Just Getting Started // Marin Ultra Challenge 25k

In today’s blog we wanted to catch up with teammates Aly Howisey and Maria Dalzot, both of whom are incredibly passionate and travel-hungry, seeking PR’s and podiums in 2016. Aly has just returned from a few weeks spent in Echoland in Cangggu, Mount Agung, Tabanan, Ubud…and is currently training for the BMO 1/2 Marathon, which is in conjunction with the BC 1/2 Marathon Championships, in Vancouver, BC on May 1st. Aly just recently celebrated her birthday and wrote a blog in celebration of getting older and change; the blog is insightful, inspiring and evocative. Maria Dalzot is just getting back from the Marin Ultra Challenge 25k, held last weekend in the Marin Headlands, Muir Woods and along Mt. Tamalpais; hosted by Inside Trail Racing.  Due to weather, the course was modified, and Maria took 2nd, considering it a fast course with its section of paved road and fine gravel. We’re very proud of them and their accomplishments. Check out their blogs below!

29 Thrills

Written by Aly Howisey

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Last year I was in a rush. I think the year before I was probably in a rush too. Who am I kidding, it’s always been pedal to the metal. Hurry up and graduate, hurry up and get the job, hurry up and make it a year in the job. Hurry up and buy a house. I can’t wait till Spring. I can’t wait till Summer. I can’t wait till Fall. When will I know and when will I finally be there? And then here I am, 29 already. I think 28 molder me into thicker skin and deeper roots and harder opinions. I probably need 10 more years to get some empathy and get some patience. I could tell you it was defining but they’re all defining – daily decisions that take shape. As I rushed through the 28th year, I pendulum-ed between contentment and restlessness. I love this place and this job and these people and the experiences, oh the experiences. But is it time to buy? Is it time to settle? Why can’t I commit? Am I doing it right right now? All this focus on age – my age, your age, their age, the dauntingness of 20. And the big question at the top of everyone’s list seems to be – why are you alone? For awhile I was actively choosing to be. Should I now actively try to commit? Rush it like everything else? The brevity of 28 and the world tell me I’m running out of time to get a rock, get knocked up, settle into suburbia. But part of me thinks I’m just getting started. Just  getting started seeing the world, just getting started changing the world, just getting started figuring out who I am independently, and just getting started with this circle of mine. Am I doing it right right now? I guess we’ll find out. Maybe I’m missing out, maybe not. In the meantime, while I’m figuring it out, I’m going skydiving. And next I’m hiking the world and watching all the sunrises and sunsets. And making more friends. Because I’m not 30 yet. Because I’m just getting started. Because figuring it out is a thrilling rush.

Read Aly’s blog HERE!

Marin Ultra Challenge 25k

Written by Maria Dalzot

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Photo Cred: Tad Davis

The first race in the 2016 LaSportiva Mountain Cup was the Marin Ultra Challenge 25k, hosted by Inside Trail Racing in Sausalito, California. The course tours the beautiful Marin Headlands with impressive views of Mt. Tamalpais and the Golden Gate Bridge. That’s what they say anyways. It was hard to see under my cap and hood with the rain blowing sideways and the wind knocking me around. However, race director, Tim Stahler, and his team of hard-core volunteers didn’t let the weather deter them from a top-notch event, simultaneously orchestrating a 50 miler, 50k and a 25k! Tad and I got to Sausalito on Wednesday night so that we could run the course on Thursday and Friday. Because of the current blast of bad weather, Tim et al. had to revise the course into one small loop and one big loop, which allowed us to run the entire course. We started at Tennessee Valley on Thursday morning and the rain and wind was just ridiculous. We sat in the car as if in a carwash for a good 30 minutes just staring out the window hoping for a break. After taking the plunge, we ran the upper loop that had the climb up to Marincello. On Friday we parked at Rodeo Beach, the new start of the revised course, and ran the lower loop. The weather was equally bad if not worse, but we still were able to get the preview in without a problem. The trails are drastically different than what we have here in the Pacific Northwest. Very smooth service roads and paved asphalt made up 90% of the course. This was going to make for a very fast race! On race morning the weather was calmer than it had been the previous two days, but just as unpredictable. It would rain and then stop, rain and then stop. I changed my outfit around three times, still unsure when I lined up that what I chose would be appropriate. My bib number was put through the wringer and I hadn’t even started the race yet.

Read Maria’s blog HERE!

 

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