Suck it up buttercup

A COUPLE WEEKS AGO I HAD THIS GREAT IDEA OF TRYING OUT THE 5K ON THE TRACK. SO LIKE EVERYONE ELSE I THOUGHT WHAT BETTER PLACE THAN MT SAC. I HAVE HEARD SO MANY GREAT THINGS ABOUT MT SAC, GREAT RACES, COMPETITION AND PERFECT WEATHER. I WENT OUT WITH A PLAN TO HAVE AN EPIC RACE. WELL I HAD AN EPIC RACE ALRIGHT, ONE I WILL NEVER FORGET, ONE THAT IS ETCHED IN MY MIND WITH A BIG FAT DNF BEHIND MY NAME. YEAH I SAID IT DNF! AND NO I AM NOT INJURED. I WILLINGLY JUST PULLED OFF THE TRACK :(
SO HERE IS HOW IT PLAYED OUT. THE GUN GOES OFF WE GET ABOUT 200 IN AND I CAN ALREADY TELL MY LEGS AREN'T THERE. I KEPT TELLING MYSELF IT,S EARLY IT WILL GO AWAY. NO SUCH LUCK. ANYWAY THE RACE WENT OUT ABOUT AS FAST AS I HAD EXPECTED AND I FOLLOWED MY GAME PLAN. WITH 30 WOMEN IN THE RACE AND ME NEVER HAVING RUN IN A TRACK MEET BEFORE I PLANNED ON GOING TO THE BACK OF THE PACK AND BRINGING UP THE REAR. I KNEW CHANCES WERE I WOULD GET LAST IN A HEAT THAT LOADED, I WAS OK WITH THAT. BUT LIKE I SAID IT HURT AT 200,400,1600,3200 ALL THE WAY. MY FIRST MILE WAS GOOD, MY SECOND MILE WAS CRAP AND LAP NINE WAS BASICALLY THE SAME PACE AS I RUN MY TEMPO WORKOUTS AT, AT ALTITUDE. ANYWAY I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE DROPPED AT LAP 5 BUT I HAVE NEVER AND NEVER WANTED TO DNF. FOR THE NEXT FOUR LAPS I FOUGHT WITH MYSELF AND THAN .......... I DROPPED! WALKED TO THE SIDE OF THE TRACK CRIED! WALKED TO MY BAG AND TRIED TO PUT ON A "HAPPY" FACE.
I WOKE UP SAT AND HAD TO MAKE MYSELF GET OUT OF BED TO RUN. FUNNY THING ABOUT A DNF. IT MAKES YOU LOSE ALL YOUR MOTIVATION. I HAVE BEEN TOLD A THOUSAND TIMES NOW, IT HAPPENS TO EVERYONE, ITS JUST ONE RACE, IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO AND SO ON. ITS SUCH A HARD PILL TO SWALLOW. I KNOW IT WAS JUST A HORRIFIC DAY THAT COULDN'T HAVE COME AT A WORSE TIME AND YES THE SUN CAME UP THE NEXT DAY. HOWEVER TO ME ITS A LOT MORE. I AM NOT A QUITTER! A DNF IS THE WORST THING TO ME. I JUST KEEP SEEING
WENDY THOMAS-DNF
AND THERE IS NOTHING I CAN POINT TO TO HELP ME FIGURE OUT WHAT WENT WRONG. RACING IN SPIKES FOR THE FIRST TIME FELT FINE, BELIEVE IT OR NOT RUNNING IN CIRCLES DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER ME! THE WEATHER WAS GREAT! FIELD WAS PERFECT AND I WAS JUST OFF.
I HAVE GIVEN MYSELF FIVE DAYS TO SULK, ITS TIME TO PULL MY HEAD OUT AND MOVE ON. DOUG WROTE UP MY NEW PLAN AND ITS EXCITING! THERE ARE A LOT OF WORKOUTS I HAVE NEVER DONE, A LOT MORE FOCUS ON PURE SPEED MIXED IN WITH SOME GREAT ENDURANCE WORK. AND LUCKILY MT SAC DID TEACH ME SOMETHING. I HAVE THIS CRAZY BAD FORM BUT WE REALIZED WHEN I RUN IN SPIKES FOR WORKOUTS IT MAKES ME GO TO MY TOES! PICK UP MY KNEES AND BASICALLY RUN LIKE I AM SUPPOSE TO. WHICH MAY NOT SEEM LIKE A LOT BUT WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIND WAYS TO FIX ME FOR A WHILE. I EVEN DID MY 800'S IN THEM TONIGHT AND MY FORM WAS GREAT? UNFORTUNATELY MY CALVES, GLUTES AND HAMSTRINGS ARE NO LONGER SPEAKING NICELY TO ME.
SO FOR NOW I WILL DO A COUPLE RACES IN NORTHERN COLORADO AND REALLY FOCUS ON BOLDER BOULDER BEING THE NEXT BIG RACE. AND ONE THING IS FOR SURE I WILL NEVER VOLUNTARILY PULL MYSELF OUT OF A RACE AGAIN.

AND A HUGE CONGRATS TO ALL THE LADIES AND GUYS WHO HAD A AMAZING WEEKEND OF RACING! VERY INSPIRING!!!!
ON A G

Fabulous 5k

Like many others Russ and I went to Mt. SAC. Russ raced the 1500m and the 800m. He was exhausted from work so the 1500 wasn't so great, but he ran a 1:53 half mile for his first one of the year. I'm super excited about how well he has maintained his fitness through a tough winter of injuries and many days in the gym. He is very fit and strong and on the right path for a good track season. Hopefully ending with the England championships. It was also great to watch Ali, athletes from my alma mater (Charlotte), and the athletes of UCCS.

Oh how I love the 5k! It's a great distance, long enough to utilize my slow twitch muscles, but short enough that I don't notice the lap counter. The last time I was at Mt SAC I was attempting to break 17 minutes for the 5k for te first time, but DNFed because I had two stresss fractures in my right shin ended up being booted for 14 weeks. So going back to a place with crappy (painful) memories added a bit of nervousness. Fortunately, everything went as planned and I ran a personal best. It was wonderful to have Nicole in the race; we raced well together and helped each other stay on target. Thanks Nicole!!

I had a great race and finished in 16:00.48......POINT FOUR EIGHT! Half a second to breaking 16, that's one more quick step somewhere in the 12.5 laps or if I decreased the time in lane 2 trying to not get boxed in. I was so sad when I crossed the line and found that I was that close to breaking 16 minutes, but then I snapped out of it and became super excited about a great race and personal best time. Races like these are the true reward for all the hard work and time put into training.

Next: 10k at Payton Jordan at Stanford (California)

DFL>DNF?

What a weekend for American distance running. And not just for everyone at Boston, but for lots of people out west at Mt.Sac. Always a hub for amazing races, I got to watch the last bit of Kristen's steeple, Cassie, Nichole and Wendy's 5k, and Matt and Steve's 10k. Lots of green in the fields that night. Not to mention I got to be at the same hotel as Sara Hall, Jorge (or Eduardo??) Torres, and Molly Huddle! Oh and went to In-and-Out burger. Twice. My 10k was....anti-climactic to say the very least. Let's just say I DFL'ed, got the pity-clap, my glute is killing me, and I have yet to actually look at results. I just don't see a reason to add that much more psyhological agony on top of that. Afterward I spent some time wandering aimlessly around a field in the dark convincing myself that at least it wasn't a DNF. DFL trumps DNF...right? Um yeah....not so much. After that, Matt Levassiur and Steph Bylander (who were ridiculously kind enough to shuttle me to and from the meet since Matt's race was right before mine) and I ate our feelings at In-and-Out and talked about how great the 10k is. Yep. But in all seriousness, quite the letdown. And that's all I have to say about that.

<-Bringing up the rear.

The following day I did no running-related activities whatsoever besides watch a track meet for 10 hours while likely contracting malignant melanoma, and I thought no running-related thoughts. The day after that I went jogging-with-a-soft-j on a really nice golf course on some beautiful grass with beautiful trees in 80 degree weather and got yelled at by a maintenance guy who I'm pretty sure was about 14. So now back in Springs and getting my butt/ham fixed and hopefully will be legitimately race-able by the Sneak.

Since this wasn't a very inspiring or uplifting blog, allow me off-set the doom and gloom for a moment...have I got some inspiration for YOU! Have you ever found yourself wondering, "What would it take to be the best--nay--the GREATEST mid-packer in all the running world?" Well, two brave souls that I have the fortune of being aquainted with are questing to become just that! Check out Springs' runners Matt Copps and Shawn Finley's new blog, Midpack Moments with Matt and Shawn! Follow their trials, tribulations, doubts, frustrations and moments of pure glory! To share in their blood, sweat and tears, click here (and no, this isn't a virus): http://midpackmoments.wordpress.com/

Mt. SAC...and then sick

I headed out to the famed Mt. SAC relays last week despite being sick and deciding not to race. It wasn't in my best interest for recovering, nor would it have been very fun or fast. It hit at just the right time too. Any sooner and I could've recovered before the race. Any later and I wouldn't have realized I was coming down with something, and the race wouldn't have been pretty.

The trip, however, was great as I visited with some high school friends in Santa Monica and got some good rest with an easy week of running. It's a beautiful area, complete with good weather during my stay. We hit up the beach (to run as well as hang out), and I even tried my hand at surfing.

The race was a good opportunity, but I'm not upset about missing it. Up until then, I was really enjoying runs and workouts and was starting to get in shape. I'm feeling better and after getting back into the swing of things, I'll look forward to racing again. Planning on the Cherry Creek Sneak in a couple weeks.

Comeback Conundrum

So, I have this theory which is completely based on antecdotal evidence, and I have no hard proof of which is that when on the comeback trail one must encounter a number of ridiculous setbacks. Now, I don't have any spreadsheets tracking data versus a control group or anything like that. But what I do have is a history of this phenomenon happening to me and my running buddies. Is it a conspiracy or just Murphy's law? Whatever it is is maddening. What else can explain one buddy recovering from a marathon and just when she starts training, she gets hit by a car? Or, any number of perfectly healthy and rested runners get injured within the first few weeks of coming back? For me it's usually some sort of cold or the occasional injury. This last time I swallowed a pill wrong. Yes, you read that correctly - I swallowed a pill wrong! Well it was an antibiotic and it burned my esophagus. I had never heard of such a thing, but it was awful! Swallowing anything except for water was excruciating! Just what a runner on a comeback needs - to not be able to eat for a whole week. By the end of that week, I was so tired I could hardly stand let alone run. But, just when I thought I was going to have to go back on break, I tried some pancakes and with little tiny bites I could eat! Yay! So, from that point on, my esophagus started getting better, and I starting eating and training. I was so happy because who knows what curveball would have come my way if I had to come back from another break? So, I'm happy to say that I pulled through and I should be in the clear now. . . Until the next break.