Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Better Late Than Never

Well, better late than never. Despite having a great road trip with friends and a fantastic run at Stone Cat 50 Miler, it has been somewhat trying in my attempts to get back to writing on this blog. I guess you could classify it as a depression of sorts; the 2010 ultra racing season coming to a close. Although the prospects of what is to come in 2011 seems exciting, it is a little bumming to think that now it's time to take a break. Granted, it is a much needed break, but still ...

So first, the down and dirty of the Stone Cat 50 miler. It was, as I had expected, an absolutely wonderful time. I look forward to this late fall race because it is my last chance of the season to spend countless hours on the trails and to celebrate with friends. What was different this year was that some of my friends who are usually around for the entire 50 opted for the marathon distance this year and therefore were not there when I finished my run. So I missed celebrating and visiting with them. But the good news was that I was able to share this fun time with Lorrie and Becky and Joe, who all had super runs in the marathon and were there to celebrate my finish with me. And then were there to wait on my pitiful ass as I layed exhausted on the hotel bed post-race! They were all wonderful.

My 50 mile time was 10:28:14, my slowest Stone Cat so far. However, I felt great the entire run. I suspect two reasons were the culprits for my slower time ... my lax in training since VC100 (50) and the fact that I dared to run the entire 50 in my New Balance WT100s - my first longest run in these minimal shoes. And I felt great for it. My time may have been slower, but my body felt great after. Not the usual burning feet problem that I have. I am a convert. No more cushy shoes. Likely I will have to go with my Inov-8 X-Talon 212s for the Winter Beast of Burden, but I don't see myself going to any bulkier style shoe in the near future.

So that brings me to my minimalist running changes. I have since been running in the WT100s and most of the time without socks, which really gives me a more "barefoot" feel of running. I am waiting for my Vibram Five Finger KSO Treks to come in the mail and can't wait. Can't wait for the snow to fall to see where I will take myself in trying to stay minimalist while trying to avoid frostbite!

And speaking of the winter ... I just watched my friend Yassine's video of him snowshoeing on Mt Hood. How awesome and I am way way jealous. It looks like tons of fun and I am so hoping to get a lot of snowshoe hiking in this winter.

And now on to the diet thing. It's time to get my butt serious again. I have an extra 12 pounds hanging around that really need to go. I don't want to totally remove things from my diet, as that usually makes me go back to them ten-fold, so it's a matter of moderation. Time to hit the veggies and avoid the processed foods. Time to, oh I hate to even mention it, go to lite beer unless I am celebrating after a strong race. The good beer must be reserved for an equally good performance. Enjoying it on a daily basis is not a treat.

And that's all I can really think of right now to ramble on about. Maybe soon I will get myself together to put a more thoughtful post down, but for now it was just a matter of needing to get myself going again.

Rest well and enjoy time off ... soon time to start training for the Winter Beast of Burden 24-hour starts! Cowgirl up!

2 comments:

  1. Ok, now in your last email to me it was only 10 lbs extra. And that was BEFORE this post. So either the light beer [sic] ain't working, or someone wasn't telling quite the whole truth, now were they? Hmmm?
    Nice post on a great race--and a great time by you, even if it was your slowest, still impressive to me. Finally put my blog post up today, too, drivel that it is...

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  2. OK, it depends on which day I step on the scale! I was actually happy with my Stone Cat time despite it being my slowest; just glad to have run the whole thing in the WT100s and having them work really good for me. Not likely I will be able to use them for this weekend's Fells run; think I'll have to go with the Inov-8 X-Talons which have a much grippier sole.

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