Facing reality and emerging from Denial

Facing reality and emerging from denial, I am realizing I am a heel striker.

I was flipping through my race photos, trying to choose which ones I'd put on a motivational board or a "brag wall" to go with my bibs and medals.  Something for me, for fun and to remember the feels of accomplishment when I have a particularly difficult training run.

I kept seeing the same thing over and over again in my pictures...

There is a lot of info out there about heel striking.... Almost everyone does it, or that barefoot running will or will not help...  Most information out there seems to contradict each other, like most things on the internet.  

When seeking advice from my running community today, I received these tidbits:

Get a metronome app and run between 160-180bpm

Run barefoot on grass or a soft surface

Shorten my stride

Try "Chi Running"

Be a "ninja" at home and practice walking ball of foot to heel

Do hill repeats at a steep grade for 30-50 yards at least 5 times twice a week or tackle stadium stairs

Get a running coach

Look for a running form clinic

Pick up my knees

Concentrate more on landing on the ball of my foot

Pay for this program or that...

Whatever the answer is, I know I have some work ahead of me.  I know I need to pick up my knees and drop my arms and put my shoulders back.  I knowI need to shorten my stride.  I know that I monster stomp around my house.  I hear myself "THOMP! THOMP! THOMP!" when I go from one end of the house to the other... 

Race Review: Slime Run (How I survived my first Obstacle Fun Run)

Race Review:  Sat. May 17th, 2014

The Slime Run (almost a 5K)

I have accomplished my first obstacle race!  The Slime Run's webpage shows pictures of people being showered in thick green goo, and it isn't exactly like that.  It's more of a watered down, slick, colorful goo?  Here I am at the start of the race and my "after" pic at the finish.  Not as epic as I was hoping for with the mess factor.  

I had a morning wave time, but the race is pretty low-key on organization and you could probably show up for any wave time that you wanted to.  

There is NO bag check, so you want to lock your change of clothes and such in your car.  

Parking?  $10.

Ten dollars is way too much to pay to park, especially when the race is within a couple blocks of the transit center ($5 for an all day pass).   I had some other errands to do after the race (packet pickup for my Half Marathon the next day!  Woo Hoo!) so, pay or figure a way around it?  

My errands that required me to be sorta clean and use my change of clothes.  

Did I mention there is no bag check?  

No problem!  

If you have anything you need to take with you on a sticky/slimy/muddy or just wet course... ziplock bags are your friend.

I put a change of clothes, phone, lightweight flip flops and anything else I thought I couldn't live without in a gallon zip lock bag and put that in a nylon cinch up bag/backpack.... with another one inside the ziploc bag so that I could contain the slimy stuff in that ziploc bag and have a clean bag to carry around on my other errands before my trip home.  

Now that you know how to prepare for your Slime Run, this is what you should know about the course:  

For whatever location you sign up to do this race, this will be your course map.  ;-)  

After the start was announced for my wave, some cannons at the start line spray participants with green slime.  (Though I did the very first wave and only one cannon went off.  Perhaps that was fixed before the end of the day?) 

After that, I came upon rows of tires were were supposed to run through.  I don't know how those football camp films make it look so easy, but I was pretty sure I was going to trip and kill myself or someone was going to trip and knock me over, and kill me.

We ran on pretty much the same route as the Cosmic Run that I had volunteered at in April.  I could still see the colorful cornstarch on the ground where the concert had been and where the color stations had been.  After getting sprayed by teenagers who delighted it spraying me in the face with their slime guns, I passed a stretch of pink earth.  That was where I had tried so hard not to hit people in the face with my pink glow-in-the-dark corn starch a few weeks ago.

About that time, and about 1 mile into the course, we had an inflatable slide down to a pool of cold, sticky water.  Not quite slime, but slimy looking.

Brrrr.  Did I mention you should bring an old pair of shoes on their last leg of life?  They will get completely, utterly soaked and there is no going back.

So on this chilly May morning in the Pacific Northwest, I crawled out of the inflatable pool of cold liquid and ran on.  Fun, but COLD!

The next obstacle was concrete barriers like the ones often seen on highways to keep cars on their side of the divider.  

Teenagers hollered at us to jump over them.  

Everyone walked around them.  

The runners were sprayed some more by volunteers (in the face) and then we had a section of bungee cord type cables to crawl though, climb over and get untangled from.

At this point we circle back  on the course and run past later waves just starting the course.

I highly recommend starting early. 

The "run" was at a stand still and the line to go down the slime slide was at least half a mile long.

The final major obstacle is an inflatable staircase that we all struggled to clamber up.  The smooth vinyl stairs were muddy from the wet shoes of previous racers who had already gone before me and there was nothing to hold on to in order to stay on your bouncy step on the staircase.  I watched the couple in front of me struggle to help their son up each step without  falling themselves.  Then some older kids jumped on and instantly everyone's balance was shaken.  I slid to the bottom.

 

 While they thought it was funny to knock everyone down, I said "screw this" as I rubbed my back and thought about my impeccable timing to want to do every race in the world... and the half marathon I had planned the following day.  The second one in 8 days.

I walked around the obstacle and congratulated myself for giving it a try and playing it safe.  No need to seriously hurt myself.  At least that's what I told myself so I could justify taking home one of the medals.

This has to be the first fun run that I've seen that offered bling at the end.  They had merchandise for sale (towel anyone?) and a couple small handouts for registered participants, but the quickest way to my heart (besides a really cool race shirt) is the bling.

So, after climbing through the final inflatable tunnel, I claimed my prize and sat back and watched the finishers climb into their cars to warm up and the new faces start to queue up for their start.  (Not exactly a huge, festive party... but fun nonetheless).

My app on my phone clocked the race at 2.88 miles, just about the same distance as the race I had been at earlier here.

It was quite the experience, and hoping that the next two obstacle races I have already committed myself to will be fun, but I'm thinking I should probably stick to colored corn starch and no major races right before one of these events.

As I type this, I should also point out that I'm scheduled to do Kiss Me Dirty the day before my "Beat The Blerch" half marathon.  I might also be signed up to do the Oregon Marathon HALF with Uberthons 7 days before all of that.

Do you do obstacle/slime/mud/color runs?  Enjoy them?

Do you put too much on your race schedule?  (Tell me about it so I know I'm not the only insane person out there).  

~Robin

Race Review: Hippie Chick Quarter and Half Marathon

For this recap, I'm pleased to share with you not just one runner's review of events... but two!  As you may already know, my co leader for my Moms RUN This Town club is also a guest blogger on here now and then... and I am so proud of her as she not only tackled her first half marathon, but did so with speed and strength! 

We both took on the "Hippie Chick Quarter and Half Marathon" put on by Better Series on Saturday May 10th.

Mariah's first half marathon experience:

On Saturday I ran my first half marathon! It was a long time in coming as I had gotten plantar fasciitis 8 days before what was supposed to be my first half in February. By the time Hippie Chick Half finally rolled around in May, I was chomping at the bit!

I met with Robin and some other friends in our running group for a group pic in the morning.  Then I headed down for some quick warm-up drills and to the start line. There I found my coach, Nikki Rafie, who introduced me to the pacers for the 8:18 pace group and gave me some last minute advice. I wanted to run about 8:12-8:15 so I was planning to ditch them after 4-6 miles. The gun went off and I started thinking they were going kind of fast. My Garmin beeped for mile 1 - 8:03! WTF? My mantra for the first half of the race was "Keep calm, run on" and I started using it at this point. Mile 2 according to Garmin: 8:00. *#$&#*! If I wanted to blow my wad too soon I could have done that on my own!! I was starting to get worried. Mile 3: 8:00. My mantra was no longer effective so I decided to say it with a British accent. There, much better.

Then we start running into a headwind and I was thinking, ok, if we're going to run this fast I will try to draft off of the pace group leaders. Unfortunately, they're all so petite that's just not happening. They are from Team Athena, but I was the only Athena in sight. Plus their balloons kept bonking me on the head. Abort mission. At least we slowed down to around 8:05 with the headwind. 

We turned in a direction I was not expecting to go. I had told my hubs and everyone else who was cheer-leading when to be where based on the course that was posted on their site, which they did in reverse. My husband was supposed to hand me a bottle of Cocogo at mile 8 since I can't tolerate gels or most sports drinks, but no Cocogo for me. *Sigh*. Keep calm, run on.

Miles ticked off around 8:04-8:08 as we hit some small hills. About mile 7, Nikki popped out of nowhere and paced me for about a mile. We sped up a bit, because well, you don't run slow in Nikki Rafie's presence. Beep: 7:59!! Nikki made a comment about us being ahead of schedule. The pacers asked if I want to slow down. "No!" I shouted emphatically, then I thought "Did I just say that?" At the 9.3 mark I looked at my Garmin and saw that I hit a 15K PR. I wasn't sure whether to be excited or very, very afraid so I was both. At the 10 mile mark we were down to only 2 racers and 3 pacers hanging with the group, so the pacers said we could split up and go at whatever pace we wanted. I turned on the full and absolute beast mode and pulled slightly ahead with my 2 personal pacers the rest of the race. At the 11 mile mark I asked one of them to tell me a joke. She told me a story about a friend who ran a marathon and thought she was eating Gu, but instead she ate Vasoline. That distracted me for 30 seconds and then I got back to being miserable.

Next thing I know it's mile 12 and there is a friend of mine with her cowbell! I was thinking "Draw energy from the bell" and then tried to keep thinking of the bell but then all I could think about was how many minutes until I could stop running. And then I started counting breaths and going through my various mantras. There was the finish line! I beat my husband and daughter there by about a minute. I had no fuel but a few sips of Nuun and water but I seemed to do ok with that. My official time was 1:47:09 which came out to 8:10 per mile. My Garmin said I ran 13.27 at 8:04 avg. Apparently I was weaving a lot.

I found my family and got some food, and then I had the chance to see Robin cross the finish with MaryAlicia, right on her stretch goal pace!

After the race I enjoyed the food but I had a hard time finding water. Every station seemed to have only Nuun, so I ended up getting water from the bathroom sink. It reminded me of a scene from Idiocracy. "Water? Like out the toilet?"

Mariah at the finish!  (photo credit to her lovely husband)

My take on the event and festivities:

I was under trained and dehydrated from being sick earlier in the week but neglect to mention those things as I my friend Maryalicia (from Run Oregon) who had generously agreed to pace me for this race.  :)  I have always been too slow to be in a race where a pacing group was available for my race pace.

I had ran "Run Like Hell" in October with a 2:38 finishing time and wanted to go for a 2:30 this time.  :)

Let me just say, that if you haven't heard of or tried the Galloway Method, you have got to give it a try!  She set her timer for intervals of running for 30 seconds and walking for 15 seconds.  It took some getting used to, but before the race was done, I was certainly looking forward to those walk breaks (which really aren't a break... I was busting my butt to move forward towards the finish!).

We picked up a couple people along the route and they joined us too for a bit on our adventures with run/walk intervals.  I have to tell you though, when you are going to start walking, get to the right so faster people can pass on the left and watch behind you so that you don't cause an accident of people running into you when you suddenly stop running and move to a walk.  We would raise a hand in the air and shout "walking now!"

We skipped the long lines at the porta potties and queued up for the race.  Before I knew it, we were off and running!  Weeee!  (okay.  Maybe I should have gone and risked a later start time?)

There was a porta potty at the first aid station, but the line was already way too long.  "That's okay"  I told myself... "I probably really don't have to go anyway. Just running nerves..."

I packed my Nathan QuickShot  for the race, but planned to rely on the ample water stations the race webpage had described on the course.

The first aid station, the volunteers had the water in large bowls and they were dipping the cups into the bowls... getting their ungloved hands into the water!!!  EWWW!

The marshy, farm land smell did not help my gag reflex on that one.  

Keep moving forward.  We passed a couple more water stations and I tried to ignore if there were pitchers, bowls of water or large coolers.... I just needed to stay hydrated.

By mile 5 there is no denying I need to pee.  Next port a potty, I'm getting in line.  

Where are the porta potties?

The next aid station around mile 7 is just getting a truck load of porta potties dropped off!  If we had been any faster, we would have missed them and had to wait until the finish line.  The speedy racers missed out if they had to go...

Likewise, those of us with an 8 minute mile pace or greater had no water at the next station.  Mile 8 was out of water.

The volunteers up and left their station and the resident who owned the farm behind the aid station had come out with a water cooler on the back of one of his vehicles.  We grabbed a dixie cup and got in line as he filled our cups and I thanked him profusely.

That hiccup aside, the course was very beautiful, a few slight hills and lots of people to cheer and be cheered by!  i loved that aspect of it.

If there was one thing I could change, it would be that at the finish through the parking lot to get to the finishing gate, there are too many zigs-and-zags.  It isn't a straight shot from the road and into the stadium track.  I had to dig deep to finish and I could hear in Maryalicia's voice that her encouragement "Almost there!"  also was saying "It's just about 2:30:00 now... can you dig any deeper?"

Then, running all out, as hard as I can, I have to also slow to turn and weave through the parking lot and the curbs.  GAH!  But....   digging as deep as I can and asking Maryalicia to drag me to the finish if i should fall over and try to die....

photo credit: Mariah's lovely husband with his super neato camera

I made it through the finish line!!  Maryalicia warned me not to get discouraged when I saw the clock... "Gun Time" I mumbled between gasps of air.  But when I approached the timing pads on the ground, my heart leapt as I saw the time read 2:30:00.... the next timing pad was sooooooo far away...... MILES!  Would i get to it in the next 60 seconds?

Logic would have reminded me that this was the gun time and that anything under 2:38:00 was a PR, but I was illogical at that point.  I made it!  Official chip time is 2:29:45!!

Our finisher's medals are a bit on the underwhelming side, but the event is geared towards ladies (men can register but their times and results are not tracked and they are not offered any awards.) and so being geared towards the female population, the race gave out necklaces with a 1 1/4 inch charm (including the hoop) and approx 1/4 inch wide.

I don't know if I'm being a spoiled brat, but for pushing so dang hard to cross that finish line, I wanted some bling!!  If the bling is so tiny, it had better at least be silver plated.  This is not.  oh well.  

From a male spectator point of view, the husband had a lot of fun with the kiddos as they waited for mommy to finish.  A clown provided entertainment and kids who were in the kids' dash could partake in the pancake breakfast that was also available for the finishers for the quarter and half.

Bathrooms were all converted to women's restrooms except one small men's room outside of the stadium.  The husband found this terribly inconvenient as he needed to change a diaper while I was out on the run.  And there wasn't a changing table in there anyway once he got in there.   So, making the event a little more "dad friendly" would have been nice for a women's event held on mother's day weekend.  All in all, the kids had fun.  I ate my pancakes and drank half my free beer before the kiddos kicked it over as i got my free massage.  I enjoyed myself and am over the moon with my PR, running with my friend and future Hood To Coast team mate and making new friends out on the course.  (This event happens to be hosted by the same company who puts on Hood To Coast.)

 Would I do it again?  likely not.  The event is a little pricy for the overall experience.  But I am so glad I got the experience to do this and owe my amazing PR to Maryalicia and her experience and advice on my (lacking) running form and showing me the ropes with the run/walk method.

Thanks Maryalicia!!

Run Like Hell (and then stop for the train!) half marathon recap (and update 10/21)

Dressing the family up as characters from Jim Henson's "Labyrinth"

October 20th has been a day that I've been looking forward to for a long time... When I started running seriously at the beginning of the year, I set my sights on running the Half at "Run Like Hell".  This race was my very first race experience ever as the 5k in 2011.  

It's a race for letting go of inhibitions and being silly in costume, grab a couple of free beers at the finish and kick back to listen to some local bands... but serious enough that runner's fight for their PRs and take their times seriously.  

Early morning fog giving the camera trouble

The weather had been very warm and favorable the last few days, but it's always a good idea to dress warmly when getting up before the sun.  Besides, we all know that there is ALWAYS a "chance" of rain...

We did escape the rain, but if runner's weren't wet from sweat, they surely were from the moisture in the fog.

Half marathoners getting ready to run in the fog

The course began in downtown Portland and wound it's way through some of the industrial parts and areas that made a small town girl like me feel like I was on the wrong side of the tracks.  When we literally crossed the tracks, we could forget the worries of city life and enjoy not having to worry too much about traffic on such an early Sunday morning.

A very polite Candy Corn Witch zoomed past me and chatted up the runners near her pace before she'd speed off again.  I later found out that she is a contributor on one of the blogs I've been following.  I met a celebrity and didn't know it until after the meeting!

We wound up some inclines, but i didn't think much of it... until I overheard runners asking each other "Is this the hill i keep hearing about?"  "Is this the hill everyone complains about?"  The Candy Corn Witch smiles and says "Nope!  That would be the hill around mile 5."

Mile 5.  No problem.

I was worried though.  I killed my hamstrings last week trying to survive a hoard of zombies...  and though the inclines leading up to this point didn't seem like too much work on my quads and hammys, I was loosing confidence.  

Something else giving me some unease was I felt naked and lost without my garmin.  This is stupid, I know... and a great opportunity for me to just feel my pace and trust the course... but what if I stopped for an injured runner or something... I'd like to... well, pause it to better know my running time.  Stupid and silly, I know.  But with the buildings and fog, it just wasn't gonna sync up.  

Mile 5 came upon us and I traveled up an incline that seemed unending.  And I didn't die.  I didn't have one foul thought or negative banter about it at all.  I just kept on going, concentrating on the sound my feet made when hitting the pavement and watching my surroundings.     

We traveled up Terwilliger under the canopy of trees on the side of the road and a forest below us.  It was beautiful, but the trees were wet from the fog and rained down their moisture on the runners below... reminding me of my costume choice for such an early morning, fall run.  Besides this set back, it really wasn't uncomfortable or cold.  Those arm warmers really did their job! 

Aid stations were about every 2-3 miles and accompanied by live bands playing music for us.  That was fun.  But by mile 7, my heel started to kill me.  I injured it back at a 5k in May and thought it was muscle strain... but with the ongoing pain going on so long and completely unbearable on this race, I've gone ahead and scheduled a dreaded doctor's appointment.  

I started to pay more attention to tired shuffling and making sure my foot was striking at the front and not heel striking.  i suppose it must have helped, because by mile 8 i was cheering the people I was passing and telling them we were on the home stretch.  

My garmin was useless accept to tell me what time it was, and I was certain it was failing me at that, because How could I be nearing mile 10 and still be under 2 hours?   

4 weeks ago I ran my first half marathon and finished well over 3 hours later.  With hornets.  An extra mile and torrential downpours.  How could i be doing this well?  I felt amazing!

And then I saw a large group of people ahead... a cheering section?  No one is cheering... what the...

A train was slowly rambling it's way along the track... blocking our route to finish the race.  I had under a 5k left to get this thing done!  Don't get discouraged... take a deep breath...

"How long have you been here?'  I asked the first runner I saw at the back of the crowd.  

"Me?  30 minutes now."

My heart sank.  At this point, my character in her movie would shrilly holler "It's not fair!"

I wandered up to the volunteer standing on the concrete wall next to the road.  Just me looking up at him had him tell me "This is gonna take about an hour and 10 minutes."  An hour and ten minutes, from this very moment?  Subtracting the 30 minutes from the girl at the back?  Wha-?  I need more info than that... But I wasn't going to get it... so I fought back my tears of frustration as some cramps set in between my shoulder blades and started to use the concrete wall to stretch my quads, hamstrings and calves.

I remember someone asking me the time and I told them "ten o'clock" and then I remember her asking again and it was 10:15am.  Was I still going to be able to finish this before the roads were unblocked and opened to traffic?  

Soon after taking a mental note that it was 10:15 a.m., the train passed and we all took off even before the rail gate was fully extended.  We were told that the timing belt laid down before the train track would stop our timing chip and reactivate again on the other side of the track when we ran over it again.  

The timing mat was unplugged and laid off to the side, mostly out of the course.  I cursed out loud and tried again not to cry.  No garmin working.  Was my chip working?  Would the time be accurate? 

I was flying before this.  It was a PR, but by how much?

I tried to think of how "nice" it was to finish with everyone as one big group effort and see the speedy athletes finish that i would have missed out on since I'm not that speedy gazelle at the front of the pack.   I won't lie.  It was difficult to fight my way through the crowds again and  my muscles were cold and sore.  I can't even imagine what it must have been like for those who had been there longer than me.  

I crossed the finisher's line and was happy to see most of my friends who had ran the 10k still there waiting for me.  Most of the 5k runners were still out... their start time having been delayed by a whole hour.

There are some seriously negative comments on Terrapin Event's facebook page that has me questioning future races with them.  They may have no control over the trains and their schedule... I hear even the Portland Marathon can be stalled by trains... but it seems that they could post something to try and explain that to us or apologize or something.  Anything. 

I got my medal, and I am thrilled.  I know, bling chaser.  Did I mention it glows in the dark?  

Finisher's Medal

How cool is a finisher's medal that glows in the dark?

  

 While the 10k was finishing up, the 5k was free to go.  My husband, "The Goblin King", was asked by "The Dread Pirate Roberts" to take the kids away until "Princess Buttercup" returned from her race.

"The Dread Pirate Roberts" leaves his companions in the care of "The Goblin King"

 When I finished, everyone was already done, except The Dread Pirate Roberts who had such a late start.

We grabbed our grub and tried to warm up with a hot bowl of chill and I redeemed my two cups of free beer.  My "Princess Bride" friends won the group costume contest and a friend who ran the 10K won the "Best Unicorn" contest.

The party wound down pretty quickly, as I'm sure their rent on the square was beginning to end.  The food court started giving away as many bowls of chili as we wanted and having secured a table next to the beer garden, some very friendly unicorns started filling "our" table up with free beers.

All in all, it was fun... but I'm not too terribly sure if I'd do this race again.  It is sentimental because it was my very first race ever.  Since then, I've started taking running seriously, lost 60 lbs and looking at making my body stronger.

The train might not be their fault, and maybe many races deal with the train as an issue.... but now I'm seeing repeated complaints on social media about how Terrapin Events treats their volunteers.
"Happy 10th anniversary" Run Like Hell.  For 10 years, it seems like at least the public relations would be on top of addressing concerns with race hiccups or complaints about being mistreated.

(As of this writing, the results page says I've shaved 47 minutes off my fiasco of a first half last month.  That's amazing!  The chip timing company says I finished in 2 hours, 38 minutes and 5 sec.  My gun time, they claim, is 2 hours, 38 minutes and 43 seconds.  This is an edited lie, since I finished at 2:51:??.  I wish they didn't change the gun time to try and pretend like the train had never really happened.)

What would you do?  Run it again and the risk of trains be damned?  Or forget any seemingly unorganized race that presumably treats their volunteers badly?

(Update:  Terrapin Events issued a statement on their Facebook page and in an e-mail to participants that stated "Thank you all for participating in this year's 10th anniversry of the Run Like Hell half marathon. While a little chilly, overall the weather was great for running! It was so fun to see everyones costumes, especially those dressed up in groups! We will be posting some photos to Facebook over the next few days, so be sure to check to see if we have one of you! Also, feel free to post any photos you might have taken. 

We would like to take a minute to thank our volunteers! We really value their time and efforts in coming out to help. We truly couldn't have done this race without them. We would also like to thank Molly's Fund Fighting Lupus. As the beneficiary of this event they provide us with great support and we are able to donate to their great cause! Last, but not least we would like to thank our sponsors. Lagunitas provided plenty of excellent beer and Madison's Grillprovided that nice, hot soup to enjoy after the race!

We would like to appologize for the train delay. We understand that many of you were stopped for a very long time and how hard that is after already running 11 miles. We truly wish this wouldn't have happened, but there was nothing we could have done to prevent this or shorten the delay. While the City limits which roads we can use (why so many Portland races use Naito) we are going to try to avoid or reduce any rail crossings next year. ..."  

I think it's worth noting, since some races could chose not to address the issue(s) at all or ignoring anyone's complaints.  After sleeping on it and thinking it over, this isn't a race I'd want to miss.  Maybe any future delays by a train would just be part of the adventure of the whole experience.  One thing for sure though, I'm going to have to learn some tricks on getting a garmin to connect on foggy streets containing tall buildings... (If such a trick exists.) 

Race Recap: The Happy Girls Run Forest Grove. (I'm not exactly a "happy girl", but I am a half marathoner!)

 

I was fortunate enough to run the Happy Girls Run at Hagg Lake for free (minus state park parking fees) after winning a contest they had on their facebook page!

Packet pickup swag

At packet pick up in downtown Portland, I got my tech shirt (also free for half marathon participants) and my free Sock Guy socks!  (I can't wait to try those out!)  The swag is your typical fare, with ads for other races, a protein bar and such... but I feel like I'm in the big times now that a tech shirt comes FREE with registration!  Yeah!  (It's the little things that make me happy.)

Extra swag bag!

 Then I won another contest on their facebook page for submitting a picture of my outfit for the race.  Part of the spoils' description was a "race and lifestyle" goodies bag (with an LE Bandz headband... but I didn't get the headband.  It was a free prize so I'm not going to go complain to them about it.  Maybe they'll find it and pass it along to another lucky gal.)  Some of the prizes are a little silly, like a kazoo with one of the sponsor's logo on it.  Also, a pretty neat tech shirt... in size "Women's small".  I'm very happily plugging along on my weight loss journey, but that isn't a fat issue, that's a frame issue!  I don't think I'll ever be a "small".  Oh well, my daughter can have a new running shirt when she rides around in the jogging stroller.

The half Marathoners starting their race

We got a bit turned around on our way to the race, but we definitely got there before the start!  Woo Hoo!  The website said that "Happy Girls" are known for their pre and post race festivities.  I guess getting there 40 minutes before start was too late to party with the Happy Girls?  Or maybe the party was just not festive with all the rain?

We're all from Oregon, we don't rust.   What's a little rain?  No big deal!  But, I just let the pre race party roll off like water on a duck's back.  No big deal.  Maybe a little disappointment, but I needed to stretch and enjoy my family before my first half marathon anyway.  :)  

After the start, we ran on the road for 4 miles.  The first mile was a pretty steep incline and I was impressed!  That was a tough way to start out a half marathon, but I was ready and excited for the challenge.  

The race venue is a small, intimate one.  The 5K had around 87 participants, the 10K had 76 participants and the half had 203 participants.  I stayed with the same group of ladies ahead and behind me for the beginning of the race, and it made me feel like I was figuring out this whole pace thing.  

At mile 4 we got to hit the trail!  This was what I had been looking forward to.  The canopy from the trees was lush enough that I could flip my hat backwards and enjoy the view without the rain pelting me.

Rain and mud and seeing where I was going was the least of my worries....

 

After plugging away on the trail for about a mile I start to hear what I thought were cheers.  Maybe the next aid station was getting pretty excited?  I got further on the trail and heard for sure screams of terror.  Someone screamed to me to "RUN!" and I was so confused.   My thoughts were "I am... running.  Run back for help?  Keep running and get away from you.  What the....  OUCH!  What the hell!?!"  My bum was hurting.  I was going to keep forward and get the hell out of there!  OUCH!  What the hell was going on?

And then I saw one of the women screaming.  She was no longer on the path... in fact she was quite a ways from it and screaming and tearing her clothes off.  Bees.

I heard more screaming and came to another group of girls.  They were screaming and instructing me to get out of there.  We all needed to get out of there!  As I passed by one of the girls, she screamed "oh my god!" and started swatting at my back and legs.  I overheard her later tell another runner that I had "hundreds" of them on my back.  Yea.

That fun fiasco was around mile 5.  I trotted ahead with the woman who rescued me from all the hornets clinging to me.  I'm not sure where the other six or seven ladies were, but we needed to get out of there fast.  

As we made a bend in the trail we saw a young woman wondering in the path.  She seemed drunk.  This race was only getting "better".   

I called out to her, "Are you okay?"
"No.  I don't know..."
As I got closer I asked if she had been stung.
"Yes!  All over!"  And the poor thing started to weep.  It became clear fast that she had been in a daze from shock.  We all were taken by surprise by it.  Then she started screaming, "My mom!  We have to go back for my mom!  She's allergic!"

Crap.

Me or my new running friend said something like, "I think the best thing for us is to move forward so we don't get stung anymore and go get help."

I lead the way while my rescuer explained very soothingly to the young girl that her stings looked very small "like mosquito bites" and she was going to be okay.  I told her we were just going to take this one mile at a time and hope for an aid station at mile 6.

It honestly seemed to take forever, but I started to hear cars again on the road aove us and started screaming at the top of my lungs for help.  No answer.  "Can you hear me?"  And I got an answer! "Yes!"

At mile 5.5 we had finished that bit of trail and were on a wide shoulder of the road.  Two race volunteers or officials were parked there greeting us with big smiles on their faces.  I wanted to smack them!  Did they not hear me saying "help" not, "Hi, how are you?" ?  They were just sitting in their trucks with the doors open with ear-to-ear grins.

"There's..."
"Bees.  Yeah we know."  He cut me off.
"There's people injured!  They need help!  They are still back there!  Her mother is allergic to bees and still back there!"
Then my poor little friend went frantic again.

One of the men asked his coworker, "Should we call 911?"

A pause of thought and then "Yeah."  and he pulled out his walkie talkie and called for help.

If they knew there was an issue of bees from other runners passing through, why on earth did they not send an official down there to see if they could see any runners down or injured or in need of assistance?  

With my backside inflamed, I ran on and hoped that the young lady was going to be okay and that her mom and her would be reunited (safely) very soon.

The race continued again back on the trail and I watched the ground, looking for holes that might be hornet nests.  I was a bundle of nerves.  I started to settle into a peace of mind and calmer demeanor when I noticed some garbage in the bushes bearing the Xterra logo from my last race in August.  Bummer!  Just as I was reaching for it to minimize the footprint racing in the area is causing, I heard screaming.

Mile 7 was un passable and another woman was covered in stings... or bites.... or whatever it is these tough yellow and black fighters do.  It hurts bad!  She instructed me that no one should under any circumstances attempt to get past mile 7 on this path.

So, I turned around and told every runner I passed to do the same.
"Turn around!  Bees on mile 7!  We can't get past.  Go to mile 5.5 and take the raod!"

When I got back to mile 5.5 where the guys had so chivalrously called 911, there were paramedics and firetrucks on the scene checking the runners over.   They asked me "Are you stung?"
"Yes, but there are more bees at mile 7!  We can't get past them and more runners have been stung down there!  We need to take the road past this section."  So, with that, the race had been rerouted.

We ran on the road again until mile... well, according to my garmin, I had gone 12 miles.  Someone ahead of me stopped during a torrential downpour to put on her jacket.  She turned around and saw me and exclaimed, "It's so good to see you still smiling!"  I think I might have been gritting my teeth with the pouring rain and the chills setting in, but I'm glad she thought it was a smile.

Smile, because you never know who you are inspiring.

We got back on the trail at mile 12, I think mile 10 of the race course and stayed there for 2 miles.  It's amazing how much can happen in a little space of distance.  I was getting very turned around with the poor marked trail.  There were some places where the trail forked in three directions and I had no idea which path to choose.  Remembering my 10k race, I tried to hug the paths closest to the lake.  I remember the Xterra race mentioning to stay away from the stream.  The stream meant we had gone the wrong way.  Well, another three part fork and I look over to see the stream.  I cursed out loud and was feeling completely lost and angry since I had already done more than 13 miles and looking forward to some warm clothes and someone to check over these damn bee stings.  What was i supposed to do?

"Are we lost?"  We?  What?  I turned around.  A group of women had been following me.  Crap.
"Yup!  Which way do you think we should go?"  What was I going to do?  I didn't want to lead anymore.  I was tired and cold and getting disheartened.  Someone looked to the steep monster of a path on the far left and we saw a small white sign on the top.  I ran up it and could see the happy girl logo.   "Mile 12".

We weren't going to freeze to death at Hagg Lake!

We entered back out onto the road and finished our race...

I hurt so bad, but I gave it my all at the end.

 The icing on the cake for this race was when I crossed the finish line, I asked the gal running the packet pickup from the day before where the "first aid tent" was.  "Oh.  Are you stung?"  I replied I was and would like some help.
"Well, if you go down there, someone will get you an ice pack."
Perfect.
I go "down there" where the awards assembly was held earlier and where the vendors used to be.  Everyone was packing up to go.  The brewery who was a sponsor had cosmos and cocktails lining his card table, so i asked him, "Do you know where to get an ice pack for injuries down here?"
He had no idea.  He was clearly the only one in the area with any ice at all, so he gave me a cup of ice.

A cup of ice.  Lovely.  Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but that was a little more awkward and hard to deal with for icing injuries on the back of me.  The website stated this would be a "fully supported race."  I guess they define that by having water tables, porta potties and booze at the end.  I'd think it meant having a cooler full of ice packs... if not an actual first aid station.

It's a race on a trail, for goodness sake!  Apparently no other sport has as many injuries as running does, and on a muddy, wet trail nonetheless.  It would be very beneficial to have a first aid station for those sprained ankles, sore IT bands... and god forbid, attacks from hornets or other wildlife.  

I didn't finish with a stellar time, 14+ miles in 3 1/2 hours, but wasn't the race cut off 4 hours with the finish line open for 5?  Where was everyone?  I guess if you're slow and have to back track to avoid being attacked, you miss out on the after party.  So, I took my ice, that the bartender kindly dumped into a soggy cocktail napkin and snapped a few pictures before going home to recoup there.

If you sign up for a race for the "bling", you can pass on this one.  It is poorly made, with pockmarks on it's surface from the mold it was made with.  It's on a cotton thread of a cord and the words are too small to read.  The letters run together.  

Which is bigger?  My finisher's medal or the welts from my adventure?

This is a poor picture, but you can take my word for it that the welts are bigger.

If this race has you interested for the view, just go run Hagg Lake on a weekend and save the registration fee for another race.   If this race has you interested for their festive environment, there is none.

But to be fair, everyone's spirits were pretty damp with the rain and the hornets... which are two things that are not the race director's fault.

One girl crossed the finish line with a hornet still in her shoe!  Ewww!

As we pulled out, a runner called out in general "I'm NOT a 'Happy Girl'!"
That pretty much sums it up.

At least this race was free?

Have any race horror stories or mishaps to make me feel better about this one?
What do you think about races not having medical staff, basic first aid or anything like that?  Is that fair to the participants?  Or is it a silly request that races have that?

Attack of the sport sock! It will eat your toes.... (Impromptu Product review?)

 Last week I had a bit of issue sneaking in a morning run....  You know how it goes... the day just starts slipping away and by the time the baby is down for her nap and everyone is dressed and I'm ready to go, someone wakes up early from nap or an appointment comes up...  You get the idea.

Anyway....  We decided that a family picnic style dinner at the park would be an enjoyable evening. And i could loop the park to get in my miles while my husband was playing with the kids.

I got a mile and I had this TERRIBLE pain in my foot!  It felt like the knuckles on my middle toe was being rubbed by the neighboring toes.  It sorta felt like there wasn't enough room on my foot for that toe!

I should probably preface this post that when it comes to my shoes, I'm sorta "the princess and the pea".  I have to sweep out my shoes before they go on and examine the socks for any strange snags or anything that's going to "rub weird" (like the sock seam at the toes!).

That's why I'm sorta surprised that I didn't notice this issue sooner, like when I put my sock on!  But I thought I was just being too sensitive and powered through it.  After that one mile, I wandered to the picnic blanket and took my sock off to adjust it.

My toe was trapped in thread loops like a little hammock!

Champion  "Duo Dry" Socks

After trying another mile, it hurt too bad.  Another examination on the blanket, and it became obvious that I had cuts on the toe from the threads rubbing.  I purchased these Champion Duo Dry Socks on the cheap at Target, and now I know to avoid them!!  When I got home, I turned every pair inside-out and all of them have this loopy issue.  Ick.  As if my life doesn't already have little things to stress about and big things to worry over, now I have to cut the loose threads out of my socks?  No thank you.  

I first purchased some Fitsok socks at Portland Running Company, and now I know that there are some things it's just best not to skimp on.  Love you Fitsok!  Thanks for not cutting my toes off!

At least the injury was short lived.  Today I got 10 miles done!  In the pouring rain.  I loved every minute of it.  Sometimes it's just good to get out and get a run in.

Any painful gear lessons you have endured?  Please share them with me!
What kind of socks have won your heart or helped your feet?  

At The Heart of it All... (Or "Why I won't let pain steal my long run.")

It seems like most people who are training have their long runs on the weekend...  I know with my family's schedule, it works best for me to get that done Sunday morning.  This last Sunday was to be my longest distance ever.  I don't know why, but I suppose I look to each Sunday now with a little bit of trepidation.  "Can I go that far?"  "Will I fail?"  "Will I have to give up and call my hubs for a ride home?"

Granted, maybe 8 miles isn't much for some.  But I was also excited and looking forward to the challenge.  "I CAN do this!"  "Here's to all the doubters and people who told me I couldn't..."  "Here's to my bum knee and other issues that have tried to hold me back..." etc.

Perhaps I worked myself up a little too much?   Whether anxiety or a physical issue or a combination of both, I woke up earlier Sunday morning than I had intended.  I was going to get up at the crack of dawn to beat the summer heat...  but I didn't plan on waking up to searing chest pain.  This was grab-your-chest-and-moan type pain.

What the hell?

Deciding it best not to wake the husband, I tried to sneak out of the room and woke him anyway.  It became very obvious to him fast that this wasn't something to mess around with.

He is a trained "first responder" at his job and went through his checklist with me.  My heart rate seemed normal, I wasn't sweaty or clammy.  I looked pale, but I had just woken up (very rudely too).

What I didn't have going for me was this terrible chest pain and pain deferring down my left arm.  I felt like my left shoulder had been bashed with a baseball bat.  It was very clear to me that it hurt much worse with every intake of breath.  Was that a heart attack?  Or an anxiety attack?

Having 2 out of 5 symptoms was enough for him to call 911 and I realized he was being more than cautious when he started to stutter at the operator's questions.

Uh-oh.

If he was losing his cool, this was more than just a little acid reflux or panic about running in the heat.

It seemed like he had just hung up the phone when the fire fighters started walking up the driveway.  They recommended an EKG in an ambulance... while on my way to the ER.

"Okay."  I wasn't able to think much between stabs of sharp pain.  Just do whatever you need to in order to make this stop!

After the first few blood pressure readings and a 12 point EKG, I was instructed to chew some baby aspirin and dissolve nitro tablets under my tongue.  This is not the breakfast of champions and I do not recommend it.

On the way to the hospital and getting an iv bag placed on a bumpy road, I couldn't help but stare at my feet and think, "Well, crap!  There goes my long run."    

At the hospital I had another EKG and chest x-rays.  My nurse was a trooper to commiserate with me on how terrible it was to not get to go on a planned long run when on a tight training program.  She did however know that some runners might like to over do things a bit and not take well to being sidelined with an injury or illness.  "You already went 8 miles today.  IN AN AMBULANCE.  Why don't you take the day off."  

She had run 8 full marathons herself, but her favorite distance is half marathons and has done "too many to count".

Between tests and checking on her other patients, she told me bits about her marathons.  Victoria was her favorite , simply because the people were wonderful and her worst marathon was the Marine Corps Marathon.  With a slap stick sense of humor she relayed to me all the mishaps of the race... including the water stations running out of cups, so runners dipped their hands in the water barrel.  Eww.

After the tests and hanging out in my room on oxygen, the Doctor came in to let me know that it was what he anticipated all along.

Costochondritis.

That increasing, terrible pain with each breath?  Inflamed cartilage in my rib cage.  Seems that this was the after affects of a little virus I had last week.     

I still have a lot of research to do on this, but it seems that for some people it can also be brought on by stress, as well as viruses (such as something simple like a common cold).  Nice.

Still a bit sore 2 days after the ordeal, I've decided that I'm not going to give in to it.  I'm going to "listen" to my pain and not over do it, but I'm not going to just give in to the temptation that this is a perfect excuse to stop.

Stop training.  

Stop trying.  

Stop running.

No.  Stop listening to that negative voice in your head that thinks you can't do this.  You already have done it.  7 miles last Sunday.  6 the Sunday before.  What's one more mile this week?  So, after discussing the pain with the Doc, he said go out and run.

Monday morning I pushed that voice that tries to derail me away and laced up my shoes. And I did it.  I ran.  8 miles.  I'm ready to do it again.  And when I've woken up since then with that stabbing, sharp pain that makes it nearly impossible to breath?  I no longer have that impending sense of doom and know now that it's something funky with my cartilage attached to my breast bone.  
So weird.

What obstacles, physical or mental, do you have to hurdle over?  How do you overcome?