Don't put us in your box! Yeah we ain't your typical 100 miler trailrunner Betty's!

What is an ultrarunner suppose to look like anyways??? I get that all the time you don't look like you run 100 miles. You look like you're a party girl!
I'm far from that...My party days are over. Sure I like to go out to clubs and see bands and dance. But if I had to choose between running and clubbing running would win.
It's always good to have balance in life. I'm finally learning how to have balance.

This is a picture of me and my friend Sarah Dillingham. She had to bail out of the hundred do to injury. That's ok because she is going to run a solo 100 next month and I will help her.
I think she got injured Thursday in the Mosh pit at the Rancid show ;)
So for dropping out she treated herself to a new tattoo. That means I have to get a new one. she's still leading the race in a few more tattoos ahead of me but I'm coming up fast. So you better watch out sista.
Namaste,
Catra


 

"IT'S ALL ABOUT THE JOURNEY "
Oh and what an exciting journey it was!
I finished my 3rd San Diego 100 and my 7th 100 mile race of the year. My finishing time was 27:29 I was 5th girl. My goal was to run in the 27 hour range and that I did. I didn't wear a watch, so only knew the time of day when I would ask at the aid stations. I knew I felt stronger than last year, and was running stronger. The uphills seemed easier. I owe that to crossfit.

My time was 29 hours last year. Earlier in the race I was coming into aid stations 2-3 hours faster than last year. At one point I was running with a guy who said we were on the 24 hour cusp. I told him to keep pushing and go on ahead. I had no intentions of running that fast. I have the San Francisco 24 hour run this weekend, and another 100 mile race in three weeks. Hey, I love this sport but didn't want to kill myself trying to run that fast, in this race.

My race went well for the most part. Mile 35 I felt a bladder infection coming on. I just had to deal with it and did.
I ran alone the whole race from mile 45 on to the finish. Only three people past me and that was 8 miles from the finish. I had no pacer, or crew, so did feel a bit lonely. Wait I take that back. My MP3 was my pacer and Randy crewed me by texting me and calling in the middle of the night. At one point around 1:45am I was so sleepy I was stumbling around and falling asleep on my feet. I just needed to talk to someone anyone! I thought I will call Randy. So I called him and just said I need to talk so I wouldn't fall asleep. Within a few minutes of talking to him I snapped out of and was able to wake up. Thank god for cell phones.

I slowed down a bit and when I got to mile 94 I knew I had to make up time to get 27:30. ( I ended up finishing in 27:29). I ended up running almont the entire 6 miles. Not easy to do with 94 miles on your legs. I wanted it that bad so just pushed. I told myself you're better than you think you are and you can do it!
Well, I also asked God to guide me to the finish feeling strong. He did.

Thanks to all my friends who send vibes and positive energy when I'm running my 100's.
Thanks to Randy for inspiring me and being patient and understanding. You're the best :)
Namaste,
Catra

The look of a very happy couple!
I'm on my way to San Diego. I hope everyone has a awesome weekeknd.

Zen Card...Balance
The center is not
always the point of
balance. When you find
that place where
Balance is
achieved, peace will
result in all situations.
There is no conflict. For
everything rests
without strain.

Looks like I hae finally found balance in my life. Thanks to you Randy.
Namaste,
Catra
 

I don't want to fall in love...
I would like to tell you I would like to say
That I knew this would happen, that things would go this way
But I cannot deceive you, this was never planned
I know you're the right girl, but do you think I'm the right man?
Right face, wrong time
She's sweet but I don't wanna fall in love
Too late, so deep, better run cause....

This is a song from my new favorite bands.
She wants revenge.. I highly recomend giving it a listen. The sound is very 80's Gothic.

What a perfect day for my last run.. I head out to San Diego tomorrow morning.

I want all the vibes I can get at 3am Sunday morning..
Namaste,
Catra

Please send me positive thoughts & vibes this weekend....
I' running San Diego 100 this weekend. I'm excited!!!!
Sorry this is short but I'm off to work.

Zen Card....community

Understand
that you will
be like those with whom
you surround
yourself, your
enviornment is stronger
than you are.

So very true. Only surround yourself with loving caring people.
That's what I do. 

The look of a determined bowler ....
See I don't just run all the time. Here I am at the Boardwalk bowl in Santa Cruz on Sunday. I forgot how fun bowling is.

Bowling is a good form of tapering for a hundred.

Today I was going to take it easy at crossfit and just modify the workout. Well i didn't. I hope come Saturday at 5am I will be feeling strong at the start of SD 100.
Randy you're the best ever for turning me on to crossfit.

Zen Card,,HARMONY
Restore harmony.
Create peace in
all situations. Rather
than pushing the river.
Flow with it.

This is perfect for me right now.

Have a perfect day everyone.
XOXO,
Catra

TAPER MADNESS....
It's so hard for me to taper. I just want to run, run, run! I know if I just chill my 100 miler will go well. Today I wanted to run longer but, I only ran 4 miles.
I will run 3 miles tomorrow and 5 on Thursday.
I'm looking forward to running San Diego 100. I just love running 100 miles. I just can't explain why. It's a feeling inside me.

ZEN CARD....HAPPINESS
Happiness
comes from within.
If you choose to
be happy, no one and
no thing can
ever take that
happiness from you.

WOW! This is so true. No matter how many energy vampires come
into our lives and try to suck our energy, we don't have to let them if we are happy.

Have a beautiful day :) 

WARNING: Climbing is a dangerous sport. You can be seriously injured or die.
I love rock climbing and bouldering. Yes, I know the risk. I have a plate & 7 screws in my right arm holding my ulna together. It reminds me everyday that climbing is risky.
I love moving up the rock working the problem linking each move like a puzzle piece.
It's a great work out. I suggest going to your local climbing gym and trying it. It's something the whole family can do together.

Zen Card...Grace
The beauty of grace is that you receive blessing for no reason.
As above, so below.
Practice random
acts of grace. Give to
others for no reason,
offer kindness to those
who are undeserving, love
those who no one else
loves. Practice grace. 

Woo Hoo!
My tattoos on my legs
are finally finished.
Am I getting more tattoos you ask, of course.
Julio will draw up my next designs in a couple weeks.
It will be a design of a necklace Randy gave me.

Zen Card...EGO

Those who say they
know, do not know. Those
who say they do not know,
also don't
know Therefore,
be quiet and let your
actions speak for
you. They speak for
you. They speak much louder than your
words anyway. 

Ahhh...The most beautiful rock formation in all of the world.
Half Dome.
Last night I got to hang out with some old friends who I haven't seen in over 13 years. It was great. It was great to see we're all still alive after getting caught up in drugs back in the day. Right now I'm all about reconnecting with old friends.
Today I will hang out with my oldest friend Tom. We've known each other and each others families since I was 7 years old. We hung out a lot in the 80's. Lived together for a little bit in the 90's.
We some how lost contact. I think it was me, and my drug use.
So I think the last time I saw him was 15 years ago. You know myspace is good for finding old friends. That's how he found me.

Have a great day & maybe think about reconnecting with an old friend. 

HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13th....
Life is a test. Today I went to snooze my alarm on my cell phone and I guess it turned off. I missed crossfit class :( I had to pull the chip out of the phone, seems to be working ok.
I forgot the painters were coming to finish painting the house and they need to paint my room today. I have like 5,ooo things going on. I ask if they could wait until 1pm they agreed, thank god.
I have like a million pictures on my wall I had to take down and move stuff around. Had to also move stuff around the bathroom so they can paint it to.
I know if I just let stuff go and give it to God it will work out.
I moved everything then went out for my run and I did the crossfit work out. Randy told me what it was so I knew what to do.
He has it posted on his blog http://www.rjkeener.blogspot.com
Just in case anyone whats to do the work outs he will post them Mon.,Wed.,& Fri.

The work out kicked my butt.
Today should get better, going to get my tattoos finished and I get to see Randy tonight :) Oh and I get a massage woo hoo.

This picture is of me near the Merced river when I was heading out of the Valley yesterday I took it. I always look so much happier after a good long run.

What a beautiful day!
Perfect for a run up Half Dome. If you haven't been to the top I suggest you get your butts up there. If not this season, then next season. The snow hasn't started yet so there's still time this month. I could not beleive how many people were up there today. At the top, there were 17. And still people on the way up.
I can tell my upper body is much stronger thanks to crossfit. I pulled myself up the cables no problem. Usually my arms get sore.
I feel like I'm ready for San Diego 100 next weekend.

Zen Card... suffering
The cause of
all suffering is
craving. Desire things
that you do not
have, and suffering will
follow. Realize
this and peace will
be yours. Suffering
will disappear and
contentment
will reign.

It's a good one to think about! 

Zen Card..Wisdom
Treat everyone and everything with loving
compassion.
When you see no differance
between the sacred
and the profane, the saint
or the sinner. That is the
ultimate wisdom. 

Some people stop to smell the rose's, not me I stop to do some push ups ;)
I've decited to start incorporating my crossfit exercise's into my shorter runs(anything under 20 miles). I picked 5 spots along the trail to do what I did in my crossfit class today. It was fun. Here I am on Mission Peak doing my push ups.
A man came over to to me on one of my exercise stops and ask "what are you doing"?. I said "my crossfit work out"! He said why? I asked why do you hike? He said becouse it's good for me. I said that's my answer for what I'm doing trailrunning/crossfit work out. He smiled and said , ok.

Tomorrow I will go to Yosemite for the day to run Half Dome. Should be as beautiful as ever. Yosemite is my heaven. I love it!

Have a beautiful day! 

Zen Card of the day.....
Zen mind.
Experience all things with the enthusiasm of a child, as if you were seeing it for the first time.
This is the zen mind.
Always new, always aware, always that
of a beginner.

What a great zen card, I will practice this during my next 100, next weekend San Diego 100.
Have a beautiful day ;) 

Having fun on my 33 mile trail run today :)
Running 33 miles after crossfit isn't for everybody. But hey I'm not everybody. Yeah, I was sore. Mile 27 I was feeling the heat and my quads and gluts were hurting. It's all good though, pain is pleasure ;)
Zen card.. Friendship
To love people who love you is easy.
Choose to be everybody's friend, whether they like you or not.
When you love and accept others as they are, you will have friends everywhere.

Hey now I know why I have so many friends :) 

Me & Randy on a 7.5 mile trail run.
Looks like Randy got sucked in, he loves trail running. That's good for me. I got sucked in to crossfit because of him. We are just showing eachother what we're passionate about. Good thing we both like each others passions.

Life is wonderful! 

Furnace Creek 508 mile bike race.
Me and my friend Linda at the start of the 508 mile bike race. Linda went into this race injured and under trained. She took a bad fall at mile 60 but continued on until the 110 mile mark. She was pretty messed up. We took her to emergancy in Ridgecrest where she ended up getting 5 stitches, in her right arm. The most important thing is she attempted it.
She will be back next year trained & ready to kick butt and I will be there to crew her.

Life is all about the journey!!!! 

You Can exercise anywhere!!!
Me getting a work out in while crewing at the Furnace creek 508 mile bike ride.
There are no excuses not to get in a work out even when traveling. Stick to a schedule and exercise when & where ever possible. I just used rocks as my weights and used the van's bumper to do push ups.

Zen card....Through kindness, the world softens. Be kind to all beings and things.
In this way, creation returns to it's natural state of beauty.

UNDERSTANDING
What happens to you does not matter;
what you become
through those
experiences is all that is
significant. This is the
true meaning
of life. 

Randy's first trail run!
I know it doesn't look like we're running. But hey, we had to stop for a photo. Running in the rain, what fun! We ran 5 miles and he did awesome.

Zen Card....
Become loyal to your intermost truth. Follow the way when all others abadon it.
Walk the path of your own heart.

That's what I'm doing in life! I love this zen card.

Life is part of death.. I came across this little guy a couple days ago on my run. Just the day before my friend & running partner Mike Palmers mother passed away. I was reminded once again how short our lives can be. It brought back many emotions inside me. My Mother passed away 4 years ago and not a day passes by that I don't miss her.
Sure it gets easier as the days go by, but still it's hard.
Things to remember in life..Always tell the one you love that you love them each and everyday even if you're having issues. Just remember it my be the last time you see that person.

When I must leave you
When I must leave you for a little while-
Please do not grieve
And shed wild tears
And hug your sorrow to you
Through the years,
But start out bravely
With a gallant smile;
And for my sake
And in my name
Live on and do
All the things the same,
Feed not only your loneliness
On empty days,
But fill each waking hour
In useful ways,
Reach out your hand
In comfort and in cheer
And I in return will comfort you
And hold you near;
And never, never
Be afraid to die,
For I am waiting for you in the sky!

This is something I read at my Moms funeral. It's very touching, each time I read it, it makes me cry.
Have a beautiful day 

Yes, I'm freezing!!!!
Looks like Fall is here. I love the changing seasons.
Me at the top of Mission Peak.

This morning I was stuck in two hours of traffic coming from Scotts Valley to Fremont. Normally it's a 40 min. drive. I was getting super negative and upset because I wasn't going to be able to run. And if you know me, you know i run everyday, but usually have Mondays off. I started getting upset, and realized you know what I'm alive and healthy, it's not the end of the world.
Life is to short to stress about things we have no control over.

Zen card...The way to remove darkness from a room is simply to turn on a light. In the same way, to rid yourself of any difficulty, concentrate on the solution rather than the problem.  

ROCK STAR COUPLE!

So today was my first day at crossfit. I absolutely loved it. You work all parts of the body. I suggest every Ultrarunner check it out at least once. I've been working out with a trainer for a few months and I think my workout at crossfit was better then working out with a personal trainer. Just my opinion.
go to www.crossfit.com
to find where it's held in your area. They are all over the country. I plan on doing crossfit twice a week. We"ll see if it helps me in my upcoming Hundreds.

zen card...
Happiness comes from within.
If you choose to be happy, no one and no thing can ever take that happiness from you. 

Destiny!
You can look...And you will find it, you can not look... and you will find it,
That which is yours, will surley come to you....

Life is good and getting better everyday!!! Go out and run and enjoy the little things life has to offer.
Catra