Friday evening we drove to a campground outside of Lynchburg, did the whole spaghetti and meatballs for dinner thing, and got to bed early. After sleeping lightly and waking several times Friday night, my alarm finally went off at 4:45 and I was up and at ’em. We walked the dogs, got dressed, and made the 25 minute trek to Lynchburg. We arrived at E.C. Glass High School around 6:15, 1 hour and 45 minutes before the start. I was glad the race offered race day packet pick-up. It was supposed to start at 6:30, but their wonderful volunteers already had everything set up and they allowed us to grab our bibs, race t-shirts, and goody bags (a drawstring backpack with some freebies and race advertisements). I failed to get a picture of packet pick-up or the porta potties, but neither had any lines at that point. Another perk of arriving so early was that we got to park very close to the start. Score!

The pre-race 6 miles went smoothly. My legs felt fresh, thanks to a Friday rest day, and the weather was nice and cool (low 50’s). We got back to the truck with a little over 10 minutes until the race start. Just enough time for me to change into a dry tank top, pin on my bib, top off my water bottle, and consume a Power Gel. The start line of the race was very crowded. The race did not have waves, but they did have signs up indicating where you should line up based on expected pace. We were unable to work our way any closer than the 13:01-15:00 pace area.

Just before 8 AM, the anthem was played by the high school band and then we were off. The first 1.5 miles of the race are practically all downhill and I decided to just let gravity carry me. After that we hit some pretty serious uphill for about a mile. There were very few flat sections during this race. For the most part we were either going up or going down. By mile 2 in the race (mile 8 for the day) my legs were starting to feel a bit tired, but it was nothing unmanageable. I kept chugging along, enjoying the scenery and the bands and crowd support along the course. There were some beautiful and historic-looking houses and (unexpectedly for me) a lot of folks out cheering.

We looped through Riverside Park and hit the halfway point, after coming up a short, but very steep, hill. I ate two Cliff Shot Bloks and started making my way back to the finish line. There were some mean hills on the way back, but I also enjoyed running down all of the hills we had climbed on the way out. The crowd continued to cheer for us and I enjoyed a band that was blasting some Jimmy Buffet. I was still running steady. My breathing was relaxed and my legs were feeling lots of fatigue from the distance and the hills.

When we hit 8 miles, I smiled to myself, knowing I had just hit 14 miles for the day. That meant everything from there on was new territory. I ate my last Shot Blok and enjoyed the last downhill before the 1.5 mile-long climb to the finish line, known as the “farm basket” hill (I’m sure there’s a story or reason for it’s name, but I don’t know it). I was feeling tired, but able, during the final climb. Barry caught up with me with about 1/4 of a mile to go and snapped a picture of me. I am holding up 6 fingers for 16 miles.

I crossed the finish line in 1:54:02. Not very speedy, but my overall pace for the day was 11:05/mile, which is perfect for me for a long run. My goal is to arrive at the start line in Charlotte healthy and prepared to tackle the distance. After finishing I was given a medal (with green sparkles on it!) and a finisher’s hat. They had pink, white, and black hats and I chose a black one.

New personal distance record!

The race had quite a lot of talent, with a men’s winning time of 47:34 and a women’s winning time of 55:38. What amazed me was that the 10th place man ran 49:36. Talk about depth in the race field. During the awards ceremony, an 85 year old man named William Draper finished his 40th Virginia 10 Miler in 3:06:49. He has completed the race every year since it’s inaugural event and this year he wore bib number 1.

This race was very challenging, but also a lot of fun. The organizers do a great job and it’s definitely one Barry and I will run again some day. I am interested to see what I can do with the course if I don’t run 6 miles beforehand. But for this weekend, I was very happy to have completed 16 miles feeling strong.

Do you ever make a race part of a training run?

What’s the coolest race swag you’ve ever gotten?
This is the first time I’ve ever gotten a finisher’s hat!

Last night I headed back to the high school track for my first track workout in two weeks. Why the break? Well two weeks ago I was feeling exhausted and had the Hokie Half coming up, so I opted to back off a bit in an effort to feed good on race day (and it worked). Then last week I was sore from the Hokie Half, so again I skipped the track. But this week I was ready to get back to it and up my Yasso 800s to seven repeats.

The total workout was 7 miles and it broke down like this: 1 mile warm-up, 7 x 800m with 400m recovery jog, 1200m cool down. The last time I did a track workout things went pretty well and Coach Holly suggested I shoot for 4:25’s instead of 4:30’s. She hasn’t steered me wrong, yet, so I decided to give it a shot. Here’s how it went:

1- 4:23      5- 4:20
2- 4:25      6- 4:18
3- 4:22      7- 4:09
4- 4:22

Looks like the coach was right. I felt pretty good on these. During the first 3-4 I would feel fatigued during the last 200m, but felt strong during the first 600m. Then during the last 3 I would start to feel tired about halfway though. This workout was what I needed after the way things went on Saturday.

Finishing a track workout and hitting my goal on each interval notches my confidence back up a bit. Plus there was a really pretty sunset during my workout. This is the part where I show you some breathtaking picture of it…. except I didn’t bring my phone or camera down to the track last night. But it looked similar to this, without as much yellow and with less clouds:

Now because I’m sure you’re dying to know, here’s a skunk update: Hank is stink-free, except for right on his nose and chin. Those were hard spots for me to try and clean, but you really only smell it if you put your nose right next to his face (or when he breathes on you). Our house is miraculously almost stink-free. The only spots the skunk smell lingers a bit are in the hallway and in the stairwell into the basement. Those two spots don’t get much air flow, I guess, so it’ll take a little bit longer to air out. Luckily we have had beautiful fall weather yesterday and today, so having all of the windows and fans on in the house (and the heat pump off) has been no problem. The high yesterday was 71 and the low overnight was 49. So it never got hot in the house, but it was a bit chilly last night. Nothing fleece PJ pants and a hoodie can’t fix, though.

Do you get beautiful sunsets/sunrises where you live? Where’s the most beautiful sunset you have seen?
The most beautiful sunset I’ve seen was the sunset on the ocean when my family went to California. But mountain sunsets are my favorite.

Are you experiencing some crisp fall weather?

I woke up this morning at 5 AM to the sound of Barry hollering for Hank. As I walked down the hall towards the basement door, I was assaulted with the strongest, most rank skunk smell I have ever smelled. You guessed it- Hank got sprayed by a skunk this morning. The poor guy got sprayed right in the face.

Hank came in through the garage and ran into the basement before Barry had realized he had gotten sprayed. Luckily from there all he did was run across the basement to where our basement windows are. Barry was able to get him to go out the window. Unluckily the damage had been done and the awful, terrible skunk smell was in the house. Side note: Don’t freak out and call Dog Protective Services on me. The basement window is ground level on the outside, and only 3-4 feet off of the ground on the inside. Hank has no problem putting his front paws on the ledge and having us lift his hind end so he can crawl out the window. He has even jumped out through it unassisted a few times. 

Barry had to get to work so I took over Operation De-skunk Hank & House. In case you forgot, yes I did just spend 8 hours yesterday cleaning the house and giving the dogs baths.

I thanked the heavens Wal-Mart is open 24/7 as I made a quick trip there to get the necessities (baking soda and hydrogen peroxide). Once I got home I changed into some old clothes and got to work washing Hank in the backyard. I mixed up hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dish detergent and then used a wash cloth to wipe it over his face, head, and neck. Then I rinsed him off with the garden hose. Neither of us appreciated the fact that it was 48 degrees and still dark outside, although one of us was colder than the other (me).

After a lot of crying and head shaking (him), three baths (him), one case of being physically ill (me), and one shower (me), I just have the house to deal with. All windows and doors are open and all ceiling fans are running. The house is in the low 60’s, but the smell is dissipating a bit. I think it’s going to take at least two days before the smell in our house no longer gags us.

This was my first time dealing with a skunked dog. I learned some tricks in doing so, and now know from practical experience that they worked (for me, at least).

1. Do not let the dog in the house. Keep him outside so that none of the skunk smell can get in the house.

2. Try and wipe some of the oils off with a paper towel or an old towel (that you don’t mind throwing out). Getting the oils off as soon as possible is going to help get rid of any lasting smell, especially if your dog has a double coat. The sooner you can get some of it off the better. Do not spray the dog with water as it will make the oils spread. The only exception to this is if the oils are in the dog’s eyes. Then you want to try and flush them out.

3. Put on old clothes that you don’t mind throwing away.

4. Prepare a baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and dish detergent mixture in an open bowl/bucket. It’s very important to do this in an open container, because the mixture will give off a gas, which can cause an explosion in a closed container. Do not try and save any left over solution. The mixture should consist of 1 quart 3% hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda, and 1 teaspoon dish detergent. If you have to wash your dog’s head or face, use a wash cloth and be careful not to get it in his eyes, nose, or mouth. You can use this same solution to get skunk smell off of your own skin.

5. Rinse and repeat. Rinse the peroxide solution off with plain water and repeat as many times as necessary until you can no longer smell the skunk smell. Towel dry your dog with old towels that you don’t mind throwing away if need be.

6. Wash any clothes/linens as soon as possible. I washed them in warm water with laundry detergent, and added a half cup of baking soda. Instead of using the dryer, I hung the clothes outside to let them dry while airing out in the fresh air.
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As for the house, I am open to suggestions. So far all I have done is open all doors and windows and turn on all fans. Barry turned off our heat pump so the smell does not get into the vents. This is helping somewhat with the smell, but it’s definitely not gone. I have also turned all of our automatic air fresheners on their most frequent spray setting. I don’t know what else to do, but I am hoping the fresh air will help and in a day or two it’ll dissipate.

Hank seems to have gotten sprayed mostly on his nose, chin, and the front of his neck/chest. We were lucky it didn’t get into his eyes, as I have read that this can cause irritation. If your dog gets sprayed in the face, you should watch for redness, irritation, or your dog pawing at his face or head. If you notice any of these signs/symptoms give you vet a call.

Have you ever had a pet get sprayed by a skunk?

Have you ever been sprayed by a skunk?

Any tricks of the trade to get the smell out of my house and car?

This week was my first week dropping back down to 4 days of running per week. During the last part of my training plan (OMG momentary freak out that I only have 9 weeks left to be ready), I will run higher mileage on 4 days of running per week. So even though this week was a cut back week, I was running more miles on each day, aside from my long run, than I have in the past. It was kind of neat to do what I consider a long run (anything over 6 miles) each day this week. Although that long run definition is starting to become gray.

Monday- 6 miles on the treadmill the day after the Hokie Half Marathon (and 14 miles total for my long run) nice and easy. I had fun watching Friday Night Lights while I ran. I highly recommend watching a good movie, if you’re able to, when you have to run on a treadmill. It makes the time fly.

Tuesday- Rest day.

Wednesday- 7 mile hilly run with the middle 3 miles at marathon pace (10:18). My middle 3 miles came in at 10:23, 10:28, and 10:23. I was content with that since my legs were still pretty sore from Sunday’s personal distance record.

Thursday- Rest day.

Friday- 6 miles in the evening on the Dora and New River Trails. I ran without my watch, because I forgot to put it on before I left. My calves were feeling pretty sore, but after stopping to stretch them around 3.5 miles they felt better. It was really buggy out and I got gnats in my eyes several times, which was no fun. Once I finished my run I was stretching against the brush guard on our truck. A guy walking by told me “you have to put it in gear to push it.” I laughed and told him “thanks.”

Saturday- Tough 11 mile long run on the Huckleberry Trail with Deb and her husband Bill. For some reason I was feeling physically and mentally tired and my legs just felt like lead. Just one of those days, I guess. Although it was a cut back week, I’m wondering if I was feeling tired from packing 30 miles into 4 days of running. Just the week before last, that was a new weekly mileage PR for me and I did it with 5 days of running. Either way I am hoping things to better for this week’s 16 mile long run, which will be the furthest I’ve ever run at one time by 2 miles.

Sunday- Cross training in the form cleaning the house, washing the dogs, and cleaning our entire camper from floor to ceiling.

Almost as cute when we gave him his very first bath:

I couldn’t get a picture of Scout yesterday while she was in the bath because she is an escape artist. I have to keep one hand on her at all times or she will jump out of the tub.

Total Miles: 30

Next week’s schedule:
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 7 miles w/ 4 @ MP
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 7 miles
Saturday: 16 miles (Virginia 10 Miler)
Sunday: Rest

Fortunately I got to run with Deb and her husband, Bill, on the Huckleberry Trail this morning. Unfortunately, I had one of the worst long runs I have had since starting my training for the Thunder Road Marathon. As always, it was great to run on the Huckleberry and to run with new friends.

Notice the wagging tail

Death to hedgehogs

Fortunately the Hokies won our football game against Marshall today. Unfortunately, it took three overtime periods to win it and I nearly had a heart attack several times. It took a good 10 minutes after the game for my heart rate to return to normal.