SoCal Adventure Girl

Day 32

2011-03-24T22:24:00.000-07:00

4:30AM Wake UP. 5 1/2 hours of not-so-restful sleep. #notwinning

5:30AM Egg, slice cheese, apple (cheese-#notpaleo)

7:30AM Run 3.5 miles, and 20 minutes arc trainer because I got kicked off the treadmill.

12:30PM 4 oz chicken breast, 1 packet of ketchup (for flavor), and a Lara Bar

2:00PM 30 minute nap in my car. I needed to sleep longer, but it feels like my body doesn't know how to rest anymore!

3;30PM Another Lara Bar (I love the Peanut Butter and Jelly Lara Bars!)

4:30PM Crossfit NB - 1 mile run, 50 air squats, 800m run, 40 air squats, 400m run, 30 air squats. Time was about 18 minutes flat. Then some Tabata stuff for the core and glutes-ouch!

5:30PM Green Smoothie with Chia seeds and Orange

9:00PM 4 oz chicken, plain

9:30PM 4 pickle spears 1 c. almond milk and 1 scoop egg white protein (My lower legs have been cramping since that WOD on Monday and I'm hoping a little extra protein will help with recovery.)

Must. Sleep.

Day 31: Better than S.A.D.

2011-03-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

Not a perfect Paleo day, but overall, better than the SAD diet. (Standard American Diet)

6:30AM Wake up, 7 1/2 hours sleep. I woke up feeling exhausted and irritable. Since when did become a non-morning person?!?!?! Yes, I am having a sleeping problem.

7:30AM Turkey burger patty, 2 egg whites, 1T. Peanut Butter (weird breakfast)

9:30AM Green Smoothie (Did I mention how much I really love these?)

11:45AM Apple

2:00PM 4 oz chicken breast, 2 packets ketchup for the chicken, and a grapefruit

3:00PM (Where I start to fall off track...) Handful of Goldfish crackers and 2T. Peanut Butter

6:00PM FiberOne Bar, Sea Salt Almonds, another turkey burger patty, some salad greens and lo-cal salad dressing

8:30PM Orange

Another LONG day tomorrow. Lights out!

Day 30 Halfway Through!

2011-03-22T22:26:00.000-07:00

Today was a good Paleo day. I woke up completely sore throughout my legs from that workout at CF Newport Beach. Ouch!

I also received the results of my New Leaf testing. Pretty interesting. It tells me how many calories I burn at rest. I had to do a resting test, with a mask on my face. And then I had to do an exercising test, while running on a treadmill, again with a mask on my face. We have this machine at work, and employees get this test done for free. Usually it's a $250 test. And one of the coolest things is that it is compatible with my Garmin 310XT, so I'm excited to figure out how to use the data with my Garmin!

So, here's how the day went!

4:00AM Wake up. 5 1/2 hours sleep, ugh. I could barely peel myself out of bed. :( I was really cranky for the first few hours this morning, but walked around work with a big smile on my face, or at least I tried, LOL!

4:30AM Banana and grapes (I always have to eat something within half an hour of waking, or else I'll be REALLY cranky!)

7:45AM Apple and hard boiled egg

8:30AM Lara Bar and grapefruit (You can tell the lack of sleep was hitting me hard as I kept reaching for some carbs!)

12:30PM Green smoothie (kale, spinach, apple, ground flax seeds, plain protein powder) Gosh, I love drinking these! They aren't delicious, but my body LOVES and CRAVES them! I make them in a Blend-Tec Blender.

3:00PM Run 6 miles on the treadmill. I followed a workout that came from my New Leaf metabolic testing where I had to run intervals of 2 min (139-149 BPM) and then 1 min (149-159 BPM) It took about an hour and it kept me interested since I had to constantly fiddle with the incline and speed of the treadmill.

5:00PM 4 oz chicken breast

7:30PM chicken breast, spaghetti squash, mushrooms, and marinara sauce

I'm in about a 1000 calorie-deficit today. Although I didn't want to make this Paleo thing about weight loss, I'm curious now that I had my New Leaf testing. I want to lose about 13 lbs, at a rate of 1 lb a week. I'm supposed to keep my net carbs at 1600/day, so if I exercise, I need to eat more. Because I pack my lunch for the day, I didn't pack enough food today. I didn't feel super hungry at any point, but by not eating enough, I'm not recovering from hard workouts, and putting myself at risk for injury, overtraining, and possibly too high cortisol levels, among other things I'm not aware of. The other major problem is I'm just not getting enough sleep. My work days start early and end late. I just received a copy of the book, "Light's Out: Sleep Sugar and Survival." I've heard it mentioned on Robb Wolf's Paleo Solution podcast a lot and since I have been so sleep-deprived for the last few months, the book has caught my attention.

With that, time to hit the pillow! Good nite!

Day 29 Paleo and CrossFit Newport Beach

2011-03-21T21:43:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I don't have as much time as I would have liked to blog about this Paleo Challenge. I'm on Day 29 and although I haven't been perfect, I've been feeling pretty good!

7:00AM Wake up (8 hours sleep)
8:00AM Green smoothie (kale, spinach, ground flax seeds, protein powder, 1/2 apple) and a banana
9:30AM 45 minutes cardio on Arc Trainer and treadmill, then some SMR and stretching
11:30AM Apple and a turkey burger patty
3:30PM Power Crunch Bar (not paleo, but I needed something!)

4:30PM WOD at Crossfit Newport Beach! I decided I'm going to start shopping around for a new Crossfit gym. I really miss the workouts. And since I'm spending so much time at Equinox (12-15 hour days), I found it was REALLY REFRESHING to get out and work out somewhere else. I think this is what I need to get back in "Fighting Shape!" I feel my body has been turning to mush, since whenever I DO get a break in my schedule at Equinox, I just want to get out of there for a while. Just trying to keep some balance! Every CF gym operates a little different. I liked how we started off with some dynamic stretching, then did some strength work (back squats, where I took it easy and only went to 115#, then a MetCon: 5 rounds of 5 handstands-hold for 5 seconds, 10 16# wall ball shots, and 15 burpees. It took me 15:17, and when I finished, all I kept thinking was. . . man I really NEED this! Then everyone grabbed a foam roller and rolled out our legs for a few minutes. Everyone was really cool. And I like that CF NB is a "running" Crossfit. Most Crossfitters seem to hate running! LOL I'm going to shop around a little more before I pick my new CF home. I need one that is close to work for me. I think working out at a Crossfit gym might be a good idea for me right now. I felt refreshed and energized when I went back into work to train some clients tonight.

5:30PM Grapefruit
8:00PM Ground Turkey, spaghetti squash, and marinara sauce, and 8 pimento-stuffed olives.

Day 23: Paleo is getting boring, lol

2011-03-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

Today was much like yesterday.

8:00AM Wake up (7 1/2 hours sleep)
8:30AM banana and raw almonds
10:30AM grapes and strawberrries
11:45AM blueberries
12:00PM spin class
3:00PM raw almonds and then had Flame Broiler again for a late lunch. I got the white meat chicken bowl with veggies and no rice.
4:00PM Apple
8:15PM grapefruit, 8 pimento-stuffed olives, and 2T. Crunchy peanut butter

Okay, it's not the most exciting menu, and I should be getting more protein in there. I moved last weekend and moving into a new place always throws off a routine. I just haven't had time to cook and pre-plan meals. Hence, the abundance of fruit and Flame Broiler for lunch. I was craving a frozen yogurt for an afternoon snack, but resisted the temptation! I still have no desire for anything with grains, dairy, or legumes! Sometimes I wish I had more vairety in my diet, but nothing else really sounds good to me.

Day 12-22: Catch-Up

2011-03-14T22:53:00.000-07:00

This past week has been rough. I moved into a new place, for starters. . . And work has been really busy and stressful. I didn't have any time to work out. I think I ran a total of 16 miles for the week and did one spin class. No weights, no yoga. And very little sleep. My tank has been running on empty.

Now I'm not setting out to complain to the blogosphere and whine about how hard I have it. In fact, that's not what I'm trying to say at all! It's not what happens to you in life, it's how you deal with it!

I really DO have SO much to be thankful for! I have good health! I can run and enjoy an active lifestyle! I have amazing friends and family. I live in beautiful Southern California. I have a job that is rewarding. I could go on, and on. . .

I see so many people around me who seem to go through life, with a "Woe is me" attitude. Life is just too short to be depressed, angry, or have a bad attitude. YOU ultimately are in control of your mood. YOU are in control of your emotions. It's called emotional intelligence. It takes practice and time to develop your EQ.

Another thing I've noticed about people who act this way, is they are often very inward-focused. Rather than spending so much time and energy worrying about your own problems, take a look at the lives of those around you! Who can you help? Who can you uplift? What can you do to positively impact the life of someone else? The Savior said, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” – Matthew 16:24-26

Now I'm not trying to get all religious or preach to anyone, but regardless of your religious beliefs, I think this quote has an important message we can all appreciate. Stop worrying so much about your own problems. Be a light to others. When you can serve others, then you will find true happiness, and it will put your own problems into perspective.

Seriously, how about all those human lives affected in Japan? My heart goes out to them.

What does this have to do with the Paleo Diet? Uhhh, nothing really! I just went off on a tangent.

So, how good have I been with my diet this past week? I haven't been perfect. It's been a combination of things. First of all, I've been getting sick of eating the same foods all the time. . . chicken breast, eggs, spaghetti squash, raw almonds, lots of fruit, sweet potatoes, salad. . . On Thursday, I threw a bunch of my food away that I wasn't eating. It was about to go bad because I had prepared it the weekend before, but just kind of lost my appetite.

I have been following a Paleo-esque type diet since January. I have eliminated almost ALL grains and dairy from my diet, except for the occasional frozen yogurt. Honestly, dairy, grains, and legumes don't even appeal to me anymore (except frozen yogurt!) This, however, limits my options of what to eat. What's the solution to this? I need to find some new Paleo recipes to try out!

Here's how today went:

3:45AM Wake up to go train a client (BRUTAL waking up, with the time change this weekend!)
4:30AM Banana
6:30-10:00AM I took a 3 1/2 hour nap in the front seat of my car! Yeah, that was intense!
10:15AM Orange, 1/2 c. raw almonds
1:00PM 8 mile run on the treadmill at work (this only works if you have some good music on your iPod, and if you are in a place where you have lots of people who know you and come up and talk to you!)
2:30PM Apple, 6 oz. blackberries, 1/2 c. raw macadamias
5:00PM Flame Broiler white meat chicken and veggie bowl. No rice.
9:45PM 6 large strawberries

I ate too many high-fat nuts and not enough protein today. Here's the macronutrient breakdown:

Cals: 1505, Prot: 63, Carbs: 125, Fat: 77.

One thing I have noticed this past week has been a change in my appetite. It could be somewhat due to stress, but, it's not just that I don't crave Neolithic foods, but I simply don't care for them. At work on Wednesday, there was a meeting for all the personal trainers. They had it catered with Chipotle, one of my favorite restaurants. I was feeling crappy that day, so I didn't care and I grabbed a chicken burrito and a bag of chips and guacamole. I ended up picking at the burrito, trying to fish out any pieces of chicken. The beans, rice, and cheese just didn't appeal to me at all. However, I ate about half the small bag of chips and the guacamole. It's funny how my taste buds have really changed.

So, I plan on being better about updating the blog about my adventures in the Paleo diet, with some recipes!

Day 11: No Work-Out Day

2011-03-03T20:00:00.000-08:00

Today I was too worn out to even work out. It's been a long week, and very tiring, both physically and emotionally. But it's okay; I have a 12 mile run on Saturday and when leading a group of runners, I need to make sure I'm feeling good enough to be that leader.

4:30AM Wake up. 7 hours sleep. 5/10...still not sleeping very well :( Just stressed and afraid of missing my morning alarm!

5:30AM Raw almonds, raisins, blueberries

7:30AM Apple

7:45AM Went to my car to take a nap. Slept about 1 1/2 hours and kept dreaming that I overslept and missed my next client!

9:30AM Orange

12:30PM 1 egg and 5 egg whites, 1 c. veggies

3:00PM 4 oz chicken breast, 1 c. veggies, 1/2 c. marinara sauce, baby carrots, grapefruit

4:30PM Raw almonds, raisins, 2 oz chicken, 2 large olives, fruit snack (not paleo)

7:30PM Apple, raw almonds

Macronutrient breakdown: 1550 calories, 86 g. protein, 199 g. carbs, 42 g. fat

Ugh, I was so overly tired today. That nap in my car was refreshing, but not enough. I was so tempted to go get frozen yogurt again, but I stayed on the diet. By the end of the evening, I was too tired to even eat!

Day 10: Paleo-Challenging!

2011-03-02T21:07:00.000-08:00

Okay so I'm not even going to pretend to be perfect. And I'm short on time so this post will be quick. I stayed pretty much on track today, but it was a long day at work and I didn't bring enough food. And if you don't already have your Paleo meals and snacks ready to go, it's tough to stay on the diet.

Ate raw almonds and raisins after waking up. I ran about 4 miles of intervals and hills on the treadmills at work. Then I ate some blueberries and eggs/veggies for breakfast. Lifted weights, had a meeting with my boss, lifted some more, worked with some clients, etc, etc.

I had some ground turkey with veggies and some marinara sauce for lunc, but was still hungry an hour later. I had a break in my day so I went to a Greek restaurant and ordered a salad. I was too tired to care what all the ingredients were, and it came out with some feta cheese, and of course, some pita bread. I was so hungry and tired that I ate it all!

After finishing for the day, a workday that started at 5AM and finished at 5PM, I ate an orange on my drive home, and then stopped at Golden Spoon for some frozen yogurt. I ordered a small, but they still give you a pretty large portion. Honestly, I don't know how people can eat a medium, or large of this stuff because it's so filling! And I used to eat this stuff every day. It still tastes good, but kinda makes me feel bloated now!

After 10 days of being pretty strict with my diet, I am overall feeling good. Just tired and stressed from work. I don't weigh myself and I'm not doing this for weight loss, but this morning I was foam rolling and looking down at my legs and they appear a little slimmer. I was wearing running shorts too, and usually I don't like to foam roll in running shorts because I feel it makes my legs look fat! LOL

So tomorrow I have a 5 hour break in my workday, and I have stuff to cook for ready-made meals! Sweet potatoes, turkey breast, mahi mahi, spaghetti squash, etc. I already had 2 out of 3 "cheats" this week! Gotta get back on course!

Day 9: Less than my best effort. Fail to plan. . .

2011-03-01T21:27:00.000-08:00

This day has been such a blur and I already ate all my pre-prepared meals from last week. So today was kinda of a mess, diet-wise. And I had another cheat. . . a cookie and a McDonald's ice cream cone (hey, they're low-fat, only 150 calories and cost 75 cents)! Whenever I'm stressed, I reach for comfort foods. And I'm sure my choice in other high-carb Paleo foods led me down the slippery slope of craving even more high-carb foods. I already made my meals for tomorrow, so I plan to do much better tomorrow!

9;00AM Wake up after 10 hours of much-needed sleep. Sleep quality 7/10.

9:30AM Blueberries and 3 chocolate squares

10:30 Lara Bar

11:00 Eight mile run on the beach! It was a beautiful and amazing day in Huntington Beach!

12:30 Lara Bar

1:45 Apple

4:00 Weight lifting with BCAA's. Got up to 125 on back squats. I could have gone heavier, but my legs were thrashed last week. Didn't want to do that to myself again. And 60# on the overhead press. Why am I alwasy stuck at 60/65#? That's why I keep working on it.

5:30 4 oz chicken, 1 cup veggies, 1/2 marinara. Yummy!

7:30 orange

8:45 Late night cravings. I had my McD's vanilla ice cream cone and a sugar cookie. Why do I do that to myself?

9:00 cooked some ground turkey and made some eggs for tomorrow. Ate some olives, raisins, and raw almonds.

Today i was too busy to write down all my nutrition stats. And I need to go to sleep now!

Let's do better tomorrow! I was sloppy today!

Day 8: Stress + Sleep Deprivation = Poor food choices, agian

2011-02-28T23:05:00.000-08:00

I had about 6.5 hours sleep last night. And on a scale of 1-10, it was about a 4. I just haven't been sleeping so great lately. I think it's just from some stress in my life! :(

4:00AM Wake UP

4;30AM Already off to a non-paleo start. I ate a "Mojo" bar. I think it's made by Cliff bars, with whole food ingredients, but not all grain-free. I also had some baby carrots.

8:00AM 1 egg and 4 egg whites, broccoli, and ketchup (containing HFCS - yuck!)

9:00AM Apple

11:30AM this is about the time of day my lack of quality sleep began to hit me. I ate a salad of romaine and spinach, about 5 cut up strawberries, and some grilled chicken. There was no salsad dressing. I also had some salted, lime-flavored peanuts that I grabbed at the gas station, along with the Mojo bar this morning. Has anyone ever had these? They are yummy!

2:00PM I got a white-meat chicken with veggie bowl at Flame Broiler. No rice. I'm glad that is what I ordered because one of our clients was eating lunch there at Flame Broiler too. Sometimes I'm worried that I'll be ordering something totally unhealthy (well, that's actually unlikely to happen) and get caught by one of our gym members! LOL

3:30PM 5 dates rolled in coconut. I get these at Mother's Market. They make a great "Paleo" dessert. Yes, my lack of sleep had the carb-cravings kicking in.

4:30PM More carb cravings, but totally paleo. I had a Lara Bar, a gluten-free nut ball thing I found at Mother's. And some baby carrots.

8:30PM 4oz. chicken breast and some sweet potatoes

I didn't have time to work out today. I trained 7 clients. And I was sleep-deprived. Stressful days like this make it hard to stick to the diet. At least I get to sleep in tomorrow.

Macronutrient: 1995cals, 149 g. protein, 186 g. carbs, and 60 g. fat.

Day 7: Pork Loin Recipe and battling boredom/carb cravings

2011-02-27T19:26:00.000-08:00

Pork Loin with Peppers, Mushrooms, and Onions - a recipe from Everydaypaleo.com

Sundays are a day of "rest" for me. I sleep in without an alarm, go to church, and spend much of my day relaxing, or getting caught up on other random things around the house. I read. I spend time with friends and family. But I try to take the day easy. It's rejuvenating. It's MY day!

In the past, Sunday's have always been my "cheat" day. When I'm trying to minimize stress in my life, I just find that sitting around the house, I have a tendency to mindlessly eat whatever may be in my cupboard. Today turned out to be no exception! :-/ It wasn't an over-the-top carb bender, but I could have made better food choices. Boredom and anxiety of the upcoming workweek tend to lead to me eating a little more!

So here's how the day went!

8:45AM wake up! I had 9 hours sleep. Quality was about 8/10.

9:30AM Blueberries and 2 dark chocolate squares

11:00AM 2 oz. haddock, 4 pimento-stuffed olives, baby carrots

2:00PM After church, they often hold a "Linger Longer" with food and so people can hang around and socialize. I had a small handfull of tortilla chips (oops! I love tortilla chips.) Then I wised up and got a small bowl of fruit (strawberries, cantaloupe, and mango).

2:15PM On the way home from church, I ate the apple I had sitting in my car. I always like to keep a smart snack like this in my car.

2:45PM Had pork loin with some sauteed veggies (one of my pre-made meals from earlier this week). Pork loin is kind of high in fat and it also has a tougher texture that I'm not used to eating with meat products. I haven't had much pork in my diet since my pre-vegetarian days. I have to say it was quite yummy! I also had some salad (romaine and spinach), chopped roma tomato and some avocado with lo-cal (not paleo) salad dressing. A better option for a Paleo salad dressing would be EVOO and balsamic vinegar or lemon juice.

4:00PM HAVING MAJOR CARB CRAVINGS! I found a packet of that Ocean's Spray Cranberry/Orange oatmeal, and I thought who cares at this point. . . I made it. I ate it. And I was unimpressed. This also reminded me of a good article I read about oatmeal on HealthHabits.ca CLICK ON THE LINK BECAUSE YOU REALLY NEED TO READ THIS ARTICLE!!! I used to LOVE this flavor of oatmeal! Ever since cutting grains out of my diet, I have found I have little cravings for grains! I also ate some delicious strawberries, 4 dark chocolate squares, 1/4 c. raisins, and 2 of my fruit snacks which are supposed to be for long runs! Yeah, this whole meal/large snack seemed unneccsary! Mindless eating. . .

6:30PM Grapefruit and 5 large strawberries

I have a SIXTEEN HOUR WORKDAY TOMORROW! It's good because it will be my busiest, most-profitable day yet. I have 7 amazing clients I am training, but, that will definitely take a lot out of me. I have a few breaks in between clients where I can rest, and get my own workout in. Tomorrow is another strength day! 5x5 back squats and 5x5 bench press. And then some other strength exercises. I might have to put off my run until Tuesday.

Macronutrient breakdown: 1830 calories, 73 g. protein, 265 g. carbs, 72 g. fat

Now, I'm off to prepare a day's worth of food because I will be spending my ENTIRE day from 5AM to 8:30PM at Equinox! It seems like everyone likes to work out on Mondays! Yes! Start the week off strong!

Will write more manana!

Day 6: First long-ish run on Paleo!

2011-02-26T19:24:00.000-08:00

I fell asleep around 10:00PM last night. Throughout the night, I kept waking up to the sound of rain. My thoughts kept on turning to the 10 mile run in the morning with the Equinox Road Running Club, of which I am one of the coaches. We have about 35 runners training for the OC Marathon and Half Marathon, many of whom are relatively new to running. And all week long, I had my eye on the weather forecast, which was for a cold winter storm--REALLY cold for Orange County. They were actually predicting SNOW down to the 500 foot level, which meant snow in the foothills. Our run this morning was in Crystal Cove State Park, so along the coast. We definitely didn't have to worry about snow at sea level, but I really hate running in the cold. I'm such a wimp when it comes to cold!

So when my alarm went off at 6AM, I immediately turned on my computer to check the weather forecast for the morning. Turns out we were SUPER LUCKY! We had a break from the rain from 7AM until 1PM! When our group started off on our run, the clouds were breaking up and we had some sun. It was cold and windy, but the scenery along the coast was beautiful! It ended up being a great run! Our runners were champs! No one complained (which is something I would do, lol), and I had the chance to run with and meet some more of our runners. I absolutely love running with these people, and I love coaching!

So, after one week of avoiding grains, legumes, and dairy (except for my 2 Golden Spoon cheats), I was curious to see how I would feel and perform on a long-ish run. I had a fruit snack at the 8 mile mark, which was made of different fruit purees. Paleo? Probably not. Rather than carrying Gu's or Jelly Belly Sport Beans, I want to try to fuel myself with whole foods. So the fruit snack probably wasn't the best choice. I want to try more things like dates and bananas. The problem is figuring out how to carry them. The fruit snack fit into the pocket on my handheld water bottle. Does anyone reading this have any suggestions? A waist pack is out of the question. I felt great throughout the entire 10 mile run, except for the cold headwind.

So, here's how my day went. I decided to go for Cheat #3 today, since I had that 10 mile run. I was definitely hungrier today too. But at the end of the day, my calorie intake was still about 1,800. I'm trying to figure out how much more I should be eating when I work out more. I try to listen to my body and eat to satiety, which is what is recommended in the Paleo Solution book. When you are eating lots of fruits and veggies and lean proteins, it feels like you are eating all the time and eating lots of food, but it's not the most calorically-dense.

6:00AM Wake up. Eight hours of sleep, but sleep quality was about 6/10.

6:30AM Blueberries, imitation crab meat, 1 dark chocolate square

7:30AM 10 mile run, with a little fruit snack thing at mile 8

9:30AM Banana and Heed electrolyte drink

10:45AM 1 egg and 4 egg whites, sweet potatoes

11:30AM apple

4:00PM ground turkey, spaghetti squash, marinara sauce, baby carrots

5:00PM CHEAT#3 Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt (8oz)

6:30PM Salad (romaine lettuce, 1/2 roma tomato, 1/4 avocado, 4 oz haddock fish), lo-cal salad dressing, 2 dark chocolate squares, 5 strawberries

Macronutrient breakdown: 1810 calories, 91 g. protein, 296 g. carbs, 41 g. fat.

After one week, I don't feel any leaner. I don't like to weigh myself, since the number on the scale does not accurately reflect body composition. But it's only been a week and I am feeling really good! I could definitely use a good night's sleep though!

Day 5: Sleep Deprivation can ruin your diet!

2011-02-25T21:03:00.000-08:00

Woke up at 4:00AM. Didn't sleep well last night so I probably had 4 hours sleep total. Not a good way to start the day. :-/

4:30AM raisins and raw almonds
8:00AM 1 egg and 4 egg whites with 4oz sweet potatoes, and more raisins and about 1T raw sunflower seeds
8:45 10 minutes cardio, single leg lying hamstring curls, lateral tube walks, high bar rows, bicep curls and lateral delt raises
9:20AM apple
9:30AM 1 hour yoga
10:30AM narrow grip lat pulldowns, rear delt flys, DB Bench Press, foam rolling, stretching
11:30AM Salad made with Romaine, 1 chopped roma tomato, 1/4 avocado, and 4 oz chicken with balsamic vinegar salad dressing
2:30PM spaghetti squash, 4 oz ground turkey, 1/2 c. marinara
4:00PM CHEAT #2: Small Golden Spoon. I met up with my friend Megan. I feel like my lack of sleep and long workday and workout left me feeling major carb cravings!
7:30PM 6 oz blueberries, 8 strawberries, 4 egg whites with chopped onion, 4 dark chocolate squares! and some more raw almonds and some pimento-stuffed olives.

Oh no, I'm kinda binging! I've noticed I tend to overeat when I am super exhausted. My body actually may need the extra nutrients. My workout today sucked since I was feeling smoked from everything else I've done this week. Well, I'm going to be early to try and remedy that. I have a 10 mile run and another long work day tomorrow! Time to regain control! I have my premade meals for tomorrow all ready in the fridge for tomorrow.

Random: I've never seen gas prices this high! Seriously. . . $3.75/gallon for regular unleaded, sheesh. And it's cold and raining and predicting SNOW tomorrow morning in the foothills of Orange County. Yes, bring on the long pavement run in the rain/wind/cold. (Sarcasm).

Lights out!

Day 4: How to cook spaghetti squash!

2011-02-24T21:48:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I'll be eating lunch at work and my co-workers will look over my shoulder and ask, "What's that? Spaghetti?" And I'm like H NO! I wouldn't eat that fake, processed, made-from-enriched-bleached flour "food". Long before the whole high-protein, low-carb diets became the latest craze, I just was never a big pasta fan. I mean, it's good, but I always thought it tasted plain and was unexciting. So when I go out to an Italian restaurant, I usually look for any non-pasta dishes. However, I must say I LOVE garlic bread. . . but I digress.

So. . . SPAGHETTI SQUASH! It is FAR healthier for you than regular spaghetti. Click here for the nutrition facts in 1 cup cooked regular spaghetti, and then compare it to 1 cup cooked spaghetti squash. It's a vegetable, and not pasta. When I tell my co-workers what I'm eating, they usually ask how to make it. It's easy! So here's how!

BEFORE (left) and AFTER (right) cleaning out the insides of the spaghetti squash.

Step 1: Wash the outside of the spaghetti squash, and then use a butcher knife to cut it in half. Then cut each half so you have quarters. The insides will have some seeds and stringy stuff. It reminds me of cutting jack-o-lanterns. And just like with pumpkin (another squash), you have to scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff. So I take a spoon and hold each quarter over the trash can and scrape it all into the trash.

Step 2: Take the cleaned-out quarters and place them in a large pot with a vegetable steamer and lots of water in the bottom. Bring the water to a boil with a lid on the pot. One thing to watch out for: Spaghetti squash takes longer to steam than other vegetables, so make sure to check periodically to make sure the water in the bottom is not boiling completely away. (I once burned a pan and ruined a steamer while my spaghetti squash was undercooked and scorched! Grrrr!)

Step 3: Check the spaghetti squash with a fork to see if the strands start to pull away from the rind. I find this usually takes 7-10 minutes with the water boiling.

Step 4: Remove the spaghetti squash and set them on a plate to cool off. Cooling off takes about 15 minutes.

Step 5: This is the FUN part! Take a fork and start to scrape the spaghetti squash "noodles" out of the rinds. If you cooked the squash thoroughly enough, it should come out completely and easily!
This was the "noodles" I pulled from 1/4 of the spaghetti squash.

There are different ways to eat it. You can eat it with some butter and salt and pepper. I like to eat it with ground turkey and marinara sauce, just like regular spaghetti! I'm sure there are plenty of other good and much more creative ways to eat spaghetti squash, but I'm too lazy to make anything fancier! LOL But I would like to try something new eventually.

Here I have portioned out 3 meals - 1 cup spaghetti squash, 4 oz ground turkey, with 1/2 c. marinara sauce. Yum! About 240 calories and totally filling!

So here's how the day went!

4:00AM Wake up after about 6.5 hours sleep.

4:30AM raw almonds and raisins

5:00AM Six miles of trail running! In the dark! With a headlamp! It has been at least 2 months since I got up before dawn to run trails. It was my friend Jeff, and I. Our buddy rePete was supposed to join, but apparently had alarm clock issues. We ran into a few other crazies out running as well. My legs were smoked from some earlier workouts this week, so it was a struggle. I'm afraid I whined too much this morning! LOL

6:15AM apple

7:15AM 1 egg and 4 egg whites with some sweet potato

8:30AM raisins, raw almonds, baby carrots

9:00AM Spin Class with HEED in my water bottle (ok, so Heed is not Paleo, but whatever)

10:15AM Grapefruit

11:30AM Pork Loin with some veggies (bell pepper, garlic, mushrooms, onion)

12:00PM 2 1/2 Hour Nap (I really needed that!)

3:30PM Well, I'm allowed 3 cheats a week. . . so I decided to indulge in a small frozen yogurt from Golden Spoon! Sooooo good! But didn't sit so well in my stomach for the next couple hours. It's funny to see how the body reacts when you really clean up your diet. I used to eat Golden Spoon, literally every day. . . sometimes twice a day!

7:00PM chicken breast with broccoli, blueberries

9:00PM Dark chocolate square 88% (yes it's very bitter, but still chocolate-y!) and 8 fresh strawberries!

Macronutrient breakdown: 2065 calories, 120 g. protein, 261 carbs, 61 g. fat

So I definitely ate more today. I think my body really needed it. I could have done without that frozen yogurt, since it's mostly sugar. Overall, right now, I'm feeling pretty good! Now I have to go to sleep since I have a long work day tomorrow!

Day 3: A cooking frenzy!

2011-02-23T13:46:00.000-08:00

About 2-3 times a week, I have cook all my meals for the next few days. Here I have some veggies sauteeing on the upper left. Upper right I'm cooking up some lean ground turkey. And in the front pot is spaghetti squash!

So I woke up today feeling great! I got 7.5 hours sleep last night and slept like a baby!

8:00AM Woke up.

8:30 AM 1/4 c. dried apple, raw almonds

9:00AM One hour spin class

10:45AM raw almonds

11:30 1 egg and 2 egg whites with 4 oz imitation crab mixed in, baby carrots

I stopped at Sprout's this morning to buy some more food. On a Paleo diet, and not spending much time at home, you have to plan and prepare your meals ahead of time. Yes, this is very time-consuming. Twice a week, I go into a 1 1/2-2 hour cooking frenzy. . . washing, chopping, cooking, steaming, measuring, and portioning all my food into little Tupperware containers or plastic baggies. That way, in the morning when I head out to work, I can grab a few ready-made meals, throw them in a bag, and then keep them in the fridge at work. Or, during the day, if I come home for a few hours, rather than fishing around in the cupboard for something to eat, and noshing on dried fruit or raw almonds (which are healthy, but calorically dense), I already have some yummy meals ready to toss in the microwave ready to eat in just a few minutes. It's like I'm making my own "convenience foods"!

The time I take out of my day to prepare everything is SO WORTH IT! People say it's expensive to eat healthy. Sure, some healthier options out there (like coconut oil vs. vegetable oil) cost more. But in the long run, planning ahead and preparing your meals at home will save you beaucoup bucks, since you're not grabbing Subway or Flame Broiler, or eating whatever else is in the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.). So, in my mind, it's almost like I'm getting PAID for my time in the kitchen because it is saving me money in the long run!

1:00PM 2 oz chicken breast, 6 oz fresh blueberies, 2 dark chocolate squares

2:30PM 1 Hour weights. Today I did some 5x5 deadlifts and 5x5 overhead press. I got up to 135# in the deadlift (traditional) and failed on my last 65# overhead press. I began arching my back too much and it became more of a push press. (Sigh, I've forever been stuck at 65# and can't get more than that much weight over my head. Oh well, gotta keep on trying!)

3:45PM Branched Chain Amino Acids

5:00PM 1/2 of my spaghetti squash, ground turkey, and marinara sauce dinner

6:00PM 45 Minutes Tread & Shred Class

7:45PM The other 1/2 of spaghetti squash/ground turkey/marinara, more baby carrots, and 2 pimento-stuffed olives!

Macronutrient breakdown: 1194 calories, 73 g. protein, 121 g. carbs, 49 g. fat. I realize this is UNDEREATING and I DO NOT recommend this! Especially for my level of activity. I honestly did not feel that hungry today and when I totalled this up tonight, I was shocked and irritated with myself. Not eating enough will cause your body to start eating into muscle mass. Muscle recovery is slowed down and you risk overtrianing. It can also slow down your metabolism as your body can go into starvation mode. I do have some rice protein powder and might make a little protein shake with some frozen blueberries before I go to bed, but I hate eating anything this close to bedtime because when I have food in my stomach, it is sometimes hard to sleep.

9:30PM LIGHT'S OUT! Got an early morning trail run tomorrow! El Moro rocks my world!

Paleo Challenge: Day 2

2011-02-22T23:41:00.000-08:00

7:00AM Wake up. Got 8 hours of sleep and felt great!
8:00AM raw almonds, 1/4c. raisins, 5 egg whites with chopped onion, cooked in coconut oil, and 1/4 avocado
9:30AM apple
10:30AM Ran 3 miles to the HB pier and back with my friend Sarah. Then we did a metabolic conditioning circuit of 25 KB swings, 25 pushups, and 25 Ab-mat situps for 3 rounds. Awesome!
12:00PM A big salad of romaine lettuce with 4 oz chicken breast and cilantro salad dressing.
3:00PM Banana, 1 88% Dark Chocolate square, and 2 scrambled eggs
6:30 PM Raw almonds, 1/4 c. raisins, 4 oz chicken, and 1 c. broccoli

Macronutrient breakdown: 1465 calories, 103 g. protein, 153 g. carbs, and 53 g. fat

So, 2 days into the "challenge", I feel good. But I'm sure I could still be eating more. Especially since tomorrow is going to be a big workout day...And I also need to find some good Paleo recipes since I am getting bored of eating the same foods! (I've been eating a lot of this stuff for the last month already!)

Paleo Challenge: Day 1

2011-02-21T22:49:00.000-08:00

5:00AM Wake up. I went to bed at 10:00PM. I fell asleep right away, but didn't feel the most refreshed when my alarm went off.
7:00AM Turkey burger patty, 4 oz sweet potatoes, 10 strawberries (I do a lot of dinner for breakfast due to convenience or whatever).
9:00AM Apple
9:20AM 8 mile run at the Back Bay
10:45AM Grapefruit
12:00PM 16 raw almonds, dried apple, 6 oz blueberries
12:45 PM Started my first day of my new workout program. I wrote a new 6-week strength-training program for myself. I want to increase my strength in all these lifts (front squat, back squat, overhead squat, deadlift, and bench press). I realize that my training for the OC Marathon on May 1st may interfere with me achieving greatest strength. However, all of these lifts plus some other strength work I have programmed into my routine will help increase core strength which will help me as a runner. My ultimate goal is to be a great runner, so I am willing let any potential strength gains take a hit.
Side note: I did mostly legs day. I did 115# front squat and a 90# barbell bench press! Woo hoo!
1:45PM 4 oz chicken breast, 4 oz sweeet potatoes, 1c. mixed veggies
4:00PM 16 raw almonds, 1/4 c. rasins
6:00PM 1 egg + 4 egg whites, 1 c. broccoli
8:30PM apple, 1 88% dark chocolate square

Macronutrient breakdown: 1640 calories, 96 g. protein, 224 g. carbohydrates, 40 g. fat

I definitely should have eaten more today. I had a super busy day at work and didn't bring enough food with me. There were Girl Scout cookies in the break room. It wasn't even a temptation, probably because I am committed to the next 60 days. You would think that by working in a gym with some amazingly fit personal trainers that such treats could be avoided in the break room, but. . . no.

Something else worth mentioning. . . today's diet is typical of what I have beeen eating. Going forward, I would like to experiment with different recipes to add variety to my diet.

60 Day Paleo Challenge

2011-02-20T18:15:00.000-08:00

While my blog usually discusses running, races, or other adventures, I'm going to do something different for the next two months!

I am about to embark on a new adventure. This "adventure" has to do with how I fuel my body. Nutrition has always been a confusing topic for me. And who wouldn't be confused??? Every week there is a new book on how to "lose weight and keep it off forever!" Or, some crazy fad diet where you supposedly can eat Twinkies every day and still lose weight. Of course, there's the tried and true "calories in vs. calories out" mantra we've been hearing for years. . . but what exactly are those "calories in" supposed to be? If your daily diet consisted of 1,800 calories from prepackaged, processed, junk food, my guess is you would look and feel a lot different than if your diet was 1,800 calories of lean proteins, fresh fruits and veggies, raw nuts and seeds.

My interest is not just in changing my body composition or achieving a certain look. I also want to improve the way my body performs. I want to perform better when I am out running or lifting weights. I want to recover faster. I want to sleep better. I just want to feel better overall!

So my quest to find the best way to fuel my body began when I was 18 years old. I became a vegetarian. I was a lacto-ovo vegetarian for 5 years. Growing up, I was never a big meat eater. I only ate it because it was one of the 4 main food groups--meat, grains, dairy, and fruits/vegetables! (Remember the old food pyramid?) I remember there were a bunch of kids in my high school who were vegetarians. It was kind of a cool and trendy thing to do. I read a book on vegetarianism and one day just quit eating meat. I didn't miss it. I lost 5 pounds within that first month that I quit eating meat! It was easy.

Most vegetarians don't really eat all that healthy anyway. They get
too many carbs and have poor muscle tone.

After 5 years of consuming no meat, I gradually started eating fish, and then some chicken. I can't even really remember why I began eating chicken and fish. I guess I felt that my body needed more protein. This was while I was in college. I remember deciding to get at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables in my diet every day, a habit that my body quickly adapted to and something that I easily continue to do to this day. My body loves fresh fruits and veggies!

When I was training at CrossFit Marina back in 2009, I heard a lot of buzz about the Zone diet and the Paleo diet. If you have ever set foot in a CrossFit gym, you will know that those athletes are deeply concerned about elite fitness! They are concerned about the best way to work out, the best way to lift weights, the best way to run, the best way to achieve body fat loss and lean muscle gain, AND the best way to feed the machine! Both Barry Sears and Robb Wolf were frequently touring different gyms and giving seminars on the Zone (Sears) or Paleo (Wolf) diets. I never attended one of these certs, but learned a lot from some of the trainers and fellow Crossfitters about what to eat. I'm not going to go into the details right now about these two diets. But what I'll say is the Paleo diet sounded too extreme, cutting out all grains, dairy, and legumes. However, the Zone diet sounded more reasonable and more doable, so I tried it and found it really hard to stick to. And the whole "block" system was too complicated and more than I cared to learn about.

I wish that was me running in this pic!

So over the past few years, I've had quite the epic exercise routine. I've been busy with lots of running, strength training, CrossFit, yoga, spin class, and some crazy, long hikes. I have fueled myself with a mostly non-processed foods diet. Common staples include: oatmeal, apples, grapefruit, spaghetti squash, eggs, egg whites, raw almonds, blueberries, strawberries, green smoothies (kale, collard greens, swiss chard, spinach, celery, ground flax seeds, rice protein powder, apples), salmon, mahi mahi, chicken breast, salads, tomatoes, string cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, and protein bars. My favorite "junk" foods that frequently found their way into my diet include: tortilla chips, protein bars, frozen yogurt, chocolate chip cookies, and diet sodas and diet energy drinks.

Mmmmm! So yummy, but sends insulin levels thru the roof!

I know I haven't been a perfectionist with my diet, but I had found a way of eating that helped me maintain a super active lifestyle. But something that always bothered me is that I was never able to achieve as lean a look as I wanted. And I always craved caffeine (diet sodas) and sugary treats (froyo and baked goodies).

When I was getting ready to make a road trip to San Francisco last December for the NFEC 50K, I was browsing around iTunes for a new podcast to listen to when I stumbled across the Paleo Solution podcast by Robb Wolf. I downloaded that and a couple other podcasts that sounded interesting. The Paleo Solution was the first podcast I played and I ended up listening to that podcast for the entire 7 hours to, and the entire 7 hours from San Fran. I was hooked! Robb Wolf and Andy Deas are interesting and entertaining. I learned a lot about the reasons why humans should be eating this way. Their "6 listeners" write in with questions about nutrition and exercise programming. I was definitely intrigued.

I continued to listen to the podcast, and in January, I cut out all grains and dairy. I allowed myself to have cheat meals on the weekend and have my favorite frozen yogurt. But the aftermath of those cheat meals was much like having a "food hangover!" It is really interesting to see, when you eat super clean, how the body reacts to dairy, wheat, and sugars. I have come to the conclusion that many of us have some level of lactose- and gluten-intolerance. So I have kind of played around with a "Paleo-esque" kind of diet this last month. I really notice a huge difference when I am following strict Paleo after a few days. I keep thinking, "Wow, I wish I could feel this good ALL the time!" Just a brief, and stint on this eating plan was enough for me to realize that there is something to it.

Probably one of the most entertaining books on eating like a caveman!

So. . . the whole reason for this post! I have decided I am going to go on a strict Paleo diet for the next 60 days. There are several books out there with slight variations on what is and is not allowed to eat on this diet. I am going to stick to the recommendations by Robb Wolf in his podcast and his recent bestseller "The Paleo Solution." Every day I am going to log my food and my workouts into this blog. I am going to try out recipes and post them here. I will also write about the Paleo diet and discuss A LOT more why I am doing this.

Here is the plan: lean meat (chicken, turkey, fish, pork), eggs, vegetables, berries, raw nuts and seeds, and some fruit. Just so I am not a complete weirdo, I will allow myself to have 3 "cheats" per week. Cheats are limited to the following: one meal (like when I go out to eat with friends), one frozen yogurt with no toppings except for berries, or 2 cookies (because I love cookies!) From previous experience, I might not even take advantage of the cheats because of the aftermath pretty much makes me feel like death.

I am SO looking forward to looking, feeling, and performing better. Now, I'm off to sleep in my pitch-black room! Will write more manana!

Update

2010-11-21T14:29:00.000-08:00

I've had a couple people call me out on not blogging much this year. Haha, I didn't even know anyone read this! I mean, there are so many great bloggers out there and so many amazing athletes who have much more interesting experiences to blog about!

Well, I'm going to recap my races of 2010, so here it goes!

Race #1 - February 6, 2010 - WTRS 18K

This was part of Baz's Winter Trail Run Series. It seems like whenever I run these races, it is raining! But it made for some muddy fun times. I carpooled with Molly, Dorene, Annie, and Eric to Blue Jay off Ortega Hwy in South Orange County. The race was 10.6 miles up the San Juan Trail which is a rocky, technical trail and has some steep sections. They're not exactly the most runnable trails, and when it rains, the trails turn into rivers! I slipped and fell at one point. I could feel the sting on my leg, but I got up and kept running for a while. When another runner caught up to me he asked, "Did you fall?" I finally looked down, I realized my leg was covered in blood and it was also running down the back of my leg!
It may look bad, but I just skinned my leg. There were no deep cuts, and I didn't hurt anywhere else from falling. So I kept running and crossed the finish line in 2:21:44, covered in mud and blood, but with a big smile on my face. I was having a blast! :)

It was fun to run that race with my good friend, Dorene. She has been running road marathons for several years, and I recommended the Winter Trail Series as a good way to get into trail running. I remember being concerned about her during the race, and wondering if she was having any fun. It was cold, windy, raining, muddy, etc. And I imagine some people might not enjoy running in such conditions. But Dorene finished just a few minutes after me, so I got to see her cross the finish line, and she also had a big smile on her face! It takes a certain kind of person to "enjoy" running in these kind of conditions! So, I was glad she had fun. She's been running lots of trails this year, and will soon do her first 50K in December--the North Face 50K. And I'm running it too!

As we left Blue Jay, we heard that the storm closed down Ortega Hwy, so we had to go the other direction towards Lake Elsinore. As the storm began to clear up, I took this amazing picture of a rainbow as we came down the mountain!

Southern California is such an amazing place!!!

Race #2 - March 21, 2010 - LA Marathon

This year, the LA Marathon had a new racecourse, which they called the "Stadium to Sea." It started at Dodger Stadium, went through some of the more tourist-y areas of Los Angeles, and then finished at the Santa Monica Pier. Last year, the LA Marathon is where I PR'ed, breaking four hours. But this year, I'm not as well-trained, so my race day strategy was just to enjoy the race!

Molly, Eric, and I at the starting line--and promoting the upcoming Whoo's In El Moro 50K.

As I mentioned in my LA Marathon post for last year, I love the city of LA. I went to school up there, so I lived there for a few years. It was fun to run through some of my old stomping grounds. But I have to say my true love is running on the trails. 26.2 miles of pavement hurts! And there are so many people running. . .

I think there is something like 20,000 runners in the LA Marathon, while a trail race usually has about 50-100 runners, depending on the race. I like the more low-key feel of trail races. I finished the LA Marathon in about 4:31:58, which makes it my 3rd fastest marathon. Not bad for just "taking it easy!"

Race #3 - May 2, 2010 - OC Marathon

After running the LA Marathon, I told myself, "Okay, no more road races! Stick to trails!" Less than a week later, I was at South Coast Plaza and saw a booth for the OC Marathon. I was just curious, so I went over to check it out. Before I knew it, I was filling out an application and swiping my credit card!

So on the morning of May 2, I met up with a couple other friends who were running OC. I have to say, I really do enjoy this racecourse. It was my 2nd year running it. Again, I hadn't been hardcore marathon training, so like the LA Marathon, I decided to just "take it easy." I finished in 4:43:19. I mean, I was really taking my time. Around mile 21, I was stopping in the grass on the side to sit down and stretch. I felt fine. I just wasn't in any hurry. I actually had another race on my mind. . . Whoo's In El Moro 50K, which was just two weeks later. I didn't want to run OC Marathon too hard. Something interesting I'm finding the more I do these long-distance races is I no longer hit that "wall". My body seems to be getting used to these distances. And I'm sure it also helps when I'm not pressuring myself to finish within some time goal.

Race #4 - May 15, 2010 - Whoo's In El Moro 50K

I have been running with Molly (and the Dawn Patrol) for a couple of years now. We frequently do early morning trail runs in El Moro together. So when Molly decided she wanted to put on a 50K in El Moro, I was so excited!!! El Moro is one of my favorite places to run!

Here we are at the starting line, with Molly giving directions for the race. She did a great job with her first race as a Race Director! The aid stations were very well-stocked and well-staffed. The race T-shirts and medals were really cool. And TK Burger was served at the finish line. I saw a lot of my good friends out there. Overall the race was well-organized and I enjoyed every minute of it! And, I also PR'ed in the 50K with a time of 6:34:00. Sweet! And the weather that day was perfect too--overcast and 60's. Overall, a first-class race!

Me, Greg, and Pam at the starting line of WEIM 50K.

My next race is going to be in two weeks from now, the North Face 50K in San Francisco. A bunch of us are going up there to run: me, Dorene, Molly, Pam, Annie, and Shannon who is running her first 50 miler up there!

Over the next month, I'm also going to update on a few other things I did this year, like El Morothon 3, Havasupai, helping out at Los Pinos 50K and also hiking San Jacinto, San Gorgonio, and Mt. Baldy all in one weekend!

Runner Too Cool To Say Hi

2010-04-29T22:18:00.000-07:00

Christmas and Running

2009-12-25T11:25:00.000-08:00

Dawn Patrol Christmas Eve run

Rachel, Jody, rePete, Molly, me (red shirt and giraffe sleeves),
Shannon, Skip, E-Rod, Jeff S., and Lisa

What would I ever do without this crazy bunch! This picture was taken yesterday morning, on our Christmas Eve run in El Moro/Laguna Wilderness. I haven't been out much on the running scene since the Mt. Disappointment 50K in August, hence the lack of updates on my blog. While I love running, in and of itself, it was the people I run with that I missed the most.

So, here's what I've been up to the last few months!

MT. DISAPPOINTMENT 50K: I took a little break from running. It started with a muscle strain in my left quad that I incurred from my 50K PR at Mt. Dis. But, it was almost worth it. I had a great race! I felt fantastic and full of energy for the first 26 miles of the race, and then there was that insane 5 mile hill to the finish at the top of Mt. Wilson. It was such a great race and I finished with a 6:40. The runner's high lasted for a couple days, but the muscle strain took much longer to heal.

My only picture from Mt. Disappointment...Sadly these hills burnt to a crisp one month later in the massive Station fire in the Angeles National Forest. AC100 had to be canceled and rumor has it that both AC100 and Mt. Disappointment 50/50 will be canceled in 2010.

SEARCH FOR A LOST FRIEND/RUNNER: I got to go back out on the trails on Wednesday, September 23. But, it was for a very unfortunate occasion. Friend and fellow ultrarunner, Gina Natera and her brother-in-law went trail running on Sunday morning, September 20. Most of us found out Gina was missing on Tuesday afternoon. I found out on the SoCal Trail Headz private website. Shortly after, my Facebook feed was abuzz with updates and pleas for help in finding them. Later that evening, we had a conference call with about 25 ultrarunners from the area. The mood on the call was somber, as we were all deeply concerned. The search and rescue volunteers needed help combing the trails of the Cleveland National Forest, so the next day, many of us rearranged our schedules to go to Lazy W and Blue Jay look for them.

Friend, Mike K., EKP, @anaginghipster Jeff, @aquadump rePete, and Shannon on Los Pinos. We could smile again after we received word Gina and her brother-in-law were found safe!

I went with a group up the gnarly Los Pinos trail. By early afternoon, we saw a helicopter hovering over a certain spot in the distance for a little while and then it took off. Shortly after, we got a phone call that she was found and being taken to the hospital. She has since recovered and, of course, is back to running. Her brother-in-law was found earlier that morning and he was also fine. It was a miracle she was found alive. She had been without food or water for 3 days and the temperatures were in the 90s and 100s, with almost zero humidity in the air.

STRESS FRACTURE: While Gina won her battle against Mother Nature that day, I lost mine. That day was the first pain-free run I had since Mt. Dis. After we had word she was found alive, we were happily celebrating by running all the way back to the command post at Lazy W. The Los Pinos trail is covered with loose rocks and I took one little bad step. I felt a pinch in my foot, but it didn't really hurt. I kept on running, and ran a few more times after that day. But that pinch developed into a very painful stress fracture. So in October, I began to take more time off my running.

BONE SPUR SURGERY: When I saw my podiatrist for the stress fracture, I asked her why my foot sometimes tingled on the inside near my big toe. She pointed to a painless bony bump on the top of my foot and said it was a bone spur (saddle bone deformity) that was pinching the nerve and it would have to eventually be removed. It wasn't anything urgent that had to be done right away, but I decided to kill two birds with one stone and have the surgery done while I was taking time off anyway.

This is what my foot looked like when I went to the doctor's office one week after surgery.

I had the surgery at the end of October, and it went really well. There were no complications, and I didn't even need my pain meds. But my foot was wrapped up in stitches and bandages for TWO WEEKS and I couldn't get them wet, which, of course, meant NO EXERCISE! Aaargh! Now I think I have some kind of idea of what it's like to go through heroin withdrawals. (Well, maybe not that bad, but it really sucked.) I began doing situps and pushups and anything I could do, but without breaking a sweat, just trying to get my heart rate up. It was really sad! During those two weeks, I would wake up in the morning, starting to feel like Bill Murray in "Groundhog Day". I was very limited with what I could do. I had to stay off my feet as much as possible, icing my ankle, just above the bandages, foot elevated, watching television ALL DAY.

This is how I spent two weeks of my life.

MAKING A COMEBACK: Now, don't tell my doctor this, but the day I got my stitches out, I thought, "Finally! I'm going to do something low-impact! I'm going to hot yoga!" Ummmm, big mistake. Apparently that was a little too much excitement for my poor little foot. In hindsight, yeah, what was I thinking??? "Hey, Michelle, your foot was cut open TWO WEEKS AGO and a chunk of bone was removed with a hammer and a chisel!!! Don't you think you should take it easy?!?" Then, the very next morning, being a stubborn fool, I went to Crossfit. Wearing shoes was a bit uncomfortable since my foot was still swollen, and the surgical site was somewhat of an open wound. It's a good thing they actually encourage you to take your shoes off when you Crossfit. But I still had to majorly modify my workout. It has now been about 5 weeks since getting my stitches out. Every day, I've been able to increase my exercise load. Every day, I can lace my left shoe a little tighter, and now I'm starting to run again! Yipee!

HELLO AND GOOD-BYE: So, my first trail run back with the Dawn Patrol, about two weeks ago, I met up with Jeff and Beiyi. It was so exciting to be running with them again. But within the first mile, I had to break the news. I'm moving to Phoenix in January! Yes, I'm back to running, but I'm leaving! Amidst all the craziness the past few months, I also left my job in pharmaceutical sales with a nice severance package. I've lived most of my life in Southern California, and now I just want to try something new! I have a place to live out there. I have a few friends and family there. I don't have anything tying me down here, so why not get up and live someplace new? Saying good-bye to all my friends here does not feel like it will be forever. My parents still live in Orange County and there are so many great trail races here in SoCal, so I know I'll be back to run with the Dawn Patrol and the Trail Headz whenever I'm visiting. Plus, there are some great races in Arizona which a lot of my friends travel to run. I'm already making plans to meet up with some of my SoCal friends for Zane Grey, Old Pueblo, a Grand Canyon Rim2Rim2Rim, and, of course, there's Javelina 100.

One of the things that makes me saddest in life is when people come and go, but my family will always be here and I know I'll be seeing a lot of my running friends throughout the years. I consider my running friends to be my second family, a group of lifelong friends. And here's one of my favorite Dawn Patrol pictures taken after our St. Patty's Day run earlier this year!

Okay, well it came out kinda blurry, but here's E-Rod, Alexa, Molly, me, Corrinne, Jeff S. (behind Corrinne), Pete (Mr. Dawn Patrol, himself), (and rePete crouching down behind Pete), and Cyrus

Western States 100 - A Crew Perspective

2009-06-30T17:49:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had the experience of a lifetime! I got to go to the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run to crew for my friend, Lori. I first heard about this race about 4 years ago, shortly after I ran my first marathon. I wasn't even a trail runner at the time. But something really intrigued me about running Western States, and ANY ultramarathon, for that matter. Ever since I heard about WS100, I have been hooked on the idea of running it myself one day!

So when I heard about the possibility to crew at this race, I immediately jumped on the chance! I've known Lori for a little over a year, through the SoCal Trail Headz, our local trail/ultrarunning club. Not only would I get to help out someone I really admire and respect, but I would get to be a part of this legendary race! She said that if I came up to help crew, I could get a feel for the race, and get an idea of how to organize my crew for when I do the race! So I said, why not? I'd be an idiot to turn this opportunity down!
The plan was for me, Lori's sister-Lisa, and Lori's niece-Karen to crew, and Lori's brother Craig, was to be her pacer for the last 38 miles of the race. Now I had never met Lori's family before. As soon as I arrived at the cabin, and met Lisa and Craig, I could immediately tell why Lori was such a cool person! And then I also met Lori's husband, Bob, son Trevor, and niece Karen. They were all great people! Lori's family treated me like family, and I had a blast hanging out with them all weekend!

Me, Lori, and Lisa at the starting line! The race started at 5:00 AM the next morning!

On Friday, we went to Squaw Valley for race check-in. That's where Lori picked up all her race swag--Montrail backpack, race shirt, Polartec fleece, WS100 hat, and a hemp shirt. These hundred mile races always have really nice gear for the runners!

After that she had to do some basic medical screening. They took her weight, blood pressure, and heart rate. At various checkpoints throughout the race, race officials will check these again to make sure the runners are not gaining/losing too much weight, etc. If they are more than 5% off their starting weight, they could be pulled from the race. After she finished checking in, we grabbed lunch and then headed over to the pre-race briefing. There were so many well-known trail runners there! It was kind of like a Who's Who of Ultrarunning!

The meeting was kicked off by Tim Twietmeyer, of all people! He is the only person to have 25 sub-24 hour finishes of this race! Currently he is serving as the president of the Western States Endurance Run Foundation. Once the runners were briefed, and the meeting was over, we headed back over to the cabin.
Now I have to say, you know you're at a runner's house when their bookshelves are lined with books about running, and the magazines on the side table are Ultrarunning Magazine and Trail Runner Magazine.

Hey! I have some of those books!

Hey! I subscribe to those same magazines! (And I have the same Ikea side table, too.)

Lori has talked to me about her brother before, and how he was a two-time WS100 finisher. He has also ran over 60 ultras! With all his experience in long races, Lori was so lucky to have her big brother pace her for the last 38 miles, and on a course with which he was familiar. In his two finishes, he earned both a silver and a bronze belt buckle.

The silver buckle is for a sub 24-hour finish. The bronze buckle is for finishing in 24-30 hours.

So for Lori's pre-race dinner, she wanted pizza. What else do you think a runner would eat the night before running 100 miles??? After dinner, she went with her hubby and son to go stay in a hotel in Squaw Valley at the starting line. Meanwhile, back at the cabn, Lisa, Craig, and I watched the movie, "A Race for the Soul," about the WS100. Then we went to bed. I thought about getting up early and going down to the race start, but decided I would be better off getting a full night's sleep, since I was likely to be pulling an all-nighter the next night. And I wanted to be well-rested so I could be a better crew person for Lori!

In the morning, Lisa and I went to the Robinson Flat (mile 29.7) aid station. We were expecting to see Lori around 12:00. Craig entrusted me with his fancy camera and told me to take lots and lots of pictures! I didn't realize I was going to have so much fun just taking pictures! I took a picture of almost every runner I saw come into the aid station! It was pretty cool! Here are a few of my pictures. . .

Simon Mtuy from Tanzania (We had the pleasure of his company for one of our Dawn Patrol runs last year! He was in the US a few weeks before WS100 '08, which of course, was cancelled due to fires. He is a friend of Sue, of the Trail Headz.)

Tracy Moore. I see him at a lot of races in SoCal.

Nikki Kimball, WS100 First Place Female, 2004, 2006, 2007

Michelle Barton, another talented runner and member of the Trail Headz!

Kyle, another familiar face from a lot of SoCal trail races

Ultramarathon Man, Dean Karnazes

As the runners entered the Robinson Flat aid station, the volunteers took the runners to get weighed, refilled their water bottles, and brought their drop bag to them. The whole idea was to get the runners through the aid station as quick as possible.I was so excited when I finally saw Lori come around the corner! She was all smiles as she was 29.7 miles into the race! I was glad she seemed to be doing good, but said she was getting blisters and needed to change her shoes and socks.

Go Lori Go!

Lori was on a 27 hour pace when she left Robinson Flat. After she left, Lisa and I headed back to the car and went to meet Craig, Karen, Bob, and Trevor at the hotel in Auburn. We hung out there for a while until it was time to meet Lori at Michigan Bluff (mile 55.7).

Lisa and I, and other crew/family/pacers waiting at Michigan Bluff.

When she arrived at Michigan Bluff, she wasn't doing quite as well as she was when we saw her earlier. We expected this, of course, since she had almost doubled her mileage from when we saw her earlier! Basically, her stomach was in knots. She spent very little time in that aid station, and was on her way.

We headed up to Foresthill (mile 62). Craig, Trevor and I hiked down Bath Road to meet Lori. It is one of the few places on the course where crew or anyone can go meet their runner and run part of the course with them.

Trevor kept us all entertained during the hike up Bath Road!

Lori was in and out of Foresthill and off into the night. Lisa, Karen and I then headed over to the Green Gate aid station (mile 79.8). Since I had the camera, I hiked down to the Rucky Chucky river crossing (at the American River). I had a special night lens on the camera and took some really cool pictures of the runners and their pacers crossing the river at night!

Lori and Craig crossing the American River around 2:15 AM.

They had a rope across the river for the runners to hold onto and race volunteers wearing wetsuits stood all night long in the cold water helping runners get across the river without being swept away in the current! I didn't even notice until I saw these pictures that there were green glowsticks in the water too! I sat down at the river crossing for about an hour before I saw them come across!

The look on her face says, "And I PAID to do this!"

So when they finally got across, I quickly packed up the camera and hiked the hill up to the Green Gate aid station with them. She was still having blister problems, but she's pretty much bulletproof. After a quick shoe and sock change at Green Gate, she and Craig were off again.
Lisa, Karen, and I drove up to where we would later meet the shuttle for Highway 49 aid station (mile 93.5). Since we had a little time, we took about an hour nap in the car. Around 5:00 AM, we were awake again and gathering our supplies to head down to the aid station. I was still having fun with the camera, so while we waited, I continued to snap shots of the runners as they came through.

Craig, Lori, Lisa, and Karen at Hwy 49 aid station. With just 6.5 miles to go, she was doing great!

Once Lori and Craig left Hwy 49, we quickly drove over to Placer High School in Auburn--the finish line!
Lori met Bob and Trevor about 1.3 miles from the finish line (Robie Point). This is another section of the course where the runners could run with family members. It was so exciting to see them run into the stadium!

Then she ran around the track and crossed the finish line! Woohoo!

That's her hubby, Bob, in blue. Trevor is running behind her. Such amazing support!

Rock on! Yeah!

I felt pretty emotional as I sat in the stadium watching the runners enter the stadium and finish the race. I cannot even imagine what they endured over the previous 100 miles, but simply looking at their faces, you could almost see the story. This year was a tough year for the race. Temperatures reached 112 in the canyons. A lot of elite runners dropped out of the race. There were 399 starters and 238 finishers.

Lori finished in 28:28:52. She was #157 overall and #14 in her age group. What an amazing accomplishment! Just being there taught me to respect the 100 mile distance. To spend that much time on your feet, you have to really know what you're doing. You have to be properly trained. You have to know your body and what kinds of things could go wrong. You have to know when to eat, what to eat, when to take salt, when to drink water, how much water to drink, proper footwear, etc. When do you walk? When do you run? How do you know when you're pushing yourself to the point of harm? How do you know when your pain is simply fatigue? I feel like I have so much to learn!

I will never forget this weekend. I will never forget this family! I had such a great time and they treated me like I was one of them!
After a 3 hour nap in the hotel, I decided to get on the road. As I drove away, I was thinking, "City of Auburn, peace out. Next time, I hope to arrive on foot!"

Holcomb Valley 33 Mile

2009-06-15T08:25:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went to Big Bear to run the Holcomb Valley 33 Mile race. I ran this last year and loved it! This was actually my first ultra in almost year. Since falling on a trail run and spraining my ankle last summer, it has been a long road back to where I was in my training last year. It's good to be back!

I remember a lot of people having trouble with the altitude last year, but it didn't seem to affect me. However, the last few weeks, I've had a little bit of a sore throat that just won't go away. And early on in the race, I could feel my lungs cramping and burning. It was so uncomfortable. I had to stop a lot while running along some flat sections or even downhill just because it hurt to breathe. It was a little frustrating since my legs felt good and I should have been running those easy sections! Oh well, every race, you have to take what your body will give you!

I love these shoes and Dirty Girl Gaiters!

Here I am at the mile 21 aid station. . . just 12 miles to go!

I remember last year finishing the race and since I drove separately from my friends who were running the shorter 15 mile option, they had all gone home! So last year, I crossed the finish line, grabbed some food and water, and then took off. This year, more of us ran the 33 mile option, and some of those who ran the 15 mile race stayed around at the finish. Seriously, one of the reasons I do these races is so I can spend time with quality people like this bunch!

Just chillin' after the race! Lorraine, Tracy, guy in blue, E-rod, Corrine, Janet, me, and Alexa!

Then something quite unexpected happened. One of the race volunteers came up to me and told me I won a prize. I thought it was a prize from the raffle. Then she said I won 1st place for my age group! Haha! That means there were only a couple of girls in my age group, but I won this beauty. . .

My finishing time was 7:31, which is a new 50K PR for me. It's still not a great time for a 50K, but hey, at least I'm improving, right??? That's all we can ask of ourselves is to give it our personal best, and continually strive for improvement!

I Love LA! (LA Marathon Recap)

2009-05-26T21:51:00.001-07:00

I've always wanted to run the LA Marathon. I've got a soft spot in my heart for Los Angeles. I lived in LA for 5 years and went to UCLA while I was there. Sure, LA is crowded, expensive, has lots of traffic, and some superficial people, but there are also lots of great people, lots of fun things to do, and I just have so many great memories of living there! So, yes, I actually dug up this video. It's really funny! It's so 80's! They played this song at the starting line and it got me all pumped!

Randy Newman- I Love L.A

Usually the LA Marathon is the first Sunday in March, but too many churches along the route have complained that it hurts church attendance when the race is on Sunday, so they moved it to Memorial Day. The risky part in that is the weather could be a little unpredictable--either it could be blazing hot, since it's almost summertime, or, it could overcast with the marine layer and cooler temperatures.
I had a lot of friends who were running the race, but I went to LA the day before with my friends, Lindsay and Kyle, and we stayed at my friend, Leslie's house. Both Lindsay and Kyle were participating in their first marathon! Welcome to the asylum, girls!

Here we are the morning of the race!

Thankfully, the weather worked in our favor. It was overcast with temp's in the 60's for the entire race!

And three weeks after I slashed 18 minutes off my marathon PR. . .
I did it again! (Another 18 minutes!)

3:58:18 !!!

For the longest time, my marathon PR stood at 4:34, which I did at the San Diego Rock N' Roll Marathon in 2005. That was my first marathon. Then I somehow got slower. Three weeks ago, I ran the OC Marathon and got a 4:16. Of course, that was the day after I ran the Palos Verdes Half Marathon. I didn't even run much the last few weeks. I've been doing lots of Crossfit. But then yesterday I went out and ran the LA Marathon in 3:58! I still can't believe I did that!

My goal for the LA Marathon was to beat 4:16. My "lofty" goal was to break the 4-hour mark, which would require me to stay below a 9-minute mile for 26.2 miles. Lately, since I've incorporated Crossfit into my training, I've found my speed has really picked up without any extra effort. I've been running faster, but still at what felt like a comfortable pace. It's been exciting to see my speed finally improve, but I wasn't sure I could maintain that speed for 26.2 miles.

When the race started, I found that within the first few miles, I had settled into an 8:38 pace. I stayed there for the first 11 miles, when I slowed to an 8:42. At the half-way point, I was on pace for a 3:50 marathon which sounded unbelievable to me! At that point, I knew a PR was definitely within my reach, assuming I didn't get hurt or anything.

By mile 16, I was definitely feeling the fatigue. I kept looking at my Garmin 305 and watching my pace continue to slow down. But I could tell that a sub-4:00 finishing time was still within my reach. I kept debating in my mind whether I should go for the sub-4:00 or should I just relax and be satisfied with getting another PR. I have the Holcomb Valley 33-miler in 3 weeks and didn't want to regret pushing myself so hard.

When I reached mile 20, I was just under 3 hours into the race. That meant that as long as I kept my pace below a 10 minute mile, I would get my sub-4:00 finish. That's when I decided I had to do it! I don't have any more marathons planned for a while, since I want to get back to running on trails, so I decided, THE TIME IS NOW!!!

Staying below the 10-minute pace was tough! I had my music playing loudly on my iPod shuffle. I even passed a girl I knew out on the course, but I didn't even say, "Hi," because I totally had my "game face" on! (I don't think she saw me.) With the exception of a giant blister on the arch of my foot, I wasn't in any pain--just fatigued! My focus was entirely on finishing under 4 hours.

Crossing that finish line with a time of 3:58:18 was such a proud moment in running for me! It was kind of hard to process right away, though. I was actually in a total daze from accomplishing my goal, and also because as soon as I stopped running, my legs suddenly felt very weak from pushing myself so hard! My legs kinda felt like Jell-O! I got my medal and some guy wrapped a space blanket around me. But I was completely "out of it" for a minute. Then my eyes suddenly started to burn! Either my sunscreen or sweat started running into my eyes. I tried to get some water from one of the volunteers, and she thought I was crying! Actually, several people asked me if I was okay. I took a few bottles of water and washed my face and then drank as much as I could. I sat down and stretched for a little bit, and then went to go find my some friends who came to watch us finish.

Here I am finding my friends, Leslie and Maren. I look really happy!

So, I thought I would dig up something from January's blog post. . .

RUNNING GOALS FOR 2009:

Run my first 50 miler
PR in the marathon
Get faster!
Stay injury-free
Gain my running confidence back
Do at least 3 other 50K's

So far, it looks like I'm right on track! I've PR'ed in the marathon twice, improved my speed, stayed injury-free (knock on wood), and am definitely getting some confidence back in my running.
What's next? I am doing the Camp Pendleton Mud Run in two weeks, and then my first ultra of the year, Holcomb Valley 33 Mile a week after that. Yes, I think I'm on track for my 2009 running goals!

Chariots of Fire

2009-05-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

Last night, I sat down with a couple other runners and we watched this movie!

Earlier in the day, my friend Kyle and I got inspired to watch a running movie. We drove up to Malibu to run the Xterra Malibu Creek trail race. It was fun! I ran the 22K and she ran the 6K. When we signed up for the race a few weeks ago, I tried to talk her into running the 22K, but she felt that was too far. I kept saying, "Of course you can run 14 miles!" She is also training for the LA Marathon, like me, but she insisted she wanted to run the 6K, which is only 4 miles.
So, on the drive up, she pulled out some running shoes with spikes and asked me if I thought she would need them! I was like, "Um, I don't think so. . . " I don't know anything about running shoes with spikes! I was thinking, this isn't a track meet! I've never seen anyone wear spikes on the trails. That's when I started to realize that while we are both runners, our approach to the sport is very different.
So we get there and my race started at 7:30 and her race started at 8:00. The 22K was so much fun! (Okay, I've never ran a race that wasn't fun, but I digress.) We ran up Bulldog, which is a 2.5 mile climb over about 2,000 feet. This course was almost identical to the Bulldog 25K which was my very first trail race in August 2007. So being out there brought back so many memories!
When I finished my race, I found Kyle near the finish line. She was wearing TWO medals. I asked her what the bigger medal was for, and she told me she won first place female in the 6K! I was so proud of her! Wow! Then she pointed out some of the other elite runners she had met while waiting for me to finish my race. I finally understood why she insisted on running the 6K. And now I hope she will stick to the short distances, since she is obviously very good at it! I'm so glad she had a good time AND won 1st place female. Later in the day, I noticed she had updated her Facebook status: "Kyle is now addicted to trail races!" Yeah!

I've learned that people who consider themselves runners often have very different approaches to the sport. Some people are sprinters. They like to run the short distances, really fast, like 5K's and 10K's. They are constantly working on improving their speed and form. Then there are the long-distance runners who like to run half-marathons, marathons, and ultramarathons. These runners are often putting in the big mileage to improve their endurance. There are street-runners and trail runners. There are casual runners, who get out and run a couple times a week because they know it's good for their health. And there are the more serious runners who constantly have their calendar filled with upcoming races. No matter what type of runner you are, what I think is important is that you get out there and run because you love it! Some people don't like running at all, and that's okay too!

I love the opening scene of this movie and the music. And while it's kinda cheesy, it just makes me think about how much I enjoy being outdoors, running, enjoying nature, and enjoying the way my body feels when I'm running. And that is why I keep looking forward to my next running adventure!

How I Spent My Weekend. . .

2009-05-03T16:27:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 2

Palos Verdes Half Marathon
Time: 2:10

Sunday, May 3

OC Marathon

Time: 4:16:39 - PR!
I slashed my old PR by 18 minutes! And I did that one day after running a half marathon! Sweet!

I feel so lucky to be surrounded by so many talented runners! They inspire me to think big and to have the courage to test my limits! When I ran my first marathon almost 4 years ago, I never imagined this would be possible! My legs felt fresh when I woke up this morning to go run the OC Marathon. I felt really good for most of the race. However, the muscle soreness is starting to settle in! Hahaha! I'm thankful for my foam roller, hot yoga, ice, massive doses of ibuprofen, antioxidants, and sleep!

Old Goats 50 Mile--A Running Party!

2009-04-19T16:37:00.000-07:00

Me, Molly, and Alexa find a patch of snow to cool our bums on the way to Santiago Peak!

This year I volunteered and paced at the Old Goats 50 Mile race. Last year I ran the 50K, but this year there was no 50K option, and since I am not in shape to be running 50 miles, I was more than happy to volunteer! A lot of my friends were running this race, and a lot were volunteering. I love seeing all my running friends, and the only time we get so many of us together is at a big race like this one! That's why it's like a big party! For the local trail running community, it was the place to see and be seen!

Steve Harvey, our amazing race director, giving instructions to the volunteers after the runners started. All the volunteers stepped up to make this race one to remember!

I was at the Bear Springs aid station--mile 34 and 40. I waited up there until Molly came through. This was her 1st 50 mile race, so a few weeks ago, I asked her if she would like someone to run with her for the last part of the race, and she accepted my offer! So I went up and helped set up the aid station and helped the runners as they came through until Molly arrived.
The first runner to arrive at the aid station. Volunteers Pam and Joe.

But before any runners passed through, we had a couple of "race crashers." Okay, they weren't really crashing the race. It was Doug (a.k.a. iDad) and Kirk. It was Doug's birthday and he was turning 70 years young! So for his 70th birthday, he decided he wanted to celebrate by running 70 miles, split up over 3 days! 20 miles on Friday, 30 miles on Saturday, and 20 miles on Sunday. In this picture, Doug is holding up "2" for day 2. I hope I am as young as he is when I turn 70!

And the running gene runs in this family because a short while later, and the first female runner arrived at our aid station, Michelle Barton (Doug's daughter).

As the day went on, the aid station got busier. I saw so many of my good friends and runners who I look up to. There were so many amazing athletes and quality people!

When Greg arrived, he was a tad bit grumpy! A few rocks got the best of him on the rocky stretch between Trabuco and Holy Jim. But hey, just be glad you can still run strong! Bruised and broken ribs heal, buddy! And he just kept running. . .

Yeah, baby, wear it with pride!

LT was there too! He runs ultras just for training. Look for this guy along with Robo and dog, Brandi at the Ragnar Los Angeles relay. They are the only 2-man team running 187 miles from Santa Barbara to Dana Point. They will be raising money for a pet rescue organization. Check out their website and donate today!
http://www.ultrabeasts.com

Lorraine was also there. She's a phenomenal runner. I remember seeing her at races before I ever met her. Instead of running shoes, she wears Crocs! She has a problem with her left Achilles tendon, but found that she could run in a pair of Crocs pain-free!

Finally I saw Molly making the final climb up Holy Jim. It was now time for me to leave my aid station and start running!

As we made the 3 mile climb (1,600') from Bear Springs to the summit, we came across some signs placed along the side of the trail, with interesting sayings like, "Stairway to heaven," and "Your prayers will be answered." This one says, "Angels await you."

In the picture is Alexa and Molly.

Sure enough, at the summit, were E-Rod, Skip, Jenn G., Tracie, and Jean, all dressed in their TrailHeadz shirts and angel wings and halos! I'm sure this was a very welcome sight for many of the runners. Basically, they ran a marathon, and then climbed 4,000' over 8 miles to Santiago Peak (5,687') which is the tallest point on the course and the tallest peak in Orange County. This was the mile 37 aid station and from here, it was a bunch of rolling hills with some "little" peaks the rest of the way down the mountain to the Start/Finish.
And of course, what's an angel without a harp! Jean Ho is amazing! She actually brought a HARP to the peak! And then proceeded to play it all afternoon to provide some serenity to the very tired runners once they made it to the peak. I wonder how many runners thought, "Oh crap! I'm hallucinating! Does anyone else see a girl playing a harp?"

Heading back down the mountain, Molly and I ran into someone we like to call rePete! rePete was also doing his first 50 miler! Gotta love the Dawn Patrol! BTW, Steve Harvey likes matching your bib number to your age. Molly is 38 and Pete is 27. iDad Doug wore number 70, of course!

And so from there, Molly and I had a long 13 mile run back down to the finish line. She is such a trooper. She pulled a quad muscle back at mile 9! And she kept on moving forward. As the race went on, and especially as we ran downhill, the pain in her leg continued to get worse. I did my best to encourage her along, although we spent much of that last stretch walking. We bummed some ibuprofen off another runner. At times, Molly just wanted to listen to her music so we hiked along in silence. There was never a doubt in my mind that she wouldn't finish the race. She was determined! Since we were doing so much walking, the sun began to set and we knew we would be finishing the race in the dark. Thankfully I had my headlamp with me, which I brought just in case. Pretty soon, E-Rod ran up next to us. He was there volunteering at the peak and was going to run with Alexa to the finish, but due to a change in circumstances, he was running on his own. By the time we reached the Trabuco trailhead, it was completely dark. Of the 3 of us, I was the only one with a working headlamp! We had 3 miles to the finish line and it was all rocky fireroad, going down the Main Divide.
Because it was so dark, and the ground was so rocky with only one headlamp to light our way, the three of us found ourselves linked hand in hand, stumbling our way down the Main Divide! We felt like Dorothy, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz saying, "Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my!"

I was so excited for Molly to finish the race, just shy of the cutoff. But who really cares about time? When you say you ran 50 miles, no one says, "Well what was your time?" Who cares??? You ran 50 miles! How many people can even say they ran a marathon? Molly was eager to finish the race since she had her husband and kids and some other family members waiting there for her. One of my favorite moments was when we were coming out of the trees about 100 feet away from the finish line, and I heard a little kid say, "Mommy!" It was sooooo cute! I was so proud of her finishing the race, despite being in so much pain.

Volunteering at a race is always fun. First of all, I love giving back to a sport that is such a big part of my life. If it weren't for the amazing people I run with, I would not be the runner I am today--not that I'm an amazing runner 0r anything. I have so much room to improve. And hopefully before the year 2009 ends, I would like to run my first 50 miler. When you volunteer at a race, you see how challenging it is and when you see so many other people doing it, you realize that with the proper training, it is something you can do too!

Winter Trail Run Series 21K

2009-02-22T09:55:00.000-08:00

I'm finally back to running trail races! Two weeks ago I ran the WTRS 15K which was the first trail race I had done since June. It felt good to pin on a bib number again. And yesterday I ran the WTRS 21K. The WTRS races are on some of the rockiest trails in the area. This is the perfect place to roll an ankle or lose your footing and fall on your knees, face, butt, hands, elbows, etc.
Since recovering from an ankle sprain last summer, I found it was a long, slow road to run confidently again. I was so paranoid of running downhill and falling. When I started running trails again, I would sometimes roll my ankle and feel a sharp pain at the injury site. One day I got this idea to try yoga and see if that helped my ankle. In yoga, I did a lot of ankle strengthening and balancing poses, and it seriously has helped so much! I actually noticed a difference within two weeks of starting! Now, I still sometimes roll my ankle, but it doesn't hurt. I want to get to the point where I don't roll it at all.
The 21K race course starts at Bluejay Campground off Ortega Highway and climbs 2.5 miles up the Main Divide. Then there is a long descent down Trabuco Trail and then a challenging ascent up Horsetheif (one of my favorite trails. . . not). And from there it is rolling hills back to the top of Trabuco and then down the Main Divide to the start/finish line. Trabuco and Horsetheif are just littered with lots of loose rocks. I was anxious to see how I did on some trails that were perfect for falling down. Also, this week, I developed a little outter knee pain. This could be an IT band issue developing. So I was curious to see how my knee would fare.

I'm short on time today and I don't want to bore the 5 people who read my blog (hi, mom!) with the many thoughts that ran through my mind during the race or telling you about all the aches and pains I had. So I will try and sum up the experience in some sort of bulletpoint fashion. This may become a new format for me. Who knows? Well see. . .

WTRS 21K Recap
Weather: Overcast, 50s-60's--Perfect running weather!
My Pace: Slow :)
Knee pain? 3/10. . . Not a sharp pain, but just an annoying, nagging, dull pain.
Ankle rolls = ZERO!
Falls? None! And I flew down Trabuco. I think I'm finally starting to get over my fear of falling and running downhill. It's really all in my head!
Snow report: Along Trabuco and parts of the Main Divide were patches of snow from a storm we had last weekend.
Trail Fashions: I wore my cherry gaiters and giraffe moeben sleeves. Got lots of comments on the sleeves. Giraffe is the hot new animal print, ya know!
Cool People? YES!!!!
Aid stations: Okay, I'm going to spend a little time on this one. These aid stations are set up at various points throughout the race for runners to refill their water bottles, get some sort of electrolyte-enhanced drink, and some food for needed nourishment to continue on. Without people who take time out of their busy schedules to volunteer at these aid stations, none of these races would ever happen. So I want to thank Kirk and Kiera for being at the top of Trabuco, and I also want to thank Beiyi and Rachel for their aid station at the top of Horsetheif! It was so great to see them. I always appreciate the support, and more than anything, stopping to chit chat with the aid station volunteers is always a great boost for the spirits! It's even better when it's people I know! And thank you Annie and Steve for being at the Trabuco/Horsethief intersection so no one would get lost!
RD: Baz. What a character! If you are a guy and he calls you an A-hole or a piece of s***, don't take it personally. That is pretty much how he refers to all members of the male gender.
Trailheadz? In the house! We had Molly, Jeff S., Leon, iDoug, Michelle B., Jon, E-Rod, Jean, Mike B., Lori, Charlie (out of hiding), Jeff W., and LT and I know I missed a few others. But there were lots of red shirts there!

So in summary, it was a great race! Great weather! Great people! I rode with Molly and Jeff S., and driving back home, we were all talking about what a fun time we had! Now I've got another one next week in San Francisco!

2008 Recap and 2009 Goals

2009-01-01T10:32:00.001-08:00

This past year in running definitely had it's ups and downs for me--and I'm not talking about running hills. The first half of 2008 was nothing short of amazing! January started off with running the XTERRA Boney Mountain 21K, followed by Calico 30K one week later. In February, I ran the WTRS 18K, and after some longer training runs, I felt ready to run my first 50K, the Unknown, in March. Then I ran the Old Goats 50K in April, Laguna Hills Half Marathon in May, and then the Holcomb Valley 33 miler in June. I was in the best shape of my life! And I was having a blast! My body was quickly recovering from long runs. Every training run felt great. So I decided to attempt my first 50 miler in August. I signed up for the Mt. Disappointment race, knowing it wasn't the easiest of 50 milers, but I figure it's better to try and fail than to never know what might have happened.
But then, I had to put my dreams on hold. On a training run in July, less than a month before Mt. Disappointment, I was running down a steep, overgrown trail when I stepped in a hole and fell over and sprained my ankle. It was very disappointing. Here I was at a high point in my running career and suddenly my running world came crashing down all around me. I didn't want to aggravate the injury at all and with my doctor's advice, I decided to take a break from running to let it heal completely.
Since then, I've been back at running, but it's taking a little time to get back to where I was before. I've had to back out of several races I was planning to run, due to my taking some time off last summer. In November I started training again and found I was still able to log the same kind of mileage I was prior to my injury. I was hoping to run the Twin Peaks 50K in December, but I think my dropping out of that race was ultimately a lack of confidence.
The first half of this year was truly amazing! I've learned in life that I am happiest when I am on track to achieving my dreams. And up until the day I got injured, I could really feel my dreams starting to become a reality. One day I hope to be doing 50 mile races, 100 mile races, and multi-day races. But, as someone said the other day, "ultrarunning is a microcosm of life." You will inevitably suffer some setbacks, but what is important is that you deal with your challenges, pick yourself back up, and keep pressing forward toward your goal.

And now, here are some things that made this year memorable!

BEST RUN OF 2008: The Unknown ?K--though not an official race, was my first ultra and the first time I ran anything past 26.2 miles--it was in the 31-33 mile range. Other things that made it great: beautiful, non-technical trails south of the Ortega Highway in South Orange County, perfect running weather, amazingly well-stocked and well-staffed aid stations, and the best part of all--meeting, for the first time, a lot of super talented trail runners from our club--the SoCal Trail Headz. Everything about this race was perfect! And the fact that this was my first ultra made the day even better.

HIGH POINT: Finishing the Old Goat's 50K. I wanted to quit so bad, due to having a cold and feeling exhausted from mile 8 on. But thanks to the encouragement of those around me, I was able to finish the race! And as a bonus, I managed to beat the only other girl in my age group for 1st place in the 20-29 year old female age group. Then I turned 30 years old the next day!

LOW POINT: Spraining my ankle. I took nearly 3 months off running to let it heal. I'm so paranoid about re-injury. Even though I am back to running trails, I can tell it's still not the same. Better watch that.

DAWN PATROL: I am so thankful to have a group of friends who help keep me on my training schedule. At least twice a week, we meet at El Moro State Park in Laguna to go for a 8-10 mile training run. We usually start at 5:00 AM, wearing headlamps to find our way. While it is painfully early, it is SO WORTH IT! On these days, I get to watch the sunrise, have panoramic views of the ocean, Catalina Island, Mt. Baldy and the San Gabriels (which are covered in snow right now), Orange County's twin peaks, and all the beautiful city lights below. Best of all, I get to enjoy the company of some great runners like Jeff S., Molly, Mike K., Pete, Natasha, and sometimes more people! Who knew you could have so much fun at 5 AM!

LAGUNA COAST WILDERNESS: The great thing about running in Laguna is we have so many different options starting from the Ridge Park cul-de-sac. You can run down into El Moro Canyon and explore the many trails there. There is the 12 mile Nix Center loop. You can also head down to the 133 and cross the street to get to Aliso and Woods Canyon and just keep on running forever! We never get tired of running there.

RUNNING GOALS FOR 2009:

Run my first 50 miler
PR in the marathon
Get faster!
Stay injury-free
Gain my running confidence back
Do at least 3 other 50K's

Don't try this at home

2008-11-16T08:51:00.000-08:00

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!

Sunrise over Holy Jim

2008-09-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

This morning, I woke up at 3:30 a.m! I know that's really early--or late--depending on your perspective. Every time my alarm goes off that early to go run, my mind immediately bypasses the grogginess and starts thinking of many excuses that I could send my running friends via text message as to why I will DNS.

"All my running clothes are dirty."
"I forgot it was Saturday and started getting ready for work instead."
"I've decided to retire from trail running."
"It's more fun to be a couch potato."
"I think I might be pregnant."
"I need to taper for the 5K tomorrow."
"Pete always brings an attitude, and I don't like it."

It's obvious I'm a horrible liar, so I got out of bed and got ready to go. I met up with Pete, Natasha, Sid, and Cyrus and we carpooled to Rancho Santa Margarita. Our route was up Holy Jim, across the Main Divide, and then down West Horsetheif, for a total of 14 miles. I did this run once before last June with Michael V. and Beiyi, but we included the run to the top of Santiago Peak for a total of 20 miles. It's a beautiful run, with lots of hill climbing, so once I actually got out of bed, I was looking forward to it. Here is a picture from the run in June, with me wearing my Garmin Forerunner 305, showing where I am, and Santiago Peak, which is where I am going. My mom asked me what a Garmin is, so here is a pic. It's kinda blurry, but it shows I've been running for 43 minutes 54 seconds, heart rate is 125, ran 3.01 miles (Santiago peak is 8 miles from the start) and an elevation of 3162 feet.
This morning, we started the run at 5:40 with headlamps, since it was still dark. We kept the headlamps on until about 6:30 when the sun started to extend it's rays over the hills. I stopped and took a few pictures with my Blackberry. I like the way these pictures turned out!

I enjoyed the run, except that I rolled my ankle 4 times! That was so frustrating. The good news is that it is not swollen. The other good news is I can build strength and better balance in my ankle by doing certain exercises and running in the sand barefoot. So at least I can do something about it. It's just going to take some time for my ankle to get strong again. After the 4th ankle roll, I practically tiptoed down West Horsetheif. I was very nervous about falling. That trail has a lot of unfriendly rocks! Despite the weak ankle, I was so glad I got out of bed to run with my friends. It was a good way to start my weekend, and now I'm going to go take a nap!

Making a comeback!

2008-09-08T22:05:00.000-07:00

So it's been 8 weeks since I sprained my ankle. I completely avoided running until about 2 weeks ago. I tried to stay in shape by doing lots of spin classes and lifting weights. I started out with an easy, flat 4 mile run on the bike path along the beach. I was pleased to find that I was in no pain. A couple days later, I ran in the Disneyland 5K, which I signed up for a while back. I took it really easy, wearing an ankle brace. That race was a lot of fun, too!
I did another 4 mile run last week, and then a 5.5 mile trail run at Whiting Ranch on Saturday. The trail run was like the real test, because of the uneven terrain. My ankle felt great the entire run! The rest of me. . . well, that's another story. I felt so out of shape going up and down those hills! I kept thinking about how just two months ago I liked to run no less than 16-24 miles every Saturday. And 1.38 miles into Saturday's run, I looked down at my Garmin wondering if I should turn back! Despite the fact that I struggled a bit with that run, it felt so good to be out on the trails and to be with my running friends again! I missed everybody!
Today I came home from work and ran 8 miles on pavement with no ankle brace, and felt great the entire time! I think I had a big smile on my face the entire last mile because I could tell my ankle is much stronger now. Even though I really have to be careful and ease back into it, I can't wait to get back to my long-distance trail running!

Big Disappointment!

2008-08-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

I should be running 50 miles right now (or at least attempting), but instead, I'm sitting on the couch, watching TV, and have a bag of frozen peas on my ankle.

When I fell down during that crazy run in my previous post, I thought I just tweaked my ankle a little. The next day, it was really swollen. I thought I just needed to ice it for a few days and then on to the Tahoe 50K the next weekend. But when I realized it was an ankle sprain, I knew Tahoe was out of the question. I still remained optimistic about running the Mt. Disappointment 50/50, thinking worst-case scenario I would have to downgrade to the 50K. But I after a couple weeks of not being able to run, I realized that I would have to completely let go of Mt. Disappointment, and that was a BIG disappointment.

Ankle sprains are notorious for coming back to haunt you. It seems like some people who sprain their ankle have the same problem again and again. Other people let it heal and they never have another problem. So I went to a foot and ankle doctor a few days after I injured it to get her opinion. She deals with sports injuries just like what I have. I told her that my biggest fear was not healing properly and then having the same injury repeat itself. She told me I did the right thing by coming to see her. She gave me a fancy ankle brace to wear and told me stay off it and ice it as much as possible for 10-15 minutes at a time. This, of course, means NO RUNNING. Since an ankle sprain is due to overstretching the ligament, the ligament may heal too loosely, which is the cause of re-injury.

I have confidence in her since she said she has dealt with other long-distance runners and those who have stuck to her advice have healed and never had another problem. There are also some balancing exercises and ankle-strengthing exercises that I can do on my own.

As brutal a race as it sounds, I am pretty bummed that I couldn't run the Mt. Disappointment 50 miler today. My training was going so well and I was feeling so strong, recovering fast, and then I got hurt! This morning I left my house at 3:30 a.m. to go volunteer at the starting line. Even though I wasn't running, it was so fun to be there. I could just feel the pre-race energy in the air! I love that feeling! I was also able to see a lot of my friends from the SoCal Trail Headz who were running the 50K or 50M and wish them good luck.

Even though I haven't run in 4 weeks, I still have running on the brain! I keep looking longingly at the hills along the Orange County horizon. I'll be back to my adventures soon!

East Horsethief "Exfoliation" Run

2008-07-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

If you forgot to exfoliate in the shower this morning, then I've got the perfect trail for you! Our fearless leader, Steve "Harv Dawg" Harvey took a group of us out on an "exploration" run Saturday morning. We had a good-sized group of adventurers: Chaz, Kirk, Rachael, Kristen, Maya, Lori, Lorraine, newcomer Shari, Steve, and myself. We met up at the corner of Ortega Hwy. 74 and North Main Divide Road and carpooled up N. Main Divide until we hit the Main Divide fireroad. From this point it was 1.7 miles to the top of the Trabuco Trail. The last time I was on this section of the Main Divide was the Old Goats 50K. During that race, I was so tired, it felt more like a death march. So I was anxious to see how I did this time. It is a gradual uphill and I was happy to find that I was able to run up most of the way.

Old Goat Steve

At the top of Trabuco, we hung a right and stayed on Main Divide. I found myself running next to Steve. We started chatting. He has been running trails for 20-30 years or something like that. He's been on almost all the trails in Orange County. But yesterday we were on an "exploration" run. He was taking us on the East Horsethief trail, which his mountain biking friends had told him was one of the most challenging downhills in the area. So this trail was new to all of us, even Steve.

So we ran down Main Divide a little ways and found what we thought was the trail head. It looked innocent enough, starting out. Much of the trail initially was runnable singletrack, though rocky and mostly downhill. But it seemed that the farther we ran, the steeper and more overgrown the brush was. Then we were quickly drawn into a mess of overgrown brush, loose rocks and sand, extremely steep slopes, abandoned tractors, and tree branches that grabbed at our shirts, shorts, hats, and sunglasses and filled our shoes with rocks and sticky things! My legs were so scratched up from running through the overgrown brush. After a while it started to hurt because branches were scratching my already scratched up legs! This is where I got the idea that this was something like exfoliating. Sometimes the trail wasn't always clear, and I don't think a single person made it down that trail without falling! I actually took a bad fall myself and seem to have sprained my ankle. It is swollen and I am icing it as I type this. The trail came to a sudden end at some land cleared out for a housing development. We had to climb down a concrete storm drain and then onto a paved road in Lake Elsinore. Then we ran up the street to the El Cariso truck trail and back to our cars.
This run was crazy, but so, so, so fun! We were laughing at the ridiculousness of the trail we were on. Later, Steve figured out we weren't even on East Horsethief. This gnarly trail is called McVickyer. With the new housing development being built, we might be some of the last people to go down this unmaintained trail. This was just another good reminder of why I trail run! It's so much fun! We go out on an adventure almost every week!
I'm supposed to be running the Tahoe Rim 50K next Saturday. I'm just a little concerned about my ankle. Hopefully the swelling will go down, since Tahoe is going to be my last, final long run before Mt. Disappointment.
And whenever we do the real East Horsethief Exploration Run, sign me up!

Some more pictures from our run on Saturday. . .

Looking over Lake Elsinore

Kirk and I before all the madness began!

My El Moro Marathon

2008-07-07T18:51:00.001-07:00

In my humble opinion, some of the most beautiful trails in Orange County are the closest ones to me in El Moro and Laguna Canyons. The park is right off PCH in Laguna and a group of us run there almost every Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
With the July 4th weekend, I decided to take Thursday off as well, making it a 4-day weekend for myself. And what does a girl like me do with a little extra free time?

Run a marathon, of course!

It actually wasn't intentional. I just wanted to run about 25 miles that day. So when I began mapping out my route, I decided on a 10 mile loop, a 8.7 mile loop, and a 7.5 mile loop. When I did the math, it came out to exactly 26.2 miles! So, it became a marathon.
I posted the run on the SCTHz private website, hoping to have different people meet me at different times, so that I would always have at least one other runner with me. I wanted to mimic an actual race, so I brought a cooler with "aid station" food and beverages so that I could refuel between loops.
The run started out at about 5:45 a.m. I enjoyed the company of Greg, Pete K., Mike K., E-Rod, Corrinne, and Molly. We did the 10-mile ranger station loop in the fog. So the run started out with nice, cool weather.
Only Corrinne stayed with me for the second loop. (Everyone else had to go to work.) She's going to run the Tahoe Rim 50K in a couple weeks, so she wanted one last, long run before the race. During that loop, the fog suddenly cleared up and the sun began to warm the air--just as we began the steep climb up Big Bend. I think it hit both of us. We were both really tired. But, as ultrarunners do, we just kept moving, never stopping. Corrinne is going to do great at Tahoe! She is also a recent convert to ultrarunning!
So after Corrinne got her 18.7 miles in, I was left to do the last 7.5 miles on my own. It's been over a year since I last went trail running alone. I usually discourage it, because you never know what could happen out there. But I felt optimistic. I changed my route so that I would stay on the fire roads. There also happened to be lots of people out that day--runners, hikers, and mountain bikers, so I figured I'd be okay. It was actually quite refreshing to have some alone time. The scenery was beautiful. The air was warm. I was able to go at my own relaxing pace.
I finished the run around 12:00. There was 5 hours 15 minutes of running with about an hour of stops and breaks at my "aid station." I'm training for the Mt. Disappointment 50 Miler in August, so I was so glad I did this run. The next day, I felt great! My legs would never have known they had just ran a marathon on some hilly trails. It feels so good to see that all my training seems to be paying off!

Holcomb Valley 33M

2008-06-09T16:24:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday, Dad! This race is for you!

Yesterday I ran the Holcomb Valley 33 Mile Trail Run. It was quite uneventful--which is a good thing! You don't want a lot of problems when you are trying to enjoy a good, long run! After a few lessons learned from my last few races, I wanted to make this a really good race. I did a few more long runs to prepare for this. I made sure to eat well in the days leading up to the race. I also started taking salt caps during the run, though I'm still not sure when to take them or how much to take. I just look at what the other runners are doing.

I spent the night in Big Bear, sharing a cabin with Corrinne and Lisa. There were about 10 members of the Trail Headz running either the 33 miler or the 15 miler, including, Skip, Sue, LT, Pete Vara, Jon R., Paul, Corrinne, and Lisa. While we were focusing our minds on this race, we were also thinking a lot about our fellow Trail Headz down at the SD100. This was a big race weekend for our club! So when I started my race at 7:00 a.m., my friends at SD100 were still running a race they had started at 6:00 a.m. the day before! They were in their 26th hour of running! Yikes!

So, with that perspective in mind. . .

The race began and I kept my strategy of starting out slow. I've always started out my races really fast. With all the adrenaline and excitement at the beginning of a race, I'm usually really pumped at the start, so I start out really strong. Knowing that the first section of the course would be uphill and rocky, I told myself to take it easy. Well, that wasn't too hard! Less than 2 miles into the race, almost all of the runners were already walking. As the course flattened out and people started passing me, I just told myself, "Don't worry about them! Let them go." Keeping this relaxed attitude made for an enjoyable race.

My iPod was loaded with some brand new music. I was sick of my old running mix of classic rock and 80's rap, so my friend Farrah put a bunch of electronic, trance, and house on my iPod. It was quite refreshing to have some new music. Even though this course was at elevations ranging from 6,700 to 8,000 feet, the altitude didn't seem to affect me at all. The weather was beautiful with clear sunny skies and temperatures ranging in the 60's and 70's. While there were lots of technical rocky sections, there were also plenty of very runnable, rolling, single track. The scenery was great, too! I'm used to the small dessert shrubbery we see on the Orange County trails, but up in the mountains there were lots of pine trees and views of other mountain ranges off in the distance. I even met a llama on the trail! Random! Like I said, the race was quite uneventful! I was able to think about lots of things, like my dad's birthday! He was born June 8, 1947--exactly 61 years ago! After the race, I had plans to head over to my parent's house for his birthday party. I always think about my dad whenever I am camping, hiking, or someplace up in the mountains. I give him credit for my love for the outdoors since he used to take the family camping a lot when we were kids. He is a geologist, so on road trips, he would point out extinct volcanoes off in the distance. Or, he would say, "See those lines on the side of the rocks over there? Thousands of years ago, there used to be a lake right here." And me and my brothers and sisters would look around us in amazement. He also took us to a place up in Idaho where we would look for trilobite fossils. I remember going to Meteor Crater and the Petrified Forest. At the Grand Canyon, he was like our family's very own tour guide. He liked telling us about how different types of rocks were made. And for some reason, I actually thought that was interesting. He also likes astronomy. So when camping, and the stars came out, Dad would point out the different constellations. "See those three stars over there? That's Orion's belt!" He liked to schedule campouts during the annual Perseid's meteor shower in August. I also remember waking up really early one morning in 1986 and driving out past the city lights to see Haley's Comet. He said if I live long enough, I'll get to see it again! I only hope I live that long if I can still run! Those were some great things to think about during the race. I'm so thankful for my dad and all the great memories! Thanks, Dad! I love you!

So I finished the race feeling good with a time of 7:56:29. That's a lot faster than my last two 50K's which were 2 miles shorter than this! I came blazing across the finish line, screaming, both hands in the air. . . And then I stopped, and looked around, and realized all the Trail Headz had gone home! Of course I didn't expect anyone to wait around for my slow butt to finish, but since joining the Trail Headz, I'd become used to crossing the finish line to find all my friends there, and all the high-fives, hugs, and swapping war stories from the race. This time, I crossed the finish line, looked around, shrugged my shoulders and then went to celebrate my dad's birthday!

Next race: Mt. Disappointment

Memorial Day Run: Laguna Hills Half Marathon

2008-06-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

I've done at least one race each month this year, so with the month of May about to wrap up, I realized, I volunteered at the PCT 50, but didn't run a race myself this month. Well, thanks to my good friend, Greg, I got a free entry into the Laguna Hills Half Marathon, which is held every Memorial Day. I thought this would be a nice speed workout, since it was on pavement and a relatively flat course. The last half marathon I did was the same one last year, and since I feel my running has improved a lot this past year, I was thinking, "PR."
My very first half marathon was ran in 1:58:21. That was the Carlsbad Half in January 2005. I had done 5 half marathons since then, but none of them were as fast as that first one. But I was confident I would get a new PR this year!
I started out this race running really fast! I was running 8:20's, which I maintained for about 5 miles. I began doing the math in my head, trying to figure out what my finishing time could be. I was feeling very optimistic, but then I began to slow down considerably. I was putting in the same amount of effort, but I could tell my legs were not moving as fast.
I finished the race with a time of 1:59:19. So close! But, I still enjoyed the race! It was a great way to start my day. I actually went on a 6.5 mile hike with some friends that afternoon. With Holcomb Valley coming up, I'd like to try and get as much mileage on my feet as possible. If I can't PR on the half marathon, I hope I can PR in the 50K! Wish me luck!

Old Goats 50K--My Birthday Run!

2008-04-20T13:17:00.000-07:00

Last year on my birthday, I remember thinking it would be really cool to run 29 miles for my 29th birthday. But, at the time, I knew I wasn't ready for that distance, so I rode my bike 29 miles, instead! I took the day off work on Friday, April 13 last year. It was a beautiful, warm sunny day, so I was in a good mood. I rode from my house up the bike path at the beach, and then up the Santa Ana River bike trail. I was so proud of myself, but, I knew running that distance would be even better! But that was the longest distance I had ever rode on a bike up to that date, so I was really excited--especially since getting older isn't fun anymore! I decided that day that every year for my birthday for the rest of my life, I have to do something big that makes me feel really good about myself!
Well, this year, for my 30th birthday, I was up for running the distance--31.2 miles to be exact! After joining the SoCal Trail Headz (formerly known as the OC Trail Runners), I fell in love with trail running. Because I love trail running so much, my training has become much more consistent. I've become more consistent in my cross training, weight lifting, and eating healthier--all so I can run more miles and run them strong!
On Saturday, April 12, the day before my 30th birthday, I ran the Old Goats 50K. So this would be my 2nd ultramarathon, less than a month after my first! I recovered very quickly from the Unknown, and had been running strong, so I was ready. But, two days before the race, I got sick! But I knew no matter how sick I was, I was still going to do the race. So I did my best to get lots of sleep and keep it from getting worse. I woke up the morning of the race and felt okay, though not my best. I just took some Dayquil and drove down to the Bluejay Campground in the Cleveland National Forest.
By the time I got to the starting line, I was actually feeling pretty good! I quickly found my friends from the SCTHz. Baz, the race director, ran up to me and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. We've actually never met! I don't know if he thought I was someone else, but I'm starting to think he's like that with everyone--I mean, with all the girls! I picked up my race gear. In addition to a long-sleeve race T shirt, they were giving out these really cute canvass tote bags that say "Old Goats 50K" on the side! I always like to see what kind of swag I can score at these races! (Even though I'm actually paying for them!)
So the race got started a little after 6 am. Baz announced that because the temperatures were going to get into the 90's that day that he would lift the original 7 hour time limit for the 50K. I started out feeling pretty good! I was happily chatting with people around me, telling them that the next day was my birthday! Yay me! I ran the first 9 miles feeling really good and strong, but then I suddenly felt like I hit that "wall" people talk about. I can only remember one other time I actually "bonked." I just had no more energy! And I had 22 miles to go! I immediately started to worry. I was thinking about how I'd been sick and had little appetite the past few days. I was thinking about how I did another 50K less than a month earlier and still kept training strong. Maybe I was overtrained. My body just felt like it didn't want to do this race! And then I started thinking about the heat we would have later in the day. . . and the climbs up the Main Divide and Horsetheif during the last part of the race! When I got to the first aid station at mile 10, I had no appetite. My good friend and fellow Trail Head, Alexa was there and without knowing my situation, she told me she was dropping! Hmmm, it started to sound like a good idea to me too! But I didn't want to DNF on my 2nd ultra and especially since I was already annoyed that I was turning 30 the next day, I knew I owed it to myself to at least try to keep going! I left the aid station without eating anything (BIG MISTAKE!) and figured the next 10 miles would take me back to the starting/finish line and to where my car was parked. I could then see how I was feeling and make a decision at that point whether to keep going.
Well, I pretty much moseyed along. I felt so weak I had a hard time running even the flat sections! Whenever the trail flattened out, I would start running, only to take a few steps and then back to walking. Other runners would catch up to me, or I would catch up to another runner who was also having a difficult race. Those of us who were struggling that day probably just brought each other down even more. I just said, "I guess everyone has their 'off' days." I finally made myself eat some of a bar I was carrying. Then around mile 12, Kirk Fortini showed up! I had the pleasure of meeting Kirk and running with him for a little bit of the Unknown the month before. I told him how I was feeling and he said, "If you stick with me, you'll finish the race." After talking to all these people who were also having a tough race, that was just what I needed to hear! I started feeling hopeful! I did not want to DNF!

My energy levels continued to drop. You HAVE to eat on these races. But looking back, I really wasn't thinking about food. Kirk kept talking to me about races and running and life. I wasn't really much of a conversationalist at that point. Talking seemed to take too much effort. All I could think about was putting one foot in front of the other. Then he told me that at his truck at the start/finish line (also mile 18 of the course) he had some peanut butter and spun honey sandwiches, chocolate chip cookies, and Diet Coke Plus that he would share with me. The Diet Coke sounded really good! As I kept pushing forward, Kirk still got ahead of me. Then about a mile from the cars, I started to worry that he might be already headed up the Main Divide before I could get to his truck with the Diet Coke Plus. So I started saying, "Diet Coke Plus, Diet Coke Plus, Diet Coke Plus. . . " over and over. It was oddly motivating to say that, and I actually started running again! I made it to Kirk's truck and he was still there. He must have said something to me, but all I could manage to say was something like, "Diet Coke Plus. . . please?" I hope I didn't sound too rude!
At the truck I had to fix my contact lens, while Kirk gave me a sandwich and a cookie. But I STILL WOULDN'T EAT! Then it was time to go. I shoved the sandwich in my camelback and tried to eat the cookie, but I think half of it crumbled onto the ground. We were back at the start/finish line, but the next 13 miles of the course started from there. There was an aid station there. A bunch of people were cheering us on. As we started down the trail to the Main Divide, I remember thinking, this is crazy! I shouldn't be doing this! Oh well, if I pass out on the trail, someone might find me!
Going up the Main Divide, Kirk kept on talking to me. My responses were things like, "oh" and "yeah" and "uh huh." All my energy went into walking. The Main Divide is a fire road, entirely exposed to the sun, and covered in rocks, all uphill. It's about 1,000 feet of climbing in 2.5 miles. Kirk was about 30 feet ahead of me the whole time, also walking. At one point, he put one of his unused bottles of Cytomax on the ground and told me to pick it up and drink it. I couldn't think for myself at this point, so I just did it. Then he got farther ahead of me, and eventually out of sight. It felt like an eternity climbing up that! (But I still had Horsetheif to climb!)
A little bit later, the aid station came into view. I don't know if the Cytomax kicked in, but the ground leveled out and I started running again! Kirk was there and he was pointing at food and cups of Coke and was saying, "here, eat this, drink that. . . " And then, I FINALLY STARTED TO EAT! Suddenly I was hungry and began to eat at mile 22.6. A little late, but better late than never!
Next we started running--and I mean RUNNING--down Trabuco, which was all downhill and mostly shady. I actually started to feel good again! So I started the race feeling strong, had a 13 mile "lull" and then got my second wind at 22.6 miles! Kirk still got ahead of me, but I knew at this point I would be finishing the race. (He probably figured the same thing, since I didn't see him until the finish line, which was fine with me. I already held him back long enough!)
So I wound up by myself on the trail, only seeing a couple other runners for the next few miles. I had never been up Horsethief before, but I had heard all about it! It is nearly 2,000 feet of climbing over 1.7 miles. So, it's another very steep climb, all rocks, entirely exposed, and, as if it couldn't get any worse--SWITCHBACKS! I hate switchbacks! Just when you think you are at the top, you turn another corner to find the trail just keeps going up. Switchbacks are always carved into the side of a steep hill, going back and forth, back and forth. . . They are so annoying! I hate them! In fact, the climb was so steep and I was moving so slowly that almost every time I looked down at my Garmin, it said, "auto pause."
So Horsethief was another seemingly endless climb, all by myself. Near the top, I saw another runner ahead of me. I tried to call out to him, but he was too far to hear me. I just wanted some company! As the trail started to flatten out--finally--I began running to catch up with my new soon-to-be friend. I can't remember his name, but he was from out-of-state. He came to California to do the Old Goats 50K! At that point, I couldn't fathom why anyone would take time out of their lives to travel to a race like this! He seemed to be thinking the same thing! We soon arrived at the aid station where I began to devour a lot more food and Coke. I was in a much better mood and probably stayed there too long happily chatting with the volunteers. Then I remembered I was doing a race, so I took off. My out-of-state friend was reduced to walking at this point, so I told him I'd see him at the finish line. I actually started running, going uphill, and then back down the Main Divide. I pretty much ran to the finish line from the aid station at the top of Horsethief! I was also enjoying the views. Lake Elsinore was just down below. You could also see the snow-capped peaks of Mt. San Gorgonio and Mt. San Jacinto. Beautiful!
When the finish line came into view, everyone started cheering for me! I broke into a sprint, which is how I always like to finish a race. I crossed the line with a time of 8:37:44 and quickly saw some of my friends from the Trail Headz, like Eric Kosters, and, of course, Kirk. Eric Lumba crossed the finish line just after me, even though he started the race an hour late! Another reason I love the Trail Headz is now when I do races, I have a lot of friends there! There were a few more people from our group, but some of the faster 50K runners had gone home, while other people from our group were still on the course running the 50 miler.

Eric Lumba, Me, and Eric Kosters at the finish line
Then something unexpected happened--I guess you could call it an early birthday present. Baz decided it was time to start giving out awards. He announced the winners for 1st, 2nd, 3rd overall in males and females. Then came the age group awards. Now, the majority of trail runners are in their 30's, 40's, and 50's. Very few people in their 20's run trail races, though I don't know why. So he announced the 20-29 age group, but then said, "I don't think we had any females in the 20-29 group. Okay, 30-39 females winner is. . . " And I thought, but I'm still 29 today! And I wanted a prize, since I never win anything! So I went up to Baz afterwards and told him that I was 29 and that the very next day was my 30th birthday. He got all excited and went to double-check the list, and then said, "I have an announcement! We DO have a winner in the female 20-29 age group! This is Michelle Mecham! Now, if the race was tomorrow, she would not be getting this prize because tomorrow is her 30th birthday! But because the race is today, and she is 29, she has won first place for her age group!" So I got a glass cup with the race logo on the side and it says 1st place. Woo hoo! It turns out there were two other girls in my age group that ran. One of those girls won second overall, but Baz only gives out one prize per person. The other girl finished after I did. So first place went to me!
I learned a few good lessons that day. First of all, you have to eat on these races, no matter how little of an appetite you have. I started feeling better almost immediately after I began eating at the aid station at the top of Trabuco. I might have had a very different race if I started eating sooner.
Second: I was reminded to NEVER GIVE UP! You can do anything you put your mind to. Sometimes the biggest barriers are all in our silly minds. I'm sure this is an important lesson that will get me through future ultras.
And last, I was able to see how in these races, we all look out for each other. Kirk was my hero that day! I'll forever be grateful for his encouragement from the moment we met up. He kept talking to me which distracted me from my tired legs. He shared his food with me, when there was a full aid station just a little farther ahead. I know I was probably not the most uplifting person to be around that day, but his unselfishness meant so much to me! What a great example and an outstanding human being he is! I'm sure that someday I'll be doing some race when I come across a struggling runner. And if that does happen, I hope I could be at least half the inspiration that Kirk was that day! Thanks Kirk!

Me and Kirk

I love this sport!
Next race: 6/8/08 Holcomb Valley 33M

I did it! I'm an Ultrarunner!

2008-03-16T22:40:00.001-07:00

Woo hoo! I called my dad yesterday afternoon our conversation went something like this: "Dad, guess what?" "What?" "I'm not a marathon runner anymore." "You're not?" "No. I'm an ULTRAmarathon runner!" "Oh! Well, I'm glad you found something you like!"

Yesterday, I crossed over into the ultrarunning world as I ran in the inaugural Unknown ?K--a 50K/31mile run through San Mateo, down off Ortega highway. Aside from the fact that this is my longest distance I've ever run, it was one of my favorite runs I've ever done. Charlie organized a supported group run (not an official race or event) for the OCTR. We had a group of about 25 people from the club running yesterday. Half of us started at 6:00 (the slow people!) and half started at 7:30 (fast!). I, of course, started with the 6:00 crew, with my new pink headlamp, 'cuz it's still dark at that time. As fun as it is to run in the dark, I am never let down when the sun rises while I'm on the trails. If you're running on dirt (as opposed to cement-ouch!), you are going to have some beautiful views. And San Mateo did not let us down. We were running through wildflowers, crossing over streams, patches of green grass, running up hills, down hills. . .

Lisa, Pete V., Kirk, and EKP

I managed to keep up with Pete and Lisa for most of the run. Around mile 10, I was running when I saw and felt a small branch hit me in the eye. It actually didn't poke me, but I felt a soft flower bud or something drag across my eye and it pulled my contact lens out!!! How does that happen!?!? I called out, "Hey guys! I just lost my contact lens!!" Lisa came over and found it immediately! "Oh, here it is!" She picked it up, rinsed it off with her water bottle, and then I took it and put it in my eye! The funny thing is, as I was packing my new hydration vest the night before, the thought of bringing an extra set of contacts crossed my mind. Then I thought, naw--why would I do that? I've never carried a spare set of contact lenses! I feel kind of old school talking about contact lenses. I heard there is this new surgery that will fix your vision. . .
The second aid station was at mile 17. I was still feeling good and strong. I had Charlie's map with me and it said that after the second aid station there was a stream crossing that there was no way around without getting wet. You had to take your shoes off and walk through. When we get there, me and Lisa sat down to take off our shoes. Suddenly, we hear some loud splashing. We looked up to see Pete just charging through it--shoes and all. Without a word, he just took off! He's probably thinking--silly girls! Then Lisa and I start walking through and, I have to say, the cold water felt sooooo good and refreshing on our feet! I even brought a clean pair of socks! As we were sitting down to put our shoes back on, we hear Charlie's voice coming down from the aid station. He was showing a group of casual day hikers how to get around the stream without getting wet (just a few feet to the left!) And then he saw me and Lisa putting our shoes and socks back on and starts making fun of us! Apparently the water level had gone back down after he made his map. That was pretty funny! But I liked having clean feet and socks!
My smile was soon gone because the next 8 miles were the longest 8 miles in my life! It was mostly climbing (which means a lot of walking for me). Lisa, Pete, and I kind of got spread out. The 7:30-ers started passing me on this stretch. I started feeling really low on energy. I kept looking at my Garmin, wishing the miles would go by faster, but it was like waiting for a pot of water to boil. The miles seemed to go on forever. At least the scenery was nice!
I finally made it to the last aid station at mile 26. At this point, it was starting to get really cold and windy. My friend Leon was waiting there with a big smile on his face. He told me I only had 5 miles to the finish. I told him I was low on energy, so he put a mixture of Monster Energy drink and Gatorade in my water bottle while I ate some little peanut butter and honey sandwiches and chocolate candy. It's amazing how quickly the human body can turn food into fuel because before I could even drink the Monster/Gatorade mixture, I was already feeling a million times better. I didn't even stay at the aid station very long because it was so cold! It was 47 degrees! And I was ready to finish the race, so I took off.

The last 5 miles of that race was probably the best race ending of any race I've done. It was beautiful, winding single track, with mostly downhill. I was suddenly in the best mood! I turned up the music on my iPod, and actually started singing out loud--Poison, Travis Tritt, Relient K, Nelson ('memba them?), Def Leppard, and Kid Rock. No one heard me, I think, but I didn't even care if they did!

Me at the finish line of the Unknown ?K

So I crossed the finish line where everyone was having their post-run meal. And, I have to say, it felt so good to do that with so many of my friends from the OCTR there. Running an ultra has long been a dream of mine, and I know I wouldn't have been able to do it without these people who have inspired me. There are also many OCTR members who did not run in the Unknown, but who have also inspired me. I'm so lucky to be around such cool people!

Of course, this is only the beginning of my life as an ultra runner. . . :)
Next race: April 12, Old Goats 50K

Two days that changed my life

2008-03-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

This will probably sound crazy to about 99% of people out there. I've been wanting to do an ultramarathon ever since I read Dean's book, "Ultramarathon Man" about three years ago. It seems like runners all have different goals in running. For many, it's speed. They want to get faster--qualify for Boston. For other runners, they want to go the distance. That's definitely me. I mean, if someone runs Boston, or simply wants to do their personal best in 5K's and 10K's, those are awesome goals, but for me, personally, I just don't find that appealing. I've always been fascinated by distance. I know more about the ultramarathon world, such as races and top runners, than I know about the street running world. I don't know who the top marathoners are--nor do I really care!
So I read Dean's book right after I ran my first marathon in June of 2005 and knew immediately that I wanted to run ultras. I liked the idea of running really long distances and running on trails. However, I had a problem: I had just moved to Orange County from Los Angeles and didn't know where there were trails to run! I tried google-ing trail running clubs in Orange County, but couldn't find any. (OCTR didn't exist yet.) I would drive around all day for work and look at the hills behind Irvine and Tustin, and the Twin Peaks, and think, "There has to be some good trails out there!" But I didn't know where to go. Then someone told me that if I took PCH down to Laguna Beach, there was El Moro Canyon with some trails. So I drove down there and that's where I started trail running.
So now I had some trails, but I also had a new problem--no one to run with! Running trails alone is not very smart, so I would usually go on a Saturday, late in the morning, when there were lots of people around, but even then, I didn't like going very deep into the park. And I have a lot of friends who are runners, but they are street runners and weren't as motivated as I was to drive down to the trails at El Moro to run. so I rarely had someone go running with me at El Moro.
But my life was soon to change. . .
One Saturday morning--almost a year ago to the day--I was running with Rebecca in El Moro. I remember we ran up No Dogs and No Name and then crossed over to some sweet single track and we were following these two guys through the single track for a little while. Then we came out to a clearing where we all stopped for a water break. The guys said they were there that day running with a trail running club called the OC Trail Runners. They also said that some of the people in the group were running 20 miles, training for various races--marathons and longer. So of course, I was SO interested! They gave me the website and told me to come out on a run sometime. (I forgot who those guys were since it took me about 4 months to actually contact the group, so if you are reading this and remember it's you, tell me! Thank you for telling me about the OCTR!)
So, it took me 4 months to contact the group because I wanted to get in shape! That same Saturday morning in El Moro, Rebecca challenged me to start training for the 50 mile Rosarito to Ensenada bike ride, which was a month away. She told me to start incorporating spin classes into my training. (I was currently training for the Saddleback Memorial Half, the Wasatch Back relay, and the Nike Women's Marathon.) Well, I thought cycling might become a new sport for me, but I quickly became addicted to spin classes (as long as they have good music and a good instructor). I also found that the cross-training helped my running. I became a stronger runner.
After doing the Rosarito to Ensenada ride (on a mountain bike!), I soon after gave up sugar and sweets. It was a $100 bet Holly and I made for 6 months. It went from Memorial Day to Thanksgiving. It's amazing the difference I felt in my overall levels of energy. By July, I was feeling good and healthy. I contacted the OCTR and heard back from Wendy Garcia. She gave me a list of runs to go on. I remember preparing for that first run like I was preparing to run a marathon. I made sure to eat really healthy the few days before. I rested my legs for a couple days. I got a good night's sleep the night before. I mean, I had no idea how good these people were going to be! We were going on a 13 mile run in Whiting Ranch and I had no idea how hilly it would be either. I didn't want to show up and humiliate myself as a bunch of strangers were being let down and having to stop and wait for me to catch up!!! I imagined they would probably be muttering to themselves, "Maybe we should have a better screening process for newbies." "Look at this girl, she is in way over her head." And then they would tell me this group probably wasn't for me and I was afraid I would be embarrassed if I ever saw them again on the trails. And then I would go home dejected. :(
OK, that didn't happen. I mean, I went running with them and they were cool! I remember meeting Wendy, Skip, Corrinne, Kiko (where's he been?) and a few others, and they were so cool! I felt strong that day even though I wasn't used to so many hills, and kept up the pace just fine! I learned that you run a lot slower on trails--maybe a 12-15 minute mile--with walking breaks. Everyone was so friendly and I absolutely loved running with a group! I was immediately hooked on trail running.
So that was the other day that changed my life.
Since then, I have been running with the OC Trail Runners almost every Saturday morning and sometimes mid-week runs. I've also done my first trail races--Bulldog 25K, Boney Mountain 21K, Calico 30 (or 33?)K, and WTRS 18K--all with the goal of training for an ultra. But I also have to say that I have made some great friends with the OCTR. They are the coolest group of people. Running trails is great, but it is even better when you run with so many great people! I have loved every minute of my experiences with the OC Trail Runners!

Yeah, I Know, I'm a Lazy Blogger!

2008-01-22T06:42:00.000-08:00

Okay, it's January, and I've got some catching up to do! Some of the next few posts will be looking back at some other adventures I've had this past year. I realize I am bad at keeping up with my blogging, so I will do a better job!

Whitney Mountaineers - Best Hike Ever!

2007-08-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

Rhett, Jared, Brad, Maryann, Michelle, Kevin at 14,505 feet

Last Thursday and Friday, August 9-10, I went to go climb Mt. Whitney. It was my second time summiting this mountain! The first time I did it was in September 2006. It was such an amazing experience that I had to do it again!
Mt. Whitney is just 4 hours away from Huntington Beach in the Sierras and stands at an altitude of 14,505 feet. It's the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states. The Main Route to the summit is a very popular hike, starting at the Whitney Portal at 8,360 feet. It's a non-technical route, 11 miles each way. That's the route I did last year with my friends, Rebecca and Alysha.
This year, I went with some friends from Huntington Beach. The guys in my group wanted to take the Mountaineer's Route, which is a more direct route to the top! We covered the same elevation gain in 4.7 miles! It was so much fun!!! When I signed up to do it, I wasn't sure exactly what this technical route entailed, but I've always had this attitude that if other people can do it, so can I!
We've been planning this climb since February when Jared and Kevin got the passes. To train for this, some of us hiked Mt. San Jacinto out by Palm Springs in July. We are all in pretty good shape, though. I've been doing lots of trail running and just started cycling, and all of us were well prepared.
The trip started Thursday morning when I met up with my friends, Kevin, Maryann, and Rhett. We drove up to Lone Pine, a small town which Highway 395 passes through. Most people recognize this as the road to Mammoth. I remember looking out the car window on the drive and seeing the massive granite peaks of the Sierra's rising to the west. They are stunning to look at! And I was headed to the top!

You can see Keeler's Needles and the Whitney summit very faintly in the center background.

After a delicious Mexican lunch (chocolate banana chimichangas anyone?), we ran into a local grocery store to get a few more last-minute food items, and then we headed up the 13 mile road to the Whitney Portal! For a little motivation we blasted Journey's "Don't Stop Believin" as we headed up that steep, winding road towards the mountains.
Once we arrived, we parked the car and gathered all our gear. The daytime weather was in the 60's at the Portal and no rain was in the forecast. We were anticipating nighttime lows in the 30's to 40's, and we all had warm sleeping bags, so we decided to leave the tent in the car. That also took about 15 pounds off Rhett's backpack, which I'm sure he appreciated! I've become a huge fan of sleeping out under the stars anyway. And every August at this time is the Perseids meteor shower, so I didn't want to miss the show!
So we took off on the hike, first weighing our packs. I had the lightest with a pack of 24 lbs! And Rhett, despite leaving the tent in the car, still had the heaviest at 35 lbs. He was carrying the bear canister with all of our food. We were hiking up in bear country, so our permits require us to carry bear-proof containers. All food and anything else smelly has to go inside overnight--toothpaste, deodorant, lotions, etc. I've heard that bear sightings are pretty rare around there now since they know they can't get into the canisters. But we want to keep it that way, so everyone continues to bring their bear canisters!
We started off on the Climber's Route at the far west end of the campgrounds, which met up with the Main Trail for a few hundred feet. We then crossed a little stream and then found our route, which immediately got steeper! The Mountaineer's Route was kind of hard to follow. Kevin had some instructions that he'd printed off the internet which said to basically follow the path of least resistance. We knew which direction we needed to go, so we took off bushwhacking our way through the woods! Occasionally we'd see little orange ties on the trees, and try to follow those, but the trail was not always that obvious! There was a huge granite wall we tried to follow, but often found ourselves back in the trees, crossing streams, and climbing up some rocks. It was a blast trying to navigate those trees with my huge backpack on my back! It was really pretty in there, too! There were lots of flowers and waterfalls.
After a while, we climbed onto some rocks and I immediately recognized where we were from some pictures I'd seen of the Mountaineer's Route. We were on the Ledges. They look a lot scarier than they actually are. The ledges take you up along this granite wall with a pretty steep drop to the bushes and trees below. It didn't take us long to clear the ledges before we were back on some more trails. The trees were starting to thin out and we stayed on the trail by looking for cairns. As we climbed higher, we could see another mountain range far to the east and Lone Pine in the valley below. It was beautiful!
At about 10,000 feet, we came upon Lower Boy Scout Lake. A good thing about hiking up there is the plentiful water sources. We had a water filter to keep refilling our Camelbacks. Fresh mountain water is some of the best water I've ever tasted! We continued up the mountain and at about 7 p.m., we met up with Jared and his friend, Brad, and Upper Boy Scout Lake. This is where we planned to camp for the night at 11,300 feet.
We found a nice flat spot with lots of rocks to block the wind and set up camp. We were able to refill our bladders with fresh purified water from the lake and had a delicious dinner of Stove Top stuffing and tuna! For dessert was a raspberry crumble. It really hit the spot. Even though we had only hiked 2.7 miles, it still took us 4 hours to do being on the steep trail and navigating through the bushes, so we were exhausted and ready for a good night's sleep. We laid out our sleeping bags and went to bed, but no one slept too well! One of the effects of high altitude is insomnia. This happened to me last year when we slept at 12,000 feet. My heart rate was really high, too, since my body was not used to the lack of oxygen. No one really slept all that well for the first few hours, maybe dozing off for 20 minutes or so. Around 1:00 a.m., Kevin, Maryann, and I got up to watch the stars. The meteor shower was supposed to be best in the pre-dawn hours, but we couldn't sleep, so we got up for stargazing. We only saw a few shooting stars and Mars. It was actually a perfect night to look at the stars since there was no moon. The Milky Way was perfectly clear and I don't think I've ever seen so many stars in my life! In Huntington Beach, I think I can only see about six stars!
After about 20 minutes, I took an Advil PM and went back to bed. I fell asleep quite easily and didn't wake up until about 7:00 a.m.
We got up and had oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. The we packed up camp and hit the trails. From Upper Boy Scout Lake to the summit was a much steeper climb. We had only two miles to go, but a climb of over 3,000 feet! The first part of that climb was not too bad. I would say the route became much more difficult after we passed Iceberg Lake at 12,200 feet.
Suddenly we were walking on a bunch of loose rocks. The rocks were big enough we could walk on them, but we still had to watch our balance because they would occasionally slip. There really was no more trail. Everyone just had to find their own way at this point. It was so steep, we were often climbing on all fours to keep our balance. We were all moving at a pretty slow pace now, since the rocks beneath us kept sliding out and occasionally falling below.
Mt. Whitney was right there in front of us. We came to a long scree slope of about a 45 degree angle to the right of the peak. Looking up, we could see some people rock climbing the face of the mountain, taking an even more direct route than us! The scree slowed us down even more. There were some large granite rocks off to the side which we tried climbing. I had never rock climbed before. It was a lot of fun, but I also had to remain focused because if I slipped and fell, I would land on the loose rocks below and probably slide a little ways down the slope. Thankfully, there were lots of sweet hand holds and foot holds. And my trail running shoes had some serious grip! The guys were all real helpful in showing me where to climb and where to place my feet an hands. After a while, we reached the top of the slope. We were at a notch where we could see the next mountain range to the west. The Mt. Whitney summit was only a few hundred more feet up!
But now we had a climb at about a 70 degree angle! There was another trail that from there met up with the Main Route. Maryann and I looked at each other and considered meeting up with the guys at the summit, while they took this more vertical route. But they talked us into climbing up the more vertical route with them. I liked the rock climbing and bouldering a lot, but I have to admit, it was a little scary. We didn't have any special equipment. Each rock we climbed brought us to a spot where we could stop and sit an put our backpacks down if we had to. Anyway, we continued up the steep rocks and a short time later, we reached the top! I knew I was there when I could see the hut! We all went and signed the register. I wrote, "My greatest adventure yet!"
The six of us celebrated, with some Henry Weinhard's root beer we carried all the way up with us. We sat around for a while, basking in our achievement and reflecting on the journey. We took lots of pictures, and then decided it was time to get going. Kevin asked that we all do him a huge favor--or I should say, do his mom a huge favor. She asked that we sing, "How Great Thou Art" at the summit. He had the words printed out, so before we began our descent, we sang the hymn. It was so appropriate, as I looked at the beautiful scenery around us. Then we began the 11 mile trek down the Main Route. Maryann, Kevin, Rhett and I split from Jared and Brad at that point, since they were going to take their time and spend another night on the mountain, so we said our goodbyes and took off. It was Friday afternoon and we were down off the mountain and drove back to Huntington Beach that night.
The tallest mountain in the lower 48 states is literally in our backyard. It's funny that I never knew that until about a year ago. The only thing I don't like about hiking Mt. Whitney is that the trip is so short. It seems like I should be gone a week to do something like this. Oh well, I guess I should just consider it training for my next mountain! Knowing me, I'll probably look back at this someday and laugh and say, "And I thought I was so tough!"

Let the Adventures Begin!

2007-08-05T20:37:00.000-07:00

I'm starting this blog to record all my "adventures" and to be able to share them with others. I have a fun life! Now, I know my idea of fun might be different from that of most people, and some of you reading this might be shaking your head and thinking I'm crazy! These same people have asked me, "What in the world can possibly be appealing about running for miles and miles, climbing mountains, sleeping outside with no tent, or doing overnight races with no sleep at all?" These same people say, "WHY?" I say, "Why not?" I'm young, single, and love being in good health! I love the outdoors. I also love a good challenge and being able to test my mental and physical limits--see what I am capable of doing. Life is short. Time flies. Someday, I want to be able to look back on my life and be proud of the things I've accomplished, the places I've been, the experiences I've had, and--most importantly--the friends I've made along the way! So, as I like to say, "Let the adventures begin!"