El Vaquero Loco 50K

This was during a 'training' run...I have been nursing injuries since June so my training consisted of 'lazy' runs where if I wanted to stop and take a break I did...or if I wanted to explore some random side trail I did that too....not a bad training regimen. My goal going into this run was to #1 ENJOY and #2 FEEL GOOD

 After a training run hike with my fun girls! They are the best supporters and I was SO excited that they were coming with me to Wyoming! 

 LOVE this race Hoodie! It is my favorite!!!! Had a lovely pot luck with all the HUMR friends and did a little rope swing pre-race soaking.... So much FUN.....

FIRST 25K-I was a Disney Princess for 4 hours

 Had a rainy night of restless sleep and woke up FREEZING! Made coffee and got my gear ready, I am pretty OCD about being prepared when going to high altitude because of a past experience at Squaw Peak 50 being caught empty handed in a lightening/hail storm. Walked down to the start with Skye and Wynter and pretty much gave the girls a hug and off we went. I did not study the race profile so that I would just enjoy the ride. Talked with Misty and Forrest a bit and then just focused on climbing. Caught up with Jim and drafted him all the way to the top of heaven. It was so beautiful and I felt good so I just took off on the downhill. I seriously felt like Pocahontas and "Just around the river bend" was  on repeat in my head for a large portion of the first half of the race. I had way too many thoughts to just stop build a shelter and explore for a week or two out there. I told myself to run as much as possible and hope my body cooperated, all my lazy runs must have paid off because I felt great all the way to the turnaround, pretty sure the scenery had a lot to do with it. It was great to see my girls helping out at the aid station and as usual Pam and Lane are the BEST!!! Had half a PBR and some snacks filled my water and was out of there...except I forgot my water bottle and had to turn around and go get it haha! 

SECOND 25K-Wild Flower Heaven

 I took time to take a few photos on the way back to the finish...felt pretty good but my tummy was starting to not feel so good, I experimented at this race and only drank water and only ate 'real' food which seemed to work great for me up to then, so thank goodness they had 'real' sugar Mtn Dew at the aid station where I was wishing they had some whiskey;) This helped settle my stomach a little. It was fun to see HUMR boys Aric, BJ and Ryan at the next few aid stations and bonus for me they were having their #BRE !!! It was nice to share some climbing pain with familiar faces. The waterfalls and streams were amazing and felt great on sore feet. I was and am always still in awe of nature and it's absolute grandness...I absolutely needed this time in the mountains so much and it was very healing for me mentally. The last 5 miles were hot and I was ready to be done and lie in Cottonwood Lake. Finished in 8:28 ish, met both my goals of enjoyment and my I felt great both mentally and physically! That was a seriously hard 50K

 Had the campground pretty much to ourselves and a hilarious girls night of poker using sticks, rocks and my leftover race candy! My 13 year old Wynter kicked our trash! The moon was beautiful and I slept fantastic.

RATINGS: Beauty=10 Toughness=8 Race Shirt=10 Me Post Race=10 (after a beer or two)

Simply the prettiest color I have ever seen. 

Beautiful Clouds

Bryce Canyon 50 Miler June 2014

Beautiful Trail Run/Walk 

with Friends and Nature

My goal this year was one, to get faster and also to enjoy every moment I happen to have out running both solo and on this particular run with friends who in the end don't know how much their companionship meant to me.

Beautiful Primrose on the trail...couldn't help but to stop and 'smell' the flowers

Bryce started at 6am and I was happy I did not have to get up super early. My awesome husband also got up and made me coffee pre-race!!! LOVE him!  Also, due to glamping accommodations (showers, pool, hot tub, store) at Ruby Inn was able to utilize real bathrooms before the shuttle to the start of the run.

Trees always amaze me with their age and beauty, this one was huge, old and beautiful.

Start of the race was amazing chatting with Debi Farka and enjoying feeling good and ready for a day on the trails.

Old water tank that I thought was really cool....was wishing it actually had water in it to get into at this point it was getting warm and I was dehydrated.

I was stunned by the beauty of the red rock and the sunrise of the morning....was hard to focus on running because I just wanted to look around. Lucky for me and those in front of me I did not tumble to my death...lol It was really fun to run a bit of this section behind Aric Manning who is always fun to be with on the trail. 

I felt great the first 18 miles of the race, just cruising and being happy to have the opportunity to run. Knew I was a bit dehydrated by mile 18...okay a lot but it was still early and I could try and catch up. Was eating well and so figured I would be fine. Thanks to a great HUMR crew I had everything I needed and encouragement to DRINK more...and after half of a deliciously cold PBR I was back to the trail.

Later in the race where you catch your breath because of how beautiful the Bryce area is.

This point  in the race is where things started to fall apart for me and also where I found Breein, then Forrest, then Misty and we all hung together until just before mile 40... and the anticipated HUMR aid station. I was having a serious knee issue and was having a really hard time running ANY downhill with efficiency but thanks to these 3 trail friends they kept me moving forward and kept me from feeling sorry for myself because we were all having issues at one time or another out there. Lesson for the future that helped immensely...fix what you can fix and just deal with what can't be fixed...i.e. nausea ....focused on fixing...meds....food....salt.....more water. Knee....couldn't be fixed so I just taped it and tried to endure the slow downhill. That was typically difficult for me because I LOVE the downhill and had such high expectations for myself at this particular run. So I focused on spending miles on the trail with friends and had fun talking about kids, running, adventures and also enjoyed the silence and scenery that was shared between the 4 of us HUMRS.
THANK YOU Forrest, Breein and Misty so much for keeping me out of a 20 mile pity party and making my day so enjoyable. I had to fall back in the last 14 ish' miles and pushed on with the Plain City Power Walk in my head....inside joke between Ryan and I but very effective when you can't run. Last 5 miles were spent with Mark from Boston on my heels and we helped each other push through the beauty to the finish, even hobble/running a little when the home stretch kicked in. It always amazes me out on the trails the people you meet and how silently you motivate one another to keep moving forward.
Finished in 14 hours 17 minutes....not the time I was hoping for, BUT my best 50 mile time to date! I am not a fast runner EVER but I realized that it is the people, the journey and the destination that make it worth the effort.

Random trail photo where I met two runners that both happened to be from Argentina and did not know each other. Thanks for snapping this shot to prove I was out there.

And this guy, couldn't do it without my #1 crew man, getting me to Bryce, hanging out and glamping at Ruby Inn and exploring/fishing before race day, visiting Bryce after and being my best friend.

Ryan McFarland doing what he does....

The Finish Line of Bryce 50 Miler...this is a very fake smile..I was sooooo happy to see Ryan and all the HUMRS  as this was a really challenging day for me and many others out on the trails.

RATINGS: Beauty = 10 Toughness = 8 Shwag  = 8 (loved the choices and my arm warmers are cool) Me Post Race = 5

The Ogden Marathon....I know....A road run.....

I had no intention of running this or any other road marathon EVER again. It was my first and said last road run....I believe that was about 4-5 years ago. BUT...never say never because sometimes things just fall into your lap and you believe that it is a good idea to do things for some unknown reason.
My Mom, who will most likely never read this blog....is an awesome lady...but sometimes does things that are a bit crazy. In 2013 she finished the marathon in the rain and was promptly taken in an ambulance to the hospital due to multiple issues.
In an act of defiance perhaps she signed up again despite protests from some of us in the family.....
Well on Mother's Day my mom, in tears told me she couldn't run because of a torn tendon/hamstring...... I immediately thought...I could run for her...

she did not like this at first

BUT.... persuasion and knowing I would get a good long training run in for Bryce... all cards (thx Dad) fell into place.

Then.... my Dad also informed me via my Mom that he had re-injured his back and could not run the half....my cute, crazy daughter Skye decided to run in his place...haha well this was going to be entertaining for all. Skye finished her first half with a great time and I eventually saw her at the finish of the marathon looking adorable and so happy she was there to meet me so I could hear how her race went!

The view I love looking down on Ogden Canyon.....

The view from the start of the marathon...... wowzer.... potty time took about 30 minutes........

It WAS a beautiful morning with a picture perfect sunrise and mountain views all down South Fork Canyon..

Pretty un-eventful run, felt great from the start due to coffee overload and chocolate, my fav pre-race food, good fueling and hydration throughout. I had no expectations as I was in it for the view and miles...just tried to keep a steady 10 min. pace and fuel according to my run next month. I will admit to my annoyances;  road runs are very different than trail....
Trash.... dump your water from your cup and put it in the correct bin
Clothes.... do you not realize someone has to pick up all of that crap... drop it where it is supposed to be dropped
Gels..... the packets are trash and you should not discard on the road....

Many more rants could be had but that is all ....

Overall...the Ogden Marathon is a great run....I saw a lot of love and heart out there on the road and I will admit to finding a bit of heart and maybe a few tears on that last mile when I knew my Mom would be there cheering and wishing she could be the one running... so I gave it hell and finished for my Mom....

So fun to see HUMR's at the end....

Ratings: Beauty: 8 Toughness: 7 Race Shirt: 8, my mom loved it! Me post race: 9 

BUFFALO RUN 50K

BUFFALO RUN 50 K 

I can't really remember when I decided I needed to run a race this early in the 'season' as I tend to focus 100% on weather and snowboarding throughout the winter. BUT...after pacing 82 year old Grant Holdaway last year for his attempt at the 100 mile distance I thought I needed to be a part of the island adventure. An added bonus is that for some strange phenomenon my husband decided he wanted to train and do the run too. It was really fun to train and run with my husband during the cold months leading up to race day.

Training went fairly well for us and despite being interrupted with multiple powder days and a three week sickness that plagued us during the most important weeks of adding mileage I felt ready to go. 

 Ryan and I on a training run on the island, loving the solitude and warm weather!

THE RACE-LAP 1

I felt better than expected on the first 25 K lap, loved seeing the 50 mile runners and all the HUMRS looked awesome. I ran pretty much the entire 1st lap except for a few switchbacks and was feeling strong heading back into Elephant Head Aid Station. Ryan and I decided to run our own race and not worry about each other ahead of time so I thought about how far ahead he was but didn't stress about it and hoped he was having a good first ultra experience. Kept up on nutrition and hydration with no issues and was thoroughly enjoying myself. Followed a cute girl from the left hand turn off and kept a pretty good pace around the island back to White Rock Bay/Start/Finish area. Was looking for Ryan assuming he was about 15-20 min. ahead of me and  coming out of the White Rock Aid Station was my hubby who was nice enough to go back to the aid station and then head back out with me. We were on our intended target time for our first lap right at 2:42...THEN....

LAP 2....

Ryan was having some major calf cramps and I was having an annoying hamstring issue so we walked a LOT the first 5 miles of lap 2...but started to pick up the pace as we got closer to Elephant Head...mind game for sure! It sucks knowing what you have ahead and wanting to go faster but feeling like you just can't speed up. Salt caps helped both of us and we continued lap 2 through the switch backs and back to the aid station. Took turns leading and following and the weirdest thing is we hardly said a word to each other (this is NOT normal). At one point he stated that "This F...**ing sucks" and I stated that I truly needed Heroin injected directly into my hamstring....that is about all that was said for the entire 2nd lap. By the time we got to the last 5 miles we decided to just finish together and pushed through until the finish. Not quite the time we wanted (6:41) but for an early race and Ryan's first race EVER I am happy with the result.

POST RACE

Had a great time cheering at the finish line with the HUMRS and it was inspiring to see so many people including Ryan finish various distances for the 1st time. We helped tear down and pack up the UHAUL and then set up the truck for a beautiful sunset and quiet night camping on the island. 

Sunset on the island

Post race...

As usual RACE RATINGS!
 Beauty=9 Toughness=6 Race Shirt=2 (sorry Jim, the stew rocked though) Me Post Race=9