Thanks to Mary and Jennifer for providing great trail company as always :)
February 28, 2010
FINAL long run....:)
Thanks to Mary and Jennifer for providing great trail company as always :)
Going downstairs backward! Shannon
Thankfully, the mileage will now ease up because in 2 weeks, it's show time. I hope I don't feel this bad or even worse after an extra 7 miles. 31 miles her I come!
February 26, 2010
Getting serious! Shannon
So this week I had resolved to get serious again as last week I ran into some obstacles, felt a little lazy, etc. Plus Pam was gone on vacation. So easy to slack off when your running buddy is far, far away.
I got in my hill repeats on Monday as rain was predicted for Tuesday, and sure enough it came in. Got in weight training and yoga Tuesday morning. Ok, I'm on a roll now. Then Wednesday morning rolled in and I hit my favorite button, SNOOZE, a few too many times and didn't make it to the gym - argh!
Wednesday night I spent 3 hours in a shoulder class at Kaiser to learn way more than I ever wanted to learn about the anatomy of the shoulder and impingement syndrome. The best part, it's curable, the worst part, it will take about 12 months to rehab - another argh!!! Now it's 9p Wednesday night and I'm in Roseville. My bedtime is 8:30p if I have any hopes of getting up at 3:45a to hit the gym. So by the time I got home and in bed it was close to 10p. No gym Thursday morning - great! ARGH!
So with 8 miles on the schedule for Thursday, what's a full time working girl suppose to do? Drag her hubby to the lake after work and squeeze out 4 hilly miles before the marina closes.
Those were the best 4 miles I've run in a very long time. It was gorgeous out there. No one was on the trail except for a couple of deer and a rabbit. I had the whole trail to myself, it was great. I decided to do the more technical route from the Marina out toward Spanish House, and I'm glad I did.
As I was coming back to the truck, Mark was already there, which he usually isn't, and as I got closer I figured out why. He had caught a beautiful rainbow trout. Here he is with it. The pic doesn't do the trout any justice. The rainbow colors in it were gorgeous.
Normally he catches and releases, but this one had swallowed the hook, plus apparently it had another lure in its tummy that it was battling with. So this was a mercy catch, and he will take it to someone who will eat it right up.
Tomorrow Pam and I are off for our last really long run before WTC. We're doing 24 miles in Granite Bay. It will be a long day, but I know we'll have fun. Now if Mother Nature will bless us with sunshine tomorrow that would just top it all!
Have a great weekend and get dirty!
February 23, 2010
Week 16
Family Reunion
I spent the last week in Florida on the gulf side visiting with my family. We were able to coordinate our schedules and meet up for some bonding time. It was so wonderful to spend time with my niece and nephews. They live in Michigan and I only get to see them once a year. They are the best kids in the world and I had so much fun with them!
I also got to spend quality time with my brother and sis who, by the way, is doing very well.
I didn't get much working out in. Just a few miles and some elliptical and core. Training definitely took a backseat but that's okay. My goal was to spend as much time with family as possible and I feel totally refreshed mentally after seeing them :) Now back to work, we only have a few weeks left of training, yikes!
February 21, 2010
Crap happens! Shannon
Today I was scheduled to run 10 miles with Jennifer. Last night I got a call from Jennifer telling me she hurt her Achilles during the Western States Training run (sign #1). Oh no! Jennifer can't get hurt! She's sweeping WTC. She'll be the one out there who picks me and Pam up off the trail! That's all I could think of when she called to tell me should wouldn't be able to run with me. That's ok, I said, you take care of that Achilles so that you can be out sweeping WTC!
So now I'm thinking to myself, where do I go run 10 miles by myself? Then I get a call from Kristen. I had run with her last weekend with Jennifer. Jennifer had given her my number and she said she still wanted to run with me. YEAH! She's faster than me, but she hadn't been feeling good all week, so she was gonna slow it down, I assumed.
So I get up this morning, get myself dressed, go through my normal morning pre-run routine and about 15 minutes before I need to leave to meet Kristen she calls to tell me she has to bail. She had been suffering all week with gall bladder issues and it wasn't letting up this morning (sign #2).
Ok, now what. Mark has just left to go fishing down at Salmon Falls, I can go with him. So I called him and asked him to come back for me. Well after picking me up, he decides he doesn't want to go to Salmon Falls (sign #3) now but wants to go out to Granite Bay. Cool, I know those trails, that'll be perfect.
We got into the Granite Beach Park area and he keeps on driving and driving and driving. He takes us all the way to almost the end of the road to Dotons Point (sign #4). Ok, I see trails. We're good.
I take off and within 1 mile Mother Nature was calling, no scratch that, she was screaming. So I found a place to take care of business. Ok, all is good, keep moving. Then not even 5 minutes later, she was a screaming again - WTF! Ok, ignore her, it'll go away. Well I could'nt take it and decided to head back, but I wouldn't make it. Pulled of the trail and took care of some more business and some more. You get the picture. This run wasn't going so great! I was not happy!
I got back to the car, and luckily, learning experiences from previous Mother Nature callings on other runs, I keep a change of clothes in my bag. Now to find a bathroom. Text the hubby, told him what I was doing and that I'd be back. First bathroom turned out to be not too far from where we were parked, yeah! Not! No running water bathroom. EEERRGGH.
Ok I'll go back down the road to the other bathroom we saw. Once again no running water! Ok, enough is enough. I have a hydration pak full of water since I only got in 3 miles. So with towel and bag in hand inside I went.
The signs were there. I was not meant to run today. I wish they weren't so subtle.
Note to self, no beans before a run. Or was it the Bailey's and coffee I drank most of the day on the golf course? Or was it the beer after the golf? Or all of the above or none of the above? Who knows, but all I do know is I've got to figure this out before WTC!
I got the Align that Trailmomma was giving away and I'm starting it today. Let's hope I work out my Mother Nature issues before March 13th.
This week I've got to get serious and get back on track! I'm already feeling good, I've asked Mark to go out with my on Tuesday night for hill repeats. No, he won't do the hill repeats, but he'll be fishing near by and that's good enough for both of us!
Now I'm going to spend the rest of my day doing more exciting things like taxes and laundry.
Here's to a more focused, less stressful, and successful training week.
Get muddy this week!
February 19, 2010
Cycle down week. Shannon
However, I have struggled this week with keeping up with my training. Tuesday was great and you all read about it. But because I got home late on Tuesday, I wasn't able to get up on Wednesday. So I had a TURD day, which you already read about too.
So Thursday rolls around, and once again I'm too tired to get up (darn Olympics) and go to the gym for yoga and 4 miles, but I figure, I'm going to boot camp that night, so I'll get in a good tempo 4 miler and then boot camp. Well I wasn't able to go to boot camp because of ...... Well lets just say my loving, normally very understanding and extremely patient husband, made a few comments to the gist of "I guess I'll see you next month!"
With all this running and training, I haven't spent too much time at home. I work late one night a week. So with boot camp 2x a week, I'm gone 3 nights a week. Then when I told him it was a sew day for me today, which means I won't be home until about 9p tonight, and the fact that I'm golfing on Saturday with my friends, I think he kind of lost it!
So I made the tough decision to not go to boot camp (our last one :( )and I invited him out to the lake. He loves to fish. So while he fished I went and did a quick hilly 4 miler and then we spent the rest of the evening together.
This morning I got to do 7 miles with my friend Donna, who I haven't run with for a very long time. She is a much faster runner than I am, however, she likes to slow it down every once in a while and lets me set the pace. I had a wonderful time with her and her awesome dog, Cream!
Now I'm going to get ready and go spend time with my quilting friends and hopefully get the top done to the charity quilt I do every year for Relay for Life. Wish me luck.
Now for the fun stuff. I love give aways, even though I never win, I still try! So here's my attempt at winning what sounds like some really awesome earbuds. Shut Up and Run! is giving away Yurbuds. Apparently they are "custom" fit to your ears! How cool is that. I'm always struggling with my earbuds, so this would be really cool to win. So go check out her blog, you never know, maybe you'll win!
Happy trails.
February 17, 2010
Oh it hurts so good! Shannon
Diane decided she needed to do hill repeats too, so she met me, along with John, and we ran toward Granite Bay. I, of course, could not keep up with speedy Diane and John, but I scrambled behind them.
When we got to our designated hill. We took a drink and then headed up the hill. I was able to do 3/4 of the hill and then had to stop, while Diane and John continued up. I repeated this a 2nd time. After that, Diane asked me if I could make it up to the top. I said I dunno, I'm pretty winded by the 3/4 mark. She suggested I not push so hard and see what I could do.
So off I went at a nice and easy pace. I did it! I made it to the top in 2:07 (min:sec). Jogged my way down and then went for it again. This time I shaved one second off that - 2:06 - I'm feeling pretty proud of that 1 second shave off. Oh yeah, I'm rockin now. Ok, so now we only have time for one more, so I decide I'll push a little harder to see if I can shave another second off.
Drum roll please......I shaved a whopping 7 seconds the previous run - I did it in 1:99 - OMG! Oh ya, I'm doing the happy dance! I glided back down the hill. High fives were tossed around by Diane and John, who of course were waiting for me at the bottom of the hill because they are much faster than I am.
We then had to run back to our cars to get to boot camp on time. Again, I couldn't keep up with them, but that's ok, I'm feeling pretty good about that last hill climb.
Now comes Diane's kick ass boot camp. Once again, it's Tabata drills - aaaaahhhhhhh. Squat jump w/DB - 20 seconds, rest 10 sec. Push ups - 20 secs, rest 10. Toe taps - 20 secs, rest 10. Mountain climbers - 20 seconds, rest 10. Repeat 7 more times. OMG!! After hill repeats, I had nothing left in my quads for squats or mountain climbers. But I did what I could.
Then we moved to core work on the ball. Diane shows no mercy! Planks, reverse pikes (jack knife), side to sides, and crunch ups. I thought I was gonna die.
I was so tired by the end of class I wondered if I'd make it home before falling sleep. I did, thankfully.
I'm actually not too sore today (except for my shoulder), just tired. I didn't sleep well, even after all that. Woke around midnight and the rest of the night was fitful.
Needless to say, I'm exhausted today, so I'm taking a TURD (totally unscheduled rest day) today!
Tomorrow brings 8 miles and boot camp (last one) once again. Hope I can get enough rest tonight to survive tomorrow!
Enjoy the sun while it's here!
February 14, 2010
Getting Stronger! Shannon
Saturday was our scheduled long run. We were scheduled for 22 miles, so we decided to hit the Cool trails and get a bigger taste of what we'll be facing on March 13th. We had a nice size group come out to join us on our long run, and you can see a portion of those wonderful people in Pam's post below.
As we started on the Quarry Road I kept seeing oodles and oodles of spider webs that I had never seen before when running out there. It was soooo cool and I had to take pictures. Here's one of those shots.Those little white things are all spider webs. The pic doesn't do it justice, that is for sure!
We left the Quarry Road and started climbing a moderately steep ascent to Brown's Bar. From Brown's Bar to Auburn Lake Trails, the trail is single track with gently rolling sections.
Here is Pam and our faithful guide, Jennifer, just before a little waterfall and one of many creek crossings.
We then continued on the Auburn Lake Trails. It is along this section of trail we came upon the Barbara Schoener memorial with its beautiful daffodils and breathtaking vista of the American River Canyon. (Barbara was a wife and mother whose first ultra was run on this course. She was fatally injured by a mountain lion during a solo training run in 1994.) Here we are at the memorial.
We then hit Dead Truck Trail where Pam shows her crazy side. I just love this pic!!
After oohing and awwing over the dead truck we started to descend down a steep portion of the trail. I think Pam is delirious by now cuz here she is posing for me on this steep hill :)
Dead Truck Trail take us to the Middle Fork of the American River and 'Ball Bearing', the steepest climb (.7 miles) on the course.
We intended to do 22 miles, but ended up with 24.4 miles. It was tough, but we did it and as you can tell we are quite pleased with ourselves.
My foot continues to give me issues (dropped Navicular bone) but I'm pushing through it.
I managed to get in my 8 miles on Sunday out in Granite Bay with Jennifer. Today, thankfully, is a much needed rest day. I'm also happy to say, that it is a cycle down week and I get to golf come this Saturday - woo hoo.
Stay dirty!
February 13, 2010
WTC Training Run 24.4 miles
February 10, 2010
Pit Stop!
I was raised to be a little more subtle about my pooping escapades. That topic was meant to stay behind bathroom doors. But as I grow older and am exposed to bolder people, I find that that subject is not taboo.
My first exposure to BOLD poop talk was on Shut Up and Run's blog. Beth, the author, is just a riot, and just loves to talk about it. Now the posting I link you to is not her first, nor her last, blog about pooping. So if you like the topic, you might want to follow her blog - don't worry it's not the only thing she talks about. In fact, she's giving away some awesome Champion clothing to one lucky winner - I hope it's me, I desperately need new clothes!!
Also today, I saw a posting on FaceBook linking me to yet another article on the awful experience of having to poop while on a run. This article is all too familiar and too funny. It is titled "Everyone Poops" by Dave Milner. Jog over there and read it. If you've ever had to "go", you'll appreciate it.
To top things off I head over to Trailmomma's blog, and low and behold she has a give-away for Align. What is Align? It is a daily probiotic supplement to help you become more regular. Visit her blog to get the details.
So, is it just me, or is pooping the talk of the town? Ok, maybe not the town, but it definitely ranks up there with runners, apparently. I, too, have had my issues out on the trails, and I even talked about it once here. Not as boldly as some, but subtly as I'm not as open about the subject as others.
So if you're so inclined, and you're bold, or even not so bold, share your poopscapade in a comment below. I have found that this helps so that you know you're not alone in the poop-folly.
Hope all of you have a happy, dirty, poop-free trail run this weekend!!
February 8, 2010
Mud Bowl 2010 - Shannon
We made great timing even in the rain. We were teased a lot as the rain would stop and we'd all get excited and hopeful that it would stay away, but then it would hit us again and our little bubble would be burst.
We got there early enough to get registered, get our bibs, etc. After that, we still had tons of time left as our race, the 35k, didn't start until 9:15a. So we all squeezed back in the car to stay warm. hile we were all huddled in the car, a few more FTR's showed up and said hi. Marc, Randy, and Susan G. all came up too. Marc was also doing the 35k while Randy and Susan (took 1st in her AG) were doing the 17k.
As it got closer to starting time, we all started to really get ready. Here's Pam staying inside the car as long as possible.
The time came to get the race started. The funny part of this race is we all start in the huge open field and then within 50 feet had to funnel onto a single track, thereby stopping the "run" instantly. But once you get through the shoot, you're off and running. Let the mud bath begin!
Pam and I had a goal of completing this race in 4:45, worst case 5 hours. We had done the 17k last year and didn't do too bad, and since we are in better shape this year, we should be able to improve on what we did last year. NOT! The mud made for a very challenging race.
The course starts off nicely, rolling single track, but then within a mile you start climbing, and climbing, and climbing. Pam does really well on the up hill. I struggle. Although, I will say that I handled the hills much better this year than I did last year.
The rain wasn't bad as we are pretty well covered by the canopy of trees. We made it to the first aid station (6 miles) in a little over 1.5 hours. Scott Dunlap was there as a volunteer and I (not knowing who he was) asked him to take our picture. He graciously did so.
Now last year, this is where we turned around and headed back. But this year, we had to cross the road and keep going. So now we were in new territory. We didn't know what to expect. It started off nicely, once again, rolling single track. Then we started to climb and started hitting a lot more mud!!!!!! I so wish I could've taken my camera out and taken more pics, but I had to keep it in a ziploc and it was a pain to get it in and out.
As we got closer to the 2nd aid station (11 miles) we saw our fellow FTR's coming back. First we saw Mike, he was doing really well. Then we saw Marc, he too was looking good. Then came Diane & Leslie, looking awesome, as usual. Then Kem, who wasn't feeling well all week, yet was holding her own on the course kicking butt as usual!!
We finally made to the 2nd aid station and everyone was so busy that we had to take our own self portrait. It was raining, so we had to be quick.
So we headed off feeling ok, knowing that now it's all down hill, right?? I mean we just climbed almost 3000 feet and what goes up must come down, right? Well we started off down, which was nice, but then we started hitting some of those downhills we faced going up - yeah we forgot about those. Mind you, our legs are pretty well trashed by now with all the climbing and all the mud, so seeing hills has now become a sore subject. In fact, Pam, was cursing the hills by this time. And she doesn't swear very much!
With all the mud, my feet did manage to stay pretty dry as I was wearing my mud runners, but I got energetic and at one point, going through a pretty muddy area, I ended up in deeper mud than I had anticipate and ended up with water inside my shoes - damn! Oh well, by then you really don't care as all you want to do is get it over with.
As we were coming into the 3rd aid station which was actually the 1st aid station, there was a beautiful waterfall that you didn't see as you were going out. I so wanted to take a picture, but couldn't :(.
At the aid station, I confirmed that we only had 4 more miles to go. The reason I needed to confirm this was because with all the trees you lose satelite and my Garmin was only registering 16.25 miles and it should've been reading 18 miles. So the lady confirmed, yes, 4 miles to the finish and most of it is downhill. I remembered that from last year.
We did have to hike up and through another mud hole, to which I gracefully sunk in deeper than I had earlier - gotta love the mud. Once we got to the top, it was basically all down hill, which I normally would be ecstatic about, however, for whatever reason, the parks apparently decided to pave the once dirt trail. GGGGRRR!!
Normally on a down hill run, I let go and just fly, but I was not able to do that on Saturday. My legs were so trashed from the climbing and the mud that hitting that hard pavement rattled everything in me. Every impact hurt. I kept hoping that it would only be temporary pavement, but it continued all the way down the hill and then you hit the fire road for the last mile. Absolutely brutal. But I was a horse to barn and I just kept going. I really wanted to walk on the fire road, but I wanted to finish more! Apparently Pam felt the same way, so she too kept on truckin too.
We finished, 12th and 13th in our AG (last in our AG)and we're ok with that as this was a tough run, but we did it!!
Here is a pic of our muddy legs - I wish I had taken a pic of the back of our legs as I disovered when trying to clean up that the back of my legs were muddier than the front.
Since I couldn't take any pics along the course, I'm going to refer you to Scott Dunlap's blog as he did the Woodland Marathon a few weeks earlier when the weather was beautiful so that you can see how pretty it is out there.
Smiling Through the Woodside Trail Marathon - blog by Scott Dunlap
If you scroll to the 13th pic on his blog post you can see the paved trail I'm talking about. Last year that was DIRT! Because of this, I probably won't do this race again, it's way to brutal on my bones after doing 18 miles in the mud!
All in all though, we had a great time. It's always a blast to travel with fellow FTRs!
Get muddy!
February 7, 2010
Woodside 35k - Muddy, bloody and brutal
February 3, 2010
Day 87/125 Shannon
Last night I met Linda before Diane's bootcamp, and we put in 4 miles on the trails near Karen's Bakery in Folsom. The nice thing was that we started at 5:20p and it was still light out. It wasn't until our last mile that I had to turn on my headlamp. Linda never turned hers on, so my light was apparently enough for her.
There is just something about a night run that is so neat! I can't explain it. Perhaps it's the lack of congestion on the trails. Perhaps it's the complete stillness of the river. Or maybe it's the fact that you have to pay closer attention to your footing. Whatever it is, I'm hooked and absolutely love it!
Thanks Linda for meeting me out there for a very nice 4 mile early evening run.
This Saturday Pam and I will be participating in our first 35k (22 miles) trail race in Woodside. We have run a portion of this course before and really enjoyed it and have heard awesome stuff from others who have run the 35k portion, so this will be exciting and a new challenge for us. Since it's suppose to rain on Saturday, this will make for a very muddy and wet 22 mile run. Wish us luck!
Stay muddy!
February 1, 2010
Restoration Run
I was so worried I had lost fitness, but, except for the hills, I felt strong. I tried to experiment with eating a snickers bar at the halfway point, but that wasn't a good idea. We had to make alittle trip to Sterling Point to use the bathroom. Shannon soaked in the sun while waiting for me