Before the shenanigans... Heading into TNFECS 50miler.

Wowie. Is it already December?!
This quarter flew by. It seemed that just the other day I was admiring the chamois on Brevent and sipping espressos in Italy... Then again, the days have been dragging on at school while I've been away in dreamland...

Though who could complain with these trails?!

I can't believe I'm already at raceweek for my "first" 50 miler. I haven't really given it that much thought other than occasional panic attacks and general dreading of how slow it could potentially be. This quarter, post CCC, has gotten off to a rocky and less ideal start with Mono and Lyme disease, but I believe I have an iron horse of an immune system and beat them both into submission. This garnered me at least one solid month or so of consistent training. I trust in it 100%. however this is also not a goal race. Bandera 100k is what I am thinking about on my long runs and before bed when I'm doing core staring up at the ceiling... I want that ticket to WS100!! Let's hope I can curb back my competitive spirit!



I am super excited to see what happens in the next month, at TNF50 and Bandera. Each week, I've been building my miles, putting in some vert, while also dropping my times in my workouts. My workouts have been fabulous. Its the one day of the week I truly look forward to. I am so excited to be running faster, negative splitting, feeling confident-free-strong-relaxed while consistently surprising myself. (I think the best part is that now I also don't need to take a two hour nap after!)

See you at mile 30. Muir Woods via Dipsea Trail

The only downside to the past couple weeks is that I've been running, for the most part, solo. Most ultra runners swear by running solo and they "truly" enjoy it. Yeah, that's good and all sometimes, but I love talking, playing, sharing my adventures! I can be a pansy sometimes and need someone with me to help keep me sane and away from doubtful thoughts, too. Because of my training, work and school schedule, running with friends is typically the only real "social" outlet I have. However, my training partners have been tapering/recovering from awesome performances, so that is inspiring me to work hard just to keep up!

I love my friends. PC Tera Dube

So, it's the end of the quarter, TNF50 is here, and I am in a completely unproductive, uncontrollable, state of high energy craziness. Cheers to a fabulous weekend of mud, miles, friends & lots of shenanigans!

PS On another note, I am in the IrunFar women's preview!!!! Though my name is just a footnote, watch out, maybe soon it will be under the headline! ;)

Pre TNF10k 2010. My 1st trail race

As Reality Sets Back In...

The Pacific Ocean.

I don't quite know how to out into words how deeply I have been affected by my stay in the mountains. It has been just over a month since my race and nearly 2.5 weeks that I have been back in San Luis obispo CA. Every night I dream I am still in the Alps. I climb higher. Snow is crunching under my shoes as the morning sunrise filters in. I laugh and smile, filled with joy to be sharing this moment with a friend who is just ahead. At the top of Brevent we rest a moment, make breakfast plans and then take off down the endless switchbacks at top speed. We are dancing, leaping, singing... I have picked nearly a bouquet of flowers and placed them all in my hair. "J'aimerai une cappuccino et croissant" echoes through my mind...
Waking up is hard. It's hot and stuffy in my apartment and I look out my window to see the neighborhood frat stars picking up red cups in their backyard. Sadly, there will be no croissant or sunrise mountain summit. My day will instead be consumed with frantically studying and desperately trying to remember how to draw the chemical mechanisms for glycolysis.

Sunrise Summit in SLO instead

It's really hard to be back from a magical dreamland place. As a young, imaginative, impressionable, wide eyed person, I was drawn in by the allure of the people, the tall mountains, and euro culture. I have already begun to plan my return.
But I must accept it and find joy in other things for the time being. My memories and dreams serve as motivation to finish my undergrad degree, work hard and diligently at my job, and gain more running experience so I can soon be back in France.
It hasn't all been terrible; I really shouldn't be complaining. I go to a very good school with great trails. My job was waiting for me when I got back, and everybody I work with makes me so happy all the time. My classes are very fascinating (which also makes them incredibly hard) but my professors are supportive and super cool.

Girl Power Rocks!

Since the race, I have felt exhausted all the time. To quote Rory, "I feel like I am dragging a piano behind me". At first I thought I wasn't recovering well and that the race had taken a lot more out of me than I thought. Then I thought, okay. A month later? It must be my iron. I have been sleeping whenever possible: long nights and naps all the time. Turns out, I have mono. This explains quite a lot- while I have had some quality training sessions, many of my runs have been dragging, slow, hard and I haven't been able to hit a groove. It's very frustrating, as this is my escape back into the dreamland, and I have so much work to do with my busy school schedule.

Workout Wednesday!

Despite the sickness, I am still kicking. I'm highly functional. I've been hitting the track weekly and the fast pace is exhilarating and consistent. It's exciting how "comfortable" it feels. Though it most always means I am wicked sore the next two days! I am also back to long runs with Tera Dube, my boss and super rad ultra runner. Just this past Saturday we ran 20 miles out at Santa Margarita Lake, which is just outside of slo. It was beautiful and all new trails! Yippee! A couple of other women (and one guy; girl power yeah!) joined us, including "Lil D" Denise Bourassa. I felt like a wuss for dragging at some points since she just finished the Ultra Grand Slam in a dominant fashion, but her ultra experience is so widespread and she is a pro, after all...

Oh Oh those summer nights!

I am psyched to continue working with Meghan as I prepare to tackle the TNF endurance challenge 50mi in December. (Fun fact of the day: TNF EC 10km in 2011 was my first trail race. Boy was it a big time learning experience!) though I am still not 100% and this mono is seriously putting a damper on my training volume & quality, I can't express how happy I am to have Meghan as my coach. I've never felt stronger or been able to execute training quite like this before. My race was unreal and I attribute my ability to finish it to the great coaching & melodious way we can work together. 2015 is still in the works, but we will come up with something challenging, adventurous and exciting!

New trails lead to new views

My beautiful RNA isolation 2nd to right.

Well, I have a genetic engineering biotechnology and metabolism midterm this Thursday so I must get back to studying... Stay tuned! Très bisous!