American River Trail Loop

The past few Sundays Chris and I (and sometimes other co-workers) have been getting up early and heading up to Auburn to do some trail running. The past few Sundays we have gone up and run the Foresthill Divide Loop but this Sunday I wanted to run a new loop. I was talking to a co-worker, Bob, who is a big trail guru and he told me a great loop to do for my planned 16 mile run. It was equipped with some fire road, awesome single track and a nice hill known as Ball Bearing.

American River Trail Loop

The Quarry Road where the run starts is flat the first mile before you hit a tough little hill that definitely puts you into heavy oxygen debt. The trail goes about 5.6 miles and is pretty steady with a few good climbs. When the trail ends you mike a right and are greeted with the infamous Ball Bearing. It is just over a half mile long and pretty much goes straight up. Not only does it do that, but the terrain is rugged as hell. The trail is fairly narrow and jagged rocks and roots make it hard to get into a steady rhythm. It is a fairly run-able grade but there are a few points that walking was necessary in order to keep your footing. I was definitely glad to get to the top of that beast! After getting past that the trail was AMAZING. Once you connect onto the Western States Trail it is 4-5 miles of rolling, muddy single track. There are a few waterfalls to see and a few creeks to cross; along with great views of the canyons. (I wish I had carried my phone to take some photos.) Once we got onto the Brown's Bar Trail there was more fun ahead! The trail was very soft and muddy and we were sliding around as we flew down the down hills. There were a few more creeks to cross, one of which my foot slipped off a rock and was completely submerged in cold water. All in a good days fun on the trails! :) By the time we got back to the Quarry Road my legs were feeling a bit beat up so the easy rollers were a nice way to top off the run. Next week calls for 18 miles and I am excited to get back out there and try yet another new trail! Hopefully we get some rain this week to add a little more excitement to the trails :)

Can you guess where Ball Bearing is??

2 hours of fun! 

Looking back on where we just ran!

I've got a tough week of training ahead but am looking forward to ending the week with another dirty, fun trail run!

Stay muddy!

Train. Race. Repeat. 

Race Report: Valentine's Run ♥

They say that two nights before a race is when you should get your best night of sleep. Two nights before race day I slept like hell. I couldn't shut my brain off and when my body was finally exhausted, my hypothalamus decided to play a cruel joke: HOT then COLD and then HOT and then COLD. It wasn't until somewhere between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. that I finally fell asleep. I woke up around 8:00 and tried to force myself to fall back asleep and finally gave up and got out of bed around 9:00. I definitely felt the affects of no sleep because all day I felt like I was on the verge of being a raging bitch. On top of that my legs ached and I absolutely hate having that feeling the day before a race. After going to lunch with my mom and sister I kicked back and read and elevated my legs.

Friday night I slept a little better but woke up Saturday morning still feeling pretty tired. The sleepiness wore off pretty quick after pre-race jitters kicked in. (Yes, I still get them for even a little 4 miler!) I went through my normal race morning routine and my co-worker, Chris, showed up at 7:45 to head to the race. We hung out in his truck [and worked on getting down to "race weight" ;) ] until we started our warm-up around 8:15. During the warm-up my legs felt a little flat but as I started my stretches they felt loose and limber. After running this long, I've learned that when my legs feel like that it is usually followed by a good race. I put it behind me and just continued my warm-up. I finally hit the start line and was ready to go!

Chris (next to the white jersey) and I after the gun

My race plan was to run 5:50 for the first mile and then try to drop the pace from there and have an average pace of 5:46-47s at the finish. Luckily, they had a 1/2 mile mark so I was able to check my pace and make sure I didn't take off like a bat out of hell. I went through the half-mile at 2:55. PERFECT. The pace didn't feel too hard and I was running comfortably. I attached myself to the back of a pack of about 6 men that I ended up running with for almost the entire race. We went through the mile at 5:50. PERFECT, again. I was feeling really good and happy with the first mile. I went through mile 2 hitting another 5:50. The race was playing out great and my confidence was high. Through mile 3 the pace started settling in my legs. The pace was starting to get a little harder but I was determined not to let the guys drop me. We lost two guys between mile two and three and were down to a pack of four. We hit the 3 mile mark in 5:49. Triple PERFECT. At this point I thought to myself that its only 1 mile. 6 minutes. GO TIME.

We started to push the pace and myself and two others broke away from the pack. I had run the course once before and remembered going past a park and being close to the finish. As we passed the park we simultaneously made a surge. There was a left turn, a straight away and a right turn until the finish. We made the left turn and I honed in on the finish. I went passed the last two guys and never looked back. I was currently first female and had a lead cyclist who road with us the whole way. She rode about 10ft in front of me so I decided I would use her to pull me to the finish by trying to beat her to the line. I turned the final corner and saw the clock at 22:5X and made my last and final push. I wasn't sure exactly  what the seconds read but I gave it everything to try to break 23:00. I was a little further out than I thought and crossed the line at 23:07.3. I had no real expectations for the race so I was more than happy with my time! Not to mention my average pace was a 5:47, which is faster than my 5k PR pace (5:51). Had I run that for a 5k I would have run a 17:55, which would have been a 12 second PR! Naturally, I want to run a 5k to make my sub-18 official!

 

 Coming into the finish!

As I flew down the straight away pushing as hard as I could, I couldn't help but think how much I enjoyed this feeling. The burning feeling in my legs, the sick feeling in my stomach, and the ecstatic feeling that I just killed that race. It is races like these, and the pure joy of competition, that makes me totally addicted to the sport. I ran in college but didn't have a very successful "career". I went through a point where mentally I was very weak. I gave up all too often when a race got too hard. I feel that now I have a lot more fight; a lot more drive. I don't give into the pain, but, instead I now try to make it hurt worse. I want to push myself to the absolute limit. Although, I hope I never get there because then where would I have left to go?!

Check out the RACE RESULTS here! 

Race on!

Train. Race. REPEAT. 

Week 1: Almost lost it.

So I am eight days in and still going strong! I almost had a slip up tonight, though. I came home from work and my sister was making orange chicken and rice. Out of habit I started to reach for a piece of chicken. Luckily, I caught myself before it was too late! However, it was not easy making my dinner next to her and craving just one little piece of chicken.  That was the first time all week that I really had any kind of craving for meat. First temptation: PASSED.

Although it was the first time I really had been tempted to cheat, the start of the week wasn't exactly a breeze. Breakfast was simple because I pretty much eat a routine breakfast every morning of oatmeal with blueberries, bagel with peanut butter and a banana.  I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted to eat for lunches and dinners. The first couple days eating came as a challenge because I still hadn't gone to the grocery store to vegg out my kitchen. I ate a lot of PB&J and ventured out to make tomato soup and a grilled cheese one night. (HAHA) I started following  the No Meat Athlete blog which has a lot of good tips, recipes and a lot of info for being vegetarian. I also frequently talked with my co-worker Rachel for help with what and how to cook. Hopefully she has unlimited text messages because if not I definitely ran up her bill :) Thanks, Rachel!

Finally my day off rolled around and I gave myself an assignment to get my butt to the grocery store. Two hours and $150.00 later, I came home with lots of fruits, vegetables, pasta, quinoa, etc.

My veggie shelf  :)

I have to admit I am pretty excited about this new contingency. I find myself spending most of my free time looking up what yummy thing to cook next. I found a simple recipe that I decided to make for a co-worker and I. It was Baked Penne with Roasted Veggies. I had roasted some vegetables earlier that day so the prep time was very minimal. I get really nervous cooking for other people because I would hate to subject them to eating horrible tasting food. So I acted, as best I could, that I looked like I knew what I was doing. (if you read the recipe, it is pretty idiot proof.) After it baked for 25 minutes, it was time for the moment of truth. Baked Penne = a success. Even my little sister, picky eater that she is, said that she liked it. I know I'm tooting my own horn and it's not even my recipe, but it makes me feel good to successfully cook something that is not charred or just tastes like crap. I have decided that with going veggie I am going to experiment a lot more with different foods and cooking. I've always enjoyed cooking but have shied away from it and find no better time than now to finally act on it. Wish me luck with week 2!

Until next week!

Train. Race. Repeat.

ULTRA HAPPY

On Thursday I met up with my dad/coach to do a short run along the trails around Lake Natoma. I planned on bringing the idea up to him about me running in an ultramarathon later this summer. Right now he is very much into me running the road marathons and breaking the 3 hour mark. That is definitely one of my goals as well, but, I am also chomping at the bit to get out and run a trail race. As I bring up the idea to him, he protests and pushes me to the ground! TOTALLY KIDDING. But I did fall and bang myself up a little! This didn't help my case munch in wanting to run a trail race!(Haha)  His big concern (besides me staying on my feet.) is me being able to recover from the Nashville marathon in April, train for and recover from an ultra in July and then be ready for a hard training cycle to run a fast (hopefully low 2:50s) marathon in October. Ultimately he knows how much I love the trails and knows that they play to my strengths. So, as of now I have the green-light to add an ultra to my race list for 2012! I am still on the wait-list for the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Runs. I am really hoping I can get into the race as it is my number one choice. If not, I have scouted out another possibility: Siskiyou Out and Back 50k. It looks like a great race to do for a first ultra and maybe I'll even get to meet Hal =) Either way, I am extremely excited to be running an ultra this year. When I think about it I get the same feeling a 6 year old gets when they are told they are going to Disnelyland for the first time.

Running truly gives me absolute bliss. I am addicted to the burning in your legs that you get after pushing through the finish of your last repeat. Or the feeling of accomplishment after you finish a 20+ mile run. The faster I get the more I want to see just how far I can push my body.  Not only in a race, but in ever workout. I love to see peoples reaction when you tell them how far you ran that day and their only reply is "I don't even drive that in my car." It really is a sport for the mentally twisted; but oddly enough we are probably the sanest of all.

Stay crazy.

Train. Race. REPEAT.

Vegguary Twenty Twelve

There has been a lot of debate about vegetarian vs. non-vegetarian diets. I have never really paid too much attention to one side or the other and grew up eating meat. Meat has never been a big part of my diet but I never thought twice about eating a piece of chicken or ordering a burger and fries. A few days ago I was reading an article in Trail Runner Magazine called the 'No Meat Athlete' and it got me thinking. It wasn't one of those articles that talked about the ethical reasons to not eat meat, but the health reasons. For the first time the numbers and facts really got to me. I started thinking "I wonder if I could go veggie for a month." Not even 10 seconds later my co-worker Rachel, who is a vegetarian, said "You should try going vegetarian for a month." I took it as a sign. We talked about different foods, and recipes and what not but I was still a bit skeptical. I debated it for a few days (I do love my go-to chicken and rice and a good turkey sandwich.) and finally decided there is no point in not trying it.  After all, meat will still be around in 30 days if I decide going veggie is not my thing. Keep an open mind, right?!

As I opened my cupboards this morning I quickly realized my kitchen isn't quite ready for Vegg-uary. Day one was still a success, but had a very limited menu:

Breakfast - Blueberry waffles and oatmeal
Lunch - PB&J and an apple
Dinner - Left over pasta

Not fancy, but it fits! Tomorrow I will make my way to the local Co-Op and fill my cart with all the colors of the rainbow. Sounds yummy to me :) Any suggestions of recipes, websites, blogs, etc. that will help me through this month this is much appreciated!

Happy eating!

Train. Race. REPEAT.