So...all the training and preparation since March has lead to the following weekend.
Friday morning my friend Tala and I set out toward Tahalaqua OK. I had been repeatedly checking the weather all week to make sure I packed the proper clothing for running . I printed the maps, set the location on my phone, printed my race registration, printed packet pickup info. I packed clothes and all kinds of things for my drop bag.
After testing and trying many different foods during my training, I ended up with things that either I never tried before, or things that got me through marathons. I gathered snack sized bags of fig newtons (which I did not touch during the run for some reason after training all summer with them). Gu with caffeine, candy corn and mixed nuts, honey stinger waffles and bottles with Pedialyte. I picked up extra sling packs from my office using my safety bucks.
I decided to have two drop bags, one that would stay at the start/finish line and another that would go out to mile 13.4 aid station. I had extra socks, body glide, gu and snack pack pudding in each bag, plus a bottle of mixed up pedyalite.
Easy, and straightforward.
So we rolled into Tahlaquah and checked into our hotel. We left to go get some lunch and a wonderful lunch place in downtown Tahlaquah called Vidalia's. It is locally owned, paninis, baked potatoes, delicious desserts. Nice and clean with a beautiful patio.
We then did a little downtown shopping. I made a new trail shoe purchase (which later turned out to be a great idea), and a few other things. We then drove out to Eagle Bluff Resort (another great idea) to see how far of a drive we were looking at in the morning.
When we got back from our drive, it was time for packet pickup and we proceeded to the Presbyterian church where the tables with boxes of manilla envelopes, stacks of t-shirts, race bibs, and entry forms scattered tables.
We quickly gathered our things, chatted with the organizers, asked a few questions and then took off back to our room to chill out for the evening.
This is prep time. The time to load up drop bags, pin on bibs, gather shoes and socks and get them organized for a stress free morning. After the work was done we watched food network, charged our electronic devices and surfed the internet. Very uneventful...that's the way we roll!
When 9:00 pm rolled around we finally slept. setting our alarms for 5 am so I would have time to take a shower. Then we went to sleep dreaming of finish lines!
Monday, October 22, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
The time draws near...
So tomorrow my friend and I leave for Tahalaquah OK (or however you spell it) for our 100K. I do not have any specific ambitions for the trip except to feel like continuing on after I run the first 31 miles....
We have to loop around the 31 mile course twice, which means passing the start / finish area. This will be the biggest challenge of the run.
I kinda feel partially trained for this event. I missed my 50 miler because I was injured for most of the spring. I did one extra very challenging 50K...The Do Wacka Do. So I'm hoping that will be enough. I did do some very long runs along with that and maintained a 40 mile per week average more the most part.
I hope it's enough....
We have to loop around the 31 mile course twice, which means passing the start / finish area. This will be the biggest challenge of the run.
I kinda feel partially trained for this event. I missed my 50 miler because I was injured for most of the spring. I did one extra very challenging 50K...The Do Wacka Do. So I'm hoping that will be enough. I did do some very long runs along with that and maintained a 40 mile per week average more the most part.
I hope it's enough....
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Germany?
Hello, I just noticed I have been getting hits from Germany. Hello, Germany! How did you come to find this blog?
Monday, October 15, 2012
So, less than a week away
Sorry I have not been posting much lately. I'm simply in a waiting game now. I had a nice weekend of running: 5 miles on Saturday and then 7 on Sunday. The weather was nice and I'm trying to keep my pace slow.
It's strange....I actually have to train to run slow. If I jump into this 100K busting out 9:30 minute per mile pace, I will screw the whole run. I have to stay around an 11:00 minute per mile to be able to sustain my nutrition and strength to the end.
I know that in order to get 62 miles done, I will have to eat several times along the course and the key is never running so hard you drain the blood away from your stomach to your extremities. Once you do that you cannot digest food. That's fine for a marathon but for anything longer, its the kiss of death.
So I'm training to run slow. ...slow...slow............
It's strange....I actually have to train to run slow. If I jump into this 100K busting out 9:30 minute per mile pace, I will screw the whole run. I have to stay around an 11:00 minute per mile to be able to sustain my nutrition and strength to the end.
I know that in order to get 62 miles done, I will have to eat several times along the course and the key is never running so hard you drain the blood away from your stomach to your extremities. Once you do that you cannot digest food. That's fine for a marathon but for anything longer, its the kiss of death.
So I'm training to run slow. ...slow...slow............
Monday, October 1, 2012
Wonderful Weekend of Running Cont.
I have to apologize if this is boring, but heck...its my blog so deal.
Saturday was a somewhat rest day with a nice relaxing 5 mile walk downtown with my friend Lorraine. We shopped and had coffee, stopped in at the finish line of the Big Dam Bridge 100 mile bike race which was finishing up downtown. It was too early for much to be going on down there yet so we moved on.
Sitting downtown and having coffee in a semi outdoor cafe downtown and having great conversation is a wonderful way to start a Saturday.
After that I got back home and walked Frisco for a long time. We started around the block then saw a sign for an estate sale and followed that. It was about a mile off our course but that was fine. I had no other plans for the afternoon.
We got to the house and it was a ranch style home on Leatrice. I entered through the garage where some folks were sitting with a cash box and some others wondering around picking up and examining items, putting them down, turning and asking questions....
seeing nothing of interest in the garage I entered the home.
It was probably built in the late 70's early 80's. Wood paneling covered the walls, and there was thick brown carpeting covering the floors. The kitchen was completely vintage...it had not been remodeled or even painted since the house was built I assume. Dark wood cabinets, linoleum floors. old appliances. This house most likely belonged to an elderly couple who raised their children here, who had either recently passed or moved to assisted living. Time moved on around them and they, unknowingly, let the house slip back in time as well. Probably the liked the look of it and had no care to change it. The children had no care to keep the house, remodel the house or update it. It stood stuck in time and the items for sale were mostly worthless sentimental items standing as witness to the homes forgotten state. Record albums, teapots, plant hangers made of macrame and wicker. Some broken accordion doors. a few dishes that everybody's grandmother had, salt and pepper shakers, old tools. The once loved and used articles now exposed and held up for strangers to pilfer through. What a sad way to go.
Estate sales are sad . Yesterday these items were a families possessions and memories, now they will go to whomever will give a buck fifty for a stack of books.
Needless to say I bought nothing. I did not see the need to carry any of this into the future with me. So it stayed in the house. Frisco and I carried on with our walk.
Saturday was a somewhat rest day with a nice relaxing 5 mile walk downtown with my friend Lorraine. We shopped and had coffee, stopped in at the finish line of the Big Dam Bridge 100 mile bike race which was finishing up downtown. It was too early for much to be going on down there yet so we moved on.
Sitting downtown and having coffee in a semi outdoor cafe downtown and having great conversation is a wonderful way to start a Saturday.
After that I got back home and walked Frisco for a long time. We started around the block then saw a sign for an estate sale and followed that. It was about a mile off our course but that was fine. I had no other plans for the afternoon.
We got to the house and it was a ranch style home on Leatrice. I entered through the garage where some folks were sitting with a cash box and some others wondering around picking up and examining items, putting them down, turning and asking questions....
seeing nothing of interest in the garage I entered the home.
It was probably built in the late 70's early 80's. Wood paneling covered the walls, and there was thick brown carpeting covering the floors. The kitchen was completely vintage...it had not been remodeled or even painted since the house was built I assume. Dark wood cabinets, linoleum floors. old appliances. This house most likely belonged to an elderly couple who raised their children here, who had either recently passed or moved to assisted living. Time moved on around them and they, unknowingly, let the house slip back in time as well. Probably the liked the look of it and had no care to change it. The children had no care to keep the house, remodel the house or update it. It stood stuck in time and the items for sale were mostly worthless sentimental items standing as witness to the homes forgotten state. Record albums, teapots, plant hangers made of macrame and wicker. Some broken accordion doors. a few dishes that everybody's grandmother had, salt and pepper shakers, old tools. The once loved and used articles now exposed and held up for strangers to pilfer through. What a sad way to go.
Estate sales are sad . Yesterday these items were a families possessions and memories, now they will go to whomever will give a buck fifty for a stack of books.
Needless to say I bought nothing. I did not see the need to carry any of this into the future with me. So it stayed in the house. Frisco and I carried on with our walk.
Wonderful Weekend of running
I had an absolutely wonderful weekend of running. Not so much that I logged a lot of miles, but that they were good quality pain free miles.
Friday morning I ran in my neighborhood for the first time in months. It was so lovely getting back to my hilly Midtown runs.
I live in an older area of Little Rock called Midtown. It's a relatively new designation. About 20 years ago, this part of town was considered "West" Little Rock. I remember driving to the shopping center I now live across the street from when I was a kid and thinking I was so far away from home. I lived in North Little Rock at the time and the drive from my neighborhood to this dentist seemed like quite a haul at the time. The area looked so nice and upscale...It was quite an experience. Now I live across the street in a new development neighborhood. Funny how things work out.
It was referred to as West Little Rock because it was the sub urban area west of downtown, south of the really wealth old money homes. It was developed in the 1970's and 80's, mostly ranch style homes with some colonials mixed in. Some of the homes date back to the 1950's in the northern eastern end of the area. If you go further east the homes date back to the 20's 30's through 1950's.
Now, west little Rock is much further west. In the 1990's development began to sprawl even further west. New McMansions went up fueled by the housing boom of the 90's . New neighborhoods with winding streets, pie shaped lots and cul de sacs were created to make absolute most efficient use of every scrap of land that was not a drainage creek or too steep to build on. We never saw anything like it. Not a tree was left uncut and the lots were sodded and minimal standard drainage was snaked through the new "wealthy" housing developments. I was working in Engineering at the water department at the time thinking, who is purchasing these homes, most way over $100,000 ...now that seemed like tons of money at the time. Some homes were going for half a mil in the elevated areas with nice views of Chenal Mountain.
So, west went west and old west is now Midtown..which I LOVE. there is shopping, everywhere grocery stores and coffee shops withing walking distance. A mall withing a mile of my house. The area is busy which I love. I am a city person.
It is also very hilly. When I run my neighborhood it is a hill workout. So getting back to this run was such a nice change. I love being able to step out my front door and get a five mile hill workout. I can run to the heights if I want, Hillcrest is only a couple miles away.
I'm a Lucky Girl!
Friday morning I ran in my neighborhood for the first time in months. It was so lovely getting back to my hilly Midtown runs.
I live in an older area of Little Rock called Midtown. It's a relatively new designation. About 20 years ago, this part of town was considered "West" Little Rock. I remember driving to the shopping center I now live across the street from when I was a kid and thinking I was so far away from home. I lived in North Little Rock at the time and the drive from my neighborhood to this dentist seemed like quite a haul at the time. The area looked so nice and upscale...It was quite an experience. Now I live across the street in a new development neighborhood. Funny how things work out.
It was referred to as West Little Rock because it was the sub urban area west of downtown, south of the really wealth old money homes. It was developed in the 1970's and 80's, mostly ranch style homes with some colonials mixed in. Some of the homes date back to the 1950's in the northern eastern end of the area. If you go further east the homes date back to the 20's 30's through 1950's.
Now, west little Rock is much further west. In the 1990's development began to sprawl even further west. New McMansions went up fueled by the housing boom of the 90's . New neighborhoods with winding streets, pie shaped lots and cul de sacs were created to make absolute most efficient use of every scrap of land that was not a drainage creek or too steep to build on. We never saw anything like it. Not a tree was left uncut and the lots were sodded and minimal standard drainage was snaked through the new "wealthy" housing developments. I was working in Engineering at the water department at the time thinking, who is purchasing these homes, most way over $100,000 ...now that seemed like tons of money at the time. Some homes were going for half a mil in the elevated areas with nice views of Chenal Mountain.
So, west went west and old west is now Midtown..which I LOVE. there is shopping, everywhere grocery stores and coffee shops withing walking distance. A mall withing a mile of my house. The area is busy which I love. I am a city person.
It is also very hilly. When I run my neighborhood it is a hill workout. So getting back to this run was such a nice change. I love being able to step out my front door and get a five mile hill workout. I can run to the heights if I want, Hillcrest is only a couple miles away.
I'm a Lucky Girl!
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Just a little set-back
As I posted earlier in my blog. My running addiction came about due to weight loss, and finding an efficient exercise method to burn calories. My research always came to running. It works better than walking because you can simply get more miles in during a work out. I have heard that a mile is a mile when it comes to calorie burn, although, I feel running up hills burns more calories than running on flat.
So I hover around 115 on my weight, at least I did for a long time. I figured the weight increase from 110 to 115 was normal for someone running 30 miles to 40 miles per week due to muscle gain and needing to have more calories to run.
Recently I got on a scale that said 123....yes....123...Ok, I never ever ever approved a 123....
How did this happen? This can't happen. I'm not liking this at all!
This was yesterday...and I will not forget this because I wanted to cry.
So I have decided to, for the next two weeks put forth a concerted effort to reduce my calorie intake as much as possible and still maintain my running. I want to lose 5 lbs before the end of October.
I plan to go high protein because that seems to keep me satisfied longer. I purchased a carton of Egg Beaters, some fat free cheese and bacon bits and that was my breakfast this morning. I got a head start by keeping my calorie intake under 1500, today I hope to be around 1200....
I'm pulling out all the stops, using all the tricks and playing all my cards. I cannot let the weight creep back on me. Cannot....I have worked too hard and done too much to get to where I am.
I will win this battle....
So I hover around 115 on my weight, at least I did for a long time. I figured the weight increase from 110 to 115 was normal for someone running 30 miles to 40 miles per week due to muscle gain and needing to have more calories to run.
Recently I got on a scale that said 123....yes....123...Ok, I never ever ever approved a 123....
How did this happen? This can't happen. I'm not liking this at all!
This was yesterday...and I will not forget this because I wanted to cry.
So I have decided to, for the next two weeks put forth a concerted effort to reduce my calorie intake as much as possible and still maintain my running. I want to lose 5 lbs before the end of October.
I plan to go high protein because that seems to keep me satisfied longer. I purchased a carton of Egg Beaters, some fat free cheese and bacon bits and that was my breakfast this morning. I got a head start by keeping my calorie intake under 1500, today I hope to be around 1200....
I'm pulling out all the stops, using all the tricks and playing all my cards. I cannot let the weight creep back on me. Cannot....I have worked too hard and done too much to get to where I am.
I will win this battle....
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