Appalachian Trail Adventure /Support the American Cancer Society

All winter I have been planning a hiking trip with my friend Paula. We will start at Mount Katahdin and hike the Appalachian Trail south as far as we can. We are hoping to cover 10-20 miles a day but we will have to take into account weather, steep mountain climbs and how well our gear works. Just like any event I have completed; sometimes there are things that we cannot control and we'll  have to learn to roll with the punches.

The planning process has involved reading many books about the Appalachian Trail, studying maps and trail guides, talking with other people who have hiked the trail, buying the right backpack, learning what to bring and testing out the equipment. I have learned that since I only weight 105 pounds that I am limited to the amount of stuff I can physically carry. I have gone through several trials and have come to the conclusion that the most I can comfortably carry is about 27 pounds. And that can only include my survival gear, a few necessary clothing items, a sleeping bag with a bivy sack, 1 change of shoes and 3 days of food. Needing to take calorie dense food and about 2200 calories day is what I have come up with as well as water. My friend is carrying the water filter.

I did a hike to test my gear and my ability to carry it.  I carried my 21 pound pack 8.5 miles in 3 1/2 hours. The mountains I climbed were only about 1200 feet. The ones I will encounter on my hike will be 3000-5000+ feet.  I feel like my gear survived the test. I stopped to  take some pictures, stopped at the top of the last mountain for a 10 minute break and stopped once to pee. I think I can manage a little more weight but some other things will have to be eliminated in order for me to be comfortable. I really would like my pack to weigh closer to 25 pounds not the 27 it currently weighs. 2 pounds makes a huge difference. I still need to test some food options and see if I should really carry a walking stick or not. I also can't decide if I want to carry my hammock or just the sleeping bag.

Why am I doing this? There are several reasons:  One is that I need to prove to myself that I can do this. Hiking in the woods seems to be what I need. I LOVE trail running and hiking. The more I think about it the more excited I become. Second, I was inspired by my friend and fellow Crow member who did his own trip from Maine to Washington DC last November and I believe that we are capable of doing anything we set our minds to.  I'll only know if I can -  if I do. This will be another thing to cross of my Bucket List as well. Why wait ? If I put it off I may never have the opportunity to do it. This just seems like the right time. And this will give me the opportunity to put in the training I need to run well in my next 50K which will be a National Championship.

I also thought that this would be a good way to help raise money for the American Cancer Society. The American Cancer Society celebrates its 100 year anniversary this month. I hope to cover more than 100 miles to help them celebrate. And I will return from my hike and  join my family in our local Relay for Life event. Our team "One Family Fighting Back" will relay around the track for 12 hours to honor and remember our family and friends who have had to deal with cancer.

In an earlier post I wrote: "Another great adventure (and the JFK 50)" I stated that I hoped my next adventure would include my family.  My children will see me off at the start and my husband will meet me every 3-4 days to resupply me with food. The children will be a part of this adventure through texts and information  they receive from their father and they will follow along with me on a map with their highlighters. I hope to be able to text in information so they know I am safe but other than that I will try not to contact anyone.

I still need to test more gear, hike one last hike with my pack, prepare the family for my absence and run in a 50K at Pineland Farms Trail Running Festival before my adventure.

My husband will take over my Blog while I am gone to keep everyone posted on how I am doing on the trail. He will also post on my Facebook page. AND to answer the question: Will I go barefoot? I'll just have to wait and see what the trail has to offer before I make that decision.

If you would like to make a donation to my American Cancer Society's Relay for Life Team here is a link. Please don't feel any pressure to do so. My favorite saying is, "It's all good" Hugs to all. :)
http://main.acsevents.org/goto/twithee
http://youtu.be/100th Birthday

We survived the winter...

Spring has arrived and the loons are back in the pond. Ducks and geese are here. We hear the loons calling at night and it's a wonderful sound. Being in the woods on the edge of a pond really made the winter special. Just heard the coyotes a few nights ago, right outside the door. The dogs went crazy! We can hear them call at night. I think they are watching us. It's funny because one daughter leaves her shade open so she can look out and see the night and all it's glory and the other daughter closes her shade to block out all the "scary" things in the night. I'm hoping it's a stage and she'll eventually keep her shade open so she can look out into the night. We kept a small patch of the ice clear of snow for ice skating and I went snowshoeing and cross country skiing across the ice until MARCH! The dogs had a blast running across the ice and playing in the snow. We didn't get out the ice fishing gear and we never had a bon fire on the ice. We were toasty warm with our propane heat. We only experienced about 3 days of frozen water pipes. It was a bit chilly on the below freezing mornings to go out and use the outside facilities but we managed all winter with very few complaints from the children.

To give ourselves a break from the Maine winter and to visit with family and friends. We took a much needed vacation to the south for 2 weeks in February. It was fun to be barefoot all day and to run barefoot on the beach everyday. I also did a 10K trail race in southern Florida. The race director had just finished the miami half marathon barefoot and it was nice to meet him. He had great enthusiasm for running and fitness. We came back to face the task of digging our way back to the camper through 3 feet of snow.


The kids love it here. Call it home and it is. It wasn't all fun and glory. We had times when the tight/small space would get on our nerves and we'd need a break from each other. But for the most part things were ok. We taught the kids to play cribbage this winter and my 10 year old loves it. She's competitive like her mama and has beaten me on several occasions. We had two pigs that went off to the butcher before it got too cold. It was a sad day but we knew they would feed us all winter and every time we have bacon the kids ask me which pig it is. It sounds like a terrible thing but they wanted to say thanks for their food and honor the right pig.

The fiddleheads passed before I could pick any. :( The dandelions are ready to be picked but I don't have the space to process the jam this year.  I still have a few jars left from last spring though. I went out to my cold frame and opened it up and low and behold we have kale and swisschard growing. YUM! I haven't planted the garden yet. We just had another 32 degree night so the garden will have to wait a couple more weeks. But our compost pile is growing by the day and the hay bales that we put around the bottom of the camper this winter for insulation are going to be the new home for my potatoes. A friend gave me a Jerusalem Artichoke, which is a root vegetable, and I've planted that and am hoping for the best. My raspberries over wintered and are gonna be strong and tall this summer as well. Things are growing like crazy and turning green and we are excited about it all.

Looking forward to the summer....

My quest for my first 50 miler. (written ages ago and never posted)

I attended the Pineland Farms Trail Running Festival May 27-28. It was a BIG weekend. They have everything from 5K's to 50 miles. I entered the 5K Canicross with my dog Zeke and I ran the Barefoot 5K about 1 hour later on Saturday. And my youngest daughter  ran the 5K, her second trail run of the season. Then on Sunday morning we got an early start on the 50 miler. I finished in 9:43:28. This was a trail that ran through logging roads and fields. Unrelenting rolling hills. I  hit the wall around mile 33. I had to sit down, put on some Traumeel, and vaseline and eat some food. The aid stations were AWESOME. It was the most unbelievable experience to come out of the woods and see a buffet set up on tables in the middle of a field. I didn't carry anything on my because I knew there would be so much support on the course. I wore my Merrell trail gloves for the whole distance. Although later I would regret this choice at the time it seemed appropriate. I ended up hurting my foot from wearing the shoes for so long. It took a couple of months for it to work itself out. In those months after I went barefoot as much as I possibly could, which helped. I think I will follow some expert advise and switch up my footwear during my next 50 miler. I hope that will help. I also was able to run through the wall I hit and after about 30 minutes I came out on the other side and felt great! I started to run faster and I felt lighter. It may have all been in my head of course but that is what it felt like. I kept thinking to myself  and probably talking to myself too, that how could I feel this good after running over 40 miles? A great weekend! Was able to meet up with some fellow barefoot runners from the New England Barefoot Runners group too.

Myself, Heather and Jason R. getting ready for the start.

hot and tired

Farin

Our Humble Abode and a new winter adventure

Here is a picture of where we are spending our winter. And so far it is working out. We had to put up the tarp to prevent leaking. And the hay bales are helping to insulate. We are warm(heat with propane) and we have water. Not hot water but who needs that right? :) We have plumbing but are using the outdoor plumbing too. The kids have defined their own space by calling their bunk beds their "rooms" and they seem to be enjoying their minimalist experience. We are looking forward to skating on the pond and I am excited to break out the snowshoes and get on the trails in those 50 acres of woods. Bring on the snow and let the good times roll!

Outdoor plumbing

the kitchen

the backyard

the view from the window

Maine2DC Run:

This is an event one of my friends and Crow Teammates is doing. Just thought I would pass on. He needs all the support we can give him.www.maine2dcrun.com

Another Great Adventure (and the JFK50 miler)

My adventure started out on Thursday, Novemver 15th at 7am with my friend Paula. I had to leave the family at home this time. We struck out on the road following Route 1 south. We weren't alone though. I was very excited to be traveling with our mascot, Emmett the cat! You may think that taking a cat on the road is ridiculous, ok it kinda is, but he loves the car. I think he thinks he is a dog! He actually growls! If he could have stuck his head out the window and let his ears flap in the wind he would have.

He spent a lot of time curled up in "his" seat or sitting on my lap.

Emmett

So lately I've been trying to find a way to write about my 50 miler without sounding like a brat. I make most of these posts for my my friends and family who live far away who want to read about my running adventures and to check in once in awhile to see what my family is doing. So when I tried to write about this trip it turns out to it was about the fun I had and the 50 miler was secondary. Don't get me wrong I trained for this event and it was a tough one but the days leading up to the event were great and the adventure continued after the event. I was happy to finish the 50 miles but my trip was all about going somewhere with my friend and getting to see and do things we don't usually get to do. This is one of many adventures I've had with Paula.  This year alone we have been to events in Florida, Kentucky, Quebec  and of course Maine. First, it is the longest amount of time I have been away from my family, they usually go with me. And everything I did I kept thinking about all the fun they would have if they were with me. (Except for being part of a crew that had to wait around all day for me to finish the 50 mile run. My girls would have hated that. Not because they were bored because they would worry about me.) 

Our first destination was a 10 hour drive to friends house in Manheim, PA. We had a great day which included counting the deer on the highway. A wonderful game and completely entertaining. I believe we counted 12 dead on the road, 3 dead in the back of pickup trucks and 4 that walked out in front of us!  We had had a nice hot supper waiting for us at the end of the day. We camped out on a couple of air mattress in their office and it was wonderful. (Of course I am comparing it to our sleeping conditions on our last adventure where we spent 1 night sleeping in the back of the car on an old logging road in northern Maine and another night in a tent.) The next day we spent exploring their town, going to Hersey, PA and the Chocolate factory, paddling in a canoe for 6.5 miles, exploring the Amish countryside, visiting with friends and traveling another 2.5 hours to the packet pick-up for the JFK 50. My journey would have been complete with just that group of experiences. And I stated so at our Chocolate Factory tour. I said "This is the best! My trip is already complete and we have just begun!" 

Once we got settle into our hotel room and Emmett was all comfy on the bed I took a nice hot shower and called it a day. I had the beginnings of what could have been a terrible migraine earlier in the day but thanks to some Tylenol and caffeine I was able to escape most of the pain and was left with just a dull ache. I didn't let it ruin my day and I was hoping a good nights sleep would cure me and it did.

Well, here comes the brat part. I finished my 2nd 50 miler. The JFK 50 50th Anniversary. November 17, 2012. But, I don't have any great wisdom to share. My journey through that distance was MY journey and everyone has their own journey when you are running that far for that long. I can share the statistics: It took me 10 hours 43 minutes. And big deal. I had my goals for this event set and being the competitive person I am, "just finishing" was not one of them. I knew I would finish. That time was not one I expected to get, yes, I wanted to do better. And I can't explain it enough to people that keep saying to me, " I can't believe you ran 50 miles! Aren't you excited that you "just finished"? How can I say, "no I'm not excited that I "just finished" the distance". And why can't you believe I ran that far? I've been training for this for months!  But my chiropractor told me that I have to understand that what I think are normal runs and weekly training session most people don't. Most people don't go out and run 10 miles for fun. So in their mind I am doing something they would never even think of doing. He had to put it in perspective for me. I had a plan and I followed through with it. I wore my minimalist trail shoes through the single track Appalachian Trail section, I wore my VFF on the C&O tow path for over 26 miles and I ran barefoot for the last 8.5 miles on newly paved asphalt. I ate and drank when I needed to. My plan was to walk the hills and jog/run/walk the downs and the flats. Great plan. Glad I did it. What did I learn: Running on a straight tow path for a marathon distance with no hills was REALLY tough for me. It actually was a slow uphill grade the whole way but just seemed flat. The next ultra I train for will include more walking in the training program. Having a crew there just when you need them is awesome! I hope to be able to crew for someone someday and do as great a job as our friends did for us. And sharing the running experience with a friend was something I will never forget. I knew I would finish the run and I did. I always knew that if it came to a battle between my body and my mind my mind would win, I was right. I've taken the last 2 weeks off with ocassional trips to the gym for biking and swimming. Taking a much needed break from running. Planning more ultras in the future. Deciding which 100 miler to do before they all fill up. But need to put those 50K and 50 milers on the calendar as training runs before they all fill up as well. 

The adventure didn't stop with the 50 mile run. We stayed it the hotel one more night and got up, had breakfast and were on the road again. We traveled south to Florida with a stop to visit a friend in South Carolina and a short nap at a rest stop in Florida arriving at our destination about 6 am on Monday morning. My friend is a snow bird and we drove to her winter dwelling. While in Florida I helped her settle in. We went for walks and bike rides. I drank fresh OJ made from the oranges that grew in the backyard. We sat on her deck and celebrated our adventure with wine and cheese. We had our own little Thanksgiving dinner with some friends.  This adventure came to an end when my feet touched the ground in Maine at 7:30pm on Wednesday after I flew home. My friend continues her winter adventure in Florida and I got to be home in time to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Gone almost a week. It was good to be home. I can't wait for the next running adventure/trip but I hope it will include my family next time.

 

Biking past the orange groves

At the end of the JFK 50

A rainy Sunday afternoon here so I'm going to catch up on some blogging before the football game.
I took a 5 month break from the blogging world. Other than Facebook it seemed I had no time or no will to write. I was going through a stressful time in my life and instead of reaching out to my friends I withdrew into my own world. I'm like that. I would survive very well being a hermit.

I don't write about person issues very often but here goes. The first thing I have been dealing with is my "hormonal" issues. I have a chiropractor who I see about 1xmonth. More if I am doing more endurance racing than my body can handle. First some background; I had my tubes tied in 2003. I knew I would not have anymore children and it seemed the right choice for me. I don't know if that is what helped lead my body into early menopause, or like a handful of woman, it was just meant to be. I was only 39 years old when I stopped having a menstrual cycle. I was feeling very tired and worn out. So at a physical I had my blood tested. ( I also have had a history of anemia) The conclusion was that I was post-menopausal! WOW! So where were all the hot flashes and mood swings? Really? I guess my husband got off lucky! Anyway, now I have a 45 year old body whose insides think it is about 5-10 years older. I am taking a handful of herbal supplements to help and a natural hormone replacement. But when I compete or train hard it takes me longer to recover and my body needs more adjustments from my chiropractor and if I am training and not handling my stress levels well my whole body kinda goes to hell and says"hello, what r u doing?" That is what happened after my 50 miler. I thought I recovered nicely until about the end of May when I sort of fell apart physically and emotionally.

Now I'm back on the right track and headed in a better direction. I have took about 3 weeks of rest and many adjustments at the chiropractors office. I feel like I can now manage my stress. I also meditate when I can, but not as often as I want. I need to build in "me" time for just sitting and reflecting, and I actual need to keep a regular routine of physical activity. It doesn't need to be running. It can just be outside playing with the kids, biking, swimming, etc. Here are some nice pictures of me having both relaxing time and fun time.

Went to FunTown and rode the roller coaster!

Fishing at the Pond

Just laying in the hammock at the edge of the pond.

The stressful events of the last few months include but are not limited to: an 18 year old who was going to prom, graduating from high school and is now off to college (and I miss her very much and she is only 2 hours drive away; I have also learned how to Skype). I also was involved in my family's Relay for Life Team, for our 4th year. This year we raised over $1,000 for the American Cancer Society. And this year just prior to relay my aunt passed away. She had a long, hard fought battle with ovarian cancer. Other things that I will write about later are about our "move" from a 3000 sq ft. home to a 215 sq ft camper trailer. While still maintaining some kind of hold on a normal routine with 3 kids.  Kids adjust well to change and as my youngest stated a few days ago, "I liked living in the other house but I love living here,(in the camper), I feel like I'm home". All the tears I cried in private because I thought I was being a bad mom, because what am I doing to my kids? pity party... was all me and my worries. The kids are fine and they are loving our new digs and their new school. As my brother stated, "This will be another adventure for them. They will look back on this and say, remember the time when we lived in the camper?" Now we just have to start making some new memories and mamas gotta keep running and taking care of herself  :)