Pictures of the Sage Burner

The Gunnison County Times has pictures of the Sage Burner here.  Now you can see some of the terraine I was running on.

Also, head over to Jesse at Love of All Things Hills and Trails to check out her 50K Race report for the Sage Burner.  She did awesome!!

Sage Burner 25K

I did it!  I ran the 25K Sage Burner at Hartman Rocks.  The first 3 to 4 miles were tough but then the uphill mellowed out and after another mile or so it was a long, mellow downhill with a few ups but not as steep as the beginning.  At the last aid station I rested for a few minutes and then I headed out to finish it up.  The weather was perfect.  Towards the end of the run it was getting windy but the wind was either pushing me towards the finish or it was cooling me down.  I wanted to do this run in under 4 hours and I crossed the finish line at 4 hours and 1 minute with a total mileage of 16.25 miles.  I would have done it under 4 hours but right after Jack's the course went down Collarbone Alley and that was so steep that I almost had to sit down to go down the super steep hills.

Sorry for the lack of pictures.  When Joe and the girls dropped me off in the morning we forgot the camera and then when Joe was taking pictures at the end of the race after one picture the memory card was full!

Would I do this race again?  Yesterday I would have said no but today I think I would.  Do I want to do the 50K Sage Burner - not at this time =).

Girl in Translation, a review

Recently I had the opportunity to review, Girl in Transalation, by Jean Kwok through the Blogher Book Club.  I truly loved this story and I could not put it down.  I am also the type of person who loves to read the same books again and again and that is just what I am thinking about doing with this one!  Please take a minute to read my review.
Let me know what you think.  Has anyone else had the opportunity to read this story yet?

I did it!

Well - I did it.  I paid the money and signed up for the 25K Sage Burner Trail Run.  I am nervous about signing up for it but as long as I finish in under 5 hours I will be happy!  Now I gotta find some goodies to stock my running vest with to keep me going.

Sage Burner - Can I do it?

I have been training to run the Sage Burner at the end of May.  This is a 25K trail run where the first 3 miles is all UPHILL and it is a long and tough uphill. 

Yesterday I headed out to do about 14 miles of this race as a test run.  I wanted to bail the first 4.5 miles.  I was so ready to turn around and head back.  It was also hot outside.  I know I should not complain about the heat because in Gunny hot is 70 or 75.  But I was in the desert and sage brush so it seemed much hotter than it actually was.  I was glad when the clouds moved in.

At one point I took a cutoff because I did not want to do the entire 15.5 mile run.  I was walking up just about every single uphill, no matter how small, on the downhills at the end my knee was bothering me and I kept thinking am I really up for this??? 

I have also found out that the race is closer to 17 miles not 15.5.  If I knew for a fact that this race was 15.5 miles I would be ready for it - it would be long and hard but I could handle it - but 17?!  I just don't know.

This was also the longest, and slowest run I have ever done.  12.43 miles in 2 hours and 55 minutes at a pace of 14:04.


For the last three weekends I have done long, hard trail runs so maybe I am burnt out and need a week off.  I want to take a few days off and then head back out to Hartman's and do the first couple of miles again and see how it goes.  If it is easier I will fill better about the whole thing.

Signal Peak Trail Run

Last weekend I ran to Signal Peak and back.  Signal Peak is accessed by the trail system behind Western State College or you can also access it from the Tomichi Heights subdivision east of town.  I have lived in Gunnison for almost 14 years and I have never made it to Signal Peak but I have always wanted to. 

Most of the run was pretty easy with a slow and steady uphill until the last 3/4 of a mile.  At this point the trail was going straight up and it was too steep to run and so I was hiking at this point.

It was wonderful to stand on top and say "I DID IT!"  It was awesome.  The total run was 11.70 miles and took me about 2 and a half hours.  I felt great at the end and I loved every minute of the run mostly because the weather was so nice and this was the first warm /hot run of the season.

New Layout

Do you like the new layout?  Do you like the colors?  I was playing around with the layout today and thought I could use a change since I have had the same layout since I started this blog over 5 YEARS ago.  Let me know what you think.

Best Brownies EVER

I forgot to post the links to the best brownie recipe.  Click here to head over to my food blog to find out more.

April Miles

My goal for the month of April was to do 60 miles. Well, I came up short and did 45.6 miles.  This month I have the same goal but I am pretty sure I will be able to run 60 miles because I have a 25K (15.5 mile) race at the end of May and I need to get in a 10 to 11 mile and a 12 to 13 mile long run before the race.  With those 3 runs I will hit 37 miles easy.

Now that May is here the weather is getting nicer outside so hopefully, keep your fingers crossed, no more running in the snow!