Old Goats 50 Mile--A Running Party!

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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!