Roadkill Retains Her Title

The Qualifier is over and I've retained the title Roadkill for another quarter, YAHOO!  

Now for the reality... My time was 33:04, a PR by a whole second over last quarter. I knew that despite what everyone was saying, it was not only not a given that I would make it, it would take a huge push to accomplish it.  It was not a pretty race, I walked three times on the way out, tagging the gate at 18:58.  That meant I had NO room for error on the way home.  I was laughing afterwards with some of the girls about that race back... by the time I hit the stream bed, my gut was so churned I was afraid I was going to lose it from one end or the other. Thankfully, I didn't... I've had that experience before and it's miserable.  

You would think there would be more improvement given all my specificity training in the last three months, wouldn't you? Which just proves yet again, that you can't out train a crappy diet.

I have always been a fear based, negative person... seeing what can go wrong, how I fall short and under estimating my ability and potential.  It's how I'm hardwired and overriding my default setting is difficult and inconsistent.  Until I met Eric, I never even realized I had that mind set, least of all tried to change it.  

In the last 7 years with him, I've challenged and overcome my fears and negativeness over and over again, but the default setting is still always there.  When I get too physically or mentally tired, the tendency triples and kicks in to "fuck-it" mode.  Thank God these days that doesn't mean I drink (that was my solution until January 10, 2003), it doesn't even mean I stuff my face with cake and candy (which was still my go to until last year.)  These days it means that more often than not, an afternoon or evening may include sushi, hummus, brown rice, "gluten-free" bread, yogurt, plantain chips, Mary's crackers, or the occasional cookies when I'm with my recovery friends.  I don't eat large quantities of any of these things any longer, but I still haven't killed them off completely.   Oh, and I race with Hammer gels... fueled by sugar.

You get the idea.  They are all still products that pack a huge wallop of carbohydrates.  I haven't been able to convert my body's fuel to fat because I keep reintroducing the damn sugar and staying dependent on it for energy.  It also obviously doesn't matter that I've been making somewhat better choices in the types of carbohydrates, the results are still the same.  High body fat and inconsistent, unsustainable energy.  

So, by next quarter if I want different results, I'm going to need to do things differently.  First, I'm going to be talking to a woman who has proven to be EXTREMELY successful at making the carb to fat conversion, Elise.  And second, it's time to set a goal that will push me way out of my comfort zone and force me to rise to the occasion.  I'm thinking Goruck and I'm thinking soon.  Anyone brave or crazy enough to join me?

My heartfelt thanks again to Kendall for being the most AWESOME race coach imaginable, to Elise for  letting me hang on her heels and to Perla for staying at my side, while still taking care of my friend Rose.

To ALL of my Arrogant Bastard teammates... THANK YOU for your constant words of encouragement.  I heard each of you today and really appreciated it!

Roadkill's Shit Storm

Saturday is almost upon us, right?  So, last Thursday night Erik and Joyce tell me they are running the Qualifier early... last night to be exact.  The same evening someone (I don't recall who) said that veterans can run the qualifier any time up to one week before and one week after the actual date.  I even heard someone say we could clock ourselves.  So, what did I do with all this information?  I decided to run it with Joyce and Erik and I asked Julie, Kathy and Lynn if they wanted to join us.  We all figured worst case scenario, we don't qualify Tuesday night and we come back out on Saturday to do it again.

But, I also figured it would be much easier if we just held our AB Tuesday night practice on the course so the whole team would be together.  So I asked Coach, and was told in n.o uncertain terms that the only day to qualify for the team was on Saturday unless it was impossible to run it that day.  Since I am able to run on Saturday there was no reason for me to break training Tuesday night.  I emailed Joyce, Erik, Julie, Kathy and Lynn to let them know I wouldn't be there.  That apparently created quite the shit storm back to Eric from people questioning the veteran qualifier rules.  He even felt the need to reiterate the rules last night at practice.  Jeez, I definitely know how to stir up the muck.

Aw well, what I did do since I have no idea if anyone from the red team will even be there on Saturday was call in the big guns... Kendall is going to pace me again. Yay!  Why?  because as Coach said yesterday, I have zero self confidence in my ability to qualify for the team on my own.  He's right.  I was willing to pace off my teammates, but since I can't guarantee any of them will be there that morning, I don't trust myself to be able to pull it off on my own. Maybe by July I will, but not yet and that's just the truth.  However, with Kendall barking at my heels, I'm pretty confident I can pull it off as long as I don't do anything too stupid between now and Saturday morning!

Training recap:

Monday - CrossFit - 15 Snatch Balance @ 35#, 75 DB Walking Lunges w/10#, 10 Weighted Pull-ups (negatives w/16#), 75 V-ups - This was the first time I've done a snatch balance in at least 18 months, felt good... as long as I stayed light.  As for the walking lunges, yeah it was only with little 5# weights, but it was only three months ago when I couldn't even do a walking lunge least of all a weighted one... I'll take the baby step.

Tuesday - CrossFit (9am) - 12 Split Jerks (got up to 80#), 40 Bench Press (got up to 55#), 30 Dips (lower outs), 80 sit-ups.

Enter Tuesday night...

Bastards! Tonight's 6:30pm practice will commence at St. Rita's in Sierra Madre. We'll be on the street this evening to prep for this weekend's Time Trial. RSVP in comments...

Sounds benign enough right?  Ha!  Here's the result from our leaders:

Distances for tonight's loops: Small = .45, Medium = .53, Large = .67, and Extra Large = .85. All loops = 2.5 miles. As well, each loop had 20 dips, 20 push-ups, and 20 sit-ups. 60 reps per loop = 240 reps per complete cycle. Raymond = 2 complete loops sub 60 min. = 5 miles and 480 reps. AWESOME. List your distance and reps to comments...

Had I seen this coming I'd have passed on half of the morning work, but in hind sight, I'm very glad I didn't because I was able to hold my own throughout the evening... in my last place Roadkill sort of way!

RK Results:  4 miles & 360 reps... next closest to me was Marleigh with 4 miles and 420 reps... I think everyone else has another lap on us.  Oh and the highlight of the night... 10 days of pet sitting are over and I got to sleep in my own bed, always a bonus. :-)

Welcome Wednesday morning CrossFit!

15 Deadlifts (got to 155 - just over BW), Moderate Effort Power Clean (stopped at 85# which was actually closer to 80-85%).  Followed by a conditioning piece that I considered not doing, but opted in for at the last minute (I ADORE power cleans):

5 RFTO:
5 power cleans (60#)

200m Sprint

Time: 9:18

It was great fun!  I raced my buddy and our old AB veteran Kelley Johnson through the WOD and was hot on her heels for the last round, finishing not even a second behind her.  I am so looking forward to having her back on the team next week!

Roadkill's Week In Review

So, I'm pet sitting for friends and the gig is taking up my free time in the evenings, hence the lack of posting.  Here's the synopsis... I'll try to keep in brief!

Monday - missed training, couldn't get my act together fast enough - 7 animals take serious time to care for!

Tuesday - CrossFit in the morning (push press, bench, dips & planks) followed by AB training in the late afternoon.  I had the MWTR committee meeting that night, so I did my AB training solo:

"It's all track work this week.  400m efforts 7x rest x 6 efforts"

OMG ugh!  I went to Foothills Middle School at 5:00, figuring this was going to take close to 90 minutes with 7x rest.  Results were:

I took 10:00 rests in between each effort, it was all the time I could allow.  It's wasn't enough.

1:38
1:37
1:39
1:43 - stop - 5 seconds swing was too much degrade to bother with two more rounds

Wednesday - CrossFit - Deadlifts, Burpees and 200m Sprints

Thursday - No CrossFit - AB Training:
Bastards! Tonight's 6:30pm practice will commence at the Mt. Wilson Trailhead. This session is perfect for 36 hours pre-Derby Day 5k. RSVP in comments...
Yup, it was still speed work of a sort... we were given an assortment of choices and allowed to pick our own combination:
3xs 1 CC mile
3xs Razorback Loops
4xs Mira Monte Loops
Joyce, Lynn, Dawn and I chose one of each, starting with Razorback, then the mile and ending with an 800m loop.  That was the first time I've ever gone up Razorback and down the back of it.  It's no easier in either direction, but it was definitely great fun!

Friday - REST DAY

Saturday - DERBY DAY 5k

I went back in my photos and cross searched Athlinks...  Check out this photo from my first Derby Day  in 2007... in our bootcamp shirts.  Ha!  Our world has certainly changed since 2007...

Here are my stats from Athlinks:

2007 - 27:49

2008 - missed - same weekend as Great Race of Agoura

2009 - 26:06
2010 - 26:35
2011 - 35:06
2012 - 32:32
2013 - 28:15 on my watch.  My split times were about 9:15, 9:15 and 9:45.  I didn't think I fell off that much in the last mile, but my watch was functioning correctly, so it's gotta be close to those numbers.  We'll see exactly tonight when the times are posted.

I'd like to say I'm happy with my 28:15, but I'm really not.  I'm still a whole lot slower than I want to be and am definitely slower than I'm comfortable with going in to the qualifier next weekend. Oh well.

This week... perfect eating, perfect sleeping and trust my training!

OMG I'm Getting Faster!

This morning was a simple Time Trial to 1st Water.  I woke up feeling good and finally recovered from last weekend.  Today I decided to try something different, and took music with me... something I've never done on the Mt. Wilson Trail.

There were about 25 of us in total, with maybe 6-8 beginners.  Parker immediately took off, being chased by one of Shannon's racers, and I fell in to a steady pace.  I wasn't passed by any of the beginners, but the intermediates started catching me by the trail head... perfectly expected.

I loved using the music!  It completely distracted my head and helped set a tempo I could sustain.  I passed countless hikers on the way up (and down) and for the most part found them all courteous and willing to let me pass.

It took until the switchbacks for Corlyn and Navin to catch me... both were obviously not yet recovered from another training session.  Good for me because I set them as rabbits to chase.

I reached 1st Water in 37:42,  5:00 minutes ahead of my last two 42:00 time trials and only 1:42 behind my best time from 2009.  Talk about a pleasant surprise!  That motivated me so well, that I pealed out of 1st Water like my tail was on fire. I caught up with Corlyn, Navin, Shannon and Carrie at the switchbacks, but when we got to the other side the only one I was able to actually pass was Carrie.  (Although she made it very clear that if I wasn't very careful, she would be passing me again as soon as we hit the road!) The rest of the pulled away again... I know for Shannon, the whole idea of Roadkill catching her was the perfect motivation to make sure it didn't happen!  Too funny.

I caught Corlyn again right when we hit the road.  She is such a fabulous teammate, she immediately set in to motivate me to the top of the hill and to catch Navin on Baldwin... then she led by example and took off like her tail way on fire!  I did my best to keep up but those two are seriously fast when they decide to race.  So, instead I just raced like Carrie was hot on my heels!  It totally worked... finish time: 59:06  That's 10:00 minutes ahead of my last time trial and only 1:06 behind my best time from 2009.

I'm telling you aspiring bastards... if you can make the team and hang on through the training sessions no matter how much they suck, you WILL get faster too.  You just have to be willing to pay your dues, no matter how long it takes.

Today's results combined with last weekend are leaving me more optimistic about the AB Qualifier in two weeks.  I'm still a long way away from confident about making the team without Kendall pacing me again, but I'm getting closer...  :-)

"I'd Hate to See One of You Killed..."

Seriously!  That came out of some bozo's mouth who didn't like it that a few of us were apparently traveling on a private road.  (One of my teammates has confirmed that we were never on private property, so I really haven't any idea where this guy got off with the attitude.)  It was all I could do to not take it to the next level and insist that he tell me exactly what he was threatening.  But, I restrained myself, knowing that we would likely cross his path again some day and it would probably be better to not become a memorable enemy.  Here's the back story...

BASTARDS! Tonight's 6:30pm practice will commence at Monrovia's Library Park by the Fountain...there will be a little tactical insertion, escape, and evasion tonight...dress appropriately. AS WELL...there will be NO follow-on meeting this evening. You are more than encouraged to gather still at your favorite watering hole and partake in a few adult beverages; however, there is no meeting. Enjoy your evening...

I was seriously considering not going tonight; it's been a hard week and my head was in a pretty crappy place all afternoon.  Then I overheard Eric giving the route information to one of the back up leaders... We were going to be starting at the fountain, running up Clamshell and out Cloverleaf and it would take 6-7 miles. (I mapped it at 6 miles exactly)

Knowing what was in store almost cinched my bailout.  I knew from the last time we were on Clamshell that it was going to be a Roadkill Nightmare, with me pulling the rear and my teammates having to wait for me.  I knew it was going to be long and that I was still not fully recovered from last weekend.  (On a side note, today was also the first day I've trained all week, first attending a CrossFit Z1 class, then tonight's run)

BUT, I also knew that trail running is my favorite way to get out of myself, and that if any of our red team members showed up, they might actually be grateful to have Roadkill on the run, since it makes for an easier run on everyone but RK.  So, at 5:30 I made the decision to just show up and give it my best shot.

My best shot was pretty damn weak tonight.  I walked a good percentage of the second and third miles which were all climbs.  Since I was teamed with Kathy, our only other red member there tonight, it meant she needed to hold back and stay with me.  The rest of the teams took off and we didn't see any of them again until Mark stopped and waited for us at the entry gate to Clamshell.  Mark was waiting because his team wasn't sure Kathy and I would know how to access the connector.  So, his whole team slowly jogged and walked Clamshell giving me enough time to not get left too far behind.

Between my bad attitude and my crappy performance so far, I was seriously considering breaking the cardinal rule and turning back at the connector.  Then I finally rounded the corner and saw the connector path and all my friend's smiling faces and heard all their encouraging words.  Something shifted and I let go of all the baggage I'd been carrying so far. Off fell the negativity, off fell the burdens of the day and thankfully off fell all desire to quit.

I'm so grateful for the shift in perspective, because the rest of the run was an absolute blast.  The "connector" is really just a single track, overgrown goat path that is crazy steep in most areas.  Erik and Dawn led the way, with Rocky showing us an alternate mode of travel... bootie scooting, then came Kathy, RK and Mark brought up the rear.  Good thing their team had stayed with us, because Kathy and I probably wouldn't have braved such a maniac trail.  Once we were on it and committed, I realized it actually looked a lot worse than it really was and turned out to be a ton of fun to traverse!

Once we got to the bottom, we dropped on to Cloverleaf and just ran the dirt road to the end... which was where we encountered Mr. Vigilante with the serious anti-social tendencies.   No doubt he was making idle threats, but it made for good running banter as we made out way back in to civilization... Just how was he planning to kill us anyway?  Shot gun?  Landmine?  Ooohhh... maybe an ambush and he and his wife and daughter would push us all off a cliff????  Bizarre, and while laughable it's also something to remember if we ever find ourselves in the area again.

One last comment on my hysterical team...  As we were running downhill heading toward Foothill, we passed a house with a very angry sounding dog, and the next thing I know one of our guys is sprinting right by me... WTH?  Oh right, he doesn't need to outrun a mad dog, he just needs to outrun Roadkill! Welcome to yet one more peril of being the Arrogant Bastards Slowest Team Member...  Mad Dog Fodder.  (sigh, lol)

Run Random Stranger Run!

...was written on one of a dozen signs being waived in our faces as we crested the peak at mile eight.  We could hear these same girls back at mile 6 screaming at the top of their lungs.  Their cheering and enthusiasm was a perfect culmination to the hardest part of the course... all down hill from here, at least almost.

This morning, three Bastards, a (censored) soon to be Bastard, along with a few other friends, descended on the City of Agoura for my favorite trail race, the Great Race of Agoura's Cheesbro Half Marathon.  It was spectacular weather again this year... as it has been for all four years that I've participated in this race, and the year before when I ran the 5k.  

The race begins at 7am, so we were on the road by 5am and picking up our bibs by 6am... It wasn't even light out yet, and this morning was in the low 30's.  Made for lots of whining on all our parts, but we we back in the car with our bibs with 20 minutes to thaw out before the race began.  By the time we left the car, it was in the mid 40's and climbing quickly.  

We were all wearing our uniforms with a long sleeve to get us through the first 5k.  Amy was so funny, she had picked up a second hand jacket that she wore until race start, then dropped it on the ground, donating it back again... what a great idea!

Speaking of Amy, our Arrogant Bastard judge has amazing initiative... none of us had our phones with us, and couldn't take photos... so Amy asked a stranger to photo us and text her the shot, and the gal did!  

The race consists of a slowly climbing 5k on the roads, leading in the park, followed by 4 miles of rolling bridal trails, then a mile of climbing, then two miles of almost unbroken descent, ending with another road 5k with a nice easy descent... 

At the start, Corlyn and Amy took off, Rose and I stuck together, and Carmen and Michelle were behind us.  The first 5k was easy and a lovely warm up.  At mile 4 I started to feel my left ankle acting up, and it only go worse, and worse, and worse.  I tried loosening the lace, but it didn't help.  I'll check with Eric next week, but I think it might be a shin splint.  I know it felt better when I focused on my technique, making sure to land ball-to-heel, but overall it wasn't making much difference.  The weird part was I've not had any trouble with this foot/ankle for at least a month now.  

For the first 9 miles, Rose and I played a game of Indian Running.  She'd pass me, then I'd pass her, all good fun AND lightyears ahead of where I was last year, when she dusted me at mile 4.  This was even with me taking a fall at mile 5 and again at mile 7. (My next tattoo is going to say "PICK UP YOUR FEET!") It seems 36 hours isn't quite enough recovery for me before running a half marathon, and maybe I should have gone a little easier on the Thursday night hike.  Oh well, no use second guessing.  

Bottom line Results:

Corlyn 2:02 (First time on the course, BAD ASS TIME!!)

Amy  2:28  (Nice time considering it's been five years since she ran this race)

Rose 2:33 (6:00 PR)

Roadkill 2:35 (23:00 faster than last year, but still 20:00 behind 2009 PR)
(Carmen and Michelle were in it for completion, so I've not recorded their times)

Oh, and before we all went our separate ways, The Judge had her way with another stranger!  

Recovery Hike? Hmm...

Feel's like forever since I last blogged. I'm such a creature of habit, that even skipping one day feels like a complete break in routine...

For a quick catch-up:
Monday - CrossFit
Tuesday - CrossFit and no AB practice as Eric's suggestion knowing that it was going to be an Academy WOD
Wednesday - CrossFit that has my gluts still tender... 1&1/4 Front Squats, Low Bar Good mornings and 200 Russian KBS w/53#.  It was an AWESOME training session... full of excellent coaching, powerful new movements, skill work and an opportunity at the end to test my KBS limit.
Thursday - No CrossFit, chose to sleep in a little longer since I have a half marathon on Saturday.  Coach surprised me by telling me to make sure I showed up for practice.  Good thing he had too, as I'd planned to take the night off.  SO, GLAD I DIDN'T!

Bastards! Tonight's quick and dirty jaunt through the wilderness will begin at 6:30pm at Chantry Flats. Please bring your Adventure Passes, headlamps, and trail shoes. RSVP in comments...

As I was driving up Santa Anita I started receiving texts from Coach.  He was stuck at the Academy preparing for the Maltz Challenge first thing Friday morning...

"Hey... you're hiking a 25 min. Out/back Upper Winter Creek"

Sounded great to me!  I love hiking that section of the Hoegee's Loop.  It's not overly steep, allows lots of views into the valley and is easy to run back down... oh and no water crossings.

"Help Dave O administer a Hoegee's Loop for the rest of the crew.  They are headed "down" first."

Sounded like great fun, we'd all meet somewhere in the middle.

"You'll basically walk/jog until they run past you."

Dave and I decided to make a game of it... first runner to pass Roadkill wins but they all had to race it because Roadkill wasn't supposed to go more than 25 minutes up the mountain.  Ha!

Result?  I had the glorious pleasure of jogging/hiking my way up Upper Winter Creek Trail while the sun was setting.  I made it a lot farther than I expected. (maybe 2 miles in) I had finished the climb and was starting down to the fork before the first runners caught me... Tom & Monty of course!  Those two cruised by me like they had been jogging on flat land, not a heavy breath or drop of sweat between them.  I love our racers, they display what I aspire towards!

I slowly walked for a bit longer while the rest of the runners went by, and when I caught the headlamps of the last of my teammates, I turned around and started running home... hoping I'd be able to stay ahead of them.  Not a chance.  Kathy and Lynn passed me within half a mile of our descent, forcing me to pick up my pace or get left in the pitch dark on the mountain with all of the lions, tigers and bears.. Oh My!  

While I say that laughing, I really did pick up my pace to not let them get away from me.  First because I didn't want the team to have to wait for me and second because it was completely dark at that point and while I felt safe running alone, it's not smart in case of mishap.

OMG, it was so much fun trying to keep those girls from getting away!   Granted they weren't running super fast in the dark either, but it was great fun chasing them and winning because they never got away from me.

As for today... my gluts are thanking me for the hike, because it loosened them back up very nicely after Wednesday's glut intensive.  Granted it probably wouldn't be called a recovery hike, but it was still the perfect prep for tomorrow's Great Race of Agoura Half Marathon!

Time for bed.  G'night peeps!