To The Rope With You!

Saturday morning was another Mt. Wilson time trial, this one to The Rope.  I checked my training history from 2009 and don't have a time recorded for that time trial, so I must have missed that session.  Drat.  I love having historical data to compare against because it tells me where I stand against myself, the only person who really matters.  Oh well.

It was a perfectly gorgeous morning for a climb... cold and foggy, at least for the first mile.  We had a good sized group, even with the beginners we had Parker, Sachiko, Kelley, Joanne, Dick and Carmen.  Dick started a few minutes ahead of us.  I started next to Sach, with Kelley and Pam right behind us.  Parker passed us all  long before we hit Mira Monte and Sach pulled away from my right before we turned the corner.  I caught up with Dick right about the stairs, the same place Kelley and her friend Pam passed me.  Dick is such a strong climber, I wasn't able to keep up and they all slowly pulled away from me. That was it from our group, the only ones who passed me on the rest of the way up were the intermediate and advanced runners.

As I was nearing the switchbacks, I was passed by the Baker to Vegas crew, all very intent on racing hard.  I paused for a moment, realizing that we had risen to full sunlight and when I looked to the right, the valley was completely covered, it was a really beautiful sight.  I called out to those around me to stop and look around them, but of course... it was a time trial, so no one looked.  Too funny.

The rest of the way to First Water was just long, warm and uneventful.  But, it was really quite humorous, as I was climbing from First Water to the Rope... I kept seeing the same faces back and forth (the other teams were running penalty repeats)...  Made me joke that I was stuck in some Mt. Wilson Trail Race nightmare where I'm being forever looped by other runners.

I passed First Water at 42:30, (which was the exact time it took me two weeks ago), and hit The Rope in 51:11.  I touched the rope, immediately turned, and started running.  I was wearing trail shoes, but not my good ones, and I could feel my traction wasn't great, which kept me more conservative than I would have liked.  It didn't take me too long to pass Dick on the way down, then I caught Kelley, who decided to try and keep up with me, at least until my left foot almost slipped off the trail when I was trying to dodge a hiker in the middle of the trail... creepy, but I didn't give it the energy to create fear and just kept running, with a strong focus and awareness of my shoes.  I crossed the line at 1:20, 7 minutes behind Sachiko and about 2 minutes ahead of Kelley.

Afterwards, Dave, Joanne, Carmen and I went to Fresco's for breakfast... way to far overpriced for all of our meals.  Last time we'll be eating there.  On a more positive note Dave, Joanne, and I found some wonderful common ground in the world of nurseries... ah the fabulous dreams we share!

BTW... I couldn't find any photos of The Rope (and of course I don't carry my iphone on a time trial!), but I did find this super cool picture of the trail maintenance crew making things right after the devastation from the 2009 fire.   It just brings home the fact that these are OUR trails and WE need to ALL help maintain them. Next trail maintenance day is this Sunday 3/24... come out and join us!  Email Pete Sieberell the Race Director to let him know you'll be there...   pete.siberell@santaanita.com

Realistic Goals and a Stop Watch

Today's a good day for a little more depth...

First, I'm going to be hiking the Grand Canyon on the same weekend at Fountain to Falls.  Not a big deal since it's just a community race and used by our team as final prep for Mt. Wilson.  Speak of the devil... I am hiking the Grand Canyon rim to rim, one week before Mt. Wilson, in weather likely to reach the 90's in the basin and 30's on the north rim.  It is going to be a long, hot (and maybe cold) and hard 20 miles.  So what.  I will still have almost a full week to recover before the race.   I am willing to risk participating in the event even though I'm running Mt. Wilson because I have let go of the pressure of achieving a specific time hack on the race.

Last year when I first started to run again after two years off, I made the decision to run Mt. Wilson in 2013 and I set the goal to match my 1:51 time from 2009.   Over the year I realized just how much ground I had lost by not running, but I still didn't question the goal.  Then I joined the Arrogant Bastards in January 2013 and I increased my intention to not only meet my old time, but beat it... 1:49.  That's how much ignorant faith I had in just being an Arrogant Bastard.

Then February rolls around with the Saturday specificity training and I am humbled and disappointed to find myself unable to hit the time hacks necessary to even train with the intermediate group... and I realized that I had set a completely unrealistic goal for the 2013 race.   Yes, I know that 2013 is Coach's 10th year and that it is a HUGE year for him and our team as a whole.  Yes, I know that our team goal is to shower him with medals. Yet, I also know that even if I made the 1:49 I would still be nowhere near medal contention for my age bracket.  So I have let it go.  That's doesn't mean I'm not going to race hard, it simply means that I am no longer making my results in this race a primary goal.

Instead, the Grand Canyon's time has come... someplace I've never seen and always wanted to hike.  As for Mt. Wilson...  by 2014 I will be fully prepared for the challenge!

So, on to last night's training... it's been a long hard week of training and yesterday morning I opted out of joining the CrossFit class, preferring to save it for the Bastards.  It didn't help, I was still not fully recovered by last night and got almost completely smashed by my group.

BASTARDS! Reminder...tonight after speed-work (7:45pm) we'll be heading over to Matt Denny's Alehouse in Arcadia (the location of our last business meeting) for the St. Baldricks Festival. Please bring a clean shirt (for after practice) preferably an Arrogant Bastard Jersey or red AB T-shirt. RSVP here so Beth Butterfield can see please.

Thinking we had another conventional track night ahead, I brought my stop watch.  Which created a whole new opportunity for Eric and teammates to tease Roadkill.  I need TWO time pieces???  Yes, I admit it, I do wear a wrist watch with a stop watch feature, but on track work, I still prefer a traditional stop watch. My aging eyes can see the time at a glance while running and rarely screw up on the buttons, unlike when using my watch... which I can screw up quite easily.

Coach had created a new game called TRAIL (similar to HORSE in basketball if that's helpful) and to be competitive you needed to be paired with like fitness.  A challenge for Roadkill, but thankfully, a number of our Red Team members showed up and I was able to run the game alternating between Kathy, Lynn and Maggie.  

Our team races were:  400m, 300m, 200m, 100m, 50m.  I won the 300m but lost the rest.  Funniest story was Lynn, who hung in the back for the 400, 300 and 200, then caught us all completely off guard with her launch and speed on the 100.  Awesome job teammate!  As for Roadkill, my legs are smoked and I am very grateful that today is my rest day... and NO I did not do CrossFit Open 13.2  Are you crazy?  I have a Ropes time trial tomorrow morning!

After we were done training, a bunch of us showed up at St Baldrick's to cheer on friends shaving their heads to support the cure for childhood cancer. We got there just in time to catch our teammates!  Beth is still my hero even if I'm not willing to do what she does...

Tuesday Track Torture

Yahoo, I love these days!

Bastards! 6:30pm practice on BOTH Tuesday and Thursday will be located at Arcadia High School Track. Bring your watches, water, and tunes if you use them. We have a few breakdowns to complete tonight...RSVP in comments if you are attending.

Or at least I did until I read the goal of the beginners 800m... 3:40.  Holy Smoke!  That number immediately sent an icy chill all the way down to my toes.

My results were a mixed bag...

3:49, 1:44, :43
3:48, 1:39, :42 - Julie was hot on my heels this entire round, which was almost puke inducing for us both!
3:57, 1:42, :43

Obviously I missed all three 800m efforts but actually got closer than expected, although I did fall off pretty bad on the third round.  Even still, I managed to smash all the 400m efforts and completely destroy the 200m sprints... bringing me in to the intermediate range, which is rather cool!  Now if I can only pick up my speed on the longer distances... Patience Grasshopper.

Roads Over Sidewalks

This morning's Mount Wilson Trail Race training called for three one-mile repeats at 90-95% effort.  I got to Kersting Court about 10 minutes early, bundled up nice and warm, figuring I'd drop my wimp wear layers as the laps progressed.

The course was a loop over Sierra Madre, up Lima, back over Highland and down Baldwin to the fire hydrant. I started the first lap in a group with Elise, Marleigh, Ann, Rose and Lynn.  Marleigh, Elise and Ann slowly pulled away, but I kept them in my sights, while being hyper-vigilant to not let Rose or Lynn catch me... result 8:33.  I consider that a surprisingly good time given the route.

My group for the second lap was Rich T., Lynn and Rose, with Carrie starting just ahead of us.  I paced off of Carrie, and stayed hyper-vigilant to not let the others catch me... result 8:38.  Still a good time, but I was definitely tired.

There were no rabbits for me to chase on the next lap, just an unknown runner about 15 seconds ahead of me, and the only one behind me this time was Rose.  I was feeling pretty spent and decided to try following the runner ahead of me... who used the sidewalk up Lima, something I hadn't done before.  I was thinking it would save me a few steps, stupid I know, but I'd seen a number of runners do it in the prior rounds, so I thought it might help me stay in my quality window... I already said it was a stupid idea.  Result 8:48.  Well outside my quality window.  Had I stayed under 8:43 I would have earned a fourth lap with the intermediates, but since I didn't I packed it up and waited for Lynn to run her fourth.

While I was hanging out, I told Carrie about my route change experiment saying that it felt like it had slowed me down.  She said "absolutely, running on the sidewalk is slower than running in the street."  Damn.  Wish I'd known that in advance, but it serves me right for even attempting to cut a corner.  I know better.  (Sigh)

OMG It's Really Happening!

We are backpacking the Grand Canyon - Rim to Rim!!!!

We have inked the dates to hike the Grand Canyon from May 17th until May 21st. We are going to hike down the South Rim, stay overnight down in the canyon, hike back out to the North Rim, camp there overnight, spend the third day shuttling back to South Rim and sightseeing, then drive home on Tuesday the 21st.  (Yes, I know it's the same weekend as F2F and the week before MWTR, but logistically, this was the optimal weekend, so I'll F2F next year, and just do my best at Mt. Wilson.)

Next task is to secure our hiking permit and night reservations.  Jane our wonderful Project Manager has already started handling those gritty necessities and her amazing hiking husband Dave is going to help us select the best routes and gear choices.  We are in absolutely GREAT hands with these two awesome people in our group!

So far, there are five of us going... Dave & Jane, Trish, Maggie and myself.  We still have room for up to three more people, so if this backpacking trip has been on your to-do list for as long as it's been on ours, get to me quick and you're very welcome to join us!

Sterile Ninja Loop

I love the Arrogant Bastards... just when I think it can't get any crazier, we get the Ninja Loop!

BASTARDS! Tonight's 6:30pm practice will commence at the Flagpole of Foothills Middle School in Arcadia. You'll need your headlamps and your ninja uniforms. We're practicing our infiltration and exfiltration skills tonight. If you are caught or captured, you'll have to disavow any knowledge of the Team and will need to eat your map so there will be no evidence. We're running sterile tonight...or you can wear an Invictus Running Academy uniforms. Contact Simon Cooper for a black T-shirt. RSVP in comments...

The thread on Coach's post were hysterical.  Some weren't sure what he meant, but us veteran bootcampers knew... all black, or at least dark colors, and sterile meaning no Academy or AB markings.  Stealth mode...

As for the actual run, I had to map it when I got home because I was clueless while we were running.  I knew we ran awhile through the Arcadia foothills, hit a hidden entrance to the "preserve", someplace I've never been, but it closely resembled Clamshell so I figured we were following along the same fire road, just in a section I didn't recognize. In fact, no one on our team knew where we were going, so Coach assigned Dawn as our guide She did a great job!  Good thing too, because Coach kept falling back with his team to make sure we didn't miss any of the key transition points.  Dawn caught them all!  

After a good amount of fire road running, we came to something called the "rock conveyor belt?"... I think I have it right, and I think they were referring to a small dam or run off drain pool, at the top of Highland Oaks, at least that's the street we popped out on after crossing the dam, scrambling up and down the embankments and hoping a fence (hence the need for ninja mode.) Then it was just a quick race back downhill to the school.

After I got home I mapped the run and think I've recreated the route.  Not quite 5 miles and one hour almost exactly.

This evening was great fun and super rough at the same time. I love these nights the best, but the experience at the very back of the pack is not anything like the experience in the middle of the pack.  As cool as the run was, being in the very back and always being focused on just keeping up (and not falling, thanks to wearing road shoes instead of trail, duh!), and not making my team wait any longer than absolutely necessary, took a bit of the joy out of the journey. I know it's the price of being Roadkill, as I know it won't be like this forever, so until then... dig deep and just keep running... FASTER!

Note on CrossFit:

Yesterday was a Z1 recovery day... lots of technique work on pull-ups, push-ups, squats, and agility and balance beam work... which was just plain silly fun!

Today, was the CrossFit Open 13.1 and involved far more conditioning than I dared do with tonight's run, so I passed on the workout.

That's it, sweet dreams friends, and I'll see you on Saturday!

The Bastards Pitchfork

One Tuesday a month I participate on the Mt. Wilson Trail Race Committee... tonight was that night, which was why I had the dubious honor of pre-running tonight's course at 4:30, along with the distinct pleasure of watching the rest of the Bastards start the run at 6:30.

.

BASTARDS! Tonight's 6:30pm practice will be at the Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Station on Grandview and Stonehouse just west of Santa Anita. Practice will be primarily road so bring your headlamps and reflective vests...Bob O. and Dave O. may remember the Devil's Pitchfork Run, well tonight's Bastard Pitchfork is very similar...RSVP in comments!

I chose to run the Arno loop backwards, then head down to Kersting, up Michillinda, then finish with Carter and race downhill back to SAR, for a total of 7.48 miles.  I ended up walking part way up Michillinda and the majority of One Carter, which totally blew my pace.  I was targeting 75 minutes and came in at 81, but it was a good fight and definitely not a Z1 effort for Roadkill.  Oh, and today I brought music! It made a HUGE difference in keeping my head quiet and feet moving and a reasonable clip.  

While I was listening to Coach brief the Bastards before the run, I realized that they were going to be running a slightly different route; one with a climb up Liliano but without the loop over Arno and Santa Anita, saving them a quarter mile. I'm working very hard to keep up with the team and even with that slight variance, I would be very interested to see what the times were for my peer group.  If anyone kept track, how about posting a comment so I can get a comparison?   Pretty please?  :-)

As for the CrossFitting this week:

MONDAY:

Hang Clean

3 @ 53

3 @ 58

3 @ 63

3 @ 68

3 @ 73

Followed by:

AMRAP 12:

12 wallballs (16/8)

9 TTB 

6 Box Step-ups (my leg isn't healed from catching my toe two weeks ago, so I wasn't willing to jump and risk hitting the same spot... yet)

I scored 4 rounds and 17 reps, which was really slow, but my focus was on the toes-to-bar and while I'm slowly getting better at them (can finally feel my lats & traps engaging!), they still took quite awhile.

TODAY:
Weighted Pull-ups (negatives w/12lb KBS) 2,2,2,2 x 4

Dumbbell Rows 12 @20, 12 @25, 12@25 per side 

(Skipped the burpee segment since I was running this evening)

Powell Raises - 10 @ 7lb, 10@6lb, 10@6lb, 10@5lb per side - these are brutal - I started too heavy, and kept downing weight... which is bass-ackwards from what we're supposed to do.  Obviously, I am still resisting the humbling power of a mere 5lb weight. 

On a side note, I spent an awesome weekend on a spiritual retreat that filled my head and heart so wonderfully, even as it filled my body with crap.  One day I'll learn how to maintain proper eating during extended stays in my other world, but so far... no go.  Way too many temptations and not nearly enough sleep, lead this woman down the road to debauchery every time.  Good thing it was a sober retreat.  Ha!

Even the peacocks couldn't resist tempting their fate to come inside and eat from the goodies table...

Good night my friends and thanks for reading!