how to find the "she devil"

me at the top of Holy Jim durning the Saddlleback Marathon

thanks to George and Gabor, i have been able to locate my inner "she devil". so if you would like to find your own, here is how to do it...

first, put in a hard 16 mile run on Friday...

i had decided on 15 miles but Gabor said "not good enough" with his Hungarian lilt. (can't you hear it?) so i decided 20 miles or 4 hours which ever came first. i started out behind my house with a climb that took an hour and then i hooked up to the plateau. a beautiful but hard day of heat training. i called my husband to check in and he said that it was 94 degrees in Murrieta. i could feel the heat bouncing off the ground as i ran through the dirt. echoing in my ears i could hear George telling me about the canyons that i would be running through at States and how i will be able to feel the heat coming off the sides. it can get up to 120 degrees there. the whole 16 miles took me 4 hours and 37 minutes. it was hard and it was hot.

second, find a really long hill and do it three times....

yesterday on Saturday i ran up in the Santa Ana's with George. i have heard from a good source that this is an excellent place to train. (also includes Blue Jay and the Ortega's as i sometimes call it) did you know that the Southern California mountain ranges are different from the Sierras? they are a newer range and that makes some of the hills much shorter but steeper. so i have a few really good and hard climbs right here close by that i can train on to get me ready for the ones in which i will encounter at Sates, such as Devils Thumb and the climb to Michigan Bluff.

we started our run with a nice and short (arg!) climb of 5 miles up the Holy Jim Trail to the Main Divide and we ran the Main Divide to Horsethief Canyon. Horsethief is not easy any way you slice it. up or down, it's a real pain in the #$&&! this is a very steep set of switchbacks for a mile and a half or so. going down is hard on the feet and ankles. the rocks are plentiful and with the ground being so dry it is easy to slip on them as they move right from under your feet. i found myself slowing from a controlled prance to a walk for fear of tripping or sliding right off the edge. geeeze, it's a long way down. once to the bottom we were free to run again. and we got going pretty good too until i heard "thump" only to turn around and find George's face in the dirt. it seems to be the rule when running and a mishap occurs, to find some means to blame the mishap on. in this case it was me. i ran through a snarl of dried vines that snapped back to created a snare just in time to catch George as he ran through. i think i had a part in the poison oak on his neck too. ahhh, the dangers of running with LC.

back at the car to eat some lunch and refill our water, we had gone 14 miles. we had decided that 10 more would do. i did not want to make the climb up Holy Jim again. i really wanted to be done and take a nap. my feet and ankles were sore from coming down Horsethief and i was not happy with the slow going because i picked some trails that were a little more difficult then i am use to. but on we went. this is when they appeared. the horns on my "she devil" little head. i was angry at the cut offs that i had been studying for WS. angry and afraid that i would not make them. so i got mad at the hill. all i could think of is that i need to take these hills , grind them up and spit them back out. i don't want a hill to keep me from my WS finish. so the second time up Holy Jim was better them the first. i still had 5 miles back down to go. we were tired and dirty. Michelle told me to finish this run like i did Way Too Cool last week. and i have to say that i did the best i could. the last mile it was more a short choppy stride and i felt like i was 80 years old.

40 rough and tough miles in two days. i have been told that it is now time to crank up the volume, no kidding. what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger! Right?