It has been a rough two weeks.  School started which means long work days, I am running crazy miles to prepare for my 100-miler, and the hole left in my heart by D's loss has been harder to bear than I thought it would be. I am trying to focus on ways to make D's life meaningful by helping other students like him to stay hopeful despite the inevitable struggles life sends their way. I know that over time the hurt will ease, but in the meantime I do need to share all that is going well right now.

For almost 140 days I have had the pleasure of being coached by the most amazingly inspirational ultra marathon runner, Coach Ed Ettinghausen.  I knew I was going to grow through this process, but I expected physical growth along the lines of greater endurance and increasing my speed.  What I didn't expect was how he has helped us all grow mentally.  I say helped US ALL, because when I hit the jackpot and tricked him into training me, not only have the Zero to 100 Mile Hero team benefitted from Ed's guidance, but all my running buddies have also been able to grow as well.  If you run with Ed you can't help but learn something about yourself. I am still pinching myself that I am so lucky to live so close to Ed and to be trained by such a wise runner.

I've learned that I am stronger than I ever thought I could be.  I ran almost 90 miles this week including 36 this weekend alone.  I learned that I can run late at night, early in the morning, whatever it takes to get it done--I am capable of doing whatever needs to be tackled in order to get the miles in. 

From Coach Ed I have also learned that when life throws an obstacle your way, don't let that obstacle keep you from following your dreams.  About a month ago, the race that my team had been training for was cancelled.  It would have been easy at that point to throw our hands up and give in. Surely that was a sign that our journey was over, right?  But while I was disappointed, I knew deep down that Coach Ed would figure it out for us.  He does not take no for an answer, and he found a way to fix even this seemingly unfixable situation.  Ed found another ultra marathon runner to take over the EC100 race as our Race Director...and so, the exact race we were running before is going on as scheduled and with a few additional improvements as well. Endurance Challenge 100

The final thing I've learned is that if you dedicate your run for others, it can give you that motivation to push through the rough spots. I continue to be impressed by Ed's running, but his finish at this weekend's 100-mile Run-de-Vous was amazingly inspiring. Ed was running in honor of his good friend Dr. Moses Christian who began running marathons when he turned 62, and has run 181 marathons since then. Dr. C. is not doing well, so Coach Ed decided to dedicate this run to him.  Coach finished first place overall after completing 100 miles in 16 hours and 55 minutes.  He had a mission and not even triple digit temperatures would stop him. 

I have been thinking about this for the last two weeks and I have decided that I am dedicating my 100-mile finish to D.  He was proud, and dare I say even impressed, by the miles I was putting in. I know he would have been so excited to see me finish those 100 miles, so this one's for you D!

In the last three years, four of my close friends have lost sons to tragic accidents.  It has been a rough three years in this department, but this last lost son was even more personal. This child was like my own (see eulogy below), and I am left experiencing so many raw emotions that it is hard to know how to feel.  

One thing that I remember one of these friends sharing with me at the beginning of her loss journey was how hard it was to watch everyone else's lives moving on while her life had changed forever.  She told me that every morning the sun comes up and starts a new day like nothing happened, and yet her life would never be the same life she had before.  As I, too, go through an all-be-it much less-intense version of this journey, I am left to wonder why doesn't the sun understand? Why doesn't the sun see that D is gone and the world without him is just a little less bright?

Now, I know that these are just strong emotions that will dampen with time and that over the next few months I will learn to gain some perspective and place these emotions in a healthy place, for now I need to channel these raw emotions into something positive. So I have decided that to honor D's memory, I will do two things.  

First, being a teacher, I really want to make sure that education is a legacy that D's loss leaves behind.  Another family friend and I have set up a scholarship in his name that will go to students like D that are faced with challenges and continue to persevere.  D spent his whole life climbing over obstacles in education and sports, and we want to honor students just like D as they move on to trade schools, city colleges, or four-year colleges. If you would like to donate to D's memorial scholarship, please message me so I can give you details.

In addition, I feel a deep obligation to ensure that no other family goes through what D's family is going through right now. I love this child and all the wonderful days I spent with him, but I do NOT love this decision he made. So I spent that last week running through my eulogy as I attempted to find the right words to get my message across while also respecting the family and not saying anything that would cause them further hurt.  Below, find the words that I spoke.  I hope these words will save at least one other child from thinking life is so rough that they need to end it.  Life is too precious!

                                                                For D

I have known D since he was six years old. I had the privilege of becoming his tutor at the end of kindergarten, and I worked with him one to two times a week for the last 11 years. One thing that never changed about D is that he has always been a sweet, kind, young man. He was quiet and reserved, but he had a great sense of humor. For example, D would often walk into our Bruin household with his USC colors shining bright. He would walk in with a smirk just daring me to say something. And yes, D, I am wearing your Fight On lanyard today for you and Sean is allowing it.

Because D was always quiet and reserved, sometimes in a classroom setting it might have appeared as if he was disinterested or not caring what was going on in the classroom—but I want his teachers to know that he did care, deeply—I know because of the conversations I had a chance to have with D about what he was learning once we had a chance to process it.

Another thing that people might not be aware about with D is that because of his learning disabilities school was always a struggle for him. Reading, writing, and math did not come easily to him, so he often had to work two or three times as hard and spend two or three times the amount of time as the typical student. The great thing about D was that he ALWAYS worked hard and last year I am proud to say that all his effort paid off in reading because he finally reached a proficient reading level. He even spent the summer reading books for pleasure. That's when I knew I had him where I wanted him with reading. School is sometimes like a marathon race where we only celebrate the elite athletes who finish the race in under three hours—but we don’t often celebrate the people who work just as hard to finish the race in 6, or 7 or 8 hours or more.  They have to put in even more effort and time and perhaps courage to succeed, yet we may even mock their efforts because of how long it takes them to finish.  I had so much admiration for the true grit D showed me by never giving up no matter how much he struggled.  I wish we celebrated the perseverance that D and other students like him put forth as much as we did students for whom school came easy.

The last thing about D and school is that he never wanted to ask for help. His mom and I would always encourage him to ask the teachers questions if he didn't understand, but he often told us that he just didn't want to bother them. I find it very sad that this same characteristic seems to have carried over into his emotional life as well. I am heartbroken that D didn't ask us for help. As I look out on this audience filled with teenagers, I cannot miss this opportunity to convey to you what I wish I would have imparted more strongly to D.

First of all, if you are thinking that life is better without you, please understand that the hole you leave in our lives is so deep that it is going to be difficult for us to fill back in. You matter! You make a difference! And no world without you will be a better place!

The second thing I think you need to understand is that in life we are going to face obstacles, and sometimes these obstacles will seem insurmountable. But don't give up on yourself--learn to jump higher, find a way to move around the obstacles, or build a ladder to scale over them. D spent his life trying to climb over those educational obstacles, I just wish he had hung on a little longer because he was almost there.

Finally, it is important to understand that you need to reach out to others.  If you are feeling sad, if you are feeling as if you do not measure up, if you feel as if you can't possibly go on, you need to talk to someone. It is not a weakness to ask for help! If you don’t, we are left wondering what we could have done, how we could've missed the signs, what we could have done to help. Please ask for help—you are absolutely, NEVER a bother! I spent two hours a week one-on-one with D all summer long, and he never once let me know that he was struggling.

We loved having D in our lives, as part of our family, and we will try to Fight On without him—he will always be in our hearts!

My heart is breaking right now.  I don't know how to feel, but I wanted to get a message out in case this information can help anyone else.  Today, a student who is like one of my own children, decided that life was too tough, and he took his own life.  I am not ready to talk about it, but I ask that you please send prayers to his family.  I need you all to take this message to heart--don't be ashamed to admit that you need help!

First, you need to realize that in life we all fail--heck, I have had some major epic fails in my life, and I bet I'll have some more in the very near future.  I think in our society we spend so much time protecting our kids from failure that we forget to remind them that losing is okay. In sports we spend time protecting our kids from the lessons that can be learned from reflecting on failures and using that knowledge to improve our practice. We need to tell our children that some of the best lessons we learn in life come from times when we fail.  There is no shame in failing!

Next, as a society we need to stop making people feel bad for feeling "weak." It's okay to feel sad, and if it that feeling gets overwhelming we need to ask for help.  There is NO shame in admitting that we don't have it all together. I wish this incredibly wonderful kid had told us that he was struggling.  There were no signs and we are all left to feel horrible that we didn't notice.  How could we not see how helpless he must have felt? Please, please let your family and friends know that there is nothing so horrible that they can't share with us. Sadness is not a weakness that should be hidden, and if you need help PLEASE ask for it!

If you can take anything away from this, please make sure that your children, your family, and your friends know that you are there for them no matter what!  I don't want one other person to feel the way his family feels right now. Prayers for his family please!

I am going to share something with you, but you can't breathe a word of it to anyone else...there are times that I am NOT all that ladylike. The "delicate flower" description is my way of pretending that I don't know that this unladylike side of me exists.  There are times I burp like a sailor, pass gas like a teenage boy who has eaten too many bean burritos, and when I come back from a run I must admit that I smell like an entire locker room of boys after football practice.  When Eoin calls me on one of these unladylike qualities, I will often respond back, "Who me? It couldn't be me because I am a "delicate flower."  His response to that is always, "A delicate flower that attracts flies!"  Okay, so there is a lot of truth to his comeback--I guess I am not as delicate as I profess to be.

I also profess to being a bit delicate with the various running conditions I face.  I love running in the rain, but anytime the heat gets above 75, I am ready to pass out from heat exhaustion.  I know people think I am crazy to run so early in the morning, but I would honestly rather hit the streets at 3 am rather than run in the heat.

I am also a complete wimp when it comes to my sleep.  Because I get up so early to run in the morning, my eyes are literally at half-mast by 8 pm, so running at night ranks right up there with running in the heat in my book. I would rather get all my miles in early than have to do a later afternoon or evening run. 

The amazing thing about Coach Ed (my ultra marathon coach) is that he rarely lets his preferences determine when, where, or how he trains or races.  Elevation is not his favorite condition, and yet he chooses races and training sessions, like climbing Mount Whitney twice in one week, to improve his ability to compete in those conditions.  He has shared with me on numerous occasions that if there is a condition I dislike, I need to train even more for those conditions.  So last week I decided that it was time for this "delicate flower" to push her limits--it was time to Suck it Up Buttercup!

So last Friday, knowing that we had to leave early Saturday morning for a trip to Arizona and I would have difficulty getting my long miles in, I put my night training to the test.  I took a little nap late Friday night, and then got out on the road by midnight to get my eighteen miles in.  I was lucky to have Gabby, Mark, Karrie, and her dog Lilly along as company and protection.  There were lots of drunks, more traffic than I had anticipated, but overall it was not nearly as difficult as I had anticipated. I won't lie, the last two miles were torture, but it wasn't because it was nighttime, it was because my body was fatigued from my high mileage during the week. I was actually very proud of myself, and I now know that the late hour will not be an issue for me at my 100-mile race.

Once in Arizona I was able to practice in the other condition that I usually avoid.  One morning I ran in 80 degree weather and 60% humidity.  It was very uncomfortable, but I survived.  On my last night in Arizona, Sean found a beautiful park with a lighted path for me to play on.  The temperatures were near 100 degrees and it was also another night run.  I could have run for hours if my family hadn't needed to go back to the hotel and sleep.  The next morning I took another little run in the heat just to prove to myself that this delicate flower has stepped out of her comfort zone and is ready to tackle whatever comes at her on her 100-mile journey.

I am so proud of myself this week.  I have pushed myself to the limits mentally and physically.  I am tired--my legs are tired, my feet are tired, heck, even my mind is a little tired.  But I knew there would be sacrifices I would have to make as I took on this 200 day journey to be a 100-Mile Champion.  I have less than 100 days left to train for my big race, and I know that I will be ready.  This "delicate flower" is running in heat, staying up and training at odd hours of the night, and I am not wilting.  I have grown so much through this process and am so thankful for everyone that has supported me along the way!

The training for my 100-mile race at the EC 100 is ramping up. We have passed the halfway point of the 200-day challenge and we are needing to put in about 50-60 miles a week at this point to prepare our bodies for the "fun" at the October ultra marathon. This week I put in about ten miles a day, about five miles running and five miles speed walking at each daily session. Today is Saturday and even if I take a rest day tomorrow, I will have 73.5 miles for the week--my greatest number of miles running ever!  It has been challenging, but having the EC100 event as the goal to train for has made every mile put in worth it...and then yesterday happened.

I have heard stories about such things, but I never imagined it would happen to me and my 0 to 100-mile hero teammates. After 102 days behind us and 98 days left to train, we received an email from the EC100 Race Director  (RD) letting us know that he was canceling the race that we have all been training so hard for. I am still in a little bit of shock and I honestly don't know how I feel at this point.

I must confess that a TINY little piece of me felt relieved. Maybe I can sleep in a couple days a week. Maybe I can go back to a normal number of miles per week. Maybe I can add some biking and swimming miles again. Maybe I can spend some extra time with my family and friends again...but that only flitted through my mind for a second before my next emotion flew into my mind.

I was pissed! If there was some natural disaster like a hurricane, tornado, or earthquake, that would suck, but something like that would be unavoidable. If there were wildfires that made the air unhealthy, that would be the safe thing to do. Hell, if the guy had had some health issue that prevented him from continuing on, we would all understand. The thing that made me angry was that it basically can all be summed up in one sentence. He overextended himself and was canceling because he couldn't put the time into getting everything ready. Really? When did people stop taking responsibility for promising to do something and getting it done anyway. Suck it up buttercup! There were people counting on you!

My next emotions were sad for the loss of the opportunity to complete the race we had all been training so hard for and looking forward to.  I also felt frustrated that someone could just pull the rug out from under us, and we really had no control over the situation. I felt anxious wondering how I was ever going to meet this goal of completing a 100- mile race-- first the knee injury and now a cancelled race.  Can you see why I am feeling such mixed emotions about this?

In the end, I am choosing not to give in to any of those emotions that won't change the situation anyway. I know that for some people they had flights planned, hotels booked, crews and pacers that now need to be canceled--I do not have these issues to complicate the process, so I am choosing to see this as just another opportunity to show how strong my will is to overcome the obstacles the seem to continue to pop up. I am choosing to believe that in life things happen for a reason. I don't always know what those reasons are, but I do know that eventually I usually see that something even greater comes my way.  Yes, the old when a door closes another door or window usually opens up viewpoint. I know this makes me seem idealistic, but I refuse to waste my energy worrying about something I can't control. If I am meant to complete this hundred-mile race, then I know the coaches will figure something out for us. Until then, I will continue to complete the miles in preparation for my ultra marathon finish. I am a 100-mile champion, and I won't let anyone take that away from me! 

Maybe the bigger lesson I should be learning from these challenges I have been facing since I started running is that life is always going to throw curve balls at us, but we can survive these challenges if we fight hard and don't give up on ourselves and our dreams. If I can run over 70 miles in one week. If I can survive finishing a full marathon. If I can cross the finish line at a 140.6 mile Ironman. If I can do all this, then I know that I can overcome a huge disappointment at the hands of one irresponsible Race Director! 

As I train for my 100-mile race, there are so many factors I need to take into account, so many important elements I need to plan for, and so many environmental conditions I need to train for to have a successful race. One of the most consistent questions I get when someone hears I am running 100 miles is, "Are you doing that all in one day?" And yes, this is done in one fell swoop--hopefully in less than the 30-hour cut-off. But anyone who happens to know me personally might also be wondering how I will possibly be able to stay up past eight o'clock at night since my eyes are usually fluttering closed and I am yawning non-stop once I hit that 8pm mark.  My answer to this is that it is just one more condition I need to train for.

This week Gabby suggested that we begin our weekly long run at 3am instead of our usual 5am.  What's another two hours of sleep anyway? The funny thing is that when she made this request I didn't once even question the early start time, and even funnier is that when I told my family I would be starting even earlier than usual, no one even batted an eye.  

So early Saturday morning, or late Friday evening depending on your perspective, I was headed out the door for my run just as my oldest son was headed to bed for the night. I was surprisingly awake and ready for my 17-mile jaunt to our local ecological reserve and back. We could not have picked a more beautiful night to practice running at this time of day.  The sky was as blue as an indigo crayon, completely devoid of any cloud cover, and the bright, full moon was high in the sky.  The moon provided so much illumination that there was no need for us to even carry any light source. This was also the one time of day that during a run not one car passed us by. The night was silent except for the pounding of our feet against the moonlit asphalt. 

I have done a lot of running in the last six years, and this was by far one of my favorite runs ever.  I don't know why some runs seem so effortless while other seem to require more energy than I can possibly muster. I  should have been pretty tired with the lack of sleep I had experienced over the last few days, my Achilles was aching a bit before the start of this run, and yet even running up the steep hills on the way to the turnaround point seemed effortless. My heart rate was behaving, my legs felt powerful, and my breathing was steady and unforced.  It was good to feel this way with such long miles and at such a ridiculous hour of the day.

Ultra runners have shared with me that at this time of night people often have hallucinations.  As Gabby and I ran up the road toward one of the parking lots at the Santa Rosa Plateau, I saw a heart-shaped mylar balloon floating about 15 feet off the ground. The moon shone behind it and made the floating object look a bit like a spirit hovering and moving in a slightly circular pattern in the illuminated night sky.  I had to ask Gabby if she saw it as well to ensure I wasn't imagining things.  Luckily, it was a vision that she saw too.  I vowed to take a picture on the way back to document that the two of us were not having crazy visions because of our sleep-deprived minds.

Before I knew it we had reached the half-way point in our run and we were flanked by a large grassy meadow with the sun beginning to rise on one side and the full-moon topped hills on the the other.  As we looked closer we saw a single deer standing completely still in the middle of the meadow hoping we hadn't spotted her. A little farther on we saw not one but two coyotes running through the amber-colored fields. These are all things we most likely would not have seen had we not decided to run by the light of the moon.

On the way back down the hill, I got that feeling of content that creeps up on ultra runners after making it through the dark of the night.  It is a feeling of happiness that comes on so suddenly, you almost can't pinpoint why you are suddenly feeling lighter once again.  Coach Ed's wife Martha pointed this phenomenon out to me as she walked my last miles with me at the Nanny Goat Ultra I did in May. Those last miles down from the Santa Rosa Plateau were suddenly easier with the sun finally shining down on us after the dark of the night, that and the downhill course for the last half of the run made things so much easier despite the long miles on tired legs and even more tired mind.

As we ran those final miles back home from the Santa Rosa Plateau, we looked up to the left where the moon still shone brightly in the morning sky and saw the tiny shadow of what appeared to be our mylar ballon floating high in the sky.  The sun-warmed air had heated the helium in the ballon just enough to carry it higher into the sky where it was going on another journey just far enough away for us to not be sure that the spot in the sky was our balloon. It was also far enough away for Gabby and I still to be unsure as to whether we really had seen that ballon in the night sky above the dirt and rock packed reserve parking lot at all.

I know that some of my training seems a little crazy, but I would not trade these experiences for anything. I am growing as a runner and I am having amazing experiences along the way. Next up--Gabby and I are planning to start one of our next long runs at midnight.  We are both extreme morning people and it will be interesting to see how this time of night affects us both mentally and physically.  I can't wait to see what this run has in store for us!

I would not trade this ultra marathon training experience for anything, but there have been sacrifices because of the time it takes to properly train for a 100-mile race.  It has been tricky trying to fit it all in these days.  I sleep, work out, eat, hang a little with my family and friends, do a little work, and then the day starts all over again. I am not complaining...it is what it is. Lately, though, I have been feeling a little guilty. I know I have been missing time with some of my treasured friends because if they are not running with me, they have been seeing a little less of me than usual. One of my besties moved away this week, I haven't seen most of my Ironman team in weeks, and my friend Kay and I are like two ships in the night lately with little chance of sailing together anywhere in our future.

So this week I decided to take matters into my own hands.  For weeks I have been telling my 100-Mile Hero teammate Debbie Jett that I wanted to meet her in person and do some of my training miles in her neck of the woods--San Diego. It just so happened that Kay was doing her very first International-length triathlon today down in San Diego, so I made plans with Debbie to get our 8 miles in as we supported Kay with her race.  

It was important to me to be there for Kay, because we have experienced so much together over the last few years.  Kay was was my biggest supporter for my Ironman training even while she was battling Stage III rectal cancer.  She would pull herself out of bed and run with us, even when she wasn't feeling 100%.  She ran my very first Olympic-length triathlon with me.  We swam in her community pool and we rode our bike and ran around a minor-league baseball stadium near her home.  In addition, we also had our biggest laugh during this training session. Kay was in the middle of her chemo sessions, so her head was not always clear during this time period.  As for me, I am not sure what my excuse was.  Basically we had just finished biking and were running along a path and Kay kept shooting me funny looks. After about a quarter-mile she just burst out laughing.  I had forgotten to take off my bike helmet and in her chemo-fog it took her awhile to figure out why I looked so funny.  She knew something wasn't right, but she couldn't figure it out right away. We still laugh about that to this day.

Debbie was game to help me support Kay, because, being a colon cancer survivor herself, she might know a thing or two about cancer and the courage it takes to come back from a fight for your life. We parked far enough away so that we could get a mile in before meeting Kay.  She was surprised and happy to see us, and we were able to stay long enough to watch her swim off, like a mermaid, with her wave.  

Then Debbie and I took off to get some more of our eight miles in. The weather was perfect and we were so thankful for the mild temperatures so Kay and the other racers didn't have that obstacle to contend with. We decided to move along the San Diego Bay were we could watch some of the competitors on their run leg (the final leg).  We were fortunate enough to see the elite racers and cheer them on as we continued on our miles, and we also ran into and cheered on some of the slower contenders as well.  

As we walked back toward our car, we decided to attempt to see Kay on the bike leg of her triathlon.  We found a spot at the bottom of a hill where we could motivate the bikers as they headed toward their run transition area.  It was an exciting spot because the bikers had to make a sharp turn before heading off to the final stretch--some of the bikers seemed to go a little fast for the turn but would pull it all together at the last minute just in time to keep their bikes upright.  We didn't see Kay, but as we walked back to our car she came up behind us and rode off to take on her 10K run.  She looked so happy and appeared to be really enjoying every minute of the experience. Like Debbie often shares, she "lived some amazing LIFE" today!

Today I am content!  I got my training in, but I was also able to spend a little time and support a friend who has given so much to me over the years.  She supports me, she challenges me, and most importantly she reminds me to be be positive and never take life for granted. Thank you Kay for constantly inspiring us all to take life by the horns and enjoy every minute of the experience.  Happy sigh!

The 6th Law of Running Injuries:
Treat the cause not the effect: Because each running injury has a cause, it follows that the injury can never be cured until the causative factors are eliminated.--Tim Noakes, MD, The Lore of Running

The above quote was taken from my new summer reading book Fixing Your Feet by John Vonhof. You might be wondering why I would decide to tackle such a stimulating topic such as feet, and I only have one answer for you--BLISTERS THE SIZE OF TEXAS! I can't take credit for this hyperbole, but I can tell you that I can take credit for feeling this way about my feet during my Nanny Goat 24-hour race. Blisters have now become my obsession.

Let me take you back a bit to even before the Nanny Goat event. I trained for many factors I would encounter during this race: hydration, nutrition, endurance, chaffing, dressing for the weather, finding ways to distract myself (music and Audible books), training for early and late hours, training for heat and cold, but I never once thought about blisters. In my seven years of running, I had encountered one "almost" blister, but having never actually experienced a full on blister, I wasn't worried. My friend Stephanie made me buy blister pads, but they were thrown in at the last minute and only because Stephanie wouldn't stop bothering me about them. Famous last words, "Why would I need to buy those Stephanie...I NEVER get blisters!" She was right as usual!

I now know that blisters are almost inevitable in long-mile races, especially if you don't have a plan for preventing them in the first place.  So here I sit relaxing by the pool reading my foot book and making sure that I have a blister prevention plan and a blister treatment plan--just in case.

First, just what is a blister anyway?  A blister is a collection of fluid just under the top layer of skin. Running blisters are usually caused by moisture, heat, and friction between the foot and your sock or shoe.  Our best defense is to stop the blisters from popping up at all.  I am hoping that these suggestions will help me and anyone else who reads this blog to avoid the kind of pain I felt during the race and for weeks after:

1. Shoes: Make sure that you purchase shoes that fit your feet properly.  I buy my running shoes one size larger than my everyday shoes because with the miles I put in, my feet swell.  Also, wear them in a bit before racing or doing long miles in them.
   
2. Socks: Cotton is Rotten is one of the first phrases I learned in running--look for breathable and sweat-wicking fabrics. I love my Balega socks and I just found a pair that they advertise as blister resistant. They have two layers and are made of mohair.  They feel great--I will update in a future blog how they actually work to prevent the blisters. People also swear by Wright socks (double layer) and Injini toe socks.  Try several kinds and see what works for you. Also, I suggest that you bring several pairs of socks to the race because when socks get too sweaty, they can become an environment for blisters to begin to pop up.
3. Lubricants: This was my big mistake at Nanny Goat.  I had good socks and shoes but did not put anything extra on my feet to prevent the friction from happening. People use products such as Glide and TriSlide (my favorite to prevent chaffing), but I learned from various runners that Desitin and A&D ointment work just as well and cost much less.  I have found that A&D works for me and does not leave the white residue that Desitin does. So far no blisters, even on my longer runs--keeping my fingers crossed that it continues to be effective. If lubricants don't work, you can also try powders.
4. Hydration: This is one factor that had not occurred to me until Coach Ed mentioned it to me.  This article explains the reasoning behind hydration's effect on your feet better than I could, so here it is: How to Avoid Blisters on a Run
5. Taping: Some people swear by taping for blister prevention. This keeps your skin itself from actually rubbing against your socks and shoes. I noticed a lot of runners using duct tape at Nanny Goat, but I would suggest you try these things before a big race so you can see how they affect you personally.
6. Gaiters: Before Nanny Goat I had no idea what gaiters were.  When I saw them on the list I skipped right over them because I figured they must not be important because no one had ever mentioned them to me.  The second I stepped onto Nanny Goats dusty course, I knew right away that I had made a huge mistake.  For those of you that like me have no clue what these are, I must share that they are basically covers you wear over your ankles to cover the opening at the tops of your shoes to prevent debris from getting into your shoes and causing problems like blisters.  Not only did I not lubricate my feet, but all the dust and sand that accumulated in my shoes during that race made blisters almost inevitable.  So if you are doing a race where you will be on a trail, gaiters are a must!

A quick summary of what John Vonhof shares as the first and second lines of defense against blisters (taken from Fixing Your Feet):

• First line of defense: socks, lubricants, and powders
• Second line of defense--including a few additional suggestions: Frequent sock and shoe changes, nutrition and hydration, gaiters, taping, skin tougheners and adherents, foot antiperspirants, orthotics, and lacing (link to Vonhof's shoe lacing tips).

The unfortunate thing is that no matter how much you plan to prevent the blisters, if you put large numbers of miles on your feet those blisters may still rear up on you. And what works for one person might not work for another, so experimenting before a big event is crucial to protecting your feet.  In a future blog I will share what I have learned about how to treat your feet once those pesky blisters appear.  Below find some additional resources on blister prevention:
The Runner's Guide to Treat and Prevent Blisters
Three Simple Steps to Blister Prevention for Runners

"When you don't take care of your feet during a long run or race, each step becomes a reminder of your ignorance."  
                                             Dave Scott 

When I was training for Ironman, one suggestion was that I find some song or words that I could repeat over and over that would help me to get through the tough times during the race--the pain, the long lonely miles on the run, the times when I wanted to give up. My song of choice for my Ironman was Muse's Uprising. And during the rough spots at Vineman I would chant these words, "They will not force us. They will stop degrading us. They will not control us. We will be victorious," and it would remind me not to give up on myself, not to listen to the negative voices in my head, and not to stop moving forward until I crossed that finish line. I had worked hard. I had done the grueling training. I deserved to be an Ironwoman!

This week I was listening to my Nanny Goat playlist (I resisted my Bruno Mars loop of songs) and I found the song that I think will be my fight song for the EC100. In fact, it might be one that all of the 0 to 100 Mile Hero team find inspiring. I am interested to see what they all think:

Hall of Fame by The Script

Yeah, You could be the greatest
You can be the best
You can be the King Kong banging on your chest

You could beat the world
You could beat the war
You could talk to God, go banging on his door

You can throw your hands up
You can beat the clock
You can move a mountain
You can break rocks
You can be a master
Don't wait for luck
Dedicate yourself and you can find yourself

Standing in the hall of fame
And the world's gonna know your name
'Cause you burn with the brightest flame
And the world's gonna know your name
And you'll be on the walls of the hall of fame

You could go the distance
You could run 100 mile
You could walk straight through hell with a smile

You could be the hero
You could get the gold
Breaking all the records that thought, never could be broke

Do it for your people
Do it for your pride
How you ever gonna know if you never even try?

Do it for your country
Do it for you name
'Cause there's gonna be a day

When your, standing in the hall of fame
And the world's gonna know your name
'Cause you burn with the brightest flame
And the world's gonna know your name
And you'll be on the walls of the hall of fame

Be a champion, be a champion, be a champion, be a champion

On the walls of the hall of fame

Be students, be teachers
Be politicians, be preachers

Be believers, be leaders
Be astronauts Be champions
Be true seekers

Standing in the hall of fame
And the world's gonna know your name
'Cause you burn with the brightest flame
And the world's gonna know your name
And you'll be on the walls of the hall of fame!

Okay, so maybe we will only count this triumph in our own personal Hall of Fame, but I know this experience will be in my top 5 amazing accomplishments for sure. The whole experience has been surreal for me. Training for a 100-mile race on my own caused me to have my first DNF in a race, kept me off running for weeks due to severe knee pain, and caused me to come close to giving up on myself. Yet here I am three month later doing 50+ miles a week as if it was no big deal (well, not really no big deal, but you know what I mean, right?)

According to the dictionary a champion is, "A person who has defeated or surpassed all rivals in a competition, especially in sport." But what about that person who "defeats or surpasses" anything they thought they could ever accomplish? What about that person that defeats all their negative self-talk to push on and accomplish their goal?  What about the person that hits a wall so big it seems insurmountable, but they climb over it anyway? To me, being a champion doesn't mean winning the race. It doesn't mean hitting some arbitrary time that I think will define my race. Being a champion means doing the training to the best of my ability no matter how hard it is to fit it into my schedule. It means pushing through adversity no matter how hard it gets during that 100-mile race. It means cheering other people on--even those I don't know at the start of the race. It means being gracious to all, being a polite and considerate competitor/teammate, and not stoping until I have the 100 miles under my belt! I believe that ALL this will make me a 100-mile champion and I "burn with the brightest flame" because I will have once again proved to myself that I am capable of BIG things when I put my mind to it!

My mind is quiet, which is a new experience for me.  I am used to the thoughts running through my head like a stampede of elephants fighting to climb out and be a part of my weekly blog. But for the last two weeks I feel a little like I am hearing crickets--there is noise, but I can't seem to focus anything enough to create a cohesive blog. The weird part is that I can't gauge whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. Can I not pull things together because I am at a good place and this peace causes the lack of motivation to write? Or am I exhausted from the planning of not one but two 50th birthday surprise celebrations for my husband last weekend, the end of a really busy school year, and two months of intense ultra marathon training? Could it be because in three days I will be 48 years-old putting me one step closer to being half a century old? I know this sounds odd, but I really can't pinpoint why my blog is not flowing lately so I am just going to post the odd, random thoughts that I was able to catch long enough to write about.

• When I was in high school, which seems forever ago, I used to drive my mom crazy by playing the same songs over and over again and singing the lyrics in my off-key voice at the top of my lungs. While my favorite band at the time was Oingo Boingo, I tended to choose ballads for these before-their-time karaoke sessions.  My favorites included Foreigner's Juke Box Hero and Waiting for a Girl Like You and Journey's Don't Stop Belevin'. My bedroom was not attached to the house, but instead was built off the garage, so I would blast my music for the whole neighborhood to enjoy as well. At the time I was an angst-filled teenager, but truly, I have always had a deep-seeded desire that if I could magically attain one gift it would be that I would have a beautiful singing voice. Music has always soothed me at my most stressful times, so I do not know what to make of my obsession with Bruno Mars music these days.  I confess that over the last month I have been playing six of Bruno's songs over and over on a loop and belting out the lyrics as loud as can be as I drive around in my car going from school to school during my work day. When I Was Your Man and The Lazy Song seem to be my particular favorites, but not sure why this is the music that is defining me right now.  Random, I know, but this is what is rattling in my head these days.
• Along those same lyrical lines I am also noticing that my runs have gone particularly quiet on the music front these days.  I usually cannot complete my runs without my tunes in the background.  Even when I run with my buddies I tended to still keep one earbud tuned to my music at all times.  It may be that on some level I am aware that for a 100-mile race my phone battery will not last long enough to sustain music throughout, but not sure why my music is no longer needed. It may be because the last race playlist I created was for Nanny Goat.  Now that Nanny Goat is over, maybe I need a new playlist to motivate me. I love this website for finding good music based on the pace you are hoping to run. jog.fm
• Weight has always been an issue for me, but not so lately. My laser-focus on the scale has been a problem throughout my life, but I have noticed lately that the scale does not define me.  I am heavier than I was last summer, but every time I look at myself in the mirror all I can see is how much stronger I look these days.  Does this wisdom come with age?  Does this insight come from focussing on what really matters--being healthy? I am not sure, but this is another thought that keeps floating through my head.
• One thing is for certain, I am looking forward to my summer break and the ability to actually get some sleep. I will admit, I am a bit sleep deprived these days, which is not good for the healing and recovery process. I have been burning the candle at both ends and in the middle as well these days, but I do what I have to do to get the necessary training in. I am up by 4 am every day, out training by 4:30am, and on my way to a full day of work by 7:30am. I am headed home by 4 or 5pm to be a mommy and a wife before heading to bed by 9pm at the latest...and then the schedule starts all over again the next day.  I am hoping that during the summer I will be able to catch a few extra Zzzzzzzzs!

On Wednesday I turn the BIG 48 and despite the fact that my blog is not flowing as it usually does, I find that I am happier than I have ever been in my entire life.  I have an amazingly supportive husband, three beautiful children, and a career that brings me rewards on a daily basis because I have the privilege of molding the lives of children each and every day. I have amazing friends that surround me with love, support, and encouragement on a regular basis.  I live in a place where I can play in the hills, at the beach, or on the streets, which makes my training for this crazy 100-mile a gift rather than a chore.  The best gift I have given myself over the last six years is my health, and I am never going back to the old me.  Look at me--48 and completely FLABULOUS!