Kyrie Eleison (2023 Badwater 135 Training)

Badwater. Before we first crewed there, several friends teased me that by the time the race was over I would have decided to run it. No way, I said. First of all, it's road, and I'm a trail girl now. Second of all, it's just too dangerous. Too many variables, too much sheer torture. Nope. Not for me. Wrong. By the time the race was over, I was all in. Time has since passed; actually, it's hard to believe it's been two years already. It never fully lost its hold on me, but it certainly weakened. Western States, Rocky Raccoon, a killer Burning River took its place. I'm a trail girl now. But we were going to be in Vegas to celebrate Darrin's 40th birthday, so it was a bit hard to resist the call of Badwater in August. Fast forward to a run the week before we left, when we decide that we "just have to" do something "epic." After tossing around several ideas and discarding the majority due to hydration/crewing concerns,...

I've always kind of had a love affair with Burning River. My emails and blogs about her read like love letters from the start. Even that first year, the year I unexpectedly paced Darris, she took my breath away. I thought she was crazy, cruel, brutal and insane; of course I couldn't wait to see her again. Last year, the first year I had an "official" blog up and running, I posted my past three race reports that had gone out by email. I even called it "a love story in three parts." I then proceeded to add yet another lovingly crafted ode to her. This is not a love song. *** The morning was beautiful. I didn't miss either of the alarms. I was in bed at 8 and had slept reasonably from a little before 9 pm until the 2:45 am call. Jay and I connected in the lobby and headed to the buses. I had the pleasure of reconnecting with Alex Nemet on the ride over, who just happened to be in the seat across from me, and Jay and I shared some meaningless pre-race small ...

Simply stated, method acting is a practice of immersion. The method actor seeks to live as the character, taking on their lifestyle and characteristics, their attitudes and outlooks, throughout the time they are playing that character. If the character is homeless, the dedicated method actor will sleep outdoors. If the character possesses a unique fashion sense, the actor will adopt that. The idea is that the portrayal will be more authentic if the actor is “actually” having the experience instead of pretending to have the experience. I don’t remember how it came up, but for some reason late in the race, Steve and I were discussing the evolution of self over the twenties and thirties. After some reflection, I concluded that (for me) the twenties were about self-discovery, and the thirties about self-acceptance. Western States was not about me. But we have to start at the beginning before we can leave me behind. *** A Long Day’s Night Getting to Western States turned out to be more than...