Cutthroat Classic

I had an amazing weekend in the Methow Valley. My family and I spent a few nights with our friends at their home near Mazama. My kids LOVE it at their house and enjoyed playing with their older kids.

Husband and I ran the Cutthroat Classic on Saturday. This is our third time running this awesome trail race. It is 11 miles and includes 2,000 feet of elevation gain. Because it is only 11 miles, it did not count toward my 52 half marathons in one year. But the views at the top are breath-taking and it was worth fitting this race into my schedule.

Here is a video that I took at the top of Cutthroat Pass.

 

The race starts at Rainy Pass on the North Cascades Scenic Highway (Hwy 20). It climbs up to Cutthroat Pass on the Pacific Crest Trail, and then descends to Cutthroat Lake and heads out to the Cutthroat Creek Trailhead. Andy started in the first wave. I started 6 minutes behind him in the third wave.
 

This is Andy warming up at the start line. Yes, he's wearing a pair of jeans shorts and a cowboy hat.

 

After about 2 miles, the trail broke out of the trees and I could see Cutthroat Pass. It is the saddle in the middle of this picture.
 

Andy at the top of Cutthroat Pass, still smiling.

 

Eventually, I arrived at the pass.

 

There was one and only one aid station. It was about 1 or 2 miles beyond the pass. My friend, Allison, was a volunteer. (She's on the right!) 

 

The aid station is made possible by pack horses that carried the water and other items up to this point.

 

I look forward to doing this race again sometime!

 

 

 

 



#49 of 52 - Pound the Ground 4 Ultrasound

I had a nice morning running at Fort Steilacoom! The course was 2 laps of weaving around the park. For the first few miles, my left arch hurt. It felt like something was under the orthotic in my shoe that was pushing it up into my arch. So, I finally took off my shoe at around mile 7.5 and took out the orthotic and put it back in. Shortly after that, the pain was gone. Around 8.5 miles, I met up with a Half Fanatic, Tyler, that I recognized from previous races. He is shooting for Venus--13 races in 79 days. We ran the rest of the race together.

I saw a girl cut the course. This was the first time I've ever noticed such a thing. Tyler and another runner even made her aware of it but she didn't go back and run the part she missed. She cut off about a half mile of the course. It didn't bother me too much. After all, she was already ahead of me and just got further ahead. It was in an open field and I could see that she also did not "pass" anyone in the process.

The course took me around this lake twice. It was so tranquil and beautiful.

 

Here is a hill I had to run up, twice. This is the first time and we are at mile 5.5. That's Tyler in the green shirt.

 

I used a pink port-a-potty. My first time in a pink one, so I took a picture.



#48 of 52 - First Call Summer Half Marathon

The First Call Half Marathon was last Saturday. I am glad the run started earlier in the morning and there was shade along the way. It was a pretty warm day. My family joined me for this run. My husband is training for the Cutthroat Classic (an 11 mile race) at the end of the month and thought he should try to do some miles to train for it. We brought the kids along to ride their bikes with us. And Hero was with us, too.

I am tired of running in the same old 3 tank tops so I pulled this cotton tie-dye shirt out of the back of my closet. I normally don't run in cotton but desperate times called for desperate measures. Someone running along the path said to me, "I can't hear you, your dress is too loud!" That put a smile on my face for a half mile or so.

Family photo after the race. Hero had his sun cover on. I kept it a little wet to keep him cool. We also offered him water to drink along the way. A woman ran by me during the race and called me stupid while staring at Hero. She must have thought I was doing him a disservice. It really hurt. But I know Hero was okay. He's from Georgia and he seems to be at home in the warm weather.

 



 

 

 

#47 of 52 - Tacoma Narrows Half, and am I going Half Crazy?

It was a nice day to run last Saturday, before the clouds burned off. This is my second time this year running over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which I love to do. This race starts out with the bridge crossing in the first couple of miles. Then the course took us mostly along Highway 16 on bike path and side streets. And just when I was starting to think this was getting boring, whoa! We entered Cheney Stadium and ran a lap. I was on the Jumbotron in the outfield. That was a real up-lifter for me and helped me make it to the finish line feeling good.

 

I saw a few pennies on the road during the race and, this time, I stopped and picked them up. I wasn't running for a fast time like I was at the Harvest Hay Half when I didn't pick up the pennies I saw on the road.

 

Crossing the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. It feels a little like crossing the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC.

Running through Cheney Stadium.

Heading to the finish line. 

  

After the race, I returned home to my family and we watched the Blue Angels fly by for the Seafair hydroplane races.

 

I love it when the Blue Angels come to town every year. They are so amazing to watch!



 

Next weekend was supposed to be the Angels Staircase 35K trail run in the Winthrop area. It is a 6,000 foot elevation gain. But it was cancelled due to forest fires. I am sad to miss this race because I heard it is beautiful and the views at the top are amazing. However, there are folks who have lost their homes and everything else they own in the fires so I am feeling very fortunate to just be alive and running, albeit not in the mountains next weekend.

 

Instead, I am picking up a race close to home on Saturday. It is the First Call Summer Half Marathon. It's a free race if you join the club (annual dues are $25). But the Mud & Chocolate trail half marathon is on Sunday, and I want to do that one, too! I mentioned to my husband that I would like to do both races and he got a bit of a sad look on his face. I know he would never discourage me from running, but it was pretty clear to me that I've been away running way too much lately. I'm sad that I'll be missing that Mud & Chocolate race!

 

Speaking of sad faces, I also mentioned to my husband that I want to do the Quadzilla in November. It is 4 half marathons in 4 days over the Thanksgiving weekend. He didn't look happy about that. I have also signed up for 2 full marathons in October.

I told one of my sisters about my fall running plans. I thought she would be excited for me. Instead I got, "Isn't that going to be bad for your body running all of those miles?" I felt crushed, a little. It's true that I have low bone density and I am more susceptible to stress fractures so the marathons and running 4 days in a row could be bad. But I was really hoping for someone to understand my joys of running. I need to lower my expectations.

 

I also want to do the Riverboat Series (7 races in 7 days in 7 states) next spring and the New England Challenge (5 races in 5 days in 5 states). Yikes! Am I out of control?? It feels like something has taken ahold of me and I can't stop.