“Well, that did not suck!” Those were the first thoughts that ran through my head as I crossed the finish line. I was ear to ear smiling as I heard my name announced and was given a fist bump by the race director. What a beautiful race!
Unlike the previous variants of pumps, the new designs are pretty easy to use viagra online ordering and is satisfying as well. It has been a challenge to duplicate the configuration of the ankle joint and maintain the amount of surface area to weight ratio. appalachianmagazine.com purchase cheap cialis Normal blood sugar levels for the majority of healthy individuals,are: Normal Body glucose levelin humans is about best price sildenafil 4 mm (4 mmol/L or 72 mg/dL) When operating normally,the body restores Body sugar levels to a range of 4.4 to 6.1 mmol/L (82 to 110 mg/dL) Shortly after a meal the Body glucose level may rise temporarily up to 7.8 mmol/L (140 mg/dL Two types of Blood tests depict total cholesterol level in body. Make vardenafil sale sure to follow all the guidelines provided by the natural furnace that is Earth.
First, we need to back up just a little. I registered to do this race in April of 2020 but much like a lot of races, it was postponed. When April of 2021 came around, things were still not in the clear enough to have the event.
I always say things happen for a reason in life and having this event in 2022 meant that I was able and ready to run it even if my instructions were to, “Have fun, treat it as a training run and take lots of photos!” 🙂
ROAD TRIP!
I love a good road trip and Mendocino turns out to be the perfect distance from home (roughly 3.5 hours) and the drive was beautiful.
I had never been to Mendocino before and it did not disappoint! The weather was spot on perfect with sunshine, a breeze and temps that were perfect for running.
First things first. I drove straight to the Stanford Inn (by the sea) for packet pick-up. I was greeted by the wonderful and creative Lynda Layng who I “met” through social media years ago. She greeted me with the biggest smile ever. We chatted and caught up and she recommended a place to stop for lunch.
I’ve been drinking Unived’s drink mix for the last 3 years I think. I love it, my stomach loves it and it has been working great. I am not sponsored at all and I promise to post a review and my thoughts on the stuff sometime soon (especially their new product) – but that is what was in my pack along with some gels for this race.
Once my pack was ready, I went to bed eager to explore the trails I have heard so much about.
Good morning!
The race starts at 7:30 am (a perfect time in my opinion) and I specifically picked my lodging so that I could walk to the start. It was probably a little more than half a mile to the starting line. door to door.
Over cast but setting up to be a stellar day
I made sure to have a bag with me that could dump my warm jacket into and stash at the finish line. I knew post race near the water, it might be a chilly walk back.
The race starts and ends at Big River State Beach. This place is so cool as it is where the river actually intersects with the Pacific Ocean. It’s crazy to see the calm water run right into waves.
At the starting line they had warm coffee and scones for all. Not many races can do this, I grabbed a half a cup of coffee just to keep my hands warm. There were quite a few restroom options. 😉 The morning was cool but it eventually warmed up.
Let’s go!
Soon it was ready to line up and have Sid, the RD count us down to go time. Seriously, look at that photo, easily one of the most beautiful starting lines ever.
The first four miles or so are on this beautiful path that meanders past the redwood trees. It is wide enough for everyone to space out. It is also flat and perfect for getting a rhythm.
The first aid-station comes around mile 4.33 or so and then you take a sharp left then veer upward.
The course was very well marked with blue ribbons. We were given strict instructions that red ribbons were “bad” … however, a group of us at one point did run into a bunch of red ribbons. Thinking we’d missed a turn, we turned around as a group. Turns out, those red ribbons were either park ribbons or logging ribbons and we were on the right trail after-all. Basically, if a turn was happening, the course ribbons were VERY obvious both on the trees and on the ground. No chance of missing any.
If I could stop a million times and take a million photos I totally would have. Almost every turn I’d stop and go, “Woah! Look at that!” I was grateful and blessed to be in a small pack of strong women who were having a great time.
Those first three bumps or climbs on the map, were not that bad. I felt the climbing was gradual and manageable. I even had the power to run quite a bit of them. Those smaller “bumps” near the end of the race? Those are the suckers that were vertical.
The downhill in this race though is outstanding! Soft dirt, very few obstacles, just a beautiful trail that pulls you so easily. At one point I came upon a group and they asked if I wanted to pass and as much as my body was like “Yes!” my brain was smarter and said, “Still a lot of race left Pam. Your quads are going to hate you later.” I pretty much responded with that to the group and they all agreed. They all wanted to fly but were keeping a steady pace and so I took up the caboose of our train.
Look at the size of that tree stump!
Aid-station 2 was around mile 7.35 or so. Like the first one, I ran right through it. I knew that aid-station 3 was the important one.
At some point, I lost the girl group (aid-station I think) and began running with Greg from Sacramento. Funny to meet and run with someone who lives near where I do at a destination race.
Greg was so nice. He had a lot of knowledge about the redwoods. He pointed out a redwood cathedral which is where a bunch of younger redwoods grow in a complete circle around an older one. It was so cool but no, I did not take a photo.
The night before the race, we received an email from Sid the race director with a link to a video of him crossing a river. It was more like, “Hey! So there is a river crossing around mile 13 or so. It looks deep but isn’t that deep but there is a rope for you, please use it and this is how you cross.” It made me laugh but I am SO glad he sent that as it did make crossing this a lot easier.
The water was cold but it actually felt really good. I say that about all water crossings I know.
Aid-Station 3 came around 13.24 miles in and was the aid-station I had been waiting for as the distance between 3 and 4 was almost 8 miles apart. I knew that I had to refill here.
I mean … come on!? How cool are these trees?
Still in my happy place, still feeling amazing, I thanked the outstanding volunteers and was on my way.
The rest of the race I was mostly by myself. I ran with two other ladies who I think were locals and then a downhill came and I was off again like a kid in a candy store.
Sacramento Dan ran by me at one point and said “Hi!” he looked strong and motored his way up a hill.
Mile 21-ish I distinctly remember hitting one of those vertical hills I mentioned earlier. It was on the way to aid-station 4 but it was a doozy of a climb.
The race is a mix of fire roads and single track for the majority of the miles. All very runnable and beautiful.
Smiling at mile 20 something.
After some time though, you do get dumped onto some pavement. We were running through Russian Gulch State Park and while there were quite a few people out hiking and enjoying their Saturday, I will say they were all super nice and eager to move to the side of the trail if they heard me running behind them. Some even said good luck!
The 5th and final aid-station came at mile 26.13 and at a place that had me stop in my tracks and ask, “Is this for real?”
I was in awe. I was also alone so no one was around (probably better) to hear me say how insanely beautiful this all was!
I probably lost quite a bit of time on this section but I reminded myself that I wasn’t running for a time, I was running for joy and this was it.
While this section of the race is breath taking, there is a section coming up that I knew would take my breath away … the rope climb.
Yea, I said a rope climb. Once you leave this beautiful sea side spot … you run along highway one until you come to a really nice volunteer who tells you that you should grab the rope and head down the side of the bridge to the bottom.
Mile 27
Keep in mind, this is mile 27 of the race and that rope extends straight down after that edge along a watery little path to the bottom where another lovely volunteer helps you navigate. My legs were laughing at me but luckily, my hands had a tight enough grip on the rope.
Once you’re at the bottom you have to cross the water and climb straight back up the other side. Now, you’re on your way to the Mendocino Headlands State Park and eventually the finish.
This section is more pavement-ish but I caught a glimpse of a familiar van in one of the parking lots and the silhouette of two of the sweetest people I know. Then I heard my name being yelled and someone waving! S (my old running partner) and his beautiful wife C had made the drive up and were cheering for me! Huge boost. He high-fived me as I passed and said he’d see me at the finish.
The finish came after running through this huge stretch of sand!!!! My mental nemesis is sand but I was so elated to have seen S and C that I did not mind one bit. I was honestly a little bit sad as I knew the race was ending soon.
So I suck and didn’t get very many photos of the finish. Maybe I will leave that a mystery so you can run it for yourself and experience it but please know that the finish is like one big party at the end. Everyone was enjoying food (lasagna and salad) and cheering for runners as they came in.
Finisher’s gift
For what was supposed to be a training run, I ended up finishing 7th female overall and 4th in my age group. Not too shabby! Imagine if I didn’t stop to take a bunch of photos!? 🙂
After I finished, I found Lynda and she gave me the biggest hug ever! So nice especially since I was so smelly.
S and C where there as well. We hung around for a bit but they wanted to go eat at their favorite place, Fog Eater Cafe and I was starving.
C and S
The food here was outstanding especially if you are plant-based and gluten free. Our server was SO awesome at making sure I was okay and safe from gluten. 🙂
After fully refilling my body with all the calories it needed post 50k, I went for a walk along the coast line.
My belly and heart are so full here.
Post race I was feeling pretty good which made my mind relax. It meant that training is going well and I was ready. I am ready, for whatever lies ahead.
Best race swag ever!
Like I said, things happen for a reason and the fact that I ran this in 2022 instead of 2020 was meant to be. I was meant to have the adventure that I did and meet the wonderful people that I met and run the race the way I wanted to feeling pretty amazing the entire way.
Thank you to Sid and all the volunteers for this outstanding event! I know they were short on volunteers but they made it happen seamlessly from a runner’s perspective.
Thank you to Lynda as well! For the hugs and for everything!!! So happy we finally got to meet face to face!
That Dam(n) Race Half Marathon and 10k race celebrated its third anniversary this past Sunday and I was FINALLY able to participate! 2012 was its inaugural year and I was all signed up to do the half and Vans was signed up to do the 10k but unfortunately, Squeaker fell ill right before the race and I stayed home snuggling her all day long. Vans went on to run the 10k and had an amazing race.
The second year, the entire family volunteered to help at the race but Vans was super sick and it was quite cold so we didn’t stay long after the race. The girls and I had a blast though but I was due. I was due to finally run this race!
I registered pretty early for the race, determined to add it to my calendar. It did fall during a time in my training schedule where I was supposed to do a super long run but I tried to improvise. I reached out to my old Coach Nikon and to Pigeon to ask for their advice. Coach Nikon said I should do the race hard and then make up some of the miles before and after but he said that racing hard would be a great training run any day compared to a long slow day. Pigeon offered up running both Saturday AND Sunday. Well, as it turns out, due to a change in plans, I did end up running a little over 7 miles on Saturday and then did the race on Sunday. Boy did my legs feel it!
I left the house bright and early on Sunday because I wanted to get a close parking space. The fire-station at Cool is notoriously hard to park, particularly when a race is involved and I didn’t want to be a mile or two down the haul road from the start/finish area. When I parked it was dark and I realized that I had left my headlamp at home. Luckily the iPhone has that handy dandy flashlight feature!
Stonegate Girl quickly found me and we left our cars to get our packets. I saw Coach Nikon and the whole crew. It was nice to see everyone! I have missed my old trail people!
Stonegate Girl came and sat in my car with my seat warmers and we just talked until it was time to get ready for the pre-race briefing. Coach Nikon always puts on the best races. He had some neat raffle type gifts that he was handing out to everyone. I think everyone was smiling despite the chilly air and foggy skies.
Soon it was time to line up at the start. I still had my arm sleeves on and I wasn’t sure whether or not I would ever take them off it was that cold!
Coach Nikon blew his little horn and we were off and running. It took a bit for my legs to warm up and catch on that I was running and in this race, the hills come pretty quick. It felt odd at first to be running up some of the hills we typically walk during our training runs but I wanted the race to feel hard so I could say we gave it a good effort.
Stonegate Girl stuck with me the entire time. It was hard letting people pass us from time to time but we were focused on the task at hand, just running and not getting ourselves injured.
Up and down this race goes. Stonegate Girl had never been on some of these trails and was totally blown away by the beauty of it all. It was then that I wished that I had brought my camera. Luckily Stonegate Girl had her phone and snapped this awesome shot.
Fog!
Soon we approached the hill for which this race is named. That Dam(n) hill is brutal. Switch back after switch back you go. What a great training hill!
I was feeling pretty good minus my stomach. I have continued to battle stomach issues lately and it was just hovering below the surface on this run. I knew I would only be able to run for so long before I needed to find a place to duck off the trail. Unfortunately on this portion of the race, there are not many spots to do this!
The volunteers at the aid-stations were awesome. They cheered us on and wanted to know if we needed any water or fuel. I don’t think we stopped at one aid-station. We used our own water and our own fuel most of the race. Always good to practice using what you may use in a race down the road.
Stonegate girl and I finally came to a spot that allowed us to duck off the trail and take care of business. I hated stopping because I knew it was wasting time but I had no choice.
Once we were moving again we came upon a pond and Stonegate Girl was beside herself with the beauty of this race. It was super well marked too, no getting lost on this course!
Finally, we could hear the finish line and we could see the line of cars lining up and down the haul road. I was ready to be done. My legs were toast and it felt like I was running in quick sand at times. My legs were spent and so was my stomach (again). As we were approaching the finish line, I saw a sight for sore eyes … and I kind of teared up a bit.
There she is!
My girls and Vans were waiting right at the entrance to the finish line! I was so happy to see them and they were wearing their big clunky rain boots because it was muddy out (great for mud, not for running!). 🙂
The idea operates by assisting to raise blood circulation in the discount levitra rx overall body. You can participate in frequent lovemaking episodes with enhanced energy levels and youthfulness through regular use of this herbal levitra online pharmacy supplement. In viagra online order whole body acidity, the human being discharges the acidic substances throughout body’s fluids. Neurological medical conditions affecting the nervous cialis prescription cost system that is actually dysfunctional and causing these sensations.
Brining me to the finish line!
Stonegate Girl and I post race
My girls love this race and they LOVE Coach Nikon and his family. I think if the Peanut could, she’d go move in with Coach Nikon’s daughter Cheetah.
LOVE this race!
The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out at the race and just talking to old trail running friends. Peanut was put to work though. She had to earn those extra “finishers” cookies. 🙂
Helping Coach Nikon and Cheetah hand out awards!
Squeaker just follows along and was enjoying the pizza, cookies and music. I truly am so lucky to have such a great cheering section.
I like this song Dad!
My cheering section waiting for me to finish!
This was a great race and I would really like to run it hard some day. I know what I need to work on though because twos days of running had my legs feeling pretty wobbly after the race. Luckily there was a massage tent which I took full advantage of! It really helped knock the kinks out of my legs. My recovery has been slower than normal lately and I truly believe my lack of stretching is to blame (I know, duh!). I have been working on it! I also think a lack of quality strength training is hurting me as well.
I am looking forward to Coach Nikon’s other race, Miners Revenge in April. This is an amazing course and I am spoiled. Coach Nikon really puts on one of the best events in town. He is race directing his first 50K this February too! Check out this link to the Salmon Falls 50K! I am VERY tempted even though I swore up and down that eventually, I’d like to go back to doing shorter distances for a while. At least until my girls get a little older. I know I say this all the time, but it is hard being away from them for so long and ultras require time to train which of course I have been doing a terrible job of lately.
This Saturday will be two weeks until my 50K. After my run this Saturday it will be taper time!! We have a busy weekend ahead which I hope to capture on camera this time around and blog about. There may be another race report coming your way involving the ENTIRE family so stay tuned (and cross your fingers). 🙂
So in my last post I said I was excited for my run this weekend and boy was I ever! I went from being “ho-hum” about running this week to having a day on the trails where I do not think I stopped smiling for even one minute!
To back track, in 2010 I ran the Western States Training Run Day 1 (there are 3 full days) for the very first time. I called that post A DREAM COME TRUE (read it here). A lot has changed in just four years both for the runners (Pigeon and myself) as well as for the Western States Trail.
Pigeon and Myself 2010
2014 – getting better at the selfie!
In the four years since we last ran this training run, Pigeon has excelled as an ultra runner. She is officially training for a 100 mile race (again) and I have run my second 50k and my second 50 miler in addition to quite a few marathons. When we ran this run in 2010, we were naive. We both had run one 50 mile race and pretty much signed up for this training run on a whim and decided we could handle it. We did but we were complete novices out on the trail climbing mountains that are pretty intense. While we finished in 2010 laughing the whole way, we had no idea what we had gotten ourselves into on that run.
With quite a bit more mileage under our belt, this time around would be a little different. We both have a lot more respect for this trail. In my mind, there is no better place to run than on this trail as it has a little bit of everything and if you are not careful, the trail can rule your day.
Pigeon and I carpooled to Foresthill Elementary School and checked in with the people putting on this run. We paid the fee to run this organized training run because that not only provides us three fully stocked aid-stations along the way it also goes towards restoration and maintenance of the trail itself.
Runner Registration and Check in
In 2010 Pigeon and I rode the yellow school buses along with hundreds of others doing this run. This year, Pigeon coordinated with a friend to get us a ride to Robinson Flat so we could avoid the bus. The same ride in a bus takes an hour (and it is a curvy road with no shoulder) … in a car that ride took us a half an hour. That means we’d have a good jump on all the hundreds of other runners headed out for a long day out on the trail.
I got us a ride!
I agreed to the ride, although I admit I was a little bit worried when she told me who else was coming and the car we would be in  (a Rav4). The numbers didn’t add up in my head. Where would I sit?
in the WAY back clearly
While I was sitting nice and illegal cosy in the back of the Rav4, I listened to everyone talk about their past 100 mile experiences whether in races or on training runs. The whole car was training for a 100 mile race whether it is Western States or Tahoe Rim … and then there was me, in the back. 🙂
Robinson Flat
When we arrived at Robinson Flat we all got out and stretched and used the facilities. In 2010 there was so much snow on the ground that we could not ride all they way to Robinson Flat. I had forgotten about that and quickly realized that the first 6 miles that I was about to run, I had never seen before!
The excitement started to grow. The girl who drove us was waiting for another person to arrive so Pigeon and I decided to follow some guys who had also avoided the buses and started our run. I didn’t know which way to go and Pigeon had a pretty good idea but we wanted to start out following someone just in case.
And so the story begins
Once we left the camp ground and started on the trail following the yellow ribbons, I was in awe. At first we climbed a bit and were behind these guys who seemed equally excited to be out running. At one point they all stopped, not sure which way to go. One guy said he thought we should go right. I looked to my left and saw about 3 yellow ribbons so I said, “I think we go left, there are the ribbons.” Even Pigeon was thinking it was to the right. Luckily we went left. 🙂
Going left!
Pigeon was cruising pretty fast. She was sticking close to the guys. While I was feeling fine, I could not pass what was before me! Every which way that I turned was the most amazing view I have ever seen!
There goes Pigeon and the guys!
I was slowly getting left behind because I kept stopping to take photos. I also knew we had a very long day ahead of us and I didn’t want to blow up my quads running down hill racing after the boys. Pigeon was on fire and sticking with them. Me? Nah, I’d rather have a photo op. 🙂
So beautiful
At one point I caught up to Pigeon and the terrible pacer that I am I made her stop. I reminded her that I had never been on this section before and that I was just blown away by the trail and the views … and then I made her take my picture. 🙂
So happy!
I tucked the camera away (finally) and we kept on running. I knew that I had lots of photos from the second half of the run from 2010 so I needed to make sure I captured all that was before us on the first few miles.
My Jenny Vesta Hydration pack was FULL of fuel and water. I knew there would be aid along the way and mostly I was thinking I would only need water and maybe a few potatoes here and there at the aid-stations. I have been experimenting with my fuel lately and have been relying recently on ProBar products. I am more inclined to use real food instead of gels or chews but the ProBar Bolt chews have been working nicely as well as their ProBar Fuel bars. I prefer the bars most of the time. So when Pigeon stopped to find a tree, I had a snack and of course took another photo.
Hot, sunny and still smiling!
While we were running there would be the occasional runner who would catch up to us and chat for a bit. At one point, a guy who had originally missed the turn but heard us chatting off the trail, ran up behind us and thanked us because we had made him realize he had gone the wrong way. He joined us for a bit.
Now I have shared before that sometimes when Pigeon and I are off running deep in the woods, we will hear the occasional gun shot off in the distance. It sounds miles and miles away and is just the echo throughout the canyons that we generally hear. Not on this day. The three of us are running at one point I had looked down to my right and saw what looked to be a shotgun shell. My brain did a mental pause when all of a sudden we hear BAM! BAM! That wasn’t miles and miles off in the distance that sounded like it was just 15 feet away! The three of us jumped. BAM! again and we looked to our left. We couldn’t see the shooters but they felt way too incredibly close.
With our heart rates pumping, we just kept moving. We came across the first aid-station at Dusty Corners. I didn’t need anything really. I don’t recall what the heck I did at this aid-station other than fill one of my bottles with water.
The temps were definitely rising and in some sections it was down right hot. I felt good though. We just kept trucking along. I knew soon we would be coming to the long descent at Last Chance. It was this section in 2010 leading to Devil’s Thumb that I rolled my right ankle pretty severely and twisted my knee.
Headed down down down
It is a very technical descent and the trail is covered in dry leaves so you can’t quite see what is underneath. Pigeon was not bombing the descent like she normally does so I was able to stick pretty close to her. All of a sudden I see her right toe get tripped up on a rock and what followed was in complete slow motion (for me, not sure about her). She trips and starts to fall forward and I go, “oh no!” and as I do, she rights herself almost catching herself from falling. However, out of no where it is as if gravity was pulling her and Pigeon just falls face first down the trail. Her hands didn’t pop out to protect her, at least not from my view but her arms were scrapped and she also ended up with a mouth full of dirt and her feet kicked back behind her like a scorpion’s tail. I did ask her if she was okay but my second question was “can I take a picture?” 🙂 She immediately snapped “no!” and popped up before I could even get my camera out of my pocket.
She had a few minor scrapes on her however we had quite a ways to go until we reached the bottom. Luckily there was a mini stream half way down and Pigeon was able to wash off some of the dirt and blood.
Cleaning up
This fall took a lot out of Pigeon. When you fall on a trail run, it is more than just the injury or scrapes that you might end up with. You all of a sudden feel more exhausted than ever and your mind starts to play games with you. Thoughts like “oh, you must be tired” or “I fell because my legs are tired” start creeping into your brain. I was trying to not let Pigeon get down on herself about the fall because we were quickly approaching the toughest climb of the entire day, Devil’s Thumb.
Yup, still smiling.
Between Last Chance and Devil’s Thumb is a bridge called The Swinging Bridge. I posted about this in my 2010 post. It was old and scary but it thoroughly did its job of getting runners across the river. However, with the massive fires that this area had last year, this is all that is left of The Swinging Bridge …
Half of it is missing…
Not allowed to cross
Of course I completely forgot all about the bridge or the lack thereof. I had been watching the posts on Facebook over the weeks and I totally confused the construction of “the new bridge” as the replacement for the Swinging Bridge.
There was a new bridge on the trail, just not where I thought it was going to be.
So how were we going to get across the river? Not to worry! The Western States crew had thought of everything …
Sweet! A rope to help us across! super active viagra These problems happen when the bladder is small and overly active (spastic). Inflammation is one of the major reasons why people are looking to purchase cheap Kamagra online: Value for Money One of the major reasons why people are looking to get rid of your ED and starting to have strong erections, first seek medical advice from cheap cialis http://melissaspetsit.com/faqs/ your doctor. You must also make them aware about other health issues which do not allow them to do physical activity, online drugstores are the best option for them as they discount buy viagra were very cheap and equally effective. It is an effective sildenafil citrate remedy that makes the erection possible for the people suffering from erectile dysfunction and lets them enjoy a good love making session like never before. cheap viagra http://melissaspetsit.com/viagra-2037.html
Now the river doesn’t look that high in the photo but those men standing there to help us cross, were standing on rocks. In between those rocks, the water was almost up to our chest! I even asked one of the volunteers to take my photo because you know, I was still smiling.
It was COLD but felt so good.
That dip in the water was SO refreshing. It really cooled the body temperature down which was a good thing because the next item on our agenda was to tackle Devil’s Thumb.
The full WS course.
I have only climbed “the thumb” once before. I’ve been to it a few times but the only other time that I actually hike up was back in 2010 with Pigeon. I remember it was tough and I remember going up switch back after switch back.
When we started the climb, Pigeon was leading as usual. I noticed she was getting more and more quiet but we were climbing and I know she was still thinking about that fall. I just stayed behind her and tried to offer some words of encouragement. Occasionally a few other runners would catch us and pass and I know that mentally, it bothered Pigeon. She’d ask to stop a few times and take a breather and that was totally fine with me. I didn’t want to tell her but I was feeling really good on the climb. Of course I was tired and of course my legs were burning, but overall, I just kept putting one foot in front of the other trying to make our way to the top. The top was very far away.
Looking up The Thumb
If you look closely at the above photo, you will see little specs of people up the hill. Way up high, between those two trees, is a person and that person is barely half way up this climb. Devil’s Thumb is no joke and we were soaking wet from the chest down (yes, including wet socks and shoes). While it was nice to cool off, it didn’t last long as parts of the Thumb are exposed and as you can tell from above, pretty steep. It was also sad because you can see all the damage from the fires and how barren and charred the trail now looks.
Burned trees = exposed trails
It took a while but we made it. Pigeon had completely sucked her hydration pack dry and finished The Thumb with zero water. She didn’t tell me until we reached the top and I had plenty left in my pack so I handed her one of my bottles that had a few inches of water left. That is what training partners do.
The next aid station would be at the water pump, which the organizers called Deadwood because it is close to Deadwood Cemetery. When Pigeon and I stopped, she filled her pack and I filled my bottles and pack as well. We ate a few things from the aid-station and as we were leaving I asked Pigeon if she wanted to soak the bandanas we had around our neck. We’d stop at a few streams and soaked them along the way putting them on our necks to keep us cool but the pump water is COLD. It felt pretty awesome to soak those and have a nice cool cloth around our neck as we continued on our way toward Michigan Bluff.
The rest of the trail is the same section that we ran just two weeks ago. You can read about that run here and see the photos. It felt like we were on the home stretch and I was still feeling really well however, I knew that we’d soon be entering the El Dorado Creek Canyon and that massive descent which murdered my knees just two weeks prior.
Up until this point, my knees and been feeling pretty good. There were some sections where I would feel a twinge or two but nothing that ever prevented me from moving. El Dorado Creek Canyon leading to Michigan Bluff is a 5.5 mile descent. That is five miles running deeper and deeper into a canyon that doesn’t exactly scream smooth easy trail. It is rocky, technical at times and down right painful when you are battling an IT problem (Iliotibial band). Pigeon’s knee was bugging her from her earlier fall so she wasn’t flying way ahead of me like she had two weeks ago but she was moving a helluva lot faster than I was at times. Occasionally she’d stop and turn and would catch me winching in pain every other step. I may have been wincing, but I was still smiling!
When we got to the bottom, we crossed the bridge and started making our way back out of the canyon towards Michigan Bluff where we knew another aid-station was waiting for us.
admiring the views
As we were climbing, Pigeon started coming back to life. She had a little more pep in her step. Maybe she knew we were close, maybe she had overcome whatever it was that was bringing her down but she was back to her usual self.
As we climbed, we came across two guys who were sitting on the side of the trail. They were not together but they were probably 5 feet apart. One was dry heaving and the other looked like he was dizzy enough to pass out. Pigeon asked the first guy (Mr. Dizzy) if he had any salt on him. He said no and was kind of wish-washy about wanting to take one. I handed him two salt tabs and we told him to take them.
Then Pigeon moved on to the next guy who when she approached, about vomited at her feet. Knowing my feelings about this, she quickly turned to me and said “you may want to look that way for a bit!” 🙂 This guy had a girl with him and she was trying her best to encourage him. He said he wanted something solid, no more gels (who can blame him). I handed him my last granola bar (gluten free baby!). Pigeon also told him that I had ginger chews so she told me to give him one and I did and then I quickly ran back down to Mr. Dizzy and gave him a ginger chew too.
So at this point, we said good luck and continued our way up the hill. I had a gel left in my pack and I think one more package of ProBar Bolts but I was done with wanting any of that.
When we reached Michigan Bluff we were greeted by Ann Trason (SO COOL) manning the aid-station along with some other women. There were a lot of stragglers who were hovering around this aid-station. I wanted something solid and I quickly dove into some plain potato chips and even and a few pieces of a PayDay candy bar which I have not eaten since 2010. This was sort of a slow aid-station so I ended up filling up my pack myself which was totally fine, I wanted to be on our way.
Pigeon and I started walking and eating at the same time. We were heading to Bath Road which would be our final climb of the day.
I had completely blocked out the section leading to Bath Road. It was a bit up hill with some definite run-able sections. We were moving along at one point, when all of a sudden we hear BAM! I screamed and jumped a mile. Then BAM BAM! Again. These were not shot guns, this was a regular gun. Don’t ask me how I knew the difference, maybe it is too much TV but I could tell, this was more of a handgun than a shot gun and the sound was coming from in front of us and not off to the side.
Pigeon, the girl we were running with and myself were pretty petrified. I pulled out the whistle that comes with my hydration pack and started blowing. Pigeon told me to keep blowing my whistle and the girl we were running with started yelling “hey!” at these people. We could see them and their gun off in the distance. They were standing over a cliff and we couldn’t tell what they were shooting at whether it was a target or if they were just shooting over the cliff. Whatever it was, it freaked me out and when they saw us (and heard sirens in the distance) they stopped shooting and started getting into their car. Well that sure made me run faster!
When we reached the bottom before our climb up to Bath Road, there was a stream. In 2010 it was much higher and we needed a rope to help us cross. Now, the stream is not so high but it was pretty darn crowded!
Apparently everyone got the memo to wear blue!
Pigeon and I once again used our bandanas to wipe off our faces and put them around our neck. Bath Road is paved and leads us to the Foresthill Elementary School and ultimately the finish. In 2010, Bath Road and I did not get along. I was done at that point, completely toast (mostly due to the ankle and knee pain I had) so this year, I had some unfinished business.
We didn’t run up the hill the way we did in 2010 but I do feel like I probably could have run portions of it which made me feel good inside that I had the energy and the mojo. Instead though, Pigeon and I just power hiked our way up the road.
We were joined by a group of 3 who were extremely chatty and trying to be funny. Some times they were and sometimes, not so much but it was still entertaining and we just rolled with it. When Pigeon and I reached the top and got to Foresthill Road, we started running and we ran ourselves all the way to the finish.
We’d done it. We completed the training run again! It felt good for me to be able to finish and not feel so completely depleted like I did in 2010.
The fourth and final aid-station at the end
This year I bypassed the massage tent and instead we went to my car and just tried to clean ourselves up and we hit the road home.
We laughed on the way home about how naive we were in 2010 trying to do this run with very little experience under our belts. That’s how you learn though. That is how you do it sometimes and while the outcome could have been much worse, Pigeon and I are strong runners and when we are together, we seem to be even stronger. We help each other out and we motivate each other when the time comes.
Now, two days later, I have to say, I feel great. While two weeks ago, when Pigeon and I ran in the same canyon, I could barely walk for 3 days straight. I was much kinder to myself when I got home after this run. The kids were in the pool so I stood in the pool too all the way up to my knees. I rolled my quads on the foam roller that night as well. The next day at work, I used The Stick to knock out any additional kinks that I was feeling in my quads. I feel amazing. Stronger.
It was a great day and I couldn’t be happier with myself despite the sour weeks I’ve had leading up to this run. It really is a matter of mindset sometimes. If you talk yourself out of something, you are destined to have a miserable time. Reading my old blog reminded me how much I love everything there is about the Western States trail. While I don’t need to race and be competitive, I am most content when I can just have an awesomely fun day out on the trails with my ultra running partner.
And coming home to two awesome kids and a hubby who fully supported me and this run, was pretty awesome too.
Finally, here are the stats for the day (edited to add: 32 miles in 8 hours). Check out the elevation gain AND the elevation loss. Pretty crazy.
Happy Trails!
~Trailmomma
(Edited to add: I hardly ever proof my posts before posting so please excuse the typos and terrible grammar. I do eventually go back and edit … eventually).
I’ve been thinking a lot about 2014. Generally I like to think I am a “live in the now” kind of person. However, by nature I plan. I make lists for myself and the kids whenever we travel (for Van’s it is kind of hopeless), I write out grocery lists and meal plans for the week but for the most part, I would like to live a life of spontaneity and with no regrets. Of course having two kids under the age of 5 inherently makes that very difficult (um, nap time).
However, when it comes to running and training, I have generally never jumped into a race “just because” or signed up for something last-minute. I always get the “early bird” sign up and never the “day of” registration. That is just the way I have been programmed. I have learned my lesson a few times by signing up for races and then having ankle surgery.
But I have been putting a lot of thought into my 2014 racing/running plans. Way back before my surgery I even made (yet another) list of the races that I wanted to do. I tried to ease myself back into things with Resolution Run in January in Auburn followed by that little old thing called the Western States Training Run in February and well, that itty bitty race called Way Too Cool 50K in March. However, WTC is a lottery and what if I didn’t get into the lottery next year? Of course I’d have to sign up for the Tahoe Rim Trail 50K too (which is also a lottery for 2014). Both Way Too Cool and Tahoe Rim sign ups are in December so essentially, I have to sign up for BOTH at the same time and run the risk of being picked for BOTH races. I am not, by nature, a lucky person. Lucky things do not happen to me generally but I think in this case, I WILL get picked for both races because well, that would be Vans’s bad luck (and my good fortune) butting heads.
I also just discovered that the American River 50 Mile race, which I had no intentions of doing again, at least not this year, had a course change. The start is about a mile from my house (again)! Now if that is not fate knocking on my door I don’t know what is. Right? (Van’s don’t answer that).
My other main focus in 2014 is pacing. Pigeon is throwing her name into the Western State 100 Mile race again and I am finally healthy should she choose me to be her pacer. My love of all things Western States stems back to my first few months in California (1999) when my local PBS station (and past employer) did a documentary on the race (Race for the Soul). I fell in love then and the love still stands. I was fortunate enough in 2010 to do a few of the WS training runs as part of my training for AR50 and then for fun after AR was done. That is my goal this year. I want to be out there on Memorial Day weekend running those beautiful trails again getting muddy, wet and dirty but having the time of my life! I love it. I have goosebumps just typing about it.
I have too much to think about and all of it wonderful. I truly am lucky in that my surgery was done well and I am back running and feeling so great. My only hurdle these days is time but I am managing. I have a lot of support in Vans, my girls, my running and non-running friends as well a few new friends that I have met along the way.
I am healthy, my family is healthy and we have so much to be thankful for these days. This solo parenting week has really opened my eyes to how lucky I am. Spending quality time with my girls has really been wonderful. They make me laugh daily and I love to make them laugh. I love seeing bits and pieces of Vans and myself in them and I only hope that we can pass on our love of the outdoors, sweat, fitness and being active to each of them. What they decide to do with that is their choice. We don’t demand that they are competitive but as long as they can realize and understand how movement can improve how they feel and how they think. We are blessed with healthy bodies and our job is to keep them healthy. He does not find happiness anywhere and thinks of himself and the world around him. generic discount levitra The acai berry is exceedingly nutritious and it can be an academic exercise in usa viagra no prescription itself. Practice yoga: And when it comes to yoga, do a more intense stretch or relaxation-oriented class twice a month at least to give your muscles a break cialis tadalafil canada and sit if you have been standing. You need to avoid these suppliers completely to ensure you are getting your medication from the most trusted doctors in Delhi is Dr. thought about that pfizer viagra samples
First let me say thank you to all of you that read my last post. I appreciate those that commented, shared it on Facebook or even emailed me directly in support. I also thank those that didn’t necessarily agree with my post and told me as such. As a reminder, that post was the letter that I WISH I could have sent to the PTA President and was not the actual letter I emailed (which was much nicer, sort of). My biggest issue with her initial response was how dismissive and rude she was to me and my concerns. She clearly could have just said something along the lines of “thank you for your email. I understand your concern and will take that into advisement next year when planning.†But she didn’t do that. Instead she tried to draw me into championing a new game to rival the ring toss and was downright rude about it. I am not going to beat a dead horse about this. I sent my letter last week in response and I cc’d the school principal so she was made aware of what her PTA president was doing and how she handled parent’s concerns. I have not heard anything from either one of them. I will be more on top of things next year when our Harvest Festival planning is in the works.
This past weekend marked a small running milestone for me. On Friday I was able to run the Ridge Loop of Death (7 miles) for the first time and boy was it disastrous. Not only was it sweltering (what the heck, it IS October right?) but I had forgotten that I had gone to Breakout Fitness that morning and had done a series of leg drills (squats, burpees, lunges). Not the wisest decision on my part however, I was thrilled to be getting an extra day out running in the first place since I don’t often get extra days to run. This also was the first time since surgery that I did the Ridge Loop of Death!
On Sunday, Pigeon and I had agreed to run when she got off from work which would be late afternoon. In a way, I enjoyed this late start because I was able to enjoy a nice leisurely morning with my family but it was also harder to motivate and figure out the meal situation. However, I could not complain because Pigeon had been on her feet working a 9 hour day prior to meeting me so really, hush up Trailmomma right?
I decided that I wanted to test out my new socks. I recently purchased the Injinji lightweight no-show socks (from Amazon).
I don’t typically (knock on wood) have blister issues when running but I have noticed that my running form has suffered post-surgery because I have been running as if my ankle is GOING to hurt and therefore have been running on the outside of my foot. The Injinji socks really let you focus on putting more weight evenly on the front/ball of the foot including the big toe. The sock is really light weight, almost nonexistent compared to my Drymax socks that I usually wear when running trails. I am not entirely sure how these socks will hold up when running through streams and river crossings but overall on a dry hot day, they were great. I really liked how they felt and I didn’t have any issues when running. I purchased two pairs and will continue to wear them running to see how their fare through some winter running. Maybe I’ll do a search and see if they have a trail version that is perhaps a bit thicker. I have an old pair that I won years ago when they first came onto the market but I prefer the no-show look and the older pair was more of a crew sock. Okay enough about socks.
Pigeon showed up and instead of taking her on the Ridge Loop of Death we decided to try a new loop that Vans suggested that takes us on a bit of road and trails but ultimately dumps us into Browns Ravine and we found ourselves running right by a very dried up Folsom Lake.
Brown’s Ravine
Folsom Lake
It was a fun run and I brought my phone because well, running with Pigeon always involves the historical pretend we’re in a JCPenny Catalog Photo Shoot (probably just an excuse to stop running periodically).
JCP Photo: Voila, the Trail!
Don’t forget there are literally dozens of hair loss products out there promise “your hair back in a few days.” While the truth is that viagra tab as a drug is perhaps the most purchased product by a number of men all around the world and have difficulty forming relationships. viagra in france Adderrall or Adderral is used in the treatment of erectile dysfunction and other male impotency issues. Stent About half of men over 40 viagra prices years of age. This proved that starting exercise in midlife avoided erectile dysfunction, cialis order especially for the overweight.
JCP Photo: Oh dear, what’s my time?
JCP Photo: Focusing on the sun.
JCP Photo: Mighty Thirsty
The weather was pretty warm and sunny with little shade cover on most of the trail. I was having a blast. Running with Pigeon is fun regardless but just being back out there running up the hills (or power walking) and getting a little dusty felt awesome. Once we found ourselves on the levee by the lake we took the pavement back to my house by cutting through a fairly festive neighborhood.
Scary spider!
In total, we did about 7.25 miles which is roughly what the Ridge Loop of Death is distance wise. No matter what you are running some massive hills on either route but I would say the hills on the Browns Loop were a bit worse and/or steeper. There seemed to be more of them and maybe that is just my recollection because I was dying from the heat and from being out of shape. Baby steps. Our fitness is coming.
Gear: For this run, besides my new Injinji socks, I also sported Athleta’s Stability Shorts  in black and their Printed Tinker Tank both of which are on sale (hint hint). The shorts I love and wear often (I have 3 different colors) and the tank, which I usually reserve for Breakout Fitness type workouts did well for me on the run although I had to pair it with a sports bra for added support. When I can, I will try and do gear updates like this as often as I can so that perhaps someday Athleta will give me a shout out and welcome me into their wonderful world as a Featured Athlete. (hint hint). For hydration I brought my Camelback insulated handheld. I love this water bottle. I never leaks, holds enough cold water for distances up to 10 miles or so and has a handy little pocket that fits gels or in my case, dates in it.
I’ve been thinking a lot about 2014 and what runs I’ll be doing next year. Perhaps I’ll do a post on what my plans are and what I’d like to accomplish next year. Right now, I have no real races scheduled that I plan to race. I do have an entry into the California International Marathon that I am toying with right now.
In other news, sadly Van’s is on a business trip this week so there will be no Breakout Fitness classes this week or trails runs until Saturday. I am okay with that. I look forward to spending time with these two little monkeys.
){kind=link}
 RACE HALF MARATHON RACE REPORT){kind=link}
){kind=link}
