100 Miler--Javelina Jundred Here We Come and a little race report on St. George!

BS is tapering for his first 100 miler...another stepping stone for Western States?  He is sound, ready, had his last massage and now we must wait...

If a marathon is both science and mind...what is a 100 miler?  I can't fathom what would happen to mind after 50 miles but I will be there to witness, report, cheer, yell and possibly,  play BAD WIFE...by not letting him quit.

The Javelina Jundred 100 miler is in Arizona and is basically an ultra in the desert that is a looping course.  Every three hours I should see my BS come around and my plan is to hug and kiss, check in on the mental state, and let him decide WHEN and What to eat.  

I look forward to being TOUGH WIFE...I should have done it during the last ultra but when I looked into his eyes and held his chin between my palms,  I saw a candle that had been blown out-extinguished- and I folded.

Next Saturday,  I   WILL   NOT  FOLD.

We will light that candle again, together if necessary.

Here he is finishing ST. GEORGE with a 3:29,  a PR!

PR's For All!

St. George was definitely the best marathon I've run.  It was FUN, gorgeous scenery and we were all ready for the demanding down hills.  I would never, EVER say that because this race was down hill that it was EASY.  A few well-meaning peeps had some comments to share about it being an automatic PR race and I will admit,  that's why I chose this race.  However,  a lot of down hill training went into this race...heck,  a lot of HILL TRAINING period.  There were a couple of tough up hills in the race but when I hit the down hills,  I was mentally kissing and hugging my coach for the AWESOME training plan and for the 3 x weekly down hills we did during the last month of training.  SMACK!!

My goal was to PR at 3:19 and I was some seconds over that.  My second goal(because I'm like that)was to run my last 6 miles stronger than any other part of the race.

Science,  consistency and confidence in the hills and a beautiful course were on my side and my final miles were

7:00 min. pace or faster.

Ahhhhhhh, second goal met.

Finish strong.

Goal 3:  Take off two full weeks from running after the race.

Epic fail.

I succumb to peer pressure and OCD with running.

I returned to jogging at the track workout for 4 miles,  7 days after the race.

I know that the reason my training and racing for St. George was strong and injury-free is because I focused MORE on recovery than on the workouts.

At 48,  recovery is everything.

Guess I'm going to have to work at goal 3 a little more.

 This is the starting line at St. George.  Dark, chilly and eery!  There were about 24 of these bonfires and about 40 runners around them,  melting their shoes and snuggling in Mylar blankets.

So,  we're off to Arizona soon!  With two weeks off from school,  I plan on reflecting on my first trimester of school that just came to an end;  how to better herd my kittens who are extremely lively as well as BRIGHT.  More rainbow skeleton building may be in order!

 I also plan on playing a lot with this little guy who made his own cat and people puppets...

 As well as a ghost mask.  Lots of fun planned!  And recovery.

Happy Fall!!

St. George Here We Come!!!

Marathon Training!!!

It seems like my mind has been so consumed with LIFE and LIFE'S way of throwing vulnerable and real moments at me,  I haven't been blogging about running.  My passion and dedication has been completely IN but a friend's misfortune has brought a film of gray over much of what I've done over the past month and a half.  Nothing like a dear, dear, dear friend's suffering to wake you up,  cloud your perspective and at the same bring about that CLARITY that only comes from seeing those close to you so  vulnerable and hurting .  The details must remain private but it's always safe and responsible to say...

DON'T TAKE ONE SOLID DAY FOR GRANTED!

You may feel gray some days, you may feel yellow or some other cheery color but don't let your "feelings" mask your gratefulness for all you have, feel .  This is not a trite observation.  It's real.  

So back to RUNNING!

My 12th marathon is next Saturday.  I can't believe  that after 7 more SLEEPS,  we're taking a road trip to UTAH and I'm running St. George.  So excited.  The following is a brief synopsis of my training over the summer and up until now.

Hills

Hills

Down hills

Uphills

20 mile hill runs with 10 downhill at marathon pace.

22 mile down and up hills with 12 miles at marathon pace.

Tempo runs for ten miles at marathon pace.

10x800 at 10k pace

Hills

Down hills

Up hills

Get the point?  A running pal remarked that St. George was one of the "easy" marathons because it's all down hill.  Obviously,  she had never done that marathon because one would definitely not make the remark after the amount of hill training one needs to do to make it to the starting line.  The hills, cross training and recovery have all  prepared me for another FUN day in the sun.  AND...I'm ready.

At 48 years of age,  I can finally say...I have not been injured during this marathon training period although it was one of the most challenging of my life!  I have never felt defeat, disappointment nor discouragement nor have I felt like I wasn't going to be able to give it my all.  I will race next Saturday, I will push my hardest yet, I will HURT and I will be HAPPY!!

To further add to the list of positives,  my ultra hubby will be with me as well as my FAST ANDALEGS RUNNING BUDDY, Jillian.  

Bring it on baby!!

GOALS:  I qualified and got into Boston two weeks ago and with that out of the way,  I can focus on having a SOLID,  consistent and under control race.  NO worries, no extreme pushing, no times that I must meet.  This frees me up mentally to relax and trust my training and my body.  THANK YOU, BODY.  That hug I gave you the other night after my last tempo run as meant just for you.  Grateful.

Who else is going to St. George???

Run grateful,

meg

Marshmallows, Dusty Trails, Peaks, Mountains and Stars

Some races just come together.
Some races start and you know you're done before the first mile.
Some races are done before you start but you do them anyway...and that's okay.

This last Saturday was one of my better ones:

hot
trails
hills
for 13 miles.

BS had some battles...

heat
trails
hills
for 32 miles(50k)...

but he persevered and finish his 50k in 7:xx,  ending with a death march that included a smile and a few minutes of projectile vomiting once he reached the shade.  So proud of my mentally and physically strong husband.  Yes,  projectile vomiting might not seem okay to some but in our household,  it happens.

 Dawn...we camped and drove a mile to the start.

 Early start, 6:30 a.m.

 Finish...sometime after 1 p.m.  the last 1/2 mile.

 Pre-vomit fest with Craig!

 Race Eve festivities with Ping and Pong, their mom and her boyfriend.

My favorite part of camping.

Finding the perfect marshmallow roasting stick is always a priority for me.

BS was satisfied with his time and effort, it was a hot day and he finished.

My half was a highlight for my year; I felt strong on the hills both up and down and the heat made me feel great...it is definitely a comfort for me which is weird, I know.

My highlight of the weekend was NOT the lumpy, hard and crusty ground where we slept because I tossed and turned ALL night.  No, the highlight was when I left the tent to pee in the tall grass at about 2:30 a.m.,  near our tent,  and and looked up to see an ENTIRE sky filled with stars that were so close together they almost exploded before my eyes.  I couldn't walk.  I couldn't stop myself from scanning the sky.  I felt so insignificant and yet, so embraced by the beauty.

Thank you Cuyamaca 3 Peaks for a great time...

Run happy,
meg

St. George Marathon Training and other SUMMer Things...

Sunday's  long run:
14 miles on rolling hills(ha, mostly rolling straight upwards rather than down)
4x60 sec. 3k uphill
40 min. LT uphill, 5 min. rest
4x30 sec. 3k flat

I did all this before the 7 mile mark and then headed home...you guessed it....uphill after three miles of screaming downhill.  Actually, the screaming was coming from ME and was more like heavy sighing.
Ice bath for 20 min.


Work out #2 was TRACK at Discovery Lake:

90 degrees at 5 p.m.
20 min. at marathon goal pace: 7:30(hot, hot, hot)
3x400 up hill 3k effort
1200 around lake, 10k (less hot, finally)
3x400 down hill 3k effort
1 mile around lake
O.K., I honestly couldn't do the mile around the lake,( nor could the rest of the crew)so the workout turned out to be 10 miles with warm up, so we cooled down around the lake.
Ice bath for 20 min. when I got home.

L   O   V   E  summer, here are some highlights from this last week:

First week off starts with a trip to the fair where I run into to past students and  we go on rides together.  

Perfect!

 The first week off also ends with a bang when I get to go on Sparkle Pant's first fieldtrip with his pre school...which resulted in a zillion snookie-nosed kids taking their clothes off at the park, eating each other's lunches and just a few run aways, escaping the preschool madness(yes, I was one of them).

 Sparkle's Mom packs his lunch with a note.  So cute.

 First meal at the New Grill we can visit on foot in Leucadia.  I guess you could say I liked the macaroni and cheese...a little.

 Sparkle Pants gets set to eat a gummy dinosaur on the 4th of July.

 Sparkle and I cuddle while we wait for fire works!

 Grandpa Boy Scout and Sparkle pants watch the explosions.

 End of cold harvest carrots in July,  rainbow carrots!!!  We made a yummy soup with them.

So, I always wanted to enter my flowers in the Del Mar Fair but found a way to win blue ribbons anyway, right here at home!  My favorite blossoms from last week.

On the tap for running this weekend:

Boy Scout has another 50k this weekend and I'll run the 3 Peaks 1/2 marathon while I wait for him!  It's going to be HOT(over 100 degrees)and I'm terrified I'm going to see a lot of SNAKES.  Don't ask me why this has all of a sudden been a worry of mine but it might have to do with the page-long warning the RD sent out a day or so ago.  UGH!!!!

GO HONEY!!

Happy Training!
meg

Living Your Life Full of OS!M

My new principal is a ROCKIN CHICK.  She's quiet, kind, solid, strong, honest, loyal, has integrity and is KIND, COMPASSIONATE and above all, RESPECTED.  She further proves my point as of late...you don't have to be a BAD ASS, tough, mean and aggressive woman to be well respected and LOOK STRONG.  In fact, recently ,  the most  quiet and steadfast women in my life have  been my accidental mentors.  I say ACCIDENTAL  because I usually think of the brass, tough and often outspoken women I know as having those ILLUSIVE qualities that I wish I had.
WISH  NO  MORE.  WISH  NO  MORE.
As each year brings me more wisdom and as I make more mistakes and feel, well, ultimately more humble and naive...I realize that what I once thought as truth is now, frankly, the opposite.  Untrue.

Where I once thought I could hold it all together in a nice, neat package, I've NOW realized that life is messy and all over the place and that's okay.

Where I once thought that mistakes were a sign of weakness,  I NOW realize that mistakes are human.  I am human.  I can be a mess and that' s okay.

This year has been MY year.  A year of fun, mistakes, challenges, risks and messiness.  I've taken leaps off of mountains,  stripped myself of things that I was holding on to for security and confronted people and issues in myself that have held me back.

So, when my principal talked to us about being open to O Shi$ Moments(OS! M)and being open to their possibilities of providing us with HUGE leaps of growth and FUN,  I jumped in with both feet.

Fear?
Trepidation?
Unsure?

Certainly, but totally confident.

Now, how does this relate to running?  To sport?
It has everything to do with running...and life...and relationships...as well as teaching.

It's up to us to create some Oh, Shi$ Moments in our lives.  Let's stay fresh, make mistakes and be real, right out in the open. Be honest.  Try new things, meet new friends.

Run a new race.  Push a little harder.  Fail.  DNF and live to tell about it.  Get injured and come back from it with a smile.  Talk about good things with running.  Uplift others.

I'm off to work on a PR on the 4th of July and possibly get lost again at a half marathon mountain race but the possibilities are totally exciting.  Refreshing.

How are you going to create some OS!M this summer?
xo
Run happy!
meg

MY HUGSBAND is SO Skinny and ANOTHER TRAIL RACE REPORT

Yes, I did say hugs-band.  The poor skinny guy.  Ultra training is taking it's toll.   He picked me up at the Carlsbad Airport this morning and I hardly recognized him.  5 days away and the cat didn't play, he just RAN and Ran and ran...some more.  Twice yesterday.  Thank goodness he fueled after his twenty miler with some nutritious, vitamin-laden treats from Whole Foods.  Not.  He hit up Oggies pizza and invited "friend" over to watch the basketball game and then they devoured the entire order:

Hugsband's Ultra is about a month away.  I have visions of fattening him up before the big day but honestly, I'm not sure it's possible.  Two a days have a way of burning up every single vitamin, mineral, fat cell and calorie within minutes of finishing.  Ah, the trails of an ultra widow....with a husband both thinner and lighter than she.

The joke is that I'm not really an ultra widow.  I've been spinning my own web of fun and headed out to visit my BIF(bad influence friend) for fun, adventures and trail racing in Colorado Springs.  BIF is also known as  the founder of ...RAWHIDE.  A mix of princess, diamonds, moxie and toughness.  In elementary school,  BIF was a playground enigma. She held her own, a princess always ready for a fight.  Not a mean girl, no, just a gal that carried her head high.    I worshipped her from afar.  In junior high, we had some tough classes together; she never studied, I studied my brains out.  In high school,  she drove her mother to drink and we walked "the edge" more times than I can count. At the age of 18, she MADE me call my now-hugsband and ask him out!   In college,  we sealed the deal and became close friends.  College, marriages, babies, deaths of family members, surgeries, family drama,  another marriage...today at almost 48,  she is still my BIF and we practice "RAWHIDE...the noun" as much as possible.  On Sunday, that meant ME heading to Colorado Springs to do some mountain trail running at 6000 feet with NO, NO, NO elevation training and having taken a week of tapering(non-voluntary)before the trip.  Mind you,  I live AT SEA LEVEL, basically 3/4 mile from the beach.

Beautiful things unfold when Rawhide happens.  BIF ran her first trail 5k, mostly cheering for every single person she saw and crossed the finished line pain free.  Her plantar facitis was obsolete.  I ran the trail 12k and pr'd by 3 minutes.  The course was TOUGH, steep and in the MOUNTAINS,  so I ran relaxed, happy and free.  Sure, I had a pounding headache that finally ended once my plane landed back in San Diego, but RAWHIDE sees you through the tough times.  My legs felt strong, my cardio was spot on and heck,  we all know how affective a good six day taper can be to a 48 year old!

So,  life back here in San Diego goes on.  I celebrate my win in Colorado within...I felt so happy to have finished a challenge and a goal that was out of the ordinary.  The trail run the following day(pictures above)was my medal...my gift...my reward.

 I've found myself needing some new adventures this year and I've had a burning desire to set some new, higher goals for myself in running this year.  I'm not sure what that means just yet but I have signed up for a fall marathon with my HUGSBAND and once he recovers from sheer skinniness,  I'll have him out there training and "RAWHIDING" with me(the verb)once again.

Just wondering,  do any of you have a BIF?  Isn't it fun?!?  Do tell...

Keep on 'movin, 'movin, 'movin forward and happy running,
meg

Elephant Mountain Cave Creek Arizona Race Report

Our Arizona Race Trip really began after we took off our shoes and toasted our toes at our hotel which was about 15 miles from our race.

Fric and Frac made the six hour trip with us and were nothing but COMEDY the whole time.  What could be better for me than to ride in the car for six hours with three men who "sometimes" have the humor of 12 year old boys someone half their age.  I did laugh...a lot.

Race day started at 5:00 a.m.  We headed off into the 32 degree chill and encountered over 20 Ragnar Relay racers with headlamps and safety vests.  I don't know why but I felt their "pain" and their joy, namely their joy.  Who else would CHOOSE to run in the early morning, dark  chill for a charity but a beautiful runner?  I had a "moment" in the car.  My "moments" often signal a promise for a good race.  Some how,  just connecting with that "why I'm out here doing this..., "as in running...just gives me that EXTRA push to cherish and appreciate.  

Live life to it's fullest.  Such a cliche and, yet, true.

Dumb and Dumber  Fric and Frac,  started their 50k at 7:00 a.m.  They were Ultra Virgins at that hour and within 5 hours for one and 7 for the other,  were christened ULTRA RUNNERS.  As always, their advanced twelve year old sense of humor fit right in with the ULTRA SCENE and I think they maybe hooked.  I could be wrong but I did see the familiar **eerie ultra smile**that I've witnessed at a few ultras lately...on EVERYONE'S face.  They had it.

Boy Scout and I set off at 8:30 and raced a mere 12k.  It was one of the rockiest,  most technical races I've done yet.  SO, of course,  I LOVED it.  I have so much confidence in my Brooks Cascadia trail shoes that it's almost scary.  They have so much flexibility that I can almost run over the tops and tips of rocks and small boulders without even touching any dirt.  There were lots of falls today so maybe I was just lucky...

Today I ran in respect to a family who lost their son to a tragic situation.  He was mentally ill,  addicted to drugs and had been through so much  during his 23 years on this planet.  Our trip to Arizona seemed frivolous in comparison to what my friend's family had been experiencing this last week.

My race today was up steep and unforgiving hills,  the trails were lined with huge cactus and the trails were rocky.  Evan's life had reflected the challenges of this desert habitat.

Yet, stepping away from "the race,"  we experienced the BEAUTY of the desert and all it has to offer. Challenges and, yet, Sweetness.

I decided to run this race by attacking the challenges in a way that I hadn't before,  on behalf of Evan who didn't have the means nor opportunities to attack life in a healthy way.
That meant taking the hills confidently, calmly and with confidence.
That also meant flying down hill, over the quartz trails and rocky terrain,  trusting that my next step would lead me to something even better than the last.
Trusting.

My second inspiration for this race came from a wonderful article I read this week by Dax, a local ultra runner.  His perspective on women and beauty is remarkable.
www.dirtyrunning.blogspot.com

Women tend to fret about their looks, their weight, their clothing, their skin...
as I get older,  I tend to  see the beauty in others that stands out the most...
sincerity
honesty
integrity
love
warmth
toughness
being happy with oneself in everyday

I ran feeling just a little more beautiful today and I definitely had the appreciation for life and living...