Reverb Day 31: Lists

Well, it has been a fun month of December to reflect, manifest, and reverb!  I kept up for the most part. I lost a bunch of steam the past seven days or so.

I would like to give a shout out of THANKS! to the 3 different Reverb Organizers this year:

Kat McNally and her #reverb13 on her web site "I Saw You Dancing".  Kat was also very busy on twitter tweeting out other reverber's posts.

Project Reverb-Meredith, Kat and Sarah spearheaded this effort. 

Hope Wallace Karney at http://www.besottment.com/ also published daily prompts for Reverb 13.

I ended up taking some reverbs from all three; sometimes using a prompt from an old Reverb List that I had saved.  I had fun thinking through these, getting inspired and a bit creative with some.  I got to read a bunch of good blog posts from other reverbers and have added a section to my Feedly account with new blogs to read.

Without further ado, my last reverb of 2013!

List it | List posts are everywhere.  Top 10 Ways to be Happier Today.  Three Tips for More Energy.  Seven Ideas to Stay Focused.  Give us a list.  Of anything.  Your to-do list for the day.  Your grocery list.  A Buzzfeed inspired list.  Anything.

I love to make lists.  I am a list maker!  I came across this word on the interweb a little while back.  I don't really know if it truly is a "real" word, but it certainly fits me.

Entlistungsfreude: “the satisfaction achieved by crossing things off lists.”

So what should I post a list of? My packing list for a weekend running trip? My AS packing list from HR 2012?  My  current "todo" list?

Okay, here is my List from a past Reverse Ring.  I think it must have been my first one, since I still had my Vitesse running shoes:

Drive Down	Run	Drop Bag		Camp Roo
Clothes to Sleep in	Tights	2 long sleeved shirts	Food	windpants
t-shirt	bra	short sleeved shirt		long underwear
shorts	underwear	2 headbands	Woodstock Road-14 miles	tights
	socks	socks		bra
	short sleeved shirt	shoes?		underwear
	red wool shirt	duct tape		blue jacket
	carry yellow coat	spare gloves	Edinburg Gap 22 miles	blue wool shirt
	balaclava			BUFF (don't lose it)
	headband	Foot Care		Tobaggon hat
	spare headband	Spare Drugs		new gloves
	gloves		Moreland Gap 30.4	wind mittens
	Vitesse Shoes			socks
				Zunie & headphones
	Hydration Pack

 I always get a little distracted in the days leading up to a run/event.  When I have my packing list, I print the list out, and cross out each item as they get packed in various bags. That way, I know I have everything that I need, before I got all spacey and distracted in my taper madness.

 Happy New Year everybody! Make it a great one!!

The Buckeye Ultra Slam

It is now possible for a Buckeye Runner to complete an ultra (longer than marathon distance) every month of the year, in Ohio!

Who will be the first?

This is not an all inclusive list, most of these center around the central and northern Ohio areas.

Who will be the Buckeye Slammer?


January: Rocks and Roots 50K, Alum Creek
February: Rocks and Roots 50K, Alum Creek; Run For Regis
March: Green Jewel 50K; Fool's 50K
April:  Forget the PR50K; O24  Trail Run
May:  50's for Yo Mamma
June: Mohican 50 & 100 Mile Race; Buckeye Buster 50k; Another Dam 50K;
July: Buckeye Trail 50K
August: Burning River 100
September: YUTC; Not Yo Mama's 100; North Coast 24
October: Run With Scissors Double Marathon; Stone Steps 50K
November: Bills' Bad Ass
December:  URINEO Festival of Runs; Bigfoot 50K; Festivius FA

A Great Run Today

I had a great run today...in the rain and 42 degrees temperature.

I waited until almost noon, for the "warmest" temperature of the day.  It was raining, yes, but there were ten miles to be run on the schedule, and that was that.

I won't do a "year in review" post, but I will say that I am extremely satisfied with my year in running.

I have become tougher mentally and physically.  I have become a very consistent runner.  I knew it was going to rain today, all day, and I knew I also had miles to get in.  I didn't whine to myself about it, or try to figure out how not to run it (having a coach keeps you accountable!).  I just selected the best clothes for the run-running tights, merino wool shirt, windbreaker/rain jacket, and ball cap.  And off I went.

I kept this run on the road and was happy with that decision.  The trails would have been a mud fest, and I was interested in *running* today, not sliding and plodding through mud.

I ran the whole way.  I ran all the hills.  I deliberately plotted a course with as much rolling hills as I could within a ten mile loop.

A year ago, I would not have ran all the hills. I would have turned it into a walk on the first big uphill.  At mile 9.6, I had the "1/2 mile" hill back up to where I live on the ridge.  I ran that also-yes, the running motion was no faster than a walk, but I didn't break it down into a walk. 

I also felt strong in the last two miles of the run, also important to me.  My energy level was still good, after 8 miles of hill running.

I also broke through the two hour mark, 10 miles in 1.57, on a hilly route. Whoop, I'll take that!

Reverb 13: Day 27: Beyond Avoidance

Beyond Avoidance (Written by Jake Nickell): What should you have done this year but didn’t because you were too scared, worried, unsure, busy or otherwise deterred from doing? (Bonus: Will you do it?)


Losing the weight.  I am still at 165 lbs.  I would like to  be a 150 lbs.  I just did not make losing the weight a priority.

I would like to be  down to also 159 lbs...then run a 100 miles.  Contrary to any thought, you DON'T lose weight doing this things.

In late June, I got poison ivy-sumac-oak, and had to take a course of prednisone during my 100K race-which will make you gain weight.

I strained my back in September, and also had a round of prednisone..which, guess what, caused me to retain a few pounds.

I am back to where I usually am, about 165 lbs. 170 lbs.  I need to get serious about this again.

I have a little slogan "get rid of the roll" that I need to start implementing.

So what I am doing about it?

I have re-signed up for Weight Watchers Online.  My portion sizes have gotten bigger; I've not been paying that much attention to what I am eating.  I'm not really making conscious eating decisions, I am just eating.

Journalling my food and weighing and measuring food portions will bring it back to mindful eating again.

Reverb 13 Day 26: Five Things Not to Forget

Five things you do not want to forget from 2013?
List out 5 things you do not want to forget from this past year, and write a bit about why you do not wish to forget...

5 Memories From 2013

The lovely winding Iron Mountain Road in South Dakota, how it organically flowed around the trees

Reflection of trees on the water in our pond

Beautiful Amish horses running on a cold day in December and the blue sky

Having the opportunity of go off piste with my friends Slim & Gombu in Ohio Pyle...and knowing we would do something that most folks would call "awful stupid"

Watching my two German Shepherds dogs play fight...and then of course stop as soon as they heard the peep of my phone camera go off

Reverb 13 Day 25: Quote

From Hope at besottment.com:

 What was the quote or saying that most resonated with you this past year?
Was there any quote, mantra or saying that really spoke to you? Helped you through something? Made you smile?

In the year of FKT's (Fastest Known Times) Heather Anderson set the FKT on the Pacific Crest Trail, unsupported, in 60 days, 17 hours, 2 minutes.  She hiked an average of 14.5 hours daily. Then woke up to do it again, over and over.

It's a nice article about Heather, trail name Anish, on the www.irunfar.com web site.

Heather Anderson's quote in her irunfar interview:


"There’s never going to be a time where the stars align and you’re suddenly debt-free and commitment-free. That just doesn’t happen. You have to make it happen. Nobody’s life is so complex that they can’t make their dream happen, it just might require more sacrifices than they’re willing to give. You will do whatever it is you most want to do.”

Reverb 13 Day 24: Place

 - Did you visit any place that holds special meaning to you in 2013?
If so, where was it, when did you go and why is it special to you? If not, were you avoiding somewhere? Why? Is there some place you visited for the first time that now holds meaning for you that you hope to revisit in the future? Keep in mind it can be a place, city, country, restaurant, part - anything - even a memory.


Mohican State Park/Forest holds a special place in my heart.  We simply call it "Mohican".  This was where I first started running trails, met my first mentors and friends, ran my first 50 mile race.


Getting on the trails at Mohican tends to simply ground me.  There are so many happy memories of sharing trails there with friends that it (almost) always is a positive experience.  I know many of the trails well.  Some have changed over the years, like I have.

People that I have shared trail with have come and gone. Some I am still in touch with, others I sometimes wonder what happened to them.  



In the past year,  I have gone to Mohican mostly alone. In years past, I was the person instigating the runs.."meet at the Covered Bridge"..

Of my few Mohican runs this year, other than the long run that coincided with the Mohican 100 Trail Race that was occurring, I ran by myself. In some ways, this was deliberate.  Most times, I didn't want to beat myself up by having to get to the starting point at some arbitrary time. Some times, I just needed/wanted the time alone, to myself.

I had a somewhat wonderful Red/Green Loop Run at Mo this past year.  The "Red/Green Loop" is a reference to an old version of the Mohican 100 Course.  I've run this section many times, but not so much in the last year or three.  I had a great time running it, revisiting it, and remembering runs with friends on this section of trail. 

I could tell how I've improved as a runner, running uphills that I used to walk up.  Some of the hills just are not as tall as they used to be. I'm not as slow as I used to be..

URINEO 2013

This was the 7th year of URINEO-Ultra Runners In North East Ohio. I was planning on a 50 mile run, as I had done that in 2010.

What I wasn't planning on...was the weather and course conditions.  Slim gave us a course report Friday, which led to me screwing my shoes late Friday night.  Although Ohio had a bit of a thaw, the ground was still half frozen and the rain had started on Friday.

Working until 9 pm Friday put a crimp in my "early start" plans..With a two hour drive, I was already getting up at 330 am for a 630 start at Mill Creek Park.

Gombu, Victor, Nick, Rich and I started at six thirty.  I ran into lighting issues with my headlamp at Volney Rogers Field, and Rich hung back with me. Then, as we descended away from VR, I yelled ice, but Rich was behind me and went down with a huge thump.

Luckily, he was "okay" and we proceeded at an easy pace.  Vic, Gombu and Nick were well gone at this point.

l

Pics are from the second loop, as it was dark in the beginning..

In the last year or so, I have been bringing sock monkeys to mark the general area of the beginning of the monkey trail and end.

Scooby and Doc were running the  Monkey Hill Marathon.  Their reward?  They get a monkey to take home with them.

The Monkey Trails were in the worse condition. With the repeated footfall on these sections, it was just slick mud to descend, and then try and climb out the other side.

Mill Creek was up also.  I noticed on my third loop, and then the fourth, that the creek was indeed rising all day long.

I snapped some waterfall pics on my way to Lanternman's Mill, as you don't get the chance to see this much water at Mill Creek Park that often.

I

I thought I was doing rather well. The first loop was 2.10, with the darkness and a few stops to chat with friends.  Loop 2 was 2.22 (I found this out later, looking at my Garmin) and then loop 3 was 3.09.  Blegh.  I still had a long ways to go.  Slim had mentioned earlier that the park police had chased them out of the park since they were there before the official 5am opening time, and they had mentioned the park closed at "dark".

Well, crap, on the shortest day of the year,  darkness would be upon us before 5 pm!!

This is on the Big Bear Spur. If you are running 50 miles at URINEO, you have to do the Big Bear Spur and the Lily Pond.  That will net you 8.33 miles (compared to the upper YUTC loop of 7.75)

I took off on Loop 4, thinking over what I wanted to do.  I wanted to run 50 miles.  But I didn't want to spend the next six hours out there on the trail doing so.  I knew I would get slower in the dark.  I also didn't relish the idea of the stress of hiding from the police.  I didn't want to report back to the Coach that I bailed on my 50 miles (50 mile goal was my idea, not his.) But just one mile or so into Loop 4 I decided to just call it quits after the 50K distance.

I ran into the Gombu-Victor-Nick trio, and told them to tell Slim I was bailing on the 50 mile idea, so he could continue to drink.  (Slim was planning on accompanying me on my last few loops.)

Now I am the only runner left out on the trail.  I get halfway through the Monkey Trail, sliding backwards down the hill.  I see the Silver Suspension Bridge, and decide to bail on the traditional URINEO course.   Now that the arbitrary 50 mile goal is gone, now I have the dangerous thinking of "what's the point"?  I cut out some of the extra mileage and just go for the 50K finish, with asterisks all around for this one.

Did I mention it rained almost all day?  At least it was somewhat warm, in the 50's.  At some points, I had my rain jacket sleeves pushed up and the jacket unzipped.  But the last loop, the temperature started to drop.  If I had done the last two loops, some more warmer clothing would have been needed (which I did have, in my vehicle.)

So, another successful URINEO.  I missed out on seeing most of the people, with my focus being the 50 mile goal.  With it just turning out to be 50K finish, I could have started at 8am, been sociable, and just run for fun instead of for time/distance.  It's always a hard balancing act, trying to get "training" in and still wanting it to be fun too.

Reverb Day 20: Wear

Oops, I knew at some time Reverb 2013 would get away from me.

This one is an easy one..which I has assembled and deleted it accidentally.


Wear:  What piece of clothing did you wear again and again all throughout the year?  Why?  Is it all worn out?  Are you going to replace it or keep wearing it?

It's my BUFF!!!

Black Hills 100K

Getting hot on the Centennial Trail

Running on the beach in Grenada

Summitting Mt St Catherine in Grenada

On top Signal Knob in Va in the morning

This Buff is called "Trout" in the pouring rain in Ohio

Finishing MMT 2013 in May

Reverb Day 18: Time

 Time: Time is a valuable resource. Did you spend 2013 wisely? What can you do to maximize your time during 2014?

No, of course I did not spend time wisely in 2013.  I discovered Candy Crush Saga for pete's sake.

I also spend way too much time on FB.  Sometimes I wander through Pinterest, and even Houuz.

I have a twitter account but only seem to visit it on race days to keep up with runners (and in December, to publish reverb13 posts!)

What can I do to maximize time in 2014?  Plan better.  Which is to say, I'm a darn good planner.  I'm very organized getting my running self and a good lunch packed and out the door to work.

Days off can be a little more relaxed.  I usually have a "to do " list of things I want to accomplish.

I would like to get my running writing, blog writing, and club blog writing better organized.

Of course, some days I have time to write, or create..and I got nothing.  I even have topics to go to, but just don't feel like it.

I could stay OFF FB and my feedly account when I am feeling the muse though.  Another good goal for 2014.

Reverb Day 17: One Word

It's here! One Word!

This was the first reverb I wrote:

“One Word. Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?“

(Author: Gwen Bell) (Source: Reverb 10)  

This year's twist, from Kat McNally's prompt:


What word did you select to be your travelling companion in 2013? What gifts did this word bring?

What word will you choose to guide you through 2014? What do you hope it will bring into your life?

My word for 2013 was "improve".  From last year's blog post:

"The word that continues to come to mind, is "improve".

I don't have HR as a goal race for 2013. My goal races are Massanutten 100 Mile Trail Run in the spring, and the Oil Creek 100 Mile Trail Run in October.
I want to run a sub 30 hour at Massanutten. 
 I want to get faster. So I need to do things a bit differently than I have been doing.

That has already started in November.

I hope  plan to report back here in December 2013 with my success stories."
  
I think I have gone over my MMT improvement race ad nausuem quite a bit.  I did improve. I did get a bit faster.  I got alot stronger.  I got alot more confident. I got more tough mentally.  I'm still working on the physical body part of improvement.

What's the word for 2014?

REACH  

to arrive somewhere

to get to a particular point in time or a particular stage in a process

to get as high as a particular level or amount

to achieve something after discussing it or thinking about it for a long time

Although no Hardrock for me, it doesn't make my goals any smaller.  I want to move outside out my comfort zone.

I want to reach...to get out there, where the magic happens.
 

Reverb Day 16: Photo Op

1000 Words:  There’s the old saying that a photo is worth 1,000 words.  Give us a photo with that impact that sums up some significant event of your 2013, or give us 1,000 words about a pivotal moment in 2013.

Photo by Aaron Schwartzbard

Pivotal moment.  I didn't really have any "aha" or ephiphany moments in 2013.

All I can give you is the turning point of my 100 mile race.  I had just climbed about a half-mile straight uphill.  I was cautiously feeling better physically.  It was hot and humid, but overcast.  I had just about crested the ridge when I saw a guy hanging out.

It turned out to be fellow ultra runner and photographer Aaron Schwartzbard.  It was so nice to see another human, at this point, and actually someone I knew!  Besides being a really speedy runner, Aaron takes great pics too!

Reverb Day 15: Challenge

 

#Reverb13 | Day 15

Challenge accepted.

Prompt for December 15:

Challenge | Did you take on a new challenge in 2013?  What was it?  Are there challenges you deliberately avoided?  What do you want to do to challenge yourself in 2014?

Katy Widrick issued a 28 Day Blog Challenge back in February that I participated in.  This was to clean up, organize, update your blog.  This was a kick in the pants that I needed, and I think I improved on the look of my blog.

I still need to create a media kit, and I would like to make a masthead for the blog that would be my permanent mast head. I do like to play on PicMonkey to make new headers, for both Facebook and my blog.

Maybe my challenge for 2014 is to update my blog..again. Maybe create a fan page on Facebook for Ultra Trail Goddess.com?   Does anyone else have a separate page for their blog on FB?

Reverb Day 14: Favorite Things

 

 

#Reverb13 | Day 13

These are a few of my favorite things!

Prompt for December 14:

Favorite things | Give us a list of your favorite things from 2013.  Could be material items, food, people, anything!

 TV Series Justified:   "Are you smoking Oxycontin in my motor coach?"

Finding new patches of daffodils on a trail I run frequently..and never saw before

"New trail"  to me...favorite  words of a trail runner

My comfy Hoka One One running shoes 

My birthday sock monkey

Sitting with my husband, in the evening, drinking wine, outside, looking into our woods

My charm necklace which says "She thought she could, so she did". 

The song "These Days" by Trout Steak Revival

Mozzarella and tomato salad..both fresh ingredients