Monday, March 23, 2009

Moving Forward or Standing Still?

Look at your past. Your past has determined where you are at this moment. What you do today will determine where you are tomorrow. Are you moving forward or standing still?

Me and my idol Wheelchair Bob

I had an awesome fun run yesterday. The Mount. Diablo 50k was one of the best organized Ultras I have ever run. And trust me I have run a lot. They Bussed us over from the finish area in a nice chartered bus. The weather was perfect. It rained all night but race day was beautiful.
We got to the start and they had a full staff checking us in, they had snacks and water for us and we were able to hang out on the bus so we didn't have to freeze in the cold before the start.
I was excited to see wheelchair Bob, he was going to start us off. I listen to him speak at REI before about being the first person in a wheelchair to reach a 14,000ft peak. He climbed White Mountain. Which I have run a few times. It amazes me what he has done. I asked him how long it took him to do the Ohlone wilderness trail. Basically the course we do during the Ohlone 50k. The trail he did was 28 miles. It took him 5 days. I asked him how the hell did he get down and up out of Satans Pit(Williams gulch) he said he had a rope and had to crawl and pull his wheel chair up with a rope he rigged to the chair. He said there was a couple times going down the trail he fell over. I will never complain again during my Ohlone solo 100 miler again or any ultra for that matter.
He even did the Mount Diablo trail that we were about to run in 3 days.
He will be doing Kilimanjaro next year. It will take him a couple months he said.
He is truly an inspiration. He does not let obstacles get in his way.
Next time you are complaining in race think of Wheelchair Bob.
As soon as he gets his web-site up for the Kili trip I will post it.
I was suppose to run with Jim but after mile 17 went on alone. My hamstring was getting tight from standing around. I got to run with Laura Spain a friend who helped me during my crazy reverse solo Western States 100. She was even pregnant at the time pacing me 20 miles to the river.
She is an amazing runner. She is coming off a knee problem and ran a good race.
I also enjoyed sharing the trail with my pick haired friend Leigh Mosser. Who is training for Miwok 100k as her first 100k. She ran a good race too, and will do awesome at Miwok.
Catra, Mylinh and Julia

I want to thank the Save Mount Diablo group for putting on the race and all the wonderful volunteers. The aid stations were awesome. They had these great chewy orange candies from Whole Foods that I loved
. They even had organic potatoe chips from WF. You don't see that everyday at an aidstation.
They had a band at the finish and lots of yummy food. Even organic vegan soup.
I am looking forward to next years race and hoping they will hurry and finish the grand loop so they can put on a 100k too.
Leigh and Catra

WOD 3/23/2009

"Time Trials"

Complete each of the following tasks individually for time:

  • Row 500m =2:25
  • Run 400m=1:40
  • 100 pull-up=4:18(jumping)
  • 100 push-ups=5:29
  • 100 sit-ups=2:11
  • My total time: 15:23
Post a time for each task. You may perform them in any order. you may rest as long as you like between efforts, but you must complete all five movements within one hour.

3 comments:

Steve Ansell said...

Now I am even more jealous that I couldn't run the race. Bob is one of my heroes as well. I met him out at Mission Peak a few years ago. At the time he hadn't completed his 14,000, but had two failed attempts. It was so inspiring listening to him and especially learning about how much incredible perseverance it must take. He talked about one section where he would work for nearly an hour to get up a steep slope constantly working his way up and sliding part-way back down. We call ourselves "endurance athletes", but compared to Bob we know almost nothing about what it really takes to "endure."

CoyoteGirl said...

Great report. Wow wheelchair bob is quite the inspiration. I need to do an ultra on Diablo...sometime this year methinks.

Anonymous said...

It was great working out with you at the Time Trials, Catra. I have just got to snag you for a few minutes so you can teach me proper running positions and techniques. I suck at running.

See you in the box!

Evil Twin Mary