A new gem on a calendar

Pictures are worth a thousand words.

Here and here.

It was a blast. Totally. 52 miles with almost 14,000 feet of gain in one of the most beautiful setting you can ever imagine. I was blown away by how awesome those mountains around Pocatello are. Never dreamed it would be like that. Add on to it an amazingly tough training for Hardrock, seeing so many great friends and running the whole thing with Larry - and the weekend got 10 on the scale 1 to 5:)

Larry decided to run this race with me, "to see how you operate and what makes you tick for Hardrock pacing duties". I made a pace chart for 14 hrs (and Larry was completely surprised how on time we were at each aid station, without me ever being on a course before, give or take 5 minutes). We arrived to the start camp on Friday around 7:30pm, way past any pre-race gathering, to find a huge crowd camping out and hanging there. Said hello's and gave hugs, got our bibs and my new "goat skin" - and off to a near-by motel. Pocatello is a cute little town, and we liked it a lot!

Race started at 6am, good time to squeeze a little bit of sleep and not need a headlamp. I moved to the very back of the pack and walked out, having Larry panting of how come we are not running. I wasn't:) Then we turned to the road off the campground and stretched out on a 0.7M road, after which we hit the first climb - and never stopped climbing since.





So there we hung, at the very back, for practically all of the first 8.3M section. Aid station came, volunteers took great care of us - and we walked out, to see do-RD Jared, who I demanded a hug and a kiss from:)

Soon after we hit what we were warned about just before the start - "a mile that would take you an hour". It was straight up, no trail, and it was awesome! Somehow we managed to pass 6 people there, climbing in a bliss...



When we thought we crested the hill, and walked through the rumble of the huge piles of rocks, it turned out we got another straight climb to do!

A reward for all this climbing was a sweet long 5 mile downhill, and the second AS (and a first transition for relay runners) came. We dug into our drop bags, got more hugs (well, I did) from co-RD's Jared and Ryan, and off we went. Larry was a bit beat up from the downhill (Texas, ya know:)) and the heat (heat??? 85F is heat?), so I pulled away a bit and worried if he catches up. Well, I want off course a few hundred yards and this is how we were back together - thanks for turning me around! Soon enough he was back to normal and better, and the rest of the run neither one of us had a bad patch.
There was another straight up off-trail section, where we went inside a creek bed and climbed out of it by pulling on to bushes, a hill that left us high on adrenaline, and lots of creek crossings (wet feet!), snow patches and beautiful views.



A marathon done, we filled the bottles and hit another climb (why am I not surprised?) It was a "short" one, and soon it was gentle running and power walking all the way to second transition of relay, AS at mile 32.5. We ran parts of it with our friends Dusty and Becky, and my stomach went "south", not too bad at first, but soon enough really rumbling. If my usual state at the race is running "about 4 months pregnant", this day I was about to pop a baby! It didn't deter me one bit, and it wasn't slowing down us either. AS was amazing, even though it looked like neither of volunteers had anything to do with ultras prior to this experience - there were Western States style, personal help! Next on agenda - a notorious 9M climb to the top of Scout Mountain, highest point of the course, some 8600 feet looming over. Larry had pointed me to it, and I got jokingly mad - I really don't like to see where I have to go:)

Soon after mile 38 AS Larry decided we are off trail - the course is so overmarked, when he didn't see a ribbon for 5 minutes (spoiled!), he got worried. So we stood a bit, pacing back and forth, saw Dusty and Jeff coming behind, walked forward, then backwards, saw Bruce coming in, walked more forward, more backwards, then all the way back to the last intersection.

Silly, we were perfectly fine! Thus we lost some over 20 minutes and made an extra mile, but you know what, what kind of ultra is that if you don't have a little adventure? :) Now, though, we had a company for some of the climb! There was more snow here, obviously, and we kept walking up...and up...and up. Wondering how in the world will we loose all this gain in the next section. Finally, the top was there, and we sighed a relief.



And the wandering part about our going down ended with a 35% snow slope with a rope!!!



That was fun! I can't believe how cold our bumps were sliding down! After that section, it was a sweet 5M down on a single track, where I finally woke up and put a "pedal to the metal". As always, when I smell the barn, I get super-focused and all I care about is making forward progress, no matter what happens around.

Last AS came and gone, in a blur, with me stealing a personal coke from volunteer, and we ran some couple of miles of the gentle down on the road, then climbed on a dirt road another mile and half - and last downhill, pushing it, almost dropping Larry (who got his feet messed up), turn to the road - campground - yay!!!
What a day. It would have been perfect 14 hrs had we not spent some time and effort extra, but I didn't care. It was the best Hardrock training, best confidence booster I could possibly hope for. I had not a single ache, not a single blister (Drymax and wet feet rock!!!), my aircast for the ankle worked awesome (with only one minus - it dug into my heel and made a bruise and a huge bloody blister and compromised my running a bit), and I am ready to tackle Colorado camp! We each took over 100 photo shots, had an great time, and enjoyed every minute of it! As for Larry's quest on "how I operate" - he said nothing different from any of my long training runs. I move forward, hike every up, run down, powerwalk with a speed of dropping a fly, smile, take pictures, listen to music, talk, breathe - and spend a minimum time at the AS (what he needs to get used to!). Life is good. There are thousand places to visit!

Next day we went to hike in Wasatch mountains and it was majestically beautiful!



This run concluded another 80 mile week for me and was race #80 at marathon and over distance (ultra #63). I'd love to go to Shafer Butte, but more likely won't be able to get out of Portland, and thus the rest of the next 3 weeks will include Gorge runs with Gail. After that - I am off to WS100 to pace, and drive on to CO camp!

Taper is overrated.

Because, you know, if you can get your butt to the Gorge 3 times in a week - that's THREE, mind you - who needs taper! Honestly, I always said taper is a bad word:) And again, when you're blessed with trails we are - who cares? It's all training, including 52 mile slog in Pocatello in upcoming week!

I won't overwhelm you with pictures here, simply because I couldn't choose which ones to put up, so I shrunk them and linked to my Picasa album. I'll give you a few teasers, though:) Be jealous, very jealous. I am.

So, all together I put on 80 miles this week, which is after two weeks of 60 is a good return to the base. Hopefully, I'll somehow manage 30 before going out to Idaho (I did it before Zane Grey) to round up another good week again.

First Gorge outing on Wed with Gail took us to Herman Creek trail, where we climbed to first clearing before Benson Plateau (favorite hill repeat spot for locals), then did a bit on Herman trail to resupply water from the creek, and then climbed a mo-fo Nick Eaton, which I forgot how steep it is! But the rewards was a nice downhill on Gorton trail, soft and cushy. We finished just in time to beat downpour that hit Portland for the rest of the day.

Saturday Gail, Sid and Monika got me into hiking Hamilton Mtn. Me being me, loving solitude and not being able to follow smart conversations about politics, with 1/3 to the top I pulled away and enjoyed making the day into hill repeats. Took it down, came back couple miles to meet with guys, down again, up again to meet them...you got the idea. It was awesome sunny warm day with beautiful views!

And on Sunday Gail and I took it all the way to Larch Mtn! It was practically clear, by all definition! There was snow last 2 miles, about 2 feet deep, but soft and trail was easily found. And the 360 degrees views...Oh, My God, so worth the slow pace, calm blue skies and every mountains in PNW like laying on a palm of your hand...We spent a good amount of time there, just soaking up the sun, then ventured to Franklin Ridge (with a bit of trail finding, but not much), down on Oneonta, reciting our past runs and great times (and great "times" as in how fast we used to be), climbed 4 miles back up and had a sweet downhill all the way to the mid-day "zoo" of people trying to park at Multnomah Falls. Dude, gotta come at 6am to snatch a parking spot! It was 85F, and PNW-terners lived up to being sissy's when it comes to heat (that would be me). It was cool in shade of trees, but every open spot would send me yelling "hot!". 7 hrs to add on to 5hrs and 3 hrs Gorge miles did us lotsa good stuff.



As for a fine print - the ankle I turned at MacForest a week ago...hurts. But the aircast with ankle brace combo give me good stability and less pain (somewhat, anyway). Who needs to back off? I got HardWalk 100 in less than 2 months, and it's coming onto me like a freight train! But with last week, I feel more confident. It's gonna be lots of fun!

Oregon Party place

I am guessing every state has its own get-together favorite race. In Oregon – it’s MacDonald Forest 50k. Father Clem had organized it some 14 years ago, and it was first race officially that started the era of ultrarunning in OR. If you want to meet every single person who had ever laid their eyes on trail ultras, and especially staid with it – come to celebration at the Mac.

Mike and I carpooled for an early start (which he, obviously, wasn’t taking), and parked almost first, a treat. In 2 minutes my voice overridden voices of RD’s Ken and Scott carrying megaphone – I am THAT loud – and my hugs could fit half the Universe. On this high note, at 7am, a group of some 20+ folks began as a first wave on a trek to see what Sander Nelson designed for this year (Mac is famous for changing its course every year, thus they have 14 male and female winners and course records. They utilize the best dirt roads and single tracks criss-crossing at different angles, allowing runners to see each other a few times).

Below is a picture assay. I took some 50 photos along the course, of runners, of trails. The whole day I felt great. I came to run sub-7, and I was confident I can do it. I knew I took it too fast on the first section (by the way, this was the first time I had no idea where the aid stations would be, this is how relaxed I felt for this party), but instead of slowing down, decided to just hang in there. It doesn’t mean I struggled though. I just went by the feel. I chatted, flirted, snapped photos, gave hugs to volunteers and runners, not to mention race directors. At Dimple AS with Craig Thornley and Co I drank served vodka shot, arguing it can’t be officially called “White Russian” because we drink it straight and not mixed with some white sweet stuff and ice. I waited for some folks on those intersections to make sure the pictures are close-ups, was super-excited to see leaders go by (with Hal blowing by at mile 12.5, and Darla at about mile 17, both smiling ear to ear and making it look superbly easy). It was amazing to witness elite athletes in action – and each of them slowed down by a second and gave a word of encouragement. What a community we have, guys! I passed all but a few (who had no business having an early start, especially Micheal) 7am folks by mile 19, and even kept up with a few regular who caught up with me. I managed to run last incline road of 2.5M before turning on the last sweet single-track downhill – me, running uphill at mile 26…that’s weird. I rolled my ankle with 0.5M to go, but didn’t even blink, just laughed it off. The weather – oh, the weather was the best any state or date can provide. Rumor is, RD’s paid $1000 to ensure it. Thanks! I am certain runners would chip in for that! Mild low 70’s, gorgeous sunny day and awesome shade of majestic Oregon forest. I loved every minute of it. At the finish I felt like I could go another round easily, and today all I thought - I need a Gorge run! But, with Mother's day, I am staying put and spending it with my kid. Have fun on your adventures!

"Slacker's" start. We had a fun group!

Hanging otu together on first small climb.

Ready for first sweet downhill?

Chuckanut 50k is proud of Little Chinscraper? Mac has Chinscrapers every 4 miles, followed by plunging downhills! How else would you squeeze 6500 feet of climb into a 50k?

AS#2 with local boys track club. Cuteness of youngsters!

Blasting "Nice to see ya" Hal 4:01 leader.

I got my picture taken too!

RD#1, Scott, and hugs. Don't you think he is missing some sleep?

Sean Meissner took it down while I was having a pit-stop Nascar-style a mere 6 inches off a trail. "Hi, Sean, sorry, Sean" - " Hi, Olga, not that I haven't seen that or haven't done that!" Quite an exchange we have when do these stuff called trail ultras, huh?

Some downhills, not only dropping drastically, had a nice amount of slipperage, not too bad though, but I did slow down to keep my skirt clean.

Bushwhacker passing by, granting, unusual that early.

First woman Darla, sweet smiles! And by the way, she is running uphill, in case you didn't notice.

RD#2 Ken and his best buddy John L. - more hugs!

Drinking AS! Craig "The Dude" Thornley served "White Russian" in cups as energy drinks. I couldn't pass it on:)

Dave "We all recognize you from behind, and not by pony tail" Terry

Dave Stevenson and Cary Miller

Happy Van "Pigtails" Phan, whom I waited at intersection for as we don't see each other that often anymore. This crazy gal ran 56 marathons and ultras for 2 years in a row. I think this year she decided to slow down - making it 40 or so?

Pam Smith hill climbing together, 3rd (?) woman, wicked fast!

I was supposed to catch Hal giving me a kiss on camera, but I suck lately with timing (and focusing) my shots!

Gail finishing a few minutes behind. She had an awesome day! Last bridge you cross has a plaque in memory of Scott McQueeney. Take a look next time you're there...

Her dog Che missed his mommy!

Girls having great soup and home-made bread for after-party! I was drinking beer which somebody got in - it pays to be cute, loud and obnoxious:)