Going Taper Crazy

This week is my taper week. So far I have logged 12 miles. 2 six mile early morning runs. During these early morning runs though I wasn't by myself. I brought a friend. Or I should say he invited himself and wouldn't take no for an answer.

This way mommy

Traildog post run

Traildog hadn't been out for a run in awhile due to the fact that when I typically go running it is mid day and has been scorching hot. So since I was running rather early 5:30am I thought he would enjoy some early morning exercise and also the fact that he gets to be with his mommy. Traildog did a pretty good job, though he did try and trip me when we first started but soon enough he found his pace and he also found his place which is on the right hand side of me running next to me not in front nor behind. This makes it a bit easier to control him if he gets a sudden urge to chase a squirrel or try and take off because he wants to go faster. Little does he know that this is a six mile run and he needs to conserve his energy.

After our run he of course is down for the count the rest of the day. He enjoys following me from room to room, chair to bed back to the restroom and back to the couch. You see he is a mommies boy and gets very anxious if he is not in the same room with me, in fact he gets anxious if he isn't touching me in some sort of way. He is my little boy and my protector and I love him for his dedication and devotion. If I am in another room all I have to do is whistle our special tune and he comes flying down the hall way barreling through whatever or whoever is in is way. He has even knocked Lil Man over just to get to me.

Traildog and I do have on thing we both fight over, the bed. I prefer to sleep on the left side and so does he. He will literally race me to the spot and plop down before I can. He is also very muscular and hard to move once he is comfortable for bed. There have been times when I was initially on the left side and I have woken up to find myself on the right side while he is enjoying "the spot" how he managed to get it I will never know. He must have some magic power over it because recently it has been happening every night. What do I do, I just chuckle and fall back asleep and sometimes I will reclaim "the spot"

See even as I type he is in the spot.



Traildog is very loyal and he is also very loyal to Lil Man. Anytime Lil Man comes home Traildog is one of the first to greet him with kisses and high paws. If Lil Man is sleeping Traildog will ever so quietly ease into his room to check on him. He is making sure Lil Man is OK and sometimes I find Traildog snuggling with Lil Man.

Traildog this morning snuggling with Lil Man

Taken a few months ago

Some more pictures of Traildog and Lil Man snuggling.

At least a year ago, because of the pacifier. Sweet Kisses

This is my favorite one. Hugging on Traildog.

Traildog is well loved in this house. Lil Man ask for Traildog and loves to give him treats. It is cute to watch the two of them run around the house together and play. It is almost like having 2 three year old instead of just Lil Man.

This morning before Lil Man left for pre school he wanted his hair a special way. Who am I too say no.

"Sharp" as Lil Man likes to call it.

I don't know where he gets it from. 

He was more into his animal cracker then the actual picture!

This taper must really be going to my head! Anyways, this afternoon Lil Man and I have special plans to head over to Fleet Feet and spend some quality time with our friends. Plus I think Lil Man enjoys the gum and cookies he gets. We missed our special day yesterday as he was very busy with mom, but once he got home last night he did ask me to take him to Fleet Feet. So that is what we will be doing this afternoon.

I am enjoying my taper can you tell? Going taper crazy, especially since I am off the next four days. I have to keep occupied somehow! My body is feeling good and my legs are feeling strong, and it almost feels like TRT should be this weekend, but it is not until next weekend. What to do during this taper? 



Tapers love hate relationship

This weeks marks the beginning of my taper. Tapers for me and I am sure for some of you are hard. I know I get a bit stir crazy and anxious during these taper weeks, but I have also come to love them. Tapers are all about letting my body rest, recovery and heal so that come race  day(July 16) I will be at my full peak and ready to rock Tahoe Rim Trail 50k.

I believe that tapers are so hard for me because I am a routine kind of girl. I love my routines and when I can't go out and run the distance I want or run when ever I want it is hard on me. Sometimes without my running routine I start to feel lost, but then when I do go on a short easy run and I notice how great my body feels all is calm again. Sometime during a taper little aches start to be noticed and once that happens the worry begins. I know during my taper I am extra careful at work for fear of a pallet, or pallet jack dropping on toes or a box hitting me during the trailer unload. I tell my team, please be extra careful I have a race. Sometimes they just look at me and I can only guess what they thinking.

During my tapers I do some visual imagery. I see myself running the hills, I see myself fueling properly, I see myself looking strong on the trail and I see myself having fun. This has helped in past races and it helps keep my mind occuipied and in a happy place.

I am looking forward to TRT50k this year. I know I can do better than last years race. Last year I ran it in 8:19:12. Last year I also struggled with fuel the entire race so this year I am hoping that wont happen. I will also be packing extra power gel just in case solid food becomes my enemy. I also think that having been on the course before will help me because I know what to expect. This race is very challenging, but I am always up for a challenge.

With this week being my taper I plan on allowing my body rest, I will get a few solid runs in to keep my legs fresh and to help avoid the dead leg feeling. I am also planning on getting a massage from Lily, I haven't seen her in a few weeks. My body overall has been feeling pretty strong. I have put up some nice mileage weeks and nothing has flared up and I can tell a difference in my body every since those nice mileage week. My foot is getting better each day and while my foot has been healing I have been careful. It still flares up sometimes with shooting pain, but it hasn't been as bad as that one day when I couldn't walk on it. Overall I am ready for Tahoe. I have put the time on my feet, the miles and hill repeats in. Now all I can do is get my body rested and ready for race day. Today I love tapers but I am sure later on in the week I will be hating it, but deep down I know it is what is best for me.

Western States 100 In Photos

This past weekend was Western States 100. I was Anthony's personnel crew for his pacing duties with Kuni "The Beast". We headed up to Foresthill to support our other friends who were racing and to also be a part of the action. If you have never been at the Foresthill aid station I would highly recommend it. It was a awesome experience. There was a ton of energy flowing, runners coming in and going, and plenty of excitement all day.

Anthony, pointing the way!

Foresthill Aid Station

Fleet Feet Ultra Team Member

Refueling

First Woman Runner into the aid station

Here comes Eric, he had a awesome race

Weighing in

Meet up with the crew

Anthony putting on chap stick, the things the crew does for it's runner

Here comes Kirk! Awesome Race

Confidence with each step

The Happy Couple

Feet were a little wet, needed to change his socks

Organized Chaos when coming into a aid station

Focused on the task at hand

Almost ready to go

Off to the river crossing. He was in and out within minutes.

After all of this excitement Anthony and I headed down Bath road to meet Kuni. He came around that corner and had the biggest smile on his face. He was also looking strong and powered up Bath Road like he owned it.

Kuni "The Beast"

Anthony checking in

Little help from Lily and his crew and he was good to go.

Off to the river crossing.

After seeing Kuni off I headed home to sleep for 4hours and then I headed back up with Dustin and Michael. We were volunteering at the Fleet Feet aid station which is about 1.3 miles from the finish. Our job was to assist the runners as they came up the hill by refilling their water bottles and giving them whatever they needed. Most wanted new legs. Near the later stages of the day, we were literally doing hill repeats to assist the runners. We kept them moving and on to their goal of finishing.

Here come Kuni still looking good.

James, almost there

Stan, resting for a second and then he was on his way

Fleet Feet Aid Station, every runner that came through earned themselves a buckle that day. A few only had 20 min. to go the 1.3 miles to the finish. What a huge inspiration every single runner was that day. It was amazing to see and words nor pictures could truly describe what I witnessed.

A Run filled with options

The past few weeks I have been getting a long run in on my day off which is Thursday. This way if I am working on the weekend I wont have to run long after work and if I am off I can run with friends. That is one thing I am missing right now, running with  my friends. I run with them when I can but it seems most of my runs are by myself. This past Thursday was no exception.

I headed up to the Overlook early, I was running by 6am. The sun was just coming up and it appeared that I would have the entire trail to myself. I loaded up my pack, tied my shoes, put on sunscreen and I was off down the trail. The plan for Thursday, well I had a few plans in case I wasn't feeling the original plan of 28 miles. I knew though I was going to be doing a few out and backs on various parts of this run to Cool and back. The logic behind it, because I needed to get some good solid climbs and descents under my legs and up my mileage for Tahoe. What a better trail that is relatively close then the one to Cool.

The first 4 miles are down with the occasional rolling terrain but mostly down and then the next three is up, so sounds like a great training run. Plus the trail is very forgiving on my foot which isn't 100%.

The sun was just coming up

Down I go enjoying the cool air for I knew it wouldn't last long. I did however notice that it was going to warm up because certain sections of the trail were really muggy, glad I packed some extra salt. I arrived at no hands and then started my assault up to Cool. I ran most of it and power hiked knowing I would be doing this section again. When I was power hiking though it was with a purpose there was a sense of urgency behind each step. I arrived in Cool in 1hr and 25 minutes. Not bad, my all time fastest it 1hr 20 but my average seems to be around 1.5hrs.

Once at Cool I had to use the bathroom, luckily for me there was a port-a-john and I scored again because it had just been cleaned. Sweet, a clean port-a-john, what are the odds of that. After my quick pit stop I headed back down to No hands bridge. I didn't push to hard on the descent down, but I did let gravity do the work this way I wouldn't be causes to much stress on my quads.

Enjoying the Trail

Once at No Hands I had a few options, one I could keep going and turn around at the car, or two I could turn around now and and head back to Cool which would mean another 3 mile climb. I choose option 2, I didn't want to get back to the car and pack it up and call it a day so I headed back to Cool. By now it was warming up a bit, but most of the trail to Cool is covered so the sun didn't beat down on. I arrived back at Cool, filled my pack with water, refilled my GU supply and ate a Honey Stinger Waffle. Sort of a aid station stop I guess. I was back on the trail and heading back to No hands.

A bit tired back at Cool

My legs were feeling OK, I was struggling with some dead legs at times and then magically my legs would be back. Once at No hands the real fun begins the 4 mile climb out which is exposed and I would be baking in the sun. Glad I filled up my water at Cool.

No Hands for the second or was it the third time?

The climb out was a tough, my legs were feeling this run plus my body was feeling the previous work week and lack of sleep. I was tired, but I kept on trucking. I climb and I ran and I hiked and I ran some more. Soon though I was back at the top with a solid 21 miles in for the day.

The run challenged my mentally and physically. Mentally because work has been stressful and this run allowed me to be free again even if it was only for a few hours. I was able to let my thoughts go and just focus on being in the moment. Physically my body was tired even before I started running. But I pushed myself and gave it a solid effort.

The traditional ice bath in the canal

Now I am looking forward to this weekend. I have a 14 miler planned for today (Saturday) with Power Girl. Again we are running to Cool and back. Seems to be my new favorite trail and every time I run it I get stronger on it. After our run I am picking up Coach Nikon in the afternoon and driving up to Foresthill to see some of the runners from States go through. It should be very exciting. I will also be volunteering at the Robie Point aid station which Fleet Feet runs. I am looking forward to helping the runners and my friends when they come through and on there way to the finish which is about 1.3 miles from the aid station. It is going to be a exciting weekend for all.

In Case you didn't Know

In case you didn't know it is scorching hot outside. At least 95 degrees and climbing and it is only noon. Wow!!! The heat that we all were asking for is finally here. I can't believe how quickly the heat came. But let me tell you about last weeks adventures.

In case you didn't know last Wednesday was Captain Kirk day! Just ask Lil Man and he will tell you with fights pumping in the air and a huge smile on his face. It was Happy Kirk Day!!!!! Which also means we had to visit Captain Kirk at Fleet Feet. I picked Lil Man up from pre-school and off to Fleet Feet we went. We ran in there with smiles on our faces and he said hello and waved to everyone he saw. And then when Captain Kirk came out, he yelled "Happy Kirk day!!!!" and the entire store laughed as this statement was very random and was also followed by "Happy Kirk father's day" He was learning about father's day at pre school and well that sort of slipped out. But again the entire store laughed. 

Captain Kirk this song is for you!

Not only was Captain Kirk there but also Wonder Woman and he made sure to show her how fast he could run. He also put on a rolling demonstration on the foam roller. In case any of you need assistance he is a pro at it especially on how to roll the belly area. He also showed everyone how to use the massager that he desperately wanted me to buy him and he showed me how to stretch my calf. Pretty impressive for a three year old. I secretly think that Lil Mans favorite thing about Fleet Feet besides how they treat him like a celebrity and he can walk in the back room any time he likes and he acts like he owns the place is the gum he gets from Captain Kirk. He asked me one day that he wanted to go to Fleet Feet so he could get a piece of gum. Pretty smart kid. Before we left he had to clean his feet on the door mat out front which caused Wonder Woman to laugh and then he planted the biggest kiss on the front glass door I have ever seen. I bet his face impression is still there!

Not only does Lil Man ask to go Fleet Feet but he is also in love with Trail dog, and who wouldn't be after seeing this....

This is where I find Trail dog as I am getting ready to go for a long run

Lil Mans hand on Trail dog

We visited Fleet Feet on Wednesday and by this time I hadn't put any sort of miles in. After my big week the week before my legs were fatigued. I headed out on Thursday for a 14 mile run. But not just any 14 mile run. I tested myself once again by running from the Overlook to Cool and back. I tested my legs on the ascents. I pushed myself to keep pumping and not to power hike because I know Tahoe is going to be tough. I can tell my legs are getting stronger because I ran to Cool in 1.5hours and the return trip which has more ascents and is more challenging I made it back in 1.5 hours. My legs after Thursday's run were fatigued and I still had to work through the weekend.

 I did manage to get in 6 miles on Saturday and 6 miles on Sunday. It was after work and it was hot outside. I think the most annoying thing that happened on both of those runs was the dang ice cream truck kept following me and all I heard over and over again was the ice cream song. I couldn't run any faster because I was tired and if I let him pass I would still hear the music. Eventually after 2 miles of ice cream music I lost him.

Tahoe Rim is right around the corner for me and because of the way my work schedule is, it is making it tough to get a good last long run in. This weekend is pretty busy as it is Western States and I will be volunteering at the Fleet Feet Aid Station near mile 99 of 100 and I am really looking forward to giving back to my sport.

Next weekend I work and then it is time to taper for TRT. So my last long run could be this Thursday or next Thursday if I can get it in. Either way TRT isn't my Target race and it will be fun to be back on that course and to see if I can do better then last year. My expectations are not too high but I do have some. But I have plenty of time to think about TRT in the weeks to come for now I am going to recover my legs and enjoy States this weekend from the side line, but who knows maybe next year I will be running it.

Pool is open and Fun at Fleet Feet

Late last week my brother's pool was official opened for the summer, or I should say for the next few weeks since he and his wife will be moving to DC at the end of June. What better way to kick off summer then with a pool party.

Lil Man is already to go!

Have to test the water first

Mouse and Jack head on in, they dont' know what Lil Man is waiting for. Did I forget to mention it was a pool party for the dogs too. It kind of looks like Jack is giving Mouse a nudge!

And they are off! Mouse as you can tell by the splashes is very graceful in the water.

Max the "oldest" is like a U boat in the water. Very slow but a pup at heart.

Go Jack nice jump!

Ohh how cute, look how calm Mouse is

The dogs had a blast celebrating the opening day of the pool

Not only was the pool open, but Lil Man and I made a trip to the Roseville Fleet Feet Store. They had the Brooks bus of Curiosity there and some awesome prizes and treats. 

Getting his first sweet, and he won a t-shirt!

Enjoying the cookie!

Captain Kirk and Wonder Woman with Lil Man! How Cute are they?

Taking a look at the awesome bus, and just a small foot note but the balloon never made it home. It got out of the car while I was putting everything away. Lil Man was quick to tell me that I needed to hold on to the string tightly and not let go. Sorry Lil Man :(

But his all time favorite activity was being the Popcorn Master and watching the popcorn pop.

We had a great time enjoying the bus and all it's wonders it had to show us. Lil Man's favorite part was the bus! He is in fact wearing the t-shirt he won now! Thank you Fleet Feet for hosting such a great event. Lil Man is still talking about it.