Onto The Next One

December is an exciting time. The holidays are around us, surrounded by friends, family & cheer. Excitement is in the air for the coming of a new year. However, there is also sadness at the passing of the old one- perhaps unfulfilled resolutions, regrets, devastation...

On The Long Trail (of Life?) with mary

Post WTC 50k Cool Kids Crew

I feel so fortunate and grateful to be able to say that this year has been amazing; one of my best, really. Looking back, I have taken myself to new places, distances, mental reserves with great success and a smile. I set a personal best in the 50k by over an hour; traveled to the French Alps to run one of the hardest 100k races in the world, while experiencing living in a foreign country; I set a PR in the mile after a 10 mile workout in the am; I hiked about 100 miles of The Long Trail with one of my best friends & mentors; I ran my first 50 miler as a training race, and have trained harder than I ever have before. I still hold a sense of disbelief that I could do all of these things, but it just further supports my desire to set lofty goals and KNOW that I can achieve them. It also fuels my 20-year old ego that anything is possible... ;)

The Queen & I on Coastal

I cannot take all the credit, though. All of these dreams have been realized largely by the unending support I have received. My family cares so much about my athletic career and have been so selfless in helping me in any way they can. They genuinely desire to know how I am doing on a daily basis, what my sights are set on, and how they can fit in the picture. My mom, grandma and aunt flew to Europe to crew for me and be present to share in the experience of a lifetime. Most family members have been to almost all of my races, and I am so grateful for that. My coach, Meghan, and I started working together in March, and I am SO fortunate for her expert guidance, advice, and friendship. She pushes me hard in just the right way and I trust her 110%. Her workouts and training get me so excited to run each day and I always want to do my best. However, on the days when running sucks and I feel discouraged, she can pick me up and stop my whining. ;)

Quality Friends & Quality Badasses.

Finally, the running community I adore so much has taken me to great heights. With the love and encouragement from old friends, new friends, and everybody in between. I am always taken aback by the level of commitment and care exemplified by all the people involved in this wonderful sport. Volunteers at aid stations make them seem like parties & make all the difference in the world as we all chase PRs. Supporters and an ever-increasing fan base of this sport such as IRunFar make running-nerds like myself on top of the whos-who and what's being done happenings around the world. It's really quite amazing this culture we have, and I am so grateful to be a part of it.

This picture can't have words-Not even 1000

With all that said, we can put 2014 in the past and start looking ahead to 2015. It's been said often that it's not about the destination, but the journey. However, 2015 is looking to have several awesome destinations.  First, Bandera 100k is just around the corner; starting the year off with a bang. I am hoping to earn a ticket to Western States 100 mile through the Montrail Ultra Cup. This race is a big deciding factor in how the rest of the year will pan out. If not, I am still setting my sights on 100 miles. Perhaps Cascade Crest or Pine to Palm? Meghan and I will pick races accordingly to fill the gaps until then. There's still so much up in the air, but I am still excited and eager to see what the future holds & where my running will take me next (literally & figuratively!)

Mont Blanc in all her glory

One of the ways I define myself is that I am always making goals and trying to achieve them. Though this time of year reminds us to venture out and try new things or improve upon the old, I will always be creating new dreams regardless of the day-month-year. With that being said, I also just want to keep on doing what I love: dancing on trails, laughing with friends, exploring, and pushing myself farther & faster, through new life experiences. I am so excited to see what 2015 brings. I feel as if I have really defined myself and found my identity and I cannot wait to show who I am to the world. Plus, I turn 21 in June so I will soon be able to enjoy post race beers legally. ;)

Lastly, I'm so happy that The North Face, Julbo eyewear, & Petzl have taken a chance on me. I'm so excited to be a part of their families and represent trail running through them. They have given me the confidence and enthusiasm to pursue my absolute best & beyond.

And with that, we're Onto The Next One.

Sup.

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!

Chamonix Week 2

This week was beyond epic in so many ways.

Italians do it better.

Hanging out with Tim Olson in Courmayeur!

On Tuesday I took the bus under Mont Blanc to Courmayeur. I was planning on just doing the first climb and really get a good feel for it, as it is the hardest and worst of them all. (Of course). I step on the bus and sit down to none other than Timmy Olson, 2 time Western States 100 winner & CR. It was great to chat a bit and then he graciously led me up the first 5k hiking to Rifugio Bertone and showed me the way (Who knows where I would've ended up without him!). Then he took off and I continued along/up a ridge to Tete de la Troche. (The top of the first climb). It was supposed to be 10k of uphill but only ended up being about 5 miles, so I was pretty confused. I looked at a French hiker's detailed map and discovered I had gone up the UTMB bypass route and took some other way to the top. I then went down to Courmayeur and followed the route I was supposed to go up. In short, I did the loop backwards, whoops! But the day was gorgeous, I caught my first sight of the summit of Mont Blanc, ate incredible Italian pizza and gelato, and had a blast bombing down switchbacks through fields of wildflowers.

Foggy above La Flegere

Wednesday it was POURING rain all day, so no gorgeous vistas. However, I met up with Ashley Arnold, super cool TNF runner & dancer, for a rainy run through the forest around Chamonix. It was so nice to have such great company and so fun to dance around the puddles! Her advice and her chill attitude was so welcomed.

Above Le Tour

Col de Balme

Friday I took the train to Vallorcine and ran back to Chamonix with the intention of doing the last climb and descent (10 miles) of the race. I got directions from a french runner on the start of the route and headed up and up. (In the pouring, freezing rain). This was really a turning point for me in terms of my training here. I've been majorly struggling on the uphills and getting my footing on some of the steep, but friday I finally found my rhythm (thanks to the Chicago soundtrack!) and was skipping and running all the way up. That is until I got to the ladders... I arrived to a rock face and the only way to go was up these metal ladders, about 10ft+ long and scattered up the mountain. It snaked around and just when I thought I was at the top, there'd be three more... I lost count after 12... It was miserable. I was getting blown by huge gusts of freezing wind, pelted with rain and my gloves were soaked holding the ladders. I was so afraid of falling off. (It would definitely have been to my death as I was very high up...)

A Refuge above Col de Balme

But then I got onto a rolling ridgeline and was feeling great. (After I changed into a dry longsleeve and new gloves) A french guy caught up to me and we started talking. He is from Annecy and is training for the CCC too! So we ran together and had fun talking. He had a nice map and seemed to know where he was going, and I had absolutely no plan or anything (haha!). We got to La Flegere and started running down... All of a sudden I see a flash of neon pink and Rory Bosio, '13 UTMB winner & CR, is running up the trail. She promptly informs us we took the wrong way, and I took a UTMB variant on my climb up and completely bypassed the trail (duh ladders are not in the race...) And we chatted for a bit before going on our ways. The guy I was running with was stoked haha. The run ended up being pretty sweet and I felt awesome.

Making faces at 2800m

Saturday I got another ride up to Le Tour and CRUISED up to Col de Balme! I felt incredible and just kept wanting to go up and up and up! It was SO beautiful and I even saw some snow! After, a couple friends and I went to a bar and had some red wine for recovery and a delicious meal of macaroni, salad, and melon! So Euro!

So much fun to slip n slide through the fresh powder!

Polar Bear Plunge anyone?

Sunday was pretty amazing. I got an email saturday night from Rory Bosio if she wanted to adventure all day and I promptly responded yes. So I biked to her place and we drove to La Gorge by Les Contamines. We ran-hiked up to Col du Bonhomme through wildflowers, fields with cows and then snaked along this ridge. We started going down huge patches of snow and were pretty much skiing on our shoes. Rory, being a skilled Nordic skier, took off and I was left slipping and sliding and falling on my butt after her. We then scrambled up to this other ridge and took in the INCREDIBLE scenery. This was our highest point at 2750m (almost 9000'). We literally rock climbed our way down to these two beautifully blue alpine lakes. We sat down for 45min-an hour and ate and talked and jumped in! (got some applause from the hikers haha!) Then we ran down to the finish. Not including the lake, it was 17.5-18 miles & 5:05 hours of fun adventuring. Down at La Gorge we sat by, tanned, and swam in a lake with tons of french picnickers. And then devoured some gelato. It was such a fun adventure and she is such a cool, fun, awesome person. Girl talk was very fun and we had a lot of laughs... :)

View from Col de Bonhomme

Unintentionally twinning with Rory- Tete d'enclave

This week I ran 62 miles and climbed 18,900'!!!!! Best part was, I felt so at ease and comfortable running all of that! (Or hiking). Now for the taper!!!!

Time to Enjoy the views & rest!

Chamonix- Trail, Ultra & Mountain Running Mecca

After several flight delays (Thanks United), I finally arrived Wednesday night. I immediately went for an easy 4 mile run around town to get my bearings. What a vibrant, beautiful city framed by the most picturesque mountains I could imagine and lush green forests. After my run, I went down to the center of town to get something quick and cheap to eat. I found out that the French, instead of putting it to the side, stuff the fries into the burger along with everything else. It was sooo filling, but very delicious.

After my first Vertical Kilometer

I went back to my hostel and crashed. The next morning, I woke up and went for a run. Now, this was no ordinary run, this was a run up the Chamonix Vertical Kilometer course. A VK is a super steep run, with over 3000' elevation gain in just over 2 miles. This is on tight switchbacks up a ski run, which later turns into a scramble so steep ropes and ladders and footholds were needed to be built into the rock. It took me an hour and five minutes to "run" up. I immediately collapsed onto the platform for the Gondola at Plan Praz, an elevation of 2000m (6562'). I didn't know how else to go down, and didn't want to risk getting lost in the mountains, so I went down the VK route. bad decision. It was more of a hike as it was very steep and I did NOT want to turn an ankle! However, the view of L'Aguille de Midi and the Mont Blanc range is unbelievably worth it.
I came back and just hung out in the city and explored some more.

Le Tour glacier

The next morning, I went with the guy that owns the hostel- Aaron- to Le Tour. He paraglides for sport, so while he and his friend went flying, I tried running up the La Refuge D'Albert 1er and the Le Tour Glacier. I really really wanted to touch, see, and run on the glacier. I got up to the ridge in and was zoning in on it. But I was on a really high/steep singletrack, alone, along a ridge that was super windy. There were also chances of a storm later in the evening and the clouds rolling in did not look too good. I went with my gut and just decided to turn around. Wow that singletrack was awesome to blaze down!!! As soon as I got back to the start and found Aaron, it started pouring rain and thunder loudly clapping. A giant bolt of lightning also struck very close to the trail I was on just 35 minutes ago...

Going crazy over the view and wildflowers

The long, technical, back way to Le Brevent. With views of the Aguilles Rougues Nature Preserve

Saturday I had my best run. I went up the VK route (improved by 7 minutes), and then continued up. I took the route less traveled by to Le Brevent. Literally though. It was super technical and long. It wound its way along the backside of the ridges. It gave beautiful sweeping views of the Aiguilles Rouges Nature Reserve. It was so high, I even got to run in some snow!!! (Exciting for a coastal Californian...) And I saw some of the locals super close up and personal. I finally made it to the summit of Le Brevent (altitude 2500m- about 8300'). It was so hard and so steep and so long. I examined strava and realized that I had climbed 6000' in about 6-6.5 miles. Craziness. I took a few pics, and then descended back to Plan Praz the fireroad, shortcut and took a new, epic singletrack down to where I started the Vk. The singletrack was winding switchbacks through a meadow of wildflowers, which quickly turned into a beautiful green forest. I was so joyful and happy running through it!

after 6000' of climbing, Le Brevent is conquered!

Earlier that morning, I met up with Timmy Olson and his sweet family at the local farmer's market. My dad would've loved it. They were selling every produce imaginable, meats, cheeses, cooked foods, wines, jams, honey, baked goods.... All for very cheap. They also were selling clothes, trinkets, jewelry, puppies (and a baby pig!), mattresses, Salomon shoes, etc... It was all so foreign and interesting!

Sunday, I was so beat up from such an exhausting week of traveling, so many vertical feet climbed in not so many miles, and so I took an easy short run along the River L'Arve to Les Houches and back.

Met a couple of these guys heading up to Le Brevent

Over this week I've had my share of explorations, practicing my terrible French, being noticed as the dumb American on a mountain, and I'm loving every second of it. I feel so comfortable and at home here. The community and culture is incredible and I'm trying my hardest to assimilate into it!! The trails are so steep and unlike anything I've ever encountered. The mountains can change everything in such a short amount of time. I'm very nervous, scared, anxious for CCC. But I am also excited and loving every second. I cannot wait to run around this beautiful massif and see these mountain towns.

Do I look ready to run 100km in the Alps?!

I am so grateful to everyone supporting, encouraging, cheering me on. I treasure every nugget of advice and all the help I am getting. Huge shoutout to everyone that's making this wonderful opportunity possible.  I am eager to represent all my friends, the SF bay area, Cal Poly, TNF Flow and young female athletes with huge dreams!

Call Me Ultra

The headlands 50k. 8.24.13.

Last July I was sitting in an airport, bored, flying home after pacing Jon in the vt100. I was googling random things, mostly races. He had mentioned the Headlands 50k, which I had heard about before. Then after meticulously reading through the website, I found there was no age group record for females 20 & under. It immediately sparked my attention. I texted Mary and Liz right away and asked "what if?" The race was a month away and I was training to try and make D1 XC team at cal poly. No way was I in any shape to run a hard 50k race. So I let it go. 

Fast forward through the school year. I got injured and didn't make the D1 time standard the coach had, but rehabed my severely sprained ankle and ran club XC. In the spring I continuously increased my long runs and ran more hills, despite it being track season. I still had headlands on my mind and knew I'd run it this year. 

As soon as registration opened, I signed up. Two weeks later I also decided maybe I should run a marathon first in prep and signed up for a road one as well. That's a different race report though... :)

After track season and school got out, I came back home to work at SFRC and train on the course. With the great running community established at the store, I found many supporters and received a lot of advice. I also had some quality training runs on the course. 

Race morning I felt sharp, eager, excited, and springy. It was awesome socializing and knowing almost everybody there.

I lined up in front, behind Varner and next to the top ladies. I chased Bree from the beginning and held on for the first two miles. But going up coastal out of muir beach I fell back and decided it was smarter to race after the first half. So I kept running and enjoyed the scenery. I was still in about 6-7th place going up wolf ridge and I listened to a couple people's conversations. Coming down into rodeo beach was awesome. I had the folks on the sfrc group long run cheering me on as well as my grandpa on his bike. 

Going up miwok to Tennessee valley I felt confident. I just kept repeating my mantra: relax, be strong, be smart, be fun, be fluid. Once I hit Tennessee valley and started going up miwok from that side, I started feeling sick from all the sugars I was eating in the Gu and electrolyte drink. It was too much for me and I felt terrible miles 11-16. I just kept telling myself I'd see Mary at hwy 1, mile 14.5. Once there I switched to plain water in my bottle, which helped, and it was relieving just to see her and my friends there volunteering.

I had felt like puking up to that aid station and after down to muir woods. Strangely, I felt way better running up cardiac. It was hot and hard, but I ran most of the way up and passed several people suffering in the heat. It was like I had come back from the dead; a feeling unknown to me in my short running career. I got to the cardiac aid station and was welcomed by my friends there. They took care of me by filling my water bottle and giving me a cup of water to drink and half a cup of coke. I stayed for maybe less than two minutes and continued on to pantoll, welcoming the shade. I felt significantly better coming off of cardiac and one of the men I passed exclaimed I had, "come back alive". I felt like I was leaping and bounding down Matt Davis, which I always run with joy, towards Stinson because it is one of my favorite stretches of trail. And because I knew I just had one more big hill and a fast downhill to go. 

I passed a woman and apparently moved into 7th place according to a man who was counting on the side of the trail. She passed me again and I lost sight of her. I got to Stinson and I could feel what felt like a small rock in my shoe. I ignored it and headed through the aid station. I filled up my bottle and got some water splashed on my back. It must have taken all of 30 seconds; I don't even think I stopped! Then I started the long last trek up Stinson and steel ravine. It was hot, I was tired, and it felt hard. I power walked the hills on the moors with Andrea, a woman I had helped at the store and caught up to.  We chit chatted in between huffs and puffs. She told me I was like a little mountain fairy and would soon pass her. She pulled ahead for a little bit and I lost her in the switchbacks up Steep Ravine, but I caught up with a man and charged up the trail. I pulled him along with me and he talked to me, keeping me sane and present with my mind.  Thank goodness for that; I was starting to lose my racing mind! I caught up to Andrea and passed her soon after the ladder as if she were standing still. This did wonders to my self-esteem and confidence. I soon passed another woman at Pantoll who cheered me on. I was on fire at that point. I was ripping up the trail at sub7 min pace, anxious she'd catch me again as I had moved into 5th place.

As I approached the 27.5 mile, last aid station at Cardiac, I thought, I'll finish in 22 minutes, it's not that far, she's right behind me, I don't need to refill my bottle or get anything! Wrong. Half a mile later, I stopped dead in my tracks as if I had been hit by a wrecking ball. I was hot and dehydrated. I continued running because then i'd finish sooner and get water and just be done. I wanted to cry I was so tired and dehydrated.  I painfully made my way down the switchbacks of Heather Cutoff with the finish line in sight. Two men were hounding me right behind, but wouldn't pass, so I felt pressured and even more anxious.  Moreover, the woman passed me in that last mile.  I almost cried when I saw Mary at the end of the switchbacks as she cheered me on to the finish. I ran 60 more yards to the finish.  I had absolutely nothing left. No finishing kick, no more motivation, nothing.  I didn't even have the strength to stand. I collapsed at the line and was half-crying, half-laughing.  My mom, friends and the race director, Tim, crowded around me congratulating me and asking me if I was okay.  I was carried over to the medical tent and examined by the EMT.  I was force fed a bagel, coke, water, and grapes.  But I was so incredibly happy to be done and beamed with joy.  Afterwards I enjoyed firetrails pizza (despite being gluten and dairy intolerant), and two huge chocolate chip cookies.

In just 5:45 hours, I had finished 6th female, 52 overall, and set a new CR in the 20& under age group as the youngest to ever finish the Headlands 50k.  I am beyond happy and glad of my experience. I would definitely have changed a lot of things and have a lot of "could have, should have, what ifs", but I chalk it all up to learning experiences. I can't wait to improve and get after my next ultra!