Memorial Day

    I meant to post this yesterday, but didn't get a chance.....

    First of all, I'd like to thank the brave men and women who have sacrificed so much for our freedom.  Without them, things would be much different for us Americans, and not in a good way.
 
    Memorial Day this year was great!  Ray and I went to Medina to spend the weekend with his family.  For the holiday yesterday, we started the day going to a pancake breakfast for the boy scout troop Ray and his brother Dan grew up in.  There was a setback when Ray's mom hit her head during a fall on the way into the church and it wasn't very clear how the day would go.  If you're going to get hurt, though, the best place to do it is at a boy scout gathering.  Everyone around was First Aid/CPR trained.  For once I wasn't the first responder and actually felt quite unhelpful.  Luckily she was okay, with no signs of anything serious (just a nice sized bump).  An off-duty paramedic was there and evaluated her, we kept an eye on her all day, and she's still ok today.  She did call off of work (she had a noon shift) just to be safe: on the bright side, we now got to spend the whole day with her! 
    
     After finishing of lots of delicious pancakes and making sure Ray's mom would be okay, we headed outside to watch Medina's Memorial Day parade.  What we were able to see was pretty cool: scouts, marching bands, antique cars and fire trucks, the current (and very impressive) fire trucks.  Medina has YELLOW fire trucks by the way: pretty awesome looking. 

    Later on, we went to a cookout with the boy scout families.  There was delicious food: burgers of course, several tasty side dishes to choose from and festive desserts.  After eating, I braved the 55 degree weather and jumped in the lake with a couple of the crazy kids also braving the cold.  Meh, I've swam in colder during triathlons.  Wearing my wetsuit would've been smart though and I could've stayed in the water for longer.  Haha.  Not swimming on Memorial Day was not an option.  :-)

    All in all, Memorial Day 2013 was a success.  Thank you again servicemen and women.

    'MURICA!      

Almost summer!

It's always a strange feeling when race season is over.  On the bright side, there are no distances to track, no anxiety to feel when I can't complete a workout, and I can just run for the sake of running.  However, I tend to feel lost and a little down when I don't have a goal race to keep me pumped up.   

Fortunately, prepping for summer has kept me busy enough to keep my mind off of this.  I've been helping with challenge course maintenance at OU and getting a head start on my summer job.

I'll be working at a camp nestled in the hills of Logan, Ohio (called Camp Otterbein) for the 4th summer.  I've been helping out with some of the cleaning up and preparation for camp over the past couple weeks.  I'll be in charge of a program called Wilderness Adventures again (I had the honor of being the first to run this program last year).  Basically I'll be cooking lots of meals over fire and in the Dutch oven, going on lots of kayaking and rock climbing trips, planning activities for a program with a more laid back schedule, and lifeguarding. 

One necessary part of preparing for summer and lots of firebuilding is making firestarters. I made 2 different types and here's how I made them: they are both easy to make...

   For the egg carton ones (which I've used a lot and they work great), you just need an egg carton, dryer lint and candle wax. Fill the holes with dryer lint and then melt a generous amount of candle wax over them.

   For the ones on the left (which are new to me), you need toilet paper rolls, brown paper, dryer lint, and string.  You wrap the toilet paper roll in the brown paper, tie up one end, and fill with lint (and newspaper too if you want).  I also added candle wax.  Then you tie up the other end.


Also, I got this wonderful water bottle at CVS a couple weeks ago: I will never be thirsty this summer...   :-) 

Dances with Dirt Gnaw Bone 50k Ultra

   DWD Gnaw Bone was an awesome and extremely challenging trail race!  It was in Nashville, Indiana, a lovely small town in Southeastern Indiana that my mom and I have visited once or twice a year for as long as I can remember.  I knew basically what I was in for because I did the marathon distance of this race a couple years ago.  I also was pretty well prepared for the new-to-me distance of 50 kilometers, thanks to a very helpful book I've been reading called 'Relentless Forward Progress.'  I recommend it to any novice ultrarunners out there.

    I wore my American Triple T tri jersey, which ended up being a great idea because it sparked some great conversations with people I met along the way.  One woman, named Stacey, I met and ran with from around mile 4-11 was especially awesome and we had a lot in common.  She graduated from Ohio University in 2005 and now lives in Cincinnati.  She does triathlons too and has done an ironman (Louisville: which I hope to do next year).  She's getting married on September 20 this year (Ray and I are getting married September 20 of next year). 

    Due to a sizable amount of rain on the days leading up to the race, the course was extremely muddy in several areas (including within the first mile).  The horse trails were especially bad: it was like quicksand!  Luckily there were also several creek crossings to wash our feet off with.  I was glad to be wearing normal, meshy running shoes instead of getting trail running shoes like I would have if I'd had the money.  This helped the water and mud drain right out as I ran.

     There were several lovely uphill crazy parts, including one section (around mile 24) that I had to crawl up and grab onto tree limbs to avoid sliding backwards face first into the mud. There were some fairly smooth sections of trail, but some extremely tricky parts as well.  I managed to take only one tumble, around mile 8.  It didn't cause any injuries, other than cuts and a big ole' bruise (pictured on the right).  I've grown to kind of like bruises though: they make me feel hardcore. 


      Some of the views were amazing!  The best was at around mile 29: a former ski slope we ran down that overlooked some of the park.  I wish that Ray's GoPro I was borrowing had some battery power left at that point!  Videos I took on that will hopefully be uploaded at a later date, by the way. 

     I finished in about 8 and a half hours, not bad considering I had no time goal and considering the crazy challenging terrain.   I felt surprisingly good afterwards, no worse than with some of the marathons I've run.  The only new issue I had was actually a minor case of overhydration (the opposite problem of what I usually have).  I didn't sweat enough because of the pleasantly cool temperature to need all the water I drank and my hands were a bit swollen.  I have yet to master water and electrolyte balance while racing.

      My first ultramarathon will certainly not be my last.  I've now gone from marathon runner to ultrarunner.  And it feels amazing! 

   

Race for a Reason/Athletes in Action Sprint Triathlon Race Recap

First of all, yesterday morning was a beautiful day for a race!  The sun was shining bright, the sky was clear, and many of the budding trees in Athens still have their beautiful pink and white flowers.
 
The swim was in the OU Aquatic Center pool.  I started towards the back like usual: I'm not the fastest swimmer and I hate getting passed.  There was a small group of us from a group I've been training with and we enjoyed chatting and cheering on our faster friends as they hopped out of the pool and ran to transition.  The start of the swim was just jumping in, one at a time  The swim was 500 meters and I felt pretty good, especially considering the fact that I haven't been to the pool nearly enough lately.  And I'm not going to lie: I really appreciate races with a pool swim sometimes.  It's so much less intimidating than open water swimming. 

The bike was a very hilly 15 miles.  I felt ok with it: didn't feel like my best or my worst.  The scenery was gorgeous and there were some very friendly spectators on the way. The only problem was having to stop for a car by an intersection (at a point when I was cruising along at a great speed-go figure).  This jerk passed me and then stopped right in my way waiting to get unto her street.  She was over to the right far enough that I couldn't get by.  Grr.  I remember yelling, "Are you kidding me?!"  Luckily it wasn't too long, but still enough to throw me off for a little bit and halt my forward progress for a minute (every second counts during a race).  Other than that incident and a little twinge of hip pain, the bike split was not bad.  The section with the gently rolling hills past a bunch of freshly blooming trees was my favorite part of the whole race.

When I got to the run, I was booking it!  I zipped passed person after person, weaving through the groups of walkers and other runners.  That was my only real issue with the race by the way: the 5k for the triathlon was the same course as the regular 5k.  Many of us were still doing the triathlon and had to deal with all the people in the way.  I felt really good about my time on the run (I think it took me about 22 minutes, but I could have done even better without having to go around so many people).

The finish was pretty cool.  We ran off the bike path accross a grassy field, where the 'fitness fest' was, greeted by the excited crowd.  As I crossed, I heard a couple people yelling my name really loud.  That's the beauty of smaller races like those in Athens: it's super easy to find people you know.

I'm not sure what my finishing time was and am looking forward to seeing the results.  This race was an overall good one, with a lot of the registration fee going towards charity as well, and I hope it fits in my race schedule next year.

**Edit: The results have been posted (only 2 days later: not bad at all).  I finished in 1:49:06, meeting my goal of under 2 hours, and came in 4th place (out of 8) in my division, collegiate women.

Trying to Process the Tradgedy

This entry is a day late because I was too shocked to come up with the right words yesterday. 

Words cannot fully express the tradgedy of the bombings at the Boston Marathon. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of the victims. 

The Boston Marathon is more than just a race: it is the biggest of accomplishments, a lifelong goal, for runners all across the nation and even from other parts of the world.  It is the ultimate symbol of dedication and achievement.  Any finish line really is supposed to be (and usually is) the most joyful and triumphant place on Earth.  And some sick **bad word** took that away from thousands of people.  It just doesn't make sense.  And I really don't think it ever will.

One thing that may come to mind is hatred towards whatever monster is responsible for this.  But let's take this opportunity to instead be even more unified.  Fight hateful acts like this with love.  In spite of the terrible scenes in the news yesterday, as well as the shock, disgust, and terror that came with those images, it was heartwarming to see so many responders comforting and caring for both the physically and emotionally wounded.

Finishing races will not be the same.  There will be anxiety, of course, especially for those who had to endure the tradgedy of April 15, 2013.   But, we will all be stronger and more unified than ever.  We will be even more grateful every time we cross that finish line and never take it for granted.  We will hug our friends and family so much tighter upon finishing.  We will have even more mutual respect for our fellow runners. 

My message to whoever is responsible for what happened yesterday: we will never understand why you did this terrible thing, but you will not bring us down.  You have only made us even stronger.  Good always overcomes evil and always will.

Athens Marathon 2013 Race Recap

      I've done this race before (the half in 2007 and the full in 2008) and have a love/hate relationship with it. I love that I know most of the volunteers, spectators, and a fair amount of the other racers.  OU/Athens has a pretty tight-knit community and it's reflected in the race day atmosphere of the Athens Marathon.  I also love the much more laid back feel of it and the fact that my fellow runners are generally much friendlier than many of those in my experience with city races.  I've also always really enjoyed the finish: a lap and a half around OU's track with a bunch of spectators cheering you on.  However, I hate that the race is almost entirely on the bike path: flat (in case you don't know, I really prefer hill running) and boring, with repetitive scenery and very few spectators for most of the way.  And it's an out-and-back.  Overall, though, it's a great, well-organized race with wonderful people.

       I figured this race would be perfect timing this year in preparation for my ultra on May 11 (though a trail marathon would have been better preparation).  It was also wonderful getting to sleep in my own bed, only having to walk right up the road from my apartment to the start line (no traffic or parking hassles), and not having to find the money for putting gas in my car or someplace to stay. 
       There couldn't have been much better weather!  It was a cool temperature, but felt good once I started moving.  The sun was shining bright all day.  I actually managed to not even get much of a sunburn even though I totally forgot sunscreen: I'm terrible at remembering that.  
       I kept a slow, easy pace since this was preparation for another race rather than being my goal race.  Unfortunately, I also had some hip pain and a really tight IT band.  A physical therapist in the message area said it was a little swollen and I'll have to be careful over the next couple weeks and do extra icing and stretching over the next couple days.

       Overall, the Athens Marathon was a pretty good experience: perfect weather, beautiful (even if repetitive) scenery, and some great people to talk to during the course.

       Yay for finishing marathon #7!  :-)

A Barrier to Overcome

One major update I neglected to post...

When the weather started getting cold in November, I was having issues with breathing during and after my runs.  I'd cough and wheeze like crazy.  These issues have happened in years past with cold temperatures and stress during running, cycling, and swimming but it seemed to be getting even worse.  Between this and my constant sinus infections over the past several years, I decided to see an allergist.

Dr. Clark was incredibly knowledgeable and approachable (one of those doctors who truly cares and goes above and beyond his duty).  After a couple hours of tests, including allergy testing, he gave me some alarming news.  I have severe allergies to just about every indoor allergen there is (dust, a couple types of mold, even cats and dogs), I have chronic sinusitis (not much of a surprise there), and I have asthma. 

While this was shocking and unpleasant news, I've come to view finding out as a blessing.  I'm getting treated for all of these things now, and the improvement in my training and overall quality of life are amazing!

There are still bad days, though, and today has been one of them.  I've been trying to clean up my apartment yesterday and earlier today, plus we were visiting my fiance's family for Easter.  His dad smokes.  A lot.  So, the combination of these things probably has caused my respiratory system to go into freakout mode.  I had to cut my run short because I was hacking to the point of almost gagging at the top of a couple of the hills.  Later, I was planning on going to both Mixed Martial Arts and Taekwondo club, but my sinuses started acting up and my airways started feeling a bit tight.

As the type of person who always wants to be invincible and strong, and to do everything, this is extremely frustrating.  I hate being slowed down.

Hopefully I'm not developing another sinus infection (which almost always happens during a change of seasons).  And hopefully tomorrow will be better.