25 Random Things

The current game of tag on Facebook is to share 25 Random Things about yourself. Here are mine:

1 Life is beautiful; I've been blessed with amazing people and opportunities in my life.

2 A favorite quote: Life isn't measured by the breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away. The moments that have taken my breath away have been running across a mountain top through wild flowers in the Big Horns and encountering a herd of magestic mule deer; being caught in a lightening storm in Grand Canyon and watching the lightening strike in front of me; crossing the finish lines of my 1st marathon, 1st 50 mile, 1st 100 mile into the arms of friends and family

3 My heart aches for the beauty of the places I've left behind when I've returned from a trip to the wildnerness

4 I need to be outdoors, in the woods or nature, at least twice a week

5 I've learned life is fleeting; we don't know when, or at what moment, it can be taken away. So I believe we have to try to live our best life at every moment rather than wait until_________.

6 I have learned not to judge and to look for the strengths in everyone. Non of us are perfect and to be loved despite our own faults we have to look beyond the faults of others. Besides it's our imperfections that makes us interesting and we limit ourselves once we begin to judge

7 I think forgiveness is freedom

8 I love to hear people laugh

9 I think happiness is a very individual experience. Sometimes you can be happy despite what cultural norms tell you that you should or shouldn't be happy about

10 The only downside to ultra running I've experienced is ADD; I can't often sit still more than an hour before I have to be off to something else

11 I would love to have a little cottage with a small hobby farm, animals and beautiful gardens; including a little goat driving me crazy by eating my flowers and a place for the kitty's to smell the outdoors, take in the sun, and watch the birds but not be able to get them

12 I haven't had the opportunity to be a mom, but someday I want to be a grandma

13 I also want to be one of those 70 something year olds you see out on the race course and hear people say (like I say now) "look at her, when I'm that age, I still want to be doing this too!"

14 I love animals and even have a soft spot for bugs. It's catch and release if I find a bug in my house. I will pull over my car to help a turtle across the road. I will rescue a distressed animal even if it means climbing a tree

15 I love running in the rain and when it comes to trail running sometimes the muddier the better; it's like playing. I also love to run in snowshoes when the snow is falling.

16 I love chocolate, dried cherries, red wine, port, coffee, a crackling fire, great conversation, music, nag champra, candles,hot bubble baths, fashion, thriftstoring, antiquing, cooking and decorating my home

17 After a long training run or race my favorite thing to do is put on soft, plush socks

18 I never want to stop learning or being inspired by life. It's amazing to me that each day is a new opportunity for something I never imagined.

19 I think it's important to be able to laugh at yourself, let life teach you, but don't let it make you too hard

20 I want to continue to travel the world, have adventures, and run in beautiful places

21 I love getting dressed up and going out; to dinner or dancing or spending time with friends

22 I am a 2007 National Snowshoe Champion. I won the bronze medal in my age group and occasionally win placement awards in other races that I do. By no means am I fast but I am strong and sometimes that's what it takes...that and a small field to compete against!

23 I've learned things will go wrong; have a back up plans, know when to move on, and do it gracefully

24 I feel that gifts should be given freely, without strings attached, rather than to draw attention to oneself

25 I hope that someday we will have a world without war, abuse of power, anger, hatred and cruelty. That we will all honor the beauty in each other, this world and in life.

Another Loss to the Running Community

John Tvedt passed away while training in Gullfjellet. I was lucky to recently have the opportunity to learn about John Tvedt when he friended me on Faceback. I was inspired by the photos of his remarkable adventures around the world.

Here is a litte about him:

Jon Tvedt (29 June 1966 – 11 January 2009) was a Norwegian orienteering competitor and athlete who specialized in mountain running. He died while still active in his sport.

Tvedt originally competed in orienteering. At the 1993 World Orienteering Championships in West Point, Tvedt competed in three events. He finished fourth in the short distance, jointly with Steven Hale, and eleventh in the classic distance. In the relay he finished sixth together with teammates Rolf Vestre, Håvard Tveite and Petter Thoresen. At the 1995 World Orienteering Championships in Detmold, Tvedt finished eleventh in the short distance, sixth in the classic distance and fourth in the relay together with teammates Petter Thoresen, Håvard Tveite and Bjørnar Valstad. Finally, at the 1999 World Orienteering Championships in Inverness, Tvedt finished eighth in the classic distance. His best placement in the Orienteering World Cup was a fourteenth place overall, achieved in 1996.

Tvedt later took up mountain running. He competed internationally at the European Championships in 2005 and 2007. In 2005 he finished twentieth in the individual race, and tenth in the team competition. In 2007 he finished twenty-eighth in the individual race, and thirteenth in the team competition.

In 1998 Tvedt won a silver medal at the Norwegian championship in cross-country running, behind Karl Johan Rasmussen. He represented the club FIK BFG Fana. In 1999 he had changed club to IL Gular, and won a bronze medal at the national championship, in a race won by Abderrahim Goumri. He won the inaugural Norwegian mountain running championships in 2005, ahead of Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset and Hans Martin Gjedrem of winter sports fame. Tvedt then defended his title three times.

Lean Horse 100 Mile

It's official I am registered to run the 100 mile at Lean Horse; back for round 2 of the 100 mile race! Tom and Nancy will be joining me on the trip again and Tom is willing to pace me the last 30 miles. How lucky could I be?

Running 100 miles was something I didn't think I wanted to attempt again. Especially in the middle of the night at Vermont;I promised myself then that if I finished I would never have to do it again. Well it's like all races as we get further away from them we start to say to ourselves "next time...." That's when we know that we are in trouble because we'll be back; we're planning again.

My "next time" has been figuring out my problem in the middle of the night when I literally was asleep on my feet while I was running down the road! That was one thing that I could never have predicted would happen to me. Since then I've been doing a little research and planning how I will approach it again. More protein in my intake during the day, and if it happens, rather than waste the time on the course trying to fight it I will take that nap much earlier.

At the Superior 50 mile this past year I did gain a bit of hope that I might be able to overcome the issue. It wasn't until we were on our way to the start line of the race, riding in the dark with my headlamp on my head, that I realised that I would have to face the night again. I almost had a panic attack right there but it was too late to even think about it because the bus driver told us she was not going back to where she had picked us up as she was about to drop us off at the trail head. As the day progressed on the course I began to forget about running into the night and then when it happened none of the issues was there. I was wide awake, mentally alert, feeling strong and enjoyed the change into night.

So I'm back at it, and this time is a little different, I will be running to raise funds to be donated to the American Heart Association in honor of my cousin Melissa who passed away in October. Melissa suffered a heart attack that took her life. She was only 45. She left behind a husband, son, and many friends and family members who loved her dearly.