California Uber Alles

Jill in the Cloud on Black Mountain

This weekend I finally went to visit Jill in her new (relatively new) home in California.  I've felt like a slacker friend, having never really been out to see her since she moved to be near her Swiss beau Beat (he grew up in Germany, and exhibits the occassional German tendency towards order and all that, hence the hilarity of the Dead Kennedys song title).

Jill showing me something?



I arrived on Friday afternoon and she showed me one of her local haunts, which is Black Mountain, the mountain for which "Mountain View" is evidently named.  Because you can see Black Mountain.  Very near to where Jill lives is a fairly extensive system of trails and fire roads that allow for endless trail stuff (walking, running, biking on the bike legal portions).  Very nice.

Pic by Jill - Pt. Reyes National Seashore

 On Saturday we picked up Jill's friend Leah and drove to the Pt. Reyes National Seashore where we did a half marathon distance hike.  We enjoyed spectacular views of the Pacific and I enjoyed the beautiful hilly California coastline.  There is no shortage of spectacular views out there.  Nor is there a shortage of delicious pastries -- I slowly devoured a bear claw as my trail food.

 On Sunday we ran the "Skyline to Sea" trail, which starts up in the Santa Cruz mountains and ends at the sea.  We didn't follow the formal trail precisely, but did go through an incredible Redwood forest.  I kept my eyes peeled for Ewoks.

 We met up with some other friends a little more than half way and it was sort of me and Jill keeping up with the exuberant boys.  I had a weird episode where I was telling Jill I was having trouble keeping up (I believe I was complaining that it wasn't a "fun pace," whatever that means) and my entire throat closed up for less than 20 seconds and I couldn't breathe or talk.  It wasn't asthma (which I have) and it wasn't like anything I've ever experienced.  Once I relaxed, aided by the realization that Jill was a tad concerned, I was totally fine.  Weird, huh?  I think it might have been triggered by the slow acid upheaval of my breakfast all morning?  Dunno.  Anyhow, I lived and it was good.  Or, I have some sort of psychiatric disorder triggered by unfun paces.

Pic by Jill

 When the week was all said and done, I'd run about 80 miles.  The last time I had an 80 mile week was the first time I trained for Western States, or really the last time I trained for anything.  That was several years ago.  I feels sort of good to get some miles in.  Of course, now I'm sore and tired... but really the best part is that I got to spend some quality Jill time and catch up a bit.

Pic by Beat

pic by Jill

Anyhow, it was a great weekend of sun, running and Jill and Beat.  Thanks Jill.  Thill.  I also had the chance to catch up briefly with my friend Rachel, who was my roomate in college for a year and Euro-travel-buddy when I studied in France.  It was so great to see her -- haven't had the opportunity for a couple years now.  I didn't get to do everything I'd like to do, which obviously means I will have to go back soon.

Eleven Miles to Paradise (and musings about my paradise)

Me and Allison, near the end of the run

This weekend my friend Allison and I went to the Paradise Valley of Montana for an 11 mile race called "11 Miles to Paradise."  It follows lovely single track along the Clark Fork River, which is truly beautiful country.  We made a girls' weekend of it, drinking lots of beer at Quinn's Hot Springs Resort on Saturday night.  It was a lot of fun and great to hang out with Alli, who has moved to Helena for work and I don't get to see as often as I would like.  Unfortunately the beer consumption made for a somewhat uncomfortable run, but we managed to finish and I enjoyed myself.

I don't like wet feet, ok?

My friend Dave just blogged about another blog and I am going to blog about Dave's blog of the blog.  Awesome, right?  Except rather than go into a detailed explanation of the genesis of these following comments, I'll just get to the point.  You may notice that Danni & Ted's Adventures is primarily about Danni's adventures.  In large part this is because Ted doesn't actually write blog posts -- if he did you'd know what he was up to - but obviously my running and such doesn't normally involve Ted.  While I'm sure it would be fun if he wanted to do all the same stuff I do (if it didn't just create conflict), it's really fun nonetheless and I probably better appreciate my Ted time.  We don't have to do everything together all the time.  Really.

I enjoy the opportunity to go have fun with my friends, and appreciate how supportive Ted is of my activities and social-butterfly inclinations.  I also value my time with Ted, even if that time is never spent running (in the proverbial chase, Ted would rather be caught than run -- and that might be only a slight exaggeration).  We are coming up on our tenth wedding anniversary in August, and I've been reflecting more and more on what makes our marriage so incredibly awesome (except for the rare occassions where we quarrel, the rarity of which really just makes me better appreciate the awesomeness).  I think while there are some inequities in terms of who does the housework and all that (i.e. Ted does almost all of it, which I truly am trying to be better about) we, on the whole, balance each other and work well together so that ultimately we can still truly enjoy each others' company (I enjoy his at least).  Ying and yang my friends.

So really, Paradise?  (See, I am trying to tie this all together in a theme somehow).  Paradise is the fact that I can enjoy time with friends, enjoy doing things I enjoy doing, and then enjoy being with Ted and have it all.  Life is grand.  Thanks Ted.  I sure love that man.

Don't Fence Me In

I finally had the opportunity to run the "Don't Fence Me In" 30k put on by/for the Prickly Pear Land Trust in Helena, Montana.  This run is about 19.1 miles with more than 4,000 of total elevation gain.  Helena has an extensive trail system that begins in the downtown basically, which is really cool and unique. 

The day was perfect, with cool morning temperatures and clear skies.  I was feeling pretty sluggish after a long difficult week (work and travel wise) so I had no expectations other than to enjoy the day outside.  I certainly enjoyed the day outside, though the course was pretty tough with relentless up and down.  There really wasn't anything flat to speak of.  It was pretty apparent that I'm not in tip top shape... in fact I'm really not feeling so hot these days.

The course is beautiful though with a mix of forest and meadow, mostly on buff singletrack.  The competition seemed pretty fierce with none of my super fast friends even coming in top three in their respective genders (and by fast I mean people who have been known to win or place high at major trail races).  That made me feel better about eeking in somewhere near the back of the pack in 4:22 (somewhere between a 13:30 and 14:00 average pace).  Or maybe I'm just making excuses for myself.  I did spend the majority of the race contemplating what a suffer-fest San Juan Solstice 50 will be if I don't get my act together in short order.  San Juan Solstice has more than 13,000 feet of gain at high altitude, climbing north of 13,000 feet.  This alone might kill me.  So, in a fit of terror I also ran 22 miles on Sunday to bring my week up to 57 miles, a hefty jump from the 15ish/week I've been phoning in.... I think more than miles I need to do hill repeats though.  Does anyone have suggestions for an effective hill workout?  SJ 50 is June 23 so I have about 4-5 training weeks.  Or is it hopeless?

This is a horrible picture of me and my pasty chubby legs but as you can see maybe I also took a hard fall during the race on a fast downhill.  I need to watch where I'm going it seems. 

Finally, last week I visited my Grandmother in the Daytona area and got in a few 8ish mile runs on the beach.  One day it was 95.  I started off being grumpy about the heat but found that if I relaxed a little and opened my mind it wasn't so bad.  In fact it was pretty awesome.  The beach is neato.