Western States Days 6 and 7 - The Race

So Friday night, I couldn't sleep...

John and I had gone out to dinner with his friend David (who is running the race too), Lauren (David's girlfriend and an ultrarunner), and Rich (David's pacer and John's coach) on Friday night. I noticed then that I couldn't keep my hands from trembling. Everytime I picked up a utensil, glass, or piece of food my hand started shaking almost uncontrollably and I got real self conscious and sat through most of the meal with them clasped in my lap.

I went to bed at 10 pm. Wake up call set for 3:30 am. I then spent the next 5 and a half hours tossing and turning, quaking inside, feeling like I was going to throw up at times. It was ridiculous. All I could think about was the 101 things that could go wrong, parking at the aid stations, what we packed and still had to pack, etc., etc. Finally, at 3:30 I got out of bed to shower with this feeling of impending doom that I was totally screwed since I now had to go 20 miles tomorrow morning without any sleep.

JC and I met John at 4:15 am for runner check in.

John's "before" picture

4:15 am with JC

 

John's wife and kid's met us for the 5 am start and the runners were off! Most of them walked up the Escarpment at a brisk deliberate pace. Most of the runners will walk the big uphills in this race. We watched the mass of 400 slowly make their way up the slope, then went back to John's condo to finish packing his car.

 

JC and I then drove to Auburn and left my car at Placer High School. Then we went to the grocery store. At the crew meeting, we had been advised to buy our food, ice, and gas for the day before proceeding to the first aid station.

 

Next stop - Robinson Flat Aid Station at mile 29.7.

This is the first big aid station that crews can access. Since all the crews get there at the same time, it's a zoo. We were actually suppose to park in a parking area and a shuttle bus was to take us to the station itself. However, by the time JC and I got there, the entire parking area was full. We were told that they were going to let 10 vehicles follow the shuttle bus down to the aid station itself. We were car #7. Sweet!

 

John felt that, best case scenario, he would get there no earlier than 11 am. We got there at 9:30 am and saw some of the leaders run through.

 

Emily Harrison came through as the leader of the women's race

She was 7th last year; unfortunately she later had to drop out at mile 62

 

I really don't have more pictures from the race after that because it just got too crazy. The crews need to set up as close to the course as possible so their runner can just grab what they need and go or, take a quick sit down break and eat and drink while their crews change their shoes and socks, do any blister care, and soak them down with cold water. Watching some of the crews, it was like watching a NASCAR pit stop.

 

Since everyone was at Robinson Flat, we initially did not have a spot by the road. As runners came through and their crews finished and moved on to the next aid station, more spots opened up along the road and JC and I eventually ended up where Emily Harrison's crew had been. Then, we waited... and waited... and waited.

 

11 am became 12 pm. Then 12:30 pm. I started getting worried. John's Achilles had really been bothering him and he had really been limping on Thursday after our Escarpment climb on Wednesday. This morning he said he felt better but had considered Thursday that he might not be able to run today.

 

All of the aid stations have a cut off time. If your runner does not leave the station by that time, they will be pulled from the race and cannot finish. There is a 30 hour time limit for the whole race. All the aid stations also list the 24 and 30 hour times for that aid station. In the beginning, the 30 hour time and the final cut off time at the aid stations vary about an hour, however, as the race progresses, the 30 hour time and the cut off time get closer and closer together until the 30 hour and final cut times are the same at the finish.

 

The 30 hour time for Robinson Flat was 12:55 pm. Final cut off time 1:50 pm. John finally showed up at 12:44. When a runner first arrives, they have to go through medical and get weighed, then they can get any food or drinks that the aid station offers, then go out to see their crews to get whatever else they need. John was starting to get a big blister on his right heel so we yanked off his shoes and socks to get moleskin over the blister and change his footwear. I felt like I was all thumbs, couldn't find a towel to get his feet dry. As a side note, if you ever consider crewing for someone, make sure you are good enough friends with them that you have no qualms taking off gross sweaty dirty clothing to clean off wet dirty body parts (like between their toes) while they sit around and groan.

 

We finally got John out of Robinson Flat at 12:59. We were going to race the clock the whole race.

 

The next aid station we were meeting him at was Michigan Bluff, mile 55.7. Based on his pace, we guesstimated he would be there at 8 pm at the earliest. We had 7 hours to kill.

 

Most of the Western States Trail is out in the mountains, in the middle of nowhere. There is basically no cell phone signal. I was able to get one bar at one gas station in Foresthill, but pretty much nothing else for 2 days. Some of the aid stations are only accessible by foot. At those stations, the workers hike in the night before and crews cannot access the stations. There is a ham radio operator at some of the stations. For the remote stations, someone will hike out with a results update as runners come through and get them to a ham radio operator who can then radio to have someone enter them online. Due to these facts, the online results can often be behind by several hours. Most of us could not even access the online tracking because hardly anyone had a phone signal. All you could do is guess what time your runner was going to show up based on how they looked at the previous station and whatever else you heard from the other crews.

 

I tried to sleep in those 7 hours but couldn't. Foresthill was the only small town nearby and JC could get a descent signal on his phone there so we decided to spend most of our time in Foresthill and start driving down to Michigan Bluff at 6 pm. We had pizza and JC stayed inside the restaurant to watch the World Cup games and I tried to sleep in the car. It was hot. I couldn't get comfortable. My heart was still pounding out of my chest.

 

Finally, we drove down to Michigan Bluff and got there just before 7. Michigan Bluff also had a parking area a half mile from the aid stations with a shuttle bus. As we pulled up, the volunteers there told us the shuttles were stopping at 7 pm. After that, we would have to walk down but could drive down to pick up our stuff at the end. We were just getting off the shuttle when I ran into Lauren, walking David through the aid station. She said that John was still right on the 30 hour cut off time. She also said that if he got to this station after 8 pm, I could start pacing him from here. Runners cannot have pacers before mile 62. However, there is an exception that says if they get to Michigan Bluff after 8 pm, they can get paced from there.

 

Mike, John's other pacer, was meeting us at Foresthill (the next aid station). We had no cell signal to tell him to come to Michigan Bluff. We were pretty sure John was going to get here after 8. I had predicted 8:30 pm. The 30 hour time for Michigan Bluff is 8:50 pm. I was already dressed in running clothes but had my pacer bib, fuel belt, headlamp, and hat packed in a separate bag for later in the night. I ran up to the car and got it. Once the shuttles stopped, we saw that the other crews were just getting their cars and driving them down to the aid station, and since JC would be alone to pack the car if I left, he went to go get the car.

 

Then John showed up... at 8:03. JC was still gone getting the car. I got John what he needed and was getting my fuel belt on, trying to figure out how to tell JC we were gone, when JC pulled up with the car. We left Michigan Bluff at 8:10, 40 minutes under the 30 hour cut off.

 

John had made up some time, however he had a big climb out of El Dorado Creek to Michigan Bluff that really winded him and he was slowing back down.

 

climb out of El Dorado Creek

 

I just needed to keep him moving. We had to get in and out of Volcano Canyon and it was getting dark. Due to his Achilles, and now a ginormous blister, he was doing a walk/jog/shuffle. We could aggressively walk the uphills and try to jog the downhills. Ironically, he had difficulty running the flats due to the Achilles. I walked ahead of him when the trail widened and tried to get him to keep up until he protested. "I don't want to pass out" was a sign to stop and slow down. I let him lead all the single track areas so he could choose when to walk and when to run.

 

 

We went 6.3 miles and pulled into Foresthill at 10:02 pm. John had family and friends meeting him there but the exchanges were quick. Mike took over pacing and they rolled out at 10:09, 36 minutes under the 30 hour cut off.

 

I then drove us to Greengate, our most remote aid station. This is the one John and I had driven out to on Monday. Problem was, now it was pitch black outside and I couldn't see all the landmarks I had picked out when we drove on Monday. After two wrong turns we got there.

 

Greengate on Monday night

 

 

Running the 6 miles with John really helped burn off some energy and I felt more settled after that... or I was just finally totally exhausted and knew Mike was running with John. We found parking by the side of the road by midnight and decided to try and sleep in the car again til 2 am. I think I finally fell asleep because I remember waking up when JC's alarm went off at 2 am.

 

This time, since we had to hike 1.25 miles down to Greengate, then JC had to hike another 1.5 miles down to the river crossing, we tried to minimize what we brought. I had been using a chart in the Western States Guide for the cut off times and had planned to write the ones I needed on my hand but forgot. I did know that the last several aid stations had the same cut off time and 9:20 seemed to stick in my head as a final cut off time.

 

John got to Greengate at 3:48 am and I was really pleased. We pulled out at the same time since he had already changed clothes after the river crossing. We were 1:07 under but he was really tired (OK, we were both really tired). Greengate is mile 79.8. 20.4 miles to go (Western States is really 100.2 miles)

 

We made it to Auburn Lakes Trails at mile 85.2 by 5:26. Still 1:04 under. Then it got a bit ugly for me... I started getting lightheaded, my stomach was grumbling, my eyes started glazing over. It was still dark and you had to concentrate on every step you were taking on the trail... I thought it would be really bad if the pacer passed out 10 miles into her run.

 

We made it to Brown's Bar, mile 89.9, by 6:51 am. 59 minutes under. I took a bathroom break, ate a GU and some Gatorade chews, got some water, then felt much better. Phew!!

 

Then things got real ugly for John. He was slowing down. Each step was an effort. I still wanted to try to have him run some stretches but he would start sluffing his feet and I was afraid he would trip and fall so fast walking was safer. The sun had come up but we were still in the woods. I wanted to keep trying to make descent time before it got too hot. We talked, we sang, I tried to tell him every story he hadn't heard before... anything to keep his mind occupied while walking ahead of him.

 

We finally got to Highway 49, mile 93.5, at 8:04 am and pulled out at 8:09 am. The sign there said the 30 hour time was 9:00 am and the final cut off was 9:20 am. For some reason I had it stuck in my head that the final cut off time for the next aid station at No Hands Bridge was also 9:20 am.

 

It's only 3.3 miles between Highway 49 and No Hands Bridge. However, there is a climb out of Highway 49 then a quad burning descent down to the bridge. After 93.5 miles the body just doesn't want to move anymore. It took over an hour to get to No Hands Bridge. I was in full panic mode. I thought we would never get to the bridge! I just wanted to put a rope around John and pull him along because the pace was really slowing down at an alarming rate. Plus, my sleep deprived brain was convinced we had to get there by 9:20 am. Apparently sleep deprived brains can't do runner math very well.

 

We got to No Hands Bridge, mile 96.8, at 9:10 am. I looked at the chart at the aid station and realized I was wrong about the cut off times. 30 hour time was 9:55 am and final cut off was 11 am. As long as John kept moving, we were going to make it!

 

After No Hands Bridge, there is another painful climb up to Robie Point. By now the sun was overhead and we had no shade. I had started with a long sleeve shirt at night but decided to keep it on to keep my shoulders covered. Other than being hot, I felt fine otherwise. However, it was really painful to keep John moving and see how much pain he was in. We had pretty much run out of things to talk about at this point and it was down to short comments like "just keep moving and we'll make it" and "almost there" countered by "it would be bad if I passed out!"

 

Robie Point, mile 98.9, at 9:58 am. We have 62 minutes to go 1.3 miles. How hard could that be? We were now in a residential area leading to the high school. Families were out in their lawn chairs cheering us on. It was all uphill...

 

Finally, someone says, "Turn that corner and you will see the most beautiful track in the entire world," and we see the Placer High School track. We get on the track and start walking. John's wife and kids see us and run out to walk with us and take pictures but John keeps yelling at them to go to the finish line. There is a split down the final straightaway so the pacers go one way and the runners finish alone so all the photographers can get the finish line picture. I ran to the finish to see it and cheer. The runners get routed straight to medical after that, then released to family. John hugs his wife and starts bawling. Lauren grabs me and I start crying too. I've never been so happy and relieved! I cannot even begin to tell everyone how stressed out I had been for over 48 hours.

 

the "after" picture

Final time - 29:27:00

 

 

For those that know me, you know that I came out here to Western States to finish what I started. It's finished now. John, me, his wife... we all agree.



Western States Days 4 and 5 - This is getting REAL!

Yesterday was the calm before the storm. We woke up to rain and 40 degree temps and were really glad we had made the trek up to the Escarpment the day before. I finally got to sleep in!

The morning was spent watching the USA vs. Germany World Cup match then driving into Truckee to pick up last minute supplies - extra batteries, towel, sponge, ziplock bags, and more food. John's friend JC and his family got into town. JC is going to help crew with me. The three of us then went to a Crew Meeting at 2 pm and a Trail Meeting at 3:30 pm.

This is our plan for Saturday...

 

1. We'll see John off at the start at 5 am

 

2. We'll take 2 cars to the finish line at Placer High School in Auburn and leave my car there

 

3. JC and I will then drive to the mile 29.7 aid station at Robinson Flat and wait for John there

 

4. We'll then drive to the mile 55.7 aid station at Michigan Bluff

 

5. We'll then drive to the mile 62 aid station at Foresthill

 

6. John's other pacer Mike will meet us at Foresthill and start running with him there; John's family will try to meet us there too. You are only allowed one crew vehicle at all of the aid stations except this one so, from my understanding, Foresthill is a big party.

 

7. JC and I will then drive to the mile 79.8 aid station at Greengate. We actually have to park our car and walk 1.25 miles down to the aid station. I will stay at Greengate and JC will walk another 1.5 miles down to the aid station at Rucky Chucky Far. Rucky Chucky is the major river crossing. JC will have dry clothes, shoes and socks for John and Mike after they cross the river. The 3 of them will then run up to Greengate. John and I will then run to the finish at Placer High School. JC will drive Mike back to the Foresthill aid station to get his car, then the two of them will meet us at the finish line. Depending on the time, John's family may be at the finish line too.

 

There is a 30 hour time limit for this race. A 24 hour runner will get to Greengate by 11:20 pm. A 30 hour runner will get there at 4:55 am. I expect John to be somewhere in between. We'll have a better idea as the day goes on. You can track the race live HERE.

 

After our meetings, John's family got into town so all of us went out for dinner then retired to our rooms to try and get a good night's sleep.

 

Today, I met John at 9 am for runner check in.

 

 

This is where all the runners got weighed, got their medical bracelets, photos for the website, and their swag bags. They will get their official race numbers when they check in again tomorrow morning. I think the average BMI in the room was about 15...

 

Race Expo

 

 

Next stop was to drop off John's drop bags. They hold supplies for some of the aid stations that the crew either cannot access or will not be at. Some runners actually run this without a crew!

 



 

 

We then went and picked up John's family and drove into Truckee for brunch. We ate at a local restaurant called the Squeeze Inn. It was actually featured on an episode of "Throwdown with Bobby Flay." HERE is the Throwdown episode if anyone is interested.

 

Squeezing in at the Squeeze Inn

 

I went to get my pacer number after brunch.

 



 

This is getting REAL!

 

We then went to a final Runner Meeting at 1:30 pm. This was mandatory for all the runners so everyone was there. We got some final comments by all the various directors and the top 10 men and women runners plus some of the other top contenders were introduced. The conference room was standing room only (luckily we had a seat but I was too far back to take pictures). The ENERGY in that room was unbelievable. It was a bit surreal being there.

 

This is the starting line for tomorrow morning.

Under it is the countdown clock to race time.

 

This is a view of the Escarpment that we climbed on Wednesday.

 

After the runner meeting John and I packed everything for tomorrow and put most of it in his car. We then met some other runners for an early dinner. Now we're back in our respective rooms trying to get some rest. I'm meeting him at 4:15 am for the final runner check in. The gun goes off at 5 am.

 



Let's DO this!!

Western States Day 3

This was our plan for the morning... get up and down the Escarpment before our conference started at 8 am. In order to do this, we simulated the race start at 5 am and took off up the trail with our headlamps on.

 

Halfway up and the sun is coming up over the mountains.

Getting pretty close. Sun is up and I think we are both slap happy.

 

Made it to the top! We actually went up to the Escarpment and then onto Watson's Monument which is at 8713 feet - the highest point of the race.

 

 

It was a heart thumping breath sucking trek to the top but it really gave us a lot of confidence for the race on Saturday. 7 miles total for the morning, then it was conference time.

 

 



 

Today's lectures included talks from the Medical Director of Western States as well as Medical Directors from several other Ultra-Marathons. They were mostly the "this was my experience" kind of talks. Just fun to listen to with some interesting factoids...

 

*In 1974, Western States was the only 100 mile ultra-marathon in the US. This year, there are 126 100 mile ultra-marathons.

 

*The total number of 100 mile ultra-marathon finishers last year was about 40,000. To put that in perspective, the field limit for the Chicago marathon this year is 45,000.

 

*Knee injuries are the most common ultra-marathon injuries, followed by Achilles injuries.

 

Most of the other factoids were medical cases so I'll skip those.

 

After the conference, John and I decided to drive to South Lake Tahoe for dinner. Squaw Valley is at the north end of Lake Tahoe so we took a nice scenic drive around the lake.

 

 

 

The views here are absolutely breathtaking!

 

Now it's off to foam roll my butt and get some sleep. The closing remarks from the Medical Director at our conference today was for all the crews to get as much sleep as we can these next few nights.



Western States Days 1 and 2

I'm finally here at Western States! For those of you that are not familiar with Western States, the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run is the granddaddy of US ultras and one of the most prestigious ultra-marathons. It's like the Boston Marathon of Ultras.

Western States started in 1974 when a man by the name of Gordy Ainsleigh joined the horses of the 100 mile Western States Trail Ride to see if a man could complete the course on foot. He accomplished this feat and a race was born. Gordy is now 67 years old and participating in this year's race.

This year, John, who is one of my best friends, got one of the coveted race entries. I am along for the ride, pacing him his last 20 miles to the finish. We (he's an orthopedist) also decided to attend the Medicine and Science in Ultra-Endurance Sports Conference that goes on a couple days before the race so here we are!

If you want to see a course preview video, click HERE.

This is a map of the course...

I will meet John at the aid station at Green Gate at Mile 80. Here is what my part of the course will look like. The charts read right to left and go from aid station to aid station.

 

Yesterday was a looooong day (I know, what else is new?)

I worked Sunday night then got up at 5 am to go to the airport. Flew from Indy to Dallas, then Dallas to Reno. Best part of the trip was when I got a whole row of seats to myself between Dallas and Reno!

Once I got to Reno, I rented a car and drove to Squaw Valley Resort in California. Finally got to the hotel at 1 pm Pacific time, which was 4 pm Indy time.

After a quick shower and change, I met up with John to grab food and drive on out to check out the trail at the Green Gate aid station - which meant about another hour of drive time... Then we ran part of the trail... and my body's like "Whoa, WTF are you doing trail running after flying all the way across the country and now it's 11 pm Indy time!" By the time he dropped me back off at my hotel I pretty much felt like I'd pulled an all nighter. Hmmm... maybe he's just prepping me for race day. That's pretty much what race day will be like. His race starts at 5 am. I will be there for the start, then crew all day, then run the last 20...

Today was conference day. Here was our schedule for the day...

The talks were interesting, some more than others. Most of the speakers were researchers with Phd's. I haven't heard this much physiology since I was in med school. Here's what I got out of it...

Cardiac Function lecture - Ultra-marathoners have enlarged hearts, abnormal EKGs, abnormal echocardiograms, and can have positive troponins with normal cardiac function. So...  if you are an ultra-marathoner and go to the hospital with a cardiac complaint and see a doctor that doesn't know this, you are screwed and will end up in the cath lab.

Neuro-Muscular Fatigue lecture - More physiology than my brain could handle at 9 am. I told John that what I learned was that if he got too tired, I should shock him with a cattle prod or something like that.

Carb Restriction lecture - Cut out carbs and your body will learn to use fat as a fuel source. You will feel crappy for 2-3 weeks if you try this. I believe this is the basis of the Adkins Diet.

GI Distress lecture - Most runners end up not finishing due to nausea and vomiting. Eating and drinking early on and eating fat will lessen this.

Sodium and Hydration lecture - Drink to thirst, salt to taste.

At this point, John and I decided that potato chips were the ideal food to eat during an Ultra - fat, salt, some carbs - perfect! Yes, we both love our chips.

Barefoot/Minimalist Shoe Running lecture - It's a fad. Experienced runners will have a foot strike pattern that is most efficient for them and over 95% of elite runners are heel strikers. Most people who try to change their running pattern will end up injured. In Ultras, the newest thing now is the super thick soled shoes (think Hoka).

Running Economy lecture - So much physiology and graphs that I went cross-eyed and didn't glean a thing.

Hyponatremia and Rhabdomyolosis lectures - Watch your water intake. The best ways to prevent rhabdomyolosis is to be well trained and stay hydrated. If someone shows up and you think they are significantly hyponatremic and in rhabdo, save the brain before the kidneys. Most Ultra runners will finish with CPK's in the 5000 - 50,000 range and be OK. Then there was the dude with the CPK of 750,000... he ended up on dialysis for a couple weeks. Turns out he was from Australia, got an entry, didn't train enough because he got injured, flew here anyway because he had an entry, gutted it out and finished the race, then got massive rhabo.

For the non-medical peeps...

Hyponatremia is when the salt level in your blood is too low. When it's low, water diffuses from your blood vessels into your cells. Everything swells up. It's bad when your brain swells up.

Rhabdomyolysis is when your muscle cells break down. They release an enzyme in the blood called CPK so you can measure it to determine the degree of muscle destruction. The upper end of a normal CPK is 380. When your muscle cells break down they can release all kinds of nasty stuff in your blood that ends up clogging up your kidneys and causing kidney failure.

After our conference, we went out to eat and then to a reception. We are planning to run the Escarpment at 4 am so I'm off to bed. The Escarpment is the first part of the race. The trail goes up 2550 feet in 4 miles, cresting at Emigrant Pass which is at 8750 feet. Hopefully I'll get some photos tomorrow.

Sun Run 5K - The Longest Day

Saturday June 21st. First day of summer. The longest day of the year. This was the view from my driveway
at 6 am as I left for my race. 68 degrees. 90% humidity. Awesome (insert sarcasm here).

It poured rain as I drove into work Friday afternoon. I had a moment where I actually wished for thunderstorms and tornados for the morning so my race would be canceled. I really did not feel like racing. However, I knew that if I didn't race, I wasn't going to run. What I really wanted to do was sleep in, then get online and follow all my fellow runners that were tackling Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN. Since I had to be back at work in the afternoon, if I didn't run early, I wasn't going to run...and, left to my own devices, that wasn't going to happen. So race it was.

Midnight - I finally got off work.
1 am - home; bed sometime after
5 am - up...well not really. Awake but didn't really get out of bed til, oh, 5:30.
6 am - out the door to drive to Columbus
7 am - pick up race packet and start moving around
8 am - race time

It was miserably hot by race time. I felt OK at the start but then got really reluctant to push the pace once everyone settled into their respective "places" - meaning I wasn't too motivated to catch the person in front of me. Then I realized I was slowing down way too much and had to kick it up a few gears. My pace was all over the place...

Mile 1 - 7:44
Mile 2 - 8:41
Mile 3 - 8:17
last 0.1 - 0:50

Official time - 25:32 (8:13 pace)

My goal for this race was to just run 25-something so I was fine with that. I knew that my second mile was slow but I also knew I had plenty of reserve to pick it up at the end to get in on time, although I always get nervous sprinting down towards the finish chute when I can see the numbers turning.

Ended up 6th overall in the women's race and first in the 40-49 age group.

 

This picture is for me more than anything else as the medal had no words on it so next year, when I have no clue what I got this for, I can look it up.

I was back home by 10:30 am. By the time I had showered and changed, I started getting the first of my text alerts for the runners I was tracking in Duluth. There were 13 friends running, but I could only track 4 by text alert so I got online to keep up. Then I got really sleepy...

I tried to grab a quick nap. I had to leave by 1:30 pm to go to work. Thought I'd nap til 1:00. Shortly after 12:30 though, my phone dinged. They were finishing. My friend Trena was the first of the group. She made her goal of lowering her Boston qualifying time by running 3:32. I knew everyone else would be coming in after that so I gave up on sleeping.

1:30 pm - left the house to go to work. Friends are still finishing.
2:30 pm - work

It was basically the shift from hell...

11:40 pm - DONE! clocked out and checked to see how everyone else had finished

Definitely the longest day...

One more shift today then it's off to Western States tomorrow morning.

Trail Trials

So my husband thinks I'm just crazy...

Two weeks in a row now I've had to get up at 2 am to foam roll my butt. My left hamstring and glute are just killing me. I can hardly stand to sit and at night when I lay down they just cramp like crazy. Short of having a massage therapist sticking an elbow or forearm into the area, the foam roller is the next best thing.

I'm beginning to question my sanity too. My right foot is still killing me. I ended up having a really ugly trail run today. I'm beginning to question whether pacing my best friend for 20 miles next weekend is a good idea.

Basically, I hurt all over and I haven't been able to put together a good week of running since the Derby. Last week I did back to back 10 milers on Monday and Tuesday, then on Wednesday I just fell apart and bagged my run after 3 miles. No more running after that until yesterday when I went out for 10 and bagged it after 2. My foot was hurting and then every time my right foot struck the ground, I started getting a cold "wet" feeling in my foot like I was putting it in a bucket of cold water. The whole thing kinda freaked me out and I really wasn't feeling like running anyway (OK, I worked an overnight shift and I only had 3.5 hours of sleep too) so I bagged it.

Today I had no excuses and I HAD to get a trail run in before leaving for California next week. Nevermind that it was 90+ degrees... I had the afternoon free so I drove down to Morgan Monroe Forest to do my run. I decided to do the Three Lakes Trail, a 10 mile trail I've never run before.

Things started out OK. It was nice and shady on the trail. I had put off trail running a lot of days this month due to storms. The storms blew down quite a few trees. I would get to places like this and have to clamor around to find the trail on the other side...

This was my view from one of many of the creekbeds I crossed. Surprisingly, most of the creeks were pretty dry today.

Of course what goes down must come up... I think this is why John told me to practice on a stairmaster.

My Garmin died just before I hit 2 miles. It's not been holding a charge very long lately and I'm beginning to think I need a new one. I was using it mainly to track my distance.

Things were going OK until I had to climb over another really big tree that was down on the trail. It was on an uphill slope and there was no way around it. I had to grab ahold of some branches and climb up, hoist myself up onto the trunk and then over it. Just as I got over to the other side, I felt a sudden jab in my left hammie - like someone had stuck a hot poker in it. FEAR was what I felt. I wasn't afraid of being out on the trail by myself. I could get myself back to my car. What I was afraid of was that I had really damaged my hamstring. Not now! Not less than a week before I fly out for Western States. I quickly found a big root to sit on, drank some Gatorade, and tried to calm myself. Then, as suddenly as the pain had come on, it went away. Phew!

The run was uneventful for several more miles. I found this big animal print in the mud...

Coyote?

 

I was starting to get really hot. I was sweating like crazy and my eyes were burning from all the sweat streaming in them. You could wring out my clothes. I think I looked like a drowned rat. I finally got the where the trail crossed the roadway again and I estimated I had about a mile left.

 

This is where things started getting really ugly. The trail didn't match the features on my map. There was no other trail but it just didn't match what it was suppose to do on my map. I ended up on another creekbed and I think my mind started playing tricks on me at this point because I could've sworn I had been here before - way at the beginning of my run. Since I was in no mood to run another loop of the trail, I backtracked back to the road. I knew where the road went. It was a much longer (almost double the distance of the trail) way back to my car but I didn't trust where the trail went.

 

By now I'm pretty sure I had some mild heat exhaustion. I was sweating buckets but had cold chills and felt nauseous. I still had some Gatorade left but didn't feel like drinking. I ended up walking most of the road back to my car. Best guess is that I went 12 miles on the low end, 15 miles on the high end today.

 

So now here I am. Loaded up on Motrin. Foam rolled my butt. Sitting on ice, both feet on ice. There were times on the trail today that I really enjoyed myself. I like being out on the trail by myself. The aftermath always seems to be ugly though so I'm beginning to have second thoughts. I wish I could be that runner who was happy just doing 3-5 miles a couple days a week. Why is it that I'm wired to chase the beasts?

It's Baaack!! CVS Diet Coke Deal

Confession: I did not do a trail run this morning. It started pouring rain overnight and it was still spitting rain when my alarm went off at 6 am. I didn't feel like doing a mud run so I rolled over in bed and listened to the raindrops instead.

What I did do was get some CVS shopping in.

So here's the down and dirty for those that do not have coupons and want a great deal. All you need is a CVS ExtraCare card.

Coke products are part of the "Buy $30, Get a $10 Gas Card" deal this week.
Coke product 12-packs are on sale 4 for $12 this week, only if you buy them 4 at a time.
Buy 4 for $12 + tax and you will get $20 credit towards the $30 needed for the gas card deal.
So...

1. Buy 4 Coke 12-packs. Get a $20 gas card credit.
2. Go to another CVS. Buy 4 Coke 12-packs. Earn a $10 gas card and get a $10 credit rolled over for your next gas card.
3. Go to a 3rd CVS. Buy 4 Coke 12-packs. Get another $10 gas card.

End result: You own 12 12-packs of Coke products. You paid $36 + tax. You have $20 in gas cards.

Rumor has it the gas card deal is a June monthly deal with a limit of 6 gas cards.

Of course I had to make it more complicated...

There is another June monthly deal at CVS on Ban (deodorant) products. It's "Buy 2 Ban products, get a $4 ExtraCare Buck (ECB)." Last weekend there were insert coupons for $2 off the Ban cooling cloths. The cooling clothes are $3.59 at CVS. So, buy 2 for 7.18, use 2 coupons, pay 3.18, get a $4 ECB. So essentially you are getting free cooling cloths and making a small profit in fake CVS money.

Initially, I wasn't going to do this because I don't buy things that I don't use. Then, I figured out these would be great to have in my car to wipe down with after my runs when I'm out at the state park or at a race. I had 4 coupons so I did the deal twice and ended up with 2 $4 ECBs plus my 4 packs of cooling cloths.

free cooling cloths

 

The monthly limit on this deal is 6. I only did it twice because I only buy 4 newspapers a week. Plus, as soon as this deal came out last week, all the couponers pretty much cleared the shelf at CVS. Even if I got more coupons this month, there is no product left on the shelf... I know, I checked this morning!

 

So here was my plan...

I had 2 $4 ECBs. I also had 2 $3 off $15 CVS coupons.

 

Store #1: Buy 4 Diet Coke 12 packs ($12). I needed to spend $3 more to use the $3 off $15 coupon. I figured I was up to $12 all ready and the $3 would just be free money. I looked for more Ban but the shelves were still empty so I threw in a 3-pack of Orbit gum.

 



Used the $4 ECB and $3 off $15 coupon, paid $8.84.

What was interesting was what printed at the bottom of my receipt.

I was expecting a $20 gas card credit. Instead, I got a $29 credit. All I could figure was that the Coke was getting a bigger than $20 credit. I ran back inside and bought a bottle of Ajax for $0.99. This was part of the deal too and CVS deals will payout at 98% (meaning you only need to spend 98% of the amount you are suppose to attain - so I just needed $29.40 total for a gas card).

So Ajax got credited and I got my $10 gas card. Now I'm thinking "Holy crap! This is a better deal than I thought. I just spent $9.90 total for 4 12-packs, a 3 pack of gum, a bottle of Ajax, and got a $10 gas card!"

 

So now this is where I got into a little trouble. I deviated from my original plan of just buying Diet Cokes because I thought I was going to end up with a crazy deal...

 

Had I just done Diet Coke 12 packs and just used my 2 $4 ECBs, I would have ended up with 12 12-packs for $28 and $20 in gas cards. But noooo...

 

Store #2: I did figure out in the parking lot that the Orbit was counting towards the gas card deal too so that was part of why my credit was $29 for my first transaction. Still, that meant I got $26 for the Diet Cokes... Well, I did the exact same products again and used the same two coupons again but just did it in one transaction.

 



Except this time, I didn't get the same amount credited like I did at the first CVS and ended up $6.02 short.

Well crap! I guess that's what I get for being greedy. Now I had to spend another $6 for my next gas card. I was still going to end up spending less than $28 for 2 gas cards but I wasn't getting all my Coke products either because I just needed $6 more and I didn't want to spend $12.

Store #3. Bought an 18-pack of Scott toilet paper that was part of the deal for $6.99 minus a $0.75 coupon.

...and got my second $10 gas card.

So, spent $26.53 for all this...

 

                                                                               ...and got 2 $10 gas cards.

 

 

Yup. This is why I coupon. I love to play the game.

 

Could I do some more deals this week? Sure. The gas card limit for the month is 6. Will I? Probably not. I'm set on Diet Cokes for awhile. All my 12-packs expire in August. Diet soft drinks don't keep very well past their expiration dates - they start going flat. There should be some Labor Day deals by then. I am not a reseller. I just buy what I think my family will consume so I think I'm good for now!

 

Have you found any good deals this week?

 

P.S. OK. I have to share another story that I read on one of my coupon forums...

 

Last month, CVS had a monthly deal that involved buying bars of Neutrogena soap and earning ECBs. I didn't do the deal so I don't know all the details but, essentially, it was kinda like the Ban deal this month - use coupons and get the Neutrogena free plus make a profit in ECBs. I think the "profit" was a buck or two. Of course all the bars of Neutrogena soap sold out the first week. Well, some woman got caught bringing in her own bars of Neutrogena soap and rebuying them! OMG! Are you kidding me?

 

G'night now!

 

***UPDATE*** I found out where the extra $6 credit from my first transaction came from. Last week there was a gas card deal that I didn't do but Lancaster caramels were included in the deal. I purchased 2 bags because I had coupons and got them for $0.50 a bag... but they gave me a $6 gas card credit... which carried over to this week because the gas card deal is a June monthly deal. 

Abby Brinkman 5K

The last couple days have been all about catching up as well as living in the present...

Friday:
Worked from 6:30 am to 3 pm and got off on time!! Woohoo!! Always a plus when that happens.

I had a going away party for some co-workers to attend at 6 pm in Bloomington so I decided the best way to kill 3 hours was to get my run in. I asked around and found some trails to run - nice shady trails! I ran part of the Bloomington Rails to Trails Trail as well as the Clear Creek Trail. I was originally going to run 5 miles, but the Clear Creek Trail was so nice I decided to do more. I was thinking 10, but then the trail just dead-ended on private property so I ran it back to my car and only got 7 in.

Grabbed a shower at the hostess' house and had a great time at the party. By 9 pm though, my belly was full of good food and wine and I just wanted to lay down! Unfortunately, I had to drive an hour home. I wanted to hit the sack as soon as I got home. I had a sinking feeling though that I didn't have any clean running clothes for my race in the morning. Then, I managed to find one clean sports bra, a pair of shorts, and decided to wear the Monumental Mile tank top I had gotten Thursday night. Nevermind that I wasn't all matchy matchy, I could go to sleep without doing laundry!

Today:
Up at 5:30 am and out the door by 6 to drive down to Columbus for my race. This is the race that had the locked bathrooms (read HERE) last year so I stopped at a gas station before I got to the park to take care of business. However, as soon as I pulled into Mill Race Park, I needed a bathroom again - go figure! This time, thankfully, the bathrooms were unlocked... with no toilet paper. Had to make another trip to the car for my fast food napkins!

The weather this morning was perfect. The course was perfect. It was run on the People Trail through the park. I however was not feeling it. My legs felt like lead and I pretty much got my butt kicked.

Mile 1 - 7:58
Mile 2 - 8:33
Mile 3 - 8:27
last 0.1 - 0:51

Official time - 25:49 (8:18 pace)

I ended up 11th overall in the women's race. My first place in the 40-49 age group was pretty much a gift as there were LOTS of fast women today... just not in my age group.

Awards got over at 9:30 am. I jumped in my car and drove like a bat out of hell up the highway to downtown Indy where the Indianapolis Women's Half-Marathon was being held. My friends Trena and Amanda were running. This is Trena's 50th half-marathon. Simply amazing! She was also a finalist in the Indy Women's Runner of the Year competition and I was positive she was going to win.

The winner for this award was going to be announced at 10:30 am. I got parked at 10:15, then discovered I was next to the wrong downtown park and had to run about a mile to the correct park. Luckily, I was still dressed in running clothes and shoes. I made it to the park just in time!

 

Here's my friend Trena. She's the Indy Women's Runner of the Year! I'm so proud of her!

 

 

After lots of screaming and congratulations, we parted ways and I finally drove home... showered and completely crashed. So much for post-race nutrition. I was starving but too tired to get out of the bed I had crawled onto - yeah, too tired to even get in it. I finally got myself up at 2 pm to eat a sandwich.

 

I finally got my second wind and went to Blue Mile this afternoon to buy trail running shoes with the 4 race certificates I'd won from the Memorial Day triple header and today's race.

 

Saucony Peregrine 4

 

Check out those treads! Western States here we come...

 

I just may have to take these for a test run tomorrow morning! Tomorrow is another full day. It's G's dance studio recital. I'll have to get my butt out of bed early if I'm going to squeeze a run in tomorrow.

 

How are YOU living your life this weekend?