Squish Squish Squish

My fabulous shirt!

Well, I started back into running for the season rather seriously again. The plan is to run a fall marathon and a few fun races before then. This is the story of once such race.

In another week I will begin my "official" training schedule....but before that I am building up speed and endurance as well as core so I can ward off injury(hopefully) this year. As such I decided to sign up for my first ever 10K and first ever trail run. I don't know why I thought it would be good idea to combine them into one run. However, I learned a LOT today....and I had a LOT of fun!

Today was the Flirt with Dirt race. Its one of 3 in the Serious Series hosted by the local running store Running Fit. They put together great races! Its also sort of a taste of their Dances with Dirt run which is a 50K/50 M/100K crazy trail run later on in the year.....eesh. Anyway, I digress.

So, race morning started off the same as always. I woke up before anyone else in the house and had my coffee, water, banana and slim bagel(btw, these things rock!). Got dressed, grabbed my directions and I was out the door before 7 a.m. I arrived at the park a little early as it was a sold out race and had limited parking. There were only about 600 people total between the 2 races (5K and 10K), however the park only had so much space.

Regardless, the whole affair was smoothly run, and there were plenty of traffic coordinators to get you parked without issue. So, I made it there(didn't even get lost!) and found my parking spot by 7:15 a.m. The 5K started at 7:30 a.m. and the 10K started at 8 a.m. I was happy I got there early to ensure adequate time to...errr take care of business before the run. You runners know what I mean. Anyway, I wanted to check out the trail and see the 5K start too. I could only see part of the trail as the trail head was essentially on a soccer field....but everything looked relatively dry considering it had poured buckets the night before.

So, the 5K was off and now I had 1/2 hour to kill by myself, so I stretched and took a little jog around.....yeah...so turns out the grass was wet and my shoes were now a little soggy. Ergh. Oh well...so were everyone else's too I guess! lol!

Running Fit truck and folks. They put on a good race!

Before long people were beginning to mill about the start line and get ready for the start....it so happens the end of the 5K was near the start so we actually got to see the first finishers before we took off. 2 guys were fighting for first and the younger of the two was covered in mud! Head to toe! Hmmm....this can't be good I thought. Not sure which did win the thing.No matter, time to go!

The start was slow as most race starts are, and began going down a sledding hill and around a soccer field and through a dirt parking lot before heading into the woods. This shouldn't be so bad I thought. I was SO WRONG! The first part of the trail in the woods was o.k. and had enough space for someone to get around if you needed to pass. That quickly ended. Before long we were on 1 person wide trails...and that's not all! When I first signed up for this and I thought 'Trail' I thought of where I used to run in Ohio....the towpath I think it was. Nice fairly level, meadnering long trails through the woods.....yeah, not this race! Trail takes on a whole new meaning! Here,there were a few things.

First of all if you didn't seed yourself according to pace correctly you would either be holding someone up(luckily I didn't do that) or get stuck behind someone slower than you(yea,this happened). A guy actually stopped and he finally pulled off the trail so I could keep going. It also meant that uphills where people tend to naturally slow, things get backed up. This was frustrating as I have learned to pass on hills! But, after a while I passed where I could(there were occasional breaks) and otherwise tried to remember this was for fun! Plus, it was beautiful in the woods eary in the morning.

So, beyond that the trail itself was well...tough. As it had rained the night before it was pretty wet and had some major all out mud pits! It also boasted many face slapper branches(also leg,arm and body slappers too!)....I have never ducked so many times during a race! Seriously! That was a workout itself! Then you had logs to literally jump over, big rocks to traverse, gullys to essentially run on opposing banks of(the cut wasn't big enough to get a shoe in), big hills, TONS of large tree roots(happy I got out without a twisted ankle), some very switchbcak-y turns( I was getting dizzy at one point) and oh yeah ipod girl...a few of those who seeemd oblivious that they were running on a potentially treacherous trail and no idea someone needed to pass. Ugh!

Sledding hill from the top you had to run UP to finish.
 It looks unassuming as there's no point of comparison
, but it was steep!

However, overall it was good time! Yes, it was tough, yes some parts sucked.....but it was fun! I really don't know how to explain it. Chris still seems baffled that I chose to do this and would again! Next year baby! I think its because it was a different sort of challenge. Granted it made me about a min/mile slower than my goal....but I quickly realized that I wasn't going to make it simply for being 'stuck' behind a lot of people and not being able to make it up. So, lesson learned...not as slow as I thought I was. That's great! Next year, I'll know! Oh and to be fair I did end up with a wicked side stich about a mile from the end....weird! So that slowed me down a bit. But, when I saw the end I powered through and up (yes up a sledding hill) and finished strong. It was one of those races that was so tough that at the end I nearly was in tears. With the exception of my marathon this was the toughest race I've done. And I'd do it again!

Anyone wanna come with next year? There's a cap so you have to sign up early! Like May 2012. :)

So, the other cool things.....the shirt is awesome! Bright green tech shirt that I adore! Most fave race shirt ever! Also,  the race was well put together and directed. You totally get bragging rights after too and get to tell all your friends how fun it is to get dirty running! :) And plus, how else can you better spend a Saturday morning in June?

And last but not least..the results. I finished 10th/27 in my AG. With a time of 1:03:51. Like I said, a little diappointing as I expected going in to finish in about 57 min....but, for the course I'll take it. So, hopefully I  remember the main lesson for next year. Don't think I'm slower than I actually am and run more on oneven ground. Oh, which reminds me...now I know why they make trail shoes! I think I need to get a pair! lol!

That's about it. First 10K and trail run in one!

Epic Fail!

So, tonight was an interesting one. It started off innocently enough. Chris and I were celebrating our 9 yrs. of marriage and all I wanted was a dinner I didn't have to think up and a bike ride. I got half of that.

I picked up E from daycare and made it home by about 5:20. Chris was already home and had gotten items to make dinner! YES! Awesome!  A healthy home-cooked meal I didn't have to make! He made butternut squash ravioli, corn on the cob and garlic bread! I ate light since directly after we were heading to the park for our family training night out.

The plan was for Chris to swim while I played with E on the toys and then after I would get my loop around the park in on my bike(8.5 miles) and test out my new speedometer and oh so padded bike shorts! So, Chris loaded up the bike while I grabbed the swimming stuff and we were off! Not 2 minutes down the road did I realize I forgot the diaper bag, but no worries....we wouldn't be gone too long...so we decided to live dangerously and keep going. As we entered the park, Chris inquired as to whether I grabbed my helmet...looking,looking....drat! I completely forgot it. So, no bike ride for me as the park has a strict helmet ordinance. That's o.k. I might be dressed for a bike ride but I did have an old pair of running shoes on, so I could run instead. But, oh wait....I didn't bring my water belt or my watch...since I was planning to bike! Ergh! O.K. I could still work with this....I would still play with E while Chris swam. When we got home Chris could put E to bed and I would ride from home.

So, we get to the parking spot and head to the beach for Chris to swim.....no one else was around at this particular spot...awesome! Well....almost......he donned the wetsuit and was off! Not a minute later did he come back.....for good. Apparently the spot we picked, despite being on a nice sandy beach was exactly 3 feet deep, full of weeds and quite stinky. So.....that plan was out. We let E play for a bit before heading back to the car.

Get back to the car and put the stinky lake clothes in the back and make it back home without event. I proceed to get E a snack so Chris can shower off the stink. Afterwards I still plan to get that ride in! By now its 8:30 p.m. E has been fed, Chris is in the shower...time for pj's, stories and bed...then ride! However, as soon as I pull E out of his high chair and put him on my hip to carry him upstairs...I realize he is all wet! And I'm all wet! What the heck??!?!Well, I failed to remember before we left for the park, I had put his swimmer diaper on in case we decided to go in as well. As we didn't have the diaper bag to change into a regular diaper he was still in the swimmer one....turns out they're not real absorbent. Even the highchair was wet...sheesh...so yes...now we are both covered in pee....awesome.

So, change of plans again. They are now to get E a quick bath and wait for Chris to get out of the shower so I can take one. He was sweet enough to get E to bed while I showered off.....and so ends the evening. 9:00 p.m. its dark out and we're both showered. No training, but we did have some good family time together and we split some cake and now I'm enjoying a glass of wine. There's always tomorrow right?

If nothing else, the whole remembering to be flexible thing came back to mind....and just rolling with it sometimes...because after all..sometimes life just happens. Tomorrow however should be a better training day!

Cheers!

Back on the Horse

So, needles to say, I have had no time to blog anything since oh I dunno some months ago I guess. Well with buying a new house, packing, moving, work, home, etc there has been no time...especially if I'd like to get to bed at a decent time And no, blogging at 10:30 p.m. is not decent bed time material. Anyway, I have also had little time to train for anything. We essentially have been packing/moving and doing fix up the new house work since the end of March. So, lets just say my 25K did NOT happen in May! That's twice now I've missed it! ugh!

Oh well, so the last few weeks I've made a point to get out and start my pre-race training schedule. Which means building up my base mileage again, remembering my mistakes of the past and how to eat right and shed my 'not in marathon training any more lbs'. Its amazing how quick that 'one extra bite' translates into lbs. quick if you're not moving. Lesson learned!

I have so far now committed to a 10K on Jun 11...first ever 10K distance and also first ever trail race...so it should be fun...though I hear the beginning and end is a huge hill....awesome! I have also committed to a 30 mile bike ride in Aug., and possibly an adventure 5K at the end of Jul and of course I plan to begin training for my fall marathon(still have to decide GR or Detroit) in the fall. They're on the same day. We are also making the trek to Copper Harbor for Chris' Copperman triathlon in Early Aug and there's a sprint tri at the end of Jul I'm tossing around the idea of doing....on my hybrid....which I am in no way pepared for...so doubt that will happen.

Regardless, we seem to have quite the summer coming up, so I am excited! Well mostly. My back and hip still feel tweaked so I need to put in some serious core work in all my free time(note heavy sarcasm) to get me through this year hopefully injury free. At least now I know the signs...but seriously I wish I had more time for yoga to stretch out this tightness. Ugh. I think I may be living on my foam roller in the near future.

Well, that's it in a nutshell. Flirt with Dirt on Jun 11 should be fun! Any and all come join me!

Cheers!
Jess