tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10503846437479600342024-03-14T02:35:55.142-07:00Running Wild: In Search of Happiness, Health and Helping Others"It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing... I want to know
if you can be with joy,
mine or your own,
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful,
to be realistic,
to remember the limitations
of being human." -Oriah
Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.comBlogger129125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-46498622819555917092016-11-08T12:45:00.000-08:002016-11-08T12:45:45.673-08:00The Time Between<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; letter-spacing: -0.24px;">I no longer feel that Mother Nature is laughing with joy like when I ran through her wildflowers in alpine meadows. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; letter-spacing: -0.24px;">The trees of gold have once again reminded me to stop and appreciate fleeting moments of beauty before it's too late.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; letter-spacing: -0.24px;">The crystals on jagged rock and a chilling breeze hint that this place will soon become a snow globe come to life. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; letter-spacing: -0.24px;">It's the time in between, when the mountains grow quite. Satisfied by what has passed, ready for what's to come, but perfectly cont</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; letter-spacing: -0.24px;">ent with their current state of being. For a brief time it's as if the mountains say "not only can we teach humility, but we can be humble too." Yet at this very moment, their beauty is no less mesmerizing or inspiring than at any other time. My heart still pounds with gratitude. My soul is still electrified with joy. My mind still realizes this type of beauty can only be experienced in the now, never to be captured and taken away. In these precious seconds, I too am perfectly content just breathing, just being.</span></i></span></div>
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Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-41341095694748957442016-08-27T21:51:00.001-07:002016-08-27T22:06:02.922-07:00Enough<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47735" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; font-family: "times new roman", "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47849" style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m not sure exactly when things changed, but I know I was young. I’m sure I was still at an age where I should have been carefree and primarily seeking out activities based on the level of fun I thought they would be. Maybe things changed around the time when I became the quiet girl in class. I think 1st grade was the first of many times when my teacher told my mom that I was the quietest kid in class. Once in 8th grade a girl even told me i was "a waste of space" because I didn't talk enough. I didn’t want being quiet to me b</span><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">y only identity, so I clung to sports. I have always loved physical activity, often spending any spare moment exercising since I can remember. So I embraced the idea of being a good athlete and a hard worker at everything I did. I didn’t just have to be the the shy girl who tried to fit in. If I could do well in sports, then I would be enough and everyone else would also see that I was <i>enough</i>. </span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMwNyTRFV5JIWnggA_usl-lOJRVLGC-091xlceIc5js_eJqzffv_64ihEUlXmW1p8Y4SRwtc7WeuRmUjlHWnuRyXpfZXNsYDUVHyZaI5aPJCZSq_6eyoP0MXtiruRkm0_d68u6ccRcl0y5/s1600/196620_4857461411_3960_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMwNyTRFV5JIWnggA_usl-lOJRVLGC-091xlceIc5js_eJqzffv_64ihEUlXmW1p8Y4SRwtc7WeuRmUjlHWnuRyXpfZXNsYDUVHyZaI5aPJCZSq_6eyoP0MXtiruRkm0_d68u6ccRcl0y5/s1600/196620_4857461411_3960_n.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Basketball 2007</span></td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47852" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0px;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47853" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It didn’t take long for sports to become less about fun and more about being trying to be the best. If my team lost, I placed the blame completely on myself, my lack of natural talent, and not working <i>enough </i>to perfect a certain skill. I’ve always loved running, but I thought I didn’t look like a runner and thus would be too slow to do well, so I focused solely on basketball. I’m pretty sure I started doing strength exercises in elementary school. In junior high, for some reason my mom let my sister and I run around our apartment community with ankle weights on at dawn so we could get our first workout in before school. We were obsessed with training, but basketball was losing its fun. But what did that matter when it’s how I fit in and how I got acknowledged at school? In high school, between honing my basketball skills, strength training, and doing some type of aerobic activity, I was probably working out between 3-5 hours a day while also staying up late to try and maintain straight A’s and finish AP art assignments. I was exhausted. I even tried to purposely break my ankle so I didn’t have to play basketball one season, but at the same time I’d tell people my goal was to play basketball in college. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47852" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0px;">
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<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47855" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0px;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47856" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wish someone would have told me how unhealthy it was to be that age and not get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation makes physical performance go down while also making it harder to learn, two of the things I was trying to excel at. It also can cause weight gain and depression, making me the perfect model for the negative effects of sleep deprivation. I had no idea though. I was known for being a hard worker, part of what made me <i>enough</i>. I never felt like I was <i>enough</i> though and that was diminishing any light inside of me.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1YNCQ7rOT9CZuSW4RFixXNZCtoqekvjGf96WMmmCslZCFHzlUeXnh59p5QEwtPVpt8tbQCHi9udsbd-xyUrlJf01bKP0swgaE2cmrGwmjThSdACmLuOuZ6dI0jPouBvRhWQNYzl-_mX4L/s1600/1935777_160063591411_5389954_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1YNCQ7rOT9CZuSW4RFixXNZCtoqekvjGf96WMmmCslZCFHzlUeXnh59p5QEwtPVpt8tbQCHi9udsbd-xyUrlJf01bKP0swgaE2cmrGwmjThSdACmLuOuZ6dI0jPouBvRhWQNYzl-_mX4L/s1600/1935777_160063591411_5389954_n.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Photo Credit: Impossible2Possible</span></td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47858" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0px;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47859" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fast forward over a bottle of aspirin, food addictions, razors, and prescription drugs I didn’t have a prescription for. In our sophomore year college, Rachel and I both realized we needed a change, and together we founded Students Making a Difference, our college's first volunteer group. It challenged my social anxiety, but I loved it. When I volunteered I never questioned whether or not I was <i>enough</i>. Soon after I found ultra-running through Impossible2Possible and I was the happiest I had ever been. Nature always told me I was <i>enough</i> too. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><br id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47860" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></span>
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<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47861" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0px;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47862" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I entered my first ultra, Mohican 100, just wanting to prove to myself that my mind was strong <i>enough</i> to run a 100 miles. I ended up placing 1st female and 4th overall. Then I won another race and then another. Part of me was happy about this, but underneath the wins I began to think I had to keep winning to prove I was <i>enough</i> once again to myself and this new world I was in. I trained harder, put more pressure on myself, and slowly lost the joy of racing. I stilled loved running, but racing was becoming a nightmare. That’s when my left achilles declared it had <i>enough</i> too. My achilles literally stopped working. It wasn’t torn, but it could have easily with one wrong move. It was time for surgery.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><br id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47863" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></span>
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<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47864" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0px;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47865" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I barely ran for a year and a half. I ached to run on beautiful mountain trails, but at the same time recognized that life was giving me a gift. Could I learn to be so grateful for all of the other things in my life that I loved that I could be okay without running? Could I learn to see myself as <i>enough </i>without sports or without seeking approval from others? For too long I challenged myself in races, while ignoring my biggest challenges- my own beliefs. Every day I tried to focus on the gratitude I had for the people and things I loved. Every night before going to bed, I looked myself in the mirror and said “I love you and I am always <i>enough</i>.” I didn’t believe those words for a long time, but eventually I started too. Actually, between focusing on gratitude, telling myself I was <i>enough</i>, learning new things, and focusing on getting enough sleep, I had become pretty damn happy. In fact, I was the happiest I had ever been.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47864" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47867" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0px;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47868" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course time has a way of flying and eventually I felt ready to race again. I quickly realized that giving my body a break allowed it to become stronger than ever before and I thought the same was true for my mind, but part of me was terrified that one crappy race would uncover that my old beliefs about what made me <i>enough</i> were still firmly planted in my mind. After a few good races, I found myself throwing up halfway into a mountain 50k, a race that had been my goal race of the summer. I did everything I could think of to recover, but I eventually became so dehydrated that I had to tearfully ask another racer to tell the aid station I was getting dizzy. I later found out that a few runners had told Sage that I looked pale and was wobbling around. (Thank you <a href="http://eatingandlivinghealthy.com/home" target="_blank">Meredith Terranova </a>for already helping me figure out what I did wrong!) It was my nightmare come to life, my fear placed firmly in my path. Once the kind runner said she’d let the aid station know and ran off, I promptly threw up again for the 10th time and cried. As my tears faded, I remembered the training leading up the race. I had loved every second of it. Actually, I loved most of the moments in between my runs as well. Not only that, I let myself acknowledge that I was really proud of myself for even starting the darn race and I truly loved the person I had become in the past year. Sure, I still make a ridiculous amount of mistakes and say stupid things, but I still love myself for trying to learn and become wiser. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBTwYY2V4NXMzLgUEev3CxgYZfvj5BCXV0ppsGs6p9Lowelb1SNt_sFl38Gmqh5SkaLsLiD0V4U2kJ86Xn5_BppYW1y-JZO-MaQGfp6JqvNEKAx00UmbWAJ7PEYbBx-K9VEeL66wZgEnmw/s1600/14163803_10103268099284635_417761812_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBTwYY2V4NXMzLgUEev3CxgYZfvj5BCXV0ppsGs6p9Lowelb1SNt_sFl38Gmqh5SkaLsLiD0V4U2kJ86Xn5_BppYW1y-JZO-MaQGfp6JqvNEKAx00UmbWAJ7PEYbBx-K9VEeL66wZgEnmw/s400/14163803_10103268099284635_417761812_o.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Loving every moment of running in the mountains! Photo Credit: Sage Canaday</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"></span><br id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47869" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></span>
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<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47870" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0px;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47871" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With my stomach now completely empty, I tried running a few steps. I hadn’t been able to keep down any fluid or calories down since around mile 16 so every moment felt terrible, but I knew if I could force myself to run a bit and while taking some walk breaks that I could finish the race. I crossed the finish line in tears, right into Sage’s arms, knowing I had nothing left to give. I was wrecked and severely dehydrated, but I did it. That was <i>enough</i> for the day and I was truly proud of myself physically and mentally. Despite many lost battles in the past, I had won the war in my head that lasted far too long. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47873" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; display: block; line-height: 1.38; margin: 0pt 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1472337736150_47874" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe I wasn’t <i>enough</i> for a sponsor, not <i>enough</i> to meet someone else’s wants and needs, not <i>enough</i> to be liked by everyone, not <i>enough</i> to fit a certain image, not <i>enough</i> in countless shallow ways, but in the deepest, most loving sense, <i>I had been enough every single moment of my entire life. There had only been many moments I didn’t believe that I was enough.</i> I know I’m not the only this hold true for. “I’m not <i>enough</i> unless I weigh this much.” “I’m not <i>enough</i> unless I make this much money.” “I’m not <i>enough</i> unless I go out of my way to take care of everyone else while ignoring my own needs.” “I’m not <i>enough</i> unless I can get that person to love me.” “I’m not <i>enough</i> because I made that mistake.” What horrible stories we create in our own minds. If you’re like me, you’ve told yourself multiple things you need to do in order to be <i>enough</i>. We all have the power to change this. We have the power to help each other rewrite our stories. You don’t need an achilles surgery that stops you from running for over a year to learn you’ve always been <i>enough</i>. Things won’t change overnight. I know I’ll still have plenty of slips in the future, going back to old beliefs. Yet every night, when I look myself in the mirror and say “I love you and I am always <i>enough</i>.” I give myself the chance to remember what is true. Every single one of us, in the truest sense of the word, is <i>enough</i>.</span><br />
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Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-19964815971682057622015-06-03T16:22:00.002-07:002015-06-05T12:53:52.887-07:00She Wanted to Fly...<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8BPZNy0mzMU/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8BPZNy0mzMU?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The idea of first making a women’s trail running video first came to me in the fall of 2014. Sage had been wanting to make a more artistic video, and so I asked him what he thought of my idea. Of course, he immediately agreed.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One month passed by, then another, and then another. The video was in the back of my head, but I had decided not to do it. It’s quite a bit of work to make even a short video, and I doubted the possibility of a lot of women agreeing to be in the video. It didn’t help I still worry that I’ll say something stupid in front of large groups of people, especially when I don’t know everyone very well. In early spring, Sage brought up the idea again. Being a bit ridiculous as usual, I was somewhat upset as I had already put the idea off. Then, when I found out I needed surgery, I realized the video had to be made now or I could help film it until the fall. Within a week’s notice, 19 beautiful and wonderful women agreed to be part of the video.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The poem </span><span style="color: purple;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She Wanted to Fly... So She Flew</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rachel Nypaver</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://rachelnypaver.blogspot.com/2013/12/she-wanted-toflyso-she-flew-by-rachel.html" target="_blank"> </a>was chosen because it was relatable, not only to individual women, but to women’s running altogether. It was not very long ago when women were told they could not run longer than 800 meters and I believe women are still playing catch up from those old beliefs. In some other countries there is still little respect for female runners. In fact, some countries still believe women should not be competing in the world mountain and trail championships and it is reflected in the system. As my sister reminded me, the original definition of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">compete</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to seek together. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While the definition has changed, I still believe running and competing allows women to seek together. This is part of the reason I knew I had to make the video. From the women who have been denied running opportunities to the women who have never been told the power of running in nature, I know the world would benefit from more women seeking together on the trails. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwU6B4iA5xh5d1cxHwaUpEVEkSNGsF4RQQJPO0D_Orcx42cp6r6w89CWeZl-4IZa-0PN9gnM2YRz48iRrw-UDbKCNiBOymOUlZpeDad7pUaF1kXdQSmsww3gmG3TRvAW3v3JhnrIkIEtL/s1600/womens+trail+running.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwU6B4iA5xh5d1cxHwaUpEVEkSNGsF4RQQJPO0D_Orcx42cp6r6w89CWeZl-4IZa-0PN9gnM2YRz48iRrw-UDbKCNiBOymOUlZpeDad7pUaF1kXdQSmsww3gmG3TRvAW3v3JhnrIkIEtL/s400/womens+trail+running.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I realize this video isn’t going to change much, but I hope it’s part of the ripple effect that was started by women years ago. One day, I hope for every running video made about a man, that there is a video made about a women as well. While I really enjoy the films made about men as I see the common passion for exploring nature, I hope more filmmakers realize that women are worth watching as well. Just look at how strong and beautiful the women in the film are! Look where their feet have taken them! All the women in the video certainly have stories that are worth telling. I’ll be honest, I don’t feel passionate about making videos. While I truly enjoyed the process, I wouldn’t want to do it again. I believe that when I want something to change, I should act on it, and so that’s what I tried to do. It’s a bit selfish because I want to see more films like Finding Traction, Western Time, and 100 Miles High. Let the ripple effect continue. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By far the biggest reason Sage and I made this video, was in hopes that it would inspire one or two women to get on the trails and maybe those women could inspire their friends. Currently, results show that men are much more likely to participate in trail and ultra races. I know that any woman trail runner could tell you that trail running has had a profound effect on her life. If one women can be inspired to get on the trails and see what flying on the trails feels like, then the stress of trying to find decent music or or losing sleep from audio issues was totally worth it for me. All trail runners know that the trails and mountains can give us strength, show us how to heal, teach us lessons to make us better people, and help us form special bonds with others. I once forgot how to use my wings, and trail running helped me to fly again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sincerest thanks to Sage, my adventure partner who agreed to take this video on with me. Honestly, I would have been lost without him and the video would never have been made. Please don’t let this post fool you into thinking that I did most of the work as Sage and I both spent a lot of time on it. I can’t forget to thank Ryan Smith who helped film or Ryan Lassen who let us borrow his GoPro for a few weeks, as well as all the other men who gave us their full support. Ladies, you know a good man when he too realizes why it’s important to get more women on the trails and in ultras!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Run Wild, Run Free,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sandi</span>Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-20901117368828170982015-05-27T15:24:00.001-07:002015-05-27T15:24:09.445-07:00An Achilles Story: A Personal Account of My Own Treatment and Surgery<b id="docs-internal-guid-81d27c36-976a-5092-dd65-c262c68f0437" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As it became apparent that I would need surgery on my achilles/ heel, I began to talk to other runners who already had the surgery. Together, everyone sounded like a broken record. Our stories were all very similar, so I’m writing this post in hopes that it could help another athlete in a similar situation and possibly prevent the mistakes I made.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before the surgery, I had already been experiencing some pain for at least 5 year. The pain was barely there at first. Just a little sore when I started running, but perfectly fine once I started to warm up. I tried to get rid of the pain, but nothing worked so I just kept on running. For the first couple of years, it didn’t effect my running at all. Gradually things got worse. I started limping around when my achilles got stiff and starting a run got more and more painful, especially after a long run, mountain, or speed work. In the past two years it started to change how my foot landed and thus changed my form. For the most part this was okay, but caused some issues when trying to run fast on a hard surface. By the time I did my last ultra (Mountain Masochist in 2014) my form started to change too much and by the end of the race my entire left leg hurt. After the race I couldn’t even pick up my leg because my hip flexor was shot from running with bad form. The day after the race I tried to walk up a short little hill to get to a trail to do a short hike as Sage ran. My achilles was so bad that I literally had to crawl up the hill. Once I got on the trail I realized that I couldn’t hike as it was impossible to even walk uphill.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the race, I took a month off running to see if it would help my achilles. The rest didn’t really help at all. I then went to doctor who gave me a cortisone shot. I wish that had never happened. I really thought the doctor was going to tell me I needed surgery and I didn’t do any research on a cortisone shot like I should have. I could run for a few weeks and then two days after winning a snowshoe race, I could no longer run as the pain was too much and wouldn’t go away. The cortisone shot weakened my tendon and did a lot more harm than good. My doctor should have known better, but I should have done my research as well. From there my doctor said to do physical therapy and dry needling for a month. The dry needling helped loosen up my calf (on top of the stretching and self massages), but I knew the physical therapy wasn’t going to help since I regularly strength train. I should have listened to my intuition as it would have speeded things up. After that I tried a couple prolotherapy sessions. At first I thought it helped, but the second time things did not get better. Still, I think it’s something worth trying if you’re experiencing achilles pain. Finally, I asked my doctor about surgery and an MRI was scheduled. It pretty much confirmed that I needed surgery.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDzNYO5XObyiPqk7mLkQ00CkdqzPXOnL3o3mNiAooY6E9EukmjI8vbHUoe7c9wUKS-ilOzNHPJPGSlqPqFZ66ohYf2UB1dGkSkmrqlA9hRrY54aRJ2gE1oBE8dWQ03LVELBt7eo1fQdNOU/s1600/Achilles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDzNYO5XObyiPqk7mLkQ00CkdqzPXOnL3o3mNiAooY6E9EukmjI8vbHUoe7c9wUKS-ilOzNHPJPGSlqPqFZ66ohYf2UB1dGkSkmrqlA9hRrY54aRJ2gE1oBE8dWQ03LVELBt7eo1fQdNOU/s320/Achilles.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Purple dots from prolotherapy</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWSMY4g17Z5EvORjVH-9Iqk-DKKWyaxWp8-B8sJM5-jw7Q1PlF94tYcHHrp9xKnIRGWKrICCua_2AnTMUKHFii1qWdtE4XJTZys9MRsGZ7_rYND4KKq0YIqmkkYwENk3zutDvWHdrtsiWL/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWSMY4g17Z5EvORjVH-9Iqk-DKKWyaxWp8-B8sJM5-jw7Q1PlF94tYcHHrp9xKnIRGWKrICCua_2AnTMUKHFii1qWdtE4XJTZys9MRsGZ7_rYND4KKq0YIqmkkYwENk3zutDvWHdrtsiWL/s320/003.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Over time, my left achilles formed a large "bump"</div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I already knew I needed surgery before I got the MRI, so I had already been looking for doctors to perform the surgery. I admit, I got lucky and knew a couple of great runner who had the surgery and was put me in contact with other runners who had the surgery as well. A couple were professional road/ track runners and had the resources to talk to doctors all around the US. Still, they had decided to go to Sweden to see Dr. Hakan Alfredson since he was the best. The runners told me they wouldn’t trust anyone else (especially the runner who had already had achilles surgery once before in the US and still experienced pain afterwords). After being upset with myself for letting 6 months of little running go by as my previous doctor tried whatever he could think of, I just wanted a doctor I felt really confident about. 9 months of no running (6 months prior surgery, and hopefully only 3 months post surgery) seems like a long time (especially as my favorite season approaches) and I wanted to make sure the healing wouldn’t take longer than necessary. Dr. Alfredson specializes in minimally invasive surgery*, which is truly wonderful. I’ll post links with more information at the end. I’ll admit, it was a huge bonus that going to Sweden for surgery was relatively inexpensive and I would have likely paid more in the US. I do know some runners who have had very successful surgeries in the US (so no need to rule that out!), but as I said, I just needed to trust my intuition at this point and wanted to minimize the healing time. Please do your research before selecting a doctor, as I have heard quite a few horror stories as well.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Right before the surgery Dr. Alfredson did an ultrasound and immediately told me more about my achilles than other doctors had in 6 months. As he was telling me what was wrong, I felt reassured I was in the right place as I stared at the signed posters of Olympians he had performed surgery on. Right after that I was given a local anesthetic to get ready for surgery. Injecting the local anesthetic was the only pain I was in the whole day, and it wasn’t much compared to all the pain my achilles had caused me beforehand. I was awake during surgery, which I actually preferred. It made me feel more confident about that the doctor was doing and he would let me know what he was going to do before he did it. It was strange as I could feel some pressure as things were being cut and hammered out but, again, nothing hurt. Honestly, the worst part was that I really, really had to pee! :) After the surgery was over I almost immediately went back to the hotel and just rested. The day after I went back to get my bandage changed and Dr. Alfredson did another ultrasound to make sure everything looked good. Here is everything that happened during surgery: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Surgery summary: Removal of subcutaneous and retrocalcaneal bursa, excision of upper calcaneus (heel bone), revision ventro-distal Achilles, scraping ventral Achilles, removal of part plantaris tendon left side. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZSqo09ksqG78XkuQoAPwvkoHNjWC30m9njpmZMSyTW0uickYqQplau42UgBYlQJV3r0C0hp4DuGWJtK5IlrzpVn-3cc0Ufk-EHSkKHNyCjRtT8QGKP82HU0DzeDu56AwDo7ZcILo16VA/s1600/Achilles+Stitches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZSqo09ksqG78XkuQoAPwvkoHNjWC30m9njpmZMSyTW0uickYqQplau42UgBYlQJV3r0C0hp4DuGWJtK5IlrzpVn-3cc0Ufk-EHSkKHNyCjRtT8QGKP82HU0DzeDu56AwDo7ZcILo16VA/s320/Achilles+Stitches.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Day after surgery</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The main reason why all of this had started was because I was born with sharp heel bone and a haglund’s deformity that was digging into my achilles. Since I’m a runner the surgery was inevitable, however, I would have saved myself a lot of pain and extra damage if I would have went to a doctor sooner. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Post surgery: I’m so happy I wasn’t put in a boot for months! Though my left calf is obviously losing muscle, I have still been able to walk (with less body weight because of crutches) which I think is a great way to keep my muscles used to that movement. I’m now starting to walk short distances around my apartment without crutches. My walking is pretty wobbly, but I’ll get there. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’ve been experiencing achilles pain and you feel like you’ve tried everything, I hope this post has helped give you some of the information you were looking for. I know it sucks and it’s okay to be sad, but it’s a good time to focus on other things that makes you happy. If you just started having minor achilles pain, please try doing eccentric heel drops before you do anything else. More info here:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eccentric Heel Drops & Podcast with Dr. Alfredson (along with other info):</span></div>
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<a href="http://runblogger.com/2014/10/achilles-tendinopathy-and-eccentric-loading-bjsm-podcast-interview-with-dr-hkan-alfredson.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://runblogger.com/2014/10/achilles-tendinopathy-and-eccentric-loading-bjsm-podcast-interview-with-dr-hkan-alfredson.html</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alfredson Tenon Clinic:</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.alfredsontendonclinic.com/#!home/mainPage" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.alfredsontendonclinic.com/#!home/mainPage</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Minimally invasive surgery for Achilles tendon pathologies:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3781859/" style="text-decoration: none;">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3781859/</a></span></div>
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Lots of love,</div>
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Sandi</div>
<br />
<br />Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-66355746456552046182015-05-07T11:37:00.001-07:002015-05-07T11:39:09.378-07:00A Different Kind of Ultra<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ultra- an adventure where I might have to face the worst part of my mind, but have the opportunity to present the best side of myself physically and mentally. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-e2000d16-2f98-8bbd-95aa-b4c70840aeac" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Okay, so that’s obviously not the real definition. I completely made that up to suit my own running metaphors that can relate to life outside of running. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ll just say it. If you see me running any ultras this summer, it will be a miracle. Sponsors and race directors have been notified, except for the RD of CCC in France. I haven’t yet had the heart to say I won’t be running a 100k around Mt. Blanc (and my spot doesn’t go to someone else through a wait list). </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This summer will be a different kind of ultra, although I already realize that I’m on the home stretch, currently without too much worry of negative thoughts coming to get me. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A couple years ago my iron/ ferritin got quite low and my energy was gone as I struggled for a couple years to get it to normal. Then, while still dealing with that I developed asthma (or something to that effect) which took some time to figure out because I thought that maybe my low iron levels were making it harder to breathe. In reality, tests this past winter showed my breathing was quite terrible for a healthy person even while just sitting in a chair and then it took trying 4 medications to finally find one that worked. Breathing correctly is a beautiful thing! My easy runs and tempo runs immediately got 15-20 seconds per mile faster! Now, with enough oxygen in my lungs and near perfect iron levels, there’s only one thing that needs to be fixed. It’s be my achilles heel for at least 5 years. Literally.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This upcoming Monday I’m having surgery on my left achilles. In Sweden! It will be quite the adventure with Sage by my side.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Long story short, I’ve been trying for years to get rid of the pain in my achilles and in the last 6 months I’ve been constantly in and out of the doctors office and physical therapy appointments doing everything possible to get rid of the pain. Nothing worked. Actually, things got quite a bit worse. I’ve been barely been able to run in 6 months. I’ll say the following because I want other runners to be warned, I liked my doctor but I think it was terrible that he gave me two cortisone shots (spread out over the 6 months). After doing some research I found studies saying that treating achilles injuries with cortisone shots can have big negative effects once the cortisone shot wears off. I now believe that that’s the reason why I went from kind of being able to run to not being able to run at all. What may be a big part of the problem and the reason the pain started is that I was born with a Haglund’s deformity, which can make traditional treatments far less effective. When researching Haglund’s deformity I was greeted with suggestions to not run on hard surfaces or run uphill. We all know that there’s no way I’m spending my life avoiding hills! Anyway, an MRI confirmed it was time to have surgery.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_RqZbJooqZLoLqccCrqkxd6T6rwRpblbbZEbAgweBYGRf_iyyLhQ11uFC996Ydg_UbITxGKFzjF8udhcrvhkfJH6HLVN8sjbpXWaF1OM4_OF4I5Jht6S4ajUF9U_S8ycEl69c5QU2mkP9/s1600/Achilles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_RqZbJooqZLoLqccCrqkxd6T6rwRpblbbZEbAgweBYGRf_iyyLhQ11uFC996Ydg_UbITxGKFzjF8udhcrvhkfJH6HLVN8sjbpXWaF1OM4_OF4I5Jht6S4ajUF9U_S8ycEl69c5QU2mkP9/s320/Achilles.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Purple polka dots after trying prolotherapy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWSMY4g17Z5EvORjVH-9Iqk-DKKWyaxWp8-B8sJM5-jw7Q1PlF94tYcHHrp9xKnIRGWKrICCua_2AnTMUKHFii1qWdtE4XJTZys9MRsGZ7_rYND4KKq0YIqmkkYwENk3zutDvWHdrtsiWL/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWSMY4g17Z5EvORjVH-9Iqk-DKKWyaxWp8-B8sJM5-jw7Q1PlF94tYcHHrp9xKnIRGWKrICCua_2AnTMUKHFii1qWdtE4XJTZys9MRsGZ7_rYND4KKq0YIqmkkYwENk3zutDvWHdrtsiWL/s320/003.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Over time a large "bump" formed around my left achilles.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Are you still thinking “why the heck would you go to Sweden for surgery?”. I don’t blame you. It sounds kind of crazy. I’m incredibly thankful to know the kind runners that I do. Through friends, I was put in contact with quite a few runners who’ve had achilles surgery, a few being professional road runners who are well known enough that they had the resources to fly all over the country seeing specialists and asking for opinions. After all their searching, they decided Dr. Alfredson from Sweden was the guy too see. The runners I talked to had perfect results (a relief after reading way too many achilles surgery horror stories!) and said they wouldn’t trust anyone else. A big bonus is that he specializes in minimally invasive surgery. If all goes well, I’ll be able to start running again in half the time it normally takes. After doing hours and hours of research (trust me, I did my homework), my gut instinct was to fly to Sweden. It’s a huge bonus that surgery in Sweden is relatively inexpensive and I’d probably be paying more in the US even with insurance. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m actually not that upset that I have to have surgery. I’m just happy to start the healing process. Life has funny ways of teaching us lessons. I finally let one lesson sink in. Happiness should not depend on one thing. If I allowed myself to be unhappy because I couldn’t run, that wouldn’t be saying much for the rest of my life. Even now, I’m in awe and gratitude of this incredible life that I have created for myself and the amazing people that are in it. So if you read this and your initial response was to feel bad, don’t. While I’m deeply passionate about running and being on the trails, I have a lot of other things in life to enjoy. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Keep on running wild,</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sandi</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Huge thanks to Sage who is making the trip with me even though I told him that he shouldn’t come! :)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="line-height: 1.38;">The following link provides a helpful article with videos for eccentric heel drops (the first thing I would suggest to anyone with achilles pain) and a link to the podcast that interviews the doctor who will be performing my surgery: </span><span style="line-height: 22.0799999237061px;"><a href="http://runblogger.com/2014/10/achilles-tendinopathy-and-eccentric-loading-bjsm-podcast-interview-with-dr-hkan-alfredson.html">http://runblogger.com/2014/10/achilles-tendinopathy-and-eccentric-loading-bjsm-podcast-interview-with-dr-hkan-alfredson.html</a></span></div>
Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-53278893014140278212014-11-19T17:04:00.000-08:002014-11-19T17:04:17.097-08:00Find Your Free 2014!<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px;">Everyone wants to feel free. We want both our minds and our bodies to feel free. We want the freedom to fly where no vehicles can go. That’s why we love nature. Running and other outdoor activities have the magical power to free our minds so we can dream big and believe in our capabilities in every aspect of our lives. Running gives us the freedom to go to places that are only reachable by foot, places so beautiful they take our breath away (sometimes also caused by the lack of air in the mountains). This design represents that freedom we get from running, so wear your shirt proudly and inspire others to find their free.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRbT8iIqMSbQmq8SWLOn16Td8i07D6YYxbkF6eHZiV5d2VrO10pcRLs_psFjTZnCpnsiaRgN4uKfnFKePvH0YalCYJtx27nIwkvVkXESuCFaEpQjXWf-fMAwrHUfWFY6ArhvuV2LNh3Mw7/s1600/frfblog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRbT8iIqMSbQmq8SWLOn16Td8i07D6YYxbkF6eHZiV5d2VrO10pcRLs_psFjTZnCpnsiaRgN4uKfnFKePvH0YalCYJtx27nIwkvVkXESuCFaEpQjXWf-fMAwrHUfWFY6ArhvuV2LNh3Mw7/s1600/frfblog.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Both women's and men's shirts available in black and white.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Droid Sans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 16px;">Get your shirts here: </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Droid Sans, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.tstacker.com/view/FindYourFree">http://www.tstacker.com/view/FindYourFree</a></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Droid Sans, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 16px;">100% of proceeds will go to charity. 25% will go to Girls on the Run to help young girls find their free, and 75% will go to Not For Sale (</span><a href="http://notforsalecampaign.org/)" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #428bca; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 16px; text-decoration: none;">http://notforsalecampaign.org/)</a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 16px;">to help free people from the chains of human trafficking.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<a href="http://www.tstacker.com/view/FindYourFree#.VG08ClfF9ug" target="_blank">This holiday season, let's help others find their free in style buy purchasing this years Find Your Free shirt!</a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14.3999996185303px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<br /></div>
Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-80577019453908514312014-10-26T15:40:00.001-07:002014-10-26T15:43:35.590-07:00Breathing Deeper<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: purple;"> Laughter is always the best medicine so here’s a joke (for
some reason kid’s jokes crack me up and I actually own a few joke books that
the kids I worked with at the Boys and Girls Club really enjoyed): What did the
pumpkin need for its boo-boo?</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: purple;">Answer is at the end of this post.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In June I got the blood tests I’ve been wanting for a few
years. My iron, ferritin, and hemoglobin finally looked good! I was thrilled.
Just in time for spending summer high up in the mountains. I felt an
improvement in my energy and I thought I was good to go. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, after a few weeks, I noticed I still wasn’t
breathing very well. For years doctors had been telling me my breathing didn’t
sound as good as they thought it should, but that’s all they ever said so I
didn’t think much of it. I knew low iron could cause shortness of breath and
just figured that was my problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When my iron went up, but my breathing didn’t get better I was
disappointed. In fact, this past year I noticed things getting worse and I
constantly felt “pressure” inside my chest. When running or simply just
sitting, my chest didn’t feel right. It became hard to truly run “easy” and
there may have been a few times where I shed some tears because I was having
trouble running uphill. I started to avoid doing some group runs with really
great people because I worried I could no longer keep up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love going on adventures with Sage,
but even that gave me anxiety because I felt like I was really slowing him
down. This had been going on for months, but I kept telling myself it would go away
or it was just in my head, which is silly because I could feel it (I just
didn’t know if it was asthma because I don’t get typical asthma attacks or
wheeze). Well, it didn’t go away and it wasn’t in my head.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I finally went to my doctor and after doing a quick test
that made it obvious I wasn’t breathing very well, she wrote me a prescription
for albuterol (the standard emergency inhaler which I was to use before
running). I tried it for a few weeks, but it didn’t work. It was on to the
pulmonologist. There I found out my oxygen levels were low when exercising (not
a good thing at all since cells need oxygen to function properly but at least my
doctor was great and she ran up and down the stairs with me), I wasn’t
breathing in or out very well, and the albuterol really wasn’t helping me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a result, I’m now using a stronger
inhaler I’m really not a fan of. I’m in the processes of trying to be excited
that I might be able to breathe normal some time soon (it has yet to make a difference
but it doesn’t always work right away), but am really struggling with the fact
that I’m inhaling a lot of toxic chemicals that are really not good for me and
can have some negative side affects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I realize a lot of other runners suffer from asthma and are on
medications, but the idea of needing to take meds my whole life to treat asthma
is personally really unsettling to me (though I totally respect other people’s
views on this).</div>
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<br /></div>
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I’ve tried a few natural medicines already and haven’t had
much luck. I also did a little research on food and asthma and found out that I
already don’t eat anything I shouldn’t be eating and am eating everything I
should be eating. I’ve been eating and drinking a lot of inflammatory foods
as well, but I’m going to give daily ginger shots a try since I read it worked
well for other people with asthma. I juiced my first ginger shot (half an
apple, big piece of ginger, and a little turmeric- should be great for any
inflammation in the body) today and holy cow, it really is like a shot! Got a
nice warming sensation in my throat and chest and then needed to chase it down
with water. If anyone has tried any other natural remedies that work PLEASE,
PLEASE let me know. Thank you!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To make this post a little more interesting and thought
provoking, I was actually told over a year ago that there was something wrong
with my chest and throat area. She wasn’t a doctor and the only words I spoke to
this person before hand was “hi” and “it’s nice to meet you” before I sat down
in a chair. I was at a free healing clinic as I was experimenting with healing
depression naturally. I’m also just curios person and wanted to see what it was
like. The healer never touched me, but moved her hands all around me. At the
end she told me I had a lot going on in my chest and throat. Coincidence or not, it really doesn't matter. At that moment, she was right and I didn't listen.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Honestly, I feel like I’m mostly writing this post for
myself. Sorry!!! I just want to be running healthy and strong and it’s a little
frustrating when I feel like I couldn’t be leading a much healthier lifestyle.
I’m ready to be healthy though- mentally and physically. I’m so incredibly
grateful for all the places my body has taken me and that I even managed a few
good races, but I know I’m not running as well as I should be. Part of me has
started considering that being physically healthy on the outside isn’t just
achieved by doing physically healthy things. My mind and my heart need to be
healthy too. I’m getting close, but I know I still have some work to do. It’s
a 100 miler and I’m over 75 miles in. It’s hard, but as long as I keep taking
one step at a time I’ll get there.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzgQBAxp9TVCtLEWonZpG3dLx85K2D1G-jeRc22wkMxPHZYO-YAwGuiLCUSN1ynmzKrrG73qjBibTHLVWZv2Y_uxS_oXB04XDfTFezfgosPJ9CaqMaFZdNEoGPLE1-_gyjkPH4vCJfYhNg/s1600/DSCN2137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzgQBAxp9TVCtLEWonZpG3dLx85K2D1G-jeRc22wkMxPHZYO-YAwGuiLCUSN1ynmzKrrG73qjBibTHLVWZv2Y_uxS_oXB04XDfTFezfgosPJ9CaqMaFZdNEoGPLE1-_gyjkPH4vCJfYhNg/s1600/DSCN2137.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thankful my body and lungs still got me to Pear Lake yesterday!<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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It is important to me that this blog post serves someone
else, so I want to share with you two questions that Dr. Lisa Ranking, author
of Mind over Medicine, asks all of her patients:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If your body/ health condition had a message for you, what
is it and what is it trying to teach you?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What does your body need in order to heal?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dr. Lisa’s patients who can honestly answer these questions
and then act upon them have seen some pretty incredible results. I think it’s
at least worth trying. I’m at least going to give it a shot.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Much love,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sandi</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: purple;">Answer: A pumpkin patch!</span></i></div>
Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-22255145692164940712014-10-12T14:54:00.002-07:002014-10-12T14:54:32.452-07:00A Bit of Magic<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s interesting on how my personal views about my parents
have changed as I have grown up. As a kid, I just saw them in their roles of
playing my mom or dad. Rarely did I think about the many other roles they
played- husband, wife, sibling, friend, employee, daughter, son, dancer, family
mechanic, etc. Now, I can see them more clearly as a whole. I can appreciate
their own struggles and their own personal lives that made them who they are
today, for better or for worse.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Growing
up, my dad took Rachel and I to all of the really big action and adventure
films- Star Wars, Spiderman, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Harry Potter- you
name it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The movies were always
filled with all kinds of heroes with super powers ranging from being able to
climb up buildings to making fire with just a flick of a wand. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>All
of the heroes had some type of power, but now, when I take a full look at my
dad’s life (that I know about), I realize a hero doesn’t need any super powers.
A hero can simply just be someone who’s kind, helps others when they need it,
and just keeps on moving forward.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Honestly,
if I was given the obstacles my dad has been given; I don’t think I could handle
it nearly as well. To give you an idea of what he has overcome, my dad has had
a job since he was a little kid, often waking up early to deliver papers. He’s
been an engineer at the same place since he graduated from college, waking up
at 4:30am for 40 years, and should have been able to retire by now. Unfortunately,
the original company went bankrupt, and when a new company took over he had to
start building up those years to retirement all over again. My dad was younger
than I am when his dad passed away, which left him to help raise some of his
youngest siblings. His youngest brother, who was the beloved prankster and
friend, died of leukemia in his early 30s. I remember my dad telling me at my
uncle’s funeral that he felt like he lost part of his heart. My dad still
managed to make my sisters and I laugh that day by telling us stories of my
uncle’s jokes. When my parents’ were going through a really crappy divorce, he
almost died (he was actually dead for a few seconds). He had to go through
quadruple bypass surgery. He was in bed for months, being taken care of by my
grandma. His health never came completely back, and he developed diabetes
leaving my sisters and I always a little worried about him. It didn’t help when
he gave us all a scare last summer when he almost had to have his chest torn
open again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
wouldn’t blame anyone being dealt those cards for feeling like life is a little
unfair. My dad, however, is a super-hero, and super-heroes set good examples
for others. My dad’s powers range from being the family’s car expert to
magically getting the hard to find Christmas toys that every kid wants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s helped a lot of people while using
his powers, never asking for anything in return.<br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i>
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">"We've all got light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are."</span></i> </b>-Sirius Black from HP <br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One
of my favorite things about my dad, however, is a lesson he’s been teaching me
since I was a kid. Ironically, that lesson is on how to always be a kid at heart.
(He’s also been teaching me about cars since I was a kid, but he wasn’t as
successful as making those lessons stick.) It’s an art I haven’t quite mastered
just yet, but I plan on practicing it until I get it down. It helps that my dad
also has the power of magically spreading his enthusiasm onto others. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A
couple months ago I was talking to my dad on the phone and he said that he
wanted to go to Harry Potter World for his birthday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having stayed up way too late reading the Harry Potter books
plenty of times, I immediately said I’d join. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few weeks later my dad, Rachel, and I were excitedly
boarding the Hogwarts Express to start our day off by having breakfast at the
Three Broomsticks. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0z5medx3LkJ87f0bd8txcNfcbl3PmF_QKajJBrHRguiucwiIiDodWSRDsuWJqOdrQCSPz7VROfoYYB70PPj9J7S1zafeBGCYGN0NDosRTROvi7BkDByltfdIkXd6y9rv3nA55PxD92tSJ/s1600/Harry+Potter+World+2014-+3+Broomsticks+Cauldron.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0z5medx3LkJ87f0bd8txcNfcbl3PmF_QKajJBrHRguiucwiIiDodWSRDsuWJqOdrQCSPz7VROfoYYB70PPj9J7S1zafeBGCYGN0NDosRTROvi7BkDByltfdIkXd6y9rv3nA55PxD92tSJ/s1600/Harry+Potter+World+2014-+3+Broomsticks+Cauldron.jpeg" height="290" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One very big cauldron at the Three Broomsticks.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We
did EVERYTHING! My older sister had told Rachel and I that my dad would have a
hard time walking, but a little bit of magic must have happened because for 3
days we’d leave our hotel room around 7am and wouldn’t get back until it was
bedtime. We explored Hogsmead, flew through Hogwarts (my dad and I didn’t feel really
great after that), got a REAL magic wand to cast spells all around the park,
went through walls, saw some of the dark arts in Diagon Alley, witnessed a
dragon breathing real fire, escaped Gringots Bank, drank some butter beer, and
more. This only touches the surface of what we did since we also did everything
we could throughout all of Universal Studios which included turning into
minions, though we unfortunately turned back into people. My dad totally wore
me out! I was going to run UROC in a couple of days, but I didn’t care. I was
having a great adventure with my dad and Rachel.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg28S3Gnr6vbw91W4NHZiRfc2KefFq3-nJW8IEwAYDO1qPBvLxWdavCNneYtBIhxHEYpf5jySdx-c08vw1NstYrjfqKgNnDoJ4mRvUOgWtpECsiZY6y0wJ8_PzZCCrWRC4Yb7yTInI-T9re/s1600/Harry+Potter+World+2014-+Hogwarts+Dragon.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg28S3Gnr6vbw91W4NHZiRfc2KefFq3-nJW8IEwAYDO1qPBvLxWdavCNneYtBIhxHEYpf5jySdx-c08vw1NstYrjfqKgNnDoJ4mRvUOgWtpECsiZY6y0wJ8_PzZCCrWRC4Yb7yTInI-T9re/s1600/Harry+Potter+World+2014-+Hogwarts+Dragon.jpeg" height="248" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good"- HP <br />
This picture shows exactly how we all felt flying through Hogwarts. I think I'd prefer a Nimbus 2000.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>At
one point, Rachel and I snuck away to get a few more birthday presents for my
dad. We stood in Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes debating if we should get him an
extendable ear, a bomb, skiving snack boxes, and more for an unnecessarily long
time. We finally ended up playing eenie, meenie, miney, mo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following day we realized that we
had thought way too hard as my dad bought all the other toys we thought about
and more. My cousin’s son fondly calls him the Toy Man for a reason. I smiled
as my dad happily waited in line to buy his toys while I snuck out of the store
to do a few more spells with my wand.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFzGDdrRCGo7xS6N_253CpceTfrjaxQa9oeo_BjRA_stjCCgXF1UNGO8kHBMWIWsqDZOe3MCFqikbgw-0hhmE63nQudjh43Kw38VrsiyuKXZOdCOVKc2cEY_SaM6MMNBb1CI_02yasi2Je/s1600/DSCN2106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFzGDdrRCGo7xS6N_253CpceTfrjaxQa9oeo_BjRA_stjCCgXF1UNGO8kHBMWIWsqDZOe3MCFqikbgw-0hhmE63nQudjh43Kw38VrsiyuKXZOdCOVKc2cEY_SaM6MMNBb1CI_02yasi2Je/s1600/DSCN2106.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weasley's Wizards Wheezes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJQ64_PiOl_Wfl4gXnuFgizGBvy_G38gW3y9XgLSdy3CTgWJpAiBDHrWbDsj2ldNMw3AseDHZp6HsYgX6BIGWU6C6-Oj1_l1tyltJIzRE17wKyWIIYULGHX5CmRVe1x5GpB2ORlONJkiwH/s1600/DSCN2091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJQ64_PiOl_Wfl4gXnuFgizGBvy_G38gW3y9XgLSdy3CTgWJpAiBDHrWbDsj2ldNMw3AseDHZp6HsYgX6BIGWU6C6-Oj1_l1tyltJIzRE17wKyWIIYULGHX5CmRVe1x5GpB2ORlONJkiwH/s1600/DSCN2091.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rachel made it rain with her wand. At least she provided an umbrella.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My
dad used his magic to give Rachel and I not only memories of an incredible
adventure, but the gift of knowing that growing up doesn’t mean giving up our
childish fun and enthusiasm. Growing up really means that we should be able to better
spread our enthusiasm and joy, and that laughter and embracing our inner child
can spread joy on good days as well as bad days.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM0DjZU9cBkCeSKlrh-buadLN2mHPPd8EKrhKgNjMvkcfiaO2pdmsmhq45fI7pJjNbhDqoLoKMn9g2xSnV2OO8f0TOGUAwcgXqE8lQXzl1K_y-OoluUQf1YsN7eW6ysAsqxjnMbocRDfqs/s1600/DSCN2069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM0DjZU9cBkCeSKlrh-buadLN2mHPPd8EKrhKgNjMvkcfiaO2pdmsmhq45fI7pJjNbhDqoLoKMn9g2xSnV2OO8f0TOGUAwcgXqE8lQXzl1K_y-OoluUQf1YsN7eW6ysAsqxjnMbocRDfqs/s1600/DSCN2069.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My dad and I at Hogsmead.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As professor Dumbledore said, “Happiness can be found even
in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Much love,<br />
<br />
Sandi</div>
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Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-41300600907073026022014-06-11T20:12:00.001-07:002014-06-11T21:39:12.259-07:00Run like a Dog (TNF Costa Rica Race Report)<div class="MsoNormal">
Part 1:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> A Pre-Race Lesson</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For almost a year now, I’ve been changing my thinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve poured over books learning about
happiness from people I’ve never heard of before to books written by some of
the best leaders of our time, such as the Dali Lama. Though said in many
different ways, every single author believed that though life is meant for
learning (and with that comes some growing pains), it’s meant to be happy.
Furthermore, good things are meant to happen to us if we are open enough to let
them come. This can seem like a crazy notion, but these writers and world
leaders are leading happy lives and making a difference. It’s a thought I
wanted to at least try believing in.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course this meant the Universe was going to give me an
opportunity to learn this in the most beautiful of ways!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A few months ago Sage and I got an email from one of our
awesome athletes saying he talked to the race directors of TNF Endurance
Challenge Costa Rica and they wanted us to come to the race. Immediately my
heart said yes and I was filled with excitement, but Sage had to make sure he
could fit it in his busy schedule. Luckily he could fit in the 50k, and I
excitedly but nervously signed up for the 80k. I knew my iron was super low
when I signed up, and even though I decided to see a doctor who specialized in
sports anemia, I knew it was unlikely I’d be feeling much better by the race. I
couldn’t pass up a great adventure though!!!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Shortly after signing up for the race my ego got a hold of
me and was clearly screaming “You don’t deserve to race in Costa Rica!!!”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess my ego figured it got that
initial message across and then proceeded to give me all the reasons on why I
didn’t deserve to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With each
reason (and there were plenty) I pretty much felt myself sink deeper into a
pool of mud. Damn….My ego made some great points. I totally didn’t deserve to
go!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Luckily, a few months earlier when I was having much higher
thoughts, I wrote down an amazing quote by Marriane Williamson and hung it up
in my room. It was a true life saver when I finally looked at it! Here it
is:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(Totally feel free to replace God with whatever word works
with your beliefs!)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia; font-size: 11.0pt;">“Our deepest fear is not that we are
inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our
light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to
be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Actually, who are you not to be?</i></b>
You are a child of God. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel
insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do</i></b>. We were
born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some
of us; it's in everyone. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And as we let our own light shine, we
unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.</i></b> As we are
liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”</span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Well screw you ego! My happiness is meant to serve the
world! “<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With those thoughts, I
felt a little lighter, a sure way to know that I was on my “right” path. Sure I
still felt a little undeserving at times, but I could get out of it pretty
quickly once I remembered the quote.</div>
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Part 2: Run like a Dog!</div>
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I’m an animal lover… especially a dog lover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every time I see a dog I can’t help but
smile and get totally distracted. I also have a special place in my heart for
Australian Cattle dogs and there, right in front of me, was an adorable blue
healer! “Awwwww, she wants her tummy rubbed!” Around her were various running shoes
(humans attached) and she was laying right on the starting line. “Oh yeah! The
race is about to start!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All
nerves are gone though, and I keep my eye on the little dog to see if she’ll
start the race.</div>
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The race starts and I watch the dog happily run with the
crowd. She’s excited for the moment, doesn’t think about her pace, the rocks,
or the steepness of the hills. She’s just happy to be running outside. “Dog’s
know how to really run.” I thought. “Run like a dog” became my motto for the
day.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic8f6OoFoJnDsVm5CMt-nElgTtCoD6Sf_mGt450XKEK_SWU-6mI_gZJOyb4cVZGKClXYEdl5P7ydlQ5F6Pkn3-NJ5rQtI8XbFMo9l-Ey3b6_dgsGY8mzyAK1GTiJK0uLHyfwSgwUyWVUlu/s1600/TNF+Costa+Rica.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic8f6OoFoJnDsVm5CMt-nElgTtCoD6Sf_mGt450XKEK_SWU-6mI_gZJOyb4cVZGKClXYEdl5P7ydlQ5F6Pkn3-NJ5rQtI8XbFMo9l-Ey3b6_dgsGY8mzyAK1GTiJK0uLHyfwSgwUyWVUlu/s1600/TNF+Costa+Rica.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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Having no clue how I’d be feeling (knowing my iron levels
probably weren’t up yet), my only race plan was to possibly take advantage of
the cooler morning air (it was still already quite hot, humid, and sunny at
5:30 am) and stay smart about eating and hydrating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stayed behind two other women for the first 5k, letting my
body warm up and enjoying the start. Right after 5k there was a slight downhill
and I let gravity do the work as I ran past smoke coming from the hot pools of
water. I moved into the lead and never knew how far back anyone was after that.
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju01ITrRQymAlrl2sTLmhh9uln72MbmgPJy8qr0GKGl0JVNLkbmYdyHiFfvzUvQ6Ebrb35Vte2SR6e_ZLjAla36zx7b-JwaHkBkN6czNj_zkiZCbnsbAGgXBPzu2MTCp-IetewN6GE-dUM/s1600/TNF+CR+Running.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju01ITrRQymAlrl2sTLmhh9uln72MbmgPJy8qr0GKGl0JVNLkbmYdyHiFfvzUvQ6Ebrb35Vte2SR6e_ZLjAla36zx7b-JwaHkBkN6czNj_zkiZCbnsbAGgXBPzu2MTCp-IetewN6GE-dUM/s1600/TNF+CR+Running.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpmV3zt3YHryuuuFT7aMsbcpacyAtqcAbCoyAUDs7JPhH7O5JydlB7q-Bqz5PDWA-4tf3xXjRUYM56aPmwLbtI_EFSVw_uGt0fuDCljh9e1A2ibPVidtnDypBwVMwrcERLEXvSIV4TXEMZ/s1600/TNF+CR+blurry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpmV3zt3YHryuuuFT7aMsbcpacyAtqcAbCoyAUDs7JPhH7O5JydlB7q-Bqz5PDWA-4tf3xXjRUYM56aPmwLbtI_EFSVw_uGt0fuDCljh9e1A2ibPVidtnDypBwVMwrcERLEXvSIV4TXEMZ/s1600/TNF+CR+blurry.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo Credit: <a aria-haspopup="true" aria-owns="js_68" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=220748567974469" href="https://www.facebook.com/FECODEMCR?fref=photo" id="js_69" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">Federación Costarricense de Deportes de Montaña</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
From there I began my climb to the highest point of the
race. Holy Cow! I did not look at the elevation map or course profile very
well!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought the whole course
was pretty runable and there I was hands on knees hiking up a long, technical,
and very steep grade. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a
beautiful section of trail! “Run like a dog”- well hike like a dog. I went up
and up through wet leaves, mossy rocks, and roots having a blast and having
fond memories of Grindstone 100 (though I was super happy to be doing this in
the light- Grindstone starts at 6pm so lots of night running!)) and rotated
between a slow run and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a power
hike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were also some steep
down hills in and the mix and since everything was wet I spent every few steps
saving myself from a slip or slight trip my clumsy feet caused me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It probably didn’t help I was
constantly distracted from the loud sound coming from the forest (howler
monkeys, perhaps?), but it sure was entertaining!</div>
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After having popped out of the lush forest it was time to
bring on the sun and heat!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the
next 20 or so miles (I’m really just throwing that number out there since I
barely looked at my watch) I’d be in the desert or on dirt roads without any
shade. It was fun to experience this side of Costa Rica I didn’t know about. I
ran on beautiful white rocky ground and had some great views that allowed me to
see for miles. I clicked off some miles at a decent “ultra” pace, and embraced
the sun. Mentally, I could handle the high humidity and above 90 degree temps,
but my stomach wasn’t a huge fan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I tried to be really careful with my electrolyte intake, but it didn’t
seem to be working. I was hot, my stomach was off, and my pace slowed considerably
from miles 20-30. I did a lot of hiking up hills that I should have been
running. I was sure I’d be passed at any moment. </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAakKrAOvDGkEPtgrablbSkTUebBe5xBZoRy-R56lgFYXKjyA5XDL7DsAKBd-35e08ys_ciulJc74r84FnBuCSCJ6EoyUbVQDP6kGsh4mgyScdT7nKBdcJVDChA50_DmgrbbhmE06cT47R/s1600/TNF+CR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAakKrAOvDGkEPtgrablbSkTUebBe5xBZoRy-R56lgFYXKjyA5XDL7DsAKBd-35e08ys_ciulJc74r84FnBuCSCJ6EoyUbVQDP6kGsh4mgyScdT7nKBdcJVDChA50_DmgrbbhmE06cT47R/s1600/TNF+CR.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
I got to the 30 mile aid station feeling really crummy, yet
I maintained my routine of stopping to put ice in my water bottle and my sports
bra (I was thankful to be a woman and have a sports bra to put ice in that
day!) and carried on. A couple minutes later my stomach hurt too much to run,
but thankfully I started puking and after a couple of minutes my stomach was
much happier. I could run again!!! Unfortunately I could barely eat and relied
on two Hammer espresso gels and some ginger ale to give me the energy to make
it the last 20 miles.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyq5wK4_2cRss3SEvUzQZZi3eQufgDU5jvEwvafisbhIwXp1gtHyDWurUANPmldviM5ypnDmMqMuG30OhW7rbsODOolvR5qtn-xyO6RJsBEDcl5VdC0WoQU4RzWdxtPCAVF0MBg25xbDT/s1600/TNF+CR-+Aid+station.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyq5wK4_2cRss3SEvUzQZZi3eQufgDU5jvEwvafisbhIwXp1gtHyDWurUANPmldviM5ypnDmMqMuG30OhW7rbsODOolvR5qtn-xyO6RJsBEDcl5VdC0WoQU4RzWdxtPCAVF0MBg25xbDT/s1600/TNF+CR-+Aid+station.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I may have puked right after this aid station. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The main things that I can really remember the last 20 miles
was running as much as I could and doing anything to keep myself cool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was hurting from the calorie deficit,
but I kept on remembering my mantra of “run like a dog” and found as much joy
from running as possible at that moment. The last few kilometers were all slightly uphill but I
mentally felt good and was ready to run most of it. Less than a mile from the
finish I stayed true to my clumsy ways and fell on the smoothest section of
trail there was, covering most of my side in dirt and a few scratches. Honestly-
I was kind of thankful for the bit of adrenaline that came with it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So covered in dirt I made my way to the
finishing chute and was greeted with the loudest cheer I have ever gotten
during an ultra.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a blast
and nice to come in first at such an awesome event.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOagSbYEt9mjooON0JAd7qAQamrBGeTT677FCCvtckRkGXNYJaa9AZZa9_gbLmbZWOBH9YubZbf_E7QFgdpg9kXQsKCj5irYeQrBxRqDgXrBOilJfv3lGXEkU3C9IW0O9yEKJjOS0FjM3J/s1600/10437506_663009883748333_731123493638765036_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOagSbYEt9mjooON0JAd7qAQamrBGeTT677FCCvtckRkGXNYJaa9AZZa9_gbLmbZWOBH9YubZbf_E7QFgdpg9kXQsKCj5irYeQrBxRqDgXrBOilJfv3lGXEkU3C9IW0O9yEKJjOS0FjM3J/s1600/10437506_663009883748333_731123493638765036_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top 4 women. Photo Credit: <a aria-haspopup="true" aria-owns="js_68" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=220748567974469" href="https://www.facebook.com/FECODEMCR?fref=photo" id="js_69" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">Federación Costarricense de Deportes de Montaña</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Part 3: Pura Vida!</div>
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Pura Vida simply translates to “Pure Life” in English, but it obvious through the people we met in Costa Rica that this country’s motto means much, much more. To me, it serves as a reminder to live in the present and make the most out of it. I think the world would be a better place if more cultures adopted this way of life.</div>
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I think one thing that made the trip and race so wonderful is that the race itself and the people who were part of it beautifully showed me what Pura Vida really meant. The joy and enthusiasm for coming together to run on beautiful trails was contagious. </div>
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From the rain forest to the desert to the beach, Costa Rica is a beautiful country and I can’t wait to go back!<br />
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Special thanks to the race directors Federico and Ligia. They’re great race directors and even better people. It was truly an honor to take part in their event. I also really appreciate that their business Ecogreen works to help the environment and reduce waste at their events- pretty cool!</div>
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Pura Vida!</div>
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<o:p> </o:p><span style="text-align: center;">Sandi</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;"> Thanks Sage for the following photos:</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDLpzwml0z-Tn9hhesU_8bzgZ7g8HLeOJ6XBzHbewHYPYcWAitriyhfcRkDWW0vLwpgG6nUGNMOH2M8pBwmmdH_OwLV8CjF5MPDroBeW00ZeGu7_EFyF1ARXtP0CUbYUCx9F08E6i96rhu/s1600/CR1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDLpzwml0z-Tn9hhesU_8bzgZ7g8HLeOJ6XBzHbewHYPYcWAitriyhfcRkDWW0vLwpgG6nUGNMOH2M8pBwmmdH_OwLV8CjF5MPDroBeW00ZeGu7_EFyF1ARXtP0CUbYUCx9F08E6i96rhu/s1600/CR1.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Sage's beer of course!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3sDzcOhY3U0V8R2UBKY-MbbjoKePF8cjaLxpzpL4pZ5n75NV6ZxWaz41EQM0V868m3xRQbQHdv3fBGMSnhITlsO_Ot_TKNpc8svpyLTLuufe2dsYEiOpbmkOi8GJNjONERWFLRGmJ7vD4/s1600/CR2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3sDzcOhY3U0V8R2UBKY-MbbjoKePF8cjaLxpzpL4pZ5n75NV6ZxWaz41EQM0V868m3xRQbQHdv3fBGMSnhITlsO_Ot_TKNpc8svpyLTLuufe2dsYEiOpbmkOi8GJNjONERWFLRGmJ7vD4/s1600/CR2.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For the entire week I got to have every meal outside!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLyTyYWwg74JbEGBVGVUNmdyTRtoY-xPPAaFFbWArs2tI1U5jyh95XnlyxSvjZ79_IohlZH5kC8qD2CXBHZ-WzNll8zbPsAAGb0smR8Xyr0uv4UfKNsQ9C9qei9J74zMI8q-rwIuUpQfj5/s1600/CR3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLyTyYWwg74JbEGBVGVUNmdyTRtoY-xPPAaFFbWArs2tI1U5jyh95XnlyxSvjZ79_IohlZH5kC8qD2CXBHZ-WzNll8zbPsAAGb0smR8Xyr0uv4UfKNsQ9C9qei9J74zMI8q-rwIuUpQfj5/s1600/CR3.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zip Lining! (Conveniently done at the race hotel!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP87LHUetE3jLkmgtJH29EHvccliJ5KRpgIT9Im8PCsmsZy240NBto1oVrGuVuudw-3BgpBeDkjiADYt826v2tW8vOVpZxc3llOo_abNYdee2jnw-UwaESSvIq6wAH3gF8OgMVTkqJQIdL/s1600/CR4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP87LHUetE3jLkmgtJH29EHvccliJ5KRpgIT9Im8PCsmsZy240NBto1oVrGuVuudw-3BgpBeDkjiADYt826v2tW8vOVpZxc3llOo_abNYdee2jnw-UwaESSvIq6wAH3gF8OgMVTkqJQIdL/s1600/CR4.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJyT29-PCYKWKBDDetnzNpDle2CmVdw77f_TOq2ccQDKt4MwOL2WSpVexH6gyAKadIPS9gM4rrV0YFur_qjXyh7n7NZ7WGE-cMeXmydy2SjwiymWH-NGq8l98RBDGwdQSRf0Bt5nkQpmgb/s1600/CR5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJyT29-PCYKWKBDDetnzNpDle2CmVdw77f_TOq2ccQDKt4MwOL2WSpVexH6gyAKadIPS9gM4rrV0YFur_qjXyh7n7NZ7WGE-cMeXmydy2SjwiymWH-NGq8l98RBDGwdQSRf0Bt5nkQpmgb/s1600/CR5.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pool at Hotel Hacienda (race hotel)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9PnR8mAdsk6lzb-7aF6tdFwM1kcnegDiX4-0T31wxx00qwq7yJ-9q5JCAVM3_owdyRXUPzGdkDq5JlvhDAd1J0BEeiGx0ODo1aRK5wmu6c5ixlCcNBFk-aJ5j-KY389pBX116HFOEhOpV/s1600/CR6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9PnR8mAdsk6lzb-7aF6tdFwM1kcnegDiX4-0T31wxx00qwq7yJ-9q5JCAVM3_owdyRXUPzGdkDq5JlvhDAd1J0BEeiGx0ODo1aRK5wmu6c5ixlCcNBFk-aJ5j-KY389pBX116HFOEhOpV/s1600/CR6.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shake out run on the course.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOZT68ahDRt_46pOULHKT4u9Ttp2dTfbCPfcof3yHmzFZK3t3VxkWA1cQSJiZV9sn699z2PUy0Q7Br3q3aWbLEdaZWxuwbu8L_hqW4EG8eQOBWWveXvD_5Bt7UdSA_GEoEmB9d1tX_GWRA/s1600/CR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOZT68ahDRt_46pOULHKT4u9Ttp2dTfbCPfcof3yHmzFZK3t3VxkWA1cQSJiZV9sn699z2PUy0Q7Br3q3aWbLEdaZWxuwbu8L_hqW4EG8eQOBWWveXvD_5Bt7UdSA_GEoEmB9d1tX_GWRA/s1600/CR.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beach in Tamarindo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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What I used for the race:</div>
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Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-60466701740935563782014-05-11T19:35:00.000-07:002014-05-11T19:38:32.162-07:00Checking Off My #1 - New Zealand<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>This post is dedicated to those with adventurous hearts and Sage for helping me live this dream.</i><br />
<br />
I’ve been back from New Zealand for quite a while now
and have yet to write about most of the trip. Where does one even begin to
starting writing about the adventure of their dreams? And honestly, I’m not
sure if my words are better than pictures for this.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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I first realized I wanted to go to New Zealand sometime in
high school. Honestly, I never really thought about New Zealand until
someone mentioned it to me. At that age,
exploring nature for hours at a time and travelling across the world to do so was a
foreign concept to me. I knew I had an explorer’s heart, but I didn’t know what
to do about it. It just wasn’t a common thing where I grew up. So when I first
heard someone talk about New Zealand, an interest sparked. I researched more
about it, and that was it. New Zealand was number one on my list of places I
wanted to travel to. Going to see all the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies with
my dad and Rachel only increased my longing to go!<o:p></o:p></div>
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After graduating college and having one crazy summer solo
adventure, I completed one year of service through AmeriCorps at the Boys &
Girls Club of Buena Vista. While living in Salida, I was exposed to many world
travelers and they influenced me to get my working visa for New Zealand so I
could spend a year living there. I was set on it. I had nothing holding me back…
well except for the money to get there. Unfortunately a “year of service” doesn’t
help you save a lot of money. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Here’s my lesson from the Universe: If something you
want doesn’t work out the way you wanted, it’s only because the Universe has a
MUCH better plan for you. However, you have to be open to it. If you’re sulking
over things not working out the way you wanted, you’re probably going to miss
the much better plan awaiting you… at least that’s the way it’s been constantly
working out for me. It’s also been a common theme of other people’s stories that
I have been reading recently.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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So (as many of you know) I picked up a second job in
exchange for a place to live and moved to Buena Vista. I really missed Salida,
but thankfully, Buena Vista is on the way to the Grand Canyon from Boulder, and
that’s how I met Sage. As he was making the drive to run the R2R2R, he wanted
to stop to get a run in and contacted me to show him a good trail. I’m sure you
know the story from there, but remember I originally wanted to be in New
Zealand at that time, and I certainly would have missed that opportunity to meet Sage if I had gone.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In 2013 I learned more about New Zealand through Sage when he went to race Tarawera 100k and I knew then that I’d be joining him the next year. I had no idea
how, but it was going to happen. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
This past Christmas, my wish came true due to a very loving
man and some other very wonderful people. My gratitude for this still sometimes
feels like it may burst from my heart.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is where my words leave me. I should have inspiration
bursting out of my fingertips as I talk about the actual trip, yet all I can
feel right now are my emotions from the trip, all words are lost.</div>
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Maybe pictures are better here, but I will share this
thought. After years of suffering from depression and self-hate, New Zealand
and that past few months have taught me that life is meant for us to be happy.
Following our happiness is the best way to be of service to the world, despite
the people telling us to be “realistic” and our dreams are to remain only
dreams. Dreams can come true if you learn to believe that. It’s pretty damn
hard to truly believe that, but fully worth the effort.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEVdCl4-rdKyWL8pmA8a6RomQXHUDpIidqnwD_-ZIJeCdCrOYWxkxjygG_vwb8b9e6LnmftcjpwE0PJ1iccBAy3vRQoMnYg-ly8n7ZUkZiP7Kef2n4_fAGda4-6Uuzuy7-bpuCG7-q68Us/s1600/578594_10101519305975445_755633040_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEVdCl4-rdKyWL8pmA8a6RomQXHUDpIidqnwD_-ZIJeCdCrOYWxkxjygG_vwb8b9e6LnmftcjpwE0PJ1iccBAy3vRQoMnYg-ly8n7ZUkZiP7Kef2n4_fAGda4-6Uuzuy7-bpuCG7-q68Us/s1600/578594_10101519305975445_755633040_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hobbiton</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading towards Roy's Glacier (Thanks Grant Guise for this picture and some of the pics following!)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Queenstown!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The stunning town of Wanaka- loved it here!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gertrudes Saddle</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was very happy to find fresh veggie/fruit juice all over NZ</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiijp3mgHvPPQzOa2Rra1VZyCyD5vu33t13OIpxqw4tplM5mBhWmE7LCN_eyr9HklIj6JY7D9Y9iarLcymtC35IHh6UEiBO1Oaiafo-oSmo966XpV3y5WjEF6EE6abk5p4Oez4SRq8oHjtu/s1600/1959773_10101527098633895_1446584330_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiijp3mgHvPPQzOa2Rra1VZyCyD5vu33t13OIpxqw4tplM5mBhWmE7LCN_eyr9HklIj6JY7D9Y9iarLcymtC35IHh6UEiBO1Oaiafo-oSmo966XpV3y5WjEF6EE6abk5p4Oez4SRq8oHjtu/s1600/1959773_10101527098633895_1446584330_n.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Milford Sound</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxJB-GQZYi5kE6AeLQoY10cPKcPYkBV9SGKoCm1dgHFO74tDpiLX5aprfDwgYVHrjBSCe8wSDZ2sUPgpipjPuLeK460sWByEsdr5OQWwr7YS4HJj1pDJapzmRTdXrLHgyfyGKVAgjox9mu/s1600/1978409_10101509295361795_371609721_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxJB-GQZYi5kE6AeLQoY10cPKcPYkBV9SGKoCm1dgHFO74tDpiLX5aprfDwgYVHrjBSCe8wSDZ2sUPgpipjPuLeK460sWByEsdr5OQWwr7YS4HJj1pDJapzmRTdXrLHgyfyGKVAgjox9mu/s1600/1978409_10101509295361795_371609721_o.jpg" height="358" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Twin Rocks</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiGk4i9ZRPI7Wg2jGA16PFiop_au_LzCpWFEAd0pcXqpoia3sgF2XijgQo4ldOF0pyGcwE4b2aAG-avQpAFQhPAkEJhoaqiw_c7sQXhvSs7wMvfAOrl-jvCp4-2xRAQSV16rNFGw6LwQNf/s1600/1979520_10101525585571085_124387992_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiGk4i9ZRPI7Wg2jGA16PFiop_au_LzCpWFEAd0pcXqpoia3sgF2XijgQo4ldOF0pyGcwE4b2aAG-avQpAFQhPAkEJhoaqiw_c7sQXhvSs7wMvfAOrl-jvCp4-2xRAQSV16rNFGw6LwQNf/s1600/1979520_10101525585571085_124387992_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wine tasting in Northburn- I know nothing about wine but had a blast!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy6yf9JffiYb0g_RJspw4I3SdEC-vdi0imE7YIHLI-cUNG_gJYYhW89v3B6OlSe9F3TvSBb_OIDzfT0MfnVgs5PU4RqPIH1mivl5nhjggB-rsHt0jeVvHZ7RjpCDwnXRm-gPFTb2p6bFMv/s1600/10007067_10101525585865495_1105978555_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy6yf9JffiYb0g_RJspw4I3SdEC-vdi0imE7YIHLI-cUNG_gJYYhW89v3B6OlSe9F3TvSBb_OIDzfT0MfnVgs5PU4RqPIH1mivl5nhjggB-rsHt0jeVvHZ7RjpCDwnXRm-gPFTb2p6bFMv/s1600/10007067_10101525585865495_1105978555_n.jpg" height="154" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Milford Sound</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtNkc7QMHIrp1uLTGXHYdRcg5CrM27LPsijBU9NDl1rWE4m1pfiSHNYeBZ2eiEpI8dAVQLj8ytjOzkrGb1q4P-PRUtvQ7wHhl5Y1YD8nyYERJSyCZ1W-r6rTMANpW9LVFlqmFPwXltATLw/s1600/Cathedral+Cove2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtNkc7QMHIrp1uLTGXHYdRcg5CrM27LPsijBU9NDl1rWE4m1pfiSHNYeBZ2eiEpI8dAVQLj8ytjOzkrGb1q4P-PRUtvQ7wHhl5Y1YD8nyYERJSyCZ1W-r6rTMANpW9LVFlqmFPwXltATLw/s1600/Cathedral+Cove2.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cathedral Cover- best beach I've been to so far! Awesome hike to get to it and fun things to explore!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK79LVQ4Zz5bUR5aoIXvUGIshw_12UzEdcw5TtZWYN4t4hGiqe_cxwdlyfa_02RzHR1H78h8iJ67wt7yfpTMpi8JQhyphenhyphenOVA4u3KjG2HqNBq0o0nrize4KZkEU6gGPCKuBqanShQtCq7MJzo/s1600/gertrudes+saddle+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK79LVQ4Zz5bUR5aoIXvUGIshw_12UzEdcw5TtZWYN4t4hGiqe_cxwdlyfa_02RzHR1H78h8iJ67wt7yfpTMpi8JQhyphenhyphenOVA4u3KjG2HqNBq0o0nrize4KZkEU6gGPCKuBqanShQtCq7MJzo/s1600/gertrudes+saddle+2.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gertrudes Saddle</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimIpOTyNrx9ckR4g3gca7dYbufQaHXadowUzWhyphenhyphenQTRBBQXtWCz2LgssCdtOXU0ox9z-TC40Ct1N7YP58yFQ-NX8Hs9zb0w5MHNbI2CcjKH8EyD83D-fy-Vj0ETll5xcQgOpjxcEpzUfCSb/s1600/IMG_0588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimIpOTyNrx9ckR4g3gca7dYbufQaHXadowUzWhyphenhyphenQTRBBQXtWCz2LgssCdtOXU0ox9z-TC40Ct1N7YP58yFQ-NX8Hs9zb0w5MHNbI2CcjKH8EyD83D-fy-Vj0ETll5xcQgOpjxcEpzUfCSb/s1600/IMG_0588.JPG" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rotorua Geyser</td></tr>
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"Where you invest your love, you invest your life." -Mumford and Sons</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-18626338875276927382014-04-08T20:13:00.001-07:002014-04-08T20:48:03.363-07:00The Tale of Two Races (and one DNS)<div class="MsoNormal">
(Just going to focus on the races here as writing about the
whole NZ trip would make this incredibly long although I will write another
post on New Zealand.)</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Tarawera:<o:p></o:p></div>
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(Many of you know I got sick before Tarawera and I’m of
course going to write about it, but I wanted to note that I see the whole race (and
days before) as a great experience and totally positive minus two hours where I
was a little upset about it.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Two days before the Tarawera 100k (got shortened to 70k) I
opened my eyes and knew something was off. My head felt heavy and my chest felt
weird. I felt fine the day before so I thought that maybe I just accidentally ate
something with gluten or got dehydrated. At breakfast I learned the hotel had a
juicer I could use. Perfect! A few glasses of green juice was just the thing I
needed. While I’m sure the green juice did me some good, whatever I had wasn’t
about to just disappear. My head continued to feel heavy and I was developing a
weird cough. I’d be fine for long amounts of time and then I’d have a coughing
fit that sounded completely horrendous. Literally- I got asked a few times if I
was okay.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In realizing I wasn’t going to be healthy before the race I
had to make a choice, to run anyway or have a DNS. Honestly, I shouldn’t have
started. In fact, had I been in the US and facing this choice, it wouldn’t have
even been much of a decision. I was in New Zealand though; the number one place
I have wanted to travel to for 10 years. I at least wanted to start. I made a
plan to run only 20 miles and early on during the race I knew running only 20
miles was the right decision. Then I got to the 20 mile aid station and ran
through a crowd of cheering and motivational people and before I knew it I was
running to the next aid station 10 miles away! At 32ish miles in I really
wasn’t feeling great and decided I really wanted to be done. In order to finish
faster I just decided I should push it and run everything I could. Terrible
idea, as my chest started to really bother me but I was still running so I
figured I couldn’t be that bad. Thus, I kept going and finished feeling
exhausted but happy I got run the trails. (I was also thinking how stupid my
brain was for thinking it was okay to do that - yet somewhat impressed it was
tough enough to do that).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Not too long after I finished I heard someone saying that he
missed the short out and back (maybe 2k or less total?). My ears perked up. I
thought there was only the 10 mile out and back. I remembered all the
conversation the night before stating the turnaround was at the big aid station
I’d be after the 10 miles of no aid station. I had no idea there was a super
short one. It was a little annoying to have missed such a short section of the
course, but it honestly didn’t bother me as I emailed the RD and told him to
disqualify me. I was completely consumed with gratitude for being there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is getting longer than planned so I’ll quickly sum up
what happened after the race. Sage and I were coming back from eating at the
Fat Dog (great restaurant btw) and my chest began to feel tight. It continued
to feel worse until we got to the hotel room and the next thing I knew I was on
the floor from passing out. Then I woke up on the bed not knowing how I got
there. From there I remember taking some medicine and being out of it while
every few minutes I got the most painful hacking cough of my life. Thank
goodness Sage was there to make sure I was okay! Eventually I feel asleep and amazingly
I woke up feeling quite a bit better and manage to go out to dinner with Sage
and some other really great people. Unfortunately the hacking cough followed me
on and off for over a week. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Ok so I have no pics from the actual race but here are some pics from the pre-race activities: </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8856sjj8rElwl1lFp6VsRzZLQL8ROQmCg7bykiItxzcJSUd7JuFw5Ej1ZA0PyfGHOODe4m_na7PjVsH9tqI0FqHXU3Y-lONbsk2K5A8yAUJRTNzp0a3nh4EuJeJ3aHjTX_rWEPOMn6rM2/s1600/106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8856sjj8rElwl1lFp6VsRzZLQL8ROQmCg7bykiItxzcJSUd7JuFw5Ej1ZA0PyfGHOODe4m_na7PjVsH9tqI0FqHXU3Y-lONbsk2K5A8yAUJRTNzp0a3nh4EuJeJ3aHjTX_rWEPOMn6rM2/s1600/106.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sage and the RD at the welcoming ceremony</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN31do2GWQJbNSaT1MR5LBVc2juMgV5kGct-kfCbQPcfXu5xB-t2N9JnU-HHtJjc6mAWFrWJmM7WDqin9QXe6ASUkKlVuvreVe6Nj3z-ne6vg_SUfnmdRSP9vqk0_faRuiuuwy-8ec172d/s1600/IMG_0588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN31do2GWQJbNSaT1MR5LBVc2juMgV5kGct-kfCbQPcfXu5xB-t2N9JnU-HHtJjc6mAWFrWJmM7WDqin9QXe6ASUkKlVuvreVe6Nj3z-ne6vg_SUfnmdRSP9vqk0_faRuiuuwy-8ec172d/s1600/IMG_0588.JPG" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At least Rotorua smells a little funky for a cool reason!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir1qegM0p7cJdyPxcJjz1kjl6bkJEZeesxqubXAaq2NUYWVQ7xtTT5Xj-da3qgSy1BsZ2cM1fn26HU7GPGoS2hc1pRWSbx83wFhg67kUWiQ7PIZ_Rn635cwX6j2eIftMlk2EABZ7Ia6MAT/s1600/1920030_10203556117243353_116775579_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir1qegM0p7cJdyPxcJjz1kjl6bkJEZeesxqubXAaq2NUYWVQ7xtTT5Xj-da3qgSy1BsZ2cM1fn26HU7GPGoS2hc1pRWSbx83wFhg67kUWiQ7PIZ_Rn635cwX6j2eIftMlk2EABZ7Ia6MAT/s1600/1920030_10203556117243353_116775579_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some speedy and wonderful people I got to hang out with!</td></tr>
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Northburn 50k:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HquvOnh4AQ&list=UUh_w_vLvlZNBeTAP8qaWhoA" target="_blank">(Click to watch the video. Please excuse my cough at the end!)</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8856sjj8rElwl1lFp6VsRzZLQL8ROQmCg7bykiItxzcJSUd7JuFw5Ej1ZA0PyfGHOODe4m_na7PjVsH9tqI0FqHXU3Y-lONbsk2K5A8yAUJRTNzp0a3nh4EuJeJ3aHjTX_rWEPOMn6rM2/s1600/106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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A few months before Sage and I left for New Zealand, Sage
had talked to the Northburn RD and decided to do the 50k “for fun” as well as
take part in the panel discussion the Thursday before the race in which all
proceeds went to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/high50challenge" target="_blank">Malcom Law’s High Five-0 Challenge for Mental Health</a>
(completely just mentioning this because it’s an awesome cause that deserves attention).
When Sage told me about doing this one week after Tarawera I told him I’d be
enjoying a good book as he ran.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVP9eVsqhCN-mA3fhxqpE9pMR1IFgl-_1woPxud2-NLG-Ne4Hnjtg-OR04-54j-pRAESjM6MkhvdtKD-e_FgQTRBRE9wz6WlVncqXI1FVOJR9y9VlS8npyv-933I9XzWv6fmMMkx28q11m/s1600/1922419_10101511970880035_780974620_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVP9eVsqhCN-mA3fhxqpE9pMR1IFgl-_1woPxud2-NLG-Ne4Hnjtg-OR04-54j-pRAESjM6MkhvdtKD-e_FgQTRBRE9wz6WlVncqXI1FVOJR9y9VlS8npyv-933I9XzWv6fmMMkx28q11m/s1600/1922419_10101511970880035_780974620_n.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Malcom Law's book!</td></tr>
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Of course this didn’t happen. I still didn’t feel completely
healthy but then I started hearing how awesome the course was with lots of
climbing and miles of uneven terrain off trail. I even enjoyed hearing about
some Spanish plant that should be avoided. I was hooked and excited. I would
run this and my one and only goal was to have fun (I wasn’t mentally or
physically ready to even think about pushing it after the previous weekend’s
events). Unfortunately Sage and I were missing tons of the required gear,
couldn’t run without it, and couldn’t spend the money to get all the gear.<a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheBackcountryRunner" target="_blank">Grant Guise from Backcountry Runner</a> to the rescue! He not only showed Sage and
I some awesome trails and welcomed us into his lovely home, but completely
hooked us up with all the gear we needed for the race. Definitely a race saver!<o:p></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNc3cGL3U5HQeZrsMlZPmc3iI43mszI6T-xRjXHf34DyXSQs2P_1rYVwG6VWmy-CkPAnBNZN_I7PNfx0mliUDfiGJgBlFebaQb-swEFJ_JMfhOuF2I7aSYqAwWJlrE_7tqrP_CGadKP1cr/s1600/IMG_0695.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNc3cGL3U5HQeZrsMlZPmc3iI43mszI6T-xRjXHf34DyXSQs2P_1rYVwG6VWmy-CkPAnBNZN_I7PNfx0mliUDfiGJgBlFebaQb-swEFJ_JMfhOuF2I7aSYqAwWJlrE_7tqrP_CGadKP1cr/s1600/IMG_0695.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks Backcountry Runner (for your help and the sweet hat)!!!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_zusAU874o-j-hoDVSz_VNbuBNWvcU_26wce2u9t1VAR_O4EpdRprqj8wczKG6TmUkOVY7CdwXDmoaHm5Z-Ov3ppJQ_PlKZ939exBj29H46OzBvK6BdV5ld2JRIBdBq05cZk5hSQm1M7/s1600/LM_140322_Northburn100_0117_MEDres+(logo).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_zusAU874o-j-hoDVSz_VNbuBNWvcU_26wce2u9t1VAR_O4EpdRprqj8wczKG6TmUkOVY7CdwXDmoaHm5Z-Ov3ppJQ_PlKZ939exBj29H46OzBvK6BdV5ld2JRIBdBq05cZk5hSQm1M7/s1600/LM_140322_Northburn100_0117_MEDres+(logo).jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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I should also mention this race is quite “old school” (which
I love) in that the aid stations serve only water, meaning you had to carry all
your own food. I’ve never experienced this before but quickly came up with a
plan. I mixed Hammer Sustained Energy in with my water so I could get in
calories while not taking up any extra space in my pack and then just took
enough gels to get me through the rest of the miles. It was also a hot day and
I conveniently filled up the water bottles in the front of my Ultra Vesta with
Hammer Fizz. It was probably one of my best nutrition plans I’ve had. The Hammer
Sustained Energy was great for the long uphill in which I didn’t have to think
about getting a gel out and trying to eat and breathe at the same time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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True to usual form, on race morning I barely made it to the
start line on time since I waited to use the bathroom until the last minute.
The race began, Sage and another guy immediately shot off, and I became
increasingly confused as to why I ran the first 8k with the lead pack of guys.
Then I realized they were probably all running the 100k or a 100 mile race and
life made sense again. In the first half of the race there is a long 10 mile
climb. I enjoyed the climb in the beauty of the rising sun, a truly enchanting
time of day. I also thoroughly enjoyed that I was starting the climb from a low
elevation as it felt much easier than it would have in Colorado. Eventually I
got to the miles that were off trail and I suddenly understood why people said
it wasn’t very runnable. I had seen pictures of this section and ignorantly
thought it didn’t look too bad. It was during this time of the race I decided
that those Spanish bayonets looked a bit hungry and that I should donate some blood
to them so they could stay strong and sharp! At this point of the race I also
realized that while I’m a strong power hiker at the end of a hundred mile race,
I’m a completely inefficient power hiker in the middle of a hard 50k and
watched a couple guys power hike pass me. Oh well, more time to enjoy the
scenery!.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyrnb1Ksm8yc2A-cYfPqD2mJaiNrM5ianJlSCThWvubrCUMNlH7FhVPcO55wM34cC1htiLG2zkx-cblm0rtzi8wnVfPsoHU5EPefspMARshUt2K3d2gDfcJeK5Ald2hvtbw-Y0j14wL5k-/s1600/LM_140322_Northburn100_0112_MEDres+(logo).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyrnb1Ksm8yc2A-cYfPqD2mJaiNrM5ianJlSCThWvubrCUMNlH7FhVPcO55wM34cC1htiLG2zkx-cblm0rtzi8wnVfPsoHU5EPefspMARshUt2K3d2gDfcJeK5Ald2hvtbw-Y0j14wL5k-/s1600/LM_140322_Northburn100_0112_MEDres+(logo).jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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After donating some more blood to the Spanish bayonets and
stopping to take in the view a few times I finally reached the hard and rocky
downhill. It was great to reach but I was also wishing the other pair of trail
shoes I brought with me to New Zealand wouldn’t have torn and fell apart. I was
running in a super minimalist pair of shoes that I loved, but just weren’t
meant for this race. I was running for fun though! Instead of forcing myself to
give my quads a thorough beating I happily cruised down and took it in the
beauty of the day. After the bottom of the long downhill I had about 6 miles to
go to the finish and a few more hills to tackle. I nearly ran out of water but
with 3 miles to go two wonderful women with the most delicious grapes I have
ever tasted filled me up and got me going again, though I really tried to stay
and talk to them longer (you can see this in the video). Three miles later I
finished all smiles, tired but thankful I had accomplished my goal of having
fun. Getting first in the 50k with a CR was a nice added bonus.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMioficF6HnLWwucIuK5RXxOVuo6QgMy1E4cIUawazZKPIZZBNkCxDDkVicqF_X8rR5qe4UG6buIMD9JFEX045cZWLcbMX2FLDcZQ2cjjbJItojAJVjHnurW8gZuqpXqZKa8pE-nGnll15/s1600/1499611_10203495732932991_1788205085_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMioficF6HnLWwucIuK5RXxOVuo6QgMy1E4cIUawazZKPIZZBNkCxDDkVicqF_X8rR5qe4UG6buIMD9JFEX045cZWLcbMX2FLDcZQ2cjjbJItojAJVjHnurW8gZuqpXqZKa8pE-nGnll15/s1600/1499611_10203495732932991_1788205085_n.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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What will be the Lake Sonoma DNS…<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ve wanted to run Lake Sonoma for two years. I love courses
with a lot of runnable climbs and beautiful trails and Lake Sonoma just seemed
like a great course for me. Unfortunately, I had been denying to myself for
months that my iron levels weren’t getting better and pushed through many miles
and hard runs anyway. Somewhere in those months I realized that when I should
have been making huge progress I was actually running slower. Still, I ignored
it. While running Tarawera I knew I was
running slower than usual because I was so sick, but in the back of my head
wondered how much faster I’d be running without being sick. During Northburn I
had a blast, but I still knew I once used to feel stronger. I got back to
Boulder and as I ran the trails that altitude hit me like a brick and I’m still
having a hard time adjusting back. I knew my iron was low but got a blood test
anyway to make sure it wasn’t in my head. I got the results of the blood test
and found out my iron is at an all-time low. To give you an idea of how it affects
performance, I’d be running pretty well if my ferritin number was 60 higher
than mine, or to be really ideal for an athlete, the number would be 90 more. It’s
disappointing- I’ve tried everything I could think of and have done tons of
research for two years now with no improvement. While I have to admit to myself
that since I try to be so healthy otherwise I still feel decent and can run
decently well, it’s no longer fun for me to do such competitive races while I’m
not at my best. Thus, I made the decision to not run Lake Sonoma. All hope is
not lost though. While I feel like I’ve tried everything I know I haven’t.
Something will work and one day I’ll see some speed and mountain strength come
back and I’ll y appreciate ever moment of it.<o:p></o:p></div>
Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-23007832985335137622014-02-19T18:50:00.003-08:002014-02-20T20:45:26.296-08:00Strong Abs with the Stability BallI got a lot of great feedback from my first ab video (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_pD0sT9DB4&list=UU3vFznWAkGITMT2clmgwOaA">How to: Plank Variation Exercises for Athletes and Beginners</a>) so I thought I'd do another one, this time with a stability ball. It's my favorite ab workout because it's hard not to have fun using a giant ball and some of the moves are still pretty challenging. Enjoy!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/kV5DIfZD4zE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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My sister had the great idea of listing the names of each exercise so people could write them down and not always need a computer in front of them when working out. Before you read the list keep in mind I know all the moves have names but I completely forgot what they are. Therefor I just created names that also gave a description of the move.<br />
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Warm up: Standing diagonals<br />
1) Standard sit up<br />
2) Sit up with a hold<br />
3) Turning sit up<br />
4) Oblique series: full, half, pulse<br />
5) Pike<br />
(Floor Series)<br />
6) Hands to feet pass<br />
7) Pulse up (ball between feet)<br />
8) Double crunch<br />
9) Side ball taps<br />
10) Full sit ups<br />
11) Center touches<br />
Cool down: Stretch by laying on the ball and letting everything relax</div>
Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-81945716419868722442014-02-12T19:28:00.001-08:002014-02-12T19:28:58.421-08:00Vo2max Coaching<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKUHBlL_9SAkoppyHrE0A1SGVnK0UeFLVnyGzmTsdR9zmVSO6gVrJTQ0iKjw9_vafXLJ7EiIPLKcNH71KM9A_tF4oSKdyUAcf8cD-pNtBtfPupIk3ZnSZdGQ_QGhjRdyMmefhl_2Yrqw6w/s1600/Vo2max+coaching.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKUHBlL_9SAkoppyHrE0A1SGVnK0UeFLVnyGzmTsdR9zmVSO6gVrJTQ0iKjw9_vafXLJ7EiIPLKcNH71KM9A_tF4oSKdyUAcf8cD-pNtBtfPupIk3ZnSZdGQ_QGhjRdyMmefhl_2Yrqw6w/s1600/Vo2max+coaching.jpg" height="286" width="400" /></a></div>
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Sage and I are happy to have teamed up to start <a href="http://vo2maxproductions.com/monthly-coaching/" target="_blank">Vo2max Coaching</a>! Together I feel like we have formed something special with our combined knowledge and experience. It's already been fun getting started as Sage and I are both so passionate about running and helping people to perform at their best. It's our goal to give the highest quality service that we can, which so far has been easy to do since we truly care about our athletes. Big bonus for me is that I really enjoy doing it. Making training plans = fun!<br />
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Run Wild, Live Happy,<br />
<br />
SandiSandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-31087749823330672762014-02-05T16:03:00.000-08:002014-02-05T16:14:10.536-08:00Trying to Reach THE Goal<div class="MsoNormal">
My number one goal for life is simply to be the best person I can be.
When I die, I want people to be able to say that I was kind, happy, and I made
others happy. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I always try to be kind to whoever I talk to and see the
best in people so I thought I was doing an okay job but then I had to admit to
myself that there is always room for improvement. Thus, in order to reach my
goal of being the best person I can be, I knew I had to take action.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here’s a few things I have been working on:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Seeing Everyone as Equal:
</b>This sounded super easy at first, but then I noticed how my thoughts and
emotions were affected in certain situations or by what other people said. To
be honest, there are some issues I feel very strongly about and other people
feel very strongly about their opposing opinion. It really bothers me when
someone’s opinion is hurting someone else. My ego wants me to believe that if I
perceive someone’s beliefs as hurtful, than I’m better than that person.
However, the truth is that many people have been influenced to think a certain
way since they were born, often by their parents, community, and their own
personal experiences. This can be good or bad, but the key for me is to always
consider a person’s history and to acknowledge “nobody is better or worse than
anyone else -- just at different stages of our journeys and dealing with life
the best way we know how (Dawn Gluskin)”. I will also painstakingly add that
maybe my opinion isn’t always right (Woo! That’s hard to write!). On a
different note, but on the same topic, I also had to pay attention to my
tendency see others as better than me. I do it all the time- but this thought
process is not serving me or the world. I will never be president, break the
women’s world marathon record, or be as influential on the world as Gandhi, but
my reason for being on earth is important too.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://scontent-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash2/t1/207624_4857601411_9936_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://scontent-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash2/t1/207624_4857601411_9936_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><b>Mirroring: </b>I had
a little trouble understanding mirroring at first, however I now understand it
as this: When I feel like a situation or a person is bringing up a negative
emotion for me, I need to look at myself to find out what in me is bringing up
that emotion. If I was at perfect peace with myself, no situation or person
could ever change that. Mirroring helps get me closer to that state of peace
because I can look into myself to see why certain emotions are brought up and then
“rewire” my mind. For example, maybe I get a comment on this post that rubs me
the wrong way (I hope not though!). My initial reaction might be to feel upset
and think negatively of the person that posted the comment. Then if I reflect
on my emotions I might be able to see that my main purpose for this blog is to
inspire and help people and so I’m really just disappointed in myself for
causing a negative comment. From here I might be able to remember that I meant
well, it’s okay if I can’t please everyone, and the person that left the
comment and I are both human. Mirroring has been a huge eye opener for me as it really
lets me get a good look into my own mind.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the
thinker what he thinks into it.</span></i><i><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">- Ernest Holmes</span></span><b><o:p></o:p></b></i></div>
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<b>Asking “What can I learn
from this?”: </b>I can ask myself this question for pretty much anything both
positive and negative. If you have read some of my posts on
MindoverDepression.com you might know I asked this about depression and found
that my answer was that depression has made me a more caring and empathetic
person. I also found out it’s hardest to ask myself this question when I feel disappointed.
My ego makes me want to just sulk in disappointment (it’s really easy) and not
want to put in the effort of thinking that there can actually be something I
can learn. I can <u>always</u> learn something! Sometimes when asking myself “What
can I learn from this?” in a situation I am feeling disappointed, it’s helpful
for me to answer it on paper. I normally have no idea what I’m going to write
before the pen hits the paper but then suddenly I’m writing my answer. Lastly,
I realized I need to ask myself the question sometimes when I’m happy. Doing
this has given me insight on what I should be focusing on in my life and doing
more of.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The things I listed above are hard. I’ve had to forgive myself
many times during this process of growth and I still have yet to perfect
anything, but I’m making progress step by step (sometimes 2 steps forward and
one step back). It also feels good to know that I’m working towards a goal that
is truly important to me that will hopefully not just improve my life, but
improve the lives of everyone around me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Run Wild, Live Happy,<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
SandiSandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-21055587173120022312014-01-30T07:24:00.003-08:002014-01-30T12:06:53.594-08:00Running in Summer Snow on the Continental Divide<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Warning: This video might make you really miss summer (it did for me)!</div>
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This video features a spectacular run Sage and I did in Eldora, Colorado last June. There are great trails, awesome views, and some lack of skill as you see Sage falling and me trying to get up a wall of snow! :</div>
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Enjoy! :)</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Vn2mOnglJXg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Thanks Hammer for the socks and gels on this run!</div>
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Also, I'm very happy to announce my new sponsor Ultimate Direction! A team of women did an absolutely amazing job creating the Jenny Collection. The Ultra Vesta is perfection so check it out by clicking on the UD picture! :)</div>
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Run Wild, Live Happy, </div>
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Sandi</div>
<br />Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-72815887541739649552014-01-28T18:01:00.000-08:002014-02-07T07:08:31.434-08:00Ultra Running and Sponsorship for Women<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Thanks for all the support and the kind, thought provoking comments so far on this post!</b><br />
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As many of you know Sage is working on an awesome film
called MUT Runner. The subtitle is “A new breed of Mountain Ultra Trail runner
has emerged”. In this case the word “new” just means some people are coming
from speedier (track/road) backgrounds and that there’s more prize money and
sponsorship. Otherwise, the only people in the sport are still going to be
people who love the trails and people who are crazy enough to see running and training
for ultras as fun.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There’s only one problem, a major problem in my opinion,
that’s new and I see as compromising the sport. I indicated that there is now
more sponsorship in the sport, which is true, but to be blatantly honest the
elite women are getting screwed. There, I put it on the table. Now lets go
deeper.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>***Before I begin I will acknowledge that my knowledge is
limited to only elite American ultra-runners. I am also not acknowledging
myself as an elite runner and therefor am making no reference to myself or my
sponsors (which I of course only picked because they're awesome!). Also, this post refers mainly to major sponsors (companies with a lot of money to give), as some of the smaller companies are definitely doing it right!</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Since I know a lot of elite female and male runners I have
gotten a pretty good idea of how much a lot of runners are making…or err
uhm…not making. It’s in most people’s contracts to not publicly say how much
they’re making so I won’t name specifics or names unless the knowledge is
already out there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Let’s look at the guys. There are probably 5 elite guys who
are making enough money in ultras to live comfortably. The top paid guy are
making about 4-5 times higher than what the top elite females are making. With
prize money matching at least one guy made $40,000 last year from ultras. Then
there are quite a few guys who aren’t making enough money to live off of, but
are making enough where they don’t have to work full time. It’s easy to look on
facebook, read blogs, and watch irunfar race interviews to see that some guys
have been able to run for work and travel all over the world thanks to their
sponsors.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If we look at New Balance and Brooks they both picked one
elite guy to showcase for their trail running lines and gave them a nice salary.
Does Brooks even give free product to other trail runners anymore? (I’m just
asking here. I haven’t heard anything about their I.D. program in a long time.)
The least either company could do is pick one main female athlete as well. No
offense to New Balance’s or Brooks’ main trail guy, but they’re not going to
inspire me to buy something like an elite woman would. Also, I really hope that
Nike improves its 7 men to 1 women ratio for their trail team because it looks
really bad. Isn’t it bad enough they’re one of the biggest companies known to
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/TeamSweat" target="_blank">treat their foreign employees like crap</a> they don’t care about (obviously me
ranting here, sorry! On the plus side Nike has done a great job promoting their female road/ track runners. Maybe they'll do the same for trail runners.)?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Honestly, I think this is wonderful for the men. I love
seeing people live out their dreams and I’m very thankful that companies are
giving them enough money to do what they love. It’s awesome! What about the
women though?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Does anyone know of a woman making a comfortable salary that’s
enough live off of (Not including prize money)? I’m hoping there are at least a
few women making close to $10,000 and sure, Jenn Shelton had (has?) a sponsorship
with Hundai but that’s only one woman. If Timothy Olsen and Rob Krar are
getting a lot from the North Face then Rory Bosio and Stephanie Howe should be
too, right? Why hasn’t this year’s female ultra runner of the year gotten a big
sponsorship? Pam Smith just killed it in 2013 with a Western States win and a
world record, where’s her big salary? She uses her kids as weights and put ice down
her pants to stay cool during WW100! She deserves a big salary too dammit! To make matters worse I know that many of the
elite women we saw in the top 10 for Ultra Runner of the Year make a whopping
$0. That’s right, no salary, no travel, no bonus. These women won some big
races this year and all they got were some free shoes and clothes. I’m not
saying shoes and clothes aren’t nice, but it’s not fair when I hear how much
the men are making.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I know in almost all sports women make a lot less than men.
The salary of a WNBA player compared to an NBA player is a joke. I also know
that there are more male ultra-runners than woman and the elite men run faster
than the elite women. Let’s move on to why this shouldn’t matter.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A lot of people still consider ultra running as a “pure”
sport where people share their joys and pains together. The sport itself is
awesome, but it’s not very pure to put the “glass ceiling” on female ultra
runners. Companies now put this dreaded obstacle over women. By the way, if you
don’t know this, it’s mostly men creating sponsorship deals for athletes. This might not be a good for the company or the sport and both are losing out. Just having a woman helping on the deals would be beneficial.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The fact that there are more male ultra runners than female
runners isn’t all that important. The number of women entering the sport is
growing too and more importantly, women really like to buy running clothes and
shoes. How often do you hear a guy say “I love your jacket! Where did you get
it?”. With sports bras, running skirts, and headbands there are more things for
women to buy as well. Guys are also more likely to wear the same sweaty clothes
a few times a week, thus not having as many running clothes. C’mon major
sponsors, women are great for promoting your stuff! In road running Kara Goucher, Shalane Flanagan, Desiree Davila, Lauren Fleshman, etc. have done amazing jobs showcasing their sponsors. Actually road/track running seems to have done a great job of treating men and women equally. Shouldn't we carry that over to the trails?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Unfortunately, the elite men will almost always beat the
elite women at races. It’s just life. There are a few things that need to be
remembered though. When Ellie Greenwood and Timothy Olson both set course
records at WS100, Ellie took two hours longer to finish. I GUARENTEE this
doesn’t mean that Timothy Olson was pushing any harder than Ellie. That means
Ellie is a complete badass for pushing that hard for two hours more. Seriously,
she’s a beast and women are tough! Furthermore, while the elite women aren’t
beating the elite men, they’re still beating a large majority of the field. <o:p></o:p></div>
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One other interesting thing to note:<o:p></o:p></div>
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I had a conversation with a few female runners this year
that really left a bad taste in my mouth. The discussion was about some of the
elite women not getting as much attention or support because they didn’t have “the
right look.” Unfortunately, as a fellow woman I can tell you this probably isn’t
just in their heads. It’s ridiculous, awful, sad, and wrong. Any guy in good
shape is considered good looking to a company; it should be the same for women.
Any woman who has the mind and body to run an ultra is stunningly beautiful
inside and out. Other ultra runners know that but we need companies who give
out sponsorships to see that too.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Again,
I think it’s great runners are getting better sponsorships. Most are working as hard
or harder than other professional athletes who make millions, so it’s about
time some ultra runners are making enough to live off of. Everyone deserves a
chance to live out their dreams, or at least see if that dream is right for
them. It’s just a shame women aren’t offered the same deals as men. This is the great sport of ultra running and
in my opinion the sport will lose some of its pureness if women aren’t
supported on the same level.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
On another note completely <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ZOOMARun?sk=app_451684954848385&brandloc=DISABLE&app_data=view-vote%2Cfor-1861240" target="_blank">please vote for Rachel Nypaver, Valley Girl Adventures</a>!!!!</div>
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Run Wild, Live Free,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sandi<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><i>Always try to see the good in people. Its okay to have differences. It's even okay people make mistakes that bother you. The majority of the world has a good heart if we choose to see it.</i></b></span></div>
Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-54281312686296536632014-01-15T08:04:00.000-08:002014-01-15T08:04:45.992-08:00How to: Plank Variation Exercises for Athletes and Beginners<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
My favorite part of my body to workout by far is my core. It's so important for running efficiently and being balanced. The fun part, however, is that there are so many exercises to work on your core. I could do a whole core workout standing, on a yoga ball, with a weight, on my back, or just doing planks like in the video. So many options to make things more fun! Anyway, the first core video is on planks because they are easy to do anywhere since you don't need anything but yourself, you can work on other body parts at the same time, and they're just so effective. If you like the video and want to see more core workouts leave a comment here or on the youtube page.</div>
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Enjoy!</div>
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<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/Q_pD0sT9DB4/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/Q_pD0sT9DB4&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/Q_pD0sT9DB4&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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Run Wild, Live Happy,<br />
<br />
SandiSandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-85608824892138071672014-01-09T14:09:00.000-08:002014-01-09T15:37:06.949-08:00One of my favorite places to run in Ohio...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Mohican State Park has a special place in my heart as it's where I ran my first ultra, the Mohican 100 Trail Run. When I was in Ohio for Christmas <a href="http://rachelnypaver.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Rachel,</a><a href="http://sagecanaday.com/" target="_blank"> Sage </a>(who got the great footage for me to edit), and I manageg to slip away from the holiday bustle (good, happy bustle) and did a beautiful 3 hour run on the trails.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/8y5KVUAEiDw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/BelieveArt" target="_blank">I BELIEVE ART DISCOUNT:</a> I know everyone just spent a lot of money for Christmas and New Years so anyone who mentions this get's $10 off on a charcoal drawings or paintings for Valentines Day. Art takes time so t<b><u>his offer is only good until the end of Sunday, January 12.</u></b> As always. 7% of the proceeds goes to charity.</div>
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One last note. I started coaching and I absolutely love it! It's something I thought about for awhile but just never did it. Thankfully, an already awesome runner asked my to help her get ready for some ultras including a 100 miler and I gladly agreed. It's a true joy for me to be able to do this and I get excited just thinking about it. I can write more about this in a later post but just wanted to put it out there for anyone interested.</div>
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Run Wild, Live Happy,</div>
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Sandi</div>
Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-73881597952653988462014-01-05T16:52:00.000-08:002014-01-05T16:52:00.218-08:00An iBelieve ChristmasSome memories from spending the holidays in Ohio:<br />
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My sister Rachel and her boyfriend Steve race direct the <a href="http://www.wrkids.org/ibelieve-5k10k-trail-race-1-mile-youth-inspire-run" target="_blank">I Believe 5k/10k</a> and give all the proceeds to the Boys & Girls Club. Below are pictures of the 1 mile kids race and then me after finishing the 10k. I loved the mud!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coolest Start/Finish sign ever!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Had to retire my Christmas socks after the race.</td></tr>
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Sage and I had a bit of a rock star running schedule. We both won the I Believe 10k on Saturday, the day after we ran 16 miles, Monday we ran 3 hours in the beautiful Mohican State Park with Rachel and Pacer.....<br />
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<img height="640" src="https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/555618_10101392200840155_2139201680_n.jpg" width="360" /><br />
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Then on Tuesday we won the Frosty 5 in 15 degree weather followed by a trail run. It was a blast! However it really made racing 5 miles on the road hurt!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I gave someone a good Christmas present by leaving my Garmin watch there.</td></tr>
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After the Frosty 5 we headed to my mom's house for my family's annual Christmas Eve Party.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My wonderful friends, some who've I've known since elementary school.</td></tr>
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To work off some of all the food we ate Rachel, Sage, some of my Ohio running friends and I ran the annual Waterfall Run in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. 3 waterfalls in 17 miles.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rachel, Me, and our friend Lee running Pine Lane on our way to the first waterfall.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rachel, Me, and Sage at Buttermilk Falls.<br /></td></tr>
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I also fulfilled my duty as an aunt by spoiling my niece, Pacer, with tons of play time and belly rubs!<br />
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It's always a little sad to say goodbye.... (Fortunately for Pacer she has my sock to remember me by.)<br />
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Run Wild, Live Happy,<br />
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SandiSandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-46689406383339119782014-01-02T16:46:00.001-08:002014-01-02T16:46:56.316-08:00Farewell (for now) Tears<div class="MsoNormal">
I leave Ohio after celebrating Christmas with family and
friends to go back to the mountains of Colorado for the third time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I love the mountains as they are my home and I am very lucky
to have someone to travel back with this year, but like every year, I leave
Ohio in tears.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s ridiculous really; I should be used to it by now. I
shouldn’t be so emotional, but I can’t help it. It doesn't help that every time my tears slip
from my eyes, I catch what at first seems to be my reflection in tears as well.
In these moments I remember that it’s okay to cry, as the bond between soul
mates is indeed very special. <o:p></o:p></div>
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(When I was a kid I thought a soul mate was a significant
other and I could only have one, but as I grew wiser I learned that it is
possible to have more than one soul mate, and soul mates can come in forms of
various people.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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As I once again leave my
<a href="http://rachelnypaver.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">amazing twin sister, Rachel</a>, I feel like I’m leaving parting with a piece my heart.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Growing up I didn’t see how
perfectly our lives fit together. We each had hard battles that we dealt with
separately, yet we later realized our battles were often the same. To this day
we still find ourselves sharing paralleling paths, but now we gratefully share
our thoughts and dreams together.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me (left) and Rachel in CVNP</td></tr>
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Rachel is not only my twin
sister, she is my best friend, soul mate, and my hero. She is the person that
will go to events with me that no one else will. She is the person I seemed to
have accidentally started an online book club with. She is the reason I still look up when someone says Rachel, thinking that they might be
talking to me. She is the one who always listens to my crazy ideas and often
takes part in them. She’s the only one who believed in me when no one else did.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rachel running Forget the PR 50k</td></tr>
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When we were kids I saw her as
a rock of determination and pure will power as she’d have me put on ankle
weights for early morning runs before school in 6<sup>th</sup> grade. It was
also during this time I learned that while she might be the most determined
person on the planet, she was like me and had plenty of her own mental
struggles.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rachel on her way up Kilimanjaro</td></tr>
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I remember the day I learned
this. My mom and Rachel came home from the doctor and my mom told me that
Rachel had to go to the hospital right away. Her pulse was so slow her heart
could stop beating at any moment. At that moment I felt like my heart stopped. How
could someone with such a strong heart possibly be at risk of having it stop?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rach taking in the view from Molas Pass (Colorado)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="308" src="https://scontent-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/1499436_585531771528745_1158191751_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://rachelnypaver.blogspot.com/2013/12/she-wanted-toflyso-she-flew-by-rachel.html" target="_blank">She wanted to fly, so she flew.</a></td></tr>
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For two weeks she was in the
hospital, for two years she was constantly going to appointments, and till this
day I know she sometimes struggles. However, she has already won the battle and
the war. Now she is truly the definition of strength as she constantly works to
help and inspire others whether it be through her presence, writings, directing the I Believe Trail Races for charity, being on
a mental health board, or helping young girls stay on the right path.<o:p></o:p><br />
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I remember two ideas I had
that only came to life because Rachel agreed to do them with me, and that has
forever changed my life. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The first was to start a volunteer group, Students Making a
Difference, at our college. We already felt liked we were busy, but we jumped
in any way to follow a path of service, which gave us the gift of believing in
our abilities separately and together. We had no idea what we were doing, but
we took one of the most important steps of our lives as we now always consider
how we are affecting the planet and its people.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Right: Students Making a Difference becoming an official club!</td></tr>
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The other idea always makes me smile to this day. At the age
of 21 I went on an <a href="http://impossible2possible.com/home" target="_blank">i2P expedition</a>, quit my basketball team (and so did Rach),
and signed up to run the Mohican 100. The longest race I ever did prior to
signing up was a half marathon. 100 miles was crazy, but I knew I could do it.
Rachel knew it too. Everyone else thought I lost my mind. About 30 miles to go
in the Mohican 100, I picked up Rachel. I said I needed her with me and despite
her not running much beforehand due to an injury, she joined me for the rest of
the race. She stopped me from making wrong turn and together we ran for our
first time in the dark, and soon after both our flash lights dimmed till we could
barely see. Together, we finished my
first 100 mile race in first place.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rachel and her daughter (my beautiful niece), Pacer</td></tr>
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Because of these events, I continue to dream. I dream big,
wild, almost impossible dreams. While I’m sure most of my family still doesn’t know what to think
of me (though my dad is pretty awesome and is happy if I’m happy), Rachel continues to believe in me, and I continue to believe in her.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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I don’t just believe in her because she’s my sister, I
believe in her because everything about her shows she’s meant for greatness in
whatever she decides to do. As she continues to see the goodness and power in
herself that others already see, I hope we can dream some big dreams together
and make them come to life. After all, it’s why we were put on this beautiful
earth together.<o:p></o:p></div>
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My wish for everyone reading this is that you learn from
Rachel that struggles can show your true strength and beauty, and that showing
people you believe in them can change lives in a big way.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I love you Rachel.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me (left) and Rachel at Twin Spring in Manitou Springs, CO</td></tr>
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Run Wild, Live Happy,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sandi<br />
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<img alt="Why God makes twins" height="320" src="https://s-media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/c8/9e/e3/c89ee3d5d111c05ebb04c4c53a57ffd0.jpg" width="280" /></div>
Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-18588624333760327742014-01-01T19:49:00.001-08:002014-01-01T19:49:23.027-08:00Savannah, the Purring Dog<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: start;">Savanah Banana, my lovable family dog starts to "purr" whenever someone says "bellies" and then pets her belly. People confuse it as growling but you can tell her tail is wagging and she just wants to be petted.</span></div>
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<br />Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-31233456736195160562013-12-21T12:45:00.000-08:002013-12-21T12:45:38.946-08:00Dreams and Gratitude<div class="MsoNormal">
I recently had a post on the website <a href="http://mindoverdepression.com/2013/12/10/grateful-for/" target="_blank">MindoverDepression.com about gratitude</a>. Gratitude seems too simple to have any major effects on a person’s
mood. At any given moment, even when filled with a negative outlook, it’s
actually kind of easy to find something to be grateful for with a little
effort. It could be as simple as being thankful for free water at a water
fountain, owning a pair of socks, or for owning a old laptop with a taped on
space bar and a missing key because it still gets the job done (thank you to my
laptop for allowing me to type this!). It’s probably the simplest thing I have
ever done to improve my mood/ life. After a few weeks of putting some effort
into finding things I’m grateful for, it’s now an effortless mindset and my
mood has remained stable and positive for the longest stretch of time since I
can ever remember. While I believe everything on MindoverDepression.com has
helped me, gratitude has been a major piece of the puzzle.<o:p></o:p></div>
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With that said, lately I have been filled with a sometimes
almost overwhelmingly grateful feeling towards everyone who has supported me,
big or small, this year. Maybe it sounds cheesy, but the past few months I’ve
had dreams come true in large part to you. It has been my dream to support my
modest lifestyle through being creative in a variety of ways (writing, trying
to help those who with me share the journey of healing depression, videos,
artwork, t-shirt designs, and a book), and it has been a huge honor to have my
creative passions displayed in people’s homes or have my thoughts enter the
minds of others as they read my words. While I’m not sure how long this dream
will continue, words cannot express how thankful I am for the time I have had
living my dream and helping the dreams of others by always giving some proceeds
to charity (again, all because of you!). <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz-knida2XLbHkQANGq51DO7699cgc52SaJTAUAC9Qnh2saNLOu7YpKmJ3dm3siV1dxQVNeBf3FITk7gbuXhieCxdWCwmEtKRyjc7KzFV3MkolIsjjbb5H8At2FBnEVGZwBY6UeWUjKksH/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz-knida2XLbHkQANGq51DO7699cgc52SaJTAUAC9Qnh2saNLOu7YpKmJ3dm3siV1dxQVNeBf3FITk7gbuXhieCxdWCwmEtKRyjc7KzFV3MkolIsjjbb5H8At2FBnEVGZwBY6UeWUjKksH/s320/004.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Sincerest thanks to all reading this.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Merry Christmas<o:p></o:p></div>
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Happy Hanukah<o:p></o:p></div>
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Joyous Kwanza<o:p></o:p></div>
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Happy Holidays,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sandi</div>
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<span class="bqquotelink"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/ralphmarst163841.html" title="view quote"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Make
it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely
and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those
around you, and you'll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life,
and you'll find that you have more of it.</b></span></a></span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span class="bodybold"><a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/ralph_marston.html" title="view author"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Ralph
Marston</span></a></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; orphans: auto; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span></span></span></b></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; mso-special-character: line-break; orphans: auto; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
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Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-42682738531371313362013-12-14T14:23:00.001-08:002013-12-14T14:23:05.660-08:001 Day Left and a Super Sweet Poem<br />
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1 DAY LEFT TO GET YOUR SHIRTS!!!</div>
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<a href="http://teespring.com/findyourfree">http://teespring.com/findyourfree</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwfh5MiT9pn-6P3L63qf6PqSsHjWKieaTRNQFTt0-IWu_dGnR9PMiXRiCm5yZz1cXWPnQgmmrmbFvsrdLqtr6eHO7GdI_enqqEdtq2IRevAchU1f8xa5ekJykvxR3TxceTZbOL2pLDnizy/s1600/shirtFrontBig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwfh5MiT9pn-6P3L63qf6PqSsHjWKieaTRNQFTt0-IWu_dGnR9PMiXRiCm5yZz1cXWPnQgmmrmbFvsrdLqtr6eHO7GdI_enqqEdtq2IRevAchU1f8xa5ekJykvxR3TxceTZbOL2pLDnizy/s320/shirtFrontBig.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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My sister, Rachel, wrote an amazing inspirational poem based off a painting I made. Please check it out if you haven't already: <a href="http://rachelnypaver.blogspot.com/2013/12/she-wanted-toflyso-she-flew-by-rachel.html">http://rachelnypaver.blogspot.com/2013/12/she-wanted-toflyso-she-flew-by-rachel.html</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiS_6VA_v7n_ZJ8HLezJcN8wJxGqwGL730rzDSFMOnwWvu4QvD96mJM8fwisziLmoyPIiAiY6-9U-ZvBEw6BaaITlm6cTGP4Aq7lb-z0Y7YGjCxraLwLA0h4QgjxKuDiQ47j0o5tzFdb6Y/s1600/Free+Your+Mind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiS_6VA_v7n_ZJ8HLezJcN8wJxGqwGL730rzDSFMOnwWvu4QvD96mJM8fwisziLmoyPIiAiY6-9U-ZvBEw6BaaITlm6cTGP4Aq7lb-z0Y7YGjCxraLwLA0h4QgjxKuDiQ47j0o5tzFdb6Y/s320/Free+Your+Mind.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Run Wild, Live Happy,</div>
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Sandi</div>
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Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-90604240891639666212013-12-05T18:49:00.001-08:002013-12-05T18:49:23.449-08:00Find Your Free- T-Shirts are Launched!Launched my first shirt design!<div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #44474d; font-family: 'Proxima Nova', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 27.77777862548828px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Everyone wants to feel free. We want both our minds and our bodies to feel free. We want the freedom to fly where no vehicles can go. That’s why we run. Running has the magical power to free our minds so we can dream big and believe in our capabilities in every aspect of our lives. Running gives us the freedom to go to places that are only reachable by foot, and places so beautiful they take our breaths away (sometimes also caused by the lack of air in the mountains). This design represents that freedom we get from running, so where your shirt proudly and inspire others to find their free.</b></i></span></span><br />
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<img alt="Front" height="400" src="http://images.teespring.com/shirt_pic/189915/9/314/front.jpg?v=2013-12-06-00-44" width="298" /></div>
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If you like it you can buy it here: <a href="http://teespring.com/findyourfree">http://teespring.com/findyourfree</a> Get it as a present to yourself or for the runners in your life! </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">You can only get it until December 15!</span></b></div>
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I'm trying this out using Teespring which is mostly a good thing but has one downside. The shirts will only be printed if 30 are sold. The reason I'm using Teespring this time is because it's no risk money wise for me. I was nervous about ordering and buying a ton of shirts that may or may not sell. So this way I don't have to invest money I really want to use for Christmas presents. Also, Teespring ships the shirts straight to you which is great for me and Sage since our apartment is already filled with camera equipment, painting supplies, and running/ exercise stuff. :)</div>
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A note on some of the shirt choices:</div>
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Mens: Dark gray option coming (hopefully) sometime tomorrow. (Thanks Sage for picking out the men's shirt.) </div>
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Ladies: There are two women's specific shirts. </div>
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-The Bella Women's Favorite Tee. It's a junior fit so it's a bit smaller than a regular women's tee. I actually have this shirt in a small and it fits me perfectly, but it wouldn't if I was a tad ummmm....bustier. It looks exactly like the shirt in the above picture. The small fits me just like the picture below but its slightly longer.</div>
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-The Gildan Women's Tee: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/T-Shirts-Womens-Gildan-Cotton-T-Shirt/dp/B000FAKO6K/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top">http://www.amazon.com/T-Shirts-Womens-Gildan-Cotton-T-Shirt/dp/B000FAKO6K/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top</a></div>
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<img height="400" src="https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash2/311644_10151869530591834_733020491_n.jpg" width="295" /> </div>
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7% of the proceeds will go to the Boys & Girls Club.</div>
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I am also going to apologize in advance if I go overboard promoting it. I only did a 10 day campaign so people could hopefully get it for Christmas presents.</div>
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Thanks for all the support!!!</div>
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Much love,</div>
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Sandi</div>
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Find your free</div>
Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1050384643747960034.post-54293944397184280652013-12-02T19:04:00.001-08:002013-12-02T19:04:25.242-08:00How Stress Can Hurt Your Body<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Remember this?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">If you don’t, here’s the summary. My stomach was constantly
bugging me and I was having trouble absorbing vitamins and minerals, especially
iron. The inside of my stomach was irritated and red, but that’s all the
doctors could tell me. I was extremely frustrated. I just wanted more energy
again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">According to Dr. Lissa Rankin’s book Mind over Medicine, my story
mirrors thousands of others. Dr. Rankin worked in Marin County California, a
place where people strive to eat healthy and stay fit. She was seeing patients
that, like me, eat a very clean and natural diet, and exercise regularly.
Interestingly, these patients were just as sick as the patients she saw when
she lived in an area filled with poverty and fast food. She then spent her time
researching the subject and came to the conclusion that stress or any negative
areas in your life can make you sick. (If you don’t believe this, read her book
and keep reading this. She was raised to be skeptical so she really did her
research.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Though I’m not sure if this was the complete root of my problem,
it really made sense to me after reading the Tapping Solution by Nick Ortner.
In his book he states:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">The stress response can cause a massive cascade of events in your
body, including:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">On average four times less blood flow to your
digestive system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Lower absorption of nutrients.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Less enzyme production in your gut. (As much as
20,000 times less! This is one of the reasons why, when you eat a meal while
you’re stressed, you’ll often feel bloated and uncomfortable.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Decrease in gut flora population.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Increase in cholesterol.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Increase in cortisol and insulin levels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Notice, the main two things I was experiencing, stomach
problems and trouble absorbing nutrients, can be caused by stress.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As you may have noticed by my blog and website postings, I
have been really working on healing my depression and reducing stress. And
guess what? There is a very noticeable difference in my energy. While I’m still
having trouble getting my iron up, something is obviously going right because I
don’t feel like sleeping all the time and I’m once again motivated to do the
things I love! <o:p></o:p></div>
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For ideas on how to decrease stress in your life and<a href="http://mindoverdepression.com/2013/11/20/heal/" target="_blank"> gettingto the roots of your problems check out MindoverDepression.com</a>. While the website
is for depression, it offers some good knowledge for everyone.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Run Wild, Live Happy,</div>
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Sandi</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Sandi Nypaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05897602721151942691noreply@blogger.com7