Bulldog 50/50 Race Recap

Exercise: 15+ hilly, technical, cliff scaling miles at the Bulldog

Today was pretty awesome. Hands down,  Trail Run Events puts on the best races!

My alarm went off at 4:15 and I was actually well rested and ready to go. I was asleep just after 9 so I got a solid 7 hours of rest for the first time, pre race, ever. I had my Red Bull and plain bagel, no coffee or fiber pre race for me, I'll spare you the reasons ;). I got all my gear together yesterday afternoon to calm the nerves so I was ready in record time this morning. I spent a good 20 minutes just hanging out. I finally left at 5:30 to meet some ladies I was carpooling with to the race. We arrived bright and early but we got awesome parking and had plenty of time for potty breaks, bib pick up, and photo ops at the beautiful location.

The course winds around Malibu Creek State Park and it is absolutely gorgeous. Music Man took me hiking out there on one of our early dates and it was so romantic. The green shade trees, creek, and rock formations are stunning. It's also where the show M*A*S*H was filmed so there are a ton of old military vehicles out there. I love the trails I normally run but Malibu Creek is breathtaking and i can not wait to go run out there again.

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Support on the run was so organized. There were park rangers every few miles and aid stations every 4 miles. And the aid stations had EVERYTHING. Gatorade, water, gels, orange slices, licorice, candy, cookies, salt, and someone said they saw honey buns and veggie sushi at one of the stations. Oh and first aid was there too, but somehow I finished without even a hot spot, so I never looked in their direction.

There were a few scary moments because the course was fairly technical. It was like an obstacle course at a few moments. There was the rock jumping, mountain climbing, cliff scaling and the creek crossing. I actually lost my footing at the creek and fell in but it was around mile 12 or 13 so I only had to run in soggy shoes for 2 miles. I think that's also when I started going crazy because I was thinking "this was probably what Vietnam was like". Except I was wearing shoes made for trails, technical clothes, it was about 1000 degrees cooler and 200% less humidity...Oh, and no one was trying to kill me. Yeah, so I'm a little crazy, but most runners are ;)

My outlook on this run was pretty bleak. I've been sweating my training the last few days and have been pretty cranky. But I have to say my training was pretty spot on for what I was hoping to accomplish. The official times haven't been posted yet but I did wear my Garmin and I'm pretty sure it worked. I went into this run just wanting to qualify for the 50k- sub 4 hour (this course is no joke). My realistic goal was 3:30, my happy place was 3:15 and my lofty goal was a flat 3. Garmin says.....3:11:06. Not too shabby! And I really worked my booty off for it.

What's important is that I finished happy, healthy and strong. I conserved energy by walking the hills. I used my tried and true fuel of Cytomax and Sports Beans. I had no tummy issues. And I smiled the whole time. I feel so grateful I was able to participate in this awesome event. If you're in SoCal and looking for a beautiful, character building 25 or 50k the Bulldog is awesome. Or if you feel like running some challenging trails I'm available!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Less Than 24 Hours Out

Exercise: nada, resting up for the big bad Bulldog tomorrow

Honestly, I'm totally shaking in my running shoes. I feel unprepared for this 25k and I'm so sluggish and am so afraid I'm going to be super slow. I'm afraid I'll want to quit and that its going to hurt. I'm afraid of the painful blisters and scrapes that I KNOW I will get because this is a trail race. I know I'm being a total wussy.

I wish I felt totally pumped for this race but I just don't. I have a serious case of the nerves and I really need to butch up. I know I will finish. I know I have trained; and pretty damn well at that, And I know I am making this into a way bigger deal than it is.

So I've just decided to focus on the end of the race. The part where I get to sit down and meetup with or wait for my carpooling buddies. Where I get to take a shower and drink a beer or 12 ;) By this time tomorrow I will be done and hopefully have a way better outlook than today!

Road Rash Pin-Up

Exercise: Nada!!!

Yesterday I completed my last long run prior to Bulldog in just a few weeks. I did a flat 25k, or 15.6 miles, just to get the mileage on my feet. I will do my last trail run this weekend, about 8-10 miles, then I start my taper. My training has been about as spot on as it can be for this race but I'm still nervous because the elevation is ridiculous!!! And the heat...

Bulldog Motorway is considered a category 1 climb, with 5 being the easiest and 1 the hardest, with 1800 feet of climbing in 3.5 miles. Holy sh*t! Every weekend for the past few months I've trained on trails with category 2 climbs so I feel somewhat prepared but I know there will be a lot of walking. And although it seems like a completely slow time I'm hoping to finish in 3:30 with an average pace of just under 13:30. I'd love to finish under 3 but from what I hear that time might be a little unrealistic when one is struggling up a 3 mile cliff ;)

My run yesterday was long and easy. I wasn't going for any particular pace, I just wanted to get a 25k under my belt. It was hot, but not as terrible as I expected and I started on the later side so I'd have some heat training. It was totally Uneventful until mile 13.8 when I fell over. I have no idea what i tripped on but suddenly I was on the ground rolling. So graceless... I wasn't hurt to badly so I jumped up and turned around to make sure no one noticed and of course there was a pack of roadies approaching. I just smiled and said "can we just pretend that never happened?" but they were sincerely concerned and stopped to make sure I was ok. Once again the only thing that was really hurt was my pride. wah wah

Of course the fall happened the day before Music Man and I have a date night where we're actually going somewhere I get to dress up. And I bought a cute little dress for the occasion which will now highlight my uber sexy road rash. Even my tattoo has road rash, poor little pin-up :(

Oh well, at least I get to go out on a date. I'm super excited too. We're going to the Greek! To see Regina! It's been so long since I've been to a concert, I think the last one was Pavement at the Greek.

My Little Man just got up so I guess that's it for now. Have a great Tuesday!

A Wonderful Beginning and Homemade Granola

Exercise: Easy 30 mins elliptical, 10 minutes core work

Yesterday I got up early and ran my first trail 10 miler in quite a few weeks in preparation for the Bulldog. I finally registered for it last week and have 6 weeks to go! The run went really well so I'm getting super excited for the race. It's the first 10+ I've completed in the last few months with zero pain. Woo Hoo to that!

Even though I've been eating pretty grain free I fueled my run with Fage 0, blueberries and 1/4 c of homemade granola. I use this recipe and I sub unsweetened coconut for the sweet stuff as well as only using 3 T honey and 3 T agave for the sweetener a splash of vanilla and 2 T of oil. I also added some chia and hemp seed for good measure. This time around I threw in the end of an open box of cornflakes st the very end of cooking. This granola is super delicious and the breakfast fueled me pretty well.

To top off my awesome run yesterday the Little Man slept in super late today. Music Man and I got over 8 hours of sleep and it was glorious! I am hoping for a repeat tonight, but not expecting much. No matter what,  it was a great start to the week.


Actually, the whole day has been pretty great, not just the morning. We were able to eat breakfast as a family and spend the morning running errands. The Little took a 2+ hour nap and then I took his friend Ethan and him to a Monday afternoon birthday play date. How awesome is that?

Because we have so many members in our mom's club instead of each of us having huge birthday parties to accommodate all the kids and parents we have a daytime play date each month for the kids and moms that have birthdays that month. It's all ages and extra celebratory and usually includes cupcakes. so much fun for kids and moms alike. And today was just great; the party included a craft, a homemade boxcar race track and not only cupcakes but frozen bananas. Loved it.

While we were at the party Music Man did the grocery shopping. This is quite out of the ordinary but so appreciated. And I didn't get one call or question because I made the list according to the layout of the store.  I should really do that more often, even for myself, because it saved so much time. And because my husband rocks, he also came home with these.

When we got home we had a lovely dinner then Music Man and Little went to the garage to fix a bike while I cleaned up.

I took one step outside to go check on their progress and immediately went back in because I needed a jacket! In the valley! In July!

And the Little Man requested a blanket for our evening walk. We got this wagon on a trip to Laguna a few months back and it is the best $15 purchase we've made. He loves to get in it and go for walks, to the zoo, and we even had to take it back to Laguna over the 4th because it's his favorite mode of transport.

Now it's relax time. Music Man and I settled into the couch to spend quality time together, with our electronic devices ;) I was feeling snacky so I made us some dessert yogurt with plain Fage 0, cinnamon, figs, blueberries, the biggest, sweetest blackberries ever, cherries and then topped it with a few chopped raw almonds. It was dreamy.

Have a great night and a wonderful week!