TRAILMOMMA ~ Page 8 of 44 ~ Trail Running + Plant-Based Living = the best adventures

November 12, 2018

JOSHUA TREE HALF MARATHON RACE REPORT

“What did you think of the race?” a local Joshua Tree resident asked me. I replied, “I didn’t like the sand! There was SO much sand!” An odd smile emerged on their face, “Well, you ARE in the desert.” Point.Taken. 🙂

Last week Stonegate and I went on a road trip. We like to go on these adventure road trips once a year because I believe that everyone should be allowed to escape on a little mini vacation with their friends doing what they love. For us that is exploring, running and laughing.

I am blessed to have a friend who enjoys doing this as much as I do. This year our adventure took us to the desert, the desert of Joshua Tree.

A while back we signed up for one of Vacation Race’s events called The Joshua Tree Half Marathon. It was supposed to be night race which appealed to us and it involved camping which is something Stonegate LOVES to do.

We loaded her car as much as humanely possible with all kinds of camping stuff. I’ll be brutally honest, Stonegate provided 99.99% of all the gear. Like I said, she loves to camp.

As always, I plan to be honest in my race review (it’s coming I swear) but I’ll also share some of the adventures we had while there.

The drive was supposed to take us somewhere between 7.5 and 8.5 hours. We left town early and we made really great time getting there.

Then, we hit the desert. Like REALLY the desert.

The road literally just disappeared from view and became this sandy mess.

We knew when we signed up for this race that the race itself was going to be held, “just outside of Joshua Tree National Park.” That’s true, it was. It was actually held 21 MILES outside the park. The camp ground that was suggested we camp in (and where the race started and ended) was called Joshua Tree Lake RV & Campground. Again, not fully researching, reading, understanding, we arrived and were a little taken aback by it. First of all, I think the big word that SHOULD have stood out to us was LAKE. Remember, we were in the desert. What lake?

The camp ground, was more or less a large sandy parking lot. HOWEVER, it was perfect for the race and perfect for what we needed for race day and race night … but we had arrived on THURSDAY and the race was not until Saturday evening so we had lots of time to kill in this parking lot location 21 miles outside of Joshua Tree National Park.

However, I do think the point of these Vacation Race events which I fully support, is that it encourages the participants to go and visit the actual national parks for which these races are named. We have to continue to support our National Parks and this organization does a great job at bringing people to these gems scattered about our country.

Stonegate and I spent the Friday before the race exploring inside of Joshua Tree National Park. We hiked to the top of Ryan Mountain which was 1.5 miles straight up.

As usual, we laughed and had a great time doing what we love best even if we quickly realized while there, that we are NOT desert people.

It is a beyond gorgeous place but I do truly prefer mountains and pine trees but I am happy that we took the time to visit Joshua Tree because otherwise, I don’t think we would have ever made the journey.

Saturday morning it was suggested that we not leave the camp ground because racers would be arriving all day and we might not be able to get our car back to our campsite.

The race expo was also on Saturday and it was pretty neat. Some really neat vendors had set up tents and we shopped and picked up our race bibs and packets … and then, we just sat and waited ….

and waited, and waited and waited. Although, one of the highlights of waiting all day is that we saw our very first (and only) Road Runner!! That little bugger was FAST!

Finally at 5 pm we could wander over towards the race festivities and be part of the pre-race raffle. Just us and 3,000 of our closest friends! Say what? 3,000 runners were doing this half marathon?! Wow.

We had our headlamps ready. We had reflective gear on. We were sporting tank tops because despite being in the evening, it was still pretty darn warm outside.

The sun was setting and the skies were turning their standard desert fire colors. I do admit, the desert does provide some stunning sunsets.

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We made our way to the front of the pack into the second or third wave of runners. We wanted to get out ahead because during the raffle we found out that for many, it was going to be their very first half marathon OR very first “trail” half marathon which, to be honest, “trail” was not and is not an accurate description of this race.

They counted us down and sent us out in timed waves because there were just so many people. Finally when it was our turn to start, we ran. Stonegate took a minute to start her watch and BAM! She had tripped over a railroad tie on the ground that was really out of place and should have had a cone or reflective marking on it.

Seriously, one minute she was beside me and when I turned she was gone. She had full on super-manned at the race start. Luckily she wasn’t seriously injured but that’s a terrible way to start a race.

After she dusted off the sand, we started trying to get a position within the crowd so that we wouldn’t trip over everyone’s feet. We ran about a 1/4 mile on pavement, made a right hand turn onto another road and was met with about 6 to 8 inches of ankle deep loose sand.

Picture running on the beach but without the ocean. That was this race.

We had heard prior to the start that we would be running on sand. The race description when emailed out had said, “hard packed sand.” This was in no way shape or form, hard packed. It was terrible.

Plain and simple. Tire tracks from trucks were on either side of the road and walkers and slower runners were using that hard(er) packed area to walk or run pushing the rest of the sand into the middle like a giant mound.

The only way to pass another runner, was to run through that giant mound of sand. You step into it and your shoes instantly filled with sand.

I kept running. Stonegate said she was right behind me every time I tried to make a move to a clearing or spot where we weren’t on someone’s heels about to face plant again.

We did this probably for the first 6 miles or so it seemed. It was slightly up hill but not enough that we were bothered by it. Apparently the rest of the runners thought this race was entirely uphill. It was not. It had a little over 500 feet of climbing in it, that’s it. The hills didn’t make it tough, the SAND is what made it tough.

There was little talking between Stonegate and I. This was my first long run and race since my hamstring injury. I was focused very much on my footing and form.

Stonegate was suffering from the sand not really being easy to get footing on and just wasting unnecessary energy on trying to stay up and not slide all around.

We stopped to walk a few times. She would stop and use the aid-stations that were frequent on the course however, not where they said they would be. A pet peeve of mine is to say there is an aid-station at mile 10 but have it really show up at 10.5.

This race could not end soon enough for either of us. No one around us seemed to be in good spirits. It was dark (duh, a night race) but there was no moon and you could not see the stars otherwise you’d fall or trip. I am also 95% sure they held this at night because the views were nothing to look at. We were in the middle of no where at night. It was just not fun.

When we crossed the finish line I think we were both beyond relieved. We went back to our tent, took care of post race business and I sat back and watched all the runners and headlamps coming down the road. Our campsite was right along the race course and all I kept hearing was people asking the course marshals, “How much further!?”

I am proud of us though. This was not an easy race at all. We did it and we did it after camping for 2.5 days in a tent on cots prior to starting the race.

My hamstring held up great which made me super happy. I am feeling almost back to normal. ALSO, the medals and shirts we received glow in the dark. That’s kinda cool.

The day after the race, Stonegate and I went back to Joshua Tree National Park to explore a different section. I am so happy that we did as we saw some pretty neat sights and just had a great time. For me, it made up for the terrible 13.1 miles of sand we had to sludge through the night before.

Overall, if you are a desert person, I recommend visiting Joshua Tree. If you are passing through the area, definitely stop and check it out. I know that for Stonegate and myself, we had a great time regardless of the race situation because we can always find the fun and laughter no matter where we go.

That’s what adventure friends do and for that, I am grateful.

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

September 12, 2018April 29, 2019

WHERE OH WHERE HAVE I BEEN?

I know, I KNOW! June?! Seriously? That was my last post? My apologies. Life has up and taken me away on so many adventures (both good and bad) that I just have not had much time or energy to post here.

Today, I decided to change that and give you (whoever is left anyway) an update on what the heck has been going on.

First the good news! If you follow me on social media then you already know that I have joined the Engine 2 Team as a blogger! Can we say DREAM COME TRUE!? I get to write about plant-based eating, traveling, running, living and come up with recipes! Hopefully you will follow them on Instagram and/or Facebook so you’ll get word when a new post hits their site. I am beyond grateful for this opportunity.

So writing for them has been keeping me plenty busy. In addition to that, I still work full-time at my regular job and occasionally I host Plant-Based Challenges for any employee that wants to participate. Last challenge blew me away.

In June I had 25 participants and overall we lost a total of 114 pounds in just 10 days! Some people reduced or dropped medication and all of them realized how beneficial plant-based eating can be not only for their body but also their heart and soul.

Now on to the not so great news. 🙁

If you remember I ran the Marin Ultra Challenge 50 miler in March followed by the Quicksilver 100k in May. Both were successful, challenging races that I completed and was thrilled with each finish.

What I did not share way back then, is that post run (race or training) I had been having some nagging pains in my hamstring, my high hamstring to be precise.

After Quicksilver I promised myself that I would take a month off and I did. Nothing improved, if anything, the pain got worse.

Fast forward with a visit to a sports therapy doctor, an x-ray and an MRI later here I am. So what happened? Back in February I was doing a trial at a pilates place near my house. While in the reformer, the instructor had us open our legs into a V formation. Well, I wasn’t properly warmed up and that pull was a bit too much for me and I felt a pop. I pushed it aside as a normal “oh the body pops and aches all the time” but from that moment on, my hamstring hurt but only after I finished a run or when I sat for long periods of time. It wasn’t excruciating at first, it was more of a gradual pain until after Quicksilver when it wasn’t so gradual anymore. It hurt.

As it turns out, I most likely created micro tears in my high hamstring from that not so graceful pilates move. My MRI showed some stressed and damaged muscle indicating there was some trauma to the area. Awesome.

First I had Shockwave Therapy done. That’s painful and usually quite effective but unfortunately, your high hamstring is so embedded in your bum, that it is REALLY hard to reach that muscle. Trust me when I say having this procedure done on this part of your body leaves you in a most unflattering position.

My next option was some physical therapy. Now I have been blessed to be able to visit the Kaiser Golden One Center Sports Medicine Department.

This place rocks in terms of therapists and the equipment available. I did a few weeks of PT without much improvement so my next option, in order to try and “speed things along” was PRP or Platelet Rich Plasma.
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Click on the link above for a full description of what exactly PRP is but the gist of it is this: A doctor drew blood from me and put it in a centrifuge. He removed all the platelets from my own blood and inserted them into a HUGE needle. He then took that needle and using an ultrasound as a guide, injected the platelets straight into the micro-tears inside my hamstring. Yup, that was fun.

The thought behind this process is that platelets are what heals our body so by injecting them directly into damaged area, the area should heal faster. Think of it this way, Platelets are the glue and the glue is being injected into the damaged muscle in hopes of gluing it back together.

I was on crutches and off my leg for 3 days following the procedure. The procedure itself didn’t hurt (for me) but the days following were VERY uncomfortable.

So here we are now. Next week will be six weeks post procedure and technically my window to start running again. Since the procedure I took two weeks off completely. That meant NO stairs, NO hills and NO stress on the hamstring (which is really hard when you think about it). I then resumed PT after those two weeks and have been progressively improving with each PT visit. So much so that my physical therapist says I am “ahead of schedule” with my range of motion and my ability to bear load or weight (I attribute this to my plant-based diet 😉 ).

So here we are. I am doing my daily PT homework and making strides in the right direction.

I do think my return will be slow and even though I am hopeful that I will be 100% some day, I am not having the highest of hopes as I am still in a lot of pain when it comes to sitting. My hamstring does not like that one bit.

I miss running. I miss the woods and the trees and the dirt. I know that I am doing the right thing right now and I am listening and following all the orders that the PT gives me. Trust me, that’s hard as I don’t generally follow direction well. 🙂

Vans has been great and has been patient with my moodiness and allowing me to go on long ( PT approved) hikes on the trails in our hood. We even took a special trip to Tahoe one weekend to see Dave Matthews Band AND spend the night WITHOUT the kids (thanks to some family that was in town visiting and who are awesome).

I am very grateful for all that has happened though. I have a great doctor, I have a great physical therapist, a patient husband and a healing body. I can’t ask for much more. I just have to wait and be patient and let the magic happen. Soon though, soon I will be back on the trails with the wind in my hair and the dirt all over my shoes and it will be that much sweeter when it happens.

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

June 29, 2018

THE BBP (Blender Beet Pancakes)

I am a no frills kinda girl. I like simple easy meals and I HATE washing dishes … I mean really really hate washing dishes but I love to cook so what’s a girl to do?!

Enter my weekend go-to: Blender Pancakes! Toss everything into a blender and let it do all the work? Heck yea! No bowls to wash, no scoopers just a pan, a blender and okay, a spatula. I can handle that.

Today I went big and I made some BBPs! That stands for Blender Beet Pancakes! Forgive me, in my day job I work with a lot of acronyms.

There are probably a few ways you can toss this together so feel free to play around with the recipe I sort just went with it.

BLENDER BEET PANCAKES!

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup plant-milk (I chose almond)

1 3/4 cup oat flour (grind oats in a blender to make oat flour – I keep some already ground on hand for baking)

1 ripe banana

1/4 cup of turbinado sugar (optional – not really needed in my opinion)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract
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2 tablespoons Beet Boost (see my previous post about this & to get a discount)

Directions

Add milk, vanilla extract and Beet Boost powder to a blender and blend.

Then add sugar (if using), banana and oat flour. Blend until smooth. You could try just adding the oats whole and blending with the liquid ingredients to save a step. If you do, let me know how it turns out.

Pour onto an already hot nonstick pan (no oil needed if the pan is hot enough). Wait until bubbles appear and flip. Warning, if the batter sits it WILL thicken and make thicker pancakes. I started out making some and then paused to do some mom-stuff and then came back and had a stack of thin pancake followed thick ones. Both tasted great.

I served mine with fresh peaches (addicted right now) and I actually rolled the peaches up with the pancake and ate them like a taco. 🙂

Hope you enjoy these as much as I did and my picky 10 year old gobbled one down too so that’s a win in my book!

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

June 19, 2018

Beet Boost (Review)

As I explained in my last post, I have been using Beet Boost in my pre-run smoothies for a while now as it alleviated the digestive issues I had been plagued with for so long.

I’ve also been using Beet Boost to make beet hummus because it tastes amazing – recipe for hummus is here.

A few weeks ago, Beet Boost contacted me and asked me if they could send me a tub of their Beet Boost so that I could have it the way they recommend and write a blog review on it.

I said “Sure!!” While I am a full-on proponent of eating WHOLE plant-foods vs pills, powders and mixes … I did do my homework before I purchased Beet Boost last year and what I learned, is that I truly do love their product as it fills a void. Even Beet Boost would tell you, “Eat an actual beet if you can!” … but when you can’t, Beet Boost is the next best option.

So what is it?

The ingredients listed on the container say: Beet Juice Concentrate and Tart Cherry Extract. That’s it. There are other brands on the market but they’ve added things like Stevia or “natural flavors” (whatever that means). Beet Boost kept things simple and I like that.

Beet Boost is non-GMO, vegan, gluten free and pesticide free. Like I said, there are no added sweeteners in it and you’ll get 4 beets and 40 tart cherries in each 4 oz serving.

Why do I care about beet juice and cherries?

There has been a lot of science on the consumption of beets and its heart healthy properties. Eating whole beets provides so many nutrients AND includes the ever important fiber that so many American’s lack. So please don’t stop eating WHOLE BEETS but if you exercise, travel a lot or are headed somewhere with a lot of elevation, Beet Boost could be beneficial and here is why:

The body takes the natural inorganic nitrate contained in the beetroot part of BeetBoost and converts them into nitric oxide.
According to scientists, nitric oxide improves overall cardiovascular health while exercising, which in turn improves your overall performance, allowing you to work out more efficiently for a longer period of time.
The tart cherry part of the BeetBoost compound contains anthocyanins, which contain anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. These substances help your muscles repair quicker and more easily following exercise, allowing you to return to your workout routine faster.

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That was straight from Beet Boost’s website but the science behind beets and nitric oxide to improve athletic performance is real. Here is one video Dr. Greger did on the subject.

Now I am definitely not saying ditch the whole beet! No way, in fact, most of the amazing nutrients found in beets are actually in the beet’s GREEN leafy part! You know the part that most people cut off and throw away! Heck no! Steam that stuff, slice it up and add it to your salad! By all means, never toss your beet greens (hey that rhymes). 🙂

But like I said, if you’re traveling and don’t have access to beets daily, Beet Boost can help. I followed their suggestion and I had a serving of Beet Boost daily every morning for four days.

Then, I stopped. What did I notice? The one thing that I did notice when I was drinking the Beet Boost, (and I even mentioned to my husband) was that I had way more energy but had consumed less coffee. I run at 4:30 in the morning before the world is awake … I had my Beet Boost on my drive into work and I honestly felt a little bit of a rush and it wasn’t because I was eager to get to the office.

The last few days, I’ve stopped having the daily Beet Boost and I haven’t had the same energetic feeling. This leads me to believe that Beet Boost would definitely come in handy when I am doing coast to coast travel and dealing with time changes or even post race when I have to put on my “mom-hat” and drive the kids around town. It can help beat that fatigue (pun intended) while at the same time aiding in muscle recovery.

Flavor wise, I definitely prefer it in my smoothie. It turns my smoothie a beautiful shade of pink.

But I will be honest, I didn’t mind it mixed straight with water. The first day I wasn’t too sure but after a few sips, I really enjoyed it. I don’t find it overly sweet at all and do you know what my FAVORITE part about it is? There are NO clumps! It mixes 100% and doesn’t leave a grimy, gritty, lumpy texture in your bottle or glass!!! Hallelujah!

While Beet Boost did provide me with a tub to review, I am being fully honest in my opinion here. I dig the stuff and while it won’t replace eating whole beets (and ahem, beet greens) for me, it will remain an integral part of my pre-race and post-run routine.

Best of all, Beet Boost gave me a code that all of you can use to get 15% off a Beet Boost order if you wish to give it a try too.

At checkout, use the code: TRAILMOMMA and you should receive 15% off your order.

If you get some, let me know what you think and let me know how you plan to use it. I have some additional recipe ideas in the works as my family really loves the hummus. I bet it can be mixed with so many things. What are your ideas?

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

June 7, 2018June 7, 2018

BEET HUMMUS

Today I bring you a recipe for BEET HUMMUS (and a story so hang tight). I love hummus and I love beets so that means BEET hummus has got to be the best right?

So I was super excited to make my beet hummus but when I went to make it, I realized I was out of beets. 🙁 DOH!

Not to worry though, I improvised and I am incredibly pleased with the results.

Now for the story ….

Disclaimer: If you know me, you know I am not a “supplement” kind of person. The only supplement that I consume is Vitamin B12 and I wouldn’t consider what I am about to share with you as actually a supplement as much as it is a life saver when the need occurs.

Backstory: A few years ago during training I developed some digestive issues that flared up notoriously right when I was at mile 5 of any race or run that I was doing. I was frustrated because for years I had been fine.

After a lot of trial and error I decided to try a smoothie before I headed out the door for a long run. On the daily, I don’t usually drink smoothies as I am much more of a, as Chef AJ would say, “the whole fruit and nothing but the fruit” kinda girl and fully believe consuming the whole fruit and/or veggie is best but I needed a solution and I needed one fast.

Consuming smoothies before a run essentially removes the “digestive” process of eating because the blender ultimately digests most of the food (aka fiber) for you while still providing you with an adequate amount of calories to go run (or other activity) for three plus hours.

In preparation, I wanted my smoothie to count and not just be a lot of sugar and fruit. I put some thought into my pre-run smoothie and what I came up with was super delicious but more importantly, it WORKED!

Through all my plant-based certifications, coaching and reading I know that beets (and especially beet greens) are super good for us.

Why? What do they do?

Glad you asked. So when the body consumes beets, it takes the nitrates from beets and converts them into nitric oxide. Nitric oxide improves overall cardiovascular health (it helps blood flow better). You hear Dr. Esselstyn shouting its praises and you can often find professional athletes these days using beets in their training as well.

Tart Cherries have been known to help manage joint and muscular health because of their phytonutrients called anthocyanins.

So I wanted those two things in my smoothie. Ultimately my smoothie contains: frozen bananas, frozen cherries, medjool dates, some defatted peanut flour or nuts (if I have any and the run is super long). What I needed was beets! If you have ever put beets in a blender, you know what the consistency is like. I wasn’t a fan. I can eat them raw, steamed, right off the BBQ whatever but I can’t stand them in a smoothie! Yuk! So what to do?

Enter BEET BOOST! Beet Boost contains two ingredients: beets and cherries. That’s it, nothing else. I added that to my smoothie and voila! It kicked the flavor up a notch and I have been set ever since.

Now, back to my HUMMUS recipe. When I realized I was out of steamed beets, I had a food processor full of garbanzo beans … so I pulled out one of my Beet Boost packets and tossed it in. Perfect! You can make this recipe using steamed beets but then you’ll have to adjust your liquid ratio a little to make it creamier.

BEET (BOOST) HUMMUS

1 can of low sodium garbanzo beans (liquid reserved)
1-2 cloves of garlic (or to preference – I did 2)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 packet of beet boost
Veggie broth

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Add the first 4 ingredients to a food processor. Add the liquid from the canned chickpeas and veggie broth slowly until you reach your desired consistency. Voila! It’s as simple as that!

You can dip crackers or veggie sticks in it OR use as a base on a veggie sandwich! It’s also great on top of a baked potato with steamed broccoli. Yum!!!

Lucky for you, if you want to try Beet Boost whether in your training or just to give this recipe a whirl, the fine folks at Beet Boost have provided me with a discount code to share!

At check out, use the code: TRAILMOMMA and you’ll receive 15% off your Beet Boost order. Super sweet. I am stoked to be supporting a company that is based in the USA and contains only 2 simple ingredients (unlike other brands on the market).

If you make the recipe above, please let me know! Until then …

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

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