Catching up: Temporary life in CO and High Lonesome 100

Wow, I really haven’t written much since last summer and Cruel Jewel 100+ I have been journaling more, pen to paper is way more satisfying to me than typing, so when I get the chance to write, its in my little purple journal.

One of the high alpine lakes in the second half of the High Lonesome 100 course.

This summer we are in Salida CO for 6 months. The why is a longer more complicated story, but the short version is that family health issues pushed us to really live and do something wild, and knock off items from our bucket list before its too late! My bucket list was to get Drew to pace me a full 50k of High Lonesome, his are hiking several 14ers and doing the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim. Rim to Rim is planned for October, and High Lonesome happened in July.

Leading up to High Lonesome 100 I had some fantastic runs. Even if I had dropped during the race, those 9 weeks of training in some of the most beautiful high country was well worth it. Its fascinating how the body adapts. The very first day in town, after 3 days of driving from NC to CO, I felt like I needed to take the dogs out for a long “jog,” they had been SO good in the car for several days and sleeping in random hotels-they deserved a good bit of exercise. I mapped a little 4 mile, flat-in-town route, packed water for the three of us, and set out thinking NBD, we-the dogs and myself- would be fine. Four miles, all flat: piece of cake. I have no idea how the dogs felt, though they looked at me with excitement in their eyes, a new place with all new sniff smells, however, one mile in and I was starting to lose my vision around the edges. If you have ever run hard enough, or run at altitude and felt the beginings of hypoxia…I was there, .75 miles into a very slow 4 mile jog. The jog quickly turned into a run walk and 4 miles became 2.5. The next day I decided to try again, this time I didn’t get hypoxic right away, but still capped it at 4 miles and slow. I would notice every week things would get a teeny bit easier.

Between mile 65-70 along the Continental Divide trail, I did this in the dark.

Then in May, for my birthday, we decided to do Mt Yale, one of Drew’s 14ers. After being in CO for 5 weeks by now, we thought we’d be ok to get up to 14,000 ft. That morning we left in the cold, dark and arrived at the trailhead just in time for sunrise and snow flurries! It was beautiful, but it was also foretelling of things to come. Around 13,000 ft we hit deep snow. We trudged up for a bit, missing the trail, finding our way back to the trail, but getting very cold. Drew had gotten hot and sweaty in the first part of the ascent, and now his wet base layer was chilling him to the bone. His fingers were numb, the snow was getting deep, and it was my birthday hike-and birthday hikes are supposed to be fun, so we paused at a big rock that didn’t have snow on it. Had fantastic birthday cookies that Aubrey made, and turned back to the start, just 500ft shy of the peak. I am 46 now, I have no ego, nothing to prove when it comes to high alpine outings, if it doesn’t look safe to summit, I am happy to turn around-no regrets.

Over the next few weeks I was able to put together some amazing training runs all above 9,000 ft. My biggest week was 90 miles with 13,000ft of climbing and about 20 hours of work. More than anything I got to experience almost every section of the course that I normally have in the dark and I got to do it feeling great! Thanks to Aubrey I got in hundreds of mountain miles, and so much exploring. I wouldn’t change my race finish if it meant any of that adventuring would need to be altered. I just feel at home here, I feel so connected to the earth and so thankful to be alive and able to experience all the wild areas on my own two feet.

At the starting line, feeling ready?

I had hoped that Mhrt (Menopause hormone replacement therapy) would help me feel a bit more like myself during a 100 mile race, however, we caught RSV a few weeks before the race, so I did the best I could despite not feeling 100 percent like myself. I have been on Mhrt for about a year now, and the biggest thing I notice is that I can sleep, I was only able to sleep about 4 hours a night before going on MHRT-that was the worst year of my life-and I don’t have the joint aches. Mostly in my hip, I was born with a foot backwards and it has led to some early arthritis in one hip opposite the ankle that has some limited mobility. What it does not do, at least for me, is make me feel like I used to even 5 years ago and be able to stay awake overnight, I never ran into this problem until my eary 40s, can’t say I enjoy it.

The first half was mostly uneventful. The highest point and longest climb comes before mile 20. We hike up to 13,000+ ft to the pass just below Mt Antero (a 14,000ft peak that later Drew and I would clmib together) This week was the first week of monsoon season. Prior to this week it had been dry, so dry that it seemed like a new fire would pop up almost daily. With the new moisture in the air it did two things, it pushed the smoke out of the area, and it made this climb feel quite uncomfortable in the humidity. I felt steady up the climb, and faster than usual on the backside down. I added ice to my bandana at every aid station and just trotted along, watching storm clouds ahead. The rain hit when I was below tree line, which was really nice. Several folks got stuck up higher in hail and lightning. I just got cold and wet. When I reached the first crewed aid station at mile 32 I was cold and needed to change out of my wet shirt.

The race itself was ok, slower than I had hoped, but fine for about 50 miles. I did feel more adjusted to the elevation, by that I mean day to day sleep felt normal, everyday life felt fine-no shortness of breath, I had adjusted to the very dry air too. By the time the race rolled around we had been in CO for 2.5 months and my usual squeezing headaches had stopped occurring. I wouldn’t say I had completely adapted to the altitude, but I was no longer having the low grade sick feeling I usually get above 9,000ft….but then somewhere after midnight my stomach turned and I, for the first time ever, experienced bad-bad heart burn. I can’t say that I have gotten heart burn before, it took me a bit to hit that ah-ha moment of…”this is heart burn, we have to get an antacid to solve this problem.” For a bit I thought it was possibly some leftover inflammation from the virus we had. Then I had a short panic that I could have some heart inflammation. I rationalized that if I got some TUMS and it went away, it couldn’t be myocarditis. (Look, after 65 miles all above 9,000 ft and about 16 hours of running and hiking my brain can start concocting some interesting scenarios and the rational side of it needs to come in and talk the other non-rational side down from its panic-don’t judge.)

Sometime between midnight and 2am I went through my usual paces of: first wanting to drop, but not a remote aid station where I might be stuck for half a day. I bargained with myself that I would not make any rash decisions until I saw my crew, which wouldn’t be until sunrise, and there I could get a 10 min nap (glorious!) and reset my stomach. At Boss Lake, where we had hiked the dogs the month before, and I had run past on one of my 20 mile training runs I told myself I just needed to lay down for 5 minutes to stop the narcolepsy-head nodding- feeling like I was going to fall asleep on my feet. I didn’t pull out any extra gear, despite the cold temps, because I didn’t want to get too comfortable. I looked up at the sky for a second and gasped at the moonless night allowing for the milky to be visible. WOW! I registered that I had not seen the Milky Way since college in Tucson, where up at 7000ft on Mt Lemon you can see the universe! I almost immediately fell asleep after that realization and was probably out for 2-3 minutes before several more headlamps woke me up and we headed off into the darkness again. From there until sunrise I was semi awake and mostly nauseated and felt very slow. One time my pacer stopped to pee and I sat down for a second to eat something and kinda fell asleep for a moment again. whoops.

The best crew chief every, Elizabeth, getting me changed, fed and warmed up in a thunderstorm.

Finally we reached my crew, waiting at Monarch Pass. The tracker had gotten stuck overnight and said I was still back at mile 60, but thankfully my pacer had texted them to let them know we were moving, albeit slower than intended-so they were ready for me with a nice place to lay down. I asked for 10 min, they pulled out a little mattress and put a blanket over my head and I was instantaneously asleep. A funny aside, I was recently diagnosed with ADHD so now this makes much more sense, but when I was an infant/toddler and was still bottle feeding I would only eat if there was a blanket over my head…otherwise I was too interested in everything around me and would not focus on drinking milk. In this moment that memory came back to me and gave me a good chuckle. At minute 10, Elizabeth woke me up, and after a pause I got up, changed clothes, put my pack, sunblock, hat and sunglasses back on and headed back out onto the trail-with Drew.

The best nap everrrrr at Monarch Pass.

Usually during a 100 mile race I pick pacers that I know I don’t need to give a second thought to or worry about; they have done the distance and terrain that I invite them along on and I don’t need to worry about them much at all. With Drew, maybe its partly because he is my spouse, maybe its because of recent health issues, but I had a bit of a underlying concern for him. Despite me having 70 miles on my legs and a stomach like a fun little coke and nerds experiment churning, I was thinking more about the 32 miles he was going to have to do with me. Up to this point he had run a few road marathons, but 3.5 hours and 26 miles is way different than 32 miles with lots of elevation. Somewhere along that section I took my foot off the gas and just decided to hike it all. He was great, he had put together a fun playlist and had “dad facts” and jokes at the ready to entertain me with.

Not quite awake yet, and cold. That look on my face says it all.

Going into the final 50k, its hot and dusty and exposed, so we took advantage of every stream and river, dunking our hats and cooling ourselves. He was also great at setting a fast hiking pace, his long legs can easily set a 16-17 min mile pace, and he did just that, which gave me run/walk breaks and set the perfect pace to make sure I would finish before the cut off.

The race drops out of the woods, off of the trails onto dirt road with about 4-5 miles to go. I, despite having older “master’s legs,” I still have a young competitor’s brain and when we popped out on to the road I was ready to run. If we are being real, it was a 13 min mile pace, but I was smelling the barn. After a few min I realized Drew was still walking. I stopped and turned around and said…what’s up? Lets run! He finally let out that he was nauseated and had massive blisters on his heels and couldn’t run a step. We bargained and landed on a run walk-but ultimately settled on a walk. There is a long final climb up to the finish and I started to get nervous about not making the cut off. This is a glimpse into the addled ultra brain: having been awake now for 35 straight hours and been over 10,000 ft for much of the last day…there was definitely a lack of oxygen in my brain and we went back and forth about me running and him getting a ride to the finish. A friend started to come to get him, but then he decided he wanted to do the whole thing….so I ran most of the way up the hill…and then back down to him when he refused the ride. I apolgized for my ultra brain panic, and we walked it in across the line. He finished a whole 50k-his first- and I got to get paced all the way to the finish by my husband.

In the end I was happy he opted not to take the ride and I went back to finish the race with him. I was nearly an hour slower than in 2022, the last time I ran HiLO–but happier and more fulfilled this time around.

I mean, I do, actually enjoy this type 2 fun!

Heading to the finish chute with Aubery, pacer #1 in the background. Yes, the silly sunglasses are a must when you are up high, eye protection is a must and I have a small head.

Race Planning for 2026

Its December, which means its lottery season! If you have been around long enough, you may remember a time before 100 mile races were dominated by lotteries, heck, you may even remember when signing up for Western States Endurance run was a guaranteed entry.

Unfortunately, those days are long gone, and many runners who want to run races like WSER or HRH or any other lottery race need a long term game plan. After the lottery, you either get in and start planning your training (that’s a different article) or you were not drawn and must start looking ahead to which qualifying races will work for you.

Western States has nicely added a whole page of their qualifying races with links to each race webpage. I often have my runners think about their year and try to choose a race date that works within the parameters of work/life/kids schedules. For some folks summers are busy with kids home from school and vacations, which leaves little time to train, so we may focus on an early spring qualifier. I live in a college town, so many of the runners I coach have fewer work responsibilities in the summers while classes are out. They have more time to train through the summer months, so fall races might fit their time frame better. Either way, you want to have a plan that takes into account how race training will affect your non-running life.

An example for a college professor might be that classes start back in late August, but the term is still somewhat slow, so they may target an early fall race, knowing that their peak training will be 3-9 weeks out from the date of their race. That month before racing will likely be when your training is at its most intense, so it would make sense to choose a time of year that the rest of your life might be a bit less stressful.

Once you choose a time frame, its a good idea to read some race reports to find out more about the terrain of the races you are targeting. Its important to know what your qualifying race will be like, as a qualifier like Umstead 100 requires very different training than a race like Tour de Geants requires.

You also want to know if this qualifying race is your A goal race. Most likely it will be, but on the off chance it isn’t, knowing what your A goal race is would be something else to consider.

Once you have your anchor races in place, or your A race, you can then work backwards and fill in different B or C races that support your A race goal, but are usually used as supported training runs.

As coaches, we all love race planning and are happy to help you figure out how to periodize your year, or even multiple years out. We have the knowledge and tools to help you create a calendar of races and training that work for your goals, while keeping your non-running life in mind.

Drop us a note on our contact form!

Cruel Jewel 10(9?)

Happy 45th Birthday weekend to me!

10 years ago several friends and myself decided to go run the Cruel Jewel race in the north GA mountains. Half of us did the 100 miler, half of us did the 50 (really they are more like 106-110 with 33,000 vertical ft and 57 miles with 17,000 vertical ft) We were somewhat new to ultrarunning at the time, and thought it would be fun to make a video of our training. Living where our tallest “mountain” is 400ft, our quest was to figure out how to train so we could tackle a very mountainous race. The result was me winning the 50, coming in 3rd overall.

The 2015 crew!

I decided 10 years later, why not attempt the 100? Unfortunately the guys I went with either no longer run or had conflicts. So it was just me and my crew heading to the N GA mountains during one of the most humid weeks of 2025, so far.

I had not run a race since Hardrock in 2023, so I was feeling a bit rusty. I have been wanting to attempt Hardrock in the opposite direction, so CJ would give me a qualifier….perfect!

There are a few things that make this race tough, the first is the heat and humidity. The lovely green, dense forest tends to hold in so much humidity, that even if it doesn’t rain…you’ll be wet all day. Blisters, chafing and maintaining hydration become a challenge. The next is that its pretty technical, so you don’t ever get to shut off your brain (except for the few road miles around mile 17 and 80)

This year we had an added bonus of thick fog and thunderstorms on the two big climbs along the Duncan Ridge Trail that made for low visibility and very slick mud on the steep grades.

I will set up where my head was at, by taking a step back. In my 20s and 30s some of my “why” focus was to run fast, try to podium, and prove that my rather petite female body can do really hard things too. Side note, growing up I was not supposed to reach 5ft and wanting so badly to be included in sports seemed to be the theme of my childhood. Getting picked on and told that girls, especially girls my size, were not meant for sports really set the tone for the first half of my life. In my mid 30s my why became less about proving that I was fast and tough, and more about having fun experiences with friends. From 2014-2023 every 100 miler I ran, my dear friends ET and Brian came along to crew and have a fun adventure. 100 milers became more of a way to connect and travel with friends. This year, for the first time in a long time ET and Brian would be unable to join, instead they would be having their own adventure with surgeries and chemo.

Mile 19

At first my knee jerk reaction was to skip the race, but ultimately, it became one of my motivators…so that by getting another Hardrock qualifier, next year we might be able to resume our 100 mile travels together. I thought about this a lot in the first half of the race, getting back to the swing of summer adventures with friends and dogs.

The race starts at noon at Camp Morganton, a very small camp in Blue Ridge GA. Parking was limited, so we ended up sitting outside in the heat for 40 min waiting for the pre-race meeting. Despite having my slushie and an ice bandana, we were all pretty hot by the time the race began. Looking at my heart rate the fist several miles, I knew I was going to pay for it later. I was hot after sitting outside pre race, which meant even at a very easy effort my HR was much higher than it should have been. I tried to focus on staying cool with ice in my bra and around my neck, but by mile 19 I was already pretty nauseated. I slowed down on salt intake a bit because that usually adds to my nausea. I have not taken a sweat test, but I am fairly certain I have pretty low sodium needs. Unfortunately I pulled back way too much and had some hamstring cramping, which I have never experienced. Of course, this also could have been due to the fact that at mile 30 there was a blow down and I had to crawl under it, while also trying to avoid putting my face in poison ivy! The rest of the race seemed to be a back and forth struggle with my stomach. It never quite settled again. I threw up a handful of times, but never getting into that spiral of throwing everything up, it was more like one single item (often a salt pill or a certain flavor of gel) would be ejected, but I could easily eat something different a second later.

There were a few 20 mile sections where I would not see crew, so I had to carry quite a bit of my gels and hydration. The remote aid stations mostly had candy and sometimes sandwiches, though the last thing I wanted was more sugar, and I cannot eat wheat, so I relied heavily on SIS and Carbs gels and coke.

Your one and only view, so enjoy it while you can!

Miles 25-46 is the first long stretch with no crew and just some smaller aid stations. It went along rather uneventfully, for me anyway. Somewhere before the Fish Gap aid station I started hearing some yelling up above me on a switchback. Much of the trail here was pretty narrow and overgrown and the group ahead of me had gone off course. As I got into Fish Gap, I learned that the yelling was due to a runner who fell, broke his poles and somehow impaled his hand on the snapped pole! Yikes! I might have un snapped my hiking glove from my pole after hearing this.

Dealing with blisters, not a usual thing for me.

We continued up into the narrow trail as it became more of a bushwack. I could barely see the sunset, but what I could see was pink and red and pretty. I hiked alone for the rest of this section into Wolf Creek, where I was finally able to see Drew and my pacer, Sam around 1am. I changed out of my wet bra and shirt (not sure why I did that knowing I was just going to get wet again) but I did. I did the hike out and back to Poor Decisions and then picked up Sam for the climb back up and the next 20 miles. By this time, a lot of the field had dropped out. If it wasn’t nausea, it was blisters for many. Even as we climbed up, a few runners came back towards us, opting to go back and drop at the previous aid station, than to end up stuck having to do the next 20 miles before they could drop since there is no access to get out for some time.

Sam and I headed up into a cloud as thunderstorms rolled in. This section was back into the bushwack and now it was covered in thick fog, so moving was pretty slow as visibility was low. My pacer had so nicely driven 6 hours straight after work to come pace, and I could tell she was starting to fall asleep on her feet. I would hike up ahead, and wait often. I spent some mental energy worrying about dropping her, or her missing a turn in the fog. I finally texted her and she assured me she would be fine.

Somewhere between 5 and 6 am the sky became lighter, but also the thunderstorms rolled in, turning the GA clay into slick snot. We were falling all over the steep decline trail, trying not to slip off the side of the mountain. I fell so hard on my back that my hydration bladder exploded, hitting me in the back of my head with water. It was funny and frustrating and very wet. With the rain and a leaky bladder and slipping downhill in mud, I developed a nasty blister on my heel. Shortly after this section, my pacer dropped back and I was alone again. Fortunately, our friend Naji caught up to Sam and they were able to run several miles together. I felt a bit better knowing they had each other.

The heat of the day started to rise again, and the nausea came back with it.

By now I had been leapfrogging back and forth with about 7 other runners and we had started to learn each other’s names and where we were from. I would end up running with a woman, Lindsey, from LA for the final, almost 30 miles. She was also there hoping to finish and get a qualifier for Hardrock.

Lindsay and myself in the final stretch

At mile 80 my left foot started to pinch in my shoe. I usually have a rule, no technical trail during taper, but I suspended this rule to do a short shake out run on the trail on Thursday, and sprained my left foot. Since I was there, I decided to just go ahead and run the race anyway, but it was starting to get pretty swollen by 80 miles. I stopped and iced my foot and relaced my shoes so the laces wouldn’t continue to cut off circulation. This forced me to hike the last 25 miles as I was losing the ability to flex my left foot well.

Yikes! There’s a first time for everything and it was my first real ankle sprain the day before the race.

Drew joined me for the final 25 miles. This included the out and back to Weaver Creek Road, where we started seeing all the 50 mile runners, and the final Deep gap loop. The loop seemed to go on forever, and I by this time I had lost any sense of direction. I felt a bit like I was falling asleep on my feet. My watch battery had died at mile 90, so without that I didn’t have any real sense of time either. The last loop went on, seemingly, forever! There were several small creek crossings, and one of them Drew almost stepped on a water moccasin! That woke me up momentarily! I have to say I was quite impressed with his endurance too, he really does not run more than half marathon distances, so to be out on his feet for 9 hours and awake until 1am was a big endurance feat for him! He did it with the grace and patience of a saint!

Finally out of the loop, the last 2 miles were on pavement, and I wanted to sleep so badly I decided I was going to run on that swollen ankle. I stopped to pee one more time, and then informed Lindsey that I was going to run it in and she should come with me. We tied for 5th in 36:58, a mere 30 sec behind 4th.

This was a really interesting race for me, mentally, I spent more time than usual worrying about how my crew was and then lots of time trouble shooting as things cropped up: blisters mid trail, nausea, feeling dehydrated while also peeing way too much. On the one hand, for me, this race was physically easier than the last few I have done at altitude. On the other, the humidity and crew logistics threw all sorts of different challenges at me. For example, I found that each climb and decent were “easy” compared to how I feel trying to hike up a 7 mile uphill while I gasp for air above 10,000 ft at a race like High Lonesome or Hardrock. I think this race, the challenge is less about the course and more about the physicality of dealing with heat and humidity and the things it brings: chafing, nausea, blisters, difficulty hydrating or cooling because the air is so saturated with water that there is no evaporative cooling for your body and your internal temp can just keep going up. I feel like I dealt with all the challenges as well as I could, and was proud that I stayed calm and kept my goal of getting a finish, rather than trying to chase a time or place finish, or get down on myself, knowing that physically a faster time was in my legs.

We got it done! All 109 or 115 miles of it!

If you are looking to run this race there are a few key things:

HEAT-get your ice bandana plan, make sure to change your socks and take care of your feet, nail your hydration plan ahead of time.

Spring THUNDERSTORMS- They come in with lots of wind, they drop the temperature and bring heavy rains. Have a backup jacket because it does get COLD! Consider poles for when the trail gets really slick, watch for blow downs!

Long sections with no crew. Bring your food, the remote aid stations did not have salt pills, they had table salt that you could take in the moment but not carry with you. Their blister care was limited. I had a hard time finding tape to tape up my blisters. This makes sense, these folks are way out in the middle of nowhere and are manning the aid station for more than a day. Its hard to carry every little thing out there, and realistically if this is a Hardrock Hundred qualifier, you should be carrying a lot of things with you in prep for what its like in the wilderness of CO above 10,000 ft.

POISON IVY! They did have some wipes, but we used the last few on the way back and if I was in the top third of the field, the folks behind me might not have had any wipes. The sections from Fish gap, to Fish gap again- mile 34-62, much of the trail was only 6 inches wide so you were getting slapped with underbrush, much of it was the poison ivy variety. I did my best to wipe off my arms and legs at every aid station, but I am already finding some very itchy rash spots on my legs and back.

This is a challenging east coast 100, but the volunteers are the best, they are really excited to be showing off their mountainous trails and southern hospitality. Thank you to all the volunteers, thank you to my crew, both there and at home. Fingers crossed for Hardrock 100!

Very Sleepy, very happy!

Snow Days!

Here in the south eastern US we have had pretty mild winters the last few years, finally this year winter has decided to show up again!

With a few days at freezing or below, we have managed to get two snow events. I hesitate to call them snowstorms, one turned to rain after the first few hours of pretty-fluffy snow, and this most recent one we received less than an inch…but I’ll take it!

With cold and snowy mornings, that means I have to remember to dig out my winter running gear. If you need a reminder of how to dress, that’s what this post is for.

First, layers! If its sunny, running in the sun can get quite warm, while shaded places will still be cold. To combat this I try to wear wicking layers that zip up and down so I don’t need to constantly take off and put back on layers. When you get warmer, unzip your layers, take off your hat. When it gets colder, zip them back up!

The past few mornings its been below 20 degrees. Everyone is different, some people like to dress a tad cold, because they run hot, and others have chronically cold toes and fingers and like to dress more warmly. For myself, I decide what is the purpose of my run? If its a workout, I will dress with fewer heavy layers because I know I will get hot, but if I am out for a fun snow run with no real goal, I will dress with heavier layers so if I decide to stop and take pictures or meet friends and dogs, I will have warmer things to wear.

For example yesterday’s run was 16 degrees at a casual pace for 90 min with a friend and one of my dogs. This meant we were going to go conversational pace, and would probably pause for doggie pee breaks, and to pick up dog poop as well. I would need my hands to be out and warm so I could hold onto the leash so in this instance I choose some warmer options: A hat with a buff for my face, a wool blend half zip shirt, winter running jacket, fleece lined running pants and ski mittens.

Last week I ran a workout in similar conditions, no dog, no conversational friend and instead I wore regular running tights (no fleece) a running windbreaker, a buff on my head for my ears, a wool blend half zip and gloves. I knew I was going to get warm pretty quickly with the harder effort, so I dressed much lighter.

I know plenty of people who will wear shorts no matter the temperature out, if that is you…I commend your bravery! As for me, I find that if my legs are cold, I am more prone to muscular injury so I always make sure my legs are warm. If I get hot I’d rather run in running pants and just a sports bra than shorts and a jacket to minimize pulled leg muscles.

A note; if you are someone whose hands and feet are chronically cold, keeping your core warmer than you think you need it to be can help, (on top of mittens and warmer socks or even putting duct tape over your shoes so they are less breathable, while leaving some area open so your feet don’t sweat.)

Shoes are another consideration, if you are running on ice or need traction there are several different options for different use cases.

First there are shoes specifically designed for running on snow and ice. These are shoes that come with little ice spikes already built into the shoes. These are good for when you know you are going to be running in unplowed snow and ice and you won’t come across any dry areas. I have a pair from Icebug. They are great in snowy conditions, but not so great if I need to do sections where the snow has melted. They can be pricy, but they are really good at keeping me upright on all sorts of cold weather terrain and I have owned these for 7 years without much breakdown. Of course it only snows here a handful of times each year so I only use them 5-10 times a year.

Second there are several companies that make traction devices that go over your shoes. These are good for when you know you are going to be traversing lots of different landscapes, some with snow or ice and some without. They were great for me at Hardrock for the few sections that were still covered in snow and ice even in July. Easy to put on and take off. The brand I have used is Kahtoola, and shown below are their microspikes.

Finally, if it rarely snows and you need something in a pinch, you can make your own “ice spikes’ by putting screws into the bottom of your shoes. Make sure they are very short screws, sheet metal screws with the hex head tend to be the best. Try to stick to 3/8″ or even 1/4” and make sure to test them out before you run, so you aren’t poking little screw holes into the bottoms of your feet. These are also best when used with shoes that have more stack height!

I want to keep this post short, but this is also an important snow read for more adventurous runs in snow, written by ultrarunner John Andersen. It highlights the need to be more prepared than usual on some of your backyard trails in the winter when frostbite and other issues may arise!

In short, dress for who you are and the run you are about to go on and enjoy the winter!

Its not Breast Cancer!

I wanted to start this post here, with the most important part! ITS NOT CANCER! Yay

Thank you to those of you who reached out and shared your experiences. I appreciate it, it’s always nice to have someone to talk to about these things. In writing this, if you are someone going through breast surgery or biopsies, I hope I can be that person for you. My contact can be found on this blog site.

Healing from excision biopsy still hasn’t been smooth, but I am thankful that once I heal, I can put this chapter behind me.

I had to drop out of Mount Mitchell Heartbreaker 50 in March as I have NOT run more than 10 miles in many months, but I have put off dropping off of the Hardrock 100 waitlist. I know the race is not until July, but living at sea level and not having access to actual mountains, the only way I can complete Hardrock is if I have lots of consistent months of training, and I do not have that currently. This one is hard, I am 6th on the waitlist, which puts me in the…”probably will get in, but not until a few weeks before the race” category, I don’t have the emotional bandwidth to train in this grey zone right now. Stress from worrying about health issues for a few months can really wear you out!

Sometimes it’s odd to step back and think about how fleeting things like life and fitness are. Last year I finished Hardrock 100, this year, I am not in shape to finish 20 miles on the road at the moment. I always try to stop and appreciate where I am in moments of hard work, I am now on the other side of that. I am on the side where I look back and thank my body and my hard work for allowing me to cover so many miles over rough and rugged terrain. It’s maybe the first time in my life that I am not working towards an epic goal, but looking back and being thankful for epic things I have accomplished. This is in no means the end of my ability to run hundred milers, just a humbling spot that I am in where I go walk 4 miles and think…wow, this body thats tired after a long hike ran one of the toughest 100 milers in the US less than a year ago.

On the plus side, I haven’t needed to come back from an extended period off…maybe ever, so I am really excited about running and being able to train again. I feel a bit like a new runner

I have my follow up appointment with my surgeon later today and hopefully I’ll get the go-ahead. As I mentioned above, the healing hasn’t been so smooth. I had an allergic reaction to the suture tape that made my breast all hot, swollen and itchy. It also slowed down the healing time as it got into the incisions and irritated the tissue there. Now that I have all the glue removed and I have tried every bandage imaginable, I feel a bit better and have started healing again. I am sensitive to bandage glues, but apparently the skin on my chest is much more sensitive to bandage adhesive than the rest of my body. I found hypo-allergenic bandages from Band-aid helped with the allergic reactions.

New Sports Bra Study: how it affects your running/breathing

If you are a running nerd like me, you may have seen this recent post:

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A post shared by Shalaya Kipp (@shalayakipp)

The verdict is that sports bra under-bands can have an affect on your breathing and therefor your running economy. For myself, I don’t have large breasts, so my sports bra’s aren’t terribly restrictive, however, I do notice that I have favorite bras I wear for races…..and after reading this it clicked. The ones I like, often have more compression from the front around my breasts, and less around the band that encircles my ribcage.

I just bought a bra from SHEFIT that is adjustable on my shoulders as well as the band around my chest. I originally bought it because it opens in the front, for ease after a lump removal, but now It has me thinking I should test it out when I get back to running.

Do you have bras that adjust around the chest band that you love? Let me know!

Surgery and Recovery

As I opted to have my radial scar removed via incision, this is my surgery and recovery story.

Tuesday Feb 13 I went to have a tiny radioactive pin inserted into the tissue that would be removed. This was a lot like the core needle biopsy I had a few weeks ago. Last time I felt the entire process, this time the surgeon explained that some people don’t respond to the lidocaine and she gave me something different. The nurse assistant put me into the mammogram machine, as they took some pictures to find just the right spot to insert the marker. This time the marker was inserted, I felt nothing as I looked down to see a rather large needle sticking sideways out of my chest. As we chatted, the nurse shared that she was just getting into running. Her first half marathon was coming up in a few months. She shared that running outside at night still scared her, so for Christmas her partner had bought her a treadmill, so much of her running has been on a treadmill at night after work. I told her it’s quite normal to feel that way and if running on a TM made her feel safe, that was what she should do.

It’s right on my chart that I run, along with my very low blood pressure and the fact (knock on wood) that I am in my mid 40s and not on any medications. The nurse who took my vitals for surgery the next morning laughed and called me a unicorn, which made me wonder….just how many of my peers are on regular medications to control chronic medical issues. It also made me thankful for the ability to run and the good health it has brought me.

On Valentine’s Day we checked into the Duke surgery center and I was immediately taken to the OR prep room. I would be given a similar sedative to what people get when they have colonoscopies, a medication intravenously. The wait both seemed way too long and much too short. The last thing I remember was entering the OR and hearing music, the all female team saying hello, confirming I was having surgery on my left breast….and then I woke up in recovery with a man asking me about minimalist running shoes. A funny way to come-to, he was looking at my records and started asking my thoughts on minimalist shoes and getting back to running after a long hiatus (at that moment I wished I had a coaching business card or something) A good sign that much of the staff at Duke stays healthy by running. I did meet more triathletes and runners at all of my pre-op appointments than I usually do just around town. Recently a study came out about the differences of health benefits between female and male runners. It was interesting as women need to run less than men for the same, if not more health benefits.

The first night post-op was pretty sore, I fell asleep almost immediately, but woke up with swelling pushing on the incision from midnight until about 4 am.

A friend recommended SHEFIT bras for the compression, and because they come on and off like a jacket, rather than over my head like usual sports bras. Thank goodness for the recommendation because I never would have been able to get on and off my sports bras that I am used to putting on over my head. If you are reading this with any type of shoulder or breast surgery coming up…I can’t say enough good things about those bras. The back and straps both adjust, they are made of a soft, yet firm material. My chest felt supported and compressed and whenever I needed to take it off and on for bathing it was really easy.

The first several days I was pretty tired, I napped often around 2 pm. My post-op plan was to rotate Tylenol and advil. I found that the advil really helped with the swelling, the Tylenol mostly just helped me get to the next dose of Advil.

Today is day 7 in my recovery. I walked 2 miles with friends on Sunday, 2 miles on Monday with a little strength work, and 1 mile with the dogs on Tuesday. Today I decided to try an easy jog on the treadmill. Much like my nurse, running outside makes me a bit nervous, so I hopped on the treadmill in the garage, knowing I could easily hop off at any moment. I opted to run uphill, as impact is a bit less when you run up a hill, so I ran-walked 3.75 miles with 2000 ft of vertical elevation. Mostly I just felt out of shape, and a little itchy from the scar pulling.

Speaking of the scar, for a 1 inch piece of tissue removal, I was surprised at the size of the incision. It’s also very clearly in the shape of a lower case “b.” B as in Bell? Or maybe as in Brave, though really none of this is brave, just something many of us do because the alternative is not great either.

Meeting with a Breast surgeon

I officially dropped out of my March 50 miler, and am contemplating taking my name off of the Hardrock 100 waitlist. With December spent healing from failed root canal, and January getting needled in my lymph node and beast, I have been less than interested in long runs. Not to mention more tired and sore than usual. I am not upset about it all, I think I have accepted that this winter I will spend more time on the couch, catching up with some good books than I will on the trails. 

February is shaping up to be more of the same. I met with a surgeon at the Duke Cancer Center this week to discuss the biopsy findings. The conversation was very helpful. A study looking at radial scars and FLA reported a 2-30% cancer risk…thats a huge range! The surgeon explained that my situation is more like 5%, but possibly higher because I have some other risk factors. 

She was open and honest said there were two really good options. Option one is to have more extensive mammograms every 6 months for the next few years, and maybe more biopsies since I have such dense breast tissue thats really hard to see anything in, or I can have the tissue removed and just be done with it. 

On the one hand, the more conservative approach seems kind of nice, (no one wants surgery!) but on the other, if I have learned anything about my past medical issues….its best for me to nip things in the bud. Rather than every 6 months be right back here having breast pain for several weeks after biopsies, and not getting to do things I love, like be outside and walk the dogs, run and lift I am opting to have surgery to remove the tissue. I don’t want to spend the next few years getting re-poked if I don’t have to.

First I will have a small radioactive “seed” placed at the location, similar to the core needle biopsy I just had. It will help guide the surgeon to the area that needs to be removed and it will come out, along with the little metal clip that was placed to show the location of radial scar. Then I will have an excision biopsy (small surgery) to remove the tissue. 

I was told this should hurt less than the two biopsies I just had, but time will tell. I will report back.

In the meantime I have been exploring some different types of movement and body awareness classes that don’t require much muscle activation. One in particular I like is a Feldenkreis class at Balanced Movement. It’s learning about how to make smaller refined movements in the body that bring awareness back to movements we may have lost as we age, sit, or engage in repetitive movements ( like running). We have had a lot of focus on the hips, pelvis, ribcage and diaphragm. I have noticed more ease of moment and a bit more relaxation of my diaphragm, which has translated a bit to my nervous system being a bit more relaxed as well as down my legs to my hips and ankles.

What a crazy life, last year I was gearing up for one of North America’s toughest races, Hardrock 100, this year; well not so much. I’m gearing up for some time on the couch with some good book recommendations from friends.

This is 40(three)- Breast Biopsy

I’m writing this to inform and remind women that even though we are a healthy weight and probably live a fairly healthy lifestyle, that getting a regular mammogram is still so important.

Rather than keep you hanging, I have benign tissue that needs to be removed, and I was very lucky to find it early, as left alone it will probably become cancerous. I felt no lump, had no indication that anything was amiss, I am a healthy weight, I try to be mindful of eating a variety of colors of fruits and vegetables, and theres no history of breast cancer in my family.

I was surprised, to say the least, when I got a phone call hours after my regular mammogram. They said there was some calcification and an enlarged lymph node and asked me to schedule another mammogram and ultrasound. 

If you have never had a mammogram, it’s not as bad as you’d think. It’s certainly not comfortable, but it’s mostly just pressure on your breasts. If sore breasts are part of your PMS symptoms, you might want to make your mammogram appointment when you are not suffering from PMS symptoms. Many young, athletic women have dense breast tissue, so you might receive a letter or email letting you know that you have dense breast tissue. This means that the mammogram has a harder time getting clear imaging and you should continue to do manual breast self exams.

A second mammogram and ultrasound a week later confirmed I had some suspicious cells and a swollen lymph node and I would need an ultrasound biopsy of the lymph node and a biopsy of the other calcification area. I went for a stereotactic large core needle biopsy/and an ultrasound guided biopsy of my lymph node.

Thinking that I have run many 100 milers, just had a tooth extracted while awake, I expected this to be a breeze. I was wrong. I had asked around and most people had uneventful biopsies. My experience was that the doctor had a hard time getting the needle through my tissues, she remarked that because I was muscular the tissues didn’t give as easily as her usual population. This is something to note for other athletes, it may take a bit longer for your ultrasound biopsy as it’s done manually and depends on the strength of the practitioner and the fact that many of the lymph nodes are near shoulder muscle tissue. I would say this biopsy took much longer than both myself and the doctor expected. It made my hand fall asleep and my shoulder hurt after from the pressure applied, but didn’t hurt as much after.

It’s like the one negative side effect of LHS. This winter I have been working up to bench pressing 70lbs so my arm and shoulder muscles have more hypertrophy than they usually would.

The second biopsy, a stereotactic biopsy, I was expecting to hurt more. This is where your breast is compressed in the mammogram machine, it helps guide the needle in for the tissue sample. It was a tad more painful, but was over pretty quickly.

Women with dense tissue often experience more pain.

Finally something to note is that we runners are vascular! In running this is a great thing, as we get fitter we grow our vascular system to shuttle oxygen to our muscles and clear and use lactate as well as fuel more quickly. On the other hand, small cuts to your breasts, that are close to our lungs, can bleed quite a bit. The incisions they make are so teeny tiny, but can bleed for quite some time during and after. don’t be surprised if you have to hold pressure for a bit while your blood clots.

You are not allowed to shower for a day or two, I got a sponge bath the first two days. The night after the biopsy I could not get bras on or off and it’s more comfortable to sleep with compression around your chest. I ended up sleeping in a TRI-top because it fully zips on and off so I didn’t need to raise my arms up and it provided compression.

The nurse told me I could go back to normal activities 2-3 days later, but really I found that I was quite sore for 5 days. Even as a small breasted individual it didn’t feel good to move much. I went on a run on the 5th day with a very compressive bra and it felt ok, but that night was sore and throbbing, even with Tylenol. I waited a full week before resuming some light weight lifting, that also didn’t hurt during, but hurt a lot several hours later. (When I say very light I used 8lb weights instead of the usual 15 or more)

I’m currently on day 13 and running an hour is starting to feel pretty ok. I still feel something every now and then when I run or if I lay on my breast but I ran 1:45 and did not have any pain later in the day. Don’t be surprised if it takes a few weeks for the pain to go away if you have to have a biopsy that hits your muscles or if you have dense breast tissue.

An aside, the waiting and the not knowing are exhausting. If you find yourself in this situation, don’t just try to exercise through it to take your mind off of the outcome. I wanted to nap and read and lay on the couch because my head was so full of worry I was too tired to run. This is ok, give yourself grace. Cry if you need, speak to friends and family or find a therapist to talk to. The not knowing is hard. Hopefully if any of you are reading this because you are going through the same thing, you won’t hesitate to reach out if you are in need of chatting with someone. I was able to connect with some other women who have had breast surgeries and just hearing their thoughts and connecting to someone else was really helpful.

Next is an appointment with a breast surgeon.

Its Almost 2024!

So you’ve signed up for an ultra in 2024, when should you start training?

Now!

It’s never too early stop start preparing for races 1,2 even 5 years out. 

Long term planning can lead to success while avoiding burnout and injuries. 

Let’s say you have signed up for 100 miles this summer. Now would be the time to start base building and planning your micro as well as macro cycles and maybe even adding in some B and C races to support your training.

What if your big goal race isn’t until the fall, planning now is still a good idea. If you’ve been racing for several years you may want to plan a short off season so you don’t peak too early. Or if you are coming off of a recovery season, it could be a good time to focus on strength and functional mobility and assess your weaknesses that you put aside while in high volume cycles. 

Just because your race seems so far into 2024 doesn’t mean that you need to wait to focus on building towards it. 

As a coach I often help athletes look ahead not just by months, but by years. While consistency is king, planning ahead is key to making training manageable with life. 

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