Rock Creek 2009 Heavy Half

The first time I ever ran more than 5 miles was Mother's Day 2008 at the Sandrat Trails in Lawrence, KS. I showed up for a group run with the Kansas City Trail Nerds expecting to run 6 miles. I realized first thing that I was not fast and two individuals hung back and ran with me, Gary Henry and Coleen Shaw Voeks. I am greatful to both of them to this day for making me run farther than I ever imagined I would have done that day - 11 miles. After that run, I went home and was wiped out for the day and so sore the next day I could barely move. I only share this as a pretext because I now realize that the body is an amazing piece of equipment that needs maintenance, work and TLC. Now I can go run 1/2 marathons and still have energy the rest of the day to carry out daily activities.

Rock Creek Heavy Half - October 24, 2009: I felt prepared for this, my third half marathon, and found myself quite excited on my way to the race. I was primed, full of energy and ready to tackle the course. There was the normal pre race activities complete with many friends whom I have made in the past year. I had a plan for the race - start slow, get to the first aid station and then speed up until the last aid station where I would then put it in high gear, well as high a gear as I can anyway. And so we bagan with a bang and up the hill, turn and into the woods we went. I positioned myself so that I would not get in the way of the faster runners. Once in the woods and on the single track, we fell into a long winding line of runners and we stayed pretty much together for a mile or so before we began to separate.

I found myself feeling pretty good and running a nice steady pace when walla.........the first aid station. Wow, that went fast. Okay, I know, not really that fast but the time really flew by for me. I believe I took a cup of Heed, turned on the mP3 player and took off. First mistake, I should have had a Gu or Hammer Gel. Taking off from here, I was ready to pick up the speed a little bit but somewhere along this part of the trail it got rocky and the leaves covered those little stinkers. I was tweaking my knees and twisting my ankles. My back began to hurt and I started getting frustrated. I just wanted to run faster but I kept slipping and loosing my footing. I hung in there and utilized a few choice words as my memory started to come back, "I remember this from last year now. How could I forget this?" At one point, I even told myself I was not going to run this next year.

I then found myself catching up to 2 people, the guy in the red shirt and the girl in purple. I was still struggling a bit but foraged onward wondering where the heck that 2nd aid staion was. I started to wonder if I had missed it and wanted badly to ask the other two. Just then things began to look familiar and I knew I was close. I trotted into the Trail Nerd aid station and desparately asked for Ibuprofin. None was out and Ben kindly went to his car and found some for me. I am very thankful to him for that as my back was hurting. I drank a cup of Coke, snarfed some chippies and slammed a Hammer Gel and off I went again in pursuit of the girl in purple. This part of the race went very well and fast and I kept the girl in purple in my sights the whole time. I would catch up to her and then she would pull away. Drats!

Ah, and then the 3rd aid station, my buddies, my friends, the Trail Hawks. I stopped long enough to consume another Hammer Gel and get some Heed in the water bottle, only to find out a few minutes out that it was melon flavored - GAG! The girl in the purple took off out ahead of me as I finished up at the aid station and felt good at this point, especially knowing that I only had 2.8 miles to go. So off I went in pursuit of the girl in purple.

I soon found myself in the midst of those pesky, leaf covered rocks as I began to struggle on them again. I also found myself getting light headed at the top of the hills and was a little troubled by this and concerned in light of my Meneire's disease. Living life with such a condition can be scary when you feel like an attack could be coming on at any moment. At the top of each hill, I would pause and hang on to a tree momentarily until I gained a sense of stability. Being on a low sodium diet and being on a diuretic is going to be a challenge when I do begin my pursuit of ultra running but if it is one thing I don't mind, it is a challenge.

I began to feel some pain from the jolting and my mind began to question, "Why?" Whenever I get this feeling, I quickly remember and go over in my head, my friends' race reports of their ultra races. The details of those reports and the pain that they go through remind me that I can do this and I will. There is something about other people's experiences that make us realize we can do what we set our minds to do. I suddenly began to see the familiarity of the trail that leads to the end and I began to pick up the speed a bit. As I topped the last hill, paused momentarily, I knew I had to push through the pain not just to finish but to finish strong. I passed one person and then another and as I made my way towards the finish I began to hear the voices. Ah, there in front of me was the girl in purple and I just wanted to pass her. I sped up to try to get around her and she slowed down and stepped aside to let me pass. Well that was easy and I soon heard the cowbell, oh that wonderful sound of a cowbell.

I may have finished strong but I was 9 minutes slower than last year. Oh I have been humbled. I did win first place in the women's master division but I don't really feel worthy of that honor. I was slow in spite of what I considered a better training plan. I battle often with whether I want to train hard to be faster and better or just run for the fun of it. There are costs and benefits of each. I have a great deal to contend with in my every day life that sometimes I just like the break to get out and run. And because I squeeze my weekday runs in during the daytime, I can't really dedicate much time to them. I enjoy running alone on my gravel roads near my house because it gives me time to think and solve problems. Running with groups is rewarding as well but I feel I am too slow for this right now. I don't like to slow them down any. When I get faster, I will rejoin them but for now I want to run alone.

There is a very competitve spirit inside me that wants to train hard and push myself to be faster and better and to run farther. I see my friends do it and watching them achieve such greatness brings happy tears to my eyes. It is difficult to find the extra energy to train like that when I am stressed to the max in my life right now. I want very badly to step up and push myself but I am tired. My two young daughters need a devoted mother and there are many unfinished projects that need finalizing before I can commit to what I want to accomplish in my running. It is hard to explain to anyone who has never had to deal with the complexities of so much adversity at once. I am strong and I will rise above, just give me time. Remember my name as I will return.

Two races in one day......am I crazy? No.

July 25, 2009 - I first signed up for the Rock Creek Race series, which consists of 4 trail races over the course of about 8 months, in March. The third race just happened to be the same day as the SSG Adventure Race, which I promised my neice, Kellsey, I would do with her. And yes, I do love adventure races. I don't think it is any crazier than what some of my friends were doing that day - running a 50 mile race. I figure I covered about the same distance with just a little different approach.

Arrangements had been made to have my girls out Friday night to Sunday morning with their dad. I started by consuming a very yummy steak, potato and asparagus the night before the big day. Up at 5:00am for coffee, oatmeal and some juice and then out the door with Kellsey on our way to Perry State Park. Once there, the atmosphere was a little ominous with an approaching thunderstorm but it soon cleared up.

So we had three legs to complete and we could do them in any order but we had to come back and check in after each leg of the race. We decided to run/trek first which involved following a map to get a series of checkpoints. When you find a check point, you have to punch it on your passport with the punch located at the site and in the right square on the passport. Fresh out of the gate we made our first mistake, which I still think the map was misleading but none the less others found their way. However, we were not the only ones who went the wrong way at this point. Long story short, we ran a little over 3 miles out of the way and so we had to run back to get on track. We did take a shortcut through a hay field and skirted along a tree line in order to get back to the first checkpoint.

We then cut through the woods and all the time I was looking up to keep oriented and when I looked down, I realized we were right smack dab in the middle of a poison ivy patch with no end in sight. Not much one can really do about that now and I was pretty sure I was not allergic to it as I have never had a reaction to it. So I guess this is yet another test. Onward we foraged through weeds and brush and a small creek. We eventually made it onto a trail and managed to get out on the road only to find we had passed the checkpoint. Back we went and into the woods through a very deep, thick mud pit that sank us mid calf but we found the checkpoint. Back through the mud and out on the road again and off to the next check point. The next two check points were somewhat easy to find but were still a lot of trekking through mud and muck to get to. We each sucked down a Gu and more water and off we went.

With our last check point of the running leg, we headed back to the transition area where we checked in and headed to the lake for the canoeing or paddling leg of the race. We grabbed our stuff and the canoe and trodded off to the lake. Once in the canoe, I was relieved to give the legs a little break but the continuous rowing started to wear down the back, shoulder and arm muscles. It felt like we would never get there. Once at the check point, I got out, punched the passport and back into the canoe to paddle back to the point where we started. We lugged the canoe out of the lake and up the hill to the check in gal and then back up, up, up to the transition area. Once we checked in there, I changed shoes and we geared up for the mountain biking leg.

Off we went out on the road and across to the Rock Creek bike trails. The first check point was at the trail head and now we just needed 2 more check points. We each sucked down another Gu and more water from our hydration packs. I examined the map and compared it to the one on the board and figured the check points were on Great White and Skyline. We started on Skyline and rode for awhile, stopped to check the map and then kept going. Walla...we found it. I was feeling pretty good at this point and figured we might actually have a shot a winning even with our error. So we rode for quit awhile on what we thought was Great White when we came to a convergence of 3 trails. We stopped and pulled out the map and was trying to figure out where we were and where we wanted to go when I looked up to see Willie Lambert marking the trail for the night run that I would be doing in a little over 8 hours.

So we were getting ready to go to where we thought we needed to go, even though we felt like we should have already passed the other check point when 3 other all female teams came up on us. Two had just gotten the check point we were looking for and sent us back and told us it was tricky. The other team also needed the same check point. We rode back to where they said it was, got off our bikes and hiked down to another trail. We trekked up and down the trail and we never found it. We went back to get our bikes to bring them down and the other team just kept looking on foot. We met up with an all male team and they headed off to Wild West to find it. We went back down to see that the other team had found the check point and told us its down there and pointed. We rode down and back and all around and never did find the little sucker. Realizing we were getting close to the cut off time and that we were in no way going to win now, I told Kellsey that we just needed to head out and maybe we'll see it on the way out. We rode and rode and rode and .... you get the picture.

Frustration began to settle in but I realized that I just love to ride the trails and how much fun it is just to be competing. It is fun to push the body and get sweaty and muddy and bloody and all scarred up. Yes this is fun and even though we won't be taking home a trophy, we still had our pride. We finally came out of the trail system and off we went to the finish. One big, very big hill was yet in our way. I didn't want to trash the legs any more as I wanted to fair well in the night race later in the day. We came up on the hill and I geared down to 1 1 and it went slow but the legs never fatigued. I do believe we finished right at the cut off time of 5 hours.

On an endorphin high, we headed home for grub and rest. Once home, I ate a little, took a dip in the pool, slept for an hour and then grubbed some more. When I woke up I was not feeling it. I considered not running but thought maybe the food would soon kick in and that I at least needed to go. A combination of the grub and some energizing beverages and up beat music had me going by the time I arrived. I was a little stiff and sore but none the less I felt pretty good. I was signed up to run the 30K but decided to drop down to the 10K for obvious reasons and I am so glad I did. I started off fast for me but I really wanted to push myself now that my health seemed to be getting better. At about 9 minutes in my legs began to feel it but I decided to push through it and not slow down. I maintained my speed and soon the legs felt fine again and I suddenly had a little giddy up in my go so I went with it. I caught up with a small group and ran with them for a bit but as I walked the up hills and they didn't, they slowly pulled away from me.

I suddenly began to want the aid station as I felt I needed a little pick me up. It was getting dark now and I needed the head lamp. I finally came up on the aid station and the group that I was trying to hang with didn't stop and just kept going. I stopped for some Heed and a short break. Off I went again and felt a little sluggish but I knew I had to be about 4 miles in and wanted to finish strong so I reached down inside me and kicked it up a notch even though the body didn't want to. I told myself to feel the pain and deal with it. I have come to realize the only way we can get through pain is to really feel it and deal with it. That is something that transfers over into life as well. So I just ran and I began to hit some down hills and I oh so love down hills. However, they are a little different in the dark of the night. I stumbled a half a dozen times but managed to remain verticle.

Soon I came up on the group (a little strung out now) that I was running with earlier. I passed them one by one and made my through the night on my own running faster than normal and feeling absolutely awesome. I kept telling myself, "They are coming to pass you. Run faster!" Self talk got me through and up the big hill to the finish line where people were cheering and ringing the cow bell. I finished strong and felt great. I know it was only a 10K but for me I felt a huge accomplishment and very proud to push myself to a faster pace. I managed to take first place in the women's master division and for that I was happy. Getting older does have its privileges. Not too shabby for this older but wiser woman.

I hung out and grubbed and drank margaritas and a couple of beers. I chatted with Jim, Lisa, MK, Renee, Deb Johnson and others and eventually found myself helping out at the finish line while the 20K and 30K runners finished up. I hit a wall and decided it was time for me to get home and to bed as I had a birthday party to organize, a house to clean and a yard to mow the next day. I crawled into bed at 2:00am and thought about my friends who ran their 50 mile race that day and wondered how it all went for them. Will I do that someday? Only time will tell:)

Fall Fell Trail Run

Up before dawn and out the door with coffee in hand and running necesseties in my bag. I met up with Sophia, Hunter and Fritz for a carpool to the race. On the way there, I realized I was not with a group of casual runners. These are serious runners! As I checked in, there was a chill in the air and the brisk breeze added an exclamation point. I handed in my registration form and eight dollars and recieved bib #13. Mmmmmmmmmmm, I thought. I am running in a race at a place they Kill Creek, wearing #13 and running with a group that claims they bury whiners in shallow graves. And it is two weeks before Halloween. Ewe, kinda creepy.

Out of the gate, I fall back quickly as usual. I watched the others dissappear quite methodically. I have been a competitor all my life in sports such as volleyball, basketball, track and softball. I used to get so damn nervous before games and races that I couldn't eat for an entire day. I used to expect more out of myself than anyone dare to know. That lead me to always performing sub-par. My life now is hectic and stressful with 2 children, 3 dogs, a 25 acre plot of land, an ailing father and 3 businesses to work and manage. I lost my mother 7 years ago and not a day goes by that I don't think of her and wish she were here to see the baby of the family taking on so much responsibility.

Once again I felt alone with most of the pack ahead of me and a few behind me. I came to the first error in ways and went left when they clearly stated go right. I did stop and ponder a second as Karen, her son and another caught up with me. Not sure why we went left but I was in the lead and they followed. A little ways further and I realized we were running the same damn trail. To me it was no big deal but I felt bad for the ones who followed me. I kinda felt like "Wrong Way Ralph". The extra miles were nice on such a beautiful course on a georgous day.

We ran as a group for awhile and then I am not sure what happened but I fell back from them. Through the creek and out onto the second loop. Here I was again, running alone and falling back into my thoughts. I am not here to win or break any PR. No, not this year, maybe next. I am here because I enjoy the run, the scenery, the people and life. I am here for my children. I am their greatest mentor and my goal is to lead by example. I have attempted the world of soccer, t-ball and basketball with my 3 & 5 year old daughters. I failed miserably as a "soccer mom". I realized that successful, happy people are passionate about what they do and you cannot teach passion. There is plenty of time for my kids to get involved in sports and other activities when they so desire. In the meantime, I want them to see me pursuing my passions while still making plenty of time for them. I want them to see the happiness that following my passions brings to me.

Okay, so enough about that. Here I was feeling like I was in last place and not hearing or seeing anyone else made me remember my #13 and running in a place called Kill Creek. "Hey, Mary Ann!" I looked up to see Karen and her son just as Gary Henry caught up to me. What the heck? Why is he behind me? I met him awhile back when I was on my way out. He was apparently a little confused to come up on me. He ran this loop twice, I guess. He passed me and off into the woods he dissappeared. As I crossed the creek on the way back, I was greeted by Kyle who told me where to go. I felt good now and stepped it up a notch so I could finish strong. Only one problem, I missed the hard right turn and sped on through the woods going the wrong way. "Mary Ann!" I stopped as Karen hollered at me to come back. Thanks to her, I turned around and followed her for awhile. That burst of energy that was to carry me into the finish seemed to have depleted. I am sure it was a mental thing.

I finished none the less but with a longer time than my Sandrat Trail Run. Oops! But I still beat Gary. Not sure how, but I am guessing he didn't have someone like Karen to stop him from running on out to the first loop again. Trail running is new to me as is distance running. I will get better, stronger, faster and smarter. That you can count on! After parting ways with my carpool buddies, I went on home to carve pumpkins with my kids and play in the afternoon sun. Mom would be proud.

Pod Trod 08

Welcome to trail tails and mud more. This is where you can read about my trail running, especially in the mud, adventure racing and mud (much) more. My most recent event entailed an entire weekend at BOW (Becoming an Outdoor Woman) workshop. I will blog about that at a later time this week. First I would like to share a most adventurous race that I participated in on September 21, 2008 at Clinton Lake State Park. It was called a Pod Trod. It is believed to be the first ever race of its kind , anywhere. Correct me if I am wrong and please show your proof.

"What's a Pod Trod?" you ask. Well it is a trail race with a twist. The night before the race you are able to download the instructions of your choice to one of three courses. One is hard, one is moderate and one is easy. However, you do not know which is which. The choices are Mud Babes Revenge, Lumbering Luddite and Clinton Confusion. I chose Mud Babes Revenge, narrated by none other than local celebrity and original mudbabe, Sophia.

At the race; checked in, stretched and prepped for the 5K course, I began to size up the competition. Looks like a bunch of trail nerds hoping to find their way back to the watermelon.

With that said, here’s my experience in a nut shell, and I use the word nut because I am sure for anyone who may have witnessed this event with no knowledge of what was going on, probably thought we were nuts, or squirrels looking for nuts.

MUD BABE’S REVENGE: Ready, set, MP3 player on. Everyone stood there for a few seconds and then took off like a bat out of hell. Me, I was not quite in such a hurry, so by the time I made it to the first landmark, Lands End, most people were gone. There were just a few, standing, looking around, not talking and then taking off running, only to stop, come back, and then take off on a different trail. I did the same thing, took off down the wrong trail. You see, when I looked at the lake and turned around as I was told, I could only see three trails…Lake Henry to the right, one straight ahead and the one we came down. I was told to take the left trail in the V once I turned around. I was too far to the south to see the V in the one we just came down so I trodded off down the blue blaze trail, only to hear Sophia remark that I should be on a white blaze trail….ERRRR! Okay, so I ran awhile before I turned around. Once I finally turned around and made it back to Lands End, I took the other wrong trail. I did come back to Lands End again. Okay now I’m the only idiot here, everyone else figured this part out and I’m only ten minutes into the race. That’s ok, I’m really only here for the watermelon. Yeah right? Just then I looked up to see the V, ah ha!!!

I decided I better run a little faster and suddenly started meeting people coming back. I tried looking at their bibs to see which races they were running and all three were well represented, so that left me no where for the better. OK, just listen to Sophia, she’ll keep me on track. So I replayed it again to make sure I was going in the right direction. Yep, sounded good, keep going. I’m looking for the man made stairs with the red railing. Where can it be? Ahhhhh, I see it. I’m still the only idiot here doing my own thing. Everyone else must be doing well. OK. I’m stopped on the steps, waiting for Sophia to figure out if it is recording. Yes, Sophia, I can hear you, where to now? Down the steps and what do I see? People, yes, people. Crap, it’s my brother-in-law taking pictures, Gary, the RD and another volunteer. This is not reassuring. But hey, there’s a bucket with my first ticket. At least I am on the right path, just a little behind.

OK, so here is where my high school competitive spirit tells me I can’t be last. GO! RUN LIKE HELL!!! Let me remind you, it’s been awhile since high school and my GO doesn’t GO like it did back then. But I sure felt like I was hauling butt, running like a banshee through the woods. I was really beginning to feel like a nerd. So now I’m headed back to Lands End like the directions said. So, I’m still doing my own thing out there on the trail. Alright, Sophia, I’m going to turn you on (MP3 player, that is) before I get to back Lands End. Yea, I’m a rebel. So she tells me when I get to Lands End to turn around and go back down the trail I am on and go about 18 steps. Do I dare turn and go down the red blaze without going all the way up? No, they might have the 2^nd bucket up there and besides there is a woman with the camera, she’ll know I didn’t go. So I went up looked for the bucket, made a face for the camera and came back down.

Still by myself, I blazed down red. Ouch! The trail has become a little rocky. No more blazing here so I toned it down a bit. What is that up ahead? Girls. Could it be? Yes, I caught them and then by golly I passed them. Up ahead were more runners. Ah, there is a girl with a very cute baby and a guy standing there looking like a volunteer. So I just I keep running on by them, admiring the baby. Oops, I was supposed to stop there and listen to Sophia. Back to the girl, the baby and the guy and get the next set of directions, which I cannot remember what they were but I went in the right direction, or did I? It was quite hilarious to come up on a group standing there, looking at each other, not talking, concentrating, looking around and then one would take off running.

So along the limestone and shale trail some more and up the hill and there is a group standing around another bucket. I went to get my ticket and WHAT IS THIS??? MBR #1, I have that one and so did another couple there. I turned on the directions again and via a different trail I ran back by the girl, the baby and the guy. OK, where is the stinking fallen down tree? Did I pass it? Yep sure did. Back by the girl, the…., you get the picture. Yep, there it is and time to turn on the directions again. Then Sophia has the gull to tell me to go back to Lands End on the same trail that brought me here. I sttill only have one ticket and as I pass the girl, the baby and the guy I feel like we have become good friends, “Just me again.” I tell them. Was everyone running by them as many times as I was? Will I see them again?

I ran all the way back to Lands End and up the trail we came down to begin the race and up into the clearing. I was really expecting to find another ticket by now. I caught up with a couple of girls and asked them if they were doing MBR and they said yes. They said they had two tickets and I asked them where they got their second ticket and when they told me, I said that was MBR #1 again. When they pulled out their tickets they realized they had 2 #1’s. Oh, here comes the couple I met on the race a few times and they too, only had ticket #1. Alright, I’m oughta here. I’m just want the watermelon. So off I went, running to the finish with one final hurdle. Yes, I said hurdle. I did run hurdles in high school but I was not ready for a droopy foot to catch the bar and slam my face to the ground with the photographer standing there, so I gracefully stepped over the sucker. When I turned in my one ticket, I found out the only person who found all three tickets so far was running without an iPod and returned to the finish line via a different direction. I then proceeded to the watermelon. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

It was a blast and I thoroughly enjoyed. I hope to see many more out there next year and that this may be the beginning of a new type of race. Until next time, have a day!!!

Links to race photos:

http://00673d3.netsolhost.com/photoalbum_index.htm/09-21-08trodpod_brad/index.htm
http://00673d3.netsolhost.com/photoalbum_index.htm/09-21-08podtrod_bat/index.htm
http://00673d3.netsolhost.com/photoalbum_index.htm/09-21-08trodpod_dave/index.htm