It H.U.R.T.... a lot!

H.U.R.T. 100, January 15/16, 2011

Course Map and Elevation Profile

All I can say is... it was beautiful, amazing and brutal! It kicked my butt. Kristen did a great job crewing and pacing but I was woefully unprepared for the tree roots, mud, rocks, tree roots, mud, rocks, tree roots.... you get the picture. My quads were shot from constantly stepping over roots and trying not to fall flat on my bum. During the night, I hallucinated bears (tree stumps) and a beautiful African-American girl with braids in her hair about to jump off a cliff. Imagine the surprise of the runner in front of me when I ran down the trail screaming "Don't do it. Don't jump". Ah, the joys of ultras.

I managed 100K in 31:14. Admittedly, once I realized no way I was going to finish 100 mile, I relaxed and slowed down to enjoy the scenery, not realizing there was still a cut off for the 100K. Kristen cam tearing up the trail in Crocs to get me into the aid station before 32 hours.

Will I go back? Absolutely. This race will not defeat me again. I will train harder, smarter, be better equipped and win the rematch.

Deep in the forest

A Puppy's Tale

Zeumer and Tiller

After having made the decision not go to JJ100 in order to save $$, I talked hubby into getting me a puppy, a future trail companion. Meet Zeumer. He's a rescue, a stray found on the streets of Riverside. And of course, there's a tale....


Next door to the karate studio I work at is a Pet Spa. A high-end, really expensive Pet Spa frequented by the really rich folks across the street at Marbella Golf and Country Club. The Spa owner takes rescue dogs from over-crowded local shelters and finds homes for them. A brave and noble deed one would think.


One Friday morning I noticed a fresh car load of puppies being dropped off at the Pet Spa. Five black and white fluffy bundles of fun in particular caught my eye so I went in to meet them. I just had to have one. Mike had reservations but agreed so I picked out a middle-of-the-pack, not overly jumpy male that I thought my 9-year old son (who's deathly afraid of dogs) could learn to live with. We stopped at PetSmart on the way home with him as we had nothing prepared and took him to the vet for a check up. Slight respiratory infection, nothing that a course of antibiotics wouldn't clear up fast. The boys were amazed that we'd got a dog!


By Tuesday, Zeumer was really sick. Coughing badly. I took him back to the vets. Kennel cough that had developed into pneumonia.  I had to decline x-rays as we couldn't afford them but several hundreds of $$s later and a suitcase full of meds, I had to go home to tell everyone that he might not make it. He was just too young to be this sick. The Pet Spa owner insisted he was fine when he left the Spa and that none of the other puppies were sick (although how on earth she can claim he got that sick during a 20-minute drive to PetSmart I'll never know). The shelter told me if I returned him they'd have to euthanize him (I'm a softie, so not an option)


6 weeks later, I'm happy to report he's doing well. Treating him pretty much blew my race budget for the foreseeable future but he's a welcome addition to our household. Typical pain-in-the-ass puppy; in to absolutely everything, chases Tiller Cat, chews anything... and loves being out on the trails with me!

Wow, what happened...

to the last two weeks? Some success, some disappointment, lots of laughs with friends and family.



Team InknBurn

Rio del Lago 100 was a bust. I ran a great race (I mean GREAT) until I got lost in the dark on the way back to Cavitt School. Shelli had dropped behind early on in the race and had become so dehydrated that crew member Art eventually pulled her from the race at Cool Fire Station. That left me alone in the dark on an unfamiliar course which typically would not pose a problem except that someone(s) had sabotaged the course by pulling ribbons! Luckily I was a) with Carmela and b) I had grabbed my pack complete with survival gear so apart from getting mad at the time eaten up by my mistake, I was going to be OK (even if I had to hunker down for the night). Carmela and I had to push to get back to the school to make cut-off. She recovered and went on to finish, I did not. I thought I wasn't going to make cut-offs so dropped at Hazel Bluffs, deciding to save my legs for JJ100 on Oct 23.

The following weekend I volunteered at Chimera 100K/100 mile. I worked packet pick on Friday, helped pack supplies into storage tubs labelled for each aid station, hung out by the campfire at Blue Jay with friends Jody, Leonard, Janet and Sam then slept in my car. Race morning I was up at 4 a.m. to help with runner check in and load supplies for aid stations into transport vehicles. I swept the first 20 mile loop with Art and Shelli, then headed up Main Divide to captain the Trabuco Peak aid station. It was Shelli's birthday so we celebrated with laughs and birthday cake while she drove runners and pacers up and down Main Divide like a demon. Good times and a very successful race thanks to Jody's hard work.

However much I love to run in the wilderness, it is very cool and rewarding to volunteer at a race. To hang out with friends, make new friends, encourage and help other ultrarunners and sleep on a cot under a clear starry sky. Truely amazing! I am very blessed to have a husband and sons who may not always "get it" but understand sometimes Mom simply needs to be in the mountains.