I was really excited about running this fairly local race.  We don’t have many too many  organized trail marathons offered near Atlanta (Mystery Mountain, Thrill In The Hills & H9 this year…missing anything?).  I was hoping to get a new trail marathon “PR” somewhere in the sub-6 hour vicinity.  The quotations are necessary because I read nothing that indicated that Twisted Ankle was as difficult as my last trail marathon, Mystery Mountain Marathon.  With trail races, it is admittedly a bit sketchy to claim a PR when course levels of difficulty can vary so widely.

Even though I was pretty sure the race wouldn’t be ridiculously hard, I was flying blind into the 2012 version of the Twisted Ankle Marathon.  All previous race reports were not applicable this year as there was some sort of snafu with the National Park Service folks that left the race director unable to use large portions of the old course.  The course this year was a new 13-mile loop run twice for the marathon.  I’m not a big fan of loops but I can’t complain too much when they are that long.

The dual loop nature of the course meant that the marathoners would get to experience “Becky’s Bluff” twice.  I heard terrible things about this climb but felt a little comforted when Coach Sean pointed out that Becky’s Bluff was no worse than climbing Kennesaw Mountain.  I do that climb 2 or more times per week (sometimes 3x in a row in one session) so I’m not scared of a 600 footer.  He was correct with regards to total elevation gain, but Kennesaw stretches the climb over a mile and doesn’t have quite as sharp of an incline near the peak.  No matter, I wasn’t worried.

I couldn’t have asked for better weather in late-May Atlanta.  I was expecting the worst like blazing sun and 90′s but we got overcast skies and temps in the mid to upper 70s.  I arrived at James “Sloppy” Floyd State Park with plenty of time to spare for once.  I immediately spotted several familiar GUTS faces and Marsha AKA bookladywalker from Operation Endurance.  Also noted some folks from Adventure Runners, who I connected with at the Another Mother Runner book release party.

The RD gave an overview of the new course but it meant little to me as I hadn’t run it at all before.  I caught the highlights, that we were to run the blue loop, then the red loop and then repeat.  There was a one mile “fire break” section – a term which was unfamiliar to me.  I also noted that we were not to run through the timing mat if we had to drop for some reason as it would mess up the results.  Surely that piece of information would not apply to me!

We finally got started at 9:20 (grr!) with a long loop around the lake.  This was all flat gravel road and then grass so I ran at whatever pace felt good and sustainable.  After looping the lake, we finally hit a single-track situation and I found myself making moves to pass people.  We wound through campgrounds (asphalt trail) where some family was cooking bacon that made my stomach growl.  I was glad to reach the first aid station which was stocked with typical trail race goodies.

A little more single track followed and then we were on a paved road for a while.  I don’t enjoy running on the hard stuff so much anymore, but it does allow you to build up a bit of speed.  I would estimate that we ran nearly a mile total on the asphalt road before we were re-directed into the woods by friendly volunteers.  It is always great when a race has enough volunteer interest to have people standing at major intersections.  The locals are clearly very supportive of this race and everyone I encountered was very enthusiastic.  I made sure to say thank you when I could.

The wooded part of the course got a little lonely for a while.  This surprised me as there were a lot of runners out there.  I’m not sure if I was behind the majority of the runners or not since I was running the full and therefore holding back on the pace.  But after another aid station near a neat little hidden waterfall, I finally caught up with a pack.

This aid station was notable to me because the young volunteer girls in charge had put out tons of 1/2 sized PB&J sandwiches.  I don’t know many runners who want to down 1/2 a sandwich at an early aid station!  I took one and ended up throwing the other half away.  I felt bad about the waste but I know that I wouldn’t touch some half sandwich left by another sweaty runner.  I really wanted to say something to them about it, but I didn’t.  I wondered if they would have any food left for the second loop!

I was glad to catch up with more runners for what I realized was the fire break section.  At the pre-race meeting, a volunteer girl had said this section was a tough mile.  Compared to everything that had come before it, I agreed.  There was a bit of steep climbing (nothing out of the ordinary if you run trails regularly) and descending and the terrain was really rocky.  This would be the first part of the course I would consider technical.  It was nice to have some company and share some conversation throughout that section, even though I needed to focus on foot placement.

The fire break actually turned out to be a nice break for my body.  Too much straight up trail running burns me out.  Too much hiking makes it hard to want to run again.  When we hit flat land again, I was totally ready to run and my legs felt fresh.  We circled back around to the long asphalt road and somehow ended up back near the start of the race.  This was nice because we passed some real park bathrooms.  I was in a groove and didn’t really want to stop but I did anyway.  I knew I would only have squatter’s options for a long time if I didn’t go soon.

Bathroom business handled and thirst quenched (aid station right outside of the bathroom), I headed out to loop the lake again and start the “Red” loop.  I think I reset my lap counter at the start of the second loop at 8.5 miles.  I might be wrong about that because I vaguely remembered the RD saying that one loop was 7 miles and one loop was 6 miles.  Whatever the case, I was 1:43 minutes in at that point and felt great like was pacing it just right.

We repeated the initial lake loop followed by single-track, but took a slightly different route at turns than we had before.  Considering that the race director was restricted to using only the state park trails to string together a 13 mile course, I thought she did a fantastic job.  Yeah, there was a lot of asphalt, but it was broken up into chunks.  Yes, we repeated course sections within the half-marathon loop, but we never repeated them in quite the exact same way so it never got annoying.

The asphalt road section was shorter on the red loop and in the woods we were pointed in a different direction than the last time.  I arrived at the 1/2-sized PB&J aid station from the opposite side this time and was directed towards a short little climb.  The course then returned to road and went to a different side of the park near the entrance sign.  This was the start of the Becky’s Bluff.  First there was a longish hill-climb at a fairly decent grade.  Dodging the faster runners (or rather scurrying out of their way) who were coming down the hill was fun.  There was a little break with a brief descent and then another long climb.  I would by lying if I said this climb didn’t wear on me a bit.

Just like the graphic said, I kept thinking this was Becky’s Bluff, but it wasn’t.  When I saw the sign that warned of steep trail, I knew that time had come.  So how was it?  It was indeed steep.  I had to break out my just go tree to tree move for a minute.  I then had to abandon that because the grade got even steeper and the terrain had few places for footholds – I didn’t want to pause too long.  Overall, it was tough, but it was brief.  I think this climb hits you a bit harder because of the fairly long climbs that come before it.   The whole climbing party only lasts a mile, but it is a pretty straight-forward climb with few flat areas for breaks.

There was a guy at the top of the bluff pointing out where to go next.  I’ve read other reports that noted him having a mullet.  I didn’t notice that at all!  Maybe the climb took more out of me than I thought?  It was flat at the top with tall grass on either side and I felt like running again so I took off.  There was a huge plastic monkey hanging from a tree with a cache of bananas underneath.  It was cute.  In addition to the perky volunteers, this race had cutesy signs and toys in various places.  I appreciated that this was a long-ish trail race with a sense of humor.

The grassy flat trail gave way to a rocky descent.  I was still feeling good and started to have fun flying downhill.  I noted a sign that read 1.8 miles back to the main park area and knew I was in the home stretch for the loop.  I had about 20 minutes to meet my newly set goal of 2:45 for the first loop.

I passed a few people on this part because I was being all footloose and fancy free.  Eventually, the descent started to get a bit rockier and a bit steeper and I realized that I needed to regain control.  The thought of “Hey, I really need to slow down” crossed my mind and I readied my body to brake when it happened.  I tweaked my left ankle on a rock.  I didn’t fall down.  I didn’t roll my ankle…it was sort of like how a DJ scratches a record – just a quick pull to the right and back.  It hurt bad and I immediately achieved my goal of slowing down.

I tried to walk it out like always but walking was more like limping.  The people that I had passed earlier, passed me.  I limped on.  People that I hadn’t seen in a long time passed me.  I limped on.  A lady that was in the park walking and not racing passed me.  I tried to run a bit but my foot hurt whenever it hit anything remotely unstable.  Since this was a trail race and unstable terrain goes with the territory, you can see how this would not work out well for me.

As the time ticked on and recovery didn’t come, I got a little pissed.  I was making fantastic time (for me).  I was on track to complete the first loop in 2:45 and I definitely would have gotten my sub-6 marathon.  This sucked.  I still managed to smile at the people heading up the big long hill as I tip-toed down towards the park.  Last year, this type of situation might have made me cry but I’m a different runner now.  My thoughts began to turn from “Whoa is me!” to the dreaded DNF or not decision.  Just when my foot would start to feel better, I would hit a bump and feel a spasm of pain.  After 1.25 miles, I could finally run again on asphalt.  I’ve rolled ankles on trails before but it never took me that long to recover.  I didn’t have any Advil on me and even if I did, would it be wise to mask the pain just to finish a training race?

I crossed Margaret C from GUTS who was well ahead of me and having a great race (she went on to finish as second female!).  I smiled at her and told her what happened.  She encouraged me to take it easy but my mind was already made up.  Today was not my day and the “Twisted Ankle Marathon” had become a prophecy for me.  I just didn’t think it was wise to pound on my leg for another 3 hours.  It may have been OK, but I may have turned a simple ankle tweak into a serious injury out of a misguided notion to not quit.  I’m just now clawing my way back into regular training after a few months of injury.  There was no way I was going to play with my newly regained pain-free mobility.

I walked across a long bridge to get to the finish line instead of starting the second blue loop.  I felt kind of ridiculous because a few random spectators were cheering and clapping encouragement like I was having a strong finish instead of a DNF.  I remembered the RD’s warning to not enter the timing shoot and just walked off to the side when I was done.  I was immediately cheered up by the nice spread of food and sodas available at the picnic tent.  Brownies make everything better sometimes!

I know I made the right choice by quitting at the half.  I drove home secure in that knowledge and had no doubts about my decision.  I was annoyed that I was having such great race up and then it all went left, but I guess it just wasn’t my day.  When I woke up the next morning with my foot throbbing a bit, I was 100% positive that I made the right choice.

In spite of my personal mishap, I look forward to doing this race again.  If you regularly run fairly challenging trails, I think you could do well here.  First time trail runners or road runners might find the course very difficult.  In terms of basic difficulty IMHO, Thrill In The Hills < Twisted Ankle < Mystery Mountain < H9 Marathon.

I loved the sense of fun at the race and the enthusiastic volunteers.  The course had a fair amount of asphalt, but asphalt or fire roads to nowhere are about equally ranked as far as I’m concerned.  You would be hard pressed to find a full trail marathon out here that is 100% single-track.  The course was well-marked and well-staffed with volunteers at intersections.  They were actually pretty crucial due to all the looping and doubling-back in different directions.  The number of aid stations was good.  If you are speedy, you could probably do with just a handheld.  I prefer to carry my own water especially since this is a hot time of year.

I don’t know if finisher medals were given out since I was not considered a finisher (even though I finished the half-marathon).  I thought the swag was good for a trail race since you don’t often get anything.  The T-Shirt was cotton which means I probably won’t ever wear it to another race.  However, I received a nice printed shoe bag which is extremely useful.  The bag also had stuff inside like a first aid kit, gummi bears and a little bendy toy my son likes.  It wasn’t just full of race flyers.

The one negative I can think of since the “twisted ankle” I obtained was my own fault, was that the race started about 20 minutes late.  That is definitely grumble-worthy late.  This race starts at 9AM and is held in late-May.  Twenty minutes late meant 20 minutes more heat for the full marathoners.  Not good.

Overall, you should definitely add this one to your to do list for local trail races.  At $50 for the full and $40 for the half, the price is right.  The half sells out fairly quickly so don’t delay when they open up registration.  I was able to register for the full about two weeks prior to race day.

Question:  The race shirt says Twisted Ankle Full & Half Marathon.  Would you wear your race shirt if you completed the half but that was technically a DNF from the full?

• Mexican Hash Egg Bake: Never had chorizo before trying this recipe.  I found chorizo at Target (Archer Farms brand) and it didn’t contain any sugar.  That might be the standard for that kind of sausage, but I’m not sure.  This was really good, very flavorful.  I only did a couple of eggs on top because I wasn’t sure how baked eggs would keep over the week.  I ate this everyday for breakfast (taking advantage of the post-workout carbs) with no problems.  Would make again
• Damn Fine Chicken:  This is a make ahead type recipe because the chicken has to marinate.  I thought the chicken was just OK.  The sauce was good, but in spite of all that marinating, the chicken tasted kind of bland.  If I want to bulk cook chicken, I’ll stick to my Roast Sticky Chicken recipe.  Would not make again
• Oven Braised Mexican Beef:  A keeper.  Freaking delicious!  I tasted a bit of this when I took it out of the oven Sunday night.  It was bedtime for me but what I tasted made me excited about eating it for lunch the next day.  This would make excellent soft tacos or would taste equally good over rice.  For Whole30, I ate it with some roasted peppers and onions and was very pleased.  I purchased 2lbs of stew meat to make it for about $10 which felt expensive.  However, I got 5 hefty servings out of that purchase so it was well worth it.  Would make again
• Baked Brussels Sprouts:  I usually roast sprouts in the oven with olive oil and bacon.  I tend to buy bags of the frozen sprouts because they are often cheaper than fresh.  I bit the bullet and purchased fresh sprouts for this recipe.  I’m not sure if it was the fresh sprouts or if it was the herbs, but these made me very happy.  I think you could cut the bacon down a bit from 6 pieces to 4 pieces and still be good with this one.  There was a whole lot of bacon in there!  Would make again

I have a goal of doing all the “classic” ultras (and all of the GUTS races) held within a short drive from Atlanta.  SweetH20 50K held at SweetWater State Park definitely fits the bill.  It seems that every ultrarunner that I know has done this race multiple times.  Its elevation profile is legendary.

Fun Times

I felt ready.  I ran the SweetH20 Sweetheart Half back in February (no race report yet, bad blogger) to get a taste of the course.  I read race reports from different years over and over again.  My training was a little spotty due to injury, but I had just completed The Jewel 50K a few weeks ago.  I figured I could make it out alright.  Since my ankle was feeling normal again, I thought I just might be able to eek out a new 50K PR.  I ran the SweetH20 Half in 2:55-ish at an easy pace, I might be able to finish this one in 7:30-8 hours.

How wrong I was!

I should have taken it as a sign of how the day would go when I arrived way late at the race site.  I had to park far from the registration area.  By the time I used the bathroom, got my number, went back to the car to drop off my T-Shirt and get my stuff together, and then huffed it back to the starting line, the start cannon was about to fire.  Yes, they had a Civil War cannon complete with men dressed as Confederate soldiers to fire it.  Only in the South, huh?

I felt unsettled at the start.  I didn’t get a chance to calm down and mentally prepare myself.  I didn’t get to greet many of the familiar faces I saw in the crowd.  I did manage to spot T from The Jewel 50K and lay a congratulations hug on her for finishing the race.  Her husband and girls were out running again after just completing a 100K two weeks ago. Brad G was out there, Rob Apple was too.  Both of them ran The Jewel.  Everyone just runs all these ultras every weekend and they are fine!  I thought I would be fine too.  I fail to remember sometimes that these people have way, way more experience than I do.

I started in the back as usual, but the trails still got backlogged a bit in the first few miles.  There were probably about 175 runners which is a lot when you head into narrow single track.  There was also tricky rocky terrain that in some places involved scooting down a few feet.  It was a little impossible to keep a steady pace with all of that going on.  I expected the delays though so I was fine with it.  When races are so long, there is really no need to get all huffy about a few minutes of waiting…especially since I’m not going to win or anything.

After a few miles, we ran into one of the first non-standard features of this race – a spillway.  I only know what the thing is called from reading other race reports.  I could see the river off to my right and the spillway was catching the overflow.  Last year, there were flooding issues with the river so this crossing might have been more challenging.  This year, it was like running through a little puddle.  We did have to use ropes to climb up & down the walls so that was kind of cool.  After the spillway, the trail started to look vaguely familiar to me from the GUTS FatAss 50K.

The first aid station appeared relatively quickly alongside the river.  This station seemed to be buzzing with activity…there were actually spectators!  One was local blogger Christian Griffith who I finally got to greet in person after he was kind enough to answer some questions for me.  That man knows how to write a race report!  I have read and re-read some of his reports just for sheer entertainment value.  Christian is recovering from a terrible series of health issues related to an ameoba infection.  As I greeted him, I felt bad for ever wishing I would get a tapeworm to help me lose weight.*

I also ran into another blogger, Jason, from Running the Carolinas.  I had to share with him how I was pumping my fist while reading his race report for his Pinhoti 100 redemption run.  It was a good opportunity to chat about the course since I am targeting Pinhoti as my first 100 miler attempt.

I was really enjoying my run so far and pleasantly surprised that the course was so runnable after the first few tricky miles.  I arrived at the Mile 10-ish aid station and noticed the smiling face of Candy, one of my local ultra sheros.  I was a little disappointed to see that my watch read Mile 12 something.  At 2:37 minutes in, I guess I wasn’t moving as quickly as I thought I was!  I was honestly a little deflated and I started the allow the first cracks of frustration into my mental game.  That caused me to spend a little too much time at the station.  I felt like I had to drag myself back out onto the course.  Those aren’t good feelings to have at Mile 10 of a 31+ mile course.

The next portion of the course began a mental waiting game to see when the main event would start.  I knew the ridiculous powerline climb was coming soon.  However, this route was new to me.  We approached the powerlines in a different way during the February half.  I ran through a path cut through chest high grass and tried not to imagine what kinds of creatures might be lurking in that mess.

The grass ended and there was a short stint on an exposed gravel road.  I trailed and then passed a father and his 13(!) year old son who were running the race too.  Amazing.  Somehow I ended back up on familiar territory with a creek crossing that led to a very short and steep climb up a leaf strewn hill.  I remembered this climb well from the half marathon.

There were a few racers chatting behind me as I climbed.  I wasn’t listening too hard, but I caught wind of some religious type talk and the male was later revealed to be sporting a Christian running team shirt.  As they passed me, the guy asked me what music I was listening to.  I felt like a total heathen because the tune playing was Kelis’ Aww Sh!t.  Off topic, this is a hot song for pole dancing and every time I hear it I really miss taking lessons.

After cresting the hill, Jason Green, who organizes the Yeti Trail Runners and created most of the high grass trails himself, pointed the way towards the powerlines.  I like how the race organizers had volunteers stationed at course points that could possibly be confusing – nice touch.  Again, the route we took to the climb was different from what I remember at the half marathon.  We first tackled a fairly steep rocky downhill where I nearly busted my butt before hitting the main climb.

Trail goes way down before it goes up

I was ready for the climbs this time having experienced them already at the earlier race.  I’m not sure if the change in approach cut some mileage off, but it seemed like this section went by really quickly.  I recall last time looking ahead and just seeing rows and rows of hills to climb.  I don’t remember that at all this time.  I tried to pace myself because I knew I had to tackle this climb again later…in the heat.  Still, I was at the “Top of The World” before I knew it.

A fairly long exposed incline that slowly creeps up on you for about a mile followed.  I got a chance to see runners returning from the nearby aid station at this point.  It is so funny to note how everyone looks all happy (self-included) in the early stages of a race compared to how they look later.

Unlike the Feb half-marathon which placed the aid station at the peak of the trail, this time we ran out of the trails and onto a road with a school.  There was more sun exposure here and a slight incline on the road.  This was a very short section but I remember being annoyed that I had to go that little bit further for some sweet, sweet Powerade.

Once again, my watch was really off on the mileage.  It said I was at Mile 15 and I was really at Mile 12-ish.  That kind of stuff totally messes with your head.  As I expressed my frustration, one of the volunteers suggested that it might be due to changes in stride on the terrain.  I think he’s on to something there.  My watch is pretty accurate on roads but horribly off on some trail races.  I guess the lesson is not to depend too heavily on your watch – GPS or footpod based -  but it is so hard!

I left the Top Of The World with about 6 miles to the next aid station.  The part of the course was familiar but the miles kind of dragged on.  We ran back out the way we came and were directed a different way by volunteers near the powerline summit.  This led to a very steep and scary descent, another mini-climbs (nowhear near as high as the powerline climb), and yet another scary descent.

The trail then turns back into the park to run alongside the river.  This part of the trail is littered with old boards (some serving as a plank so that you can proceed along the trail) and just a lot of junk.  I don’t understand what the deal is with this section.  The front runners, who were out for their second loop already, passed me going the opposite way.  It usually cheers me up to see the speed demons, but today, it just seemed to highlight how much longer I had to run.

Six miles lasted forever and ever and I was so happy to see aid station and get something cold to drink.  The aid station was strategically located at the top of “Jack’s Hill”.  I would always hear people talking about said hill and never quite knew what they were talking about.  As I trudged up a very rocky and seemingly never-ending incline that grew steeper with each step, I knew.  A little garden gnome with a sign that said something about wanting toenails (due to the rocks) perked me up a bit.  I had no toenails for the poor gnome because I left them all at the Duncan Ridge 50K back in November.

The volunteers said that we had about 3 miles to the next aid station which would mark the start of another hallmark of SweetH20 50K, the water crossing.   I don’t know what kind of lies they were fed, but the next aid station was way more than three miles away.  I started to get really, really annoyed and irritable.  I wanted something cold to drink again and I really needed something to eat besides the Clif Shot Bloks I had on me.  I felt relieved when we reached a checkpoint of sorts where our numbers were taken.  That relief was short-lived when I realized that there was no aid station here at all.  WTH?  Did I miss it?  One smart runner in front of me had met someone in a car as a personal aid station.  He was sipping an ice cold bottle of blue Gatorade.  As I continued on running and my thirst continued to grow, that image haunted me.

Now I was hot in both temperature and temper.  Looking back, I was probably not fueling appropriately and more than a tad bit hangry.  My mood was not improved by scratching myself on some brambles somehow.  Now I was hot, hungry and bleeding…awesome!  It got worse when I finally reached the river crossing and realized that the visible aid station was still not meant for us.  I seriously felt a gasket blow inside.  That meant that in addition to the 3 (ha!) longest miles ever, I would have to cross this raging river, run a few miles on trails and then re-cross the river before I could get food.  For real?!?  They must have decided to exclude an aid station for some reason because this was ridiculous.  I suppose I could have crossed over to the aid station anyway but it was sort of out of the way.

I gritted my teeth, ate a sugary Shot Blok that I did not want, and grabbed a rope for the river crossing.  Now in addition to being pissed off, I was scared.  I’ve done water crossings before but none like this – this water was raging.  There was a chest high rope strewn across the water and some rescue EMT types waiting on the other side.  I inched my way across and I do mean inched.  The water was gushing over rocks very rapidly.  It only came up to about hip level (and I’m short) but it was really moving.  The rope didn’t really offer any assistance with balance, it was more like a lifeline.  The worst part was that you couldn’t see what was going on in the water.  I would be walking on large slippery rocks and then the rocks would suddenly disappear.  I was scared, really scared.  I don’t know why, but I didn’t think this crossing would be that major.  I thought it would be fun.  I was very unprepared because this was the opposite of fun.

My fears were realized when I slipped off a rock near the end of the crossing, a few short feet from the rescue guys.  I didn’t get submerged, but I did sit fully down in the water.  I mentioned that I was unprepared for water this major and that includes my stuff.  Like a fool, I did not protect the things in my pockets – my fuel and my I.phone.  My phone took a major bath when I slipped.  To make matters worse, my calf cramped up under the water (told you I wasn’t fueling right) and I literally could not stand back up.  All I could only grimace and flail around.  The rescue guys made moves to come get me but I waved them off.  The cramp passed and I emerged from the water more pissed off than ever.

I think my race really ended right there at Mile 17 but somehow my body kept moving…slowly.  There was the park’s Yellow trail to conquer next.  I figured since we only had 2 miles to go it might be easy.  Of course not.  There was a fair bit of climbing in this section.  I wanted to run but all I could do was walk.  This worked well due to the climbing and because I like powerhiking.  The trail did flatten out eventually but I could hardly make myself run.  The fact that I was running towards the return river crossing did nothing to encourage me to hustle either.

I so did not want to cross that water again.  I felt like crying.  I took it excruciatingly slowly this time and I still almost fell again.  I’ve never been so happy to see an aid station in my life!  Kelly F hooked my pack up with some ice and water while I stuffed my self with the salty food that I’d been craving for what seemed like 2 hours.

The river aid station was Mile 19 or so and I was right at 6 hours.  That PR I had dreamed of was certainly not going to happen today.  I found myself lamenting the fact that this wasn’t a marathon.  I really, really wanted to bail on this whole thing.  Everyone else may be able to run ultras every weekend, but clearly I’m not cut out for this.  It didn’t help that I was dumb enough to lift heavy at CrossFit that past Wednesday instead of resting up.  I was tired and mentally just not there.  The devil on my shoulder was like “Girl!  What are you doing out here?  You know you’d rather be posted up on the couch at home playing with your son!”

I walked nearly the entire 4-5 mile stretch over to the next aid station.  I had small bursts of energy where I felt like running but they were few and far between.  I kept reflecting on how everything was just sucking.  I found a little inchworm crawling on my neck.  I saw a snake on the trail.  I was just hating life and everything about nature at that point.  The bad thing is that I wasn’t too bad off physically.  I was just checked out mentally.

The aid station stop did a little bit for my spirits.  Oranges, cold Coke and a little ice down my sports bra felt like a little bit of heaven on that hot day.  I was able to run a bit more the second time through the grassland section.  Powerline section Round 2 was a lot tougher than before and it totally sapped the little energy I had managed to acquire.

I tried and failed to convince the volunteers at the Top Of The World section that they should let me cut the course and just go home.  There was nothing left to do but trudge on to the schoolhouse aid station.  The trip was now a lot less lonely as runners were returning from that station.  The smiling faces I saw on the initial trip out were defnitely showing strain now.  It looked like a lot of people were having just as much fun as I was having – which was none.

I had hoped that being in the final 10K of the race would inspire me to run a lot more but that wasn’t the case.  I was actually a bit worried about time because I recalled reading that we had 9 hours to finish the race.  It really sucked that I was now looking at a 9 hour finish, because I know I could do a lot better than that.  When I hit Top of the World again, I saw the sweeper heading out to the schoolhouse aid station.  I was happy to know that I had at least a 30 minute lead on him.  That meant we clearly had more than 9 hours to finish.  However, I was dismayed that I was even in the position of seeing the sweeper at all.  I resolved to finish within the stated 9 hour time limit no matter what.

The last 10K went on eternity.  The awful downhill descent after Top Of The World felt steeper than ever.  The junky river running section looked junkier than ever.  Jack’s Hill was longer and hillier than ever.  All the rest of the race was a blur.  I was mostly alone with my thoughts of being anywhere else but SweetWater park.  I kept trying to shake the funk that set in but I couldn’t.  As I neared the final mile, seeing park patrons enjoying picnics, casual walks, and generally having fun aggravated me even further.

A girl who was about 1.5 miles behind me at the Top Of The World section came running out of nowhere and passed me.  My first thought was “Man, I’ve really been sucking these last few miles!”  But for some reason, her good race spirit rubbed off on me and I ended up running behind her a solid 1/2 mile.  I don’t think I’d run that much consecutive mileage over the entire last 5K.  I had kind of accepted the fact that I was just going to walk it in.  But here’s this girl who has been putting in real work those last few miles!  I simply couldn’t half-ass it in the final inning.  I called up to thank the girl for serving as inspiration to get going again.

I have never been so happy to see a finish line!  I made it in right under the 9 hour limit at 8:57:47.  I was 161st out of 194 finishers and 6/8 in my age group. That’s not what I was hoping for, but it was what I was capable of on that day.  And hey, I wasn’t last either!

I’m happy that I didn’t quit even though I really wanted to bail.  I’m also glad that my ankle was a non-issue in a race for once.  It felt totally normal.  As far as lessons learned, I definitely need to chill out on the CrossFit the week before a race.  Knocking out heavy deadlifts (5 @ 185# touch and go…yeah!) and power cleans in the days before a 50K may be beneficial to my ego.  But that’s just not smart when your short-term goal is to have a good long race.

I don’t know that I would do this race again, even though it would be tempting to improve my time.  The race was pretty well-organized.  The volunteers were great.  I did feel like there should have been another aid station between Jack’s Hill and the river crossing.  I can definitely point to that long stretch where I was craving salty food and unable to get it as where my race started to go downhill.  I also really didn’t dig that roped river crossing.  The water felt great on my legs but it was all just too treacherous for me.  I’ve done a lot of stuff crazy stuff for kicks (Tough Mudder, etc) but I don’t ever want to do that river crossing again.

50K #4 (3 completed out of 4 attempts) is in the books and I’ve crossed another local ultra off my list.  I’m still waiting to figure out my favorite ultra distance and I wish it could be this one since it is the shortest.  So far though, I’ve only had one 50K that I consider a really good racing experience from start to finish (The Jewel 50K).  Maybe Stump Jump 50K in October will be a good one?  I’d say I’m overdue for another perfect PR 50K!

Pinhoti 100 on November 3 is the goal. I haven’t signed up yet because there is that little matter of trying to have a baby. I don’t need to spend my hard-earned cash to be motivated to train for a race. I’m training and if I’m meant to get pregnant, I’ll get pregnant. If I’m meant to run 100 miles, I won’t be pregnant on Nov 3. Simple as that.

My journey to 100 miles begins with a brutal race on a trail I love to hate. H9 is back for the new year with an official marathon (apparently it was last year too!) and a Phatt-Ass 50 miler (their spelling, not mine). The marathon is hard enough, but I’m going harder this year. Just check out the course description for the 50 miler. Last year, 9 people attempted the 50 miler and only 3 finished. The reported elevation gain is 14,000ft but I suspect that is an underestimate. Fun times!

I think this race will take me so long that it will be my longest race…even though it won’t be the longest distance that I’ve covered. I fully expect a hot and miserable yet totally exhilarating experience complete with multiple freak outs, breakdowns, and episodes of being lost. It will be a wonder if I finish the darn thing. If I do, I’m 100% sure I will be mentally and physically ready for Pinhoti.

My coach will be off doing his thing on the Appalachian Trail (because he’s awesome), but he was hooked me up with a plan to torture train me in his absence. I’m ready and excited to be back at it again. I had no idea what was in store for me last year (and probably still don’t), but I’m going to bring my “A” game. I plan to come to H9 this year leaner and meaner than ever. Bring on the beatdown!

;

Week 1: 04/30-05/06

Week 2: 05/07-05/13

Week 3: 05/14-05/20

Week 4: 05/21-05/27

Week 5: 05/28-06/03

Indian Beef & Spaghetti Squash: I keep trying to love spaghetti squash. I still don’t but it tastes OK and it provides some variety in my usual staple of veggies. This recipe was easy to make and very flavorful. The Mister ate some, complained about the “funny ingredients,” and then went back for seconds. *side-eye* I’m not a fan of coconut and I could taste the coconut milk in the dish sometimes. I would simply reduce the amount used next time. Would make again

Garlic Pork And Rice: PaleOMG is fast becoming my new Paleo recipe site. I’m excited to try more of her recipes when I can use honey again! I like crockpot meals because they are easy and whatever meat you put in there just falls off the bone. The pork came out really good considering that it was just seasoned with garlic. I broke out the food processor and made cauliflower “rice” for this one. I think the broth/cauliflower ratio was off for me because my rice came out really mushy – not like the picture. I would make the pork again without the rice. Would make again

Cinnamon Chipotle Sliders: I made these as a quick and easy weeknight meal after reading that Juliet over at Hey Joob enjoyed them very much. Yeah, not for me. I don’t know if it was a typo or not, but these puppies contained 1.5T of garlic powder for 1lb of hamburger. I ate the burgers for dinner and The Mister said I absolutely reeked of garlic when he dragged me to the midnight showing of The Avengers. This was *after* brushing my teeth. Garlic aside, they had an interesting kind of taste, but they were just not for me. Would not make again

Chicken and Vegetable Lo Mein: To be fair, I used all the seasonings for this one but did not use the same veggies with the exception of the cabbage. I had a bag of stir-fry mix (broccoli, snow peas, red cabbage, carrots) that I needed to use up so I used that in place of the listed veggies. I’m not a big fan of mushrooms either so I would have nixed those anyway. I don’t think the veggies make a big difference in the taste of the sauce or chicken. I didn’t like it at all. It tasted better as leftovers but I waited forever to eat the leftovers…that’s how much I didn’t want to eat it. Would not make again

I posted here about the foods I cooked last week. I warned The Mister that things were going to get strict at dinnertime for the next 15 days. He wanted no parts of any of the goodness I made. More for me! I batch cooked a lot of food on Sunday, so I was able to go a week without cooking too often. This was a relief. The thought of chopping a bunch of vegetables and measuring 10 spices with a toddler underfoot is draining after a long day at work.

The Whole30 plan suggests that you eat 3 meals a day with no snacks unless you are really hungry. You can have additional pre and post workout meals if you exercise intensely. I ate 3 meals a day mixed and matched from the recipes I made. I used almonds and hard boiled eggs as pre-CrossFit meals. I didn’t experience any real lack of energy during workouts. I didn’t do much running last week so I’m not sure how this meal would work for an early AM run. Post-workout, I ate a small portion of sweet potato hash.

I ate veggies with every meal. It is stupid easy to hit 6-10 servings of veggies a day when you cut out grains. I ate a ton of broccoli topped with ghee because it’s easy and I love it. I had a few simple salads (Spring Mix + dressed with oil, vinegar, salt + pepper) when I was feeling lazy. I made a pan of roasted zucchini, yellow squash and onions and ate that often. A batch of kale chips served as a side one night and that was a good way to get greens + fats.

I did feel snacky sometimes and I relied on sweet potato chips, almonds, and the occasional orange to ease the munchies. Whole30 doesn’t outright discourage fruit, but IMO the rules surrounding its consumption make it tough to get in. Breakfast and post-workout are the main times I reach for fruit. Eating fruit at both of those times is discouraged for various reasons. I didn’t really feel deprived though because I’m in a phase where I just don’t want fruit too much.

How I Felt

• I felt OK. I didn’t experience any caffeine withdrawal headaches. I expected that to be my toughest hurdle next to sugar. I guess I don’t drink as much caffeine as I thought. I had a touch of the “carb flu.” I get so tired at work around 10AM & 3PM and a little brain fogginess follows. I usually deal with this by drinking a Coke Zero or something but that’s out. I miss caffeine!
• I was a bit disappointed to find that some of my go-to seasonings (Lawry’s Lemon Pepper, Lawry’s Accent, and Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning) were out because they contained sugar. My broiled tilapia just didn’t taste the same without Tony’s.
• I really miss variety in drinks. I don’t drink coffee and I don’t like tea without sugar. I can’t drink Crystal Light or anything like that because it contains artificial sugar. I tried flavoring my water with orange and lemon slices but I didn’t like it. I tried some naturally flavored sparkling spring water I found at Trader Joe’s and…yuck. I’m so sick of water but I don’t like the alternatives. Oh well, at least I am extra well-hydrated!
• I started to crave bacon for some reason. I scoured all kinds of labels at regular stores and Whole Foods and couldn’t find nitrate-free bacon cured without sugar. Gwaltney makes a sugar-free bacon (green box) but it is not nitrate free. I bought it anyway and had to debate eating it. If I weren’t committed to the Whole30 this would not be an internal struggle.
• I chew lots of gum on a daily basis and gum is out on Whole30 due to the fake sugars. They also discourage it because of the chewing habit – something about how chewing and not actually ingesting food can be problematic. Whatever. I really struggled in the first few days with just wanting something to chew on! Sometimes I used water to get through the cravings. Other times I ate almonds even though I wasn’t hungry. Thankfully, the need to chomp on gum is waning.
• My hunger levels were generally good, but the first day was rough. I don’t mind the 3 meals a day thing because I stopped eating 5-6 small meals a day a long time ago. If I was hungry, I ate something to take the edge off.
• I’m learning to adjust the portion sizes of my meals so that I feel full enough to last to the next meal. I don’t have problems eating protein, but I found that I had to increase my standard protein size to feel full enough not to snack. A 3oz chicken breast is not enough in the absence of a ton of fat. 4.5-5oz servings worked better for me.
• I still want to snack but it isn’t really out of hunger. I’m just used to grabbing something to eat as soon as I walk through the door. I also battle the habit of snacking in the car. Both of these habits do my waistline no favors. The fact that I can’t eat the Cheez-Its and Goldfish crackers that I stash in the car for Lewis is a good thing. When I want to eat out of habit rather than hunger, somehow almonds aren’t as appealing as crackers.
• Major temptation of the week: Popcorn at the movies (Thumbs Up for “Think Like A Man”)
• I didn’t cheat on the program at all except for two minor technical things. I used 2t of Dijon mustard in a recipe. My mustard was clean and contained no sugar, but Dijon mustard is made with white wine and alcohol is a no-no on Whole30. I also ate the bacon that contained nitrates. I consider these minor infractions. Drinking isn’t an issue for me. I probably have a glass of wine once every 3 months. I think that the spirit of the “no alcohol” rule in Whole30 is geared more to actual drinking and not a little bit of white wine in a recipe. As far as the bacon, I decided the sugar was the greater of the evils. If I’m going to get cancer from food, it will probably be from all the diet soda I’ve consumed in my life. I doubt the nitrates in the bacon that I eat every now and again are going to kill me.

• Sausage and Sweet Potato Hash: I don’t like scrambled eggs all that much so I’m very open to eating dinner type foods for breakfast. This was really good and easy. It also worked as a good post-workout breakfast option because of the carbs from the sweet potato and lower fat levels. I found some Whole30 compliant Italian chicken sausage at Target made by Isernio. It has no sugar and there’s nothing sketchy in it. Would make again
• Roast Sticky Chicken: I make this chicken so often that I just mix up a large batch of the spices and keep it in the cabinet. It always tastes great. This is a weekend recipe though because of the long marinating (4-6 hours) and the baking process (4-5 hours). I roasted a pack of chicken thighs and a pack of chicken legs instead of a whole chicken. I love dark meat chicken! I kept the skin on because I’m supposed to eat fat on this diet. Would make again
• Crockpot Ropa Vieja: This tasted just alright hot out of the crockpot. It was 10x better the next day after lunch with some additional salt. Maybe the flavors needed time to marinate? I didn’t make the cauliflower rice because dragging the food processor out is a real hassle sometimes. Would make again
• Primal Chicken Tikka Misala: I usually buy an Archer Farms kit from Target to make this dish the lazy way. This felt like a lot of work and I wish I had done it over the weekend. A cooking time of 1:20 minutes is just too long for a weeknight. The recipe is also a little unclear to me. I *hate* when recipes say stuff like 3-4 chicken breasts. Can I get a weight value please? My Kroger chicken packs always have 3 breasts but some packs weigh 1lb and others weigh 2lb. In spite of my questions about the recipe, everything turned out OK. This was another one that tasted better the next day. I wanted some rice with this so bad! There was a lot of yummy sauce and nothing to sop it up with. I just might have to grind up some cauliflower “rice” soon – even though it is so not the same. Would NOT make again
• Ghee: You can’t have dairy on Whole30. I need butter for my veggies. This recipe produces clarified butter which is butter with all the milk solids filtered out. The process was easy but slow (~30 minutes). The good thing is that I didn’t have to be all that involved. I just let the butter do its thing. My mason jar of ghee (~1.5 cups) cost $9 to make ($6 1lb of quality butter + $2.50 cheesecloth). So far, I have not used the ghee as cooking fat. I’ve mainly used a bit on my steamed broccoli for flavor. It doesn’t taste exactly like butter but it isn’t too bad. Would make again
• Sweet Potato Chips: I wanted to make a snack food and also wanted an easy way to get carbs post-workout on-the-go. These were a bit of a hassle to make because I don’t have a mandoline. Flipping 100 thin chips over in the oven also sucks. They were so good that it was worth the hassle. I had trouble controlling myself. Would make again