White River 50 countdown

Last Year's Start

As I am writing this there is exactly 2 days 11 hours 58 minutes 46 seconds no wait.. 44 seconds no wait 40 seconds until the White River 50 Mile Mountain Race. The only reason I know this precisely to the second is because Local Portland Runner Yassine Diboun has a countdown on his blog. Yassine is my favorite to win the race, but the competition is going to be tough being that it is USATF Trail Run Championships. That means all the elite runners around the nation ought to be there. As for Ashley and I, our plan is to just finish this one, It will be the longest mountain race yet.The race rises and falls a total elevation change of 17,400 feet over the 50 miles! We must remember that this is not the focus race of the year (it is the Bear 100) and to enjoy it. To race it like a 50 mile race, not a 50K, to pace ourselves and concentrate on hyrdration and nutrition. We plan on leaving for Silver Springs Campground on Thursday evening. Friday is the pre race briefing and pasta dinner then the race kicks off bright and early Saturday. Not sure what the race will bring, but breaking 10 hours would be nice. We don't plan on driving back until Tuesday giving us a couple days rest in the the Mt. Rainer National Forest. We can hobble around enjoying the endorphin high and reflect on the accomplishment. When we return, it will be just one day until Mom comes!

HOLD ON!

A Few Weeks ago Ashley spent the day with a photographer, Brendan Coughlin in Portland his work is so creative and so unique, I had to share!The Photo above has an MC Escher vibe to it.......
Digitally enhanced freckles, same technology used to make Avatars blue.
Same Girl.....

New Runner In Town...

I would like to present to you, the newest trail runner in the Pacific Northwest!!! Earlier this month my mother came to visit. Although, it was a decreased mileage week (as far as running went), we still needed to head out to the trails.

It was a wonderful experience to share this with my mom. The trails are where I have spent the majority of my life for the past 10 months and it was nice to be able to show this place to my best friend. A lot of the time when I am out on the trail, I am reflecting on life... wondering what is right, what is wrong, what is great, what could be better... yet, when I was able to be on the trail with my mom, all I could think about is how wonderful it was that she was here, sharing this experience with me. On this particular day, my mom did 4 miles on Wildwood trail! Great job mom! After she conquered Wildwood for the second time in two days, we headed out to Rose's is in Portland for some brunch.

My mom was here for the 4th of July. We made the decision to stick around the apartment and light off fireworks. It was fun and hilarious! There was a ridiculous spread of scumptious food and we barbequed all afternoon. On my birthday we went over to Cannon Beach. Mom took some great pictures by the haystack.
I was awfully sad to see my mom go. It reminded me I really need to see family and friends more than just every 7-8 months. Even though I miss her and think of her often... we had so many wonderful memories that I can now reflect upon while being on my beloved trails.

Spend some time with the ones you love... put your blackberry away, shut off the computer... and the tv. Go for a walk or enjoy nature together... you'll be amazed at what you might find out about eachother and you'll always be grateful to have those memories together.

Mount Hood PCT

This weekend we camped at Alpine Campsite about a mile down from the Timberline Lodge. We were really roughin it, we had the Timberline brunch buffet consisting of chef made to order omelettes and gourmet waffles for breakfast. With full tanks we hit the Pacific Crest Trail with a plan to run a total of 10 miles. The PCT is a continuous trail that runs from Canada to Mexico through three states Washington, Oregon and California. This sign explains that it's only 21o8 miles to Mexico! We will save that run for a long weekend. The small portion of 10 miles (5 miles out and back) we covered this weekend, gave us a taste of all kinds of elements. We crossed rivers of glacial runoff, hiked up sand, navigated through snow, and climbed through boulder fields. It is an amazing portion of the trail and makes completing the PCT in its entirety sooo tempting. The reason for the low mileage is because we are now tapering for the White River 50 mile run. It will be the longest footrace yet and we need to rest our tired legs for the next two weeks.

Notice waterfall in background

Old Mans Beard

Mt Jefferson in background. You can even see the Three Sisters
Mountains in Bend.

Crossing ice cold stream

Video puts the size of the valley in perspective

"Hardest 50K in the Northwest"

This is the trailhead to the race course it is an out and back

This is where we camped a mere 100 yards from the race start, it was nice we just rolled out of our tents ate a pop tart and ran 31 miles

Just one of the mountains we had to run over that is the race director's camper

Ashley presenting her 1st place medal

Campin out the night before. The particles in the air are high desert dust not
snow.

The website claimed the Grey Rock 50K trail race to be the hardest 50K in the Northwest. After Saturday's race I would have to agree. It wasn't just the hardest, but the most beautiful, a true mountain race in the backwoods. We knew it was going to be an adventure after the race director gave us the pre-race instructions. He told us what to do in case of a forest fire because of last year's "incident", in which a forest fire broke out and thanks to the wind direction no one got hurt and the race was able to continue. He also told us, as we were standing in 80 degree weather, to be careful once you get up there because there is still about three feet of snow in some parts! And the last instruction, to be aware of bears and "Timber Tigers" better known as cougars.

Brimming with confidence after the director's instructions we hit the trail. It was an immediate series of switchbacks for an hour. My plan for the race was to stay with the leaders from the beginning which was a blistering pace up the mountain. Because of my exertion in trying to keep up I foolhardily went over a log without my legs and face planted in the dust squirting water from my dual bottles about 15 feet in each direction. I thought to myself at that point maybe I should just race my own race and worry about the leaders later, it is a long race. The first summit was amazing, one the most beautiful sights I have ever seen, it was a field of purple and yellow alpine flowers with a stunning view of Mt Adams. I was later informed the flowers did not bloom until a day or two before the race, so we were lucky.

What goes up must come down, after summit it was a series of steep switchbacks down the other side of the mountain. After about an hour of going down at very fast clip (~6min mile) I kept think crap we have to go back up this mountain at the end of the race! The aid stations were pretty far apart and weren't stocked with the usual plethora of high calorie goodies. They had watermelon and baby potatoes. Yet, I kept thinking how the hell am I going to get up this next mountain on the 30 calories I just got from a watermelon wedge. As we neared the top I came up behind this guy and he asked in a very laid back way, "Did you see the bear back there?" Thinking he was joking I laughed and he turned around to show me in his expression he was not kidding. He said, "No really he just scurried in the bushes back there." Thinking to myself, well if he comes back I just can't be the slowest and I will be alright.

It wasn't until the turnaround aid station that we hit the snow. It was in patches, about 3 feet deep just like the director warned. It was exciting to be racing so high on a mountain!! I hit the half way point at around 3 hours which made my over ambition goal of breaking 5 hours impossible, but at this point I was so excited to be ridge top running I could care less about my time. I saw Ashley and Chris on the way back both looking strong Ash said, "I heard the mountain lion noises, but just for a second" I said, "The guy in front of me saw a bear" then we both said, " THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!" kissed and parted. When I saw Chris Drew he was navigating his way through a rock field we both agreed our feet were one big blister and this race was, "The hardest 50K in the Northwest."

The return climb up the mountain we came down in the beginning was just as I anticipated. Running on empty from the Watermelon Wedges I made the climb by reciting Dora from the Disney movie 'Finding Nemo', "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming" with a combination of brisk hiking with spurts of running. The view of Mt Adams Confirmed I had reached summit and was ready for the ~3 mile descent to the finish line. By then I was out of water and gels, dehydrated and bonking badly. What seemed to be a mirage there were 2 firemen on ATVs with a case of bottled water. They asked how I was, this confirmed to me that they were real and not a mirage. I answered by asking them if I could have some of the water they were heating in the sun. After chugging a whole bottle I felt revived to push it the rest of the way, I knew first place woman was right behind me and another guy and I wanted to hold on to fourth place. The descent would have been much easier despite both feet being raw with blisters.

All of our finishes were anti climactic as all trail races are just a hand full of trail enthusiasts and family members of trail enthusiasts hangin out in the middle of nowhere for 5++++ hours. The post race food was amazing, pasta salad, cesar salad, more damn watermelon, beans, and steak! We all agreed on the technical difficulty and the sheer beauty of the race and retired to our campsite that was so so far away.