Trail Running Across America Blog 1

Wow. That is all I can say so far.

So, to back up a little, a few days before I left I was feeling a lot of anxiety about this trip. I mean, single female crossing the country with just her rickety car, old garmin, and labrador. I had borrowed most of the camping supplies I needed, so I had the material things I needed...but still. Then on top of that I had to be a stubborn ass and carry my ac up 3 flights of stairs by myself and then go cut trails, which led to a series of back spasms that had me in bad shape. Like couldn't stand up straight, bad shape. But, C'est la Vie. I was going. I saw my chiro who was able to help get me in decent shape, and who loaned me a tens unit which has been a life saver!

Day 1: I had driven to Indiana Dunes State Park, There I found the state campground, grabbed a spot right across from a trail head,set up camp and laid down to go to sleep. It had been a long day of a half day at work and 8 hours of driving. Then my neighbors showed up. They sat and yelled at their kid to not wake up the campground, yet they sat and yelled at had a great time. Needless to say around 11 pm, I very "kindly" asked them to shut-up. haha

 I had ever intention of being up at 5 am to see the sunrise over the dunes. Alarm goes off, Nope ,Nuh-hu. My body needed rest. So I slept until 6:30. It was nice. I got up, didn't even bother with the coffee (a small miracle), got Waylon wired up to run and headed out. It. Was. Beautiful. They have a 3 dune challenge, where you take a trail that runs up and down 3 very large sand dunes. If you have never run up a sand dune, it's not easy!

First of all, you are talking a 38% grade, then add in running in nothing but sand. But it was fun!

Then we looped around to Lake Michigan where I let Waylon play in the lake. He has never dealt with waves before, so it was really funny when he was coming in to shore and a big wave over took him. I have never seen that look of bewilderment on his face before. It was great.

Then we packed up and started driving north. And we drove, and drove, and drove. I might have accidently missed an important turn at one point and ended up driving down back highways through farmlands that my GPS couldn't even name. It would say " Turn left in 2 miles on Road". Oy vey. However, I picked up a great radio station that had a survivor of the Holocaust talking which was neat to listen to and it was pretty country.  FINALLY we got to Hinckley MN, where a woman had kindly given me access to her land. We had a huge field with a fire pit, and we set up. Waylon loved being able to run through the field and I finally got to set up a fire and put my campfire cooking skills to work. There is some sort of creature making noises in the fields, it was calming. To bed we go. Slept like a rock.

Day 2: Get up around 7, this whole sleeping thing is awesome. Pack up and head out. First stop, Jay Cooke State Park, I stopped into the visitor center and asked a ranger to give me some advice on a 10 mile loop that had water access for Waylon. He showed me a loop to do, and we set off. The first section wasn't overly technical (actually it was down right easy), but it had some pretty views.The 2nd section was much more technical, at one point I had to lift Waylon up a rock (82 pound dog, I was pretty proud of myself).

I fell twice on this run, but not badly. Luckily the first time I fell into a mud bog, which of course everyone knows how much I loooooove mud. :-/  Waylon thoroughly enjoyed swimming and was pretty tired by time we were done. I made both of us some lunch (he gets chicken on run days) and we set off again.

Then we start driving north. I need to find a campsite. I find one north of Duluth in a small (itty bitty tiny) town called Knife River. It is privately owned and the guy who owns it, Randy, has two dogs, instantly falls in love with Waylon and discounts my stay, making it cheaper than the full state park grounds. We set up in a tucked away corner by the river and head out to a trail that Randy had told me about. We do 4 miles, just hiking, through a pretty little forested area by Knife River. I also stop by this tiny chocolate shop that has some of the best chocolate caramels I have ever had!

 When we get back I am pretty sure I am starving to death so I start dinner as I set up a campfire. Waylon passed out, not even bothering to get up as I went back and forth to the car.

There was a huge thunder and lightning storm that night. It woke me up a 5 am. I hurried out to get my trail shoes which I had left out to dry so they weren't soaked and went back to bed. I had an appointment to drop Waylon off as his dog sitter at 7:30.

                    


Day 3: Get up, grab my gear and head south to Duluth. I drop Waylon off at his dog care house which he was happily exploring the home and playing with their dog when I left. I drive back north to Split Rock Loop and Gooseberry State Park. I get up there and find the trail head pretty easily. I gear up and head out. This trail is spectacular and very technical.

        

      It is rocky and rooty and there are sections that there is nothing by rocks. And mud, OMG  the mud. so much of it. But there are also a ton of waterfalls, literally every quarter mile there is a new one. I have probably 30 photos of waterfalls, they were so pretty!  This is part of a 5 mile loop and I finish up a loop I run into a photographer trying to get action shots of a bald eagle family. We start chatting about how much time he spends out there every day and then he mentions he is from Cecil, PA. Well no shit, I work there. ha. Small friggin world. We chat for a few minutes then I head back out.

I am now going towards Gooseberry State Park. At  one point in time on this foray I thought I was lost. Because the trail was not real apparent. Like, at all. It was over huge rocks and occasionally what could possibly be a trail would show up. However, it had spectacular views of Lake Superior.  I was starting to get a little concerned that I was making my own trail  when it ducked back into the woods and I saw a blue blaze. Phew Ok. I cross a logging road and notice that the trail seems to be freshly cut. About a mile in I run into people working on the trails, and one guy says to me " Didn't you see the sign that this section is closed, we are re-routing and you will have no trail in about a tenth of a mile".

Well shit, no I didn't. I thank him, turn around go down the logging road, across the highway and onto the biking trail. Which, I am glad I did as I got to go right by the Lake Superior shore and it is Gorgeous! I get back to my car and still need 3 more miles, so I head back into the trail and do a little out and back. 

On the way back to get showered and pick up Waylon, I find a little cafe' called Betty's Pies. It is in the middle of nowhere, but the parking lot is packed. The minute I show up a massive storm rolls through, thunder, lightning, torrential rain. Thank God I was done already.  Supposedly they have the best pie around. I order some lunch and some strawberry rhubarb pie (one of the few I actually like). As I wait for my food I chat with a couple of couples waiting to be seated. One "couple" (they live in different places but vacation together... mmmhmmm) is probably in their 80's and have had some grand adventures themselves. The other couple is from ND and are traveling the coast of Lake Superior since they haven't been. My food is finally done, I wish safe travels to the couples and I eat as I drive. The food is "meh". But I am excited for the strawberry rhubarb pie, it's really the only kind of pie I really like. When I get back to the camnpground I get showered and chat with Randy, who informs me that Betty's USED to be the best pie, but I need to go to Rustic because they beat Betty's in every pie contest. lol

So now I need to go pick up Waylon and get some sleep. I am meeting some local runners tomorrow to do some miles from Duluth. Happy Running!

No Stress Running

First and foremost: My running tip of the week: When it's hot out, freeze your hydration ahead of time. Whether you use a handheld, belt, or bladder; fill it about 80% of the way full and freeze it. The heat and friction from movement will melt the ice and you will have cold water and a nice built in ice pack.

So I am 100k training, and getting ready to do a 6 week trip across the nation, trail running my way to WA and back. So I feel comfortable saying that my training is pretty serious these days. Haha. THAT BEING SAID, I want to enjoy my training, be flexible and enjoy my runs. And after a seriously craptastic Friday that had me internally at level 9 temper status by 4 pm... I needed miles and relaxation. So that, my friends, is exactly what I did!

Saturday Morning: Stacey picked me up and we drove out to Moraine State Park. I love running out there. It is a fairly technical trail with a few decent climbs, but nothing excessive. It has some great patches of rocks and roots that allow you to get some nice foot work in, and some very pretty views. It is about an hour drive from the city, so it is an easy trip to make.

Goal is 10 miles, just an easy out and back. She had done her Gate to 19 a few days before, and I had done 7 the day before on hills and had a big weekend ahead, so we wanted to keep it easy. So we loaded our packs and cooling towels and set off,
***Now I would like to make a side note here... This year the Pittsburgh marathon and Dicks sporting goods sent out runner boxes to runners who earned enough points (it was like super easy to get the points) and one item inside was this cooling towel. OMG, this thing is the best thing since the creation of gelato... for real! You get it wet, snap it and it keeps you cool. When it warms up, you snap it again, and it gets cool again. LIFE SAVER in hot weather! *****

Being memorial day weekend we saw a lot of hikers, a few runners, and some dogs out on the trails. We said hi and chatted with all of them, enjoying the camaraderie of sharing the trails. My favorite was the troupe of kids coming through with their parents. Kids ranging from 5-10 out enjoying nature. Props to you parents, Props to you!
We did an easy out and back, stopping at the mid way point to grab some nutrition and the necessary selfie (feel free to judge, lol). Since we are in the same profession there was some shop talk, and then some race talk, and then just good ole fashioned girl gossip. No stress, no pace pushing, just enjoying each others company over 10 miles and 1300 feet of elevation gain- Done.

We finish our run, give ourselves a baby wipe bath in the bathroom so we don't stink too bad on the way home, head out and back to the city. Once I get home, I take Waylon out for his long walk and then get ready for Sunday.  (I do believe I need to do a whole separate blog on getting ready for a long trail run. It's coming!)

Sunday: 4:45 am.. alarm goes off UGH! It is sooooo early! Okay Okay, I'm up. Coffee- check, Oatmeal-check, Walked dog- check. Have all running bags- check. Gps coordinates to the meeting spot- check. What am I forgetting? It has to be something.. I never get out the door on the first try.. .like ever. Welp, Oh well. Gotta go.
6:00- in the car and out the door. 1.5 hour to Laurel Highland Hiking Trail. Today we are doing a point to point run, Gate (which is the starting point for the trail) to mile 19. We will leave a car at the top and the bottom.
7:30, get there. Shortly after Jeramy shows up. He gets his pack together since we are leaving his truck and then we drive down the start. I get my pack together and all settled with sunscreen and bug spray (I got eaten alive during the week when I Forgot that... never again!) and off we go.

Today is not about pace, it is about enjoying the miles. It is 68* at the start with 95% humidity. Glad I brought my 2 Liter Nathan bladder. I am going to need it. We head out, stopping for photo's when we see something pretty, sometimes running together and chatting, and sometimes running apart and just enjoying the quiet. Like yesterday, we see a lot of hikers, runners, and dogs out on the trail and we greet everyone one of them.
At one point we hit a muddy spot (please remember... blood, guts, snakes, roots, ... all those things, I have no issue with... I. Hate. Mud). Well, Jeramy has never witnessed the princess mud act before, and when he sees it, he reacts in a way I should have figured, he picks up a clump and throws it at me. Jerk.

My favorite part though was when we hit the steep downhill switch backs, we FLEW down them. Hands up and shifting for balance, watching the rocks and roots carefully, braids straight back with the force of movement. Laughing the whole way! Man was it was fun.

At about mile 9 we came upon a boulder pile. I stopped and climbed it. No hurry, no rush, just climbing some boulders. Take a photo and we are on our way. Shortly after we came upon a couple out hiking. And we scared the living shit out of them! hahahahahahah. Real Talk- Pay attention people! You are in the friggin mountains... there are bears and snakes and shit. Don't tune out!  Mile 11 we came on a pretty water fall. I was out of water, so I rock hopped (very successfully...unlike other people I was running with...ahem.) to the base then to the top. I refilled my bladder in the falls, then enjoyed the peace and quite of the moment.

At this point, we continued on our run and fell into a quite companionship as we ran. You know the kind where it is just calm. We ran into a cool looking black snake out sunning himself on the trail. We very respectfully waited for him to cross over and then continued on our way. We crossed numerous bridges over creeks and falls. We wound through forest and a small meadow. We stopped and greeted every dog ( I can't help myself) and compared dog running strategies. We eventually finish up the last steep hill of the day and then out and back to get our full mileage. Grab some water and fruit we have in the cooler and we drive down to the start, shower, eat and head back to the city. I can't speak for Jeramy, but I know that run was exactly what I needed to decompress from the stress of the week.  19. 2 miles and 4500 of elevation gain- Done.

 

Get home, eat, walk the dog,set the alarm and to bed.

Monday morning. 5 am. Alarm goes off UGH! 2 days in a row.... UGHHHHHHH. Okay, I'm up I'm up. Coffee- check, Oatmeal-check, Running bag- check, dog supplies-check. Grab Waylon and out the door.
First Stop, Pumped to Run. This is a non-profit that is bringing running to the homeless community of Pittsburgh. I know our guys are going to be waiting on us. So we get to the shelter, grab our guys and get about 3 miles all together. Say my goodbye's, see you on Friday's and Waylon and I head to North Park.

Now it has been fairly dry here, so I know that Waylon won't have a lot of natural water sources. And I stupidly think my one 20 oz bottle will be enough for the both of us. Lets just say, Waylon got about 90% of my ice cold water. I love my dog! We did about 7 more miles. Waylon was dragging by the end, because it is 70* and humid. We went nice and slow at his pace, but by time we are done all he wants to to hang his head out the car window and eat treats! But he is a trooper and finishes strong, tail wagging, and tongue lolling.

I finished up my weekend with a little over 39 miles in 3 days and a little over 6000 feet of elevation gain. I can honestly say I wasn't sore, but was tired. Actually I was a worthless lump on my couch for the rest of the day on Monday... totally watched a full season of Top Chef. This weekend and these laid back runs were exactly what I needed to decompress from a stressful week. Time away, no pressure, no rush, just peace, quiet and nature.

So whether you are pushing for pace, or just running to relax, Happy Running! 

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Week 1 of back to backs

Now that I am officially done with my road season, I have got to concentrate on getting ready for the Twisted Branch 100k. Which means the great return to back to back long runs. I eventually plan on doing 3 long run's back to  back, but for now I am starting with two. The purpose of the back to back long runs is to accustom the legs to being able to run when they are tired. I have found this method (which is the common way to ultra train) really helps me strengthen as a runner, not only physically but mentally. It is not easy to go out and run when you are tired and sore. So this was Week 1 of them.

Saturday Am: Heading out to Ohiopyle to run the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail, do the section dubbed "Gate to 8" by the locals. It is a well known section for it's beautiful views and brutal climbs.

I am headed out with two friends. Stacey is training for the LHHT 50k and has already been out to this section 3 time in her season. Jeramy has never trail ran before, so me being the good friend I am... I drag him to a tough course as his cherry popper. :-) We meet up at the bottom, packs on, shoes checked, introductions made, and off we go.

We head out. We have beautiful weather, it is upper 40's and raining lightly. Just enough to cool you off, and not so much it is drenching.

We start in on the climbs. We talk about the importance of changing your running gate on the ups and downs, and I thoroughly enjoy flying down the hills once we have finished a big climb. We chat about a myriad of topics as we go, you never know what subject will come up on the trails. Mile 6 and we start the big climb up THE BEAST! This is a 2 mile climb that just never seems to stop. Jeramy runs about half of it, and Stacey and I happily hike most of it with an occasional run. I admit my goal by the end of summer is to be able to run most of it, but I am not there yet. We get to the top and have a small celebration then keep going. Stacey and Jeramy pull a bit ahead of me. Just as I suspected, Jeramy is a natural on the trails. So he takes off like a friggin billy goat, or maybe a kid who just found a cool new toy and he is ahead. Stacey and I stick together for awhile, talking about the stuff that girls talk about and we keep a decent pace as we go. Then we get to go back down the hill. I love the downhills, I can go down at a pretty decent pace, they are my strong suit on the trails for sure. So I pay attention and fly down the 2 mile stretch. My quads were ON FIRE ( I 100% just sang that.. think Alicia Keys). I get to the bottom where of course you start climbing again.

Turns out Stacey and Jeramy are both amazing on the uphills. Whereas they are definitely my weak point! They are my goal for improvement this summer. I end up about a half mile behind them from mile 11 to mile 15. During this 4 miles I go through a whole set of emotions. Ranging from happy to be out on the trails, to doubt about my trip this summer. I mean what kind of dumbass plans to spend 5 1/2 weeks crossing the country, running strange trails by herself this day in age. What if I am out on a trail and fall and get knocked unconscious or I break a leg or something. This is dumb. Why can't I keep up with them, fuck, this sucks. Another hill, Oyvey. Okay. Lets go. Aww, downhill. I like downhills, happy downhill. Why I am training for 100K again? Should I not do it? No, I am just feeling sorry for myself, knock it off. Then I see Jeramy and Stacy, we are close to the end and they have stopped to wait for me. We finish up the last mile together. I am definitely tired, I have some work to do! I am seriously out of trail shape. We did the whole run in about 3.5 hours. That is a pretty decent time for that section and my first trip out. We get 4200 feet of elevation gain for the day. Not too shabby. And now that we are done, I am out of my funk am very glad that we came up today to run the trail. These two are great running partners. I look forward to doing more runs with them. They will push me to be better on hills too, which will be great!

After we hit the shower house where we are pleasantly surprised that the pulley showers have hot water, which felt soooooo good, we grab a much deserved lunch at the pub. Black Bean and Tofu burrito, chips and salsa, and loaded french fries for me. Yummy! Say our goodbye's and head back to the city.

I am stiff and need to roll, and definitely am looking forward to a good nights sleep.


Sunday morning I wake up, enjoy some coffee and cereal, load up Waylon and drive to North Park. North Park is a nice easy trail system, minimal technical spots and only 1300 ft of elevation gain on the loop I am planning for the day. And this 10 mile is a great example of why I say back to back really increase your mental strength, because it went as follows:

Mile 1: "OMG this sucks, my legs are sooo heavy".
Mile 1.5 "Well hell, its only mile 1.5".
Mile 2: "Finally."  Stop give W his 2 mile treat and off we go again.
Mile 3: "I could have sworn I did 5 already. This is going to be a long run"
Mile 4: Okay this is getting better, kind of. We pass a girl on the trail, so even though it is a slow run we aren't toooo slow.
Mile 5: "This really is getting better. Picking it up a little bit, half way there. How's W? He's hanging in and still stepping on my feet occasionally so he's good."
Mile 6: "It is the end of the red blue trail. Legs are finally loosening up. Okay, 4 miles left. Lets go."
Mile 6.5, "Forgot about his hill. On a normal run I can run it, not today. Legs are still not feeling ready for that. Just get to the damn top, then it's mostly down."
Mile 7, Yeah baby, only 3 miles left, but man I am HUNGRY!. "
Mile 8: "HOLY MUD BATMAN!" Okay: Confession time: I. Hate. Mud. I have no issue with blood, guts, vomit, etc. I love running technical trails, no issues with rocks, roots, hills, creek crossings, etc, but when I hit a really muddy spot my princess hands come out, I get a disgusted look on my face and "ewewewew" comes out of mouth. I can't help it. And of course, the red trail is always sloppy when it's been raining.  For the next 1.5 miles I am dealing with mud and trying hard to suppress princess tendencies. Waylon of course is LOVING it. He has purposefully ran through every single mud puddle and mud bog the entire 10 miles.
I am a little short of the 10 miles I want so I run around the parking lot, down to the creek that connects to the dam where Waylon enjoys a nice swim while the fishermen 150 yds away give us dirty looks (get over it dude, we are near the falls, we aren't touching your damn fish), cross the creek and wrap back into the trails to finish the last half mile.

 

The last 3 miles my stomach was growling, I was sooo hungry so I was looking forward to the granola bar I had in my car. Until it wasn't there. I was very sad. So I jump in the car and head home to eat. Waylon is passed out cold after that run. And I am happily laying on my couch looking at my roller and resistance band knowing I need to put in a good 30 min stretch session before bed. It will help, my head knows this, but my lazy ass will put it off a bit longer.

I forgot the how hard the second run can be after a good first run. But I will continue to build, grow, and get stronger as the summer goes on.

And I got to introduce one of my favorite things to a friend which always makes me happy! A new trail runner is on the scene and I am willing to bet he will being killing 50k's in no time!


I am still having some self doubt about training for another 100k and about my trip this summer. But I have a few weeks to work through it. We shall see.

Happy Running

Pacing the Cleveland Marathon

I love pacing, it is such a great way to give back to a community I love. Helping people make their goals and being their "person" for a race to get them there. I especially love pacing marathons, it is awesome watching people hit their 26.2

                   

This is the second year I have paced the Cleveland marathon. Last year didn't go so great, it was hot and humid and long story short I ended up with heat stroke. And just a side note, if you ever have to have your temperature taken after a marathon, there is only one way to get an accurate temp, and lets just say it isn't the most pleasant experience.

So when the opportunity came up to do it again, I said HELL YES! But this time it's going to be better....

Saturday, I load up the car and drop off my keys to my friend watching Waylon and do the 2.5 hour drive to Cleveland. Get there, find *maybe illegal* parking and hit the expo. There I hang at the pacers booth for about an hour talking to runners about their goals and convince people that running with a pacer is worth it. I meet a few people planning to run in my group, the 3:55 group, and talk to them about what to expect. I grab some compression from Sure Sport who graciously gifts pacers with an awesome pair of compression sleeves, grab some new KT tape and a few gels and head to the hotel.

Once I get there I chat with Kim, another pacer who I have roomed with before and absolutely adore. We catch up and then head to the pasta dinner. On the way we run into a few more of the "Pittsburgh crew" who pace every year and we grab a table, We are sitting right next to the Elite Athletes, and another side note... man can those guys put away some food. We spend dinner all catching up, the Pittsburgh crew and a few other pacers, then head back to the hotel.

Pre-race tradition is milk and cookies at 8 pm. We also manage to bring beer so we munch on delicious cookies and drink beer while catching up and meeting the new people on the pace team.
9:30, its time for bed.


5:00 am, Time to get up, get coffee, and get going. The hotel kindly let me use the microwave in the closed off breakfast area to heat up my oatmeal, so now I am ready to go with my race day nutrition. I peek out the window and check the weather app *GASP* Real feel of 30*, winds at 20mph and it is a heavy rain fall. Oh boy... this is going to be fun
6:00 am we head down to the start. Even though the weather is less than stellar we are all in a good mood and pumping each other up for what is to come. Hit the mostly empty porta potty lines, and I am slightly envious of those who have remembered a poncho.

6:30 am we line up in the corrals. We have our pace signs at the ready, get spread out and start to collect our runners. I am co-pacing with Greg. We co-paced together last year too, so we spend a few moments reminiscing about the year before as we also chat with the runners around us.
7:00 am: Gun goes off and here we go. The rain had let up for a minute, maybe two, and now it is back. Not too bad at first. The wind is still nasty and cold but smiles on, watches being checked to make sure we get in our pace groove and away we go through the city of Cleveland.

First 10k we have a large amount of people near us. There is a 10k, a half marathon, and marathon all running together. We have some great guys and gals with us and we get to know them. There is Reed, the college kid who is trying to redeem himself from his last marathon that he admittedly didn't train for. There is the 15 year old from Canada who is running the full with her dad, and who's mom and brother are doing the 10k. We have a few returning runners with us, and a whole bunch of new ones too.  It stays decent enough that I feel comfortable taking off my long sleeve, which since its under my short sleeve means a full outfit change while running. This of course getting turned into a "stripping pacer" joke which keeps the mood light. At mile 3 we come up on a group offering beer. At first they offer cold beer and then change it to "Warm beer here". haha

A little after the 10k mark we get a new weather surprise. Hail or maybe sleet. This becomes a discussion. One of our runners, a man who is easily over 6 ft and 180 pounds says sleet because it's not big enough to be hail. I tell him that "size is relative" which brings a chuckle to the group as we sludge through getting slapped with hail/sleet. I am glad I wore my visor.

The hail ( I am going with hail) turns to genuine sleet after a few miles and finally peters out. However, those winds are still whipping across us. Some areas are "calm" as in 10 mph winds, but there are many areas we are getting 20-30 mph. But, as we go we are talking to the runners, talking about other races they have run, talking about the city of Cleveland and giving advice on staying loose and relaxing. I have to put my long sleeve back on, I am freezing. My fingers hurt from the cold, I have my left hand tucked into my sleeve some so I can't read my pace band, but I am watching my watch and we are good.

Half marathon mark, we are right on pace and Greg and I are still pumped full of energy. We have a quick but much needed break from precipitation and are enjoying it immensely. Then we hit a straight away and with it comes back high wind and a nice mix of rain, hail and sleet all slamming into us. IT IS BRUTAL! The word of the day for the next 4 miles is "Woof". I keep my smile plastered on my face and remind everyone what a great race story they are going to have, and that they are earning their "Bad Ass" badges for the day. By now we aren't even avoiding puddles anymore, we are all soaked! In my head I am thinking "What the fuck is this shit?" I may have even muttered it at one point, but I know it is my job to keep my group positive, so I am yelling and chatting about things, I don't even know what. We have a hand bicyclist near us for several miles and we are trying to keep runners to the left to give him space as well as encourage him as we go.

Turn Around, OH THANK THE GOOD LORD! I sing the turn around song, you know the one "Turn around, every now and then I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears, every now and then I get a little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by, TURN AROUND" (Bonnie Tyler, Eclipse of the Heart) which brings a chuckle. And we have the wind at our backs. It is AWESOME! We have kept the majority of our group and picked up a few. The water stops were kind of mess since the weather has kept a lot of volunteers home, however the the volunteers who came and braved the weather infallibly met us with smiles. I shared my water with runners a couple times when they couldn't get a cup and we kept at it. There are also some brave souls out on the course spectating. I say hi to every single one of them. God Bless them for being out in this weather!

Bathroom stop, damn 2 cups of coffee was a bad idea. This is my 2nd stop (First one was mile 3 and I sprinted to catch up). First time I have ever had to do that... like EVER! But I stop at 18. So did one of our runners. We came out together and I helped him catch up to the group is a wise way. Got back and this is when the run really began.

Reed, our buddy from the beginning, had gone ahead earlier and we catch back up. Our 15 year old has stuck my side like glue and looks awesome. She is talking about doing ultras when she is older. She gets excited when she sees another kid. We talk about how she gets tired of training with adults all the time and guys, so she is excited I am a female pacer. We see a man pushing his child with a disability on the other side of the course and I have our group give a big shout.

Mile 20, group is getting quite. Nope, not allowed. I yell back to see how everyone is feeling and get a few answers. Nope, nuh-uh. Try again. I tell them I need more than that and yell again. This time I get a big cheer. Alright. We are on the countdown. Every time we are coming up to a mile marker I yell out "see that big beautiful blue banner up there, we clicked off another one" and sing out "Another one bites the dust". We keep on trucking through, picking up every runner we can. Anytime I see someone walking I encourage them to join us. Our group is hanging steady. After awhile the rain/hail/snow has stopped and I am able to take my long sleeve back off. I attempt this without giving up my stick and manage to do it fairly gracefully, which I announce to my group gives me serious street cred. I get bonus points for tying it around my waist while holding the stick. This brings some smiles (especially as I make sure I loudly announce it give me a second bad ass badge of the day).

Mile 23 See a photographer, I start yelling "You have to smile, there is photographer." They tried. Although I am sure a few cussed me out in their heads.

 

Then the bridge. Mile 25. its up up up. I announce we are not going to let this hill get the best of us and we begin to climb. We keep them with us. When they start to drop back, I yell every encouraging thing I can think of and we climb. Ahhhh.. Blessed flat spot. Keep the pace scaled back a bit, we have about a minute in the bank so we can take it easy. We have more to climb. Most of the group catches up and we keep going.

We keep going up that bridge. I tell my group "We just ran through a friggin storm, no hill is going to kill us, LETS GO!" and that is what they did. MILE 26, we are almost home! We power through that finish line with a good group in tow. Some had fallen back on the final hill, but they came on-time regardless. THEY DID GREAT! My girl and her dad thanked me, Reed gave me and Greg a hug, and another couple had huge thanks for getting them through. This is why I pace. Knowing I got to help someone accomplish a goal. I got to make sure they did what they needed to make the goal they wanted. And for some I got to help them get to that finish under 4 hours, even though they didn't hit their original goal.

I talk about the stupidest things when I pace, I make up songs, I comment on the houses and building, I yell at runners along the course, I swear, apologize for swearing, then swear again. Give advice on staying loose and enjoying the miles, tell funny stories about past running experiences, say good morning to every spectator and volunteer I see, and I yell ALOT! I joked (sort of) I am getting Greg ear plugs for next year.

Overall, the weather was crappy but we pushed through and had a lot of fun along the way. I hope to see some of my runners again next year, but hopefully as they start in front of me. There were a few first timers who I know are going to be fast runners once they figure out their training. And there are a few I know I will see in my group again next year, because they told me.

I enjoy pacing Cleveland. It is an interesting city and a good course. Like any race it has its hiccups, but as a pacer I enjoy doing it and can't wait to go back and do it again next year!

So no matter the weather, go out and have fun. Happy Running!