Bandit - the dirty word of running!

I have seen people get so riled up when talking about bandit running that you would think they were in a Presidential debate!  You say “bandit” around a group of runners and it’s like you said a dirty word. 

Race directors and racers cry thievery.  Loudly.

Some argue that it’s okay if you don’t partake in the amenities, i.e. water stops.  Others argue that the bandits make the route more crowded and possibly unsafe.  Bandits can also cause insurance and safety issues.  What if the bandit gets hit by a car?  You bet the race director is going to come under scrutiny.  Some runners become bandits to avoid paying the race fee, while enjoying a closed course with cops directing traffic that non-bandit runners helped pay for.  Race fees also go to the charity the race supports, if it supports one, so bandit runners are also gypping the sponsored charity.  Pretty much, bandits are reaping the benefits of what others bad for. 

What about (bandit) pacers?  Or non-legal bib transfers?

What about that awesome friend who is going to pace you?  They shouldn’t have to pay... or should they?  Some runners say that the friend gives you an advantage and it’s not fair.  Others say if they’re runing, even with no goal other than helping, they should pay. 

If you wear someone else bibs, then you are possibly messing up results.   For example, a guy’s lady can’t run, so he wears her bib so the bib doesn’t go to waste.  The problem is he’s fast and wins her age group.  So the bib didn’t go to waste, BUT he stole someone’s chance at glory and messes up the scoring for the local running club! 

So, come on race directors, look into bib transfers!  Most runners understand that their entry fees have been spent way before race day, but life happens, so why not make it where at least someone can (fairly) run the race?  PLUS, it means an additional source of revenue for your race!

So, what’s my stance?  Just say no to bandits, of any type!  If you don’t feel like shelling out money for a race, then don’t run it.  If everyone ran races without paying, races would cease to exist.  No more running the streets of a city without having to worry about traffic.  No more cool tech tees to sport around town.   Organizations wouldn’t raise any money for their causes, but most importantly, there would be no more race bling and the world would be a sadder place because of that. 

The 12 Days of Running

The 12 Days of Running (spoof on The 12 Days of Christmas):

On the 1^st day of running, running blessed me with... calf cramps.

On the 2^nd day of running, running blessed me with... blisters.

On the 3^rd day of running, running blessed me with... IT band pain.

On the 4^th day of running, running blessed me with... bad weather.

On the 5^th day of running, running blessed me with... one bum knee.

On the 6^th day of running, running blessed me with... lame cat calls.

On the 7^th day of running, running blessed me with... black toenails.

On the 8^th day of running, running blessed me with... plantar fasciitis.

On the 9^th day of running, running blessed me with... 4 A.M. wake-up calls.

On the 10^th day of running, running blessed me with... side stitches.

On the 11^th day of running, running blessed me with... worn out shoes.

On the 12^th day of running, running blessed me with... prescription for rest.

Yes, I know those aren’t really blessings; it was just my attempt at humor!  I honestly had a hard time making that list because running has blessed me with so very much.  As we enter the holiday season, I am reminded of the blessings in my life and running is definitely one of those blessings, for many reasons.  

1)      Family Bonding – Family trips to Disney World have been replaced with trips to race destinations (usually near the beach).  My whole family runs so we get to encourage and support each other and also discuss our “race strategies”.

2)      Confidence – I’ve always dealt with body image issues and running has helped me to feel strong and embrace my athletic legs!

3)      Health – I’m healthier physically and mentally thanks to running.  I eat better to help my running, plus running is a stress reliever for me.

4)      Lifelong Friends – I’ve made countless friends over the years because of running. 

5)      Lessons in setting goals, determination, not quitting – These are lessons that I’ve been able to apply to all facets of my life and have helped improve me as a person.

6)      Love – I met the love of my life at a 50K; we were introduced by a mutual friend, who I also happened to have met through running!

Sooner or later, you’ll have a bad run, get an injury, get lost on the trails, or not be able to find a bathroom on your route, but in the grand scheme of things, those setbacks are completely worth the blessings that come with running!

I am a runner.

“I am not somebody who just likes to run. I am a runner. This is the difference between a pastime and a passion. I like to play golf, but I am not a golfer. I like to cook, but I am not a chef. I don’t just like to run. I am a runner. It is a passion. It is part of who I am and is woven into the fabric of my personality, character, and psyche.”
                                                                  
                               – Adam Goucher from “Running the Edge”


I haven't always considered myself a runner; in fact, I used to run the minimum amount I had to for soccer and would call it a day.  You never know where your life may lead you though, and many years after my last college soccer game, I now consider myself a runner.  How did I go from the point of running just enough to get by to loving running?  Well, it started for me back in 2002 when I was diagnosed with exertional compartment syndrome.  I had to have a double fasciotomy - surgery on both legs.  I decided that a post-surgery race was in order so I signed up for the Lou Holtz 5K and started running with one of those crazy cross country friends.  I think it took me almost 30 minutes to finish and I was told I probably I wouldn't improve much from that.  Those are fighting words to a girl like me.  I started running more, signed up for a 10-miler, ran the 10-miler, and was hooked.  I was actually enjoying running, but I wouldn't say that I was a runner at that point. 



Over the next few years, I ran, but didn't really run.  I ran because it was good for me and kept me in shape.  I started training for the Kiawah marathon, wound up injured after the race, and took some time off.  Then, my life put me back on the path to becoming a runner.  I met a boy who I fell head over heels for.  I began running even less due to being tired from traveling to see him and the stress the relationship was causing.  Our relationship ended in heartbreak.  I had learned from a past experience that instead of looking back it would be wiser to walk away and keep moving ahead.  I decided to not just walk away, but to run away.  I started running and racing again, which led me to joining the Lexington Running Club.  Never in a million years did I expect to meet a group of lifelong friends.  I also didn't expect to fall so much in love with running that I would consider myself a runner. I had found a love for running, or maybe I should say running had found me.


I now find myself at the beginning of another path in my life; I'll be moving to a new state within the next year.  Am I worried about finding a job?  No.  Am I worried about going from being single to being someone's wife?  No.  What I am worried about is not being able to find what I have here.  My running group isn't just a running group.  They are an integral part of my life and are a lifeline of sorts.  I'm worried about not being able to find good running routes.  I'm worried about not having others to run with.  My main worries have to do with running.  Some might think this is crazy, but as Adam Goucher said, "I am a runner. It is a passion. It is part of who I am and is woven into the fabric of my personality, character, and psyche.”                        

Savannah Rock-n-Roll Marathon 11.5.11 Recap

I went into this race with no goals, low anxiety, and just looking to have a solid run.  I signed up for this race not because it was part of the Rock-n-Roll series, but because it was in Savannah and I had always wanted to go there.  After running this race, I would never sign up for a race just because it’s in the RnR series.  The expo was too crowded, there was nothing special about the expo, the goody bags were just your standard bags that every race is giving out, the shuttle/parking logistics were horrible, and a big part of the course was on the boring interstate.  I was underwhelmed.  On the other hand, the shirt was pretty cool, and more importantly, the medal had glitter on it.  Yep, you read right – glitter.  One of my fave things!

I had planned on running with Jason, but due to sickness, he couldn’t run.  Luckily, my friend and fellow relay racer, Larry, was taking the same shuttle I was, so we decided to meet up and then find our friend and also relay racer, Liz, at the start line.  The entrances to the corrals were jam packed with runners, so we ended up finagling our way through the fence to get in, and as luck would have it, we ended up right by Liz!  The plan was to start off slow for the first 10K, pick it up and keep a steady pace through 20, and then push hard for the last 10K.  I guess we were all feeling good because we hit the 10K split faster than what I/we had wanted.  We tried a couple of times to slow down, but it would only last a mile or two before we fell back into our low 8:00’s pace.  Around mile 7, I heard a familiar voice - my mom!  My parents had found a spot to cheer us on and take pics.  The miles flew by thanks to Liz and Larry; before I knew it, we had hit 20 miles.  At 20, I told Liz she would need to get faster each mile if she wanted to qualify for Boston, so she took off, leaving Larry and I in the dust!  Larry started getting leg cramps around 23 and slowed up some.  I thought about staying with him, but it was easier to keep on moving, so I headed on and tried to speed up some, but the 6-mile wind tunnel aka miles 19 to 25 won that battle.  My effort level felt like 7:30 miles, but my actual pace was close to what it had been all day.  I finished in 3:36:58, which wasn’t a PR, but I was happy with it.  I went in with no goal and hadn’t trained as hard as I’m capable of, so I was happy with that time and the fact that I felt fairly decent at the end.

I’ve always been fine running by myself, but I thought I’d be running with Jason, so when those plans fell through, I automatically felt lonely!  What a blessing Larry and Liz were – for many reasons.  Having friendly/familiar faces at the start of a race, especially a marathon, is something that I’ve come to find as relaxing.  The chatter/running talk/catching up we did made this race go by so, so fast.  Their encouragement was priceless.  I am so proud of these two; Larry had a PR and Liz had a PR and qualified for Boston.  She didn’t just qualify for Boston, but she somehow managed to nail the exact time she needed – 3:35:00.  That’s skill for you!

It turns out a man collapsed at mile 22 and passed away.  This is the second race I’ve ran in where a runner has passed away.  No matter if I was happy or not with how I did, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter.  We get so caught up in our goals and if we had a good/bad race, etc., that we often forget the simple things – like how incredibly blessed we are to be able to run and race.  I am so thankful for my wonderful family who travels (and runs) with me, a loving boyfriend who puts up with my running induced craziness, the best running friends a girl could ask for, and just the ability to be able to enjoy life.  God has filled my life with so many blessings and I’m eternally grateful!

Splits:

Mile 1 – 8:37
M2 – 8:07
M3 – 8:09 – 5K split = 25:56
M4 – 8:08
M5 – 7:54
M6 – 8:07 – 10K split = 51:11
M7 – 8:10
M8 – 8:24
M9 – 8:12
M10 – 8:09 – 10 mile split = 1:22:19
M11 – 8:15
M12 – 8:03
M13 – 7:59 – 13.1 split = 1:47:36
M14 – 8:19
M15 – 8:14
M16 – 8:12
M17 – 8:09
M18 – 8:06
M19 – 8:17
M20 – 8:17 – 20 mile split = 2:44:23
M21 – 8:01
M22 – 8:11
M23 – 8:19
M24 – 9:12
M25 – 8:31
M26 – 8:31
Total Time: 3:36:58, 8:17 pace

Hinson 24 - The race that changed it all.

I figured my first post should be about the race that has changed my running future.  I race a lot of 5Ks, half marathons, etc. - pretty much anything between 3.1 and 26.2 - and I always get anxious before the race because I'm really competitive against others and myself.  I get so nervous that I don't really enjoy the race until it's over, which is ridiculous.  I ran a 50K in 01/11 and loved it.  Loved the people, loved the atmosphere.  I've told people since that I'd choose a 50K over a marathon any day.  I decided to run Hinson 24 just to see what a 24-hour race was about.  Little did I know that I'd fall in love with that type of running/racing.   I met more people at Hinson than I have at all my road races combined.  I enjoyed the laid back atmosphere, the support of everyone, having time to talk to other runners about races they have done, training methods, etc.  There was no stress - just me seeing what I could do.  I enjoyed the race from start to finish and am hooked.  I have the Savannah marathon in November, the Boston marathon in April, and then I'll be learning how to get ready for a fall ultra.

Hinson Lake 24-Hour Ultra Classic Race Report

I had never thought about running a 24-hour race (and honestly didn’t know they existed) until Jason mentioned Hinson 24 to me.  It sounded like a fun experience, so I decided to sign up for it and see what happened.  I had grand plans of doing high mileage training with two-a-days here and there, but things rarely go as planned and I found myself taking time off for a foot injury.  After that, I decided to take H24 one lap at a time, and when asked what my plan was, I simply said, “Not to get hurt.”  My only numerical goal was to get over a 50K since 50K was my longest run.  I had 24 hours to do it so I wasn’t too worried about it.  H24 is no doubt the only race I’ve gone into not nervous.

In the week leading up to H24, I gradually started stockpiling food.  I had no idea what I would want, how much I would need, etc.  I figured I’d rather have too much than not enough.  My stockpile ranged from Gu to quinoa pasta (not a good idea, but I’ll get into that later).  I became addicted to the weather report and was trying to will the temps to drop down into the 60’s (had to settle for low 80’s).  Jason cooked up some blueberry chocolate chip pancakes for our pre-race dinner and made extra so I could have them for breakfast too.  Goal bedtime was 9:00; actual bedtime was 11:00.  3:30 AM came fast, really fast.  We made it to the race venue and only got lost once.  Apparently, Google maps likes to list roads that don’t exist.

Jason’s friend, Bryan, had saved us a parking spot and camping site.  Big kudos to Bryan for snagging primetime spots.  After getting the camp site set up and listening to pre-race instructions, it was time to see what H24 was all about.  I knew I didn’t want to run more than 10 miles at a time, so I decided to take a break after 7 laps (10.64) miles.  I ended up getting bored and antsy watching people run, so I hopped back on the course sooner than I had planned.  I knocked out another 15.2 miles before the afternoon heat set in.  I felt pretty good about taking a longer break and trying to eat with almost a marathon logged.  Now, back to the pasta.  Turns out quinoa pasta does not stay as moist as your standard pasta.  My main energy source turned into something I couldn’t even swallow.  Luckily, I wasn’t too hungry, so I just munched on some snacks.  After getting fueled up and changing clothes, it was time to run some more miles.  I was less than 8 miles away of my more than a 50K goal.  I logged another 9.12 miles to get over a 50K and then took a break to eat pizza that had been brought in.  After letting this settle, I ran another 6.08, downed some delicious soup, hung out a bit, and then went back for another 6.08.  The course was marked with glow sticks, which was a pretty cool sight.  After this last batch, I was sitting at just over 47 miles.  By this time, I had 6 hours left and knew that I could get 50 miles easily.  Then, Bryan’s friend, Derrick, mentioned the double marathon goal, and me being me decided that sounded like even more fun.  I ran my last batch of miles between 4:30 and 6:00 A.M. and passed the last loop by telling everyone, “Good morning!”  I was stoked with how the race had gone.

For those of you that know me well, you will be shocked to hear that I don’t know the time it took me to run one lap, not one out of 35.  My Garmin died within 100 feet of the start line, so I loosely used a backup stopwatch, but not once did I remember to look at it at the beginning and end of a loop.  I ended up running 53.2 miles in about 10 hours and 20 minutes of running/walking time.  I was really happy since I had no idea how my body would hold up.  My hip flexor started hurting early on and both knees got irritated as the miles piled on.  It was actually easier for me to run my normal pace, as it stretched my legs out more.  I thought about going to 60, but didn’t want to push my luck since my knees were already achy, so I relaxed and watched the other runners finish…. and started planning for next year.

Early on in the race I told Jason that I had found my type of race.  I was not stressed, was running against myself, and was surrounded by crazy runners.  Tom Gabell did an amazing job with this race.  Race swag included engraved beer glasses, t-shirts, and reusable grocery bags.  There was a masseuse available the entire 24 hours.  She was wonderful and much appreciated!  The bathroom never ran out of TP, which was actually one of the only things I was worried about.  The aid station aka the buffet was a never ending supply of food and drinks.  You never knew what new treat was going to show up when you checked in – chips, cupcakes, candy, potatoes, soup, pizza, ice cream cake, cookies, ginger ale, gatorade, water, chicken, etc.  It was pretty much an endurance runner’s dream come true.  The course set up was great – camp sites were right after the check in table, so each lap you could stop by your site and grab what you needed and keep on running.  The terrain was packed dirt, so easy on the body.  I’m not sure where Tom found his volunteers (some were family), but what an outstanding group of people he had helping with this race.  They made you feel like every loop was a huge accomplishment and were very encouraging.  It was nice to see such friendly faces every time I came across the bridge.   Jason and I ran almost the entire race together, which was nice.  We hadn’t planned on that, but it was great to have his company for about 49 out of the 53.2 miles.  He said he enjoyed my singing at 1 AM, but I think he was just being nice!   I saw some familiar faces (go LRC!), made some new friends, and learned a little bit about myself out there.  I’ve already started planning what to pack for next year and how to train for 75+ miles!

Here are some memorable quotes heard around the race:
“Ow.” – runner around 2 AM running by himself
“That’s gonna fall off.” – runner inspecting her toes during the early evening
“You’ve only sat down once in 21 hours.” – runner to her friend going for 100 miles who was leaning to one side around 4 AM
“First 100!!” – the volunteers cheering for a runner who hit 100 for the first time
“No need to rush, you have 24 hours.” – Tom to runners before start
“Bah, bah.” – response to my “Good morning” from a runner around 5 AM
“I’m not trained too well this year.” – Mike Morton, who ended up at 163.9 miles, less than 2 miles from the American record, when Jason asked him what his goal was.