Lots of the folks who had finished their race (25k or one loop) were milling around the aid station, and I really needed to get in there and refill my water bottle and grab a handful of cookies or something salty to eat, so I asked… “Please excuse me, you all are finished, but I still have to go out for another loop.” A young girl looked at me, said: “You mean you just walked 15.5 miles in 3 hours and 43 minutes? Now I remember passing you on the trail. You REALLY walk fast!” I mean to tell you, if that ever happened to me in a road race, I would faint. Trail runners are just DIFFERENT! They parted and let me get what I needed and I thanked everyone and headed back out.
I felt good that I was able to get the first loop done in about the time I thought I would get it done. I knew the second loop would be a little more difficult, and it was. I had a few really bad patches where I was wondering if I would finish at all, let alone under the 8 hour cutoff. It seemed like I was barely moving, so I did take some time to regroup by slowing down a lot to give my body a break. It seemed to work and I was able to pick up the pace again. One thing that was helping me keep moving was the knowledge that I was not in last place as I approached the second to last aid station. The 7 Hills running club from Huntsville always mans the same aid station, and they are awesome. I joked around with them a little and one of the guys teased me about catching the guy who was right in front of me. I told them I just didn’t care what that guy was doing, I just wanted to finish. So, I took off and seemed to be feeling better.
The last aid station before the finish is 2.8 miles out. I was starting to get a cramp in my left inner thigh so I asked for some coca cola and maybe some electrolyte capsules because I really did not want to eat anything else. They gave me a salt stick cap and about 6 oz. of coca cola, and I downed the rest of that Hammer espresso gel I was carrying in the flask inside my bra. As I was finishing up stretching that cramp out, they told me I had 38 minutes to make the cutoff. I hauled my butt out of there thinking, there is something wrong with me if I can’t walk 2.8 miles in 38 minutes, even on the trails. I trudged up the sandy hill out of the aid station and as soon as I hit more solid ground, I really stepped on the gas. I came up on the man that I was trading places with for most of the race, and I said, I need to pass you now. When I did, he tried to keep up with me side by side on the trail, and I asked him to please not try to walk side by side with me, because I was going to trip. Just as the words left my lips, I tripped hard, but did not fall down. I just kept going and never looked back.
I made it to the turn towards the finish, the last mile and the volunteer there told me I had 13 minutes to make the cutoff and I said, there’s just no way I can do that last mile in 13 minutes after the day I was having. Remember, I just did another 50k 3 weeks ago??? Then I thought about the fact that I had done some running in the first loop, so when I saw the long down hill section coming up, I started running. I don’t know where it came from, but I was running faster than I have ever run on a trail in my life. When I reached the bottom of the hill, I kept running a little farther just for good measure, and then I finished the race walking. I so wish someone else had seen me running as fast as I could after struggling for 30 miles. I am sure I was a sight. I still cannot believe that I did that last mile in 9 ½ minutes. Yes, I had 13 minutes to go, and my finish time was 7:56:32. Wow, I have never been happier at the end of a race. Yes, I was trashed and the first thought that came to mind was; “Oh, My God, I have to do a full marathon next Sunday.”
Great race, great company! PC and I explored some trails this morning for a nice hour and 45 minute recovery walk before we ate lunch and packed up to leave.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
trying to stay positive
So, here I am... after attending a weekend racewalking clinic and completing another 50k trail race. My left leg is still aching, and I have yet to see anyone who can help me put it back in place. I took 9 days off from training after the 50k in Louisiana. During that rest period, I started taking ibuprophen in large enough doses to actually help reduce the inflamation that is associated with my hip problem. I also did lots of self massage. Nothing seemed to really help, as my leg continued to ache, especially while standing still.
The 10th day (Oct 28) rolled around and I was getting bitchier and bitchier... Finally Raymond suggested I go out for a walk. He usually does not encourage me to work out, so I thought, what the heck. I got dressed and headed over to the little league park, taking the route with the most grassy areas. Yes, the softer dirt and grass surfaces seemed to do the trick. The outing totalled 6.26 miles and I ran about 1 mile of the total. Running seems to work a different set of muscles and gives the rest kind of a break. And, yes, running in the mud and wet grass is fun.
We had terribly rainy weather the next couple of days. As a matter of fact, I had trouble getting home from work Thursday afternoon. The low hanging wall of dark clouds that evening were really ominous. The wind started gusting and the driving rain that tracks from southwest to northeast along cold fronts was really intense! All I could do was concentrate on the white line on the side of the road to see that I was still on the road. No workout Thursday. Friday evening I was just too late getting home from work to do anything.
Saturday October 31, I was out the door for a walk at about 7:51am. It was rather cool out, and my intention was to take the same route as I had on Wednesday afternoon. I was surprised to see the peewee football game going on in the wet grass as I walked toward the little league park. There was a lot more water laying in the low spots, so my shoes quickly filled with water. No problem, my feet just stayed cool. I had another good walk, about 6.5 miles with about 1.3 miles of running mixed in. I returned home, stretched, showered and went to work.
Now, it's Sunday. I plan to go out for a semi-long distance walk... somewhere between 12 and 15 miles after I get a little housework done. I have an armoire to empty in my bedroom so that I can finally put a larger tv in it. To date, it has held all of my workout STUFF. I think I finally have a system worked out so that I can store all that STUFF in a centralized location. My leg is still aching when I stand for any length of time. It also hurts when I stroll, such as a person does when shopping. As long as I am moving at a reasonably fast pace, I don't have any problems... Hopefully, I can get in to see my old doc this week. I know he is retired, but he is the only person who can get that leg back in place so that it will stay there for a while. If only I could find a chiropractor who would do the same, instead, they want you to come in 3 times a week for the rest of your life. Fine, if you are independantly wealthy. I am not blessed with unlimited funds.
Now, all the camping gear is airing out on the back porch in preperation for the weekend at Huntsville State Park. (Huntsville Texas) I am meeting up with some friends for the Rocky Raccoon 25k/50k trail race. I am walking (maybe doing some running on the down hills) the 50k, then spending an extra night to have more time on the trails on Sunday before I pack up and return home.
The 10th day (Oct 28) rolled around and I was getting bitchier and bitchier... Finally Raymond suggested I go out for a walk. He usually does not encourage me to work out, so I thought, what the heck. I got dressed and headed over to the little league park, taking the route with the most grassy areas. Yes, the softer dirt and grass surfaces seemed to do the trick. The outing totalled 6.26 miles and I ran about 1 mile of the total. Running seems to work a different set of muscles and gives the rest kind of a break. And, yes, running in the mud and wet grass is fun.
We had terribly rainy weather the next couple of days. As a matter of fact, I had trouble getting home from work Thursday afternoon. The low hanging wall of dark clouds that evening were really ominous. The wind started gusting and the driving rain that tracks from southwest to northeast along cold fronts was really intense! All I could do was concentrate on the white line on the side of the road to see that I was still on the road. No workout Thursday. Friday evening I was just too late getting home from work to do anything.
Saturday October 31, I was out the door for a walk at about 7:51am. It was rather cool out, and my intention was to take the same route as I had on Wednesday afternoon. I was surprised to see the peewee football game going on in the wet grass as I walked toward the little league park. There was a lot more water laying in the low spots, so my shoes quickly filled with water. No problem, my feet just stayed cool. I had another good walk, about 6.5 miles with about 1.3 miles of running mixed in. I returned home, stretched, showered and went to work.
Now, it's Sunday. I plan to go out for a semi-long distance walk... somewhere between 12 and 15 miles after I get a little housework done. I have an armoire to empty in my bedroom so that I can finally put a larger tv in it. To date, it has held all of my workout STUFF. I think I finally have a system worked out so that I can store all that STUFF in a centralized location. My leg is still aching when I stand for any length of time. It also hurts when I stroll, such as a person does when shopping. As long as I am moving at a reasonably fast pace, I don't have any problems... Hopefully, I can get in to see my old doc this week. I know he is retired, but he is the only person who can get that leg back in place so that it will stay there for a while. If only I could find a chiropractor who would do the same, instead, they want you to come in 3 times a week for the rest of your life. Fine, if you are independantly wealthy. I am not blessed with unlimited funds.
Now, all the camping gear is airing out on the back porch in preperation for the weekend at Huntsville State Park. (Huntsville Texas) I am meeting up with some friends for the Rocky Raccoon 25k/50k trail race. I am walking (maybe doing some running on the down hills) the 50k, then spending an extra night to have more time on the trails on Sunday before I pack up and return home.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Q50 USA
I just wanted to share the finish line photo from the Q50 USA 50k race. That's me and my new friend Shannon! Saturday, October 24, 2009
Q50 USA - Mandeville Louisiana
October 18, 2009
Now let’s begin the next blog entry. Here is the really funny thing about this race. I have been drinking Q50 coffee since I bought my first pound the day before my first 50k race, which was the final running of the Sunmart 50k/50 mile trail race on December 5, 2008. None of us knew it was the final race until months later. The girls who sold me the coffee assured me it was much better than any I had ever tasted. Well, they were right.
Q50 Coffee - Q50 Ultras… they direct ultra races all over the world. I would dearly love to travel to Nicaragua (the source of the wonderful coffee beans) or Patagonia or some exotic location to participate in one of the ultras they organize, but it just never seemed likely that I would be able to afford the travel. I was so excited when they informed me that they were planning to host a race near New Orleans. Wow, that is driving distance for me. It took a while for their plans to come together, and by the time the date for the race was announced (October 18), I had already signed up for Dave McGovern’s World Class Racewalking Clinic on October 9-11. So far, I have never signed up for a race or clinic that I did not show up for. I even did a marathon on the same weekend as my first racewalking clinic. Ok, so I am a little crazy. That fact has already been established.
I wavered back and forth many times, trying to decide whether or not to send in the registration for the Q50 50k. I finally wrote the check and mailed it on October 15, just 2 weeks before the race. Then I started thinking… and I even posted it on facebook: What makes me so arrogant that I sign up for a 50k trail race with an 8 hour time limit that I have not even trained specifically for??? My friends, racing friends that is, well, some of my racing friends encourage my madness and tell me, you can do it!!! Alejandra Bazzi from Uruguay, who works with Q50 coffee, is one special lady! I was so eager to meet her that I just never worried about the race again.
Friday night I got home from work late, packed the car and tried to get some sleep. My son, Jonny was going to go with me since I was headed out to camp at Fontainebleau State Park in Mandeville Louisiana, the location for the race. We started out a little too early because I wanted to stop at Luke’s Locker on West Gray near downtown Houston on the way to Louisiana, so we drove over to Katz’s Deli on Westheimer for a quick breakfast. The food was fantastic as always. Luke’s Locker did not have what I was looking for, so it was kind of a wasted trip.
Then we headed out for the long drive to Mandeville, on the north shore of Lake Ponchertrain. I won’t go into great detail about the drive except to say that the bridge over the Atchafalaya basin in daylight and on a clear day was awesome, and that once we arrived in Mandeville, my worries were over. It is a beautiful town! It had been raining all week, so I had no idea what to expect at the park. When we drove up to the park entrance, I was very surprised! The entrance was all brick and very upscale.
I had already made my camping reservations, so I entered the park office to check in. I told the park ranger that I was there for the race the next day and that my son would be watching out for the campsite while I was racing. The park ranger inquired as to my son’s age and seemed worried that I would be leaving him at the campsite alone until I told him my son is 30. The ranger says THIRTY??? That really cracked me up… I told the ranger yes, I am a lot older than you seem to think I am. Brownie points for Louisiana Park Rangers.
We drove over to Franco’s Athletic Club for the pre race dinner and informational meeting. As soon as I saw Alejandra, I knew that my decision to come to the race was a good one. She is one of the nicest, most encouraging people I have ever met! As a matter of fact, I have never run into anyone at a trail race that was not nice. Sometimes folks are having bad days, or are nervous about racing, but no one has EVER been rude to me at an ultra race of any kind. These things are nothing like road races. Alejandra introduced me to Cesar Torres, the owner of Q50 Coffee, and Amanda McIntosh from Hammer Nutrition.
The health club was very impressive, and the staff there welcomed us! We ate our pasta outdoors, and were supposed to have the runner’s meeting out by the pool also, but a cold front had blown in and we were freezing so they moved us indoors. And then they started talking about the wildlife in the area, especially the pit vipers. I asked someone today which kind of pit vipers there are in that area… and they told me Cotton Mouth, which I believe translates to Water Moccasin. Ok, the snakes are in the water, and the water on the trail cannot be avoided. We are going straight through it. I met a couple more nice people that I would see again on race day. Jonny and I went back to the park and I set up my tent in the dark. The air mattress provided just the comfort I needed and I slept great. I slept great until the raccoon opened the lid of my cooler and stole my bread at about 4:30 am. Jonny chose not to set up his tent and slept in the car. Not too comfortable, so when I woke up at 5:30, go dressed inside my tent and tried to wake him up a little later, he was not too cooperative. I made it to the starting line and we talked about snakes again. Amanda (from Hammer) is a wilderness first responder, and she tells us how serious a snake bite from a pit viper can be if you don’t follow instructions, so we should all really pay attention. If you get bitten, please just immobilize the limb and blow the whistle we were instructed was a mandatory piece of gear. Ok, NOW I know what the whistle is for: to summon help. She told us, look, I know you are all ultra runners and your first reaction to getting hurt of sick on the trail is just to make it to the next aid station. DO NOT proceed to the next aid station if you get bitten by a snake.
Then the race started. We headed away from the lake and into a really nice wide grassy trail through the park. It is really flat in that area, with no tree roots to speak of, so I was almost able to racewalk the trails. Nice! One of the race volunteers even commented: “Look at that, a 50k racewalker” as I exited one section of the woods to change trails. Awesome! I think the first muddy water hole I had to go through was about 4 or 5 miles into the race. I really thought most of the mud and water were towards the end of each loop (two loops for 50k), but obviously I was wrong. Oh well, I just forged through it. I didn’t see any snakes, thank goodness. The course exited the woods and crossed through a baseball complex and back onto trails on the other side of the complex. We then went through a trail that had some hardwoods so there were lots of tree roots to reach up and grab a foot to trip you. Luckily, I stayed upright. When we exited the woods onto the Tammany Trace, I was a little disappointed that this section of the race was all asphalt. Though we went through a very nice part of Mandeville and out onto the lake front, I was wearing trail shoes and paved surfaces require a little more flexible shoe than that to be easy on the feet. It was an out and back section that totaled a little over 4.5 miles. My feet were hurting a little and then luckily, we went back onto the trails, immediately encountering some of that nice cool muddy water. It was a welcome relief to my feet! The last puddle was more like a pond and was almost knee deep in places. Then we were back at the end of the first loop where I had dry shoes and socks to change into. I had worn my fuel belt for the first loop because I was planning to try Hammer Heed, but if it did not agree with my stomach; I had Gatorade in the fuel belt bottles. Luckily, nothing makes me sick, so I was able to ditch the fuel belt and just carry the hand held water bottle and drink Heed at the aid stations. I ate the home made fig cookies my wonderful mother makes for me during the race, drank Hammer gel from my flask, took a few Endurolyte tablets, and ate bananas and oranges at the aid stations. I saw that Amanda had some Hammer Gel for taste testing and I asked her if I could top off my flask with some espresso gel, then I wondered where I would put the flask since I was leaving my fuel belt behind. Aha, I just stuffed it down inside my sports bra. It actually warmed the gel and made it come out of the flask easier. It was cold and the gel stayed thick while I was carrying it in the fuel belt pouch.
Starting out on the second loop, I knew where I was going as it was a repeat of the first. I was still feeling great and never really had any problems out there except for the paved sections where I was using some racewalking technique in order to have a better finish time than my last 50k. This race was also my chance at moving up a level to silver in Marathon Maniacs (I am Maniac #1780), and take a lot of pressure off of me for the Rocky Raccoon 100 mile race I am signed up for in February. All I had to do was finish Q50 in less than 8 hours. It seemed doable, and it was. The only time I was really worried about my finish time was after the Garmin crapped out in the second loop of the race. I really wish those things had a longer battery life. Once it quit tracking pace for me, I just turned it on once in a while to see that my HR was not too high. I did not want to push myself too hard and crap out personally like the Garmin had earlier.
So, here I was with a new friend who was finishing her first 50k, approaching the finish line. I was so excited to finish within the time limit that I forgot to look at the race clock. It took a couple of days to find out that my finish time was 7:41:46 for a 7min 33sec pr at this distance!
I milled around at the finish line for a little while, had my picture taken with Alejandra and talked to Andy from MO, Andrew from FL and Shannon from LA. Then I went to use the park facilities for a shower. By the time I was done with my shower, I was really hungry because all I had eaten all day was a Clif bar and the assorted stuff during the race. Jonny and I had talked about going across the causeway bridge to New Orleans and said we were NOT going to do it, and if we did, we were NOT going to the French Quarter. So, we found ourselves on the causeway bridge headed to New Orleans and I called Cesar from Q50 Coffee on the phone to ask him where I could get the best cheeseburger in New Orleans. There was no way in hell we were going to some silly chain restaurant like Chili’s after what I had accomplished… Cesar’s friend Scott told me we should go to Port of Call on Esplanade. Yes, the restaurant was in the French Quarter, 1 block from Bourbon Street. We were lucky to find a place to park. There were four police cars with lights flashing out front, but we went inside anyway. It was about a 45 minute wait for a table, but well worth it. The cheeseburger was all meat, on a tiny little bun and the beef was delicious! They serve baked potatoes instead of French fries and that was fine with me! The potato was just what my internal doctor had ordered!
I was exhausted, but don’t sleep well when someone else is driving my car… we finally made it home at around 2:30 am and I had to go to work at noon. But that’s ok; because another adventure is complete. Now, on to the next round: Rocky Raccoon 50k in Huntsville Texas on November 7 followed by the San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon on November 15.
Crazy does not even begin to describe it. BTW - MALVS2WALK!!!
Now let’s begin the next blog entry. Here is the really funny thing about this race. I have been drinking Q50 coffee since I bought my first pound the day before my first 50k race, which was the final running of the Sunmart 50k/50 mile trail race on December 5, 2008. None of us knew it was the final race until months later. The girls who sold me the coffee assured me it was much better than any I had ever tasted. Well, they were right.
Q50 Coffee - Q50 Ultras… they direct ultra races all over the world. I would dearly love to travel to Nicaragua (the source of the wonderful coffee beans) or Patagonia or some exotic location to participate in one of the ultras they organize, but it just never seemed likely that I would be able to afford the travel. I was so excited when they informed me that they were planning to host a race near New Orleans. Wow, that is driving distance for me. It took a while for their plans to come together, and by the time the date for the race was announced (October 18), I had already signed up for Dave McGovern’s World Class Racewalking Clinic on October 9-11. So far, I have never signed up for a race or clinic that I did not show up for. I even did a marathon on the same weekend as my first racewalking clinic. Ok, so I am a little crazy. That fact has already been established.
I wavered back and forth many times, trying to decide whether or not to send in the registration for the Q50 50k. I finally wrote the check and mailed it on October 15, just 2 weeks before the race. Then I started thinking… and I even posted it on facebook: What makes me so arrogant that I sign up for a 50k trail race with an 8 hour time limit that I have not even trained specifically for??? My friends, racing friends that is, well, some of my racing friends encourage my madness and tell me, you can do it!!! Alejandra Bazzi from Uruguay, who works with Q50 coffee, is one special lady! I was so eager to meet her that I just never worried about the race again.
Friday night I got home from work late, packed the car and tried to get some sleep. My son, Jonny was going to go with me since I was headed out to camp at Fontainebleau State Park in Mandeville Louisiana, the location for the race. We started out a little too early because I wanted to stop at Luke’s Locker on West Gray near downtown Houston on the way to Louisiana, so we drove over to Katz’s Deli on Westheimer for a quick breakfast. The food was fantastic as always. Luke’s Locker did not have what I was looking for, so it was kind of a wasted trip.
Then we headed out for the long drive to Mandeville, on the north shore of Lake Ponchertrain. I won’t go into great detail about the drive except to say that the bridge over the Atchafalaya basin in daylight and on a clear day was awesome, and that once we arrived in Mandeville, my worries were over. It is a beautiful town! It had been raining all week, so I had no idea what to expect at the park. When we drove up to the park entrance, I was very surprised! The entrance was all brick and very upscale.
I had already made my camping reservations, so I entered the park office to check in. I told the park ranger that I was there for the race the next day and that my son would be watching out for the campsite while I was racing. The park ranger inquired as to my son’s age and seemed worried that I would be leaving him at the campsite alone until I told him my son is 30. The ranger says THIRTY??? That really cracked me up… I told the ranger yes, I am a lot older than you seem to think I am. Brownie points for Louisiana Park Rangers.
We drove over to Franco’s Athletic Club for the pre race dinner and informational meeting. As soon as I saw Alejandra, I knew that my decision to come to the race was a good one. She is one of the nicest, most encouraging people I have ever met! As a matter of fact, I have never run into anyone at a trail race that was not nice. Sometimes folks are having bad days, or are nervous about racing, but no one has EVER been rude to me at an ultra race of any kind. These things are nothing like road races. Alejandra introduced me to Cesar Torres, the owner of Q50 Coffee, and Amanda McIntosh from Hammer Nutrition.
The health club was very impressive, and the staff there welcomed us! We ate our pasta outdoors, and were supposed to have the runner’s meeting out by the pool also, but a cold front had blown in and we were freezing so they moved us indoors. And then they started talking about the wildlife in the area, especially the pit vipers. I asked someone today which kind of pit vipers there are in that area… and they told me Cotton Mouth, which I believe translates to Water Moccasin. Ok, the snakes are in the water, and the water on the trail cannot be avoided. We are going straight through it. I met a couple more nice people that I would see again on race day. Jonny and I went back to the park and I set up my tent in the dark. The air mattress provided just the comfort I needed and I slept great. I slept great until the raccoon opened the lid of my cooler and stole my bread at about 4:30 am. Jonny chose not to set up his tent and slept in the car. Not too comfortable, so when I woke up at 5:30, go dressed inside my tent and tried to wake him up a little later, he was not too cooperative. I made it to the starting line and we talked about snakes again. Amanda (from Hammer) is a wilderness first responder, and she tells us how serious a snake bite from a pit viper can be if you don’t follow instructions, so we should all really pay attention. If you get bitten, please just immobilize the limb and blow the whistle we were instructed was a mandatory piece of gear. Ok, NOW I know what the whistle is for: to summon help. She told us, look, I know you are all ultra runners and your first reaction to getting hurt of sick on the trail is just to make it to the next aid station. DO NOT proceed to the next aid station if you get bitten by a snake.
Then the race started. We headed away from the lake and into a really nice wide grassy trail through the park. It is really flat in that area, with no tree roots to speak of, so I was almost able to racewalk the trails. Nice! One of the race volunteers even commented: “Look at that, a 50k racewalker” as I exited one section of the woods to change trails. Awesome! I think the first muddy water hole I had to go through was about 4 or 5 miles into the race. I really thought most of the mud and water were towards the end of each loop (two loops for 50k), but obviously I was wrong. Oh well, I just forged through it. I didn’t see any snakes, thank goodness. The course exited the woods and crossed through a baseball complex and back onto trails on the other side of the complex. We then went through a trail that had some hardwoods so there were lots of tree roots to reach up and grab a foot to trip you. Luckily, I stayed upright. When we exited the woods onto the Tammany Trace, I was a little disappointed that this section of the race was all asphalt. Though we went through a very nice part of Mandeville and out onto the lake front, I was wearing trail shoes and paved surfaces require a little more flexible shoe than that to be easy on the feet. It was an out and back section that totaled a little over 4.5 miles. My feet were hurting a little and then luckily, we went back onto the trails, immediately encountering some of that nice cool muddy water. It was a welcome relief to my feet! The last puddle was more like a pond and was almost knee deep in places. Then we were back at the end of the first loop where I had dry shoes and socks to change into. I had worn my fuel belt for the first loop because I was planning to try Hammer Heed, but if it did not agree with my stomach; I had Gatorade in the fuel belt bottles. Luckily, nothing makes me sick, so I was able to ditch the fuel belt and just carry the hand held water bottle and drink Heed at the aid stations. I ate the home made fig cookies my wonderful mother makes for me during the race, drank Hammer gel from my flask, took a few Endurolyte tablets, and ate bananas and oranges at the aid stations. I saw that Amanda had some Hammer Gel for taste testing and I asked her if I could top off my flask with some espresso gel, then I wondered where I would put the flask since I was leaving my fuel belt behind. Aha, I just stuffed it down inside my sports bra. It actually warmed the gel and made it come out of the flask easier. It was cold and the gel stayed thick while I was carrying it in the fuel belt pouch.
Starting out on the second loop, I knew where I was going as it was a repeat of the first. I was still feeling great and never really had any problems out there except for the paved sections where I was using some racewalking technique in order to have a better finish time than my last 50k. This race was also my chance at moving up a level to silver in Marathon Maniacs (I am Maniac #1780), and take a lot of pressure off of me for the Rocky Raccoon 100 mile race I am signed up for in February. All I had to do was finish Q50 in less than 8 hours. It seemed doable, and it was. The only time I was really worried about my finish time was after the Garmin crapped out in the second loop of the race. I really wish those things had a longer battery life. Once it quit tracking pace for me, I just turned it on once in a while to see that my HR was not too high. I did not want to push myself too hard and crap out personally like the Garmin had earlier.
So, here I was with a new friend who was finishing her first 50k, approaching the finish line. I was so excited to finish within the time limit that I forgot to look at the race clock. It took a couple of days to find out that my finish time was 7:41:46 for a 7min 33sec pr at this distance!
I milled around at the finish line for a little while, had my picture taken with Alejandra and talked to Andy from MO, Andrew from FL and Shannon from LA. Then I went to use the park facilities for a shower. By the time I was done with my shower, I was really hungry because all I had eaten all day was a Clif bar and the assorted stuff during the race. Jonny and I had talked about going across the causeway bridge to New Orleans and said we were NOT going to do it, and if we did, we were NOT going to the French Quarter. So, we found ourselves on the causeway bridge headed to New Orleans and I called Cesar from Q50 Coffee on the phone to ask him where I could get the best cheeseburger in New Orleans. There was no way in hell we were going to some silly chain restaurant like Chili’s after what I had accomplished… Cesar’s friend Scott told me we should go to Port of Call on Esplanade. Yes, the restaurant was in the French Quarter, 1 block from Bourbon Street. We were lucky to find a place to park. There were four police cars with lights flashing out front, but we went inside anyway. It was about a 45 minute wait for a table, but well worth it. The cheeseburger was all meat, on a tiny little bun and the beef was delicious! They serve baked potatoes instead of French fries and that was fine with me! The potato was just what my internal doctor had ordered!
I was exhausted, but don’t sleep well when someone else is driving my car… we finally made it home at around 2:30 am and I had to go to work at noon. But that’s ok; because another adventure is complete. Now, on to the next round: Rocky Raccoon 50k in Huntsville Texas on November 7 followed by the San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon on November 15.
Crazy does not even begin to describe it. BTW - MALVS2WALK!!!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Dave’s World Class Race Walking Clinic
October 9-11, 2009
The drive to Dallas proved to be very interesting. There was a cold front on the way, and I was not sure when or where I would drive into the leading edge, where cool air meets warm and humid air. Turned out, I met the storm while driving on a two lane Farm to Market road with no shoulders. Texas Farm to Market roads usually have a speed limit of 70 mph even where there are no shoulders. I drive a 2dr Honda Accord Coupe, and cars like this usually don’t do so well in severe weather. I had to pull over to the shoulder once in the recent past during a severe thunderstorm with high winds. So, back to the trip… I was headed north from Roans Prairie (taking the back road) to connect with I45 in Madisonville. That’s where the wind started gusting and the rain was coming at me in sheets. Some lovely person in a large SUV was right on my tail, I guess expecting me to drive 70mph. That was not going to happen. When I hit standing water on the highway in this car, I am usually pulled all over the road. 50mph was really pushing the envelope of safety, so that @$$4073 behind me was just going to have to wait. Then random trees started breaking apart on either side of the road. The tree damaging winds were short lived, but that scared the hell out of me. Finally made it to Madisonville and was able to get out of the car for a few minutes. I got back on the road, I45 this time, and drove in intermittent heavy rain all the way to Dallas. Funny, though, the rain stopped when I was about 10 miles south of Linda’s house.
Linda is a wonderful new friend. She invited Kim (my friend from Arkansas) and I to stay at her lovely home for the weekend! Linda has a beautiful water garden and lovely well placed plants and walking paths in her back yard that seemed to emanate peace and tranquility!
I helped Linda, who was co-hosting the racewalking clinic together with Jerry Kerr, get a few things ready around the house, then Kim arrived. I was really happy to see her again. The last time we met, it was very brief. We both did the Bass Pro race in 2008. Kim did the half marathon and I did the full. She was really speedy and her husband missed her at the finish line. They were so kind to stick around and wait for me to finish the full! I was very surprised to see Kim and David with my Mom and my Aunt Fran. Anyway, we certainly got to spend a lot more time together during the racewalking clinic, and we had a blast.
Kim and I had planned to go to the Oak Lawn Luke's Locker when she arrived, so we headed out. It is always a challenge to get the right pair of shoes for racewalking. Salespeople hear 'walk' and they always bring out some huge, heavy, clunky pair of shoes. Well, then you have to go into a discussion of what racewalking is. I finally gave up letting the salesperson decide. I just go in and ask for racing flats... Running racing flats. Apparently, we found the right salesman and he brought out several pair of shoes for Kim to try, I was initially worried about them having any to choose from because Kim has really small feet and most racing flats are unisex sizing (men's sizes). Anyway, she ended up with a great pair of shoes.
I also made a fantastic purchase. I have been talking about trying CW-X compression tights for a long time. I just could not find a store anywhere where I could try on the men's small in either the pro or expert model of the tights. I buy men's running shoes because my feet are wide, and I buy men's tights because I have a wide waist. Men's shorts are also a usual choice for me because they are not so darn short like women's running shorts usually are. Anyway, the tights were expensive, but they fit like a glove. I am happy to have them!
We stopped to eat lunch, and then headed back to Linda's house to help her prepare the dinner for everyone who was participating in the racewalking clinic. We had baked ziti, one vegetarian and one with organic fresh ground beef that Kim had brought from her farm. My mom made home made french bread for us and all we had to do was heat that up, make a salad, and bake some brownies for dessert.
Jerry picked Dave McGovern up at the airport and brought him to Linda's house. Patty and Jean-Maria, friends of mine from the Dallas area, and lots of others showed up for the dinner and informational meeting that followed. Everyone just loved mom's home made bread! Especially the beer, jalapeno and cheese loaf! They all asked for the recipe! I still have to get that from mom and pass it along!
The next stop was a quick bite for lunch. Rose, Dave and I stopped at a little pizza by the slice place across the street from Luke’s. The pizza was very tasty, and the slices were huge. Our next mission was to find Best Buy so Dave could try and replace his video camera. He had no luck at the Best Buy we were closest to and decided to try another location where we might actually find someone who knew a little about what they were selling. Back at Linda’s house we all sat down and watched the video that Dave was able to tape while we were working out on the track. We watched video of Olympic class athletes and then compared what we are doing to what they are doing. Of course, we have lots of miles of practice ahead of us. While we were watching film, I worked on the calf… found the irritated spot, and dug in. Whatever was going on there… I was able to work it out.
Now, it has been almost 2 whole weeks since the clinic, so forgive me when I ramble around a little. I think we went back to the track to work with the ladders for quick step drills, did some skipping, etc. Dave said I was a dainty skipper. I think it was due to the fact I was wearing a running skirt. One thing I have never been accused of is being dainty. We also learned several drills to help us with flexibility and then Dave showed us some very effective stretches, etc.
Dinner time… we went to a place called Uncle Julio’s and the food was very good. The big joke of the evening was that my reading glasses were left at Linda’s house, so I was planning to pretend I was illiterate. Maybe not so funny, so I just made fun of my old age eyesight and asked the bartender to stand across the bar and hold the menu for me so I could read it. I ordered a mixed platter of shrimp, beef and chicken fajitas. After dinner, we stopped off at another Best Buy for Dave to purchase a new video camera. I think he finally got what he was after and I, of course, bought another CD… Anvil.
Kim and Dave have both traveled much more than I have, so the after dinner conversation at Linda’s house was very interesting.
Sunday morning, it was cold again, and I decided to wear my tights and that was a good thing. We did our lactate threshold test after warming up, doing the drills and stretching well. The test consists of 3 - 8 minute intervals of walking as fast as possible with good technique and taking the HR every two minutes, our partner gave the Hr info to Dave. There is a two minute rest between the intervals where we check out recovery HR. I was in the first group and was able to get my HR up to 177 at the end of the last repeat. So, I was the apparent winner of the HR test… My max HR is 193 and if you subscribe to the 220 -age =BS formula, I am 27! WOO HOO!!! When the next group did their test, there was a soccer game on the football field; so, I had to do lots of running in order to be able to get some good photos of the folks on the track while reporting my partner’s HR to Dave for her test. More stretching before leaving the track to eat lunch and then wrap up the clinic with a lecture on training schedules for specific distance races, and more discussion on HR based training. Dave commented that my recovery HR was still kind of high… He did suggest that I refrain from drinking 4 cups of coffee right before an interval workout. Typically, I wait until after my workouts to drink coffee, or I do my workouts late in the evening, after the coffee has worn off… LOL
So, the workshop was wrapping up, and everyone was saying their goodbyes. Jerry and I helped Linda put some things back in place, and I packed up my things to return home. I bought one of the Chrons and Colitis Foundation Team in Training shirts from Dave… “The Best Craps in Vegas”, said my goodbyes and headed south. I was about 5 miles south of Linda’s and the rain started. What should have taken 4 hours at most to drive, took me almost 6 hours, including one stop for restroom and to gas up the car. I got a message from Dave… “It never rains at a World Class Racewalking Clinic… that is until after the last guest leaves”. I told him that my only consolation was that he was getting wet, too. Dave was leaving for a workout when I was driving away. LOL
The drive home was not as treacherous as the drive to Dallas, with the exception of the people who choose to drive 80+ mph, no matter how hard it is raining. A funny thing happened to me when I stopped for restroom and gas in Madisonville Texas. I went in to use the restroom before pumping my gas because I had been on the road for a while. There were 4 or 5 women just standing around in the restroom, so I kind of bent down to see if anyone was in the stalls. They were empty and as I started to enter one, some woman says: “Hey, did you just pick up two dollars off the floor?” I go, “WHAT???”, because I was kind of hypnotized from the long drive in bad weather. So, she asks me again and if I had been on the ball, I would have asked her if I really looked like I needed her two dollars. Anyway, I just told her I was merely looking under the stall door to see if it was occupied. TWO DOLLARS… would I be driving a rocket ship if I was in serious need of two dollars?
Anyway, I made it home safely and had a great weekend. The major thing I learned about myself:
I may not actually be cut out for racewalking because of my physical limitations which include degenerative disc disease in my lower back and a left hip that is perpetually out of place.
The drive to Dallas proved to be very interesting. There was a cold front on the way, and I was not sure when or where I would drive into the leading edge, where cool air meets warm and humid air. Turned out, I met the storm while driving on a two lane Farm to Market road with no shoulders. Texas Farm to Market roads usually have a speed limit of 70 mph even where there are no shoulders. I drive a 2dr Honda Accord Coupe, and cars like this usually don’t do so well in severe weather. I had to pull over to the shoulder once in the recent past during a severe thunderstorm with high winds. So, back to the trip… I was headed north from Roans Prairie (taking the back road) to connect with I45 in Madisonville. That’s where the wind started gusting and the rain was coming at me in sheets. Some lovely person in a large SUV was right on my tail, I guess expecting me to drive 70mph. That was not going to happen. When I hit standing water on the highway in this car, I am usually pulled all over the road. 50mph was really pushing the envelope of safety, so that @$$4073 behind me was just going to have to wait. Then random trees started breaking apart on either side of the road. The tree damaging winds were short lived, but that scared the hell out of me. Finally made it to Madisonville and was able to get out of the car for a few minutes. I got back on the road, I45 this time, and drove in intermittent heavy rain all the way to Dallas. Funny, though, the rain stopped when I was about 10 miles south of Linda’s house.
Linda is a wonderful new friend. She invited Kim (my friend from Arkansas) and I to stay at her lovely home for the weekend! Linda has a beautiful water garden and lovely well placed plants and walking paths in her back yard that seemed to emanate peace and tranquility!
I helped Linda, who was co-hosting the racewalking clinic together with Jerry Kerr, get a few things ready around the house, then Kim arrived. I was really happy to see her again. The last time we met, it was very brief. We both did the Bass Pro race in 2008. Kim did the half marathon and I did the full. She was really speedy and her husband missed her at the finish line. They were so kind to stick around and wait for me to finish the full! I was very surprised to see Kim and David with my Mom and my Aunt Fran. Anyway, we certainly got to spend a lot more time together during the racewalking clinic, and we had a blast.
Kim and I had planned to go to the Oak Lawn Luke's Locker when she arrived, so we headed out. It is always a challenge to get the right pair of shoes for racewalking. Salespeople hear 'walk' and they always bring out some huge, heavy, clunky pair of shoes. Well, then you have to go into a discussion of what racewalking is. I finally gave up letting the salesperson decide. I just go in and ask for racing flats... Running racing flats. Apparently, we found the right salesman and he brought out several pair of shoes for Kim to try, I was initially worried about them having any to choose from because Kim has really small feet and most racing flats are unisex sizing (men's sizes). Anyway, she ended up with a great pair of shoes.
I also made a fantastic purchase. I have been talking about trying CW-X compression tights for a long time. I just could not find a store anywhere where I could try on the men's small in either the pro or expert model of the tights. I buy men's running shoes because my feet are wide, and I buy men's tights because I have a wide waist. Men's shorts are also a usual choice for me because they are not so darn short like women's running shorts usually are. Anyway, the tights were expensive, but they fit like a glove. I am happy to have them!
We stopped to eat lunch, and then headed back to Linda's house to help her prepare the dinner for everyone who was participating in the racewalking clinic. We had baked ziti, one vegetarian and one with organic fresh ground beef that Kim had brought from her farm. My mom made home made french bread for us and all we had to do was heat that up, make a salad, and bake some brownies for dessert.
Jerry picked Dave McGovern up at the airport and brought him to Linda's house. Patty and Jean-Maria, friends of mine from the Dallas area, and lots of others showed up for the dinner and informational meeting that followed. Everyone just loved mom's home made bread! Especially the beer, jalapeno and cheese loaf! They all asked for the recipe! I still have to get that from mom and pass it along!
The next stop was a quick bite for lunch. Rose, Dave and I stopped at a little pizza by the slice place across the street from Luke’s. The pizza was very tasty, and the slices were huge. Our next mission was to find Best Buy so Dave could try and replace his video camera. He had no luck at the Best Buy we were closest to and decided to try another location where we might actually find someone who knew a little about what they were selling. Back at Linda’s house we all sat down and watched the video that Dave was able to tape while we were working out on the track. We watched video of Olympic class athletes and then compared what we are doing to what they are doing. Of course, we have lots of miles of practice ahead of us. While we were watching film, I worked on the calf… found the irritated spot, and dug in. Whatever was going on there… I was able to work it out.
Now, it has been almost 2 whole weeks since the clinic, so forgive me when I ramble around a little. I think we went back to the track to work with the ladders for quick step drills, did some skipping, etc. Dave said I was a dainty skipper. I think it was due to the fact I was wearing a running skirt. One thing I have never been accused of is being dainty. We also learned several drills to help us with flexibility and then Dave showed us some very effective stretches, etc.
Dinner time… we went to a place called Uncle Julio’s and the food was very good. The big joke of the evening was that my reading glasses were left at Linda’s house, so I was planning to pretend I was illiterate. Maybe not so funny, so I just made fun of my old age eyesight and asked the bartender to stand across the bar and hold the menu for me so I could read it. I ordered a mixed platter of shrimp, beef and chicken fajitas. After dinner, we stopped off at another Best Buy for Dave to purchase a new video camera. I think he finally got what he was after and I, of course, bought another CD… Anvil.
Kim and Dave have both traveled much more than I have, so the after dinner conversation at Linda’s house was very interesting.
Sunday morning, it was cold again, and I decided to wear my tights and that was a good thing. We did our lactate threshold test after warming up, doing the drills and stretching well. The test consists of 3 - 8 minute intervals of walking as fast as possible with good technique and taking the HR every two minutes, our partner gave the Hr info to Dave. There is a two minute rest between the intervals where we check out recovery HR. I was in the first group and was able to get my HR up to 177 at the end of the last repeat. So, I was the apparent winner of the HR test… My max HR is 193 and if you subscribe to the 220 -age =BS formula, I am 27! WOO HOO!!! When the next group did their test, there was a soccer game on the football field; so, I had to do lots of running in order to be able to get some good photos of the folks on the track while reporting my partner’s HR to Dave for her test. More stretching before leaving the track to eat lunch and then wrap up the clinic with a lecture on training schedules for specific distance races, and more discussion on HR based training. Dave commented that my recovery HR was still kind of high… He did suggest that I refrain from drinking 4 cups of coffee right before an interval workout. Typically, I wait until after my workouts to drink coffee, or I do my workouts late in the evening, after the coffee has worn off… LOL
So, the workshop was wrapping up, and everyone was saying their goodbyes. Jerry and I helped Linda put some things back in place, and I packed up my things to return home. I bought one of the Chrons and Colitis Foundation Team in Training shirts from Dave… “The Best Craps in Vegas”, said my goodbyes and headed south. I was about 5 miles south of Linda’s and the rain started. What should have taken 4 hours at most to drive, took me almost 6 hours, including one stop for restroom and to gas up the car. I got a message from Dave… “It never rains at a World Class Racewalking Clinic… that is until after the last guest leaves”. I told him that my only consolation was that he was getting wet, too. Dave was leaving for a workout when I was driving away. LOL
The drive home was not as treacherous as the drive to Dallas, with the exception of the people who choose to drive 80+ mph, no matter how hard it is raining. A funny thing happened to me when I stopped for restroom and gas in Madisonville Texas. I went in to use the restroom before pumping my gas because I had been on the road for a while. There were 4 or 5 women just standing around in the restroom, so I kind of bent down to see if anyone was in the stalls. They were empty and as I started to enter one, some woman says: “Hey, did you just pick up two dollars off the floor?” I go, “WHAT???”, because I was kind of hypnotized from the long drive in bad weather. So, she asks me again and if I had been on the ball, I would have asked her if I really looked like I needed her two dollars. Anyway, I just told her I was merely looking under the stall door to see if it was occupied. TWO DOLLARS… would I be driving a rocket ship if I was in serious need of two dollars?
Anyway, I made it home safely and had a great weekend. The major thing I learned about myself:
I may not actually be cut out for racewalking because of my physical limitations which include degenerative disc disease in my lower back and a left hip that is perpetually out of place.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
back to the training log again
Wednesday, September 23
This was kind of a strange day. I had to work for a little while in the morning. Then I picked up my Mom and we went shopping in west Houston. She needed a few things from the fabric store and we had a nice lunch at Jason's Deli.
After I got home, I got ready and went out for an 8 mile walk at the little league park. It was cool, in the low 60's and windy. It started to rain when I first started my walk, then it stopped after a couple of miles. The rain would have been ok with me...
Friday, September 25
Got over to the track for bleachers and drills. 1 mile walk to the track... So, there are 14 bleachers... I planned to do them all 3 times each. Forgot to re-start the timer after stretching and missed counting 8 1/2 of them, so I did those over. All total... 50.5 runs up the bleachers - 50.5 times walks down the bleachers. 6 x 100m sprints; 2 x 100m skipping; 2 x 100m side slides; 2 x 100m crossover drills; 2 x 100m racewalk sprints; 1 mile racewalk. Walked the curves between all the above; 200m jog back to the starting point to pick up the water bottle, then 1 mile walk home. That was SOME workout... a total of 6.2 miles in 1:40 with average pace of 16:08. That's fast enough to get me throuhg 100 miles with lots of climbing.
Saturday, September 26
Sorry, just copying and pasting this from my Running Ahead entry on facebook. Kara Goucher might like these Nike Lunar Trainers... but, I have tried them for short and long distance. I don't like them, and I am really glad they were an outlet store purchase. The right shoe eats my heel for breakfast. I had planned to walk 8 or 10 miles this morning and decided to stop at 5 miles before the blister on my right heel became unbearable. This really sucks because I had a good acceleration workout going. Oh well. I have to get to work on time today, so I'll get over it.
5.09 Mi; 1:08:07; 13:23mpm; Heart Rate: Average: 139 / Max: 184
Weather: 72° F, Humid
Then I had to go to work. I chose to wear dress slacks and sandals with heels (low heels) and the store was really busy. I ran back and forth, sold lots of furniture and mattresses and before I knew it, I had a headache. I went to warm up my lunch, thinking it was about 3pm and when I saw it was actually 5... I knew I was in trouble. LUNCH at FIVE??? I am supposed to be doing a 15 mile LSD walk Sunday. I finally made it home from work at 9:30 pm and didn't feel like eating a big meal. So, I ate 3 of the little blueberry pancakes and went to bed. I decided to set the alarm for 7am to see if I could get up to walk in the morning. Went shopping instead and planned to walk the 15 miles in the afternoon.
Sunday, September 27
So, now I know what happens when you try to do a LSD walk in the heat of the day when you have not fueled properly the day before. (I checked the weather and the heat index was 103 when I left the house to start the walk). I was feeling ok, so I started out too fast. I am still not too upset over the final numbers because it is almost equal to my 50k trail pr pace. I did the whole walk except for the first and last mile in the tall grass, gravel and dirt. There is not much elevation gain and loss (1250 feet over 15 miles).
I feel like someone beat me with a big stick so I am going to soak in a tub of ice (someone made me think of ice... Pam, maybe?). That should help. 15 Mi; 3:47:16.32; 15:10mpm
I am a little better after soaking in ice water. I probably will not walk tomorrow. I am going to ask Raymond to get my bike out for me in the morning and go for a recovery ride instead of a recovery walk.
This was kind of a strange day. I had to work for a little while in the morning. Then I picked up my Mom and we went shopping in west Houston. She needed a few things from the fabric store and we had a nice lunch at Jason's Deli.
After I got home, I got ready and went out for an 8 mile walk at the little league park. It was cool, in the low 60's and windy. It started to rain when I first started my walk, then it stopped after a couple of miles. The rain would have been ok with me...
Friday, September 25
Got over to the track for bleachers and drills. 1 mile walk to the track... So, there are 14 bleachers... I planned to do them all 3 times each. Forgot to re-start the timer after stretching and missed counting 8 1/2 of them, so I did those over. All total... 50.5 runs up the bleachers - 50.5 times walks down the bleachers. 6 x 100m sprints; 2 x 100m skipping; 2 x 100m side slides; 2 x 100m crossover drills; 2 x 100m racewalk sprints; 1 mile racewalk. Walked the curves between all the above; 200m jog back to the starting point to pick up the water bottle, then 1 mile walk home. That was SOME workout... a total of 6.2 miles in 1:40 with average pace of 16:08. That's fast enough to get me throuhg 100 miles with lots of climbing.
Saturday, September 26
Sorry, just copying and pasting this from my Running Ahead entry on facebook. Kara Goucher might like these Nike Lunar Trainers... but, I have tried them for short and long distance. I don't like them, and I am really glad they were an outlet store purchase. The right shoe eats my heel for breakfast. I had planned to walk 8 or 10 miles this morning and decided to stop at 5 miles before the blister on my right heel became unbearable. This really sucks because I had a good acceleration workout going. Oh well. I have to get to work on time today, so I'll get over it.
5.09 Mi; 1:08:07; 13:23mpm; Heart Rate: Average: 139 / Max: 184
Weather: 72° F, Humid
Then I had to go to work. I chose to wear dress slacks and sandals with heels (low heels) and the store was really busy. I ran back and forth, sold lots of furniture and mattresses and before I knew it, I had a headache. I went to warm up my lunch, thinking it was about 3pm and when I saw it was actually 5... I knew I was in trouble. LUNCH at FIVE??? I am supposed to be doing a 15 mile LSD walk Sunday. I finally made it home from work at 9:30 pm and didn't feel like eating a big meal. So, I ate 3 of the little blueberry pancakes and went to bed. I decided to set the alarm for 7am to see if I could get up to walk in the morning. Went shopping instead and planned to walk the 15 miles in the afternoon.
Sunday, September 27
So, now I know what happens when you try to do a LSD walk in the heat of the day when you have not fueled properly the day before. (I checked the weather and the heat index was 103 when I left the house to start the walk). I was feeling ok, so I started out too fast. I am still not too upset over the final numbers because it is almost equal to my 50k trail pr pace. I did the whole walk except for the first and last mile in the tall grass, gravel and dirt. There is not much elevation gain and loss (1250 feet over 15 miles).
I feel like someone beat me with a big stick so I am going to soak in a tub of ice (someone made me think of ice... Pam, maybe?). That should help. 15 Mi; 3:47:16.32; 15:10mpm
I am a little better after soaking in ice water. I probably will not walk tomorrow. I am going to ask Raymond to get my bike out for me in the morning and go for a recovery ride instead of a recovery walk.
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