Sharon helped out at the first (and last) aid station at firelane 1. I think she had a good time and was only a tiny bit sorry she wasn't running today too. Its always great to see a smiling face at an aid station. But its even better to see a familiar, smiling face. So it was a pleasant surprise to see Maniac Hippo, single-handedly manning the 2nd and 3rd aid station at the top of the Saltzman road. Tom was also out and about taking pictures and providing much appreciated encouragement. He promised only pretty pictures so hopefully I'll have a few of those to post later. It was also a pleasure to meet a few others I've only read about and seen in blogland, such as Bret and Tom's friend Kyly. And of course, it was great to see Sarah and Wendell of PCTR fame again.
Most of the course was on familiar territory, but we travelled a few new trails and roads I've never ventured on. I missed one turn-off, which really tickled me considering that I feel like I know these trails so well. I saw the marking for the turn, but I never saw the trail. Found out later that there had been some vandalism to the tape. So I guess I'm not crazy. Fortunately, I knew were I was supposed to be and it probably only added an extra quarter to half a mile to the run. The weather was perfect...not too hot, not too cold, no sun, but no rain either. Once we hit Saltzman road I was pretty much alone. Marc had offered use of his iPod, which I declined since I've never run with music. I was happy to be with my thoughts and delighted to be out on a trail that I could run again.
Sharon ran with me the 6 miles in from the last aid station. I was feeling surprisingly good, but it was still a great boost to have her along. She is an awesome, loyal friend. The last few miles were downhill and rocky, so I took it a bit slower than I would have liked to help protect my knee. Otherwise I might have broken 6:30. Oh well, this was a training run, right? There will always be another day to race.
Back home I plunged into an ice bath and managed to hang out there for 20 minutes. I'm looking forward to the easy week coming up. Next big run is the Lake Youngs Ultra on June 9th. It's only 28.8 miles, so that will be a walk in the park, right?
18 comments:
Congratulations on a great race and the new PR!
Sarah, woo-hoo for a PR!!! That's so awesome! You are officisally a sandbagger also:) You are amazing, and pretty soon you'll be running distance races every weekend and breaking PR's on those like nuts!
Sarah, nice race. The 6:30 is a very solid time, indeed. Good for you!
I'm a little concerned, as a fellow ITB sufferer, about the twinges you felt at the end. Hope the ice bath and some careful attention nips that in the bud.
Way to go...congratulations!!
Congrats on the PR! We warmed up the trail at Lake Youngs for you this morning. It should be fun and hopefully good weather as well.
Sarah,
Great time! Sounds like a wonderful day on the trails. Have fun at Lake Youngs!
WOO HOO Sarah Congrats on ur PR... well done!!
I Like the new blog Pic & format
too :-)
yay!
and right.
Love your new header!
The ice bath sounds fantastic!
Does it really count as a PR if it was just a training run? LOL. You bet it does.
You are gonna burn it up on the "short race".
The new header is really a nice shot.
Great to finally meet you! Sounds like you had a great run till that IT band kicked in. I hate that, they hurt big time. Was fun running and chatting with you. Nice job with the PR. I really enjoyed the course and the easy drive home!
wow..you're so awesome!!!!
A PR even with getting lost? And on top of all these long weekend runs you've been doing? You're such an inspiration :)
Glad there were so many nice and friendly faces at the race and that you had a good time.
You'll rock next weekend!
Way to go on the PR, Sarah! And that's after a tough run too! You're so cool! =)
Somehow I'm not surprised at the PR. You were looking great that day and your developing strength as an ultrarunner is really showing.
You almost said it in this entry, the snobbish phrase "only a marathon" is about to enter your lexicon I think. :-)
Sarah,
A PR on back to back 50k weekends??? Impressive to say the least. Glad you found the other pictures.
Pix are super, Sarah!! Love your multi-purpose vest, to hold fluids and not-needed sawed-off tube socks that keep serving well!!
Hi Sarah...first time post to your blog, congtratulations on your PR, that is so awesome.
Tho I'm not much of a trail runner...yet...I will add you to my list of interesting blogs as I like your photos...the header is really great....stop by sometime.
Thats so awesome. What happened to rest:) So I have chronic IT problems, on my left leg. I used to have flare-ups all the time where I couldn't run for at least a couple of weeks. These days not only are my legs stronger but I'm also more sensitive to the danger signals that warn me of a potential flare up. It's been years when an IT problem has actually sidelined me. It's been my experience that sometimes the other leg will develop symptoms and IT issues from supporting the other leg. You may not be conscious of it but you could be putting more weight on the other leg. The body will naturally compensate and it doesn't always tell you. It's like limping, you just do it, you never have to think about it. Just last week I was having issues with IT on my strong leg. Anyway ice, stretches, foam roller have done wonders for me. Also make sure you get some enough rest between your hard runs. My IT issues surface when I'm doing hard workouts (i.e. hill repeats), lots of speed on hard surfaces, too fast of a buildup or too many hard fast long runs in a short time period.
Good luck and awesome racing. Don't you just love it when things happen that way.
I don't remember the pictures being up before?
In any case, they are great! It looks like such a beautiful location :)
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