The Comeback: From the Podium to the Sidelines and Back in the Race

 

I’ve been an athlete for as long as I can remember. To be honest, I just can’t sit still. While I wasn't exactly a standout in high school, I found my stride in college playing lacrosse and field hockey. Everything truly shifted in the early 2000s when I found cycling; that was when the competitive switch flipped. After a few years of racing, I found myself on several podiums and eventually at the top of the CCCX Series, and the NCNCA Championship series.

I loved the bike, but I missed the rhythm of running. I toyed with triathlon starting in 2012, but two years of coming out of the water near the back of the pack—only to have to pass everyone on the bike and run—convinced me that swimming just wasn't my calling. By 2016, I found my "sweet spot" in Duathlon. The Run-Bike-Run life suited me perfectly; I spent years on the podium and eventually represented Team USA at the World Championships in Denmark.

Then, life—and biology—happened.

Between the world shifting during COVID, my coaching business taking off, and navigating the rollercoaster of menopause, my own training took a backseat. For the first time in decades, I stopped prioritizing the athlete in me to focus on the athletes I coach. My racing shoes have been gathering dust for over a year.

That changes in a few short weeks.

Choosing the Challenge

The triathlon club I coach is heading to the Wildflower Triathlon Festival, and while browsing the race options, the 20k Trail Run jumped out at me. I didn't want a 5k or 10k through the camp; I wanted something that felt like a feat. The 20k starts at 11:30 AM—peak heat, right in the middle of the Half Ironman—which means I won’t miss my athletes finishing, but I will be facing 12.4 miles of legendary, "exposed" Wildflower terrain.

It’s just long enough that I can’t "fake" it. I actually have to train.

But training as a masters athlete in a winter heatwave means I can't just follow a generic plan. I have to be my own best experiment. This isn't about placement; it’s about enjoying the festival, the community, and the dirt. It’s a return to the easiest entry point for me right now, and frankly, I missed the feeling of a race bib.

The Gear Shift: Listening to New Needs

Part of this journey means acknowledging that my body has changed. I used to be a die-hard fan of zero-drop, low-stack shoes like the Topo Athletic Runventure. I loved the ground feel. But menopause changes your physiology in unexpected ways; for me, it manifested as increased sensitivity on the soles of my feet.

From a rehab perspective, this makes sense. Estrogen loss can lead to a decrease in the fat pads on our soles and changes in connective tissue. I had to toss my old shoes and start fresh with the Brooks Catamount. I needed a rock plate for protection and a bit more support underfoot. If your feet feel more sensitive lately, don't push through—pivot your gear.

The "Short but Focused" Build

Transitioning from a general "base building" phase to a specific 6-week race prep was a wake-up call. Before signing up, I was just "training"—a ride here, a strength session there—but nothing was targeted.

Week 1 was the baseline test: three runs and two rides, including an 8.5-mile trail run with significant climbing. The result? I was cooked. It was a stark reminder that as our physiology changes, our "recovery budget" shifts. To handle the load, I had to:

• Aggressively prioritize sleep: My evenings were cut short to ensure I was in bed earlier.

• Increase caloric intake: I had to fuel the work, not just the day.

• Lean into the rehab toolkit: Stretching, the massage gun, and Normatec boots became non-negotiable.

By Week 2, because I respected the recovery needs of Week 1, I felt strong enough to handle 800m repeats and back-to-back trail days.

The "Un-Glamorous" Strength Strategy

While the trail runs get the mileage, the real work happens in the gym 3–4 times a week. With only weeks to go, this isn’t the time for max-effort heavy lifting that would fry my central nervous system. Instead, my 30-minute sessions focus on stability and strength-endurance.

Trail racing is notorious for "ankle-biters." As a rehab specialist, I know a sturdy athlete is a safe athlete. I’m prioritizing total-body coordination—movements like overhead press and squat combos that teach the core to transfer force efficiently. It’s the "insurance policy" that ensures I enjoy the festival rather than nursing a preventable injury.

The Goal: A "Welcome Home"

In the past, my goals were defined by seconds and podium steps. This time, "just finishing" is the victory. I’m going in with eyes wide open: six weeks of training isn’t enough to replicate elite fitness, and that’s okay.

To keep the pressure off, I’m leaning into my inner goofball. If I’m not chasing a PR, I might as well make people smile! You might see me in a loud floral tech-trucker hat, some mismatched superhero socks, or even running backwards.

Final Thought: Just Show Up

To my athletes and my fellow 40+ women: don't let the fear of not being "at your peak" keep you from the starting line. Whether you have 20 weeks of training or six, there is immense value in simply being part of the movement.

See you at the Lake!

Finally Completed my 50K Trail Run

On December 5th, I was in St. George, Utah for my 50K Trail race. That day started off fine, even the first lap (there were going to be 5 laps) went well. Unfortunately the day did not work out for me in a few ways and I ended up having to pull out of the race in the middle of lap 3. I was pretty bummed, and tried not to let it get me down for the duration of my time in St. George.

**A few pictures from out on the course in Utah. **

I knew however that I had some unfinished business I needed to attend to. I needed to get another 50K back on my schedule as soon as possible. I even tried to get it in the very next weekend. After chatting with my coach and coming down off my frustration horse, I was okay with scheduling it for December 27th. That gave me 3 more weeks to prepare, after not completing the first. 

**Here is a short video of the St. George, Utah race location. Take on lap 2 of 5 in the counter clockwise direction.**

Those last 3 weeks leading up to my second attempt, my main focus points were on keeping stress low, getting enough sleep and plenty of good healthy foods. Ugh that's hard around the holidays, but I managed. For sleep I was making sure to get 8 hours, which for me is normal, but I was extra careful not to stay up even 5 minutes later than planned. When it came to nutrition I cut out all alcohol, except on Christmas day, and made sure to get plenty of healthy proteins and veggies. Plus cannot forget my carbohydrates in the form of sweet potatoes, gluten free bread, and oatmeal.

The day of my event I had already packed most of my food the night before, but still had to fill my water bottles and eat breakfast. At 6am I sat down to eat my breakfast which consisted of homemade oatmeal (I usually use steel cut oats, but we only had rolled oats left) with cinnamon, raisins and maple syrup, a cup of coffee with oat milk, and a blueberry fig bar. For the food I would eat during my run I packed 4 blueberry fig bars (420 calories), 1.5 packages of Clif Blocks (135 calories plus caffeine), 2 homemade energy balls (440 calories), and 12 chicken nuggets (220 calories). Then for my fluids I took 1.5 liters of water plus Clif Hydration powder in each water bottle, this was to help my body absorb the water better than just plain water. If you want more information on hydration for the endurance athlete, read my blog on Hydration, How Much is Enough.    

I packed myself some dry cloths for after the run, and also a second pair of shoes and socks just in case it was wet and my feet needed to dry off. In addition to the cloths, I also packed my GoPro for a little extra fun while out on the trail. Now it was time to head off to the park.

Upon arrival at the park, I noticed there were less than half the parking spaces left and was a bit nervous about how many people I would come in contact with. So, I grabbed my handheld face covering (it's a chammy cloth the size of a washcloth) that I can easily hold in my hand to cover my nose and mouth while close to people but then take away from my face just as easily. 

It's now go time, I've got my backpack filled with everything I will need for my first 2 laps and my Garmin is on and ready to go. I pass through the gate at the parking lot to the start of the trail hit my start button and off I go. My plan is to start slow, as is always the case, and start by running around the small loop first then head off into the Lisa-Cottle Loop for my repeats. As I'm heading toward the first gate which is only a quarter mile from the car park, I notice a bunch of cows on the other side. Yay I pull out my GoPro for a little distraction and then off I go.

While making my way around the short loop I start running through my head my plan for the day. This plan involved several key items, pace, nutrition, fluids, fun, family. Pace needed to be kept slow, nutrition and fluid plan was to eat/drink early and often. I've had a few runs in the past that I started eating and drinking too late and ended up feeling exhausted, or getting leg cramps. I needed to stay ahead of it if I wanted to finish this run on my feet. 

The hills at Rancho San Vicente are not steep so my pace doesn't slow down much on the up hills, but my goal was to not go faster than a nine minute per mile pace, on the flats to keep it no faster than 8:20 pace, and on the down hills no faster than 7:20 pace. With my excitement of finally getting back out to give this distance another go, I kept going over my paces in the first lap. However I was much better at controlling my speed in lap two. 

Along the course this time I came across several cows on the trail. As I had never been so close to them before I did not know how to approach or pass them. Admittedly I was a bit afraid. I stopped, said hello to them and slowly, very slowly walked toward them. One by one they all started moving slowly off the trail until it was safe for me to pass. I had to do this 3 times in the first lap, once in the second lap and by the third lap they had all made their way up the trail to higher grazing ground. 

In my first and second lap I drank 300 milliliters of hydration fluids, and 250 calories of food each lap. This then allowed me to hop off the look and head back to my car after the second lap to refuel. I swapped out my water bottles, emptied my empty food wrappers, and grabbed more food. It was now time for some savory bites of yummy chicken nuggets, along with more homemade energy bites.

By the time I got back out to the start of the third lap I could feel my body getting tired, and it should be I was at mile 17 now. When I ate my first chicken nugget I noticed my mouth was not watering as much as it had earlier, this told me I hadn't had enough to drink, so I slowed down to a walk and got some hydration in me. At this point I knew I was going to need to step up my hydration game so now instead of drinking every 20 minutes I was sipping water every mile. This helped tremendously, because at mile 22 it was time to eat another energy bite and I was able to eat it without feeling like it was a dry rock in my mouth.  

Mile 24 was where I was starting to feel my legs getting very tired, I was having trouble lifting my toes or getting a good toe off. My hamstrings were starting to get irritated, and my calves were rocks attached to my tibias. I was able to keep the hamstring issue under control by focusing on the position of my pelvis as I was running. I noticed every time I would feel the hamstring straining that I was rolling into anterior rotation of my pelvis. This told me I was allowing my abdominals to get lazy and my lumbar muscles to tighten up, thus putting my hamstrings on stretch. Glad I knew what to do for that.

I hit the wall at mile 27. My whole body just said no more. I felt my heart rate go up for no reason, I was on the flats at that point. My legs wanted to seize, and it was taking all my might to not stop. Up to this point I have only ever run 26.2 miles at my longest. I think my body was saying hey, woman, what are you doing, you're all done now. Because it took all my energy to keep going I told myself I could walk for 3 to 5 minutes, then it's go time again. After 3 minutes I felt good enough to push on. After this point my pace had slowed down quite a lot, but I was just focused on finishing the mileage. 

With 0.9 miles to go to complete my 50k (31.1 miles), I realized I still had a little over two miles left to get back to the end of the trail. Ugh! The trail was mostly flat and about to start heading downhill to the finish so with a quick last swig of hydration, I shut out the pain and started running again. Those last 15 minutes seemed to fly by and before I knew it I hit mile 31.1 and was still running. With only 0.75 miles to go I'm headed downhill and can hear my coach shouting to me. Oh wow what a wonderful sound. He rode down to the finish where my wonderful wife and niece and nephew were waiting with a finishing tape. I think that last three quarter miles was my fastest on the day as all I wanted to do was be done. 

As I crossed the finish line, to the amazing cheers of my loved ones and my coach, I hit my stop watch and saw that I had completed 32.2 miles in 5 hours and 16 minutes. This felt so good to have finally completed my first 50K trail run. And I can now say I'm an Ultra Runner. 

**Here is my recap video from my completed 50k at Calero Reservoir.**

Thank you to my coach for all the amazing training you put me through to get me ready to run that distance. Thank you to the unwavering support of my wife, and thank you to my niece and nephew for your cheers.

This whole experience from the beginning of the training through to the completed event was so much work, and fun, but worth every moment. I've already decided that wasn't long enough and am planning on doing a 44 mile run for my birthday in 2021, and a 50 mile run by December 2021. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed as much as I did.

Week 9, Training For 50K Trail Race

Anniversary weekend is over and full recovery has occurred. Time to hit the pavement again. This week I'm going to be doing a bunch more Zone 2 training with some Zone 4/5 thrown in for extra adaptations. It also helps after doing a lot of the long slow Zone 2 training to break up the monotony with some higher effort Zone 4/5 training.

 Week 9 Training Plan: (5th - 11th October)

Monday: Rest and Recovery, Mobility 30+ minutes.

Tuesday: Run: Hill Repeats 4 x 1/2 mile, Strength 30 minutes.

Wednesday: 75 minute fun leisurely Bike ride, Core strength 30 min.

Thursday: Run 8.5 miles on the trails keeping Zone 2, Strength 30 minutes.

Friday: Trainer ride 1 hour working Neuromuscular Activation, Mobility 30 mins.

Saturday: Outdoor team ride 4 hours lots of climbing.

Sunday: Trail run 16 miles keeping Zone 2 as best I can with the hills.

First workout of the week happened at Rancho San Antonio preserve again. This time instead of parking at the elementary school outside the park, I drove into the park and got a front row space near the bathrooms. From here it was just a smidge over 2 miles to the start of the hill I decided to use for todays hill repeats. Normally I go up Rogue Valley trail  to the top, but it would have been a 2.6 mile warm up just to get to the base of the main climb. Instead I opted for a new to me trail, the Chemise trail just off lower Rogue Valley. Turns out this trail is quite steep in places and I definitely got the leg strength workout that was planned, which also gave me some great Zone 5 training as well. The best part about this trail is that no one else was on it. Maybe it was the time of day or maybe just because it's so exposed people don't want to use it. But I loved having the trail to myself to huff and puff and slog my way up and down it 4 times. Unfortunately I forgot my GoPro so I have no video or photo of the trail (from that day), but trust me from my other pics and video's there is no difference between this one and all the others in the park. It's wide, dusty, and steep. 

**This is the steep section on Chamise trail I took from my video's of Sunday's run.**

This week I got to ride outside for a fun filled leisurely 75 minute stroll which took place just before lunch on Wednesday. It was a perfect day to be outside, the sun was shining, the temps were a cool 65 and hardly a car on the road. Can't ask for much better than that. The nice easy bike spin was really goof for stretching out my legs from the hill repeats I did on Tuesday, and to prepare my legs for more hills on Thursday.

Thursday's run was just an easy Zone 2 trail run at Rancho again. I took my usual route up Rogue Valley to the top and today I just got to turn right around and head back down. The leaves were noticeably different than the last several runs here. You could tell fall is here, as there were many laves falling or already on the ground. The light coming in through the trees felt different, and the air again cooler.

**This was taken at mile 7 of Sunday's run. This is looking towards Cupertino/San Jose.**

Skipping Friday's trainer ride as it was not much to report, just an hour doing high cadence spinning while keeping my heart rate low. Only good thing about those sessions is that I usually get to watch some crazy YouTuber doing insane stunts and generally just get to zone out for a short bit. 

Saturday however was supposed to be 4 hours of climbing, which got changed to a 3 hour ride with some climbing. Once out on the route and about 45 minutes in my legs were starting to feel more tired than normal. At that point we were about to climb Page Mill road. That is not an easy road to climb, and I made a last minute decision to save my legs for the onslaught they were going to get Sunday for my run. So instead of heading up Page Mill from Altamont, I headed down the hill and stayed on the flats for the rest of my ride.

**On the Quarry Trail loop headed back down the hill toward PG&E trail.**

I made sure to get plenty of rest Saturday night, plus I wore my compression sleeves for several hours after my bike ride to make sure my legs got plenty of recovery. Then before I knew it, it was Sunday morning and time to run my longest run since 2014. For breakfast I had 2 slices of toast with butter, cinnamon and a sprinkle of brown coconut sugar plus a cup of coffee with oat milk. 

In my backpack today I planned for being out running for about 3 hours. So I brought 1.5 liters of fluids in my 4 bottles that fit nicely in this new pack. I filled 1 liter of that with the Clif Hydration mix I've been using, and the remaining 0.5 liter was plain water. I also brought food for 200 calories an hour plus extra in case I was out longer than expected. Also since this was a new trail for me and quite far from any homes or roads I also packed a small can of pepper spray as I was told the chance of seeing a mountain lion up there is petty good. I also brought a map of the park that I folded and put into a plastic baggie so I can read it without it getting soaking wet from sweat. In the baggie I tossed a couple band aids and some moleskin just in case I got blisters. Last but certainly not least I brought my GoPro. 

The run started off my usual from the car park to the Farm is 1.75 miles, then the course starts to increase in elevation just a slight bit, maybe a 1 or 2% grade. The Rogue trail is where I started, and at mile 2.5 in my run I turned off onto the Chemise trail. Initially it looks steep, but it didn't feel that bad. However at mile 3.5 till mile 5 that trail gets very steep. It was steep enough that I would alternate between fast walking and super short step running. This trail is also very open with no shade until the top, but great views of the Rogue Valley trail and out towards Los Altos and Cupertino.

Once I hit the top of Chamise at the start of the Black Mountain trail connection the trail "flattened" out a bit. But that flatter trail enjoyment didn't last long. It was about mile 5.8 when the trail kicked back up for the next 2.4 unrelenting miles. The steepness of the trail meant that there were many switchbacks, but also at times some pretty amazing views of the South Bay. All these amazing views I'm talking about can be seen in the video just below. 

 

Now the steepest part of the trail was yet to come. At mile 7.5 is when I hit the last section of trail that would lead me up to the top of Black Mountain. To get close to hear by car you would drive to the intersection of Page Mill road and Skyline Boulevard, just to give you an idea of where I was. At my highest point I was at 760 meters up or 2500 feet of elevation. The peak of Black Mountain trail tops out at 850 meters, so you can see I still wasn't even at the top, but for my legs today I was. 

This is where I stopped talked to the camera tying to get a good picture of the steepness of the last section of trail, and just to take in the amazing views from here. At this point I could truly say it was all downhill from there. One the way down I had to take the Quarry loop trail which hooked up with the top of PG& E trail. The Quarry loop trail was really interesting as I felt like I was in a maze. The trail itself was a single track trail, with the brush along the side being only 6feet in height and it just twisted and turned for the next 2 miles. The neat part about this trail is even tough it was narrow, steep and eerily like a corn maze, every now and then you would get a view of the Bay and this day did not disappoint. The sky was so clear and blue and fresh I couldn't help but to turn on the GoPro and try to catch as much as I could. 

**View from the top of my run at 8.1 miles and 2600 feet of elevation, and I'm still not at the top of this trail, it goes up another 200 feet.**

Once I got to the bottom of the trail and back to my car, I had my post workout protein shake ready to guzzle down. I also ended up guzzling down my last 500 mL of water I hadn't drank yet. Note to self need to drink more water during the run, drinking 1 liter for 2 hours and 40 minutes of running is not enough for me.    

For he rest of the day Sunday I keep pretty quiet. My compression sleeves were on for about 3 hours, and I sat with my legs elevated as much as I could. A good hearty meal was also in store for me about 2 hours post end of the run. This lunch consisted of a toasted turkey sandwich with mayo, and a side of romanesco broccoli and cauliflower, sauteed in a butter garlic cream sauce, plus more water.

This week ended my 4 week cycle of building up some decent long miles. Next week will be a rest week, but there will still be plenty of activities.

Week 6, Training for 50K Trail Race

Last week, week 5 was a tough week with the air quality getting as bad as it did. With is not allowing any outdoor activity over the weekend things had to be shuffled around and we went to a play it by ear schedule for the first half of this week.  

This week we planned for the two 10.5 mile trail runs on either Monday and Tuesday, or Tuesday and Wednesday.  

Week 6 Training Plan: (14th-20th September 2020)

Monday: Trail run 10.5 miles with 900+ feet of elevation

Tuesday: Trail run 10.5 miles with 900+ feet of elevation

Wednesday: Bike trainer 40 minutes. Core strength 30 minutes.

Thursday: Bike trainer 40 minutes. Strength 1 hour.

Friday: Undecided, Mobility 15 minutes.

Saturday: Outdoor team ride 3 hours 

Sunday: Easy, flat run 9 miles.

Unfortunately Monday was still in the high 160's on the AQI scale so once again outdoor activities were a bust. However things were looking better Tuesday morning as it had dropped back down to 120, and by the afternoon when I had time to run, it was about AQI 88, so off to the trails I went. 

Midday on a weekday turned out to be a great time to run. I think I passed only 3 people my entire time on the trails. The sun was shining, and the air was clear, maybe still not as clean as it could be but it wasn't orange-brown anymore.  Since I was excited to be out and about, I brought along my GoPro again to take some footage of the beauty I get to enjoy. You can enjoy my Clean Air Rancho San Antonio Preserve Run (click on the name to go to the video) too.

Wednesday was the second day in my back to back trail runs, and the weather was perfect yet again. This being my first back to back day of longer trail runs meant I needed to get plenty of sleep and proper nutrition between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning when I could do my next run. My sleep was okay though I did get suckered into watching an extra episode of Grey's Anatomy (I'm in season 11) and got to be 45 minutes later than I planned. Considering I usually get 8 to 9 hours of sleep I was plenty rested for Wednesday morning. 

 Thursday it's time for the first of my short bike rides, and my leg are feeling heavy. I know that active recovery is always better than doing nothing at all, so I hop on and get started. At first my legs felt sluggish and powerless, but by the time I got through with the 10 minute warm up my legs were feeling loose and happy again. I had the same workout both on Thursday and Friday, and both days my legs felt the same. Heavy at first, then by the 10 minute mark all better. 

Saturday is long ride day, and I was looking forward to seeing my teammates on our social distanced ride. After I got up late, and was feeling rushed to get everything together (I usually have everything packed and prepped the night before, and I did not this time) I decided I just needed one day where I wasn't up and rushing out the door right away. Instead I enjoyed my cup of coffee, had a slow breakfast and even ready a little in my book. At some point I realized I just did not feel up for a ride, so called it a day about 11 am and used the day to clean up my bike space in the garage. The goal was to get all my tools back into my toolbox, and get rid of stuff I just don't use, and of course to clean and re-lube all the bikes. Not only did I accomplish that, but also set aside 3 items in my give away pile because I was so good that I took pictures and posted them online. 

After a full day of rest and a bit of a mental clearing of the cobwebs I was ready to get back to it on Sunday for my 9 mile run. This run did not have to be on the trails so I decided to head over to Shoreline and enjoy the peacefulness of the Bayshore area early in the morning. Of course since I'm blogging about this I had to take my camera and take some quick video snippets of the sights. You can see my video from this week, along with all my other videos on my YouTube channel. 

This run route is flat, mostly, and is fully exposed to the sun the entire time. Even though I ran at 8am when it was cool, I still brought my handheld water bottle to keep my mouth from drying out and to prevent post workout dehydration. I'm starting to get used to having something in my hands while I run, especially when I bring the camera too so I stay better balanced. I do however switch hands every mile with the water bottle and the camera as they are not the same weight and I can feel it in my shoulders as I get further into my runs. 

In all this week was a success, and I continue to look forward to each following week.