He (or she, if you prefer) has arrived. December 19, 2009 1:00am. 24 inches. Weight, TBD.

When I first heard about the arrival I was a bit of a septic. I mean really, Washington, DC NEVER gets snow, right?  Having been in the area all my life I know better than that. But you know how weathermen are. 10 inches could be like a snowflake. Or two. Well, I was wrong. Dead wrong.

After tucking the cars safely in the garage Friday night I thought that would insure that snow would not come. Boy, was I wrong. I woke in the middle of the night and peaked out the window. It was white outside. I checked my Twitter @ replies and it was confirmed. Weather pattern had shifted. And we were going to get crushed. And I do mean crushed.

By 8am, we already had 5 inches. Mickey Mouse pancakes made the kids happy:)

Winter Blizzard Mickey Mouse Pancakes

By 10am I swear (well not really, but you get the idea) we had 12 or 15 inches? Seemed like 50. It was windy, cold and STILL snowing! Bundled the kids up (not mine, I nanny when I am not training/traveling) and proceeded outside. Side bar. In all my years being with kids, it never fails. Spend an HOUR getting them bundled up & they only invest 5 minutes outside before coming. Repeat ALL day long. I ♥ kids, but the before/after math…..OY VEY!!

Snowsuit time!

By noon, we had MORE snow. Already set a record snowfall for the area. And it was STILL coming down!!

Live from DC Snow Pocalypse

Sarah Angel

Backyard beauty

It’s now 3:00pm and the snow is knee deep. I am going to try & attempt a run. Not entirely sure how successful I will be at the run part. I’ll report when I return. Wish me luck and god speed:)

Live from DC Snow Pocalypse Take 2

So, I have to admit. I had a bad attitude. I know it doesn’t seem possible-me: miss inspiration/positive girl, but it is true. I had a ton of stuff on my mind. A million deadlines. A lot of work projects to get done. I was tired. I was grumpy. I had a bad attitude. I didn’t want to run the relay. I didn’t want to be up for 36 hours.

Friday, September 25, 2009, 6am. Dragged myself out of bed. Quickly got some projects done. Frantically packed. Got a shower (last one for a while). Left the house, THREE times. Not sure why I was so forgetful. On the way over to the meet up point, rain was already in full force. It matched my mood.

Arrived at Reinaldo’s at 9:30am, loaded my gear into the van. Said hi to the rest of my Van 1 teammates (Melanie, Bernard, Jeremy, T & Reinaldo). 10am we were off to Cumberland, MD.

Right away I was receiving jokes that my head was buried in my BlackBerry. That it was going to “run away” with help from them. So, I put it down and joined in the conversation. And changed my mind that I would enjoy the race/run/relay.

We arrived at the relay just before 12 noon to see some of the teams leave.

Side note: teams started leaving at 8am that morning.

We checked in, got our swag. Rain had stopped. Getting ready to run!

We knew my leg was all uphill and Jeremy who was the runner after me got to run down hill. So every time we saw a hill, we had the jokes down pat. You had to be there. It was pretty funny:)

1pm! Gun off. Reinaldo had leg #1. We left to go to our first exchange point. Right away, the directions were off, so it took a trial  & errors (and other vans) before we got to the right place.  Reinaldo ran his leg 6 minutes ahead of schedule. Sweet!

Bernard was up next. Then T, Melanie and me. I had “THE LEG” from hell. No question about it, it was tough. Remember I had just run 100 miles 5 weeks ago, so this was my first race. I wasn’t entirely sure how I would feel. Especially since my leg was ALL up hill. Not one to complain, but when I say ALL uphill. I mean it. Went from 500 feet to 1600 feet.

To make matters worse, I somehow missed a turn and ran an EXTRA 2 miles. Needless to say, I was welcoming my legs in Sarah fashion-hardcore.

A sign placed by another team says it all: “[name] we owe you one”. I was feeling the same thing. After all, I just got asked to be on the team 10 days ago, I really didn’t sign for this, let alone have the toughest leg!

But I kept my smile and my legs brought me to the exchange point. I was a very happy girl. I ran the 10 miles in 1:33. Not bad for ALL up hill AND what I did a few weeks ago.

Jeremy was up next. And to our first major exchange point. Van #2 was up next. By this time it was around 7pm. We were off the clock and on the hunt for some food. We drove to our friend Hector’s home where yummy pasta awaited us as well as showers for those who wanted it. I found a bed and closed my eyes for about an hour. Then it was time to leave and head to major exchange point 2 and run some more.

Saturday, September 26, 2009!

By this time we gained back the ground we lost (thanks to me) so that was a happy moment in the midst of the midnight darkness. Reinaldo started his leg.

I must say that by this time my bad attitude was WAY gone. I think I left that on the hills from my 1st leg:)

My leg came around 1am. Running in the dark brought back memories thats for sure. This leg wasn’t as bad, thank god! Still a few hills though. I was about half a mile from the exchange point when a girl crept up right behind me. There was no in hell I was going to let her beat me. So I kicked my legs into high gear and sprinted to Jeremy. Ran 3.8 miles in 33-ish minutes. I’ll take it. Legs still getting used to the sudden hilly speed work. Poor things.

Jeremy ran his last leg fast. BUT Van 2 was lost and we had to wait 10 (LONG) minutes to get Lisa (runner 7) on the course. I guess we are even now!

It was 2:30am. Melanie arranged for a motel in Frederick. Its not every night that you crash for 2 hours in a motel. And yes, it was a motel. Jeremy quickly reminded us not to let our feet touch the floor. I quickly reminded everyone to not touch the bed spread. Then we somehow got on the topic of hotels, bugs and investigative stories. If you have ever watched (or heard) what goes on in the hotel cleaning department lets just say you think twice about what you touch. Needless to say no matter how tired we were we didn’t seem to mind laying down the bed bugs.

Th2 2 hour nap was awesome. Apparently T didn’t sleep, but I think the rest of us did. I freaked out in the morning though when I realized on the way to the bathroom that I didn’t have my flip flops on. That was kind of funny:) NOT!

5:30am and we were on the road again to meet Van 2. Big Al almost beat us to the exchange. Poor Reinaldo basically got pushed to the the exchange point with sleep in his eyes. We have been up for 24 hours (aside from the sweat induced cat naps).

This was our third and final leg for us (Van 1). Reinaldo had a pretty long & hilly leg as did Bernard. Pretty soon it was my turn. It was 9:30 ( I think) at this point. Our team was kicking butt and I REALLY wanted to pass some more on my LAST leg. Trouble was not many were in my eye sight. Then finally I saw a women in the distance. I told my legs to kick it into high gear and we were off to the races. I held a sub 7 minute pace, then slowly eased into 7:30’s. I caught up to the women, passed her, then chased down the hill in front of me. Then I saw the exchange point & I quickly booked it to Jeremy. Ran 3.75 miles in 30 minutes. 8:05 pace. Not to shabby. But still not fast like everyone else on the team!

We made our way to the last major checkpoint, where we cheered on the runners as they came through.

I must say the scene at the school exchange parking area looked like a homeless shelter. Runners were sleeping in camping bags. Most looked like (stinky) cocoons. It was rather funny.

Jeremy arrived, Lisa & Van 2 were now on the VERY last & final leg of the relay. We headed back to Reinaldo’s & our cars. I couldn’t get home fast enough to enjoy a REAL shower. Baby wipes are great, but running water is awesome! So is human food!

Then the rain started. Rain isn’t the right word. Torrential down pour would be more like it. Poor Van 2! I was en route to the finish line, but good old route 495 was a parking lot which prevented me from ever reaching it. Sigh. I should just stick to running!

BUT I am happy to report that our team finished 199.3 miles in 26 hours, 13 minutes. An average pace of 7:51! We are still waiting for the official results, but we think we did pretty well:) I will keep you posted!

Photo by Philo Nordlund

The past few morning have been delightfully cool. Compared to the humid mornings we have been having, it is a welcome change. It just felt right to start the day off with some hot chocolate. You know what I mean. The crisp air. The birds are singing (I think they are just as glad for the cooler weather as we are). The “feel” in the air.

I asked a few friends what they enjoy on a “hot chocolate” kind of morning. Here are some of the answers.

Oatmeal.

Fuzzy socks.

Coffee (OK, I think that is a given for 99% of the population).

Fresh juice.

Warm bagels.

Dogs.

Paper.

What do you enjoy? I encourage you to start your day off with something that makes you feel great. Its the little things in life that will make all the difference for the remainder of your day.

Cheers to hot chocolate!

Photo by Esparta

Ah. Heading home today. Goodbye beach. Hello road!

Its been nice to be able to work in a different environment. Nice to feel the sand under my feet. Nice to  run along the beach. Nice to listen to the waves. Makes you appreciate the little things in life!

Got in a quick beach walk. Then it was packing up, cleaning and getting the kiddo’s in the car. We stopped at the water+go kart park. Our plan worked. 2/3 kids slept almost the whole way home! Traffic was light for us going North. Sadly the people heading South were stuck in a parking lot.

Hello home! Good to be back! After unpacking, cleaning and organizing, I “snuck” out for a much need climb/hike/run. And fresh air! Girl did it feel GREAT to to move my legs. Climb up the rocks. Breathe. Live!

Back home for 4 days. I will enjoy!

Photo by Hamed Saber

Saturday, April 18th, 2009 I set on an adventure also know as 50 miles:)

Here is the PERSONAL account of my day & race feelings-enjoy!

My day began with waking up at 2am (after going to bed at 10:30pm). I was feeling very energized (well, who am I kidding, I am the energiser bunny, lol) ready to run, ready to start AND finish my first 50 miler. I had not run/worked out since Wednesday, so being able to run again was awesome!

After eating Kashi w/ soy milk, getting last minute things ready (I always prep the night before). It was 35 out,  however, the weather people were calling for it to get into the 70’s, so I knew to wear shorts & sleeveless shirt. I put on a long sleeve t-shirt and sweat pants to keep me warm till the race start. I left my place at 3:30am. The moon was out & it was so beautiful!! I went to pick up a team mate (Jason) at 4am.

After picking him up we were on our way to Clifton, VA. While driving along, he realized he left the directions to the race at his house…so he called his dear wife & she relayed the directions to us (thank god one of my nicknames is GPS girl, comes in handy, lol!! ).

It only took about 45min to get to the race start (have to love driving while everyone else is asleep in DC metro area!). Once there, we made our way through the dark to pick up our race bibs, t-shirt & glass cup. The dark was VERY dark. They had little glow sticks (about 5) lighting the way through the woods to the building. Some other runners had flashlights with them (note for next year) so we followed them:)

After getting our stuff we made the trek back to my car. I put on my shoes, took off my warm clothes and said hello to the 35 degree weather. I made a mental note to remember how cold I felt when it was going to get HOT later on:)

We walked back to the building & I saw some of ultra buddy’s. It was great to see Bobby & Mike!!!  They are running the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 Mile on May 16. Mike was running the race, Bobby was helping at aid station mile 16.6.

At 6am, I had my Luna Moons, some more water….ready to rock, roll, and RUN!! 6:15am we all (314 of us) headed out into the cold to the race start. There was excitement in the, I was feeling ready & the sun was beginning to come out.  After a few brief announcements, the countdown began and we were OFF at 6:30am!

My hands are ALWAYS cold, so when the weather is cold, they are triple cold:) As part of my race goal, I made the commitment to blog along the entire race….complete with pictures! So typing on my BlackBerry during the first 2 hours was a bit of a challenge….my fingers just would not warm up!!

The course started off downhill, then quickly we were climbing over rocks, no, they were more like small boulders. It was impossible to RUN over them. We all had to crawl our way through that section. The course ran beside the river & the Bluebell flowers were just BEAUTIFUL!!

7:30am I made my way up the steep stairs to the aid station. Quickly got a salt caps, some Pringles to take with it, water & Gatorade to wash it down. Then it was back down the stairs.

This section was an out & back course, so the winners were passing us as we were going out. I kept a mental note of how many women passed me:) I am not competitive or anything, lol!!

Around this time, I was also trying to ignore my right calf…feeling a little “sore”

8:30am I was back at the aid station, more refueling & salt caps were taken. The sun was out in FULL glory & it was starting to get warm. I contuined to blog about my journey…having fun along the way. I must say it does take a special skill to run trails AND type at the same time:)

The course continued to be challenging: switch backs, HILLS, steep CLIMBS where it was impossible to run them and then down hill. There was also mud and BEES….I know I am sweet, but I am not up for being tested by bees while running 50 miles!!

9:30am, back at Hemlock aid station, mile 16.6….saw Bobby, took more salt caps+potatoes with salt & a 1/4 PB&J sandwich.

Then I was off again! The next stretch was pretty tough. The BOULDERS were hard to navigate, but the pretty flowers were nice to see!!

Did I mention HILLS? There were more of them…like a lot of them! The sun was beating down on us…hands were finally warm, thank God!!

10:30am arrived at aid station mile 21.1, popped a **few** advil + salt caps+ potatoes with salt and also wiped my face with baby wipes, that felt GREAT!! I was already starting to turn into a salt stick and I stil had 30 more miles to go…drinking a lot, a lot…

off again, passed underneath a bridge that was low & a guy in front of me bumped his head…I almost did as well!! He was ok & we ran on…

Took 35min to get to the next aid station, where I repeated the whole process all over again:) the next section was also pretty tough…lots of up/down on hills.

4hours, 11:30am, mile 26 I believe…kind of hard to remember:) Repeated the whole FUEL/FOOD ritual all over. Was told that I looked strong….but very salty. So I took 2 salt caps just to be safe.

Then off again, the sun was making me VERY hot, I mean HOT. By this point, I probably drank about 100oz already. I also must point out that I did not run with any music….so live blogging & looking forward to each aid station were keeping me going. I was also receiving encouragement from a LOT of my fans in the virtual world….that REALLY kept me going!!

Made it to the next station, mile 30ish, had to do a 3 mile loop, then back again. Still feeling strong, but the heat, hills and rocks were getting tough. I was 6 hours into my race….quickly got to aid station mile 40….on the home stretch!! Was thinking that I could make 9:30hours, but the course going back was TOUGH, I mean HARD. Like ROUGH. Still feeling good, but the heat was getting to me. Normally it would not have been an issue if it had been at the END of summer, but I trained in the teens & zero degree weather for the last 6months! Our/my body was acclimated to it.

I was again told that I looked strong & that felt so GREAT to hear! I passed a few people and that felt REALLY good.

It took an hour to go 5miles. The course was rocky and hilly. I could feel my calf’s begin to tighten and I knew cramping was going to happen at any given time. I had to be intentionally lift my feet up so as not to hit anything…if I did, it would not be good. Those 5miles I will never forget…I can not describe the pain I was feeling, tiredness starting to set it, the HILLS in front of me……I took a picture of a hill at mile 38 (I think) and will use it as a reminder when faced with a problem that I can OVERCOME anything!!

When I made it to the aid station, it never looked so good!! had a Popsicle-the best I ever had!! I started off running again and had to carry the stick with me…on those next 5 miles I all I could think of was how the stick was like a pregnancy pee stick (sorry, any humor at mile 43 is priceless:))

Miles 40-45 were some of the toughest yet…beside being hot, EVERYTHING hurt. As I started out from the aid station, my inner thighs were BURNING!!! My shorts had riden up and after 40miles, my skin burned each inner thigh, talk about pain!! I ran very funny for the first mile or so…then just accepted the pain & ran. By this point, my tummy was sore from my fuel belts. Back, arms, heels, head, eyes, and toes were either sore, painful or numb or in shock:)

The hills on these 5 miles seeeeeemed to go on forever, but they soon ended….and another one came just as quickly as the last one had finished.

I kept envisioning the aid station in my head…finally passed under the bridge and up the hill (did not choose the stairs-climbing up anything at this point was going to be avoided at all costs).

Quickly refueled, asked how many miles left when I already knew (5) took more Advil, salt caps, and trudged off to run the last 5 miles.

The sun was now just sitting on top of me…it was hot, beyond hot!! By now, I was almost 9 hours into my race. YES, still with NO music!! Just me, the woods, the HILLS, the few flowers, gun shots and some other runners:)

The last 5 miles was not a mental issue for me, it was a leg issue. I tripped on a rock & that caused my right calf to cramp. Not bad, but bad enough to stop me in my tracks. So, I had to make sure I was looking VERY carefully on the ground for any protruding objects…on the trails, yeah right!! LOL:)

I caught up with a few guys, one was the guy who bumped his head. when he saw me, he told me that I was very brave, amazing, incredible for running this race on a day like this on a course like this(he was married, so he wasn’t just saying those nice things:)). He also said that this was a TOUGH course, and I could do way better in my time on my next 50 miler (JFK for example). WOOHOO!!

We ran the last 1.5 miles together. Going up the “wicked hill” I just sent out a post when a SNAKE crossed RIGHT in front of me. Now, I am a TOUGH chickie, but snakes & I do not get along…at all. I was SOOO glad to have a fellow runner with me!! We crossed over the snake and pushed our way to the top of the wicked hill. It was wicked, very, very wicked!!

FINALLY, we could hear cow bells in the distance so we knew we were close…we picked up our speed and crossed the SWEET finish line. 10 hours, 18 minutes!! My friend Bobby was there & he handed me my FIRST finisher’s pin, a FINISHER’S shirt and a bandanna. I hobbled over to a chair and gingerly sat down.
It was now 5pm…and I was tried…sun was still out….but I had finished with a very respectable time:) and I was HAPPY!!

I was COVERED with salt and when I told my friends (one who is a doctor) how much Advil I took, they grew concerned and told me to start drinking in order to avoid my kidney’s from shutting down …the last thing I wanted to do was drink more…and really couldn’t, but I did get some water down. I sat for about 20min, then knew I had to make the 1/2 mile walk/hobble back to the car.

I got up, legs were still not sure what had happened…and began the slow walk back to the car via 2 small hills.

Once to the car, I took off my right shoe and as I did so, my calf cramped up SO BAD, it threw me on the ground (thank god it was ground/grass) and I cried (yes CRIED) in pain for about 2 min. Jason tried to help, but there was really nothing he could do, other then help me back up and I took off my other shoe with out any major pain:)

Driving was a bit of a challenge, right calf was not happy & it was telling me so!! We hit traffic on the way home (got to love DC metro area traffic)!! I dropped Jason off at his home (wife+kids) were waiting. Then I made my way to the store to get ice.

Getting out of my car (it’s a Tahoe, so kind of a step down) and into the store were also major feats for the day. As I entered the store, a guy looked at me and said “did you exercise to much today?”. I looked at him & said “I just ran 50miles”. I guess the dirt, mud, salt, & worn out expression didn’t give it away:) lol!!  He did carry my 2 bags of ice to the check out, but I was on my own to the car!

I spoke with 3 of my concerned friends on the way home, was so nice to talk with them!! Thanks Shelly, Kate & Craig!!

Finally made it home and I knew I could not make 2 trips up & down 3 flights of stairs, so somehow managed to lug 16lbs of ice and all my race bags and hobble inside…easier said then done, that is for sure!!

After catching up on some emails, I finally got a hot shower, which was followed right away by a LOVELY ice bath…for 10min. Got to love 16ls of ice even after a HOT day on the trails/mountains!!

After a few replies, I went to bed at 10:30pm…having been up since 2am.

The temperature for the day was 79.6…felt every bit as hot as that for sure!!

NIGHT

So, after going to bed…I could not move..my entire body was moving i.e. twitching or cramping, if I did move, then the whole process started over again in new areas…at 2am, I became sick…I knew I was hungry, but could not keep anything down. I finally dozed off till 7am and got up and worked on a few projects before getting a shower (remember just getting out of bed is a feat!!) shoving a bowl of Kashi down me, and to a client at 9:30.

I really don’t know what will stop me!! Apparently, not 50miles!!

Today, Sunday, April 19th, was a day filled with getting used to how my legs would feel each time I would move, stand, sit, walk, step up, step down, basically a cute shuffle:) lol!!

Besides having a client this morning, the charger on phone also decided to break, so I had to make trip #1 to Verizon, where I was told there was no replacements in any stores within a 25mile radius, or the warehouse. However, the guy was very nice to me (after I told him what I just did, hehe!!) and called Verizon Tech & waived the fees, overnight shipping to me by Tuesday AND charged 2 battery’s for me to use in the meantime.

I came home, worked on this blog, then back to Verizon for take 2 to pick up the battery’s, then headed downtown to meet up with my friend Michael who was in town for a trade show.

We had a great time celebrating my race & life in general:)

AND now that it is 12:30am…it is time for me to get some sleep…

I hope you enjoyed my recap, please leave your comments or email me! Love to hear from you! And make sure you bookmark this page, updates all the time:)

to INSPIRE YOU!!

Sarah:)