I Ran McNaughton Park And All I Got Was A Mud Tan...

Oh, and this shiny new FINISHER'S BELT BUCKLE!!!
But seriously, I have a mud tan...you can tell I had on my Zensahs because that's the only still-pale area on my legs!

Wow, McNaughton Park = done and done! I finished my first 50-miler and ya know what? I feel pretty freakin' great! Other than my knee pain making an encore post-race (which I expected), and a little residual soreness (also expected, although I thought it was going to be a hundred times worse than it is) I'm flyin' high. What an amazing experience, compounded by the fact that Andy Weinberg puts on one hell of a set of events and manages to make everything run incredibly smoothly for the runners, not to mention the volunteers were just OUT OF THIS WORLD awesome! Holy crap, you can't even "designer baby"-handpick the level of awesome that these volunteers were.

Where do I begin? How about with some pictures!

Andy Weinberg (RD, center), and volunteer posting the 150M leader board on Friday, 4/10

Start/finish area on Friday

Hey, it's Ed!!! Coming in from another loop on Friday...number 2?

I got up from our perch at the line to grab some hot raman, and Mike found Alan J. crossing the line sporting his Atayne shirt, woohoo!!! We love random Atayne sightings

Friday morning I picked Vermont Mike up at Midway and then we set off for Pekin around noon. Easy drive, no traffic = awesome. We picked up some food at the County Market and inhaled it in the car, then went straight to the Park to hang out for awhile and watch the 150'ers doing their thang, and to meet Andy, RD. It was a tad crisp when we got there, but the rain had stopped and the sun was battling with the clouds to come out, and it finally did a little later. We changed into some warmer clothes, grabbed the camping chairs and popped a squat by the start/finish line to watch the fun unfold. We met Jana (sp?) from Bloomington, who was also going to be running the 50M...super nice lady and we ran into her a few times on the course the next day. We also met Travis Liles who was there to conquer the 100M again; we got to run with him for a short bit on our second loop. What a great guy, and a tough one, too. Check out his Flatland Ultra videos, it has some great information on there for us ultrarunners! Wow, met so many people on Friday, so I'm really glad I got the day off and we were able to get down there early. After we tired of the cold, we made our way to the classiest joint in town, Super 8 Motel :) Then grabbed some dinner at Monical's Pizza. Yum.

After unpacking and getting all our stuff together for the morning...pinning race numbers to vests, measuring out electrolyte drink into small baggies for easy carriage in our vests, putting post-race warm clothes into separate bags, putting together a drop bag, checking to make sure there were enough shoes, socks, first aid, sanity, etc....Mike zonked immediately, and I mean immediately snoring and out cold as soon as he hit his bed :) I, however, laid awake until 1 a.m. completely unable to fall asleep. Nervous energy, anticipation, excitement, the entire gamut of emotions were cycling through me a million miles a minute. To top it off, once I did doze off, I had my first "running through a building" dream where I was running the race through a building that I couldn't get out of. Very frustrating and it woke me up in a near-cold sweat. So I hardly slept that night; good thing I caught up on sleep earlier in the week leading up to that night! At 4 a.m., the alarm went off and we were up and at 'em. Grabbed a quick breakfast at Steak n' Shake (Mike ate like a horse, and I ate a bagel...nerves were really getting the best of me this time!), and got to the Park around 5:15ish. We decided to set up Mike's tent and use that as our drop bag area since the actual drop bag tent was going to get pretty full once everyone else arrived. I'm SO GLAD we did this; it was so convenient and gave us a spot to change with some privacy, and keep our stuff out of the way and in one place.

Headlamps: check. Hats and gloves: check. Timing chip: check. Atayne shirts and Pearls: check, check! Sanity and good nights sleep...wait, where did I put those?! "3-2-1 GO!!!

Seconds before go time! See, pearls!

This is the very first thing you encounter at the beginning of every single loop...mud soup!
And it just got deeper and wetter throughout the day from all the feet pouncing through it.
Oh, and it's kind of a steep downhill.

But then you get to this wide open field where spectators and crew peeps hung out to cheer runners on as they came through. It was such a lift to hear Torey, of Chicago Ultrarunners, shout my name as I ran through the first time, thanks Torey!!

So, now for the meat of the post...

The first loop went very well, not too much to speak of, and only one fall which for once was on my ass and not my knees. Naturally, it was on a relatively flat section with nothing technical about it. I had a muddy ass, though :) Mike gave me the trail name "Crash" in honor of my falls. I kinda like it, has a nice ring to it. This loop was a great warm-up and made for a great second loop once the legs were all fired up. It was light enough out that we really didn't need our headlamps after 5 minutes, so those got stripped and so did my jacket after a couple miles. My Atayne shirts (I had on two, short sleeve under my long sleeve) kept me comfortable. Loop two I started to feel something akin to a planet-sized blister forming on the ball of my left foot so I was getting paranoid. The two stream crossings we were warned about were more like 47,000 stream crossings. Andy must not consider anything less than shin height water a stream crossing :) But there were two main crossings: the first came early in the loop and was knee high on me, and the second was towards the end of the loop and was over my ankles. The water was COLD, but felt absolutely amazing on my legs and served as a moving ice bath for me each time. I actually looked forward to the crossings! After hitting up AS 2 (which, by the way, is my absolute favorite AS of all time...best volunteers, awesome food, the table was up high enough that I didn't have to crouch down (very important), and they had the sweetest elixir of life: Pepsi! I never thought Pepsi could revive a person, but it does, and it is probably a big reason I finished :)), I found my favorite stretch of the course. It was maybe a mile long, who knows though, and it was entirely runnable and delightfully rolling. Loved this section, and it led to the first stream crossing and beyond a ways. Then I fell again. Travis witnessed it and said it was the "most controlled fall". I had to reenact it for the picture, though...

After loop 2, Andy asked us how it was going and I told him I thought I had a blister so he immediately told me to see so-and-so to get it popped and taped! Thankfully, it was a false alarm. I have no idea what it was I felt, but there wasn't a blister in sight! I decided to change into shorts, my second pair of Cascadias, and into a dry pair of Drymax socks after slathering my feet in Vaseline. I'll go ahead and say that I am now 100% a Drymax fan. Fifty miles and not a single blister! I am so blister-prone it's not even funny. I can stand still and get a blister on the outside of my big toe. Wow, awesome product.

Loop 3 was likely my favorite, though I'm not sure why. It just felt good. I used the rope each time on the super steep hill just 'cuz it was fun and made me feel like MacGyver :) I was feeling fatigued after the third loop, but that was expected and I was starting to get into uncharted territory after mile 37.5. Mike decided he was going to finish with me, rather than stopping at 30 miles. Thank goodness, I needed the distraction and motivation! We then decided that loop 4 was going to be our final racing loop, and loop 5 was going to serve as our victory lap "fun run". Let me tell you, if you've never tried this strategy on a loop course, TRY IT! Knowing that the final loop was going to be a "fun run" for me gave me something to look forward to, and it helped to break up the run a little bit. I took it a little easier in the last loop (hey, I wasn't going to be winning anything, so who cares! I knew I was going to finish, so I may as well enjoy myself!) and snapped lots of pictures. I also finally ate some real food at the aid stations, but not too much as my stomach was a little uneasy by this point. Mike, however, indulged at Heaven's Gate, not once, but twice. He had a cheeseburger on the first pass at Heaven's Gate, and then a DOUBLE cheeseburger on the final pass of the station. I drank a few sips of a Heineken :)

During the race, I stuck pretty rigidly to my nutrition plan: one Clif Shot Blok every 1/2 hour, 1 S!Cap every two hours (P.S. I love S!Caps now...first time using them and they seemed to do the trick although I will need to perfect how many to take in different climates and situations), 20 ounces of Clif Shot Lemonade electrolyte drink every hour or so, and no crap food at the aid stations. I'll need to work on this stuff a little more for my next 50, but things worked pretty good for me this time around. My hands got puffy after 30 or so miles, and my stomach was a little sloshy around that time, too. I also kept burping; I just couldn't stop! I don't know what to chalk that up to, but it was pretty funny as I don't recall having a burping problem in previous races. I wasn't the only one though, and I laughed every time I heard someone else rip a really top notch burp. Nothing like a little bodily function to put a smile on your face :)

After the 4th loop, before our "fun run", I changed into some dry Drymax socks and Mike put on the chili pepper shorts. In ultras, you can't take yourself too seriously; you have to have fun, and fun we did :)

Ooo, here's the big stream crossing, let's take a picture of Mike!

Then, at the final big crossing, I got my 15 seconds of fame...
I was so tired and exhausted-feeling a lot of the race, due a lot to the lack of sleep the night before, and also because I didn't have my usual oatmeal breakfast. It was on and off though and usually was escorted by a big climb. Mike was a great motivator with his ceaseless enthusiasm and upbeat attitude. He wasn't pacing me, as he was signed up for the race and paid just like I did, and he's a faster runner than me (yes, you are!) so he easily could have taken off on me and had a fantastic race, but he instead stuck with me the entire way (except on the downhills, where he excels and just zipped down them like a freak of nature, and I gingerly negotiated them). My favorite thing? "Paige, let me see you smile!" Works every time. Try it. I smiled a lot during this race because of that line, and because I was having a kickass time. I was there for Mike's first 50 in San Francisco, so it was awesome of him to be there for mine. It makes all the difference when you have someone there cheering you on. Speaking of, fellow Chicago Ultrarunner's Torey, Ian Stevens, Brian Gaines and Kelly were on the sidelines cheering on near the start/finish most of the day and it was such a lift hearing my name shouted at the end of each loop. Thank you guys, and gals, SO MUCH for being there!!! Ian got a picture of me coming in after loop 4...

And then, before I knew it, we were finishing up the final loop! Mike stepped back so I finished one second ahead, 13h:17m:58s! Andy was there to high-five both of us, and the volunteers handed us our belt buckles. Then Stan Z. (thanks, Stan!) took a picture for me at the finish...
I just wanted to pass out! Mike made sure everyone and their mother knew I just finished my first 50, so I got a ton of congratulations, hand-shakes, and high-fives, it was awesome. Have I mentioned how much I love ultras?? I ducked into our tent to change into clean, warm clothes before the "ultra shivers" could set in (I always get super, super cold right after an ultra, so if I don't get into warm clothes fast the shivers will not stop), then went right to the grill and ordered a juicy cheeseburger! Torey came over and congratulated me and we chatted some; she was going to be joining fellow Chicago Ultrarunner, and 100M runner, Adrian B. for a loop in the dark...go Torey!! Great way to learn how to night run...that's on my list :) After hanging around for an hour or so afterwards, Mike and I packed up the tent and our stuff, tossed it in my truck and went straight to the liquor store to get ice and beer! I needed an ice bath, stat.

Me, 44 pounds of ice and...

BEER! How often do you take an ice bath AND chill your beer at the same time?

Well, I guess all there is left to say is that I had the most amazing experience for my first 50-miler. I wouldn't change anything about it. I had my secret doubts going into it because I had only run three times in the preceding four weeks due to my knee pain, so I was thinking I might have to call it a day before I could finish and just save myself for Pineland Farms. But the stars and planets aligned and the running gods decided that McNaughton was going to be my day afterall :) I am so freakin' happy and darn proud of myself!

Just a few acknowledgements: thank you Mike for being my running guy and sticking with me the whole way, thank you Andy for being awesome and having nice legs, thank you volunteers for everything, thank you Pepsi at aid station two, thank you Drymax for not blistering me, thank you Chicago Ultrarunners for being there, thank you Super 8 for not having bed bugs and not charging us for the muddy mess we left in the bathroom, thank you Aleve for lasting 8-12 hours, thank you Atayne for keeping me dry and not giving me B.O., thank you mud for cushioning my two falls, thank you stream crossings for numbing my legs up to my knees twice per loop, thank you outhouse at mile 42-ish for being there right when I needed you, thank you Pekin Adam for passing me so I could see what you looked like after 40 minutes of running together, thank you Oreo for sharing your double-stuffed goodness with me on that prairie section that lasts for-effing-ever, thank you Jerry Davison for introducing me to your incredible wife so she could see my pearls (I thought about that the whole race and smiled because of it; my thoughts are with both of you in this tough time), and thank you trail for not breaking me :)

Paige, out.

"If it's fixed, don't broke it." ~ Mike's ultra babble, somewhere around mile 43-45
(yes, he said "broke")

Pre 50

Night before the big race! Vermont Mike and I are spending our final hours before the big start at McNaughton Park in one of the fanciest spots in town...Super 8 Motel (with a pool!). Pekin's finest.

I'm feeling pretty good...feeling the usual pre-race jitters/giddiness/excitement/anxiety/anticipation/woohoo's!

More to come :) It's bedtime!

Paige, out.

Death, Taxes...and Running

So I've been thinkin' (uh oh, run for cover!!), ever since Pam in Mystic, CT (I love to write that for some reason...Mystic...it's sounds so cool) posted to the Ultra List about running philosophies. Pam has a great post on her blog about what her running philosophy is, and then a few others chimed in and shared their thoughts as well. And I'm wondering, what on earth is my philosophy of all this madness? There's got to be some rhyme or reason, right?

*crickets*

Well, I've never really thought about it before, until now. I guess one must go back to their roots to really understand/unearth their philosophy. So here we go!

Running has been in my life since, oh, let's see, I was eight and ran my first one-mile race in Oak Park, IL (Frank Lloyd Wright Races). But it wasn't a "thing" for me until about 1995 when some of my high school girlfriends convinced me I should go out for the track team. I made the team (but then again so did anyone who showed up for 'freeplay' runs at that time). Oddly enough, I began with the sprinters, out of my own volition. Why? Because I was too afraid to do the "long" distance 800m, 1600m or, God forbid, the 3200m events! So Coach D. took me on and set to make a sprinter out of me. Wow, I was always the last one off the blocks, and I vividly recall the first time I used the starter blocks...I fell. Yes, believe it or not, I tripped over my own feet and fell. Go figure. Have you ever had rubber track burn on your knees before? It hurts, and looks completely ridiculous. After the first few weeks of practice, sprinters were grouped with the distance runners (which is what all my friends were) and we did our 2-mile warm-up run to Taylor Park and back. I was always one of the first people to finish the warm-up. So finally, before our first official meet, Coach D. asked me what I thought about running the 800m. I wanted to cry because I felt like I didn't really have a choice and I agreed to run it. It was painful, pure anguish, everything burned, my legs were numb and I had a sharp pain in my shoulders and sides from all the lactic build-up. I wanted to die. I was hooked. From that first meet at Hinsdale Central I was a distance runner. I think I came in 7th/8, but I loved it! As a team, we all set one individual big goal for ourselves and then we helped each other work to meet our big goal. Mine was a 6:10 mile; I had never broken 7 minutes before and I thought 6:10 was somehow reasonable. At the final conference meet of the season, I was slated to run the mile for my team. It was a glorious cold and rainy night on the outdoor track, and I beat my goal: a 6:09 mile, and good enough for fourth out of more than 10.

So that's where it all really began. I never did go back and run another season with the track team because I made the varsity dance squad the second semester of my freshman year and I decided that pom poms and shakin' my groove thing were more fun. But, I never let go of my running. I didn't enjoy the structure of the track team, I just really liked the meets and the long training runs with my friends (3 miles was long back then!). Wow, that's 14 years of runnin'! Where does the time go?

Until about 2004, running was just there. It was something I did because I could and because it enabled me to keep up my hearty appetite :) I ran a few miles, never more than four, Monday through Friday. It didn't matter if it was outside or on a treadmill. I just did it and I never complained about it. I bought running shoes because I thought they were 'cute', not because they were the right shoe. And the thought of running without music was absolutely appalling. There was no way I could be left alone with my thoughts for half an hour to an hour. Yikes! Music was my meditation, and I just happened to enjoy running at the same time. Funny how things flip flop. Running is now my meditation, and sometimes I have music along, but not so much anymore. When I moved to North Carolina after college, for a job, I floundered for a few months trying to find where I fit in this new place, and then I saw an ad for a race, the Run for Mercy 5k in New Bern. I signed up without a second thought. And thus began my racing problem :) I ran every 5k I could find in the area (and there were A LOT). I placed a few times, and that was fun, but I knew I was only doing it because it gave me an edge. I was a runner, and I was doing it completely on my own.

This is how it was for another few years. I kept up my running/racing problem merely to say that I did it. Then life set in when I took a job back in Chicago, and suddenly I needed running.

I learned that shutting off the music, or even just listening to soft relaxing music, allowed me to totally zen out. I could actually get "in the zone" where everything felt light and easy. My legs felt as though they weren't even touching the ground, my lungs felt open and relaxed, and nothing ached. Running became my outlet, my escape so to speak. It was no longer something to gloat about or bring up in conversation. It was almost like it was my secret; I didn't want everyone else to find out about my super-awesome obsession and mess it all up :) Kind of like how you don't really want ultrarunning to be advertised too much because then it'll get all mucked up, sucking out all the fun and making it too competitive to enjoy ;)

I always ran alone. I never invited anyone to come with me on my runs because it was me time. But then one freezing ass cold day in December 2007, I decided I wanted to up the ante and try for my first 1/2 marathon, so I joined the CARA winter training group. I went once. I didn't like the group mentality of it all, and I also got sidelined by life, and a wicked bout of shin splints. That sucked. However, as soon as my doc cleared me for some pavement pounding, I signed up with a new running group in the city, Chicago Beer Runners and, well, that's where things got interesting.

Enter: competitive juices. Running was now not only a social outlet, but also a source of friendly competition among friends. I ran more races in 2008 than I have run in any previous year. I started pushing the proverbial envelope, seeing how far I could go and how much I could do. I ran my first half marathon, in September, then I ran another in October. Then, I thought perhaps I could do one better and I ran my first ultramarathon (50k) two weeks later. All this while still having problems with my shin. Of course, Bad Influence Mike didn't help suppress the ultrarunning bug ;-) Only kidding...he's not that bad of an influence, but it's totally all Mike's doing, getting me into ultrarunning. You're my boy, blue!

So all this brings me to now. And I guess I still don't really have a grasp on what my 'philosophy' of running is. I do know that running (for me) is an ever-changing thing; something that tweaks itself accordingly to work with the ebb and flow of life; to match my needs at a given point. It's not a fad for me, it's not a novelty that will fade with time (the mere fact that I've been doing it so long is testament to that).

Running is the one thing that has always been with me, no matter what. That's what makes an injury or a setback so heartbreaking for me. Not running sucks. Things change, things end, people come and go, but running is always there. It should be added to the list of 'guarantees' in life: death, taxes...and running :)

It is a part of me, in the same way that blonde hair and blue eyes are a part of me. Part of the package deal. I do not give up my running for others, I do not change it for anyone. It's all on my terms. This year, my goal is to relax a little more and allow myself to heal the right way. I'm still battling with those shin splints, though they are much more under control now, and I've earned myself some PFPS in my right knee on account of my increased mileage this year already. I need to get back to the basics and remember that it's all just fun and games for me out there on the trail...I'm not fast enough to be or feel as competitive as my heart thinks I am; perhaps I need to lead more with my brain? :)

Running is my constant. It's as essential as oxygen and water. It makes me who I am. I love it for all its pain, glory, disappointment, excitement, adventure, setbacks, and nonsense.

I run, therefore I am :)

Paige, out.

Getting to the ART of the Matter

Put my name in the pot o' firm believers.

A.R.T. is quite possibly the most heavenly experience, in a 'hurts so good, do it again' sort of way. I know a lot of people view it as a bunch of mumbo jumbo still, but hell, I'll eat that mumbo jumbo any day!

Post-LBL 60k, I noticed a fresh new pain in my right knee. Fresh new=effing miserably painful. Bending and straightening my leg became taxing and downright misery, and standing up after sitting for even just a few minutes is grueling. Me being the running injury hypochondriac that I am, I immediately took to the internet to figure out what the hell was going on. I was icing and foam rolling, stretching, and I took a full week off running to recover from LBL. Then, I ran 10 trail miles because I was feeling better. Oops. My knee was lying to me! So, when I got home (after sitting in the car for 45 minutes to get home) and stepped out of the car, I felt the twinge coming back.

Ugh, seriously?!

Paranoia set in, officially, and so instead of sitting around sulking (too much) and seeing if I could fix it myself, I decided to try something new. I Googled ART and did a search for a practioner in my area. I called straight away and made an appointment for the next day. Gorgeous! Jeremy swears by it, and the Ultra List has been buzzing with it lately, so why not give it a shot.

Okay, let me start by saying that I have a very high tolerance for physical pain. I knew going into it, from others' experiences, that ART is a relatively painful therapy. Bring. It. On. I usually have to tell the massage therapist to squeeze harder or dig in more. So ART sounded right up my alley.

Stepping into the chiropractor's office is akin to stepping into the pearly gates of heaven, or whatever superbly awesome delight you equate with 'heaven'. I'm immediately sold because David Gray is playing on the loudspeaker, followed by Ben Harper, then some Norah Jones. All I needed was a latte and a scone! The receptionist addressed me by name (and this was my first time in the office), and it smelled really nice. Very relaxing and totally Om. So unlike any doctors office I've ever been in. Dr. Dave came into the waiting room and jubilantly introduced himself (yes, jubilantly, that's the only way I can describe his caliber of upbeat excitement). We walked back to an examination room where we chatted very frankly (but almost as if we were chatting about books over coffee) about why I wanted ART. He's very cool and unassuming, and clearly extremely knowledgable and ridiculously intelligent. I felt instantly comfortable.

After about 15 minutes of poking around on my legs and hips, doing some ROM exercises and walking back and forth, checking flexibility and all that good stuff, he sat me down and checked out my Cascadias to see what the wear of the sole was like. He called me an anamoly. My shoes didn't reflect my gait in any way. I have slight pronation on my right foot, but almost none to speak of on my left. My hips are slightly uneven, and I have some pretty obvious muscle imbalance from my quads to my ham's. Oh, and weak adductors (inner thigh), but very strong abductors (outer thigh) to boot. He was immediately able to list out exactly what I was doing incorrectly, what I needed to work on, and what he could do for me. Um, hello! Can we say, it's about freakin' time! We even went over my diet, which he was happy with (although he'd like to have me eating more red meat), and also the vitamins I take each day. I learned that the calcium +D supplement I've been taking is crap. I need a calcium citrate (not carbonate) in order for it to be absorbed (this I was aware of). But I digress!

I got my first official adjustment on my ankles, back and neck. Felt great! It sounded like a tap dance going up and down my spine when he adjusted it. Then he went right into the ART portion of the appointment. The best way I can describe it is a faster (15 minutes tops) super deep tissue massage while moving joints around simultaneously...hence active release technique (ART). It was downright painful, and I can take a lot! I could have used a leather strap to bite down on when he started digging into the soles of my feet. Holy cow, I had no idea I had any fascia tightness in my feet!! Yowza! He futzed around on my hips and quads, and by the end of it, he confirmed my personal diagnoses: PFPS, only he refers to it more specifically as patellafemoral tracking pain. In other words my patella gets off track due to weak adductors not holding up their end of the bargain, and allowing my strong abductors to do double duty, thus pulling my patella laterally (towards the outside of my leg) and causing the pain I'm feeling. Huh, cool. Cool, as in interesting. Dr. Dave gave me an exercise to strengthen the VMO on both legs (the VMO is the section of the quadriceps that sits towards the inside of your leg), and told me to focus more on my medius and flexibility. Apparently, I have "fake flexibility". I can bend down at my hips and touch my nose to my knees without any problem, but when I'm laying down and he pushed my leg towards my face, I could only make it 90 degrees before there was resistance. So, I have to do some serious stretching now. I'm not 17 anymore, that's fo' sho'!

Before he let me go, he taped up my arches as he was concerned about how high my arches are and how unsupportive my footwear is. It felt loose, almost as if it wasn't even there, when he wrapped three layers of tape around my arches, but then he had me stand up and give it whirl. It was like having angels on my arches...arch angels, haha! Ok, that was bad :) It felt great! So I took a picture...

I also learned that my toe rings are indian wedding rings. What? I've been wearing them for 12 years, not takin' them off now! Dr. Dave told me to keep the tape on for 4 days, and he would check the adjustment when he saw me in two days to see how it's holding. When I saw him on Friday at the butt crack of dawn before work, he was so excited because my hips and back held the adjustments, and things felt better. He checked my hips, and he was very happy to find that they had evened out dramatically, and when he did another adjustment on my ankles, it actually worked. He managed to loosen them up enough in my first appointment, so he was able to do more work on them this time. It felt so good. There was a loud pop sound when he yanked my ankles, one at a time, but when it was aligned properly the difference was very evident. Very cool stuff. He told me to go ahead and run (it had been two weeks, and I'd only run once in that time) and see how I felt. Nothing long, just an easy 3 mile jog.

Another appointment this evening with his partner, Dr. Anna, and my knee is singing a different tune. No adjustments tonight, but she did some fancy work on my VMO and lower legs. She showed me a simple "no duh" technique to do each time before I run, and whenever I start to feel the pain creep up...tapping my fingers on the VMO to tell it "wake up, I need to use you for a run!" She did it to the muscle while I sat there and it felt pretty cool. How easy is that! So I'll give that a try on my next run, perhaps later this week.

All in all, I am really pleased with my ART experience thus far. I've already learned a lot in just three visits. I have two more planned and I am SO EXCITED. I heart ART. I wish I could do it everyday :) It's nice to have a doc who just gives it to you straight, no BS, no fluff, just honest to goodness "this is what it is, this is what you need to do to fix it, and this is what I'm going to do to make sure it doesn't happen anymore." Love it. I'll be backing off the squats for awhile (those, combined with my increased mileage of late are what ultimately led to this, but biomechanics certainly haven't been helpful in it all), and working on flexibility training, as well as balancing out my ham's and quad's. I love this stuff!

Taking it easy this week, and next, and then...it's McNaughton time!!

Sidenote: I picked up some J-41 Aquarius' over the weekend as I've had my eye on them for awhile, but didn't want to pay $110 for them, but I found them on sale and snagged 'em. The arch support in these shoes is amazing! It feels so much better than my typical non-running shoes. I also added some Dr. Scholl's gel arch supports for extra oomf and it's great. What a difference proper shoes make. Who'd have thought :)

Paige, out.

Glen-alicious

Today, I took to the trail for my first run since the LBL 60k last weekend. I took a full seven days off, totally running-free. And you know, it wasn't all that bad. It is humbling, in a good way, to feel so meh and spent after a race, enough that you know you need some time off. Even though a week isn't all that much, it was a lot for me. The last two races, I was running after four days. Probably not the best idea, but I felt fine those times and was ready for more. This time, I just wanted to relax (and eat! Which I did more than enough of...I'm pretty sure the amount of food I consumed in the last week could have nourished a small third-world country for a month). Interestingly enough, this time I had no post-race soreness. Zip. I think I owe that to the huge amount of water I consumed after the race, all the icing I did in the 48 hours afterwards, doing lots of post-race walking around to get the junk out of my muscles, elevating my legs much of the night while I watched TV, and I also wrapped both lower legs in Ace bandages for the 7-hour carride home the following day. So I think those things really made all the difference. All I had to deal with today was that heavy, lead-like feeling you get after a hard effort.

My favorite, convenient trail around here is:
Super easy to get to, and it's a perfect central meeting point for me and for running partner Gary. I got there a tad before him and got situated. It was tough deciding whether or not I'd wear my Nathan vest, but in the end I went with it so I could carry my camera. It was in that gray area between slightly chilly and slightly warm so I wore my giraffe Moebens to start...they are so comfortable, and silly enough looking that I'm pretty sure I'm smirking the entire time I have them on. I also decided to trail test the CW-X Ventilator tights I got recently. I thought I'd see if they live up to all the hype (and price!), and who knows, maybe they'll make my knees smile a little more :) Oh, and I of course had on my fav short sleeve 4R's Atayne top on, as well as my Cascadia 4's (heaven on feet). Naturally, I was a little sad they didn't make the 4's in neon green, but I think I enjoy the turquoise just as much :)

The day turned out freakin' gorgeous! I would venture almost so far as to say "a tad on the warm side". Not five minutes into the run I peeled off the Moebens and my Buff and stuffed them in my vest (glad I decided to wear it!). The sun was out, no clouds to speak of and there were people galore! Mostly cyclists (who served only to muck up the gravel trail and turn it into a rutted mess), and birdwatchers, but a few other runners here and there. I just can't believe how beautiful it ended up being. Once we got towards the west-most section of the loop, there's a swampy area. We actually stopped to look around because there was this deafening loud chorus of frog chirping (or whatever it is they're doing) coming from the swamp area. It was so cool! I've never heard anything like that before. It sounded as if there were hundreds of frogs all singing together. Love it. Love spring. Love trails.

Then I remembered I had my camera so I snapped some shots. There's an old un-used (I believe) rail bed that runs along parts of the main loop's perimeter, and on the other side is a pond. My favorite section for some reason...


The abandoned rail...

"Gary, look like you're deep in thought." Okay, so much for that, but that's running partner Gary. Fellow Beer Runner dude, and he's training for the Wasatch Front 100. Yikes! That's hardcore, and quite a race to choose for one's first 100-miler. Maybe I'll get to pace...mu hahaha ;)

Today was tough for me. My body felt ready for the run, but my legs and feet were objecting quietly most of the run. It felt like we were running uphill the entire time, and then on the two downhill sections (which are really not that bad) my right knee was singing acapella. In a very high-pitched tone. Incessantly. So then I felt the damn thing the rest of the time. Then my right shin pitched in a little. But these are hardly anything new these days and I expected to feel these aches. I just felt so darn taxed and I was huffing like it was my first run, ever. Gary was doing great, especially considering he knocked out a nice little 24-miler on Friday, on his own. I downed most of my Nuun in the hour and a half we were out, and a couple Mixed Berry Clif Shot Bloks (yum! Love the flavor). I kept thinking about the cold chocolate milk chug I had in my car, and banana. I came better post-run prepared this time.

In all, we cranked out the full loop, which is 9.5 miles to the parking lot. I initially wanted to do 10, but we both opted to cut it at 9.5. Our cars were beckoning us. Good, tough run. Beautiful weather. Lovely day. This was another one of those character-building runs that my legs are so fond of these days. I walked more than usual, but I needed it today. Afterwards, I lollygagged at my car which had a nice patch of grass next to it and I stretched for awhile and practically inhaled my chocolate milk. Does a body good :)

Happy legs...done for the day!

Paige, out.

A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To...

I figured that since I always write about my running, perhaps I should write about something somewhat non-running related, just to keep it interesting, and to keep you guessing :)

I've noticed a couple of things this week that sort of stuck with me for some reason. For starters, I was walking down Wabash, heading back to the office after a gym session on Tuesday when a woman coming out of a high-rise crossed in front of me carrying a bunch of bulky boxes. She seemed a bit wobbly and looked to be at least twice my age on first glance. Then I looked down at her shoes (I have a thing for shoes, it's usually one of the first things I notice about a person). Good gracious, the woman had on 4 1/2" heels in shocking red patent leather! No wonder she looked like a complete idiot walking. She was taking bird-like steps and sort of clomping down...very unbecoming, and made it glaringly obvious how uncomfortable she was. I looked down at my cute little Keen flats and smiled. Happy feet :)

Not so long ago, I was a high heel touting femme fatale...haha, not exactly, but you'd have been hard pressed to find me not in high heels. Well, other than when I was running. Then, my sports doc had a good old fashioned "sittin' down" with me when I kept showing up at his office with shin complaints. He told me I really needed to reconsider my current footwear, while glancing down at my beautiful deep red stiletto heels on the floor. "But they're so cute!" Yea, well, cute only does you so much good. Naturally, I was stubborn at first, but all Doc needed to do was tell me that I could run into some serious foot/ankle/knee problems down the line that could really put a wrench in my running if I didn't take better care of my lower extremities. FINE. That was about nine months ago. So, as I finally unpacked all my shoes a couple of weekends ago, I tried on each of my former faves and waltzed around the house for a bit. And you know what? My ankles and knees kinda hurt afterwards! Too bad...I have a pair of hot pink patent leather ones I wore once, on a dare (because they're so ridiculous looking), and a pair of ankle-busting black patent sling-backs that I just look longingly at now. *Sigh* The things we do for the love of running :)

Today, I decided I should go to the bank at lunch and deposit some checks I'd forgotten about, then I thought it was so nice to actually see the sun (even though it's fripping cold out) so I walked up Michigan Avenue to a store I haven't been in since this time last year. I've shrunk in the last year, considerably (due to the running), so none of my dress pants fit me and I decided it was high time to get a pair that actually fits. I walked into the store and was immediately assaulted by the door greeter. For the love! I hate that kind of thing. Yes, I get that they want to give the perception of great customer service, but that in-your-face stuff is so obnoxious. I thought I was done with the greeter dude, but no, there was a flamboyant greeter for every square foot of the store, and it has three floors! I'm one of those customers who prefers to be left alone when shopping, and if I need help, I'll ask for it. I really had to work hard at not being rude, and I succeeded, but their antics were almost enough to walk me right out the door. Except that I found the most perfect pair of black pants.

In the dressing room there was a girl shouting (over the already blaring bollywood music, and yapping customers) about some swimwear deal on the second floor. I was in there all of 5 minutes and she must have said the same damn speal 10 times. No joke. The place was bumpin', too. Packed with people shopping, and young kids toting their own Starbucks drinks. Ah, capitalism.

Needless to say, I considered dropping to the ground and kissing it once I got outside. I just don't enjoy shopping the way I used to. I'm more of the online shopper these days, and I so rarely spend money on things that have nothing to do with running :)

When I got back to the office, there were brownies in the kitchen. What a day, a sweet pair of pants and brownies?! Even better, it's an informal Beer Runner event tonight at a bar I haven't been to before in L Square. Should be fun! And a great way to round out my recovery week. Beer. Sunday I plan to hit the trail for a slow easy one.

ORN: I've been icing my right knee like a madwoman, and have been working on the suggested strengthening exercises for PFPS. Good ol' runner's knee. No hills this weekend, and I've been walking sideways down stairs to avoid aggravating it further. The achilles is much better now, too. I think I'm too the point in my mileage that I need to pay better attention to that area and be more diligent about my stretching of it. Done and done. Oh, and I've been absolutely ravenous this week. My keyboard has begun to look appetizing. I keep having to remind myself that I had a pretty long run last weekend at LBL :) A prelude to what's to come post-McNaughton!

I've been scouring race postings for a trail marathon for this year. It's one of my goals for the year and it's tough deciding on which one. It also depends a lot on what other races I sign up for. Everything is contingent on everything else. Decisions, decisions.

Paige, out.

"Never take life [too] seriously; nobody gets out alive anyway." ~ Unknown

Ultra Mud Wrestling

Well, my first go-round on Kentucky trails obviously wasn't enough for me and I decided (even before the pain and soreness of LLTH 50k dissolved) to sign up for something a tad longer, and just a few inches west (on the map, haha) of good ol' Louey. Enter: Land Between the Lakes Trail Runs.

I distinctly recall Mike mentioning this race to me way back in September when I was contemplating entering into the realm of longer distances. Of course, I scoffed at the idea of traveling "all the way down to Kentucky" for a half marathon. *Sigh* Little did I know it would become my third in the ultra distance :) The 60k became my next goal, and was exactly four weeks after Louisville, and three to four weeks prior to McNaughton Park 50M. Gorgeous. I packed up my running suitcase, made sure I had my AAA with me (!), some tunes for the road and then set out on the longest solo roadtrip I've ever done.

So I took a picture of it :) Naturally. I made it in 7.5 hours, and I only stopped twice the whole time. A miracle considering I'm a gal and I have a teeny weeny bladder, lol. I checked into the lovely Kentucky Barkley Lakes Inn just off Hwy. 24, and a mere 3 miles from the start line. Since I had 3 hours to burn until dinner, I took a nap, walked some laps around the hotel grounds, made some decaf, watched some TV, took another nap, then decided I should use my time a little wiser and get everything ready for the morning.

Almost everything, still needed my bib number

Since I was making record time getting ready, and still had an hour until dinner, I made my way into town to pick up my packet and check out the area.

Grand Rivers is one of those "Ye Old" type towns...picturesque, old fashioned, time warp-y and totally touristy. I loved it. I wandered into an antiques store and felt immediately as if I were in another era. So cool. I was meeting Norm and Joyce Yarger, and Meg W. for dinner at the hot spot in town, Patti's 1880's Settlement. It's an honest to goodness campus of old fashioned-ness. The grounds were just beautiful, swarming with kittens, daffodils, knick-knack shops, a mini-golf course, a couple other restaurants, and then the main attraction, Patti's Restaurant. Just outside the main entrance was this...thought it was just so fitting! (The sign below it says "Heaven".)

Dinner was delicious! I had such a great time getting to know the Yarger duo and their running adventures, and along with Meg they all had a number of very cool stories and tons of ultra experience. I was in heaven! Norm has got to be one of the sweetest and most adorably funny guys I've met in my adventures thus far. Thanks for hangin' with a newbie, Norm! After dinner, I headed back to the hotel, double-checked my stuff and then hit the hay. Start time was going to be 7:00a.m.

I slept great! Grabbed a bowl of oatmeal, a biscuit, banana, and some decaf from the hotel lobby, and then headed out. Somehow I managed to drag ass in all this (not sure where I did that), and when I hopped up on the Community Center steps to drop off my drop bag, I only had two minutes until start. Whoa! No potty break for me, and I didn't even have any water in my handheld yet! It was raining, as it had been since late the night before. It was one of those annoying heavy drizzle rains, but thankfully not a downpour. It was a tad chilly, but I knew it wouldn't be all that bad once we got moving. I decided to wear shorts this time since I figured the mud might be an issue and I didn't want muddy wet tights suctioning on my legs all day. I am so glad I went with the shorts :) I also had a hat on to keep the rain off my glasses, this came in super handy.

I ran into Ed at the start, and recognized a few other peeps, but everyone was pretty much in their zone, so I kept to myself and instead agonized over my need to pee really badly, and that I had an empty water bottle. "3-2-1 (BANG!) GO!" The first 1.75 miles were on paved road, leading up to the trailhead. I went out fast with the front of the pack, but it felt pretty good. One guy caught up to me and said hello, and asked how I was doing. I didn't look at him at first because I was concentrating on my feet, but as he kept talking I looked over and recognized him as my rabbit from LLTH. Ha, duh, that's why he was talking to me like he knew me :) I told him I had no water and he said the main aid station is at the trailhead and the water is probably set up already. It was! So I said good luck as he went on and I stopped to fill up my handheld.

As expected, the trail was muddy, only to get muddier as the day went on and as almost 400 pairs of feet pounded it for 1-2-3-4 loops. It was going to get interesting! The first loop wasn't as congested as I thought it might be, but maybe that's because I kept to the front at first. An older man dressed (literally) in a body-length garbage bag caught up to me. I recognized the LLTH Buff he had on as he passed by on a downhill section. When we got to an uphill, he began walking and I zipped by him. About halfway around the first loop (11.3 miles/loop) he caught me again and then stayed with me up to the North Welcome Station AS. He complimented me on my form and kept saying I was doing so great on uphill sections (which, to be honest, were nothing compared to LLTH or Stone Steps...mere bumps). He asked me for my "secret", and I said, "training on flat pavement!" He thought that was funny. We swapped running stories for a short bit, then he thanked me for forcing him to pick up the pace so that we could chat and then said he needed a breather. He was running the marathon distance so I knew I wouldn't see him again, so I said goodbye and headed on my way. Sweet old feller, I tell ya!

So basically, the first two loops (of three, for the 60k) went by in a flash. I ran a lot more than I anticipated and felt pretty good. I had a few flashes of really bad stomach pains after eating a bean and cheese burrito at an aid station...yea, won't do that again. So I stuck to my Nuun and three Clif Shot Bloks/hour, and twice I had a Gu instead of the Bloks. I also had some peanut M&M's and peanut butter pretzels since I knew I could handle those just fine. I had thrown a pack of cola flavored Bloks in my vest, and decided to give them a try on my second loop. I usually only have the cran razz Bloks, but I went out on a limb and gave the cola flavor a shot. BAD IDEA. If there's one thing to remember in distance racing nutrition, it's that consistency is key. Truly, don't try something new on race day. The cola flavor was awful. I took one and thought, "hmm, that tasted funny, maybe I need a drink." So I gulped some Nuun, and tossed another Blok in my mouth. "Hmmm, it still tastes like throw-up." Now, I had put just enough Bloks in to cover me for 8 hours, so I couldn't just toss something based on flavor. I needed the electrolytes, bad! So I put the third one in my mouth, the second one was still only half chewed in my mouth and I held them in there like a two-year old holds their vegetables in their mouth because they're too grossed out to swallow them. Ugh! I wanted to spit them out, but couldn't in my right mind waste them. So I used the old "no taste" technique and held my nose as I choked them down. Blech! I let the guy behind me know how awful they were as he was there through the whole ordeal. He laughed and agreed, said he did the same thing when he tried that flavor.

Anywho! I digress. I zipped through those first two loops, a few stomach probs here and there, but nothing that would stop me. I had some trouble letting myself relax into the race, but I'm thinking it was mostly because of the weather. I knew I needed to walk more, so I told myself my third loop would be my lolly-gagging loop, and then I'd take some pictures. I checked my GPS at the 50k mark, and I did a blazing (for me) 50k split of 6:28...whoa! I wasn't expecting that. That gave me the mental boost that I needed for the final loop. In this race, I learned why it is that loop courses tend to have such high drop rates. Wow, it was realllllllly tempting to just take a right at the main AS, at the trailhead, and just head for the car, especially since the course was so horrifically muddy and I was starting to feel every single muscle ache and scream at me. But, luckily, I was really good and never hung around any of the aid stations, especially the main one. I filled up water and that was about it.

On the final loop, I pulled my camera out and snapped a few pics. I knew there wasn't going to be a way for me to put into words how muddy it was, so I needed to document it. Here's a pic of the trail...

And, of course a pic of my shoes which are actually neon green but you can't tell that here...they match the mud!

I was starting to get a little anxious as I was over 25 miles into the race and I still hadn't fallen, but I did run into a briar that cut my left knee up a bit when I went to pass someone on the narrow trail. I was wondering when the ball was going to drop. There were so many muddy bodies throughout the day, people who had bitten it early on and were just caked in the stuff. And this was no ordinary, whatevs mud. This was some hardcore, clay mixture that when wet turned a funky orange/yellow/mud color and it was THICK. We're talking shoe-sucking! The sound of my feet squishing in the stuff cracked me up and I caught myself laughing outloud at it more than once :) There were a couple of close calls, but not enough that I lost count: I stubbed my toe three times (thank goodness for toe guards!), and rolled each ankle once, but even those weren't bad because I didn't even cuss :)

Huffin' it

At about mile 28, I began to notice aching in my arches that was beginning to feel more painful than achy, so I switched up my gait a little. Then, I got that old sensation back...my right shin was dropping in to say, "Hi!" How nice. So I reduced movement to a brisk walk. Wow, that felt great! I guess I'll take some more pictures...

A Marine-looking dude who I had been going back and forth with on the trail most of the day, along with two chicks in tow, came by at this point and he said hey and asked if I was okay. I said I was just going to lolly-gag for a bit and shake out the legs...I didn't want my wheels coming off so close to the end of a race :)

At about mile 32, I saw Marine-looking dude up ahead and he was walking, looking pretty beat. I slowed up as I came upon and asked him how he was doing, he said, "My wheels came off at mile 29. I have nothin' left!" I said I didn't want to say I told you so and he just laughed at me and said, "Ponytail, I'll see ya at the finish!" And I took off, feeling really good again. Ponytail is what people started calling me throughout the day. It was actually pretty amusing.

Cara, that I ran with for awhile at LLTH, caught up to me towards the end and we chatted for a bit and finally introduced ourselves (I never did get her name at LLTH). Tanya also caught me somewhere near the end, so that was cool to finally meet her in person! I thought she was Juli at first. Tanya was truckin' along and she shot up ahead of me. What a trooper! When I finally reached the main aid station and was steered to the right to head towards the finish line, I wanted to drop to the pavement and kiss it. Only 1.75 miles left to go!! Since my drop bag was still there, and I didn't want to worry about finding it later, I went ahead and grabbed it and threw it on my back. I thanked the volunteers and then hit the road. This final section was all pavement and a lot of it was uphill which my legs hated at this point. I was so tired, every muscle in me ached, and my piriformis (of all things) was screaming at me to stop, but I didn't. I was so happy to be almost done that I took a pic...it even hurt to smile, lol...

I saw one dude up ahead of me, well way ahead of me, and I knew there was no way I was going to catch up to, let alone pass him. So I thought this was funny and quite apropos...
Of course, literally, as soon as I snapped this picture, a guy came out of nowhere and passed me. I shouted, "Hey, this is a No Passing Zone!" He turned back to me, laughing, and said he just couldn't resist passing when he saw I took a picture of the sign. Good stuff. I approached the J.H. O'Bryan street sign and saw a volunteer up ahead directing me to turn. And then I could see the FINISH LINE!! I was going to finish, f'real! About 20 yards to the line and someone comes up alongside me and I recognized him...he had been ahead of me most of the race and I didn't even remember passing him. He said he couldn't let "ponytail" beat him, but that he wanted to cross the line with me. So we finished together at exactly 7h:30m! Woohoo! The volunteers at the finish said I didn't look like I had been running in mud all day, "she doesn't even have anything on her hamstrings! And she's got pearls on!" Of course I do, it's pretty much my thing :)

I hobbled to the car to toss my stuff in and before I went to get some hot post-race grub, I snapped a pic of my feet. I guess they don't look that bad here...
I holed up in the Community Center with other finishers, inhaling some absolutely divine veggie lasagna, chili, brownies, soup, fruit salad, and everything else I could fit in my stomach. I wanted to see if I could catch Norm or Ed but after an hour or so I started getting those post-race shivers so I decided I needed to get cleaned up and into some clean, dry clothing. I went back to the Inn and luckily they had rooms left so I had no problem getting another night. Phew! There was just no way I was going to drive 8 hours at this point (in the rain, tired, sore, tired, hungry, sore...). When I finally peeled off my shoes and socks (which were so corroded and crusty that I tossed them in a plastic bag to deal with later) you could really see how muddy it was!
I looks like I have running tights on...made of mud! Gross, that's so unbecoming... Yes, my feet really are that white; this pic was taken without flash :)

So all in all, a freakin' fabulous race! Steve Durbin and company put on a great event and I have every intention of returning. The trails were challenging with all the rain and mud, but that just served to make it even more fun and exhilarating in a very youthful "playing in the mud" kind of way. Plus, all the ultrarunners got a sweet belt buckle for their achievement. It's some serious hardware, too. And you know what I'm most psyched about through all this? I never fell! Not once! This was my first ultra without one of my signature spills. I almost felt...dare I say...that I missed it? I thought, what am I going to report back to Mike...that I had a good race? *Gasp!*

The Goods...

And then I passed out! Hehe

Paige, out.

Let each become all that he was created capable of being. ~ Thomas Carlyle