.~accounts~of~madness~.

jimmy buffet meets fruit of the loom

2008-08-09T03:44:00.000-07:00

part fundraiser, part celebration, part running event, last week's city of hope "underwear affair" was quite the sideshow. a charity run to raise awareness of "cancers below the waist", the race allowed for an interesting experience for runners and spectators alike. when else can people run the streets of la (closed to traffic!) wearing nothing but their undergarments?

i learned of the "skivvy run" through my dear friend george, runner extraordinaire and prostate cancer survivor. besides sponsorship and invaluable tips on how to get the best fake butt-tan, i offered my support by joining him for the entire saturday afternoon (as his "cheerleader"), and we couldn't have had more fun.

it was the first running of the event in la, and on our way back to oc i suggested he come back next year and start a "streak". we looked at each other realizing the double entendre of what i had just said and laughed.

more informtation about the event can be found on its official website, http://www.uncoverthecure.org/.

the perfect word: a fruitless quest

2008-07-23T03:27:00.000-07:00

my dear aunt karla once again enlightened me with her wisdom: "there is no perfect word. the greatest word is the one that defies the pull of perfection, spontaneously conveying that which the mind unconsciously yearns for."

Sem essa da palavra ou fala perfeita. Isso não existe, aliás nunca existiu. Em comunicação a grande palavra é aquela que escapa à perfeição, é daí que vem o bom texto. Quase falar como se fala, esconder ou ter inconsciente alguma coisa do pensamento que norteia. Na vida é sempre assim: ..."a harmonia está no lance, do lance vem a construção do mundo."

i'm done waiting for the perfect word in order to reply to an email or compose a blog post, or return a phone call. the perfectionist lives in a dull, never ending state of waiting for something; and perfection comes not even upon death. there's no perfect occasion to wear those super hip retro bell-bottoms, hand-made vest or fresh out-of-the-box pair of salomon xt wings. life goes on while i'm paused waiting for the perfect moment to speak my mind. or the perfect alignment of stars and planets to finally allow myself the simple pleasure of reading a book i so impatiently checked the mail box everyday for. the time is now.

"right now catch that magic moment
do it right here and now
it means everything" -van halen, right now

so i blog. right now. i still think most of the people that end up reading my ramblings are accidental visitors, brought in by the fast streaming google waters, looking for serious running advice and instead being delivered pictures of blistered toes and feet that invariably seem to have a number of toenails that is always less than the number of toes. but lately i've actually had quite a few people telling me they miss reading my ramblings. some i wasn't even aware knew i had a blog.

i enjoy writing. i never did when i was in school. my papers were always returned to me peppered with the teacher's cruel, red and loud evidence of my grammatical offenses. semantics generally elicited a puzzling sequence of question marks (all red, of course).

now, as an adult, i'm learning that choosing silence for fear of imperfection would be the gravest mistake.

the price of a good night's sleep

2008-03-27T03:57:00.000-07:00

i've got it all figured out now. according to this month's issue of health magazine and their cereal box psychology, i need a few essential items to turn my bedroom into a more "soothing" place and promote restful sleep:

1. a pair of natural-fiber pajamas (and i eat my fiber?): light pima cotton cami and boxers, $66 and $40 ("pima" and "cami" were words used in the article, so i'm assuming they exist).

2. an old-fashioned alarm clock, $69 (it seems the bright displays on modern clocks disrupts sleep, and my guess is simply covering it with a book violates some basic feng-shui law).

3. a chamomile and lavender jar candle, $18 (can i skip the bed-time chamomile tea, then?)

4. a multivitamin hand and nail treatment, $22.50 (there seems to be a trend here: i'm ingesting stuff meant to be applied topically, worn, or otherwise snorted).

5. a french organic lavender hand cream, $16 (on top of the nail treatment? this is beginning to get way too confusing and complicated).

6. a simple linen knit throw in pure white, $98 (forget the good old blanket. i need something qualified by at least 5 adjectives).

7. a thomas paul zinnia gray pillow, $40 (is the color of utmost importance or gray just the guy's last name? should i google it...?).

8. and finally, so my skin can breathe, i need percale (another word i'm assuming exists) sheets. himmeli bed linens in a soothing soft gray will do. $109 to $129. (hmm... doesn't it seem just obvious that the linen and pillow should match? gray is not the guy's name).

so let's see... that adds up to... $478.50, if i opt for the cheaper linen (smart shopper i am). and if i'm sleeping, then i'm not lowering my literary standards by reading this sort of magazine... ok, i'll go swallow a clonazepam. wait... or i should crush and snort* it?

*disclaimer: this is just a feeble attempt at humor and by no means a prescription, nor even a mere suggestion on my part for anyone to do that. you've been warned.

sweet dreams.

an insomniac's best deal

2008-03-26T07:55:00.000-07:00

motorola razr v3: $120

calling plan with unlimited nights and weekends: $90

a friend you can call at midnight and talk for one hour: priceless

mustard, anyone?

2008-03-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

i am the middle sister. when i turned four i was beginning to develop a personality of my own. just as i found out i was ok the way i was and didn't have to imitate my older sister, i lost the spotlight to my younger sister.

growing up, i was never told to clean my room. homework? forget it. i'd get it done as soon as i was back from school and then make up "my own homework" because however much was assigned by the teachers didn't seem enough to me.

i'd get out of bed every morning before 6am, on my own. i'd follow the smell of coffee and end up in the kitchen, where my father already had the morning gig going: just-brewed coffee, straight-out-of-the-oven french bread (from the downstairs bakery), butter and cheese. these are treasured memories, specially since i left home at 16.

could i be, to this day, still trying to measure up to my sisters? my older sister got married. then she had a daughter. a few years later my younger sister got married. then i got married! soon my younger sister had a son... i chose to remain childless.

we're very close to each other (despite being in ca, ny and fl) and we talk about everything. my parents included. the other day i had a priceless phone conversation with my dad in which we solemnly discussed additional material for "the aristocrats" joke. it involved german toilets and tape worms.

my older sister reigns alone, though. she seems to be the epitome of it all. the messiest house. the funniest excuses. the longest complaints. the weirdest cat. the clumsiest stories. plain drama, all around. the most routine task, shopping for instance, when undertaken by her, turns into one-third of the florida population (all at least twice her age) trying to help her gather ripped plastic bags, scattered groceries and her fallen, bent-out-of-shape bicycle on a street crossing, just as the light turns green. she wipes her slightly bloody knees, as she gets up and tries to make some sense of what just happened. there are cans of corn and spilled milk on the road. don't ask.

so as i posted earlier today, the mustard container exploded in my hands when preparing breakfast this morning. i took pictures and called my sister. after all, i'd just done something so *HER*, that i had to share. she picks up the phone with a sigh. one of those long, you-are-going-to-pity-me sighs. 'what's the matter?' i try to sound concerned. 'you won't believe this...' she says. 'i spent the entire morning cleaning the bathroom. my husband must have been late for work when he realized, right after his morning constitutional, that the toiled was backed up... so a couple of hours later when i got up...' [sigh]

mustard happens...

2008-03-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

can you tell it's monday...?

yes, i'm that slow...

2008-02-29T17:59:00.000-08:00

yesterday i dropped by my friend bill's place to check out his studio. i'd seen him perform before, and i have some of his music on cd, but what a trip to watch him play as he showed me his latest creations. how incredibly refreshing to simply observe someone manifest their talent, the natural outcome of an exercise in passion.

we had lunch at mother's market (i had a scrumptious acai bowl with gobs of honey) and then i ran back home. yes, i ran to his house and back. it was just under 12 miles (total), but i was starting to feel a bit tired on my way back, about 2 miles from home. running suddenly felt like a major effort, and when i checked my garmin (guessing it would display a 10 min/mile, based on my effort level -- that is my "speed work" pace; yes, i'm that slow) it read a 13 min pace. since i was running so slow anyway, i decided to just walk the rest of the way.

i was thrown in for an existential crisis by the fact that it took me just over 27 minutes to get home. "what am i? a (uber)slow runner? a "fast" walker? why would i care? does it matter? should i have just driven there after all then...? yada yada yada...", i just witnessed as the negative self-talk developed... and vanished. then i felt. grateful.

causa mortis: sweat. death -- and rebirth -- of an mp3 player

2008-01-30T18:40:00.000-08:00

only six months after i got my sansa m250 it died on me. #%&*$@!? i was in love with it already! it was tiny (this is pre-shuffle), easy to operate and the 2gb were plenty for me.

sad loss, but no surprise. i sweat like a pig. when i wrote runner's voodoo i was happy to have resuscitated my sweat busted hydration pack. could i save my mp3 player? i don't know. i didn't try. i called sandisk and explained that my sweat might have corroded the power contacts (or whatever). it wouldn't power up on the external battery, but worked fine when connected to the computer. the technician wasn't eager to offer an exchange right away. he first asked me if i had tried a new battery (DUH!!!) then had me update the firmware and format the device. no success (as expected), so i was offered to send it back for a replacement. yay!

even though i took better care of the new one, (i wore it upside down so the usb port and headset jack were somewhat covered, and i wiped it after every run), it still didn't last a year before it died the same death. #%&*$@!? i called sandisk again, but no luck this time. before hanging up i kindly suggested they improved their product, as it is common for people to wear it while exercising... anyway, since it would still work when connected to the computer, i used it as a pen-drive for a while.

then last weekend i decided to open it up and "take a look", what the heck. (i've been taking things apart -- and most of the time putting them successfully back together -- since i was a kid). you know, to satisfy that itching curiosity to see what's inside (c'mon, i'm not the only one). what i did to my sansa was simple, and since it worked, i'm posting a picture here and encouraging anyone to "play" with something they've already resigned to throwing out, before actually doing so. (i repeat and emphasize "already resigned to throwing out").

the red circles show the battery contacts. they were pretty gunky, and i cleaned both with a q-tip dabbed in alcohol. the negative pole, by the usb port, left, was so salty i had to scrape it with a toothpick. i also cleaned some salt/rust from around the circuit battery (red arrow).

i then tested it by carefully holding the aaa battery in place while pressing down on the switch (bottom left, by the negative pole) and it powered on beautifully! now this is very important: in my excitement i broke the lcd when putting the circuit back in its casing, so make sure you keep your cool until the very end, after everything is properly put back together AND tightly closed. well, it works. i just can't see half of the display anymore...

ps: the player now goes in a ziplock bag in my waist pack, as opposed to strapped to my arm.

pier to pier

2007-11-09T17:22:00.000-08:00

yesterday i ran from the newport pier to the huntington pier (pictured below). it was quite a foggy morning. i was experimenting with different electrolyte drinks, and was stationed at a sink refilling my bottle with water and cliff electrolyte powder when i took the pic to the right.

water... please...

2007-11-09T16:09:00.000-08:00

i am all over the place right now my bedroom is a mess the check engine light just came on and i need to tell glenn about it and i did not make that phone call but i made sure to wrap the handset and my note around it with mailing tape. my main coping skill is running but writing helps me as well. i sometimes wonder whether i'll ever feel normal again but of course, what is normal? i tried to make a mobius strip last night but the paper i used was not wide enough and then the ends came unglued anyway. i'm reading that book for the second time. i always am impressed at how the works of godel escher and bach are so intertwined and woven together like the web of a lonely thirsty spider. it just lies there oblivious of the human hand that ruthlessly executes its fate. she was a happy spider, after all.

the riddle

2007-10-05T00:14:00.000-07:00

at first it was curiosity: "what is this?", as i watched a little red square piece of paper make its way to the carpet from steve vai's sound theories cd's liner notes. then surprise, as i read: "valid for one (1) admission for any one (1) meet & greet on the upcoming 2007 steve vai sound theories tour"! (in print so small and blurry i'd make my optometrist proud). having just attended the orange county concert of the tour, it was easier to feel bummed, rather than lucky. my thoughts race. "maybe the tour isn't over yet". "... i could perhaps travel somewhere, and still use the pass". "is the computer on?", "why didn't i find this 4 months ago when i bought the cd?", "wow... i've never won anything!", "how come i didn't know about this?" i spend the next 30 minutes hunched over my laptop, my cell phone glued to my right ear.

results:

fri, oct 5, 8:00 am: united airlines, orange county/nyc
sat, oct 6, 08:00 pm: steve vai, north fork theatre, westbury, ny, section G, row S, seats 1-3

i sit here with antagonizing thoughts and intense feelings that are hard to process. there are implications to my going on this last-minute trip. i'll have to deal with them later. there are also plusses, such as the fact that i'll get to see my parents, my sister and my nephew.

sometimes i feel like all i want is to do is "sail in the wind's eye", as fiery lord byron wrote.

ah, life. in all its grandeur.

mt.disappointment 50k

2007-08-21T01:10:00.000-07:00

without a doubt the hardest race i've ever done. i thought the tahoe rim trail 50k had been a killer, since it took me almost 10 hours to finish the 50k, but the mt. disappointment 50k had me struggling on the course for 11ish hours.

the heat was ruthless, and the stretch of 7 miles -- miles 14-21 -- without aid brought me to despair. about halfway, at mile 17.5, i start to panic. what do i do? turn around, go back and give up? or keep going, dying of thirst and afraid of a heat-stroke? i continued on, putting one foot in front of the other. i knew i was closer to my goal with each step, no matter how slow i was going. getting to the mile 21 aid station i laid down on the picnic table bench, drank tons of water, ate orange and watermelon, rested a bit more and went on my way. i still had to lay down quite a few times along the course, and when i found a creek i got myself soaked from head to toe. it felt GREAT! the last 5 miles were sheer torture, all up, a steep climb on narrow switchbacks when my feet were already screaming for mercy.

i was expecting to be the only one from our running gang at this race, but was really pleasantly surprised to see e-rod, greg, charlie, alexa, michael, eric kp running his first ultra, and steph. they all managed to do better than me (and the news is...?).
since tahoe rim trail headphones have been prohibited during a race, so i'm getting used to running without them. the good thing about it is that i get to talk to a lot of people i wouldn't otherwise talk had i been listening to music. it also a great opportunity to feel one with nature, taking in not only the smells and sights, but the sounds as well.

the only thing worse than the race was driving back home. i drive the speed limit (65mph) on the freeways and that seems to annoy most of the drivers. they flash their lights, tailgate, beep, flip me off, and a host of nice stuff. i got mad about halfway with the cars flying by and took the first exit, driving from buena park to newport beach on surface streets. getting home and taking a shower, i slept like a baby. now it's two months race-free and the 35 miler in november, in santa barbara. supposedly a hard race whose times are comparable to 50 miler times. so i'm expecting at least 12 hours to finish this race.

this morning at 6am i fly to florida, (naples), for a family reunion. we'll be all together after 7 years or so. i'm excited. i'm thinking about not sleeping, since i leave for the airport at 4:45am, and it's already 2:20am. :-)

off to mt. disappointment 50k

2007-08-11T02:31:00.000-07:00

off to mt. disappointment 50k! woohoo!!! and... perfect weather! this will be my 17th race (marathon and longer) and my 12th ultra. pretty cool.

SORRY FOLKS, if i'm a living application of the law of unintended consequences...

namiwalks 2007

2007-07-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

"the most shocking thing about mental illness is how much it is misunderstood".

it's that time of the year... this upcoming october 6th, nami (national alliance on mental illness), is putting on their namiwalks event again. on this day, thousands of concerned citizens in more than 60 communities across the nation will walk together to raise money and awareness about our country's need for a world class treatment and recovery system for the members of its 1 in 5 families that are affected by a mental illness.

click on the picture to sponsor my walk

the simplest thing you can do to help is to visit nami's website and learn something about mental illness today. if you feel more daring, you can wear a silver ribbon and help fight stigma (you're also helping fight stigma if you monitor biased portrayals of people with mental illness in the media). you can also give a tax-deductible gift to NAMI and be part of the help that it brings people everyday.

errands, nattie style

2007-07-09T20:39:00.000-07:00

today i needed to go to the post office get some 2 cent stamps and to the drugstore pick up a prescription. it is a fact that i hate driving. if i can walk somewhere, i will. in addition to that, it is summer, and the small peninsula on which i live gets crowded beyond control during this time of year. it can take up to an hour just to cross the bridge over here, and getting to my apartment is no easy task either, when the streets are completely packed with tourists.

so in about the same style as in "tuesday's urban challenge" last october, i decided to forget the car and run the errands on foot. complete running apparel, waist water pack, and money. the stop and the post office was quick, and i stored the stamps in my waist pack. then on to cvs, used the blood pressure machine to check my blood pressure (which was low as usual), picked up my prescription and decided to make a pit stop at pizza bravo to have my favorite mediterranean pizza. back on the way home i smile at the view of the packed bridge and packed streets. i get home and feel great for not having driving, and for having put on 7 miles on my feet, instead.

preparing for the tahoe rim trail 50m

2007-07-08T19:52:00.000-07:00

again i made a list of articles to pack (see "an exercise on packing"). this list brings some peace of mind at the same time that it causes a certain deal of stress. i packed a big duffel, as i'm flying to st. louis 10 days before the race, to meet with my husband who's road tripping from nyc to orange county on the car he just bought in buffalo, from his uncle who's recently passed away.

i always have the feeling that i'm forgetting something, even basing my packing on a list i wrote months ago when i had a cool head. the most important things are my running outfit, socks and shoes. that's already been packed -- and re-checked. a also like to carry a map of the course, with mileage for the aid stations and if possible a description of the course. i printed these items and laminated the map, so it survives my excessive sweating.

i've struggled on a few of my last long runs, so i'm not going into this 50 miler with soaring confidence... but i do have hopes of finishing, based on my prior 50 miler finishes, on the course description and on the time limit (16 hours). of course there are cut-offs at certain aid stations along the course, so i need to keep my focus on running the race and always do my best.

a few of our orange county trail runners are running this race (50k: michelle, maz man, robo, pam, addy; 50m: keven, keira, greg, ryan, dean, and myself) as well as other bloggers that sometimes come over here and leave comments (gretchen and steph). i may obviously be forgetting someone, as well. i'm sure we're all looking forward to a fun race. see you all there for carb dinner in 10 days!

back from the dead

2007-07-07T07:47:00.000-07:00

after an almost two-month break due to a health issue that deviated my focus from blogging, i am back... not that nothing worth blogging happened in the interim; life goes on, right? at least if i run out of blogging material in the present, i can resort to a few interesting events from these past 2 months. :-)

no races to report. i ran leona in may, but skipped my june race, the holcomb valley 33 miler. my first DNS. (Did Not Start). now that it is in the past i am extremely bummed about it, but there's nothing i can do to alter the past. (really?)

today i find myself preparing for the tahoe rim 50 miler and planning two trips, one in july and one in august. more on that later.

leona divide 50 miler

2007-05-18T03:59:00.000-07:00

you can ask me where lake hughes is: i submerged both my feet in it on the morning of the 21st of april. SHIT! as i step out of greg's car (we've become race partners) and into the only puddle in the entire parking lot. no, make that the entire town! this is freaking lake hughes i'm standing in!

it is quite warm inside the community center, where runners nervously sip hot drinks to wash down those bus-sized costco muffins they're shoving down despite the knot in their stomachs and the ever growing potty line. my shoes and socks seem to have dried.

angels in the kitchen

the night before we gathered in the community center for check-in, dinner and race briefing. we were greeted by friendly ladies from the community who volunteer their time so that runners can have a memorable pre-race gastronomic experience. we do. we were served salad, roll, a generous helping of spaghetti and a choice of cake for dessert. i special ordered a bigger slice of carrot cake, and was given a huge slab, with extra frosting. (i paid for it later). the race is a non-profit event and a large share of the proceeds are donated to the live again recovery home (is that where we're taken after the race?) and the painted turtle children's camp.

the pct

a few years ago my husband was talking to a neighbor about women. 'what's your favorite body part?', glenn asks. 'the one my hand's at'. that's how i feel about races: the one i'm running is always my favorite, and remains so until the next race. during the leona divide 50 i had the opportunity to run 34 miles on the pct (pacific crest trail), a trail that runs along the us west coast from mexico to canada. i had run on it before, on a camping trip to kings canyon and yosemite national parks, but only for a meager 7 miles.

the pct is 2,650 miles long and features 300,000 ft of elevation change. its highest point (forester pass) stands tall at 13,153 ft. running on the pct is a humbling experience, whether you run 3, 30, 100 miles of it and realize how little ground you've covered considering the length of the entire trail, or you venture out on a complete crossing of the us on it, and come to humbly respect the power of nature -- and at the same time marvel at its majesty. (watch 'the runner' to live a bit of david horton's touching experience running/hiking the pct for 66 consecutive days in an attempt to set a speed record).

the race outcome

i was worried about not making the 13-hour finish cutoff. i completed my first 50 miler (avalon benefit 50) in 12:32. according to the study on relative difficulty among ultra events conducted by gary wang and published on the ultra list on march 21st 2007, leona divide is a bit harder than avalon, a fact that was also confirmed by fellow octr sue, who has run both races. considering i spent a significant time at aid stations at avalon (33 minutes total) my main strategy for leona was to get in and out of aid stations as fast as i could. i also decided not to bring my camera (hence no photos on this entry) to save a bit more time. it was a most pleasant surprise when i, at the 42.6 aid station, realized i could make it in under 12 hours. i was 9:59 hours into the race, and had 3 hours to complete about 8 miles. 4.5 miles of steep climbing followed, and i tried to keep a steady power walk pace. i was able to conserve energy by not running at that point, and therefore could fly the last 3 (downhill) miles. finish time was 11:47:46. pain was not so bad on sunday. i even ran on monday.

the lesson

so one thing i noticed about front runners: they either carry NOTHING or just one handheld bottle. i'm sure this is partly because they are done so fast, they don't need much during the race. probably one gulp of water or gatorade at the aid stations, where they stop for about two seconds.

me? i'm a back of the packer, but still i can learn from them. i'm guessing i had about ten pounds of gear on me. ok, so maybe two or three pounds are really indispensable stuff (clothes, shoes, socks, hat, sunglasses) and my personal musts: my garmin and my ipod. but what about the other 7 or 8 pounds? well, here's what i remember i carried (there might be some stuff i'm forgetting, as it's been a while since the race): i had a jacket and gloves that i wore for maybe one hour and had to carry for the following 10 hours and 47 minutes. i had a double-bottle waist pack and one handheld bottle. that's two times 22 oz plus 20 oz. 64 oz. that's already 4 pounds just there. i obviously had my garmin and my ipod. well, then inside the waist pack i had:

plenty of first aid items, (used none)
a vast selection of drugs, (used ibuprofen and succeed caps)
4 gels, (used two)
2 baggies of trail mix, (used none)
a can of pepper spray, (did not use)
a whistle, (did not use)
4 extra servings of cytomax, (not used)
3 ginger candies, (not used)
1 spare battery, (not used)
chapstick. (used many times)

lesson learned. so at bishop (that's tomorrow) i'm carrying my gps and my music, and one handheld bottle with chapstick, 4 ibuprofen pills and 6 succeed caps. nothing else. i'll probably feel somewhat obsessive, unsafe, almost naked. but i need to fight my habit of hauling tons of stuff with me so i feel "safe". not just running, but in general. just weighed the overstuffed tote i cannot leave the house without: 9 lb.

what's new

2007-04-29T03:23:00.000-07:00

i've updated my ruNniNG sCrApBooK with mementos of my recent races.

btt info 2002-2006

2007-04-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

this is what happens when you suffer from chronic insomnia: after sorting through books and packing donation boxes, you decide to wash your car, clean your bathroom, lift stains from the carpet, arrange the hangers in your closet so that they're all equidistant, organize the refrigerator... and when you run out of physically stimulating things to do, you move on to a series of mentally engaging projects. if you're an obsessive compulsive runner, you keep methodical records of all your runs in that fancy logbook you bought at barnes & noble, filling page after page with an overkill of otherwise meaningless numbers. if you're a hip, technologically inclined runner, you keep an online log at breakingthetape.com, and revel in the variety of data analysis options available. (if you're a neurotic runner, you obviously keep both a written and an online version of the log). so playing around with my online log i gathered the following stats from years 2003-2006:

info	value	date
longest distance/month	176.65 m	nov 2006
longest race week distance/week	56.6 m	apr 16 2006
longest training week distance/week	54.9 m	oct 9 2006
longest racing distance/month	35.5 m	jun 2003
longest training distance/month	140.3 m	may 2004
most running time/week	10.15 hrs	oct 9 2006
most running time/month	32.2 hrs	may 2004
slowest average race pace/month	17:54 min/m	apr 2004
fastest average race pace/month	10:24 min/m	mar 2003
slowest average training pace/month	13:28 min/m	sep 2003
fastest average training pace/month	9:54 min/m	dec 2006
lowest weight	104 lb	oct & nov 2005
highest weight	125 lb	apr & dec 2006

now, dear fellow neurotic runners, isn't it utterly important to know i ate too much on easter and christmas 2006?

ultra-late, ultra-brief lake hodges write-up

2007-04-25T04:42:00.000-07:00

never mind that i only had two hours of sleep. never mind that during those two hours my sleep was intermittent and my dreams bizarre and fragmented. never mind the cold at the start, or the ruthless heat that made the second half of the race so miserable. never mind the painful toenails. it was a beautiful, sunny day (as opposed to last year's rain, wind and hail, as i was told), the scenery was gorgeous, and we had a race attendance record of 15 runners from our running club, the octr (orange county trail runners).

a few of us met at a gas station at 5am to carpool, and we noticed the food mart's name: "the extra mile"... charlie wondered if it was bad omen: maybe one of us would get lost?

the course consisted of two out-and-backs, the first one of 16 miles. skip, a dear friend from the octr, ran the first out-and-back with me, plus one mile of the second one, for 17 miles together, and a run of 18 miles for him, his longest run to that date.

the second out-and-back had what we thought was the turn around aid station at 7.5 miles out. happy to have found shade, cold drinks, food, and a bench (yes, i sat down) i took my time sipping coke and resting my legs, only to be brought to reality from my semi-trance by the words "most runners are doing this on the way back"... "what do you mean 'way back'?" i asked. reality struck ruthlessly as i found out i still had another .5 mile to go to the REAL turn around, making the race a total of 32 miles... "so this is the extra mile after all", i thought, remembering the gas station food mart omen at the start of the day... no one in our group got lost, but we all ran an extra mile, for a 50k of "32" miles.finishing this race was bliss, after the extreme heat and exhaustion. the ice cubes i put under my hat at the "real turn around" and at the last aid station (3 miles from the finish) helped beat the heat. they sure did the trick, as i was able to pass people in the last 8 miles. i finished in 7:09:41, ahead of 31 finishers and 21 dnfs. i might be turning into a stronger runner, as i'd normally be either dead last or pretty damn close (or dnf). i shall return next year.

pre-race jitters

2007-03-30T08:57:00.000-07:00

i guess it doesn't matter how many times you've done this (i'm not a seasoned ultra runner anyway); if you've just finished reading a book titled the complete neurotic: the anxious person's guide to life, it is somewhat likely you'll experience the jitters before a race. well, at least i do... (the book is a must read, by the way, whether you're a self-admitted neurotic or not).

upon waking up this morning (4:23am) i began to think about my race tomorrow. naturally, i decided to start packing, which, obviously, raised the anxiety level a few points. from 'what socks do i wear?', to 'how many servings of cytomax do i bring?', i quickly fill my duffel, but eventually remember my carpooling arrangements are up in the air at this point. a situation that will be resolved later today, (even if it means driving alone -- neurosis alert!), but that nonetheless graces the neurotic with a few extra grays.

the race course is simple, and that looks good right now. a 16.2-mile out-and-back, back to the start (drop bag), followed by another 15-mile out-and-back. i like the split: it's not a 31.2 race, it's two medium-distance training runs. right? one race or two training runs, i am as excited as ever before a race. my guess is even veteran ultra runners experience this... but heck, why do i know?

'wait!!!! did i pack my shoes?!?!?!?!?'

highlights of some of this month's fun runs...

2007-03-23T09:07:00.000-07:00

~march 2nd, harding truck trail~

a day of extremes: up harding's unrelenting 9.3-mile climb i am enjoying the spectacular views of the snow-capped mountains, soaking in the faint warmth of the morning sun, and just plain appreciating life. 7 miles up the trail i begin to feel cold... really cold. a few steps ahead and i come across a frozen puddle, in a most psychedelic arrangement of ice, water, rocks and twigs. (no, i left the mushroom gel at home...) i run through a few sections of snow on the ground. i'm freezing. upon reaching the top of the trail i dramatically cut my break short, as i'm shaking violently at this point. i wash down two clif shot blocks with a few gulps of water and start running down, hoping my semi-frozen hands will not fall off. hey, i need to drive home! on my way down i start feeling lightheaded. it doesn't get better; in fact, it gets worse with time. i feel dizzy; i feel like i'm going to pass out. it's too hot. i'm overheating... man, it's hot! i'm weak... at least i know that, at some point, my (faster) running fellows that went farther up the mountain will catch up with me; so being found dead days later is not a preoccupation. i see a picnic table ahead and ponder whether to stop, peel off a few layers, eat and drink... 'naw, i'm two miles from the bottom... i just wanna be done. i'll keep going'. in about two and a half minutes i turn around and run back up to crash at the table. i take my jacket off, eat a packet of sports beans and drink some water. i feel better instantly.

lesson learned: duh! i can't expect to not eat breakfast, and then run 18 miles through extreme temperature changes on just two clif shot blocks! (a serving is three blocks, by the way). i wonder why i didn't eat more, and sooner. my fanny pack was well-stocked with gels in assorted flavors, sports beans and a lara bar. well, i wanted to be done already, and didn't want to "waste" time eating. 'i'm almost there, anyway'... it turned out not only did i feel better as soon as the sugar hit my bloodstream, the "wasted" time sitting and eating paid itself off with stronger and faster running back to the car. if i want my body to perform at its best, i need to fuel it properly, frequently. wise up, nattie!

~march 10th, wtrs 21k~

beiyi, skip, and i at the mile-3 aid station

no such thing as too much fun: after reading charlie's account of the 18k two weeks before, i just HAD TO run the last race of the winter trail run series. skip, beiyi and i faithfully maintained our back-of-the-pack status. i think only two people finished after us. whatever! we had so much fun running, talking, taking pictures, crawling up horsethief, and orchestrating octr's upcoming adventures for the entire year. and of course, that was the day in which skip coined the phrase "luv from the back", in an attempt to put into words all the fun we, back-of-the-packers, have.

~march 11th, black star canyon~

robert, me and greg after our run (photo kindly "borrowed" from greg, who by the way took a decent shot just holding the camera at arm's length)

it's all good: never mind the fact that we partied all night at keira's, AND that it was the first day of daylight saving time. loyal runners that we are, we gladly got up at 5 and met at black star canyon at 6 for a 10-mile run. 'why?' some ask. 'why not?' we reply.

lesson learned: feeling crappy is not fun, but it doesn't last, either. after a grueling climb, and many frustrated attempts to convince my running partner beiyi that i just had to turn around before our agreed upon turn-around point, i had the best of times flying down the trail back to the start. indeed: it's all good.

~march 17th, st. patty's party: luge to old camp~

skip, me, wendy, mary and e-rod partying away at old camp (photo kindly "borrowed" from wendy; or should i say skip, since he carried the camera?)

right up there: what could possibly top a "party run" with awesome friends, beer and shamrock cookies, that could be posted on a blog without offending anyone? i can't think of anything else. we took the "luge" trail -- that by the way does its name complete justice -- up to old glory and the santiago truck trail down to old camp, site of our party, then back up santiago, followed by a wild adventure down the "luge". the day started with a "runners bonding moment", when four of us chicks sneaked into the bushes for a "group pee". on our way to old camp we had the endless opportunity to make fun of skip and his 25-pound backpack, even though we all contributed in some way to jack up its weight. (wendy's camera, wendy's grapes, wendy's suntan lotion, probably a few other items from wendy i can't remember right now... oh, yeah, and my pink gloves). e-rod was kind enough to haul that heavy gear up for quite a few miles, and we would all laugh every time the camelbak nozzle fell off and water leaked all over the place, immediately followed by skip's comment: "we are having an equipment malfunction".

lesson learned: always carry basic first-aid items with you on a long run. alcohol pads, band-aids, neosporin and some vicodin... i mean, ibuprofen. skip's friend tracy, on her very first trail run, took a nasty spill on the way down. she had a few cuts and scrapes, and all we had was one alcohol pad and two ibuprofen pills. we found some bikers that gave us some band-aids, but when wendy rolled her ankle about a mile later, we had no more pain pills. not good. oh, and please: bring enough water for the amount of hours you intend to be out, plus another 50% of that amount for an emergency! see charlie's account of this run for the reason why...

man, i'm really blessed to have such wonderful friends that share the same passion for running.

ultra quotes

2007-03-19T20:54:00.000-07:00

being an extreme sport, ultra-running lends itself to all sorts of creative, funny, and painfully true quotes. "you're almost there!", "looking good!", "it's all downhill from here!", "aid station is just around the bend!", are some common ones, but there are also jewels such as "it never always gets worse", and "the race continued as i hammered up the trail, passing rocks and trees as if they were standing still", as said red fisher on his wasatch front 100 experience in '86. do you have any quotes (ultra related or not) that you would like to share?

alive in an ultra world

2007-03-09T03:33:00.000-08:00

it was some time in 1994 when i first heard about steve vai. his name was used in the same sentence as "frank zappa", followed by nouns like "virtuoso" and adjectives like "unconventional". i just had to check him out. i bought "passion & warfare", which was a good introduction to his music. (i would have not been ready to digest the denser material then available: the zappaesque "flex-able" and the peculiar "sex & religion"). from the cover, to the music, to the insert notes, everything about that album fascinated me. i was hooked.

steve's music colors my life. i consider him the musical version of byron, for his ability to dissect the human soul and reveal its very core. his music has been the backdrop for hookups and breakups; it has inspired me; it has carried me through difficult runs.

i'd been toying with the idea for a while, and a couple of weeks ago i finally consummated it: i found a partner in crime :-) and we both went to a tattoo shop and got inked. ha! i now carry the "vai" symbol under the skin on my left arm. sweet!