Fidelity Rush Hour 5k

Nothing like starting right back after 3 weeks of no training with a little speed work! But Fidelity was sponsoring a 5k on Thursday night for employees supporting the YMCA Strong Kids campaign, so I could not miss it. One thing I love about working here is the fact that Fidelity promotes fitness - onsite gym, staff of trainers, fitness classes, miles of beautiful maintained running trails - so I will always be out there supporting in any way I can!

Like I said, I came into this week after 3 weeks OFF. And when I say off, I mean it. I don’t exercise during my annual off-time – I went to Italy and ate Gelatos every day with the kids. No kidding – I could eat that every day- which is what the Italians do I think!

In the old days, I used to take 6 weeks off over the holidays, but I’ve found in recent years that I enjoy training in Nov/Dec and 3-4 weeks is plenty of time for me to get that out of shape feeling and mentally ready to start training again. Plus I don’t want to be totally out of it once snow shoe races start. Those are painful enough being in shape!

So back to the 5k…Luckily, the recent cold weather has been replaced with beautiful fall temps. Race started at 4:30 which meant I could duck out of the office early (bonus!). They held this race 2 years ago and I finished 3rd overall (1st F) in around 17 minutes-yes obviously not a full 5k. This year they changed the course and I knew it would be much closer to the 5k distance. The course was an out and back, lollipop-shaped course with two loops around the lollipop.

My friend Gary was not running, but introduced me to his friend Curtis who was running and was targeting my same time – somewhere around 20 minutes. We lined up at the start and the air horn went off. A group of about 6 of us all went out in a pack. One guy pulled ahead right off – but I could tell that I would be seeing him again. One other guy went ahead as well, but I could tell I would not be seeing him again (funny how that is!). I just tucked behind Curtis in 4th place and tried not to get dropped.

On the two loops there is one little out and back portion – which was nice to see where everyone is behind you. At the first loop, there was one woman pretty close, maybe 15-20 secs behind – so I knew I could not slack. I just held onto my 4th position into the second loop. I could see the speedy guy getting closer, so I knew it was only a matter of time. At about 2 miles we all caught and passed him. So that brought me to third. I stayed about 20 feet behind Curtis the rest of the way going as fast as I could go without throwing up. Hopefully I helped put the pressure on him not to let up as I am sure he could hear my heavy breathing behind him the whole way!

There were no mile markers, so I had no idea what pace we were doing. The finish line was at the bottom of little downhill and I saw 19 min turn to 20 min as I made my way down the hill into the chute to secure my 3rd place overall and 1st F (sounds familiar). I had 20:12 on my watch (but results say 20:07). Someone with a Garmin had the course at 3.08, so pretty close to the 5k. I am extremely happy with that time given this is the first run I’ve done under a 7 min pace in almost 2 months! Yikes! I’ll take it!

Clarence DeMar Marathon

3:19:09...How 'bout them frickin apples?

So I have been trying to fit in a Fall marathon for the past couple years but each year I never seem to be able to get it in. This year, I was thinking maybe I'd try again, but the only weekend I could do it was this weekend and I was not sure how I would be faring a week after running Reach the Beach. I knew about the Demar marathon over in Keene and that it was net downhill...my kind of race. But still..it is 26.2 miles.

This past week I took it pretty easy - swam one day, ran 4 miles and that was it. I was feeling pretty darn good actually. So fri I decided to just frickin do it. Luckily my husband was a sport and took the kids AGAIN for a weekend day - I owe him big.

Sunday morning I headed over to Keene in the pouring rain. I actually thought the rain would be good if it was not torrential. Checked in and hopped on the bus to Gilsum where the race starts.

The marathon is a point to point run from Gilsum to Keene. It was a small field - probably 300 people. We started right at 8. My goal was to try to come in under 3:30and keep the pace under 7:45 as long as I could.

The first half went by extremely fast. A little hill at mile 2 but mostly rolling/down the rest. I met a girl named Molly at mile 6 and we ran together until the half which made the time go by so fast (she was a crazy ultra runner living in China - how random is that?). We hit the half at 1:38:50-NICE.

After the half, the course hits keene and you start running through surrounding neighborhoods. I didn't mind this as there were more turns which kept you on your toes. I was surprised how good I was still feeling and just kept my same pace (right around 7:30-7:35). At about mile 15 I seemed to feel even better (wtf?). 15-22 were a blur of holding the pace. I knew there was a hill at 22 and I did not want to "pop" before then. Hit the hill and it was pretty brutal but short and I ran up it and actually still went under 8 for that mile. That hurt though and mile 23 was my first mile over 8 minutes at 8:20-UGH! I hit 24 - 2 more to go. fought back a bit and did 24 in 7:24 At 25 I realized I could go under 3:20 and just ran as fast as I could with a 7:27 last mile. I sprinted across the finish and was PSCYHED - 3:19? How the heck did i do that?

mile 1 - 7:20......mile 14 - 7:36
mile 2 - 7:38......mile 15 - 7:37
mile 3 - 7:18......mile 16 - 7:30
mile 4 - 7:23......mile 17 - 7:39
mile 5 - 7:29......mile 18 - 7:28
mile 6 - 7:36......mile 19 - 7:42
mile 7 - 7:32......mile 20 - 7:35
mile 8 - 7:36......mile 21 - missed split
mile 9 - 7:37......mile 22 - 15:25
mile 10 - 7:34......mile 23 - 7:51 (hill)
mile 11 - 7:31......mile 24 - 8:20
mile 12 - 7:55 (hill).. mile 25 - 7:24
mile 13 - 7:21......mile 26- 7:27
Half - 1:38:50......Finish - 3:19:09

4th Female overall (3rd was only 20 seconds or so ahead of me..daaaang) and 2nd Female under 39. I'll take it!

So now it is off for 10 days in Italy with the family and my annual 2-3 weeks OFF from training. Then we start again :)

Reach the Beach - Team Flyboys

So about 6 months or so ago, a co-worker of mine asked if I wanted to join his Reach the Beach relay team this year. I knew a few folks who had done this race in the past and heard it was a pretty cool experience, so I said “sure!” Gary did mention that his team was an “ultra” team – so they run with 6 people instead of a normal team of 12. 30 or so miles? Sure I can do that. Noooo problem!

When I mentioned I was running on an ‘ultra’ to folks who had raced before…eyebrows always raised and a “wow” seemed to spring from their lips. I was starting to get a sense this would be more of a challenge than I thought.

So I tried to increase my running mileage from my usual 10-15 miles a week (yes that’s right runners…I did not mis-type that!) to get over 20 and a few over 30. I added more miles to my cool-down after Wed night track. I ran a few days of 12 miles, a 14.5 and one 18 in the past month. I did manage to eke out a few weeks over 30 miles. I’m ready right?

The race starts at Cannon Mtn and heads 207 miles through our beautiful state of NH to Hampton Beach. Our team rotated through the 36 legs, taking one leg at a time. I was the 3rd runner. This meant my legs would be 3.88-3.53-8.24-7.26-8.54-1.99 miles. Not so bad on paper.

Our team got to Cannon around 9 am Friday, plenty of time to check in and get ready for our 10:40 am start. I already knew that the team of Gary, Curt, Eric, Ernesto and John was going to be a great group of guys to spend the next day or so with.

Curt started off and we all headed off in the Suburban and from then on it felt like we never stopped!

So overall – it was HARD. Especially the night runs. I slept maybe 20-30 minutes total. And my stomach decided to revolt on my third leg (my nutrition planning needs work). But I ran every leg, finished strong and just had a blast! Comments on my legs:

Leg 3: 3.88 @ 7:20ish pace – run through Crawford notch, a lot of uphill. Felt great! Of course, this was only leg 1 

Leg 9: 3.53 @ 7:15ish pace – almost missed the start after we missed the turn to the TA, crossed a train track and a train was coming. YIKES! I had to jump out of the car and run in front of the train! Of course, forgot my bib number so that caused a bit of a delay at the TA – they let me take Gary’s and off I went! A bit of climbing on this leg, but still feeling good.

Leg 15: 8.24 @ 7:55ish pace- first night leg which left at about 9pm. I started running with another runner who quickly pointed out that he was on an ultra team. I said “me too – so no whining!” I thought that was funny...not sure he did. I had a little trouble at the start of this leg with the beginning of an upset stomach. I also think I shorten my stride running in the dark with a headlamp. But I ended up still finishing under my expected pace (8min/mile) so was pleased. 2 more long ones to go.

Leg 21: 7.26 @ 7:45ish pace- Started off a little tentative on this one since my stomach was not feeling any better. And running at 2AM on no sleep did not make things easier. But after about a mile, the course turned down a dark backroad…the sky was clear and the stars were blazing…blinking lights of runners stretched out before me and I just felt GOOD. The team car pulled next to me and I tried to tell them that I would be quick on this one – but not sure what exactly came out. I felt so good running the last mile into the TA and yelled for Eric who was still getting on his lights! He finally got off and I was so glad my last night leg was over!

Leg 27: 8.54 @ 8:30ish pace – I was worried about this one. I had not been able to take in a lot of calories since my last run due to my upset stomach. I started out trudging along at what I was guessing a 9min/mi pace (at least it was morning by then though so no more headlamp!). I just kept telling myself to keep running. The team passed me at about 25 min in and asked if I needed anything…I think I gave them a look of “leave me the heck alone” and they drove ahead (this was my battle to wage I was thinking). I pushed on. I could see a few runners ahead and just tried to keep them in sight. I finally decided to eat a gel about halfway in. I think that changed it for me. That and I stopped the self-pity. I started to pick up the pace a bit and passed 2 runners in front of me. The last 3 miles had some evil climbs, with a mile climb from mile 7 to 8. I actually got stronger and faster throughout the leg and was able to run all the hills. After I conquered the long hill at mile 8it was downhill to the finish…I picked it up and finished strong…YES! Over 31 miles down!

Leg 33: 1.99 @ 7:30ish pace – the last leg of the day. Curt and Gary put the hammer down on their last legs setting the bar high for the rest of us (Curt ran well under 7s on his last leg of over 6 miles, after putting in over 30 miles before that!). We all decided to just put it out there and go as fast as possible. At least it was only 2 miles for me. It was sunny and beautiful. I ran as hard as I could, which was about a 7:30 pace. I was SO happy at the finish and DONE!!!

So we reached the beach in 27:19 (2 hour penalty in the results though for not having correct night gear, we still do not know what that was about) – Everyone ran strong and consistent throughout and even more amazing was how everyone ran their last legs so fast. I was spent, but so proud to be on a team with such great runners and great people. This is an incredible race (the logistics alone are mind boggling). I'd recommend the ultra to anyone wishing for an extra challenge…the 27 hours went by so quickly!

First Post and 12 Hour AR

ok...so I am jumping on the blog bandwagon! Seems like a good way to document all the crazy things I get myself into. Plus I love reading race accounts on other blogs so am hoping to add my own perspective.

I am just going to start writing about events of late. I have historically been straight-up triathlete with varied success - some great years, some not-so-great. This year my tri season was practically non-existent with only 4 sprint races (though I realized I bike the same speed even if I do not ride all winter...good to know) so I have been really looking for events that are out of the norm for me….

So this past weekend I joined Chris Dunn of Acidotic racing and his brother Jay for a 12-hour adventure race at Pawtuckaway Park in NH. Now I had done a little adventure racing in years past, but never a 12-hour. And for some reason I thought we wouldn't be out for the FULL 12 hours, right? WRONG.

The day started at 6 am sharp with a quick sprint for one team member to go across the parking lot to grab the maps for the day. Chris took this job with no complaints. The first leg turned out to be the bike where we had to find 13 checkpoints. This leg I was dreading the most. I love mtn biking for the most part but get extremely skittish on technical single track. We were doing pretty well through about CP 10 and then hit a CP that was in the middle of a very technical 2 miles of single track about 3hours in to the race. My poor teammates had to wait for me to walk most of this trail (they were so patient!!). unfortunately, we never located the CP (no help to me- I need to get some orienteering skills!). The remaining CPs were just as hard to find and we ended up not completing the bike until well after noon (Yes that is over 6 hours on the bike people!).

After much needed refueling we headed out to the paddle section (in canoes). Given our late arrival, we were only allowed to do the last half of the paddle section which the race director said should take about 30 minutes. I was a little bummed since I love the paddle section…until we had been out on the water in the cold rain and started to feel mild hypothermia set in – then I did not think that a shorter paddle was so bad!

Back into transition about 30 minutes later and we headed out on the trek. Felt so good to start running and warm up. Almost all the CPs on the trek were off blazed trails, so we had a lot of bushwhacking ahead of us. And it also started to rain harder. And to add to it all - Chris’s map case was leaking! So our map was slowly disintegrating into an unreadable form. Somehow Chris and Jay kept us on track though...they are pretty tough! We got through a lot of the early CP’s and ended up at the top of ‘South mtn’ at a little after 4. It was POURING and very cold and my left knee was KILLING me. There were actually 3 CPs we had to find at the top of the mtn. One other team was up there walking aimlessly around (I did not take that as a good sign). We found the first CP, but the second was nowhere to be found. One other team showed up as well and it was decided we all should head back to the transition in order to finish by the 6 PM cutoff. We went down one of the mtn trails which left us about 5 miles to get back to the TA. All of us were pretty tired by then, but we shuffled along back with about 10 minutes to spare.

So we were all a bit disappointed that we did not find all the CPs – but we still logged a finish. This was seriously one of the toughest races I’ve completed. After a warm bath and full night’s sleep – I can now say it is definitely something I’d do again!

Next up…Reach the Beach Relay where I have to run 33.44 miles spread over 6 legs. More insanity!