Tags
exercise, fitness, hiking, nutrition, sports, state parks, trail running, Travel
Yesterday was my first trail race. It was in Huntsville, at Monte Sano state park. One of the reasons I decided to sign up to trail races was to get me to travel the local area and this was a wonderful indictment of that. Monte Sano state park was breathtakingly beautiful. All my disappointment at the Samford campus was instantly repaid and more with joy at Monte Sano. It helped that the leaves were changing – fall colours in Alabama are incredible (as in other states, ‘tiz true). We were fairly elevated, and indeed, elevated ourselves somewhat more on the course (ouch) but this lead to this incredible view.
I *highly* recommend a visit there, and cannot wait to go back and hike.
So… the race. Well, despite proclaiming my intention to train for races, and not just throw them in my general running plan, I kinda failed. I managed only 1 trail run beforehand, which I took way too lightly and did not simulate race conditions for. I also did not check out the course: hence I was utterly unprepared for many very steep hills, and even a fair few steps. But, OK, lesson learned.
I also learned to train ‘beyond’ your race. I had been running linger distances at ½ marathon pace, and for faster training, stuck to 5K. I think I would prefer going into a race used to running that pace for a slightly longer distance – I don’t know? Any runners got any thoughts on this?
That was not the only preparation mess up… we got up at the heinously early 4.30 am to get to Huntsville by 7.30 (allowing for gas stops, bathroom breaks and getting lost…). I prepared my usual oatmeal breakfast, but wolfed it at 5.30 am, leaving my hungry and chowing down on a larabar pre-race. I also, out of boredom, drank double my usual morning coffee, and instead of my fairly weak homemade stuff had the strong shop bought stuff, in double quantities. I also ‘didn’t feel’ like rehydrating. Let’s just say: unexpected fiber + a lot of caffeine + hard exercise does not make for a happy tummy on the trails. ‘Nuff said and lesson learned.
My only other mess-up was starting at the back, because I still think of myself as slow. There was a huge bottleneck, and I had to walk for about 3 minutes, before slowly picking off other runners to make my way to the front. I wish I had started near the front: running fast at the beginning and slowing down actually does not tire me out quickly on such a short distance, so next time up front I go.
That all being said, I came 3rd out of all the women, and very close to coming second:
Why didn’t I come second? I felt it would be ‘mean’ and cheating’ to sprint past someone (I am actually a super quick sprinter, I just can‘t keep the speed up long) right at the finish line. The girl who tried (and failed – phew) to do that to me taught me otherwise. Placed, and should have done a little better.
I loved the overall experience. I loved getting up and out and doing something with my Saturday. I loved putting my all into a run. I loved seeing somewhere new and I loved placing. I also loved my free swag, which the race organizers where very generous with (T-shirts, drinking glasses, bananas etc). And my winning swag (super nice North face hat, plastic and aluminum water bottles, a medal and all sorts of samples of stuff).
Next? I considered an 8K in Atlanta, but it is 2 weeks away and (1) I can’t really train for it and (2) Alabama play LSU and my husband won’t come meaning much driving (3 hours) by myself and driving back sore and tired. So, I may well skip that, and just shoot for the 10K at lookout mountain in December. Any takers?
Tough Mudder training
Finally, my tough mudder training this week. It is going better. I completed nearly all the DAMY workouts… and kept my long run in. That being said, I didn’t complete them all, and I think it was too much for weeks 5+ of DAMY to up the workouts, but slightly decrease the food. I also was utterly failing to recover – I would be sore for 4/5 days, rather ½ which I am used to. I think I need to support my recovery more. I am going to try to add glutamine supplementation, but I also noticed that when picking from the food lists, I am naturally picking a lot of the lower calorie options (what? I love apples!), so next week, I am going to try to choose higher calorie, permitted foods. Kinda scary, as I don’t want weightloss to stall too much, but if it means I can do more training, at better intensities, I think it will even out.
Tough Mudder training Week 5:
Thursday: DAMY weights A, (DONE!)
Friday – REST (yuck) – (DONE)
Saturday – Steady state 6 mile jog – (DONE! 6.3 miles, if you’re asking )
Sunday – Steady state cross train (30 min trail run; 2 hour hike); weights DAMY B – CHANGED – no run, the hike was too early. But I did hike for 4 hours…
Monday: 30 min interval run; Weights DAMY D (legs) – CHANGED: Did my DAMY B weights. Then did Interval training, DAMY workout B. This is TOUGH. But worth it.
Tues: REST – CHANGED – DAMY D (legs). Hurt for days
Weds: Steady state (4 miles); DAMY C. – DONE on the hated track, no less… done barefoot too – I am seeing if I can learn to run barefoot so that I can get minimalist shoes.
Tough Mudder training Week 6 plan:
Friday – DAMY weights A, 35 mins steady state
Saturday – 5K, DAMY weights B
Sunday – Steady state 7 mile jog
Monday: DAMY C (weights); Interval B
Tues: REST
Weds: DAMY D (legs); interval A
Thurs: Kickboxing (this is a good proxy for DAMY’s 6th ‘functional’ workout – lots of core stuff).
So, I am getting better at completing all the workouts. I am hoping some 200 extra calories a day, mostly in the form of whole grains, will spur me on to complete this without deviating!