Devon Crosby-Helms

Simple Pleasure

2010-03-09T11:45:00.000-08:00

My sister, the ninja. This morning, I woke up with the sun and jumped out of bed, refreshed, enthusiastic, alive, long before my alarm was set for. It was such a nice feeling, I just wanted to jump up and down (like my sister up there) and dance around the room. It is a relief to feel this way. I can't say I've felt that way in a long time. Especially not in the last 4-5 days. I have been

Racing and Expectations

2010-03-05T12:23:00.000-08:00

Back in 2007, I won the Napa Valley Marathon. Going into that race, I had no expectations. I had moved the weekend before, I had gone on two long-ish runs (one was unplanned) in freezing cold weather. I didn't really taper and came in with the idea that I was merely tuning up for Mad City 100k, my first 100k a month later. I was pleasantly surprised by my performance. Then, I was a much lower

Meat, its what's for dinner

2010-02-25T15:04:00.000-08:00

Eat one of these and call me in the morning. I started reading a book called The Butcher and The Vegetarian and had a realization. The author was talking about her symptoms of fatigue and inability to lose weight no matter what she did. She was a life long vegetarian and the solution: Eat Meat. The book is delightful thus far but it also made me realize that I had been forgetting something

Race Weight

2010-02-23T11:21:00.000-08:00

A bite of gluten free muffin. Not a quandry. Over the years I have been blogging, I have posted at least once a year about race weight- mine, diets, weight loss, "looking like a runner", etc. As the first major efforts of the year are creeping closer and closer, I am again thinking about it. Most of the thinking has been prompted by reading the book, Race Weight by Matt Fitzgerald. This book

Tempus Fugit

2010-02-12T14:33:00.000-08:00

Mile 55- Western States 2009. Photo by Gareth Mackay It's feels like just yesterday that this photo was taken as we moved Krissy through Michigan Bluff, mile 55 at States. I can feel the sweltering heat of the day and the crazy energy of the race. It's been, what 2/3 of a year? There are now 134 days left until States. It's just weird where time goes. This is not a Western States posting though.

Little old me

2010-02-04T15:30:00.000-08:00

I don't have a place on my blog where you can look up my race history and profile, I don't keep a (public) rolling tab of my races as of this moment. However, if you are interested in knowing about me and my racing history, two of my sponsors have created cool profiles they . Check them out! Amazing Grass Hydrapak FRS

Pace until it HURTs.

2010-01-25T20:02:00.000-08:00

Last year I did quite a bit of pacing. Hell, I did a whole lot of pacing and for the most part, I had a good time. I feel I learned a great deal about how to help out my runner and definitely experienced the sacrifices a pacer is needed to make at times. Pacing, especially the longer stretches, can be extremely hard. Sometimes when you are 30 miles in you could feel the need to slow down, stop

Sponsor Highlight: Hydrapak/Gel-bot

2010-01-25T11:34:00.000-08:00

This year I am very excited to be adding Hydrapak as one of my sponsors. Hydrapak not only makes great hydration packs they also make an invaluable tool for any ultrarunner: The Gel-bot. Gel-bots are my favorite product made by Hydrapak (slightly ahead of their soft flasks). Gel-bots help me get my hydration and nutrition in a much faster and streamlined way. Gel-bots have a unit in the middle

Run to me

2010-01-08T17:54:00.000-08:00

If you only ever read one blog posting on my Delicious Journey blog, let it be this one.

Hello Goodbye Hello Goobye!

2010-01-07T14:47:00.000-08:00

Thursday Morning Runs, Sunrise and Friends Photo by Brett Rivers I am constantly inspired by my training partners (past and present!). Whether it is trying to keep up with them running up Miwok at 6 am on a Thursday morning or hoping to be only 45 minutes behind them in a race, they challenge me and push me to be better. One of the things I am most thankful for finding in 2009 was a great

PCTR Rodeo Beach 50k

2009-12-23T19:47:00.000-08:00

This year's off season has been a bit different than my two others of my ultrarunning career. My first year of ultrarunning, I needed a good three weeks of no running in order to rejuvenate, recuperate and feel ready to run again. After all, I went from running 2 marathon in a year to nearly a dozen marathons or ultramarathons in one year. No wonder I was tired. Last year, I took a good week and

Run for your life! Pacing the North Face 50

2009-12-10T16:03:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, just two weeks after racing JFK 50, but feeling like it was nothing but a distant memory I headed out to my "backyard", the Marin Headlands to cheer, crew (aka collect headlamps) and pace at the North Face 50 miler. I had a bunch of friends out there including training partners, Brett, Larissa and tons of the Endurables. Not to mention my speedy buddy Caitlin and lots of

Recovery Running or Falling Head over Heels

2009-11-30T21:41:00.000-08:00

That giant hole doesn't come with the shoe As I mentioned on my Delicious Journey Blog, this past week has felt like 2 years! I have been trying to savor my victory at JFK last week. That and outpace my savage appetite. While I am pretty sure I managed to do both, I also wanted to make sure not to start running too soon. I was good, my season is over. JFK was the last big hoorah until March. But

Sponsor Highlight: Psoas Massage + Bodywork

2009-11-25T10:04:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would like to give thanks to one of my sponsors, Psoas Massage. They deserve a great deal of thanks from me because they actually physically contribute to my running success through the work that they do. Over the past 8 weeks, I have gone for a weekly sports massage session with one of the co-owners of Psoas Massage, Scott Schwartz. We have working on keeping me

JFK 50 mile Race Report

2009-11-22T07:30:00.000-08:00

If you are not smiling, why are you running? (less than 16miles to go) Photo by Jenny Ueshia Prerace I am not a sandbagger, if I feel good going into a race, I own it. If I am feeling on top of my game, I know it. In theory, I think I would I love to toe the line feeling like a thoroughbred pressing at the gate. But, alas, I have no idea what that feeling is like. Instead, just like

Lithia Loop Marathon

2009-11-09T20:28:00.000-08:00

The race start Over the weekend, I headed up to Ashland, OR for Rogue Valley Runners' Lithia Loop Marathon. After meeting Hal at TransRockies, I was keen to take him up on his offer of a great race. They definitely delivered, it was an absolute blast. I did a "power taper" for this race. After 4 100+ mile weeks (including 122 miles the previous week), which came on the heals of a 1 week

SF One Day

2009-10-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

At least the view is nice. On Saturday, I had the opportunity to crew, pace, cheer for the amazing runners for the SF One Day. The race put on by PCTR is a 24hr race on a 1.06 mile loop around Crissy Field. I knew several people running the race and had volunteered to help out Nathan (one of my super speedy training partners and in general favorite people) who was running the race one week after

Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim Run

2009-10-21T15:54:00.000-07:00

My first experience as an ultrarunner with the concept of doing an epic run for someone's birthday was a few years ago when Krissy got together a big group of runners to run 30 miles for her 30th birthday. We ran up on Chuckanut and had a blast. Flash forward to now.This past weekend I got together with Krissy, Ellen and Monica to have a girls weekend run at the Grand Canyon, doing a Rim to Rim

What motivates you

2009-10-12T17:15:00.000-07:00

"Check yourself before you wreck yourself" or so go the rap lyrics by Ice Cube. We all make bad choices in life at times. Sometimes thats ok, when we acknowledge going in that our motivation is bad or we know that the choice is not good for us and when in general the bad choice is an abberation not the rule. Its not good though when we try and lie to ourselves and say our motivations are good

The Un-Tussey Race Report

2009-10-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

After Vermont 50 miler a week ago, I barely had time to savor the victory (ok not at all!) before I mentally had to change gears and start getting ready for Tussey Mountainback 50 miler. My running strategy was definitely dictated by Tussey looming on the schedule in front of me 6 days later. I had signed up for Vermont on a last minute suggestion by Glen, Tussey I had committed to much earlier

Vermont 50- A Tale of a Ninja Stealth Strike

2009-09-30T10:13:00.000-07:00

9,000 of muddy elevation gain I hadn't been planning on running Vermont 50. But then my buddy and Salomon teammate Glen Redpath suggested that I come out and run it and then run Tussey 50 miler 6 days later, a race I was already planning on running. Since Vermont 50 is a part of the Montrail Ultracup, 2 spots for Western States were up for grabs and since I am somewhat interested in running

TransRockies video.

2009-09-18T07:30:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things every night at TransRockies were the amazing pictures from the day and the fun videos that were put together. While they haven't released the pictures and videos yet, they have put together this "music video" which really captures a lot of the crazy fun we were having out there.

TransRockies in the news

2009-09-15T18:59:00.000-07:00

Justin, Caitlin and Martin at Camp Hale.A really cool article/blog was written about Caitlin and I on RunnersWorld.com. We were interviewed directly after the race by one of my favorite RW blogger/writers Lisa Jhung. Though Runners World definitely doesn't cover the ultra world very well, it is the largest running publication out there, so to be in it (even just online) is pretty freaking cool to

TransRockies (Part II- My perspective)

2009-09-02T14:01:00.000-07:00

Team "..." smiling in the tent city after Day 1 victory.Running is an intensely personal activity. No matter what, on any given day, you only have the power to run as well as you can and you have no control over your competitors. You can only run your own race. You navigate your own set of strengths and weaknesses, strategies and paces to cobble together a race. GoreTex Transrockies throws down

TransRockies (Part 1- Caitlin's perspective)

2009-08-30T14:40:00.001-07:00

Wow, what an experience. 6 days, 113 miles, 20,000+ feet of gain. Laughter, tears, fights and friendships the Gore TransRockies had it all. Together Caitlin and I ran a great race, weathered the ups and downs and were victorious in the Open Women's Field. I am still wrapping up in Colorado, so will start you off with a taster of our experience by offering Caitlin's take on the race. I will follow