Mt Laguna Trail Marathon Recap

by Rachel



When I saw that there was a new trail marathon set up on my birthday, I knew I had to go for it! I've said many times in the past that the only way I'd do a marathon was at the end of an Ironman... it just seemed like something I would not enjoy. However, I have watched so many ultra trail races in the last year and a half - watching Paul go through the highest highs, and the lowest lows - being out in the mountains, enjoying nature, and most of all having FUN... and the more I watched, the more I wanted to run one myself!

Orangeman Triathlon 2012 - 70.3 Race Recap

by Rachel

Training Dreams vs. Reality

This year I decided to tackle a 70.3 triathlon, aka long course triathlon, aka half-distance triathlon. It starts with a 1.2 mile swim, follows with a 56 mile bike, and finishes up with a 13.1 mile run (a 1/2 marathon).

The Orangeman Triathlon is unique, in that the bike leg heads up a scenic highway, into the San Juan Mountains - a huge elevation change that you have to get through before your 1/2 marathon run. This was the 2nd year of their race, and they're still working out all the bits to make it a perfect race - but I thought it was great! It's a beautiful race, and I would recommend it to anyone that wants a 70.3 triathlon that is not quite the norm!

I started training for this race with a goal of finishing under 6 hours - quite a feat if I could do it! I felt that if I trained hard and smart enough, I could pull it off. I started my official training plan in April, with the intent of working really hard all summer - in fact, I had already been in pre-training mode, but within the first week of my training plan, I decided not to go for a 6 hour finish. I felt like it would be too stressful on me and my family, so I started backing off, and trying to have more fun and enjoy the training more. I just wanted to finish and enjoy my race!

Pain in the... foot!

by Rachel

On August 9th, I raced in the TCSD Aquathlon (club race put on once a month during the summer months). An aquathlon is a swim followed by a run - in this case, 1000 meter swim followed by a 3 mile run. I had a great time - and thought I did a great job pushing!

*in hindsight, running with the stupid/dumb/idiotic plantar warts on my right foot, along with extra sand in my shoe, and me thinking about pushing and ONLY pushing, may have contributed. Also, I was running in my Merrell Pace Gloves (minimalist shoe), and when you're running barefoot or minimalist you really need to be conscious that you're not pushing too hard off your toes - but it was the furthest thing from my mind and since I was pushing the pace, I probably started pushing off my toes too much*

Merrell Pace Gloves - a minimal review

by Rachel

I have wanted to be a "minimalist" or "barefoot" runner ever since I read Born To Run. It really made sense! We didn't evolve to wear a bunch of motion-control, stability, padded shoes, binding us into this false sense of comfort, right?

I went through the process of adjusting to barefoot/minimalist running - more so on the minimalist front - over a period of a year or two... and I feel I'm finally at the point where I can run whatever distance I need to in minimalist shoes. I do own a pair of hardcore trail running shoes, but honestly, they feel clunky and heavy! I'd much rather wear barely there, light as a feather, glove-like shoes at this point.

barely there, light as a feather?

San Diego 100 My story

by Paul

I've been trying to wrap my head around the whole experience of training and running the SD100. These last few weeks I've been in and out of depression and happiness. How can I be depressed and happy about something that I accomplished? I would have to say that when I think about the race and the troubles I had, it brings me to tears at times. It was such a mental game for me to keep going after my initial falling apart at mile 28. I really didn't understand what went wrong...

Pura Vida Chocolate Pancakes

We love Pura Vida! http://www.puravidavegas.com/

We would go to Las Vegas just to visit Pura Vida I think... Chef Mayra rocks!



This last trip to Las Vegas, we stopped in to Pura Vida for brunch, and there were lots of new items on the menu... but one immediately stood out and started calling my name.... I didn't even read the description, or the title - one look at the picture and I knew I had to order it... a stack of chocolate pancakes dotted with chocolate chips and banana slices, topped with chocolate syrup, then drizzled with maple syrup - MUST EAT!!!



My poorly attempted phone picture of this awesomeness doesn't do it justice - it was amazing! Now, I wouldn't call this "breakfast" by any means - and if you're eating this for breakfast every morning then you may have a chocolate addiction heh

But WOW - the first bite I took was heaven... honestly. There were a number of different chocolatey textures all combined in one forkful - and for a chocolate lover like me, this was a great stack o' pancakes! Once I started digging in, I realized this was a serious plate of chocolate... and I had a feeling I would not be able to finish it. The maple syrup and the bananas did an awesome job of offsetting the chocolate, so you weren't just eating mouthfuls of chocolate for your whole meal. But, at one point, I just could not eat ONE... MORE... BITE... of chocolate. I know, terrible of me to say, right? I really wanted to finish it!

Paul ate 1/3 of it, I probably ate 1/4 of it - and we definitely took the rest home and ate every bite of it!

Chef Mayra told us that it was a plate she had rarely seen anyone finish in one sitting - it's so decadent that it's hard to finish - that's the only way I can really describe this! Which doesn't take away from the fact that I would totally order this again!

For fun, here is another post about the pancakes - their picture is much better lol
http://eatingveganinvegas.tumblr.com/post/23108138176/when-being-bad-is-really-really-good

Yep - I've got a virus on my foot!

by Rachel

Ah... nature.

 

Being one with nature, feeling the breeze on your face, smelling the fresh air...

Hearing the waves crash, feeling sand between your toes, feeling the pain of plantar warts as you take a step...

Um, something here doesn't belong...

Seriously, who wants warts? Anyone? I don't even like saying the word, much less having the dang things on my foot...

Over the last 6 weeks, I have had a small area on my foot which at first I thought was a bruise from running in minimalist shoes on a rocky trail, or some kind of bruise/blister from running barefoot on the beach - but it never went away. So I finally went to the doctor this week and he diagnosed it - plantar warts.

Let me just say that I attribute this 100% to walking and/or running around barefoot. And while I will not stop walking/running barefoot just because of this, I WILL admit that being barefoot does run its risks. People can say all they want that we were meant to be barefoot and running barefoot is more natural; whatever reasons you may have for being outside barefoot, you can't deny that there are risks. I can certainly avoid rocks and glass, but how in the world am I going to avoid walking over a virus??

Like I said, this won't stop me from going barefoot in the future. I am 33 and it's the first time I've had plantar warts - I'd say that's not too shabby, really. I thought about whether to post about this, because - well, it's just kinda gross? But I think it's useful for people to know that being barefoot is not all wonderful, back to nature, awesomeness. 

 

What do you think - gross? weird? TMI? totally awesome?

Tri Training Week 9/10

by Rachel

I've been wracking my brain to try and figure out what to say - how to justify to myself that it's OK to give up your training plan - how to feel good about "giving up" - and wrap it all in nice sentiments and pretty words...

After I was forced to take a break from my training plan due to my rib injury, I stopped. I stopped caring about my training plan, stopped caring about making sure to get in a lot of workouts, I stopped doing strength training completely, stopped swimming... I am now so far disconnected from my training plan that I have decided to stop working towards my training plan.

Tri Training Week 8

by Rachel

I have been splitting up my training into 4-week chunks. This is the last week of what I called Base 2 - which means a recovery week - 8.5 hours total. This was also the second week after I bruised my ribs - so I was slowly trying to get back into my workouts without pushing too hard. I did not do any Strength Training, Yoga, or Swimming - because I didn't want to aggravate my ribs, and I also just felt like taking it easy.

Come to find out, I still met my weekly goal!

On another note, this week I made it to 1000 miles on my bike!

I took it in to Performance Bike to get free adjustments - and they even cleaned up my chain for me!

Tri Training Week 7

by Rachel

This week I got a present that no athlete wants... I got injured...

It was pretty dumb - I did it to myself, it was totally avoidable, and it didn't even happen while I was working out!

I was rummaging around in the trunk of my car, completely forgot that I had my bike rack hooked up to the trunk door, then stood up and slammed the trunk door down... the bike rack came down with the door, of course, grazed my forehead, then slammed into my ribs right below my collarbone.

This happened Monday morning, and I proceeded to work out per normal on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday, it still hurt, so I went to the doctor and verified that there was nothing broken.

It's basically just bruised (inside), and it hurts to breathe hard, or do any movements that involve my ribs - which actually doesn't restrict me as much as I thought - and I am on heavy ibuprofen until it heals up.

Life could be worse, and even though it is annoying and I am in major restriction mode (for me), I remind myself constantly that there are others way worse off than me. For goodness sake, one of our best friends is going through chemo for the umpteenth time and one of my relatives just got cancer - I will just accept this injury and get on living life.

Tri Training Week 6

by Rachel

This week ended up really great! I had some great workouts and learned a lot - I realized that I do want to put effort into heart rate zone training. I will not be going as fast as I can - but instead, going at a steady rate in zone 1 and zone 2. The only time I should go above these is when I'm going uphill, or when I'm doing high-intensity strength training.

I need to work on beach entry, and swimming in big waves - my speed just dies when I'm in choppy waves...

Thursday Thoughts

by Rachel

Right now I feel like

Rim to Rim to Rim Grand Canyon

by Paul

I've been to the Grand Canyon before but I had never experienced it like I did this trip. I've been dreaming of this since I was a child. This was a trip my mother and I tried to save up for for many years. We collected coins in jars trying to save up, but we never made it. She got sicker as the years passed by - spending more time in the hospital then out of it, at times. If she wasn't in kidney dialysis, it was to get her blood pressure down to a respectable level. Eventually the coins stopped dropping into the coin jars and we started to live day to day surviving. Dreams fade when you don't have the strength to look that far ahead anymore... when you're doing everything in your power just to keep living for your kids. She was strong willed, survived a long time after her body gave up years before her spirit did. I believe she fought on to make sure her kids were in a good place before she could rest. She fought to live her life the best she could and to give her children everything she could, especially her love.
I have her will now... I had lost it for so many years. I lost it living in the past and holding onto hate of so many things. I forgot the lessons of my mother, the one person I should be living to make proud. I hid for so many years from the true person I could be and fell deeper into that dark place we go when we no longer want to live.
This past year of ultrarunning has helped me learn more about myself than the previous three years running on the road. There is something to this ultrarunning - pushing beyond your physical and going into your heart and mind. Pushing beyond what you thought possible, surviving beyond the point of disaster. My mother did that for years with her sickness and now I want to live for her - to do the things we set out to do and never could.
This trip was that defining moment where I could look at myself and see my mother. I can feel again that love she had for me - that strength she had to hold on for so long. I don't know if there is an after life or not but I could feel her strong spirit with me this whole trip.

Tri Training Week 5

by Rachel

Base 2 - Week 1! 12.5 hours actually didn't seem so bad this time around... hmmm...

This weekend was the PCT50 - we all headed up for the weekend and camped out on Saturday night - I think the camping went pretty well this time! I think it helped that we were right next to people we knew and they had everyone over for dinner - and breakfast! Thanks Terry and Jeff!

I did start to feel tired with the increase in hours - I am going to have to force myself to go to bed at a decent time during this training or I will just burn out...

Thursday Thoughts

by Rachel

..."and Never..."
                    ..."and Never..."
..."ever Ever..."
                    ..."ever Ever..."
..."complain about hiking..."
                    ..."complain about hiking..."
..."in the Grand Canyon!"
                    ...."....in the Grand Canyon!"

Tri Training Week 4

by Rachel

This was my first Recovery Week in my new training plan - I used a concept called periodization to plan out how my training weeks would play out. The first training chunk was something like this:
Base 1
Wk 1 - 12 hours (actual 12.5)
Wk 2 - 14.5 hours (actual 15)
Wk 3 - 16 hours (actual 13)
Wk 4 - 8.5 hours (actual 15.5)

Even though my recovery week 4 was many more hours than planned, I really felt like I pared back my training. Exhaustion caught up with me (and possibly more), and I ended up sleeping a whole day - I just could not get up and out of the house. Also, this weekend, I enjoyed an awesome trip to the Grand Canyon, hiking with my 6yo at his pace.

Thursday Thoughts

by Rachel

Have you ever hiked down into the Grand Canyon? How about instead of hiking, you ran down, and ran/hiked back up? And, how about instead of going down to Phantom Ranch, you went right on by, continuing up to the North Rim, and then immediately turned around and traversed the whole thing again?!

We are going to the Grand Canyon!
I will be hiking with my 6yo down Bright Angel Trail to Indian Garden, hanging out, eating lunch, and then hiking back up - same day.
Our 15yo will be running down to Phantom Ranch, not sure if they're going to hang out there or not, and then run/hike back up - same day.
Paul will be running down past Phantom Ranch, up to North Rim, then turning around and going back to Phantom Ranch, followed by what I'm sure is to be a hot, sweaty, emotional, beautiful, and awesome run/hike trek back up to the South Rim - same day.

We will take lots of pictures - and I'm sure each of us will have a different story to tell, at the end of that day!

I have been to the Grand Canyon four times that I can remember - each trip was special for different reasons. My favorite memories include seeing snow in the middle of June, hiking with my Dad and staying the night at Phantom Ranch, being there for Paul's first glimpse of the majestic views, having our train robbed by outlaws on the way to see it, and being able to share the beauty of the canyon with both of our boys.

What's your favorite memory of the Grand Canyon?




P.S. I wrote this on Thursday - but never got a chance to post it! So many stories to tell now, but for now this needs to be posted!

Leona Divide 50M run and lessons learned

by Paul

I find it nice to go into a race without being nervous and full of anxiety. This race was another preparation for the San Diego 100 miler. Time to get my pace down and hopefully learn something new along the run. WOW, did I ever learn something, but I'll get into that a little later.

My family and I decided to go up early Friday and find a campsite so we were close to the start line in the morning. That way we are close and we get a camping day in for the year. It was nice to get up there and hang out with other runners and friends volunteering at the race. Chatting away about races and life as we sat around getting our race packets and getting ready to eat the race-sponsored pasta dinner.

The race was held in the small lake community of Lake Hughes - which had one store and a hotel/ restaurant in it. It was nice to be away from the crazy city life for the two days we spent up there. So a bunch of ultrarunners come rolling into town and fill up the place with fit and sweaty people all over. It was a cool to see people from all over going in and out of the Lake Hughes Community Center. This race is part of the Montrail Ultra Cup Series so it brought out some of the elite runners from all over. It was cool to watch them run by you during the race. The RD is Keira Henninger and she always puts on a great challenging race. The swag bag is always awesome and the race shirts kick ass.

I found that sleeping in a tent the night before a race is bad if you don't have the right sleeping bag. It gets cold up in the mountains at night in late April. I made it through the night tossing and turning, but overall I think I got enough rest for the race. We learned we need to prepare a little better when we camp up at the SD100... need a little more blankets and cushion. It was a great experience though - camping out near the start line helped me relax! It was also nice to have the dinner before the race and watch the movie "UNBREAKABLE" with my fellow athletes.

I was pretty relaxed during the race - I just wanted to get a good pace down and see how that went for me. I didn't have to be anxious about running the race as a race, just sit back and enjoy the scenery. For most of the race I did just that. I sat back and was in awe of the beauty of the mountains and the trails we ran on. I made a ton of new friends just sitting back and relaxing, running with the crowd for most of the first 20 miles. I was having a great time running these trails and hanging out with my fellow runners - until I had an experience that just about handed me my first DNF....

Tri Training - Week 3

by Rachel

This was supposed to be my big push week - 16 hours of training, leading up to my recovery week in week 4. I was excited to put in the extra time if I could, and go into week 4 ready to rest and recover (well, relatively anyways - week 4 is down to 8.5 hours of training).

I also didn't want to put my training before the rest of my life - so when it came down to it, I ended up listening to my body and what was happening on Sunday and decided to leave well enough alone - I didn't get the hours in but I feel really good about my effort for the week - no regrets!

Thursday Thoughts

by Rachel

Paul entered a contest through 2Toms (OK, I entered it for him) - the "Worst Blister Challenge"... as soon as I saw it I knew he could win! If he gets the most votes, he wins 1 SportShield roll-on 1.5ounce, 1 ButtShield roll-on 1.5ounce,1 BlisterShield 8 ounce, 1 BlisterShield 32 ounce, 1 StinkFree Shoe Spray bottle, 1 48-count SportShield towelettes, 1 48-count BlisterShield Trial Size, 1 10 pak Stink Free Sports Detergent Packettes, 1 Stink Free Sports Detergent 30 oz Bottle - whew!

I'll leave the blister picture on their website - but if you want to see the magnificence and vote for Paul's toe, please head on over there!

Speaking of blisters, I have been told I need to become an expert on fixing blisters, since I'm Paul's crew for the SD100. One of Paul's pacers (keithski) suggested the book "Fixing Your Feet" - so I have it on hold at the library - I'll be interested to see all that's in there.

In the meantime, I googled a bit and found the blister care section on the Badwater website - if anyone knows about blisters, it's the people involved with the Badwater race! I found out a lot just by reading this page, plus the two referenced at the bottom of the page. I guess I need to put together a good blister kit before June!

Any advice on dealing with painful blisters during races???

Tri Training - Week 2

by Rachel

This week my challenge was to squeeze in 2 additional hours of training for a total of 14.5 hours. This has been hard because I have never put this many hours into training - let me show you last year's training minutes graph (this is when I was using sparkpeople.com to track everything):

Thursday Thoughts

by Rachel


What an emotional day! Who knew that piling on hours and miles to your weekly exercise can stress you out?? Paul got me a bag of chips, and a bowl of salsa, and good golly I feel so much better now! Tri training lesson - feeling a little emotional? Try putting some calories in you!

Tri Training - Week 1

by Rachel
I am using dailymile.com to track my workouts this year - I like it because it's easy to input your workouts, and gives you some pretty charts and summaries! Also, you can "friend" other people that use DM, and comment on their workouts, and they can comment on yours. It's a really easy way to be cheerleaders for eachother! 

This week ended up being a really great training week - and while I could feel the squeeze on my schedule to fit more in, I think I arranged everything to be minimally disturbing to my life and my family's life. Week 1 done - 23 to go!

Oriflamme 50K, No plan mostly fun

by Paul

I went into this race mostly to have fun and I had no plan except to finish. To begin with, it was a makeup race - it had been canceled due to weather in March and rescheduled for April 7th. I had planned (when it was on March 17th, St. Patrick's Day) to wear my sportkilt and all green outfit. Things changed after it got rescheduled, so I put on my normal running clothes. It was all good though - when Oriflamme got canceled I decided to do a 50k of my own at Lake Hodges all dressed up in my St Paddy's outfit. It was stormy that day but a lot of fun.

Saturday April 7th was the makeup day and it turned out to be one beautiful morning to run. My feet were still recovering from the Old Goat 50 miler, so I was a little worried about adding more blisters. I didn't really prepare for the race because of my feet laying me up for a week and a half. I got a couple of runs in two days prior to the race and my feet were hardening. I learned now that every time I go out I'll be lubing these feet up - and making sure I stop and take care of any hot spots as soon as they show up.

This race starts in the Laguna Mountains, heads down to the Anza Borrego Desert where you turn around, then climbs back up to the mountains. The race starts at Sunrise Parking lot and heads out on the Pacific Crest Trail(PCT) loop trail until you cross Sunrise Highway and get on the PCT trail for 5 miles. Next you run on the Mason Truck Trail for about 2 miles - then down the steep rocky path of the Oriflamme Truck Trail for 5 miles. Once you hit the desert floor you run on sand for the rest of the way until you turn around and climb back up through sand, rocks and heat.

Thursday Thoughts

by Rachel

I'm full swing into Week 1 of my tri training - going from 8 hours of exercise in a week to 12 hours is an adjustment! But I'm enjoying it so far, and will be recapping each week - I have found it's really helpful to keep track of your training details to look back on and compare, to make sure that you're on track to meet your goals (it appeals to my mathematical side I think).

Thursday Thoughts

by Rachel

Next week I officially begin my 70.3 training plan - Week 1 of 24! The Orangeman Triathlon is on September 23rd and I'm going to be soooo ready for it!

I read The Triathlete's Training Bible, by Joe Friel, and took about 7 pages of notes! I tried to put together a plan that I felt like I could stick to, and also not run myself ragged - so here's what my Week 1 Training Plan looks like:

Thursday Thoughts

by Rachel

Apparently I had no thoughts on Thursday! heh

We went to the doctor on Thursday for a physical checkup - a couple weeks ago we had bloodwork done. I wanted to make sure we were all in order, since Paul's doing the SD100 in June and I'll be doing the Orangeman in September. Also, since we became vegan last year, I was curious to know if we were deficient in anything.

The doctor said that we were two of the healthiest patients he's seen in awhile (score!) and our bloodwork all came out very well - with one exception. My MCV numbers are a little high - and basically he said that means I'm looking at macrocytosis. He said it could be genetic, or it could be a B12 deficiency (not uncommon in vegetarians or vegans). I got an additional blood test done to test my B12 numbers - so we'll see what comes of that. I am going to try not to overthink this right now, since we don't have a specific answer yet.

I also mentioned to the doctor that I have had lower back/right hip problems on and off for a few years and it likely started while I was pregnant with our 6yo (during my pregnancy I got to the point where I could not even turn while walking without sharp shooting pains down my legs). So, he had x-rays taken of my lower back and hips - and will take a look at those.

Anyways, glad to have that done. We haven't had physicals recently and since it's covered under our health plan, I thought it was time to get it done!

Have you had a checkup lately??

My Ultimate Challenge - The Old Goat 50

by Paul

I've been thinking these past few days about what it took to finish the race. This race tore me up physically and mentally, but in a good way. Going in I knew it was going to be tough - that is why I trained up in those mountains, on those same trails. Now I don't know what happened - on race day I had no legs for any part of the race. So right away I'm tearing myself down, thinking I did something wrong. Did I overtrain? Do I suck at running? Did I eat the right things? Who am I kidding? I shouldn't be out here... I'm no runner. I kept beating myself up and wanting to quit from the start of the race and I have no idea why - even after reflecting on the race these past few days.

I wanted to go out slow and get a good pace down for the San Diego 100, so I didn't look at the race as a race but more as a training run. But right off, I was not having a good day. I realize this is my first year running ultras, but I really thought I had everything down for this race. On race day I fell apart from the word GO.

I sit here today still going through it in my head. I am still tore up, not only physically but mentally, and I feel out of balance. My feet have huge blisters and a deep black bruise on my heel. The thing is, I had to run on those sore, beat-up feet for over 30 miles in excruciating pain. With that pain, I had to go inside my head and try to deal with it - on top of all the doubts I was having about even finishing the race. I doubted everything about my choices in life and about running.

Here is the race from GO:

Thursday Thoughts

by Rachel

This last weekend a big storm whipped through San Diego, bringing snow with it up in the mountains - long story short, the Oriflamme 50K was cancelled :(

It's been rescheduled for April 7th though!!!

We are very happy about this :)

Thursday Thoughts

by Rachel

Quite a lot of exercise-related stuff has happened in the last week!

Saturday I did the TCSD Duathlon - the tri club that I joined last month has club duathlons, aquathlons, and triathlons throughout the year - so I'm going to do as many of them as I can! The du was 2.25M Run, 12.5M bike, 2.25M run - I definitely had lots of people in front of me - tri geeks are fast?! who knew? lol
I just went out and did my own race - tried to pass people if I could but wasn't going to push too hard and burn out. Met Monika from Monika With a "K" - she was very nice! :)
Run Leg 1 - 2.25m (19:03) (8:28 avg pace)
T1 00:41
Bike Leg - 12.42m (40:48) (3:17 avg pace -- 18.2mph avg)
T2 00:53
Run Leg 2 - 2.3m (19:23) (8:37 avg pace)

Rocky Road 50 mile report and lessons learned

I decided to sign up for this because a couple of my friends were doing their first 100miler and I thought this would be a good time to see how my training was progressing. I thought it would be nice to get a 50 mile training run in at the same time as getting a shirt.

Vanessa and Robert(Shacky) said they would allow me to carpool with them - this made it easier for me to go since I had just signed up on a whim about 2 weeks before the race. I'm training for the San Diego 100miler in June so I wanted to test myself and get everything dialed in so that I'm prepared as much as I can be when June comes around. Plus, I wanted to see Vanessa and Robert(S) run 100 miles and get their first buckle - and run it barefoot and minimal as possible.

I've been training in the Laguna and Saddleback Mountains the past couple months almost on a weekly basis - getting some hard training in elevation and terrain to prepare myself as much as possible for a 100mile race. So when I signed up for the RR50miler, I wanted to get the miles on my feet - and it was a relatively easy course (compared to the mountain trails I've been running).

Our Raw Vegan Detox

by Rachel

Paul and I decided to start the year off with a detox - to get some holiday treats out of our system, get away from gluten for a few days, and hopefully clear our systems out a bit.

The best way we figured to do this without completely starving ourselves (we have fasted before, so not unfamiliar with that) was to go raw vegan. Basically eating only fruits, veggies, nuts... and all of it raw - so no cooked food.

Growth in 2011

by Paul

Starting out in 2011, I had no idea what the year would deliver and what I would accomplish during the year.

In 2011 I've seen the most growth in me and went far above and beyond what I thought I could ever accomplish. Going into the year I really had no idea the growth one can achieve when they set a goal and go out and achieve that goal.

I started off the year with the Carlsbad Marathon, setting a PR from my previous marathon - and ending the year achieving another PR in the Las Vegas R&R Marathon. Between those two races I learned and grew so much and achieved things that I thought were impossible back in 2010.