My alter ego

You know I had a cool realization this morning. After a perfect greeting of hugs from my kids after getting home from my race in Colorado, it was off to bed. I woke up and it was back to normal. My normal is staggering out of bed, getting kids up for school, finishing homework we should have last week, making breakfast which is often cereal but today was pancakes, finding someone pants and someone else their backpack, then saying prayers and kissing them goodbye and settling in with the two girls still left at home. Visited with my awesome neighbor Amy, got the baby chicks back from her, got them new food and water and freed them in the backyard from their cold weather box prison. Changed a very stinky diaper and had a puzzle plopped on my lap to do with the baby. 

Then it hit me. I went up, over, and down 4 amazing 12,000+ foot passes in Colorado barely more than a day earlier. I went from dry dirt, beautiful leaves and streams, to snow dusted trail, then snow covered trees, then a full on gusty wind snow covered alpine tundra on top, and then back down, over and over again. I ran fast with a smile on my face from aid station to aid station where my husband was ready to hurry and pit stop me if you will, with new gels and food and clothing I'd need. I'd tell the aid station my bib number so they could update the results friends at home may be watching with my progress.  I had a picture taken while running in 7th and was asked how to spell my name at an aid station so she could put it on iRunFar, a running website.  I felt like a rock star. I ran along side (well behind but not by too far) some the best runners in the world and pushed my body to it's limit. My pacer Zac and I spoke of everything while we were running the last 30 miles together, including my kids, but that time was all about seeing how well we could get me through that race. It's like I'm living a whole different life sometimes.

And then I woke up this morning and got back to what I realized today is my real life. My family. 

Sometimes I mesh racing/training and family as one, but it really isn't. I am a wife and mom first and Iove it!  I just get to have a pretty freaking cool alternate life on the side sometimes. Now if you'll excuse me I'm sure there's some mess to clean and a little voice hollering for me :)

My first Xterra!

I've wanted to do Xterra (off road triathlon) for a few years now but life has come up and mostly, I was not ready for the mountain bike.  I wasn't exactly perfectly ready this year, but I took the mountain bike out a few times close to home and rode most of the course a couple times.  I have probably been on a mountain bike a dozen times, max.  I'm using a line from friend Heath Thurston who put it well.  I wanted to 'not wreck, and not cause one'.  I was worried about holding people back (the thought of needing to pass people on the bike really didn't cross my mind) or falling over or something on this mostly single track trail course.  Oh and let me tell you about my mountain bike.  All aluminum, entry level components, bike bell for leading at IMSG, cage pedals, and even a trusty kickstand.  yes, a kickstand.  I bought it used a few years ago for $100 from a teenage girl who wanted to go to dance camp instead.  So while not at all idea, it basically got the job done and that's what I trained on. It's heavy, doesn't have rear shocks which makes you feel like you're bouncing around a little, the chain was starting to rattle which worried me it was coming loose, and the normal pedals were rubbing rocks and the side of the trail sometimes.  Anyway, a friend from Park City graciously offered me his very nice full suspension carbon bike to use for the race if I wanted.  I don't like trying new things on race day, but this sounded pretty nice.  I put my speedplay pedals on it since it wasn't worthy of cages, tried it out Friday night and after much deliberation decided to go for it.  I stressed in T1 before the race that I had made the wrong decision and felt like I was cheating on my bike, but it was a sweet ride!  Oh yes, and one more sentance before this paragraph runs on way too long.  My husband is traveling this week (and most weeks this fall) so I had to take kids to a friends house close to the race.  They got home from school and just wanted to relax and play with friends for a minute but eventually I wrangled them into the car....late.  My phone said the drive would take 1:20 to get up there, I had 1:15 until registration closed.  AHHHHH!  I stressed completely the whole entire drive especially when hitting rush hour traffic several times.  I called people up in Ogden to see if they could go in to register me but everyone was busy so kids and I just crossed fingers and prayed.  I pulled into the park parking lot 5 minutes after closing and RAN to the tent and by the skin of my teeth registered, the very last person.  Whew!  The kids were so cute with their nervous faces, asking me when I came back if I made it - I threw my hands up in the air and they cheered  :)

ANYWAY, lets move on, sorry.  I'll try to keep the rest brief although I do want to remember a lot of details for this virgin race.  Parked at the trail a mile or two before the swim to test out the nice mountain bike one more time about 6:30am and just decided to go for it.  Dropped that bike off in T1 at Pineview Reservoir about 7am.  Drove up to T2 and the finish at Snowbasin ski resort and gathered my swim stuff for the bus and dropped off my shoes in T2 and climbed on a bus the annoying naggy announced lady kept bugging people to get on (we still had 20 more minutes to catch a bus mind you).  Got back down to the lake, got marked with Xterra's big fat black number stamps which interestingly they put on the front of your arm, not side like I'm used to.  My nice number lady also put my 30 on backwards so I was E0.  Some guy later said it was backwards because I was protesting turning 30.  I like that logic but I'm ok with it  :)  Pro's cannon went off while I was getting ready and I eventually wandered down to the water to talk with Heath's wife who was saying the swim was very long today.  Didn't bother me any, I seem to do well on the swim lately despite not training for it this summer.  So there are 3 races at this race, the National Championship for the Pro's and age groupers, the same 'olympic' distance anyone can enter without qualifying, and the 'sprint' or sport as was the name yesterday which was shorter than the longer course.  A 1000 yard-ish swim, 12 mile mtn bike, 3.6 mile run.  I chose the sport because I didn't want to get in over my head and was worried about too many mountain bikes behind me that would have to pass and I didn't want to stress about being in their way. Well my wave was standing in the water for a good 15 minutes ready to go when they finally hollered over to us it would be another 15 min or so till we started.  What??  I had to get back down and get my kids and any delay worried me.  Kind of annoying, I just wish they'd have used their chatty swim exit announcer to tell us what was going on.

Swim - 20:34 Start was choppier than usual, I guess I don't usually start with men though.  A lot that went out too fast held it longer than usual but I eventually got some space although I did swim alongside the same guy the whole time.  Water was a bit choppy/wavy which I like.  Sighting was good.  Thank goodness I brought my Sable goggles this time.  Worth the $.   Great feeling swim, finished strong, first female out.

T1 - Definately longer than usual.  Weird to put on bike gloves and a hydration vest (since I don't have much time to take a hand off the handlebars with a mtn bike.  Also never use socks but did today incase any rocks got in my shoe, can't have any blisters going into the UROC 100K this weekend.

Bike - 1:35.31 Flat first mile or so on the shoulder of the road to get to the trail.  Dropped my gel - darn it!  I like calories and don't like littering, at all!  The initial trail worried me.  It's a steeper long climb, has big rocks, and I'd had trouble with it before.  Thankfully it is wide to give people room to move around when there's more of us, but I was still worried.  And while shifting early on my chain got jammed.  Awesome.  I didn't fall over when the bike locked up though, that was nice.  Climbed off and spent a few minutes pulling on it to get it back on but it worked thankfully.  Was just behind this guy that got locked up on his bike, fell over to the side and then rolled head over hills twice down the hill to the river - ahh!  I stopped and unclipped worried about him but he got back up embarrassed it happened, and worse yet in front of a woman and didn't say much.  I had to run my bike up a bit to be able to get on it again.  Climbed off and ran one more section that I hadn't gotten up before.  Embarrassing since others could do it, but oh well.  From there I was surprised to see I was making good time and needing to pass people while going uphill which went ok, you just have to wait for a little bit of space and then zoom by quickly with an "on your right/left".  We came to a long downhill section that I had done pretty well on before, but the pressure of people behind me coming up fast got to me and I held back a little.  Got passed a lot actually but most were very gracious about it and I tried to be good too about moving over as much as I could when I could.  Was excited to finally get done with it and make the left onto the rest of the trail that would be mainly uphill.  I managed to pass all the women that passed me and I'm pretty sure most of the men.  Happy about that.  I was a wuss and walked my bike down some steps to a bridge after zooming ahead so no one would see me :)  Took my remaining gel where I planned and drained my water and finished up the last section of the bike.  It really went better than I had planned other than the downhill section.  Loved that I had good control and power going up and flat.  These ultrarunning legs are strong.  Managed 3rd woman on the bike.

T2 - Not much to speak of except it stinks to have to tie shoes.  I wore the Altra Superior 1.5 that isn't out yet and I just didn't have time to go buy new elastic laces.  Tieing them isn't a big deal, just takes time, although my left hip flexor cramped bad while I was bent over to tie them.  Glad that didn't stay.

Run - 31:52 The first half of this run was very uphill, as in enough I redlined where I ran, and resorted to powerhiking some - on a 5k.  I passed a few ladies by mile 1, not sure which race they were all in.  We turned at where the 5k and 10k split and I saw one more lady up in front of me, so she must have been in my race.  It was hard to have to powerhike a little knowing that doesn't make up much time, but eventually right before we connected again to the 10k to go downhill on singletrack, I made the pass.  From there I ran fast, no holding back on that twisty switchbacky downhill.  I never looked back, I don't like to, but I figured if I run my fastest downhill, it would take a lot to catch me.  Fatigue didn't show up until the last 1/4 mile when I could feel my legs give more on the technical downhill but I still ran strong.  Felt great to open up the stride long.  The run was really hot, did I mention that?  That first half up up up in the exposed heat was rough.  The finish line is very downhill and that's a little hard, but I made it in HAPPY!  Fastest women's run by 4 minutes, only a few men faster.

Sorry buddy, it's just business  :)

I had SO much fun (while redlining) on the run!

2:27.57 for a sprint.  Yeah.  Welcome to Xterra  :)  I was shocked and excited to have WON!  Yes it was the shorter race, not the championship, but I did not at all come in looking to do so, I just wanted to survive the bike and experience Xterra.  And experience I did!  It was hard, I was breathing hard the whole time, required so much more, almost constant, mental focus, the technical skills need it are great and I've definitely got room to improve, but I am so happy with how my body did!
I can't say with certainty right now that this is the direction of tris I'll go in, but I will definitely do more and would love to see if I could qualify to race in the championship race next year.  All the races require travel out of state except one in Moab which is tough, but we'll see what we can do.  Loved the experience and all it's challenges!   

Didn't love the hours it took to get my T1 bag and wait around for awards though when I needed to get my kids.  They didn't

do overall awards which was a bummer but I got an un-engraved generic age group medal (that wasn't specific to the event) and a small bag of Paul Mitchell shampoo and conditioner.... I'm always grateful for anything and it wasn't about the prizes, I raced an awesome race, but when I'm hours late getting my kids because they start and delay awards and won't mail them, I kind of expect them to be something worth waiting for.  Done complaining now that I look like a spoiled brat.  I promise I'm not, was just surprised certain parts of a championship event weren't managed better.  I mean between getting there early, starting late, and waiting through the award delays, I spent 9 hours on site for a 2.5 hour event.  Done complaining, I don't want this post to end negative, I had a great time and the race itself was very well organized and fun!

1st Xterra was hard, fun, and done!

Xterra! Highlight video

A highlight video of the pros yesterday, gives you an idea of the fun I had!


2013 XTERRA USA Championship from XTERRA TV on Vimeo.

I'm published! Pregnancy fitness

I wrote an article about pregnancy fitness for a mothering website, What to Expect.   

Check it out!

I will post a more in depth version of it in the future.

Katchina Mosa 100k gear

They aren't stuff per say, but I really liked this picture my friend Jen took I just came upon 

Man I need to catch up.  This summer has been full of fun cool things.  But I want to finish the Katchina posts.  Here's all the stuff involved

I had 3 drop bags, used fabric string backpacks, and packed various 'stuff' in each, but put all the nutrition I knew had to come out for sure to replenish my pack, in a quart size zip lock bag.  I liked that, not fishing through clothing and other maybe gear to get to the stuff I had to have.   Also decided to pack any liquids like sunscreen in zip locks.  So here's the run down

New shorts from Ross, $12.  Pink, polka dots, roomy liner felt like I had nothing on.  Deal
White Altra shirt.  Don't normally wear sleeves to race and had an extra tank packed, but never decided to go with it, kind of liked having my shoulders covered from the sun and any pack chafing for a race that long though
New Moving Comfort Urban X-Over sports bra I got now that the girls are they're at their most deflated smallest, so cute, no chafing, had only worn it for 3 miles previously.  Awesome.
North Face hat.  Don't normally wear hats, haven't worn visors consistanly really because I don't like feeling the bad on my ear so went with a hat since it can't slide down.  I did buckle it against my chest under my pack a lot when I wanted sunglasses only which looked funny but worked better than pulling my pack on and off
Had sunglasses on the whole time, but don't remember what brand, nothing fancy.  I have been trying to wear sunglasses all the time though, I have bad squint/frown lines at too young an age
Wore these cool new SLStri pretty purple compression socks.  Usually wear CEP.  Really liked these new ones I'm testing.  No chafing, foot issues, leg issues and they're just really cute.  My calves never did get very tired.
Altra Lone Peak 1.5 trail shoes from the beginning to mile 54 I believe when I changed into my Torins hoping the extra cushion would help my throbbing feet.  It helped a little but I think it was just all the uneven big cobblestone style rock that worked my feet over.

Wore my Nathan Vaporshape pack the whole race.  Packed and considered my Ultraspire, but liked the side pockets of the Nathan to hold my 2 bags of pills.  No issues with the pack.  Like it a lot

ViFuel Gel.  Consumed about 16, 1 every 40 minutes with a Gu every couple hours in between.  They work great and I love them a lot.  Peach cobbler is the best flavor followed by vanilla in my opinion.  They are thin so go down well and have about 10mg of caffeine which is a great amount for steady energy and digestion.
Gu Rocktane or other caffeinated Gu.  I don't love Gu brand, it's thick and can be tricky with my stomach, but I can tolerate them in moderation.  I had 1 Gu every 2:00-2:40 for the caffeine.
EFS Liquid Shot, vanilla - felt like I might want a change and the added electrolytes so picked this up at Little Valley around mile 38 and had it until 54.
Coke - love coke.  In races, I hardly drink it out of races.  Filled my soft flask with it starting at Windy Pass which was almost half way at around 28 miles.  I'd drink a cup at aid stations and sip on my flask.  I like the stomach settling and caffeine.
Honestly didn't do a ton of solid food.  I had bars in my pack and has 2 Kashi chocolate coconut bars I guess, a couple Honey Stinger Waffles, ate a couple small cooked potatoes, some watermelon and a half a PB&J, but don't recall eating much food food.  I did and do well on gel.  I tried some Honey Stinger chews and they may have made me nauseous, it could have not been them though and just that time in the race.  I've never had issues with them before.

Metasalt electrolytes.  Probably consumed 18 pills?  Would take 1 on the hour every hour, sometimes more if needed and once or twice I opened one into my mouth for faster absorption.  Tastes horrible that way!
Sport Legs.  To combat lactic acid accumulation. True my lack of anaerobic pace doesn't yield lactic acid, but I still think they work.  Funny website.  Took about 18 also.  2 one hour before then 2 every 2 hours on the even hours.
Tissue Rejuvenator.  In an effort to keep inflammation down I've been taking these pills in big doses morning and night when my knees start complaining, but heard you can take them slowly during long runs/races.  I took 1 every other hour on the odd hours when I wasn't taking Sport Legs.
Ibuprofen.  Took 1 (200mg) around half way I think, and 2 (400mg) about 5 hours later, with about 3 hours to go in the race.
Packed Tums for cramping, Pepto pills for stomach issues and blister stuff and first aid but thankfully needed none

Used a spray sunscreen that was nice so I didn't have to get my hands sticky, used a sunscreen stick for my face and spf chapstick when times got tough :)

Katchina Mosa 100k - The details

Katchina Mosa 100k.  Long post ahead.  It was a long day.  Lots of details.  Picture post below.  Nutrition and gear post to follow in a few days. 

Edited to add: I feel like I should give those not familiar with ultrarunning a littke idea of how it works. No I am not running 5k pace for 62 miles. I settled into a nice steady 10ish minute mile that I could trot along at for most of the race. Sometimes it was faster if I was feeling good or on a a downhill, sometimes it's a powerhike when things get steep. Trick is just to keep moving and enjoy the time and sights. 

3am start was new to me.  Got to bed late and only got about 2 hours of sleep.  I got there about 2:30am, dropped my 3 drop bags off with supplies I'd need later  in the race.  The race was supposed to start at 4:00 sharp so I walked up the hill at 3:55 and off they went about 100 yards in front of me.  Oh well.  Plenty of time to catch up :)

Running the first 2 miles north on the left fork of Hobblecreek Canyon on the road up to the dirt road we'd spend the next 14 miles on was calm and dark and quiet under a stary sky but I talked with a few people I knew including Altra coworker Brian Beckstead who kept drilling into me that I must take the first half easy, easier than I think as to not blow up.  I kept that in my mind and it was actually comforting to know it was ok to take it easy those first hours.  Before getting onto the road we ran by a field where I saw lots of glowing eyes.  Turned out to be a big herd of elk, pretty cool.

So up we went for several miles, met a new friend Dan I would be running most of the day with turned out.  We eventually crested the canyon and could see the valley below us.  I thought I knew where we were but my bearings were off.  No big deal, I was only going off of time and aid station time goals I got from the great Davy Crockett from his 2006 Katchina.  SO helpful to know about what to look for for my 16:something goal.

Got to aid station 1, 1:50, 9 minutes behind Davy but no big deal, a very early part of the day.  Still dark by the time we got there and it was neat to see a tiny white light off in the distance to run toward.  I left alone as Dan had made a stop earlier but he soon caught up.  As we headed off toward Rock Canyon it finally started getting light and the trail a little easier to run since previous to that it had been super rocky dirt road, always jumping around to find a new somewhat smoother line.  This was the longest rockiest dirt road I had ever run....so far.  Was so beautiful when the sun came up running through a forest of pines.  Into aid station 2 I was 20 minutes back at 2:55.  Into aid station 3, 3:32, I was 27 minutes off Davy's running time, but 13 minutes ahead of his goal time.  Finally time to start heading up Rock Canyon toward Lightning Ridge.  After 15 miles of rocky dirt road it was so nice to be off the real rocky stuff and onto real trail (singletrack dirt, yes I'm a purist).  I kept Brian's words in my head but know I'm a good climber and wanted to keep closer to Davy's times so I probably moved a little faster than I needed to.  Felt good to pass people though, even if many passed me back on the downhill later on.  This trail is beautiful, heading up into a meadow and looking up at the beautiful mountains and sun rising above them.  Was so enjoying the quiet and peace that is a high mountain trail when it was rudely interrupted by 2 dirt bikes.  I couldn't believe they were really coming up this trail.  This was the most beautiful part of the whole course.  Couldn't they have ridden down on the dirt road we spent so long on?  It is so high and narrow and beautiful and quiet up by Lightning Ridge and yes legally they could be there, but the noise was such an interruption to nature, not to mention all the abuse they did to the trail, loosening up all the soil, ripping up plants in some places.  I gave them some grumpy looks when I had to pull over twice to let them by.  We had some choice words for each other a few miles later as they sat in the middle of the trail just past a turn I had to make, something about how I needed to share the trail and my shoes did as much abuse to the trail as their gasoline powered dirt bikes.......right.  SO happy to be rid of them but I had to consciously tell myself to not think about them or my anger toward them, I even prayed for a clear mind from them.  It wasn't going to help me at all and I don't need to be prideful or ornery either.  So that is the last I will mention of them.

I got the top of the ridge at 4:45, 25 minutes behind Davy, but about 10 minutes faster than he did.  Had he been next to me his probably would have toasted that 10 minutes heading down into the Big Springs aid station.  It was steep and loose in places, I have been working on my downhill but this was still pretty challenging for me and I had a couple people I had passed on the up, pass me here.  Bummer.  I tried to let gravity take me and not put the brakes on at all, I can feel it in my knees when I do.  Finally getting in to Aid 4, 5:35 at Big Springs I was 10 minutes behind Davy's goal time.  Ugh.  This was my first drop bag and I moved through it as quick as I could, but it still felt like it took a while to get out of that aid station.  I stuffed like 8 gels in, left my headlamp, put my arm warmers in my pack, refilled the pack with water, sunscreened up a lot since it was warming up a lot and I didn't want to fry my stomach and back again if my shirt came off like I did in my 50.  Finally got out of there and it really did warm up.  I had a bit of a rough section from here until Windy Pass.  Just felt like it took forever, climbed forever, my legs acted tired.  I swore I kept hearing women behind me too and I didn't  want to get passed.  I think they were actually a couple of hikers in front of me.  I didn't see 1 other runner in the 2 hours it took me to get between aid stations.  I got the music out for this section.  I was 15 minutes off Davy's goal time at Aid 5, 7:40 and 40 minutes behind his actual running time.  Double ugh.  My goal wasn't super firm in that this was my first 100k so I wouldn't be super angry if I didn't get it, but I also didn't want this to take all day.  That aid station was great, the Addict 2 Athlete crew were great!  I grabbed my first flask of coke and a half a PB&J sandwich.  I saw Dan there but he left before I did.  The ridge line running for the next mile or two after this aid station was neat and a nice break to get to run again.

The next section did seem long at times but not as bad as the last until the very end when I'd caught up with Dan again and thought we were were almost there when we really weren't.  I copied the race director's very detailed course description onto my phone so I had an idea of what was coming or where I was.  Turns out 1 sentence doesn't always mean you're not an hour away from the next sentence  :)  I was very much looking forward to getting to Little Valley because I was running low on water in my pack and other supplies, getting hungry for food, thought of it as my over the halfway point since it was 38 of the 62 I'd run that day, but mostly it was because my family would be there.  After finally getting to that switchback we'd been looking for for a while and realizing it was indeed the right one that was close to the aid station, passed by a trickling spring I tried to drink out of.  I could finally see the tops of some cars off in the distance and I was finally there.  30 minutes behind goal time into Aid 6, 9:57 at Little Valley.  Jer and the kids were up the road ready and waiting for me.  Was SO happy to see them!  I handed my pack off to Jer to repack with my 2nd drop bag and I ran with only my flask of water on the 1.3 mile out and back we had to do there.  When I got back I sat down (*gasp!*) and enjoyed my family for a second before heading out.  They gave me a coke, wet washcloth to wipe down with, we put new sunscreen on, a wet shirt, new insoles in my shoes as my feet were getting tired.  30 minutes later, whoops, I left.  After I got stung by a bee.  Ouch.  I was leaving at least 45 minutes behind goal pace and I had Jer let my friend and pacer Zac know so he could leave later.

Wow, it was nice knowing we had less than a marathon left, but the next almost 20 miles were so long and boring and arduous.  Gone were the beautiful vistas and smooth trail.  It was back to big rock bumpy dirt road sometimes with such deep ruts you were jumping all over the place, there was no easy running.  I caught up to Dan after a several mile climb which I was grateful for because I hadn't seen anyone in those miles or any flagging and was a little concerned I wasn't going the right way.  The sky was looking grumbly and I thought we'd get rained on but it held off.  According to Davy's goal, the next section was a long one, 3 hours before another aid station.  Turns out we either made good time or this is where Davy's day got hard.  I knew in advance that he walked the last 18 or so miles at 4 miles/hour so if I could close to back on pace and my body too cooperated I could still get that goal time.  Well, Dan and I rolled into Aid 7, Bathtub, 1 minute under goal pace at 12:06!  I couldn't believe we were back on pace, yes!  We were a little slower after this aid station, I wanted to see the bathtub that turned out to be a dirty broken cow trough bath tub and Dan had to run back for his bag, but off we went.  We walked so much of the next section.  He was starting to have asthma troubles and at this point about 45 miles in, the area around my bunions hurt so badly.  It hurt worse when we walked ironically, but he was having trouble breathing and I honestly just didn't have the go energy really and was starting to get a little grumpy.  I stayed on top of my nutrition, but this was probably one of my 3 bigger lulls in the day.  It was a lot of climbing too.  We just took it as we could.  This was another section where we were waiting for the "small rise" before the aid station we knew was coming according to the description I had.  We must have gone over a million "small rises" thinking that was it. The road was rough and we were both suffering some and you'd think I would just look at my watch and know that we were not close to the aid station based on our time, but it can still get to you.  We rolled into Dry Fork Aid 8 finally at 13:50, 14 minutes ahead of schedule.  That was great yes, although I was concerned Zac may not even get to my in time now that I'm not 45 minutes late.  I changed from my Lone Peaks to Torins knowing we had 6 miles of road coming eventually and hoping the extra cushion would help my feet.  It helped a little.  For a few miles.  We left that aid station with the warning there was a mother and baby bear down the trail a bit.  We looked at each other and agreed we'd be running together  :)

Never did see any bears, but we sure hollered out loud as to alert them to our presence if they were around.  You don't want to get in between a mama and her baby.  So after we left that Dry Fork aid station I was concerned Zac could still come, but not even reach me till close to the finish and it's a 90 minute drive for him.  I wished I hadn't told Jer I was so behind schedule, I mean I was 45 minutes back, I guess I could have done the math and realized I could probably make it up, but I didn't really think I could.  I was supposed to meet Zac at Dry Fork but we left without him.  About 3 miles down the trail from the aid station I spotted the shirtless wonder (Zac hardly ever wears a shirt).  I had made a good friend in Dan who I felt interestingly bonded with since we'd been through 50+ miles together, but it was so nice to run into Zac and get a nice big hug.  He was full of enthusiasm and helped us carry on  down the trail that would eventually let out at the road at mile 56.  It felt like it took a while but I was running strong once I got to Zac and it felt great!  Yes my feet hurt but my legs felt great, no hip tightness or fatigue or lead legs.  We got into the last aid station, 9 at 14:48, 17 minutes ahead of goal pace.  I was excited to see 14 something, that meant I could go under 16!  I needed to eat and Zac tried to push me to, but I wasn't in the mood anymore, was actually nauseous which was either from the First Endurance Liquid Shot gel I switched to after Little Valley, some Honey Stinger chews I was playing around with, or just being that far into the day.  Nothing sounded good and I really didn't feel like anything, I think it felt so close I just didn't want to follow the plan anymore, I was almost done.  In hindsight I should have taken another gel.  That 6 miles on the road felt like an eternity.  You'd think that would go by so fast after being out for 15 hours, but I kept looking at my watch every couple minutes, ugh.  My feet still hurt badly at my bunions, legs were ok, but my mind was just ready to be done.  I feel bad.  I was grumpy and ornery with Zac and I regret that.  He was just trying to help and I kept complaining.  I kept thinking I needed to run off into the bushes which I did twice and of course nothing happened.  Frustrating.  We ran out of water with a couple miles to go so faithful Zac ran off the road to the river and filled his bottle.  I think that was the first time I've drank from a stream unfiltered but we figured we were close enough to the finish I wouldn't feel any effects till after :)  After moaning and complaining for an hour, we finally got the the finish.  My family was there waiting (I was concerned they might not be since I was ahead of schedule now) and ran with me with Zac on the side through the finish line.  I did it!  15:47!  5th place woman.  I sat right down on the finish line.  Not out of exhaustion, mostly out of humor but my feet were really happy to rest too.  My theory is the road was so rocky for so much of the race, that my feet were just fatigued and beat up.  I generally run pretty smooth trail with big rocks like that only mixed in sometimes.  Hopefully I can get a grip on that to prepare myself for a 100 next year.

I finished and was happy but not as excited as I had hoped.  Was it not epic enough for me?  It was the farthest I'd ever run and I did it!  It's one of the hardest courses in the country and my feet hurt so badly, but I wasn't trashed, wasted, did I need to feel like that to feel like I really did something amazing?  I don't know but I don't like finishing like that.  I really think all my complaining that last hour hurt my immediate post race high.  A few weeks later I am happy with the race.  I would have liked to walk less and complain less, and I spent a bit too long at some aid stations and taking pictures, but those are actually good things.  I can correct those next year and have an even better race.  I'll know my surroundings and I imagine it will go quicker or at least more predictable.  I'm very grateful for Davy and his excellent blogging.  His report helped me immensely.  I'm grateful for Zac for driving down and running that last 8 with me. It was hard but his hug and positivity and company was necessary and helpful.  And I am so very grateful for my husband Jeremy and my kids.  They were perfect that day.  Not whiny or complaining about how long it was all taking or anything.  They are my team and I couldn't do this without them.

100k, 17,000 feet of elevation gain, most of that in the first 30 miles.  62 miles, not a whole lot of flat, not a whole lot of smooth dirt, but I finished strong in 15:47 when all I wanted was 16:00-16:59.  No real nutrition issues to speak of which is a huge accomplishment, and not a lot of muscle fatigue.  Perfect cooler weather most of the day and beautiful scenery.  Done!

Katchina Mosa 100k photo tour

3am and up the road 2 miles we go before getting on to the dirt road we'd run for the next 16 miles until getting into Rock Canyon. It was a quiet but friendly time around other racers before we eventually would end up spending most of our days alone on this long course 

Race Director John Bozung driving up to check on us

 Yes this doesn't look like much but see that tiny white light off in the distance?  It was aid station 1 and was neat to see from a distance and run to

Ahh, finally light. Running down the road around mile 14 with new friends Stephanie the geologist from Texas and Dan my new vascular surgeon friend whom I'd spend a lot of the day with

My first race potatoe, well, the last bite I held just for this pic. No I wasn't as crazy as I look at that point. Heading up on trail now toward Lightning ridge 

 Ran through lots of meadows yesterday, this one was below Lightning Ridge

I LOVE being high up in the mountains!

The top of Lightning Ridge, probably my favorite scenery pic of the day. 4.5 hours in, so beautiful

Rock Canyon and Utah County below

Dropping down toward Big Springs. This stuff beats the pants off road running any day

Where I'd be headed to run the top of in a while. This was after big springs headed toward slate canyon with Windy pass up here somewhere. That was a long climby section

Finally to the next aid station at Windy Pass with my coke. Sweet sweet coke. Waited till then to get my soft flask out to put coke in, knew I'd drink a lot for a little caffeine and to settle my stomach, so put it off as long as I could. 

Climbing to the high point after Windy Pass

Plenty of mountains below. On top of Windy looking north I believe. Timp is on the very left of this pic

Halfway point mileage wise, 31 miles on a ridge between Windy and Little Valley looking east. Was feeling great then

And then it got hot, really hot heading into Little Valley. I'm drinking a trickle of a spring coming out of this pipe

Finally rounding the corner to see my family at Little Valley. I had a great burst of speed for the last 3 miles or so, anxious to get to the aid station and my family. 

SO excited to see them, couldn't wait to hug them all!

Excuse the butt shot but look at little Ella's arms outstretched!

My sweet baby. Love her hugs

Had to do a short 1.3 mile out and back here. Was nice to hand my pack to my husband and run a little lighter while he restocked it

This was a main aid station for me. Jer helped me switch insoles in my shoes for some new cushion, 

I wiped everything off with a nice wet washcloth and reapplied sunscreen everywhere. Added new nutrition to my pack and ate a little while I was there. My kids were so sweet and helpful. 

They say you should never sit down at an aid station but I was so happy to see my family I took the extra time, probably too much but it was a great break!

Stopped taking many pics after Little Valley. Things were getting harder now and I needed more focus on keeping moving. This was the cattle trough bathtub after the bathtub aid station. I was envisioning a pretty claw foot tub, but this would do

My faithful friend Zac who came to run the last eternity...I mean 9 miles with me. Thanks Zac!

An eternity, I told you.  My body revolted a little and I made a few unproductive runs in to the bushes.  

And finally, finally the finish line came!  I love this picture so much that my friend Jen took

Mostly to be funny, I sat down right on the finish line the second I finished. Although my feet appreciated it, my legs felt great actually. I love this picture too because of the hugs it shows I got swarmed with. My kids have started complaining about coming to races, and that's ok, I do a lot of races alone as to not drag them along, but they were SO sweet to me at the aid station and the finish line!  Really made my day!

My ultimate support!  He is such a great guy, a great husband, father, and friend

I came home to an awesome dirt/tan line from the protective knee taping I had done,

and this super sweet sign an anonymous neighbor posted on our door.  We live in a great place!

A long, tiring, feet so sore day. But I did it and it was beautiful and epic and I am proud!

My first 100k tomorrow!

I know, late notice, I have been toying with this race all summer but just committed this week. The race is called Katchina Mosa 100k Mountain Challenge Run. It takes place in the mountains between Hobblecreek Canyon in Springville and almost Provo Canyon in Orem. It has 13,000 ft of climbing, can be hot and exposed, and is one of the hardest courses in the country. It starts at 3am and my goal is to finish between 6 and 7pm, in the 16 hour range, for a cooperative body, and to not feel totally horrible at any point during the race. Yes I'm likely to bonk at some point, at least once, but the race is long enough to give me time to unbonk. Just have to exercise patience tomorrow. Yes I know how crazy this sounds. Happy trails!

(http://www.squawpeak50.com/100kmstr.htm)

Daybreak Tri

I have done the Daybreak Tri from it's beginning.  Let's see if I can walk down memory lane correctly. First year 2009 was my first race back after breaking my foot.  I won the 75 yard pool swim Sprint (bad water quality) and I was very excited and surprised.  I met Jameson King and got introduced to my sweet family at the late Powertri.  2010 was right after Ironman St George, water was very cold, but not IMSG cold.  My parents and mother and sister in law came, I won again.  2011 was my 3rd go at the race and in their 3rd year I thought it would be fun to win my 3rd Daybreak to go along with the 3 themed shirt.  I did, newly pregnant with our baby girl Ella.  Loved the new point to point swim under the bridge.  So come this year I decided last minute to jump in because it sounded fun.  I seriously have not been tri training.  Tried to ride on the trainer for a few weeks but I think I have transitioned my muscles so much to running that they aren't used to multisport balance and it's locking up a muscle in the back of my knee.  Grrr.  And I hadn't swam because I am lazy and just didn't make the time.  In the last 9 months I'd probably swam 8 times and ridden maybe a dozen.  So I truly went in to this curious to see how my body would do, without the expectation of winning.  In fact, that's a big reason I signed up for olympic because I figured if I was going to lose, I was going to really lose and not tarnish my 3 sprint win streak.  My husband confirmed my thought that it's ok to go out and have a fast training day if you just can't push hard enough to race out there.

Had the opportunity to swim the course that week with a small group just to check on the water and depths and such.  Was fun and the water was a little chilly, but nothing that froze my face.  I felt ok during the swim, not amazing, but not too bad.  Hadn't spent any time biking those roads, or hardly outside at all actually, but figured I've been on them before, it would be fine (and it was).

So race day was nice because I live 10 minutes from Daybreak.  I even woke up a little late that morning so hurried out to the car and parked over there but I got a spot way in the back and got set up and wasn't even scrambling at the end to be ready to race.  Amazing for me.  Even after 15 years I can sometimes still find myself hurrying to get everything set up, and I am a minimalist transition triathlete, as many more should be, no reason to put your bucket or bag under or around your bike.  Too much stuff just takes up your time as you look over it in T1 and T2 wondering if you should grab it.  Not to mention crowding other people.  Put out the essentials and go.

• Set out a small towel that only goes under the front OR back half of your bike, not all of it, and stager front wheels.  Your front wheel should be in-between to rear wheels for example.  Set out bike shoes, helmet, sunglasses, run shoes, hat/visor, race belt and nutrition and you are set - seriously.  If you need more space or a chair for some reason, move to the very side of the racks, but not in the isle.   

But I digress, on to the race.

Swim - 26:50, #1 out of the water!  That swim felt great!  My old wetsuit wasn't squeezing my arms or legs like it has much of the past, my arms didn't get tired, the water was great temperature.  I loved the swim!
T1 - 1:04, #2  Quick and dirty.   Love the shoes attached to the bike as always
Bike - 1:05, #3.  Surprised I held on to the lead from Sue Pope as long as I did.  She didn't catch me until right before the turn around, but I held her close by (not drafting close of course) until the long downhill from Kennecot where she made up about 2.5 minutes on me.  I didn't feel comfortable going into aero on a long downhill with so little time on the bike recently so I didn't.  And that's fine.  I did call a guy out hard after sucking down his gel and just throwing the wrapper on the ground.  No slip out of his pocket, a deliberate littler.  Ooooh that irks me!!  There is NO reason for litter.  If you got it out of a pocket, it can go back in one, or down your shorts.  I don't care.  Don't drop it.
T2 - :46, #1  In and out.  Love running in barefoot, racking bike, helmet off, pull Altra 3Sum tri shoes on, grab race number and run out.  Simple = happy
Run - 46:44, #2.  Left in a hurry to go find Sue as I was confident I could hunt her down.  Was  Thanks Steve!  Was still a little worried about being hunted down by someone till the end, but that last 1/2 mile was pretty great knowing I had held on for a win I DID NOT EXPECT.
surprised when I saw how much ground she had on me but figured I'd just run hard and be patient.  Nice thing about this course is there are many points you can see someone in front of you, start counting when they pass a particular point then stop when you get there.  I would do that several times to track how much closer I was to her.  Shortly after mile 2 I passed her and would have liked to slow down because it hurt to run 7:30 pace after all this ultra running, but I didn't trust that I could and kept running at probably 90%.  Ran with a great guy I met on the course named Steve I believe that was a big motivator and help.

2:20.31, 1st woman, 12th among the men.  35 second ahead of the next woman who I never saw but was hauling on the run.  The only one to run under 50 minutes with me.  I really truly do not want to come across prideful, boastful or anything of the sort when I say I hadn't been training much and didn't expect to place or win, but did.  I am very grateful for the muscle memory my body retained apparently, muscle memory I have worked hard for for more than 10 years.  I can tell you that olympic distance was my limit, I wouldn't have had the same results in a longer tri, and that olympic wasn't easy at all.  It felt uncoordinated a little on the bike and a little more on the run, but went fairly smooth.  Definitely lit the tri flame a little and while I don't have any more planned for the year, I'd like to find one or two maybe, and while I'd love to get by on no training like I did before, I would actually like to train this time  :)

9 month tapers really work - Kidding!!  Training is good  :)