Today's Pictures :)

So I am now officially signed up for the Big Basin 50k, a quad busting net downhill course (with some climbing thrown in for good measure). T also signed up for the marathon, her very first trail race and longest race ever. Even though technically I've been this far before, it is far overshadowed by it being the point I DNF'd at a 50 miler. So going for my first ultramarathon finish! We had a great 13 mile training run this morning at JugHandle, and cooled off in the ocean afterwards (f*cking freeeeezing)!

This odd branch was clearly cheering us on

Lagunitas tree :/

Ponce

YayWooHoo!

Yay new trails!

Yesterday was my day off. The eagerly awaited exploration day to see where the right fork takes us! Started out with a trigger point workshop (eh, good information review but more of a 101 class, and some Very Strange people). Then off to go see my lazy pony who is going through yet another growth spurt for some lunging, manners class, and a pedicure. I was chatting to my trimmer about the trail, he has run out there some (and at night - inspired, but need dogs for safety! Damn mountain lions haha). I came to the conclusion that it was about eight miles. I wanted more mileage than that, though it would be ideal for T, so maybe she wouldn't mind waiting for me while I squeezed in some extra. Let's go.

Side note info - I ran in capris today and They Sucked!!! I am completely sold on the skirt/shorts combo (like this - pink skirt/purple shorts). It is lighter, cooler, more comfortable, and my now favourite running outfit. I also misplaced the notion of eating this morning/lunchtime, even though the run was pre-planned. I had a coffee at home, and one at the beginning of the class, and 4 salted crackers prior to beginning our run at 2ish. I had Tailwind in my pack, about 64oz water and five scoops. No bonking! I could have used more of both if we were going further or if it had been a warmer day (warm for us coastal folk but not hot at all and not in direct sun). Go Tailwind :)

The first stretch was our familiar trail, and we easily spotted the turn this time. We set off down the right fork (after spotting what looks like maybe another trail for another day!), and briefly enjoyed the newness. Very quickly it met up with the left fork we had previously taken. Rubbish! But whereas before we took the fire road home, we ventured on into the woods. There were a few more turns that we could have used to get back to the fire road if we want to lengthen that route on other runs, but we stuck to the trail. I was keeping an eye(ish) on my gps, and it looked like the road was pretty close that I planned as our turn around point. 

Spot the runner..

Since we seemed to be mostly going slightly (and not always so slightly) up, I chose not to tell T that we were ahead on mileage than I thought. Downhill on the way back, and she thinks we're a mile or more behind where we really are anyway. Little did she know...

This was fun!

There were a lot of little rustic bridges made of natural materials, little 'ski-jump' sections, running under branches and sometimes right through a tiny gap in what is technically one tree that has separated in two. Also a slightly precarious stretch where the trail has fallen away. We found it easily passable, but perhaps not everyone does (especially if it's wet) since someone had rigged up a rope hand hold around the tree; it was funzies to swing off just because. A little further on we came across two log rounds with a bit of log balanced on them like a bench, so took the opportunity for a break and a foot picture:

Love my Dirty Girl Gaiters - those redwood things are a bitch in your shoe!

We kept marching on, and through the trees to our left it looked like a break, possibly a road. Every now and again we turned away, but always turned back again. One of the stretches that T was walking up a hill while I ran ahead (we actually both ran most of the hills today), she found these guys:

Very distinguished

So of course I brought them home with me. They seemed to have been there long enough that nobody would be back out to look for them. We also found an old car, with no idea of how it got there:

Grrr

We finally hit the turnaround and took a glance at my gps. Somehow we had missed the road I was aiming for, and were quite a bit higher on our mileage than I had anticipated. T seemed to be doing pretty good considering, and there was more down than up on the way home. Our return was fairly unadventurous. I spotted many additional ways to get to the road that it looked on the map that we were heading for. Whoopsie. (Of course, with all these admissions she may decide to bail on running with me again - I really didn't mean it - until the end-ish at least.) We did momentarily misplace the correct trail, but not entirely my fault since T agreed to go down it :) We chose the downhill option which is always against my rule - when in doubt head up. It's better to be wrong and go back down than back up! In this case we not only had to go back up, but the trail we should have taken went up. Double up to make sure I don't forget the rule again :)

A tree growing from a tree stump that grew from a different tree stump

We were getting pretty close to our original trail when I took another look at the gps. We were at 9.95 miles. It was about 2.5 miles back to the carpark. I suggested maybe for bragging rights and good 'mental training' that we do the little pygmy forest loop, only adding 0.3 miles to our run but worth it for our 'toughness'. With a little persuasion, she agreed! Yay. We were a little extra sluggish here and the last couple miles home. The last thing you wanna see finishing up an unplanned half marathon?

Devil Stairs

These were not a surprise, we go down and back up them every time we run here. Only two sections show here, there is actually four. They are wonky, wobbly, and that annoying size of too small for comfortable strides but just too big to take two at a time (at least at my size). Once we hit the top, we took a quick breather and hamstring stretch, then scooted the last quarter mile back to the truck. Yippee! T just completed not only her longest run ever, but her first half marathon, unplanned and unsupported. And didn't want to kill me! Go T!

Apologies for the shakiness and looking more at the trail than up to get some of the surroundings (trying to video and not kiss the dirt at the same time), but I took this video on the way back down from the turnaround to give you an idea of the fabulous trails I'm lucky enough to run and ride on:

I Ran!

Yippeeee! I finally got to run today! And it didn't completely totally suck. We didn't get the planned mileage in for a few reasons not related to completely sucky running. Since it looks like Diablo is a no-go, prescribed mileage is less important this week. Over the last five weeks, I have had two sets of visitors for two weeks (so much fun!!!!! :D), run a tough half marathon, ridden a sweet but strange horse 50 miles in a saddle that gave me four nice bruises, missed a second day of endurance riding but filled it with a detour to Virginia City and a night in a casino and surprisingly tasty 99c margaritas, as well as driving a lot! It's been fun, but I'm looking forward to some routine. Regular miles for me and back to working my now chubby (and bratty) baby pony. 

I was aiming for 18 on Tuesday but the plan has changed! I accidentally found a new trail out hiking when C was here. We were at JugHandle, one of my most common running routes, and I have never noticed it. In fact, I thought I was ducking into the bushes for a 'quiet spot'. Turns out my easy path into the bushes was actually a stealthy new trail. I had a rough idea of where it might come out, but we didn't have exploring time.

Having a little extra fun :)

On our run today, T and I took that trail to test my theory. It was fun single track in the trees. There were quite a few mountain bike ramps dotted around in various states of disrepair, but mostly looked like the trail was unused. We were headed in the right general direction for where I thought we should end up when we came to a fork in the trail. The left fork went the general direction that I thought we would, the right appeared to venture off into the woods. A little further on was another fork. The left spat us out on the fire road I suspected, the right may or may not loop back around to the right option on the first fork. Talking to my room mate it sounds like it goes a ways into the woods. I've tried looking on satellite maps but can't trace it through the tree cover. So Tuesday we are taking plenty of water and snacks, and taking the right fork and seeing what routes we can come up with :)

No Diablo :(

So due to stars not being appropriately aligned, it looks like I'm not going to be able to make it to the Diablo 50k next month. This makes me sad :( I was really looking forward to it; a tough but scenic course and getting my first official 50k finish. Now scouring for an end of May/early June possibility. My next planned race had been Pacifica on July 12th, so if I don't get one before that it's no great loss. Considering doing Pacifica, Salt Point (50k), and then the marathon run at night at Headlands and not go for the 50 miler until December (TNF EC). [Previous plan: Diablo, Pacifica, Salt Point, Headlands 50, Skyline, TNF 50.] Decisions decisions! 

I've only run once since the Derby, and not got in as many hikes as planned. We did go hike JugHandle today though, and Russian Gulch last week, along with walking everywhere in SF. I have the same antsy feeling as tapering, bring on Sunday morning!

Nevada Derby - Part II

I have been really busy - apologies for the delay. You can read Part I here!

4.50am ride morning I was rummaging in the back of my truck for slippers and extra sweatshirt to brave the cold for early mashes. My windscreen had iced over during the night. Ponies politely waited for their breakfast, even JellyBean - who I nearly forgot! Ike had kicked over his waterbucket in the night, so I heaved one of the giant containers from the back of the truck to fill it up. Except it was frozen shut. F*ck! Okay new plan, grab buckets and head over to the water container near the vet area and get water from there. Spill icy water all over my fleecy jammies and in one slipper. Give the water to Ike and start picking up around camp so we have less to do before heading out. Ike has kicked over his water again. Are you kidding me, horse??? It's okay, get all these niggling inconveniences out of the way before the start so we have a pleasant ride. New solution, take both Arabs and the mini to go on a water walk (in jammies and slippers, lucky the little buggers behaved haha). Back at the trailer, it's time to crawl back in the 4runner, change in ride clothes, and eat breakfast. Except somehow I forgot breakfast. I think curling in blankets did that for me. Before I knew it, it was time to tack up. E kindly took care of booting for me to keep things moving quickly. We knew we wanted to leave after the masses (92 starters on Saturday) and since everyone had to ride past us to the start we could see everyone leave before getting on and mooching our way out.

All fired up.. or not :)

We had a very calm start, walking out on a loose rein and I wonder what E was on about with the mare I was riding being annoying? No problems here, this is going to be a breeze.
Aside - while we were ambling our way out up the first hill, B was having Mini Horse Stay At Camp issues. She wanted to be an endurance horse too. Oopsie...
Other than a few sideways looks at ribbons, we were moving along nicely. I was still getting used to her way of going, but we had a very light contact even when being passed. This mare had no marish traits at all, which was very pleasant, especially on the rare occasion someone got closer than I was comfortable with. 

Not a great shot - sorry, but the only one I got!

Forward but relaxed, good mare :)

A brief section on foot told me that she wasn't the best at 'my side your side' trail games. Oh well, I have another 45 miles to work on that. Once remounted, there was a little conversation about pace, and who was setting it. We weren't far into the ride, and my hands were a little sore - not a good sign. But we were still not really fighting, so I figured it would settle down. She half spooked at a couple of rocks, but there were plenty (really really quite a lot...) so she'll work it out soon. Silly me. Luckily most of her 'spooks' were nothing threatening to even a loose seat. E and I alternated leaders, and were playing leap frog a little with a couple of other riders, and it seemed everyone was having a great time :)

This pony is backwards. She knows her job to calmly walk out of the start. It's a trend for E's horses to be quiet at the start, and pick up any naughtiness a few miles in. This mare was no different! She never gave me any real trouble, but if we weren't in front we needed strong half halts, and occasionally we forgot what those were. Any time she got too fizzed up, we would take a walking break until we were happily on a loose rein again, then we could go back to trotting in an agreeable manner. I messed up on the first real stretch of running we did - helmet and gloves stayed on, and since it was bloody cold at the start I was wearing two long sleeved shirts and a jacket. It only took a few minutes to feel that I was overheating. Having to take off my hydration pack to fix the clothing issue was a pain, but other than that it performed flawlessly! We enjoyed a nice run for a while, and on a short uphill decided to see if pony knew how to tail. She figured it out pretty quickly provided she had Ike to follow. If we were in front she wouldn't stay on trail, but this didn't surprise me since she was the same under saddle without constant guidance. More miles will fix that though.

There is a distinct lack of pictures from this ride since I had my hands full most of the ride. If I had my camera instead of phone I could have got more but I was too concerned about dropping it to ride with it in hand. There was a sustained climb on this first 25 mile loop that initially I tried tailing up since we weren't in front. Special broke into a trot and I have never run uphill so fast in my life! Braking was not on her agenda until she caught up to Ike and I had no way to get past her and stop her. Slowest runaway ever! Since we had not long ago passed a woman who had parted ways with her horse and was waiting for him to be brought back to her, I was clinging on tight and had no choice but to keep the legs turning over fast enough to keep up. Great training for Diablo. Once we caught up I got myself back in front and hiked under my own steam. The backside of the hill was another nice running stretch and slowly slowly we improved on my partner's trail running finesse (excluding the bit where she pulled my shoe off foot from under my half chap - talented mare). We made a couple of wrong turns but entirely our own fault, trail marking was really good. Each time we went wrong it was because we were trotting and chatting and not paying attention, and quickly and easily found our way back to where we should be.

Back at camp, we pulsed in right away and through the vet check smoothly with all A's except mucus membranes (B). Once horses were taken care of and parked in front of hay and mashes, I set to work for myself. I hadn't made up the morning Tailwind strong enough, or taken snacks with me in my saddle bag, and I was Ravenous!! I ate everything in sight. I've never had a problem eating at rides until today. I ate way too much to make up for not taking in enough earlier. I made up the second pack stronger, but was not quite right all day, though never felt any worse so I at least saved myself there.

The second loop (18 miles) started uneventfully. There was a fun 'trail' through the sage brush that warranted some concentration, it was fun to see who would spot the green on green ribbons first - it definitely wasn't the mare haha. There was an evil hill here that Special was convinced that actually we should speed up. I briefly considered tailing but memories of the last loop made me think twice considering the steepness here. Amazing views from the top though:

Next was the sand! Deep sand and downhills. Bleurgh. We took it really slow through here. This in turn meant by the time we reached trottable trail we were both feeling meh, and just ambled along enjoying the scenery and the fact we don't get to hang out much anymore. Mild excitement when we came across people shooting though! We got some great video for Special's sale video waiting to cross the road with a few dirt bikes roaring past. On the long straight strech running back past the houses, E asked me to watch Ike ride away from me. Maybe something subtle, but couldn't really tell. We alternated walking and trotting trying to figure out if he was off, and she took off the front boots. Seemed to be a touch more lame but not glaringly obvious. Back boots off. Three steps of trot and he was definitely lame. Very sad times. I felt really bad leaving E, but if I walked in with her I would be pulled overtime. We agreed I should keep going. Special had other ideas. I had to get off and pretty much drag her for over a mile to get away from Ike, and once I got back on, she spooked at EVERYTHING! Arab teleportation style. Luckily that didn't last too long, and we finally settled into an easy trot and rolled on into camp. We vetted through fine, and since it was only a 15 minute check we were in and out really fast. She decided she couldn't possibly leave a check by herself with me on her, but was quite happy to jog along behind me without hesitation. This last loop was seven miles and camp was pretty much visible the whole time. Mare decided that meant we had to call to our buddies the whole way around even if nobody was replying to us. She wasn't super spooky at least, back to mostly looking at things. Except for one. I should have realised it was time to sit tight when she stopped calling, and looking, and generally being a brat. We're trotting along with me in two-point - E's saddle tried to break me, I'm sure of it. To pay it back, silly horse spooked at something I never saw, tripped, fell on her face, and pulled out a screw near the pommel. I leapt off and checked her legs and tried to screw the saddle together, at least securely enough to finish the last three miles. So close. We finally made it in, with a whole 19 minutes to spare. Good job Special-mare! Our finish vetting was right at 7pm. About 20 horses didn't finish, so considering the toughness of the day, we decided that Special and I would not go out again Sunday. We had nothing to prove, it was a tough ride, and her first of the year. We opted to spend Sunday hanging out with the mini, socializing, and heading home early.

Ride Photos credit Baylor/Gore

Diversion

Nevada Derby recap is coming. It's in draft and not quite done and longer than anticipated. Now I'm out of town on yet another mini adventure playing tourist in San Francisco:

So it won't be done til at least Wednesday. No running on this trip (didn't even bring running shoes just in case...) But I did get my batman socks and will test them over the injinjis. The plan being each piggie nicely encased but the double layer anti blistering powers plus channeling a superhero and I should be good tj go. Bam! :)

Nevada Derby - Part I

My Thursday prep day was very stressful. I think I got complacent not having a horse to prepare - "Oh, I just need to throw some clothes and a pillow in the truck!" I'm lucky to not have a stressful job, but it means I'm now ill-prepared for days that don't go according to plan, and that coupled with packing and food-prepping and trying to get to bed in time to hit the road at 5am just about fried my brain. At 4.30 I was up with the intention of a hot shower and coffee before packing the cooler and getting the last few things in the truck. Except I couldn't get hot water. Grrr! Never mind, we're off to an endurance ride and I get to hang out with E and her husband, my friend C is arriving from England on Saturday night, and it's not stressful. Driving was really really boring, until I found snow!

Shortly after going over the pass it was blue skies, that would remain most of the weekend :)

I'm not used to trips much longer than Fort Bragg to San Francisco, and this would have taken even longer with a trailer. Home to ridecamp was probably about seven hours.

Getting closer..

I met B in Reno so we could get a few last minute things and follow him to camp, where I would finally meet my weekend pony, Special:

Not impressed at being woken for pictures

Pretty much right away we tacked up to go for a pre-ride. E took care of (stupid) easy boots for me since I was having more difficulty than should be necessary while I saddled both ponies. Special is not easy to fit, so I was going to be riding in E's Free'N'Easy for the weekend with some ridiculous girthing system recommended that kinda works. Wish I could have time to play with it because I'm sure I could find something else that works but we weren't going to risk changing anything at a ride. I knew the saddle wasn't ideal for me, and brought my sheepskin for a fuzzy treat on Sunday :) Time to find out more about my trusty (ha!) steed.

E and Ike

Looking back down to ridecamp

Happy ears

I learned that Special has an interesting yet efficient way of going, and is not a fan of rocks. In fact, she's quite sure they might eat her, enough to warrant jumping past them. This would be a challenge at a ride where I'm pretty sure they are growing the rocks. We also spooked at ribbons. Good job, endurance horse. It was a fun ride, I had my tack set in a way that would work best for us, and we were ready. Back at camp we got the horses settled, met new friends, got registered, and played with the star of ridecamp:

Jellybean!

Jellybean was very popular, especially when she trotted out with Ike during vet-in. Go Mini, Go! (She was not always popular with B who is nursing a bum knee when she frequently made a break for freedom while the Arabs were gone...Whoops!)

Special vetted in with all As and a nice low pulse that I've forgotten. We were deciding what to do regarding boots. The last ride E and I were at together, and my last 50 (June'12!) we fixed boots at least every mile. I was mad, and swore off renegades for ever and ever. Our problems then were sizing and user error (and they were green - can't help my superstitions lol). We didn't want boots coming off, and not sure whether we should just goober glue for the whole weekend. In the end, we opted for using tape under them, and if I had issues on Saturday I could glue that night for Sunday. It was getting close to time for ride meeting, and suddenly the sky looks like this:

Hello Snow!

We huddled in to listen to directions from the ride organisers, vetting criteria (60 at each check, 68 at the finish due to varying weather), and info on the trail. Afterwards, B borrowed our camp stove since his was missing a piece, and I learned that I had a camp stove crock pot. Plans start being made for a stew the next day! While dinner was cooking, I decorated my easy boots to ensure easy spotting should they get misplaced in the morning:

Conveniently matched her lime halter!

The ponies were all tucked up for the night, and even though it was pretty early, I decided to forgo hot dinner and crawl into my truck bed nest ready to get up for the early morning feeding. I had everything prepped and laid out, TailWind in my pack, mashes ready to go for the morning. Commence adventure sleeping!

Sleep well steeds :)

Post-GGH Thoughts

My big concern with running this race was the fact that I'd already been offered a horse for two days of endurance (50 mile) riding next weekend. I contemplated doing the full, half, or not running at all, and decided the half would be safe. The marathon would likely take too much recovery time, but I wanted to run. I left signing up until late so I wasn't committed. I was still a little concerned about how sore I might be, since this would only be my second trail race - the first since LS50 a couple years ago (I'm not counting Nitro, that wasn't real trails...). I also haven't done a half marathon in a few years. I decided I was treating it as a training run, a good marker for what I need to do to be ready for a May 50k. Let's go have fun!

The best news? I'm not sore! Don't get me wrong, I am sore as hell from my fall, but if not for that I feel like I could go for a few easy miles tomorrow. I think the TailWind has a lot to do with that. I threw a couple of gels in my pack just in case, but never even thought about them, and didn't need to stop at the aid stations. For a longer run I would want to carry salt just in case, but hopefully snacking on salty foods like dipped potatoes would be enough. The pack was perfect, no achy shoulders. I made up my tailwind about seven scoops for the two litres. This seemed just about right. I didn't drink everything in my pack, but may have done on a hotter day. I wasn't hungry or thirsty at all during the race, which considering I skipped breakfast is pretty good. I had a protein shake on the way back into SF, and we stopped in San Rafael on the way back to Fort Bragg for delicious salty fries. Then just sipping water all the way home. A friend's birthday barbecue was that evening so some Pranqster and delicious chicken was my recovery plan.

I definitely need some hill work before Mt Diablo, which I'm thinking is the 50k I want to do. It might suck. A lot:

 T is thinking about the 25k (though if she sees this it might change her mind - so don't show her, ok?) And it looks good from up there:

Photo from pctrailruns.com site

I also definitely need to work on mental stamina. My knee was pretty sore, and I think I would have struggled to wrap my head around going back out for a second loop. The Diablo race is two loops of the 25k loop. I'm not sure if the first loop would be worse seeing the elevation chart and let my mind imagine the climbs to come, or having seen it first hand and knowing I have to go back up on tired legs. I had been toying with a few races and leaning toward this one, now I feel like backing out and making a different choice based on the profile would be cowardly. I haven't found any race reports that might let me know what I was in for either. At least it'll make the other 50ks I want to hit this year seem better, and it could be great mental training for the 50 miler, since my confidence took a bit of a knock. Advice?

Still working on finding the perfect sock. The Feetures did well for me in combination with the body glide, but I think I felt a bit of a hotspot coming on. It didn't help that walking through the wet grass at check-in and getting soaked feet. I might have to tape big toes, so they don't get blisters. Had a nasty one that I felt on every downhill stride right on the pad (is that what it's called on people? The underside squishy bit of the toe). Other than that, feet looked good:

I need to start wearing gloves. While the cuts on my hands weren't bad, they were enough for me to not work yesterday. I had a new client, and a request. The new client was moved to a different therapist just in case, and after doing my request I know it was not the best massage I ever gave, and it was really awkward to both not use my hands and keep my knee comfortable. I put on a liquid bandage (OW!) but I still had to avoid that area.

At the advice of my bosses, before bed I put a honey dressing on them. It actually made a huge difference. I did the same thing with the bad knee, which I think is only as painful as it because the skin moves every step, I can bear all my weight without discomfort.

Looking much better, though much more swollen

 As far as gloves, I think I'll just cut the fingers off an old thicker pair of riding gloves for now. My hands get really hot when I run, but considering how much I fall it's lucky that usually my knees take the brunt of it. I'm not using ice and anti inflammatories unless I really have to, to see how quickly the swelling would go down by itself. I've been reading a lot about not using ice as a treatment unless it's absolutely necessary, so figured I would have an experiment of one to see what happens. I was hoping to get in at least one run before Nevada Derby, but this way I'll know if it's too soon.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with the experience. I got to test the tailwind well, as well as my pack. My Superiors treated my feet well. I picked up (finally!) a pair of compression sleeves that I can wear while running, but voted not to use them Sunday since I hadn't tested them. Also got a new pink running skirt - reduced to $15 it would have been rude not to! Yay for new things :)