Year in Review: 2011

Is it just me or did 2011 fly by?!?  Going into 2011, I knew an attempt at an ultra marathon was on my list along with redeeming myself for missing qualifying for Boston by less than a minute.  Little did I know that 2011 would also be full of PRs, challenges, adventures, friends, and love.

2011 started off with a bang – my first 50K!  My goal was 5 hours, but I finished the Frosty 50K in 4:41:05 and felt good at the end.  My biggest disappointment was that I did not take full advantage of the massive amount of calories burnt and had a subpar dinner.   Ugh.  A week later (and the night before the race) I decided to run the Charleston marathon.  I was okay with pulling out if I felt bad, but I ended up having a great race, a PR and a BQ!  I knew by mile 10 that I was going to qualify for Boston and could not wait to finish so I could call my parents and tell them the great news.  I ran the race in 3:34:08, which was almost a 7 minute PR and fast enough to win my age group.  So, I was only two weeks into the New Year and had already met both of my running goals – run an ultra and BQ.  I was called an over-achiever in school!

I had wanted to give tris a try, so I found a bike, started training, and raced my first tri in March.  I had a blast, despite falling off my bike when it was stopped, and ended up racing a few more tris during the tri season.  Luckily, I managed to stay on my bike in the rest of them!  Since I was doing more swimming, I also swam the Swim for Drew, which is a 2-mile swim across Lake Murray.  It starts on the Irmo side of the dam and ends on the beach on the Lexington side.  I was slow, but felt strong the whole way and really enjoyed it. 

 

To mix things up, I started running trails more.  I raced 5 trails races and had solid races in all but one; I started way too fast at the Make My Day 12K, felt horrible, and got passed by a few females, but it worked out because I ended up winning my age group and snagging an awesome pair of Salomon trail running shoes. 

My boyfriend, who I met at the Frosty 50K, mentioned a 24-hour race to me – Hinson 24.  It sounded like fun and a new adventure, so I was in.  I absolutely loved this race for many, many reasons (refer to race report).  I logged 53.2 miles, which is way more than I expected since I hadn’t really trained for it, so I was very pleased and am already signed up for Hinson 24 2012!

Despite being injured for the majority of 2011 (sesamoiditis/metarsalgia and tight hip muscles), I managed to set PRs in every distance I raced.  I started relaxing more (well, as relaxed as I can get before a race) and just ran as hard as I could!  I got down to 21:30 for the 5K distance, had under a 7:20 pace for the 10K distance, big marathon PR, and auto-PRs for 50K and 24-hours since those were my first attempts (but surpassed my goals so I’ll count as PRs).  The Palmetto 200 was tough because my foot hated me, but I had a great time with my team and loved running with them!

I started my blog to mainly keep track of my race reports for myself and also for anyone else who wanted to read them.  The Georgia marathon was looking for bloggers, so I was given the opportunity to write for them, as well.  It gives me something to do that’s easy on my body, so I’m enjoying it!

Shout out to my sister: She was the race director for the Dog Gone Cold 5K and did a PHENOMENAL job!  We expected maybe 150 runners or so, but due to all of her hard work, over 350 people showed up to run her race and support her and her charity, Hopeful Hounds! I am so proud of her and this will always be my most cherished win.

To wrap things up, 2011 was the first year that I did the majority of my running with friends.  There were very few races that I went to by myself, ran by myself, or didn’t know anyone.  It was nice having friends around to chat with and to run with.  I made new friends throughout the year and am so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.    

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.