Anyways, I love the weekends. In fact, I spend most of the week just counting down until the minute I get off work on Friday. Talk about the Monday blues. I have it, bad.

I left work last Friday to come home to a nice surprise. ECCO shoes had sent me their newest trail shoes to try out.

This is off the Biom line which is suppose to help you run naturally. Surprisingly, it has a lot more cushion than I would’ve imagined for a “minimalist” shoe, so I’m curious to see how they hold up on the trails. Full review coming soon…

This Saturday a group of friends went out for a short jog on the Backbone trail in the Santa Monica Mountains. Short as in 68 miles. I opted for the 26 mile route since I’m still nursing this bad boy and didn’t want to get too beat up for my upcoming back to back 50K’s. A few crazies/psychos/people I totally admire decided to run the entire backbone trail in one day (re: 68 hellish miles from Ray miller to Will Rogers with over 13,000 ft elevation gain). We ran the entire backbone last year over a Saturday and Sunday and that was hard. They started at 6AM Saturday with us and finished around 3:30AM on Sunday, 21 freaking hours! Backbone is one of the toughest trails in So Cal as there are barely any flats, you are either going up or down.

Sunrise

Here’s the elevation for the first 30 miles…

Highlights/lowlights from the trail: I got lost 3 miles in even though I’ve done Backbone so many times and didn’t even realize I was off trail until I had already descended all the way down the canyon. Flashback to my first 50K race where I didn’t realize I was off course until I was almost done with my second 8 mile loop and wondered why I hadn’t seen anyone in a long time and…didn’t I pass that same tree an hour ago? Yeah, don’t follow me on the trail unless you want to run extra miles and get incredibly lost. I should really learn how to navigate myself better.  So, I had to backtrack and go right back up the trail adding on another 3-4 miles to the 26 for the day. I was cursing myself because I thought I would have to run the entire 26 by myself, but actually bumped into my other friends who had also taken the wrong turn, but hadn’t gone all the way down the trail like I did. From then on we just ran together to the end. I was reminded on Saturday how damn hard the climb is up Boney Mountain to Sandstone Peak. The views are amazing at the top, but the climb really takes a toll on your legs. Note from the chart above the climb starts around Mile 8 and ends at Mile 15.

Surprisingly I didn’t feel like dying on the trail unlike last weekend where I wanted to call it quits 8 miles into a 20 mile run. I started to get a headache around Mile 20 probably from the sun and not wearing a hat, popped a Tylenol and felt better. I feel like I’ve been using Tylenol on my runs a little too much lately to help ease the different pains I go through. Is this normal? Once we hit Yerba Buena at Mile 19, I was cruising the last 10 miles to our cars. My legs felt so good to be running and not climbing up steep hills. Though the 10 mile stretch isn’t pancake flat, it is relatively the flattest part on the Backbone trail with little elevation change. I loved being back on the single track and the weather couldn’t have been better. Winter doesn’t exist in L.A, apparently. I was able to get through the 30 miles on one Camelbak (2 liters) of water, 3 GU’s, a couple Honey Stingers and one Waffle, yum. Nothing like delicious runner’s food.

I’m already missing these views…

Of course, the weekend wouldn’t be complete without good eats. We checked out a soft opening of Abigaile’s in Hermosa Beach Saturday night. Thanks Colin!

Bad ass burger

…and our weekly fill of gelato from Paciugo’s

Good stuff

Workouts for the week:

Sunday: I wanted an easy flat road run on Sunday, but instead got a hilly 9 miles around Santa Monica. It felt like hard effort and definitely wasn’t the easy I was expecting. Though my legs felt good considering I had done 30 the day before. I probably should have pulled myself out for 20 miles, but I didn’t have it in me to go that far on Super Bowl Sunday.

Monday: I ran a quick 8 on the treadmill and got an hour massage just focusing on my legs after work. Another sufferfest but worth the pain.

Tuesday double-days: Short and quick 5.5 miles in the morning since I had to rush off to this thing called work. Later at night, I did one of the hardest track workouts ever.  2 mile warm-up followed by 8×800′s at 3:20 (Yasso’s). I felt progressively worse and worse as the intervals went by, but tried to keep the same pace. Funny how my last 800 was my fastest one of all at 3:15.

I hope so Bart..I hope so.

Wednesday: Another 8 in the Marina (this seems to be my favorite distance to run lately), rehabbing/stretching/exciting date with Mr. Foam Roller later tonight

Thursday: Some sort of double run

Friday: Walk, x-train, rest

Saturday: 21 miles of the LA Marathon course with Track Club L.A 

3 more days until the weekend! Lots of fun stuff planned. What do you have planned this weekend?

**Congrats to my imaginary boyfriend who won Rocky Raccoon 100 this past weekend in 13:24:52. Yes, that’s 13 hours for 100 miles, 8 min/mile pace. C-r-a-z-y.

Power song: International Love: Chris Brown ft. Pitbull

Chocolate Chip Blondies

These blondies are the perfect treat to cure any sweet tooth and simple enough to whip up quickly for any party. Chewy, rich and decadent blondies, when made right, are hard to resist. This is such a simple recipe and it only takes 5 minutes to make and throw in the oven.

Ingredients

• 1 stick unsalted butter (8 Tbsp)
• 1 2/3 cups brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Melt one stick of butter on low over the stove. Take off heat and stir in brown sugar.

3. Mix flour, vanilla, 1 egg and a pinch of salt in a separate bowl.

4. Combine the butter/sugar mixture with the dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips, make sure not to overstir.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes and cut into bite-size pieces.

Kicked Up Turkey Sloppy Joes

Sloppy joes are really a quintessential kid food. Getting your hands dirty while eating this messy sandwich was the best part. Sloppy joes are traditionally made with ground beef with minced onions and ketchup mixed in. Instead, this recipe uses lean ground turkey, chopped bell pepper and diced tomato for a lighter version of this classic. The creaminess of the bleu cheese really takes this sandwich up a notch.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1  onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
Olive oil
1 lb. extra lean ground turkey
1/2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1/2 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tbsp. Worcestershire
2 tbsp. hot sauce
1/4 cup canned tomato sauce
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
4 whole wheat hamburger buns
Blue cheese crumbles
Salt, pepper

Directions

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a skillet, add turkey, salt and pepper, and cook until browned. Remove turkey, and add onion and bell pepper to the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the turkey back to the skillet and mix together with vegetables, along with the tomato sauce.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire, hot sauce and garlic powder. Mix well and add to skillet. Stir well to distribute sauce and allow to simmer for 5 – 10 minutes. Spoon mixture onto buns, top with blue cheese crumbles.

Blue Corn Chickpea Tacos

Here is a great low-fat alternative snack that everyone can munch on during the game. These tacos are not only crunchy and delicious, they also pack in tons of flavor from the spices. Roasting chickpeas is the easiest way to kick that craving when you want something salty. These little peas are so crunchy and full of flavor, you won’t miss the Doritos at all. They also make great grab and go snacks during the week. Store-bought or homemade guacamole is a great binder for the chickpeas so they don’t fall out of the taco. Adding a black bean and corn salad with cilantro and salsa adds maximum flavor to each bite. Enjoy chowing down on this guilt-free snack during the Super Bowl!

Blue Corn Chickpea Tacos
Serves 2 (2 tacos each)
Ingredients

• 4 blue corn taco shells
• 1 (12 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Sea salt
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• Toppings: Lettuce, salsa, corn, black beans, cilantro, guacamole

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Rinse chickpeas and blot with a paper towel to dry them. In a bowl, toss chickpeas with olive oil, and season to taste with salt and chili powder. Spread on a baking sheet, and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until browned and crunchy. Watch carefully the last few minutes to avoid burning.
3. To make tacos: stuff the bottom layer of the taco with mixed greens, top with black beans, corn and salsa. Layer chickpeas on top and finish with guacamole and cilantro.

Pasta with Basil-Walnut Pesto

The flavors of the cherry tomatoes and pesto combine beautifully with the farfalle pasta in a light and simple pasta dish that works for family or casual entertaining. This pesto is so simple-just basil, walnuts, garlic, cheese and olive oil. The walnuts are a great mix in for their added crunch and texture.

Pasta with Basil-Walnut Pesto
4 servings, 1 1/2 cups each

Basil-Walnut Pesto
Makes about 1 cup
Ingredients:
• 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves, (2-3 bunches)
• 1/4 cup walnut pieces, toasted
• 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:
Place basil, walnuts, Parmigiano-Reggiano, oil, water, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor; pulse a few times, then process until fairly smooth, or to the desired consistency.

Pasta with Basil-Walnut Pesto
Ingredients:

• 8 ounces whole-wheat farfalle pasta
• ¼ cup prepared pesto
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add farfalle and cook until al dente. Reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking water, drain the pasta and return to the pot. Heat oil and red pepper flakes in a large skillet over medium heat. Add cherry tomatoes and cook until it starts to break down, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add tomatoes to pasta and stir in pesto. Cover to keep warm.

Warm Potato Salad with Bacon & Spinach

Skip the traditional potato salad and whip up this decadent salad, you won’t even miss the mayo.

Potatoes are surprisingly healthy as they contain zero cholesterol and are a great source of Vitamin C, Potassium, and Dietary Fiber. This wonderful healthy potato salad recipe is the perfect summer salad, it’s ideal for picnics, a light lunch, or as an accompaniment to any poultry. It can serve as a main dish all by itself, or serve it on the side to round out your meal. This updated picnic potato salad gets subtle flavor from the saltiness of the prosciutto. It’s colorful and chock-full of nutrients, without compromising the flavor.

Warm Potato Salad with Bacon & Spinach
Yields 6 cups
• 1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 slices prosciutto, cut crosswise into 3/4-inch pieces
• 1/2 onion, cut into quarters and sliced crosswise
• 1/2 bag of baby spinach
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Directions
1. In 4-quart saucepan, place potatoes and enough water to cover; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook potatoes 6 to 8 minutes or until tender.
2. In large bowl, mix oil, sugar, Dijon, 1 tablespoon vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce
3. In a skillet, cook bacon and onion over medium heat until browned, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add remaining tablespoon of vinegar.
4. Drain potatoes; add to dressing stirring gently to combine. Set aside.
5. Pour onion mixture over potatoes and gently stir to combine. Stir in spinach. Serve warm.

Mediterranean Portobello Sandwich

Here’s a sandwich for the vegetarian friends at your Super Bowl party. This sandwich is a great quick meal that will save you time in the kitchen and clean-up. The portobello mushroom soaks up all the Mediterranean flavors from the garlic rub and grills up nicely. Make it a meal with a simple Greek salad.

Mediterranean Portobello Sandwich
Makes 2 servings
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• pepper
• 1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 portobello mushroom caps, stems and gills removed
• 2 large slices sourdough bread, cut in half
• 1/4 cup sliced red peppers
• 1/4 cup chopped tomato
• 2 tablespoons crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese
• 1/4 cup sliced onion
• 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 cups loosely packed arugula
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons hummus

Directions
1. Preheat grill to medium-high.
2. Combine garlic with 1/2 tablespoon oil in a small dish. Lightly brush the oil mixture over portobellos. In the same garlic mixture, combine vinegar, salt, pepper, oregano, lemon juice and the remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil.
3. Cut up the red peppers, tomato, onions and toss with garlic mixture.
4. Grill the mushroom caps until tender, about 4 minutes per side; grill the bread until crisp, about 1 minute per side. Grill the vegetable mixture until cooked through, about 5 minutes.
5. Spread a tablespoon of prepared hummus on each slice of bread. Top with salad greens, vegetable mixture and feta cheese. Place the grilled mushrooms top-side down.

May 11-12, 2012. It’s on. Doesn’t that picture just make you want to run 100 miles there? No, not really?

I finally bit the bullet and signed up for this inaugural race in Zion. I’m not sure what I was waiting on as I pretty much knew I was going to run this race the day I found out I didn’t get into Western States (I’m over it now, but I did shed a few tears that day). I guess I will never know if my body can truly handle 100 miles until I try it for myself. I think 100′s are the ultimate test of endurance and it all boils down to mental toughness. I can’t even fathom what it’s going to feel like past the 50 mile mark or the 70 mile mark or even the 90 mile mark (if I make it that far). Since I have major ADD, it helps to focus on something new and switch up my training a bit (re: run as many miles as I can without my legs falling off). It’s good to give yourself a good kick in the pants once in a while and scare yourself by doing something totally new and foreign. Plus, the course looks beautiful and nothing is repeated on the course (i.e. we aren’t running 100 loops around a 1 mile track).

Here’s my work in progress training for Zion:

Mileage

It’s not a total surprise in order to train for a hundo you need to put in some heavy mileage. You need to spend a good amount of time on your feet and be okay with pulling yourself out after a long run and doing it all over again. My main goal here is to keep my weekly mileage around 70-75 and peak at 85-90. I feel comfortable with this goal because it’s realistic for me and I know my body can handle it. I’m going to aim for 2-3 double days/week, where I run or cross-train before and after work. It will usually be hard day/easy night or visa versa. I’m going to focus less on speed and more on running through tired legs. The rest of the week will consist of one track workout, double long runs over the weekend (hopefully on trails), one day of TRX/strength, tempos and most importantly, rest. I should say yoga, but I know I will never do it, so I won’t even hold myself accountable for it.

Managing the lows

Ultrarunning is a really schizophrenic sport. One minute you’re flying, balls to the walls on Cloud 9. The next you’re in the dumps and it is the most miserable feeling in the world. Unlike running shorter distances or marathons, when you “hit the wall”, it’s only for a couple miles and will go by relatively fast until it’s over. Unfortunately I’ve found on the trails, it can last an hour or a couple hours. I’ve felt this way every time I’ve run anything longer than a marathon distance on the trails, it’s almost a guarantee by now. Most of the time, it helps to know that I will get over it. Maybe not in the next 10 minutes, maybe not in the next hour, but the fact is I will get over it. Usually it happens from lack of fluids, electrolytes or calories so that’s the first thing I turn to when I’m feeling in the dumps. It’s going to happen in Zion, maybe multiple times, I just need to remember that the feeling is manageable and will pass in due time.

Training Races

To keep myself in check, I already had races lined up before I even signed up for Zion. Avalon last month was a good refresher to see how I felt doing another 50 a month after Northface. I have 2 back to back 50K’s in February over one weekend (60ish miles), no races in March (my wallet could only handle so much and somewhere B is clutching onto his credit cards), American River 50, Ragnar So Cal Ultra and Eugene Marathon in April. I’ll start doing long night runs sometime in March (either 10PM-2AM or 2AM-6AM). Sounds fun right? Especially for someone who is usually in bed by 9PM this should be interesting. I want to start experimenting with different stimulants like 5 hour energy and Red Bull. Hopefully they will keep me awake when I really need it. I am somewhat skeptical because my tolerance for caffeine is sky high and I can usually fall asleep after I down a cup of coffee.

Weight Management

I don’t want to dwell on this subject too much or else it’s going to cause me to relapse back into my eating disorder days, but I would like to ideally lose 5 lbs by race day. The only reason being with such a huge distance to cover on my feet, the less weight I have to carry around (plus my Camelbak), the lighter and faster I’ll be. Makes logical sense, right? Since I don’t own a scale nor do I really care how much I weigh right now, I can’t really gauge the progress of this goal. So I’m just going to go by feel and like I said, I’m not going to obsess over it. I enjoy my post-run treats too much

mmm Chocolate Bread Pudding from Short Cake LA

A few references for running 100′s

• http://www.ultramarathonrunning.com/training/
• Training for a 100 miler
• http://mattmahoney.net/ultra/train100.txt

I’ll try to update as much as I can on my training and journey, stay tuned!

My first race of the year started off with the Xterra Boney Mountain 21K trail race. It was the perfect day to be out on the trails and running with so many friends is always a plus.

The weekend after, I took a trip to Avalon, Catalina for Avalon 50. Catalina is only an hour away by boat so it was a fairly local race and I was able to come home and sleep in my own bed the same night after the race finished #score I didn’t have the best time on the course since my pelvis was flaring up and I subdued it with pain killers till the finish, but I had a great weekend with friends and got to run on some new trails.

Note to self: Pain killers don’t actually heal the injury, silly girl. Oh yes, in case you were wondering what I *think* I have…click here. I am the best at self-diagnosing and searching frantically online for various injuries and remedies instead of going to an actual doctor, because everything found on the internet has to be true, right? Also I don’t have the luxury (re: money) of going to any sports doctor I like because doctors cost money and the internet is free.

Yes I am monitoring this injury and I know it will not magically go away unless I do something about it. So here is my diagnosis and cure, just call me Dr. Torng

1. No more 90+ miles/week unless I am slowly building up to it. I hope to peak around 85-90 during my high months of training for Zion

2. Rehab

• Dorsal raises (3 sets of 10 per day)
• Adductor exercises (3 sets of 10 per day)
• Abductor exercises (3 sets of 10 per day)
• Hip flexor exercises (3 sets of 10 per day)

3. Pop IBU

#end rant

No buffalo sighting this year

My friend is mid chew with a buffalo burger, possibly from the same buffalo as the picture above

Another highlight was cheering on friends at the 13.1 race the day after Avalon. Legs were surprisingly responding to the mileage after the race though my friend said we looked like zombies. We ended up running 6 shake out miles along the course.

I ended the month with our infamous pub run, superhero themed around the dive bars in Culver City.

Can you guess who I was?

Hint: Starts with a P and rhymes with Bowerbuff Curls

Monthly recap

Total mileage for the month: 316

Current songs on repeat:

Hey Daddy-Usher

Marry the Night-Lady Gaga

Impulse buys:

Lunar Fly+2 Trail Shoes

Best runs:

Weekly track workouts

8 mile tempos

Running sub 1 hr at Westridge twice!

Other non-running highlights (in case you thought running was my life ha why would you ever think that?)

B getting a full time attorney job! More income added to the family to help pay off all my race fees and debts

Night snowboarding! Haven’t been on a board in 2 years and the bruises on my ass show

Celebrating the Year of the Dragon at Hop Li with MSG-laden food and crispy chicken skin mmm….

Indulgences

Short Order burger & Spuds

Weekly trips to Eatailian for pizza & gelato

Goals for February:

• Keep up with strength training (TRX), hip/abductor exercises to heal injury
• Finish Ray Miller 50K and La Jolla 50K injury-free and somewhat in a decent time
• Maintain weekly mileage
• Incorporate rest days
• Force myself to get a massage at least once a month

Looking forward to more shenanigans in February

This is such a easy recipe to sneak in those vegetables. I’m big on “sneaking in vegetables” when you live with someone who would rather eat meat and potatoes all day. I’m not a huge fan of cauliflower by itself, but mashed in with the potatoes, you can’t even tell the difference. The end result was creamy and decadent and looked and tasted just like a huge bowl of mashed potatoes. I think using part potatoes gave it that starchiness and texture without having to compromise too much. I used nutritional yeast which gave it a nice cheesy flavor without the actual dairy. A smidgen of butter, milk and simple seasonings, this was the perfect side dish to our family feast. This recipe also makes a lot, which is great for leftovers throughout the week.

Mock Mashed Potatoes

Serves 6-8 people

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower (roughly chopped up)

5 baby russet potatoes (quartered)

1/4 C nutritional yeast

1/4 C low fat milk (or soy, almond, rice)

1 Tbs butter

1 Tbs garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Start by boiling a big pot of water. Once the water boils, dump in your chopped up cauliflower and potatoes

2. Once the potatoes and cauliflower are tender (about 15 minutes), drain and return to pot.

3. Start mashing with a masher, add butter, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, milk, salt and pepper

4. Top with scallions, crumbled bacon, or parsley

Turkey, Feta & Sun-Dried Tomato Meatloaf

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground turkey (I use a mix of 80/20)
1/3 C parsley chopped
1/4 C sun dried tomato, chopped (I get it packed in oil and to cut down on calories, I rinse the tomatoes off before using a paper towel to blot out the oil. Same great flavor)
1/2 C crumbled feta cheese
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
1/2 C Panko breadcrumbs
2 eggs
2 Tbs skim milk
Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Combine all ingredients together and mix well
3. Line the casserole dish with cooking spray and spread the mixture in it. Bake for 45 minutes until top becomes golden and cheese is melted

So easy and simple to make! Huge flavors from the sun dried tomato and feta and tons of lean good for you protein. I like to use the 80/20 turkey mix because it gives it enough fat to keep it moist, otherwise it is too dry if it it is too lean. I will definitely be making this a weeknight staple in our house!

The race started early Saturday morning (5AM) at Avalon in Catalina. Weather forecast looked great, no rain and cool temps. I felt fearless going into the race even though Avalon turned out to be one of the most challenging 50′s I have done so far-up there with my first 50 experience at Northface. Although the course is not nearly as hard as Northface, I was battling with a groin pull/sports hernia (self diagnosis at it’s best) the entire way. Something that had been nagging at me the past 3 weeks. Something I casually brushed off everyday of every single run. As long as I was still able to run, this injury ceased to exist.  I never gave it any thought because the pain was never noticeable enough to stop me completely from running. The course consists of a 50-mile out and back on scenic fire roads from Avalon to the Isthmus and return. It has approximately 7,000 ft elevation gain.

Unfortunately, I forgot my headlamp back home and had to run the first hour and a half in darkness. It wasn’t mandatory to have a headlamp since you could just latch onto other runners and use their light. However, I found myself running in complete darkness in some sections and taking it easy on the downhills. Luckily, the trail is not technical and has wide open fireroads so running in the dark wasn’t too much of a problem. A quarter of a mile in, we were already gradually climbing up a paved road. The mountains of Catalina stared at us as we climbed this road. I knew it was going to be a rough climb until we got to the top of the mountains. I scrambled up the mountain half power hiking half running. I skipped the first two aid stations in favor of sucking down my own GU’s. I didn’t want to rely on too much “real food” until the halfway point of the race.

Around 8AM (3 hours into the race Mile 16) I knew something was wrong. My pelvis was hurting with every downhill step. I felt sharp stabbing pains like I have never felt before when running. Usually I am the one bombing the downhills and it was really pissing me off that I couldn’t run them as fast as I normally do and people were passing me left and right. Frustrated and cursing to myself, I looked down and saw that my pelvis area was noticeably swollen and protruding, almost like a bloated feeling but not in my stomach. I gave up on pounding the downhills and ran it gingerly, gritting my teeth every step of the way. Even though the pain was still there, it was more of a dull aching pain when I was walking, running uphill or flat. Since I was going so slow, I passed the time tweeting and texting away. Thank God for 3G.

I took it easy, stopping for pictures and trying to enjoy myself out there. I wouldn’t say the course is phenomenal in terms of ever-changing scenery since I prefer technical single track over fireroad, but it provided expansive ocean views the entire way. No complaints.

Sunrise over the horizon

Mile 18 was the first aid station I stopped at to eat some food. I grabbed a couple orange slices and potatoes with salt. We had 8 miles to go until the next aid. Not long after coming out of the aid station, my friend Dan caught up to me and we spent the next 8 miles gabbing away and taking pictures. I tried to keep a positive mood, but the pain was still there. I’m almost positive I would’ve walked most of that section had he not been there to take my mind off the pain. At Mile 26, I was told we had to do a 3 mile out and back before heading back to the previous aid station. I was a bit disappointed in this aid station as they didn’t have much food even though it served as a double aid (mile 26 and 29). The turnaround was uneventful as there was a bunch of highlighters on the floor where each runner had to mark their bib proving they made it that far.

On the way back, I saw my friend Meg who was only a mile behind me and told her she would probably catch up to me soon at the next aid. I prepared myself for the 6 mile climb out of Mile 28 and this is where everything went downhill. Miles 28-34 was my breaking point in the race as evidenced by my tweets.

I wasn’t having just my usual mental meltdowns (which I’m always prepared for in every ultra), but a physical injury that I couldn’t run on any longer. I made the decision during that 6 mile trek up that I would drop out at the next aid, at Mile 34. I no longer cared how I felt and miserably made my way up the hill even though I was getting dizzy and kept swerving off the trail. The downhills were useless as I could barely run them. I resorted to running a couple steps, stopping completely off the trail, muttering obscenities under my breath, and continuing on. During a downhill, I saw another girl was having trouble too and heard her call someone to ask if she should drop out. Apparently she had thrown out her back and was hurting just as badly as I was. I was going to wait for her and tell her that I would drop out with her at the next aid. During this time, I crafted together my drop out speech for the volunteers and thought about how I would get back into our hotel room since I would probably arrive at the finish before my friend who had the key was done. I was shutting it down and calling it quits. Game over.

Half a mile from the aid, my friend Meg caught up to me. I was half disappointed that she had caught up because I knew she wouldn’t let me drop out so easily, but I was also happy to see her because it gave me a glimpse of hope that I could possibly push through it. If anyone could get me moving, it would be her. We got to the aid station and before I could make my final decision, I refueled with some real food for the first time all day. That immediately gave me an energy boost and made me feel better. I heard another runner ask the volunteers if they had any kind of pain killers and to my surprise they did. I asked for a couple and took them immediately and stored some in my Camelbak for later on. I got through my first Northface on pain killers so I knew finishing the course was a possibility.

Feeling better from the food and drugs, I found myself thinking that if I could just get to the next aid at Mile 39, I knew I would see it through to the finish. Also, it didn’t hurt that there was promise of lobsters, beer and buffalo burgers at that station. The next 5 miles flew by fairly fast as we caught up on all the things that had happened earlier on in the race. The drugs were kicking in and it was definitely helping to take the edge off. We met a few runners on the trail and passed time talking to them. Before I knew it, we had made it to the Mile 39 aid station. I was really happy that we pretty much ran the entire stretch, only stopping to hike up really steep hills. We each pulled and pushed each other, not wanting to stop until the other person stopped. Mile 39 aid was the best one yet. Although they had run out of  lobster tails, they had buffalo burgers on the grill, ice cold drinks and an array of treats.

We also got our heads dunked in icy cold water. Best.idea.ever.

Feeling refueled, we charged forward to the next aid 5 miles away. We stuck to our strategy of shuffling the ups and running the downs and flats which proved to work quite well. It definitely made the miles go by faster having someone to talk to and meeting new people along the trail. At the next aid station, Pumphouse at Mile 44 with a 10K to go, we both could see the finish in sight. Nobody was giving up now. We ran along Airport Road again which we were on earlier in the race. It was a long paved road which didn’t feel too good after being on the trail for so long. My feet were aching and swollen, but nothing that I wouldn’t expect this late in a 50. The pain killers were still working and I felt better and better every mile closer we got to the finish.

The last 4 miles were pretty much a downhill ride as we made our way back to the town center, coming around the backside of the mountain. I enjoyed these last few miles as it was mostly shaded and a change of scenery. Just another few miles to go and before I knew it, I was clocking in a 6:33 minute/mile to the finish. My legs felt good once it hit the flat surface and the crowds were waiting the last quarter of a mile stretch. Final time 10:32:59, 12:40 pace. I couldn’t believe I was able to finish this race under the circumstances. I’m not exactly proud that I stuck it out, because it probably only made my injury worse. I run through so many injuries that I have a hard time differentiating between  a “real injury” or “I just feel like crap” moment. I definitely learned my lesson in Avalon that any small nagging injury will only blow up during a long run. These next few months, I’m going to focus on getting 100% healthy and ready for Zion 100. I’m at a crossroad right now with training because on one hand, I’m supposed to be cutting back on mileage to recover, but on the other hand, I have Zion looming ahead of me 4 months away. What’s a girl supposed to do?

The hard earned bling

The race started in Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa National Park in Newbury Park (just west of Thousand Oaks). We got to experience some of the most scenic back country in the Santa Monica Mountains. Since no one could park at the race site, we arrived in this shopping plaza an hour before the race started (8AM) to get shuttled over. Me and my friend Meg were going to just run to the start (1.5 miles away) as a warm-up, but the sight of the warm bus waiting for us was too alluring so we got a ride to the start. The weather forecasted 40-60 mph Santa Ana winds which made for a even more fun trail race. We were hit with a huge tailwind in the beginning of the race and a just as strong headwind the last half mile sprint to the finish. I was warned that this race would be pretty tough with a steady 4 mile climb from miles 6-10.

Well, not so steady from 8-10. We started the race 15 minutes late and though it was windy, the sun was out and I knew I was wearing way too much. I took off my wind breaker 2 miles into the course and stuffed my gloves into the jacket and tied it around my waist. Here in L.A., anything that dips below 70 degrees calls for gloves and a windbreaker. We had a fairly steep downhill on the road for the first mile. I held back on the downhill even though I wanted to run faster but knew I had a tough section ahead. We had some rollers where I was able to shuffle up the climbs at a steady pace without having to stop completely to walk them.  The first major uphill climb was on switchbacks which I loved seeing all the little runners ahead of me climbing up the mountain. It reminded me of climbing Bobcat Trail during Northface 50 in the dark when all you could see was headlamps. When we finally reached Mile 6, we gradually rolled upwards on a beautiful shady single track with wide views of the mountain scape. I was reminded this weekend of why I love trail running so much. Even in a race environment, you are mostly alone for most of the race and all you can do is take in your surroundings.

The 4 mile climb wasn’t as bad as I remembered when I last ran this loop. I was able to run most of it, only stopping to hike up when there was a group in front of me. It helped having a couple people right behind me pushing me along. I kept asking if they wanted to pass but they said that I was keeping the pace for them. Works for me. When we finally reached the top of the hill at Mile 10, I came up behind Michelle Barton, who had won Shadow of the Giants when I ran it last year. There was no way she was racing this course as she would’ve been way in front of me. I scooted past her and bombed the downhill stretch. It felt so good opening up my stride for two straight miles. I chased this one guy pretty much the whole way until the end when he started to slow down. We had one final climb at Mile 12 where a cheering squad was waiting on top of the hill giving runners an energy boost for the final stretch home. The last mile wasn’t as steep going down as it flattened out towards the end with a little uphill before the finish. I crossed in 2:20:01, 10:44 pace and 4th in age group. I felt great throughout the race and was proud that I ran the majority of the climbs. It’s funny how differently I perceived this race because the last time I ran this loop was when I was starting to trail run. So pretty much everything with a remote climb was hard for me and I wasn’t used to running on technical sections.

Overall, had a great time at Xterra with a bunch of friends who also came out to run it. Going to cut back a bit this week on mileage and get ready for Avalon on Saturday!

My goal for 2011 was to scale back on signing up for “junk races”, meaning races I didn’t really care for and only signed up because it was flat/easy or other friends were running it. I also wanted to cut back on the number of road races and focus on trails even if it meant doing less races since the recovery time was longer. With this new found interest in ultrarunning, I came to peace that my times were going to get slower, and I probably wouldn’t be setting many PR’s this year if any. Lastly, I finally started to pay attention to what my body was telling me. I took rest days, multiple, consecutive ones when I felt burned out, injured or plain lazy. I didn’t beat myself over it and try to make up the miles. Coming to peace with this was probably my biggest achievement of 2011, more than setting a 3 hour PR at Mt. Hood 50.

I started the year coming back from my first 50 mile run at Northface in December 2010. Motivated and excited about reaching new distance territory, I began almost immediately looking for my next 50. The first day of January, I signed up for Mt. Hood 50 in Oregon and knew this would be my race of the year. Every race of 2011 was something very special to me, well, besides the Gasparilla Challenge in Tampa, Florida in February. I signed up on a whim, distracted by the amount of bling I could get over the period of 2 days. Needless to say, it was a boring race(s), and the trip to Tampa with Brennan more than made up for this lackluster race. If you like running 4 races on road on the same course, this race is for you.

The Dessert Dash group, whom I met in Vegas a couple months ago, came to L.A. to host a trail half marathon. This was a fun small trail race with a couple friends on the Backbone trail starting from Corral Canyon. I ended up 2nd female (told you it was a small race) with some awesome handmade medals.

In March, I organized completing the entire Backbone trail (68 miles) over the span of a weekend. It had been on my mind for a while to do something like this and it was a fun (sometimes stressful) process planning, executing and celebrating this achievement. We had a great group of runners both days and lots of memories were created that weekend. I ended up only running 26 of the 38 miles on Saturday due to stomach problems and the entire 30 miles the next day on Sunday. It was definitely a challenge coming back the 2nd day on tired legs, but so much fun and cheaper than signing up for a race.

April and May were the long awaited back to back marathons, Boston Marathon and Big Sur Marathon 2 weeks later (part of the Boston to Big Sur Challenge). Qualifying for Boston has always been a goal of mine ever since I started running so finally being able to run the marathon was a big deal to me. It was fun weekend hanging out with friends in a new city and an entertaining course. Not my best time at either of the races, but fun times spent with friends nevertheless. I plan on going back to Boston in 2013 depending on budget, but not a big deal if I don’t ever go back.

Done with road races for a while, I kicked off June with Shadow of the Giants 50K. I loved this race and can’t wait to go back this year. It was scenic, low key and beautiful, everything I wanted in a trail race. No medals, no speeches, no national anthem, just a simple T-shirt, reused bib numbers and a promise of hot food at the end was all we needed.

I also had my first taste of the king of ultras in June, pacing my friend Helen through her first 100 mile finish in San Diego. Crewing and pacing her was a phenomenal journey, one that I am excited to experience myself this year.

Shortly after pacing Helen for San Diego, I took off to Utah for the Ragnar Relay race. It was a scenic course, albeit a couple stressful logistical scenarios, but fun running in a new place and meeting other runners.

July finally came after months of waiting for this day with the promise of a spectacular race around Mt. Hood. And the race lived up to every single one of my expectations. I cut my last 50 mile time by over 3 hours and placed third female overall. I was able to hang out with my in-laws for the weekend who got to see me finish my first race in Oregon and also saw my friend finish his first 50. I felt great after this race, even ran/hiked a little the next day. I will definitely come back one day to do this race again and it makes me even more excited that I will be running Hood 2 Coast this year starting from Mt. Hood. To this day, Mt. Hood is still my favorite race.

In September, I did another Ragnar Relay, this time from San Francisco to Napa with 11 other amazing runners. We were dubbed “Ragnar’s Rapture” and came in the top 10. I had such a blast during this relay that we decided to sign up (and got in this year) for Hood to Coast in August from Mt. Hood to the Coast in Oregon. A guaranteed good time.

September was also a big month because it was my first time traveling to a different state to run, not a race, but our own solo journey on the Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainier with 3 other crazy friends. This trip took months of logistical planning, booking flight tickets, renting cars and hotel rooms. Words really cannot describe this experience and pictures don’t do justice. Read the post here for all the pictures and video footage. In short, we ran for three consecutive days (Friday-Sunday), averaging 30 miles each day with over 8000 ft elevation gain. Breathtaking views, challenging terrain, amazing company, one too many salami sandwiches and a lifetime of memories, this trip was so special to me because it really pushed me to the limit and made me go beyond what I thought was physically possible.

With Wonderland under my belt, I started to think about the impending Northface 50 Mile Challenge in December again. Signed up for Santa Barbara Marathon on a whim as a training run, followed by Montana de Oro 50K. Really was not expecting anything from Santa Barbara, as I haven’t done much speedwork and have been focusing more on the trails than anything else. Much to my surprise, I ended up setting a new marathon PR (3:29) at Santa Barbara! It was a fun weekend with Brennan celebrating my birthday early with great food and an amazing race to boot. However, Montana de Oro was a whole different story. It was my first DNF (did not finish) and something no runner ever wants to see next to their name. Although the course was beautiful and I was stoked to be running on some different trails, my head wasn’t in the race and I gave up too easily. Hoping to change this attitude in 2012!

Feeling defeated and nervous about Northface, I contemplated dropping to the 50K distance, especially since I was sick going into the race. I decided to suck it up and tough it out, so glad I did because I ended up finishing almost 2 hours faster than last year’s time and feeling much better. Though, I can’t say the same about recovery. It was a rough week after this race and I took a lot of days off to heal my achilles and other sore muscles.  Nevertheless, it was a great way to end the year with many friends who finished their first 50K or 50 mile race.

If I had to sum up Northface in one picture, it would be this

Looking forward 2012

Goals for this year remains somewhat the same as last year. I try to keep my goals fairly manageable, nothing too extreme (ha) as I don’t want to be setting myself up for disappointment.

• Focus on quality races
• Travel/explore more trails
• More adventure running
• Finish my first 100 mile race (maybe 2 if I am optimistic)
• Continue to respect rest days
• Strength train at least 1x/week
• Avoid injury

Races for 2012

1/14/2012    Avalon 50
2/25/2012    Ray miller 50K
2/26/2011    La Jolla 50k
4/7/2012    American River 50
4/20/2012    Ragnar SoCal
4/29/2012    Eugene Marathon
5/11/2012    Zion 100
5/26-28/12    Western States Training camp
6/2/2012    Shadow of the Giants
6/23/2012    Western States 100 pacing
7/21/2011    Tahoe Rim 50M (wait list)
8/18/2012    Waldo 100K
8/24/2012    Hood to Coast
9/15-16/12    Pine to Palm, OR 100 miles (depending on how I feel after Zion)
10/8/2012    Le Grizz 50 Miles, Montana

12/9/12 Honolulu Marathon

Only two road marathons this year, such a different racing calendar than my first two years of running. Looking forward to creating many new memories in 2012!

Old Fashioned Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup turbinado sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1.5 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins.

3.The cookies should be two inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes, taking them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool.