Orcas Island fun!!

This post is a little bit tardy for my post race report of Orcas Island 50k, but been so busy I finally have found sometime to get it up. I had the time of my life running Orcas Island 50k, and hands down this was the most beautiful and breathtaking course I have ever stepped foot on. No joke, no exaggerating. There were times when I was running, and I would just stop, look around, and take it all in. Big huge climbs, and extremely fun downhill single track! Most of this course I was running in deep forest. Honestly I have never ever in my life seen anything so gorgeous! When I got to the mile 22 aid station I probably stopped for four minutes or so to look at the views. Views of the ocean, the San Juan Islands, and snow capped mountains. At one point one of the aid station volunteers said, "go on girl get yourself outta here"! Ha! I didn't even care. No way was I gonna race this one, and miss out on stuff I have never seen in my life. I was all about smelling the roses, and just taking the entire day in. Every minute, every mile. There will be plenty of time to race this year, and I was absolutely overwhelmed by the beauty this course had. I had a great day, and felt so good the entire day. It was a perfect way to start my 2012. I went into the race with logging about 80 miles that week, and then I followed the race week up with logging about 100 miles after the race. Little by little I am feeling like Keira again. Loving the direction Jimmy Dean Freeman has taken me with my running, and slowly he is changing my mentality that every race has to be "raced". He has encouraged me to have A & B races, and I like that. It's entirely new territory for me, and it just does not matter what my Ultra signup percentage is. It's about coming back strong, and sticking to my goal for 2012 and racing well at the big mountain 100s. Ok so here is a breakdown of why you HAVE to put this on your racing bucket list. HAVE TO!!! General overall course tips to:
 * Extremely well organized. Wow do the peeps @ Rain Shadow Running do an A++ job.
 * Great vacation destination. Orcas Island is beautiful, and has incredible restaurants, and is just epic.
 * Stay at the Rasario Resort. Beautiful, classy, and very inexpensive.
 * Get to the Island Friday afternoon
 * Be ready to climb. Seriously. TWO BIG ASS CLIMBS. Hands on knees, grunting and really digging deep kinds of climbs
 * On a technical rating I would only give this course about a six outta 10. Just wasn't that technical.
 * It will be the most beautiful place you have ever ran..so unless you are Pam Smith and don't know how to run slow enjoy this course, and take it all in. ;o)
 * Tons of very fast downhill single track from like mile 13ish to 19ish...so fun!!
 * Aid stations are a little far apart so two hand held's or pack is a must
 * Great feast and after party post race. Give these guys a 10 out of 10 for that
 * Stay until Monday if you can. The island is just so rad. Jesse and I are gonna retire there. I promise.
So how would I rate this Ultra overall for all things considered? Gonna give Orcas Island a 9 outta 10. Can't go higher than 9 cause I just don't really consider 50k's Ultra's. They are like fun little training runs that are supported. Kind of Ultra's...but not really. Heard these guys put on a 50 miler and 100k in the Fall,  but my schedule is all filled up for 2012 already. Definitely putting some more of the Rain Shadow races on the calender for 2013. Maybe Jesse and I can get Prizzle and Elissa to go with us...or Jimmy and Kate, Pam & T, Wick & Faye, Annie and Lighting Sauce.. ha! To much fun we have!! Below are some fun pics of the trip. Jesse had to drop due to some itband issues from Bandera, but he is well on his way to recovery! My poor baby!

Photo: Glenn Tachiyama

I have been running like crazy in the new INKnBURN Women's Running Skirts, and I am just blown away by how perfect they are! This morning I spent four hours running in my skirt, and never once was I pulling the shorts down underneath. Never once was I tugging at it because it never rode up, and to be perfectly honest it was like I was running and it wasn't even there. I have run in every type of running skirts. LuLu Lemon are one of the worst offenders of making the most uncomfortable running skirts on the planet. Every running skirt out there has gotten it wrong. We haven't though. Why is that? Because our skirts have been ran into the ground by real runners. Runners who run for hours, and know what real women need. They are so soft and comfy, and just fit perfectly to a woman's body NO MATTER WHAT SIZE YOU ARE. I am honored to be apart of such a rad company making the best running apparel on the planet, and amped as we will be launching more and more designs soon!  Here are some pics girls of some of the cutest running skirts you will ever run in......and I even added a picture of myself running in our sunflower camisole that goes with the sunflower running skirt.

So the coolest news of all that I got in the hours following Orcas Island 50K? That I got into Wasatch 100 mile!!! So my 2012 goes as follows:

Old Goats 50 mile

Zane Grey 50 mile

Angeles Crest 100 Mile

Wasatch 100 mile

Mountain Masochist 50 mile(hopefully!!)

So excited for everything...Jesse and I have some cool stuff to announce here pretty soon...but we will do that when we are ready. Life is just so rad right now, and I cannot wait for Ray Miller in less than two weeks!  I love my life. I love that I am living it exactly how I want to be. I have blinked, and I am exactly where I always dreamed I could be. Make shit happen people. Do not live your life to please others. I have taken many risks. I knew I was taking them. Things have been said about me, and not everyone is my biggest fan. I am 100% ok with that. I have worked diligently to build my life the exact way I want to live it, and I do not need everyone's approval. I am not a people pleaser, and I have never been. You simply cannot please all the people all the time, and if you are trying to do that I am pretty sure you are pretty darn unhappy. Take risks, and go after what you want. Go live life to the fullest, and keep on keeping on my friends!! 

Also wanted to give a quick shout out to a really cool review on some Rudy Project's. Seriously if you are running in any other sunglasses you are a *Tard*. They are so rad, and all the cool kids are wearing them. I promise. LINK: 

 http://trailrunnernation.com/2012/02/rudy-project-rydon-sunglasses-review/

WORD!

Knowing your value

Today I just realized that 2011 has gone and passed... and quickly I might add. It's almost as if I blinked, and its 2012. I am not even sure how that happened! I guess when you are busy with *life* it just seems to happen faster then we realize! I am thrilled to announce that at INKnBURN we have officially launched our women's camisole. Soft as silk, sweat wicking, no chafing, great support, and something I pushed and pushed for. I think the owners Rob and Megan sometimes wanna put me in time out! LOL..What's amazing is we designed these for runners by runners. They are so functional and comfortable it's almost hard to imagine. I have spent hours and hours running in them, testing them, and pounding them into the ground until we got the fit and design just right!  I am so flippin stoked on our new Women's Running Camisoles!! They are also great to cycle in, do Yoga/Pilates in, and work out in! Plus every single one of our products is made by hand right here in the USA in Lake Forest, Ca! All the way down to the soft white fabric we start out with before any art is sublimated on! It is something VERY few companies can claim, and we are pretty darn proud of our high quality running apparel. You can check out all of our new designs here: http://www.inknburn.com/women/camisole.html .


I am super crazy excited to be leaving for a trip to Orcas Island up in Washington on Thursday night. My  boys(Jesse and Tyler) and I are gonna have a blast! Myself and Jesse will be racing the Orcas Island 50k, and from what I have heard this is an amazing race! It's one of many races put on by Rain Shadow Running, and they have quite a top notch reputation. Plus who wouldn't wanna run 32 miles of single track in deep lush forest over growth! I am so excited I can barely contain myself!! I am also pretty excited to sport one of our new INKnBURN long sleeves! I have heard Orcas Island is one of the most beautiful places to visit in the Pacific Northwest, and being I am a pretty down to earth granola kind of girl I cannot wait! Excited to see some long time friends I never get to see, and then Saturday night cannot wait to go out to dinner with everyone, and hike Sunday morning. My son is an amazing photographer...amazing...so he is pumped to get in some great photos of the scenery!


I have been crazy busy preparing for Ray Miller 50mile/50k, and am still in shock it sold out in just two months. Everything is coming together great, and it's definitely gonna be a "So-Cal Coyote" running partay! Love my crew so much! Hooooooowwwl!!!! We did a fun training run on Saturday of the 50k course. It was such a blast, and over 50 peeps showed up. I think people were surprised at how tuff the course is. TUFF. I wish I could run it, but I will save my racing for Old Goats 50 mile in March and Zane Grey 50 mile in April. ;o)


I am also excited to be announcing, and sneaking out that in fall of 2012 I will be introducing the "HOLLYWOOD ROCKSTAR TRAILS CHALLENGE"(Chandra I love you!!). What is this you might ask? Well...on Saturday November 17th will be the 2nd annual running of the *awesomesauce* event Griffith Park Trail Half Marathon. Then the very next day, Sunday November 18th will be the Griffith Park Trail 10k. The challenge will be can you complete both as they are two tuff trail running events back to back. Cannot wait to BLING out the runners who complete the weekend challenges with some of the most beautiful finisher medals on the planet! Lots of amazing surprises will be given to finishers of both events, and it's sure to be a weekend that cannot be missed!! Saturday night will be a night of fun at a brewery, and an amazing talk will be given by our very own Jimmy Dean Freeman on Trail Running tips, ect. All details will be announced shortly on the race website so please keep watch. You can also find updates and please like our Face Book page here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Griffith-Park-Trail-Half-Marathon/205808389457562

A few people have said to me this is such a fun idea, and how did I ever decide to move forward with it?...I believe it's never hard to make a decision when you know your value. Knowing your worth is one of the keys to happiness in life. The bottom line is this: We have no simple or easy decisions after kindergarten. You are the choices you make, and people will see you how you value yourself. In my life, I've created my destiny within my career, friendships and community. With friends, I've really embraced the fact that friends are all unique pieces of a pie. Some will be lifetime friends that are next to family, some are social friends, some acquaintances. I've learned to appreciate the various types and unique forms of value each friend brings, and as well as a system of how much and what kind of energy I invest to whom. I am blessed with the best friends ever, but that inner circle is sacred and thoughtfully selective.

It took me 34 years of being hungry for love, even desperate for it at times, heart aches, heart tramples, picking up that phone when every cell in your body knows it's the unhealthy thing to do, obsessing, infatuating, idealizing, you name it, for me to finally wake up and realize that my most important relationship is the one with myself. It was then that I was truly ready to embrace the true love of my life(LOVE YOU JMH!!)

I've learned to embrace self love. And while I'll always be a perpetual student in this journey, I've made the decision to apply my successful method in dealing with friendships and business to how I do my relationships. I've stopped apologizing for who I am and have learned that I am "perfect" the way I am, right now, right here. I will constantly be growing, evolving and working on bad habits, but those flaws, those imperfections are part of the beauty that makes me, me. As Marilyn Monroe best put it, "If you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."

If I could talk to my younger self -- that girl desperate for love and therefore often blinded by ideas, fabrications and untruths in order to try and capture it, I'd tell her:

"Keira, love will come to you, when you learn to love yourself, first and foremost".

Your heart is a precious gift. Your body is a temple. Be selective. Respect it and be respected. Love yourself and be loved. It you don't respect and love yourself first, building a healthy relationship with another is like building a house with no foundation -- eventually the cracks and lack of a strong base will eventually cause it to crumble.

Know your value and don't accept being treated in a way less than you deserve. Now, I don't mean to start going out there with unrealistic expectations, demands and a sense of entitlement. I am saying that you deserve to be treated the way you treat others, and vice versa. The minute you negotiate your self worth and accept less, you say to the universe that you don't deserve any better, and the vicious cycle/pattern begins. Change for yourself and of course, friends and partners are great mirror reflections that help you grow. Be you, and your friends and partner should share in all that makes you happy. Period. No negotiating here. 

On, On, On my friends....