The Turtle Path

Kudos All Around!

2012-01-18T20:38:00.000-08:00

A couple of nice year end recognitions came out recently. First, USA's 100km World Championship team's were given the number eight spot on the list of 10 Best Moments for U.S. Distance Running in 2011. Sure they lumped all the great performances from Worlds together, but still, a shout out to ultrarunning! Trail running got a little love, too, with Max King and Kasie Enman's performances at the World Mountain Running Championships tying for tenth.

Ultrarunner of the Year results are old news by now. Congrats to Dave Mackey and Ellie Greenwood for their incredible seasons. I am totally psyched to be #8 on the list. My motivation for running certainly isn't prizes or external validation, but it is nice to be recognized for a good year and a lot of hard work. And it is an honor to be included with so many amazing women. Many of the other women on the list are my heroes. And I love that my #8 match up on the men's list was Hal Koerner, my inspiration at Bandera.

The Cascade Half Marathon in nearby Turner, OR was featured on USAToday in Sports. Nice PR for a small town country bumpkin kind of race. Mac braved the snow and wind to set a new PR of 1:42! Nice work, sweetie!

On your mark, get set...SNOW!

Next, a big shout out to my friend and pacer from Western States, Denise Bourassa, who is a total bad ass! This weekend she finished the grueling HURT 100 despite course vandalism that cost her 40 minutes and some serious foot/blister issues. Despite all that she perservered and came in 3rd female. Forget Hal... that's inspiration!

Done HURTing!

And last, but certainly not least...My daughter Megan got her shirt for the 100 Mile Club today. Mac started a chapter of the 100 Mile Club at Rosedale Elementary this year and has 23 kids signed up. Six of them are over 25 miles for the year and got their shirt today. Megan is actually at 37 miles so she should be checking off the 50 mile box soon. She is more stubborn and determined than me, so I have a lot of faith in her than she will make it to 100 miles and get her gold medal. Then we'll have two hundred milers in the family! ;)

Proud 100-miler-to-be!

Mac checks off the 25 mile box!

Unbroken In Bandera

2012-01-10T06:49:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, Mac got me the Unbreakable DVD. It was an awesome gift and very thoughtful, but I was kind of nonplussed at the time. I mean, how exciting could the movie be when I already knew how it ended and what would I do with the movie after I watched it once? But the movie was great and we both agreed we'd love to watch it again, especially right before Western States. Little did I know I'd be watching the movie again four days later and then replaying scenes in my head to keep me motivated during the Bandera 100k.

I had the pleasure of once again traveling down to Texas with an awesome crew of Oregonians including Meghan Arbogast, Craig Thornley and his wife Laurie, their good friend Hannah, Joe Uhan and his girlfriend Brittany, and Yassine Diboun, plus we were joined at our lovely accommodations in the Kingfisher Ranch by Mr. iRunfar himself, Bryon Powell. Shortly after arriving, Joe had Unbreakable in the DVD player for another screening.

Oregonians travel to Texas...and bring their belt buckles!

The race got off to a fast start - crazy fast! I was out of the first Aid Station at 49:30 and I was in 5th place for ladies. For perspective, I don't think any woman has ever gotten to the first aid station under 50 minutes in the race (except possibly Liza last year??) and this year there were five! Knowing my splits from the past years, the tireless grind of the course, and the forecast of 70 degree highs, I knew right then there'd be some carnage on the day, but I sure as heck didn't think it'd be me just two miles later!

I climbed the early steep stuff pretty well, but after Nachos I couldn't get moving up those gradual inclines. Normally, I really excel at the "cruiser" grade stuff: gentle uphill, flats and gentle downs. A lot of people don't like that stuff because they think it is boring, doesn't have enough variability or just isn't hard core enough, but I love getting into autopilot and just cruising. That's when I can get into that zen of running where there seems to be both a million thoughts and nothing at all in your mind at the same time. But it just wasn't happening for me, I couldn't get into the right rhythm or a place where my body could just run on instinct. I got into to Chapas at mile 11, and immediately told Meghan not to bother giving me any splits for the other women, it wasn't going to be that kind of day for me. "But you are only three minutes behind," she responded, but I still left the Aid Station feeling like my competitive day was done.

The middle section takes a serpentine route around and through some big grass meadows. Even I will admit it is kind of a boring section, yet I always run it well, again just getting into autopilot. But I struggled and the extra half mile added here only made matters worse. I came into Crossroads 1 nearly in tears. Meghan asked what was going on and my first response was my pelvis hurt. I have been dealing with an abdominal strain and pain in my lower abs and groin area since the marathon, and I had some discomfort. But the truth was, the discomfort was pretty minimal and was better than any long run I have done since the marathon. So then I said my quads, but that wasn't quite right either... How do you explain to your crew that someone has voodoo doll of you with the legs of your effigy stuck in bubble gum? So finally I told her, "Mostly, I think it is my head." And at that point I knew I was going on, because really I had no good excuse not to.

"Just do whatever you can and enjoy the day," Meghan said to me as I set off on a weak trot for a loop over the three sisters, shoving Jelly bellies, Ibuprofen, 2 S-caps and a caffeinated gel into my system in quick succession. I got to the first gully and just walked down it. Whatever.

But soon I had the clarity I needed (and I swear this is actually what came to me): "If Hal Koerner can put his testicles in a zip-lock and hike around Mount Blanc, I can finish this damn race!" So thank you Hal Koerner and thank you Glad sandwich bags; I owe you one!

At the base of the first climb, I leaned into it and started hike up, hands on quads style. "Just like Killian!" I thought to myself. When I passed the photographer, I thought of all the shots of Killian's butt in the movie and chuckled about my own butt, which Craig had told me "really is huge" the day prior. I continued to channel my inner Spanish super star all the way to the top, still not moving very fast but resolved to just enjoy the day. When I got to the top, I started to run, but this time my legs didn't feel so bad, not great, but not so "flat" or awkward anymore. And I remembered Geoff Roes coming back from the dead at Western States, not that I was expecting to set any course records, but figured I could have a second life in me, too.

I got back to the aid station (Crossroads 2) at 22 miles with a smile on my face, ready to run. I didn't have the miraculous turn around like Geoff, but I felt okay and stayed fairly consistent for the rest of the race. It helped that I nailed my nutrition/electrolytes all day (even early on when I felt bad - I actually ate more trying to "perk" up). I passed Kara Henry around mile 24 (she later dropped) and at the 50k turn around Bryon informed me that Darcy was dropping, and just like that, I was in third place.

I never really could find my "autopilot mode" but I substituted with good co-pilots instead. I caught up with Steve my second time in the grassy section and he led me every step of the way. And I ran most of the last nine miles with Neal, a 21 year old local speedster in his first 100k. Both Steve and Neal seemed to pick up the pace and run a bit better with me behind them, and I know I got a mantal boost running with them, so I think we helped each other. Mostly, I was just trying to survive and stay positive, so I was shocked when I came into Crossroads 1 again, just 4 minutes behind Liza! And though she is much more skilled than me on the rocky terrain, I got back to Crossroads still just 4 minutes back! At Last Chance, Olga excitedly told me I was only two minutes back.

I hiked the next section as hard as I could and got a boost from seeing Meghan out on her run who informed me of the men's results and of Joe's third place finish to grab the coveted Western States entry. But when I didn't see Liza on the ridge, I knew it was over. I was giving it my best at that point, but Liza dances over rocks and I stumble like a drunk elephant! Near the finish, I turned to look for Neal, thinking it'd be nice to finish together after all his help, but he was nowhere to be seen and I was ready to be done!

photo: Bryon Powell

10:04, 3rd female and just edged out of the top ten for 11th overall. It was 18 minutes slower than last year, but with the extra mile and the bad start, I really felt pretty good about the day's performance. Liza gained 6 minutes in the last 5 miles (sheesh! do you have to rub it in like that, Liza? ;) to break 10 hours (9:56) and Cassie Scallon proved JFK was no fluke with her incredible 9:40 to take home the title of 100k National Champion (and even better, a thousand bucks!).

I am not sure why I had such a bad start or why it turned around. I am wondering if it has to do with my complete lack of hill training over the last four months and pushing the first section pretty hard. Maybe I just over taxed myself early but I had enough fitness to recover after a few slow miles?? Or maybe, somebody just got bored playing with my voodoo doll! Either way it was a really great lesson for me to never give up. Pushing myself to the extreme has never been hard when things are going my way, but I now see that I really lose my motivation and mental toughness when things aren't going my way. Ultimately, I think that is what did me in at Angeles Crest in 2010. But Saturday, I think I slew that demon - hopefully, once and for all. Not every run is perfect, but it is good to know that inspiration can be found in a bad day...even if you have to put the family jewels in a baggie and walk it to the finish!

Thank you, Joe P for another great year at Bandera and a day full of great lessons and personal growth. There are a lot of other thanks to go around, as I feel like I relied on the help, inspiration and comaraderie of other people more than I ever have in an ultra, with special thanks to Meghan for being my crew and helping me out of a low point.

Texas Fun

2012-01-08T22:15:00.000-08:00

Just got home from the 100km National Championships in Bandera, TX. Good thing because I wouldn't want to overdose on sunny, near 70 degree days in January. I think my body might go into some sort of Vitamin D toxic state, so good thing I am back to 39 degrees and heavy wet fog!

I got of to a bad start yesterday in the race, but through perseverance (and attrition) I nabbed the last podium spot. More details to follow, but I seriously need some sleep right now as I was up all last night reading Ultrarunner magazines fully clothed in an empty bathtub waiting for the caffeinated gels to wear off (they didn't).

G'night y'all!

Bandera Overview

2012-01-04T23:28:00.000-08:00

Karl Meltzer and iRunFar already did a run down of the field. Karl even did a pretty good job with the ladies this time around, so I'll just preview the weather and the course.

The forecast is for partly sunny skies with a low of 35 and a high of 65 - perfect running weather!

As for the course, well, it is kind of like this:

Only in Bandera all that rubble is covered in cactus! Yeehaw!

Looking Ahead: Plans for 2012

2012-01-03T23:18:00.000-08:00

When I was 12, I started telling my parents I'd be going to college on the East Coast. By 14, I was already planning to go to medical school. I don't do a lot of last minute decision making! So, it should come as no surprise that I already have a good idea about my racing plans for 2012! Hey, I warned you yesterday that I was anal retentive!

Plans for 2012:
January: I am headed back to Bandera. I must really have a fondness for those rocks, as I keep going back!

Feb: Orcas Island 50k (Feb 4) and Hagg Lake (Feb. 18). I told myself I'd do fewer 50k's in 2012...so I signed up for two in February - haha! February is actually supposed to be my "down" month since I didn't take any time off this fall/winter. I'll definitely be doing Orcas as a "fun run". If it continues to be a dry year, I may have to get serious at Hagg as I'd like to see how close I can get to Joelle Vaught's CR.

March: I am toying with the idea of doing a marathon, but I am kind of hesitant with worlds in April. It doesn't hep that Napa is already sold out, so likely I'll just be doing lots of hard road running.

April: 100k World Championships in Seregno, Italy. The team isn't announced until January 22, but my Mad City time should keep me on the team for another year.

May: Time to switch it up and get some trail miles in for Western States! I am hoping to go on another running adventure like the R2R2R and Zion trips we did the last two years. I did sign up for the McDonald Forest 50k in memory of Dave Bateham, who passed away last month. I expect to see his smiling face on the label of my post-race beer!

June: Western States!! People are already predicting that we'll be going back to the slower "regular" course. That means I just have to work harder to get my sub-20 finish!

July: I was originally thinking I'd do the PCT50 to scoop up Oregon Trail Series Points, but I just found out Pine to Palm 100 miler got added to the series. With so many points available in a hundred miler, you really can't be competitive in the series unless you do it. If I am feeling good after WS, I may head to White River instead, as my first time there was a not so stellar day for me.

August: This is my year for redemption at Waldo! Aside from my DNF at Angeles Crest, Waldo 2009 was my worst race ever! Heck, it'll be an improvement just to finish in the top half of the field!

September: This is the really hard month for me to decide on. Why are there so many great races in September?? MacKenzie River, UROC, Flagline, Tahoe Triple Marathon, the new Run Rabbit Run hundred miler, Pine to Palm...so hard to choose, but I think I am probably leaning toward UROC. I love the 100k distance and I enjoy having a lot of good runners to compete against.

Oct/Nov: I do want to do another 100 miler this year. I definitely need the practice as I still have some things to figure out once things get past 100k. Pinhoti tops my list, only because my sister lives in Alabama and it'd be great to tie in a race with a visit to see her (and I may need more than one reason to go to Alabama!). Javelina is also on my radar.

December: Down time! No matter what the outcome of this year's race, I don't think I'll be headed back to Bandera next year. That'll allow me to take it pretty easy next December and get fat over the holidays without feeling guilty!

Ok, time to start planning for 2013! ;)

2959

2012-01-01T19:09:00.000-08:00

I think most ultra runners are obsessive-compulsive. Or at least that is what I tell myself to make it feel like my own OCD is totally in line with my cohorts. So imagine my horror when I discovered my yearly mileage total was 2959!

Now in my training circles we would strongly frown upon ending a run with 19.85 miles or some other "partial mileage" distance. Yes, we are those anal retentive weirdos who run around the block one more time after getting back to our car just because we need our GPS to end in a whole number. I was totally against this practice when we started. I mean, come on, why should we let a piece of electronic equipment dictate the end of our run? But now it is such part of our thinking that I, too, am a slave to my Garmin.

So you can see my distress in missing the 3,000 mile mark by a mere 41 miles! Alas, I was not OCD enough to check the total until the waning days of 2011, when it was too late to rectify this tragedy! Still, this works out to an average of 57 miles per week. That is not exactly high mileage (and I don't claim to be a high mileage kind of gal, as ultrarunning goes) but given the amount of racing I did (with tapers and recovery) my actual training weeks registered a lot higher than the average. And the total is 500 miles higher than 2009, my first full year of ultrarunning. But next year, I'll be checking my totals on December 1st and so I can plan accordingly to get above 3,000 miles!

So who else wants to fess up to being a mileage slave? Did anybody cram in the miles last week to hit some arbitrary yearly total? How OCD are distance runners really???

2011- The Year In Review

2012-01-01T12:16:00.000-08:00

2010 was the year of the 50 miler for me: American River, Capitol Peak, White River, and JFK. In 2011, my focus shifted to the 100k. The highlight of the year was definitely the 100k World Championships in the Netherlands. Even though I didn't score for the team, it was an honor to represent the US and to call so many great runners my teammates. And I got a lot of great experience on a big stage; I can't wait to put it all to use in Italy this April!

Here's my quick race summary for the year:

Jan 8: USATF National Trail Championships in Bandera, TX, 2nd place. For the second year in a row, I went under the previous course record (10:33)but didn't win. Liza Howard was just too nimble on her rocky hometown course, running 9:35 for the win. My 9:46 was a 50 minute improvement over 2010 and a sign of good things to come.

Feb 19: Hagg Lake 50k, 4:22, 1st. Had a great run and became the first repeat winner for the 50k on the women's side. This was definitely a MUD year and it slowed the course down quite a bit. I was 4 minutes slower than 2010 and a far cry from Joelle Vaught's stout 4:10 CR.

March 12: Gorge Waterfalls 50k in the Columbia River Gorge, 4:49, 1st female. This inaugural race was tougher than I expected with some good rocky footing and a few good long climbs. The website currently lists the course with 6700' gain but that was definitely NOT advertised ahead of time! Special bonus for winning a first time event: automatic course record - woohoo!

April 9: USATF 100k National Road Championships at Mad City, Madison, WI. 7:53:17, 2nd place. Again under the previous course record (8:00:52) but no win. But it still felt like a HUGE victory as I earned my spot on the US team with this one! This was my number one goal for 2011 and I was psyched to accomplish it!

May 7: Miwok 100k, 9:39:57, 1st. I was a little skeptical about this one, coming just four weeks after Mad City and with almost NO trail time on my feet for training, but race day, I just felt good and ran particularly well from about mile 25-50. I still had a huge grin at mile 54, but the last 6 were run on pure determination and fumes!

June 25: Western States 100, 20:40, 10th. Eked out another top 10, but I was really hoping to go sub-20 on this one. I know I am a "slow" learner - one of those people who have to chew things over before it sinks in, and well, I guess I still have some mental masticating to do at this distance. On the bright side, I was 50 minutes faster than 2010 and nowhere near as physically destroyed.

September 10: Run Winschoten 100k World Championships, 8:16:45, 16th. I struggled with GI issues and just didn't have the race I wanted to have. But the experience was incredible! So much support and energy for ultra runners - what a different scene than any ultra in the US. I absolutely loved sharing the roads with people from all over the world with ultra-running as our common bond. The women's team took home the silver and we celebrated the US men's gold medal efforts! Way to go Team USA!

September 24: USATF 50k National Trail Championships, 4:41:15, 3rd. I entered this on a total lark because I was enticed by the idea of running near Mt. Bachelor on a beautiful sunny day. The weather and the course did not disappoint, but I just wasn't recovered enough from the world championships and I felt like I was missing a gear on the climbs. Still the $200 prize money covered the cost of the trip and it was a great day on the trails.

October 10: The Good Life Victoria Half Marathon, 1:25:06. The only goal was to meet the 1:26 "elite" standard for CIM. Mission accomplished.

October 29: Autumn Leaves 50k, 3:46, 1st, CR. This run was more about rocking a costume and winning a friendly bet with my husband, but I felt great all day and surprised myself by running that fast on untapered legs.

November 20: EWEB Run to Stay Warm 10k, 37:20, 1st. Who says ultra runners can't be fast? This was a tune-up for the marathon and a confidence booster that all the tempo and track miles were paying off.

November 24: Springfield Turkey Trot, 41:52. Ok, this wasn't really a race for me, but still another huge running highlight for 2011. My six year old daughter Megan rocked her first 5k and some awesome Christmas socks and the whole family was there to share it with her.

December 3: California International Marathon, 2:55:48. This race was far from perfect, but still cleared the 3 hour barrier by a comfortable margin. I stand by my claim that marathons are way harder than 50k's. But despite my best efforts to spread the word, Salem runners aren't giving up the marathon for ultras. I guess they are tougher than I am! Well, they still make for great training partners. I am super thankful for the three awesome ladies who were training alongside me day in and day out for this one, and for so many other runners that I was able to share some miles with during the year.

Well, that's a wrap for 2011 and my 518 miles of racing. Besides the racing, I worked aid stations at two ultras, went on an epic running trip to Bryce/Zion and paced Aliza Lapierre as she threw down a smoking fast 10:33 at the Waldo 100k. All in all a great year and a lot of fun times.

In addition to my training partners, I owe a lot to family for these accomplishments. Mac puts up with more insanity than he should have to bear. He is super supportive and has really learned how to control his eye rolling when I add new races to the schedule. ;) My parents were a huge help at Western States and CIM, and Mac's mom parented our kids for twelve days when we were in Holland. She did such a good job, Liam now repeatedly tells me that Mamaw is his favorite parent!

Happy New Year! I am looking forward to many more miles in 2012!

California International Marathon: Huge PR, Huge Bonk

2011-12-15T11:24:00.000-08:00

2:55:48...If you had told me that ahead of time, I would have happily signed on the dotted line to guarantee it. My previous PR (and last marathon) was at CIM in 2008, when I ran a 3:10:37. (Unofficially, I ran a 3:09:52 marathon split at Autumn Leaves). I trained for a 2:55 and so to be within a minute of that seems like a big success. Indeed, I am very happy to finally be part of the sub-3 hour echelon on runners. Happy, but not satisfied as I had thought I would be.
***
In 2008, I was still a marathon runner and like any marathon runner my main goal was to PR. I missed my goal at Portland, signed up for CIM as a second chance and then spent 2 months obsessing over a couple minutes. When I crossed the line at CIM with a 3 minute PR, I was ready to be done with the marathon for a while and my attention turned to ultras. But after a couple of years running ultras, I came to believe that I could do better at the marathon, that really I was a sub-three hour kind of girl. But beyond just believing it, I realized that I actually wanted to be a sub-3 hour runner, to be able to legitimately say it. Because when I started running utras, I needed a break from the clock's objectivity, but as time passed and I got better at ultras, I realized I wanted a yardstick for my progress. And even in the ultra world, people still ask about your marathon PR.

But it wasn't until three other Salem women committed to running CIM that I cemented my 2011 sub-3 hour marathon attempt. As I have already mentioned, I loved the marathon training, but a big part of it was having wonderful fast women and awesome friends to train with. It also meant that race weekend was girl's weekend! Woohoo!

Fast Chicks from Salem, ready to run! - Mariko, Steph, Tonya and me

We flew down Friday and spent the day Saturday at the expo and around downtown Sac, fretting a little bit about the residual strong gusts of winds after all of the severe storms. We even made a trip over to the "elite hospitality suite." Why? Because we could! The four of us were taking great delight in the fact that we had all gotten in to the "elite" field (they finally let me in) even though we are a far cry from elite marathoners. We also did a little shopping for some special running accessories.

Balloon Rudolf and "Elite" runners (The "VIP" elites all got numbers less than 100)

Getting our fill at the elite hospitality suite

Salem Sock-sleeve solidarity!

My mom very kindly got up with us a 5 am and drove up to the start. We "oohed" and "aahed" (and maybe did a few other things) at the Great Wall of Port-a-potties. Seriously, I have never seen so many portable johns! Then we headed to the elite tents, where we giggled over the fact that every other woman in the tent was trying to hit the Olympic standard.

The race itself went great for me, until about mile 21. I clicked off smooth 6:35's, feeling great and way ahead of my 2:55 goal. I came through 13 at 1:25:27 - not too far off my 1:25:06 PR. I was still feeling strong and on pace through mile 20 and then the wheels just fell off. My legs didn't feel sore or tired, but I was just drained. My pace fell almost a minute per mile and I struggled mightily for the last 5 miles. With just over two miles to go, Tonya flew by me, looking great. And then in quick succession Todd and Jerry passed me effortlessly as well. I didn't begrudge them their good days, but it made me feel even crappier to see people I knew running so well around me. I averaged 7:15 for my last 10k and had a not so pretty 4:30 time difference between my first and second halves for a finish of 2:55:48. Tonya had a stellar day at 2:53:54. Steph and Mariko were a little duped by the 3 hour pace group, which did NOT pace runners to a sub-3 finish. They finished just a few seconds apart at 3:00:10 and 3:00:24 (pace leader finished around 3:00:20).

Mile 18-still feeling good

While it is possible that I went out to fast, I don't think that was the case. I think 6:35 is within my capabilities. My best guess is that I had a major "bonk" and I just ran out of fuel. I think coming from an ultra background, I didn't respect the distance enough and I think I didn't account for the increased glucose needs of that fast pace. I remember thinking that I can easily do 3 hour runs without much food and so I ate only two gels during the whole race. It is funny because I usually eat on the high side for calorie intake during an ultra. Losing a few minutes in the marathon itself, doesn't bother me too much, but I feel like I've made several nutrition mistakes lately and as a perfectionist and planner, that pisses me off! I think being "experienced" may be working against me right now, as I don't really get that worried about races any more and as such I haven't been fretting over "minor" details ahead of time. I need to get back to the point of over-analyzing everything and being overly cautious.

After CIM, I was ready to sign up for another marathon immediately, on a quest to shave off another 3-4 minutes. I KNOW I can do it, but with running you can't claim it till you do it! I am considering LA or Napa in March, but I am a little less gung-ho about the whole thing considering the 100k World Championships are in April. So not sure when my next marathon will be just yet, but probably sooner than I expected going into CIM.

A well deserved post marathon soak.

Turkey Stuffer 5k

2011-11-27T20:22:00.001-08:00

Thursday, it was off to the races again for the Thanksgiving morning Turkey Stuffer in Springfield. I was coming off a big PR four days earlier at the 10k, but that paled in comparison to this 5k race, which was one of my best running experiences ever!

I finished the race in 41 minutes and 54 second and I could not be prouder! My six year old daughter Megan completed her first 5k and it was awesome to support her as a family in this awesome accomplishment.

Since I had raced Sunday, our plan was for Mac to "race" the 5k, while I ran along with Megan and pushed Liam in a borrowed baby jogger. Since I was running for fun, I thought I'd wear a pair of cutesy Christmas socks, but when I got them out Megan started fawning over them and begging to wear them for the race. OMG, could this get any better?!? She wants to run and dress up! She is SO my daughter!

We got out of the house a wee bit later than planned for the 75 minute drive to Springfield. I think we had a conversation 50 miles into our drive that went like this:

Mac: What time does the race start?
Me: 8:30
Mac: Oh, we are so f*cked!

But we made it with about 13 minutes to spare. I sent Mac to get our numbers and told him I'd meet him at the start with the kids and stroller. I made it to the start in plenty of time but then just stood around waiting for Mac. Megan (who is a bit OCD) kept asking where was Daddy and Liam was trying to run over other runners with the baby stroller. Finally, the race started, but no Mac. Whatever. I figured he was up front and just didn't have time to find us.

Are you sensing the pre-race jitters??

Holy back of the pack congestion! Megan was pretty frustrated at first as she just wanted to run. She was weaving in and out of people, which was tough for me because I had to maneuver with a gargantuan jog stroller! But finally it thinned out and Liam even got out to run. That kid runs just like he thinks - all over the place! He kept getting in and out of the stroller depending on his energy level.

About five minutes in, Mac jogs up to us with a fistful of numbers and timing chips, "Hi, fam!" It turns out a few too many people tried to do last minute check in on Thanksgiving - oops! But it was a happy mistake, because then Mac decided to run with us, too. I pinned on our numbers and threw the chips in the baby stroller pocket.

Megan still needs to work on pacing. She doesn't do slow! Sprint-walk-sprint-walk-sprint, but we seemed to be making pretty good time. Liam got out of the stroller with 3/4 of a mile to go and ran to the finish, too, so he probably did about half the run on his own. My two kids are SO different. Megan had really wanted to wear my Garmin (another OCD runner in the making, I tell you) and she kept looking at the watch and giving us odd splits: "We're at one fifteen" (1.15 miles). When she'd try to catch up with somebody (Liam, a lady with a dog) she was so focused. Liam has no focus. He was trying to follow all the cracks in the road. When the cracks zigged, so did he. "Mom, we have to run on these cracks so aliens won't get us!" Ummm, whatever, dude, just keep running!

You Go, Girl!

I love this photo. Megan is totally on task. I look like I have just said something very grave to Mac: "Yep, your whole town has been stricken by the plague." Mac has a complete look of shock on his on his face: "The plague? What?! Nobody gets the plague anymore!" And Liam is like, "Hey, is that a piece of garbage in the gutter?" Also, did you notice there is SUN!?! (That makes the plague a little more tolerable).

Unfortunately, when we crossed the line our chips were still in the stroller pocket and didn't register on the timing mat, so don't look for us in the official results.

The race had free admission to the local water park after the race, which was the reason we chose this race over all the other Turkey Trots in our area. This was great fun for the kids. Even Mac and I took a few runs down the slide!

After a couple of hours of splashing we headed back to Salem for a quiet Thanksgiving dinner at home. I am very thankful for our happy, healthy family. I am looking forward to many more Turkey Stuffers together.

Salem Salty Sistas Storm Track Town

2011-11-27T17:22:00.001-08:00

I am super lucky to be training for CIM with three other awesome women from Salem. In fact, that is one of the main reasons I decided now was the time to do a marathon - because of readily available training partners. We have more or less been doing Pfitzinger's training plan at the 70 miles per week setting. I really love the long run component to the plan, though I can't say I have really read much on the reasoning behind the plan. But Steph said she wanted to try it and we were all game. It's been great with lots of marathon pace running. But last Sunday (11/20) we decided to skip the long run a do a 10k. I am not sure if this was supposed to serve as a "tune-up" or a reality check!

We headed down to the EWEB Run to Stay Warm in Eugene where the 10k makes a big loop around Alton Baker park (which I accidentally called Alton Brown park at one point, but alas, no foodie commentary at this 10k). Basically, you run a mile upstream, cross a pedestrian bridge, run three miles down stream, cross another bridge, and run back up the river to the start - very scenic and all on bike path, made even better because there was no rain!

Tonya, Mariko and I all started together in our matching Salty Sistas singlets. Salty Sistas is the Salem Hood to Coast team. I have never actually been on the team, but Mariko said I could wear her hot pink singlet. I joked that I was the illegitimate salty half sista! Please note that I did NOT plan to wear hot pink with red gloves!

We came through mile 1 in 6:03. Tonya blurted "Oh, shit!" because she was aiming for 6:15 pace, but I wanted to push myself to try and hold that pace. I felt great till about the 5.25 mile mark, but pushed through to the finish for the win and a huge PR in 37:20 (6:03, 5:53, 5:50, 5:56, 5:57, 6:06 -oops!, 1:36(5:41 pace)).

My friends Gordon Cully and Michael Libowitz from LongRun Picture Company were out snapping photos on the day...it almost felt like I had the paparazzi following me around!

Michael got this shot and despite the Rainbow Brite outfit, this is probably the best running photo of me ever! Plus, it makes me think the push-ups may be paying off (although, note that I still do not have big enough biceps to keep extra small sleeves from falling down!).

The Salty Sistas stormed through Track Town, going 1-2-4-5. We have an 8 year age span so we cleaned up in age group wins (including master's overall)!

The Salty Sistas (and illegitimate salty half sista!)

We won these nice hoodies, except they say "WINNER" on the back. If your sweatshirt says "winner", doesn't that make you a loser?? I wore mine to the gym all week (yes, I am a loser) and got several comments about that back, which I think confirms my loser theory.

"Winning!"

If this was our reality check, I have to conclude I am ready. In two weeks, the four of us head down to Sacramento. And I found out this week, that I'll be joining my friends in the elite field. I guess a few spots opened up, so I got in!!

Thanksgiving Day, I was off to the races again. This time the Turkey Stuffer 5k...but that's tomorrow's story.

JFK Weekend

2011-11-19T21:27:00.001-08:00

Wow - what a show at JFK this morning! Super fast times up front in both the men's and the women's races...awesome to watch but I just got bumped out of the top 10 all time list! :) To feel like I had a connection with this year's race, I chose today to hot glue last year's trophy back together. I hadn't even had it an hour before it got kicked across the gym floor by a stumbling racer. But a little hot glue and it is good as new (but still as ugly as any trophy out there).

Even trophy runners have an Achilles heel

Following Javelina and JFK the last two weekends made me long for the ultra scene a bit, but I have to say, I am actually loving marathon training. The fast pace stuff on the track is great and the long runs fly by. Last weekend I did 17 miles in 2 hours and since I started at 5 am, I was home before anybody even knew I was gone...can't do that with ultra training! And tomorrow I am racing a 10k (for "sharpening"). It almost feels like a brand new race to me as my last one was July 4, 2008. CIM is the real goal race and not this 10k, but I will be disappointed if I can't slip under my "current" PR of 38:52.

Well, off to bed. Gotta get my sleep in; I have a "big" race tomorrow! ;)

Autumn Leaves

2011-11-03T23:56:00.000-07:00

For me, fall provides the quintessential running opportunity: crisp air, not frosty, with crunchy golden leaves both underfoot and lingering in the trees. Those days just feel like I am supposed to be running. It’s a welcome respite from summer heat (well not in Oregon this year) and the feeling of “borrowed time” before they grey days of winter, mixed with the nostalgia of college cross country. I absolutely love it. And Saturday at the Autumn Leaves 50k/50M was one of those days.

Autumn Leaves is close to home, it has great RD’s, it was an opportunity to “race” my husband (more on that later), AND it has a costume competition! I am a total sucker for costumes. Partly, I like the exercise in creativity. But really I think costumes represent a socially acceptable way to get a little crazy. Dye your hair green in April and people think you are a meth head, but do it for Halloween and they give you prizes!

Autumn Leaves has both a 50k and a 50 mile option. Last year I joked about the 50k being the "JV" race and I would love the opportunity to run a really fast 50 miler some time, but my focus race right now is CIM, and running a 50 miler 5 weeks out just doesn't fit with that goal. But surely I could justify a 50k, I mean, that is just a short jaunt in the park, right? So, no varsity for me this year either, much to RD Bret's disappointment...and my husband's. Mac also decided to run the 50k and he wanted me to do the 50M so he would finish before me. When he found out I was going to be doing the 50k with him, his first reaction was,"Oh my God! Are you going to lap me?!" I fired back some playful trash talk,"You are totally getting lapped and I plan to smack you on the ass when I do!"

But immediately, I was back pedaling, I wasn't so sure I could back up my jesting cockiness. So we got out the calculators and figured paces and Dang! - it was actually going to be a pretty even match, his 40k to my 50k. Because of the differences in our paces, Mac and I never get to race each other, but this set up provided the opportunity for a cute little spousal dual and we had fun trash talking up to the race. Well, at least I did. ;)

This was a serious race for Mac and he meticulously got everything ready the night before. My biggest worry was how to get 17 plastic snakes to stay on my body as I ran. I had found an awesome piece of fluorescent green snake skin spandex which had me racking my brain for serpentine creatures, ultimately settling for the most popular of the Gorgon sisters, Medusa. And so my race morning preparations weren't complete without an application of lipstick to the eyes and eyeliner to the lips!

Just a few more snakes and some green hair spray and I'll be good to go!

Practicing my game face. Don't I look "petrifying?"

This race went super smoothly and I was surprised how good I felt given that I did not alter the marathon training plan at all going into this, except to skip Friday's 8 miler.

The 50k (actually 50,500 meters) is a 5 loop course, with a three mile out and back section that allows for a lot of interaction with other racers, and 1.5 miles of flat, non-technical trail and grass each loop. The first loop was dark and cold. I used a flashlight instead of a headlamp, so as not to mess up my lovely hairdo (ie. it wouldn't fit) and ran most of the lap with Aaron, who ended up as the 50 mile winner in his first ultra. I came through the loop a hair under 48 minutes, grabbed two Fig Newtons and was off for another lap.

On the second lap, I saw Mac on the out and back and we compared split times: my 48 minutes to his 59. Hmmm, at that rate, I wouldn't be doing any grab-ass on the course! Ha ha! Time to pick it up.

Redefining "fierce competition" at the end of lap 2

I upped it to three Fig Newtons for the start of Lap 3. It was still looking like it was going to be a tight race between me and Mac. Plus, my half-way time calculated out to just 30 seconds faster than last year's CR time, so now I had a race with my past self as well!

At the end of Lap 3, Jerry Mark caught up to me at the start/finish while I was helping myself to another three Fig Newtons. He was about 20 steps ahead of me for a mile and then I pulled alongside. I'd met Jerry once or twice before, but I didn't know him very well, but we just got in a groove together and started moving. After a couple of miles, he told me I could go ahead whenever I wanted. "Are you kidding me? I can't run 6:50's for another nine miles!" "Well just hold on for as long as you can then."

Turns out I was wrong. I just kept matching strides with him and I DID keep it up for another nine miles (we were around 7:15-20 on the trail section, so the average was a little slower). The only hiccup during this period was that the AS was out of Fig Newtons, probably because some thoughtless pig had eaten more than her share the first three laps! But Oreos proved an adequate substitute.

Mac put up a valiant effort, dropping his running partner and posting his fastest lap of the day on loop 4 trying to hold me off. I had told him I thought I'd be right around last year's time and he was banking on being safe if he hit the 40k under 3:50, but it didn't work out. It really is Jerry's fault because I would not have been running that fast without him. But with 2k to go, I got to do a little bootie spanking! (ok, it was just a love pat!)

With a half mile to go, Jerry sprinted to the finish to set a 50k PR by 35 minutes! I don't have a spint finish, so I just motored it in 14 seconds behind, a 5+ minute PR for me and 3rd overall. Joe Uhan flew around the course in a blazing 3:18, though I know he was disappointed to miss the CR by less than a minute. Mac finished the 40k in 4:47:50 and had a nice word of congratulations for me ("Bitch!" - haha) as he started off for his last lap. He finished in 4:45, looking strong and setting a huge 50k PR by over an hour! I guess he should have bet on who could set the bigger PR!

I copied my splits from the results page. I have to say I am pretty psyched that I got faster each lap.

Gender/Age Laps Time Pace Distance  Total Time
1.Pam Smith F/37 5  7:14/M  31.250   3:46:07.9

Lap   1       47:54.7     7:40/M     6.250      47:54.7
Lap   2       45:52.6     7:20/M    12.500    1:33:47.3
Lap   3       44:47.3     7:10/M    18.750    2:18:34.6
Lap   4       43:48.6     7:00/M    25.000    3:02:23.3
Lap   5       43:44.6     7:00/M    31.250    3:46:07.9

As a reward for running bedecked in plastic serpents and neon green snakeskin, I got a huge basket of goodies. My Garmin said I burned 2809 calories for the race. This basket must have had triple that between the alcohol and the candy. I sheepishly admit, that the beer and candy was all pretty much gone by the end of the weekend, and I really can't say that I shared too much of it with the kiddos (for their own good, of course!). I did give Megan the headband, although I wouldn't have if it had been an edible headband!

Hope you had a happy Halloween...and that you ate less junk food than I did!

The Good Life

2011-10-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

Many people will tell you they really just love to run anddon’t care that much about racing. Some blogs even seem to make the claimthat this is the purest form of running: just running for the act of runningitself. But that is not me. Really, I love to race. I love the adrenaline, theexcitement, the camaraderie, the competition, the idea of pushing yourself morethan you even would alone. Oh, I love to just run, too, but honestly, I am a racejunkie.

I have managed to get my habit a bit more under control inthe last year, mostly because I have learned that I need the recovery to reallybe sharp when I race. But from time to time, I still fall off the wagon, whichis really the only way to explain a road 100k, a high altitude 50k, and a ‘fast’(in my terms) half marathon over the span of four weeks. So many races, so manygoals, and a serious under supply of patience!

And so the family headed up to Victoria for The Good LifeMarathon and Half Marathon on October 9^th. It was the Good Life for Mac andI, as a pair of running parents, because the start of the half and the full(which Mac ran) were staggered by an hour and fifteen minutes, with the halfstarting first. The wife of Mac’s running partner agreed to watch our kiddosfor the brief race overlap that we would have, which turned out to be theGood Life for my kids because Lisa treated them to ice cream for breakfast. Soa win-win for everybody, except maybe Lisa, who had to watch my kids and is outten bucks. (thanks again, Lisa!).

Lisa not only is a great babysitter, but a great photographer. I stole most of these pics from her.

I had only one goal for this race: break 1:26, which is theelite standard for the California International Marathon in December. There areusually several women who break 1:20 at Victoria each year, so I knew this wasjust me versus the clock.

At 7:30 the herd started to stampede. I started three orfour rows back and my Garmin said5:50 pace for the first quarter mile and I was practically being trampled! Iguess I have forgotten how these big road races start. My goal pace was 6:30,so I got to the side and slowed up to be closer to pace and I couldn’t believehow many people were flying by me. I am not exaggerating to say at least 300people passed me in the first mile, including so many women that I knew it waspointless to even try to guess what place I was in. Just me and the clock!

I hit 5k at right at 20 minutes, and 10k at 40:02. There wasone “big” hill (meaning not big at all, but enough to complain about) thatslowed mile 10 down to a 6:45, but otherwise, all my miles stayed under 6:30. Itstarted to feel hard right around the 1 hour mark (which coincided with the bighill), but I also knew I only had 25-26 minutes to go.

Victoria has 100 meter count down signs for the lastkilometer. I got to the 400 to go mark with 90 seconds to break 1:25 and mentally,I was like “Yeah, I can’t do that right now and I don’t really need to anyway.”So yeah, a failure for not even trying to go for it, but my finish of 1:25:06 wasstill a big PR and good enough to get in to the elite field. Or at least itshould have been. Apparently the elite field at CIM is “impacted” (The elitecoordinator’s word, not mine! As a physician, I really can’t use that word ineveryday conversation!) and they can’t let me in. Bummer.

Running SO fast, everything else is a blur!

After the race Mac asked me if it was hard and I wasn’t surehow to answer. Mentally, it was easy. I have races where I hurt for 25 miles,so to hurt for 25 minutes was nothing. And the distance to the finish alwaysfelt really short. But at the same time, I really don’t feel like my legs couldhave gone any faster on that day and to maintain the exact pace when I got tired was a challenge.

What I do know is that I had a blast! What a fun distance torace! Though I have completed 30 ultras and 7 marathons, I had only raced twohalf marathons prior to this. But I see myself doing more in the future. It islong enough to still be an “everybody gets a medal” kind of race (and feel likeyou did a good day of running) but short enough that I felt really good afterthe race. In fact, I would say I felt better after the race than before it.Plus, Victoria is a great city. I hate to dis on Oregon, but I’d recommendVictoria over the Portland Marathon (same day) for all the PacNWer’s out therelooking for a fall marathon.

After the race, Megan asked me what I won (my daughter seems to think life is all about prizes, despite our efforts to emphasize fun). Nothing, I told her, I was fourth in my age group. Well, why don't you just go ask, she tells me. Optimism pays off - top 5 got glass plaques! (pic by Megan; I got busted by groundskeeping for standing in the rose garden)

My hubby was a bit under trained going in to this one, dueto a foot injury, but he finished with a solid 3:50... certainly not his best butnot his worst either. His foot never bothered him during the run, but the lackof training caught up to him (maybe more after the race than during even; hewas not walking too pretty afterwards!). But we both had a great weekend.Spotting orcas on the ferry ride home was icing on the cake.

The "Salty Brothas" after the marathon! (That would be brothas from anotha motha, of course!)

Prerace activities included a trip to the bug zoo

Beautiful Victoria (pics by Lisa)

Flagline 50k

2011-10-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

Last year the Flagline 50k was created outside of Bend, OR to be the USATF 50k National Championship. I was fairly excited for this race, not so much because it was a national championship, but because I thought it'd be a fun course at the foot of Mt. Bachelor. But then I went into a funk after Western States last year and finally just decided I needed a month off to regroup. So no Flagline 50k for me.

This year the race was only two weeks after the 100k World Championships, and so I figured I'd be sitting this one out, too. But I wanted to get out there and had put it on my schedule weeks in advance, planning to volunteer. But after Worlds, I found myself perusing the website and the course map...Maybe I was longing to get back to trails after a summer of road training for worlds, or maybe I panicked that my ultra-running was done for the year (I am concentrating on a sub-3 hour marathon at CIM for the next two months), or maybe I worried this would be the last good weekend before the beginning of the endless Oregon winter, but something in me really wanted to run it. When I signed up, I was still sore from Worlds and I hadn't run a step. I knew I wouldn't be at my best, but I didn't care, I was really just looking for a fun day on some great trails.

I headed out to Bend after work Friday and caught up with William Emerson at race check in, and I got to hear some of this guy's crazy adventures which include hiking all of the PCT, the AT and much of the Continental Divide trail. Then it was off to my very fine $42/night hotel. Nothing says class like wood paneling and pastel floral bedspreads!

Race morning was cool, but not cool enough to be optimistic about the afternoon temps...it looked like we were going to be in for a hot one in the high alpine air (low point on course: 5,800'). The first 8 miles had a gradual downhill and I was running so well. I felt quick and light and unbelievable given the circumstances. I was only a minute or two behind the two front runners at the first aid station. One of the women was Stephanie Howe, who was second at Flagline last year in her only other ultra. I knew she was fast (and a top notch nordic skier), but maybe inexperienced. And the second woman was running her first ultra. So for a brief bit I had stars in my eyes, thinking maybe these two would go out too fast, not fuel right, etc. and burn out in the end.

Right in the mix

But very quickly reality smacked me in the face...well, in the quads really...as the trail then began one of the major ascents. Now who put 20 pound sandbags on my back?? My legs had NO power, there was just nothing there. Normally, I am better at uphill rather than downhill, especially the gradual runnable grade stuff, which was pretty much everything at Flagline. I tried to keep myself running even though my quads were burning, but it was such a slow jog, I got passed by four guys on that first big climb. I like to do the passing on the uphills!! It is usually the downhills where people pass me. By mile 10, it was really obvious that I would NOT be in it to win this one. But in some ways that made the race more fun as I can get into a bit of tunnel vision when I am racing, and on this day I was able to avoid that so that I could look around, enjoy the trails, even joke with most of the volunteers.

Hey, maybe if I eat more, I'll run faster!

My legs were worthless on the uphills, but they were turning over great on all the downhills and I even got four guys back (though, not all the same ones). I figured if I could keep the turnover on the downs, I could maintain third place. The second big climb was particularly ugly for me and I walked WAY too much of it, but that is what I had on that day. About a mile from the top I came upon two bow hunters completely decked out in camouflage, including full face paint! As I passed I commented,"I am glad I am wearing hot pink today." One of the bow hunters just leaned in close in front of my face and with big eyes said,"Boo-ga, Boo-ga, Boo-ga!" That put a little extra spring in my step to the top of the hill as I just kept thinking,"Don't shoot me in the back...do not shoot me in the back."

The last seven miles rolled to the finish and it was a major roller coaster for me: "I am flying...I am dying...I am flying," just depending on the slant of the trail. The last little uphill grind on the road was a killer especially as you had a good view on the straight road of runners WAY up ahead and you felt the full heat of the 80 degree day.

I kept my third place and scored a $200 check. After race entry, hotel, gas and dinner, I figured I netted about $26. Who says you can't make money in ultra-running? ;) But truly, I got a lot more out of the day than that - a beautiful day on the trails, enjoying the scenery and the post race taco-salad in the sun, and hanging out with lots of great people. It was a nice reminder that not every day has to be your best race to be a great run.

Stephanie Howe pulled ahead of Natalie Bak in the final mile to take the women's win, while Max King once again had the Midas touch on the men's side, outpacing Natalie Bak's other half, Ryan Bak.
Results here.

100k World Championships

2011-10-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

I am up in Canada getting ready to run my second race since worlds, so I guess it is about time I write something aboot Worlds, eh? (I am practicing my Canadian).

I have been completely unmotivated to blog about Worlds. A lot of it has to do with the pace of life: kids back to school, me back to work and training, and my garden in the season of full bounty. Two weeks in the Netherlands put me way behind in harvesting and canning so I have been spending a lot of my free time putting up tomatoes, soup, sauce, pears and juicing watermelons (for popsicles, and my personal favorite...margaritas). But some of my reluctance comes from difficulty in presenting the two sides of this event. This was an overwhelmingly positive experience and I can not put into words how amazing it was to be part of the US team competing in a race with support and spectators that made it feel more like the Boston marathon than an ultra.

On Your Mark...

Team USA women stride past a windmill

Spectators out for a party with yard decorations.

Awesome street decorations. The flag of every participating nation was on the right and race photos with "Welcome" in every language on the left.

Lots of kids handing out sponges. I must have taken a hundred of these in the last 50k.

But my race was tainted with disappointment. I went to Winschoten with three great 100k's under my belt this year: A second place at Bandera 50 minutes faster that 2010; a solid 7:53 at Mad City; and then a win at Miwok. My training after Western States was strong and I felt like 7:45 was well within my capacity. But at the end of the day, I only had a 8:16 to show for my efforts.

The days leading up to the race were very low key as there was little to do in the athletes village. I went on a couple of easy runs, including a preview of the course, and made sure I got plenty of rest. We had a couple of team meetings.

Friday, I got all of my bottles set up. Even at Mad City, I ran with a hand held and some food so I could make fueling decisions on the fly. Basically, I run with only very loose guidelines for fueling: aim for a bottle an hour and at least 200 calories, but I pretty much eat what and when I feel like it. Having to come up with a more concrete plan and then set it all up ahead of time was very new to me and something I should have put a bit more thought into.

Race day was overcast, and I asked the team manager Lin if she thought it'd be a good idea to start with sleeves. "Ugg, no," she replied, "it is so muggy, you'll sweat just walking to the starting line!" Humidity was over 70% for race day and when the clouds burned off after the first couple of laps the course was entirely sun exposed with temps in the high 70's.

One of the highlights of the race was running with Annette. I caught her in the second lap and ran about two laps with her. The running was so smooth an easy and we were chatting up a storm and talking a lot about our spouses like love struck teenagers. The course was also amazing. Well not the route, per se, but the elaborate decorations, the crowds, the windmills, and all the families with their own aid stations and sponge buckets. And I loved that we had our names on our bibs. Partly, it was cool too have the fans yelling our names (as Annette said to me, "you are lucky to have an easy name because everybody wants to cheer for you."). But also it was amazing to run by people and see such a mix of names: Yuko, Sabine, Oxana, Bjorn, Kostyantyn, Jose, Alexi...it really cemented the international vibe of this event for me.

Running with Annette

Running with the Polish team (me-back center). We weren't supposed to run with the men but I was with these guys for about 3/4 of a lap because I couldn't get around them. They finally sped up and dropped me.

The Aid Station row. Our booth said had signs for "AND" and "USA." My first lap I came through and though "And USA what??" Then I remembered we were sharing a table with Andorra!!

As for the race itself, well, run one 10k loop and then repeat ad nauseam. Unfortunately, for me the added nausea started just after 35k. Even during the race I remember thinking,"OMG, I haven't even run a marathon yet!" But general nausea morphed into stabbing, painful side cramps that had me barely shuffling for three laps. During those three laps, I chugged some water with two salt tabs and then didn't eat for 30k. My stomach eventually settled down, I switched to Coke and pretzels and had a decent finishing 30k where I passed nearly 20 women to finish up 16th overall. My splits pretty much tell the whole story:

45:25, 45:50, 45:50, 46:26, 55:27, 54:40, 55:11, 49:21, 50:33, 48:08

To me the biggest disappointment was not so much the bad race, but the sense I have that I was the cause of my own problems... basically, that I messed up. I think I am usually good at strategizing and fueling. I know my typical fueling seems "loosey goosey" but I am good at assessing what I need at a certain moment and taking care of it. In this race, I had everything laid out ahead of time and for some reason, I treated it like it was set in stone. I hadn't planned for that much heat and humidity and I didn't adjust soon enough. Additionally, I didn't think out the timing very well. Normally, I would aim to eat every 30(+) minutes, but I was coming through the aid stations 21-22 minutes apart, so I not only under-consumed salt and fluid but I over consumed calories.

Another thing that is hard to swallow is that I didn't score for the team. I had the third fastest qualifier on the team and it really feels like I didn't come through for them. Plus, being a non-scorer is like I didn't even count. It's kind of like being the back up goalie in World Cup soccer (only the back up goalie gets no playing time and I got MORE "playing time" than my scoring teammates - ha!). The write-ups are hard to read because they really make me feel like I didn't do anything worthy out there. My consolation is that my time could replace ANY of our three scorers and we still would have gotten the silver medal, a testament to the strength of our team. And I do feel like I helped Annette, not only by keeping her company, but also by pulling back on the pace several times to make sure we stayed at a sensible clip.

I am trying to keep this in perspective, as I know there is still a lot of positive here. When the going got tough, I definitely kept my wits and will together and rallied at the end. The women's field saw massive carnage as many others succumbed to the heat and humidity as well, with only 42% of the women finishing the race. One hundred and seventeen of the world's top women came together to run and at the end of the day, I was 16th. Sixteenth in the world and a team silver medal can't be so bad! Hey, Max King finished 16th at his first World Mountain Running Championships, so I am in good company!

As I stated in the beginning this was an overwhelmingly positive experience, something that I am so honored I got to be a part of and I don't want to get too caught up in the negative. But I made some mistakes and didn't have the race I wanted. But live and learn. I think I am much better prepared now that I know what to expect and I am hungry to prove what I can do in Italy next April.

Hello From Holland!

2011-09-07T02:09:00.000-07:00

I met the Monday morning tracksters for one last run (a very abbreviated workout for me) before leaving. Because it was Labor Day we met at 7 instead of our usual 5am, which actually feels like sleeping in these days, but it meant I had to scramble to get ready to leave.

We dropped the kids off with Mamaw (Mac’s mom – huge thanks in order). The kids seemed to take our departure fairly well. In fact, Liam was sad he didn’t get to stay with Mac’s mom when she arrived on Sunday, for as he explained to me, “Mamaw is better because she lets us eat junk food and she takes us to Chuck E. Cheese’s.” Megan was more interested in Sesame Street than me as she said goodbye. But at least they aren’t traumatized by our departure!

The USATF advised us not to wear team gear while traveling so as not to draw attention to ourselves as Americans. So I wore a pair of jeans and a plain shirt as I carried my USA backpack and toted my USA suitcase through the airport and train stations. Subtle, real subtle. But we somehow managed to avoid terrorist attack.

Actually, when we got into the airport, I was struck by how globalized everything has become. The Russian girl next to us in the train line had on Converse shoes, an O’Neill backpack and was playing on her iPhone. The athletic gear is all the same brands popular in the States. And the food court was serving up Burger King and franchise coffee. I might have been okay with it had it been Dutch Brothers, but it was kind of disappointing that the first thing I saw after passing through customs was a Starbucks!

After the all night flight, it was about another four hours to Winschoten by train. We had information that we could get a shuttle to the athlete’s village, but the train station was a ghost town and the station itself was completely closed down! It did not help our mission that there is not a single public phone in the entire town! And the townies were pretty clueless that there was an international race taking place that weekend. We kind of kicked ourselves for relying on the USATF plans of “there will probably be a shuttle.”

Winschoten Ghost Town, er, Train Station

Mac (who hasn’t always kept his cool in confusing situations) was totally calm and suggested we head to the library.

“Well, that’s a really good idea, but I am sure the library is closed on Sundays,” I told him.

“Yeah, but it’s Tuesday.” Right. That is why I hated my surgery and OB rotations so much – my brain does not function without sleep!

The banner signals we've come to the right place!

After what felt like a video game quest in cold windy weather (go to town information, go to the library, go back to information, go back to the train station, go to town to find a phone, pay a hotel clerk to use the phone, go back to train station to wait), we got in touch with the athlete’s village and 20 minutes later Hedda was driving us to a very nice athletic facility with little apartments for our quarters. This place is way outside of town and we don’t have a car. We seem to be one of the first to arrive so the compound ispretty dead. We’ve just been wandering around with wide eyed stares from the isolation, lack of sleep, and mild culture shock. Two teenage girls showed up at our door with two bags of food, so at least we aren’t starving.

Map of Winschoten - It felt like we every number on the map!

The rest of Team USA arrives tomorrow and we have our first team meeting, so hopefully, we have a better sense of what is going on after that! We are also keeping our fingers crossed that the weather gets better. The wind and the rain we've had so far may negate the pancake flat terrain for fast times times this weekend. Despite the confusion, we've had lots of laughs being idiot US tourists!

Awesomeness in a Box

2011-08-19T06:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got a box in the mail. Not just any box, but a Big Box of Awesomeness from the USATF.

My immediate thought was to go get a machete and chainsaw to rip into this box, but fortunately, the USATF knows we are all a bunch of dumb jocks that can't open a box properly without instructions. And so travesty was averted as I used scissors with the utmost caution to gain access to the contents.

Inside there were TWENTY new USA emblazoned articles.
The collection included the hallowed "distance singlet" and "distance shorts" worn by all of the US male distance runners at the 2008 Olympics. (The women all seem to choose the bra/halter and bun huggers. I didn't know we could choose multiple options so I only ordered this. I am trying to see if I can get a bra top now, because my boobs need official USA gear, too).
Opening the package was a solemn, awe inspiring moment, where I was filled with pride, both for myself and my country. So I did the only logical thing to commemorate my excitement for the team: I put on every possible combination of clothes and took lots of ridiculous pictures!

Rocking the singlet, warm up pants, and hat

Whoa, those are short shorts! Maybe the new luggage can hide my exposed ass!

Do these pants make me look like a super hero? More importantly, do they make my butt look big?
Wait a second! These pants are defective! Where are the backs! By the end, Mac was getting a little jealous. "Oh next year can you order some of the stuff in a men's medium??" But in the end he found something for him:

His super hero posing still needs a lot of work, though. Sadly, the box did not include the unitard, but that is probably just as well because I don't think I could handle all of the "tard" jokes from my husband! But the kids did get some new pajamas.

OMG - this photo is so cute, it made me think I could never leave them for 12 days. But minutes after this photo was taken, Liam gave himself a bloody nose that dripped all over my new shirt. After that, I was once again comfortable with abandoning my progeny for nearly two weeks. However, Megan and I did figure out a way we could smuggle Liam onto the plane, just in case I change my mind at the last minute.

We leave for the Netherlands two weeks from Monday. (Sorry all you blog stalking would-be-robbers, but my in-laws will be here with the kids). I can't wait to represent the US in all my new gear.

Forms

2011-07-31T21:56:00.000-07:00

I have been a crummy blogger as of late - just too much going on to sit down and write about it!

This weekend the Fam was off to Timothy Lake for the PCT50 miler. I had a brief moment last month where I thought I'd race, but then I came to my senses and remembered I just need to focus on training for Worlds. So I signed up to volunteer instead. I got the "cush" AS at the 14 mile turnaround, meaning we got to close up after the last runner came through, whereas the other AS's had to do double duty and wait for the runners to come through a second time. It gave me enough time to run 20 miles back to the start (I took a "long" cut). I even beat the speedy Ian Sharman back to the finish by a couple of minutes and so was there to see him smash the CR!

The rest of the day was spent watching the kids make "potions" by the lake and chilling by the campfire. I swear by Sunday, we were the dirtiest family in Oregon and I even took a "bath" in Timothy Lake after my run! (I usually try to avoid cold water, but this was a necessity!)

These magic potions turn clean kids into dirty ones!

After three loads of laundry and some showers, the "To Do" list for tonight included filling out the USATF forms. First up: the three page medical check list. This check list was insane! The questions were things like: "Have you ever felt light headed after a run?" "Have you ever felt like you were more tired than your teammates during a workout?" "Have you ever had chest tightness after a workout?" "Have you ever had an EKG?" "Do you currently receive massage therapy?" and my personal favorite: "Have you ever had an injury to a bone, muscle, ligament or tendon that caused you to miss a practice or a competition?"

SERIOUSLY? Are you kidding me!! This seems more like a lie detector test than an actual medical inquiry, for who in truth could really answer "NO" to these kinds of questions?? You are not a runner if you haven't missed one practice due to injury! Then they give you a measly three lines to "explain" your YES answers. So I pretty much just answered NO to everything except the things that I thought were actually relevant (namely, asthma). If this was some sort of lie detector test/character evaluation, I just failed!

On to the next form: The Uniform Sizing Form. One would think this would be pretty straight forward, right? I mean, pick a size and move on. But no, you actually have to pick your uniform. So do I want an Airborne Top, a Cap Sleeve Halter Top, or a Distance/Throwers singlet? Thank you USATF for throwing me a bone and putting the word "distance" in one of the choices, because I don't even know what an Airborne Top is! Next, Did you know there was a difference between sprinter briefs and distance briefs? Kind of a moot point since I will NOT be choosing briefs of ANY kind! But then there are still three different types of shorts. Actually, I am thinking of choosing the "sleeveless unitard" and just calling it good. ;)

Deja Vu at Western States

2011-06-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

Western States 2010: Though my first WS, I thought I could get 8th, but struggled mightily the last 20 miles. I ran up to Robie in 10th place with 11th closing fast. I ran my last mile in total paranoia, checking my back about every three seconds. I managed to hold off 11th place by just four minutes! I ended up F10 and third in the Montrail Cup.

Western States 2011: The field was stacked but I was in much better shape this year, so again, I was thinking I could get 8th. But I had a few low patches early, rallied in the middle and then struggled mightily the last 20 miles. I ran up to Robie in 10th place with 11th closing fast. I ran my last mile in total paranoia, checking my back about every three seconds. I managed to hold off 11th place, by, yep, 4 minutes! I ended up F10 and third in the Montrail Cup.

The biggest difference was that I was 56 minutes faster than last year, just to end up in the same place! And of course, there were many differences in the details of the day, but still there were so many similarities between this year and last that there was definitely a sense of deja vu when it was all said and done.
******
Last year I ran 21:36, but my goal going into WS this year was sub-20, which I not only thought would be totally doable but also necessary for a Top 10 given the depth of the field. My last 20 miles last year were terrible, and I knew I could gain a lot of time there. I ran 9:24 from Foresthill to the river when the average for the top 15 women was around 8:30. So I was figuring I could improve almost an hour just over the last 38 miles alone and then hopefully pick up another 36 minutes or so in the first 62 miles.

The day started well with the climb up to Escarpment. I was in a huge group in the middle of the pack and feeling good. After summiting, the snow got crazy! The "trail" traversed large icy fields with very little grip; there were slushy areas with very unstable footing; and there were places with large sun cups, making for very uneven footing. I was slow through here as I have very little experience running in the snow, but despite my lack of speed, I actually thought the snow section was quite fun. It was beautiful and it was something I don't usually get to do. The only downside to this was the trail markings. To be sure there were ample flags, but marking dirty, yellowish snow with yellow ribbons was not such a good idea! Fortunately, I was with four or five guys and we worked together to spot flags and stay on course.

Right before the second aid station at mile 15, my shoe came untied and I decided to stop for a dual pit stop/shoe tie. Don't try to do these two things at the same time, as it landed me on my butt in the snowy pine needles! I had dutifully left one of my bottles on the trail to mark where I left the course and as I came into the AS to get my bottles filled, I realized I was only carrying one. Doh! Fortunately, only a couple hundred meters of backtracking to get the necessary equipment, but it was a bit odd running against traffic and getting lots of funny looks for swimming upstream!

Last year I ran down the road to the Poppy Trailhead harder than I think I should have, so this year I just ran smooth and easy. I was 13th female, but I wasn't having any problems. It was a little discouraging, though, to come into Duncan Canyon at mile 23.8 only to be told I was already 30 minutes behind the women's leader!

Right after Duncan Canyon my energy really started to lag. I think it was the altitude that was getting to me. Climbing just seemed to wear me out and I felt really flat. At Mosquito Ridge, I was 9 minutes behind my projected split and the lead women were coming through Miller's Defeat, 3.4 miles ahead of me. I felt sluggish on the dirt road and came into Miller's Defeat feeling a little sick. My legs felt better over the next section, but my stomach got worse. I was surprised to catch up with Lewis Taylor who was also struggling with stomach issues and we commiserated a bit.

After last chance, a volunteer pointed us on to "the best five miles of the Western States Trail" but the beauty didn't perk me up. I tried to puke, but couldn't - I am just not a puker - and yet my stomach felt like I was going to let fly with every step. It got so bad, that at one point I was trying to figure how slow I could go and still get a sub-24 finish! Despite the negative attitude, I had my wits about me and realized that I was really deficient with my salt intake. Three S-caps later, things turned quickly for the better and I was running with new life.

Deadwood Canyon went well for me and I came into Devil's Thumb in good spirits. I shook hands and introduced myself to the Devil (Scott Dunlap) and joked about running into Hell. I walked a little too much on the way out enjoying my rainbow popsicle. Unfortunately, this year's popsicle stick joke was way worse than last year's ("What did A and B love about the beach? C-gulls. LAME!). But I felt great on the way down to El Dorado and knew it was a huge improvement over last year, when knee pain kept me from running well downhill.

But the uphill out of El Dorado didn't feel right. I was breathing too hard and I couldn't run anything. Not much of the climb is runnable (for me) but I remember running small little bursts last year and I couldn't seem to manage that this year. My breath just kept getting caught in my chest and I was choking up with deep inhalation. Unfortunately, all my asthma meds were in Foresthill. But the wonderful volunteers and awesome medical staff were there for me at Michigan Bluff and they quickly located an inhaler and got me going.

On the way to Bath Road I maybe should have run a tad more of the uphill, but overall I was feeling much better. Mac met me at Bath road and had lots of updates on the men's and women's leaders as well as the few women just ahead of me. I had a great time in Foresthill and really focused on enjoying the moment. I often get tunnel vision when I am racing and ignore what is going on around me at an aid station. In fact, so many people have told me I look "very focused" when I run that I now cringe when I hear that. I know that is just a polite way of saying I need to pull my head out and have a little more fun! So I was waving at the crowds and even giving high fives. I was still 13th woman, but hearing all the cheering made me feel like I rock star and I really absorbed all the energy. I felt good, but at 11:45, I knew sub-20 was going to require the last 38 miles to be good ones.

The rock star energy seemed to be working, plus I had picked up my pacer, a rock star in her own right, Denise Bourassa fresh off her 4th place finish at SD100 in her first attempt at the distance. My quads were golden and we cruised! We passed Helen Cospolich pretty soon after leaving Foresthill. Unfortunately, I also passed Craig Thornley in this section and I was sad to see the day wasn't going his way. I ran well down to the river and my asthma seemed to be in control. My biggest issue was forcing myself to eat. Nothing sounded good but Denise stayed on me and I knew I needed to get anything I could down. I hiked to Green Gate taking little mouse bites out of a quarter quesadilla and drinking an orange soda.

I was hoping to make it to ALT before needing my light but I was about three miles short. The onset of the dark also coincided with the onset of my massive downhill slide. My asthma was back and I was breathing hard but pushing with what I could. However, at ALT I found out Becky Wheeler (11th place) was 28 minutes ahead of me (12th) with 15 miles to go and I knew I was in no shape to catch her.

I did have the good fortune to meet David Larson from Newport, OR right after ALT and found that he set the perfect pace and we ran much of the way to Brown's Bar together, albeit quite slowly. My quads still felt really good given what they had been through, but I just wasn't getting enough air to let them run. Downhills went well for me, but even the slightest uphill got me panting like an overheated dog. We did pass Anita Ortiz on the way to Brown's Bar and she did not look well at all. But passing her meant nothing to me, as I was still 11th (so I thought) and I had no chance of catching Becky in my state.

The section to Highway 49 crossing was really hard for me, easily my worst section for the day, particularly because the uphill was torture for me. I was breathing so hard that I was freaking Denise (a nurse) out. She even called ahead to the AS to tell Mac to have my inhaler ready. But really I wasn't concerned. I knew I was going to beat last year's time. Plus, I was resigned and at peace with being 11th place, so I knew I could just relax and enjoy the last seven miles with Mac as best as possible.

That all changed when I got to the Aid Station.

"Joelle dropped. You're in tenth place." Mac reported to me.

My response was actually, "Oh crap, now I have to race!"

I thought my major issue was asthma, but the nurse got all concerned that I hadn't peed in three and a half hours (even though my weight was perfect), so in addition to getting meds and food, I had to go squeeze out a few drops of urine to make her happy before I left.

Down to No-Hands was pretty uneventful, except I knew I was slow. And then there is that mild climb after the bridge before the real grunt up to Robie. That is where Angela Shartel passed me last year because I really couldn't run it. Well, I was in no shape to run it this year either, but Mac had his phone on him and when he got the update that Helen was gaining on me and only nine minutes behind at Hwy 49, he became Miwok Slave Driver Mac again! He tells me we are going to do intervals: one minute run, 30 seconds walk, but I couldn't stick to the schedule. It shouldn't be so hard to run for a minute, but there it was, I couldn't do it. And then when I couldn't make 30 seconds of running, Mac starts explaining the math to me: "Helen gained a minute a mile on you over the last section. A nine minute lead with seven miles to go is too close." And then I tried to run again and that is when I lost it.

"Mac, I can't do this schedule. You have to back off! I know I have to run but I can't and you are not helping!" I know that was the fatigue and exasperation talking but still I feel bad about that because I think Mac was a bit stung and he became pretty quiet after that. "I just didn't want you to lose F10 on my watch," he told me, and I appreciate that, even if I didn't at the time.

Coming up to Robie we had lights behind us. "Oh, F*CK!"

"Do you want me to go see who it is?" Mac asks.

"Yes, might as well. There is nothing I can do about it now."

Mac drops back and soon I catch snippets of friendly chat, so I know I am safe for the moment. But my paranoia escalates at Robie Point and I am just certain Helen is coming. Mac finally tells me not to look back any more, my job is just to concentrate on going forward. And there is nothing I want to run, but I do, as hard as I can which was ridiculously slow, but still faster than walking. And oddly, the white bridge seemed to come sooner than I expected and at that point I was pretty sure I'd be ok, because I could run downhill so much better than uphill.

And I just ran, and panted, but I remembered to wave at the people on the street and even smile. And then I was on the track, but I still didn't feel safe, and I was running. The pace felt so fast to me, but it was pathetically slow, and still it was enough to make me feel sick and I was seeing stars and I remember thinking, "OMG, it'll be so embarrassing if I pass out here and I can't make it to the finish." But with only five meters left I knew I would make it and that I could slow down. I practically walked across the finish and still I had my hands on my knees immediately. The video is hard for me to watch I look so bad (and if you listen you can hear me begging for an inhaler), but it also embodies my struggle and the toll of 100 miles.

The announcer quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson right after telling the crowd that I was F10 for the second year in a row: "Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen, philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do." But he was wrong, even with my struggles I was 56 minutes faster than last year. Neither was my day consistent nor the pursuit foolish. And I assure you, my soul (and every other part of me) worked hard for this one! However, I missed my goal by a long shot and I know I didn't really deserve my F10 based on the day I had as I didn't really out run any body to move up, I just benefitted from two people having even worse days than I had. But such is the nature of 100 milers, sometimes just hanging in there and moving forward is enough to get by.

So F10 once again. I was disappointed in my day, but not discouraged. In some ways it gave me confidence: I know I have a sub-20 in me and maybe even a 19:30. And I have my spot for 2012 to give it another shot!

Good News!

2011-06-18T00:01:00.001-07:00

Wednesday I got an exciting e-mail:

"Greetings:
Congratulations are in order! This message is to notify you of your selection to the 2011 U.S. 100Km Team. The IAU 100km World Championships event will be held in Winschoten, the Netherlands on September 10, 2011. We will gather more information about each of you in the near future and then submit a formal press release to USATF for publication."

I am not sure if "we will gather more information...and then submit a formal press release" is code for "please don't talk about this until we've gotten the word out on our own time," but I saw Facebook and Twitter posts in regards to the team announcement, so if USATF wants to be the disseminators of information, they either need to say that more directly in their e-mail or they need to get their act together to put out a timely press release!

I was pretty certain I would be on the team, but still I was giddy the rest of the day after reading this. I am so excited to be part of this team. Actually, I am quite star-struck and awed - this team is amazing!

These are the ladies representing the US this year in Holland:

-Meghan Arbogast, 50: Meghan was the 50 mile trail, 100k road and 100k trail national champion last year, plus she was second at Western States. She's won the US National 100k master's championship at least a couple times, and oh yeah, she's qualified for the Olympic marathon trials FOUR times!

-Annette Bednosky, 44: Annette has won more ultras than I have started! She is the reigning 100 mile national champion and she's got a Western States cougar decorating her mantle.

- Devon Crosby-Helms, 29: Devon's a speedy ninja with 50 mile and 100k national championship titles. She's won Vermont 100 and has the phenomenal women's course record at JFK.

- Kami Semick, 44: Kami was the 2009 100km WORLD CHAMPION as well as the winner of the 50k world trophy. She's got several national championship titles as well as wins at Waldo, AR50, the North Face Endurance Challenge, Vermont 100, and Miwok (actually a whole bunch of wins there). She's fresh off an impressive third place at Comrades marathon, the largest ultra in the world, and she's headed to the Olympic marathon trials this January.

- Carolyn Smith, 45: I don't know as much about Carolyn, partly because of geography and partly because she doesn't race as frequently, but from what I gather she is pretty bad ass. She's got 100k and 24 hour national championship titles to her credit, a marathon PR of 2:45, and a Badwater finish. She was 7th in the world last year at the 100k World Championship. And because of her, I am not even the only Dr. Smith on the team!

- Last (and certainly least) is me. I don't have any 100 mile victories or national championship titles to my credit. My marathon PR embarrasses me (tentative plans to change that this fall). All I have is a pretty fast 100k time (7:53), but fortunately that is enough to get on the team! Thank goodness I won Miwok last month or I seriously wouldn't have any big name win to put here.

The women's qualifying standard is 8:40 for 100k, but all of the women on this team either have broken 8:00 or have gotten pretty darn close. The third woman on Great Britain's gold medal winning team last year ran 8:15. Just saying. ;)

The men's team is equally stacked with the guys putting up some smokin' fast qualifiers.

Men's Team:

Joseph Binder 2011 Ruth Anderson 100K 7:00:19
Andy Henshaw 2011 Mad City 100Km 1st 6:47:34 (AUTO)
Chikara Omine 2010 IAU 100Km WC 9th 6:58:09 (AUTO)
David Riddle 2011 Mad City 100Km 6:59:59
Michael Wardian 2010 IAU 100Km WC 3rd 6:49:18 (AUTO)
Matt Woods 2010 IAU 100Km WC 6:58:36

The thought of this overwhelms me- being part of a team, getting to know such amazing people, traveling to a new country to run, representing the US. I feel so honored and excited.

I just have to get through this little hundred mile race next weekend first. ;)

Epic Weekend

2011-06-11T21:01:00.000-07:00

Once again had the pleasure of joining fellow Oregonians in search of sun for an awesome first weekend of June. Our group consisted of Meghan Arbogast, John Price, Rob Cain, Erin Keller, Cheri Redwine, and me.

We arrived in Zion on Friday around lunch and quickly set to the task of getting in some very serious heat training:

The next day, we set off for real adventure. The plan was to run the 48 miles across Zion on the West and East Rim trails, with a one mile detour to the Kolob arch.

Ready for Adventure!

The trail started with a nice easy decline to get us warmed up. After a few miles, Meghan and I need to make a pit stop. The guys moved on ahead, to give us our privacy, or so I thought. With business done, Meghan and I set off to catch the guys, but we got to the turn off to the arch and we still hadn't seen them. We couldn't believe they wouldn't wait for us at a trail junction, but figured we catch them on the out and back.

So Meghan and I follow a rocky trail for about a half mile until it just ends. And there is even a sign that says, "It is not recommended to go beyond this point." So Meghan and I head back to the creek and start boulder hopping up to the arch, still without the guys. It takes us FOREVER, but we make it another half mile. At that point the stream bed was practically impassable. Nothing made sense: Where were the guys, where was the trail and where was the arch??

"Is this the trail??"

Finally, we decided to turn around. When we are close to the junction, we pass a couple of girls who tell us the guys are looking for us, but they are about 15 minutes ahead. What?? We press on back to the main trail and down to La Verkin Creek. There we meet back up with Erin and Cheri (who were doing the first 38 miles at an easier pace) and they tell us all about seeing the Kolob Arch. We tell them we never saw it, but they wonder how because there was even a sign that marked the end of the trail!! All you had to do was look up when you got there!

Turns out the guys had stepped off trail too (and did leave a water bottle marker, but we can't see a huge stone arch, so how do you expect us to notice a small water bottle??). They went to the arch and turned around while Meghan and I went past the arch and were bush whacking through no-man's land! Aargh! Fortunately, the guys had more wits than us, so John came backwards and Rob went to the next trail junction to wait. And shortly after we were reunited.

The beautiful Kolob arch...that we did not see!

Hop Valley was beautiful, but a long slog through a lot of sand with few trail markers, so it was very slow going.

Hop Valley

Super observant chicks over Hop Valley

There is a big climb out of Hop Valley and then a lot more uphill after that. I think we all kind of had the impression that we start at the top and have a nice gentle descent to the main valley floor, but there was actually 9,000' of climbing before we got to the bottom! (11,000' loss)

"I thought this trail was all down hill!"

I ran out of water about 20 miles in and pretty much every one else did a few miles after that, so it was a welome relief when we finally got to the first spring (26 miles; 6.5 hours!). We spent over 20 minutes refilling, drinking, eating and just lounging in the sun.

Refill time!

The next three hours were a mixed bag: ups, downs, forests, fields, mud, sand, pavement (yes, pavement!) and rocks. On the top of a rock hill, I missed another trail sign, made a wrong turn and found myself staring off a cliff for a few heart fluttering seconds. WTH? As a pathologist, my job is to look at things and observe, but I sure don't see things very well! The run ended with a big climb on tired legs and then 3 or so miles of steep descent, the last 2.1 miles with paved switchbacks ("Walters Wiggles") before the main canyon floor.

The original plan was to continue on to do the ten miles of the East Rim trail with it's big 2,100' climb in the first few miles, but I was a little worried about time and I was pretty beat. The altitude affected me more than I thought it would. I thought Meghan would cajole me into doing the rest with her, but she seemed like she was ready to call it a day as well. 42 miles in 9:30 - not exactly my intended Western States pace but a good training run, nonetheless. The only bad part is that today I learned that the fastest known time for women to do the entire trans-Zion route is 13 hours, meaning Meghan and I only had to do the last ten miles in three and a half hours to beat it. We could have walked faster than that - oops! Oh well, I think Meghan and I both got what we came for out of the run. If any women want to claim an FKT, this would be a super easy one to get.

After not enough beauty sleep, it was up and at 'em again. We drove up to Bryce and Meghan and I got dropped off at Ponderosa Canyon to run back to Bryce point. The guys opted for a shorter version and Erin and Cheri did some easy running on the rim.

Ready to rock - Day 2

My legs felt really good, but the extra 2,000 feet of altitude really did me in. After about ten miles, I was pooped! I just felt like I never caught my breath, even on the downhill. And on the uphills, I was dragging. Not so good, because I had to catch a plane that night so I couldn't spend all day in the canyon! I did get a little adrenaline boost from a big rattle snake in the trail, but not enough to propel me to the top of the canyon with a spring in my step!

Many gorgeous photo ops (or chances to try and catch my breath!)

At Bryce point, I got on the shuttle to my car and then high-tailed it to Vegas. Woo-hoo for 80 mph speed limits in Utah, because I made great time! Good thing too, because I was still in all my sweaty run gear when I dropped off the rental car. I did change into clean clothes, which basically just hid all the dirt underneath, and I tried to wash my face and hair as best as I could, but the rental car public bathroom is not the ideal place for post run clean up. I feel sorry for the guy next to me on the plane!

I got in to Portland at midnight, home around 1:30, and then definitely a shower before getting in bed. My whole rush home was because I couldn't get Monday off work, but let me tell you that was not a pretty day! But it was all worth it.

Next adventure: Western States!

40 Days and 40 Nights

2011-05-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

Only 40 days till the ultra-running event of Biblical proportions: Western States! Holy Cow - that seems soon!

I had some right calf soreness after Miwok, probably from lack of hill training, but otherwise, I bounced back pretty quickly afterwards. Of course, that may have been because I did almost nothing last week. I know how to enjoy my recovery! I did get about ten hours in out in the garden and I am hoping to have Vegetable Awesomeness this year...if we ever get some warm weather!

Instead of any serious running this weekend, I had a fun filled day at the McDonald Forest 50k. The day started as a volunteer at the Dimple Hill Aid Station, with a Fletch theme.

The cast of Fletch, including me, Dr. Rosenpenis!

Around noon things got even crazier than your typical aid stations as Craig and April tied the knot in the middle of the race, with lots of friends and family there to cheer them on.

The happy couple

One of my other important duties was to prepare the "Consummation Tent." Ok, this was NOT my idea, but I did take the assignment VERY seriously! I think this could be a new trend.

Can you believe they would pass up this palace of romance? And doesn't the zebra pillow look awesome! It got even better after the "bridesmaids" added other edible additions!

The day ended with a very beautiful, traditional ceremony at Tyee winery. Unfortunately, I did not have enough time to set up the consummation tent there!

Anyway, with only 40 days left to go, Recovery is officially OVER! And nothing says, "goodbye lazy days" like a hard session on the track. But we did something a little different, staging Salem's rendition of the Titus van Rijn Invitational One Hour Distance Classic. And by "invitational" I think they mean, anybody who wants to do it.;)

Nine days after Miwok, I can't say I had my "A-game," but I was still pleased to get in 36 laps +100 meters (9+ miles) and come up only 78 meters short of last year's record effort. Fortunately, my training partner Steph was there to take up the slack and she crushed the record, falling just short of lapping me in the final minute! (Whew!) The other member of our loyal Tuesday/Thursday morning trio, Dan, also passed 9 miles, about a 100 meters ahead of me. And we had one other stalwart out for a good training effort.

We celebrated our efforts in "traditional" style with Cherry Crush.

It was a fun couple of days, but with only 40 days left, it is time to get serious! (Does that mean no more consummation tents??).

Me Won Miwok!

2011-05-07T23:05:00.000-07:00

Miwok was a late addition to my racing schedule as I didn't actually get in to the race until early April. Even though I was really looking forward to racing it, it was kind of an after thought in my training, since Mad City and making the 100k team were my Big Goals for this spring. Not only was my training not geared to this, but I didn't go mental obsessing about the race. In fact, I didn't check out the online course till the day before, I never checked weather.com, and my diet? Well, I may have gone back to eating junk food once or twice (a day) in the last 4 weeks. You know, "recovery" calories after Mad City...oops! Just 'cause I gave up ALL sugar for over a month before Mad City does NOT mean I lost my sweet tooth!

Going into this race, I knew my fitness was really good, but I was a little concerned about my lack of trail training. Since Bandera, nearly all my running has been on the roads. I did Hagg Lake 50k in February (lots of mud, almost no elevation change), Gorge Water Falls 50k in March (really good trail running with lots of gain), and one 13 miler last weekend. Not exactly ideal training for a trail race with 11,000' gain! Could good fitness/leg speed trump lack of hill/trail training? I was about to find out!

We flew down Thursday to Sacramento so we could leave the kiddos with my parents while Mac and I were at the race. Mac and I left Friday morning for the Bay Area. We told my parents it was to avoid traffic and because we had to go to race registration, but really we just wanted to get away from the kids! What can I say, sometimes it is nice to get a break from being a parent. We rocked out to tough chick rock the whole way to get psyched. Woohoo - no mind numbing children's CD's!

I knew I wanted to test myself and be competitive in the women's field, so I had a strategy that I thought would push me to be a little more aggressive in the beginning and then capitalize on my "staying power" for the second half. Essentially, I wanted to keep the front runners in site the first half and then at the turn-around, I hoped I could slow down just a little less than everyone else. And that is almost exactly how the race played out.

The start was a mad dash across the sand and then a major traffic jam funneled onto the trail. Fortunately, it opened up pretty quickly so we could all settle in to appropriate spots. On the road, I passed Amy Sproston and Helen Cospolich on the climb and caught up with Jimmy Dean Freeman. We had similar time goals and the night before, he had invited me to run with him, but I declined, telling him I wanted to run with my eye on the women's field. So when I caught him, he pointed up ahead on him, "That's Krissy. I think she is the only girl ahead of you."

I was a bit behind her on the next climb and Helen was climbing strong and passed me here, too. After the next downhill, Meghan joined us and all four of us were bunched together for a bit. But Meghan, The Queen of downhills (and many other things, too) took the lead on the next descent and into the first aid station back at the start, with Helen close on her heels.

I caught up with Krissy right around Tennessee Valley and we ran to Pan Toll together and I enjoyed getting to chat with one of the icons of ultrarunning. We caught Helen right at the top and we all three came in to Pan Toll pretty much together. Meghan was still out in front. Krissy left first, but I quickly caught back up to her. Helen took a bit longer and never really regained contact.

One other guy fell in with me and Krissy through the fields to Bolinas ridge, and we had a little train going with Krissy in the lead. Every now and then, when the trail made a sweeping turn, we could see Meghan off in the distance, but she must have been at least 5 minutes ahead. I was pretty convinced that I was not following through on my strategy to keep with the front runner, and that we were giving Meghan too much of a lead. But I also knew I didn't want to be going much faster - there is a difference between aggressive and stupid!

Krissy was setting a good pace for us and I told her so and thanked her. She said she'd like to switch off at some point and I agreed that was fair. So when the trail turned onto the road for a brief stint and I could pass easily she told me to go ahead. But this came right at a downhill section - not my strong point - and I worried that I was going too slow for Krissy. She just said,"Make every step a good one - That is Roch Horton advice." It seemed wise enough, so I just watched where I was going, trying to get in a good rhythm and when the trail turned back uphill, I just kept that rhythm going, unintentionally pulling away from Krissy. Some pacer I turned out to be!

After Bolinas Ridge I expected the trail to crash downhill, but it actually undulates for about 5 miles before the screaming descent to Randall Aid Station. I like this litte up-little down kind of stuff and I guess I still had my good rhythm going, for somewhere around mile 30-31, I caught up with Meghan.

I told her to let me go ahead of her for one second, so then no matter what happened, I could say I was leading Miwok. ;) After two steps, I said,"Ok, now get back up here."

"Do I have to?" was her response, but I told her yes, she needed to be in position for the downhill. We ran together for a short bit, but still, I managed to creep out in front a little. Then the road just plummets to the turnaround and I kept waiting for Meghan to go storming by me, but I got to the turnaround and she was still behind me, albeit only by a minute at most. Krissy was about three minutes behind Meghan, and Amy just a couple more. Thirty-four miles in and the top four women were only six minutes apart! Too close for my comfort, so I focused on running strong, especially the uphill, on the way back to Bolinas Ridge.

I had Mac and Aunt Kate out crewing for me all day and they were great. We hadn't really planned for Mac to pace me at all, but I wanted to talk to him a bit as I came into Bolinas Ridge the second time (where pacers can start), so as I came in to the aid station, I yelled at him to run with me to the road. So he takes off jogging with this huge backpack on and I am like, "drop your pack and run with me to the road." Well, about 20 feet after the aid station, you cross a road. And then you run a mile and the trail comes back to the road, which, of course is what I meant. But apparently, Mac has these really high expectations, like clear communication, so he didn't understand. So he gets 20 feet, crosses the road, and just stops. WTH? I mean what kind of crew can't read your mind?? ;) So I just yell back, "get to Tennessee Valley and be ready to run." I knew I was pushing hard and was going to be tired, and I knew if I was still in the lead, I wanted everything in my favor to preserve it.

Back across the beautiful grass fields, I realized I listened to a bit too much Pink in the morning, because I just kept thinking "Slam, slam, oh hot damn, what part of party don't you understand? Wish you'd just freak out." At one point I was even thinking, "Yeah, I am your underdog, Pink!" But I guess Pink is a good pacer, because I ran this section really well. I am allergic to grass, so there was a lot of snot-rocketing, but I did my best not to hit any hikers. I did take one major spill about two-thirds of the way in, scraping up my right side and somehow rolling on to my back, so that I managed to bloody up the back of my shoulder. It was bad enough, that there was some girlie screaming on impact. But I bounced back up and was pleased to see that there were no witnesses (so it is a total mystery where that screaming came from!) and no running implications.

The section out of Pan Toll I dubbed the danger zone: another big downhill section where I thought the other women could eat into my lead, but I guess I did well enough. By far the worst part of the course for me was when the downhill was over and the course turned toward Muir beach. First off, the trail was encroached by stinging nettles, and when you have open flesh wounds, these things, well, STING! Then the trail got really exposed, hot, and dusty and it seemed to go on forever. That is partly my fault as I thought it was 5.3 miles to the AS but it was actaully 5.7. At one point, I saw a guy coming up the trail and I asked if he knew where the aid station was. "Oh, yeah, like a quarter of a mile." After about a quarter mile, the trail popped out onto the road and a course marshall told me, "about a quarter mile to the aid station." I ran the appropriate distance, and then got to a gate with a cars parked all around it. "is this the aid station?" I asked some guys. "Oh, no. But at your pace it's probably only two minutes away." I look down at my Garmin; it says 8:01 mile pace!! I was stuck in some sort of warped quarter mile Hell! But finally the aid station appeared.

The next section had two big climbs, but I kind of enjoyed them because I knew they were going to be hikers for everyone. There were two guys about 50 yards ahead of me, who were really helpful to me. They looked good, so when they walked, I knew it was okay for me to walk, and when they ran, I knew I needed to be, too.

Coming into Tennessee Valley for the final time was kind of fun, because I knew Mac would be there to pace me to the finish and also because there was a little bit of a crowd. A bunch of hikers had gathered to find out what was going on and they were told it was a 100km race. After somebody converted this to miles for them, they wanted to know how many days it took people to finish. When they heard the men's winner finished in 8 hours and that the women's leader was on her way there, they decided to stick around and cheer.

Having Mac here was great, as I was spent! Funny how at the beginning of the day 62 miles doesn't sound so bad, but at the end of the day 5 miles seems like forever. Well, not only can Mac not read minds, but that guy is a slave driver! He just kept telling me to run! And then halfway up the hill, he turns to me and says (without knowing what's been stuck in my head all day), "It's so on right now, so f*ckin' on right now!" OMG, seriously, we will be implementing a moratorium on "Raise Your Glass" in our household! This was my only really bad part for the day as I was dying; Meghan ran almost 30 seconds per mile faster than me here. But hooray for 8 minute leads with only 5 miles to go!

Coming to the finish line with Mac keeping me on task.

A gorgeous finish line (photo: John Medinger)

I am not going to hide that I was fading fast there at the end, but I feel good about that. After so many second places, I knew I could run well, but I think I had to prove to myself that I wasn't holding anything back, that I was willing to take some risk and not shy away from competition. I can without a doubt say I gave absolutely everything I had at Miwok.

Totally Spent

Post race photo op - so there is one half way descent photo of me in this post!

I was psyched to have a great day. I think the only reason this worked out so well is that the trails are all really runnable with almost no technical footing. The downhills are almost all on fire roads or wide trail, with smooth footing and wide sweeping turns, so that my road training and faster running was actually an asset rather than a liability. And my fitness seemed to be enough to tackle the uphills. My quads aren't too bad off, but my calves, on the other hand, hate me for making their first hill run one with 10,000 feet of gain!

And while a great run is a reward in itself, I must admit, I am VERY happy to get that second place monkey off of my back! And I find it fitting that as a mom of two young kids, I took home the win on Mother's day weekend.

Miwok is stunningly beautiful and incredibly challenging. There is a reason this is a classic in the ultra circuit. I know it has a special place in my heart!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

(photo: Aunt Kate)

Mad City -All The "Gory" Details

2011-04-14T20:36:00.001-07:00

Thank you to a couple of my close friends who told me my previous report on Mad City "sucked" and didn't have enough detail, because now I feel like I have full license to babble on endlessly! Be careful what you wish for!!

Spring break was three weeks before Mad City and I took it off work to be with my kids, but it also provided an opportunity to really up my training. I had a huge week (by my standards), getting in 96 miles. I was feeling pretty good about myself until I had this stupid idea to repeat Monday's track workout on Friday and then follow it up with a long hard Saturday, including tempo. The following Monday, I had a miserable 3x2 mile on the track and things never really got better the rest of the week till the point that Tuesday before the race I was panicking big time. I frequently have that anxiety/fear factor a few days before a race, but this time I even unleashed all my baggage on a few of my friends and started complaining that I felt too tired to race. Fortunately, they were very supportive, even if they do now think I am completely mental. Hey, I am not denying it; I just usually try to hide it better!

Anyway, I ended up taking three days completely off before the race - not my typical plan. I don't know if my body needed it or not, but I think my head did. Friday, instead of running, I walked around the Henry Vilas (free admission!) zoo. It was a cold and overcast day, so I found myself alone at the tiger cage. As I watched "Cyber" pace back and forth, a calmness came over me and my fear dissipated. Unfortunately, my zen moment was ruined when "Eye of the Tiger" popped into my head; it is hard to exist in a tranquil state when you are mentally singing Survivor songs! I decided to go with it and started rocking out for real to the song on my iPhone (my husband downloaded it, I swear!).

"Rising up, straight to the top, have the guts, got the glory; went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop; It's the Eye of the Tiger, It's the thrill of the fight..."

I knew I was as ready as I was going to get!

"I'm ready, ready to run." Wait - that's not Survivor, that's the Dixie Chicks!

The weather report even the day before predicted 70+ degrees and thunderstorms, but the weather was actually perfect all day: 50's and overcast, with SUN right after I finished. It was just a little chilly at the start, but apparently no one was in a hurry to get warmed up too fast, as the lead guys all took off really slowly and didn't really get out in front. In fact, I ran for over a mile with David Riddle, the men's second place finisher, before he picked it up. Devon Crosby-Helms was close on my heels, until she caught up to me at the 5k mark. That's when I joked with her that I was planning to tell everybody we were in a sprint finish (figuring that she'd be about a half hour ahead of me!) and she elbowed me to get ahead! To my surprise, she didn't immediately gap me and instead we ran together for the next two loops, which made for a very enjoyable 10 miles.

Devon and me through loop 2. This picture is way better than the Examiner photo of me and Devon, because I am a half step ahead of her (hey, live it up while it lasts!) and I don't look like a midget! ;)

Devon did get a bit of a lead after the second loop, but I stayed pretty close behind and just dogged her for the next couple loops. Even by lap 4 I was starting to feel the beginnings of fatigue - nothing major, just that little bit of achy-ness and enough to very definitely notice what parts of the course were uphill. Lin Gentling, the US Team manager jogged by me on that lap and yelled, "Just run your own race, Pam." I think she worried that I was actually running Devon's race and not mine. Indeed, I was going a lot faster than I had planned, but it just felt like the pace I should be at. I came through the half-way point in 3:53. My 50k PR is 3:51, so essentially I was attempting to run 100k at my 50k pace! But my 50k split didn't worry me at all, in fact I was elated to know I could run 9 minute miles and still get a team qualifying time and about 8:30 miles for the entire second half and still come in under 8:18 (the time I figured I'd need to beat to actually get on the team).

Starting around lap 5 I kept telling myself, "just go run a fun lap," meaning it was OK to back off the pace just a bit, but the luxury of being able to do that was really all I needed to stay mentally strong and so I never felt the need to consciously slow down.

At the beginning of lap 6, I found myself closing on Devon and caught up to her on the biggest hill. She said she was suffering from lack of motivation and wasn't having fun. I did what I could to encourage her, but when she stopped for a bathroom break, I pulled a bit ahead.

Well, on lap 7 at just abut the same place I caught Devon 6 miles earlier, she comes flying by me with a big grin, stating, "I found my motivation!" She was super supportive and urged me to stay with her, but when that girl says she finds her mojo, she really finds her mojo!

I stayed within 45 seconds through the 50 mile mark (calculated split at 6:17:26!!) but Devon seemed to be anti-fatiguing!! My final two loops were understandably my slowest on the day, but I still felt really good about my pacing with a 49:04 final loop and a 3:59 second half. But Devon was an animal on these two laps, running her fastest split on the final loop (45:07 - holy cow!). I broke Meghan Arbogast's course record by seven minutes, but how can I compete with someone who negative splits a 100k?!?

Finished! 7:53:17. Thank goodness, too, because this picture makes me look like I couldn't run a single step more!

Don't I look awesome for having just finished a 100k? Don't believe what you see- I was totally hunched over gasping for air, but when I saw a guy with a camera running toward me, I stood up and put on this sh*t grin. A millisecond later I was on my back in the grass!

Though I have joked about always being "first loser" (American River, JFK, Bandera and now Mad City. hmmm-it is not exactly joke, is it?), I am ecstatic by my race. My main goal was to get on the US 100k team, and I am so excited to have a time that will likely get me on the team for the next two years! Kudos to Devon for such an amazing finish. She is truly a worthy champion and I feel so honored for the opportunity to represent the US alongside her and the other amazing women on the team.

Total Madness at Mad City 100k

2011-04-09T15:26:00.000-07:00

This morning (and early afternoon) I ran in the 100k Road National Championships in Madison, WI. I am psyched to report that I hit my "pie in the sky" goal of sub-8 hours (7:53:17!) and earned a spot on the US National Team going to the World Championships in Holland this September! This was a BIG goal for me for 2011. I am so excited, honored and proud for the opportunity to represent my country and run with such amazing women, both as my teammates and as international competitors. And since the 2012 World Championships are early in the year next year (April - Italy), today's race most likely got me on the team for next year, too - yippee! (which relatives want to babysit??!)

While the idea of running a road ultra isn't most ultra-runner's idea of great fun (I admit I had some reservations, too), I am so inspired by the idea of competing for the USA and having so many people from different countries come together to celebrate running, and specifically ultra-running, that I made this my main running goal for 2011 (Woohoo- I have achieved my Big goal for the year and it is only April. Yeah, I was the nerdy girl who always turned my homework in early, too!). And don't knock road ultras till you try it: the scenery was nice (around Lake Wingra in Madison, WI), you saw a lot more people on the course than a point to point (from lapping people or getting lapped), and they are really frickin' hard! I think I hurt more after this than after Western States. Thank goodness it was over in 8 hours!

Here are my splits.

Congrats to Devon! We ran a couple of laps together, but then she buried me at the end. It was because she threw a gnarly elbow right in my rib cage, knocked the wind out of me and then took off sprinting when I couldn't breathe. OK, not really, but I told her that's the story I was going to tell people and she seemed OK with it, so just go with it. I am! Here's a pretty good pic of us running together, before she elbowed me. ;)(I am 5'5" in case you are wondering if I am a midget after seeing this photo!). Kidding aside, Devon had a great race and I really enjoyed the laps we ran together.

photo: James Mills, Madison Examiner

I Won a House!

2011-03-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

Well, for two nights anyway. The prize for the Gorge 50k was a two night stay at a house near Mt. Baker, Washington. It even has a hot tub! Can't wait to head up there this summer for a great weekend get-away!

Feeling Gorge-ous

2011-03-13T09:55:00.000-07:00

"OMG, Do you know what a freakin' moron your wife is?!?" I called home in a panic.

I was 70 miles from home and had just finished a great dinner at Nicholas's Lebanese restaurant with the entire Corvallis crew, when I came to the stark realization that I was headed to my KOA Kamping Kabin with out any "kamping" gear.

I had packed for the race early that morning knowing that I would be leaving directly from work. I meticulously gathered everything, doing a head to toe double check before packing up. I even had multiple options to account for changing weather: short sleeves and long sleeves, shorts and capris, vest and rain jacket, hat and beanie. I was fully prepared. Well, except for over looking that little detail of bedding. Ooops.

Actually, I wasn't too bad off, I reasoned, as I was staying in a cabin with heat and I had two coats. I had just about convinced myself that I was fine, there was no problem, when Salvation intervened. Yep - a Salvation Army super store!

My Salvation

I pulled in and picked out a toasty Coleman sleeping bag and got the $2 zebra fleece pillow next to it as well, because I think it is important to accessorize your Kamping Kabin! Well, and also, because the zebra is symbolic to me. You see, zebras and horses are genetically quite similar, to the point where they can actually produce viable (though typically sterile) hybrids. But the zebra is very different from the horse in one major way (well, aside from all those stripes, obviously): the zebra has never been domesticated. People have tried but the zebra cannot be broken, it doesn't lose its spirit. When I ran my first hundred miler, Hundred in the Hood, my mantra was "Be the zebra." So you see purchasing the pillow was really my way of stating: "I may be too dumb to pack a sleeping bag, but I will not be broken!"

Happy with my purchase, I headed out to my car only to find some guy sitting in the bed of my truck. He was a skinny looking guy with a full beard and a cap pulled down really low. I did a double take to make sure that it was my truck, but it was. Yeah, so the zebra has a strong will, but still, a predator will scare the shit out of a zebra!

"Hey, can I get a lift?" a gruff voice called to me.

"Umm...no sorry I can't do that," I stammered. I was like a zebra caught in the headlights!

Wouldn't you be scared of this shady character?

Then the guy quickly adds, "Pam, its me, John. I didn't mean to scare you." LD and John had spotted the Western States sticker on my truck and followed me into the parking lot. They wondered if maybe I was making a covert trip to the liquor store next door! I had a good laugh at the situation. Not only was I fooled but I was busted buying gear, and I had to confess my packing stupidity (not to mention the the fact that I had bought a cheesy fleece pillow!).

Surprise! It's not a psychopath, it's an ultrarunner. Sure both types are mental, but the latter are very friendly.

The irony was that our Kamping Kabin was about a hundred degrees when we got there and a sleeping bag was totally unnecessary!

Doesn't my bed look "kozy?" (not to mention stylish!)

We woke to the sound of passing trains...about an hour after we went to bed and then about every 60-90 minutes after that. The rail road industry is alive and well in the gorge!

Stowaway John, Andrea, and LD getting ready to run

John duped us again the next morning by guiding us onto the bus that was sure to leave first... Ours was the last to depart. But we got to the start with plenty of time to spare, so it was actually nice that we had a few extra minutes in a warm bus.

The race starts with a hefty climb - 1700' in under two miles. I started with all the people who thought they'd jog the uphill. But as the climb wore on, more and more people resorted to walking. I have been doing almost all flat and road training in prep for Mad City, but I was surprised to find that I felt strong on the climb. I don't think I have gotten good at hills, just that my fitness is pretty good right now. There weren't that many people ahead of me when we got to the top, but then there was a screaming downhill. Man, I suck at technical downhill! At least six people passed me on this mile. But each climb, I would pass several people back. And each time, fewer people would pass me back on the downhills.

The trail popped out onto the road at about mile 8.5 for a two mile stretch before the first major aid station. In the distance, I spotted a red jersey ahead, but no one else was around. I was flying on this section - 6:57 and 7:03 miles - and all time the little devil of doubt was telling me, "slow down, this pace is insane," but another part of me kept thinking, "You're fine. You said you are trying to be less conservative in the beginning." I probably would have slowed down had it not been for that pesky guy in red luring me into a chase.

I like to laugh at people who look like death in their running pictures. Fortunately, I can laugh at myself, too. Maybe those speedy road miles weren't such a good idea after all.

Well, I chased him for the next 22 miles. I don't think I was ever more than 100 yards behind. I would close the gap periodically but he would open it up on a downhill... or when he peeked back and saw me getting a little too close!

Between mile 22 and 23 there was a very short out and back to a waterfall. Mike Rosling was about a minute ahead of us, and two guys were starting just as we finished so I knew we had a five minute lead over them. No women were in sight down the trail, so I knew I had at least a five minute lead with 8-9 miles to go. I was pretty sure that would be enough cushion even with the five mile downhill finish, especially if I could just hang with (or pass!) the guy in red.

It takes a blurry picture to make me look awesome.

About a mile later we caught Mike, who was having some cramping. He and I ran a ways together and commiserated on the last big climb. ("When will it end?!?"). I thought he'd pass me back on the downhill to the finish, but his calf was giving him a bit too much trouble. The downhill being my weakness allowed for the guy in red to open up his biggest lead on the five mile stretch to the finish. I stared at his back for 22+ miles ("Clif") but never could catch him, eventually settling for 27 seconds back. At the finish I learned the guy in red was William Emerson, so I don't feel too bad about not hunting him down! Although, I think he was teasing me a little bit out there, too, running just fast enough to stay "unchicked." ;) Hey, it works for me as he kept me on track all day long and "paced" me to third place overall. Thanks, William! (Full Results here)

After the race, I changed into my best hobo costume. Oh wait - that is just me wearing 3 jackets, two long sleeved shirts, 2 pairs of sweat pants, and sporting the worst hat head ever! The rain didn't seem so bad while we were running but afterwards I was freezing!

I headed directly to my nephew's second birthday party in Portland after the race. Thank goodness family has to love you no matter what! And thank goodness, I'll probably never see the other 30 people at that party ever again!

Happy birthday, Deacon! You eat cake, I'll go shower!

(Thanks LD and Lobo for the photos)

Hagg Lake - Better Late Than Never

2011-03-10T20:42:00.000-08:00

I am getting my stuff together for this weekend's adventure: The Gorge Waterfalls 50k. I am excited for this race as the course looks awesome and there is a large group of Corvallis Trail Runners going up and taking over the Cascade Locks KOA Friday night (thank you Corvallis group for adopting this poor, deprived Salem trail runner!). But most of all, I am excited because this weekend represents my "tune-up 50k" for Mad City, which is my Big Goal Race for this year, as I would really like to make the US 100k team. There - I said it, so it is official!

The formula of running a low-key 50k 3-4 weeks before a big race seems to be working for me. I did Shotgun Trail 3 weeks before American River, Autumn Leaves 3 weeks before JFK, and Frozen Trail Runfest 3 weeks before Bandera. So off to the Gorge I go, with 4 weeks left till Mad City.

But before moving on, I wanted to write something about Hagg Lake 50k, which I ran Feb. 19. Somehow, I just haven't had much inspiration to write a race report for that over the last three weeks. It wasn't a new race for me, everything went smoothly and as expected, and it wasn't a race that I had put any serious mental focus into. In summary, it lacked the drama necessary for a good write up! In fact the most drama for the day came on my drive to the race.

The pre-dawn temps were in the low 20's and a thin film of ice coated the roads near Forest Grove. Driving in my half sleep state, I vaguely registered blinking hazard lights off the road right as I was passing. With a quick glance out the passenger window, I could make out a large sedan flipped on its side with the roof leaning against a tree. I slammed on my brakes, hit reverse, and then jumped out of the car.

Ummm?...okay, now what? I hadn't seen any other cars all morning but within the next 30 seconds, I had three other cars stopped and we were all out yelling and preparing to go down the bank. But one of the guys spotted some kitty litter that had clearly been laid out in the road (under my truck) to mark this spot, and we all agreed that we were relieved of our Good Samaritan obligations.

Not five miles farther, there was another car in the ditch, this one looking much less hazardous. I again slowed, but the driver was on his cell phone and he assured me he was fine. At this point I was fully awake and glad that my anal-retentive self had left Salem with plenty of time to drive slowly.

The ice sheet also made the race start a bit comical. Instead of bolting off the line, we all gingerly tip-toed and shuffled across the parking lot skating rink.

I have been contemplating split times and strategies since Bandera, so one of my goals for this race was to go hard from the beginning and see how that played out. I guess it played out well. I felt like I was working harder the whole race, but I don't think I ever slowed down.

I ran the entire 1.5 miles of the uphill on the first out and back and noted that I was keeping company with a lot of the fast guys. By the turn around, I already had a good lead on the rest of the women, though later, I learned speedster Denise Bourassa was just exiting the a Port-potty when the race started.

I felt like I was in all around better shape this year than last (with a 50 minute improvement at Bandera to corroborate that feeling), so that I should have been able to go at least 5 minutes faster this year than last, but the course did not co-operate. Yes, I am blaming my slower time all on the course! Last year was a dry year at Hagg; this year, a week of rain before the race most definitely made this a mud year! I like mud, I think I am a pretty good mud runner, but mud is still slower than dry trail, especially when some parts are so muddy you can't run uphill or you have to pull yourself uphill by grabbing trees and brush!

I ran the first lap well, passed several guys (especially on the road section - yeah for 100k road training paying off), but came to the start/finish (17 M) in 2:17 (vs. 2:14 in '10), so I knew breaking last year's time was not to be. Second loop around was the same story- 2:05 vs. 2:04 last year. So I am fitter, ran better, worked harder and finished slower! Fortunately, there were plenty of dirty runners with whom I could commiserate as pretty much every repeat finisher reported 2011 as being one of the slowest years.

Despite missing my time goal, I still had a fun day. For some reason, I really like mud. I think it is because I am an overly cautious person and I harbor a little bit of fear when I run technical trail. I am not actually afraid of falling; I am afraid of falling and getting hurt. When there are rocks, cliffs, and gravitational potential energy, I worry about breaking my leg...or neck. But somehow, I have fully convinced myself that you can't get hurt falling in mud. Don't ruin my delusion because it has made me a very good mud runner!

There have been reports of snow on the course in the Gorge for this weekend, but I am hoping it has all melted and turned to MUD! If nothing else, it would be good respite from all the long road runs I have been doing lately.

Race Strategy and Ultra Running

2011-01-25T00:04:00.000-08:00

In marathon running, it is race suicide to go out to fast and then fade at the end. But does that principle hold for ultras?

The night before Bandera, Dan Olmstead and I were reviewing some of the race materials, including Nick Clark's (at the time CR) splits from 2010, which Dan had along as a guide for his own race. Nick completed the two 50k's in 4:15 and 5:01. That's about a minute and a half per mile slower the second time around. Chakira Omine's second loop was 3 minutes faster than Nick's second loop, but Nick had a big enough cushion from the first loop to hold on for the win (and CR).

And so I asked Dan: Is it better to aim for consistency or is it better to go out fast, get a good lead, and just hope to hang on?

That night we both kind of shrugged it off, with no decision on which was the better strategy. But it is something I keep wondering about. Two years in a row I have had the fastest second 50k of all the women (7 min ahead of Jill/Aliza in 2010; roughly 5 minutes faster than Liza this year), but it hasn't resulted in a win. I was super happy with my race both years and I am not harboring any regrets. But one of the appeals of this sport is that there is so much to learn, so many variables to consider, so much experimenting to be done and I am an eager student (oh, let's not sugar coat it: I am the class nerd!). My strategy in basically all of my races has been to aim for consistency, but maybe I need to adapt. Maybe I need to risk a little more in the beginning, at least in "shorter" races?

Are you a gambler or do you play it safe? I would love to here thoughts from other runners and especially ultra runners on the idea of going out fast and hanging on vs. staying consistent... that is, if you are willing to share your strategy. ;)

WooHoo- I Got Two Votes!

2011-01-18T19:45:00.000-08:00

The results for the ultra-runner of the year voting were announced this week. In no way was I in contention for the award, but seeing my name on the "also receiving votes" list was kind of like getting a gift from a secret admirer! Definitely an honor to be mentioned with so many great athletes.

Full results here.

Back To Bandera

2011-01-11T20:08:00.001-08:00

A short while after JFK I read an article on the McMillan Elite Team training in Flagstaff. In the article, Coach Greg McMillan described how he selected people for his team. He stated there are many runners that post fast times but he is interested in the winners - people who have shown that they can win big races not just run fast. Reading between the lines, I realized Greg McMillan thinks I am a loser!

You see, my 2010 started off with me breaking the Bandera course record by 42 minutes...and losing by three minutes. At MacDonald Forest I ran faster than the 2009 winning time, but was second to Ashley Nordell by two and a half minutes. And then the real crusher was JFK, when the 9th fastest time in the race's 48 year history was 21 seconds too slow for a victory.

To me the disappointment wasn't in finishing second, but rather the idea that maybe something was holding me back. That moment of self-doubt, fear, and insecurity at mile 46 of JFK haunts me. And so I vowed to stop being a loser in 2011.

Now in no way do I mean that I plan to win all my races or that I am only running to win. What I mean is that I want to believe in myself, to not be intimidated by others, and to not be limited by fear and doubt. At the end of the day, win or lose, I want to look back and say, "I fought hard and I have no regrets."

After JFK, I changed my physical training very little (though I tried to get a bit more technical stuff - something that is pretty hard to do here in Oregon. "Technical" for us mostly means mud, not rocks and poor footing!). However, I did add what I call Stuart Smalley Training: "I am good enough, I am smart enough, and doggone it, I am a fast runner." Basically, a lot of positive mind set and self affirmation type of stuff.

Now I am not exactly one for touchy feely, new age Kum Ba Yah sessions, but I do think ultras have a huge mental component and so going into a race in the right frame of mind is really important. So I set off for Bandera feeling good about myself, ready to test out my fitness and my new Jedi mind tricks.

I had the pleasure of traveling with some of the members of the Sunsweet running (and comedy) team: Meghan Arbogast, Craig Thornley, his wife Laurie, Dan Olmstead, Jeff Riley and his wife Laura. I had a lot of fun with them cracking jokes, bonding over pedicures, and laughing ourselves silly over sexually frustrated burros.

"I love my Ducks!" (Thornley's photo)

But Saturday morning, the comedy show was over; it was time to race! Meghan and I noted Liza Howard as a top contender, with the "scouting report" on her that she would go out fast and be good on the rocks - the exact opposite of me! Other fast chicks on the entrant's list were Darcy Africa (DNS) and Alison Bryant (DNF), but with those two out, the race basically played out between me, Liza and Meghan.

Wipe those smiles off of your faces; It is time to get serious! (ph:Olga V.)

Knowing I start slow, I lined up in the mid-pack, but the race photographer made me move to the front for more female representation. Within about ten seconds of the race start a big mob passed me by and I saw Liza dart into the lead for the ladies with Meghan hot on her heels.

Look at me lining up with Geoff Roes!

And they're off...and I am already behind! (photos: Olga V.)

I felt a little sluggish to start, legs kind of flat, but I just kept thinking I always start slow and need time to warm up. Look at that positive thinking at work! ;) I ran in third for about 30 minutes, when another woman came darting by me and took off up a hill. I didn't like that, but I wasn't about to speed up either. I hit the first aid station in 55:30 - about three minutes faster than last year. And then I was way up on my split for the second section, too. It seemed like a fast pace, but heading into the flat section I made up my mind that I wasn't backing off. I think maybe I run too conservatively at the beginning of races and since I was here to race, I made up my mind that I would gamble, push fear aside, and see what came of it.

The flat middle section is MY section on this course. In a post-race interview, Roy Pirrung asked me, "So what is your strength - uphills, downhills, or technical stuff?" I kind of just laughed and said,"None of those really. The flat non-technical section was where I really excelled." Not exactly the type of skills one should brag about at a trail championship! But on both loops this is where I closed the gap on Meghan and the only parts where I was able to eat into Liza's lead, particularly on the second loop.

I passed the woman who had blown by me (who I later learned was Amber Monforte, third place finisher at White River) early on in this flat section. And then about half way between Chapas and Cross Roads, I was shocked to spot Meghan at the top of the powerline grade just as I was starting at the bottom. She couldn't have been more than three minutes ahead. I knew I was either running really well or really stupidly to be that close to Meghan. Even more surprising, as the section wore on, I was getting closer so that by the time I left Cross Roads she was maybe only 100 yards or so ahead. I finally caught up to her a few minutes later while the trail was still relatively flat. She turned around with a friendly greeting, her hands in the air, and an excited yell of "Pammy!"

But before we could hug and exchange best friend charms, Meghan picked up the pace. I knew she was testing me, but I only stayed with her for a minute or two before these words came into my head: "Ok, Pam, you proved your point. Now don't do anything stupid to f*ck up third place!" (My Jedi alter ego has such a potty mouth!). I am still not exactly sure what "my point" was, but I decided to abide. It wasn't fear, it was just me be smart and sticking to my race. As the trail once again got hilly and technical, Meghan floated away.

I cruised through to complete the first lap in 4:41, which seemed smokin' fast especially compared to last year's 5:08 first loop. Now time to hang on! I had seen Meghan on the short out and back to the start/finish so I knew she was only a few minutes ahead, but I didn't know what kind of lead Liza had on Meghan. What really bothered me was that 4th place was only six minutes back. I was really hoping I had put more time on her than that.

Back to the first section and I was six minutes slower to the first aid station. Twenty-five miles to go and I was already losing a minute a mile. Based on my split analysis from last year, in my mind the "gold standard" for consistency at Bandera is a split differential of less than 40 minutes. I kind of pride myself on my consistency (excluding hundred milers at this point in my career) and I was really hoping not to die after the first fast lap. The next section I was down another six minutes. Well, I reasoned, six minutes for each of the six sections will still keep me within a 40 minute difference.

At Chapas (AS#2), the gang of Laurie, Craig and Laura (who deserves all star crew recognition for juggling six different runners in three different races!) were out to cheer and crew. They wore shock all over their faces at seeing me so close to Meghan, but they were full of kind words and cheers. I kind of had a mild panic attack at this aid station waiting for some kind stranger to get me some Mountain Dew from her car. She was hustling but the few seconds felt like an eternity and I couldn't even wait for her to get back. I grabbed a bottle with Coke and ice and just bolted. The crew later politely told me that I was "extremely focused" at the aid stations, which I am pretty sure was code for "You need to take a frickin' chill pill!" But I didn't want to lose any time. (I spent over three minutes at this aid station last year, and I lost the race by just over three minutes, so I had good reason to get out fast).

Then back to MY section. I spotted Meghan early and knew I was closing. With a bottle full of ice, I couldn't exactly sneak up on her. More like I announced my presence with maracas! This time I was first with the greeting and she responded with lots of encouragement. But now it was my turn to test her. Run, and just keep running, and don't look back.- The words echoed through my mind. I hit the powerline grade and NO WAY was I walking. Right before the aid station I tried to look back, but it wasn't a good view so I couldn't tell where she was. But climbing up the Three Sisters, I looked back from the top and saw her at the bottom. This was the same place she dropped me on the first loop, so I fully expected her to make it up here again. But I was going to do my best to put that off for as long as possible. I kept telling myself, "You have to run this hill because Meghan will be running it." I was so winded when I got to the top I was finally glad to have a very rocky trail for a slow descent.

The rest of the race I pushed and pushed thinking Meghan was only a minute or two behind. I got to the last aid station and the volunteers told me I was only a few minutes behind Liza. I knew I was running well, so for a brief moment I had thoughts of running her down. "How many minutes exactly? I need to know," I asked in a tone that I hope did not sound too bossy. But the woman's first instinct was to protect her hometown girl: "That's not fair to Liza because she doesn't get to know exactly where you are."

Are you kidding me!?! Tell me the Goddamn time!

Fortunately, that is not what I actually said. Instead, I asked, "Well can you give me an approximate time? I am sure her crew has given her an approximate idea of where I am." About eight to ten minutes was the answer. I was pretty sure she wasn't lying and I knew Liza was too good on the rocky stuff to make up that kind of time on a technical 4.9 mile section unless she totally blew up. But I was still convinced Meghan was two minutes behind me, so I ran hard. In fact, I was only one minute slower than my first time around. I needn't have worried as Meghan was actually 25 minutes back by then, but I wouldn't have believed that if you had told me, I was that scared of Meghan passing me in the final miles.

I seriously hope I wasn't flapping those chicken wings like that the whole race! (ph: Olga)

I finished the second loop in 5:06, for a finish time of 9:46. I may be the only person who has broken a course record by more than 40 minutes two years in a row and not won the race - a very dubious distinction! The split differential was 25 minutes, not quite as consistent as last year's 14 minutes, but I'll take it considering my time was 50 minutes faster! Liza had a stellar 9:35 for the win and Meghan went under the previous course record and claimed the master's title with her 10:19.

The men also had a slew of speedy performances, with winner Dave Mackey taking an hour off the course record and the next three guys also destroying the old mark, including Dan Olmstead who missed the money by 23 seconds. Trust me Dan-O, I feel your pain!

I wasn't the winner on the day, but I most definitely don't feel like a loser (despite what Greg McMillan might say!). I felt good about myself all day, I wasn't intimidated on the course, and I was ready to compete. In the end, I fought hard and I have no regrets.

Frozen Trail Run Fest 50k

2010-12-21T20:52:00.000-08:00

What better way to prepare for the holidays than a 5 hour mudfest in nearby Eugene? Last Saturday, December 18th, was the inaugural Frozen Trail Runfest down in the Mt. Pisgah arboretum. Nothing frozen about the trails, though, just some serious puddles, bogs and mud!

26 brave runners opted for the 50k, while over 125 others chose from five non-ultra distances. The morning was cold and the sky looked ominous as the 50k started at a very casual pace. I ran the first mile or so with Dan Olmstead at the back of the lead pack. We both were there with the same idea: to get in a good long run with a little technical before heading to the Bandera 100k in three weeks.

Having fun in the mud (all photos by Long Run Photography)

The course was four slightly varied laps around or over Mt. Pisgah and the course map looked more like a child's scribbles than a helpful guide. The instructions to the map read something like: White loop, start white, then purple, then white, then white loop, then white trail to green loop back to white to the finish. But the course was exceptionally marked such that what was incomprehensible on paper became an easy to follow route on foot. Well, that is to say the directions were easy to follow; the running was not so easy. Much of the trail was unavoidable thick mud and there were many ankle deep "lakes" to splash across. With a dose of optimism, these vast puddles became an opportunity to wash some of the mud off ones shoes. All of the mud plus 3970' of climbing (and much of it quite slick) made for a fun, albeit slow, day. The rain held off for most of the day and I even got a sunbreak as I summited Mt. Pisgah at mile 28.

At 42 degrees and sunny, it was practically balmy on the summit! I even had to unzip my jacket!

Doesn't it look like I had fun? Check out the thigh-high mud! I did that all without falling.

Every runner dreams of being crowned champ with a plastic pine bough.

Dan and I say,"Bring it, Texas!" ;)

I came home just a wee bit muddy!

That reminds me - I still have a lot of muddy clothes in the laundry room sink to attend to!

This was a fun event that definitely upstages Hagg Lake for Oregon's muddiest ultra! Eclectic Edge events did a great job this year filling voids in March and December, by offering two new 50k's. While the Frozen Trail Runfest was a small event, it was challenging and unique. I could see this becoming a perennial pre-holiday event.

Results

Epic Battle At JFK

2010-11-25T13:38:00.000-08:00

I signed up for the JFK 5o miler last July, while I was still in a post-Western States stupor. Somehow, I got this silly idea that JFK would make the perfect race trifecta along with American River 50 and Western States - the two biggest ultras in the country and the most prestigious - which is how I found myself on the Maryland starting line last weekend.

Last minute entrants Jill Perry and Amy Sproston beefed up the competition on the women's side, but I didn't think that they would detract from my main goals, which were 1) PR at 50 miles (AR50 = 7:14); 2) get a 100k World Championship qualifier (sub- 7:15); and 3) place top 5 ("in the money"). I didn't really expect to be in the hunt for the win.

It was a bit chilly at the start, but on the whole it was perfect weather for an ultra. The course starts with 2.5 miles of uphill road before hitting the Appalacian Trail. I started nice and slow and could see Jill, Amy, USA 24 hour team member Ana Piskorska, and several other women out ahead of me. I passed Ana before hitting the trail, but anther woman in a shimmel and spanks moved ahead of me.

I caught up with Jill right before the first aid station and stayed to chat with her a bit before moving on. At the aid station (mile 4) I hit the port-a-potties, so had to repass Jill a short bit later.

The AT was everything everyone promised: leaves, roots and LOTS of rocks! It made for some awkward footing at times, but I just tried to stay as smooth as possible. Around mile 7 somebody yelled at me,"7th Woman." Within the next mile I passed Spanks-girl on a rocky uphill section and fell in with a couple of guys for the rest of the AT.

The Appalacian Trail (Brightroom, Inc. photo)

I was using Greg Crowther's split's from 2009 (plus 1.5 minutes/mile) for an estimated finish of 7:06. I came off the AT at 2:24, 3 minutes ahead of schedule.

The splits (in case I was too boneheaded to remember three numbers!)

Next was the 26.3 mile long tow path section. I was expecting this to suck, because everybody said it was flat and boring. Somehow, I assumed this meant "straight" and I just envisioned running down a dirt road where you could see for miles. But the path had a thick layer of leaves and lots of curves. It wasn't exactly a surprise around every bend, but it was enough to keep it from being boring.

I immediately joined up with Doug, a member of the Air Force from DC who was running his first 50 miler. We ran together for the first 10 miles and I really enjoyed his company, maybe a bit too much as we were doing 7:20's (Garmin pace) and I didn't think I should be going faster than 7:30's. But I was feeling great at that point and my handsome military companion kept giving me compliments, so why would I want to part from him?? You gotta love a guy who thinks I look too young to have a six year old. Also, you gotta think he needs glasses!

I told Doug I thought I was in 6th and he was surprised as he didn't think that many women were ahead of me. Our clip kept us moving past people and he was always pointing out the women ahead and trying to guess which ones were early starters before we caught up to them. But in addition to the early starters, we passed three of the front running women and I knew none of them would be giving chase.

Doug left me at mile 25 to change his shoes and so I finally slowed it down into the high 7:30's. That's probably where I should have been from the beginning but it is so easy to get pulled along when you are feeling good. I was still feeling pretty good, but I noticed that after mile 28 I was watching for the mile markers and counting down how many miles left on the tow path. That's always one of the first signs of tiredness for me when I start thinking about what I have left instead of just running or staying focused in the now. But my pace didn't really falter and by mile 34 I realized I only had to do 8:30 miles for the rest of the race to come in under 7:15 and that made me feel pretty confident. Also, several people were telling me I was second female, one place higher than I thought, so that was a nice boost, too.

Cruising the Tow Path (Brightroom, Inc. photo)

Between mile 34 and mile 38, David Horton came riding by on bike. He introduced himself and gave me an update on the race. Basically, he told me I was all by myself in second, several minutes behind Amy and almost ten minutes up on third. Around that time I noticed my pace slipping into the 7:40's and I pretty much resigned myself to second. You can't make up time if you are slowing down now, can you?

At mile 38, I was sad to see Jill on the sidelines from a foot injury, but it was nice to have her energy. She was cheering and screaming for me and told me I was just a few minutes behind Amy. I figured she was exaggerating to keep my motivation up and I didn't really take her seriously. I just kept on at my pace, still figuring second place was my lot for the day. But when I turned off the AT two guys were cheering and saying that I was only one minute behind, that I could catch her. And on the turn ahead I could see Amy so I know that they weren't lying! Oh, man, time to dig deep!

The road section seemed a lot hillier than I am sure it actually was and we had a pretty good headwind, plus I was tired, so these miles were slower than the tow path miles, but I was closing on Amy, ever so gradually, just as you are supposed to do.

I came into the mile 46 aid station just as she was getting ready to leave. In terms of race strategy and tactical maneuvering, this is where I made my fatal error. In retrospect, I should have skipped the Aid Station and left in step with her, but I am not good with fast decisions and I am not used to thinking about "going for the kill." Mostly, I just run and if I am running faster than someone I pass them without thinking about it. I was filled with uncertainty and doubt and my energy was flagging big time. At the time I felt like it would be a good idea to get in a few more calories to keep my energy up till the finish, so I stopped. But realistically, how much good did 3 ounces of Coke do me??

When I came in I also said something to Amy about being so tired...What was I thinking?!? I watched the World Series of Poker, so I should know - YOU ALWAYS BLUFF! Make 'em think you've got the nuts even when you've got rags! I've got to learn to play some mental games!

Amy immediately took off. She had been told she had a good lead and I am pretty sure my presence gave her a good boost of adrenaline and gave her some extra motivation. She opened up about a 20 second lead right out of the aid station. I kept telling myself only four more miles, push the uphills, work the downs, but Amy seemed to be doing the same. She looked back a couple of times, so I know she was worried, but it didn't matter, I seemed to stay the exact same distance behind the whole time.

Several people have said to me that they wish they could have seen the finish of our race, but the finish wasn't exciting... The race was over at mile 46. Amy crossed the line in 6:57:16; I finished in 6:57:37. (Doug finished his first 50 in 7:06!)

Finally-the finish! (Brightroom, Inc. photo)

Amy looked totally dazed at the end. I didn't think I was doing too badly, until I walked over to the medal table to ask for my finisher's reward. The lady very kindly pointed out that I was already wearing one. Not only was I oblivious to the huge hunk of metal hanging from my neck, but I somehow didn't even notice that somebody had slipped this thing over my head! The lady then left her post, saying "why don't I walk you into the gym?" I guess I was looking pretty toasted!

Admittedly, I was kind of disappointed after the race and kind of pissed at myself. I felt like I had her and she got away. I made up at least a seven minute gap and then fell 21 seconds short. 21 SECONDS AFTER 50 MILES!! Come on!

But JFK has a wonderful race director in Mike Spinnler. At the awards ceremony, he really put things in perspective. Not only did he emphasize how fortunate we were to be there running in a free country thanks to the sacrifices of our military, but he also had an emotionally stirring account about the race between me and Amy: (to paraphrase)

"This was the closest race in the history of JFK, not the closest women's race, but the closest race ever. These two women pushed each other so much and to see them finish was truly inspiring because they were both totally and completely spent. It was obvious they had given it their all and raced their guts out. This was like a prize fight between Mohammed Ali and Evander Holyfield, only these two went at it for 50 rounds, completely beating each other up.

In these duals somebody has to come out the champion, but these ladies are both winners. In the end they finished only 21 seconds apart and both broke the 7 hour mark, something only 5 other women have done here."

I was practically in tears by the end of that! It certainly helped me to see the day for the great race that it was. I may have made a mistake or two on the course, but I really did give it my all and I never gave up. I didn't get the win but I PR'd by 17 minutes, I ran the 9th fastest women's time ever at JFK, I broke 7 hours and I got a qualifier for the 100k World Championships in Holland next year! As the saying goes, winning isn't everything, right?

Congrats to all the finishers and especially to Amy, because I know I made her earn it!

Ready For Varsity

2010-10-31T13:26:00.001-07:00

Autumn Leaves is a low key event in nearby Champoeg State Park. New Race Director Bret Henry and his wife Gail did the local ultra community a great service by resurrecting this race after a one year hiatus in 2009 and some problems in 2008. The course is a very flat, 6.25 mile loop mostly on paved bike path, but with about 1.5 miles of gentle trail each loop. The 50 mile runners, 50k runners, early starters, and (at 10am) 10k runners in combination with an out and back section made for a run where there were always people around, but not so much as to feel crowded. The course is billed as perfect "for your first ultra event or for the experienced ultra-runner to get that PR you always wanted." I fit a little into both categories as this was my first ultra after taking most of September off, but because it was the "easiest" course I have ever run, I also wanted a PR.

The RD's: "The beautiful Mrs. Henry and that guy" (those are Bret's words, not mine!)

I think in a race with two or more ultra distances, the "main event" is always the longest one. Ultra runners operate on a "more is better" mentality, so I think the competition/participation tends to center around the long event, but for me, the 50k was the right option. I joked all week that I was only running the JV event. That was not to belittle the 50k, but I just wanted to keep the race a light-hearted affair and not make too much out of it in my head. Also to keep things light hearted I decided to play along with the "costumes encouraged" aspect of this pre-Halloween race. So I broke out the costume box (doesn't everybody have one of these?) and found an old dress from a 60's party. My pre-race activities included finding all the right accessories to complete the look. I even spray painted my shoes white! Unfortunately, the shoe tech materials don't take paint well so the shoes turned out more "Nurse Ratched" than pseudo-white vinyl awesomeness, but A for effort, right? ;)

Go Go Girl! Get it? Cause I go, go! I know, genius, right? ;)

The first lap needed a headlamp for navigation and served as a warm-up. I was in 5th or 6th place behind a handful of guys, at least two of which were 50 milers. My second lap was significantly faster and I worried that I would pay for it later, but I managed to stay pretty consistent for the rest of the day. I moved up steadily throughout the day and finally caught the second place guy on lap four. The last lap was fun because all the 10kers started about 5 minutes before I completed my 4th lap, so there was a lot of new energy on the course for my final loop. Plus, the 10k back of the packers were really displaying their Halloween spirit and I traded a few laughs with several other decked out ladies when I passed by. Now why weren't there any guys or more ultra runners in costume??

Who hired these clowns?? Just kidding, Geof and Larry!

The first place guy in the 50k was a 2:20 marathoner from Eugene (a town that seems to be over-flowing with 2:20 marathoners!) who was running his first 50k and didn't have any problems going 5 miles beyond his usual distance. He was definitely out of my league and kept me from enjoying an overall victory by pummeling me with a 3:21 finish. But I surprised myself with my pace and even ran my second fastest marathon ever (3:13) en route to a 3:51 finish time. My time was 8 minutes ahead of third and it broke the women's course record by 31 minutes. Mostly though, I am just psyched to feel like I am running well and enjoying it again!

For you gear and equipment types out there, here is a list of the high tech stuff that I wore to achieve my 50k PR:
- The Original Inc, 100% polyester dress in fluorescent orange. Surprisingly comfortable, though I'd recommend this for cold weather only as polyester doesn't "breathe" very well. However, when I run in tech fabric I usually smell like a homeless person by the end of the race (TMI??), but the polyester was stink free! I was pretty shocked by the washing directions: "dry clean only." Seriously, who dry cleans polyester?? Fortunately, it has withstood multiple machine washings with no ill-effects.
- A new pair of sock sleeves (aka Benmoes), K-mart, $2.00, some assembly required. I needed to combat the cold but not detract from the over look. I think the words "war is pointless" and the peace symbols on the converted socks added a special touch, tough it may be a bit of a faux pas to mix the iconic 60's styles of the go go girl and the hippie. But I figured I had a little bit more leeway since I was born in the 70's.
- Joe Boxer hot pink gloves (K-mart, $1.00). Classic ladies magic stretch gloves in a bright new shade!
-Hot pink hair band (K-mart, 3/$2.00), to match the hot pink gloves!
-Injinji knee high compression socks (Free Western States schwag)
- Spray painted (white) Brooks Adrenaline Shoes. As mentioned, this didn't exactly achieve the effect that I was hoping for, but even more disappointing was that nobody seemed to appreciate that I had sprayed my shoes. C'mon people, where is the love??

My post race attire still needs some work.

Happy Halloween!

Rest And Renewal

2010-10-23T21:11:00.001-07:00

As a pathologist, the cornerstone of my job is the diagnosis and evaluation of cancer. But the reality is that over 90% of the specimens I see are benign. A good portion of my work day is spent evaluating acute (inflammation, ulceration, necrosis) and chronic (scarring, healing, hypertrophy) reactive processes in tissue. But it was only in the last couple of months that I have come to appreciate the differences between acute and chronic fatigue.

Western States was a bit of a Pyrrhic Victory for me: I won the battle (or at least got F10 in the battle!), but my body was ravaged by the effort. The nine weeks between Western States and Angeles Crest weren't fun. Running was a chore and mechanically, things just didn't seem to be working right. Somewhere around mile 37 of Angeles Crest, the full weight of my ongoing exhaustion hit me and by mile 50, I was ready to surrender. It wasn't a good outcome, but it forced me to accept how tired and beat up I really was.

All I can say is that I was in a pit of deep, chronic fatigue. I don't mean that in "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" kind of way, but rather an on-going cycle of physical exhaustion.

A couple people said, "You probably have endocrine fatigue." It is a term I have seen on irunfar.com before, too. I don't know what endocrine fatigue means; it is certainly not something that was covered in medical school. Frankly, I don't buy into it at all. For starters, I had my endocrine levels tested, and they were all fine. I've had several other friends with fatigue issues at one point in their lives, and (with the exception of one person with post-partum hypo-thyroidism, not running related) none of them have ever had out of whack endocrine levels. I also talked with an endocrinologist colleague of mine about the possibility of adrenal malfunction secondary to intense physical activity and he looked at me like I was from Mars before he politely said,"I have never heard of such a thing." However, I do believe there was some physiologic alteration that was underlying this and that it wasn't just "burn-out" or "all in my head" (That's what all the crazies say, right?). Seriously, though, my resting heart rate was constantly elevated, but even more noticeable was my elevated breathing rate, even at rest. And things just got worse with physical activity. I wonder if this was some sort of alteration in autonomic nervous system functioning, but I don't really have any proof of that either.

Whatever the underlying mechanism, low mileage for nine weeks hadn't helped. Taking day or two off didn't really help, and so the only option I could see was to take time off - completely off, not even any cross training - and truly just REST. (Ryan Hall sounds like he has recently had similar problems and came to the same conclusion, not that I am trying to compare myself to Ryan Hall!)

Three and a half weeks of nothing. People asked me if it was hard to give up running for that long, but really it was easy. Who wants to run when each step hurts, your legs ache for hours after a run, and even the easiest of paces feels like a monumental effort?

My 36th birthday marked my return to running. It seemed symbolic, to start on my new year, but really that was not my intention. The real reason I started running again that day was because a friend called me up and said, "Hey, let's go for a run and then let's get a group together to go out for a beer for your birthday." What can I say, not all decisions are based on profound reasoning. ;)

So I have been back for one month and I feel great. I was definitely out of shape when I started back, but I didn't even care. It was just so nice to have my legs moving in a fluid motion again and no aching afterwards. It is amazing how fast the body progresses and remembers, too. In just 4 weeks my 1000m repeat times have dropped 30 seconds (mostly that reflects how out of shape I was the first week).

During the past month, I have done four runs of 20+ miles. I have felt good on every one, but I am always dead the rest of the day. That is nothing new; I experienced that way before I was an ultra-runner as I remember how much I cherished a nap after my marathon long training runs (in the pre-kid era). Yet the first couple of times, it put me in a panic: "OMG, did I just do too much? Am I headed back to that awful place?!?" But I now see this as acute fatigue, something that is essential in training to signal adaptation in the body and improve fitness. It is tiredness, but is something the body can bounce back from in a day or two. The key, of course, is allowing your body that time to recover, to keep those incidents of acute fatigue from piling up and morphing into something worse, such as an injury or chronic fatigue.

Live and learn. And get plenty of rest.

Ultra Husband and The Free Bottle of Wine

2010-09-13T20:20:00.001-07:00

I consider the 2008 McKenzie River Trail Run was my first official ultra and I LOVED it. The course is beautiful and very runner friendly with 3,000 feet of elevation loss, but enough technical footing to make you feel like you worked hard for your finish. I was excited to go back this year, but I was even more excited for my husband who was running his first ultra!!

After AC, though, I knew racing was out of the question. I just don’t seem to have my “race legs” under me right now and I knew I didn’t want to just try to survive another race. I considered running with my husband Mackenzie (aka Mac, but I am using his full name in honor of the race!), but in the end I decided a complete break from running was in my best interest.

So last week I e-mailed the race director telling him that I wouldn’t be running, but that I’d still like my goodie bag.

OK, normally I wouldn’t care about picking up a cotton T-shirt, but this year MRTR was giving out Free Bottles of Wine! Now, I am not even that much of a wine drinker. But this was a Free Bottle of Wine, so I wanted it very badly. Plus, I felt like it would be super sneaky to get a Free Bottle of Wine from a race where I had Free Entry; I’d be achieving a Free Double Whammy! (Did I mention I am cheap??).

My parents graciously agreed to babysit the offspring, so Mac and I set off Friday night for McKenzie Bridge, two care-free cool cats, looking stylin' as we cruised down the highway in our mini-van.

We stopped at check-in, where I reminded them that I wouldn't be running, but still they just handed me my Free Bottle of Wine without any hesitation. They didn't even card me!

The exalted Free Bottle of Wine

After dinner, we headed to our cabin at Cedarwood Inn. We had a king sized bed and no kids, so you know what that means. That's right, we went straight to sleep without even reading any bedtime stories! Good thing, too, cause Mr. Nervous got up super early to pin his number on four different ways, fidget with his Garmin, and tape his nipples. It took me back to 2008, when the night before McKenzie River, I tried on four different sports bras and made swinging arm running movements in front of the mirror trying to decide which one to wear in the race, even though I had logged hundreds of miles in each of them.

On our drive up to the start, there were several insane people hitchhiking on the highway, but they were holding up race numbers, so we could identify their psychosis as masochism and not serial killer-ism, so we picked up our first hitch-hiker!! Woo-hoo - a lot of firsts going on this weekend!

We hung out with a lot of the Corvallis crew until the start. After the runners were off, I helped a friend shuttle cars to the finish. We got done just in time to make it to AS#1. We got to see the fast guys on their way back from the 1.5 mile out and back and everyone from about 10th place down going both directions, so we did lots of cheering. Unfortunately, when it was time to leave, my mini-van had become a medi-van as two runners had taken nasty tumbles in the lava rock sections and were out for the day. One of the casualties was my friend April who was keeping Mac company on the course when she rolled her ankle and ended up with a bad sprain (Mac was obviously charming the ladies right off of their feet). I hated to see her day end like that, especially since she was one of only three people (and the only woman) on track to finish all seven of the Oregon Trail Series Races, but I did really enjoy her company for the rest of the day as I crewed Mac, helped a few Salem friends, and cheered for runners.

We were befuddled by construction and running late from the injuries, so we didn't make it to AS#2, but got to AS#3 early enough to see all but the first six guys. Mac looked good, but was pissed about the five yellow-jacket stings he had taken in the last section.

On to AS#4. Mac still looked good, but he had lost his appetite. He kept staring at the AS food, but couldn't find anything to eat.

We skipped AS#5 and went straight to the finish to see many of the people we knew finish it up. Mac finished his first ultra in 5:49!! I can't exactly say his face was glowing with pride as he crossed the line; it was more like a pale green tinge with vacant eyes. But he did it and I am super-proud of him! You can read his account here.

Mac's efforts to become a ultrarunner kind of made my quest for a Free Bottle of Wine seem just a tad bit shallow and trivial. So when I got home, I gave my* Free Bottle of Wine to my parents as a Thank You for watching the kids.

(* - By "my" I really mean Mac's because we are married and what's his is mine. It may be shallow and trivial, but it is still a Free Bottle of Wine and I am not giving it up that easily! Besides, Mac has pride and self-satisfaction from MRTR, all I have is the Free Bottle of Wine!)

Angeles Crest

2010-08-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

I was compelled to sign up for Angeles Crest after a "DNF" in my first 50 mile attempt at Capitol Peak in 2009 (not an official DNF, since I finished the 55k, but still a DNF in my mind). I am not sure if that makes it fitting or ironic that Angeles Crest ended with a DNF.

My day did not get off to an auspicious start. Putting my first contact in at 3:30 am resulted in searing pain, like the surface of my eye was being burned off. After getting the contact out and letting it tear for 40 minutes, I was able to put in a brand new pair without any problem. Turns out the contact solution I borrowed from my mother-in-law was a 3% hydrogen peroxide contact disinfectant - the surface of my eye was being burned off!

But everything at the start of the race seemed to be going well. I felt the altitude a bit when we got up to 8,000 feet, but I was making a conscious effort to run as slow as possible. The most notable thing in the early miles was the wind. It was howling, and not just gusts! A constant blast assaulted the runners anytime we were on the ridge or the south facing trails, making for an unexpectedly cold first few miles.

I stayed consistent and very conservative early on, third female, near four other guys who became familiar as we jockeyed back and forth. I hiked everything up and over Mt. Baden-Powell (9,400) and then started back down. Near the base, there were lots of hikers and they started telling me, "First Woman" even though I hadn't passed anybody. I was actually thinking that meant the first two ladies must have been so far ahead, that hikers starting from the parking lot wouldn't have seen them, but when I got to the aid station, there were a lot of worried people wondering where the other two ladies were. Flagging on the course was a bit sparse, but I thought it was adequate with two flags at every intersection. One of the ladies off course was a local who had trained specifically in this area of the course, which was made it more perplexing that she had detoured, but things happen, and there I was - first female!

I ran well to the next aid station, but the following section did me in. It was one of those sections that would look completely mundane on paper, but totally sucked in reality. There was 1.5 miles on the very sun exposed Highway 2, with a grade that doesn't justify walking but still sucks the life out of you. Then .5 miles on boring campground roads, a short and beautiful downhill mile to Cooper Creek, and then another very hot grind up to mile 37. By the time I got there I was bonking hard and I could feel my legs tightening up. I was ready to be done. Eight and a half hours to go 37 miles (and that was 19th place overall!)!! But they fed me and pushed me out.

The next mile, I was still in "Bonk Phase" and I really lost it on the trail by myself. My left knee was starting to hurt and I was miserable. Finally, the calories started to kick in and I could tell my spirits were turning around, but my knee wasn't. This was an easy downhill section, but the downhill was really hurting my knee and I walked nearly everything. I knew I wasn't bonking anymore and was thinking rationally, and I still felt like I did not want to finish the race in this state.

When I got to Three Points, Mac and his new aid station friend Jimmy, were not listening to my pleas. They got a medic to work on my knee, but it didn't seem to get better. They told me to leave, "just see if it gets better." But it didn't. In fact, it was worse as I got started, probably from sitting around so long. The next four miles were pretty easy terrain, but I must have run less than 1% of it. Droves of people passed me by, and when I got to the uphill, I still wasn't doing any better. In fact, only nine people on the day had a slower split from Three Points to Mt. Hillyer. I got to Mt. Hillyer and had them cut my bracelet. My race was done.

***

My knee was a big problem, but the truth of the matter is that my knee was only a symptom of a much bigger issue. I have been on a downslide since Western States, but I thought I could push through White River and Angeles Crest.

If I include my taper for WS, my last 12 weeks of training looks like this:

6/7- 45 miles (easy, one speed workout)

6/14-30 miles (easy, one speed workout)

6/20- 6 miles + Western States

6/27- 0 miles

7/5 - 17 miles

7/12- 50 miles

7/19- 56 miles

7/26- 4 miles + White River

8/2- 10 miles

8/9- 14 miles

8/16-25 miles

8/23-5 miles (AC100)

That is NOT a training plan for running 100 miles. Actually, that is not a training plan at all. It is more of an embarrassment than anything!

My left knee started bothering me after White River (but I can't blame it for my race, it didn't hurt till after), which is why the subsequent weeks have such low mileage. The lack of training and disappointing performance at White River slashed my confidence and I wasn't in a good headspace going into this race. Mac says I psyched myself out weeks before arriving in Wrightwood, and he is right.

In retrospect, I shouldn't have been on the starting line for either White River or Angeles Crest. A 50 mile race, and certainly 100 miles, are not things you can fake. Physically and mentally I was not ready to race and so I shouldn't have. The physical part was a big issue, but the mental aspect was the bigger problem. Even though I could still walk reasonably well, my heart and my head weren't in it to walk and suffer and worry about injury for another 18 hours.

When they cut my bracelet, all I felt was relief. I was so glad to be done; I wasn't upset at all. In fact, I don't think I had a bit of remorse until my five year old daughter looked up at me with big adoring eyes and asked, "Mommy! Why did you drop?"

Because Mommy isn't Superwoman. Sometimes she makes mistakes and bad decisions. Because sometimes the body is weak and the mind is weaker. Because even when I wanted to do it for you, it seemed too hard. Because you can't always be at your best; sometimes there are setbacks. But setbacks are okay, too, if you use them to learn, to grow, and to come back even better.

Breathing Easy At Where's Waldo

2010-08-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

Where's Waldo Ski Run with a view to Waldo Lake

Last year, Where's Waldo 100k was a disaster for me. This year it was one big party. While I would have liked to get my redemption on the course, it'll have to wait till next year, as the race conflicted with Angeles Crest this year. Instead, our family camped out at Charlton Lake and worked the Aid Station there (mile 32) on race day.

Early Morning at Charlton Lake

We camped right on the lake and woke to serene beauty. The quiet was especially appreciated since the campers next door were partying late into the night. The silence was quickly broken by my two kids who provided a little early morning payback noise for our hung-over noisy neighbors!

Not long after daybreak, we were setting up our surf station for the runners. Tim Olson came flying through just after 9:30. He dropped his bottles, grabbed two new ones from his wife, and was out of there in a flash, leaving all of us standing around idle with our jaws hanging open. But soon enough, we had a steady stream of runners looking for food and a fluid refill.

Surf's up at Charlton Lake!

The family cheers on the runners

Liam with very fashionable and eclectic accessories: A Cowbell, a Lei, and a Machine Gun

Our aid station had a cutoff at 1 pm, so we had time to clean up and get to the finish line. But why would the kids want to watch tired, dirty runners stumble across a line of chalk when there was a huge gondola sprouting from the finish line??

So we went for a ride up the mountain, hiked around, and rode back down. After enjoying the BBQ, we rode up for a second time, because who can get enough gondola? Ok, well maybe Mac and I had our fills, but the kids thought the second ride was just as exciting as the first.

The Charlton Lake Crew all camped out by the lake again Saturday night along with Corvallis Waldo finisher, Mikio, who was moving around remarkably well. We enjoyed a big bonfire but nothing to rival the debauchery of our fellow campers, who were at it again late into the night (and early morning!).

The next morning Mac got in a nice three hour run on the trails (with a Twins summit!) before we packed it up.

Yeah, that face is filthy. Don't judge; we are camping!

On the way home, stopped at the Willamette Fish Hatchery, which was the coolest fish hatchery ever, and I am qualified to say this because I have been to a lot of fish hatcheries for some unexplainable reason!

The breeder sturgeon and trout

Free food! Fish food, that is.

A round of "educational fish golf" to wrap up the weekend

It was a great race weekend with none of the pre-race jitters!

Full results here.

Being Realistic at White River

2010-08-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend the 50 mile National Trail Championships were held at White River in the shadows of Mt. Rainier. There are only two climbs on this course, but they are 11 miles and 8 miles long, each followed by jarring downhill sections of similar length. After the 3.7 mile gentle start to the first aid station, the only other flat section is the final 6.2 miles on the rolling Skookum Flats trail, which comes at a time when you are too tired to really appreciate it. This made for an incredibly challenging course, but the beauty was stunning. There were great views of Mt. Rainier looming above, dense coniferous forests, and nearly 20 different kinds of wildflowers in bloom, all on a perfect 75 degree sunny day.

White River has been on my radar all year, but I didn't sign up until the last minute. I have been feeling so blah and tired since Western States, that it just didn't seem like a good idea to run another major race so soon. But somehow over the course of two weeks, my mind transformed this bad idea into a good idea and so I signed up. I knew I wouldn't be at my best, but I knew the course would be beautiful, I thought it might bolster my waning motivation, and I knew it would probably be the only major run between Western States and Angeles Crest. But in the days leading up to the race, I was still kind of dreading my decision - 50 miles is a LONG way to run when you are already tired! In fact, I was really looking forward to the trip more than the actual race, as I was carpooling up with Amy Sproston and Yassine Diboun, two awesome runners I was excited to get to know better.

Before the day started I told a few people that I would like to be around 8:30 on this course, but 9 hours was probably more realistic in my current state. Reality slapped me in the face as I finished in 9:00:47!

I had a few estimated splits in my head for 8:30 pace, but from the get go, I wasn't hitting them. Nothing ever went terribly wrong on the day, in fact, a lot went really well: my food and fluid intake was really good, I stayed pretty consistent, I only took six S!-caps (heat training kicking in!) and I moved up as the day went on. In fact, I started in 55th/7thF and moved up to 35th/5thF by the finish.

There was only one minor disaster and it didn't cost me too much time: With about three miles to go, I caught a toe on the very technical Skookum trail and I came down flat on my chest, knocking the wind out of me completely. Isn't a reflex to put your hands in front of you when you fall?? Was I really so tired that I couldn't even move my arms into a position to protect myself? Well, hey, at least I didn't break a nail. I came up moaning with every breath and had to walk for a bit (at least enough to add 48 seconds to my time, I am sure ;) ). As an added bonus, a mountain biker saw the whole thing and made a point of telling me how bad the fall looked. What a helpful guy!

Even with the fall, there still wasn't one thing or one section that went particularly wrong. I was just running about 3 minutes per section slower than I had hoped and those minutes add up after 50 miles!

Though my time wasn't as good as I would have liked, I still am really glad I went. It was easily the most beautiful course I have been on. I had a great time catching up with old friends and making new ones, and after two years of ultra-running I finally crossed paths with my college classmate, Greg Crowther. But what helped me the most was talking to people about recovering from a 100 miler. It was nice to hear that it was normal to still be tired and flat five weeks after putting yourself through the ringer! Even Meghan and Anton admitted that they had a hard time recovering after their first 100 and that the recovery has gotten faster with experience. Sometimes you know those things deep down, but still need the reassurance anyway.

Top 10 women (photo courtesy of the random guy I forced to take pictures of me)

Williams '95ers bring home hardware (even better, Greg got cash for his sub-7 hour third place finish). Go Ephs!

My awesome carpool: Amy (2nd), Yassine (5th) and me (5th)

Reset

2010-07-24T21:36:00.000-07:00

Since Western States, I have been trying to locate the Reset button, the one that clears the slate and makes way for the new. But I am having trouble finding it. I was so focused on Western States and so excited for that race. But when it was over, I got pulled into the post-race vortex, the one that sucks you in and then spits you out four weeks later with your head still spinning. After Western States, I think I just got lost with no direction for my running.

The big problem is Angeles Crest on August 28th, which I am in by virtue of last year's race cancellation. I was so excited for this race last year, but this year, not so much. I know lots of people run back-to-back hundreds, but for me, doing another mountainous 100 nine weeks after WS seems inhumane and insane. My heart is just not in it right now. I am not sure my body is on board either. Maybe other people bounce right back, but I still feel tired and stiff! And my left knee still isn't 100%.

My training plan for WS wasn't perfect, but I had a definite plan and I knew what I wanted to do at the time. Now I feel torn between the need to recover and the need to train. I don't have a Jerry Seinfeld inspired wall calendar for Angeles Crest; I don't even have a plan in my head!

Probably I should just bag AC, but for some reason, I feel committed and I am stubborn like that! Usually in ultras that stubbornness is an asset; now maybe I am just being an ass!

This week a friend of mine asked if I wanted to "cherry pick a trail marathon" on the 31st. There's a new race in Forest Park and at the time there weren't many entrants and he was convinced I could win the women's race easily. And instantly, I was turned off by the idea. I am very competitive, but competitive for the sake of competition and to have a good fight. I want the competition to elevate me, to push me to someplace that I wouldn't normally push myself. I'd much rather get my ass kicked but personally have a strong race than have a mediocre run and "cherry pick" a victory. So that night, I signed up for White River. I was hoping it would give me a kick in the pants- light a new spark within- but I don't think it has. It is just making me worry that I am going to get that ass kicking that I was bargaining for, and I am not even talking about the other runners! The race itself has me worried!

How strange that a month ago I was completely confident in my ability to run 100 miles and now a mere 50 scares me! But in the previous four weeks I have not run on a trail, I have not run more than an 18 miler, and until today, I had not carried even carried a water bottle or any food. Not exactly ultra-caliber training!

Basically, there are only 2-3 weeks left to train for AC. I know I can do that, but I am already looking forward to the taper and I haven't even been training! Yikes!

Trying to DNS at Western States

2010-06-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

Ready to Run (and run and run and...)

To most runners, DNS is the abbreviation for 'Did Not Start.' But as I settled into to the climb up to Escarpment and all the anxiety, jitters, and hype melted away, I realized I would be fine and that things would go my way; all I had to do was Do Nothing Stupid. And so that became my mantra for the day. Unfortunately, I can't say I was completely successful on that attempt, but overall I feel pretty good about my first go at Western States.

At 5 am the masses took off from the start, ascending the slopes leading out of Squaw Valley, rising in elevation as the sun rose to greet the new day. Tiers of icy steps carved into the persistent deep snow assisted the runners in the final climb to the top. At the very summit, Chris Thornley was melodically banging his gong in the early morning light. He was offering passing runners a chance to strike the gong, but most declined, opting not to break stride. I thought to myself, "This is Western States, and I am going to bang the gong!" but the stick wasn't offered as I passed by and so I seamlessly shifted onto the downhill single track.

Summiting Escarpment, not banging the gong (photo by Olga V.)

The next section was a lot of fun, though as one person put it, it was immediately obvious who had no snow running experience. Yeah, that would be me! I was fumbling all over the place slipping and sliding. I fell four times in this short section! Mostly it was just my downhill foot slipping out from under me on sections where the trail went straight across a slope, but once both feet went sliding down the hill, dropping me squarely on my butt. But the snow was light and slushy so there was no damage. It was early and I was in good spirits, so I just found my ineptitude comical.

Though there was a lot of snow, there had also been a lot of melt in the last couple of weeks and in some areas, the trail was more like a stream with ankle deep run off flowing over it. Other parts were a boggy mess from all the water. Well, I may not be able to do snow, but this Oregon girl can handle some mud! So overall, I moved through this section well.

Nine miles in, the route diverted from the original course onto this year's snow route for the next 13 miles. This started with 5 miles of rutted jeep road with a few snow patches and mud puddles thrown in. Then came a 2 mile paved section of gradual downhill. This was a fast section and very easy to get moving. Several people estimate that this substitution made the course about 20 minutes faster than the normal years. I had the pleasure of running most of this with Jill Perry. We were talking and laughing and the pace seemed pretty relaxed.

The way I typically pace ultras is by judging my effort level as I run. This is similar to heart rate monitoring (I think), but I just use my own sense of effort, mostly based on my breathing rate and depth. However, I think this was a mistake in Western States, particularly in this section, since WS is notorious for "blown quads." I also know from American River that my quads aren't toughened for road running these days. So in retrospect, I should have been monitoring and buffering against quad pounding and not just judging by my effort level.

Finally, the road came out on the Poppy Trail, which was a sweet waterside single track with very gentle rolling. To get back to the regular route, the course made a mile climb up this clear cut scar on a brushy hill-side. This was not a trail, but an artificial route that was recently created to link the two courses. And by recently, I am talking within the last week or so! This was stubby little plants and stumps cut within an inch or two of the ground and lots of loose brush all around. About half way up, I caught a toe and went down HARD, but when I looked at my leg there was barely even a mark and nothing seemed out of place. That made five falls in 22 miles!

I got up to Duncan Canyon and was energized by all the cheering, everyone was so supportive. A volunteer wiped a bunch of dirt off my leg and commented that it looked like my fall was "mostly dirt, little damage," and when I looked down there were just two teensy little scratches on my leg. And with that I was off.

The river at Duncan Canyon was freezing. Halfway across the knee deep river, I was pretty sure I was going to have to have my legs amputated from frost bite! Tamsin Antsey and I leaped frogged up to Robinson Flat and then left there together agreeing that we should run together for a while, which was nice because I not only had company, but this was my favorite section of the course.

By Last Chance I had pulled ahead of Tamsin, but Annette Bednosky was into the AS right behind me. She pulled away when the downhill became steep, but I was able to catch up with her again on the power hike to Devil's Thumb.

At Devil's Thumb, my weight was still nearly identical to the start. The day was really starting to heat up. I doused myself, got ice in my cap and left with a popsicle. Annette was right with me as I was walking with my popsicle and even enjoying the popsicle stick humor (Why did the mother clam scold her children? Because they were being shellfish!). But she again left me in the dust on the downhill to El Dorado Creek. I tried to run as best as I could but all of the sudden I was getting sharp stabbing pains in the side of my knee. This slowed me even more than my usual slow descent.

Hiking up to Michigan Bluff, I really started to feel the heat of the day not to mention the accumulating fatigue. About a third of the way up I came across Devon Crosby-Helms and I expressed my surprise at seeing her. Unfortunately, she had been having a rough day and was planning to drop at Michigan Bluff. Though I was feeling better than Devon, I could tell I was wilting a bit in this section, too, and when I came into Michigan Bluff I was at a pretty low point.

My weight again was right on, but food was quickly losing its appeal. I hadn't been planning to sit, but my feet had been soaking wet for the last eight hours and I had a hot spot on my heel that I knew needed some attention. While I was sitting the PT came over and started asking about my knee (I had mentioned it hurt when I first came in) and then she went to work taping it to lessen the symptoms of runner's knee. She also tried to show me some maneuvers I could do on my own on the trail, but I couldn't concentrate.

While I was sitting there, Mac gave me a hand held full of ice and Starbucks frappuccino, and I downed it as it was the most delicious thing I have ever had! But then it was time to leave, and I was full of dread: 45 miles left to go and I was SO tired.

Me, at Michigan Bluff, feeling crummy, but looking sexy in my Sultan of the Sahara hat. Mac convinced me to wear it: "Anita Ortiz and Meghan wear than kind of hat." Thank heavens he didn't tell me that Anita and Meghan ran in chicken suits or that's what I'd be wearing in this photo! My knee is taped, but those crutches aren't mine! (photo by Olga)

Olga had an awesome pep talk for me: "You're fine. You are supposed to feel like shit at Michigan Bluff!" Fantastic, I guess everything was just peachy keen, then!

Sean could also sense I was dragging. As I left he says,"Do you know Bowhunter Cam from Eugene?" Kind of, I tell him. I don't really know him, but I have heard about our local ultra runner who is also a prize winning bow-hunter (and all around bad-ass). So Sean yells, "that's him right in front of you. You get up there and run with him!"

So I run up to him and say,"Bowhunter Cam? Hi, I am Pam from Salem." He is "Bowhunter Cam" and I am just "Pam from Salem"?? How lame is that? Anyway, we run down to Volcano Creek together and I am really just struggling, but I recognize it as the same drained and over heated feeling that I had at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. And then it hits me that I didn't take any ice or dunk my hat at the last two aid stations. STUPID! But it is not too long before we get to the creek. Cam starts to splash water on his arms and legs and I full on jump in! I sit down, lay back, and am completely submerged except for the little circle of my face, and I lay there until I start to get goosebumps. I come out completely refreshed, plus I think maybe the caffeine is starting to kick in. Anyway, I am ready to move on the way up Volcano Canyon!

My second pacer, Anne, met me at Bath Road with her husband and I made my way to Forest Hill in good spirits and feeling pretty good. I had another handheld full of frappuccino and I made sure to get really wet (hence my video at Forest Hill in the previous post). I took off with my first pacer Mo and had a great first hour with her. After that my stomach started to get queasy and I wasn't able to eat much at Peachstone or Ford's Bar. Mo was encouraging me to drink soda to get some energy in and I probably got in a bottle and a half or so. But my stomach just keep getting worse. I took two salt tabs and another about 30 minutes later, but nothing was changing. Then a nurse at one of the aid stations thought I had probably taken too much salt, so in addition to not doing well with food, I got all confused about electrolytes.

This year racers crossed the American River in boats due to the high water level. I thought this meant I would get to rest a bit, but our rower got us across in about ten seconds flat! Then it was a slog up to Green Gate. And by that time I was feeling pretty sick. I couldn't take any food, but I drank another bottle of frappuccino.

Pretty much every part of me was ready to be done at this point. I was tired, my tank was completely empty, I was queasy and solid food made me dry heave, and I had the classic "blown quads" of Western States, despite training to avoid this. Also, my left knee started bothering me. By the finish, my left knee was about 50% bigger than my right and it was all bruised up - maybe not such a harmless little fall earlier after all!

Updates on the course were really spotty and Mac had NO reception on his iPhone to get information, so I didn't really know exactly where the competition was. I knew I had been in 9th since the canyons, but we weren't sure what the lead over 10th was. My crew thought it was a decent lead because they had hung out at Forest Hill for about 15 minutes after I left and didn't see any other women. I like to finish strong and come from behind, but that wasn't going to happen. Unfortunately, I knew I was in survival mode and just trying to hang on for dear life.

I tried to run as much as I could, but sadly that was very little. Poor Anne didn't even get a workout pacing me. Mostly I was just powerhiking. When I got to Hwy 49, I was in bad shape. Mac said my breathing was out of control. It wasn't asthma, it was just exhaustion. The cooler still had two unopened bottles of frappuccino (we started with four) so I got the impression that the hand held bottles Mac had been giving me before were very watered down with a lot of ice and that I hadn't really had more than two regular bottles. So I downed another bottle because these were the only things I could get down. Well, it turns out Mac was so worried about me that he went to a store in Cool and bought more. What an All-Star! However, I normally lead a decaffeinated life and am very sensitive to caffeine. I often use caffeine in races as a little pick me up, but between the 5 frappuccinos and the 40 or so ounces of soda, I had about three and a half times the amount of caffeine I have ever had on a single day in my entire life! I truly believe that is what caused my stomach to rebel. This was such a stupid mistake because the nausea made it hard to run and it kept me from eating properly and even messed with my electrolyte plan.

Right as we were leaving Hwy 49 Angela Shartel comes in. I cuss under my breath at first, but then I notice she looks really dazed and I can't really begrudge her for moving better than me, especially when I am moving so poorly. So right as we leave I tell her, "Hey, you and I are number 9 and 10. Keep it together for just a little bit longer and we'll get those last top spots."

Time to heed my own advice! I could give up one spot, but how many other women were closing in?? So I ran almost everything to No Hands, pushing as much as I could through the meadow and down the hill which probably means we weren't running faster than 13 minute miles, but it felt insanely hard. We got to No Hands and didn't see Angela. We blew through the Aid Station and started the very gentle uphill to Robie, but nothing uphill felt gentle to me and I had nothing more to give. I had to throw in walk breaks and as we went the breaks got longer and more frequent. About a mile in, Angela and her pacer come jogging by. My pacer starts to run. I jog for two steps, but I know it is futile. "Let her go," I say, "I can't do that pace." A half mile more and we get to the steep uphill. This is the only stuff I like at this point because Western States taught me I am not such a bad power hiker. And so over the last 3/4 mile climb we are gaining on Angela.

Mac met us at Robie Point and he is ready to run and chase down Angela. We are still gaining on the power hike section, but as it flattens she is able to run much more and faster than I am. I just can NOT run anything uphill at this point. I know I am in tenth, with no insurance policy anymore. I just have to get to the finish line. When the road flattens, I tell myself there are no excuses, you have to run everything the last half mile, and even though it is a dreadfully slow shuffle, I do. As I run I am constantly checking my back. At one point two lights come behind us and I freak out a bit. "You're both guys, right?" I ask them. One of them jokes in a fake high voice, "No, we are just masculine women." They say the next woman is close, but probably three or four minutes back. "You've got this," they tell me and I knew they were right. I knew I could run it in to the finish. Of course, that didn't stop me from looking over my shoulder another ten times!

I completed 100 grueling miles in 21:36, for the fastest 10th place time ever (by 31 minutes!). Say what you will about a faster course or moderate temps, but I am choosing to believe this shows the strength of the women's field this year. I am honored and inspired that I got to spend the day running with such amazing ladies and I am super excited that I get to do it again next year!

Pacer Anne, "Pam from Salem," and stud crew Mac

Corvallis trail runners: F2(Meghan Arbogast) and F10! Go Oregon!

I am very pleased with my first running at Western States. I know I made some mistakes and I feel like I gave 9th place away (I had a 22 minute lead at the river), but I did accomplish my two main goals for this year: I went under 21:42 and I got a top 10 spot (skin of my teeth, huh?). I did what I set out to do, but I know there is room for improvement, too.

Montrail Ultra Cup winners (r-l): Meghan Arbogast (1st), Annette Bednosky (2nd), me, Jill Perry (4th, not pictured) and Joelle Vaught (5th)

Another great "prize" - the sign on the door from my 5 year old daughter when I got to my parents'.

Lastly, there are lots of thank you's to give out: to my hubby Mac who was an awesome crew and who put up with my WS insanity for the last 6 months; to my pacers for keeping me moving; to my parents for keeping my kids over the weekend without resorting to TV or junk food - I don't even manage that!; to everyone who offered up kind words and gave me encouragement leading up to the race; to all of the amazing volunteers who completely pampered the runners; and to all the competitors for making this all happen and providing so much inspiration.

Teaser

2010-06-27T18:06:00.000-07:00

I have to sleep before I can write a full race report, but I am pleased that I accomplished my two major goals of gettig a top ten spot (barely!) and breaking 22 hours. I even beat my "private" goal of 21:42.

The day had its ups and downs, but here is what UltraLiveNet choose as the highlight.

See, Hal and Anton weren't the only ones the media was following around. ;)

(update- hopefully that video works now)

Zero: Go!

2010-06-26T05:03:00.000-07:00

Race day! You can get updates here.

I am #117. I started dating my husband on January 17th and I am running my 17th ultra, so hopefully that number has lots of good karma behind it!

Next stop: Auburn, CA - Endurance Capitol of the World!

One: Check-In and Final Prep

2010-06-25T18:38:00.000-07:00

We got to Squaw Valley today for mandatory runner medical check and race briefing. The day was cool and overcast, and I was freezing. But forecasts are still for the 90's tomorrow despite being in the 70's today.

Many marathons have big pre-race festivities, but all the ultras I have done (including AR50) have been devoid of all fanfare. This was a bit of a mini-circus with all the people, booths, and assembly line the runners had to go through.

At medical check I weighed in at 125! I know I have been running heavy this year, but yikes! I tried to blame it on my running shoes and being hydrated. My pacer Mo was working another runner check so when I went down to say "hi" to her, I casually stepped onto her scale...115. Ok, ten pounds is a big difference, so I had a little internal freak-out and then went to talk to the head doc to try to get her to change my recorded weight since they can pull you for 7% weight loss, but she assured me if I looked fine and not dehydrated they would never pull me, so I am officially running at 125, meaning that after 22 weeks of the hardest training of my life I am now heavier than I have ever been (non-pregnant)! Ha.

Meanwhile, Hal Koerner comes in and there is a guy with a TV camera filming him get weighed in! And one of the ladies at my tables is wondering if she might take a picture with him. What is going on here? Is this an ultra-marathon or the Oscars?? It was a little crazy but the excitement was palpable and it was fun to soak in all that energy.

At race briefing, I met up with Jill Perry and we shared a little about being moms and running ultras. We like to think being a mom makes us mentally tough!

Two Hot Mommas! ;)

Listening intently to all of the race instructions with my "crew."

The race briefing concluded with an introduction of all the people that "raced" their way into Western States. I originally got in through the lottery, but also got a spot at AR50, so I got included...that felt pretty awkward!

Joelle Vaught, Meghan Arbogast, Nikki Kimball, Caren Spore, ?, Tamsin Antsy, Devon Crosby-Helms, Nicola Gildersleeve, Jenny Capel, Connie Gardner, Annette Bednosky, Jill Perry and me. I kind of felt like I was the answer to the Sesame Street song "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things does not belong."

After the race, I went all anal laying everything out, labeling bags for the aid stations, and packing bags for after the race. All that is left to do is sleep...and run 100.2 miles!

Two: Reflect

2010-06-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

With only two days to go, the on-line hype for Western States is reaching it's crescendo, with on-line polls, WS odds, and even a Western States fantasy league!

The hype is fun, but I also think it is good to step away from all that and remember the big picture.

In running, I have been so excited with my progress this year and the journey has been great. I had some low moments when maybe I went a little too hard, but mostly I am just so amazed at what the body and the mind can adapt to. For me both are stronger than ever. I hope to do well at WS, but a single day cannot erase a good season or the 1,473 miles I ran in the last 22 weeks to get here. Western States is just the party to celebrate what has already been accomplished this year.

Of course, I am hoping it is a really good party!

Three: Travel

2010-06-23T21:39:00.000-07:00

We drove down to my parents today. My husband tried to sabotage all of my heat training by blasting the AC the whole trip. I did keep the seat heater on the whole way! It got in the 90's today and it didn't seem all that bad, of course I wasn't running either.

Today had to be considered a mental warm-up for the race. Eleven hours in a car with a three year old who started asking, "Are we there yet?" thirty-five minutes into the drive is enough to test anyone's patience and mental fortitude!

Four: Sharpen

2010-06-22T05:18:00.000-07:00

I love the running term "sharpen." It makes me picture my legs like knives, cutting through the air as they run. This morning I did my last run of any significance: 5 miles with 6 x 1 minute fast to sharpen my knives, er, legs. My legs are now so sharp it hurts to run my hands over them. Oh, wait, I think that just means I need to shave. ;)

Five: Obsess

2010-06-21T21:55:00.000-07:00

Sometime soon they are supposed to announce whether we will be using the regular Western States course or a modified snow course. So I checked the website four times just in case they may have posted it there before they send the info to runners in an e-mail. I can't tell you how many times I checked my e-mail.

I have also been keeping a careful eye on the weather, checking not just the forecasts for Auburn but also for Squaw Valley. Did you know the predicted high for Saturday in Auburn has gone up three degrees in the last five days? Yeah, well I did. Not good because I still can't get past 35 minutes in the sauna. Today I bailed at 25. The only bright side is that the forecast is nowhere near 180 degrees, so I am hoping I'll tolerate race conditions better than the hot box.

And most of my conversations seem to be about running 100 miles these days. Maybe that's because I try to slip it into every conversation. My water cooler talk goes something like this:

Innocent co-worker: Doesn't it suck that it is June and it is only 57 degrees?

Me: Yeah, well I am certainly going to be wishing it were 57 this weekend while I am running the 100 mile Western States Endurance Run where it will probably be close to 100 degrees in the canyons.

Innocent co-worker (so completely disinterested and walking away): Yeah, well, I wish we could get some of that heat up here.

Ok, maybe not that obnoxious, but you get the idea.

Last night Mac asked me, "So what percentage of your time do you spend thinking about Western States right now."

"87.9%," I answered immediately.

"Hmmm... I got the impression that it was higher than that," Mac replied.

"Oh, well it is when I am not working and the kids are asleep."

Needless to say, the event is looming large in my mind!!

Six: Shoes

2010-06-20T08:33:00.000-07:00

Ultra-runners seem to be obsessed with the make and model of their shoes. In just about every interview I've seen with a top runner, they talk about what shoes they are wearing. On the other hand, I have never seen an interview with a marathon runner, or any other sports athlete, where they talked about their shoes!

When Anton won Miwok this year, he got a bunch of comments on his blog about his shoes! Nobody asked what did he eat, how much salt did he take, did he have a detailed race strategy, etc. It was all about the shoes.

Can you imagine some sports reporter standing courtside with Venus Williams, asking,"Venus, great job on your Wimbleton win. Your fans are dying to know what shoes you were wearing for the match!"??

I understand that ultrarunners are on their feet more than any other athletes and that foot issues can derail a good day. I know that it is important to have good shoes that are comfortable and don't cause blisters, but I am not expecting my shoes to have magic powers that make me run faster. Although it certainly would be cool if I could run like Anton just by wearing the same shoes as Anton!

I have always had a utilitarian attitude toward my shoes. For the first 15 years of my running "carreer" I just bought whatever pair of Nikes that was on sale at the local Big 5. The only injury I ever had was the season I bought a pair of Adidas, so I took that as a sign from the running gods that I should keep wearing Nikes. I know I had a few pair of Air Pegasus shoes, but otherwise, I have no idea what models the shoes were (maybe "Air Cheapos"??).

Then I started running ultras and decided to get "fitted" for some shoes and I was told I over pronate and should wear stability shoes. So I bought the "Air Stabilizers" or whatever Nike's motion control shoe was and I hated them. I think the motion control just felt funny. The next recommendation was the Asics 2140. They work well and I am on my 4th pair, but I suspect I would have been just as happy in cheap Nikes.

For trail shoes, I have been running in the Montrail Streak and will be for Western States. I chose them in an even less scientific manner: I won them. They seem to keep me running well so I am happy. I guess my only complaint is that they don't make me run like Anton. ;)

Have you found the perfect pair of shoes, or are you a fickle consumer like me?

Seven: Size Up The Competition

2010-06-18T21:05:00.000-07:00

Ultra running is all about personal accomplishment and pushing your limits, but there is no denying the race aspect of it either. Especially when it comes to Western States, a race that seems to prompt more speculation than the 2006 real estate market.

It's not been a secret that I'd like to finish in the Top 10 and come away with an automatic entry to next year's event, so I can have this much fun all over again! But that is not going to be an easy feat, as the field boasts an all-star cast and will most likely be the most competitive race all year.

On the women's side, I think there will be two separate races going on: a race for the victory and a race to round out the top 10.

I am grouping Nikki Kimball, Tracy Garneau, Meghan Arbogast, Joelle Vaught, and Devon Crosby-Helms up front, with Annette Bednosky as somebody else who could factor in.

After that I think there are 11 women with a solid chance for a Top 10 (I'd like to think I am part of this group) and then five more women who just might pull it off if they really throw down a good one that day. That's 22 women for 10 spots! Top 10 will not be easy to pull off and there are certainly no guarantees! But isn't the challenge part of the fun??

Oh yeah - I heard there might be some guys running at Western States, too. ;)

Also up for grabs is the Montrail Ultra Cup. Annette is way out in front but that is because she has more races than anybody else. Since only four races count and Western States has the most available points, the totals from everyone's three best races are:

Devon Crosby-Helms 159.25
Annette Bednosky 155.83
Pam Smith :) 155.17
Meghan Arbogast 154.70
Jill Perry 129.94

I am so honored to be in the middle of that group of ladies, but I will freely admit I had to run 12 miles more than anyone else to get there (points are proportional to miles run). But there is no option to add extra miles at Western States to let me compete in that talent pool! So I'll put myself finishing in 4th, just outside the money.

The fastest winning women's time this decade is 18:12. Assuming none of the ladies run faster than that, each point will be worth at least 10.92 minutes. That gives Devon a 37+ minute lead over Annette and nearly a 50 minute head start over Meghan. I don't know who'll be first to cross the line in Auburn, but I think Devon can stay within the spread to stay at the top of the scoreboard and win the cup. Jill is an amazing runner, but she is going to need someone to DNF (please not me!) if she is going to move up on the list.

This guessing and speculation is all just fun and games to keep me busy in my extra free time while I taper. ;) I enjoy it because I am over-analytical, but I don't plan to get caught up in it. When the gun goes off, I won't be paying any attention to the race around me (well, ok maybe a little bit...) and just run my race, my way.

Feel free to add your predictions to the mix!

Eight: Nutrition Plan

2010-06-18T06:39:00.000-07:00

In ultra-running it seems there are two camps when it comes to race day nutrition: those who prefer to eat "real" food and those who stick to gels, pastes and powders.

I am a real foodie, mostly because I can't do more than about five GU's before I want to gag (even though my stomach is just fine). I don't know how the gelnivores are able to eat that stuff for 20 straight hours! I am pretty much able to eat anything as long as it still tastes good to me. Mostly this ends up being a lot of "junk" food, the same things that are NOT allowed in our pantry and that I try to keep my kids from eating!

The nice thing about the real food camp is that the stuff is cheap. My two favorites: Rice Krispie treats ($12 for 54) and fruit snacks ($10.50 for 80). I can get a year's worth at Costco for about the same amount I'd have to spend on gels for one race! Also, being a real food eater, I know I can pretty much rely on aid stations for food. I love it when an aid station has home baked goodies! The down side is that some of these things (especially fruit) are a little harder to pack and carry on the run than gels. So my stash will be a mix of gels, bloks, and Costco/aid station snacks. I don't pay much attention to the content/sugar type/macro nutrient breakdown in my food. I just concentrate on getting the calories in and figure whatever sounds the best is probably what my body needs at that point.

So my fueling plan boils down to no plan at all! If it ain't broke...

Off to Costco!

Nine: Asthma and Allergy Control

2010-06-17T04:22:00.000-07:00

I am an allergy an asthma sufferer. Both have affected my running in the past. Last May, I had Claritin induced muscle weakness which kept me from doing any serious running for about a month before I got it figured out. And then in August, I had my first ever asthma attack and it was a doozy, turning the 100k National Championships at Where's Waldo into my worst race ever. Fortunately, these are things that I think I have under control so they won't be an issue on race day (knock on wood!).

Last August, I started getting allergy shots for grass. I had a little scare in the form of an anaphylaxis attack, so that I am not up to the full dose yet, but it is smack dab in the middle of grass season and I have barely a sniffle! No more head full of yuck and no more allergy meds!

For the asthma, it seems to work pretty well to do a three to five day lead up with the steroid inhaler. Yep, hitting the 'roids right before race day. Shhh! Don't tell anyone! Just kidding, these are NOT anabolic steroids so they won't help me get big and strong. It does help my running, however, if I can breathe properly! I will be carrying my short acting inhaler with me the entire way on race day and I plan to use it if I feel even the slightest tightness in my chest (I did this at Bandera and in the Grand Canyon and never had any problems).

In addition, I have been taking Omega 3 fatty acids, Vitamin C and Vitamin E supplements for the anti-inflammatory properties. Do they help and am I sold? I don't really know, but they don't seem to be hurting any so I will keep taking them at least through race day.

So that should keep me breathing easy...well, at least when I am not hyperventilating thinking about the race!

The Countdown Begins!

2010-06-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

TEN: Heat

The final count down begins!! My mileage is in half this week and already I feel fat, slow and lazy. I think that means the taper is going well.

My big push is for sauna time right now. I have said to a few people about my ultra-running that I am not great at anything but I don't suck at anything either. Well, I am starting to doubt that statement. I might suck in the heat.

I really melted down in the Grand Canyon when the temps soared. At the time it was a positive experience because I was able to turn it around and snap out of it. But now I am finding I really hate the sauna, too. I sweat like a pig and feel so mentally out of it. I can barely focus on a People magazine while I am in there, and that is a far cry from rocket science! Hopefelly, these suffer-fests are affecting some miraculous adaptations so I don't even notice the heat at WS.

Best Weekend Trip Ever!

2010-06-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend (June 4-7 ...I took too long finishing this up) was the weekend of The Last Big Run, and I had the extreme privilege to join Meghan Arbogast, Rob Cain and John Price on a Rim to Rim to Rim double crossing of the Grand Canyon, a 47 mile jaunt with 11,000+ feet of climbing with elevations up t0 8400' on a day that topped out at 112 degrees. It was every sort of training you could ever want for Western States with majestic scenery all around.

Most people start from the South Rim, but we had our base camp in a cute little cabin on the North Rim. We hit the trail head just before 5:30 and made our way down the North Kaibab to Phantom Ranch, enjoying pre-dawn cool temps and shade from the canyon walls.

From there it is UP, UP, UP to the South Rim with the last four miles to the top a long steep march. Fortunately, we only got caught behind one mule train for a short while so the day contained only a small section of wading through mule piss. Once you get above Indian Gardens, the tourists hit the trail en masse so there is plenty of entertainment on the climb. Seriously, why would anybody be on the trail in a strapless dress and ballet flats?? Hopefully to make us laugh, because we did. Plenty of other interesting people out for a little hike as well.

The nice thing about going N to S is that we were able to stop for lunch at the half way point on tourist-y South Rim, whereas the North Rim offers nothing more than a parking lot at the trail head. So we had a nice stop for lunch, where I had the best tasting grilled cheese sandwich ever along with some fries and a big rootbeer to wash it down.

When we started back down, I couldn't believe how good I felt. As we started running down the steep trail, I could feel my full belly, but my legs felt great and there was no stiffness at all from sitting around for 45 minutes to eat. Meghan wanted to add a side trip out to Plateau Point to make the run an even 50 miles and I told her for sure I was going because I wanted 50 miles, too. And then, in a matter of minutes, things all went haywire.

We had just passed the three mile house about thirty minutes into our descent and I just started to feel extreme fatigue. The noon day sun was beating down on us and I was just melting. The effort to run went up exponentially, even though everything was still all downhill. We got to Indian Gardens and the thermometer read 112 degrees, which is about 40 degrees warmer than any temps we've seen in Salem this dismal spring.

I knew there was a LONG way to go before we were done for the day, so I ended up bailing on the trip to plateau point, but Meghan was rock solid and set on getting in the extra miles, so we all lazed at Indian Gardens while Meghan alone ventured out to the point. We spent the time at Indian Gardens tending to a guy suffering from heat and offering him all kinds of ultra-type advice on fueling, nutrition and salt as well as giving some of our supplies to help perk him up.

Meghan got back and was ready to keep on rolling. I was OK for a couple of miles and then just started losing it again. Every time Meghan would walk, I would be so thankful. I gave an inward groan every time we had to start running, but I managed to keep up until we got to Phantom Ranch. There I just slumped onto the counter waiting to order my lemonade. I was starting to worry about getting out of the canyon before dark!

We sat for a while and I pounded my ice cold "lemmy" and then chugged a liter of ice water (ah, ice! so much nicer than drinking warm water!). I made myself eat a double bag of M&M's and a bag of pretzels, I took three S-caps and then went and totally submerged myself in the Bright Angel Creek. I came out totally revived and ready to roll!

Meghan later told me: "I didn't want to say anything at the time, but you looked really bad at Phantom Ranch."

We ran most of the seven miles up to Cottonwood camp with two stops to jump in the creek. After Cottonwood is the steepest stuff of the day, almost all hiking to the top. But this is the most gorgeous part of the canyon with huge rock walls towering overhead in a deep red color (much darker than the South side). Plus the temps were starting to fall and the walls provided lots of shade.

We got to the Supai tunnel and ran into a pair of rim to rim hikers, one of whom was suffering badly. We offered what we could but we were anxious to get going. I definitely gained a spring in my step knowing we had only two miles to the top!

With a whoop we arrived at our starting point just under 14 hours after starting and with plenty of daylight to spare!

The next day, I awoke with sore calves but everything else was feeling pretty good. We continued our weekend adventure in Zion, NP with another two and a half hours of running/hiking which included tackling the crazy climb to Angel's Rest - that steep little spine of jagged rock in the picture.

We thought that was the end of our excitement, but a blown tire on the way back to the airport kept us on our toes. We had a mad scramble to make our flight, but everything ended on a happy note.

The whole weekend was amazing with phenomenal scenery as the backdrop for some awesome running!

Titus Van Rijn

2010-05-31T00:45:00.001-07:00

A week ago my training partner Steph and I headed to the Charles Bowles track at Willamette University for Salem's addition of the Titus Van Rijn. The idea is simple: run around a tracjk to accumu;ate as much distance as you can in one hour; the execution is not always so simple!

Last year's Titus Van Rijn did not go as I had hoped, so this year, I made two crucial changes:

1) I invited my training partner out to keep me company, and

2) I convinced the weather gods to keep things 20 degrees cooler than last year!

The track was mostly empty, but the infield was swarming with boys high school soccer players. The oblivious teenagers would often drift on to the inner lane, with ensuing yells of "TRACK!" from us.

Steph had the awesome idea to trade of the lead every mile, which helped the first six miles go quickly. We hit 4.5 miles at 30:15 and I joked that we would have to negative split if we were going to make nine. Steph joked back that she was just fine with eight, so maybe we should run slower. But we didn't slow.

We drifted a bit apart after about 6-6.5 miles and just ran the last 20 or so minutes doing our own thing. I had 20:37 for a 5k to get me to nine miles and I was going for it! I thought it'd be close, but I had 47 seconds to spare and added a bonus 178 meters in that time. Steph also passed nine miles with 10 seconds to spare!!

We did our cool down and then celebrated with a black cherry "spritzer" because neither of us drink a lot of soda.

My total was 14,578 meters for the hour, a good 1K farther than last year!! The only downside is that I now know my Garmin overestimates distance a bit (it was about .25 miles over for the hour+, though not enough to make any real difference.

Roller Coaster

2010-05-30T23:32:00.000-07:00

It's been an interesting two weeks, definitely with some ups and downs, but fortunately, I feel like I am back to a good spot.

Two weeks ago, everything was just off. No, not just tired. You can't be an ultrarunner if you can't handle running tired. It was so much more than that. My hips were hurting; I felt like every run was a struggle; my legs throbbed when I ran; and they ached for hours after a run. This training requires riding a fine line of exertion, but I had passed my limit.

Still, these are the most important weeks of training and I felt like they couldn't be squandered. And so even though I wrote on my blog that I might take a few days off, every part of me was thinking,"Just pust through. It is only 20 more days till you start to taper. Suck it up and get it done!" And so that night I did eight miles on the treadmill, and tried to convince myself that was an "easy" workout because half of the miles were "power walking" with incline and not even running. Then on Tuesday, I dropped the kids off at school and set off for a run around town (I was home for the week single parenting while Mac did manly things in Alaska). Sixteen miles of pure misery. More achy, sore legs and complete exhaustion despite running over a minute per mile slower than usual for a run like that. My legs hurt all day afterward. Twenty days no longer sounded like a short period to train but a really long time to be miserable if I didn't do something. And so I took four days off. Yes, four, and there was no cross training, no walking, no lifting, no nothing - just rest.

This is a sport where more is better, where we all continually push ourselves to go beyond what we have done before. That is part of the appeal - to test your barriers and to find the inner strength to do things that you didn't think possible. Ultramarathon training constantly flirts with overtraining, but it feels like that is a bit of a dirty word, something people don't want to admit to. Because in some ways it feels a bit like failing, either physically or mentally it seems like maybe you just aren't tough enough to handle the training load. If a coach made the training schedule, maybe it feels like you aren't meeting expectations. If you made your own (like I did), it fells like maybe you over estimated what you could handle or maybe that you didn't know what you were doing when you made the schedule.

I tried to deny it at first, but eventually, I just needed a break. Yes, I was "overtrained." I think this was from the race schedule, but I don't at all regret piling American River, Capitol Peak, and MacDonald Forest into a one month period. Those races did so much for my confidence and strengthening my racing ability. Rather, I think my real mistake was not taking enough recovery after each race. I think if I had given myself 2 or even 3 days of rest after each race, I wouldn't have needed the rest right now.

The rest went well, and my body healed. It was hard to give up those days of training, but I don't regret it at all. The training at that point was doing more damage than good. I came back fresh and ready to run this week and that is just what I did!

Last Sunday, I paced a friend in the Iris Festival Half marathon and it was great! Yeah, I PW'd (personal worst, haha) by 8 minutes, but still running felt so easy and light (and I helped my friend PR by over 2.5 minutes! - 1:37:26). Monday easy, Tuesday did a double, Wednesday my training partner Steph and I killed the Titus Van Rijn one hour track time trial, typical Thursday and Friday and 32 at Macdonald forest for a great 98 miles! But better yet, I still feel good! I am ready for the last big week before starting to taper! Motivation should be pretty easy to come by as I leave Friday for a R2R2R run in the Grand Canyon!!

Overtraining is no fun and not something that is easy to accept. But at least I know I was training as hard as I possibly could. I did everything my body could handle and then some. And I feel like I have learned from my mistakes. Those things certainly make the idea more palatable. A top ten finish a Western States would also lessen my grief from this stumble. ;)

So anybody else want to admit to a period where they were overtrained? What did you do to get past it? For me, it was simple - time off. But now I am feeling better than ever and so excited for the next month!

Trying To Get Hip

2010-05-17T14:28:00.001-07:00

For Valentine's day, Mac got me two sports massages at a local place. After the first one, I thought it was great. Nothing like getting naked and having a stranger touch you! ;) The sports massage was very different than the Go-On-Vacation-And-Get-A Relaxing Massage; she was there to get work done and some of the stuff even hurt a bit. But it seemed to do a great job of working out the kinks and so I have been going 1-2 times a month for the last three months.

Last Monday when I mentioned my hips were A LITTLE tight after Mac Forest, she did an assessment and said my hips were out of alignment and really tight and that I should have some ileo-psoas work. So the massage was mostly poking, prodding and general torture in the region of my hip flexors.

I biked 33 miles Tuesday, (~1:30) and was fine. But then on an easy 10 miler Wednesday, my hips were sore and the right was downright painful. I only did 39 running miles last week (recovery week), but my hip flexors don't feel recovered at all.

What's the deal? Was this too much poking and prodding, a typical reaction, coincidence, or me just freaking out because it is less than six weeks from WS? I can run fine, and I don't really have pain when running, but my hip flexors just feel off and they ache when I am not running. I hate to give up the training time, but I may have to take a couple of days off just to be on the safe side. Any thoughts??

The Cocktail Of Champions

2010-05-10T19:39:00.000-07:00

I have invented the perfect post-run cocktail! I think this has the ideal 4:1 carb to protein ratio for optimal recovery and it'll leave you feeling good after your run!;)

McDonald Forest -Take 2

2010-05-08T21:24:00.000-07:00

Finally -after two really cold wet weeks- Oregonians were treated to some weather appropriate for May. And what great timing as this weekend was the McDonald Forest 50k.

I lined up at the start with Ashley Nordell and Darla Askew, and was thrilled to be with these two lovely and talented ladies from Sisters. But I was only able to hang with them for about ten yards after the race started. And even though I have come to grips with my strong race mentality, as they took off, I actually felt relieved. I was thinking,"Good. They can race each other and I can just do my own thing."

After the first aid station, we crisscrossed through marginal trails over rough terrain in the section known as "The Maze." When we popped back onto the road at mile 10.6 RD Scott was there at the intersection and he asks,"Do you want to know about the girls ahead of you?" How could I say no??

"Ashley's about three minutes ahead and Darla is about a minute ahead of her." The info certainly wasn't lighting any fires in me.

The highest point on the course was at mile 18.3 at Dimple Hill. Then there was a long downhill. At Capitol Peak, my mind and my legs were telling me to "Go For It" when I hit the downhill, but today everything seemed to be begging "Just Recover" on the downhill section. Nothing was wrong, I was moving fine, but I just didn't feel like I had that extra gear today. But my biggest strength seems to be keeping a consistent pace and I was doing just that.

I ran most of the way up Horse Trail, a section I walked a ton of last year. I knew my time was going to be a lot better that last year's and I was content to just race the clock today, even thinking 5 hours MIGHT be doable. But then right at the last switch back I saw Darla just ahead.

If consistency is my strength, downhill running is my weakness. I played leap-frog with three or four guys through out the day: I would jump past them on the uphill only to have them blow by on the downhill. It was no different with Darla. I obviously gained on her on the up, but she preserved the lead when we turned down. But after the last aid station there is three miles of runnable uphill (though it doesn't feel so runnable after 27 miles!). I still wasn't feeling any "killer instincts" - Darla is so nice it would be hard to feel any killer instincts toward her even if I did have it in me! - but my natural pace propelled me to the lead.

I finished in 4:54, a minute a half behind Ashley and about the same ahead of Darla. I made up time on Ashley, but I am sure Darla was closing the gap fast on the last 1.25 miles of downhill. All three of us were under Darla's winning time from last year. Everybody just keeps getting faster!

I was really happy with my efforts today. I don't feel like I had the same edge I had at Capitol Peak, and I know that is some fatigue making itself known. American River, Capitol Peak and Mac Forest are 131 miles of racing in five weekends and it is taking its toll! But I am still psyched to go sub-5 hours on a course with 6700' climb (and equal descent). That's 25 minutes faster than last year's time! Good to know the hard work is paying off!

Though taxing, I think the racing has been good, both for some intense training and because I think the last two weeks have helped me figure out how I want to "attack" Western States. And they have certainly been good for my confidence in my fitness and training.

For my reward, this week I get to rest (well, recover, anyway). After that there is only six weeks till Western States!!

The Family That Runs Together

2010-05-02T20:36:00.000-07:00

This was a very unusual weekend in our household as I was the only person who didn't run in an organized event.

Saturday the kids had their second running in the Awesome 3000. The pre-schoolers only run 300 meters, but last year it was one big cry fest for my two. This year was a totally different story. Megan couldn't wait to run and told me in no uncertain terms that she was not tired at the end and that she'll be ready for the full mile next year. I ran with Liam. He got tired about 150 m in but never really stopped running. (Last year he was in tears the whole way but kept running, too. He's miserable, he's tired, but he never stops - I have him pegged as a future ultra-runner!).
I was totally amused by the parents. I am well aware that I have that "Eye of the Tiger" mentality when I race (to put it euphemistically), but that is so NOT me with my kids. But there were plenty of other parents pushing to be at the front when the gun went off. And when we were checking in one mom was giving coaching advice to her son about running on the inside lane and how to pass people! For a while we were pretty sure Megan was destined to be a "math-lete" because she was SO un-coordinated, so it is mostly just great to see her enjoying sports. Both of my kids had solid "middle of the pack" performances and I couldn't be more proud!

Five year olds take on the mile.

The most Awesome part of the Awesome 3000 is the level of participation. There were over 600 kids registered to run in the pre-school divisions and more than twice that in the grade school divisions. None of the runs are timed and everyone gets a medal. It is a great event that gets kids to have fun with running.

This weekend was also THE BIG WEEKEND for Mac, as he tackled his first marathon down in Eugene. Mac is normally a very laid back guy. We joke that when it comes to being a Type A or Type B personality, I am an A+ and Mac is a C. But, OMG he became an uptight psychotic nut-job Saturday night. It was really quite cute to watch, and it made me think he is not so laid back after all.

Starting around 3pm he started pacing around the house. He printed a pace arm-band, then laminated with packing tape, only to decide he wasn't going to wear it. He laid out his clothes, then took out two more shirts, went through a pro's and con's list for each top before finally decided on the one he had originally chosen. He pinned his number on his shorts then jogged around the bedroom in them. Later that night he was walking around the house in his race top and vest.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I am testing my race clothes," he explained.

"You ran a 20 miler in them three weeks ago. What do you need to test?" I asked back.

"Just leave me alone," he responded and sulked back to the bedroom, where I later found him trying to decide what flavor Shot-bloks to take. He went to bed early, but not in our bed because he needed a whole bed to himself the night before a marathon.

Yes, I am making fun of him a bit, but only because I have been there so many times myself! I tried on four sports bras (the same old ones I always wore, mind you) the night before my first ultra and stood in front of the cabin mirror swinging my arms in a running motion to decide which one would be perfect. Nothing like a big race to make you start obsessing like a mad man (or woman)!

But the obsessing paid off! Mac had a "public" goal of breaking 4 hours, but also like me, he is a sand-bagger and really had a "private" goal that he wanted to achieve of 3:48, the time on which his training plan was based.

The Eugene Marathon live tracking web-site was a sucktacular disappointment as it crashed soon after the first half of the pack went through 10k, so I had no idea if Mac was rocking it or bonking hard until he called to tell me the good news - 3:46! I am super proud of him.
I love to race, but it was really great to be on the side-lines cheering on the rest of my family and watching them succeed in their running pursuits.

Capitol Peak Mileage ("It's NOT A Race" Report)

2010-04-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

One day a scorpion decided he needed a change and so he set out from his home looking for adventure. But early in his journey he was halted by a river and could see no way across. He was just about to head home when he spotted a large bull frog. The scorpion asked the frog for a ride across the river, but the frog was skeptical. "If I let you get near me, you will sting me," the frog responded. But the scorpion assured him that this was not so. "If I sting you, I will drown." And so the frog agreed and the scorpion climbed onto the frog's back. Just as they reached the deep water, the frog felt a stinger plunge into his back. "Why did you do that?" the frog implored. "Now we will both die." The scorpion simply responded: "It's in my nature." - fable, author unknown

***
After American River, I was pretty beat up. My quads felt like they had been mauled by angry bears. And so last week, I only did 39 miles and even that was about 35 more than I wanted to do!

So this week my main goal was to have a high intensity week. I set the bar high aiming for my first ever 100 mile training week, with half of those miles coming in the form of an event: The Capitol Peak 50 mile. But the purpose of the event was just to get in the miles, NOT to race.

In keeping with the low key spirit, the whole family tagged along and we made a weekend trip out of the ordeal at the Great Wolf Lodge in nearby Grand Mound, WA (who names a city Grand Mound??). So my pre-race activities on Saturday included hours and hours in a water park, shooting water guns and riding slides.

Sunday was event day (Not RACE day, because I wasn't racing, see?). My friend Gaby was also doing this as part of her training for Big Horn. So I just settled in with her in the early miles and listened as she lived up to her name, chatting it up with everyone around us. Gaby is a great climber, and I couldn't keep up with her on the hills and still feel like I was breathing easy, so I just let her go when we got to the steep stuff. No worries, it wasn't a race.

There was a nice "grunt" section up to the top of Capitol Peak (2659') at mile 16. The next 18 mile P-shaped segment after Capitol Peak was awesome with dense conifers and a lush green carpet of moss and oxalis. I ended up mooning the guy right in front of me when the trail made a U-turn just ahead of my well chosen stump, but otherwise just more uneventful, easy running.

Right as we were getting back to the aid station, somebody was calling my name right behind me and there was Gaby! I was so confused as I thought she was way ahead of me, but I had unknowingly passed her at an aid station while she was going through her drop bag and she had been tailing close behind the whole 18 mile loop (luckily for her, not close enough to be flashed by me!). "Great," I was thinking, "now I can have good company for the last 16 miles."

We got up to the aid station below Capitol Peak and Gaby again was restocking from her drop bag when I was ready to leave. In previous years the course has headed back down after this aid station, but due to a course re-route this year we summited Capitol Peak a second time. Right as I was leaving, one guy says to me,"You're third woman. Second place is only a minute ahead and first place is about five minutes ahead."

Oh, man, what was this guy trying to do to me? Didn't he know that was like feeding a mogwai after midnight?!? Even still, I told myself to just stay calm.

They look sweet, but NEVER feed a mogwai after midnight!

I walked pretty much the entire half mile up to Capitol Peak, but I still caught the second place girl at the summit. I stayed behind her for about a mile and we chatted for a bit, mostly talking about 50K vs 50 miles, as this was her first 50 miler. It would have been nice, except I just couldn't stand the pace anymore. I was tripping all over myself trying to stay behind her. I told her we should use the downhill a bit more and that she should just follow behind me to get a little bit more speed. But she was begging off and even asking about how many women were behind her, which I knew was a bad sign. I wished her well and scooted around.

With open trail ahead, I picked it up and felt good. I knew I had a lot left in my legs from taking it so easy in the beginning and I just couldn't help myself... Goodbye Gizmo; Hello Gremlin!

Downhill running is definitely not my strong suit, but it helped that my legs weren't overly tired. I thought I was moving pretty well, but at the next aid station (mile 38) they told me I was still five minutes behind first place. That was discouraging, but no turning back now, so I kept up a strong pace to the last real aid station (mile 41.5). They greeted me with a different story:

first place was only about a minute ahead!

Not more than two minute out, I came up behind her. I thought I was running like an elephant, but she was quite startled to see me, partly because she had her headphones blaring and partly because I think she had no idea that anybody might be catching her since she had been leading all day. I blew by with just a few quick pleasantries and then took off.

I say it over and over again that I am a "slow and steady" kind of runner. I am a firm believer that an even pace is the most efficient way to run a race, at least for me. But also, I think I am a come from behind runner because I HATE to be in the lead. I like to know what is going on and that is hard to do when you are in front. It always makes me panic a little bit and keeps me running scared. But I guess sometimes that is a good thing because it definitely keeps me pushing. So I ran everything just hoping that I wasn't next in line to be startled from behind.

Maybe I was watching my back a little too much and not the clock because I finished in 8:00:36. Then again maybe it was a good thing that I didn't start racing the clock, because I was NOT racing that day! (yeah, right!)

Yes, I am a sandbagger, and a liar, and a headcase. Or as my husband so elegantly put it when I told him I won: "You are a total F@cking renob!" (Sorry ladies, he's taken!).

I was certainly tired afterward, but I don't think my little Gremlin episode left me overly taxed, as I really only "raced" the last 16 miles. And I certainly feel good about completing my first ever 100 mile training week (101 miles!). To finish off my good week, I got three and half more hours in the water park after the race with two overly excited (but very cute) pre-schoolers.

Lots of post-race water park fun with my mini-gremlins

From here on out it is all about Western States. I am doing MacDonald Forest 50k in two weeks, but I am NOT racing; it is just a training run...Yeah, I can't even type that with a straight face! I am not signing up for any other events before Western States because I cannot be trusted!

Capitol Peak was a great event whether or not you are there to race or just have fun. John Pearch does a great job with race organization and his adorable mother cooks up some awesome grub for the finish line. Congrats to all the racers, including my friend Gaby who ended up third woman/first master!

American River Race Report

2010-04-10T22:46:00.000-07:00

American River seemed like a good race for me this year because I needed a fourth Montrail Ultra Cup race (with Where's Waldo '09, Bandera and Western States) and I didn't get in to Miwok. As an added bonus my parents live 25 minutes away from Auburn, so the weekend could double as a bonding opportunity. Or so I thought. It turns out my parents were out of town for the weekend, so I picked up their car at the airport and drove it to their house, where I stayed...by myself. Hey, the price was right! Though I didn't get to see my parents, I did get a chance to meet my pacers for Western States, two fun-loving ladies and great runners.

Because I was bussing from the start to the finish (4:10 departure - that's AM!), I had to get up at 2:30. In classic OCD fashion, I set three alarms and then woke up before any of them went off!

I rode on the bus with one of my pacers Anne Hitchcock, an awesome runner who ran a 3:02 at Napa this year and who was doing her first 50 miler at AR. We had a nice time chatting during the hour bus ride and even got about ten minutes of bonus time when the diver got lost!

Anne and I agreed to run together as long as it suited us. We started pretty far back in the pack and were bogged down quite a bit in the first couple of miles, running 9:09 and 8:35. Well, after two miles I felt warmed up and I got a bit antsy to pick it up because I wanted to be running 7:30-7:45 miles on the road section and Anne was content to pick it up slowly, so we got separated pretty quickly.

The first 26.7 section is mostly paved bike path with a three mile diversion on trails up and down some bluffs near the Folsom dam. I ran pretty smoothly through this area, sharing about an hour of it with John Blue, which helped to pass the time quickly as he told me all about his Western States experiences. He told me he once was mistaken for Scott Jurek and some guy came up to him and starting asking him all kinds of training questions. "Can you believe some stranger would just start grilling a person for training advice?" he asked, to which I sheepishly apologized for grilling him about his Western States training. "Oh, no. We're not strangers," he said with all seriousness, "we introduced ourselves and now we are running together!" So true how I have connected with so many people who would otherwise be strangers through running.

We clipped along right around 7:30 pace, but John eventually fell back. I continued to move my way up in the lady's standings. By mile 24, though, I could tell the road pounding was hard on my trail-spoiled quads. They've gotten soft now that I don't do marathon type road training on the weekends!

I hit the marathon marker in 3:23, which is faster than a couple of my actual marathon times and only 13 minutes slower than my PR! Before we hit the trail, I had moved into second place.

The trail gave my legs a bit of new life, and I kept passing people, but all guys. When I got to Granite Bay Aid Station (mile 31.67), I inquired about the women's leader. "Oh, man she's in a different time zone! I don't think you can catch her!" When I asked just how far ahead was she, another lady chimed in, "30 seconds."

What? Really? "No, I just didn't want you to feel bad. She's got 25 minutes on you." Dang, a 25 minute lead in 31 miles! At that point I knew the task at hand was to preserve second place. I still ran hard and gave it my all. I passed a lot of guys, so at least I felt like I was moving pretty well. The next ten mile section was either a good stretch for me or a bad stretch for Tracy (Garneau) because I stayed 25 minutes behind. I was doing pretty well on gentle climbs, but on the steep climbs at the end, I couldn't muster the power. Tracy put another 6 minutes on me in the last nine miles. That girl can run!

I was pretty sure I had a comfortable lead over third, but I had let a few people know my goal time was 7:15 and I was hoping to make it. I knew it was going to be close. With one mile to go, I thought I would fall short because I had less than ten minutes, but I ended up ducking under at 7:14:21.

Third place was 13 minutes behind, and I was excited to see that it was Anne! She used the same tactic as me, coming from behind to pick off ladies, taking down Susannah Bon with less than two miles to go for a podium spot! Susannah was also a come-from-behind runner as I never saw her all day, so she had to have started behind me and picked people off as well. I love it, because I am a big believer in the slow and steady strategy, unless you are Tracy Garneau, because fast and steady worked out really well for her! She had an impressive race (not that I saw any of it!) and she will be one to watch at Western States.

(Photo: one of the benefits of finishing second is that you get your photo on ultrarunning.com so that you can steal it and put it on your blog).

After the race I got to meet Mo Barley, a total firecracker with an impressive ultra resume including five top ten finishes at Western States. She paced Anne the last nine miles of American River and is my other pacer for Western States. Mo is so competitive she makes me look tame. Anne told us all how Mo was encouraging her to go after the "dead meat" at the end of the race and was even yelling at her to take down Tim Twietmeyer in the final mile. I love it! I just hope I am in position to go after "dead meat" with her at Western States!

We hung out at the race for a long time before heading off to Anne's house to shower. Anne has the good fortune of living a half mile from the AR finish and a stone's throw from Placer High School. Then we replenished our spent calories at a local pizza joint before calling it a night. It was a great day all around.

Oregon Represents!

2010-04-10T20:53:00.000-07:00

It was a great day for Oregonians in ultra-running today!

First off, a big congratulations to Meghan Arbogast for her 100K road national championship title. Does that woman ever slow down? I am so in awe of her.

Oregonians also had a big day at the American River 50 mile, placing 4 guys in the top ten (Max King -3rd, Andy Martin-5th, Lewis Taylor - 8th and Rod Bien-9th) and nabbing a second place finish in the women's race. Though not an Oregonian, I would also like to congratulate Tracy Garneau on a stellar performance; I wasn't even in the same zip code when she finished!
Results

Having A Blast

2010-03-28T09:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday, I joined a small but intimate group for the inaugural running of the Shot Gun Trail Blast 50k in Marcola. I have lived in Oregon for a decade and I have never heard of Marcola. Neither had anybody else I talked to, but it wasn't even an hour from my house. The course was a 25k out and back with a small loop in the mid-section (think needle-shaped); 50k runners did it twice. The course has a total of twelve miles of paved roads. The ~three mile loop at the end was mostly a muddy climb; the rest of the course was dirt logging roads. It was supposed to be more trail, but apparently recent logging in the area required a re-route. I would have liked more trail, but this course, coupled with the perfect weather, made for a fast day -shockingly fast, with the top ten (of only 19) going under 4 hours! (albeit a short course, more on that below).

The pace was fast from the start and I was in tenth place almost immediately - not even the top half of the field I was thinking to myself - and the leaders were pulling away fast. My first mile was 7:30, which I thought was fast but felt in control. I decided to just settle in and not get caught up with the guys up front, but I still pulled through mile 2 in 7:09. That made me panic because that is way too fast! I like to run consistent races, especially on multi-loop courses like this and I was pretty sure I had just blown it and I was only two miles in.

The next couple of miles were very gradual uphill, which helped to slow me down a bit, but not much. My legs just seemed to be on auto-pilot and they weren't listening to my brain! About four and a half miles in, I caught up to Tom Atkins and we ran the next couple of miles together. I enjoyed the time with him, especially since he is training to do his first 100 at Western States this year. I would have loved his company for a bit longer, but when we hit the muddy uphill trail, he fell back.

There weren't any mile markers on the trail section, but I saw mile 9 pretty soon after getting back on the logging road. And then it seemed like I was at mile 12 way too soon, even for the down hill section. My lap button said 16:25, and I was trying to think if I hit the button accidentally and trying to think back to my total time at 9 miles. Things didn't seem quite right.

On the downhill back to the start I tried to stay easy, but I was still worried that I was going too fast. First lap: 1:50.

The second lap around wasn't much different except I walked a bit more on the trail section. My split for miles 9-12 was again 16 something, so then I knew for sure this segment was short.

I have read race reports before where people say things like,"The last five miles my legs felt awesome!" Up until now, I pretty much just assumed these people were either a) on drugs, b) so annoyingly optimistic that they didn't have a firm grasp on reality, or c) suffered from amnesia. Today, I realized maybe it is possible to have your legs feel awesome at the end of a race. In fact, I feel like my limitations today were all from the waist up: I had a few GI cramps along the way (not used to pounding downhills that fast!), my shoulders got tense, and of course, my brain was telling me I was running too fast all day. I had a lot of general fatigue, but it didn't seem to be leg fatigue. My legs felt awesome. (My drug test results are still pending; I can't remember if I have amnesia or not.)

With a mile and a half to go, I knew I couldn't break 3:40 (to negative split) and all other time goals were a sure thing. That's when my legs finally let me ease off a bit and I cruised in at 3:43:14.

I hadn't taken more than ten steps past the finish line, when the race director came over to apologize for the short course as he had forgotten to add a small jog off of the main road between mile 9 and 12. He maintains that we lost less than a mile per loop and still got a 29.4 mile run in. He felt so bad he gave us all "adjusted 50k times" based on average pace. Mine came out to be 3:55, which sounds really sweet, but my friend's Garmin said 28.5 miles. I think Mile 13 to the finish was a bit shorter than 2.5 miles (my splits are too fast), which may account for some of that discrepancy. If we ran 28.5 miles, that would put my "adjusted time" at 4:02. That still would be an awesome time for me, but it definitely doesn't sound as cool as being a sub 4-hour 50k runner. But I don't think one can claim an "adjusted time" as their PR and I accept that inaccuracies in distance are just part of this sport, so I am not distraught about this in any way.

Despite my initial panic, I kept a remarkably even pace, with my two laps only differing by 3 minutes! Check out my splits (First lap time, second lap time; not all miles were marked):

Mile 1: 7:30, 7:52
Mile 2: 7:08, 6:58 (!)
Mile 3: 7:45, 7:44
Mile 4: 8:11, 7:54
Mile 5: 7:24, 7:20
Mile 6: 7:09, 7:17
7-9: 25:09, 27:26 (the hilly section)
9-"12": 16:25, 16:07
Mile 13: 7:02, 7:08
13-end: 16:14, 17:25
Loops: 1:50, 1:53

My brain is still in shock. But I guess it's time for my brain to start listening to my legs; they seem to know what they are doing! (Full Results)

Getting Brighter

2010-03-17T20:17:00.000-07:00

Perhaps it is worth mentioning that I had to have a semi-urgent epinephrine injection Monday to keep my airway from constricting. The good news is that the attack wasn't caused by running. Epinephrine will make you feel like you are on crack for a couple of hours (not that I would know), and I was jittery, shaking and wound up so tight (like that is anything new!). I was told not to work out for at least three hours, but all I wanted to do was go move! Besides, I couldn't see how a specialty allergy and asthma doctor could know more than me, a lab doctor who rarely sees patients and who has never treated asthma, so I drove straight to the gym to lift and ride the bike (see what a good patient I am for not running).

They warned me that I would feel like crap when the Epi wore off. Turns out they might kind of know what they are talking about: I felt like crap when the Epi wore off! It was like the worst case of caffeine withdrawal ever: pounding headache, mild nausea, and overly tired. I think that really put me in a downer state of mind for Monday's post, but I had definitely been suffering from some fatigue before that. I guess it got to me a bit that this kind of training is hard. I thought if I made the time and the mental commitment, everything else would fall into place. But it is really physically demanding, too. (Duh!) Not just doing the runs, but as I said yesterday, how drained I feel after the runs are over.

Anyway, I don't think negativity has to be such a bad thing, if it can help you to make changes things for the better. So I am moving forward and especially working on my diet. My nutrition has not been good since bumping up the miles. The sugar cravings are mostly gone but the extra 4-5 pounds are not. I checked out a nutrition book for runners and am about half way through. I started tracking all my calories since Saturday and the results are already illuminating. I think I have been using my running to eat, as in "Oh, I am running so much, this humongous slice of cake won't hurt." whereas before I wouldn't have eaten so much junk food. And did you know that microwave popcorn is pure EVIL in a bag? I do now! I also scheduled a meeting with Mac's trainer to get my body fat measured and to make a nutrition plan. Since he and my husband are now BFF's and because the trainer thinks I am a freak for running so much, he agreed to do it for $25 instead of $55.

I am also cutting my speed work back for a couple of weeks, as I think those are what leave me the most drained. I would really like to prove to myself that I can do a few high mileage weeks before adding them back in. Besides, my goal at WS is to average 13 minute miles (22 hours) so how speedy do I need to be?? ;)

It is good for me to remember that not every day has to be perfect. Some days it is good enough to just breath clearly. And maybe get in a dance session with the kids.