Sawtooth 2008 (in pictures)

Thank you to everyone who donated to Cystic Fibrosis Ireland. It meant a lot to me running this race knowing how many people had supported this cause.

I'd be lying if I said I hadn't dreamed of winning this race. And anyway, no one would believe me...

But the past few days were about so much more than realizing that dream. In the company of old and new friends, and with the help of the best crew I could have asked for, I had one of the most incredible journeys of my life. I have so many memories to share but my (swollen) feet are submerged in ice as I write this and can only handle another few minutes so I'll upload some pics and tell the rest of the story soon.

But first I have to mention Larry, John and all of the volunteers - these people don't just make the event possible, they make it what it is. Thank you for all the hard work before, during and after the race. Your friendly faces and kind words throughout the day and night made such a difference. The only downside of coming into an aid station was enquiring about how folks were doing and hearing of those who had to drop. I was especially sorry when it was some of the guys I have raced and trained with over the past few months - Adam, Wynn, Duke, Matt, Steve, Pierre and Molly - all top notch athletes that had various things go wrong on the day. Though I think in Pierre's case it was a well planned 50 miler! Recover well. I have no doubt you'll all be back stronger.

102.6 miles in pictures...

The day had come



The hour had come

There was time for a few pics with friends

And then it was time to run



We could have sat by the lake



And enjoyed the view from the shore


But we chose to run some trails



And some hills


And enjoyed the view from up here instead



We got to run a little of this



And a LOT of this


And even some of this. In the dark...


We weren't meant to run on this. But some of us did anyway. Despite excellent course marking!

We got to run across lots of bridges

Even a few real ones

And see waterfalls

Our crew even got to sit by them (I guess they deserved a break...)

We got to run with cool people



And have a laugh along the way (kinda hard not to laugh at Doug's stories!)


We got to pose for the camera


Even when we didn't want to :)




We got to change socks MANY times

But we had friends to help


We sometimes ran too fast for the camera



And sometimes not


But mostly we sat on our ass



And got treated like royalty!



And FINALLY...


We got to cross the FINISH line



And take off those damn shoes




And grin like a champion :)



And relax in the sunshine enjoying an ice cold beer. Ooups, hallucinating again! Except for the ice cold...

We got to hang out with cool people

And watch our friends finish


We got to shake Larry's hand



And scream in horror at the mention of next year's race



We got to watch our friends pick up awards


And then we got to pose some more



And once more


And the prize for best crew goes to...


Thanks sis!

Congrats to Chris on a phenomenal race winning in just under 22 hours. And to Joe and Brent who came in under 24 and 26 hours respectively. Full results for all of the races available at http://uppermidwesttrailrunners.com/superior/fall/index.html.

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Countdown...

During a final easy 5 mile run on the Luce Line last night the guys were asking how I was feeling - scared? nervous? excited? No, No and Yes! Don't worry I will be freaking out a little come tomorrow night but right now I just want to get up there and do it!

A little worried about the conditions. Definitely need to pack some warmer clothing. I started on my drop bags Monday night. Whoa - this is nothing like a 50 miler!! My time estaimates vary so wildly that I ended up packing every cart with tons of stuff. All EIGHT of them. Is that overkill? 8 drop bags? It seems excessive but I just don't know what I'll want when. I just feel bad for the volunteers lugging them all around the place...

I will have crew but don't want to be putting them under pressure to carry stuff either. Teresa will have my car and then Pam & Tanya are coming up also. It will be really great to have them there. I am undecided if I'll want them to pace me at all. I know they are both willing and prepared to help Kami and/or I as needed but I have a feeling I'll just want to run by myself. But then what do I know about mile 51, 52, 53...99... ok, maybe the nerves are starting to set in early!

BEST of LUCK to everyone heading up there for the 26.2, 50 or 100. Part of the reason I am so excited is seeing so many familar faces on Thursday night, throughout the run and most especially during the celebrations!! It's been an awesome few months getting to know so many local trail runners and it truly makes these races all the more memorable.

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Taos

After a few days in southwestern Colorado we crossed back into New Mexico yesterday. Before leaving CO we had a very relaxing time in Pagosa Springs where we soaked for hours in the hot springs, treated ourselves to a hot stone massage ('treated' might actually be too generous a word as the lady doing my massage seemed to be going for the speed record in zipping her hands up and down my back... slooooowly does it thank you very much). But anyway, between that and the 110F pools alternated with dips in the freezing San Juan river my body probably felt as different as it possibly could from what it'll be feeling this time next week!

Also enjoyed a lovely run through the trails along the edge of the San Juan National Forest. Including a little venture onto private property. Wasn't spotted trespassing. Well, expect by the deer.

After leaving Pagosa we detoured east to Wolf Creek Pass along the Continental Divide Trail.

Hiked for an hour or more on the trail from the Lobo outlook. Wow - what fantastic views. This is definitely a trail for running!!

Taos is a cool spot. There's an Arts Festival on for the weekend so we're going to check that out now and then head out to one of the ski areas for some hiking. And then Santa Fe before home on Monday... but that's TWO whole days away so no need to think about it just yet. And anyway, home means just a few short days until Sawtooth. I am ridiculously excited about it. It literally is the first and last thing I think of each day and hundreds of time throughout the day. I had better not end up falling 10 miles into the race and have to pull out as I might just not ever get over it :)

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Durango

Greetings from Durango, CO!

We started off the day with a return visit to Arches NP to see Delicate Arch - I'd been there during my trip last February but Teresa didn't get to see it on Monday as it was getting late and the sky was no longer blue. Wow - equally worthwhile second time around! We scrambled all the way around the far side to get some excellent views with nothing but blue sky in the background...

Ended up spending way longer out there than we'd planned so it was well past check-out time but the hotel folks were very pleasant - they knew us by now as our 1 night stay turned into 2 and then 3! Before getting on the road for Durango we indulged in a scrumptious brunch at the Eklectic Cafe. The drive here took just over 3hrs including a stop enroute in Cortez (for a Haagen Daz lunch). We debated stopping in Mesa Verde NP but decided we'd were a little NP'd out at this stage and had seen pretty spectacular 13th century ruins in Canyon de Chelly so we were good on the culture side of things.

Arrived in Durango a little before 5pm to be told 'no vacanies' at hotel after hotel due to a motorcycle rally in town this week! Shucks - didn't exactly plan that well. But thankfully we found a place a short walk from town center after some more searching. As we'd driven through town we were delighted to see so many cute stores, neat looking restaurants and coffee shops. And lots of bookshops. This would definitely be a place to wander about for a morning. Teresa was going to do some exploring while I went for a run so we made plans to meet up downtown for dinner later.

I set off expecting to run for an hour through some neighborhoods. But before long I found myself on a road named 'Mount View Ave' that seemed to be heading straight up into the hills. After about 5 minutes I spotted what looked like a trail and then a sign for 'Durango Mountain Park'. Super! What an unexpected treat. But it got better. I ran through a maze of gravel/earthen hilly trails for about 10 minutes and then found myself ascending a pretty steep climb behind 2 guys. They seemed to know where they were going so I figured I'd follow them. That lasted all of 2 minutes as I overtook them and saw there was only one trail and it was going all the way to the top. 10 minutes later I was atop a 7,484 peak!! So much for an easy 6 mile run. I'd just climbed almost 1000ft in 30 minutes. Does this mean Steve was correct in his prediction of me not being able to avoid a tough workout?? Maybe not, my calves ached but it was short. The run down was kinda rough but fun!

What a delight to happen upon such beautiful trail. I only wish I had more time in this area. I think the San Juan Solstice race in June will be added to the calendar! Looking forward to exploring the town a little more in the morning. We had a delicious pasta dinner at Guido's accompanied by a nice Italian red. I was going to abstain for the 2 weeks before the race but that seemed altogther too much like hard work.

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Moab: Adventure Capital of the Southwest

They were not joking when they gave Moab this tagline. No end of activities... yesterday morning I ran the first section of the Moab Red Hot 50K+ starting at Gemini Bridges trailhead - it was just as beautiful as I remembered from last year, and this morning we chose to start the day with a few hours rock climbing! It was a lot of fun... check out the wall - how could this not be fun?

Our guide Chris was excellent (very low key guy but a bit of a legend in the rock climbing world) and it was just Teresa and I so we had loads of time on the wall. We started off with a 5.7 climb and the next 4 included a 5.9 and 5.10, one of them involving crack climbing which I'd never done before. Not that we actually used any crack techniques but there was a bit of wedging between walls...! Teresa did excellent - time well spent out at Dalkey quarry with the climbing club. I didn't make it to the top of the 5.10 - my feet were pretty sore by that stage so I had to give in after about 10 minutes. This is me before giving in :) ...

And if I ever get to master rock climbing I'll try bouldering next - yes, people 'climb' these... some routes involve circling the boulder - I can't imagine the mess one's fingers would be in after that journey!

After our exertions on the wall we picked up some lunch and had a picnic along the Colorado River just north of town. And then a dip in the ~60F water. It felt so good given the heat of the day. We've had temps well in the 90's most days - real summer weather at last!

Yesterday afternoon we toured around Arches NP and this evening we headed up to Canyonlands NP. I'd been to Arches last year but Canyonlands was all new. And equally spectacular. Difficult to know what direction to look in - everything is worth taking in! Mesa Arch was definitely one of the highlights...

Next time I come here I want to run this trail! It curves right around the edge of the canyon several hundred feet above the base. The only problem is the views across the valley are so beautiful I may have difficulty staying on trail. Steve mentioned in his Sawtooth predictions that I have a tendancy to fall when tired. It's not even when I'm tired - I just like to take in the views (and have a tendancy to daydream) and forget that I need to focus more on where my feet should be!

Sunset at "Island in The Sky" was glorious...



And after dark we chilled out for a while in this serene setting. It was so peaceful lying on the rock looking up at the stars. In contrast, sitting on the edge peering down into nothingness was a little unnerving...

And then on the drive back we were treated to a lightening show. It was pretty amazing, I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. Tried to capture it on video with my camera...



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How to taper effectively?

Go on vacation!

Canyon de Chelly, AZ

Having a blast on hols with my sis. The plan was NM but somewhere between MSP and ABQ we looked at a map and realized that most of what we wanted to see in NM is in the northern and north western part of the state... and hey, isn't that Arizona over there, and Utah up there, and look - Colorado is just across the border! I know, I've been living in the States almost 4 years and I have a pretty good grasp of geography but I hadn't researched this trip at all so I just assumed we'd spend all of our time in New Mexico. But we do like to make the most of these trips... so I am sitting in a motel in Moab as I type this!

Highlights so far were a visit to El Morro National Monument yesterday and a fantastic drive and hike through Canyon de Chelly today.

Four Corners: AZ, UT, CO, NM

I plan to run for an hour in the morning - maybe the trails we ran for the 50K that Kami and I did here in Feb '07. That would be fitting - retracing some of my first Ultra steps just before my first 100 miler!

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Running for those who cannot...

The Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland charity is a very worthy cause. CF is Ireland's most common genetically inherited disease.We have the highest incidence of the disease in the developed world, with 1 in 19 members of the population being carriers of the recessive CF gene. It is when two carriers of the recessive gene parent a child together, there is a 1 in 4 risk of the child having the disease. There is no cure at present for this disease. To learn more about CF and the wonderful work done by the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland please check out their website. For more information on the disease click here.

In 1998 I lost my childhood friend to this disease. We were both aged 21. It is to remember Nuala, and to support the more than 1000 children and their families that live with this disease every day in Ireland, that I ask you to consider donating. Any amount no matter how small is hugely appreciated.

In the years since Nuala passed I took up running and since moving to the US in 2005 I have discovered the joys of trail running. On September 5th I will attempt my first 100 mile race, the Superior Sawtooth. It is a point-to-point race on 100% trails on a course that follows the Superior Hiking Trail in Northern Minnesota along the north shore of Lake Superior. It is a very beautiful trail with (hopefully) enough scenery to keep me sane for the 30+ hours I will be running/walking/crawling.

Having completed a number of 50K and 50M races as well as numerous long training runs I've had plenty of time to reflect on how lucky I am to enjoy the life I've been given. To be blessed with good health, a loving family and wonderful friends. To wake up every day knowing I have the capacity to live life to the fullest and that the only thing standing in my way are the limits I place on myself. But not everyone is as fortunate. So if I can add meaning to my race by fundraising for CF it will make the effort all the more worthwhile.

Please click on this link to donate.

Taper starts here...

Well, the hard work is done now. Enough of it I hope. Finished off with a run around the Lakes this morning with Carrie for about 11 miles and then a visit to Hyland this evening for another 9. That was fun - sort of. I planned to do about 10 hill repeats, met up with Guy for the first few and then Val arrived and was planning to do 20. So of course I couldn't let her do them all alone... finished up with 21. Still, that was less than 2 hours on the hill. How on earth did Julie do 6 hour sessions out there?????

25 minute ice bath when I got home. My feet needed it they were feeling a bit tired. But I think I need to start adding more ice - it's not feeling quite as cold now that I am used to it!

Really looking forward to New Mexico. Will be great to chill out, not worry about work (though the laptop is coming with), and just hang out with my sis.

Wonder how the nerves will be this time two weeks...

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Feeling good again!

Great run this evening! I am so glad I took the few days to let my ankle heal. I've been icing and taping it every day. Felt no pain whatsoever in it. Took Saturday and Sunday completely off, yoga Monday morning and a nice sleep in this morning. Then met up with Cindy from work who's training for her first IM for a bike ride this evening. We got caught in the rain but just towards the end.

Got home and was feeling good so I decided I'd head for the Lakes. 9 miles. 1 warm-up, 7 @ 7min pace, 1 cool-down. It wasn't easy. But I felt strong. It was just one of those runs that make you so happy to be able to run. My left foot (problem child from a few weeks ago) felt a little tender mile 3-4 but went away after that. Similarly my right quad (odd pain that appeared Friday night) was aching a little in the middle of the run but was better by the end. Got home, stretched a little... I'm learning the hard way... then sat watching the Olympics with my feet in a basin of ice and an ice pack on my thigh!

Tomorrow will be an easy day and then more running Thursday. I'd been planning a hill workout at Afton but have decided I am better off not tempting fate on the gnarly terrain and will instead do Hyland ski hill. And then off to NM for the week. Easy runs at altitutde - it's all about increasing the red blood cell count :)

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Olympic Coverage for Dummies

Or at least that's what NBC must think we are. Ok - so not everyone just wants to watch Track & Field but explain to me why I was watching a qualifying round basketball match between the US and NZ women while the men's 10,000m final was getting underway? I kept thinking they would switch coverage but No. And from what I can tell they have no plans to show the race until later this evening (same with women's 100m final which was held around 9am CDT) - so I gave in and looked up the results online...

STOP reading if you don't want to know! Sorry for those folks who already read on before I added this. Thanks Keith :)

Bekele defended his title to take gold again and no medal for Gebrselassie who faded to 6th place towards the finish. Jamacia took 1-2-2 (tie for 2nd) in the 100m so no glory for Lauren Williams et al. Amazingly the golds in the 100m men's and women's this week for Jamacia were their first despite being strong in sprinting for as long as I've been watching the Games.

The reason I am sat watching TV in the first place is that my ankle is pretty sore this morning so no running. Or biking. I guess I could have biked - Pam and Karen were setting off from Plymouth at 8am but I decided I needed the sleep instead. And also still have a pain in my right quad so biking might not have been the best idea. No clue what's up with that but hopefully a massage this week will sort it out. Anyway I finally got a great long sleep! So I think a few days rest and I should be able for my last final workout by mid-week. Last fall Kami and I did this great session in Afton starting with the first hill on the race course - up and down that one, then the next one over, and the next one, and then the gravel one. And do it in reverse. And repeat...

We'll see. I'd better take care of the ankle. It is just annoying since it didn't feel that bad when I turned it. Will bike at some point this week also since I won't be doing any more of that until after Superior. In NM from next Friday until Labor Day so will just do some light runs. Indulged in a pair of Inov-8's yesterday. I'd been meaning to stop by TC Running store for the longest time and finally made it over there after meeting the girls at Little Long Lake for an afternoon swim. Nice shop - much bigger selection of gear than I remembered from my last visit which was probably well over a year ago.

Was looking up Leadville results earlier - sounded like tough conditions out there. Everyone did well to get to where they did. Not sure made it to the finish as the online tracker is down at the moment. Looking forward to hearing all about it. And the Pikes Peak Ascent which Kami, Cathy & Igor were doing (and also I think a few of the runner from Team Ortho) - heard from the guys last night that they were turned around 3m from the finish due to bad weather - so they ended up returning to the start for 20m instead of a half marathon!! Well, I guess they now know what the ascent and descent on that course feel like :)

Olympic coverage had turned to Fencing. I think it's time to turn off the TV.

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Full Moon at Afton

What a beautiful night for running! Earlier this week I had a half notion of heading back up to the SHT tonight for a final trot on the trail to get in some night running along the section I hope to do during the dark hours (Finland to...?) but in the end decided that logistically it would be a bit of a nightmare and that I should just stick with the original plan of an Afton run with Matt et al.

So that is what I did. And had a new running partner to share the fun - Val, whom I'd met at Voyageur, and I were emailing yesterday and I was telling her about the run so she decided to join also. Worked out good as by the time we were ready to run at 8pm Matt, Zach and Bill were just in from a loop (#2 for Matt) and were taking a break. So the pair of us set off on loop #1. I'd been hoping to run 2 full loops and the was feeling pretty good for most of the first one. We had the headlamps out after about 40 minutes - just as we were attacking a fairly technical downhill - and were covering ground at a decent pace. Val asked me a few times if we were going too slow for me - er, No - in fact we were probably running faster than I ever have out there on a training run! We met Zach and Bill along the river as they were heading the opposite direction. Matt had stomach issues and had gone back to the car. Too bad for him but he's gotten some good night runs in out there so I think he is well set for Sawtooth.

We ended up at 2:45 for the loop but I had started to feel a pretty sharp pain in the center of my right quad so wasn't too happy about that. Totally new pain. I love it - couldn't have a week go by without a new one! I recall Adam mentioning some quad pain so I will have to check in with him to see if it was anything similar. Feels good as I write this now but I expect there's a lot of build up in my quads from the week's biking and running. Good thing I'm having weekly massages at the moment...

Setting off on loop 2 just after 11pm we weren't sure if we'd do the full one but the great thing about running out there is being able to cut it short if needed. Actually, that is kind of a bad thing really as it's too easy to pack it in :) But it made sense last night as I turned on my right ankle along the Back 40 Loop and it hurt pretty bad. Many years ago I tore ligaments in this ankle (long before I started running... very high heels on a rather drunken college night out) so it has always been the weaker one and I often roll it once or twice during a race but usually nothing that I feel for very long. But I knew last night's turn was a little worse than usual and my quad pain was not going away so when we got back down to the river from the campground hill we turned right and took the path back up to the carpark. A little disappointed not to have completed the second loop but no point in pushing through pain now. There will be enough of that in a few weeks time! Wynn and Duke arrived back to the carpark just as we were packing up to go. They were planning a second loop also. Not bad after a solid night session on the SHT Thurs for Wynn - he's in great shape for the race.

So 26 for the night. Unlikely to make my goal of 70 for the week unless the ankle improves dramatically by tomorrow but it's not the end of the world. Lots of icing and elevation today. I did ice it for quite a while last night - did my usual 20 minutes in the ice bath when I got home and then had my feet and ankles in a basin of ice for another 10-15 mins. Felt good at the time so I am a little surprised by how sore it is now. Feel like I put in some good quality runs this week anyway. Wednesday night was a tempo one along the Luce Line - myself and Eric were definitely pushing it but that nice flat non-pavement surface is the place to do it. Then Thursday evening we did 20 around the lakes and Minnehaha parkway. It had been quite a while since I ran that length on the road but it felt good.

Looking forward to watching lots of the Olympics in the coming days. I got to see some of the swimming and gymnastics last week but definitely want to see more of the track & field events. I have DVR but have no clue how to use it so I should really try to figure that out...

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Last big weekend...

I haven't quite decided what or where I'll be running this weekend but it'll be the last big training session before Sawtooth. I'll bike and run next week but moderate distance/effort and the following week I'll be on vacation in New Mexico so it'll just be a few runs (at altitude...) and then it'll be The Final Countdown...

Scary s**t. But I am super excited. I don't know why because there are more tough miles than easy miles on the course but I guess I don't run ultras for the easy stuff :)

Finally getting back into my yoga routine after a week+ off. Went back yesterday morning and then Deborah's class this morning. Brutal. But in a good way. Of course. Will probably make it again tomorrow and maybe Friday. It really helps loosen up my hamstrings in particular. And it's just a good workout. The class I go to is Vinyasa flow in a room at 80F so there's some serious sweating involved!

Biked 40 miles with Igor this evening - we were thinking of going to Prescott for the hills along 35 south but we decided to stay a bit closer to home. Started out along Co. Rd 20 just east of 494 and rode out to 95 - did a big loop including the lovely hills coming out of Afton village on 21 south. Boy, did those hills slow me down. Then a detour into the park itself to get another big climb in. Legs were feeling it. Tomorrow evening will be a run (after a massage which I hope will help the shoulders - pretty tight since the weekend). Hoping for a tempo run assuming the legs are recovered from today.

Came home from the bike ride to a scrumptious steak dinner - nothing like having a sister in town to feed you :)

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