Just Keep Running

A very big change

2021-03-25T05:00:00.025-07:00

We talked about leaving the Bay Area for a long time - years, even - yet the reality of actually DOING it felt difficult and scary. Where would we go? What did we want? Many discussions had lead us to a desire to live in a smaller city, one that had amenities but didn't feel so crowded and intense. We wanted a place that felt more like home, a place where we fit in. And we wanted a place that had seasons. (That's right, I love snow and wanted to wake up with snow outside my windows again!) At that point, we were all talk.

Then in September 2019, I came across an interesting job opportunity in the Google Pittsburgh office. I'd had my eye on the postings for that office location for quite some time; I already knew I liked the city and it felt like what we were looking for. Even better, it was pretty close to both of our families. Kevin and I left for a yoga and running retreat in Point Reyes that afternoon, and we discussed the possibility of this job for the whole car ride. Right after we arrived at the retreat house, I holed myself up in our room and wrote an email to my manager-to-be. Soon I had interviews and then a job offer across the country. Whoa.

Kevin at a lookout during our Point Reyes run.

I definitely had moments after this where I wondered why I was uprooting everything. It was a lot to leave our friends, our jobs, sell the house, pack up everything we own, and to figure out a whole new city again. We've lived in quite a few places when I really think about it and each time requires starting over. Even if you know it's what will make you happier in the long run, it's bittersweet to leave a place where you have a wonderful network of friends and good memories. But the truth is, despite the perks like nice weather and beautiful coastline, the Bay Area wasn't a place that made us happy no matter how many times I tried to convince myself that it could.

We began the moving preparations. My company handled the house move including packing, which was a relief. We packed ourselves when we moved from Michigan to California, and I was thrilled to have someone else do it this time. We toured a potential rental house via Google Hangouts and signed the contract without even traveling to Pittsburgh, and we booked flights with our two cats. Kevin's transfer to the Pittsburgh office was approved with no issues. We prepped the house to put on the market. We had a whirlwind of going away gatherings and fall vacations. It all happened pretty quickly.

House (almost) for sale!

Final trip to Maui as Californians.

Going away run in Marin.

Javelina Jundred expo for Jenny's race, Chris and I were the pacers.

Why do we have so much stuff?!

On November 8, we arrived at the Pittsburgh airport with our cats and everything we needed for the next couple of weeks until the moving truck arrived. While I was hanging out at Javelina, Kevin had also driven one of the cars across the country at the end of October, so we had a few household items and an air mattress waiting for us at the rental too.

We both started in our new offices the following week and started to explore our new city. I had visited the Pittsburgh office before, but it had grown a lot and many things had changed since I was last there. I enjoyed exploring the office and especially loved the Kennywood themed floor. My manager was nice enough to take some tourist photos for me during the tour.

A car from the Thunderbolt - the first rollercoaster I rode at Kennywood many years ago.

Kevin and I had a great time visiting new places in the city over the next few months until COVID restrictions kicked in. I joined a Trail Sisters run and met awesome new running friends, and we started attending the 3 Rivers Outdoor Company (3ROC) Tuesday evening trail runs where we met more people. The community here is nothing short of amazing. I've had so many fun experiences since moving here - even with COVID - and I'll detail more of these in the future.

For now I'll leave you with this: moving to Pittsburgh was one of the best decisions we have ever made. It was hard and scary, and I've learned that the hard decision can also be the right decision.

Transrockies 3-Day 2019 - Stage Three

2021-03-22T14:47:00.007-07:00

I obviously waited way too long to post this, and I finally had the urge to write and wrap up the series with a few memories and photos from the day.

Stage three was mentally and physically tough after feeling so tired from the first two days. It was 24 miles long, starting high up in downtown Leadville with a couple miles on pavement. I felt so incredibly tired, a tired that I can't remember feeling any other time in my life. My body was tired from running but I also feel that the extended time exerting at altitude was making it more pronounced. The nice part about the pavement here was the easy footing to start that third day and to get the body warmed up.

Once we stepped onto the trail, we had a big climb with gorgeous views (I mean, the whole thing was gorgeous views really!) My muscles opened up fairly well after starting out rough, however I know I was moving much slower on day three.

Partway through the first big climb.

The fancy photographer photo near the top.

Next up was a nice long downhill and eventually an aid station at the bottom. My favorite part of this section was running through an Aspen grove, a first for me.

Aspens!

The section after the aid station was relatively flat and then a long, gradual climb. It included some mud and water puddle crossings. The route took us through a ski resort and to the Continental Divide, where we found the next aid station.

Another photographer photo.

The Continental Divide!

The next section of trail is the most memorable part of Stage Three for me - it was some of the most beautiful single track trail I've ever experienced! We spent quite some time winding through trees and across a meadow, which helped me reset my mental game after climbing and being on mostly wide trail.

Early into the single track section. Perfect sky.

Into the open meadow.

We eventually arrived at the last aid station, which was followed by miles of dirt road to Camp Hale. I'm not going to lie, this section felt brutal. It's mostly flat, you can see a very long way, and you see Camp Hale what feels like eons before you get there. I was exhausted, and the switch from happy single track to dirt road felt like a gut punch. I didn't take any photos in this section, probably because it took all of my mental energy to get to the finish...with mostly walking in that last part.

Finally, we arrived in the finish chute and ran through hand-in-hand. We had accomplished our first stage race, aka our 15 year wedding anniversary celebration!

Arriving at Camp Hale.

The finish arch!

Happy finisher photo.

They handed us fantastic swag at the finish - an Under Armor hoodie, Under Armor pajamas, and a medal. We also received a short sleeve tech tee at check-in. Yoga was starting soon, so I jumped right in to get some stretching and recovery going in my body.

Yoga with Jenny.

We had decided to stay at Camp Hale that night, and it was lovely to be finished and able to relax by the campfire without getting things ready for the next stage. We had a few beers with other runners, including our friends Meghan and Josh, and chatted about our time there. Now it really did feel like camp! 3-Day runners also have the option to shuttle back to Buena Vista right after finishing.

Finish area as viewed from the tents.

Camp Hale was beautiful.

The next day we took the shuttle back to Buena Vista, and our TransRockies experience came to an end. This left me with the urge to do the 6-day in the future - although the thought of adding three more days after this makes me question if my body is capable. Friends told me you get a second wind with the shorter route of Stage Four, perhaps that's true? One day I'll likely find out.

Our last moments at camp.

Last but not least, photo with the official stage prop.

TransRockies 3-day 2019 - Stage Two

2019-09-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

TransRockies stage two was the shortest day at 13.3 miles, and it was also the biggest climb and highest altitude day topping out at 12,500 feet over Hope Pass. When we signed up for the race, this was one of the highlights that made me excited about the course. Leadville 100 crosses Hope Pass two times and I'd heard stories about it, so I wanted to check it out on my own two feet.

We prepped all of our gear for the second day before we went to bed, including filling our hydration packs, which made it much easier to get going in the early morning. I slept really poorly that first night in part due to nerves and in part due to someone snoring in the next tent over. I was nervous about not hearing my alarm if I used ear plugs, but in hindsight I should have used them anyway. We woke up around 5 am to get ready, pack up camp, eat breakfast, and get the shuttle to the start. We boarded one of the earliest buses; this turned out to be a great idea because we didn't have the terrible porta potty line that the later buses had to deal with. Even so, I needed to use the bathroom a second time and settled for a tree so that I wouldn't be late to start.

Grabbed a photo with Gordy at the start too!

The start was at ~10,000 feet and I felt it as soon as we began running. I had already prepared myself for this being a mostly hiking day, and I started the run/walk pretty early on because of being out of breath. The beginning was chill until the first aid station at mile 1.7, then we started the big climb. There was only one more aid station on this route at 5.3 miles and it was emergency water only, so we were asked to carry everything we needed for the day. Packs were pretty heavy between extra water and mandatory gear (jacket, emergency blanket, warm hat, and gloves.) I also took my poles this day because of the heavy vert, and I'm glad I did. I find it helps with fatigue and can also be a quad saver on downhills.

The first part of the climb felt unexpectedly terrible for some reason, possibly because I tried to take it a little fast for my abilities especially at that altitude. This part is steep single track and a big conga line through the trees. We stopped to have a gel at a rocky spot where it was easy to get off trail, and after we let some people pass we were able to get into a pack at a better pace. Around this time we started to get fantastic mountain views between the trees and kept reminding ourselves to look back for the scenery.

One of the first scenery spots.

Soon after this, the trees started to disappear as we made our way above the tree line. The trail opened up to expansive views of the mountains around us and included some super rocky areas. Climbing was slow and challenging, yet I was enjoying every bit of the experience. Higher up the trail became less steep with switchbacks and felt much better than the earlier part in the trees.

Tiny people in the distance.

Kevin enjoying the climb! Photos are a good breather.

One of the rocky sections.

More switchbacks!

We were almost to the pass and I was thrilled not to have any issues with altitude sickness, one of my big worries going into this event. Life got more exciting as we approached the top and heard people cheering and I felt so accomplished to be up there! Race supporters (including Gina from Trail Sisters!) had brought tequila and Fireball up to the pass, so we joined in on the tequila shot station. Summer camp for big kids, right?!

On the climb. Photo from Sportograf.

Great view on the upper switchbacks.

The final approach.

And we made it!

Shot station!

Photo at the top with my new friend Pam, who we were running near each day!

We started down the other side and were greeted with a small but slippery snow field; Kevin was excited because we saw 'watermelon snow' caused by algae. The next section was fairly rocky and we had to be careful about footing, and I slid onto my butt once along the way due to the scree (thanks poles for helping to break that fall!) The views were still gorgeous and the downhill became runnable as we continued to descend. We were running with a group of people and chatting the miles away, making this part especially fun.

The view down the other side.

Snow. Photo from Sportograf.

We love snow! Photo from Sportograf.

We passed through the emergency water station and then the trail became a gentler downhill grade for a very long time. Someone had warned us that it's a lot of downhill and it's not over when you think it's over, and they were right! As great as downhill can be, it can also get very fatiguing for the muscles in long stretches. After a couple of miles we paused to put our poles away and then continued alongside a river. The trail in this part was rocky and footing was tough on tired bodies. I rolled my recently sprained ankle once but luckily was fine once I walked it off.

Waterfalls!

The rocky part.

The last few miles of day two took us through a meadow and past an old resort area, Interlaken. The scenery was excellent and we loved seeing the resort, especially because the historian had told us stories about it the evening before. The rest of the run was pretty tough because we were tired and we moved as quickly as we could to the finish. Every little uphill roll felt challenging after the big climb and I was ready for a break!

Meadow time.

Views all around.

The boarded up resort.

We arrived at the finish and enjoyed more Gu recovery drink and snacks (read: so many cheeseballs) while we waited for the shuttle to camp. The shuttle situation had become very backed up and we ended up waiting about an hour for them to send a bigger bus that could take all of the recent finishers. We heard you could go in the lake near this finish line, but I was too tired to figure that part out and stayed sitting in the shade of the finish tent instead. We had fun chatting with our friends Matt and Kristin, as well as meeting other runners while we waited.

13.3 miles. 3300 feet gain. Time: 4:43:52

The only reason I was concerned at all about the shuttle wait was that I wanted to get back for recovery yoga with Jenny, and we made it back with about 15 minutes to spare. We hauled our bags over to the camp and chose our tent, which was conveniently located right next to the yoga area. I felt like I was deliriously wandering around by this point because I was so tired and had no idea how I could do anything else, but yoga was an awesome way to help the body relax and recover before day three.

Jenny's yoga for runners classes focus on activating and recovering the right muscles, and it's not a traditional yoga class. Her class was perfect for stretching and mobilizing the joints. I felt grateful to have my friend, running coach, and trusted yoga instructor there! I also very much enjoyed dog hugs from Henry, who had traveled with Jenny and Chris to Colorado.

Tent village yoga! Photo from Jenny.

After yoga, we once again took advantage of the shower truck (best ever feeling!) and 30 minute massages before dinner. The second night was pasta and lasagna, which we followed up with ice cream from a little shop in town. It was nice to stay in the town of Leadville and walk around a bit in the evening. We had cell phone service for the first two nights, a convenience I hadn't expected going into the event.

Two days of effort in the mountains meant I slept much better the second night, plus we didn't end up near anyone who was snoring.

Next up, stage three. Coming soon!

Ice cream. Very important race fuel.

TransRockies 3-Day 2019 - Stage One

2019-08-28T20:38:00.001-07:00

TransRockies, where to start?! This was my first stage race, my first time running above 9000 feet, and my biggest week ever. It was a big undertaking for me and to be honest, I was legit scared and not feeling confident about it during my summer training. In hindsight, I was ready (thanks coach Jenny!) but wouldn't let myself believe I was ready. Between carrying a lot of stress in other aspects of life and having a sprained ankle during a key part of the training cycle, my mental game was off. Luckily, a few days of relaxation in Buena Vista prior to the race took care of the issue and the mind+body got into the game before stage one started.

Kevin and I planned this adventure to celebrate our 15-year wedding Anniversary, which was August 7. Our friends Meghan and Josh joined us for the trip, plus SF friends Matt and Kristin were doing the 6-day, making it even more fun! On our first morning in Buena Vista, we tested our lungs at altitude with a run to the Midland Hill summit. For us sea level folks, Midland Hill is more mountain than hill, topping out at 9600 feet. It was tough but I felt much better than I expected, which fueled my excitement for the race and calmed my nerves. On the way down from the summit, we crossed paths with a burro race and gave them some cheers. I didn't even know burro racing existed and it was fantastic to watch; we learned it's the state sport of Colorado!

Midland Hill summit.

I don't remember taking this but I love it. I was SO EXCITED about being in the mountains!

Meghan on the way up up up.

We encountered a lot of rocky trail.

Burro racing! They did a half marathon.

After a fun morning of exploring the trails, we enjoyed brunch at our hotel and headed to the race expo. We stayed at the host hotel, Surf Hotel & Chateau, and the race expo was only steps outside the lobby door. The hotel was amazing, including great food and Arkansas River views from our room balcony. I hope to vacation there again in the future. I mean let's be real, I'm probably going back for the 6-day in a couple of years because this whole thing rocked.

View of the expo set up from the hotel balcony.

Chilling at the expo!

11 hours and 52 minutes until go time.

Later in the evening, the race held an info session to provide details on overall logistics and the stage one course. They did this each night to let runners know about the next day, and it was very useful (although sometimes too long.) Race personnel took us through history of the route, what to expect with regards to terrain, potential medical issues, and logistics of the day like shuttles and timing. The organizers were absolutely amazing and had every little detail under control; I'm so impressed by the race logistics. Kevin McDonald, the race director, was hilarious and I loved hearing him talk each night. The race faced multiple issues with vehicle breakdowns and general unexpected nightmares during the event, but you'd never know it from the runner side without him talking about it! Impeccable organization.

Ok, morning of day one. We packed up all of our gear into our fancy new TransRockies duffels (each runner gets one to handle their gear during the race) and dropped it off at the hotel doorstep. The race picks up all the runner gear from various hotels in Buena Vista and transports it to camp. They even pick up your extra gear and hold it in a truck until the finish, which was so helpful because we had a longer trip than our time at the race.

Although I was excited, I found myself super nervous at the start line. This was happening, it was real. I must have gone to the bathroom 5 times in the hour before the race, time felt like it slowed to a halt. Eventually we entered the start corral (also right outside of the hotel) and off we went!

OMG start line!

As we ran through town to the trailhead, I could already tell it was going to be a great experience because of the people. They call it 'Summer camp for Big Kids' for a reason - everyone is excited, meeting one another, and super supportive. We hit a big bottleneck when we crossed the river to the single track and everyone slowed way down, but that was fine with me. I didn't know how my body would handle the altitude and I was more than happy to take it easy. We made our way uphill for a while, then turned right onto a fire road where we spent the next couple of miles chatting with everyone around us and relishing in the mountain views.

Mountains. I can't get enough.

At some point we found ourselves back on gorgeous single track, winding through the high desert. I'm a huge fan of high desert and I loved stage one. From what I gathered chatting with others, many people don't like stage one and find it too hot and sandy, but that was not my experience at all. Heat training FTW, I suppose! They also suggest using gaiters and I did not, which wasn't an issue. I did empty my shoes one time that day and that was better for me than wearing gaiters the whole time.

We went up a large climb with views for days and topped out just before the first aid station. Then we ran a very enjoyable downhill for a long time. We climbed back out of that hole later and then ventured along rolling single track for quite some time before arriving at the third aid station and the gravel road of death. Seriously, the last 3ish miles of stage one are a very long, false flat to the finish. The bright side of the gravel road was the railroad tunnels, and I love running through tunnels!

A long uphill and gorgeous view.

Kevin topping out a climb. Photo from Sportograf.

Running a train track ridge line with mountain views. Photo from Sportograf.

Clouds, wow.

Fun with tunnels. Photo from Sportograf.

I made him hold hands. Photo from Sportograf.

The rest of the gravel road was mentally rough. We were tired, so I alternated walking and running through that segment to the finish. We kept pushing forward and even passed a few people along the way. Not that I was trying for any specific time or place here, but sometimes you just need the mental game to keep the body going and rabbiting people is a good way to do it. With about 1.5 miles to go, it started to get windy and rainy but the rain never became more than a sprinkle. Soon we could see the railroad bridge near the finish, then the finish, and then we were there!

Finishing stage one was a huge confidence boost! We were 22 miles into this thing and I felt strong. Before taking the shuttle to camp, we enjoyed snacks and recovery drink at the finish and a dip in the river.

22 miles. 2500 feet gain. Time: 5:44:31.

The very cold river, that is.

Kevin loved it too.

We hopped on a shuttle to Arrowhead camp once we finished soaking in the river. The crew had our bags ready where the shuttle dropped us off, and they piled us all into a truck to drive us up a big hill to the tent area. We checked in, chose a tent, and settled in for the night. The crew for this race is great, we truly appreciated their hard work to ferry our gear from place to place!

We also took advantage of the shower truck and massages before dinner. The 30 minute massage was clutch for getting the legs and body ready to go again the next day. Night one was taco night which I loved, and I was a happy camper when I went to bed.

Stay tuned for part 2, stage two!

Zion Ultras 50K Race Report

2019-04-21T12:49:00.001-07:00

Zion 50K was absolutely amazing - I recommend this race to everyone. I traveled to Zion with my friend, Alayna, who was running her first ever 50K. We didn't have a very long trip but we made sure to cram in all of the activity we could in a short time!

After arriving super late on Thursday night, we got a good night of sleep and then headed out for a short shakeout hike on Friday at Zion National Park. Luckily, our hotel was less than a mile from the park and we could take the free shuttle. We started up the Watchman Trail and were both stunned by the beauty of the area - the tall rock, the colors, the overall atmosphere - all of it was mesmerizing. The scenery got better and better as we continued climbing, with excellent views from the top.

My first time at Zion!

Hiking the Watchman Trail.

Posing at the top viewpoint.

Following our hike, we grabbed lunch and went to the race expo to grab the goods. The expo was at the start/finish location of the race, so we were able to scope out the parking and porta potty situation for race morning as well. One thing I love about trail races is the low key expos and friendly vibe from everyone I meet, and this race felt the same way even thought it's much bigger than many trail events.

We said this might be bad luck, but took a photo anyway.

We spent the rest of the day resting and eating in preparation for the 4 am alarm clock on Saturday. One of the things that makes me the most nervous for races is an early start; I'm reactive hypoglycemic and weird wake up times often wreak havoc on my blood sugar, resulting in major nausea and feeling faint. I had to focus to keep myself calm the night before and I also made sure to eat less at a time but late enough that it could carry me into the early morning. Everything went smoothly this time - no nausea or faintness on race morning is always a relief.

We wanted to arrive at the race start by 5:15 am to be sure we could park, and this went smoothly. It was in the 30s so we stayed warm in the car as long as possible before heading to the porta potty lines around 5:35 am. The number of porta potties felt a little small for the number of people and the lines were rough, we should have started sooner to avoid being so tight to start (we thought we weren't going to get through the line, and many people didn't.) The next thing we knew, it was 6 am and people started moving.

Headlamps at the ready. It was dark!

The first mile or so was along the paved highway and then we turned toward the beauty of the mesa. It was only super dark for about the first 20 minutes, then we started to see the scenery backlit by the sunrise. The section to the first aid station at 5.2 miles is a gradual uphill followed by a very steep climb onto the mesa. I made sure my pace stayed easy and steadily made my way to the top. My goal for this race was to see a new place (my first ultra outside of California!) and to make the soul happy, and that's what I focused on. No getting in my head about being slower than normal, keep the body feeling good.

Course profile from the race website. Despite less overall climbing than many races, the steep climb was a doozy.

Heading up and up.

It's much steeper than it looks here. I turned around to enjoy the view every so often!

As we neared the top, we had spectacular single track and views along the edge.

Eventually, I found the top of the climb and the aid station at Goosebump. One great thing about this 50K was the opportunity to have drop bags at miles 5.2, 16.5, and 24.6. I've never had drop bags for a 50K before and I loved being able to drop off items like my headlamp and long sleeve and to pick up fuel as I went along. Very convenient.

My legs were feeling good, but I unfortunately dealt with a weird stomach from the very first aid station and spent way too much time in the hot porta potty tents at every aid station thereafter. It slowed me down quite a bit, although on the bright side they had porta potties available. That's much better than trying to find privacy elsewhere...the mesa and desert aren't exactly full of large bushes and trees. I wasn't going to let this silly little thing ruin my day, there was too much to see and enjoy!

After Goosebump aid station, the terrain changed to a mix of single track dirt and slickrock. I'd heard the rock provided difficult footing, and it felt harder than I had expected. It feels almost 'sticky' and I was often tripping as I tried to run on it normally. I had to slow way down and walk a lot, sometimes it involved climbing up with hands to balance and then jumping off the other side. It was a fun adventure! This is one thing about training in the Bay Area - we don't have much technical terrain and rock to teach us to handle it more efficiently. We spent the next 11 miles or so on the mesa, and we had views galore. It was such a fantastic place!

Alayna called these 'rock clouds' which seems accurate!

View from a turnaround point on the mesa. It was so high up and spectacular.

Running on rock, along the edge of the mesa.

We passed the Gooseberry Mesa aid station at mile 12.5, then finished the loop back to Goosebump along the other side of the mesa. The trail type was similar but the views were very different on the way back because we more interior. Another thing to note about this race is that although the trail markings were great, the trail can be very hard to follow on the mesa. There are dots for mountain bike trails that give you and idea of how to cross the rock, and that helps, but the race route doesn't follow the dots exclusively. There were quite a few times where I stood still or walked in many directions until I could find the ribbons again. Luckily, I was in fairly close vicinity to other runners the entire time and had buddies to help find the trail.

At mile 16.5 we arrived back at Goosebump aid station. I swapped my headband for a hat before descending into the desert portion of the course, reapplied sunblock for about the third time (it's all exposed, don't forget!), and grabbed an extra bottle from my drop bag. We had 8 miles before the next aid station and carrying more water was essential because it had gotten fairly hot. I was using my Nathan VaporHowe 4L pack which only holds 2-12 oz bottles in the front, and I added a 500ml Salomon soft bottle in the back pocket.

We headed back down the steep path off of the mesa, returning the same way we had come up, and we turned left into the desert for the next section of the course. The trail became wide and very runnable with sweeping views of the valley. I passed a few people here and fell into pace with a great woman from Florida who was running her first 50K. I enjoyed running and chatting with her until the next aid station, Virgin Desert, at mile 24.6. At that point she stayed longer to wait on friends; I took care of my needs and kept going.

By this time it felt hot and I was getting tired. I did whatever run/walk I needed to keep moving forward. My legs still felt good, my stomach situation hadn't changed. The trail turned to single track through the desert and along a creek, complete with little waterfalls here and there. We could see snowy mountains behind the desert, one of my favorite things about the landscape.

Such contrast.

Ah yes, single track.

We popped out onto the highway again for the last couple of miles back to the finish. This section was a gradual uphill and it felt hard, but I kept making myself run because we were so close to the end. I passed a few more people, turned into the road to the finish, and excitedly ran through the chute to finish in 7:57:58.

Alayna had crushed her first 50K and finished way before me, so she was waiting and cheering on the side when I arrived. Her friend, Jessica, had run her first 100K the day before and was there as well. Congrats to both of them!

So excited, I had to jump!

With Alayna at the finish. Woot!

Overall, I had a blast and loved the event. I admit, I didn't think it would take me quite as long to finish as it did (my slowest 50K aside from Canyons which had 9200' of climbing) but I'm ok with it. I knew my training wasn't where I'd hoped so far this year, the rock was challenging, and my goal was happiness not speed. I enjoyed every part of the race, the views and unique trails and changing terrain, and I wouldn't change a thing.

To close, I'll leave you with this photo of my finisher award: a handmade mug. This is my favorite finisher award ever!

Broken Arrow 26K Race Report 2018

2018-06-25T21:53:00.001-07:00

The Broken Arrow Skyrace is a super fun and challenging event patterned off of European mountain races. Runners can choose from a 26K, 52K, or new this year, a 10K. The 26K is the main loop of the course, and 52K runners do that loop two times. I have now done the 26K twice, although I didn't do a race report in 2017. This year, Kevin joined me for the trip to Tahoe and we both raced the 26K.

We arrived in Squaw Valley late on Friday night and had Saturday to explore the expo and to relax. The expo had lots of tents for vendors and I was especially excited to meet Gina from Trail Sisters, a team that I joined just before this event. The 52K was also on Saturday, so we spectated and cheered for those runners while we were in the village.

Posing with the finish line arch on Saturday.

I became nervous about the weather report on Saturday evening, which said Sunday would be 40 degrees and rainy at the mountain base. That would mean cold and maybe snowy on the mountain. This would be fine if I were prepared, but silly me had forgotten to pack our jackets for the trip. Lucky for us the weather was high-40s and not raining, and that was true for the whole race. Whew!

We were staying in the village, so on race morning we were able to hang out in our room for a long time and went to the start area 20 minutes before race time. I remember being incredibly nervous for this race last year because I didn't know what to expect from the mountains, but this year I was excited and ready for adventure! I was also happy because the snow had mostly melted and I knew we'd be able to enjoy single track trails versus the snow fields we climbed last year.

Race morning selfie.

After a few announcements, including one that they would be holding us at aid stations if there was lightning (yes, that was in the forecast!), we were off. The race begins with a short run through Squaw Village and then begins to climb along single track trail. The good thing about having done the race before is that I had a strategy with my poles, and I knew I didn't want to get them out of my pack until the first ski run climb. I got them out almost immediately last year and they only got in the way on the early single track.

Marcia and many others along the single track.

I had been sick a week before the race and I didn't feel completely recovered yet, so I was feeling pretty rough especially in the early miles. I kept pushing along up the hill, enjoyed the small rollers followed by great downhill, and around mile 4 we came to the first steep climb on the course. Poles in hand I began the climb, thankful that I didn't need the microspikes on my shoes for the snow this time around!

The course profile, a total of ~5K vertical feet in 16 miles.

This year I was mentally prepared for the false summit; the view at the top of that first steep hill is the next hill you have to climb before a reprieve. After topping out at 7400 feet elevation, we had a decent downhill into the first aid station.

Arriving at the aid station, happy for the downhill.

After the aid station, we began the next climb up the KT22 black diamond ski run. This is a long climb, but it's beautiful and not super steep when you follow the switchbacks. Last year's course in the snow had us go straight up KT22 with a rope and no switchbacks, so again I appreciated the lack of snow. We were at the top before I knew it, and I enjoyed the next bit of downhill and gradual climbing through the trees.

Next it was time for what I consider the hardest - but also most fun - part of the course, the steep climb to the top of Squaw Peak. By this time we were at about 8000 feet and the oxygen felt thin; everything was way harder than it should have been. I kept pushing through the first steep section, rejoiced at the less steep section, and then started the rock scramble to the ladder. I needed my hands in many parts and I stuck close to that cable for safety.

It looks less steep in this photo.

I was pleasantly surprised to find no line at the ladder; last year the 52K and 26K were on the same day, and I waited in line for at least 20 minutes. We climbed the ladder and then the snow staircase, and we were at the peak! The feeling of accomplishment plus the views made me a very happy lady.

Ladder photo from 2017, I didn't have one this year.

Getting down from Squaw Peak was challenging and slippery due to the scree - something to watch out for if you run this race. I had to go sideways at times to avoid falling, and even so I put my hands down a couple of times. Quite a few people had bad falls in this spot. Once I survived that section we were at the next aid station, the top of Siberia ski lift.

I didn't need anything from the aid station and kept going down the hill. This is another place that I gained time over 2017 because I could run down the dirt instead of falling all over myself in the snow. The course passed the Shirley ski lift and then dropped into Shirley Canyon, turning into amazing single track near the bottom. Seriously, this was beautiful!

The photos don't do it justice, but this is it!

I was feeling wiped out but my body was moving well; I think it was mostly the altitude getting to me. We climbed one more time to get out of Shirley Canyon, and then we arrived at the High Camp aid station. This was our last aid station before the finish and it's basically all downhill from there. Yipee!

With the snow last year, we had to run down the fire road to the finish - but this year we were greeted with awesome single track for this last section of the race. It was pretty technical so I had to be careful, but all I could think of was how baller that section of trail was. I had an absolute blast running the last 3.5 miles of single track and hope the course can use that next year too.

Quick selfie because I loved this part so much.

Photographer photo from this part of the trail!

Soon I was at the finish and ringing that finish bell! I didn't have a specific goal for this race, and I finished in 5:00:30. Perhaps I should regret taking random photos that cost me the sub-5, but I don't. Even more exciting, this was 52 minutes faster than my time in 2017 and I was pumped about that! Yes, part of this was due to less course congestion and no snow, but I felt strong at the end and that's a big win.

Ringing the finish bell.

Celebrating with the free beer!

I'm super happy with how the race went this year. Even though the course changes were fairly minor, it felt like a whole different course due to the lack of snow and I loved seeing the single track that was hidden last year.

I'm also very pleased with the organization of the event and I can tell they took feedback to make improvements over 2017. The main change was splitting the 52K and 26K into two days, and that took care of the course congestion issues I saw last year. They have really great swag too - 26K finishers got a tech tee, Klean Kanteen pint glass, wooden medal, and awesome BOCO Gear hat. The hats are different colors for the 52K and 26K, but the 26K teal color is my fave.

Hat models.

Hit me up with any questions about this race - I highly recommend it and plan to return next year!

Western States Training Weekend: A Dream Come True

2018-06-02T14:45:00.002-07:00

For the past few years I've had my eye on the Western States training runs, and finally this year the dates aligned. Western States holds a 3-day training weekend over Memorial Day each year to help runners prepare for the race, covering 70 miles of the course. The runs are open to anyone who wants to come experience the trails, even people who are not (or may never) run the race itself. People who have read my past blog posts likely know that I'm obsessed with the Western States trail, so it's not surprising that I wanted to participate!

Kevin and I did the Saturday run together, which is ~32 miles beginning at Robinson Flat and ending at Foresthill. Even though it's not a timed race, it's a very organized training run with buses to the start (it's a point-to-point), four aid stations, and bracelets to track runner safety. We arrived at Foresthill around 6:30 am for the 7 am bus departure, hit the porta-potties, chatted with other runners, and found some Bay Area friends. There was a debriefing about the route and some fun trivia with real prizes, then we headed to the bus.

We got on the first bus we came to because it had empty front seats and I'm always worried about my motion sickness; however, this was the last bus to leave and we arrived at Robinson after people had already started running. By the time we used the restroom, we were almost the very last runners to start the run with maybe 5 people behind us. This was not an issue logistically, but it meant that we started after the bulk of runners and, except for maybe the dozen people we passed, saw hardly anyone on the trail all day! If I had it to do again, I'd get on an earlier bus so that we could feel like we were part of the group.

First time at Robinson!

The run started as wide fire road through the trees and then started to wind downhill with some great views. I had no idea what to expect on that part of the trail so it was all a new experience. We continued through forested areas and fire scars, cruising comfortably on the mostly downhill terrain. We dropped into Dusty Corners aid station at mile 7.7, where Kevin proceeded to eat all the snacks until I made him leave. Arriving at Dusty Corners was especially cool because this aid station was my first ever WS memory when we crewed for Matt in 2014. I remember watching runner after runner come down the hill into Dusty, always wondering what came earlier.

The next section of trail from is familiar to me because I have run it multiple times when volunteering at Last Chance for the race, and I couldn't wait for Kevin to experience it too. The trail turns into single track and rolls through trees along the side of the canyon. About 2 miles before Last Chance, you come to Pucker Point - an amazing overlook of the American River. The day of this run was unusually cold and foggy, often this is the time for heat training before the race. When it's clear, you can see all the way into and across the canyon from Pucker Point. Either way, I absolutely love this part of the trail!

Kevin cruising the single track.

View from Pucker Point, a foggy day.

Last Chance wasn't an aid station for this training run, but I still enjoyed visiting it and thinking about the memories I have there. It's an interesting place with its old house, burned out car, and abandoned mining equipment nearby, and I like to think about how much history a place like this holds. With regards to the Western States trail, Last Chance is considered the jumping off point into the canyons. We continued on our way to my favorite trail sign, the farthest I'd been on this side of the canyon until that day, and then excitedly started our 2000 foot drop into Deadwood Canyon.

Here we go! Love the warning signs.

The trail narrows and descends pretty quickly, and I stayed focused on my footing to avoid falling hard. I'm likely too cautious when I'm going downhill - better safe than sorry? That's something I'd like to work on. We descended for a long time and I eagerly awaited our arrival at Swinging Bridge, another landmark. I would have visited the bridge during Canyons 50K; however, a mudslide on the trail had caused us to turn back just enough before the bridge to see it but not experience it. We crossed the smaller bridge, went by a beautiful waterfall, and finally arrived at Swinging Bridge. Both the bridge and the river were looking stellar that day.

Hello, my friend!

Kevin with the river.

River view.

And before we move on, can we talk about the sign in the last photo? How can 5 runners be equal to 3 horses, who are also lead by riders? Removing 3 riders/3 runners, that's like saying that 2 runners are equal to 3 horses. I really don't get it, but I'm entertained. Perhaps they put this here to give people something to debate during the climb out of the canyon.

After the highlight of Swinging Bridge, we started the hard one: the climb to Devil's Thumb. I had forgotten how steep this section of trail is, and Kevin immediately gave me a WTH comment on the steepness. I 'consoled' him by letting him know it's like that the whole way up. For real, the trail climbs 1500 feet in ~1.5 miles, and it's no joke. Now consider doing this in the heat of June (we are talking 100s in the canyons) at Western States, when you are 45 miles into 100. Yeah, I can't imagine that either!

On that particular Saturday though, we climbed strong and did quite well. We lucked out with the cooler temperatures and my climbing legs are still strong from a great 50 miler training cycle. The scenery is very interesting and eerily beautiful, forest nestled into fire scars and steep drop offs to the side of the trail.

This photo was an excuse to take a break.

More climbing...

I swear it's steeper than the photos look.

Made it to the sign on the other side!

During the race, the next aid station is right at the top of the climb but for the training run, we had another mile or so to the aid station at the Pump, mile 18.5. Luckily, that part of the trail is chill flat or downhill and it was good recovery from the climb. After a Tailwind refill and some Cheez Its, we moved along toward our next descent into El Dorado Canyon.

I've done this descent and climb before during Canyons 50K, and it was just like I remembered. The downhill is a nice, more gradual descent of 2600 feet, where you cross a bridge and start up the other side. The climb is 1800 feet and also more gradual, but it feels like it will never end and it was soul sucking both times I've experienced it. Don't get me wrong, I love the trail and it's beautiful, but this climb falls straight into the type-2 fun category.

Eventually, we got ourselves out of El Dorado Canyon and into the Michigan Bluff aid station, mile 25.4. We were feeling defeated at this point, but an incredibly enthusiastic aid station volunteer turned that right around. Also, they had Cheez Its and that'll improve any situation.

From Michigan Bluff, you run along paved road for a short time and then hit tree-lined dirt road for a couple of miles. The trail then goes back to single track and descends into the final canyon of the day, Volcano Canyon. I love the terrain and scenery on this part of the trail, and crossing Volcano Creek at the bottom is an extra treat. Last time I crossed it was thigh high, this time it only reached my ankles.

Kevin's first legit creek crossing.

At that point ~3 miles remained between us and Foresthill, and we gave it what we had to climb out of that last small canyon. We were tired and to be honest, undertrained, but we didn't let that spoil our fun! We ran it into Foresthill, high-fived our successful day, and promptly devoured the wonderful grilled cheese sandwiches that awaited us at the finish.

I definitely want to return in the future and hope to do multiple days the next time. Experiencing the course as a point-to-point run just like the race itself was fantastic, and I'm thankful to the race director for putting together these great training runs.

I'll be back in Auburn to volunteer at Last Chance aid station again this June, and I'm also excited to repeat Overlook 50K this September. More Western States trail and Auburn adventures? Yes, please!

Tenacious Ten Race Weekend 2018

2018-04-29T19:15:00.000-07:00

We traveled to Seattle for the Tenacious Ten last weekend, which was the second year for this Oiselle sponsored 10M and 10K. I missed it last year because of Canyons 50K, and I made sure to plan ahead to go in 2018. Beyond the race itself, I wanted to join the many friends who would be reuniting and hanging out!

Moving my 50 miler to the weekend before the Ten10 definitely concerned me, but I figured I'd have fun visiting Seattle even if I wasn't able to run. Luckily, I felt pretty good after the 50M - way better than expected - and was able to fun run (not race) the 10K.

We arrived in Seattle around noon on Friday and went back to our friends' house to chill for a while. In the late afternoon, we headed to packet pick up and shopped at the Oiselle store. I hadn't been to the store since it first opened in August 2015 and I was really excited to see and try on things in person.

Finally, a photo with the wings in the Oiselle Store fitting room!

After spending too long at the store, we moved on to meet a bunch of friends at Optimism Brewery. We reunited with many local friends as well as people who traveled to Seattle for the weekend like we did. I was stoked to finally meet a few people in real life who I feel like I already know via social media.

Jess made sure to reserve us a table for the important things.

Brewery group. (Photo from Caitlin)

Awesome brewery atmosphere and decor.

The race was the following morning; I didn't sleep well at all and woke up feeling nauseous. What the heck lately, body? I really thought I might not be able to run for the first 30 minutes or so of being awake and I was SO sad about the idea of missing the fun. After sipping on orange juice and being awake longer my body came around, so it was likely a blood sugar issue. My eating and hydration was off from traveling so perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised.

We arrived near the race start in Gasworks Park a little later than we should have, and we had trouble finding parking. Aside from a small parking lot it's all neighborhood street parking; this is something to prepare for if you are running this one. We finally found a spot and walked very quickly to the start, hit the portapotties (thank goodness for lots of them and quick lines), and got in the start corral. We had ~15 minutes when we got the the park but it felt rushed.

Start line with Bay Area birds - Sheena, Kim, Clare, me.

Soon we were off and running! The 10K did a loop around the lake, and the 10M did that loop plus and out-and-back section before the Fremont Bridge. The weather was perfectly cool and I truly enjoyed the course. It had some water views and small up/down grades to keep it interesting, and I loved seeing tons of people I knew along the way. I don't run road races very much anymore and I had forgotten how fun the atmosphere can be! There were also some fun cheer stations from companies like Ragnar and Nuun.

Starting the race.

After we split from the 10M runners, we went up a small hill and crossed the Fremont Drawbridge. I love bridges! Right after that I noticed the Google office on my left and got weirdly excited to see it along the way.

Gazing at the Goog.

Next came a downhill toward the park entrance and a gravel path into the finish. The whole thing went by so quickly (perhaps this is because I did 50 miles the previous weekend...?) I started wondering why I usually do such long races when I can run 10K and then go to brunch. At the finish line, they gave us fantastic donuts and had many other vendors there with samples.

Finish line! (Photo from photographer, Heather McWhirter)

The donut. YUM.

I cheered at the finish for the rest of the 10K and 10M runners, watched the awards, and cheered for the kids race that followed. The kids were adorable - Colt Goucher started in the back and took the win. I guess he's a natural like his parents. Kara also won the 10M that day, so it was a double Goucher win!

Jess and Marilyn crushing the 10M finish.

Kiddos race start!

Selfie with the beautiful skyline. (Photo from Ali)

Some Big O fabric matching with Caitlin!

Post-race involved brunch at Brave Horse Tavern (biscuit eggs benedict, wow!) followed by chill time at Jess and Gavan's house. I took the most wonderful nap; I have to say, I'm enjoying this whole training down time and recovery thing. It's been a long time coming.

The evening activity was the Bright Birds dance party hosted by Oiselle, which was held in a private loft type space. I loved the set up because it provided plenty of dance room but also room to chat and sit when preferred. Oiselle is known for hosting great parties and this one lived up to the hype!

Oh yeah, and the theme was to wear spandos!

The dance floor as seen from the loft.

We were only in Seattle part of the day on Sunday, which we spent having brunch and visiting a couple of breweries. Relaxing in the sun at Elysian was a big highlight of the day, their patio was great and they had a good hazy IPA. Unfortunately, we had to head back to the airport around 3 pm and the trip was over.

Elysian patio with Wendy and Kev.

The goodbye photo when we all parted ways. (Photo from Ali)

Last but not least, I leave you with a race swag photo because it was the best! We received a hat, special edition Flyte tank, and cowbell medal. Plus, the photos were free and we got a card with a discount to the Oiselle store. That's my kind of swag!

Leona Divide 50M Race Report

2018-04-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

Wow - I finished my first 50 miler! Somehow I'm still in disbelief that this actually happened. I've known for a couple of years that I wanted to give 50 miles a shot, but it took me a long time to come around to actually going for it. The journey to get here was long, but the reward was worth it.

I didn't blog about the training cycle at all and I didn't even know if it was going to happen. I initially targeted Marin Ultra Challenge 50M as my goal race; however, I faced unusual stress during my base building time and didn't feel ready to jump into training for an early March 50 miler. I switched to the 50K for MUC - a great decision because I felt strong and PR'd - and moved my 50 miler target to Leona Divide on April 14. I have so many things I could say about the training cycle, perhaps I need to do another post for that. At the moment, I want to get to the race!

Leona Divide is a smaller race near Santa Clarita, CA, which is about a 5 hour drive from San Jose. It's directed by Keira Henninger, who has a few races, and I really enjoyed the overall vibe of the day. The people were friendly (I mean it's the ultra community so of course!), the trails were well-marked, and the volunteers were incredibly helpful. They made my first 50M experience a great one. For anyone who wants to experience the race at a shorter distance, they also have a 50K and 30K option.

We drove down on Friday and even though I could easily have gotten my bib on race morning, I wanted to go to packet pick up the day before so I felt ready. The less I had to worry about on race morning, the better. We stopped by the start/finish area, grabbed my bib and super cute tank top, and then headed to the hotel to relax. Although I felt nervous, I also felt extremely excited to explore new trails the following day.

Bib #66, beautiful scenery.

I took extra time to prepare my drop bags to make sure everything was in order. This was my first time using drop bags and I wasn't sure how much I wanted to trust them, but I also didn't want to carry everything. So I used them (and it was fine.) The most key item in my drop bag turned out to be sunscreen; the spot I missed tells me I'd be in major sunburn pain if I hadn't reapplied.

Preparing!

I woke up around 4:20 am on race morning, got myself dressed, and made my oatmeal to eat on the way. I have reactive hypoglycemia and getting up early can REALLY mess with my blood sugar, so I have to be very careful not to crash before the race. It's always one of my biggest worries about early race mornings. Everything went smoothly and Kevin drove me to the start line. Parking at this race is really tight, so I'm happy I had someone to drop me off.

After adding my drop bags to the right piles, I got into a very long porta-potty line and managed to make it through about 5 minutes before the start. That was close and there were many people behind me too. Keira made a few announcements about the course, and then we were off. The first mile or so was on the road and then we hit some wide trail to the first aid station at mile 2.6, where we turned on to the single track of the PCT. There were a ton of 50K runners with us and the trail was very narrow with a drop off on one side (think, you have to turn sideways to pass someone), so it was tough to make any movement. Most people managed it well, although a few of us almost got knocked off the side of the hill around mile 5 by a guy who decided to pass and run into everyone along the way with his shoulder. Talk about a lot of adrenaline when your foot slides down the side of the hill! We checked on each other, re-grouped, and continued on our way.

We climbed a bit and then had some nice downhill to the aid station at Bouquet Canyon, mile 8.6. The 50K runners turned back here, and it felt great to cross the road and continue on the lesser-traveled 50M course. The next aid station was 9 miles away with a climb followed by a lot of downhill, and I really enjoyed it. The scenery was awesome, the downhill pretty rocky at times. Even though it was 9 miles, this direction of travel felt fine and I was happy going into the Aqua Dolce aid station at mile 17.6. Kevin greeted me there and he helped me get everything together with regards to my Tailwind refill, fueling, ice, and sunscreen re-application.

Arriving at Aqua Dolce.

When I left Aqua Dolce, I could tell it was getting really warm and the course is fully exposed to the sun. Within 2 miles of leaving the aid station I started feeling nauseous, and it got worse as I continued. I'm attributing this to my core temp rising and digestion issues, although this is not an issue I've had before so I could be wrong. I continued along the 9 mile stretch back to Bouquet Canyon, which is mostly uphill, and ignored the nausea as best I could. It most definitely slowed me down though.

The view along the way to the top.

Pacific Crest trail beauty!

In thinking about a 50 miler, I expected to feel fine for the first 50K and that I'd just get really tired or sore after that. This whole feeling bad in the early 20s thing really threw me for a loop. How on earth was I going to go 30 more miles like that? I pushed the worries aside and told myself it would pass. I thought about so many friends who came through low points to crush their races. After what felt like forever, I crested the top of the climb and made my way back down to Bouquet Canyon aid.

The sign at the top.

I felt really bad by Bouquet Canyon and wasn't on top of what I needed. I tried eating animal cookies (a very bad idea for the stomach, apparently) and didn't remember to get ice. I left the aid station to start the next 6 miles to Spunky Canyon aid, another big climb. At this point I wasn't worried about cutoffs at all until a fellow runner came by and commented that he wished they'd ease the cutoffs. I said I thought were were fine, and he told me we were 50/50 on making it. What?! Then I tried to do the math myself, did it wrong, and went through the next few miles thinking I was going to get pulled at the 32.6 mile aid station. Everything in my head was trying to prepare myself to get pulled and not finish my first 50M. I was sad, but I was also nauseous, dizzy, and thought maybe it was for the better. I told myself I was ok with this.

About a mile from the aid station I realized my math was 30 minutes off and I was actually completely fine to make the cutoff. Now that was some extra adrenaline I didn't need! There was some carnage at that aid station and about 5 runners sitting under the tent or DNFing, but a very positive volunteer distracted me from that and took my pack to fill it for me. I got ice, Coke, a Tailwind refill, and headed out as quickly as I could. My journey wasn't ending there, I was at least going to see a 4 in front of my total mileage.

The next aid station was 7 miles away at San Fran Road, mile 39.6. This is the next aid station where I'd see Kevin and I wanted to get to him so much. The terrain was kind of rolling, it somehow felt uphill both ways, and I was still feeling ill and moving slow. I hiked as fast as I could, ran when I felt I could manage, and fed off the 50M runners who were now coming back at me. The nice thing about an out-and-back is the camaraderie and cheering for one another!

This section of the course was really painful. It all looked the same, the sun was beating on us against the rock, and my nausea had gotten even worse. I thought I was going to throw up but somehow didn't despite some dry heaving. At the previous aid station I'd mixed my Tailwind lighter so that I was taking in more water with my calories, and I kept hoping I'd see the benefit of that eventually. My fingers were extremely swollen like little sausages and I wondered if that was bad. I wanted to cry, and I told myself I could ride back with Kevin when I finally got to him.

The last bit into the San Fran Road aid station was a nice downhill, and I saw Kevin when I was still pretty high up. I gave him some jazz hands and he waved back and yelled, which was just what I needed to get myself into that aid station. I was ahead of the cutoff and that was the last one, I had plenty of time to finish. Natalie, a friend from Oiselle Volée, was volunteering at this aid station, and when I said I was super nauseous she gave me ginger candies, a potato, and poured me Coke with ice. I told Natalie I was going to cry, and she said I can't because it expends too much energy - that actually worked. I got a nice cold sponge to the neck and head to work on cooling me down. They were so on top of it that I didn't even have time to ask Kevin to ride back with him. They encouraged me out of the aid station and I was on my way.

Leaving, potato in hand.

I was still nauseous and still moving way slower than I'd have liked, but alas I was making forward progress. I passed a few people and was near another woman finishing her first 50M, which was nice. I stuck with the walk as fast as you can, run whenever possible strategy even though my 'run' was barely that. My Garmin died around 43.5 and even though I had turned on Strava recording on my phone for the final bit, I had it tucked away in my pack. All of a sudden I started hearing 'Uptown Girl' playing from speakers and THERE WAS THE AID STATION. I had made it to mile 47.

A quick drink of water and I was on my way to the finish. The rest was mostly downhill with a little hump, and I was tired but able to manage well. I finally realized it was going to happen. Finally, I rounded the corner into the finish line.

Happy jazz hands!

I finished in 13:06:40. My estimate had been 13 hours and I was right there, although I admit I'd hoped I could be a bit faster if all went well. That's the interesting challenge about ultrarunning though; it doesn't generally 'all go well' - it's about problem solving and managing the day. In this case, I fought nausea for about 30 miles and had to really push myself mentally to deal with it and keep moving. I'd also say that the temperatures weren't THAT hot, something like low-80s, but it still had a big effect on me with exposure and canyons holding heat. I think the long distance between aid stations (due to lack of accessibility along the trail), and therefore lack of cold water/ice/etc for long stretches of time, was part of it. The other part could be training in cooler NorCal winter temperatures and not having trained in any heat at all.

A happy finisher photo.

Ahhh, finally time to remove the shoes and drink a beer.

I'm thrilled I was able to train, get to the start line healthy, and successfully finish the race. I'm also lucky I had so much support throughout the whole process - friends who shared miles with me or listened when I needed encouragement during training, Kevin's constant support, friends sending cards for me to read during the race, race volunteers - I truly couldn't have done it without each and every one of you!

Race tank and medal. I love the cute tanks!

2017 Run Down

2017-12-30T13:25:00.001-08:00

The end of 2017 is here! I accomplished two exciting 50K goals this year and had a ton of fun at races and a relay in between. It was nearly impossible to choose only a few highlights from such a great year of running. Here's my overview of the year, plus what I'm looking for out of 2018.

Best Race Experiences

One: Canyons 50K was my big, scary goal for the year and successfully completing it made me feel like a rockstar. The course follows the Western States trail from Foresthill Elementary School (one of the big aid stations during Western States 100) and is an out-and-back through some of the hardest climbs on the WS100 course, totaling ~9200 feet of elevation gain. I knew going in that this would be a huge challenge and the most time on feet I've ever experienced, and I was incredibly nervous. That said, I'd had my eye on this event since it started a couple of years back and couldn't wait to get out on those trails!

Following the conga line to the creek crossing in the early miles.

The day was a big success - my body cooperated, I loved the trails and scenery, and I enjoyed time with both new and familiar trail friends along the way. My training was properly peaked for the challenge thanks to my coach, Jenny. And last, Kevin came along and ran the super difficult 25K course plus many friends (thanks Jenny, Chris, Alisyn, Matt!) came to cheer us on, hang out at the finish, and have post-race beers. It was the perfect day!

Check out my full race report here.

Race director high fives are the best! I finished in 9 hours 10 minutes, ahead of my goal.

Two: We traveled with friends to Boston and New Hampshire to run Ragnar Reach the Beach Relay, which now goes into history as one of my favorite relays ever! Kevin and I, plus our friends Eddie and Jason, flew out to Boston and met up with other team members who live on the East Coast. We had a killer team both in speed and personality, and this was the most time I've ever had with both vans together.

When we arrived in Boston, we went straight to a team dinner at a BBQ place in the city, which of course had great craft beer choices too [because Eddie and Steve picked it]. The following day, both vans met at the start line to check in and do the safety briefing. This is something different about Reach the Beach than other relays I've done. The first leg of the race actually ran a loop around the ski resort back to the start area, which gave us even more time to hang out together.

Kevin kicked off the show as runner 1...straight up a ski run and back down.

This was my first time in New Hampshire, and I particularly enjoyed the fall colors and mountain views. The landscape was fantastic the entire way! I ran the 'Ragnar leg' for the event, which earned me a special medal for the longest single leg of the relay at 10.9 miles.

Starting my longest run, 10.9 miles.

We finished on the beach on Saturday afternoon; as van 1, we had time to play in the ocean while we waited on van 2. It was COLD but beautiful, and I loved the beach finish area. We ended the evening with a team dinner at a fun restaurant along the drive back to Boston. Thanks to our whole team for making this such a great experience!

Team photo on the beach! We finished in 27:15:36, 18th in the men's open division. Not bad at all!

Best Run

As I reflect on 2017, I realize how lucky I was to share so many runs with friends. It's impossible to choose only one best run, so I'm adding photo highlights instead!

Day at Diablo with Kate and Sophia - creek crossings, learning to use poles for Broken Arrow, and epic climbing.

Go Far Eclipse viewing run at Rancho. Epic day, epic group, and epic eclipse.

One of my hardest long runs during Canyons training - Kev joined me for 25 miles and 5000+ feet of climbing.

A foggy but wonderful day in Marin for the SFRC run - and a big group of friends!

Broken Arrow Skyrace 26K - an epic mix of altitude, snow, black diamond ski runs, and ladders.

Best Running Advice

My best running advice came from my coach, Jenny, during Canyons training: she included hiking in my training plan. It sounds so simple, right? But I previously never focused on my hiking skills. My usual approach to hills is to run as much as I can and walk when I need to. Knowing that Canyons would require a lot of hiking due to the significant elevation gain, Jenny added 'hike all uphills' to my heavy vert long runs. It was mentally hard to do because it results in feeling like I'm not trying hard enough at times (not to mention slower Strava segments...) but it worked. I had some leg and glute cramping from all of the extra hiking when I first started, but by Canyons my body was primed and ready for it.

The moral of the story? I'm not saying everyone should hike all of the uphills because we are all training for different goals. The big lesson is that race-specific training can make a huge difference in the outcome.

Sophia, me, and Jenny before Overlook 50K in September. These two inspire me!

Most Exciting Running Moment

My most exciting running moment was pacing Ali for 23.6 miles of the North Face 50M! This was my first pacing gig, and I was honored to be part of Ali's first 50M experience this past November. The whole day was really fun because of the local trail community and friends participating in the race. I met Olivia in SF and we traveled to the Stinson Beach aid station together in the morning; she was pacing Sophia for the same section that I would be pacing Ali. We enjoyed cheering for runners at the aid station, and I was also happy to hang out with my Go Far friends who were crewing and pacing Marcia that day.

Sophia came in strong and continued on her way with Olivia.

Ali arrived at Stinson Beach a bit later, and after a few minutes at the aid station we headed out along the big Dipsea trail climb to Cardiac. Ali had unfortunately twisted her ankle pretty badly coming down Matt Davis before I met up with her, and she did an amazing job of fighting through that pain plus leg cramping during the race. We made it to the Cardiac aid station and gained extra motivation from Michael, one of the most supportive and enthusiastic ultra runners I know.

Leaving Cardiac.

Ali's leg cramping became severe after Cardiac, so we were tight to cutoffs for the rest of the race. However, she pushed through like a champ and stayed in a positive mood. I was worried we wouldn't make the cutoff at Tennessee Valley, but we passed it with only seconds to spare and continued up the Marincello climb.

Ali running along one of the ridges with a beautiful view.

I especially loved running across the Golden Gate Bridge at night to the race finish line in Crissy Field. It was a surreal experience to run the bridge, know Ali was going to be successful, and to be by her side. Thank you Ali for letting me be part of your day and for inspiring me!

Summary

2017 was a very successful year of running for me, with 1338 miles run and 138K feet climbed as of today. I didn't have a specific goal for these stats, but now I want to go for 150K feet of climb next year. So close! If I'd have been paying attention, I have faith I could have hit it. I do love Strava stats.

Last long run of 2017, spent with friends in Marin. A great ending to the year!

Goals for 2018

My goal for 2018 is to run my first 50M ultra. I initially planned to run Marin Ultra Challenge 50M in March, however I'm now looking to push it back to later in the year so that I have more time to build mileage. I'm still planning to run the Marin Ultra Challenge 50K and look forward to my second 50K in Marin.

The other item on my to do list for 2018 is the Memorial Day Weekend Western States training runs, specifically the Saturday run. It's the hardest of the three days because it's 32 miles long (pending snow changes) and includes the canyons. I have run a lot of the course between Canyons 50K and running from Last Chance when volunteering for WS100, and I can't wait to see those trails again as well as new parts of the trail.

I'm sure I'll find other goals as 2018 gets going, but for now these are my top two. I hope everyone has had a great 2017, and Happy New Year!

Overlook 50K Race Recap

2017-10-05T23:24:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I ran my fall goal race, Overlook 50K, which is yet another race located in Auburn along parts of the Western States trail. Are you seeing a pattern here? Although I'm not sure I'll ever want to attempt 100 miles, I'm still finding myself obsessed with running as much of the Western States trail as possible.

I've run part of this course in the past while visiting Auburn to volunteer for States in 2016. A group of us did an out and back from Foresthill to Cal-1; considering it's mostly downhill on the way out and mostly uphill on the way back, I was happy this 50K course only went in one direction. The race was a point-to-point starting at Foresthill and ending at Auburn Overlook, and a highlight was my first-ever American River crossing at Poverty Bar.

Before the race, Kevin and I stayed in an amazing AirBnB in Foresthill starting on Thursday. This place looked great online and did not disappoint; the house was beautiful inside plus it included a deck with a view of the American River canyon. Wow!

View from the deck.

We also visited my new (as of March) favorite brewery, Moonraker, on Thursday. If you like hazy NE style IPAs, this place is a must-visit.

Obligatory brewery photo.

On Friday morning, I made breakfast and we enjoyed our coffee on the deck. Later we headed out to the Foresthill Divide trailhead for a short shakeout run; my legs felt great and the trails were beautiful. I worried I felt too good - aren't taper runs supposed to feel terrible? Either way, my body and brain were pumped and ready to go for the 50K.

Kevin is a great trail partner.

Trail selfie action.

We followed the run with lunch at Auburn Alehouse, where I enjoyed chicken tacos and a session IPA to keep it light. This brewery/restaurant is another great local place in Auburn; a huge bonus of racing in Auburn is the many awesome breweries in the area!

We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the house. I tried to nap but became increasingly anxious thinking about the race. I wasn't necessarily worried about the race; it was more of an excited, 'let's go NOW' feeling. I took advantage of the AirBnB-provided adult coloring book to soothe my mind. I seriously think I need one of those at our house now.

Later that afternoon, Jenny arrived at the house and provided me with a much needed distraction. We cooked dinner, ate on the deck, and then relaxed in the living room for a while. Sophia and Charlie arrived a bit later, and then the whole crew was there. I'm always happy to have friends running the race too.

I slept well the night before the race and woke up at the luxurious time of 6:15 am. The race start time was 8 am and our house was only 10 minutes from the start, making the morning logistics very easy. We arrived at the start, grabbed our bibs, and still had a ton of time before the race would begin. The race director gathered everyone at the start (a line on the ground) about 5 minutes before, and soon we were off. This is yet another ultra where I didn't even know the race was starting until everyone moved forward, which always amuses me. It's quite the contrast from big road races where everything is crazy and logistically complex - and I love that about trail races.

Sophia, me, and Jenny before the race. (Photo credit: Kevin)

And we were off! (Photo credit: Kevin)

As soon as we started, Jenny said to think about placement because we were going to get bottle-necked into single track in about half a mile. My race plan was to go out fast and push at the beginning, which I never do and is way out of my comfort zone, and I definitely put out the effort! I wasn't able to stick with Jenny at the beginning as we hoped, but I did land in a good spot with the other runners around me. The pace was fast enough to push me, and shortly after the start I found myself with Matt and Kristin, friends from SF, so I had company. I'm terrible at letting myself push the pace (I get scared of not finishing), so my brain was telling me to back off within the first couple of miles. I fought it, and I didn't.

Around mile 4 there was a short but steeper climb, and at that point I stepped out of the way to let the people immediately behind me pass. I was doing well but didn't feel the pace was going to be sustainable for long, and I wanted to back off just a little. I fell back into the group at a better pace, still faster than I'd normally attempt but less spicy than before. I once again found myself with someone I knew from the Bay Area, Dennis. The trail community really is the best.

We continued on our merry way through the trees, down the elevator shaft (yes, this is what people call a steep and tough section of the trail), and to the first aid station at Peachstone, mile 8.7. I was greeted by Bonnie from Steven's Creek Striders, grabbed some Coke, and continued along the trail. The next section had more nice downhill followed by some sandy sections along the river.

Trail along the river. (Photo credit: Sophia)

By this time it was heating up and all I could think about was crossing the river in the cool water. Unfortunately, I was still far from it. I was cursing myself for not paying attention to what mile marker the river crossing was at when I studied the course. I was feeling less-than-great at that point but kept myself chugging along, getting passed by a few people I had been hanging with for the past miles. I thought oh crap, I went out fast and I'm going to pay for it forever.

Then I looked at my Garmin; I was just after mile 10. I know my body and I know I always have a weird mental struggle around mile 10. It's like clockwork, it always happens, and it's almost comforting to realize that's where I am on the course. My brain said oh cool, this is normal and it'll pass, no problem. I kept moving, and it passed within the next couple of miles.

As we continued, I found myself alone for a long time and started to question if I was still on course after one of the splits. I've gone off course due to zoning out during two other 50Ks, so this isn't a random fear. However, I knew my path along the river made sense and kept going even though it felt like I hadn't seen a trail marking ribbon in 15 minutes.

The next thing I knew, I turned a corner and saw Kevin! He'd come into the Rucky Chucky aid station (mile 16) to surprise me and I was absolutely thrilled. I badly needed a mental boost at that point, and I was happy to hear that Sophia and Jenny were doing well as he'd seen them come through earlier. An awesome Rucky Chucky volunteer took my pack and ziplock of Tailwind from me, filled and mixed it, and put it on my back before I left. It was incredibly helpful!

Next came more trail along the river, and I was happy to catch back up to Dennis shortly after the aid station. It kept getting hotter; we talked about approaching the river. Where was that darn river crossing?! I passed a few more people and eventually, finally, found the river crossing around mile 18.5. A volunteer told me the river would be waist-high and off I went. I hadn't carried a phone, so I had no electronics to worry about dunking in the water.

Crossing the American River. (Photo credit: Sophia)

Volunteers and ropes helped us cross the river, a wider and deeper water crossing than I've experienced so far in my trail races. The water was much colder than I expected and it took a few minutes to cross, so by the time time I exited the water my legs were pretty numb. On the other side I found Leigh Ann, another SF trail runner I was excited to see along the way. It might sound strange to be excited to see people I know, but I find it really inspiring and comforting during these long races.

The section after the river was uphill, and it took a few minutes to get the legs warm and back in the game. The trail opened up to wide fire road that rolled up and down for the next few miles. I started to feel pretty good, which enabled me to run more quickly through some of that section even on the rollers. We came upon the Browns Bar aid station one mile earlier than expected, but no complaints here - I was happy to have my Coca Cola fix at mile 22. (The aid station was supposed to be at mile 23, but had somehow ended up one mile back.)

The next part was pretty uneventful and involved more running along the wide, rolling fire road. About half mile before the No Hands Bridge aid station, I ran into Michael from the Bay Area, who was volunteering as a course marshal. Michael is aways positive and a joy to see along the course, whether he's running or volunteering!

Selfie with Michael! (Photo credit: Michael)

At the No Hands Bridge aid station, I stopped to refill my pack with calories. I decided to take my chances with the on-course Gu Rocktane because I only had 4.2 miles to the finish and that would save me time over filling water and mixing Tailwind again. I've used Gu Rocktane a few times and it isn't ideal on my stomach, but in small doses it's ok. One volunteer asked me if I wanted to eat while the other one said 'no, she's gotta get going so she can get under 7 hours!' Although this was indeed my goal and I thought I had plenty of buffer, he spooked me a little and I left feeling flustered and without my treat of Coke. Oh well!

After crossing No Hands bridge the course heads uphill for 4 miles to the finish. Some of this is gradual uphill and it's not so bad, but by mile 26 the body is definitely feeling it. I killed this section when I ran Knickerbocker 35K in March, not so much during Overlook 50K. However, I'm still proud of myself for doing the best I could when it was hot and I was pretty darn tired. I focused on catching and passing people in front of me as I went, and this method of motivation was quite successful. I caught many people who had passed me earlier in the race and used each of those little wins to motivate myself even more.

By the time we hit the steeper uphill section to Auburn Overlook, I was feeling good and knew what to expect of the course from the Knickerbocker finish. I gave it what I had left, finishing in 6:48 for an overall 35 minute 50K PR. Even better, Sophia and Jenny also PR'd, making it a very happy day for all of us!

Finisher photo with Sophia and Jenny. (Photo credit: Jenny)

The race company spoiled us with a finish line party of burritos, local beer from Auburn Alehouse, and many snacks. I mostly went for the beer because my stomach takes liquids best after a race, and eventually I managed to eat part of a burrito too. The race swag was fantastic and included a nice cotton shirt, technical trucker hat, sticker, stainless steel pint glass, and bottle-opener keychain. All in all, I loved the course and race management, and I'd definitely consider repeating this event in the future.

Who doesn't love swag?

Following the race we enjoyed beer and dinner at Moonraker Brewing, and on Sunday morning Jenny facilitated yoga recovery on the deck. It was the perfect ending to the weekend!

Yoga with a view. (Photo credit: Sophia)

Canyons 50K Race Recap

2017-05-08T21:04:00.000-07:00

It's been a week since I ran Canyons 50K and I'm still high on life. The race went better than I could have imagined! Now that you have the outcome, let's back up to how the weekend and race played out.

Kevin and I took Friday off and drove to Auburn in the early afternoon, going straight to Auburn Running Company to pick up our bibs and swag. Kevin was running the 25K while I was doing the 50K, so we both got the awesome Canyons trucker hats. I love hats, and this is now one of my very favorite ones! 50K and 100K runners received both the shirt and hat, while the 25K and 10K runners chose one or the other. The 25K and 10K were added this year as a fundraiser for the Foresthill schools and the Western States trail, and it turned out to be a great way for family to participate in the race weekend while supporting 50K and 100K runners.

Trying on the new hats!

We had a lot of the day left to hang out in Auburn after picking up the bibs, so we visited Moonraker Brewing and I let myself have one low ABV beer. This is one of my new favorite breweries and I would have loved to keep trying new things, but alas that doesn't work well the day before a race. Later we checked into the hotel, rested in the room for a while, and went out for pizza.

During dinner, I realized that although I had carefully calculated how many small-serving Tailwind packets I needed and packed them into my hydration pack, I had not brought the large Tailwind package for the first fill in the morning. Doh! Luckily, Fleet Feet Roseville was only 20 minutes away and had plenty in stock. I definitely didn't want to go into a race having to worry about being short on my preferred fuel.

By the time we got back from Roseville, I was ready to attempt sleep. It was only around 8:30 pm, but the race started at 5:30 am and we'd be setting the alarms for 3:45 am to get there in time. I slept well and woke up feeling ready to roll when the alarm went off, thank goodness! That was a huge fear I had with the early race start. I got ready, ate my oatmeal, and headed out the door to Foresthill.

We were able to go inside the school while waiting and to use the school restrooms, which was nice because it was a little chilly outside. I ran into quite a few people I know from the trail running community and chatted with them until the start. In fact, we didn't even hear them start the race. People started moving and we followed.

Waiting at the start. (Photo from Kevin)

The crowd at the front. (Photo from Kevin)

We started by running on pavement for about 1.5 miles until reaching the trailhead. Once we arrived, there was a pretty big bottleneck that lasted until we crossed Coyote Creek just before mile 3. We stood still for about 10 minutes while waiting to cross, and I was very chilled. Crossing the creek itself was super cold; the water was above my knees and moving fast, but they put up cables and had volunteers there to help.

Going down toward the creek. (Photo from Peach)

Creek crossing line.

The other side of the creek took us on a 2 mile climb and I warmed up quickly. We arrived at our first aid station, Michigan Bluff, at mile 6.2. I made a big mistake here and waited for the porta potty, which took much longer than I expected, causing me to burn about 7 minutes. I'd been planning to stop at this one because my morning didn't go as preferred with respect to the restroom, and I had no idea what was coming up in terms of off-trail access. When it started to be a long wait I considered leaving, but by then I'd already invested a few minutes into the line and decided to stay. I headed out of Michigan Bluff, completely beating myself up over the decision for the next couple of miles. Eventually I managed to let it go - it was over and worrying about it was only going to throw my mental game into a tizzy.

Michigan Bluff to El Dorado was an enjoyable downhill on beautiful single track trail. I arrived at the El Dorado aid station (mile 9), filled my front bottles (one water, one Coke) and started up the next climb: the 4.5 mile uphill and 2500+ feet of vert to the Pump. I used the Coke as a motivational tool and gave myself permission to have a sip only when I hit specific mile goals. This climb turned out to be better than I expected. Yes it was long, but there were some very pleasant runnable parts and the views were great!

The elevation profile, from my Strava upload. 9000+ feet climbing total.

The Pump aid station (mile 13.5) greeted runners with unicorns and rainbow decorations, including a guy wearing an inflatable unicorn. It was fantastic! I used this aid station to refill my Tailwind; even though my pack was only half empty, I wanted to be fully stocked for the Devil's Thumb portion of the course. I wasn't drinking as much as I expected and I felt great, perhaps because it hadn't been hot in the morning. I left the Pump and soon arrived at Devil's Thumb (where the Western States aid station is located,) then headed into the canyon.

As soon as the canyon came into view, I started to get tears in my eyes and felt extremely happy to be in that spot. I'd been waiting so long, hearing about the canyons, wondering what they looked like. And I was there! Quickly, I made myself stop tearing up because if I cried that would really mess with my ability to breathe and I needed to keep moving. The trail down to Swinging Bridge kept going way farther down than I realized it would. It was tough terrain, making it very slow for me even though it was downhill.

I arrived at the bottom, grabbed my Hoka bracelet to prove I was there, and immediately started back up the Devil's Thumb climb. The climb is extremely hard and it was definitely hotter at that point. I thought of all my Western States friends who climb that same trail 45ish miles in when it's over 100 degrees. I remembered how Devon had been struggling when I saw her at Last Chance, and how she went straight into this climb and finished the race strong. If they could do it in those conditions, I could absolutely do it in easier conditions! I caught up to a couple of people I know from the Bay Area and enjoyed chatting while we finished the climb.

Devil's Thumb. I was moving slow, why not snap a photo?

Another view on the Devil's Thumb climb.

I went through the Pump aid station again (mile 18.5) and refilled my bottles with Coke and water. Somehow shortly after the aid station I missed a turn to the left, instead following the fire road straight ahead and downhill for a few minutes. I realized it when I saw someone running on a trail to my left, turned around and went back up the hill to take the correct turn. Gah! Luckily, it was only a 5-6 minute detour. I did the same thing right after an aid station during my first 50K, and I'm taking this as a lesson in paying closer attention after losing focus at aid stations.

The course is an out-and-back, so it was time for the downhill direction of the 4.5 mile climb we'd done earlier. It felt like the longest downhill ever, and my legs were more than ready to go uphill again by the time we reached El Dorado aid at mile 23. Or so I thought. The climb back up to Michigan Bluff was only 2.8 miles, but it felt like it would never end. We were now going the same direction as the Western States race, and I remembered how desperately I had wanted to know where the runners came from while waiting to crew at that aid station. I was on the same trail, and that gave me so much motivation to keep climbing.

Arriving back at Michigan Bluff (mile 25.8) took away any and all mental doubt the climb had let in. This was the last aid station, and I was 6.2 miles from the end. I finally let myself think about the finish and that I was really going to make it!

The final 6.2 miles of the 50K went up, down, and up again for a total climb of about 1000 feet, so it wasn't an easy path to the finish. It had also gotten much hotter. Jenny had told me to fill my pack at Michigan Bluff even though 6.2 miles might not sound like that far, and I'm so glad I listened to that advice! I filled the pack not only with more Tailwind, but also ICE. Having cold Tailwind to drink on the last climb was fantastic!

When we crossed Coyote Creek again I knew we had less than 3 miles to go - I kept going as fast as I could. Now I wouldn't say that was particularly fast, but I gave it what I had left. We went back onto the pavement with about 1.5 miles to go and continued climbing on Bath Road. I power walked until I hit the top and then picked up the pace to a run. I considered trying to run up the hill, but honestly power walking was way more efficient at that point.

Bath Road to Foresthill felt longer than I expected and I was ready to be done. I remembered Western States runners and how they would be running that segment at mile 61. I thought about Kevin going to meet Matt as he came onto Bath Road when we crewed for him in 2014, and how strong Matt looked when he got to Foresthill. I thought about Mike from Striders, who struggled through that section big time but pulled out of it to finish strong later in the race. Yes, I most definitely could run it in at mile 31 with only 1 mile to go.

Approaching Foresthill was really fun. People were cheering, I saw Alisyn and Matt, and Chris gave me a high five on the way into the chute. I crossed the finish line in a time of 9 hours and 10 minutes, about 20 minutes faster than I expected. I was so happy!

Finishing! (Photo from Jenny)

Going in for the high ten! (Photo from Jenny)

I was overwhelmed with excitement and ecstatic to see friends at the finish. A huge thank you to Kevin, Jenny, Chris, Alisyn, Matt, Charity, and everyone who was there to cheer and celebrate. Also, a big thank you to all of the volunteers and especially to Striders Mandie and Kim, who were out there volunteering at Michigan Bluff and later sweeping Devil's Thumb. It's always wonderful to see people I know along the way. In addition, thank you to everyone who messaged me, commented on posts, and supported me as I trained for Canyons. It means more than you know!

After finishing, we stayed for a while to see the 100K winners come in and to enjoy the BBQ. I received a Canyons pint glass for finishing, which I promptly filled with the beer provided by the race. They gave me a hat, a pint glass, and beer? This race was a match made in heaven.

Showing off the pint glass.

Overall, Canyons went extremely well. In some ways I feel I got lucky, but I also know I worked my tail off and was very well trained. For once, my body AND my mind were ready for the challenge at the same time. I went into the race excited, I drew on desires to see the trail and the strength of friends when it got hard, and it was a huge success.

Hanging with Matt and Alisyn at the finish. (Photo from Alisyn)

Last, I want to acknowledge that most of the runners continued on to do yet another 50K after I finished. I was ready to be done, and that blows my mind. 100K runners, you are incredible!

Believe

2017-04-28T10:35:00.000-07:00

This is it! Tomorrow at this time I'll be running Canyons 50K, by far the hardest race I've attempted. I've gone through all of the emotions this week from scared to excited, but now I've settled at anxious to get going and to see those trails. It's time to believe in myself and in my training - the training cycle was awesome and I'm as ready as I'll ever be!

I had a great talk with Coach Jenny this week where I said one of my big fears is that I've never been out on a course for 9 to 10 hours before. What happens to my body after 7 hours? Her response made total sense: you're never out there that long until you are. For a marathon, we train to 20 miles or so and don't generally run 26 miles until race day. For a 50K, we train to about the marathon distance and don't do 31 miles until race day. This isn't any different, the training will extrapolate.

Trust. Believe.

Reflecting on favorite routes during taper.

I also read a very timely blog post from my friend, Erin, that really spoke to me. It's as if she knew I needed to hear her words today. The biggest takeaway from the post was this quote:

"Simply stated: in running — as in basically every other area of life — you don’t know what you can or can’t do unless you (give yourself the permission to) try."

Am I capable of the difficult Canyons 50K course? I believe I am. But I definitely won't know if I don't give myself the permission to go after it.

I'm starting with yes.

Paved part of the Bay trail through Shoreline Park.

Last, I was inspired by an UltraRunner podcast episode I listened to on my commute yesterday called Mojo, Motivation, and Burnout. The guest and therapist, Drew, mentioned having the 'it factor' - something that drives you in a different way than run times or age places. My 'it factor' is how much I love being out on the trails. I'm like a kid in a candy store when I get to explore new trails, which is exactly what I get to do all day tomorrow! My 'it factor' is what I need to come back to when the race gets tough and I feel like I can't keep going.

I trail run because I love it, and I'm lucky that I'm able to do it.

Whatever happens tomorrow, the training journey has been fun and I have no regrets. I'm going after Canyons 50K and looking for a finish. I'm choosing to believe.

NYC Marathon with Team EMC

2017-04-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

You might remember that I ran with the Every Mother Counts charity team for NYC Marathon 2014. I loved working with them and was extremely impressed by their passion, their teamwork, and the stories that brought them to EMC. I'm excited to say that I'm joining their team again for the NYC Marathon this coming November!

Meeting Christy Turlington Burns (Founder) in SF

The NYC Marathon is an amazing race, and I can't wait to reconnect with EMC teammates. I'm also excited to share the experience with Kevin this time around. He was accepted via the lottery, and we'll be traveling to NYC together for the event.

The decision to pick up a fall road marathon was pretty hard. On one hand, NYCM is a really, really awesome event and I'm pumped about the idea of doing it again. On the other hand, this means running a flat road race and that's not my jam anymore. Instead of focusing on the marathon as my big race goal, I'll be training for Skyline to the Sea 50K on October 7 and coupling that training block to NYCM. I intend to take in all of the crowd energy and to truly enjoy the NYC course!

Happy finisher post from 2014.

Skyline to the Sea 50K is a net downhill course with low overall elevation gain (<4000 feet), and it's a repeat race for me. I'm planning to work on more runnable terrain this fall to benefit both the 50K and NYCM. When talking to my coach about it, she mentioned that focusing on constant pace effort (i.e. not switching between running and hiking like on trails) can benefit my overall aerobic capacity for trail running. That sealed the deal and I decided to go for it.

About Every Mother Counts:

Every Mother Counts is a charity that supports maternal health around the world; their team runs races to raise awareness that distance is the biggest barrier to women getting the care they need. For me, the most eye-opening part of connecting with EMC was realizing that prenatal care, complications due to lack of care, and death during childbirth are a problem everywhere, not only in developing countries. I met people on the team who were directly affected by these issues, making the goals of EMC even more tangible.

If interested, you can find more details and donate via my fundraising page. Every little bit helps!

Canyons 50K Taper Time

2017-04-19T11:26:00.002-07:00

Canyons 50K is ten days out and I'm pumped! It's been a very long time since I've felt so excited and ready for a race; boy have I missed this feeling. Knickerbocker 35K was a huge turning point in this training cycle, both physically and mentally. That was the first day I felt confident in my ability to not only run another 50K, but to do one with tons of climbing.

My training after Knickerbocker focused on adding more vert per week, especially to my long runs. My long runs for the past two weekends were 25 miles+5000 feet climbing, then 26 miles+6300 feet climbing. Both of these efforts involved power hiking all the climbs to really work those muscles, whereas usually I'd do a combination of hiking and running (if possible on the terrain, that is.)

I was very nervous about the first of those runs, but it went extremely well and I felt strong. Luckily, the rainy morning turned into beautiful sunshine and were only wet for a short period of time! Kevin and I started the run from Tennessee Valley, and he did a 20 mile loop with me before I broke off to finish the last climb on my own. We had SF Ballet tickets that night and were tight on time, so Kevin grabbed cheeseburgers while I finished and we had a fun little post-run picnic in Tennessee Valley.

Selfie along Miwok trail.

Starting the descent from Cardiac hill.

Climbing up Coastal Trail from Muir Beach.

Top of Coyote Ridge.

The second weekend run at Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve had me feeling much more tired by the end, but I also realize this was only one week after the other big distance+vert push. Plus I'd been in the 20 mile long run range for 5 weeks in a row by then! I slowed down when I needed to and pushed through the tough parts, even doing my least favorite steep climb (Harkins Ridge trail) two times to add vert. Talk about great mental training! On the bright side, I've wanted to check out the Grabtown Gulch trail loop and to run down Waterman Gap trail for a couple of years now, and I finally got the chance. All in all, this long run sent me into taper feeling like I conquered the world and ready to take on Canyons.

Waterman Gap trail.

One of many downed trees in Purisima from winter rain.

My favorite thing about this training cycle is that I had a lot of varied workouts. I've been working with Jenny as a coach, and her style meshed with me extremely well. She added in strength days, such as lifting heavy or going to a Lagree class, that strategically worked around my run schedule. In weeks I had higher mileage or harder efforts, strength was removed or pulled back. We mixed in Flywheel for some cardio interval days instead of having fast speed work every week, making both my body happy (less pounding, faster recovery) and my brain happy (because I enjoy it!) And last, I started going to Core Power Yoga following easy runs or for active recovery. I have fallen in love with Vinyasa yoga, which I never would have predicted. I feel like it's helped my body, my stress level, and even my nemesis calf and lower leg cramping.

The other amazing part of this training cycle is that while I felt the expected cumulative fatigue, I never felt that awful-exhausted-can't-function feeling that I've dealt with in the past. When I thought that was coming on, Jenny adjusted the schedule to combat the issue. That made a huge difference in my overall outlook.

From here, I'll be focusing on easy runs, yoga, and recovery. Hopefully April 29 will be my day and I'll have a good race, but even if not I have no regrets on my training cycle. I can't wait to run the Canyons course!

Knickerbocker Canyon 35K Race Recap

2017-04-10T20:46:00.001-07:00

The weekend of March 25, I drove up to the Auburn area to visit my friend and to run the Knickerbocker Canyon 35K as a training run for Canyons 50K. This race turned out to be just what I needed after a California-winter of heavy rain, mud, and decreasing long run motivation. I have found myself getting very nervous for long runs lately, not so much due to the distance but due to the potential for unsafe trail conditions - downed trees, deep mud, slippery everything, and landslides, to name a few. The trails have been hit hard over the past few months.

The day before Knickerbocker, I had a terrible drive (major traffic put me 2 hours behind schedule) up to Alisyn's house and later found myself having a stress-fest on her couch about the next day's race. Thank goodness she was calm, talked to me about my concerns, and fed me pizza and beer. I went to bed in a significantly better mental state than I'd been in earlier that day, and I woke up feeling pretty good about my upcoming 20-ish miler.

Alisyn was running the half marathon and both races started at 8:30 am, so we didn't have to get up super early to go to the start. We arrived at American Canyon Overlook around 7:30 am, quickly got ourselves situated with restrooms, packs, and bibs, then chatted with people until it was time to start. The weather was surprisingly good, in the 50s and not raining!

With Alisyn at the start.

Following a description of course markings and changes due to a washed out trail, the race director sent us on our way. The race started with a big downhill and gently rolling terrain down to the aid station at No Hands Bridge. The bridge is a major landmark on the Western States course, and I was super excited to set foot on it for the first time. That day it was flooded, giving us our first drenched shoe moment of the day. I've been saying I wanted to do a race with creek crossings for a while now, so I felt like a kid in a candy store with all of the water on this course!

The start! Photo from friend, Hassan.

Photo on trail above No Hands Bridge from Let's Wander, race photographer.

As I headed out of the No Hands aid station, I knew K2 training hill, another landmark for runners in the Auburn area, was coming up soon. I realize K2 is not supposed to be fun, but after hearing people talk about it for years I was excited and ready to give it a go. My expectation of K2 was that we'd be climbing slippery mud and sliding backwards with every step forward. However, much of K2 was sheet-type rock and there was no sliding backwards at all. Talk about relief!

I'd also been warned ahead of the race that K2 has many false summits, so I made sure to assume I wasn't at the top even when it looked like I was. I found myself passing people who were taking breaks on the way up, a big confidence boost. Eventually we really did get to the top, and shortly after that the 35K split from the half and turned right for the additional mileage.

The orange loop (35K only) was spectacular! For the first couple of miles, much of the trail was muddy and felt like running in a shallow creek; this section also included a knee-deep creek crossing. There was an aid station after a couple of miles, and then we enjoyed a long downhill with beautiful views of the river and canyon all the way down. Of course, what goes down must go up, so that was followed by a switchback-y climb back to the aid station at the top. I came into that aid station smiling and telling the volunteers how awesome that loop was, grabbed some Pringles, and ate them while I continued up the hill.

View during the switchback climb.

We followed the same water-logged trail back to the half marathon course split. I thoroughly enjoyed crossing the bigger creek a second time and almost lost a shoe in the deep mud along the way. We enjoyed another long downhill stretch to No Hands Bridge via a different trail with more creeks and nice tree cover. By this time I was around mile 15 and kept thinking I would start to feel super tired or terrible at some point, but I never did. It was amazing! I love both of the photos below because they show how I was feeling - super excited to be out there and having a blast in the creeks.

Photo from Let's Wander, race photographer.

The course went back over No Hands Bridge and then followed the Western States trail in the proper direction (as in, the same way WS100 runners go) for a while. My head filled with thoughts of how many rockstars had run that same trail on their way to a WS100 finish. What were they going through then, at mile 97? I thought about the people who would be pushing for a podium or top ten position, racing to the finish. I remembered the people I'd seen finish in the Golden Hour and even the last seconds of the race, how they would have been fighting for every minute to make the 30 hour cutoff. I recalled the faces of the friends who had successfully finished the race, how tough they all are. And I kept running the uphill grade as if I hadn't already run 17 miles, feeling strong and stoked that I was able to be out there running.

View from No Hands Bridge. Hello, amazing!

We veered off of Western States trail after a bit, and this is where we had to bypass the washed out trail. Instead, we climbed this very steep paved road that I have to admit wasn't very fun. Steep dirt is one thing, steep roads are much less exciting. Finally, we came to the top of the pavement and back onto a short section of trail to the finish at American River Canyon Overlook. Remember that big downhill start? You got it, that meant a big uphill finish!

Elevation chart from Inside Trail site.

I finished the race in 4:44:22, ahead of my estimated 5 hour finish. I'm thrilled that my body responded so well that day; this was the first time in a long while that I felt confident about running another 50K. Running new trails, especially in the Auburn area, brought me more joy than I could have predicted. I hope to carry the same excitement for the trails into Canyons, preferably with a cooperative body on the day of the race.

The post-race glow.

I have to give props to Inside Trail for another well-organized event. They handled the trail closures and rerouting with ease and provided the usual top notch support at aid stations. The finish line had lots of food to choose from as well, including two kinds of hot soup that were perfect for recovery and warming up the body after finishing. The race photos from Let's Wander Photography are provided to runners for no charge, which I love.

After the race, Alisyn, her friend Chris, and I went to a few breweries in the Auburn area to celebrate. Auburn has great beer! I was especially excited to return to Knee Deep, but the addition of new-to-me breweries Moonraker and Crooked Lane was a big bonus. Each brewery had a food truck as well, and I tried the food at each one. I was a very happy person.

And last but not least, I acquired a new hat.

Canyons 50K Training

2017-03-20T19:07:00.002-07:00

Although I haven't been blogging recently, I'm still here and I'm still running. When I haven't posted to the blog in a while, I struggle to decide what to post next - then I don't post at all. I might as well start with a general update - I'm well into training for Canyons 50K on April 29!

Climbing on a training run in Sonoma.

I'm both excited and scared to death of this race. Canyons 50K is run with the Canyons 100K, a well-known Western States qualifier. The race starts in Foresthill and follows the Western States trail into the Canyons (the exciting part!) It has an estimated 9000 feet of climbing and is going to take me much longer than my other 50K events (the scary part.) It's the big, scary goals that are the most worthwhile, right?

Image from Canyons website.

I chose Canyons as my goal race because I'm pretty obsessed with Western States and I've wanted to race in the area for a few years now. Volunteering at Last Chance aid station during Western States has made me very curious about the trails through the Canyons, and this will be my first time venturing down to swinging bridge. I can't wait to see what it's like to climb to Devil's Thumb (I'm sure I'll eat those words later) and to run into Michigan Bluff aid station. The area has so much history, the terrain is challenging, and the views are breathtaking.

The sign leading into the Canyons from the Last Chance side.

View into the Canyons from farther up the trail at Pucker Point.

The running part of training has been going well so far, and I'm working on the confidence part. I tend to doubt myself and my abilities and that needs to stop. I've done two 20 mile runs and one 30K race so far this cycle, and I'll be running the Knickerbocker Canyon 35K this coming weekend. That event will give me more experience in the Auburn area, including what I hear are some killer steep climbs.

This past Saturday, Kevin and I did our first Black Mountain summit from Rancho San Antonio as part of a 20 mile long run. That run was hard but spectacular, and I feel good about that effort. A few more like that and hopefully both body AND brain will be in the game.

Black Mountain summit!

Downhill with a view of Silicon Valley.

I've endured and enjoyed a number of very rainy, windy, and muddy runs this California winter. Being from Ohio and having dealt with all kinds of crazy weather, it doesn't seem like heavy rain should phase me, but it did. After a few weeks, the deep mud started to make different muscles and joints angry, and trail closures became an issue due to many landslides and fallen trees. I'm proud of myself for not skipping any long runs even when it seemed daunting to be outside for hours, and I thank my running friends for keeping me going! And don't worry, we always planned our routes around trail closures and made sure to stay safe.

Debris on the trail in Huddart Park.

A landslide covered the trail in Rancho San Antonio, this is after the clean up.

Lovely mud encrusted shoes and legs after the Lake Chabot 30K!

A downed tree blocked Rogue Valley trail in Rancho San Antonio.

Stay tuned for more training updates and race reports. This weekend's 35K weather is looking like it'll make for an interesting story...

Woodside Ramble Half Marathon Race Recap

2016-12-23T10:41:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, I ran the Woodside Ramble half marathon in Huddart Park, one of my favorite parks in the Bay Area. This was a fantastic end of year event with a sellout crowd, and we lucked out with chilly but good running weather. I originally planned to run the 35K, but as the race approached I didn't have the training base I wanted to do well at the longer distance. Instead of slogging along for 35K, I decided to switch to the half marathon and put more effort into the pace.

The 50K and 35K started at 8 am, and the half marathon was set to begin at 8:30 am. Unfortunately, the traffic into the park became very bottle-necked due to the Huddart Park pay station and people had trouble getting there in time. We arrived at the park entrance line 50 minutes ahead of the race but only made it to the start at 8:20 due to the traffic situation. They ended up delaying the half start until 8:45 am due to this issue, which enabled many more people to get there in time. I applaud Inside Trail for how they handled the rough park entrance situation.

I've run in this area quite a bit, including the Woodside Crossover 50K earlier this year, so I know the trails well. I love running in the redwood tree cover! This race started at the Werder picnic shelter, headed downhill on the Bay Tree trail, then turned left to follow Richards Road (a fire road) to begin the climb. I rolled my right ankle very hard on that left turn; the sharp pain freaked me out for a minute or so but then seemed to subside, so I kept going.

We started climbing, and my quads and calves immediately complained. I had taken a barre class two days before that resulted in major quad soreness, so every use of the muscle hurt. I'll think twice before I make that mistake again! The calf cramping is somewhat standard for me in situations with early climbing, so that wasn't surprising but was extra painful that morning. I pushed forward the best I could, stopped a couple of times to stretch the calves, and made the best of it. The situation wasn't helping my goal of pushing pace though.

On the way up. (Photo from Let's Wander)

Finally, a little after mile 4, my calves opened up. I was thrilled to feel better and even started to pass some people on last part of the climb. Shortly after mile 5 the climb ended and we did an out-and-back along Skyline trail, then we headed downhill for a couple of miles on Chinquapin trail. I absolutely love running on that section of trail! We turned left onto Dean and had another short uphill where I was able to push myself harder now that my body was warm. I continued to pass more people which boosted my mental state too.

Happiness on trails. (Photo from Let's Wander)

The last few miles of the race were downhill with one last climb to the finish. I had picked up my pace after my calves felt better, so by this time I was definitely feeling it more than usual for a trail half marathon. I finished in 2:32:59 and was very happy with that time!

I'm not completely convinced the course was 13.2 miles as Inside Trails has on their map, but even if it was short I feel good about my time and my effort. GPS tracking is notoriously bad in the Huddart tree cover, so the distances tracked by runners were all over the board. I think I would have done a little better without the constant quad soreness, but I told myself it's great mental practice for the end of a hard 50K where I'm wiped out and in pain. All in all, this is one of my faster trail half marathons (if not the fastest depending on how short it was) on a course with similar climb. What a great way to end my racing year!

Course profile from the Inside Trail website.

For swag, Inside Trail gave us nice long sleeve tech shirts and medals. They also provide the photos for free - this is my favorite perk of all. A huge thank you to Let's Wander Photography for the photos.

The goods. Love the shirt color.

In addition, it was wonderful to see many friends at the race or to hear of their awesome performances. We visited with Cat, Jen, and Margot before the race and briefly at brunch. Plus BayBird Rebecca won the 50K, and Oiselle Volée teammate Asher won the half marathon. Amazing performances, ladies!

Brunch at Alice's Restaurant. (Photo from Cat)

The one where married people match post-race outfits.

Well, that ends my race year for 2016. I have exciting plans for 2017 to share soon - I can't wait!

Diablo Summit Stomp 30K Race Report

2016-11-17T16:28:00.000-08:00

The Diablo Summit Stomp 30K was a new event for Brazen Racing this year. In past years, Brazen has held a race at Diablo in November with the longest distance being a half marathon. When I saw the addition of a 30K that went to the Diablo Summit, I knew I needed to do it [because I'm crazy]!

One of my goals for 2017 is to run in the mountains more, and that means more climbing. I started preparing myself for that goal this fall with the Brazen Rocky Ridge half marathon (a half with 3900 feet of climbing and lots of steeps) and this 30K, which had 4200 feet of climbing. The main difference of the Diablo event was not the total vert - I've done that in this distance many times - but the extended length of the climb.

The race started at Castle Rock Park in Walnut Creek, CA, which had a lot of easily accessible parking. The walk to the staging area from the parking lot was about 15 minutes; had I realized that, I would not have planned to go back to my car after bib pick up as I did. At least walking back and forth kept me warm! I knew a few other people running the race and we chatted before start time.

Volée and BayBirds: Abigail, me, Sophia, Kate (Photo from Sophia)

Honestly, I was pretty nervous for this one. I knew I could finish it, but my climbing legs have felt off since this summer and I haven't come out of that yet, even with rest. I worried I would be miserable or feel the need to downgrade to the half. We started running and I let myself focus on my own pace, trying to settle in to a comfortable rhythm.

Here we go! (Photo from Sophia)

Starting a little hill. (Photo from Brazen Racing)

The first 4 miles of the course included a couple of small dowhnills, but from then on it was a pretty intense uphill climb until we reached the summit at 11.5 miles. The first small climbs bothered my legs and cramped my Achilles, but I stopped to stretch and continued on. My muscles finally opened up after 3 miles or so.

Elevation Profile from Strava

I was starting to struggle with my uphill speed by mile 7 and even contemplated making a 'Deal with the Devil' to drop to the half at the next aid station, but being near Abigail on the course motivated me keep pushing. I could do this 30K, why was I letting myself have doubts? I moved quickly through the mile 8.5 aid station and didn't give myself time to even consider dropping. I was IN for the long haul.

Onward and upward, onward and upward. There were many people around me on the course and it was great for camaraderie and motivation. It was a perfectly clear day and the views were spectacular. I stopped a couple of times to rest muscles that were hating me, and I was frustrated that my glutes wanted to quit. I waited a minute on Abigail who was close behind me and continued on with her as my rabbit. Friends Berke, Kate, and Shannon passed me on their way downhill and assured me the top really was coming soon.

What's with the uphill photos?! (Photo from Brazen Racing)

The last half mile to the top was extremely tough, but I made it and stomped that summit! I was ecstatic to finally be there and took advantage of the chance to mix more Tailwind. I stayed at the summit aid station longer than I usually would, but I felt dizzy from the climbing and needed a few minutes to regroup.

Having a summit stomping good time...

One might think that finishing the climb means an easy downhill run, but it's not quite that simple. The lungs no longer have to work so hard, but the quads and legs take a beating. Just as the extended uphill was new to me, so was the extended downhill. I find it hard not to hold back on the steeper parts, and 'letting go' to run faster downhill is a skill I'm working on. I focused on my form throughout the descent.

I was happier on the way down. (Photo from Brazen Racing)

The course became much less steep around mile 16, and from there I ran well and as fast as I could to get back to the finish. I passed quite a few people in the last miles and that was a nice mental boost. At 4:41:17, I crossed the finish line a very happy person!

The finish photos! (Photos from Brazen Racing)

Kate and Shannon greeted me at the finish line, and Abigail came in soon after. I was DONE but super happy with the finish and even my finish time (I'd been estimating 4:45, which I beat by a few minutes.) That was even good for 3rd in my age group!

30K finishers: Me, Kate, Abigail, Shannon

Race Swag.

This race turned out great overall; it was an intro to longer climbs and I'm thrilled that I accomplished a 30K on Diablo. I'm even more thrilled that I managed an age group medal, which hardly ever happens (and thanks to Kate for finding this in the results later that night, I didn't even check.) There were 9 people in my age group, so I'll take it.

And as always, Brazen Racing put on an awesome event. The volunteer and staff support was superb, the course was well-marked, aid stations had everything I needed, and the finish area and food were great. Plus, volunteer photographers provided all of their photos at no charge to the runners. Thank you for everything, Brazen!

StrideBox Surprises

2016-11-08T11:15:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: StrideBox sent me a shipment free of charge to try the product. I was not otherwise compensated, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

In October, StrideBox offered to send me a monthly box to check out - how could I refuse? The goal of the company is to help runners discover products and accessories via a monthly subscription. I love trying new products, and this was a good way to be introduced to items I might have otherwise missed. When it first arrived, I was entertained that the outside of the box matched my blog name.

It's my own branding, no?

Opening the box without having any idea of the contents was really fun. The items I received were: Tailwind, Evoke Organic Meusli, Coffee Bar, Pjur Active 2Skin, Extreme Sport Beans, SPORTea, stickers, and a combo gaiter/headband. Research tells me that each box has at least one accessory item in addition to the consumables.

The box arrived as I was packing for Ragnar Hawaii, so the first thing I did was pack the Tailwind and Coffee Bar in my bag. The Tailwind was a single-size (2 scoops) and the Coffee Bar is the equivalent of one cup coffee. What could be more perfect for an overnight relay? Plus I'm already a Tailwind user so I knew it'd work for me.

I'm still working my way through the rest of the box, and overall I enjoyed the experience. Who doesn't like getting running products in the mail? I haven't yet decided if I want to be a long-time subscriber but will likely pay for a couple of months to see what's new. StrideBox is $15 per month, it auto-renews, and can be canceled at any time.

Let me know in the comments if you've tried StrideBox before and what you thought about it. Happy running!

Tamalpa Headlands 50K Race Report

2016-10-20T18:49:00.001-07:00

On August 27, I ran the Tamalpa Headlands 50K as my goal race. This post has been in my head for a while and it's time to finally put it in writing; I think I struggled with this one because of how the training cycle ended.

Overall, my training cycle for this 50K didn't go very well. With each passing week, I continued to feel worse both physically and mentally. My body wasn't responding well to the training load laid out by my coach, and I was never, ever able to hit the speed work paces she gave me. With each of these 'failures' I became more discouraged about my ability to do well in the race or heck, to even run at all.

I tried very hard to act fine, but I wasn't. I decided to run the SF Marathon mostly because I didn't think I could muster a solo long run otherwise. This was a great decision and a big mental boost - I'm so glad I did it! Unfortunately, my discouraged state of mind returned quickly post-race. Even taking extra days off and skipping speedwork wasn't helping. Often my coach would say a given workout 'shouldn't take much out of me,' but that never ended up being true.

On the Monday before the race, I truly contemplated a DNS. Despite knowing this was mostly in my head and that I needed to snap out of it, I couldn't let it go. Lunch and a social run with a friend helped pull me out of the hole a little bit, at least enough to get me to the start line.

Race morning was perfect, not too cold and not too hot. We started from Santos Meadow in Marin, and everything from parking to bib pick-up to restrooms was very easy. I was happy to be with fellow Bay Birds Rebecca and Lisa, plus Striders Erica, Rachel, and Imogen, as moral support.

Me, Rebecca, and Lisa at the start.

I still had many doubts in my head, but I did my best to push them aside. One great thing about this course is that I know the trails well and have sections I truly look forward to running, which kept my mind occupied and happy. We headed toward Muir Beach, up the first big climb and through Pirate's Cove - one of my favorite spots and a course highlight. The views were as spectacular as usual!

Fasties at the start. It's a championship race and draws quite the elite crowd!

The next climb up Wolf Ridge felt tougher than I thought it should, but I made it to the top and thoroughly enjoyed the long downhill into Rodeo Beach. As a special treat, Brett had planned the SFRC run to be on our route that day and I passed them going up Coastal trail as I ran down. Their high fives, cheers, and Bay Birds shout outs were much appreciated!

The Rodeo Beach aid station was about 8.5 miles into the course so I didn't really need anything other than to re-tie my shoes. I always end up messing with my shoes multiple times during a race, not sure what the deal there is. Does anyone else have this issue? Can you solve it for me? Even double knotting doesn't seem to take care of it. Anyway, I continued on to Miwok trail and began the next big climb. Soon it was time to run down Old Springs, another section of trail I always look forward to.

Running down Old Springs. (Photos from Facchino Photography)

On the way into Tennessee Valley, Charity and Maili surprised me by being there to cheer and I was thrilled! What a boost to see them for a few minutes. I was also pumped to see Kevin, who took my sunglasses and gave me Tailwind. I left the aid station and went on to climb Miwok trail toward Dias Ridge. Climbing felt pretty rough and slow going to me all day, but I held it together fairly well considering that.

Finally, it was time to climb Cardiac via Deer Park and the Dipsea; this is the hill that had me most nervous because it's so long. Even though I'd done it a few times before the race, it felt longer than ever before this time. I knew I'd top out that climb around mile 19 and focused on getting there as fast as I could manage.

The top of that hill brought another good surprise, more Bay Birds volunteering and cheering at the aid station! My pack closure got stuck when I tried to refill the Tailwind, but they forced it to close and got me on my way. I knew I'd have to deal with it later but hoped (and was correct) that it wouldn't be until after the race.

At this point, I hit the only part of the course that I hadn't run before, Matt Davis trail. It was a nice and somewhat technical single-track trail section that descended to Stinson Beach. There were a ton of hikers on the trail by this point in the day, which means there was a lot of dodging and stopping to pass people on the narrow trail. It took me way longer to descend that section.

When I arrived at the Stinson Beach aid station around mile 26, I still felt pretty good and knew I had only one climb left in the race, back up to Cardiac via Steep Ravine trail. Steep Ravine is a beautiful, tree-covered single-track trail that I generally enjoy. However, that day my legs wanted to quit soon after I embarked on the hill. I struggled hard the whole way to the top, even taking a few breaks along the way. I kept telling myself 'this is it, last climb' and pushing as much as I could muster. Slowly but surely, I arrived at the top. I didn't stop at the Cardiac aid station the second time around because I had plenty of Tailwind and only about 3 downhill miles to go.

The gentle downhill on Coastal and the switchbacks of Heather Cutoff went by quickly, and I arrived at the finish. I was greeted by Kevin and Alisyn cheering along the side and crossed the line in 7:33:27. Although I didn't get in under 7:30 as I hoped, I did better than my previous 50K on a harder course and I am proud of that.

With 7300 feet of climbing, this course was a beast.

The race gave us awesome swag - medals, cute t-shirts, and trucker hats! My hat addicted self was incredibly excited about the hat.

Finish photo!

The finish line included beer and all the pizza I could eat from Firetrail Pizza. Yum. The Headlands Brewing beer had run out by the time I finished, but at least there was still Coors? Don't worry, I celebrated with real beer later that evening.

Beer and pizza.

All in all, this was a good day. I gave it all I had, beat my time on a harder course, and felt very accomplished. That said, next time I hope to have a better training cycle and go into the race feeling fresh and ready.

I've been taking some time to recover without a training plan for the past few weeks, and now I'm building toward the Brazen Diablo Summit Stomp 30K as my fall race. See you on the trails!

Bird Camp 2016 - California Edition

2016-09-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

Bird Camp California was the second week of September at Monte Toyon, a camp in Aptos, CA. I loved spending a few days in the Redwood forest while connecting with both old and new friends. Oiselle started the 'Bird Camp' adventure in Bend, OR, in 2014, which I attended and absolutely loved. It was the first opportunity I had to meet many of the women, plus we had a chance to learn from the elite athletes and speakers knowledgeable in running, nutrition, and recovery. In 2015, I traveled to the Bird Camp in Leavenworth, WA, for a similar camp. The second year I knew many more people; it was awesome to see them again and to spend more time together.

This year, with the huge growth of the Volée and thousands of women across the country, the Bird Camps changed from one camp to a series of regional camps across the US. Volée regional leaders volunteered to organize these events, and it's enabled many more women to participate and to connect with runners in the community. It's been fun to follow the different camps and to see photos from the unique locations.

As one of the organizers of the California camp, I had a very different perspective than I have in the past. Organizing is something that comes naturally to me and I generally enjoy it, but it's also a ton of work. That said, I love that we were able to contribute to the Oiselle running community in this way and I'm thrilled with how well the camp turned out!

Big trees. Nisene is a magical forest.

Camp started on Thursday late-morning, kicking off with lunch and then an early afternoon yoga session. Next up, Devon Yanko chatted with the group about her recent [amazing] races and held an incredibly informative Q&A about mental toughness and training. I'm a total Devon fangirl and loved this! This talk transitioned to a fun happy hour with Sufferfest Beer, who graciously visited and brought us their gluten-removed beer to enjoy. I know what you are thinking - beer without gluten? Ew! - I thought that in the past too UNTIL I tried Sufferfest. It's truly fantastic, and the ladies who brew and work for the company are wonderful people. Even better, the beer names are runner-inspired. Taper IPA, anyone?

Post-yoga happiness. (Photo from Katie Gott, yoga instructor)

Wendy and I enjoying our Taper IPA. (Photo from Chelsea)

Jennifer, Chelsea, Molly, Karen, and Natalie at Happy Hour. (Photo from Chelsea)

The rest of that evening was spent at dinner and then a campfire. I also took a little sunset hike with Jennifer and Natalie to scout out the trail over to Nisene Marks for the next day's run. The campfire was a fun time to introduce ourselves, talk about our intention for camp, and of course to enjoy s'mores.

Friday we woke up bright and early for our 'long run' day. We met as a group and ran/hiked the short trail over to Nisene Marks, which was basically a climb up to the ridge and then fun downhill singletrack to the park fire road. From there, we split into groups based on who wanted to hike, run trail, or run the road. I joined a trail group and relished in 8.5 miles of pure Nisene enchantment. This is one of my favorite parks because of the beautiful trails and huge Redwoods.

Birds hiking to Nisene.

Trail party group! (Photo from Alisyn)

I had a cold and needed to turn around a bit earlier than others, so Alisyn was nice enough to turn back with me. I loved the extra time to chat with Alisyn; we don't see each other much since her move and I miss running with her.

Running buddies! (Photo from Alisyn)

More trail action. (Photo from Olivia)

Post-run, we all cleaned up and headed to the beach for a picnic lunch. Unfortunately, it was quite cold and not a good day to chill and play games on the beach. After eating and hanging out for a little bit, many of us bailed and went to Discretion Brewery to get warm. Definitely the right decision; I loved their beer.

Chillin' - or being chilled - on the beach with Natalie and Molly. (Photo from Chelsea)

Brewery takeover. (Photo from Chelsea)

That evening, we returned to camp where Kate Grace and Sarah Lesko talked to us about the Olympics. It was amazing to hear their stories firsthand, and Kate is such a fun and animated person to hear speak. I'm a Kate fangirl too, and I'm beyond excited that she was able to join us at camp!

Lesko and Kate in action. (Photo from Charity)

We ended Friday evening with a talk from Lesko and Jess, our headquarters reps, about the product line, production, and inspiration behind it. I always find it fascinating to hear about design and this was a fun one. We had a chance to try on items from Fall 2016 as well.

On to Saturday, the last full day of camp. We all attended a local, women-focused race called the Love to Move Happy 10K/5K. It was especially fun to head over to the race as a group and to see everyone out on the course! The race was well done and I would consider running it again in the future. They gave us great swag (shirts, medals, reusable bags, keychains, and water bottles) and the race ran through Nisene Marks on the road.

Spectators equal running photos! (Photo from Stephanie)

One of my fave weekend photos. Group with our mimosas!

Our afternoon consisted of a Nutrition panel with the elites followed by a recovery and stretching talk by Mark Fadil. Mark has written a book on foam rolling and brought a PHLX foam roller, which he designed, for each camp attendee. We went through stretches and tips on how to use our awesome new rollers. I've been using mine since camp, and I absolutely love it.

PHLX rolling. (Photo from Alisyn)

The roller session brought the official camp agenda to a close. We spent the rest of the evening chatting and making s'mores at the campfire. The following morning, a large group headed out to run with Lauren and to cheer for Jesse in the Ironman 70.3 Santa Cruz. I stayed back at camp with a few others to wrap up, but I love that everyone was able to do this. Perfect timing!

Ironman cheer group. (Photo from Christine)

Last but not least, a few special shout outs. To my co-organizer, Sophia, and the extra helping hands from Allie, Alisyn, Kim, and Leslie - you all helped to make this a success and I truly appreciate it. To Sarah and Jess - thank you for your expertise and HQ sessions. And to all the camp Haute Volée speakers (Kate Grace, Devon Yanko, Heather McWhirter, Molly Friel, Dominique Jackson, and Laura Carlyle) - thank you for sharing your knowledge, training tips, and stories.

I'm looking forward to next year already!

SF Marathon 2016 Race Recap

2016-08-21T14:02:00.000-07:00

On July 31, I ran the SF Marathon as a long training run for Tamalpa Headlands 50K. As you may know, I had not been planning to run SFM this year and changed my mind a little over a week before the race. This was basically the best decision ever - I had a fantastic day and ran really well!

Leading up to the week of SFM, I was worried because my 50K training plan had burned me out pretty badly. I'd been feeling very low on energy and unmotivated on training runs. However, the idea of running SFM, which is my favorite marathon course, perked me up and I decided I should go for it. I mean, nothing else was making me excited to run anymore, what could it hurt?

This decision was made a little over a week before the marathon, enough time for Coach Sarah to change my schedule for the weekend before from a 24 mile trail run to an 18 mile trail run. This gave me a little bit of a taper into SFM while still getting me out on the trail for one more long run. Road and trail running are obviously very different, so this was important for my training and especially my mental game.

It had been a while since I'd been to a big race expo, so I was pumped to wander around and to see friends when we arrived. The SFM expo is always a fun one thanks to the location, exhibitors, local running stores, and food sample vendors that participate. After grabbing our packets and shirts (and 5 year loyal runner water bottle!), I met up with a few Oiselle Volée ladies who would also be running the next day.

Meeting up with Oiselle Volée ladies: Olivia, Kim, Sheena, and Jody.

The rest of the evening we relaxed, had dinner and beer with our friend, Eddie, and went to sleep early. That 4:40 am wake up time would come quickly!

The next morning, I was really nervous and not convinced I could actually run 26.2 miles that day. The mental and physical exhaustion was still bothering me and my confidence was way down. Kevin was encouraging, and I told myself that if something went really wrong there was always the 1st half marathon finish line. That was somehow comforting.

Our hotel was right by the staging area, and I wandered outside about 15 minutes before my corral was slated to start. I love staying so close; it's much easier for staying warm, not to mention avoiding porta potty lines and gear check. I found corral 3 and off we went.

Early photo on the Embarcadero.

The first few miles of the course are fun but generally flat and uneventful. The little-but-steep hill at Fort Mason felt easy, and that was a great mental boost. Another couple of flat miles passed by, and I found myself excited to get to the bridge approach so we didn't have to run flat anymore. The series of hills and grades - the bridge, Presidio, and Golden Gate Park - would remedy the flat running.

Go Far was volunteering at the mile 5 aid station right before the bridge approach, and it was awesome to see everyone there. Thanks for the water and cheers, friends!

Somewhere along Chrissy Field. Love the free photos!

Finally, we hit mile 5.5 or so and started the hilly portion of the course. I focused on consistent effort and powered up to the bridge with no problem. Running across the bridge is my favorite, in part because I'm obsessed with the bridge and also because it's an out-and-back section where you can see everyone. I enjoyed many cheers, hellos, and high fives as I passed by friends. The Bay Area run community is awesome.

Soon I was back across the bridge and facing the climb up to Lincoln Boulevard, one of my hill nemesis in the past. Thanks to all the ultra and trail training, this hill took much less effort than I expected. I kept reminding myself about a hill in Rancho that I use as a benchmark, and I knew all of the climbs on the SFM course were shorter. If I can run the whole Rancho hill, I could most definitely run anything on the marathon route. I continued to focus on consistent effort and not pace, and I found some confidence.

Down my favorite hill along Lincoln Boulevard, more climbing in the Presidio, and into Golden Gate Park we went. I used to struggle in this part of the course and now I love it. I was particularly excited to get the 'alternate' course in the Presidio (this is how they mitigate traffic in some spots) because I've always gone the same way in the past. Ah, the little things!

Last year, I struggled really hard in Golden Gate Park and had stomach issues. Luckily things went great this time around and I was able to enjoy it. We had few more out-and-back sections where I was able to say hello to friends, and we passed the half marathon finish line three times. Why is it so hard to pass the half finish even when I don't feel the need to stop running? It plays with the brain.

We popped over the last hill in Golden Gate Park and into Haight Ashbury, one of my favorite parts of the course. The energy in this neighborhood is always fun and it's nice to be back in the city. It feels like a fresh start - and it kicks off some fun downhill!

Running through Haight Ashbury.

The rest of the course is mostly downhill or flat with a couple of small hills, and I was able to speed up a little from there to the finish. I couldn't believe how great I felt and I was enjoying every minute. I hadn't been watching my pace very closely because this was a training run; if I had realized it sooner, I could have run a course PR with not much additional effort.

Somewhere in the 20s.

Soon we passed AT&T Park and merged on to Embarcadero for the finish. Finishing along the water with views of the Bay Bridge is fantastic, and I gave what I had left in the finish chute to cross the line at 4:39:55. I was stoked to finish the SF Marathon for the second time and excited that I was only about one minute slower than last year. Even better, my splits were very consistent and I didn't walk aside from a few water stops. This was by far my most comfortable marathon - no struggle, no wall, all smiles.

Finish!

Finisher photo.

I'm definitely curious how I would have done if I had specifically trained for SFM as initially planned and not had a 4 hour long run the weekend before. That said, having a time goal for this marathon would have made it considerably less fun. I'm beyond thrilled at how well this turned out!

Kevin and I showing off the medals.

Swag! SFM shirts are my fave.

Since SFM, I've been in taper and recovery mode for Tamalpa 50K. The training plan wiped me out more than I think it should have, perhaps due to ramping up too quickly in the beginning. I don't currently feel faster or stronger, and low energy/lack of confidence has been a big struggle for the past few weeks.

But that's all in the past. The focus now is to forget what didn't go well during training and to learn to believe in myself. I've done the distance before and I can do it again. [Repeat, repeat, repeat.]

Here we go, goal race week.

Training Update & Race on Deck

2016-07-26T16:40:00.001-07:00

Wow, the summer is flying by faster than I could have imagined. At this point I'm about 4.5 weeks out from my goal race, Tamalpa Headlands 50K, and I've been focused on this race goal since mid-May. The training cycle has been filled with epic trail runs, and I'm seriously enjoying the challenge, the views, and the training time with friends.

Tam Summit long run with Charity and Maili. (Photo credit: Maili)

The big difference this time around is that it's my first time working with a coach for any distance; I've been learning a lot and working harder toward a single goal race than I ever have in the past. Usually I struggle to focus on a goal and instead sign up for way too many races, therefore becoming overwhelmed with my schedule. Now that I've swung the opposite way, I miss the race energy and I'm feeling the pressure of one major 'goal' hanging over my head. My sweet spot is likely somewhere in between the two, which I will keep in mind going forward.

Exploring the Western States trail near Foresthill.

I've found working with a coach to be helpful while at the same time stressful. I don't like having to ask for schedule changes because I feel like a pest, and I think I've asked for too many. For goodness sakes, I'm the crazy person who changed the goal race for which the whole plan was built. Lucky for me, Coach Sarah has rolled with everything perfectly and makes changes on the fly. I still worry about asking for too much, but I realize the 'worry' and 'stress' part is in my head. Communication is key, and I have to stop being afraid to communicate.

The other aspect I've struggled to communicate is how I'm really doing. In my head, I should be able to handle it and if I can't, I must be a wuss. I can't have my coach thinking I'm not trying or that I'm a wuss! I eventually found myself exceptionally tired and had a minor breakdown about missing a run, which forced me to admit how much I was struggling that week. Since then, I've tried to work the problem sooner and she's changed my plan accordingly. I have to remember that this is a harder plan, more mileage, and more speed work than I've ever done, so being tired and listening to the body is normal.

Now for the parts of having a coach that I love. First, it has significantly improved my training with regards to the number of runs per week and miles per week. I enjoy reviewing my training log and seeing the week over week consistency. Second, I'm doing weekly speed work. Third, Coach Sarah has done a fantastic job of answering my questions and helping me to realize that training isn't always easy - and it's not supposed to be easy. I'll never improve if I don't get out of my comfort zone. I'm still hard on myself, although I'd say I'm making some progress in that area too.

View from Whittemore Gulch trail in Purisima Creek, the run that kicked off this cycle.

On to the exciting part - I've decided to run the SF Marathon! Even though I'll be doing it at a training run pace as opposed to a race pace, I'm looking forward to the race atmosphere and the course. SFM had been in my schedule as a supported long run option until only a couple of weeks ago, at which point I thought there was no way I could run that far on pavement due to some calf and road shoe issues. Then last week I had a breakthrough moment of finally feeling good on pavement and many pangs of sadness about missing my favorite course, so I asked Coach Sarah if we could put it back in my plan.

Now just like that, it's race week! Here we go SFM!

Olympic Trials 2016 - What a Week!

2016-07-20T17:34:00.000-07:00

The Olympic Track and Field Trials happened during the first week of July, and I was lucky enough to make the trip to Eugene, OR, to spectate and cheer for the athletes. It was fantastic! The energy in Eugene was high, and we constantly ran into Olympic-hopefuls (some now Olympians) while running in the area.

I headed to Eugene on the evening of July 2, so I missed the first couple of racing days including events I wanted to watch, the Women's 10K and 800m prelims. That decision was due to wanting my 22 mile long run to be on home trails before flying out, and that really did make my life easier with regards to my 50K training plan. Marilyn picked me up from the airport when I landed, and we headed back to our house to meet up with the rest of the crew. I stayed with an awesome group of ladies I met via Oiselle: Marilyn, Tara, Kaleigh, Krysta, and Lynn. Marilyn's husband, Travis, joined us for a few days too.

This is a tough one to recap - at least in one post - but I'll do the best I can with highlights. There were many activities during the week even beyond the track; we went to Oiselle morning runs, Brooks morning runs, a day at the park, parties, beer adventures...and so on.

One of my fave photos from the trip! (Photo credit: unknown)

My first full day in Eugene, we joined the Oiselle group run followed by an in-person Jasyoga session. I usually use the Jasyoga videos, so this was a nice treat! Erin's voice is the best for relaxation and their 'yoga for runners' style works well for me.

Erin ending the session with her little one, Rose.

We followed the run with a trip to Hop Valley for beer and lunch, then lots of track spectating in the evening. The following day would be the Butte to Butte 10K, so everyone turned in fairly early.

Arriving at Hayward Field. Lynn, me, Tara, Kaleigh, Marilyn. (Photo Credit: Kaleigh)

Sitting by Western States top women Amy & Devon was a big highlight! (Photo Credit: Tara)

I decided not to run Butte to Butte after my big training week and long run, so I slept in a little and then went to the finish to cheer. Part of me wishes I'd run it to see the course, but all in all it was the right decision for the day.

Post-race photo with some of the team at Butte to Butte. (Photo Credit: Oiselle)

That afternoon, we went back to the track for some big events from the Oiselle team angle: the steeple prelims and the 800m final. Talk about an exciting day at the track! Three ladies moved on to the steeple final and as you likely already know - Kate Grace won the 800m and made the Olympic team!

Steeple shirts for steeple day! (Photo Credit: Marilyn)

Steeple water jump action.

Congrats Kate!

The next morning was another Oiselle run, and I really enjoyed running with Tina, Rachel, and Ali that day. Great pace, great company! After the run we hung out at a park for most of the day because it was an off day for the meet, enjoying some hula hooping, Jasyoga, and sand volleyball with the Volée group.

Me, Rachel, Ali, and Tina.

By this point I was chomping at the bit for some trail time, and I was thrilled that BayBird friend Rebecca was up for a Spencer's Butte summit day. We had beautiful weather for views and loved running on the Ridgeline trail system, plus my body was happy to do some climbing after so much flat running (stretching out the calves!) The trail system was awesome and the part we were on that day was easy to follow.

Ridgeline trail.

View from the top of Spencer's Butte.

Rebecca and I at the summit.

On Thursday morning, my house joined the Brooks group run, complete with the opportunity to get an autograph from Nick Symmonds. We didn't wait in line for the autograph, but I did score some fun Brooks swag as souvenirs for my hubby and a friend! They were giving out awesome trucker hats and t-shirts.

Selfie at the Brooks frat house. (Photo Credit: Kaleigh)

Thursday afternoon brought more excitement at the track, including the men's 5K prelims and steeple final. Unfortunately, it also brought a turn in the weather to cold rain that I most definitely wasn't prepared for. Oiselle HQ saved the day by running back to their house for trash bag raincoats and we all huddled together in the stands for warmth.

New #flystyle? (Photo Credit: Oiselle)

Thursday evening we hit up the Picky Bars party - thanks to Lauren, Jesse, and the team for a fun time! They had live music, drinks, food, and of course, Picky Bars galore. It was the perfect atmosphere to hang out and chat with everyone.

On to Friday! This time we were smart and bought ponchos for the meet, and boy did they come in handy. I skipped the morning run and enjoyed my rest day, hanging out at the house with coffee and the internet for company. At the track, we cheered for more speedy races like the men's steeple final, then went to Ninkasi for a happy hour. I love Ninkasi and really enjoyed the 'Beer Run' IPA they made for the occasion.

Cheers! with Hayley, Rebekah, me, Tori, Marilyn, and Jess. (Photo Credit: Oiselle)

As I continue to recap, I realize just how long I was in Eugene; it's crazy how fast time went while I was there. My last full day in Eugene was Saturday, which brought long run day, the Oiselle party, and Tara's birthday!

We kicked off the day with a long trail run, which I somehow talked 5 other people into doing with me. It was wonderful! A few of us did 16 miles, and others did 12 miles by starting farther along the trail. We ran the Ridgeline trail, which has nice rolling single track for miles. From there, we turned onto the trail to the Spencer's Butte summit and climbed to the top. It was rainy and cloudy so we missed the views, but it was still spectacular to be up there.

Climbing around on the rocks! (Photo Credit: Ali)

Summit - Marilyn, Gavan, Jess, Tara, Ali, and me.

I don't have many photos from the rest of the run because it started raining more. We continued along the Ridgeline trail and over Mt Baldy, got a little lost and found our way to the Amazon trail, then caught the Ridgeline trail back to the car. I'm still not sure where we missed the turn coming down Mt Baldy, but hey, what's a trail run without some adventure?

That evening, we went out to dinner for Tara's birthday at Oregon Electric Station and then to the Oiselle party. The party was awesome - fashion, a talent show, drinks, dessert, dancing - we had it all.

Fashion show with a red, white and blue theme.

Party entrance.

Photo with Lauren! I love her dress.

Housemates. (Photo Credit: Marilyn)

The whole week was wonderful, especially because I was able to spend time with many people; some I knew before, some I knew online only, and some I didn't know at all before the trip. I'm thrilled to have this experience and to keep getting to know them going forward. A HUGE thank you to Oiselle for planning and encouraging us to join in the trials festivities!