After the disastrous 20 miler on Saturday I was actually planning on joining a group for an 11 miler trail run but my body had other idea, I was actually quite just a slight pain on my left shin but my body needed sleep because for the first time in a long time I slept through my alarm and woke up at 7:35am instead of the 6:30am I was planning and that was too late for me to get ready and get there on time, so rolled over and slept till 9:30 getting up to do Cathe STS back and Triceps Meso 1 Week 1.


With back to school being on Monday, I spend the rest of the day with my son shopping for back to school by the time we got home I could barely keep my eyes open, got on the couch and took an hour nap. Got up made dinner and in bed by 9pm, I guess I really needed the rest.

I have 2 more Xterra race left for the series and fitting them in is complication the marathon training I have a 22 miler still on my schedule before taper and I am not sure how I am going to get it in, need to juggle the schedule.

Xterra Mohican 19k Race

Wasn't sure I was going to do this race but in the end very glad I did, very beautiful course even though it is very hilly I had a blast.

Woke up at 5am, got dressed and took care of business, unfortunately my stomach wasn't cooperating I guess it was a bad idea to combine African food and pizza last night, all I could stomach was Pepto bismol so I made my peanut butter sandwich to go and left the house by 5:45am. It took about 1hour 45 mins due to a missed turn but got with plenty of time to get things done, saw only Elizabeth from Indianapolis before the race start then finally saw Lee and Gabe at the start.

The race director talked about the course marking which worked out really well, yellow flag should be on your right if going in the right direction, didn't get lost at all even though this was my first time on this trail.

We were off promptly at 8am, went through the parking lot and some grassy section to get to the woods which was mostly single file so it was important to get ahead. The first hill was incredible, you really couldn't stand straight without fear of falling backwards

and just when you thought you were done climbing there was another hill

and another one

 and another one

We ran by the covered bridge

Went over the love log there was no way I was going under, was too afraid I won't be able to get up.

I didn't really fall during this race which was a surprise but stepped on a branch wrong at mile 3 and did some thing to my left ankle then at mile 6 tripped on a branch was able to catch my self but pulled my right calf I stopped a bit to knee the knot out and decided it was going to be too painful and will take too long to walk so I resume running after walking for about a minute the pain didn't get any worse so I was fine.

This was a very hilly course and my game plan was just to come off the hill running because if I die after every hill I wasn't going to make the time goal of running under 2:30, the plan worked perfectly and that was the only reason why I was able to finish as planned. Weather was perfect for this race, the trail was quite over grown especially the section by the river, talking about the section by the river, the trail was so narrow and technical I was just praying not to fall in.

I passes one guy with less than a quarter mile to go and he wasn't very happy, and I finished ahead of my 3 guys that have been chasing me through out the series.

Next race

Tomorrow is the next race is the xterra series, when I signed up for this series it was with the mind set that I wasn't going to go to this one due to distance and degree of difficulty. Right now I am going to be driving almost 2 hours to run for 2 plus hours on a very nasty hilly course and drive 2 hours back but I really do not have a reason not to do it.

Yesterday, after I posted on my blog it occurred to me that I may be getting sick, since my sister-in-law was sick before we got there I must have picked up what ever she had so pulling out my trusty Emergen C

I went on a regiment of a packet every 2 hours for a total of 3 packets before going to bed, woke up this morning feeling much better and got in a quick 5k skipped the strength workout, since I haven't done any all week just felt it wasn't a good time to start.

Need to get to bed early since I have to be out of the house by 5:30am to get to the location without having to panic or stress, I will properly take my time coming back and also pack the compression sock to speed recovery.

I have been using Gatorade G Series Recover 03 after races and I have to say I am pretty impressive, since all my races are inserted into my training plan bouncing back to continue training has been very important and this since be doing the trick, also using after hard runs. They are on the expensive as much as $2.49 when not found on sale but really well worth it and still cheaper than most speciality coffee.

They now have the G series Fit which I haven't tried yet not sure the different between the 2 actually 3 since there is also a Pro version but Motion Traxx my favorite running companion has a couple of workout mixes for them with some of my favorite fitness instructors check it out here a great way to add more to your routine for cross training.

Getting Back

After spending the long holiday weekend in Chicago with my inlaws and the rest of my husband's clan that came in for my sister-laws 50th birthday as far away as Nigeria, I only ran Saturday (10 miler) but then felt like I was missing too much by going to bed early in order to be able to wake up early to get my run in before the day started, so I ended up not running Sunday and Monday but did a lot of dancing and walking around.
Got back home Monday night and when Tuesday morning rolled around I was extremely fatigue so gave myself another day off but with an 11 miler trail race with ridiculous hill coming up on Saturday, I know I needed to get my mojo back fast, Wednesday I managed 2 miles before calling it a day just wasn't into it, but again I had a vision of the big a$$ hill at Mohican really need my mojo back.
Today with Motion Traxx The Climb level 1 I had a goal of running a 10k regardless how slow I go, run, walk just get it done, well survived, my fatigue is really not in my legs just a total body feeling so not sure what is really going on. Mojo still not back but at least it is attempting to.

Xterra Chapin Forest 8K

Since I was only 30 mins from the race location and it was a late start at 8am, I actually slept in getting out of bed at 6:45am. Got up got ready and had a slice of the vegan multi grain bread I bought from the blackbird bakery in Bainbridge Island Washington, with some peanut butter. Got my stuff and headed out the door a little after 7, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect for this race, know it has hills but quite a bit more flats and on crushed limestone gravels (not my favorite) and this was my highest training week since going into taper for the Cleveland Marathon so I was going to be running on tired legs from biking, running and strength training.

Since this was a series, the usual series group where there so chatted for a bit before going to the rest room, real rest room nice and clean, took a gu packet with 15 mins to go just because I didn’t have any coffee too lazy to make it. The race just like all the rest started promptly at 8am and we were off, the first half a mile was wet and muddy actually like that then we got on the gravel path and that just went on and on, so I really had to race like I was on the road since there was no obstacle, so I ran 8+ pace for the 2nd mile, yep you know what that means ones the hills and trail came my legs where thrashed but I had a pep talk with myself and just kept on going it’s amazing how powerful the mind is. We got to the half way point which had the aid station and they had only water this was a surprise they normally have Gatorade and it didn’t make sense that they had Gatorade at the finish, didn’t stop since I had my Nathan hydration pack with me.

With this being the 3rd race, you probably have an idea who runs about your speed, E blow by me by mile 2 and I could catch finish about 2 mins ahead of me and K well we played cat and mouse through the race, he is faster than me but I did beat him at the last race so I guess this was his turn the only thing was I really wanted him to work for it, it wasn’t going to be an easy victory and worked he did, he finally caught up with me again at the final qtr to the finish, could I have surge yes but my legs were really tired and not really necessary he was a guy so cannot affect my overall standing, the person I should have chased down was E, she came in 3rd for our age group and I was 4th. I was still very happy with my performance based on my heavy training schedule and the fact I am not really tapering for this races just adding them to the schedule and making up the missing long miles earlier in the week before a race.
Finish chatted a bit, got banana, granola bar and got in the car heading home so I can join the family for chucrh, got back home in time to change and get ready for church (only 5 mins away). The Xterra races have really been top notch so far starts on time with plenty to eat and they wait patiently for everyone to come in. Am still debating about the next one just because there is conflicting details on how far it is, I need to confirm an address and then make a decision.


Official Time 49:03 -9:49 Pace
Overall 62/98
Age Group (40-49) 5/16

Hilly sections but not very technical, so the hill are quite runnable except for 2 steep/long ones. the course according to my garmin was short but that could also be because there was a section where we zizzag quite a bit.

Not enough time

There is just not enough time in the day for all I want to do, and it doesn't help with each hobby or life taking so much time. I haven't done any strength training this week and still have yet to do a pilate or yoga routine this month because I am not getting to bed early because I have to finish a scapbook album for my niece which I will be seeing next weekend and also  beaded necklaces for my inlaws and my self for a function also next weekend. The only time I have to work on the album and necklaces is after dinner, I always try to stop around 9pm but this is hard when I am in the middle of a page or putting a necklace together and in most cases I just always lose track of time. Need to find short 5 mins routine for pilates and strength training (probably go back to crossfit workout of the day this or this )

Today woke up 1 hour later than I was suppose to since I still consider sleeping a priority and was only a ble to get in a 4 mile run, no strength or yoga or pilates, if nothing after of the ordinary happen today maybe I will be able to squeeze in something after work before dinner.

So after 2 races, I am currently in first place for my age group for the Xterra Trail run Ohio Series, the third race is coming up this Sunday, I really enjoy doing the series since I am running trails I normally would not have gone to and meeting lots of new interesting people.

Decided to take a rest day yesterday, was fine to run but noticed some tell tale signs of over training especially not being able to sleep. I went through my training log which I moved to Training Peak with the recent crash of Buckeye outdoors I felt I need another backup plan, so I spend the weekend recreating my log in TP.

Was tired this morning, since once I finally fell back asleep last night after talking to work, my sister in law was nice enough to wake me back up at 11:30pm to share the Ben Ladin new, slept in and move the workout to after work.

After dinner, waited 1 hour then hit the treadmill for 200 repeat, wasn't sure I was going to be able to do this since I really hate evening workout, not pretty but got it done did not hit my pace but there is always next time.

1 mile warmup
10x200 with 400 recovery target pace was 56mins
1 mile cool down

1 - 59:93
2 - 58:95
3 - 58:59
4 - 1:00:17
5 - 58:95
6- 58:40
7 - 58:10
8 - 58:96
9 - 48:05  Really feel like puking, how can people run this fast for any length of time OMG
10 - 58:45

Rounded it off with S90: Arms & Shoulder for 22 mins
Biked to and from work today, weather is still crappy, cloudy and only 50s was cold

Signed up for the 2011 Xterra trail series
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