The Ultra Trail Goddess Blog

If you see this on Saturday..

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:02 PDT

I'll be on the Massanutten Trails!!!

Leaving

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:21:41 PDT

I woke up naturally this morning. It was daylight out; our little valley socked in with fog, from the torrential thunderstorm overnight. I figured it was 730 am or so, so I got up.

636 am. Oh well. So much for sleeping in. But I did go to bed at 9 pm last night!

It will be a casual morning here, take the dogs for their hike, and them mix up my two gallons of maltodextrin for MMT. Put the rest of the gear in the vehicle, and make those last tick marks off the list.

Some of my favorite QOT from the Slim List:

"Man often becomes what he believes himself to be.

If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it.

On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning."

-Mahatma Gandhi

I do know that when I have those moments in the mountains, sometimes a breath or scent of something in the air, other times something as simple as moving over granite, a flood of chemicals hits and it feels like love.

Elusive and beyond description.

–Kelly Cordes

"You're better than you think you are and you can do more than you think you can!"
- Ken Chlouber at Leadville

4 Keys to MMT

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Wed, 15 May 2013 12:43:33 PDT

As I sit and stew, this week, and try and be patient, some musings:

Four Keys of Ironman Execution

I listen to this podcast put out by the coaches of Endurance Nation. They tend to interview their athletes after their Ironman events, which is always interesting to me (I Love Race Reports!). They produced a segment called "Four Keys of Ironman Execution" and this is their four keys to a success Ironman.

Most of this could also pertain to a 100 mile event.

Execution, not Fitness. All you’ve done is build a vehicle. Ironman racing is about how you DRIVE that vehicle, it is NOT about the vehicle. It’s easy to get caught up in the buzz and energy of the day, but creating and sticking to the right plan for you is the only thing that will lead to the best possible day.

What shape I am in on race day is not relevant now. I've driven the vehicle to the starting line. I now need to steer that vehicle around on the rocks, in the best time possible, while feeding it and watering it, to its (my) best ability.

The Line. Nothing on race day really matters until you reach The Line on the run. The Line is the point at which continuing becomes very, very difficult. You define success as simply not slowing down at The Line. EVERYTHING before The Line is simply about creating conditions for success for when the Line comes to you.

The Line, in the EN talk, is mile 18 of the marathon. There are many smaller lines of MMT.

My first goal of MMT, is to finish. ALWAYS the goal. But I have many smaller side goals. Built to support my goal of a sub 30 hour MMT finish.

Get to Edinburg before 7am.
Get to Elizabeth Furnace before lunchtime.
Get to Habron Gap before 6pm.
Get OFF Bird Knob before daylight.
Get to Picnic Area before daylight.

I've also got carrots in this run.

I get to see Wayne Mongold at Edinburg and do a quick bottle exchange with him.
I get to see my crew at Elizabeth Furnace for the first time.
Habron is almost the "half way point" for MMT.
I pick up Wonderboy as a pacer at Camp Roo.
I pick up Mongold as a pacer at Visitor Center. So I have many little things to look forward to, all day long.

The Box: All day long you are going to race inside a box defined by what you can control. Ask yourself “What do I need to do right NOW to create the conditions for success at The Line? Is what I’m doing right now counter to this goal?

Keep the box as big as you can for as long as you can.
Keep in the box only the things you can control. Let go of the rest.
Exercise this decision-making process inside your box: Observe the situation, Orient yourself to a possible course of action, Decide on a course of action, Act (OODA Loop).

The Box mentality has become pretty important as I sit and fret this week. The weather is something I cannot control. I've also not had any opportunity to have ANY sort of heat acclimatization this last week (or really, at all.)

So I will only control the things within The Box. I can make sure the crew has ice for me. I can make sure I utilize the crew and ice as much as possible.

The One Thing. If you swallowed the Kool-Aid we’re serving you here, you will show up at the Line, in your Box, ready to git’erdun and simply not slow down. But we’re not done yet. There is still some psychological stuff you need to address. During the course of your race day, expect your body to have a conversation with your mind:
“Look, Mind, you’ve had me out here slogging away for 132 miles. This is really starting to get old and very painful. You need to give me a good reason to keep going forward. If you don’t have one, I’m gonna slow down and you can’t stop me!”

Another point I got from the podcast, not one of their 4 points, but very worthwhile: Your racing self owes it to the training self.
Racing self needs to respect all that the training self did, to set up the racing self. Racing self needs to suck it up and embrace the hurt to honor the training self.
Training self put itself out there always-ran in cold weather, cold downpours of rain, icy windy ass days, sloppy slow mud days, early early morning runs; cold clothes changes in parking lots; runs endured on treadmills. You owe it to training self to get out there and endure on racing day, racing self.

So that's my 4 Keys to MMT.

This is the Last DAY

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:39:52 PDT

This is the last day that I plan out the training day.

I got to work at 11 am.

I got to run..squint, chart is across the room...oh just five miles..

So that will take me..50 minutes or so, so consider if 60 minutes if you are doing your "2.5 mile Yellow Water Out and Back" run.

I need to leave for work by 1015am.

So I need to be back, to eat breakfast, shower, and pack lunch and reading, by..930am.

So I need to go run at 8am.

So I need to wake up at 7am. Cuz I need an hour or so of play time, internet, coffee, to get outside. It's much easier now, now that it is light outside, not 10 degrees, and I don't have to don layers of gear just to survive a run. In fact, 8am is rather respectable and sunlit.

So this is rather a sleep in morning. Such is the taper.

There should be a blog post coming soon, about the training. Maybe I can get that out here, in my "taper" phase!

Running mantras

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Fri, 10 May 2013 03:01:09 PDT

This one will probably get used this weekend: "the longer you run the stronger you get".

This does apply to me.

There is, of course, Speed goat Karl's famous "100 miles is not that far"...but for all the folks getting ready for MMT, they probably don't want to hear that. Besides, I don't think of running 100 miles, or 103.7 miles, but I run from aid station to aid station.

Last year, on most of the Hardrock course, this was my repeated saying to myself: "You can't stay here." A slightly negative mantra, but the hard truth. Only way I was going to get back to people and civilization was to keep going.

This is one of the favorites. All you MMT newbies, read up. Contemplate.

This is from laz' 2010 Race Report:

"you all know about the comfort zone.
that's where most ultras take place.
running ultras is all about staying in the comfort zone.
all our strategies revolve around staying in the comfort zone.
all our advice is about staying in the comfort zone;

"start slow"

"walk every uphill"

"dont take any chances"

for all the talk about exploring human potential, and seeking our limits, ultrarunners tend to play it safe.
they line up "challenges" they know they can finish.
and run them carefully
well within their "limits".
we believe that success is never failing.

at the barkley success is about over-reaching our abilities,
and living to tell about it.
sometimes success is getting your ass out alive."

Kennedy Peak Overlook

9 Days Out

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:47:09 PDT

I'm supposed to be still sleeping. But you try sleeping with a Rottweiler with a cone around his head; and a German Shepherd who has just developed her own lick spot in sympathy I guess.

So anyhooo, I'm up and own my second..or third cup of coffee. I've really been doing well on the caffeine. I am down (usually) to two cups in the morning. No more caffeine for the day after that. This is done in the hopes that the caffeine ingested during the race will be a positive influence.

Browsing the interwebs, it appears that maybe the 17 year cicadas could make a guest appearance:

Cicadas won't harm you. I've lived through several Broods here in Ohio. Their sound can fill up the woods with their noise-it sounds like bacon frying in a pan.

Along with our old favorite at night, the millipedes!

These little things come out at night. Try not to put your hand on the trees or logs, they tend to swarm over them.

Other than the rattlesnake sighting last year, I don't recall alot of wild life on the trail.

Just rocks. Lots of rocks.

More Trail Ramblings

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Mon, 06 May 2013 06:11:05 PDT

and pics!

Yes, another Buff. This one makes me laugh. Cuz it's called Trout.

This was...Friday's trail run. YES I have been finally rewarded for my good training behaviour, with three glorious days of training and trail running.

So on this day, I ran the white bridle trail backwards. I found this really cool wall.

I was anticipating a cool foundation, some daffodils.

But sometimes a fence is just a fence.

Pretty blue flowers.

The Saturday schedule called for 16 miles. And although I do love my Salt Fork Trails, I was just sick of them!!! Sick! I didn't see how I could cobble together another 16 miles on the trails (that could actually be runnable.)

So I went to Mohican. I thought about putting a shout out on FB, and seeing who would want to run with me..but I didn't. I just wanted to get my miles in, get up when I wanted, get there, start running.

I did get up at 430 am and got to Mohican about 7 am. I had already changed where I was going to run. I had told the husband I was going to run the old Mohican Red and Green Trails,but these were mostly bridle trails, and I knew they were pretty muddy from last week's race. Since the mountain bike parking lot was deserted, I decided to run the mountain bike trail,since I knew that would be dry and runnable.

It was a good run. Energy was good-this was another dress rehearsal for MMT; I wore the clothes and gear that I will wear for MMT. I even drank maltodextrin and an EFS shot that I will use. It wasn't the hyper joy run that I was expecting; but for my last "long run" of 16 miles, before MMT, it went well.

Ramblings

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Sat, 04 May 2013 15:09:15 PDT

I've been running. On trails. Alot. Hence, not much blogging.

These pics are from the last couple of runs:

It is quite amazing to me, I've run this trail a bunch, and I've never noticed the daffodils in this clearing, until this year.

I had spotted the blocks (pictures below) from the other side of the inlet, and I was intent on finding my way there. Sure enough, this old clearing wasn't more than 20 feet from the trail. This old piece of equipment was left there. I have no idea what it was. Old farming equipment??

This is the blocks I spotted from across the way. As I climbed over, I spotted the fire ring, and was first a little afraid I had blundered into someone's meth lab.

But I didn't spot anything dangerous. Someone has scavenged old bouys and some wood to make themselves either a little fort or somewhere to rest and relax.

These pics below are from Thurday run. I ran on the white bridle trail. The derecho storm from last summer really decimated this trail. Last summer, I had ventured down it, about a half mile and quit after climbing under and over and around trees. The park workers really had a big job with the amount of tree clearing that they did.

This is a little cemetery right on the trail.

A very nice day next to the water. The bridle trail was in pretty good shape, not much shoe sucking mud.
Speaking of shoes, I've got five pair sitting on the porch right now:

I will probably wear the La Sportiva Ultra Raptors for MMT. The regular "Raptor" already has a rip across the right foot. I am planning on sewing up the rip. I really don't plan on swapping shoes, but I will have a spare pair with me, if needed.

Other activity in the woods: I dug ramps. Then I cleaned ramps. Actually that was pretty easy. Dunk them in water, then dunk them in second container of water, that pretty much gets all the dirt off. Then cut off all the long root tendril things.

Today-Friday-more of the same. Go run-five miles-dig more ramps. Hit up Amish Greenhouse and look at hanging baskets. Repot pepper plants. Plant more ramps around estate. Work on various web sites. I've got a draft blog post at my MMT training, so I need to reread it and see if it makes any sense.

Have a great day!

Four or Off

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 10:42:09 PDT

That is today's schedule.

Other reason why I like having a coach. Yesterday, I had a 14 mile run, since it was my day off from work. I went to Salt Fork to run, having mapped out in my head a route that should garner me 14 miles, more or less.
I got to the Lodge in about seven miles, not really feeling the trail love so much. It was beautiful to be out there in the woods, but I was a bit apathetic. But I was determined to get in my miles, as that is what the scheduled called for.

Now here is where the 'coach' part comes in. This is mainly mental, well, probably all mental.

In past times, in same frame of mind, I would have probably shorted the run up to ten miles-I know my trails well enough to know the shortest way back to the vehicle. I would have used my "guilt card" about spending half my day off away from the husband, and home, and how much stuff I could be doing around the place.

But having someone else in charge of the schedule really frees up my 'runner guilt' as it is. The husband asked what I was doing on my day off. I told him I had a dentist appointment and then had 14 miles to run, so I figured that would be about four hours. And you know what? No guilt there at all. It was pretty much like going to work-hey I will be gone this long, doing this.

Leaving the Lodge, the day warmed up. My body warmed up too, and I was enjoying my time out on the trail. I got back to my vehicle around 13 miles, so I decided to finish up by running over to the beach on the lake. I ended up having an excellent run.

Todays schedule is "4 easy or OFF" depending on how I felt. Hmm. This can be a tough call. Am I tired? I know I have to work all weekend. But I did go to bed early last night and got eight hours sleep. And it's only four miles..and easy.

I told the husband I only had four miles to run, as I was packing my duffel bag of running gear. As I only have four more hours in my work day here, and I'm not that tired, I think I will opt for 4 easy sunny (but STILL COLD) miles in on the trails.

22 days until MMT.

Weekend Trail Runs

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 12:17:02 PDT

I had shorter runs on the schedule for the weekend, 6 miles for Saturday and 8 miles on Sunday..which ended up being five on Saturday and nine on Sunday..hey, trail miles and loops don't always round to the number that you need!

So much for another weekend of warm weather. I was in tights and long sleeved wool shirt on both runs.

Saturday I ran the white bridle trail, and took the spur which leads to one of Salt Fork's Marinas.

I spotted some different daffodils in this area. It's always a pleasure to find some different variety than the standard giant jonquil.

This picture doesn't do the tree justice. This was a HUGE tree snapped in half, probably due to the derecho storm that went through the area last June.

Yes, it's mid April, and I am still wearing a fleece headband a wool shirt.

Sunday I went out from the Lodge and planned to do most of the Bigfoot Loop. Although it was still cool out, the sun did come out, so I had to shed the long sleeve top to keep from getting overheated.

We still need water here. The creeks are very low. At this time of year, they should be bursting.

But that means the bridle trails were in very good shape, and since there has not been many horses out, they are not chewed up yet. (Hey, they are the horses trails.)

This was an oddity I spotted. These are daffodil sprouts, but this is on top of a big old rock. How did these get here? Did someone plant them?

These are "fiddleheads". Some types of fiddlehead ferns are edible, but I don't believe the ones in our area are. I'm not adventurous enough to try them either.

I had some good runs. Energy was good on both days. On Sunday I had a bit of a niggle with my left knee. This is the knee I fell on last Saturday in the 50K. I went ahead and iced it down after my run.

I wore my new La Sportiva Ultra Raptors, and tried out my new Ultraspire waist pack-this one holds two bottles. Gear is getting pretty set for MMT. 27 days out!

Special Guest Runner!!!!

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:23:27 PDT

As I was enjoying the first day of my three day weekend, diligently going through my filing cabinet, culling the clutter, my cell phone rang, and it was my friend Gombu, asking what town I lived in.

Gombu was in the area on business, it turns out, so he was able to make a detour and was on my doorstep within a half hour!

Bob indicated that he wanted to get a run in, and wanted a tour of my 10K "around the block" that he knows so well from the blog...

So off we went, so odd for me to run this with another runner, let alone a good friend! Bob moved to Colorado two years ago; his home is where I stayed last summer pre-Hardrock.

We passed Scooter's owner in his vehicle and was warned that Scooter was out. Yep, he was, along with the other two "old dogs".

Scooter liked Bob. In fact, quite a bit. I guess he was excited just to see someone else "besides me" out there that he was all over Bob.

Well, all was well a short ways down the road, Bob was just kind of covered in Scooter mud and Scooter spit...

Bob also got to meet the Gump dogs but quickly ran away..

It was great having company out there and sharing my little back country roads!

I did note that Bob was not wearing his trademark yellow shorts, but he said he had to save them for MMT, they are starting to wear out!

Awesome to have company on my run today. Even better when it's with a good friend. Thanks Bob!!

30 Days Until MMT

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 03:22:09 PDT

"Man often becomes what he believes himself to be.

If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it.

On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning."

-Mahatma Gandhi

Boston

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 04:34:37 PDT

I was at work when my co-worker's phone went off. "oh my, bomb explosions at the Boston Marathon" he told me. Huh. Boston? Marathon? I grabbed my phone.

This has been about the most useful Facebook has been; runners posting their status that they were okay.

As far as I know, everyone I know who was running Boston is fine.

I don't really have words. I saw some of the horrific pictures. I saw the video of the one explosion. Then I turned off the TV to avoid upsetting myself further.

I'm not a road runner. Sure, someday I would like to run Boston, but I'm a dirt trail runner.

But I do understand that for a runner, Boston is the golden ticket, the magic. People work very very hard to get "their BQ" Boston Qualifier, if you don't know. A "BQ" is a very big deal.

In the last two years, the BAA has tightened up the time requirements, and rewarded the faster runners to sign up first. So it has become more of a challenge, first to just qualify, and then be able to enter the race!

And regardless of whether I am a dirt runner, and you are a road runner, we're all runners. This has hit my community and I am shaken.

Running is a happy activity. Running is a healthy activity.

Running marathons are a triumphant. Running The Boston Marathon is a huge triumphant, the cherry on the sundae, the 26.2 miles of reward after your hard hard work to get there. It shouldn't be taken away with fear and grief.

So how do we recover from this? Is this too soon of a post to talk about recovery, when the trauma has just occurred?

I've been very down, and depressed this afternoon, with all this news. But isn't that "WHOMEVER" wants? For me to change, due to circumstances out of my control?

Isn't that why the bomb was to blow at 4.09, a popular marathon finishing time, at the most famous marathon, where the finishing line is continuously being filmed?

The social media world says to wear a race shirt today, or Boston colors, and go for a run.

I'm not going to. I did not plan on running today; I am determined to rest up and recover well from my 50K on Saturday. I'm not changing my plans.

Would I like to go for a run? Yes, I would, I would like to be in a big posse of my friends, running a trail somewhere, or cutting off the trail and hopping over rocks and sliding down a hill. I don't want to run alone.

This is a pretty badly written and organized post, but I'm going to hit the publish button anyways.

Glacier Ridge Trail 50K Report

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 18:50:53 PDT

I ran the Glacier Ridge 50K in the inaugural event, in 2011. It was cold, windy, and very muddy.

The same conditions presented themselves in the 2013 race. I was hoping for dry conditions; but the totorrential spring rains that started Tuesday rolled through.

It was cold and 41 degrees at race start. I had the right race clothes for the conditions: capris, merino wool long sleeve shirt, gloves. I wore my La Sportiva Ultra Raptors to see how they would fare.

The GRT 50K route was the same, muddy, some climbs, lots of nice runnables. The variable here was the runner. She was in much better shape than 2011.

I had to pass some runners in the first 2 miles. We were climbing up a hill, and it was just too slow for my current effort.

I took a spill about mile 4, hitting my knee and elbow. It just hurt for a minute, I shook it off and assured the two runners right behind me I was fine.

Another runner-I think his name was Don-caught up to me, and we chatted until the 10 mile Aid Station.

I stopped for a bio break, and Don disappeared. But in this section was where the 50K runners were meeting the 50 mile runners coming back, as they started one hour earlier.

Just for clarification, there were three races occurring. The 50 Mile Race started at 630 am. They ran the 50K out and back, but with another little loop around the 15 mile. The 50K just did the 15 miles out and back. The 30K kind of did an out and back.

I got to see Coach Hanks and The Professor from NEO TC, both running the 50 miler, and that gave me a huge boost.

The GRT 50K was a training run for MMT.   I wore my Ultraspire Waistpack, with just the one handheld in it. I carried one Clifbloks (200 calories) and one EFS shot (400 calories.) I had 400 calories of maltodextrin in the handheld.

I had a huge caloric breakfast. Nutella tortilla, cranberry juice, peppermint patty, most of an Egg McMuffin. So, about 800-1000 calories right there.

I felt pretty sluggish for the first hour, probably due to the cool temps and my full belly.

I hit the 15 mile turnaround in 3.30. Hmm. I wanted to run a sub 7 hour 50K. But could I negative split the second half? In all this mud?

I resolved to not look at the watch at all, in the second half. I changed my headband, and put in my music for the first time.

I started to feel really good, about mile twenty. I also started picking off 50K runners.

One green vested guy was pretty determined not to be Number Six. He stayed ahead of me, but I kept nipping at the gap. I caught him on a bit of an uphill, where he was going around the mud, whereas I ploughed straight through it.

Everyone I passed I dropped pretty dismissively. Nobody came back. I passed eight runners (although I believe one was the last 30K runner) so seven 50K runners.

PASSED!

But then, as I was singing out loud to "Red Solo Cup" I got passed by this Timmy Olson look-alike and a chick in almost bun huggers. And they were gone!   Huh? Where did these 50K runners come from?

I got passed, in the last 5 miles or so, by 6 more runners. Decisively, and quickly!

I finely figured out it was the fastest 50 miler guys blowing by me. Finishing their race in about 8 hours! No wonder I was being passed so quickly!

Many parts of the GRT are very runnable. As I knew I was around mile 28, in a runnable area, I kept running. I envisioned parts of the MMT through here. I got to the last two miles, which is back on a paved bike trail. I envisioned the Moreland Gap Road, on the way to the MMT finish line, and kept chugging along.

Spotting the finish line clock, I was surprised!!!! to see the time of 8.20 on the clock! Then I remembered the clock started one hour earlier, with the 50 mile race start.

So, 7.20 finish time. I didn't glance at my watch, on course, after the turn around. I had already determined, to myself, that I had a good run, a good effort, no matter what the time said.

My time in 2011 was 8.06. A 46 minute improvement. I will take that.

My word for 2013 is "improve".    I am working well on this.

Random Word Cloud

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 04:00:05 PDT

This is what my blog is filled with these days:

Meanwhile, I am off to PA after work, running my 50K on Saturday!

Calories for the next 50K

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 05:56:17 PDT

I am running the Glacier Ridge 50K Ultra, an actual race, with a bib number, aid stations, and a finish line this weekend.

This race is just a training run for MMT. I will be carrying a little more than I need to for a 50K race, as I want to train like I will race for MMT.

Calorie pictures are quite different for a self supported 50K vs a regular 50K race.

9 hour self supported 50K fuel

No, I didn't actually eat all this for that 50K!

Seven hours or less 50K race

I will start the race with 400 calories of maltodextrin in my handheld. I believe I may carry one of the EFS (400 calories) with me.

Goal time for the race: 1) finish sub 8. When I ran this in 2011, I ran an 8.06. 2) finish sub 7. Can I do this? I have no idea. I should be able to. That is the plan.

So, if I run 7 hours, I need 200 calories X 7= 1400 calories.

Start the race off with a belly full of food. I might drink half a Boost right before the race starts. I will use a Boost a few times during MMT. I drank one right before my 17 mile Mohican run Saturday, and it sat well in my stomach. Or maybe I will eat a peppermint patty or two. Anyways, I plan on getting 200 calories or so right before race starts.

1400 calories minus 400 MD- minus 400 EFS shot=600 calories minus200 calories from pre race breakfast, so 400 calories to glean off an AS.

Do I need all this for a 50K? Not really. But it's all practice calories, practice eating for the longer race. Time is getting short, need to have the dress rehearsals for the big show!

Heat Acclimatization Time

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 03:37:50 PDT

I got out for my run about ten thirty, it was getting nice and warm out.

I ran in a skirt and a short sleeved technical shirt-actually an Umstead 100 Race shirt, as my friend Jen had just finished her first 100 mile race there this weekend.

Wheweee, you kind of forget the heat when it's not been there. Run was okay, felt kind of sluggish but glanced at my Garmin and was going faster that I thought.

I wore my Ultraspire waist pack which holds one bottle. I think that is what I will try out this weekend at GRT 50K.

I'm still dithering around on how to carry hydration and nutrition for the early miles of MMT. I want to go as minimalist as I can; I don't really want to wear a vest. I've got three different bottle carrying options these days.

Since I shredded one of my pairs of La Sportiva Raptors, I was a little short for trail shoes for MMT. My next pair of Raptors already have a small tear in the top. I will start the race in these shoes, but I sure will have a backup after The Reverse Ring incident.

The La Sportiva Raptors that I shredded are no longer offered. But they now have the Ultra Raptors, that I purchased.

I wore my new Ultra Raptors from La Sportiva again today:

just to make sure they were comfortable. I think I will wear them on the GRT 50K also, just to see if they will work for MMT. They seem very similiar to the Raptors, so I believe if I change shoes, these will be fine.

It's getting too close to race day to be trying out new shoes. MMT is not a course or trail that I am comfortable "Trying" new shoes on race day.

Allergies!!

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 04:58:19 PDT

Sometime Friday night, I got a tickle in the nose and began sneezing. Oh great, I'm getting a head cold right before my Mohican Run.

But I felt fine on my run. Came home, and commenced to sneezing and feeling like crap again.

Sunday I felt like crap all day too. But somehow, late Sunday, I realized, hey maybe it's allergies, not a head cold!

Allergies to what? Nothing is in bloom here. Then I remembered the cut flowers in the vase in the living room. Ah, that's the culprit! Promptly threw them over the hill.

Monday morning, still sniffling and sneezing. I get to work, and all symptoms (almost) go away. Yeah, there is some environmental allergy at work here.

Today I check weather.com as I do every day. (I don't know why, half the time they are wrong..) and sure enough, their site says HIGH POLLEN COUNT for my area.

Huh? From what? I still don't see what is aggravating my body, but something is, and the "experts" say that

pollen is out there somewhere.

What can you/I do about it? There are three non-sedating antihistamines on the OTC market-Claritin, Zyrtec, Allegra. Which one is best? Which ever one works for you. I usually buy whatever is lowest price in the generic form.

I tried the Zyrtec (cetirizine) on Sunday, which did not help really. It was also out of date (past its expiration date). So Monday I bought and started on the Allegra. This has really help alleviate my symptoms, I just have a tickly nose right now.

The weather forecast for today is around 80 degrees today. This is one of the days that I hope they get "half right"!!

A spring run!

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 06:04:01 PDT

I eyed the temperature reading rather dubiously..50 degrees, really, at 7am? It just doesn't seem right. All weekend long, the temperature read in the 50's and it still seemed like the 40's.

But I decided to go with the skirt anyways. And a short sleeved shirt, but with Moeben arm warmers.

It wasn't too bad out, but as I dropped off the saddle, into the creek valley, it got colder. I wished for my gloves.

But as I ran, I warmed up. I hit the creek bottom, and climbed up the rough dirt road to the other side. This is a good little out and back, and it's downhill to the creek bottom, up the valley to the other side, and back again, so good up and downhill.

As I hit the turn around, I realized I felt great. I really hit the downhill, enjoying the dry dirt, remembering when it was slick icy snow. I hit the creek bottom. I ran UP the hill on the other side.

I turned onto the normal side road and still felt great. Ran all the other uphills (and the flats too) home.

You know it's a good run when you don't want to stop.

Happy Monday.

Mohican Run

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 04:14:42 PDT

When the plans changed from Ohiopyle to Mohican, I put the word out to see if anyone wanted to run at Mohican on the weekend. Rob was up for some miles, and I agreed to meet him at 9 am at the Fire Tower.

Rob and Don arrived with Matt, who will be running "Forget the PR" as his first 50K with 8 miles done already. Rob reels off the route we are taking today, and I just smile....and tune him out...It' doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if we follow the Mohican 100 course, or the 50K course, or the Xterra course.

As we left the Covered Bridge, we saw a yellow shirt up ahead--an added bonus, my friend Ron was out on the trail!

We follow the "Forget the PR" course for a bit...I managed to take a spill on the jeep road but at least it was soft pine needles. I managed to get up before run over by mountain bikers.

It was a very good day. My legs felt fine. I felt the pace was a little slow, but that was okay. I did excellent climbing the hills. They felt like wee little hills after Ohiopyle. It was also nice to RUN, as we stayed on the smooth mountain bike single track.

"Bike up"

Speaking of mountain bikes, by the time we got to mile 5 or so (miles count down) we were glad we had started early, as the bikers had finally rolled out of bed and hit the trail. It's just extra awareness to both watch the trail surface and up ahead to look out for any bikers.

Ron had mentioned at Mohican the runners and bikers have a good relationship. I was surprised by this, I didn't realize animosity existed among the groups (and I usually run by myself). Most of the time we yielded the trail to the bikers, but sometimes the bikers stepped off the trail to us. There was always a cheerful word exchanged between us and the bikers. I mean, why not? We're both out there loving the trail, it can be shared in a good karma kind of way!

We got back to Rob's car, 17 miles at 4 hours on the dot. I thought about more miles, but I was perfectly happy with the seventeen. Legs were not wrecked afterwards.

Now it's time to see what my schedule looks like for the week. I am running Glacier Ridge Trail 50K this next weekend, in Pennsylvania.

Buckhorn Creek Trail

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 02:00:06 PDT

This trail has a name! I was last on this trail about five years ago. After a dentist and hair cut appointment, I had seven miles to run, so I thought I would run on this very flat trail right out of Newcomerstown.

The Buckhorn Creek Trail is an 8 mile trail running from Newcomerstown to Stone Creek parallel to County Road 21 and I-77 on the site of an old C;M Railroad bed.

The development of this trail was one of the early action projects in the Tuscarawas Trail and Green Space Plan. The Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition, has partnered with the county commissioner, area land owners, local governments, corporate partners, and volunteers to develop this greenspace.

I have bought two pair of new running shoes lately. After my La Sportiva shoe shred:

I was left a little short in the shoe department for MMT. I am planning on starting in my second pair of Raptors, but one of them already has a small shred where a root caught the front, so I will be bringing another pair of shoes for MMT "just in case". (I've never changed shoes in a race, but after the Reverse Ring and the pic above, well, now I could see why you should bring spare shoes...)

So what did I buy? Another La Sportiva product, this is the "Ultra Raptor". Today was their first run, just wanted to see how they felt.

The trail surface is a mix of cinders, dirt, grass. I don't think this is very bike friendly.

It is also super exposed. And very hot in the summertime.

Even though this says "The Ohio to Erie Trail" I think this is a misnomer. It appears the Ohio to Eric Trail doesn't even swing over to the east side of the state. I believe this is just a stand alone trail, from Newcomerstown to Stone Creek.

It looks a little nicer in the summer:

It's pretty noisy. As you can see, it runs parallel to Interstate 77.

Actually, all this trail has to offer is that it is flat. If you were looking for some flat place to run down here in the foothills of Appalachia, this would be it.

I didn't have a bad run on it; in fact I negative split the run. Legs felt fine after. But with the exposure and open space, I probably won't be back on it again for a time. Next time, maybe have the husband drop me at one end and I run the whole eight miles, just to say I ran it.

Poor Prior Planning

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 03:12:51 PDT

You may know this saying: "Poor Prior Planning leads to Piss Poor Performance" or in my case, an outside run.

I am very organized. But sometimes I miss an item..a crucial item.. I packed my gym bag for a run after work on Wednesday. I even packed both trail and road shoes, as I was undecided on where to run, after work.
At lunch time, at work, I sorted through the bag, so I could do the speed work clothing change... and discovered all the clothing and two pairs of shoes, but no running bra. Game over.

Ugh. Now my worst scenario. Going HOME first, then going running. How to best manage that?

I am okay, if my Plan is to go home, then jump on the treadmill. I can do that relatively quickly, come home, greet the dogs, greet the husband, change clothes, I'm on the treadmill in fifteen minutes or less.

The schedule calls for seven miles; I'm willing to swing six for seven. But how to do it? In tiny little mind breaks at work, I'm assessing various road routes from the house. My normal 10K loop isn't going to do it, isn't there something more fun, more epic, more inviting?

No, actually there isn't. Now I'm having misgivings about the whole freaking run, sheesh I've worked ten long hours, now I got to run 6 (or 7 actually) at 7 pm??? How about I just blow off this day!???

But-back to having a coach again-he's going to want to know why I took a zero day. Not feeling it? Legs heavy, too tired, yeah, I think those could have been valid excuses. Just "cause I didn't wanna" didn't seem to be what I wanted to type in that email. Especially on an easy running week, where the coach and I are both watching the dead leg issue.

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The path of least resistance led to the treadmill. I ran my six miles. Not well; my head was not into it. However, the legs felt fine, and I didn't see any reason to quit. It would have been harder to deal with my psyche if I had quit after four miles.

Today will be seven miles, "trail miles" I think you could call them. I am going to run out on the trail which leads out from Newcomerstown toward Stone Creek. It's a rough cinder trail, which I believe one day could be asphalted. This was an old railroad track bed, so it's pretty flat. I've got a dentist appointment and a haircut scheduled before this, so this was the best way to plan in a "trail run" and errand running.

Recovery

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 03:35:57 PDT

This was supposed to my weekend for another Ohiopyle 50K, but I changed plans on Monday.

Last week was slow recovery. I didn't really get the stiffness out of my legs until Thursday. Last weeks runs were pretty lackluster, including my "junk 4 miles" and then another sluggish run on Monday.

I reported that all back to the coach, and I was surprised when he said either cut the mileage on the OP 50K effort or not do it at all. He was concerned about the dead legs and did not want to see me dig a hole getting this close to MMT.

It did take several emails back and forth to convince me of course, but the man has won 35 100 mile races, he does know what he is talking about, I will trust his judgement. :)

Now the plan is still a long run on Saturday, but with less hills, less mileage, and see how the legs feel.

Mohican was the best fit for this, going to hit the extremely runnable mountain bike trail for 15 to 20 miles.

I believe this is my reward for last week, as I go into my four day weekend:

Junk Miles

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 03:32:15 PDT

It was inevitable that this would finally happen. Yes, even the trail goddess has a bad run every now and then.

Of course, this WAS road miles, but still.

This was been an unstructured week for me, meaning just see how the body feels. I walked/jogged Sunday, walked on Tuesday, and ran my 10K loop on Thursday.

Friday I got out of work unexpectedly early. Great, I can get the dogs out for a walk, go for a run, get my seedlings re potted, have dinner with the hubby. I was tired driving home from work, but hey, when am I not? I briefly thought about not running. I dismissed the thought. Just because I don't have miles written down for me, that's no excuse for not running. Besides, I was not planning on running Saturday due to the 10 hour work day.

After the dog walk, I started out, just going to do 4 miles around the block. Ugh I did not feel it. Legs were heavy, I was tired, I felt I was just shuffling along. Looking at the Garmin, I was just shuffling along. I walked up the first big hill-that should have been my first clue.

Instead of running around the block, I decided to run an out and back. I just felt awful. Like I was some newby runner out there. No energy. Quads still ached a bit on the the downhills. But I kept going.

I was never so happy to hear the Garmin beep at mile two, and I turned. I reflected on the definition of junk miles, something like this: Junk miles: Miles added into your training plan with no purpose other than to increase your mileage count.

Yep. I think I am guilty of junk miles on this run. The idea of a week with only one run, and less than 10 miles on it spurred me out the door. Did I gain anything from these four miles? I don't think so. I should have just gotten my seedlings re potted and put my legs up and rested.

Oh well, a new day and almost a new month! April is finally almost here, and maybe the ice and snow are gone for the year. I am anxious to get some runs on dry dirt and roads, in daylight! where I can get a better idea on my pace and speed!

Gate 2 8 x 2 Report

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 03:28:52 PDT

This started a few years ago. We (NEO TC) love running on the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail. But it's the first eight miles that really get our attention.

Mile zero to 8 are the "big hills" on the LHHT. And if you run to mile 8, run back to zero, and then repeat it, well, it's a good little workout.
People always whine about the almost two mile climb from six to 8, but if you are returning to Ohiopyle, the mile 5 hill and the mile 3 hill are really good climbs too.

We got started slightly after 8 am. Slim started early, and Pebble and Jeffro started late. But it was all good, it's a FA.

If you are running the Laurel Highlands Ultra, whether it's the 50K or the 71 miler, you start in the "middle" of Ohiopyle, on road. This will help string out the runners, when you get to this sign above, where the trail begins.

Climb up mile three

lll

Mile 4ish overlook.

Our tree. This tree, an evergreen, in a clearing, is across the river. It's viewable between mile 3 and 4. We've always wondered about this little clearing and tree. It seems the tree is bigger and the clearing is smaller these days.

Our tree on the far left.

On the ridge, almost to mile 8. The snow appeared. It was several inches thick, and solid. There were many spots where I could run on top of the snow. There were also patches where it was almost technical snow, where I was following footprints.

Many memories up here, on the LH. I remember one of our Slim Pickins, where the plan was to run from OP to Seven Springs, and back. The snow was deep up on the Laurel Highlands. When I got to the mile 8 area, I was post holing up to the thighs. Luckily, I was the 'slowest' runner out there, and the guys had broke trail for me. We all gave up at mile 15, and just ran from zero to 15 and back to OP that year.


Mile 8 The first time


Athena, Kimba, Allison

The nice part with an out and back is you get to see other runners. Athena was keeping pace with me up to mile 8 and down the big hill. I stopped for a bathroom break, and zoom! Athena was gone! Good running for her. This was her second time on the "Gate 2 8". She is running the LH 50K, so this was great training for her.

Since I couldn't catch Athena, I ran the rest of the way back to OP (after seeing Rich, Allison, Pepper, Barefoot Johnny, the Musick Bros, and a bunch of hikers) back to my Aid Station, aka the Ford Escape:

;

It was an 8 minute turn around. That included changing bra & shirt, eating a Nutella tortilla; grabbing new bag of calories for the road, refilling water bottle, and chatting a minute with Athena, who was sitting outside of the pub, waiting for The Professor to finish up.

Ah, the second time out. Once you make that "turn around" and get back on the trail, it's time to focus.

Running this section, I translate the hills to the land marks usually associated with aid stations.

First it is to the first hill, at mile 3.

But first I got to run back into Kirstin, who was finishing up her 16 leg on the LHHT:

I didn't get to share enough trail time with her, but glad she came out!

I then ran into The Professor and Allison, on their way back.
I was then on my own, until I ran into Slim and Coach Hanks, on the mile six hill.

Slim was relieved to run into me about 75% UP the hill, as he was going to turn and finish my run with me.

Coach Hanks

Slim had made the comment earlier in the run, that I was running very well, not too far behind Coach Hanks. Hey, I hope I am running well! I've been training all winter long!

Slim turned with me and we climbed again up to mile marker 8.

My time ended up being 9.17 out there, not 8.17, as my fogged over brain first thought! Still a PR for me, my last attempt was 9.55.
Fuel and hydration were great. I consumed about 1200 calories for the first 16 miles, and 1300 calories for the second. I felt like I was constantly eating-which I was-and this resulted in no drops in energy or low spots. I had no stomach or gi issues with my malto, gels, PB Reese Egg. I did consume a Nutella Tortilla for the first time-now that is a tasty addition to my ultra fueling!

I was very pleased with all aspects of my run-well, I drank far too much Friday night and didn't get enough sleep, but hey, think of how I should improve the next time I do this and cut those two items!

I am going to repeat this challenge on April 6, if anyone is interested in a little hill work!