TRAILMOMMA

Tis the season to be … what? Busy? Overwhelmed? Tired? Stressed? That seems to be the theme these days for a lot of people including myself. I think my stress and overwhelmed feelings stem from being out-of-town the week of Thanksgiving. While I wouldn’t have traded our trip to Tahoe for anything, we tend to get a lot of our decorating done that week leaving the days after Thanksgiving for other holiday related things.

In my last post I gave you a CIM Race Recap. I actually felt quite well after running CIM. I was sore for a day but only when I would go from a seated position at work to a standing one. I returned to Breakout Fitness on Tuesday as well as the rest of the week. I even went for a short run with TiggerT one night during the week.

Last week was also my birthday. I was able to figure out a way to make it an almost week-long celebration like old times. 🙂 The actual day of my birthday, Vans and I attended a small Christmas party that we used to go to a lot before having kids. My wonderful in laws watched the girls for a few hours. Long enough for us to attend the party and have a quick dinner afterwards. The following day Vans and I took the day off and just did some long over due Christmas shopping. We also lunched at the Plum (Vegan) Cafe in downtown Sacramento and saw a movie. Saturday I had arranged for a baby sitter to come over so that Vans and I could have a date night that was VERY Trailmomma themed!

Night Run!!

We joined the Folsom Lake Trail Runners and the Java Joggers group on their 5th annual Christmas Light holiday run (6 miles). We met at Breakout Fitness and then ran to Dovewood Court to see the lights. I have never been here before and it was pretty awesome.

Despite having to run 6 miles, in the dark, on trails (uphill) with a bunch of “runners,” I think Vans had a good time. When we ran back to Breakout Fitness, Diane had it set up with snacks and beverages for us all. She also busted out her TRX to see who would be daring to try some stuff.

Double TRX Push Up

It was a fun date night and one that I look forward to doing again next year with Vans.

Other exciting things going on in the Trailmomma household? Peanut got her ears pierced! She’s wanted them for a while but was afraid that it would hurt. It did. I was honest with her the entire time. I also stayed true to my word and did not take her to Claire’s so some teenie-bopper could pierce her ears unevenly.

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I cannot believe how big she is getting. She is really enjoying her earrings and is so happy that she had them pierced (despite the kicking and screaming that occurred during the piercing).

Squeaker also had her first ever haircut! Just picture kicking and screaming coming from this one too.

So what lies ahead for Trailmomma and this blog? I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about that. In the past, on my old blog, I would just post a lot about my family and my running. Eventually the running died down quite a bit and that sort of left me with nothing much to write about other than my family. Now I know my extended family far and wide love to hear and read about the girls (and I love to write about them) I also know that the general public probably doesn’t care all that much and would rather read about my running or something else.

I am trying to find a happy medium and I am also just trying to do what comes to mind and what makes me happy.

However, my running future is going to start picking up very soon. I got into the Way Too Cool 50K lottery and will be running WTC in March. I also signed up for the American River 50 Miler (April). I did both races in 2010 training with the awesome Fleet Feet Training Group. This time however, I am doing it with Pigeon and ultimately on my own. I am a little nervous about that. Having a group waiting for me really made sure I got that mid-week run in but when I look back, I really only ran two days a week, maybe 3 for those races. Honestly, that is all the time I have now when you factor in all that we have going on in our lives with the girls and work. I am crossing my fingers that quality training on those two or three days will help me cross the finish lines. I am not looking to break records, sure I’d love PRs (personal records) on each of these runs but whatever happens, I want to finish with a smile.

Pigeon and I have had a small break in our training routine as of late which will pick up soon. In my head I am really setting myself up for January 1 as the official start. I know this may be foolish but I just have too much going on in my head to really sit down and think about running. I’ve been running but not quality. I’ve also been testing out some new shoes (more on that in another post) and I am trying to do this without injuring myself. I never have good luck switching shoes. Ever. I am a little scared right now that the twinge in my knee is from the new shoes. It could however be from just running CIM and not giving my joints some proper rest (which I have done the last few days).

So in the meantime, this blog will have no agenda. It will just be whatever flows from my head at the time. My goal is to try and bring my camera on my runs to document some of the trails I see just like I did back in 2010. I really enjoy going back and reading about those runs and how I was feeling and how I dealt with certain situations. It is also a great memory for the girls to read some day. After these races, who knows. Maybe I will be brave enough to start that Personal Training Certification Course I looked into or maybe the nutrition courses I’ve seen.

I do know that part of my goals for 2014 (besides these two races) is to prioritize my time a little better. The Peanut and Squeaker are at the best ages right now. They WANT to be with me. They WANT to snuggle. Why would I want to do anything else? Part-time jobs will always be available when my girls are older and hanging out with their friends. Now, now is the time to soak up every minute with them and in 2014 I am going to figure out a way to do that even it means letting go of some important things in my life.

~Trailmomma

I can’t believe it is November and I can’t believe Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Where is time going?!

However, despite it being November, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous. I am talking about weekends that are in the mid to upper 70s with sunny skies.

Just look at that view! Beautiful! That was Auburn this past weekend. Pigeon and I agreed to meet at the Auburn Overlook and go for a 14 mile trail run. I’ve been feeling a little run down lately (Squeaker has been having some sleep issues) but I was super excited to run. I have not been out on these trails since I did She Rocks the Trails in June where I suffered miserably because of my ankle.

I brought along my camera because I wanted to dabble in some video. Poor Pigeon had no clue what the day was going to be like before she got there. Little did she know that I would turn into Director of Photography and make her run and re-run certain sections of the trail so I could capture it on video. Luckily she is an awesome sport and she even got into it herself by taking the camera and doing a little shooting herself.

Like I said, the day was beautiful and warm. I had decided to test out my hydration and fueling a bit. I knew we were running long but I only brought one 20 ounce bottle of water with me. I had salts and some dates just in case, but for the most part, I wanted to challenge my fueling as I haven’t needed to fuel on a run since my days training for the American River 50 Miler in 2010.

Pigeon had also told me we’d hit a spot where I could potentially refill my water bottle if needed. I had two  or three dates while on this 14 mile run and I really enjoyed having them. Medjool dates (without the pit) make for awesome running food. I just throw them in a baggy and pop one in whenever I feel like I need  boost.

Dates are an energy dense fruit that is mostly sugar. They can range from 60 to 100 calories per date, much like a packet of processed Gu or gels. Dates also contain some protein and amino acids but they are very low in sodium so you have to keep that in mind when using them as fuel. A lot of gels these days contain electrolytes so when you consume dates, you’ll have to plan your sodium intake accordingly.

I even shared one of my dates with Pigeon who said she kind of liked it. I really enjoyed having some natural food with me on my run and despite dates being a fiber rich food, they didn’t affect my stomach at all and I am definitely one who has a sensitive tummy when it comes to certain foods.

The run was pretty awesome. We were bounding up and down the trails and walking some of the steeper climbs. I need to work on my power walk which Pigeon has perfected. Most times I would run up the hill as much as I could and then start hiking. I’ve really been working on strength at Breakout Fitness and I can tell it is paying off when I reach the climbs.

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At one point, we came to this bench and Pigeon shared the history behind with me.

If you are running in Auburn and you come across this bench, you might find it odd because it truly is out in the middle of no where. There are no roads close by. No trails off to the side. Just this bench and the amazing view in front of it.

Pigeon told me that a husband and wife used to walk this trail all the time together and admire the view.  One day while Pigeon was on a run with a friend, she came across this woman staining this bench on the trail. They have no idea how she managed to get this bench to the location but there she was, by herself working on it. They stopped and I guess chatted with her a bit.

She told them about her husband and how they used to walk this trail together. Well sadly her husband passed away and she put this bench here over looking his favorite view. There is a small plague on the back of the bench that says something like “For Jonathan who loved this view. Enjoy.” I thought that was absolutely one of the sweetest stories and it touched me.

It reminded me how short life can be and how much we need to value it and be thankful for it. I started off the day by myself in the parking lot of the overlook taking photos of the sunrise just feeling thankful for the chance to run these glorious trails and ironically, I was returned to this same grateful feeling near the end of my run when we passed this bench.

Remember to find time in your day to love the moment you are in. Cherish it, be thankful for it and embrace it.

~Trailmomma