Day One of NaRunMoMo

My sense of smell returned this morning. I forgot that that's one of the joys of fall, smelling the leaves and earthy stuff. Fortunately we still have enough green foliage around that it should last a while longer.

Woke up at 4:24 am, couldn't figure out why except I heard a CLUNK in the bedroom. It was Isabelle, walking around in the dark, bumping into walls and knocking things over. Dennis woke up and carried her downstairs, thinking she had to go outside. Having a geriatric dog means you never know what kind of surprise might squish between your toes if you get up in the dark...

I went to bed at 10 last night, late for me, but then I realized we changed the clocks and it was really 5:24, close to my usual wake up time. Dennis went back to bed and I got up and made coffee, and came out to the cave. Isabelle seemed content to lie in the cold grass sniffing the air in the middle of the backyard.

For some reason my 4 year old coal-fired laptop with the 8 track drive in it has been having issues and I am about ready to spring for a new one. I saw a cool one with dual floppy disk drives, what do you think? I am having issues with uploading photos so I might have to add the pictures later. It could be an issue with Blogger today, which would really be annoying since it is officially NaBloPoMo, but my laptop really has been acting up. So I apologize if you get a bland text-only blogpost today. Should be fixed within 24 hours.

The Fort Collins Running Club was having its Tortoise & Hare 5K this morning and I try to attend as many as I can, I've been a member of the club for a gazillion years. But lately they've been getting 150 people at these things and I am not one for crowds. We used to have 10, maybe 20 people show up. It's great that the club membership has grown and so many more people are involved. I prefer it that way, it's just that I don't like running with so many people.

I know, most road races have more like thousands. If I wanted to be around crowds I would sign up for them.

This morning's event was at Warren Park which happens to be exactly a mile from my house. And it isn't cold, it was 40 degrees when I woke up and didn't dip much below that even at sunrise. I haven't run since October 21, the day I woke up with this crud.

I showed up and there weren't a lot of people, but then a few minutes later it was packed. The runners start according to their handicap time, so I wasn't going until 21 minutes after the hour. I had time to socialize. I lined up to start with my friend Joanne, we've never been in the same wave before but we ran together most of the way and finished pretty close in time.

I actually ran faster than I thought I could. I took off at a brisk pace but not too hard, and tried to maintain that. At the first mile mark I hit it in 9:12 which surprised me, because I felt comfortable. I haven't been running anywhere that fast on my runs lately, but we got through mile 2 in 9 something, and then I felt like I could push it a little harder in the last mile.

Ended up with a 27:23, which I figured out later is 8:50 a mile average pace. I honestly didn't believe I could even run one mile at that pace right now. Having an 8 before my pace is something I never would have expected at this point.

I ran one mile to the park and one mile home, so I ended up with just over 5 miles of running today, with a little extra effort. That's part of NaRunMoMo, picking up the intensity twice a week. Mission accomplished, for today. 29 days to go.

Officially Fifty...

First race in my new age group today. A 5K in downtown Fort Collins, called Sharin' of the Green, part of the St. Patrick's Day festivities. Parade, beer drinking, and other fun.

I woke up early on purpose so I could run this 5K, just to see how I did, as a 50 year old. Turned out not so bad. I won my new age group, 50-59, and on a cold, windy morning, I managed to run about the same time I've been running for 5K for the past two years. I ran 23:05 and fairly even splits, and the wind was fun, whipping dust, leaves and other junk in our eyes as we ran the streets of Old Town. The wind was generally not too bad, at least I didn't notice it much, but the gusts were a challenge, up to 30 mph, they said.

It was freezing after the race, but I waited around with Joanne and Hunter while they did the awards, had to enjoy the perks of my new age group. I got a twenty dollar gift card to Sports Authority, which will be useful, I'm sure. I still have another 6 or so miles to do today, but I need to warm my frozen body up and put a few more layers on.

Right now the wind is howling and bending the big trees, but I have to get out and finish my run. I always think of Cleveland, I have to do it, because you never know what the conditions will be on race day.

This week was pretty much unproductive work-wise, but it was a decent running week so far. I had a good 20 mile run at Horsetooth where I pushed it on the hills, and averaged a minute and half per mile pace faster than I was running earlier this winter. My legs were sore the past two days from that workout. I plan to start real speedwork in the next few weeks. Wheaties Boy and I are going to start some morning mile repeat sessions once the early morning gets a little lighter.

My niece Jenny was in town this week along with my brother and sister-in-law, and we had fun touring Fort Collins. We celebrated her 17th birthday, and after a day here, they went to Boulder afterwards and it sounds like Jenny's favorite school so far is CU, so maybe we will have another Buffalo in the family after next year. Jenny is a junior in high school, so a lot can happen in a year and a half, but we would love it if she decided to go to school in Boulder.

First Day of Spring 5K

Happy new year, happy January 1st, and happy first day of spring!

When I first looked out the window this morning at 6:30, the wind was howling and snow was flying in all directions. My first thought was that I was excited about the weather for the 5K, because I love bad weather! I was thinking I'm probably the only runner who is excited about running a 5K in this crap.

I signed Dennis up and told him he was running, whether he likes it or not. He always talks about running more consistently so I was just helping him with his New Years resolution. He drank his coffee and I convinced him to get his running stuff on and we drove over to Runners' Roost.

We saw a lot of people, there was a pretty good turnout. After a little socializing and a trip to the bathroom, we did a warm up run with Josh, and checked out the first mile of the course. It was slick and icy in a lot of places, and the first two tenths of a mile were as slick as a skating rink, not because of ice, but because if the surface of the road with melted snow on it.

I jumped in the crowd and got next to the curb, my strategy was to keep from slipping or injuring myself and stay near the parked cars as we took off from the start. Fortunately it worked, and the footing didn't improve much until after mile 1. I got to the first mile in 8:09, which actually surprised me because I thought I was going much slower and running flatfooted in the slick areas.

I caught up to Dennis shortly after the first turn and we ran together for about 2 miles, until he got bored or something...

I reached mile 2 in 15:57 which means it was a 7:48 mile, a little better with the footing. I could see a couple of people ahead of me I could focus on passing. I tried picking it up in the last mile but it didn't take much to feel like I was going too fast. So I settled back into that pace, maybe 7:45ish. Ended up finishing in 24:26, which is still a slow time for me but better than the last 5K I ran in the beginning of November in 25:42.

For fun, I looked at the age group placings. I was 5th in my age group today, but in 10 weeks I'll be in the next age group, and would have placed first by a long shot.

Saw my buddy Nick Clark this morning, he watched the race with his son Alistair. They just got back from the UK so he was jet lagged. He's turning 40 this year. I'm turning 50. Two runners I know are turning 60.

Should be a good year for celebrating milestone birthdays, which reminds me, I need to get my butt in gear to figure out the birthday run agenda. Hint: there might have to be some pogo stick involvement in this one.

Afterwards we hung out and socialized for a while but it was getting cold in our damp clothes, so we came home to our Buffaloes, and now I'm waiting around and doing some stuff here until later when I go out for round two, another run. And this Sunday I'll be running the Edora Park 8K with the running club.

I bought a parks pass online this morning, for Larimer County parks, which will motivate me to drag my butt up to the trailheads and start doing Rock Repeats and get back to a little trail running this year, which I'm hoping I can tolerate with my ankle.

Lots of fun things to look forward to. Happy new year!

Double Holiday Miles and Good Advice

Hanukkah and Thanksgiving, together. What a perfect day, warm, sunny, the massive white peaks of Longs on the west horizon, great day for a run, listening to the geese arriving home for the winter in giant V formations across the sky. I did 7 miles, plus a few walks with the girls. Not many miles today, saving it up for the next few days, when I'll want to be out there in the quiet.

The cottonwoods are just as impressive bare as they are with their leaves.

Early Thanksgiving morning I will go over to Windsor and help with registration and packet pickup for the Pelican Lakes 5K, and after that I might run the race. Probably will, but not 100% sure.

I figure I will get plenty of short runs in between cooking spells all day Thursday. That's the plan- put something in the oven, go for a run, come back and check on it, go for another run.

I always love running around the holidays. There's less traffic and the streets are quiet. Except for Black Friday. Ugh. "Corporate Greed Friday". I try not to spend any money on Black Friday and try not to drive anywhere, either. I like to run, far away from the busy sections of town where shoppers might be driving.

Today I stopped by the liquor store, something I haven't done since before I stopped working at the hospital. I have not even wanted beer or anything since I quit work. Amazing. I thought I'd get some beer in case we wanted some on Thanksgiving while the liquor stores are closed.

I found this new organic lager by New Belgium, called California Route- they collaborated with Patagonia- speaking of corporations- and produced this citrusy hoppy beer that is pretty good for a lager, in a can. It reminds me of a tamed-down version of Dale's Pale Ale. Very tame. But I like it. And they are donating proceeds to flood relief in Colorado after our September flood.

So I partied with the girls this afternoon, and Iris went crazy over the new beer. She had to check it out, she protested not being able to taste it and then when I finally let her smell it, she didn't want it. She doesn't like hoppy beers, she's more of a dark, chocolatey stout, porter or dark ale drinker.

Isabelle doesn't like beer all that much. She prefers to hang out with her mom and watch Iris throw a temper tantrum.

It's Hanukkah, and I don't do Hanukkah. We don't do Black Friday. I don't do Christmas, and Dennis barely does. I'm not into religious holidays, and certainly not the spending and consumption that goes with them. I do Solstice, and New Years. They are running holidays for me. Might as well be my religion.

But speaking of religion...

while I'm on it, what the Pope said.

I like this Pope. I wish people would listen to him. He has some good messages that really ought to be listened to by more than just Catholics. Because there are a lot of people who really need to hear this message. I know it will go in one ear and out the other for those people with no social conscience.

Times like these make me extra thankful that I never had kids because I wouldn't want to try to raise them in this world the way things are, and I certainly wouldn't want to leave them in this world that my generation has screwed up so badly. At this point things are so screwed up that I don't think anything can fix us. Unless we drop a bomb on the whole planet and obliterate it and whatever life form is left starts over.

But I hope the kids like my niece and nephews, the so-called Millenials, will be different, and find a way to salvage their world after their greedy, shortsighted predecessors from my generation and the one after mine die off.

And speaking of religion, here's the best quote ever from the running legend himself, snagged this one from my Badwater buddy Chris Roman's Facebook page today.

"My advice is that you should use your brains more and train less."
- Yiannis Kouros

Might as well be the Pope speaking.

Happy Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, or whatever you want it to be. Just be happy.

Progress!

I feel like I took a giant leap from injured runner to being on the comeback trail.

I had a serious motivation problem this morning, I could not get my butt out the door. I was intimidated by the combination of 20 degrees and gray skies.

It's one thing when the sun is shining, but when there's nothing to warm you up and there's a cold breeze from the north, as mild as it might be, I have a hard time getting out there.

By ten o'clock I'd checked my email, surfed Facebook, and done all the other things and made all the excuses that it's possible to use for procrastination. I knew if I didn't get out I'd be finishing late in the day and I wanted to get it done.

So I dragged my butt out, thinking I'd do 16 miles and ended up with just over 18, slower than snot, but I did it. I had no problem running or moving, it was just slow. My legs were tired and then I remembered I just started the weights this past week and I did squats yesterday.

What really blew me away was when I looked at my running log and figured out how many miles I ran this week: over 47 miles. I wasn't paying attention, didn't realize I got that many miles in. That's progress.

I froze my butt off out there. I dressed the same as I did the morning of 18 degrees and snow, but there was no sun and there was just enough wind to keep me in a constant state of freezing. The threshold for freezing my ass off was exactly the pace I was running. If I stopped or slowed down at all, I was screwed. So I kept moving.

I did stop halfway through at Pelican Marsh Natural Area and sat on a bench, ate a Lara bar, drank some water, and texted my friend Kathy to see if her daughter had her baby yet. Not yet.

A pretty uneventful run but I felt good about the steady pace and no issues.

I noticed something this week. Looking in the mirror I noticed the skin on my face looks different. There are wrinkles there, not sure when they appeared, but it's not from dry skin. The reason I was looking so closely at my face is because I got this HUGE zit on the side of my nose, looks like a new nose is growing there. My face rarely breaks out anymore but this is one lone gigantic mountainous explosion waiting to happen.

I just found it amusing, this big old zit and then I saw the tiny wrinkles in my cheeks, that you can't see unless you look super close. Gray hair, wrinkles, what the hell, it's bound to happen. I just happened to notice. I put extra sunscreen on my face before I went out today. Nothing else I want to do about it. No botox for this chick.

I've earned every one of my gray hairs and wrinkles, and I'm proud of them. I suppose the real test will be in this next year's racing, because I'm hoping that my menstrual cycle has completely stopped. At least I won't have to deal with the race day surprise anymore. The hot flashing has subsided quite a bit recently, and best of all, I have slept through the night almost every single night this past week, since I stopped working at the hospital. Imagine that.

This coming week is Thanksgiving, and I'll be volunteering at the Pelican Lakes 5K in Windsor, doing registration and race packets. I might run the 5K afterwards. Probably will. Lots of studying and writing this week on the agenda. It feels great to be here...

A Post About Running...

This morning thankfully we got that extra hour after turning the clocks back. I decided to do something out of the ordinary...get up and run!

At 8:00 the Fort Collins Running Club Tortoise & Hare series had a 5K at a park near my house. I'd run into Nick Clark a couple of times at the grocery store this past week, and he reminded me of it. No excuses, he said.

I woke up at 6:45 after about 10 hours of sleep, and I knew there really was no excuse. I pulled my running clothes on, drank my coffee, and got my butt out the door. Now I know I can move that early in the morning. I set a precedent.

I went over and found a huge gathering of people, looked like there were close to 100 runners. I saw several long time friends from the club and it felt so good to be outside and around them again. There is life out there!

I had about 3 minutes to warm up before my start, the runs are held as a time-handicap events so I got going pretty fast without too much of a warmup. I started out easy. I was totally surprised when I hit the one mile mark in 8:39. My next two mile splits were 8:04 and 8:07, and I ended up finishing in 25:42, not bad for a flabby old lady who has been doing next to nothing for the past 4 months.

I fully expected to run 9 minute miles at an effort. So this was a pleasant surprise, even though last spring I was a minute per mile faster!

The other day I also got an email from my friend Brian Wieck, he's the RD for the Pemberton Trail 50K in February. I thought that would be a good first comeback ultra.

I won't be running fast, but it will get me back into things. So as soon as I know I'm on the healing track, hopefully later this month, I'll be signing up for that.

I also ran into Celeste and Scott who put on the Brewery Tour in February, and this year it will be February 15th. Can't miss that!

I'm so glad I won't have to work that weekend...my new boss is so great, she doesn't make me do ANY weekends unless I want to. She supervises me from the couch. The only thing I have to do is take her for runs and walks. She's not into micromanaging unless there's food involved.

After the 5K I went home and ate some food, then changed into dry clothes, and went out for a two hour run. I felt a little tired. It's been over a month since my last 14 mile run. I got a total of 14.4 today with the 5K, and 36+ miles for the week, my highest since July.

Not a peep out of the hamstring. I will wait a few days to see if there is any flare up from pushing the pace, but as of now it feels fine.

When I was on my run today I saw two people I know and stopped to talk, Wheaties Boy's mother-in-law Faustine was out for a long walk, so we talked for a few minutes. And then I saw my buddy Dan, who was on my Badwater crew in 2011. He was walking his dog out in the field near the golf course, next to Power Trail. I yelled out to him, and we talked for a good 20 minutes.

It feels like the sky got bigger and the days got brighter. I can see the light, just gotta make it through this final stretch and once I recover from that, life will be all mine again.

Work Hangover Wednesday Part 2: Waking Up Hungry

Cool. Wet. Rain.

Finally, the sky is dumping something other than white stuff. After a 2 1/2 hour nap I woke up to the sound of drops on the roof. It's supposed to rain off and on for the next few days. I'm groggy. I don't feel quite human yet, maybe after a full night's sleep I will be recovered tomorrow, and I can get back to running and life.

I can't wait, I am soooo hungry to train and race. I'm missing running something awful, but as exhausted as I was, I didn't feel good enough this morning to force myself out the door. I have no evening run with Wheaties Boy tonight to get me moving, maybe we'll do a few miles tomorrow, or we'll resume next week.

The plan is to get about 20 miles in this week, and increase by about 20 miles a week until I'm back at 80 miles or so as my weekly base. By June training should be back in full swing. I'm not sore anymore going up and down the stairs today, but it took until tonight. Those 5Ks are brutal!

I'm looking for a marathon for the first weekend in June, there are several within driving distance: Casper, Wyoming, Steamboat, and it seems like there was something else I heard about. These marathons will be a good test of where my fitness is as I begin the 24 hour training again. I can compare to my 5Ks and estimate what is realistic to achieve in October. The best part will be getting back to the track and pounding out some good intervals. I love those summer mornings at the CSU track. Only a couple more weeks!

Work Hangover Wednesday: Target Practice

Note to readers: A short version of this blogpost appeared today on KevinMD.

What a week.

First of all, I was sore as hell after that 5k! That 24 hour run didn't give me anywhere near as much residual soreness as the race this past weekend did. My hamstrings, butt, and quads are all still screaming! This week I will do a few easy runs to get back into it, next week will be the first week I do anything resembling training.

And it's Nurses' Week.

Yes I know I've said a lot about nursing lately, and when I'm not training and racing, I have no running news. But I know there are a few readers out there who are all too eager to read what I'm going to say next, and a very small number are licking their chops and waiting for me, like predators.

Ask any nurse about Nurses' Week, and you'll more than likely get a snarky answer. Yes we like to be praised for the work we do, it doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it feels good. It makes up for a lot of the day-to-day garbage that we endure.

Yesterday I was touched, for example, by a patient who told me she was thinking about me when she heard about the bombings at the Boston Marathon, and wondered if I was there, and hoped I was okay. She remembered that I had a race coming up but she didn't know it was in Cleveland. She saw me yesterday when she came in for her appointment, and told me she was so happy and relieved to see that I was safe.

That is the kind of thing that nurses appreciate, it makes our day. It can make your whole career worthwhile. Why? Because it re-affirms the bond from human to human. It validates the connection between us and our patients, that we have so much in common, even when our lives and circumstances can be opposite extremes. Nursing is about being human.

Nurses and teachers are two historically female-dominated professions that are highly respected and desperately needed, but undercompensated and undervalued. This week also happens to be Teachers' Week, imagine that! Right before Mother's Day. Maybe the little trinkets and sweets designed to obesify already unhealthy nurses or teachers are intended to kill them off so they can bring in a whole new crop, as they'll be cheaper than the old experienced ones.

I'm an athlete, a writer, an artist, and a nurse. My whole identity is not wrapped up in nursing. It makes me take a broader view of the nursing profession, I can see it in a different light than someone who considers it "who" they are.

Don't get me wrong, I see nothing wrong with someone who considers their occupation to be their primary identity. I admire people who can focus on something like that when it's their passion. There are career nurses, and then there are people who are nurses, part of the time. But when you're there, you need to be there, 100 percent.

If nurses don't speak up about issues that might affect their patient care, then why be a nurse? Nurses are supposed to think critically about the things we are doing and how it affects the patient.

And historically, nurses also have this REALLY bad habit of not advocating for themselves and for each other, and for their working conditions, compensation, and expectations of them as human beings.

Why? When you talk to nurses everywhere, it seems that critical thinking is not allowed when it pertains to the nurse's workplace. You speak up, you become a target.

Before I further offend anyone who might be a little sensitive...let me assure you that it's this way nearly EVERYWHERE in the corporate world! That doesn't make it right, at all. Ever.

Powers-that-be worry because they can't control everything that is said, it's hard to avoid people saying things that don't match a carefully orchestrated and expensive PR agenda, so they get super-sensitive and defensive when people criticize them. When corporations are people, they get their feelings hurt. It doesn't matter if it's a small community or a big city, in the age of the "Internets", the truth gets out faster than a BP oil spill.

Back to nursing, nurses also have the reputation of eating their young. When you live in a pressure cooker, which might be a bad metaphor right now post-Boston, frustration comes out in the form of aggression. And that leads to illness.

So, in honor of Nurses' Week, I propose that nurses everywhere need to break out of the habit of being quiet and complaining amongst themselves, and feeling powerless to change things. It never accomplishes anything, like my friend Joanne said last weekend, the profession is still in the same cycle that it's always been stuck in. Things need to change and it's going to take a huge effort. If it's too hard to change from the inside, then perhaps it needs to be changed from the outside.

All of this goes way beyond healthcare, as I've said over and over again, it's a political and legislative issue, we've got this country set up in a way that hurts people. Nurses need to advocate for the public's well-being, too. I saw another person's opinion in the "soapbox" page of our local paper this morning, what he said was essentially the same thing I would say. People need to wake up and stop acting powerless, no one is going to make change happen except for us.

Until there's a national initiative to start giving out coupons during Nurses' Week for plastic surgery to have smiles permanently stuck on our faces, it's going to be hard to expect intelligent, hard-working, empathetic, caring human beings to be Stepford Wives.

Nurses are among the most stressed out workers out there. Masses of overworked, exhausted, unhealthy nurses are going to have to save themselves, or it will just go on like this forever. Why work a job that you can't stay in without being on antidepressants? Or a job where you find yourself gaining 10 or 20 pounds a year? A job that wears you out so much that you don't get any quality exercise on your work days, and you spend a day or two after your work week recovering before you have the energy to get out and do anything?

Unfortunately the state of things is that nursing is sick care, and while caring for the sick, nurses become sick themselves, because of the lack of support they receive for engaging in such demanding, needed work. Nurses are human, we work with human beings, and no bean counter or consulting firm anywhere can quantify the value of what we do. We need to find a new way of valuing nurses' work, it needs to be quantified differently, and not viewed as an expense, but an investment in our society.

There are those who think I should be a good meek little nurse and not give my opinion about these things. And I care passionately about this stuff or I wouldn't be saying it! If I get a target on my back because of it, just remember that violence is a resort of the weak.

So there. That's my Nurses' Week rant. The truth hurts. Work hangover or not, even in the rain, I'm going for a run.

Supafast 2: The Sequel

After yesterday's mediocre 5K, I didn't have any expectations for myself in this morning's Tortoise & Hare 5K. I just wanted to get out and be with the running club, push myself hard and it didn't matter what the result was.

Again I stuck to the tank shoes, no lightweight trainers. It was cold again, but not as cold as yesterday. I didn't have a neck gaiter on and my two top layers were lighter. Since the Tortoise & Hare series is a handicap race, they had my predicted time as something like 26 minutes, based on the last time I ran this one, which was probably two years ago.

There was a good turnout this morning, and Felix showed up at the start. Note how he's dressed compared to everyone else.

When it was my time to start, within a half mile I realized I was a lot faster than before, because I was flying past everyone. My first mile split was 7:08, which surprised me, after yesterday. It felt strangely comfortable. The next mile has a gradual uphill, followed by a turnround in a culdesac, with a short downhill. I hit the two-mile mark in 14:43. Again, surprisingly comfortable.

I wondered if I was going to crash and burn. But somehow I didn't, I just kept passing people, and I wasn't getting tired. The time at the finish line: 22:40. Nearly 2 minutes faster than yesterday, and my fastest time at altitude this year.

I guess it takes an ultrarunner a couple of days to warm up for a 5K, that would explain the difference between yesterday and today. Now I'm in search of food, and a hot shower, to warm myself up before my bike ride this afternoon. It's overcast and cool. I might even have to break out the cold weather riding gear. Wish me luck...

Supafast!

I woke up this morning at 4:42 am, which sucks. Just woke up, sweating as usual.

It's a Saturday and I thought I would have to force myself out of bed at 6 am so I could run the Heart Center 5K at Boyd Lake. Starts so early for November, 8:30 am. It's cold. So glad I didn't sign up for the half marathon, which is really the main event, I think. That would have hurt.

It was freaking freezing at the start. My hands were ice cubes, and I was wearing all sorts of layers, most of which I forced myself to remove before I ran over to line up at the start. I was thinking, how can they call ultrarunners crazy? Here are hundreds of people, in the freezing cold on a Saturday morning when they could sleep in, and they want to sprint 3 miles and tear every muscle in their bodies.

THAT'S CRAZY.

Oh, wait...I was out there with them.

I ran my warmup in the beautiful sunrise, and of course I took some pictures of the mountains west of Loveland.

I considered running in my Brooks Adrenalines. It's a 5K. But after I ran the course as a warmup, I thought, what a dork. They're not racing flats, but I feel really silly wearing lightweight shoes, as if I think I'm Supafast...

And it's not the fastest course in the world either, not certified, starts out in a sand pit for the first 50 meters, has a half mile section on dirt and grass, and bike paths that have lots of curves. But what the hell, part of my training. I settled on my usual tank shoes, the Addictions.

I waited to the last minute to line up at the start, I stayed in my car until then. When I got to the crowd of people, you couldn't tell which end was the fast people and which was the back. Everyone was asking and nobody knew.

So when we finally figured out which way the race was starting, they lined us up in a sand pit- which was part of a playground. The first 50 meters or so were across this deep, soft sand pit until we could all get up on the narrow bike path. So you get a little burst of lactic acid built up right out of the starting line.

The first mile was uphill, and when I got to the one mile mark, I looked at my watch and almost started laughing. 8:26. It feels like I'm running my ass off, and all I can do is 8:26? I just kept pushing, thinking, this is going to be pathetic.

I don't know if the mile markers were off, or even if the course is accurate, but my two mile split was 16:15, and that included the cross country section on a rutted dirt two-track. I hit the finish line in 24:26, which is still sub-8 minute pace, not bad for one week out of racing an ultra. Far from Supafast.

I actually felt strong and consistent the whole time. Though I did finish second in my age group by 2 minutes, I got beat by some 41 year old chick...with no ass, I might add. I'll get you, my pretty...and your little dog, too!!!! Just wait 'til I get some real speedwork...and if all else fails, only 16 months to the new age group! Ha!

On the agenda for tomorrow is the second of back to back 5Ks: the Tortoise & Hare 5K in the morning at Warren Park. Fort Collins Running Club T & H events are low-key, and there's been a good turnout lately. The run is at 8 am, but that's really 9 am because we're turning the clocks back tomorrow, ugh. No dragging myself out of bed.

I prefer daylight savings time. I like for it to be light later into the evening. Mornings are for quiet, who cares if it's dark. But at least in the fall we get an extra hour to sleep. And for once I'm not working on time change weekend. How did that happen?

I got on the bike again Friday and took the day off from running. I was having little aches and pains after my 15 mile day on Thursday. I can tell I haven't been on the bike. Why? Sore butt.

Tomorrow I'll ride with Troy, even though it won't be cold out, he is motivating me to get my butt on the bike and make it a point to ride when the weather cools down.

Troy is my motivation for a lot of things, including starting this blog 5 years ago, and getting me off my ass to run Badwater in the first place back in 2008. He's an amazing dude, he's like a human 4 wheel drive vehicle, he's like a tank on the outside, with a marshmallow on the inside...

He's been through the wringer this year, actually this year topped off the last couple of years. His wife, Ornella, died this past April from ovarian cancer. They had been dealing with it for 10 years, but the last few years have been extremely hard for them, as she kept getting sicker and weaker despite her refusal to give up on treatment.

I've written about her before on this blog, and how they both motivated me to raise funds for the cancer center and just to get off my butt and do the things I dreamed of doing. Life is short, and you never know what can happen from day to day. Don't put things off.

So then in June when the High Park fire started, Troy was forced to evacuate his home for several weeks, and the fire came way too close- just the next ridge over was burnt to a crisp along with the houses there. And then a few weeks after he came home, a truck was coming down the road with some logs and ran him off the road into the ditch, tearing a hole in his oil pan and doing a bunch of damage to the car.

He's getting over a recent bike wreck where he got hit by a car on his bike and broke 6 ribs, that was just about 8 weeks ago, and I think if it were me I'd be freaked out about getting back on the bike, at least on the roads, but he was determined to get back to it and has been riding for a few weeks already. Like a tank, we should all be that strong and resilient.

I'm not that hard core when it comes to the bike, but I can pretty much get myself out to run in anything cold, wet and windy, even though I whine like a big baby about anything cold and wet. So when I think of Troy, I remind myself that my minor discomfort is no excuse.

Looking back over the past couple of years, I ran two races where it was COLD, at Across the Years in 2010, and at 24 the Hard Way last week. I have done so much heat training over the past several years that I think my body's thermostat has been permanently altered, or at least my perception of the heat is changed. I have become a COLD WIMP!

Then this summer I whined about the heat, because my body is now into hot flash mode, and cool air actually feels good. But as I discovered last weekend in Oklahoma, and again this morning, I'm still not used to running in it. I was wearing three layers while other people were in shorts and tank tops!

So one of my projects for this winter is to make myself be less of a cold wimp. I did go to REI yesterday and bought shoe covers and super warm gloves for cold weather cycling. Doesn't look like I'll get to use them for at least another week, though, with our weather forecast.

The plan for next year's racing is falling into place. I've picked out about a dozen races, mostly training run half marathons and marathons, but I have 3 ultras already in mind and I'm still in search of that fast 50 miler. Or two. If anyone knows of a good, fast road 50 early in September, preferably on a loop course, that's not a major hassle to get to or to deal with once you're there, please send your suggestions my way!

I need to go take these Buffaloes for a run before they stare holes through my back...

Dodging Rockets...

A 5K podium finish for a middle-aged ultrarunner? Yes, this REALLY happened. This is the only time I ever get to be the tallest person around!

I didn't win the race overall, I was 2nd overall woman and 9th overall of everyone, but this was the age group awards and I had to get a picture of this. And I wasn't even wearing anything from Walmart!

This was the Berthoud Family Fun Festival 5K, small race, small town, probably had a hundred or so participants. It was for the kids, and from the look of the starting line, it was ALL kids. But it really wasn't, because almost all of the kids in the race lined up on the line itself, leaving the adults to dance around and avoid tripping over them for the first quarter mile or so. Once we got past a quarter mile, the kids were no longer in front.

But it should have been called the Obstacle Course 5K, because that's how it felt to me out there. There were other, much more scary obstacles than little kids: hamstring cramps and snot rockets.

I got through the first mile just fine, hit the mile marker in 7:09 and was very comfortable, it was actually a good thing to have the kids in front at first as they held me back from sprinting out.

Lots of turns on the course and a lot of jumping on and off of sidewalks and bike paths. Not blazing fast at all, but I'm in it for the workout. There was one woman about 20 seconds ahead of me at one mile, and I wondered if she was fast or if she would crash and burn.

Soon after mile 1, there's a sharp right and you drop down a steep little hill. About halfway down the steep little hill my right hamstring cramped up, which nearly brought me to a stop. I hopped for a few seconds until I realized it was just a cramp, and I had to slow down.

At the bottom of the hill there was a flat but winding section of sandy trail and the cramp started to let up. Soon this came to an end and we got back on city streets and climbed a BIG ASS hill, pushing as hard as I could without making the hamstring hurt, until the course flattened out again around 2 1/2 miles.

At this point I had lost sight on the one woman in front of me, but there were three men who had passed me while I slowed down for the cramp, and I was gaining on them again.

I passed two of the three, and as the course wound back onto the bike path before it hit the final nasty little hill climb for the last tenth of a mile, I was gaining on the last of the three. As we made a 90 degree turn I saw him look over his shoulder, his face had the unmistakable, eyes wide with fear, "I'm not gonna let her chick me" look and he dug in.

Well, that dude doesn't know me. That look summons death, the grim reaper, the chick machine. Any man who dares show me that look in a race is now in my sight and THE PRIME TARGET. He began to blow snot rockets, one of which I narrowly dodged. That made me laugh. Ha! You think you can hold me off with a snot rocket???!!

WRONG!!!

I decisively blew past him and up the hill, beating him by a couple of seconds.

Not only was he chicked, he was sharpei'd too...he was only 40! HA!

Finish time, 23:42. Not fast, but it wasn't a fast course, and I was running intentionally slow for most of that middle mile with that cramp.

So I wonder, is snot rocket-blowing a last ditch desperate attempt by a man to avoid being chicked?

These questions run through my head...

The race itself was a bargain. For a $15 entry fee, we got a decent t-shirt, a jump rope, some recycled pencils, a magnifying glass, and some coupons...except for the Chick-Fil-A coupons, which I wasn't thrilled about. Nice that they would sponsor the race, and they kept their presence low-key. I'm just glad they weren't giving out Chick-Fil-A cows as prizes. Instead, we got orchids, which were really nice.

Next race: Equinox Half Marathon in 2 weeks. Tomorrow's plan: More Bacon!

Love New Shoes!

Late this morning I did my tempo run. It was a bit cooler early today, probably in the high 70s when I ran, and it was sunny, but still managed to hit 90 degrees this afternoon, even with some good cloud cover that moved in. It feels hot.

I did 10.4 miles on the Power Trail at an 8:25 average pace, not bad. I'm making progress. At least I'm consistent. There's a place along that bike path, about a mile or so from my house on the way back, where I always hear Shannon saying "I'm gonna eat SO MUCH FOOD when I get home!"

I was even more proud of myself, though, for spending a solid 2 1/2 hours studying for my oncology certification exam, something I've blown off the past 2 weeks.

After I got done, I remembered I had two shoe boxes in my closet and I've been getting close to needing a new pair. For some reason I thought I had two, but only have one pair of shoes, and they are the oversized ones for super long races or super cold days. The other box was empty!

So I made my trip over to Runners Roost and they only had one pair of Brooks Addictions in an 8. Since Steve Folkerts, the manager, was there, I asked him if he could give me a tour of the newest shoes that are motion control and are not minimalist. I looked at the Saucony and Asics models, along with the Brooks Ariel.

I've been running in the Addiction for nearly 20 years and I have tried other shoes, with little success. I did well in the Avia 2050s for several years before they stopped making them. But the Sauconys I tried about 3 years ago, were the ones that led to my ankle demise.

Every few years I get a wild hair and decide I want to try something new, just for the variety. We looked at the wall of shoes and then Steve remembered the New Balance WR940WB shoes. They are made for people like me. Heavy duty stability, deep enough for orthotics, wide enough forefoot for my table tennis paddle-shaped feet, and solid. I did well in some New Balance shoes years ago, but it's been a long time.

He didn't have a size 8, but he did have a 7 1/2, so I tried them. Poof! They fit! They feel great with my orthotics in them, needed a little lacing adjustment, but it was love at first stride on the sidewalk outside the store. So I got a pair of them too, along with the Addictions.

The other thing I did today was signed up for another 5K this Saturday, in Berthoud, just a few miles down the road from here. The race was a bargain, $15 entry fee, plus it starts at 9 am so I don't have to get up at the butt crack and drag myself out of bed.

When I was at the Roost, I also picked up a few more 5K brochures for upcoming local races. What the hell, might as well continue my 5K ultra training experiment, it seems to be working. I don't expect to hit my sea level 5K time from 2 weeks ago, but it would be nice to see an improvement over previous altitude times. I'll find out Saturday...

There's No Place Like Home

Except Manhattan Beach...

Last weekend Dennis and I went out to LA to hang out with my dad and stepmom at the place they are staying for the month of August. Right on the beach, known as, "The Strand"...

We were listening to the waves crash on the sand all night because the beach and ocean were literally in our front yard. Not a bad way to spend a long weekend.

When I knew we were going, I decided to find a 5K to run while we were there. I figured there had to be a 5K somewhere close by in a city the size of LA. I was right, the Jet to Jetty 5K/10K was happening just north of where we were staying, within warmup running distance.

Dennis being freshly out of his boot from his toe fracture, he was unable to run but rode the bike up there to watch. He could have slept in that morning, but he was a good sport about it. We went up the Strand and the bike path, about 4 miles, until we came to Dockweiler State Beach, which is west of LAX. All the jets fly right overhead.

I was my usual self, a total dork before the race, in my Walmart tank top, greasing up my armpits with Aquaphor so I wouldn't chafe.

Dennis was wearing his Badwater t-shirt and this guy in a yellow turban went up to him and asked him if he ran the race. He pointed at me, "No, but SHE did." Turned out the guy in the turban was Gabriel Flores, who won the Badwater race in 1998 and was featured in the documentary Running on the Sun. That made my day! Gabriel was running the 5K with his son. We talked Badwater for a little while as we were lining up at the start.

Running a 5K in LA is really different. First, there are A LOT of people, second, they actually have certified courses, third, they have hardware in 5 year age groups, and fourth, they have signs at the starting area that tell you to line up according to your pace: 6, 7, 8, 9, or whatever minute miles you run, fifth, they have chip timing...not to mention the nice gray cloudy sky that keeps the sun from being intense first thing in the morning, and the humidity and ocean breezes.

I lined up about where I thought would be right, a few fit-looking men around my age, not many kids, and probably a dozen or so women visible ahead of me. I was right there in front of the 7 minute per mile pace sign. I had no idea how I'd feel at sea level and I didn't want to risk going out too fast but I knew I should be able to better my 7 and a half minute pace I've been doing lately.

The gun went off and within a half mile I realized I felt good and wasn't having trouble with my starting pace. Before we hit the one mile mark we turned around in a U-turn and it freaked me out to see less than 10 women ahead of me. Then I got scared. Oh shit, what if I went out in a 6 minute mile? Fortunately when we hit the one mile mark I was at 6:42. I knew that was fast but it didn't feel bad.

I purposely backed off the pace a little bit in that middle mile, hoping I'd be able to run the last mile hard. I hit the two mile mark in 13:50, which was better than I expected but still feeling comfortable. Then it was time to pick it up. The last mile was straight on the road and a slight downhill grade for about a quarter mile of it. I passed several women in the last mile.

I actually had enough leg turnover that I was able to hold one of them off and gain on her, then pass her going into the finish area. When I hit the finish line I was at 21:38, which sort of blew me away. I really didn't expect to run that fast even at sea level. That's about a 6:57 per mile average pace, whch surprised me.

But I know I can run much faster than that if I do speedwork. So I'm really not overly surprised. Just happy. I ended up with hardware, was 4th overall woman, won my age group, but the kicker was, there was a woman who beat me by 13 seconds, and she was 56 years old! I got SHARPEI'D!!! But that's a good thing, there's hope for aging chicks.

I got about 21 miles of running in that day between the 5K and some extra running I did afterwards. The rest of the weekend we spent on the beach, drinking margaritas, eating, and just hanging out. It was relaxing, and perfect, and I hope that next year we can go back again and spend even longer. And if we're there for that 5K again, I'm training for it!

On the way back I was reminded of Tank Girl, anyone remember that movie from the mid-90s where she takes on the evil Water and Power and tries to save the world? I was feeling very tank girl-like after my 5K and long run with all that oxygen!

When we came home Iris and Isabelle wouldn't let me out of their sight, not even to take a shower. Manhattan Beach was awesome, but what was missing were the Buffaloes, and it's so great to be home when someone is so happy to see you!

Last week I got over 60 miles of running in, including a tempo run and a 5K, with two 20ish mile days. That feels more like what I should be doing at this point in my training for Across the Years. Only 2 months until Oklahoma City, and I have plans for at least another 5K, a 10K, and a half marathon before then.

This is fun!

So then the other thing that happened is that I worked today and it was a zoo in town, a good day to be locked away in the hospital. We had a visit from President Obama and traffic was a nightmare due to security. A lot of our patients ended up being late for their appointments because they couldn't get around town!

Fort Collins is not used to Presidential visits, this was our first one. That was pretty obvious from the way the traffic was routed. I think we need more practice. Obama came here before the election in 2008 and he was a rock star then, but he wasn't President yet, so the whole security thing was nowhere near as intense.

So, I hope I won't have a work hangover tomorrow, having only worked one day since we got back. Tomorrow is tempo day again, already. It's supposed to be in the mid 90s again. September is just around the corner. Maybe one of these days it won't be summer anymore.

Or maybe I could win the lottery and buy some prime real estate on The Strand in Manhattan Beach become one of the beautiful people (plastic surgery is the only thing that would do that for me), and run away with Dennis and the Buffaloes. Then summer would be perfect, ocean breezes, surfing, swimming, running 5Ks...and monkeys might fly out of my butt!

I guess I'll stay in Fort Collins. There's no place like home...