Summer in the Northern Rockies

I had already made plans to travel with my friend Amber to Banff to visit Keith, and while I was feeling pretty bummed out I decided to go ahead with my plans and head north.

 Saturday we intended to hike near Lake Louise but mudslides prevented our plans.  My newish Banff friends Stormy and her husband Phillip recommended an alternate hike, Bourgeau Lake (I think), and it was lovely (they came too which was super fun).  We had a nice hike though it was pretty cold and rainy.

 I had the opportunity to gear-test my new rain pullover, and I will write a review at some point.  Ultimately I was very pleased.

 Sunday the skies were bluer and the air was warmer and so we went on a 2.5 hour road bike ride around the area.  We did the Minnetonka (I think) Lake loop and around Tunnel Mountain and other places.  It was pretty and pleasant.

I've been on the road far too much and am looking forward to being home at least part of the weekend this weekend.  It's a good diversion I guess.

Eulogy for Zeke (by Ted)

Zeke died yesterday afternoon of an unknown illness. We got him within a year after we married and he accompanied us through several moves from our first apartment together in Chicago all the way to our home in Montana. He made us a family. It may sound strange, but it's fitting somehow that his end has some mystery about it since he was always a little mysterious - we never knew his age and knew very little about his background. He was often a little aloof, inscrutable and vaguely wild which made his obvious affection and gentleness towards us all the more meaningful.

Zeke was a leap of faith. We didn't intend to actually take him home when we set out to see this dog we'd heard needed a home. He rewarded that leap with deep memories of love, joy and amusement over the years that we were his pack. I only wish we had had more time together.

He was a beautiful, gentle and loving being who deserved all the good things that came to him and none of the bad.

We miss you sorely, Zekey.

The Devil's Backbone -- 2011

 I returned to Bozeman/Big Sky for the Devil's Backbone, a laid back and small 50 miler that features some of the most stunning scenery in the world.  Last year I initially planned to run the entire 50 but dropped to the 25 mile distance.  I vowed I'd return this year fit and awesomely ready for the full distance.  I managed to show up even more out-of-shape than last year.  The combination of time off due to my stupid toe and my related weight gain make for a bad combo.  Nonetheless it was all kinds of awesome.

 It took me 7:30 to cover approximately 22-24 miles... I overslept and showed up late to the start, which did nothing to move me along at a remotely respectable pace.  It was actually both relaxing and demoralizing to start the race late.  I managed to catch someone after a couple hours (maybe not that long?) but then she dropped.  After that I just fell further behind and thought it rude to set out for the second half when I'd shown up late AND undertrained.  I could have done the distance but would have been out there quite awhile.  Better to stop while "ahead" so to speak...

I also had a wonderful time in Bozeman.  I stayed with Nikki Kimball, who is a superstar ultrarunner and also one of the coolest chicks ever.  It was fun hanging out and getting to know her a little better.

I'm absolutely convinced that I live in the most beautiful place in the world.  Sure, there are no Ethiopian restaurants, even in Bozeman or Missoula, but Montana is tough to beat. 

On a different and sort of sad note, my puppy Zeke (who is 11-12 or so now...) is having health issues of some kind (possibly Addison's disease) so please send good healing positive vibes out for my buddy.  It's only sort of sad because it sounds like he can probably be treated.  But it's hard not to worry.

our favorite boy Zeke

Glacier Challenge and Missoula Marathon

Saturday my friend Corey and I competed as a duo in an adventurey race called the Glacier Challenge.  This involved me running 6.5 miles, her kayaking a few miles, me road biking 13ish, her mountain biking 8ish, me road biking another 9ish, us canoeing 4ish and me running a final 2.5.  We were "Beer and Bacon" and had so much fun. 

Corey and me holding our paddles backwards

 Dave Chenault was kind enough to crew for us as he leaves tomorrow for the Alaskan Wilderness Classic.  Just google it.  You think I do crazy things -- this guy does REALLY crazy things.   Like, there are no trails where he is going.  And he has to navigate.  That would spell disaster for me.

Team Beer and Bacon

These following photos were taken by our friend Russ who is a real photographer (with a huge camera):



Um, how do I get in?  I don't know how to canoe...

Mmmm beer at last!!!  This is what it's all about.

We wouldn't have been able to do this without Dave Chenault's help

Sunday I ran the Missoula Marathon as a training run and must say that Missoula is a fantastic marathon.  Flawless organization, beautiful and fast course, good aid stations, great finish line, free beer, no complaints.  I "Gallowalked" my way through and remarked that it has earned its title as "best marathon" given by Runners World magazine.  I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a smaller but world-class marathon.  Also, I was able to register on Thursday night and one can still register the day before at the expo.  Perfect for last-minute folks like me.

4th of July Weekend

This past weekend I went to Fernie for some mountain biking, and wish I had brought my camera.  The views were amazing and it was pretty awesome.  Oh well.  Ted and I then did a short overnight hiking trip in the Yaak.  First we had a couple beers at the Dirty Shame Saloon in Yaak.  That is always a good thing to do before embarking on a warm weathered hike without a map.  After 7 miles, we found our backcountry site at one of the Fish Lakes 4 miles from the trailhead.

 There is a neat waterfall en route.  The hike is at low elevation in a canyon, which means no snow which is why we chose this hike.  I don't think either of us had been in the Yaak and it's a beautiful area.  Super remote.  So remote I half expected we'd run into that weird anti-government fugitive guy who is somewhere around in the woods.

the view from our campsite

 I brought a Walgreens floatie, my provisional packraft, and floated around on the lake.  I found that to be extremely relaxing and rewarding.  I was able to paddle out to an area of the lake that was loud with bird action and quiet with people noises.  As I laid there on my floatie a bald eagle flew overhead.  (Chanting USA! USA!) (ok kidding about the chanting part).

my "packraft" and oar

the blue blob is me I think

All in all a great weekend and the dogs were sufficiently tired.  We were exhausted too.  Evidently there was something large and loud crashing around camp during the night but the two dogs and I slept right through it (all four of us were crammed in our little tent, which poor Ted up terrified of bears or monsters).

Almost July in Montana -- Makin' Plans!

This has been a "cool Spring" and the snowpack was above normal this winter.  This makes for an interminable shoulder season.  Yet, staying inside and doing nothing isn't an option (unless you want to cry) so you have to make the best with your minimal options.  Right now that means playing at low elevations, doing one of three possible hikes in Glacier National Park (like Avalanche Lake, which I've now done thrice and NO MORE this year...) and bike riding Going to the Sun Road.  OK there are more things to do but these are the things I've been doing.

Near Siyeh Bend

While waiting for the skies to turn blue and for the sun to melt the snow, I've been contemplating my goals (the trivial ones like running anyhow -- I don't have grand life goals or anything... I'm fine without them right now).  I really enjoy goal setting, even if I don't always follow through.  I'm reading a book that encourages the goal-setter to set really agressive dream goals -- that makes them more fun and possibly more worth going for.  I think this is really true.  The times I've agressively pursued goals were when I didn't really know if they were possible.  For example, qualifying for Boston seemed like a stretch since I'm such an unathletic and soft and slow runner.  But, I just worked at it and did it within a couple of years of setting out to achieve.  As a result I'm still faster than I would have been if I had just assumed I'd always be doomed to slowness.  Now I don't even think, in hindsight, that the goal was all that agressive.  It seemed like it though at the time. 

So what the heck are my goals now?  The first and most immediate goal is to really get back into shape by September.  I want to get my running ramped up, weight training ramped up and my eating improved.  I say this a lot so it's sort of boring but you never know, maybe one of these days I'll surprise everyone and actually follow through.

My brother Dave

My most important near goal is finishing Susitna next winter.  Heck, rather than just finish I'd like to (at least try) to finish under 35 hours so as to minimize the time I'm out the second night.  That increases the brutality I think (running two nights). 

Even more immediately I think I am for sure going to sign up for Slickrock 100 and train up for it.  I started my training Monday, which involved turning the alarm clock off... but Tuesday morning I got up and ran my 10 miler and then hiked in the Park with my brother Dave, who was in town visiting.  Yesterday I did some speedwork and weights and tonight I will do a 2 hour mountain bike ride.  I also would like to hike around Mt. Ranier with my friend Dave, who scored me the sweetest uber lightweight gore-tex pullover EVER for my birthday.  I just need to do a gear test.  I LOVE GEAR!  Yay me.  It makes goal setting that much more fun because my goals often require new gear.  See how that works?

My supersweet birthday gift from my friend Dave

I'm going backpacking with my friend Meghan in September and my goal is to already be well trained and fit by then so I can keep up and have the strength to carry all my extra GEAR I will want to bring (just kidding Meghan I will pack light I promise.... I love to buy ultralightweight gear and will bring the above lightweight rain jacket).

So, I have lots of fun things planned and some goals.  My dream goals?  I don't want to share because when I write them down they actually seem pretty reasonable.  I'll just tell you that I have a couple I might work on next year.

Third "Two Bear" Run

 It was a cold rainy muddy run down memory lane last weekend.  I recited my Bear poem for Tom and promised I'd make a You Tube video... I lied I'm going to do no such thing but I will pen my word art for you:

Bear, Oh Bear!
Into my friend Tom's flesh you did tear.
Why?  Oh why?
"because he was there"

Ruth, Mary Ann, me, Allison, Tom, Leanne

The sun has finally come out and I'm hopeful that the snow will melt and it will somday soon be possible to hike in the high country.  This sort of spring is all about patience.

I am thinking about an October 100 -- there's a new race in Utah near Moab called Slickrock or something.  Devil's Backbone is coming up in a few weeks.  I'm anxious to get back into the mix.

Dads Rock

I am my father's daughter, and I sure hope my Dad lives forever because I cannot imagine this world without him.  I must also mention that my father-in-law is one of the smartest, sweetest men I've ever met.  I'm pretty blessed.


Me, my dad and my brother "Doot Doot" (aka David)



A dubious pre-party

It has been two years since my friend Tom was bitten by the teenaged punk grizzly bear.  The anniversary run will be this weekend, a bit later, but Deb Callie and I figured we'd have a pre-party and hit our favorite early season low-elevation spot in the Park.  Of couse, never mind that it's mid-JUNE and it's basically like late April or May.  It is grey, wet and cool here.

Lots of snapped off tree-tops

It appears that there was a fair bit of drama in the woods this winter -- lots of freshly snapped off tree-tops and a delicious woody fragrance everywhere.  This picture is not necessarily newly disturbed trees but the views to the left of the trail are much more open this year than in prior years.

I have nearly identical pictures from at least four years now I think

I hadn't seen Callie since the Salmon Marathon last fall.  This is insane to me.  But I don't feel like we've missed a beat.  Good friends are like that.

didn't eat it but do you know what it is?

expecting an Ewok to jump out

Ewoks are somewhere

I am deperately longing for summer.  I want to go backpacking.  I want to be hot and feel the sun.  The weekend of summer only whet my appetite.  It's not promising to get better this month.  Ugh.

The coolest thing EVER

Today I recieved a box from someone I haven't had the pleasure of meeting.  Inside was this fabulous "Susitna 84 Finisher 2011" mug and a very thoughtful postcard from a blog reader (who is way more articulate than I am by the way).

I feel like I won suddenly :-)

Said blog reader, a Susitna enthusiast, while trying to think of something to make at the make-your-own pottery store after her kid demanded to know "aren't you going to make something?", thought to make this!

happy stars!

She hasn't done Su yet but is "under the spell" after having lived in Alaska.  It's funny because I was trying to describe to my friend this weekend the power that this race (and other similar arctic ultras and Alaska generally) has over people.  There's something other-worldy about Su that's entirely different from your typical dry-trail ultra.

This purple sky is happy!

"Endurance" postcard

I truly think everyone who is thinking about or is interested in Susitna should GO FOR IT. Especially you friend.  Because that way I can meet you in February and say thank you in person.  Don't worry parents, I will send a proper thank-you card.

Happy happy joy joy happy happy joy joy....

Yesterday my Bozeman friend Emily and I did nearly 2.5 hours of hiking/running  and I did take pictures but I don't have a USB cable to download them from my camera.  Today I ran part of the Old Gabe 50k course (and determined that I will drop down to the shorter distance -- 50k of THAT would certainly kill me).  All told I got in more than 4 hours of blissful trail time this beautiful sunny warm weekend.  Boy I've missed running.  And trails.  And sun.  Oh sun. 

 I was completely and utterly blissed out on both runs.  Being able to run again is like being reunited with a good friend.  There is no substitute for the feeling of flying down the trail by foot.

I am so happy to be back.  I just need to be careful and not hurt myself again.  I love you running!  I love you sunshine!  I love you warm air!  I love you Bozeman!

Getting Older

Friday night Ted and I went to Missoula for a concert (Modest Mouse).  Although Modest Mouse is one of my favorite bands, I had no idea they were going to be in Missoula.  In fact, I only learned of this through co-workers at the work retreat I attended the prior weekend in Red Lodge.  I now rely on my 40+ year old law partners for intel on cool stuff that's happening.
 
I was signed up to run the Pocatello 50k Saturday (yesterday), but it was clear to me that even if my toe could handle it, which was doubtful, a 50k after 7 weeks off of running was a bad idea.  I only struggled a little with this decision.  I know it takes me longer these days to recover from injury and am comfortable playing it conservatively.  I ran 2 whole miles in Red Lodge and my toe was sore afterwards.  So, to protect me from myself, I went online and bought tickets to the concert (at about double the normal ticket price since it had long been sold out.)

The concert was pretty decent but I quickly started complaining to Ted about the sound.  "Maybe if we move over this way it will sound better."  "Nope." 

Ted became convinced that there was skunk nearby.  He insisted it was a skunk.   In fact, many of the Patagonia clad college students in this incredibly homogeneous crowd were creating this smell, but Ted was (at first at least) innocently oblivious.

Immediately after the concert we went to our room and conked out.  It was a really long day. Ted had been up since 5 a.m. having gone to work super early.  Ted barely survived yesterday he was so tired.

I think maybe we are getting old.  Or, maybe I am just old enough to now admit that I am totally *not* cool and probably never was.

In more positive news. Sonja and I ran for an hour yesterday in the mud and so long as I wear my Hokas, which are essentially clown shoes with super thick soles, I seem to be no worse for the wear. 

So, I'm off for a couple weeks for work.  This time Bozeman.  I'll try to do something that appears adventurous so I can post pictures here on my blog and assure myself that I'm super cool. :-)

The Curse of the Itchy Footed

Quantrill's Raid (some Lawrence history fer ya)

I just got back from a brief family vacation (with my brother and dad) that ended with a quick visit to my hometown of Lawrence, Kansas.  Each time that I visit Lawrence, where I lived from ages 9-23, I feel downright funny in an overly-emotional/quasi-nostalgic sort of way.  Maybe it's because I have no family there anymore, or maybe it's because I no longer run into people I know when I walk down the main street downtown.  Maybe it's because most of the most tumultuous and impactful years of my life were spent there and I haven't yet figured out exactly how to archive those memories.  Many of them involve my mom, who died just a few months before I moved away for good. 

When I go to Lawrence, it's a flood of nondescript but strong feelings.  I am reminded of all the friends that I am no longer close to, which feels like (right or wrong) a personal failure.  I am reminded of what humid body-temperature air feels like at dusk and my friend's completely fabricated girlfriend Star (I think that was her name).  I am reminded of what it feels like to be approximately 13-22 (i.e. batshit crazy).  Those little "non-pareils" come to mind -- which I bought at Penny Annie's and binged on in the fifth grade (they look like Hershey's kisses but they're mint and have little white sprinkes on the bottom).

(It is no coincidence that I have a strong affinity for midwestern country gravel roads.  They are different from other country roads).

I feel deeply connected to the place, yet have no real connections there anymore.  It's really no longer "my town" in any discernible way, though there's no other place I identify with more closely than Lawrence.  I suppose this disconnect from "home" is the curse of the itchy-footed.

Be Brave, Be Strong

I spent the majority of my day, such that it was after sleeping late, reading a copy of my friend Jill Homer's yet-to-be-published second book "Be Brave Be Strong."  I obnoxiously demanded that she let me preview it, and she kindly indulged my demand.  "Be Brave, Be Strong" is about Jill's Tour Divide experience, wherein she rode her mountain bike from Banff, AB to Mexico.  The Tour Divide occurred on the heels of a highly traumatic end of an eight year relationship that blindsided Jill and catapulted her into the world alone and somewhat directionless.  Jill's account of the Tour Divide is beautifully written and a great read -- but it's really the honest and emotional if heart-wrenching backstory that sets it apart from your typical adventure story.  I hope she doesn't edit all of that out, which I think she is considering given the deeply personal nature of it.  Finding her way after the break-up is truly the bravest thing she did that summer and thereafter -- and she unquestionably exhibited strength in the process.

I felt inspired after reading Jill's book to finally get off my ass and go outside.  I rode the logging roads in Herron Park for about an hour this evening, and enjoyed time spent with an empty head.  I thought about nothing.  I just grinded my way up and up until it seemed like time to turn around.  It was a zen sort of ride. 

Trying More New Things

I'm all about trying new things.  Since I broke my toe and got an unfortunate taste of the afflication known as "not being able to ambulate well for 4+ weeks" (which I last had circa 2003 when I sprained my SI joint), I figured I'd better find yet another activity that allows me to be outside and get some fresh air.  Sure, I have a road bike, and I've taken it out for a spin or two since breaking my toe, but I much prefer to be in the woods these days.  Also, a broken toe seems like the best reason for more gear.  Meet "BT" (named for Brokey the Toe). 

I bought BT from my friends Brenda and Dave in Banff.  It was Brenda's bike (Brenda's Toy, aka BT), and it was single speed, but now it's a regular hard tail mountain bike and it's mine.  (Jamis Exile).  I had my first mountain bike ride since around 1993 on Sunday when I met up with Dave in Fairmont Hot Springs, BC.  Much to my surprise, my Banff friends Keith and Leslie were also there, which was a huge treat.  We went on a mountain bike ride and it was so incredibly awesome.  I didn't have my camera sadly.  The above picture is from my ride in Herron Park tonight.  My friend Matt came up with a new Herron Hustle course and so I checked it out (I am afterall the race director so I should at least see what the course is :p) and it was awesome.  BUT... some observations about mountain biking (from an absolute newbie):

1)  It's really really hard.  Running is physically so much easier.  Going up hills is hard.  Maybe I just need to develop some new muscles or figure out how to work the gears?  I think it's just hard work. 

2)  Going downhill is really hard if you're not an adrenaline junkie - which I am not.  I hope I don't wear out my brakes too fast.  Good thing I bought a used bike relatively inexpensively.  I'd be scared if I had a fancy new bike (which I was originally thinking I should definitely purchase).

3)  You can't space out like you can running.  Mountain biking requires your full attention.  It's mentally challenging.  You have to look ahead and not look away.  Maybe with practice one can do more gazing off in the distance, but I certainly must pay attention.  That's hard for me.  I'm possibly ADDish.



Herron Park has so much new single track -- it is so very awesome

I did bike this slightly faster than I would be able to run it, but not much.  I already knew mountain biking isn't necessarily faster than running.  I'm sure really awesome mountain bikers are fast, but I probably never will be.  Finally, I can see that some trails might be better for mountain biking while some should still be for hiking or trail running.  Technical trails that are really steep would be so hard as to not be worth it to me.  I think.

Anyhow, I'm pretty excited about my new toy.  And I will soon go to the vet to get another x-ray of my toe to see if it's healed.  I tried running on the dreadmill this morning and it hurt so I stopped.  I think outside running might be better.  Dunno.

In conclusion, I should inform you that Ted just asked me: "HOW COULD I HAVE MARRIED YOU WHEN YOU HAVEN'T SEEN ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN?  HOW DID I NOT KNOW THAT?"

Have you seen Attack of the 50 Foot Woman?