Miles to Go Before I Sleep: Rachel's Ultra Blog

Holiday Lake 50k++ 2012 Race Report: The "++" means more speed.

2012-02-14T11:54:00.000-08:00

Well, since I haven’t written anything since Masochistbecause of one reason or another – usually physics homework – I’ll start off bysaying that the two months after Masochist didn’t go too well for me. Since Iran so great (for me) at MMTR, I decided that I was good to go after 4..er…3days of recovery time. My legs felt fine! But I during my 5 mile victory runthat Wednesday, donning my MMTR Finisher PataGucci shirt, I finally discoveredwhat that mysterious thing called IT Band is…and it kept reminding me of itsexistence for the following 2 months. I was in pain. The pain weaned and waxed,like phases of the moon… except not pretty. I was lucky enough to be in good shape nearingHellgate, where I paced MMTR buddy Anthony to the finish from Bearwallow Gap,about 24 miles. But after a spur-of-the-moment 19ish mile AT run with somefriends the next day, my leg was done, and I knew I was going to have to listento it this time. Luckily I was about to head home to The Flat Land of MathewsCounty for a month. In Mathews, running is boring and you often get asked “Areyou lost? Do you need a ride to town?” by its natives who have not yet heard ofthis newfangled thing called Physical Activity. They assume that this scrawnysweaty mess of a girl running on the side of the road must either by lost,crazy, or both. So I started doing yoga and momentarily lost all motivation to run.Why would I ever want to run? How on earth did I do MMTR? That wasn’t me….orwas it? Then I caught the PLAGUE!!! No, not The Plague, just the most terribleflu ever known to mankind ever. So for two weeks I hobble around the swampymarsh that I call Home in a cold sweat surviving off chia seeds and turnipgreens, because that’s all I could keep down. I seriously lost all motivation.A 4 mile run in the park that I always considered “hilly” (until my arrival toBlacksburg) felt like the most challenging thing ever. Then…there was thequestion of Holiday Lake. Would I run it? Why would I want to run 2 uninspiringlaps around a flat lake? But all my friends were running it…should I just goahead and use it as training? I decided almost FOR SURE that I wasn’t going tosign up for Holiday Lake because it was stressing me out just thinking aboutit! It was just toooo close to properly train for. But my mom said that at thispoint training wasn’t what my body needed. It needed rest. And you know what?As per usual, my mom was right.

I sent in my registration forHoliday Lake the day I moved back in to my dorm room for spring semester. Myparents and I went by the post office and bought a stamp, and that was that.All I wanted was the finishers shirt so I could do LUS this year and never haveto run around the lake ever again. Just kiddingJ of course I will do HLagain. I mainly tried to just get a good long run in every Saturday, andrunning with fast friends from triathlon definitely got some speed back in me.What else is there to do for training?

We had asizable group of Hokie’s show at HL, including undergrads like myself and gradstudents, which was very nice. One thing I love about Horton’s races is thatyou always get dinner and a show! Andthis time, a heated cabin! This is a five-star ultra if there ever was one.After a restless nights sleep, the morning came dark and early. Thankfully, itwasn’t very cold (compared to Blacksburg) so I broke out the shorts and just a long-sleevedshirt. The start was crowded, and after a big Hokie Hi cheer, the countdownbegan.

The firstlap was very mental for me. I am used to having long climbs up mountains anddense forests with wild flowers and waterfalls, just me and my thoughts, trying to cross thefinishline within the time limit, and Holiday Lake is very different from that.I was not at all used to running so much! I knew once we got off the pavementit was going to be a race for me. I tried to pace myself since I knew we hadplenty of extra-long Horton Miles (the best kind of miles) ahead of us, but I washaving trouble slowing down. I tried to remember the last time I actually raced…2010,at the state championship for cross country my senior year. That was a race. Andby the time we got to the first aid station at HL it would have been over. Mymy, how times have changed. Well anyways, once the sun came out the day turnedout to be pristine running weather, with a high around 40ish and partly cloudy.I felt okay, my form was a little off and I had a weird pain in my left quad,but around mile 8 or 10 I was finally warmed up and had worked all the kinksout. I had come to terms with the fact that I’d be racing, and decided I coulddo it. I could race. It was on.

So I finallyfelt better, and picked up the pace. I’d run through the turn around since I didn’tneed anything, and caught up with Jamie Darling, one of the nicest runners atthese races. She was near my friend Jan from Tech, so we all chatted for a bit.She said I was definitely on pace to get closer to 5 hours than 5:30, which wasmy new time goal. So I started going faster…and finally got that runners high I’mso fond of, and really started racing the clock. With 6 miles to go, my calves,hamstrings, and feet started to hurt. They were a little confusing as to why I wasmaking them work so quickly. I wanted to walk, but the course didn’t give me areason to walk! I took an S!Cap, and it made my fatigued muscles a littlehappier, but they were still hurting so I just kept telling myself that thepain meant I was doing it rightJ I was getting my monies worth. When I got to thelast aid station, I got this idea in my head that I could break 5 hours. My mindwas definitely in for it, it was just a matter of how fast I could make my legsgo. After another few miles, I caught up to my friend Guy Love, and he told me wewere on pace to break 5. I couldn’t believe it!!! So I kept going faster andfaster and felt amazing, and next thing I knew we had 1 mile to go, and I had 9minutes to do it in to get under 5 hours! When I got out on the road, I knew itwas in the bag. My body coasted on down the road, and there was Horton standingunder the race banner. I crossed the finishline, 11^th female, andthe clock read 4:58:05. I got a big happy hug from Horton, which made runningabout 33 of the 33.26 miles worth it, and got my finishers shirt. How’d he knowthat lime green is my favorite color?!

Rachel ran fast. Er. Than usual.

The idea of breaking 5 hours never even crossed my mind. Itjust happened. The only thing I wanted to do at Holiday Lake was have a funweekend with my friends, just out there running around the woods. Well, I gotthat, and more! I’m still not sure what happened out there, but wherever itwas, I hope it happens again. Running ultras in the mountains will always beabout going on an epic adventure, pushing your body to the limit and enjoyingthe beautiful wilderness – my natural habitat – in a way that is more rewardingthan you can ever imagine. I feel most comfortable doing that. After HolidayLake, it looks like I can...competitively...enjoy my home. How weird is that?!
I woke up Sunday a little sore, mostly in my lower back,feet, and shoulders, and went for a walk to get things loosened up. Yesterday,Monday, I felt almost completely better. But having learned my lesson fromMMTR, I decided to just kickboard around the pool for a while than to run 5miles. Maybe a short jaunt today (Tuesday).
I’ve never been the fast girl. Not a track, not a crosscountry, not at test-taking in school. I’m not even sure if I can considermyself fast now. But man, it’s the quickest I’ve ever been! Luckily, it is atsomething I truly love doing. Coming back to my dorm room after a fantastic,perfect weekend of running is a culture shock for me (and for the girls in myresidence hall for that matter), but it’s more incentive to get out of thisbuilding and on to the trail and reinforces how much I truly love running trailultras and being around the people who run them. My 2012 year of ultras couldnot have gotten off to a better start, and hopefully the rest of LUS followssuit. Who knows what could happen this year?! Apparently I can run fastish, and there is no doubt in my mind that I love running ultras.
Thanks, Horton, for a fantastic event! Also thanks to thegirls from the tri team for coming with us to cheer us onJ
See ya at Terrapin!

Mountain Masochist Trail Run 2011 Race Report: My First 50 miler, and My Best Race EVER

2011-11-13T19:20:00.001-08:00

Before Promise Land, totally freaked

I had been anticipating November 5^thsinceI left the finish line of Promise Land 50k++ in April. Promise Land was my first ultramarathon –I had never even done a marathon before– and I was only 16 years old then. However….November came faster than I expected.I guess between graduating high school, getting ready for college, running afew fat-ass 50ks with VHTRC, turning 17, and moving into college, the summermonths slip away quickly. But through all the rushing, Masochist was still aprominent item on my mind. It was to be my first 50 MILER! Training was a formof relaxation, a way to easy my mind about starting college, and it turns outtelling people you run ultras is a great conversation starter when you findyourself living in a foreign place with 30,000 strangers such as Virginia Tech.My training was going swimmingly, especially since Blacksburg offers the kindof terrain one needs to train on for such races, as opposed to Mathews County,where the highest point is about 6 feet above sea level. I’d hooked up with thetriathlon team after meeting several of its members at Terrapin Mountain thisMarch. Having them as training partners for the last few months was perfectsince they CAN in fact run up mountains. Being the most stubborn person on the planet,I decided I would not allow myself to concede to the steep inclines we foundourselves running every day. So instead of listening to my lungs and legs(which I swear I actually HEARD crying and screaming for me to stop, what wasthis flatlander, swamplander, doing runningup the mountain???) Two months later I could finally haul my sorry-self upthe mountains around here and my biggest long run on my training schedule – the last 30 miles ofGrindstone – felt great. However, things took a turn for the worst 2 weeks outfrom MMTR. I was on a long run with two friends from the tri team and I hit arock and completely whipped out on the trail. I hit my knee on a rock, but Ijust got up and kept going. It was talking to me a little, but nothing toopainful. Just as the pain started to subside, I fell AGAIN and hit the sameknee, same location, on a rock AGAIN. This time it was hurting bad…but Ifinished the last 6 miles of our 15 mile run before looking at it. Long storyshort, I think I only ran twice the two weeks before MMTR. It wasn’t the notrunning that I was worried about. I’d been training for this race since May. Itwas the fact that my knee felt like someone was constantly hitting it with ahammer and that it was swollen and didn’t want to bend that was bothering me. Justwalking around campus was a painful task. But thankfully, by Friday the 4th itfinally felt okay. Ish. It wasn’t swollen as much and I was walking relativelynormally. And my legs were now fresh after my two week running hiatus! Soanyways, at 4:30pm I hopped in the car with three buds from the tri team – oneof whom was also running MMTR, and two working at aid stations – and we set offfor the Kirkley hotel.

When we got therearound 6:30pm I was warmly greeted by my best friends who I had not seen sincewe all left for different colleges in August. MMTR was to be our reunionJMy mom – an ultra runner as well – was also there with my grandmother. It wasso great to see them! We all went into the ballroom for the pre-race dinner.You could sense that every runner in there was a little anxious in anticipationthe next morning. But the veggie lasagna was so good it made me forget about mynerves! So then Clark and Horty got started with the prerace briefing andraffle, were I was first scared to death that they were going to have to cutout Apple Orchard Falls at Promise Land and then made quite happy by scoringsome sweet Teko socks! So it was a good dinner, saw a lot of friendly faces andcaught up with lots of people that I hadn’t seen in months. After the dinner, Ispent the night catching up with my best friends, sharing hilarious storiesabout our college experiences so far. I guess we headed back to the room around10:30pm, where my mother and grandmother were, and got my drop bag (containingsome extra Perpetuem Solids, S! Caps, and socks), CamelBak, clothes, and shoesready for the morning. My anxiety and nerves finally subsided around 11:30pmand I drifted off to sleep. And 4.5 hours later, our alarm went off at 4am. Itwas probably the best night’s sleep I’d gotten since leaving for college inAugust.

Before MMTR, totally pumped!!!

I was so anxiousgetting ready I kept forgetting what I was doing...but I did remember to getsome coffee! I never really eat before a race that starts in the morning, but sincewe had to be up so soon before the start, I did stomach half the ClifBar thatwas in my bag. My mom helped get me set to go, and at 4:43am I kissed my lovedones goodbye and got to the bus just in time. I had a seat to myself, and letme tell you, I was so nervous. I had no clue how my knee was going to feel,just that I had done everything I could do for it. Eventually when I realized Iwas not going to catch a little more sleep like I had hoped for, me and somepeople around me struck up some conversation in the usual ultrarunner form:have you done this race before? How many 50’s have you done? Have you heard of*insert race here* before? Which are always fun things to talk about! We gotthe start line with an hour to twiddle and toil away getting pumped/nervousabout the start. It was still dark outside, and the stars were beautiful. I metsome more cool people just hanging out on the bus because who would want tostand outside in the 25 degree early morning darkness just getting cold beforethe start? Not this runner! The bus was so nice and warm! But eventually thetime came to peal myself out of the warmth and safety of the bus and step intothe bracingly cold mountain air. It was time to start. Oh goodness. A quicktrip to the portapotty and I was heading over to the start area (littlesecret…I had no clue where the start line was! I just went to the big crowd ofpeople dressed like me!).

Crossing some water like a boss

Iremember at Grindstone when I was at the TWOT lot aid station anticipating thearrival of my runner, Horton was talking to us about what it’s like to run a100. He compared it to eating an elephant: you approach it thinking, “How am Igoing to eat this?!” but you just keep taking small bites out of it, and atsome point you come to realize that you don’t have that much left and that youcan in fact eat the entire elephant! Well, since I didn’t know if I could evenrun or not, as I approached what I assumed to be the start line I told myself Ionly had half an elephant to eat! I could do that, no problem! I felt good andawake and the air was so cold I couldn’t feel my knee at all…so I said tomyself, “Welp, here goes nothing!” with a big smile on my brain. All I had todo was finish in 11:59:59 to be the youngest MMTR finisher ever. Then the packof runners started moving, and we were off like a glacier! We had a long waysto go, no need for speed yet! I ran (hey! I could still run with relativelyminimal pain in my knee! Good sign!) the first couple of miles with a friendfrom Virginia Happy Trails, Bob Clouston. We’d run/gotten lost on the trailtogether at a few fat-ass 50ks over the summer. So things were going well! Theroad section lasted a little longer that I thought it would, but I kept tellingmyself to enjoy it now because things were going to get tougher later. And Iwas right. But we’ll get to that later. So then, lets seeee….We finally got tothe woods! The sun rise was beautiful and revealed a perfectly cloudless sky.More good signs! My friends from triathlon team were at one of the aid stationsat this point and it was good to show a familiar face that I was feeling goodand strong. Then Sophie Spidel and Marlin Yoder caught up to me and my pack,which now included my friend from Tech that I crewed at Grindstone, and Ithought “Um….and I running too fast? Should I be next to Marlin and Sophieright now?” But I felt fine! So we stayed with them and chatted for a bit ofthat first fire road then they of course took off because they’re such amazingrunners and we’re looking like they were on their A-Game. I was just running,enjoying the morning and the beautiful mountains and considering what it wasgoing to be like to run 20 miles further than I had ever run before... It wasgoing to be awesome. That’s what I concluded. So then I snapped back intoreality as we rolled our way into the next aid station, a crew access point!And I heard my mom shouting my name a hundred yards back from it! We had tocross a little water to get there, so I took the opportunity to pretend like Iknew what I was doing and crossed it looking super-hard-core (that’s what Itold myself anyways), which was awesome and reminded me of how surprisinglygood I felt! It was awesome and I snagged a quick hug from my friends and momand grandmother and handed off a layer I’d taken off. Then I left and headed upthe mountain. I recall just climbing fire road for much of the time betweenthen and the halfway point, which claims to be miles 26.9 but is more like 28Jfrom what I’ve been told! It makes no different to me. I had hooked on to twomen who were keeping a good up-hill-power-walking pace, which I am a big fanof. So we talked our way through it, and eventually got to half way. I wasstarting to hurt…a lot…but that just meant I was doing it right! I remembercoming into the station before the climb to halfway and seeing my friends fromtriathlon which was very nice! They helped fill my pack back up (just to besafe) and informed me that I was “crushing it” which was very reassuring of myability to finish!!! So yea…we climbed to the halfway from there. I was keepinga good pace and was done with the first half in 5 hours and 10 minutes on thenose. Very promising. I wasn’t going to let myself get bogged down and loosetime at the aid station. I had it planned: change socks, take advil for knee,grab pb&j, and GO! And that’s just what I did with the assistance of mycrew (oh my this report is getting loooonnngg…but it was such a great race Iwant to share it with everyone! 54 miles is a lot to write about!) and then just caught up to the guys I’d beenrunning with and get kept climbing. 27 miles down. The real race was about tostart.

TheRocky Music Aid Station could not have been at a better time. That climb up themountain was rough and relentless (good! That’s what the elevation profilepromised me! And I like it when things keep their promise especially when itinvolves running in the woods!). I guess if I’m going to peg a section where Iwasn’t doing well mentally, the climb out of half way was it. It’s just hit me how far I was actuallyrunning, and the pain in my lower back was growing and growing and my knee wasstarting to feel it…but talking with Christian and Donnie was definitely a bighelp. You just gotta talk your way through sometimes! But from this station(pb&js, potatoes, and fresh fruit along with Hammer nutrition are the bestfood during a 50 ever, just gotta say that) we started trotting down themountains we were now on top of to remind our bodies what running was likeafter those 6 or 8 miles of climbing. Then I got all warmed up again and wasfeeling great! Not like I’d already run 30ish miles or anything! I was so happythat I felt good. I have no idea how I was doing so well mentally. Now, letsget to the loop. The infamous loop that so many runners have grievances with. Igot to the loop (after seeing my crew again before it! Woooooo! Love thosepeoples!!!) 1 hour and 15 minutes from cut-off. So we’d lost some time climbing8 miles. Who would have thunk?! Haha. But the point here is that… I LOVED THELOOP!!! It was so fun!!!! I want a shirt that says “I LOVE THE LOOP AT MOUNTAINMASOCHIST TRAIL RUN” because it is awesome!!! It’s so pretty and a nice breakfrom the fire roads and I just had a really good experience with the loop. Iran it in an hour and three minutes. And felt good coming out of it! So I flewout of it like I’d just won the whole entire race and then I was off down themountain. How on EARTH was I feeling so good?!?! I had been telling myself thatif I could just make it through the 30s I would have no problem finishing. Ihad made it through the 30s. It was in the bag (I hoped). I had lost my two newfriends on the loop, but I had to take it where I could, and I was feeling sogood (just so good! I still can’t getover how good I felt!) I just had to take it. I still walked the up hills, butI was running strong the rest! Anyways, I just remember pushing it(relatively!) into 40 miles. 6 miles further than I had ever run. Whoa. And wasfeelin good, but I did have to take some more advil for my knee. It was hurtingbad at this point, but I wasn’t letting it get to me because mentally andmostly physically I was just in such a good place! I was literally smilingwhile I was running. I think I was just soooo happy to be running! After 2weeks! It was a rough too weeks, not going to lie, I thought I may never beable run again, especially with all the stress from college and moving out ofmy dorm room (a very unfriendly/uninviting place to endurance athletes, i.e.going to bed at10:30pm, eating healthy organic foods, very structured, wakingup at 6:30am, not to mention someone who has just turned 17 years of age, etc….)and moving into a new residence hall that was more inviting to people like me(small, all girls, very academic focused, CLEAN, quiet, etc..). I was finallyin my natural habitat out there on the trail, pushing myself farther than ever,and was loving every step of it. I felt like Rachel Corrigan again, and waseating that trail up. Climbing up to mile 40 something from mile 40 something,I talked with a man who had just finished Grindstone and was going for theBeast Series. How impressive and inspirational! I hope one day I can run a 102miler, then the next month run a 54 miler. We stayed together until after theaid station that only had 8 miles left, and I bid him good luck and muchrespect. Next thing I knew I only had 4miles to go…how was this amazingadventure almost over?! I wanted more! But more than I wanted more, I wanted tofinish under 10:30! I checked my watch, and seeing as how I had 45 minutes torun the last 3.9/4 miles…I knew I could do it. I was going to finish under10:30, and time my awesome mom had proposed to me as my finishing time about amonth ago, before I hurt my knee. I thought maybe on my A-game, my A++++and-some-extra-credit-game, I could do that. 10:30 is a damn impressive time,and I was now going to do it. At least that! So when I was at 4 miles to go atthe aid station, feeling like I was flying on cloud 9, in a complete state ofbliss and at harmony with nature again, I confirmed that it was less than 4 togo, grabbed an orange slice and chugged some Mtn Dew for a quick caffeineboost, and just said to the aid station workers, “I’m just gonna go for it.Thanks for being here!” And took off. What else was there to do?! Let’s break10:30!!!! So I just started sprinting (meaning 8/7:30 minute miles. Afterrunning 50 miles, an 8/7:30 minute mile is a freaking sprint). I kept passingpeople too! What was I doing?! I was just so happy! Loving every second I hadrun and was running just thankful beyond belief that I am capable of running inthe woods! I thanked God for giving me the gift that running is, for the treesand fresh air that I was breathing in. I just kept passing people and reelingpeople in to catch then next thing I knew I looked down because I saw pinkrocks, and as a geophysics major it interested me (pink rocks?), but when Ilooked at them I saw it said “1 MILE TO GO” OMG ONE MILE!!! WHAAAAT!? (< Iactually said that out loud with a huge smile on my face) And then that’s whenI really did sprint. I checked my watch and saw that if I ran a 7 minute mile Iwould get 10:20. 10:20! So I took off, on the road, and next thing I knew I sawthe finish. I heard my mom yelling through all the crowd noise! I heard my bestfriends! I heard Horton! I took off, full on sprint!!! And then I was done!!!!!I looked at the clock and saw 10:20:04 as I crossed the line!!!!!!! Clark gaveme a high five and with a big sigh I was done. On an endorphine high like noother. Horton gave me a hug and said something along the lines of “Good jobgirl! Wow! Impressive!” In a matter of seconds I was surrounded my by mom, bestfriends, grandmother, and triathlon team friends. I got my finishers shirt, that sweet, sweeeeeet finishers shirt. I had finished my first 50+miler, 9200 ft up and 7200 ft down, in 10 hours and 20 minutes with a bum right knee and was now the youngestMMTR finisher ever. What a day! I was in shock of my performance, and felt better than I had felt in a long long time, both mentally and physically. My muscles were throbbing, but relaxed. My mind was finally at easy, and I was truely happy.

Done:) with my mom!

I had just run the best race of my life so far. Better than cross country in high school. Better than Promise Land (althoug that race will always be my favorite:) ). MMTR = best race I'd ever run. I'd never felt so good.

MMTR taught me so muchabout running ultras. I know my body can do it, I know that that achy stabbingpain in my hips and lower back will eventually subside if I just keep onrunning. Now, I know I’m faster than I thought, and a lot stronger. I know Ican take 2 weeks off and still be able to cover 54 miles in the mountains, and pull of a 7:04 mile at the end. Andabove all else, I know that running ultras is what I love. I love everythingabout it. When I’m out on the trail, in the woods, just running and running,everything - mind and body - feels like it’s in its rightful place. It makes me happy! I havebeen in a really rough patch with my first semester of college, and there’s alot of uncertainty in my future. MMTR reset everything. I know that wheneverything feels like it’s in shambles, I will always have trail running thereto fall on. I wish I could get my undergraduate degree in running ultras!Alright, I think I’ve written enough. Time to go sign up for anotherultramarathonJ See ya at Holiday Lake!!

"MMTR Legs"

with my FINISHERS SHIRT!! and my BFFS:)

Don't worry! Be happy!!!

2011-11-12T10:20:00.001-08:00

The core of my college experience so far has been determined by one factor: my physics class. And how much sleep I have gotten. Two factors: physics and sleep. And coffee. Three factors! (anyone out there get the Holy Grail reference? Eh? Eh? See what I did there?) Not to sound like a big baby wining about classes being hard and not getting enough sleep, but I'm about to sound like a big baby and whin about not getting enough sleep. Rachel may have met her maker, ladies and gentlemen. Thats right, I can not sleep for a whole day and then run the last 30ish miles of Grindstone 100 miler, but put me in front of a word problem in which I have to fine the final tangential acceleration of a particle and I literally break down into tears. I don't know what physics is. I don't know what it's asking me to find and goodness me I do not know how to find it. Even after studying for 7 hours for a single exam.

I have come to terms with my shortcoming. I am not good at physics. So what?! I'm only 17. I'm glad I've found out what I'm not good at now, so I have plenty of time to find out what I really am good at! I know I am good at chemistry and marine science and environmental science. Kinda. Oh well! Why waste my time worrying about physics when I am so good at many other things and have my whole life ahead of me to find out what I need to be?!

One thing I know that I AM really good at is running ultramarathons. What else do I need in life besides running through the beautiful woods, having loving family and friends, and doing marine geology research?

I my dream world right now, I am living a humble, incredibly comfortable life in a log cabin, making my living off of running ultras and being a marine geologist. It's wonderful:) I love it. If I had it my way, I would really be a sponsored ultra runner.

Based on my performance at MMTR, this dream may one day become a reality.

Mountain Masochist Race Report to come...

Life is often a vicious circle...

2011-09-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

As my first month of a full-fledge college student comes to a close, many patters of my way of living has become increasing apparent. For example, I tend to leave things sitting about in my room for a long time before I do anything with them (i.e., books, clothes, dirt, rocks, the essentials). I have approximately 3 dozen rock samples, from olivine to k-feldspar, strewn across my desk from my geology field trip last weekend that I have still not arranged into a fashionable display. But should I? No one is going to haphazardly find themselves wandering around that particular corner of the hall and decide to break into my room to admire my new rock collection. Atleast, I hope not. Anothing aspect of my personality that has risen from the deep dark abyss that is my soul is my tendence to wake up at 6:30 every morning and go running. Blacksburg is so beautiful in the morning, with the Appalachians on one side and the Alleghanys on the other, that someone ought to admire it's sunrise, the fog lifting out of the valley. I'm simply trying to fill it's position.
I have also notcied that I'm "cute." This was brought to my attention on my first night at college. All the girls in my hall and I were "hanging out" (this term makes me squeemish, because I personally prefer for all my body parts to be secure) and suddenly the question, which they all asumed was to be proven rhetorical, of "do you drink?" was being passed around. I literally knocked the wind out of them when I replied with a firm, proud "No." Is it that uncommon? I'm only 17, for goodness sake. There are so many other thing to be doing. So anyways, they asked what I do on the weekends. So I told them that on Saturday's I am either at a race with my mom, or on a long run. Then they asked me what I race. So I told them my mom and I run ultramarathons. Then they asked me what that was and so on a so forth yadda yadda yadda they decided I'm Cute. What kind of cute, I wonder...
I hope it's not this kind of cute...

This poor kitten is often used as a "cute" reference, however, I know on the inside that this kitten in miserable, being dressed up as a pig. Who's dememted idea was this?????

Well, they could call me other things! I shall be content with cute, whatever the context.

I wonder if I will be "cute" pacing people at Grindstone 100 next weekend. Hm. Something to write about next time!

Back to the point. My obsessive tendencies do surface at the most convenient of times. And my convenient I mean "at a time convenient for them and often times for my physical wellbeing, while at other times at convenient times for me yet often detremental to my physical wellbeing." This is what is refered to as a symbiotic relationship. Take two Saturdays ago, for example. I woke up at 6, realized I had no one to go for a long run with, so I fell back asleep until 9:30, and decided to go run this paved trail twice, which would be a 24 mile long run. A nice distance. However, I was having a bit of a mental breakdown, so the first 6 miles consisten of my running quite fast in order to get my brain to stop thinking about school stress. Thus, I ran it in 3 hours and 30 minutes, a SUPERB time for me, but I supressed all my emotions yet again. But that's just "how I roll."

So in conclusion, My Obsessive Behavior is working quite well here at college. And by quite well I mean that I am essentially the same Rachel that was dumped off at Virginia Tech on my birthday (Aug. 20th) to move in. ), inside and out. I hope. I get stressed, so I run, then I get stressed again, so I run some more, and so on. But I never get stressed about running. The trails are always there for me. I wonder how some students get by without running..and by some I mean about all...So I have a race scheduled every month/other month from here until the end of this year:) just to keep my mental sanity in balance.

Can you see Mountain Masochist out there?! I can! Almost only 1 month until I scorch the trails at my first 50 miler!

Until next time, I hope many wonderful adventures cross your path, and my path.