Great week running, and other funny stuff

First let's get the foolishness out of the way, then move on to more important things.  Maybe I am not understanding what it means to be terminated via text (which I saved copies of, as well as all of the other lovely texts I have received) and banned from the store that I am still part owner of (not sure of the legality of that).  Maybe some are realizing that things were handled poorly.  Maybe this would have all been cleared up sooner if handled in person, or if any of the parties involved would choose to speak to me in person instead of hiding behind texts and emails.  Funny that now I should receive a letter asking me to formally resign my position as general manager when I was "terminated". ( I can't say that word without picturing Arnold Schwarzenegger. )  Since I am being ignored otherwise, but I know those interested are following this blog, let me respond to their letter here.  Let's see....ummmm....NO.

Moving on to a more interesting topic - Danielle's first run at Chicot! (AND her longest run to date!!)

13 miles run!!  Awesome job Danielle!

I would say that this past weekends run didn't go according to plan, but I never really have a set plan when going out to Chicot.  I was aiming for my last 20 miler, but the morning of the run, a couple of people had schedule conflicts which would have had us rushing to finish so they could make it back home for another event, so we all agreed to do an out and back for 12 or 13 miles. (I really didn't need another 20, since my race is next weekend, so it was easy to agree to this).

I should have known this would not be just another trail run.  From the beginning, it was like the trail gods were trying to tell me something.  When we get to the park, the first stop we always make is at the park bathroom before we get to the trail head.  There are always deer around the area, since there is a feeder nearby.  The deer in Chicot are very bold.  They are protected, and they know it.  But this weekend was a first.  There was a herd of 5 or 6 does crossing the road ahead of our truck.  When we got close they just looked at us, and kept walking across the road.  We actually had to stop to let them get by, and as the last doe was crossing and we were about to start moving, a buck ran in front of us. It was like trying to drive through the parking lot of WalMart.  Crazy.

When we got to the trail head and I took my Camelbak out of the back of the truck, I noticed the bottom of the pack was soaked.  I fooled with it a bit and found that the bottom quick release valve was leaking.  I couldn't get it to stop completely, but I figured since I had filled the pack with enough water to do the full 20 miles, I should be able to make 12 or 13 even with a leak.  I was wrong.  As soon as we started running, it really started leaking - pouring out the pack, down my legs, and into my shoes.

By mile 2.5 or so, the pack was almost dry.  I knew it would be a bad decision to go in too far and risk running out of water completely, so I turned around at this point.  At first I was aggravated that my mileage goal would not be met, but it turned out to be a great run back.  Since I wasn't accomplishing a whole lot with this run, I decided to take this opportunity to take some pictures along the way.

This is my favorite!

Lots of trees down this week from the storms the night before.

And it sounds and smells just as relaxing as it looks.

So, my last long run turned into a 5 mile run/walk/photo shoot.  I didn't stay aggravated for long.  It is so peaceful out there, it has a way of washing any negative feelings right out of you.  I enjoyed waiting at the finish and getting to see all of my friends (new and old) pop out of the woods.

Emma finishing.  Evidently she ran so fast, her shirt
flew off.  A common occurrence on the trails.

Liz finishing strong as usual!

Sandi dancing.  Or having a muscle spasm.
Either way, pretty cute.

Run, hike, skip, prance -
All are welcome, regardless of your chosen
form of locomotion.

Taylor, Kristofer and Tara sweating and smiling!

Everyone did between 8 and 13 miles on this outing.  Three newbies were introduced to Chicot, and there were 10 of us in all.  What an awesome trip!!

Don and Christina tearing up the trail

"That spider was THIS big!"

Liz and Randy doing Chicot yoga.

Randy on the trail.

L to R
Kristofer Harrington, 12, first time trail runner!!
Tara Greer, first timer, Taylor and Sandi - veteran
trail monkeys.

So, this week ended with 36 miles.  About 20 miles short of my goal.  I'm not thrilled with that, but I am not all tied in knots about it either.  Keep in mind, the race this weekend is not my "A" race by any means.  It will be 31 miles of suck, and I am looking at it as a training run/learning experience.  I am also looking at it as a great break over race to lead me into training for Cactus Rose, my first 50 miler of the season, in late October.  I did 31 miles in 3 days this week - all in the hottest parts of the day.  Ouch.  I am not expecting to do anything spectacular with this race, I am just really looking forward to getting there, and being surrounded by other ultrarunning fools.  I know there will be some GREAT stories!!

A big group of new trail runners are planning on doing their first loop of Chicot together on August 26th.  I can not wait for that day!  They will finally get to see all of the beauty of Chicot, and see what it feels like to pop out at that finish line with one heck of a tough trail run under their belt.  I am VERY excited about sharing that with them!!

I will try to get my pacer blog done this week some time, and I will put together a full race report after my 50k this weekend.  As always, there will be stories to tell!!

Happy Running!

Edie

And here we go....

I received a notice in the mail today that I have a certified letter waiting for me at the post office from a lawyer.  I have been waiting to see what their next move would be.  Knowing those former friends of mine, I knew some kind of nastiness was on its way.  It will be interesting to see what they have decided to do.

I am not sure what they hope to accomplish.  Are they going to sue me for money?  That's funny because they paid me very little for the last year I worked for them and they know I am in the middle of a divorce with all of the expenses that go with that.  Luckily, my ex husband is a good man, and its not ugly between us, so there are not huge legal fees there.

Are they going to try to tell me to stop talking about what they are doing?  Well, if a judge tells me to, of course I will comply.  Until then, I will keep you up to date.  Just as I am trying to bring you along with me on my ultra running journey this year, I will try to shed some light on our legal system for you.  Hopefully not many of you have been on the receiving end of this kind of treatment, so it should be an eye opener for all of us.

I woke up this morning with that stress weight sitting on my chest again, then I opened Facebook and read about all of the innocent people who were murdered in Colorado outside the movie theater, and the people who lost their lives in the house fire in Lafayette this morning.  Thank you God for perspective.  Really, what is the worst thing that can happen to me?  They can't kill me. They can't harm my children.  They can't hurt anyone that I am close to (except for the pain their actions are already causing those that I love and that love me).

Maybe I will have to sell the house I have raised my kids in to pay for legal fees.  I will still have two beautiful, intelligent, funny, and all around awesome kids standing by my side.  Maybe they will accuse me of a bunch of stuff to try to disparage me further.  They have already tried that and it hasn't worked.  I will still have an army of friends surrounding me who know me and who know the truth.  As for those who don't know me and choose to believe whatever garbage is thrown out there - well, that's not my problem.

So, what it boils down to is that they can cause me alot of aggravation.  And it is up to me to decide how much control that I give them over my feelings. It will be an interesting journey.  It already has been.  I went to dinner with a bunch of friends last night who had no idea of this latest development.  The dinner was already planned, and I didn't want any more of a black cloud hanging over everyone than there already is because of this.  I spent alot of time just looking up and down the table into the eyes of these amazing people and instead of feeling burdened or stressed, I just felt BLESSED. I was aware of the hugs everyone gave me lasting a little longer than usual, and the hands on my shoulders, and the passing touches.

Not many people are lucky enough to withstand the kind of trial in your life that reveals your true friends.  I have been, and it has been AMAZING. In the end, I will still be me, and I will still have all that I treasure - the love of those around me.  I think God has hit CTRL ALT DELETE in my life and given me a fresh start. Now it is up to me to figure out what to do with it.

So, I am going to finish up making breakfast for my kids, do the dishes, get dressed and head to the post office to see what the next phase in this journey is.  Thank goodness they did this on a rest day :).

Happy Running,
Edie

Why do you earn a belt buckle for a 100 miler?

I never thought about it, but this is pretty interesting.  Click the image on the history of earning a buckle for a 100 mile finish.

Rocky Raccoon race report from the RD

Here's something I just stumbled across - the race report from my 100 miler in February written by the race director, and ultra badass, Joe Prusaitis.  Joe is a serious ultra runner in his own right, but he also happens to be a first class RD.  Every time he sees me before or during his races, he calls out "Loozyanna!".  He also wins the prize for best finish line hug.

Here is the link for his race report.  Just a little insight into February's race.  Can't wait to do it again :).

Dr. Tim Noakes on Overhydration Among Athletes

Tim Noakes is THE MAN when it comes to all things running.  He has done extensive research, and debunks many different myths that have long been accepted as Gospel truth among runners.

So what hydration advice would you give to people running their first recreational marathon?
"That’s a great question, because it wouldn’t be any different from the advice that I’d give to anyone else. It’s listen to your body, and your body will tell you. It’s very important to make this point. There’s now evidence to suggest that if you drink ahead of thirst, that if you drink ahead of the signs, your performance will be impaired, just as it will be impaired if you drink less than you should at thirst. Thirst is your body trying to tell you, Listen, I need fluid. If you don’t replace that fluid, I’m going to slow you down until you drink. Only when you drink am I going to allow you to perform optimally again. The brain, unfortunately, can’t tell you that when you overdrink, you’re going to go slower. So you don’t pick up the messaging. You just go slower without realizing it. It’s very important."

Click the image for the full interview.

Fun Fact

Normally, I am not a number cruncher, but this is an interesting stat.  In my training season this year (basically June til Feb 2, for the Rocky Raccoon 100 miler), I will run over 1,600 miles in training and races. Then I will take lots of naps and eat lots of ice cream. :)  

Two weeks until the Big Butts 50k :)

Before I recap my training week, here are some pix from Saturdays group run at Chicot!

This was my first loop of the season, and I was a little concerned about how my legs would hold up to 20+ miles of trails, but I was pleasantly surprised!  I looped with Christina and Liz, and we all ran strong the entire way!  Best of all - ZERO soreness today!  WooHoo!!! I LOVE trail running!

Crazy running 20 miles over tough trails for fun girls!
Me, Christina Gravish and Liz Wooster

Shane Breaux and Pat Hardy
It was Pat's first time on the trails.
I think the early start concerned him more than the
whole "running through the woods" thing.
Great job, Pat!!

Christina and Liz on top of the levee - about 8 miles in.
Check out the water lillies behind them - the flowers were
HUGE!!!

Two peasant girls on a little run.
The bandannas are to keep the spiders out of our hair.  

At the 19 mile marker.
Those you share suffering with will always hold
a special place in your heart.

It was a great day at Chicot as usual!  It was very humid, but not unbearably hot.  The deer flies were out in abundance to help us stay motivated.  We also saw a bunny, and two snakes - Liz and I hurdled one of those before we realized what was happening.  Sometimes ignorance is bliss.  No wild hogs or deer this time around, although we did run through a couple of spots where we smelled a strong, musky odor, so we knew something big had been there not too long before.  We are going to say that was a deer. :)

Best quote of the day was by Christina after climbing a particularly tough hill, "Man, I'm breathing like a pervert on the telephone."   The Most Likely to Find a Tick award goes to Liz this time.  But it was only one, and she just picked it off of her leg.  Don't freak out, people.  Not sure if we will be heading out there again next weekend.  I will keep you posted.

LAST WEEKS TRAINING:

This turned out to be a great training week.  Considering I came off of two weeks of hardly anything, to a 24 mile week, then 41 this past week with no issues, and feeling very strong, I say all systems are a "go" for the 50k.  Normally, last week and next week would be taper time, but since my schedule got a little out of whack, I had to make some adjustments.

For instance, here is what my schedule for last week should have looked like: (keeping in mind I try not to ever run two days in a row unless I have to)

M - 12; Tu - rest; W - 20; Th - rest; F - 12; Sa - rest; Sun - 20  for about 64 miles. I say about because my distances are approximate.  I don't normally wear a GPS, I mainly go by how long I think it should take, and I have an idea of the distance of my routes. Usually, I am a little over in the distances - my 12 might actually be 12.4, etc.  Also, there is some debate over the actual distance of the Chicot loop - GPS's say 19.something - but they lose distance when they drop the signal, or when there are lots of quick S-turns, and steep up and downs; the park ranger says it is closer to 22 miles because that is what the odometer on their 4 wheeler reads when they do the whole loop.  We'll go with 20, and the rest can be lagniappe.  Here's what my schedule actually looked like:

M - rest; Tu - 12; W - rest; Th - 9; Fri - rest; Sa - 20 (Chicot); Sun - rest  for about 41 miles.  Since I had run the previous Sunday at Chicot, I had to adjust my schedule to have Monday off, so I just ended up having three runs this week, but they were good, strong runs.  I definitely have my legs under me, and I am feeling strong for my race.

If I was tapering like I should be, had my schedule not gotten screwed up, this is what next week should look like:  
M - 6; Tu - rest; W - 9; Th - rest; F - 6; Sat - 12; Sun - rest

But, with my adjusted schedule, here is what is on the books for next week:
M - 12; Tu - rest; W - 15; Th - rest; F - 12; Sat - 18 - 20 for a total of 57 - 59 miles.  Then I will slow down the week of the race with just a couple of 6 milers, or so.

The point of this is to show you that life can sometimes get in the way, and it doesn't have to derail your plans completely.  You may have to adjust your goals a bit, and be realistic with your expectations, but you don't have to throw in the towel.  I have alot going on in my life, even without the added stupidness that I am dealing with.  Rarely is there a time when I have NOTHING to do.  Like with everything else in life, if there is something you want to accomplish, you find a way to make it happen.

I am really looking forward to this race in a strange way.  I reserved a hotel for the night before, and plan on driving home after the race.  Hopefully the park has showers I can use when I am done, or I may be riding home with the windows down. I am looking forward to seeing the trails in Clinton, Mississippi.  Who knows?  Maybe I will decide to do the 100k there next year.  Or maybe not.

Have a great week, and Happy Running1

Edie

Next post will be about the role of pacers during an ultra marathon.....or more to the point - what you would be willing to do for a stick of gum?