My own private diary

Daylight savings time starts this weekend. The trees are leafing out. Spring has arrived. Yeah, yeah, there will be cold weather but it won't last. We are in full training mode. When I go to the trails, I see people who are training, not just walkers. Folks are running hard, looking good, preparing for another season. I love it.

Next week is the Run through time Marathon in Salida. Snow? Maybe. That'll be fine with me. 

Filling up the Dance Card

There is a lot of talk among the running groups about what races people are signing up for.

My first run will be in Salida, CO: the Run through Time Marathon. I have done this one several times, but only once on the new course. I LIKE the new course. The challenge for this one is the weather. There may be deep snow, it may be COLDER than crap. It may be totally awesome. This one is March 15th. http://www.salidarec.com/ccrc/Run-Through-Time-Marathon-2014.htm

But before that, I will be doing the Mt. Taylor Quadrathalon. A short little bike ride followed by  a short run, a shorter cross country ski and then a really short snowshoe. You top out at 11,300 feet. Oh, then you turn around and go back to the start. The downhill ski is the part that has me scared.

Then I'll do the Cedro Peak 45 miler, the Bighorn 100 and who knows what after that.

The crazy thing is I just turned 60. Are you kidding me? Sixty years old? Ancient. I feel ancient. I am working so hard to act enthused about this. I am acting like it is a great opportunity to place in races. But I am really freaked out. Really. Freaked out.

Even older

This Dusty Ole Gramma is getting even older. Yep, another birthday. Entering a new age group. Time to pick some races and take home some medals, right?

It is winter and this is the time of year when picking a race schedule is so much fun. You think you can do anything....when it is the off season. How about a couple of hundred milers? Sure, I can do that. Multi-day events? No problem. Multi-sport events? You betcha!

I finally made a decision: Big Horn 100 http://www.bighorntrailrun.com/. I've done the 50K twice. I've done the 50M twice. Time to step it up. My plan had been to run Leadville this year. They seem to have really screwed up though by letting too many people in the race. And Leadville is a huge production with numerous crew stops, no place to stay, etc.

Big Horn is smaller and simpler. And harder? Maybe. It seems that people are more independent. Sure, you can have pacers. You can have crew meet you a couple places along the course. But overall, 100 milers seem to just go out and do it.

Let the training begin!!!!

Going Feral

There's a herd of horses that roam just north of Albuquerque. They are quite beautiful. People call them the Wild Horses of Placitas. But they're not wild. They are just feral.

How long did it take these horses to go from livestock to feral (to wild)? How long would it take me? 

Yesterday I needed to grade papers, go to meetings, and prepare an exam for a class. I needed to get up, eat my breakfast, pack my lunch, take a shower, and change into presentable clothes (a shirt with a collar and pants with a crease). Instead, I put the dogs in the back of the truck and headed to a trail head I've only gone to a couple of times. Embudito Trail is well-traveled, but someone showed me a much less used trail that runs from the same trail head. I purposely left my water at home. No food, no water means a run of 90 minutes or less.

But the morning was fantastic. I was in shorts and a short sleeve shirt. I headed up. And Up and Up. I made it to where the ground was frozen. I thought that this trail would connect to the main trail so I kept going. The dogs were having a blast. I was having a blast. Someone has found rocks that are heart-shaped and placed them along the trail. One is placed in a tree, where a heart would be. Others are on boulders or just by the trail. I was following my heart!! 

I met a man who was hiking down. He looked at me like I had appeared out of thin air. He had on hat, gloves, a jacket, hiking boots and long pants. He was using hiking poles. He asked where I was headed. I told him that I thought the trail would connect up to Embudito. He politely told me that it wouldn't. Instead, if I continued on my way, I would end up at the crest, where "the trail is really icy....you don't want to go there without poles." That was almost enough to convince me to proceed. Almost.

Knowing that if I continued, I would end up running for a good four hours, I turned around. We blasted down the hills, Scout tripping Sadie more than once. I do love to watch them chase and dodge. My one hour run turned into almost 3. I was thirsty and hungry but, oh how I wanted to continue to the crest and head north. Maybe if I had, I would have met up with the wild horses of Placitas.

An email was waiting for me. An emergency meeting of the administrative team had been called to discuss the lack of funding and the increased teaching load.

I don't even need to say that I would rather be feral...... 

Change of Seasons

I absolutely love fall but I dread what is coming. Cold mornings, dark evenings, long weeks and short weekends.

Racing season (for me) is officially over. I had a good ride. Amazing recovery from foot surgery. I know it is time to sit back, recover, refuel, WORK, and kick back a little. It is hard to let go of the racing; hard to not have a goal.

Last time I wrote I was seriously considering running Leadville again. Now, not so sure. From what I've heard and what I've read, the race is too crowded and disorganized. One of the things that was so neat about  it was the homey feel. But it appears that is gone. Too many horror stories. Maybe I will look for a different 100 miler. Maybe I will stick with 50's. I have at least until January to ponder possibilities.

Meanwhile, I have two dogs who need to get out and explore the trails. Hopefully there will be snow. Hopefully there will be crisp days and blue skies.

Summer is almost over...waaaaa!

It has been quite a year. My first year in the desert, in Albuquerque, teaching for New Mexico State, and being sponsored by... oh wait, of course I don't have a sponsor!

And that is just fine.

I have had the bejeezus scared out of me recently. Sadie, Scout and I ran up Embudo for about 3 miles. That meant we got to turn around and run DOWN Embudo. I love running down hill. I was cruising as fast as my old legs could take me. I cam around a switchback and realized that my foot was on course to land on a snake. How can a person change direction in mid air? I don't know but I missed the snake by a couple of inches.
Now that snake was about 3 feet long with a pattern on its back. I quickly glanced on that head...a beautiful head!! A beautiful snake. In other words, non-poisonous.

Once I recovered enough to breath, I started off down the hill again, but a bit more slowly this time. And that was good because about 10 steps further on I saw another snake. This time, there was no need to examine it. I KNEW it was a rattlesnake. Again, about 3 feet long but much fatter than the gopher snake I had just avoided. This scared the crap out of me (ok, not literally).  This snake was stretched out across the trail and both dogs were on the other side. I guess they just ran right over it. When I stopped, they decided they'd better come back and check on me. NOOOOOOO, I yelled. Sadie came trotting up the trail towards me. She was just about to step on it but it moved its head to look at her. She jumped to the side, right into a prickly pear cactus. Then Scout figured she'd better join us. She walked right over it. It looked at her but didn't strike. It then slithered off the trail.



Ya know, that was way too close.  That was way scary. I really really didn't like that.

Pikes Peak or Bust

It has been quite a summer! Whooohooo (or "woot" as the cool people now say)!! I have so enjoyed my running. So many trails, so many wildflowers, friends, dogs, mountain highs and river lows. I don't feel old today!

I reminded Linus that he had called me a dusty ole gramma. He look chagrined. He said I am not a dusty ole gramma. I am a nice gramma. I feel redeemed. Actually, Linus can be a tough cookie. We had some real butting of heads last year. But now, he is ready to start kindergarten and he is a much easier little guy.

I spent two days with the grands last week. Avery, Elise and I ran a couple miles together. Elise did great. Avery did fantastic. Wish I could run with them often.

Now I am thinking about Leadville 100 for 2014. I set a goal of running it every even year until at least 2014, when I will be 60. Few women over 60 have successfully completed it. Who knows how many will make it this year (we will find out tomorrow at 10:00 AM). I missed 2012 due to surgery. I have not really felt committed to the task, but now I am thinking about it. I will need to sign up in January  if I want to do it. It is not cheap.The entry fee is substantial, enough so that you don't sign up "just in case I decide to do it." I have asked a couple of people to help crew and pace. They are excited about it. So, maybe I will!