Don't try this at home

A lot of times, ultrarunners are asked why they run so much. "Why do you run 50 mile or 100 mile races? Why do you keep putting your body through this? Why do you keep doing this to yourself?" And an answer I frequently hear when people ask this is: "I don't know. I guess because we're stupid!"
Well, seeing myself running down this path of stupidity, I spent my last three days doing something I always advise against--I went on a running binge! Since I started running again last month, my training has been very inconsistent. It is really hard to get back into the habit of waking up early to run and then cross training later in the day. But, lately I've been feeling really good, strong, and healthy. My sprained ankle seems to be a thing of the past. I've had a few really good, strong runs in the 8-10 mile range.

Feeling a need to do another ultra before the end of 2008, I looked at my race calendar. I am signed up for the Santa Barbara 9 Trails race. It's 35 miles over 11,000 feet of climbing. That is more climbing than many 50 mile races! I signed up for that about a week before I sprained my ankle. But, I know there is no way I would be prepared for that kind of intensity with so little time left to train. The next race I'm signed up for is the Twin Peaks 50/50 on December 13, which is 31 miles and 7,700 feet of climbing. This gives me two more weeks to train, and there is less climbing. It sounds so much more doable!Orange County's twin peaks from Laguna Coast. Modjeska Peak is on the left. Santiago Peak is on the right. You can see the 73 Toll Road and the 133 down below.

So I decided to start cramming for an ultra. Again, this is something I would never advise, but I decided to try it anyway. My strategy was to take it day by day and see how I felt. If I felt seriously sore or any major joint pain, I would stop. My main reason for doing this is to see if the Twin Peaks 50K in 4 weeks was a real possibility.

I started my running binge at 5:00 a.m. on Thursday morning at Laguna Coast with Pete V., Molly, Jeff S., Cyrus, Natasha and Beiyi. I feel so lucky to know lots of people who like to wake up early to run. . . in the dark! There was a beautiful full moon and we saw the sunrise around 6:30. It was a beautiful 9.1 mile run!

You could see the sun rise in the east, and the moon set in the west.



Day 2 of my running binge was another Laguna Coast run. This time, it was just Molly, Jeff S., Beiyi, and I. Jeff showed us some new singletrack that we had never been down before, which added another mile and a half to our run, so we finished with 10.5 miles. By the end of that run, my legs were SO TIRED! I wasn't sure about doing the 16 miler I had planned for Saturday morning, so I decided to see how I felt later that day.
On a side note, during Thursdays run, Molly and I were talking about these new trail running shoes by Brooks that are this awesome electric green color! They are so cool-looking! I saw a girl wearing them on the trails a few months back, and I looked for them at 3 different running stores, but no one had them. Then Molly found them on Zappos.com, and ordered a pair. I went to Road Runner Sports to get some new running sunglasses, when I spotted the shoes on the wall, beaming bright in all their green glory! I made a beeline for them. An employee saw my interest in them, and asked me if I wanted to try them on. I said, "I need these in a size 9, and no, I don't need to try them on." Brooks always fit my feet well, so I paid for them, and, when I got to my car, I took them out of the box and put them on the passenger seat so I could look at them on my drive home!

Do these make you green with envy?

My legs were feeling surprisingly good as I went to bed Friday night, so I got all my running gear together for another early morning run. I didn't get much sleep that night, and when my alarm went off, I started thinking of excuses, but then I saw my pretty green shoes and knew I had to get them dirty--but not too dirty!

The sign only applies to mountain bikers. . .
(Lori, lsdChris, me, Jamison, Greg, Mary, Maya, Alexa, Wendy, Jeff W., Melanie)

So Saturday morning we took a trek up the Santiago Truck Trail, which reopened only a week ago. It had been closed down for over a year since the Santiago fires in October of 2007. I had never been on these trails before, so I was looking forward to some new trails!
The wind gusts were gnarly! I thought it was ironic that we were running on some recently reopened trails in the Santa Ana winds--conditions that lead to fires, and closing down these trails the year before.
We had a good-sized group of 11 people who showed up for the 16 mile run to Old Camp. It was warm and windy. We took a break at the flagpole. Greg was excited to see that the journal he had placed there in April 2007 had survived the fires.

It was a beautiful, clear day, but, looking at the flag, you could see how strong the wind was blowing. (By the time we finished our run, a large fire broke out in Chino Hills/Yorba Linda--one of my favorite places to run.)


I was pleased to find that the 16 miles were kind to my tired legs! I actually felt really great the entire run! In fact, I felt better during the 16 miler than I did during the 10.5 mile run the day before! It seems my body is getting back to "normal" and it was very encouraging, with the Twin Peaks 50/50 coming up. I took this 3 day running binge as a test to see if I could be prepared enough for Twin Peaks.
So, against my own advice, I dove headfirst back into my usual running routine. I ran 35.6 miles in 3 days! Today is Sunday, and I feel great! Anytime you ramp up your mileage, you're putting yourself at risk for an overuse injury. It's always good to listen to your body. Any aches and pains are signs your body is telling you to slow down.

More pictures from my running spree!

Such the gentleman, Jeff S. carried mine and Molly's headlamps
after the sun came up! (Mine is the pink one!)

Jeff and Molly running up Bommer in Laguna Coast

Mary, me, Greg, Jamison, and Jeff W. bracing ourselves
against the wind on the Santiago Truck Trail!