Other thoughts on the Mt. Hood 50

"Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?'" Peter Maher'

Running the Mt. Hood 50 has been a goal of mine for about 2 years. So why have I not been thrilled to have completed it?

Most everyone knows that when we moved from Oregon to a Northern California small coastal town in January of this year that I was seriously depressed for months. Running became everything to me. I felt like it was all I had. I knew that if I became injured and couldn't run, my depression would be so much greater. Unfortunately, I injured my hamstring twice in one week in early May I think and had to drop out of a 50K to save my Mt. Hood 50. Plan worked. I healed. Lets not do that again.

In June and part of July, I helped a teenager for 30 days with extreme emotional problems and a hard home life. It began to affect me also because she is a loved one.

Training for the 50 became hard physically after I ran 31 miles, all my long runs were a struggle, I was tired. A few runs, I threw up in the forest. But I got through each of them. You can't tell me to stay home because of a cold or apparently flu or throwing up because of bad reactions to of the counter drugs. I think all of my struggles made me stronger, mentally and physically. A few runner friends got upset with me for still going out and running when I should have, but I just can't help myself. I mean, I wasn't dying.  My legs worked fine.

After my loved one went back home from visiting, I began my + self talk, but I kept hearing in my mind, you're going to totally finish this.

Running this 50, the excitement wasn't there like when I ran my first. The week leading  up to it, I was nervous, very nervous and not very excited.

Even have ran it, I'm not beaming with pride. I'm not thinking about it and glowing to myself like I was before. I think, yup did it! Now what?

Normally with every race, I get very emotionally attached to the runs. It gets in me, I even try to friend everyone running the race on Facebook so that we can experience it together. If I have to drop out of a race due to injury, it's always devastating. I think this is the reason why I successful at the races. I think "I am going to run this or die trying!" I feel that I have to run it, I have to finish. It is a need for me, not a want. This emotional need was there for the Mt. Hood 50, I was just so distracted by life.This is the reason why if you look back at my race report write up, it mostly is about how I felt running the race, how I felt afterwards. Where as some of my friends that ran the race, they talk about what was going on between aid stations, much more analytical and detailed.

Perhaps I am just a mileage junky. Remember when I mentioned that during marathon training, every mileage was just so much more exciting than the last. Well I ran my first 50 in Oct of 2010, 2nd in 2011. I've done it, I know I can do a 50 and really feel that a 100 is so achievable.

Other things that I wanted to mention about the 50 is that there was this girl that had passed me at mile 20 I guess. She passes me and mentions that she knew she was going to fast as she already fell 3 times. Well shortly after she passed me she falls again and I said "well that makes 4!" I have no idea who she was, but wished I knew how she finished the race.

"I tell our runners to divide the race into thirds. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart." Mike Fanelli (I took this advice at the Mt. Hood 50)




"The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy...It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed." Jacqueline Gareau 

From 50 miles to 100 miles, a goal worth achieving

"Every higher distance was much more exciting than the last!" These were the words that I said during marathon training and why I chose to move on to Ultra Marathons.


I have now ran my 2nd 50 mile distance. So what is next? 

I am going to run my 3rd 50 on October 29th. I am returning back to the race of my first 50, Autumn Leaves in Champoeg, Or. After that I will rest for a few months (not really) until I start an eight month training schedule for my first 100.


I was very hesitant in choosing to run my first 50. I didn't see accomplishing the distance in my head for quite awhile and if I can't see it, I can't achieve it. Finally I did. Originally my first 50 was going to be Mt. Hood. But that was a goal that got put on hold thanks to a huge plantar wart that crippled my training. Once that was removed by pretty much force with a lot of scraping and laser treatments, I decided to run the Autumn Leaves race instead as my first. Autumn Leaves was basically a road run, some trail, but it went around a loop 8 times. I ran that in 9:55 and have now just completed my 2nd 50, the Mt. Hood 50 in a minute shy of 12 hours. 


I have decided for training for my 3rd 50, I will tweak the schedule to work up to run 25 miles one day and 25 the next, 50 in two days. I was running 50 in 3. I also need to increase my speed again. I would like to run a 9:40 pace again. There is a time limit on the Autumn Leaves 50 and for some reason, I got a lot slower when I trained for the Mt. Hood 50, likely because of the trail running. But, it is now time to pick it up again.


100 mile distance. For some reason, running a 100 miles entered my mind as doable easier than running those 50 miles. 

“If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.”

"If you can dream it, then you can achieve it."

I find myself running and thinking about the 100 mile distance: race planning, about training, getting a pacer, saving $ for it, etc. I've been reading advice blogs on how to run your first 100.

http://fellrnr.com/wiki/Main_Page 

I plan on running Rio Del Lago. It is traditionally held in September. I will run it in 2012.http://www.desertskyadventures.com/rdl/ 

For training, I will use the Santa Clarita Runners Club. I've used them for the past 2 50's and 6-8 50k's. Their schedule works for me. Here is a link to the schedule. http://www.trailrunevents.com/ul/schedule-100m.asp

I will be going from the 50 mile distance to the 100. Some wouldn't advise that, perhaps, I should run a 100K first. I don't know.In the back of my mind, I hear the quote, "at first you don't succeed, try try again." But, I believe I can achieve the 100 mile distance with proper training and a mind that is loudly saying "you can do it!" and a heart that wants it badly enough. I only have one life to live, why not take the risk? I say go for it Jeannie!

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."

Mt. Hood 50, 7-30-11

I ran the Mt. Hood 50 miler on Saturday, July 30th.

The night before, a group of us runners met up at the Ice Axe Grill for burgers and it was really nice meeting and visiting. I had a huge hamburger with fries and ate the whole thing. After, a friend and I went for a short walk.

I did not sleep much at all the night before as predicted and my alarm clock never did need to go off, I was up way before 4 AM and out the door at 4:30 to the race site, about 30 min down the road from the hotel.

Prior to starting, I thought to myself, "I really don't want to run for the next 12 hours" But that is exactly what happened.

Starting off was cool, but not bad and it was fairly light out to see the ground. All the runners that started at the early start were sure quiet in the wee morning hours. And, I was really feeling good the first 1/2 of the race, which was 28 miles. It was an out and back, 14 miles out, then back. I forced myself to eat a peanut butter power bar, but it took me a good 1 1/2 hours to finish it. After that first powerbar, I really didn't eat  much. I was craving oranges, which were gone by the time I reached the aid stations. During the first half, I met up with a lot of people that I knew and it was fun to chat with them. I did meet up with Stephanie Duncan somewhere during the first 1/2 and we ran together the whole remainder of the run and it was a lot of fun.There were some beautiful views of the mountain, just you couldn't look at it for long because the trail was narrow and on a cliff. Sure death if you fell. Oh and bad place to go by the people coming back from the out and back. Oh well.

At the 1/2 or 28 miles, I stopped at my drop bag, changed my socks and noticed my feet were already black, I re-filled my camelbak, got more supplies and headed for the Honey Bucket. I met up with Stephanie and we headed out again, but not feeling so fresh this time around for the remaining 22 miles. And we started walking the hills, where as prior, I was running up most of them.The remainder of the run was a blurr. It was hot, lots of dust was flying up. Stephanie and I chatted a lot and complained a lot. We started joking by telling people that our goal was to finish last and tie for it. But we quickly realized we were not going to be last. We then just started counting down the miles to the next aid station and the next. The 2 mile hill at mile 43 was brutal. I tripped at least twice during the race, but never fell. I did get a huge blister on my toe and one my toes may be black. I'll have to take off the polish to check.

I was feeling better towards the end, guess I got a second wind. Stephanie and I were both talking about how at our last 50 we sprinted to the finish line. I said to her prior to finishing that I didn't want to sprint and she said she didn't want to either. But just before the finish, I said "Stephanie, lets sprint!" So we were giggling at the finish. It says on the race results that she came in 1 second after me, but we were tied! We were not competing with each other. Although, I was happy to be done I think I could have gone further.

I think what really hurt me was that I was constantly craving those oranges and nothing else, but when I got to the aid stations, they were gone. I had to rely on Gu's, which I don't normally eat. I drank plenty of water, I thought. But only went to the bathroom once. During the entire race, I ate 1 1/2 powerbars,  a cliff bar, few oranges, other snacky food, but not much really. I had a lot of those salt caps, which have always helped prevent cramping in my legs.

After finishing, I had about 1/2 of a hamburger and diet Dr. Pepper.

When I got back to the hotel, I took a shower. It took about 10 minutes to get all the dirt off of my feet, even had to soak them for awhile. It then took me 1 1/2 hours to eat a can of ravioli's and 1/2 of my Subway Sandwich. I took 3 pain killers throughout the night and a sleeping pill. I didn't go to bed as early as I would have liked, 10 PM. But only because I took such a long time to eat. I woke up quite a bit during the night. I even got up twice to eat more. I ate a banana and a powerbar. I had to pee a lot also.

In the morning, I just put on sweatpants and a sweater and headed down to the lobby only to be surprised by how busy the lobby was. I looked horrible, eyes were all puffy and I was not awake. I ran into another runner and we chatted for a few minutes. I stayed down at the lobby for about a hour. I drank 2 cups of coffee, 3 cups of apple juice and ate 2 hard boiled eggs, a muffin and an orange. But again, took me forever.

When I got back to my room, I had another 5 hour energy drink, but almost took a nap on the couch. I then ate a banana and the 2nd 1/2 of my Subway sandwich. I took a shower, dressed, put my makeup on  and left.

I'm doing okay. I do think I will recover nicely, just need a good nights sleep. I'm not that swollen or achy.

So, even though the Mt. Hood 50 was a harder race than my first 50 and took 2 hours longer, it  felt easier the 2nd time around.

50 miles 11:50:49. Overall place 119/171

Prayer for my 50 mile race

I believe God gave me the ability to run as well as I do. I believe it was a gift. It is a gift that I have used well and have not wasted.

Every race has been a positive, life changing experience. Since marathon #1 in 2005, every mile put in during the grueling hours of training, every mile at the races, I have grown and learned something about myself. Running has taught me patience, it has taught me about hard work, self discipline, self respect and strength.

I do not know who I would be if I was not a runner. It is who I am. I am a runner.

At my first 50 mile race, I went into the prayer room at church 1 week before my race and asked for prayer. I asked that I would be successful and that I would be a positive example to others around me.

I was not able to do that for this 50 coming up on 7/30. So I will do it publicly.

"Dear Jesus, I humbly come before you and thank you for the gift that you have given me. I ask that you will give me strength during my 50 mile run. I ask for protection and for encouragement. I ask that your angels will be all over that course guiding me and I ask that I would finish the race. I ask the same thing for everyone else who is competing. In Jesus name, Amen"

Go Mt. Hood 50!!!

Just over a week till the Mt. Hood 50, my 2nd 50. How was my training?

Do you remember this post? I wrote this at the earliest stages in training for my 2nd 50. Yes I feel silly now. I will let you read it and I will see you at the end of this posting.

http://heavenlystrength.blogspot.com/2011/03/hey-did-you-hear-that-im-training-for.html 

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Hey did you hear that I'm training for 50 and afraid to run?

Have you ever heard of a runner who is training for 50 miles that was fearful of running?

This is me.

The pictures are proof that I can run.

Yes, you heard me correct. I have a mental block, I guess, completely afraid to run.

The reason? For a few years now, it has been my goal to run the Mt. Hood 50 miler. I am now signed up for it, the run is scheduled for July 30th, 2011 and it will be my 2nd 50.

A few weeks ago, I pulled my hamstring, 3 days later, it went out again on a walk, well I jogged slowly for about 30 seconds. I pulled out of a difficult race coming up, the McDonald Forest 50K. It is a good decision, I know. But, according to the 50 mile training schedule, training started yesterday, Monday. It only starts out at 2. I walked it. I kept hearing in my head, try to run, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Too afraid.
I came home, complained a little on Facebook, this led to a doctor replying and a friend telling me to go on chat. Well they both helped me through it. I knew that I had to conquer this silly fear or it was going to kill me.
At first I kept walking back and forth in front of my house, pacing. I would limp around or whatever you want to call it, it wasn't running, it was strange. I wondered how many of my neighbors were watching. I then decided to go change so that I could look like a runner, at least. I started off real slowly, I mean really slowly, completely freaked out.

But then I saw 2 pennies. And I remembered an email and movie that I read and saw. The email said that when you find a penny, it means an angel is thinking of you and the movie said pennies are only good luck when they are heads up. They were heads up. I picked them up.

While I only went .78 on Monday, I did go 2 today and yes I was nervous, but not freaked out.

Hey, I'm training for 50 miles. Aren't I making progress?

Posted by Jeannie at 10:12 AM

Well that big race is coming up in just over a week. Looking back at my training, it's been good, hard yes, but good. I realized that when I trained for my first 50, I tweaked it. I ran 31 miles one weekend, then 16, 20. It is supposed to go 31, 24, 26. I had made it easier on me! Plus, I've been training for a trail ultra at altitude.


Having moved to a new city, home of the Redwood Forest. I had to learn to adjust to a new forest. A forest that has bears and cougars or at least the threat of them. It is a forest that was not populated with people...hikers, other runners. There were a lot of runs where I never saw anyone! Scary! And carrying 2 different sizes of pepper spray, a body alarm and a whistle were the norm. Just today, I had to change my running route as I got this in my email inbox;

"Early this morning 2 big mountain lions were seen near the tobacco shop out by HWY 101. They will attack if they are surprised, so be noisy. It is very easy for them to catch and kill an elk as we have carcasses right now at the new resort site."

My elk, I ran by them all the time. Remember when I was about 10 feet from one?

I had a lot of interesting long runs. One 25 miler, I had too many pain killers and ended up throwing up at mile 19 in the Redwood Forest, throwing up for the remainder 6 miles. Sorry caterpillars. No offense! On another long distance run, I had a bad reaction to some over the counter medication and after throwing up for 3 hours in the morning, I still ran the run and finished. In June, I traveled to Mt. Hood for a training run. It was a 28 mile training run. There were just 2 girls. It was a huge eye opening experience. That is one hard trail with some big elevation. I even came home with an ouch!

After I ran 31 miles a few weeks ago, using the Sunriver Marathon, it was hard to recover. The runs that followed, were hard. My legs were mad, but I put in the mileage at the trail. It was tough! I ran the 24 miles in an extremely slow time of 6:25, I was just dragging. The 26 mile was better, but not great. And the hills! They were tough. But, I'm tapering now and I am certain that all my hard work has paid off.

I'll tell you two secrets. 1. That forest was always scary, I always just put on a brave face. I had to. I had to run in the forest. I had to get brave and fast! 2.I am scared to run this race, but that is normal. I will be shaking at the starting line. My friend keeps asking me if I'm excited and the answer of course is NO!!!

I am traveling to Portland next week, with my girls to visit family and run this crazy run, that starts at 5:30 AM. I will be successful! Do or die, right? I got this, piece of cake.

 I will let you know how it goes.

26+ mile training run for July 9th

For today's run, I was scheduled to run 26 miles. It is my last long run until I run the Mt. Hood 50.

Post run, I am walking around like my feet hurt, have rejected a dinner invitation and am nibbling on leftover cheesy rice.

So how did the run go? Way better than last week! I skipped my 10 mile training run yesterday so that I could be more refreshed, likely helped. I first ran 8.44 miles on the road, then 18.40 on the trails with my new Brooks Cascadia. They had about a hour of break in time yesterday. They are the best.

So for today's run highlights:
I got about 10 feet away from a group of Elk on the side of the road, only one was brave enough and didn't run off. I was nervous though.
A dead raccoon scared me.
I had to use the restroom twice. The second time was in the woods and oops, I went on my leg. I know, so gross!
I did three different trails. The first had rolling hills and I stayed on it the most. The 2nd is super steep. I meant to go a mile on it, but heard a dog barking and got spooked, so I was only on it for 1 1/2 miles. The 3rd is my normal hilly route and I was on it for 2 miles.
The last highlight is that I have no marks on my back to share with all of you. I put 4 big band-aids on and since someone told me to wear my sports bra inside out, I did. Oh and I also put on not only Body Glide, but my deodorant/antiperspirant.

26.84 miles in 5:51.

24 mile run for 7/2. Do I have to talk about it?

Do I need to say more about now my run went today? Yes, they hurt. I started feeling the pain at mile 12. I has to put my sandwich bags over them for protection. And  yes, I screamed in the shower.

Have  you ever heard the expression "training is harder than the actual race?" Well I can swear that it's true.

I swear that I hit the wall during today's run 3 times. I've never have before, but I swear it happened 3 times.

Okay, okay. Ran from my house to the forest via my favorite hilly trail. Ran my the whole distance of my favorite trail, getting me to mile 10. The elevation goes from 200 to 800. I then ran a less hilly route to mile 15. From mile 10 to mile 15, I was struggling, not hallucinating just yet, but wasn't having any fun. I then saw a side trail and I knew it was hilly, so I ran up it, but only for a mile. During that mile the elevation goes from 100 to 600. If I had gone the whole distance, it would have gone up to 2000 by the time I reached 5 miles. I'll save it for next week, right? Turned around and started running back.. Funny thing, I'd be running and noticed that my pace was 15! I'd walk and noticed that it was 14! I was walking faster than I was running!! Totally ridiculous!!!The rest of the way wasn't much fun. And I have no idea what happened with my new watch. It started acting crazy for awhile....or maybe I was hallucinating.  It said I was going a 7 min pace and the distance was going accordingly. When I got home, it said that I ran 26.09 and I don't think so.

1 week after running a 50K and running 30 miles throughout the week, I ran 24 miles in a extremely slow speed of 6:25 min.

I'm tired.