Dreama Campbell

Lookout Mountain 50 Mile Trail Race

2011-12-19T18:00:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday marked my 3rd attempt at the Lookout Mountain 50 Mile Trail Race. http://www.rockcreek.com/lookout.rco Needless to say... I was ready to get this monkey off my back and finally finish no matter what! Previous attempts were a fail due to events leading up to the race such as an Ironman event less than a month before in 2009 and last year a 100 mile trail race and 40 mile trail race both only weeks before.

Race morning I woke early to grab a quick bite and get my gear together before heading up to Lookout Mountain. Admittedly... there was some nervousness and fear of yet another DNF and I tried to keep a positive attitude going into the event. Once I arrived to packet pick-up... I grabbed my stuff and proceeded with race morning rituals. Not long after I was greeted by Michael and Missy Emerling at my car and we talked some race day strategy since Michael and I had agreed to run the race together. Shortly there after... we spotted Wendy Oates and Cathi Cannon who also had decided to brave this beast of a race.

It was quite chilly with temperatures hovering right around 34-35 degrees on the mountain before the race start which always make for a hard decision on what exactly to wear starting out. I decided to bite the bullet and wear only my Patagonia Rock/Creek Race Team Capiliene long sleeve shirt with knickers and it proved to be a smart choice for the entire day.

The first several miles seemed easy as we kept our pace manageable and at the bottom of the mountain we encountered an overflowing Lookout Creek which forced us to slow way down due to wading through very chilly ankle deep and sometimes waist deep waters. Usually this trail runs along side the creek, but the day before we had quite a bit of rainfall and this forced the waters to run over onto the edges. A few choice words came out of our mouths on this segment and Michael and I jokingly decided that the best punishment might be to make the race director (Randy Whorton) sit in a garbage pail full of ice for about 10-15 minutes and then go for a run with the group on the next Wednesday night run so he could feel like our pain!!! After we emerged from the creek it took about 20-30 minutes to get complete feeling back in the legs and feet. Not long after this we were on our way back up the mountain where we would see Missy who was acting as our crew at mile 22.5. We arrived to this point about 30 minutes ahead of schedule.

Lula Lake was our next aid station where we would see many familiar faces such as Dawson Wheeler, Lance Steele and Mark Mason. It was nice to chat with them as we refuelled and regrouped. We also stopped to snap a nice shot of the falls while there. Not long after this Michael started mentioning that he was having some knee pain. We had some low points along the way including a segment of extensive tornado damage, but we kept moving forward until we made it to the next aid station near Nick-a-jack Road. At this point we were greeted by Missy, Trey, Sarah, Carl, Tom Sell, Angie Hughes, Doug Dooley and many others. We would see this aid station twice as there was a 4.5 mile loop that would bring us right back to it before heading back to the finish line.

We pushed off from the aid station and headed out for the 4.5 mile loop, but it was slow going for the first mile or so. Michael's knee was really bothering him on the downhills. I was becoming worried for him, but tried to stay positive and upbeat. Somewhere with about a mile to go on the loop... Michael yelped out in pain and demanded that I go on without him. He had decided that once he got back to the aid station he was out due to the knee situation. I reluctantly ran ahead without him fearing that I would not have the willpower to take on the rest of this cursed race by myself! When I came back through to the aid station.... Trey and Missy were waiting and I told Missy to be prepared for an injured Michael. Trey prodded me along with some encouraging words and I ran back across the road and into the woods for Lula Lake.

Before I knew it... I was back at the Lula Lake aid station and then off once again... this time for the finish line. I had another rough patch about a mile and a half from the power line trail and talked to a nice man from Kentucky until he finally passed me on one of the hills. Once I popped out onto the power line trail it was getting dark so I strapped on my headlamp and pushed forward. The finish line seemed forever away... though it was really close. I would run and walk until FINALLY I could hear people and see lights!!! At last.... I had made it! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

7th Female (64th Overall) in 10:58

Pine Mountain 40 Mile Trail Race

2011-12-05T18:00:00.000-08:00

This race is best described straight from the GUTS Pine Mountain 40 race website:

It is a 40 mile ultra marathon on the beautiful Pine Mountain Trail system of FDR State Park in Pine Mountain, Georgia. This GUTS event will test your endurance and your ankles over rocky single-track trails. The trail follows the ridge line, going up and over it for the duration. Depending on water levels, the few water crossings could be dry or ankle deep. You'll experience both pine & hardwood forests, rock outcroppings, waterfalls, and beaver ponds. http://www.getguts.com/e-pm40.shtml

Trey and I decided that we would do this race together this year and it would be his longest trail run EVER. We drove down the the night before and stayed in Lagrange, GA which is about 20 minutes away from the park and race start.

Temperatures were much warmer than we had anticipated and we quickly ditched extra layers just before the start. It didn't take long at all to warm up and before we knew it... we were actually hot. We thoroughly enjoyed the terrain minus the miles of tornado damaged areas. The trail was in great shape, but the leaves on the trail did make things interesting a few times.

We held up nicely up until about the half way point. Things fell apart there, but we pressed on and managed to finish up with a time of 8:27 putting us at 30th and 31st overall. Placing me as 7th female. I am super proud of my hubby Trey for finishing his longest trail race EVER!!!

Sometimes it's all about finishing with a smile on your face.

Duncan Ridge 50k

2011-11-20T18:00:00.000-08:00

The Duncan Ridge Trail 50K is the toughest 50K I have done to date with more than 11,000 feet of elevation gain. The elevation profile is displayed in the logo, but that is just the “out” of an “out and back” race. This race uses the Coosa Backcountry Trail and the Duncan Ridge Trail, which are considered some of the toughest trails in Georgia. The race starts and finishes at Vogel State Park’s Lake Trahlyta in the gorgeous North Georgia Mountains. http://www.duncanridgetrail50k.com/

Race morning Trey and I lined up along side many of our friends such as Sarah, Carl, Cathi, Sheridan, Nik, Lynn and many others. Most everyone I knew including Trey had signed up for the 30k option so I knew that I'd be on my own for half of the race. About 3 weeks prior to the race my friend Joey and I had taken a trip down to preview part of the course. We ran out 8 miles and then doubled back totalling 16 miles. After previewing the first bit of the course... I knew that this was going to be a tough 50k.

Trey and I ran out at a decent clip as I told him that there would be a gnarly climb coming up that would last for some time. We figured we should go ahead and make up some time here since there would be little running once we started up that first major climb. The climb went FOREVER. Once we hit the top of the climb... we were relieved thinking that the race must get easier from here. WRONG. After we hit the aid station Trey and I went our separate ways as the 30k option would now loop back around and take runners back to the finish line. Little did I know that my race had really just started.

After leaving out from the aid station I would be greeted with steep climbs and steep descents. I knew I could rip the downhills as the terrain was just my specialty, but those hills... they were nasty steep. NOBOBY could even entertain the thought of running them. Forget switchbacks. The builder of this trail DID NOT believe in switchbacks in any form or fashion! On a few of the climbs I hit some rough patches, but kept moving forward figuring that at least it was progress. On the way back I would see many runners heading to the very aid station I had just come from and I learned that I had about a 20 minute lead over the next female. I hoped that I could make up some time on the downhill and technical areas as these are things I have become increasingly comfortable with. I also knew that I might lose some time on the climbs. "JUST KEEP. MOVING. FORWARD"... I would say to myself.

About 20-25 minutes after the turn around James Rockwell ran along with me for a bit. He informed me that a black bear had been on the trail running between us for about 1/4 of a mile. Had I known a bear was running behind me... I may have stepped it up a bit and moved along a little faster! He said seeing the bear got him all excited and pumped up. It wasn't long after this James was ready to pass me and he effortlessly ran ahead. The next few miles were rough to say the least, but I kept pressing on until the next aid station. Here I was greeted with many familiar faces once again and after some kind words of encouragement from them... I moved on so I wouldn't get too cold. Many of the peaks we had summited were foggy and it was sleeting... so standing around and not moving were not an option.

Not long after leaving that last aid station I would get the downhill that I was looking forward to the entire race. Steep, technical downhill... oh how I love thee!!!! Here I suddenly had a burst of energy... it must have been the excitement of knowing I was actually going to make up some significant time on this segment. I was like a little kid cracked out on candy bombing down the hill and jumping over rocks and roots. Once at the bottom of the descent I grabbed a quick cola at the aid station and crossed over the creek gearing up for the last and final climb of the day. Run, jog, walk, run, jog, walk is basically the way it would go until I was nearly to the top. Then... BAM... hello.... I was totally bonking. Light headed, shaky and nauseous! I slowed to a walk until I could pull myself together enough for a jog. "JUST. KEEP. GOING. DON'T STOP.... you are almost there!" I kept telling myself this over and over. Finally the trail popped back out and crossed over Wolfpen Gap Road and from here was the final downhill to the finish line. Some how I pulled it together and jogged to the finish line.

Man... what a race... I was pooped! All I could do is sit at the picnic table near the food and scarf down a couple of pieces of pizza and cola. I don't even like pizza, but I was sooo weak and knew that nutrition had to go in before I passed out!

Thank-you Robert Lewellen for an epic experience and the chance to run on some of North Georgia's most beautiful trails.

1st Female and 18th overall with a time of 7:56

Also... friend and fellow Rock/Creek Race Team member Sarah Woerner won the 30K!!!!

Mystery Mountain Trail Marathon

2011-10-12T06:30:00.000-07:00

On October 9th I lined up for my second Mystery Mountain Marathon Trail Race. http://www.getguts.com/e-mmm.shtml This race was 1 week post Stump Jump 50k for me and I wasn't sure how the legs would fare, but eh... what the heck... it's always fun to run on Fort Mountain. The trail and views alone were worth the hour drive there!

Like I said before... I didn't know what to expect out of myself since obviously my body would not be functioning at 100% with a 50k just one week earlier... so I decided to run at a comfortable pace and reaccess somewhere around the half way point. The race starts going around a small lake and allows for runners to jockey for their spot before hitting the true single track trail. I settled in nicely here and found myself running very steady and breathing wasn't too labored. With the exception of a few hills here and there... I was able to keep this same steady pace up until about mile 12. Here you are greeted by a manned aid station and a hideous power line trail that seems like you are going straight to the moon. I would jog and walk until jogging wasn't feasible anymore before finally reaching the top! Once at the top... I was happy to be able to bomb down the technical downhill which would drop us back onto the beautiful single track again.

Somewhere around the halfway point I decided that I would pick up the pace a bit and hold strong until the next big climb. The next climb was far more technical and much longer than that first climb up the power line. It seems like it was 3 miles or so. I remembered the climb from 2008 and knew that it was just best to suck it up and keep moving no matter what. Here I would catch a couple of guys and chat till the top. One of the guys (Jeremy Orr) actually was from Ringgold, GA and lived in Atlanta currently. What a small world. Turns out we knew some of the same people. I would run the rest of the race with him until hitting the lake on the return to the finish line.

Once we passed the last aid station after the descent of the power line I mustered up enough strength to push the pace a bit and bring it on in. I couldn't have been happier to see that finish line! If you are looking for a marathon distance race to test your endurance and push yourself to the next level... sign-up for this one. It will not disappoint!

1st female and 25th overall with a time of 5:19

*course was actually over a mile longer than the 2008 course

Stump Jump 50k

2011-10-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

October 1st I lined up for one of my favorite local races... The Stump Jump 50k Trail Race. It is hard to pass up since we run on these trails for training runs all the time. They are also some of the most beautiful trails in the area that provide many scenic overlooks that you can glance over and see as you are running. Spectacular views of the Gorge and Tennessee River will make most anyone running the race appreciate all that Chattanooga has to offer. http://www.rockcreek.com/stumpjump.rco

Today I would run with my friend Michael Emerling. We had run the trails on the 50k route many times in preparation for the race along with a few of our running companions. Ramping up for the race we encountered heat, humidity, downed trees and bees! All of these seem to play a factor on race day... so we felt as if we were prepared for whatever the day might bring.

The first half of the race went pretty well and we were able to build a nice cushion as we were ahead of our goal time. We really wanted to break 6 hours and up until around mile 20-21 we were on target for around a 5:40. Of course I knew that once we returned to Mushroom Rock that we would have to run the dreaded gravel loop which always seems to suck the life out of me mentally and physically. This is where much time was lost, but we were able to cross the finish line in 5:59. Good enough for us and Michael was stoked as it was his first 50k distance race EVER!

Congrats to Michael on a strong race! It was really nice having someone out there to share the pain with!

6th female and 66th overall out of 374 runners with a time of 5:59

Scenic City Trail Marathon

2011-05-22T07:07:00.000-07:00

May 21st I lined up for my 3rd Scenic City Marathon. http://www.rockcreek.com/trailmarathon.rco This race is always hard to for me to live up to my own expectations since I know what I am capable of on the course and what I've delivered in the past, but it is what it is and simply being healthy enough to come out and be able to run on beautiful single track trails really IS what it's all about in the end.

With that said.... today I ran a 4:11 on the two loop course. 8th female and 45th overall out of a field of 175. Not my best time by 13 minutes or so, but I am on the road to recovery healthwise and am looking forward to ramping things up later in the year.

Congrats to fellow Rock/Creek Race Team member and friend Sarah Woerner for her win today in the women's field!

Rev 3 Half Ironman Knoxville

2011-05-12T16:25:00.000-07:00

May 11th marked the second year for the Rev 3 Half Ironman in Knoxville, TN.

Race morning was unseasonably cold. It was a dreary overcast day with temperatures hanging around the high 40's. I lined up for this race in my full sleeved wetsuit and swam the chilly waters of the Tennessee River. This swim was going to be ugly since I hate cold water and my swim fitness was lacking. I literally swam 3-4 times in preparation for the race. If you are a triathlete.... you can understand that this is not advisable for a half ironman distance race!

Somehow... I finally made it out of the chilly waters and managed to jog back to transition and get on the bike. The air temperature was cold.... so I took the extra time to put on socks and arm warmers. After all... this was simply a training race to get me geared up for Ironman Coeur d'Alene in June. The bike went about like I figured and I was able to post a decent bike split.

On the run it took me a while to feel the bottoms of my feet. They must have gotten cold from the bike. After about 3-4 miles of running... there wasn't an issue anymore. I enjoyed the run course and was happy to see some hills. Running on flat surface gets incredibly boring for me. Before I knew it... I was back around and passing the transition area and headed for the finish line at the World's Fair Park.

A great day of training on the books... even if it wasn't running in the woods!

3 State 3 Mountain

2011-05-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

May 7th marked the 24th annual 3 State 3 Mountain Challenge. http://www.chattbike.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63&Itemid=37 The VeloVixens decided to ride this event as a group this year. We had many participants riding the metric and century distances.

Prior to the event we had several co-ed training rides to prepare. We had alot of fun on the training rides and knew that the actual event was going to be a blast as well! The day did not disappoint even if it was a little hot and humid. We were all able to work together for the most part, but I did fall apart a little toward the end of the century. Overall I was happy with my time and enjoyed the company of fellow teammates and friends!

Looking forward to another great showing at the 2012 event!!!

Ouachita Trail 50 Mile

2011-04-21T17:26:00.000-07:00

Here I sit writing my first race report since Pinhoti 100 in November. You may ask... why wait so long to make another post. Well... there are a myriad of reasons actually. The truth is that I've not been quite myself physically and emotionally for a while now. The good news is that I'm on the mend and on the road to better health and well being. First... I will give a quick recap to what I've been doing since Pinhoti 100, second... I will talk in detail about the Ouachita Trail 50 Mile and how amazing it was in more ways than one and lastly where I hope to be in the next few months.

After Pinhoti 100....recovery took far longer than I had anticipated. Honestly... I hadn't been feeling like myself leading up to the 100 either. Every training run and race felt too much like work and my body wasn't responding in a positive manner no matter what I tried. Now that I look back... the last event I felt decent about was in May 2010. Things seemed to spiral downward pretty quickly from there. I did manage to pull off the Pine Mountain 40 Mile Trail Race http://www.getguts.com/e-pm40.shtml in December and my attempt at the Lookout Mountain 50 Mile Trail Race http://www.rockcreek.com/lookout.rco after that was a fail. Not to my surprise now that I am more educated on what my body was/is going through.

Imagine waking up day after day feeling like you need to go back to bed... just not feeling rested in the least. On top of this imagine feelings of depression, fatigue, loss of libido, hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings and many other non-flattering feelings physically and emotionally. That pretty much sums up what was going on with me. It was gradual at first, but then after the 100... it was unbearable and I needed some answers. Something was seriously wrong. After 2 different doctors and numerous tests run... including ruling out cancer... we were finally able to find one big contributor to the problem. Low Testosterone. What?! Low Testosterone?! Yep... so low in fact that it could cause all of these terrible things to happen inside and out. This wasn't something that happened overnight either. Many will try to say "ohh... you are just over trained.. you need to rest". Let's face it.... rest wasn't helping. I think the difference between an endurance athlete and a normal person is... an endurance athlete is much more in tune with their body and and average person not so much. An average person may just blame the changes on getting older and think to themselves... "this is just part of what happens when you age". An endurance athlete says the opposite... "hey... something isn't right here... I am doing everything to be healthy and this is NOT how I am supposed to be feeling".

Sooo.. what's the fix? Well... for now it's a monthly injection of testosterone. I have had 2 injections thus far and the improvement has been significant. Every month I will go in for testing to check testosterone levels and white blood cell count (another something found to be low). My spirits are lifting and the physical and emotional aspects of life are getting easier day by day.

Now... onto the Ouachita Trail 50 Mile http://www.runarkansas.com/OT50.htm race report:

Dawson Wheeler of Rock/Creek was nice enough to let us use the Rock/Creek Toyota 4 Runner for our trip to Arkansas. We rolled up in a pimped out ride on race morning and hoped we'd be able to back up all the bling we were flashing!

The goal was to simply finish. I hadn't run much over 20 miles at one time since the Pine Mountain 40 Mile Trail Race in December. I had been resting much more than normal due to my health issues and didn't want to put any expectations on myself. Simply to finish was the goal.

The race began in the dark at 6:00am Arkansas time. The first 3 miles were on the road and I hoped that the skies would shed some light on us before entering the single track ahead.... luckily we had just enough light to see the trail. My pace was easy as I was afraid to try for much else in fear of failure. At about mile 4... we started up Pinnacle Mountain. It was a climber's paradise and looked as if God took a bucket of small boulders and dumped them out into a very tall pile. I went very easily up this rock wall using my hands, legs and willpower to move forward. At one point during the ascent I stopped to take a picture to document the steepness of this ridiculous climb. Once on the top.. I paused for another moment and snapped a couple more pictures before moving forward to the descent. The descent was not as steep and the ascent, but one wrong move and you could break your face. I moved as quickly as I could, but was notably cautious with each and every step.

After coming off of Pinnacle Mountain the trail flattens out until you get closer to water. The hills and rollers were pretty steady from here on out. I managed to pick up the pace around mile 5 and held a solid pace up until mile 40-42. After the 50 mile and 50k split we encountered many many creeks which were flowing nicely from the heavy rains Arkansas received on Thursday night. Needless to say... our feet were wet for most of the race. When I got closer to the turn around I saw Sarah who was in the lead and I was told that I was 2nd overall female. I tried not to let it get in my head as the day had gone pretty well and I needed to listen to my body. At the turn around... I refueled with water and took off my long sleeved shirt down to my short sleeved shirt. The temperatures had risen enough to justify a wardrobe change.

From the turn around to about mile 40-42 I ran strong and steady until my body decided enough was enough. I gradually got slower and watched 2nd overall go bye bye as I was passed with 8 miles to go. From here it was a walk/run process, but I really couldn't complain. It was the best I had felt in months. I had given it everything and this made me happy to know that a 50 mile finish was in my near future. Once we were dumped back onto pavement... it was 3 miles to the finish. It felt like an eternity to the finish line. At the finish... I was greeted by Sarah and Mark.... It was good to be done and even better to be feeling closer to the "old me".

After the race I find out that Sarah did take 1st female and Mark took 1st masters male. Congrats my friends!... and thank-you for being there to share a very special moment with me.

I am looking forward to doing more races this year and completing my 5th Ironman in June and hopefully my second 100 mile trail race in November. Stay tuned for more adventures!

Shoes: La Sportiva Crosslites

Shirt: Patagonia Capilene

Socks: Injinji

Pack: Ultimate Direction Wink

Hat: Headsweat

Pinhoti 100

2010-11-10T05:53:00.001-08:00

I never knew something could tear me down.... yet build me up at the same time... until I did The Pinhoti 100 Mile Trail Race. http://www.pinhoti100.com/

Description of the course from the Pinhoti 100 website-

"Pinhoti 100 is a point-to-point trail run starting in Heflin, Alabama on the unmolested Pinhoti single-track trail. Runners will make their way over the highest point in Alabama while navigating over rocks, through creeks and across beautiful ridge lines of the Talladega National Forest. The course will consist of 80.62 miles of single-track trail, 16.98 miles of jeep road and 4.52 miles of pavement and will finish on the rubberized track in the Sylacauga High School Football Stadium."

Last year I made a pact with friend and fellow runner Sarah Woerner that we would attempt a 100 mile trail race. It was all set... we would enter the Pinhoti 100. We structured our races and training around this race in hopes that it would prepare us for what was to come on November 6th. Our training consisted of several LONG runs and some back to back running along with several 50k distance trail races, a 60k distance trail race, two 50 mile trail races and one 77 mile trail race. Little did we know that even with all this training.... WE HAD NO IDEA what we were in for.

The day before the race I rode down with Sarah, Carl (Sarah's dad) and Rock/Creek teammate Sal Coll (who also entered the race). Trey would drive down later after he had put in some time at the office and meet me for dinner. We drove to the finish line where the recreation center was to pick up our race packets and get any information that may be important to know on race day. After leaving t here... we headed north to the race start to check out the beginning of the trail.

Race Morning -

IT WAS COLD, but it warmed up quickly as we got moving. Amongst the crowd at the start line were GUTS runner and multiple 100 mile finisher Christian Griffith and crew and they were a lively bunch to start the morning with. Christian would hoop and holler for the first few miles of the race and this took my mind off how nervous I was inside. After settling into a nice comfortable pace I found myself behind a gal named Kim from Atlanta who provided good conversation up until around mile 18-20. At one point Christian yelled up at us and said " would you guys quit running the hills... you are making us guys look like wussies". I jokingly replied back and said "we wanna give you something chase today!". After about the 3rd aid station I decided to put my ipod on and jam out to some tunes. I ran by myself for quite a ways and felt very comfortable in my pace. Eventually I ran up on a guy named Chris who is a stay at home dad and nanny from North Carolina. We chatted for several miles until somewhere along the way we must have gotten separated at an aid station. At aid station #5 I saw Trey who handed an Ensure to me and two other friends down from Chattanooga (Cat Thornton and Celeste Sneed) waiting to run sweep for the next two segments. Seeing their smiling faces lifted my spirits and motivated me. It seemed like the miles went quickly and before I knew it I was at Bald Rock on Mount Cheaha. The next aid station after this would be mile 45 and Trey would be waiting there to pace me.

Mile 45-68 -

At mile 45 Trey joined in after giving me some Gatorade and nutrition. I was still moving pretty well even though I had just come down a nasty stretch of forest service road. Did I mention that I hate running on forest service roads? Luckily... after this aid station we were back onto single track and I found myself picking up the pace for a bit. I knew that daylight hours were numbered and when darkness fell things were gonna slow way down. Trey gave me an update and said that Sarah and Sal were moving nicely and ahead of me by a good bit. I was happy for them and hoped they would keep it going. As for me... I was on 24 hour pace at the time. When darkness fell... it got cold... BONE CHILLING COLD. At aid station #10 (mile 55-Porter's Gap) I picked up my one and only drop bag and proceeded to change into a fresh set of clothes for warmth and another pair of running shoes and new socks. The La Sportiva Crosslites http://www.sportiva.com/products/prod/531 had gotten me to mile 55 and were very comfortable, but changing shoes would switch things up and hopefully prevent blistering. Also at aid station #10 was a hooping and hollering Christian Griffith. He had dropped earlier in the race due to heart issues he told me, but wanted to stay and cheer on folks at all of the accessible aid stations along the way. From here we would travel for what seemed to be an eternity on forest service roads. Time seemed to stand still on those darn roads, but at last we cleared the next two aid stations and had made it to aid station #13 where Trey would drop off and my next pacer Michael Green (aka Lucky) would pick me up.

Mile 68-95 -

Did I mention it was COLD? Trey was glad to drop at mile 68... he said he was nearly frozen at that point and he had failed to pack more clothing on the previous segment not thinking temperatures would get so low. Lucky looked like he was ready to roll though... he was appropriately dressed for the blast of cold we would face throughout the night and early morning hours. I ended up breaking out my second jacket and put a second layer of gloves and socks on as well. Later we would learn that temperatures plummeted to 25 degrees! At mile 75 or so we hit a nasty climb... The Pinnacle. We didn't think we would ever reach that muther! The aid station at the top was manned by the GUTS folks out of Atlanta and I was ever so glad to see my precious friend Mark Elson waiting to serve me with an egg and cheese sandwich! Lucky and I sat in front of the warm fire for a bit as I scarfed my delicious sandwich down and then we were back onto the cold and dark trail. I felt good for the next 10-12 miles, but then things turned ugly. I knew my 24 hour pace was shot to hell, but the ultimate goal was to finish this damn thing... even if I had to crawl in.

And then the cramps started. Every time I would squat to use the bathroom my leg muscles would lock up from the cold air.... and I went to the bathroom ALOT! Lucky and I joked about the numerous bathroom breaks along the way. It wasn't just me having to go. Finally... we were able to sync up and make it a one stop deal for both us each time one of us had to go from there on out. Lucky made the joke at one point about how he was never running in the cold again. He said he was marching straight into the YMCA and getting a membership and would run all winter on a treadmill after this experience. All I could think about was how I wanted to curl up and go to sleep on the side of the trail, but knew I couldn't or hypothermia would be sure to set in. It wasn't long after feeling this way that I downed a 5 hour energy drink which would only work for 3 hours.

And then the hallucinations started. I started seeing things that weren't there. At one point I swore I saw a grey van parked in the middle of nowhere on the side of the trail. When I got to what I thought was the van... it wasn't there at all. Sleep deprivation can do some weird things to your mind! Lucky kept talking about how he couldn't wait to get to mile 95 so he could get into a warm car and thaw out. The only thing I was thinking was "5 more slow and cold miles for me". Finally we reached mile 95 where Trey would pick me back up and Lucky would drop off. I changed shoes as speedily as I could since I knew there were roads coming up soon and wanted to get the trail shoes off.

Mile 95-100.5 -

So you think 5.5 miles to go..... you got it from here... right? WRO-ONG. Those were the hardest miles of the entire race. About 3 miles out my dear friend Mark Mason was waiting at the end of a road for us and seeing him cheer me on brought a smile to my face. He gave me a hug and said "you are almost there... that belt buckle is waiting for you". By the time we were 2.5 miles from the finish line I was tapped out physically and mentally. The last mile of the race was so emotional for me. I staggered and cried and went through a whole range of emotions that I have never experienced before. It still makes me tear up and gives me chills to think about it. Trey was so encouraging and said to me "come on... let's go get our belt buckle"! I drug myself within sight of that track and somehow managed to burst into a trot and crossed that finish line with tears streaming down my face. Yeah... I was a train wreck. Once across the finish line my friend and fellow ultra runner from Florida Jeff Bryan presented me with my belt buckle and gave me a big warm hug. Christian Griffith was at the finish line as well and he greeted me with kind words and a hug too. The world of ultra running has been so great to be a part of. There is a great sense of community and everyone has such a positive outlook on life. I feel like it is a second family and am blessed to have these wonderful people in my life.

My final finish time: 28:12

121 started the race 73 finished

18 women started the race / 9 finished (I was one of the lucky ones)

I found out later that Sarah and Sal both finished with solid times and Sarah was able to clench the overall woman's title for the race. I was extremely proud of both of them.

Cumberland Trail 50k... Not My Day...

2010-10-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

Last year I did the Cumberland Trail 50K http://www.cumberlandtrailraces.com/CumberlandTrail50k/HOME.html and fell in love with the beautiful trails up there. I swore I'd do it again this year... so I registered for the race.

Trey and I went up the night before and stayed in Knoxville so we could visit with our friends Michelle and Alan. We would wake early the next morning to drive up to the race site some 30-40 minutes away. After the race we would head up to the Smokies for some hiking adventures and family time.

Race Morning-

The race starts in the dark and a headlamp is required for the first 40 minutes or so. I started up front with Sarah Woerner and Sally Brooking thinking I would hang onto them for a bit and hopefully on the climb that would come all too soon. We ran a good pace all the way to the base of the climb and then when we started going up.... I lost sight of them pretty quickly. I couldn't understand what was wrong with me... I had no energy, my heels were jacked up again and my overall attitude was poor. The climb is LONG and HARD and STEEP and the more elevation I gained... the slower I got. I decided at the 3rd aid station that was it for me and pulled myself out of the race. Obviously... not my day and my body was trying to tell me something.

Once arriving to the 3rd aid station I told volunteers I was quiting the race. Most of them thought I was kidding, but it didn't take them long to figure out that I wasn't kidding at all. Susan Donnelly (the race director and multiple 100 mile finisher) told me I could ride around with her and eventually we'd make our way back to the finish. This was fine with me since Trey and Xian were off to spot Elk and nowhere near the race site.

Susan and I drove from aid station to aid station along the course and it allowed me to see some of my friends running the race. It was actually fun spectating for once! I saw Sarah tearing up the course and she would eventually take the lead for a 1st place female finish. Other friends along the course were Mark Mason, Sal Coll and Wendy Oates. Eventually we made our way back to the finish where I called Trey to come get me. I was able to see the first 3 men come in before Trey got there. Once Trey arrived.... we got on the road and headed for our next adventure... The Great Smoky Mountains.

The next couple of days we spent doing some hiking... including a trip to Mount LeConte. It was so much fun to spend time with my precious family doing something we all love.

Stump Jump 50K

2010-10-02T18:00:00.000-07:00

Stump Jump 50K http://www.rockcreek.com/stumpjump/default.asp is a race right here in my own back yard... how could I pass it up? Not only is it one of the most technical and harder 50k's around... it also features some of the most breath taking views you'll ever see during an ultra distance race.

Trey and I started the race together and ran a strong pace out of the gate. We ran up on our friend Brian about 3-4 miles in and yo-yoed back and forth with him until Snooper's Rock. At Snooper's Rock I kept running the same pace, but Trey said he was going to back off. He just didn't "feel it" during the race. I kept waiting on Brian to appear again, but he did not. I rolled through the Haley Road aid station only to stop for a quick refill of water in my pack and then ran thru the Mullen's Cove aid station only to drop down to the Indian Rock House in less than a mile. I was hoping that I wouldn't need to refill again. Finally after making it back across Suck Creek Road and then to Mushroom Rock... my pack was bone dry and I was bonking hard. I stopped for a water refill and saw teammate Sal Coll volunteering. He knew I wasn't feeling well and decided to run it back in with me. That last 3 miles seemed like 10!!! Finally the finish line appeared after a short trek on some asphalt. It was so nice to be done!! Immediately upon finishing... I saw Trey. Crap... he dropped! It didn't seem to bother him though... so I was happy he wasn't upset about it. Sometimes we have days like this. It is inevitable that it happens to us all at some point. After sitting around for a bit... we saw Brian finish and he looked good. He too was surprised Trey had dropped, but knew he had not been feeling well.

I ended up nabbing 7th overall female out of a solid field of women competitors and beating my time from the previous year by 8 minutes.

After talking with fellow runners.... Dee Martin of Archer Physical Therapy http://www.archerpt.com/ took a look at the backs of my ankles and ended up taping my right one. This may sound crazy..., but I think it actually helped!

Stump Jump 50k is likely an event that I will continue to do year after year simply because it is on some of the best trails around!

Big South Fork 17.5 Mile Trail Race

2010-09-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

Big South Fork is a place I've always wanted to see... so I figured going up and doing a trail race in the park was probably one of the best ways to see it! Let's face it... 17.5 miles is a very manageable distance compared to what I usually run and it is so much fun to explore new trail too.

Prior to the race I had been having some issues with the back of my heels and had backed off running a bit. I thought the issue had mostly resolved itself, but I would find that was not the case about mile 5 of the race. In addition to that... I was having one of those days where it felt like I was running with two left feet. Somehow I managed to roll in with a decent time and a 6th overall female finish. Later I found out that I had indeed earned an award and luckily my friend John Meek (who ran his longest distance yet that day) was still there for the awards ceremony and picked the award up for me.

Hopefully next year I will make it back up for this race and feel like I am running a bit stronger by then too! The race course covers some amazing terrain and views. http://www.ktc.org/RaceBigSouthFork.html

Long Cane 50 Mile Trail Run

2010-09-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

A few of us headed down to South Carolina for a low key 50 mile trail run called Long Cane. Sarah and I rode down together while Wendy, Mark, Yoli and Warren went down a bit earlier on Friday the day before the race. Our friends Kris, Randy and Roxanne met us down there that night.

Myself, Sarah and Warren ran together for the first few miles of the run and while Warren and I decided to hold steady with the pace we were running and Sarah powered on ahead.The rest of our group was behind us except for Randy who had taken off at a fairly fast pace from the gate. The course was rolling and non-technical... a great place to set a PR no doubt. Warren and I kept steady and made it to the turn around where I changed shoes and grabbed some nutrition. We had seen Sarah right before the turn around and she was moving pretty well. We also saw Randy and he was slowed to a walk and not feeling so good from stomach issues. Later we found out he dropped at the turn around.

Sooo... then things get complicated for Warren and I. On the way back the course was not clearly marked and Warren and I took the wrong way back to the finish. We sorta knew it was wrong since there was no aid stations and we ran out of fluids. Not a good thing... for sure! We kept going hoping we would find our way out... AND we did. Unfortunately for us... it was just a shade under 50 miles, but even more unfortunate for the finishers of the run... they ended up getting over 50 miles as the director had under estimated mileage. Everyone there wearing a GPS was showing anywhere from 53-56 miles.

The aid stations were well stocked and volunteers did a great job, but I was very disappointed in the course markings and inaccurate mileage. Hopefully it is something the director of the run can get straightened out by next year. I would love to go back and give it another go.

Sarah ended up coming in as 1st female and I think 3rd overall... which was strong. Wendy, Yoli and Warren all ended up running their longest distances ever as well!

Fall Creek Falls Triathlon

2010-08-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

Fall Creek Falls Triathlon is a fun Olympic distance race with a great venue. It is right smack dab in the middle of Fall Creek Falls State Park. The swim is in the lake next to the Inn and other lodging and the bike portion is an out and back on rolling roads. I love the run leg as it meanders through the forest on a paved sidewalk... so there is ample shade on hot summer days unlike many other triathlons.

Many friends did the race this year with me. Just to name a few: Lance, Sarah, Nik, Leslie, Lisa, Chris, Cecilia and many more........ Our friend Spider won the race.

Chattanooga represented well and we brought home some hardwear to prove it!

Headlands 50 Mile Trail Race

2010-07-26T12:03:00.000-07:00

July 15th I traveled to California with my family (Trey, Xian and Gage) for an adventure in California. Our first stop would be San Francisco..... then the next morning we would head over to Mill Valley where we'd stay the next two nights as it was close to Rodeo Beach in the Golden Gate Recreation Area where my 50 mile trail race would be on Saturday.
(Me standing at the race start)

The night before the race we had checked into our room, gone over to check out the race start and then found some Italian food in Mill Valley to eat. The Morning of the race we all got up and headed over to the race start where I would pick my packet up and try to wrap my mind around what I was about to do.

Race Day:

It was cool and somewhat foggy when the race began and seemed to stay this way for most of the day. My arm warmers weren't rolled down much during the race... as you can imagine.

Miles 1-5 seemed to be pretty brutal right out of the gate. The first hill we climbed took me over 25 minutes! The first climb was then preceded by some single track and a lengthy descent near a horse track and stables.
(Just some of the scenery from the trail)

The next portion gave a break of climbing for a bit, but it wasn't long before we were faced with yet another LONG climb followed by a nice descent. Then came a segment that was a mother of a climb both going out and coming back (especially back). These climbs are nothing like what we have in Tennessee... they are way long and every single time are followed by down, down, down. Not too much technicality... just super long and wear on you after a while. Near the end of the first 25 miles I had convinced myself that I just simply couldn't finish the last 25 miles. During this time I met a gal named Karen Hanke who said "oh... no... you can't quit... you can do this". That is when I volunteered her to run with me the last 25 as she wasn't exactly feeling it today either. Misery does love company. Karen rounded up her friend Henry Hobbs at the turn around and from there we would all 3 finish this race up together.

The last 25 miles were a bit slower... just as myself, Karen and Henry thought they would be. We power walked and slow jogged the uphills and tried to run most of the downhills and flats.
(Karen and Henry trucking up the hill)

Both Karen and Henry went up those hills like it was nothing. I actually had to work to keep them close. Turns out my specialty in this particular race was the downhills and technical areas. Having the company of my new friends was just what I needed to make it through this grueling 50 miles. It is crazy how conversation can take your mind off of pain! Once we neared closer to the end I started to perk up. We all crossed the finish line together!
(The 3 amigos.. couldn't have done it without them!)

What an amazing day this turned out to be after all! To top off this great day... my friend Harry Williamson (former Chattanoogan now living in Santa Rosa) was waiting at the finish line with Trey and the boys! If you are looking for a challenging race on the Pacific Coast to do.... check this one out! http://www.pctrailruns.com/event.aspx?dtid=5654

I hope to keep in touch with Karen and Henry and hope that we will do another trail race together in the near future... what fun people they are!

(catching up with Harry after the 50 at dinner )

Laurel Highlands 77 Mile Trail Race

2010-06-14T18:58:00.000-07:00

Thursday June 8th I loaded up with 5 other warped individuals to do something that at one time I'd have sworn I would never attempt in my life. We were headed north for a long and grueling trail race. Luckily... Mark had rented us a pimped out minivan to make travel more comfortable.
(our pimped out minivan)
We rolled into Ohiopyle Pennsylvania that night and tucked ourselves into bed for a good night's rest. The next morning we checked out the small town and found the trail head in which the race would start.

(us standing in front of the Youghiogheny River)

Little did we know this was one of the easiest segments. That afternoon we headed to the packet pick-up and pre-race dinner.

(Sarah at the beginning of the trail)

Sooo... you know you are crazy when you ride all the way up to Pennsylvania for a 77 mile trail race. http://www.laurelultra.com/index70.htm AND... you know you are amongst even crazier people than yourself when you see folks at the pre-race dinner wearing Western States 100 belt buckles and Copper Canyon Race Shirts. These people meant business... What had I gotten myself into?!! What was I in store for the next day?

The next morning we awoke at 4:00am and checked ourselves over and over again to make sure we had everything we needed for the long day and night ahead. We placed our drop bags at the Mile 44 pile

and then waited around for the start of the race. And before long.... we were off!!!

I started with arm warmers and after about 20 minutes pushed them down. Warming up took far less time than I had imagined. Sarah and I ran together for quite a while until she had to take a series of bathroom breaks along the trail. Later she would pass me. Sal and Tyler were way ahead and moving along at top speeds (as usual). Mark was behind us. The miles went by slowly and I tried not to pay

(mile marker #1 of 77)

attention to the mile markers on the trail. Sometimes it's just better not to know where you are!

The day became very hot and humid as the sun shone through the trees. This made for miserable running conditions when paired with the rocky and technical terrain on the trail. I managed to do very well with my hydration and nutrition and only found myself to suffer more from just being plain tired more towards the end of the race.

At around mile 30 something I picked up Sal. He was in real bad shape. I told him to stick with me and we'd get his hydration and nutrition in check. He managed to run a ways, but eventually fell to pieces and would sit at the next aid station for quite some time after I left him. Carl was crewing for all of us and had refilled our water between the aid stations before mile 44. I honestly don't know what we would have done without his support out there. From here... I ran a ways with Mark, but he stopped for a restroom break and I powered on not seeing him again until the next aid station as I was taking off. He looked bad... said he couldn't make it. I told him to sit down and rest for a bit and then give it another go. Between this aid station and mile 64 there were 12 lonely miles ahead of me. It seemed like FOREVER. This segment was covered by a sea of ferns that were above waist high which made visibility of the trail more difficult. I ran in the dark by myself and that was just creepy!!! Before it had turned dark... I swore I saw a bear in a tree. This didn't help the creepy factor at all either! Boy was I ever glad to see that next aid station!

After heading out of the mile 64 aid station I ran up on two guys and decided that I would stick with them the rest of the way. The company was nice and I didn't wanna be alone in the dark by my lonesome anymore. When we hit the last aid station we picked up another guy who ran the rest of the way in with us. On this segment we would see a porcupine and a skunk. I was really thankful to have some company here!

(me standing with the 3 guys I finished with)

Finally we saw headlamps and knew we were close to the finish line.... then... I heard Carl yelling for me. I took off running as fast as my tired body would go until I crossed that line! Man... was I ever so glad to be done with that!!! 77 miles... who would have ever thought?! It was also very nice to see Sarah and Tyler at the finish line in good shape as well. Sal didn't fair out so well and was pulled from the race due to being dehydrated and is body was a total wreck. We found out later that 118 started the race and only 58 finished. If you do the math... that's a 50% finish rate. That's some serious stuff! I feel lucky to have finished such a grueling race against these odds! This race taught me much about my body, how it reacts to longer mileage and what it feels like to run through the night and into the early morning hours.

Congrats to Sarah, Tyler and Mark for finishing the longest trail race to date!!! It was fun in a sick and twisted way! I am lucky to have such good friends to share misery and happiness with on the trail!

(finisher's award)

McMinnville Triathlon

2010-05-29T18:05:00.000-07:00

Early on Saturday May 29th myself, Trey, and Xian headed over to the McMinnville Triathon in McMinnville TN. http://www.team-magic.com/events/mcminnville/index.html It is a sprint triathlon that is loads of fun before, during and after the race.

This year I would go to support a good friend and client... Nik Meeks. It would be his first triathlon. Not to mention... this distance race was good for me so I could remember what it is like to race short and faster distances in the world of triathlon. In addition to myself racing... Xian would participate in the Small Fry Tri.

The swim is a 200 meter pool swim. I'm okay with that as this pool in enormous and gives plenty of room for swimming in a TT start format. The bike is an 11 mile trek on rollers and is for the most part pretty fast. The run is a 2 mile fast course with only slight rollers.

I finished up 6th overall female and 2nd in my age group. Not bad for me since my short distance triathloning has been a thing of the past for a while now. These short ones are good for keeping me on my toes!

Nik finished up quite well also. I was so proud of him for doing his first tri ever!!! Next is the Waterfront Triathlon for him! Others from Chattanooga included Truman Smith and Charlie (in the picture above).

Scenic City Trail Marathon

2010-05-22T17:43:00.000-07:00

On Saturday May 22nd I drove up to Raccoon Mountain for a local race that is tons of fun... The Scenic City Trail Marathon. http://www.rockcreek.com/trailmarathon/default.asp This year's race would bring some stiff competition since the field had been greatly expanded in comparison to last year.

I knew going into this race that my fitness wasn't quite as good as last year, but it just wouldn't have been right to miss this event. Last year I was 2nd overall female and had a stellar race. This year the goal was to finish up not feeling completely wasted.

The first loop went pretty well and the pace was spot on. Then... comes the second loop... I accidentally lost all of my endurolytes. Apparently when they fall out of the bag and encounter sweat... they disintegrate!!! BUMMER. Shortly after this... I fell apart on the switch backs before the visitor's center. This is where Leslie and Sergio would pass me and go on to finish up with strong times.

I was never so glad to see that finish line! My time was off from last year's time by 14 minutes! OUCH!

All in all a good day with great friends. I just feel lucky to be healthy enough to run these distances and hang out with such awesome trail peeps! : )

Twisted Ankle 1/2 Marathon

2010-05-15T17:19:00.000-07:00

On Saturday May 15th I headed down to Summerville GA for the Twisted Ankle 1/2 Marathon. http://rungeorgiatrails.com/twisted.html Sarah Woerner rode down with me so she could watch the race since there were others from Chattanooga going down to race as well.

This really isn't my distance race, but It is a well organized event and I just really wanted to race this weekend! I could have opted for the full trail marathon had I not already committed to doing the Scenic City Trail Marathon the next weekend.

The race starts going around a small lake and then meanders into the woods shortly after. Within the first 2.5-3 miles you begin to climb a huge ridge. It feels like you are going to the sun due to the steepness. I really thought about dropping out during this climb, but once I got to the top I decided to give it a go. I must have felt better as I was able to pick it up a bit. I stayed consistent the rest of the race. Approaching the finish line I learned I was 3rd overall female. Not bad for someone who despises shorter race distances... LOL! Good friend Mark Mason was already in and waiting at the finish line.

Now we would wait on Yoli Bell and Wendy Oates. Unfortunately... Yoli took a wrong turn

and ended up running a 17 miler and was DQ'ed. We like to joke with her that she was the winner of the 17 mile race. All jokes aside.. she would have schooled the other females on the course had she stayed the right path. Wendy came in with a smile on her face and finished up very strong thru the chute!

I just love my trail running friends! : )

Gulf Coast 1/2 Ironman Triathlon

2010-05-10T16:28:00.000-07:00

On May 6th we headed down to Panama City for the Gulf Coast 1/2 Ironman Triathlon. http://www.gulfcoasttriathlon.com/ It's definitely one of my favorite races every year even though I am rarely 100% ready for it. I always say I'm gonna be trained and ready, but I am usually lacking in swim and bike fitness no matter what.

We arrived to the beach that Thursday so we had time to play and enjoy ourselves before the race on Saturday. Shell Island is most always on the "to do" list. The rest of the time we hung out on the beach and pool. It was very nice indeed.

Race day came and and I took off with my swim wave for a very rough swim. It was like being in a washing machine and there were breakers as far as the eye could see. Later I found out that many folks were drug off course and some even threw up once they reached shore.
The bike went very well for me... which was nice. I didn't have much bike time on the legs so I was more than happy with my split here. Many complained about winds, but it really didn't seem to bother me all that much.

The run was overcast for the first half. This made things a bit more tolerable compared to the sun beating down and ungodly heat. Somehow I turned in a decent run split, but I could have gone a bit harder and left too much in the tank afterwards. Later I would learn that I was 10th in my age group. Had I known I was going to be on the podium... I would have tried to earn a better spot... LOL!!!

Many others from Chattanooga were there and all of them placed nicely in the race. Kevin Boucher took 7th overall and 2nd in his age group. John O'Brien and John Wiygul both took home 1st in age group and Lance Steele walked away with a nice age group award as well.

Good times with great friends for sure. It's just a shame that the oil spill may ruin any future trips to the Gulf Coast. Those are some of the most beautiful beached in the United States.

3 State 3 Mountain

2010-05-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

The first weekend in May is always 3 State 3 Mountain here in Chattanooga. It is a bicyle ride with 3 options for distance. There is a 25, 62 or 100 mile to choose from. This year I would opt for the 62 mile since my legs had hardly any bike fitness to date.

I arrived to the start of the event and met up with several teammates and friends. I was proud to be riding with my fellow VeloVixens and flying the colors that day. Most of us stayed together until the 62 mile split. I happily went my own way, but sent the other girls on their way with encouraging words! There was no doubt they would easily make the 100 in style.
Here is the event's website should you ever decide to do this event. It is very well supported and the course is beautiful as well. http://sites.google.com/a/archerpt.com/3-state-3-mountain/

My good friend Jim Johnson was the title sponsor this year as well and puts on some great bicycle tours in Europe. http://www.biketoursdirect.com/?gclid=CL7dgbbEoqICFQO_sgodKX_UzA

Sweet H20 50K

2010-04-04T06:23:00.000-07:00

WOW! That was one hard course, extra long and the weather was way warmer than what we are used to running so far this year!!!

I drove down Friday with Carl and Sarah and then we met up with Mark, Wendy and her mother for dinner at Carrabba's for a pre-race meal. We all left there completely stuffed and went back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

Race morning we all got up and prepared ourselves a small breakfast in our room. Then we jetted over to the race start. It was cool out (at least for me and Sarah... Carl didn't think it was cool at all), but I figured running in shorts and a sleeveless top would serve me well since the temperatures would climb steadily during the day. I put my Rock/Creek race hat on and I was ready to roll.

We all stood around holding our ears waiting on the race director to fire a cannon for one LOUD start. At last... the cannon fired and we were off!! We ran along an asphalt road for what seemed to be nearly 2 miles and were then dumped onto nice single track trail. My legs were thankful to see the trail.... I run trails so I don't have to pound the pavement... LOL! We then ran along the creek for quite a ways and meandered in and out of the forest until we encountered the dreadful powerline trails. Sarah and I were together for most all of the first lap of this until nature started calling for her. In between the first and second lap there were two creek crossings and a little 2 mile loop. The creek crossings were rope assisted as the creek was flowing very swiftly. As I was coming off the 2 mile loop a gal named Jenna had caught me. We crossed the creek together and then proceeded to run together for the rest of the race for the most part. I really did enjoy her company and chatting with her took my mind off of the pain my body was going through. I think we helped each other during this race in some crazy way.

Jenna and I both shared our dislike for the powerline trails and agreed that our legs were pretty much trashed. At one point I had drained my Ultimate Direction race pack for the second time and Jenna was nice enough to let me have some of her water (thanks again for that Jenna). When we arrived at the top of the last bad climb we both were desperate for water and I milled around a bit longer here for some ice to put inside my hydration pack. On my way to the next aid station... I saw Rock/Creek teammate Sal walking and I knew something must be the matter. He said he wasn't feeling well and was thinking about dropping. I told him that he had gotten this far and he miswell finish it up. Jenna had gotten ahead by a bit, but I caught up to her just after the next aid station. I didn't want to see her go since she had kept my mind off all the pain I was going through out there. Once I reeled her back in... I told her I was thankful to have caught her since I needed her company and enjoyed the chatting. Not long after this we saw my friend Sarah on the out and back segment. I was glad to see that she had made up a lot of time despite her numerous and unwanted bathroom breaks on the trail.

We ran 90% of the rest of the race together until the very end... Jenna had taken a nasty spill over some roots and went flying into the air with a "thud" onto the ground. I stopped and picked up her water bottle and said "come on... you've come this far and we are gonna finish this thing strong". She insisted that I run ahead and that she'd shake it off and be right up there. I reluctantly went on and hoped she be right behind me. The finish line seemed like it would never come. I kept thinking... this seems WAY longer than 50K. Where is the freaking finish line?!!! And finally... up a hill and around the corner was the long awaited finish line and Jenna was just behind me! I was so glad to see her and so glad to be done that I hugged her neck when she came in! We were both glad THAT race was over and not at all surprised to find out that the race was something like 3 miles long!!!

Shortly after finishing the race... I heard my name announced over the speaker. I could not understand what they said, but a man came up to me and handed me a mug that said 3rd Place Woman! WOW.... what a nice surprise! I felt like I needed to share this mug with Jenna since we had commiserated together and pulled each other through most of the race.

After settling down and taking off the shoes to let the feet air out.... I waited around for my other friends to finish. First came in Sarah, next Mark, Sal, Carl and then a very chipper Wendy. Wendy's mother had decided she'd run as much of the course as she could while we were all out there and ended up running 11 miles! WOW... no wonder Wendy is so strong and determined! She comes from a very strong woman!

Congrats to all my friends who did this race! It was tough!
(Christian is resting after the race)
(Mark takes a "shower" in the parking lot after the race)

River Gorge Trail Race 10.2 Miler

2010-03-29T08:15:00.000-07:00

Okay... before I get started... I must say this is NOT my distance race, but I absolutely LOVE this course and simply couldn't stay away! http://www.rockcreek.com/rivergorge/

Trey and I drove up the mountain that morning and it was just plain COLD outside. The thermometer on my car was reading 33 degrees. Really?! I thought it was officially spring?! This always makes wardrobe decisions for running tough too. You know that you will warm-up at some point, but how long will it take?.. and will you get cold again out there? This is why I opted for my Rock/Creek Race Team Patagonia shirt and some arm warmers along with my trusty running Capri's. Sure enough... this was the right choice.

The race starts on gravel forest service roads to give ample time for folks to settle into a pace and find their way in the group before being dumped onto the beautiful single track trail. Trey and I thought we had seeded ourselves nicely and we proceeded to run our pace. We really didn't pass but one or two folks before the Indian Rock House and held our pace the same until Snooper's Rock. Just before Snooper's Rock... I was passed by fellow teammate Natalie Sims. She effortlessly passed and was running smooth. GO NATALIE! After this we may have slowed a bit, but still running along nicely. Moments later we were surprisingly joined by a good friend and client Dan Martin. Wow... had I really trained him well enough to run this fast?! What a nice surprise! : ) He held onto to us the rest of the way!

Once we hit the rock garden I knew I'd have to dance across those stupid rocks to keep up with Trey (that's his strong point). I had paced us to here, but knew he'd serve us better to get in front on these drenched things! It was work to stay up with him, but I did... and Dan was trailing closely. When we hit the top of the climb I knew we were close and kept telling myself to maintain the same speed. Trey was able to surpass that speed and finished up a minute ahead. I came across the finish line with a 3 minute improvement over last year and not far behind me was Dan! What a great day! I felt victorious for two reasons right then and there.

After the race I learned that another good friend and client Nik Meeks had also beaten his time on the course by 14 minutes! WOW! That made me feel great to know that all we have been doing during training sessions is paying off! Congrats to Nik and Dan!

The race field was stacked this year.. not only were there more people, but there were some REALLY good folks racing too. My finish time a few years ago would have put me on the podium... not the case now.... it ranked me as the 10th overall female. Still... a fun race that pushed me to run hard!

Land Between the Lakes 60K

2010-03-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

One week after doing Mount Cheaha 50K... I decided that I had better keep the momentum up and decided to sign up for another long trail race. This time I thought I'd give a 50 miler a shot at the Land Between the Lakes Trail Race in Grand Rivers, Kentucky. http://66.49.143.155/phpnuke/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=2 There were several bail-out options along the way if I felt sick or had a relapse of the sinus stuff that had been haunting me now for sometime. Distances available on this course include 23K, Marathon, 60K and 50 mile.

Luckily... I was able to sucker Trey and Lance into going up and suffering with me for this one. Also... http://www.rockcreek.com/race-team/ Rock/Creek Race Team member Sal Coll came up joined in on the suffer fest too. Little did I know that I would have a relapse with the sinus crud and several bathroom breaks along the way!

We started the race just as it was getting light out. It was cold and the air was damp. The first mile or two of the race is on asphalt (not my favorite way to start a trail race), but then you are dumped onto nice single track trail used mostly for mountain biking. The trails reminded me of the trails we have here at over at Booker T... same set-up really... lakes, rollers, chirt... very reminiscent indeed. The course consisted of loops of 11.3miles each. The 60K being 3 loops and the 50 miler being 4 loops. Lance and Sal were off and running hard from the beginning. Trey and I took about a mile to warm-up and then started moving faster. The first loop I felt really good and we ran super fast. The first half of the second loop was fast too... until I had a little relapse with the sinus crud and then two bathroom breaks. Trey was so frustrated with me.. AND I was frustrated with me too! Some things just weren't "synced" up that day! The third loop was the deal breaker... With two more bathroom breaks.. I knew that a fourth lap and a 50 mile finish were not to be on this day for me. Trey and I agreed that I would roll in with a 60K finish instead. Still... nothing to sneeze at, right? : )

We rolled in with a 60k finish time of 7:01 and I ended up being 6th overall female. Not bad for a sick chick... I guess... LOL. A few minutes later we found Lance and learned that he had snatched a 3rd overall finish for the 60k! WOW... how awesome is that?! Another few minutes later we bumped into Sal and found out that he too... had dropped to the 60K due to feeling not so well.

I feel like the year has had a REAL slow start for me in comparision to last year. I've been plagued with one thing or the other, but I refuse to let these things keep me down and will continue to work hard and overcome them!

Mount Cheaha 50K Trail Race

2010-02-28T15:28:00.000-08:00

Febuary 27th I lined up for my first long trail race of the year..... Mount Cheaha 50K. http://www.pinhoti100.com/mountcheaha50k/index.html I was hoping to have a 50K under my belt leading up to this race, but I did not get to run Mountain Mist due to stomach issues in January. For those of you who don't know much about this trail (mostly on the Pinhoti)... All I can say is it's one hard mother!!! The terrain is some of the most technical I've ever seen. The course is rocky.... has several steep ups and downs including one MAJOR climb in the last 3 miles of the race!!

The day before the race... I drove down with Carl and Cat and we met up with our other Chattanooga friends at the park. We were lucky enough to have been invited to stay in a Chalet inside the park with Charlene and Nik. Staying there versus driving off the mountain into town sure did simplify things and made race day easier too!

I went into this race expecting not to do so well and was hoping it would give me the kick in the arse I much needed to get things rolling again. Well.... it did just that!... Unfortunately I had been coming down with some sort of sinus thing the night before (little to my knowledge that it would last nearly 3 weeks later)! Carl and I ran the entire race together and we both agreed that the course was much more climbing and much more rocky than we had remembered from the year before. No worries... somehow we toughed it out and managed to shuffle ourselves across the finish line! My finish time was very close to the year before... even though my fitness and health were in much worse shape compared to then.

If you like tough and epic... sign-up for this race next year. You'll get your monies worth!

Rock/Creek Race Team

2010-01-09T14:37:00.000-08:00

Rock/Creek has selected members for the 2010 Race Team... and I made the cut!!!

I am looking forward to a great year of trail racing in 2010!

What was I thinking???

2009-12-24T14:14:00.000-08:00

You'd think enough is enough for me in 2009, but oh no... I just had to push it ONE MORE TIME... so I decided to give the http://www.rockcreek.com/lookout/ Lookout Mtn 100K a go after arriving home from Ironman just two weeks before. I mean.. IT IS a great local race with an outstanding venue. Can you spell DISASTER waiting to happen?!!

It was COLD, wet and foggy that morning..... and I... against my better judgement... lined up for the race. The race had already been scaled back to a 50miler due to weather conditions and some issues with the Land Trust. Maybe I should have taken that as a sign, but OH NO! The first few miles went okay and I even lead the women's race for a bit. I thought I felt a little tired, but hoped that it would pass. Things were going pretty well and I was second place female until around mile 18-19. And ugh... MY BODY REBELED!!! From there to mile 23 was a complete struggle. It was all I could do to walk at times. What was I thinking trying to do this 100K right after Ironman and all the other stuff I did in 2009!? It finally all caught up with me. I knew it was gonna happen sooner or later... AND IT DID!

I quit at mile 23 with a smile on my face. Yep... I was actually okay with quitting. Let's face it... 2009 was a pretty amazing year for me. I am a happy camper and glad to announce that I'll be taking the next couple of weeks off!!!

Gonna chalk this one up as my "stupid moment" for 2009! : )

Ironman Cozumel

2009-12-06T12:53:00.000-08:00

And so the big day arrived on November 29th. Ironman Cozumel. http://www.ironmancozumel.com/ The last BIG event I would do for 2009.... and my chance to become an Ironman for the 4th time.

This would be my second Ironman event this year with Ironman Louisville being just 3 months earlier. I had no idea how I'd do, how I'd feel or if I'd even be able to finish! The only thing that has been consistent is my running during training for this event. Biking and swimming kept getting put on the back burner since I've been having such a blast running on the trail. I did start swimming regularly about a month before this event, but biking miles were almost non-existent in comparison to training for my first two Ironman events. I went into this event hoping that my running fitness would pull me through as it had for Ironman Louisville.

Before the race:
Trey and I flew into Cozumel on Friday before the race. The race was on Sunday... so this would give us time to check in and do packet pick-up. We went straight from getting off the plane to our car rental place and over to the race headquarters. After we were done there... we went to the resort to relax.

Raceday.... The swim:
The swim was an in the water mass start. Water temperature that day was 81 degrees... which means no wetsuit. I usually panic during the swim (especially a mass start), but I went into this one feeling much more confident since I had been taking Master's Swimming at Baylor back home. The water was so clear that it looked like the ocean floor was just one or two feet away... it wasn't though... it was VERY deep. I remained calm and just kept swimming wondering when the panic attack was going to happen. IT NEVER DID. I was so focused on the beautiful starfish, sea rays and other beautiful fish that I never thought once about all the horrible things that could happened out there. Before I knew it... I was at the turnaround and then at the finish. I came out of the water in 1:10... A HUGE Personal Record for me!

The bike:
Now I test out the bike legs... LOL! Fortunately... I was riding on some borrowed Zipp wheels from East Ridge Bicycles http://eastridgebicycles.net/index.cfm ....and they had also fully serviced my ride (thanks to John Karr). The first loop of the bike wasn't too eventful. There was headwind and crosswind most of the way, but nothing like the second and third laps of the bike! The third lap was horribly bad winds. They made IM Arizona in 2008 look like a vacation. Part of the reason for this is the fact that the course goes along the coast for quite a ways and a little storm was blowing in on the third lap. Boy... was I EVER happy to get off that stinking bike! Even with all the wind... I had a nice Personal Record on this leg of the race... How did that happen?!

The run:
Ahhh.. the run.... Something I can usually feel good about. NOT TODAY!!! My legs were spent from fighting all the wind on the bike! The course was three loops (all flat). I did the best I could, but I didn't bust out the run split I was hoping for. Fortunately I was able to hold the same run time as my IM Louisville race. The third lap was awful... Between the blood sucking mosquito's and lack of humph in my legs.... I really had to dig deep to get myself to the finish line without walking too much. Finally.... I made it... and I beat my best Ironman time by 40mins!!!

This race has a great venue and I would recommend it if you are considering doing an Ironman outside of the United States. The Island is beautiful and the Mexican people were all very nice. There is much to do on the island or on the main land. We spent the rest of our vacation exploring and having fun!

Upchuck 50K Trail Race

2009-11-15T11:56:00.000-08:00

November 14th I lined up to run the second Upchuck 50K. http://www.rockcreek.com/upchuck/ This race is my absolute favorite trail race in the area. It is a point to point run that goes over some of the hardest terrain the Cumberland Trail has to offer. The best part is.... I didn't have to travel anywhere to do the race!!! It's only a 20-25min drive from my house!

The race:

I started the race very very conservatively and planned to keep it that way all day since Ironman Cozumel was only 2 weeks away. Everyone said I was crazy to even attempt this before an Ironman, but I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to run on these trails.... They are my favorite after all!

The first part (The Rock Creek Segment) http://www.rockcreek.com/upchuck/ is the fastest and easiest part of the 50K. While this section is beautiful... it is very uneventful until the very end where there is quite a climb to the first aid station.

The second part (The Possum Creek Segment) http://www.cumberlandtrail.org/possum.html is probably the SLOWEST section of the 50K. This segment provides many grueling ups and downs including a VERY LONG climb out of a gorge that leaves you crying for mama! It is also filled with many creeks, pine forest, rhododendron gardens and rock gardens along the way. This one is tough from beginning to end. Seeing the aid station was quite a relief.... and this is where Lance would meet me to pace me in on the last segment as well.

The third part (The Soddy Creek Segment) http://www.cumberlandtrail.org/soddy.html is pretty fast for the first quarter of the way... then the fun begins. It is very similar to the second segment in technicality and also very diverse. The one thing about this section is that there are no bridges across two very wide (and sometimes deep) creeks.... no matter what... you will get wet!!! The leaves on parts of this trail made for interesting running as well.... they were so thick and deep in areas it was like guessing where to step and what might.. or might not... be a good footing! I held true to my word and kept the pace conservative... so once Lance and I made it to the road... I was ready to open it up a bit more going down the mountain to the finish line.

When we rolled into the finish I found out that I had placed 2nd overall female and was just delighted to hear such news!!! And.. just a few minutes later... my good friend Anna came in right behind me to take 3rd overall female! What a great day!

If you like tough 50K trail races.... this one will send you home happy!!!

Cumberland Trail 50K

2009-10-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

Soooo... call me crazy....

I decided that I'd run the Cumberland Trail 50K race the weekend after Stump Jump 50K. Wasn't sure how it would turn out, but eh... what the heck. You never know until you give it a go. And.. I was able to talk a fellow trail runner Anna Morgan to enter the race and feel some pain with me.

The travel to Knoxville was wet and rainy the evening before. Not a good sign for race day. Did I mention there was a chill in the air too? We stayed with my best friend Michelle in downtown Knoxville and the race venue was only 20-25mins away. Race morning we woke up and grabbed a quick breakfast and were on the road to make our 6:00am start.

The Race:

The start was cold, rainy and DARK. Yes... we ran with headlamps for about the first hour to hour and a half. I couldn't see too much during that first part of the race, but there was a mean uphill for quite some ways. Maybe it was best that this part was in the dark... LOL! Later I found out that this was a 3,000 foot climb all in one whop!!! It was muddy, slippery and wet. My legs were screaming! Once the darkness went away I started to look at all the beauty around me such as brightly colored fall leaves and lush moss on rocks. This took my mind off of the pain I was feeling from the brutal climb and I remembered why I was out there.

Almost to the half way point... I hit another low and wondered again... "why am I doing this again?". But shortly after this... I had an encounter with an Elk and all was right in my world. This would be enough to fuel me for a good finish. I happily ran back soaking in all the scenery and even enjoying the slipping and sliding in the mud. The creek crossings were cold, but they sure did aid in washing off the mud from my shoes... so I didn't even mind that so much. Much of the way back was all by myself and I was even okay with that. It was just me and the trail.

I did see Anna when I was barreling down one of the hills on my return and gave here a high 5 and told her she was 2nd overall and doing great. She looked much like me on the way up to the turn around, but I knew she'd perk up after seeing the Elk if it were still there.

Finally... I finished the race coming in 1st overall female. An unexpected bonus considering I had run a 50K the weekend before. Once I stopped moving I became cold quickly too!... I hurriedly changed into warm clothes!

It is a VERY challenging course, but is also very beautiful. It's harder than Stump Jump 50K and Mountain Mist 50K as the times reflect, but if you are into pushing your limits... I highly recommend you put this one on your race schedule for 2010. Susan Donnelly did a great job organizing this event.

Stump Jump 50K

2009-10-04T07:55:00.000-07:00

On October 3rd I lined up to run one of my favorite trail races in the southeast... The Stump Jump 50K http://www.rockcreek.com/stumpjump/

The best thing about this race is that it's right here in our own backyard. We are able to train on the trails weekly.... so there are no surprises going into the race with the terrain. An added bonus this year was that Dean Karnazes made an appearance and wowed us with a little speech/book signing the night before and then he ran the race!!! If you don't know who Dean Karnazes is.... check this link out. http://www.ultramarathonman.com/flash/ He is a super stud in the ultramarathon world.

The race:

Trey and I decided we'd run the most of this race together. Since I was just coming off Ironman Louisville... no record times would be set today! We started pretty conservatively and built up to a nice pace (for 50K). We both have our strengths on the trail. Trey's is the downhills and technical areas. Mine are the rollers and hills... though... I AM becoming much faster on the descents!!!

After the Rock Garden... Dean Karnazes caught up with us. We all stopped at the next aid station for hydration and fuel. I couldn't believe that I was running with THE Dean Karnazes. WOW. Before we left out of the aid station... I noticed that Dean was using the same gel as I do... E GEL by Crank Sports. http://www.cranksports.com/products/eGel/ This made me feel like I had a solid choice for nutrition to see someone who is such as endurance athlete using the same product. We ran with Dean for a bit and I was on such a high that I must have picked the pace up because when I looked back at Trey he told me "go on... I'm not running that speed". SO I DID. The next 45mins were run alone with Dean. We talked about normal type stuff like our children, places to visit, races to do, nutrition and so forth. This guy is sooo down to earth and it made for the best Stump Jump I've had to date! Eventually Dean split from me and went on, but DANG... that was cool!

I ended up coming across the finish line 8mins faster than my 2008 time!!! Trey came in not far behind me. We both had a good day on the trails despite my recent Ironman and Trey's lack of training for this event.

Adventures in Austria....

2009-09-21T05:48:00.000-07:00

Three days after Ironman I loaded myself up on a plane and flew into the Munich Airport in Germany. Once there... my good friend Jim was waiting for me at the airport. We then took a train to the city of Salzburg in Austria and the adventure week had begun! The next day we were joined by three others (Karen, Rebecca & Cathi) in Leogang.

My first day in Leogang consisted of a trail run followed by a nice dinner with the others. I was in awe over the beautiful scenery.

The second day in Leogang all the girls went on a guided mountain bike adventure with Martin from Bikepark Leogang. I wasn't sure how the post Ironman legs would hold up during this ride, but somehow... I made it.

The third day the group met in Zell am See for some hiking and trail running. Jim had rented a guide for the day to help navigate the trail. We mostly hiked to the first peak... the Maurerkogel. Myself and Cathi ended up spliting from the group and did a little running to another peak... the Oberer Gernkogel. The views were stunning from those peaks!

The Fourth day the whole group went for a touring bike ride. This ride turned out to be quite an adventure as we weaved in and out of

little towns along the way. Every now and then we would even stop to pet animals. At one point we even stopped and toured some caves. What a great way to see Austria!

The fifth day the whole group went to see the Zum Krimmler Wasserfall (the Waterfall in Krimml). We along with our bikes were shuttled to Krimml. After viewing the waterfalls Karen and I made our way back to the city of Zell am See on our bikes where we would meet the rest of our group for dinner. Another day of weaving in and out of little towns and sight seeing! Awesome!

The sixth day I opted to do another guided mountain bike ride along with Cathi. The rest of the group stayed to play at the bikepark. Our ride took us to another peak called the Hundstein. A climb that took us to nearly 7,000ft elevation. The locals say it is the highest peak in which you can reach via mountian bike. WOW... my post Ironman legs felt this for sure! There were times I wondered if I'd even make it to the top! Unfortunately for me... I had no real nutrition for the day.... so that along with being tired from my event were not a good thing. Lesson learned... Always take your own nutrition from home. Chances of finding the proper nutrition that work for you in a foriegn country are slim to none!

After putting in a grueling ride the day before... Jim and I headed for the Eisreisenwelt (Ice Caves) in Werfen. AMAZING... that one word about sums it up. Beautiful ice formations inside a massive cave. It ws downright COLD in there too! Getting to the cave was not easy either. We had to purchase tickets.. then walk to the lift... then once off the lift we had to walk to the entrance of the cave. I was hoping to have pictures from the inside of the cave, but photos were not allowed inside.

The next day we loaded all our stuff up and headed back to Salzburg for a day in the city and then dinner with Jim's dear Austrian friends Christian and Claudia. Karen and I did mucho shopping and Jim took the other girls for some sightseeing. The place we stayed in that night was a very swank 450 year old hotel gone modern... The Art Hotel.

Sunday morning I was up at 4:00am to catch my shuttle to the Munich Airport. Goodbye Austria... till next time!

Ironman Louisville

2009-09-19T18:32:00.000-07:00

Sooo... I've been pretty quiet on here lately. Guess it's time for an update as I previously stated I'd do. The latest news is that I did indeed become an Ironman for the 3rd time on August 31st! A recap of the race is below... If you care to read.

Before the race:

Before the race Trey, Xian and I drove up to Louisville on Friday. We jetted over to the expo once we arrived and picked up my race packet and did a little shopping. The next morning we returned to the race site on the river and did the bike drop-off, transition bag drop-off and took care of some odds and ends. We also decided to rent a neat little bicycle for 3 or 4 persons to tool around on. Wow.. what a great way to see the city and riverfront area.

Raceday... the swim:

The swim always makes me nervous. It's not my favorite leg... and for those who know me well... know that I don't really log in the time I should for this discipline.

The swim start actually took place about 1 mile up the river from the race site. It was a long walk and there was a bit of chill in the air. I had on a jacket and my new compression socks for added warmth before I needed to hand them off to Trey. Since this race is set-up as a Time Trial Start.. the wait was rather long... so it took a while before I was in the water. Once in the water I felt pretty calm and my stroke felt good too, but the swim felt so long and I kept wondering if I would ever finish! The water was dirty and smelled of gasoline and diesel fuel... ugh... so polluted. First and last time I'll intentionally swim in the Ohio River. Boy was I glad to be out of that water!

The bike:

The bike went down about like I figured it would. I felt good for the most part and had a low spot around mile 75-80. Tried to stay positive and kept telling myself it would pass. Shortly after this... I stopped for a bathroom break and when I got back onto the bike... I felt like a new person. The rest of the miles were mostly pleasant and uneventful. I will say that the bike course was beautiful. It was much Hillier than I thought it would be, but the pastures and horse farms were stunning along the way. Around mile 100 my right hip started to bother me... soo... when I got off the bike at mile 112... I was more than ready for the run.

The run:

Running was actually something I looked forward to as I was ready for a new position after the long bike. Miles 1-4 were pretty fast and I felt so good. Trey saw me around mile 4 and ask me "What are you doing?! You are running 8min pace.. that is crazy!" After he said this to me.. I figured I might wanna back-off a bit before I run out of energy. I did back-off a bit and stayed strong for the most part, but there were ups and downs along the way. When I got tired... I would do a really fast power walk until running seemed okay again. When I hit mile 24.. I knew I was going to set a personal record and I began to speed up. From mile 25 to 26 I ran in at 7min pace to finish up the race. WOW! I had beat my best IM time by nearly 30mins!

After the race:

Man.. I was tired, but felt decent. I was in alot better shape than most people around me... so I was thankful. Trey and Xian were waiting on me at the finish line and had cheered me on throughout the day. I am so lucky to have such a supportive family!

The next morning we meandered over to the expo to pick-up some finisher's items. After that we headed south and stopped at the Lost River Cave for some touristy type stuff... then we were on our way back home.

Updates......

2009-08-06T07:54:00.001-07:00

Coming soon... I promise.... Training has been BUSY!

Sweet H20 50K.....

2009-05-31T08:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday Trey and I lined up for the Sweet H20 50K Trail Race just below Atlanta, Ga. http://www.sweeth20races.com/ The day brought some grueling heat along with a very challenging course. I've written a race report below.

(Photo of Trey at the start line) We started the race on a paved road that seemingly went for over a mile. Running on pavement is never something I choose to do in trail shoes, but I know it was set-up this way to thin things out and let each individual settle into their own pace before dropping onto the single track trail. The front end of the course wasn't too bad. At least... I don't remember it being too bad. I was cruising along at a very comfortable pace until we hit a series of powerline trails that looked much like roller coasters! Up, down, up, down, up, down!! There must have been at least 6-8 of these! This part of the course broke down many runners. I ran as much of this as I could and kept things positive. Shortly after this Trey and I decided to go our separate ways. I just kept plugging along and found myself running with some guys that I had met at other trail events in the southeast. I remember telling a guy named Jeff that I was just going to run the best I could and see what happened.... and also explained to him that I had run a trail marathon the week before. He also... had done a race the weekend before. I swear.... we trail runners are just plain sick! Not long after this I got a little burst of energy and was able to increase pace a bit.

(Photo of the creek)
I was on my own for a while and found myself delirious the second time around on the powerline trails! "Just keep going... Just keep going".... I would say to myself and I ended up running more of the powerline that I thought possible! The aid station at the top of these powerlines was a sight for sore eyes! I refilled my hydration pack, drank some gatorade and took some ice and kept trucking. This must have given me a new burst of energy as I was able to run a decent pace again. In fact... I passed a group of 4-5 guys on one of the descents! Time seemed to go by fairly quickly after this... UNTIL mile 20. Mile 20 was the creek crossing. Only 1 person at a time was allowed to cross. My wait to get across the creek was 8-10mins. Once across... I found my running legs again and was able to overtake another couple of runners.

(Photo of a snake skin around mile 29... possibly a rattlesnake skin. There were signs warning of them along the course)
At Mile 29 I found myself sick to my stomach and even thought I was gong to puke! Somehow... I was able to pull it together and talk myself out of throwing up and kept going. It was like a battle to tell my body to keep going. Every time I wanted to stop and walk I would tell myself "NO... you are going to break 6 hours you wuss!".

Sure enough the finish line was close and I knew I could break 6 hours. I rolled in at 5:57. A very respectable time on a tough course with temperatures in the low 90's! I was 9th overall female in a group of women who were tough as nails!... And a new PR for me on 50K distance. Trey rolled in around 6:43 and this was also a good time considering he had only run 20miles for the month leading up to this race.

(Photo of Sal and I after the race)

I would rate this course as tougher than Mtn Mist 50K... If anyone needs a comparison. Not sure that it is harder than Cheaha 50k, but it ranks up there with some of the harder races in the southeast.

Scenic City Trail Marathon

2009-05-23T18:01:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I lined up for the Scenic City Trail Marathon. This would be my 3rd race for the month. I had no real expectations for myself... just wanted to use this race as a solid training run.

Sergio and I agreed to run as much of the race together as possible. We started about 3/4 of the way back in the field and quickly realized we were going to have to work our way up. The first lap went pretty well and we were able to pass alot of folks. We also ran about half of the first lap with Randy Whorton and Doug Dooley. Hanging with them really pumped me up! The second lap got a little more interesting.... Sergio took a few tumbles on the trail and eventually had to fall back. I kept trucking and was very surprised when I overtook Natalie Sims on the trail. She is way strong and must have been having a bad day out there is all I could figure. After passing Natalie I ran with a couple of guys who ended up passing me by.... at this point I was running solo until I ran up on Brenda Simril. Brenda turned and saw me and quickly speed up! This went on for a good 20mins or so until I couldn't keep her in sight anymore.

At the last aid station Kris Whorton told me that I was 2nd overall female and all I could think is "legs... please don't stop now!" Brenda ended up with first overall female and I rolled in with a time of 3:58 and a placement of second overall female. WOW.... I even beat my best road marathon time.. ON THE TRAIL!!!!

Now... let's see how the Sweet H20 50K goes next weekend!

Twisted Ankle 1/2 Trail Marathon....

2009-05-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

Trey and I ran the Twisted Ankle 1/2 Trail Marathon on Saturday. The race is in Summerville, Ga and is approximately 1 hour from our house. We were the only Chattanoogans signed up for the 1/2. Most everyone else came up from the Atlanta area or came in from other larger cities within 2-3 hours away.

On the drive down to the race I wasn't feeling so spectacular. Can't put a finger on exactly how I felt, but I just didn't feel like I had "it". We've all felt like this at some point. Needless to say.. going into the race.. I wasn't gonna place any expectations on myself.

We started the race and upon mile 2 was the biggest damn hill I've ever seen in my life. Nothing could have prepared me for this!!! Needless to say EVERYONE was walking this mother. I saw no one running it. Probably lasted for 3/4 of a mile... felt more like 2 miles! Once we were at the top I started feeling sick and my stomach was in knots... had to stop and walk for a bit. Trey said I must have gas and told me to get rid of it!! YEAH... like it's that easy to do! We walk for 4-5 minutes and during this time I was passed by 4-5 girls. ARGH... why was this happening to me! Finally the knots went away and I began to jog and eased back into my run. Somehow I was able to go faster and faster and before I knew it I had passed every female that passed me during my little episode! The last bit of the race was a gnarly downhill then it flattened out. On the downhill I was able to pass a few more girls and gained a 1/2 mile or so on the last one I passed. Upon crossing the finish line I learned that I was 3rd overall female! YAY!!

Now.. let's hope the stomach issues never creep up on me again... ugh....

Motivation found at Gulf Coast 1/2 Ironman.....

2009-05-14T13:08:00.000-07:00

So... it's been a while since I last posted. Been busy with LOTS of trail running and working on speed! Hopefully it's all gonna pay off in the long run.

May 9th I competed in the Gulf Coast 1/2 Ironman with very little bike or swim fitness. For once... I was ready for that grueling hot run though! The swim was terrible.. I'm pretty sure that was the worst swim time I've EVER posted in my life. Maybe it was the 6-7 foot swells?! Maybe it was the lack of swimming on my part?! The bike went very well to my amazement. Ended up pulling off a 20.5mph average for the 56miles. The run was solid, but I could have most likely gone faster with some bike fitness under my belt! Ended up with 9th in my division and walk away from the awards ceremony with my first EVER award from this huge event that attracts the best from all across the country! Sooo.. I'm a happy camper.

Maybe next time I won't sign-up last minute and will have put more than 5-6 rides in and more than 4-5 swims in. Good news is that this event has motivated me to get back on the bike get back in the water too!

No pictures from the race. Enjoy the ones we took at the beach instead!

River Gorge Trail Race (10.2 miles)... Push on.....

2009-03-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday Trey and I ran the River Gorge Trail Race. http://www.rockcreek.com/rivergorge/ the weather was rainy and foggy as you can see in some of the posted pictures.

(Trey and I after the race)

We had a goal of 1:45, but with a very slippery rock garden, wet & muddy course and the lack of umph in my legs I turned in a time of 1:48-1:49ish. Still waiting on results to be posted to record the "official" time. Looks like I was 7th or 8th overall female.

The creeks were flowing quite nicely. Trying to keep shoes dry was a joke! I ran right through the first one and kept plowing through all of them the entire course. A year ago I would have searched for other ways to get around these very same creeks to avoid getting wet, but after a season of ultra marathons with not so great weather conditions.... I am forever changed and have a whole new mindset on this topic!

(overall women 1. Jan Gautier, 2. Heather Stone, 3. Brenda Simiril)

After this race I am motivated to get faster on the trail. I'm pushing myself out of comfort zones to obtain faster times... this has taken quite some time for me to do. Anyone who knows me... knows this is a huge barrier that I've recently broken through. Hopefully I'm on the brink of taking my running to a whole new level.

(overall men Sam Linhoss takes 3rd)

Push on.... Push on.....

David Meek... The trails will never be quite the same without you....

2009-03-06T19:37:00.000-08:00

I am still digesting this terrible news. David Meek was killed this morning commuting into work on his bicycle. He was hit by a truck on Ashland Terrace. He... of all people... would have been the last one I'd ever imagined this would have happened to as he preached and practiced safe cycling and lit himself up like a Christmas tree when riding in the dark or overcast weather.

He was kind, encouraging, generous and loved life... living every minute of it to the fullest. There is no doubt in my mind that he had a positive impact on the lives of those he was around. I know that he made me want to be a better person, friend and athlete. I guess what I'm trying to say is... he was one of the good guys.

We ran alot on the trails together and had many deep conversations about life and so forth. He listened and gave advice when he thought it was needed. He also loved to talk about his family... that man loved his family. I think he loved just about everything... family, friends, nature and adventure.

David Meek... I will miss you. See you at that big finish line in the sky one day my friend.

Mount Cheaha 50K.....

2009-03-01T15:22:00.000-08:00

First... here is a little description of the course (taken from the Mount Cheaha website):

A Point to Point trail run that finishes in the Cheaha State Park at the summit of Cheaha Mountain. At 2,407 feet this is the highest point in Alabama. What you will see along your run? Scenic overlooks, creek crossings, lakes, water falls, hardwood and pine forests, and 80% beautiful single track trails touring through the Talladega National Forest.

Packet pick-up:

Friday Mitch and I made our way down to meet Cat in Atlanta from Chattanooga. The weather was awful! Rain, wind and cold. Visibility was horrible on the interstate. Once we hit Atlanta... traffic was backed up for days. Fortunately... we called Cat and she gave us an alternate route to her place. When we finally arrived to Cat's place we took a quick bathroom break... loaded up the car and made our way to Alabama! Again.. a little more traffic.... bad rain and poor visibility all the way to the lodge on Mount Cheaha where packet pick up was. We grabbed our stuff and made sure everyone was fed and left the lodge around 7:30pm (Alabama time). Our hotel was in Anniston, AL... which was about 30mins away from the lodge. Upon checking in to our room... we were surprised to see a sign at the front desk with weather warnings (see picture).

Race Day:

Race morning we woke and all seemingly had a good night's rest, ate some breakfast and headed back up to the lodge where buses would take us to the start. It was pouring rain and windy. We were

sure this was not going to be a fun race start! All of a sudden the race director informs us that the buses were stuck in mud and would need to be towed out before they could come get us. This meant our

race start would be delayed by an hour and a half! Fortunately... this did allow for the rain to move through and we were off! Unfortunately.... the ground was saturated from all the rain and in many places the excess water just stood there as there was no place else for it to go!
The first 8miles were miserable for me... I couldn't get into a groove and did not warm-up for a while, but once all that was worked out things got better. Aid station #1 was at a train track and we had to wait for a train to pass before we could hop onto the trail on the other side. It was here that I tried to regroup and get my pace under control. By aid station #2 I was cruising and much more comfortable about things.
The course was rolling... up... down... up... down. It was muddy and standing water was unavoidable. Finally I stopped trying to dodge the water and just gave into the fact that I was going to be wet all day! There were many creek crossings... anything from ankle deep to chest deep! A couple of the creeks were carrying a nice current too! I was glad to be running with Sarah out there as we were able to keep each other in check and keep the pace going. Along the way we did pick-up a guy named John who ran with us most of the way. He was nice enough to escort us across two of the creeks that may have very well swept us away without his help!
The weather got a bit cooler as the day went on and the skies started to spit rain again. If I had stopped moving at any point during the race... I would have gotten very cold. Sarah got a bit tired toward the end and I kept moving (slowly at times). I figured that I needed to keep moving... no matter how slow or fast. John stayed with me until mile 28 where the nasty 1200 foot elevation gain began. Up... up... up... till finally to the top! It wore my legs and lungs out! Finally... I was able to resume an easy granny jog and made my way to the finish line. Shortly there after John came in and then Sarah was not too far behind him. It was nice to be finished with such a brutal 50K and very rewarding at the same time. My time was 6:43.... probably the worst finish time ever for a 50K in my history, but considering the course and all the water and creek crossings... It was a solid finish.... and the only injury I walk away with is a blister on my big toe.

After the race I changed, ate and hydrated and then hiked back on the course to see if I could find Cat. I wanted to see her to the finish line for her first ever 50K race. Sure enough... here she came trotting along and found enough in her to run it out to the end. Big congrats to Cat!
If you want a tough trail race... one that will kick your butt... sign-up for this one next year! http://www.pinhoti100.com/mountcheaha50k/default.htm

Switching Gears......

2009-02-20T19:18:00.001-08:00

Okay.. I've been really quiet lately..... so it's time to talk about what I've been up to.

(A hike with Trey and Xian from Edward's Point on Signal Mtn)

I've slowly been making a transition from focusing on ultra trail running to Ironman training. It has mentally been very hard for me to wrap my mind around it since trail running has truly becme a passion. With all this said... time has been a bit more limited and I've had to re-evaluate how this is all going to work. Finally... I'm back in the pool and on a bike. WOW... it really has been a long time. By the way.... cycling is taking a toll on the running legs.... this bums me out more than anything! Swimming came back to me pretty easily, but is still very non-exciting. Hopefully I'll figure out some things to make the pool more interesting. Suggestions.... anyone?

Next weekend I will run the Mount Cheaha 50K trail race. Sadly... this will be the last ultra for a while. : ( The Ironman training will really kick in after this event as well.

(Xian and Trey begged me to take this goofy shot)

Here are some more pictures of things I've been up to for the past few weeks:

Snooper's Rock on Suck Creek

Raccoon Mtn / one of the overlooks. Me, Michelle and Leslie

Michelle and I before running on Raccoon Mtn

Mountain Mist 50K........

2009-01-25T16:20:00.000-08:00

Friday afternoon Trey and I headed down to Huntsville for packet pick-up and a pre-race pasta dinner at the Monte Sano Lodge. It was great to see so many of our friends down there for the race as well. Chattanooga was well represented. When we headed down the mountain to our hotel that night it had started raining... GREAT.... definitely wet trails for our race the next day!

(This Picture was taken right after we crossed the finish line)

Saturday morning we woke up and headed up to the lodge where the race start would be. The rain had stopped, but we knew it would be a sloppy mess on the course. We quickly found that to be very accurate after about 5-6miles of running. Temperatures starting out were in the mid 30's, but the windchill factor made it feel 8-10 degrees colder. The day wasn't too bad other than some really cold wind every now and then. We ended up keeping our vest on the entire day and only shedding gloves.

(Picture of Mitch after finishing his first Mountain Mist... he is all smiles)
Sergio started with us and had agreed that he would stay with us as long as he possibly could so that I could keep him in check on nutrition during the race. Somewhere around mile 18-19..... he had dropped back to slow down. It was just Trey and I from there to the end.

(Kris and Randy. Kris took 3rd overall and is now sporting a "ten time finisher" jacket for the event!)

The trails were mucky here and there and occasionally there was the unavoidable mud hole, slippery rock or technically advanced segment to push through. We slowed to a power walk on the Waterline Trail to ensure that our legs weren't totally spent upon arriving to the top. At the 2nd to last aid station before entering the Land Trust we both downed some Ibuprofen.... refueled and made our way to the last nasty hill (straight up the side of the mountain) after a very technical downhill. There were a couple of guys behind us on this nasty ascent.

(Me and my new friend Mark from Atlanta)

One of which I've recently friended. His name is Mark.. he is from Atlanta and we've run into each other at a few ultra events lately. We chatted the whole way up that steep mother doing some brisk walking and what I like to refer to as power walking! Mark kept asking "how much longer.... how steep does it get" and so forth. I don't think he liked any of my answers.... I'm brutally honest.... BUT we did make it to the top... at last! Once to the top we started a slow run and then built-up to a good pace and brought it on in to the finish line. Mark was starting to get tired, but Trey and I told him to "come on... you can do it... almost there"... and he picked it up and finished with us.
(Lucky, Mitch and Sergio)

After crossing the finish line I was amazed at how good my legs felt. WOW... maybe I'm getting used to this long distance stuff! Even better.... I learned that I had actually placed at this event!.... taking home 3rd in the 39-under division! This was a huge accomplishment considering this race attracts some of the best around.
(Trey and I after changing and getting some food)

If you ever want a challenge..... put this 50K trail race on your calendar, but.... you better register quickly as it fills fast! http://www.huntsvilletrackclub.org/index2.htm

Some of my favorite things......

2009-01-19T12:43:00.000-08:00

Well... today I was lucky enough to run on my all time FAVORITE trail in the area. The Cumberland Trail / Possum Creek Segment. http://www.cumberlandtrail.org/ We had planned to start the run that morning, but had to delay it till after lunch due to iced over roads.

It really warmed up nicely as the day went on and we even ended up shedding clothes as we ran along. I had gotten a new wool shirt http://www.icebreaker.com/site/index.html and decided to give it a try before Mountain Mist 50K this coming weekend. Turns out.... this is my new FAVORITE running shirt!

Other than running with a nagging cold I've been trying to shake for the past week..... The run was great. I got to run with my FAVORITE trail people Trey, Sergio and Joey! We enjoyed running under icicles and then seeing the famous "Immodium Falls" all frozen up. It looked like a winter wonderland!

Enjoy the pictures. It was absolutely gorgeous out there today!

More Lookout Mountain running....

2009-01-12T19:35:00.000-08:00

Today I was feeling ansy.... so I called Sergio and ask him if he'd like to hit the trail with me. He was also eager to run... so we headed back up to Lookout.

We figured we'd hit the bluff trail and go on up to Covenant College... this time we would find the lake! I've included pictures so all those who missed it yesterday can see how beautiful it is.

It had been much colder the night before... so there were icicles dangling from the rocks. Very neat stuff.
Cha-ching.... more miles in the bank. Taper is almost here now.

Lookout Mountain running....

2009-01-11T13:25:00.000-08:00

Well.. we've been running quite a bit on Lookout these days. Largely due to the fact of convenience.

Sergio showed up with duct tape and a bandage taped to his head. At first glance... you would have thought he was playing a practical joke on us..., BUT no not Sergio. He had fallen out of bed the night before and cut his head open on the nightstand. So bad.... that he probably needed stitches! Trying to tell that man to go to the doctor is like telling a cat not to groom itself! Geesh... I hope that I'm just half that tough at the age of 68!

A really large group showed this morning and we decided to split up into a few groups since some had different training plans for the day.

We ran to Reflection Riding and then up to Skyuka and up to the Bluff trail. From there we headed on up to Covenant College and somehow missed the lake! We then came back down to the Bluff Trail and most of the group headed on back to Craven's House (our starting point). Sergio and I pressed forward and ventured over to the Mountain Beautiful Trail and then down to the Hardy Trail.

Ended up with a solid run and more miles in the bank for Mountain Mist 50K coming up in a couple of weeks.

Just Sergio, Joey and me.....

2009-01-07T18:09:00.000-08:00

So.... Sergio, Joey and I went for a run today on Raccoon Mountain. We decided that we'd run the loop (13 miles).

The weather took a nasty turn for the bad while we were out there. It was windy when we started and then the sun went in and it got really cloudy. Not long after this... we were running in sleet and snow! Once we got back to the East Overlook where we had parked.... we realized the temperature had dropped quite a bit!

I tried to caputure the snow on my camera, but it didn't do as well as I'd hoped.

A marathon of a day......

2009-01-04T20:21:00.000-08:00

Today we headed up to Foster Falls & The Fiery Gizzard Trail for an out and back totaling 26miles. We decided to run this trail as a training run for our upcoming race...the Mountain Mist 50K in 3 weeks.

The weather around here lately has been rainy, foggy and cool. Today we were lucky enough to get a slight break which made for excellent running conditions minus the slippery rocks. Fortunately... the rain did provide some excellent falls which usually aren't flowing so beautifully as today. I've attached pictures for proof of this. Some of the other neat things to see on this trail are enormous Eastern Hemlocks, cool rock formations and rock bluffs with the most stunning views.

It was nice to run with friends today and share seeing some of the amazing sites that most people in the world never get to see. This alone motivates me to continue to run and truly makes it a joy. I felt pretty good on most of the run and the only thing that nagged me on occassion was my swollen ankle from a twist on the trail on Thursday's run. Hopefully that will work itself out in a few days.

Enjoy the pictures!

The Frosty Challenge 2009........

2009-01-01T18:01:00.000-08:00

There is no better way to welcome the New Year like participating in the Frosty Challenge!

I started the Frosty Challenge 3 years ago for the multisport minded athletes here in Chattanooga. It's a Bike / Trail Run / Bike. The bike segment totals 34.69miles and the run totals 10miles on the beautiful Cumberland Trail. http://www.cumberlandtrail.org/soddy.html

It was COLD starting out! So cold.... that it may have changed the minds of some who said they would be there earlier this week. Only 4 individuals completed the whole event. Some met us at the trail head and ran the run only leg. Since I am not in primo shape right now.... I rode the first half of the bike and then did the run. I did not do the last half of the bike like the previous years. I could have made it, but wanted to save my legs for a long run this weekend.

The trail was perfect.... just as always. This segment is gorgeous! Definitely worth checking out if you like to run or hike. We started the run from the Hotwater Road trail head and went toward Mountain Road. This way is 5miles out and 5miles back. If you go the other way from Hotwater Road (toward Hwy 111) that is 11miles. The segment totals 16miles point to point.

Check out the pictures. They really say it all. Happy New Year!

We will miss you Kim Leasure......

2008-12-30T12:49:00.000-08:00

This morning a very dear friend passed away..... Kim Leasure. She has been battling cancer since this summer. She never....never....never gave up hope and always had the most positive outlook about her situation.

(This picture was taken at the dam on a Monday night during swim practice)

Kim competed in many triathlons, running events and cycling events. She was willing to try just about anything that would physically challenge her. She was a joy to be around and always found the good in things.... no matter how bad they might really be. I feel special to have met her and think that I am a better person today for knowing her.

(This picture was taken at the Light Up The Night Lymphoma Walk... she ask us to come walk it with her)

We will miss you Kim.........

More Lookout Mountain Fun......

2008-12-28T15:07:00.000-08:00

Today I ran with my best friend Michelle on Lookout. It was just me, her and Trey. We did around 15miles.....which was great for me as mid-distance run. Next weekend will be a longer run as we will be ramping up mileage for Mountain Mist coming up in January.

The trail was wet and muddy due to the mass amounts of rain we've had over the past couple of weeks. There were many falls flowing that would not normally be visible. Also... many small streams to cross over and run through!

I ended up taking them on a newer trail up by Point Park as I thought they'd enjoy the new views. An added bonus was getting to see the Incline go up the mountain as we passed through one segment of this trail.

What a great day for a run!

Jingle Bell Run.....

2008-12-28T14:42:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday the 23rd the YMCA hosted a Jingle Bell Run. It's a low key event that invites runners of all levels. Two of my clients were attending... so I thought I'd run along as well. Besides... what a great opportunity for a recovery run from the 38miles I had run on Saturday.
Me, Yoli and Wendy

Run Lisa run!!!!

Me and Lance.

Nik the Grinch!

Runners going up 6th Street.

Lookout Mountain 100K.....

2008-12-27T13:36:00.000-08:00

Now that that Christmas is over and the dust has settled.... it's time that I give a race report about the Lookout Mountain 100K.

I arrived to the race start before daylight so that I could get the pre-race jitters (aka bathroom trips) out of the way. After taking care of business I was glad to find Lucky (Michael Green) at his car grooving to some Hip Hop. Ah... just what I needed to take my mind off getting ready to do the longest running race of my life. Lucky and I share some similar taste in music : ) Before I knew it... we were ready to make our walk to the official start line. Once we got to the start line... we had to wait for daylight.... then it began to rain. There was a magnificent waterfall here to look at. Unfortunately... my camera didn't do such a great job capturing the beauty of this in the rain and lack of daylight.

Before the race started I had decided to stick with my friend Joanna since we were both virgins to this distance! We slowly started and at times questioned whether or not we were going too fast or too slow. About 2.5-3miles in there was a creek crossing.... Well.... so much for dry shoes!... Not that they would have been dry for long as it was already raining. It continued raining off and on for quite some time after this leaving the trail a mucky mess. We passed on the first aid station at Covenant College and made our trek down to the Craven's House from there. Once to Craven's House we stopped for a bit and then headed on down to the bottom of the mountain where we made our way through even more mud! After a seemingly LONG jeep trail we finally came up on the Blue Beaver aid station where we grabbed more nutrition and fluids. Now we were on our merry way to Skyuka Springs..... then our Trek back up the mountain began! On our way upthe mountain it came an absolute downpour and the temperature was dropping. Slowing or stopping only caused me to chill. Had to keep moving! I did stop briefly at the the upper truck trail at the aid station and waited on Joanna. Brrr... I got cold! Once Joanna was ready... we were off to the the end of the upper truck trail to John Smart Trail. Up up up the mountain we continued till we hit the Covenant College aid station. It was really raining hard now! This is where we decided that we would drop at the next aid station.... mile 38.

Those last 6miles in were nasty. HARD rain.... the trails looked like streams from all the run off. There was no dodging puddles.... instead we just went right through them. about mile 33 we came up on a fellow trail runner who was walking. He told us that his feet were covered with blisters and he could hardly manage the pain. My heart went out to him as the weather conditions were only getting worse. The creek crossing we had passed early on in the race was now much fuller and was carrying a nice current as well. It was never so nice to see mile 38! Here I dropped without shame. I was wet and cold and did not want to suffer anymore. My legs were in good shape and had it in them to go the full monty, but the rest of my body just wanted to be warm and dry. Still..... 38 out of 62 ain't bad and it's the longest run ever for me. There will be other 100K races to conquer!

Wednesday Night Trail Running Group.....

2008-12-17T20:55:00.000-08:00

Tonight after our run... I had the group over to the house to celebrate the holidays. I spend alot of time with these guys and just wanted to show them that they are special to me. I feel very fortunate to have these great people in my life. They help me stay focused and keep me aware of why I do the crazy things I do to stay fit.

Since it was so nasty from all the rain we've had for several days straight.... we decided to run the roads instead of getting all sloppy on the trails. If you've ever run on the Stringer's Ridge trails after a rain... you truly understand why we decided against the trail run.

I've attached some pictures from tonight. Thanks to everyone for coming out on a nasty rainy night!

Raccoon Mountain Fun!....

2008-12-17T20:46:00.000-08:00

Sunday we all met up on Raccoon Mountain at the East Overlook for a 12.5mile run. It was cool starting out, but we figured we'd warm-up after running for a bit. Boy... was I wrong. The wind dictated otherwise! Usually the trees will provide a little blockage from the wind.... NOT the case on this day!

Our run was pretty nice once we surrendered to the wind. We did the 12.5mile loop since some of us are tapering for the big 100K this weekend!

Wish me luck for the longest running race I've ever attempted on Saturday!

Just me, the boys and my new socks.....

2008-12-10T18:06:00.000-08:00

Yep... tonight the weather was ify... so it was just me, Sergio, Joey, Kevin and Warren. It's been a while since I was the only girl on the Wednesday night run. Back in the day... it was very common for me to be the only girl, but I think the guys think of me as "one of the guys" regardless. In fact.... I've been told that I don't count as a girl before. Not sure if that's a compliment or not!

We decided to run the grave yard instead of the usual trails at Stringer's Ridge since the rain was so heavy today and it was still misty out. We figured the trails were a muddy mess. Not that I minded getting dirty, but the group vote wins!

This would be my second day to try out my new socks! Yes.... I love them so much that I wore them on yesterday's run and tonight's run too. Don't worry... they don't stink... they are wool! They are Injinji's and I'm hooked. These are probably not for everyone...and are either you like em or you don't type thing. Well.... I like em! I think they will save me from some toe blisters at minimum! http://www.injinji.com/tetratsok/outdoor.htm

Fat Ass 50K (11, 21 and 31mile options)

2008-12-10T17:29:00.000-08:00

Saturday was the 4th annual Fat Ass 50K. This was the first year for me to run the low key event as there has always been one reason or the other I could not attend.

I'm not going to sugar coat it...... IT WAS COLD!.... Try 24 degrees cold for the start. So cold that the sweat was freezing on everyone's tobogons! The run started from Kris and Randy Whorton's house in St. Elmo at the base of Lookout Mountain. Upon leaving their house.....you go straight up the Guild Trail crossing over the road and through the Ruby Falls parking lot. After the parking lot... you hit a jeep road and not far there is a right turn. This trail brings you out at the bottom of the Gum Springs trail.... which you climb up until reaching the jeep trail again. Once back on the jeep trail you take a right and stay on it till it dead ends into the John Smart Trail. The John Smart Trail takes you to the bluff where there are some pretty amazing views. If you are afraid of heights... this trail might make your tummy sick. Personally... it has never bothered me, but I've got friends who feel differently than me about it. You follow this trail till you see signs pointing you in the direction of the Craven's House. After you reach the Craven's House you decide whether or not it's going to be 21miles or 31miles. Since I'm doing a 100K on December 20th..... I opted for the 21miles. No need to go into that event feeling worn down!

Early on.... Michelle joined us for about 35mins and ran a portion of the jeep road till she needed to turn back. A group of us ended up running this thing in together. It was me, Trey, Sergio, Kevin, Cathi and Mark. A very awesome group to run and chat with for sure! I certainly enjoyed catching up with Kevin as it's been a while since we've run together. He is one of my favorite people! I noticed that my pace got faster and faster and we were chatting and we had put a little distance between us and everyone else at one point. Funny how you don't realize these things when you are into a conversation like that! : )

The guys who opted for the full monty were Joey (coming in 1st), Mitch (coming in second), Sal (coming in third) and David. I'm glad I didn't do the whole thing as I would have come in after David and would have gotten lonely out there all by myself!
Kudos to all who came out and ran this thing..... we all deserve a pat on the back for running on such a COLD day!

Wednesday Night Trail Run....

2008-12-03T19:41:00.000-08:00

Wednesday nights are special to me as it's the mid-week trail run. We run complete with headlamps and all! I know it sounds crazy, but it really is a GREAT workout and a ton of fun! Try it sometime... it's addictive.

Lately we've been running on the trails over at Stringer's Ridge since it's closer to downtown and everyone is more crunched for time with the daylight ending early and cold weather setting in. This is not a location we run regularly through the warmer months. Top choices for the warmer months are Lookout Mountain and Signal Mountain. We have even ventured over to Booker T a time or two.

Come join us sometime, but don't forget your headlamp!

Giving thanks and spending time with friends and family....

2008-12-03T19:19:00.000-08:00

So... This might be the longest period of time in a while that it has taken me to update the blog. Pardon me for having to back track to bring things up to date.

Thanksgiving day was spent with family and we did have a very nice meal indeed! While Trey and I TRY to keep the menu healthy... it's very hard as there are always desserts, rolls and other really bad things to tempt us. I think I've been feeling guilty for the past few days knowing what all my body consumed on that day. So... must workout more and.... again... clean the diet up!

On Friday (after Thanksgiving).... I met some friends on Lookout Mountain for a trail run. My friend Kim was in town from Indiana and I wanted her to see some things up there that she might not even know were there without a local guide. We ran the "Big Daddy" loop from the Craven's House and even stopped off at Sunset Rock so she could see the wonderful views from up there.

Afterwards we met Trey, Michelle and others for lunch at Greenlife and ventured over to Rock Creek for some shopping. Couldn't let Kim leave town without visiting these fine establishments!

Then Saturday came. It rained and rained and rained some more..... all the way into Sunday. In fact... we even cancelled the Sunday trail run due to the downpour and cold temperatures. YUCK. I was so dissappointed. Yucky rainy days make me appreciate the good ones.

A cold start, but a great day.......

2008-11-23T19:16:00.000-08:00

Today our group ran on the Cumberland Trail (Rock Creek Segment) http://www.cumberlandtrail.org/rock.html The temperatures were cold when we started and we were all dressed with gloves, toboggans, tights and vest. It didn't matter to me how much clothing was required... I was running no matter what. If I don't get my time on the trail.... I tend to get grouchy!

Once we were a couple of miles in... I unzipped my vest to cool-down a bit. Sure didn't take long to warm-up! The leaves were thick and this always makes it harder to maneuver over unknown objects below such as rocks, roots and more..... a small price to pay for a run on beautiful trails. I've learned to proceed with caution in the fall and winter months in order to avoid injuring myself.....so....it's all good.

We stopped at one of the overlooks for a quick break to enjoy the scenery (picture attached). Then once we arrived at the new bridge I had to have pictures of that too! Last week when I ran through there I was running in a race so I didn't get the camera out and really walk around to inspect this incredibly constructed beauty. Before this bridge was there it was almost impossible to cross the creek without getting drenched. Now it's so easy!

Our total time running on the trail today was around 3.5 hours. This did not include some of the times we stopped to "play" along the way. Trey and Sergio even stopped at one point to do some rock climbing! Wow... what a fun day!

Upchuck 50K Race Report....

2008-11-15T17:20:00.000-08:00

Whew.... it's over... thank-god. Today was a really tough 31 miles on the trail! For one.... the weather was absolutely nasty with rainy conditions making everything slippery and wet and the temperatures plummeted all day.... secondly... the course was extremely technical! Even with all this said..... The insane "I liked it in a sick sort-a-way" part of me is grinning from ear to ear!

Since this was a point to point 50K.... we all met this morning at the location of where the race would end to be shuttled to the race start via bus. Sergio and I carpooled up and gathered our things for our really long day on the trail and boarded the bus. Once we were at the start.... we stood around for 7-8 minutes and then we were off for our run!

We started out slowly....knowing what was to come on this very hard trail. It rained on and off.... and even started SLEETING about half way through the race! The trail was wet, slippery and covered with leaves..... which kept things interesting the entire time. The first part of the race I enjoyed the company of Kathy Johns, Joanna Crooks and Sergio, but somehow we were separated before the first aid station. I began to run with two other fellas who were enamoured with my knowledge of the trails. It wasn't long before I was separated from them and ran the rest of the race solo. Along the way I would see deer, squirrels, and even chipmunks as I was by myself and didn't alarm them to my presence. While I did take a chance to enjoy the "nature"..... I also closely watched every dangerous step so I did not slip or fall!

Then came a series of creek crossings that I knew would leave my shoes and socks soaking wet! Argh.... I had to toughen up and take the plunge. The first one was ankle deep. The second one was calf deep. The third one was knee deep and in order not to fall further in I had to put my arms in up to my elbows! After that nasty crossing.... I had to regroup on the other side as I seriously thought to myself "Oh my god.... I'm going to get hypothermia!". I was shaking and downright COLD. Fortunately... I had stashed a vest and Smartwool gloves in my pack and I took a minute to put these items on. Thankfully the extra clothing helped warm me up and I was able to slowly press forward. The last creek crossing had a rope to help guide you across.... I did not get wet anywhere above the ankle there.

Finally the end was near after some serious climbing!.... and then came the descent to Hotwater Road!, but it wasn't over yet. I still

had a 1.6 mile run down the mountain on the ROAD! Yes... on the HARD asphalt road! My dogs were barking! After that trek... I ran into the finish area and found out that I had taken 2nd overall female! NICE. My friend Natalie had taken 1st overall female.

Post race I am feeling soreness in my legs from the elevation gain/loss and technicality of the trail. My back and shoulders are also sore from carrying a heavier than normal pack with everything but the kitchen sink in it! Don't you know tomorrow's soreness will only be worse?!

This race was very well organized and if "epic" is what you are looking for.... put it on your list for next year!

An amazing day in the woods.....

2008-11-11T10:55:00.000-08:00

Sunday our little trail running group met for a run on the Cumberland Trail / Possum Creek Segment. http://www.cumberlandtrail.org/possum.html Some of the group turned back early and 4 of us went out longer.

This particular segment is known as the "the hardest" segment around here. When we run it.....we know what we are in for (lots of elevation gain/loss & some really technical areas). With the freshly fallen leaves on the trail it made things a bit harder as well.... as you can imagine. Not knowing what exactly is under them can sometimes lead to slipping or twisting an ankle, but it's all worth it to me. Seeing all of the brilliant colors each tree had to offer was simply breathtaking. Why can't it last longer?! Seems like there is a 2-3 week window of opportunity to soak it all up.... and then it's gone..... The trees are left bare and everything is ugly again till spring arrives.

The lack of foliage does not keep us off the trail for the harsh winter months as many would think. Instead we engage heavily in big miles and "train up" for some rather grueling events. I am certain I would go mad if I were told I could not run on trail in the winter months as it's the only type of running that I find peace within. With all this said..... I'd like to tell Old Man Winter...."bring it on......you can't stop me"!

Here is a picture of the new bridge just built at the first creek crossing.

M3 (Mystery Mountain Trail Marathon).....

2008-11-03T06:12:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning I woke at 4:50am and proceeded to gather up my race gear and eat a quick breakfast for the long run ahead. At 5:30am Cat and I were off to pick-up Sergio and on our way to Fort Mountain for the Mystery Mountain Trail Marathon and 1/2. Once there.... we grabbed our race packets and suited up for a long day in the woods. Sergio and I had made a pact to run the entire marathon together so I could closely monitor his nutrition. Cat was running the 1/2 marathon.

The race begins..... Sergio are together from the start. I told him we would start easy and gradually build on pace from there. We were mixed in with the 1/2 marathoners until around mile 11... where we would split and go up a hill that very closely resembled a ski slope!

Little did we know that this hill was the beginning of many similar to it that we would encounter as the race progressed.
It was all I could do to power walk up this nasty beast! After this it seemed as if we went down and back up the mountain 5-6 times! This was beginning to wreak havoc on my knees with the steep grades. Still... even with the nasty ups and downs..... Sergio and I remained together. A few times we would stop and take a picture or two along the way as the foliage was spectacular.

I knew that there were two girls in front of me, but I wasn't sure if there were any others. We had caught and passed one of them around mile 22-23, but still not sure who all might have been in front of me. When we passed by the last aid station... the lady yells out "you are the second place female!". This fired me up and I told Sergio.... "hurry up.... we gotta go!". Little did I know that I would catch and pass female #1 right at the end of the race! Holy cow!..... I just won a freaking trail marathon! Knowing I just won overall female at such a greuling event was almost surreal......

In the end Michael Green (aka Lucky) took 3rd overall and I was 1st overall female. Quite honestly.... I think everyone of us walked away with a good feeling about our race out there. What a great day!

VeloVixens Mountain Bike Clinic......

2008-11-03T05:48:00.001-08:00

Saturday the Vixens had a skills clinic at Harrison Bay. Cat and I carpooled over there and met up with everyone else. On the way into the park we spotted two deer.... awww.... we had to stop and observe for a minute. Once there..... we unloaded the bikes and did a little "obstacle" course in the parking lot that John had set-up. We also got a crash course on how to fix a broken chain... this could be useful at some point in the future. As always.... John made sure to

supply us all with freebies.... we love free stuff! Knowing this would be a beginner friendly ride...it was perfect for me since I needed to take it easy with a trail marathon the next day.

That was the first time I have ridden out there in about 8 years! Going back.... I remember being afraid to attempt riding over roots and such, but now it seems way too easy! To make it more interesting we did two full laps and then decided we were hungry and it was time to eat. Karen met Cat and I for lunch and afterwards we ventured over to the Goodwill for some second hand shopping. I think Karen was sceptical at first, but then she was shopping like a pro! She even found me a Nike jacket! What a fun day with the girls... a little exercise, food and shopping... can't beat that!

And darkness falls upon us......

2008-10-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

Last night the group met on Lookout for a trail run. We had made our way to Point Park just as the sun was setting (beautiful stuff).... and it was not long at all before we were running in complete darkness! Starting out it was a bit chilly, but after running for a bit it was actually just perfect for our workout. Our run totalled about 7.5-8miles and half of that was in darkness. Thank goodness for headlamps! Now... we must learn again how to run at night without tripping and falling over roots and rocks!..... Last night was definately a refresher course!

20 miles on Piney River........

2008-10-27T06:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a few of us met in Spring City for a trail run on the Piney River Segment on the Cumberland Trail. http://www.cumberlandtrail.org/piney.html Since Larry Lyda lives so closely to the trail head.... he was our guide for the day.

Starting out it was downright COLD! The temperature was reading 38 degrees! Luckily... we did warm-up after we had been running for a bit.... then the sun came out and really did help to thaw things out. Upon finishing the run the temperature had risen to 68 degrees.

While the terrain was not so bad..... it was a pretty constant grade up for the whole 10miles in.... with only a couple of exceptions. There are 6 bridges along the way.... one of which is a pretty good size crossing Piney River. Our pace was easy as many of us have races coming up this weekend and weren't looking for a hefty and tiring run. Still.... 20miles is 20miles. Once we made it to the top of the mountain Larry had some snacks waiting on us. We were all very appreciative of his kindness in stashing these there!.... I think Trey was most appreciative since he was nursing a hang-over from the night before and much needed the extra nutrition! The run back was much faster....as it should have been since it's basically ALL downhill! When we popped out of the trail..... Larry's wife was waiting with some barbeque and such for us to eat after our long run. Wow.... Larry is quite the host! We couldn't thank him enough for the food and good times!

If you ever have the chance to check this trail out..... I would suggest you give it a try. It's beautiful and I can only imagine what Piney River looks like when water levels are up.

Vixen's skill clinic......

2008-10-20T06:42:00.000-07:00

Sunday Cat and I held a Vixen's skill clinic. We met at River City Bicycles in North Chattanooga for an easy spin to North Georgia. Our turn-out was good and it was nice to catch-up with the girls and welcome newcomers as well.

The most notable of the day was Lisa Meek coming out to ride with us. We gave her a quick lesson on gearing and riding etiquette.... she caught on very fast! It won't be long until it all comes second nature for her!

Thanks to everyone who came out!

Strong Adventure Race....

2008-10-20T06:19:00.001-07:00

Saturday Trey and I headed down from the Smokies to the Ocoee where the Strong Adventure Race would begin. Even though the race started at noon.... it was still quite cool out. There was also a constant wind to accompany the cool air. My teammates were Michelle and her dad. We had not practiced together at all for the race and were hoping for the best.

Before the event started I was fumbling around trying to get some help with my front brakes. They weren't working..... AT ALL. Jim Farmer tried to help the best he could, but when I test rode it... they stopped working.... AGAIN. Finally... a mechanic from Scott's Bikes helped me out and the brakes were fixed and working great! I can't remember his name......I owe him big time though!

After the break issues.... I regrouped with Michelle and Richard so we could get a plan together. We decided to do the bike leg of the race first. Off we went...... The first mistake we made was taking a road that we thought was the right way. This costed us nearly 1:45! Finally... we were back on track and off our bikes to run to more check points. We found 1 of 3 on this part of the race. For the life of us.... we could not find those other two! On the way back in we decided to hit 2 more check points. Mission accomplished. Back to the start where we decided to hit the paddling segment since our time was dwindling away fast. The paddling went much better than any of us thought considering we had never been in a boat together. Two more check points on the water and had to book it back to the start in order to meet the cut-off. We made the cut-off with time to spare and were very happy to be done.

All and all it was great fun and a learning experience for all of us. Honestly... it was more fun than I thought it'd be as it was my very first adventure race. Michelle and Richard made for good teammates and good company too.

The Great Smoky Mountains....

2008-10-19T20:11:00.001-07:00

This week (Wednesday-Saturday) we rented a cabin in the Smokies since the kids were off for fall break.

While there.... we were able to do some short hikes with the family and see some beautiful sights. One morning we hiked to Grotto Falls and drove along the Roaring Fork Motor Trail. After lunch we headed over to Clingman's Dome (the highest point in Tennessee). It was very foggy and even started drizzling on us a bit while there....and I can only imagine what the views are like on a clear day. While at Clingman's Dome.... Trey and I were able to jump onto the Appalachian Trail for a bit while the rest of the family made their way back to the car. Wow... it was amazing... I cannot wait to go back and run on segments in the very near future.

On Friday it was raining the entire day....so....we decided to hit the Ripley's Believe it or Not Aquarium. It was pretty neat. The kids seemed to enjoy themselves...and I think we saw just about every type of fish known to man while there. Friday night we hit the sack early since I had to get up early for the Strong Kid's Adventure Race at the Ocoee the next day.

First night run of the season.....

2008-10-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

Last night a group of us hit the trails on Signal. We ran out to Edwards Point and from there hit the Cumberland Trail winding us around and then back onto the Jeep Road we had run in on. My time on the trail was like 1:40. I'm not going to lie.... It was tough.... I felt the 50K from Saturday on my legs the whole way back as there just wasn't any power to tap into! About 2miles from the finish the darkness was setting in... and I had left my headlamp at home! Doh! Luckily I was able to see fairly well and made it in without tripping or falling. I think the total distance for our run was over 9miles.

This morning I ran 5miles with a client and now I'm thinking tomorrow MIGHT make a good "off day" from running! It's important for me to recover fully from the 50K.... as I've signed up for a trail marathon on Nov. 2nd called the Mystery Mountain Marathon http://www.getguts.com/e-mmm.shtml

Stump Jump 50K Race Report

2008-10-06T06:30:00.000-07:00

Well.... It's another 50K under the belt....not to say it was easy.....in fact it was really tough! Race results were just posted and it looks like I was 7th overall female!....which is an accomplishment for me.

The weather was rather cool at the start of the race and I could not decide if starting in short sleeves was a good idea. Some of my friends convinced me that I'd warm-up quickly...so...I left my arm warmers in the car. Thankfully I had warmed-up in less than 5mins! The course was longer this year compared to when I raced it in 2006. Apparently it was measured incorrectly and was like 3 miles short! Those extra 3 miles made you wanna cry for mamma toward the end of the race! These trails are not easy once you pass Mushroom Rock going out. There are a series of steep descents and ascents that wear on your legs. Combine that with the rockiness... and it can get dangerous real quick if you let your guard down!

Trey and I decided we would skip the first two aid stations so we did not get stuck behind slower runners. Once we got to the Indian Rock House we stopped and very speedily filled our hydration pack bladders and off we went. On the way to Snooper's Rock we found ourselves behind a group of fellows that were not moving quite as fast as our legs wanted to go and finally passed them on the left of the trail. We were moving at a steady pace and passing people who normally would have been way ahead of us. At one point Trey said to me "I think we might be going too fast because we just passed so-in-so and I bet we will pay for it later in the race"! Somehow... we were able to hold the same pace. We skipped the aid station at Snooper's Rock and kept plugging.. passing more and more people along the way. We hit a point right before Haley Road where we were stuck behind the Ooltewah Cross Country Team and felt as if we were handicapped as none of them would move out of the way! They were nearly at a hiker's pace and it drove us nuts!!! As the trail dumped out onto Haley Road....we once again fueled up and were stuffing our packs while walking/jogging to get ahead of the slower runners. Whew... mission accomplished we had gotten away from the group that had us "boxed" in! From there to the next aid station after the Rock Garden it was smooth sailing! We had even made up enough time to catch my friend Sergio. This aid station was our last one for refueling and we spent the longest amount of time here. Sergio had regained his lead on us up until right after the Indian Rock House where we caught and passed him again. We were getting tired, but knew we were getting close to being done... it must be what kept us going. On this leg of the race we passed a ton more people and knew we were carrying a good pace when we passed Dave Buntin! That's has NEVER happened before! After crossing Suck Creek Road we learned that the 11milers had stirred up a yellow jacket's nest and the trail was slightly detoured to avoid the mess. We made our trek up the hill and then down to the swinging bridge.....and up Signal (at a very slow pace). At the top I decided to keep going and Trey slowed a bit. We finished very closely and were less than 2mins apart!

I would recommend this race to anyone looking to run a 50K. It is very well organized, the swag is great and the raffle prizes are like no other! We won a Patagonia messenger bag and a pair of North Face shorts in the drawing alone! The race packets were filled with a Mountain Hardwear shirt, Smartwool socks, La Sportiva water bottle, edurolytes, and much more!

Notables from the day include: Michael Green (aka Lucky) taking 2nd overall. Jaclyn Greenhill taking 1st overall female. Natalie Sims taking 3rd overall female. Robyn Wilham, Hope Hessler and David Yann completing their first ever 50K trail race.

Ready or not.....

2008-10-02T08:02:00.000-07:00

Ready or not.... the Stump Jump 50K http://www.rockcreek.com/StumpJump/ is this Saturday! Last night I had a nice taper down run on Signal at a fairly easy pace and this morning ran about 5 miles with a client. The temperature this morning was below 50 degrees....brrrr...., but was rather nice once running. I can only hope for such weather on race day!

Tonight I plan on getting in some quality sleep and hope my careful watch on nutrition the past couple of weeks pays off on race day. The race will be enjoyable no matter what as I'll be doing my favorite thing....Running in the woods!

Mountain Biking 101.....

2008-09-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

This morning I met Harry on Raccoon Mountain for some Mountain Biking 101. We started from the East Overlook and went counter clockwise over to the Visitor's Center. From there we went down the rock drops and made our way full circle.

During the ride we would stop at areas that would "stump" me for a little "how to clinic". That helped so much! Thank-you Harry. I tried things today that I wouldn't have dare tried a week ago! Also... while we were out there we ran into Paul Van Kooten and talked with him briefly about the rock drops and the technicality of them.
The weather was seemingly perfect as the skies were overcast and the temperature was just right.

Now.... I get to rest up for my trail run tomorrow!

Hoping there is enough in the bank.....

2008-09-21T16:11:00.000-07:00

This morning Trey and I headed up to Signal Mountain for the last "really long" trail run before Stump Jump 50K. Either it's in the bank...or... it isn't at this point! Too late in the game to gain anymore fitness for this event as we will now officially be on "taper".

We ran out to Mushroom Rock and over to Suck Creek Road then back tracked to Mushroom and headed out to Edwards Point. Our route was modified from the original plan since there was a managed hunt going on the Prentice Cooper side. The idea of being shot by a bow and arrow by an anxious hunter was NOT appealing to any of us! I guess miles on the trail ARE miles on the trail, but it would have been nice to have run most of the course ONE more time!

Most of the group opted for the shorter route of 11miles. This left me, Trey, Sergio and Tyler. I must confess that my legs were getting very tired on the way back from Edwards Point! It was so nice to finish that run up and have piece of mind that tomorrow is an "off" day!

A great day to spend with friends......

2008-09-21T15:55:00.000-07:00

Saturday I was so lucky to spend most of my day with friends.

The morning was spent hanging out with Trey and Xian and after lunch I went on a nice hike on the Cumberland Trail http://www.cumberlandtrail.org/nchic.html with Mike and Fred (old high school friends). I hadn't seen Fred in years and it was nice to see that he hikes to stay fit. Mike recently hiked the whole Appalachain Trail and obviously is in great hiking shape as well! It was good times catching up on old and new news while getting in a good aerobic workout.

The evening was spent down at Coolidge Park doing the Light the Night Walk for Lymphoma http://www.tntrivia.com/Light_the_night_Chattanooga.htm with many more friends. Earlier this summer a good friend of mine (Kim Leasure) was diagnosed with Lymphoma and has been going through chemo to battle this terrible disease. I must say she looks great and her attitude is awesome. She IS kicking cancer's butt!

A great day for a mountain bike ride.....

2008-09-19T20:04:00.000-07:00

Today I met a good friend (Michael Hawkins) for a mountain bike ride on Raccoon Mountain. We could not have gotten better weather had we ordered it up special from Mother Nature! It was perfect. Starting out I was very nervous and tense, but I finally loosened up a bit and with Mike's help was becoming a little braver. He talked me through some tough spots and also explained the importance of using smaller gears. Anyone who has ever ridden with me knows that I like to pull the "big ring" alot! After I became acustomed to using the smaller ring it did seem easier and some of the rocks that stumped me before.... did not this time. Granted.... I still have a long way to go, but today was a huge leap forward!

A BIG thanks to Mike for the mountain bike lesson today! He really is a great teacher and made it look so easy and effortless!

Dear shoe fairy.....

2008-09-18T15:52:00.000-07:00

My legs are in agony after tonight's nearly hour long run. First because I pushed it with some tempo running and hill work......and secondly because my running shoes are just dead and flat.... and thirdly because of the trail running on my legs from last night (also done in dead, worn-out shoes)! Oh well... at least the weather was cooler and it made things a little more tolerable!

I'm hoping the shoe fairy will magically send some shoes my way while I'm sleeping tonight..... yeah... that's likely to happen! : )

BUT... just in case the shoe fairy is listening... here is what I like!

Norris Dam State Park

2008-09-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

Sunday we all woke up and headed over to Norris Dam State Park just north of Knoxville for a trail run. http://www.state.tn.us/environment/parks/NorrisDam/index.shtml

The run was very nice and we also found a monster hill there to challenge us. That hill went forever it seemed, but once we finally got to the top the downhill was so nice! On the way up that nasty hill we spotted a rather interesting creature and stopped to photograph it. Turns out this is a Hickory Horned Devil Caterpillar http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/agguides/pests/ipm1019hickoryhorneddevil.htm This is why I always trail run with my camera.... you never know what you might see! Part of the trail winded around the river/lake and made for a more scenic route. If you are ever in Knoxville looking for a hiking or trail running destination you should check it out.

At the end of our almost 2 hour run we decided to test out the chilly waters of this spring feed river. Wow.... it really was cold! As you can see in the pictures there are actually men trout fishing in the background. How cool is that?!

Saturday afternoon at Haw Ridge

2008-09-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning I slept in for a bit then went for an hour run before heading up to see Michelle. After my run I cleaned up and took the kids to Nonna and Poppy's and then Trey and I picked Cathi up and were Knoxville bound!

Once we arrived in Knoxville and met up with Michelle we headed over to Haw Ridge for some mountain biking fun. Boy... did we ever find the new meaning of "FUN" there! I think we took every wrong turn... ending us up on either a very steep uphill or even steeper downhill. I think that is hands down the most I've ever pushed my bike! Finally we found a map at a kiosk and spent the remainder of our time riding the "easier more rideable" part of the course. It was sticky, hot and humid which made us all sweat like crazy too.

That night we managed to find a good place to eat called Tomato Head in downtown Knoxville. Thank-god for good food as I was starving after the workouts that had been put in earlier in that day!

11%......

2008-09-11T06:25:00.000-07:00

Yep.... that's my body fat count. Last night I finally got the courage to step on the scale and see what the weight and body fat were. Weight is down a bit @ 123lbs. This bothers me as I've tried hard to keep it at 125 or greater. The body fat was a shocker to me. It's kinda low considering I've not been on a "regular" training schedule since Ironman. Maybe the extra running miles are taking it off? It's so hard to find balance!

26 miles on the Fiery Gizzard Trail......

2008-09-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday we drove over to Tracy City to begin our 26 mile trail run on the Fiery Gizzard Trail. Since some of our group opted to stop at the 13 mile turn around point.... Mitch had parked his car there so he and Sandy could head on back home. Cat and her dog started with us on the Tracy City side and split from us somewhere around the 3-3.5mile mark and did their own thing. So.... it was me, Trey, Joey, Sergio and Michael going for the full 26!

The trail is beautiful. The pictures really don't do justice to what you see in person out there. The Tracy City side has magnificant pines.... larger than I've ever seen! Along the trail you see things such as beautiful creeks, fern gardens, rock gardens, overlooks, falls and much much more. There are parts of the trail which would be rated as extremely technical, but there are some relatively easy segments as well. It's definitely worth a the trip wheter it be for a hike or trail run. http://www.friendsofscsra.org/aboutthepark.htm

Michael (dubbed as "Lucky" by our 5 year old) ran the entire 26 miles in 3:50! It took the rest of us closer to 5hours. At the end I felt suprisingly fresh.... this was unexpected as I had raced the day before. Joey and Trey weren't feeling the love so much, but they finished up like troopers and started getting a sense of humor after they got off the trail. What a great training day and another 26 in the bank!

Frantic Frog Triathlon.....

2008-09-06T14:37:00.000-07:00

This morning I got up at the crack of dawn to head down to Scottsboro, AL for the Frantic Frog Traithlon. Cat and I carpooled down for this and ran into some nasty rain on the way. We were just certain this rain was going to ruin the event, but thankfully it cleared up and made for quite a nice day.

Packet pick-up and getting set-up in transition area went well. We then headed over to the dock where we would have an interval timed jump in style swim. My swim went horrible... largely due to the fact that I have NOT been swimming a lick. Just showing up on race day and winging it is not advisable by the way ; ). I know better than this, but I got so burned out during Ironman training with endless hours in the pool and without a big "goal event" looming it's been easy to slack on the swimming! On to the bike.... this goes much better for me as I'm passing a ton of folks very easily and seem to only have been passed by 1 or 2 guys. After the bike I gear up for the 3.1mile run begging my legs to please run. The run went okay, but I can tell that I've let speed fitness go to the wayside as I've been doing more "endurance" type running. Guess that's why I hate these short distance races so much as the endurance events are more my thing.

After the race results are posted and I learn that I'm 5th overall female. Not too bad for someone who hasn't really been triathon specific training lately. Two years ago I placed 3rd overall female, but this year that placement would go to Lisa Becht (one of my trail running friends)..... so I'm cool with that! Actually.... Chattanooga swept this race in the awards. Most notable is Jeff Gibson who took 1st overall in the race. Congrats to all who did this race today!

21+ in the bank......

2008-09-01T06:30:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a scheduled long run for Trey and I. We decided that a run from Signal to Suck Creek was in order since that's part of the Stump Jump 50K course. Cat came and ran out to Mushroom Rock with us and from there on out it was me, Trey and Sergio for the next 19 miles.

The day was humid and hot which made for miserable running conditions. On the way up Suck after the swinging bridge we saw a rather large toad ( http://wwknapp.home.mindspring.com/docs/american.toad.html ) and stopped to get his picture. What a cool creature..... Glad we didn't touch him.... he had poisionous glands!!! After crossing Suck Creek Road and venturing further up the mountain....we somehow missed the turn for Indian Rock House and went out of our way over a mile! Finally.... we were back on track and made it to the Indian Rock House despite some minor clearing of downed trees along the way. Once we had a bite to eat we headed back and moved rather fast in comparision to our run there. When we reached the stairs at Suck Creek Road we refueled with water that I had stashed the day before. We were all thankful that I had placed that water there too! Our trek back up Signal was aweful. Our legs were spent and we were all three unusually tired! I told Sergio that I had never felt so terrible.... not even during a 50K! It must have been the humidity and heat -OR- for me.... maybe it was the long bike ride my legs had on them from the day before?! Either way.... we sure were glad for this run to be over and the 21+ miles to be in the bank!

Enjoy the pictures!

A wet Wednesday night trail run.....

2008-08-27T17:54:00.000-07:00

This evening I met the group for a trail run on Signal. Since there weren't as many runners as usual we decided to go a little longer (1:45). We ran over to Suck Creek and back. I had forgotten how beautiful the those trails are as I've not been running there in a while. Even with the light rain, over cast skies, and the occassional unavoidable mud hole..... I fell in love with them all over again! Maybe I just love being in the woods.....

Thank god tomorrow is a rest day!.......

2008-08-24T10:52:00.000-07:00

My legs feel like someone took a baseball bat to them after the crazy things I've done over a 3 day period!

Nearly 18 miles on the trail today was quite an accomplishment considering how flat I've been feeling since yesterday morning. Thankfully I started getting stronger toward the end of the run and had enough gas to tough it out.... otherwise I'd still be out there on the side of the trail dead! We had a nice group today with Joey, Lucky and Sal taking off and running their usual "FAST" pace and then me, Trey, Sergio, Robyn, Sandy, Lisa, Leslie and Hope formed the second group. Later Lisa ended up dropping and joining up with Charlene and Nik for a shorter option and Robyn headed back at the East Overlook due to time constraints.

All and all it was a good training day and the weather really was great with overcast skies and sprinkles here and there!

River Gorge Road Race...

2008-08-23T17:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my thoughts from today:

1. This race course is absolutely BRUTAL with some MAJOR climbing involved.

2. The Vixens who have been racing regulary this year have made HUGE improvements and deserve to be recognized for their outstanding job and placement! Specifically Beth, Carol and Cecelia. Also.... kudos to Robyn for staying with the main pack and riding strong on her first ever road race! She will be a big threat to our competetion if she decides to do this more often in the future.

3. The decision for me to race was last minute and the first time I've been on my Road Bike since before Ironman as I've been riding the TT bike and mountain bike. Bad decision for me. Didn't fair out so well, but it made for a good training day.

4. I knew the race was going to be tough today as immediately after starting my legs were flat! Who knows why?! Maybe b/c I had a PR at my Triathlon last weekend? Maybe the hour run yesterday? Maybe just a bad day? Who knows.... I'm not beating myself up over anymore. I just appreciate the opportunity to race with my teammates and learn something new.

5. I think my teammates may have inspired me to try another road race in the near future...... after some running goals are achieved.

Patient Harry......

2008-08-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

Today I met Harry up on Raccoon Moutain for some mountian biking. Gotta love him.... he IS so patient to wait on me! While my skills have improved.... I was very nervous on parts of the trail up there as there are some pretty techincal spots involving big rocks! I only fell twice, but I must admit that I had to dismount 5-6 times. Maybe biking there more would improve my skills.... it worked out for me at Booker T that way. Anyways..... I'm not becoming pro anytime soon...... It's all for fun... right?

In other news.... I have signed up for a road race in town this weekend called River Gorge http://www.sceniccityvelo.com/content.php?id=rivergorge Yeah... I let Robyn talk me into it! : ) I'm really looking to ride this as a training ride. We'll see what happens and how I feel on Saturday.....

Ironman Cozumel... I'm signed up!.....

2008-08-19T07:22:00.000-07:00

Signed up last night! Race is on November 29th, 2009.

Tri Fall Creek Falls.....

2008-08-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

Today was my 2nd triathlon since IM Arizona.....Tri Fall Creek Falls (an event put on by Raceday Events). Cat and I decided to carpool up since we live so close and it was on my way too. I like this venue as the swim is in a lake, the bike is on rolling/hilly terrain, and the run is through woods in which you are running on a paved trail.

A race report is included below, but some of the highlights of the day were me biking a 1:08 bike split!, Cat finishing her first ever olympic distance triathlon!, Jim (one of my athletes) completing the race with a very respectable time even though he has been battling sickness all week, and getting to visit with all our friends before and after the race.

The Swim - The swim started off REALLY slow for me. I did not do a good job pysching myself out before the swim and payed for it during big time. The first 5-6 minutes I had a ton of trouble getting in a rythmn and at one point found myself doing the backstroke trying to cope with it! FINALLY..... I settled down and got my head in the game and all was well for the remainder of the swim. I probably lost 2-3 minutes overall here.

The Bike - The bike went EXTREMELY well for me today! Maybe it was due to my frustration about how the swim went down?! I had a PR and went 1:08! This bested my last best time of 1:12. For some strange reason it just seemed to be easier than normal on the hills. I got passed by no one.

The Run - I transistioned to the run fairly quickly and thought I may struggle here since the bike had gone so well, but again..... I felt great. Granted.... I'm not a super fast runner right now, but the run went well for me. I was passed by two females and 3 guys the entire time on the run course. At one point a sidestitch crept up and it nagged for a bit and went away..... this did not seem to affect my pace though.

Post Race - Michelle, Lance and I ran back to check on Cat. I decided taking Lance would provide eye candy to motivate Cat to keep moving and forget so much about the pain of it all! She still cussed me, but was a much nicer, gentler Cat in the process. Later she fessed up that the eye candy DID help! We waited on some other friends to cross the finish line and cut-up with everyone while waiting on results (which seemed to take forever). Once the awards were presented we found out that I took 2nd in my age group, Cat took 2nd in Athena, Lance placed 2nd in his age group, Jeff Gibson WON overall, and Michelle & her team won the women's relay! After the race we noticed a huge amount of the participants had a 2min penalty. The race director said it was because most everyone had shortcutted the course. Lance and I did not short cut the course, but were still penalized! What?! I didn't think it was worth arguing over. Good venue, good training day..... it's all good.... right?!

Two for Two.....

2008-08-16T11:34:00.001-07:00

This morning I met Michelle, Richard and Cat at Booker T for a mountain bike ride. Second mountain bike ride for the week! Michelle and Richard did one lap with us and Cat and I opted for a second lap. I swear.... I could ride that loop all day!... and probably would have done more if I did not have a triathlon tomorrow. Each time I muster up just a little bit more courage and thus..... am able to go faster. Both laps complete without unclipping once just like Thursday!

When I got home Trey took me and the boys to lunch and we came home and cleaned the play room. I had to take a picture of this since it's hardly EVER clean! As you can see Xian and Gage were already busy junking things up.

Wish me, Cat and Michelle good luck at Fall Creek Falls tomorrow!

Leaps and Bounds......

2008-08-14T19:05:00.001-07:00

Today I met Robyn and Sergio for a mountain bike ride at Booker T. We were like kids out there today taking every dip & downhill like we were 10 years old or something. Robyn's skills were impressive to me and as a result of that I had a personal record for my first lap trying to stay on her wheel! Beat my best time out there by over 6 minutes! Thanks Robyn for the motivation to go faster. When Sergio rolled in off the first lap he wondered if we had short cutted somehow since we were nowhere in his sight. Guess I got all wrapped up in the moment and was really focused on going faster and staying upright...... which I managed to do on BOTH laps! Each time I go out on the mountain bike I feel as if I am making huge strides. This sport does not come easy to me and I am thankful every time I learn to do something new out there!

A day with my boys.....

2008-08-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday was spent with Xian and Trey on our bikes! First we went to the Riverwalk and rode about 9 MILES with super Xian! The kid NEVER gets tired. Maybe I need to look into something in which he can focus some of this excessive amount of energy into. Swimming, running....something! During our ride we stopped and had lunch and then Xian rode bikes with some older boys and played on the playground. Once we were finished we headed up to Nonna and Poppy's so Xian could spend the night since I had to get up so early this morning to train a client.

After dropping Xian off.... Trey and I headed over to Booker T to get in some mountain biking! Trey says he was impressed that I've made such huge gains on the trail! In fact he rode behind me a good portion of it. Slowly... but surely... I'm getting the hang of it!

The Greenway 5 Mile Trail Race....

2008-08-11T18:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday I decided to enter my first running race since Ironman. Gosh..... it's been a long time. Definitely got me interested in racing again after doing this one. My competitive spirit started coming out about half way through the race! Wow..... glad to know it's still there... thought I had lost it or something there for a while. All of my friends were there including Michelle! She actually placed 3rd overall, but some girl shortcutted the course and cut Michelle out of an award....BOO! Joey place 3rd overall in the men's and even beat out Tom Sell! Way to go Joey!

After the race Michelle and I went on a bike ride with her dad and climbed up Suck Creek. It was an amazing day for riding and running as the morning felt a bit like Fall was in the air!

A NEW Ironman!

2008-08-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

Check this out! A new Ironman in Cozumel is set for November 29th, 2009! This is VERY tempting...... Uhhhmmmm.... two in one year? Is it possible?......

http://ironman.com/events/ironman/cozumel/ironman-adds-cozumel-to-its-growing-list-of-event-destinations

A HOT 15 on the trail.....

2008-08-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

So... we logged in another 15 today on the trail. This time we ran on Raccoon Mountain. We started out HOT and ended up even HOTTER! We had a very nice group for most of the run, but most everyone opted out for the shorter route.... including Trey! Yeah... he caught some crap for that! Those of us who finished the full Monty were me, Joey, Sergio, Heather, Mitch and Sandy. Kris and Randy will be headed out this week for their next 100 mile trail race near San Francisco. Good luck to you guys!

Enjoy the pictures! We parked at the Visitor's Center and I was able to snap a rather nice shot of the view from there once we returned from our run.

A day for the unexpected.....

2008-08-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

Saturday I planned to get up and ride with a group, but when the alarm sounded I decided that sleeping in was more important to me. I did think to myself..... "Okay... you are going to regret this.... you better go ride when you wake up and get in some time on the bike you big loser!". Once I got up and prepared myself breakfast and Trey was hounding me to get on out the door and get my ride over with. So.... off I went.... Down my street, turn right and I see something in the road. At first glance it appears to be a rather large insect in distress so I take a second look.... It's a freaking humming bird! Immediately my heart sinks and I HAVE to help the little guy. Apparently his wing is broken. I come home and we call the Nature Center.... They advise us to take him to the Zoo. A detour from my riding plans, but well worth saving this amazing creature's life. Hopefully the Zoo will be able to help this little guy out.

On the way back home we see a man (looks like Native American Indian) running across the Veteran's Bridge carrying some sort of tribal stick. We looked at each other and wondered what on earth he was doing and went on our merry way. Once home.... I mounted my bike and finally headed out on my seriously postponed ride. I decided to climb Suck Creek and had an incredibly nice ride to the top and back down. Once back on the road along the river.... I see the same dude running with the tribal stick!! I had to go ask him what he was running for. He told me they were relaying across the U.S. in honor of Native American Indians and he was from the Six Nations Tribe from Ontario. WOW... you never know who you might meet. The goal was to end up somewhere in South Dakota, but I didn't get all the details. There was actually a van of Indians driving behind him trading off for the relay. He did allow me to snap his picture. VERY COOL stuff!

Enjoy the very bizzare photos I took today.... One of the injured humming bird.... One of the dude running and some signs from my climb up the mountain. I couldn't resist snapping a shot my team's Adopt a Highway sign. It is nice to know that we do give back every now and then.

Fridays with Sergio.......

2008-08-03T19:24:00.000-07:00

So... the past couple of Fridays Sergio and I have been meeting up for some "secret" training. We've been riding our mountain bikes over at Booker T. This Friday started off a little slower due to the wet ground, some mud, slippery roots and slick rocks. I exercised a great deal of caution on the first loop, but by the second loop I was ready for the challenge. Embarassing enough.... I did wipe-out on the big uphill on the first lap as my rear wheel hit a slippery root and turned me over sideways. Needless to say I WAS NOT going to let that happen again and I cursed that uphill the second time around and kicked it's ass! Oh... and did I mention all the cobwebs that I cleared on the first loop as Sergio was behind me?! ICK..... I hate going throughn those. Other than the wreck.... I did not dismount at any point on the course. This is a BIG DEAL for me!

Once we were finished we went to the dam and got in a quick 30 minute swim. Ahhh.... the water was nice after a very hot ride in the woods! EVEN if it WAS lake water.