A weekend devoted to trails

I am sitting drinking some digestive tea....tastes icky but I downed about a basket and a half of chips at the Mexican restaurant after today's run (along with a huge bowl of guacamole and beans and rice...ugh) and I need it or I will probably upchuck within the hour from the gorging. It is 5 p.m. and dark out my window. I can only see the fairy lights on the trees in the parking lot of Gibbet Hill. I am in my PJ's with a googlie, a huge SIGG bottle filled with water and a night full of editing research reports. This is a nice end to a great weekend of running. Saturday I spent the day with Garry and Kev running thirteen miles of the DRB course at Blue Hills. 28 degrees out but at the lower elevations sheltered from the wind it felt much warmer. I felt great out there. Yesterday's run and the 26 miles of the fells last week I felt pretty strong. In fact Saturday I ran most of the hills. Running with Garry is good for me as he pushes me to run faster then I would normally choose to run. This year he paced me at Wapack (17m) and I PR'd there because of him. I think at times it is really a good idea to run with people who are faster then me. It forces me to move out of my comfort zone. I may not run that pace at a race, but running a faster pace in training runs allowed me this past spring and early summer to PR at Nipmuck and PR for my 10k race pace. I really liked the parts of the Blue Hills course we ran. I am familiar with the skyline trail there as I have hiked it with my friend Mike and actually went on a date there once with some guy who had a really cute dog (the dog being the highlight of the date as I don't even remember the guys name ; ) I also helped clean up orienteering flags after a race there around 3 or so years ago. I ran with a guy I dated and his friend and Tim R. who I see running with his training partner at Bogie's races. I have to say that running Blue Hills was way more fun! The only down side of the day was Kev ran with his micro spikes and broke one of them on a rock. The trail was really icy in spots and on a few of the down hills sections Garry and Kev blew past me as I was being very cautious, but overall I think that for me it was not necessary to grab my old school sneaker spikes. They are a pain to put over my trail shoes as it is. I plan on buying the micro spikes and keeping the older pair on my road shoes for those quick runs on the bike path after work. After our run we hit Masao's in Waltham and filled up huge plates of yummy macro dishes and then I dropped Kev at the Train station and Garry headed to Nashua to meet up with Nancy who had flown in for a few days. She and Garry were planning to run Beaver Brook. Nancy's book was one of the prizes at the race : )


Sunday I grabbed Kev at the train around 8:45 and we headed to Breakheart Reservation. I had never run Dan's fav trails and so it was a extra special run. I was very impressed by Breakheart. The trails are fast and technical...there are many ups and downs that give you a great workout. I can't wait to see the trails in the spring and summer. I hope Dan gets a permit to have a race there. The group met up (Dan, Kev, Emily, Steve and Stas) and we headed out for a fast 6 miles. I had had some issues before we started the run and I was weary of how I would feel out there. The first four miles I felt strong, but the last two I was hurting...the fatigue set in and I was having some serious issues with blood loss.
I decided not to go out for the second loop and I told the group I would wait by the fire while they finished. Stas and Emily decided to join me and we had a nice time relaxing and gabbing in the reservations comfortable headquarters. The temperature really started to plummet around 2 pm when Kev, Dan Em and I headed out for some food. I had planned to hit the gym when I got home but I was feeling worse by the hour. Overall I am very happy with this weekend in terms of my strength and fatigue issues...around 20 miles of trails run in two days is a good place for me to be right now. Still it makes me realize how much I have to do to get back on track. Sadly I recieved some bad news from a dear friend this weekend. Not quite ready to talk about it as I am still trying to figure out how I am reacting to it...

3 more weeks

and my Wednesday nights are mine again : ) I don't feel what I felt last time..like I had won a battle...that I had conquered.....defeated.....destroyed...kicked some serious butt.
I guess because this time around the war analogy just did not do it for me. I also did not really kick butt this time...in fact I was more depressed, I cried, complained, whined and at times felt like crawling under my covers instead of getting out and running..especially since my times were so slow and I was feeling so crappy. I feel older not necessarily in years but more like older in terms of wiser....I think these past few months I have lost a bit of my confidence...my free spiritness (I know not a word) my goofy idiocy that has always been the center of who I am....stress the idiot part : ) and in truth I kind of felt a real sadness at the thought of losing that..................

but the last few days an amazing thing has happened....I talked with friends on the phone, read emails and replies to my WS post from friends and strangers alike and well....I felt something I have not felt in a long time....kind of like a flush if you will...like warmth radiated from my tootsies straight up through the follicles of my hair...it reminded me (sorry for this mushy analogy but it did) of the first real kiss you have with someone ..not the chaste kiss good night but the kind of kiss filled with possibility and longing and want and desire and passion and need.....I felt pretty damn good! Oh how thankful I am for this feeling....I am so excited to get out this weekend and hike all day Saturday.....thanks everyone for reminding me just how grand things really are...

Western States

Saturday was a great day for many reasons. I was running the Fells ultra, and let me tell you Bogie puts on a great race. I love both the late fall and early spring Fells races as well as his More Fun Wapack. I got to see and or run with many of the people who I am truly blessed to call friends....Stas even road his bike to the fells to run a loop with me. I also felt pretty good for the first time in a while, and I have had a tough fall in terms of mucking it through these long distances dealing with the exhaustion. So I was already pleased as punch and experiencing a runners high when I crossed the finish line for 24/40 miles. Mike Hall was the first to greet me and I was babbling (something silly I am sure) when he said "I have some great news" or something along those lines...."You made it". I knew what he meant...the lottery was going on as I ran the race....my name was picked.....I screamed and jumped around, and then it hit me and I cried (especially when I saw Kev and got a great big hug). I know people say the WS100 is not really such a big deal...that it is super hyped now and has lost the magic of what it once was and well......blah blah blah. I don't care what anyone says : ) I am thrilled and absolutely terrified and for the first time in a long while I feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I am a mediocre runner but I like to think that the last two years has made me a scrappy little thing that yah probably has more heart than talent...but damn....with the support of my friends and a special little girl's picture in my pack I know I can cross that finish line under 30 hours.

Pre Stone Cat musings

I am eating tuna fish with chopsticks...now I said I was doing the vegan thing...and I am....I just had no time for lunch today as I was running around trying to get t-shirts made for a tournament December 5th that the robotics team I coach (the Transportanators) are competing in....so I have been going like a jack hammer since the alarm sounded at 5 a.m.

I had to fit in a gym work out tonight as I was at the hospital last night and too exhausted to do diddly squat after and I can't work out Friday night before Stone Cat or Saturday as I am running the darn race nor Sunday as I imagine I will be recovering from the race : ) so just got home around 7 and need to be asleep by 9 at the latest....nothing in the fridge..stomach not at its best..so plain tuna in a bowl with some nuts on top was really what I could handle tonight....the chopsticks are part of my new "eat slow and stop inhaling food like a puppy dog" lifestyle : )

I am spent. I can't focus on packing tonight so will need to do that at 3:30 tomorrow when I get home from school...quick shower (maybe) pack clothes and gear and head to Danvers to the hotel. I am excited about Saturday..I REALLY want (and in truth need) to pr....found out I have to have another procedure next Wednesday : ( and well I am kind of bummed...and a little bit scared to be honest..so I want this pr badly Saturday..break 10 hours that is my goal.

Next week I start planning out the design for my new tat: "relentless forward motion" on either my calf or my bicep or maybe my shoulder ; ) It has been my mantra these past few months when I have been on the edge of collapse....I say it over and over in my head or even out loud like I did when I ran with Kev at VT50....

I am surprisingly at ease as of late....I have come to terms with things...I have decided to make a few new goals/hopes for the upcoming year to add to my goal of running Western States...
1. I would like to travel to at least 3 different places outside of NE to run 100 mile races in 2010
2. I would like to do 10 unsupported pull ups from a dead hang by December 31 2010
3. I would like to do a sprint tri
4. I would like to learn to swim (right now I doggie paddle ; ) so I can do the sprint tri
5. I would like to set or break a record (for women) fastpacking either monadnock sunapee, metacomet monadnock or wapack
6. I would like to win a trail race
7. I would like to have something published (even a letter to the editor) in Trail Runner
8. I would like to learn to like bourbon
9. I want all my students to leave in June 2010 feeling special and loved
10. I edited this one...after thinking about it what I really want is to be more giving and open with the people I love....that is what I think is more important

Busa Bushwacked

I just looked back on my time at Busa for 2008. I did not have fond memories of that race. I arrived 15 minutes after the start and had to run as fast as I could to get to the trail head..I pushed myself that day because I felt that some parts of my life were spinning out of control and I was late because of a huge argument...but that is the past...the point I am trying to make through bringing this up is that even starting the race 15 minutes after every one else I finished around 15 minutes faster last year (so including the 15 minutes late time that would be about 25 or 30 minutes faster last year compared to this year)yet Sunday I was pretty darn happy about my time. I have been running so slowly these last 6 races compared to the first half of the season. I was always around 64% or 65 % of winners pace for the first 8 or nine races of this year..then my times went down to 58% 57% 56% but my last two races have been back around 64% and almost 68% so that is a good thing! My body is so tired now but for the last two races I have really tried to work through the exhaustion.


I think that my vegan/macro meal with Kev helped for Busa. We had eaten at Masao's in Waltham on Saturday and honestly I can't say enough about how the meal made me feel. For the first time in ages I did not bloated and sick after eating a big meal. After the meal I brought Kev to Beaver Brook in Hollis to get in a few more miles...on the run I played devils advocate with Kev kind of trying to bust his balls about a macro lifestyle (he stressed to me that I may want to cut our eggs) I found myself getting angry and annoyed...which I know has a great deal to do with the craziness that is going on in my body right now with all the strange crap being done to it...as usual Kev was pretty much a total saint and ignored my snide comments and aggression and took the time to try to explain why he felt the way he did about a macro lifestyle. All I know is that since Saturday I have eaten vegan and I feel lovely...I am eating with chop sticks to slow down my meals and savor the food I am eating and it is as close to its natural state as possible...I don't like condiments, sauces, dressing or any "gunk" any way so it was not to hard to prepare and eat what I would call "clean" food : )

So maybe there is hope for me at Stone Cat to PR for the 50....redeem the nightmare that was the VT50 and get back that feeling of progressing...getting better....moving forward not backward....I don't know..probably too much pressure to put on myself...just got some results and info from my doctor and veterans day I have to have another procedure : ( so maybe I just need to take it one day at a time...celebrate the move to a diet that makes my tummy feel good : ) A happy tummy is something to celebrate!

Wachusetts Deer Run Trail Race

Happy Halloween! Right now Kev and I are spending our Halloween night drinking Dark and Stormy's in my living room while watching "In Bruges" a movie with Colin Farrell....Kev just informed me that Bruges is a quaint medieval village in Belgium..with amazing architecture. You learn something new every day! We both agreed that we would like to back pack across Europe I stated the obvious...that Kev would be a great traveling companion because he would plan everything out to a T and I would be the worst because I plan nothing..unless I was with someone who was a planner then I would be the best companion as I would be pretty flexible to try any thing : )

I am happy as a clam. Kev, Dan and I ran the Wachusetts Deer Run 10K race in Boylston, MA. A very well run race..with great swag and raffle prizes for all! The course was interesting. Kev described the trails as " wide sweeping fire roads....grass covered with at least a handful of moderate climbs...pretty mild/tame. The 10k was two 5k loops and they let the runners decide to drop down or move up as they passed the start/finish.
Both Dan and I agreed we went out a bit fast....it was easy to do when both the 5k and 10k runners are starting together. Dan was "cooking" and had a great 5k finish and then joined me and Kev for a slower second 5k loop which was really nice as we had time to talk and he helped take my mind off the fact I went out too fast. I followed pretty close behind Kev for most of the race...but then we got "chicked" and although I was ok with that Kev was not and was off like a shot...he rejoined us only to take off again at the last mile and finished in 57 and change (beating said chick) and I finished in about 59 minutes.

The post race food and prizes were set up inside a renovated barn/farm stand. They had a table full of prizes, fruit, cake and cookies along with soda and water and coffee. A very nice set up : ).

I wanted the peanut butter cookies they had set up in a big bowl but chose pineapple since I made a commitment to Kev to opening my mind to a macrobiotic/ vegan lifestyle. Today was about running and eating..eating for health and running for my spirit : ) but more about diet later. Back to post race festivities.

I ended up winning my age group. I won a North Face hydration waist pack which I gave to Kev since I don't use them and then I won an extra large race T that I will send off to my friend Roy who can actually fit in to it!!

After the race we headed to INOV8 headquarters in Southboro to check out their gear but sadly they were not open.

Dan declined the invite to head to Masao's (macrobiotic restaurant in Waltham Ma http://www.masaoskitchen.com/)and so Kev and I hit the restaurant and I have to say..wow..this meal was amazing! We decided on the buffet which included barbecue tofu, short grain brown rice, stewed squash with onion, stewed green beans with mushrooms, and chick peas with mushrooms and some sort of grain and arame seaweed with carrots!!! Also a small sandwich that was kind of like a pickled tempeh on yummy grain...holy moly...this food was amazing. I ate slowly and with chopsticks so I had probably the most satisfying meal in ages..no upset tummy, no bloat, no nausea...Kev has been advocating for a macrobiotic diet for me for health reasons. He has been trying to get me to this restaurant and I wish I had found the time earlier on to eat there because now I will return.

After we hit Whole Foods so I could try a few new food items in my diet. I am going to cut out dairy completely (switch to rice or hemp based), most seafood that are bottom feeders, but will keep sushi, salmon and tuna. I will also include more grains, nuts, and beans. Also Instead of whey protein I am now incorporating a non dairy protein from an endurance athlete (Brandon Brazier) that advocates a macro/vegan lifestyle. So this is all new for me, but I am excited to see where it takes me!

I am sleepy and it is time for my head to hit the pillow..big day tomorrow : )

Essex County Trail Run

It is amazing the difference a day makes......

Friday at 1:30 p.m. I was crying as a nurse jammed a needle in my arm for the third time trying to get my stubborn veins to accept a pointy intruder. By 2:30 I was under sedation and my doctor was doing her stuff. Saturday at 1:30 p.m. I was driving home from a trail race munching away on an English muffin, drinking a pumpkin spice coffee... muddy and wet and feeling on top of the world.

It made me think about how much can change in just 24 hours. Last night I was lying in bed feeling pretty awful. I just could not get comfortable. I was in pain, bloated and on the verge of vomiting. From ten last night until around four this morning I was up every half hour headed to the bathroom due to a combination of pain and nausea. I gave up the idea of getting any sleep by four and just sat up in bed and grabbed my computer. I started to organized my favorites folder hoping to keep my mind off how my body felt. I quickly got caught up with that idea and when I was done I had neat folders organized by sports: running, mountain biking, hiking, and winter sports folders. Then I got on what I believe was the online Trail Runner calendar page and started dreaming about and planning out my 2010 race schedule (when all this would hopefully be behind me). I sent Roy a link to races in Ohio (he plans to run one next weekend!)Then I got caught up on my blog reading...I read Em's Trail Pixie blog and the Dan's Breakheart blog.

It was Dan's blog that was the catalyst for my fabulous day. Dan had shared the races that were being held this weekend. When I read about the Essex County race...a 10 mile trail race through what they promised to be gorgeous trails...a fire was lit under my bum and I got it in my mind that I would go run that race. I looked out the window and saw the rain and said..what the hell... I knew that I could run the ten and drop down to the five if I felt sick or weak. I felt like I used to feel when I first started running trail races..and I found myself getting really excited! The excitement made me forgot about the discomfort and pain : ) I put my braids in my hair and washed my face and I was off to the race.

It was 47 degrees when I pulled out of Gibbet Hill..the temperature kept climbing the closer I got to 128. By the time I saw the sign for Gloucester it was 53. The race was held at a farm that I believe is not always open to running/walking but instead is for horseback riding....I could be wrong....but there were some pretty tough horse jumps along the course and I saw a few riders while I was out there.

As I pulled in the long drive I saw Thom Parker warming up..I waved out the back of my window and parked. I ran in and registered for the race. The registration was in the converted barn with an outdoor fire place kind of built into the side of the barn..gorgeous...they had a roaring fire going. They had T-shirts for all the runners, and soup and apple cider warming up in big pots. It was pretty warm and I went back to my car and changed out of my tights and rain coat into shorts and my VT100 long sleeve. Right when I finished changing Thom came up to my car (perfect timing) and I was so happy to see him. Thom was one of the first people I started to talk with when I ran those first G.T. races five or so years ago. We started to email one another and for a long time we would always exchange emails after the races we ran. We were Stone Heads together : ) and well Thom is just one of those people who make the world a better place if you know what I mean.

We gabbed about upcoming races and made our way to the start. The rain was not heavy at this point and I was feeling really good. There were about 40 runners give or take either doing the 5 or 10 mile course. It was 2 loops for the ten. The RD gave some basic directions but said that the course was really well marked and the only issue may be the second railroad crossing (the course ended up being easy to follow the RD did a great job marking it with red arrows and pink tape)

The RD said go and we were off. The race starts with an initial loop around the field running both on grass and then dirt roads. You follow this down the dirt road you took to enter the farm and then take a sharp left after a swamp into the woods. The course was very muddy and right off the bat I was trying to save my sneakers for Groton's race and side step the muddy trail but to no avail..sploosh went my foot into mud. I just love that sucking sound you hear when you try to extract your foot..not! The course was wide and pine needle/leaf strewn when not covered with puddles and mud...it was really pretty and the rain was tapering a bit at the start. I kept myself directly behind Thom. My goal for this race was to keep up with Thom if possible. For the majority of the race I ran with a G.A.C runner and Thom. The course had a fast first mile then you run over tracks and go up your first hill..I ran it..the next mile is again pretty fast but really muddy. When you come out of the woods and pass over the second rail road tracks you enter a field (water stop) and have to run across the field back into the woods...this is where the big uphill section is...you are climbing steadily for a bit and then you have a really fun fast downhill section. You come out to a horse ring at around 3.5 or so and then by mile 4 you are looping back to that field with the water stop and heading into the woods towards the finish line/start of second loop. I felt pretty good all in all. I had no difficulty keeping up with Thom for the first loop. The last two miles of the second loop though I lost site of him. I think he was only 1 to 2 minutes or so ahead of me. I had to stop at mile 9 to go to the bathroom
; ( and that was annoying...of course I peed on myself...what else is new.

At the finish I was told I won a pair of trail runners...cool beans...the RD said I would be contacted via mail. I hope they do. I won a year subscription to Trail Runner last year from the race series that Dan, Em and Rob run (Em I believe is winning the whole shebang and Dan is winning his age group) but they never sent me the subscription! So I hope there is follow through with this as free sneakers are a bounty!!! Thom and I gabbed and I grabbed some hot cider and a yummy apple. Wet and happy we both said our goodbyes..of course we will see one another in like 24 hours at Groton!

Overall I am so happy that a day does make such difference..I felt rejuvenated by getting myself out on a new trail.. Today I have been searching on Cool Running for a trail race held next Saturday(Sunday is Busa Bushwack) and races after Stone Cat...I like these shorter races that I have never done..they bring back that feeling I had when I first discovered trail running...and of course they make the negative things in my life disappear.. I forget about my health issues while running those new trails..and that makes all the difference.

The Good the Bad and the Ugly

It has been an interesting week. I am trying to think of a clever way to explain my week in this blog entry. For some reason I am thinking of the movie with Clint Eastwood "The Good the Bad and the Ugly" that seems to have been on channel 56Saturday afternoons when I was a kid. I always loved spaghetti westerns, in fact I loved any movie shown on channel 56 on a Saturday afternoon. Whether it was Clint Eastwood, Creature Double Feature, or Burt Reynold's and Jackie Gleason in the Smokey and the Bandit movies. So my blog theme is an old spahgetti western title..why the hell not...

THE GOOD: This past weekend I had signed up to run the Mountain Madness 50k in NJ with Kev. I pretty much put the kibosh on that with what has been going on health wise and instead hopped a flight Thursday to Dayton Ohio. Why Dayton? Well it is an hour from Roy's farm near Hamilton Ohio. I took a four day break from it all and spent time with Roy and Quenton on the farm. Hueston (sp?) Farm is gorgeous, and Roy was the ultimate host. I felt healthy and happy, and I even got in two short trail runs on these fantastic trails near Miami University in Oxford Ohio. Seriously they were amazing. One section was fast switch back single track under a canopy of golden leaves, another section was a mini escarpment with some fun (but a bit tough) hills…and there was even a section of pine trees with a carpet of pine needles to run on....glorious. I ate really well while I was there and even had coffee brought to me in bed and breakfast made for me each morning. I arrived home Sunday night rested and rejuvenated from last Wednesday. And this week I found out that a picture of my tattoo that I entered into a running tat of the month contest won for October : ) I am very proud of my tats and so this was pretty cool : ) http://www.columbusrunning.com/tat/michelleroytat.htm


THE BAD: Monday afternoon I had an appointment with a new specialist. I thought it would take an hour at the most and then I would be able to hit the gym or go for a quick trail run. 5 hours and 12 vials full of blood later I arrived home in the dark: tired, starving and grouchy with a to do list a mile long. I was blindsided with two procedures the specialist scheduled for me this Friday.

THE UGLY: I had 4 days to complete the following: talk to principal about getting day off and write sub plans, get permission to hand out mid-semester grades on Monday instead of Friday, call insurance company like 5 times to get one of the procedures covered (had to fax paper work back and forth and back and forth) call other doctors to get tests sent to specialist and find out in the process that not all doctors have release forms signed from me so I have to call all the doctors I had had in past 2 years who did procedures or tests on me (there are a lot) and have them fax forms to me to be signed and then I have to fax them back (all while I am preparing my students for a huge anatomy unit test I am giving them today), more blood, stool and urine tests (I need to find a way to poop in 4 vials 3 days in a row before work each morning around 5:30 a.m. then get a family member to deliver the said poop to the lab as the lab does not open until after I leave for work and it is closed before I arrive home) I have to find a ride to and from the hospital, cancel my after Groton trail race party, mentally be prepared to miss the Groton trail race if I am not recovered) cancel my sisters birthday party plans, cancel Robotics club, and finally find someone to take care of spirit day events at school.

Now if you remember those westerns Clint always had the shit kicked out of him or he was put into prison at the start of the movie, but by the end Clint was doing just fine.....so I know that if I just suck it up I will eventually find myself saddling up to the bar ordering a whiskey, then putting on my dusty beaten cowboy hat and poncho and riding off into the sunset....I might also include me wearing a pair of buttless chaps..just for the hell of it..it is my analogy after all....

Monroe Dunbar Sunday

Saturday training run Willowdale