Christmas Eve 8 miler...

I hadn't planned on running tonight, but my gear was clean, my brain said run & my body agreed.

Redefining Cold...

Yesterday was a crystal (howbeit ice) clear reminder of what one can overcome for what they love & subsequently what they hate (treadmills)...

If you had asked me if I would go for a walk around the block, shovel the driveway or to stand outside ringing The Salvation Army bell yesterday, more than likely my answer would have been "No".

When I pull up the weather widget I have the same reaction you do, the elongated sigh that inevitably slips out when you see that it's -13 again with a -30 windchill. What happens after that on days I have marked down to run is something I have yet to understand.

The thought of layering 2 jackets over 2 tops, one pair of tights over the other, a balaclava layered under the hat & face warmer, the gloves under the mittens doesn't really phase me. The thought of how miserably frigid the miles ahead could be if I haven't chosen the proper layering or route away from the wind doesn't come to mind.

Instead my heart beats a little bit faster at the idea of running. Just to seize that opportunity to conquer the obnoxious. A voice in my head says "you should do this, you can do this, it's only ________ miles."

Is this the voice of reason? Judging by the expressions on the faces of a few of the motorists I met eyes with along the way I am inclined to believe that no, it is not. It was a mix of "Is she out here on purpose? Who is she running from? Is she crazy? She must be crazy.".

When you set out to run 3 miles and end up going over 6 because you feel great, even with all of the Michelin Ninja layers, frozen hair,eyelashes adorned with ice & a face-mask frozen solid from your breath ... you know you have found something you love.

Soon enough these conditions will be familiar to me again & I wont be so fascinated by the fact that I can create frost & ice crystals. But for now I'm enjoying it in all of it's obnoxiousness. I feel so blessed that God has given me the capacity to because I know a lot of people don't. Yay, it's winter!

This week's long trail run...

Let there be snow! Commence Winter trail running...

Lavished...

In the past weeks it has occurred to me that the life I live is blessed & with all of the passions I am fortunate enough to pursue, it is lavish.

The holiday/christmas season has it's way of displaying & enticing people into luxuries they do not have, but could. I admit that this time of the year habitually stirs in me the desire for things I want & for the most part do not need.

Step outside of the now evergreen & holly berry swagged stores, onto the trail & into the solitude of the woods where no advertising is being shoved down my throat and those inklings of discontentment fade. Where running through the steady rain, slipping on leaves atop of mud & the fear of deer hunters not noticing your florescence are instantaneously made worth it come sunrise.

Thus was the chronicle of last weekend's trail run with Maggy & Dannette (the newest recruit).

We began at 4:30am headlamps on, it was so pitch black with clouds of rain that we needed to use the small handheld flashlight too. Our breath fogs the air casting a haze in front of the lamps.

About 2miles into the run we come across a skunk, pause & with boisterous conversation encouraged it to move on so we could continue. Thankfully we do not get sprayed.

The route I mapped took us through areas of rolling prairie & sections of wooded single track.

5miles in the rain is now constant. While somewhat peaceful and serene falling onto the leaf encrusted ground below there were moments when it sounds like someone was following behind us. Logic says "That is because the rain is pooling on the tree branches before falling down in large droplets." Imagination says "drunk deer hunter? Beer, guns & dark, not a good combination." Logic wins.

Mile 7, avoiding swampy sections of the trail is not worth breaking stride. Our shoes sound like the agitate cycle on most washing machines, water sloshing with every step. The air temp is in the mid 30's so wet feet are less than ideal, but bearable.

Mile 8, the sun is just barely starting to rise. Several portions of the trail bring us close to gravel roads & we can see hunting rigs pulled off to the side of it. With the echo of a few sporadic gunshots we make the decision to pick up the pace a little bit. Two miles left to go.

As we pass one of the lakes the photographer in me surpasses the runner. So worth it.

We finish the route at the frigid seat porta-johns: a welcome sight. 10miles before dawn. Not fast, not particularly comfortable, but none-the-less enjoyable.

The journey to the Lean Horse 100 , 274 days from now, will have many trials and adventures. This was just one of them. I look forward to all of it, even as I sit here stiff & a bit sore from a week of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, crossfit & barefoot running all of which will hopefully make me stronger for the most challenging race I have set out for yet.

God,

You have lavished upon me a beautiful life. Feet that have run literally thousands of miles. Lungs that have breathed the hot, humid & crisp air on countless swims, rides, runs, grapples & yes, even front collar chokes. Eyes that have been humbled by views of such splendor that words fail to express it.

Every mile & every hour you are there with me. You know when my legs are so swift that they do not feel like my own, I relish in that. You know when my legs feel like lead, my upper body weighed down like mortar fighting for each push forward. You know when LVL2 class makes everything I learned in LVL1 disappear like a shaken etchasketch. My constant companion.

May all of your creation praise You. Including me. Training brings me pleasure & spurs me on to praise, to You oh Lord God. Thank you for it all & for family and friends that while they may think me crazy at times still continue to ask how it is going.

Years In Miles...

The Lean Horse 50k in late August was swiftly followed by my busiest work month for the entire year. No complaints, but posting to my blog hasn't been as high on the list of priorities. However hitting my goal of 2009 miles between swim/bike/run before the calendar flips over to 2010 has.

Maggie's "Years in Miles" Birthday run added another chunk to my mileage tally. Currently I'm at 1,927.8

It was a good day, here's some video/snap shots from the epic trail run...

Lean Horse 50k- Race Report

The journey to Lean Horse began at midnight Thursday in a truck filled with tech gear, two overly excited runners & Cory our gracious driver/crew. Having taken many a road-trip as a kid the 9hr drive to Hot Springs, SD wasn't bad, but sleep was something of a precious commodity.

Arriving in Hot Springs we immediately headed to packet pick-up and I found myself feeling as though I had shown up to run the 5k at a Marathon. Once the pre-race meeting & meal rolled around this feeling only amplified. The ultra crowd (mostly 50-100milers) is such an inspiring collaboration of characters. Those with beards longer than my arms, leathery tans, sculpted legs, those with nicknames & even a few with the eldest child syndrome of "The family was fine enough w/o you wee 50kers coming along" type attitude. Overall the welcome was warm despite everyone being quite focused on the epic feat to come at dawn.

Dawn came early. With a solid night's rest & ambitions high Maggie and I were ready for it. After drawing a smiley on the back of our calves then applying a copious amount of sunscreen, deodorant and sport shield we were good to go. We watched as the 50 & 100miler's gun went off at 6a.m. before being loaded onto a bus then taken to the Carroll Creek aid station where the 50k started.

The ride there was gorgeous. Pine adorned rolling hills with roaming buffalo & deer everywhere. Once we navigated a slight detour (ie. getting lost) the bus dropped us off at the trail.

Porta Johns were non-existent most of the race course. The start was no different. Being that 20 of us had close to an hour to wait before the start and anxious bladders, it became a theme of people walking into the woods, behind a rock or off the side of the road to do their business. I couldn't help but laugh.

Soon enough a man with a stopwatch counted down from 10 & we were off! Mickelson trail is beautiful in the morning light, it is flat and fast. We ran comfortably at a 9:30-10:00 pace for about 7miles before meeting up w/ oncoming 50-100milers.

We continued on exchanging cheers & well wishes as we went. The temperature (as we thought it would) began to rise early, but being that South Dakota has a drier heat than North Dakota it didn't effect us, yet.

Around mile 12 Maggie & I got confirmation that there was only one other 50k woman in front of us. Several runners had mentioned this to us prior, but we weren't sure we could trust that knowing that sometimes women look like men in their running gear. However, when a group of runners tell you this at once w/ great confidence in their voices, you believe them.

From then on it became a challenge of monitoring pace, we were excited about our placement & that added boost of adrenaline kept trying to push us to a pace that couldn't be maintained for 31 miles. It was about this time too that the leading male 50miler passed us.

It also became a game of tag with this poor 50miler. He was struggling, low on electrolytes and leaning over to hurl every 2-3miles. I'm still unsure of how/if he finished, but I have never wished more that I had carried salt-tabs w/ me than when he asked for some.

There were times when aid stations (typically 5-7miles apart) seemed like an oasis in the desert we just couldn't get to fast enough. Cory was a Godsend meeting us between stations at several places along the course w/ water & orange slices (the best thing EVER).

I was not about to have a repeat of Fargo's fueling disaster so, even though I never felt particularly thirsty or hungry I stubbornly kept to my plan to gel every 3-5miles & take a dose of perpetuem every 10-12. This worked well & I avoided getting dehydrated, a problem which had taken several runners out of the race.

At mile 16 the heat was trying to edge a grip on me. Thankfully a compassionate volunteer at the aid station looked me straight in the eye, asked me what I needed, then grabbed my hat to fill it with ice. I am used to paper cups & gu being thrust out to be grabbed by oncoming runners & never being asked what I need at a race. This was unique and so appreciated.

With the relief of ice now melting & trickling down my neck Maggie and I had the chance to look ahead as we rounded a slight curve onto Argyle road. Runners who had previously run this race had told me about Argyle road, that said: seeing it for yourself is a different story.

This is where the epic part of the 50k would begin for me, the miles that lead up to that, the 16 miles we breezed through, one could consider a "warm-up".

What lay ahead was a monster hill stretching to the sky & in Maggie's own words "I hope heaven is at the top of that hill." explained our sentiments exactly. One part of my brain thought "Good now we'll be able to see how far ahead the 1st place woman is." & the other "Well, I hope our trail hill training out at Maplewood was enough.".

Thankfully the advice I took from an ultra-runner early in training bode well for us on race day. He said that most 1st time ultra runners never train to walk and you need to train to walk just as much as you train to run. What hills Maggie & I had covered in training we made sure to train w/ walking. On race-day that really shined. We walked as swiftly as possible (I would say we hauled) on the uphills, picked up the pace on the downhills & ran what was maintainable on what little "flat" section followed before reaching the next climb.

I am not about to complain about this road. In some sick way I actually enjoyed the challenge and it kept the mind occupied off of how many miles you were running. One hill at a time.

Once in the hills we quickly gained on the woman who was in first place and passed her. I looked over my shoulder multiple times expecting her to be close behind, but after a few rollers she was nowhere to be seen.

A few more miles conquered and the road felt more remote, we were literally the only people there for miles. Now imagine how startling it is to have a gazelle of a woman appear in your peripheral vision before silently disappearing over the next hill. I had just been passed by the leading woman in the 50 MILER! It was beautiful to watch that kind of talent.

Maggie & I decided that once we reached the aid station at mile 20ish we would give ourselves the boost of listening to some music. This was exactly what was needed. I played a little air guitar on the uphills & Maggie attempted a few Shakira type moves as we continued on.

Eventually around mile 24ish a gap started to form between Maggie & I. We had discussed this in training that we would separate 6-8miles from the finish and run what pace was comfortable. I had always figured that Maggie would be the one to pull away and she was. We stayed relatively close together for a few more miles. When the Garmin registered 26.7 I celebrated running farther than I had ever run and wanted to shout out to Maggie, but she must've figured it out as she charged ahead picking up the pace yet again, the gap widened.

I was not discouraged by her because I love this part of the race when it becomes your own and when it also becomes the most difficult. After chugging down two glasses of ice cold coke (Yum!!) at the last aid station I had accidently soaked my ipod when pouring water over myself and it would no longer work properly. With a little over 3miles left to go I wanted to be frustrated with that, but I decided it was time to pray/praise and give God the glory for how far He had enabled me to go and to ask for His strength to push me as fast I could go over the remaining miles.

My left quad was starting to get angry, but I pressed on. Trying to talk myself into mainly running, but it turned into a "don't let yourself walk more than 30seconds before running again" strategy I used at the Fargo marathon. I passed several men once we finally reached town and began to near the finish line. Not far off in the distance was a man looking over his shoulder every few blocks unrelenting in his goal to not let me pass him. I did not.

Rounding the corner by the DQ I knew I was close, I held back from running hard wanting to finish with a sprint which I did coming in at 6:03:44. WOOHOO!!!

Now when I tell you that I placed 2nd for the women, (Maggie taking 1st, go Maggie!!) and 6th overall don't cheer too loudly. Yes, I am proud of the finish, but there were only 20ppl. total in the 50k.

Instead cheer for the fact that I finished my first ultra & will never be the same. In the words of a friend "Welcome to the dark side of ultras". It is official, I am addicted to the long haul. Victory blisters & all!

Was I sore afterward, yes. Am I still? yes, just not as bad. Have a run since, yes! What is next? A 1/2 marathon in Oct. & a filthy 5k, but I will not be training strenuously for either. Now starts my off season: Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. :) It has been a stellar race season!