Snowy Griffy Run

 We went out today after a fresh snow had fallen and went running...if you could call it running. Mostly it was hopping quickly in and out of the snow. The snow was up to my knees and so it was a major strength workout for my legs. When I got done my entire body from the waist down was...OW OW OW. It was seriously beautiful out though. Fresh snow on everything....a lot of it still untouched until we came through.


We saw Scott Breeden out there...the guy who WON Tecumseh with a time of 3:05. Insanely good runner! Of course he and his friend sailed through and we never saw them again until we were getting ready to pull out of the parking lot down by the boathouse.

 I spent a lot of time pretty far behind Chris and Alicia. They are better runners than me and seemed to be able to keep up a quick pace regardless of the depth of the snow. I was majorly impressed! But they were nice enough to wait up for me at the trail crossings so I didn't get lost out in the snow. It was easy to lose the trails out there as everything was so white and pristine.

Here was Lake Griffy down by the boathouse parking lot. My camera didn't capture it adequately but the hills were amazing looking. All white with such tall, pretty trees. I am happy I got to get out there and get some pictures and have some fun with my friends.

Snowy Solo Run...breaking in the new yak tracks

I looked outside tonight....snow falling, wind blowing and decided this would be a perfect time for a nice run. I had bought these yak tracks back in September and had waited and waited to be able to take a first run in them.
   This was the night! So what if it was partially wine fueled.....it was going to be an awesome wintry run! Without further ado I donned my winter gear--capris, warm running hoody, hat, safety light, headlamp and my trail shoes properly "tracked". 

I ran out into the night. The wind was blowing, the snow was flying and I was having a marvelous time. There were lights all over the houses, Christmas trees in the windows and besides that just me and the winter weather. The yak tracks were the best investment next to my hydration pack. I didn't slip or slide even once! It was like running on a road that was dry as a bone. It made me happy and looking forward to further snowy runs....like in Wisconsin where I will be very soon! Merry Christmas, Blessed Solstice, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah........silent night to one and all.

Touch the Clouds (Taste the Ground) by Good Old War (lyrics)

 

Here is a video for my good friend Evan Mickey on his 50 mile race this weekend. I like this song a lot and listened to it while I was running Tecumseh. I wish Evan the best of luck! He has been working very hard and I will be cheering him on. It is so cool to think of him running 50 miles. WOW!

Have fun Evan! I can't wait to hear about it all when you come back. 

 

Touch the Clouds (Taste the Ground) by Good Old War (lyrics) for Evan Mickey

rest...shmest *AKA I tried!*

         I had the best of intentions to rest all month.......total rest for a week then some easy jogs and cross-train classes at Vibe. No big races coming up. Pack up the running shoes for a bit. Who was I kidding?? Did I really think after finding something that makes me SO happy that I could give it up for a week?  A month? yeah right. Once you get used to that endorphin rush of a great run; listening to your friends talk about what is going on and making you laugh.....it is hard to just hang out at home and sit. I have found since I started running back in 2011 that I have a hard time during recovery periods. I miss the feel of a long run. And though the trainer in me knows the importance of rest and that if you don't adequately rest your muscles will not rebuild and replenish. But KNOWING something and DOING it are two very different things.

       You know you are a real runner when you see someone running and are jealous of them. Heyyyy wait for me!! But I am going to try very hard to do the right thing. Tomorrow I go to a vibe class. I think Hot Fusion since the heat and stretching should feel good on my muscles. And they still do need TLC. I won't be doing long runs still for awhile. AT least that is what I say now. But you and I know sometimes I shift. And I am already getting excited about races coming up next year. The trails are calling to me. My yac tracs I bought for my shoes need a maiden voyage.

Here are some races I am now contemplating for next year:

Still want to do the January 26th nighttime trail race at Eagle Creek

February 9th Lovin the Hills sounds cool
March 2nd Hoosier Half
March 9th first DINO at Eagle Creek
March 30th  DINO at Mounds
April 6th  Carmel Marathon
April 27th DINO town run trail
May 11th DWD...probably full not 50K ( i know difference of 5 miles but...)
June 1st  DINO Brown County
August 24th DINO Southwestway Park
September 28th FLATROCK 50K
October DINO France Park
November Monumental
December Tecumseh again


I also like the sound of Run with the Foxes; Bound the Mound

HOWEVER....Flatrock is going to be stupid hard. Awesome.Intense.Bucket List stuff. But hard enough I have to remember to leave enough for it. Training for me for general spring racing starts in February. Until then I don't have to really train at all. I can just hang out and run and workout. But even though I want to run, run races I have to make sure that once I start training for Flatrock in June/July I don't spend too much energy on other stuff. I am a new athlete. In fact I am still not even comfortable calling myself that yet. Learning about periodization, rest, recovery, training, tapering...these are all new things. I will learn. I am learning.

Just make sure I have all I need to do this.

10 winter health myths exposed

10 winter health myths exposed  

Here are some points for the runners I know including me. The one about frostbite was surprising. So was the bit about allergies.

post-Tecumseh

       Tecumseh is DONE. IN the BAG! And I am really, really proud of myself, surprised at myself, and kind of this feeling of detachment from myself. I know that sounds weird but it's like I am a different person for having done that. As my friend Erin says I have "earned my S". I have now done Marathon-s. And plan on doing more and even a couple of Ultras.
    Why I think long distances are actually BETTER for me? I tend to be creaky at first when I am running and it takes me awhile to warm up. Actually takes me sometimes more than 3 miles to warm up. That's why if you look at my race/running history my fastest splits are always at the end of the run. At Monumental I was doing mid-9s but after 11 miles my fastest times were mile 12 at 7:45 and I sailed into the finish line at 7:44 because that was finally when I was hitting my stride. And then I feel no pain, I am happy and enjoying myself. During Tecumseh I actually felt at the finish line I could do a few more miles. Maybe walking them but still....COULD. I am glad I didn't because I am still in some pain from it. But HEY for running 2 marathons in 6 months plus 5 half marathons, an entire trail running series and several shorter races (18 in all since September 2011) I am holding up well.
    I don't mean to harp on my age either as I see many people older than me kicking butt at the races I go to but I guess it is just in comparison with how I was at 30, even at mid-20's..I was not in good shape. And now I am older but have a good VO2Max (and thanks to AFAA know what that means), can run for miles, lift pretty heavy weights and not suffer too badly.  It used to hurt taking out the trash. My body fat was off the charts. I had the diseases of a 70 year old, heavy smoker, sleep apnea, always sick with a cold, flu, bronchitis. I had to be hospitalized for four days once for Pneumonia. I had a lump removed from my vocal chords..cancer scare...at 34. I had ulcers on my esophagus from being sick so much. I got diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at 38 and it scared me straight! Like an alcoholic with an epiphany from a bad bender I woke up. I said DAMN I am not going to die like this. Screw this!
     To see in 5 years what has changed which is everything I can not see this as me yet. It is like looking in the mirror and saying "really? seriously?ok when am i gonna wake up?" To be able to help others to wake up as well is the best thing in the world. To have a client look at me and say "You made me like exercising. I didn't think anyone could do that." it is inconceivable to me to be a role model for these young women and to think that they may look back on "heather the trainer" someday and think of how I helped them. But here I am and it feels amazing.

      This has been my mantra throughout all of this. And it has held true that yeah I have spent a lot of time in the last few years being sore, hurting here and there, wishing i did not have to do these *%^&* burpees anymore. I would look forward to my classes at the same time as i kind of dreaded them but then my muscles got stronger, i could do more, i could run instead of walk, i could do higher intensity without dying during or afterwards and so it continued. I was doing classes with good instructors who taught me a lot. I know i would not know as much about fitness without listening to them. So I was cross-training a lot which was good.
     Lately though running has pretty much been my training. I have been on a good heavy weight program now for a few months courtesy of a great strength trainer at my work but no yoga, swimming, zumba.....nothing else really but running and riding my commuter bike.
   Here I am ow-ow-ow from Tecumseh marathon and do you know what I think? Besides it being so major hard even for very seasoned runners? Looking on my training the last 6 months or more I realized I need to incorporate some other movements into my regimen. If I really want to avoid injury I need to work my body in different ways. Running uses the same muscles over and over and so my legs are getting strong, my arms are getting stronger from the weights but there are muscle groups that are not getting utilized. If I were training me with what I know now I would say honey you need some low-impact workouts that stretch, strengthen and lengthen your muscles otherwise they are going to get tighter and more rigid and you are going to have problems.

     I have been asking around about good yoga classes and I think it is time I get back into that. When I was doing a yoga class at the Y for awhile it really helped me in my other higher impact classes. It was like I would do kickboxing or boot camp but then i had the yoga to lengthen those muscles out and give me some time every week to hold these poses which strengthened me without as much soreness. I loved them too! Cross-training. I am going class hunting starting this week.
   Then i can continue to run the distance races I love! Without so much ouchy! Win, win!

Crazy Tecumseh Fun!

 Tecumseh........how shall I say this? Was amazing, awesome, beautiful, very difficult and unlike anything I have ever been a part of. I had been pretty nervous about this race. Only my second marathon ever and a hard one. I had finished the Eagle Creek Marathon in 6:30 so my big goal was to finish this in less than 6:30. And I succeeded at that. I finished in 5:46:38. 18th in my age group.
      There was a pretty big group of us from BARA running it too! And some surprise additions to our party as well! :-)   Then there were all the supporters out there. Everywhere I went there was someone cheering me on, giving me junk food, water, gatorade...there were two beer checks. My first time actually being part of that tradition and I have to say it's pretty nice. At the top of Indian Hill which is the biggest mo-fo hill (i don't usually swear but......whoa) there was Chris Banal with a camera and a great big smile and cheer for me. Made my day to see him! I had decided the way to deal with Indian Hill was to make it a jelly bean fest all the way up. Distract me with sugar...works every time.
    I had some interesting conversations on the course too. Just talked about racing mostly...where we had raced and run, things we were thinking of doing. I talked about my last marathon at Eagle Creek and how this was way different. I told them about doing Dances with Dirt in May and Flatrock in September. They told me about all their races. I met the bartender of the Upstairs Pub, met two ladies from Minnesota, talked to a guy from LA who was doing this for the first time, in fact his first trail race EVER. I got to hear how LA is which apparently the closer to the water the nicer people are and the further inland they get meaner and crazier. Good to know.

Here was some pictures that Chris Banal took of us. These photos were taken at the top of Indian Hill. The previously mentioned OH-MY-GOD hill?

I look surprisingly chipper. It was because I was seeing a friend and it made me happy to see him! He gave me a boost then. In fact it seemed like every time I felt kind of draggy there would be another friend! I felt like they were little shining lights along the way that led me towards the finish line.

I don't know how I would have gotten through this without my friends. S'Truth!

      Here are the tired, but happy, campers after the big day. So glad I have taken up this sport. It is so unlike anything I have ever done. It is like getting a family along with a lifestyle.I have had some lonely times in my life and it makes me grateful for people who want to spend time with me just for being ME. Nothing can ever take the place of these experiences.

2nd Trail Marathon DOWN. Now to look ahead to Dances with Dirt 50K and then Flatrock 50K with my friend Christy Victor. Can't wait to have more amazing times.

The marathon: Trust not control

My theory on marathons:
       Going into my second trail marathon I have decided the way to go is to trust not control. Out on the trail there is no control of your environment. With the blazes, ribbons, aid stations and gear you may think you have some control of the journey not to mention the outcome. But anything can happen out there. No matter what you do, what you carry with you, how much training you have there can still be that rock that trips you, that nice weather that suddenly changes for the worse or the steep hill you end up sliding down rather than walking/running. Depending on the time of year and the recent weather you can have water crossings that are daunting, muddy pits you must push through,overwhelming heat, ice, snow, bugs, poison ivy, big logs to climb over and a hundred other little things.
    I have trained for this. I have been working towards this pretty much since my first marathon was over in August. I feel confident I have the gear I need, good shoes, have hydrated enough, carb loaded enough, gotten enough rest this week. But even with all that I will have to trust the process because I do not know what will happen out on that trial tomorrow. I simply need to know in my heart that I will be enough to carry on to the finish, that I am tough enough to withstand any issues or problems, that I have the mental stamina to keep myself pushing on when all I want to do is just sit down.
   I look forward to it because I believe in myself. I have accomplished plenty of scary things in the last year or so and I believe I can face more without caving in. Especially when I have so many friends out there doing it with me and can look forward to friendly faces out on the course and at the finish line.

My Top 10 List for the Trail Marathon:

1. Don't think of how far you have to go but how far you have already traveled

2. Take the distance in little bites....."I will run to the next aid station", "I will go to the top of the next hill", "I only have a 10K left".

3. Remember to look a bit ahead as well as down so you are prepared for what is next

4. Walk up all the big, steep hills. It will save your legs for the long distance instead of wasting it all running up a hill you probably can walk up just as fast.

5. When tired try to think of the quiet of the woods, distract by listening to the birds sing, the wind in the trees, the sound of water trickling down a creek bed.

6. When you need to rest, rest. Do not stop but slow down, have a snack, get a few deep breaths and then continue on.

7. Do NOT focus on time. There is just no way to have a perfect pace on a trail so just focus on keeping going, passing the next obstacle, keeping up your energy, stamina and positive thoughts.

8. Do what you have to do to get through it and do not think or worry about the other racers.

9. Near the end I start thinking about all the food I am going to get to eat when I finish, how it is going to be so great to celebrate with my friends, how pretty the medal will be, how proud my family will be, how I can hold my head up higher through accomplishing this.

10. Finish as strong as you can. Even if you are dead tired, just push a tiny bit more at the finish line and be filled with pride you did this hard thing and carried it through.

 

GO FOR IT!

Hazler-Victor Birthday Palooza

The Hazler-Victor b-day party at the Leftover Turkey Trail Run. WOW! Look at all these people coming to their party? Boy are we popular!!

 

 So for their B-day weekend the Hazler-Victor duo decided to go up to the Leftover Turkey Trail Run at Eagle Creek State Park. Cue marathon flashbacks....GO!  

We came armed with warm clothes, snacks, cameras, picture phones, garmins, etc.....just a little jaunt through the woods! And at the end we got beer. I decided to forgo the running part and just skip right to the party...after taking pictures and cheering for my friends! Go go go!

 Erin is laughing about the yellow gloves that Debbie brought...putting on the peer pressure to leave them behind. Poor Debbie was FREEZING! Ah though..peer pressure won. They were some pretty awesomely huge yellow gloves though. :-)

OH and for those of you worried..she had another pair of gloves to wear. Debbie always comes prepped for the cold!

 Here are many pictures of my poor freezing friends pre-race. I was happy to be dressed in my regular clothes and jacket yesterday. It was really cold. I was hoping this was not a pre-curser to Tecumseh weather. If it was I was coming to the race with a heater on my back.

 Debbie doing her calisthenics while waiting for the race to start. Rachel and Eugene waiting too. I loved Rachel's candy cane striped socks!

 IS THE RACE STARTING?? IS IT? IS IT? DO WE GET TO RUN NOW AND WARM UP?

...never mind.....false alarm.......

come on come on come on~

 YAY they are heading to the start line! I am following them trying to get a few pictures of them. I had unfortunately not brought good replacement batteries for the camera so oooooops. I tried to put the "new" batteries in it and it died. BUMMER.

But I got a few good pictures and the rest was absconded from Christy Victor's lot. Thanks Christy!!
 


 It was time to start....almost...first the 1 mile group runners had to start then five minutes after that the 5K and 10K runners got to start. Matthew from Planet Adventure made his announcements and talked about the course. Matthew is a dear...he always gives me a nice hug and it is fun because when I go to Planet Adventure events they know me so it is cool to have people say "Hi Heather" on the microphone and stuff. :-) 

 I got one picture of Gino running up this massive hill. Unfortunately by the time I got ready to take the pictures of the ladies my camera ran out of batteries RIGHT THEN.....such luck eh?

 Here was Aaron Victor coming up the hill too. This was actually a good place for me to sit as the runners coming up this hill needed encouragement so I would clap and yell and say Hey Runners!! Doing a great job! And some of them said "You are just what we need here!"  I love encouraging people especially on gnarly hills like this. IT is great to look up and see someone cheering you on up the hill. Even though I didn't get a picture of the girls at least I got to cheer them up the hill.

The ladies are coming through into our power arch. SCREW the AWARDS...it was time to show props to our tired runners. 

They came through with their usual flair. GREAT JOB! Not bad time for how hard the course was. Cue more marathon flashbacks......

ha ha just kidding.

MAN look at Debbie flying through that finish line! She looks as good at the end of the race as she looked at the beginning.

SO I was happy to be there to celebrate with my friends and encourage them into the finish line. And beer...fun...awesomeness...and a chance to burn off some of our holiday calories. Well THEY did. I just added some to mine. At least I ran that morning!  And today. JUST LOVE MY FRIENDS! They are awesomeness in a package of more awesomeness tied with a ribbon of awe......you know what I mean.

Tecumseh Run Part Two

 Today could be summed up in two phrases:

Just because I am paranoid about roots doesn't mean they are NOT out to get me.

also....there is just NO bad time to take a picture...as long as you are not racing .

 My friend Melanie and I, along with the speedy Craig Kinney, went out to do the last training run before the Tecumseh Marathon next Saturday. We started at the Yellowwood forest office and took off down the path with the folks from Indiana Trail Runners--ITR--who are a great bunch of folks who are really into fun on trails all over Indiana. You can find them at indianatrailrunning.com. Terry, our big brother and guide, was concerned we stay together since he *knew* we would probably take awhile. I told Melanie that we would stick together and we did. And it was great! We found this pond and asked this other runner, Ted, to take a picture of us. The other runners were kind of amused by our "touristy" thing but how often do we get to run in the woods on a beautiful day? We have to commemorate it! Of course next Saturday all bets are off and I am going to go as fast and steady as I can. No pictures then!           IT did seem at first like every.single.root.in.the.world was out to trip me up. I had to say to myself the mantra (pick up your feet, pick up your feet, pick up your feet. Then it was better and I was able to make progress.            

This is me doing some kind of supergirl pose...ha ha...i think I was feeling pretty confident here. Probably because I had NOT gone head over heels like I thought I was going to do. This was at mile 11 of the 13ish run. We got to know some new people including one girl from Fishers and a guy from Avon. (I wanted to tell him about the cancelled DINO race there...see if he had been bummed out about it. Maybe finally get the question answered. WHY??)

 The guy I am with here at the finish of the run is Terry Fletcher who organizes the ITR runs. He is such a nice guy and very good at keeping everyone together and marking the course. He always has really good snacks at the end too!

Tecumseh is coming up in a week. I am feeling more confident now and getting excited about my second marathon EVER. It is going to be an epic run I can already tell. LOVE racing!! LOVE trails! Love my friends!.....hate roots who trip me.

John Denver - Looking For Space

Here is a song that I think about a lot when I am running out in the woods. John Denver to me means woods, trails, wilderness. He was the first guy I knew as a kid who was just "the outdoors". And when my family took an amazing trip to Oregon when I was 12 we listened to his tape over and over. So that typifies a very important trip to me that played an integral part in my childhood.

First Look at Tecumseh

 Today was my first time out on the actual course of the Tecumseh marathon which will be my second marathon of my life. I had been a little nervous because I had not been on the trail much at all. Before my first trail marathon I had already been out to that trail on at least two occasions: for a nighttime half-marathon and a 15K trail race with DINO--do indiana off road.

 So we were able to meet the ITR group (which stand for Indiana Trail Runners) which are a GREAT group of people and we got to piggyback on their training run. I am so glad I went too because we got lost twice so I now know a couple of tricky places to look out for. Of course during the race it will be clearly marked--DINO is good about that. I got to meet a new friend from the run who is a member of ITR and I invited her to attend one of the BARA group runs. Hopefully she will show up. She was very nice.

 The woods were lovely! Although it was cold it was sunny and that is a very nice thing for a long run out in the woods. KC and I ran together for most of the run. I had lost everyone else when we got lost the first time. So this is how we got lost the first time: We were distracted by our first hunter spotting that we totally missed the turn and kept going down this big long stretch of leaf covered path. We noticed after a bit NO WHITE RECTANGLES so we stopped, looked at the map and turned around.

 Soooo.....getting back to the hunters:
It turns out this was the first day that deer hunters were allowed to have firearms so they were out there in force. That was a very bizarre thing to me. I had no experience with hunting. I had been a city girl most of my life whether Kansas City or Chicago and I did not understand hunting at all. I knew people did it and it involved things like camouflage and big rifles but other than that I was clueless. So I was told to wear orange and everyone at BARA said WEAR ORANGE so that is what I did. Oh thank you thank you thank you good friends for making sure i did not look like a deer because being in those woods today with guys with rifles and BOOM BOOM all around me was a new experience. And mostly not a pleasant one. It doesn't mean I will not do trails at that time again but, like everything, I have learned about it now and will definitely respect the rules! And probably go out and get some very bright orange shirt from the running store.

 These white rectangles were the blazes that I followed while I ran through the woods. I never knew the meaning of a "trail-blazer" for real but now I know. It is someone who goes ahead and marks the trail. I guess that is why they say that when someone leads some venture in a new direction they are a trail blazer. Ahhh....learn something new every day!

 I loved coming upon this little bridge. It was so pretty and unexpected in the middle of the woods. I could imagine it to be very lovely with some frost on it. Today with the sunshine on it I just had to take a picture even though I was running behind on time.




I realized about halfway through the run though that I better not do this kind of thing after a 30+ mile week of running. So from now until the actual marathon I am going to do one more long run and then try to truly taper. Rest, rest, rest. And probably a bit of cross-training while I do it.

Sailing in Leaves
A wonder watching the trees like masts 
of wooden ships sailing through
these vast golden oceans of leaves.
They plot the course; move with the stars; guide the way through sweet smelling-leaf smelling-cold blooming flowers of red,yellow, tan, golden waves.
The last gasp of the woods 
before all is white, grey, cold like marble
and the ground sleeps and dreams of spring.

H.Rose 

 Here was a little bridge of what looked like railroad ties.

Here was this weird little bridge that went straight DOWN and UP. All I could think of that if it is a bit slippery I am going to go down on the leaves because that will be a slippy slide to injury land.  So this adventure in the woods was good for me. It helped me see the trail in a more realistic way. I got to see the great Indian Hill. WOW!!!! and..at the end of it all we got beer, ham sandwiches, brownies, peanut brittle.....YUM!  As I told my friends around mile 12 or 13 of a long trail run all I can think of is food..and coffee...and food...and coffee and my couch.







Successful day! Beautiful day! Go go Adventure!!!
Ready to take the day!

 And so now here comes the big question. How to add a little mark to my 26.2 tattoo to show I have done more than ONE marathon?? I am thinking little trees.......




or little birds............HERE WE GO TECUMSEH!!!!!!!