Race Report

Race Report: Xterra White Tanks: Did I PR?

….and My Story Runs On….

Apparently I wrote a blog post about this one last year too.  I like to write race reports so if people want to find out more about an event, they can have someone else’s perspective. This is something I learned in ultra running which was one of the best pieces of advice I’ve received.  Before picking an ultra (or after you’ve picked it) start googling “race reports ‘race name'” or “blogs ‘race name'” and you will get reports from runners that have done this race. Great way to get different perspectives and advice! (just have to remember it’s someone else perspective though!)

This is one of my favorites for a few reasons:

  • I love White Tank Regional Park!  Always fun to be on trails I don’t get to see often.
  • This is a tough course.  There is something about the challenge that I love about this race.  I also get to use a lot of different ChiRunning skill because of the terrain changes.
  • Xterra supports Girls On The Run and I love to support them back!

This race is no joke from an elevation profile. Their website describes it as:

“For those who prefer a course with pain and punishment, the long course is 20k of grueling single track with over 1500 feet of climbing. Starting from the group campground, runners wind their way up Ironwood to the Waddell trail. Once you reach the first aid station be prepared to go up, the next three miles are all climbing….”
I won’t do much detail on the race course as you can read it in my previous race report.

Volunteers rock! The Hansons are always out there supporting Girls On The Run events. Ricci and Joshua are Running for Brews regulars and volunteer a lot too. Thank you!

Pics don’t do the views justice!

Girls On The Run Advisory Board Member, Julie, volunteering too! Missed another photo at registration with more board members. If we are not running we are volunteering!

Still smiling after all the uphills! Was just feeling it!

I decided I wanted to try and PR (set a Personal Record) my time from last year which was 2:57:37.  Last year my goal was to get in under 3 hours.  I also had to remember that this is a training run and that I did 40 miles just last Saturday at Across the Years.  However, I was feeling great and ready to take on the PR challenge.

ChiRunning always plays a huge role in my runs and race.  I’m always looking at ways on how to approach the environment coming at me as efficiently as possible.  Sometimes it almost feels like a fun game I am playing with Mother Earth.

Some specific things I focused on from a technique perspective:

  • I focused a lot on uphill and downhill technique.  I love hilly courses for this reason.  Lots of upper body with uphills, some ChiHiking (it was steep and if I can walk it faster to save energy and not tire myself out, I will).  Tried to relax as much as possible on the downhills.  A little hard due to the rockiness but it was the best I felt running downhill.  I also need to give credit to Greg Riverdieu from the High-Altitude Training Institute. Last year, I took a technical trail running class from him and learned quite a bit.  But one of the things that stood out the most, and you probably had to be there, is he would say, you just go down like this…“boom, boom, boom” for 3 consecutive footsteps.  So that was in my head as well as Danny talking about “dancing down the trail” and “be the water”.  Using imagery and visualizations are fun when running!
  • Worked quite a bit on ankle lifting.  Rocky courses are great for this.  This course is known for taking some blood as people fall but I was determined to stay upright. Most common reason to fall on a rail is clipping your toe on a rock because you have a pendular stride instead of a circular stride (part of lifting the ankles).  This was my nemesis when I started ChiRunning and love to practice it as much as I can.

Some specific things I focused on from a mental perspective:

  • I realize I make this part of my “pre race” ritual. I get mentally psyched up for a race.  I am not going to win and my goal is to get a good training run in, enjoy it and have fun.  I was so excited to get out on the trail today.  Oddly, even with a hard course, “only” 12.4 miles wasn’t going to be too bad after 40 last week!
  • I set a goal to PR last year.  I rarely get attached to those goals though.  I think having a goal is part of race mentality but I also see too many people beat themselves up about it or setting unrealistic goals based on their experience and training. As mentioned a PR sounded reasonable but I had to consider other factors in my training like the 40 miles on the previous Saturday and my 50 mile weeks of training.
  • I rarely listen to music and XTERRA doesn’t allow headsets (which I really appreciate, especially on a technical, single track trail).  For some reason, I had an old playlist I hadn’t listened to in awhile so put my iPod on speaker and jammed out all the way up the hill. As soon as I started going down though, I really wanted to focus on relaxing and not falling on this technical trail so that’s what I did.

I couldn’t believe how great I was feeling.  Back to the PR story….I forgot to mention that I just got a new Garmin which I love, but I hadn’t really set up my display screens properly.  I new what my average pace had to be to PR but didn’t create that option yet.  So I just decided to body sense and do the absolute best I could.  I was sure I was going to PR until I passed the last aid station and found out I had 1.8 miles….it was going to be really really close!  I really started focusing on my form even more at this point because I was literally going to make it or not by seconds…..I crossed the finish line at 2:57 (same time as last year).  At this point I forgot to check for my results because I had a sushi date with my boyfriend.  As much as I stayed focused during that race to PR, I was still detached from the goal:  I hoped I PRd but if I didn’t, all good.  I even did this Facebook live and talked about goal detachment.

Well, 2 days after the race and after starting this blog, I finally know my results!  I PRd by 8 seconds!!  I finished at a 2:57:29!!  What this means to me is that I am right in line with my training for my 100K in 5.5 weeks.  Bring it on!!!

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

Race Report

Race Report: Xterra White Tanks: Did I PR?

….and My Story Runs On….

Apparently I wrote a blog post about this one last year too.  I like to write race reports so if people want to find out more about an event, they can have someone else’s perspective. This is something I learned in ultra running which was one of the best pieces of advice I’ve received.  Before picking an ultra (or after you’ve picked it) start googling “race reports ‘race name'” or “blogs ‘race name'” and you will get reports from runners that have done this race. Great way to get different perspectives and advice! (just have to remember it’s someone else perspective though!)

This is one of my favorites for a few reasons:

  • I love White Tank Regional Park!  Always fun to be on trails I don’t get to see often.
  • This is a tough course.  There is something about the challenge that I love about this race.  I also get to use a lot of different ChiRunning skill because of the terrain changes.
  • Xterra supports Girls On The Run and I love to support them back!

This race is no joke from an elevation profile. Their website describes it as:

“For those who prefer a course with pain and punishment, the long course is 20k of grueling single track with over 1500 feet of climbing. Starting from the group campground, runners wind their way up Ironwood to the Waddell trail. Once you reach the first aid station be prepared to go up, the next three miles are all climbing….”
I won’t do much detail on the race course as you can read it in my previous race report.

Volunteers rock! The Hansons are always out there supporting Girls On The Run events. Ricci and Joshua are Running for Brews regulars and volunteer a lot too. Thank you!

Pics don’t do the views justice!

Girls On The Run Advisory Board Member, Julie, volunteering too! Missed another photo at registration with more board members. If we are not running we are volunteering!

Still smiling after all the uphills! Was just feeling it!

I decided I wanted to try and PR (set a Personal Record) my time from last year which was 2:57:37.  Last year my goal was to get in under 3 hours.  I also had to remember that this is a training run and that I did 40 miles just last Saturday at Across the Years.  However, I was feeling great and ready to take on the PR challenge.

ChiRunning always plays a huge role in my runs and race.  I’m always looking at ways on how to approach the environment coming at me as efficiently as possible.  Sometimes it almost feels like a fun game I am playing with Mother Earth.

Some specific things I focused on from a technique perspective:

  • I focused a lot on uphill and downhill technique.  I love hilly courses for this reason.  Lots of upper body with uphills, some ChiHiking (it was steep and if I can walk it faster to save energy and not tire myself out, I will).  Tried to relax as much as possible on the downhills.  A little hard due to the rockiness but it was the best I felt running downhill.  I also need to give credit to Greg Riverdieu from the High-Altitude Training Institute. Last year, I took a technical trail running class from him and learned quite a bit.  But one of the things that stood out the most, and you probably had to be there, is he would say, you just go down like this…“boom, boom, boom” for 3 consecutive footsteps.  So that was in my head as well as Danny talking about “dancing down the trail” and “be the water”.  Using imagery and visualizations are fun when running!
  • Worked quite a bit on ankle lifting.  Rocky courses are great for this.  This course is known for taking some blood as people fall but I was determined to stay upright. Most common reason to fall on a rail is clipping your toe on a rock because you have a pendular stride instead of a circular stride (part of lifting the ankles).  This was my nemesis when I started ChiRunning and love to practice it as much as I can.

Some specific things I focused on from a mental perspective:

  • I realize I make this part of my “pre race” ritual. I get mentally psyched up for a race.  I am not going to win and my goal is to get a good training run in, enjoy it and have fun.  I was so excited to get out on the trail today.  Oddly, even with a hard course, “only” 12.4 miles wasn’t going to be too bad after 40 last week!
  • I set a goal to PR last year.  I rarely get attached to those goals though.  I think having a goal is part of race mentality but I also see too many people beat themselves up about it or setting unrealistic goals based on their experience and training. As mentioned a PR sounded reasonable but I had to consider other factors in my training like the 40 miles on the previous Saturday and my 50 mile weeks of training.
  • I rarely listen to music and XTERRA doesn’t allow headsets (which I really appreciate, especially on a technical, single track trail).  For some reason, I had an old playlist I hadn’t listened to in awhile so put my iPod on speaker and jammed out all the way up the hill. As soon as I started going down though, I really wanted to focus on relaxing and not falling on this technical trail so that’s what I did.

I couldn’t believe how great I was feeling.  Back to the PR story….I forgot to mention that I just got a new Garmin which I love, but I hadn’t really set up my display screens properly.  I new what my average pace had to be to PR but didn’t create that option yet.  So I just decided to body sense and do the absolute best I could.  I was sure I was going to PR until I passed the last aid station and found out I had 1.8 miles….it was going to be really really close!  I really started focusing on my form even more at this point because I was literally going to make it or not by seconds…..I crossed the finish line at 2:57 (same time as last year).  At this point I forgot to check for my results because I had a sushi date with my boyfriend.  As much as I stayed focused during that race to PR, I was still detached from the goal:  I hoped I PRd but if I didn’t, all good.  I even did this Facebook live and talked about goal detachment.

Well, 2 days after the race and after starting this blog, I finally know my results!  I PRd by 8 seconds!!  I finished at a 2:57:29!!  What this means to me is that I am right in line with my training for my 100K in 5.5 weeks.  Bring it on!!!

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

50 Miles of Gratitude: (12) Training & XTERRA Events

….and My Story Runs On….

Yesterday, I did the XTERRA White Tank 20K “race”. I put race in parenthesis as you know I normally use races as training runs for my bigger races (first 100K in 6 weeks!). I already blogged about Aravaipa races awhile back.

This race is no joke from an elevation profile. Their website describes it as:

“For those who prefer a course with pain and punishment, the long course is 20k of grueling single track with over 1500 feet of climbing. Starting from the group campground, runners wind their way up Ironwood to the Waddell trail. Once you reach the first aid station be prepared to go up, the next three miles are all climbing….”  You can see my Tom Tom results here.

Cheryl Miller from Miller Endurance Coaching is one of their sponsors and she hosted a preview run a few weeks ago that I was able to attend. I actually did this race back in 2012 when I was training for my first marathon but I can’t find my results anywhere. At any rate, I knew what I was getting myself into…

Which is why I wanted to do it!  Hills are part of most trail races and I love to train on them to keep improving my ChiRunning technique.  White Tanks are also a great change of scenery for me so I was excited to do this one.

First I want to thank XTERRA because a portion of their race proceeds go to my favorite local charity Girls On The Run Maricopa County (GOTR-I’m currently on their board of directors serving as Secretary). If I’m not racing their events, I’m volunteering because I really appreciate their support!

Now on to my learning lessons from this race!

The more running story develops year after year, I have found that I prefer to preview runs if I have a chance. This gives me a chance to get familiar with the course and know what to expect vs the element of surprise that I used to like more before. Even though I did part of the course backwards on the preview run, I knew what I was getting into!

Even though this was a “training” run, I wanted to race it…my version of racing it 😉 My race strategy was:

  • Bring my hydration pack so I wouldn’t need to stop at any of the aid stations.
  • Power hike the uphills and run as much of the runnable part as possible
  • Focus/improve upon on my ChiRunning hill technique (runnable/non runnable hills, uphill and downhill. I just taught a ChiHills class yesterday so it was all fresh)
  • Continue to get more out of my comfort zone on rockier trails and improve my technique there
  • Get myself mentally psyched up and excited for this race no matter what (this has become a regular strategy for me. Why got all worked up and nervous?  I start thinking about the friends I will see, that I’m getting to spend a “few” hours in nature, getting some ME time, burning some calories, etc.  Literally think of as many positive things as I can to get pumped up for the race to get positive energy flowing)
  • Last but not least, as much as I don’t like always setting time goals for races, since I did the preview run in 3:17 and I wasn’t as racing, I was shooting for a 3 hour finish.

It was a beautiful day! I got there in plenty of time to pick up my packet and run into many friends including GOTR volunteers/board members.

holly

Holly is our Vice President and was racing as well!

I started running right away knowing that the grueling part would be around Mile 2. I had to stop momentarily at the first aid station to get this selfie with Bob and Cindy Hansen who are huge supporters of GOTR and I love seeing their smiling faces!

bobcindy

Bob & Cindy Hansen, GOTR volunteer superstars! Love the rays of sun shining on us!

Then it was all uphill so I started power hiking and using my arms, core and obliques more (which are all sorer than my legs are today!) I knew I was at the back of the pack already but OK with that. Every time there was a wee bit of level terrain or not too many rocks, I ran a bit…however if I know I can power hike it faster and use less energy, that is my strategy. (one of the many things I love about trail running as it’s more “acceptable” to walk due to the hills.) I had several more friends at aid stations that called my name out as I ran by which is always motivating!

view

We are pretty high up there! Pictures don’t do it justice for sure!

view1

If you look closely, you can see the trail on the other mountain going down hill…

It was finally time to come downhill!  Was cruising in several locations but the trail was rocky so this slowed me down more than I wanted.  I was really trying to focus on relaxing as much as possible as I know any tension mentally or physically slows me down (which is why I get pumped up before a race too…to keep from having mental stress!). I almost tripped a few times but never fell.

I hate looking at my watch to reach a time goal (again more mental tension) but at this point I could tell that I was close to my time goal. I had conserved my energy so I knew the last 2 miles should be pretty easy. I didn’t realize mile 11 was a wee bit of an uphill and I started walking a bit.  I knew I was cutting it close on the time goal so I decided to put my playlist on speaker just to change up my energy and get some motivation.  Funniest thing was that I turned it off in less than 2 minutes!  The music was too distracting. I was in a really good zone (had been for the entire race between my ChiRunning/ChiWalking form focusing, being present and truly enjoying the beauty of the trail.) On a side note, I find it interesting that as my running story continues to develop, I used to only be a social runner. I couldn’t run unless I had company and someone to talk to.  Now, my solo runs hold a special place. I can’t describe it but there is something to be said about being alone with yourself for hours in nature, running on a trail.  Time flies by somehow…Mile 11 was my hardest mile of the entire race and I started thinking I wanted it to be over with.  With 1.5 miles to go, I got it together and started really focusing more on my form and breathing. Before I knew it, I could see the finish line and was getting excited. I was at 2:52 and knew I would make it on time if I kept my pace…..and I did! My official time was a 2:57:37! (and my fastest mile was my last one!)

I felt amazing and was so dang proud of myself when I finished!….

finisher

Thanks to my friend Diane for taking this awesome photo of me finishing! It truly describes how I felt!

board

The GOTR Executive Team..2 of us running and 2 volunteering!

…..Until I started comparing myself to other runner friends….that is another blog post…for now, you can watch my 5 minute facebook live video from yesterday here.

All in all, this was one of my best races from strategy to how amazing I felt at the end.

Do you use races as training runs? Share your comments below!

diane

My badass friend Diane who is an Ironman and did her first 8K trail race!

terry

Selfie with Terry who is an amazing athlete who will be 60 this year and placed first in her age group and 13th woman overall!

sunrise

You know it’s going to be a great day with this sunrise!

Click here50 Miles of Gratitude: 50 Posts about my first 50 Miler

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)