Monday, September 20, 2010

Being Human at Red for the Red Marathon, 9/18/2010




I learned a big lesson starting around 9am this past Saturday while in the midst of the mountainous Run for the Red Marathon in Watauga County, NC. Vanilla yogurt mixed with a generous amount of ground flaxseed is not a good post hard-effort dinner! As I reflect I can only think about looking in the mirror and saying “duh!” to the reflection.

Those of you who know me, know I am pretty picky about pre- race meals and usually stick with a lite meal of sandwhich, soup, and some wine the night before. However, this past Friday, I goofed. I should have been thinking and paid more attention to doing what I was doing!

After work on Friday, I went on a favorite dirt road run, down by the New River. Driving back home, I met a car in the middle of the road. I was able to pull off to the right and slide to a stop in the gravel, yet the other driver was going a bit too fast for the grade and corner and put her brakes on and the car smartly slide right into mine.
Looking up the road...

Ugh. Her car-none-the-worse-for-wear…Mine-not driveable
 We called the police. The trooper came and did the wheel/measuring thing and determined she was indeed going too fast. I waited for the tow truck. Got transported to the garage and finally driven home and I promptly got on the phone with our two insurance companies. Now it was after 8pm. My planned for 9pm bedtime to ready for a 4:40am wakeup would not happen this time.

I was alone, with George canoe adventuring in Algonquin Park in Canada with my brother Ron and his wife, Michele. At least George had ridden up to Canada in Ron’s truck so I had George’s truck to use until Monday morning. I opened a bottle of homemade blueberry wine, poured a generous glass and proceeded to do daily chores and get ready for the next day. By 10:30pm, I was ready to sleep, yet knew 2 glasses of wine and a Clifbar was not an ideal dinner, so I went to bed with one of my favorite snacks: a container of vanilla yogurt –and for added calories, I thought I’d add some cereal-yet we were out-so ground flaxseed came to mind and I added a couple tablespoons…

Fast forward 10 hours…

To make a icky story not too gross-In the future:
I will not ignore cramping when I run and only wish it would go away
I will always carry TP
I will wear dark colored shorts for days of extreme effort!

Except for the many pit stops (behind weeds and in the open) with limited success using tulip poplar leaves for personal hygiene, I had a great run!  …Yet I was certainly uncomfortable enough that this is not going to happen again in the near future. I let my guard down and got lazy and didn’t think!

This was the inaugural year for Red for the Red Marathon and Half Marathon to benefit the Watauga County Red Cross. This organization is also responsible for creating and hosting the tough Blood, Sweat and Gears Century Bike Ride which is a destination event for cyclists that want a stellar challenge (I have ridden this event a few times in the earlier years-and it is a toughie!) Now BS&G fills to it’s limit very early each year with riders from all over the US!

The idea behind RFTR Marathon was to mirror the reputation and toughness in a road mountain marathon. It’s the BS&G, the first year saw 100 riders, RFTR Marathon had around 35 starters.


I think this marathon is going to grow quickly! Saturday’s route was the most challenging paved route I have run.  To top things off, this time of year in the NC High Country is glorious! The goldenrod was glowing and tippy tops of mountains beginning to change color, mist and fog lifted as the sun burned it off and seemed to celebrate our efforts!

We started at 7am. I expected to run between 3:15 and 3:30 due to the ups and downs. I ran 3:29:34, and was pleased, though I wished I was smarter the night before and prob’ly would have run sub 3:25 and enjoyed the last 10 miles much more! Live and (hopefully) learn! According to the results, I was 3rd overall and 1st woman.

Glen Bailey and I after our different runs on Saturday
The morning was a special treat for me too, as I got to celebrated one of our high school’s own cross-country runners who ran the ½ marathon. Glen came in 3rd overall  and seemed really pleased. I hope so-I was very, very happy for him! Complete results for both the Marathon and Half Marathon here.http://wataugaredcross.com/red/results/2010results.txt

New River Trail 50k-coming up on October 9th! There are 146 runners registered as of this morning! Yay!


4 comments:

Rick Gray said...

I certainly hate your car got injured, but hopefully it will be well soon. Just needs a little rest and a little therapy and it will be back getting you where you need to go. Sounds like a wonderful run and you ran great despite the not so comfortable issues. Glad to see you are doing well. New River is growing so quickly. It is no wonder though. Your hard work, an excellent cause, organized to the nth degree, beautiful beautiful course, fast and extremely friendly for those who have a bit of trouble running a 50k. Your race has it all. See you in a few weeks.

Davidson Area Running Team said...

Sorry I missed this marathon, as I'd done the 15-miler last year and really got a kick out of it. Went on Sunday and ran in Matt Jenkins' Boone Marathon and saw Daniel Lieb, who ran in both marathons. Looking forward to my third New River Trail 50k, and this time I'm bringing some friends along. -Chad R.

jennifer Nichols said...

Annette: you get the "Atta' girl" award for being mentally strong, tough and tenacious. WAY TO OVERCOME!!
very inspiring! take care and see you soon!

I'm right there with Rick, super excited about NR 50k!! :o)

annette bednosky said...

Thank you for your kind words, friends!
Being tough is certainly a combination of personal experience, hopes and support of others! I feel you my friends supporting me as I run in tough times, 'cause I know that even if not immediately, that I am not alone with my experience!

Chad, thank you for you comments...both Rick and Jenny will be lining up with you at NRT 50k on 10/9...Please...celebrate your life and those around you by running your hearts desire and beyond. A 50k (or 50M or 100M or beyond) is time to give to ourselves and fly in the way we are meant to, appreciating loved ones along the way!