Moving On

Hi Mascara fans!

And running fans, outdoor fans, adventure fans, fans of fans and friends and family! Hi Mom.

Apologies for the sudden departure, the long dry spell since our last post in January, the lack of good-byes or explanations or a simple redirect to let you know that we're still alive.

Runs with Mascara had a great run in 2011 - literally and figuratively. We ran mountains and trails, across streams and meadows, seeing sunsets and sun rises, with new friends and old. We ran in new places, ran in new skirts, ran in new mascaras, ran our first 50 miler and signed up for our first 100 miler (SPOILER ALERT: which we SO conquered).

Dana in the early morning hours at Zion 100

All along the way having our little venture, Runs with Mascara, made it more than just running and racing. It got us fired up with ideas, it got us laughing, it got us attention (Hello, Tracey Garneau!). It brought tears of laughter to our eyes as we conspired and planned and got friends jumping on the bandwagon to take Runs with Mascara to multi-sport, multi-state, as-seen-on-Ellen DeGeneres levels. It spoke to the essence of who we are and what we wanted to promote. Healthy, happy living and fun.

With 2012, Runs with Mascara went through changes both personally and professionally and it became apparent, that while the spirit of RWM would live on, we couldn't continue the focus as we had in 2011.

Dana found a true calling in long, long distance trail running and as she embarked on her first 100 mile race this past May she switched other gears, leaving office life to launch a personal training business, Ultra-U, and moving to Portland, Oregon.

I went in for surgery to remove a couple of meniscus tears in March after months of trying everything else to get better. It was my first surgery, my first knee issue. It jacked my ski season, my running, my chance to pace Dana at her 100M. To be honest, it maimed a bit of my heart and drive and passion. But I'm slowly on the mend.

And so, as Dana switched focus to creating her own incredible blog and brilliant website and I plundered into my personal dark space, it was time to put Runs with Mascara to bed. For now.

We'll still be out there on the blogs, just not here at RWM. Thank you for the support, the comments and the love! And the mascara, Blink!

For Dana, follow Ultra-U to keep tabs on her training adventures or to talk to her about your own personal training program.

For me? I'll still be throwing words around at spinneygirl.blogspot.com, hopefully with more consistency. I think a chunk of my creativity was in my meniscus?

New Jersey dreamin!

With lots of long runs on my training schedule I have been looking for some good races to help me get in the mileage this winter and spring. Not knowing where work travel may lead me (Bulgaria in February!?! 90% chance) I can't really commit solidly to anything. I am hoping my first race of 2012 will be in NEW JERSEY. Yes, you heard me correctly. I am heading back to PA to visit my family and while I am there I am going to sneak away for a bit to run the Febapple Frozen Fifty.

The Febapple Frozen Fifty is Feb 25 in New Jersey, awesome, right?! The Febapple looks like a figure eight from the start/finish with mostly trails and fire road. As for elevation the site says: “Good combination of level patches, rolling hills, moderate climbs, and a few very steep ascents and descents” I have no idea what that means for NJ and with no elevation gain/loss figures I will just have to wait and find out. The race looks super small and I imagine not many people have this as a destination race, but hey, who doesn't love NJ in the winter!

The next day I am hoping to do another event with my sister called the Ugly Mudder 7 Mile Trail Run, in Reading, PA. The appealing thing about this race is that the race director(s) has(have) an awesome sense of humor. From the race website: “It is not Boston nor the Olympics or even a line item on a bucket list of someone who desperately needs to get a life. It is, instead, a wonderful regional trail event thru whatever winter conditions cover the mountain overlooking the onetime Factory Outlet Capital of the World. It is an assortment of rustic trails covered by dirt & debris, rocks & roots, deer pellets & discarded undergarments, somewhat unique aide stations & fare, with constant undulation throughout, but nothing that requires a Sherpa.” It goes on to say, "This medium challenge race attracts 600-800 crazies a year, and for good reason; what else are you going to do in Reading in late Feb now that Bingo games here have gone "smokeless".

Bring on the fun, east coast style!

BAM!

And she's down! Funny to go from absolute runner's high to crumpled ball of tears on the ground in less than half a second. But just one day after writing about my favorite fancy new wonderful light, I go out for an easy run with no headlamp at 5:00am and exactly at the furthest point I will be from home I hit what feels like a trip wire and I go down hard. No hands out to brace me, nothing but net. Well okay, nothing but right elbow, ribs and thigh. I feel like I even skipped a bit like a stone on a pond but that may have just been my imagination. So I fell, shed a few tears (okay, they were giant tears with no air- that was knocked out of me, so I imagine I had that face little kids make when they aren't sure whether it hurts or not but when their parent looks at them they explode in a screaming teary mess) but then I got up and went back to look for the trip wire in the road. See below...

Me and my wire ring of pain. (I am trying to make a mad face but I am not so good at it!)

So I find the wire ring of pain on the road. Could it be that I stepped on one side of the ring and then caught the other side with my toe on the other foot? That seems like something that would only happen in a cartoon with Roadrunner. What are the chances of that? I probably couldn't land like that if I tried it in the light. So I did what any logical, teary runner would do, I picked it up, slung it over my head and started running slowly home. It turned out no major damage, just a few spots of road rash and a super sore elbow. The other bright spot... I now have a nice wire ring to make a mobile of all the great and not so great things I met on my journey to running 100 miles. I am going to start combing the road for some great things now that I will always be wearing a light!

Killer New Light by Go Motion

The light does not sag when you are standing or running, just having weird posture to take a self portrait!

I just got this new AWESOME light as photographed so poorly above. The light is the Sternum Light Kit 100 by Go Motion. I got it as a gift from one of my fans, Neil Dicker, aka, stepdad. When he heard I would be running through the night at races he wanted me to have the best light and gave me discretion to pick one out. I have seen people with headlamps around their waist and was intrigued. I decided on the Go Motion Sternum light as I love having my handsfree and my headlamps are all annoying for one reason or another. One is super bright but the size makes it so I need to wear a brimmed hat to keep it from creeping down over my eyes. This is great except some of the light shines on the brim making it less effective. If I tighten it and wear it without a hat there is a divot in my forehead for a week. The other headlamp points in any direction it wants due to some loose plastic that is just a poor design.
The sternum design of the Go Motion is awesome. Basically the sides of the light have cushioned velcro loops that allow you to hook it onto any pack you have. The battery pack fits nicely into the pack you are using and the cord connecting the light with the pack went easily out of the way. The battery pack has a blinky red light, great for visibility if you want it.

I tried it out on a short night run that I was doing to see how it would perform. I was running barefoot on a local soccer field. While it is not technical terrain it is important to look out for dog poo, dropped forks and other hazards lurking. The light was fantastic! First, you can really focus the beam and it stays where you put it. It is 100 lumens so that is a fantastic amount of light. It has a low setting so you can tone it down for longer battery life. While the light felt heavy in the package, I didn't feel it at all on my pack and it didn't bounce, jostle or get annoying at all. It was easy to put on and take off and it makes me want to go out for my long runs in the dark just so I can use it more.

No idea how well the battery will perform. It says it lasts 8 hours on high which would be amazing. Even if it lasts 6 that would be great. This is definitely going to Zion with me.