Race Reports Archives ~ Page 11 of 12 ~ TRAILMOMMA

November 17, 2014October 5, 2016

MT. TAM 50K RACE REPORT

I have been blogging about preparing for this race for quite a while now. I haven’t talked much about it in detail on the blog, other than I had decided to do another 50K with some new training partners. You see, a while ago, Stonegate Girl mentioned to me that she wanted to do a 50k. She has never done a marathon but she did not care. She is strong. She is determined. She wanted to hit the trails. Burning Girl and I agreed to join Stonegate on this adventure as long as we stuck together. Burning Girl had one ultra under belt (ahem, the North Face 50K – a very difficult race that she had done solo) and I had my plethora of races mostly all local and in my own backyard. I was ready. I wanted to venture a little bit out of my comfort zone and try a race that required just a little bit more.

Burning Girl picked the race. The Mt. Tam 50k put on by Inside Trail Racing. I agreed without really looking into the race. I signed up as soon as sign ups were open without thinking twice. I mean, running in the bay area has been a dream and this race cost me $65!? What ultra costs only $65? I signed up and then I looked at some of the race stats but I didn’t look at the elevation map. Hmmmmm…..I should have, right?

Look at those bumps! I knew the race had about 6,800 feet of elevation gain but it never occurred to me how that elevation would play out over the course of 30 miles. In my naive brain, I assumed just a long gradual climb up Mt. Tam, which quite honestly, I knew nothing about.

Well those bumps in the above photo we nicknamed “the boobs” and referred to them as such throughout the race. For example, Stonegate Girl “Hey, what boob are we on?” Burning Girl: “I think we are at the base of number two boob.” Hey, whatever passes the time and makes us laugh right?

Regardless, I knew nothing about the course other than our map showed that it was sort of in the shape of a clover. I was okay with that. Then, a few days before the race, all participants received THE most confusing email EVER about the race. I should note, that at this event, they had a 10k, a half marathon, a 30K and the 50K all happening at the same time. Here is the blurb we received about the course markings or ribbons that we are supposed to follow during the race:

Let’s read that again, shall we? “50K – Yellow Out to Pink Out to Red/White Checkered Extension to Pink Return to Yellow Return.” Did you get that? Also, my second favorite part is the section that reads: “There will also be blue ribbons on the course. If you run past a blue ribbon you are going the wrong way!” That quickly prompted a chant by us girls throughout the race, “Blue is Bad. Blue is Bad.” Every time we ran by a blue ribbon, we’d say “blue is bad” and if any other runners were near by, they’d laugh.

However, if you compare the course marking description with the course map above, it DOES start to make a little bit of sense. Still, we ran with a copy of the map in our packs JUST in case and as it turns out, they came in handy.

On Friday, Stonegate Girl and Burning Girl picked me up at work and we left for Mill Valley. Stonegate has this amazing friend, who I am going to call ‘Mill Valley’ because she is as beautiful and as amazing as that little town. Mill Valley offered to let us stay at her house before and after the race. She has BEDS! Do you how amazing it is to sleep in a nice warm bed in someone’s home before a race? It eased all the tension and nerves that I had I about my pre-race routine.

Packet Pickup was at the San Francisco Running Company store in Mill Valley and it was really neat going there. I’ve heard and seen so many things on Facebook about this store and the runs they lead, and it was kind of neat actually getting to visit it in person. Scott Jurek had only been there a few days before!

However we were antsy and ready for Saturday. We were tired of this waiting and were ready to get this race started. The night before, the girls got some pizza and brought it home while I brought some of my food with me. As of late, my “go-to” pre long run meal has been plain steamed quinoa with some tempeh bacon that I have been addicted to making lately. For some reason, this meal has been siting fairly well with me for most long runs.

Saturday morning came soon enough and we loaded the car and headed to the beach. We wanted to get there with enough time to use the bathrooms and just relax and take it all in. Oddly, the race didn’t start until 8:30 am which is really a late start for an ultra. It was cold but not as cold as I had expected. I knew that during the race we might reach 70 degrees and I naively dressed in a t-shirt instead of a tank top. That may be my one regret on this race.

So, here is the point where I am going to give you a heads up that this is going to be a super long race report (wait, isn’t it already too long?) but I promise to provide a TON of photos. I went a little nuts on this run and rightly so as you will see. Truly an amazing course with remarkable terrain that varies from desert like situations to rain forest. Truly spectacular. So, grab some tea and settle in or bookmark this page to return to later. 🙂

We arrived at the start finish area and hit the bathrooms. We stayed warm in the car for quite a while just assessing all the people around us trying figure out who was running what race (remember, there were 4 different races happening).

Finally it was time to get out of the car, get dressed, put together our packs and head to the starting area where the race director was giving us some last-minute instruction about the course markings (remember, Blue is Bad). The 50k and 30k runners would start together and the rest of the race would start later at 9 am.

In all, there were only 91 runners doing the 50K and there were 107 running doing the 30K distance. Overall, probably one of the smallest races I have done in a while.

One, two, three go! We were off and it was a conga line from the start. They had us ~~squeeze~~ run under the Start/Finish arch and onto the street and up towards the trail except it wasn’t a trail at all, it was a flight of stairs ….

This is not what my cold legs wanted. In hind sight, a warm up run to stretch the legs might have been needed in this race. Starting a race up hill is never easy. Starting a race on a flight of stairs? Forget about it.

I will warn you, a lot of my photos from the beginning of the race are going to be blurry but I am going to include them anyway so you can see exactly what the terrain looked like. In actuality, the trail itself seemed blurry to me as I was running. My eyes were tearing up and it was just over cast and very muggy to start.

Very overcast at first — Over cast skiesÂ at first

I knew the first aid-station was 3.7 miles into the race and I knew it was where we would see Mill Valley and her amazing friend Ironman April. Normally the first aid-station comes and goes but I realized quickly that this was not an ordinary race at all and it wasn’t long before I was counting the minutes until we saw that aid-station.

But first, we had 3.7 mile of insane trails to conquer… all of it uphill … with a few obstacles thrown in for good measure.

The ground was soggy and very slippery. If you stepped on a root, you slipped. If you stepped on a rock, you slipped. If you stepped on some mud, you slipped. You just couldn’t win on this section of the course. It made me wish that I had changed my shoes to my newer models before the race. Awe well, too late now!

Not the most flattering shot but you see how steep and wet it is on the trail.

I knew this race had stairs and I knew that within the first three miles, we’d hit a ladder. Yes, I said ladder.

As soon as I saw it I smiled. HOW FLIPPING COOL IS THAT!!?? Despite feeling a little bit tired still, I was in trail heaven.

Since we were running with the 30K runners the first 3 miles were pretty congested. It wasn’t too bad and it helped distract me up some grueling climbs to listen to some of the conversations happening around me. I needed it as my lungs were not adjusting. I couldn’t fathom why because it wasn’t like we were in Tahoe at massive elevation. I just couldn’t catch my breath or get my lungs ready and my legs were feeling like the blood wasn’t reaching them. It messed with my head a little bit but I know a 50K is a long race and that things can change in a moment’s notice. I knew that I would turn a corner eventually and that perhaps I needed more fuel than I thought on this 3.7 mile stretch.

We finally made it to the aid-station and were super excited to see Mill Valley and Ironman April hooting and hollering for us!

Me carrying my camera! Classic. — Carrying my camera! Classic.

I really wanted to check out the fuel here at the aid-station but I felt like we were rushed. Normally fueling only 4 miles into a race is not usually needed but after a climb like we had just tackled, it definitely was … but we got caught up in taking photos instead.

Let's go get this! — Let’s go get this! (ps – Why do I look so short?)

Mill Valley & Ironman April – our crew masters!

The next thing that I know, Burning Girl and Stonegate are taking off down the trail. I tried to eat a few of my plantain chips along the way but they really were not hitting the spot. I realized I probably needed a salt and I took one which really did seem to help a bit. The girls had said that they were not going to do aid-station fuel and only stick with what they brought but when they took one look at the aid-table and all it had to offer … they looked like two kids in a candy store! I believe Nutter Butters is what Burning Girl zeroed in on. Every race I find there is one item on the table that is your saving grace. Something that your body is craving AND needing during extreme measures. I had this happen to me on this race (despite a lot of inner turmoil).

At one point we came to a group of about 3 or 4 guys standing around looking a park map. They asked us which way to go. To the left of us were orange ribbons and to the right of us were pink ribbons with some stripes. Burning Girl says “We go left. I am almost positive.” And so we all started off in that direction. A few feet into our run I say, “We are at orange already?” and then Burning Girl stops in her tracks and pulls out her map. Nope. We had to go right. We yelled to the men we had sent off running telling them we had to go the other way. I said, “Man, they finally stop and ask for directions and look what happens!” One of the guys really liked that. 🙂

Over the logs in the middle of the trail.

We had about 6 miles until the next aid-station and I was battling some low energy despite having finally started my fueling. I just kept thinking to myself, “there has to be some flat sections. We can’t go up up up and then down down down all the time!” There were some flat sections, but very very few of them.

When we reached the aid-station at mile 9 I reached for some potatoes and salt. I told the girls I wanted a minute here. I wanted to scan the table and see what I wanted. I had also accidentally dropped ALL my salt tabs on the trail a few miles back. I had reached for my salt tube while running and all of a sudden it was raining salt tabs every where. Ooops. So while at this aid-station, I quickly refilled my bottle and grabbed some solid food.

Then I grabbed a cup. I thought that I had grabbed water but it wasn’t. When I looked, I had this electric greenish yellow drink in my little dixie cup. Mountain Dew. Crap. I stared at that cup for what seemed like forever battling my brain. Over and over my head kept saying “don’t do it, don’t drink it” but my body just kept bringing the cup closer to my mouth. I am anti soda. I am probably one of the most vocal anti-soda people around but I understand WHY they are at ultra races. They serve a purpose with their sugar, easily digestible big doses of calories and of course the caffeine. Mind you, I haven’t had caffeine in a very long time … so this was going to be interesting.

I downed the cup before we left and my hand reached onto the table and grabbed two watermelon Jolly Ranchers (what the?!). Another thing I rarely eat but something told me to grab them. So I did.

Within minutes I had a new-found energy and enthusiasm. I had motivation. My legs had pep to them. I had finally found my lungs. As much as I hated to admit it, that darn Mountain Dew saved my race.

Just in time too because we had to start climbing more stairs … ah the stairs. There were a lot of them in this race.

Soon we were coming out of the “forest” and more into the open exposed cliff side of the race and would start experiencing the heat of the day with little to no coverage.

I was in heaven. I would let the girls run and I would just stop and take the occasional photo. For a brief bit, we were dumped back into a forest area and saw the most amazing tree houses. We couldn’t figure out what they were but they looked so cool!

I think we were all in pretty good spirits at this point. Burning Girl was leading the way most of the time. We were eager to get off the pink ribbons course and find the checkered ribbon part of the course.

Our next aid-station was huge. It was huge because it was basically the half way point of our race and it was at Muir Beach. I was excited to get there because I have never been and so far, this race had so many surprises. I also found that on the massive up hill climbs, that Jolly Rancher that I had tucked in my pocket, saved me. I would just slowly eat that while I climbed and it kept my mind off the hill, gave me some sugar and made smell super pretty! 🙂

One of the crazy cool surprises along the way.

This course changed all the time! I never knew what to expect just around the corner from us. Which was really neat for me. I enjoy not knowing what is ahead sometimes.

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We were clearly on our way to the ocean at one point. The dirt turned a bit sandy and we were on the open trails finally heading DOWN and not up for once. Making our way to ocean.

At one point, I stopped and looked ahead of me. You can’t tell through the camera lens but the beautiful blue ocean was right ahead of us.

I called to the girls that I wanted to stop and try to get the photo and they made me finally stop and pose for one. 🙂

I must have taken a ton of photos on this stretch of trail which wasn’t very easy because mountain bikers were flying down at us. We probably passed 15 to 20 mountain bikers on this section of the trail. Most of it was down hill.

There is the water? Can you see the outline now? — There is the water! Can you see the outline now?

It was about here that Burning Girl turned on her jets and took off. She loves down hills and down hills love her. I like them but I also know we had another half of the race to go and I know how my IT band and knees would react later if I pounded them now. As it turns out, they reacted regardless but not as bad as it could have been.

My calves were screaming at me from all the up hill climbing we had previously done so I was taking it easy. At one point I caught up to Stonegate Girl because a group of mountain bikers had us pinned to the side of the trail while they passed, she mentioned that her legs were bugging her too. I told her to let Burning Girl go and to take it easy as I was in the same boat.

By the time we reached the bottom of the hill we had to cross a street and run ourselves into a beach area that was definitely populated with a lot of tourists. The mile 15 aid-station was out near the parking lot and main restrooms to Muir Beach.

It was on this stretch that Stonegate got quiet. It was a essentially flat fire road but in the sun. She was saying her stomach was not feeling right and she thought she might dump her water and put Tailwind electrolyte drink into her hydration pack. I decided I would take advantage of the real restrooms and went and stood in line after I shoved a banana down my throat to try to combat the crampy feeling my calves had at that moment.

By the time I had gotten out of the bathroom, Stonegate was nowhere to be found. Uh-oh I thought but Burning Girl was there and said that she needed to move. She was having stomach issues. I grabbed a Mountain Dew (yes, again) downed it and took off running. I felt pretty amazing and I didn’t want to start feeling poor again. I wanted to stay on top and ahead of the calorie game even if it meant drinking soda. I also grabbed two more watermelon Jolly Ranchers.

It was on this fire road out of the park area that Burning Girl turns to me and says, “I may need to borrow some water.” I am like, “Sure, of course I have some. Did you not fill up at the aid-station?” She said she forgot and realized just now that she had no water. Then, the universe opened and she spotted a horse trough … with a hose.

My stomach was churning watching her fill her bladder up at a random hose next to a horse trough but, you do what you have to do and as it turns out, this hose was a miracle hose. The water was COLDER than what was at the aid-station and it would later save one of us while on the trail.

We headed out but Stonegate wasn’t moving. She just kept saying she wasn’t right. Her stomach was not cooperating. Burning Girl offered that maybe she try to throw up to feel better.

Eventually she did and she did feel a bit better. The problem however, is she had just gotten rid of all the calories and water she had just consumed right before we were going to climb one brutal hot and sunny climb back up the mountain.

She was moving but not very quickly. A lot of this section of the trail was not very runnable as it was an up hill switch back climb. Combined with the hot sun and Stonegate’s already low energy … my heart was breaking for her.

The Tailwind electrolyte drink in her pack was warm at this point and of course nothing we had on us for fuel sounded remotely good to her. The only thing she wanted was Burning Girl’s hose water.

So that’s what she had. I was able to get a salt into her at least too but this was going to be a brutal 6+ miles to the next aid-station. We essentially walked from mile 15 to mile 21 with a few sections of running. A lot of it was up hill mind you, so we probably would have hiked quite a bit anyway but really, Burning Girl and I were worried about Stonegate. We just didn’t want her to stop. She would ask to sit every once in a while and we’d let her have a few moments but ultimately, we had to keep her moving. She still had some color in her face but she couldn’t get any fuel into her system.

Finally we reached the aid-station. The aid-station at mile 21 is the same aid-station as mile 3.7 (and also mile 27) so Mill Valley and Ironman April were there waiting for us. We jumped into action. We told them about Stonegate so they grabbed a chair. I tried to force her to drink a coke (she has the same soda battles as I do) and she could barely even hold the cup to her mouth to drink it so I fed her a sip.

She was surrounded by a lot of people at this point all trying to figure out what she needed and trying to decide if she could make the next loop of the course which was 6.7 miles. I told her we could hike that easily if she wanted (although in my head I was worried even that was a stretch). Finally, I looked at my watch and saw that it was 2:10 in the afternoon. This aid-station cut off was 2:30 pm. Stonegate did not look like she was turning a corner. She went from having some color in her cheeks to white face and white lips the moment she sat down, shivering.

She called it. She told us to go on without her and that she was done. Burning Girl and I paused, both saddened by the news but we knew it was probably the best decision. Only she knows her body and what it is capable of handling.

In hind sight, it was the best decision ever as that 6.7 loop was a DOOZY!! We had heard through the grapevine that it was taking runners 2.5 to 3 hours to complete earlier in the day, especially when it was super hot out.

Burning Girl and I took off down the trail finally following the orange ribbons (yea!). As we left someone called out “Hey, just remember it’s a lot of vertical coming back!” Oh great. For the first two or three miles we talked about Stonegate and how worried we were and how she had looked. We realized very quickly that it would have been really tough for her to hike these miles. The terrain was not super easy. We did however find something that could have helped her move a little faster!

I would say we were booking it on this section of the trail. We wanted to get ahead of the cut off by a decent margin and we wanted to get back to Stonegate. When I look back at my Garmin stats, we weren’t running all that fast (sorry Burning Girl!). 🙂 It just felt like we were I guess.

We talked a lot on this loop and Burning Girl made me stop and get in another photo. We were still having a good time. My right knee/IT band was starting to scream at me and I knew we had another 4 mile stretch down hill later so around mile 22, I took some Advil. I don’t generally like to take that stuff at all but I knew we had some gnarly downhills later and I wanted to be ready.

This orange ribbon loop had lots of twists and turns. There were huge trees down on the trail that we had to climb under almost on our hands and knees. It was slippery and very technical in some sections and then out of no where we’d have these soft pine needle covered trails that felt so glorious to run on. I kept running more and more and hiking less.

I also realized that I hadn’t really fueled at all on this loop but it was ok. I tried to get out a Jolly Rancher but it didn’t work (it was all melty and stuck – gross).

Soon it was time to hike back up to the aid-station. We were at mile 27 and I could smell the barn. We had done that 6.7 mile loop in an hour and forty minutes! I was stoked and in the zone to finish this race. But first, it was time to reunite with Stonegate!

She was alive and she had color in her face! A nice guy at the aid-station was able to force her to drink the coke and gave her a bowl of every single thing at the aid-station and told her to try every single thing and when she found something she liked to stop and eat that (wise advice, taking note here). Potato Chips. That was the winner of the day! That guy was a savior.

SO happy to see her smiling again! — SO happy to see herÂ laughing again!

I grabbed one cup of Mountain Dew and that was all. That’s all that I needed to get me 3.7 miles to that finish line. Even more exciting was the fact that Stonegate Girl wanted to join us. Even though she had dropped, she wanted to finish the race with us.

I took the lead (I wanted to be at that finish line!). However we were soon hit with the all familiar sight of stairs … lots of them, all on our way down.

Down down down. Pound. Pound. Pound. It was here that I was so grateful for the Advil that I had taken earlier. While my knee felt stiff, the jabbing pain was not as debilitating as it had been before (whew!).

Soon I saw the ocean coming towards us. The miles were ticking off on my Garmin and I was just getting more and more excited to be done. They threw in two little climbs near the end. The first I walked and the second was almost like a dune on the beach and there was a guy racer hiking it. I just zeroed in on that hill and him and I took off running. I had so much pep in my legs (damn that Mountain Dew). When I got to the top and turned around, the girls were hiking up the hill and just laughing at me. 🙂

Down we went again and I saw another guy on the trail. We passed him. I was just reeling them in as we ran. I felt bad and yelled back an apology to the girls that I was sorry if we were running too much but I just smelled the finish line. We were SO close!

The trail dumped us back out onto the street and we had to run a few yards to the finish. Mill Valley and Ironman April had just arrived in time and were cheering us on as we came into the finish arch!

Done!! I ran the Mt. Tam 50K my first non local race and I felt amazing, inside and out. I was so proud of us.

The finish area of the race was some what of a let down though. Don’t get me wrong, the whole race was fantastic, the volunteers amazing, the course markings were spot on. It is just that normally, ultra events usually consist of 50K, 50 miler and/or 100k races. Since the 50K was the longest distance in this race, and we had struggled a bit, the finish area was almost ready to pack it up. We were way ahead of the 8.5 hour or 5 pm cut off, but clearly with so few runners in the race, we were finishing in the back of the pack which is fine, our goal was to finish with smiles on our faces and we did.

It really was an amazingly well put on race. For such a low entry fee, we received an amazing course with tons of well stocked aid-stations and at the finish, we received a shirt, a cool medal (with a Star Wars theme to it) and pint glass! Pretty sweet.

As much as I wanted to dip my legs in the ocean for my first ever ocean ice bath, everyone seemed more inclined to get warm clothes on and head back to Mill Valley’s for dinner.

Once home, we showered and rehashed the race a bit. Burning Girl had to take off for a work thing and we made a dinner decision. I was starved. I had not eaten I realized, since mile 21. Sure I had that Mountain Dew at mile 27 but nothing solid until we got to the restaurant. I devoured my food in one gulp.

Overall, I would say we were slightly under trained for this race. Not a lot, but we could have used much steeper hills to run on or I should have run the stairs at work. Body wise, I feel fine. No major aches and pains. I can walk. I can take the stairs. I feel great. My stomach is off a day or so later and I think that is probably the soda coming back to bite me BUT I stand by my decision. Without those easily digestable liquid calories, I probably would have struggled.

In my mind, I eat very healthy before, during and after all of my training runs. So if during a race my body is craving something else, I am going to go with it. I am not going to carry soda with me to my races because I truly believe that what saves you will be, and can be, different at every race. For Burning Girl, it was Nutter Butters. For me, it was Mountain Dew and Jolly Ranchers (and bananas – I don’t normally eat those during a race either).

This past weekend was surreal. While I truly missed having my family at the finish, it was for the best. We were out there for 7 hours and 45 minutes. Yes, it took THAT long to complete this race. It would have been a long day for everyone. Vans was manning the fort and kids at home nicely. I was not worried at all.

I also got to sleep in a bed, by myself, without little feet waking me up for a solid night of sleep. I woke up and sipped my tea looking out at this amazing view just feeling so grateful for the friendships I have, my amazing family and my body’s ability to take on challenges.

I want to thank a lot of people. Even though I have done a few ultras before, there was a few people who really knew how much this race meant to me and they sent me amazing texts or emails the night before. I read every word and they touched me more than you will know. Thank you as well to my two cohorts during this race. I adore you crazy girls.

Finally, my little family. My amazing supportive husband Vans. I love him more than I can say and I love that he encourages me (sometimes) to do these crazy adventures. I came home to two very happy kids, a super clean house (score!) and a smiling husband. Clearly the topper on my amazing weekend (and he got me dinner and wine too – woot woot)..

Love of course to my Peanut and Squeaker, who I hope some day will understand why mommy goes away and comes home with a slight limp every once in a while. 🙂 They loved my medal and they love looking at the photos (I have enough of them). I truly am one lucky lady.

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

October 28, 2014April 21, 2015

THAT DAM(N) RACE HALF MARATHON RACE REPORT

That Dam(n) Race Half Marathon and 10k race celebrated its third anniversary this past Sunday and I wasÂ FINALLY able to participate!Â 2012 was its inaugural year and I was all signed up to do the half and Vans was signed up to do the 10k but unfortunately, Squeaker fell ill right before the race and I stayed home snuggling her all day long. Vans went on to run the 10k and had an amazing race.

The second year, the entire family volunteered to help at the race but Vans was super sickÂ and it was quite cold so we didn’t stay long after the race. The girls and I had a blast though but I was due. I was due to finally run this race!

I registered pretty early for the race, determined to add it to my calendar. It did fall during a timeÂ in my training scheduleÂ where IÂ was supposed to do aÂ super long run but I tried to improvise. I reached out to my old Coach Nikon and to Pigeon to ask for their advice. Coach Nikon said I should do the race hard and then make up some of the miles before and after but he said that racing hard would be a great training run any day compared to a long slow day. Pigeon offered up running both Saturday AND Sunday. Well, as it turns out, due to a change in plans, I did end up running a little over 7 miles on Saturday and then did the race on Sunday. Boy did my legs feel it!

I left the house bright and early on Sunday because I wanted to get a close parking space. The fire-station at Cool is notoriously hard to park, particularly when a race is involved and I didn’t want to be a mile or two down the haulÂ road from the start/finish area. When I parked it was dark and I realized thatÂ I had left my headlamp at home. Luckily the iPhone has that handy dandy flashlight feature!

Stonegate Girl quickly found me and we left our carsÂ to get our packets. I saw Coach Nikon and the whole crew. It was nice to see everyone! I have missed my old trail people!

Stonegate Girl came and sat in my car with my seat warmers and we just talked until it was time to get ready for the pre-race briefing. Coach Nikon always puts on the best races. He had some neat raffle type gifts that he was handing out to everyone. I think everyone was smiling despite the chilly air and foggy skies.

Soon it was time to line up at the start. I still had my arm sleeves on and I wasn’t sure whether or not I would ever take them off it was that cold!

Coach Nikon blew his little horn and we were off and running. It took a bit for my legs to warm upÂ and catch on that I was running and in this race, the hills come pretty quick. It felt odd at first to be running up some of the hills we typically walk during our training runs but I wanted the race to feel hard so I could say we gave it a good effort.

Stonegate Girl stuck with me the entire time. It was hard letting people pass us from time to time but we were focused on the task at hand, just running and not getting ourselves injured.

Up and down this race goes. StonegateÂ Girl had never been on some of these trails and was totally blown away by the beauty of it all. It was then that I wished that I had brought my camera. Luckily Stonegate Girl had her phone and snapped this awesome shot.

Soon we approached the hill for which this race is named. That Dam(n) hill is brutal. Switch back after switch back you go. What a great training hill!

I was feeling pretty good minus my stomach. I have continued to battle stomach issues lately and it was just hovering below the surface on this run. I knew I would only be able to run for so long before I needed to find a place to duck off the trail. Unfortunately on this portion of the race, there are not many spots to do this!

The volunteers at the aid-stations were awesome. They cheered us on and wanted to know if we needed any water or fuel. I don’t think we stopped at one aid-station. We used our own water and our own fuel most of the race. Always good to practice using what you may use in a race down the road.

Stonegate girl and I finally came to a spot that allowed us to duck off the trail and take care of business. I hated stopping because I knew it was wasting time but I had no choice.

Once we were moving again we came upon a pond and StonegateÂ Girl was beside herself with the beauty of this race. It was super well marked too, no getting lost on this course!

Finally, we could hear the finish line and we could see the line of cars lining up and down the haul road. I was ready to be done. My legs were toast and it felt like I was running in quick sand at times. My legs were spent and so was my stomach (again).Â As we were approaching the finish line, I saw a sight for sore eyes … and I kind of teared up a bit.

My girls and Vans were waiting right at the entrance to the finish line! I was so happy to see them and they were wearing their big clunky rain boots because it was muddy out (great for mud, not for running!). 🙂

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Stonegate Girl and I post race — StonegateÂ Girl and I post race

My girls love this race and they LOVE Coach Nikon and his family. I think if the Peanut could, she’d go move in with Coach Nikon’s daughter Cheetah.

The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out at the race and just talking to old trail running friends. Peanut was put to work though. She had to earn those extra “finishers” cookies. 🙂

Helping Coach Nikon and Cheetah hand out awards!

Squeaker just follows along and was enjoying the pizza, cookies and music. I truly am so lucky to have such a great cheering section.

My cheering section waiting for me to finish!

This was a great race and I would really like to run it hard some day. I know what I need to work on though because twos daysÂ of running had my legs feeling pretty wobbly after the race. Luckily there was a massage tent which I took full advantage of! It really helped knock the kinks out of my legs. My recovery has been slower than normal lately and I truly believe my lack of stretching is to blame (I know, duh!). IÂ have been working on it! I also think a lack of quality strength training is hurting me as well.

I am looking forward to Coach Nikon’s other race,Â Miners Revenge in April. This is an amazing course and I am spoiled. Coach Nikon really puts on one of the best events in town. He is race directing his first 50K this February too! Check out this link to the Salmon Falls 50K! I am VERY tempted even though I swore up and down that eventually, I’d like to go back to doing shorter distances for a while. At least until my girls get a little older. I know I say this all the time, but it is hard being away from them for so long and ultras require time to train which of course I have been doing a terrible job of lately.

This Saturday will be two weeks until my 50K. After my runÂ this Saturday it will be taper time!! We have a busy weekend ahead which I hope to capture on cameraÂ this time around and blog about. There may be another race report coming your wayÂ involving the ENTIRE family so stay tuned (and cross your fingers). 🙂

Happy Trails & Happy Halloween!

~Trailmomma

September 23, 2014April 21, 2015

EMERALD BAY (BAY TO BLISS) RACE REPORT

I finally have a race report to post about! Yea! No foodie posts today … this will be a race report for theÂ Big Blue Adventure Emerald Bay Trail Race (formerly known as Bay to Bliss).

I have been running this race since 2010. When I ran it in then, I was pregnant with Squeaker but did not know it. Those hidden hormones helped apparently as that was to date, my current PR for this race. It was also the day my family fell in love with this race and all it has to offer.

You can read my 2010 race report here.

You can read my 2011 race report here.

You can read my 2012 race report here.

In 2013 I was signed up for the race but decided to have ankle surgery about 3 weeks prior to the race. While I was able to run at 3 weeks (I ran and won a road race – read that report here), running on a technical trail like Emerald Bay was just not in the cards. The Race Director was awesome and granted me a transfer to the following year. You only get one. I was signed up for the 2014 race as early as I possibly could be and I couldn’t wait.

As the date approached, I was getting pretty excited but also nervous. I was nervous because we have been witnessing one of the biggest fires to hit the El Dorado County area in over 20 years. The King fire has been burning for over a week now and the smoke just fills the air every single day. We weren’t sure the race would even happen. TiggerT was supposed to do the race with me but she decided to heed her internal warning and stay home.

The other thing that made me a bit nervous was the fact that due to the fire (and road closure of highway 50) Vans and the girls would not be going. They love this race and I love that they come. Instead, they stayed home and went to the Peanut’s soccer game while I drove myself solo to Tahoe to meet up with Stonegate Jenn and her friends.

For her birthday weekend, Stonegate Jenn wanted a girls weekend and so there were 7 of us in a house and all 7 of us were signed up to do the race. Having to sleep in a new bed and do a whole different morning routine weighed heavily on my mind but at the same time, I thoroughly enjoyed the company of these girls.

From Left to Right: Silly Suzie, Mill Valley Anne, Salmon Falls Kristin, Me, Ironman April, Twin Karla and Stonegate Jenn

Race morning I woke up about 5:30 am. The race started at 9 am and we had agreed the night before that we’d leave the house at 7 am to do a car drop so we would not be stuck taking the shuttle as the race is a point to point. I wanted some down time. Some time to have my lemon water and some coffee and some quiet time to hopefully clear the old system since typically, my body takes a few days to get use to Tahoe altitude.

By the time everyone else woke up, the house was a buzz with excitement. The skies were a clear blue, not a smoke cloud in sight which was a relief as we really thought the fires would have put a damper on our race.

I ate my usual Picky Bar at the house, along with a coconut water to replenish what I lost via a glass (or two) of wine the night before.

Into the car we piled and off we drove to DL Bliss State Park, the finish line of the race. From there we stuffed ourselves into Twin Karla’s giant automobile and headed to Emerald Bay State Park which was packed. We were late getting there but in typical Tahoe fashion they were still having people sign up and sign in.

We picked up our packets, bibs and shirts and then Stonegate Jenn, Salmon Falls Kristin and I made our way down the hill to the starting area. The other girls were waiting for various people or using the porta potties, I can’t quite remember.

While at the start line we all chatted. It was not cold at all. We talked gear and shoes. I decided this year to carry a small handheld. I have never carried water for this race as it is only 7.5 miles but I recalled from 2012 that the dust was bad and the aid-stations were sparse. I decided to give it a shot. In hind sight, I am glad that I did.

The girls were standing off to the side which is odd to me. I am a “behind the starting line” kind of girl. I don’t get first in line, but I like to be near the front. When Todd the race director gave his speech, I slowly started inching my way to the starting area and the girls followed.

The start for this race is very informal. No timing mat (there is a mat at the finish) and no gun or horn. Basically it is a guy with an iPhone that says “ready, set go!” That’s about it.

Stonegate Jenn was next to me as we started running up the paved hill to the trail. This race starts ON a hill and goes up hill for almost half a mile. It isn’t easy to start that way, especially at altitude.

There wasn’t much talk between us, occasionally a few observations but we just huffed and puffed and kept moving determined not to walk. Finally we hit the trail and she asked me if I wanted to lead and for some reason, I said no.

She bounded down the few stairs and onto the single track and off we ran. People were passing us left and right and it was playing with my head. I wanted to go out fast. I wanted to run faster but Stonegate Jenn was keeping it nice and steady. I even commented to her that she was keeping me steady.

We did pick up the pace though and really started running once all the passers went by. She lead and I followed. Our breathing was quite labored as we were trying to find our “Tahoe lungs” as people call it. Finally at one point, Stonegate Jenn let me get in front and I led the way.

We passed two little kids who had been in front of us. I was impressed with their pace but internally I didn’t want to be beat by a couple of 10 year olds. 🙂

Finally at one point, Stonegate Jenn called from behind, “You go girl! I need a minute.” I said, “You ok?” and she said yes and I kept running. I figured she’d catch up shortly after doing whatever it was that she needed to do.

As it turns out, I never saw her again until the end of the race. I just kept pushing and pushing myself. I ran most of the ups and I would excel as fast as I could on the downs. The terrain is super technical and rocky and in various sections you find yourself climbing stairs, boulders and ducking under giant rocks to run/walk a ledge along the lake.

I recall miles 4.5 to 5.5 being the absolute worst. I had to walk the stone stairs. There is no way anyone could run those. They are just uneven and difficult. Once I started walking those, I felt like the walking never ended but then again, the hills never seemed to end either.

I remembered that I had found a Starburst candy in my car the day before and I had tucked it into my water bottle just in case I needed some kind of boost of sugar on the run. As it turns out, that little tiny candy saved my butt! I found it, opened it and just chewed. It took about 10 minutes for it to kick in but when it did, I totally felt like a new runner.
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I was running the hills again and flying the downs. I was stuck behind some girl who ran with headphones blasting on the most beautiful trail and it annoyed the crap out of me. Nature people! The views are amazing on this run and she ran with music blaring so loud we all could hear it.

You can see the smoke starting to creep in.

She was on my tail at one point and I finally let her pass. She was too close for comfort and all it would take is for her to wipe out and catch my legs in the process. She was that close.

At one point we were rounding a bend and I could see the finish line off in the distance. We were closer than I realized! I started to get excited. I had assumed at this point that I was nowhere near my PR and I was refusing to look at my watch. I generally don’t look at my watch during races.

The trail dumps us out onto a parking lot. This parking lot I know too well. From camping with friends to running this race so many times, I knew that I had some pavement, then quickly ducked back onto a tiny trail and then more pavement down hill and a sharp right turn onto the beach and down a flight of stairs to the finish.

When I hit the first piece of pavement, I told the guy in front of me that I was passing him and that it wasn’t him, it was me. 🙂 I had a PR to catch. Miss Music was still in front of me but when we got onto the trail, I squeezed right by her. She did NOT like that, I could tell.

I took off like I stole something sprinting down the hill and passed quite a few more runners. I could hear Miss Music trying to catch up. I made the right turn, gauged the stairs and instead of jumping off like I have in years past, I kind of took one step and then jumped onto the beach and right through the finish arch and directly into the water with a big sideways splash!

Some woman thought I was hurt and came running into the water after me. I had to laugh and tell her that, no, this is how you should finish a race that ends on a beach in front of the most beautiful lake in the world.

I finally looked at my watch. I had, according to my Garmin, gotten my PR but the real test would be the official results. Not long after I finished and caught my breath did Stonegate Jenn come bounding through the finish too looking strong.

Soon all the girls started coming in and we’d cheer and yell and take photos. We took off our shoes and just let our feet and knees soak in the water. The sun was hot and the day was gorgeous.

Finally I saw someone taping results to the finish arch and I ran over dying to know if I had gotten my PR. I left the girls and checked the list. Not only did I get my PR (by only ONE minute) I discovered that I had gotten 3rd place in my age group!!! Sweet!

My age group prize was a pint glass that says Tahoe Trail Series and 3rd place on it. I absolutely love it. 🙂 We hung out at the beach and participated in the raffle (no one won).

At one point they held a contest for the biggest splash into the lake. At first I was the only girl in the contest and then another girl joinedÂ at the last-minute. I did a cart-wheel into the lake which got me into the finals. I had to jump again. Long story short, myself and another person tied and we both won a free $50 credit towards any other Big Blue Adventure race – I could very well use it to enter the Emerald Bay Trail Race again next year if I wanted.

While I love this race, it does take a lot out of you. It is not an easy 7.5 miles. Next year I have a feeling Stonegate Jenn will be gunning for me. 🙂

While I was having a girls weekend in Tahoe, Vans and the girls were trying to survive at home. I think he managed just fine and luckily there was the final concert in the park finale to entertain everyone.

Now it is time to get serious in our training. Stonegate Jenn, Burning Girl and I have just over a month and a half until our tough 50k on Mt. Tam. My schedule this weekend is not exactly the “usual” but I am determined to find time to fit in some miles and cook a few plant-based meals. 🙂

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

Â (edited to add: please excuse typos and grammar – I wrote this at 11 pm last night. )

May 21, 2014April 21, 2015

COLOMA RIVER RUN RACE REPORT

I must apologize. It used to be that I would go for Â a run on a Saturday and then be super excited to come home and blog about it. Lately, either I have been running from one event to the next or I just haven’t had the time (or energy/motivation) to blog.

This past Saturday was the Coloma River Run (5k, 10k or 10 mile option). I signed up for the 10 mile option and was super excited as this was a big deal for Gold Country Run and Sport.

GCRSÂ Girl and I arrived at the race at 7 am to set up the tent, booth and to pick up our race packets. This was a pretty small race in terms of set up. They didn’t have a specific place for us to put our tent so it was up to GCRS girl to pick a spot.

Once we were up and running, we picked up our race packets and started talking to those who came to the booth or were friends doing the race.

TiggerT was doing the race too and I knew she would be arriving soon. Sure enough she showed up with her smile although she did admit that something about this race was making her nervous. She couldn’t put her finger on it but she had not been running much trail (at least with these types of hills) in a few weeks.

I tried to assure her that she would be fine and I figured that the three of us (GCRSÂ Girl, TiggerT and myself) would be running together most of the race. Everyone else that was associated with the store was doing the 10K option or had their heart set on a PR.

The race is really low-keyÂ and all 3 events started at the same time. There wasn’t much fanfare about it all, it was more or less “ready set go!” I’ve run this loop before with TiggerT quite a few years ago so this was the first time in a while that I had been out on these hills. The elevation is nothing compared to where I have been running lately but the hills go up forever and ever.

I have never run with GCRS Girl before so it was kind of fun to run with someone new. She’s a very strong runner and she was tackling the hills right off the bat. Me? I was content to stay with her but I wondered how long we’d continue at that pace with these hills.

At one point, the course divides and the 10k runners go in one direction and the 10 mile runners in another. When this happened, it definitely felt like we were the only 3 doing the 10 mile option as there were not many people around us.

Right on cue, we came to another long hill. GCRSÂ Girl and I just powered up and we lost TiggerT. I knew she wouldn’t be far behind us.

PigeonÂ and TiggerT would probably say that I am a “talkative” runner. I can run in silence if that’s needed but I always just find something to chat about … as long as I know the person. I don’t go chatting it up with random people. 🙂 However, PigeonÂ and TiggerTÂ are not overly chatty. GCRS Girl is just about as talkative on a run as I am! I’ve met my match. We pretty much talked nonstop for 10 miles straight!

At one point we were hiking up a climb and we hear the pitterÂ patter of running feet behind us … TigerT!!! The first words out her mouth were, “Please don’t start running!” We all laughed and continued hiking up the hill … except when I said it was time to take a photo.

You run with me, you have to take photos.

TiggerTÂ would stay behind us and GCRSÂ Girl and I would just run and hike and talk the remainder of the race. I learned a lot about her on this run! TiggerT told us that our chatting was keeping her going and she was content to just listen since GCRSÂ Girl and I were huffing and puffing from trying to talk and run at the same time. Sneaky TiggerT! 🙂

I wore my Garmin but it was a deceptive course. I kept thinking we were much farther along mileage wise but when I would glance down at my watch, I would see that we were only at mile 5 or something!

We had to cross the same stream twice on this run and I had completely forgotten about that before the race. I christened my new trail shoes by running through a shin high stream and red clay mud. Awesome.

At least on the last mile we had to go through that same stream again so our shoes were washed clean. The three of us finished and for some odd reason, it felt like we were in last place! hahaha There was no one else behind us and it just felt like everyone else was already at the finish enjoying the raffle!

GCRS Girl and I crossed the finish line, posed for a photo …

… then we took off in the car as we both had to race back home to catch our kids mock swim meet.

The Peanut has been swimming since she was 2, almost 3 years old. When we moved into our home that has a pool, I was quite adamant that she learn to swim. We enrolled her in Steve Wallen Swim school where she took lessons for twice a week for over a year before moving her down to once a week.

This past winter, instead of lessons we did Steve’s Swim Clinic which is a 45 minute session where essentially all she did was swim lap after lap after lap. She handled that pretty well and Steve asked us if we were going to put her onÂ a swim team. Vans and I had thought about it but didn’t know how the Peanut would fare. She’s very shy and she does not like being the center of attention ESPECIALLY when there is physical activity involved. However, she KNOWS how great a swimmer she is and she has confidence in herself when it comes to swimming so we decided to go for it.

We first signed her up for a swim team summer clinic so she could get to know the coaches and the pool (outside vs inside). It was hit or miss every practice with crying or not crying, participating or not participating.
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Fast forward now to swim team, she’s familiar enough with the pool, the coaches and even some of the kids. Practices have been going well (minus a few days here and there).

When it was time for the mock swim meet, Vans and I thought for sure this would be the test of all tests for the Peanut. She had a team suit compliments of GCRS Girl (thank you!) so she looked the part compared to some other kids wearing just their every day suit. I think that made her feel more “on the team” if you know what I mean.

Her first heat was a 25 yard freestyle. When I told her it was only 25 yards, 1 lap of the pool she looked at me like I was bonkers! “That’s it?!” she said!

When her group was called she got on the starting block (I didn’t thinkÂ 6 year olds started on the blocks). Swim meet starts are a bit different compared to anything else the Peanut is used to … first they blow a whistle, then someone counts down from 3 and then there is a buzzer and then the swimmers dive in.

Um, yea….neither Vans nor myself knew any of that and none of the coaches explained the starting process, let alone practiced it at any of the practices leading up the mock meet.

So when the whistle blew the Peanut jumped into the pool and with all her might started swimming down the lane. Someone had to jump in after her and of course it is terrifying having your leg grabbed when you think you are alone in the pool! It totally scared the Peanut and she started to cry. Vans was video taping. When the whole crowd saw that she had started sobbing there was a collective “awe!” throughout the crowd which caused the Peanut to cry even HARDER. She was mortified and could not be talked into swimming her lap. Needless to say, she was disqualified for that heat. 🙁

Vans and I both apologized to her and explained that we had no idea. I even told her that I would have jumped too! That seemed to make her happy. Vans practiced the starting sequence with her over and over as we had some time before she was supposed to swim again (a 25 yard backstroke). She was quiet most of the afternoon so I was worried.

When they called her group over to the ready bench to line up and head to their lanes, she followed. When she got to her lane I saw her standing and staring at the pool. Luckily in this heat, there were others who went first. I saw her watching. For backstroke, you start in the pool holding onto this board. She’d never done that before either.

The smart girl that she is, she watched every heat before her closely. When it was her turn, she got into the pool and grabbed the board. Whistle, 3, 2, 1 buzzer! She was off! The Peanut’s favorite stroke is the back stroke and she was swimming straight down the middle of the pool! She was moving at a pretty good pace and she looked beautiful doing it.

Towards the end, she veered off course just a bit and then saw the flags above and over estimated the distance between the flags and the wall. She stopped using her arms and just started kicking as fast as she could. She turned and touched the timing mat just as we had told her to do. She had done it! She swam her first swim meet lap! She hopped out of the pool with a huge smile on her face. High fives were given and I could see the energy racing through her veins. The Peanut may not be athletic but she can swim and is only getting better. I am so proud of my girl.

With the confidence of her swim meet still coursing through her veins, Vans decided to throw a bike race into the mix! Sunday he took the girls to Folsom where they raced their little bikes. Some struggles were had (a broken chain for the Peanut and a wipe out by Squeaker) but they both finished and received their ribbons.

I am beyond proud of my girls. In my last post, I talked about fear and both of my girls conquered their fears this past weekend. They both tried something new (to them) for the first time and they succeeded.

As my good friend, Sally Edwards says:

When was the last time you tried something for the first time?

Winners!

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

May 2, 2014April 21, 2015

MINERS REVENGE TRAIL MARATHON RACE REPORT

Have you ever had a race on your calendar that you absolutely dreaded? I never have until Sunday, April 27th. I was signed up to do the Miners Revenge Trail Marathon and when I signed up I was super stoked to run this race mainly because the Race Director is my old coach and friend, Coach Nikon. But life seemed to hijack the month of April on me and I felt like I was driving a car that I had no control over on a busy highway. Going in the wrong direction.

It started with the American River 50 Mile race, quickly followed by a trip to Whistler Canada for six days to visit with Be-Well-Run and her family. When we arrived home from Canada I jumped into ‘hostess’ mode as Jersey Dad was in town for a visit to celebrate the Peanut’s 6th birthday and attend her party (along with the other 49 guests who had RSVP’d). You could say, I had my hands full … just a touch.

The birthday party was on Saturday and Miners Revenge was on Sunday. When I came home from the party on Saturday I was beat. I might have fallen asleep standing up at one point I can’t be sure. My legs felt like heavy weights and my whole body just sighed with exhaustion. The last thing I wanted to do was pack my race vest with fuel, gather my post race clothes and prepare my mind for 26.2 miles on the trails. Very hilly trails mind you.

So instead, the Trailmomma family went to Whole Foods for dinner and to listen to a friend’s husband play guitar and singÂ (he is awesome, so if you are local check him out here).Â Um, yea, probably not the wisest of choices to go to the Bier Garten but hey, I was a full of poor decisions leading up to the race, why stop now? I behaved myself though and ate and drank well.

When we arrived home from Whole FoodsÂ we had to get the kids to bed and I hopped into bed myself, after 8 pm. I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned a lot and got up a few times. I just had a lot on my mind, mostly the race and also the day’s events.

When my alarm went off I was already awake. I just didn’t have a great night of sleep and my whole body just felt tired. Great. If that doesn’t send the mind into a negative tail spin I don’t know what will.

Luckily my body cooperated most of the morning as I got things organized. Pigeon and Missouri were picking me up at 5:30 which was a lot later than they usually pick me up for races so I had no excuses for being late. They surprised me by arriving a bit early but soon we were on our way driving the long windy road to Cool.

They humor between these two will make anyone smile so it was nice to ride to the race with some laughter. When we arrived, Coach Nikon gave us a clue as to where to park so we were not stuck on the Haul Road (the only location of parking for the race).

We parked and chilled. We did our usual pre-race routine of eating what we normally eat, using the porta potties and justÂ relaxing ourÂ bodies and mindsÂ in the car. Â I also had to pick up my race packet. Instead of a t-shirt, the race schwag was a duffel bag! Sa-weet!!! I have a million raceÂ shirts that I don’t wear but a bag?! Awesome!

On one of our trips to the bathroom, Coach Nikon stopped us. He told us that the course was tough, as in REALLY tough. A few have mentioned that it may be TOO tough actually with some really gnarly climbs on both loops. I have to say, this didn’t ease my already less than stellar excitement for the race but I do appreciate his honesty. 🙂

Soon it was time to get dressed and head to the start line. It was chilly but not too bad. The forecast called for some clouds and rain but I knew that once I was running that I would get warm. Missouri was a true crew person and she took our warm up jackets from us just before we headed to the starting line.

I believe Coach Nikon said there were only about 144 people total for the event whichÂ consisted of aÂ half marathon, a full marathon and a marathon relay. 44 of those runners were doing the full marathon and there was a chance that some, if not most, might drop to the half once they came through the 13.1 mile check point.

The race itself was basically a figure 8 with the “middle” being the parking lotÂ Â (aka the mile 13 aid-station).

Before the race start, Coach Nikon had us all line upÂ as he gave us a little pep talk and some additional information about the course.

He told us about the massive amounts of poison oak, the fact that one of our aid-stations had moved to the bottom of a climb instead of the top (best thing ever!) and he wished us luck. When the horn (?) went off, we started running.

Pigeon has been steady in her training to date. Me? Not so much. The sky was an ominous gray color but luckily it wasn’t raining. On the first loop we had both the half marathoners and full marathoners all running together on some very tight single track trails. It definitely felt like a race.

Pigeon and I just ran. We had agreed prior to the race that this was a nice “training run” for her and a chance for me to pace her but as soon as we started, I knew this was going to be a challenge for me. My head and heart were just not in it.

Eventually the crowd thinned out a bit. Pigeon was bombing the down hills and I wasn’t too far behind. The ankle has improved tremendously since surgery so I feel better but the ground was muddy andÂ tacky and the rocks slippery which always makes me a bit nervous.

We were just running along the trails talking when we could, letting some of the half marathoner’s pass us when eventually Miss P and Poison Oak came up behind us and ran with us for a ways. It felt like a Saturday training run … almost. I couldn’t lose the feeling that I was running too slow for everyone behind me.

Soon we approached the first climb that seemed to go on for ever and ever! Pigeon took off, she was ahead of me to begin withÂ so I just put one foot in front of the other and kept moving.

When you reach the top of this VERY long climb, you have a turn around. So as you are climbing this monstrosity, you have runners coming down cheering for you and telling you that it isn’t much further to the top. Some were even honest enough to share that coming down was much easier than going up. I am not kidding when I say, this climb felt like it went on forever.

On the way down I lost Pigeon completely. She was on fire and I was battling the same IT band issues I had the second half of the American River 50 mile race. Of course this set my mood off even more since we were only on the first loop and I was battling knee pain on the downhills.

When we reached the aid-station, they knew that I was running with Pigeon and they told me that she hadÂ stopped to use the bathroom which was great because I needed to use it as well. It made me feel better to reconnect with her again. I was also happy to see that we really only had 3 more miles until we were back at the parking lot and were alreadyÂ half way done with the race.

I will not lie, I had entertained thoughts of dropping down to the half marathon a few timesÂ but I knew deep down that I could notÂ leave Pigeon nor did I want to. She kept believing in me and I was trying to dig deep and find my mojo to turn my race around.

I was wearing my heart rate monitor for the first half of the race. I dropped it at the half way point because it was starting to fall off but it was really informative having it on for the first loop. Looking back, my heart rate was steady, never spiking too much, not even on the climbs. It wasn’t low either.Â Â It just read my usual marathon pace heart rate which tells me that I was having a mental battle and not a physical one. If I was over trained or battling a cold, my heart rate would be super low or super high, not even and steady. It was clear, my issues were mental and I needed to overcome this and quick.

As we came through the half way pointÂ aid-station, Coach Nikon greeted us with his usual bellow and laugh. No matter how down you are, his smile and positivityÂ are infectious. Missouri was there as well. Pigeon was in and out of this aid-station not wanting to stop. She knew that if I had a moment to sit, that I might not continue. So less than 5 minutes for a quick fuel up and we started our second loop.

If I can say anything about this race, it would be that it totally felt like two DIFFERENT races when we started the second loop. I have run one marathon wherein I have had to do two loops (two of the same loops at that). I used the same jedi-mind trick here wherein basically I “ended” the first race andÂ just started a new race in my head.Â The Miners Revenge course is two different loops whichÂ helped meÂ create that feeling of aÂ “new race,” veryÂ easy. With the half marathoners finishing at the parking lot, we felt almost as if we were completely alone on the second loop. It felt like a true training run between Pigeon and myself.

We had crossed a few streams on the first loop but it was nothing compared to what we had to cross on the second loop. It was on the second loop that Pigeon and I had some fun.

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Before we really started diving into the stream crossings, someone thoughtfully placed this board across the trail so we wouldn’t get wet.

Pigeon and I approached the board like it was made of oil. We both cautiously crossed it and then stopped to laugh. Pigeon agreed to go back and recross so that I could get a photo.

I enjoyed this. We were running but we were no longer racing. We were having fun which is what running trails is all about for me. Occasionally Pigeon would pick out a runner ahead and tell me we need to get close to that person but for the most part, we ran and we laughed.

I was still battling my demons but they were subsiding slowly and surely. I decided to let go of eating the bars I normally eat and I started consuming gels. I don’t really enjoy them but I was just tired of the solid food. I haven’t used gels in a long while. I don’t carry them so I was stuck with the variety of gels provided on the race course as well as the potato chips they had as well. This wasn’t an ultra so the aid-stations had minimal food (rightly so) but they had gels and potato chips and boy did those salty potato chips taste great.

All the food aside, it was time to start swimming. Our first stream crossing was upon us and it was probably the deepest of the day.

The second loop had a lot more fire road type trails compared to single trackÂ and it just seemed easier. The views were gorgeous too. My mood was clearly starting to come around.

There was one major climb on the second loop, it was about 2.25 miles long but before we reached that we had to descend quite bit and my knees were not loving this section. Pigeon was flying and I felt like I had a peg leg.

When we got to the bottom of the hill it got really warm and sticky. We felt like we were in the middle of no where. It was kind of creepy. We saw a few runners ahead of us so we just kept moving.

Pigeon was great. She was doing everything she could to get me back to my happy Trailmomma self. I was coming around. The closer and closer we got to the finish, I felt better and better.

The last few miles of the race are gorgeous. The sky was darkening and it looked as if a Â storm was coming. I think that made the trails even more beautiful.

When we passed our last aid-station at mile 24 (ish), I felt great. I am not sure why, maybe it was the adrenaline kicking in that we only had about 2 miles to go, but I really started running. Soon we connected with the fire road, the same fire road that Way Too Cool finishes on and I knew we were on the home stretch.

Vans, the girls and Jersey Dad were all supposed to be at the finish. Â I was a bit worried because the race took us a lot longer than I had anticipated due to all the intense climbing.

When we entered the fire road straight-away before the finish, I could see two little blonde heads ringing a cow bell up ahead with a big birthday balloon and my heart just filled with joy and my eyes teared up just a bit. My girls were cheering for me!

As Pigeon and I rounded the curve, I high-fived my girls! I started sprinting and turned to find Pigeon “where are you?” I yelled. She was quick to be by my side as we sprinted full force to through the finish!

I could be wrong, but I would venture to guess that it was probably the best finish of the race. 🙂 We laughed, we hugged and we posed with our Race Director,Â Coach Nikon.

Pigeon won first in her age group. I took second. Coach Nikon wins for best trail marathon.

This was my 7th marathon and the first time Jersey Dad has ever seen me finish a super long tough race. I wish the weather had been a bit warmer for him but he gave me a tentative hug (poison oak) after the race. My little Squeaker hugged me and softly said, “Congratulations Mama.” 🙂

Everyone at the race loaded them up with candy and cookies. Lucky girls.

This was probably my toughest race to date. The course itself was tough but mentally, I have never felt so low in a race and I can definitely attribute my low energy to the busy schedule I had leading up to the race. Yet, it makes me kind of proud that I was able to power through to finish. I don’t think I would have done so if it had not been for Pigeon. She believed in me, more than I did in myself at times and that is what friends and runner partners are for really. Even Vans thought I would drop down and only do the half.

Nope. I rallied. Overall, I felt okay. My tummy didn’t have any issues. MyÂ fueling, although completely different than I have done in any other race, seemed okay and never really caused any problems. I do think the gray skies didn’t help my mood as I tend to like things a bit sunnier, but running this same race in warm weather would have been pretty harsh as there were many exposed sections of trail.

My knee pain is an issue. It would alternate between knees. The left would hurt on the down hills and the right would hurt on the uphills. I need to work on my IT bands I guess. I did take some Aleve during the second loop but honestly, I didn’t really touch the pain in my knees at all.

I plan to do a post about recovery soon. I have a lot to say about that actually but I also have a few other posts in the works so be on the look out.

I have another small race on my calendar and a few big training runs with Pigeon as she continues on her training schedule for TRT100. Miners Revenge was my last big “paid for” race of the season but I have a few training runs lined up that will make for some interesting posts.

What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger and I will say that this race proved that for me. I also think I under estimated this race quite a bit thinking that I had just ran 50 miles 3 weeks prior so running only 26.2 should have been easy… right? It might have been if I had treated my body properly with rest, proper nutrition and sleep. Live and learn and boy did I learn a lot. Thanks Pigeon for your support and thank youÂ Coach Nikon for one helluva race!

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

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Â (edited to add: please excuse typos and grammar – I wrote this at 11 pm last night. )

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