Adventure to Cool from Overlook!

This weekend I was suppose to go Tahoe with Coach Nikon for the Tahoe Rim Trail training runs. We had both signed up for Saturday's 20 miler and Sunday's 26 miler. But, with all the snow that was up there and the race director sending out this note "It is extremely likely that you'll be snow trekking over some deep drifts or long patches of snow this weekend so plan ahead. We highly recommend you bring any shoe traction devices you may own (such as YakTrax and Kahtoolas). Trekking poles are also advised. Plan on wet, cold feet so bring extra socks, etc. The weather is predicted to be moderately warm with high Ultra Violet rays so sun screen is a must. The biggest issue we're still facing is supplying our aid stations. Quite candidly, we can't get there from here because of the snow. Although we believe we can still provide typical aid station food on both days, our biggest concern is fluids. Please bring as much fluid with you this weekend as possible (70 to 100 ounces recommended). We're working hard to provide alternatives for you in the meantime.' We both decided to not head up, but opted for our own training runs in the hills and canyons this weekend.

Today we headed to the Auburn dam overlook for a 15 mile run or so to Cool and back. We ended up getting a later start than we had wanted because we both stayed up late the night before watching a movie. As I left my house it was extremely windy and I was hoping that it wouldn't be windy up in Auburn on the trails. Coach Nikon assured me it wouldn't be windy and when we got there he was right it wasn't windy, but warming up a bit. Off we went on our first run in what looks like to be a weekend of long runs. The trail starts down but a gradual decline so as you don't realize it too much.

Coach Nikon taking the lead.

I for one was really excited because this was my first run on this course or so I thought. Coach Nikon reminded me that part of this course I had already run back in February in the Western States Training Run. I had forgotten but quickly remembered as the miles started going by.

In the clear as we were heading down.

Coach Nikon pointing the way.

Going down wasn't that bad and my legs were feeling really strong and I was able to keep up with Coach Nikon. The first 3 miles of our run I will be running when I do the Sierra Nevada Double Marathon in September. It was great to see these miles and also see how exposed this area is. I was baking in parts of the run because the sun was beating down on us. As we were running I heard some water running and we came across a nice creek crossing and a little water fall.

We both dunked our hats to cool off and that felt great. After the decline we of course had to go back up this hill called "training hill." It is about 1.4 miles of climbing. Here my legs were aching. My caffs were screaming at me, my hamstrings were tight which made it hard to climb, but my quads felt great even after the downhills. We climbed forever, O.K. not forever but it took about 20 minutes to reach the top or what I thought was the top in actuality it wasn't, the climb kept going.

Pretty steep don't you think?

Me climbing Training Hill.

We made it to the top of the Training hill and just had to take this picture. Check out the sweat band!

It was a .9 climb but than more climbing was around the corner. But it was worth it especially for the views.

You can see where we came from the dirt trail on the other side.

After climbing we hit the fire road that would took us into Cool and the fire station where Coach Nikon quickly filled his water.

Waiting for him to fill his bottle  I took in a GU because my legs were a little weak. I had to hike some of the fire road on the way in. We quickly turned around not wasting much time and started back. Coach Nikon took the lead and I managed to keep up, well sort of. I had to walk some and he would wait for me in the clearing or at a top of a climb.

As we ran back in I was getting really hot. Like I said the weather warmed up and there wasn't much of a breeze out today. But when there was a breeze it felt great. My legs starting getting sluggish and I started tripping over everything, but I never did fall. I kept pushing on knowing we would have to cross the water fall again and I could get wet.

Instant relief!

And that is just what I did. I soaked my body and hat and felt immediate alertness. I was getting a little foggy out there and that could have been some trouble. The cool water brought a new life to me.

This feels great!

After the short dip we started climbing again and I was able to keep up with Coach Nikon for a bit. He is a incredible runner. He powered up those hills like it was nobody business while I on the other hand had hiked most of them.

The Machine

Always smiling no matter what.

We climbed and climbed, I thought it would never end. I think I bonked on this run, I was drained. Maybe the heat had gotten to me or maybe the lack of sleep the night before or maybe the 2 drinks I had the night before, or maybe I was just off. But I think the most important lesson I learned is no matter what always keep moving forward and do it with a smile if you can.

How could I not smile when I had views like this all morning. I have to say that no matter how I ran the week before or how fast I ran, each trail run is different and that is why I enjoy it so much. It makes me feel alive after I have accomplished a run no matter the size and I can't wait to do it again. The 15 mile run to Cool was great even though I found it physically and at times mentally tough. But I did it and I really enjoy the feeling when I finish a run.

After the run both Coach Nikon and I jumped in the canal. The water was really cold but felt great on my aching legs.

The water froze his toes!

My turn!

The cold took my breath away.

Forrest hill Bridge, which at times we were below and than above it.

Day 1 was in the books. Saturday we are planning on running the river crossing which is part of the Western States Run. I am looking forward to it.

Check out the elevation gain and loss

Elevation Gain: 2,388 ft

Elevation Loss: 2,400 ft

Min Elevation: 541 ft

Max Elevation: 1,621 ft

On a side note I reached a small milestone for this year. 1000 miles for me for 2010. Wohhoo!!! I was very excited and now I am even more charged for tomorrow.

Late Start filled with Mistakes

This past weekend was my last few days of vacation before returning to nights. I had planned on running (or course), but I didn't have anyone to run with and I also didn't know how far I was going to go. Since I didn't have any running buddies this weekend I didn't give myself a time frame on when to start the run. Mistake number 1 because on Saturday it ended up being about 90 degrees out and extremely humid. I ended up getting a late start, I woke up and had some coffee and some oatmeal. I was starving which I seem to be all the time. Played with Lil Man and than got myself ready to head out. Mistake number 2 and 3, Ipod was not charged and my Garmin yet again wasn't charged. I had to wait a little bit longer. By now it was going on 7:30 and usually I am already running by now, but not this past Saturday. Now that everything was charged I was ready to go. I headed out to my usually spot and started the run. I didn't know how far I was going to go and I would let my body know when it was time to turn around. So I ran and I ran. I saw some friends out that day and ran back in with them maybe a 1 mile or so and than I was alone again. It was quickly getting warm and I was frying out there in the open sun. I hit mile 8 and saw a water fountain and soaked my hat. I had to do that a couple of times just to stay a little cool. I ended up turning around at mile 10 so that means I was doing 20 miles. I had 2 GUs on me and I took them both because I was feeling a little low. Mistake number 4 was I didn't have a S-cap. They were back in the car and my caffs were quickly becoming tight, probably because of the heat and all of the running I have done this week and also still recovering from last Saturday. Ohh well nothing I could do but continue on my way. And that is just what I did. I made it back to my car in 3hours and 10 min. that is 10 minutes faster than 2 weeks ago when I ran 20. Yes!!!!.
Mistake number 5, no cold water at the car to drink, mistake number 6 no recovery drink, but I did have a Cliff bar in my stash so I ate that while stretching and changing shoes. ohh yeah and mistake number 7 I didn't put any sunscreen on so my arms were a little burnt by the end of that run. I think though with all of that I might have learned something for the next time. Right.....One would hope so.
Overall I was excited that I am getting faster and stronger and I enjoyed the run even though it was lonely out there. After getting home and cleaning up Lil Man wanted play with me. So he brought me his train set and we made a tiny hill for him to enjoy while I relaxed for a bit.

"Meme play trains?"

After trains he showed me his watch, but it is not just any watch it is his running watch. He ran around the house for me asking me to run with him. So I did.

Here he is showing me cars running watch. He took it off before he could eat because he didn't want to get it dirty. After playing with trains we all went to the pool to relax, I went in the spa for a bit to relax and than jumped in the pool, immediate ice bath. Such relief.

Saturday night I spent the night at my brothers and Toby had a play date with cousin moose. Toby and Moose were very excited to play. And play they did. I don't think I got any sleep that night. Max and Jack were just excited to have some other dog around to entertain Moose.

Toby and Moose immediately playing. They wore me out just watching them. It seemed what ever toy Toby had Moose wanted and the same with goes for Moose. What ever toy Moose had Toby wanted. They emptied the toy box in a few minutes and there were toys everywhere.

jack is enjoying not being bothered by Moose and Toby is having a blast.

Max was very happy to see me.

Even though Moose is much bigger than Toby he plays very gently with him. He knows he is bigger but he wont let Toby forget it.

After a restless night of no sleep, I got ready for another run. Yes just like yesterday I didn't get a early start. Mistake number 1 late start at 9. I only ran 6 miles just as a little recovery. It was again hot, mistake number 2 no sun screen, and mistake number 3, no cold water back at the car. I guess I didn't learn my lesson. Maybe next time for sure. Overall the week was great, I enjoyed not having to be in a time crunch and just being able to run whenever I felt like. If I could do it all over again I am sure I wouldn't have changed a thing.

What to Do?

Today was one of those days where I just couldn't find the motivation or maybe I just really needed a break this morning. So, that is exactly what I did. I took a break and actually enjoyed my morning. I didn't inhale my coffee or breakfast so I could be ready for my run by a certain time. I didn't change out of my PJ's. What I did do was relax and enjoy the morning. It was 6:00 am and I am on vacation. I enjoyed my coffee, I enjoyed watching Lil Man get ready for pre-school, and I enjoyed Toby who seems to always have to be touching me when he is near by. After everyone left the house and it was just me and dogs I got ancy. What to do? I started cleaning, I vacuumed, which included moving the furniture around and the chairs in the kitchen, I made Lil Mans bed and cleaned Lil Mans room, and than I washed some clothes and folded it all. If that wasn't enough I decided to Mop and Glow the wood floors. After all that it wasn't even 11 yet. I still had the entire day. After cleaning I found Toby sleeping on his bed or should I say falling of his bed.

    "I am so tired mommy"

  "It's been a rough day"

By now I really didn't want to go run, I decided I would head out there early this afternoon and get 6 miles in before the group run started in hopes of maybe getting 10 miles total in for the day. I spent the afternoon reading. I have finished 2 books in the past 2 weeks and I am on my 3rd book with maybe half to go. Luckily while I was at the bookstore I picked up 2 books to get me through the week. Right now I am reading a book about the Vietnam war. It is called Medic! and is a story of a conscientious objector in the war. Meaning he wouldn't carry a gun or kill. Pretty interesting. I could barely put it down when it was time to leave for my run.
Like I said earlier I headed out early to get a little run by myself. I started out fairly strong but on the way back in the negative thoughts started creeping into my head and I found myself thinking a lot about work. Why? I don't know I am on vacation maybe it had something to do with the text from work on Sunday night late. I don't know. I tried to refocus but found it hard, and than all of a sudden up on the trail I see Captain Nikon. That lifted my spirits tremendously. He was heading out and I had 2.5 to the end. He decided to run back with me and we would re-fuel and hydrate and than go back out. Running with Captain Nikon is like a breath of fresh air. His energy is contagious and he is always smiling. I was feeling more positive and even managed to pick my pace up.
Back at the car we both ate a Cliff bar and I took in a GU and drank some water. I mentioned to him that I thought trailmomma was running in the Folsom Trail Series at Negro bar. We decided we would run over there and support trailmomma. We just barely made to Negro Bar and found trailmomma and wished her luck. (To be honest after feeling the energy of the event I wanted to run it also.) Trailmomma you Rock!!!
We told trailmomma we would see at the top of bluffs. And that is just what we did Coach Nikon and Miss P. and I ran to the bluffs found a good spot and cheered on the racers. Trailmomma came through and we yelled as loud as we could for her. She had a huge smile on her face when she saw us or heard us. I think everyone appreciated it. We continued on our run and waited at the finish for her to come in. When we saw her she was running with her pacer from AR50 but at the time we didn't know. We were yelling at her telling her to kick it, push her with an elbow, finish strong!!!! Spectators turned around and looked at us funny I didn't care though. Trailmomma did great especially for just having completed the epic 28 on Saturday. She finished with a smile. As we were waiting for trailmomma, Coach Nikon and I started being ridiculous and moving to the music. Remember I don't dance, but we were moving to some music. I think trailmomma got a kick out of it. Great race Trailmomma, you rocked it out there.
The 3 of us headed back to our cars and wished Miss P. good luck on her race on Saturday up in Auburn. Our run ended up being a little over 5 miles. Not bad. When I got home Toby came running to me and than Lil Man came running to me also. I noticed he had his watch on. A couple of days ago he was obsessing about his cars watch which grandma and papa had. They found it for him and when he got him the other day he put his cars watch on and said really proud "I go running" Just like meme!!!! Tonight I asked him if he went running? He said "nooo." very upset with himself. He saw my watch and said "meme run." Than out of nowhere he stops "playing" his game and says "I go running now" and the next thing I knew he was running around the house. It was a very cute moment. I think he is my biggest fan.
Today didn't start off very strong for me but by the end of day I am feeling much better and more positive. Great 11.5 miles tonight and glad we stopped and cheered for trailmomma.

Back with the Fleet!

This week my routines are back in place. I didn't realize how much I enjoy having a set time to run and to be able to run with others is great in any weather. Tuesday and Thursdays the Fleet Feet crew is out in Folsom for a short run on the bike path. This past Tuesday, a lot of the familiar faces were there along with some new faces. Great!!!! My quads are still tender, but that hasn't stopped me from putting on the miles this week. I have been doing double runs the past few days. It has been alot of fun just waking up and walking out the front door and just running. Who cares that my quads are screaming at me that just pushes me harder.

Tuesday night Captain Kirk and Wonder Woman were there and we talked about how Day 2 of Western States Training Runs went. Captain Kirk is a all-star in my book. He did both days.

Captain Kirk at AR50

As Coach Dan gave the intro I was listening some but not really, when all of a sudden I heard 20 out and 20 back. That caught my attention, because while I have been training with trailmomma we would talk in miles. So my first thought after I caught my breath was 20 miles out and 20 miles back. No way.....What he had actually said was 20 mins. out and 20 mins back. O.K. I can do that. More manageable. After the quick intro we took off, I found myself in the lead but that didn't last long, as soon as the first downhill came the front pack took off on me. I eventually found a steady rhythm that felt comfortable and continued trucking. I ended up running by myself, but that was fine. I did see the fleet feet members and when I did I would focus on small goals to get me back in. The runners became my goals for me to reach and that ended up being alot of fun for me. Isn't that what running was all about? Making it fun. Overall that run felt great. My legs are still hurting but they are slowly each day getting better with less and less pain.
Wednesday Captain Kirk held a trail run meet up out at Cavitt Middle School. There were some familiar faces, Hawaii Mark made it out and than there were some first timers to trail running. Captain Kirk had marked the course with hot pink ribbons which was great because you couldn't get lost and you could go as far as you wanted. I ended up running the 3.5 to the turn around and back. I ran with Hawaii Mark for a bit and we talked about the weekend run he did Day 2 of the Western States. Overall being back on the trails again was great for me mentally and also running with the Crew again was a huge bonus. I can't wait for the official training group to start up later this month. Check out their training page. Fleet Feet Trail Training.

Overall I enjoyed this run, unfortunately I didn't have my camera. I wish I did because the water is so high out there. It is maybe 10 ft. from the fire road. the last time I was out on the fire road it was soooo far away. We did run into 2 horses and some walkers and a ton of horse manure but that is the joy in trail running all the different things you see and avoid like poison oak which is still in abundance out there. It was a great 7 miles even Captain Kirk mentioned how well my running has come along since I first started back in October of 2009. At the end of the run Captain Kirk had water bottles for us.

Asics

Back on the home front a few days ago was "Meme time" with Lil Man. Toby loves Lil Man, he gets upset when Lil Man takes a nap and he will sit at Lil Mans door waiting and whining for him to come out and play. But that morning I found Toby in Lil mans bed.

"What???"

Usually Lil man has a hard time in the morning but not that morning as you can see he is laughing and ready for the day the began. Which was a great day. We spent it playing, and of course Lil Mans favorite activity, reading.

"Meme read?"

This week has flown by and I go back to work Sunday night, but I am glad that some of my routine that I became accustomed to is back in place with the Fleet Feet Crew. Looking forward to another great run tonight and also seeing familiar faces. I can't believe that this week I have already logged 24 miles and soon I for this year I will reach 1000 miles.

Memorial Day Weekend!

On Sunday, after the 28 miles on Saturday on the Western States Trail my Lil Man wanted to show me how he could swim. We put our swim suits on and headed over the gyms pool. He was very excited to show me what he had learned in swim lessons over the past 12 weeks give or take.

Lil Man waiting patiently to get in the water.

There he goes under the water!

All smiles as he reached the steps! What a good little swimmer.

I am relaxing with Lil Man in the water, my quads were killing me. I did get in the spa a few times to loosen up my muscles.

There he goes heading back out to mom. I was little shocked when I first saw him go under. I told my sister later that maybe she should have prepped me for what I was about to see. He did great and I sent him encouragement along the way!

Lil Man very excited to have reached mom. There were moments of crying but he overcame those and once another little boy showed up he was more into swimming than when he first started.

He showed me he could back float as well. Now I don't know about anyone else but when I was his age I don't think I knew half the things he does. He is a smart boy.

Still having fun. Thanks Lil Man for the swim. It was great. After the swim I did manage to get out and do 3 miles as a recovery run or shuffle.

On Sunday we were invited over to my brothers house for Moose's birthday party.

Happy Birthday Moose!!! Toby came along to celebrate.

He even sported the hat. O.K. just for the picture.

Jack and Max helped celebrate Moose's first birthday!

Moose and Toby were so happy to be playing together. They played and played and also ate some chips off the table. All the dogs partook in bratwurst and birthday cake. Spoiled???? Noooo....

After birthday cake the boys went out back and played some more and the grown ups went and played ping pong. A great time had by all.

"hey Toby? You want to play tag?" Toby "O.K. Moose"

After playing for hours the boys took a little rest.

We are so tired...happy birthday Moose.

Even Max helped Moose celebrate, that is Max enjoyed being around the adults.

A exhausted Moose after a long day of playing and eating.

Back home, Toby completed knocked out from today's birthday party.

It was a great day, glad the entire family could be come and celebrate Moose's birthday and more glad to watch the boys play together. I did take Monday off from running. I was hobbling around pretty good. My entire body was sore, today I did already run 6 miles. It felt really good to be running again, even though I took only 1 day off. I get really stir crazy if I don't run, just ask my family. Looking forward to more birthday celebrations and more swimming accomplishments.