For The Love of Running

This morning I had the best run. I was actually thinking I want to blog about my run now. To start we ran on the street this morning instead of trail. 
I love running on the street because it is so easy compared to a the trail. Trail running is an entire body work out.
I love that I do not have to focus on where I am running and I can just day dream.
 I loved that it was supposed to rain so it looked like the sky was angry. 
I loved the short showers fallowed by quick visits by the sun that came and left quickly.
I loved the rolling hills. 
 I felt so good and happy the entire time even though I forgot to wear my running undies so my pants where bothering me I really did not care because it was just so good. I needed a good long run. I needed the freedom and distance.

This was the part I loved the most. Running with a great group of people that make me laugh and love to run as much as I do. We ran an easy 20 miles and it was what I call good stuff !!!

My week and the Bob.

Hi. This sums up my week. With 3 months to go until my 100 mile race I am doing my best to get all my runs in and my magical little guy is making it so much more challenging. I think that when you are 18 months old the last thing you want to do is sit in a stroller for an hour. So as a mom my job is to get creative. I have not gotten creative enough to figure out a way to keep him happy in his BOB for longer than 1 hour. So this is me this week. I have my day with Jack when I think he is tired enough ( this means I am tired ) then I put him in the Bob and away we go. I try to run as fast as I can because I know my time is limited and just when I feel warmed up. He screams I want out. So I push faster hoping the motion will make him happy and it does not so I stop and let him play and then we are off again and if I am lucky I can get 6 miles in . But hey I am grateful I own such an amazing stroller and I am grateful for the 5 or 6 miles I can get in and I am definitely not taking my weekend long runs for granted or the fact that Jacks dad is more than happy to watch him Saturday and Sunday mornings..

Ragnar race report

Here they are my new friends I made and bonded with over the weekend. 8 very cool chill human beings. I felt very lucky and happy to be a part of our Team. The Ragnar Del Sol took place in Arizona. We did a 9 person really and coverers 205 miles. Totally fun. I felt like a big kid playing outdoors for 30 hours. It is also nice getting to know completely new people that have a common interest as me. Running

Here I am running my first leg and feeling happy. We got super lucky because it never got to hot. The weather was perfect and a little overcast. We had blisters going on . People sleeping while others ran. Lots of bathrooms stops we ate a-lot of snacks and we made more u turns than I could count.

My favorite part was getting to cheer your team on. Being right there when the trade of happened. This is John handing of to Chris.

The views are always amazing when your talking about the desert in the winter. We mostly ran on the pavement but some of us got lucky and got some short trail runs in there. Mine was at 2 am. Running at night is a very cool experience. I highly recommend it. Talking about each others run every couple of hours is so much fun too. There is excitement in the air . Your a little nervous about running your leg but when you come back you are totally excited about the experience. I really loved running The Ragnar and I think the company did a great job putting on the race. 

Ragnar Del Sol march 2015

Ragnar Arizona

Hi guys ..I am off to run the Ragnar in Arizona this friday. It should be fun. I am excited !!

A day at the beach

I love exploring with this little guy while his sister and brother are at school. I love the weather here its just amazing.

Lovely Monday

Monday morning took me to the beach with my little boy. The weather has been great and I would call it beach weather. Jack loves being outside more than I do. He squealed when he saw that I had parked in front of the beach.  I can't seem to get him out of the car fast enough.  Then once we are on the beach its on. Yes he was wearing his pajama bottoms and I thought he looked so cute. He ran straight to the birds then to the water. To make a long story short I was waist deep in the ocean with my baby .  The ocean was very calm and surprisingly warm. We stayed as long as we could and then when I felt the breeze pick up we left.  Jack enjoyed the beach the sand and the rocks. Defenately one of the great life experiences that comes with children is acting like a child.. This mom acted like a fun loving , beach going while , wearing my clothes beach mom.

Saturday's run went like

Saturdays run seemed a-lot longer than it was. I am glad I didn't really know what I was getting in too. It look me a little over an hour and a half to get to where I needed to go and I was flustered because I was running late. Note to self : Use google maps the night before. My awesome fellow runners waited 9 minutes for me and as soon as I got there we where off. I knew the distance we where running but not the trail and I am glad because it was difficult. 

We ran down this canyon 8.5 miles and then back up. OK so I wish I could say this was easy or I was ready for this hill but nope. This hill kicked my butt. Yes it was hot and I didn't take enough water but those would just be excuses. I simply need to get stronger and I need to keep showing up. 

This year is going by way faster than I ever imagined and before you know it my 100 miler will be here so I gotta go practice.

So if you need me I will running the trail and training so when race day comes I will be ready. Happy Trails.

Week in review

Hi.. This week has been full of running , cooking, late night coffee trips so I could make it through the night and finish up
un -finished projects. I have to confess I love having a Capuchino around 6pm because I get so much done in the evening. I can not do that very often though because my sweet little boy is up at 5:30 am and that means I have to get up too. I feel like its such a treat to have late night coffee. Tomorrow I am planning another beach day for Jack and I. The weather here is amazing. Have a great week.

Saturday's Training run

When you are trying to get better at something, you try and try and try again. This is definitely part of my story and the part I have grown to love the most. I have a couple things I am passionate about and I feel really happy that I have that love for them. I love photography, my family , art and--ahhhhh--running. All good things right? I love running for many reasons; the biggest one is I have to work really hard at this to get better and my better right now is finishing strong. Who would think hard work would make me so happy. It really does I love that I have found something outside of my home that is about me that just makes my heart sing. I also love that there is so many women  in this sport that are Bad Ass runners.   

This morning, I ran with The Trail Crashers a very cool group of runners. I was feeling so grateful that I had friends to run with that knew the trails and pushed it. Then I remembered that just a couple of months ago I was mostly running alone and long runs can get longer when your alone. You know the saying: showing up is half the battle. So true. I was nervous about running with them at first because I did not want to be the slowest.  Guess what? I am and that's OK! Sometimes we make things out to be bigger than they really are and those fears will hold you back from experiencing some really great stuff. Sometimes we need to  breathe deep and do small things that might scare us because, behind that brave you, there is a reward waiting that can only be found by showing up.

The Morning

I used to not be a morning person. I never really knew what I was missing . The morning are contain that lovely quite still beauty thats on its way to being unfolded.

It does not matter where you are. Its there everyday. So now I am a lover of mornings.

Scrap Booking and Running

I thought it would be fun to share my running layouts. The reason I try to keep a good record of my races is because I picture myself  20 years from now sitting with my grand kids and my kids looking through these books. I picture them saying wow grandma you ran 50 miles. I don't know if they would really believe me if I didn't have proof. 

I have been doing this for about 12 years so it is really cool to look back and see what I wrote and what I was wearing who was with me and my times. These are the  layouts I did for the Hodges 50 miler. 

I love that its all here in one place because when you finish a race the way you feel needs to be recorded soon after because your usually on top of the world feeling great so its a very positive thing for me.

These are 8 by 10 pages. They are fun and easy to work with because there smaller than a 12 by 12. There you go scrap booking and running do go together.