Hey Everyone - Thank you for your kind comments regarding my niece, her wedding, and my post late last night.  They're a great couple, and I look forward to getting to know Josh better.

 

Ev - Nice race yesterday!  Somebody earlier said it was starting at a strange time, and 8:00 p.m. is strange, indeed.  Did you run this last year, too?  Something about it is ringing a bell.

 

Jim - Um, yeah, looks like you need to find yerself a nice HM.  Very nice run for you!  Glad the gi issues have calmed down.

 

Carol - Your running is coming along great again, too.  Good luck with the H&H to all of you.

 

Well, my trail run yesterday.  Where do I begin?  When Dad and I got to town, we went and found the trail head so I'd know where I was going the next day.  The whole area is very beautiful.  It's in the Marble Mountains in Skiskiyou  County.  Without knowing the trail, I had figured on about 5-5 1/2 hours for the 20 miles.  I had planned on 5 in/out twice.  However, once I got going, I realized this was going to be quite the trial.  This trail was so rocky, it was ridiculous.  It's a great trail for hiking and horseback riding, but running?  No.  I finally gave up after 4.5 miles and no less than 8 water crossings, not counting the 5-6 feeders.

 

So with the water crossings and 20 miles of running, I wanted to keep my feet dry, if possible.  It was on the 2nd or 3rd crossing going in, that my right foot ended up nice and damp.  On the way back, I was a mere .5 miles from the end, I am at the second to last crossing, I'm on a rock in the middle of the creek.  It's not deep, about ankle deep.  I decide to go a different way than I initially wanted.  Took a large step to the left, my foot slipped on the rock, and DOWN GOES LESLIE!  Slammed into the rocks on my left side, and for awhile, I thought I sprained my left wrist.  Yeah, I was a happy camper.  It took me 2.75 hours for the 9-mile round trip.  I'd say of that mileage, only about 3-3.5 miles total was runnable.  When I run the Arcata Forest, I can do 10 miles in about 2:15, 2:20.

 

So I'm a bit irritated, to say the least, since I need to get 20 miles in and I'm a time limit.  I head back down to Etna, having decided to finish up the last 11 miles on the highway.  Not challenging like trails, but at least I'd be getting the miles on my legs.  Two problems, I'm PO'd, and it's 45 min drive back to the motel, where I have to change my soaking wet shoes and retape my feet.  All in all - about an hour between runs.  Plus the sun has decided to come out.  Plus it's the freaking road.  Plus, plus, plus . . .  I finally turned around at 4.5 miles.  From about Mile 6.5 on, it was sheer hell.  I was thisclose to trying to flagged someone down to give me a ride back to town.  It . . . sucked . . . sucked . . . sucked.

 

Once I staggered back to town, I hit the restaurant by the motel, and first thing asked for the largest glass of chocolate milk that they had.  Ugh!  I'm not sure I could possibly ever have a worse run.  . . . . . . . nope, just not possible.

 

This is a sample of how rocky the trail was:

 

But this is the beauty I got to see:

 

 

 A rare section of runnable trail:

 

Saw one bear on the drive up, and crossed paths with a mule train while running out.  Other than that, only a few squirrel sightings.  This would be a great trail to run/hike when there aren't any time constraints, and I'd like to go back.

 

MTA: WOW!  Maybe I could make the pictures bigger, what do ya think??

Hi Everyone!  I'm back again-can you believe it?  Quick check in because I need to get to bed.

 

Awesome pics Leslie-that trail looks really cool.  If I was you.....I would have downgraded the run to a speed hike.  You would have gotten a high intensity cardio workout on the way up and use the way down to pound the heck out of your quads and practice some fancy footwork to get down as quick as possible without falling.  I understand you wanting to keep your feet dry but you never know what race day is going to bring-let loose a little bit and have fun getting wet and dirty!  I know you had the time constraint as well so I would have hiked with the time I had.  Congrats to your niece-pretty bride and handsome groom.

 

Good job at  the 10K Ev!  I like the idea of an evening race.

 

Nice LR Jim and no worries about getting older...you're getting better!  Jack ran the Nipmuck Trail marathon in CT last weekend and blew the 50's age course record away from 3:40 to 3:25 finishing 2nd overall.  Yeah, he got beat by a 30 something.

 

Good to hear from Jewels and Carol too.

 

I got home a little while ago from two days of mega miles.  I started Saturday running a 10k myself.  It was half pavement/half dirt and mostly flat.  I did it just because I haven't raced that distance in a while and wanted a poit of refernce as to how fast I could go.  I finished in 50:28 which is not a PR (close) but faster than what I thought I would go.  Ran a couple miles before to warm up put me at 8 miles so far.  Jack and I drove to Woodstock, VT-the home of the VT100 and caught up with a friend who is in charge of the course.  With him and a few others covered the last 30 miles of the course (running 20 and driving 10 which was on roads anyway).  Saturday's total 28 miles. 

 

I slept in the back of a friend's Subaru and went back and covered miles 48-70 with the same group except for Jack who had to go home to work today.  So 22 miles for today which gave me an all time high of 91 miles in a week (except for my 100 mile race week).  My feet are a little sore and I'm sure my quads will be talking to me a bit tomorrow but I have a great appreciation for what Jack does in a relatively short time (his best VT100 time is 16:35ish).

 

Have a good week everyone!  Kelly

Kelly - I will keep the advice in mind re the power hike and coming out.  I did try to come out as fast as possible, but it was still a lot of walking.  Either that or face plant.  Now I know why it's considered a great stock trail.   I understood that trying to avoid the water was a mistake, but I also failed to tape my feet correctly and knew that getting them wet could result in problems.  That was just stupidity on my part.

 

Your running always amazes me.  You were definitely born to trail run.

 

Ev - Somebody else must of mentioned running a race at night, but I can't remember who it was.  Regardless, you had a great run, and it sounds like you had a lot of fun.  I have yet to do a nighttime run.  Would probably have to do it when The Hub's gone and Karen and Coach Bill and I go together; otherwise, he'd pitch a huge fit.

 

Okay - I'm off to the shower and to bed.  I'm a tad tired after the weekend's festivities.

Joe, very nice pacing indeed.  Maybe there should be a new kind of triathlon....mow 5 acres with a push mower, run a marathon, with pushup stations at various points in the run.  I think you'd win it!

 

 

 

Great idea!

 

Carol - Hope things work out for you better this evening.  If you don't my asking - your new blood sugar gizmo, is that implanted?  I remember a friend's daughter having her insulin pump implanted on her side somewhere.

 

A rest day for me, which was just a well.  I'm still worn out.  Had the great idea of getting up and doing some upper body strength training since I didn't get my 5 miles in yesterday, but poo -poo'd that idea when the alarm went off.

 

Now it's back to Reality Land, aka Work.  Hopefully, today I get the lowdown (yet again) on my job and where things stand with people retiring/not retiring.  That merry-go-round is getting reeeeeally old.

 

Have a great week, my friends ~

 

MTA: Ev - Follow this link: http://breakhearttrailrunning.blogspot.com/ for info about some running events in your area.  Look at the second post - "The Hard Way and Double Dirty Dozen."

Hey Cindy - Nice weather you had going there.  Not!  A tornado a mere 10 miles away?  Do you guys get many of those up there?

 

Re posting a pic:

1. Go to photobucket and click the "Direct Link" http and copy the link.

2. Come back here and click the mountain box above.

3. Paste your link, ensuring you don't have a double http:// and voila!

 

Nice pics, mtnck

 

The other thing is that the "reply" button is missing from this thread for me?   my only way into this "private" thread is by using the "quote" button

 

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee119/mtnchk1/134.jpg

 

that's what I did...this is what I've got.... I get an "explorer user prompt" requesting the http....

 

guess I just have an extra step to posting pics...

 

& ref the weather ~ apparently!  We've got a 9 day "streak" going on so far of hostile weather!!  Every morning the weather folks say that this one will be milder....NOT!  & we're really good abt sharing w/folks East of us....we just brew 'em, & ship 'em!

Leslie those trails look alot like RMNP.

 

 

RMNP??   I'm terribel with this stuff.

 

Jim - Keeping fingers crossed the Big White Combine stays away.

 

Cindy - Beautiful pictures.  We live in a sucha diverse, but spectacular country!

 

5 miles w/10 steep hills repeats this a.m. in about 52:04.  Felt really good the entire time, and with the exception of the hill repeats, kept the HR in the mid 150s.  Very nice.

 

Well, it's official.  This job is ending.  My boss, who actually keeps me apprised of what's going, on talked to me for awhile yesterday.  Looks like Sept 1 is the date.  However, he would really like it if I could continue to work for him 2 days a week, which  means I have to see if the other office that has offered me a job is willing to do part time at 3 days a week.  From my talks with my friend, Denise, over there, it sounds like that would probably work.  My other thing is I want vacation time.  Medical would be nice, but it's not going to happen for a part-time job, and right now I'm paying for it myself anyway.  I want my vacation time.  So, we'll have to see how the negotiations go.

 

This was inevitable, but it still makes me sad.  This has been the Dream Job.  Oh well, it's been a good 11.5 year run.

Leslie - wow, that was some gnarly run! I'm really glad you didn't seriously hurt yourself on that fall - scary. Maybe you need to carry something for communication?   Sorry about the job - maybe it's really an opportunity.

 

Hey Kelly - good to hear from ya! Back to the big miles, nice!

 

Ev - congrats on the good race. Consistency pays.

 

Carol - sounds like you're still trying to get that gizmo dialed in - it'll be worth it in the end.

 

Cindy - maybe you could get one of the cooling vests that are made for people and modify it for Mairead. Some motorcycle shops sell them...and I KNOW they come in BIG sizes!

 

Shout out to Jewels - hang in there! It's ok to have some light weeks, anyway.

Thanks for the kind words about my mom. She's doing pretty well, hopefully we can pull this relocation off without it being too much of a nightmare. Moving is never fun though.

 

Keep running, everyone!

Arla