Part 2 of my very busy day December 4, 2010:
Or as I like to refer to it: Walk Like the Breeze! Because that is what I felt like, the breeze! The Sealy 5k Jingle Bell Fun Run and Competitive Walk was such a huge success… I was on cloud 52! I don’t think it would have been possible for me to have a bad race. I don’t know what time it was when I left for Austin Saturday, but it must have been about 12:45 when I got to the race site. Race location and all information about the race are at this link: http://schrodifund.org/RunLiketheWind.htm.
What an awesome place! My first impression was turning off of a very busy Business 71 onto Old Bee Caves Road and finding wilderness within 1/4 mile of the highway! Saw my friend Mary Ntefidou just as I arrived at the race site. She is an amazing runner and an awesome friend! Soon after that I saw Deborah Sexton and not long after that, Debbie Evans, two more of my awesome ultra running friends. Deborah, Debbie and I are all getting ready for Across the Years http://www.acrosstheyears.com/ in December.
It took me a few minutes to get my gear ready and pick up my race packet and timing chip. Funny thing is that my goal for this race was to get in at least 100k. Guess what my race number was… 101. Anyone who knows me understands why I simply could not, would not stop at 100k. It had to be 101 or more. I fully intended to get on the course and walk until 10:30 Sunday morning. I gave the race director the leftover bananas and oranges from the Sealy 5k so they would not go to waste.
Next - hurry up and get on the course for a few laps. The loop was not really a loop, but a 1 kilometer meander through a beautiful wooded trail that was covered in mulch with a few well placed trip hazards (small tree stumps hidden in the mulch). After I walked the first 5k, I got my stuff from the car to set up my drop bag area with the other race participants. My plan for this race was to stop for a few minutes every time I completed 5k and look at the next one as a new 5k! I would certainly reach my distance goal if I only completed 5k an hour, and I was completing them just a teeny bit faster than that, including the stopped periods. I knew that I would probably slow down during the night, so whatever I could put in the bag before dark would be a huge bonus. Oops, just realized I forgot my headlamp. And I forgot to eat any solid food since really early that morning. Thanks to Deborah Sexton and Debbie Evans, who brought extra gear and had a headlamp I could borrow. Many thanks to RD Sam Voltaggio, chef extraordinaire… the race chow was amazing. When I realized how hungry I was, I asked for some protein and was given the most delicious burger I had ever tasted (only the meat, no bun or anything else). I don’t know where Sammy gets his beef or how he seasons it… but WOW!
The funny thing about me and race food is that I usually do not eat anything heavy during races. I usually totally rely on Perpetuem, Hammer Gel, Endurolytes, a spoonful of plain peanut butter every now and then, some bananas and orange slices, and some pineapple juice for variety, oh and don’t forget the black coffee during the night. But, that beef patty was just what I needed at the time. I never got any stomach discomfort or restroom issues through the whole race. When the sun started to go down, I put on a long sleeve shirt because the temperature dropped a little. I was not ready for the thermals until some time after midnight when I believe the cold front came through. Thankfully it was a dry front, so the wind just picked up a little and we were mostly protected from the wind by the woods.
Back to the race plan; I mostly stuck to the plan of walking 5 loops and taking a little rest break, from 2 to 5 minutes. I love that the loop was 1k, so I never had to carry anything. I could wait a few hundred meters if I got thirsty on the trail. I usually took a small drink of water or Heed at 3k, and then drank plenty every time I refueled. There were a few times when I just refueled, hydrated and kept moving, but that was not part of the plan, so I was very careful to take the breaks. After all, this was supposed to be a training walk… getting me ready for Across the Years. I didn’t start at the same time as everyone else, so no chance I was going to move up from last place.
I need to repeat once more what a wonderful place this was to have an event like this! Thinking about the things I heard and saw (?) in the woods after dark. I was listening to my usual heavy metal with only one earbud in and started to hear strange sounds so turned off the music for a while. I was just the wind making the tree limbs creak and groan. The strange things I was seeing turned out to be rather large spiders trying to make their way through the mulch bed on the path. Their eyes glowed in the light from the headlamp like tiny little green strobe lights. There must have been thousands of them. The reason I know they were spiders is I stopped to see where the little green flashing lights were coming from… and it was a huge honking spider! (Not really that huge, about the size of a nickel including his legs) So, I had fun avoiding crushing spiders and watching out for those hidden tree stumps. Let me tell you, when you walk the same 1 kilometer loop enough times, you begin to remember exactly where you will encounter the trip hazards. LOL… I know I said a few choice words but I never fell down! Amazing, isn’t it!
I know the volunteers and the RD thought I was totally crazy, but I REALLY had FUN at this race. I arrived in such a great mood and it is sometimes hard for me to contain myself. Several times I jumped for joy as I crossed the timing mat.
I don’t remember exactly what time it was, but I had to change into thermal tights and shirt. This dog training facility has a really nice house for their office space and allowed us to use the indoor restroom to change clothes. Yes, I am a trail racer, but I have a problem with getting naked in public, so I took about a 45 minute break to go indoors and strip naked. I cleaned up a little and put on dry clothes from the drawers out after 50k. Again, I felt like I was starting a new race.
I think I started getting tired around 4am, so asked for some solid food again. I ate half of a bbq chicken breast and it was delicious. Oh, I also forgot to mention that I ate some chicken noodle soup during the night. These things are all running together in my mind now so forgive the sporadic nature of this report. Thinking about time and pacing, 15 hours into my race (17:45 on the official clock) I had 16 5k’s complete, so I had one extra in the bag. Still feeling great I had been walking the kilometers anywhere from 9 to 10 minutes each, and then taking the break after 5k. I don’t know what time it was, but I had a burst of energy during the early morning house and walked 3 loops in a row in 8min30sec! I have NEVER felt this good at a race before! It was daylight when I reached 100k, and the race was to conclude at 10:30, and I was still feeling fine. So, I kept walking though I know I was slower. We had live results that we could check all night, so at one point I saw myself move up from last place to 7 out of 8 total participants. 6 were women and two were men (one guy dropped early due to injury). Then, I moved up to 6 out of 8. When I saw myself in 5th place, I started knocking out some really fast loops, not paying attention to the clock, just planning now to stop for a minute or two at 6k instead of 5k. I was taking extra Hammer Gel for energy it seemed to work for a little while, and then I regained my senses and just kept motoring forward and not trying to kill myself or cause an injury this late in the game. When I reached the end about 110k, I heard someone say “Wow, these women are kicking ASS!” Hearing those words really made me feel great. Sorry to say that the last man standing left at about 4 am or so because he had terrible stomach issues. I walked part of a loop with him a little while before he left and he is a very nice guy, competitive and really not happy that he had to leave when he did. He told me as he was leaving that he was practically walking into trees out there, so it was not safe for him to continue. I ended up with much, much more than I ever thought I would do at this race. I was imagining struggling to complete 100k and finished 113!
Here is the link to the final results where I ended up in 5th place overall, 4th place female: https://www.eventdatasolutions.com/2010_rltw_results/index.php?search_type=race_results&event=24H&gender=&division=&results_per_page=100. I NEVER dreamed I would do this well in this race, and I really want to thank Sam Voltaggio, Jeff Farrell, Jeff Linwood, Cheri Woldt (the winner), Mary Ntefidou (my dear friend who told me about this race), Deborah Sexton, Debbie Evans, Pat Shannon, Angela Ivory, the Schrodi Memorial Training Fund, and the owners of The Canine Center for Training and Behavior in Austin for allowing us 24 hour crazies to invade their space! I don’t know the names of the rest of the volunteers, but there were some high school students working on service hours and a couple of others whose names I don’t know. Everyone was awesome, and right now, I feel like I am writing an acceptance speech for an academy award or something.
The last huge thing I had to do was change clothes; load up the car and drive back home. I had planned to chill with Deborah and Debbie for a little while before going home, but changed my mind. Once I got going, I found Starbucks, then Sonic. A quad shot iced nonfat latte followed by a cheeseburger with jalapenos, some tater tots and a real Coke. I drove almost to LaGrange, and then had to pull over and sleep in the car for about an hour before I could make it the rest of the way home. I did not get to sleep until about 9pm, and I feel relatively good today. My legs are just a little sore, but here is the kicker… NO BLISTERS!!! The key to no blisters is changing into dry SmartWool socks about every 30 kilometers.
That is all.
Showing posts with label crazy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crazy. Show all posts
Monday, December 6, 2010
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Hill Training and other random things.
So, I haven’t blogged anything in quite some time. I have been really preoccupied at work. Retail is tough right now. I don’t have anything else to say about that.
The Silver Classic 5k in Killeen Texas redeemed itself by sending me a certificate for 1st place female walker and some gift cards from Applebee’s. I will send them a thank you note.
I had been taking my training kind of easy… only walking the races and a few weekday miles. My longest walk before last Sunday was the 20k on March. Then the weather changed. It was cold and rainy all week, so I didn’t get any walking done until I went to a track meet on Saturday, March 14 for a 1500 meter racewalk. It was raining and about 42 degrees when I arrived. 5 out of the 10 schools that were scheduled to attend the meet were no-shows. I have a lot of admiration for high school kids who will show up to run in those conditions. I wasn’t really feeling it, but under the circumstances, I felt like I would be the cop out if I didn’t do the race. So, I did. I did a 1 mile warm up, then jogged a lap and stretched before the race. I REALLY didn’t want to take off the wind pants to show the knees, but oh well; I was there, so I did. Not as fast as I wanted to be, but it was so cold. 1500 meters in 10:05:16.
I walked 5.37 miles on the 17th, 7.44 miles on the 19th, and 4.14 miles on the 20th. It was a pretty good week. No walking on Saturday, then it was time to get down to business with the hill training for Mohican.
I will have to sacrifice some of my shorter distance race speed in order to do the hill training, but it is critical that I do it in order to be able to walk the 100 miles at Mohican. I mapped out a hilly 3+ mile loop in Bellville where my mom lives. Sunday morning, not early enough, I went to Bellville to walk at least 16 miles, 18 miles if I felt good. The plan was to walk the loop in one direction, then reverse the loop and add a block on the every other time so that I would only have to walk it 5 times to add up to 16 miles. I also need to get used to stopping at the aid stations, so I set up my own on my mom’s front porch with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fig newtons, fritos, orange slices, water to refill my handheld, a clif bar just in case and some extra electrolyte for the fuel belt. I only brought one GU along, because I am going to try to fuel for the 100 miler with mostly REAL food.
Funny thing, I haven’t had a migraine in a long time. About a mile into my walk I started to see the aura that usually precedes a migraine. I was glad to have the Chocolate Outrage GU along because it has caffeine in it. Caffeine is a quick cure for a migraine. It only took a few minutes for the aura to go away. Did I mention that I was walking up and down hills? It’s funny that Bellville is only 12 miles north of Sealy and it is so much hillier. My goal for Mohican is to average 17mpm, including stops, I want to finish in 28 ½ hours. I was doing great and walking in the grassy shoulders of the roads when I could, and on the pavement when I had to. I made the first loop, then walked around the block and then reversed the loop. The loop also goes around a park where I can practice dodging tree roots, I made it to the park at about 4 miles and that is where I stopped for about 4 minutes to stretch during the second loop. My first AID STATION stop was at 6.7 miles, the end of loop #2. I refilled my handheld water bottle and ate some of the real food. It took me about 4 minutes, not too bad. The walk was going well, and I didn’t start to feel bad at all until about mile 12. I still had a little more than a mile to get back to the AID STATION, so I slowed down a little until I got there. I refilled the water bottle, ate the rest of the PBJ, orange slices and Fritos and brought the fig newtons for the road. After refueling, I felt better. I really could have used that GU at mile 12, but I used the only one I had with me to combat the migraine. Mental note… bring extra GU. I walked mile 15 and 16 at an average pace of 14:45, so I was able to finish the walk strong.
Anyhow, I made it. There was app 2,000 feet of elevation gain and loss over the 16 miles. I didn't stop my timer when I stopped to refuel, but I did keep track of how much time it took me at each stop and when I stopped to stretch at mile 4. Total time (incl 15 minutes dawdle time) 4:09:28, total distance 16.34 miles for an average pace 15:16. So, if I take out the stopped time, my actual walking pace was around 14:20. Average HR 69%, max HR (achieved at mile 12) 78%. This was a really good test. I plan to start doing this hilly LSD every other weekend. I have also started taking yoga to strengthen my core. Once a week after yoga, since I have to drive to Bellville for the class, I will do a hilly weekday walk.
I really thought that hilly 16 miler was going to tear me up, but I went to walk at the track today after work and walked a quick 6.11 miles. It looked like it was going to rain, so I drove to the track instead of walking. I figured if there was a quick downpour, I could always hide under the bleachers for a few minutes until it passed. Well, it didn't rain at all. I usually walk fast when I go to the track for a workout, and today was no different. I'll call it a tempo walk, because the first 5 miles were done in 1:02:27 with an average HR of 153 or 79% and I achieved 175 or what I believe to be 90% at the end of mile 5. The last 1.11 miles were done slow for cool down.
I think the hilly walk on Sunday helped the tight hamstrings rather than hurt them like I expected.
I guess that’s enough for now, except to say that I am walking in Angie's Half Crazy half marathon in Clear Lake Texas on Sunday. It is going to be a fun race, because as I always say... it's better to be crazy than lazy!
The Silver Classic 5k in Killeen Texas redeemed itself by sending me a certificate for 1st place female walker and some gift cards from Applebee’s. I will send them a thank you note.
I had been taking my training kind of easy… only walking the races and a few weekday miles. My longest walk before last Sunday was the 20k on March. Then the weather changed. It was cold and rainy all week, so I didn’t get any walking done until I went to a track meet on Saturday, March 14 for a 1500 meter racewalk. It was raining and about 42 degrees when I arrived. 5 out of the 10 schools that were scheduled to attend the meet were no-shows. I have a lot of admiration for high school kids who will show up to run in those conditions. I wasn’t really feeling it, but under the circumstances, I felt like I would be the cop out if I didn’t do the race. So, I did. I did a 1 mile warm up, then jogged a lap and stretched before the race. I REALLY didn’t want to take off the wind pants to show the knees, but oh well; I was there, so I did. Not as fast as I wanted to be, but it was so cold. 1500 meters in 10:05:16.
I walked 5.37 miles on the 17th, 7.44 miles on the 19th, and 4.14 miles on the 20th. It was a pretty good week. No walking on Saturday, then it was time to get down to business with the hill training for Mohican.
I will have to sacrifice some of my shorter distance race speed in order to do the hill training, but it is critical that I do it in order to be able to walk the 100 miles at Mohican. I mapped out a hilly 3+ mile loop in Bellville where my mom lives. Sunday morning, not early enough, I went to Bellville to walk at least 16 miles, 18 miles if I felt good. The plan was to walk the loop in one direction, then reverse the loop and add a block on the every other time so that I would only have to walk it 5 times to add up to 16 miles. I also need to get used to stopping at the aid stations, so I set up my own on my mom’s front porch with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fig newtons, fritos, orange slices, water to refill my handheld, a clif bar just in case and some extra electrolyte for the fuel belt. I only brought one GU along, because I am going to try to fuel for the 100 miler with mostly REAL food.
Funny thing, I haven’t had a migraine in a long time. About a mile into my walk I started to see the aura that usually precedes a migraine. I was glad to have the Chocolate Outrage GU along because it has caffeine in it. Caffeine is a quick cure for a migraine. It only took a few minutes for the aura to go away. Did I mention that I was walking up and down hills? It’s funny that Bellville is only 12 miles north of Sealy and it is so much hillier. My goal for Mohican is to average 17mpm, including stops, I want to finish in 28 ½ hours. I was doing great and walking in the grassy shoulders of the roads when I could, and on the pavement when I had to. I made the first loop, then walked around the block and then reversed the loop. The loop also goes around a park where I can practice dodging tree roots, I made it to the park at about 4 miles and that is where I stopped for about 4 minutes to stretch during the second loop. My first AID STATION stop was at 6.7 miles, the end of loop #2. I refilled my handheld water bottle and ate some of the real food. It took me about 4 minutes, not too bad. The walk was going well, and I didn’t start to feel bad at all until about mile 12. I still had a little more than a mile to get back to the AID STATION, so I slowed down a little until I got there. I refilled the water bottle, ate the rest of the PBJ, orange slices and Fritos and brought the fig newtons for the road. After refueling, I felt better. I really could have used that GU at mile 12, but I used the only one I had with me to combat the migraine. Mental note… bring extra GU. I walked mile 15 and 16 at an average pace of 14:45, so I was able to finish the walk strong.
Anyhow, I made it. There was app 2,000 feet of elevation gain and loss over the 16 miles. I didn't stop my timer when I stopped to refuel, but I did keep track of how much time it took me at each stop and when I stopped to stretch at mile 4. Total time (incl 15 minutes dawdle time) 4:09:28, total distance 16.34 miles for an average pace 15:16. So, if I take out the stopped time, my actual walking pace was around 14:20. Average HR 69%, max HR (achieved at mile 12) 78%. This was a really good test. I plan to start doing this hilly LSD every other weekend. I have also started taking yoga to strengthen my core. Once a week after yoga, since I have to drive to Bellville for the class, I will do a hilly weekday walk.
I really thought that hilly 16 miler was going to tear me up, but I went to walk at the track today after work and walked a quick 6.11 miles. It looked like it was going to rain, so I drove to the track instead of walking. I figured if there was a quick downpour, I could always hide under the bleachers for a few minutes until it passed. Well, it didn't rain at all. I usually walk fast when I go to the track for a workout, and today was no different. I'll call it a tempo walk, because the first 5 miles were done in 1:02:27 with an average HR of 153 or 79% and I achieved 175 or what I believe to be 90% at the end of mile 5. The last 1.11 miles were done slow for cool down.
I think the hilly walk on Sunday helped the tight hamstrings rather than hurt them like I expected.
I guess that’s enough for now, except to say that I am walking in Angie's Half Crazy half marathon in Clear Lake Texas on Sunday. It is going to be a fun race, because as I always say... it's better to be crazy than lazy!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Desert Classic Marathon, Surprise AZ; World Class Racewalking Clinic, Mesa AZ
Friday - The day before the race, I drove out to the race site from my Aunt’s house. Phoenix is really a lot bigger than it appears to be on the map. I took me 2 hours to get to Surprise, AZ from Sun Lakes, AZ at about 10 am. Then, it was another hour and a half drive to the World Class Racewalking Clinic host site. I knew it wouldn’t take me that long to get there on race day, given that I was starting at 6 am. This was probably the smallest marathon I will ever do. I didn’t find out until today that there were only 75 entrants in the full marathon and about 125 in the half marathon. They also had a 5k and a marathon relay.
Anyway, back to my story. I met Dave McGovern when I went with the clinic host, Lauri from AZ, to pick him up from the airport on Friday. We made our way back to Lauri’s house and I got ready to be videotaped. We got started and I soon found out that I have not been racewalking. I knew I was flatfooted in the rear of my stride, but seeing it on tape was really an eye opener. After the quick video review, we went back outside, and I learned a thing or two. I really felt lucky to get some one on one coaching, and as soon as I “got it”, my pace dropped to right around 10 mpm. Dave warned me not to try to “racewalk” the whole marathon, but just to use it a little to keep my average pace where I wanted it to be. I probably would not have finished the marathon at all if I had tried to racewalk the whole thing. The difference from the walking I was doing before was striking, and now I have a real foundation to build on. It’s going to take lots of technique work to undo all the damage I have done by trying to learn racewalking on my own.
Lauri cooked a nice pasta dinner for all of the clinic participants, and they started to arrive at her house as Dave and I were finishing up looking at the second part of my video. We all introduced ourselves had dinner together. The pasta, salad, garlic bread and vegan peanut butter chocolate chip cookies were delicious. There were locals from the Phoenix area, folks from all over the country, and even someone from Canada attending the clinic. Everyone was very nice! Oh, I almost forgot, I met someone from the US Centurion list. I will be corresponding with him in the near future to see if he can offer me any new information I can use on my quest to become a Centurion myself. It was time for me to head home and get ready for the marathon and everyone wished me luck.
Back at my Aunt’s house, I made a pbj sandwich for the road, got my race gear ready including mixing my electrolyte drink and filling my fuel belt. I talked to my mom and my Aunt and thought I had talked them out of meeting me at the finish line because it was so far for them to drive. I put my race clothes on (yes I sleep in my race clothes the night before a big race), these clothes don’t wrinkle, and remember, I am just going to walk 26.2 miles in them anyway.
Saturday - I got up at 3:30 am and was on the road by 3:45 am. I ate the pbj at about 4:30 am and arrived at the race site at 5 am. The check in tables and the chip and packet pickup were ready by 5:30. Love the tech fabric race shirt! I walked back to the car and deposited everything I didn’t need for the race, jacket included (it was about 40 degrees), and headed for the starting line for the early start at 6 am. It was really dark outside with no moonlight, only starlight and the headlights of the occasional 18 wheel truck whizzing by, and I was really wishing I had brought the headlamp. By the way, the entire marathon was on the shoulder of a 4 lane divided highway headed directly west out into the desert from Surprise AZ; 13.1 miles out, 13.1 miles back.
Now, I was wishing for my jacket and gloves, because as we headed west out into the desert, the temp dropped from the comfortable 40 at the start down into the 30’s. I ended up using my bandana as a hand wrap and switching hands every so often. I was really glad I chose to wear my Sunmart long sleeve shirt, but also glad I didn’t wear layers when the sun came up. More about the course… it is a gradual incline for the first 9 miles, then a little steeper downhill the next 4.1, then a turnaround and 4.1 miles uphill, 9 slightly downhill back to the start.
I was doing really well the whole first half, using a little racewalking, but mostly just walking fast. I was right on pace for my 5:30 full and finished the first half in 2:42:13 with the sun and the wind at my back. I ate my Clif bar, little bits at a time during the first half, and I had 3 GU for the second half.
Now for the second half. After the turn around, the sun was in my face, so I put my shades on. We were headed east now, DUH! The wind was also blowing in my face now. The course was going up hill, but things were going down hill for me. I know I started out too fast in the first half, because the second half was just too hard. There is just nothing else to say about it. I tried to racewalk a little, but not much. Even though the going was tough, I really was having a good time! I love small races because people really try to encourage each other! I got several comments about being from Texas because of the Sunmart shirt.
The first GU went down well, and I got the expected burst of energy. I continued on with the race plan, 4 oz of electrolyte and 4 oz of water at an aid station, then just GU and water at the next aid station (they were spaced at about 2 miles apart). After the second GU and drink of water, nothing went south like it was supposed to. I felt like there was a large brick, or maybe a water balloon in my stomach. The discomfort grew with every step. I tried small sips of the electrolyte, hoping the sodium would help. I was getting close to 24 miles into the race and feeling like total CRAP! I was supposed to take the chocolate GU, but my stomach would have surely rebelled. My cell phone rang, and since I was feeling so miserable, I went ahead and answered it. I was moving as slow as molasses in January anyway. It was my DH calling to see how I was doing. I told him remember I’m racing right now. He thought the race was on Sunday. I told him I just might have my first race puking story to tell in a little while because I was sicker than a dog. He suggested I take it easy, and I said I couldn’t take it any other way right now. Funny thing is, as soon as I hung up the phone, the puking feeling passed, things that were in my stomach, stuck, were passing along where they belonged. I was able to take the chocolate GU and drink some water so I could finish strong.
Remember, I said there wouldn’t be anyone waiting for me at the finish line? There is a little hill right before the last 200 or 300 meters to the finish. When I crested the hill, I hear my name, Maryann… Maryann… Maryann. To my surprise, there was my mom and my aunt and uncle waiting for me at the finish line. Members of the local racewalking group were also waiting and cheering me to the finish. Thanks, Ellie! My official finish time was 5:44:13; not 5:30 (dream goal) but still a 5:06 PR at the marathon distance. When I realized during the second half I wasn’t going to make the dream goal, I backed off the pace a lot, and the near puking incident didn’t help matters, either. There was no sense in killing myself, especially when I am racing 50 miles a week later. I hung around for a little while to wind down and eat a banana before I headed back to Lauri’s house to continue with the racewalking clinic.
I realized something on the way to Lauri’s. After the 50 miler at Rocky on Feb 7, I am eligible to join the Marathon Maniacs for completing 2 long distance events in 7 days! I’ll be joining a real club for crazies! Do you all think I will fit in?
All right, this is enough for now. I’ll tell you all more about the racewalking clinic after I finish Rocky. I really need to go to bed so that I can go to work tomorrow.
Sorry the post is so long, and I still have lots more to say...
Anyway, back to my story. I met Dave McGovern when I went with the clinic host, Lauri from AZ, to pick him up from the airport on Friday. We made our way back to Lauri’s house and I got ready to be videotaped. We got started and I soon found out that I have not been racewalking. I knew I was flatfooted in the rear of my stride, but seeing it on tape was really an eye opener. After the quick video review, we went back outside, and I learned a thing or two. I really felt lucky to get some one on one coaching, and as soon as I “got it”, my pace dropped to right around 10 mpm. Dave warned me not to try to “racewalk” the whole marathon, but just to use it a little to keep my average pace where I wanted it to be. I probably would not have finished the marathon at all if I had tried to racewalk the whole thing. The difference from the walking I was doing before was striking, and now I have a real foundation to build on. It’s going to take lots of technique work to undo all the damage I have done by trying to learn racewalking on my own.
Lauri cooked a nice pasta dinner for all of the clinic participants, and they started to arrive at her house as Dave and I were finishing up looking at the second part of my video. We all introduced ourselves had dinner together. The pasta, salad, garlic bread and vegan peanut butter chocolate chip cookies were delicious. There were locals from the Phoenix area, folks from all over the country, and even someone from Canada attending the clinic. Everyone was very nice! Oh, I almost forgot, I met someone from the US Centurion list. I will be corresponding with him in the near future to see if he can offer me any new information I can use on my quest to become a Centurion myself. It was time for me to head home and get ready for the marathon and everyone wished me luck.
Back at my Aunt’s house, I made a pbj sandwich for the road, got my race gear ready including mixing my electrolyte drink and filling my fuel belt. I talked to my mom and my Aunt and thought I had talked them out of meeting me at the finish line because it was so far for them to drive. I put my race clothes on (yes I sleep in my race clothes the night before a big race), these clothes don’t wrinkle, and remember, I am just going to walk 26.2 miles in them anyway.
Saturday - I got up at 3:30 am and was on the road by 3:45 am. I ate the pbj at about 4:30 am and arrived at the race site at 5 am. The check in tables and the chip and packet pickup were ready by 5:30. Love the tech fabric race shirt! I walked back to the car and deposited everything I didn’t need for the race, jacket included (it was about 40 degrees), and headed for the starting line for the early start at 6 am. It was really dark outside with no moonlight, only starlight and the headlights of the occasional 18 wheel truck whizzing by, and I was really wishing I had brought the headlamp. By the way, the entire marathon was on the shoulder of a 4 lane divided highway headed directly west out into the desert from Surprise AZ; 13.1 miles out, 13.1 miles back.
Now, I was wishing for my jacket and gloves, because as we headed west out into the desert, the temp dropped from the comfortable 40 at the start down into the 30’s. I ended up using my bandana as a hand wrap and switching hands every so often. I was really glad I chose to wear my Sunmart long sleeve shirt, but also glad I didn’t wear layers when the sun came up. More about the course… it is a gradual incline for the first 9 miles, then a little steeper downhill the next 4.1, then a turnaround and 4.1 miles uphill, 9 slightly downhill back to the start.
I was doing really well the whole first half, using a little racewalking, but mostly just walking fast. I was right on pace for my 5:30 full and finished the first half in 2:42:13 with the sun and the wind at my back. I ate my Clif bar, little bits at a time during the first half, and I had 3 GU for the second half.
Now for the second half. After the turn around, the sun was in my face, so I put my shades on. We were headed east now, DUH! The wind was also blowing in my face now. The course was going up hill, but things were going down hill for me. I know I started out too fast in the first half, because the second half was just too hard. There is just nothing else to say about it. I tried to racewalk a little, but not much. Even though the going was tough, I really was having a good time! I love small races because people really try to encourage each other! I got several comments about being from Texas because of the Sunmart shirt.
The first GU went down well, and I got the expected burst of energy. I continued on with the race plan, 4 oz of electrolyte and 4 oz of water at an aid station, then just GU and water at the next aid station (they were spaced at about 2 miles apart). After the second GU and drink of water, nothing went south like it was supposed to. I felt like there was a large brick, or maybe a water balloon in my stomach. The discomfort grew with every step. I tried small sips of the electrolyte, hoping the sodium would help. I was getting close to 24 miles into the race and feeling like total CRAP! I was supposed to take the chocolate GU, but my stomach would have surely rebelled. My cell phone rang, and since I was feeling so miserable, I went ahead and answered it. I was moving as slow as molasses in January anyway. It was my DH calling to see how I was doing. I told him remember I’m racing right now. He thought the race was on Sunday. I told him I just might have my first race puking story to tell in a little while because I was sicker than a dog. He suggested I take it easy, and I said I couldn’t take it any other way right now. Funny thing is, as soon as I hung up the phone, the puking feeling passed, things that were in my stomach, stuck, were passing along where they belonged. I was able to take the chocolate GU and drink some water so I could finish strong.
Remember, I said there wouldn’t be anyone waiting for me at the finish line? There is a little hill right before the last 200 or 300 meters to the finish. When I crested the hill, I hear my name, Maryann… Maryann… Maryann. To my surprise, there was my mom and my aunt and uncle waiting for me at the finish line. Members of the local racewalking group were also waiting and cheering me to the finish. Thanks, Ellie! My official finish time was 5:44:13; not 5:30 (dream goal) but still a 5:06 PR at the marathon distance. When I realized during the second half I wasn’t going to make the dream goal, I backed off the pace a lot, and the near puking incident didn’t help matters, either. There was no sense in killing myself, especially when I am racing 50 miles a week later. I hung around for a little while to wind down and eat a banana before I headed back to Lauri’s house to continue with the racewalking clinic.
I realized something on the way to Lauri’s. After the 50 miler at Rocky on Feb 7, I am eligible to join the Marathon Maniacs for completing 2 long distance events in 7 days! I’ll be joining a real club for crazies! Do you all think I will fit in?
All right, this is enough for now. I’ll tell you all more about the racewalking clinic after I finish Rocky. I really need to go to bed so that I can go to work tomorrow.
Sorry the post is so long, and I still have lots more to say...
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Walking around in Circles.
So, the Chiropractor told me I should do my long distance walk at the high school track today. I looked at www.philsport.com to check the distance of each lane on the track, and how many laps I would have to walk in order to get 20 miles. I chose to walk in lane 8 because that was ONLY 72.019 laps. I put on the Garmin, because I wanted to keep track of my HR during the workout. I used the Timex Chronograph to keep track of the number of laps walked. Funny, everyone says that a Garmin doesn’t work real well on a track because of the turns, or maybe it is just too small an area to be accurate. When I uploaded the workout to my computer, the map looked really screwed up, but the total distance covered was accurate. I don’t know how, but it was.
Everything was aching a little when I started out, since my last walk was last Saturday, and that was a hilly 12 miler. So, I walked 4 miles, and then stopped to stretch and get some flexibility drills done. The stretching took about 7m30s. After that I just got to work. I didn’t have to carry my water of electrolyte drink, because I passed it every .278 miles. I carried my GU, Clif Bar, Clif Shot Blocks, and sectioned Clementines a small fanny pack that I carry behind me. I slide it around when I need to get something out of it.
When I first arrived, there were a few people walking, jogging, etc. They left after I had walked about 10 laps. Then a few others showed up, but they only stayed a short time. So, I just kept going and going and going. At 36 laps, or half way, I changed directions. When I was at around 17 miles, my head started messing with me. Come on, just go home. This is too difficult, just walking around in circles. Then someone else showed up and gave me renewed strength to finish. He was jogging in the opposite direction as I was walking, so I actually had human contact twice each lap. I thanked him for showing up when he did. When he asked me if I had been about to pack it in, I said yes because I needed to finish 20 miles and it was getting tough. When we met up a half a lap later, he asked me if I had said 20 laps. When I assured him I said 20 miles and I only had 3 laps to go to finish, he said I was the craziest person he had ever met. I told him thanks because I had accomplished what I set out to do today. I didn’t bother to tell him there are folks who walk a whole lot farther than 20 miles at a time!
Time for 20 miles today was 4:50:10 for an average pace of 14:30 (this includes time spent stretching because I did not stop the timer). Not fast enough but at least I got it done!
Everything was aching a little when I started out, since my last walk was last Saturday, and that was a hilly 12 miler. So, I walked 4 miles, and then stopped to stretch and get some flexibility drills done. The stretching took about 7m30s. After that I just got to work. I didn’t have to carry my water of electrolyte drink, because I passed it every .278 miles. I carried my GU, Clif Bar, Clif Shot Blocks, and sectioned Clementines a small fanny pack that I carry behind me. I slide it around when I need to get something out of it.
When I first arrived, there were a few people walking, jogging, etc. They left after I had walked about 10 laps. Then a few others showed up, but they only stayed a short time. So, I just kept going and going and going. At 36 laps, or half way, I changed directions. When I was at around 17 miles, my head started messing with me. Come on, just go home. This is too difficult, just walking around in circles. Then someone else showed up and gave me renewed strength to finish. He was jogging in the opposite direction as I was walking, so I actually had human contact twice each lap. I thanked him for showing up when he did. When he asked me if I had been about to pack it in, I said yes because I needed to finish 20 miles and it was getting tough. When we met up a half a lap later, he asked me if I had said 20 laps. When I assured him I said 20 miles and I only had 3 laps to go to finish, he said I was the craziest person he had ever met. I told him thanks because I had accomplished what I set out to do today. I didn’t bother to tell him there are folks who walk a whole lot farther than 20 miles at a time!
Time for 20 miles today was 4:50:10 for an average pace of 14:30 (this includes time spent stretching because I did not stop the timer). Not fast enough but at least I got it done!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Wednesday, January 07 – Training walk and other stuff.
So, today was yet again, not the best day for me. It started out at the funeral of a close friend of my son. He was a bright young man, only 30 years. These things are never easy, as everyone knows; we are supposed to bury our parents and grandparents, not our children.
When we got back home, after the dinner that followed the funeral, I tried to go to work. It just wasn’t happening today. Instead, I came home and cleaned up my dishes and changed clothes for the only thing that would really make me feel better: my walking workout.
It was time for a good tempo walk. So, I planned at least 6 miles at 10k race pace. I also wanted to try out my new headlamp. I headed out toward the little league park in my Saucony Grid Type A Racing flats. Those are the hottest looking pair of red racing shoes anyone could want to wear. They are nice and light weight, but they also have ample cushioning in the midsole for my neutral gait. It was still light out when I left my house. I walked to the park, which is 1 mile from home, then a ¾ mile lap around the park. I stopped my timer to stretch and do my flexibility drills, then walked 2 more ¾ mile laps at the park. I was planning to walk at the park until I reached 5 miles total, but the path at the park is red gravel. I had lots of it in my shoes, so I stopped the timer again, emptied the tiny red rocks out of my shoes, put on the headlamp because it was getting dark and headed back into the neighborhood for the rest of the walk.
I felt kind of funny wearing the headlamp at first, but I got used to it pretty quickly. I was able to continue at 10k pace without tripping on anything and I was also visible to oncoming traffic. Nothing like speed and safety!
I made 10k in 76 minutes, which is 1 minute slower than my pr for that distance. Here it is broken down by miles:
Mile 1 - 13:00
Mile 2 - 12:19
Mile 3 - 12:28
Mile 4 - 12:12
Mile 5 - 11:40
Mile 6 - 12:03
.31 miles - 3:57
Now I am home, have stretched really well and dinner is cooking while I am typing my blog entry.
If it wasn’t for my walking, I would go nuts.
When we got back home, after the dinner that followed the funeral, I tried to go to work. It just wasn’t happening today. Instead, I came home and cleaned up my dishes and changed clothes for the only thing that would really make me feel better: my walking workout.
It was time for a good tempo walk. So, I planned at least 6 miles at 10k race pace. I also wanted to try out my new headlamp. I headed out toward the little league park in my Saucony Grid Type A Racing flats. Those are the hottest looking pair of red racing shoes anyone could want to wear. They are nice and light weight, but they also have ample cushioning in the midsole for my neutral gait. It was still light out when I left my house. I walked to the park, which is 1 mile from home, then a ¾ mile lap around the park. I stopped my timer to stretch and do my flexibility drills, then walked 2 more ¾ mile laps at the park. I was planning to walk at the park until I reached 5 miles total, but the path at the park is red gravel. I had lots of it in my shoes, so I stopped the timer again, emptied the tiny red rocks out of my shoes, put on the headlamp because it was getting dark and headed back into the neighborhood for the rest of the walk.
I felt kind of funny wearing the headlamp at first, but I got used to it pretty quickly. I was able to continue at 10k pace without tripping on anything and I was also visible to oncoming traffic. Nothing like speed and safety!
I made 10k in 76 minutes, which is 1 minute slower than my pr for that distance. Here it is broken down by miles:
Mile 1 - 13:00
Mile 2 - 12:19
Mile 3 - 12:28
Mile 4 - 12:12
Mile 5 - 11:40
Mile 6 - 12:03
.31 miles - 3:57
Now I am home, have stretched really well and dinner is cooking while I am typing my blog entry.
If it wasn’t for my walking, I would go nuts.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Sometimes you just HAVE to be crazy.
So, I did get a walk in today. On my lunch hour. In a strange town. Wow. It was really strange.
4.63 miles in 61:32. Pretty good pace. Problem was... I walk all the time. I have walked in different cities and smaller towns. I have never heard so much horn honking, whistling, hollering, HEY... HEY... People in this small town where I was walking must have been absolutely freaked out by the sight of me. They actually rolled up on me in their vehicles and lowered their windows to yell things at me.
My DH warned me about people in strange towns... I scoffed at him. Well, he was RIGHT. But, don't you think for one second I am going to tell him. I will just add... sometimes you HAVE to be crazy.
"It's better to be crazy than lazy!" Maryann
4.63 miles in 61:32. Pretty good pace. Problem was... I walk all the time. I have walked in different cities and smaller towns. I have never heard so much horn honking, whistling, hollering, HEY... HEY... People in this small town where I was walking must have been absolutely freaked out by the sight of me. They actually rolled up on me in their vehicles and lowered their windows to yell things at me.
My DH warned me about people in strange towns... I scoffed at him. Well, he was RIGHT. But, don't you think for one second I am going to tell him. I will just add... sometimes you HAVE to be crazy.
"It's better to be crazy than lazy!" Maryann
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