Blown Away

Against The Wind by Bob Seger greeted us in the car as we drove the 15 minutes to Los Osos for the start of the Montana de Oro 25K trail race. How appropriate. Leading up to race day the forecast was for gale force winds and 2-4 inches of rain. Luckily, by race day the rain decided to hold off and we only had the gale force winds.

To show my love and support for my crew (Pat, my husband) we made a stop at Starbucks so he could get something warm to drink. It was there that we ran into Catra Corbett and her friend Andy. Unfortunately, Catra was sick so she was going to volunteer but Andy mentioned he was doing the 50K. I enjoy following Catra's blog so it was a real pleasure meeting her in person. I also got to show her a new addition to my family that I'll mention another day.

We made our way to Spooner Cove and I picked up my number. It was definitely windy and I noticed a lot of people asking others what they were going to wear. The starting line saw a wide range of clothing options from shorts and t-shirt (brrrrr) to tights and windbreakers.

RD Wendell getting runners psyched to tackle the wind

Soon we were on our way along the Bluff Trail which provides superb scenery and a gentle warm up. I did this race 2 years ago where I did well on the first loop (Valencia Peak) but crashed and burned on the second loop (Hazard Peak). I wanted redemption. But it's early in the season and I'm still building my fitness so I really had no idea how my times would compare. I didn't feel particularly strong during the climb and it took awhile for my lower legs to get warmed up and all the aches and pains to go away.

Climbing toward the sun and Valencia Peak

The higher we climbed, the stronger the winds became, especially along the ridges. Some gusts were so strong runners were stopped in their tracks, sometimes even getting blown off the trail. They were definitely some of the strongest winds I've ever experienced. Later, some runners would tell me they were actually scared while trying to reach the peak.

Finally I found myself at the summit and I stayed low using my hands on the rocks to help me keep my balance against the wind. I was happy to get a little lower and out of the worst of the gusts. As usual, the ascending runners were very courteous to the descending runners as we passed on the narrow trail.


After 1:34 elapsed time I made it back to Spooner Cove to begin my second lap. My time was actually a couple minutes slower than last time which had me a bit concerned. I dropped off my jacket and picked up a second bottle from Pat and quickly started on the Hazard Peak loop.


It's a long, steady climb to the peak and I kept up a gentle shuffle all the way to the top. 3 mountains bikers fell in behind me and I wondered if they wanted to pass. They talked amongst themselves but never got so close to me that I felt "pushed". Having them behind me kept me motivated to keep jogging and keep my walking to a bare minimum. When we reached the top I thanked them for the "push" and they laughed, saying my pace was perfect for them and they enjoyed following me. One was kind enough to take my picture with Morro Rock in the background.

Looking down on Islay Creek Rd and Spooner cove, the finish

An advantage I had this time versus 2007 is that now I know the course. My dad and I rode our mountain bikes on this loop last fall so I knew exactly where the climbs were, and how long. Before I knew it, I was at the top of Barranca Trail and it was all downhill from there. Two years ago, the descent to Islay Creek Rd broke me. It was my first trail race and I had done no hill work and my quads were shot at this point. This time I felt great and flew down the switchbacks.


The final 3 miles on Islay Rd are LONG. 2007 found me walking/shuffling and almost in tears to not even be able to run this flat/downhill road. This time I found I had an extra gear and started pushing it. My heart rate was way too high to maintain for long so I dug deep and tried not to let anyone that I had passed pass me back. So much for this just being a training run.

Finally I found the last turn and cranked it into the finish. What a difference from last time. I managed to take almost 20 minutes off my time and it was all on that second loop. And I was all smiles.

3:16:10, A 17 minute PR

I figured a quick dip in the ocean would do wonders for my aching legs so I stripped off the tights and battled the waves. Pat asked me how it felt. I laughed because I felt nothing: my legs were numb. It was an interesting experience to have my body getting cold from the water but the hot post-race soup was keeping me warm.

After thanking RD Sarah for talking the weather gods into holding off the wind, we made our way back to Starbucks for a well-deserved hot chocolate for me. We met my parents and kids there (I didn't want to subject them to having to hang out all morning in that wind). All in all, it was a great run in some challenging conditions. I enjoy doing PCTR events for the laid back feeling but superb aid station support. My legs are sore today but not too bad. I'm happy with where I am in my training. Slow and steady gets it done. Just like a turtle.

Swimming Upstream

Today was hill work but my normal training hill was under snow. So I headed down the hill a little bit to do the "salmon ladder". It is named that after the now-defunct Salmon Run 10K race that was part of the Grand Prix race series here in Nevada County. The route consists of 2.5 miles of flat trail along a flume trail, a descent along a dirt road to the Yuba River then a nasty little climb back up to the trail.

I've started incorporating hill work into my routine once a week. This route provided a nice warmup before tackling the 0.3mi climb with 400ft of vertical gain. But I didn't do it just once. I did it 3 times with the goal being to climb it faster each time. Poor Yuba was starting to get a bit tired and worried about how many times we were going to do this crazy climb. My times for the climbs were 8:03, 7:43, and 7:33. I think I almost maxed out my heart rate that last time. I finished with a nice easy jaunt along the flume trail to cool down.

Once again I forgot my camera so here are some pictures from the same trail when my family and I hiked it last week. The only difference is last week it was warm and dry, today it was wet, with puddles, and in the high 30's.

Sara and Pat walking along the wheelchair friendly trail

Enjoying the view of the Yuba River

Caitlyn crossing Rush Creek with the footbridge just behind her.

Caitlyn tackling the nasty little climb, the "salmon ladder". She did great.

Goofing off

Montana de Oro trail run kicked my butt 2 years ago because I hadn't trained properly. I still haven't trained enough this year but it's my first event of the year and I'm treating it as a training run. I hope the little bit of hill work I've been doing will allow me to do a little better this time. I'm really looking forward to getting down there and finding out where I'm at, training wise.

Good Samaritans

Trail runners are great. Last week I was able to experience some nice trail "magic" after my short 6 mile run turned into a more interesting 11 mile adventure.

I decided to run a short loop portion of the Way Too Cool course and as I checked the trail maps, it seemed pretty straight-forward. But as you know, it's seldom that simple. I started up the Quarry Rd and quickly came to Brown's Bar which I've never climbed. I headed up this 0.8mi climb until I came across the Western States trail heading east toward Maine Bar. I knew I needed to continue a little farther to get to a trail that would take me west toward the Quarry trail and ultimately back down to the Quarry Rd.

Up until now, all the trails had been really well marked so when I passed two steep, unmarked trails that went off to the right, I didn't think they were what I was looking for. Soon I found myself much farther up the canyon facing a decision. There were 3 trails all coming together, they all had names, but none of them was what I was looking for. I took the trail that headed west thinking at least I would eventually come across Hwy 49 and could make my way back down into the canyon.

After continuing to climb and climb and climb some more, I found myself among houses and paved streets which I knew was wrong. I came across a lady who was able to direct me onto some more trails that would eventually lead me to where I wanted to go. She also informed me I was in Cool, which is NOT where I was suppose to be. I headed off onto more trails through pastures and over hills and soon I was lost again. That's when I came across the trail angels, AKA, Good Samaritans.

Two guys, both with dogs, were just beginning their trail run. When I described my predicament, they quickly invited me to join them and they would lead me to where I needed to go. I was a little concerned that I wouldn't be able to keep up, they looked fast. We set off and I was quickly enjoying myself immensely. These were some great guys, showing me some great trails that rolled along the hillsides. Only occasionally did the speed increase enough that I was trying hard to control my breathing enough so that they didn't realize how hard I was working. We talked about some of the trails in the area and it turns out I think I was suppose to take one of those unmarked trails I had seen earlier that headed off to the west. Next time I'll try it.

Soon we came to a trail junction where our paths would go separate ways. I thought about all the things that had happened during my run and the luck involved in the timing of meeting these two guys as they started their run. If I hadn't met up with Jim and Adam, I'd probably still be wandering aimlessly around the hills of the American River canyon. Thanks guys.



On another note, this has been a rest week so I've been taking it easy. It's amazing how skipping just one day of running feels like 4 or 5. I had a good tempo run over the weekend before watching the Super Bowl commercials, I mean, the football game. Today was a long, slow, trail run from the Auburn Overlook where I covered the last 5-6 miles of the American River 50 with some new running friends. Since I normally run alone, it's tough sometimes to adjust my pace to something that I don't dictate. Deep down I wanted to run faster but I soon found that enjoying the company of new running friends is more important. The day was beautiful and it was a pleasure to be running along rolling trails as they meandered along the river canyon.

I've been lazy lately about taking my camera on my runs so I'm sorry I don't have any pictures. I really regret not taking it this morning. I'll try to do better. Good luck to all those racing this weekend at Jed Smith and other races. The season is starting to get going with my own first race of the season coming up on the 15th. Can't wait.

New Distances, New Friends

Last Sunday found me enjoying some new friends while running a distance longer than I've run in months: 12 miles.

June, who works at the running store where I buy all my shoes, and her friend Cincie met me and my dog Yuba at the trailhead to Quarry Rd on a rainy, cool morning, ready to enjoy a long, easy run to Maine Bar along the American River outside of Auburn. I must admit, I'm a loner, and with my always revolving work schedule it's hard to find running partners. So when I had a chance to join these 2 ladies on a long run, I jumped at it. I wasn't disappointed.

We settled into an easy pace and started gabbing about a number of things and never stopped talking for the next 2 1/2 hours. The miles flew by and before I knew it, we were at the turn-around point. We decided to continue on a little farther so they could show me part of the Way Too Cool trail. We jumped the large puddles, didn't bother with the smaller ones and the incessant drizzle soon had us pretty wet. As long as we kept moving we stayed warm.

These trails are really popular with the endurance crowd and we saw a lot of other runners, some mountain bikers, and horseback riders. It was great to see so many people out enjoying the day, not even caring about the rain showers.

June and I got to talking about my race schedule and she expressed some concern with my plan to run WTC and Rucky Chucky 50K on back to back weekends and the fact that I wasn't running American River 50M. Rucky Chucky offers a relay and she volunteered to run it with me and that way I could sign up for AR50. I do have a concern that my only chance of qualifying for 2010 WS100 is that I absolutely have to finish Leadville, which I intend to do, but the best laid plans.......

So June's suggestions sounded pretty good to me. I ran AR50 last year and really loved it and I know if all goes well, I can qualify for WS100 with it. I'm running TRT 50M but there's no way I can finish it in under 11 hours. So as soon as I got home I registered for AR50 (not too many spots left) and I'll sign us both up for RC relay (and I get to run the "UP" portion).

We finished the run strong (even had a negative split by 2 minutes) and I felt great. I must admit, none of my runs have been completely pain free but after this run I've felt the best and that good feeling continued today. I believe all the aches and pains are just my body getting used to running longer distances again. It's hard for me to continue with this slow build up in mileage but I know it's the smart thing to do. This week will include more hill work and another short tempo run. I feel like a runner again and I love it.

Ambitious Goals

Looks like this may be my year for trying new things. Like a lot of runners I started out running a few miles a day just to get in better shape. That led to 5K and 10K races which got me thinking about marathons. After my first marathon I naturally started thinking even longer and discovered the perverted world of ultrarunning. I've run a 50K and a couple 50 milers so now my mind is turning to the 100 miler. But which one?

I would love to do Western States 100 since it's basically my back yard. I qualified but didn't get in for 2008 and now that they've discontinued the two-time loser and it's all backed up from last year's cancellation, I figure my chances of getting into WS100 are pretty slim in the next few years. Ever since I rode the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race, I've been in love with Leadville, Colorado. So why not try the Leadville Trail 100, the Race Across the Sky. After working out a few details with my folks to watch the girls, I officially signed up. To help my chances I also signed up for the Leadville training weekend at the end of June.

So there it is, my big, fat, hairy goal for 2009. I definitely feel like I'm behind the 8 ball coming off my stress fracture from last year (yesterday I did my long run of a whopping 8.7 miles) but I know if I take it slow and steady I'll be successful. I have some fun races lined up to help in my preparation and my family is behind me 100%. Since my husband is still off work from his fall and with shoulder surgery possibly looming in his future, it's made it easier for me to do more training and events without juggling 2 work schedules. I can't explain the importance of having the support of your family when undertaking such a huge project like this. Pat and I are truly partners and having his support means the world to me. Due to his injury he's had to put a lot of his own plans on hold and I look forward to the day when he's better and I can be there to support him as he goes after his own goals. Until then, as he's been telling me a lot lately, this is my year. And I can't wait.

Dilemma, and the perfect running weather

Yesterday I had a great day. I got off work and on my drive home over Donner Summit I stopped off at Sugarbowl Ski Resort to get in some turns. Last Thursday was my first time skiing in 5 years. Yesterday was my second. 5 years ago I had a pass to Sugarbowl but found out I was pregnant so didn't get to use it. My family threatened me with death if I dared ski while pregnant. So, 2 kids later, I finally decided to get another pass (my, how time flies).

So last Thursday, with great trepidation (and fear of falling off the lift) I strapped on my skis, boarded the lift and managed to not fall down as I disembarked at the top. The first couple turns were stiff and ugly. Once I loosened up I started feeling more comfortable. After 4-5 runs I was back in a groove, just like riding a bike.

Yesterday was extremely windy, to the point that a couple lifts had to be put on wind hold. It was sunny and clear, actually warm when you were able to get out of the wind. I like to change my blog header picture along with the seasons so it was with great effort (and almost getting blown off the mountain) that I got my new picture up top. It's looking south along the Pacific Crest Trail from Mt. Lincoln. It was so windy I had to keep my pole straps around my wrists because if I laid them down I was afraid they'd end up at the bottom of the mountain at the lodge. My body was pressed forward against the powerful force and as I struggled to get my camera out of my jacket pocket I would stand up too straight and I'd find myself getting pushed backward on my skis. But I like the picture so I guess it was worth it. If you look in the lower left hand corner you can see a thin line of white and that is the trail as it heads south towards Tinkers Knob and Squaw Valley.

So, about my dilemma. As I rode the lift up the mountain I started to think about how to record this time skiing in my training log. I skied for 2 hours so do I put 2 hours down? Even though for every 10 minutes I spend getting carried to the top of the mountain I only spend about 2 minutes skiing back down (even though I do get a pretty good quad burn). So for the 2 hours I spent up there, I only "exercised" about 25 minutes. It's not like nordic skiing where you have to ski UP the hills too. (I raced nordic skiing in high school and there was always a big rivalry amongst us and the alpine skiers as to who was better. Of course we were because we didn't wimp out and get a ride to the top of hills). This morning I was reading Darrell's blog and he has a similar dilemma. If you walk during a run do you count the distance covered walking as part of your miles run? I think in general, runners are type A personalities and really care about numbers. We like to record things (just to prove it actually happened) but we want to do it right. So do I record my time on the slopes as total time or just my actual runs down the mountain?

I got home and my hubby was out on a walk with the dog. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, one that rarely happens in mid-January: bright blue skies, about 65 degrees and no wind. I just had to get out and run. So I quick changed into my running clothes and set off up the trail. I ran 2 miles out (even through the occasional snow patch) and then turned back home. About a half mile from home I saw my dog running toward me and closely behind him was Pat. They had gotten my note about going running and headed up the trail to find me. I finished up my last 1/2 mile with the dog then enjoyed a nice walk with my husband. To top off the perfect day, we enjoyed a late lunch in town before picking up the girls from daycare. A nice way to spend the day.

2008 Recap and 2009 Goals

Well, it's halfway through January so I thought I better get a new entry on my blog so the first thing people see isn't Christmas!

2008 wasn't exactly a great year for me, it proved quite challenging dealing with my first major running injury. And typical me, I didn't handle it well. I started feeling pain in my shin last January but continued to run. I did back off the mileage and did a lot of road bike riding but due to some events I had already registered for, I didn't stop running completely on what turned out to be a stress fracture.

I did back out of a couple events when common sense prevailed and volunteered at those runs instead. It was a lot of fun to see those events from a different point of view. I always make it a point to thank volunteers and now I'm really glad I do. Our job as runners is easy compared to what volunteers do.

So, to recap 2008. I ran 586 miles despite 25 weeks of 5 miles or less. I biked 1,406 miles. April was my most interesting month considering I only ran 3 times but logged 80 miles. I did American River 50, Daffodil 5K, and the Big Sur Marathon. As fall rolled around and I finally decided that I really did need to stop running and let my leg heal I took up something new: Bikram Yoga. It's 90 minutes in 105 degrees doing 26 yoga postures and it is very challenging. I am hoping to do a post in the future about it. I started doing "hot" yoga to help me keep my strength and endurance while letting my stress fracture heal. And I managed to do it 50 times by the end of 2008.

Now on to 2009. I'm slowly building up my running mileage but mostly on the treadmill since it's easy to do that at work. I was lucky enough to get into Way Too Cool 50K so that will be my focus race for the spring. I've heard so many wonderful things about this race and I'm really looking forward to running it and seeing all the big names of ultrarunning.

As tune ups for WTC, I'm going to run PCTR's Montana de Oro 25K Feb 15. That course ate me up in 2007 because I hadn't done enough hill work. I don't have a lot of time to prepare this year so it will just be treated as a good training run. Later that week I will do the WS100 training run that covers the last 20 miles of the course from Green Gate to Auburn.

My summer focus is to do something I couldn't do last year, the Tahoe Rim Trail 50M. I've done the 50K course but really want to do the 50 Mile. I have a few more races and one major goal that I will hold off mentioning now while I work out a few details. But if it works out and I manage to stay healthy and injury free this will be a year to remember.