So much time seems to have passed since 2018 and it took looking back through my pictures to realize what an amazing year of adventures it was. In racing I had both success and failure, but life in general was pretty good.
I thought that would carry over into 2019, but my body/brain felt otherwise. I had agreed to pace a friend at Black Canyon 100k and was excited and ready for the trip. But a few weeks prior to that, seemingly out of the blue, I started developing sciatica-like pain down my left leg. I still made the trip to AZ and was able to crew a little bit, but I wasn't able to pace. I have had a lot of neuropathic "running injuries" over the years going back to 2008 when I pretty much stopped running for two years. What I've learned after searching out many medical solutions, is that pain is very real, but it's often not actually based on a structural, physical problem. For me, the times that pain has really slowed me down is when there are other stressors in my life. And I've come to learn that when I start getting a running niggle that doesn't seem to be related to anything I've done, it often resolves fairly quickly when I acknowledge the stress in my life and focus on how I'm feeling and dealing with that stress, instead of focusing on what might be wrong with my body. Enough said about that but it took me most of 2019 to finally figure this out and for me to get back to running.
March: Pacific Rim One Day 13 miles - I was still in denial and this really should've been a DNS. I struggled to finish a half marathon at a walk.
Between March and June I did a lot of walking and hiking and even walked a shorter race or two in the Gorge. I had moments of feeling like running was coming back but it really didn't happen consistently until July into August.
June: Wyeast Wonder 50k 7:59. Another race that I probably shouldn't have run. I gutted out a sub 8 hour finish but I was pretty miserable this whole race.
June: Sweep Old Cascadia 20 mile. Still in denial - this was the week after Wyeast and I was in a bad mood the whole time on one of my favorite trails. I apologize to my fellow sweepers.
After not being able to finish Old Cascadia 100M, I had come to the realization that tough, mountainous 100 milers weren't inspiring me or bringing joy. I enjoyed being out in the mountains and wilderness, but pushing myself to achieve an arbitrary time requirement in this environment wasn't for me. However, I still wanted another 100 mile finish. And this time I decided the challenge would be to complete a 100 without crew or pacer. So I had entered and made it into Mountain Lakes 100M. But by mid summer I realized this race wasn't going to happen for me, so I dropped out.
September: Appletree Marathon 4:43 By August I was mostly pain-free and had registered for the new Portland Marathon. I decided to use this race as a long training run. Totally reasonable to run a marathon to train for a marathon, right? It poured rain the whole time but I was pretty happy to be out there.
October: Portland Marathon 4:29 I love the new Portland Marathon course (it goes within a mile of my house). It was great to be out racing again and see friend running and cheering.
In November, Marc and I went on one my favorite mountain adventures ever to the Jefferson Wilderness. The trails were surprisingly snow free for mid-November and we saw very few people. Sadly I think this area has since burned out and is currently still closed.
December: McDowell Mountain Frenzy 10M 1:50 Back to Arizona for this race and to visit my brother and his family. My goal was go beat my time from 2018, which I did by about 5 minutes. Aravaipa races never disappoint.
I had big plans for 2020. My friend Jen had completed her own supported 100 mile on the PCT in September 2019 and I wanted to do something similar in September but make it more like a stage run over three days. I was also on track to reach 100 combined marathons/ultras in 2020 and had my races lined up to complete this goal.
But of course we all know what happened in March of 2020 and most of my running plans had to change. After the stay at home orders went into place I stayed really close to home. And I registered for some virtual races - partially to support race directors but also to stay motivated. Some of the virtual races I completed were:
Aravaipa Strong
Dawn to Dusk to Dawn (I finished 60+ miles without ever going farther than a half mile from my house)
Go Beyond's Favorite Place Race
Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee (ugliest race shirt ever)
Go Beyond's Run the PCT (Oregon mileage)
And, I actually got to race and finish a real, live 100 mile race. I call the 2020 Strawberry Fields race the little race that could. The date and place just happened to fall into a sweet spot where the county opened up events to enough that this race could happen. And I don't think we really knew until about a week or two beforehand.
June: Strawberry Fields 100M 26:24 The 100 mile distance here is 16 times a 6 mile loop at North Bonneville, WA right on the Columbia River. I thought this would be a great race to do on my own, without a crew or pacer. But my friends Dana and Jen offered to come out and pace me and I took them up on their offers. Dana ran with me two laps from about 36 miles to 48 miles, I think. And then I had a lap or two by myself again and Jen came out to run the last 40 miles with me.
I've said this is my retirement 100 and so far I haven't been tempted to register and train for another one. But maybe someday I'll change my mind. The rest of 2020 I continued to get out in the local mountains and wilderness and we even found some new to us trails to explore.
In 2021 races were starting to come back. I didn't really feel like racing but I had some race credit to use or lose so I signed up for Elijah Bristow 24 hour. And then thought better of it and changed to the 12 hour. Race day coincided with picking up Bart after graduating from the University of Oregon, so he volunteered at the aid station while I ran.
June: Elijah Bristow 12 Hour 53.84 2nd Woman, 4th Overall I placed fairly well at this race but I expected to complete more miles so I was mildly disappointed. I guess it was hot.
Bart and I before the race started
The only other thing I have to say about 2021 is that I ran a lot. I could say this is despite little racing, but it's likely because there was little racing and the need to taper and recover. I also retired from full time work in August so I had a lot more time run. I ran 2586 miles in 2021, which averaged just under 50 miles per week. I'm pretty sure this is the most miles I've ever run in a year.
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