Great Christmas = 40 miles of hiking in Yosemite

Brian and I went to Yosemite for 3 nights over Christmas this year and although we had a cross country ski trip planned it was glorious even without snow. I have been to more National Parks than I can count on my fingers and toes but I had never been to Yosemite. A crime, I know, especially since it is so close relative to San Francisco. We stayed in tents in Curry Village the first night which was cold but awesome. The valley floor was 19 degrees, thank you sleeping bag for being tough as nails! The next two nights we stayed in the Glacier Point Lodge. The lodge is a store and cafe in summer and converts to a ski in lodge in the winter when the road is closed. We hiked in since there is no parking overnight and had 2 nights of quiet, starry skies. I think I remarked on how lucky we were about once per hour. No people, lots of sun, crisp temps. Enjoy the pics!

Top of Lambert Dome

Where's the snow? Never mind, we are having fun anyway!
Half Dome in the distance.

One of the points on the way to Dewey Point.

Me, upon seeing Yosemite for the first time!

Holiday Half Marathon, Portland, OR

I am in Portland, OR this weekend visiting friends tacked on to a work trip. As luck would have it I was also able to run the Holiday Half Marathon. The course was flat, had people singing carols and it was NOT RAINING. On the other hand it was 35 degrees and my heart rate monitor (which I was planning to use as my guide) was showing a heart rate of 215 for most of the race. I had a great time and let me tell you, it was easy!!! Not trying to brag but the rest of the day was rough!Look at these adorable trolls I got to spend the rest of the day with (below). These kids have enough energy to make you beg for another 13 miles. I hid under the bed for a monster game of hide and seek. We colored, we glued googly eyes and read stories. We walked to the store for cookies and then it was still only 3:00!!! It feels like running a race you aren't trained for and have no GU. These kids win their age group for sure!

Pure joy!

This weekend was the North Face Endurance Challenge. I was able to join friends on my mountain bike and head out on the course to watch the speedsters and mere mortals run by. I could go on and on but I will let these two pictures (thanks for taking them Sam) speak for themselves. Above is Cheyenne. Cheyenne is one of the busiest people I know. While training for the 50k she also was planning a wedding (the week before the race, talk about a taper strategy), building a business, training, networking and getting in some time with friends. In a run before the race she told me how running was "pure joy". I get goosebumps just looking at that picture because Sam caught that pure joy completely. Awesome work Cheyenne, keep on spreading the joy!

The above picture is our training grounds here in the San Francisco Bay Area. When people ask me why I run ultra distance, why I run on trails, aren't I bored, I just need to direct them here. Pure joy (I think I can see one of the trails smiling)...

Are you busy May 11th and 12th, 2012?

It is official, I have signed up for the Zion 100. Well I actually signed up a while back but wasn't ready to admit it quite yet. I am still trying to figure out how to keep the joy of running at mile 70, 80, 95! After volunteering at aid stations at mile 92 and mile 80 of 100 milers I have seen what it looks like and it isn't always pretty. So why do it? I want to see if I have the guts. As an ultrarunner I have realized that the 100 miler is the distance at the top of the sport. Yes, there are longer runs. There will always be something longer, crazier, hillier, you name it. But the 100 miler seems to have made a place in ultrarunning as the pinnacle. I have not been to the top in Triathlon (Ironman) or any other sport but I feel like I have a shot here and that feels awesome. I have no illusions about it being all sunshine and lollipops but I am hoping it will be an amazing experience. Join me?!?

Here is a call to all runners, TransRockies pals, triathletes, Facebook friends, bike racers, friends of sport, coworkers... join me! Did I mention, there is a 50 miler. Or go for it and run the 100 miler. Or pace me during the middle of the night. Or don't run at all. You can just come to see Zion National Park and high five me after the race! (please note, open invite to join me does not include parents who are best supporting from home, I would rather send text updates, thank you for understanding!)

The course is one long trail in a figure 8. NO repeating sections, no endless loops. It is almost completely trail and there is less climbing than most 100s on trail. Vistas include mesas, desert and sky and the weather could be totally perfect that time of year.

I must also mention that this is the first year of this race. The race director, Matt Gunn is a stand-up guy. I don't know him but I have seen how classy he has been up until now and from what I have seen I have total faith that the race will be great. Put it this way, when I signed up for the race he emailed me personally to say hello, invite me to training runs on the course and ask if I have any ideas for making his first race go smoothly. SERIOUSLY, that blew me away. He has also responded to questions on the website super fast, offered to host training runs on course outside of the handful he is officially organizing and has secured ham radio operators for safety during the run in zones with no cell coverage. I am really looking forward to meeting him and supporting this effort.

Have I convinced you? Please join me, this will be a race to remember. Training starts now, 25 weeks until we are ON!

Spoiler alert: Sam wins AG at Urbanathalon!

The Urbanathalon is in the books! What a fun day. The event was just over 9 miles with some obstacles in the way. The race started with a run up some of San Francisco's finest hills and over to AT&T park, our baseball stadium. I ran with my favorite other half, Brian and best favorite endurance power couple, Jeff and Jessica. Sam ran like the devil, chasing glory solo. You already know the results of that, PURE AWESOME. We crawled under barriers, under jeeps and under nets. We went over concrete dividers, high walls and taxi cabs (yeah, that felt good stomping on the hood). We laughed, we ran, we were ridiculous as we hoped to be!

Event highlights:

1. A brief but glorious reunion with some TransRockies pals during the race and after (see above).
2. Conquering a full set of monkey bars without a pause. (Yeah for small victories!)
3. Running with some of my favorite people, all together. That won't happen again for a long time.
   
4. Sam coaching me from the crowd (yes, she was done already) over the final wall at the finish. Conversation as follows...
   

• Dana- just staring at wall mouth most likely hanging open a bit, speechless
  
• Sam from crowd- "Grab the rope!!!"
• Dana grabs the rope with feet on wall then pulling and realizing there will be no upward progress with this method, "NOW WHAT?!?!?!?"
• Nice volunteer pushes me by my behind up and over the wall. So much for girl power. Thank you nice man, I needed that!

Check out Sam with her prize. So cool. Even better, that rockin pink skirt. Thanks Jen Stover for the photographic evidence that we were there. I am itching for what's next. Off season, you are over!

It's the off season. Go jump a bus!

The "off-season" is really just a thing we talk about, not really something we do! It is the San Francisco Bay, beautiful weather all year. That means no cue to take some rest or stay inside and hibernate. Well this year in a break from racing and focused training we are taking an off season. (Don't worry, it will be short, we will get a bad case of FOMO- fear of missing out, in no time!) And what better way to spend the off season than doing something ridiculous! The next adventure for RWM is the Men's Health URBANATHALON right here in San Francisco. URBAN What? Well it is a ten mile run through the city with a few obstacles for good measure.

Example obstacle: Jumping a bus. Oh right, after leaping a few cabs first! HA. I said it was ridiculous.

This one should be fun. We are bringing friends along and hope to take pictures of monkey bar madness, all the tires we will be jumping in and out of and the stairs at the baseball stadium we conquer. Love the off season!

Neve, Never, Never Give Up

I cried. I watched it again, same result. I'm going out for a run now, gotta go!

The Arc of a Lifetime Pursuit

Everything about this video makes me smile!

For the love of running

My nephew Austin, the youngest runner I know

You know that person that runs really fast then stops and turns to look at you with a grin before running fast ahead again, legs scrambling, arms flying, shrieks of laughter emanating as you yourself start laughing and almost want to stop because it's too hard to breathe and laugh?

That's a kid. (But it could also be a few trail running friends I know.) It's just the pure delight in realizing what your legs can do; that chemical endorphin that washes over you when you run, feeling your heartbeat and the wind rush across your face.

With San Francisco unveiling the red carpet of an exceptional, if long overdue, indian summer these past few weeks it's the feeling I've had every time I go out to run. Without any training agenda it's the reason I run. It's the reason I love to run. And it's the reason I can never understand the person who says they don't like running. Not the person who can't run or doesn't have time or prefers other things, but the person who just can't stand to run. Find your inner child, people. Or better yet, find a kid who will run with you. Find the love. Or just the like.

Find your inner Phoebe from Friends.

100 year old runner

The 100 year old marathoner! I have received countless emails, comments over the watercooler and phone calls about this guy. Some people say, that will be you! Some say, how is that possible. Many wonder, what does he eat! So I looked it up and the articles say tea and ginger curry. How does he do it? Happiness. Will that be me? Great question, who knows what life will bring 65 years from now. One thing for sure, I will be drinking tea and eating curry!

Here are some quotes from him from a Buddhist blog.

"If someone says I must stop running I ignore them - invariably they're younger than me. The secret to a long and healthy life is to be stress-free. If there's something you can't change then why worry about it?

"Be grateful for everything you have, stay away from people who are negative, stay smiling and keep running."

"I won't stop running until I die."

Sierra Endurance Runs 9/24

A quick little catch up from the mascara files and my experience at...

SIERRA ENDURANCE 25M and 50M RUNS

With my fourth and final toenail gone, I was desperate to get in a decent weekend of some long distance runs before I had to face the Dick Collins 50M on 10.8. Coming off Transrockies at the end of August I'd been plagued with foot issues that kept me in flip flops for almost 3 1/2 weeks straight (which is heaven, of course, but only if i can also put sneakers on). When I finally did lace up a pair of sneaks, I was so happy....and slightly off my running game. Amazing how much ground you can lose when you can't run. This was my last chance to get in a big push so I headed out to Roseville at an ungoldy hour of the morning to join my friends, Dana and Kara, at the Sierra Endurance Run.

Arriving late to the race start, Dana's boyfriend, Brian, was waiting for me with my race bib and chip as the gun went off and the runners disappeared. Doh. I headed out on the now empty firetrail with a few other latecomers, following the arrows and watching the sunrise sweep across Auburn Lake. Still following the arrows, I caught up to a handful of people as we transitioned to single track and I took the lead (of the stragglers, I mean). Maybe 1/2 mile along the woman behind said she hadn't seen a "pink ribbon" in awhile. I said I was following the arrows. She said the arrows were for another race - we were supposed to follow the ribbons. She was following me who was not following the ribbons. Ah, the pre-race meeting. So often uninformative and yet this once, so critical.

Auburn Lake at Sunrise

So we circled back and picked up the ribbons and went about the next 18 or so miles running on soft, rolling singletrack alongside the lake and beautiful views. Things felt good, loose. The miles seemed to click away quickly enough and then we started to turn inland, or upland I should say, on Cardiac Hill. That's when the heat of the day seemed to unleash its effects. The hike up went well enough. It was steep and long but my legs felt strong. Things were still looking pretty good as I entered the Auburn Dam Overlook aid station, drenched myself in water, grabbed a Clif bar and continued on. And then the wheels just started slowing down. I meandered down some singletrack easily enough then hit the last flat-to-rolling firetrail stretch before the finish. This is where 5 miles felt like 10. Where my water supply disappeared almost instantly and I was left holding a Clif bar and a Gu I couldn't choke down without fluids.

Fortunately, I ran into Kara and Dana coming back for the 50M course - both of them feeling the same effects, each pausing to say hi for a minute before we continued on our separate paths slowly and sluggishly. I was doing a walk/run thing by then, trying to admire the views around me, my legs now just dead and my lips parched. Even Dana warned that what seemed like the last mile or so was more like 2 or 2+. I got passed by maybe 5 people during that stretch but finally No Hands Bridge came into view and I shuffled across the finish line into the arms of a cold and delicious popsicle. Mmmm, popsicles.

Dana just past the 25 mile turnaround.

I arrived back at the start via the shuttle bus just in time to drop my keys in the toilet and see the winner cross in 7:29. All around goodness.

Late to race start, lost on trail, keys in toilet. Nothing left to do but smile.

Driving home afterwards I considered how on earth I could have ever turned around at that point and done another 25 miles. I texted Tina (another mascara girl also signed up for Dick Collins) about my doubts. I was SO done at mile 25 with 2 weeks to go until my first 50M. It was not the sign I was looking for. Taken on its own, it was a fine day, challenging; it got me out onto new trails and supporting 2 great race directors who would also be putting on Dick Collins. The views were great, the sunrise spectacular. I could see going back here on a cool, fall day and doing an out and back on the singletrack along the lake en route to Tahoe.

I just have to remember what friends have always reiterated: where the mind goes, the body will follow.

Dana and Kara both finished the 50 Mile course making their 50M records 2 for 2 with outstanding debuts at American River last year and gritty, dig-deep-in-the-heat performances at Sierra. Kudos to the ladies!

Dana and Kara at the quiet, desolate finish.

Dick Collins Fire Trails in Pictures

It isn't your eyes, it is the photos. I am definitely a better runner than photographer but I thought I would share the few pictures that I have from Dick Collins Fire Trails this past weekend. CONGRATULATIONS to Sam and Tina. Great run!

Sam prerun

Mile 40, check out the amazing trails!

Me pacing Sam

Sam, mile 47 or so

Sam with great friend Jessica- a trail surprise!

I like our group of friends that all have their cameras up on the other side of the finish!

Racing and Pacing: A weekend preview

Since it is Wednesday I can officially start thinking about the weekend! Since this weekend should be especially fun I thought I would write a quick preview.

Sam is going to be running all 6 of her remaining toenails at the Dick Collins Firetrails 50 miler! She has kept the podiatrist in business since our run at TransRockies but is strong as ever. I expect to see that awesome "Sam is getting it done" pace (also know as the "I will kick your @## you crazy trail, you're not the boss of me" pace).

Tina, a great friend of Runs with Mascara and awesome athlete will also be running. It is also her birthday so there is sure to be festivities in store. Tina paced me at American River 50 last year and was AMAZING. Why:

1. She had jokes. She didn't think of jokes to tell me, she actually went online, found jokes, printed them out and brought them in her running pack. She whipped them out (all 4 printed pages) and I almost died laughing!
2. She had chocolate. Always a great lure!
   
3. She stopped talking to me! So cute, as soon as we started running together she told me how she has stopped talking to me days before to ensure we would have plenty to talk about on our run!
   
4. She shed a tear at mile 49. So did I, but it was awesome to see her so excited for me.

I hope I am half the pacer Tina was for me. I am looking forward to 13 awesome miles pacing, cheering my heart out, eating amazing food after, high fives that turn to sweaty hugs and some great pictures to share.

Go SAM! Go TINA!

Transrockies: There's more!

See the video outtakes from a flip cam that sat in an ice-cold babypool for 20 minutes at the end of Day 4, compromising the integrity of this award-winning look back at a few days across Colorado. It's not a lot of great running coverage but it further promotes what Transrockies was all about for us - big smiles, wide open spaces, great friends - old and new. And a lot of hand gesturing.

I think this might be my last attempt at visual media for this event so savor it. But you never know!

Transrockies: The Song

It's the song they played each night at Transrockies before the awards, the song that stayed with me back home, the song that I've listened to ad nauseum since returning to California. I can't quit you, song!

So what better use of it than to borrow from the producers at W.L. Gore and create our own personalized Transrockies photo montage with their song. To watch the slideshows the race organizers presented each night after dinner of the photos from the day was to feel inspired all over again to be doing something so amazing in a place so beautiful. Though these don't quite have the same professional caliber as what we got to see, hopefully you get the gist of what our adventure felt like. Or at least looked like.

Sierra Nevada Endurance Run 50 miler

Yesterday was the Sierra Nevada Endurance Run 50 mile race and marathon. I raced the 50 mile with friend Kara and Sam raced the marathon as a training run to prep for Dick Collins Fire Trails in 2 weeks. I signed Sam up for the race on Friday and apparently my handwriting messed up her registration so CONGRATS to Sam on her 12th place in the men's 40-49. (should have been 4th place in the women's, KILLER!)

For this race I was worried about 2 things. 1) Heat and 2) every muscle in my body seizing up and not letting go. For the past 3 weeks I have been so tight in my back and hips that I thought 50 miles might turn me into a mannequin. The heat came to be, the mannequin pose never happened but I did turn into another mall staple, the mall walker!

First things first, the heat. Turns out we got lucky and it was forecast to be 15 degrees cooler than the day before of 105. Whew. Still way to hot for this girl.

All smiles.

The race started at 6:30 am and I was sweating in no time. I knew this was going to be tough. The course was amazing with rolling hills, nothing big but no real flat either. There was rock formations, gorgeous water and great vegetation to make the trail fantastic. All was well into mile 10. Into mile 18 too, then we started up the hill and that is when it got hot. This was an ordinary hill I wouldn't normally think twice about but it made my core temperature sore just from power hiking. A flat section before mile 22 helped me run again and it felt okay.

Sam cools off at one of the aid stations. Ultrarunning centerfold! Photo courtesy of Brian.

Then it just got hot. HOTAHOTHOT. Yes, I am a wimp around heat but boy I was woozy. I had ice, sponge baths and dreamed of slurpees but really I was barely under the threshold for cooking my brain. I had to walk slow to keep from fainting. I was so excited to see Brian at mile 28 to pace me, something to take my mind of things!

The 2 mile canal along the route was awesome for cooling down. Mile 29.

I jumped into water twice during the race and it was worth all the delay it caused for sure. I felt like a pig wallowing in the mud but for sure it saved me. I never had issues with tightness all day but I did have some sort of Achilles flare up that slowed me down to mall walker pace but hey, I was moving! I won't go on and on about that because really, who knows what happened and why but I moved on (at a barely detectable pace for some of it but always made forward progress).

In the end another PW! 12 hours and 20 minutes. Right after the finish superstar Jessica, crew chief for my last 50, called thinking I wasn't checking in with her, never thinking that it could have taken me that long. Ha, I was so happy to tell you I wasn't dead! So this summer I have run a personal worst at the marathon, 50k and 50 mile and I never have learned more.

From this race I realized:

• I often kid around blaming genetics for my slow speed and poor athletic talents but really I am blessed with the ability to eat anything at anytime. Maybe better than the ability to run fast when you are an ultrarunner!
• I am tougher than I think I am. Cool.
  
• My brain is my strongest muscle. I better make sure I keep it on a good workout plan!
  
• 50 miles is far and 90 degrees is hot, so if it takes me 12 hours, well still better than dropping or not starting at all!
• Running slow is still running, grace isn't always with you and getting it done is what counts.
  
• It all means nothing if you can't share it with friends. Thanks to everyone for the calls, emails, texts, good thoughts. I am so lucky.

PS- a shout out to my pacer, Brian. Brian is the best partner, boyfriend, pacer ever. He was encouraging without being annoying, helped me dig deep when I wanted to kick something and made me feel proud of my accomplishment even if it was a tad on the slow side. Nice job Brian at your longest run (by time) ever!

Do you have $12,000?

Dream with me here for a minute. One year sabbatical from work. (No, I have no idea how this will be funded, please suspend disbelief to dream with me for the rest of this post) Okay, one year sabbatical from work. $12,000 cash for the purchase of the retro, silver airstream pictured above. A couple thousand dollars more to renovate for full sports engagement. A full 2012 race calendar spanning the American West. Training in the National Parks. Sleeping in the dessert, the mountains, Wal-Mart parking lots. Sponsors would be our favorite blinc of course, a tea sponsor would be nice, shoes, must have a shoe sponsor, socks, don't forget, some sort of recovery cream, Whole Foods and oooh, gas, we would definitely need gas.

Look how shiny it is! With the sponsor logos on the sides it would be even shinier, happier! What a home. Are you with me? Potential sponsors, give me a call. I run in the mid-pack and love to talk about your products! At my pace I have plenty of time to discuss intricacies as well! Dad, I will need some guidance on the interior renovation as you can see below. There is so much potential. I suppose I would need to learn how to drive a truck pulling this thing behind me. I would have to suspend plans for saving money, getting mail delivery and, and, and I can't see any other drawbacks at this point!

The crazy thing is that this very Airstream is really for sale within 5 miles of my house right now. Two weeks ago I bought Sam a shirt meant explicitly for wearing while lounging outside an imaginary Airstream I wish we had. A sign? I suppose the real sign would be someone giving me $12,000 plus a little something for renovations and a sponsor signing on to this crazy idea. Anyone game?

Thank you blinc

Sam after finishing stage 4 of TransRockies. Look how good she looks. Yes, genetics and blinc!

Dear blinc,

You complete us. We can't quit you. If you were a person we would stand outside your window with a boom box blasting Peter Gabriel. We were in love with you before and now, after our epic 6 days of TransRockies racing, the deal is sealed. Thanks for being our team mate!


We want you to know that your mascara stood up to over 20,000 feet of elevation gain, 120 miles, countless belly laughs, tears of joy, an inflatable slip and slide, 1 mile of running through a stream and lots of dirt. You were made for sport, thank you for supporting us with product, we certainly put it to the test.

Our well used tube of blinc after 5 days of camping and 97 miles of running. The background is the sea of tents and mountains of Vail, CO.

We noted lots of other competitors rocking their mascara during the race and told so many people about how we tube our lashes! Wearing our "My Mascara Runs Faster Than You" shirts always got a good reception and even superstar runner, Tracy Garneau noticed (she also is a mascara wearer, great for all those podium shots as she and her team mate Nikki Kimball won our age group!)

Sam with Tracy Garneau waiting for stage 5 to get started. Check out those eyes! Check out the legs too but we didn't get that photo!

blinc, our relationship is just getting started. I am running the Sierra Nevada Endurance Run on Saturday and although it promises to be 95 degrees, I will be wearing a gigantic smile and my blinc. Sam is running the Dick Collins Fire Trails 50 miler on October 8, in blinc for sure! Then don't get us started on all the adventures we have in mind for next season. Bring on more blinc, I hope you like long term relationships!

What a Surprise!

A shirt we saw in Vail after day 5. Us going into TransRockies? Nah!

Hey there, Dana here. I can't believe it has been so long since TransRockies and I haven't posted a thing. Sam did a great job posting the highlights which I share so I will post the surprises, at least surprises to me.

1. We were racing. Yes, I know we signed up for this thing and knew the whole time it was a race. Thing was, I thought it would be a race against the race, against the elevation, against the distance and it truly was all that. BUT! It was also a race against other teams that seemed to be nearby all the time. To put it in perspective, Sam and I had a total run time of 28 hours and 19 minutes. That put us in 6th place. 10th place was only 30 minutes back at 28:48. That means there were 5 places within 30 minutes of each other or just 5 minutes per day. To be more specific most days on the uphills the order of the racers was Sam, all our competitors, me at the bottom, the caboose. Luckily I could cruise the downhills.

2. Sam is an animal. Okay this is actually not surprising, at all. In fact, if you know her you know what an amazing athlete she is but seriously she went to the next level on this race and pushed through blisters and feet that look like she was in the civil war. We also got along insanely well, again, not a surprise that we would get a long but we did FANTASTIC. (She did ask me to marry her in a fit of happiness upon seeing our hotel room on the last day, don't worry gents, Sam is still on the market).

Goofing off post-race.

3. That was luxury. I never felt like I was roughing it at all. The food was amazing. The tents, the help, the people, the support. I can't say enough amazing things about how well organized this race was.

4. Getting back to real life is hard. I am glad to have a race coming up as I definitely need something to focus on. Getting back to working out was fine. Going to work brought me almost instantly to tears as it is about as opposite as you can go from a week running in Colorado to email,desk,work, UGH. Anyone want to pay me to have fun sporting adventures for them? Happy to do it!

TransRockies Highlights

A Bunch of Highlights (from Samantha and in no particular order and which may be subject to evolve as I continue to relive the memories and pour over the photos.)

1. Soaking in the creeks post-runs. Every run ended near water. Cold, yes. Uncomfortable, yes. But having the option to soak at the end each day was huge. Effective recovery, definitely.


2. Feeling that first nudge of competitive fire on Day 3 when we spotted our competition about 3/4 of a mile ahead towards the very end of the race and we steadily built up our pace, kept our heads down and quickly, quietly passed them with a final 400 yard surge that made us both almost want to throw up. Game on.

3. Bombing the downhill to Red Cliff on Day 4 like I've never run before - fast, confident, seeing the whole rooty, rocky terrain 10 yards ahead of me and like Keanu Reeves in the Matrix, having complete and utter clarity on my direction.


4. Arriving at the top of Hope Pass (12,500 ft) and feeling the sincere euphoria of everyone around us snapping pics and taking videos and high-fiving and turning the mental corner on the long, steep hike it took to get up there.

5. Seeing our friends - new and old - finish every day.

6. Margaritas and fish tacos and friends on the deck at Mango's at the end of Day 4.


7. Running a mile through a stream bed - from ankle deep to mid-calf - in the last 4 miles to Red Cliff. Again, stoked by our closest competitors all entering the stream at the same time, Dana and I surged ahead pep-talking each other through it as exhaustion knocked at our door.

8. Running competitively each and every day right alongside the same teams in our age group vying for top honors amongst the mid-pack. The Island Girls, Mother/Daughter, Wounded Warrior, and Yogis on the Run.

9. Sunrise on Day 6 at Vail. Spectacular. Unfortunately, I was in the med tent getting my toes taped up so no pictures. Unless you want to see my toes.

10. The 7 mile downhill bomber on Day 5 coming into Vail. A few toenails - and patches of skin - sacrificed themselves that day as we crushed 8 minute miles all the way to the end for a hard-fought top five finish.

11. The finish. Careening down the last 2 miles going sub-8 with everything we had left, passing our Michigan friends, Rob and Joe, past the Yogi Girls, down into the chute and being struck with almost dumbfounded elation that it was over. That also might have been fatigue. Euphoric fatigue. Then turning around to see all our friends finish right behind us.

12. The showers. I thought these would be cold and in short supply but every day mobile trucks with 6-7 stalls delivered hot water, room to shampoo, shave, lotion up and head back out for another day of running fresh and clean. Magnificent.

13. The views.


I loved, loved, LOVED this event.

High Fives

The littlest of high fives to our littlest and most precious fan, Rawlings. Huge thanks to everyone who supported us and left messages and texts and followed our journey along the way. Again, with brains still foggy and work calling, this is far from what we'd like to say with real meaning and big S.A.T words, but we want everyone to know how much it meant to share the experience with you throughout the journey.

It's almost like she's holding an imaginary mascara wand, right? Right?