Michele sends a text from Hawaii!

So ALOHA!  I received a text from Michele today officially declaring her 2013 goals...

1.  Run 1013 Miles
2.  Run the High Speed Pursuit in under 2:15
3.  Also complete the 12 months, 12 trails, 3 sole sisters
4.  Beat whatever her High Speed time ends up being in a fall half marathon.

So glad she could interrupt her snorkeling to give us an update!

Hot Chocolate 5K

So, I have never ran a serious 5K race.  But my new trainer, Kyle,  said I should work on short distance speed in order to improve my marathon speed and make my goal of under 4 hours.  So, I reluctantly signed up.  My son signed up too, 5K's are his specialty.  Kyle set a goal for me to finish on 22:30.  2 months ago that seemed maybe doable, but then!!  Sickness has hit our home hard in November and December.  I have had a cough for 3 weeks!  My training has decreased tremendously!  My son also hasn't felt well and has not been training at all!

I had already paid to run the The Hot Chocolate Run, so I HAD to do it.  But I talked to Kyle and let him know that I was changing the goal time.  I would be happy with any number under 24 minutes.

He told me to just go and enjoy the race.  If I felt good, I was to push it, if not just enjoy it.  Very wise advice.
Race morning.  It was a balmy 18 degrees outside.  Hunter didn't want to get out of the car.  He kept grumbling about why races are held so early in the morning.

I was number 320 and Hunter was number 319.  I joked and suggested that we switch numbers so I would have a better time attached to my number!  He did not agree.

It was so cold that my face went numb.  We had to keep jumping up and down to keep the feeling in our toes!  My husband surprised us and showed up at the starting line! That's how we got some great pictures!

You can see how cold I am!!

Hunter stretching

Ready to start!!

 

Hunter is wearing the yellow Brooks

 

 

The gun fired and we took off!!  I actually start up near the front.  Hunter was gone instantly.  After about .1 miles I realized that I was going too fast!  So, I very wisely backed off. I have learned the HARD way about taking off too quickly! 

 

 After I hit the first mile, I felt good and started to pick up my pace.  I had decided to not look at my watch at all!  I needed to just run off how I felt and not check my times! Suddenly, I began to pass all of those people who had passed me earlier.  Haha! My wisdom paid off!

 

The run was an out and back so it wasn't long before Hunter passed me on his way back.  He was in third place!!  Wow!

 

 At mile 2 I felt REALLY good.  I had not looked at my watch once!  Ths it it! I slowly started picking up my pace.  I could see some of the leaders but couldn't see many women.  How good was I doing???

 

 I sprinted to the finish!

 

 As I crossed a man held out a bag to me and said, "Congratulations!  You are the third female finisher!" I was stunned!  How was my time, I looked at my watch for the first time that day and was so shocked!!!!  21:41!! Are you kidding me!!!  I also got first place in my age group!

I found Hunter, or rather he found me.  After congratulating me he announced, "I got 2nd place overall mom." Wow! What an amazing kid.  With no training his time was an 18:18! Our family really rocked it today!

We got cool shirts, a neat-o mug and both of us received prize bags!  Definitely a fun and productive morning!!!

New year, New Goals, New Crazy Ideas!!

It's time to look back at our past running goals for 2012.  Here are Michele's thought:

"It's always fun to re-read the blogs and look over last years goals :)Out of Jodi's 6 goals she completed 4.(See the Aloha 2011 post) Although I do not think she mentally survived Robie Creek. I completed 4 of the 6 also -haha. We did complete all the trails which was so much fun and Jodi did meet her 1212 miles goal with only a couple of days to spare. 
So once again I am off to Hawaii to recharge, even though I've been pretty lazy the last month. I've given some thought to my next years goals. I usually have one or two for Jodi also. I will wait for her to post hers before adding mine to her "list"."

What she fails to mention is that the reason I only completed 4 out of 6 of my goals is we chose not to run 2 races that were specific to my goal.  Can't meet the goal if you don't run the race!  

Here we are almost exactly one year ago!!!

I was so sick in November and December that I was concerned about not making my 1212 miles goal.  But I DID! barely.
Here is a re-cap of our goals.....

Me
1. Run and PR in Les Bois 10K (SKIPPED THIS RACE)
2. Run and survive Robie Creek Half 
3. Run two marathons; Great Potato and Mesa Falls
4. Run all 152 trails in ridge to rivers trail system
5. Log in 1,212 miles for the year (I am going to end up with just over 1,220)
6. Run High Speed Pursuit Half Marathon in under  1:54:00 (SKIPPED THIS RACE)

Michele
1. Run and survive Les Boise 10k (I hate that hill!!)  (SKIPPED THIS RACE)
2. Run and watch Jodi "die" on Robie Creek while Kris and I laugh (FYI-I DIDN'T DIE!!)
3. Yes- run 2 marathons
4. Run all Ridge to Rivers trails- how could I miss out on that!!!
5. Watch Jodi try to squeeze all her final needed 1212 miles into the last week of the year
6. Take a enjoyable run in the desert and eat mexican food while Jodi tries not to puke at the end of High Speed Pursuit(ha ha)  (SKIPPED THIS RACE)


I was pondering about goals for 2013.  Michele gave me lots of ideas! Some were outrageous, some silly.  So I decided on the following.

1. Break 4 hours in the Great Potato Marathon
2. Break 1:54:00 in a half marathon
3. Run 1300 miles in honor of the year '13
4. Complete 12 months, 12 trails, 3 sole sisters plan (details coming soon)

I think this a manageable list.  The toughest is for sure going to be the marathon goal (gulp). But I HAVE been training with a really good runner for this and am very hopeful!

Here's to 2013!!

12 months of running

On the Twelfth month of running my running gave to me...
A Donut with sprinkles
Eleven seconds to gather my thoughts
Ten Dry Creek calls of joy!
Nine minutes lost in a cemetery
Eight sprays of bathroom body axe
Seven sips of Kris' life saving gatorade
Six trails that almost killed us
FIVE hundred wildflowers on ORCHARD!
Four-ever Robie Sucks
Three curse words
Two heart attacks
and a Year full of memories!

Each number corresponds with a trail run of the corresponding month.  Ex: five hundred wildflowers run was in May, the fifth month.

The Ho Ho Ho 'nearly' Half Marathon on the day the world is supposed to end!

Merry Christmas!

 

Most people at this time of the year are busy out doing their last minute shopping and baking and mailing. Others are fearing the Mayans prediction that the world will end today, 12/21/12, and are hunkered down somewhere in a bunker.  WE are hitting the trails!  However today's second annual Ho Ho Ho Half-Marathon had to be a 'nearly' Half because I have been really sick!  I am probably border line pneumonia.  So why would I be out running the trails is the cold December weather?  If you have to ask that then you do not know me very well.

 

 

We started with a gift exchange...always so fun!  Kris brought us the best adornment for our run today!

 DON'T WE LOOK FESTIVE?

 

 



 It was a pretty cold morning.  But we dressed in layers.  The worst part was the wind.  You can run in anything...except the WIND.  It is so draining!  We didn't expect to see any other runners, but were surprised when a group of four ladies passed by.  They LOVED our "Ho-Ho's" and smiled as they went by.  Michele noted that there were four in that group.  "We could never run with a fourth person.  It would upset our balance." Kris piped in, "Oh I would welcome another runner with open arms!"  Yeah right, I think she just wants fresh meat to torture!

We parked at the upper parking lot of camel's back and started right onto The Grove, Owl's Roost and the Kestrel (aka the Highway).  It was getting windier and windier each step we took!  This was not going good!  The wind is NOT a runner's friend.  We had to run slower today too mostly because of me being sick.

We made our way to sidewinder.  It was so terribly windy at this point!  We had gusts hitting us at 40-50 mph!!  It's like the hills didn't want us up there and were trying to blow us off!  We kept hearing a weird noise as we turned onto sidewinder.  Michele yelled, "It's a truck!"  I wish you could see our faces when she suggested that.  A truck?  Up here?  We kept running and the noise continued. Finally Michele yelled, "STOP!"  She froze and said "Listen."  She could not go another step without knowing what that noise was.  We finally decided that it was the wind blowing the power lines around.  Whether that is what it was or not, it satisfied Michele and we were allowed to resume our run.

I'm not sure if this picture captures the wind very well, you have to look at their hair blowing.

The wind got so strong that even walking grew cumbersome.  It took us an hour to go 4 MILES!!!  We were not taking our sweet time either, we were trying to move!  Finally we got to the Fat Tire Trail.  A change in direction and a decline and less wind HOORAY!  Kris had never ran Fat Tire.  I was so happy to share this moment with her!  We were excited to show her "Love Rock".  That is a place on Fat Tire where someone has made a huge heart out of rocks.  All the times we have ran by and I have never taken a picture.  Today I was finally going to.

Although I hadn't run for over a week my legs felt great!  If my darn lungs would just work better!  I decided I wanted to switch out my torso with someone else and keep my legs so I could run better.  Michele and Kris both agreed I couldn't run with their torsos because I wouldn't know what to do with the knew "upper" weight.  Oh they are sooooo funny!

Much to our disappoint as we came upon "love rock" it was no longer as it had once been.  Someone had changed to it read..."Love Biking".  We were so disappointed.  Kris suggested we change it to say "running" but none of had the energy to do so.  The wind was not only blowing, it was also sucking the very energy from our souls!


We came off Fat Tire and headed onto Freestone headed down towards Mountain Cove.  Michele and I have dubbed this portion of the run "suicide hill".  This is because it is really steep downhill and rutted and we had an intense tail wind throwing us down the hill.  It was scary.  Today was much more mild compared to last year.  So, it wasn't much of a suicide hill this time.  Then Michele had to go to the bathroom and POOF she disappeared into the bushes.  We waited, and waited, and waited. "Holy Cow what is taking so long!"  "My hands are stuck." Came a reply from the bushes.

Kris and I exchanged a look that read 'did she just say what I think she said?'  To which Kris yelled.  "We are not helping you with that!"  Haha turns out it was her PANTS that were stuck, not her hands.  That makes a lot more sense.

At this point in our run, our dear Michele began to go delusional and basically lose her mind.  It must have started when she was alone in the bushes going pee.  Because the next thing you know she is babbling about a rhyme that's so funny, "On channel four not last night but the night before..."  and then she burst into uncontrollable laughter.  It took her a good 5 minutes to control herself long enough to tell us that she was making a patty melt for dinner.  Then her hands went numb and she made us promise if she went permanently crippled we would still take her on runs by pushing her in a handicap stroller.  If it had been warm out I would have thought she was hallucinating by dehydration.  It was cold and windy, but not hypothermia cold.  I just can't say what was happening to her.

And then, we see this....

Hmm... that's not a real good sign to see.


We ran into our friend Brian just as we were about to drop onto Mountain Cove.  He turned our run into rated R with a stream of curse words when we told him how windy it was up top.  Gotta love runners!

Finally we reached the trail that was a MUST today, Military Connection.  This was the LAST trail for us to do to complete our resolution to run all the trails in the ridge to rivers system.  When I say us I mean Michele and I.  Kris is not in this club.  She did not endure 5mile Mile, 8th street, #4, and Femrite Patrol.  Those our the worst trails ever created, but you must run them to be in the club.

As we neared the top of the Connector (which yes we were walking because it is so steep!) I whipped out my pocket knife!  I was ready to cut off my trail anklet the second we finished this trail.  We saw a couple runners at the top.  "Hmm," I said, "maybe I should put my knife away."  Then I thought, "Maybe I should run with it and start yelling The World is going to End!"  After much laughter we decided that would definitely NOT be a smart idea!

We made it!  The cutting off of the anklet ceremony began!!

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!

 

 

It was all downhill from here baby! Kris wanted to run down Redcliff instead of the highway.  "NO!" I decided.  Someone had opened me up and drained all of the energy out of my body.  I was spent.  I knew if I stopped moving I was very likely to fall asleep.  I found myself eyeing each sage brush we passed to see if it looked comfortable or not.  This run needed to be done!

 

 

We finished, 10 miles. Not a half marathon in distance but definitely in effort.  We had the most wonderful thing awaiting us at the car.....

 



 YUM! YUM! Merry Christmas!!!

 





HIDE and SEEK

On our run Tuesday, Michele and I decided to mess with Kris a bit.  She runs later in the early evening after work.  We were running the same trail that morning that she was going to run later.  So we took some dead pieces of Sage brush branches and constructed the letter K".

 We then texted her this picture and told her to find it when she went running.  We also talked about telling her we ran it in like 35 minutes to really try to goad her into a competitive FRENZY!  (We ran it in 41) You see, we are not mean really, Kris is just REALLY fun to irritate!  And since she's been bragging about her amazing trail running skills lately, we seriously considered it.  But in the end we did not. So, just sent the picture clue and told her to find it.

 

 

 

 Here is a picture of Michele pointing to where we placed the clue.

But Kris did NOT find it!  No surprise!

 

Aren't we great friends?

Something Stinks.....

Today we ran in the Veteran's Cemetery area.  This time we did not get lost in the Cemetery!  The gates were opened and we were able to park at the trail head. Once again we were sporting new running digs that we got for "Christmas".  We looked pretty good out there!

As we started I noticed, something stinks.  I have smelled this smell before on other runs.  It smells like a decomposing road kill or rotting garbage or something. "Maybe it is skunk weed," I told Michele.  "Yep, that probably stinks, hence it's name..skunk weed."  But alas, neither of us knew what skunk weed looked like.  (Yes, we actually do not know EVERYTHING...not yet)

So, I decided to go home and read up on skunk Weed, if it even existed.

I found the following definition: tall herb of the Rocky Mountains having sticky leaves and an offensive smell.  Well, the offensive smell part fits!  Here are some images I found:



Now it seems to actually be a type of Marijuana.  Ha ha, I do NOT think that is what we were smelling!

Then I found an interesting article.....
Suddenly the wind shifts, and a stench floods his nostrils. The smell, a combination of spoiled eggs, dirty laundry and day-old roadkill, washes over him.

YES! This is the smell!!  When I scrolled down for an image to see what it looked like....


OK I KNOW we did NOT see this out there!  So.. the mystery smell will just have to remain that..a mystery.  It couldn't be us I'm smelling..... Could it?

We are less silly...More experienced

Today we had to check off Freestone Creek Trail off of our list...which we did. CHECK!

We started off early and had to make a quick stop at the court house.  I spent the first 10 minutes of the drive looking at myself in the side mirror.   Finally I asked, "Have I been wearing this headband wrong for a year?"  I was speaking of my band I wear that covers my ears to keep me warm when I run.  It just wasn't feeling right.  Yesterday I ran with it the other way and it felt better.  So I sowed Michele.  Turns out I'm alright, been wearing it right.  Just wore it backwards on my 10-miler yesterday. No big deal.

At the courthouse, I spotted 3 MAJOR security flaws.  Now I don't always "think" like a criminal but these were blatant!  First we walk through the metal detectors.  We left our watches in the car because I was afraid they would get warped or messed up somehow.  I walked through...no problem JACK!  There was a security guy standing there with a wand, swiping someone.  I have never done this before, I didn't know if everyone got swiped so I just stood there. When he was finished he looked at me.  "Did you beep ma'am?"  Really?  He is asking me that.  Now, if I had plans to do  criminal act and I HAD beeped, do you think I would have told him that?  I just held up my hands and replied, "No sir."  Flaw number 1.

Next we go to some counter for Michele to do some recording stuff.  The lady takes all the forms then asks, "And are you Michele?"  Really?  You don't have to show PROOF?  ID nothing?  After Michele tells her "yes."  She then takes care of it.  Well, if we weren't Michele and we had criminal intentions we wouldn't TELL you!  Flaw Number 2.

Finally we were headed out the door. The exit is on the opposite side of the room, away from the security.  We walk out, unseen, no one around.  I could have EASILY let someone in the door as I was leaving.  There was NO ONE watching.  Oh my.  Flaw #3.  This courthouse is NOT SAFE!

Today was a great day to run because we were all decked out in new clothes!  Our husbands told us to order new running clothes on Cyber Monday for our Christmas presents.  They came in the mail this week.  Now I ask you, truthfully.  When something like that comes in the mail, are you really gong to let it be wrapped up and placed under the tree for 2 weeks? NO!  It needs to be used NOW!  So it was!  And boy did we look great!

We started at the first parking lot with a bathroom on Mountain Cove Road.  It was going to be a run we have done before with a little more added in.  We ran up to Buck Tail, The did Shane's Loop counter clockwise.  Now someone who will remain unmentioned did a 10 mile tempo run yesterday.  That person's legs were on fire INSTANTLY!  In fact on the first hill climb she was singing to herself..."Higher Higher Legs on fire."  To the tune of Liar, Liar, Pants on fire.  She decided that this hill had a "W" all over it and she WALKED A LOT!  Good for her!  :)

As we were coming DOWN Bucktail (After running Shane's) there were two runners coming behind us and gaining.  That unspoken competitiveness that lives inside ALL of us (even Michele) kicked in.  We started cruising!  I looked down and we were running an 8:05 pace.  "What are we doing?"  I asked myself.  Luckily two bikers came from the other way and we were forced to stop and let the pass by.  We didn't resume our run though.  By some silent consensus we waited for the two runners to pass as well.  Michele then commented that she was feeling pushed from behind by them to run faster.  That is your competitive gene Michele.  Nice to see it's still kickin!

After we came off buck tail we headed LEFT and then we went LEFT again on Central Ridge Spur.  Woo Wee we loved this new way to run! We hadn't ever gone this way.  It was a much more enjoyable run.  Michele especially liked it and she managed to tell me so every few minutes!  Eventually we hit a trail head that said to hang a right which would lead us to Freestone Creek Trail.  This actually dropped us directly to the car!  Great run! 6.6 mile loop!

 Let's take a look at the map.  Oh.

Turns out we never ran on Freestone Creek Trail.  We hadn't actually turned onto it yet.  So, back we go. 

We had to hang a quick right and run parallel to the road.  It wasn't a bad trail but it wasn't an interesting trail.  We were so excited about discovering the Central Ridge Spur to run that this one was just wasn't as great.  So after a bit we turned around and headed back.

On the drive home we talked about how our runs aren't real "silly" or "funny" anymore.   We decided it was because we weren't ridiculous newbies like we used to.  At the beginning of this year we were doing crazy and darn near stupid things.  We were running expert trails when we were far from experts.  Now, we are PROFESSIONALS, so sometimes, the silliness isn't as intense.  But do not fear, I am pretty confident it will creep in every once in a while. Did you notice how silly we were in the courthouse?  That is because we are not experts in that area. When we are newbies = silliness.  Experts = all business.

I pulled up the blog as we drove home and read old posts to Michele. I had her laughing so hard she almost couldn't drive. Yep, we are still silly.

Today was a double reward day!  The sprites?  For endurance I may not have earned them (the trail wasn't tough)  but my LEGS definitely earned them.  Yes, I am the one who ran the 10 miler yesterday and I sure did pay for it today!

The bonus reward....

If you do not know what this is....you are missing OUT!

Important Announcement!

It is official!!!

We ARE crazy after all!

 

 

 

Bruneau Beast

 

Interesting facts about this race.

 

*only ONE woman ran it last year!

*Her time happened to be an HOUR slower than EVERY ONE else on the entire course!

*All the race photos are of people WALKING or of dogs!

*It is ALWAYS windy there!

 

I signed for this race.  What is wrong with me?

 

The Humble Stumble

We are so close to completing our goal of running all the trails in the Boise Ridge to Rivers Trail system.  Today's run was to mark Bob's Trail off of our list.  The thing about Bob's is that it is difficult to find a pleasant way to make it a loop.  I say pleasant because I don't particularly want to run 8th street extension if I can help it.


We drove up the 8th street connection and parked at the winter gate.  The gate happened to be open, but it isn't supposed to be at this time o the year.  We opted to park there because we both felt that knowing our luck, if we drove further, when we came back we would be locked in!

We only had to run a tiny bit before we turned onto the Corrals Trailhead # 31.  This part of Corrals is one that I really do love. It is a perfect surface with no real steep ups or downs.  We weren't on it very long when it was time to turn onto Bob's #30.

I LOVED this trail.  We were cruising along loving every minute of it!  I stopped to show Michele some really cool neon green moss on a rock.  Then I exclaimed, "I am going to pay more attention to things when we trail run!"  Right when I finished the sentence I tripped and almost ate dirt!  Perhaps I should pay attention to where my feet are hitting the ground and not just the mossy rocks.  Something Michele so kindly pointed out!

There were really cool rock formations to go over and lots of character on this trial.  Michele called them "Whoop-dee-dos."  Hmm?

Suddenly over the hill we heard barking and saw 2 dogs running towards us.  DOGS!  That is something I have great disdain for when I am running!  Michele is starting to see things my way finally (now that she got bit n the bum on a trail run!)  We did see the owners with the dogs BUT that sometimes doesn't matter.   When we got near the 2 ladies and the FOUR dogs I had my pepper spray cocked and ready in my hand. One of the dogs was circling me and sniffing my feet.  "He's really nice."  The owner squeaked.  I looked at her, holding up my pepper spray and replied coolly, "Even nice dogs bite."  Then we ran on.  We did take a brief break for a very important phone call that Michele HAD to take.  It was her Granddaughter!  :0)

We came out as the trail veered left and found ourselves at the 8th street connection.  "I am NOT running up that back to the car."  Michele declared.  I completely agreed.  So today was going to be an out and back.  Something we don't do very often.  But we were both feeling so great and thought that this trail was soooo easy!  And now comes the humbling.

The way back was tough!  It was uphill the ENTIRE way!  AND then a intense head wind!  Where did that come from?  And where did all of these hills come from? Neither of us could remember having run any down hill.  We were just enjoying the run and feeling like awesome runners!  Now we were being humbled with a tough uphill run.  At one point we approached a hill and Michel yelled, "This hill has 'W' all over it."  It took a second for me to register that she meant 'W' as in 'WALK'. So we did.  We were definitely not trying to prove anything to anyone.  Not even ourselves.

When Michele's watch hit 5 miles, she was done and walked the rest of the way to the car.  I just wanted to be done so badly that I kept running and picked up my pace. Just...To...Finish...As... Soon...As...Possible!

We discussed a few names for this run.  Haha a few were not exactly appropriate.  But we settled on a good one.  One that described how we felt by the end of this run....Humbled.

BLACK FRIDAY!!

So... the second annual Black Friday run is back!!  While most people are out there fighting crowds and traffic and spending money.... we are enjoying the trails!

It was a beautiful, quiet and COLD morning after Thanksgiving.   There were NO other cars in the parking lot and NO other people to be seen!  Those crazy people were out doing stressful things!  We were the smart one!  We debated when we started as to whether or not we would run with headlamps.  Those are so annoying that we decided it was close enough to sunrise.






 In honor of it being BLACK FRIDAY we all wore our blackest running clothes!  Kris took extra time to curl her hair all nice and bouncy for the run also!









Michele said this was going to be a DEATH MARCH run!  This was because we were going to do a much longer and more intense run.  However after all of us being sick and vacationing (ahem...Michele), our death marched was shortened and was less of a Death March and more of an easy, freezing jaunt.  But I still had to wear the socks.  I had saved them specifically for THIS RUN!

 

Mr. Tortoise decided to join us on his bike this time.  Michele made Kris and I "pinkie-promise" that we wouldn't run stupid.  This was supposed to be an enjoyable run and NOT A RACE!  She forgot to tell Mr. Tortoise that because at one point in the run we saw him and he called out, "I'm Winning!" But we later informed him that he did NOT win because he didn't "ding" each post.

 

 

We ran up Crestline until we hit Sidewinder.  I haven't done Sidewinder all year and had forgotten how steep it was!  But it was a good steep and not too tough!  We stopped to enjoy the view and pose for pictures and a bit of silliness.

 

 

Off Sidewinder we did a really dumb thing!  This is where the previously planned Death March was altered.  We went left and ran down a portion of Trail #4 which is a motorcycle trail.  This was a terrible trail.  Steep, rutted, uneven, curving, just gross.  It was not runner friendly AT ALL!  In fact as we descended an old familiar pain in my right ankle returned.  It got sharper and hotter and more painful and hurt almost to the point where it was when I rolled it in the Mesa Falls Marathon.  YUCK!  I could do without EVER running any inch f trail #4 EVER AGAIN!

 

 

This portion of #4 comes out onto Crestline where we could run back towards the parking lot.  But Michele had mentioned that we had to run to The Lunch Box to gather our thoughts.  Those were her EXACT words, "gather our thoughts."  The Lunch Box is a big bridge and area where the trail map is posted that joins lower hulls with crestline.  Here is the bridge:

 

 

 

And here are Kris and Michele gathering their thoughts.  I had no thoughts to gather.

 



 

It is always a great day when you can get out on the trails.  Remember a bad day on the trails is still better than a good day on the roads!

 

Happy Thanksgiving... here's to many more trails to run!