Tarawera Ultramarathon - Part 1

On Saturday, 19 March I set out for the biggest challenge of my life, but first let's back up. A little more than a week before I had traveled to New Zealand with 6 friends from WOOT (Women on Okinawa Trails). Five of us were coming from Okinawa, one was meeting up from Alaska, and Tiff was starting from Illinois. We've all run together for about a year and 5 of us had made the journey to Mongolia last July for a trail marathon. We have a wide range of runners in our group, including multiple Boston Qualifiers and more average runners like me - a 4:30 marathoner.

Maybe I was just cranky or maybe I'm just used to being on my own a lot since Chris is often away, but by a few days into the trip I was ready for some alone time. I was really looking forward to my 10 hours alone in the woods.

We lined up in pre-dawn hours with the goal of completing 60K through NZ terrain. Anna and Andrea originally signed up for the 100K and had completed some incredible training - extremely long back to back days of running.

We started at the Redwoods Visitor Center in Rotorua. I loved this starting point because it reminded me of my summer vacation's at my grandparent's house in the Bay Area of California. On parts of our drive earlier in the week I spied eucalyptus, but I didn't smell any of that distinct, crisp smell as I waited to start the race. The Tarawera Ultra is in its third year and had over 200 runners split between the 60K, 85K, 85K relay, and 100K.

Daylight broke just in time for the start and no head lights were needed. The start was a good climb out of the visitor center with both steep inclines and stairs added in for fun. There was kind of a weird rhythm of running the downhills and flats that might last 20 seconds and then everyone would walk the uphills and stairs. I knew I was near the back of the pack and I was ok with that. I didn't know what to expect from this race. I've never gone this distance and I wasn't sure how to pace. I do know that once we got to the top it opened on to a beautiful landscape with a lake and the town of Rotorua in the distance.

The sun glimmering off Blue Lake made me smile and the fun descents had me giggling out loud. I loved this portion of the race. The first section was about 12km before we hit the aid station. The aid station was fully stocked with jelly beans, chips, ginger, endurotabs, water, coke, and heed. The volunteers were all lovely and after a quick chit chat I was off again.

The second and third aid stations came up quickly because they are on the only road portion of the run and they are close together. I believe the second aid station was around 17km and the third at 20km. The second aid station had a timing mat and I clocked in at 63rd place, 22nd among women. I had gained a little speed on the road portion, but the last K up to the third aid station was a steep uphill and I took advantage of the walkortunity. There was a photographer right before the aid station. I asked him if I should pretend to run and he said that might be a good idea. The result was the best race photo I've ever had!

I had studied the race map and knew that the next aid station was a long way away so I took the time to refill my 2L Nathan hydration vest. Also, for those who like running details, I was eating 3 Clif Shot Bloks about every 45 minutes. I would also eat a couple jelly beans and a couple potato chips at the aid station. The weather was perfect - low 70s and even though it was sunny the trail was shaded for the most part.

While running the first 20K I stayed in very good spirits and was mentally strong. There were parts on the road that I knew I could push faster, but I wanted to be able to have something left at the end. Being so new to this kind of distance made it a little tricky to know how much effort to put out. I wanted to give 100%, but I wanted that 100% to last the whole race. It was hard to know where the balance was.

Between aid stations 3 and 4 there were about 17km. I saw an older gentleman on the course with no hydration pack or bottles. I don't know how he did it. They told us we could drink out of the creeks or lakes, but I didn't want to chance it. I was rationing out my water for this long section, but I was constantly thirsty. I had started hydrating a couple days before the race so I don't think I was dehydrated, but the longer I ran the more chips I ate at aid stations. I was definitely craving salt.

There were lots of steep climbs in this section and I would walk when needed. The website describes this section as "a test of fitness it is superb". During the entire race I was able to run all the flats, downhills, the rollers, and some of the not so steep inclines. I was really happy with that. This race really alerted me to the fact that I need to work on climbing. I trained on hills in Okinawa, but we've got nothing like the mountains in NZ! My legs would actually feel ok on the hills, but my breathing became labored and my heart rate would sky rocket. The entire race took place between 400m and 1400m above sea level. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but it was constant ups and downs. At some point in this section I passed Kathleen who was slowed down with abdominal pain.

(Please continue to part 2 because blogspot won't let me upload more pictures to this post).

Tarawera Ultramarathon - Part 2

During this section I had a lot of time to think and was drawing inspiration from many sources. I could hear my mom saying, "you go girl", my BFF telling me "si, se puede", Monica cheering me on with "you are a champion, and Chris' facebook message of "keep moving forward". Keep moving forward became my mantra. I also thought about Dean Karnazes. For some reason his line "sometimes you're the fish, sometimes you're the fisherman" kept running through my head, even when it didn't fit the situation. It all worked for me.

I came into the 4th aid station at 37-38km feeling strong physically and mentally. It was a great surprise when I popped out of the woods and saw Anna and Jannine's daughters, Laura and Jade, and Jannine's dad there cheering us on. It was a great pick me up. There was another timing mat at this point and although my overall pace had slowed down, my placement had moved up to 54 overall (a 9 place improvement) and 18 for gender (a 4 place improvement).

As I was coming in Tiff was leaving. She wasn't feeling great and mentioned she was power walking, but let me tell you that tiny lady is a crazy fast power walker. I refilled my water again and ate more chips. The salt tasted great. I overheard someone say that we had finished the worst part and I asked race volunteers if that was true. One kind volunteer told me that "shitty" parts were coming up. I asked him his definition of shitty and he said it was going to get extremely technical with rocks and roots. He was not lying! Although my trail experience is admittedly limited, I have never seen trail like this. The first couple kilometers out of the aid station were very steep, but not yet technical. About 43km in I was starting to feel the effects of the race and turned on my ipod for the first time. I quickly had to hit shuffle since the first song to come on was Elton John's "I Guess That's Why They Call it The Blues". I definitely wasn't feeling that! Thank goodness for a little Cake - it always gets me running.

From about 40-52km the trail was a crazy, technical mess. There were parts where I was literally using my hands to crawl up a root mass or to get up the trail. This section forced me to pocket the camera because I was truly afraid that I was going to face plant. Shockingly, I did not fall. The thought I kept having as I timidly navigated this area was that I would love to just sit in the woods and watch as the front runners come through just to see how they run it. At this point I can't even imagine how to run on terrain like that. When I get back to the states I'm definitely volunteering at some ultras to see how it's done.

Although I did not fall, I did slip down a loose gravel edge once, but nothing major. I don't remember exactly, but maybe from about 45km or so we were back to running beside another gorgeous, crystal clear lake. Unfortunately, I couldn't take my eyes off the trail for long to take in the beauty.

Somewhere in here is where I really started to hurt - my quads, a weird place in my right shin that has never had problems, and the insides of both my knees - maybe my bursas. When the pain came I still thought of Dean's book "Run!" where he talks about how hard the runs can be and how you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone. From 45km on my mantra became "it's not supposed to feel good". Even though it's not overly positive, that mantra really worked for me.

I don't want to make it sound like it was all sunshine and roses. There were some definite low points. Around 50K I teared up and started thinking this is so hard, but I quickly told myself to suck it up and got over it. Somewhere in this section I passed Steph, a very strong runner from our group who was having some major IT band problems.

The next to last aid station was at about 54km. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven because there was cold watermelon. Not only did watermelon sound good because I was racing, but the watermelons on Okinawa are well over twenty bucks so this was a real treat. I didn't stay long at this station because I knew the end was so close. As I was going out, Kathleen was coming in and she begged the volunteers to "please tell me the rest of the course is flat as a pancake". Apparently they don't have pancakes in NZ because those liars said it was downhill. There were still plenty of steep inclines and some very cruel sets of steep stairs.

Luckily, the scenery made up for it. We were running by a strong flowing river that opened on to beautiful waterfalls.

The views really were stunning, but I was trying to push the last 5K and give my full effort. At the aid station around 47km I had taken an endurotab (basically electrolytes). I don't know if it finally kicked in or if I just knew the end was near, but I really picked it up the last 5km.

Right around the 55km point my breath was taken away yet again. This time it wasn't a steep incline, but a wallaby jumping across my path that did it. I just stopped and watched the speedy marsupial hop away. It was incredible.

Just after the wallaby I came across Tiff power walking her way through the pain. I'm telling you - one speedy little lady. I told her she could do it and she tucked in right behind me until the end. This is always how we run. One of us will lead, the other will follow. The leader just all depends on the day.

Within the last 2km racers are treated to the incredible Tarawera Falls. They were amazing, but I didn't have time to dilly dally.

After the falls I was still trying to push hard because I was ready to be done! I thought I had about a kilometer to go so I was pleasantly surprised when I popped out of the woods and saw the finish line! I was even happier to see Jannine's dad there waiting for us and cheering us in! It was great to see a familiar face. Here's Tiff, Kathleen, and I at the finish:

From the 38K mark until the end I moved up another 9 spaces (54 to 45) and 2 more gender spots (18 to 16) and had a finish time of 10:25. Our WOOT runners who are 3:30 marathoners finished around 8:30. It was one heck of a course.

I am extremely happy with my effort and feel like I did all I could on the day. I clearly need to train more for climbs. After a few days of hobbling around with sore quads I was back to normal and went for a couple easy runs within 5 days of the race. Tiff had these great necklaces made for us to remember Tarawera.

I'm pretty sure this is an experience I'll never forget.

B&A 50K

As most of you know I've been training for the last few months for a 60K that I will be running in New Zealand in March. I'm super excited about the trip and super nervous about the run. I thought I would calm some of my nerves about the run by running a 50K training run this weekend. Originally I was signed up for the Okinawa City Marathon this weekend, but I wanted a course with more trails and less pressure.

It is amazing the planning that goes into arranging your own 50K. I had to come up with the course and with the limited trails on Okinawa, at least with my limited knowledge of trails on Okinawa, this can be tricky. Also, the weather report kept changing so some of the trails I was planning on could be unrunnable if there was enough rain. However, the weather leading up to and including Saturday couldn't have been more perfect. I also had to figure out fueling. I knew I would be wearing my Nathan hydration vest for the entire time, but I also planned on using my car as an aid station.

I stocked a cooler with G2 (because I should really be concerned with the calories in regular Gatorade when I'm running 31 miles- duh!), coke, and chocolate milk. I also stocked the trunk with Pringles, PB&J, Reese's Pieces, and other assorted goodies. Honestly, none of the "real food" sounded good during the run and 95% of the time I stuck with Shot Bloks.

So, the first 5K I had WOOT runners with me. It was nice to be able to start with others.

My friend Bri stayed with me the entire time! Yes, all 50K! On Thursday she wrote on Facebook that she needed a run. I mentioned I was doing a 50K Saturday. She said she'd be there. I assumed she'd come for part of it and then bail, but no, she spent the whole day running all over Yomitan with me. What an amazing lady and friend!

For those of you familiar with the trails we started with Paintball and then reversed Paintball. We then crossed 58 and ran Spider Loop. Here's the trail up to the main part of Spider. I love the red clay.

This is me at the 17K mark. We then headed out on a 12K loop that took us from Yuimaru down 58 to 6, take a left on the other 58 to the Starbucks, left on 16, hit the main 58, and take the Farm Roads back to Yuimaru.

Here's some shots from the 12K loop:

I'm never too tired to take pictures of pretty flowers and these are my favorite farm dogs! I hate that they're chained up, but they always have clean water and seem well fed. Plus, they're super sweet.

Chris and Rana met up with us at about the 29K point.

This is where I had the worst idea ever and the wheels almost came off. I thought it would be a good idea to run Spider Loop in reverse. I've never run Spider in reverse and this was a really bad time to try something new.

This picture doesn't really do justice to how steep the hills were. There was a lot of hiking at this point. I figured it would just make me stronger for New Zealand.

Despite my hatred for reverse Spider, Rana loved it!

There was lots of mud wallowing and this part of the run was where she was allowed to run off leash. She is amazing to watch jump over ravines and crevasses. I've got to get her in agility classes when we move back to the states.
After reverse Spider we did the 12K loop again. I thought this picture was very fitting because I couldn't have asked for a better "real partner" for this venture!

I actually felt pretty good the entire run. I got a little side stitch the second time we did the 12K loop, but it worked itself out. My right lower back/hip area felt a little wonky, but nothing terrible and by the last 8K or so the bottom of my feet hurt. It wasn't as bad as I thought it could be. Here are some shots from the last 5K.

Chris was sweet and had flowers waiting in his van for me at the finish. He didn't know Bri was going to gut the whole thing out with me so he only had one bouquet, but we did what "real partners" do and split them.

Thanks so much to Bri, Chris, and Rana for getting me through the first and last annual B&A 50K!

2010 Recap

I know, I know that we are 3 days in to 2011, but trust me this blog is not the only thing I'm slacking on. I still have Christmas presents to mail out (sorry Mandy) and thank yous to write. So, I'm thinking 3 days late isn't too shabby. Here's a look at 2010:

January

We found our favorite beach up in north Okinawa.

We went waterfall hiking with the Dokmos.

I practiced yoga with Rana.

February

My best friend Mary came to visit! She loves having her picture taken.

Tiffany and I ran the Nago Half.

Oscar tried to go TDY with Chris.

March
I took kids from the Youth Center hiking at Hiji Falls. They look thrilled to be unplugged, don't they?

I went to the bull fights with another friend Mary.

The highlight of my year! I found WOOT and rediscovered my love for running!

Chris participated in Mustache March while TDY to Korea.

April
The Brasingtons come to Japan!

I made my first braided bread.

Rana runs trails for the first time!

May

Tiffany invites me to her school to see sumo wrestlers.

Rana becomes a working dog - that pack is full of shells and sea glass.

We spy the elusive flying squid.

I run a 5K with my Youth Center Running Club.

I finally get a picture of the goat guy on my birthday! Those goats are totally unleashed!

My sweet husband sends birthday flowers to my work since he is TDY again.

Bri and Tiffany go on the hottest birthday run ever! Seriously, it was SO hot! As we finished the run we came across this license plate with my birthday.

June

I go to California to see family for the first time since 2005!

While there I make my mom run a 25K trail race with me on Angel Island.

July

7 WOOT women go to Mongolia to conquer the trails!

August

Chris and I play a dodgeball tournament with his squadron.

Chris takes a sailing class to the Keramas Islands.

September

We Roman up and head to a toga party.

I head to Florida to see family and surprise my dad for his 70th birthday.

I also get to see the awesome Arrington family.

I then head up to Chicago to visit Tiffany. We ate gourmet cupcakes, took a bike tour of the city, and ran a night time 10K trail race followed by a 25K trail race the next morning!

October

I completed Izena Triathlon - 2K swim, 66K bike, 20K run.

I started my new job at Youth Sports.

Rana celebrated Halloween.

November

We continue to enjoy the natural beauty of Okinawa.

I get to go to Tokyo for a Boys and Girls Club conference for work. I was pretty excited about the pumpkin pie ice cream.

December

Chris flies to the Maldives.

But makes it home in time to support me at the Naha Marathon.

We clean up nice for the 17th SOS squadron party.

We had a great, busy year in what is scheduled to be our last full year here in Okinawa. We'll keep you posted on where we're going once the Air Force fills us in. Have a great 2011!