The Ultra Trail Goddess Blog

Wonderful day at Mohican

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 09:16:51 PDT

The schedule called for 18 hilly miles, and it was planned for a trip to Mohican State Park. Then I remembered the Mohican 100 Footrace was also that day. I first thought of running on the bridle trails (the old Red Green sections of the old Mo 100 course) but then I thought the horse people would rather have their trails all to themselves. It turned out a good idea, as a big storm had come through several days ago; the mountain bike trail drains very well.

For my first section, I followed the "Forget the Pr" course over to the Fire Tower. I started about 730 am, and it was a cool morning! Unbelievable cool weather for a Mohican race! My hands were rather cold until I climbed Big Ass Hill.

Since the three races (100 mile, 50 mile, marathon) all started at different times, I was wondering if I would even see any runners, they all could be in front of me on the trail.

I got to the Covered Bridge, and found the Aid Station in a new location, down on the grass, on the other side of the river. This gave them lots of room to spread out tarps and have all the drop bags lined up-a good change in location. Julie Bowen-Miller runs a great aid station. She even gave me a cookie!

I was then planning on taking the mountain bike trail-which is part of the Mo race course-back to the main campground where I was parked. Ron Dukes and Kali Price were just arriving at the aid station, so when they left, I left also. I got to share trail time with them. I tried to keep them in front of me, as I did not want to get sucked into my pace. I also ran with Paul Lefelhocz also.

I talked a whole bunch with my friends, as I know it can help the miles go by quicker, having someone else chitter chatter on.

Kali finished 3rd place female!

Paul "The King" Lefelhocz

Ron Dukes

Along the way, Mike from Cinti joined us. He was running his first 50 miler; he told us who else had come up from Cinti for the race, and one of them was my friend Marty Fritzhand! I first met Marty a few days before Hardrock out on the trail; then we had dinner together after we had both DNF'd HR. I was super excited to hopefully catch up with him.

Sure enough, out of the Hickory Ride Aid Station ( I wandered in here, but didn't touch their aid; I filled up my water bottle at the Boy Scout Camp spigot)

I caught up to Marty right after the Aid Station, and we travelled together for the next four miles. It was wonderful to catch up with him, traded HR stories, just chatted away!
Marty tried in vain to get me to come back out and pace him later in the race, but I told him I had used up my good spouse credits. It was very good to see him again!!!

Marty and I

I finished up my 18 miles, and still had some time to spare, so I wandered over to the Covered Bridge Aid Station to see runners and help out a bit.

The marathon runners were cute. I don't know how else to describe them. I had a feeling it was many of their either first marathon or trail event. One group spent about 10 or 15 minutes in the aid station.

Jay Smithberger getting all the attention

I hung out at the aid station for about 1 1/2 hours, grabbing drop bags for folks. Right before I left, Mike Bailey strolled in-I didn't know he was running the 100 mile race! So helped get him situated before I headed home.

It was a great day on the trails seeing friends. I'm not that enamored of the current Mohican 100 course; but it has stoked my interest in doing a self-supported 100 mile out there, maybe sooner than later.

Back to Back Runs

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 02:51:09 PDT

I don't like back to back runs.

No, not the glorious "weekend" long runs, where you get up early on Saturday, go meet friends in the woods for six or eight hours of glorious trail running, then go home, nap, have dinner, sleep eight hours, and then wake up and go run four or six or two hours on Sunday morning.

No, these are finish running at 7 pm on Thursday-after working-and then getting out the door the next morning at 6 am.

I did manage to pull off seven hours of sleep though. I did get invested in actually watching TV last night-I caught "Ride the Divide" on the Documentary Channel, and stayed up until 9 40 pm to watch it all. This is about the Bike Race that goes from Banff, BC across the US to end at the Mexican Border. Jill Homer also wrote a very nice book about her 2009 Tour Divide too.

Okay, I have ten minutes to drink this coffee, find runing clothes and go run around the block!

Happy Friday!

Intervals and Other Stuff

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:13:20 PDT

I have six posts in draft status. That means I can't see to write a concise post to save my life. They just end up with me chatting away.

This post is no different.

I'm doing speed training! And this was the post below, that I started about it from last week:

Today was my first go-around on interval training. I am using part of my normal course, the flattest part that I have. It's pretty much dirt, little gravel through here.

I've not done much interval work before, so I was a bit anxious about this. Which is kind of funny, getting worked up over a work out.

I did 4 minute intervals, x 4. My pace was 9.01, 8.28, 8.32, 8.12

I didn't look at my watch except to note it was 4 minutes and time to stop. So I didn't get my pace until I got home and downloaded the Garmin data. I think pretty good for a first effort.

Today I repeated the same effort. The first interval felt horrible. But then, after recovery, the second one just fell into line. My muscles just felt loose, and oiled. It was a bit warmer than last week, as it was a few hours later. This weeks pace was 8.44, 8.32, 8.12, 8.33

Pharmacist Tip o the Day

Now that nature is greening up, I'm getting my legs torn up on briars running at Salt Fork.

Instead of treating all my scratches with topical antiobiotic ointment, I used this Neo to Go spray instead.

It worked great, even took the typical inflammation away that I usually experience after getting scratched to pieces.

This contains Active Ingredients: Benzalkonium Cl 0. 13% , Pramoxine HCl 1%.

I sprayed this on my legs, and they didn't even itch later (due to the pramoxine). Of course, I believe this product is marketed for the soccer mom to carry to spray on one "booboo" not to literally coat your legs from knees to ankles, as I ran out of the spray after one application. But hey, it does work well!!

Monday's Post that never got finished:

Training is going well. I'm procrastinating as I type, but it's only a 5 mile morning. I did my first speed training session last week-yes, I started a blog post about it, never finished it yet. (Note: did the 5 miler, now posted about last weeks speed training.)

Worked aid at Laurel, got a run in on the LH Trail, all was good. I was whipped by the time I got home, so only did 10 miles on Sunday at Salt Fork.

A funny story about Sunday: I was wearing a newer skort from Cabelas, with compression shorts. I kept having to pull the shorts down constantly, a real irritant. Halfway through my run, I stop to pee-and notice I have the skort on backwards. Sure enough, I change it around, shorts no longer riding up!

Monday was a running day off. I do luv running, but any more, with a running schedule, when a zero day approaches, I'm pretty happy to take the day off.

Okay, two more blog posts that are not done:

1) What a long way I have come (as a runner)

2) Why I don't like the term badass ( I met a legendary runner Saturday at Laurel that I would pretty much put on a "bad ass list" if I kept such a thing)

Both need more contemplation and introspection.

Okay I am going to hit publish for a change!

Laurel Day

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 04:07:48 PDT

Another great day over on the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trails in PA. The weather was nice; humid, but a high of about 73 degrees.

I was helping out at the Maple Summit Road AS, with Rich Vriboncic Aid Station Captain again. It was almost the same crew as last year, so we worked really well together.

I had to wear my "Rick Freeman" hat.

The 70.5 mile runners started at 530am and started arriving at our aid station starting about 715 am.

Kirstin Corris from VHTRC arriving

Kirstin and hubs Tom

The General Bob Gaylord of Team Gaylord

Rick Freeman, Tim Hewitt, Cam Baker

Athena Moore on her way to finish her first ultra!!!!

Allison Holko arriving

Once we got all the runners through, and the sweep arrived-a side note-all races should have a sweep. That gives you accountability that the AS Captain knows everyone that is still in the race has gone through the AS.

Caroline Williams was the sweep through this section, another VHTRC'er, it was good to see her again!

My plan had been to drive to the 50K finish line, and run backwards on the course to get my mileage in for the day, but then Rich wanted to run with me, so we ran right from Maple Summit road down to Mile Marker 15, one of my favorite spots on the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail.

Despite Rich feeling a bit under the weather, he sure was peppy on our run! We got to mile 15 and he asked to go one more, so I said okay, but I made sure we turned around at 16!!!

I love this trail!! I need to get back over here in the summertime and run it!

Then I drove north to Route 31, around Donegal, to the 50K finish line. I had to decide whether I just wanted to hang out, or go run down the trail to find Allison.

You guessed it, down the trail I went.

I got to climb up and down Radio Tower Hill before I caught up to Allison, so I did get in a little bit of hill work that day. Then Cam caught up to us both, so we both paced Allison in to her finish.

Allison meeting her goal!!


NEO Trail!!!!!

Then, alas, it was time to head off for home. By the time I arrived at home, I was whipped! I felt like I had run the 50K myself. Early morning, 5 hours time on feet, 14 miles running..yeah, I guess that will do it.

Most of the time when I make it over to the Laurel Highlands, it's winter or early spring. I really had forgotten how beautiful the trail is. I need to make the time to get back over here in the lush greenness of summer!

It's Laurel Eve

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 03:22:22 PDT

TGIF, it's Laurel Eve, the day before the Laurel Highlands Race-70.5 mile and the 50K. One of my favorite trails in the area.

I've really had alot to say, but struggling to get it done on paper. Wait, wasn't that a Jimmy Buffett song?

If I could just get it on paper
The things that have happened tonight
But that seems to me to be the big key
I'm havin' too good a time to ever turn
Out the lights.

Well, my life isn't that interesting. It's more about how far I have come as a little running newby (the first blog was www.ultranewby.blogspot.com!) to my running these days. I certainly would not have considered myself worthy enough to have a coach and a training schedule in 2007. <-- a="" alone="" am="" another="" be="" blog="" but="" coach.="" could="" drama.="" enough="" hire="" i="" is="" much="" nbsp="" p="" post="" should="" statement="" that="" the="" to="" too="" trying="" why="" worthy="" write="" you="">

Anyways, back to the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail. This is an old school event, aid stations scattered out-really it is because there is only so much access to the trail at certain locations. Runners who are used to the their 3 or 4 mile aid stations have to dig a little deep.

The first aid station for Laurel, for example, is mile 11.8. That is where I will be working.

I love working aid stations. I get to see all my friends, looking more tired and sweaty than me. I get to tell them "good job" and how far it is to the next aid station, and then tell them to move on.

This early in the race, we shouldn't be worrying about anyone dropping out, so it's much more about providing them with fluids, hopefully ice, and sending them on down the trail.

I hope to get my ten miles of Laurel Trail in also. I will finish working aid, then drive to the 50K finish point (the whole race is a point to point). Then run backwards (numbers going down) so I can see runners out on the course. Or perhaps Cam will want to run with me and we can run to mile marker 15, with the pretty triple bridge and laurel on the trail.

The weather looks good for the runners. I am psyched to see my friends tomorrow morning!!!

Summertime!

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 18:09:49 PDT

I really don't care that the summer solstice isn't for another 19 days, the area kids are out of school, and it's summer!

I slept in a bit-okay I woke up at 6 am, but then didn't get up until seven am. I meant to get out early to get my run in.

Since we had waiting on my foot verdict, the Coach had said run 5 or 6 miles or whatever over the weekend ( I am pretty sure he said whatever) so I ran 5 miles Friday, none on Saturday (out of town trip) and Sunday I decided I wanted to revisit my "road 11 mile loop."

I have not been on this since sometime last year. It features a 1.5 mile climb, although pretty gentle. Sometimes I run "up" the hill, sometimes I power walk it.
For Sunday, it was already in the game plan for me to "run" all the ups, as that is something I need to work on.

Some clear cutting going on for pipeline work. I live in southern Ohio where the Marcellus and Utica Shale will be "fracked". In order to get those gases to where they need to go, there is also major pipeline development occurring.

I really want to run up this "right of way" as it's gnarly steep, the next picture might illustrate that a bit better:

As you can see by my Garmin Data, there is a bit of climb about mile 3.2 to almost mile 5. I kept the leg turnover to a "running" motion.

View from the ridgeline at the top. Dark clouds kept rolling through, yet no bad weather happened. It was actually a cool but very humid morning, even with wind!!

Windy but sweating like a pig on top of the ridge.

llll

I spent the rest of the day working on my "farming tan" versus my running tan. That meant I donned my knee high leather boots (we are having copperhead snake issues around our estate) and went out and raked up enough hay for the garden beds. Then I covered the garden beds.

Then I assembled Miss Daisy:

and planted a few more plants. Part of my garden got hosed from the frost last week, so I have some replacement plants on the way.

So I have not gotten any domestic (read: inside the house) work done, outside, where I like to be, things are shaping up nicely!

The Foot is Fine!!

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Fri, 31 May 2013 11:37:13 PDT

After a 45 minute delay, I got to see the doctor. She asked questions, prodded and squeezed my foot, and pronounced "no stress fracture". But also agreed to have XRays taken for my piece of mind.

I have forgotten Radiology has made major strides in the last four decades, apparently. They had their own machine, and my bones were shortly up on the computer monitor. The doc and I both reviewed them. I do have a small heel spur on my right foot (didn't know about that) but there were no signs of any fractures with my foot. Awesome. And with that, I was off to the woods.

I had only ran once since MMT. While it was almost 11 am, and hot and humid, I was deliriously happy to be back on trails. I was running on bridle trail, so it was pretty smooth dirt after the rocks of Virginia.

l really had no idea of mileage to run or really, where I was going. I followed the white bridle trail besides the lake; then a big climb up a hill. I noticed a trail off to the side, and decided to follow it, as I had never been down it. It meandered, as a good trail does, and I was pretty sure I was going back the way I had come, just up on a higher ridge.

Sure enough, it turned into the McLeary Cemetery:

So I stopped for a few minutes to enjoy the quiet.

It's nice that the World War I veterans are not forgotten.

Actually, in this cemetery are Civil War Veterans, Spanish American veterans, and one veteran of the Mexican American War. I always wondered how someone from the frontier (at the time in Ohio) ended up way down in Texas.

My little loop run was only five miles, and that was good enough for today, as I had other projects to tackle.

So, onward to the Black Hills 100K!!!

Where the Trail Goddess Decides to Push Herself

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Fri, 31 May 2013 03:34:51 PDT

It's almost June. I'm not sure what happened to May, but now it's June.

I've only ran once since MMT and it is driving me batshit crazy. Although I did lots of yard work today and tired myself out, so that helped.

Last week, after the race, I was tired and working, so I was just taking it easy. I was pretty fatigued and going to bed early every night. Then I also worked the weekend, so didn't worry about running.

My left foot started to hurt quite a bit Thursday and Friday last week. I was kind of worried about a stress fracture. So I left the doctor a message, and I do see my doctor tomorrow, Friday morning. My pain has subsided from a 6 down to a 1 on my "pretty high tolerated pain scale". I am pretty sure it was just "residual" aches left over from the trauma that is MMT. Maybe a bruise, tendon strain. I would expect she will want to get an XRAY (and I will demand it, but my doc is really cool, we agree on pretty much everything).

Future Plans

Black Hills 100K June 30th. This is the VHTRC destination race; I have my four day weekend that I was able to turn into a 5 day trip. As long as the foot is okay, I'm happy to jump back into training.

The Ring August 31 Back on the MMT Rocks

WV Trilogy The 50 Mile Race October 12. Where the Trail Goddess gets the 50 mile monkey off her back. Yes, she is going to get faster this summer!! Between talking to The Pacer and The Coach, she is going to get out of her comfort zone and press on harder. (Why am I all of a sudden speaking in third person?)

Now that the weather is nice, the footing is good, and my goal race for the year is completed, it's time to get faster. I am psyched about pushing myself!

Now What?

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Fri, 24 May 2013 10:42:51 PDT

It's five days post race. The Superman feeling is fading. I'm not the Ultra Trail Goddess so much these days, I'm a female with a really dirty house that needs to be cleaned. Summer exploded while I was gone and all of a sudden the entire yard needs to be trimmed.

I did over do it yesterday. I hauled about 8 wheelbarrows of dirt-that means I dug and filled these wheelbarrows with dirt, to add to the raised beds. Then I tilled the beds. Then we got the plants in.

So liken that to doing a 10 mile trail run 4 days after your 100 mile run. I'm back to being WAY tired today. I was thinking of running on Sunday, but now I think I will postpone that to Monday. Since I work all weekend, I will take another couple of rest days.

It is hard to think about running right now. It feels kind of nice to just come home from work and relax. Or work in the garden for six hours. But I do have a race coming up! It's the Black Hills 100K at the end of June. So I have time to recover WELL and get back into a routine.

So my training over the weekend is to get plenty of rest (besides going to work all day) unpack my drop bags, and rest!!

Recovery and Rally on the MMT Trail

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Thu, 23 May 2013 05:41:58 PDT

This was my third running of the MMT 100, and the goal this year was to improve.
I wanted to break 30 hours.

A coach was hired, training commenced in the winter. Nutrition and hydration plans were drawn up, pacers and crew engaged.

I watched the weather closely, early in the week it was in the mid 80s but nothing I could do about that.
Race morning was cool and a good forecast was in the works.

The first section of the run was rather uneventful. In no time we were up the road section and onto Short Mountain. First miles through Edinburg Gap were uneventful, running with others, getting in small conga lines.
After exchanging bottles with Wayne Mongold at Edinburg, the climb up Waonaze Peak tends to start stringing out runners. On the downhill to Woodstock I stopped for a second bathroom break. Then, shortly after the Woodstock AS, my third stop bathroom stop.

I had nine bathroom stops in the first 50K. Anytime I started to break into a jog, the peristaltic motion was having me jump off into the bushes again. Climbing was okay. But this was not good.

I get to Elizabeth Furnace one hour off my predicted splits. My crew is looking a bit anxious, and I tell them what happened. "You know that nutrition plan? Well, it's time to modify that."   I cut my maltodextrin down in t he bottle, get some solid cookies from my crew, and go off to the AS to check in and see if there is any Imodium available. There is. Thank heaven.

I start nibbling on my cookie and just start walking out of EF. It's a climb anyways, and I have a problem to solve. Now is not the time to worry about ruining my chances for a sub 30 goal. My goal for the time is to get my stomach under control, and get some calories back into me. I have yet another bathroom stop. That is the last one, I tell myself. Let the medicine have a chance to work. Walk up to the top. It's not like you would be running this section anyways. I have a very small brief whiny moment and then I put it behind me. Don't even think about times right now. The focus of the moment is to eat these cookies and wash them down with little sips of water.

The overcast weather is helpful It is humid, but really not very hot. I get to the Shawl Gap Trail intersection and catch some other runners-Benny, Jim, and Bryan. This really helped my spirits rise. We are running downhill, and my medicine is working, no bathroom stops. I'm cautiously optimistic.

My crew is relieved to see me at Shawl Gap. We cut the maltodextrin again, and I stick with my plan here to run this 5K road section without my waist pack, and just one hand held. I also pick up my music through here. I get more solid food from the crew.

I ran most of the road. I am starting to feel VERY good through here. The music helps.

I get into Veach Gap AS, and pick up my double waist pack with bottles ready. I modify the malto in these bottles also. I grab a little bit of food. I know I am behind on calories, but I am also a bit wary on eating too much. I want to keep the momentum going.   I leave Veach Gap Aid Station with three water bottles, as I have the "9 big Massanutten miles" to go.

It is a good climb up out of Veach. But it's not that bad. Because it's overcast. A person normally just bakes on the climb. I know the drill on this climb. Don't look up, don't look too far in advance, because you don't want to know how far you still have to go!

Aaron Schwartzbard   is a welcome sight on the climb up to the ridge line, hanging out and taking photos. I get up the ridge, back to the beloved MMT orange trail.   The climb wasn't so bad. This was the best weather I've ever climbed out of Veach, still overcast.

I pass Michelle, another female from Ohio, give her some encouragement, then run into another friend, Bill Losey for a quick chat. Then it's back to relentless forward motion.

I had forgotten about the long downhill run down Indian Grave Ridge Trail.. It's runnable. Really runnable. And I feel fantastic. I run the whole way down, passing lots of folks, (10 actually) who remark on my enthusiasm. I told them I had rallied, and indeed I had.

At the Indian Grave Aid Station I had a fresh grilled cheese sandwich and I eat the whole sandwich down. I start on a second one, then think better of it..no need to gorge myself and cause problems. This is the most food I've ate since breakfast.

5 miles to Habron Gap...no the AS workers correct me, 4 miles to Habron. Cool! It's great just lose a mile like that!

I turn on the music, and resolve to run/walk the road. I target a tree, a pole, a dark spot on the road, run to the that, then walk. Then quickly pick the next target to run to. I finally get down the road and see the houses which cue me that the AS is coming up. I glance at my watch. It's 630 pm.

I had ascertained pre race, looking at finisher splits from previous years, that you pretty much have to get to Habron Gap AS before 6 pm if you want to finish sub 30. I'm still okay with that. I really am not thinking about the full final time goal. I'm still just pleased as heck that I've stopped pooping in the woods and am having a phenomenal race now. Positivity begets positivity with me!

The crew gets my light out, more food, swap the double waist pack for the single waist pack, and it's time to climb again. But the next AS is going to be Camp Roo, w here I will pick up my pacer.

I start the climb with Des Cowie, another female runner from Ohio, but I want to get up this climb. I want to get as much trail in daylight as possible. Now the problem to solve is to cover as much trail before darkness falls.

I've forgotten the Habron Gap climb, and I feel bad for Nathan, who is going to think I lied to him about the Habron climb...I said it was easier than the climb out of Veach.

I'm back on orange MMT again. I don't remember the mileage from the Habron Trail head to the Stephens Trail turn off. It's one of the few sections I just didn't memorize the distance.

Carnage is starting also, at this time, at this mileage, up on the ridge. I pass tears, and then puking. There is a bit of a breeze going, and for me it was refreshing. I wonder if it will actually get cold tonight. I keep going.

Where's the Kennedy Tower? And Stephens Trail?? Finally I see a red tape, and I start down hill. The big wooden sign is missing (or I somehow missed it) AM I finally on Stephens?
I peer at a blaze...it appears yellow, for Stephens.. But I also snort and laugh to myself as I am the last person to trust the color differences between yellow and orange. (I got side tracked by a yellow blaze on the "stay on orange" Reverse Ring in the winter.)

Stephens Trail seems to go on forever. The big storm earlier in the week has made quite some rough footing. It grows dark, and I am forced to turn on the headlamp. I hit the parking lot, and know the AS is just down the road. I have passed 13 runners on this section.

It's a bit chaotic for me as I enter the AS, too many people trying to help me, me looking for my pacers, needing to tape up my heel and ask for some solid food before we head out. I haven't seen Mongold since our pacing adventure in 2011 and he sticks a pecan pie in my mouth, then changes his mind and tells me I can eat it on the fly and to get out with Paul.

Paul Davis is pacing me up Duncan Hollow and Gap Creek Trail to Gap Creek AS. Paul warns me that he will only be pacing me this section, and that Mongold will pace me to the finish. I don't know Paul all that well, so we have a good time chatting on the trail.

I do not remember the Gap Creek Trail climb at all!! I must have blocked the whole trail out of my head last year. It is a heck of a climb through here. I see Jacob Boopalan, from Kenya, on this section through here. But we finally start to descend, and it seems like no time that we are entering the Gap Creek Aid Station. Paul remarks that we had a good split through here. I've passed 11 runners-ten of which were sitting in the Camp Roosevelt Aid Station. This is what a crew can do for you.

Bradley Mongold picks me up here. Mongold paced me to my 31.50 finish in 2011. I was very psyched that he was able to free up the time. I also knew exactly what I was in for. There is no dawdling, no stopping, no whining, no stopping if Mongold is going to do his job.

Having a new pacer also gives the runner new stimulation, and the chatting and talking helps the climb up Jawbone go easier, then we are on Kerns. I tell Mongold Short Mountain seemed more runnable this year and he is amused. Kerns also seems more runnable.   More talking, more relentless forward motion, more eating and drinking. Mongold knows I am behind on calories and is monitoring my intake.

It's a big lonely section with no other runners. Mongold mentions we are kind of in a hole between runners. But as we get toward the end of Kerns, we start to catch runners-and pass them.

My eye is out for Q's view. Q's view signals the end of the mountain, and then short very runnable section down to the Crisman Hollow Road. We see a bunch of lights up ahead and actually think there are campers there. Nope, it just seems like about 6 or 7 runners, just hanging out. One of them yells "hey it's Kimba I'm going with her" and someone else joins my fan club.    I can't think of his name right now, but as I mention I will be happy to get to the AS soon, so I can do something about my heartburn, he mentions he has Tums! So I got to resolve that problem-some major heartburn that I had been experiencing.

MMT marks the course with bright yellow ribbons. We are running on the very end of the Kerns section, where the yellow ribbon flaps in the wind, covering my eyes, as I simultaneously bump a rock with my right foot and go down hard.

Mongold gives me about 25 seconds to roll over and get up. But a runner will take any sort of break. I shake it off. The knee is a bit stiff, but it seems fine. I mutter "that will leave a mark". Now that Kerns has its blood tribute from me, it's time to go.

We pass more runners on the mile long stretch of road down to the Visitor Center AS. I can feel both of my knees aching on this road section. We run all of it. It's road. It's easy time.   Mongold gives me my instructions, check in with the AS, get my water bottle, and start the Bird Knob climb. I've now passed 18 runners on this section.

I make the mistake of saying the BK climb is dry, then we hit the mud. Boy, the Bird Knob climb seems tough this year. And longer. I'm moving just step by step. Mongold gives the "almost there" and I also think we are almost there..but there are still more rocks and a bit more climb. It is just heinous.

We hit some flat ground. I'm not feeling good. We have run all the way down the road and then immediately climbed. I'm nauseous and very dizzy.    A near by pine tree lets me lean on it, and I proceed to vomit up my stomach contents.   About six heaves later, I rinse my mouth out. "Okay."

Mongold says lets go and walk. I feel 100% better. WAY better than before.

But now the new problem to solve is to again get calories back into my stomach. But the Bird Knob AS is just about a 1/2 mile away, good deal.

There are two other runners right behind us, as we walk. The one runner asks the other runner to turn off his headlamp, as it is "annoying him". So I first think this is his pacer, but no, it's two runners. Then one of the two complains about the whippoorwill, that had the audacity to chirp outside his tent.

A few minutes later, I remark to Mongold "can you flick your ponytail to the other side, it's quite annoying me" and we begin to laugh. And break into a jog, to get away from these two runners.

At the aid station, I grab a baggie and anything that looks like my stomach could handle-some pretzels, Goldfish crackers, a few fritos. It's rather pitiful in terms of calories, but anything is better than nothing. We run the road. It's downhill. But we both know the course. We're just running downhill so we can ascend the Brown Trail.

The Brown Trail is a bitch of a trail and Mongold remarks that this climb is under rated. We start up. Step by step. I so want to rest. Just for a minute. Just for a step. But I know better. I know not to even stop, because my pacer is right on my heels. If I can move, I should move.

We finally make the top, and then the long down (and little ups) over to the Picnic Area AS. This is a long section. We try and run as much as possible. We get to some of the water crossings and just splash through them. It's no longer that important to keep my feet dry, it's more important to quickly get through them.

There is still a time element involved with my run.   I had some goals.
To get off Bird Knob before daylight-we were way there before daylight
To get to Picnic Area before daylight-we got there right about daylight.

I'm thinking a little of my time goal, but really, the job at hand is to run what I can, get these crackers in my stomach. Small little tasks.

What about my goal? Where was I on that? Could I actually eke out my sub 30?

I didn't know what time it was, other than knowing the sunrise was about 540 am, I didn't know what time it was. My Garmin had died. Mongold was in charge of the time anyways.
Mongold had told me the last two sections were the most important, we might have to red line again, it could be the difference between a 29.50 and a 30.50 finish.

I was doing the best that I could.   I knew my calories were really really low. I was trying to get food in, sweet tea in, anything in small quantities. And I still had energy. I was still moving forward. I believe my posture was better than some of the runners we were passing. From Visitor Center to Picnic Area, we pass 13 runners.

We get to the Picnic Area, and give Quatro a little wave as we don't even stop. My crew is waiting over in the parking lot at Rt 211. I throw down my dead Garmin, my old water bottle, and go on to the climb.

It's the area, my low spot over the last two years. But I ran this section in January in training, and it's really not that long. Mongold has stopped for a bio break, and I keep going up the mountain. Running, and walking, running, walking.I know exactly what is coming.

It's the switchbacks. But they are runnable. So we run them. I'm tired. I'm way tired. But I know we have the little climb to the miniature boulder field, and then the trail right up the creek bed.

I'm glad to get to the boulder field-finally. Then we start up the creek. I resolutely splash right up the creek, just looking for the best footing. Wet feet does not matter. Okay. We make it to the top. Some more runnable.

I'm sure the term "runnable" here, in mile 94 or so of a 103.7 mile race is ambiguous. But it's not a walk, so it's a run!

I'm surprised at the burned out forest. This controlled burn has happened since the January training run.
We both ponder how far it is to the Crisman Hollow Road, then down the road to the AS. Mongold tells me its "a couple of hundred yards" and I start laughing and tell him I've been on this course before, it's a bit farther than that! But we are still able to laugh.

Looking at the splits through this section, I have the 21st fastest time through here. Wow, what a difference good training and mental attitude has. It was very helpful for me to run this section in January, I remembered the area so much better and knew in my head it was not that long, therefore I didn't build it up in my head to some unending stretch of trail.

We are at Gap Creek II for the last time.   I grab a water bottle, Mongold stops for last minute instruction to the crew-I am wondering what he is saying to them. I go up the road and then start climbing Jawbone. Still no Mongold. I am wondering, if this is a test. Is he going to grab a ride with the girls, and join me over on Moreland Gap Road? Is he going to let me finish this by myself?

Halfway up Jawbone, Mongold finally catches up. I am relieved. Our journey together is almost over. I'm so happy he's made the time to do this with me again.

We start down the last section of MMT rocks. I still have the last section, the dreaded road, in front of me. I don't know where I am on time. Mongold is not overly pushing me, so I am pretty sure we are past the 30 hour mark. But I don't ask. I know he will lie to me. Because if I know we are at 30+ hours already, then I will slow down..and he's not going to let me do that.

Finally THE ROAD!

In 2011, I ran part of the road, and walked some of it. In 2012, on my training plan, on this section, in capital letters, it read "YOU WILL RUN THIS ROAD". So I was determined to run.

There are six bridges on Moreland Gap Road before the turn to the Lutheran Camp.

I kept my eyes on the road, just like my eyes on the rocks for the last two days. I glanced up only occasionally. On two little hills, rises, I did slow into a power hike, but then settled back into a trot. Mongold said "keep a ryhthmn" and between repeating that and "you will run this road" in my head over and over, we finally started crossing bridges.

I get to six bridges and keep my eyes on the road. I finally glance up and see the seventh bridge in the curve of the road. Hey, I think we are at the turn into the camp!

We ascend the last little slice of MMT, the last hill, and try to catch the runners in front of me. But they must have wised up and speed up too.

We cross the creek and start around the little bit of woods before we break into the open for the finish line. I finally ask Mongold what time it is. He says it's 30 hours and 30 some minutes.

I'm not surprised. I thought we had probably passed the 30 hour mark. I was hoping to PR my old split of 31.50. I know we were crazily making up time left and right. Despite all my problems, I was still having a heck of a good run. After all my problems in the first 50K of the race, I was so pleased to make such a comeback and run so strong for the rest.

That is actually my takeaway from this. Despite what Karl sez, a 100 miles is a real long ways. And you have plenty of time in those 100 miles to have problems, solve problems, get over them. Keep your composure.

Don't let the problem get in the away of destroying your race. Focus on what you can do, to solve that problem. Don't think about your time goal slipping away, or all the people passing you, or your crew worrying about you. Get your issue under control. Or manage that issue to the AS and get help. And then assess. There is really a lot of time in a 36 hour MMT finish.

I also did some "racing self owes it to training self" talk to do the best that I could. I didn't spend all winter running in the ice, snow, darkness to succumb to issues that I could possibly resolve.

We burst out of the trees, I could hear Bur announce my name and my PR, as I came across the finish line in a time of 30 hours 37 minutes.

This time was also good enough to be "First Old Broad" or more PC, First Female Masters. I was actually incredibly stoked to get a Furbutt award~!!!

I finished 75 of 151 runners. At Elizabeth Furnace, I was in 161th place.   I passed alot of runners-some of those runners also obviously dropped from the race too. But I bring up the stat just as a reminder that it is very possible to have problems, recover and rally during a long race.

Most of that moving up in the ranks can be credited to my crew and pacers-Wayne Mongold, Alison Holko, Suzanne Weightman, Paul Davis, and Bradley Mongold. They kept my stops to a minimum and kept me moving around the course. Thank you very much. I also trained very hard for this race, thank you to my coach Karl Meltzer for his training and advice.

Also big thank you to Virginia Happy Trails Club and Race Director Kevin Sayers-another topnotch event.

It is always good to run around in the woods of Virginia. I can't wait to come back!

If you see this on Saturday..

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:02 PDT

I'll be on the Massanutten Trails!!!

Leaving

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:21:41 PDT

I woke up naturally this morning. It was daylight out; our little valley socked in with fog, from the torrential thunderstorm overnight. I figured it was 730 am or so, so I got up.

636 am. Oh well. So much for sleeping in. But I did go to bed at 9 pm last night!

It will be a casual morning here, take the dogs for their hike, and them mix up my two gallons of maltodextrin for MMT. Put the rest of the gear in the vehicle, and make those last tick marks off the list.

Some of my favorite QOT from the Slim List:

"Man often becomes what he believes himself to be.

If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it.

On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning."

-Mahatma Gandhi

I do know that when I have those moments in the mountains, sometimes a breath or scent of something in the air, other times something as simple as moving over granite, a flood of chemicals hits and it feels like love.

Elusive and beyond description.

–Kelly Cordes

"You're better than you think you are and you can do more than you think you can!"
- Ken Chlouber at Leadville

4 Keys to MMT

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Wed, 15 May 2013 12:43:33 PDT

As I sit and stew, this week, and try and be patient, some musings:

Four Keys of Ironman Execution

I listen to this podcast put out by the coaches of Endurance Nation. They tend to interview their athletes after their Ironman events, which is always interesting to me (I Love Race Reports!). They produced a segment called "Four Keys of Ironman Execution" and this is their four keys to a success Ironman.

Most of this could also pertain to a 100 mile event.

Execution, not Fitness. All you’ve done is build a vehicle. Ironman racing is about how you DRIVE that vehicle, it is NOT about the vehicle. It’s easy to get caught up in the buzz and energy of the day, but creating and sticking to the right plan for you is the only thing that will lead to the best possible day.

What shape I am in on race day is not relevant now. I've driven the vehicle to the starting line. I now need to steer that vehicle around on the rocks, in the best time possible, while feeding it and watering it, to its (my) best ability.

The Line. Nothing on race day really matters until you reach The Line on the run. The Line is the point at which continuing becomes very, very difficult. You define success as simply not slowing down at The Line. EVERYTHING before The Line is simply about creating conditions for success for when the Line comes to you.

The Line, in the EN talk, is mile 18 of the marathon. There are many smaller lines of MMT.

My first goal of MMT, is to finish. ALWAYS the goal. But I have many smaller side goals. Built to support my goal of a sub 30 hour MMT finish.

Get to Edinburg before 7am.
Get to Elizabeth Furnace before lunchtime.
Get to Habron Gap before 6pm.
Get OFF Bird Knob before daylight.
Get to Picnic Area before daylight.

I've also got carrots in this run.

I get to see Wayne Mongold at Edinburg and do a quick bottle exchange with him.
I get to see my crew at Elizabeth Furnace for the first time.
Habron is almost the "half way point" for MMT.
I pick up Wonderboy as a pacer at Camp Roo.
I pick up Mongold as a pacer at Visitor Center. So I have many little things to look forward to, all day long.

The Box: All day long you are going to race inside a box defined by what you can control. Ask yourself “What do I need to do right NOW to create the conditions for success at The Line? Is what I’m doing right now counter to this goal?

Keep the box as big as you can for as long as you can.
Keep in the box only the things you can control. Let go of the rest.
Exercise this decision-making process inside your box: Observe the situation, Orient yourself to a possible course of action, Decide on a course of action, Act (OODA Loop).

The Box mentality has become pretty important as I sit and fret this week. The weather is something I cannot control. I've also not had any opportunity to have ANY sort of heat acclimatization this last week (or really, at all.)

So I will only control the things within The Box. I can make sure the crew has ice for me. I can make sure I utilize the crew and ice as much as possible.

The One Thing. If you swallowed the Kool-Aid we’re serving you here, you will show up at the Line, in your Box, ready to git’erdun and simply not slow down. But we’re not done yet. There is still some psychological stuff you need to address. During the course of your race day, expect your body to have a conversation with your mind:
“Look, Mind, you’ve had me out here slogging away for 132 miles. This is really starting to get old and very painful. You need to give me a good reason to keep going forward. If you don’t have one, I’m gonna slow down and you can’t stop me!”

Another point I got from the podcast, not one of their 4 points, but very worthwhile: Your racing self owes it to the training self.
Racing self needs to respect all that the training self did, to set up the racing self. Racing self needs to suck it up and embrace the hurt to honor the training self.
Training self put itself out there always-ran in cold weather, cold downpours of rain, icy windy ass days, sloppy slow mud days, early early morning runs; cold clothes changes in parking lots; runs endured on treadmills. You owe it to training self to get out there and endure on racing day, racing self.

So that's my 4 Keys to MMT.

This is the Last DAY

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:39:52 PDT

This is the last day that I plan out the training day.

I got to work at 11 am.

I got to run..squint, chart is across the room...oh just five miles..

So that will take me..50 minutes or so, so consider if 60 minutes if you are doing your "2.5 mile Yellow Water Out and Back" run.

I need to leave for work by 1015am.

So I need to be back, to eat breakfast, shower, and pack lunch and reading, by..930am.

So I need to go run at 8am.

So I need to wake up at 7am. Cuz I need an hour or so of play time, internet, coffee, to get outside. It's much easier now, now that it is light outside, not 10 degrees, and I don't have to don layers of gear just to survive a run. In fact, 8am is rather respectable and sunlit.

So this is rather a sleep in morning. Such is the taper.

There should be a blog post coming soon, about the training. Maybe I can get that out here, in my "taper" phase!

Running mantras

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Fri, 10 May 2013 03:01:09 PDT

This one will probably get used this weekend: "the longer you run the stronger you get".

This does apply to me.

There is, of course, Speed goat Karl's famous "100 miles is not that far"...but for all the folks getting ready for MMT, they probably don't want to hear that. Besides, I don't think of running 100 miles, or 103.7 miles, but I run from aid station to aid station.

Last year, on most of the Hardrock course, this was my repeated saying to myself: "You can't stay here." A slightly negative mantra, but the hard truth. Only way I was going to get back to people and civilization was to keep going.

This is one of the favorites. All you MMT newbies, read up. Contemplate.

This is from laz' 2010 Race Report:

"you all know about the comfort zone.
that's where most ultras take place.
running ultras is all about staying in the comfort zone.
all our strategies revolve around staying in the comfort zone.
all our advice is about staying in the comfort zone;

"start slow"

"walk every uphill"

"dont take any chances"

for all the talk about exploring human potential, and seeking our limits, ultrarunners tend to play it safe.
they line up "challenges" they know they can finish.
and run them carefully
well within their "limits".
we believe that success is never failing.

at the barkley success is about over-reaching our abilities,
and living to tell about it.
sometimes success is getting your ass out alive."

Kennedy Peak Overlook

9 Days Out

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:47:09 PDT

I'm supposed to be still sleeping. But you try sleeping with a Rottweiler with a cone around his head; and a German Shepherd who has just developed her own lick spot in sympathy I guess.

So anyhooo, I'm up and own my second..or third cup of coffee. I've really been doing well on the caffeine. I am down (usually) to two cups in the morning. No more caffeine for the day after that. This is done in the hopes that the caffeine ingested during the race will be a positive influence.

Browsing the interwebs, it appears that maybe the 17 year cicadas could make a guest appearance:

Cicadas won't harm you. I've lived through several Broods here in Ohio. Their sound can fill up the woods with their noise-it sounds like bacon frying in a pan.

Along with our old favorite at night, the millipedes!

These little things come out at night. Try not to put your hand on the trees or logs, they tend to swarm over them.

Other than the rattlesnake sighting last year, I don't recall alot of wild life on the trail.

Just rocks. Lots of rocks.

More Trail Ramblings

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Mon, 06 May 2013 06:11:05 PDT

and pics!

Yes, another Buff. This one makes me laugh. Cuz it's called Trout.

This was...Friday's trail run. YES I have been finally rewarded for my good training behaviour, with three glorious days of training and trail running.

So on this day, I ran the white bridle trail backwards. I found this really cool wall.

I was anticipating a cool foundation, some daffodils.

But sometimes a fence is just a fence.

Pretty blue flowers.

The Saturday schedule called for 16 miles. And although I do love my Salt Fork Trails, I was just sick of them!!! Sick! I didn't see how I could cobble together another 16 miles on the trails (that could actually be runnable.)

So I went to Mohican. I thought about putting a shout out on FB, and seeing who would want to run with me..but I didn't. I just wanted to get my miles in, get up when I wanted, get there, start running.

I did get up at 430 am and got to Mohican about 7 am. I had already changed where I was going to run. I had told the husband I was going to run the old Mohican Red and Green Trails,but these were mostly bridle trails, and I knew they were pretty muddy from last week's race. Since the mountain bike parking lot was deserted, I decided to run the mountain bike trail,since I knew that would be dry and runnable.

It was a good run. Energy was good-this was another dress rehearsal for MMT; I wore the clothes and gear that I will wear for MMT. I even drank maltodextrin and an EFS shot that I will use. It wasn't the hyper joy run that I was expecting; but for my last "long run" of 16 miles, before MMT, it went well.

Ramblings

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Sat, 04 May 2013 15:09:15 PDT

I've been running. On trails. Alot. Hence, not much blogging.

These pics are from the last couple of runs:

It is quite amazing to me, I've run this trail a bunch, and I've never noticed the daffodils in this clearing, until this year.

I had spotted the blocks (pictures below) from the other side of the inlet, and I was intent on finding my way there. Sure enough, this old clearing wasn't more than 20 feet from the trail. This old piece of equipment was left there. I have no idea what it was. Old farming equipment??

This is the blocks I spotted from across the way. As I climbed over, I spotted the fire ring, and was first a little afraid I had blundered into someone's meth lab.

But I didn't spot anything dangerous. Someone has scavenged old bouys and some wood to make themselves either a little fort or somewhere to rest and relax.

These pics below are from Thurday run. I ran on the white bridle trail. The derecho storm from last summer really decimated this trail. Last summer, I had ventured down it, about a half mile and quit after climbing under and over and around trees. The park workers really had a big job with the amount of tree clearing that they did.

This is a little cemetery right on the trail.

A very nice day next to the water. The bridle trail was in pretty good shape, not much shoe sucking mud.
Speaking of shoes, I've got five pair sitting on the porch right now:

I will probably wear the La Sportiva Ultra Raptors for MMT. The regular "Raptor" already has a rip across the right foot. I am planning on sewing up the rip. I really don't plan on swapping shoes, but I will have a spare pair with me, if needed.

Other activity in the woods: I dug ramps. Then I cleaned ramps. Actually that was pretty easy. Dunk them in water, then dunk them in second container of water, that pretty much gets all the dirt off. Then cut off all the long root tendril things.

Today-Friday-more of the same. Go run-five miles-dig more ramps. Hit up Amish Greenhouse and look at hanging baskets. Repot pepper plants. Plant more ramps around estate. Work on various web sites. I've got a draft blog post at my MMT training, so I need to reread it and see if it makes any sense.

Have a great day!

Four or Off

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 10:42:09 PDT

That is today's schedule.

Other reason why I like having a coach. Yesterday, I had a 14 mile run, since it was my day off from work. I went to Salt Fork to run, having mapped out in my head a route that should garner me 14 miles, more or less.
I got to the Lodge in about seven miles, not really feeling the trail love so much. It was beautiful to be out there in the woods, but I was a bit apathetic. But I was determined to get in my miles, as that is what the scheduled called for.

Now here is where the 'coach' part comes in. This is mainly mental, well, probably all mental.

In past times, in same frame of mind, I would have probably shorted the run up to ten miles-I know my trails well enough to know the shortest way back to the vehicle. I would have used my "guilt card" about spending half my day off away from the husband, and home, and how much stuff I could be doing around the place.

But having someone else in charge of the schedule really frees up my 'runner guilt' as it is. The husband asked what I was doing on my day off. I told him I had a dentist appointment and then had 14 miles to run, so I figured that would be about four hours. And you know what? No guilt there at all. It was pretty much like going to work-hey I will be gone this long, doing this.

Leaving the Lodge, the day warmed up. My body warmed up too, and I was enjoying my time out on the trail. I got back to my vehicle around 13 miles, so I decided to finish up by running over to the beach on the lake. I ended up having an excellent run.

Todays schedule is "4 easy or OFF" depending on how I felt. Hmm. This can be a tough call. Am I tired? I know I have to work all weekend. But I did go to bed early last night and got eight hours sleep. And it's only four miles..and easy.

I told the husband I only had four miles to run, as I was packing my duffel bag of running gear. As I only have four more hours in my work day here, and I'm not that tired, I think I will opt for 4 easy sunny (but STILL COLD) miles in on the trails.

22 days until MMT.

Weekend Trail Runs

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 12:17:02 PDT

I had shorter runs on the schedule for the weekend, 6 miles for Saturday and 8 miles on Sunday..which ended up being five on Saturday and nine on Sunday..hey, trail miles and loops don't always round to the number that you need!

So much for another weekend of warm weather. I was in tights and long sleeved wool shirt on both runs.

Saturday I ran the white bridle trail, and took the spur which leads to one of Salt Fork's Marinas.

I spotted some different daffodils in this area. It's always a pleasure to find some different variety than the standard giant jonquil.

This picture doesn't do the tree justice. This was a HUGE tree snapped in half, probably due to the derecho storm that went through the area last June.

Yes, it's mid April, and I am still wearing a fleece headband a wool shirt.

Sunday I went out from the Lodge and planned to do most of the Bigfoot Loop. Although it was still cool out, the sun did come out, so I had to shed the long sleeve top to keep from getting overheated.

We still need water here. The creeks are very low. At this time of year, they should be bursting.

But that means the bridle trails were in very good shape, and since there has not been many horses out, they are not chewed up yet. (Hey, they are the horses trails.)

This was an oddity I spotted. These are daffodil sprouts, but this is on top of a big old rock. How did these get here? Did someone plant them?

These are "fiddleheads". Some types of fiddlehead ferns are edible, but I don't believe the ones in our area are. I'm not adventurous enough to try them either.

I had some good runs. Energy was good on both days. On Sunday I had a bit of a niggle with my left knee. This is the knee I fell on last Saturday in the 50K. I went ahead and iced it down after my run.

I wore my new La Sportiva Ultra Raptors, and tried out my new Ultraspire waist pack-this one holds two bottles. Gear is getting pretty set for MMT. 27 days out!

Special Guest Runner!!!!

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:23:27 PDT

As I was enjoying the first day of my three day weekend, diligently going through my filing cabinet, culling the clutter, my cell phone rang, and it was my friend Gombu, asking what town I lived in.

Gombu was in the area on business, it turns out, so he was able to make a detour and was on my doorstep within a half hour!

Bob indicated that he wanted to get a run in, and wanted a tour of my 10K "around the block" that he knows so well from the blog...

So off we went, so odd for me to run this with another runner, let alone a good friend! Bob moved to Colorado two years ago; his home is where I stayed last summer pre-Hardrock.

We passed Scooter's owner in his vehicle and was warned that Scooter was out. Yep, he was, along with the other two "old dogs".

Scooter liked Bob. In fact, quite a bit. I guess he was excited just to see someone else "besides me" out there that he was all over Bob.

Well, all was well a short ways down the road, Bob was just kind of covered in Scooter mud and Scooter spit...

Bob also got to meet the Gump dogs but quickly ran away..

It was great having company out there and sharing my little back country roads!

I did note that Bob was not wearing his trademark yellow shorts, but he said he had to save them for MMT, they are starting to wear out!

Awesome to have company on my run today. Even better when it's with a good friend. Thanks Bob!!

30 Days Until MMT

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 03:22:09 PDT

"Man often becomes what he believes himself to be.

If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it.

On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning."

-Mahatma Gandhi

Boston

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 04:34:37 PDT

I was at work when my co-worker's phone went off. "oh my, bomb explosions at the Boston Marathon" he told me. Huh. Boston? Marathon? I grabbed my phone.

This has been about the most useful Facebook has been; runners posting their status that they were okay.

As far as I know, everyone I know who was running Boston is fine.

I don't really have words. I saw some of the horrific pictures. I saw the video of the one explosion. Then I turned off the TV to avoid upsetting myself further.

I'm not a road runner. Sure, someday I would like to run Boston, but I'm a dirt trail runner.

But I do understand that for a runner, Boston is the golden ticket, the magic. People work very very hard to get "their BQ" Boston Qualifier, if you don't know. A "BQ" is a very big deal.

In the last two years, the BAA has tightened up the time requirements, and rewarded the faster runners to sign up first. So it has become more of a challenge, first to just qualify, and then be able to enter the race!

And regardless of whether I am a dirt runner, and you are a road runner, we're all runners. This has hit my community and I am shaken.

Running is a happy activity. Running is a healthy activity.

Running marathons are a triumphant. Running The Boston Marathon is a huge triumphant, the cherry on the sundae, the 26.2 miles of reward after your hard hard work to get there. It shouldn't be taken away with fear and grief.

So how do we recover from this? Is this too soon of a post to talk about recovery, when the trauma has just occurred?

I've been very down, and depressed this afternoon, with all this news. But isn't that "WHOMEVER" wants? For me to change, due to circumstances out of my control?

Isn't that why the bomb was to blow at 4.09, a popular marathon finishing time, at the most famous marathon, where the finishing line is continuously being filmed?

The social media world says to wear a race shirt today, or Boston colors, and go for a run.

I'm not going to. I did not plan on running today; I am determined to rest up and recover well from my 50K on Saturday. I'm not changing my plans.

Would I like to go for a run? Yes, I would, I would like to be in a big posse of my friends, running a trail somewhere, or cutting off the trail and hopping over rocks and sliding down a hill. I don't want to run alone.

This is a pretty badly written and organized post, but I'm going to hit the publish button anyways.

Glacier Ridge Trail 50K Report

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 18:50:53 PDT

I ran the Glacier Ridge 50K in the inaugural event, in 2011. It was cold, windy, and very muddy.

The same conditions presented themselves in the 2013 race. I was hoping for dry conditions; but the totorrential spring rains that started Tuesday rolled through.

It was cold and 41 degrees at race start. I had the right race clothes for the conditions: capris, merino wool long sleeve shirt, gloves. I wore my La Sportiva Ultra Raptors to see how they would fare.

The GRT 50K route was the same, muddy, some climbs, lots of nice runnables. The variable here was the runner. She was in much better shape than 2011.

I had to pass some runners in the first 2 miles. We were climbing up a hill, and it was just too slow for my current effort.

I took a spill about mile 4, hitting my knee and elbow. It just hurt for a minute, I shook it off and assured the two runners right behind me I was fine.

Another runner-I think his name was Don-caught up to me, and we chatted until the 10 mile Aid Station.

I stopped for a bio break, and Don disappeared. But in this section was where the 50K runners were meeting the 50 mile runners coming back, as they started one hour earlier.

Just for clarification, there were three races occurring. The 50 Mile Race started at 630 am. They ran the 50K out and back, but with another little loop around the 15 mile. The 50K just did the 15 miles out and back. The 30K kind of did an out and back.

I got to see Coach Hanks and The Professor from NEO TC, both running the 50 miler, and that gave me a huge boost.

The GRT 50K was a training run for MMT.   I wore my Ultraspire Waistpack, with just the one handheld in it. I carried one Clifbloks (200 calories) and one EFS shot (400 calories.) I had 400 calories of maltodextrin in the handheld.

I had a huge caloric breakfast. Nutella tortilla, cranberry juice, peppermint patty, most of an Egg McMuffin. So, about 800-1000 calories right there.

I felt pretty sluggish for the first hour, probably due to the cool temps and my full belly.

I hit the 15 mile turnaround in 3.30. Hmm. I wanted to run a sub 7 hour 50K. But could I negative split the second half? In all this mud?

I resolved to not look at the watch at all, in the second half. I changed my headband, and put in my music for the first time.

I started to feel really good, about mile twenty. I also started picking off 50K runners.

One green vested guy was pretty determined not to be Number Six. He stayed ahead of me, but I kept nipping at the gap. I caught him on a bit of an uphill, where he was going around the mud, whereas I ploughed straight through it.

Everyone I passed I dropped pretty dismissively. Nobody came back. I passed eight runners (although I believe one was the last 30K runner) so seven 50K runners.

PASSED!

But then, as I was singing out loud to "Red Solo Cup" I got passed by this Timmy Olson look-alike and a chick in almost bun huggers. And they were gone!   Huh? Where did these 50K runners come from?

I got passed, in the last 5 miles or so, by 6 more runners. Decisively, and quickly!

I finely figured out it was the fastest 50 miler guys blowing by me. Finishing their race in about 8 hours! No wonder I was being passed so quickly!

Many parts of the GRT are very runnable. As I knew I was around mile 28, in a runnable area, I kept running. I envisioned parts of the MMT through here. I got to the last two miles, which is back on a paved bike trail. I envisioned the Moreland Gap Road, on the way to the MMT finish line, and kept chugging along.

Spotting the finish line clock, I was surprised!!!! to see the time of 8.20 on the clock! Then I remembered the clock started one hour earlier, with the 50 mile race start.

So, 7.20 finish time. I didn't glance at my watch, on course, after the turn around. I had already determined, to myself, that I had a good run, a good effort, no matter what the time said.

My time in 2011 was 8.06. A 46 minute improvement. I will take that.

My word for 2013 is "improve".    I am working well on this.

Random Word Cloud

kimba90@yahoo.com (Kimba the Ultra Trail Goddess) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 04:00:05 PDT

This is what my blog is filled with these days:

Meanwhile, I am off to PA after work, running my 50K on Saturday!