TARC: The Aftermath

The Good:

Sam had a great weekend! Between swimming, a trip to Wolfe's Neck with extended family and a sleepover with Morgan at our house, she was so busy that she hardly missed us at all :-) Many thanks to Mom and Dad for keeping her occupied! She had a great time!

New haircuts :-)

Cute cousins

Wolfe's Neck picnic with the Raymond clan

Walking the shore with Lillie

Beautiful day

Before stopping to pick Sam up at Kristen's on Sunday, we got off at the Maine Mall exit so I could get ice cream. Yes, it was 11:00 am. So what?! As we turned to go into the parking lot, who should we see but Amy in the car at the light! So, I not only got a big ice cream, I had a chance to fill Amy in on all the details of the race. Fun.

Yum!

Despite all the sweating, the salt, the ice and water poured over my head, etc, I hardly chafed at all and I didn't get any blisters. Hurray!

TARC 50 Results are in. Turns out, I was 4th woman and 20th place overall. Cool. I'll take it!

Also, a HUGE congrats to our friend Tom, who finished his first 100 at TARC in great style. It was an incredibly tough course, and to do 100 miles on it is just plain amazing. Awesome job out there, Tom!

The Bad:

I hardly slept on Saturday night after the race. I was exhausted, but as usual, I could not sleep after a long effort/run. I was also shivering uncontrollably from exhaustion/sunburn/heat, and my quads were hurting so much they kept me from sleeping. I didn't sleep much last night either. Sigh.

Stairs were not my friends yesterday, and we're still not quite on speaking terms today. Plus, my ankles and feet decided to swell up too. Lovely! Why do I do this again?!

The Ugly:

The heat did a number on everyone out there. Some fared better than others. TARC lists the following stats -

100 Milers
75 starters
19 finishers (15% finish rate)

50 Milers
109 starters
70 finishers (64% finish rate)

TARC 50 Race Report

There is a long and short version of this one, for sure.

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The short:

Damn hot. Challenging course. Longest time I've ever spent running. But I got it done.

An 11:44:09 exercise in suffering.

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The long:

I left Sam happily headed to pizza with Mom, Dad and Morgan around 5:15 on Friday evening. We had decided the best plan was to have Mom and Dad stay with her at our house for the weekend, and it turned out to be exactly the right call. She had a great time and a lot of fun with her cousin this weekend, and I didn't have to worry about getting home to take care of her after a rough day.

After leaving Sam, I went to pick up Ryan at work. Ian and Emma were waiting in the parking lot, with little Iona fast asleep in the back seat (so cute) to give us our awesome TMR Ultra zip-ups. (Too bad it was too hot to wear them!) Very cool. Thanks guys! We headed south to Ryan's parents, and had our traditional Friday evening pizza dinner. It was a bit odd to be there without Sam, but it was nice to catch up with Irene and Dana, and I so appreciate that they were willing to let us use their house as a crash pad :-)

Saturday morning rolled around much too quickly. I got up at 4:00 and soon discovered one of my full bladders had leaked all over the place in the fridge. Ugh. Got it cleaned up as best I could, and continued on. We left the house around 4:50, and had no trouble getting to Hale Reservation. We did, however, have a bit of trouble finding the start line, as the volunteer at the check-in sent us the wrong way, and we were wandering through the woods with about a dozen other people wondering where the heck we were. Yikes. Ryan was fairly pissed, but quickly found out where we had to go. The start/finish was at one of the beaches along a big pond. We grabbed a flat spot, chatted with friends and started to get ready.

Just your typical morning at the beach :-)

"Game faces"

Kate and I ready to rock it.

The 100 milers had started at 5:00 am, but I think there were around 90 50-milers starting with us at 7:00. With a Yeti howl the race took off across the beach, and down the entrance road until we reached the first turn into the woods. I had planned to start as slowly as I could, but with the road running, it was probably a bit faster than I would have liked. Still, things slowed to a reasonable, but comfortable pace once in the woods, strung out in a long line with all the other runners. The first wildlife sighting came a few feet into the woods. A doe was about 5 feet off the trail, just looking back over her shoulder at us. Probably wondering what the hell we were all doing :-) She didn't move, just watched us as we all rolled on by.

In retrospect, I would say the first 10 miles were by far the easiest. There was a lot of smooth woods running and a bit of pavement too. I was running fairly well and felt good. I stopped at the first aid station around 4.5 miles in, grabbed a fig newton, hit the port-a-potty and was off again. When I got to the mile 10 (or maybe more like 9?) aid station, where Ryan was supposed to meet me, he wasn't there. Hmmm. I had given him a baggie of stuff to meet me with. Well, nothing to do but grab a few animal crackers, hit the port-a-potty and hope he arrived. If not, I'd make do. As I was using the facilities, I heard a frantic voice say, "Has number 1701 come through yet?" "Ryan," I said, "I'm in here." I came out to find him covered in dirt and blood and fairly frantic. Apparently, he had taken a good fall on his way out. Yikes. I reloaded some gels, ate some dried strawberries, and quickly headed back out onto the trail.

Somewhere between miles 10 and 15, things started to get a bit more technical and we hit two of the steep climbs on the course. The first was a hiking trail straight up through the woods near Noanet Peak. When we got to the top of the climb, we headed downhill, then looped around and went up the Peak again. Argh, silly PUDs! The second climb came a bit later, but we also were treated to a beautiful waterfall in this stretch, and somewhere in here, I was running with a guy who jumped and said, "Turtle." I turned around and jogged a few steps back to check the turtle out. Cool.

Mile 15 was an unmanned water stop. I didn't need anything so continued on. At the road crossing at mile 18, Ryan was there, in the midst of his run, and he ran a few steps with me. I told him things had gotten fairly technical, telling me and the girl I was running with that the part across the street here was really technical too. It started with a really steep gravel hill climb up a pipe line in the woods. Then down to a stream with transfer station run-off. I couldn't get across without stepping into the muck. EW! Soon after, we hit the long stretch of fields to the last aid station, Polliwog Farm. It was a beautiful morning and the fields were buzzing with swallows, but this is where the heat started to get to me. The open fields with the sun beating down. It was not a good combination. I stopped to have one of the aid station people refill my bladder, just in case, had a cup of coke and a few pieces of watermelon, but wasn't smart enough to get any ice at this point. Then it was more fields back to the woods, where the trail was twisty turney, and rock and root infested. Oh, the heat, the heat. I started to feel a bit woozy. The pace slowed. But nothing to do but keep on going. Saw Jamie back at the road waiting for Kate around 24 miles and told him things were getting rough.

Two-way traffic road stretch

Then back to the beach. Hurray. I came through in 5:05, still pretty decent for feeling badly since mile 20. I headed up into the pavilion where they had laid out the aid station feast. Ryan met me there and I told him things were going a bit downhill. He had me sit, got me to drink some water and coke, and eat more watermelon. He put ice in my hat and got a Buff on my neck filled with ice. John, who was there to pace Tom in the 100, nicely restocked my Nathan pack, and after a 5 minute break, I was off again. Only one more lap to go :-)

I still wasn't feeling great, but I felt like I was still moving fairly well. Again, this was the "easy" section and I slowly started to feel better as I chugged along. I stopped at the first aid station and had more watermelon and coke. I tried to drink as much as I could out of my pack. But feeling my arms, I wasn't sweating much. I was flip-flopping with a few guys along this stretch. I never really "ran" with anyone, but it was nice to have people to encourage and be encouraged with as we flip flopped by each other up and down hills. Somewhere around mile 30, I lost the girl I'd also been flipflopping with for quite a while. It was her first 50. I hoped she would make it. 

Ryan met me again at mile 35. I sat down and took a while at this stop. I kept telling him I was not feeling good. I ate 3 pieces of watermelon, had two cups of coke, got a refill on water and more ice in my hat and Buff. Ryan also poured a lot of cold water on me. He told me Michael had come through only 5 minutes before and was hurting. I think we all were. He said it wasn't about time now, it was just about getting through it. And it was true. I'm not going to say I didn't have negative thoughts during the second lap, or even in the last part of the first lap, but those fleeting thoughts of "oh, it would be so much easier to just stop" simply got pushed out of the way. I had no songs in my head all day. I was just focused on moving forward. I knew my goal time of 10:00 was out the window. I knew we were all suffering. I hoped I could break 11:00. But most of all, I was going to finish the damn thing. 

Ryan said he looked at his phone at one point and it was reading 83. Yes, it was damn hot out there.

OK, so I knew I had some rough road ahead. I was walking more but running when I could. At the two-way traffic section around the Noanet Peak loop, I saw Bob. I had made up two hours on him (he was running the 100) and man, he didn't look good. He was pale and not sweating. He told me he would probably drop. We continued on our own journeys. I caught up to him and another guy at the unmanned water station, where there wasn't much water left. Bob told me they were stopping here. He was afraid he was going to pass out. None of us had a phone, so I left feeling slightly nervous about leaving him there and knowing I had to get the message along. I was alone through this stretch, trying to run the nicely graded parts and hiking the rest. George and Ann were at the road crossing at mile 42.5. I told them about Bob and Ann called Ryan to tell him. George, bless his heart, walked with me for a bit, got me ice for my hat and had a cold bottled water that I poured all over myself.

I knew I had the roughest stretch ahead, and it had taken me a really long time to do the 8 miles between when I saw Ryan last and the road crossing. My legs were starting to rebel. Still, I was thankful I had found "SaltStick". The legs didn't cramp nearly as much as they had at Stonecat, on what was a MUCH cooler day. I took in 9 saltstick tabs throughout the day, and really, they worked wonders.

At the mucky stream, one of the guys I'd been leapfrogging with said to me, "I thought I'd be done by now." My watch read 9:49. Yup, I had been hoping to be closing in on the finish too. Instead, I was still out slogging in the woods with a long way to go. I was hurting for sure, but still had some energy left. I was able to mostly run the fields and woods before and after Polliwog Farm aid station, but once things got technical, my quads refused to let me run the downhills and I didn't have energy to run the uphills. I started talking to myself, telling myself I had to run the flats. It would get me finished sooner. I still walked a fair amount of them. Somewhere in here, I caught up to Michael. I couldn't believe it. I asked him how he was doing and he said it wasn't good. His legs had seized up and he couldn't run at all. It was also in this section that all of the sudden there were a lot of people. Some were definitely 100-milers. We were all suffering, but I did pass quite a few people. The legs hadn't given up completely, just partially :-)

The section between the fields and back to the road crossing took forever. Where was the fucking road?! It like being stuck in hell. There, finally, we were there. George gave me more ice for my hat.

I yelled to the crossing guard, "How many miles to the finish." 1.5 miles. That was it. 11:00 had come and gone. Even 11:30 was out the window. Shit. I so wanted to be done. I ran what I could, which wasn't much. And then, that final uphill and a few zigs and zags, and there it was. The beach! I ran as hard as I could on that sand and crossed the finish line with a smile on my face. It wasn't the race I had hoped, but I had done it. I didn't give up and I was proud of that. Plus I was just so happy to be done!

As I crossed the timing chip pad, I said to Ryan, "That was the hardest thing I've ever done."

11:44:09 officially. 5th woman. 21st place. It wasn't pretty but I did it. And thank heavens, it was done.

The finish (Can you see the smile?)

I was hardly able to move so I settled into a chair to try and eat and drink. That wasn't really happening, but I did get some wipes to clean myself off and Ryan nicely removed my shoes and socks and wiped down my legs. I am one lucky girl to have a husband and crew like him. Michael came in 5 minutes later, his legs a mass of cramps and spasms. We would soon hear that Kate had dropped at mile 35. She was moving well, but slowly, and also had a huge blood blister on one of her heels. It was rough out there, for sure.

I finally got up and down to the lake to rinse off. I said congrats to a few of my "friends" and snacked a bit here and there. My quads were shot but I could move around OK. We hung out for a bit until the sun started to set, and then finally around 8:30 we were in the car. What a day.

A huge shout-out to Ryan, John, George and Ann and Jamie for crewing, cheering and helping me out on the course, and to Ryan for encouraging me along the way and telling me I was doing great even if he was worried about me.

And of course, a big thank you to TARC for putting on one heck of a race. It was one of the toughest courses I've run with all the PUDs, rocks, roots, twists and turns (and the heat) but it was a beautiful setting. The course was very well marked, and the aid stations were great. On a rough day, the volunteers helped keep us buoyed and well fed. Many, many thanks!

Last One

Out for a short 3-mile run around the block at 6:00 am this morning, mostly just to soothe the nerves. I might feel slightly more prepared for this 50 than for Stonecat but I am still nervous :) Now all that's left to do is run for a long time tomorrow!

Short

This week's theme (well, aside from Saturday) is short runs. I ran the same loop as Monday this morning but added on one piece in the middle to get in another mile. As Ryan said, you might as well run four one day so you can get a 60 mile week. Ha!

The weather for Saturday is looking quite toasty. Just another element to keep things interesting out there, but it will mean it's extra important to drink and eat and not go out too fast. The goals of running strong and smart and finishing with a smile on my face remain the same, but perhaps the "reach" goal becomes a bit more of a reach. We'll just have to see.

In other news, yesterday was Sam's kindergarten assessment. Apparently they have changed the assessments and all school throughout the state are assessing incoming kindergarteners this week with the same tools, etc. I felt like I was back in school myself there for  bit, sitting in the guidance counselor's office filling out a questionnaire on Samantha and her development ;) Sam seemed nonplussed about the whole thing, and came out smiling, telling me afterward that she got to play with playdough, catch a ball with one hand, two hands and her foot ("That was a bit tricky," she said), cut along the line with scissors, draw shapes (The cross, she said, "was a bit awkward" for her to do), and play I Spy with letter sounds. I'm curious to know how she stands in relation to the other 49 kindergarteners that they assessed yesterday, but I suppose that isn't the sort of thing they tell you straight up. In any event, she seems very comfortable at Woodside and while I'm sure there will be some bumps in the transition this fall, I think it is going to be a good place for her.

Taper Time

Ah, the taper. Nothing but short runs, plus a lot of nervous energy, pondering, niggling doubt, boundless enthusiasm, and crazy planning and packing. Gotta love it ;)

Got out this morning for a quick 3 miles around the block, and then came home and stared at the TARC 50 entrant list and pondered the most recent course recon I've received. I feel like this training cycle has gone pretty well for me, with some solid efforts in the past 5 weeks. Training overall this spring has been a lot less fraught with doubt; this time around I haven't felt those same nagging thoughts about "can I?" like I did last year at Stonecat. I know this course is going to be tougher than Stonecat and that I'll likely be out there longer, but this time around, at least I have one 50 miler under my belt, which gives me a bit more confidence and a semblance of calm. It is not as much of an unknown, even if the course is more of an unknown. Does that make any sense? Then again, it's always an adventure out there, and anything from the course to the weather can turn the tides. I'll just have to see what happens.

I have a pretty wide window in terms of a goal time, as it sounds like this course is going to be a bit "slow." Most of all, I'm hoping to run strong and smart, and not go so fast on the first lap that I can't hold on for the second lap. No pacers allowed this time around, so it will just be me and my thoughts. Luckily, there are a number of spots on the "loop" where we can see our crew, which will be nice, so hopefully Ryan will be able to make a few appearances if only to chide me to eat and drink more :-)

Commons, Coleman Farm and Pennelville Run with Amy

Amy and I haven't had a chance to catch up and run in person in a while. With life being fairly busy for both of us, the chance came this morning but at 6:30 am :-) I snuck out the back door and we drove over to the Bowdoin field house. Surprisingly there were no other cars in the lot ;) It was a lovely morning and we headed out onto the trail to the Commons. As we meandered along the initial rooty singletrack, Amy made the comment that I really do know these trails. I laughed and told her that yup, I've been running these trails since 1998. I should know them by now, right?!

Out in the Commons proper, the ladyslippers were out and the rhodora was in bloom underneath the pitch pines. Further along, out in the expanse that is Pennelville, the Bobolinks were chatting and calling out in the fields. We ran through the dewy grass onto the Coleman Farm property, the ocean greeting us at the end of the peninsula, the water sparkling in the early morning sun. We took a jaunt further out into Pennelville before turning around at 6 miles, so we could get back to the parking lot at 10 miles.

It was great to chat away the miles, and really nice to share the trails and area I love to run so much with a friend. Thanks for the run, Amy! Of course, we stopped at Frosty's for a donut after the run too :-)

Saturday Run and Hike (and Swim and Bike)

Today was an active day for the Snowplug clan. I was up and out the door at 5:50 am for a run on the Snowplug loop. It was a beautifully quiet morning to be out in the woods. Scared up a deer by Barnes Leap, listened to the rushing water, and enjoyed the bunchberries, ladyslippers, starflowers, blue bead lilies out along the trail. Got in a nice, fairly quick 6 miles and got home before everyone woke up. Then it was Ryan's turn to run  and he headed over to Bradbury while Sam and I hit the road to the Y for Sam's swim lessons. After swimming, Sam and Anne had some fun on the gymnastic equipment, bouncing and jumping around on the mats and walking on the balance beam.

My parents headed this way after lunch and we decided to take advantage of the blue skies to head over to the Cathance for a nice hike. Sam did great hiking, and we all had a really good time. Along with flowers, we saw a snake, a Phoebe, a porcupine (!) and two frogs.

Sam leading the way

Painted trillium

Ladyslipper

Yeehaw! We love nature tracking!

Sam and Daddy along the river (Sam with her collecting bag)

Hands in the air!

Sam with Neenie and Pippi

Blue bead lilies

Bunchberry

Gotta touch the water

Porcupine!

Then after we came home and had a snack, we went back out so Sam could ride her bike for a while before dinner. Phew! An active, and fun, Saturday :-)

Midweek Running

Life's been busy in our house, and I'm in taper mode, so the running hasn't been all that exciting :-) Got in a soggy 3 miles yesterday on a cold, raw, misty and rainy morning. Brrr. And brrr again this morning too! I headed out at 5:50 am and it was only 41 degrees out! Crazy. I even sheepishly donned my tights. That is just too cold for shorts if it isn't race day! I ran down to the river and back for a nice 5 miler, enjoying the lush green woods and the accent of the white starflowers and bunchberries, the magenta fringed polygala and the light pink of the ladyslippers against all the greenery. I could hear the river long before I reached its banks; I stopped for a moment before turning back uphill to watch the water churn and tumble as a light mist rose into the air. Beautiful morning to be out.

Monday Funday

Ryan convinced me to not set the alarm this morning for my run, but Ronnie woke me up anyway :-) Since we weren't in a rush this morning, I quietly padded downstairs at 6:30 and spent an hour or so at the computer, drinking coffee and catching up on a few things. Sam didn't wake up until after 8:00 am, at which point I decided if I was going to run, I should probably get going :-) Got in a mellow 4 miles around the Heath.

Upon our return, cupcakes were made, and then we headed off to meet John for brunch at Broadway Deli. Yum! Then it was off again, this time to Wolfes Neck Farm to meet up with Mom, Dad, Morgan and Kristen. It was sprinkling a bit when we arrived, but eventually the rain abated and we wandered around saying hi to the animals. I particularly enjoyed listening to the joyful chattering of the Bobolinks, and watching them flit to and fro in the fields. Such wacky, interesting birds.

Picking clovers

Moo!

Fun at the farm

Goats!

Happy Sam

Feeding the horses

After a bit of farm wandering, we headed down to Haraseeket Lunch for a late lunch/early dinner to celebrate Mom's birthday a few weeks early. Oh, the fried scallops were delicious! Sam, on the other hand, decided she LOVED steamers (dipped in a lot of butter of course :) ) and found that she liked lobster too. Who is this kid?! Very proud of her for trying out some new foods, and finding something new that she likes. Hurray!

Steamer?

Steamer down

YUM!

A great way to celebrate Neenie's birthday a few weeks early! Happy Birthday Mom! We love you :-)

Bradbury and Pineland

Dropped Sam off at Kristen's this morning so I could get in a run and get up to Pineland to hang out and cheer for a bit. I stopped at Bradbury to run, but wasn't feeling super motivated. I headed out on the east side, just keeping the pace mellow. Was surprised to see a fair number of jack in the pulpits along Lanzo, but also sad to see more poison ivy along that stretch than I've ever noticed before. Got in a good 6 miles and then headed over to check in on the action at Pineland. Fun to see so many friends out running, and running well, and great to sit with the Trail Monsters and catch up for a bit. Always nice to have a chance to cheer racers on from the sidelines - Pineland is such a great race for that! Lots of fun!

Head of Tides

The plan for today called for us watching Sam's friend Anne this morning so that Phil could run the canicross at Pineland with Quint, and Kristen could run the 10k. That meant getting to Pineland around 9:30 am. So in order to get in my run beforehand, I was up early, so early in fact that as I sat down with my coffee and breakfast I caught a glimpse of a fox out back, likely the one who has been calling/barking up along the fenceline the past few weeks. Our eyes locked for a few seconds before he took off. I took off myself around 5:45 am, setting out for Head of Tides. It was a nice morning, but overcast and very humid. The river was very pretty, the water spilling over the rocks, the riverbanks lined with bright green moss and ferns. I spotted many more wildflowers blooming this time out in the woods than two weeks ago. Purple violets, white swamp violets, gold thread, several blooming ladyslippers, blue bead lilies, wood anemone, starflowers, bunchberry and some beautiful magenta fringed polygala.

Fringed polygala from today's run

The final slope down to the parking lot at Head of Tides was covered with lily of the valley. It's going to smell beautiful there in a week or so when all the flowers are out! The edge of the grassy area was awash in blue forget-me-nots. I stopped for a moment there, and watched a Great Blue Heron soar gracefully over the water before getting back on the trail for the return trip. As I rounded the Heath on the way back, I noticed that the rhodora were in bloom - the swamp was awash in magenta blossoms. Saw a few cala lilies blooming in the swampy area too.

Ended up with a nice 12 miles, and got back home just after Sam and Ryan rolled out of bed. Perfect! Then it was off for Pineland for a fun morning of watching the racers and dogs, and chatting with friends.

Our Little Graduate

Sam, all her friends, and her teachers have been working really hard this month on today's graduation ceremony. There has been a lot of practicing during daycare, a lot of singing her graduation quietly at home so we can't quite hear the lyrics, and a lot of talk about how exciting this day is. OK, so it is totally over the top to celebrate a preschool graduation with caps and gowns and Pomp and Circumstance playing as they walk down the aisle, but it is also just darn cute, and really, we are very proud of what she's accomplished this year and the little person she is becoming. Congrats, Samantha! We love you :-)

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On the running front, got in a nice, uneventful four miles this morning before work and the rest of the day.

You Just Never Know

Didn't get up yesterday morning to run, so I headed out around 6:15 pm once Ryan got home for a short 3-miler. Ran the short Highland Green loop backwards, and as I was cresting the hill near the turn to the powerlines, a guy on an ATV crossed the street. At the edge of the sidewalk, he stopped and sat and looked down the road at me. As I got closer, he slowly drove off up the trail, but still looking at me. It was just creepy, and there was no way I was going to turn onto that trail behind him. So, I ran the Connector back instead, staying as far off the edge of the road as I could. Ugh. This reminded me that I really need to run in the mornings. The troublemakers just aren't up and out at 6:00 am!

Of course, what did I do this morning but ignore the alarm and go back to sleep. Sigh. So, after taking Sam to the doctor for a hurting ear (ear infection #2 of the year), working for a few hours, and then getting a few errands done, I headed out for a run around 2:30 pm. I planned to run the Snowplug loop, but as I neared the Quarry, I could see a few guys at the edge of the quarry with two cars at the "trailhead," one of them with a bunch of beer cans on the back of the truck bed. I dislike that I sometimes feel the need to alter my runs because of other people, but I also don't like heading into a situation that might cause trouble when it can be avoided. So I sighed, turned around and took the road to the cart path to the Heath. As I was heading away from the Quarry, a guy was running towards me. We said hi and I had a fleeting idea to ask him if he was running by the quarry and if so, could I join him. Then I realized I was totally being biased, and asking a random runner to run with him wasn't much better than running by those three guys at the quarry. So off I continued on my alternate route.

As I was headed down to Barnes Leap, I saw the runner guy again. We said hello, and he asked me if there was a bridge across the river. I stopped and explained that well, there used to be, but no longer, and I had heard you could cross the river when it was low and get up to the old road and get in some good running on it, but had never done so myself. He looked at me and said, "Are you Danielle?" Ha. It was Matt Lunt. He said, "Actually, I was trying to find the bridge Ryan had been talking about in one of his posts." Ah, he was looking for the new bridge that crossed the stream on the way out to Head of Tides. I explained that the bridge was at the opposite end of the trail system, but if he wanted to follow me, I could get him most of the way there. It was fun to have company as we ran along the river, and soon enough we were at the field, where I sent him on my way, and continued on back up to the dirt road and home. Got in a nice 6 miles in 57:42. Meant to run slower, but somehow being in the lead along the river when I knew a fast guy was following me made me pick up the pace :)