Women's 5k

So, mere hours after getting bitten by a chupacabra, with a veggie burger and 4 hours of sleep under my belt, I ran the 30th annual Women's 5k. The race is hilly and, particularly of note, mostly downhill at the beginning and ALL UPHILL at the end. Hence, these lovely finishline pics:

My chupacabra-bitten right foot was still throbbing (and continues to do so). *sigh* What else could I do but strike a crazy chicken pose?

Next up: a 12 mile training run tomorrow on a pretty flat course so as not to REALLY make my foot hurt. Then some couch time with my buddy, the ice pack.

Thanks to Hill Country Rambling for the pics

Más de los Chupacabras

Running the last 200 yards (the only paved part - whee) from the Chupacabras:

The Chupacabra that bit me

I'm not sure what I did to enrage the Chupacabras. Last year, one tripped me. This year, one bit me.

On Friday night, at 9 p.m., 451 running buddies and I strapped on headlamps and headed into the deepest, darkest woods of McAllister Park. It was dark and the trails were technical, as is always the case at Los Chupacabras de la Noche 10k trail run.

We kept a nice, easy pace and I DID NOT FALL! However, while passing someone around mile 5, I either sustained a chupacabra bite or smashed my right foot into a big rock, then jammed my first Metatarsal-phalangeal Joint trying to keep my balance.

Whichever way it went down, my foot ended up very sore and bruised (even on the bottom, which made the next morning's women's 5k and Sunday's 11 miler pretty painful). Here's what Healthline has to say about my chupacabra bite: "Every time you take a step, the MTP joint bends, allowing the foot to roll forward and push off. During this phase of the walking cycle, the joint supports 50% of the body's weight. If the joint doesn't function properly, not only walking, but also exercising and many other activities of daily life can be difficult, sometimes impossible."

Impossible? Pshaw.

That is not a one-armed crazy chicken pose - I was just bumping my buddy, Adrian, for another great stumble, er, run at Los Chupacabras.

Thanks to Bill Gardner and Hill Country Rambling for blinding me on the trails with the flashes while taking these pics

Such smart girls, such horrid/terrible/[insert adj here] decisions

That's what my college buddy, Candide's, mom used to say about us. And she was right. Now, I have made some poor decisions which I will never repeat (i.e.: marrying, divorcing, taking a bite of a black widow, dating the neighbor, catching a ride back from Matamoras, MX in a mystery-machine type van, etc.). And I didn't repeat them. Because I am smart enough to learn from my mistakes (and near-mistakes).

Except when it comes to the siren call of the dumb nighttime trail run. *sigh* Yes, it is the time to run Los Chupacabras de la Noche 10k trail run once again. And I'm in. Dang, last time, I fell and hurt my hip. Then, I ran its twin, the Cupid 10k, and separated my shoulder (which has still been killing me). The painful memories fade, though, when I desire this shirt:

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is worth any injuries. The 5k the next morning will just suck royally. And I will swear SWEAR never to do it again. Riiiiiight.

P.S. Tim and Dad - let me know if you want me to snag some t's for you!

Tired Valentine's Day Weekend

Last night, I ran the Cupid's 10k headlamp run. It was similar to the Chupacabra run - a nighttime trail run beginning in the dark, through the woods, along semi-marked trails. It was less technical than the ol' Chupacabra, but it is still rough to run technical trails in road shoes with less than adequate light. Next time, I get a police spotlight and mountain shoes. I fell around mile 4.5, but this time I managed to fall on grass and dirt instead of rocks. Same left (bum) hip though - I need to practice PLFs off the roof landing on my right side, but I was trained to the left, and it's automatic. After the race, I ate a delicious vegiburger with Alamo Ale and hit the sack at around midnight.

Then I awoke at 0630 for the Bird Lovers' 10k. My hip was okay - just a dull roar of pain - but my feet hurt. Apparently, when you wear trail shoes, you don't feel EVERY rock. Anyway, I was in decent shape (e.g. not wincing), so I ventured forth to the 3rd annual Bird Lovers' 10k at Mitchell Lake. San Antonio natives tell me this venue used to be a sewage treatment facility, but now it's a series of nice, soft trails around containment ponds. I took it easy and saw swans and a bunch of other birdies. And fought the wind that came in last night. Here's the first ugly race pic available:

The outfit was my ode to St. Valentine and all. Afterward, the Brak Pak hit Joe and Bernice's place waaaaay outside loop 410 (where I seldom venture) for delicious BBQ. For the rest of the 3-day weekend, I'm going to avoid running, wash the salt out of my eyes, ice my hip, catch up on household chores, and pay attention to the critters.

Thanks to Tom Lake for the pic - except for when you ran passed me along the route.

The Return of the Chupacabra

Yes, as I contemplate running the springtime chupacabras 10k (Cupid 10k) at night, in the dark, in the woods, along very technical trails, trying not to bust my arse, you can get your very own Los Chupacabras de la Noche t-shirt on http://www.teecycle.org/ (while it lasts). No, you really didn't think I was going to give up my supercool technical tank that I got for busting my butt (really) last year during this run, did you? This is the cotton version, but supercool just the same - and $1 goes to the River Revitalization Foundation to restore urban river trails and waterways in Milwaukee.

Night trail runs

Now I'm becoming pretty sure I will run the nighttime 10k trail run through the dark, dark woods. Here is the account of last year's run - I had no idea we were running guinea pigs.

The non-ugly finish line race pic

Now here's how to take a non-ugly race pic - do it in the dark and hide behind #59!

Picture thanks to Tom Lake
The whole slide show is available here

Chupacabrapaparazzi

Now I know how Brittney feels. You're going about your business in a skirt, whether it's driving with your kid in your lap or running a crazy night trail run, and the flashbulbs start popping. Apparently, there were some chupacabra-paparazzi at the Chupacabra 10k Friday night, lurking in the dark, trying to get ugly race pictures. And they did (#63)...

Luckily, unlike Ms. Spears, I remember to wear something under my skirt in these situations:
But I was glad I just got "tripped" and "pic'd" by the chupacabra-paparazzi. My friend, Pete, sustained this chupacabra BITE!

Actually, when scouting the course during the day, he caught a branch to the head, earning him 14 stitches. Yet he still ran the race Friday night. The call of Los Chupacabras is strong...

**thanks to Chris McAllister for the pics!

Lost chupacabra pic

Okay, there was one pic before we headed into the woods Friday night to find Los Chupacabras de la noche.

yeah, I'm the dork in yellow with the headlamp and water belt.

The chupacabra that tripped me

I'd post a picture here, but the official photographer informed me that all shots (even though he blinded us in the woods with flashes) were basically dark with bright reflections from racing gear. So, just this once, you are spared. Not really. Injury pic follows.


So, I decided to run this 10k NIGHT TRAIL run. The distance wasn't beyond me, but running at night, in the middle of the woods, on a trail, is not my style and probably was not so prudent. But, what the hey, I have health insurance now, so I'm pretty sure they'll have to fix me.


It was fun - 9 pm start at McAllister Park - a lot of trail troll types who only come out for these crazy races. I felt a bit over-geared for me and under-geared compared with them in a water belt, race skirt, headlamp, and road shoes. Some of them were so geared out, I was having to double-check the distance of the run. I would have appreciated a better headlamp and some trail shoes, though.


This was a tough run - DARK and technical trails (meaning serious inclines/declines, roots, rocks, wildlife, and narrow ruts) - as you ran, there were calls back of "roots," "branch," and "piedras." Somewhere after two miles, I lost all depth perception and it was hard to tell the character of the upcoming surface. This is where trail shoes are nice - my feet and ankles are sore from navigating rocks, limbs, and other trail debris, but thankfully no twists or sprains.


I didn't bite it until around mile 3, when a chupacabra tripped me. Really, I was nimbly tiptoeing around rocks and other obstacles and, out of nowhere, I was going down. As I was falling, I put out my hands and flashed to a running buddy of mine who fell in June, braced himself with his hands, and received a blue cast on his broken wrist for the effort. So, I somehow wrapped my arms, tucked, and rolled into a PLF (parachute landing fall - guess that military training DOES come in handy) and crashed on my hip/butt. So, little scrapes, no big deal, and ran the rest with only almost-falls.


Here's the injury as of that night -

Actually, that's just the knee boo-boo - and that's not a tan line or hairy ankles on the right foot - that is the layer of dirt that was all over me after the run. So, not the fastest run, but in the disorienting dark, after a fall, with obstacles, on a trail, I finished the 6.2 miles in 1:19. Not great, but not bad.

After a coupla beers and a veggie burger around 11:30-midnight, I headed home to grab a 4 or so hours of sleep before the women's run, thinking I had done pretty well with the fall. Unfortunately, I woke up around 3ish in major pain with a veggie burger doing backflips in my stomach. I went back to sleep with frozen peas on my hip and you'll have to read the rest of the story after I take a nap and get the women's run pics from the next day.

dumb chupacabra!

The official Chupacabra race route

http://www.allsportgps.com/Data/ActivityDisplay.aspx?tripId=181066

Uglier and uglier

Well, it certainly was ugly running to and from work on Saturday. My plan was to leave the house at 0530, thereby getting into work around 0630, working until 1030, and getting back on the road before the cruel, cruel sun was high above. Not a bad plan. Then, the snooze button attacked relentlessly on Saturday morning. I headed out around 0830 and was stuck under the cruel, cruel sun for the return trip at 1330 (1:30 pm - yeah, hot). Not a good plan. And Gretch, not a plan I'll likely repeat, especially on a Monday!

I made it, though, and saved myself a whopping 1/4 gallon of gas. Upon arriving home, I kicked Gwen out of the kiddie pool and cooled off. No pictures - it just would have been too ugly.

Speaking of bad ideas and ugly, at 9 pm this Friday, I will attempt Los Chupacabras de la noche 10k trail run. Here is the prerace report from buddy and sometimes dog-sitter, Jenna:

"Two Fridays ago, Bill (race director) and 4 other guys ran the course & one of them sprained his ankle. This Friday, 5 guys running the course & Pete whacked a branch with his head & got 14 stitches. This is a 20% injury rate, which means statistically that of 80 participants registered, there will be 16 (or more since it’ll be dark this time) people hurt themselves. I plan on only jog/walking this course. But it’ll be fun fun fun!"

Yeah, it's all fun and games until someone gets a stick in the eye. I'll definitely get a pic of that one!