Brace yourself. . .lots of updates due.

Aug 20 - Plotterkill loop.  Very hot.  Very slow.  1:30 for the 7 miles of tough trail.

8/21 One hour yoga plus 25 minutes of walking.  Then 1 hour 15 min run in Pinebush.  ~7 miles.

8/22 Castleton Clove 5k.  I did this trail race as part of my club's grand prix schedule.  I did 23:19 which was good enough for 2nd woman (many faster women did the 10k that day).  With my warm up and cool down, I logged 5.5 miles.

8/23  I did a 2 hour run in PineBush.

8/24  Plotterkill loop with ARE friends. . .much quicker than when I run on my own.

8/25  8 miles on the bikepath @ 8:30 pace.  Felt tough--heat?  fatigue?  out of shape?  recovery?

8/26  40 minute swim & aqua jog

8/27  8 miles on bikepath.  I did the first 400 of each mile at a quicker pace (1:50, 1:51, 1:48, 1:46, 1:46, 1:45, 1:49, 1:51).  With there & back total 9.5 miles.

8/28  Pine Bush run for 2 hours.  I did 2 min surges after the first 10 minutes.  Surge followed by 2 min walk.  ~12 miles.

8/29  Off

8/30  ARE group run up to Pinnacle Point + Tower Road.  16 miles of vertical climb.  2:45ish.

8/31  Off from running; roller ski on the bikepath for 4 miles

9/1  Time ladder:  10 on, 5 off, 8 on, 4 off, 6 on, 3 off, 4 on, 2 off, 2 on, 1 off.  On was ~7:37 pace.  Plus there and back for 9 miles; also did 30 min of aqua jog

9/2  2 mile warm up; 4 x 1000 (4:20, 4:26, 4:24, 4:22) with 3 min recovery,  2 mile cool down.  ~ 7 miles; 30 min aqua jog

9/3  STRS at Rensellear Lake Park.  One hour 4 min run.  ~6-7 miles.  Plus resistance training exercises.

9/4  12 miles barnloop with 4 miles at 7:20-7:30 pace (maybe not that fast but definitely at a faster effort).

9/5  Hike up Mt. Marshall from Upper works.  14 miles.  8 hours.

9/6  Run from Guilderland to Thompson Lake.  13.3 miles uphill.  Last 2.5 miles were at a quicker pace.  Total time 2 hours 9 minutes.

9/7  SEFCU Labor Day 5k.  22:44.  With warm up and cool down = 8 miles.  Plus resistance work.

9/8  Off

9/9  20 min warm up; 3 x 1000 (4:15, 4:15, 4:20) with 3 min recovery; 20 min cool down.  6.25 miles

9/10  Gloversville loop up Peck road, down 29A from GHS.  57 minutes ~6.2 miles.

9/11  Off

9/12  Hike Street & Nye.  ~9-10 miles in 5hours.

9/13  Bagel Run 5k 22:15; With 1 mile warm up and 6 mile cool down totaling 10.3 miles; Also went to ski hike on the Taconic Trail for 2 1/2 hours.

9/14  Off

9/15  Off

9/16  20 min warm up; 5 x 1000 (4:15, 4:15, 4:17, 4:20, 4:18) with 3 min recovery; 12 min cool down.  ~7 miles

9/17  Off

9/18  4.5 miles at 7:30 pace.  1 1/2 warm up and 1 mile cool down.  Total 7 miles on bikepath.  Tough to maintain pace.

9/19  Run to bikepath, 5 miles at 8:25, run to Collin's Park and home.  7.5-8 miles

9/20  40 min run (3-4 miles) + Anniversary Run (5.6 miles in 42:13) + 2.7 mile coold down.  12-13 miles.

9/21  30 min run

9/22  Off

9/23  2 mile warm up; 6 x 1000 (4:27, 4:21, 4:15, 4:18, 4:20, 4:18) with 3 min recovery; 1 mile cool down.  Times were good as laps were longer--used middle lane for portions.  ~8 miles

9/24  Off

9/25  20 min warm up on bike; 5 miles on treadmill (2 @ 7:35, 2 @ 7:24, 1 @ 7:19); 10 min cool down on bike.

9/26  Hike Saddleback & Basin.  16.7 miles in 9 hours.

9/27  Off -- Fighting a cold!

9/28  Off

9/29  Off

9/30  Off

10/1  Swimming/aqua jogging for 30 min

10/2  Off

10/3  10 min jogging; 1 hour yoga; 1 hour swimming/aqua jogging

10/4  5k in Gloversville 21:08 (course short--reconfigured time for real course would be 21:40 which is still decent, considering).  With warm up and cool down total 5 miles.

10/5  Sub for VB league

10/6  Off

10/7  20 min elliptical, 10 min stair step, 10 in erg

10/8  Off

10/9  Off

10/10  Hike up Tabletop, plus 2 extra miles because parking lot was full.  12 miles total.  Snow in upper elevations for about 5 minutes

10/11  Off.  I took pics at the local marathon.  Very inspiring times by friends and teammates!

10/12  45 minute swim/aqua jog; ~5 mile run with teammate at Discovery Center.

10/13  Off

10/14  53 minute run--from home going backward on Stockade-athon course til meeting friends and then forward on course til returning home; total ~5 miles

10/15  Off

10/16  Off

10/17  Hike on Buck Mt.  6.6 miles in roughly 2 hour 20 min.  Had to speed to finish before dark.

10/18  Stockade-athon course preview.  9.3 miles at 8:45 pace.

10/19  2 x Union college plus there and back.  Second loop at quicker pace (13:34).  Total 4.5 miles.

10/29  2 x Union college plus there and back.  1/2 loop slow, 1/2 loop fast and repeat.  Total 4.5 miles.

Why all the off days?   School started and volleyball coaching consumed my life.  I was simply overwhelmed with grading papers, planning lessons, practices, games, etc.  I started eating like crap because I had no time to grocery shop or cook.  Then I felt like a fat ass and just kept eating convenient foods.  I had so many things on my to do list that I felt stressed.  I didn't want to take time to run because then something else wouldn't get done.  I hated having a million things to do.  I'm sure I had them all last year too, and I'm not sure how I dealt???  Anyway, this year, It seemd I'd rather do laundry and clean than run.  WTF???  I just didn't want it piling up.  I also chose to nap/sleep instead of run on several occasions.  Basically, my runs were down to twice a week, but those two runs were still high quality.  Then, I got a cold and didn't run for a whole week.  Then, I went to a 5k hosted by my school and I ran a PR!?!  I was shocked and excited.  You'd think that would have inspired me to get back at it, but instead it rewarded my new non-training lifestyle.  I continued to be a bum and I didn't run for another week.   I simply didn't go our for runs and then felt REALLY guilty and depressed about it.  I was getting some exercise though. I went to the Y to swim once and I did the elliptical once.  I also went hiking a couple times.
 
Then came the local marathon.  Nearly all ARE club members ran PR's.  Some were fabulous in their times.  It was inspiring yet depressing because I was reminded about how I used to train with them (til I got hurt this summer and then started coaching VB).  I had that Monday off from school and went for a run.  Since then, I've run a couple more times.  The runs have only been 4 miles.  At one point it seemed silly to me to only go for a 4 mile run.  I wouldn't do it.  I used to think "why bother getting the clothes all sweaty & dirty for 35 minutes.  it will just create more laundry."  I used to never go less than an hour, but right now, I don't have an hour to give.  Well, maybe I do, but I don't want to give it.  There's other things I want to do.  Maybe I'll progress into longer runs.  We'll see.  Volleyball coaching ends on Friday.  Perhaps the light at the end of the tunnel is motivating me.  It's just so weird because I coached last year and I don't remember going through this slump.  Heck, last year somehow I trained for JFK.

My club is hosting two races this weekend.  I decided I'm not in shape for the half marathon.  I'm doing the 6 miler.  And, I'm sure I'll struggle with it as there are some hills.  I have been hiking though (that's my positive self talk).  Then, I'm planning on Stockade-athon because I already registered.  I'm not expecting much though.  I know I'll do faster than my last 15k. . .I walked much of Boilermaker this year with my hamstring recovery strategy.  After that, I just want to train for a while.  I want to do several snowshoe races this year and qualify and go to snowshoe nationals.  They are near Syracuse this year.  Let it snow, let it snow!

7/22  I went for a 45 min walk at the Crossings with a friend before I picked my mom & niece up from the airport.  Also I did a walk from home and I tried a little jog on that (just to see).  Okay but totally not necessary so kept it very little!

7/23  I did some water jogging in Lake Ontario at our campsite.

7/24  We went for a 2-3 mile walk in the woods and I did some water jogging again.  This is without my belt and my feet are springing off the ground in chest high water.

7/25  No workout, but plenty of walking around the Renaissance Festival.

7/26  I did 30 min of aqua jogging.

7/27  I did 2.5 mile around Union College.  Slow pace.

7/28  We did a 4 mile walk at Thacher Park (Emma Treadwell Nature Center to Hang Glide Cliff Overlook).

7/29  I did 2.5 mile around Union College.  Slow pace.

7/30  We did a 4-5 mile hike up Crane Mountain and looped down around the pond.  It was a slower hike with Amy & Anne, but it got the legs working nonetheless.

7/31  I did 25 minutes on the elliptical machine and an hour of yoga.

8/1  Lake George Beach Volleyball Tournament (women's 4's)

8/2  Lake George Beach Volleyball Tournament (coed 4's)

8/3  Amy & I hiked Thomas Cole, Black Dome & Blackhead in the Catskills.  Total of 9.8 miles in about 7 hours.

8/4  We kayaked for 2 hours on the Mohawk and then I did a run at SCCC.  I did 1 1/4 mile warm up and then 2 x 800 (3:33, 3:35) and 1 1/4 mile cool down.  Plus I walked there and back.  Total run 4 miles and walk 1.5 mile.  Later that night my hamstring ached.

8/5  My hamstring really ached this morning   No speed yet for me   I did an easy 3 mile at Tawasentha Park on the cross country course.

8/6  I went to the club's summer trail run series and did an easy 4 miles at 9:20 pace (although it felt quicker!).  I have no speed right now.  Ugggh.  But I suppose that is to be expected after a 100.

8/7  I hiked Rocky Peak Ridge with friend Tom.  We did 13.4 miles in ~9 hours.  What beautiful weather and what beautiful views!

8/8  I volunteered at the Camp Chingachook Half Marathon in the morning and then I hiked Buck Mountain in the afternoon with Brian.  We added a little extra to the hike and totaled ~6.8 miles.

8/9  I did an hour easy run in the Pine Bush with Team Utopia.  I also walked an hour 15 minutes.  I'm guessing ~6 miles running and ~4 miles walking.

8/10  I did an hour swimming and aqua jogging plus the Tawasentha cross country race.  I ran it in 17:30 which was about a minute faster than last year (less than two weeks after the Northville Placid Trail).  I was excited about this as it felt pretty good.  With the warm up and cool down, I likely did 4 miles.  It was hot & humid as well.

8/11  I did 4 miles on the bike path plus there and back for a total of 5.5 miles.

8/12  I did a 9.4 mile walk up Grant Hill and to Voorheesville with Brian.  This was done in 2 hour 15 min.  This easy workout was after a blood donation in the am.

8/13 I ran 2 x Union College for 4.5 miles.

8/14  High Peaks Hiking!!!  Starting at Elk Lake, we did Macomb, South Dix, East Dix, & Hough.  This hike totaled ~14 miles and took ~6 hours.  We were booking it   This was my first experience with the trailless peaks and it wasn't difficult at all.  Most have been hiked by many people so the herd path was well recognizable.

8/15  More High Peaks Hiking!!!  Again starting at Elk Lake, we did Skylight, Gray & Haystack.  This hike totaled ~26 miles and took ~14 hours.  Wow, wow, wow!  This is as fast as I have ever hiked.  I had energy at the time, but it really zonked me for the following days.

8/16  I played in a CDGD volleyball tournament.  This was my first doubles outing of the season and it didn't go so well.  My legs were jello from the hike.  Plus, it was 90+ degrees.  Oh well, we won one game and were competitive in all the others so I can't complain too much.

8/17  I aqua jogged for 30 minutes and then later went to the Tawasentha cross country race.  I did the course in 18:34 which was slower than the week before, but the temp was higher and I had about 30 strikes against me going into the race (blood donation, high peaks hiking, VB, pool workout, sunbathing).  I did the course again at a walk/jog for a total of 7.5 miles with the warm up.

8/18  Off.  I took a 3 1/2 hour nap!!!  I started coaching volleyball on the 17th and that simply added to my exhaustion.  With the heat I simply couldn't function and slept instead.

8/19  I did 12 miles walk/run with Brian on the Glenville loops.  We did 5 min walk, 5 min run, 10 min walk, 10 min run, 30 min walk, 30 min run, 15 min walk, 15 min run, 10 min walk, 10 min run.

Vermont 100 miler. . .I DID IT!!!
 
Different people (runners I know, non-runners I know, runners I don't know, and well, I doubt there are any non-runners I don't know who will read any of this) may prefer different versions of this story, but I'm only writing one so you all have to suffer through all the info you may or may not want to read.  Again, feel free to skim as it will get long!
 
Where to begin?  Well, I can't remember when exactly the idea of a 100 miler popped into my head, but I know that after the Northville-Placid Trail last summer, it became a more serious possibility.  If I could do 135 miles in 4 days, I could do 100 in 1 day, right?
 
Training went well (at least so I thought):  I managed 3 weekends with runs of over 30 miles and 3 weekends with back to back decent mileage.  Between these high mileage weekends, I did interval training, hills, and sheer mileage.  I had 3 weeks with 70+ miles and several other weeks over 50 and over 60.  It was by far the most I've ever run in my life.  And I was cross training as well.  VB was on the back burner and I didn't play even once in May or June or July before the race.  Cross training picked up a lot in the last 4 weeks because of the hamstring strain suffered in the last 1.5 mile of the GMR.  Uggghhhh.  Why, oh why, did I decide to "sprint" on a downhill finish?!?!  Basically the last 4 weeks were a waste. I simply rested and recovered.  I did a lot of pool work and a lot of convincing myself that it was better to arrive at the 100 uninjured and a bit out of shape than in shape with a limp!
 
In the final week, my mind could not focus on anything else.  I thought about the 100 all day long.  I'm not sure if this was good or bad as I spent hours on websites reading about hamstring injuries & recoveries & ultras.  I kept looking for something that sounded positive or promising.  I found a blog of someone who lived in VT and had a hamstring injury and dropped out of Western States last month   Same guy said VT 100 was likely to be a "canoe race" because of all the rain they'd recently had.  He estimated they'd have more mud & mosquitoes than ever before in this year's race. Fortunately, I had friends who had done VT before and they sent me maps, course descriptions, and adviceo not everything I read was depressing.  I started packing my stuff on Wednesday thinking if I got all prepared maybe I could stop thinking about it.  That did help relax my mind a bit, but even still when I tried to do something else like read my book, I found myself having to re-read passages because they had been distracted by 100 mile daydreams.
 
On Friday morning, I loaded my stuff into Steve's car, and we were off   We got to camp, checked in, weighed in, and set up our tents.  We were just about to go for a run through the last 2 miles of the course when Jim & Brian S. arrived.  We helped them set up a bit and then checked out the course.  Exactly as I had imagined it was hilly & muddy but we navigated okay.  We then went to the pre-race meeting under the big tent and that's when it started to rain.  They made some announcements (nothing new) and gave the weather report (thunderstorms that night/next morning).  Then it was time for dinner.  The food was good but I got full quickly.  In the midst of dinner, Joe arrived.  After dinner, we hung out (sheltered under the back door of Joe's Hyudai) listening to an 18 time finisher tell crazy stories of 2 & 3 day races.  We were waiting for the rest of the crew (Brian N., Tom, Patrick & MJ) to arrive so we could go to bed.  Eventually, they made it and we retired for the night.  Around midnight the camp was awakened by a crying baby.  WTF?!?!  Uggghhhh.  I made good use of the wake up and went to the bathroom.  While the baby still cried, a car alarm went off.  Believe or not I liked that better because it was regular and I could tune it out better.  Somehow I got back to sleep and slept fine til I heard the Chariots of Fire theme song on the loudspeaker at 3am.  AWESOME!
 
I changed, ate, and packed my fuel belt in the mist.  I quickly went over the plan (subject to change) with Tom & Brian.  Pam would meet them at mile 30.1 for the rest of the weekend.  We headed to the start and Tom took a group photo in the dark (didn't turn out as camera was on wrong setting).  And we were off.  I didn't speak with a ton of people at the beginning but I did eavesdrop a lot.  I met up with the 3 people who had done the GMR as a 3.5 person ultra team.  We ran together and see-sawed a while.  That happened a lot and then you simply wouldn't see the same people anymore.  You didn't always know if they were ahead or behind.  Breaks at aid stations and run/walk schemes played a big part in this.  I took it easy early and didn't really look at my watch or study my time at all til the first aid station at mile 7.  At that point I was 1:30ish.  That was already slow when my expected goal was to be at mile 21 in roughly 4 hours, but it was dark, hilly, & muddy, and there were a ton of people around me so I figured it was the right pace.  Plus, I just didn't want to overdo it early.  The aid station was out of water and only had Heed left which I suppose made me a little nervous.  I didn't need any water (I was carrying a two bottle waist pack) and I do drink Heed, but I started to wonder if future stations would be dry also.  There were a lot of runners still coming through and I just lost a little confidence in the event.  But, future stations were well stocked and fabulous so the worries quickly subsided.
 
At Pretty House (mile 21), my time was recorded as 4:35.  It was slow and I knew I wasn't getting any faster as my legs already hurt!  Why??? (several ideas discussed at the end). I saw Brian & Tom, restocked, and was pretty quickly on my way again.  It was very humid and I was drenched with sweat (or rain?) before the sun even came up.  By mile 30, race stats had me at 6:48.  My crew said my form looked good compared to some others (that's what they are supposed to say even if it's not true!) and that I'd probably be passing people soon.  I knew I was still running with *normal* form, but I also knew my legs hurt.  I started looking at other people and realized that there is a definite shuffle/walk like thing many ultra runners do.  I don't think they do it because they hurt; I think it's their style and they do it so they won't hurt.  It looks to have less impact as they barely lift their legs at all.  I wasn't going to see my crew again til mile 47, but I did know (via e-mail, friend of an acquaintance) a volunteer at mile 39 so that's what I looked forward to next.  I got there at around 9 hours which was about an hour and a half later than he expected me (he based his expectations on my Boston 2008 time).  It was definitely later than I expected to be there also, but at this point I had long realized that the "dream goal" was gone and well, in my mind, all I needed now was 29:59.59.  I was told that a horse had gone down up ahead and they didn't know if it was going to make it so they wanted me to be aware.  The horses had started an hour after us but had passed me hours before.  It was neat hearing their thundering hooves pound the dirt as they approached.  There were only 35 or so, but it was still pretty cool.  I see-sawed with one of the later ones a bit because the horses have mandatory rest breaks.   When I got up ahead, I only saw a horse trailer but nothing else.  I found out later they were able to get the horse going again so presumably it was okay.  Somewhere along here is where I saw the bike patrol and had a discussion about the leaders and their times and paces.  He did not report Jim's bib number as the top runner, but Brian had told me Jim was top 10 so I kept asking.

When I got to Camp 10 Bear at mile 47, I was at about 11:30. At the weigh in, I had lost 3 pounds but was not worried as the hottest part of the day was ending and the scales were all off anyway (at check in the scale was sinking in the mud and the guy said it was weighing people heavy so he was writing down 2 pounds less than it said).  At this aid station, I was getting tired of eating & drinking the same things but nothing else sounded good.  I wanted soup, but they said it would be ready for later on my way back through (we would come here again at mile 70).  I think I had some potatoes, fruit & an oreo.  Chrommie was here!  I was so happy to see him.  Plus I got a lot of updates on Jim & Steve so it was a fun stop.  And, the best part is that after this, I would see my crew much more often!  When I headed down the road, people were just passing me left and right.  I knew I was tired but I didn't think I had slowed that much.  I soon realized they were the 100k runners who had just started at 2pm.  Whew!  When going up Agony Hill (the part reported to be very muddy pre-race which ended up not that bad, but then again, I don't think anything is ever going to be considered bad compared to the Northville Placid final section last summer), two guys passed and I commented on how well they were moving.  One said "we're only doing 100k" and the other said "this is the only place on earth you can say only 100k!"  It was also along here that Nipmuck Dave passed me with his unique gait.  Not long after the hill, I came to the section that I had run in May.  That was inspiring.  In fact, I saved a guy from making a bad wrong turn.  Our course was marked with yellow pie plates that had black arrows on them.  This guy saw a square yellow sign with a black arrow on it (for snowmobiles???) and he turned off the course up a hill.  I thought he was simply going off a bit to use the restroom but then I saw he kept going and I yelled at him.  I don't think he really believed me at first but I told him I thought I saw another marker up ahead and he should at least come back and look.  I was right.  He thanked me so much and continued to do so every time I saw him on the course after that

When I got to Tracer Brook (mile 57), I changed into dry clothes.  I sat in the brook a bit to refresh my legs.  It felt great.  My ankle/calf cramped a bit when I put on the new shoes, but Pam helped alleviate the pain.  It was also here that I had my first cup of Mountain Dew.  What a pick me up!  I had had some caffeinated gels previously, but this was wonderful!  I rolled in here around 14:30.  Steve had told me that I could double my time from this aid station and get an expected finish time.  He couldn't have been more right!  Wild! On the big climb out of here, I came across a couple guys who wanted to play a game where they guessed my name.  The bib numbers were in alphabetical order so they wanted to figure out what my last name began with based on my number.  I guess anything helps pass the time.  I didn't run up the hill but I felt like I was moving pretty good.

I saw my crew again at Margaritaville (mile 62) and got my lights because darkness was coming!  I also ate some soup and hamburger (very little that I had to put in my soup because it just didn't sound good on its own).  The next section was still on the part I had run in May so I made good time.  Just before I got to Camp 10 Bear, I came across some guy who had been lost and thought he still was.  He missed a turn and blamed it on the teenage vandals who had stolen the signs and glow lamps.  I told him we were on course and I tried to reassure him by pointing out runners with headlamps up ahead.  He said they were lost too.  I questioned myself a bit, but I decided I was more with it then him and I was pretty sure I had seen signs so I had to break it to him that the signs were still there and I saw them and knew we were on the right course.  The glow sticks were still there also; they just weren't glowing anymore.  I shined my light on one hanging from the tree, and I think he started to believe me that we were on course and would very soon be at the aid station for mile 70.  I weighed in when I got to Camp 10 Bear and explained to the officials about the lights being out (not vandalism like the other guys were reporting).  Then, I had to shout out 3 or 4 different times to find my crew.  They were sleeping near the car and didn't expect me for another 45 minutes!   While I waited for them to get ready, I had some soup that I had wanted 20 some miles earlier!  Yummmm.  And of course, more caffeine.  At this point, I was 18:30 into the course.  I picked up Tom and we had to try and rid ourselves from a talkative annoying kid who was telling a story about losing his penis on the trail.  I was unamused, but he wouldn't go away.  Ugggh.  The course was runnable for a bit, but I never really felt like running right after an aid station.  The stomach had to settle and the legs had to get moving again.  I told Tom, that I have good moments and bad ones and that I just had to trust that another good one would come, so we walked & waited.  It was a section with mostly trails and little road so we walked quite a bit.  Some were steep up and some steep down.  Both hurt the legs!  But believe it or not, running felt better than walking on the downs.  The stars were brilliant and Tom & I kept trekking.  He was very good about watching the course and keeping me on track.  It made it so I could keep my eyes on the ground and avoid any mis-steps.  I knew I would finish as long as I didn't do something stupid!  We see-sawed with a couple folks I had seen earlier in the day, but soon we were ahead.  One was from AZ (he was over 70!) and had picked up a pacer from Maine who he had met at the race a couple years earlier.  The other was from VA and he just met his pacer that night.  I think it's really cool that they have a pacer matching service.  I may volunteer to do that sometimes in the future if I know nobody else in the race who needs help.  It certainly is nice to have company!

At West Winds (mile 77), I traded Tom for Pam and was off again.  The legs were disobeying even more, but I did have spells where I would run very well and pass lots of people.  I always thought "it's going to suck when all these folks pass me back" but many of them never did.  Also, it was definitely getting harder to take in calories and drink.  I had been very good about consuming some every half hour or so, but now, I could only do small sips and small gulps of gel.  It was taking half an hour just to eat one packet.  If I put too much in my mouth at a time, I would spit it out.  It was soooo weird.  I didn't really feel sick, but I kept rejecting things.  I guess I'm glad they didn't get to my stomach before I rejected them.  My tongue and mouth were doing the work first.  I simply had to remember little sips!  I was also still doing Mountain Dew and it, combined with everything else, made me belch a lot.  Pam was saying that if only I could float when I belch like Charlie does in the Chocolate Factory movie.  Oh, how I longed to float!  I never had any real hallucinations, but my eyes and lights in the dark were playing tricks on me.  For a bit I was seeing "butterflies"--kind of like the spots you see if you look in the sun.  But it was dark and they were spots I saw when looking out from my light.  I had used my flashlight most of the way, but I eventually turned my headlamp on too as I felt my light was getting dimmer.  I think the different lighting from the headlamp is what created the "butterflies".  Soon enough, though, the birds started chirping and the sun started coming up.  It was light before I would trade Pam in for Brian.

When I picked up Brian, I only had to do 35 minute miles to reach the finish before the cut-off.  I knew I could do it, and I wanted him to do the math so I didn't have to run any faster than necessary.  Ha!  We made some decent (comparatively) time early on, but I knew the last couple miles were muddy & hilly so I couldn't get excited about almost being done.  I fueled on m&m's (I just stuck them in my mouth and let them melt) and red bull (I never had it before but Brian insisted).  Smal sips.  I kept up the run some, walk some scheme and we passed some people.  One girl I had just passed, proceeded through someone's yard and took a shortcut to get back in front of me.  It really pissed me off.  Why would you shave 30 meters off the course of a 100 mile run!?!  Then I thought, maybe the short cut was legal?  But then that thought pissed me off too because I didn't take it and maybe I should have.  I don't think she was supposed to go through the yard like that though.  I ended up passing her again so there!  When I saw the 99 mile marker, I still did not allow myself to get excited as I knew there was still a good number of minutes to go.  I stopped to go pee with half a mile to go.  I figured I wouldn't want to run off to the porta potty right away when I was done and here I could just go in the woods and it would be so much easier and quicker.  Brian went ahead at this point and found Joe & Brian.  I heard a "whoop whoop" and became very excited.  We all ran together down the hill and I FINISHED!!!
 
I felt great for a spell, and I went to the recovery tent.  I still didn't want to eat or drink, but I tried some spaghetti (about 3 bites).  I got out of my shoes and still felt good but they said I should change my clothes because I would soon get cold.  They were so right!  I went to lay on a cot under a blanket to change and I had to get more blankets and mummify myself.  It was cold.  I still didn't want to eat or drink so the lady got worried and wanted to take my vitals.  She asked what my blood pressure usually is, and I didn't really know (it always seems to change) but I told her something and she said okay and left me alone.  I guess I was in decent shape.  I felt bad though.  Every time I tried to move my legs, it hurt!  I thought I was going to have to lay there all day.  I felt really bad because I knew other people were going to want to go home, but there was simply NO WAY I was moving.  I didn't tell them this, but I was quite concerned.  Anyway, my crew all went to pack up the tent and eat brunch.  I waited to nap.  I couldn't sleep.  Everyone around me was sleeping a bit and then getting up and leaving.  I couldn't sleep.  I guess I eventually did, and I felt a ton better and I got up and went to eat and found my crew.  We waited for the awards ceremony.  They call everyone up.  So even though I beat less than 20 finishers (I beat another 53 who DNF'd) I got to go up and accept my plaque.  Those finishing under 24 hours got a belt buckle.  Jim was 3rd overall in 17:55.  Wow, wow, wow!
 
I napped in the car on the way home, but when I got to Brian's, I wasn't really tired the rest of the night (Brian was. . .I think crewing may likely be more exhausting than running. . .they must do everything without the endorphins).  I finally went to bed around 10, and I didn't sleep that well.  It hurt to move.  I woke up in the middle of the night and ate some left over pizza.  I still can't eat very much at a time, but I get really icky feeling if I wait too long between little meals.  Monday, I lounged in the morning and looked at race results and e-mailed a few people.  In the afternoon I went to the pool and wore my waist belt and kicked my legs around a bit.  I think the cool water and no impact felt nice.  Then I went for a walk with my friend.  When I am in motion, my legs are okay (once in a while my knee seemed to buckle or give out a bit and I remember that after the NPT last year as well).  After I stop, sit, or sleep, it's hard to get going again.  But, it's getting less difficult. My legs hurt (no injuries, just aches), but I guess I have to say they are getting better.  I've been taking ibuprofren.  I usually don't do that, but I figure it should help quicken the healing???   I have no idea how anyone would have went back to work on Monday (or today for that matter).  Some folks are simply amazing!
 

Question of the race. . .Why did Jess's legs hurt already at mile 21???
 
Not enough hill training--up and/or down?
Quads over-compensating for weak hamstring?
Not recovered from GMR?
Too long of taper?
No speed/interval running in last 4 weeks?
Iron defiencency (ran out of supplements and never went to buy more thinking it wasn't that big of a deal)?
Went too hard early on?
No VB for quad strength as in past?
All of the above?  Other?

Old updates:

7/14  I ran 4 miles with my Schenectady group.  I managed 9 min miles and this was key cause one of the guys in my group was going to be in my crew at VT and he needed confirmation that I wasn't injured.  I convinced him, and maybe myself

7/15  Off

7/16  Off

7/17  Off

7/18  100 miles. . .see story above!

Aaaaagggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  Stay tuned to see what that was all about.

6/10  I ran to Central Park and did an hour on the trails there for about 8 miles.

6/11  I did 1-2 miles of warm up and then I did the Route 50 mile run.  I ran a PR of 6:06, but it was a straight course with a 48 foot drop in elevation.  I really think I could have run faster, but I didn't notice the finish line coming up and I didn't hear the person at the 3/4 mile mark (I heard a 1/4 mile mark time and a 1/2 mile mark time and I expected to hear a 3/4 mile mark time) so I sort of slowed down thinking I still had a long way to go and I was getting tired.  Next thing I knew, there was the finish.  I shouldn't have slowed down, I should have kicked it in for the last few meters!  After, we did a workout of 3 x 5 minutes with a 3 minute recovery.  I think it totaled 8-9 miles.

6/12  I did an hour of yoga and an hour of swimming and aqua jogging.

6/13  I did an 11 mile loop in Delmar with ARE members.  It was slow, but that's what I wanted while tapering for the GMR.

6/14  I did ~2 hours of running in Montreal at the Mount Royal park.  I ran up the park hill, down it, and up again but slower the 2nd time because I was pacing a guy who was finishing a 50 mile run.  I felt strong.  It was 10-12 miles total.

6/15  Off day.

6/16  I did 1 mile easy, 2 @ 7:50 pace and then a 400 (1:40), 800 (3:25), 1200 (5:13), 800 (3:24), and 400 (1:37) with 400 recoveries plust another 1/2 mile cool down.  This workout was meant to be an easy taper for the GMR.  Total 7 miles.

6/17  I ran trails in Central Park for 56 minutes for ~6 miles.

6/18  I ran 3 x Union perimeter plus there and back for ~6 miles.

6/19  Off

6/20  Green Mountain Relay!!!  We did the 6x6 women's ultra.  I was leg 3 which meant I ran 35.6 miles total.  My legs were 7.9, 6.8, 5.1, 5.7, 4.4, 5.7.  I felt great with plenty of energy.  I managed splits between 7:15-8:15 on all of them.  Our team broke the course record and covered the 200 miles in 26 hours 32 minutes!  It was so much fun.  On my last leg, with 1.5 miles to go, I strained my hamstring   I had to hobble in.  And it still ails me.  It has gotten a ton better, but it's still not *perfect*.  Thus the explanation for the aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh above   Well, I realized I could take a 4 week taper instead of a 3 week taper and it probably wouldn't hurt me.  I mentally tried to convince myself that it would even be better.  ALL my little damaged/tweaked muscles and joints would have extra recovery time before the 100.  And so I continued with little to no running but a semi-positive attitude.

6/21  Still finishing the relay. . .simply an exhausting day. . .it addition to the running, we had to stay up all night and travel the course and to & from the start and finish.  It was lots of time in a van away from home!

6/22  Off (lots of icing though)

6/23  I continued to ice and I went for a massage   Also, I did a 40 minute swim/aqua jog.

6/24  I did 2-3 mile run at the Summer Solstice.  I knew I should not even try the course so I just ran around the base for a bit.  The hamstring still hurt yet running was not impossible like it had been at the end of Sunday.

6/25  I did 1 1/2 hour aqua jog and swim.  Still icing.

6/26  I did 1 loop around Union plus ran there and back.  The hamstring was better but not okay.  I ran slow & easy with very short strides.

6/27  Off -- traveled to Vegas to meet college friends

6/28  I did some light kicking exercises in the pool at our hotel -- the Wynn   Plus we walked the strip for a bit.  I was bummed to find out that there was a $30 fee to use the gym at my hotel.  I really didn't want to pay that considering I couldn't really work out very well with the injury.

6/29  Gym fee was waived with the purchase of Spa services.  I biked 20 min and did 3 miles on the treadmill at 5.5 mph.  Later in the day I did some light water kicking exercises and jogging (pool was too shallow for real aqua jogging).

6/30  More light water kicking exercises

7/1  Off

7/2  I did an hour and 40 minute run which was slow and easy.  Amazingly, the hamstring felt quite decent.  Perhaps I could have gone longer, but I didn't want to push it, plus I simply didn't need to because after all, I'm tapering.

7/3  I did 2 hour 10 min run with hills.  Again this was slow and easy for most of it.  I tried some pick up tempo pace toward the end which was probably a mistake.  I didn't go fast enough for the stride to be long enough to hurt, but I was noticing that my breathing was out of shape and it was depressing.  But alas, I did not re-injury myself so that had to be good.  I did wonder, however, if the hamstring would give out with 30 hours of this???

7/4  Off

7/5  Off

7/6  I did 4 miles at the Discovery Center trails with a friend (10 min miles).  Then I followed it up with an hour of aqua jogging.  Then I got carried away and went to the track with Brian later that night and jogged another mile and did some backward running and accelerations.  The backward running was good but the accelerations were stupid.  While the hamstring didn't *hurt*, I definitely felt it.  I then speed walked a mile.  Probably overdid it for injury recovery.

7/7  I did an hour of aqua jogging/swimming.  Then I did 30 min on the ARC machine that evening.

7/8  I did 3.5 miles in the PineBush again at ~10 min pace.  The hamstring feels good on these slow runs.  But what will happen when the runs get longer, like say 100 miles????

7/9  I did a 50 min swim.

7/10 I did 2 x Union college plus there and back for 4.4 miles.  Slow and easy.

7/11  Off

7/12  I did the Boilermaker 15k in Utica.  I ran this VERY slow with walk breaks.  I'm really not sure why I did it other than that I always do and a large group was going and I was already signed up.  I didn't really feel like it could hurt me.  And, because I took it easy, I don't think it did, but whoever knows.  Now, I sit around and wonder if it was a stupid idea.  My hamstring doesn't seem any worse, but it doesn't seem any better.  I can run slow without pain, but for how long??????????  100 miles????????????  What to do?  What to do?  I only have 5 days!!!  Bring me magic someone!!!  It may make it???  It may not???  How the hell am I supposed to know???

7/13  Off (and sort of sulking)

More running means less posting on Xanga.

5/27  I ran to Central Park and did an hour on the trails with the group.  My total was 9-10 miles.  My cold was bearable, but I probably shouldn't have run so much.

5/28  Off -- wanted to recover from the cold before the weekend

5/29  Off -- travel to PA to my uncle's before the White Clay Preserve Fat Ass 50k

5/30  Went to run the 50k and realized I had the wrong date.  Uggghhhh!  It was quite embarassing that I drug my boyfriend all the way to PA for an event that was the weekend before.  Ooops.  Oh well, it turned out better.  I ran 7 hours and covered at least 35 miles.  Woohoo--what a training run!!!  My eating & drinking went well and my energy levels remained high.  I did wind up with a pinky toe blister around 4:40 and a calf cramp starting around 5:00.  I used my yoga "breath into it" idea to relieve the cramp, and it worked.  I had the fear of running through it and then aching for weeks like I did after Boston last year, but it never really was that bad, and it didn't hurt at all the next day.  I sat in a cold creek at the end of this run.

5/31  Off

6/1  Cross training:  20 min seated bike; 20 min upright bike; 15 min elliptical

6/2  Run to/from bikepath + 2 mile warm up.  Then 4 x 400 at 1:31, 1:28, 1:26, 1:28.  These were quick for me, and I took plenty of recovery. . .an entire lap of walking/jogging.  Then I went on a mile jog with the rest of the group and did 2 x 800 with them at 3:21, 3:25.  Then I had to leave early for a birthday party

6/3  I did the High Rock Chair climb near Palenville, NY.  This was 2.25 miles up the mountain, and then we paused at the overlook and then ran 5 miles to get back down.  I didn't race this, but I did run section of the downhill at a good clip as training.

6/4  I ran the Vale Park 5k race.  I ran there and did 2 miles as warm up.   I did the race in 21:44 which was not quite a PR, but considering I felt tired and did not race my hardest, I was pleased.  It was a rocky course with a big hill as well.  I think my first mile was too fast, but live and learn.  I jogged the course again afterward for a cool down.  Total = 9 miles

6/5  I did a 5 mile run at Kripalu with my friend.  It was after dinner, and I definitely felt the effects of the full meal   Normally Friday is my off day so this was tough all the way around.

6/6  I did a yoga class at 6:30am, a 6 mile trail run at 9:00am, a yoga class at 12:00, a 3 mile run at 3:30, a yoga class at 4:15, and a 6 mile run at 6:00.  Wow.  What a day!  We were training for the Green Mountain Relay where we'll be doing 6 legs over the course of 30 hours for a total of 30ish miles.  It's going to be AWESOME!!!  After all the runs/yoga, I had a massage and loved it!

6/7  I did yoga at 6:30 and then did 1 1/2 hour trail run.  We only intended to run an hour, but we missed a turn.  Ooops.

6/8  Off

6/9  I did a 2 mile warm up and then a ladder workout.  400 in 1:37, 800 in 3:22, 1200 in 5:09, 1600 in 6:55, 1200 in 5:06, 800 in 3:20, and 400 in 1:33.  I did a 200 meter jog in between each.  I also did a mile cool down for a total of ~7.5 miles.