Falling Down and Cranking It Up.

Before I say anything else I should say I am really glad I signed up for this trail racing series. It’s a little bit crazy but toward the FUN end of the crazy spectrum.

Having said that… it’s SO NOT my thing. It’s hard, I’ve had to walk in both races I’ve done, and my times are so much slower than my easy-run road paces. But! It’s gotta be doing me some good, right? I’m sure I’ll have a well-formed pluses and minuses list for you by the end of the series.

Here’s where the ALL OUT TRAIL RUN race started… in the middle of the woods! We arrived at beautiful Moody Park in Claremont, NH. WOODS, WOODS, and more WOODS.

There were little tents set up with plenty of food for both before and after the race: bananas, bagels, peanut butter, and coolers of water and Powerade. They even played music!

 

So how was the race?

We started in the clearing you can see above, and ran right into the woods. There were some winding flats and uphills-downhills through the first two miles.

THE FALL: Right before the second mile mark I absolutely wiped out, stubbing my toe on a root or something and face planting into the ground! It happened so fast I didn’t go down gracefully at all. But I popped right back up. Luckily I had fallen just on the dirt and pine needles, so I just had some scrapes on my knees and hip. My toe actually hurts to the touch but I think it’s just bruised.

It has been raining  for weeks now, so I wasn’t at all surprised to see mud pits all along the trail. Seriously, there was no getting around them. We had to just plow through them, landing feet deep in this mushy mud.

After a relatively low-key two miles we hit the major course surprise. Last race it was a set of steep stairs. Well this race we ran through this v-shaped pit called GRAVITY CAVITY.

GRAVITY CAVITY: It is seriously v-shaped. Steep dirt slope down to the bottom and then steep dirt slope right back up to the top.

I got to the edge of Gravity Cavity and I literally stopped, I didn’t know how to go down!!!! I wanted to sit on my butt and scoot down the slope, but I opted to run a little zig zag until I was close enough to the bottom to just let go. On the climb out of Gravity Cavity I started at a run and ended up in a hunched over walk just trying to keep my footing and get back to the top!

Right after traversing Gravity Cavity, we hit a looooooong ascent. THIS WAS A KILLER HILL. I had to power walk part of it, I just could not get my legs to keep moving up-up-up as it was as steep as it was LONG. Once we finally reached the top we ran across a really pretty meadow, and then we wound our way down through the woods BACK to Gravity Cavity.

YEP that’s right, we had to go BACK through Gravity Cavity to finish the race. Essentially as soon as you heaved yourself out of the pit, you had a 100-yard dash to the finish. Gosh.

I flung myself down the first leg of the V this time, and then tried to jog up the second leg of the V, but resorted to a jumping sort of walk for most of it. I was able to get my footing enough to run the last bit to the top of the pit and then dashed away to the finish.

WHEW!!!!

My friend Rob beat me this race. GO ROB! He had a great race and he powered through that big hill. If there was one thing I could do over it would have been to NOT walk on that hill. It will probably haunt me for the rest of the summer. Hopefully I will see some improvement in my trail-running stamina over the course of the series!

Here are the results for my age group. I came in fifth:

GRAVES
SARA
0:36:58.9

ZUMMO
LYNNE
0:37:46.0

OSCADAL
KATHLEEN
0:39:09.3

BRAUCH
MARINA
0:39:56.3

HEBERT
LACEY
0:42:15.5

• Distance: 4.85 miles
• Pace: 8:27 min/mile

LYNAUGH
HEATHER
0:45:26.7

 

At the first race a couple of weeks ago, the top 3 in each age group won maple syrup! Well guess what they got this time??

…A POUND OF BACON or SAUSAGE.

HILARIOUS! Here’s one winner pretty psyched about his raw meat:

All the participants got a t-shirt and a cool red lunch-bag with the race’s name on it. I guess the insulated lunch bag was a good idea since they were awarding raw meat to the winners! LOL!!!

Two races down, five to go! The next trail race is FRENZY IN THE FOREST on July 11th. I don’t know about you but I’m PRETTY pumped! In all seriousness the race is in Sunapee, NH which is well-known for its ski areas and lake parks. I’m sure the course will be beautiful!

 

I didn’t realize it, but this race took SO MUCH out of me. After I had showered and eaten I fell asleep for THREE HOURS. I felt like I’d been drugged! It was that HEAVY sleep. Oh but it felt so good!

That was the best part about Saturday, post-race. ULTIMATE RELAXATION. I just snoozed all afternoon and read all evening. SIGH.

I spent all day Sunday lounging around in NH. I visited my Grammy and watched most of the US-Brazil soccer game. I finally headed back to Boston, arriving around 6pm.

I had checked my training schedule before leaving, and I knew that Sunday should be a 12-miler. I reasoned I had rested really well after the race and all day so far.

I told myself: NOW is the time.

You need to start CRANKING IT UP if you want to improve. GO GET ‘EM!

I opted to run my favorite 3-mile loop FOUR TIMES. There is something so reassuring, knowing the path so well, and breaking the run into laps. It felt more manageable. And- I ROCKED IT!

SUN LONG RUN!

Scheduled: 10-12 miles

Distance: 12.4 miles

Time: 1:34:09

Pace: 7:30 min/mi

Notes: It was NOT raining, which was awesome, since it is supposed to rain again ALL WEEK. It wasn’t dark out yet, but it was overcast. I was warm in a t-shirt and shorts, but the air was starting to cool down. I used my FASTDRAW water-bottle for the first time! I LOVED having water with me. I didn’t use it until the last half of the run, but being able to take a few sips of water here and there WHILE running was AWESOME. I got the same water-bottle that BOBBI recommended. Here is the link to it. I also tried a new GU, taken at mile 10. I was just starting to feel heavy-legged and crampy and truly fatigued. Well after I took the Gu and had some water with it, I was able to bust out the last two miles and finish strong. I loved the flavor, I loved the energy components,- this might be my new favorite gel.

GU ROCTANE: Orange Vanilla Flavor.

1 packet (32g/1.1oz)

Total Carb. 25g- 8%

Sugars 5g

Sodium 125mg- 5%

Potassium 55mg- 2%

Calcium- 2%

Roctane Amino
Blend 1220mg
Histidine†
Leucine†
Valine†
Isoleucine†

Ornithine Alpha-
ketoglutarate†
480mg

Caffeine†
35mg

From their website, here is a little background on the ingredients and benefits:

Roctane takes athletes' top choice for an energy gel, GU, amplifies the original recipe and then adds new ingredients to boost performance in sustained, high-intensity efforts. Here's how it's done:
We start with original GU's superior mix of complex and simple carbohydrates that provide quick and sustained energy, electrolytes for replenishment and caffeine to tap more power and diminish pain.
From there we increase the amount of histidine, an essential amino acid, to act as a buffer and slow the energy-sapping lactic acid build-up in muscles.
We mix in higher levels of citrates (potassium citrate, sodium citrate, and citric acid) to help speed the conversion of carbohydrates into energy molecules and, like histidine, help mitigate acid build-up.
We also add more of the branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) leucine, valine and isoleucine to serve as another fuel source, aid in recovery and help maintain mental focus and reduce fatigue by limiting the central nervous system's production of serotonin.
Finally, we add a new ingredient, the amino acid complex Ornithine Alpha-Ketoglutarate (OKG) which limits the body's tendency to break down muscle protein tissue during extremely hard training and racing days. OKG keeps you going longer and promotes a speedier recovery.

 

I took my Gu at 1 hour and 17 minutes and my run ended at 1 hour and 34 minutes. I could have taken it earlier, but I never take energy gels for runs less than 13 miles. I think this gel not only helped me finish strong, but helped my recovery, too. That’s just my personal opinion.

It looks like there is one other Gu Roctane flavor: Blueberry Pomegranate. I got my Vanilla Orange in a freebie-package somewhere along the way and it has been hiding in my running box for a little while. I’m so glad I tried it out! You can buy them online, but I am going to look around a little bit and see if they are sold in stores nearby.

 

WOW this has been a monster post. THANKS FOR READING!

Oh, and if you didn’t read Elliot’s post yesterday with his roomie Alex, you really should! It is hilarious.

Today is a REST DAY on my schedule but I think I’m going to go to the gym and LIFT! Now’s the time everyone. Let’s CRANK IT UP!