20 Miles: Goose, Collie, Buzzards

Marta and I ran 20 miles today.  Here we are at the beginning of the run. One of us doesn't want to do it. I'll let you decide who that is:

It was rainy and chilly, but I was ready for this run because I planned most of the route around West Akron. I decided we would follow my old, old Blue Line route combined with my morning run around the mall. These two combined would give us about 14 miles, so I came up with extra miles along the way. It was an adventure, to be certain.

Our adventure started when a goose attacked us. I know what you are thinking. You think a goose ran after us, but you are mistaken. That goose flew up into the air and came at MY FACE, hissing at us. Marta was looking at a storefront, and I pushed both of us out of the way of the dangerous beast, yelling, "Jesus! It's attacking us!"  I saved our lives, Peeps.

This is EXACTLY how the goose looked when it came at me, Peeps.

Then, as we were running (ok, we were walking here) along the sidewalk on S. Hawkins Avenue, a Collie came out of the yard and aggressively charged us, barking and growling. I thought, This is how it ends, with Lassie tearing out my throat. Luckily, the owner came out, got the dog, and apologized. She saved our lives, Peeps.

Here is a picture of me telling Marta to get out of the way of a car behind her. I saved her life, Peeps.

As we ran up S. Rose, we saw two buzzards tearing apart a brown paper bag. They were ginormous. I wanted Marta to take a picture of them because my phone was in my pack, but she refused because taking pictures of buzzards brings about Bad CroMo. This is short for Croatian Mojo. She did pull out my phone for me, and I was able to take the pictures for you:

We also had a tiny dog yip at us as we passed its territory, but I wasn't scared. It was on a leash.

As we ran, the sun tried to come out, and the sky turned from gray and gloomy to blue and fluffy. Marta and I discussed houses we passed, and before we knew it, we were finishing strong by running down the Portage Path hill to the end of our route.

20.11 miles.  Done.

Now I taper for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon. Would you like to join me there? Click here to register, and use my code, SI2019, for a 10% discount on any of the races you choose. Get on this, Peeps, the race is quickly filling up!

May you run happy sans wicked geese, dogs, or buzzards, Peeps.

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Race Recap: Forget the PR 50K

It was a really stupid decision, Peeps.

A while ago I got on the wait list for Forget the PR 50K at Mohican. I don't know why I did it. Ok, I do know why I did it. Peer Pressure.  A yearning for a new challenge. Mid-life crisis. Other things (if you know me, I'm sure you can guess what that means).

Anyway, I was on the WAIT LIST.  The key word here is WAIT. I thought I wouldn't get in, and the Universe would be to blame, so I didn't have to blame myself.

Wrong.

This showed up in my email. Dangit.

So, I was in it.  Luckily, Wendy (whom I was training with for this race) was in it, too.  We decided that we were as ready as we were going to be.

This is EXACTLY how Wendy and I look when we are ready.

This is how Wendy, Sarah, Marta, and I look when we are ready. Notice the Trail Sisters shirts!

Forget the PR is aptly named. It takes place at Mohican (in Loudonville), and the elevation goes well beyond 4,000 feet in the 31 miles of the race. Wendy had a great idea for mentally tackling the course: The first loop was 18ish miles; therefore, the second loop was much easier. Period. That was all we had to think about. I added some rules: For the first loop, we could talk about how beautiful it was on the course and how lucky we were to be outside on such a beautiful day. For the second loop, we would discuss food and beer.  This was a pretty good strategy all around.

After about two hours on the course, I had to find a bathroom, so I told Wendy to go on without me. We had agreed ahead of time that we would run our own races, and I didn't want to hold her back.  She said she'd see me later (which I should have picked up on), and she moved on. I found a bathroom, got back on course, and then I promptly moved off course.

I blame the beautiful scenery.

Luckily for me, I heard a voice behind me: "Have you even seen a pink flag around here?" I turned around; it was Wild Bill Wagner, one of the race directors for Running Forward and Giving Back. 

"No," I replied.

"Well, I'm following you, and I think we are lost, " he said.

Irritated, I snapped back, "What the hell are you doing following me??? I've never run a 50K before, and I've never been here before, and you are a RACE DIRECTOR!!!!"

Anyway, we reversed our course and found our way back. In this way, I lost (or gained) about a mile. Thank you, Wild Bill, for getting me back on track. I'm sorry I yelled at you.

I eventually found my way back to the Covered Bridge, and Wendy was waiting for me, something I didn't expect. I know she had been waiting at least 20 minutes (because I had gotten lost), and I felt TERRIBLE. I didn't expect her to want to finish the loop with me, yet there she was. Wendy, I'm still SO SORRY that you had to wait so long. If I had known that you intended to wait for me, I would have told you to move on.  

So, we were back together again.  Honestly, we had a great time. It was hard, but I didn't have any meltdowns; I was focused on finishing the first loop because Wendy said the second loop would be better (She is a liar, but oh well). 

Let's talk about an iconic part of the course: Big Ass Hill.  Everyone talks about this hill, and Peeps, it is really a steep, long hill. 

This doesn't seem steep and long, but believe me; it is. What you perceive to be the top is NOT actually the top.

This is Wendy coming up Big Ass Hill on the second loop. Yes, we had to climb that damned hill twice.

I had heard about Big Ass Hill, but I am not easily intimidated. I put my head down and I plowed up that hill.  As I climbed, I talked to a Dude in a Kilt who had an Australian accent. When I got to the top, I made my signature move: I threw my fists in the air and shouted, "Yes! The hill is my bitch!" The elation didn't last long, though, because after a slight (and deceptive) downhill, I saw this:

Mother. Of. God. Are you kidding me????

When I verbalized my disapproval (use your imagination here), Dude in a Kilt said, "I wanted to say something earlier, but you were so happy. . . "

Anyway, we made it back to the start for the first loop. We fueled and started right back out again. At this point, we met up again with Jason, who ran us to Big Ass Hill as moral support. The nice thing about Forget the PR is that you see lots of friends on the course who are just running to train and cheer on idiots like me. Wendy and I had seen Jason and Jennifer several times on the loop, and they lifted our spirits. We also saw our Trail Sisters, Kate and Talula, in the first loop. Thank you, friends, for being there for us!

Honestly, I don't know how we did it, but we finished that race under the deadline. The cutoff was ten hours, and we finished in 8:47. If I hadn't had to go to the bathroom, I wouldn't have gotten lost and slowed us down, and we would have finished under 8:30.  Never mind. I am SO HAPPY with my finish time.

Wendy and I finish strong.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I am happy with my finish time (and my buckle).

Peeps, I am so proud of myself. This was a truly badass race, and it was my first 50K. I thought I would be really upset after the race, but. . .I wasn't. I ran this course in the best possible circumstances: The weather was perfect. The Trail Sisters (and other friends) were all there (in fact, the Trail Sisters ran us in to the finish). Wendy and I are well matched in long distance trail running.  It was really a great time. Was I in pain?  Hell, yes! But a bit of hot tub time (along with ibuprofen ) was a great remedy for that.  You know what else is a great recovery tool for your first 50K? Birthday cake:

Marta got us a cake!

Sarah, Wendy, and I blow out the candles.

There is no problem that food can't cure.

This was a great race. Will I run it again?  Hell no.  I love the course, but I don't want to run it twice, so a 25K is a real possibility here. I am so grateful that I have a supportive group of friends--not just the Trail Sisters, but all the members of our running community that I saw that weekend. Runners are the best, Peeps.  Really. 

What is next? I'm still training for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon. Will you join me? Use my code, SI2019, for 10% off any of the races in the series.

Wherever you run, whatever your goals, I hope you run happy, Peeps!

Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @itibrout!