Uwharrie Mountain Run 2008

 

Today my friend Keith and I ran the Uwharrie Mountain Run in Uwharrie Mountain National Forest. Three races are run in one day - a 40 miler, a 20 miler, and an 8-miler. I was a single-digit racing gal.

In a word, the course was intense. There were quite a few times I was heaving heavier than I ever came close to on my marathon. LOTS of hills. Lots of mud. Lots of leaves, rocks, fallen trees, stumps, roots, and hidden dangers. But it was FUN. I let go on some of the downhills and really got up some speed (for me). I tried to be smart and walk most of the uphills. That's a trick taught me by ultra-marathoners. You typically expend more energy running the uphills than you gain in time, so it's better to walk them.

I fell once, but it was minor. I was walking over a log and put my foot down in muddy leaves and lost my footing. Caught myself on my hands before I went all the way down. Also got my left foot wet in the creek, but it dried almost instantly.

I was pooped by mile 5. Just wished it was over. What saved me is that I attached myself to two women running in front of me. I think one woman was a trainer for the other. She kept calling back advice like, "Okay, use your arms here and keep your core steady." Or, "We're going to run 50 paces up and then walk." It was like having my own trainer on the trail. They got me through most of the last 2 miles. (They stopped for water and I passed them in the end. Feel kind of bad about that as I wouldn't have gone as fast if not for them. But c'mon... you're less than a half mile from the finish. Water can wait.)

By my watch, I finished the course in 1: 37:55, almost 10 minutes faster than our trial run a few weeks ago. Keith and I agreed that it felt like we were running much faster than on our practice run. However, the first two miles were clogged with runners and and had to be walked single file. I think it took 28 minutes just to clear those two miles. After that, the group spread out and the running began.

Would I do it again? Probably. Although, I found myself thinking at a couple of points on the trail that I wasn't enjoying it. Not because I was tired, but because the trail is so technical and I just stayed nervous about falling.  Maybe I don't have trail running blood...

I'm sore tonight. Much more so than after my 15-mile run of last weekend. My body feels pounded. You can't beat trail running for a total body workout. It's more than running--you're jumping, leaping, balancing, stretching...  They also say it's easier on the joints. Maybe. All I know is, I am going to go become one with a bottle of Ibuprofen.

Happy trails!

February New Year's Resolutions

Did I mention I'm implementing  my New Year's Resolutions monthly this year? It just seems likely this will return a higher rate of success.

January, as you're all aware, was the one hour of TV per day.  This has gone well. My focus when I made the resolution was on weekdays. I'll still watch a movie or, for example, the Superbowl, on weekends. I haven't been perfect. There have been a couple of times I've indulged and watched 90-120 minutes of TV. But I'm thinking about it now, and I'm aware that I don't feel good, mentally and physically, after I watch TV at night. So I'll carry that resolution forward as I implement February.

February has to do with food. And after thinking about it, I think I'm going to implement this goal in stages throughout the month.  The resolution is not to read anything while I eat. This is huge for me. Unless Blair and I sit down to dinner together, I ALWAYS have a book or magazine in my face while I eat. Meals are how I keep up with my magazine reading: Newsweek, The New Yorker, Log Homes, NC Business Journal, and several other magazines are read while eating cereal and sipping coffee. 

The problem with this is twofold.  One, I'm unaware of what I'm eating. I look up and--surprise!--my meal is gone. This leaves me feeling like I've never really had a meal and I consequently go back to get more (which disappears while I read the next article). The other problem is that I've trained myself that I need to be eating to finish an article. If I finish my meal but there is still a page to go, I will walk back into the kitchen and find something to eat while I finish reading. Not a good thing.

To begin, I'm concentrating on breakfast. No reading while eating breakfast. If that goes well for two weeks, I'll include lunch. But I'd prefer not to rush it. I'd rather a small good habit take hold versus trying to force an instant overhaul that's unlikely to stick.

I can already tell I'll miss my reading. But I think about this as creating awareness versus a lifelong change. Once I break the habit, there's no law that says I can't read the occasional article at the table.  Moderation in all things.

Wish me luck.

Mangum Shirt Run - Photos

I found a site that has pictures of the 15 mile point-to-point run I did on Saturday. The Mangum Track Club (MTC) is a running club with no dues, no meetings, and no ambitions to be anything more than a bunch of people who get together to run. It's a great group. Click through the many pages on this site... a lot are of people but there are also a couple of great shots of the road we ran from Mangum to Ellerbe, NC. Pretty much out in the middle of nowhere. I'm in the newbie photo and the everyone photo but I left soon after the Shirt Run was finished (but did manage to eat a glazed donut and 2 pieces of pizza) and so missed being in the "newbies in their Mangum Club t-shirt" photo.

Click HERE for photos.

And I have to give a shout-out to my friend Dave, long time member of MTC who ran the 15 with me and coached me on the hills. "Pick an object and run to it." Got it, Dave!

More Bizarre Cell Phone Behavior

This beats all. I'm sitting in a Panera (where else?) and I look to my right. Two women are seated at a small table, coffee cups steaming between them. Both have a cellphone to their ear as they gaze in opposite directions over each other's shoulders and talk, not to one another, but to the people they have on the phone.

Here's my question: WHY BOTHER? Why bother meeting a friend for coffee if you're going to spend your time talking to other friends or family members on your phone? The fact that they're both doing it just cracks me up. I wish I had a camera. I wonder if they have any idea how silly stupid they look.

Good friends, good coffee, ... and cell phones. What a treat.