January 28, 2008
What I'm Doing With My Taper.
I've started a new blog, which you can find here.
In this age of technological wizardry, I am but a technological nobody. Yet, I want to have a blog, and make occasional changes to its format! This blog uses a publishing platform that requires more knowledge of html code and template formatting than I have. That Blogger publishing platform over there, its has been simplified such that even little me can have the best of both worlds.
Please re-bookmark me, and join me over there!
Posted by Meghan at 8:44 PM | Comments (0)
January 25, 2008
Must. Write. Something.
There it is again, the dreaded blank screen. After 7 days of inattentiveness, a blank screen appears on my blog. I could change the settings so that doesn't happen, but a blank screen or an impending blank screen both encourage me to post. Could time slow down? Could I maybe get just 1 extra hour in the day? Just a little something to help it all fit in?
Here is what I've been up to in the last 7 days:
1. a 3-day whirlwind trip to Portland, OR to visit my sweetie's family and friends,
2. the Capitol Peak (Sort of. I only ran 25 miles of the 34 mile race.) Mega Fat Ass Race near Olympia, WA,
3. entertaining company in town for 3 days,
4. playing in Yellowstone with said company to include some up-close wolf watching and some backcountry skiing in knee-deep powder,
5. planning and preparing for the Rocky Raccoon 100,
6. dealing with a major construction project in my yard that included an accidental broken water main and no water inside my house for 2 days, and
7. graduate school responsibilities (Listed last for no particular reason, of course.).
The weather and the trails were equally nasty, but I had SO MUCH fun at the Capitol Peak race last weekend! Despite having packed a carry-on bag full of running clothes for our brief trip to the cold and damp Pacific Northwest, I remained concerned about physical discomfort during the race. My concerns increased upon our arrival to the starting line, as the the temperatures were hovering precariously close to freezing and Mother Nature was providing a full sample of precipitation types for our pleasure, including but not limited to rain, sleet, sleet pellets, hail balls, snow pellets, small snowflakes, and big snowflakes. The combination of cold and moisture was an intimidating one.
All of those tough Pacific Northwesterners stood around like it was a bluebird morning despite the weather, so I tried to act like them. Miraculously, as I did this, I realized that I was warm and comfortable, and that this was going to be a fun day. We met up and chatted with Eric and Michelle at the starting line. At the finish line, we also chatted with a guy we had met earlier this year at the Teton Races. Everyone was fabulously friendly, so thanks for making us feel so welcome in your world!
This year's course was altered due to deep snow at higher elevations, such that the course made a figure-8 that contained an 8 mile loop with 800 feet elevation gain and an 8.5+ mile loop with 1200 feet elevation gain. People ran 8 miles (1 loop), 17 miles (2 loops), 25 miles (3 loops), and 34 miles (4 loops). The 8 mile loop was a literal mud bath that involved slipping, sliding, and sloshing through shin-deep, shoe-sucking mud. The 8.5+ mile loop was a good split between similar mud and hard-packed snow.
I ran 3 loops (25 miles) at an extremely easy pace, and I loved it all! I was covered in mud afterwards, even though I stayed upright the entire time. I'll note that I wore Montrail Odesseys, which I've grown to adore this winter for their persistent grip on snow (and dirt, and rock) surfaces, and they had really poor traction in the mud! I chatted with people (and petted the many dogs that accompanied their owners) for the first 2 loops. I never saw another person during my third loop, though! Those were some quiet miles! The solitude was also nice, though.
I can't help but take a moment to mention clear cutting in the Pacific Northwest. If you ever fly over the forested mountain ranges in the Pacfic Northwest (Or other areas, but clear cutting is especially prevalent in this region.), you can't help but notice the wide swaths of clear-cutted land in various stages of regrowth. During this race, we ran through several tracts of brand-new clear cuts, and it was shocking. Shocking, sad, and disgusting. If you've never seen what clear cutting looks like in person, I encourage you to take a gander over the Internet. It will only take a moment for you to realize that forest management policies that include clear cutting are just plain bad. It's also important to realize that forests don't have to be managed this way, and they just plain shouldn't be. There are numerous other management techniques that are both ecologically and economically sustainable, but we just don't do it. I've liberally oversimplified the issue(s) here, but I couldn't help but mention my thoughts.
In all, it was a great day in the mountains. With that, I officially wrapped up my Rocky Raccoon 100 training. I'm currently enjoying the deep throes of the beloved/hated taper. I can hardly believe that the race is next weekend! I'm excited and *almost* ready. Just 8 more days!
Posted by Meghan at 2:38 AM | Comments (9)
January 15, 2008
Remember This...
...on those days when, for whatever reason, it's tough to get out there:
"The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. It's your mind you have to convince." -Vince Lombardi
Posted by Meghan at 1:25 AM | Comments (11)
January 11, 2008
Almost There
I'm getting very close to completing my training for the Rocky Raccoon 100. I'm still very busy with training, and I will continue to be for about 1 more week. Then, the dreaded taper. Here are some notes from recent happenings:
1. I, again, saw a lone black wolf on this week's long run. It was, again, quite close. Ho-hum, another day, another wolf.
2. My gym is closed for 4 days. What is up with that? How do you just close a gym for 4 days with no warning? Hello, people have workouts to do! I'll be improvising just a bit for the next few days.
3. This past week, I went downhill skiing. Yes, clumsy, uncoordinated me, downhill skiing just 4 weeks from my race. What a daring, stupid act! I had so much fun (And I didn't get hurt, only cold.) that I wanted to go back the next day, and the next, and the next. I now know how I'm going to occupy myself when I'm resting after RR100.
4. We solidified our travel plans for RR100. My mother is my crew and my sweetie is my crew/pacer. I'm pretty sure that my crew will be the bestest! Oh, and after the race, we'll play for a few days in Austin and a week in Big Bend National Park. I'm so excited!
5. In just a few days, I'll start my last class for my Master's degree. I almost never thought this semester would arrive, but I am really, truly almost done!
6. I had a bit of a hip scare, but I think I'm out of the woods now. In my left hip, my tensor fasciae latae seized up tight and sore about 2 weeks ago. With a lot of TLC, I was able heal it while continuing to train. Then, my left piriformis began having issues. I'm happy to report that this issue has also cleared up.
I suppose that's about it for now!
Posted by Meghan at 6:50 PM | Comments (11)
January 3, 2008
Canid Instinct, And Lack Thereof
(I took this photo of June a few winters ago in red-rocked southern Utah.)
After years of running with my dog June, I have learned to implicitly trust her instincts. And, after years of running in the wilderness, I have also learned that I occasionally can't trust the instincts of wild animals.
During last Sunday's long run, June and I cruised around a downhill corner on a dirt road in the middle of mostly nowhere. As we rounded the bend, we spooked a large herd of pronghorn antelope. They took off running downslope and shortly disappeared. With their quick and erratic movements, the pronghorns excited June. In response, she tugged on the leash and whined with what I interpreted as dog glee.
Once the pronghorn were gone, June still tugged and whined. I looked down at her to see that she was tugging and whining in a slightly different direction from the pronghorn's direction of travel. I extended my gaze and it didn't take long to see what she had long since noticed: a single black wolf, about 50 feet away, standing still, watching us.
I yelled "Hey! Hey! Hey!" and waved my arms. The wolf remained unmoving. I repeated the same actions. Ever so slowly and seemingly nonchalantly, the wolf bent its butt down, pooped, turned, and dropped off the back of the tiny hill upon which it had stood. June and I turned around and headed back up the road. With a little elevation gain, I could see beyond the hill into a white, snow-covered field where the black wolf now stood, still watching us. I stopped for a moment, pulled out my camera phone, and took a photo (Incidentally, the photo is worthless, as the wolf looks like a small black speck in the snowy field.). As we continued up the hill, the wolf come back towards us. For a few minutes, I watched it climb two different hills to watch us as we climbed.
Then, we rounded a bend and climbed through a wooded area, and I could no longer see the wolf. June kept looking over her shoulder, which made me look over my shoulder. I never saw a thing, but, because of June's actions, I suspect that the wolf was still out there somewhere. The several mile run back to civilization seemed to take forever. Out there, I had cell phone service and I admit that used it to talk to my sweetie for a little bit of company.
I had several more hours of incident-less running that afternoon to ponder this wolf sighting. Here is what I thought about:
1. Observing a wolf from that close distance was remarkable. I could see that its black fur was actually mottled with a bit of gray. I also noticed hair thinning on its tail, a sign of mange, the sometimes fatal disease caused by mite infestations on the skin of mostly (wild and domestic) canids. Typically, wolves will actively avoid humans, so seeing a wolf so close was amazing.
2. June acted according to her instincts as she identified the presence of the wolf.
3. The wolf didn't act according to its instincts. As I mentioned above, wolves almost exclusively avoid humans. In this case, the wolf exhibited no avoidance behaviors. Most accurately, it exhibited what appeared to be indifference and interest behaviors.
4. This situation was volatile because the wolf didn't act according to its instincts.
I see a lot of wildlife while I'm out running and otherwise exploring the wilderness. In fact, I sometimes wonder if my blog readers tire of reading stories about these animals. Most of the time when I'm out there, the wildlife is lower on the proverbial food chain than me, and occasionally the wildlife is higher than me on that chain. But, almost all of the time, everyone acts according to instincts, and we all proceed smoothly. I try to operate in the wilderness with a cautious respect for the land, the elements, and the wildlife. I do get scared, though, when an animal, like that black wolf, deviates from its predicted behavior.
Posted by Meghan at 8:07 PM | Comments (7)