A traveling fool...

Well, it's that time of year - holidays, tons of student papers...and more importantly, it's been beautiful in AZ and there have been too many races for me to keep up with!! This post might be a tad rushed...

Part 1: What happens in Boulder City...

Fairly soon after the Javelina night run, I took off with the Aravaipa boys and my friend Sabrina to the Bootlegger 50K, put on by Ian Torrence and Josh Brimhall.

The trip was fun, but the race was brutal. This was my longest run since AC100, and I didn't really have my game face on. I slept in a van by the crevase and awoke in the morning feeling groggy but ready for the challenge.

That terribleness is me, climbing up one of the climbs at bootlegger. This post could also aptly be title "A string of bad pictures."

The long and the short of bootlegger goes something like this - went out "fast," was briefly passed on the second loop, contemplated how much I cared about being passed, decided I did care, resolved to run the climb hard, paid for this later when I realized I hadn't eaten anything, was very thankful to see the "Brian Tinder" aid station, ate 3 gels at once, ran hard, put hands on knees and yelled "fuck," and finished $500 and a growler of beer richer. Whew!

Bootlegger is a great race, and Ian and Josh (vets of the sport) did a bang up job with everything. No complaints on my part, except maybe I should have trained harder :). I would certainly like to return next year. I think the female Course Record is "soft." LOL!

Now we move to part two of the series, which I would like to call Pacing.

The weekend after bootlegger, the Javelina Jundred took place in the quiet hills by the fountain (i.e. Fountain Hills). I was slotted to pace ultra-studette Liza Howard, who quietly told me in an e-mail that we should go for course record. Sweet, I knew I needed to pony up and run hard.

Dang when I saw her first lap time that morning, I think the soccer mom next to me saw me quietly mouth "fuck." Oops. Yeah, I had soccer mom duties in the morning and ultra-pacing duties at night, so I was a bit concerned about how everything would play out.

I picked up Liza at mile 62, and she was in the kind of shape I expected her to be: tired, but moving right along. We didn't chat much because, well, she was focused, but I enjoyed her company. Funny, I run mostly alone, so it was a good "training run" for me, and well, I was able to help-a-sistah-out.

Liza was all business here!!

Nothing super crazy to report. Liza was even keel and just trying to get her job done, and I was there to grab a couple of cokes at the aid station. It was nice to accompany her on her journey. I was hoping to hang out with her longer after the race, but stuff happens and I'm just glad that she's doing okay.

Moving right along: Part 3: The long weekend

The following weekend, I hopped freighter to East Mesa (kidding, I just drove in my special blue, liberal, vegan mobile) to run the Pass Mountain 50. Nick and Jamil gave me bib #1, and I think they were being kind or overzealous or just crazy because somewhere in the middle of the run, I was going to reach 90 miles for the week. I hadn't tapered or rested or anything, so I was running on tired tired legs, and I felt it on the second climb.

Beautiful scenery, but another bad, bad pic - but check out those quad muscles!

I struggled on the second loop, which was totally planned :). But I managed to eek in a sub 5-hr 50k and a sick trophy.

Nick Coury and I...see I take bad pics.

Anyone notice the blood down my leg? Yeah it's my first fall in like a year...rookie mistake.

The next day, I accompanied Rachel James on her long run. She's preparing for the Tuscon marathon. Well, we ran on roads, and man, that made me very very tired, but I managed to round out to 105 miles for the week. Not too shabby for a working mom!

Bad news, good news

Over my travels, I did get some crappy news about a potential sponsor. I got my hopes up, which I shouldn't have. But it would be really really nice to not have to explain to John why I bought another pair of shoes!! LOL! I'm cute enough, right? I'm working on getting super fast...someone's got to show me love, right? I promise, I won't disappoint.

Well, I did get some good news...IM GOING TO MARIN!!! North Face Endurance Champs San Fran!! I did have to do some begging to get John to be okay with it. Afterall, it's not like anyone else is paying for me. I'm super excited to tow the line with the big wigs!!

So, whew, those are my travels for now, hopefully I have some good stories about marin!!!