Chasing My Joy

My journey to becoming an Ultra Runner and Ironman

Hall Ranch 14 Mile Trail Run

Do you ever have a night that is just perfect? Cory and I fell into bed Saturday night with one of our bedroom windows open, it’s still pretty chilly overnight but we both like a cold room to sleep in. I woke up sometime during the night to hear rain and probably hail, it was so peaceful to lay in bed and listen to the rain, it reminded me of being a kid in Oregon. When we got up later in the morning it was blue skies and sunny, perfect, we get the much needed moisture but I don’t have to run through it!

Cory quickly whipped up a batch up whole-wheat blackberry pancakes and eggs while I searched for a fun new trail for us to run. I wanted to run anywhere between 10 and 16 miles. I came across Hall Ranch Trail in Lyons with this description:

It does not get any better than the first half of this route, which is on the Nighthawk Trail – really one of the finest runs in the Colorado Front Range, especially near its western end where spectacular views of Longs Peak appear. Grade: An average six degree angle of ascent seems easy on the excellent Nighthawk Trail. The route becomes more rocky and uncertain during its second half, primarily on the Bitterbrush Trail, which is somewhat more eroded.

Sounded perfect so I packed up everything I needed and headed up to Lyons.

I brought two pairs of shoes, in case my new trail shoes gave me trouble, they didn’t =). I am not a light traveler, I tend to throw in anything I think I might need, plus at least two magazines, heaven forbid I don’t have something to entertain me for two minutes.

I threw on my compression capris, long sleeve shirt and jacket thinking I would be good for a mid 40-50 degree run. As soon as I stepped outside I was cold so I ran back in to throw on my full tights. I should have grabbed gloves and ear warmers too since the wind was very cold.

We got the the trail head easily and got ready to go.

We started off with a nice gentle uphill, the trail gains 1550 ft in the first four miles so it was runnable but I was feeling the incline and feeling grateful that the Colorado marathon is mostly downhill.
If you look closely you can see the trail winding down the hill. We had some prairie dogs visitors along the way, before heading back down to the parking lot. The path back down was much steeper the way up.
We ran into a heard of deer with lots of juveniles in tow, such a cool sight, they were still fluffy with their winter coats.
When we got back to the parking lot we wanted to add a few miles so we did a quick out and back for a total of 14 miles. Over all it was a good run, but the trails kicked my butt, so much harder than roads! On our way home we stopped in Boulder at Whole Foods to grab sandwiches. We then took ice baths showered and relaxed at home.

Today is a rest day and I need to figure out what to do with our training plan since our gym canceled our normal spin class. And rethink summer race plans since two family weddings are on the same day as two races we were planning on, at least we hadn’t signed up yet.

Happy Monday Everyone!

Saturday in Pictures

I had to work a long day Saturday so there was no workout planned, but it was still a good day.
That little white thing up front is Rio, she is a Tamandua or Lesser Anteater, she is very sweet (and stinky). After work Cory picked me up and took me to one of my favorite places.
Pinkberry! I got lychee and mango swirled together with lots of gummy bears, pure bliss! Then we did some shopping, my pinkberry got me through our trip to the Home Depot, which can sometimes be a soul sucking experience for me. I was excited to get stuff to help our yard come back to life, three cheers for not being the neighborhood shame! Next we went to Target, one of my favorite places to shop, try not to judge me too much. We spent way too much time and money there (poor Cory) but I did find these adorable sticky notes, and had to buy them for my employees (they are all women). Who dosen’t need frog sticky notes?!?

We headed home for a late dinner and cuddling with the pups, Today we are headed out for an 16-18 mile trail run in Lyons.

What are you up to this weekend?

Food Glorious Food

With my marathon less than a month away and my longest training run behind me I feel like it’s time to put more focus on food. I want to keep my body healthy and strong for my race and the best way to do that is to eat healthy drink lots of water Spinach salad with walnuts, blue cheese and a pear YUM!

take my vitamins

And get lots of rest. Any marathoners out there with any more advice on how to prepare?

I also want to read more about nutrition, any recommendations?

Good luck to those racing this weekend, what fun plans do you have?

Veggie restaurants and gym idiots

Last night I really didn’t want to make dinner so I talked Cory into meeting me at Watercourse, a vegetarian/vegan restaurant near our house in Denver. We hadn’t been there before but it sounded interesting. The inside the restaurant was really cute. And the wait staff was really friendly. I started out with a raspberry beer (not my favorite) and Cory got the hard cider (this was very good). For dinner I got The Champ, described as:

Freshly baked foccacia bread with layers of roasted beets, red onions, grilled zucchini, sprouts, swiss cheese, and lemon caper aioli.

I meant to take a picture but it was mostly gone before I remembered, I must have been hungry. I did like the sandwich even though I am not a huge fan of beets. I used to have to cut raw beets all the time for the Chimps when I worked as primate keeper. I really liked the foccacia and the lemon caper aioli. This morning Cory and I got up early to hit out spin class where the instructor informed us that this would be the last time the class would be offered. WHAT?!?! This class (5:30 Thursday morning) is always full with a wait list, why would the gym cancel this class? We signed a petition, got the number for the gym’s manager so we could complain and then had our @sses handed to us in class. After class we hopped on treadmills to pound at 6 miles for a nice brick. Being able to easily run 6 miles after a difficult spin class makes me feel like maybe I will be able to do this crazy half ironman in June. Now I have to figure out what to do with my training plan, I had relied on Thursday spin to be part of my brick and it isn’t nice or light enough to count on being riding outside. Plus I counted it as an interval workout.

Just Say No

At least that is what my body decided to do. I was sore and fatigued all day yesterday, my body was begging for some more recovery after my high mileage (for me) weekend. I also think that riding outside is a lot more taxing than inside so my Tuesday morning ride was more difficult than normal. So, instead of going to track practice and sprinting until I want to puke I decided to take advantage of the 70 degree weather and take Winston for a three mile run last night. Don’t let his rolly-polly appearance fool you. Winston is an amazing runner he can out run both Cory and I for about five miles, and he loves it.Let’s go for a trail run mama!
I also decided my body needed more fuel so we whipped up burritos with quinoa that would give Chipotle a run for their money.
I will be back at it full force tomorrow for my morning brick. I don’t feel bad at all about missing practice and shortening my run, the last thing I need is an injury less than a month out from my marathon.

What do you do when you just aren’t feeling up to it all?

You get what you pay for

I learned the lesson “you get what you pay for” again last night. Cory called me on the way home from work to surprise me with sports massages for that night. He booked them a Massage Envy since it was last minute, a chain “spa” it’s really cheap, if you are a first time visitor you can get an hour for only $39. When we arrived we quickly filled out some forms before talking to the receptionist about why we were visiting. We explained that we were training for a marathon so we had tight leg muscles. She then asked if there was an area that we wanted the therapists to focus on, we stressed that our legs needed the most work. After being shown to our room the therapists asked us again what we wanted focused on (why did I just tell the other lady all of this information?) both of us again emphasized that our legs were sore and needed the most work, in fact Cory said his back felt good and didn’t need any work at all. So how much time did they spend on our legs? 10 minutes! After about 40 minutes on my back I was wondering why they even asked us what we wanted in the first place. The back work did feel good but it wasn’t what I needed after running 22 miles and biking 50. Lesson learned, next time we will go to a real sports massage therapist.

Moving on, the plan for this week is:

Monday: Rest =)
Tuesday: 16 mile bike, outside!! pm: Track practice with RMTC, we will do between 4 and 6 miles of intervals
Wednesday: am 1900 swim (not sure of exact workout yet), pm yoga
Thursday: 90 min spin class straight to a 6 mile run
Friday: 6 mile tempo run with an easy 1600 m easy swim
Saturday: I have to work a long day so I am unsure of our workouts……
Sunday: Either a long brick of 40 miles on the bike followed by a 12 mile run OR a 55 mile bike with hills and then a 16 mile run on Monday, what would you do?

Winston says it’s time to get back to reading blogs.
Yes we keep blankets on our couch, it’s new and we have three dogs.

22 miles of Mistakes

Yesterday Cory and I decided that for our 22 mile run we wanted to go somewhere new and interesting. Cory suggested that we checkout the Greenland Open Space where the Greenland Trail 50k is run. We found an 11 mile loop that was perfect to run twice with a stop in the middle at our car to refill our packs and grab more nutrition if we needed it. We checked the weather and saw there was a storm coming in late in the afternoon, so we hurried out the door to beat the weather. When we got to the trail we saw some ominous clouds in distance but decided to try to at least get one lap in since I was NOT prepared to run 22 on the treadmill.Here I am power walking to the port-o-potty, check out the gray clouds! After starting out the sun came back out and it was pleasant except for the headwind we were battling. I kept thinking that at least on the way back we would be mostly going down hill with a tail wind.Starting out I honestly didn’t know if I would make it 22 miles, I was tired my legs felt really tired and heavy, it was hard to breath, and I was getting some quad pain, same as I had last week. The thought of not finishing this run was worse than my pain so I huffed, puffed, bitched and whined for about the first five miles. After about five miles it wasn’t easy but I felt like I was at least in a groove. I guess riding 50 miles before running 22 miles for the first time might have made things difficult, brilliant!The loop was described as only having a 500 foot elevation gain, too bad you run up and down that 500 feet 20 times!We ran around Palmer lake and started our way back to the carAs we were running back we decided to take a longer loop , this was a very hilly extension, and as soon as we started climbing we got hit by a very cold head wind. WHAT?!?! We had a headwind running out, how can we have one running back as well? I guess the storm came in early and changed the wind direction, lucky us…..As we got close to the car the rain and snow started hitting us. We had started our run at 62 degrees and it was now 34, we called uncle and decided to finish our run at the gym. This was a good choice give that this was our view a few miles into the drive.
We were so cold that we stopped at Starbucks to get some hot coffee, I probably would have been ok, except I ordered a latte . Huge mistake!!! As soon as I got on the treadmill my stomach started to revolt. The gym was hot and I felt like my stomach was rolling around like a washing machine. I couldn’t stomach anything more than cold water (thanks honey for stopping to buy me cold water, you’re the best!) So the last ten miles were ran with no fuel, just water. Not the best way to finish a 22 mile run but I was happy to be done, and I count it as mental toughness training. The day ended with ice baths and dinner.

It was a difficult day but it was our longest training run before our race and we found a trail we really like. Happy Monday everyone, I am going to enjoy my rest day!

50 miles and REI love

After checking out the forecast this morning we decided to do our bike ride today. We got a bit of a late start so I was worried about the strong winds that were supposed to start after noon but it was a beautiful day (highs in the 80s and sunny) and we wanted to get our ride in. We rode from just north of REI on the Platte River Trail down around the Chatfield Reservoir. I shouldn’t have been too worried about the wind, there were a few times that it was really gusting but it never really bothered me. We rode 50 miles at an average 15 mph, given the wind and busy trail I am happy with our average.

When we were done we refueled with Starbucks frappuccinos, conveniently there was a Starbucks in the parking lot that we started and finished in =) After getting home and cleaning up we headed back to REI with our dividend in hand. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular but I came home with all of this:I got 4 GUs for tomorrows 22 mile run, a new run belt, I have been using my SPI belt and it wasn’t the best, Trail Runner magazine and Brooks Cascadia trail shoes! I am so excited to have actual trail shoes instead of just running in old road shoes. As seen here:Looks like mom needs trail shoes too. It’s my mom’s birthday today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM), instead of trail shoes though I got her a gift certificate to a spa, hope you like it mom.

After shopping Cory whipped up an awesome carb loading dinner for us, I am so lucky to have a husband that cooks.*This was Cory’s plate, I didn’t have the shrimp.

It was the best way to end a great day, now we are going to relax and and watch a movie. Hope your Saturday was fabulous too.

April Fool

I woke up this morning with my quad pain nearly gone =) I was able to go to spin class and run after with no issues. I did drop my planned four mile run to two miles because I didn’t want to push it too much and I have a big weekend planned. I can’t decide what days to do what. Saturday is supposed to be better weather and weather effects biking more than running (at least for me). But I am not sure it’s a great idea to bike 50 miles the day before a 22 mile run. I can’t believe my marathon is exactly a month away! I am doing everything I can to help my legs recover and get ready for the weekend including icing, wearing recovery socks to work and drinking a protein shake from mix 1, so good! March re-cap March was a pretty good month for me training wise. Both Cory and I had to work a lot this month so we didn’t hit every workout but I am happy with what we did get done. I am happy with the progression of length I just wish I was faster. I keep trying to remind myself that I have been doing triathlon for less than a year and only seriously running a little longer than that, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to do better.

Totals for March were:

Swim: 10,400 meters
Bike: 203 miles
Run: 115.7 miles **on track to get 1,000 miles this year.
Strength/stretch: 240 minutes After the marathon is over then I really need to up the swim and bike!

Goals for April:
Swim: 14,800 meters (will start swimming longer when open swim starts in May)
Bike: 308 miles
Run: 120.5 miles
Strength/stretch: 480 minutes

That’s it kids, what are you doing this weekend?

Injuries, Pugs and Train Gain

For a little over a week now my right quad has been hurting me, nothing terrible but it was a new pain so I have been keeping tabs on it. It only hurt a bit after my race on Sunday so I wasn’t worried at all about it, but last night it started hurting worse and I woke up this morning with it still feeling bad. I decided to push my brick back until tomorrow, and I will only do that if it feels better. I am so worried about being injured, so many people are injured right now, so many bloggers are taking forced time off of running, I really want to be careful and not make things worse. I did go to the gym this morning to try to go for an easy run but my leg was hurting and I was feeling crappy anyway so I only made it about 3 miles before quitting. I went home, iced my leg and wrapped it in an ace bandage for the rest of the day.

I am going to try to do everything I can to help this leg heal quickly. Hopefully Taking a couple days off will do the trick and I can run my planned 22 miles this weekend.

I recently started reading a new blog called Carrots N Cake, I was originally attracted to the blog because she frequently posts about her adorable pug. I am a little obsessed with pugs, Mr. Winston thinks that’s only natural.
But she has some other great posts too, yesterday she wrote about training for a marathon and gaining weight. It was exactly what I needed to read. I haven’t been gaining weight, but I sure as heck haven’t lost any! It’s so easy to think I can eat whatever I want because I am working out so much, people even tell me that I can. But it’s a lot easier to eat 1,000 calories than it is to burn them! On to better things as I keep my feet elevated at work. Do you think that my co workers will think I am rude?

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