trail love.

I've been in a post-marathon slump. I'd like to blame it on a mild case of runner's knee, but the truth is, I've been uninspired to run.
So yesterday, after some meetings at UNC, I headed out to my old stomping grounds in Carrboro to run the trails of Carolina North. Pulling into the parking lot of Wilson Park, I immediately felt nostalgic for my favorite trail running group and realized that I miss their colorful company as much as I miss these trails.
It's been at least a year since I've been back there, but apart from some erosion that is being carefully restored, the trails were just as I remembered. And they did not disappoint: they provided the full-on trail-running experience.

In the span of about 50 minutes, the following occurred:

• I ran through 3 spider webs
• I ate one bug and picked one out of my eyeball
• I got lost and subsequently ran around in a circle (maybe twice)
  
• I freaked out at the unidentified creatures scurrying and squirming around underfoot
• I sweated at least twice as much as I normally would due to the rainforest-esque conditions
• I tripped (at least 5 times) over roots and rocks just as I was settling into a rhythm and was jarred back to the realization that no matter how serene these woods may appear, Madame Nature is in charge and commands our respect

It was glorious, but I was seriously winded by the experience. There is a good reason that I was in the best running shape of my life when I was trail running regularly. I almost regretted wearing my headphones until I was about to take a walk break and catch my breath...and Dire Strait's "Walk of Life" intervened. Something about walking during that song just doesn't seem right.

So, feeling a bit bored by the concrete jungle? Go find a trail, people! I promise it will provide a welcome departure from the mundane and predictability of pavement and you might even find some inspiration along the way.

a few action shots

...of lead bulls on the downhill turn into the finish!

(Molly Nunn, 1st place Female, overall, 29:35.89)

Kim Certain (5th place female, overall, 32:05.31)

John Hinton (1st place male, masters, 27:06.02)

Jim Clabuesch (1st place, male 40-44, 30:39.99)

Photos compliments of our officially unofficial race photographer, Joan Nesbit Mabe.
Thanks, Joan!

Running of the Bulls 8K

Thanks to all of you who participated, volunteered, and cheered on the inaugural Running of the Bulls 8K! We look forward to seeing you again next year!
Results will be posted on our website shortly!

When Pigs Fly

All of the cute quips and word play you could possibly imagine have been exhausted in Cincinnati, and by the end of the weekend, I was exhausted too. I got jiggy with the piggy, got my oink on, was infected with swine flew, and after 4 grueling hours and some change, I crossed the finish swine and went wee wee wee all the way home.

(Or rather, I was transported to my gate at the airport -- yes, by the cart that typically carries senior citizens and beeps you out of the way before it almost runs over you -- because I could barely put one foot in front of the other.)

Highlights, observations, and reflections from my first marathon experience, in no particular order:

1. Training actually works and I should have done more of it. With more hills.

2. It was hard. Very hard. One of the hardest things I've ever done. I would compare it to labor on some level in terms of physical and mental toughness. (Although, I was arguably tougher in the marathon than I was in labor :))

3. I do actually care what other people think. I knew that Jason & my Mom were tracking my progress online, so part of the reason I kept going was so that they would know I was still moving and keeping more-or-less even splits.

4. The unexpected strength I found in the evangelical t-shirts. I suppose I would qualify as an Easter and Christmas Christian by some definitions, but I am now a Marathon Christian as well.

5. The posters on the course about some guy from North Dakota who was running 3 marathons in 3 weeks. (Foolish, but good luck!)

6. My training partner, Sarah. What a champ. I never would have done those pre-dawn long runs without her (as evidenced by the one long run that never happened when she was sick), and I love the fact that she was game for the Rock Bottom Brewery as our pre- and post-race meal.

7. My lucky charms -- they worked! Jason made me this (very sweet) Go Mom! pin that I wore on my shoe, and I peeked down at it frequently for motivation and strength from my two favorite people whenever I felt like walking.
The purple "Pacer of the Week" bracelet was an award from the Pacers running group in Chapel Hill that they gave me the week before the race. I talked to them about how running has given me the strength and confidence to do things I never would have done, and this bracelet was a nice reminder to eat my words.
8. The fans in Cincinnati. Thanks for coming out on your front lawn early in the morning with cow bells and licorice and orange slices -- and a clothesline rigged up with flying stuffed pigs. Seriously nice race support! But please work on your sense of distance and calculations. When I have 1.9 miles to go, it is not "JUST AROUND THE CORNER! YOU'RE ALMOST THERE!"

9. RunPaul was right. I should have paid much more attention to my appearance and surroundings during all of the photo opps on the course -- and especially at the finish swine. All of the photos taken on the course make me appear slightly swollen and generally hypoxic. Furthermore, I do not have a single photo where there isn't a half-naked, hairy, less-than-trim, middle-aged man in the frame. So much for my Kodak moment of glory.

Will I do it again?
No, but in all honesty, probably. As soon as I sufficiently forget the sordid details of this experience.

Why do you run?

Last Saturday morning in front of our store there was a somewhat spontaneous group of high school students and their parents who gathered to go "Jogging for Justin". Not a race per se, but a movement in honor of their friend and fellow student who had died too young of cancer.

They had made t-shirts and colorful signs, and the kids consumed a good bit of their post-jog treats and refreshments pre-jog (to our great amusement). It was a very touching tribute and reminded me of two of the reasons I love running: 1) because you don't have to be "a runner", and 2) because there are so many reasons to run (or jog, if you prefer).

I am 10 days away from my first marathon and I have to admit that at this point I am largely bored and/or uninspired by all of the reasons I normally run. And I'm sore. And I am having a crisis of confidence. In order to get through these 26.2 miles of impending pavement, I'm going to need to a new reason to run.

Over the years, I've participated in many charity races in support of cancer research or hunger awareness or trees. While I'm always happy to support a good cause, I've just never felt a real personal connection to these types of events. But those kids out there jogging for Justin on Saturday morning had a personal connection and that was inspiration enough for them to get together, lace up their shoes, and celebrate their friend.

My Grandmother passed away last week after a hard fought journey with cancer. She had a long, full life by all definitions, and she was a character. Fun, stubborn, crafty, generous (to a fault), funny, committed (to her family, her friends, her public service, her values), determined, and gracious (to her final moments). She wasn't a runner, but she covered plenty of ground. I'll summon her spirit and hope that these qualities that marked her journey will help me through those final miles.

Why do I run? In loving memory of Rosamond Elizabeth Barton, 1922-2009...

Two of my favorite things:

Coffee and running. Mmmm. Just the thought of it makes me warm and twitchy. Is there a better combination? Beer and running is a close second (carbohydrates, hello?), but coffee goes with running like bait goes with fishing. Like tires go with driving. Like Elodie's pacifier goes with sleeping. It's essential. Don't talk to me about dehydration, diuretic, blah, blah, blah. I won't hear of it. I've got the rest of the day to drink water (although I probably won't, to be honest). And no, Diet Coke or Black Tea or Chocolate Milk is not an acceptable substitute. This goes well beyond cravings or habit or addiction. Coffee is fundamental. It is motivation and fuel and reward all heaped into one warm, delicious, freshly ground and brewed mug (with a little cream). And now, the secret is out: it might also be the key to my fastest 10K. And yours. And it is totally legal.
Check out yesterday's article in the New York Times: It's Time to Make a Coffee Run.

A Legendary Run

I'm currently reading The Perfect Distance by Pat Butcher which chronicles the history and rivalry between Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe. As Butcher covered Coe's world record mile run, I had flashbacks to when I first heard about the race. For the most part, before the wealth of shared videos on sites like YouTube , the history of running legends (triumph and heartbreak) were typically passed on by track elders in stories and, ever so often, backed up with grainy VHS tapes to the next generation ... somewhat like a storyteller in some African cultures passing on their history. I remember feverishly trying to locate all articles, videos, and pictures after first hearing about Sebastian Coe. Now, amazingly enough, it takes a 2-second google search to find a wealth of information or an actual race! Now track legends can be shared visually as well as orally, which is a good thing when it comes to Coe because words can hardly describe the effortless simplicity of his form ....so natural, a being who was truly born to run fast.

What makes this run more fascinating is that he hadn't raced the distance in 2 years and ran a limited number of times before then. He had a personal best of 3:57.6, though fast, was over 3 seconds slower than most of the main competitors, including the world record holder John Walker who boasted a time of 3:49.4. At the time, the Dubai Golden Mile in Oslo, Norway, was the best mile field ever assembled (though, to be fair, Ovett had not entered). Coe had broken the 800 meter world record twelve days earlier and 19 days after this race he would break the 1500 meter world record - three world records in 41 days.

I especially like how the announcer compares Coe's effort to the rest of the field as he heads to the finish. Watch and enjoy.

Running with the Buffaloes -- March 19

An Evening with Chris Lear
Thurs. March 19th, 7:00pm @ Bull City Running Co. -- Free!

Few books have covered the sport of running like Running with the Buffaloes and Sub 4:00. Chris Lear's experiences have provided him, and his readers, with intimate access to the training, strategies, and tragedies of championship teams, individuals (Olympians Adam Goucher and Alan Webb) and coaches. He’ll read from his books, answer questions, and discuss his experiences which will appeal to all runners – novice to competitive.

Chris Lear is the author of Running with the Buffaloes and Sub 4. He was also a screenwriter for the film Five Thousand Meters: Nothing Comes Easy. He achieved a 4:09 miler in high school and was an All-American at Princeton University.

The story of my first ever Krispy Kreme Challenge goes like this.

(Compliments of guest blogger, Mariana Byrd)

I run. I run fast. I'm passing people and I feel good. I feel ready to eat a dozen donuts. I love donuts. More specifically, I love Krispy Kreme "hot and now" donuts. My two mile run to the Krispy Kreme store on Peace Street in Raleigh is good and I get there ready to eat. Unfortunately, as I suspected, it is impossible to have "hot and now" donuts ready for 5,000 people to eat. I anticipated this, so it doesn't get me down, and I grab my box of a dozen glazed donuts and begin to eat.

The goal is to finish in 1 hour, so I estimate I have approximately 30 minutes to eat a dozen donuts, which would then leave me 15 minutes to run back two miles to the finish line. Doable, definitely doable. Especially because I estimate that I can eat 12 donuts in about 15 minutes or less.

I was wrong. Very, very wrong. I should have dedicated at least as much time to my donut consumption skills as I did to running.

I began eating the first donuts calmly. They were good. Cold, but good. I thought "no problem, slow and steady wins the race". Except the slow and steady doesn't apply to putting food in your stomach. Especially when you don't have all day.

After the 4th donut, I started squishing the donuts to get rid of all the air before I put it in my mouth. I had heard that this speeds up your time and at this point I was ready to try something. More so because all around me were people complaining about eating all 12 donuts.

All around me people were gagging, throwing up, chanting...there was just about everything you could imagine thousands of people doing while trying to eat a dozen donuts.

I felt myself slowdown while eating my 6th donut. Of course, this was natural because I never eat more than 6 donuts at one time. I kept going but it was slower. Around donut number 8, I began dipping the donuts in water. Not as gross as I imagined. It actually helped a lot. There was less chewing and more swallowing with the water dipping method. This worked well until they called "time".

Time? I wasn't ready to start running! I still had two more donuts left! I quickly realized that 30 minutes had passed and I had only eaten 10 out of 12 donuts. I had two options: 1) Stop eating and start running in order to make it in under an hour. But I couldn't do that, I signed up to be a challenger which meant that I had to eat all 12, or 2) finish eating the 2 donuts as fast as I could and start running knowing full well that I wasn't going to be able to run 2 miles in 10 minutes.

I chose option number 2. I ate as fast as I could all the while trying not to have it come back up again. I started running 5 minutes later and threw my empty box away (oddly enough, I wanted to keep it as a souvenir but we had to get rid of them). The first mile back was probably the hardest mile I have ever had to run. I wanted to run fast but my stomach wouldn't let me and I vowed not to throw up because then what's the fun in that?!

I made it back, running, not walking, which I was happy about. I was happy that I ate all 12 donuts, ran the 4 miles, and finished the race. I was not happy that my time was 1 hour and 13 minutes. But that has not yet convinced me to do it again next year.

The Krispy Kreme Challenge is a great run. I am glad that I can say I did it. Maybe one day I'll forget how it felt to eat 12 donuts and do it again to see if I can finish in under an hour. I know it's possible, hundreds of people finished in under an hour...they must be good, very good. How about you?

a few shots from last saturday!

Thanks to everyone who came out, and thanks to Matt for the goodies and gear!