Hilary Tackling Tecumseh Trail Marathon Tomorrow!

OutForARunAdmin — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 13:42:00 +0000

Tomorrow is the Tecumseh Marathon and boy the weather has decided to make it fun.

There are two important people taking this challenge on tomorrow. I’m sure others running are important, but these are the ones important to me….. Hilary and Glenn. I just hope the weather lets them get to the start line!

Hilary-came to us through the Hendricks County Runners Club back in August, with ambitions to get more serious about her running after some years of on again off again running.

She loves yoga, reading, travel, local food and beer, wine and geocaching. She is a wife and mother and has worked crazy hard to juggle her schedule to get in some tough workouts and long runs in a short period of time to train for such a hard race.

Hilary came to us with a solid base of around 25 miles a week, but the serious training for this race only started 3 months ago and to give you a little insight on what she is about to tackle after just three months of training:

Here’s a little info on the course (from the website):

The Tecumseh Trail Marathon course provides a scenic and challenging route in Morgan-Monroe and Yellowwood State Forests. A major portion of the 40-mile Tecumseh Trail is used for the race course. Participants will be shuttled by bus from the Yellowwood Lake area to the starting line, near the Morgan-Monroe State Forest office.

The trail surface varies from narrow forest trail to wide fire road, gravel, dirt, and paved roads. Several up and downhills of 200-300’ elevation are along the course, along with many smaller hills. The total ascent is approximately 3500’.

And to show you how dedicated she has been:

A glimpse from her log at what she took on just a few weeks ago:

Saturday: COLD! Ran this in the Indiana Dunes but kept to relatively flat trails. 27 degrees and temp falling throughout with up to 30 mph winds and snow flurries at times. Took a while to get feeling back in tips of fingers. I think I dressed appropriately but was slightly cool throughout–more so as I started sweating.

Distance: 20.16 mi, mostly trails with a bit of road

Carried my 2L hydration pack and found out that even with Nuun in it, it freezes at 27 degrees and below. Struggled a lot with trying to get it melted enough to get liquid out (some of my slow miles were me trying to do this) and finally figured out that putting it between layers of clothing seemed to work. Probably didn’t take enough water or food in due to getting lost and struggling with the pack. Hair was a brick of ice when I got back. Very happy to see a warm building and my dry clothes at the end.

And if that doesn’t say dedication…. I’m not sure what does.

I really hope this race happens and hope that Hilary is able to make it down, although I know that safety is most important. We will figure out another way to make this goal happen if weather keeps the runners away!

Glenn and I are both so proud of Hilary for her dedication, hard work and descipline during this time. Training is hard for a lot of reasons and everyone has their own reasons, but she has been juggling a lot with work travel, kids and life stuff in general to make this happen- not to mention- throwing your shoes on and hitting the pavement is one thing, but making your way to a trail to train can often times be more time consuming. If you’re training for a hella hard trail race though, you’d better get your butt to the trails!

Best of Luck tomorrow Hilary- remember that everyone out there will be experiencing the same crazy conditions and trust your training- it’s there. Take your time and enjoy how beautiful this run will be. Also, rely on your fellow runners for support and encouragement, I’m certain they’ll be looking for the same from you!

Just some blah, blah, blah

OutForARunAdmin — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 14:21:00 +0000

After my first run back on Friday, I decided to take Saturday off. I was indeed sore from my cute little 3.5 mile run. Abs & legs. On Sunday, we planned on a 5 mile run together as a family. Then Ashley texted and asked if we wanted to meet her and Brandon at Thr3ewisemen. So naturally pizza & beer won that battle. No one here is training for anything specific right now & those five miles really meant nothing but making me a little less crazy (endorphins). And flabby. They would have helped with that. But hey whatevs.

Every time we think taking Marshall to a restaurant will be OK, it never is. We were hopeful that banana he was eating, along with a million other food items, crayons & toys stashed in his bag would distract him from wanting to run like a maniac around the entire restaurant. But after a solid 5 minutes, he proved us wrong yet again. I know this is a tough age for taking kids places like this, but it is nearly impossible with him no matter what. When I see people with children his age (well since he was 9 months really) out at restaurants and their kid is just chillin, I want to ask them what kind of sedative they are using. No seriously, whiskey? Loratab? HOW?!

I think I’m going to get him a leapfrog tablet for Christmas. Maybe I should get it sooner as it will actually be a gift to me. I’m not into giving my kid a $500 ipad to play with and I actually just made that price up because I have no clue how much ipads even cost.

I was back at the running thing on Monday, with a sluggish, slothy 4 mile stroller monon run. I had eggs for breakfast too soon before the run and it was every bit of blah the entire way. Was happy to be home.

Yesterday, Marshall and I met Ashley for an easy 5- longest run yet thus far. It was fun, carefree and she even pushed the stroller for half the run and took some pictures for me for my Oiselle athlete profile. WHICH I still need to retake because they aren’t close enough- oh man, I’ll get it together. I do think Marshall’s face was a little cold, but thankfully he was snuggled up cozily in his jammies & the amazing little bundle me – thank you Nicholle for this! So thankful I have this for winter running!

Anyway, who can guess where we are here on the run?

I have to say, the idea of running a PR in Boston in April is daunting to me. I’m a little heavier & softer than I was this summer and the thought of running sub 3:13 or even close to 3:13 right now just seems nutty. I know it’s going to take time and I felt the same way post Marshall, it’s crazy what your body can really adapt to with some hard work and discipline. Although I’m enjoying the no structure right now- (I have no clue if I’m going to run today or not, and don’t care too much either way) I can only take so much, like most runners, having a plan to stick to makes me thrive & ultimately makes me happy.

This weekend, we are going to be in Bloomington to visit with family before my sister & her family move to Florida. They welcomed a new baby last week & I’m so sad to be away from those kids. My niece Giovanna is arguably the cutest 3 year old I’ve ever met.

Since we’ll be in Bloomington, we are going to head over and run some of the Tecumseh trail. Glenn signed up to run the marathon on December 7th with some of the Rusted Bear peeps, so it will be nice to get some trail running in to prep. The group is doing 13 miles & I’m going to run out 3 or 4 with them and head back. I don’t think I should do much more than 6-8 on the trail merely one week after returning. Should be a good time though!

What are your weekend run plans?

Any advice for taking a 16 month old to a resturant and keeping him in his seat? Wait until he’s 2? or 3?