Wanted: Reliable Running Partner

I would like a reliable running partner, below are the qualifications the chosen individual needs to possess.

Jacks and Europa

Loves to go for long runs.  Doesn't complain.  Listens to me complain.  Always excited for what I have planned.  Doesn't complain about my plans.  Always shows up and is ready to go.  Motivates me when I am less than motivated.  Yep, those are the basics - I am pretty sure it is a tall order.  Fortunately I have two individuals that are excited about the position. 

Neither of them are currently available for the position, I don't think they could handle the mileage.  However, I am pretty sure with some work Europa would be able to go on runs <10 miles and Jacks could handle most anything I could throw at him - maybe. 

I am looking forward to the day that I can hit the trails with some company... 

22 miles of fun?!?

When I decided that I wanted to run an ultra I searched the internet for a training plan (can been seen in an earlier post).  I seem to function much better if I have a matrix that tells me what to do and when.  When left to my own devices I seem to prefer extremes - I either over or under train. 

Today's box informed me that I was to run 22 miles.  I figured this shouldn't be too terrible since I have been logging some big miles up to this point.  Was I ever wrong...  All in all the run was good and I completed all 22 miles.  I just had some minor issues along the way.

Give the increased distance I switched over to my backpack and camelback to carry water and snacks.  I have used this pack for many adventure races and never had a problem with it.  Unfortunately this time I had problems.  The pack on the smallest settings was not small enough to hug my body.  This caused a lot of jostling around while running.  I am now the proud owner of some terrible chafing on my lower back - not fun.

Then there was the issue of my extremities.  I have gotten accustomed to the pain in my feet that trail running seems to cause.  I attribute this pain to a number of factors, namely a) they are flat; and b) rocks and roots.  Today the rest of my lower half seemed to rebel along with the feet.  From trudging up and down hills my lower back and hipflexors were toast.  By mile 17 I was shuffling along much slower that usual.  The last 5 miles seemed to go on forever,  I resorted to making deals with myself to keep going.  It worked and I finished, then again I didn't have much of a choice.  It isn't like someone could come and pick me up.

All in all it was a great run.  It gave me some confidence going into my upcoming run- I am really starting to think I can do this.  Plus, I figure I cannot feel much worse so I only have one way to go - up!

Stats
Distance - 22 miles
Time - 4:45
Pace - 12:57

Reading List

I have always wanted to work my way through the classics - Hemingway, Tolstoy, Twain and the like.  In the past I have created 'to read' lists for myself, however, I never seem to stick with the books I've selected.  I am easily pulled off course by the newest Stephen King book (my favorite author - no laughing please)...  This time I am going to try my best to stick with my list.  In an effort to make myself feel somewhat better about the task I have include some books I have already read that I feel fit the bill - it makes me feel like I have already made progress! 

Below is my reading list, feel free to let me know if you think I have omitted something you feel is a must read. 

Running Roadblock

This past Wednesday I headed to Capital Forest for a 8 mile run.  I enjoy the trails so much more than the road, therefore I have decided that any running I do that exceeds 8 miles should be done on trails.   It was a lovely day as I shuffled off into the forest.  About a half mile from my turn around point I ran into (well not literally into, rather I stumbled upon) a mid-size roadblock - there was a bear standing in the trail.  I am pretty sure it was enjoying one of my favorite trail treats - thimble berries.   Bears do not worry me altogether too much, however, since I only had a 1/2 mile left to go I decided it wasn't worth trying to get (s)he to move. So I turned around and shuffled off to where I started.

A little bit of excitement during an otherwise uneventful run!

Adventures in P-Town

This past Friday Matt had a furlow day while I had to work.  But, we figured a way to capitalize on both of these things.  I could work from Portland.  Yes, perfect!  This would allow Matt time to cruise the city while I tended to some obligations and then we could meet up for some fun. 

First things first, upon arriving we headed to The Flavor Spot - a food truck that serves everything wrapped in a waffle - delicious.  We each ordered a waffle with maple spread and sausage, amazing doesn't begin to describe the taste.  About half way though I was beginning to wish I had ordered the waffle with jam, the mix of sweet syrup and zesty sausage was starting to be a bit much.  In the end I couldn't finish it, I had to walk away with a few bites left. 

While munching away on our waffles we noticed that Voodoo Donuts was right down the street from us.  For those of you not aware of Voodoo Donuts it is an awesome hole in the wall with a very unique selection of donuts.  Options include but are not limited to: cock and balls, butterfingering and the bacon maple bar just to name a few.  You can check out their menu here:  http://voodoodoughnut.com/menu.php 
Since we had started our day with excess we saw no reason to stop now, we ordered a dozen.  As of this writing there is one lonely donut from that batch remaining. 

At this point Matt and I parted ways, I went into the office while he headed to Powell's and then onto Forest Park.  After I put in my couple of hours we joined back up for some afternoon cocktails.  While visiting Sandra a number of years ago she took me to this Peruvian restaurant that is home to the most amazing cocktail I have ever consumed.  I just had to have another - off we went.  Sitting at the table looking over the drink menu I was starting to panic, they don't have it anymore!?!  That cannot be, I must just be overlooking it.  I asked the waitress about it only to have her confirm my worst fear, they no longer serve it...  That isn't to say their other drinks are not good, it is just I had yet to have anything that even comes close to comparing to my memory of this one drink. 

After ensuring that we were properly filled with drink we head off to Next Adventure, a sweet outdoor shop whose entire basement is filled with consignment goods.  If you have been in our apartment you know that we have more outdoor gear then available room.  Due to this we are making an effort to off load anything and everything that we are not using.  We ended up making more $$ than we hoped for and quickly ran upstairs to spend our spoils: 3 cams, a set of crampons and a belay device. 

All in all a good way to spend a Friday. 

WW Kaying Fiasco

My trials and tribulations did not end with our climbing adventures.  Nope, it was still going strong a few days latter when I set out with the Higley brothers and Melinda for a a ww kayak trip.

I will start with some background -  I had the good fortune a few years back to make a trip to Ohiopyle, PA with the Higley clan to be introduced to the sport.  It was love at first sight.  I knew it was something I wanted to do more of, it was just a matter of figuring out how - MI doesn't exactly have a ton of ww rivers.  None the less, prior to leaving PA we came about a little boat for a very reasonable price that I decided I had to have.  Impulse buy - maybe...  Since purchasing it I used it one time, on a float of the Grand River with Sandra that turned out to be quite the adventure.  Missing boat plugs, crazy mosquitoes and us hitching in bikinis.  Ah memories...  I figured that WY would be the perfect place to get my boat wet in some ww. So, prior to getting to Jackson for our wedding I contacted both Eric and Aaron to see if they would be interested in doing some ww kayaking.  Of course they were!

It is amazing how much you can fit into a station wagon! 

Photo credit: Eric

The morning of our trip Matt pulled out to spend time with his nieces, so Melinda, Eric, Aaron and  myself set-off for our little adventure.  First stop was to rent kayaks and gear for the three of them.   Then we performed some fancy packing to get all of our gear into the two cars and headed on our way to the Snake River.   

We arrived at the put-in and prepared to go.  I was excited and somewhat nervous, I had not been ww kayaking much and my boat is tiny.  O'well, how bad can it be - right?  Though the course of the day I got my answer, it can be BAD.  Everything started out well enough, we got into our boats and headed down river going though some rapids and enjoying ourselves.  In the back of my head I was somewhat concerned because my boat was pretty tipsy.  It didn't help that the eddy lines seemed to like to grab the edges and try to flip me.   Sure enough the river finally had its way with me, I was coming out of an eddy (no rapids to be seen) and found myself underwater.  Since my roll ability is pretty much non-existent I pulled my skirt and swam.  Eric and Aaron split their effort between trying to grab me and my boat.  We were quickly approaching the biggest rapid of the day (lunch counter) and decided I was going to have to swim it.  Through the rapid I went, I was able to get into an eddy on the other side and crawl out.  Later I learned that Aaron ended up going though upside down while trying to haul my boat.  In the end Melinda saved my boat and Eric was nice enough to let me borrow his to get down to it.  Did I mention that the water was cold?  I was freezing!

We finally get everything arranged and continue down the river.  Melinda was in front of me and hit a big hole, it flipped her.  I was really close and tried to go around, I flipped as well.  Now we are both swimming with the brothers chasing our boats.  We finally manage to cling to a rock face and climb up it to get into calmer water (on the other side) and our boats.  At this point I am still in good spirits but colder than I can ever remember being.  I am also starting to notice that my reaction time is slowing down...

Back into the boats and down the river we go.  It didn't take very long until I found myself back underwater.  That was it, I was done -  I was cold and scared.  I couldn't function properly and just wanted out.  Unfortunately out wasn't an option.  In steps Aaron, he offers to let me hold onto his boat as we go though the next set of rapids.  I am pretty sure I can handle that and we set off.  As we were floating Aaron decided to pull his throw bag and tie us together.  One problem, just as he was removing his skirt we were approaching the start of the rapids.  He quickly puts the skirt back on and I continue to hold onto his boat for dear life.  Unfortunately his boat had already filled up with water - he was sinking.  We leaned into each other and hoped for the best.  He finally able to maneuver us over waters edge and emptied his boat.  We could see the take out around the bend, just a short way to go.

No way, I am not doing it, I am done!  This is what I was telling Aaron.  I would rather take my chances climbing up the ridiculously steep slope covered in loose rubble and then scale the highway wall then spend another second on the water.  He tried to convince me that it would be easier just to float the 100' to the takeout - I was having none of it. During our discussion Eric comes walking along the upper slope.  He would go with me while I work my way up and Aaron would deliver my boat to the take-out.

Usually I am not the sort of person to back down from a challenge, nor do I scare easily.  Well, it sure seemed like WY had its way with me over the past few days.  It was good for me, learning your limits is always a good thing - It allows you to know what areas you need to work on to improve. 

photo credit: Eric

My little blue boat is now looking for a new home, it isn't a good fit for me at the moment.  A play boat for my poor beginners skills just do not mesh.  Limit learned :-)

Woo Hoo!

Most of my long and longer runs have been trying.  As in I am trying everything I can to ensure that one foot continues to move in front of the other.  Though these runs I kept reminding myself that it is these hard runs that make you better.  They teach you to push through discomfort and keep on keeping.

All those runs finally came together and paid off for me this weekend.  During Saturday's longer run I averaged 12/min miles.  Sure, you make look at this and thing, jeez, that really isn't fast.  For me though I am happy.  It wasn't a trudge, I felt like I was happily flying along the trail - a much appreciated reprieve from what I usually feel like.  Today was my long run and I really did feel like I was flying, I got back to the car and looked at my watch to see that I averaged 8:24/min mile - woo hoo! 

I am really enjoying training for this ultra, running has become fun again.  I don't care about how far or fast so much as just getting out and doing.  It helps that the doing is over the hill and through the woods, how can a person not enjoy that?!  The biggest thing is that I don't feel all the tweaks and twinges I did while training for a marathon.  I can speculate the reasons, but really, who cares?  All that matters is I feel good and am having fun.

Happy Trails!

Climbing Misadventures

Guides Wall

As we may have previously mentioned after our wedding we wanted to climb the Grand Teton.  In theory this was a great plan, not so much in practice.  Upon arrive to Jackson we were greeted with a very snow covered mountain range.  Hum...this may put a kink in our plans.  We made the decision when we left WA that we would not take any winter gear.  We had ice axes, that was it.  Optimistic as usual we figure maybe it would melt out enough that we would still be able to climb.  Over the next week we religiously stared up at the mountains and dropped into the Jenny Lake Climbing Rangers Station to check on conditions.  Each time we were told the same thing - Winter Conditions, crampons and tools.

We finally gave into the fact that we needed to come up with a Plan B. What to do, what to do. We had heard that Guides Wall is a great climb, we just needed to figure out how to access it. Luck would have it that we ran into one of the Climbing Rangers (Drew) while out hiking. We asked him what he would recommend and he agreed that Guides Wall would be a good option. Also, since we were all headed in that direction he hiked with us and showed us where the climbers trail is leading to the start of the 1st pitch. Alright, Plan B is set.

Hiking to the base of Guides Wall

We woke up bright and early the next morning to start our adventure. We took the ferry across Jenny Lake, while on the ferry I ran into a women that I had taken a climbing class from years earlier - small world. Once on the other side we hiked the few miles to the start of the climbers trail. This trail took us across the talus field and up to the start of the beautiful rock we intended to climb. Upon arriving at the base of the climb we learned that we were in line, 5th in line to be exact. We got all of our gear arranged, hung our packs up and got to waiting.

Waiting...

Once the last team had started the 2nd pitch I (Melissa) started up the first. It was easy 5.7 climbing and the rock was good. I made it to the belay ledge and began to set-up an anchor for Matt to follow. This is where my problems started... I am not the worlds most proficient trad climber, actually I don't have much trad experience at all. I feel confident enough in my climbing abilities that the actually climbing and placing gear isn't an issue. What is an issue is setting up an anchor for my partner to follow on. I spent a good 10 minute making a very inefficient bomb proof anchor. I fretted and fretted and finally deduced that my anchor would hold a fall and told Matt he was on belay.

Matt cruised on up the pitch and was shortly at my side. I told him about my lack of confidence in anchor building and we assessed the rest of the climb. The guide book details the last pitch as a pure crack climb, I LOVE crack climbing, however, we decided that maybe we didn't have the appropriate gear (or rather enough of the appropriate gear) to accomplish this feat. That mixed with my lack of anchor building experience lead us to make the decision to retreat.

Matt started back down placing the pieces he pulled on the way up. Once he arrived safely on the ground I tore down the anchor and down climbed taking gear as I went. I have to admit, I felt totally defeated once I set foot on the ground. I do not like not being able to do things, especially things that I feel are totally within my reach. On the other hand it was a great experience, I now know what I need to work on. If I want to be a better climber in the mountains I need to get comfortable on gear. The only way to do that is with practice, so practice I must.

In my absence

I was hoping in my absence the blog would update itself with the rest of our wedding adventures, alas, it wasn't meat to be.  I will get back to it soon enough...

Recently I found myself doing a bit of traveling for work, first S. California and then to Louisiana.  California was hot but Louisiana wins for most miserable weather, the humidity is unlike anything I have ever experienced.  I would wake up and run at 04:45 just so it would at least be somewhat bearable.  The thought of the baking sun mixed with 100% humidity was unpleasant...  I returned back to WA towards the end of last week and was able to do my weekend long runs in the comfort of a hospitable climate.  At least I had that going for me because I felt terrible on the run.

As I mentioned previously I do back to back long runs over the weekend.  Saturdays are my longer run and Sunday I run 10 miles.  This week I switched it up and did the shorter of the long runs on Saturday, and my long run (18 miles) on Sunday.  Bad. Idea.  I felt great on Saturday, Sunday I felt like death warmed over - at best.  I just keep telling myself that it is good practice for the upcoming race...