So I decided to start blogging about my running adventures and really this all went nuts with the idea of one race: An Ultra.
Ok one type of Race. An Ultra Marathon is any marathon over the length of 26.2 miles but really they are usually 30miles, 50miles or 100miles,
ok they get longer than that but, well I am not crazy. So after I had my baby girl Chloe (picture seen above) I was walking all of the time, poor kid had
colic and I tell you one of
the only things that made her happy was the sound of
the Treadmill. Some might say it is because she heard it when she was in the womb, others might just say she liked walking.
Ok so I began walking,
then running, then
WAMO! At 4
mnths old the
Treadmill died. What was a girl to do but go into her garage dig out that hand me down stroller and insert an old rower friend had so thoughtfully sent and take her kid out for a fun. I was free.
Ok so I thought I should probably ask for some opinions on if 4
mnths old was too young for a baby to be in a stroller so, I found a group of Running Moms and asked them. They gave me the thumbs up and I was off. But here is where it gets interesting,
that group of running moms, they not only got me running 5K's with my stroller but training for a marathon and then suddenly the marathon wasn't enough. My life long dream of an ultra suddenly seemed doable. So in 2008 I looked up some information on running Ultras, found a race: The Grasslands 50miler and began my journey. I told the whole group about my race so they would hold me to it. Then I signed up for three marathons in the
mean time to help me train up to the Ultra and found a babysitter I trusted for the days I needed long runs and my Dear Husband (Doug) was out of town. I was off. I had run two marathons before this, but they were back in my 20's and now I was in my late 30's so you can see it had been a while. The first Marathon: the White Rock in Dallas was brutal, there was a 25-30 mph headwind the entire second half of the race, it kicked my butt. The second marathon the Phoenix
RnR was awesome, I even ran a Boston Qualifying time,
yipppeee. And
finally the Pensacola Marathon in
February rounded out my big mileage. By March I was really beat but the girls pumped me up and my friend Erin flew in to help me out on race day. I am not sure I had a great game plan for pace or what not I just knew I wanted to finish. I must have been standing under some luck star though because by mile 10 I had run into two amazing running women; Cindy and Lori. Cindy needed a qualifying time for Western States and they had run quite a few Ultras so I decided I would stick with them for a while well that while lasted until around mile 40. They were awesome. The whole dang experience was awesome. It was really hard but it was also so dang rewarding. My husband was able to get out to the race in
the afternoon and brought Chloe. So he ran the last loop with me which was great. It was
hilarious when he saw Lori and Cindy just in front of us and said: "why don't you just pass them" I am told him as nicely as I could at that point that my shuffling was the best pace I could manage, yes the shuffling was me going all out. Eventually I did pass Lori and Cindy did get her Western
Qualifying time. And
I got 2
nd in my first Ultra 7
th over all. And so the journey had begun. Stay tuned it gets better :).
I am sure I feel just about the exact way I look in this picture. :)
This is me coming into the aid station, my friend Erin got the picture and then filled my camel
bak, made me eat and drink and sent me on my way. She rocked. When I was confused which way to go she already knew and was pointing me in the right directions. Everyone should take a solid crew person for their first race.
So I decided to start blogging about my running adventures and really this all went nuts with the idea of one race: An Ultra. Ok one type of Race. An Ultra Marathon is any marathon over the length of 26.2 miles but really they are usually 30miles, 50miles or 100miles, ok they get longer than that but, well I am not crazy. So after I had my baby girl Chloe (picture seen above) I was walking all of the time, poor kid had colic and I tell you one of the only things that made her happy was the sound of the Treadmill. Some might say it is because she heard it when she was in the womb, others might just say she liked walking. Ok so I began walking, then running, then WAMO! At 4 mnths old the Treadmill died. What was a girl to do but go into her garage dig out that hand me down stroller and insert an old rower friend had so thoughtfully sent and take her kid out for a fun. I was free. Ok so I thought I should probably ask for some opinions on if 4mnths old was too young for a baby to be in a stroller so, I found a group of Running Moms and asked them. They gave me the thumbs up and I was off. But here is where it gets interesting, that group of running moms, they not only got me running 5K's with my stroller but training for a marathon and then suddenly the marathon wasn't enough. My life long dream of an ultra suddenly seemed doable. So in 2008 I looked up some information on running Ultras, found a race: The Grasslands 50miler and began my journey. I told the whole group about my race so they would hold me to it. Then I signed up for three marathons in the mean time to help me train up to the Ultra and found a babysitter I trusted for the days I needed long runs and my Dear Husband (Doug) was out of town. I was off. I had run two marathons before this, but they were back in my 20's and now I was in my late 30's so you can see it had been a while. The first Marathon: the White Rock in Dallas was brutal, there was a 25-30 mph headwind the entire second half of the race, it kicked my butt. The second marathon the Phoenix RnR was awesome, I even ran a Boston Qualifying time, yipppeee. And finally the Pensacola Marathon in February rounded out my big mileage. By March I was really beat but the girls pumped me up and my friend Erin flew in to help me out on race day. I am not sure I had a great game plan for pace or what not I just knew I wanted to finish. I must have been standing under some luck star though because by mile 10 I had run into two amazing running women; Cindy and Lori. Cindy needed a qualifying time for Western States and they had run quite a few Ultras so I decided I would stick with them for a while well that while lasted until around mile 40. They were awesome. The whole dang experience was awesome. It was really hard but it was also so dang rewarding. My husband was able to get out to the race in the afternoon and brought Chloe. So he ran the last loop with me which was great. It was hilarious when he saw Lori and Cindy just in front of us and said: "why don't you just pass them" I am told him as nicely as I could at that point that my shuffling was the best pace I could manage, yes the shuffling was me going all out. Eventually I did pass Lori and Cindy did get her Western Qualifying time. And I got 2nd in my first Ultra 7th over all. And so the journey had begun. Stay tuned it gets better :).
I am sure I feel just about the exact way I look in this picture. :)
This is me coming into the aid station, my friend Erin got the picture and then filled my camel bak, made me eat and drink and sent me on my way. She rocked. When I was confused which way to go she already knew and was pointing me in the right directions. Everyone should take a solid crew person for their first race.
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