The mountains are calling and I must go.
-John muir-
This time of year my mind and the heart wander back to 2007. That is when I set out to hike the Pacific crest trail from Mexico to Canada 2,600 miles long.
I made it 2,000 miles had to quit because of giardia and I hurt my knee.
The end of April is when the main heard start.
I will keep all these amazing people in my thoughts and prayers while they take on this epic journey. Not all will make it to Canada and everyone will have to skip some areas this year because of closures.
I will be out there spreading some trail magic out in Tuolumne and Sonora pass.
So PCTers when you see the girl with fusia hair, tattoos and piercings it will be a good sign. I will have fresh fruit and cold drinks waiting for you at the trail head.
Good luck to the class of 2010.


Somewhere near Idyllwild ;-) alone and having fun!!
Ok my friends it's my big weekend, I'm running Miwok 100k so please send me positive vibes and energy Saturday as I run this race.
Thanks to all of you for following my wacky blog. I love you all ;-)

POSITIVE ATTITUDE.............
"HAVING A POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE IS ASKING HOW SOMETHING CAN BE DONE RATHER THAN SAYING IT CAN'T BE DONE."
Sundays fun run I was only planning on running 20 miles, but somehow ended up with 26 miles ;-) Funny how that happens.
Yeah I got to run with my friend Faye who is a lot like me we love the outdoors and doing crazy things in the wilderness, oh and most important she loves the color pink ;-)
Her sister Miki was up from SoCal and they were going to run 30 miles since Miki is training for her first 50 miler. She is running Bishop and Faye is running the whole thing with her. I am planning on going to crew and pace them, and to get a little heat training in for Ohlone 131 .
Jerry joined us for the climb up the peak but since he wasn't wearing any pink we had to kick him out of this Pink club ;-)
The weather got hot by the time we got to Sunol. I climbed 2 miles up and turned around. The trail was and obstacle course of orienteering people blocking the trail, lying on the trail and some weren't carrying water. These people were pretty rude.
I got down and was looking for whoever was in charge, the person wasn't around. The person working the table didn't even know where the water was for the people to fill up. Not that I own the trail but when someone is running down hill I move out of the way. I was asking nicely too. They were to concerned with finding the box of whatever and the clicker. I have no idea I just heard people talking.




I headed back to Mission peak and was super dehydrated from the past few days. I was sucking down water.
It was really getting warm.
I was happy to see Mark Tanaka running down the trail. I thought I feel safe now since there's a doctor on the trail. Always nice to know if you epic ;-)



I made it back home in around 7 hours. Jumped in a cold shower regrouped and waited for the girls to text when they got near the junction of the peak to head down.
Rounded Rocky up in the 83 degree temps, and headed out to the gate a mile away.

We got there but the little guy had to take a break and with cookies in my hand he kept moving. He took a nap under the bench at the trail head. When the girls showed up he was ready to head home. he ran strong all the way back.

I put in 113 miles of training last week so hopefully I'm ready for a good run at Miwok 100k this weekend.

RUN FAR ENOUGH.............
Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second. Give your dreams all you've got and you'll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you.

Saturday was another awesome day of exploring. I had planned on taking a old trail that the park wants to reopen. Just wanted to see what kind of work needs to be done on it. It's called the Welsh creek trail. It connects with Flag hill and goes down to Welsh creek road.

Jerry joined us just to Sunol at we met up with Julia who was going to do a short 2.5 hour run with us. Me and Mike would run the full 30 miles.

The weather was perfect and warm.

The welsh creek trail was amazing. It is now my favorite single track in Sunol. It's 2 miles of pure bliss. The trail is obviously other peoples favorite trail. The trail has not been on the maps in at least 9 years. But you can tell it's traveled on quite a bit. It is only hard to follow in 3 places. There are the old metal trail arrows that point the direction to go. There are several down trees that need to be removed but I hardly doubt it would take very long to get it ready to open for public use.

They are already using it. There was a trail project planned but somehow got cancelled. I am going to talk to ranger Neil and get a group of us Ultrarunners who need trail work to do work on it.

It is on the new map/permit so check out that trail if you have time. I am going to do a loop of it in a couple weeks with Maguires peak loop. It will be a 40 mile run I think.

Mt. Diablo wildflower run..........Friday ;-) I took all these photos on Friday on Mt. Diablo. I ran 35 miles of trails 10. 5 hours.
I came home and ran 2.5 miles with Rocky so ran 37.5 miles :-)

I ran up Diablo, North peak, Mt. Olympia and Eagles peak. It's actually my 4 peaks run but since it there was so many wildflowers I will call it my wildflower run this time. I plan on running on Diablo every Friday . It's very challenging and lots of climbing. This time of year I love running out there. You just have to make sure to carry plenty of water.

I hope other bloggers get a chance to go out on Diablo in the next few weeks to see all the flowers. I counted 20 different varieties and stopped counting after that.

The weather was perfect, warm and breezy. I saw very few people out on the trails. That's why I love Fridays out there. Not tons of people

HAPPY EARTH DAY..........................
I ran 2 hours this morning while waiting for my car getting serviced in Dublin. I ran along the road and picked up trash. I filled 2 bags.
I then went home to take Rocky out and we carried a bag and filled that.
I hope everyone takes a bag on a run or hike today and just do something small like pick up trash. It makes a huge difference.
Everyone who knows me knows when I run I always try and pick up 3 pieces of trash on the trail when I run. It's not huge but it makes a difference.


These were photos taken the past 2 days while running in the rain. 3.5 hour run on Mission Peak and 3.5 hour run on Alameda Creek/ Quarry lakes.

Today was just a 2 hour run and then 45 min. with Rocky.

Tomorrows Plan is 30-40 miles on Diablo. Wanna check out the wildflowers with out all the people.

Saturdays training will be 30 miles along the Ohlone wilderness and Sunday a short run 20 miles to Sunol and back. My last long training runs to get ready for Miwok 100k next week. Shooting for a PR. We'll see what happens. Enjoy the rest of your week.

Friendship.........
To love people who love you is easy. Choose to be everyone's friend, whether they like you or not. When you love and accept others as they are, you will have friends everywhere.
Was in SoCal for my 3rd Leona Divide 50 miler. The plan was a PR on that course. And I did, thanks to Andy who is always so kind to slow down and run with me. The course was harder but for some reason we had a good run.
Kiera did and awesome job as a first time RD. Awesome volunteers and great aidstations with themes ;-) I did hear that there was no coke and not enough food. and 2 of the aidstations ran out of fruit which is the only thing I eat from the tables. It happens and I know it will be better next year.

I love this race because it's on my favorite trail the Pacific crest trail, I hiked 2,000 miles in 07 and it is a special place to me.

This time of year the Poppies are out of control. It's simply beautiful. During the race it looks like from way up high 5,000ft that the valley is on fire.

Our time was 11;10 7 min. pr on the course. I saw only one through hiker ;-) his name was ibeam.

I was happy at the finish to see trail angels Terrie and Joe Anderson from Casa de Luna. They are amazing people they let 100's of dirty stinky tired hikers sleep and rest at there home. They give us rides to and from the trailhead and let us shower and make us food. They rock!!!

I plan on hanging out at there place over Memorial day weekend for the big hiker party there as the heard starts coming through.

Today it rained but I got my booty out for a run and I will do my crossfit wod next. Hope you all have a great day.

THE JOURNEY...........
Understanding that the journey is as important as the destination. Enjoy every moment, and live life fully. This is zen
Hi Friends this weekend I'm running Leona divide 50m I would love it if you all send positive vibes.
Andy and I will run it together since this was our first 50 miler we ran as a couple 3 years ago.
Hopefully we will have a good day and keep the PR streak going.


Looking forward to see all my friends!!!

Crossfit today:

Tabatas: abs, squats , push ups, lunges and sit-ups

Run 10 miles

IT'S YOUR TIME TO SHINE....................



And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom..Anis Nin

Go Andy Go!!!! Andy PR'd his 50 mile time at American river 50 miler this weekend. He ran 8:30. He had no expectations since he PR'd his 100 mile time at Umstead 2 weeks ago.


He ran a relaxed race and finished strong.

It was Rocky and my job to keep him going which we did we had him in and out of each aidstation.

Rocky was going to pace him a few miles but Thursday night he jumped off the bed in the hotel and hurt his back. It's not the first time. I really have to curb his jumping as he gets older. I also need to help him lose a few pounds so he won't get injured.

I gave him arnica and he is fine now ,he was in pain on Saturday a little but seems fine now.

It was fun watching all my friends out there. I really do prefer to be on the other end. It does get hard just watching. But for Andy it was worth it to help him and get him to get a PR.

I swear the guy is a machine doesn't train a lot but runs solid times when he's not slowing down to run races with me.

He says he would rather run with me and have fun. He is so much faster then me. And it's very sweet that he loves me so much and would rather run a race every step of the way with me. ;-)

Next week we will be running Leona divide 50 miler together. I'm happy he raced AR so he will be a little bit slower so I can keep up.

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. Alan Cohen

What an awesome morning run I had planned on a shorter run but ended up with 10 miles ;-) funny how that happens.
I decided to do a crossfit styled wod out on my run so every 30 min. I did 20 squats , 20 push-ups and 20 lunges ended up doing 5 rounds. My legs will be sore it got hard esp, if I was lunging on the uphill :-)

I really enjoy the beauty of the Mission Peak/Ohlone/Sunol Wilderness. I know one day I will move away and I will surely miss my playground. But we must always remember to find a new place to play when we move from one area to the next.

The wildflowers are starting to pop every where on the trail. This pics. for you Andy my sweetie he loves Poppies ;-)

I love how just outside my house and just a mile road run away the trail is there. I am lucky. I hope you all enjoy the trails why the weather is so nice. Hopefully the rain is over for the most part.

Ok kids get out and play!!!!

LOYALTY.............
Become loyal to your innermost truth. Follow the way when all others abandon it. Walk the path of your own heart.

I hope you all had a great Easter with family and friends. I took Rocky out in Sunol for a short 4 mile loop. I also worked, surprised at how busy we were. I guess maybe a lot of people don't spend time with their families or these people all don't have families but it was busy just like a normal Sunday.

Easter is always a hard holiday. It's the day I found my Mom dead. I always go out in nature on that day to celebrate the life we had together.

I had a busy weekend of running. Friday i ran long. Then Saturday ran 40 miles and felt great surprised that I feel so good after running the flats hard at Umstead 100 the weekend before. Wow getting older isn't as bad as everyone says ;-) I'm recovery faster and feeling better.

These pictures are along the Ohlone wilderness trail my favorite place to run so peaceful. Well except Saturday there must of been 50 hikers out there enjoy it too.

Glad people are taking a liking to my slice of heaven.

The weather was perfect that day we had a break in the weather that day.

This picture is of me and Rocky running in Sunol.

This weekend we will be crewing Andy at AR 50. Just want to wish everyone good luck running it.