My beautiful Jayden Raye!!

I have been super busy enjoying life more than I could ever have imagined(OMG!!!!).  I don't have the amount of time to know where to begin so I won't even try!!

Just wanted to give a quick plug to my sons girlfriend Miss Jayden Raye~she is pure AWESOME SAUCE!! She is completely self taught on both the guitar, piano, and writes all her own songs! She is only 14, and just one of the most amazing teenagers I have ever met. She had asked me to post a different link, but I liked this one way to much! Here is her link, so please check her out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNrMpCZoEyI&feature=related

Merry Christmas to all my amazing friends and family, and I can't wait to see so many of you during the next few weeks!! Yippie!! Life is just so friggin awesome sauce rad!!! Just sayin...

PS...below is a pic of my sons BB team, and there annual football game in the mud! Just had to add this pic as it made for a perfect afternoon! Luckily I am just the team mom, and only had to make cookies and cupcakes for the boys!

Loving my New kicks!!

A ton has been going on in my life in the last few days, and it's all been super exciting. I have been running like a maniac(DUH!!??), but also swimming & biking quite a bit to. I actually ran yesterday with Faye for two hours, and then went home and hopped on my bike for a couple hours. I have been having a ton of fun on my bike, and am looking forward to going for a 50 mile ride tomorrow with my son! Tyler has been playing so great at Dana for his BB team. With two games a week, and practice every day things have been nutso!! I am busier than I have ever been in my entire life, and just super stoked to be making so many great things happen and come to pass.

I also have started to mentally prepare for Hurt...but that is still up in the air a bit. I am starting to get ready to move after the new year, and Hurt might not be what's best for me right now. My dear friend Dean Dobberteen was going to crew and pace me(luv ya Deano Rat!), but still sitting on it for a few days before I make any decisions set in stone. I also have a huge trip to NY in January for personal/business stuff, and with all my work stuff right now swinging over to Hawaii and runnin' a 100 miles seems near to impossible. Like I said I am going to sit with this for a day or two and decide...more than likely its looking like Hurt is not going to happen this year. I am 100% focused right now on the business/work aspect of my life, and racing comes second. If I don't go to Hurt it will definitely free my legs up to race in the So-cal scene Jan~March. Love the sound of that...

So now on to the main reason for this post. In the quest to find the perfect trail running shoe for Hurt I was introduced to an amazing shoe made by La Sportiva(http://www.sportiva.com/products/prod/531) called the Crosslite. Honest to god these are hands down the best trail running shoe I have ever ran in, and I am hooked!! They are so friggin comfortable, and just supportive as heck. It's funny cause I was having all these little aches and pains in my knees(both), and hips, and even my IT band was acting up. I had been running in a certain kind of shoe(not saying any names)for years, but I knew something just wasn't right. Sure enough I ditched the shoes, got my La Sportiva's in the mail, and have been running pain free ever since. I am by no means a shoe expert, but I am completely convinced all my issues were because I just wasn't running in the best shoe for my running needs. I absolutely LOVE these shoes, and am super stoked to be tearing up the trails in them!! I am running totally pain free now, and all those little pains are gone(along with the old kicks!) Love my new La Sportiva Crosslites a ton!!

Getting super pumped for 2011~so much fun stuff going on!! If you have not signed up for Lake Sonoma 50 mile yet then do so cause it's almost full! Go to ultra signup to get registered http://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=10290. This race is just an awesome event, and one that should not be missed!! A whole clan of about 15 of us are heading up from so-cal including our very own Jimmy Dean Freeman as a cheerleader for us all(just teasing Jimmy baby!!) What's great is a ton of other great friends of mine will be there from all over the planet! hehe...cannot wait! So much fun just love the heck out of this sport!

Ok must sleep...way past my bedtime..way

I will be runnin' all weekend, and a TON over the next few weeks and Holidays(what up Christmas eve run!!!) I can't think of a better way to burn off holiday calories than running like a maniac, and spending time with friends. Tons of pics and posts will follow! What's also great is Tyler will be out for school soon for Christmas break, and that means TONS of hiking & trail running with him(Mt.Baldy hiking here we come). Yippie!! Yippie!! Awesome sauce!! Love the holidays so much ;o)

God bless everyone, and Happy Holidays! Get out there and get dirty people!

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!!