Friday Five, the OKC Edition

1. I am distracted going into this race. It's not an excuse. It's just that I've been reminded there's more important things in life than racing, or the number on the clock when you finish. But these same things have reminded me that I cannot, will not, ever stop running and being active. I won't. There's too much at stake. 
2. I need to do laundry. And pack. Instead I'm blogging at 3:00 AM. Priorities, people, priorities.
3. The shirts for the gang for OKC? Mostly Awesome. With a side of Amazing. Many, many, many thanks to Fawn and her great hubby Jack for the design and helping with the logistics. You will love them when you see the pics of us at the start. 
4. People are making me race this thing, which means no carrying the camera. What? I am the official photographer of all running events in which I participate. For reals. Somebody joked during Beer & Bagels the other day that if I quit taking pictures my finish times would be an hour faster!! That's not too far off, I bet!! I love taking pics. But I am actually racing on Sunday with a goal time and schtuff. So I'll give the camera to either one of our cheerleaders or to Sherpa Jason, Mel's hubby. And if they don't take adequate pics, I'll come after them. Proper documentation is required for all group runs and races. No pics, it didn't happen!! 
5. As I tucked in the Dread Pirate Monkey Boy, aka Thing 2 last night, I told him I would be gone by the time he came home from school today, but that Dad would pick him up, then he'd go to Grandpa's per usual on Friday night, and I'd be home after the race Sunday afternoon. And he said, "And you'll bring us home another medal, right?"  The boy loves him some hardware! 

Good luck to everyone racing OKC Memorial, Flying Pig, Heels & Hills Half and whatever else is going on this weekend. Be fast, be fleet, have fun!  And, um, TAKE PICTURES!!

Stupid Michael Scott

If you're not a fan of The Office, go here first.  OK, now... 


Seeing this episode last week and hearing that song made me think about the song from the original production of Rent. We saw it come through Dallas eons ago, but I have always remembered that song. When I pulled it up on YouTube, I was struck again by the lyrics and how appropriate they are to this week and this little race I have coming up. 

Five hundred twenty-five thousand 

Six hundred minutes

How do you measure, measure a year?

A year ago, when I ran the Oklahoma City Marathon the first time, I did it pretty much on my own. I drove up all by myself, and while I was lucky to run into Mark, Felix & Jeff on the street outside the expo, I didn't really know anyone else that was running.  I had met Suann briefly at the Cowtown tweet-up and we tried to meet at the start, but were unable to connect because there were so many people. I missed the pre-race tweet-up Saturday night because I had a horrific headache and was so tired that I couldn't make it to dinner. When I crossed the line, I called my husband and then wandered around the memorial by myself for a bit before I walked back to the bus stop to get back to the hotel and clean up for the drive home.  


This year?  This year, I'll be driving up with Kris & Megan. We've got a room at the Marriott downtown, and Mel and her hubby will be joining us Saturday. Marci, Bojana and Shannon will be driving up Saturday and staying in the same hotel. Fiona will be there, girls in tow, and running it out with us. We will be meeting about 50 other folks Saturday night at what is guaranteed to be the most epic pre-marathon tweet-up ever, hosted by the great Glenn (can't wait to meet you for real!!). I was surrounded by my "bubble of love" at Cowtown, and for this race, just a year after I did it completely solo, I am sharing my bubble with most amazing set of women, of athletes, that I have ever known. What a difference a year makes. 

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights

In cups of coffee

In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.

So when I heard the lyrics to Seasons of Love again last week, I was touched by them in a different way than the first time I heard it.  How many daylights have I shared with these women? How many dawn mornings when it was cold, hot, muggy, windy, miserable, or awesome did we share as we ran around the lake, or in the neighborhoods, or along the trails in Grapevine or in Dallas or Allen (ALLEN!!)?  How many miles did we cover as we shared a hella lot of laughter and, yes, sometimes, strife? How many teary phone calls and text messages have I traded with these girls in the past year?  How many FaceBook exchanges and random tweet strings in our timelines that set me off cackling and smiling for the rest of the day have I shared with these women?  More than I can count and yet just a drop. So much more to come in the years to come, I'm sure.  

In five hundred twenty-five thousand

Six hundred minutes

How do you measure

A year in the life?
How about love?

How about love?

How about love? Measure in love

I have said before, and I will say again, that one of the most rewarding things about my running is not the miles that I cover, or the medals that I collect (although, hey, hardware is SWEET!!), but the friendships that I've discovered and nurtured and grown. And we in the months and weeks and days leading up to this race, this adventure in which we all are striving for sub-five finish time, we have determined that we each have our own race to run, and we have no idea what race morning will hold for us.  Someone's stomach might be uncooperative, or the heat or humidity or wind might be a killer, or a knee (that would be MY knee - please knee, please behave!!) or an IT band, or a lung might decide that, no, this isn't the day for a sub-five. We don't know what race day will bring. We won't know until we get there, until we toe the line in six days.  But we do know that we will be together at the beginning. And we will be together at the end, waiting for each other at the finish, with laughter and hugs and maybe tears (happy tears - NO MORE CRYING IN RACES, DAMMIT!).  And while we may not be together physically during the race, we know we will be together in our hearts and in our minds every step of the way.  I know Mel will hear my voice saying "Just a 10k, just a 5k left...", and I will hear "NO PICKLES" from Marci when it starts to get hard, and we'll all laugh at Mile 19 when we know what Marci is singing, and the pancake song will cross all of our minds at Mile 13, because you *always* have to sing the pancake song at Mile 13. And we may not run side by side for the whole way, but we will be together, because of the last year, a year that we can measure in miles and laughs and tears and love. 

You know that love is a gift from up above 

Share love, give love, spread love 

Measure, measure your life in love.

I don't know what my finish time will be in Oklahoma City this weekend. I know what I want it to be, and I know what my body is capable of if all the pieces come together.  But I know that no matter the time on the clock, the experience will be an amazing one, because of the women that are sharing it with me, and that I can measure not just my running life, but my whole life, in love. 

Let's do this, girls!! 

Watch out, OKC! White Rock Girls are on the way!

Friday Five - The I Said it Out Loud Edition

1. It's 2 weeks before Oklahoma City Marathon. I finally got some good weekday runs in this week, so I am feeling way more confident than I was after last week's disastrous 20-miler. There is a lot to be said for the mental part of this game, and I am glad that I have started to come around mentally and be excited about this race again. I was kind of beat up physically after Grasslands & Hells Hills coming so close together, but I feel like I am on the upswing and will hit my stride right in time for OKC. 
2. I've already started looking ahead past OKC & Minneapolis. First thing is that I will have surgery to remove the remaining girl innards that have been causing me trouble for oh, the last 27 years or so. That will force a summer of recovery & cross-training before the fall activities/madness ensues. 
3. This means I will not be running El Scorcho 50K as I previously planned. I will be there, for sure, just sitting in a camp chair with a big cooler of ice water by my side, possibly a bottle of Patron, and a huge SuperSoaker, ready to splash anyone who needs it with a big sploosh of cold water. I think between the Patron & the water gun I will be a very popular girl that night!! 
4. I have picked out two sprint triathlons for September and October. Time to get over Danskin & move on already. Ain't no way I can ever do the things I want to do if I don't just shut up and start swimming already. 
5. I've also picked out a 50-mile run for the late fall. The plan is that a summer of cross training, REPS workouts and triathlon preparations will add to the double long run miles and position me to handle 50 miles of trails just fine come November. That's the plan. (insert small voice) squeee!!

NINE MILES!! (Hells Hills, Part Deuce)

Life got kinda busy... didn't mean to leave you hanging for a week on the second installment of my #HellsYeahHills race report!! Where were we? Oh, yeah!

Loop Two
So, we come into camp, wave to Fiona and the girls, then hit the aid station to refill bottles and take advantage of the real plumbing facilities before heading back out for the last 15.5 miles. I also changed out my shoes, as I was feeling the bottoms of my soles a little more than I was comfortable with. We tried not to linger and were on our way as soon as we could get out there.

As soon as we started up the hill out of camp, we realized why we had a hard time finding our breathing patterns - the first part of the path was a nice uphill. We couldn't see in the dark, but in morning light we could finally see where we had been earlier.

Julie had to explain to me that those are deer feeders...
What? No deer in the suburbs!

We were both feeling pretty strong in the first five miles or so, and this part of the path was fairly runnable now that we could see, so we made pretty good time along this stretch. We kept to the routine we had established earlier of walking uphills and any particularly rocky sections where footing was dicey, and running as much as we could for stretches at a time. Mostly, we just focused on forward motion. And we chatted and laughed and talked. Honestly, at this point, I was quite content to just walk it out and finish, but thanks to Julie and her enthusiasm, we ran a lot more than I had planned to or otherwise would have had she not been with me. We took turns on point and setting the pace, and made a lot of progress while we still felt strong.

Julie leading the way on early part of second loop.

By the time we got to the first aid station, we were feeling the fatigue of 20 miles on up & downs. We did have a nice chat with the couple who were manning the aid station.  They were the newlyweds who were married after Race to the Altar down in Warda a few weeks ago. We listened to some Def Leppard while we refilled our bottles and grabbed some fuel (Oreos? Yes, please!!). Then, they basically kicked us out and told us that not only was the next aid station offering popsicles (YAY!) but that we only had about nine miles left to go once we turned the corner past the station. 

NINE MILES?! That became our battle cry for the next section of the trail. It had gotten warmer, and a small tease of sprinkles ended up for naught. Thankfully we still had some overcast skies that kept the warmer temps at bay and we were still feeling pretty good. From here on out, we were just doing what we needed to do to get to the next aid station and those popsicles, and working on the last NINE MILES!!

I chose to go around rather than risk this rickety thing collapsing!

Loved this part of the path - no rocks, no roots, no SAND!

Moment of truth! Decision point!

It was really nice as we got closer to the second aid station to recognize a lot of the landmarks we had passed along the first route. We got to enjoy the signs posted on the trees again, and knew that with every turn of the path, every descent and quick rise that we were closing in on Julie becoming an ultramarathoner.  The miles started to wear on us for sure in here, but every time we flagged, all I had to do was yell "NINE MILES" and that put a pep in our step (OK, it did for me - Julie may have wanted to kill me by now!!).  

Pretty true words!

I'm walking because there's an incline. Really, there is!!

You really thought I WASN'T going to take a picture here?!

So, here we were, occasionally getting passed by the fifty-milers on their third loops, and sure enough, from behind us, a bit before the last aid station, we hear "Looking good, ladies!" We turn around and there is the unmistakable flash of neon yellow worn by none other than Jeremy, looking super strong. He ran right by without breaking stride, too fast for me to get a picture of anything but him blasting past us.  I may have yelled at him that he was driving us home the next day if he was so fresh at mile 44!! 

50-miler Jeremy smoking us on his third loop. Gotta be the Salty Banana shirt.

Right after we saw Jeremy, we came upon the non-existent field of bluebonnets again and we knew that we were closer than ever to realizing Julie's goal of finishing her first ultra. As we turned into the field, we saw a girl ahead of us, obviously struggling to walk. We passed her right before entering the Tunnel o Pines for the second time, and really ran it out into the aid station. Not only were we hankering for those popsicles, but I know I for one was ready to have this done with.

The aid station volunteers were great as usual, and offered us more Oreos (YAY!) and a red popsicle. Sadly, my popsicle slipped out of the wrapper before I could grab the stick, and I had to crestfallenly watch it fall to the dirt. OH NOES!! I'd been coveting that popsicle for five miles!! Luckily, they didn't make me pick it up and wash it off (had it been the last one, I would probably have not hesitated to do that), but instead offered me another one. This one was ORANGE! um, YAY! Need I say more? Was that the perfect popsicle for me or what?!

So I stood there, with my bottles refilled and Oreos in my belly, happily munching on my popsicle. Couldn't eat it too fast because I didn't want to get brain freeze, plus I really wanted to savor the cool goodness. I know I'm waxing poetic about a popsicle, but trust me, after seven plus hours on a dusty trail, that popsicle was just that awesome! The volunteer there tried to kick me out, and tell me that I could walk and finish it at the same time, that there was box for trash down the path, but I politely refused on the grounds that I can't walk and do anything else at the same time, especially not on the trails. At this point, Julie was ready and raring to go, though, so I finished it up, profusely thanked the aid station folks and headed out for the last few miles.

Julie very patiently waiting for me to finish the damn popsicle already!

This part of the trail was by far my favorite, as we hit the soft pine needles before the climbs of the Grind and the Wall.  But fairly soon after we left the aid station, the popsicles that were so awesome for me started to rebel on Julie, giving her a pukey feeling. As close as we were to the end, we had to walk it out more than we wanted while we let her stomach settle. She wanted to run, I wanted to run, but we were so close and we knew we had this finish in the bag, so it was OK to just walk it out. I know Julie was frustrated, so I just kept yelling "NINE MILES!" and urging her forward. She was awesome - she kept saying how hard this was, how this ultra thing was harder than any marathon could be. But she never faltered, and she never complained, and she never said "I can't." She was solid!! But then, to add injury to insult, her knee started to ache a bit on the hills leading to the Grind. That was pretty sucky, but at least she was with someone who knew exactly how to handle hills & descents with one working knee.

At this point, my mantra changed from "NINE MILES" to "The Wall, the Grind, your tent." We knew that those three things were all that stood between us and the finish. And we knew that we were soooo close. As much as we were dreading having to climb up the Wall and the Grind after 29 miles, we were also looking forward to them, because each landmark meant we were that much closer to being done and DONE.  So we were thrilled when we saw those down-ward pointing arrows again, and excited to scramble up the far end of the Wall (I didn't even need to give Julie a hand like I did on the first loop) and to barrel down the steep descent of the Grind. And I cannot describe how happy we were to come across the cattle guard for the second time and see Julie's tent in front of us - we knew it was less than half a mile away now. Julie's stomach had calmed down enough that we could run it out a bit, and we strategized how we were going to cross the line, with our chipped ankles over the timing mat at the same time, so we would have the same finish time.

It was so much fun to come out of the last stretch into camp, see all the cars in the lot and then spot a gathering of folks in lawn chairs cheering, then realizing that they were cheering for us!! It was all of our friends, hanging out and making a ruckus, and making us feel like superstars! Nine hours and 50 minutes after we set out in the dark, we crossed the finish line in perfect synch, giving Julie her first 50K finish and giving me an hour and 25-minute PR! WOOT!

YAY! Julie is an ULTRAMARATHONER!!

Dirty girls!!

Matt finished his first 50-miler & Greg OWNED his first 50K!

50 mile bad-a$$ runners Matt & Jeremy

Our cheering section Greg & Fiona. 

THIS is what's cool about ultras!!

You EARNED it, girl!!

But the most awesome part of the day is that the end of our race wasn't the end of our fun. Far from it.  After taking some finish photos and updating our Twitter & FB accounts with news of our finish, we both pulled up camp chairs and settled in to join our gang of friends and cheer in the remaining 50-milers. Not only was the camaraderie and the exchange of trail tales relaxing and so enjoyable, but it was such a blast cheering on the 50-milers. It was especially great to cheer on the girl we had passed back at mile 26, and see her finish strong and smiling even though she was so obviously hurting back at the aid station. Watching Fawn finish her 50-miler, flanked by her adorable twins (one of them barefoot!!) and Greg's girls was so cool. Hearing that everyone jumped at the "root snake" out on the trail was hilarious. It was just a great way to end an incredibly rewarding day.  I can hardly wait to do it again!!

Fueled by Oreos & Orange Popsicles

So my last few races have been, oh shall we say, dramatic. There has been some monumental event or emotion or something that made me walk away from the finish line with some big breakthrough about myself and my running. In that regard, this run, my second 50K, at Hells Hills in Smithville, was kinda-sorta boring. Not really, in no way at all can a 50K run through the woods be boring, but it certainly was not as revolutionary emotionally for me as my first 50K was three months ago.  In any case, I had set the bar pretty low at Bandera with my stunning 11:14 finish, so I was looking forward to a new PR at the minimum. I was really, really looking forward to two things here: 1) running the 50K with Julie, who was attempting her first ultra just a few weeks after her first marathon, and 2) seeing a whole slew of amazing folks from FW-D and elsewhere on race day. We'd been planning this for months, and it was exciting to have it finally arrive.

My traveling companions for this trip were a couple of folks I've done road trips with before and one new friend from Twitter & DailyMile I'd met at the "after party" at Grasslands a few weeks ago. Libby and I had been van-mates and room-mates during our Texas Independence Relay adventure in early March, and she was looking forward to her second ever trail race. Jeremy had been a great road-trip buddy for Bandera and wasn't sure he'd be able to make Hells Hills, so when his schedule cleared up in the last few days before the race, we were glad to have him along for the ride. It's always great to have an experienced trail hound like him as a captive audience in the car - we certainly picked his brain enough about everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) related to trail running on the drive down. The last passenger was Stacy, who like Libby is fairly new to trails but was so hooked after Grasslands that she wanted MORE!

Everyone arrived at my house right on time and we loaded up the back of my EBV with 2 coolers, 4 bags, 4 camp chairs, cases of water, snacks and everything we would need for our trail adventures. I had bragged that I was a champion packer, and I have to say I panicked some when I saw all our stuff scattered on my driveway. But we were able to get it all in the car & then hit the road just a little past our scheduled departure. Let the adventure begin! The drive down was mostly unremarkable, but we did pump Jeremy for all kinds of trail tips and tricks as we had warned him we would.  We just chattend and laughed in general as we all got to know each other more, the way you do on these road trips.  We made it with only two stops before we got to our destination, once for goodies at Czech Stop & once because you can't go too far with 4 overhydrated athletes without having to stop.

We got to Bastrop and met up briefly with Fawn and her family at the local Italian/Mediterranean restaurant, where we also met up with another runner from DFW who flew in. We missed a couple of other folks that were either en route still or had arrived earlier & had an earlier meal, so that was a bummer, but in any case, Sally Albright would have been proud of the way we ordered pre-race dinner - we made sure we had no extra cheese, roughage, breading, fried anything, or really anything that could potentially come back to bite us on the trail the next day. When dinner was done, we found ourselves suddenly anxious to check in and get to bed - we had a VERY early wake-up call to get the 50-milers ready for their 5:00 AM start.

Race Day
We woke up early. Very early.  Jeremy and our friends Matt and Fawn had the earliest start at 5:00, followed by the 50K group at 6:00  (me, Derek, Sarah, Jen, Kevin and first-timers Julie, Greg and Dat) and then the 25K group at 7:00.  It took less time to get there than we expected, so we had plenty of time to meet everyone, apply sunscreen, set up our drop bags, hit the bathrooms (real flush toilets!!WOOT!) and get ready to roll. And of course, we had to take photos!

Libby and Fawn before the 50-mile start. Libby was chilly but that didn't last long.

My heroes! These three are so cool! Matt & Jeremy passed us on their third loop!

Go Matt! Tackling his first 50M in Superman Style!

Greg and Dat bibbing up. Fold that bib smaller, boys!

Sporting matching Chupa shirts!

Julie looking adorable as usual, with new Twitter friend Derek.

THESE PEOPLE ROCK MY WORLD!
Awesome people, every last one!

My 50K girls Julie and Sarah!

Kevin and Katie! Katie did her first trail race out here! WOOT!

Once the 50-milers were off, it was time for us to really get ready for our race. Sarah had originally signed up for the longer distance, but had dropped down to the 50K since she had been sidelined by a pretty bad cold earlier in the week and hadn't had much time to train. So we were excited that she was going to be able to run with me and Julie. But apparently, I wasn't terribly excited about much - in fact, I was pretty laid back about it all, if you believe the photographic evidence:

Relaxed much?

Loop 1 
Before we knew it, it was time to go!! Time to put the headlamp on and put the camera away, as it was still pretty dark for most of our first loop. OK, for the first 5-6 miles at least it was dark. And we walked a lot in the beginning, because it was dark, and I had a tough time regulating my breathing in the first few miles. We ran little bits here and there, but mostly walked/hiked. We caught up to another group for a bit and walked and chatted with them for a bit, but then we dropped back and let them go on ahead. Sarah went on ahead as well, as she is getting ready to crew Jen at Badwater, so she really needed to get some running miles in.  Before we knew it, we were at the first manned aid station,about 5 miles in, and had caught up to Sarah. But we were also bummed to see Kevin kicked back in a camp chair there, since he had turned an ankle about 3.5 miles in and had called it a day. Boo. Hate to see that in any runner, but especially since Kevin had done so well at Grasslands in his first 50-miler a few weeks previously.

After we left that aid station, we walked a bit more with Sarah, but then Julie felt like she wanted to run a little more. The sun has risen but it wasn't terribly hot yet with the cloud cover, but the humidity was high enough and we were concerned how much we'd be able to run in the second loop when it was warmer. Sarah urged us to go on ahead, as she just wasn't feeling it, so we took off. We ran when we could , on the pine needles and the flats, and sometimes on the little rolling descents & inclines. We walked the uphills and when we needed to. We really didn't have any sense of how fast we were going, since Julie's Garmin crapped out on us about halfway through the first lap, but we were keeping track of time to make sure we timed our nutrition and e-caps appropriately, especially given the heat. Basically, we were running, hiking, moving forward. And enjoying the day and each other's company. Just like we planned.

Julie in the field of beautiful bluebonnets. Or just in dirt and grass? You make the call.

After traveling about 10 miles through the first loop, we finally came to a clearing, and were excited to see the fields of bluebonnets we had been promised on the website. But when we got there? NOTHING. The field was barren, with just a few thin flowers scattered here and there. What a bummer. Apparently, it was too dry a spring for LadyBird's favorite flower to bloom properly, so we were robbed. 

NO! No sand!! 

Only stinkin' bluebonnet out there!

Tunnel o' Pines. Great section through here. 

We were however very quickly treated to the Tunnel o' Pines and the best aid station of the race. I got misted by a friendly volunteer after threatening to dump my head in the cooler of ice water, and grabbed a couple of Oreos. Pretty much the Oreo was my fuel of choice at each aid station, supplemented by my Powerbar energy blasts and a little bit of my clif bar in between aid stations.  They had served me well at Grasslands so I went with them again and was not disappointed. The most exciting part of the aid station was that we now had just a little 20-miler in front of us and we would be done! And that 20-miler was broken up with aid stations.

This was so beautiful. And it smelled glorious!

My favoritest aid station volunteer of the day!

Looking good after 10 miles. OK, Julie looks better than I do. But still!

By this time, we were getting passed by the quick 25K runners, and we knew we were close to the end of the first loop. I had started dreaming about changing shoes soon after we left the last aid station.  We still felt strong, but suddenly, we started a series of climbs, with a few more rocks than we had seen earlier. I had slight Bandera flashbacks, but these rocks were friendlier and rounder than the Bandera rocks, so it was OK. I wondered if maybe we were getting close to the Wall and the Grind, two big climbs we had seen on the elevation profile and in the course descriptions. Just then, we see the signs telling us that yes, indeed, we were upon them. The climbs weren't terrible, just very steep and deep.  Completely manageable, but we knew they'd be tougher on the second loop, and we were very glad we weren't on the 50-mile course where we'd have to do them 3 times!!

The Grind. That's a little bit of a descent there!

The trail arrow goes straight down... Cool... 

After the climbs, it was just a bit more before we came to a cattle guard and then through the trees we could see tents.  The campsite! Julie was so excited to see her tent and her very-inviting hammock! Yay. That meant we were really close to the end!! She ran into her tent for her bandanna and we got ready for the last 1/4 mile into the camp.  

Grateful for big feet for once. 

Campsite meant we were so so close!!

Fiona & the girls were leading the cheering section! So cool to see them!

Camp at the halfway point! Time to head out again! Let's do it!

Yay! We made it! 15.5 down, 15.5 to go!! Now the fun starts!!

Loop 2 and the after party to come later!!

Teaser Trailer - Hells Yeah HIlls Top 10 Things

Full report to come soon. Meanwhile, the Top 10 Moments from this Weekend:

1. Successfully cramming 2 coolers, 4 camp chairs, 4 bags, 2 cases of water & snacks in the back of the EBV (Electric Blue Vibe) after boasting that I am a champion car-packer. Whew - didn't have to eat my words!
2. Trying to explain why I can't eat a sandwich once it's been in a plastic sandwich bag but I can eat a sandwich made with bread that's been in a sandwich bag. 
3. Hiding the computer from the "dirty bastard thieves" in Bastrop. 
4. The 180-degree difference in how we ordered food on Friday night pre-race to how we ordered food on Saturday night post-race. 
5. POPSICLES!
6. Seeing all our friends cheering us on at the finish line!
7. Joining all our friends cheering the 50-milers at the finish line. 
8. "The Grind, the Wall, your tent, the finish..."
9. "NINE MILES!"
10. Crossing the finish line with new ultra runner Julie. She rocked it!!

Friday Five - The Not a One-Hit Wonder Edition

1. So, I have this little race tomorrow. 50K. Yeah, another ULTRA. Baby ultra, as far as ultras go - nowhere near ready to tackle the 50 mile or 100 mile distance yet. Yet. But, still. When I cross the finish line, I will go from being the Falco of the running world to a bonafide "hey, look, she did it again, it wasn't a fluke" ultra runner. A Tommy Tutone two-hit wonder at worst. ha! (try not to hum 867-5309 for the rest of the day now, I dare you!). 
2. Making tomorrow's race even cooler? My trail buddies Julie and Greg are doing their first 50K! Greg is crazy-stupid-fast so he's going to be sucking down his third or fourth beer by the time I get done, but Julie & I are going to be joined at the hip tomorrow, and I hope to repay some of that awesomeness that Sarah gave me during my first race to Julie. Bringing in a new ultra runner into the world and all that!! And, she won't have to send an APB out for us, because she'll be right by us the whole time!!And there best be BUNNIES and PRETTY FLOWERS out there instead of big ugly rocks or sandpits of hell like at Sandlands. 
3. Oh, but wait! there's more!! Sarah, who is the reason I ever wandered onto trails in the first place? She's going to be there too! And she may have dropped down to the 50K so she's going to be hanging with me & Julie too! We're shooting for something a little less than 11 hours this time!! But we are bringing our headlamps. Just in case... 
4. I should really start packing. Peeps will be here to load up the EBV and hit the road in about four hours. But I might have to do laundry first. And I have a couple of things to finish up for work, even though I took a vacation day today. Which is why it makes perfect sense for me to be blogging instead of working or packing. 
5. My toenails have thus far survived Bandera, Cowtown & Sandlands, but one of them was bruised slightly by a revolving door on my trip to Denver. How crazy is that?