3rd gate greeting

I'm posting this late...but the date is right. Wednesday there was a break in the storm. I took full advantage of it despite my fleamy cold. I ran in the misty fog to the third gate and back. Which is almost 10 miles.

This is the problem I have with waiting to long to write about the run...I have forgotten the details. I don't recall exactly what my muscles felt like in the 2nd mile, the 5th mile or even the 9th mile.

I just know that I did it without stopping.

I also discovered the reason why I don't like going up hills.

It makes my heart beat faster. It occurred to me that if my heart beats faster, I get tired quicker.

"Now, Kathy"- you say..."Don't be stupid! Everybody knows that."

Yes, I understand my ability to state the obvious here. However, the entire situation can be explained by a little thing called supply and demand.

My muscles are suddenly demanding a greater supply of oxygen and my lungs are doing their best to deliver. The more I run, the more efficient my lungs get at producing the supply.
It's like your kids...your bug them and bug them to do something...eventually they get tired of fighting you and just do what they are told. Except training my body to do what I ask is easier than training my kids! Ha!

I do have a small tidbit of interest for you. Something that doesn't usually happen while I'm out running...in fact, has NEVER happened before.
An old lady decided to run with me.
Just as I was crossing the intersection at the 2nd stop sign (on the way to the gate) I passed this woman coming from the other way. I gave my usual greeting "good morning" and continued on.
But just under the sound of my music (Sarah McLachlin) I heard the lady's soft voice.
I turned around and clicked off my ipod. She had almost caught up to me by the top of the hill.
We ran together for a few minutes talking about where we were in our running worlds. She has already run marathons and is now running about 7 mile routes just "to keep out there".
She warned me not to push myself to hard, because knee injuries are what I'll end up with. I thanked her and we parted at the bottom on Secret Lake Trail.

I finished the route feeling good about another day of running.

Oregon

I ran this day in Oregon while visiting my dad. It is Thanksgiving and I have a cold. Luckily, I am running. The weather is foggy and wet.
Nice change from the 70 degree sunshine we were having back home.

Boy, I can complain about anything!

BTW- 3 miles.

Trampled, but still breathing

Well folks, I found it. My wall.

I ran American River to Sweetwater, turned at Secret Lake and took that all the way back to Sweetwater, which is almost to the third gate. Then ran the next 5 miles back. Round trip I would guess is somewhere around 12-13 miles.

The sun was shining hot and I knew right away that this had potential to be a tough run. My self destructive tendency told me to push it. Today I listened and bit off more than I could chew.

It wasn't God telling me to go farther...I don't even think it was the devil. I would say it was just me, and what I wanted to do.

I paid for it.

Let's start on Sweetwater just before I spotted the turn to Secret Lake.

I was already tired and going slow, but something in me desperately wanted to stay out here longer. Once I thought of Secret Lake Trail, I knew I wanted to go for it. I remember the hills were challenging. VERY STEEP, and not short. When you run downhill, it's for a long way and when you go uphill it's feels even longer.
I spotted the post that marked the turn for this tempting offer. I took it feeling scared, but challenged.
I was happy to see a small waterfall tucked away on the righthand side. I didn't see it the other day because I couldn't have seen it coming from that direction. I also saw a dead black and yellow bumble bee and a small snake, which made me jump cause I thought it was alive.

Halfway up the steepest hill, I stopped.
I was so mad that I threw my water bottle (yes, for the first time-I carried a water bottle) to the ground and kicked the pine needles. I yelled SHIT!! Then I checked to see if anyone heard me.
I tell you- I've had such a bad mouth on me lately.
I know that once you stop, you are more likely to stop again.

I stood there for a minute to catch my breath and poured water on my head.
I don't want to walk.
I took off again, hoping I could make it the rest of the way without another stop.
I didn't.

First I came to a crossroads. A place where I could cut through and shorten my route. But if I went straight, I could go down a more famous hill that splits all the way down to Sweetwater. Twice I've gone up this hill, but never down it. I told myself that I deserved to go down it. However, I knew I'd have to pay for that luxury.
I did. Dearly.

Oh, I managed to run for quite a while until I just couldn't take another step.
The inside of my left leg, near the groin, was screaming in pain. My feet felt like they were on fire and for the first time, I actually noticed that they had gotten swollen.
It was just after I turned back onto American River trail that I stopped again.
I cried. I cried for the pain in my leg, but mostly I cried because I simply needed to.

The last mile of my route was a mixture of walking, hobbling and jogging.

If security had stopped right there and offered me a ride, I would have taken it.

I was hurting.
I didn't want to run anymore.
I felt defeated and I just wanted to go home and sleep.
Sweat poured off my face like I had just walked through a shower.

I walked across my finish line in a daze and barely made it up my street.

I left the house at 10:10am
I walked back in at 12:25pm

2 hours and 15 minutes.

I guess that's not bad for tacking on extra mileage and stopping/walking.
I'll get better.
I can only improve, if I don't wind up on the injured list.

Felt so good to take off those shoes and spray down my feet with the garden hose.

Ahhhhh, just like sticking my feet in Lake Tahoe last month, except that was colder.

How the hell am I ever gonna run 26 miles?!?!
I guess that will come. Look, I didn't know I could 12.
Yes, it will come.

A New Place

MB told me about a new route near the third gate that I might want to try.
It's about 4 miles and very steep.

Okay. Sounds good. (except for the very steep part).

I decided this morning to do it after a couple errands and spending an hour of torture in the hygenist chair.
I ate a snack on the way there. 2 slices of yummy deli turkey and half of a peanut butter Cliff bar. Swished down with lemon lime gatorade.

By the time I finally got to the rec lake (where the route begins) time had gotten away from me. I set off at 1:45. Instead of cutting through to Secret Lake Trail by going past Sherri's house...I decided I could tack on another mile by going up to Sweetwater first and going around. This way I'd be running the entire length of Secret Lake Trail before it comes back up to Sweetwater and tackling one very large hill right from the getgo. Little did I know (I sort of knew) that it would not be the most challenging one I'd face today.

interruption:
I know you have no idea what I'm talking about...but deal with it. This is my post. My journal. My log history. Thank you for understanding.
Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post.

You'd think I would have used my brain. The smart thing to do would have been to drive this route first, just so I knew what to expect. I didn't even consult my map! Somehow I believe my ignorance was intentional.
I love the thrill of seeing a new street. Especially when the houses start to spread out and I come upon a turn where if I fell I could potentionally land a good 30 feet below in a thick forest of thorny berry bushes.

Well they don't call this place "the divide" for nothing.

The one thing I did NOT like about today's adventure were the bugs! Getting that close to nature has it's downside. Thanks to the nice sunny weather, my face and neck had built up a respectable layer of sweat. I was constantly swatting at them until I got back onto the main drag.

It was fun. I will surely run this route again.
There were several things I saw on Secret Lake Trail.
The first thing I noticed is a house that we had considered buying 2 years ago on one of our many house hunting trips. It was a 3 story monster with 2 rock columns for an entry that stretched the length of all three floors. Impressive, but definitely screams...70's!!!!
This was one of those homes we only considered on paper. I just couldn't get past those columns. I hated them! Besides, our realtor said it had structural damage...let's move on.
I ran on by it thinking...hmm, well now I know where that house is.

I continued on, trying to stay to the left so I didn't get lost. Wouldn't be much fun ending up somewhere near the rock quarry. Especially since I'm so late on time. The kids will wonder why mom wasn't at the bus stop to pick them up.
At one point the road started to narrow, which made me think I had veered off into someone's driveway! But no, I hadn't. It was about this same time that my stomach started feeling like it was being used as a knife sharpener.

WHAT THE??

Yeah, it was as if I'd just gulped down a thick chocolate shake. Was it the Cliff bar? I made sure there wasn't any dairy in it. Everything is soy for me.
DAMN! It almost made me stop...but I pressed on. I was running downhill for what seemed like forever and couldn't wait to go uphill. Maybe then my stomach muscles won't be so stretched out and the pain will go away.
It worked, the pain subsided and I was happy again.

I guess that's about it. I ran back to my car and said hello to Allen, a security officer.

As I drove back down the same road I had just run on, my thoughts drifted to what it will feel like to someday run a marathon. I know I will do it. There are few people who do it. There are few people who WANT to do it. Why do I want to? I can't really explain that. Most burning desires are difficult to put into words.

Tonight I sat on the coach with a bag of frozen peas perfectly positioned to hit both knees. My badly bruised toenail looks horrible still. But even while I nurse these injuries, I am wondering where tomorrow will take me.

A Little Run

What used to be a big run for me...3 or so miles...has now become a little run.

Funny how quickly it changes.

Today I ran Otter Trail and Second Gate.

The weather was warm and sunny. Not like the Midwest, getting pounded with record tornados. The trees are gorgeous!!! Bright yellow and red. It's truly magnificent.

I started out feeling great. No leg pain, no knee pain, no pain to speak of at all.
It stayed that way until just before reaching the gate. My chest started to hurt. It felt tight and I knew that if it got any worse, I'd have to stop and walk for a bit.

Luckily, it subsided before I got back to American River Trail.

I know I have crossed some imaginary line that puts me half way there. Am I already half gone?

What did I see on today's run?

I saw the same black old shriveled banana peel that has sat for at least a week on the big hill leading up to sweetwater...honestly, I thought some hungry animal would have gobbled it up by now. I guess they don't like banana peels. Go figure.

A man (I think a contractor) waved at me. I tried to see if I knew him...but the truck went by to fast for me to get a glimpse of his face. I did notice a name on the side of the truck and I know I didn't recognize it. I just got the feeling he was a contractor...can't really explain why.

Not much else happened. What a boring run, really.

What was I thinking about? I'll just keep that to myself.

Man, I need to find some new places to run. I need a change!!!!

1 hour 50 minutes

1 Hour and 50 Minutes.

Thats what it took me to run 10 miles today.
I ran out to the third gate. This time I did not stop at a friends house for water even though I ran right past 2 of them. I dropped 20 minutes off of the first time I did this run. That's pretty good.

I was surprised that I ran the whole thing without stopping. Now of course me legs hurt.

Actually I can say a little more about the way I felt.
My right knee had started hurting well before I had gotten to the third gate. That's somewhere around mile 4. Not good.
On the way back I started lifting that knee a little higher than the other one. I hoped the extra movement would work out the pain. It did.
There is a hill on the way back that really bites. You get to where you think is the top only to turn a corner and find you still have more hill to go...then you get to that top and CRAP! you have ANOTHER big hill to run up.

But like Gary says...Pain is weakness leaving the body.

Question Gary:
If I intensify the pain does it make it leave faster?
Like when you are trying to deflate a water floatie? Because I'll do it. That was my thinking in moving my knee around. Working it out faster...pinching the intake valve makes the air go out faster, so why not apply that principle to my knee. Sure- sounds good.

Nothing is going to stop me. I am enduring more pain now then I thought was possible. Not the kind of pain that is going to leave me injured. I will take care of those. Ice and rice. glucosemine too.

The pain of enemy is sitting in my rear. It lags in my lungs. It tries to turn my brain against me. BUT FEAR NOT! I have learned it's evil plan. I have intelligent sources that have leaked vital information. I am a few steps ahead of him.

The victory is mine.

whaahhhaaaahha *evil grin* *crazy lady laugh*

The day before yesterday...was Wednesday

I ran on Wednesday, but forgot to post it.

It was not far...only 2 or so miles. Around 20 minutes.

Westville, pointed rocks and back.

The point is I did something. I was planning on running a 10 miler on Thursday, but major cramps stopped me. Today a major headache stopped me.
Sometimes it really sucks being a girl. Bleeding hurts.
Small price to pay, though. I'd rather be a girl. I'm glad God made me female.

just not enough

Not enough rain and not enough road.

I ran paymaster, pointed rocks, westville...and that used to be enough. But today I got back to my street and it simply wasn't enough.

I had only for 1/2 hour. So I kept going. At first I told myself that I would run the otter loop. But instead I ran clear down to the second gate.

My butt didn't even start hurting until I got to the big hill just before sweetwater. Then it was like....ahhrrgggg.

I didn't stop. Somtimes that is my biggest challenge. Just to NOT stop. There are about 4 little bumps in the pavement just before you reach the top on that hill. I know when I see them that I am almost there and I make sure to use those bumps as a catapult.

On the way back, I ran by a big yellow diamond shaped street sign. I hit it with my right hand, like I always do and made the turn onto American River Trail.
For some odd reason this little hill doesn't bother me. I take it with ease and delight in the downhill that follows. However, today my knees bothered me more than usual. This is beginning to concern me. I don't want a long term knee problem. Any help here would be appreciated. What do I do? Heat then ice? Stretches? Glucosemine?

Thank you.

So I made it back to my street, sprinting past a security truck. I think it was Karen. She's a friend who started working for the trails about a year ago. Nice lady...kicks butt if you get on her bad side. She is from Boston and has a strong accent to prove it.

The price of progress

My legs hurt. My throat is horse. My toes are purple. And my insides cramped up something awful.

Why?

I ran 10 miles (at least) and didn't get water. Heck, food didn't even enter my body until 3:00 in the afternoon. I am going to try and run a 10 miler once a week. However, it has become painfully obvious that I'm going to have to start carrying water with me. That sucks.
I don't like to carry things.

Well, how about one of those kind that you wear on your back?
Besides the fact that I think they look stupid...same problem...it's a pain.
Water, food...it's all a pain.

Here's where I went...

Down American River to Sweetwater. Followed that along and almost stopped on the second major hill. I was sweating so bad that it was dripping into my eyes. The sweat is salty and stings. Then I realized something. I am not just running. I am TRAINING. What a huge difference that made to my attitude. I began pretending that there was a trainer running next to me, giving me pointers. I started using my hands as a visual way to lift my legs. With the palms facing the sky I raised and lowered them in perfect sync with my legs. Lift! Stand up straight. Don't fumble up the mountain...control yourself. Use your strength.

It worked. Suddenly I didn't feel so defeated. I made it up every hill that I tried today. And let me tell you...there were some major f-in hills. Sorry for that. But sometimes you gotta get your point across!
I ran all the way to third gate. I even sprinted to the gate so as to make it there within the hour. 58 minutes. I ran right past a CDF crew. I didn't stop, but slowed down a bit on the way back. This time one of the guys from the crew said hi. All of them stopped what they were doing to look at me. I returned the greeting and ran off back up the hill toward the next stop sign. That would be Cascade Trail. I've never been on this road before from this direction, but I knew that it goes by Thea's house.

WATER. Or so I hoped.

Nice road. Beautiful homes. I saw a friend (Lisa) and waved. She was doing a burn pile with her husband.
I ran past a sign that read "Black Oak Campground". Once I got to Thea's I was so thirsty. I was planning on yelling at her for living on such a crazy steep hill with an even crazier steep driveway, but she wasn't home. I searched all around her house for a hose, but when I found it lying in a steel bucket for the dogs...I changed my mind.

I figured it was only about 3 more miles to my house. I could make it. And I did, but literally wiped out.

On the bright side, I've lost some weight, my butt is tight and I'm proud of my progress. No matter how painful it gets.

This is the way it goes, I guess.

Dusty Shortcut

It was a sunny day and I wasn't looking forward to how much more I was going to sweat because of it. I told myself...this is NOT a 10 miler day. Not even close.
But it's been 3 days since I ran. Despite the weather and a pounding headache...I laced up my new shoes and fired up my ipod.

I ran to second gate, then down Otter trail. I only noticed a small dirt trail last week that connects Otter to American River Trail. It would be a shortcut if I took it, cutting out at least a quarter of a mile...maybe more. I certainly didn't feel like I needed a shortcut. I could have kept going and ran around the field like I always do...but there was something very appealing about that short little trail.
It had loose rocks and patches of rough grass. It sloped downhill then flattened out into a heavily pounded dirt surface just as you passed by Beth's house. She's a friend of mine. From there you end up running down Beth's rock gravel driveway before reaching American River Trail.
It was a small taste of trail running. I will venture into that world. I know I will. I can feel it starting to stir inside my soul. We have hundreds of dirt trails around here.
But for now- I will stick to pavement. I have dreams that are calling from blackened asphalt streets. Wings to take me higher down the broken road of life.

Today's running time: 42.08