wet tshirt contest

the forecast yesterday called for two lightning bolts. i decided this was a good sign. it proceeded to be very sunny all day though...until i went for my run. it started pouring rain, thundering and lightning as soon as my housemate hilda and i stepped off our front porch. all of this stopped when we stepped back onto our porch 33 minutes later. go figure.

running in the rain is such a treat. we were soaked to the bone and it felt fantastic. i was mildly amused however when a car drove by and caused a small wave of water to come up about knee high on me. i turned to look at the car and the girl in passenger seat had turned to look at me, laughing. i stood there wondering why the driver and his passenger thought it was so funny. i was clearly already soaked. as if a little extra water from a puddle was going to cause me to frown. people are strange.

my advisor is out of town at a conference right now, so i got to fill in for him the first day of class. i thought he wanted me to simply hand out the syllabus, but tuesday in lab meeting he informed me that he wanted me to give a lecture too. the lecture went really well. i talked briefly about biomechanics and then jumped into a review of vectors. i like teaching. its fun. i might really be stuck in academia forever.

leadville 100 recap

the short recap is that i had my first ever dnf (did nothing fatal or did not finish) last weekend. i dropped at 61 miles after missing the time cutoff. i left everything i had on the course and while i'm disappointed in not finishing, i'm glad i got to race, make a bunch of new friends and i'm excited to go back next year.

now for the longer version of the recap. have you ever had one of those races when you're standing at the starting line feeling prepared but having this lingering feeling that something is just not quite right? well, saturday was one of those days for me. i was already having digestive problems before the race started, but i chalked that up to nerves, ate breakfast and headed to the start/finish line with tom, one of the other austin racers, and my crew jack and michael.

tom and i before the start

the start of the race was very exciting. there were almost 600 runners this year, and all the pacers, crews, friends and families were there to cheer everyone on. ultras are funny because the gun goes off and we immediately start running slowly. i settled in with fred and cyndy, then thought better of it and slowed down. about 30 minutes or so in, i grabbed my gel flask and tried to get some gel and water down. it was pretty much all downhill (figuratively, of course) from here.

within a couple miles, my stomach swelled up like a balloon and was hard to the touch. oh yeah, i thought, more stomach issues. shortly thereafter, i rolled my right ankle, the one that had been bugging me for the last couple weeks. dave happened to be right behind me at that point and said as he watched my ankle roll, he got a little scared. it didn't hurt though, so i just kept running. a little while later, i rolled it again. great. meanwhile, i'm not drinking much and not really eating either because my stomach is still not happy. ever the optimist, i decide, well, at least i'm getting all the ankle rolling and stomach discomfort out of the way in the first 13 miles!

i get to the first aid station at ~2:16 and jack and michael are there to take my hydration pack and reload me with water, gels and shot blocks. i ditch my headlamp but keep my jacket and gloves. its warm, but the sun is still not fully up yet. i head back out on the trail for the first climb of the day and intentionally back off the pace as i suspect the first 13 miles were a little too fast.

going up the backside of sugarloaf with the sun still rising

when i get onto hagerman pass road, i decide to walk. in training camp one of the race veterans told me there was no need to, so i apply the advice. joseph runs up beside me half a mile later and slows down to chat for a few minutes than takes off. the road is only a mile long before we begin the climb up the backside of sugar loaf. i'm still trying to get in calories. my shot blocks are hard from the cold and i'm just trying to take in what i can. the first of many bathroom breaks happens somewhere near the top. at this point, i'm thinking maybe my stomach issues weren't just nerves.

once we get to the top of sugar loaf, the fun part begins. we get to run down powerline. when i was out in leadville in june, i realized very quickly that i needed to learn how to run downhill better, so i spent time working on this and running on technical trails the past couple months. as we begin our descent, i fall into a rhythm and bound side to side across the jeep tracks avoiding rocks and bumps in the road. and then something amazing happens. i start passing people...on a downhill. this just doesn't happen in my life, and it gives me a bit of a boost and helps me temporarily forget my stomach and inability to eat.

looking down powerline

at the bottom of powerline, we make a hard right onto the road and head into the fish hatchery aid station at mile 23. michael and jack are there again. they grab my pack and hand me sunscreen and some mango juice. i tell them i need salt. my hands are swollen from the electrolyte imbalance and my ring is stuck on my hand. they run off to take care of my pack and i head to the aid station checkin...and i make my second bathroom stop of the morning. at least i'm still moving. i take my jacket and gloves off, get my newly reloaded pack back on and head out onto the road.

flat section heading towards half moon

its hot. we're at 10,200 ft elevation, running on the road, completely exposed and its just hot. this is not normal. i alternate walking and running, sipping at my water and again trying to get in a gel when i can. i come through the treeline/powerline crew access point, and brad asks if i need anything. he helps get my salt pills from my pack and takes my rain jacket, which is clearly unuseful at this point because its so dang sunny and warm.

i get into the half moon aid station a couple miles later and refill my pack with water, though i haven't had a ton to drink. i grab a small piece of potato, dip it in salt and scarf it down wondering if it'll make my stomach more upset or not. before leaving the aid station, i find myself making a pit stop again.

the half moon aid station was not the real half moon aid station. there was a military helicopter crash a couple days before the race and they had to reroute the course around the area. as a result, none of us saw this section of the course before the race. i headed out of half moon walking. shortly thereafter i realized that though mentally i didn't feel like running, my legs actually did ok with it. my stomach on the other hand wasn't particularly thrilled. to please both my legs and my stomach, i alternated between walking and running this section. more quickly than i expected, we started descending.

the descent into twin lakes is long, but the views are pretty cool. i caught up to a group of people and cruised behind them for a bit until the trail turned into a road at which point, i picked up the pace and cruised quickly downhill passing people (again!). this again gave me a bit of a boost.

looking out on twin lakes before the descent into the aid station

i came into the aid station feeling pretty good. i'd just run/walked 39.5 miles, but my legs were feeling good. that and i was still flying high from my apparently vastly improved ability to run downhill. jack and michael loaded up my pack while i applied more sunscreen and tried to get as many calories into me as i could.

the next section of the course was the infamous double crossing of hope pass . the twin lakes aid station is at 9200 ft elevation. the top of hope pass is at 12600 ft elevation. so suffice it to say, there's a bit of an uphill shortly upon leaving the twin lakes aid station.

view of the trail leading to the stream crossing and the trail head to go up hope pass

from twin lakes, we skirted across a flat section, waded a glacial stream (which felt amazing) and then headed up a small section of jeep road to the trailhead. i started climbing at a slow but steady pace. less than a mile up the trail, i had to stop because i started getting the nauseous feeling again. i tried to take in some gel and water, but it didn't seem to help. i struggled up the mountain to the hopeless pass aid station, where i got to see the llamas!

the llamas at hopeless pass aid station

the hopeless pass aid station is located just below the summit on the twin lakes side of the pass. i was feeling pretty tired and weak when i got there and i sat down for the first time all day and munched on a few saltine crackers. people were running around up there in tank tops and shorts and it was probably about 70 degrees, which is significantly warmer than it ever gets up there. it was hot. i was feeling the affects of the altitude more than i ever have in training for this race or when skiing or cycling at that and higher elevations. i left the aid station knowing that i needed to keep moving so i could get out of the altitude, and i struggled the rest of the way up to the top.

i didn't even pause to take a picture at the top. i just started immediately downhill. my legs didn't want to run very much and my stomach was just plain ticked off at me every time i tried to pick up the pace, so i walked. part of the way down i hear tom's voice call out from behind me that i better watch out because he's about to catch me. he slows down and asks how i'm doing. he tells me to take some salt and get some water in and not to worry because i'm just in a temporary low spot then he continues on his way. i pop a couple of sodium pills and drink some water and continue walking forward. about 15 minutes later, my world comes back to life and i start running again. the salt seems to have settled my stomach and i start passing people while i'm running downhill. when i get closer to the bottom, i see fred heading back uphill with his pacer and he's looking strong.

i get to the bottom of the hill and turn onto the road to head to winfield. someone i had just passed catches up to me and we power walk and chat the rest of the way to the aid station. this section of the course is kind of neat because you get to see who is ahead of you and cheer people on. even coming down hope pass is neat. with every person you pass, you say, great job! and they cheer you on too. in no other race that i've been in have competitors encouraged each other this much. its invigorating.

i get into the winfield aid station about 13 hours or so into the run. jack and michael take my pack to refill it and i head to the first medical check of the race. they put me on the scale, and the number that pops up is a little disturbing. my weight has dropped about 5 lbs. this is not good. if you lose 3 - 5% of your body weight, they make you stop and eat and drink to get your weight back up. if you lose 7% or more, they cut your wristband off and you're done. its for your own good, obviously, but no one wants it to happen to them. i've lost about 4%. while this is a bummer, i'm not surprised given how little i've eaten and drank all day.

i sit down in the food tent and jack and michael bring me miso soup (740mg of sodium per serving! and, i've decided, race food from heaven) and try and get me to eat and drink. my stomach is still not pleased and i'm in the bathroom again. eventually i decide its time to leave the aid station. because winfield is 50 miles into the race, we're allowed to have a pacer with us now, and michael puts his pack on and heads out on the road back to the trailhead with me.

at this point, the food and salt have had a chance to work their magic and i'm feeling a little better. we run a little bit but mostly power walk back to the trailhead and begin the climb back up hope pass.

i start the climb feeling good. my legs are actually feeling amazing given that i've already covered 52 miles and haven't had that many calories. however, the lack of calories begins to take its toll and i experience what i feel can best be described as system fatigue. i'm not out of breath, but i feel so tired i just have to keep stopping to rest. michael tries to get me to drink water and eat. he even takes my hydration pack from me and carries it (pacers are allowed to do that in this race). we're getting passed by tons of people. its frustrating.

we fall in near a guy named john and his pacer. they're about my age and john doesn't look much better than i. we struggle on together. at one point john makes a comment about naming this little expedition operation s**t storm takes hope pass (john and his pacer are both in the air force). i start laughing and ask if michael and i can join. the four of us struggle up the mountain cracking jokes about how we're stopping to throw people off our plan. john's pacer yells up to me at one point that he keeps seeing black every time he looks over at us. i was wearing black tri shorts and i kept stopping and bending over to help my head stop spinning and make the nausea go away. i shout back down that i just wanted him to be able to check out my rear and was trying to give him ample opportunity. everyone starts laughing.

shortly thereafter john and his pacer pass us and we don't see them again that i recall. as his pacer (i don't know his name), passes me, he pats me on the back and says, girls rule, keep it up. i'm not sure why, but this kind of made my day. i hope those guys were able to make the cutoffs and finish.

a little while later, we get above treeline. the sun is starting to set and the view to the south is amazing. the clouds are moving in though and it looks like its going to storm. we put on our windbreakers, which makes it instantly warmer. at some point i have to stop again to find a tree. michael manages to get me to eat a couple gels. eventually we get higher and i'm able to walk continuously. it was actually easier to fall in behind michael and just watch his feet and try to match mine to his. i'm not sure if this was because it was less steep, but i guess it doesn't really matter because i kept moving.

view of the mountains to the south as we're heading up hope pass inbound

we crested hope pass, and while michael paused to take in the view i decided to start heading down. almost immediately my left hip flexor froze. i was trying to stride down the trail, but my left leg hurt so bad i couldn't. i was wincing in pain. i had to turn sideways to step down. it hurt so bad. and it was getting colder and dark now too.

we got to the hopeless pass aid station and i sat down. michael grabbed me mashed potatoes and i ate them while i sat there. and then i asked for seconds. maybe its because i'm irish, i don't know, but they worked. i got up and stepped out of the tent. we hadn't been expecting to have to descend hope pass in the dark, so michael only had one headlamp. i put it on and he said he'd follow close behind me.

i headed towards the trail. my hip flexor hurt. it was dark. it was cold. i felt weak. my eyes welled up with tears. my voice waivered, and i told michael that at this point, i didn't care if i couldn't go beyond the next aid station. he didn't want to hear any of that so he told me to start moving. i had realized that we were close to the cutoff and with my hip flexor feeling the way it was and my general inability to eat all day, i suspected that we wouldn't make it. and if we did, i really didn't know how i would keep going, though i knew i would have to. the tears lasted only for a split second. i knew they wouldn't help. i knew i'd reached a low point in the race and that it would go away. we started downhill.

we trapsed along in the dark. occasionally my hip would loosen up for a second or two, but most of the time i'd have to turn sideways to step down steep steps or rocks. we'd pass through sections of the trail and i'd inform michael that we were presently going through the first or second or third field, that soon the stream would be to our left. i knew the trail, even in the dark. it was kind of cool. michael later told me the silence around us was a little unsettling. i never noticed. maybe its because i've spent so much time on trails lately, or maybe i was just so absorbed in my own thoughts i didn't notice. we talked most of the way down. it was good because it kept me distracted from thinking about my hip.

eventually we reached the trailhead and headed onto the jeep trail. a little while later we lost the trail at a big mud puddle. we heard a couple voices coming from behind us and decided to wait. two guys, clearly old friends, came towards us and together we found the trail. those guys were a hoot. one was doing the triple crown (hardrock, leadville and western states), but as he was about to dnf leadville, he knew his wife was going to give him a hard time. his buddy kept laying into him and telling him that the two of them were going to lose special racing privileges. you had to be there, but they had michael and i laughing.

a little after 11p, we made it into the twin lakes aid station (race time, ~19:15). they put me on a scale and informed me that my weight was fine, which was amusing as i was wearing more clothing and had just done the stream crossing again so my shoes probably weighed a few pounds each. at least i hadn't lost too much more. then they cut my wrist band off. we had arrived at the aid station close to an hour and a half after the time cutoff. i wasn't allowed to go any further, and i was okay with that. having eaten maybe 3000 calories, dealt with nauseous, digestive problems and the like all day, i was just glad (and maybe a little surprised) to have made it 61 miles.

jack and brad had apparently come up the trail looking for us, wondering if we were lost because it had taken us so long. in training in june, i had run (unaggressively) from twin lakes to winfield AND back (the double hope pass crossing) in 6:40, at which point dan commented that i looked like i hadn't done anything. today, it had taken about 6 hours just to go from winfield to twin lakes, and i was just happy to have finished the double crossing and still be smiling (and standing). i had done that last 6 hours on 4 gels and two small cups of mashed potatoes. that is just not adequate.

michael and jack brought me back to the house. i had to lift my left leg to get it into the car and again when i tried to walk up the hill to the house. i seriously considered having jack carry me up, but my pride wouldn't let me. i showered, drank some miso soup and went to bed. i couldn't lay on my left side because it made my hip flexor hurt. i could barely roll over even. my appetite wouldn't return for almost 24 hours.

michael came and picked me up the next morning to bring me to the finish line so i could see everyone (he and jack slept for only a few hours and then went back out to help the other austin people). tom, luigi, joseph, fred, cyndy, donna and dave all finished. congrats to all! jack (not my pacer) also dropped after missing a time cutoff. he'd struggled with stomach issues all day as well.

someone asked me after the fact if the race was hard. physically it was definitely hard. i've never felt that nauseous for so long while trying to move. mentally though, while it was challenging, i don't think it even comes close to the last 15 days of the ride last summer. what did surprise me though was that i never had the sustained high i normally get on really long runs. i wasn't unhappy, but i wasn't soaring either. that tells me something was clearly up (in addition to all the other evidence).

i have no regrets from the race this year. i felt like i did the best i could with the cards that i'd been dealt for the day. more importantly though, i met a bunch of very cool people in the process of getting ready for and then actually doing the race. i look forward to more runs, bikes, swims and of course, socializing in the future, and i'm definitely looking forward to trying it again next year.

today is the first day of classes at ut for the 2009-2010 school year, so its now back to the grind. however, i can say with confidence that i had an absolutely fantastic summer. thank you to everyone who took part in the adventures!

colorado

ben and rory dropped me off at the airport in seattle last night with a cheery, "don't f*** up." while this may seem a bit harsh, we've taken to telling each other this because, well, it sufficiently describes the situation. we're all capable. we just have to not mess up.

i arrived safely in denver around 9p last night. jack arrived about the same time as me and after picking up our rental suv, we booked it to fred's house in boulder. tom, jack and i spent the morning running (driving) errands and getting groceries before heading out to leadville.

below is a picture of our home for the weekend. it is the quintessential cabin in the woods. its great.we just got back from packet pickup and the carbo loading dinner. the quick summary is: lots of people and lots of food. we saw donna and dave there. apparently jack (murray) and joseph had already been by to get their packets when we got there (15 minutes after they opened the doors)--they're speed demons already!

now we're back at the house figuring out drop bags and being disturbed by how many gels we'll be consuming this weekend. luigi and his girlfriend are supposed to get here in the next hour or so. i think cyndy and fred both get here tomorrow, and after we pick up brad, todd, michael and dan tomorrow morning, i think the whole austin team with which i have been training will all be here with all their crew.

on a tangential note, one of the things burned into my head from the bike ride last summer is how it smelled in canada. i can't tell you why i remember this so distinctly because i don't really know. i do know, however that i associate that smell with happiness and freedom and, well, joy. it smells like canada up here in the mountains. i love it. i can't stop smiling. i'm just hoping i'm still that way 60 or 70 miles into the race this weekend!

sailing, fly fishing and food

yesterday we went sailing on lake washington. it was so nice i started feeling a little too toasty and felt the need to wear clothes in addition to sunscreen (photo above courtesy of mojdeh). we saw a few people who didn't operate with my response though. awkward.

this morning we got up before 5a and drove out to discovery bay to go fly fishing. above is rory instructing me on how casting is done and below i'm surveying my cast.

ben and i ran on the trails for a few minutes afterward as we both needed to get in a short run for the day. after running we headed over to portage bay cafe. they had a topping bar for their french toast and pancakes and as you may or may not be able to tell from the photo below, ben thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of said topping bar. the food was delicious but very filling. i'd recommend it if you're in the area.

i'm almost done packing and we'll be heading to the airport in a couple hours. colorado, here i come!

Seattle

i've been in seattle since friday hanging out with ben, matt and rory. we're staying at ben's parents' house on lake washington. above is the view from the balcony of mt. rainier a little before 6 this morning. the weather has been gorgeous and we've spent most days out on the water playing. matt is a little picture happy so you can see what we were doing every 5 minutes of this weekend by checking facebook. courtenay (ben's girlfriend) won the danskin triathlon on sunday morning and later that night it seemed that half the pro field from the lake stevens 70.3 was at ben's house for a bbq. there has been lots of distracting talk about training, injuries and other such fun.

we're going sailing this afternoon and fly fishing in the ocean tomorrow morning. being out here has distracted me from worrying about my race this weekend. it has been great to see everyone, and i hope this happens more often. tomorrow after fishing i head to colorado.

apparently dancing is on the brain...

this makes me smile. watch the 2008 video. austin, tx represent.

i'll go outside with my mouth open wide...

ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah

if all of the rain drops were lemon drops and gum drops, oh what a rain that would be!

singing in the rain

last night i got to experience a couple of life's little pleasures. first, i got a phone call from my friend peter saying that he was in town. i dropped by julio's cafe to meet up with him and some other friends and got to catch up with him for an hour or so.

then i went to a party my housemate emily was throwing at her aunt's house. we put singing in the rain on and at a few points, several of us were moved to dance along, and at other points, all of us were singing along. the actors in that movie are so talented. they're just so fun to watch.

as i was bouncing around the room with my housemates though, i remembered a question peter had asked me earlier in the evening. he had asked if most of my friends were athletes and i replied no, i think its more the intellectual thing that we have in common. the dancing and singing however made me retract that statement. it seems to be something else that connects us, something more basic. i'm not sure i've figured out yet how to put it into words, but i think we're all connected by an appreciation of the little things in life--dancing and singing to singing in the rain, jumping in pools fully clothed or completely naked, riding bikes, being outside, good food, good company, a solid sense of play...maybe the question is meant to be rhetorical, but what is it that connects you with your closest friends?

detailed outline

my housemate lindsay suggested that i try the detailed outline method for writing my dissertation proposal. this basically involves writing an outline with the main points you want to say and then filling in the details until basically all you have to do is put transitions in between them. so i started today with a not-so-detailed outline and it has been getting more detailed as the day wears on. this is so much easier than the way i wrote the first two sections.

in unhappy news, my ankle is swollen. this is the same ankle that was sore after the massage i got on my birthday. i rolled my ankle during the race on saturday, but it wasn't a painful roll, if that makes sense. i don't think it was swollen after the race or after i slept for a few hours either. it doesn't hurt to run or walk, but if i try and stretch my peroneous longus (there's not a layman's term for the muscle, sorry about that) it hurts.

at this point i should pause for an educational moment. peroneous longus is a muscle that runs from the head of your fibula (the boney bump on the outside of your leg just below your knee) down your leg, around the back of your lateral malleolus ("ankle bone," which is actually part of your tibia, but i digress) and then connects on the head of your 1st metatarsal (a long, skinny foot bone). the peroneous longus is used when locomoting, particulary on uneven surfaces. when engaged, you can evert your foot (rotate it "out," such that the outside of your foot moves "up" and the inside of your foot moves "down"). in other words, its important for trail running, walking on grass and cobblestones and for my research (how people move in stability threatening environments, such as on uneven surfaces).

so, i'm ibuprofenating for a couple days and hopefully that helps. i water ran with michelle again this morning, and i'm going to yoga tonight. i am hoping that the latter in particular does some good as one of the causes of an inflamed peroneous longus (that's getting fun to say) can be tight calves.

i have only been back in the coop for 48 hours and not having to cook or grocery shop has been making me very happy...and saving me lots of money. yeah! i heart leftovers that i can bring to work for lunch the next day.

i'm almost completely unpacked. at this point, i basically just have to hang all my pictures up. i forgot to mention that the race i did this past weekend was in memory of a cancer victim, captain karl. the prizes for the winners were framed drawings that karl's wife made. they're gorgeous. mine is currently the only thing hanging in my room. while i'm not sure that this is necessarily a positive thing, cancer has kind of been a constant in my life for more than 15 years as its affected family members and friends and as i've participated in things like race for the cure, relay for life, texas 4000 and made donations to many friends who have gotten involved with one of the team-in-training programs. its amazing how a disease can connect us all and inspire us to work together to find a cure. it gives me hope.

mobile home and race report

friday night i ran some errands and then rode out to muleshoe bend park to camp. i was camping at the start/finish line for the first of the capt'n karl's all-nighter series, which was supposed to be "waterfront." let's suffice it to say that there was no water. it looked more like rolling grassy fields, and it was at least a 10-15 minute walk to get to the water. the lake is disturbingly low. so, instead of eating dinner while watching the water, i decided to watch what appeared to be a rather intense storm rolling in. the lightning was pretty incredible.

i set up my tent and was going to brush my teeth when it started raining. so i just climbed into my tent and laid there listening. fortunately my tent is decent and i stayed dry. however, at one point i could feel puddles of water gathering underneath the bottom of it.

i got up saturday morning after not having slept that much and went to help with packet pickup. after doing that for an hour, i headed out to the half-way aid station which i manned for 5.5 hours. the humidity was insane. the course was a 10k loop, and runners would come through the aid station (4 miles into the loop) drenched because they were sweating so much. a number of people dropped out of the 30k because it was just too hot. even sitting at the aid station, i was going through a 24oz. water bottle every 45 minutes (or less).

when the 30k ended i headed back to the main aid station/start/finish to hang out. joe prusaitis was one of the folks in charge, and we sat chatting for awhile about 100-milers, what they mean, how you run them, what they do to you, etc. joe has run more ultras than almost anyone and is a wealth of information.

around 6:15p, i headed to my car to start getting ready to run and amanda mcintosh walked by so i stopped her and asked if she had any leadville pointers. amanda has been the first overall female at leadville a couple times and is a professional ultrarunner. she talked about how she paces and had some good recommendations on cold weather apparel (basically, bring it, don't underestimate how cold it gets there). then as i was putting my cooler by the aid station tent, i started talking to two guys from austin named jason and kirk. turns out that jason is running leadville as well and kirk is pacing him for 50 miles.

when the race finally started several of us fell into a group and i found myself running with jason, kirk, andrew and another guy (who had been planning to do leadville until some family stuff came up). we chatted and cruised along for the first loop, which was kind of fun. it kept my pace in check and it was cool to get to know some new people.

i went through the main aid station a little quicker than them after that loop, and took off on the next lap by myself. during the 2nd loop, night actually started to set in and it was time to turn on the headlamp. at some point i realized that the batteries in my lamp were running kind of low (i had spares), but at that point, claud ran up behind me. we ran together through the end of the second loop.

the third loop was when it started to get interesting. it rained. the rain felt fantastic, but it completely changed the nature of the course. the mud made everything slippery, and the humidity after the rain was noticeable.

as i was filling up my water bottle at the main aid station at the end of my fourth loop, i overheard brad, the race director, make a comment to the effect that i might able to give amanda a challenge. i found that kind of amusing because i knew i was behind her, but i thought i was closer to a mile behind her. at the approximately half-way aid station on loop #5, i rolled in and saw amanda. she looked at me, made some comment to the tune of, 'oh my gosh,' and then bolted out of the aid station. it came as a complete surprise to me to see her.

ultrarunning has been making me realize that at my core i do have a very competitive side. if you put a rabbit in front of me that far into a race, apparently i will chase it. i caught amanda about a mile later and made it back to the main aid station before her. while i was filling my bottles, she hit the timing mat and headed straight back out on the course without refilling anything. i think i've always been the one running scared, but at that moment, i kind of knew someone was running scared of me. if that doesn't make adrenaline scream through your system, i don't know what will.

i took off and caught her again about 0.25 miles later...and then i took off running scared. the course was still slippery and it was frustrating to have to slow down to account for that. i filled my water bottle at the half-way aid station and took off running faster than i thought was normal for already having at least 35 miles on my legs. the course weaves along and has switchbacks (although they're not for going uphill), so i could see other people's headlamps in the dark occasionally. every time i saw one that was nearby, i'd pick up the pace a little bit hoping no one was gaining on me.

i finished in ~8:10. if you do the pace calculations on this, the time per mile is pretty slow. some of the 30k-ers earlier in the day said that their gps's measured the loop as closer to 6.75 miles instead of 6.2 (10k). joe measured the course with a wheel though and that said that course was 6.2 miles. no one really knows. ultras in general are always their stated distance with an error of plus or minus a few miles, though rarely are they minus a few.

joe came over to shake my hand when i finished and he said, what are you second? i thought he meant second female, and i said i didn't know. i thought amanda was first and she was behind me now. when we finally got to look at the results, i was 2nd overall and 1st female overall. the race ended up with a finish rate of 50% (it might have been less).

i hung out for a bit after the race and then drove back to austin. as i hadn't slept in almost 24 hours, i knew i needed to be careful on the road. at one point i was driving through some construction when i saw headlights headed straight at me. i slowed down and pulled between the barrels onto the shoulder of the road. the guy had stopped and he looked very confused. i too was very confused and freaking out thinking that i had just driven down the wrong side of the road. i hadn't. this guy had started going the wrong way up the other lane of the highway. despite the fact that he had stopped, i didn't want to stop and say anything to him because it was 4:45a and i was by myself in a not-so-populated area of texas. moral of the story: be careful driving in the wee hours of the morning. there are crazy people out there.

i slept for about 5 hours and then went to church for a bit. then it was time to pack. yes, that's right. vacation in austin is over. and lucky me, i moved back on the night of the monthly house meeting! i knew i should have waited until today. it took two car trips to get my stuff back to my coop and then a few of my housemates helped me move my bed and shelf. i took people to amy's afterwards to say thanks.

it has been a fantastic summer so far and i look forward to three more amazing weeks. thanks to everyone who has been part of the adventure with me. today, i leave you with the following quote:

"we do not think ourselves into new ways of living. we live ourselves into new ways of thinking"
~richard rohr