Sander's Saunter - Race Report

I'm a bit late writing this race report. I'm "good" like that sometimes.

I got up early and got dressed in the dark so as to hopefully not wake up the whole house.  This time it worked (YAY!!!).  I ate a banana as I drove to Clinton Lake for the race and dearly wished I had coffee.  It was a fairly chilly morning, so I was super excited to see the hot chocolate & COFFEE in the shelter & the bon-fire just behind the start/finish line.  Coffee is fabulous.

As per usual I met Kris at the start line and we started chatting.  We were both feeling pretty good considering we'd done a half marathon the weekend before. We were excited to do our first trail race but mostly we were just excited to be out there running again.  We tossed our extra stuff on one of the shelter tables and lined up for the start at the back of the pack.  

I don't remember much of the race its self since it was months ago now.  I hate that I've forgotten it and that I didn't get the report written up before all the details vanished.  All I remember now is the amazing feeling of not giving up.  The half marathon was my goal race for the year.  It was over, it was history and yet I was still out there running.  I didn't stop after hitting my goal.  Hooray for finding my brave.

If you want a fun race with great runners and fabulous volunteers for a good cause  Run Sander's Saunter. I'll see you there in 2013...maybe I'll get the RR up before I forget it all next year.  

Sander's Saunter - Our "hand me down" dogs

I posted yesterday about the Sander's Saunter 10k going on this Saturday.  I have several reasons to do this run and they all meld together to make it a really desirable run for me.  

1. It's kind of rare that the trailhawks host a race distance that I can cover, and since I'm a member I love to support their races when I can.

2. As a family we tend to be suckers for "hand me down" dogs as we call them.  The dogs that are perfectly fine but for whatever reason their owners can't keep them (too many pets in one apartment, not enough time for them anymore, the dog doesn't get on with the other dogs around, the dog is getting persecuted by the other dogs around...etc).  Since the Sander's Saunter is a benefit for the Lawrence Humane Society it hit kinda close to home even though both of our dogs were received from family that couldn't keep them anymore.  

3. The Humane Society is a wonderful organization that does amazing work.

Below are our two 'hand me down' dogs that have made our weird little family complete.  

Maggie rescued us by giving up her perfectly normal family to join us in all our weirdness almost two years ago now.  She was almost a year old when she came here and at first she wasn't sure she liked us (*two boys begging to pet her had NOTHING to do with it I'm sure*)  We gave her her own full size futon mattress for a bed, lots of ear rubs, some hotdogs, and started taking her for walks every morning then I think she started to like us.  When I started running a year ago,  she became my running buddy, although she still doesn't run well on a leash (HELLO leaping great dane!).  We take special trips to the dog park and run the trails there so I can get extra miles in and so she can get all her puppy energy out (an energy full vibrating great dane is a force of nature I tell you!). While for the most part she is Justin's dog, she still loves it when I get dressed to run just in case she gets to go with me.  

 Mags our 3 yr old Great Dane on one of our many dog park runs this summer.

Earlier this year my father in law said something about one of his dogs not fitting in well with the group.  He mentioned that we should take her home with us.  We laughed.  No really...we did.  Two boys and an energetic Great Dane make for a very full house most days.  Then we went to visit him and this happened:

Annie our 8ish year old Daschund.

Annie came right up to me (she knows I'm the weaker one) sat up on her back legs and looked at me with those huge brown eyes until I caved and picked her up.  She snuggled with me the rest of the day.  We didn't take her home that day because we were afraid of how Maggie would get along with such a small dog.  They are both super sweet, but the age & size difference worried us.  Next trip out to see Father-in-law we took Maggie with us and they got on fine, so we agreed to give it a try.  Annie is now my dog.  She LOVES going on morning walks with Mags and Justin, and she loves the dog park too, but she tends follow her nose and get lost in the underbrush.   She also gets super tired after one lap, so for longer dog park runs she stays home.  

Most days you'll find the two of them like this:

or like this:

We are so lucky they both chose to be part of our family.   

  

Next up - Saunder's Saunter Trail 10K

Before the half marathon I had heard that the trailhawks were putting on a trail 10k, and since I hadn't done a trailhawks race since joining their wonderful band I really wanted to do it....but the smarter part of me needed to wait until after the half to make sure I didn't injure myself (my racing history is pretty spotted with injury or re-injury).  Well since I didn't injure myself last Saturday (YAYAYAY!!!) I signed up.  

Here's the details in case anybody is looking for a trail 10k with a really good cause.  

From the race website:
Race Information: The race is a 10K+ loop course with a visit to Sanders Mound, a small hill overlooking Clinton Lake, at the beginning of the race and again near the end. The course is rugged trails running through beautiful trees. First 100 entrants will receive a coffee mug with "The Best things in life are rescued" logo. Fun awards for top 3 Male and Female finishers -- race goodies offered post race.

The LHS will be at the race with "marathon mutts" that are ready for your adoption. You are welcome to run the race with a marathon mutt, or simply give them some TLC, it's up to you! All dogs must remain on leash during the run. There is a wish list below of items the LHS needs for the shelter. Please bring any donations with you on race morning; we will have a drop box set up. 

For more information on the "marathon mutts" program, please visit http://www.lawrencehumane.org/
LHS Wish List: Paper towels, bleach, laundry detergent, Dawn dish soap, hand sanitizer, clay cat litter, peanut butter, crunchy dog biscuits, towels, sheets, and washable blankets.

Facebook Event Page:

http://www.facebook.com/events/431732780216539/?fref=ts

Ultra Signup Page:
http://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=18024

Pilgrim Pacer Half Marathon - Race Report

With my eyes still closed I heard the sounds of the 3yr old talking in his room.  I briefly cursed my mommy hearing & then rolled over to see what time it was.  I was semi-happy to see that it was 5:30AM.  Then I immediately woke up enough to turn on my phone and check the weather one.more.time.  Thanks to my OCD weather checking for the past week I knew it was going to be a warm one for the half today, but it was even warmer than I expected.  My weather app said it was 63 degrees.  63!  It's November in Kansas at 5:30am.  Oh Boy!

After convincing the 3 yr old to at least stay in his room (a miracle I tell you!), I grabbed my clothes and hustled to get dressed.  Due to the weather I had revamped my race day outfit yesterday, and laid it out last night.  I had opted for my CWX stablyx capris & my "badass mother runner" short sleeve shirt from www.anothermotherrunner.com.  Both had been tested on several occasions & on long runs.  I wanted no surprises on this venture.  I ate a bagel, checked facebook, & grabbed a jacket (just in case) while waiting for my BRF Kris to show up and car pool with me to the race.  Once Kris showed up we were off!  Oh wait...coffee.  We needed coffee...so we stopped. Then we were off.  

It was a short 20 minute drive to the parking lot we had to park in.  Due to a shortness of parking they had us park about a mile away and ride a trolley into the race start which was at Theater in the Park in Shawnee, KS.  That was kind of fun.  Due to the high winds it was chilly in the parking lots and waiting for the start, so we kept our jackets on (thank goodness I packed it!).  We had 30 or so minutes before the start so we hit the porta potties, packed our jackets in our drop bag, & then headed out for a short warm up run & stretch on part of the paved path opposite the start line.  The sun was up and was coming out from behind some clouds and we got our first look at how beautiful it was going to be today.  We ran a bit, talked a lot and then found the entrance to a short trail.  Oh how I wanted to go run that little trail.  It was beautiful, but it was time to run back to the start line and get this long run going.

Me cheesing at the starting line.

After some chatting and standing around we were off.  The first part of the course was downhill which was kinda awesome, except when we realized we'd have to climb back up....oh well we decided to worry about that later.  We also managed to head out way too fast and did the first 4 miles at 5k pace...woops.  My cold/cough from earlier this week surfaced again after mile4 and every time I started hacking it was a little bit worse, but nothing to do but get it done. 

Pilgrim Pacer course profile:

We ran past some picnic structures and on the path by the lake which was beautiful.  We passed an aid station and didn't really need anything so we headed on, but by the first porta potty Kris needed to stop.  There was a long wait line so we skipped it and headed on to the second one.  At about mile 3.5 it started raining, but there weren't many clouds in the sky and honestly it felt wonderful.  Then strangely the rain stopped.  At the potty stop about 4 miles in we met a really nice guy who is in the army & stationed in Oklahoma.  He was running the half with his wife.  They left, Kris pottied, and we headed back out.  I had paused my Garmin when we stopped and when I went to turn it back on it kept bleeping that it had a GPS error.  I had no idea what that meant, so I reset the garmin and started the run over.  No biggie.  

After the potty stop we actually managed to slow down a bit which was good and bad.  I knew if we didn't the last few miles were going to hurt, but at this point the trail was in the sun and the sun and I don't really get along when I'm running.  I tend to just melt and have to walk.  Thankfully it we were coming up to a spectator point at a playground.  For some reason it looked really familiar. It took me a few minutes to place it, but when I did I got the biggest smile on my face.  The playground was one of the aid stations for the Breast Cancer 3day I did back in 2006.  For lack of a better way of saying it was like seeing an old friend.  I ran on those memories for a little bit and then came back down to earth.  The slog from the last aid station up a few more hills to the turnaround were...difficult.  

Kris & I just after the Halfway point:

Slow, slow, slow was the story for the remainder of the run.  We decided to walk up the hills, run down the hills, run as much of the flats as possible.  Our pace had severely slowed, but it was all about finishing at this point.  Kris was hurting and I was tired.  The wind, sun & warmer than what we'd trained in weather had beat us up (seriously, I'm wind burnt from the strong winds and gusts) We just had to gut it out.  

The last mile was all uphill and we didn't have the legs/lungs/guts/heart to run it.  We finally made it back up to the theater in the park and ran the last little bit to cross the finish line smiling.  I did it!  We did it!  I'm a half marathoner! 

Official time 3:09:17.  

Kris & I after some water and pumpkin pie.  

Next....hill training.  

Half Marathon Countdown - 3 days- Butterflies, the nervous kind.

The nervous, what the HELL was I thinking, butterflies are flying in my gut.  13.1 miles is a LONG run (especially at my slow back of pack pace).  Why am I doing this again?  What is that twinge in my ITband?  Is my fall on the trail last Saturday going to mess up some part of my body that before managed to remain un-injured?  BAH!!!

I know I can do it, I've already done 13 miles in training.  I've trained for it, to best of my currently injury prone ability.  Settle butterflies settle.

Half Marathon Countdown - 7days -

I headed out with the Trailhawks for a preview of the Sander's Saunter course (more details here: http://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=18024), and my last Saturday run before the half marathon.  I was cursing getting up early on a Saturday & the cold.  Thankfully it was a beautiful morning for a run with Mech Hawk, Shiner Hawk, Story Hawk & Lampchop (Story Hawks fourlegged trail running friend).  They made me lead and right away I knew that was a bad idea.  It was only my second time on the Clinton trails at the first turn I was already lost.  I also started off too fast for me as I have a tendency to do.  This all left me walking by the time we got to Sander's mound for the first time.  A beautiful view of the sunrise and then the run back down for the rest of the course.  I felt my legs getting tired about mile 2.5.  I insisted that Mech Hawk lead & figured I was in for a fall.  Somewhere around mile 4, while listening to another awesome story from Story Hawk, it finally happened.  I hit an upended rock stuck in the trail with my toe and hit the ground hard.  My palms and knees took the brunt of it, but I scrapped up my right arm and shoulder as I rolled off the trail to get out of Shiner & Story Hawks way.  I laid there for a few minutes 1. feeling like an idiot, 2. trying to mentally feel around and see if anything was broken, 3. mentally kicking myself for going to the chiropractor on Friday (I always seem to injure myself immediately after going to the chiropractor). 4. Noticing how beautiful the sky is from that angle.  Story Hawk hauled my unstable butt back to standing position and we started walking.  I was a bit dazed from the tumble, but quickly felt like running again.  Another mile or so on the clock and then I rolled my right ankle on a loose rock.  F@&*!  I walked that off too and ran as much as could back out to Sander's mound, walked the hill, and ran back down & up (Kansas is so not flat) to the end of the course.  I felt a bit bashed up, sore, and stupid for all the falling and twisting I'd managed to inflict on my body, but I finished the run.

Thankfully the hawks were all very nice and didn't make me feel worse about my falls than I already did.  ALthough Story Hawk did mention that the falling & twisting was good practice for FlatRock.  OH BOY!  What have I gotten myself into??!

I headed home to pick up my little monsters and head over to my BRF Kris's house to hang out, cook lunch, and watch her kiddos so she could head out for a run.  Overall, not the best confidence boosting run to have before my first half marathon, but I ran it (Minus the hills. I know, I know.  Hill training is needed) nothing is broken, & I had a pretty good day enjoying the days beauty, & hanging with an awesome friend.  Keep moving forward.  

This pic was taken by Mech Hawk from the top of Sander's Mound the first time through.  Absolutely beautiful & so worth getting up early & running in the cold for.