Christmas Highlights

Our niece Maddy on Christmas Eve sporting the hat that I made her:

The annual kids on the stairs picture at Mom and Dad's house on Christmas Day with our cousin John, the newest "kid" in the family:

Nerf dart guns with human targets:

Chris realizing that her White Elephant gift is the Shake Weight:

If you haven't seen the infomercial for the Shake Weight, it looks pretty obscene. Each person was only supposed to spend $10 on their gift, but Steve thought the extra money would be worth the laugh... and he was right. Here's a video of Chris being a good sport and entertaining the rest of us. Yes, that's me cackling uncontrollably.

Hope everyone had a fun Christmas!

Marsan Cap and Summer Flies Shawl

It's time for a craft update! I knit this Marsan Watchcap pattern for my cousin John. It'll be his first winter in the U.S. so I figured he'd need something to keep his head warm. The design is pretty simple, but I liked that the hat folds up and does double-duty to keep your ears warm. 

I finally knit this Summer Flies shawl. Considering the blustery weather we've been having lately, I'd say that summer is long gone. The pattern is very well-written and easy to follow. I decided to use Naturally Caron Country yarn in silver service since I already had a few skeins. The yarn looked to have a slight shine to it, but unfortunately it ended up looking more drab than fab after it was knit. 

Army-Navy Game

This past weekend Steve and I hosted my family's annual Army-Navy football game get-together. 

The little guy in front of me is Gino, my cousin Dina's 4-year old son who she adopted from the Philippines a few years ago. He's kinda awesome.

My immediate family knows that Jesus and I have been on a break so I'm sure that seeing a nativity set in my house puzzles them. (Steve likes having it out at Christmas, so we set it out for decor.) Sometime during their visit, baby Jesus was visited not only by the three wise men, but also by the pooping reindeer and Buddha who came bearing a soccer ball.

This is why drinking and decorating don't mix.

ICE!

Last weekend we decided to check out the ICE! at the National Harbor. This year's theme was How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Pretty cool - figuratively and literally. They keep the place at a nippy 9 degrees. By the end of the exhibit I was more than thankful for the parkas they make you wear.

Tussey Retrospective: Race Day and Post-Race

I'd better wrap this up before I completely forget what happened.


Race Day

First, the things I think went well on race day: 

• The temperature the morning of the race was in the 40s and it was breezy. The support vehicles had to leave the starting area before the runners so I opted to wear my jacket for the first few miles. I'm sure I would have survived a few minutes standing around in just my t-shirt, arm warmers, and shorts, but I was glad to have the extra layer for warmth. By the time we saw Steve around mile 3, I was warmed up and ready to get rid of the jacket.

• Speaking of Steve, he did a great job of telling us how far until the next time we'd see him. Having him tell us the degree of difficulty of the upcoming leg was also helpful. Even though I had looked at the course description a zillion times before the race, I could only remember a handful of the leg descriptions. I hung on to those little nuggets of information that he was feeding us like my life depended on it. Okay, that's a little dramatic but the info did help to frame my mindset for what was next.

• With the exception of a handful of potato chips, I stuck with what I had eaten during training (Gu gels, Gu Chomps, and bananas) and felt just fine. The nutrition plan I trained with provided me enough energy without ever feeling too full and bloated. My only concern was that I may not have absorbed enough of the water I was drinking since I peed  four times during Tussey. At Big Schloss I only needed to go once during the almost 10 hours so four times seemed like an awful lot. Fortunately, it wasn't hot the day of Tussey so I wasn't sweating tremendously. Had it been warmer, I would have been worried about dehydration. 

• Packing all my nutrition in an easy-to-access container also worked out really well. Usually, I just stuff a freezer bag with as much as I can which usually results in me dumping half the contents to get to what I want. The plastic container I brought was large enough to fit all my nutrition (and extras) and easy to open.

• I take after my mom and always pack plenty of snacks for road trips. I knew Steve would be on the course all day and wouldn't have a chance to go off and grab food if he got hungry so I packed him plenty of munchies and drinks. Peanut butter-filled pretzels, lunch meat, bread, Kashi bars, trail mix, V8, Pepsi, water, and the all important toilet paper. We also packed beer and Mike's Hard Lemonade but that was for post-race. :-)

A couple of things to improve:

• Better planning as to when I would need to refill my water and nutrition. My 11 hour and 18 minute finish included almost 40 minutes of not moving so I could definitely spend less time at the support vehicle. I decided to look back at previous events to see how much time I spent not moving:

o   Big Schloss: Total time = 9 hours 55 minutes; Non-moving time = 1 hour 2 minutes

o   Skyline Challenge: Total time =  8 hours 8 minutes; Non-moving time = 30 minutes

o   Capon Valley: Total time = 6 hours 50 minutes; Non moving time = approximately 24 minutes (I started my watch late for this one so my data is a little off)

Granted I stop and take in the views, snap some pictures, pull briars off of me when I fall, etc..., so there will always be some amount of non-moving time. I'll just have to make sure I don't overdo it.

• Try to train with any shirt I might wear during the event. Most of our training took place in the dead of summer when it was hot and humid so I usually had a sleeveless shirt on. I ran a few times with a short-sleeved shirt, but I failed to do a long run with any of these shirts while wearing my Nathan. For Tussey I ended up wearing a short-sleeved shirt I hadn't worn during training and discovered that it kept riding up my back. Not only was this annoying, but my back was chafed by the end of the day.

• Continue to keep the stuff in the support vehicle organized as much as possible. Toward the end of the day I thought the back of the Tahoe was starting to look as if someone lived in there. It was starting to get a bit cluttered with all of our gear combined with Steve's snacks and other stuff. I'm sure some of this is inevitable so I'll just have to try to make sure I put my crap back in my gear bag or where it belongs.

• Make sure the support crew knows where everything is located and how things work. Steve did an excellent job and was able to quickly figure out how to refill my hydration pack, but I probably should have taken the time to make sure he knew how to do this beforehand. I also assumed he knew how to use our camera and asked that he take pictures since I wasn't sure I'd ever do this event again. He took a ton of pictures, but unfortunately had the camera on the macro zoom setting so many of the pics he took ended up blurry.

Post-Race

After Big Schloss I attempted to run the Monday after and really struggled. Not wanting to repeat that disaster, I didn't run for an entire week after Tussey. My first run was the Saturday after and it was really slow on a flat trail. As much as my mind thought I could run sooner, it was good to have that break to recover.

My biggest post-race problem is falling asleep. You'd think that after being on my feet for 11+ hours I would have been dead asleep the minute my head hit the pillow. Instead, I was wide awake and probably only got 4-5 hours of sleep. After tossing for hours after Tussey, I drank a Mike's Hard Lemonade at 2 a.m. hoping that it would knock me out, but even that didn't help. I've had the same problem after the 50Ks and can't figure out what my problem is. Physically I'm tired, but it's almost as if I can't shut my mind off. When I do manage to doze off, I constantly wake myself up because I'm tripping over a rock or a tree root in my dreams. I'm not sure how to fix this so I'll have to do some research to find a remedy that won't leave me brain dead the next day.

Xenocryst

What's that? According to my quick Google search, it's "a crystal foreign to the igneous rock in which it occurs".

It's also the name of the latest hat pattern that I finished last night. I came across the pattern while I was thumbing through the Fall 2010 issue of Knitscene at Adirondack Yarns in Lake Placid this past summer. The pattern uses an Estonian cast on which I had never heard of, but fortunately the author provided a link to this video. The Estonian cast on is definitely more attractive than other methods I've used so it's a keeper. This simple pattern was easy to memorize so it was the perfect companion for a few glasses of wine and the latest movie from NetFlix.

I wanted to test drive Debbie Stoller's Bamboo Ewe yarn that I bought from JoAnn's a few months ago. The color is Twilight, a purple/blue color that reminds me of grape-flavored Nerds. The yarn is 55% bamboo, 45% wool. For less than $5 a skein, it was nicer to work with than I expected. It was fairly soft and didn't split like some of the cheaper yarns I've worked with (ahem, Naturally Caron Spa AND Country). It had a couple of knots  (including a section of yarn that seemed to be tied together by a 12" strand) but nothing so bad that I couldn't work it out.

Thanks to Ula for modeling. Yes I know she/it is creepy, but get over it.

Tussey Retrospective: Pre-Race

Now that I've had a couple of weeks to recover physically and mentally from Tussey, I thought I should put together a retrospective. "Why bother?" you might wonder. Well, let's just say that I might have to refer to this information at a future date. For today, I'll just focus on the pre-race lessons learned. 

First, the biggest factor: training. Overall, I think the training plan worked out pretty well. I was running five days a week. The entire training plan was 23 weeks long. (UGH - I just realized that's almost six months. No wonder I was ready to be done.) Two of the three weekday runs were between 5-8 miles, while the third weekday run ranged anywhere from 6-12 miles. Those mid-week 12-milers during the peak weeks were a bit cumbersome, but I think they helped with the mental "stick-to-it-ness" training. Saturday long runs included eight runs of 18 or more miles. Sunday runs ranged anywhere from 6-12 miles. Looking back at my log, I seem to have only missed 17 of the 115 scheduled runs during the 23 weeks which means I did 85% of the runs I was supposed to do. That's pretty darn good in my opinion.

The 50-mile training plans available online vary so much. Some have you running back-to-back long runs on the weekend (e.g., 20 miles on Saturday, 20 miles on Sunday). I think the thought behind this approach is that you train yourself to run long that second day to simulate the exhaustion you'll feel toward the latter part of the race. PHOOEY. Mandy and I both thought that that approach would SUCK since we'd basically be giving up most of our weekend. Instead of back-to-back long runs, we opted for the longer mid-week run. We did run three, back-to-back long runs over Labor Day weekend (25, 10, and 14 miles) to see how our legs felt after running a total of 50 miles over the span of a weekend. I personally didn't feel much more tired after Labor Day's run so I took that as a good sign.

After a few mishaps early in the training, I finally found a nutrition plan that worked and stuck with it. Basically, taking in a gel or 3-4 Gu Chomps every 30 minutes after the first hour of running. I think that works out to be somewhere in the range of 190-200 calories an hour. When it was convenient, I'd substitute a banana for a gel or Chomp to mix it up and just to eat real food. I decided to just drink water during the runs and skip the Gatorade. Before Saturday's run I'd also eat a bagel with peanut butter 1-2 hours before we actually started running. Post-run I'd either have Endurox or chocolate milk.

Other things I think I did right:      

• Buying a new pair of shoes about three weeks before the event and breaking them in over the course of 3-5 runs. My shoes felt bouncy, but broken in for Tussey.
• Not lifting at all the week before the event. For past events, I would just skip my leg workout the week before but this time, I decided to not lift at all. Not sure how much this helped physically, but I think it did help me sleep more since I wasn't worried about getting up to get to the gym. Which leads me to...
• Getting plenty of sleep the week before. I think I slept 8-10 hours the week leading up to Tussey.

As for things I could do better...

For Tussey, I probably could've gotten away with running fewer technical trails and instead run more hills (versus walking them). I did a couple hill workouts, but probably could have benefited from running more hills. Some of the hills at Tussey weren't so steep that they couldn't be run (remember the older gent who passed me?), but I didn't have the confidence to run more of them for fear that I'd bonk later on. 

Traveling Woman

My Tita Joy (that's aunt for you non-Flips) moved to the U.S. from the Philippines (yes, legally) a few months ago. I came across this Traveling Woman shawl pattern and thought that it would be a perfect gift for her. Not only will it keep her warm, but I thought the name was appropriate considering her big move to the West. 

I was a little worried about how much time I spent knitting this shawl when I first saw it after I finished the pattern. Quite bumpy and misshapen don't you think? I know, the harsh sunlight was a bad move on my part when I took the pic.

Just like a shower is refreshing after a long, hard run, blocking does wonders for a knitted piece. Here's the same shawl after it was washed and air dried.

I hope she likes it (and I hope she doesn't stumble upon this blog before Christmas).

Tussey Mountainback 50-Miler

The short version: Perfect weather. I had a lot of fun and finished in 11 hours, 18 minutes.

The long version...

It was about 49 degrees at 5:30am and weather.com predicted that the temps would fall into the lower 40s for the next few hours before finally starting to climb into the 50s. We got to the start area around 6am, checked in, and registered the U.S.S. Grassi (a.k.a. the Tahoe) as a support vehicle. Knowing that Steve would be on the course with all our gear and crap was definitely a plus. Although the race allowed for drop bags, it requires that you be able to predict at what mile you might need something. I can do a pretty good job of estimating when I'm going to need more gels, but I have a harder time knowing if and when I might want a change of socks, shirt, or something different to eat other than Gu.

Mandy and I filled up our hydration packs and loaded up on enough gels and Chomps to last us about 2-3 hours. The great thing about Tussey is that there are 11 transition zones where you can restock at the aid station, or visit your support vehicle. Since I wasn't sure if I wanted to carry the Nathan that I had trained with, or a single-bottle belt since the transition zones were at the most 6.2 miles apart, I filled up both. My plan was to start with the single-bottle and see how it went for the first leg.

At about 6:50 we made our way down to the start line where a bunch of other runners stood in the cold. We chatted with a few other runners including Erin, a woman whose brother talked her into running Tussey but then backed out. We also spoke to a young couple who said they had driven the course and that it was in fact hilly. There seemed to be at least 15 other runners who were running their first 50-miler so I took comfort in knowing that I wasn't alone. 


Chilly Start

The funny thing about the 50Ks that I've done so far and Tussey is that the start is so underwhelming. The race director basically stands at the start and yells "Go!" There's no fanfare and buildup like there is with most marathons or triathlons. There's no announcer counting down the minutes before the gun goes off, no hoopla that makes you think that what you're about to do is any big deal. You just kinda start running and that's what we all did at 7am.

According to the race's website, the first leg was 3.2 miles and "difficult." Mandy and I ran along curious to find out what they meant by "difficult" and were happy to find that the climb, while long, wasn't at all steep. By the time we got to the end of leg 1, I was sufficiently warm and decided to throw my jacket into the Tahoe when we saw Steve. Legs 2 and 3 flew by since they were mostly downhill. I found that having to pull my bottle out of my belt was causing me not to drink enough water, so I swapped out my belt for my Nathan. Sure it was extra weight that I've had carry, but the Nathan made it so much easier for me to take a drink.

After leg 1's difficulty rating of "difficult", I started leg 4 with the expectation that it too wouldn't be as bad as the Tussey folks had rated it to be. Boy was I wrong. This time "difficult" really was tough. We did some combo of running and walking up the mile-long hill. We were passed by a threesome of Ryan Hall-looking guys who I assume were running the relay. They flew by like gazelles but were kind enough to throw out a few encouraging words to the ultrarunners that they passed. It was on this climb that I was also passed by a guy who had to be in his late-60s/early-70s. The dude wasn't moving fast but he was moving faster than me. Yes, I am THAT slow, but kudos to anyone who's still running at his age.

Legs 5-8 were a blur. Mandy had some stomach issues during one of these legs so we walked a bit more. We also met a few of the other ultrarunners. It was easy to tell the ultrarunners from the relay folks because they were running much slower than the relay runners. I chatted with some guy named Scott who said he ran this last year for the first time and bonked at mile 15 because he started out too fast; needless to say, the next 35 miles were hell for him. We met a woman from Reston who was also doing her first 50-miler, and a guy who recognized us as the cat rescuers from the Skyline 50K. We joked that although we may never be known for our speed, we'll be remembered for our good deed.

Transition zone 9 was at around mile 36.5. I was thrilled to feel as good as I was feeling especially considering this was the furthest I had ever run in my life. We knew that the next two legs were supposed to be hard so we refilled our Nathans again since our pace was probably going to get slower.


Transition Zone 9

Leg 10 started out with a gradual climb past the greenest field I've ever seen. Mandy's stomach was starting to bother her again so I walked while she took care of business and caught up to me. We got to a mother of a hill and walked for what seemed like eternity. I couldn't help but tease the relay runners that went by that they must have drawn the short straw to have gotten stuck with this leg. Fortunately, many of them laughed instead of kicking me down the hill.

We got to TZ 10 and were disappointed to hear from Steve that there was yet another tough climb ahead of us. Bummer. Our friend Jimmy had warned us that there was a brutal hill around mile 41, but I was really hoping that the last hill was the one he was referring to. No such luck. The next section was an out and back so we did run into a few ultrarunners we had seen earlier in the day. Even though seeing them on our way out as they were coming back in meant they were ahead of us, I found it to be a nice distraction. We stopped at the top of the climb and took a few pictures before cruising downhill.

View From the Top

I was surprised at how good I felt and knew at this point that I was actually going to finish this thing. Yippee! I got to TZ 11 and was surprised not to see Mandy behind me. Steve offered me my arm warmers but I declined - a decision I'd regret during the next leg. I decided to hit the port-o-john at the bottom of the hill and asked Steve to let Mandy know I'd meet her there.

I was surprised not to see her there when I got out so I hung around the relay teams and volunteers. They were all looking at me funny since they had just cheered for me a few minutes earlier when I ran by. One of the volunteers finally asked me if I needed help and I let him know that I was waiting for a friend. I figured that Mandy had put up with me for months during training so I didn't want to abandon her now. By the time we got to this last leg, the sun was beginning to set. Mandy was having severe stomach pains and wasn't able to run. I walked ahead of her hoping to hear her behind me. She's a tough cookie and always manages to muster up the energy to catch up and pass me even when she's not feeling well. She was getting further and further behind me so I knew that she really had to be feeling bad. The temperature was dropping and I was starting to shiver. Sure wish I had listened to Steve and taken my arm warmers. A relay runner passing me was kind enough to offer me the jacket tied around her waist. I thanked her but declined. One of the things from this race that I really liked was how supportive the relay teams were to the ultrarunners. Many of them would yell supportive words as they drove by. Each time we got into a transition zone, someone would yell "ultra" and the relay runners would clap and cheer for the ultrarunners coming in. They really did make you feel like some kind of celebrity.

Some volunteers driving by pulled up beside me and yelled, "Great job Cherry!" I thought it was pretty cool they knew who I was but then realized it was probably because there weren't many people left on the course. Oh well - I'll take whatever encouragement I can get. We passed mile marker 49 and I yelled back to Mandy to let her know we only had about a mile left. My Garmin was about a quarter mile ahead (49.25ish) so I thought for sure we were almost done. I was really shivering now so I told Mandy that I was going to run for a bit to warm up. I jogged ahead but found that the downhills were making it hard for my legs fight gravity. My Garmin buzzed as it clicked over to 50 miles but nothing looked remotely familiar yet. Hmmm... I kept running along thinking that the finish line was just around the next bend. My eyes finally saw a sign that said "1/2 mile to next transition zone." What?! By now, I wanted to be done and wanted to b*tch slap the person who put the mile 49 marker up 2 miles from the finish. I finally caught sight of the finish and could see Steve in the distance. I crossed the finish line in about 11 hours 18 minutes. It was a long day, but it was the first time in a while that I've felt that "runner's high" so it was well worth it. Mandy came in about 10 minutes later still not feeling well, but she finished.

Blurry Me at the Finish

Would I do it again? Yes! Maybe not next year, but I would run Tussey again. The course is mainly on dirt roads with some paved sections so it's not technical. I'm sure a lot of ultrarunners turn their noses up at Tussey because it's not a trail race. Whatever. I enjoyed the course and had a great time. Plus it was awesome to be able to see and talk to Steve (and Mandy's mom and nephew) so many times during the day.

Mandy's Nephew and Mom

Pumpkin Picking

I had never picked my own pumpkin so this past weekend we ventured over to Wegmeyer Farm in Hamilton. 



"Seriously? Why?"

Those are the questions my sister asked me last night when I told her that my event next weekend was a 50-miler. So during this morning's run, I mulled over the question of "Why?" and came up with the following reasons.

Because it's a challenge - Imagine if I said, "Next weekend, I'm walking to the end of the block." Big deal right? But what if I said, "Next weekend, I'm walking to the end of the block on stilts blindfolded while balancing a bottle of Bacardi on my head." Now that's a little more interesting because we've upped the ante. It's obviously more difficult so you can't help but wonder if I could actually do it. You might even think, "I need to be there to catch that Bacardi because I know she can't do it."

We all take on personal challenges. They may not be as extreme as climbing Everest, but we all do things that test our limits. It could be trying to get to the next level of a game, earning a black belt in martial arts, or snowboarding down a black diamond without falling. It's the same thing with running. I pick a goal that's a bit out of reach when I go into it with the hopes that I can overcome obstacles and actually cross the finish line. Any time I set a goal to do something difficult, I always learn a little more about myself. It's not always a pleasant learning experience, but hopefully I've put those lessons learned in my back pocket for the next time.

Curiousity - It always begins the same way:
 
I wonder if I could finish a 10-miler?
 
A half-marathon is only 3 miles more miles. I wonder if I could do it?
 
I've run a few halfs, I wonder if I could finish a marathon?

Remember when you were a kid and you'd try to hold your breath while going through a tunnel? Even if the tunnel went on f-o-r-e-v-e-r, I'd count the number of seconds and try to hold my breath longer than the last tunnel. There was no prize involved, but it satisfied my curiousity. As adults I think it's important for us to keep that childlike curiosity alive. Too often we get bogged down in reality or let the fear of failure keep us from exploring new adventures. So what if I never win a race. It's FUN. Part of what makes it fun is not knowing whether I'll succeed. Don't you ever miss the rush from trying something impossible and ridiculous? Have you ever experienced the thrill of actually accomplishing something you once thought was out of reach? Give it a try. There's no substitute for a rush of adrenaline.

To fight demons - My demon comes in the form of an overweight, out-of-shape teenage girl. She wears baggy clothes and often shops in the boys' department because she's uncomfortable in her own skin and would rather disappear into the crowd. I've managed to keep her at bay most of the time, but she occasionally rears her chubby face with a gallon of ice cream in hand. While she never mocks me, she does push me to keep moving forward when I think about how she struggled to run a mile in high school. I've heard of others who run to fight addiction to drugs or alcohol. Running gives them a sense of purpose, a focus that they pour their energy in to.

Demons come in forms you wouldn't expect. Someone I know runs because her friends didn't have the confidence to believe that she could finish a marathon. Another person I know runs because she wants to avoid the health problems that the rest of her family has surrendered to. They tell her that she's wasting her time. Great support group huh? Running serves as an escape, even if temporary, from the things in our life that we can't always control. That chubby teenager I was didn't have the confidence to tackle new challenges. Fear of failure and rejection kept her from accepting who she was for years. These days she's still a slow runner, but she's mustered up the courage to say, "Screw it." and at least try.

The Big Schloss 50k

This weekend marked the end of our peak training weeks for the 50-miler. Since we had to get in 30 miles on Saturday, Mandy suggested that we run the Big Schloss 50k. It was advertised as a no cost, no frills event. I had some reservations about running this event because I got a sense from the reports that I had read that it was a rocky course. Being that Tussey isn't technical at all (it's almost entirely on fire roads), I wasn't keen on the idea but figured I'd rather have the company of other runners than schlep through 30 miles solo. Plus, the entry fee of 2 gallons of water in exchange for aid stations and post-run bratts and burgers seemed like a pretty good deal.

Even though the run didn't start until 8am, I met Mandy at 5am to make the 2 hour drive to Wardensville, WV. We got there around 7am and chatted with some of the other runners. At 8am we all scampered off into the woods. The first 4 miles rolled up and down and were pretty runnable. That is, until we took a turn and ended up in what looked to be a quarry. Boulders, rocks, and more rocks! Had it not been for the runners in front of me, I would have wondered whether I had missed a turn. I should mention now that my footing is dreadful on a rocky course. This proved to be exceptionally difficult since (a) fallen leaves surrounded the rocks so you couldn't tell how far your foot would fall if you stepped off the rocks, and (b) some of the rocks - even the bigger ones - shifted when you stepped on them. After much internalized whining and grumbling, I got through that first challenge.

The next few miles to the first aid station were mostly downhill. Mandy took off since she's a speedster on the downhills, while I did my thing and eventually made it down to aid station #1 where Elvis greeted everyone. After topping off my Nathan and grabbing a cookie, Mandy and I headed off.

The next section involved a climb of about 1600' over six miles. This translates to lots of walking. Despite all this walking, my heart rate and profuse sweating were like that of an escaped prisoner. When we finally got to a downhill it was, what else, rocky. I chatted with a few other runners including Curt who was also new to the ultrarunning scene. He also ran the Skyline Challenge so we talked about how tough that run was and compared to it to what we had seen so far. Despite my turtle-like pace, I pulled away from Curt and caught up to Mandy. We passed a few people who looked like they were struggling including Carol, a woman who had been just in front of us the entire way so far. We checked to see if she was okay and she mentioned that she didn't do well in the heat and that she was hoping that a soda at the next aid station would help.

Aid station #2 was stocked full of too much good food and peppy volunteers. M&Ms, pita chips, soda, bacon, and PANINIS! I had a quarter of a panini and had to resist the urge to scarf down a whole one. The volunteers seemed to be having so much fun with their beer and 90s tunes that I almost wanted to stay. Mandy and I had had this woman Pam and Carol not far in front of us the entire way so far. The four of us decided to head out together since we were running roughly the same pace. Strength in numbers. During the first quarter mile Carol teetered back and forth between continuing on and dropping out, but eventually decided that she still didn't feel well enough to go with us. Bummer.

The remaining three of us headed off. Pam had done this run before and warned us that there were two really steep hills left to tackle. Sure enough we got to the first one. Unfortunately for us, the sun was beating down on the side of the mountain that we were climbing making for an even more difficult climb. Every time I thought we had reached the top, we'd turn a corner to find another hill. I took this picture at one point during the climb. I realize that it probably doesn't mean much unless you dragged your weary self up the mountain. Oh well.

After what seemed like ages, we started to go down. By this point, we had picked up another runner on the course - a guy named Pete. Our newly-formed foursome made it into aid station #3 which was decked out in a Hawaiian theme. Experienced ultrarunners tell you not to focus on the total distance, and instead focus on getting from aid station to the next. I was thrilled to see the volunteers and all their goodies. Carol had gotten a ride from AS#2 to AS#3 and decided that she'd try joining us for the rest of the course. Yay! Now we were five strong for the last 8ish miles.

Carol led the way and we all climbed one hill and stopped to enjoy the view. Looks like I shouldn't have gotten too excited about the view because we were still going up. I led the climb up the next hill which seemed to be getting progressively steeper. I knew the climbing had to stop eventually but was puzzled when I came across a wall of rocks. Did I miss a turn? I looked a little closer and saw that sure enough, a rock at the top of the wall was blazed with yellow indicating that this was in fact the trail. I often joke that I crawl uphills, but this time I literally had to use all fours to climb this rock wall.

We all got through the first rock wall and tackled the second one. Here's Pete and Mandy scrambling up the second one.

And here's the view from the top. It was pretty cool to look down and see just how far and how many mountains we had to climb to get to where we were.

After some picture-taking, we made our way down the mountain. Thankfully it didn't involve going down the rock wall because that would have totally freaked me out. We ran on a gravel road for what seemed like forever before making our way back into the woods. By this time, we had somehow lost Pam and Carol. We started to head downhill and I decided to let Pete and Mandy lead so that I didn't slow them down. They took off and I found myself all alone. By this time it was close to 5pm and it was getting a little harder for me to see. I trudged along for a mile or so and was happy to find that Mandy had decided to wait for me. All the water in my stomach combined with the 10 gels I had eaten throughout the day was making me a bit nauseaus. Strangely enough, I was also starving. I wanted real food. Not this gooey gel for runners, but solid food that required me to chew.

Mandy and I continued to follow the pink ribbon and found ourselves in a small field. I thought the rock stairwell down to the field looked familiar so I started to go up, but Mandy saw more ribbons on the other side of the field and thought that that was what we should follow. My sense of direction sucks so I followed her lead. We ran around the field and started running down this hill all the while talking about how we definitely put in the time on our feet today. After about 10 minutes Mandy stopped and said that she thought that the cliff to our left looked familiar. Had we been here before? We looked over the turn sheet and wondered if we were in fact supposed to take that rock stairwell up. We backtracked and took the stairwell and voila - there was the pond that we had passed not more than a half mile from the start.

We could hear the sound of cowbells and people cheering as we ran to the finish which was in a picnic pavillion. It was pretty cool that so many of the faster runners stuck around and showed that much enthusiasm for the rest of us. Pete was there to greet us; he had just finished about 15 minutes earlier. I thought for sure that Pam and Carol would already be there after our detour, but they came in a few minutes after we finished. We chowed down on some burgers, pasta salads, and Cheetos before heading back to NoVA.

My Garmin shows that we ran 33+ miles with an elevation gain of 6,130 feet. Overall it was a good day. A tough day, but I met a lot of great people and proved to myself that even though it was hard, I could do it - even if I am slow.

Next event... the Tussey Mountainback 50-miler.

Weekend at Deep Creek Lake

While Steve, Joe, and Alex were racing the Savageman Tri



I ran part of the run course and even explored a few trails.

I was having a great time until I saw this on one of the trails.

This was when I decided that that was enough running for one day.

VHTRC Women's Half

Growing up, I was a girly girl - not an ounce of tomboy in me. I liked my Barbies, painted fingernails, and all things pink and frilly. The closest I came to playing a sport was marching on the football field with my clarinet. Mud and all things dirty were out of the question. This past Saturday I was among 181 women running the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club's Women's Half-Marathon - a far cry from the doll houses  of my younger years.

The VHTRC promotes the run as a low-key way to encourage women to take up trail running. Last year I was just starting to run trails when I heard about the VHTRC half. I ran it, had a blast, and knew I'd be back again this year. Although it's not an easy course, there are so many things about the event that make it worthwhile.

The men of the club kick off the race by serenading the ladies with, what else, but Happy Trails. The course is well marked with yellow ribbon so unless you get distracted by Brad Pitt or some other hottie out on the course, you shouldn't get lost. There are five aid stations along the course so you're never more than two miles away from water, Gatorade, pretzels, and M&Ms. I think that the combination of this being a trail run and a women-only event makes it a great choice for those needing extra encouragement. While I did see several people fall, the runners behind and in front of them took the time to make sure that they were okay. The comraderie of this event certainly challenges the notion of women being catty when they're together. The few times I passed someone, I tried to say something like "good job" or "stay strong" and was surprised that those people moved to the side and cheered me on as I was going by. During an out-and-back stretch of the course the leaders who were heading toward the finish were shouting out words of encouragement to those of us who aren't gifted with speed.

Post-race goodies included bananas, berries, melons, pita chips, hummus, and brownies (yum!). While many other races are trying to cut costs, the VHTRC still gives each runner a long-sleeved technical t-shirt. This year we even got a whistle. There's no medal for finishing, but the stretchy bracelets that they were handing out at the finish line did make me giggle. The other cool thing about this event is that one of the photographers, Aaron Schwartzbard, allows you to download pictures for free! Absolutely generous and unheard of at other events. (I should mention that Aaron is an incredible athlete AND knitter in addition to being a great photographer.) Here's one of the pics he took of me as I was heading into the Do-Loop.

Yes, I'm wearing a skirt. There may be quite a bit of that girly-girl left in me, but I'm happy to report that I finished four minutes faster than I did last year.

Bottom line for you ladies: If you've ever wondered if you'd like trail running, this is the event to find out.

Featherweight Cardigan

After months of working on this project, I finally finished the Featherweight Cardigan I started back in July. The pattern itself was very easy to follow and consisted of knits, purls, and a few increases; definitely a good project for a beginner. More experienced knitters would probably get bored with project pretty quickly, but it's simplicity made it a no-brainer to work on while I watched TV.

I had the Brown Sheep Cotton Fine yarn left over from another project that I had frogged and wasn't sure how'd it would work with the pattern. Turns out it was the perfect weight and gave the cardi that breezy quality that makes it perfect for those cool summer nights. Next time I think I'll use a darker color since my clothing somehow tends to be a magnet for marinara, ketchup, red wine, and chocolate ice cream.

While I think it turned out pretty well for being my first cardi, it does have a few "character flaws" that I'll have to fix the next time I knit this pattern. You'll probably notice that the left sleeve is a smidge shorter than the right one. Another, more annoying, mistake I made was that I didn't pick up enough stitches at the collar's edge. I probably should have picked up another one or two stitches at the edges of the collar so that the collar edge was more even with the bottom hem of the cardi. Oh well. There's always next time.

Taters

Every baby needs one of these costumes.

Tussey 50-miler Confirmation

Oh boy. I'm officially registered for the 50-miler on October 16th.

VHTRC Practice Run at Fountainhead Park

Thanks to the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club for hosting the practice run and leading us to the elusive Do-loop. Mandy and I have tried to run the Do-loop before but could never find it. I'm still not sure we could find it on our own.

Oak Island, NC

Many thanks to Steve's bro Ron and his wifey Missy for letting us visit last weekend. Not only did we get in plenty of beach time, we also had lots of oysters and the best mussels I've had since Belgium.

Craft Project Update

I had lunch with my friend Bubba last week and he made me realize that I haven't blogged about any craft projects in months. Here's a rundown of my projects-in-the-works.

I had started to crochet my Mom one of these shrugs for her birthday back in June. Unfortunately, I realized that the armholes were probably going to be too small for her so I ended up getting her something else. I told my sister she could have the shrug once I finished, but I just haven't been motivated to finish it. Too bad, because all it needs is for me to crochet one more sleeve and weave in the loose ends.

I am determined to knit some kind of cardigan this year just for the sake of saying I've completed one. Since my previous attempt didn't work out so well, I decided to start with a baby cardi. Settle down. I'm not preggers. I just figured it was smaller and less work than an adult cardi. I opted for this Provence baby cardigan and have all the parts and pieces knit. Now I just have to actually knit them together. (Notice the theme? I love to start projects but have a harder time finishing them.)

My last unfinished project is this featherweight cardigan. The yarn I'm using is a lightweight cotton in a cream-ish color. I've knit about 4 inches below the armholes and have another 5 inches to go before I tackle the sleeves and the collar.

We'll see if this one can keep my attention long enough that I can finish it. If not there's plenty of other projects in my queue including this shawl:

These mittens:

And this hat:

There's always another project to start.