Where do I begin!??

Warning: This post is going to be long...drink a Guayaki shot b4 reading...and maybe some GU!! hehe..

I have decided I am going to write this post backwards. Many of you have sent me emails wondering why I have not posted a Los Pinos recap. Well I have been friggin Hella(my new word thank you Mr. Coyote Reymond)busy, and now I am not even sure where to begin! I will work my way back so if all ya want is Los Pinos(http://lospinos50k.com) then scroll down, and skip all the blah, blah, blah...

Sunday was an incredibly great day! I ran in the AM, but just 10 miles in Laguna. I was supposed to run with Murphy, & Bacon boy O'Brien in the mountains, but I have had a bit of the sniffles so I decided playing in the snow wasn't the best idea(trust me this decision was NOT easy to make). It all worked out though because I ended up with half the entire Freshman Dana Basketball team at my house, friends, family, and a whole lot of football watching. I made a ton of great food, and we just had the best day ever! Nice to see the Chargers whoop some serious ass. We had all TV's going as the friggin Lakers game was on the same time as the Chargers game..ok who's idea was this?? Basketball wins over football for me, but I was still going back and forth from TV's as was the entire house! My Lakers lost, and I am still upset about it...like seriously...give me a few days, and I will be ok. Looking forward to going to the lakers game soon!! OMG I cannot wait!!!! Below is a picture of my son with his "new" haircut...yes thanks coach Butterworth, thanks??

Saturday and Friday were great days also. Tons of running, and hiking with friends and family, and of course college football watching! Like my dear friend Pam would let me "not" watch her Michigan game?? Ya right! Friday night I somehow got talked into going to see Harry potter with my entire family, and this was all adults people. Honestly it was just a friggin riot, and I am still a little scarred from the entire event. My cousin Brock learned the hard way you cannot bring alcohol into the theatre(or at least be inconspicuous ya dork!!) Love my family so much, and its been great how they have rallied around me the last month. They have been amazing helping me get through all that has happened, and now I am finally exactly where I have wanted to be~love my life, and so glad I have stepped out of my comfort zone to live it the way I want it to be lived!! Awsome sauce!! Love you my sissy!! Friday I spent a big part of the day with my friend Garreth. He even wore his Badwater cargo shorts(ha!) We had a ton to catch up on, and had a great afternoon. We were supposed to have dinner that night with Kate&Jimmy but he ended up having his daughter. Looking forward to his Christams partaaaay~yippie!!

Thanksgiving was amazing, and just so much fun!! Usually I always cook for everyone(I LOVE to cook), but my Aunt Penne offered as I have had a ton going on in the last few weeks. We all spent the day at her house on Balboa Island in Newport Beach, and it was so great to relax, and just enjoy football, and my family. Below are some pics of my baby niece, and my Aunt Penne, and cousin Brockton~

 Ok so Wednesday was a sort of interesting day for me...
For the last few weeks I have really been toying with the idea of having a photographer at Leona...but a super talented one that is young, and just "gets" me. Here is where Brooklin Rosenstock comes into the picture(http://brooklinpictures.com)

A friend of mine had suggested him to me a few weeks back, but I had just sort of put it away. I knew he was talented(hello look at his website!??), and exactly the perfect for for Leona, but for personal reasons I had my reservations. I sat on it for a bit, but then realized I had to reach out to him. Immediately we clicked, and just instantly became friends. We met for coffee, and ended up talking for hours, and I just knew he would be perfect. He completely gets my young, energetic, race directing vibe~he is just so friggin cool, and I am super stoked to have him on my team. The coolest part of all is he is going to be part of my Badwater crew(if I get into the race!!!) He will mostly be documenting the whole thing, but keeps begging to pace me through Keeler(sorry Garreth, can you loan him your cargo shorts??) To top it all off he loves my new project I am working on(ok just getting started) about a documentary on southern California Ultra running. We talked a ton about this, and he had some amazing insight, and just great ideas. Brooklin ya friggin rock, and are such an important puzzle piece in my future~wow! Please check out his website he is amazing!! http://brooklinpictures.com

Ok so now on to Los Pinos 50k re-cap(shorter version)!
Los Pinos for me was bitter sweet. This race was created in a very short time, and came about in an interesting way. It was shortly after crewing Jimmy at Badwater that I decided I wanted to put this race together. So meant to be, and just another puzzle piece in my life that was meant to happen. The days leading up to the race were super fun. Tons of amazing friends(Shannon, Pammy, T, Molly, Kevin, Michelle, Scotty, Wicky, Munz, Larry, Harvdog) helped me mark the course, do water drops for one of the remote aid stations, and just get ready for race day. Love my friends so much!!! By the time race day came I had over 80 volunteers, and one heck of a bad weather forecast!! Pouring rain was expected, and I was super bummed. The night before the race we all went over to Charlie's house(http://therundown.net). Tons of us hung out, and discussed the potential things that could happen with the weather, and laughed and laughed. Below is a pic of myself with Annie, and my good friend Jimmy G. He is the race director of Rio Del Lago, and a TON of other great ultra's! http://desertskyadventures.com

I had capped the entrants to 85 runners because it was the events first year, and my goal was to have a successful event with as little hiccups as possible. Luckily come race morning with the pouring rain 64 runners actually showed up! I was pleasantly surprised as it was cold, rainy, and wet! Everyone was in such good spirits, and despite the bad weather all my amazing volunteers rallied incredibly, and we got through the day. Thanks again to my AWSOME aid station captains: Molly, Pammy, & Eric!!! You guys were just so great, and I could not have made this event happen without you.

Chris Price won the race with a stellar fast time of 5:16. I have been training with this guy, and he is just stellar fast, and wicked talented. Watch out so-cal boys!!! Michelle Barton won for the females in a time of 5:36~luv u my girl!!! The Los Pinos website has many pictures up(http:lospinos50k.com). Video will be coming soon I promise. Also the adorable Annie Tenwick has tons of pics she took on her Facebook page. Jakob Herman also has some great pics, and video on his FB page. Below is myself, Annie, and Captain Anthony standing under the tent to keep from getting soaked!!

I was just blown away by how amazing everyone was at that race. The runners blew my mind by how positive they all were, and as bad as the rain was the day turned out to be so incredible. I just love everyone in this sport so much, and I am honored to have you all as part of my Ultra family. Some of the greatest people and friends I have ever met have all stemmed form this sport, and I have met in the last 5 years. Love each and everyone of you, and am just so glad to be part of such a close knit group of people. What a cool friggin sport we are in!!!

Race date for next year is Saturday October 22nd~as of now...

PS..
I opted not to run the Red Rock 40. I am really focused on Hurt100 right now, and just want to train right now, and not race. I knew I would push myself way to much, and then spend the weeks following trying to recover from Red Rock instead of training for Hurt. Super excited to spend this month doing tons and tons of power hiking in the mountains along with tons of long runs, and shorter ones as I will be incorporating tons of "two a days". Throw massive amounts of swimming, biking, and yoga and I should be ready come Jan 15th!!! Whoo-hoo!!

Life is bananas amazing awsome sauce!!!

The past two weeks have been absolutely amazing, and life is just AWSOME SAUCE!!! This weekend I spent running on my "LVTR" course getting the elevation profile for the marathon course(http://leonavalleytrailraces.com). Annie and I had planned this the weekend before with Kate, but instead Annie brought a bunch of great SoCal Coyotes with her, and we just had a blast!! They LOVED the course(so stoked!!), and it was so fun for me to tell them all about the history of Leona Divide 50mile, and the trails out there. I love history, and especially love the history of race courses, ect. So cool!

I absolutely love meeting new people, and what a sweet group of runners!! We had a blast, and I was honored to show them my marathon course! Afterwards me, June, Annie, and Erin all had lunch in Santa Monica(love these girls), and then I headed home. Saturday was a very mellow pace for me so that night I went back out and ran another ten, and swam. It was early to bed as I am in 100% Hurt mode...eat clean, train, rest, repeat..eat clean,train, rest repeat...hahaha! Love this lifestyle, and love living and functioning in this manner. It will be nice after Hurt to have some downtime though!! I caved the other day and did have some sugar...but it was organic raw cane sugar in a vegan cupcake so it does not count! Ha!

On Sunday Pam and I had planned on running Temescal to Westridge, and back. She has been begging me to take her up on these trails, and so off we went. We ended up hiking though as my IT has been tight, and I really needed a good solid power hike for Hurt anyways. We hiked 13 miles in 2 hours, and 50 mins! We are animals! We even stopped to chat with Bev, and Juliett! Great to see those girls! Afterwards we had lunch with Jimmy Dean(such a nut that boy!) and just had an amazing afternoon. Hey we even saw Derek Jeter where we were having lunch. Jimmy is a huge baseball fan so he was pretty pumped. Pam and I then went over to whole foods to get some warm teechino(I do not drink coffee!!) and then headed home. By the time I got back to the OC, and showered it was very late afternoon so I walked my dogs, got work done around my house, and then dove head first into a ton of Los Pinos work I had to do. Honestly Pam and I had the best day ever, and I am just blessed to have such amazing friends in my life~

Yesterday myself and some friends did a water drop/shuttle for Los Pinos 50k(http://lospinos50k.com). We had so much fun, and I cannot think of a better way to spend my day that out on the trails all day with friends! Love being outside as much as most women love to shop! Cannot imagine doing anything else all day~ok maybe a bike ride, a swim thrown in, and then eating yummy food after! hehe...

Today and tomorrow I will be marking the Los Pinos course all day, and getting ready for tons of friends and family to come into town for the race. Honestly the amount of help I have for this race is just overwhelming, and I cannot wait for the race!! I just love my job so much, and LOVE this sport so much. The people are amazing, and without a doubt the best people I have ever met! I promise a full race recap by Monday night...

Sunday I might go up and run the PCTR 50k...I definitely want to see everyone, and go up there, but we'll see. So much fun! If not then Pam and a bunch of friends are running 30 in the Santa Monica's so I will  just jump on that train. Been incorporating a ton of power hiking into my training, and I am just LOVING it!!! I LOVE to power hike for hours, and will absolutely need it to survive Hurt100. LOVE IT! Gonna spend a ton of time doing this the next 6 weeks~a ton~

Have a great weekend everyone! I will see all of you weather at Los Pinos(what up 80 volunteers!??!) or at the PCTR race on sunday...yippie!!! Looking forward to Thanksgiving, and seeing my sister!  I will definitely be tightly surrounding myself with tons of family. Gonna run that morning with tons of friends, and spend the day in Newport at my Aunts. So fun!!

Awsome sauce everyone! Have a friggin great day!!! Life is just bananas amazing! Live it how you want to not how other people tell you to!! ;o))

P.S.
was out marking my course today on the Los Pinos Trail! Shannon and I had such a friggin blast, and the coolest part of all is part of it was in the dark It took us 4 hours to mark this section, and we had just way to much fun! The picture is of me just loosing it when the marking ribbon got all tangled..I have this super weird habit of falling to the ground whenever I laugh!

My 2011 Race Schedule

I believe there are angels always watching over me...and yes the above picture was taken on a run. With some of the races I am going to do in 2011 I will need all the blessings and Angels I can get, but I am confident in what I have sent to my Manager, and believe these are the races that suit my strengths the best~

Jan 2011~ Hawaii Hurt 100 Mile!!!
Feb~ Recover/swim/bike/yoga
March~ Save Mt.Diablo 50k
April~ Lake Sonoma 50mile
June~ Pace/crew Scotty at Western states!!!! Yippie!!! Love u Scotty!!!
July~ BADWATER(if accepted!!!!)
August/September/October~ Recover/swim/bike/yoga
November~Red Rock 40mile

I normally wouldn't post this quickly again, but I was asked to solidify this schedule so what better way than on my blog. So yep, here it is. Ready for 2011, and looking forward to an incredible year!

I am nervous about going to Hurt100...but super excited at the same time. Faye and Wick will be there with me(and maybe Jimmy??), and I am confident I can finish in one piece. I think. I hope. Ya I will be ok.. right??

Originally I had posted I wanted to do Wasatch. I swore I would never go back to Badwater again a month ago. Things have changed though for me. I have always wanted to do Badwater with all my heart. As much as Wasatch is on the bucket list Badwater is all I think about. I believe it's what I am meant to do, and I am in a great place with everything now mentally, and can't wait to go back!! I have a solid crew of my dearest friends, and I can't wait for us all to take the Badwater journey together( If I get accepted in). It's a life changing experience, and it will be all I am thinking about throughout the year. PUMPED!!

Wasatch just does not work anyways with all of my races I am putting on. Wick and I have pretty much decided that early September is the month for our "Ray Miller 50mile". No way I can put on a race that size, and run a 100 in the same month. Early October is My "Leona valley trail Races"(http://leonavalleytrailraces.com/), and that event will be on the bigger side so I need September to work; not run and recover from a 100! Funny how fate always steps in...you can fight it all you want, but one way or another if something is meant to be it will find it's way to come to pass...period!

Have a great couple weeks everyone!! I will hit ya all up with a great Los Pinos Recap on Sunday the 21st!! Honestly I believe everyone I know in the sport will be either volunteering or running! So excited with all the help I have, and honestly just blown away. Love my Ultra Running family soooo much, and it is just gonna be such a blast!! Michael murphy wanted me to tell everyone that while he is climbing Los Pinos he is going to do a Nancy Kerrigan tripple axle...yep thats what he said! ;o)

Battles and Blessings...

I believe life is full of battles and blessings. The battles are what help us reach our blessings, and even when we go through hard times there is always light at the end of the tunnel. I was woken up this morning at 2am with a phone call that my Grandma passed away in her sleep late yesterday. She was 90 years old, and I was close with her my whole life. She was like a mother to me, and in many regards raised me when my own Mom was not fit to. I quickly woke up Tyler, and we cried and laughed over all the wonderful memories we have of her. He finally went back to sleep, and now here I sit alone in my bed. I had planned to write about my whole weekend of running, swimming, and biking when I got up today, and then go hit the pool for an hour swim. As of now I am just loving sitting and listening to the rain. I love to write, and listen to the rain. I will miss her with all my heart, and I know she would still want me to enjoy life, and share my amazing weekend with everyone! So grandma for you I will write all about it, and like everyone else I hope you enjoy reading it! Today has some battles, but my weekend was filled with tons of blessings....

Last week was a great week for me. I swam(3 times!!) and rode my bike a ton, and loved it. I also hit the gym twice, and threw in some miles on the trails. Friday I ran long with Shannon, but took it really easy as my friend Annie and I had plans to run Saturday. I absolutely LOVE Annie. She has become one of my super close friends, and we have quickly developed an incredible bond. She lives in Santa Monica, and we wanted to spend all day running Saturday trying to figure out how to connect up Temescal with Westridge. Faye and I had wanted to do this also so I was super excited to go on this adventure with Annie. To me doing something like this is heaven, and I just love new trails, and exploring. The run was bananas amazing, and the day could not have been more beautiful. The weather was cool, but sunny, and the trails were crowded with tons of people I know from Race Directing. Annie laughed as every runner with a handheld or pack stopped to talk to me. I am super used to it, and it's just part of the lifestyle. I love the Southern California trail running community, and absolutely love being out on the trails seeing everyone. So fun!!

Once at Westridge we turned around, and headed back to Temescal Canyon where our cars were parked. Westridge is strictly fireroad, but the views of the ocean are absolutely spectacular. Once back in Temescal it's tons of fun singletrack! Annie was so friggin strong, and I got her to power hike a ton. She did amazing all day, and a few more all day runs with me, and she will kill it at North Face. So many of my friends are going to North face that I am still on the fence about it. Right now my main focus is Hurt100, and Red Rock 40...but we'll see...

After our run I was excited to spend the afternoon with Annie! We went back to her house, and grabbed her dog, and took him down to the beach. While walking we saw Kate running with her mom, and it was great. Jimmy has been away crewing for someone at a hundred mile race so she was hanging with her mom. Her mom was riding the bike, and Kate was running. So awsome!! We all discussed next weekend, and made plans on saturday to run my Leona Valley trail Races Marathon course(http://leonavalleytrailraces.com)~website coming soon!! Once at Venice I think Annie was dying over my behavior. I had never been here before, and I am still in shock over the whole thing. What a wild place!! As we walked she said, "lets go check out the Basketball courts". SIDENOTE~my son Tyler played BB for 10 years. He is 6'2", and to put it lightly is a friggin baller. He is a white kid that has mad skill, and informed me just Wednesday he is going to play High School ball. He then went on to tell me on Wednesday after school he tried out for the Freshman team, and made it. I am still in shock a little as his Cross Country season just ended, and track starts in a few weeks. He stopped playing BB because of all the pressure form his coach, and his continual jumpers knee. He is a center, and one of the best rebounders I have ever seen, but jumping up and down causes the knee to go nuts. I am concerned, but must let him fly on his own, and learn battles and blessings on his own. Hopefully his knee won't act up, and I can watch my sun ball it up at Dana!! He is talented as hell, and I can't wait!!

Ok so back to me and Annie! I loved watching the guys play ball at the courts. I have to bring my son here, and it would be an absolute blast to watch him dunk on some of these guys. We then walked on to Muscle Beach(Ok really??), and I fell to my knees when I saw guys in speedos working out at the outdoor gym. I had heard of this place before, but come on...really?? God I am glad I trail run, and just have a grip on what life is really about!! hehe...Afterwards I headed home, walked my dog, and got some work done. I then went for a recovery swim in the pool, and just felt incredible. It's funny because swimming is actually what I am naturally good at. I am best in the ocean, and I just don't get tired. I love to swim, but of course would much rather run!! After my swim I showered, and made an amazing dinner for myself and some friends. LOVE to cook healthy and yummy food!! Honestly in my past life I was a friggin chef!!

I got up early Sunday to once again run on the trails all day, and was super excited to drive up with Mike to meet a bunch of the LA Frontrunners for a backbone run!

I had such a great time on Sunday! We ran on the Backbone trail, and honestly if you have not ever been on this trail you must check it out. We started at Kanan Dune parking lot, and headed North back towards Malibu. Every section of this trail is so green you would never know you are in Southern California. Honestly it has to be one of the most beautiful trails in Southern California, and I just love running on it!! It's 100% singletrack, and has a good mix of great climbs, and runnable down. Perfect Trail! I had such a blast with all these guys as they are very sweet, and will be helping me a ton with Leona Valley Trail Races! My friend Jonathan was there also, and he owns Salt Stick. I am super excited to be working with him now for my races, and amped to support Salt Stick electrolyte pills! Such a great product!! During the run Sean was the best entertainment. We started a discussion on new flavors of gels that need to come out. I suggested PB&J, and then he suggests Bacon!! He starts going on and on about bacon, and how he has bacon soap, bacon candles, bacon everything. Those that are very close to me know how much I love pigs. I believe my jaw is still where I left it on the trail! So funny! Sean you need help! hahaha...

Once we finished the run we all went over to Jonathan's house for some great fun! He made tons of food, and we all just hung out, laughed, and chatted, His house is so friggin beautiful, and is literally in the heart of the Santa Monica Mountains. The views he has are spectacular, and I was so impressed! Those who know me will quickly say things like this dont normally ever impress me, and honestly I could care less about material things...but wow what a beautiful home with outrageous views!! We all were so excited as we planned many get togethers we would have! So fun!!

I got home late Sunday afternoon, and was PUMPED to see my Vikings win. Thank you Brett...thank you. Lakers won this weekend also, and that was with Kobe playing very little. He only had 12 points, and 30 mins play time..wow~LOVE me some Lakers!!

Sunday night I went over to Wick and Faye's for Sunday night dinner, and also to discuss a race Wick wants me to make happen. The tentative plan is September 2012, and the potential name is "Ray Miller 50/50". Definitely gonna make this happen....forsure! It was great to see Eric Mapping out the course, and figuring out aid stations, ect. We had so much fun Sunday night, and I just love these two people with all my friggin heart. They are my family, and I can't imagine my life without them!! I got home last night, and Tyler got home shortly after from his Dad's. I love our sunday night talks. We recap about our entire weekend, and he is always so interested in my running, who I ran with, and loves to hear all about my crazy adventures. At one point on the run on Sunday Jonathan saw a gardener snake. I quickly snatched it up, and all the guys just lost it..they were so freaked out. OMG it was priceless!!

I then went to bed, and awoke to the news of my Grandma. The rain is pouring now, and I have to get Tyler up for school. Her death has only solidified the things I want in life, and how important it is to not ever let the ones you love go..ever. You are only here once, and as time flies it's so important to spend it with people that truly better you, and make you happy, and live out your passions to the fullest.  You go through life meeting thousands of people, and if you are lucky enough to connect with that one person it is vital you recognize that, and do whatever it takes to see it through. I love surrounding myself with amazing friends and people, and living life to the fullest. I believe in the powers that be, and that life is such a great gift. With all the battles the blessings are awsome~patience is the key to life, and something I did not have a few weeks back. Today, and for the next year I will have patience, and see all the things I truly desire in life come to pass. Life is quick~seize the day everyone!! Don't take one second of it for granted, and do what ever it takes to truly find happiness~even if it involves some battles!