I bought a running skirt. (Please don’t mind my horrible feet in the photos. I thought it better to cut out my morning face than cut out the feet.)

I’ve been seeing girls wearing them at races for years, and I never thought I could pull it off. But they look so cute so I thought I’d give one a try. I mean, I know I look like a sweaty mess when I’m running, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make an attempt at looking decent, right? It’s like putting lipstick on a pig or something. It’s the effort that counts.

Plus, my soccer shorts from high school were starting to wear out. New running gear was needed.

I’m considering wearing the skirt tomorrow. I’ll be running this:

and it’s gonna be a hot one. I’m doing the 50K as a training run for my 50 miler in July. This means that I plan on running it and not racing it, so I’ll be taking it pretty easy. That being said, it’s probably not a good idea to be in 80 degree weather doing moderately intense exercise for more than 8 hours.

Weather.com usually underestimates the temperature in my experience. So I’m hoping to aim for a 6-7 hour finish, which means that I’ll have to put in more than the usual effort. Lots of sunscreen, lots of fluids, lots of skin showing, and hopefully no poison ivy on the course.

Wish me luck!

I didn’t have a set plan as to how long I’d be out there, so I made sure to go prepared:

Last week I totaled out at 30 miles exactly. This week I’m hoping to do anything over 30. Since I took a day off on Monday, I knew today’s run should be at least 6 miles. I also knew that since I’d be tackling the Mountain, I’d be going pretty darn slow for the first half of my run. So I took enough water to last me about 4 hours give or take (you know, in case I decided to make it a loooong run. Or got lost and stranded). I also wanted to test out hydration methods for my upcoming TRT50. I’m liking the idea of a hydration pack (the cute blue backpack above) and one water bottle.

I also LOVE the new visor. I’m hoping that the people I pass on the mountain think I’m sponsored by Clif.

They probably think I’m just another weird dorky trail runner but I prefer to believe otherwise.

I hiked to the peak which took about 1 hour for 3 miles. The peak is at 2,500 ft and has a beautiful view of the East Bay.

This photo wasn’t from the top yet. There were hawks circling below which I obviously didn’t catch on the picture, but it was great. Made me feel like I was in the clouds.

View from the top!

(I obviously have to work on my photo editing skills but oh well.)

Once I reached the top I meandered out and back among the trails until it was time to descend. After a rocky hike down from the peak, it’s about 2.5 miles and 2000 ft all downhill to the parking lot. It’s SO FUN, and I feel like a little kid when I’m coasting down hill. I can’t completely let myself go though, because I’m prone to “eating it”, and I’d hate to be like the infamous Jill and tumble 2.5 miles down the hill.

All and all a great run.

I’m surprised that I’m never approached to do run-modeling. Weird.

Today’s run was nice. It went by smoothly, and I wasn’t pushing it so didn’t set myself up for disappointment. I am still a little sore from my mountain run on Tuesday and the gym yesterday, so we’ll see how the rest of the week pans out. I’m guessing I’ll hit about 30 miles by Sunday, and then slowly being ramping it up in the following weeks.

I got a super-awesome package in the mail yesterday! A few weeks back I won a great prize package from the blog irunfar.com and it included quite a ridiculous amount of schwag. (Is that how you spell schwag??)

Some of the goodies:

This is just a fraction of the stuff from Clif. The rest wouldn't fit into the photo.

That's my mom in the background. She's always trying to find a way to get a photo op on my blog.

I’m definitely interested in trying Udo’s Oil. I like the idea of natural supplements. Plus, Geoff Roes and Scott Jurek use it, which means that if I use it, there’s a pretty good chance I’ll win Western States next year.

If not, I can always fall back on modeling.

There is more stuff coming as well: shoes, sunglasses, and running clothes. I’ll be sure to post pics when the rest of the gear comes in so you can all be jealous of my AWESOME trail running duds. Thanks Bryon Powell!!

Tomorrow I’m going for a run with my brother. I’m really hoping his 31 year old bones can keep up with me.