training | wild in the wilds

Sunday Funday

Posted on August 21, 2016 by Martha B

‘Cuz I don’t have to run day.

Not that I dislike Sunday runs, but today was dedicated to “make up miles” if needbe – and I hit my 36 goal miles last night with a very ratchet hill workout. But more on that later.

While I do have to go into work for a few hours tonight to play janitor and accountant, I’m catching up on housekeeping and hanging out with my blissed out dogs (one order of housekeeping was brushing them today, easiest way to melt their little hearts) while Aaron churns away on the elliptical (and I point and laugh in my mind.)

Here’s the greatest hits of the week:

Read/Reading:

butterfly

I just finished up The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison this week. It’s a thriller about a man (The Gardner) who captures girls, tattoos them with butterfly wings, and keeps them in a hidden garden until they get too old so he murders them. Definitely good treadmill fodder, and I think Dot is GREAT at character development and strong imagery, but it was a fairly easy to put down book. And the ending was a huge disappointment.

I decided to pick up something a little heavier for this week’s read: Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows by Melanie Joy.

This Week’s Playlist:

I always get a little sentimental for back to school around this time of year, and for some reason Galactic reminds me of the first weeks of college – roof parties, warm nights, a few weeks of total freedom before classes start, and the album Carnivale Electricos tops my happy summer playlist this week

galactic

Workout of the Week:

I mentioned above about my hill workout that ended my running week – and it definitely was the hardest one, but as usual ended up being the highlight as well.

All my goat friends bailed on me, and the weather kept fading in and out of thunderstorms, 90 degree humidity rewarms, and then like this burst of beautiful 72 degrees and breezy. I drug my feet a little, took a nap after work instead of heading straight out, but for whatever reason I got a surge of motivation (probably because I didn’t want to have to think about doing this today) and hit the road for rattlesnake repeats.

This hill is pretty nasty. It’s about 750 feet of elevation gain over .4 miles. I try to go out weekly and do a nice long warm up and then bang out 2 repeats (which starts off as well intended running but turns into questionable power hiking.) It’s loose boulders, scree, gravel, and the recent storms have strewn sticks and branches all around.

rattlesnake

The most redeeming part of this run was the fact that I have been telling myself for months once I get my ascent under 8 minutes, I will add a third repeat.

Yesterday’s best ascent was 8:02. So I got to go home instead. Which was probably perfect timing because it then started raining sideways and in my face for my 2-ish mile cool down and there was just so much salt in my eyes as a result that I basically just put my arms out in front of me and hoped for the best as I hoofed it down the country road and to my truck. This is why I can’t run in public places.

I made a segment out of this hill today on my garmin connect and apparently I’m not the only idiot who does rattlesnake repeats because I am number 2 out of 2. A title I’m not really clamoring for.

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine basically starts tomorrow, with a 13 mile run around in the woods with one of my favorite training partners.

Green Monster Training Week 3:

Goal Mileage: 36

Actual Milage: 36

Elevation Gain: 4,213 feet

Week 4 Goals – 36 miles 5,000 feet

Posted on December 9, 2015 by Martha B

Hello my long lost blog!

I know it’s been forever, but I can explain.

A) I’m a lazy ass.

B) Work has been extreme.

C) I’ve been busy hanging out with friends.

Day date at Devil’s Den

Not to mention, Murphy’s Law has been rolling us over hard the past few weeks, culminating with my hot water tank blowing up on Sunday.

So I figured while I was just lounging around (smelling like the inside of my running shoes) watching Big A and some other gentlemen saw a hole in the side of my house to put in an exhaust so we can upgrade our lives, I figured it was a good time to check in and say hello.

My running has been pretty sporadic and lame over the past month. Truth was, I think I needed a little hiatus to just do whatever I felt like so I could start looking forward to 2016’s agenda. The plan as of now is to participate in the PA Trailrunner Trophy series once again, only much better prepared.

My first “goal race” of the year is going to be the Hyner 25k. This year to train I’m following a beginner marathon training program, switching the miles to time (as Hyner should take about 30 minutes less than a road marathon to complete) with my longest “long” run capping at about 3:30. I’m doing time based training because last winter I made the mistake of putting up way too many road miles for the sake of hitting a suggested mileage. This year, I’m ready to strap on my snowshoes and climb my way to a 3:30 Hyner time.

I also chose a beginner marathon program because the suggested running is only 4 days a week. I wanted to make sure I have plenty of time to indulge in as much cross country skiing as I can while the weather allows. Once the snow melts, I can always trade off a day of cross training for running if I’m feeling like I’m lacking, but the main goal is to go into Hyner with stupid strong legs built for climbing. Skiing definitely takes strong everything, especially backwoods on ungroomed trail, so I am looking forward to seeing how that translates into being a better overall runner.

Hm… what else? I have 19.5 weeks from Saturday to get ready. I’m using an 18 week plan but there’s always one week in winter where we host the biggest chainsaw carver gathering in the world and I always say I’m going to keep up with my running but instead I basically work and sleep and maybe eat some food if I remember. So I’m not completely writing that week off, but I am going to allow myself to combine two weeks into one. Plus, with the winter you just don’t know what to predict in terms of the weather. Worst case scenario I get a YMCA membership. Either way, having a little cushion never hurts, especially if you are as easily demotivated as me and you have a career that involves other germy human beings breathing on you.

Also, I have yet to figure out what I’m going to do for a lifting plan, but I know I want to lift twice a week, preferably a combination of barbell and plyometrics so I don’t have to leave my house. I’m open to any suggestions on that front.

I hope all is well in everyone’s worlds, but the construction guys are leaving which leads me to believe I need to go take a shower before I have to burn my clothing. I am definitely going to be as present as possible on the road (and winding trail) to this race, so hopefully talk to you soon!

On the joy of the taper

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Martha B

One of my running missions this year has been to complete the PA Trail Runner Trophy series in its entirety. Not as a competitor by any means, but as an excuse to run in some of the best trail in Pennsylvania while motivating myself to stay in a perpetual state of solid 30k shape. I’ve got three down (including the legendary Hyner and Rothrock) and two more quickies to go in August and September.

Megatransect kind of threw a wrench into my plan, cajoling me into pushing the distance envelope a little further. It’s one of those ones you have to sign up for 8 months in advance and sells out in hours. It has been lingering on my bucket list ever since I ran my first 4 mile trail race a few years ago. Fortunately this year my friend Jen twisted my arm a little as she wanted to run it as well. So I’ve got that looming at the end of August.

So what’s the most logical thing to do when you have a slew of races in a very short period of time? Obviously throw one more in as a “training run.”

Two-ish weeks from now is my home turf trail race – the Elk County Boulder Dash. I’m blaming this one on Jen as well, because she said it would be “an excellent warm up for Mega.”

Ultimately, though, we both got hungry and greedy and this appetizer has become the “main course” on our training agendas. About 90% of my miles in the past month and a half have been on some loop or the other. We ran the 20 mile course in it’s entirety twice in the past couple weeks as well. I’m not trying to jinx it, but training for this “training run” has left me in probably the best running shape I’ve ever been in.

Tank training 101

The RD announced Friday (the day after our last 20 miler leading up to BD) that there are some changes to the course and that most of the uphills are now downhills and vice versa. My phone blew up all day along with a couple people’s heads, and when a friend of mine suggested that we do another entire run through this week, I just responded to her with some emojis that could go either way and have since been avoiding her.

Creepy candids from the last long run.

It’s about time for a nice long taper. This girl’s the best kind of tired and ready to see what 50 mile weeks really translate into come race day. I have a conservative goal time of 4:20 which leaves me room to fall down a couple times, trip over multiple branches, and linger at every aid station for at least 3 minutes. I didn’t allow enough time for walking up hills or having a melt down like I did at Rothrock. Also, it’s my first year running this race so I don’t know what kind of bottleneck situation to expect in the beginning, but it’s hard to train for that unless you are willing to be a jerk to your friends. But then they won’t run with you anymore. And if I learned anything over this training cycle, it’s critical to have good running friends to laugh with through these 5 hour slogs.

My friend Julie and I kicked off the taper festivities yesterday with a 3 mile run/hike. I don’t remember the last time I’ve done a run of less than an hour, but it was the most mentally liberating thing. I’m surprised that my body doesn’t feel beat down at all, but my brain is definitely tired.

The newest addition to our trail running crew.

It becomes painfully obvious that zoning out and just running is never an option out there the first time you clip a branch and end up face down on a rock. (Still I manage to do it at least a few times a week. People who know me don’t even think twice about me showing up places bruised, bloody, bleeding, dirty. It’s become commonplace. Also, this taper will hopefully be a nice time for my toenails to either fall off or regenerate. Thank goodness for sandal season for me. Sorry to anyone who happens to look down there.)

I’ve always heard about people getting the “taper crazies” but I guess maybe I never trained hard enough to understand what that meant. This time around, I feel like I’m going through the “I need the next two weeks to clean my house, pay my bills, and catch up with the non running human beings in my life” taper celebration. With naps. Hikes with my dogs. Baseball games with Big A. And short fast runs. And probably filling my pantry with items other than Margarita Shot Bloks, endurolytes, and margarita mix (the tequila has been long gone for some time now.)

I’m looking forward to the next few weeks and I’m looking forward to a nice solid race at the end, too. But now laundry calls. I need this taper before we have to start tunneling our way through the halls of our house.

Do Over.

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Martha B

For those of you who don’t know me – I’m 30, I own and run a restaurant/bar in the beautiful Pennsylvania Wilds, and this is my little haven for my (mostly slow) trail running exploits.

For those of you who know me…

Sorry about that little flounce. I know I kind of up and disappeared without a trace, but sometimes you just have to shut up and run. If you really want the long story, you can send me an email or Facebook or something, but it’s really not worth the words.

Truth be told, though – I really miss “this.” Whatever it is. Writing race reports and seeing what you guys are up to mostly. I think I’m a narcissist and a voyeur. This is probably cheaper than therapy. People might say that about running but I call BS on that because my credit card hand is strong and I like new shoes and racing too often. Anyway, I can’t wait to catch up on your journeys. Sincerely cannot wait.

What have I been up to the past few months?

In May I raced the Chief Wetona 1/2 Marathon in beautiful Mt. Pisgah state park. That was a fun one (nice and cozy sized, lots of climbing) and for whatever reason I was having an excellent day. Definitely a tough race. Cool story, though… I unknowingly ran with Sandy from Trail Bound Mom for a minute. She later sent me the photographic evidence. I am the alabaster and orange mess. I think this was mile 1ish.

Myself and Sandy at Chief Wetona. It’s a small world, even on WordPress.

Anyway, hi Sandy! And thank you for making me want to blog again.

I took it easy for the rest of May and just worked on getting the mileage up.

Then June rolled around and I “ran” Rothrock… aka got demoralized and felt like I should probably reconsider my choice of hobbies (and friends. Even though I was the one who conned them into that suffer fest.)

If I’m good for anything, it’s a flattering race photo.

It took me awhile to digest that one. Rothrock legitimately SCARED me. So many moments of “it would be really easy to hurt yourself BAD BAD,” and after taking a spill I went super conservative. There was definitely blood and tears shed that day. I came in under my goal time, but it was ugly all the way. I crossed the finish line shortly after two other girls from my running club and we all said “never again.”

Then on the car ride home we made plans for next year. And a training run there in the near future. So apparently the crazy is contagious.

I decided after that to take a nice long stretch off of racing.

So much adulting.

And dye my hair purple like an attention starved teenager. But that look works well on me.

I wanted to use June and July to get in better shape, build my mileage, and just commit to hitting the trails hard. (Surprise surprise, that works. For some crazy reason consistency yields results. Who would’ve thought?)

August is stacked with races starting with Elk County Boulder Dash, which everyone in my running club seems to be training for and there’s always someone looking to put double digit days in, so that’s been really helpful in terms of motivation.

Umbrella Rock, Elk County PA with one of my training buddies Julie.

After Boulder Dash is Dam Scramble, followed by the last ever (and sadly my first ever) Megatransect.

Other than that, work has been chaotic, Big A has been really accommodating to my habits and strange dietary needs and has been working on getting in shape himself, my dogs still have rocks for brains but they are cute as hell, I’m so glad this is the summer of grapefruit beer because that stuff is delicious, and I’ve been hanging out with my dad more lately which is just good good good.

Anyway, I hope this finds you well, and I look forward to being back. Happy happy trails as always!