Old Pueblo 50 Mile Ultra-Marathon

A lot has happened since I last wrote in this blog. On March 2, 2013, I completed my first ultra-marathon--the Old Pueblo 50-miler. OP is a tough ultra-marathon that winds through the southeastern part of the Santa Rita Mountains in southern Arizona. As a new trail runner, I was initially afraid that I wouldn't complete the run by the 15 hour cut-off time, but I did! I limped/ran across the finish line at 14:25--thanks in large part to my husband, Mauricio, and my friend, Cindy, who ran the last 12 miles with me.

Pacing me was no small feat given that the last 12 miles was mostly an uphill switchback and pitch black. Also, by that time, I was already pretty worn down with an aching knee (I forgot my Ibuprofen!) and dead-tired legs. While I felt like I was moving  quickly, my Garmin said otherwise. I was barely moving, but I was moving. Shuffling…one step at a time. In fact, my mantra at that point was, "One step in front of the other, one step in front of the other…gets you where you have to go."

Crossing the finish line after months of intense training and 14+ hours of running/shuffling was one of the greatest moments of my life. I was so overcome with relief, joy, and excitement that I burst into tears as I raced across the finish line into my coach's open arms. I did it! I couldn't believe it. Conquering that trail signified a lot more than simply finishing a race. It was much larger than that for me. For me, it was a metaphor for life. Just keep going, one step at a time, and eventually you'll get where you need to be. Just keep moving, even when you're hardly moving at all.

Not One More Bike Rally-May 19, 2012

Yesterday, I participated in the Not One More Bike Rally for change. Over one thousand cyclists biked to the State Capitol to: 1) build awareness for cycling; 2) promote cycling safety, and 3) advocate for tougher Distracted Driver and Vulnerable User laws.

It was an extraordinary event. We started from the corner of Rio Salado and Mill Avenue in Tempe. There must have been over one hundred bikers in our group. Of course, as a fairly new biker, I was pretty intimidated by the size of the group primarily because I'm not used to biking side by side with strangers. Also, I was petrified that I would be the first "(wo)man down." In other words, I was TERRIFIED that I would fall on my ass in front of all these super cool cycling jocks and everyone would laugh at me. 

Soooo...in order to minimize the number of potential people who would laugh at me in the VERY LIKELY event that I did fall on my ass, I started out at the back of pack...and almost fell. Yep, I was so nervous that I couldn't clip in for what seemed like an eternity. Meanwhile, people were whizzing by me, which made me even more nervous. Finally, after several failed attempts, I managed to clip in, and then had to immediately unclip when we arrived at the first of a gazillion traffic lights. AAAGGGHHHH!!!

And that's pretty much how it went for the next 10 miles--clip out, approach red traffic light, frantically clip back in, sigh with relief when I finally clipped in without falling, then another frantic attempt to clip out at the next red traffic light, and so on and so on. Fortunately, through some miracle of God, I managed to complete the ride without falling down…although I did almost run into the people in front of me a couple of times, but ALMOST doesn't count--right? 

When we finally arrived at the Capitol, and I saw my buddy Lito, who was almost killed by a distracted driver, I remembered WHY we were baking in the hot sun at a bike rally on a Saturday morning. We were there to build awareness about biking safety and the need for tougher laws, and that made my personal sacrifice worth it. 

Of course, seeing Lito and the other bikers who were injured by distracted drivers also made me very leery of biking all the way back to Tempe from Central Phoenix. Seriously, Central Phoenix is a scary place to bike. People are crazy with a capital C! So what did I do? I begged my husband to ride the light rail back to Tempe with me, and after much prodding on my part, he finally agreed. So off we went…

And another adventure began because NO ONE in our little group  knew how or even where to catch the light rail. Okay, one person knew, but she didn't wait for us, so we were left riding down Jefferson looking for a light rail station. Finally, after about 5-10 minutes of biking, we saw a station--like a beacon of light on a dark, stormy night. And, boy, were we relieved...until we got there and realized that we only had 2 minutes to buy tickets before the next light rail, which wouldn't have been a problem, if 25 people weren't already in line in front of us--including four of our friends. 

So, there we were…hot, sweaty, cranky, and ready to get back to Tempe…with only 2 minutes…1 minute…30 seconds to spare. I mean have you ever tried to buy FOUR light rail tickets in 30 seconds? It's a lot tougher than it sounds, especially when you are working with wrinkled dollar bills. 

When the light rail rolled into the station, my buddies Brian and Damarys, were still frantically shoving wrinkled dollar bills into the machine with me shouting in the background, "Hurry up! Hurry up!" Yeah…well, as you've probably figured out, we didn't make the light rail, but the rest of our so-called friends did. They hopped on that train with nary a look back at the rest of us. Damn scoundrels.

So what did we do? We sat our tired asses down and waited for the next light rail. It was either that or bike back to Tempe. Sitting won.

Finally, after 10 minutes of waiting in the hot Phoenix sun, another train arrived, and we pulled our tired asses up off the bench and got on the train with tickets in hand. And you know what?! No one came to get our goddamn tickets?! All that craziness for NOTHING!

Oh, well. At that point, we were all just grateful to be in the AC and headed back to Tempe. When we finally got there, we smiled, laughed, and remembered that our small sacrifice was for a good cause. Then we went home, ate, and crashed! 

GOLD VALLEY HALF-MARATHON-2012

Ran the Gold Valley Half-Marathon this morning in Oro Valley, which is a nice little bedroom community outside of Tucson, Arizona. I wasn't expecting to PR because my coach told me that I might still be recovering from last month's marathon. Plus, other folks warned that Gold Valley isn't a PR course because it has hills. Still, I managed to PR by 7 minutes and 12 seconds, but who's counting?! Obviously, I am.  

My final time was 1:53:52. I'm very happy with that time for two reasons. First, it's my first time breaking two hours in a half-marathon! Second, I beat my husband's half-marathon time by about six minutes. But again, who's counting? :P

  

FIRST TIME IN A WETSUIT!

Getting ready for open swim. First time in a wetsuit. It's kinda cool--don't cha think? Makes me look like a Super Hero. Or a seal. :P

LOST DUTCHMAN MARATHON-2012

I'm a little late updating this blog, but better late than never. On Feb. 19th 2012, I finished the Lost Dutchman Marathon. My time: 4:10. I was so EXCITED because my first marathon time was 5:06. I was almost an hour faster this time!
The race was fantastic from start to finish. Here's how it went: Mauricio (my wonderful husband) and I woke up at 3:30 AM and drove to Apache Junction where I caught the shuttle to the start of the race at the base of the Superstition Mountains.
At the start of the race, a hundred little camp fires lit up the night with runners huddled around each fire, trying to keep warm. There was also a nice "warming" bus, and that's where I waited!

Eventually, the sun woke up and the starting gun sounded at 7:00 AM…and off we went! At first, I had to keep slowing down to make sure I didn't overdo it early in the race and lose energy later on. I was able to easily maintain an 8:30-9:00 pace.

The first seven miles were AMAZING! We ran on a dirt road through the desert with mountains, cacti, and boulders all around us. We even ran past a couple of cows (Yes, cows!) on the side of the road. I like to think they were cheering us on!

The first seven miles sped by, and I felt very good. I enjoyed hearing the other runners chitchatting around me. It felt like we were all on a grand adventure together. You could sniff the excitement in the air.

Soon enough, we hit Mile 7 and started running down the highway. I expected to start feeling tired, but I didn't. I was flying! Even the inclines weren't bad.

Soon enough, though, I did start getting tired, and that came around Mile 20. I didn't hit the wall, but I was losing speed and my legs were beginning to protest.  I had to keep repeating to myself: Just keep running. One foot in front of the other. Just keep running.

Before I knew it, I was at Mile 23 and busting through the wall. Literally.

At Mile 25, I looked at my Garmin. Time: 3:59. Are you kidding me? Was my watch broken? I couldn't believe that I was doing so well. I was expecting to finish at 4:30 at best.  A big smile lit up my face as I raced up Lost Dutchman Blvd and around the corner to the Finish Line.

As I ran that final .2 miles to the Finish Line, I could hear my husband and the rest of my racelab teammates yelling my name and cheering me on. Almost there, I told myself, almost there.

Crossing that Finish Line was surreal. I couldn't believe I clocked in at 4:10. I was SO HAPPY and SURPRISED! All I could do was grin from ear to ear when my racelab coach ran up to give me a congratulatory hug. My husband followed soon after--lifting me up in the air and twirling me around. It was one of the BEST moments in my life. VICTORY!

Pre-Marathon Butterflies

Tomorrow is the big day.  Although I've trained hard, I'm nervous. Butterflies in my stomach. Excited beyond belief. It's 12:06 pm and I already have all my race gear organized and ready to go: race number, headband, racelab shirt, socks, shorts, sunscreen, peanut butter GU, shoes, Body Glide, and Garmin. Now I need to psyche myself up to have a good race. Positive thoughts from here on out... I can do this. I've trained hard. I can do it!

LAST 8-MILE RUN BEFORE LOST DUTCHMAN!

About to head out to do my final "long run" before the Lost Dutchman Marathon on February 19th. ONLY 14 miles. Yeah, that's what I say now. It should be easy, but sometimes the runs that should be "easy" are the hardest! My major concern is that I did a 2-hour bike ride yesterday from 3-5 pm. My legs are probably still tired. Oh, well…that's what this is all about, isn't it? To see how much your body and mind can take. And Body Glide. It's always about the Body Glide. (Especially when you forget to apply it before a long run!)