2008 Favorites

There were so many great running moments in 2008, it's hard to pick favorites. I've narrowed the list to the following. Thanks to the Kalispell and Helena runners for sharing these adventures!

1) Girls Only Trek from Herron Park to Blacktail - This was truly a great feat as there is no specific trail. We got semi-lost several times, climbed over what seemed like a million trees, post holed through major snow, ran out of water and food, but we prevailed!

2) Running with Buddy (who died early this year) on the snow packed trails surrounding the cabin. He wasn't my dog, but a super companion for a short time.

3) Don't Fence Me In - All I can say is what an awesome trail race! I had so much fun on that course.

4) Pig Farm run with Danni, gun shots and the dead refrigerator.

5) Blacktail mountain lion sighting with Leanne. Not sure who was more surprised, the mountain lion or us!

6) Pig Farm night run

7) Watching Callie and Danni slide down snow hills on their running shorts clad butts during our Strawberry Lake 4th of July run

8) Elkhorn

9) Wintery Grizzly Gulch long run with Rebecca

10) Surviving the even more wintery -10 degree run with Martin

I debated adding our trek to Glacier for our midnight full moon run to Logan Pass. BUT, the road was closed when we got there, we had to run on graded pavement, and it was just too scary trying to stay awake for the drive back home at 4:00 am. Still, thanks to those of you who made the adventure with me.

So, what were your favorite moments? See you in the New Year!

Holiday Whirlwind

Usually, the family meets in North Dakota for the holidays. This year, I thought I was going to be on-call, so my parents drove out to spend almost an entire week. That's an incredible amount of time for my dad! He gets very restless, so we tried to keep him busy. In between long moments of cooking and eating (the highlights were homemade stuffing and caramel rolls), I took my parents to all my favorite trail spots. We had a beautiful white Christmas just for mom. Here are a few pictures from the first two days of hiking.

Mom and Dad on the Archery Range Trail

Refueling at the Pita Pit
View from MacDonald Pass Overlook

Isn't my mom adorable?

Where's Dad?

Trying not to slide down

View from parking lot in between hikes

Saturday morning, I got up and ran with the group. Even though I only planned to run a few miles, I ended up doing a loop of eight with Rebecca and Tammy while the men tacked on a few more. It was fun chatting with two very cool women, especially with the much warmer temperatures, and the time flew by.

Rebecca and Tammy on the way up

Looks a lot colder in this picture

Afterwards, my dad and I hiked Mt. Helena. It was the first time I'd been up there since the big snowfall and it was spectacular. Lots of powdery snow, clear skies and amazing views. Time well spent.

Dad on the Road to Mars - Mt. Helena

On Sunday, it warmed up to 45 degrees with a lot of rain. Much of the snow melted or washed away and now everything is ice. It's raining again now, but I'm hoping the weather cooperates for the planned New Year's Day adventure. More on that later - Happy New Year!

Update - Cold Conquered!

The only ones to show up today were Rebecca, Martin and me. I wasn't sure how far to go considering the cold (-10 degrees, not including the wind chill). Rebecca planned 4-5 miles; Martin wanted 9-10. Rebecca's toes were pretty cold and she decided to run around town closer to her car just in case of weather related issues. That was probably the smarter choice.

I tagged along with Martin, thinking I'd turn around at some point. But, it was sunny, I was toasty warm in all my gear and blissfully ignorant of the route Martin chose, so I continued on. He took me on a loop that eventually climbed up to some really amazing snow covered views. My only moment of doubt was when I saw the yellow "steep grade" sign and realized we were going up, up, up. Martin is always good at providing hills for us! I appreciated the fact that he included me in this run, slowing down for my pokiness on the uphills. We ended up doing 11 good miles.

A few strange things that did happen:
1) Even though I had on running tights and my Pearl Izumi Alpine pants, a couple areas of my derriere ended up with what seems a bit of frost nip. I got a little cold when I slowed down during the climb up, and the area was painful and a little funny looking when I got home. No serious damage - it was fine after a hot shower. Just a little weird.

2) My eyeballs froze! During much of the run, I had icicles on my eyelashes, but the entire last mile, my vision was considerably blurry. I kept trying to blink, thinking it would clear up, but it didn't. I had read about frozen eyeballs somewhere, so wasn't really worried, but I was happy to get to my car and turn the heater on.

3) My bottle of Heed turned to slush. That's not so bad, but the bite valve froze solid, so I kept having to unscrew the lid to drink. Under the lid was an entire shelf of ice with a tiny hole through which to drink. Interesting. I'm going to have to do some serious reconfiguration if winter keeps throwing me below zero temperatures.

I would have taken pictures, but it was too cold to stop for that. Thank you to Rebecca who actually got me out of bed and outside this morning, and to Martin for the company on a beautiful run!

Braving it?

It is now Saturday morning and the temperature without wind chill is a balmy -10 degrees. The high is supposed to be -1. Although the coziness of my warm bed made me question my choice a bit, I'm wanting to run outside with other people. I'm meeting the group (which may only consist of me and Rebecca) at 9:00. There is no question we'll go, but how far will we make it?

Brrrr...

I hadn't run in three days because the temperatures have stayed below zero. With free gym pass in hand, I drove to the local YMCA, willing myself to hit the treadmill. And I SAT IN THE CAR. Staring at all the people packed into the cardio machine area. I just couldn't do it. There's something about working out in close proximity to people I don't know. In addition to the just plain hate running indoors feeling. So, regardless of the asthma issues that won't give up, I engaged in self-talk that went something like this.

"You grew up in North Dakota for crying out loud. You survived walking through mountains of snow in -50 wind chill to go to school. Dad used to bundle you up to run around the house in the middle of dark winter just to get the germs off. It's above zero. Stop being a wimp, and get your butt outside and run."

And so I did. 3.2 miles. Enough to freeze my face while the rest of me was sweltering. Enough to cause my Ipod (tucked nicely in my pocket) to suddenly stop because the battery froze. And it was so nice. Quiet. Peaceful. Just what I needed to cope with the insanity of being in the mental health field during the holiday season.

Saturday Storm

A nice winter storm greeted me this morning. I ran a few miles anyway before going to work. It was 6 degrees when I left with snow and gusty winds. Other than my eyeballs, I was way too warm in all my cold weather gear. It was fun being one of the few people to venture out. You can't really tell in the picture, but those are icicles on eyelashes. At one point, they stuck together and I couldn't see. High temperatures for the next two days are predicted to be around zero, with way below zero wind chill. We'll see if I'm motivated enough to brave it tomorrow -anything beats the dreadmill!

A few club runners met Saturday morning at the Bagel Shop. Steve, Alan and Scott were planning a 12 mile loop, but Rebecca and I were going a bit longer and "a bit" slower. The route we chose was up and back on Grizzly Gulch for a total of 16 miles and around 3100 feet elevation gain and loss. Rebecca was trying to figure out the grade of the road with her Garmin. Not sure what it told her, but my a** told me areas were STEEP. It's been good for me to run with Rebecca. Even though we took our time, we ran the entire thing except for the hourly gel stop.

The men headed up a parallel road and were nice enough to swing back down Grizzly to say hi. The road was packed snow and areas of ice and I was the only one to forget the Yak Trax. My ASR's did fine though, and by the time we headed back it was slush. I had received a few Accel Gels in the mail, so tried them out during this run. Between the Heed in my pack and the gels, I felt great. My only complaint was the bite valve on the Nathan bladder. It's difficult to open/close and if left open, it just constantly leaks. I'm thinking a CamelBak bladder is in my future.

Rebecca heading up Grizzly Gulch

This afternoon, I did a little tempo work. I won't even post my pace per mile. Before I left DC, I was running 8:30-8:45 miles on a pretty consistent basis.Not fast, but I was happy with it. The last couple years, I've slowed way down due to laziness and a lot of walking during trail runs. This winter, I'm going to make the most of my road running time and try to get at least a little faster.

As a follow-up to my health goals...

I've been getting about 80-100 oz of water per day.

Only missed lunch one day last week - ended up eating at 3pm.

Got in 25 miles while recovering from my lung infection.

Still not sleeping well, and am exploring options for the insomnia.

And, congratulations to Emily and Jason on the birth of their baby girl!

Running Holiday

Rebecca's leg continues to bother her, so we decided to hike Mt. Helena Wednesday night, instead of joining the running group. My lungs are in recovery mode, so I loaded up my Nathan pack and ran the 3.5 miles to meet her at the trailhead. It was COLD and I was glad for my cozy Pearl Izumi pants. We hiked 4 miles, finishing in the dark. The picture below is near the top of the Prairie Trail. Rebecca offered to drive me home, but my legs wanted to run. Planning ahead was good - I definitely needed the reflective vest and headlamp for the return trip. About a half mile from home, I got a little woozy, and realized I'd been out for almost three hours without eating anything. How did I forget that?

Steve and I both had Thanksgiving off for the first time in years, and we (Steve mostly) cooked the entire meal, including what I consider to be the infamous Green Bean Casserole. Really, who dreamed this up? While the turkey was cooking, I hit the trails for a short, brisk run. By brisk, I mean 25 degrees and frost covering the ground. But, it was sunny and I met a couple gorgeous dogs who really wanted to run along the way.

After our very yummy dinner, we put up our new tree, only the second one in 11 years of marriage. Sorry to say, but we got an artificial. I really wanted to decorate a tree without suffering a major allergic reaction, and I have to say, it looks pretty great. Quite a process putting it together though!
Today, before starting the ridiculous amount of notes for work, I braved the wind for what I hoped to be a tough, hilly run. My legs were tired from the previous two days, but I managed to run most of the uphills and tried to pick up the pace for any of the flats. I ended up with 7 miles and major windburn. Tomorrow is a rest day, with a long run of 15-16 trail miles planned for Sunday. Safe travels to my family!

Unbeknown to me, my lungs have been engaged in an internal war for several weeks. An asthma flare-up was creeping up on me and I ignored all of the symptoms. In fact, I remember Danni asking me (a long time ago - end of summer) if I was sure my asthma was under control. I was tired, not sleeping well, suffering the dry cough syndrome, struggling to run even a slow pace. Just stress, I said.

Dumb, dumb, dumb. This past week, I paid the consequences. Major asthma problems and a lung infection resulting in physician admonishment, albuteral shakes and lots of the not so fun drugs called steroids. The lesson here is that stress definitely take its toll on the body, but is not always the sole responsible party. The second lesson is that I'm not always so good at taking care of myself.

Sooo, the plan, and we all know how plans/resolutions/goals tend to dissolve once one feels healthy again.

1) Drink more water.
2) Get more sleep.
3) Set limits at work.
4) Take time to eat. Might help if I follow #3.
5) Take time to run, walk, something every day. Also helped by following #3.
6) Make sure to refill my Singulair prescription ON TIME. Definitely helped by following #3.

There it is - doesn't sound too hard, right? We'll see...

On to the fun stuff! A couple weekends ago, Steve and I took in the Banff Film Festival in Great Falls. The place was packed. I always find this amusing. Great Falls is not the outdoor mecca like Kalispell and Helena, but it seems to draw a bigger, very enthusiastic, crowd for the festival. Maybe it's because there's just nothing else to do or an excuse to escape the never ending wind? I have to admit we were spoiled living in DC, where the National Geographic Live Center showed FIVE nights of film. Maybe we'll need to travel to all five showings throughout Montana? It was fun. We stayed overnight so Steve could help out with a Paramedic Refresher, and I braved the wind for a 5 mile run (also pre-curser to the crud).

Add to that a little shopping, where Steve found me a North Face Primaloft Winter Jacket on sale cheap. It's like a down sleeping bag - I never want to take it off! He also got me this to solve my "on-call while running" issue. We saw the new Bond movie, with enough action to keep even me alert, and ate way too much good food.

The next afternoon, Rebecca took me out hiking on some new trails. It was fun doing something other than running, we had a lot of time to chat, and a good workout with all of the hills. Fun times. Pictures are of Rebecca on the trail.

My last thought goes out to my parents. Thank you for all of the long conversations the last couple weeks. This is gooey and sentimental, but discussions with you both are at the top of my always favorite list.

Happy Turkey Day!

Drinking Dilemma

Here's the problem...

This summer, I carried one or two 20 oz. hand held bottles of Heed. If I needed more, I'd use my Fuel Belt two bottle carrier (not the most comfortable) and one hand held. I'd average 20 0z. every 5-6 miles.

Lately, I've been using my Nathan pack, taking only water and Endurolytes if needed. On my recent 12 and 14 mile runs, I drank around 30 oz. Way too little. I'm not sure if I remember to drink more regularly with the hand helds or if Heed just works better for me.

The reason for using the hydration pack is that I'm always on-call and have to take my phone EVERYWHERE. I also tend to explore new trails with no particular time limit. Which means I need some kind of pack to carry phone, water, gels, map, etc. The pack is extremely comfortable, I don't mind using it at all, but I'm having a hard time adjusting to running without Heed.

My question?
Will I eventually adjust to just water? What's your hydration system preference? Especially for those of you who prefer sports drinks over water? I'm looking at one bottle packs that also have storage, but want one with minimal bounce. Any recommendations?

Tidbits

Just watched "Run for Your Life," the story of Fred Lebow and the New York City Marathon. Interesting movie. Even Steve, the non-runner, was intrigued.

Bought and love the Pearl Izumi Alpine Pant. I'm not a fan of traditional running tights, and wanted something warm for the cold, windy days. Wind and rain resistant, fleece lined, with vented knee panels. A big thanks to Melinda at Big Sky Cyclery for finding them for me. This is probably not a purchase for those of you who run in shorts at 40 degrees. You'll be sweltering. If you are like me, cold most of the time, you'll find them cozy enough to sleep in.

Congratulations to Deb and Rebecca for finishing the New York City Marathon last week!

Great having a visit from Danni this week. She was sweet and took me to dinner at On Broadway. Good food, relaxing place, and so fun to catch up. Thanks Danni!

Friday night, I checked out Sommeliers with a couple fellow therapists from work. First wine bar I've been to in awhile, and fun to get to know co-workers better.

As for my own running, this week was not so consistent due to work and socializing. I managed a couple fairly fast 3 milers and this morning's solo 14 miler on muddy roads. Perfect weather for me. 45 degrees, overcast and misty. Despite the gradual uphill for the first 7 miles, I felt ok. I didn't push the pace, kept my heart rate low, and just enjoyed the quiet solitude.

Grizzly Gulch

Lime kilns along the way

Of course, this week was hugely important as far as elections are concerned. But, I've decided that this is not the place to reflect. I can say, however, that my thoughts were with one particular family in Anacostia who I worked with a few years ago, and the many conversations we had learning about each other and celebrating diversity. I would have liked to have seen them this week.

A "me" day

It's Saturday, and I should have been doing paperwork. Instead, I played hooky. I got up early, made Steve breakfast before sending him off to work, hopped in the car and drove to Bozeman to exchange a pair of running shoes. It was a beautiful day for driving, exploring, and with a new pair of shoes, running! I've been looking at the the Brooks Adrenaline ASR's primarily for winter road use, but also trails when weather allows for it. I finally made the purchase and took them out for a combination road/trail 12 miler, my longest run since Elkhorn.

The Shoe Review:

My favorite trail shoe is the Cascadia, and I went into this run knowing the experience would be different. The Adrenaline has a higher platform and more stability. It's also a lot less flexible (responsive?) than the Cascadia. But, it felt cushioned enough for both the road and the trail, and stood up well even for the rocky sections. It seemed to have enough traction, but I'm curious to see how it does in wet and/or muddy conditions. The shoe does seem a bit more narrow, even at the heel, so I don't think I would have needed to do any special lacing. I was worried that my big toe issue (the dance bunion thingy) would be a problem, but nothing was aggravated. No blisters, no callous pain flare-up. The Cascadias are still my favorite trail shoe, but this one works as well. How's that for loyalty to Brooks?

The Run:

I'm trying to use the heart rate monitor. My heart rate is usually out of control running up trails (like in the 180's). Based on my MHR and RHR, I should be doing recovery runs at about 150 AHR. So, I tried to keep it under 160 today. I did fairly well, except for the occasional big hill, but I was sooo slow. For 12 miles, with only 2,000 feet elevation gain, I averaged a 12:30/mile pace. I want to get faster!!!!! I know, patience, patience, patience.

Here are some pictures from the run. The views were spectacular, the sun was warm, my Nathan pack weightless, and I got to run in shorts and t-shirt the first day of NOVEMBER!

Hazy, sunny day

Diretissema Trail

Rocky mess above the trail

Dump Out Trail

More of Dump Out Trail - for me, the "Always Seem Lost" Trail

View from Dump Out

End of the trail portion for me - wish you were here?

Acceptance

Although not catastrophic, my move from Kalispell was a significant personal change. I feel as though I've been viewing myself from afar for several weeks. I was in between worlds, one foot in each place, not ready to make the final leap. As a social worker, I could see myself moving through the stages of grief, incapable, or possibly uninterested, in changing the course of events or my reaction to them. Then, one day last week, I realized that I'd quite suddenly reached acceptance. I'm sure I'll continue to have a faint sense of loss, but there are many good things about my life.

1) Re-connecting with my husband - Despite the physical distance between us for so long, it never really negatively impacted us, but it sure is nice to see him walk through the door often, prepare meals together, have bagels and coffee while reading the Sunday paper, or just sharing the events of our days. Such simple things, but great things.

2) The trails - a whole lot of miles of them for me to lose myself. Best of all, they provide respite on the windy days. A brief set-back after a major toe against cast iron end table incident. It's slowly recovering and I'm running again.

3) Working in a high school again - I grew up with my father as teacher, coach, principal and my mom as our school chef. Our life was based on school seasons and bulletin boards, cleaning beakers, moving desks, serving food for basketball games, etc. I love every aspect of being part of that setting again, even in the role of therapist (minus the fee for service program, billable hours and paperwork) and am so thrilled to be in a place where teachers take an alternative approach and WANT the kids to be there. Plus, I have an office with red walls and student artwork - how crazy good is that?

4) New and old friends - So thankful Rebecca moved here before me. Her presence has helped in more ways than she'll ever know. Also thankful for the visit from Bernie and Diane. As Bernie said, anticipation for an event can sometimes outweigh the actual event - but not so for that evening. The hours of conversation and laughter with two people I truly admire was exactly what I needed.

5)Family - My niece turning one year old. The intuition and support from my parents. It just amazes me that they just KNOW, from miles away, nuances of how I'm feeling.

6) Health - The Milk Dud crisis has passed. You know you're in a funk when an entire carton (the big movie theatre kind) is emptied on an almost daily basis. I've now moved on to real food once again. My body thanks me.

I'm hoping to figure out the next phase of running soon. My first plan is to find an ART chiropractor to help work out some kinks from a major summer of adventure. Second, I think there's a Fat Ass 50k in my future. Third, this winter I'm going to try some snow shoeing and cross country skiing. We'll see what happens...

Saturday morning, I got up to assist Rebecca with her 5k to raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. Steve was supposed to help out too, but unfortunately, he was the recipient of a nasty virus and stayed in bed with fever, body aches and headache. Despite the snow, cold and blustery wind, nine brave souls showed up to support the cause. The YMCA was nice enough to provide a cozy room for pre-race instructions and the post-race awards. Please visit Rebecca's Team in Training site if you'd like to contribute.

Race director showing off fancy technology

Sunday, I woke up to snow and felt like a kid on Christmas morning. I downed some food, dressed in warm layers and my Gore-Tex Salomons, put the truck in 4-wheel drive, and headed to the trails. No one had touched the snow yet, so I blissfully made the first tracks through several inches of new powder. It was tough going, but SO MUCH FUN! Most of the trails were runnable, but it was hard to tell where the trail was in areas, so glad I chose a familiar one. I slid hard on a couple switchbacks, but the pillow of snow protected my bottom. The return trip was cold on the face due to the windchill, one of the things I've got to get used to again. The following are pictures from my adventure. They are fairly dark due to the snowfall. The last picture is of me covered in ice.

Am I ready for this?

"A Winter Storm Warning has been issued for the southern half of Montana including Helena and Great Falls through the weekend until Sunday. A major winter storm and below average temperatures will impact the state for the duration of the weekend with the potential for a significant accumulation and slick roads with the full on winter conditions. Saturday, snow on and off and heavy at times especially in the mountains. Highs only in the 20's to around 30. Snow will come to an end Saturday night into Sunday. Total accumulations will range from 2"-8" in the lower elevations, and possibly more than 2 feet in the mountains. Sunday, slow clearing and windy, highs around 40. "

I hope the weather cooperates for everyone traveling to Hungry Horse to run Le Grizz...

Learning to run uphill

Today was my second week joining the local club for a short trail run. I can't say enough positives about this group. Many of the runners are veterans of ultra distance and would kick my butt on any day. It doesn't seem to matter because they always wait at various points along the trail to make sure no one is left behind. How great is that?

After the first run, it was very obvious that I don't have much experience RUNNING uphill. Partly I've been too lazy, but also there wasn't regular access to these kind of trails where I used to live. But, I'm trying and I'm determined to get better. The main concern is my heart rate. Once I start heading uphill, it sky rockets. My goal tonight was to keep the last runners in the group in sight, and just focus on doing the best I could. It was a blast. The trails were new to me and the views were beautiful. Plus, once we got going, I completely forgot about the crazy wind.

Another change is that this group is made up mostly of men. I'm used to running primarily with women. It's not a negative at all, just different. I very much appreciated the encouragement from the group, especially Martin coming back down to run with me up the last bit of uphill!
I also got to enjoy some local history facts regarding some of the trails from the only other woman running tonight. Several members of the group are running Le Grizz this weekend, so am wishing them luck and good weather!

The following pictures were taken this past weekend. After running 10 miles with Rebecca on Saturday, Steve and I did some hiking to check out the fall colors. The sun wasn't cooperating with me, so the pictures don't quite capture the scenery, but I'm posting them anyway.

View of a lone biker on the trail across the gulch.

I'm looking forward to the weekend. We're helping Rebecca put on a 5k to raise money for Team in Training Saturday morning and then off to Bozeman for some much needed shopping!

I lied - or life is looking up?

This weekend, Steve and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. We tossed around several ideas for celebrating, but on our currently limited budget, we decided to spend the day exploring part of our new home. First, we went to Topper's Cellar, which has a great selection of wine and beer, housed in a very cool building . The welcoming and jovial owner gave us a fun "choosing the correct wine" lesson. Next, we walked the entire downtown area browsing shops -there are definitely some fun ones- and buying a variety of chocolates from The Parrot Confectionery Store. Thanks for the recommendations, Dan! It was a beautiful day - in fact, we are learning that the sun shines brightly here most of the time. Instead of eating out, we went home and used our new, spacious kitchen to make yummy fajitas.

This morning, I tried out my new purchase. I know using the microwave is cheating, but I love poached eggs and wanted a quick way to make them before work. It will work pretty well once I tweak the directions. We identified a perk of living in town - the ability to pick up coffee and a newspaper and be back home lazing around within 10 minutes.

I also met up with Rebecca this afternoon. We attended a performance at the Myrna Loy Center in celebration of Deaf Awareness week. I hadn't been in a room full of people signing since leaving DC, so it was time. Thanks Rebecca for going with me!

On the injury front, I'm slowly getting back to running. I'm sticking to pavement and flat trails and survived a fairly painless 7.5 mile run on Saturday. My hip still is tender, but was not nearly as bad as the pain in the knees and feet post run. I quickly realized that my road shoes (bought a year ago) had too many miles on them. So, once again, I'll be going shoe shopping. That should definitely lift the spirits!

A hopefully brief interlude

Every time I sit down to tackle a new blog entry, I don't get anywhere. I would say I'm in a bit of an "emotionally fragile" state. Even though Steve and I have moved almost every year of our marriage (and it will be 11 years this month), this one was really hard. I loved everything about life in Kalispell except the fact that I wasn't with my husband. Now, Steve is here which is absolutely great, but the task of finding my way in this new community needs energy I just don't seem to have right now. As a therapist, I know that I'm going through a grieving process and need time to adjust, but that hasn't provided much comfort. So, to prevent a series of whiny blog entries, I'm going to take a hiatus until I'm on my way to settling in to my new home.

A few messages though,

1) Great job to Rebecca, Deb and Ruth on a rainy but successful Two Bear experience.
2) Good luck Danni on the upcoming Le Grizz.
3) Carsten and other interested parties - for sure let's plan to meet up for a future race.
4) Chris - hope you kick some under 4 hour butt at Twin Cities.
5) Marisa and Julia - have a great time at Portland! You'll both do great.

Off to unpack more boxes...

Swan Crest Photos, Finally

Not a lot else to say except that moving is growing old. I am sad to be leaving my job, my friends, the cabin, my running routes, Glacier, etc. but excited to discover what's next. Much more to come as we get settled...