Thursday, August 18, 2011

Running Updates.... and such

Not a lot to update! I just realized it had been a long long long time since I wrote about any adventures.

This summer started with a bummer when I completed 1/2 of the Squaw Peak 50 snow course, and then had to drop because I was having IT band issues. The snow course was much more difficult than the real course, and I am praying it is many more years before we have that much snow in June again! I decided after that run I will take Bozung Hill about 5 times before Pole Haven Hell, Rock Canyon, and the Shoreline Trail in the heat! Never-the-less, it was all the expected hell an ultrarunner can dream and more!

I was thrilled to hear that Grant Holdaway finished his 10th year at Squaw Peak, at the age of 80, and then felt like a wimp for dropping! But it was good that I did, because a few weeks later it turned into a stress point, and then I had to take 6 weeks completely off of running all together. This means I donated my race fees for Speed Goat, Deseret News Marathon, and sadly didn't even get to start the beast of Katcina Mosa! That was the saddest one for me. Katcina has beat me 2 years in a row, and I was going to conquer Katcina or die this year! Instead I listened to the advice of my doctor and gulp.... stopped running for a few weeks! I volunteered at the coral at aid station 9 (mile 56) and watched several beat up of my running friends come through!

I decided part of the cause of the stress fracture was the pair of $170 Hoka Maffetes that I purchased in May. I have been buying running shoes since 1997 and I have always needed a size 10 in a running shoe. The problem with the Hoka's is for whatever reason, despite the most common shoe size for a womens' running shoe being a 10, they only go up to a 9.5 in women's. The additional problem with the shoe is that the toe box is much smaller than other running shoes, and so a proper size for my foot would be a 10.5.

That mistake cost me 3.5 races, and having to avoid almost any impact on my foot for weeks. I sold the shoes to someone who has a smaller foot, and will go back to my tried and true trail shoes that I know work for my foot!

I started short distances this week, and so far my foot is holding up. I have been working a lot on my upper body strength with Tandi, and feel like I can start introducing Mauy Thai and running back into my life, wahoo!!!

In addition to my injury, I have been migrating Southward.

I opened a new office in Spanish Fork in May. I am building a house in Springville, and trying to rent out my Lindon home and rent a house in Springville in the meantime while our home is being built!

My kids have started school at Springville schools, and I am scoping out some of my old running routes from my hometown of Mapleton! Thinking I might use that Pole Haven Hell road for hill training, because if I can take that a few times, Windy Pass will be a breeze next year! LOL

Graduate school is over, I am anxious to get back to being an ultrarunnerboxer maniac!

Happy Trails! Hopefully my updates and races will start becoming more frequent again!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Snow Shoe Festival 50K and update

It has been a very busy year, so I haven't been updating much.

But I am doing much better. Through lots of sleep, time management, and Nutritional Support I completed 45 miles of the 100K on Antelope Island in November. My first test run and I had no hydration issues.

I climbed Kilimanjaro in January.

I completed the Katoohla Winter Snow Shoe 50K and was the only woman who finished. So despite my slow time due to not having much time to train this year, I got a first place trophy, and came in last! It was awesome!

I have been spending more time on conditioning, and will pick up more on boxing and my miles once I graduate in about 8 weeks. But my body is working better, and my POTS symptoms have not been bothering me. They are almost not noticeable.

Lots of emotional support, nutritional help from Elena, and rest, and supplements to help my adrenal glands have seemed to help. I am now needing a close to normal amount of salt that you would expect, and not the super high amounts.

This has been encouraging news!

Killimanjaro