Pedaling for the Paws v3.0

 

It is time for me to scratch that itch again.  I have done 2 fundraisers for McMinn County Humane Society, which runs the animal shelter (2020 and 2023).  Since then, they have moved from a "skid row" building to a wonderful new space that used to be home to the Daily Post Athenian.  I recently took a tour there and it was just jaw-dropping to see their new facility.  All the kennels are now in a temperature controlled environment and there is so ... much ... space!

In the old building, the cat room was cramped and dark. Now the cat room is HUGE and has plenty of windows where they can soak up the sun's rays.  

But, as with any animal shelter, there are always much needed improvements. Construction on an outdoor exercise area is currently underway.  

In order to complete the project, donations are needed for the artificial turf.  My goal is to raise $5000 to help pay for the doggos to get some outdoor playtime.  As you all know, getting your zoomies out is crucial for mental health, as well as for physical fitness.  So I am asking you all to help support my effort to crush 29,032 feet of gain by giving a few doll hairs to my animal shelter.  

On June 20, 2025 (the summer solstice), I will be attempting a Gravel Everest.  I have selected a segment on the North River Road just outside of Tellico Plains, in the Cherokee National Forest.  This gravel road connects Tellico River Road to the Cherohala Skyway.  I will have to do 19 repeats in order to complete an Everest.

Knowing that you all have my back in this challenge by helping out my cause, will give me that extra bit of grit, gristle, and gumption to get'r done!  All I need is for you guys to abstain from one little vice (Starbucks, Dunkin Doughnuts, IPA, Dairy Barn, etc.) for one little day and I can easily hit my $5000. mark. 

I appreciate all of you in helping those that have no voice and helping me to  #dohardthings.  

HOW TO DONATE:

1.  Go to my FB page and click on the link.

2.  Mail a check to the McMinn Regional Humane Society at 320 S Jackson St, Athens, Tn 37303.

3.  Drop off cash at my place of work, The Animal Clinic

Snake Creek Gap TT

 

📷:  Icon Media

Nine days into the flu and I thought it would be a good idea to race my bike.  I am going to feign ignorance on this one, as it has been 40+ years since I have had the flu.  And I thought I was feeling better on Friday.  With perhaps the best February weather in the history of The Snake, there was no way I was going to have FOMO.

Starting temp was 52 degrees.  It was so nice to wear only a kit and NOT be shivering.  My goal was to finish and ride the course as easy as possible, trying not to trigger a coughing fit at higher heart rates.  I started mid-pack.  I was gracious and let a lot of people past me.  I felt ok keeping my heart rate in the 130/140's. It was nice to have no pressure, and I took the time to chat with a few fellow racers along the first half of the course.  Tony Orru, a fellow RR'r, rode with me for awhile, until he had an issue with his bike.  Another fella, whose name I forget, mentioned that he reads my blog 😊.  And then there was Thom, who always is so positive and talkative.  I did apologize for not being as vocal as he, as I was just trying to breathe.

I rolled through the 1/2 way point in 1:53:15.  Not too bad, but the trail was in tip top shape.  And I had many small victories, by cleaning all of the techy bits on the first half.  The Mill Creek climb was a beast, but my mantra "slow is smooth, smooth is fast," kept me focused. As I got further along on the second half, I could tell that I was slowly dying, despite keeping on top of my nutrition.  Now it became a test of my stubbornness and grit. 

I grabbed a banana at the aid station, stuffed it in my pie hole, and motored on the last section of single track.  Trying to pedal, chew, and breathe while being sick, was quite the undertaking.  I finally choked the last bit of banana and was able to get the oxygen I needed.  

The new re-route along Vomit Hill was super spicy.  It was off-camber, loose and rocky, and with switchbacks that required a nose wheelie to maneuver around.  I played it safe and just got off my bike to make a couple of those.  I hope that with time, it will become better, as I think it is more sketch than the original route.

I ended up walking the final few climbs after the fire ring, as I was shelled! I ended up finishing in 4:33:10.  Not bad, as I was expecting a 5 to 5 1/2 hour day.  And I ended up with the fastest time in the 40+ category.  

Totally spent!

So what did I learn from this experience?  That the flu is no friggin' joke!  Perhaps I should have stayed home, but if you know me, I don't shy away from #doinghardthings.  BTW, I am currently on Day 17 of the flu and still have fatigue and a mild cough.  No doubt I extended the time it has had a grip on me by doing the Goggins Challenge and The Snake.  Oh, well ... it didn't kill me, so perhaps my immune system got a big boost out of it.  Here's to staying sick-free the remainder of 2025!

Kudos to Jayden Randall, who currently has the fastest women's time.  She flew by me in the first few miles, leaving me reeling in her wake!

Blaze, the Snake Eater, in his 8th year!

Goggins 4 x 4 x 48 Challenge

 

For the past few years, I have attempted to find ways to destroy myself on my birthday.  In 2023 it was a Murph followed by 54 burpees. In 2024, I did all the Result Fitness classes in a day.  This year I had a hard time finding something, other than this.  I really tried to find another challenge, even reaching out to some fellow crack heads, to no avail.  You see, I am NOT a runner; I do run on occasion for cross-training and bone health, but only 2-3 miles once or twice a week. While my heart loves to run, my musculoskeletal system goes on the fritz when I try to push the envelope.

And as if 48 miles was not enough, I decided to tack on an additional 8, as this year I was turning 56. And so it began at 1 am on Thursday January 30. 

Interval 1:  4.42 miles   39:13

I ran this one through the neighborhood with my pacer, Honcho.  I absolutely loved the quietness at night.  No sounds other than the patter of my feet and the ticking of doggie toenails on the asphalt. After finishing, I showered and tried to get some sleep, but it did not happen.

Interval 2:  5.1 miles  44:54

I ran this one at my gym, Result Fitness, which is a short 3 minute drive from my house. I listened to the Eminem station on Pandora and knocked this one out effortlessly.  I decided to focus each interval on someone who has inspired me over the years.  This one was my Grandma Williams, who in her youth living in Pittsburgh, would regularly swim across the Ohio River, playing Frogger with the barges.  After finishing, I hopped in the cold plunge. Then I went home and started baking my birthday cake, a carrot cake.

Interval 3: 5.22 miles  51:09

I ran on the Eureka Trail, which is about a 15 minute drive from my house. We had it mostly to ourselves, so I let Honcho off leash.  While my cardiovascular system was fine, my musculoskeletal system began to whine a little.  Little niggles around my hip adductors and posterior knees. This one was inspired by Grace Ragland, a good friend who also loved to endure the miles on her mountaing bike.  She died way too young from lymphoma soon after finishing the Tour Divide. Upon arriving back home, I made the cream cheese frosting. 

Interval 4:  6.02 miles  59:26

Back to the Eureka Trail with Honcho, I made a bigger push, as I wanted to frontload those additional 8 miles, while the running was still "easy." Those niggles were becoming louder!  This one was inspired by Agape, a Cavapoo puppy who beat the odds and survived parvo and coccidia.  It took her 7 days, and it was touch and go for 6 of them.  She fought hard and had the grit, gristle, and gumption to win her life.

Interval 5: 4.76 miles  43:13

Carly joined me for this one, although she walked as I ran.  Still, it felt good to have her by my side.  My niggles were still there, trying to get me to see the foolishness of this ordeal. Shut up, monkey brain!  This one was inspired by my daughter, who is such a beautiful person, both inside and out.  She is a hard worker and anything she starts, she finishes.  She is always there to help me defuse, as I tend to let the little things get under my skin.  It is as if she is always in a meditative state.  After the run, we hopped in the sauna. 

Interval 6: 5.50 miles  52:07

It was 9 pm.  I did not want to run on the Eureka Trail at night for fear of shady characters, and my body could only take so much asphalt pounding, so back to the gym.  31 miles in and the pain was intensifying.  So I turned inward and thought of what Tiffany Ballew-Horn is going to endure this coming June through August as she attempts to become a Leadman.  This will entail 5 trail running and MTB events covering 283 miles, all at 10,000+ feet.  She was my inspiration to get this one finished. Fortunately, I was able to get in a 2 hour sleep prior to the next one.

Interval 7:  4.39 miles  45:55

Asphalt is hard AF!  Took another route from my house. My knees were begging for mercy.  It was not my joints, but rather the soft tissues surrounding the medial aspect of the posterior portion that were on fire everytime I connected with the ground.  It took 2 miles before I found the mute button and turned off the pain.  This one was inspired by Steve Owens, who crushes the vert in North Carolina. He is the king of positivity, even after losing his home to Hurricane Helene.  He kept his faith and has begun anew and back to running the Pisgah mountains.  Happy to say I got in another 2 hour nap after this one.

Interval 8:  5.25 miles  48:17

Shut Up Garmin!

Found the mute button right at the start and no pain.  Amazing what 2 hours of sleep can do, as I felt fresh. Company was once again had with Eminem blaring out the speakers.  This one was inspired by good friend Scott Morman, who hampered by injuries for quite some time previous to 2024, has been able to overcome.  And he is now becoming quite the vert monster.  He recently won the Flintstrike 40 in Georgia (12,000 vert and is preparing to tackle the Georgia Death Race in March.

Interval 9:  4.1 miles  36:22

Back at the gym, I fed off the 9 am class' energy and crushed this one.  The body was finally accepting of the punishment and I had some pep in my step.  This one was inspired by Nancy Estellow Waddell.  She is a bad lass in her 70's and still pushing her limits on the mountain bike and has taken up running again.

Interval 10:  4.00 miles  35:55

I had to hop back on the treadmill as it was raining pretty heavy outside. I was tired and did not want to get chilled by pressing it on the Eureka Trail.  As vibrant as I felt the past 2 efforts, this one absolutely hurt.  I have begun the journey into my pain cave and trying to embrace the suck.  I even forgot to name an inspiration.

Interval 11:  4.00 miles  39:44

Despite having my pacer with me, I was in the pain cave right out the gate.  The wheels have now officially fallen off the bus.  What kept me in the right mindset was 2024 Marji Camp Group 11.  These guys/gals fought their own personal demons and finished one of the hardest one day races in America. My struggle now was nowhere near what they had to overcome.  I loved desire and tenacity! 

Interval 12:  4.20 miles  37:56

Don't think I will ever see that number again.

I must have been smelling the barn, or my birthday cake, as this one seemed WAY easier than the last 2.  A couple extra tenths of a mile, which netted me 57 total:  56 being my age plus 1 more to celebrate the beginning of my 57th trip around the sun.  This one goes to my dearest friend Lisa Randall.  She has taken me under her wing and showed me the magic of pushing yourself to the extreme.  She is a monster at all things ultra!  I am so so happy that we have formed a strong bond, yet still try to kill each other on the trail.  Love you Lisa!

Nutrition:

Lots of protein!

Before each lap, I would drink 20 ounces of Skratch Hydration Sport.  Afterwards, I would drink 20 ounces of water to which I added 1/2 packet of LMNT.  Right after I finished an interval I would eat real food:  omelette, PB&J sammie, egg/veggie scramble, roast beef sammie, hard boiled eggs, smoothie, and pizza.  I got in 110 grams of protein over each 24 hour period, which is 1 gram/pound of body weight. I would also constantly sip on water, as dehydration was my enemy. It only became difficult during the last 8 hours to eat and drink, but I just forced it down.  My stomach stayed happy every interval, except for the final one, where I got to taste my pizza again ... 🤮

Self Care:

After each interval, I would stretch for 5 minutes and lay on my Teeter Inversion table for a few minutes. Then I would take a hot shower.  While I was eating, I would use my Elevated Legs compression sleeves for 30 minutes. I also had one cold plunge session and one sauna session.

Sleep:

Sleep deprivation is my super power.  However, I was able to get in 3 1/2 hours prior to starting the challenge at 1 am.  And the following night, I was able to get 2 good sleeps of 2 hours each, which kind of surprised me. 

Aftermath:

The morning after I was able to get a 7 hour sleep, although restless.  What I didn't mention before is that when I woke up to begin the challenge, I had a scratchy throat.  Uh oh!  You see, the Monday before my husband was diagnosed with Flu A.  Despite isolating himself and constantly disinfecting all touch surfaces in the house, I feared that I may have caught it.  So I prayed.  During the challenge, my symptoms did not get any worse. But upon awakening, I felt like absolute poop: coughing, congestion, and mild fever.  Was it all related to the challenge or did I have the flu?  Not sure and don't care.  As I am writing this on a Sunday, after a solid 9 hour sleep, I feel much better.  I still have a cough and mild congestion, but 90% better than yesterday.  Just glad that my immune system survived its own little challenge.

All the niggles I had during the run have subsided to a 2/10.  My knees and hips are happy again. I only have a little soreness in my quads.  I am quite surprised to be feeling this good.  Yes, I am fatigued, but not overly so.  I believe that my body did as well as it did because of all the strength training I have done this past year.  I spent as much time doing strength and mobility work as I did on my bike.  And it paid off.  

Now to continue to rest and recover because The Snake Creek TT is next weekend. This will be my 21st year competing in this race.

Stay Hard!

Georgia Navigator Cup

 

Last weekend I competed in the Georgia Navigator Cup, a 3 day orienteering meet.  This year it was also the OUSA Master's National Championships. While I did this last year, I was a complete newbie and stuck with the Orange courses.  I moved up to the advanced short course for this meet. This would be my fourth orienteering event, since I began this journey in 2024, and the second time I would be running a Brown course. While I was not eligible to compete for the championship (requires an OUSA membership), I would still be running against some very fast ladies in my age category.  The Brown courses' maps were 1:7500, whereas the Green and Red were 1:10,000.  My old eyes were most thankful for the larger scale.

DAY 1

Friday's course was at Red Top Mountain State Park. There were 11 controls (checkpoints).  It took me a minute, more like 4, to get my brain in gear.  Heading south for the first one, plus the fact that I could not find the trail from where I was going to attack (some of the trails on the map are no longer in use and are very faint, especially when covered in leaves), I shoulda just taken a bearing.  The next control wasn't any easier, as the terrain for this course was relatively flat, so hard to navigate off trail since there were no prominent landmarks, i.e. hill tops, re-entrants. I ended up running 50 yards past it, back tracked for what seemed like an eternity, and eventually found it.  Sheesh!  Once again, shoulda took a bearing.

3 and 4 were obtained much quicker as they were located near old mining pits.  5 was a SOB, as I got temporarily "lost" and couldn't figure out which trail I was on.  And the control flag was in a 5 foot deep pit, so unless you were right on top of it, you couldn't see it.  It was here that I ran into a little kid running a course; she seemed to know what she was doing, which deflated my ego and inspired me at the same time 😆.

7, 8, and 9 went quickly.  10, as you can see from my Strava file, was a sh!tshow.  I dunno, my navigational neural pathways was frickin' glitchy.

At least 11 was a hill top, easy enough to spot, even on flat terrain.  From there a short run up to the finish.  My time was 1:39:42.  The winning time in F55+ was 47:54.  The lesson I learned:  take more bearings and try to be as accurate as possible.  Ended up 4th on the day.

DAY 2

Saturday's course was at Sweetwater Creek State Park.  This was also the first day of the OUSA's Master's Championship. The terrain was hillier and easier to navigate for me.  Today I was going to take more bearings and be more consistent with pace counting. There were 14 controls.

Which way do I go, George?  Which way do I go?

1 and 2 were easy peasy.  3 required a bit more effort staying on the bearing as it was 600 meters away.  One thing to note is that I was using a base plate compass versus a thumb compass, which while it can be very accurate, takes a bit longer to use. I do have a thumb compass but was intimidated by it because of size and the lack of markings on it.  But most orienteers use one, as it can be a lot faster and you can hold it and the map with one hand; a base plate compass requires 2 hands.  4,5, and 6 were straight forward, with many re-entrant crossings which made it easy for me to know where I was on the map.  

7 was 600 meters away.  I took another bearing and with the help of several trail and creek crossings I went right to it ... until I looked at the electronic punch number and saw that I actually navigated to control 8, which was about 50 meters north west of control 7.  If you punch out of order, you will be DQ'd.  So I did a quick out and back to control 7, punched it, and then headed back to control 8 and got it.

The remaining controls were quickly found, and I finished with a time of 1:18:30.  I was extremely pleased with my navigation today; my brain showed up to play.  I ended up third in the F55+.  First place finished with a time of 1:01:58.  

I also felt pretty good because I was running just behind the 2nd place woman in the F60+, who only finished 6 minutes ahead of me.  When I first came upon her around control 3, I tried making small talk with her, but got ghosted!  I guess she figured I was her competition.  Not wanting to just be her shadow, I slowed down and let her get out of sight.  But I would end up catching back up around each control.  Later I found out that she has been doing this for 35+ years.  Now that was a little ego boost for me.

Day 3

Sunday's course was also at Sweetwater Creek, just in a different part of the park.  There were 15 controls.  Although not as hilly, still enough variety in the terrain to help me navigate better.

Brain dead on the first control, I ran around in circles, but then eventually found it. Too much greyhound, not enough beagle.  2 through 6 were quick; I was actually able to run through the woods at a decent pace and got to watch a West Point cadet take a huge digger.  He was in the process of jumping onto a downed tree when a vine caught his leading foot, causing him to belly flop onto the tree and tumble over.  He popped up immediately, so I knew only his pride was hurt.

Control 7 should not have been difficult, but when running, you got to pay attention even more so to keeping a straight bearing, which I did not. I ended up over shooting to the north.  When I realized my error, I headed to a trail where I could reassess.  How I managed to run RIGHT TO control 7 (on my way to the trail) I do not know. I suppose I had a little heavenly help?

Control 7, thank God!

On my way to control 8, I stopped and helped a teenager out, showing him where he was on the map.  His map was 1:10,000, so that was FUn. I did not have any issues with the remaining controls.  I found most by shooting a bearing and focusing on running a straight line and not losing myself on the map.  The last 4 I was neck in neck with a fella.  He had an orienteering club kit on, so I prided myself in being able to beat him to the finish.

Fortunately found this one, coming from below.

I finished with a time of 1:14:48.  The first place F55+ completed the course in 52:09 and won the overall championship.  I was happy that each day I got a little faster and made less errors, although still a lot of room for improvement.  I did end up third in my class.  The winner's name was Zakrevski, Russian origin, so probably had a compass placed in her hands as soon as she could walk.  Orienteering is HUGE in Europe, not so much here.

Lisa managed to get second in F45+ and with that took home a silver medal.  She was less than 3 minutes off of first and is still kicking herself because of a few mistakes she made.  I am so glad she kept pestering me to try this sport ... it only took 2 years for me to cave into my fear of failure.  Yep, I was afraid to try, but now am hooked.  And this is a sport I can take to my grave.  I saw many people in their 70's, even one lady who sliced her scalp open on the first day, went to the ER, got 10 staples, and then returned to compete. With all the brain power necessary for this sport, I am hoping it staves off dementia.

And I am gonna learn to use that damn intimidating thumb compass!