Bolder Boulder

I've shirked my blogging duties long enough, and it's time to get back into it.

The Bolder Boulder will be my first serious race back after a medium hiatus from running that began with hernia surgery last winter. (My advice to everyone on this is don't get a hernia because its not fun. Women might have an easier time with this than men.) My training is finally going well--I've been logging 70+ miles for the last several weeks with some solid workouts--and I've had a couple of moderately successful low key racing including most recently a win in a 5k in Portland, OR while my wife and I were on vacation.

I'm focusing on the Bolder Boulder not because it's my favorite race, nor because I'm particularly good at the 10k (I'm much better at the 5k and shorter races), but rather because it's the only race non-runners in Boulder care about. When people find out I'm a runner the first thing they ask is, "did you do the Bolder Boulder?" and then "How did you do?" I might as well do everything I can to maximize my street cred with my friends and neighbors.

After that I'll be focusing on some 5ks and the Boulder Races Series (the 2k, 3k, and mile) which is more of my forte anyway.

25K Championships

I spent my weekend in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the 25K championships. When I first got here, it was ridiculously hot and humid. I was a little nervous, but the heat and humidity died down on Friday night and gave way to rain and thunderstorms. It was a wet race, but I was still happy with my time and performance. I was hoping to finish somewhere between 1:36 and 1:40. 1:38:36 was right in the middle and a 4 min PR! I'm going to take a short break and then start training for the Chicago Marathon in the fall.

Need Change?

Yes please!

In the hopes of getting myself out of what is becoming a bit of a prolonged running funk, I decided to join a training group and actually get serious about finding direction. While I've been mulling over possibilites for some time, this was spurred
on more quickly by several things; one of which was the fact that little while ago post-Mt.Sac I was running a particular loop for the umpteen-millionth time and the dawned on me that I had run it umpteen million times, at the same pace, at the same time of day. Afterward, while standing in the ice tub I was looking through my running log (yes I have one. Yes I'm that nerdy) and flipped back to....oh say, this time two years ago and realized that yes, I was doing the exact. Same. Thing. For some strange reason I was oddly depressed by these revelations. But at the same time it was a smack in the face because realistically, if you change nothing then nothing changes. I always liked to envision myself as having made some sort of progress with something, but the writing's on the wall. In any case, evidently I find it difficult to deviate from a comfortable routine, because I've been in the same routine for like, 8 years now. All this is to say, s**t or get off the pot, do it or don't, but stop dilly-dallying around because soon you'll be old and decrepid or you'll have 10.5 kids and a 9 to 5 and it will be too late to do this stuff and you'll always wonder...

So in light of this, I thought maybe a change in routine, approach, surroundings, peer-group, mind-set, and mentality may be just the stimulus needed to make me pull my head out, get my ish together, and maybe get out of the part-physical/part-mental (I won't deny it) slump I got myself into. So I decided to start training a bit with the Boulder Express group in Boulder (obviously) that Lee Troop coaches. It seemed like a terriffic opportunity with great people to run with, and how often do you get to have a multiple-time Olympian tell you what to do? This was kind of a big step since I'm terrified of change if it involves risk of any kind, however insignificant in the big picture. I'm a pansy like that. While the fact that they are over 100 miles away prevents running with them everyday, I'm able to train with them on occasion for now. Baby steps.

My initiation into their long runs last week included getting lost somewhere on a nice hilly 14 mile loop in Boulder, inadvertantly tacking on a few more miles, and learning that it is apparently important to at least look the maps that Lee emails out to everyone several days in advance of the runs. Or better yet, memorize them. But there are worse places to get lost and there's nothing wrong with a prolonged long run even if it did kick my ass that day. Furthermore I got to see some fantastic trail routes and I will say that it was very different actually having women around to run (and keep up) with. But they are a blast and it was a terriffic (although slightly unintentional) 2 hour and 15 minute long run on a beautiful day. Hopefully a step in the right direction!

Out of action, into the bone healing chamber

I got an unexpected surprise a week and a half ago. I found out I have a broken bone in my foot that I'd been running on for months, at least since January that I can remember. Of course, I didn't know that's what it was, and it never got bad enough to stop running or give it extra attention. I finally decided to make an appointment to check it out and see what could be done. The doc asked me to point to where it hurt and when he stuck his finger right on the spot I felt a lot of pain. He then took some x-rays, which showed one of the sesamoid bones, under the big toe joint, was fractured all the way through in two directions. I was reminded of Jesse's injury because this is the same thing that happened to him. If I can learn from his experience and stay off of it, I hope to be healed in four and half more weeks when I go in for another x-ray.

Injuries happen. I'm not upset, even with it happening at the start of summer and not knowing what caused it. When I start back, I'll look into whether my shoes are still appropriate. Otherwise, I'll see how training plays out to figure out racing since it's been awhile! In the meantime, I'll practice my water survival skills (some call it swimming) and golf of the frisbee and polo-and-khakis varieties.

A different perspective

Normally I only get the urge to blog after a race no matter if it's good or bad, it just gives me a release. This blog however came to me while I did my workout on Wednesday. As many of you that are parents know sometimes squeezing ten minutes out of your schedule is tricky let alone 2+ hours for a workout. I do have an amazing support system who helps with the kids so I'm usually able to get my workout in when needed. Last week however proved to be a serious challenge. Kevin was incredibly busy at work and with the school year winding down there were lots of school functions to attend. Luckily for me Wednesday was a nice day so I opted to take the kids to Josephine Jones park to do my workout, 400x4, 2 miles, 400x4, seemed easy enough. The boys were excited, the park has a large dirt loop that we have marked out from 400-2 mile courses. The best part for me is the trail loops around a nice big playground so the boys are pretty happy. I got in a nice two mile warm up and was ready to get my workout rolling. The boys were told that when I passed them at the park (the 200 meter mark of the 400) they were aloud to follow me to the finish and than we would all jog back to the start. This got them excited they got to participate. The first 400 went off well and believe it or not the boys did what they were suppose to no problem! I jogged back to the park, dropped the boys there and finished my jog to the start. It's funny 3 minutes usually seems like a long time between 4's but when you have kids there everything seems rushed. Number two got off I was running down the trail came through a couple trees and to my surprise Tripp was on the other side I yelled to him "watch out buddy run behind mom!" bless his little heart he tried to make a u-turn and ran right in front of me. I tried to put on the brakes and change directions but no luck. I knocked him over, he slid for ten feet on the gravel as I did a very clumsy looking flip over him and onto my own hands and knees. Needless to say I stopped that interval, picked up my little man, gave him some kisses, explained to him it would be much better if he ran behind mommy and started my workout all over. It was just one of those days as a runner and mom that you remember what really is important to you......your kiddos. Running is a huge part of my life, but if Tripp had wanted to leave after that spill I would have packed up and taken him for ice cream. It's a good thing I have my kids to ground me. I tend to get very hard on myself and my performances but when I come home to them and all they care about is that I ran. They dont need to know my splits or my time. They are just proud! They make me a better person and runner!

Oh, the 10k

The Good:
1. All three of the BRC Adidas ladies in the race qualified for USAs, woo hoo!
2. I didn't look at the lap counter starting with 24 laps to go.
3. I was able to stay awake until the race that started at 11:00 pm. A serious feat considering I couldn't even stay up past nine the night before (and I did try).
4. Perfect weather and lots of people to run with including Cassie and Nicole.

The Bad:
1. Racing at midnight Colorado time has seriously jacked up my sleep schedule.
2. I had a bit of 10k stomach after the race, so I couldn't fully enjoy my In-N-Out burger (animal style) at approximately 1:45 am. But, I did enjoy the company.

The Ugly:
1. Mile five.
2. The next morning.

Love-Hate Relationship

Congrats to all the BRC athletes in their recent races!! Wow we have an awesome team!

So I have a love-hate relationship with my spikes. I love my Adidas spikes for many reasons. I love the way they fit my foot, the way they make me feel fast, the way they look, and the way they make me feel "ready" when I put them on before I race. I especially love them because they helped me qualify for USA Track Championships and to acheive a 28 second PR (33:10) in the 10k this past weekend at Stanford (Payton Jordan Invitiational). I also love them for assisting with the 5k PR a few weeks ago. They are incredible!

However, the last few days I have hated them and cursed at them for the pain they have caused me. I hate them for making me not be able to walk flat footed when I first get out of bed or when my legs feel like they are on fire as I attempted to run. Both Tuesday and Wednesday I felt like my legs were about to break in a million pieces with the pain stretching through every muscle in my leg. My poor dog wanted to leave me behind because the pace was extremely slow (most likely the pace can't even be considered a run, more like a fast walk). I hated my spikes making my muscles so tight that my form was funky and I'm sure I looked pathetic. Oh spikes, why oh why do you have to cause so much pain in my legs for so many days?

Don't worry I will love them again when we meet again for a track workout or race.

Videos of the 10k race with Ali, Nicole, and I: www.flotrack.org/coverage/238232-2011-Stanford-Payton-Jordan-Cardinal-Invitational/video/488282-W-10k-H02 Finish is at www.flotrack.org/coverage/238232-2011-Stanford-Payton-Jordan-Cardinal-Invitational/video/488236-W-10k-H02-Finish

It's good to be back

Well, the last time I got on here I wasn't in such a great mood. I was still injured and frustrated with my lack of progress toward getting better. Since then much has changed. I finally got things figured out thanks to Dr. Mathews A.R.T. and some patient help from Tommy at BRC. I figured out that I was over-pronating just a little bit so to patch things up I had to switch my trainers up and I now train in a combination of the Adidas Adapt and the Adizero Tempo. This training shoe switch has made all the difference for me and I have been training solid for 5 weeks now. Unfortunately after losing a month my fitness isn't where I wanted it to be and my motivation was suffering. There is of course only one solution to that problem, get in a race.

RACE REPORT:

The first race I decided to hop in was the Boulder Distance Classic on April 23. I went up there because I knew that there was likely to be some good competition and getting my @$$ handed to me is a great motivator. I ran the 5k and surprised myself a bit. The weather was pretty awful with wind and snow but I scrapped my way to a 15:58. Although this isn't a blazing time I discovered that I had more fitness than I had thought and gave me some hope. If you look in the results my official time is listed as 16:08 which is a total load. In fact discussing times with fellow racers I discovered that everyone's time was slower than what they actually ran. I was even told that this was common with the timers that this particular race employs. Well, I just want to go on record and say that this is crap. Give people the times they run and nothing else. This should be a no brainer when it comes to running. Overall I would recommend this race but just be ready to time yourself.

The next race I did was May 1, the Cherry Creek Sneak. I hadn't planned to return to this race after last year but it just seemed to fit my training well and offered the opportunity to get in some good work. Like a crazy man I entered both the 5k and the 5 mile. The 5k was first and it went about as well as I could ask. I snapped my winless streak at 17 months since last victory running 15:43 to win by a few seconds. I was very pleased with this because not only did I run faster than the week prior but I did it with gas left in the tank. I didn't totally sell out for time as I knew the 5 mile was just an hour away. After the win in the 5k I was really relaxed for the 5 mile. You never know how the legs will respond as part of a double so really there is nothing to lose. Although I was never in the race to win as 1st and 2nd place took off early I got in a nice group for 3-6th. This group was all together until around the 3.5 mile mark. This point in the course turns uphill and feeling like I still had the legs I made a move and no one in the group could fully respond. Jay did a nice job of going after me but luckily for me the last mile has a lot of turns and this allowed me to keep him away. I couldn't believe that I still had legs at the end and was really surprised when I saw the finish time of 26:14. I hadn't figured I would be able to double back under 26:30 so I was quite pleased. It feels good race again and success is also a nice motivator. I'm not totally sure what is next on the menu for me but I've got the fire back so I'm sure it won't be too long.

3 race update

I’m sitting in crop duster right now heading back home to Tucson and figured it was time to stop shirking my blog obligations for the team. Part of the reason I haven’t been able to write since the Jax River Run in March has been because school decided I wasn’t working hard enough and threw every piece of garbage it could find at me. The other reason was because I wasn’t sure how to respond to being dubbed “no pants Burrell” by my favorite new teammate Tommy Neal. I’ve found a break in my workload, but I’m still not sure what to say to Tommy … You’re “no pants Burrell?”

Anyway, I’ve made some solid improvements since a disappointing run in Jacksonville, and I think I’m slowly getting back to PR shape. The first week in April, I ran 29:20 in a road 10k in Charleston. Overall, it was a decent performance with a brutal tailwind and a 2-mile hill in the middle of the race. However, I wasn’t able to finish with the strength and speed that I would have liked. My next race was a 5k at mt. sac. I felt certain I was in pr shape about a week and a half before the race. I had done a couple solid work outs with Jorge Torres who came down to Tucson for a time before the race (8x400 with 1 minute rest at 62, 400 jog, 6x400 with 1 minute rest at 59). Unfortunately, allergies and congestion, which have cripple most of my track seasons since leaving CO after high school, kicked in about 5 days before the race. I went in with a sore throat and plugged sinuses hoping the cool California evening would alleviate the congestion. It didn’t, but I ran 13:55 and still think the race went well all things considered.

I’m coming home right now from running the Bloomsday 12k in Spokane, WA. I’m still having trouble dealing with allergies with the severity depending on the day. Again, I think the race went relatively well. I placed 13^th overall and 3^rd American although I put myself in position to be top American and around 8^th overall with about 1K to go. I was struggling for the second have of the race and ended up getting caught by a pack right at the end and lost about $5000 in that last bit – pretty difficult not to be upset about that even if I think I’m still improving.

Not sure what my racing schedule is going to be going forward. Basically, I’ll just keep after it until the allergens die down and the breathing comes to the level my legs are at (which has been at the Atlanta Peachtree the past 2 years – for some reason I have been able to breathe there). I’d also like to get a track race in the lower the 5k pr and will look to either Canada or Mexico. I haven’t been able to put together a good track race since 2007 so it would be nice to get that monkey off the back. We’ll see.

Go BRC Adidas!!!

Congratulations to all of my teammates on some amazing performances this past weekend. Nicole, Cassie and Ali rocked it at the 10K at Stanford; Amanda and Adrian both had great races down in Denver at the Cherry Creek Sneak; and Kristen and Wendy both ran fast 5Ks up here in Northern Colorado. I was very inspired and hearing about those performances made me really want to start racing again SOON!

The unfortunate part is that I am not quite ready as I have only been back running 4 weeks after taking 4 weeks totally off with only rock climbing and no cardio. So while my long run this week was 1 hour and 45 minutes it was slow and I am no way ready to step up to the starting line and give it my all. Instead, I am getting inspiration and motivation from my teammates burning up the roads and the track! Great job ladies!