Getting started…getting finished. Both ends of a journey require dedication and passion.

Two days ago, I ran all day – 13 hours, 42 minutes – to complete my first 100K (62 miles) trail race. Forty-five people were signed up for the race; 32 finished – 26 men, 6 women. The weather was perfect, the course was beautiful (plus extremely challenging), the volunteers were spectacular…and 62 miles is a long way to run.

The race consisted of 4 loops of 15.5 miles (25K) each. Although each loop was run over the same trail, no two loops were the same. There were very few flat sections on the course – you were either running up or down the whole time. And, when there was a short flat, the next hill was in sight. It was anything but boring.

The two elevation maps taken from my GPS are typical examples of the terrain – each is a one-mile segment of the course.

Although none of the individual climbs were brutal, total ascent for all 62 miles was about 12,000 feet. The total descent was about the same. We had to work the whole time – not too much relaxing and getting into a running rhythm.

But flat, easy paths do not build muscle. Flat, easy paths do not build character. Flat, easy paths do not challenge us. Flat, easy paths do not teach us life lessons.

Between us and anything significant, giants will be in our path. And each loop, the same hills seemed to get bigger. But there’s no going “around” the hills to avoid them – they have to be taken head on.

There was never a point in the race where I wanted to stop. That’s not to say there were not rough patches – there were many, and especially in the 4th loop, I could have sworn the number of hills doubled in both number and size.

I didn’t sign up for this race thinking it would be easy. And, it wasn’t easy. And, I didn’t go all the way to Canada to not finish what I set out to do. I was dedicated and passionate about reaching this milestone in my quest to run 100 miles this September.

Passion is what helps you when you have a great dream. Passion breeds conviction and commitment.  Passion is what motivates others to join you in your pursuit of your dream.

Thanks to all of you who have been with me in my pursuit with your good thoughts, good energy, and support. Thanks for helping me finish what I start.

I recently read…”Life is a privilege, but to live life to its fullest…that is a choice.”

This past weekend, Mark and I made a trip home to Shreveport, where we both grew up. I truly marvel that I was once acclimated to the humidity of the South. Humidity and heat notwithstanding, we wanted to run on some trails, so we went to the local running store, Sportspectrum, to find out where the trails were. We were directed to “The Monkey Trail” at Eddie D. Jones Park in Keithville (about 30 minutes from town), so named because it runs around Chimp Haven, a convalescent home for retired chimpanzees.

Trying to beat the heat, we got to the trail around 645 am and set out on our run. The trails were awesome – muggy and buggy, but relatively dry even with the recent flooding in the area. Running on single-track trails under dense tree cover, we felt like we were in a rain forest. We even heard the monkeys screaming through the trees – it sounded like we were in the jungle.

Dancing our way over roots, rocks, and rolling up and down hills, Mark swore we we going uphill the entire time. He kept saying, “Sure will be nice on the way back when we can run downhill.” We decided to go 2 loops out and back in opposite directions from the trailhead in order to come back to the car to refill our water bottles in between  the two 5-mile loops.

While ther were a couple of close calls on roots (which I dubbed “ankle breakers), the first loop was relatively easy and tons of fun. The second loop – running the trail counterclockwise – proved to be both more interesting and more adventurous. From the start of the second loop the trail was a little more rugged and, we noticed, a bit muddier (not muddy enough that our running would damage the trail). And there were a few more uphills and steep drop-offs.

I was running behind Mark – we’d run about a mile – when I nearly stepped on a 4-foot long black snake lying beside the path. Mark hadn’t even seen it! I wanted to get a closer look at it, so I called for Mark to stop. It looked dead because it wasn’t moving, so I got a little closer and threw a stick at it. It still didn’t move. Comfortable that it was dead, we decided that we would take a picture of it with my cell phone on our return trip. So with the adrenaline pumping, we continued on our run. Mark told me to watch out for more snakes, but I reminded him that not only did we need to watch the path for snakes, but also that they often hung out in the trees. This was getting more and more fun! (Not so sure Mark thought so after my snake comment)

On our way back as we were approaching the snake site, I dug my cell phone out of my fuel belt to get a photo. We had discussed maybe not revealing to anyone we showed the picture to that the snake was dead. We would seem so much braver if we had gotten a photo of a live snake. But we didn’t have to worry about our “story” – when we got back to the snake site, he was gone. He WAS alive after all. How cool is that?

We finished our 10-mile run and headed back to the car feeling sweaty, hot, and exhilarated. What a day – we had such a great experience on the beautifully peaceful trils of northwest Louisiana.

Our lives are shaped by choices. We make the choices, then our choices make us. Life is a privilege. To live life to its fullest – that is a choice. Running those trails that particular day was a great choice.

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.”

Athlete for a Cure, Josh Cox not only breaks the American record, but he also reminds us about all of the good in sports and competition. Two and a half years ago, Josh’s dad passed away after battling prostate cancer. Josh dedicated this race to his dad. Watch the inspiring video at http://p3xom.th8.us

Last weekend, I went with a couple of my friends to a BOW (Becoming and Outdoors Woman) Workshop near Tomahawk, Wisconsin. My college friend from El Dorado, Arkansas, was the instigator of this adventure, and when I mentioned it to my friend Lori (the Mt Kilimanjaro climber), we were all over it.

So, the three of us made our way to the deep north woods of Wisconsin to join 86 other women to take on the challenges of dogsledding, ice fishing, snowshoeing, geo-cacheing, skijoring, snow cave building, and trapping. There were many other outdoor activities, but the 3 of us chose these particular adventures.

Being from El Dorado, Arkansas, Kelly had never seen that much snow – nor had she ever experienced that kind of cold, so the outdoor activities presented a totally new perspective for her. Already a outdoors woman – hunting, fishing, and trapping – Kelly took to the snow and cold with the zeal of a northerner. The two of us went ice fishing and dogsledding for the first time, and Kelly was instantly a master dog musher (See photo above). (more…)

The entire team made it to the summit! I received this email a few minutes ago from Didi, Meredith’s mom.

“Meredith called a little while ago.  They made the summit!!!  She didn’t want to take the time and explain why they went early but they did.  It was snowing, so maybe the weather played a part.  My theory is when they reached base camp, they all felt great and so they went for it.  Whatever the reason, everyone made it and everyone feels great.  As Meredith said, “It is absolutely amazing Mom.” I could hear in her voice that it dawned on her the enormity of what she accomplished.  Can’t wait for them to get back to Chicago so we can hear all the details.  Battery power permitting, the girls were going to call home.  Time for them to celebrate.”

While we were sleeping peacefully in our warm beds, the Mt Kilimanjaro trekkers were making their way to the Mountain Top inch by inch. Here are the two latest reports from Didi:

“Meredith called this morning (Monday).  The phone is still working.  They are on the Shira plateau.  Everyone is doing fine, no sickness at all.  Jenny & Cindy, Laurie wants her family to know she is feeling great at 13,000 feet, and the expedition team is wonderful.  Meredith said they were managing to keep clean, but it is getting colder and that will be more difficult to do.  The weather has been good for trekking.  I told Meredith to call on Wednesday and then again on Saturday to try and conserve battery power.  That stair climbing in Chicago seems to have helped them all.

“Meredith called this morning (Wednesday), and we talked for about 30 seconds. We are trying to conserve battery power.  Hope it lasts for a call on Saturday after they summit!! Today was the day they scrambled up the steep “Barranco Wall” and they all made it.  Everyone from the Chicago group is still feeling fine and doing great.  Last night a couple of older guys from Oregon had altitude sickness and had to head back down the mountain.  Our girls are doing great though.  Meredith will not even try and call the next couple of days.  Between low battery and cloud cover it isn’t worth the chance.  Let’s hope we hear from them on Saturday.”

You’ve heard the expression, “The  hard part is not knowing.” This applies to so many things – running, work, relationships. And, how many times, when you’re feeling overwhelmed, do you keep saying, “I just don’t know”?

Most of the time, you really do “know” – you either (more…)

I actually have 2 updates on the Kilimanjaro hikers. Didi writes:

“I heard from Meredith about 5:30am central time.  They transported the group to their base camp.  Meredith was impressed with the tents, they have wooden floors!!!  I’m not sure if the floors go with them up the mountain.  They were getting ready to go for a two hour hike to warm up and stretch out the legs.  Meredith said they were being spoiled.  They deserve it.  Today, they even get to take showers.  Apparently there are two groups of 12 going and 45 porters.  I believe they are in good hands. According to Meredith, you can see Mt. Kilimanjaro off in the distance, far away in the clouds.  It sounds pretty awesome.

“Heard from the trekkers this morning.  All is well.  Today was a perfect weather hiking day but they expect it to start getting colder.  I think Meredith said they took a ‘shower’ today.  The meals are gourmet so they are eating and storing up energy.  Everyone is doing really  well.  Yesterday, they saw monkeys in the rain forest.  The mountain seems a liitle closer but also  higher.  The battery on the satellite phone is running low (rather dissapointing) so I’m not sure how much longer we will hear from the group.”

New Year. New Challenges. New Goals.

I always hear Zig Ziglar in my head when I think of goals: “You gotta have a goal.” Goals give us direction. Goals give us something to strive for. Goals motivate us. Reaching a goal is great, but working towards the goal is even better.

Several years ago, my friend Roz gave me a framed print which is probably one of my favorite prints I’ve ever had. It is a drawing by Sybil Shane, an artist who explores the extraordinary found within the ordinary. The title is “Toward the Mountain Top Inch by Inch.” I keep it in a visible spot where I can look at it everyday. And I’m reminded that things worth achieving take time and patience.

I thought of another friend today as I looked at the print. My friend Lori is in Africa right now climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. (more…)