2 More Races Down!

On Saturday, July 21st, we had a training run with Team Fury, which was a hilly trail run at Redwood Regional Park. I chose to do 6 miles in anticipation of the Wharf to Wharf race the next day. I definitely experienced I.T. band pains, most likely as a result of my legs still healing from the crazy 6 hour endurance race. Nevertheless, I took it easy on the way back and then on Sunday, July 22nd, completed "The best little road race in California" with a group of peeps! We enjoyed a post race breakfast with bloodies and mimosas and topped it off with a shopping spree on the way home from Santa Cruz/Capitola. 

This past Saturday, July, 28th a good group of friends and some TNT alumni participated in the Bad Bass "Ultra" Half Marathon at Lake Chabot. Now you might wonder why they consider it an "ultra" as part of the Brazen Racing series, and I know exactly why...HILLS on a CRAZY trail, or as one of my friends put it, "that's not a hill, it's a freakin' cliff!" Well we all did the dang thing and it was cool to have our Coaches there cheering us in. Our head Coach Tim placed 3rd in his age division, so obviously I only saw him at the start and finish line because he is so fast! Following the race, the organizers sent us their usual "thanks for participating" e-mail and included this, "Half marathoners, we should have covered it in the pre-race briefing, but we know you found out on your own, that there were two changes on sections of the course (at the request of the park) that made the course slightly longer and definitely tougher (more climbing).  So, if you ran it last year and were comparing your time to this year, be sure to give yourself 10-15 minutes of slack to account for it being harder!" Now if that summary didn't wrap it up, I don't know what does! It was definitely one of the most challenging races I've ever done. Now, I look on to more races and am trying to rest my legs for the next one. Thanks for reading! Photos below as always for your enjoyment- click to enlarge. :) -Lisa

Wharf To Wharf (Santa Cruz to Capitola, ~10K)

Trav, Ernie, Leanne, Nikki, Me, Stephanie & La Dawn

Bad Bass Photos!!! This is just one of the "hills" we had to ascend...trust me, this photo doesn't do this "hill" justice! It's definitely the biggest one I've seen in a race.

Just some of the crew post race!

Charlene, Me, E-dog, Nikki, Coaches Gary & Tim

Dirty Half Dozen Done!

Well, it's been a little while since I posted. June was filled with many activities, from being in a wedding party to Trav literally "getting his feet wet" as part of a half Ironman Tri relay team in Quebec, Canada. Now on the meat of this post!

Last Saturday, July 7th, Trav and I, along with my running buddy Charlene, set out to run a 6 hour endurance race (Dirty Half Dozen) at Point Pinole Regional Shoreline. It was a looped course with approximately 98% dirt fire trails! Well, we started out strong and after the half marathon mark, I was on track to PR for a full. Unfortunately, at mile 16, both Charlene and I experienced knee & IT injuries! Travis had previous IT issues, so was feeling it slightly before us and then got pretty much the same injury as well. We decided at that point to deem ourselves "Team Hobble." Team hobble might of wobbled, but we didn't fall down....

Due to our injuries, we were reduced to trotting, forging our way up the rolling hills, yet having to hobble our way down them because our legs simply would not move the way we needed them to.

In the end, we all finished our 6 hours! Charlene and I did 27.68 miles and found this to be pretty rewarding, all injuries aside. Had we been in good health, we would've placed, as the third place female finisher did just over 30 miles! We were so close, but hey, a great time was had by all despite the pain. I might add, this was my second full marathon and the farthest I've ever ran in one day! :) We've got photos below for your enjoyment (click to enlarge them). Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more updates. -Lisa

Going Strong On The Course

We Did It!

One Of My Top 3 Favorite Medals- Bottle Opener, Coaster & Medal All In One.