Los Angeles Marathon 2019

I know it has been a while but I am back. I ran the Los Angeles Marathon a couple weeks ago. I have wanted to run it for a while and decided that I would do it this year. My dad and I drove up on Friday and made it there by 4 pm and that gave us about an hour to get my bib. Then we went to dinner and made sure I was sleeping by 9 pm. I took this picture at 4:30 am. I got up but unfortunately I didn't want to wake my dad up so I didn't have coffee. That was not a smart choice. I left the room and made my way to the shuttle. It was cold outside and I walked 3 blocks from the hotel to the bus. It felt like the time I ran the Seattle marathon. When I was walking to the bus there was people coming from all over walking to the same bus so you don't really have to feel afraid to be out at 4am walking the streets of LA.
The bus drove us to the marathon and it was a nice bus and everyone was excited and friendly. Once at the start I noticed it was cold and I did not bring a warm enough sweater. I froze for about an hour and then a nice stranger gave me his jacket and I was so cold I took it. The race took of right on time and all 25 thousand people started moving. The first mile was tough but after that I got moving. I was wearing a new pair of shoes and it was a bad choice so my feet hurt for a long time but I was able to run a 4:14. 

I do love being done.

I love the medal it's really big and cool. The marathon was a great experience too. I am really glad I ran it and I am grateful my dad was there with me.

Mount Laguna marathon 2018

This race seemed like a reach but last year I missed it because I was sick so this year even if I had to hike it I wanted to be a part of it. We started of on time 7am and The running of the 6th Mount Laguna was off. November in Cuyamaca is amazing. Its not to cold but the leaves are changing and its a beautiful. 

The best part is seeing everyone out there. Hugging your fiends and hearing all the stories from every ones latest adventure. The race was not hard but I was tired and my legs were tired from Javalina. I found a nice steady pace that worked for me and just stayed at it . I didn't hike to much instead I opted for a steady pace. I think finding a pace and staying at it is a great thing to learn to do well,  Slow or fast.

The medals are always awesome. There hand made.

I was happy with my time and I was happier I could jog up that last climb. This is my last race for 2018 and it was a great year. Everything about it was good. The biggest thanks has to go to my husband because he makes all this possible and he loves hearing about my adventures. 

Goodbye Lost Boys 50 miler

The bus picked us up at 3:30 am from Lake Cuyamca. They drove us down a crazy road for about 30 minutes and I was so excited for the bus trip to end because it made me feel a little bit sick. I have never been a fan of sitting in the back seat on windy roads.
To my left on the bus was  guy named Alex and beside me is Julianne. (my ultra girl crush) I had never met Alex before and little did I know that by the end of the day he and I would become good friends. 

As soon as we got out of the bus there was that buzz in the air. The weather was perfect just a little cold and not too windy. I saw a bunch of my friends and some new people too. There was 40 runners. I love this part of race morning. I stop close my eyes and just take in that feeling. You're nervous and excited and you know this day is going to be an adventure. There was about 5 Trail Crashers and that for me is the same as having 5 family members along for the same ride as me. 

This was how dark it was when we started. We started running and about a half a mile in someone says Gloria where is your head lamp and I said oh I don't need one the sun will be up soon and, before you know it, I fell on my knees. Then I said OK peeps that was my fall for the day!! No mas

The desert was beautiful it's stunning watching the sun come out over the rocks in the early morning. It is  truly magical. I knew by mile 5 today was going to be really long day. My legs felt heavy and I just was not finding that happy place. I decided to just take it easy and just keep moving. I kept reminding myself how lucky I was just be there. I knew it would be a long day but I was surrounded by beauty and awesome humans. 

I was able to spend some time with my friend Colleen. I love hanging out with friend and running with them for miles in crazy awesome places it makes our friendship so special just knowing you had that time together. We helped each other up the crazy climbs and just kept making our way forward. This is a hard race so the trick is to keep eating and drinking and moving. 

Going up Orriflame was brutal, but I found a couple friends and we all struggled up together. It was hot and the headwinds did not help either. We saw this rattlesnake crossing the road . It was so much bigger in person. I finally ended up run walking with a new friend and I got to hear all his stories. We did the ultra shuffle and picked up two more friends along the way and eventually made our way to the top. You do the happy dance at the top of Orriflame. I always feel like when you get up there you should get a half medal or something. Lets see by this time a couple friends had gotten lost but found there way back. Other friends where throwing up. I was tired and a bit slow and my body just felt off . I know thats those are the times you need to just keep moving and specially when your running and climbing a race like Lost Boys. The key keep moving don't get discouraged and yes its hard but if it was easy everyone would do it. My mantra for this race was just because I feel something does not make it true. Sometimes specially out here feelings need to be put aside and you just need to keep moving. 
Things that made me happy on this race while struggling to make 50 miles happen on the crazy rocky course. Seeing Gemma along the way and knowing that even though yes she got lost she felt a bit discouraged she has what it takes to just crush it and she did. She got first place female. Then seeing Ilian along the way and just watching her help so many people. If your running by her and you need anything she probably has it. Oh  yeah I started throwing up for bit and when I was feeling just yuck I Phillip and Daniel and we all decided that running together would be so great for us. At this point we felt done but that was not an option yet. So we made it a 3 person ultra shuffle support group and with about 14 miles to go and Cuymaca Peak in our future we made our way together and got it done. In the last 10 miles Alex our new friend joined us and once again it was story time. He had so much to tell me the time flew by. That lake cuymaca finish was so hard. All those rocks my feet hated me but Alex and I crossed that finish line together.

It took me over 13 hours to finish and it was honestly so so hard. I never felt good or found my happy place. I just kept moving forward and made my way to the finish line. I love this race and I am sad its the Last Lost boys. I did get to run it 3 times so I feel very lucky and I can't say enough about the Ultra community and the volunteers. The race was amazing and Brian Gonzales puts on a class A event. (  I never got lost ) If you know me you understand the event was very well marked. One of the biggest reasons I love this race is because this was that race for me. The one that really scared that I thought I could never finish . Are you crazy G. Have you seen the elevation on this thing and its  so technical but I closed my eyes the first time I pressed pay on Ultra Signup and hoped for the best. Like my dad always tells me Princes showing up is half the battle. This race taught  me. G you can do hard things.

Dear past self, 
Thank you for pushing me through my fears. Running is really hard like I thought it would be, but I fell in love anyway. I do not want to ruin your story but I promise you if you stick with it, it will change your life.
Love 
me
P.S. the people you meet along the way will be in your heart forever

Its almost that time. LOST BOYS

Lost Boys is this weekend !!!

Here we go again. I am excited and nervous about Saturday's race. I think it might be the last Lost Boys 50k and 50 miler. This will be my 3rd year running it. The course is insanely beautiful. I am going to try and take pictures this year. I love this race for several reasons. This truly feels like an adventure run to me.
First you get picked up at 3:30 am and you get a bus drive down to the bottom of the Anza Borego Desert. There they proceed to drop you off and at 5am you start running.
There are two distances this year 50k and 50 miler. I will be running the 50 miler and I my bib is number 40 this year. Last year I was 39. You run about 25 miles up the desert and then when you get to the mountains you run another 25 to the finish line !!
50 mile baby !!!!! I love hate this distance because its a butt kicker.

So here is what I would like to do this weekend. See my time from last year 11:37 ..I want to beat that time by 15 minutes. I remember thinking last year that there was no way I could go any faster and I have worked so much harder this year on my running that I think unless something goes wrong I can do 11:15. That's right you heard it here first. I don't care what place I come in what I want is to do better than I did last year. I am racing myself peeps.
I am also excited to see how my nutrition goes . I need to eat solid food out there. So wish me luck and I hope you have an awesome weekend.

Ultramaraton Baja Trail

This last weekend March 17th I ran this race. In Tijuana Baja Calif. In Mexico. I just want to start by saying I was really nervous about this one . I had at least 4 people tell me how hard this race was going to be so I knew it was going to be a challenge but a new challenge is always welcome.
 The day started really early , I was up at 2 am and a friend picked me up on his way down to the border at 2:30am. The bus was scheduled to pick us up at 4:30. You would think we would have enough time to get everything done but we barely made it to the bus and then finding the bus was its own adventure.. By the time it found us we had walked 4 miles.

The race had 3 distances. My friend Louka ran the 80k and started at 6 am . The rest of our group  Kylee, Scott, Janell, Maria started at 6:30 we ran the 50k. So there we all are standing in the cold rain excited and ready to go. We all counted in Spanish and off we went. You start in a single conga line going up hill and make your way up a mountain. Then there was another and another. My friends did not lie to me this was a hard race but lets be honest whats the one thing that makes a hard race not so hard.....Perfect Weather
How can you complain when it is 60 degrees with a light mist. 

The views went on forever.

This is at the top of El Capitan. Getting up here was an adventure..

Seeing so many familiar face of friends I admire and call friends made the miles and hard work go by quickly. 

Another familiar happy face coming my way..

and another. Sometimes you run races and you know there are people you just admire and look up to because there so strong and have been killing it in this sport forever. There also so nice and wise and then You feel lucky just to able to share the trail with them. Even if your way behind them it is still special.

I loved the race and I didn't mind the climbs. You know how sometimes your just feeling it. I got lucky because this week I feel good and I went out at my pace and just ran my race and finished around 8:20 something. 

I really loved how the entire day unfolded. It was such great course and the rain all of it made it a special day.
I want to mention a couple things.. The course was so well marked. They did a great job marking it. The aid station and the volunteers so kind. They gave me hugs and food and so much encouragement . If you get chance to run the Baja Trail Maraton Just do it.
Be the girl who decided to go for it !!! That's it.... Happy running 

Day 3 and 4 Tahoe 200

Even on the third night, I felt overwhelmed by the beauty. My thoughts kept reminding me to try and be present: take it all in G. I would stop and count from 10 to 1 and take deep breaths. It is a good way that works for me to remind myself to come back to NOW.

OMG!! Let me tell you the story about this picture. I don't remember what it's called but I took this picture when I got to the top. Okay its about 6am and we have to run through the streets of  Tahoe where the really nice houses are to get to this trail head. We get there and I literally looked up and said, 'oh shit!' I remember during the race briefing they told us about this part of the race where you see the telephone poles. They told us you will have 3 false summits and it does not look like a trail but it is. You will have to go through bushes and pull yourself up by roots and just when you think your done you're NOT! I was so mad at the race director at this point. I was like OMG this lady is trying to kill us. I think it was the fact that I was tired and how freaking hard it felt. Then as I am struggling to go up I hear, 'on your left.' Just like that a 70 year old passes me. He just climbs up like its nothing. My butt felt humbled. In my brain I was being a baby and I told myself we don't have time for that G. It was at this point I started realizing I needed to step up. When I got to the top I took the picture, went pee and waited for Robert. 

I feel like after this climb this race for me got real. Robert was the perfect partner. We got in grove where we stopped talking and we just ran in rhythm. I started having serious foot pain too. My bottom of my feet just ached and I kicked a rock and tore my big toe nail off. I started with La Sportiva and then wore Hokas but they where too tight on my fat feet so I ended up running the last 80 miles with Salomons but by then my feet were gone. The best thing I could do to was just channel my pain away from me and go faster. Even though it hurt I felt lucky just be able to run and be in the mountains.

Robert was in pain but neither of us complained too much. I helped him and he helped me. He was amazing at keeping us on track and I only got mad once and that was because I am a slow eater and I hated having to eat fast at the aid stations. Robert got kinda upset because I took way to long for 2 miles but once he communicated what was wrong I stepped it up and went faster. After he told me we actually made up a whole hour. 

My dad was great he drove with me and crewed me. See how tired I looked. I think I was totally swollen too. Oh by the way this jacket by Ultimate Direction is not a warm jacket. It is a wind breaker. Note to self I need a new rain jacket.  This picture was taken mile 190 and I Robert and I had been up for almost 4 days. We had 10 miles to go but needed 5 hours to do it in because of the climbing that was coming up. I was starting to feel nostalgic and I missed my husband and I wanted to tell him all about this crazy race. I felt love for Robert because he was such a great running partner that made sure we never got lost. I felt grateful for my dad and Anthony and Cassie. They were so good to me while I ran. I felt so lucky that somehow with Robert's help we where going to make it. You know your out there for so long and it's like being in another world for 200 miles. I kept thinking about people like Scott Mills and what he has accomplished and what an inspiration he is for me. I thought about Angie Shartel this strong bad ass female Ultra runner mom I admire. She just had surgery and I know she is will come back stronger because thats who she is. I thought about people I have met in the San Diego ultra community and how much they mean to me. How there story had inspired me so much to not give up. I just feel so lucky to have found The Trail Crashers. The running group that took me in and let me suck and stuck in there waiting for me during training runs until one day I got a little stronger and I was able to keep up. I think I should probably just say I don't know what there is about this sport not to love. I had to keep myself from thinking about my kids because I was trying not to cry but I cried from mile 203 to mile 205. 

1 day until the Tahoe 200

Here I am. I made it to Lake Tahoe and on Friday morning I will be at the starting line of the Tahoe 200.  If you want to fallow me just click on Tahoe 200 and you can fallow me I am number 37. You might be stuck to your computer for four days !!! I am not as scared as I feel I should be. My mind set for this adventure goes something like this. I am beyond grateful that I am healthy enough to do this and everything else is a gift. I am not running for time I am praying I finish with a good cushion. I want to be mindful on this journey and be present and aware of my surroundings. I know its going to hurt and that I will suffer and that is part of the journey of choosing to run 200 miles.. There is this huge part of my brain that still shows up at these events and does not understand how I got lucky enough to take part in an event like this. I feel trained and ready.
 I feel bad for my husband who is home with 3 kids for 6 days. Thank you Mike for making all of this possible. My husband often tells me when I bring up a big race and when I am feeling him out to see if it is going to works with his work schedule the kids and school. I just want to say I have 3 kids in 3 different schools that start at 3 different times... It is a bit crazy. My husband tells me G how could I not want you to go and why would I not try and make happen for you . It's what you love and it makes you happy and I like it when your happy. That's another reason my heart feels humbled and I feel so grateful.

Friday morning at 9:am myself and a bunch of other amazing human will take part in a 200 mile journey around Lake Tahoe. I am so excited to just be a part of it. I am sure it will take me the 4 days we are given and I have no idea what to expect but I do know that I will be working my butt of while practicing patience and determination. 

You are the road of Love, and at the end my home.. Rumi

A new adventure coming up

Some of the best people I have met have become my friends out on the trails. There is something about spending an endless amount of time running with someone that makes you specially good friends. I never thought I would run a 100 mile race. I remember training for a marathon and thinking 30 mile weeks where insane. The last couple years have been so much fun.  Running has helped me become a stronger person both emotionally and physically . I used to be afraid of so many things and lets just say that has changed. I feel confident. 

My friend Robert and I will running The Tahoe 200 in about 10 days ! I am so excited and nervous but more excited than anything. Robert was so awesome he paced me at Lost Boys and we run well together. He runs better than me so  guess I fallow well. The race looks like its going to be crazy so much everything. going on. The elevation is crazy so I have been hiking my butt off. I have been running my butt of but I have been learning  how to listen to my body when I am feeling tired and slowing down with  a purpose. I am so looking forward to this adventure ..