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.