When I first moved to Boise 18 months ago, I was so thrilled to see “mountains” out my upstairs window.  I expressed my excitement, and people often asked me, “Exactly where do you live in Boise where you can see mountains?” When I told them, their response was usually, “Oh, those are just foothills.”

They may be called the Boise Foothills, but when you run them, they seem like mountains. That’s probably because I moved from pancake flat Chicago…well, there is one hill on the lakefront…the famous “Cricket Hill.” I’m not that good at estimating distances less than a 1/4 mile, but Cricket Hill is about 25 yards of climbing. So, when we wanted to do hill repeats, we just ran up and down that hill dozens of times. And, on a training run, if you ran up and over the hill on the way out and again on the way back, you could say you ran “hills” that day.

Hills used to scare me – I guess because I just didn’t know any real hills. Don’t we sometimes fear the unknown? I have discovered that, in the case of hills, FEAR truly is False Expectations Appearing Real.

I started running mountains about 9 months ago – the Boise Foothills – and that is when I discovered what hill running is all about. I was awful at first. How can you be awful at running hills, you wonder? Let’s put it this way: “Running” is not the proper word for what I was doing. I was walking, plodding, slogging, struggling…you choose the word for it. It wasn’t running. But I was getting up a lot of hills.

One of my current and long-term goals is to continue to become a better hill runner – both up and down hill. And, I’m getting there slowly but surely.

Ultrarunning guru Coach Mike says about hills: “If you can walk up the hill as fast as you can run it, then walk it.” There are times when I can actually walk up faster than I can run it. But I continue to practice “running” my metaphorical mountains both on trails and roads. And, I feel better, physically and psychologically, after I’ve had a good hill run day.

I do not FEAR hills anymore – I seek them out. It’s even more fun now because I can map the elevation on my Garmin. I am so psyched after I run hills! They are still not easy for me, but I look forward to my hill running days.

So, I’ll continue to admire the “mountains” from my upstairs window, and I’ll keep running the mountains surrounding Boise. And, maybe one day when I get really good at it, I’ll say, “Mountains – those are just foothills.”

What a terrific day! The Prickly Pear 50K was even better than I had expected – and harder than I expected. Each race has a personality of its own, and the Prickly Pear 50K was no exception.

I left Boise Friday morning with snow on the ground – I arrived in San Antonio to 80+ degree temperature and lots of humidity. What a shock to the system! But I wasn’t complaining – I was so happy to be able to run without 3 layers of clothes. I met up with my friend Isabelle (from Ithaca, NY) who was also running the 50K, and we went to check out the course. Even walking the first 3/4 mile of the course, we figured it could be tricky in some spots given the rocks and roots we saw. But the first section was just a tiny snapshot of what was to come.

Ten minutes before the start, the race director gathered the troops for a pre-race briefing. The highlight of his talk for me was his advice: “The rattlesnakes are waking up after winter…just be on the lookout for snakes on the path.” Fun! I wasn’t too concerned though because I figured since I wasn’t going to be in the first half of runners coming through, the snakes would get the heck out of there before I got to that part on the trail. (more…)

This Saturday is the Prickly Pear 50K in San Antonio, Texas.  It will actually be the 3rd race in my personal “Ultramarathon Series” on my way to the big one: my first 100-miler. The series started back in November with the Stinson Beach 50K followed by the Running From An Angel 50-miler in Boulder City, Nevada.

Although there’s nothing easy about running marathons…or ultramarathons, I find that as I run the longer distances both in training and races, the longer mileage gets a little less intimidating. Am I nervous about this race? Not nervous so much as excited. I love my long runs (and I ran a 30-miler in training a few weeks ago), so I feel confident that I can do it. But my running has been a little “off” in the past couple of weeks because of my hand surgery, and I’m not going into it as prepared as I usually am for a race of this length. However, I know from experience that a forced rest is sometimes a good thing.

So, my “race strategy” is to relax, have fun, and enjoy the morning running on new trails.

People often ask me why I run…and not just why I run but why I run such long distances. And, like many other distance runners, I’m usually thinking, “If you have to ask, then you wouldn’t really understand.”  However, sometimes, even I don’t understand. I don’t always analyze “why.”

For me, running is a lifestyle. It’s something I love to do – whether it’s a fast 5-mile run or an comfortable 30-mile run. And, running long miles tests me – physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.

Does it hurt? Yes, sometimes. But it’s good pain.

Somebody said, “Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.” You spend 10 hours on your feet pounding the pavement, and you’re going to experience some painful moments. But the overall experience outweighs the pain. When I’m out there running on trails, through mountains, past rivers, lakes and oceans, or even on roads…seeing sunrises and sunsets, wild animals, storm clouds rolling in…deep down, it really feels good.

So, back to the question: “Why do I run?” Maybe I run because running stretches me, challenges me, teaches me.

But probably the best answer to that question is simply this: Running makes me happy.

Here I am – back on this topic again. I talked to my friend Michael yesterday who ran the Napa Valley Marathon on Sunday. Tired, thrilled, and worn out, Michael was still jazzed about his adventure from Calistoga to Napa Valley.

In our post-race recap, he told me how Bonnie had run with him for a large portion of the race and supported him in his rough patches. (We all have rough patches in our races.) He also told me how Bill took the finish line race photos – a role Michael is accustomed to playing. And, he talked of all the folks who were out there cheering him: Joe, Jan, Dick, Jill, Mary, and more.

Bottom line: It is running that has brought us all together. If it were not for Dick’s running camp, I would not know Michael, Jan, Bill, Joe, Mary, Anita, Kathy, or even Dick. If it were not for my running group in Chicago, I would not know Lori, Joan, Roz, Trina, Sherri, or Jim. If it were not for Boise RunWalk, I would not know Mike, Steve, Matt J, Ann, Sparkle, Matt B, Bob, Amber, or Jay. And there are so many others – I can’t even begin to name them all.

I have met runners through running groups, camps, on Facebook, on Twitter, and other running forums. We are all connected by that one thing that we all love to do: Run. We all know when the other ones are running a race, and we all wait to hear the post-race report. Was it hilly? Was it hot? Was it raining? But the main thing we all want to know is “Did you have fun?” And, strange as it may sound, even after what seemed like a awful day as it was happening – the pain, the struggle, the heat, the wind, the cold – when it’s over, we miraculously feel terrific. The magic of crossing that finish line is the (almost) instant cure for all ailments and weather conditions. And, the answer to “Did you have fun?” is almost always, “It was awesome!”

I am so proud of Michael – he had a wonderfully tough day – as we all do in so many of our races. He did the “under 5 thing” and by my account, he won his race. And, in a note he wrote to me – in reference to his running friends, he says, “You people are the best people I know…”

Way to go, Michael – you’re the best, too!

As I was reading my friend Kelly’s blog ( http://ksrgmck.blogspot.com/), I noticed that she had a bookshelf containing books that she recommends. What a great idea! So, I put a bookshelf widget on my blog with some of my favorite books. I’ve included the amazon links if you think you might want to check them out.

I’m not sure that Joe’s books are still available or if there’s going to be another printing, but they are worth finding if you can – both his book and his training log.

I’ll be updating my list from time to time, so check back. I’ll add both nonfiction and fiction as I discover new books I like. I love to share good books – you never know what will spark new interest with other people. I just put a few up for now – I’ll be adding more later.