Back to the platform and off the trail…or is it???

[This post is a few days late and is originally from 11/30/13]

Honestly, it’s November and the temps have been averaging about 20 degrees below the normal temps here in Ohio. This time last year I was busting ass on the trails and counting the days till the first snowfall. All that shit came early this year. There is snow on the ground and my asthma (and body) is not liking the cold below freezing temps thus far. So, I have been working on doing yoga several days a week (I am officially a heat yoga junkie) and working on building my strength with Olympic lifting, barbell conditioning, and practicing kettlebell sport a couple times a week. I’m still managing the hours in the day trying to find time for my workouts like I did for my trail running doing the best I can. My days are often broken up into blocks of time. (We health insurance brokers are busy this time of year).

For those who don’t know, I picked up my first competition kettlebell a few years ago and have been hooked ever since. Kettlebell sport and I, just mesh. The technique is natural to me and I’ve been told by several coaches that my physique is perfect for the sport. Ok, I’ll take it.

Alas, trail running is still my first love and exertion of choice when my lungs can handle it (cold temps or not) but kettlebell sport training taps into my inner strength in a different way. It’s hard to explain but just know that for 10 minutes (long cycle) or 30+ minutes on the platform (pentathalon) when juggling a kettlebell around, the focus is in higher demand and you have to stay on pace more so than running.  Kettlebell sport is a little bit more intense compared to a trail race because you just can't put your ear buds in and ‘disappear’ amongst the masses of other participants or slow down and speed up when you feel like it. You are front and center accountable for every rep at a qualifying pace.

Kettlebell sport (girevoy sport) is considered a strength-endurance or power-endurance sport versus ultrarunning which is considered an endurance sport [to most]. The ‘to most’ refers to people who don’t understand hills, long hills. Just know that hills and terrain are no easy feat no matter how experienced the runner may be. I mean seriously, the transition between uphill, downhill, obstacles, and uneven terrain is enough to mentally exhaust even the best of trail athletes. 

Ok, this isn't a very big hill but it has tree roots and slippery leaves and stuff.

Just know that you need to continue to challenge yourself in the off-season. Also know that the hard work you put in during the off-season will pay off when you see improvements as you hit the trails again in the spring in the form of better lung conditioning, muscle conditioning, mental focus, stamina, strength, speed, etc.

A body at rest tends to stay at rest. A body in motion tends to stay in motion. As adults we have to continue to keep our bodies primed and moving in the off-season to hit our goals and stay competitive in our ‘game on’ season. Get some.

Happy trails,

~Cat~ 

40 year old's perspective

11-8-13= 40

Yeah, I quietly hit my 40^th birthday this month. I’m not sad about it, but rather, I’m reflective with a feeling of renewal. As far as I see it, my 30s were a learning experience but I know I still have a lot of learning experiences to enter into my life.

My 40s will be a life experience to make the 2^nd half of my life grand. I gained experience (and accomplished quite a bit) in my 30s that makes me feel ‘seasoned’. Life changes that happened throughout the decade compounded with the flighty experience that was my 20s, and I know there’s more out there for me beginning in my 40s.

The 20s ain’t got nothing on my 30s. The 30s won’t have nothing on my 40s. There’s a newfound sense of wisdom and conquest to seek for more improvement. Improvement in business, success, personal and professional relations (and growth), health, finally accomplishing those dreams I’ve had years to refine.  It’s all there but I’m being selective as to what is actually important enough for my time.

It’s hard to explain, but it’s a new approach to what I do and what is important to me on a daily basis. I only have a certain level of capacity and time in my daily life and brain, and I’m not going to waste it on stuff that’s not important to me. Shoving out the negative juju because it’s not important. Life’s too short to spend time thinking about or fixating on the negative. Whether, it’s negative people, situations, politics, etc. In my corner of the world there is no room for negative vibes!

As a mom whose life has revolved around her family for over the past decade or so, I feel it’s time to ‘give a little’ and let my birds spread their wings and shift my personal focus inward a bit. It’s time for me. I love my family but it’s time for mama time. Mama selfish time.

I found trail running (and other fitness outlets) in my 30s. I even made it my profession for a while (fitness training) but grew out of it and wanted something more out of life. Different experiences.

The workouts and runs I do now have a slightly different approach. The same in that I am a ‘veteran’ at the activities, but different in that the focus is even deeper. My trail running is my zen. My escape. My therapy. Always has been since step one. Trail running is something that I have an interesting and healthy relationship with, over and over again. But now I feel a deeper approach beginning with that first step on the earthly miles every time I run. Deeper in that I am even more appreciative of my ability to run the trails and do the activities I do. Appreciative in that, although I’m not where I thought I would be at age 40, I’m still unstoppable and will continue set and reach my goals. Just with better clarity and purpose.

   

I developed a new approach with my breathing when I run, when I’m feeling stressed or nervous, when I’m on the mat, or on the platform. When I inhale I say to myself, ‘I am’ and when I exhale I say to myself, ‘at peace’. Depending on what I am doing at that moment depends on how long each breath is but typically the exhale is 1-2 counts slower. Try it. Whenever I catch my breath when I’m running and getting off pace I resort back to inhale/exhale ‘I am/at peace’ mantra. This technique has proven helpful over and over as I’m also breathing more from my diaphragm/belly than my ‘upper lungs’. Great for an asthmatic like me!

In addition to breathing consider this approach and see how it works for you: thank your body. Thank the individual parts for all that they do and all they endure. Connect with yourself spiritually and your body will thank you.

Peace, love, and trails.  

Happy trails!

~Cat~

My first 50k!

It’s been a week since my first (yes, I’ll be doing more) 50k ultramarathon. Today, I reflect throughout the day at about which mile I was on at various times throughout the day, how I was feeling, what was going through my mind, the time I crossed the finish line, and the recovery. The weather was perfect; 60s, cloudy, and a little rainy with the emergence of sunshine by afternoon, and unless I get hit in the head and have severe memory lapse, I’ll never forget my first 50k, the Playin’ Possum 50K at Delaware State Park. (Although I’m sure every event with a lot of K’s will have memories worth noting.) 

The Playin’ Possum 50K is an amazing event that is the brain child of a couple of amazing trail dudes, Mark Carroll and Chad Heald. The course is beautiful and relatively flat as it winds through the woods, across the dam (hate that dam), through a wildlife preserve, and just a little bit of road (I deemed one gravel road ‘the road to hell’). Despite the beauty of the surroundings the 50K is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Yes, even harder than giving birth. It was longer than labor and there was no epidural. I’m looking forward to running Possum again. I taped up well and even walked away without any blisters and minimal chaffing. I only wished that I had two bras on (being a DD is hard when you’re a runner), and a shirt that dried faster. At some points of the race I was chilled because my shirt was soaked from sweat and rain. Annoying.  

All taped up! 

Although I did not hit my time goal of 7 ½ hours I did manage to squeak through the finish line at 7:59:54. It’s hard for me to not be hard on myself as I look at those numbers but considering the circumstances (hold that thought..) I’ll take it. I am a goal-oriented person and when I miss a goal it is tough to chew. But I am also smart enough to know that you have to take the bad with the good sometimes and look at getting better for next time. Chuck it as a learning experience and improve from there. I was on target for my goal till about mile 23 when a foot injury from a month earlier reared its ugly head and decided to remind me “Hey, remember when you injured me last month? Here I am! Don’t forget about me.” It just added to the mental exhaustion I was trudging through and almost brought me to tears. The agonizing and shooting pain was enough to slow my pace significantly for the remainder of the race. Thus, taking me off the mark for my goal. It is what it is. Move on, right?

Here’s a little recap of what I experienced at various moments through the miles:

Slow start (that’s normal for me) and lower leg burning to work out before running smooth. The pack of runners were ahead of me and I didn’t care. I know enough to not give a shit about anyone else’s pace, and knew that the pack would thin out eventually. It’s fitting for me because I’ve always been a lone wolf versus a sheep in a herd. It is what it is. Carry on.

My lungs were finally ‘warm’ at mile 2.19. Yep, I looked down at my GPS at the exact moment I could feel comfort in breathing and ability to take a lungful of air.  #asthmasucks

My right hip and glutes were letting me know that I don’t spend enough time on flexibility training and with my foam roller by mile 8. Let the mental games begin. Experience has taught me that your body will get pissed off and you have to convince it to keep moving no matter what. You convince your body that what you’re doing to it is good. I kept my pace and began focusing more on rhythmic breathing (a technique I practiced throughout the 31 miles). But at the same time I was up on that stupid dam that just seems to go for miles and miles. A sense of relief when you get off the dam, just so you know. It’s the small victories we’re thankful for in running.

I became quite the cranky Cat on mile 11 when I experienced the infamous ‘hitting the wall’. Annoyed, I pulled out a raw bar and electrolyte gel and pushed through the wall. No time to stop.  Mile 12 was on the ‘road to hell’ and thus, the crankiness continued but I was driven to get off of the stupid road and didn’t stop. My mantras; ‘pace, stay on pace’ and ‘keep moving, just keep moving’.

Thanks to a wonderful stitch cramp in my left side I walked mile 13. I still continued to focus on breathing and popped an Advil Cold and Sinus tablet (helped my hip/glute and runny nose). I took the time to practice fast-paced walking to get me through. Now back to the dam…The return is not as daunting as the first pass so the run back seems to have a new perspective as you’ve almost reached the ½ way point and start to run numbers through your head on how far you’ve come, your time, gauge what the second ½ will be like, and foresee a finish time.

At mile 15, I practically sprinted. Feeling a new sense of awesomeness, I ran with it and got off that damn dam! Woohoo! Back to the woods! One mucky creek crossing later I felt great by mile 18 at the aid-station check-in, said hello to my Italian friend, Luca, and old Rogue CF friend Nick Longworth (who introduced me to trail running back in 2008), and kept on moving. This break was much needed as my mental toughness needed a break.

Feeling good at mile 18!

Life was good and I kept on moving to my favorite part of the entire course: the serene and wooded Mink Run, Briar Patch, Lakeview, and Big Foot trails. Ahhh, my weekend stomping grounds. At mile 19, I felt like crying tears of relief because I had reached a state of relaxation and didn’t want to go back to the mental tough game that I knew would return at some point. My brain was exhausted. Like visiting an old friend I pushed though the familiar trails knowing where the tree roots were, where the mud pits were, where the low hanging branches were. Good times.

I checked in at mile 22 and despite exhaustion, life is still good. Keep moving. Head up through the Bigfoot trail (one of favorites as it has a section of canopied trees that shelter you), I hit mile 23 and BOOM! My left foot injury becomes incredibly irritated and I feel like any healing I’ve done the past month has all been undone. If you heard F-bombs and agonizing noises on the Bigfoot trail, that was me. Not only was I forced to reckon with the pain but because of the pain I had to change my gait and compensate by putting additional weight on my other leg. My other leg (the same as the pissed off hip/glute) was holding as strong and fighting fatigue as much as it could. This shift gave me ‘trail toe’. A black toe nail on my right foot. 

Having an injury is where mud on the trail can be more dangerous than usual because of the instability in the mud, your feet and ankles are subject to even more strain, and the injured foot at this point is not dealing with instability very well delivering shooting pain every step of the way. It obviously poses a challenge that is 100 times harder than usual. Part of the [many] beautiful aspects of trail running is the constant varied movement needed to adapt to the terrain. It challenges you. Simply. The core is actively engaged the entire time. Your body is shifting and adapting the entire time. Your brain cannot lapse or zone out because of tree roots, wildlife, mud, downed trees, uneven terrain, etc. The element of being in a steady-state is almost non-existent. We’ve all been there and have scars to show where we ‘goofed’ and tripped over a tree root or two. In a race for time, you’re pushed to stay focused even more to avoid a goof that could take you out of competition altogether. Rookie mistake.  

Mud! 

I checked in at mile 26, limping to the aid-station trying to shake it off. I refilled my water, finished my raw bar, guzzled a gel pack, and went about hobbling along determined to finish. Evidently, my determination was so obvious that a couple of the aid-station workers approached me after the race to make sure I was doing ok. Trail culture is awesome. Quitting was not an option for me. Don’t get me wrong, I pick my battles. In my mind, if I can walk I can run. And running small intervals with a lot more walking is how I finished. Bottom line, I didn’t have any fleshy wounds or bones sticking through my skin, so keep moving. Stay in the game. I’m not going to lie but I felt like crying on mile 27 because the pain was bad and my mental toughness was sick of it. But I stuck through it. DNF was not an option. “Just keep moving, just keep moving”.   

By mile 28 a much needed new outlook came over me. I was almost done. I was beginning the celebration in my mind which helped the last 3 miles seem like the shortest of them all. Limping along like an injured animal I partly trekked and jogged continuing to follow the little pink flags through the discus golf course and creeped closer and closer to the finish line. I emerged from the woods and there was my cheering section. Exactly what I needed. Major props go to my Italian friend, Luca, who pushed me to the end running alongside of me next to the beach to the finish line, giving inspiring motivation talk, and making me aware of where I was on the clock. To be honest with you, I totally forgot about the clock. He knew that when he pointed out the time that I would be determined to ‘beat the clock’. He was right. The inner competitor in me didn’t want to be the clock’s bitch. I had to beat it and I did. I squeezed in under 8 hours, and I all I could think was ‘wow, that’s a long-ass time to be running’ and I’m finally here. I survived only slightly broken. Inside, I was disappointed of my time but knew at that moment I was going to sign up for next year so I could beat that time by a landslide. Eff that clock and 8 hours.

Emerging from the woods heading to the finish line on the beach! 

My post-run recovery was good. Once I was ready, I took my muddy shoes and socks off, sat down and nibbled on some food. I sat and reflected on the miles, shared how my pace overall has slowed down the past year since I hadn’t been doing strength work, told my buddy Nick Longworth that this whole ultrarunning thing was his fault. My way of thanking him.

My buddy Nick. 

My buddy Luca. 

Proof I finished! Ha! 

The pain made it difficult to walk to the parking lot. I ate almost an entire pizza for dinner, chilled the rest of the weekend at home, and felt like I had a hangover. A 50k hangover, I’ll take it. 

Happy trails,
~Cat~ 

And so begins the training...

What's a trail girl to do when she approaches such a creek? She crosses it! No holding back. 

Not an obstacle but rather, an interest of agility in nature. 

3/28 – I feel like today was my ‘official’ first day back on the trails for a couple of reasons: 1-it’s the first spring run, and 2- it’s the first trail run since committing to the Playin’ Possum 50k in May. Yeah, I hit the trails a few times this winter but this time I'm running with intention and goals. My pace was a decent jaunt-pace of about a 14 min mile (turtle). I don’t consider that a fast pace by any means but the pace is the same I was running last season. I try not to fixate on my pace too much because with my asthma the pace is sometimes just out of my control due to limited lung capacity, and all. However, I do want to see an improvement in my pace this year. It's weird how a few years ago I was knocking out a 10-11 minute pace, and last year my pace slowed to 14-15 minute pace. I killed some hills, and for the first time in a long-ass time I didn’t dread hills. I told myself to “just run up the hill –get over it” a couple of times today, and didn’t let the hills get the best of me. I actually reached my Vo2 max on one of the big hills today. It was an awesome feeling.  A nice runner’s high hit me at mile four, and that in of itself is pretty kick ass rockstar feelin’. The weather today was decent in the 40’s and sunny. One thing I especially appreciated today as I took a moment to ‘feel it’ was the warmth of the sun. Ahhh, it felt awesome. 

 A couple of realizations from today’s trail run; 

1- I need new shoes (which I already knew but today’s run reminded me w/the pain in my feet). Just a reminder point.

2- I need yoga (again, I already knew that but my hips were like “Whaat?!”). Again, a reminder point.

3- I sometimes questioned running a 50k but then realized that the scenery will be more challenging and less boring than today's trail, and backing out is 'not my style' as it represents defeat.

4-  I captured the vision for some more business ideas to start an apparel company (something I’ve tossed around in the past but never really considered seriously, but a clearer vision will make it a reality).  

5- I reaffirmed what I already know in that I am and will always be an entrepreneur! 

That’s the whole ‘trail running girl’s perspective’ that happens when I run trails. Ideas come to light, realizations of what’s really important, what else I want to do in my life, and just letting go of any negativity while appreciating life to live it to the fullest.  

Happy trails,

~Cat~ 

Where the hell you (I) been?!

Wow! It’s been a long ass time since I’ve posted on my blog. I know I’m a total lame ass but being lame sometimes happens. Don’t snub your nose at me too hard. Well, a lot of shit has been going on in my life since my last post. Some of which is important, some not so much. Here are a few highlights: 

·         I realized that Adidas trail running shoes from 2011/2012 aren’t meant for more than 200 miles. Pfft.

·         I landed a new career, and more importantly I.LOVE.IT!

·         I got into this ‘bucket list’ mode and feel like 2013 is ‘my year’ to accomplish a lot of stuff (including deer and turkey hunting).

·         I signed up for my first ultra marathon (bucket list). Well, actually greater than my bucket list. My original bucket list running item for this year was to run 20k’s in my training and compete in at least one. Well, given my ‘over achiever’ self, I signed up for a 50k. Happy trails! I’m pumped!

·         I realized that no matter how hard I try treadmill running just doesn’t compare to trail running and my knee and hip manage to get pretty pissed off at about 5k. #wintersucks

• I attended my first rave. Although, drug free. Which is how I roll anyway.  

7               ·         I definitely appreciate a good bourbon more than (what I call) ‘budget’ bourbon. Same              goes for scotch.

·         Fatigue sometimes hits me like a Mack truck, and I can only trace it to hormones.

·         The clouds have cleared a little more as to what I do and don’t want for my future.

·         My hair is red again.

·         My A.D.D. still kicks in every once in a while.

·         I can eat bacon again. Well, at least uncured bacon.  

·         Organic coconut sugar rocks!

·         Life is still good. 

There's plenty more but "ain't nobody got time" to write all night about that! Needless to say, I’m pumped about the direction my life is going and could consider myself in a recovery of sorts after the past few years of ‘what the hell do I REALLY want to do with myself?’ phase. I’ll continue to post as I know I will have lots of trail time to collect my thoughts and share my perspectives in the coming months!

I post lots of trail porn on Instragram @fitcat296 

Happy trails,

~Cat~