Virtual Runners Hit The Towpath

The Virtual Runner team, supporting the Epilepsy Association, was out in force for the Towpath half-marathon.  Unseasonably warm weather continued through last weekend and we were greeted on Sunday morning with very mild temperatures.

Courtney, me Ben, Karen & Karl

The Towpath marathon and Half-Marathon are run in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, south of Cleveland.  This was actually my first time running the half-marathon.  I, though, have run the Towpath marathon quite a few times.  Years ago they used to beg people to sign up and run it as the number of entrants were so small.  Not any more.  All of the races, including a 10k, were sold out.

Traffic to get to the start of the race was crazy.  Organizers recommended getting to the race at least an hour before race-start.  That was good advice as the traffic was bad and even with that cushion I still only parked my car with 30 minutes to spare.

This was to be a fun run so to speak as I was running with my friend and "chief crew" member, Courtney.  She was running her very first (and she claims last) half-marathon.  The goal at the start was to run a 1:55 race.

We started out slow due to the large crowd of runners but then sped up to close to an 8 minute per mile pace.  I knew we were running too fast for our target but Courtney was feeling good so we just went with it....

Two-thirds of the way through, Courtney developed a side ache so we spent some time walking to get that worked out.  I tried to keep her entertained and distracted....  Before we knew it we were at the finish (with a chip time of 1:53) and in the beer tent.

I was actually glad that I was only running the half as temperatures continued to rise and hit 80-plus by mid-day.  All in all, a fun way to spend a beautiful fall day.

A Day At the Beach - North Coast 24-Hour Report

Well, one thing is certain - weather reports are almost never accurate!  This would hold true for last weekend.  I was expecting very pleasant temperatures for the 2nd Annual North Coast 24-Hour race.  Instead, the temperature during the afternoon rose to a toasty 80 degrees and the nighttime temperatures only dropped to the mid-60s.

So what does this mean?  Well, in my head I was thinking cool temperatures, which is my perfect running weather.  I am NOT a hot weather runner.  I had calculated out a plan to run 71 miles the first 12 hours and 63 miles the second 12 hours based on nice, mild weather.  Once the race started, I should have done a few things.... slowed down a bit AND increased my electrolytes.  Of course, this is hindsight.  So, I did neither and set out to run the 71 miles for the first 12......

 

Smooth sailing early in the race.

From the start, the temperature did seem hot... and I totally spaced out that I would need sun screen.  For goodness sake, it's almost October and we hardly ever have SUN in Cleveland....  Another mistake.  I am very sun-burnt now to say the least...

Roger and Dee relaxing in the shade while I bake in the sun...

In the early stages of the race, I was running like clockwork, completely on the pace I had set out to run.... until about 5 hours into the race.  Then, my calf muscles started to cramp.  I first thought, no problem, I just need a little potassium and so ate some bananas.... but more cramping.... to the point that if I ran very fast I had to catch myself from falling over.  Hmmm... this is not good.  I kept struggling with this thinking the cramping was a temporary condition.  Not so.  It just kept getting worse.  By hour 6, I stopped in the medical tent to get a cranberry pill and a leg massage.  That provided temporary relief before the cramping came back.  It finally dawned on me (DUH!) that I needed to drastically increase my electrolyte consumption.  I started doing that and after a number of hours the cramping went away, although my calf muscles were really sore from all that cramping and remained that way throughout the race.

At the 12-hour mark, instead of 71 miles, I only had 66 miles.  That was pretty discouraging.  Under these circumstances, it is very easy to quit.  I thought there is no way I'm going to have a good race and why put myself through 12 more hours of torture for nothing....  But, the one positive in having a race like this in your home town is that I had TONS of friends stopping by and crewing for me.  They were all committed to camping out overnight (some actually looking forward to it!) so I didn't want to disapoint anyone by quitting and spoiling their fun....  So on I trudged.

Just a few of my crew members having fun.....

 Since I was so sun-burnt, my body temperature felt like it was boiling.  Every lap the entire race I poured water over my head.... even throughout the night.

Between the hours of midnight and 3:00 a.m., I had a burst of energy and was passing runners like crazy on the course.  Not sure if it was do to consuming Red Bull, or my large and boisterous cheering contingency or that my legs were finally starting to recover enough from the cramps to allow me to run again....

In for a pit stop in the middle of the night... calves still bothering me.

By morning the wind picked up along the Lake and it looked like it was going to storm.  The rain held off but one section of the course was pretty windy. 

Looks like whitecaps on the Lake... storm appeared to be brewing.

Sunrise was around 7:00 a.m. and the race seemed to fly by until the official ending at 9:00 a.m. 

Less than a loop to go until the END!

The second half of the race I managed a little more than 60 miles for an official distance of 126.225 miles.  Many people had dropped out along the way so to my surprise I ended up 4th woman and 8th overall.

Courtney and me with my race marker marking my distance.

Congrats to winners Serge Arbona and Connie Garder for running fantastic races!  Also 2nd place woman Anne Lundblad and 3rd place woman Anna Piskorska ran very solid races and were very impressive.  You will all represent the US well at the 24-Hour Worlds competition next year!  Full results can be found at the NC24 website.

Me and Anna P. after the race - Anna doesn't even look like she ran!

Countdown to NC24 - Only days away

Hard to believe that the summer has flown by and the North Coast 24 Hour race is less than a week away.  So far the weather report looks excellent.- high of 69 and low of 53.  Only a small chance of rain.  Time will tell if the weather report holds up.

This year, participants have increased quite a bit from last year's race.  As of today, 151 runners have registered - from 30 different states and 3 foreign countries.  Competition looks strong so we should see some big mileage.

For those who can't come down to Edgewater Park to cheer on the runners, a "live" feed will be updating results at http://www.chaneyevents.com/nc24.html.

Once again, Drymax has stepped up to the plate and is furnishing all runners with Drymax socks.  I will definitely be wearing them during the race! 

Virtual Runner Kick-Off at the North Coast

I am very honored to once again be named the Honorary Chair of the Epilepsy Association's Virtual Runner program.  You can make your miles count…even more… by joining the Epilepsy Association’s Virtual Running Team.  Once you have registered as a Virtual Runner, you’ll be able to dedicate your fall racing season to the Epilepsy Association.  From August 1st through October 31st, any race you run during the competition will count in our virtual competition.  Runners raising $100 or more in donations become Epilepsy Association Elite Virtual Runners and will receive a really great team t-shirt. The t-shirts are technical grade running shirts sporting the Virtual Runner logo. More information can be found at the Virtual Runner website.

As an added incentive to sign up, we're having a training run in conjunction with the North Coast 24-hour training run this Saturday, July 24th between 8:00-10:00 a.m at Edgewater Park.  Afterwards, we'll have a FREE breakfast for all runners.   Come join us!!

40 degrees in July

Cal, me and Roger before a game.

Over the 4th of July we headed to Pittsburgh for the 5th Annual Tropicurl.  Roger and I have been to every Tropicurl and so we were awarded a special patch for our loyalty!  This year we had a new team, with me as skip, Laurel as vice, Roger as 2nd and Cal as lead.  The first game was a bit rocky.  We were all rusty, made a lot of mistakes and lost to a Canadian team on Thursday night.  We regrouped on Friday and Saturday, winning three games against a Pittsburgh team and two Canadian teams.  On Sunday, we played in the semi-finals against another Canadian team from Ontario.  We stayed in the game until the 7th end.  When we couldn't score, we shook hands after the 7th and called it a day.  It's always a treat to be in a nice cool ice arena when it's 90 degrees outside! 

Cal, Laurel and Roger.

Prepping the ice before the game.

North Coast Preparation

A view of downtown Cleveland from Edgewater Park,
site of the North Coast 24-hour race

The North Coast 24-Hour Race has once again been designated as the National Championship site.  Interest is starting to build with over 80 runners registered at this point and there are still 2 1/2 months to go before the race.  The top three  women and men will automatically be selected for the U.S. team, and will compete next June in Switzerland at the World 24-Hour Championship.

North Coast race organizers have scheduled a number for "training" runs at Edgewater Park.  I attended the first one this past Sunday, starting at 7:00 a.m.  It is a nice opportunity to get a feel for the course and chat with people who have signed up for the race.  The weather was incredibly hot and humid.  The positives were that there were no bugs and a nice breeze was coming off of the lake for part of the run.

Next training run will be on July 24th, starting at 9:00 a.m.

2010 World 24-Hour Wrap-Up

Pardon the delayed race report but I ended up spending an extra week in France after the race, biking through the Loire Valley and enjoying the beautiful castles, drinking chenin blanc and flushing the lactic acid from my legs.

Chateau at Azay Le Rideau

Many of my teammates have already provided details of the race on their blogs, Jamie Donaldson, Dan Rose, Scott Jurek and Phil McCarthy. Rather than rehash what they’ve already written, I thought I would add my perspective from one of the old and slow people on the team.

I was in many ways dreading this race. Ever since the North Coast 24 last October, I’ve been struggling with a very inflamed Achilles. First, I ignored it, then I quit running on it, then I went to two different doctors (ankle specialists) and a physical therapist and when all that failed, I even tried some Chinese herbal medicine that made my ankle break out in a nasty rash. But when all was said and done, my Achilles remained swollen and I was reduced to minimal training. My “intense” training was in April when I ran one 3-hour training run with pain and then a marathon with intermittent pain. I did no other long runs before France since November of last year.  Here are lovely pictures just days before the race.

Normal left Achilles

Swollen right Achilles

Roger and I arrived in Paris on Sunday, May 9th. We toured around Paris with fellow teammates Jamie Donaldson and Dan Rose and their spouses David and Lizzie. This was a great diversion from thinking too much about the race.

Roger and I with the Thinker at the Rodin Museum

On Wednesday we took the train to Brive, a four-hour ride. We hooked up with the team and participated in the opening ceremony where we marched through the center of town and into the covered stadium that would turn into the country aid stations in the morning. This is always a very cool event to see all of the colorful uniforms and this year we all looked like real athletes with our Nike uniforms, courtesy of USATF.

Lining up before the parade through town.

With the ceremony finished, we headed back to the hotel and then to dinner. I accidentally stumbled upon ordering a four cheese pizza, which was topped with various types of brie and gorgonzola cheese. Dr. Andy told me that this was an excellent meal for ultrarunners (the soft cheese). I figured that I needed any advantage at that point and hoped this was a good omen.

After dinner, Dr. Andy looked at my Achilles. As he suspected, I had a dropped navicular bone (that is located in the arch of the bottom of my foot). Apparently when it drops out of position, it can cause irritation in the Achilles area. He had me flex my foot different ways and then on the count of three he manipulated the bone back in place. Boy, did that hurt. I let out a yelp but instantly the pain went away. Would I be able to run in the morning with no pain and with no training? I was still skeptical.

The weather in Paris had been rainy and it was no different in Brive. The forecast also did not look promising. But when the gun went off at the start at 10:00 a.m., there was no rain. With each passing hour, I kept expecting the skies to open up but that in fact did not occur. The weather remained dry throughout the race with some humidity but cool, mid-50s at best.

At the beginning of the race.

Part of the course.

Starting to warm up, a few hours into the race.

Aid station alley in the covered pavilion.  US aid station on left.

I had decided to run a very conservative race. I had expected at some point to be reduced to walking because of my Achilles so I wanted to delay that as long as possible. My exact plan was to run between 9:45 to 10:00 minute miles with stretching breaks. As always seems to happen, the race itself is much of a blur. I was aware of the US men and women doing really well. Scott’s and Jill’s names were announced over the loudspeaker many times and it was really exciting that two US runners were in first place. The other US men were running well too. Other than that, I retreated into my own little world and concentrated on moving forward and eating and drinking according to my pre-race plan. My first stretching break was 5 ½ hours into the race. After that, I stopped every three hours. Those three hour time blocks were my goals to reach at which point I would be rewarded with a 5-minute stretch. That was heaven.

Through the park and on the gravel path.

My least favorite place - a hair-pin turn.

One of the turns after a nice straight-away.

High-tech scoreboard: 
Shows bib number, kilometers ran, pace per loop and what place your in.

As dusk turned to night, the temperature dropped. It felt like it was in the 40s. It was at this point that I knew the US women were in trouble. Jill had dropped out and Jamie, Suzanna and Amy were all battling different forms of illness. Anna was also having some issues but she snapped back and was looking very strong. I had stopped at the 8 and 16 hour marks to change socks. At 16 hours, I also changed into a long-sleeved shirt, and then added a sleeveless vest and my IPod to push on throughout the night. For fuel, I was using Hammer Perpetuem and Hammer Gels (besides electrolytes every hour). After I got sick of that, I ate pretzels, bananas and oranges. In the wee hours of the night, I had soup, coffee and tea.

The field seemed less crowded in the nighttime. I think a lot of people had stopped to get warm. It was actually nice running in the moonlight, very peaceful. At the same time, I was getting lapped like crazy by Scott and the Japanese runner, Inoue Shingo, who would eventually take the men’s first place slot. It was really inspiring to see them move in what appeared to be such an effortless manner.

Dawn broke and then the hours counted down until the 10:00 a.m. finish. I was still running steady and was able to move up through the ranks. In the early hours of the race, I was in 55th place (out of 81 females). Each hour I was able to move up. At 12 hours, I had about 69 miles and was in 33rd place. At a little over 18 hours, I had 100 miles and was 22nd female. By the 23rd hour, I was around the 200k mark and had moved into 14th place. I would end up 14th with 207.825 K. 

Only about an hour to go! 

At the end of the race, Scott had broken the American Record and came in 2nd overall and the US men had run very hard, just missing the silver medal and taking the bronze medal. Final results were:  Scott Jurek, 165.70 miles; Michael Henze, 154.48 miles; Serge Arbona, 150.48 miles; Phil McCarthy, 143.23 miles; John Geesler, 108.41 miles; Dan Rose, 91.27 miles (withdrawn for medical reasons).

After the race, Scott, with 1st place male, Inoue Shingo.

The US women ended up as a team in 4th place. Final results were: Anna Piskorska, 133.23 miles; Deb Horn, 129.13 miles; Suzanna Bon, 126.36 miles; Amy Palmiero-Winters, 123.99 miles; Jamie Donaldson, 120.61 miles; Jill Perry, 80.36 miles (withdrawn for medical reasons).

After the race, Jamie, me, Suzanna, Amy & Anna.

We were all a bit in a fog but first showered and then headed to the award ceremony. It was a special treat as they served champagne before the awards!!  Many THANKS to DryMax for keeping my feet happy during the race.  Also, many THANKS to Nike and USATF for funding the Team and providing us with official team uniforms.

Roger and I then retreated to the hotel. I feasted on two pieces of pizza and two beers and then called it a night. We woke the next morning and headed to the Loire Valley for a week of bike riding. Here are a few photos of the beautiful countryside.

Too many vineyards, too little time!

Roger at Chateau Chambord.

Villandry Chateau

Usse  Chateau