The real problem started with ultramarathon training.  While training for half-marathons, I tended to run 3x a week and do CrossFit 3x a week.  It worked out for me.  My hunger levels were never crazy.  I was not putting in so much mileage where fueling became an issue.  Everything was great and easy.  Suddenly, I’m running 5x a week and I don’t have as much time to do CrossFit.  Then I’m doing long trail runs that take a very, very long time to complete on weekends.  Fueling really becomes an issue during the runs and then post-run everything gets wonky for me.  I can run for 5 hours and then I’m not hungry at all.  But the next day, and the next?  Ravenous!  Throw in a misguided sense of entitlement typified by those “I run so I can eat.  I run for chocolate” type of mantras and you get me eating things I wouldn’t normally eat.  I would justify my poor nutrition by saying that I ran for 6 hours so I can eat what I want.

Well guess, what?  I can’t.  This kind of thinking has led me to pack on about 17 lbs over the year in spite of running more than I ever have in my life.  I tried to ignore it.  My regular pairs of Gap jeans started to grow tighter and tighter and I grew more and more apathetic.  In fact, instead of taking control of the situation, I just gave in and pulled the next higher size out of my closet.  WTH?  I still have jeans in the next *smaller* size that I was on track to fit into.  This was all just so wrong.

And let’s not talk about performance.  The fact is that I’m losing speed and I don’t believe it is all the fault of the slower pace that I put in doing trail miles.  Adding 15 pounds to my frame (which is not super lean to begin with) is having a direct negative effect on my running.  I couldn’t pull off the 1:55-ish half-marathon I did last January right now if I wanted to.  I’m bigger and slower and it sucks. So I decided a few weeks ago to stop the madness and spend the next 30-ish days dropping weight.  My goal for the month was a modest 5 pounds.  I’ll deal with the rest later.

I feel like these are small changes that are relatively painless.  I’m not counting calories or tracking my food.  I’m not starving myself.  I’m just trying to set myself up to make better choices.  These choices are adding up to change on the scale while allowing me to complete my workouts with good energy.  I’m all for that.

Do you have any habits (like mine of eating in the car) that you know sabotage your weight loss/maintenance efforts?

The weather in Atlanta has been unseasonably warm lately but on Sunday winter time temperatures were in full effect.  When I arrived at the park at 7:30AM my car’s temperature gauge read 16 degrees and added a tagline of “Icy” just in case I didn’t realize that meant is was extra cold outside.  I was wearing the cold gear version of my favorite Nike running pants, a Brooks cold gear zip shirt and a Nike winter jacket over that.  I had on a pair of Brooks running gloves and another pair of knit gloves over top of them.  I also had on one of those fuzzy earbands and an Underarmour fleece hat on top of that.  SmartWool socks covered my feet.

We took off shortly after 8AM and I found myself near the back of the group – on purpose.  I had a lot more running to do than everyone else so there was no way that I was going to blow myself up for the sake of keeping up appearances.  I was armed with a turn-by-turn sheet of directions for the loop that I could use on my solo trip later.  I thought the directions were great because I simply don’t understand trail maps.  When you are actually out there running, you often see these random side trails that aren’t mapped at all.  The maps seem to focus on only intersections with forest service roads.  How am I to know how to handle the random things that come up?  Turn by turn directions just make more sense to me because they mention visual cues that I can relate to and not just squiggles in the middle of a forest.  Of course, it would be just my luck that the directions followed the loop in a clockwise direction and we were going counterclockwise!  Sure I could just follow them backwards but I just didn’t want to have to think and re-translate anything.

I got separated from the group right at the start.  The front runners were too far ahead for me to see anymore so I stayed on the path to the right instead of turning.  I immediately knew something wasn’t right because I ran beside a wooden lookout observation deck thing that I *never* see at this point.  I usually see the observation deck from the far left of the trail.  Lost already!  I kept going rather than retracing my steps because I spotted campgrounds ahead and knew that I would run into the start of the trail if I kept going.  Sure enough, the tail end of the group was running parallel to me on the other side.  Alls well that ends well but getting lost at the start of the run did not bode well for my chances of doing a solo loop!

Shortly after the group got started, my coach Sean AKA “Run Bum,” whooped onto the scene.  I mean whooped literally because if you hear a random “Whooohoooo” out on the trails of North GA mountains, he just might be around!  He’s been out running around the mountains for a week now training to break the record for traveling the Appalachian Trail.  I was glad to have him there because he knows the trails like the back of his hand and he was able to give me valuable form pointers and ideas about how to handle the terrain.  It is interesting to soak up knowledge from someone who is a pretty amazing runner that usually finishes in the Top 5 or 10 of races.

I tackled my 4th (5th?) Coosa climb and it went well.  The basic climb to the top of Coosa is rarely super steep – it’s just extra long.  You ascend about 2000ft over 3.5 miles.  This actually excludes the hellacious mini-climb to the top of Coosa Bald.  Now *that* is a steep climb!  There are a few mini-breaks in there where you are not climbing and can run a bit but it is mostly a long relentless slogfest.  I think that is the hardest part of the climb – the fact that is so long and spread out.  You can’t really visually grasp all you are about to tackle except in small chunks.  Maybe that is for the best.  I know now to just put my head down and plan for an 1:15-1:30 of hard work.

With the majority of the climb complete, I forged on alone for a while because my coach stayed behind to try play a joke on some runners behind me.  I had directions from him as to what to look for next.  He said that I would know that I was at the summit of Coosa when I saw snow and to not spend a lot of time hanging out there because it was really cold.  I had trouble believing that it could get any colder.  As it stood, I kept the tube of my hydration pack under my coat so it wouldn’t freeze.  I was also religious about blowing the water back into the bladder so that wouldn’t freeze either.  That task was more difficult than it sounds because half of my face and mouth felt frozen.  I literally couldn’t purse my lips together.  I need to invest in a balaclava!  The wind was just whipping around out there.  My hands were cold in spite of two pairs of gloves.  One of my base layer shirts had those thumbhole things and the extreme cold caused the my thumb hurt at the crease where the thumbholes looped my finger  I ended up removing my gloves to release my fingers from the shirt.

It was snowing on the summit as Coach Sean promised.  I had directions about what to do next – look for a campfire and then go straight for a bit, then turn left at the trail sign.  But what was straight?!?  I saw the campfire but there was snow everywhere and it was impossible to spot a trail.  I saw some footprints but I swear they disappeared without going anywhere.  I spotted one trail blaze on a tree but couldn’t spot another or the trail ahead.  I started walking around in circles.  I didn’t freak out too much because I knew the others were maybe 10 minutes behind me.  I still wanted to figure it out on my own and eventually wandered smack into the trail sign I was supposed to find earlier.  I knew I was to stick with the Coosa Loop trail but the stupid sign had arrows in *both* directions for Coosa.  Since I probably didn’t come from the right direction I had no idea what to do so I just stood there waiting.  Ten minutes wandering around in snow and frigid temperatures was not fun.  I was so happy to hear a “Whoohooo” and the sound of voices coming that I couldn’t even be mad at myself anymore for being unable to follow simple directions.

I knew right then and there that doing a second loop alone was not a good idea.  I was also really starting to suffer from the cold.  We made the steep descent down to WolfPen Gap where GUTS had laid out some Gatorade and Water (both of which were in a slushie like state) in the parking lot.  Water was freezing out here!  WTH was I doing out here running?  The fingers on my right hand were burning and tingling no matter how much I moved them around to keep up circulation.  Two members of our group got a ride back to the park and I wanted to jump in that car so badly!  But I had training to do right?  How can I ever expect to stop gracing the bottom 2 of the race results if I don’t put in the work?  So I fought the urge to bail even though everything within me wanted to call it a day.

I continued on to top Slaughter Mountain with Coach Sean and Aaron – a 1000ft climb over the next mile.  Aaron loaned me a pair of gloves that he was not using bringing my total glove count to 3 pairs.  Meanwhile, I negotiated a new workout with Coach Sean.  I would do one loop and then go home and do 2 hours on the treadmill.  I was all for that because I was starting to hurt.  I ran the Sweetwater Sweetheart Half Marathon on Saturday and was regretting choosing that option over the easy 10 miler that I was assigned.  My hamstrings were burning from all the climbing.  I had to stop and stretch periodically and I quickly fell way behind my coach and Aaron.  They were kind enough to wait up for me when they got to far ahead.  I felt bad for holding them and looking like the weak little lamb but I was really struggling at that point.  We reached the summit of Slaughter Mountain and it was decided that we would continue on to the top of Blood Mountain.  Coach Sean decided actually because I was beyond ready to go home at this point!  In fact, I told them that I would wait for them at Slaughter in the cold.  Lazy, much?  Sean claimed it was a 15 minute climb but I doubled that because 15 minutes for him is not the same for someone like me.  The cold must have addled my brains because my feet turned to follow them.  Or maybe I was just feeling a little more agreeable because sensation was finally returning to my fingers due to that third pair of gloves.

Another 600ft of climbing and we reached the top of Blood Mountain.  Coach promised a stunning view and he wasn’t lying.  You could see mountains all around.  Blood Mountain is one of the highest points on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia.  We climbed on top of a huge boulder and took in the view.  I even shed my layers down to a single pair of gloves in order to snap a few pictures.  It felt a little warmer up there in spite of the great height – maybe because there was no tree cover?  Oddly enough, there was a shelter up there.  There was also a privy bathroom that I took advantage of after hours of holding it in.  A bathroom and a house on top of a mountain!  I never would have imagined.

Other crazy people were on the mountain top that day too.  Some hikers were setting up shop in the shelter and they offered beers to Aaron and Sean.  I hate the taste of beer so I passed.  Some hard liquor might have warmed me up really nice though.  If they had offered a shot of tequila, I would have taken it.  The hikers made mention of starting the “real party” soon.  Coach swears one girl had a bag of mushrooms.  This cracked me up so hard.  People still drop ‘shrooms today like in the seventies?!?  I really hope they weren’t doing hallucinogenic drugs on top of a mountain because that could end tragically.  Still, I could not stop laughing as we left the partiers behind and headed back in for the final miles.

It was literally all downhill from Blood Mountain back to the park, but that doesn’t mean it was easy.  The trails were extra technical in my opinion.  I was already slow because I was tired, but tight switchbacks and the occasional bit of random mud on the trails made me even slower.  I was loathe to run a lot of this because of all the big rocks.  My main goal is to get to DoubleTop in one piece and twisting my ankle was not something I wanted to do.  Once again, I found myself far behind my companions but I was over feeling bad about it.  My fingers were feeling frostbitten again from that brief moment of removing 2 layers of gloves to take pictures.  My capacity for caring what others thought was very low.

The trail back started to look familiar once we picked up the Coosa Backcountry Loop again.  Visually, this part of the loop is lovely with all kinds of streams flowing.  But, I remembered disliking this part of the trail over the summer because of the narrowness, the tight switchback corners, and the steep drop off the side.  I disliked it again this time around but it was all bringing me closer to home.

Approximately 16 miles and nearly 5 hours later, I arrived back to civilization.  I was freezing and absolutely exhausted, but I had a great time in spite of all of that.  What did I learn?  Running with a bunch of dudes is funny.  Running into hikers dropping ‘shrooms is even funnier.  Using a privy in the freezing cold is odd.  Wearing 3 pairs of gloves and still battling frostbite not cool.  I need to get a balaclava.  I freaking love trail running.

What an adventure!  If you want to repeat this run/hike, you can find directions here.

This is a shame because I actually have stuff I want to post about.  I’ve got 2 race reports to write and I had a blogworthy training run today out at Vogel State Park.  Time to investigate that email to post feature from WordPress.  The thought of posting from my IPhone like Miss Mile High makes my fingers hurt!

If I didn’t have a DVR, I’d never get to watch any TV except on the weekends. Thank goodness for technological advances!

Quick and easy! Broiled tilapia, spinach, and some leftover Bombay Potatoes.

I woke up crazy early to make the nearly 2 hour drive to Callaway Gardens.  I made the decision to run this race a little late so I was going to have to do race day registration.  I wanted to get there early to avoid any hassles.  I needed to arrive at 7:15AM and Pine Mountain is about 2 hours from my house.  I usually have to drive far once a month to get really good training for trail running, so I don’t mind this sort of thing at all anymore.

The weather was perfect with reported highs in the mid-50′s.  I wore my favorite basic Nike running pants, a short-sleeved tech tee, and a really lightweight long-sleeved hoodie thing I found on the clearance rack at REI when I went to pick up some Shot Bloks.  Unfortunately, the weather report tricked me again and it was freezing when I arrived at Callaway Gardens Beach.  Registration was in a big tent that was not heated, but it was warmer than outdoors.  Everything went quickly and smoothly at the table.  Race day registration was $70 which isn’t bad for “day of” and a full marathon.  The race T-Shirts were long-sleeved and cotton.   It wasn’t a bad looking shirt but it wasn’t anything I would ever wear in public.  This year the race was chip timed with these huge velcro ankle strap things.  The chip didn’t bother me, but it was old school looking compared to the bib style chips most races use nowadays.  I wasn’t expecting any chip timing from reading race reviews of the prior year, so this was a step forward as I understand.  I’m so used to doing trail races now that often aren’t chip timed that I didn’t care at all.

There was a store available in the tent which was an excellent idea.  How often do you forget something race day?  They had everything – jackets, gels, water bottles, etc.  Why don’t more races do this?!?  I was only interested in a fleece ear warmer/head wrap thing because my Bondi Band was not enough with the chilly temperatures.  Even though I have 3 of these things at home, I was grateful to have the chance to pick one up before the race – well worth the $15.

Port-o-potties are not allowed at Callaway Gardens so I had to join a longish line for the bathroom.  I like real bathrooms better anyway and the line moved quickly enough that I was able to go twice before the race.  In 45 minutes, I registered for the race, bought a headband, chatted with Coach Sean (who was planning to win the race!) and another GUTS member, took care of bathroom business, and still managed to enjoy warm time in my car.  That’s my kind of race right there.

I’ve never toured Callaway Gardens so I didn’t know what to expect as far as scenery.  Trail running has spoiled me so much that I’ve come to hate long road races because houses and city streets bore me after a while.  Callaway Gardens is the best of both worlds in respect to the scenery because its like running through a pretty park.  I almost forgot how nice it is to not have to constantly focus on the ground for trip hazards.  It was nice to be able to take in the golf course, lakes, and wooded paths that Callaway has to offer.

The race started right on time and I fell into a great rhythm.  It hardly felt like I was working hard at all.  I knew that I wanted to do sub-4:30 but for once, I forgot to look up the split time necessary to achieve that goal.  I tried to do rough math in my head and estimated that a 10:00 min/mile would work out.  Every time I glanced at my watch, my pace was in the 9:45 min/mile range.  I worried that might be fast and I would blow up later, but I truly did not feel like I was putting forth a lot of effort so I went with it.

The only problem was that the numbers on my watch weren’t matching up with the course mile markers.  At the start of the Callaway race, the park is closed so there is no traffic.  We essentially had an entire road to ourselves to run.  I thought I recalled the RD saying that we needed to stay on the left side of the street, but people were running all over the place.  The course is also fairly twisty and curvy since it veers through woodland paths and such.  It is very different from running most city streets that make nice right angled turns.  I either suck at running tangents or my running watch is very off.  I was showing almost an extra .1 mile per mile of the course.  For example, when I passed the course Mile 4 sign, my watch read Mile 4.4.  The course is USATF certified so I’m aware that I’m the screwup here.

I didn’t stress out about this so much on the first few miles, but I eventually started to worry.  Because I was so off on the miles, my actual pace for the course (the only one that matters!) was much slower than I thought.  My 9:44 min/mile was probably more like a 10:15 min/mile.  That was slower than it needed to be to hit my goals…and this was early on before I got tired and naturally slowed down.  This was troublesome but I didn’t pick up the pace because my effort level felt right.  If it wasn’t enough then so be it.

Having read multiple race reviews, I was looking forward to seeing what the hill situation was like on the course.  Even though this isn’t technically an Atlanta race, Atlanta races generally are full of hills unless they specify that the course is fast or flat.  That’s just the way it is.  We deal with it.  The race director made an announcement at the beginning of the race that indicated that he didn’t consider it hilly but he did mention a short 2/10 of a mile long hill somewhere in Mile 6.

After coasting along the pretty much flat miles (maybe one gentle sloping incline), I started to get on high alert at Mile 5.  I was right to be on alert and rewarded with multiple long incline kind of hills.  Sort of like during the Atlanta marathon, I just put my head down and went with it.  I ran every step of every single hill that first loop and I felt great and relaxed doing it.  No matter what my true pace was, I felt like this was progress in my running and that is what matters.  Better yet, is that when I look back at my splits my pace didn’t slow that much and my heart rate didn’t increase that much either.  What’s the equivalent of a “non-scale victory” for running?  I’m going to call it a “non-speed” victory and claim one for myself on those hills.

The hilly section was the start of short an out and back portion of the course.  I got to see some of the front-runners and people who were just faster than me.  I kept an eye out for my coach since he was gunning for the win.  I eventually spotted him on the way and got a high-five.  I also saw Brad from GUTS who I encounter at many trail races (and was erroneously referring to as Dan SMH).  A fellow Marathon Maniac that I was chatting up at the start of the race had some encouraging words for me too as we crossed paths.  It is so much fun to have friends on the course if you are running alone!  A simple nod, wave, or smile in passing means a lot.

The course got kind of desolate during these miles with mainly tall grass on either side.  We ran down to an aid station and hit a hard turnaround.  Like literally stop at some traffic cones and turn directly around.  Then it was back out and off to cover the final flatter miles through a wooded section that housed the butterfly garden area and other attractions.  This section was really twisty but I liked it a lot.  We exited the curvy area somewhere between Miles 11 and 12 and then ran on the road towards the finish.  A volunteer directed me to split off from the half-marathoners and I headed out for the second loop.  My time was around 2:15 at the half-marathon point.

They say the full marathon at Callaway gets lonely after the half and that is 100% correct.  I passed a few older gentlemen near the half split but I was on my own for a while after that.  I could easily go 5 minutes without seeing anyone.  I don’t mind this sort of thing since I’m kind of used to it from trail races.  If you do, then don’t run this marathon.

I told myself that no walking was allowed until the half marathon point and I succeeded there.  I didn’t really feel like I needed it which was great.  I tried to take it further and go to Mile 20 with no walking but no dice.  Unfortunately, one walk break breeds another – they are nasty things like that – for me.  I kept the breaks short and sweet though and kept plugging along.  The good thing was that the course kind of felt completely different the second time around.  You see things you didn’t see before and that sort of thing.  I wasn’t bored at all.

That hilly section that I had easily conquered during the first loop demanded a powerwalk on the second loop.  Funny how when you are all fresh the hills can seem like nothing.  They felt more serious this time around.  In fact, the whole race started to feel more serious around this time.  I became acutely aware of just how much pounding road races put your body through.  I’ve pretty much been training exclusively on the treadmill or on trails for months now so I’ve become used to softer surfaces.  My feet and calves were really starting to hurt.  I started to develop a nasty habit of walking whenever it suited me so my pace was slowing down.  The good thing is that even though I was slowing down, so was everyone else.  I went from running alone to passing some people I had not seen before and having 2 or 3 people ahead in my sites.

Miles 19-23 tested me.  Seriously.  I didn’t hit that proverbial wall – in fact, my little fueling plan with a Shot Blok every 2.5 miles was working well.  It was just the foot and calf thing I mentioned above.  Also this part of the course wasn’t as scenic as some other parts.  With the late hour, Callaway opened to through traffic and hopping over to the side of the rode every three minutes got old very quickly.   It also forced (or gave me an excuse) to walk more and that’s not something I needed.  I started wanting the whole thing to just be over.

My energy started to rise when I reached the Mile 22 (?) aid station which was also the Mile 19 aid station.  When it was Mile 19, the aid station was out of PowerAde.  That sucked.  When the same aid station became Mile 22 aid station, they two guys there were packing up and there were no cups left.  WTH?  You would think that the most heavily trafficked aid station would have enough fluid left for the marathoners.  I’m glad I carried my own bottle and still had some water inside!

Speaking of fluids, don’t buy this hydration system.  I purchased it off The Clymb for a steal but I find it more frustrating than helpful most of the time.  I love the holster and the storage room it offers, but the included bottle keeps sliding out.  I find that if I don’t push it back or check on it every 15 minutes or so, it will fall right out.  This time, I tried to use my Nathan handheld bottle in hopes of avoiding that issue because it was a little wider all around.  It fell out twice during this race.  Very annoying!

Closing in on the water station around Mile 22 gave me a boost of energy.  I knew I could pull myself together for a 5K.  This part of the course got more interesting too as it was the twisty path through the butterfly gardens and such.  I ran more and picked off a few more people.  I passed a now deserted (seriously?) aid station at Mile 24 and knew I would get back to the road to the finish soon.  On that road, I passed an older guy with his name, Frank, emblazoned on the back of his shirt.  I was so happy to almost be finished that I said “Let’s kick it into high gear, Frank, and get this race over with!” or something silly like that.  It was good for a laugh from him.  Good racing karma achieved!

I did kick it into high gear, mostly running that last mile.  I was so happy to see that finish line that I didn’t even care that the clock read 4:45 something.  So much for sub-4:30.  Shoot, I ran 4:55 at the Atlanta Marathon where I spent the second half sick.  I guess any is good?  I should be happy, no?  Everything was hurting at that point so I was indeed happy that it was over.  I felt more physically banged up from 26.2 miles on the roads than I did from 6+ hours on the trail at the GUTS FatAss race.  When I say I’m done with full road marathons now, I mean it…I think.

Color me surprised when I was handed a plaque for 3rd place female in my age group.  There were only 4 of us in said age group but so what?  Actually, I wasn’t that shocked because in past years only about 45 women completed the full marathon.  They group the ages by 5 year blocks.  If you run the full at Callaway, you have a great shot at getting an award.

As I said at the beginning, I’d been looking forward to having a good road marathon experience and this race qualified.  I didn’t get sick and the weather was nice.  I didn’t perform how I wanted to, but my expectations were way out of line with my reality.  It is tough to PR when you’re 10 pounds heavier, you haven’t been training on roads, and you ran 28 trail miles the previous Sunday.  I really need to cut myself some slack and remember that anything that isn’t the DoubleTop 100K is not an “A” race and is therefore a training run.

Personal revelations aside, this is a nice low-key race.  It is hilly in spots from about Mile 5.5-10 and that can wear on you.  It is not any worse than the Atlanta Marathon though as far as hills and the tougher sections are grouped together in the middle with flatter stuff on the front and back end.  Aid might be hit or miss during the second loop if you are not a fast runner so I would recommend carrying your own water.  The aid stations are also about 2 miles apart too and there was no fuel offered on course.

I didn’t venture into the tent for post-race goodies and that’s probably a good thing as other racers reported that the half-marathoners ate up all the food.  This whole race in general is pretty no frills.  The $70 price tag (race day) is cheap by local road marathon standards but way overpriced compared to what you would get for around $45 at a trail race.  There is very little spectator support if you need that sort of thing.  I would recommend this race as a training run, not as a destination marathon or your first marathon.  I also would not really try to PR here.  Miles 6-10 are hilly/rolling in spots and they are doubly hard the second go around.

What I did like about this race is that after the long drive to Pine Mountain, the whole experience was hassle free.  I was able to register and use the bathrooms twice in a very short time.  Parking was very free, plentiful, and close to the finish line.  The pre-race circus tent was a nice bonus on a cold day.  I loved the race-day expo for last minute essentials.  The course is beautiful.  If you prefer trails to roads but for some reason want to do a longer road race, this is a good choice.

I get that I’m supposed to take these pictures, but I didn’t have my phone on me yesterday at 10AM.  I had a good reason!  I was running the GUTS Red Top Rumble and trying to “run light.”  So no phone, no vest, no water bottle.  10AM would have been about 1:30 into the race, so I’m sure I was somewhere out on the Homestead Loop and my view would have looked a lot like the picture above.  That counts, right?

And yeah, I skipped a day.  I’ll take it later tonight and post that one along with today’s.

One day his will be so much bigger than mine.

Saw this on the Facebook page for the GA Marathon. Never thought about my AM exercise habit that way but its kind of true!

I’ll be running on Feb 11th in remembrance of Sherry.  Will you?