JFK 50 Mile – Because I Said So

May 1, 2012 by 16 Comments

I just put my entry for the John F Kennedy (JFK) 50 mile race in the mail (they are old school, no electronic sign-up):

There was a moment’s hesitation before I mailed it. Do I really want to do this? Or am I just doing it because I said I would? You see, many moons ago I used to run regularly with Reston Runners. Because I loved trails, I did many trail runs with them, some lasting over 4 hours, and so Anna Bradford, who was the president of the club at the time as well as the JFK coordinator (which she still is), asked me when I was going to run JFK. “When I’m 40,” was my reply. I was in my 20s at the time so 40 was waaaay off and I didn’t have to think about it much. Note that I hadn’t even run a marathon at this point and had no intention of running 50 miles. That was just crazy.

Over the years I’d think about JFK and it just seemed too far, too difficult, too much. And then gradually the idea started growing on me. Of course, I had to start with a 50K  first. That went exceptionally well, so well in fact that I immediately wanted to do more ultras. Around the same time, I realized that my promise of doing JFK when I turned 40 coincided with the race’s 50th anniversary. And that made me think it was meant to be.

So November 17th, 2012 I plan to toe the line at the 50th annual JFK 50 mile. My only goal (as it should be) is to finish. I know it will be hard. I’ve heard the stories. I’m running the race because I really, really want to do it. And…because I said I would. :)

Are you running JFK 50? Have you ever run an Ultra? If not, is ultrarunning on your bucket list? Do you think I’m crazy? Don’t answer that. ;)

Filed Under: Blog, Running and Triathlon Tagged With: , , , ,

Feeding my Addiction

August 14, 2011 by 6 Comments

I once ate cheese fondue right before a cross-country race. In my defense, it was in France, twenty years ago. Back then, the closest anyone I knew got to pre-race nutrition was eating a Mars bar on the start line. Hydration was for sissies. I remember taking Lucozade (dextrose) tablets to a marathon relay in High School and getting a lot of flak from other athletes because runners just didn’t take nutritional supplements back then. Never heard of Lucozade? It’s a well-known energy supplement brand in the UK. Twenty five years ago, it was pretty much the only game in town…and not a well-known one at that, despite having Olympic decathlete Daley Thompson as its spokesman.

Today, nutrition and hydration for endurance athletes is a big deal, and an even bigger business. The variety of products on the market is huge, almost overwhelming, and includes drinks, bars, gels, chews, you name it. And the flavors! Remember when there was just lemon-lime Gatorade?! We’re spoiled for choice, and everyone has their opinions and preferences. At the end of the day, of course, you have to find what works for you.

I’ve been a GU fan for a long time. (The Lucozade thing didn’t last…) In fact, vanilla bean GU used to be the only supplement I’d even consider. I’ve since broadened my horizons, adding Roctane, Nuun and Camelbak electrolyte tablets, and Honey Stinger chews. Still, I know I’m not the most adventurous when it comes to trying out new stuff. My stomach knows what it likes and, well, you don’t want to mess with that. But, with my first Half Ironman coming up in October, I know I need a good nutrition plan, possibly a better one than my “2-GUs-an-hour” plan during Capon Valley 50K. I still think GU is one of the easiest running supplements because it’s compact, there’s less fiddling with packages, it goes down fast, and you don’t have to chew (sometimes that’s hard while running!), but eating on the bike is a lot easier, so I’m in the process of trying some other stuff for variety.

Yesterday, for my 50 mile ride (yes, I have broken through the 30 mile barrier!) I took some cola Powerbar Gel Blasts with me. I’m into this cola thing right now. I don’t drink coke at all but there’s something about that coke flavor when racing that I really like. I just ordered kona cola flavor Nuun. 4 tubes. Better be good. Anyway, about an hour into the ride I tried one of these little coke gummies. OMG. They are like crack. I had to stop myself from eating the entire bag in 10 seconds flat. (It’s supposed to last an hour.) They taste like those coke gummy bottles we used to eat as kids…only better. They were so good I had to share (even though I really wanted to keep them all to myself) and I gave one to Meggan at a light. She let out a shriek right as the light changed and I thought something was wrong, then realized it was a reaction to the gummy. I quickly ate all the rest before she asked for another.

Maybe there should be a govt. warning: Seriously Addictive

Once the ride was over I returned to Potomac River Running to buy up all the cola Powerbar Gel Blasts they had. I only saw 3 bags on the shelf so I asked if they had any more in stock. The guy opened a drawer behind the counter and I saw a gigantic box full of them. It took a lot of will power not to jump over the counter and grab them. “How many do you want?” he asked. “How many have you got?” I replied. I ended up buying 14 bags. The guy had seen the glint in my eye and knew better than to mess around with an addict in the store.

In case you’re not a cola freak they do also come in other flavors: lemon, raspberry, and strawberry-banana. Cola and strawberry-banana have caffeine. 1 bag has 45g carbs compared to a GU which has 25, so I’ll eat one bag in an hour whereas if I’m taking GU I need 2 per hour.

Incidentally, I’ve been learning some interesting nutritional stuff as I get ready for this Half Ironman, so thought I’d share. Hey, I’m a sharing person…unless it’s my cola gummies.

  • Eat 200 – 400 calories 2 hrs prior to an endurance event (longer than an hour)
  • Drink 16 – 20oz fluid when you wake up (you wake up dehydrated)
  • After the first hour of racing, you need to take in 400-600mg sodium/hr and 40 – 60g carbs/hr
  • Drink 16 – 32oz fluid/hr
  • Chocolate milk is one of the best recovery drinks because of the almost 4:1 carb to protein ratio
  • Got gas? Check the ingredients in all those high fiber foods. Inulin (chicory root) is the culprit. Seriously, after hearing this I went and looked at my double fiber wheat bread, Luna bars, Fiber One bars, Clif bars…inulin was a top ingredient in all of them. Holy smokes!
All this food talk is making me hungry…time for an inulin-free snack.
Filed Under: Blog, Running and Triathlon Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Capon Valley 50K OR I am an Ultrarunner!!!

May 9, 2011 by 17 Comments

Capon Valley 50K Race Report, short version:

1. I finished. My time was 5:27:41. I was 3rd female and 28th overall. Whoop!
2. It hurt, but not as much as I thought it would. I definitely hurt more 1 day later than during the race. 2 days later, I hurt even more…
3. Yes, I peed in my shorts. I couldn’t find a tree I liked.
4. I consumed 8 GUs (4 of them Roctane – my new best friend), 2 packs of Honey Stingers, 3 S-Caps, and enough electrolyte-fortified water to fill a small bathtub.
5. They weren’t kidding when they said the course was hilly. 4500′ elevation gain, 4400′ loss, according to another blogger.
6. I am happy. Also possibly delirious. I want to run another 50K even though I can hardly walk right now.

Capon Valley 50K Race Report, long version (put your feet up):

My Garmin read 28 miles as I exited the trail and turned onto a main road. I looked up and realized, to my amazement, that Yellow Spring Ruritan Park, where the Capon Valley 50K started and finished, was just up ahead, and I only had about a mile to go. (Garmins are great, but they’re not very good at measuring distance on trails, especially when they’re very hilly!) I picked up the pace and, following the markers, scooted around a gas station and through a field, crossed the final creek, and sprinted along a gravel path to the finish!

Five hours and twenty-seven minutes earlier, standing at the start of my first ultra, I had no real idea what was in store. I knew it would be long and slow. I knew I would have to walk the hills. As a novice, I knew I would make some mistakes and hoped they would be small and insignificant rather than stinking huge doozies that would make me question my decision to run an ultra in the first place.

I hate the few minutes before a race start. I am generally an anxious, restless bundle of nerves. But ultras are different. Everything about an ultra seems more casual, from the 6:30am pre-race briefing that actually happened around 6:45, to the casual hanging out and picture-taking just before the start. I didn’t even realize the race had started until someone said, “we’re off!” I don’t even know if there was a start line. I just started running and pressed Start on the Garmin.

Hills
We got to the first hill before we’d even hit a mile and immediately everyone started walking. It may seem odd to walk so early in a race, but I’ve talked with/harrassed enough ultrarunning friends to know that, in an ultra, you walk every hill. Long, short, steep, not steep, when you arrive at a hill, you walk. I took my cues from those around me. I quickly realized that good ultrarunners know how to walk uphill fast. I learned to take small, quick steps and not lean over or swing my arms wildly. It was more like a march. Most of the hills were manageable but a few were so steep I had to dig my toes into the dirt to stay upright. And of course, since what goes up must come down, some of the downhills were toes-smashed-at-the-front-of the-shoe freefalls. Yep, I’d heard this course was hilly and it wasn’t a lie!

Aid stations
I arrived at aid station #1, about 4 miles into the race, very quickly. Aid #1 (which was also the 6th and last aid station) was at a barn, and I marveled at the smorgasbord of food – peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, M&Ms, Pringles, cookies, crackers – but decided it was too early to stop. I actually didn’t stop until Aid Station #4, at almost 19 miles, to refill my Camelbak. Why didn’t I stop earlier? I really didn’t feel the need. I had everything I needed in my Camelbak and felt that moving all the time was the best thing I could do. I was kinda anxious not to fill up my Camelbak too much at aid #4 because I didn’t want it to be too heavy, so I turned off the tap on the nice volunteer who was helping me fill the reservoir. Mistake. I ran out of water before I even hit aid #5. So I had to stop and refill again. This time I made sure I had enough water to get me to the end but I forgot to put an electrolyte tablet in it. Since I didn’t feel like reopening it, I just grabbed some Pringles instead.

Whaddya mean you don’t need a drop bag?
Being an ultra virgin, I had a drop bag that would be transported to Aid Stations #2 and #5 for me. The contents of my drop bag: spare pair of shoes, 2 pairs socks, 2 pairs shorts, shirt, 2 GUs, sunglasses. Before the race I was chatting with a running friend from the now-defunct (I think) Mid-Atlantic Dead Runner’s Society. Jeff and I used to run with the group in Rock Creek Park way back when. Being the experienced ultrarunner that he is, Jeff said that a 50K is too short a race to need a drop bag. I told him I was too afraid not to have a drop bag.

Within the first few miles I decided that I was a bit warm and was going to change from my capri tights into shorts at Aid Station #2, about 10 miles in. Temps were in the 40s but it was supposed to warm up to around 70. Then I changed my mind and decided I wasn’t going to bother. Then I changed it again. The problem was that the elevation changes were so great that there would be at least a 10 degree difference between the temp at the top of a mountain out in the open and the temp down in the valley in the shade of the trees. When we got to Aid #2 I ran straight through without stopping. Truth was, I really couldn’t be bothered. When I’m moving well, the last thing I want to do is stop. I knew I’d have to take off my shoes to get my capris off, and then I’d probably want to change my socks, too. I figured I was comfortable and always had Aid #5 if I changed my mind. Anyway, we were running through countless streams which were pretty chilly, so my wet feet were keeping me cool. Long story short – Jeff was right. I didn’t need the drop bag and the only thing I took from it was a GU – which I had to run back and grab after leaving Aid Station #5 – and which I certainly could have carried in my Camelbak.

Pacing
Throughout the race I averaged 11 minutes/mile. I did not let my Garmin dictate my pace but ran completely by feel, and just used the Garmin to get information…which, as it turned out, wasn’t all that accurate! I also used people around me to gauge how I was doing. I would catch a group, run with them for a while, and then pass them. Later on in the race I knew I was doing well when I was still passing people, and no-one was passing me. At this point I knew I was 3rd female but had no idea how far ahead #2 was or how far behind was #4. I tried not to focus on my placing because I wanted to run a good race without any competitive pressure, but I admit that knowing my placing did encourage me to push a little harder. I also really wanted to run under 6 hours and so the Garmin helped me work out whether I was on track. When I had (what I thought was) 5 miles left I got a bit nervous because I was at about 5 hours and 5 miles would take 55 minutes if I maintained 11 mins/mile. I realized I really wanted sub-6 and so pushed a little bit more. As it turned out, I only had 3 miles to go!

Making friends on the trail
When you know you’re going to be running for several hours, you want to talk to people around you. Ultrarunners are a friendly bunch, but the nature of the way I was running meant that I just had a few short conversations with several people. The person I ran with the longest was Erin from DC. This was also her first 50K. We ran together from about miles 10 – 15. We mostly talked about the trail – like when we found ourselves in some shoe-sucking mud – but then I must have pulled ahead and never saw her again.

Trying (very hard) not to get lost
At the pre-race briefing the RD held up a strip of surveyor’s tape to show us how the course was marked. The tape was white with orange stripes like a barber shop pole, and inside the building it was easy to spot. However, turns out that when it’s hanging from a tree where there are 500 trees and only the white part is showing, it’s very hard to spot. Early in the race I yelled at a couple of guys up ahead who missed a turn, and later in the race, when I found myself alone, which was pretty much the last 10 miles, I would quite often lose the tape trail and have to stop and look around me to find the next piece of tape. It was hard work to look ahead all the time to try to spot the tape, when you also needed to keep your eyes on the ground. In a way this was good because I was so busy looking for tape hanging from trees that any thoughts of how I felt or how long this was taking were pretty much impossible.

Eat, drink, repeat
I was also kept very busy with the constant need to eat and drink. My plan was to consume 200 calories/hour, which is basically 2 GUs. You’d think it would be easy to eat 2 GUs an hour, but it turned out to be quite challenging while trying to pay attention to the trail and the tape. Every time I looked at my Garmin I realized it was time to eat again. I was switching up regular GU with Roctane, which is specifically designed for endurance events. It worked great and I had no GI issues. I also ate some Honey Stinger chews to mix things up a bit. Not sure I want to look at another GU for a while, though. When I finished the race and took off my tights, I remembered I had shoved the tabs from the GU packets in my waistband (no littering!) and they were all stuck to my leg. Mind you, I had peed in my tights as well so the sticky GU tabs were hardly the grossest factor.

Where on Earth am I?
Because much of the race was held on private property, there was no opportunity to look at a map until the morning of the race, and even then I really didn’t know where the course went. It certainly was beautiful and varied. One minute we were running on a gravel fireroad, the next we’d be up on top of a mountain, and soon after that we’d be down below the tree canopy in a completely different ecosystem. Sometimes we’d run through people’s front/back yards. In the middle of the woods with no roads. One such “yard” had a camera mounted to a post with a sign that read, “Security Camera #1 of 2.” There was a pile of old vehicles, including a school bus, and beyond that was a shack. An old guy was sitting on the front porch so I said “hello” as I ran by, figuring it was kinda rude to run through someone’s front yard without a greeting. He responded, “they’re getting away from you.” I wasn’t quite sure what I meant so I joked, “I’d better start running, then!” I must admit I was relieved when the guy running up ahead in front of me stopped and waited for me to catch up. At another point we ran past a trailer. At first I thought it was an aid station because there was also a portapotty, which was kinda silly because there were no portapotties on the course. Then I saw a sign with an address on it, so I’m guessing it was a permanent residence and the portapotty belonged to the resident.

Yellow Spring, WV, where the race was held and Capon Springs, WV, where we stayed, had its share of trailers and dilapidated shacks that were clearly permanent residences. The proceeds from the race, including leftover food and shirts, went to local charities, which was clearly much-needed. After my initial annoyance at not getting a medal or any kind of award besides a certificate, I realized I was being incredibly selfish given the obvious poverty in this area and the fact that this race was a fundraiser for the local people in need.

Recovery
Soon (like, 30 seconds) after finishing the race I realized I hadn’t brought a change of clothes with me. Correction, I had several changes of clothes but they were in my drop bag at aid station #5 and wouldn’t be brought back for a while. With no cell phone service I couldn’t call Stuart and ask him to bring me some clothes from the resort where we were staying. I was pondering what to do when I saw my car coming up the gravel road. By some huge stroke of luck, Stuart had decided to come and see if I was finished yet. So I got in the car and we headed back to Capon Springs and Farms (kinda like the Catskills in Dirty Dancing, check it out!) where I showered and ate lunch before heading back to Yellow Spring to get my lovely certificate and chat with some of the other runners. Later that afternoon I took an ice bath and followed that up with a 30 minute soak in one of the hydrotherapy baths at the spa at Capon Springs. On Sunday we hiked up a mountain on the resort (going up was fine, coming down hurt like hell!) and then I gave my legs a dip in the spring-fed pool, which was a cool 62 degrees. My legs are still very stiff and I am walking like an 86-year-old with severe arthritis, but hopefully I’ll be better in a couple of days.

Most of all, I’m pleased with the result from my first 50K and am so proud to finally be an ULTRARUNNER!

Filed Under: Blog, Running and Triathlon Tagged With: , , , ,

The Long and the Short of it

May 8, 2011 by 4 Comments

I’m still working on a full report, but here’s my Capon Valley 50K Race Report, short version:

1. I finished. My time was 5:27:41. I was 3rd female and 28th overall. Whoop!
2. It hurt, but not as much as I thought it would. I definitely hurt more 1 day later than at any point during the race.
3. Yes, I peed while running. I couldn’t find a tree I liked.
4. I consumed 8 GUs (4 of them Roctane – my new best friend), 2 packs of Honey Stingers, 3 S-Caps, and enough electrolyte-fortified water to fill a small bathtub.
5. They weren’t kidding when they said the course was hilly. 4500′ elevation gain, 4400′ loss, according to another blogger.
6. I am happy. Also possibly delirious. I want to run another 50K even though I can hardly walk right now.

More – much more – later. :)

Filed Under: Blog, Running and Triathlon Tagged With: ,

Tomorrow I will be an Ultrarunner…

May 6, 2011 by 3 Comments

When I signed up for Capon Valley 50K several months ago, May 7th seemed a long way away. Almost as if it would never actually get here. While driving to the store today to get ice and DVDs for the trip, I realized that what I’ve been working towards for the last few months is tomorrow.

I am trying not to freak out. I may not be as prepared as I’d like – didn’t run enough hills, didn’t run longer than 3.5 hours – but I’m ready for the challenge and feel strong physically and mentally. I remember than on some of my early trail training runs the temps were in the teens and I needed a lot of mental strength just to get through the run, during which I would warm up and refreeze repeatedly. As I switched things up a little for Shamrock Marathon and started doing my long runs on the road at a faster pace, I felt an increase in my physical strength.

The past two weeks, every workout has been a success. I’ve been able to dig deep when necessary and feel strong throughout the workout. The other day, while swimming, I realized that I actually enjoy swim workouts now. This feels like an achievement after spending the last 2 years dreading them and forcing myself to do them. I finally feel strong and confident in the water.

So my bags are packed - including my Camelback with about 873 GUs in it, 2 pairs of trail shoes, 2 pairs of shorts, and 4 pairs of socks -and I just dined on pasta, a baked potato, and scrambled egg. Delicious. Wish I could eat that every day. Although my potato did partially explode in the oven so I would be doing a lot of oven-cleaning if I really did eat that every day. Plus I would look like a freaking potato.

My plan now is to get to Capon Springs and Farms resort this afternoon and put my feet up as much as possible. Tomorrow is going to be here before I know it.

Filed Under: Blog, Running and Triathlon Tagged With: , ,

If You Want it…Come and Get it

May 3, 2011 by 3 Comments

On the playlist for my track workout this morning: INXS, Talking Heads, and Cage the Elephant. Fast and loud. My cool-down song is the opposite: Babylon by David Gray. In this song is the line, If you want it/Come and get it, which I like to take completely out of the context of the song and use as my own personal mantra in racing. If I want it…I have to do what it takes to get it. How much do I want it? A whole lot.

In the spirit of doing what it takes to get what I want, yesterday I biked with some of the big dawgs in my tri group. I brought my fast bike with the race wheels on it. The guys kept trying to drop me like a sack of potatoes but I hung onto their wheels and once in a while I passed one of them and tried to make it look like a casual effort. Even when my quads started burning, my stomach became a knot, and my seat had transformed into a razor blade, I hung on.

And finally, for the first time ever, after 31 miles at an average of 19 miles an hour, my coach told me he was impressed. :)

Then I went for a swim. I decided this would be my last endurance workout before Capon Valley 50K on Saturday. It’s actually a little close to the race for an endurance workout – I maintain the intensity of my workouts but keep them short during the taper – but since the activities were biking and swimming rather than running, I figured it was OK. By the time the workout was over my arms felt like they were about to fall off.

This morning I did a short track workout. My legs felt heavy at first from last night’s bike but I managed 6 x 400m @ 1:26 – 1:28. High intensity, few reps for the week before a race.

Now all I have to do is run an easy 3-miler, relax, eat right, and sleep. And on Saturday morning, I plan to go and get it.

Filed Under: Blog, Running and Triathlon Tagged With: , , , , , ,

It's Going to be Lovely, Hilly, and Wet!

April 26, 2011 by 2 Comments

An image from Capon Valley 50K

I finally got around to reading the course description for Capon Valley 50K. You’d think I would have read this before signing up, but I like surprises. Here are some excerpts that I noted:  “There are 2 steep but relatively short hills…you will run up and down some good (but not long) hills…You will leave the railroad bed and climb a good hill…after you pass a hunter’s cabin on a very old road, you will begin the most significant climb of the day, climbing almost to the top of North Mountain…You will continue on the Tuscarora Trail with some serious up and down hills for about 2.5 miles…”

I used to be known as a hill lover; in fact, I’m pretty sure people have used my name in a not-very-complimentary way on several occasions while running hilly routes I’ve created. It’s true that I don’t like flat courses. But I think a combination of living in a flat town and running a lot of fast tempo runs that have forced me to seek the flats to maintain the pace, has resulted in my, well, kinda sucking at hills nowadays. I’ve noticed the last few times I’ve run Manassas Battlefield, which isn’t all that hilly, that I’m getting dropped. So hills are going to be a problem. Then again, ultra runners walk hills, so maybe they won’t…

I also noted that I could be getting wet: “You will then run onto wooded dirt trails with several creek crossings…You will leave Aid #2 on a beautiful 2 track dirt path (an old railroad bed) along a lovely creek, and there will be several creek crossings….You will leave Aid #3 on a wooded dirt path, with a bit of mud and a few creek crossings….you will follow this path (with one road crossing, and a few creek crossings)…” If you’ve been near a trail recently, you’ll have noticed that it’s very muddy and wet from all the rain we’ve had. Just a couple of days after my “adventure” at Bull Run trail, much of it was underwater from a day of rain. I may need to put some dry socks in my drop bag! 

In any case, it’s going to be beautiful. Aside from all the hills, the course describes “lovely dirt paths in the woods…a beautiful 2 track dirt path (an old railroad bed) along a lovely creek…You will cross a wonderful field with spectacular views…wonderful old wooded dirt roads…”

I’ll have to make sure I look up once in a while!

Filed Under: Blog, Running and Triathlon, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , ,