Altra Coventry Woods Challenge

In the London Airport on the way home.  Kids were good but 15 hours of travelling is not easy

A little less than a week before I was scheduled to come home from Bosnia/Croatia with the kids, Emir asked me if I wanted to run a trail race, the Coventry Woods Challenge.  Altra was the main sponsor and since Emir and I are ambassadors and local to this event, they asked if we would be the representatives for the race and they would give us entry to whichever event we wanted.  Of course, I said I wanted to do it.  Who am I to turn down a race?!  A free race, no less! 


#teamdedic back together stateside! (and sportin the buff)

The race took place Sunday August 2nd, which was only a few days after the long trip home.  I didn't think this would matter at all.  I've stayed in Bosnia/Croatia for 5-6 weeks in the past and I just come home and return to normal life.  At least I thought I did.  I forgot the important detail that the last time I went was 2 years ago.  Even that last trip over, I was not running the amount I run now.  And when I look back, that summer I was only doing 3-5 miles maybe 3-4x/week and definitely didn't run for a few days after my return.  This year, we got home around 9:30pm Wednesday evening, I went to work Thursday and then went for a run Thursday after work.  I felt o-k but definitely kind of weird, not my normal self and I had to stop and use the potty for a #2 a couple miles in.  Things were definitely off but it was my first run back and less than 24 hours after landing.  Saturday, Emir and I decided to go to the big trail together with Una for our shakeout since Niko wasn't home.  I felt really good the first 5 miles and we were moving at a good pace then I had to continue on myself to reach 75 minutes while Emir was done after 5 miles.  We are on different training schedules since he has Eastern States 100 miler in 2 weeks.  A minute or two after I left him, my stomach became seriously unahppy.  At this point, I was in the middle of the woods so I had to just carry on but I felt awful.  Around mile 6 I found Emir again and then I went off to try to finish.  At mile 7, I decided to be done even though I still had 8 minutes left.  My stomach hurt too bad and I felt REALLY weak.  As soon as we got home pardon my description but I threw up out my ass and I felt so weak and nauseous I had to lay down for a couple hours.  I still didn't feel right after laying down but it was better.   I was hoping with a good night's sleep, I would feel like running in the morning.

double Bob back in action after a couple months off

Even though the race didn't start until 8 and was about 45-50 minutes from us, we got up early since we had the Altra booth to set up.  I was feeling better but just still not myself.  I was a little worried but I thought, "nah I'll be fine."  We got to the trail around 6:15 and found the RD Don so we could find out where to set up.  Don was SUPER nice and SUPER enthusiastic!  He was also the one who was more than willing last minute to give us entry into whichever race we wanted.  There was a 10K, 3 hour and 6 hour.  Obviously we opted for the 6 hour. 

We got the tent set up and just waited around for a bit.  Once runners started showing up to pick up their bibs, a number of them came over to talk to us about Altras.  We had a supply of the Olympus, one of their trail shoes, for people to try on and they could run in if they wanted to.  Surprisingly, for such a small event, we had about 6 people who wanted to wear them for their race.  And every single one came back afterwards saying how much they loved the shoe.  There were also plenty of other people that were not comfortable running in a new shoe for their race but tried them on and asked lots of questions about Altras.  It was fun!  I almost forgot we were running a race. 


I think our booth was pretty awesome

I think that tent would look great in our backyard ;-)

We started the race a little after 8.  Don was allowing a little extra time for people to finish at the potty which was nice.  He instructed us that our first lap had a little addition to make it 6.2 for the 10K people but that we would not do that every lap, so I knew once he said that, it would not be a 10K for each lap as I thought but not really a big deal.  The first lap I enjoyed.  I talked to a couple friends.  The woods were beautiful.  I had never run there before but it was very nice.  The terrain was more challenging than I expected.  Definitely lots of ups and downs and plenty of rocks and tree roots.  I tripped a million times as did everyone else.  I also fell once and witnessed mult falls by other people.  I also saw the cuts and dirt on a lot of other runners to indicate they had fallen.  But  in general everything was ok.  I was with Emir then lost him to a potty break but then he found me again.  I was right with him but then the gopro fell out of my flipbelt.  I stopped to get it and then next thing I knew he was gone.  I figured I would see him at the end of the lap, as I couldn't be too far behind but then I fell.  I didn't think this stuff threw me too far off but there was no sign of him when I finished the first lap.  I went over to the altra tent, grabbed a couple things and ditched the gopro and headed back out. 

I was looking forward to a race after the Sljeme mishap...

As I started the second lap, I started feeling just a general sluggishness and not great in my stomach.  Great.  I kept going but I was slow.  I was walking pretty much all the uphills and I wasn't even running fast on the downhills.  There's not much I can say except it was a struggle.  When I finished the second lap, I went into the port a potty.  I was able to purge, it wasn't as bad as the day before but I still wasn't feeling very good.  I decided I needed to go out on another lap anyway.  I mean what loser stops after 2 laps?! 

Let's just say Lap 3, SUCKED!  A few minutes in, my stomach started cramping.  I had to go even slower than lap 2.  I was even walking some flats now in addition to downhills.  UGH.  it was so frustrating because my legs were feeling good, I wanted to go faster but my stomach hurt so bad.  Nothing I did made it better.  I was battling myself in my head but made the decision that I should just be done after lap 3.  It was so hard for me.  I never like stopping before I'm done my mileage or before time is up but I just couldn't do it.  After I finished lap 3 and sat down.  I felt awful, like such a loser for stopping already.  I had only run for 3:30, I could have gotten a bunch more than the 17 miles I got in.  Even now I'm still upset I didn't do more even though I know I really couldn't, my body just wouldn't let me.

not the day I hoped for, but still had fun overall.  (more buff action!)

Despite my despair, I actually did enjoy the remainder of the race.  There were a bunch of 3 hour racers hanging around so they came to talk to me about Altras for a while and then as other 6 hour people finished up their day, they started trickling in.  I really did enjoy talking to all the different runners.  We talked shoes and races.  If I had kept running, I wouldn't have had this experience, so maybe not a such a bad day after all.  I still got a long run in and I got to interact with a bunch of great people, nothing to be sad about.

Emir had a great day!  He finished 5 laps and got 2nd in his age group.  He was definitely feeling good and it was good confidence with only 2 weeks until his first 100 miler. 

Congrats!!!!!!!!

The race itself was extremely well organized!  Everything was in order, the trail was VERY well marked and all the race volunteers were super friendly and happy to be there.  The trail itself is beautiful and great for running loops.  It was really a very nice event, we would definitely do it again.

Now it's time to gear up for Emir's Eastern States 100 miler!  Even though this is his race, it's still a huge event for me.  This is the first time either one of us is running further than 100K.  And this is the first time I will be crewing/pacing for him.  I've come to watch him at the HAT 50K a couple times but that's completely different than what this will be.  Lucky for us, our friend MO will be helping me crew, thank goodness!!  Eastern States is an extremely difficult race which almost always carries over into being difficult logistically to access aid stations etc.  There are only some aid stations that crew may access in addition to only a few where you can pick up a pacer.  Having a second person on the crew is really going to help with all these logistics and getting to the various places we need to be.  It's going to be a long day and half of waiting etc plus I'm planning on pacing him the last 22 miles.  I may end up more tired than him!  haha   As nervous as I am for all of this, I can't wait.  He's been working so hard and I know he will be great.  Stay tuned!!!

Looking Buff!

Disclaimer: I received BuffUSA gear as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!



My half buff waited for me forever!

Finally being back home means that I can finally get back to testing more products for Bibrave, one of my favorite past times.  While I was away, a half buff arrived for me to test.  Since I was away so long, I've only had a handful of chances to test it out but so far I'm really liking it.  In the past, I didn't really see the need for a buff especially in the summer.  I sometimes would use one in the winter to cover my face.  However, lately I've been finding them pretty helpful during these hot, humid runs of summer.

Runner's World Half and Festival 2015--Big News

Yes, I have news. Pretty big news in fact. And, no, I never write blog posts like this. However, I felt like this was something I needed to write about. An announcement post if you will.

 If you don't know, Emir and I have run the Hat Trick (5k, 10K & half marathon) at the Runner's World Festival in Bethlehem, PA every year since it started in 2012. And we love this event. It's a whole weekend devoted to running. We get to not only run 3 races in one weekend, but attend talks, movies and other activities all about running with tons of other runners who are just as geeky about this stuff as us. And the best part is that it's hosted by Bart Yasso and all the other enthusiastic people at Runner's World. Not to mention, it's also sponsored by Altra (who we happen to be ambassadors for) who also provides tons of great running content. Last year we even had the kids come Friday for the kids' race. It's just the best and we look forward to it every year.

Kids had a blast at the festival!

The steelstacks add a nice background for the whole weekend

This year things got even better. Emir and I have said the last couple years that we wish there was some trail component to the weekend especially because after attending we realized there was a great trail nearby. Well someone heard our wishes and not long ago it was announced that there will be a 3.8 mile trail race on Friday afternoon. Why 3.8? Well if you add the 3.1 and 6.2 from Saturday's races with the 13.1 of Sundays race and the 3.8 you get 26.2 for the weekend. Sounds perfect to me! It was a no brainer for us to sign up for all 4 races even though I will be running my first 100 miler the weekend before. This event just means so much to us at this point. We have done every race at every Runner's World Festival so far, so how could I not continue that??

My First DNS--Sljeme Marathon Croatia

I was all ready to rock the Sljeme Marathon

 

You are probably thinking "she must have done way too much too soon after the appendicitis and surgery."   NOPE. Going into this race I was feeling great.  I didn't feel any soreness in the surgery area at all anymore during/after runs or even with  core work.  My appetite and bowel functions all finally completely back to normal.  I was so excited for this race. It was the pick me up I needed after my unexpected surgery and having to drop down to a shorter distance at Velebit which I had been so looking forward to doing the longest distance for about six months.  I also just love trying all different races in all different places. Sljeme sounded like a great challenge.  3, 14k loops.  First half of each loop 1000 feet down and the second half 1000 feet up and I think mostly trail but runable trail. Definitely my kind of race.

Niko REALLY wanted to come to the race which meant Una wanted to come too.  That's why I asked my sister-in-law and her fiancé if they would mind driving me and the kids to the race and taking care of them while I ran.  They were more than happy to take us so all the plans were made.  

Sljeme mountain is in Zagreb the capital of Croatia and about 2.5 hours from Bihac, Bosnia where Emir's family lives and I was staying the night before the race.  We decided the night before that we would leave at 7 to give us an extra hour cushion getting to the race as it started at 10:30.

The Sljeme Mountain where the race takes place.  We passed it on our way to visit family the week before the race

 

Race morning we got up.  I had coffee and ate well. The kids ate and we were out the door on time.  Everything seemed great.  About 15-20 minutes from Bihac is a border crossing into Croatia which is how we always go no matter our destination in Croatia.  As we rounded the corner towards the border, our hearts all literally dropped to the ground at the same time.  The line was the longest I've seen it since the early 2000s the first few times I came with Emir.  Back then then the war had not long been over so crossing could be difficult sometimes. But the last few years Emir and I have never waited more than 30 minutes.  Usually on average 10-15 minutes. Even my sister-in-law and fiancé were shocked and they live there and cross on a regular basis. They said that It is never a long wait early on a Sunday morning.  It was awful just sitting there in line not being able to do anything but watch time slip away.  They finally opened a 3rd line and we moved over to it.  But still by the time we went through it was after 8:30.  I knew making it to the race on time was a slim chance at this point but Menso said he would drive fast so we powered on.  

About 20-30 minutes later Una started screaming.  I knew it meant she was about to throw up.  I yelled for Dajana to give me a plastic bag.  Una started puking as I was trying to get the bag open to catch it.   It was all over my hands and arms and all over her.  We pulled into a gas station to use the bathroom to get Una and myself cleaned up.   Time just kept ticking away.  We got back in the car and sped off again.   Now Una only in her underwear was much happier.  And all I could smell was her throw up.  I kept thinking even if I make this race it's going to suck smelling like puke the whole time.   

Una feeling much better after puking and I'm just trying not to go crazy, knowing I'm probably not making this race

 

About 15-20 minutes later the car started making a weird noise.   We all tried to ignore it as we didn't want to stop again but it kept happening so Menso had to pull over again to check.  He never found anything wrong with it and then it never made the noise again.  It's like the race gods were just stacked against me that day.

Eventually we made it into Zagreb but it was already 10:30 and we still had to get up the mountain.  We drove in circles for a while trying to get to the mountain.  We stopped to ask someone and found out that the main road was closed and we had to go back to the highway and go that way.  But going that way takes an hour.  And at this point it was after 11.  There was absolutely no reason I wanted to drag the poor kids who had already been in the car 4 hours another hour up to a race that I definitely wouldn't be able to run since I would be 2 hours late at that point.  So I made the decision that we were just going to give up on getting there.  

Una in my after race shorts.  She was not happy, she did not like them one bit, said they weren't pretty

Menso and Niko in Zagreb

It was an awful feeling.  I really wanted to just sit by myself somewhere and cry but that wasn't an option.  I had two hungry, rammy kids to take care of and we had to now make it all the way back to Bosnia.  I also felt so terrible that Menso and Dajana did all this driving really for no reason.  As Niko kept saying the whole way home "what a bad, bad day.  This is the worst day."

There was some kind of celebration going on in Zagreb

I think Zagreb is a great city, would have just preferred to be running the race!

We stopped at this huge mall called the Arena to get the kids McDonalds. At least this was the high point of the trip.  They got pretty awesome minion toys with their happy meals and pictures with these Lego statues of "Lego Friends" which is a show they watch all the time.  After that back to the car.  This time about an hour from home Niko's stomach started hurting.  He was crying and it was a little bit to the next gas station.  Luckily he made it to the stop.  But poor kid's stomach kept hurting the whole rest of the way home.  

the kids with the Lego Friends

So about 9 hours after setting off for the race, we finally made it back to my in-laws.  I had sent Emir a message while on the wi-fi at the mall to let him know we didn't make the race.  I knew he would be antsy to talk to me so I facetimed him as soon as we got back.  If it's any consolation for all of this, he felt as bad as I did.  He understood all my emotions and actually was going through all of them with me.  Even though it can make our lives super crazy sometimes, I just can't say enough about how wonderful it is that  Emir is an ultrarunner too.  Ultrarunners are seriously crazy people with lots of intense emotions. The fact that he just gets it, is awesome.  Talking with him was what I needed at that point and I was feeling better but I knew I needed more "therapy" to help me truly get over my first DNS.  

I talked to my in-laws and said I was going out early the next morning for a long run, probably a few hours.  They said no problem.  While I think they don't really understand why we run so much and so many miles as I think it appears to be more like torture than fun to them, they are totally supportive.  Emir had to go back home to work and I still was staying here 3 more weeks with the kids and they have been totally wonderful making sure I get all my runs in which I truly appreciate.  

Anyway my plan was to climb to the peak of the Mountain that my in-laws live on.  It's been a goal of Emir and I for a few years but we never got a chance to do it yet.  Even though I really wanted to do it with Emir, I knew it was what I needed to do after missing the race.  

I set off a little after 6.   It was a struggle from the get go.  My body and mind were so tired from the events of the day before.  As I steadily climbed the road part, I took a few walk breaks as needed.  Eventually I came to signs indicating that I could continue on the road or I could take the trail off to the right.  I could reach the peak both ways but it was longer via the road.  

straight up the mountain

I didn't want to be gone half the day so I chose the trail.   I figured out pretty quickly that the trail way was shorter because it was much more steep rather than the road that was a gradual climb to the top.  No matter, I just set into steady hike mode.   I was getting excited as I got closer.  Finally I reached a sign that said 1km to the top but said over an hour time it would take.  Uh oh.  That last kilometer was extremely steep and very rocky think Velebit.  Whatever I just climbed my way up and about 20 minutes later I saw the sign indicating the peak.  I felt great!  I took a bunch of pics with the gopro and got stung by a bee on my ankle before starting to head back down.  

The peak!



Add caption

redemption!!!

Once I made it back home and checked out my stats, I felt satisfied.  In only 13.5 miles I did 2600 feet of climbing which wasn't much less than what I was going to do in the marathon.  So what I had just done was actually more challenging which is what us ultrarunners thrive on.  I was feeling good but there was one more thing I needed to fully complete my therapy to overcome my first DNS.   

I hopped on the Internet and was searching around for races near home.  Emir's Eastern States 100 miler is only a couple weeks after I get home and my TARC 100 is the second week of October so I was looking for something end of August, early September.  Within a few minutes I found it, the Labor Pains 12 hour.  I had heard of this race and even Emir had shown it to me before.  I'm not sure why but when he brought it up before I didn't want to do it.  But now I did.   I didn't have any races lined up aside from pacing Emir at Eastern States until my 100 and after missing Sljeme, I just needed another race to fill the void. It seemed like good timing to me about 5 weeks before my 100 miler.  I know coach will be giving me tons of miles that weekend anyway so why not get them in at a fun race?  But since I've never done 100 miles before I definitely wanted to check with coach first to make sure he thought it was ok.  Caleb emailed me back immediately saying he thought it was perfect timing in regard to the 100 and also a perfect opportunity to work on my nutrition and hydration in the setting of a race in prep for the 100.  I was excited.  I messaged Emir telling him about my convo with coach and a minute later I had a confirmation email in my inbox.  I told you having a fellow ultrarunner as a spouse is the best!!!

So that's it.  My therapy is now complete and I'm ok.  I think all experiences good and bad no matter what make us stronger/better people and in this case a better runner.  On to the next adventure!!!!



My last long run in the Balkans.  22 miles on the island of Ugljan in Croatia ending with a jump in the Adriatic Sea



Velebit Ultra Trail Croatia--Ridiculously difficult, ridiculously beautiful

That's Velebit Mountain behind me!

   Crossing the finish line 7 hours and 40 minutes after starting the 27k at the Velebit Ultra, I knew I had definitely done the right thing and not run the 65k despite all my crying last post.  It actually had ended up being 22.4 miles (about a mile extra at the end as I went the wrong way off the mountain) and the hardest race I've ever done, not just elevations wise but terrain wise.  And then when Emir finally finished what ended up being a 44 mile race in 18 hours, I REALLY was thankful that I did not try to do the longer race.