Sunday, October 16, 2011

16 Very Hilly Miles with a Friend!

Today I headed up to El Dorado Hills to run with a good friend, Trailmomma. We met about two years ago during the Fleet Feet Ultra Training Group. We trained together with the group and accomplished our first 50 milers. After the group she continued training with me. Well, I was training for Tahoe Rim 50k and she was just keeping in shape.

Western States Training Run 2010

During our runs we would talk about everything. Than my work schedule changed, she was pregnant and moved and I was running with some new friends. We never lost touch though. I ran with her right before Run On The Sly 50k. We did about 10 trail miles and picked up right where we left off.

Well, yesterday she talked me into coming up and running. I tried to talk my way out of it but she wouldn't let me. I tried to explain that I didn't think I would be able to run 16 miles after the way I felt yesterday while running 13 trail miles. She explained I could run 8ish and head back to her house as the route would take us by her house. I was sold and confirmed I would be there.

Cal Loop 2010

Just like last time we picked up where we left off and were talking up a storm. We were running with some of her friends from Buffalo Chips, who by the way are super fast. We brought up the caboose, but they were kind enough to wait for us at the water holes along the route and even yelled encouraged us to RUN the HUGE HILLS!

As the miles ticked by my legs were feeling pretty good, my quads were a bit stiff and sore but I continued on. I was enjoying myself so much that I didn't want to stop. Trailmomma is training for CIM in December and is looking really strong out there. Her attitude was upbeat and positive and she kept moving forward even when I wanted to walk some more of the hills, she powered up them. The downhills became a bit tricky for me. The downhills actually hurt my quads more and I had to take them rather slow as I didn't want to blow my quads up.

Trail Running 2010

Running with trailmomma the miles go by fast, before I knew it we were near her house and I had the option to either turn left or keep going straight. I decided to keep going straight and run the entire loop. My legs were good, I was mentally focused and I was having a great time and I was told there was only maybe two more hills to climb.

As we continued on we focused more and at times dug deep. Or I had to dig deep. I took a salt after passing her house as my legs were feeling a bit funky and soon enough my legs started feeling better and I was running more fluidly. The hills really slowed my pace down, but I didn't care about my pace, I was only secretly worried that I was slowing trailmomma down.

Soon we were back on the levee and had a few more miles to go. My legs started acting up again and I felt cramps coming on so I quickly took 2 salt tabs this time and ended up power hiking the last hill as Trailmomma kept on trucking. Slowly the salt helped and I was running again. I was slowly with each step catching back up to trailmomma and soon I was right behind her and then I slowly took the lead and up'd the tempo a bit. I was feeling really strong and I could also see the finish.

Western States Training 2010

I was amazed that I managed to run 16 miles today, sometimes all it takes is friend to keep me going. Thank you trailmomma for a great run today, I am glad I came out and I am even more glad I did the entire loop with you.

After running we headed back and soaked our legs in her pool, it was pretty cold and felt really good. We also enjoyed this awesome cup of coffee. It had a hint of pumpkin flavor in it. Yum!! I ended up hanging out with her and catching up for a few hours before making my way home. What a way to end my week, I couldn't have asked for anything more.

1 comment:

  1. Oooh that was great! I love the old photos by the way!

    I need to do a write up. I was planning to do one at work tomorrow at some point ...

    Thanks for the run today. It was such great company and a really good run! These hills humble me often ... thanks for being by my side AND for the awesome company afterwards. The Peanut is STILL asking about you. See you next weekend!

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