Rouge Orleans!

Whew!! I. AM. exhausted. Mostly from the long, 14 hr car ride home... But it was kind of a tiring trip all together. So a while back, I got a pop-up, I think, on my facebook about a relay starting in Baton Rouge & ending in New Orleans for Mardi Gras...of coarse my 1st thought was.. "I'm in! Now how to get some others to join me.." After a bit of harrassing, I managed to assemble a team of 6, which meant the 126.2 miles would be divided by the 6 of us..each would have 5 legs of running, totalling about 20 miles.. Perfect! I figured this would fit nicely into my marathon training.. So after months of planning, it was finally time.. We loaded (& I mean loaded..) up the cars & made the trek down to Baton Rouge, LA. I/We had mostly planned for it to be a hot, humid trip & run.. You'd think 1 of us would have checked the weather..but...we didn't. We got to LA & it was cold & rainy?! Oops. Luckily most of us had brought at least a pair or 2 of running tights & long sleeves...but we were certainly a little ill prepared for the weather (completely our own fault, I know). So anyway, the stay in Baton Rouge was nothing too exciting.. Mostly eating, getting last minute food & gear for the run, sleeping. Our run was scheduled to start at 1pm on saturday afternoon, but friday evening was the pre-party & also the send-off for the ultra marathoners who were embarking on this 126.2mi trek on their OWN??! I was absolutely fascinated by these individuals...the gear, the magnitude of what they were setting out to do, the fact that they were downing jambalaya right before they started?! (ultra folk must have tougher stomaches than us average distance people). It was a really crazy thing to think about how far they were going & how long it would take them...a lot of them seemed focused, but excited.. it was really cool to see. So off they went...& down came the rain?! ugh...way to make it even MORE difficult?! Nothing anyone could do about this..but I'm sure the weather didn't help these guys any, because it. POURED that night. It poured the next day, too...but, miraculously (as I had been stubbornly & optimistically claiming would happen) the rain ended right on cue for our start! So off we went with a cannon (yes...a cannon...scared the crud out of us every time!) to start us off. Our team (consisting of myself; Ginger, whom I met from Team IN Training (TNT) last yr as we trained for Steelhead, she's doing Rev 3 w/ me this yr; Mark, who works with Ginger, also did Steelhead & will join us for our 1st full Ironman distance at Rev 3; Dru, also a TNT pal, she did her 1st Olympic distance tri last yr & I think she may take on the 1/2 IM at Rev 3 this yr..go Dru!; Rick/Ali...TNT peeps.. Ali was going to run, but she's 20 wks pregnant & only recently realized that this may be a tough thing for her to do...so her husband, Rick, kindly stepped in to run & Ali drove the car; Chris, Ali's brother...fairly new to run/tri's & joined us despite a recent knee injury...quite the crew!) was 'Faster than a Speeding Bull', which may not make sense at 1st, but it was inspired by a video of the race director that was being chased/harrassed by an actual bull while he tested out the coarse..so I found it to be a fitting title. My 1st leg (I got to start us out) was a pretty quick & easy 4.4miles.. We started out in our matador costumes (I'll see if I can get some pictures sent to me that I can add on here.. As usual...I didn't even bring my camera?! Geez) & Rick wore this amazing Bull costume that he chased me off the start line in..so that was fun. Everyone loved the Bull! Took pictures with him..it was funny. So anyway, we were officially started! The entire run was on the levee, so most of it was a rocky trail...not too difficult as far as trail running goes, but did wear on the ankles a bit. I finished my 1st leg with no issues & passed on to Rick to continue the journey...and on it would go like this for the next 21 hours! Everyone started with lots of energy & the teams were close together. We made it to the 4th leg with no real issues...& then there were the cows/bulls.. I guess they graze on the levee & have free range to move about..which included the trail that the runners were on. Poor Mark got the brunt of that one.. The herd was looking to cross the levee about the time that he was approaching.. He says a couple of runners swung way down off the levee almost to the river to miss them, but he just stayed on coarse &, luckily, they split to let him through.. He did say, though, that 1 of the bulls lifted his 'paw' (I'm pretty sure they don't have paws..but I wanted to stay true to his quote!) & stared him down.. YIKES! Better him than me...I'm not sure I'd have handled it quite as well.. So that was our 1st animal encounter. I think the next runner to have a major issue was Ginger on her 2nd leg of the journey.. Which meant it was dark by this time..adding to the fun.. She was running along, alone..in the dark..on the levee..when a group (are they herds? not sure..) of horses approached her?! again...YIKES! They were heading towards her, so she, rightfully so, got frightened & turned back for the 'safety' of the cattle guard crossing thingy that she figured they wouldn't be able to cross. Luckily another runner that had a bike escort came along & she was able to finish out the run (& pass the horses) with them. She also had a stray dog encounter on that one...so the mace was passed along to me, who was waiting to start my 1st night run after her. Turns out..I'm not much of a solo night runner! I was pretty nervous out there & talked Rick into following me for a bike escort on that leg. Unfortunately (well, luckily...but I felt bad for wasting Rick's time) that was the 1 time that I had another gal to run with! It was really nice to run with someone..especially late at night like that.. It was still nice to have the bike there, though...BUT, after that, I felt guilty about making someone ride along with me, so I decided to suck it up & go solo for my next night run... OH man, did I work myself up on that one. It was a 5 miler & I spooked myself the whole way.. Every shadow was an alligator (don't ask..). But my team/driver kindly agreed to trail me/keep an eye on me from the road, which was a big help. So I made it safe & sound. That one was my 4th leg & it was probably 2 or 3-ish am? But I had the exciting thought that that one was my last dark run for this trip..Yay! Everyone continued to do really well, despite the cold, dark & getting tired. So far, the run/relay/team aspects of the relay were all going exactly as I had envisioned all those weeks ago when I 1st read about the race...BUT, 1 major bummer was the lack of john's on or around the coarse?! I had really thought there'd be more...& with a pregnant driver with us, those were very missed. But we managed...even found a hilarious little gas station in the middle of nowhere where we were able to use the restrooms & see a little bit of culture with the card game & zydeco music going on in the back! So we kept plugging along..run after run..through the cold, wind & occasional drizzle.. As folks got tired, some spirits seemed to dip a bit, but I can honestly say that I was still loving it. I had my last leg as the sun 'rose'(never really rose, which was a bummer b/c I love sunrises & had been looking forward to it all night! But with the clouds, it never really seemed to rise..it just gradually got brighter.. Which you might be saying.. "um, that's a sun rise".. But, I promise you..it just wasn't! You're gonna have to take my word on this one), which was about 4.6 miles..it was nice because I had a HUGE tail wind at some points which felt like it was carrying me along the coarse. It also marked the re-start of paved coarse, which was a relief to my tired & sore ankles. I also got to start seeing some of the solo people that were still trucking along..mostly walking or doing what I dubbed the 'ultra trot'.. We always cheered them on & gave them praises & encouragement to continue on, as they were really close to done at that point. Some looked better than others.. some smiled & thanked us & plodded on.. Some would chat a bit.. & some would just kind of stare at us with a dazed "is that a real person there?" kind of look in their eye (luckily they all had support people either right there with them or near by..so for those looking dazed, I felt OK that they had people keeping an eye out for them). We got to see 1 guy get checked in at his last aid station, which was at a little over 100 miles (even writing that...WOW). He was an older gentleman & was walking, which he probably did most, if not all, of the journey that way..but he was still walking relatively well! He had to weigh in, as they want to make sure they don't lose too much wt/fluids throughout the coarse, & he said "I gained again!"..which I told him I thought that was a good thing... definitely don't want to be losing wt/fluids in the midst of such a physical task.. Anyway, so that was cool & that was the 'official' end of my part of the relay... BUT... I wasn't done yet.. I decided I wanted to run the last leg in with Ginger..& she kindly agreed to let me tag along. We were tired, but still managed to average 8:50min miles for our 4.4 final miles. Again..we passed more solos..most notably was a fella very close to the finish, whom we later got to watch cross the finish.. but he was so tired & out of it.. He had to cross some railroad tracks to get across to a street where we were going to finish, & his crew had to physically lift his legs for him to get over the tracks. He looked exhausted, but we cheered him on & told him what an amazing job he was doing. His big finish was really emotional (though I cry pretty easy these days..). He had a lot of friends & family there for him holding signs & crying & cheering him on... & it was his birthday!! Really cool to watch. SO. final stats? I haven't looked things up to know for sure.. But word on the street is that we finished the 126.2mi relay in 21 hrs and 8 minutes, which was an average pace of 10.02. I didn't log my times (ahem..Chris.. Very efficient!), but I think I did about 9min miles for my 1st 4mi leg, 8 min miles for my 2.2mi leg, 9min miles for my 4.6mi night run (with a gal from another team), no idea for my 5.2 mile night run (forgot to wear my garmin. I felt like I wasn't moving at all, but my team swears I kept my pace the same...I'd guess around 9min miles), 8:30 min miles for my 4.6 early am run (my last official leg) & then 8:50min miles for the last 4.4 that I ran with Ginger..so good stuff! All said & done, I did about 24 miles throughout the entire relay... I'd say that was good marathon training!
So now we're in New Orleans & it just so happens to be Mardi Gras time.. We were cold, sweaty, stinky, tired & STARVING for some 'real' food (that long with nothing but pb/j &/or a combo of gels or bars or whatever your stomach can handle is tough to do!). We wound up heading toward our hotel, which was out by the airport, & found some food there. We did a much needed clean-up of the car...then waited (long story..we were NOT pleased) to get in our room.. then FINALLY showers!!! By that time, it was really too late for a nap, so we just powered on & took off for some parades in uptown N.O.. We were told these were the 'best', so went to Bacchus & Endymion (or something like that) parades..it was fun! I still don't get all the fuss over those silly beads..but it was cool to see the parades & we had a good time. Then...finally... sleep. Ahhhhhh. We stayed just 1 more day to soak in a little more of NOLA & Mardi Gras.. We hit the New Orleans Running company (I know..we're silly..but we got some great stuff! And got to talk to a gal there that had volunteered at the relay, so it was fun to hear another perspective), then did LAUNDRY! (never thought I'd be so excited to do laundry..but it just felt good to know all of that stank was GONE), then lunch, back to the hotel to change, get our cab..then down to the french quarter to check out bourbon street for Mardi Gras! It was fun...again..cool to see, STILL don't get the bead thing.. But we had a good time. Then we hit the road the next morning for the 14-ish hr ride back.. hence why I'm so tired today. But now it's back to reality & back to training. All in all, it was a great trip, great experience & I can't wait for the next adventure! Huge thanks to the race directors for an amazing experience...I can't wait to see how this relay/ultramarathon progresses through the years.. And very HUGE thanks to my team who powered through & joined me on this journey despite injuries, pregnancy...& some even admitted they don't even like running??!! So thanks to them for coming along with me on this great trip. See you all soon for some more training!!

Ketchup

Hey! Been a while, so I thought I'd attempt to pick this blog thing back up again.. so looks like my last post talked about taking a break from 'training' (aka: following a specific day to day plan for workouts) & doing p90x. I did finish p90x & enjoyed it..lots of good strength stuff AND, added bonus, it turned me in to a fan of yoga?! I avoided yoga forever b/c I thought I was too 'active' to get in to it...but it's tough stuff & I still make sure to include some yoga about once a week after my long runs.. Over the past months, I've been doing lots of different kinds of workouts..zumba, piloxing, pilates, yoga, ballet, soccer..along with the usual swim/bike/run. I started back up with a training plan for the season starting in January. First up on the agenda for this season is going to be a marathon on May 1..the Flying Pig in Cincinnati. I'm working hard on my pace/speed work, as well as the long slow distance work on the weekends..all in hopes to make my base/comfortable pace a little faster than it was before.. so far so good! I guess I'm 2 months in to my run training & 2 months 'til the marathon. I've been playing soccer in an adult league with some tri training buddies as a way to do some different speed/run work while having fun! (& getting our tails beat...). I'm actually currently exhausted from a long week/travel down to New Orleans for a crazy trail relay that I found & managed to talk some friends into joining me for (more on that in a minute), but overall, I'm enjoying my training & looking forward to warmer weather for outdoor training..& getting going on the season! Which, speaking of... this season I have a few different events up my sleeve. I figure since it's going to be a long, intense season building up to the full Ironman race in September, so I need to keep things interesting. Sor 1st, as I said, is the marathon (nothing too exciting there, but I AM looking forward to it..), next probably a little warm-up tri, then I've signed up for a century ride up in the mountains on Michigan, we're also planning on a 5k swim (??!!?) in June, the RAIN ride (160mi bike ride across Indiana), a couple half Ironman's (IronMEN??)...& then the 'big finish' at Rev 3 in Ohio! I'll try to keep this updated on how things are going w/ all of this..