Dad's Death and Deciding Not to Run.

CAPITOL PEAKS 50 MILES

I signed up, and I planned to  go.  My FIRST 50 miler !!
I know I did the training. Threw in a couple of 3.5-4 hr doubles, and two training 50Kms. Studied the maps, even packed my bag.
But,

Then 'life' happened. Or should I say death- my father passed away suddenly a couple of weeks ago and I just got back from his funeral.  4-500 people showed up !  (pic of line up after arena full on the right-->)

 he was a big volunteer in a small community. Countless years for Jr hockey, and even had a world professional bullriding event (that he organized locally) dedicated to his name! I love him dearly and am still processing what just happened.

Needless to say, the last week had too few miles, too many tears, too many buffets, and too many glasses of wine.  Nice prep for a 50 miler  wouldn't you say?
On the positive side,  preparing for this run was a nice distraction but   I was hoping it would be  some kind of healing/ pilgrammage/ or life answer from this event.  
However , I was lacking my key ingredients  for my runs; "Fun" and 'Drive". Yup, no sense of 'ha ha' here, and  definately exhausted. Every day is kind of a haze.   I am expecting this 'frump'  is just a part of my 'stages of loss' and I will deal with it and move on. I hope.

Luckily there are a lot of races out there, so I will eventually get back on that horse and charge forward!

I end with an inspiring quote I came across today:

"SOMEBODY OUGHT TO TELL US , RIGHT AT THE START OF OUR LIVES, THAT WE ARE DYING. THEN WE MIGHT LIVE OUR LIFE TO THE LIMIT EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY. DO IT, I SAY, WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO, DO IT NOW! "
-- MICHAEL LANDON  (died age 54 of pancreatic cancer)


Heather

Sucking it up at CHUCKANUT 2011

This entry is a bit late... Chuckanut was in March.  But then I was busy with 'life events'. Plus, I got a new video camera just before the race and had to figure out the software.

Hot tip: Learn how to use your new camera BEFORE using it on a race. It was probably dangerous fiddling with the buttons while running along a ridge and a technical trail. Oh well,  I lived.

Chuckanut was to be a 'training race' for my running friends in preparation for Capitol Peaks 50 mile. Unfortunately, I had a miserable cold, but I sucked it up and in the end  the misery of the cold  was offset by such a beautiful day and a wonderful race!  Funny, I drank a LOT of water, and it all seemed to fall out of my nose... by the end of the run my sinus's were clear !!

 Hope this choppy video sums it up:

I was so happy to meet up with one of my training partners at the end.  We agreed not to  have a 'race sprint' against each other to the finish line, (to save ourselves for the next race).  We pushed forward, for a nice, easy cruise across the finish line together... awwww.. Thats what friends are for :-)

And now, I have to prepare for an 80 K (50 mile).... I'm afraid, very afraid......

Heather