I live in a van, down by the river... no seriously I don't (yet - but I have the perfect van for it if I ever decide to bag this 8-5 life and become a running-bum) right now I prefer to keep my day job and enjoy those little extras, like daily bathing, hot meals, flushing toilets...  I actually live in Eugene, OR. and apparently we are TRACKTOWN USA over here. I g rew up on a farm outside of a teeny little town over in what is now called CENTRAL Oregon (it was called EASTERN when I was a kid). Eugene is a bustling metropolis in comparison.

I love to run. I run a lot of the local runs, some marathons (Portland x 2, Eugene x 2, Boston x 1), Hood to Coast, etc.

I am not fast, or elite, or anything of the sort. Especially by Eugene, Oregon standards! I am just another one of thousands of runners hitting Pre's trail, the Ridgeline, or the road! I just love running. It is my own personal therapy. My black lab (Porter) is my trainer. He wishes I were faster (four legs are definitely an advantage) and he also probably wishes I would enjoy a roll in the horse poop just like him - I would then be what he considers PERFECT. Of course, he also thinks the toilet bowl is the exact place to go to rehydrate, too, so we do have our differences in training technique.

I love the whole running "scene" - the humor, the outdoors, the friendships.

I am 38 (almost 39) I have a full time job, and run during my lunch hours, or early a.m., or whenever I can fit it in - but I run every day!! I love life, my family is everything to me (19 yr old son and my husband), and I am a big softie for animals (except nutria, sorry you big, ugly rats - DIE DIE DIE). Whoops, sorry I digressed, but if you ever run up on a nutria you will totally get it!!

I am totally new to this sort of internet use - so bear with me. Send a message or whatever if you want and I will do my best to figure out how to read it and respond!!

August 16 - HARDESTY HARD CORE 14 MILE RUN

SO, What a beautiful run - what a grueling quad-ripping run! Over 3 hours to run 14 miles?

WHAT WAS I THINKING????

It started good and went UPHILL fast - the description:

4.5 miles uphill, 4 miles step downhill, and 5.5 "rolling trail" finish. WHERE THE HELL WAS THAT ROLLING PART??? It was UPHILL! OK, no more whining now, it is the kind of thing I should be training on! After being pissed about the black fly/bee/whatever that would not stop buzzing my head the last 2 miles plus the fact that a volunteer completely didn't show up for a crucial aid station, it was cool.

It was very hard though, from 1000 feet elevation to over 4000 in the first 1/3, then a really critical descent - then right back uphill forever... only the last 1 mile was really downhill that could be run well. 

I fell twice - not anything I could get on SportsCenter with but I am very sore, none the less! The winner (2+ hours) wrecked and had these wicked gashes high on his forehead - I guess he looked like a victim of a chainsaw accident at the finish - lots of blood.  

I went from "NEVER AGAIN" to "ok, train for this for next year" in 3 minutes after the finish.

Eclectic Edge does a helluva job at these races - check it out at eclecticedgeracing.com!!

Anyone want to head to Hardesty Mountain for a training run in a couple weeks! HA!