My brother Steve lives in Vernon, BC which is about 40 mins or so from Kelowna, where the Okanagan marathon took place last Sunday! Since the race started at 7am we had to get up at 4:45am so we could eat breakfast and be ready to leave by 5:30. Several things screwed us up from leaving on time...I didn't change my watch back 1 hour for BC time so when I set my watch for 4:45am it woke me up at 3:45 which sucked! So then when I fixed it, I either did it wrong or I slept through the alarm and ended up waking up around 4:55am. Apparently Steve knocked on my door but I didn't hear it.
It was a cold morning and I was slow getting ready and we left the house a few mins late. Then after driving a couple of mins I realized I forgot my hand bottle and we had to go back and get it...and so by the time we left a second time it was 5:45...woops. I thought it only took a half hour to get there but that's to the outskirts of Kelowna. After getting every freakin light possible on the way we ended up getting there at 6:40ish, parked in some residential area, peed in the bushes, stripped down to our racing clothes, and ran to the start as our warmup. It was -10 C in Kelowna...holy F! Of course there were some crazies in their singlets and short shorts...I was in 3/4 tights, long sleeve, vest, baseball hat and gloves...turned out to be the perfect amount of clothes for me!
There were too many people to get through as the half marathoners were starting at the same time so we climbed the fence to get into the coral and started right up front. The gun went off and as I watched Steve take off I thought, ok well that's the last i'll see of him! I had intended to do a slower first km to warm up a bit but when I looked at my watch it was at a 4:15 min/km pace and for some reason I just couldn't make myself slow down! So I said what the heck and I just went with it...figured I may as well experiment and see how long I can keep this pace up...might work well or I might die a slow and painful death!
Even though I had a quick pace going on the first 5km seemed to take FOREVER...and because of the cold I couldn't feel my legs for probably the first 10km...they felt so numb and my stride felt super awkward. When I got to the 10km marker I was a little shocked to see my time was 44 mins...only 2 mins slower than my 10km PB! That kind of freaked me out and then I was definitely worried I went out too fast! But, I still felt good so just went with it.
As the sun finally started to come up, I finally began to warm up a bit! My friend Paddy caught up to me around 13km and we would end up running together off and on for the next 20km or so which was nice. At the 16km there is the first timing mat and here we part ways with the half marathoners. I crossed at 1:09 and was pretty pleased with that time! The last time I ran a 10 mile race my time was a heck of a lot slower than that!
Anyways, I was pumped that all the girls that had been around me were all going to the right for the half marathon as I went on to the left. Soon after that an aid station came and people were cheering at me and kept telling me I was the first woman through in the marathon. Instantly, I was like oh no, really? I don't really like to be told that...kind of feels like they're jinxing me...then I end up running scared for the rest of the race and am always just waiting for a woman to pass me!! I would continue to hear I was the first woman for the rest of the race from volunteers as well as spectators along the way.
Around 18 or 19km we bagan the lone hill in the race...it was actually a pretty long gradual hill but it wasn't a big deal...I passed a lot of people going up this hill which I liked. Up ahead I saw the leader in the marathon round a corner and continue on down the hill. I was like sweet, I'm gonna see Steve in here! Two more guys come out and then Steve pops out shortly after...I was so pumped for him being in 4th place! We were both yelling at each other and cheering and as a result my heart rate instantly skyrocketed, as did my pace since I was so excited! I thought, Shit Deb, take it down a notch, you're going to die before the halfway point! I reached the half marathon point at around 1:32-1:33...4 mins faster than my half PB! Of course then you start thinking, wow I wish I could double that and run the same time for the next half...I'd get a 3:06 or something!
I knew that wasn't going to happen when I hit the 30km mark and almost instantly felt like hell. The road was taking it's toll on my legs huge...they hurt so much, as did my left foot with the whole plantar fasciitis garbage i've got going on. I looked at my watch and was not happy with what I saw...my pace slowed huge! With 10km to go Paddy kept talking me through it and giving me words of encouragement before leaving me to suffer on my own! The next 8km were pretty much a blur and I don't know how I got through it without stopping. My pace was still decent but just not where I wished it would be!
Then the 40km mark came and I hear 2 people behind me...I look to my left as a guy goes by...then I see a shadow ahead of me as the next person starts to pass...all i think is shit, that's definitely a girl...and I look over and i'm BUMMED! Getting passed with 2 km to go and zero energy to go with her, sucks!!!! She didn't get any farther ahead for a while so I thought maybe she'll die or i'll have enough energy at the end to pass her. I have to mention here that these last few kms were a friggin gong show...it was super confusing and there weren't any volunteers around pointing you where to go as we ran through these last few subdivisions. So a bunch of us (and later I would find out, a huge number of marathoners) took this little 500m or so loop that was meant for half marathoners only! We get to the end and it says half marathon turn around point. A few of us stopped dead and were like WTF? Did we go the wrong way? There was nobody around to tell us anything so we had no idea if that had been right.
Anyways, blah blah blah that was annoying, got over it, finished the race and that's that. I couldn't catch the girl that passed me, nor did I care in the least at that point...and I placed second in 3:12:07....taking over 7 mins off my best marathon time. Not too shabby!
The results were posted and they have me and the 1st place woman in 2nd and 3rd and we're like WTF? There's no way...who is this woman that they say ran a 3:03 chip time/3:07 gun time? And if she really does exist, why would she start 4 mins back from the start of the race if you're going to likely win...why did she not pick up any of her awards at the end...why did she cross the 16km timing mat in 2:19 (a full hour and 10 mins after me) and not cross any other timing mats? Despite all of this and chatting with the race director about it...he was a total ass and it was obvious he didn't believe us but told us he would look into it. I decided to email him about it on tuesday and just got a response saying "it's under review". Today I noticed the results have finally been changed and she has been removed from the first place spot! I have a feeling perhaps she was a marathon runner or walker that decided to only do the half and the results got screwed up and they placed her first. Anyway, here is the link to the results...and check out who took 2nd place overall in the marathon...Steve!! Mister mountain runner decided kind of last minute to run his first road marathon and he killed it...2:54!
Oh wait, update...just noticed they have already adjusted the times for those doing the extra loop and they've got me down as running a 3:09...too funny. Weird. I wonder if I mentioned it to the race director when I was talking to him after the race and that's why he changed it? I'm pretty sure without the extra 500m loop or whatever it is they're saying it was that I didn't run a 3:09! That's crazy. I'm sticking with my 3:12 thank you very much. I don't like all of this adjusting times business...until I run a marathon where it says 3:09 when I cross the line then I ran a 3:12. They adjusted one of the guys that placed behind Steve and he has ended up infront of him now and pushing him to 3rd. Whatevs. Like I said this race was a bit of a gong show! And what about the people that will say they did the extra loop when they didn't, just so they could have their times adjusted? You know there's definitely people out there that will do it. I'm sorry but if that's what you have to do to qualify for Boston...well that's just about the lamest thing I've heard.
Ok that's it, that's all i've got on the topic. I'm still recovering this week and haven't done a bloody thing! I drove home on monday and celebrated the end of my racing season that night with a friend and we each drank a bottle of red wine. So good! :) My legs still hate me and i'm not sure when i'm going to attempt my first run but i'm planning on enjoying some hiking and camping this weekend in Fernie! Woot!!
deb
Showing posts with label Kelowna. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kelowna. Show all posts
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
#5
Sunday will be my 5th marathon (on the road)...and I don't know how I feel about it. I'm still relatively inexperienced when it comes to racing...especially marathons...so I never really go into it with a game plan and still feel like I have no idea what i'm doing. And I keep going through waves of excitement and dread. On the one hand, I'm excited to run a road race again as I haven't done one since Boston way back in April...and after a summer of hard training and trail racing I feel like i'm stronger, fitter and faster.
However. this has been a long 2 weeks of taper for me and I just hate tapering more than anything...it starts to play mind games with you...making you doubt yourself and feel like you're not ready and that you should be doing more...even though it has always proved to be a good thing in the end. Then I get more and more nervous and anxious and want the damn race to get here already so I can calm down. I don't get this nervous for trail races and I think it's because I've never really paid attention to the clock and where I should be at certain points along the way. With road races I always have big goals for a certain time that I want to achieve and i'm never quite sure if they're unrealistic or not. Right now i'll keep that goal to myself and let you know next week if I achieved it or not!!
As of today, i'm feeling excited again and looking forward to getting out there and rockin it. I do best in cold temps and it's going to be a chilly start at 7am with a high of 8 for the day...sounds pretty great to me. I think as I get closer and closer to Sunday i'll continue to feel more and more excited and the feelings of doubt will go away.
Tomorrow is my friday off so i'll just wake up whenever I wake up...pack up Logan and my stuff and head off to Vernon. I'm excited to see Steve, Kira and my niece Julia again...especially for Thanksgiving!! Plus my brother is really really good at getting me pumped for races...he's always so stoked and optimistic. I'm still waiting to hear if he's decided to run it or not...it's going to be a last minute decision on his part I guess.
That's it for now.....oh and good luck to Trevor who'll also be in Kelowna racing it, to Cam rockin the marathon in Victoria, and to Kelly racing the Chicago marathon!
However. this has been a long 2 weeks of taper for me and I just hate tapering more than anything...it starts to play mind games with you...making you doubt yourself and feel like you're not ready and that you should be doing more...even though it has always proved to be a good thing in the end. Then I get more and more nervous and anxious and want the damn race to get here already so I can calm down. I don't get this nervous for trail races and I think it's because I've never really paid attention to the clock and where I should be at certain points along the way. With road races I always have big goals for a certain time that I want to achieve and i'm never quite sure if they're unrealistic or not. Right now i'll keep that goal to myself and let you know next week if I achieved it or not!!
As of today, i'm feeling excited again and looking forward to getting out there and rockin it. I do best in cold temps and it's going to be a chilly start at 7am with a high of 8 for the day...sounds pretty great to me. I think as I get closer and closer to Sunday i'll continue to feel more and more excited and the feelings of doubt will go away.
Tomorrow is my friday off so i'll just wake up whenever I wake up...pack up Logan and my stuff and head off to Vernon. I'm excited to see Steve, Kira and my niece Julia again...especially for Thanksgiving!! Plus my brother is really really good at getting me pumped for races...he's always so stoked and optimistic. I'm still waiting to hear if he's decided to run it or not...it's going to be a last minute decision on his part I guess.
That's it for now.....oh and good luck to Trevor who'll also be in Kelowna racing it, to Cam rockin the marathon in Victoria, and to Kelly racing the Chicago marathon!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Scorched Sole 50km Ultra
What a great weekend I had in Vernon/Kelowna! It's such a beautiful spot and the weather is awesome this time of year. I was very lucky to escape the cold and snow that Calgary had this weekend. One word sums that up...Retarded.
After work on Thursday I packed up my dog Logan and my gear and headed out on the long drive. I'm usually not great at driving for long distances as I often get extremely sleepy. I thought it might be worse going out after work but I was pretty excited for the weekend and didn't have much of a problem. It was a 6 hour drive and I made one stop in Golden which is about halfway in between. One really great thing about driving to BC after work is the 1 hour time change in your favour so while it was 10:30 in Calgary when I got there, it was only 9:30 in Vernon and still nice and light out!
My brother Steve and Kira (his wife) were both working on friday so I had the day to myself to relax and of course do a little shopping! I know, it's weird that i'm going to a small place like Vernon to shop but they have some great stores there as well as a great gear store that my brother manages...Valhalla Pure Outfitters! Of course I spent a huge amount of time (and money) there as I get a family deal through him! I also bought a super thick kick ass thermarest that is going to be amazing for Transrockies. It's definitely not one you'd bring on a backpacking trip as it weighs a ton but it'll be perfect for Transrockies!
Friday night Steve whipped up an awesome pasta meal and we followed that up with some ice cream which made me very happy :) I was like hey...i'm running 50km tomorrow, i'm going to eat whatever I want leading up to it...and I did!
Anyhow, we had an early rise as my race started at 7am, Steve's at 7:30 and it would be around 45 mins to get there. I slept quite well until my alarm went off at 4:45am...my first thoughts when that happens on race day is always "I do not want to do this today!" It's what happens to me every single race day...I never wake up stoked...not even at Boston! I'm just not a morning person and I don't feel good to go until I get to the race and see all of the other excited runner buzz going on! Plus I was also starting to realize that uh oh..50km is a long way and who knows how long it'll take me to do! I've never run longer than 4hours in my life and that's on the road which is much quicker!
Steve and I pulled into the parking lot and I started to get more excited as I saw runners around. The 50 miler runners had already left at 6am for their long day! It was about 6:30 and I had time to pick up my bib, pee, slap on sunscreen and all that fun stuff. Here are a couple of pics of my brother and me before the race.
I didn't get a chance to warm up much before the race aside from a little stretching. When the horn blew at 7am and the race started I was not too pleased at the steady climbing that began immediately...even though I did read a previous race report that the first 11km was uphill...ugh...and it was! After a couple of kilometres I felt much better as I was finally warmed up. Starting a race uphill really sucks! The whole time I was thinking to myself...I really hope my brother doesn't catch up to me before our courses separate. He started a half hour after me and we shared the same course for the first 12km. He's a super quick runner and wasn't planning on holding anything back! And guess what...he didn't catch me, wahoo! My course went off on another direction for some more hill climbing that I wasn't starting to mind quite so much. The first 25km of this race was quite tough as there was 3500 ft of elevation to gain, yikes. I met an awesome "ironman" that I ran about 12km with in the first half and we chatted about everything and after finding out he did ironman the last 3 years in a row of course I had to pick his brain :) I got a little tired and he took off just before we reached the midway point of the race.
After the first 2 aid stations the volunteers knew who I was from then on which was pretty cool. THey'd see me coming and say hey Deb...you're the girl that woke up this morning and decided to switch from 25km to 50km lol (the race director didn't change my registration as promised so everyone thought it was a last minute thing). And everyone I met from then on would say "You're the first 50km woman through" which still continued to surprise me the more I heard it!
As I pass the midway point of any race I do, I get happier and happier from then on as you don't have this overwhelming amount of mileage left to do. I started to feel great after 25km...plus most of the hills were overwith and there were some great flats to cover! I felt great and was running quite fast which really surprised me at this point...after all of that climbing I could still do sub 5 min kilometres! Sweet! I caught up to the guy I had spent a long time running with at around the 38 km mark. He was super surprised when he saw me and told me he took off too early and he was starting to fade. We stuck together for a while and passed some of the 50 milers we caught up to...they were so funny and yelled out to me "way to go, you're the first 50km woman to go by". All of this cheering definitely helped to push me along!
At about 39km the trail took a sharp right down into the trees for some fast and steep single track. I'm not good with those type of downhills but the guy I was with insisted I go first. I was good for about 4km and then there was an aid station at the marathon point. It was a good sight to see and I downed some orange slices (my new favorite thing while trail running!) and dumped some water on my head. It was starting to get warm! My buddy was like, ok let's go! And we took off again. I told him to go first and he was a rockstar on the downhills and after about a kilometre I totally bailed! Haha...god, are you surprised after last weeks result? Too funny. At least I made it to 43km before crashing. This time I skinned my left knee pretty bad but all was good. He stopped for me and asked if I was ok and I told him to keep going but he totally waited. God I wish I had gotten his name! Funny how you can spend so much time running with someone in a race and chatting about your entire lives and you forget to introduce yourselves and never see them again!
Anyway, he pulled away as it was pretty much all downhill from here on out and I was left by myself for the last 5km. It was pretty cool to think to myself that every step from here on in was the furthest I had ever run before. It was so satisfying! With about 500m or so to go there are people on the course hiking or riding their bikes. I'm running behind this couple and their dog and I think, I hope they turn around and let me pass before I have to yell out to them. THey turn around as I approach and it's Steve and Kira! We all look at each other in surprise and they're like holy shit, way to go and start yelling and cheering out for me all the way down. It was sooo awesome and I actually think it was cooler seeing them at that point than it would be if they were at the finish line! Based on my time from the 25km last week and what I thought I could do, they did not think I would finish the race so early...yeah I broke 5 hours...I finished my first 50km in 4:50!! That's way off from the 6 hour time I predicted hahaha. And I was indeed the first woman to cross the line :) Here is a link to the results...my brother kicked butt and came 3rd overall in his 25km race. Not a bad start to training for Transrockies by Team Pine Line!!!
What did I get for my hard work besides total satisfaction and sense of accomplishment in my first 50km?! I got a pretty cool plaque for my age group win...and for my overall win I got a bottle of red wine from one of the local wineries in the Okanagan as well as free entry into next years race! Not too shabby :) I'll post some race pics when they show up on the race website.
After the race there was a bbq which I thoroughly enjoyed. Nothing better than a big burger after something like that! We drove back to Vernon and took the dogs to pet beach...what an awesome spot! The water wasn't too bad for wading either. If only it had been there at the end of the race. I would have jumped right in! My hip was quite sore yesterday and I was stiff and moving a little slow but today i'm feeling pretty great. I can't believe how incredible I feel in comparison to 2 days after Boston. Trail running really is a gazillion times better on the body than road running. I'm not sure when I'll run this week as I still want to rest. But i'm super happy how good i'm feeling 2 days later!
Well that's it for now! Sorry about the super long post :)
Deb
After work on Thursday I packed up my dog Logan and my gear and headed out on the long drive. I'm usually not great at driving for long distances as I often get extremely sleepy. I thought it might be worse going out after work but I was pretty excited for the weekend and didn't have much of a problem. It was a 6 hour drive and I made one stop in Golden which is about halfway in between. One really great thing about driving to BC after work is the 1 hour time change in your favour so while it was 10:30 in Calgary when I got there, it was only 9:30 in Vernon and still nice and light out!
My brother Steve and Kira (his wife) were both working on friday so I had the day to myself to relax and of course do a little shopping! I know, it's weird that i'm going to a small place like Vernon to shop but they have some great stores there as well as a great gear store that my brother manages...Valhalla Pure Outfitters! Of course I spent a huge amount of time (and money) there as I get a family deal through him! I also bought a super thick kick ass thermarest that is going to be amazing for Transrockies. It's definitely not one you'd bring on a backpacking trip as it weighs a ton but it'll be perfect for Transrockies!
Friday night Steve whipped up an awesome pasta meal and we followed that up with some ice cream which made me very happy :) I was like hey...i'm running 50km tomorrow, i'm going to eat whatever I want leading up to it...and I did!
Anyhow, we had an early rise as my race started at 7am, Steve's at 7:30 and it would be around 45 mins to get there. I slept quite well until my alarm went off at 4:45am...my first thoughts when that happens on race day is always "I do not want to do this today!" It's what happens to me every single race day...I never wake up stoked...not even at Boston! I'm just not a morning person and I don't feel good to go until I get to the race and see all of the other excited runner buzz going on! Plus I was also starting to realize that uh oh..50km is a long way and who knows how long it'll take me to do! I've never run longer than 4hours in my life and that's on the road which is much quicker!
Steve and I pulled into the parking lot and I started to get more excited as I saw runners around. The 50 miler runners had already left at 6am for their long day! It was about 6:30 and I had time to pick up my bib, pee, slap on sunscreen and all that fun stuff. Here are a couple of pics of my brother and me before the race.
I didn't get a chance to warm up much before the race aside from a little stretching. When the horn blew at 7am and the race started I was not too pleased at the steady climbing that began immediately...even though I did read a previous race report that the first 11km was uphill...ugh...and it was! After a couple of kilometres I felt much better as I was finally warmed up. Starting a race uphill really sucks! The whole time I was thinking to myself...I really hope my brother doesn't catch up to me before our courses separate. He started a half hour after me and we shared the same course for the first 12km. He's a super quick runner and wasn't planning on holding anything back! And guess what...he didn't catch me, wahoo! My course went off on another direction for some more hill climbing that I wasn't starting to mind quite so much. The first 25km of this race was quite tough as there was 3500 ft of elevation to gain, yikes. I met an awesome "ironman" that I ran about 12km with in the first half and we chatted about everything and after finding out he did ironman the last 3 years in a row of course I had to pick his brain :) I got a little tired and he took off just before we reached the midway point of the race.
After the first 2 aid stations the volunteers knew who I was from then on which was pretty cool. THey'd see me coming and say hey Deb...you're the girl that woke up this morning and decided to switch from 25km to 50km lol (the race director didn't change my registration as promised so everyone thought it was a last minute thing). And everyone I met from then on would say "You're the first 50km woman through" which still continued to surprise me the more I heard it!
As I pass the midway point of any race I do, I get happier and happier from then on as you don't have this overwhelming amount of mileage left to do. I started to feel great after 25km...plus most of the hills were overwith and there were some great flats to cover! I felt great and was running quite fast which really surprised me at this point...after all of that climbing I could still do sub 5 min kilometres! Sweet! I caught up to the guy I had spent a long time running with at around the 38 km mark. He was super surprised when he saw me and told me he took off too early and he was starting to fade. We stuck together for a while and passed some of the 50 milers we caught up to...they were so funny and yelled out to me "way to go, you're the first 50km woman to go by". All of this cheering definitely helped to push me along!
At about 39km the trail took a sharp right down into the trees for some fast and steep single track. I'm not good with those type of downhills but the guy I was with insisted I go first. I was good for about 4km and then there was an aid station at the marathon point. It was a good sight to see and I downed some orange slices (my new favorite thing while trail running!) and dumped some water on my head. It was starting to get warm! My buddy was like, ok let's go! And we took off again. I told him to go first and he was a rockstar on the downhills and after about a kilometre I totally bailed! Haha...god, are you surprised after last weeks result? Too funny. At least I made it to 43km before crashing. This time I skinned my left knee pretty bad but all was good. He stopped for me and asked if I was ok and I told him to keep going but he totally waited. God I wish I had gotten his name! Funny how you can spend so much time running with someone in a race and chatting about your entire lives and you forget to introduce yourselves and never see them again!
Anyway, he pulled away as it was pretty much all downhill from here on out and I was left by myself for the last 5km. It was pretty cool to think to myself that every step from here on in was the furthest I had ever run before. It was so satisfying! With about 500m or so to go there are people on the course hiking or riding their bikes. I'm running behind this couple and their dog and I think, I hope they turn around and let me pass before I have to yell out to them. THey turn around as I approach and it's Steve and Kira! We all look at each other in surprise and they're like holy shit, way to go and start yelling and cheering out for me all the way down. It was sooo awesome and I actually think it was cooler seeing them at that point than it would be if they were at the finish line! Based on my time from the 25km last week and what I thought I could do, they did not think I would finish the race so early...yeah I broke 5 hours...I finished my first 50km in 4:50!! That's way off from the 6 hour time I predicted hahaha. And I was indeed the first woman to cross the line :) Here is a link to the results...my brother kicked butt and came 3rd overall in his 25km race. Not a bad start to training for Transrockies by Team Pine Line!!!
What did I get for my hard work besides total satisfaction and sense of accomplishment in my first 50km?! I got a pretty cool plaque for my age group win...and for my overall win I got a bottle of red wine from one of the local wineries in the Okanagan as well as free entry into next years race! Not too shabby :) I'll post some race pics when they show up on the race website.
After the race there was a bbq which I thoroughly enjoyed. Nothing better than a big burger after something like that! We drove back to Vernon and took the dogs to pet beach...what an awesome spot! The water wasn't too bad for wading either. If only it had been there at the end of the race. I would have jumped right in! My hip was quite sore yesterday and I was stiff and moving a little slow but today i'm feeling pretty great. I can't believe how incredible I feel in comparison to 2 days after Boston. Trail running really is a gazillion times better on the body than road running. I'm not sure when I'll run this week as I still want to rest. But i'm super happy how good i'm feeling 2 days later!
Well that's it for now! Sorry about the super long post :)
Deb
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Nipika Crazy Soles 25km
Finally...some kind of race report from me! Guess this'll be my first one since I totally dropped the ball with Boston and didn't really do any kind of report. What kind of a lazy a$$ blogger am I?!
So, yeah this saturday past was to be my first trail race ever...very exciting! I had no idea what to expect, how to pace myself, what to do...I was a total newbie out of my element! I've kind of got the pacing thing down with road racing but with trailrunning it's a whole new world!
I got up at 5am Saturday morning so I could eat, do last minute packing and leave my house by 6am. Surprisingly enough I managed to leave on time! I was tired but actually kind of excited to do this mini road trip by myself! People told me I could do the drive in 2.5 hours but probably allow for 3 hours to be safe. It took me about 2 hours and 40 mins...and it was actually a super pleasant trip and I didn't mind the drive at all! I had the music going and sang along the entire way :) Nipika Mountain Resort is a beautiful spot hidden away about 14km down a dirt road off of the main Highway 93 that takes you to the fabulous Radium Hot Springs in BC.
So I get there before 9am...one of the first people there...and the race isn't until 11! There's lots of time for me to get my sh!t together and get organized! It was supposed to be around 15ºC so I wasn't sure if I'd wear a T or tank...stuff like that. I wandered around, chatted with a few people I recognized from the Trail Trash running group in Calgary but was mostly on my own just chilling out. It was great! Well it warmed up super quick and was probably 20ºC by the time the race started. So as we were getting called to the race meeting at 10:45 I quickly changed to a tank, slapped on some sunscreen and was ready to go. One of the ultramarathon girls had recommended her favorite choice in hydration packs...one made by Nathan which is more like a vest and it has pockets in the front for your gels, camera and whatever else you feel like bringing! I had the bladder filled with Nuun...my favorite form of hydration and electrolyte replacement on the run! I was good to go!
I had wondered how well marked this trail would be and if I'd get lost at all. This being my first trail race I really had no idea what to expect. At our pre-race meeting the race director said that it was marked by orange flagging tape and before a turn off there is added blue flagging tape. If the blue tape is on your right, you're going right...on the left, you're going left! It made sense to me and I was happy to find it very well marked and I didn't get confused! Fewf!
So the race began at 11am sharp...about 35 of us running the 25km started from a meadow and that ended very quickly as we made our way into the trees and onto some fun single track for most of the race. My first 10km were pretty tough as I had no idea how to pace myself, I wasn't skilled in single track, and I didn't want to be alone right from the beginning as people took off. I settled behind a group of 3 other runners for a bit and didn't mind the pace but was a little worried it might be too quick. As the pace slowed a bit I decided it was slower than I liked so I decided to pass and keep going. I may as well see what I can do on this thing and not worry about being on my own for much of the run. While I noticed that very few people carried bear spray...I on the other hand was terrified so I did have it attached to the back of my hydration pack. People were even wearing ipods which shocked me as that's the last thing I want to do in the middle of the forest...I want to be able to hear people coming up behind me and/or the bears that are out there!!
The first aid station came quick at almost the 7km mark and I was super happy when I saw it as I was getting hot already and wanted to dump water on my head which I did. I grabbed a couple of orange slices, said Thanks to the people manning the station, and kept going. Instantly I felt better! The first 10km loop was pretty tough with a couple of steep drops down and climbs up from the river but oh what beautiful scenery! I wish I didn't have to pay as much attention to all of the roots and rocks I was racing around and look up more often! I think more people are skilled at this but I am not!
The 10km loop ended back where we started at the meadow and I wasn't feeling that great again but as I made my way to the next aid station, dumped on more water, I felt much better pretty quick! I was ready for my 15km loop! I didn't spend a ton of time at the aid stations and found I would always catch some people there and stick with them for a bit after. I caught up to a man around the 13th km and we chatted for a bit and then we got to a bit of a hill and he said have a great race and dropped back. I was disappointed as I really enjoyed the company and was hoping he'd be around for a bit longer. I was by myself yet again! Kilometer 15 was the last aid station! I was disappointed as I thought, I can't believe how hot it's gotten today...must be well over 20 by now?! Again the water on my head felt great...I ate some more orange slices and some yummy salty chips! Sigh, so good!
After this station I had caught up to a younger guy which I stuck to his heals as best I could for the next 5km I would say. Hopefully I wasn't pissing him off too much as I was loving the company. We didn't chat at all and I did have the feeling I was a bit annoying with my heavy stalker breathing going on behind him lol. He was INCREDIBLE on the downhills...there was super steep stuff leading us down to the river and he'd take off and leave me in his dust but as soon as we got back to the flats and hills I would immediately catch him again. I'm super nervous about those crazy downhills and I don't know if I'll ever get over that.
Eventually the 2 of us caught up to another couple...this guy had a bear bell on his pack...I have to say right now that I hate those things soooo much. Has anyone else besides me heard of bear bells being referred to as "dinner bells"? Yeah that's right...I don't trust them, and I don't use them...plus they're annoying as hell! The guy I was with stepped aside for me to pass and then I passed the dinner bell folks as well and quickly got away so I wouldn't have to hear that anymore!
So i'm motoring along by myself...thinking about bears unfortunately...I get to around 22km and what do I do? I trip and fall! I'm like WTF...did that just happen? I don't even know if there was any real roots there, what did I trip on? I laughed at myself as it was obvious I was just getting tired at this point and dragging my feet! I managed to maneuver around the other crazy roots and rocks up to this point and now I trip on next to nothing. Too funny. A couple of minutes later, I go down hard AGAIN! This time I did trip on a giant root...just me being tired and stupid! Now i'm just angry...and I drew blood LOL. I've been wearing skirts to work all week and don't my legs look damn sexy with my battle wounds he he. Anyhow, I kept looking back as I was sure someone would catch me while I was being stupid but there was still nobody around.
2 kilometres to go and guess what I see... a new aid station! I was like, I'm so happy to see you, I thought the last station was it?!? He said, it was but the finishers that have come in said it was soooo hot out there that they really wished there would have been something. I could have kissed him. I said you made my day, you've no idea! :) Then I look back and somebody has caught up to me...a guy that I passed probably back at 8km or something. Damn! Anyways, we leave at the same time and he takes off and I just can't catch him. I briefly slow down to chat with someone and then I hear dinner bells in the distance...ooohh i've gotta go, the bear bell guy is driving me nuts!
At around the last kilometre or so, I see the Nipika Lodge...there's a ton of people there cheering and everything and i'm so relieved to be done. Then I realize there's this detour that's taking us away from the lodge and loops around before going back to the meadow to add on the last kilometre. It was a nasty little trick but my Garmin told me that it ended up pretty much dead on at 25km. I was impressed. I get to the end very satisfied with my first trail race! I enjoy lots of oranges and lots of chips!
I chat with someone who informs me that there's a little "wading" type pool that has been made behind the cabins from a stream that flows by. I'm thinking, hell yeah! It was quite cold but not unbearable as it was fairly shallow and the sun was heating it up. I slowly walked in up to my waist and it felt phenomenal. I've never been able to do an ice bath after a race as it's just too darn cold to sit in a tub like that but standing in this water was amazing. I'm sure it definitely contributed huge to me feeling little soreness the next day! They should have wading pools at the end of every marathon...can you imagine? That would be awesome! :)
So how did I do? I finished in a time of 2:38...better than the 3 hours I predicted! I think I mentioned previously that I came 3rd in my age group...yay...oh wait, that's 3rd out of 5. Damn. But wait...the official results are up and I came 4th out of the 20 females that did it, wahoo! Not too shabby for my first trail race :)
Well that's about it...I feel like the race was mostly a blur now and I probably should try and blog about it in the same day! I brought my camera along but really enjoyed running along and had no real desire to take pictures that day unfortunately. Here are a couple I snagged from Hugh of the Trail Trash group. They are of the meadow at the start...and a fun little bridge we had to cross in the first 10km.
So what's next for me? Remember I said I was debating between the 25km and the 50km race this weekend in Kelowna? Well I emailed the race director yesterday and asked if they wouldn't mind changing my registration from 25km to 50km. She said not a problem and was I sure I didn't want to do the 50 miler?! Hahahaha. I said thank you very much but the 50km will be jusssst fine. Wish me luck, i'm terrified! Lucky for me the forecast for Kelowna on saturday is a very nice 19ºC...down from the 30ºC it's been every day this week!
My dog Logan and I are packing up and heading out on the 6 hour drive to Vernon tomorrow night after work where my brother, sister in-law, and dog Milo live. The race starts at 7am saturday morning so we've got an early rise to drive the half hour to Kelowna and get ready for 7am! I'm getting nervous about this race already.
Have a great weekend everybody! Oh and a big shout out to my best friend Jeff on his first half ironman race of the season on Sunday in Oliver! He's gonna kick some major butt! :)
Deb
So, yeah this saturday past was to be my first trail race ever...very exciting! I had no idea what to expect, how to pace myself, what to do...I was a total newbie out of my element! I've kind of got the pacing thing down with road racing but with trailrunning it's a whole new world!
I got up at 5am Saturday morning so I could eat, do last minute packing and leave my house by 6am. Surprisingly enough I managed to leave on time! I was tired but actually kind of excited to do this mini road trip by myself! People told me I could do the drive in 2.5 hours but probably allow for 3 hours to be safe. It took me about 2 hours and 40 mins...and it was actually a super pleasant trip and I didn't mind the drive at all! I had the music going and sang along the entire way :) Nipika Mountain Resort is a beautiful spot hidden away about 14km down a dirt road off of the main Highway 93 that takes you to the fabulous Radium Hot Springs in BC.
So I get there before 9am...one of the first people there...and the race isn't until 11! There's lots of time for me to get my sh!t together and get organized! It was supposed to be around 15ºC so I wasn't sure if I'd wear a T or tank...stuff like that. I wandered around, chatted with a few people I recognized from the Trail Trash running group in Calgary but was mostly on my own just chilling out. It was great! Well it warmed up super quick and was probably 20ºC by the time the race started. So as we were getting called to the race meeting at 10:45 I quickly changed to a tank, slapped on some sunscreen and was ready to go. One of the ultramarathon girls had recommended her favorite choice in hydration packs...one made by Nathan which is more like a vest and it has pockets in the front for your gels, camera and whatever else you feel like bringing! I had the bladder filled with Nuun...my favorite form of hydration and electrolyte replacement on the run! I was good to go!
I had wondered how well marked this trail would be and if I'd get lost at all. This being my first trail race I really had no idea what to expect. At our pre-race meeting the race director said that it was marked by orange flagging tape and before a turn off there is added blue flagging tape. If the blue tape is on your right, you're going right...on the left, you're going left! It made sense to me and I was happy to find it very well marked and I didn't get confused! Fewf!
So the race began at 11am sharp...about 35 of us running the 25km started from a meadow and that ended very quickly as we made our way into the trees and onto some fun single track for most of the race. My first 10km were pretty tough as I had no idea how to pace myself, I wasn't skilled in single track, and I didn't want to be alone right from the beginning as people took off. I settled behind a group of 3 other runners for a bit and didn't mind the pace but was a little worried it might be too quick. As the pace slowed a bit I decided it was slower than I liked so I decided to pass and keep going. I may as well see what I can do on this thing and not worry about being on my own for much of the run. While I noticed that very few people carried bear spray...I on the other hand was terrified so I did have it attached to the back of my hydration pack. People were even wearing ipods which shocked me as that's the last thing I want to do in the middle of the forest...I want to be able to hear people coming up behind me and/or the bears that are out there!!
The first aid station came quick at almost the 7km mark and I was super happy when I saw it as I was getting hot already and wanted to dump water on my head which I did. I grabbed a couple of orange slices, said Thanks to the people manning the station, and kept going. Instantly I felt better! The first 10km loop was pretty tough with a couple of steep drops down and climbs up from the river but oh what beautiful scenery! I wish I didn't have to pay as much attention to all of the roots and rocks I was racing around and look up more often! I think more people are skilled at this but I am not!
The 10km loop ended back where we started at the meadow and I wasn't feeling that great again but as I made my way to the next aid station, dumped on more water, I felt much better pretty quick! I was ready for my 15km loop! I didn't spend a ton of time at the aid stations and found I would always catch some people there and stick with them for a bit after. I caught up to a man around the 13th km and we chatted for a bit and then we got to a bit of a hill and he said have a great race and dropped back. I was disappointed as I really enjoyed the company and was hoping he'd be around for a bit longer. I was by myself yet again! Kilometer 15 was the last aid station! I was disappointed as I thought, I can't believe how hot it's gotten today...must be well over 20 by now?! Again the water on my head felt great...I ate some more orange slices and some yummy salty chips! Sigh, so good!
After this station I had caught up to a younger guy which I stuck to his heals as best I could for the next 5km I would say. Hopefully I wasn't pissing him off too much as I was loving the company. We didn't chat at all and I did have the feeling I was a bit annoying with my heavy stalker breathing going on behind him lol. He was INCREDIBLE on the downhills...there was super steep stuff leading us down to the river and he'd take off and leave me in his dust but as soon as we got back to the flats and hills I would immediately catch him again. I'm super nervous about those crazy downhills and I don't know if I'll ever get over that.
Eventually the 2 of us caught up to another couple...this guy had a bear bell on his pack...I have to say right now that I hate those things soooo much. Has anyone else besides me heard of bear bells being referred to as "dinner bells"? Yeah that's right...I don't trust them, and I don't use them...plus they're annoying as hell! The guy I was with stepped aside for me to pass and then I passed the dinner bell folks as well and quickly got away so I wouldn't have to hear that anymore!
So i'm motoring along by myself...thinking about bears unfortunately...I get to around 22km and what do I do? I trip and fall! I'm like WTF...did that just happen? I don't even know if there was any real roots there, what did I trip on? I laughed at myself as it was obvious I was just getting tired at this point and dragging my feet! I managed to maneuver around the other crazy roots and rocks up to this point and now I trip on next to nothing. Too funny. A couple of minutes later, I go down hard AGAIN! This time I did trip on a giant root...just me being tired and stupid! Now i'm just angry...and I drew blood LOL. I've been wearing skirts to work all week and don't my legs look damn sexy with my battle wounds he he. Anyhow, I kept looking back as I was sure someone would catch me while I was being stupid but there was still nobody around.
2 kilometres to go and guess what I see... a new aid station! I was like, I'm so happy to see you, I thought the last station was it?!? He said, it was but the finishers that have come in said it was soooo hot out there that they really wished there would have been something. I could have kissed him. I said you made my day, you've no idea! :) Then I look back and somebody has caught up to me...a guy that I passed probably back at 8km or something. Damn! Anyways, we leave at the same time and he takes off and I just can't catch him. I briefly slow down to chat with someone and then I hear dinner bells in the distance...ooohh i've gotta go, the bear bell guy is driving me nuts!
At around the last kilometre or so, I see the Nipika Lodge...there's a ton of people there cheering and everything and i'm so relieved to be done. Then I realize there's this detour that's taking us away from the lodge and loops around before going back to the meadow to add on the last kilometre. It was a nasty little trick but my Garmin told me that it ended up pretty much dead on at 25km. I was impressed. I get to the end very satisfied with my first trail race! I enjoy lots of oranges and lots of chips!
I chat with someone who informs me that there's a little "wading" type pool that has been made behind the cabins from a stream that flows by. I'm thinking, hell yeah! It was quite cold but not unbearable as it was fairly shallow and the sun was heating it up. I slowly walked in up to my waist and it felt phenomenal. I've never been able to do an ice bath after a race as it's just too darn cold to sit in a tub like that but standing in this water was amazing. I'm sure it definitely contributed huge to me feeling little soreness the next day! They should have wading pools at the end of every marathon...can you imagine? That would be awesome! :)
So how did I do? I finished in a time of 2:38...better than the 3 hours I predicted! I think I mentioned previously that I came 3rd in my age group...yay...oh wait, that's 3rd out of 5. Damn. But wait...the official results are up and I came 4th out of the 20 females that did it, wahoo! Not too shabby for my first trail race :)
Well that's about it...I feel like the race was mostly a blur now and I probably should try and blog about it in the same day! I brought my camera along but really enjoyed running along and had no real desire to take pictures that day unfortunately. Here are a couple I snagged from Hugh of the Trail Trash group. They are of the meadow at the start...and a fun little bridge we had to cross in the first 10km.
So what's next for me? Remember I said I was debating between the 25km and the 50km race this weekend in Kelowna? Well I emailed the race director yesterday and asked if they wouldn't mind changing my registration from 25km to 50km. She said not a problem and was I sure I didn't want to do the 50 miler?! Hahahaha. I said thank you very much but the 50km will be jusssst fine. Wish me luck, i'm terrified! Lucky for me the forecast for Kelowna on saturday is a very nice 19ºC...down from the 30ºC it's been every day this week!
My dog Logan and I are packing up and heading out on the 6 hour drive to Vernon tomorrow night after work where my brother, sister in-law, and dog Milo live. The race starts at 7am saturday morning so we've got an early rise to drive the half hour to Kelowna and get ready for 7am! I'm getting nervous about this race already.
Have a great weekend everybody! Oh and a big shout out to my best friend Jeff on his first half ironman race of the season on Sunday in Oliver! He's gonna kick some major butt! :)
Deb
Monday, June 1, 2009
Team Pine Line! :)
My brother and I have settled on our team name for Transrockies....Team Pine Line! We hadn't come up with anything very good and we needed to sort it out soon as we had to finish our registration this weekend and wanted to finally have a name! Anyhow, as the name of my blog is "Pine Line Runner" I decided to throw it out there and see what he'd think. None of you would have any idea why my blog is even called that...it's nothing really imaginative but the name of the street we grew up on and that my parents still live on is called "Pine Line" :). Pretty simple eh? So that's where my blog name comes from and now our Transrockies team name!
I ran my first ever 25km trail race this weekend...and it went very well and I had awesome fun...not sure if I was running quick to avoid people passing me or just cuz I was terrified of bears and wanting to get the heck out of there lol. Anyhow, I'll give you a race report soon.
I'm just trying to figure out if I'm going to do the 25km trail race in Kelowna next weekend or the 50km. The longest i've ever run is a marathon obviously...and it's on a road...and it doesn't take nearly as long. The longest training run i've done is 4 hours and again it was on the road. I feel like a reasonable time for a 50km trail run for me would be 6 hours? but I really have no idea. Guess it depends on how hilly it is and all that too. That seems long and seeing as how i've never run that long on the road or the trail I'm a bit reluctant. But wouldn't it be fun!!!
I had decided for a while that 50km was nuts and was definitely sticking with 25km...so this morning I register for 25km...and then I start thinking, damn, 50km would be really cool...I should be doing that instead. So I guess we'll see! It'll be a surprise and I might not make up my mind till race day. :)
Oh and from my lack of talk about the Calgary half marathon I planned on doing yesterday...obviously I didn't do it! While I wasn't really that sore overall from Saturday's run...my hip and IT band that has been giving me some grief were not happy on Sunday morning. I woke up 5am on sunday still planning on running it but when I hobbled to the bathroom I thought to myself...this half marathon is probably a very bad idea whether I go slow or not. I don't want to get seriously injured before the summer has barely started!
Despite the enormous guilt I was feeling (I don't really know why), I decided to go back to bed for a couple of hours. I got up in time to take my dog out for a walk and watch the marathoners all run by my house on their way back to the finish. My house is at about the 33km mark and I did see a couple of runners I knew that looked awesome at that point...including you Cam...I totally saw you!! You looked great and hopefully you had a great race! I look forward to your race report!
Ok that's it for now folks! I'll blog about my race soon :)
I ran my first ever 25km trail race this weekend...and it went very well and I had awesome fun...not sure if I was running quick to avoid people passing me or just cuz I was terrified of bears and wanting to get the heck out of there lol. Anyhow, I'll give you a race report soon.
I'm just trying to figure out if I'm going to do the 25km trail race in Kelowna next weekend or the 50km. The longest i've ever run is a marathon obviously...and it's on a road...and it doesn't take nearly as long. The longest training run i've done is 4 hours and again it was on the road. I feel like a reasonable time for a 50km trail run for me would be 6 hours? but I really have no idea. Guess it depends on how hilly it is and all that too. That seems long and seeing as how i've never run that long on the road or the trail I'm a bit reluctant. But wouldn't it be fun!!!
I had decided for a while that 50km was nuts and was definitely sticking with 25km...so this morning I register for 25km...and then I start thinking, damn, 50km would be really cool...I should be doing that instead. So I guess we'll see! It'll be a surprise and I might not make up my mind till race day. :)
Oh and from my lack of talk about the Calgary half marathon I planned on doing yesterday...obviously I didn't do it! While I wasn't really that sore overall from Saturday's run...my hip and IT band that has been giving me some grief were not happy on Sunday morning. I woke up 5am on sunday still planning on running it but when I hobbled to the bathroom I thought to myself...this half marathon is probably a very bad idea whether I go slow or not. I don't want to get seriously injured before the summer has barely started!
Despite the enormous guilt I was feeling (I don't really know why), I decided to go back to bed for a couple of hours. I got up in time to take my dog out for a walk and watch the marathoners all run by my house on their way back to the finish. My house is at about the 33km mark and I did see a couple of runners I knew that looked awesome at that point...including you Cam...I totally saw you!! You looked great and hopefully you had a great race! I look forward to your race report!
Ok that's it for now folks! I'll blog about my race soon :)
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
NYC?
So...somebody pointed out to me yesterday that my Boston marathon time automatically qualifies me for the NYC marathon in November. It was funny because I always thought it would be my half marathon time that would qualify me (i'm a couple of seconds off), not my marathon time! A while back I entered the lottery for this race but soon regretted it once I realized it cost $250 US...plus the whole flight down and all that. I think I have a friend of a friend I could stay with but it's still a little pricey for me...especially after I think of the money I still managed to spend in Boston even though I had a cheap flight and a free place to stay!
I have been very lucky as I just finished doing my taxes this week and discovered I actually get a good return this year...big enough to cover my race fees for Transrockies...that race is just insanely expensive and I believe the fees are due in June. Fewf, I'm lucky my new job took out too much income tax this year! I have 2 days to make the decision on NYC as apparently if you want to apply using your qualification time you have until May 1st to do so.
Anyhow, while i'd love love love to do it...I think it's probably best I hold off on that one this year...however I suppose if they pick my name out of the lottery I'll have to do it. You can defer to next year but you still have to pay your race fee for this year as well as next year! $500 US for a marathon is not worth it! Anyhow, my friend and I have big plans to run the Okanagan marathon over Thanksgiving weekend and I do think a road trip to Kelowna would be pretty fun...plus it's a fast and super flat course!
Running has been ok since the marathon...well i've only gotten out on 2 runs so far to be honest but they were ok. I decided to meet up with the RR gang and the other guys that ran Boston on sunday morning...we ended up doing 25 km...sigh. Probably not the best thing to be doing on shredded quads! They were surprisingly good for most of the run but hurting towards the end! Yesterday I got out for a light and easy 8km along the Bow and got caught in a mini snowstorm...lovely! Luckily it didn't accumulate and today is the beginning of a sunny and warming trend coming to Calgary. I'm excited for the 14 degree highs we're getting this weekend...running in shorts again for sure!
I feel like i've been super busy lately and obviously haven't posted a race report for Boston...I'm sure i'll get around to it eventually. Sunday night I rocked out to The Killers at the Saddledome and i've been exhausted ever since! But what a great concert!!
Hope everyone is having some good training and managing to avoid the Swine Flu! This dude at work just informed us today that his roommate went to Mexico and isn't back yet or something. Awesome, please catch the Swine from your stupid ass roommate and bring it to work...can't wait.
Till next time...
deb
I have been very lucky as I just finished doing my taxes this week and discovered I actually get a good return this year...big enough to cover my race fees for Transrockies...that race is just insanely expensive and I believe the fees are due in June. Fewf, I'm lucky my new job took out too much income tax this year! I have 2 days to make the decision on NYC as apparently if you want to apply using your qualification time you have until May 1st to do so.
Anyhow, while i'd love love love to do it...I think it's probably best I hold off on that one this year...however I suppose if they pick my name out of the lottery I'll have to do it. You can defer to next year but you still have to pay your race fee for this year as well as next year! $500 US for a marathon is not worth it! Anyhow, my friend and I have big plans to run the Okanagan marathon over Thanksgiving weekend and I do think a road trip to Kelowna would be pretty fun...plus it's a fast and super flat course!
Running has been ok since the marathon...well i've only gotten out on 2 runs so far to be honest but they were ok. I decided to meet up with the RR gang and the other guys that ran Boston on sunday morning...we ended up doing 25 km...sigh. Probably not the best thing to be doing on shredded quads! They were surprisingly good for most of the run but hurting towards the end! Yesterday I got out for a light and easy 8km along the Bow and got caught in a mini snowstorm...lovely! Luckily it didn't accumulate and today is the beginning of a sunny and warming trend coming to Calgary. I'm excited for the 14 degree highs we're getting this weekend...running in shorts again for sure!
I feel like i've been super busy lately and obviously haven't posted a race report for Boston...I'm sure i'll get around to it eventually. Sunday night I rocked out to The Killers at the Saddledome and i've been exhausted ever since! But what a great concert!!
Hope everyone is having some good training and managing to avoid the Swine Flu! This dude at work just informed us today that his roommate went to Mexico and isn't back yet or something. Awesome, please catch the Swine from your stupid ass roommate and bring it to work...can't wait.
Till next time...
deb
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