San Felipe Shootout Recap

I’ve been wanting to do a trail race for some time now.  On my trip to Oregon last year, I went for a 10 mile trail run and I’ve been on only 1 or 2 since then.  Not for lack of wanting to go, but for lack of trails.  Austin isn’t exactly a hotbed of trails that are runnable that aren’t choked full of mountain bikers and day hikers.  Sometime in the latter part of last year, I started following a company called Trail Racing Over Texas (TROT) and they put up posts about their upcoming races.  Finally, in January, I found one I wanted to do.  But, really, it was more than just 1 race…it was 3.  I mean, I could do just 1, but why do just 1 when I can do 3 and earn an extra medal, right?  I got the day before the race off from work and registered for the San Felipe Shootout, the Triple.  I then proceeded to get excited about my first trail race.  TROT would occasionally post pictures of the trails in the Stephen F Austin State Park and what we had to look forward to.  The trails were all very nice and wide.

They had packet pickup for the 2 days prior to the race, however it was in Houston, which is about a 3 hour drive each way for me.  Thankfully, they were also having packet pickup the morning of the races.  I woke up at 3am and got ready and then made the 2-ish hour drive and arrived right at 6am.  Another lady that parked 2 vehicles down from me was going to do the same as me: walk to pick up her packet, walk back to her car and chill for about 30 minutes and then walk back to the race start area.

TROT offers different options for your race swag.  One option, the one I chose, was an official race shirt.

Another option, which the lady I hung out with pre-race (her name is Michelle) chose, was a TROT water bottle and a TROT buff.  The third option I know had sunglasses, but I don’t know what else.  I love my race shirts and have no use for another bottle.  However, the buff would have been nice to have.  But, I think if I really, really want one, I can buy it off their website.

The start was a little unconventional in that we started IN FRONT of the timing mat.  I wasn’t aware of the reason until we were finishing up the 5K and going through the start/finish arch.  But first…the 5K loop.  We started off by crossing the parking area and heading off into a grassy area to a trail.  There wasn’t mud or water right away.  But within a couple tenths of a mile we hit our first bit of mud.  I didn’t run through it, just walked.  After all, we had an hour to complete the 5K before it was time for the 10K to start and I’ve walked a 5K in less than 50 minutes before.  There were more patches of mud and portions of the trail were flooded.  I’m not sure of the mileage, but at about 30 minutes in, we came to the water hazard.  And by water hazard I mean the fording of a small river.  The first portion came up to my waist.  Then, you go back up on land and you think it’s over, only to turn the corner and have to do it again.  Except this time it was up to my chest.  Egads!  After that, we slipped and slid our way out of the water hazard and slogged thru lots and lots of mud.  I know the mile for this was 26:35.  Between the water hazards and all the mud, I’m surprised it was that “fast.”  The 5K loop was a little long at 3.6 miles.  It ended with us going up muddy stairs to go through the start/finish arch, which is why we started in front of it.  There was nowhere to stand behind it.  When I crossed the timing mat, the lady handed me my single race medal and told me I had 4 minutes until the 10K started.  FOUR MINUTES?!?!?!  I looked at my Garmin and sure enough, it read 56 and some seconds.  Damn.  Went to the porta real quick and changed my socks and got lined up just in time.

The 10K started.  I knew what to expect this time.  The 10K was 2 of the 5K loops.  I had 2 hours from the start of the 10K before the half started, and I wanted a few minutes to sit down between races.  I figured if I could make sure I got both loops done in 56 minutes or less each that I would have at least 8 minutes to chill.  The flooded sections of the trail that I had walked on the 5K loop I ran through during the 10K.  As a result, I had TEN MINUTES to sit down and relax before the half started. Woohoo!

As we lined up for the half, somehow I managed to hit the pause button on my FitBit Blaze a second time, completing the run workout tracking.  Dammit.  Since I did this like 30 seconds before the half started, I didn’t have time to take my phone out of its Ziploc baggie, turn the camera on, take a picture of the Blaze and then put the phone back, I just cleared it and started up a new run tracking session.  Ugh.  Oh well.  The good news in this was that I would know fairly exact stats for the half marathon since I was just pausing my Garmin between races and doing total distance tracking.  Looking back, I wish I had purposely completed my runs between each race on the Blaze and taken a picture of the screen.  Oh well.  Happy turn of events…where the 5K was about ½ a mile over and, therefore, the 10K was a mile over, the half was only one tenth of a mile long.  That’s fairly accurate in my book!

On the first loop of the half marathon, I realized I was “over it.”  I was over the mud.  I was over the flooded trails.  I was over the almost constant slipping and sliding.  I was over the almost swimming I had to do to ford the small river.  A very small part of me pointed out that I could quit if I wanted to.  But the bigger voice in my head said that if I quit then I wouldn’t get my second medal and I’ve already done 2 of the 3 races, so why would I quit now?  It didn’t make sense.  So I just kept trudging along.  But, there was no 4^th race for me to hurry up and make a cut off for.  In fact, I had until 5pm to finish up.  I could literally walk the whole half marathon and still have a little time left over.  The half marathon loops were a little different than the 5K/10K loops.  I mean, they were mostly the same, but after the fording water hazards, the half turns right and goes to somewhat higher and less muddy ground. YAY!  This helped my mood oh so much.  The different scenery.  The significant less slogging through the mud and ankle-knee-thigh deep water.  There were a couple downed trees that we had to crawl over, but I’d rather do that than slog through the mud more than I already had to.

On the 5^th loop overall, 2^nd loop of the half marathon, I made a new friend!  Her name is Dawn and her nickname is Ultra Princess.  Her favorite distance is 50 miles.  We started talking and talking and talking.  We helped each other in and out of the fording water hazards so those areas were easier and not so stressful.  My mood perked right up!  Even though we walked waaaaaay more than we ran (cough*shuffled*cough), those final 2 loops of the half just flew by!

There was a guy running all 3 races, like me and Dawn were doing, named Chris.  He gets 1 free TROT race each year.  Why?  Because he got a 3x3 inch tattoo of the TROT logo tattooed on the back of his left calf.  Yep, he go their logo TATTOOED on him.  I started talking to Dawn about that as we walked/shuffled/slipped/slid around the course and she knows the owners of TROT and the standards for the tattoo for free races deal.  I’m kind of thinking of doing it.  The tattoo will cost about $150-$200 and will pay for itself in just 3 free races (or, in 3 years).  I’m going to run a couple more of their races before I decide.  But, it’s a really attractive logo and, frankly, if I continue running trails, it’s a tattoo that kind of makes sense for me to get anyway.  I think I’d get it on my right shoulder blade. 

There was a guy that was stationed at the beginning of the very first portion of the fording water hazards.  He was a super fun and happy guy and he was using his phone to take pictures of the runners (forders?  swimmers?) as they went by his station.  At one point I had an epic slip and fall and slide down the hill going into the water hazard and I asked if he got it on video.  He didn’t.  But he said that even if he had gotten it, he wouldn’t have posted it and I told him that if he had gotten it that he had better post it!  I would want that video of my epic wipeout!  There were a couple other times where I purposely sat down and slid into the water.  Each time I hoped and hoped that the mud wouldn’t go up my shorts…I’m sure you understand why.  Haha!

I was so very happy when I crossed under the start/finish arch for the 6^th and final time.  I was done.  I was toast.  I was ready to go.  This experience was completely awesome and amazing, but it also sucked major ass at the same time.  I will most likely NOT do this particular event in the future.  I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it.  It was a LOT of fun, don’t get me wrong.  I just happened to figure out what my mud limit was during this event…and it’s about 10.8 miles (the distance I ran between the 5K and the 10K).  Mostly, I just won’t run ANY trail races during the early spring months.  They have another race coming up the first weekend of May…the Wildflower Half…that I am really wanting to do.  It’s at the Bastrop State Park.

Overall, it was really great to get over my inhibitions about getting dirty and muddy and I actually really enjoyed it!  So, there might be mud runs that I do on purpose in my future!  It took me 7:07:43 to complete the entire 3 race challenge (I paused my Garmin between races).  In all honesty, I probably could have done it faster, but I was staying with another lady (my friend for the day, Dawn) and helping distract her because she was struggling. 

Weekly Recap

Sorry I didn’t get this posted yesterday.  I woke up at 3am to drive 2 hours to do a trail race and it took me over 7 hours to complete the total distance due to flooding and muddy conditions and I was just exhausted yesterday and completely forgot about this post until I was already in bed last night.

• Saturday: this was a somewhat messed up day.  I worked overtime Friday night and so didn’t get to bed until after 6am, then was back up by noon to mail a package and get my abbreviated day started.  I ran the Illuminations Half Marathon and that started at 6:15pm (look for my race recap I the next week or so…after I’ve gotten my official pictures).  It was part on paved trails and roads and part on trails and gravel roads.  And it was at night.  This was a challenging run but it was so much fun!  It was also the first time I got to use my new FitBit Blaze for any kind of exercise!  (I plan to write up a review in the next couple weeks, so stay tuned for that as well if the Blaze is something you’re thinking of buying)

• Sunday: after working 16 hours Thursday AND Friday nights and then running a challenging half marathon Saturday evening, I needed SLEEP.  And boy did I get it.  I was in bed for about 11 hours.  I woke up and felt like I had been hit by a truck.  Whoa.  I got up and got moving, then decided what I wanted to eat for the week (other than tilapia) and went and bought what I needed.  Then I came back home and started working on my housework and baking the tilapia and cooking the sweet potatoes in the crockpot and slicing my apples.  After all that, I went to the gym in the evening and did my 65 minutes on the elliptical.

• Monday: I ran a half marathon on Saturday that was challenging, and then I’m running a total of 22.4 miles today on trails, so this week was a recovery and taper week all in one.  So, my runs this week are easy and shorter.  This day, I just ran 4 miles easy.

• Tuesday: since I had my therapy appointment on this morning, I had to keep my workout short and sweet.  That means TRX at home!  So I did my TRX workout and added pullups, stairs and then mixed my 22 BOSU pushups into the workout.  Then, between before and after my appointment, I walked about 4.5 miles.

• Wednesday: a thunderstorm moved into my area overnight and there was loud thunder and bright lightning that woke me up a couple times.  When I got up, it had stopped raining but there were still thunder rumbles in the distance, so I wasn’t sure if I would go ahead with my planned run or go to the gym and use the elliptical.  Ultimately, I decided to do the run and geared up with a rain jacket and my water proof earbuds.  I did have to change the route I was running because I was originally going to run through the park, but the low water crossings were most likely flooded over, so I didn’t chance it and changed to my 5K route and earned my Shamrocked It virtual race medal.  By the time I headed out for my run, the rain had started up again, but it wasn’t a down pour, just a light, steady rain.  I love running in the rain because it feels good spiritually and it makes me run faster.

• Thursday: went to the gym and did my 65 minutes on the elliptical.

• Friday: this was going to be a rest day, however I just couldn't do that.  So, I went to the gym and did 65 minutes on the elliptical and it was a GREAT session too!  It just clicked and I went to town on that elliptical and burned almost 100 more calories than I usually do!  Oh yea!

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I talked in last week’s recap about my plans for eating.  I cooked up 6 lbs of seasoned tilapia and portioned it out into 12 oz portions.  I cooked some orange-spiced sweet potatoes (a recipe I made for the first time on thanksgiving) and sliced up lots of apples.  I set myself up for success this week.  If I stuck to this eating plan, that would put me right at 1100 calories for the day.  On Monday, I did meet a friend for breakfast at IHOP and got the 2x2x2 with sausage and sugar free syrup.  I was still well within the daily calorie allowance I assigned myself of 1550, so I have no guilt whatsoever over it.  I did really well in that department.  Sure I ate some chocolate here and some Cheez Its there, but I never went over my calories and most days I had at least a couple/few hundred calorie deficit.  Woohoo!  And that resulted in what I saw on the scale when I weighed in a day early on Friday (since I was getting up at 3am to do that trail race on Saturday I opted to weigh in a day early).

I am pretty dang happy with that!  3.7?  Oh yea!  I hope I can lose something again this week.  I’m going with the low calorie, high volume tilapia again.  (It’s also quite budget friendly and I need that right now.)  I’m also doing the orange-spiced sweet potatoes for dinners again and pink lady apples for snacks.  And then, of course, my 6 eggs for breakfast.  I’m really trying to treat this as a revised good outlook on things.  I’m not trying to be perfect, just better than I was being. 

I’ll be recovering from Saturday’s trail race for the majority of this week because it was a huge challenge both mentally and physically for me to complete, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be backing off a LOT with my workouts.  I’m going to back off a smidge with my running.  I probably won’t run more than 2 runs this week.  But I will get my strength training done and be using the elliptical as well.  Might even throw in some other cardio exercises here and there as well.  We’ll see.

I've been doing the 22 for 22 challenge.  I chose to do 22 BOSU pushups a day for 22 days.  I invite you to join this challenge with me.  You don't have to do BOSU pushups or even pushups.  Pick your exercise and do 22 reps of it for 22 days.  But, my advice is to choose something that's at least a little challenging for you.  You also don't have to do the whole 22 reps at once.  You can break it up throughout the day.  Why am I doing this challenge?  Well, statistically, 22 American soldiers commit suicide every day.  By doing this and sharing why you're doing it with friends, family and on social media, you help raise awareness for those 22 soldiers and so that tomorrow's 22 soldiers will get the helps they need to make a different decision.  As a military veteran that struggles with depression every single day of her life...as someone that has been there in that darkest of dark moments...this cause means so very much to me.  Please join me in this.

drop and give me 22!

The Long Run

The long run.  It’s a staple of any distance runner’s weekly running regimen.  The distance on any given runner’s long run varies from runner to runner.  Someone who runs marathons or ultra marathons, their long run will always be in the double digits.  Someone who runs half marathons or less, not so much (if at all) in the double digits.  No matter what you consider to be a long run, that is exactly what it is, a long run.  Don’t let anyone laugh at you for saying that 6 miles is your version of a long run.  To you, 6 miles IS long.  And to be honest, 6 miles IS a long way to go on foot.  It’s just that some people (me included) are so used to running 10+ miles, not only in long runs, but in weekday runs that we could do 6 miles in our sleep.  But that doesn’t mean that running 6 miles isn’t an accomplishment.

 

Some people love the long run and some people dread it.  I am one of those people that LOVE it!  I love being out there running, be it on the sidewalk around town or on a trail through the park.  I just love it.  The longer I get to run, the more I love it.  However, the longer the distance, the more anxiety I have pre-run.  Seriously.  I am so nervous the day of and the day before, what I call, a “super long run.”  Basically, anything over 15 miles is what I call a “super long run.”  I’ll be out there for closer to 3 hours so I really have to make sure I’m fully prepared.  I mean, I have to be fully prepared for ANY run, but with my super long runs, so much more could potentially go wrong.  Hence my anxiety.

 

In the past, I’ve said that I would do all of my long runs that were 10 miles or more at the Ladybird Lake hike & bike trail near downtown Austin.  I didn’t stick to it, though.  However, this time, I think I mean it.  I went and ran a 10 mile loop of the entire trail (from the Mopac pedestrian bridge to S. Pleasant Valley Dr) and I loved it!  It’s a great change of pace and scenery, which is really great to do with your long run.  You should really enjoy your surroundings when you’re doing your long run because you’ll be out there for longer than your other runs.  Duh, right?  Also, it helps alleviate my anxiety because no matter how far I run, I’m no more than 5 miles away from my car and there are hundreds and thousands of other people out there on the trail as well that can help me if something happens.  There are also police officers that patrol the trail on bicycle.

 

There are different ways you can make the long run more enjoyable and less anxiety-inducing.  One is to change the scenery from your usual running routes.  Make your weekly long run a bit of a visual “treat.”  If you usually run on the sidewalk or the street, go to a park or a hike & bike trail.  Another thing you can do is join a running group.  These don’t always have to be the running groups that you pay for membership in through your local running stores.  Running with others really changes the game.  Suddenly you’ve got others around and it just plain more fun.  It’s like running a race!  It’s exciting!  And then there’s the post-run meet ups at a coffee shop that these groups sometimes do.  I have not personally participated in any group runs, but I have done a couple runs with just one other person and let me tell you, it made the miles fly by.  I never thought I could be one of those people that could carry on a conversation while running, but I totally am!

 

Another thing you can do to help make your long run less “ugh” is to break it up.  For instance, run a 5K race in the morning, then go later on and run a 10K or more on your own.  I’ll be doing that this weekend.  I’m running a 5K at 9am, then going home, changing, grabbing a bagel and then heading to the hike & bike trail for another 10-13 miles!  This will be the first time I will break up a long run.  But I know so many people who do it all the time. 

 

So, whatever your definition of a long run is, just know that including it in your weekly running routine is important.  Why?  Because it helps build endurance and stamina.  That’s why when you’re training for a half marathon or longer distance, you increase the distance of your weekly long run by about 10% each week.  You’re increasing your ability to run longer and longer distances, building up to your target distance (whatever your race distance is).

 

What’s your idea of a long run? 

How do you make your long run less daunting/more fun?

Weekly Recap

Yesterday was a little crazy, which is why this didn't get posted until today.  I worked overtime Friday night and got off work at 6am, so I slept until noon then got up and mailed my FitBit Surge off to my friend Jessica (so excited for her to get it and start using it and motivate herself!), then I went for lunch and by the time I got home, it was pretty much time to decide what I was going to wear for the half marathon I ran last night and then hit the road so I could pick up my packet by 5pm.  Then I ran the race and hit the store for a little bit of grocery shopping, then home and shower and crash in the bed!

• Saturday: spent the entire day at the renaissance festival.  Lots of time on my feet and made it a little over my 10K steps for the day.

• Sunday: spent most of the day running errands, going shooting, and procrastinating.  Finally headed out for a run around 5:30pm.  geez.  But, the temp was around 70° and there was a light breeze, so it was a comfortable run.  I’m still recovering from the marathon, but this day’s run definitely felt better than Friday last week’s run did, so that’s good.

• Monday: went to the gym and did 43 minutes on the elliptical on the cross country program then hit the free weights.  I did decline bench, deadlifts with a barbell, standing rows with a barbell, side bends, bicep curls and step ups.

• Tuesday: ran the 1.33 miles to the school track, then ran 8 laps with 100m sprint and 300m recovery, then ran back home.  Felt fantastic!  I’d like to do this once a week and eventually work up to 100m sprint 100m recovery, then repeat for 8 laps.  Then I ran back home for a total distance of 5 miles.

• Wednesday: still pretty sore from Monday’s visit to the gym mixed with some defensive tactics training I did for work on Tuesday, so I skipped the strength training and just did my 65 minutes on the elliptical on the cross country setting.

• Thursday: was going to go for an 8 mile run, but took too long doing the other things I needed to do on this morning so I actually ran out of time and cut it short at 7 miles.  It was also really warm for an early March morning so my heart rate was over 160 for the majority of the run, which just made the whole thing feel harder than it was.

• Friday: picked up overtime on the night shift Thursday night, so no workout on this day.

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This week I decided to add a little something to my daily routine.  A while back I heard about the 22 for 22 challenge.  Pick an exercise that might be a little challenging for you and do 22 reps of it a day for 22 days.  The point of this challenge is to raise awareness for the average of 22 American soldiers that commit suicide each day.  Being a veteran myself, this hits me close to the heart.  I also suffer with chronic and lifelong issues with depression and PTSD due to events in my past.  I’ve been there.  I’ve been in that moment where you can’t see beyond the moment and everything seems hopeless and like there’s no point.  It’s not an easy place to be in.  So the more awareness I can bring, the more help they can get so maybe they can see at least a little bit that there is something beyond that moment and that it’s not as hopeless as it feels.  So, I finally started the challenge.  I decided to do 22 pushups on my BOSU ball for 22 days.  I challenge you to do the same.  Maybe not the same exercise, but pick something that is a little challenging for you and do 22 reps a day for 22 days.  Then post about it on social media and tag it #22for22 and help spread awareness!

Oh so yea!  I finally got a working pump for my BOSU ball!  So, it’s now fully inflated and useable!  I love it!  I love having my own BOSU!  Now I just need a pair of 30 pound dumbbells and I can do that entire workout at home!  Woohoo!

For the most part, during the week my eating was pretty good.  There was some extra eating on Thursday but that was the day I worked a double shift, so it’s to be expected…at least a little bit…that I would eat a little extra.  But, I did do my best to not go fully overboard.

And now, for the scale...

Yep, you read that right, I'm UP 2.9 pounds.  However, before I freak out, let's look at the bottom number, my body fat %.  Last week it was 34.8%...so, while I gained 2.9 pounds, my body fat went down .7%.  So, maybe the gain isn't *all* bad.  I do have some plans rolling around in my head to get this turned around and going back in the direction I want/need it to go.  It has a LOT to do with what I'm eating.  So, I bought a BUNCH of tilapia because it's super low in calories and cheap and I can eat a large serving of it (12 oz) and still be under 350 calories for that meal.  And then my usual eggs, some orange-spiced sweet potatoes cooked in the crockpot and sliced apples.  That's what I'll be eating this week.  That's about 1100 calories a day.  I need to get myself back in control and, really, my main problem is food.  I need to grow a spine and tell myself "no" when things I shouldn't be eating present themselves to me.

March Goals

In February I ran 84.7 miles. I had a goal of at least 100 miles. I fell a little short. A while back I told a friend that the months where I run a marathon are the months I have the most trouble logging higher mileage. He was surprised to hear that. However, it's no surprise to those who run marathons. Say the marathon is mid-month like the Austin marathon was. You're tapering and logging way less miles the 2 weeks leading up to the marathon. Then, after the marathon you're in recovery and therefore logging way less miles. Some people don't run at all for 1-3 weeks after a marathon. I usually take 2-5 days off from running post-marathon. It just depends on how I feel. Hopefully I can ramp my mileage back up in March. With that said, let me go over my goals for March:

• run at least 100 miles

• finish the San Felipe Shootout without injuring myself

• do 2 strength training workouts a week

• finish up the 22 in 22 challenge...and then keep going by doing pushups every day, ultimately increasing the amount of pushups I'm doing each day

• start doing pull ups

• read as much of the book Run Less Run Faster and develop a plan for training that will help me increase my base speed

• make a valiant attempt to PR the 5K (I'm running 2 this month so I have 2 opportunities)

• lose some weight…any weight, even just 1 pound is fine with me

I think that's a good list for my monthly goals. Some are repeats (and will continue to be repeated each month) and some are new or specific to this month.

In February, I also fell short on my 10K steps a day every day.  Usually on Sundays.  I did not follow my intermittent fasting schedule.  And I did not lose any weight.  In fact, I’m about 5 pounds heavier now than I was at the beginning of February.  Ugh.