ONE YEAR

Today is the one year anniversary of the trailmomma blog! Yipee! I am quite surprised I kept it up (albeit a bit sporadic at times). I guess it took running a 50K and a 50 Miler to make things more exciting.
We are home from Sunriver Oregon. 9 hours in the car yesterday. The Peanut was a trooper, the trip was amazing and our friends are awesome. We all had a blast and even got to run a half marathon at 4,000 feet above sea level.

Vans took about 5 million photographs which hopefully I will have access to soon and will share.

In the meantime, Happy Birthday to trailmomma blogspot!

SUNRIVER HALF MARATHON MOMMY MEET-UP

The trailmomma is in Sunriver Oregon. Today I ran the Pacific Crest Half Marathon with my fellow blogger/mommy friend Aimee!!

It was a beautiful race. I will do a race report later. Here are some pictures:







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

NEW THINGS OLD THINGS

Well isn't this a boring blog lately? Sheesh. Maybe I should sign up for an ultra or something.

I have been running, well, once this week. Yesterday I went for a 4 mile run. My legs felt like lead but I got the job done and am looking forward to cruising in my half-marathon on Saturday. Nothing too risky like a PR. I think I would just like to finish and finish strong. It's been a very long time since I have run 13.1 miles on pavement. Easy does it. My running/racing past was full of road races. My how times have changed. I look forward to getting back to it though. One painful step at a time.

New things? The Peanut attended her first ever baseball game! The Peanut and Baby REI saw the Sacramento River Cats (Triple A) play over the weekend. The Peanut surprised me by knowing the words to "Take Me Out To The Ball Game!" She had corndogs and saw her first ever professional fireworks display. She loved it all. Her mother is a huge baseball fan (Go Yankees) and baseball has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My father made me memorize all the American League teams and we'd sit for hours on our deck watching Don Mattingly and Bernie Williams kick some baseball butt. I truly love baseball which is funny because the first time I took Vans to see the River Cats he referred to the Bull Pen as the "Pig Pen" . . . he still has a lot to learn but he is doing much better.

Needless to say, there will be many mother and daughter outtings to River Cats and Yankee games when they come to down or when we head back east. I'll teacher her how to do a score card and how to heckle other batters. When she is of age, we'll drink beers and eat ballpark food. I can hardly wait!

Corn dog!

Great seats and good friends.

Momma's little shortstop!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Happy Father's Day to the two most wonderful Dads in my life. I don't know where I would be without you both!

FLTRS #8: NEGRO BAR

Last night might have been my last Folsom Lake Trail Runners Series race of the season. It was out at Negro Bar, my favorite of the two locations but it wasn't a pretty race.

Every week I seem to have an "excuse" as to why I felt bad or did poorly but then I still manage to make first in my age group. Last night was not the case. I ended up 3rd in my age group, barely.

The race started out okay, Pigeon came by to surprise me which was really nice. She was out for her own run and remembered we had our race. She even climbed the bluffs and cheered me on as I ran past. I needed it.

From the start I noticed my right quad was tighter than normal. I tried stretching before the race but it didn't seem to help. The minute we started running it just sort of seized up and felt as if it would spasm or cramp at any moment. For the first 3 miles it did not get any worse and sort of stayed "semi-cramp like" which was okay with me except there were 2 or 3 other runners were using me as their pacer. I offered to let them pass and they responded with a "nope, you're setting a great pace" which of course was nice to hear but internally I was struggling.

At the turn around spot I actually stopped and tried to drink some HEED thinking that perhaps it was an electrolyte imbalance. Before the race I drank some coconut water which is full of electrolytes and potassium. Still, it didn't really seem to make a difference and my quad was getting worse the more I ran.

The trail back has quite a few uphills. The quad would lock up and then on the descent I would lose strength. One kind runner actually ran by me and said "becareful, you're favoring a bit" which I knew I was, it was pretty obvious with my gimpy gait. I finally just thought to myself "What am I doing? Why am I trying to kill myself on this run!? You have a half next week! Chill out girl!" So I slowed up considerably, walked the ups and tried to take it a bit easy on the downs. I placed third in my age group and really, the first two ladies were pretty darn fast so I doubt I would have caught them even if I was feeling 100%.

Today my quad is a rock and it feels weird just sitting at my desk let alone walking. A runner friend mentioned low-iron and I admit my vitamins are gathering dust on the shelf at home. Part of me thinks that the Western States Training Day did me in and that I never properly let myself recover. Who knows but for now, I will take it easy. Tomorrow I will try and run and see how it feels but if it feels too tight, I will call it a day. I have a call into Dr. Lau too hoping for some magic.

A little magic happened yesterday for the Peanut! It was "bike day" at daycare and in an effort to help her over come her runner bike fears, I brought her runner bike with us that morning. My thoughts were if she saw the other kids riding their bikes, she might be more inclined to ride hers. It worked . . . at least for a little while!

Taking it real slow . . .

Future bike model?

A treat from Jamba Juice with Dad

RACE MEDAL

Yesterday I pulled a double. I ran 3.5 at lunch and then ran another 6 after work. I haven't done that since I was in my twenties! Defintely feeling it in my joints today but otherwise it felt good. I was testing out a theory that if I ran Thursdays at lunch before my Folsom Lake Trail Runner Race would my legs have more "juice" to them then they normally do on Thursday evenings? The end result was "probably not" as my evening run was some what of a struggle. Although, that could have been the 100 degree temps I was running in too. Ugh, summer is upon us.

As promised, here is a video of a future marathoner! She always has her eye on the prize!



Here's a little translation for you. Mothers and Fathers can always understand their children but I realize not everyone else can. :-)

"I'm fast"
"This is my race medal"
"This is my . . . "
"Is your race medal?" --> notice this is a question, based upon her hand gesture!
"This is my medal!"
"Have to go race!"
"Have to go run a race again!"
"Why"

OLD SCHOOL

I've been outta the blog-world the past few days. The Peanut woke up with her eyes swollen shut on Friday which brought us a visit to see the Pediatrician. All is well, no worries. It was just the usual "too much goop" built up in a tiny little face. She was back to her usual self Saturday morning.

This Trailmomma was also back to her usual self on Saturday morning. Instead of hooking up with Pigeon and Coach Nikon on what was later deteremined  as an awsome run, I woke up and was out my own door by 7 am. I decided in an effort to utilize some needed family time this weekend, that I would run from home and be done with my run early. It worked. I hit the bike trail and ran 12 miles and was home before 9 am. The Peanut was enjoying her Saturday morning cartoons and breakfast when I returned. Perfect.

The run itself was okay. For the first time since AR50 I ran with music. I used the Yurbuds I won from Shut Up and Runs giveaway.  WOW! I am in love with these things. They don't fall out, they are not uncomfortable and I barely noticed I was even wearing them! I don't normally run with music but sometimes, especially on the bike trail, I just have to. It was nice. I saw a lot of running groups setting up their tents on my way out. Team In Training, SacFit and Buffalo Chips were all out there running on Saturday morning. I ran to my usual turn-around, the bike bridge near William Pond Park.

Over the bridge. Stop. Take Picture. Run Back.

Not as beautiful as Auburn but not bad.

Overall I felt okay. I felt a little weak on the way out and that was probably because I didn't eat early enough. 20 to 30 minutes into my run I started to feel better and that probably meant the food had finally hit my system. All I carried was my handheld since I don't like to stop at the water fountains and oddly, with all the restrooms along the bike trail, I never once had to go. Funny how that happens. Out in the woods it is a given that I will eventually have to stop but along the bike trail where I have the ease and convenience of a restroom, nope, not necessary.

Later that weekend Vans, the Peanut and I attended the MadCat Bike Swap. Vans was on the lookout for some new bike toys or whatever. The Peanut and I had enough of the hot sun and the loud music and ducked ourselves into the nearby Trader Joes. The Peanut finally discovered (with the help of momma) the kid size shopping carts! She was in heaven!

Let's shop!

The Peanut is really talking up a storm lately and is fond of saying "How about . . . " insert anything here. All through Trader Joes she'd say "How about cake momma? Yeah? Cake?" and then toss a pie into her cart. "How about bread momma? Yeah? Bread?" and in goes the bread. Needless to say, we have a lot of unncessary items now but I just could not refuse that face! Could you!?

Stay tuned. As I have a special Peanut video to share either today or tomorrow!

FOLSOM LAKE TRAIL RUNNER SERIES: BEALS POINT

Last night was race number seven I believe of the Folsom Lake Trail Runner Series. Location? Beals Point, my least favorite spot. The weather could not have been better; breezy, not too hot and some cloud cover. It was a perfect evening for running.

By the look of the crowd it seemed that the numbers were low for the 10K. I heard through Biceps that the 5K actually had more runners than normal. Maybe everyone who shows up for the 10K was feeling the work-day funk like me? Man, working 8 hours a day at a desk job and then racing an hour after you get off work is a struggle for me. I can't seem to get my legs and stomach revved up to race.

The best part of my evening however was having my two biggest fans there to cheer me on. Vans and the Peanut came out to the race. Like I said in my previous post, the Peanut has been really into "racing" lately and she thoroughly enjoyed watching last night's race.

As usual I hovered over the start line with my pal Big D. Ironically the entire starting herd missed the very first turn! I think this might have been my fault. Whoops. We all laughed. When we hit the single tracks I was right on Big D's tail and feeling really good. Then we hit the hill leading to the fire-road behind Cavitt Stallman. Bye bye Big D! She was gone in a flash. That woman can run up any hill like she owns it!

Me? I struggle. I did run into Shannon the Trail Turtle which totally made my night because she cheered me on up that hill! Thanks Shannon!!! From here I traded places with a gentleman a few times. He would lead, then I would lead. We hit the water tower hill and my legs, feeling like lead, made it up by walking the ups and running on the straighter portion of the switchbacks. I do admit, it definitely felt "easier" than races past. I also realized at this point, that it would be my last time climbing that hill in the series! Woot woot! More on that later.

The downside of the water tower hill is always fun, especially now that my knee (knock on wood) no longer hurts. I passed on the water station (big mistake). Heading back towards the finish I was cruising along by myself, the earlier gentleman was behind me quite a ways when all of a sudden I almost ran into someone coming down the water tower hill trail that I had previously run up! Who was flying down that hill? Why my old ultra-runner crush (and former Summer 7 coach) Tim Twietmeyer! Behind him was Coach Mo Bartley. They were out measuring the trails for their Summer 7 program that starts this weekend. Coach T had his fancy dancy GPS locator thingy-majig. They said "hi" and "you go girl" and off they ran . . . blazing past me.  That made me smile. They are so nice and always supportive when I see them.

The gentleman that was behind me did eventually catch me and pass me and I never saw him again. I think at some point on the return I realized that no one else was in my age bracket and that I could potentially get first place even with my mediocre run. There were 3 or 4 women ahead of me but none of them were in my age group. Was that lazy of me? Maybe. I don't think it really matters anyway as I discovered the FLTRS awards and BBQ will be held after the last race of the series. The one race that I am in fact missing since I will be out of town. Bummer! The BBQ is generally a good time with a lot of good raffle prizes.

As for the final results from last night, I have no idea. They have not been posted yet and it was getting close to the Peanut's bath and bedtime so we left the race quickly after I finished. Still, I think the Peanut had a blast and that's what really matters to me.

Having some dinner while mom is out racing.

This next series of photos are my favorite . . .

The Peanut spies mom coming down the finish shoot & takes off running!

Big hug for momma!

 

Yeah! You're back. Now pick me up!

My biggest fan!

A RUN DOWN MEMORY LANE

This is where I went to college . . .

No, it isn't a catholic or religious school. It's a small college in Hamden Connecticut located at the foot of Sleeping Giant State Park. When I was accepted it was called Quinnipiac College. While attending people called it Quinnipiac and the year after I graduated it was changed to Quinnipiac University.

I really don't know what to tell people when they ask me where I went to school. Talk about an identity crisis. I do believe my diploma says Quinnipiac College though. Still, I cannot deny the beauty of the campus and its convenient 2 hour drive from my NJ home (far, but not too far right?).

That tall white tower is the library. On the hour and half hour it would chime and play music. During the holiday season it would also play holiday tunes. Living there for four years you tend forget about it and not even realize that it was chiming.

Yesterday during my lunch hour run I was instantly flooded with memories. You see, I run 3.5 miles around the California State University Sacramento campus (CSUS), Van's alma mater. They too have a clock that chimes (or dings?) on the hour and half hour. How I did not notice this before on prior runs I do not know but I heard it yesterday and memories of college came flooding back to me. They were quickly halted however when a college student walking to class said "excuse 'mam" as they walked by me. Hmph. I guess my college days are over no matter how hard I try to pretend I am an undergrad running through campus instead of a fulltime working married mother of a 2 year old desperately trying to squeeze in a run during my lunch hour.

The Peanut has been talking for weeks now about "running a race" and also "winning a race." She wears this race medal around the house all.the.time! I'll have to get a picture it is super cute. She tends to lean towards whatever event either Vans and I are doing that evening. Tonight for example, she'll talk racing and running since I am running out at Beal's Point. Wednesdays, it's all about biking because Van's rides his mountain bike at Prairie City. Here she is tuning up her own bike . . .

FUN TIMES

I've been running, but not enough to blog about really. Bike trails plain and simple. Tomorrow is the Folsom Lake Trail Runners Race out at Beal's Point. I hope to have more energy and spunk than I did last week.

Today I might try and run during my lunch hour just to see how the legs are holding up.

Mostly, my evenings have been spent this way:

Jamba Juice with the Peanut

Watching the Peanut wash Van's car

(trust me, this is a win win situation here)

I am also the new owner of a FLIP camera so be prepared for some trailmomma videos coming your way! In the meantime, enjoy my mediocre posts. I am bummed that I am passing on what seems like an amazing run this Saturday with Coach Nikon and Pigeon. It even involved a nice dip in the river. Instead, I'll be logging miles on my local bike trail before the Peanut rises so we can hit the house hunting road. Perhaps I'll bring my camera just in case something wild and crazy happens. Alone. On the boring bike path. Sigh.

NIKE WOMENS FITNESS FESTIVAL 5K

Sunday was the NIKE Womens Fitness Festival 5K downtown. It is one of the largest 5K races in Sacramento. 3,500 women particpated this year. That's a lot of estrogen in a small radius.

I have done this race 3 times. Once before I had the Peanut in 2007. I ran a 22:51 (7:22/mile), my fastest 5K ever. I skipped 2008 due to a newly born Peanut and instead ran the race in 2009 just after the Peanut's first birthday. I ran 22:26 (7:14/mile) a new PR. Sunday I ran 22:35 (7:17/mile). Not quite a PR but decent I suppose considering I have not raced a 5K in a very long time. I was 11th in my age group (out of 202) and 37th overall. Considering the Peanut had gone to bed late and had woken up super early that morning, I am quite surprised I even made it to the starting line.

That was also my first run since Thursday night's exhausting trail race. I am trying to figure out my running future these days. Obviously trail running lends itself to a better trailmomma blog with photos and stories of wild crazy turkey attacks and of course fun adventures with Pigeon and Coach Nikon. The problem lies with finding an allotment of time for trail running since most of the "fun" trails are about an hours drive from my home. I am also doing a road half marathon in about 3 weeks so I probably should get reaquainted with pavement (my knees are aching just writing that). However, road running is usually quite boring. Decisions decisions.

The trailmomma household has also been house hunting as we have slowly been outgrowing our little condo. I am anxious to branch out and finally have a home, with a yard. However house hunting in itself requires time on the weekends. Who said being an adult was fun? Bleh.

So I apologize for a sporadic if sometimes lack luster trailmomma blog. My head is in 1000 places these days and my heart is well, also in a 1000 places and sometimes (most times) the two are not in the same place at once.

Also lack luster lately? My camera skills. No photos of the Peanut from the weekend. I know I know, tsk tsk trailmomma! So I leave you with another family member photo . . . Jack the Cat . . .

enjoying his evening news with Channel 10.

FLTRS #6: RUNNING ON EMPTY

"Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels

Looking back at years gone by like so many summer fields

In sixty-five I was seventeen and running up one-on-one

I don't know where I am running now, I'm just running on

Running on-running on empty"

Boy did Jackson Browne have it right! Last night, I was definitely running on empty.

Thursday night was the Folsom Lake Trail Runners Race Series Number 6 at Negro Bar. The weather was overcast but not cool, almost humid. I had every intention of doing the 10K long course last night as opposed to the 5K short court even though I knew from the start that my tank was not anywhere near full.

I thought I had recovered from Saturday's run. Apparently not. My heart rate during the entire race last night was low low low but it felt like I was in Zone 5 and nearing my max. That's a tell-tale sign that something is brewing, like a cold and my body is busy fighting that instead helping me get by in last night's race. Or perhaps, it is a sign I am over-trained and my body needs rest. That could be true too after Saturday's long run. Either way, rest is in my future. My ankle hurt the minute I laced up my sneakers and throbbed the entire time. Hello Rest, my name is trailmomma and I'll be hanging with you for a few days.

As always though, it was great to head out there and see some friends. Scrapbook was there and a few others!

Like Big D my AR50 pacer and running friend

Biceps was there too running the 5K

(look at those guns!)

 One empty trailmomma

(could the picture be more unflattering?)

Also out there to my surprise and excitement cheering me on was Coach Nikon, Pigeon and Miss P!!! They were out doing a group run and decided to head on over to Negro Bar and cheer me on! It was a huge boost and definitely needed. Thank you guys!!!!

Despite running on empty last night however, I still managed to place 2nd in my age group. Apparently the girls I let pass by me on an uphill were not in my age bracket. My mantra throughout the entire race (besides "don't die, please don't die") was "race for fun, race for fun." That's what I tried to do anyways. It was still a tough race for me and I wasn't alone. Big D had ran the Western States Training Run Day 3 on Monday (22 miles) and she too was on empty last night. She somehow got lost and we ended up finishing together. That was nice. I'm sure she'll kick my butt next week though.

In the meantime, I am going to enjoy resting and playing with the Peanut over the next two days. I have a 5K on Sunday that I am looking forward to but really, I just hope I have enough energy to walk to the start from my car!

Maybe I'll just play jump rope with the Peanut instead

***All race photos are courteousy of Joe McCladdie and can be found here.

RECOVERY REGRET

Recovery. A very important often over looked part of training and running. Throughout my Way Too Cool 50K and American River 50 Miler training I took recovery very seriously. I would do ice baths immediately upon arriving home, I would eat something with some form of protein in it within 30 minutes of my run. Did I do any of this after Saturday's epic run? Um, nope. Now I suffer.

Instead of coming home and jumping in our frigid community pool, I hopped on a bike and tootled around the neighborhood. Instead of eating immediately upon finishing, I changed and jumped in line to get a massage and SAT for a good 20 minutes waiting. Wrong wrong wrong!

Today is Wednesday, 4 days post run and my quads are still screaming at me. Due to time and commitment issues, I wasn't able to get a recovery run in until last night. Ouch. I ran 4 miles last night but it felt like I had tree stumps attached to my body and my ankle was so not happy. That little injury that I heard nothing more from on Saturday is starting to rear its ugly head with a wobbly, weak ankle and some mild swelling. Grrrreeat. Oh and did I mention I have a 5K race this Sunday? Yup, I really didn't think I'd PR this Sunday (it's a race I often do PR in) due to all my trail runs and lack of speed work. Now I can really say I won't be PR'ing. I am not even sure I'll be able to run tomorrow's Folsom Lake Trail Runners 10K race at Negro! I am seriously considering bowing down to the 5K again.

Hind sight is 20/20 right? Boy have I learned my lesson. The Peanut is enjoying my time home although she gets quite the kick out of watching momma climb down the stair backwards and yelp when she bounces onto my quads. Things are definitely improving though and I am hopeful that by tomorrow I will be able to run without too much trouble.

I've just been enjoying my time with the family. The Sunday after the big run we attended a birthday party for the Peanut's best friend Little REI. She had a blast.

 The Peanut coming down the "water slide"

Memorial Day Monday we drove to our friend's cabin in Tahoe. The Peanut had a blast there as well.

A great view from their deck.

It was chilly and then rained so we stayed indoors.

The Peanut lost her shorts some how . . .