Meet Rhonda, the Ramblin' Van!

I have picked up a little trick from Brian: Mental Manifestation. He's always been really good at it. Focus on what you want. Put the vibe out there, into the universe and you can make things happen. Get what you want! Sign up for my 8 week program for only $699.99 and I can teach YOU how to make all YOUR dreams come true.

Just kidding!

No, but really I can manifest things with my mind. Like this beauty: Ramblin' Rhonda, the 1988 Dodge Ram camping van. I have wanted a van for.ev.er. I started focusing on it hard, thinking it would be perfect for Colorado road trips, especially trips that involve ultra running. Except we had no money. Just the power of the mind. I kept checking craigslist but everything decent was way out of our price range. Then I saw Rhonda. Big, red, roomy, Rhonda. Her curves enticed me, her voluptuous physique reeled me in, her burgundy stripes and matching plush interior called to me, suggesting we belong together. Annnd the price was right. Especially after a friend committed to buying Esteban (the little white truck who is even older than Rhonda).

It was raining the night we met her. I climbed in and immediately felt safe, warm and happy. Literal shelter from the storm. We played around inside, spun the captain's chairs, folded the bed down, listened to rain-on-steel, and then took her for a drive. I had already decided she would be mine.

Rhonda, like me, was made in the eighties. Perhaps that is why I connect with her. We could have been sisters or BFFs, except she stayed in the eighties and I evolved with the years. There is an air of nostalgia upon entering this van. Even if it's an era you've never known, nor spent significant time. You just feel all the good memories pouring over you when you sink into one of those big velvety seats. Her tape deck, wood paneling, and ambient red interior lighting just says it all. Rhonda knows how to ramble.



If Rhonda were a woman, she'd be the "I'm big, I'm bold, I'm beautiful" type. She would hunger for adventure. She would dance her ass off at weddings and alone in her kitchen. She'd have long maroon finger nails and she would call everyone "honey." She would be a "yes" girl. Up for anything. Looking for a good time, a partner in crime? Call Rhonda. She wouldn't be a shy girl. She would eat lots of fried things, even in front of the boys. She would sing the blues at karaoke night and out-drink all the rednecks. Shut the place down. Everyone would love Rhonda. Everyone would want a piece.

She looks so at home in the driveway and I know she will be even deeper in her element once she's out on the open road catching bugs on the windshield, driving us to places we've never been and dropping me off on trails I've never run.

Mental manifestation works. But you have to want what you want for the right reasons. You can't be too materialistic. I can be greedy. I wish and want and hope. But you can't mess with the power of mental manifestation. You can't use it for everything. You have to use your powers for Good. She might not be the youngest, hippest van on the market. She's probably not the most efficient, aerodynamic or even aesthetically pleasing thing with which we could choose to adorn our driveway. It won't be easy to financially keep up with her insatiable appetite, but there is something special about our Rhonda.


And here's some more Bob Dylan for ya :)

Collegiate Peaks 50

My regular race reports are pretty boring. And I forgot all the trail names and significant climbs and altitudes anyway. First I'll tell you the final stats.

Time: 10:43

Place: 10th female

Age: 2nd under 30

Elevation: ~8,000-9,400 (4,700 feet of elevation gain/drop per loop)

PR (in Colorado)

It's really hard for me to remember what I was thinking at every mile.

Was it hard? Yes. It always is.

There were also times when it was easy. Sooo easy. Those are the miles that just float by like clouds. The ones where you're surrounded by mountains and trees and blue sky. SO blue. And the sun is in your eyes so bright... and you think it might be Heaven that you are running through. The river flows, dances over rocks and you feel just as fast and graceful.

The harder miles offer different scenery. Just feet and the dirt beneath them. Just you, looking at your feet. Telling them keep going. Fighting with them. The sun bearing down like a hundred pounds on your back. A far away voice telling you to drink. Why haven't you peed yet? Another voice telling you to walk. Stop. Another telling you you're too late. The real race is over. They finished hours ago. Straggler.

Then you find someone and you roll along together. You grunt to one another. Comment on the weather. Encourage him. Relate to him. Feel pain with him. Experience endlessness together. Make a friend. If you act okay, you are okay. Feel better. Move on.

Use the good times to get ahead. You have to take advantage of them. You have to leave the others to get ahead. You know they'll turn up later. It's still a race. It's still a race so your feet keep moving.

The days before the race, you never actually believe that it will begin, much less end. The first miles are the same. It will never really be over. The finish line seems as far away as retirement, grandchildren, death. You just can't picture it. But you believe in it. It comes, eventually. I sign up for these things because I hate when things are over. I am here to experience endlessness. I am also here to embrace endings.

I turned my iPod on sometime after the halfway point and listened to this Bob Dylan poem for over an hour. First it gave me things to think about. Things that kept my eyes off my feet as they focused on a bigger picture. I listened until the words left and only rhythm remained. Just something to keep my legs turning long after my mind had shut off. But the moral was always there. Use Life. Strip it all the way down to the good stuff. See everything and soak it up. You can't go everywhere. You can't experience everything but if you can squeeze every drop out of the moments you have then you're as rich as any world traveler. You might not get to climb every mountain, but you can climb this one. You can experience this trail. This dirt. This mile. This is a day, a race, a place that belongs to you.

It is not all physical pain out there. Sometimes it is only in your head. Sometimes there is none at all. Just bliss. Floating, flying, forgetting... But to me, the pain is the best part. The pain cave is the one place where you know you are safe. You are safe from endings because the end doesn't come when wished for. It comes when you're busy loving and being too loved. Your demons and snakes, things like death, debt, guilt, fat... can't get you in the pain cave. It hurts, but if you can find Peace in there, then you are free.

Bob says it all here.

Thankfully, the Collegiate Peaks were the view, not the course. This is the starting line.

This is me and April, my wonderful crew, before the race.

Going to races with a girlfriend is so fun! We talked about boys, applied moisturizing facial masks and listened to Amos Lee and Bon Iver in the hotel room the night before the race. Ahh, just like high school. It really took my mind off being nervous.