CAMP REPORT!!!

I am, as many of you probably already noticed, not an especially good blogger. I'm not one for detailed and illustrative descriptions and insights, and this report will be no different. The upshot of it is that I had an absolute blast and met lots of incredibly cool people whose collective experience and wisdom I tried to take advantage of. I received a lot of advice, which can be boiled down to: "do everything just exactly so and you will do great." For example, start conservatively but not too conservatively. I did actually get a lot of good and useful information -- I'm sort of kidding about what I just wrote a second ago.

The camp is broken into three days of running. The first day we ran about 28 miles and the portion of the race known as "the canyons." The canyons consist of steep descents and ascents in what is typically unbearable heat. The training run saw moderately bearable cold and rain. It was a soggy and muddy run. (See pics below). The terrain of this section is definitely hard and physically will be a great challenge. I look forward to seeing how I handle it come race day.

This picture shows that Montanans and Californians aren't all that different. Evidently, we all have the same brilliant idea to take old appliances into the woods and shoot 'em. Heartwarming, isn't it? (I posted an identical picture not too long ago that was taken locally).
This may look sort of like a river but it's mud. And it's tough to capture the steepness of some of the downhills but it was steep and muddy. Not ridiculously slippery or anything -- I don't want to exaggerate -- but I was ridiculously cautious. My ankles took a beating this weekend. On Saturday I was observing some large pine cones which made me think of Ted and how he frequently keeps pine cones and suddenly I was consumed by a love seizure when BOOOM!!! I turned my right ankle and was wincing in pain. It ended up not being a big deal but I kept turning the darn ankle again and again all weekend. I hate to complain though since a guy I had JUST met that day destroyed his ankle and then went hypothermic ambling to transportation out of the woods. While I'm on the subject of that story, Chris, who will pace me, was a very important part of this guy's eventual path to safety and I have even increased confidence that I'm in good hands. Granted, Chris was volunteering as a course sweep and that was his job. . . but he did a great job helping the guy.

Day two was a lovely and easy run of about 18-19 miles from the aid station where I get to pick up Chris (Foresthill) to the River Crossing. The sun came out and I turned my other ankle a couple times to even things out. The third day was another easy pleasant run of about 21 miles -- Chris was sweeping again, along with a few other cool folks, so I took the role of "sweep groupie" and hung with them for the third and final run. It was tougher than I had anticipated though since the sweeps walked slowly then ran quickly to catch the last runner. It was reminiscent of a speedworkout, except without the blazing speed part :-) I was tired though.
Above I am showing you "No Hands Bridge." I was thinking to myself "I really hope I am here again next month." It's a weird feeling to actually be in a spot on the course (this one is very near the finish) and wonder whether you will actually make it that far. I look forward to testing my mental fortitude next month. I am increasingly appreciating that I can't control or predict all the physical stuff. I am trained -- but could break my ankle or something. I'm not going to obsess about that. It's the mental aspect that I can control and that I can prepare for. To make a long rambly musing about mental strength short, I'm excited about seeing if I can do it.
Above is Chris, who I mentioned before. He's good at reassuring me continually through email or verbally over the weekend. I've been a little needy lately I think. Sometimes I need a little more encouragement and reassurance than is probably normal for an adult who has made it as far in life as I have. Oh well!!!

So this is a smattering of my weekend at camp. Here are all my pictures:

Pictures -- they're not in order btw