On the Eve of Cascade Crest 100 Mile Endurance Run

Here I sit, a bundle of nerves. I've been going crazy from anxiety and nerves all week. trying to rest and pack, get lots of sleep. Now it is finally here.
"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go," not standing at the door quite yet, few more hours to wait. Now the questions just nag and persist. Will my ankle braces cause me grief, just how bad will the blisters be? Will be fast enough up the climbs. Actually, the running and climbing questions I know I can do, It's the other things I wonder about.
The training is in, the playlist is downloaded, the checklist is checked off.
The praying has begun at full strength, please pray for me too. These are my requests: Strength, Endurance, energy, positive attitude, staying awake through sleep deprivation, keep moving through the aches and pains in my feet and muscles, safety and FUN!
Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers. I appreciate all of them and all of you. Hopefully a race report will be published on Monday or early next week. God bless you.
Grace and peace to you.

Taper Time Ramblings

As I approach the week and a half left to go mark, I am beginning to get excited and nervous. Do I have enough gels, extra socks, etc to make it to the finish? What's the weather going to do? All these questions. Did I train enough? Will I be fast enough on the climbs? I rest in the knowledge that I listened to seasoned runners and followed their coaching advice (thank you Rob, Eric and Steve as well as many others out there).
As I begin to make little piles of clothing and gear, trying to decided which bag for which aid station I want my crew to have this or that ready for me, I am thankful for all the help i have been given to even get to this point, the ready to toe the starting line point. Who would have ever thought I'd run 100 miles? I just ran my first marathon about 3 years ago. "What a long strange trip it's been." Albeit a great trip. I can't wait to find out all the things I have learned about myself over the last 9 months. Yes it has been a 9 month journey from the first time I felt called to even consider running Cascade. It has been along journey that my loving husband blessed and has endured. Many weekends with the kids while I was out training in the mountains or up at 4am and back at 9pm and he got all the kid duties...baseball games and swim lessons etc... Thank you Hun. I know I have grown as a person, stronger mentally, physically and spiritually through this journey. Next Saturday, the 29th it all comes to fruition. And as I look back after on the adventures I have had in getting there and in tackling the 100 miler, the lessons will begin to emerge and I'll know then who I am after 100 miles and why I was called to run the Cascade Crest 100 mile endurance run.
Until then, Grace and peace to you and a prayer request for me for peace, endurance, strength, health, and good weather!

Plain Painful Adventures

I know I'll post my version of the story, but until then, please read Eric's version as it is so close to mine!

Grace and Peace to you!

The Weekend Double, Recovery and the Upcoming 50 miler...Whew!

Well, the summer is heating up! With very warm temperatures, lots of family fun going on, and training ramping up, I am one busy mom!
Last weekend was my return to hard training after vacation double. Saturday I ran the Crescent Forest ultra at 27+ miles in Gig Harbor at a nice easy pace not worrying about my time and finished in 5:53. It was a nice variation of terrain and trail. Single track covered in foliage to old service roads.
I was trying out a new pair of Montrail Hardrock mid o9's. Thanks to my trail work requirement for Cascade Crest I spent time with Van Phan and Linda Barton working on trails. Van and Linda suggested I try these shoes instead of my Cascadias and lace up ankle braces. I have felt that I need the extra support after my ankle sprain in January. The Montrail Hardrock mid's are essentially a high-top trail running shoe. They felt good on my ankles but definitely need more breaking in. My right ankle was rubbing a bit on the side and becoming sore and the balls of my feet hurt pretty bad. I spoke with a sales person at a running store in Fairview, Wa who said that it takes about 50 miles or so to break in the hardrocks, so I am hoping that is so! I purchased some metatarsal gel pads to wear and hope that they will offer some comfort after long miles. I plan to wear the Hardrocks for at least half of this weekend's WR 50 miler.
After the run on Saturday I picked up Michelle and headed north to Seattle and Margaret's condo. We shopped at Title Nine, Road Runner and Super Jock and Jill then had coffee at Peete's and dinner at a Mexican Restaurant across the street. On Sunday, Margaret, Michelle and I headed north to Bellingham for the Wild Thing Summer Fling marathon at Lake Padden.( See Michelle's blog for photos, or my FB page) It was a great day. Beautiful weather and fun times wearing silly dresses and headbands for the first loop. I had a great time running with Michelle and Margaret in our sparkly green gaiters I made for our silly run! At the end of each loop we had to do a task of some sort. After the second lap we had to do "mountain climbers." Once we began running again, I noticed a tightness in my right calf and had to stop and massage it. Turns out to be a strained soleus.
Monday morning I woke up to find some bruising on my calf and decided to call my Chiropractic sports physician and have her help my with the best way to tape it with Kinesio tape. She also did some Active Release (torture) Therapy on the muscle which really helps. She suggested massage with comfry gel then to wrap with saran wrap and an ace bandage to reduce swelling, and to take Wobenzym supplements. Tuesday I woke with the bruising almost invisible and today it is all gone. I visited Dr. Doyle again and had more ART and a new kinesio tape job and was given some strengthening exercises. I'll see her again on Friday to be taped up for Saturday's 50 miler.
Another cool thing we found at the Wild Thing Marathon was Nuu-Muu exercise dresses! We tried them on at a bike shop in Fairview and I came home and ordered the Fleur Nuu-muu! I think I might wear it for White River this weekend!
After White River, which I hope to complete pain free, I have two training runs on the Cascade Crest course and then Eric and Rob are taking me up on the 2nd loop of the Plain 100 course for some crazy climbing torture, which I am told if I survive, Cascade Crest will be a no problemo! Then just about three weeks to recover with easy runs and then the big weekend. I know it will go super fast and I'll be done and back to school before I know it.
Grace and Peace to you.

quick "what I've been up to" update

It seems that every weekend I am out doing some sort of training run and too tired to report about it.
Here's the update:
The last race I wrote about was the Capital Peak 50 miler April 25 and the Tacoma City Marathon on May 3
Next up was:
May 16th Watershed Preserve 12 hour, 50 miles
May 23rd and 24th, runs with friends totalling 30 miles
May 30th Blanchard Mountain 33 miles
June 6th Rainier to Ruston relay and Ultra 51.71 miles
June 13th Lake Youngs Ultra 28.8 miles

Whew- that's plus running midweek. My legs are beat and my feet are sore. I've learned a lot about pushing through the pain and what to eat and what not to eat. All good lessons, all great runs with great people! I'll be out of town for a couple of weeks after school ends in a few days. I plan to rest up before it all starts again mid-July for the final ramp up towards Cascade Crest the end of August!

Grace and Peace to you.

Capital Peak 50 miler and Tacoma City Marathon

Myself, Jessica and Michelle getting ready for the Tacoma City Marathon early start. More TCM photos at the end of this post.

It's been a busy week and a half. It's been a tiring week and a half.

First, April 25 I ran the Capital Peak 50 miler. This was my first real trail 50. I have run 50 miles at Autumn Leaves and at the Pacific Rim 24 hour both in 2008. So, I like to say this is the first one with mountains thrown in. I was a bit nervous about running on these particular trails because it was along the same trail that I sprained my ankle so badly back in January. With that weighing on my mind I chose to wear lace up ankle braces for the run, on both ankles just to ease my nerves. Steve, Eric and I carpooled down Friday night and camped with Lesa and her husband in a nice camper so I could take the 5am early start Saturday morning. Now I knew I could run 50 miles in the regular 12 hour limit as I have done so before, BUT I felt I needed the extra hour as I would be being very careful on those trails as well as it being the first real trail 50 with mountains as I said earlier. Turns out I did as I finished in 12 hours and 43 minutes. I was nervous about running this mostly by myself too. I thought I might get discouraged or talk myself out of completing the 50 miler and opting for the 55k instead without having someone to talk with. It turned out okay. I saved my ipod for the last 12 miles and it saved me and helped me keep up my pace.

I started out in the dark with Karen Wiggins and Tom Riley. I used a headlamp and a small handheld flashlight. I found that using both made it brighter and I could direct the light without moving my head. I stayed with them until I needed to make the first of three adjustments to my right ankle brace (this is the ankle not used to wearing the brace) I think I had it on too tight. It felt better but the others were ahead now and I didn't want to push it catching back up. It was getting lighter and I was noticing what a beautiful day it was. The birds were singing and I was so happy to be outside. The trail was in great condition and I was thinking how great it was that the trail was so runnable and not covered in mud and giant puddles as it has been every other time I have run in Capital Forest. Soon I took a right hand turn and stopped to check my directions. It didn't seem right. The first regular starter passed me here as I was on the side of this trail. I mentioned I didn't know if this was the correct way or not, but he just flew right on by! I kept on going and soon met Tom again and another runner standing on the side where the trail ran into an old road. They too were confused as to if this was the correct route. Another front of the pack from the regular start came off the trail and ran one way, soon to come back and say it was a dead end. We just stayed there for a while (Here I adjusted my brace for the second time, removing shoe and all) He went up the road the other way and soon returned with the first front runner and all of us headed back down the trail. One of us fixed the trail markers to point in the correct direction so no one else would get lost and we were on our way again. I stayed with Tom for a mile or two until we hit the first real climb of the day and then I sped up and he slowed down. He hadn't run more than 14 miles in a while so he was taking it easy. It didn't seem too much longer and I was at the start again at the 19ish mile aid station and on my way again after getting a few bites of potato.

This next loop starts with about 6 miles of climbing to the top of Capital peak. I tried to run as much as possible, but ended up power hiking as fast as I could leap frogging a couple of hikers on my way up. They seemed to be going a little faster than I on the steeper climbs, but as I mentioned to them I had already gone 23 miles by then, they had come 3 miles. It was along this path too that I was almost taken out my a mountain biker flying down the trail. I was overjoyed when I came out of the trail and onto the road and into view came the aid station! Jess Mullen was a sight for sore legs! I took a new to me route to the top of Capital Peak. The trail wound around the backside and then up a steep and rocky climb to the top and Glenn Tachiyama's camera waiting in the frigid peak to capture the joy on each runner's face. Then it was time to run down the long maintenance road back to the aid station....and the choice to drop to the finish and take a 55k or head on for the full 50 miles. Of course I knew I was moving on for 50 miles. Whether I finished before the cutoff, I was going to conquer these trails and run 50 miles doing so. I dropped off two empty gel flasks and grabbed two fresh ones from my drop bag and was on my way. I knew this section would be rolling hills and that I would get a chance to rest a bit. It was funny to me the last few miles as I encountered every kind of weather imaginable. Wind, rain, hail, snow, sleet, and blazing sun. It only lasted about 5 minutes or so each time, never enough to be bothersome.
Once I made it to Wedekind aid station I headed out on the 6 mile (12 miles total) out and back. This was a nice rolling section with some kinda weird terrain mixed in. There was rocky sections, nice single track sections and these parts where it seemed like someone just dumped bunches of broken sticks all over the place. I hated these sections both times I went through them. I knew I had developed blisters on my big toes and it seemed I never failed to kick a stick into the other foot and right into those blisters. It hurt so bad. It was along this section that I first ran into Steve and Eric. They were a sight for sore eyes. Just that brief encounter helped to pick up my moral. I also ran into Shawn again and close to the turnaround, Karen. IT was good to see them and have contact. Of course I had passed along this section most of the 50 milers, but seeing the people you know makes a big difference when you are out there alone. I kept thinking how it's good that during Cascade Crest that I'll be able to have a pacer to talk me through those last difficult 50 miles or so. I could have used one at Capital Peak! I tried to keep up the positive talk and make it to the end. I was elated to see the aid station tent through the trees and head back in the other direction! I knew I still had 12 miles to the finish, but 6 to the Wedekind aid station again. I popped on the ipod and let Bruce Springsteen carry me and remind me that "Baby you were born to run." My uphill legs by this time were done and I power hiked anything that resembled an incline. I ran on the flats and downhill sections, but was slower this time. Once I reached the aid station I knew it was mostly downhill to the finish and I was looking forward to that, but not so much the "V Trench of DOOM" I had to run down. Thank God that Laura informed me that the trail was being rebuilt and they had filled in the trench with gravel. Let me tell you it was SO AWESOME to run down that trail all nice and rebuilt. It was still hard as I was so tired, but a bazillion times better that the previous times I have run there.
Soon I was nearing the end and I couldn't wait. I felt very emotional about finishing within the cut off time on my first real trail 50 miler. I passed through the clear cuts and back into the forest and kept thinking I'd see the tents at the finish. Man that was the longest 6 miles ever. Soon I saw the "finish this way" sign and literally teared up and had to control my breathing to clam myself down to avoid being a blubbering mess when I crossed the finish line. Lots of people were there cheering for me when I came out of the forest and into the clearing. Lesa, Dave, Shawn, Steve, Eric, Karen, and many others I now I am forgetting now. Thanks. It meant a lot. I just wanted to sit down. I sat and took my shows off to examine the damage of the blisters. They were giant on the insides of my toes. I wore Drymax crew socks in hopes that I wouldn't get any blisters. I did. Next time I'll put a little body glide on my toes. Which is what I normally would do, but heard you're not supposed to do with drymax. I will also give Injinji's a try.
Anyway, I spent the next day resting in bed and being lazy around the house. Monday I felt a lot better and walked for an hour at the Y. Th rest of the week I felt fine besides nursing the blisters. I just wanted them to heal and be ready for the Tacoma City Marathon coming on Sunday. I worked out on Wednesday and ran again on Thursday. Volunteered at the Marathon Expo on Friday evening and rested and hung out with the family on Saturday. Sunday brought the Tacoma City Marathon.
This event was fun for me this year. I took it easy on my tired legs and started at 6am for the early start. I had a fabulous time running with Michelle and Jessica who made the race just fly by. The weather was perfect and I didn't even mind the course changes that took us up the Vassault mile long hill (minus the fact that there was no police and no runners on road signs and there was a lot of traffic that honked and caused some near misses on this hill) and the new finish was great. Check out Michelle's blog for more detail.

The following are some shots of the Tacoma City marathon course including Stadium High School Castle and it's bowl stadium (This is where they filmed the movie "Ten Things I Hate About You.") the water front, the entrance to Point Defiance Park, the awesome volunteer, mad Monkey Steve, the Tacoma narrows bridges and getting close to the finish...enjoy!

Thanks for reading my LONG update!
Grace and Peace to you.

Tiger Mountain Adventure

The plan was to run Tiger Mountain 12 Summits, about 34ish miles. I think we ended up with 4 summits and close to 20 miles. The problem was snow and lots of it.

The day began with a carpool of Rob, Eric and Steve. We met at 5:45 to pick up Rob and head up to Tiger to begin by 7am. It was a bit rainy but I was prepared for whatever the day brought. I was excited to be trying out a new pack I just bought, an Ultimate Direction Wink. It has lots of pockets in the front to keep all your goodies so you don't have to take off the pack to get to some food or your s-caps etc. I loved it by the way. Anyway, we parked at the High Point trail head lot and headed up section line which is a pretty steep ascent to the first summit. I felt like I might puke once we made it to the top, but didn't. We crossed over the top and headed to the next summit not too far away and had our first encounter with the snow. I had to take it easy and baby my ankle as this the first major test on trails (I did run at Mt. Peak, but the trail is only about 2.5 miles, although tough!). So I slowed up on the icy snow. On our way to the second summit we encountered another set of runners 3 male and 1 female, "token female" as Eric said she and I both were. :) We took photos of each other's groups and I'll try to post them here once Eric posts them. I was feeling pretty good, tired of climbing but good. It was a whole new ballgame now with the snow. It was deep! At first it was pretty funny trying to walk in it, trying to stay in the already made foot holes, or post holes as we called them. We'd sink to our knee or higher every once in a while, then sometimes you'd just fall because you lost your balance trying to stay in the holes. After a while it got old and we were ready to be out of the snow. It lased a long time though. We took a short break at the next summit and put on jackets and ate. Then we had to try and go down that snow we just climbed up! Again it was funny at first, but most of the time it just hurt. My shins were bleeding from cuts the ice made. I tried to pull up my sock and down my capri's to shield my open skin from the ice without much success. So much for my Easter skirt tomorrow!
After much discussion from the guys we altered our plans and they figured out another route down a road and some other trails to get us back to section line and to our car without having to go back through the snow from which we had just come. There was some nice run-able sections on that road and I was glad to use new muscles. My feet felt really weird, like I had snow stuck under my heels. It was the strangest feeling, but faded quickly. Maybe they were just thawing out. Once we made it back to section line and an elevator shaft down, I told the guys to go ahead and wait for me at a trail convergence so they could go fast and I could go slow down this super step and rooty section. I wore a sturdy lace-up ankle brace, but I still feel timid about hurting myself again and wanted to take it easy on the downhill. I know my quads will pay dearly for being in full brake mode all the way down, but hey, I need to train those muscles too don't I? The guys waited, but really weren't that far ahead anyway. Once past the super steep section I was able to run with the guys and not feel like I was slowing them up anymore. Then...we were down and done. 6 hours Plus or minus a few and about 20 miles. They were slow miles, but very difficult too. I know I got a great workout. The mountain kicked my butt. I'll be stronger though once healed and that's the point. It was beautiful, the weather held for the most part and the company was good. I can't really ask for a better day.
My husband got to take the kids to the Easter egg hunt at church and got most of their candy as a reward! Tomorrow is Easter and will be spent at church and with family. I may not be moving very quickly but will enjoy the day from the couch! He is Risen!

Easter blessings, Grace and peace to you.