OBX race report

The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.” Leo Tolstoy


The Outer Banks Marathon weekend was amazing! Almost a year ago, I started planning this trip with some of my running friends. In that year, we connected across the states via facebook and became an amazing support group. The changes that happened through the year were astounding, but 6 of us made it to the start line, one for the 8K, 4 for the half marathon, and one for her first ever full marathon.

The weather was amazing, getting a little warmer each day until I woke up to warm, sultry beach air and knew I would run my half marathon barefoot. I had old socks and 99 cent flip flops to wear while standing around on the cold asphalt so my feet wouldn’t be numb at the start. My friend Cathy and I decided to do a quick warm up for about 10 minutes so I ran in my socks, adding nearly a mile before the start of the race.

They started us in waves with guns for the elites, 6 to 8 minute milers, 9 to 10, etc. so I located the 2:00 pacer and wormed my way to his area after dropping my socks and flip flops on the side lines. He confirmed we would be keeping a steady pace from start to finish, including the dreaded bridge to Maneto Island. I was nervous, but ready to get going.

The first 6 miles were a breeze. I was chatting away with other people in my pace group, cracking jokes and laughing without ever being out of breath. I loved how comfortable I was. I could see how easy it would be to run too fast at the start, but I stuck with the advice I have been given and stayed with my planned pace. A couple of miles in, a guy caught up to me and said, in a very curious voice, “I just noticed you aren’t wearing shoes.” We had a nice chat about barefoot running, benefits, where to find info, etc. and he continued on his way. Occasionally, I would hear comments behind me as people spotted my feet, but they weren’t as shocked or laughing as people were at the 10K, half marathon runners are much more serious. My one scary moment in the race came when someone tripped on my foot. I don’t know how it happened, if she was cutting behind me or I was trying to get past her, but suddenly I realized her foot was hooked on mine and she was headed for the asphalt. Without thinking I reached out, grabbed her arm, and pulled her back to her feet, asking if she was okay. She gave me a weird look, like “what the heck just happened,” but we never broke stride, both of us just kept running.

At one point we turned off to wind our way though some housing tracts. In these areas the asphalt was very rough and my feet were still cold, so they stung a bit and I was a little concerned about how I would keep up the 9:05 minute miles we were pulling if it didn’t smooth out, but eventually we turned back onto the main road and it got easy again. We could see the bridge and Manteo Island, which brought on the jokes about, “Look, there’s the finish!” while we were still many miles away. I was a little worried about the bridge, which I knew would be scored concrete like the twin bridges race back in June, but the bridge was very comfortable to my feet and the roads had been well swept of debris.

The bridge had been my biggest fear. By mile 10, things had started to be a bit more difficult. The easy relaxed pace of the first half had given way to having to push to keep up with the pacer. Conversation was trailing off and most of the people around me were concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. Looking up the bridge, it was an unbroken sea of people. I picked a song I used to sing to my kids at bed time and decided not to look up until I had run though all the verses, “Young Mr. Moon flew away in the night…” “…chanson pour toute le monde”, and there I was cresting the hill with the pace group, having lost no time. Down the other side we went, trying not to get carried away, but glad to have the hard part behind us. On the back side of the bridge I spotted my track club’s photographer, so cool to see a friend! We yelled hello, and on I went.

Somewhere at about 11 and a half miles, I hit a wall. Not a huge wall, but suddenly I was REALLY tired and wanted to quit in the worst way, but I kept telling myself, just 15 more minutes, just 10 more minutes, just 5 more minutes, and there it was! The finish line!! With the last bit of life left in me, I kicked it up and pulled a few feet ahead of the pacer. The Queen of England could have been high fiving the finishers in full regalia and I wouldn’t have noticed, all I knew was I crossed the timing mat.

Crossing the finish line meant coming to a sudden stop at the traffic jam of runners collecting medals, visors, water, Gatorade, and stampeding the food table. My head spun from the sudden halt and I was afraid I would pass out from not cooling down properly. Slowly, I walked through the gamut and made my way to the oranges and bananas. I downed both the water and the Gatorade is single swigs, realizing how dehydrated I was when my toes started curling with cramps. I hobbled over to the trash can to toss my orange peels and saw a runner in Vibrim Five Fingers talking to someone saying it was only bad once when he stepped on a rock. I had caught up with him near the finish line and laughingly told him to man up, referring to my bare feet, but he just picked up his pace and didn’t get the joke. When I pointed to my feet and said, “This is why I was saying ‘man up’” his eyes about popped out of his head, it was a cool moment.
It was a hard run, but the last couple of miles weren’t as hard at last week’s 10K so I knew I could talk myself through it. My feet fared well, one very small blister on the ball of one foot and one blistered toe, but they were dried up and fine by the next day. My friend that ran the full, on the other hand, had several huge blisters on her feet.

So now I have one more half marathon behind me, and one more ahead of me next month. My goal for the next couple of HMs is to continue to finish under 2 hours, but to be able to do it more comfortably and get more accustomed to the distance. I haven’t made any decisions about when I will start training for my first full, but it will be in the next 2 years, I’m sure. This weekend is dedicated to putting my yard back together after a strong Nor’easter, but next weekend I will return to my long runs.

Wicked 10K Race Report

With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable.
**Thomas Foxwell Buxton **



It has been a weird couple of weeks. After my calf injury, I didn’t run for a couple of days and then went back to my training plan and ran 5 miles on Saturday, three of them at HM race pace. After the run, my calf felt good and the next morning it felt the best it had since the injury so I knew I was better off to keep running carefully than to rest more. So Sunday I went ahead and ran my 12 mile long run. With all the progress I have made, I felt it was time to step up my long run speed and keep it at 11 minutes per mile. It worked out great! I finished my run in just under 2:12 and felt really good, not over tired or sore. The calf felt great too, a little tight, but not too bad. At that pace, I would still have a PR of 26 minutes better than last time!


A few minutes after I got home from the 12 mile run, my neighbor stopped by. She had her dog with her so while we talked, my puppy hopped and played around her very patient older dog. We do this all the time and Lucy stays with Kramer, showing no interest in anything else, until this time. I don’t know what got into her, but she saw a car coming and decided to catch it! Unfortunately, she did catch it, and in the process her foot was run over and crushed. It was beyond horrible! We got to the emergency vet clinic where we spent the next several hours before leaving her there for the night. In the end, she is okay and should have no problems after her 6-8 weeks in a splint/cast, but it was a really scary couple of days.


Needless to say, it was an extremely stressful few days. At first they thought her injury was much worse and the stress of worrying about her, the vet bills, and canceled plans, had me exhausted and not sleeping or eating well. By the time the day came for my 10K, I was still tired, had hardly run all week, and had lost 4 pounds from all the stress. My friends that were going to go with me to cheer me on had to cancel to fly home for a funeral so I headed out to the race alone and feeling defeated already.


There were 5,000 registered racers with friends in tow so the boardwalk was a mad house. This is not the first race put on by this company here in Virginia Beach so I was appalled at the lack of organization. There was nothing to give people an idea where to line up, so there were walkers, with strollers even, at the front and anyone trying to set a consistent pace spent the first mile or two dodging people and trying to break through groups walking 4 or 5 abreast. I managed to keep my tongue in check and didn’t yell the profanities that were popping up in my head, but a couple of people got a pretty good elbow.


After the first couple of miles, people thinned out a bit and it got easier to maintain my pace. I had my virtual partner set up on my Garmin so I could catch up to pace if I walked at a water stop or got stuck behind people. By mile 3, I was already feeling tired, but I knew I was prepared for this speed and distance so it was all in my head. My super-hero cape had also turned into a bit of a problem. Running against the wind, it created a lot of drag. Running with the wind it tangled up in my ankles and drove me nuts so I carried it draped over my arms for most of the run. I seriously considered ditching it in a trash can, but it would have taken too long to get all the safety pins undone to get it off.


When I reached the 4 mile water stop the conversation in my head started:

I can’t do this for two more miles!
Yes you can
It is a lot hotter than it was supposed to be
So what, you trained all summer
I’m tired; I haven’t had enough rest this week
Oh well
I’ve been under a lot of stress
Tough luck
This cape is heavy
You picked the costume
The wind is blowing hard
It will be blowing next weekend too
My calf is starting to hurt
Hold your form!
I’m really tired!
NO EXCUSES!!

I finished with a chip time of 54:08. My Garmin, set for the 10K distance, thought I was done 9 seconds before I crossed the line, which shows how much I lost dodging walkers at the start! That’s okay though, what I most wanted was the confidence to join the 2 hour pace group for the Outer Banks half next weekend and now I have it.

After the race, I picked up my free beer and waded into the cold ocean to cool my tight calf. It was so peaceful standing there with the waves lapping at my legs and carrying away the pain and strain. Later I talked to people that had seen me running barefoot and wanted to know more. It really was fun hearing the reactions as I ran. All my previous runs have been small local ones where most people either knew about my barefoot running, or saw me around the start. This race was huge though, with literally thousands of runners, each one I passed was shocked. I heard everything, surprise, horror, laughter, and the inevitable, “OMG, we just got passed by someone in bare feet!”

Although the costumes were a kick, the race wasn’t as much fun as I had hoped. My head really wasn’t in the game, it was home with my dog, or in Kabul with my husband, and the crowd was just too much. I’m okay with that many people for a half marathon or farther, but I think I like the smaller races for short distances. I was 31st out of 363 finishers, which just doesn’t have the same ring as 3rd out of 36, and there wasn’t a single familiar face at the finish line.


Next week OUTER BANKS!!

Acceptance

"Everything changed the day I understood that if I was to become a runner, I would have to run with the body I had." John Bingham, The Courage to Start

I read this quote in the blog of my friend Amy and it really struck me. I need to take it to heart and stop beating myself up every time I step on the scale. Amy will be part of my group at the Outer Banks in a couple of weeks running the full marathon, her very first! She inspires me. Amy learned to swim recently so she could compete in a triathlon and hasn’t let anything stop her. This is what I love about running, all the people overcoming their fears and getting out there even though they aren’t top athletes, even though they aren’t going to win, but just to be part of something and show they can do it.

We are all up against our own bodies. Maybe we carry a few extra pounds that slow us down, maybe we have nagging injuries, illnesses, or busy lives, but we get out there and run. Images like Paula Radcliffe sitting in the curb, head in hands, remind us this is not unique to amateurs, but we keep running. When we can’t run, we obsess about it.

I blew it last week. I’ve been doing too much speed work, desperate for the sub 54 10K that will give me the confidence to try to break 2 hours in the half marathon at OBX. “Desperate” is the problem. As I hurdled down the street, doing an 800 meter interval, I leaped off the curb and landed with a sickening pain in my calf. It was such a graceful leap. I was enjoying every moment of being airborne, planning to land with the precision of a ballet dancer in toe shoes, instead I nearly crumpled to the ground. 1 ½ weeks to the 10K, 2 ½ weeks to the half marathon, and I’m limping down the street trying to figure out who to call to pick me up. After a few minutes on the curb I started walking, bending my knees and finding a way to walk without pain. Once I got the walking down, and realized I still had over a mile to go, I tried a slow jog. I was able to very slowly plod home (turned out that jogging hurt less than walking) and won’t try running again until Saturday. If I can’t run Saturday, I won’t run at all for a week. It will be a long stressful week, but better a week than a month or a year.

So, I’m on a forced running vacation, but it won’t be forever.

Surround yourself with great people!

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." **Mark Twain**

Running has been one of the best avenues I’ve ever taken. It has made me stronger, it has made me healthier, and it has given me goals to work towards and meet, but the best part is the people. Both on-line and in person, the people I have met have been the happiest most supportive group ever. It doesn’t matter if someone can run a 15 minute 5K, they are totally supportive and cheer on the person struggling to cross the line after 45 minutes. Everyone cheers for your new personal record and commiserates with you when a run goes badly. No one is forgotten. From the youngest kid running their first 5K, up to the octogenarian who lost count decades ago, they all get cheered and high fived.

I’m getting more accustomed to running 5Ks so I don’t get nervous, although I still get pumped. I recognize people, wave and hug, encourage the people I pass and give ‘at-a-boys to those that pass me. Once in a while you see a hyper-competitive person grumbling over their time, but they are few and far between. I know, regardless of how I’m feeling, or what is going on in my life, that going to a race, either to run it or work it, will be a happy time that will lift my spirits and buoy my soul.

Friday afternoon, I wasn’t feeling well. I have been letting my circumstances get to me and was battling a major pity party and an RA flare. I had a stuffed up head, no energy, just generally feeling cruddy, but I wasn’t sure if I really had a bug or was just stressed. I figured, if I was really sick, I could just DNF on the run, but if it was stress, the run would be the best thing for me.

Once I was there and warming up, I felt great. A full page article pulled from my blog was in the new news letter so lots of people were asking me about my bare feet and commenting on my article. Okay, so now I had to run well or look like a goof. Additionally, my husband, who would rather avoid crowds and not stand around waiting for me for half an hour, had come out to see me run one last time before heading to Afghanistan and I wanted to show off for him. Our daughter stripped off her shoes and ran the kids’ one mile fun run barefoot. She said several people asked her, “You’re are a Nail, aren’t you?” I was so tickled. I’ve been hoping to interest her in running without pushing her and she really had a great time.

It was finally gun time. I sailed through the first mile, but totally botched the water stop at the mile mark. There was a darling little girl, about 5 years old, holding out a cup of water. She was kind of hard to reach, but I went out of my way so she would feel good about helping. Unfortunately, just after I got hold of the cup, my hand slammed into the hand of the next guy holding a cup and sent both cups flying. It was warmer out there than I had expected and I REALLY wanted that water, so before my brain kicked in a loud expletive slipped out, SH**! I turned around and started back to grab again for water, but of course, I had sent the last two cups flying and they were turned around picking up refills. Apparently when I thought, “Oh, to he** with it,” I thought it out loud because a few people that had watched the whole thing chuckled at me. Okay, 1 mile in and I’ve already traumatized a 5 year old, sheesh. By the water stop at mile 2, I was parched and really wishing I had carried my own bottle. Not wanting a repeat of the last stop, or to inhale my last chance for hydration, I decided to make a Jeff Galloway stop and walked for one minute. Water in I was ready to do the last mile. I was feeling pretty good about my pace, but didn’t look at my Garmin. My best is my best, and knowing my pace wasn’t going to make me go faster. I was really pouring it on during the last mile and started to get a little light headed, not good, time to throttle back a little. Apparently I had my Garmin set for a max heart rate because at this point it was beeping at me constantly and I’m sure the people around me wanted to rip it off my wrist and shove it down my throat.

As I approached the finish line, I could see the clock 25:XX , dang, no sub 25 today. Oh well, let’s see what I CAN do. The official time was 25:45, second place for my age group. I can’t help but wonder if I hadn’t messed up at the water stop or walked for a minute could I have finished sub 25? Maybe, maybe not, maybe next time. That is what it is all about, getting out there again and again, doing a little better each time, reaching a little higher, and being surrounded by friends who are truly great.

Be an Eagle, GET OVER IT!

Every plant knows this: It’s only when you get crap thrown on you that you really start to grow. ** Scott Sorrell**

It has been a very long and stressful week since my 5K PR. The 9 miles on Sunday went okay, but I was pretty worn out from the race. The rest of the week went pretty much downhill from there. I think I am more stressed about Rusty leaving than I have let myself feel. Unfortunately, rheumatoid arthritis is very sensitive to stress and I have been getting little red flags all week. Saturday, I worked two back to back races, 5K and half marathon, and several hours of standing followed by a 5 mile run was too much for my feet. Saturday night they swelled up like balloons.

I was so upset that I let myself go on a major pity party this morning. I typed a long whiny blog about the details of each crummy run and all the things I hate about arthritis. Then I decided to get the heck over it. I put on my Brooks running shoes and wore them around the house for a while to see how my feet felt with some padding and then decided to hit the road.

I took it very easy and walked a tenth of each mile, but I felt good and got slightly faster as the miles went by. Now I’m tired, but it is a good tired, not the sick tired that I was afraid I would be. I’m still a bit tender from the RA, but my mind feels better and I’ve gained a lot of confidence knowing that if I had run my half marathon today, even being under the weather, I could have finished and probably even improved my time. Running in shoes was the pits, but worth the price to be able to run. Hopefully by my next run on Tuesday I will be back to bare, but if not, that is okay too, as long as I can run.

26:09!! CNU Race Report

“Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb." **Sir Winston Churchill***

It has been a crazy couple of weeks since I last posted! We had a wonderful time at Disney World and I took the whole week off from running. At the beginning of the week I kind of felt like I was fighting a cold so with all the running around the parks, I decided I’d be better off getting all the rest I could and not pushing with morning runs.

My first run after vacation was rough though. My feet were sensitive from being in sandals all week and I felt rusty from not running. It was tough to talk myself into getting out there and doing it, but once the 4.5 mile run was behind me I felt much better. The next day was speed work with a mile and a half warm up and 4 Yasso 800’s. The Yassos went really well, between 4 and 4:15 with the last one just barely under 4! That last Yasso was amazing because for the first time I got that flying feeling I have heard runners talk about. I felt like I was just gliding over the surface and could go on forever.

The following day, Thursday, was an easy 3 mile recovery run. I should have lifted weights afterwards, but decided to skip it so I wouldn’t be sore for my 5K today. Friday was a rest day, but we decided at the last minute to go for one more theme park day while Rusty had time off and went to Buschgardens Williamsburg for the day. There was hardly anyone in the park and the weather was perfect so we rode roller coasters until we were sick and then watched shows. It wasn’t as long of a day as a day in Disney, but my legs and back were still pretty tired by the time we got home. I started rethinking my 5K, especially when I couldn’t find my race flyer with directions and times.

This morning, Rusty put his hand on my shoulder at 6:32 and asked what time I needed to be up for my run, ummm, 6:00! Not a good start. I threw down some coffee and a banana, grabbed my gear with a bottle of Gatorade and some sports beans. Without a clear idea of where I was going, I headed out the door for the 8am start hoping the start was where I thought it was. At least running late didn’t leave me time to contemplate throwing in the towel on this one. I didn’t feel rested after the long day yesterday and I REALLY wanted to go back to bed, but I was on a mission and didn’t have time to think.

I did find the registration table on time, after walking around for 10 minutes, handed in my check and started warming up. By 7:55 I was warmed up and ready to go when someone told me the kids run started at 8 and the 5K started at 8:30. Dang, all warmed up with nowhere to go. I wasn’t alone, there were a bunch of people griping about the unclear start time so we all stood around getting cold and then had to warm up again. Along the way, I had the usual bunch of funny looks when people realized my feet were bare, but no questions at this point. I guess they assumed I'd put them on for the race.

At 8:30 we were ready to roll so about 200 runners lined up for the start. I spotted a runner that I know is fast, but I know is also injured and thought maybe I could keep up with her today. This was my first 5K where I actually warmed up before the race so for once I was able to start off at speed and not crash a mile into the run.

At mile one I felt pretty good, but was questioning my sanity about keeping up such a hard pace. I was intentionally not looking at my Garmin and just going by feel with the occasional glance at my heart rate. Susan, the runner I was pacing off of, had realized I was on her heels and since she knows I’m slow decided to kick it up a notch to stay ahead of me. I stayed on her heels through the first and second mile, but by mile 3 she started pulling ahead.

As we hit the 2 mile mark, there was someone calling out times. I really didn’t want to know so I stuck my fingers in my ears and repeated, “I don’t want to know!” about three times. When I took my fingers out of my ears he was laughing at me, but didn’t call my split. Near the end of the third mile, I was in trouble. My breathing was getting tough, my legs were tired, and I was mentally not there. I could still see Susan, but I knew I’d never pass her in the final stretch. As we turned the last corner, I was able to pull a last bit from the tank and picked it up for the last 100 yards or so. I didn’t look at the clock because I didn’t want to know yet what my time was. I stopped my Garmin at the finish line and was aggravated by the stack up to turn in our tags. I don’t do well going from full speed to full stop and was worried that the drop in blood pressure would make me pass out in the chute! Fortunately I was able to keep the black spots at bay, turn in my tag, and walk my cool down. When I finally took a peak at my Garmin, it said my time was 26:07!!!! WHOOT!!

My mile splits were 8:16, 8:18, 8:30 with my final 1/10th mile sprint below an 8 minute mile, so although they weren’t negative splits, they weren’t terribly far off. I managed to pull of 2nd for my age group with a clock time of 26:09! That was way cool! I finally feel like part of the group now and can’t wait for my next 5K. If I’m more rested, have a calmer morning, and warm up right, there is a good chance I will improve on my time. The best part was all the questions about being barefoot. People take more notice when you are doing something different and finish with a good time!

Next hurdle? Tomorrow’s 9 mile long run!

8 Barefoot Miles

"There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but only one view." **Harry Millner**

I've been a really lazy blogger lately, mostly because I haven't had all the much to post about. I just finished week 5 of my half marathon training plan and am feeling really good about how it is going. I've done nearly all my training barefoot, the only shod running being when I wear my VFFs for group runs on really rocky trails.

My times are improving nicely and giving me hope of actually running at respectable speeds one day, LOL. I've been posting to Hal Higdon's forums to get better coaching on my training plan (what better than to go to the source!) I've picked up a lot of good info there and had many questions answered by Hal Higdon himself. For interval training I have been doing Yasso 800's under 4.5 minutes for 4 repeats. I'll test this new pace in a 5K on Sep. 19th and see if I can sustain it for 3.1 miles straight. To curb the incessant hunger that has been waking me up an hour early, I have added a bedtime shot of protein powder. It seems to be working nicely and I'm continuing to see a downward trend on the scale. Ideally I'd like be to down about 10 pounds by November, which should be totally doable if I don't get too out of control on vacation next week.

Today was my longest barefoot run ever! Saturday was a 3 mile pace run so I ran a little over a mile to warm up and then ran 3 miles at %80 HRR (heart rate reserve.) I don't know if I could actually keep that pace up for an entire half marathon, but that is the target zone for an HM race so I thought I would give it a try and just go by heart rate without looking at my pace. It turned out that I had 2 miles at about 9:30 and one at 8:58. I was totally stunned! Needless to say, I was tired after that run. My feet were tender, although undamaged, and after my run I went to a race expo to pick up some needed gear and decided to do that all barefoot too.

Anyway, on to my point, by Saturday evening my feet were sore for the first time since I started running barefoot. I don't mean tender as in hot spots, blisters, or damaged skin, but a deep in the tissues tired like they had had a very good workout. Apparently this is a pretty common feeling for most beginner barefooters, but owing to my barefoot youth and my propensity to go barefoot in my house, my feet have been fine with my only limiting factor being the skin on the bottoms. I was a little worried about running 8 miles on sore feet, but decided they weren't too bad off.

I really didn't want to run today and nearly talked myself out of it. I was really tired from the pace run, but that is the point behind running hard the day before your long run, it teaches your body to keep going when it is tired. It was hot out, I was tired, I was hungry, I had a lot to do, we had company coming for dinner, my list of excuses was as long as my arm, but I kept moving forward, headed for the door. It was definitely one of those less fun runs. Every mile felt like slogging through molasses and I never did get my second wind. Usually by the time I pass the 3 mile mark I perk up for a couple of miles, but not today. I kept going though, up and down dead end streets, with every return tempting me to short cut home. My feet were starting to sting so I concentrated on relaxing and keeping my form good while watching my heart rate to keep it at about %70.

About half way though the run I started taking walking breaks. I don't usually take walking breaks on long runs, but I was SO tired! My running pace was staying around an 11 minute per mile pace, but the walking breaks added up to bring the whole run to a 12:15 pace, which is still about a minute per mile faster than my long runs were back in January so it wasn't too disappointing. I finished my 8 miles without being too sore or damaging my feet and now I have it behind me. Week 5 is done and I have a new record distance for barefoot running. Next week is a fall back week and we are going to Disney World. So, although I will be on my feet plenty, I'll get in a tempo run before we fly out on Tuesday, and then probably let it go for the rest of the week. If I really feel like a run there is a 1.5 mile track at the hotel, but I'm guessing several days on my feet will be enough stress for my body :-)