My Crush on Big Cedar Wilderness Trail

I love me some brand spanking new trail. Well, new to me, anyway.  But I wasn't too sure about Big Cedar, which is just north of Cedar Hill and Cedar Ridge Preserve down by Joe Pool Lake. I just hadn't heard much about it compared to the other two, and assumed it was a lesser trail system.

AU CONTRAIRE, my friends! Big Cedar had all the things I long for in a trail, plus some bonus candy that I wasn't expecting.

But first, let me set the scene: Rosie and I met Debbie at 7. There are a bunch of other runners also meeting, but they're faster than us, so we plan to just do our thing bringing up the rear. Also, for mid-July in Dallas, the weather was absolutely perfect. Low humidity, nice breezes, sunny (but the trails we ran were 90% shady). Just a beautiful day!

We were running the Ranger (white) loop, and then would add on if we felt like it. We started out on Ranger, then the group tucked over on the Dragonfly loop, which was an extra easy mile. Most of the main trail is shady, but you do cross through some utility easements that, while sunny (boo) must just be bursting with wildflowers in the spring and early summer (yay) and offer up some really lovely views out across the hills and valleys around there (more yay). So, that little bit of exposed running is worth it, even in the summer.

Near the exit to the trail head is this brick-paved hill. I've since come to learn it's called the Brick Climb, but I have named it Beyoncé hill. Thankfully, the bricks (set sideways so the holes are exposed) offer fantastic traction on this steep but fairly short climb, but it is just shy of requiring you to bear-crawl up the darn thing. We walked up it, huffing and puffing and begging for mercy (as I semi-joked that I wanted to do it again), got to the top and had a choice of either going back to the car or taking a intermediate/advanced trail called Man Bites Dog.

We quickly found the "advanced" portion of the loop... a long gravel slope that you really have to fight your way down to avoid losing your footing in the loose gravel. From there it was smooth sailing back to a bypass that took us... right to the bottom of Beyoncé Hill! I surprised myself by doing a little fist pump in my head, and charged up that sucker, running this time, like a wild horse. Well, a wild horse with two tired legs and asthma.

WOO! Man, I felt so good after that climb, despite my big time wind sucking! I dunno what it is, but a tough climb just fires me up like nothing else. Especially to have done it running the second time. I guess any time you discover a well spring of "Fuck yeah, I got this!" that you didn't know you had, it gets you jacked up.

From there, however, we started following the (many) Exit to Trail Head signs back to the parking lot and called it a day, but it was clearly one of those euphoric trail runs that left us all craving more.

I can't quit thinking about Beyoncé Hill and Big Cedar, even with my sore quads reminding me of how tough it was. I thought CRP was my favorite trail in Dallas, but it's relatively short at only about 6 miles. Meanwhile, Big Cedar has many of the same features (rocky slopes, nice views, shade), but much more area to explore. There's comfort in knowing a trail (and still loving it for its difficulty and complexity), but there's also that sense of adventure running a new trail that I think I'll get to enjoy for a long time out at Big Cedar. Ranger is certainly the longest trail, as all the other trails loop off of it, but we barely scratched the surface of the rest of the trail system.

The only downside to it is that it's a DORBA trail, which is good because they do a phenomenal job maintaining the trails and building new trails. But it's bad because mountain bikers often do not realize they scare the shit out of us by not announcing themselves as soon as they see us rather than 5 seconds before they're slamming the brakes to avoid hitting us.

Dear mountain bikers,
Love you guys, really and truly. But please understand that as noisy as you THINK you may be, we absolutely do not hear you unless you announce yourself. One quick, "Bike back!" as soon as you see us gives us time to find a safe place (no poison ivy or snakes) to step off the trail and get out of your way. And believe me, we do NOT want to be in your way. 

Your friends,
Trail Runners

I feel better getting that off my chest.

Anyway, other notables from the run were seeing my first BIG snake. I'd seen a little one out at Rowlett a while back, but this one was "shriek and run the other way" worthy... unless you're Debbie, who walked right up to it and said hello. She said it was a rat snake, which is still too close to "rattle snake" for my taste. Luckily the big guy (and I mean big) was charging across the trail rather than curled up sunning himself or something crazy. So we let him on by and then zipped by so he didn't get a chance to change his mind and come kill us.

The other notable was that Rosie brought me a salted caramel Gu to try. Oh man, was that thing sweet, but so delicious and given my energy level at the end of the run, I'd have to say it was successful. I think for our 2 hours of running, I ate only half a Payday, that packet of Gu, and a Probar Bolt gel. And I still had at least half a liter of water left in my hydration pack and could have gone another 3 miles. So maybe I'll welcome some of those packages runner gu/gummies back into my life.

More experimenting ahead! Happy trails!

Headband Review: Halo vs. Bondi Band (and a gear update)

Since I started running, I almost always wore a cap or visor (usually a visor, so my head stayed cooler) when I ran. It makes me batty to have sun or sweat in my eyes and that took care of both!

But now that I'm running more trails (shady), and during the week I'm running mostly in the dark, visors seem like overkill, but I still needed to keep the sweat out of my eyes. When I did boot camp last year, I got a terry cloth sweat band that made me feel like I was doing a LeBron James impersonation and took 2 days to dry. I like the headband in theory, but that was not the right one.

I knew I could do better, so I researched and the two that came up the most were Halo and Bondi Bands. I picked up one of each at Luke's Locker and set about experimenting.

Near the finish (hence the smile) at
Whispering Pines 2014 wearing my Halo.

Halo

The Halo is made of a heavy-ish neoprene fabric, which means lots of absorbency but also some heat retention. Breezes aren't getting through this thing. The sneaky awesome feature it has is this plastic strip across the bottom on the forehead side that redirects sweat away from your eyes.

It's basically like a rain diverter you'd have over an exterior door on your house. And it works! I may have learned to love to sweat, but I practically get the shakes when it's pouring off my head and into my face faster than I can mop it up. Once it gets in my eyes, I'm just a big baby, and especially on trails where vision is so critical, eyeball sweat is just a non-starter.

They have a few styles. One ties in the back, the newest velcros in the back, and mine is just a sewn up circle. I have a pretty large noggin (thanks, Dad), and it fits me just right. I guess those with less well-endowed skulls should get an adjustable or know how to sew. They come in several colors but nothing particularly fancy. These are not "look cute" headbands, as you can see from my picture, but when it's 90% humidity and 85 degrees out, I'm not looking cute anyway. Might as well be comfortable.

Bondi Band

I could tell from the moment I picked up a Bondi Band, at least the "fashion lycra" version that was in plentiful supply at Luke's, that it was not a headband meant for serious sweat. It's very thin, light material. The upside to that is that once it's wet with sweat and you meet a breeze, it feels nice and cool on your forehead.

I've only used the Bondi for cooler, shorter runs. My weekday runs, it's fine. If it's 55 degrees out, it's fine. Despite the promise of "no drip, no slip," I do find it to be pretty slippery. It stays in place for the most part but it takes very little to shift it around.

Also, because the fabric is so thin and stretchy, the edges curl up, which isn't the best look. And while looks shouldn't matter, you're not buying these in one of the dozens of patterns and colors they offer because you don't care about how you look. They're cute and flattering and they're extra wide so they hold your hair back very nicely. The rolling edges aren't a big deal but it still just sort of annoys me and adds to the flimsy feel.

Despite using my Bondi for less sweaty endeavors, I have still managed to outsweat it to the point where sweat was dripping into my eyes. The flip side of it being thin and light and cooler is that it just doesn't have enough heft to absorb a lot of sweat. One thing I considered, if I see some lying around, is cutting a piece of ShamWow fabric and sandwiching it between my forehead and the Bondi Band. Not only might it help it stay in place better, but it would definitely increase the sweat absorption. Or... I could just wear my Halo.

Looking at Bondi's site, they do have some lines of "wicking" sweatbands that look sturdier and honestly look a lot like Halos minus the plastic diverter band. If I see one of those around, I'll pick one up and try it, but those don't come in fun patterns, so the Halo seems like a better choice.

Bottom Line

I actually like having both. For long runs and trail races, the Halo is the obvious choice. For shorter runs or cooler weather, Bondi Band is a less "industrial strength" solution. If looking cute is a high priority and/or you aren't a heavy sweater, Bondi might be enough.

More gear notes

I've been shopping a lot lately. I recently discovered Left Lane Sports, which has amazing deals on good quality sports products, and now am the proud owner of a Nathan Intensity hydration vest and, winning their way to me at the moment, a pair of Hoka Stinson Trail shoes.

The vest I ordered because my waist belt drives me crazy shifting around, plus it really doesn't hold that much water given the heat. I still have to plan routes around water fountains, which isn't really a "thing" when it comes to trails. This one has great reviews, is made specifically for the female physique (though I'm not sure how), and was around $50 on Left Lane.

The Hokas... I'd been skeptical of these silly looking shoes. But man, that race in Tyler last weekend beat up my feet and calves so badly. It's really taken me a full week to start feeling normal again. When I got the email that Left Lane was doing a big Hoka sale, and then when I saw that the Stinson Trail model was working for a lot of people with wide feet, and that I could get them for basically $100 off retail price (I had $30 in referral credits), I couldn't resist. Which turns out to be a really good thing, because unless they're out in my car, I'm afraid I left my trail shoes in the changing stall at Tyler State Park!

So, I'm looking forward to testing out my vest today and then getting the Hokas next week and, if they fit, giving them a try on the rocks and roots.

Also found a replacement set of my road shoes (NB1080) for way cheap and one of the 4 sizes left happened to be mine, and I got a second pair of compression shorts (I LOVE Road Runner Sports R-Gear brand... great quality and a HUGE pocket). I had lots of capris already, but in the summer, the shorts feel a little better. Wish I had the thighs to wear regular running shorts. They look so breezy! Alas, thunder thighs would chafe to pieces in those. *sigh*

Anyway, I'm off to run Arbor Hills with Rosie. First time up there, so I'm excited to check it out. Looking forward to some hill work!

Happy trails!

Whispering Pines 10M - 2014

In my head, I'd chalked this race up to be 10 miles of pine needle-covered smooth, easy trails. Maybe some hills, a root here and there, but otherwise, fast running. I was going to float through the woods like a woodland nymph and finish in a sturdy, slow-girl 3:00.

I got literally none of those things right. The terrain was consistent, I'll give it that, but it was almost non-stop roots and plenty of rocks. It was the kind of trail where you hear that there's lots of beauty around you but you never see it because you don't dare look up for fear of tripping or stepping on the wrong thing. There were some fast areas where you could at least look ahead 15 feet as you ran rather than every little step, and those areas you could book it pretty well and gain some ground.

(For pics of the trail, see Running Myself into a Coma blog from his photos last year. Though I don't remember that much open space. It felt like we were in deep woods 95% of the time. Maybe the trail changed some this year?)

I've never seen so much falling in a race before. Everyone in our group fell at least once, sometimes twice, except for me. I chose to step poorly a couple of times and twist my ankle instead. Feels okay after some ice, rest, and a good night's sleep though, so it was only a minor annoyance.

Oh, and the hills? Okay, they were there but they weren't all killers. However, there was one late in the race that felt like climbing stars. The legs were burning, we were huffing and puffing. Oh it was a doozie.

As usual, the aid stations were fantastic, as they always are at an Endurance Buzz event, and really well placed for this distance. First one was ~3 in, and the next was ~7 in, so even though there was a 4-mile gap in the middle, those are the comfortable miles (runnerly speaking... you're warmed up but not too exhausted yet). Debbie and Tina, my running companions, wanted to keep moving, so we blew through the stations pretty fast, which was fine by me. I had my Payday bars on me, too, but only ended up eating one.

We ended up finishing much faster than we expected. We'd walked a lot, it seemed, but I guess the areas where we could run, we ran pretty darn fast, which I don't think I would have done on my own, so I appreciated the pushed pace. We all came in right at 2:30-2:31, a good 30 minutes faster than I'd predicted, so that was fantastic. That just shows how much more difficult Possum Kingdom was. Only 2 more miles but took 52 minutes longer! Plus it was a bit warmer and more sun exposure in PK, which added to the fatigue.

I actually felt great after this one. Tons of energy at the end, but my legs were toast from the hills. I can certainly see the appeal of the 20 mile distance. I think the absolutely beautiful cool, breezy weather was fooling me a little, though. If it had been muggy and warm, it might have been just as exhausting as PK was and I would have sworn off such distances past March.

Rosie came with me to volunteer at one of the aid stations, but I drove this time, and I actually felt fine coming home, which I was very worried about after I was a zombie post-PK. I even had the energy to change clothes and eat a couple of tacos before we left the park. No nausea or any of that stuff I had from PK. I took an Endurolyte tablet at the second aid station, and I think that helped a lot, along with drinking a little Heed. I got plenty of fluid at PK, but not enough electrolytes for how much I was sweating.

Slowly but surely, I'm figuring this stuff out, maybe? Or maybe I just got lucky. Either way, that's the last one for a while. I'll be volunteering at Cedar Ridge in July, and might do the same at Rough Creek, both of which will be too hot for my taste, thank you very much, but I can earn free race entries by volunteering. I still want to give Isle Du Bois a go, and I'd be happy to do PK and WP again.

If I had any complaints about the race, starting with the 7k runners was tough. The course was very crowded the first 3 miles until they split off. But that's literally my only gripe. Very minor. The finish line area was wonderful. Very cozy, and as usual, I choked up when I crossed and Dave handed me my bottle of honey. :) Some day I'll be not choked up enough to ask him if he's Canadian. He definitely says "aboat." <3

Anyway, today I'm sore. My upper back and calves and feet are very achy, but I'm headed out to the Rangers/Jays game later, so I'll count all that walking as a recovery effort. Also, beer. Beer good. Go Jays!

Happy trails!

JCC Bagel Run - 2014

For the first time ever, I repeated a race Sunday. The JCC (Jewish Community Center, which is about a 10 minute walk from my house) holds the Bagel Run every May, a 5k loop through my neighborhood, which is pretty hilly. It was my first race after we moved to Dallas last year.

It's cheap and I of course want to support a race that I can leave my house 10 minutes before it starts and still be early.

It has a 5k and 10k option, and since I don't get my legs for 3 miles, I go for the 10k. Last year, it was my very first time running the 10k distance. It was steamy and I hadn't brought any water, AND I didn't realize it was a double loop, so I got to the end and they said, "10k, keep going!" Ugh. Mentally, that was tough. I finished last year in 1:08, which is far from a PR at this point, but given the Triple H in effect (heat, humidity, and hills), I was happy if I could just beat that 1:08.

The thing is, I've gained 20 lbs since I ran that race last year. *sigh* It's been a tumultuous year. Moving, losing my job, and then starting a VERY sedentary job. So, I knew it would be tight.

Well, officially, I finished about :30 slower than the previous year, but I'll call it even. I ran it in 3/:45 intervals, didn't push particularly hard, other than to keep my pace on the hills. I really kinda treated it like a hill workout and put my energy into powering through those bad boys. And indeed, I felt strong on them.

I finished feeling strong, too, and I beat the two ladies I had my sights on. Hey, it's the small victories sometimes.

The race itself is very small. Maybe 200 people, with only a handful doing the full 10k. But there is a nice bagel buffet at the end. They even have a very cute "Fastest Rabbi" award for each distance. :) Mazel tov!

The bad side of the race is that they have run out of water at the last water stop both years, and they ran out of water at the finish last year. As warm as these races have been, that's really unacceptable to me. I ran with my handheld bottle this time, which I don't like to do, but knew I needed to because I knew that was a possibility. I nearly parched to death last year and got yelled at for dumping one of the cups of water on my head at the last stop last year. Sorry, phone somebody and get some damn water in that jug!

Next year, I'm going to make hubs bring our little cooler to the final stop to make sure ALL the 10kers get to hydrate for the final mile and a half and even get to dump water on their heads if they want.

All in all, it was a good race. I felt good, but I was happy to see the finish line. I had half a bagel with hummus on it, which reminded me why I can't eat hummus. I used to eat hummus as a snack before hockey, and found myself getting REALLY tired during games. So I quit buying the stuff. But I figured after a race, it wouldn't be a big deal. Well, how wrong I was! I spent all day in a zombie-like state of exhaustion. More than is normal for a 10k. Heck, worse than a half marathon! Finally caved and took at nap at 3 p.m. to try and get some humanity back. Woof. I'll stick with peanut butter or something. Something about exertion and hummus, man. Knocks me on my ass!

Apart from being a decent race, it definitely hit home that I have to get this extra weight off, so those efforts have commenced in earnest. And boy am I hungry. Ugh, I hate limiting my calories.

Ah well, it's about the journey, not the destination, right? :) Happy trails!

Possum Kingdom 20k - 2014

Well, after a false start due to ice at Isle du Bois, I finally ran my first trail race yesterday. I had some reservations the day before when I realized I was going to a place called Possum Kingdom where the starting line is at Bug Beach. Possums and bugs. Things I'm not super fond of! Alas, I ran into exactly zero possums (well, maybe one roadkill version while driving), but plenty of mosquitoes in the bathrooms at Bug Beach (so tip #1 for PK: use the porta-potties).

Naturally, there is a cold front moving in the day AFTER this race, so while it was nice at the start, it got warm quickly, especially as the start is pretty much straight uphill for the first mile and a half.

And worse, the downhills from that just pounded my knees. I should have taken those slower, I guess, because I ended up having some bad pain in my left knee for a couple of miles after that. I ended up walking for probably half a mile, wincing every time I planted my foot/leg in a way that made it hurt, but eventually, it just... went away! It was bad enough that I thought if it didn't get better, I was going to have to DNF at the 6 mile aid station, which would have sucked. But I wasn't about to trash my knee.

Luckily, I fell back with a couple of other friends (and even behind both of them for a while), but caught back up as my knee started to behave, and stayed with them and a few other folks the rest of the way. As per usual with running, the latter miles fell into a nice rhythm and the prospect of a nearby finish line was enough to pull me through the sandy finish.

I ended up with a 3:22 finish for 12 miles, exactly 1 hour longer than 13.5 on the road. I went into this one with almost zero compete level in my heart, and mostly stayed that way from start to finish, though I really thought 3:30 was the best I could expect, time-wise, so I was pleasantly surprised. Still, I really didn't care much about the time, and didn't look at my Runkeeper at all. I put everything into Rock 'n Roll, so this race was just my reward for all that work and progress, and it was really a perfect marker for that.

Lake vista early on in the run

This was my first Endurance Buzz race (which figures, since it was my first trail race), and what a great job they do. Even though I only knew 3 other people there, it was a very familial environment with people taking care of each other. Amazing to me was that the folks running 52 miles or 52k would pass us with big smiles and a "Looking great! Keep it up!" as we 20k folks are slogging along. Different animals, these trail maniacs.

I found it very helpful to have memorized the mile markers where the aid stations would be, especially with water bottles running dry much faster than I'd been used to. Plus, the stations had a buffet of wonderful food choices, from Oreos to dill pickles. It's nice to have a selection, because you never really know what will sound good. I grazed there (mile 6.5 and 9.5) and ate two of my Payday mini bars, which as usual were exactly the boost I needed. I seriously need to get Payday to sponsor my running. I can sing the praises of those little guys all day long.

One thing I did wrong was not eating soon enough. It was 4+ miles before I even ate 3 jelly beans (Happy Pills) at the first unmanned aid station, and was 6.5 before the first full aid station where I ate more. Should have tucked into my payday bar at mile 4.

Also wonder if I need to down some endurolyte tablets or something along the way. I don't really like Gatorade or Nuun or things like that, but I know the salt in my snacks probably aren't enough for warm runs.

The course itself is certainly the most diverse I've ever run. From soft, easy single- or double-track to deep, annoying sand, to small rocks, boulders, and roots/stumps, this course had everything but mud and water. There are some really nice views along the way, though Possum Kingdom Lake was VERY low and has been for several years, so it's a little sad to think how much nicer it must have used to look.

There was a fair amount of two-way traffic on the trail, which was good and bad. I think I enjoyed the areas where it was a loop and we were on our own and not having to get out of the way of faster runners in the opposite direction. But it was cool to see how easy they made it look and how friendly they were, so that definitely enhanced the "newbie" experience for me.

For this race, I'd probably invest in some gaiters or plan to stop and shake sand out of your shoes after the Hamilton Rd. crossing (that's where the sand is done with for the most part, until the final couple of miles). It felt like I had sandpaper socks on and I HAD to stop and dump my shoes out or I would have had raw feet by the end. Maybe my shoes are more porous or something.

Rosie, who finished 30 minutes ahead of me and 5th in her division, because she's awesome, and I had talked about doing Whispering Pines next month, and after the race, she said, "No way. I'll come volunteer if you run, but I'm done." And I said, "Yeah, I have no interest in doing that now. I'm done."

Well... I woke up this morning, my quads throbbing, and thought, "Yeah, I want to do Whispering Pines." It's only 10 miles! :) I really didn't feel nearly as bad yesterday for how hard the race felt, if that makes sense. And today, the day after, my quads are sore, but that's really it. I feel great otherwise.

So, I need to see how it fits into my schedule, but yeah, WP's probably going to happen. I'm going to have to find recipes that use lots of honey if I keep running these EB races. I think I'm kinda hooked. Of course, all it may take is a confrontation with a snake to send me back to full time road running. :)

Happy trails!

Rock n' Roll Half Marathon - Dallas 2014

Nothing like a great race to make up for a lousy one. I won't bury the lead: 2:22:14 (and according to Runkeeper, I really ran 13.57, so I totally did 13.1 below my stretch goal of 2:20 -- Woot!)

I ended up running 3/:45 intervals pretty much the whole way. My only mistake was not bringing my ear buds (there was music provided on the course, so I didn't figure I'd need it), but it was a crowded, noisy course and I couldn't always hear the cues to run or walk. Fortunately, I had a pretty good sense for it and was able to fake it pretty accurately when necessary.

I really wanted to try and cut the tangents but man, the course is way too crowded, start to finish, for that. As you can see, you really can add a lot of mileage between that and dodging slower runners. That's the only frustrating thing about run/walk: I'm running a pretty good clip when I run (9:30 min/mile on average), so I'm doing pretty much nothing but passing for 3 minutes. Then *SCREECH* I'm walking for 45 seconds and half of them are passing me again, so I have to wind my way around them all over again.

The course was tough, but tough in the way you'd want a course to be tough. Mostly uphill (with a couple of good downhills) the entire first half, and then pretty much flat/downhill the second half. Or at least that's what I thought looking at the elevation. But really, the downhill/flats don't start until mile 8. So we hit mile 7 and I'm still looking at the crowd ahead of me going uphill. It was not super steep but by then, you're feeling it and my walk breaks were getting longer. It definitely affected me mentally. Lesson learned to be more precise when I look at elevation charts before a race! I think if I'd known it was coming at mile 8, I could have stopped the, "What if it never comes?" negativity in my head.

Does that number seem right? The low elevation was 400 something, peak was 600 something. How did I possibly climb 5000+ feet?

Luckily, 2 things saved me. The first was my beautiful pal Rosie on the side of the course, giving me a hug and cheering me on and generally being her usual encouraging, wonderful self. What a sight for sore eyes and flagging spirits. She'd ridden her bike there, and then rode to another point to see me again. This time, I was already pumped up from an encounter I'd just had, which was "thing that saved me" #2:

I was on a walk break (45 seconds, mind you), and this girl runs past me, turns back to me and says, "Keep at it! Walking only makes it take longer!"

Now, I suspect she thought she was being encouraging or helpful somehow, but I looked her in the eye and said, "I do run/walk. It's fine." Another girl next to me said, "Yeah, me, too." We rolled our eyes at each other in understanding, and the offending girl smiled sheepishly and plodded on.

And a few seconds later, my run prompt sounded and I passed her and never saw her again. But I did see my run/walk friend again, who said, "I guess we left our 'runner' friend behind." Hahahaha!

So, thank you, judgy girl, for lighting a fire under me for the last few miles. If all else failed, I knew I'd still won because I was beating you. xoxo

As far as the race organization and whatnot, it was good. My only beef is that the exit from the post-race festival led you to a parking lot at the opposite end of Fair Park from where the train comes. So I added two miles, during which I called my husband and cried in frustration, as well as stopping twice just to sit down and rest for a minute. But that's my fault for being too out of it to be aware of my surroundings. A sign would have been nice though. Like a really big sign.

It was pretty funny though watching everybody walk to their cars. It was like the Walking Dead... a huge crowd just sort of lurching slowly along.

One more note on my interval strategy: LOVED it. More to the point, the :45 second walk break instead of 1 minute felt great. It was enough to recover, except in a few hilly parts, without feeling like I was leaving any speed on the table unnecessarily. Like, I think :30 would be too little to properly recover and sustain that run pace the full distance.

I also ran the downhills regardless of intervals. There were a few good ones where I knew I could steal some time without putting much extra energy in, so I just kept going through the walk intervals.

What this race does is show me that if I can find a less crowded race so I can cut the tangents and keep the distance down, or a flatter race where the hills don't suck so much energy out of me, I can get that sub 2:20 officially.

But I'll worry about that later, in the fall, most likely. For now,  it's only 3 weeks until the Possum Kingdom 20k, which I have no time aspirations for, other than probably to get it over with at some point. Really looking forward to that and getting back on the trails a bit for something different.

All in all, very happy with my race today. Really couldn't have expected better from any aspect of it. I'm feeling very grounded in my running now. I'm healthier than I've been (THANK YOU, ERIN!!), and while I'm stiff today, I know a good night of rest and I'll be much better tomorrow. I definitely feel better than I expected to after that pace.

The best part? I've done very little other than eat and sit around. And we're going out for milkshakes in a bit. :) Yay running!

Speed Class Wrap-Up

After 8 weeks of training, we had our end of training 5k Tuesday night, with the promise of pizza, beer, and a little social time after. It was just a neighborhood route (thankfully the track was taken, so we didn't have to circle that damn thing 12+ lousy times), and maps out about right, so I feel good when I say that I PR'd that sucker!

Finished with a 29:40, which is well above the 8 minute/mile goal pace they somehow calculated for me. I can run about 1/4 mile at that pace and I'm wheezing, so that's clearly way off. But a sub-30 5k has been my goal pretty much since I started running, so it was cool to see that come to fruition.

I learned a lot from this class, but very different things from what I expected to learn. I thought it would be like picking up my current range of paces and shifting them all down together. But I found that my fastest pace didn't improve at all. In fact, between gaining some weight in going back to work and sitting at my desk 50 hours a week and having considerably less time to work out, I feel like my fastest pace actually got slower.

What happened, though, is that my easy and moderate paces have improved, in that they're a little faster and they feel a little easier. And since, as a distance runner, those paces are my bread and butter, I'm okay with that outcome. It's not a huge difference, but I feel stronger in general and I have more trust that I can push myself when I need to. Breathing hard, even for several miles, doesn't scare me like it used to.

The other thing I've learned is that I hate doing all run. Hate. It. And if I hated it but it made me measurably faster, I might be willing to suck it up. But it doesn't. I guarantee I'll run a faster half marathon Sunday doing 3/.45 intervals than if I tried to do all run. And I'll enjoy it more and finish feeling victorious rather than beaten down.

So, there you have it: My principle takeaway from 8 weeks of all-run speed training is that I'm going back to run/walk. Ha.

Seriously though, that Levee Run 10k was so shitty. I can definitely take some positives away from it, but the negatives, along with what I've learned about myself through this speed class, actually made me re-evaluate what I'm doing, what my goals are, what's best for me long term.

I realized that the fastest I ever want to run is what I think of as my "I'm free!" run. I have no idea what pace you'd call it, but it's my "running feels good and I'm not going to think about form or pace or anything. I'm just going to gallop along like a little kid." It's not so much a pace as a state of mind that's not beholden to timers and PRs and goals.

It's just running because it's fun and feels primal and epic.

I'm genuinely excited about Rock and Roll Half on Sunday. The weather is supposed to be perfect, I don't have any injuries, I feel like my head's in the right place. I'm just ready to have a great time and get back to having fun out there. And then eating ALL THE THINGS afterward.