Essence of Life

Energy is the essence of life. Every day you decide how you are going to use it by knowing what you want and what it takes to reach that goal, and by maintaining focus. Oprah Winfrey
This top picture was taken at the Big Sur expo. This is a blog follower friend punkrock runner. He is a running machine :) running a lot of marathons week after week. I hope to get him to come over to the darkside where he belongs. He's already racing every weekend, I think he needs to start running Ultras.
Had a great long run yesterday we were out for 7 hours. Ran with Mike, Ben and Matt.
It was a beautiful day. I did get blisters again!!! same spot as the others that just healed :(
They do have plenty of time to heal before Miwok.
This is the gang on top of Flag hill in Sunol
The wild flowers were so cool..They were popping like popcorn ..

I am excited Andy will be arriving Thursday night..Rocky and I can't wait.
We are going to have fun.
Well I'm backing to doing a tabata workout today. I will follow crossfit oneworlds workout tomorrow.
I took a month off from going to my box. Just didn't have money and could only go a few times this past month cause I was out of town. I still always do the workouts at home or do my own. There is no excuses to not do crossfit it can be done anywhere anytime.

Hey girls if you want to get a skirt go to www.skirtgoddess.com
and enter promo code "hotstuff" from now until May 4th you will relieve 30% off anything you buy from atalanta athletic wear.

Positive Mental Attitude

Having a positive mental attitude is asking how something can be done rather than saying it can't be done. Bo Bennett

Friday's 20+ mile run along the Ohlone trail
Mission Peak with Monument peak in the background
My favorite tree
This is the cool dome house I stayed at while I was in the Big Sur area working at the marathon expo.
Hey girls if you want to get a skirt go to www.skirtgoddess.com
and enter promo code "hotstuff" from now until May 4th you will relieve 30% off anything you buy from atalanta athletic wear.

Our Choices

It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
J. K. Rowling

Today I woke up planning on running 20 miles. I was getting ready and Rocky looked at me like take me take me. I thought I am going to be running 20 miles tomorrow and 31 on Sunday. Plus I am leaving at 7am tomorrow and won't be back until Saturday at 8pm.
I will be working the Big Sur marathon expo. Also today was nice and cool so I thought run him 5 miles, then I could run 5 on Mission Peak and come home and do crossfit.

We had a very good time he was super happy to be out in the cool, overcast weather.
I have such a busy weekend so I really needed to tire him out. Next week end I have Mi-wok 100k so it's getting crazy.

My wod was pretty tough today here it is.

Wod 4/23/09
3 rounds for time of:
400- m run
50 -push-ups
50- kettlebell swings
50- squats
50- sit-ups

my time: 17:21

Be Conscious of Your Attitude

Be conscious of your attitude. Work extra hard at keeping your attitude positive in all kinds of weather, through all the challenges of life. Catherine Pulsifer

So I ran 6 miles today and all I can say is it was slow ;) I think one more day and bigger shoes will do the trick. They are still healing those darn blisters.
I dropped my car off for an oil change so just ran on the road.

The road hurts anyways.
I am planing on running 20 miles tomorrow morning. I will see how it goes.
I have been only doing tabatas as my WOD. my feet are sore so by Friday I will be back into harder wods.
Today did, sit-ups , push-ups and lunges.

Have Patience with Yourself

Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew.
Saint Francis de Sales

Ran Leona Divide with Andy Saturday we did great. It was hot and I got bad blisters but we beat are time by 30 min. I think from last year.
They changed the course this year and I think it was a bit harder.

I went to the Whole Foods in Pasadena the Arroyo store talked with the manager there. I will be working a couple days a month there when I'm down visiting Andy. They are not hiring now, because Summer is our slow time, but in September when she hires again I most likely will be working there.
I got really bad blisters at Leona my feet swelled and I wore thick socks. They are nasty and painful. I managed to run with Rocky this morning and they felt ok.
I will run tomorrow for a hour and Thursday and Friday I am running 20 miles both days. I ordered new shoes in a bigger size should have them then.

Had another dentist appointment today. I had 10 cavities to fill. I told doctor Dolly to do them all today. She thinks I'm crazy but knew I could handle it. I have one more appointment next month. A polishing and temp. crown put on. Can't afford a permanent one until next year.
Andy and I went to the wiener dog races Sunday in Huntington beach. It was fun to watch the owners are really into it. We will enter Rocky in July ;) We are busy next month so can't enter him. They have them each month there.
I will be working the atalanta athletic wear both at the Big Sur marathon booth Friday and Saturday so stop by to say hi.
Crossfit wod today:
Tabata
sit-ups
squats
kettlebellswings.

My Destiny, My Choice

My will shall shape the future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny.

Embrace the New

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.
Rocky at his favorite place Mission peak.
Today Julia gave me a Brazilian wax..It's more painful than a tattoo and more painful than going the dentist. She gets mad because I shave and if I only left it alone and waxed every 4 weeks it would be less painful and there would be less hair. So she says ;)
My goal is one day to laser the whole damn area.
Guys usually have to worry about this stuff. I know you girls know what the heck I'm talking about.
I'm sure this is just way to much info. for everyone. But it's my blog and about what I do ;)
I'm lucky Julia is my best friend...LOL.

Yesterday was very windy at least it was nicer today. Went to the dentist today I go back next week for the rest of my work for now. It will cost 200 next week after that I will wait until January to finish up the rest.
I'm running Leona Divide 50 miler with Andy Saturday so wish us luck.
I also have meeting with someone tomorrow while in Pasadena so send me positive vibes that goes well ;)
Tell you more later.
I leave tomorrow after work to Sierra Madre..I'm excited!! Sad Rocky can't go because I'm flying. :(

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?

This is what I call my playground. That is Mission Peak, I can't count how many times I have been up to the top. To many! I love this place it is so beautiful, it's crazy how I lived in Fremont all my life and never went up to the top until I took up trail running in 98. I become obsessed with going up to the top every day.
I was afraid to explore more, of what beauty this place had to offer.
I decided one day to start from Stanford av. instead of Ohlone college. That was pretty daring since back then I was afraid of the cows and if I heard the coyotes I would cry thinking they would get me. I always made sure I was down by dusk because a wild animal might get me.

So the day I decided to go up a different way, I always thought I might get lost out there..but I just followed the trail to the top. I made and I didn't get lost. I started going this way and loved it. It was harder.
I noticed another trail off to the right and thought I will go that way one day. And I did..Pretty soon I was wondering all around.
I bought a book on Eastbay trails and decided to start exploring all the Bay area trails, a new one each week.
All along I was doing this alone. I had no running friends back then. Sure I was afraid but I was being brave.
The scarred little girl was coming out of her shell.
A couple years later I became the first person to run100 miles on the Ohlone trails.
There has been just two others who have run 100 miles out there. I have run 100 mile training runs 12 times on The Ohlone Mission Peak trails.
And way to many 100k, 50m, 40m and 50k training runs to count on those trails.

I guess my point is as woman we don't have to be afraid we just need to be brave and go do it.
Had I not learned this I would never have attempt a speed record Yo Yo trip on the JMT or logged 21 days on the trails mostly alone in the Sierras. Oh and lord knows I would of never spent 96 days out on the PCT trusting and hanging out with complete strangers.
Sure be smart and trust your intuition. I do! It's ok to let go and be out on the trails alone. Some people are held back by thier own fears. And will be stuck.
We need to all get out and live!


Crossfit wod
Catra's chaos
run 1 mile-50 squats
run 1 mile- 40 push-ups
run 1 mile- 30 walking lunges
run 1 mile- 20 burpees
run 1 mile- 10 handstand push-ups

Self-Confidence

The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you.

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Seems maybe my picture showed to much self confidence for someone. I have been through a lot in my life and it took a lot of climbing up the mountain and getting knocked down again and again. It took years of searching inside to find out who I am. It hasn't been easy but here I am.
I could be a drug addict alcoholic but I'm not. I changed and decided I wanted to be happy I wanted to be healthy and most of all I wanted to be the best person I could be. I chose to stop abusing my body and mind with all the bad stuff. I didn't want to hurt myself anymore or others, I didn't want to sell or do drugs anymore.
I changed..I know longer abuse my body in a bad way. I help and inspire others on a daily basis. That's all I want in life...Just to be the best person I can be.
I know I'm not perfect and have made some bad decisions in the past. But always try to learn from my mistakes in life.

On June 24th I will celebrate 15 years of sobriety . It hasn't been an easy road, but I have no regrets.
I have great friends, and the most wonderful boyfriend ever. All of them and you, I would never know if I was Catra the party goth girl. I'm happy I'm Catra the "Dirt Diva"!!

Crossfit today
3 rounds for time
25- kettlebell swings
25-squats
25-push-ups
25- thrusters
my time(6:45)

300 ab-mat sit-ups for fun

Open Doors

When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.
Alexander Graham Bell

Can someone please tell me when my Ohlone wilderness trail became THE OHLONE WILDERNESS SUPER HIGHWAY??????
Yesterday on the run I counted at least 65 hikers and backparkers heading or on and coming back from Rose Peak. It is a 10 mile hike in to get to the peak for them starting in Sunol. Some do the 3 day hike that starts from Fremont and ends in Del Valle 28 miles.
I also counted 10 horses when I was coming down. So much going out out there yesterday. They had the wildflower festival going on in Sunol.

We started at Jerry's house 1 mile from the trail head. It was a beautiful morning cool and a little breezy it warmed up enough to shed my jacket in Sunol.
I saw Kelly one of my favorite rangers in Sunol, he is the head of Ohlone/Sunol wilderness. Haven't talked with him for a while. It was nice catching up.

We all headed out to Rose together. I ran with Fast Jerry most of the way to his turn around point at mile 14. He left us to go back home and take care of some stuff.

My goal was to get back to Sunol by 3:30 I wanted to check out the festival.

I ran alone all most of the way, waiting just a couple times to regroup with Mylinh and Joe.
I made it to the top at 1:30pm and waited for them and it was cold so said lets head down a bit to eat our snacks. We took off together but I decided to run hard and got ahead. I thought I would wait in Sunol for them before we headed back to Mission Peak.
I got charged 3 times by a big cow. There were 2 cowboys with a pack train. They were very impresses by how little and crazy I was for charging back at the cow. I told them you have to run at them and scream it works every time they just laughed.
They ask about my run and said wow you ran to Rose Peak cause that is where they were headed. I said yeah, but I didn't start in Sunol silly boys. I started in Fremont Mission Peak trailhead.
There eyes bugged out out of their heads. They said WHAT??? I said yeah it's just 40 miles..
They were shocked, I said it's nothing really, when you are passionate about something it becames fun and you love doing it. I told them about Ultras and then I was on my way.
I made it back to Sunol at 3:36 I wanted to be there at 3:30 but made it back in close enough time. I had fun litening to music and hanging out. I waited for Joe and Mylinh. I kept seeing hikers I past and no sign of them.
I did see a hiker I said hi to earlier who called me stars because of my stars on my legs. I ask if he say them, he said he saw her and she stopped to wait for her husband at backpackers camp.
I was going to leave but wanted to make sure they were ok.
I waited 25 min. and they finally came. Joe said he was just low on energy.
I said I wanted to keep going and they were fine. I started my clock again. I had stopped it while waiting for them.
My goal was to run the last 20 miles from Rose peak, every step of the way which I had done. I only stopped to wait for them.
I got going again and felt good not 100% i did slow down a little.
I was thinking if I wanted to hit the peak and do 42 or just head down the side of horse heaven and do 40. I thought 40 miles is fine ;)

They're were lots of hikers still out and I counted 10 hang glidders. Some were flying and some already landed. I made it to the gate and thought I wonder if I can get in under 5 hours for the last 20 miles. I knew I could.

I so wanted to walk at many points but pushed on. I rolled up to Jerry's house in 4:45 for the last 20 miles not bad at all. I finished the whole 40 miles in 10:15. I was super happy. I only counted the running time. We took a few breaks like in the morning in Sunol and the times I stopped to wait. I had a very good run.
Just another beautiful day on my favorite trails, with friends. I'm off now to take Rocky on his Birthday/Easter trek on Mission peak. Have a beautiful day friends.

Your Success

You do not determine your success by comparing yourself to others, rather you determine your success by comparing your accomplishments to your capabilities. You are "number one" when you do the best you can with what you have, every day. Zig Ziglar

Enjoy every minute

Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family. Earl Nightingale
Julia and I yesterday doing a 20 mile training run. We had a blast as always.

I ran way ahead of her so she had no choice most of the run, but to run faster ;)
It rained on us almost the whole time.
She had a flaky Julia moment ;) and tried getting out of running the whole 20 but once she got going she decided to stay and run the whole thing.
Today I went back to the dentist to get side 2 of my scaling/root planing done. I am happy it's done but boy it was expensive. I have 7 fillings ,yikes...still to take care of. It needs to be done. I swear the money I have spent on my teeth the last two years I could of almost paid my vehicle off.
I know you're thinking doesn't she take care of her teeth?? Well I do. I was told by my old dentist in 2000 that I had what was referred to as ramped decay. They see it in athletes because of the sports drinks and gels we do. Then being out for 30 hours and letting it settle in and going into I guess the gum line.

I have always had cavities when I have went to the dentist even as a little girl. Usually 1 a year.
I don't do sugar drinks and don't do sugar other then fruit and smoothies which is all natural.
I do energy gels and shot bloks when I race and snacks that have agave nectar or rice syrup. I guess it's still sugar and can cause problems as we get older.
I drink coconut water as my sports drink. I do the best I can to avoid sugar.

I am going to brush and floss after all my meals and snacks for now on. And carry a liquid goldenseal tincture to rinse my mouth a couple times during my ultras.

Am I the only one with all these problems??? I want to keep the teeth I have since they are expensive now after all this work.
Let's hope most of the problems get better. They will measure my gums in a month and they hope they heal up.
I'm looking forward to a fun 40 mile training run with friends tomorrow. Looks like nice weather. I hope you all enjoy your weekend.

Optimists
Optimists enrich the present, enhance the future, challenge the improbable and attain the impossible. William Arthur Ward

Ouch..today I had a deep scaling on my right side of my mouth. They will do the other side on Monday. I have been putting this off for a year since I needed to take care of 5000 dollars worth of work the past couple years. Hey and that's just what insurance didn't pay. The scaling is 380 bucks each side. My insurance covered a percent and I pay the rest with my flex CC. Thank goddness I have that because there is no way I could afford to do this. But it needed to be done.

Glad I'm taking care of it now.

Crossfit WOD

1 rounds of:

100 sit-ups-100 push-ups-100 squats-100 kettlebell swings.

Visualize the Impossible

Ordinary people believe only in the possible. Extraordinary people visualize not what is possible or probable, but rather what is impossible. And by visualizing the impossible, they begin to see it as possible.
Cherie Carter-Scott

Today I took my friend Flower up Mission Peak. She is one of my crossfit buddies from Crossfit elite fitness academy in Monrovia. She is an amazing athlete, she is pretty badass. She was down visiting friends and decided she would do a run with me. She is training for a 12 hour adventure race later this month that she will be doing with coach LeClair.
We started up the peak and in 2 miles it started raining. I had a rain poncho I brought along for Flower since she didn't have a jacket. It was 80 and sunny yesterday.
I love showing my friends the beauty where I live.

It was windy and cold on the summit. I took pictures on Flower than we headed down.
Hopefully in the next couple months she can do a run up Half Dome with me since she has never been to Yosemite.
Thanks for joining me Flower I had a blast ;)

Embrace the New

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.

Enjoy every minute

Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family. Earl Nightingale
Just got home from visiting my BF Andy Kumeda. We did so much fun stuff this weekend. We went to dinner Friday and a drive in movie in Hollywood where they showed the movie in a parking lot of a small theater. Went to Das Bunker club to see Funker Vogt. They were awesome. Saturday went to the Derby day 5k, planned to run with Rocky but they said no dogs :( so we ran it before it started and cheered on all our crossfit elite fitness academy friends.
Went to there party Saturday night. I got a cool award picture of me and Coach LeClair. I was voted the res. cardio endurance award. It was unexpected, I thought it was very sweet.
Ok I am off to work. I will write more tomorrow about my weekend plus I have tons of pics. to put up.
Congrats. to all who ran AR 50m and Umstead 100 this past weekend. And congrats. to all the crossfitters who ran the 5k.

Success

You do not determine your success by comparing yourself to others, rather you determine your success by comparing your accomplishments to your capabilities. You are "number one" when you do the best you can with what you have, every day . Zig Ziglar
This was a killer workout my friend Flower and I did with Rocky it took us 30:31.
We had a blast.
I am so busy this weekend here is Sierra Madre so no time for along post.
I will update tomorrow.
Flower, Rocky and Catra. at Crossfit elite fitness academy in Monrovia.