​A friend sent me a link to an adventure style autorickshaw race across Sri Lanka and despite seeing this movie showing how bad stuffing yourself into an auto rickshaw for days would be (the heat, the bumps, the mechanical breakdowns, the monsoon rains coming inside), I still am like, HMMMM, that sounds fun. Why do I have to be this way?? Seven days of sitting in a car with air conditioning sounds bad. Sitting in a lawn mower in 100-degree heats sounds like a special kind of torture, but yet here I am, thinking HMMMM. I used to identify as a runner. Now I say I am an endurance person. I like to do things that last a long time and require snacks. I guess I need to update my definition to doing things that last a long time, require snacks and requires muscle power. 

MUSCLE POWER
Whether you are training for a long drive or a long run, join me on Wednesday night for Strength Training for Runners. Live to your screen and always free. Stay home, get strong. 

CRAMPS
Do you cramp in long runs or races and can't figure it out. Have you tried and tried to get more electrolytes but nothing is working? So far there has been no correlation between electrolyte balance and cramping in studies on why athletes get cramps. 

The current thinking on cramping is that local muscle fatigue and an altered nervous system losing the signal that tells your muscles to relax are more likely factors. History of cramping, running faster than your training supports, and prior injury are widely considered major risk factors. So, if muscle fatigue is a potential issue, there is a line of thinking that strength training can help prevent cramping. I mean, we should all be doing it anyway, might be worth a try!  

THE START LINE
What if a race partnered with a well established women's organization to help grow female and non-binary participation at that race specifically with scholarships, training opportunities and childcare assistance? Sounds pretty great. The Women of The Wasatch has partnered with the Speedgoat 50k to do just that. They are calling it The Start Line and I will be watching to see how it goes. Since Speedgoat is part of the UTMB family of races, it would be great if it works to see partnerships like this expand to more races all over. 

CROWDSOURCING PRIZE PURSES
A few weeks ago, at the Black Canyon Ultras by Aravaipa, the race directors gave money for podium prizes and then opened up a fund for spectators and fans to contribute to the prize. It seems intriguing as a way to up the prize money for a race, but also, bummer it has to come to this where brands and race directors aren't paying these prizes. Then there was this article talking about this structure more in depth and it hadn't occurred to me that trail running spectators aren't buying tickets like many sports and maybe the spectators do want to give something to up the stakes for athletes. 

A long time ago I went dog sledding in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was very cold so the conditions were fast and we traveled 30 miles in three hours. The dogs howled in delight when we harnessed them for the sleds. We had a lead musher and three sleds of total newbies in teams of two, wide eyed, ready for anything. There were just two rules we were expected to follow (the dogs knew what to do, so really, the bar for the humans was low).

RULE #1- Don't let go! One person was driving the sled from behind and no matter how thick your gloves or what was happening, you were expected to hang on.  
RULE #2- Run uphill to take weight off the sled and help the team. Also, see rule #1 and while sprinting uphill, DO NOT LET GO. 

So basically, you are getting a fun ride, weeee and then you have to break into a sprint while holding your arms extended if you start going uphill. Not the most ideal for cold muscles, but it was good fun. I feel like winter running needs the same rules as dog sledding. It is easy to skip runs when it is dark and dumping rain. Don't let go (of your plan, of your training partners, of your goals!) 
And make sure you are helping your team. Take some weight off for someone and everyone can run a little easier. 

LOW EXPECTATIONS
"High standards, low expectations" Broze medalist in the marathon, Molly Seidel, on her transition to trails and her thoughts in advance of the Black Canyon 100k which she raced last weekend and earned a Golden Ticket into Western States on her first attempt. Her thoughts on her high standards for her racing and training yet expecting nothing. "I will work as long as it takes." - full video here. 

Did you see the TWO wins by Italian Alpine ski racer, Frederica Brignone. Just 10 months prior to the Olympic games on her home soil, she suffered a crash that she estimated would take two years to recover. “And in the end, I wanted to prove to myself that I would be able to come back from something that really felt impossible to do. Sometimes when you want something so badly, it doesn’t happen. But it’s when you stop or when you want something, but not in that almost unhealthy way that it comes. I mean, I was just happy to be here, and I wasn’t trying to win gold." - full article here.

RUNNING NEWS

• No one finished the Barkley Marathons this year. Also, reconciling the racist underpinnings of the Barkley. 
• At the Black Canyon 100k, the women's winner ran 7:41 pace (for SIXTY-TWO MILES) to win, setting a new course record and blowing my mind. Full results. 
• Sometimes it takes 13 years to get your Olympic medal. That stings, especially when almost half of the competitors in your race were found doping. 

NON-RUNNING BUT ALL GOOD FEELS

• The Track is a movie about training for the luge in post-war Bosnia on a crumbling track left behind from the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics. All the feels. 
• Guess this sport. "Some type of a ath-thlon. Is there a finish line?" 
• I present skijoring. 

JOIN ME AND GET STRONG
Join me on Wednesday night for Strength Training for Runners. Live to your screen and always free. Stay home, get strong. 30 minutes and chats about nothing afterwards if you want. 

Today I had a vision for a group run where the fastest runners did loops around the slowest and the front of the pack came back periodically to check on those behind. The slower runners could hand out treats, enticing the others to check back in. You start and finish together and everyone gets their workout in just how they want it, but no one runs alone. Oh wait, this is just me running with my dog right now. She gets in her intervals, I go steady state. She checks back for treats, I always provide. Dogs invented the perfect group run! 

LIVE TOMORROW
Join me on tomorrow and on Wednesday nights for Strength Training for Runners. Live to your screen and always free. Stay home, get strong. Class is 30 minutes, bring your weights. 

OLYMPICS
In case you are feeling meh on the Olympics or just need some human interest to get you warmed up, here are some fun stories including winning a medal and your toddler stealing the spotlight. Or check out this video about speed skater Bittany Bowe and her coach Renee Hildebrand that had me in tears. Also, women can FLY! And here is a fun fact, the highest paid winter Olympian is a woman. Read how Eileen Gu became the highest-paid winter Olympic athlete. 

BUT DON'T LET ME BURY THE LEAD! Trail runner Anna Gibson tried skimo for the first time in December and now is a medal hopeful. She grew up skiing and is a professional trail runner, but wow, what a story. "An accumulation of talent and a disregard for limits."


THAT HALF TIME SHOW!!! (YOUR A$$ IS GRASS): 

• If you haven't watched the Super Bowl Half Time Show with Bad Bunny, I urge you to take 13 minutes and feel the JOY in resistance!
• Big yes to this great use of Strava!
• Job of a lifetime. Be between 5'7" and 6'. Marching band experience. Can keep a secret. 

BULLYING OF FEMALE COACHES
A new survey of 2,000 coaches in the UK found 30% of women had experienced bullying in coaching environments, compared with 15% of men. "Women also reported higher levels of harassment, with 21% saying they had experienced it compared with 12% of men, while they also faced more aggression or violence." "The study found the perpetrators of harassment of women coaches are mostly fellow coaches, while aggression and intimidation most often came from parents." This is not surprising but so disappointing. I feel lucky to not exist in a work culture where I feel bullied. BUT I am double disappointed that the conclusion is, "If sport wants a coaching workforce fit for the future, it must put clear anti-misogyny policies in place, backed by training, to tackle harmful behaviors and the structures and cultures that allow inequality to persist." People needing a training to not be a bully to women, feels especially sad and likely not to make a change. Ugh. Let's all go hug a coach right now. 

​Hi all,

This week I am getting together with friends to do a DIY cross-country ski camp. Just us. Just fun. Just making the most of those three whole inches of snow hanging around here in Bend. I will be skiing too far for my current training and eating cookies, so no live class this week on Wednesday. Please enjoy a video from the archives and don't skip out on strength. 

HELPING IN MINNESOTA AND BEYOND
Here is a link to how runners are helping in Minnesota and beyond in case you need ideas on how to engage or need a way to feel part of a positive wave of energy from fellow runners and race organizations. 

REDEFINING REST
"Rest isn’t only what happens at night. It’s also what happens in the five minutes between meetings, between rounds, and between sets. If you can’t rest in small doses, you’re forced to rely on big resets. Those are expensive, inconsistent, and harder to access when life gets loud." From Redefining Rest. Why Rest isn't Stillness by Robert Wilson. I think he was writing the part about rest happening in the five minutes between meetings for ME! I know I am totally terrible at giving myself one second of quiet in a transition and by the end of an afternoon I have checked Instagram eight times too many, played a third of a podcast and started three new emails and feel like my brain is FRIED. I think micro rest is the thing I didn't know I needed! 

RESPONDING TO STRESS
This podcast asks, "In this tense environment, how do we show up as athletes, as members of our community, as our best and healthiest selves?" The episode includes tips on how to navigate the complexities of wanting to help without feeling performative or overwhelmed, and how to effectively engage in difficult conversations without shame or guilt.

VOLUNTEER
Another way to respond to stress is to be a part of the community and spend time outside. And a great way to be a part of the running community is to volunteer at a race. You can be outside, meet new people, cheer on people doing something hard and it feels great. Check out the race calendar for Go Beyond Racing, they need volunteers at all the races and if you want to volunteer at a race where I will be, you can pick the Mountain Lakes 100. I will be at the Clackamas Ranger Station all night long, so come hang out!