Training Update, or, Training hasn't been perfect but TRAINING UPDATE

I'm not sure what we all did at jury duty before Twitter...

A couple weeks ago I sat in a room serving my civic duty with 200 people for three hours and was excused because the courts did not require my service.

What I didn't know was that one or more of those 200 people was
sharing their gross sick germs with me.

When my fever finally broke and my antibiotics were done, I had missed the trail marathon I was supposed to run and totally disrupted a key week in my training cycle, so naturally I panicked.

Despite the fact that I hadn't really eaten anything let alone moved off the couch for 8 days, I thought it was important to get in a 20 miler, so yesterday GeNene and Allison and I took off for Lake Chabot!

Ready to crush it.

I took off and went about seven miles out of the way, or as I like to think of it exploring and adventuring, before getting back to a trail I knew. My out of the way included lots of hills, a creek crossing, a parking lot with a weird bathroom with swarming boxelder bugs, and popping out onto a golf course. Oops.

To be fair, they looked at me the same way.

Sometimes it's important to stop and turn around
and look back at where you came from...
and then keep moving forward.

UNICORN SIGHTING!

So, I don't think I could actually be
much happier than I am
right here
in this picture.

19 days until Way Too Cool...

Comments

Skyline to the Sea 50k, I lived.

To say the week preceding the race was an emotional roller coaster would be an understatement. What I didn't know, was that it would be nothing compared to my experience out on the trail. I had said going in my goal was a sub 6 hour finish, and, unknowingly foreshadowing my race, I added, "but you never know what can happen out there." My decision to run ultras came long before my actual ability to run them, so after collecting a couple years of trail running under my belt I finally felt ready to take the plunge. Skyline to the Sea came at just the right time providing a net downhill course with just over 3,000 ft of elevation gain. If you're not aware of the on again off again drama that ensued surrounding this race, refer to my previous post here . Race morning, standing at the trail head with over 200 other runners, a collective feeling of gratitude hung in the warm air as Wendell counted us down to start. Spectators lined the street above us, and the runners e

Skyline to the Sea 50k. Here's what happened.

Five days before the fifth annual Skyline to the Sea 50k, entrants received an email from race director Sarah Spelt that knocked the wind out of us all: I am beyond sorry to announce that I am forced to close the doors at PCTR, effective immediately... It's been no secret to the Northern California trail running community that Pacific Coast Trail Runs has experienced quite a bit of turbulence, especially in the last year, resulting in some cancelled races and even a no show. 2012 boasted a handful of successful races, the most recent being the Diablo Marathon and 60k just three days prior. Things seemed to be on the upswing, especially with the upcoming Skyline to the Sea Marathon and 50k being completely sold out. I'd been through the disappointment over previously cancelled races, but this time was different. I'd carefully chosen this race to be my first ultra. I was brokenhearted and angry, but it didn't take long for a runner coming from Illinois specifically for t

New Year's One Day 12 Hour (Uh, 7 Hour) Race Report

Here's the idea: You pay actual money to run around in a circle for either 6, 12, or 24 hours. This is how you choose to spend your New Year's Eve. That's it. That's the course. Just keep turning right until midnight. Each time you complete a lap, you pass under the finish arch, that is never actually the finish line, and over a timing mat that tracks the number of laps you've done and displays it on a screen. This should actually say, "KEEP GOING FOR MORE HOURS" You're looking at the same people lap after lap. It's the Golden Gate Bridge over and over again. You're not actually getting anywhere. What is the point of what we are doing. That question is exactly why I love this race. Here are hundreds of people, lap after lap, living entirely inside their own heads for hours and hours, each with a different answer to that question. Last year I ran because I just wanted to find out if I could do it. I wan

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