TRAIL RUNNING Archives ~ Page 12 of 28 ~ TRAILMOMMA

February 10, 2016February 9, 2016

SALMON FALLS STRUGGLE

You win some you lose some. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. It is always darkest before the dawn.

There are so many ways to look at situations where you do not feel your best and that is exactly the most clear way to describe this past weekend’s run.

Stonegate and I ran together on Saturday. I had heard in advance that there was a race in Auburn so we decided to stay clear of that area and run some miles on the Salmon Falls 50k course as both Stonegate and Burning Girl are running that race in three weeks.

The weather was supposed to be warm but it was pretty chilly to start (as usual – I feel like I write that sentence every blog post haha).

We took off up the Red Dragon from Skunk Hallow and just continued to hike one foot in front of the other. The first few miles of this run is up hill. My legs felt heavy from the start but I was hoping it was due to the fact that they had not quite woken up yet to be climbing this soon.

However, as the day wore on, it was clear that my legs did not feel attached to my body and my brain was constantly being pulled in a different direction.

Don’t get me wrong, I love running with Stonegate (we always have some fun) but I just didn’t feel within my own body. My legs were tired and heavy. My heart, for the first time in a while, just wasn’t excited to be out there much longer. Perhaps the last two weeks of 20 something mile runs had filled my cup so much that it was full at the moment. Perhaps, this is the perfect time for a taper.

I have a race in two weeks and should (in theory) be enjoying a taper period. In my head I was planning to just continue building miles and treat my upcoming race as just a regular training run but of course, the “trail me” wants to do well – which is probably why my body was rejecting the notion of pushing too much on my run this weekend.

Luckily I am not overly stubborn when it comes to my body and doubly lucky (although I want her to feel good), Stonegate was feeling whatever it was, too. We both were just “meh” on this run. That is the simplest way to put it.

No matter, we made the best out of how we felt and did not take for granted our time on the trails and appreciating what Mother Nature had to offer. It was a glorious day.

When I got home, I will be honest, my fridge was empty. The week had been so nutty grocery shopping was not a high priority. Still, I managed to get something nutritious and filling.

In the above photo: Leftover mashed no oil no dairy potatoes mixed with kale and copious amounts of a pureed mushroom gravy (I am NOT a fan of mushrooms but I don’t mind the pureed homemade gravy that I make). It hit the spot and was quite filling.

It was nice to have gotten that struggle of a run behind me on Saturday so that I could try and regroup on Sunday. I much prefer running my long runs on Saturdays because then that leaves Sunday for some R&R vs waking up and heading right into the work week where I absolutely get no time to rest.

And unless you live under a rock somewhere, Sunday was Super Bowl but we had no plans and decided to have a nice family adventure.

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Vans and I drove the girls out to Auburn and I was able to show them a good section of trail that I run often . We parked by No Hands Bridge and hiked in towards the Overlook.

My girls got to see and hear the river actually looking quite full and strong. Vans got to walk across No Hands Bridge and see where I spend a lot of time with my trail crew. It was a lovely afternoon.

We hiked all the way to the waterfall bridge. I wanted to have a “goal” in mind for them so that it wasn’t just a simple out and back.

The trails were pretty crowded with lots of other hikers. My girls were super excited to reach the waterfall. We took a few photos. 🙂

We stopped here for a quick snack for the girls. I was impressed they hiked a full mile in and then had to hike a full mile out. For a 7 year old and 4 year old, that’s pretty huge.

Overall it was one of the best Super Bowl Sundays that I can remember having as a family in a long time. We later went home and watched the game via DVR while I made pizza and dinner. Perfection.

So what started out as a challenging weekend turned into one of my favorites. I am not worried by how I felt on my run. We all have a down cycle. My sleep has been out of whack. My hydration was definitely off course on Friday and Saturday. Yet my focus is still strong and my drive is still there.

How can it not be when I have the best support crew in town?

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

February 1, 2016February 1, 2016

I KNEWT IT WAS GOING TO BE A GOOD RUN

Okay, lame title/joke I know but I finally saw my first knewt on the trail this weekend! So stinking cute!! 🙂

We had lots of rain near the end of this past week and due to plans and obligations, we had to split up the weekend. Pigeon and I ran on Saturday while Stonegate and Burning Girl ran on Sunday.

Pigeon and I started our run a bit earlier than usual on Saturday which actually turned out to be a good thing (you’ll see why later on).

I picked the run route, we carpooled together and started our run bright and early. The weather was very deceiving. We both dressed a bit too warm at the start because the wind was blowing pretty strong when we were getting ready by the car. Yet 10 minutes later, I was ready to strip down big time.

We parked at Cool and basically ran the second loop of the Way Too Cool 50k and boy was it muddy! Warning, I have tons of photos so I may just let the photos speak for themselves today.

Our first intro into the wet water filled day was about 2 minutes into our run when we discovered that most of the trails were these little streams of running water instead of dirt or mud.

The trails were tacky piles of mud, wet leaves and water. It was a bit harder to fly down the same section I flew down last weekend but I managed.

Most of the time, there was no way around the water. We just had to run through it and if I had any idea what the day would have been like, I would have started counted water crossings. There was easily 20.

The only part of the run that was not so super duper wet was Quarry Road.

More amazing fog in Auburn and Cool - above Quarry Road — More amazing fog in Auburn and Cool – above Quarry Road

Since Quarry Road is a fire a road there was more space for drainage but there was definitely the occasional puddle jump along the way.

I haven’t run this route since almost this same time last year when we did the Way Too Cool training run together. It was nice and I have forgotten how challenging at times this run can be. Both Pigeon and I need to keep doing runs that incorporate lots of climbing and descending.

We were just running along commenting that the river has really risen since last weekend’s run…

When we were stopped dead in our tracks.

The trail we were following lead straight into the river! Now Pigeon and I are not afraid of wading through water. However, just two seconds after arriving, we saw what we thought was an EMPTY kayak going down the river.

With my heart in my throat, I started scanning the water praying that what we saw was just a giant bright orange log and that someone had not capsized. The current was strong. There was so much debris floating down the river it was very intimidating.

Pigeon and I stood there, staring at what used to be the trail.

Neither of us wanted to be foolish and start wading through the water. Pigeon declared, “This is impassable!” We were not sure exactly how far from shore the trail was and while we could have bushwhacked through the foliage on the side, we were reminded of the massive ticks pulled out a runner’s neck just last weekend. Um, no thank you.

So we stood there for what seemed like an eternity when three girls came up behind us. They said they were going to try it. Pigeon and I waited. More runners came by we told them what we saw and they too went down to the water to check it out. No one was coming back!

I looked at Pigeon and said, “They must be attempting it. No one has turned around. I don’t want to turn around either but…” So we went down to the water to check it out.

This is where starting our run earlier was in our favor. We ran into this larger running group who ultimately helped us through some of the tougher stronger stream crossings.

I made Pigeon go first. For photography sake of course.

Pigeon and I joked that we just wanted others to do it first … just in case but in all honesty, that was the safest move. Had we been by ourselves, we probably would not have attempted this.

Once on the other side, we were soaked from toe to mid-thigh. Good thing it was warming up. However, we wouldn’t stay dry for long ….

Pigeon getting some help across one of the larger stronger stream crossings

It may not look too deep in the photos, but the current was strong and there is nothing under your feet but uneven unsteady rocks.

We would continue to leap frog with this group of runners for a bit which again, was in our favor.

Yet another crossing — Yet another much larger crossing!

It was so.much. fun! 🙂 I love stuff like this on the trails.

After a little while, the group went on ahead. We’d see some of the stragglers from time to time but we paused for a bit to let them get some distance from us.

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People are funny and think it is fun to deface some of the signs on the trail. However, there was one marking on this sign that made me laugh out loud ….

Someone had scratched in “Bad Ass Waterfalls – 1 Mi.” on the sign and that made me laugh. It was true!

Off we ran, up and down. I was feeling good and just going with the flow of the trail. Trying not to slip too much and picking up speed on the descents.

I came down this one trail and stopped. For some reason what I saw made me stop and want to take a photo. It was as if this tree was floating!

It is hard to tell, but it had snapped in half and the bottom half was on the other side of the trail (to the left of the photo) and as the tree fell, these other trees caught it preventing it from being in the middle of the trail. It was neat.

Smiling ear to ear I was having a blast. Another stellar day and it was about to get even better because as I was running, I saw what we were running towards ….

The trail had turned sunny, warm and just beautiful after what seemed like miles and miles of gray, mud and wet.

It was mind blowing to see and feel that sun on our faces for quite a few miles. Eventually we knew that the trail would throw us back into the “woods” and that things would get wet and muddy again but I enjoyed the sun while it lasted.

I also enjoyed the muddy sections too.

Muddy run descents ahead! — Muddy descents ahead!

I am always having fun and finding fun on the trail. It brings out the kid in me every time.

I knew we were approaching Goat Hill, one of the big hills in the Way Too Cook 50k race. I was eager to get there and get started on the climb.

Up I went. Just trying to not slip. There was literally a stream of water running down the Goat Hill trail. It was insane but still a lot of fun.

I was pretty shocked when I reached the top of Goat Hill because I don’t remember it being that short and that (dare I say it), easy? I guess after last weekend’s Stagecoach and K2 run, Goat Hill should feel easy.

The rest of the run was more crazy wet trails back to the Highway 49 crossing. It felt good to be almost done and the sun was back for our last two miles or so.

Overall it was a great day on some very technical and wet trails which is good because it doesn’t seem like El Nino is going anywhere and any future races may very well be this wet, muddy and tough.

We climbed a little over 3800 feet. Last weekend it was about 4500 so not quite as much but still some solid stretches of very runnable trails helping to push past any fatigue.

When I got home, I was pretty hungry. The last mile or so I was planning my meal in my head. 🙂 Like I mentioned in my last post, I will share what my post-run fuel looks like.

Leafy greens are a great source of vitamins but consuming leafy greens also helps the body produce more nitric-oxide which in turn helps the arteries dilate and helps remove cholesterol. So there is nothing better to help the blood flow to the heart better/faster (and ultimately the rest of the body aka your muscles) than to eat a bowl of leafy greens.

Here I have butter lettuce and arugula, shredded carrots, celery, white navy beans, green onions, cilantro and some cold brown jasmine rice. I topped this all with some Jalapeño Lime Vinegar (adding vinegar to greens boosts everything about this dish). It was perfect.

So there you have it. Another stellar run even though we ran separate. I am sure there will be more weekends like this in our future. It is hard to coordinate four women with kids. 🙂

Sun and smile on my face = a happy girl. — The sun is out and a smile on my face = a happy girl.

Not sure of the plans yet for next weekend. I do believe it is Super Bowl weekend (not that I care all that much) so that may dictate my schedule a bit. Either way, I am sure it will be super fun. 2016 is definitely starting out to be a great year.

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

Another favorite pic from the weekend … my girls. As a book lover and avid reader, this just melts my heart.

January 27, 2016January 26, 2016

MOVING ON UP

Even though I have run 20 miles numerous times, there is something to be said about running your first 20 of the season. It means training has truly begun and it is time to start seeing what works and what doesn’t. Weed out the bad stuff and push your limits.

This past Sunday, I had one of the best runs yet and what made this run so great, was that I had ALL my running pals together at one time. Our schedules finally collided and Pigeon, Stonegate and Burning Girl and I were all ready to hit the trails at once.

Pigeon was happy to show Stonegate and Burning Girl some new trails. Trails that I have run a few times but didn’t have the confidence to do on my own just yet. Stonegate was super excited to see some new views and I don’t think this run disappointed her.

We carpooled in two cars and parked near the confluence. We started running and then BAM within 3 minutes I had rolled my left ankle and heard a distinct “POP!” I was too busy looking at the beauty around me to notice whatever the heck it was I had stepped on.

I didn’t stop. I didn’t want to stop. I pushed the pain radiating up my leg aside and just kept going. The day was just beginning and I was too excited. Plus, I knew it was not that serious, just a minor set back.

The Auburn Fog is just amazing — The Auburn fog is just amazing

We ran Clementine in single file. Such a gorgeous trail. It was muddy and slippery in sections which made it even more fun. The only sketchy part was running into a couple that had two dogs. After my dog experience last year (read about that here), I am forever hesitant on the trail and will never trust a dog or its owner again.

This couple pulled their pups way off the trail. They had one tiny dog (held by the woman) and one large dog (held by the man). When Stonegate ran by that big dog was growling and lunging towards her. Luckily the man had a good hold but I can’t say the rest of us were eager to run by next.

With that behind us though we just continued on. Stonegate and Burning Girl would run up ahead, I’d take up the middle and Pigeon was the caboose with her steady pace. We’d stop and regroup at all turns and intersections.

With that downhill section my tummy started doing some flip-flops which is why I slowly positioned myself to mid-pack. I wasn’t sure if the porta-potty that I remembered was still where it used to be. Lucky for me, it was!

In true goofball form, the girls decided to play a little prank on me ….

They thought they were hilarious trying to get my reaction when I stepped out. It was pretty funny but I felt tons better! Moving on!

Back towards our car we ran. The first loop was done.

Photo by Stonegate - all smiles — Photo by Stonegate – all smiles

Next it was time to introduce the girls to ….

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We all started the initial hike up Stagecoach together hiking and running when we could.

As we were hiking I saw this huge stick … moving … wait that wasn’t a stick it was a Banana Slug! 🙂

Soon however, I started to feel the pull. There have been a few times when Pigeon and I have gone up this hill and I’ve said, “See ya at the top!” Climbing is one of my favorite things to do so off I went, powering my way up.

There was a guy in front of me that I was determined to catch. I caught him and then passed him. I finally made it to the top feeling strong.

When the rest of the crew made it to the top, we ran through Auburn to the Overlook and then back down the trail towards No Hands Bridge. The sun was up and the day was just getting better and better.

Burning Girl however has been dealing with some hip pain and decided (wisely) not to push her limits and headed back to the car. This is where running loops is SO smart. Pigeon, Stonegate and I continued on towards K2 to do our last four miles with a good mile of climbing to start.

Burning Girl and I pushed our way up K2. Some doofus on his way down thought he was being cool and said to us, “Just so you know, you’re not even half way there.” No duh kid, thanks. 🙂

When we were all together we headed off towards the trail that leads back down. For years I used to hate this trail. Before I had my ankle surgery, this trail used to be nothing short of excruciating for me. Now that I have solid ankle strength, I love to just FLY down this section.

Stonegate and I just took off. Eventually I even lost sight of Stonegate behind me. I was just smiling ear to ear dancing around and through all the mud puddles. I was like a pig in a mud bath or baby in a toy store … it was the perfect way to end this 20 mile run.

Where's Stonegate? I can't find her!? — Where’s Stonegate? I can’t find her!?

When we made it back to No Hands we were stretching and goofing around waiting for Pigeon. Stonegate decided to climb up into this cave.

20 miles and almost 5,000 ft of climbing in one day with three of my favorite running partners. My heart was full. My body felt amazing. My fueling was good and my legs felt strong. I was a happy girl.

If you follow me on Instagram, then you saw that I posted this after our run on Sunday. I am a strong believer that what you eat after a hard workout sets the tone for your recovery.

In the photo above, I had a gluten free teff flour tortilla topped with homemade no-oil hummus, raw spinach, shredded carrots, steamed kale mixed with hot sauce, cooked beets and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast. So good. If I remember, I will continue to post the meals that I recover with because I know people are curious and it is often a question I am asked a lot.

So there you have it, our 20 miler was fantastic! I am looking forward to another weekend on the trails however mother nature it looks like she might grace us with a nice big shower for our entire run. Bring it! 🙂

Happy Trails!

Trailmomma

PS: Ankle Update – Tonight I saw my miracle worker at Elite Spinal and Sports and he said that I thoroughly jacked up the tendon between my tibia and fibula. He was pretty amazed at how messed up it was AND that I was able to continue on with the run. It feels great now, a little tender but at least I have feeling back in my toes. 🙂

January 20, 2016January 19, 2016

RAINY DAY FUN

If you have followed this blog since the beginning (which is probably no one but Pigeon and maybe my NJ family) you may recall back in 2010 when I was training for my first ever ultra.

I was part of the Fleet Feet Ultra Training Group (the first one there ever was) and that is where I met Pigeon, Coach Nikon, Captain Kirk, Kuni the Beast, Miss P and a whole host of others who I still see both on and off the trails.

But what stands out most that training year was the RAIN. We had multiple runs where we were soggy, muddy and just down right drenched. I would venture to guess that was the last time we had a “real” wet winter here in Northern California.

One of my favorite old shots - Puddle Jumping! — One of my favorite 2010 shots – Puddle Jumping! Photo by Coach Nikon

This year is starting to look and feel more and more like that crazy water-logged 2010 year did.

Last Saturday I found myself running with Pigeon and Stonegate. We decided to run 16 so we carpooled to the Auburn Damn Overlook (ADO) together.

We knew that rain had been forecasted for the most of the morning but when we started our run it was only spitting.

We set off for the canal with plans to run down Cardiac hill and out towards Avery’s Pond. I happen to love this section of trail.

After a rough work week (eeerrr month), I had energy to spare and was pretty excited to be out running.

Pigeon is working herself back up to where she left off last season and was content to let me and Stonegate run off ahead like two little kids in a toy store. 🙂 And boy did we!

The mud was thick and slippery and there was no use trying to dance around any puddles. Needless to say, our socks and shoes were pretty wet fairly early into the run.

We had some good laughs along the way. I was on high alert because a few years earlier Pigeon and I had run into a mama bear and her cubs on this very trail … something I didn’t really want to repeat.

The trails were pretty busy with various groups and people out running or walking their dogs. Every once in a while the rain would come down a bit harder but for most of the run, we were dry (well, minus our feet). I even took off my jacket after a while and ran in a t-shirt as I was getting quite hot.

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We ran past Avery’s Pond and eventually turned around and made our way back the way we came.

Oddly enough, a tree had fallen after we passed it and was blocking the trail on our way back. Thank goodness it fell well after we had run by.

Stonegate is signed up for the American River 50 Miler, her first 50 and it was neat showing her exactly what she will be running on her last 8 or 9 miles.

Like I said before, I just love these trails. They cleanse my head and fill my heart every time.

Soon we hit the bottom of Damn Hill where Cardiac starts back up.

Pigeon and Stonegate fueling up before the climb

We paused to have some food and take in the river which was actually flowing one more time before climbing our way back up Cardiac towards the Overlook.

Once we reached the top, we stopped to take a few more photos. Stonegate wanted to get a better shot of me and like any good friend would, she climbed through the canal to get to the other side just to take the photo!

She also cleaned her shoes in the process.

The rain started to come down pretty hard the last few miles but it felt good. We knew we were almost done and we all had smiles on our faces.

I know we need the rain because we have been in a drought for so long but running in the rain always requires a bit of extra work and tends to slow down the run (darn mud) overall. No matter what though, it always makes for an adventure and I am looking forward to many more of these wet and muddy adventures as training season continues!

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

December 9, 2015December 8, 2015

CIM 2015 RACE REPORT

This past Sunday I ran my 7th California International Marathon and my 11th marathon to date.

Last year when I ran this race (you can read that race report here), I decided that upon crossing the finish line that I wanted another shot at actually “running” this race and not just finishing (even though I ran the past few CIMs with TiggerT and had SO much fun while doing it). I had decided, that even though I am on the fence about ever running in Boston, I’d like to at least have the ability to say, “Why yes, I qualified!”

So when my trail season ended, I began running roads and started “lightly” following an old training plan that I had from years ago. I ran long on weekends all solo. I did speed work on Tuesday nights a few times a month with my old crew, the Buffalo Chips (man I missed that group and their workouts). I still ran with my morning crew but mostly on Thursdays.

In the beginning, I was hitting my pace marks and felt strong and then, things started to fizzle. Either I lost motivation to run or was dealing with a few issues that my aging body did not thoroughly embrace.

Either way, for the last two months, my running has slacked. I ran Clarksburg but even then I knew, that the outlook wasn’t as positive as it had been earlier in my training. For various reasons that I won’t list here, I found myself waking up between 3 and 4 times a night.

Bottom line, I wasn’t recovering and I wasn’t hitting my marks. Still, I had faith and was determined to give it my best shot.

Come race morning, Stonegate and Burning Girl arrived at my house at 5:30 ready to whisk me away to the start. Their jokes and laughter made me smile, I was ready.

I had some pre-race laughs at the starting line with the McBride crew who always make me laugh, no matter what. They are, to put it simply, real good people.

Soon it was time to find my pace group. I needed to run the marathon in 3 hours and 40 minutes to qualify for Boston. My CIM personal best was 3 hours and 56 minutes ran in 2008 when the Peanut was 8 months old and I was about 15 pounds lighter and still full of prego hormones. That would have been a major hail mary of a PR to pull off. Yet, I am a way different runner now than I was in 2008.

I decided to run with the 3:40 pace group. When the race started it was a crowded madhouse. I haven’t run in such a tight knit elbow to elbow race in a very long time. It was a little unnerving and I got slightly pushed away from the pace group.

I didn’t panic as I knew it would eventually clear out. My pace group started off pretty darn quick though. Our first few miles were jockeying between our needed pace and a little bit faster – 8:16, 8;24, 8:10, 8:23, 8:11 went the first few miles. Our pace should have been 8:23 but I understand how it works and was hanging in there just fine.

Every so often it would dump massive buckets of rain on us and then stop. I completely over dressed for this race. I should have gone with my instinct but I didn’t.

Mile 7.5 we were passing an aid-station area with lots of spectators and they started blaring Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer and I just started smiling and rocking out. It was a sign for this Jersey girl and I let the music carry me.

Fast forward to mile 13, when my quads started cramping and I decided to let the pace group go. I always, ALWAYS carry a salt tab with me and I didn’t have a single one.

I hung in there running just behind the 3:40 group, closer to the 3:45 group until about mile 17 when I decided my quads were going to either seize or fall off. From that moment on, I let myself walk through the aid-stations. Just that small adjustment alone brought some life back into my legs.

I was still smiling mind you. I had decided not to beat myself up about it and to just keep running. What will be will be. I knew if I could get to mile 20, that I’d see Vans and my girls which would help a lot and if I could get to about mile 22 (I think) I would see my Oiselle Volee team and get another boost.

I pretty much walked here and gave them high-fives. It was Vans who said, “Ok, keep moving, get moving.” Thanks honey. 🙂

I saw and heard my Oiselle team cheering for me as I ran by in my singlet. That helped, a lot.
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Running through downtown I tried my hardest not to look at the numbered street signs. I know how defeating that can be to not see them get smaller faster.

There were a few really SLOW moments in there between 23 and 26 where I just wanted to lay down and sleep. My quads were SCREAMING at me to stop. I just kept telling myself, “You can’t walk here. You can’t stop here! You have less than 2 miles to go!”

At one point, I said, forget this and starting pushing myself, hard … or at least it felt hard .. and then a wave of nausea hit me. I looked around and both sides of the street were lined 4 deep with people cheering us on. I thought, “Oh god, if I hurl here that would be really really bad!” 🙂

So, I slowed ever so slightly, enough to push the nausea away.

I crossed the finish line in 3 hours and 54 minutes. 2 minutes faster than my last “real” marathon and a sub 9 minute marathon. I know I have it in me to run faster, I know it … I just need the motivation or the determination or perhaps maybe a coach to actually keep me more honest and more on track.

Overall, I am pleased with those stats. My quads had nothing left. I was a sweaty mess at the end because I dressed too warm and I haven’t quite figured out how to fuel in a road race yet compared to ultras where you have the time and the convenience of fully stocked aid-stations.

Depending on our plans in 2016, the chances of me running CIM 2016 are pretty darn high. I love this race. It is right in my back yard and I know it inside and out and yet the outcome is never quite the same. Road racing keeps you honest. It pushes you beyond limits you didn’t think were possible.

As much as I love and adore trails, the competitive part of me loves to challenge myself and try and exceed past attempts at things.

My whole family was there at the finish. My heart was full. My girls and Vans were in good spirits and the weather was great.

I was happy. No matter what my time was, I was happy. And that is all that matters.

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

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