Ultra Running

  • Tailwind Black Friday Event


    Anyone who knows me, knows I love Tailwind. I first tried it after winning a few tubes as a prize at a running event, and I’ve never looked back.

    I use it while I’m doing any kind of exercise/activity more than an hour long, and LOVE that it doesn’t mess with my gut at all. It’s difficult to find a hydration product that doesn’t mess with the gut.

    You can tell ultra athletes had something to do with its creation. 🙂

    Their wicked-awesome Black Friday event has started, and it goes on all weekend, so give them a click.

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  • Antelope Canyon 55k Race Report #TheRunningWriter


    ANTELOPE CANYON 55K

    Antelope Canyon was put on by Vacation Races, and the race sells out fairly quickly, so I signed up what felt like ages ago. So, when race day came, I was extra excited. Seems like the longer I train / wait for a race start, the more hyped up I am.

    The race was Saturday March 9th, but we chose to leave on Thursday the 7th to avoid any rushing/issues that might pop up. We wanted to get settled in and then have Friday for a relaxed prep-time for the race! Page, AZ is a pretty town. With the red rock is kind of reminded me of Sedona.

    Friday the 8th we went to the expo. It was wicked-windy so they moved it inside, which was nice. We talked to some people about the race course, specifically the sand I heard might be a big issue. After talking to them about it, we decided to duct tape some of our shoe vents that our gators didn’t cover (I used pink tape of course!) I would definitely recommend Desert Gaiters vs the normal gaiters. They cover all of your shoe. But the tape did help!

    We also found the start and figured out how long it’d take us to get there from the hotel. Which brings me to the lodging issue. I wouldn’t recommend staying at the marina for a couple of reasons. Mainly, it felt far away from everything, including the pre-race exciting atmosphere. I’d get a hotel in town if possible. Second, they have poor customer service.

    One interesting thing about the race sag bags (the bags you pack with your stuff and have at specific aid stations–also called Drop Bags.) You had to get your bags to the expo on Friday. You can’t bring them race day morning, like most races. So that was weird, but I liked it! Didn’t have to worry about forgetting them race day morning. you know, because of “race brain” forgetfulness. Or is it only me who suffers from that?

    Friday before the race, I spent most of the day feet up, resting, drinking, preparing. Got my “Flat Lynn” all set out. For those of you who don’t know what that means, here’s a picture. Basically it’s just laying out what you’re going to wear.

    I rarely sleep super-awesome the night before a race. The key is to sleep good two nights before. So, Thursday I was able to sleep fairly well.

    Race Morning. It was COLD. I suggest having a throwaway blanket at the ready if you can. Wrap it around you and then just before race time, you can set it on a chair, and it’s no matter if it gets taken. Unless you have a great Sherpa, which we were lucky enough to have. Traci’s hubby, Nathan, was instrumental in taking out the stress of race day morning by driving, holding our stuff, and just being all around awesome!.

    For me, this wasn’t a true race. What I mean by that is that it wasn’t a race where “I’m going to shoot for a great time, wanna run fast.” This was truly a sight-seeing-adventure for me. I’d heard the views were amazing. And they were.

    The first 15 or so miles were great. Horseshoe Bend and the slick Rock canyons.
    A M A Z I N G
    .
    Traci and I ran the first 20 or so miles of the race together, and that first 16 or so, we stopped and took so many pictures. Great memories made for sure.

    After that, it got a little harder. Up to the Page Rim was treacherous. Straight up super soft sand for almost a mile. Once up there, the loop was 10 miles long. And all packed, single track trail. PERFECT.

    The first five had great views over the desert and Lake Powell. The last 5 miles, not so pretty. It overlooked the city and went through some golf course sights, which normally are pretty, but I was so tired and ready to be done, I was needing spectacular views to distract me from my pain. LOL!

    At the end of that Page Rim 10-mile loop, there was about 1.3 miles left. Down that sandy, almost a mile, hill. It was nuts. I felt like I needed skis to get down it. On tired legs…it was rough, but the knowledge that I was a mile from the finish, and the fact that I had my sweet hubby on FaceTime…got me through to the end.

    I pretty much stuck to my normal racing routine as to what I ate and drank during the hours out here. And I was out there for about 8 1/2 hours. The stress level wasn’t super high, meaning I wasn’t going all out, climbing massive hills, etc. So, I didn’t need TONS of calories per hour.

    Tailwind was the number one source of calories and hydration. I held true to keeping a 17 ounce collapsable bottle of Tailwind and one of plain water. That way I can tell just how many calories I consumed. I carried tubes of Tailwind with me to mix at the aid stations as I needed. Also, in my sag bags I had pre-made bottles of Tailwind ready to go. That’s helpful, I don’t have to mess with ripping the top off the TW tube and then pouring in the bottle, then filling with water.

    But sag bags aren’t always an option. This race had TONS of opportunities to access your sag bags, so that was nice. Their aid stations were amazing. Stocked full of water, ice, and food of all varieties. They were so helpful, too, with filling our bottles, and always asking, “What can I help you with.” Really was well done.

    All in all, I probably did about 150-200 calories per hour. I supplemented my Tailwind with a little butter/honey sandwich a GU a couple of times. Mostly to change it up from drinking. Or if I found myself getting behind on my calories, those are options that work for me and my stomach.

    My shoes: Topo UltraVenture shoes. 5mm drop. I switched to those about a month or two before the race. And let me tell you, I LOVE THEM. I did not have one hot spot after running 34 miles in them. Never changed socks, nothing. I did take ONE of my shoes off to check sand levels in there after seeing other runners pouring tons of sand out of their shoes. But I didn’t have any in that shoe, so I didn’t take the other one off.

    I’m weird about taking my shoes off on races. I never have. Don’t like to. But again, it’s individual to the runner.

    Overall, this was an amazing experience. Difficult, and that sand…oh my goodness that sand. When talking with my trail sisters, we agreed that it was about 13-14 miles of hour glass like sand. And that really does make things hard. BUT, the views, aid stations and overall experience WAY WORTH IT.

    It’s a one and done for me, though. And I think that’s the standard with this particular race. It was 83% first timers. So, it seems I’m not the only one with the one and done attitude with this race. I do think, though, that every ultra runner should give it a go. You won’t regret it.

    Thanks to the following for helping me finish this race successfully.

    Cadence Performance Coaching – Coach Charlie & Coach Tracy sure nail the ultra training. Consistent Training is how you run all the miles. 🙂

    Tailwind Nutrition – For providing awesome nutrition without the gut bomb. I’m proud to be on the Tailwind Trailblazer team!

    Trail Sisters – For connecting me with some awesome peep to run. Proud to be on the Trail Sisters Team!

    Topo Athletic – For great, comfortable shoes. Love my UltraVentures-can you make them in PINK, though? 🙂

    Nathan – For an awesome hydration pack with all the awesome pockets so I can safely carry my phone to take pictures! No, kidding. It helps me carry everything I need for long & short runs alike.

    Tortoise and Hare Sports – For keeping me all geared up, your awesome staff, and your commitment to the running community.

    Hope this race report helps you in some small way! Happy running, my friends!!

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  • Epic Adventures #TrailSisters #TheRunningWriter


    https://youtu.be/FvuZeJBEobc

    I can’t put into words how amazing this adventure was. It’s days later and I’m still thinking about it. These two amazing women are strong, beautiful, funny, quirky, inspiring, compassionate, loving, self-less, encouraging.

    They just make me smile.

    I was privileged to spend just under five and a half hours with them running down the Grand Canyon to the river and then back up. It’s not an easy feat as it included more than 6,500 feet of climbing (according to Strava). At points it was so steep we were all but crawling. It was invigorating and challenging.

    We kept encouraging each other, our Woo-Hoos echoing off the canyon walls for all to hear. we met some amazing people along the way, too, who were so encouraging to us. A group of them were Wounded Veterans. That inspired me beyond belief.

    Thank you, ladies, for joining me in this 20-mile adventure. Love you bunches!!

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  • #TheRunningWriter 31-mile adventure


    Crown King was AMAZING. So very difficult, but so very rewarding. Below is a little video I made of the adventure. It’s quite obvious I’m not a great tech-type person, but just enough to make these little things for me to remember for always.

    Below the video is my full race report in case you want more details….HUGE thanks to everyone who donated to my fundraiser. You guys just blew me away with your generosity, raising $2400.00!!

    And I still have one more event to go for fundraising–> THE BOSTON MARATHON….in three short weeks. 🙂

    https://youtu.be/Hnv14V1Rf5g.

    RACE REPORT:

    I couldn’t have asked for a better day. Cool 50-ish degrees at the start down at Lake Pleasant (LP).

    I started out the morning like I normally do on big run days. My coffee drink (coffee, honey, cream), and then got in the zone by doing my daily devotion and daily quote (#TheRunningWriterQOTD).

    And…worked to keep my heart rate/race arousal down. I can easily hit 100+ beats per minute getting psyched up…so I for sure have to focus on that.

    We made our way to LP and got there a bit earlier than planned, so we camped out in the car for 10-15 minutes up at a private little trailhead (Pipeline). Just listened to music and chilled. Once we got down to the start, Coach Charlie and I started seeing people we knew, and chatted it up a bit. Then I found my trailsisters, Tracy, Kristien, and Traci.

    We touched base, encouraged each other, then got in line for the start. I took a GU gel about 10 minutes before the start and then got going. Once we started, I clicked on a timer that would go off every hour from that point forward.

    I do that so when it goes off, I can think back, “Did I have about 150 or so calories that past hour?” And if I didn’t, I would either take a gel or take some serious gulps of Tailwind just so I stayed on course.

    Over time and training, I learned that about 150-200 calories per hour works for me. Mostly from Tailwind (TW) and then a GU or PBJ along the way to enhance that.

    I usually take a PBJ sandwich at about 2 hours and 20 or so minutes into the run. And that’s enough calories for about a full hour or so. Just sipping water for a little while after that. During this race, I took it at about 2 hours 45 minutes.

    Now, I don’t RACE these races. I run them to enjoy them, so I take my time at each aid station, some more than others. The first one was about 8.5 miles in, so I didn’t stop too long other than to refill my TW and water bottles. I carried 2-16 ounce collapsable bottles in my pack versus a bladder to keep the water weight I was carrying down. I just had to be sure to fill up each aid station.

    The half-way mark: Ft. Misery was an awesome stop. Loved that one the most. They had energy, dogs greeting us, drinks, and encouragement. I did take some ginger ale soda stuff at each stop, and that was nice. 🙂

    The fun REALLY started after that. The climbing was insane:

    Yeah….it was NO JOKE!

    So, I did a lot of walking, hiking, shuffling, and tons of picture/video taking. The weather was starting to cool down, too, which was awesome. I think the heat affects me pretty significantly as demonstrated by my last ultra (October 2017) with my first ever DNF (Did Not Finish.)

    I was determined to finish this one. Mostly for myself, but also for all the donors who helped me raise so much money for St. Jude in the name of The Mary Sue Seymour Foundation who is sponsoring me to run The Boston Marathon next month!

    Anyway. I was trucking along, feeling quite tired. Funny thing…my jaw muscles started cramping up a bit. I must have been clamping my jaw!

    That’s new.

    But hey, I went with it. Really focused on relaxing my jaw. Rubbed the muscles a little, and kept on trucking.

    My left hip (my problem child for sure) started acting up pretty good, so at about 4.5 or 5 hours into the run, I took ONE Advil. I didn’t want to chance any upset stomach, so I took it when I ate a PBJ and only took one.

    It took the edge off. Still hurt, but I knew I wasn’t damaging anything. It was just hurting after so long on my feet.

    And…I just looked down at the shoe that had all the names of my donors and kept on trucking. You were a great inspiration to me. And, I had a kicking playlist thanks to everyone who suggested songs to me via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!!!

    Once I made it to that last aid station way up at 29 or so miles, it was all downhill. And believe it or not, my legs felt good enough to run down the hills. I thought for sure I’d be crawling down since they were tired and sore. But…my body had other plans.

    Might have been the Advil and PBJ I’d had within the past couple hours, and then the Tailwind and Gel since then, but I had the energy, so I went with it.

    It was such a rush.

    Biggest surprise though….MY DAD! He was about 1/4 of a mile from the finish, cheering me on. I had NO IDEA! Total surprise. I thought I was hallucinating, actually. But then I heard, “HEY KID!”

    I knew it was him.

    He’s my hero. He’s run ultras before, Boston Marathon, climbed mountains….totally my inspiration. So…I had the two more important men in my life there to support me at my event: My husband and my dad.

    Talk about blessed.

    So….as you can see by the video, there’s quick clip of me at the finish. I almost didn’t see Charlie, but he got me.

    I was so happy to be finished. And I got to see Traci, Tracy, and Kristin, too. And they had amazing races, which made all our training together feel that much more special.

    Overall, most important things for me….

    1. Doing the training that my coach puts on my calendar. You put the time in, trust your coach, and you’ll do just fine!
    2. Nutrition: running that first half of the 50k wisely so you don’t have a horrible second half…way important. Be smart about it and do what you need to do to remind yourself what and when to eat. The hourly alarm going off, HUGE for me. I get race stupid and forget EVERYTHING…so I find a method to help me prevent mistakes.
    3. I WANT TO QUIT: Did the race get hard? Yep. Did I want to quit? Yep. So what made me keep going? Lots of things. It’s not unusual to get those feelings of wanting to quit. The pain is so much. Why am I doing this? I can’t finish. I suck. All those things run through my mind. I just don’t give into them.I fight back with positive self talk, telling myself I’ve trained for this. I’ve done the miles. I’m strong. It’s okay it hurts. Embrace the pain. It’s making me strong. I’m doing this for a cause. I’m healthy. Sometimes I just cranked up the tunes. Especially when Carrie Underwood’s Champion came on. And Overcomer (Mandisa). It’s amazing the timing of those songs. I’ve got about six to seven hours of music on, and when the hills got bad, three different times, inspiring songs came on. I couldn’t believe it. But I cranked it up and jammed up those hills. Slow…but sure.I’d stop and take pictures when I was feeling like I wanted to quit. Seeing the views, taking a breath, it put it all back into perspective. Gave me strength. I thought of my father in law I recently (and very unexpectedly) lost. The St. Jude peeps we were raising money for. Mary Sue. All those things inspired me. Just got to find your way to push through the pain.
    4. Have fun: I’m not a person who RACES these, as I mentioned earlier, so another top thing for me is having fun. Encouraging people along the way. Saying hi. Taking pictures. And if we’re able to talk…hearing stories of the people I’m running with. If we’re working too hard to talk, that’s fine, too, just running side by side a bit is awesome for me. Love it. Love seeing people out, doing healthy things. And crazy things. It’s nice knowing I’m not the only crazy chick out there! LOL!

    So, whether you’re doing crazy huge long events like this, or just getting off the couch to start walking everyday, it’s all good. Do it. Enjoy it. Embrace it!

    Thanks for joining me on this crazy journey. Stay tuned for more as I run the Boston Marathon on Monday April 16th! Doing it in Mary Sue’s name again. Let’s see if we can’t raise that last $400 to hit our $3,000.00 goal!!

    Special thanks to:
    Coach Charlie- Cadence Performance Coaching
    Tailwind Nutrition
    Nathans
    New Balance
    Tortoise and Hare Sports
    Gu Energy Gels
    Aravaipa Running

    You guys make it all possible!!

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  • True Partners-Dam Good Run Race Recap


    So thankful for this guy.

    This past Sunday’s 24k race was a beauty. HOT and difficult, but at the end, I ran right into the lake. My sweet hubby (and Coach) joined me. This picture, taken by Trailsister, Courtney Bullock, tells it all.

    He’s my rock. There for me through it all.

    We didn’t start this race, The Dam Good Run (since it went over the Lake Pleasant Dam) until 7:30am. That’s pretty late in the running world, especially in the desert.

    I made sure I hydrated pretty well the previous days, knowing it was going to be a hot 16 miles. And things were rolling pretty well until that second aid station. I forget the mileage until that one, but I was pretty hot by then.

    Ice cubes in my neck bandanna was the cure for that, though. I packed it tight against my skin, with some more around my wrist and I was set.

    It was great seeing Travis Swaim and Nathan Revello, to fellow trail runners, at that turn around aid station. They weren’t scheduled to be there, I was just lucky. They were great encouragers, and that helped, because I had about five more miles to go.

    And they were gonna hurt.

    But that’s okay, I knew there was a lake waiting for me to jump into, so I turned on a little music (Skillet, Red, and some other pump me ups) and hammered it best I could. Had to walk a few times, but overall, made it without too much trouble.

    The last third of a mile, my sweet hubby ran me in. WHEW, that sure helped! I was BEAT!

    Here’s a pic of me coming in at the end of the race. Thanks to Bruce Baker for this fun picture. The lake was in my sights and I was ready to jump in!

    Thanks to Aravaipa Runningfor a great race, Nathan Sports for the amazing water pack, Tortoise and Hare Sports for all my training equipment, Tailwind Nutrition for the amazing endurance fuel, and last but not least, Cadence Performance Coaching, for getting me in shape for these tough trails.

    Happy running my friends!

    ~Lynn

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