Welcome 2012

2011 had many high highs and then some very bad lows. I ran a marathon with my friend Erin in February after ankle surgery when my surgeon said I would never run again. 2 months later I go married to Mike Brawley, 10 days after that we flew to San Diego to start our epic journey on the PCT, which ended for me in only 74 days into the trip with a ruptured blood vessel in my brain. I am lucky to be alive. I have battled back with my health and am now feeling hopeful about a possible return to the trail but fate likes to knock me around a bit so I'm keeping my options open for 2012. I know 2012 will too have it's highs and lows, and I look forward to facing them head on and knowing that my husband will be there to always lend a helping hand...or jump into a river to pull me out.

Mt. Baker 10,778 feet

Again Mike and I went out for a weekend; this time to climb Mt. Baker. Its an amazing volcano covered with glaciers and snow. Great place for skiing, sledding, ice climbing, snowshoeing and hiking. The day started like any climb, full of energy and excitement. We powered up to where we would camp for the night. The wind was blowing and the temperature was dropping fast. Mike and I have unspoken roles when it comes to backpacking. Somehow we both set up the tent and I get our rest pads, sleeping bags and such all done up and organized while he gets dinner made. Today was a little different. Due to the wind we needed a wall around our tent to protect us. Mike was having a hard time finding enough rock. We both worked on the wall and secured the tent down. That night was a cold one. We both had a hard time sleeping. The wind would blow the tent so hard it would be covering our faces as we lay in it. I'm sure that if we were not in the tent, it would have blown away.

We got up in the middle of the night to start our push to the summit. The stars were out and it was freezing. We quickly put on our gear and headed out. The wind was still kicking and it stung as it blew little fine crystals of snow at any exposed skin. Within a few short hours our faces felt like they were sunburnt from being blasted by the snow and wind. It was amazing how the wind was pushing us back. It took us forever to get a few steps ahead. But we kept pushing on breaking trail all the way.

We finaly gave in and turned back. As we got higher and higher it got windier and windier. It was fun but now it just sucked. We were both cold and our faces hurt. It was time to go back down and re-group. Its nice to summit but its better to come home safe....

Seattle Marathon

November 29th 2009 I ran the Seattle Marathon. Finally I got my chance. I was all set to run it as my first marathon in 2007 but was hit by a car 3 months before the race. I ended up having knee surgery and had to do a year of physical therapy. So this race was special for a few reasons to me. It brought me to tears when I crossed the finish line knowing that I had finally done the Seattle Marathon. I finished in 4:43:14. Almost an hour faster then the Polar Circle Marathon. I was speechless!

Mt. Rainier

On September 12th 2009, Mike and I went up the Schurman Route on Mt. Rainier. We never made it to the summit but we had an amazing time. It was a great trip all in all. Then again any time we spend outdoors is so much fun. The weather was perfect, very sunny and clear. This trip was the first time I ever fell into a crevass. HAHAHA! I didn't fall far down since Mike and I were roped. (safty first)

Polar Circle Marathon, Greenland

The Polar Circle Marathon was in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland on October 24th 2009. After a full 24 hours of flying from Seattle to Washington DC to Amsterdam then to Kangerlussuaq. I was beat!!! But it was an amazing sight flying in....not much but snow and ice. The town was very small but with a history. The airport was also the hotel, bar, restaurant and gift shop. Across the street was a general store and a pizza place, yes pizza. Not the best pizza but after a marathon....it was ok. You could walk the town within a few minutes. But you didn't want to be out long, it was very cold outside. I was in my full winter snowboarding gear. 2 layers of wool socks, 2 pairs of gloves, wool pull over, down coat and insolated pants with long underwear. It was like -10 out. The first night there we all got to see the aurora borealis. What an amazing sight to see. I didn't get pictures of it, it was way to dark. In the pictures you will see the post office. It had a very huge mailbox for Santa. There wasn't a whole lot to do but we went to the polar ice cap (where part of the marathon was) to check it out. On the way we saw rain deer and musk ox. Neat animals. On night we even had musk ox burgers. Tasty. Oh and we had some amazing trout that they caught that day. The day of the race was buzzing with excitement. We were all cold waiting for the start of the race. They trucked us all out far away from town and dropped us off. We all huddled together like penguins until the gun (real gun) went off. I had a hard time getting into my rhythm but finally found it. I did well on the ice cap; probably due to my mountaineering experience. The race was rolling hills of snow and ice. I met up with a fellow runner about half way that i ran almost the last half with. Its always so nice to be able to talk with someone. At this point I realized my butt had froze. I could not feel it at all. I had gloves and a hat as well as a coat. I was warm enough. My hat froze to my head and my ponytail froze outward with sweat. Very funny to realize when I finally crossed the finish line.

May 8th, 2009; I went to China to run the Great Wall of China Marathon. What an amazing trip. I met some great people and saw so much of China. My 11 day adventure included a 2 night trip to Xian where I climbed Mount Huashan and got to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. we also saw the Tang Dynasty Show. Back in Beijing we stayed at the Capital Hotel and toured the city seeing: The Forbidden City, The Silk Factory, The Acrobatic Show at the famous Chao Yang Theater, Tiananmen Square, The Imperial Palace, The Pearl Market and lots of shopping. Of course the Great Wall was very powerfull to see in person. What an amazing sight! We ran only 6 miles of the 26.2 marathon on the wall. And that was enough of the wall for me. It was very hard to run on. Every step you took was different from the last. A true challange. It was remarkable to say the least.

New start

Hey friends and family and people I don't know,
I'm totaly new at this thing but everyone keeps telling me I need to blog about all of my adventures. I'm going to go back over this amazing year I have had. I know some of you have not seen pictures from all or any of my trips. Here we go....