50 for 50

The Hangover

2011-12-12T09:06:00.000-08:00

As I sit here ready to put into words the experience of my San Francisco to Sin City Challenge weekend, I don't even know how to start or where to go with it. I was thinking something along the lines of The Hangover and opening the scene with a disaster of a room, but I failed to take pictures and besides, what happens in Vegas blah, blah, blah. The more I think about it and the meaning of the whole weekend in general, the more I want to cherish the runs themselves and the ability to run rather than too much of the details and silliness that I'm capable spewing. After all, this was a fundraiser for the Lupus Foundation of America in honor of a friend, Beth Waldrip Urrea and I'd prefer to focus on the what I walked away with from this weekend. And you'll still get some detail, hopefully just not as much as usual.

Since finding out back in April that Beth had Lupus and then actually reuniting with her in May, Beth has been a huge source of inspiration for me. In turn, I've hoped that I could pass that along to others and that somehow we could both have a positive affect on people's lives.

So here's the down and dirty...........

Travel Day.........

Left Midland on 6:40 a.m. flight Friday morning, a brief stop in Albuquerque and then a plane change in Los Angeles. Landed in San Francisco at 11:35 and was getting into my rental, a surprisingly nice small SUV, a GMC Arcadia and on my way to meet two friends at Tony's Pizza Napoletana by 12:20.

I met Jay and Pam who were waiting in the bar for me and then we had some of the best pizza. Internally I was struggling with it because I don't normally eat pizza until after a race, but I knew I need the calories and carbs so I tried not to stress. After the first bite that nonsense all went out the window. I practically licked my plate clean. During lunch we discussed my sub 9hr goal and Jay toyed with the idea of running the 50 mile race as he had originally registered. Pam, returning from a stress fracture was racing the full marathon.

After lunch, we made our way to the North Face store and officially checked-in. It was there that Jay made it official, he would pace me for the 50 miler. Jay ran Boston earlier in the year in 2:29:xx and was coming off of a 4th place overall in the Vermont 50. Stud to say the least. He opted not to "race" the 50 as his training hadn't been the quality he wanted going into the race. I was obviously pumped about this as now I had a "crew" on the course and a pacer, both of which I didn't have for the 2010 race. At the same time, I was honestly a bit nervous because the last thing I wanted was for this to turn into some kind of death march out there and have not only myself suffer through it, but Jay as well. We parted ways from the store and it was time to find my hotel.

I arrived in Corte Madera, about 11 miles from the race start and found my hotel, The Marin Suites. Not nearly as nice on the outside as the internet pictures, but it didn't really matter, it was a place to sleep. When I stepped in the room it was like stepping into a 1970's apartment, but it was huge compared to the place I stayed in last year so I had plenty of space in the living room to lay out my gear and pack my drop bags. Got that done and it was time to hit the sack. I'll leave out the frantic drive around town to find my specific protein bars which I eventually found.

Race Day......

I finally rolled out of bed at 2:30 a.m. after hitting the snooze buttons a couple of times. I turned on the coffee and made a quick bowl of oatmeal. While it was in the microwave, I was getting dressed and still trying to decided exactly what to wear based on the weather and the forecast. For gear/clothing I went with the following:

Shoes: Brooks Pure Grit
Socks: DryMax
Shorts: North Face Better than Naked
Shirt: North Face Flight Series fitted technical shirt
Jacked: North Face Better Than Naked Jacket (love this jacket - 2010 model)
I would also go with the Nathan HPL 28 vest to carry nutrition and a single North FAce E50 handheld water bottle.

Jay and I met up in the designated parking lot in the Fort Barry area and caught the short shuttle ride to the start. Dropped our gear bags and got set for the start. As it seems is the case before all of my big races, I find myself not quite prepared until the last minute before the start. We make out way up to the front of the chute and Jay calmly points out a few of the big dogs running. Among them I see Dakota Jones, Ian Sharman and Michael Wardian. There are others all around including several top females, but it was not time for star gazing, it was time to run.

Looking back at the goal I made just after last year's event, it was sub 9 or bust. As I noted earlier in the year, my plan was to be Goode Through December, the theme of my son's football team's season. I was still wearing my Goode Through December wristband and it was now December. Time to deliver.

As we took off and made our way out of Fort Barry, I tried to contain my adrenaline and run a steady pace. I didn't want to make the mistake of going out too fast, a mistake I've made on more than one occasion in ultras. However, as we came to each aid station we were ahead of schedule. Tennessee Valley by about 11 minutes, then Cardiac by the same, and then increased it to about a 40 minute lead by the time we entered Cardiac aid station the second time at mile 32.9.

It was from Cardiac on that Jay's pacing was priceless. While keeping it positive and reminding me we were ahead of schedule, he also kept me moving through the climbs. And it seems we climbed and climbed and climbed. When I would fall off pace, he kept moving and that made me keep moving even if at times I felt like I was crawling. I have no doubt that just his presence and the fear of letting him down kept me moving. It's crazy what motivates you at times. Today it was a real fear of letting people down. Jay being right there for one, but my family as well and Beth. I didn't want to come up short today.

As we got closer to the finish I was having some doubts at points, the stair climbs in particular. I would wonder when it was all going to come to a halt. As with last year, the math was becoming difficult and calculating the required pace to cover 12, 10 however many miles wasn't easy. Jay would throw out some distances and time and I would get a level of comfort that sub 9 was within reach, but the doubt would come creeping back in. I didn't want to get too comfortable until I crossed the finishline.

Working uphill.........hard.

Coming out of Tennessee Valley aid station for the 2nd time I had about 1:20 left to cover just over 5.5 miles and break 9 hours. I was filling pretty good about it, but had one last major climb. The "$10,000 hill" as I later heard it was called in reference to the prize money at stake for 1st place. It was a pretty lengthy climb by my standards and I told Jay we would power walk the whole thing and then hammer what was left afterwards. That was the plan and that was what we did.

It all seemed so familiar at this point even though it had been a year since I had last seen the course. I knew that once we crested the final hill we could run a solid final 3 miles. Jay threw out the ridiculous possibility of running a sub 8:30 and I said "let's do it". Mile 49 was a sub 8 minute mile and 50 and 51 were 7:16 and 7:14 respectively. 22:26 to cover the last three miles. At one point I had looked at my Garmin to see 6:33 pace, but eventually mentioned to Jay that I was dying. He wisely said "then back off and enjoy it" which I did. Once the finishline was in sight I knew we had achieved my goal and when we ran under the finishline it was an 8:28:xx, far exceeding my expectations at the beginning of the day. The exact opposite of 2010.

2010 - the agony of defeat..........

2011 - the thrill of victory.

Jay and me crossing the finish line, an unreal feeling.

Soon after crossing the finishline we found Pam. She had finished 10th overall, 3rd place female and 1st in her age group. What a great run for someone returning from a stress fracture. A successful day all around for our group. While we were checking the official results she commented that more than the placement itself, she was just happy to be back racing. That comment to me was one I reflected on throughout the weekend and which I'll address later.

Me, Pam and Jay after the finish.

I ended up 58th, 51st male and 8th out of 70 in the 40-49 age group with an official chip time of 8:28:01, just over 1:47 faster than last year's 10:15:24. I can't tell you how excited I was and what a great success this was to me. After what I considered a truly disappointing finish at the Jemez Mountains Trail Run 50 miler in May, I really wanted to redeem myself for no other reason than to prove to myself I was better than that mediocre performance. After a Diet Coke that I was dying for and lying around for a while, I decided I need to get up and make that drive to Sacramento. I really wanted to hang around for Pam's podium appearance, but I had 6:00 dinner reservations after all with about 15 friends that would be running CIM (California International Marathon) the next morning.

Travel Day......

I gathered my bags and headed to the shuttle for a ride to the car. I knew I must get some food in me soon, anything. I had just burned over 6,000 calories and I had a full marathon to run in less than 24 hours. I told myself I would pull into the first place I saw and of course it was a McDonald's. Not exactly what I wanted, but it would work. Two grilled chicken sandwiches and a double cheeseburger for the road. Walking back to the car was painful. My feet hurt and for the first time I realized how crazy the whole double idea was. For the first time I had doubt that I could do it. Up until then when someone brought up how crazy it was I would respond "Well, they let you register for anything. I haven't run it yet". Well, it was getting damn close to time to run it.

I pulled into Sacramento about 5:40, got to the hotel, unloaded and showered. I had just missed Kevin (whom I was rooming with) and Matt, both looking for PR's at CIM. I was late getting to dinner, but by 6:30 I was seated and not much later I was eating a nice plate of lasagna. Boy did I need that. Several runners there including a couple of friends that I saw earlier in the year at Boston, James and Jim as well as Barb and others that I had never met before including Matt and Kevin. We all post on the Runners World forums as well as FaceBook and have numerous mutual friends, but this was our first actual meeting. Sort of strange, because it was as if we knew each other pretty well already. We eventually finished up dinner and headed back to the hotel. It would be an early start for the runners and I was already looking forward to breakfast.

Race Day........

Kevin was up and out of their early. I was dragging, but overall felt well. I got my bags packed and delivered them and Kevin's to the concierge to place in the rental car. We made the decision that us three guys along with the two others making the trip to Vegas would take the rental to the airport. The plan was to have it loaded and ready to go by 10:20 right in front of the hotel. CIM's finishline was one block down and one block over.

I had breakfast in the hotel and kept an eye on the course that ran right in front of the hotel. I walked out front just in time to see the mens' leaders go by, then the womens' and eventually a few of our runners including Matt, Rachel and Holly. I missed James, Jim and Kevin in between going back and forth to the finish and the hotel street. Agh!

Eventually everyone made their way to the front of the hotel by about 10:30, we snapped a couple of pictures and jetted out of there for the airport. A quick stop to let everyone out, drop off the rental and a shuttle back to the airport had me going through security exactly as planned. We all made it to the gate about 10 minutes before boarding, no sweat!

James, Erin, Pam, me, Matt, Holly & Kevin moments before boarding the rental car.

A quick flight to Vegas, beer for everyone, land, grab luggage and a ride to Mandalay Bay was going as smooth as expected. Then, that's where smooth ended. From that point on through the rest of the night it was basically a glorious disaster on every level, yet it was so much fun to be a part of. Most disappointing and weighing on me far several miles was the fact that I was unable to hook up with Beth and Rick before the start of the race. Due to various issues and the crowdedness of the whole event, I eventually found myself running through the Mandalay Bay casino to drop my gear bag and to the starting line to meet up with the other runners. A couple of attempts to connect with Beth were unsuccessful due to bad cell phone connections. Once to the start area, not a single familiar face, seriously.

I eventually found James and his head of perfect silver hair and then within the minute we were off and running. Less than two miles into the run we found Holly and Jay. Yes, THE Jay. He had come in from San Francisco that morning and decided to run the full as well. I won't repeat his exact words, but they were something about peer pressure being a %#*&! You think? More on that in my next post.

Anyway, we made our way through the back streets of Las Vegas for 13.1 miles and then eventually the strip and what seemed more like 440,000 runner for another 13.1. For the most part it was rather enjoyable with the company of the other three until at some point around mile 16 or so I ran ahead to find a bathroom. Ended up in a McDonald's (should have ordered fries) and then I never found them once I hit the street again just a couple of minutes later. I ended up picking up the pace in effort to catch up and finished in 4:22:53, a mere 1:31:34 slower than my most recent marathon, but no biggie. Turns out the others actually stopped off at a liquor store for some carbs and came in just over 5 hours. Great idea if you ask me.

From the finish until the time we reunited in Kevin's suite at Mandalay along with several other running friends including the Urreas, Carrie who I had been waiting forever to meet, it was a blur. We had a few drinks and eventually made our way out into the casino for what turned out to be a 2:30 a.m. dinner and topped it off with some BlackJack in the Mandalay Bay casino until about 5:00 a.m.. I had said I was going to do it, wasn't sure it was possible, but it ended just as I hoped, well almost. What a night! What a wild 48 hours!

On a sidenote, I want to congratulate my wife Gina on her first half marathon. An awesome job out there and I think she amazed herself with what a great run she had. Two of her friends, Katy and Melissa also ran their first half and were equally impressive. Great job ladies, I'm very proud of you.

Are we there yet?

Katy, Gina, Flo and Melissa

Over the course of the weekend, one common thought kept coming back to me. How lucky I was to be able to run. Not necessarily compete and run both of those races, but just run. What started out as a weekend to honor Beth turned into a constant reminder to not take life and our health for granted. There were more than a handful of runners over the weekend that I came across that were so thrilled to be recovering from injury of some sort. Pam running TNF, Barb hanging out at CIM, Flo in Vegas, Paul had recovered from a brief stint off as well and we had other friends battling issues. Another friend, Kevin was still in the process of being properly diagnosed with what appears some type of autoimmune disease and finally a friend back home, Ricardo that had come within a day of lining up for Boston in April and then found himself on the edge of death by early fall due to a various medical issues. It appears now as if he will fully recover, but not before some serious challenges in his life.

As I wrap this up, I feel like it's all over the place, a little late being delivered and not the crazy stuff you want to read about a weekend in Vegas, but if you take anything from this, let it be a reminder to value our health and our lives. Make the most of it and do what you love while you can, not everyone has that option. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something and be an inspiration to someone somewhere. In some cases it doesn't take much and you may already be doing it. And if someone inspires you, let them know, they will appreciate it I promise.

I want to thank everyone that supported me in this challenge, especially those that contributed to the Lupus Foundation of America. If you haven't already, you still may do so by clicking on the logo in the upper right hand corner. They can always use your support. And if not them, maybe another organization that is close to your heart. I want to thank my wife and family for putting up with my training, crazy diet and everything else that comes along with running. I couldn't do it without you. I want to thank Jay for pacing me at the TNF 50 as well as Chris and Kristen for crewing me out on the course. There's no way I would have reached my goal without you guys being there. And lastly, I want to thank Beth for her courage, strength and the beauty that she brings out in life. I know she touches so many people in a positive way. If we lived by her example what a difference we could make. Thank you guys and thanks to those of you that took the time to read this ramble, I really appreciate you.

Gaining Momentum

2011-10-04T19:25:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper than other times to find the positive. Seems like the last couple of weeks that has been where I am. Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not complaining or claiming any injustice in my life, it's just been busy. I've got plenty of positives in my life and certainly happy with the cards I've been dealt, but the running has been a bit stale. Mainly because I have felt so tired and constantly rushed all the time.
As expected, football with the 3 boys has taken some time, but traveling out of town for 4 out of 5 games in the past couple of weeks proved to be taxing. You can only get home at Midnight or 1:00 a.m. in the morning so many times before it starts to take it's toll. Add to the the final few weeks of "tax season" and I am flat wore out! My mileage is falling a bit short of what I had projected for training, but not enough that I'm really concerned. It's definitely ahead of where I was last year at this time so that's a positive for sure.

Last Saturday I told Gina that I was going to run to the mall for a training run. The mall in Odessa. About 35-36 miles was my estimation. She just looked and me and told me I was crazy. Well, Sunday morning I got up, a bit later than planned albeit, loaded my Camelback Octane XCT with G2, gels and protein bars and headed out the door. A little over 5 1/2 hours later I was walking back in the front door, done. The last 10 miles were pretty much a struggle, but in looking back I attribute it to the temps getting up pretty high. If I had got my lazy butt up early and left the house when it was still dark, I would have got back in a couple hours earlier I think I would have been fine.

This past Saturday I volunteered myself to pace a friend in a local marathon. He was wanting to run a 3:30, about 8:00 minute mile pace so I figured I could help him and get in a nice run as well. As luck would have it, the weather was great. My stomach, not so much. I battled some GI issues between miles 7-14 and had to take a couple of pitstops, both times ended up running some 6:20-6:30 pace miles to catch back up with him. Finally by mile 17 I had caught back up with him and we settled in for the remainder of the marathon. Just under 27 miles for the run @ 7:49 average pace and when it was all said and done I was feeling very fresh. The next morning I got in an easy 15 miler and if I would have had more time I would have considered running a full 26.2 just because. I was feeling quite fine. Mentally this was nice and to think that I put up a 36 miler the weekend before made me think that things were looking good.

Overall for the 8 day stretch from Sunday through Sunday, I ran just over 103 miles with two days completely off and a 4 mile day. That means I averaged just under 20 miles a day on the remaining 5 days. While that doesn't really mean much as it is the whole 8 days (and really the entire training cycle) that matters, I feel like I'm gaining some momentum heading into my last 9 weeks of training. Seven of those should be some fairly high mileage (70, 80, 80, 90, 90 90, 90) and the last two will be my taper where I hope to get the legs rested up.

So for now, I'm putting the shovel away as I have dug up a positive note for the training. An to add to it, I've had a few more contributions come in to the foundation so that has been nice to see that number creep up a little as well. Maybe I can finish the last nine weeks hard in both departments.

Thanks and take care!

Goode Through December

2011-09-05T07:51:00.000-07:00

The theme for the 2011 football season for the Midland High Bulldogs is "Goode through December" in memory of former Bulldog football coach Don Goode. The 2011 senior football class holds a special bond and place in their hearts for Coach Goode as this was the last group of players he coached before he passed away from cancer in 2009. The 2011 football team has dedicated the season to Coach Goode and his wife Beverly for their wonderful support and dedication to the Bulldog football family over the years. The hope is that the spirit and memory of Coach Goode and the fight and dedication he instilled in the players' lives will be an ongoing force in the hearts of the 2011 Bulldog football team.

Purple wristbands with the phrase "2011 Bulldogs - Goode through December" have been made similar to Lance Armstrong's "Livestrong" popular band. They are being worn by players, students, parents and fans following the Bulldogs this year. December of course in reference to the time of year when the state championship game will be played. To win it all, you must play and win in December. This past week I picked up a wristband for myself and joined in with the theme.  The thought being not only for support of the team, but as a reminder to me that I too must be Goode through December. I communicated this fact with Corbin and being the young man of many words that he is, his response was simply "sweet". I told him it would serve as a reminder for him as well as me that it meant it would take hard work by both of us to reach our goals. Success doesn't come without sacrifice and I want him to understand that he has to be willing to work harder than the next guy. I want him to buy in to the dedication and hard work that it takes and hopefully, along with his teammates they will be Goode through December. At the same time, I need to lead the way by setting an example.

Yesterday, after just a few day of wearing the wristband myself, it served its purpose.  Saturday I got in a 20 miler and was looking for the same on Sunday, back-to-back 20's for the weekend. My running partner on Saturday, Kevin F., with whom I ran a number of my 20 milers with over the past two years in training for Boston, was only going 15 miles. We met at one of our usual spots and got started at 6:00 a.m..  After a few loops around Midland neighborhoods, we eventually made our way back to our cars right at 15 miles. All the while, I felt like I had some pretty tired legs and was reasoning in my head that the 15 was enough.  I had also hit the weights pretty heavy Saturday afternoon and they felt dead. I was contemplating calling it a day and being satisfied with a 20/15 instead.

During the run I thought about the prior year's North Face race and my goal of doing much better in 2011. I thought about Beth and what she must feel like some days when Lupus has taken it's toll on her. Was doing "enough" going to be good enough to be better? No, not for me, not what I would expect from my son and not what I expected from myself.  As we approached the cars I told myself "get back out there and get it done, Goode through December, no excuses". A quick fist pump with Kevin, a "nice run, thanks", sip of Gatorade and I was headed back out to finish up my 20. Don't even think about quitting.

So another source of motivation has been found. Not only in Coach Goode and the Bulldog football team, but in what I expect from my own son as he works throughout the season towards playing in December. Not expecting anything less than 100% dedication and a "never give-up" attitude, I must expect the same from myself. A little less than 40 more minutes out on the road and my back-to-back 20's were in the books. I could get in my car and drive home feeling good about myself, Goode about myself. While just 67 miles for the week, it put me at 104 miles for the last 6 days of running with 3 days off tossed in there due to recovery from last weekend's race.

With the September 15th tax deadline rapidly approaching, the midnight oil will certainly be burning this week, but so will my desire to deliver in December. Goode through December!

The Shoe 60K

2011-08-30T20:52:00.000-07:00

Well, where do I start? How about I start by saying that while I wasn't expecting the glass slipper this year, I certainly wasn't expecting a steel toe boot either. Excuse me for saying it, but this race kicked my ass! Okay, got that out of the way so that you don't have the same delusions of grandeur I had as you read through the is rambling piece of work.

In the days leading up to the race, I had pulled up my training log from the previous year to see what my mileage looked like. In my favor was that my mileage was up over last year's, but working against me was the fact that I only had one run of 30+ miles since mid May. Somehow, I felt that not having run the first two races in the series would serve me well in the since that I would be a little better rested. And in reality, I think it I was better off for it as I stood at the starting line. What I was unable to compensate for was the heat. I don't know the exact temperature at 7:00 pm, the start time, but the Weather Channel had a forecast of 103 just a couple hours earlier. I've read from other runners anywhere from "over 100" to "108". So I'm sticking with 103. Does it even matter once it gets over 100?

The race itself starts with an out-and-back of .84 on a dirt road which brings the runners back to the trail and into the hill country. After that it is four 9.09 mile loops of this.............

This course is crazy because it wanders all over the place back and forth with several little loops. This is the second year I've ran this and I will tell you that while I know fairly well where I am in the course and what's coming up next, I have no idea of where I am on the map. The course plays tricks with your mind when you come within very close range of runners that you know are behind you, yet you wonder why they are so close. Is it possible you took a wrong turn? Overall the course is marked pretty good, but there are a few sections with a lot of rock outcroppings in which there is no actual trail, but just the rock. At that point you go from "confidence marker" to "confidence marker", fluorescent ribbons tied to branches or tree limbs. Once it's dark, there are also glow sticks to help along the way and they do. I thought the marking this year was better than last's and never felt at any point that I was really lost, but still gave it some consideration a couple of times.

Okay, on with the the race. Three friends that had run the Jemez 50 with me had made the trip down from Dallas to experience their first Captain Karl's race. Nick, Shaheen and Edgar. Notably missing where our two other friends that ran Jemez Mountains Trail Run with us, Amy and Jayna, the remainder of Team Endurasoak, also know as "the purple team" at Jemez. We got to the race about an hour before it started and ended up with a parking spot right across a dirt road from the start/finish. We couldn't have been any better positioned in my opinion. We unloaded all of our stuff and spread it out so that it would serve as our own aid station. I filled eight handheld bottles, placed six of them in an ice chest, two for the first loop and set out my gels and Cliff bars that I would eat for each lap. I was all set. I had already turned on my Garmin and put fresh batteries in my Black Diamond headlamp. The only thing I was missing was my Lenny & Larry's Muscle Brownies that I failed to buy at home. Hence, the Cliff bars instead, but I would be alright.

After a brief runner's meeting, we were off. As always a ton of runners shot out of their pretty quick. My adrenaline was going and I wanted to chase after them, but told myself to be patient. Thirty-seven miles in 100+ temperature was going to make for a long night (I just didn't know how long at that point). The out-and-back was quick and before I knew it we were entering back into the start-finish area and then heading into the trails. We were immediately greeted by the race photographer before getting to the top of the hill and out of sight of the camp. Great idea, get some pictures of everyone while they are still smiling and not yet within the grip of death. Of course they get those as well so there's no escaping it.

Early, very early into the race

I quickly settled into a nice pace and tucked in right behind three other runners. Because of the twisting and turning of the course, the trees and hills, I had no idea how many people were ahead of me. I figured 10, maybe 15 at most. I wasn't really concerned at this point as I wanted to focus on sticking to my game plan and run a steady race. Those up front that I could beat, well I'd catch them. If I couldn't, well then I wouldn't. Easy enough strategy for me. I really wanted to break 6 hours no matter where that put me.

I followed behind the 3 guys for a few miles until one of them stopped to relieve himself and the other two with him stopped to wait on him. They too had been talking about the some of the front runners going out too fast and that they would come back to the pack. I was thinking the same thoughts. Sorry, I don't know you guys and I'm not stopping for you to take a leak. I probably won't even stop if I need to take one. Three down just like that........next.

Before long I came up on two more runners that I had caught glimpses through the trees. I passed one fairly quickly and then got on the tail of the next, camelbak guy, and followed him for a bit before passing him.  Along the way, I passed two more runners, but got caught and passed by camelbak.  What in the hell just happened I thought, I just got passed.  Rather than try to start racing this guy, I decided to just hang with him. About one mile from the finish area he turned on his headlamp and I decided to do the same. It was getting dark and footing on the loose rocks of the trails was a bit tricky.  When I turned mine on, it went off within seconds. Turned it back on and it did the same thing. I continued this a number of times until eventually the F word started freely flowing from that opening just below my nose. What in the hell, I put new batteries in it and it tuned on back at car. Of course, I turned it on and then turned it off there.  Oh well, the only other AAA batteries I had were the ones I tossed in a gear bag that came out of the lamp. I followed the runner in to the start-finish aid station, crossed the timing matt and turned to run over to my "stuff". I dug through the bag, found the batteries and replaced them. Replaced my two handheld bottles and headed back out to the trails. Camelbak guy was gone. He left me in the dust while I screwed with my batteries, nice!

About 100 yards out I realized I forgot to grab a replacement gel for the one that I took 40 minutes into the race as planned. Gels every 40 minutes for the first 18 miles then switch to a Cliff Bar for each of the last two laps. I had one left on me and about 90 minutes of running ahead before I was back to my gels. It was already time to take the second one being about 1:30 into the race. I opted not to go back for more, but just suck it up, maybe grab something at the other fully stocked aid station on the course, about six miles away.
Oh hell. I had also forgot to down a couple of Succeed S Caps. I was making all the mistake of a newbie on the course. What in the world was I doing? Trying to sabotage my own race? I had to blame it on the fact that I had got in from traveling at 4:45 a.m. the night before, a 300 mile drive to Marble Falls for the race and the one hundred friggin' whatever temperature that it was. Stay calm, don't freak about it and just improvise.

On the way in from the first loop (there is a small section that runners going both directions travel) I passed Edgar going out on loop 2. He must have been 5 minutes ahead, maybe less if I had been more efficient in the station. Edgar was coming off a July victory of Ft. Worth's El Scorcho 50K. I had thought that if I could hang close to him it would give me some confidence in my fitness and endurance early in my TNF 50 training. He had gone out faster than I cared to run early and knowing how strong he ran El Scorcho I figured he would just open the gap as the night went on.

For the second loop I don't think I passed one single 60K runner, but I didn't get passed either. No good news, but no bad news. I realized pretty quickly in this loop that I needed to go ahead and walk anything uphill and I did. I downed 22 ozs of G2 by the time I got to the unmanned water station that was 3 miles from the start. That didn't take long. I decided to stop and fill the bottle with water and started using the strategy of one bottle for water on my head, one for G2 to drink. I actually dumped the cold water on my head and the back of my neck, shoulders, pretty much everywhere. Six more miles and lap two was in the books. On the short two-way section I again passed Edgar going back out. I also passed camelbak guy going out. Whoever was ahead of them I had no idea, they were long gone. Neal Lucas and Steven Moore, the 1st and 2nd place finishers respectively in the first two races of the Capt'n Karls' Series for sure and if there was anyone else, I wouldn't know. Too many people going in and out at this time and it was basically just a bunch of headlamps out there running around.

As I got into the 3rd lap I actually found myself feeling better. I was listening to some music fairly loud on my iPod that I had picked up after the first loop and I was trying to convince myself to keep it up, keep moving. As long as I was running I figured I wasn't giving up ground to anyone behind me and quite possibly could be gaining ground on those in front of me. For some reason, the halfway point of any run is always a mental hurdle for me. Whether it be an easy 6 mile recovery run, or a 25 miler, once I pass the halfway mark I know I've got less distance to travel than what I've already done and at that point I'm good. Saturday night was no different. Where I found myself struggling in the 2nd loop, probably the most difficult for me, once into the 3rd I knew finishing was going to happen, it was just a matter of how long would it take.

I can't even remember exactly where, maybe halfway through the 3rd loop, I come up on camelbak guy walking. I stopped and walk with him and asked if he is okay. He responded yes, just bad cramping in his calves. I feel your pain buddy, me too in the right calf, but I don't have any S caps. He didn't either, not on him, but back at the start. Actually, I was given some by a very nice female 30k'er at the water station because once again I failed to take any when I completed loop two. For whatever reason, I must have looked bad coming in, but she offered some up and I gladly took them. Not Succeed, but Hammer Endurolytes instead and they seemed to do the job. Well, other than cramping he was fine so I needed to get going. In doing so, I picked up the pace and sped out of there quicker that what I would have, but I wanted him to think I was kicking it pretty good. For all I know he didn't give a damn, but if he did, I had no problem trying to break his spirit by hauling ass out of there and trying to send the message "don't even bother coming after me".  I may not have been on pace for my sub 6, but I wasn't dead and my competitive spirit was alive and well.

Before long in the same loop I came up on another walker......Edgar. "Edgar, you alright?" I was surprised to see him there. He responded "yeah, just tired." Okay, he was okay and I was feeling fine so I needed to keep going. I know he wouldn't be walking for long so I wanted to open the gap if I could and maybe catch the next guy. I decided to run fairly hard (which was a relative term at that time) and hold it. It wasn't supposed to be comfortable out there and I reminded myself of that. While I may have felt like I was flying and running pretty fast, in reality I was hitting paces of 9:00 at top speed, maybe closer to 10 minute miles most of the time. The end of the 3rd lap was coming. I could see the gate that we ran through and then a short downhill run would send me into the scream tunnel of fans....about 20 maybe....okay, maybe 10......at the finish line. However, before I could get there I lost focus and I found myself smacking the ground pretty hard for the first time of the night. On a good note, it was on pure dirt and not the rocks found throughout the majority of the course. The worst part was that I was now covered in dirt similar to when you take a chicken breast and roll it in flour. It was not a comfortable feeling. I picked myself up, gathered my water bottles and headed in to the finish.

A quick drop off of the dirt covered handhelds and I grabbed just one clean one out of the ice chest. I thought I would carry a small flashlight as well since the batteries on my headlamp were fading. My light had become very dim. The problem with the flashlight was that it had old batteries in it. I never planned on using it for the race so who knew how long it would last. I grabbed a couple pieces of banana and I was off on my 4th loop. On the way out I passed Edgar coming in about the same place that he had previously passed me going out. I also passed camelbak guy. Geez, they were closer than I expected, but still a little ways behind me, maybe the same 5 minutes I estimated earlier in the night?

I got moving as best I could, but there was some walking involved in the early section of the loop due to some uphill sections in loose dirt. That's okay, I decided to stick to the strategy, walk it and run everything else that I could. I was really feeling decent (all things considered) and told myself again, as long as I was running they weren't gaining ground on me. I went into my "running scared" mode, most often used in speedwork for marathon training, I was able to kick it in on the 4th loop. Almost as if I were an escaped convict running for freedom in the woods at night. Not that I would have earthly idea what that really feels like, but I can only imagine.  I even had the barking dogs. Seriously, my feet were killing me.

Loop 4 was going pretty good other than the concern of being caught and a new fear of my batteries dying. My headlamp was getting very dim and the small flashlight started flickering. My thinking was that I would ask someone along the way if they had any spare batteries. Really, that was my plan? "Hey would you happen to have some batteries on ya?" How about just run faster and be done with it. Well, I tried and I even had myself convinced that I was running faster, but splits don't lie and as I finally looked at them today, wow, I had dropped off quite a bit as I progressed through each loop. More on that later.

I continued to run best I could, almost wiping out a few times in some of the knarly rock sections and I finally convinced myself to slow it down. The fatigue was taking it's toll as well as the weak lighting and I had found myself running like a drunk stumbling around in the dark, getting off balance and leaning one way and then the other until I recovered. While the 10-12 minute miles at this point were not exactly burning up the trail, I didn't care to smack a tree or a rock with my face. Walk when I had to through the difficult sections, run everything else.

Eventually I pulled into the second aid station on the course and now I had a mere 3 miles remaining, if that. Out of desperation I asked the two guys there manning the station if they had any batteries by chance, AA or AAA as I could replace the flashlight or headlamp. To my surprise and first stroke of good luck for the night, one said "yes", he had AAA's. Yes!!! I replaced the headlamp batteries and turned it on. I felt like I was standing outside of the Griswald's house all of a sudden. What a difference that made. The final miles went by rather quickly and I never had the threat of another runner passing me. Per the results, the next runner was over 11 minutes behind so I guess I actually gained ground on that last loop.

6:43:13 total time and 4th overall. My splits for the 9.09 mile loops were roughly 1:27, 1:37, 1:44 and 1:49. I was disappointed during the run that I wasn't going sub 6, but in the end I was just happy to be done and it didn't really bother me that I missed my goal. The heat was a huge factor and my nutrition errors didn't help me the least bit. I ended up taking in only 3 gels, less than 1/2 of a Cliff Bar and random pieces of banana. I really believe that being mentally fatigued before the race even started affected me more than I realized. I know that for my goal race in December I will need to be much more focused or else be ready to accept similar results. A few thing's are for certain, I won't be getting to bed at 5:00 a.m. the morning before, I won't have a 300 mile drive the day of the race and it won't be 100+ degrees in December in the Muir Woods.

Thanks for your time and take care!

Friday Night Lights

2011-08-27T01:25:00.000-07:00

As I draft this, I'm on the Midland High booster club's chartered bus heading north to Amarillo for the first football game of the season. Friday night lights, uncharted territory for me as it is our first taste of varsity football. Being west Texas, football doesn't get any bigger than this. My freshman son Chandler is with me and he will get to watch his older brother Corbin, a sophomore, play for the first time since probably the 5th grade. Being a football player as well, he's always had games or practice when his brother was playing. While I miss the rest of our family not being here with us, this will be a bonus spending some quality time with Chandler watching Corbin and the rest of Bulldogs play.

With The North Face Endurance Championship just over 3 months away, tonight's game made me think a little about what Corbin most likely might be going through. Thoughts of the unknown. He's on the team bus right now loaded with older boys with varsity experience and he's probably about ready to puke from nerves. If he's not yet, he will be tonight when he steps on the field for the first time in front of a huge crowd under those Friday night lights. Maybe some of the same feelings I had when I boarded the runners' bus last year to head to the start of the TNF Championship. I wasn't sure I belonged there. I wasn't sure I was ready for such a challenge, my first 50 miler, but I was there and I just told myself "have confidence and act like you know what you are doing".

When it was all said and done, I was a bit disappointed in my time, but glad I did it, and better yet I walked away ready to tackle it again in 2011 with a vengeance. This morning before he let the house, I repeated some of those same thoughts to Corbin, "have confidence in yourself. You're there for a reason. Make the most out of your opportunities and make something happen out there when you get your chance." I feel like last year's race set me up for a great 2011 race because of the experience I gained. My hopes are that tonight and for the remainder of the season the disappointments are kept to a minimum and that the experience will be setting him up for a great 2012 and even better 2013 Senior season. Good luck tonight Son, you'll do great when you get your shot, I have no doubt.

Post-game post: We won 24-17 in double overtime played similar to NCAA overtime. If Corbin wasn't nervous out there tonight, I certainly picked up the slack. Not sure I can stomach many games like tonight's......unless we're on the winning side of course.

Finding balance

2011-08-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

As training starts to ramp up for the San Francisco to Sin City Challenge I am already realizing that the most difficult challenge, at least for now, may be finding some balance in my life. As a CPA with a public accounting practice and a wife that has her own career, three boys playing high school and junior high sports, as well as a 1st grade daughter, finding the right mix of work, family time and training is a trick.

Individually, I can handle the demands of public accounting, shuttling boys around town for practice and games while taking orders from a six year old daughter and the demands of training for an ultra marathon, but putting them all together and managing them at the same time can be rough. Maybe impossible???

To add to it, for the first time ever, I'm not the only one in our house training for an endurance event. Gina is in the middle of training for her very first half marathon and will be running the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 along with a couple of her friends in December. While this may add a little more to the mix in terms of scheduling activities, I am super pumped about it because she has all of a sudden taken to running like a fish to water. To hear her make comments such as "I can't wait until my run tonight" and to see her work through injuries with patience and diligence is awesome. I've never cared if she ran or not, but I have always wanted her to do something for herself that she enjoyed. Now she is and while the verdict's not out yet, she appears to be approaching the point where one becomes hooked on the sport.

On top of the awesome job that G is doing with her own training, she does an equally and unselfish job in allowing me to get my workouts in. The last two weeks included 6 Core Performance workouts and 10 runs. My runs the last two weeks started at the following times 12:06 p.m., 5:30 a.m., 5:28 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 9:51 p.m., 7:50 p.m., 5:17 a.m., 6:22a.m., 6:09 a.m. and 5:42 a.m.. The longest one, a 31 mile long run, finished just before midnight on a Sunday night. My Core Performance workouts which last right at an hour were at 5:30 a.m., noon and 5:30 a.m. and then 3 more nooners respectively. So pretty much getting them done whenever possible. In between workouts and work, we had "Meet the Teacher", a scrimmage in Pecos, TX and a booster club meeting for the football team. And to top it off, I furthered my training by "enduring" The Smurfs Sunday afternoon with the 6yr old and her friend. Quite possibly the worst movie I've ever seen in my life.

We've been through two weeks of two-a-days now for the two oldest boys and with school starting today, the youngest, and 8th grader will start football as well. It's just a matter of a couple of weeks before we will have football games on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, not to mention the 1st grader having cheer practice on Wednesday evenings. While I absolutely love it, it sure make for a busy schedule.

Now figuring out how to get everything in while the miles increase each week is the challenge. High hopes of building up to 4-5 weeks of 100 miles/week at the peak of training may not come as easy as it was to sit down and pencil it out on a calendar (as I was doing this morning while waiting to see if I got picked for Grand Jury service), but that's going to be me goal until I decide otherwise. The last 4 weeks while not entirely pain-free, have been comfortable at 70 miles a week with a mere 41 in the last for the taper week. Some of the nagging injuries seem to be subsiding and I feel like I'm only dealing with some minor plantar faciitis for the meantime. Paying more attention to stretching and foam rolling the body and a little less time to the weights has also been a new balance issue. I recently asked my physical therapist if I should lay off the heavy weights and cut back for a while and his response was "yeah, like for the rest of your life". Ouch, that hurt, but I know where he is coming from. It was his way of telling me politely that I'm getting old.

Anticipation for this weekend's The Shoe 60K in Marble Falls is building. The third and final race in the Tejas Trails Capt'n Karl's series. Last year I survived the heat and managed to run a 6:33:01, good enough for 2nd place. This year, I'm not as concerned about the placement, but honestly would like to run a sub 6-hour race. I can live with wherever that puts me on the results page if I get it. It's a very technical course run at night and the majority of it in the dark by the light of a headlamp. Not only will this be a great training run for TNF 50, but it will give me a decent idea of where I stand 14 weeks out from my goal race. Obviously there is a lot of time between now and then, but to start off early with a good race would be nice.

A little more taste of the balancing act before I leave you. In addition to the Grand Jury summons for this morning and a looming corporate and partnership tax deadline of September 15th, my oldest son has his first game of the season Friday night in Amarillo. I opted to take the booster club's charter bus along with my freshman son so that I could get some sleep on the drive home of our anticipated 3:00 a.m. arrival. That might give me a slight reprieve just in time for the 290 mile drive I'll make Saturday morning to the race so that I can be somewhat rested to run 37.2 miles at 7:00 p.m., hopefully finish by 1:00 a.m. and then head back the next morning in hopes of still getting in 4-5 hours in the office Sunday evening. Yeah, getting through the next couple of months is going to be a trick, but if it was easy it wouldn't be worth doing right?

Thanks for stopping by and take care!

Is It In You?

2011-07-28T05:49:00.000-07:00

Well, is it? What is "it"? I'm not exactly sure of what my definition of "it" is or if I could even describe it to you, but if you ask me, yeah, it's in me. And it's in you, and you and you (pointing to each person down the line). It's in all of us. Finding what that is and using it is the part that many people have problems with and for a large part, "it" goes to waste.

This past week while thinking of my training and reading a couple of articles, I thought about the source of my inspiration and drive. What inspires me? Who inspires me? Do I inspire others? I'm talking about your everyday person. The regular Joe. And that's me, the regular Joe that was inspired by a couple of people along the way to get into a gym and to run and my life has forever been changed by them. A fraternity brother, Kirk Bailey got me into the gym as a skinny pledge in college and some 20 years later a thirty-something year old friend, Michelle Garvin sold me on running my first marathon. Just everyday people in my life at the time. Whether it be by a elite runner going distances I've never imagined, friends running weekly mileages I have never hit, or just a "regular Joe" accomplishing a feat that most people would never consider possible, I continue to be inspired regularly, but I'll always give them credit for getting me started. Today it comes from places I'm not necessarily looking for it to come from or would even expect. Just recently I found inspiration in an article I read about a school teacher. Why? She's Anita Ortiz, elite runner, winner of Western States 100 and runs 120 miles per week. I'm not talking about some spring chicken or college kid, I'm talking about a 47 year old mother of four that totally kicks butt on the course. Yeah, she totally inspires me.

In large part, I think we are all capable of performing at levels beyond what we've ever imagined. We obviously have physical limits and may never reach the level that Anita or other elite athletes do, and that's perfectly fine, but I think we often sell ourselves short of what we are capable of accomplishing. I was talking about this to a friend of mine that happens to be a personal trainer and we both agreed that we are all physicaly capable of much more than we believe. It's in us, we just have to be willing to venture outside of our comfort zone to find it.

If you're a friend of mine and you're reading this, chances are pretty good that this doesn't apply to you, in fact you probably have inspired me in some way. But if it does, I challenge you to get started today, to set a goal for yourself and go after it. Whether it be to run a mile or a marathon or more, it's in you and you can do it. Start by running around the block or your local park. Join a gym and start going to cardio classes. Start giving your diet some thought and think about what you are putting into your body. It doesn't have to be drastic changes all at once, but gradual lifestyle changes that will last forever. Take control of your body and take care of it, it's the only one you've got. Find something that motivates you and get after it. Chances are you'll love it and before long you'll be inspiring someone that was in your same situation. Good luck!

And for starters, I'll post an inspiring picture that a friend posted on FaceBook recently to get you started........

San Francisco to Sin City Challenge

2011-06-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Just at two weeks past Jemez Mountain Trail Race and I don't feel like I've been able to stop and relax since getting home. If it's not running one of the kids to the dentist or to practice, it's spending the weekend away from the rest of the family for a baseball tournament. Work, training, a wife with her own career, teenage boys, a six year-old girl that thinks she's a teenager and just life in general. How do I fit it in each day? Does it ever slow down? Will I ever catch up with what I need to get done? Do you feel ever feel that way yourself? Sure the pieces are different, but it life seems to be like a big puzzle and sometimes the pieces don't fit exactly so you deal with it. You roll with the punches, some harder than others.

Then, you see the lives others and wonder if the maybe you're not even rolling with "the punches". Maybe they're just some jabs, maybe not even that. The things that you think are such a hassle in your life seem to be mere road bumps compared to the punches other people face in their daily lives. One such life is that of a friend of mine from high school. Through the powers of Facebook I was reconnected with Beth. About Twenty-five years since I had last seen her, but still the same beautiful smile I remembered from my high school days. Still the fun and energetic Beth. While we didn't communicate directly or message, there were random posts that maybe we "liked" or commented on, but never getting into anything personal. However, I seemed to notice that Beth's post were always positive, in support of something, a bit of an activist it seemed and not afraid to support a cause. I found that a nice change from the negative or derogatory comments that could be made through social media, unfortunately even from me at times. Never from Beth.

In the meantime, I had decided 2011 would bring another charitable challenge for me to follow up on 2010's Boston 2 Big Sur challenge. What would it be, I had no idea. Who would be the beneficiary, no idea, but most likely a local children's organization again. Then May rolled around and Beth changed her profile picture on Facebook to a Lupus Awareness logo. What, Lupus? Does she have Lupus and I have so selfishly never realized this fact? How did I miss this? What kind of friend am I that I didn't even realize her situation? A short FB message to her, which I was totally stressed about sending, answered my questions, and with more detail than I expected, but exactly what I wanted to know. I had asked if there was anyway that I could help and suggested my running and something similar to what I had done last year.

Beth's response was again completely positive and described some of her daily life with Lupus, what she has been through, what life was like before Lupus, her treatments, medication, it was all so incredible to me because through it all, she was still Beth. Still the fun girl I remembered, yet a woman now with a husband and children and now she was rolling with the punches. To think of what she had been through, what she deals with and the road she has ahead of her is amazing to me. From Beth's response that she has graciously allowed me to share:

I was diagnosed with Lupus six years ago, but I have experienced symptoms since the pregnancy of our second daughter in 2001. It has meant radical changes in my lifestyle, mostly because I am incredibly photosensitive. UV exposure triggers the Lupus, and I have to completely cover up when outdoors and wear 50+ sunscreen. Before Lupus, I mountain biked and ran daily. New Mexico has some of the highest UV exposure in the country, so Albuquerque is about the worst place I could live. It has meant changes for my family too. It was difficult explaining to the kids why I couldn't play outdoors. When I throw caution to the wind, which is easy on a beautiful spring day like today, I risk being in bed for a few days with painful joints, fever and unbelievable fatigue. People with Lupus have a 40-50 fold risk of arteriosclerosis than the average population. That terrifies me. So, I exercise indoors now. I'm at the gym daily, taking spin class or doing the elliptical. I miss running but biking is much easier on the joints.

Early onset, lupus created small lesions in my brain and spinal cord, damaged my peripheral nerves and vascular system and has affected my lungs. I took oral chemotherapy for 3 years, which put me into remission. I voluntarily stopped the chemo last year, worried about the long term effects (cancer and liver damage) of staying on the drug. The downside is my photosensitivity and fatigue creep up on me. I came out of remission last fall and had to take high doses of prednisone. I gained 25 lbs, from the prednisone. I've learned to recognize my limits and listen to my body. When I am tired, I rest. I've learned to be less of a perfectionist and planner, I live more spontaneously. I lost a lot of friends early on, who did not understand my sudden need to cancel plans, my need to rest during the day. "I wish I had the luxury to nap during the day." But the friends that have stuck by me are fantastic. And, of course, my family has been amazing support.

Beth and me in Santa Fe

The decision for me was a no brainer. Beth and the Lupus Foundation of America, Inc. would be the beneficiary of my next challenge, something that coincidentally that had already been brewing due to some crazy running friends. I wasn't totally sold on the idea of doing it, but Beth's response made it a done deal. Over a period of a couple of years, a number of guys and girls that run marathons had become friends through a Runners World forum thread, "3:20" as we refer to it, meeting in small groups occasionally at various races throughout the country, but most notably to us at the 2010 Boston Marathon where 14 of us met up to hang out and race over the weekend. That culminated with the Boston 2 Big Sur challenge in which 4 of us flew from the east coast after just having run Boston on Monday to run the Big Sur Marathon on Sunday on the west coast. Now this year, a challenge that seemed to start as joke was now gaining momentum. A handful of the guys were toying with the idea of running the California International Marathon (CIM) on the morning of December 4th in Sacramento, CA and then immediately boarding a plane and flying to Las Vegas to run the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Marathon that afternoon. I immediately said I was out knowing that I was going to run The North Face Endurance Challenge Championship 50 mile race on December 3rd. Of course that thought lasted less than a day before I made it known that I was in, but instead of CIM, I would still run the 50 mile race on Saturday and then fly to Las Vegas the next morning to join several members of the 3:20 crew running all or some part of the original challenge. In a nutshell, I'll be running the 50 mile trail race on Saturday in whcih I hope to break the 9 hour barrier and then running the full marathon on The Strip the next day in which my goal is to avoid the sweep, the 4.5 hour cutt-off.

After reading Beth's response I was just overwhelmed. Not really sure how to describe it, but inspired was probably the best description. A real person dealing with the punches that life throws at her and it put mine into respective. They're nothing. Beth was now my "go to" person for inspiration. Someone that continues to live life to the fullest no matter what, someone to remind me to do the same. Don't make excuses, just do it.

As luck has it, I just happened to be heading to the Albuquerque area for the Jemez Mountains race and had asked Beth and friends from the high school area if they would like to meet up for lunch. As it turned out, Beth was the only one able to make it and join me and some other runners the day before Jemez in Santa Fe. We didn't really discuss the fundraising, but instead just tried to catch up on what was now 26 yrs since we had last seen each other. Beth graciously served a our tour guide on a drive around downtown Santa Fe and offered up some great suggestions for dining for our day after the race. In addition, Beth totally surprised me by making it know that after more than ten years since running her last 1/2 marathon she would be training to run The World's Largest Nighttime Running Event , the R'n'R 1/2 marathon. Woo hoo, go Beth! Incredible, nothing less than what I would expect from her, but still unexpected if that makes any sense? She said that spending the day with ultra runners was inspiring to her which was great to hear because the feeling was mutual.

So here it is, our next six months. Join Beth and I as we will be training for our races and campaigning through this blog to bring awareness of Lupus and the work of the Lupus Foundation of America, Inc. We hope to provide you with an insight of our training including trials and tribulations along the way, the "punches" we each face in our daily lives and hopefully we can inspire you in some small way. You get the easy part, provide your support to us in any way possible, even if just your encouragement as it will mean a lot to us. Or, if you would like, there's still time to register and join us in Las Vegas for the party that we are sure to have after crossing the finishline the night of December 4th. And remember, what happens in Vegas.......we'll remember forever! Thanks and take care!

Jemez Mountains Trail Run 50 Miler

2011-05-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've edited this post to apologize for the length........it's long, but hey, it was 50 miles.......here you go..........

After a six month hiatus from posting, I'm back with what originally got me started with this blog, Jemez Mountains. I first came across the craziness of the ultra world and Jemez Mountain Trail Run while reading Dean Karnazes' book Ultra Marathon Man back in 2008. I was 40 and in the midst of training for my 2nd marathon. The significance being that it was a Boston qualifying attempt, my goal since hitting the big 4-0. I told Gina at that time that I would run my first 100-miler by the time I was 45 despite the fact that I'd only run one 5K, one 10K and one marathon at that point. I'm not sure either of us believed it, but it was something to shoot for as a long-term goal. The idea of doing a 50 mile race for charity struck me at the time and while things didn't quite work out as originally planned, I ended up with both a 50 miler and a fundraising effort, but in unrelated events.

Fast forward about two years and I found myself registered for Jemez, finally. And to boot, I had four friends lining up with me, the first 50 for three of them, nice. With the exception of Amy, the rest of us had just run the Boston Marathon less than 5 weeks earlier and we all had pretty good races. Amy had been busy tearing up 50K trails. This would probably be the strongest overall group of runners that I had been with for a race, all of us being in the 3 to sub 3 marathon range. Of course that meant nothing here as we are all flatlanders with minimal experience at altitude. Jemez being arguably one of the hardest 50's was certain to provide a challenge for all of us.

We rented a loft in Santa Fe where we would have a runners haven for a few days. We all flew in to Albuquerque Thursday from different places and then had about an hour drive to Santa Fe. After lunch at Cafe Cafe and getting in settled in at the loft, we drove another 35 miles to Los Alamos to pick up our race packets. Incredible views along the way with snow capped mountains. We were all getting pretty excited just being there and knowing that we were less than 48 hours away from the toughest race we had ever done.

Team Endurasoak: Nick, Shaheen, me, Amy and Jayna

A 5:00 a.m. start meant a pretty early rise. Most of us were up by 2:45 and we headed out of the loft at 3:45. We pulled into Los Alamos about 4:25 and we had to scramble to hit the porta Johns, check in with our drop bags and get to the start. Even though we had already picked up our race packets Thursday, runners were required to check-in race morning so that race officials would know who was out on the course. After checking in, I quickly pinned my bib on my shorts and headed out the door to the start on the road just feet in front of the cabin. I found the four others as well as a 5th friend, Edgar, also from Dallas. He was originally registered for the 50K, but was allowed to switch to the 50 mile on Thursday so that he could join us. Good idea?

Amy and me

Inside the cabin just moments before the start

Seems like we were lined up for less than a minute and then we were off in the dark. I was still fumbling with my headlamp, but fortunately had already turned on my Garmin and acquired satellite signal. We quickly hit some single-track stuff that had the 6 of us backed up, to a standstill at a couple of points. Amy and I got a little restless behind some of the crowd and we forged ahead of the crowd. We just wanted some breathing room and we found it. In doing so, we unintentionally left the others behind as they wisely had more patience than we did.

We quickly started our first climb of the day, which I later found out was just a teaser. It was about a 1,500ft climb to Guaje Ridge and ended up being the easiest of all the climbs due to the switchbacks, something the other climbs lacked. Once at the top, we had traveled 7.1 miles in just over 1:31.

Climbing Guaje Ridge

Amy in a pose she would strike a few times, deservedly so

View from top of Guaje Ridge back down on Los Alamos

With the first small climb behind us, we had a short downhill section in which we dropped about 900ft over roughly a mile before starting the ascent up Caballo Mountain. This was all still single track running and the first of what was considered our real climbs. It was roughly an 1,800ft climb of what was a 4 mile loop to the top of the mountain and 1,800ft back down. It wasn't far into it, at mile 10.6 actually, that Nick Clark passed us on his was back down. That would have put him at 13.4, roughly 2.8 miles ahead of us. On our way up we were passed by a handful of runners that were obviously much better at climbing than we were. We hit the the top of Caballo Mountain, 12 miles and at 10,480ft right at 3hours. Averaging 4 miles an hour so far.

Top of Caballo Mountain, 10,460ft.

Coming back down Caballo was probably the funnest part of the day for me. I followed Amy and she literally flew down the mountain. We were flying by runners still on their way up as well as most of those that had passed us climbing Caballo. It was pretty much a wreckless descent to the bottom. The two miles that took us 50:40 to climb took us less than 20 minutes to cover on the way back down. The crazy thing is that it felt like we were doing sub 7 pace. Reflecting on that section, I remember that there was a fair amount of switchbacks along that section as I actually overshot a couple coming down and had to grab trees or tree limbs to keep from crashing. At the base of Caballo we were 14.2 miles and 3hrs 22min into our day . Still a lot of miles and climbing ahead of us.

Over the next 2.8 miles we would climb over 1,100ft before reaching the Pipeline aid station, the site of our first drop bags. It was there that I decided to go with a 2nd handheld water bottle, pick up my first solid food, some Lenny & Larry Muscle Brownies and ditch the arm sleeves. It felt like it was starting to warm up about now, roughly 9:15 a.m..

Just outside of the aid station was Nate's Nemesis. I had seen pictures, watched video of a runner's descent and was warned by a friend to be careful at that spot. Only when I actually stood in front of it did I realize the nature of the drop. "Holy shit" was all I could think. I've read from others that the grade decline was somewhere between 50-70%......straight down in other words.

Starting descent down Nate's Nemesis

Oh my!

Once we hit the bottom, the course opened up and we were actually able to run side by side for some length on a dirt jeep track. The next 4 miles were some pretty decent running and I clocked two of my three fastest miles along the way, a 9:04 and a 9:39.

Valles Grande

The next aid station, Valle Grande would be at mile 21 and just over 5 hours after we had started. It was here that I would raid the race offered food supply for the first time. Ruffles potato chips were being crammed into my mouth as if I were in some sort of contest. The salty chips were heaven. Overall I think I was feeling okay, but to think that I was only 40% of the way there was a bit overwhelming. On top of that, I didn't realize what lie ahead just over a mile away.

Aid station at mile 21, just before Cerro Grande Mountain

At the station we would head left and start our run towards Cerro Grande, our 3rd major climb of the day. The view in this area was unreal. Once off of the road and crossing through the valley, we commented on how the area looked as if it had not even yet been discovered by man. We wondered when the buffalo or maybe even a covered wagon would enter our sight. No, we weren't oxygen deprived just yet, but just amazed with the scenery.

Starting the climb of Cerro Grande

The climb of Cerro Grande was about 2 miles and 1,800ft. It was in this section that we encountered the talus/rock field that I had seen so many times in photos. But as with Nate's Nemesis, photos didn't prepare me for the obstacle. Unreal! It was in the stretch of mile 23 that we hit the rocks. Per my Garmin, mile 23 took a mere 42:31 and we climbed over 1,400 ft in that one mile. I can remember looking at my Garmin during that stretch and seeing a 50:xx pace, wow!

Yep, there's the orange flag, that's the right way, and that's a person up there.

Are we there yet?

No, I'm not a miniature, those rocks are really that big.

Fortunately, the course veered off to the right of the rocks and we then went straight up the mountain. Or was that better ?? We're still debating which was more difficult. As we got higher I starting feeling lightheaded and a bit of nausea. I could feel my pulse in my head and knew that the altitude was getting to me. I looked at my Garmin to see that we had gone up over the 9,600ft and still had climbing to do. I didn't think it would ever end. At some point I took the liberty of renaming the mountain The Neverf***ingendingmountain. I don't think it will stick, but I'm guessing I wasn't the first to come up with that name.

Somewhere near the top of Cerro Grande

In addition to the altitude bothering me, I could feel that my IT band was not real thrilled to be working on this day. It had started bothering me two weeks prior on a 30 mile training run and I had been trying to keep it from flaring up. What was a concern entering the day was now a reality, but how would it affect me? We made it to the top of Cerro Grande, 10,213ft in 6hrs, 3minutes and 23 miles in. Mile 23 was a whopping 42:31. That was an uninterrupted mile, no aid stations, not stops, just slow moving. Getting to the top and heading down brought another surprise, more of the talus field to navigate through.

Talus on the way down.

It was shortly after navigating through the rocks that I found out that my IT band was NOT going to let me run any technical downhill sections. Amy took off as she did from Caballo Mountain and I called upon myself to do the same, but the pain shooting through my knee said no way. I tried repeatedly, but the right knee was very unstable and there was no way I could plant on it coming down. I never saw her again until the finish line. I basically had one good leg and 27 miles to go. Sonofabitch!

From the downside of Cerro Grande to Pajarito Canyon, running was sketchy. There were some stretches that were not too technical and I could actually run them as long as they weren't uphill. The paces for miles 24-28 were as follows: 16:04, 10:27, 9:51, 11:05, and 12:16. The elevation over that distance dropped from about 9,400ft to 7,900ft. If it was a smooth downhill, the running wasn't bad, but anything technical brought me to a walk.

Good running trail through Canyon de Valle

Somewhere in the 29th mile I came into the Pajarito Canyon aid station. By this time it was about 20 minutes after noon and getting hot. I stripped off the singlet and applied sunscreen in the aid station, loaded my two handheld bottles and headed back out knowing I was on the downside of the 50 mile course, but barely. My thinking at this point based on my ITB and knee was "one aid station at a time". The next one was a mere 4 miles away, all uphill on the way back to Pajarito Mountain. At some point in this climb I looked back for some reason and then did a double take. There was Shaheen and Edgar about 50 yards behind me. I had been worried about the Dallas contingency and there wherabouts up until this point. Seeing the two of them made me feel better. I didn't stop to wait for them because I knew at the pace I was moving (somewhere between a snail and a turtle) they would catch me prett quick. We weren't together for very long as they were both doing better than me and I had no desire to try to keep up. I couldn't. Before long they were out of sight.

Those next 4 miles of virtually nothing but walking took about 1hr, 20 min and seemed like an eternity. While trying to calculate in my head how long the remaining distance would take, I estimated my arrival to be early Sunday morning. Actually, I was beginning to wonder at what point I would stop and call it a day. Climbing back up over 10,400ft, the altitude once again bothering me, the heat of the day and what seemed like no hope to be able to run at all the rest of the day, I had to consider the reality of shutting it down, quitting, previously unspoken words

Townsite Lift Aid station at mile 32.6

View from up on Pajarito Mountain

The peak of Pajarito Mountain was reached around mile 34 per my Garmin reading, the 4th and final major climb. Elevation was just under 10,500ft and there was some relief that the hardest part of climbing for the day was over. It was 2:15 in the afternoon and now everything else would be at a lower elevation and for the most part, downhill. While I found relief in that fact, I was in a great deal of pain and the daunting task of running 16 more miles was almost unthinkable. The possibility of a DNF now was looming larger than ever over me and the probability seemed good.

Making my way down Pajarito I unknowingly missed a turnoff and somehow started running down a jeep track. While my knee was killing me, it was a straight downhill shot and I decided to let gravity take me and run with it. However, the lack of orange flags or ribbons had me concerned until I saw a familiar sight, trail I had already run. As I stopped in my tracks and tried to figure out what in the hell I had just done, I heard another runner yell at me from maybe 40 yards away, “hey, it’s this way” to which I disgustingly responded “yeah, I know, I’ve already been there”. He was headed up a path I had taken not so long ago. I turned around and started my walk of shame back up the hill to where I had just come from. It couldn’t have been more than a quarter of a mile from where I went off track, but it felt like forever. By the time I got there, the same runner was making his way around the orange markers and down a hill that I had missed just in front of me. Maybe a half mile total off of course so not too bad.

I continued to make my way downhill anyway that I could manage, most notably slowly. I just wanted to get to the next aid station and then weigh my options, get some G2 mix that I had because I was about sick of Heed at this point. I came to the ski slope and could see a few runners down below me. From the size of them, I could tell they were quite a distance off and more importantly, I could see just how steep this slope was. Per my Garmin, it indicated that it dropped off about 670ft in ½ mile straight down. Someone mentioned that it was like Double Black Diamond slope, but who knows, I'm not a skier so it really meant nothing to me. It was steep and that's all that mattered. I stepped off of the trail and opted to try to go down on the grass instead. It appeared that I’d have better footing with the grass clumps than on the narrow dirt trail with loose rocks. Being the my footing was unstable as it was, I didn’t want to end up rolling to the bottom although it would have been much faster. Earlier I had heard a lot of whooping and hollering off in the distance so I knew that I was close to the next aid station, Townsite Lift, I just wasn’t sure how close.

While making my way down the slope in a sideways and almost backwards manner at times, I was actually passed up by 4 young hikers on their way down. If that wasn’t disheartening, I’m not sure what could have topped it. Once I made it to the bottom, there was another dirt road and I could then see the Townsite Lift station. At the time, I thought it was Pipeline instead which made no sense because I had already hit that station once before. It just shows how well my mind was functioning at that point. As I made my way down the road into the station, I was literally hopping and practically skipping to get in at anything faster than walking pace. It was all I could do to get to the stairs at the decking of the lift and ask a volunteer for my drop bag. Of course the response was that our drop bags were at the next aid station. I quickly looked at my forearm where I had written down all of the aid station mile markers to see that I had about 3 more miles to go. Slight miscalculation.

When asked by the volunteer how I was, and it was quite obvious, my response was not good. He asked what it was and I explained the issue with my IT band. He told me to come up on the deck and have a seat at which point to my surprise I noticed Shaheen and Edgar sitting there. Shaheen had badly twisted her ankle and was done. She was awaiting a ride back to the start and Edgar was just hanging tight with her. Another volunteer came to my side and asked if she could massage my leg to see if it would help to which I said sure. In my head I knew it wouldn’t do much, but it bought me time to think out my next move. She too seemed genuinely concerned and if nothing else, it was at least comforting to know they were great people who cared about all of the runners. After a couple minutes and downing 3 ibuprofen, I decided to get up so that I could stretch it and see if that helped. I had only done that what seemed like 20 times before along the way without much success, but it couldn’t hurt. The volunteer asked what I wanted to do and I said I was going to the next aid station and that I would evaluate the situation there. He looked me in the face quite seriously and said, I can’t keep you here, but if you leave your’re pretty much committing yourself to the final 14 miles. There no other place from here on in that we could send a vehicle for you should you drop. Wow, now what? I told him to let me think about it and paced around a bit in somewhat of an emotional wreck inside because I didn’t come there to run 36 miles. I asked Edgar if he wanted to go with me and he was game. Neither of us wanted to leave Shaheen alone, but we had some miles left and she was in good hands with volunteers that would take her back to the start. Edgar said to hold on until he went to the restroom, maybe the only true restroom on the course, and then we’d go. Just as we were about to head out the bell was ringing for another runner coming in and it was Nick. Yes, he was still in it and looking pretty good. Edgar quickly went over the situation with Nick and we took off out of there. Nick was going to stay back for a bit. At this point, I was 36.2 miles along and about 10hrs, 15min into the race and it was about 3:15. I had traveled 2 miles in just over 59 minutes. Turtle.

The next 3 miles I really don't remember much about them. About 47 minutes to cover a net gain of 670ft of gradual incline, nothing too steep. I was able to run the some of it my with my main focus on staying with Edgar. He did a great job of keeping us going. Before long we we made our way into Pileline Aid Station and were now only 11 miles from the finish at 5:00 p.m., 11 hours into the race. I reached into my drop bag for the final time and grabbed my iPod. I needed some "Pearl Jam: Live from Boston". I thought I had two G2 powder mixes as well, but apparently not, that sucked. Heed it would be for the distance. A coule swipes of BodyGlide on each rib cage and inside arm and we were out of there. Well, actually I also filled a baggie of Lay's potato chips and carried that out with me.

Putting on my iPod at Pipeline. Ready to be done with this thing.

Coming out of Pipeline aid station was a good feeling. I had been there once before and finally got the feeling that the homestretch was nearing. The view up that long road wasn't all that great, but I'd been over worse so I'd deal with it and I felt like with just under 11 miles to go and most of it in the downhill nature, I would make it. Having Edgar there to run with certainly help me stay focused on getting it done.

View of jeep track out of Pipeline Aid Station

View from Guaje Ridge heading back towards Los Alamos

The rest of the trek in was long. The next 8 miles dropped about 2,600ft and we covered it in 1:30:30, roughly 11:20 per mile, well below the average pace per mile for the entire race. After that stretch, we were able to get in just over one more mile before my Garmin gave out, battery dead. Woo hoo, I outlasted the Garmin. While most of the final couple miles seemed to be runnable, there was a lot of walking the last couple of miles on some uphill stuff, including another 15+ minute mile, #48.

Coming back down Guaje Ridge............I think?

I don't really remember a whole lot other than the fact that Edgar had pulled away at some point and I was content just to finish. I didn't try to keep upwith him, besides the ibuprofen had wore off and my knee was really hurting again. I once again started to have some concern that the finish I recently thought was a certainty might not be. However, as we winded our way down Guaje and back towards Los Alamos, he came back into my sight and there we were again. I was his shadow over the course of the last 5 or 6 miles we and passed 5 runners that I specifically remember passing me somewhere earlier in the day. While I didn't feel like it was some great accomplishment at the time, it at least reminded me that I wasn't the only one struggling to finish. Along the way I had been keeping an eye on my watch with hope of breaking 13 hours. The goal at the beginning of the day of sub 12 was long gone.

As we continued to make our way in, it seemed like we'd never get there and the hopes of sub 13 seemed to be getting slim. We hit the last aid station and had 1.9 miles to go and just over 30 minutes time to get there. I didn't want to to stop because I was concerned about time, but Edgar needed water and I wasn't going on without him. One of the volunteers convinced me to drink a cup of Coke while they refilled Edgar's water and that was a good move. Coke never tasted so good.

Sub 13, surely we could do it? Easier said than done. It was a struggle as it seemed quite a bit of the last two miles were uphill or rolling hills which brought on a lot of walking by both of us. As we had left the station I heard one of the runners we had passed coming in so it seemed that he was gaining on us, incentive to try to keep moving, but there was only so much we could physically do. Did it even matter what placement or time we finished? For some reason it did to me, I couldn't help it. Coming to the top of every hill and every corner I kept expecting to see something that resembled the finish line or buildings or people or anything that indicated we were close to the finish. Instead, it would just bring another turn, more hills, more trail, a 50K runner. Anything but the finish line and I was growing frustrated. And to boot, one of the other runners passed us. He appeared to be paced in for the last mile by his girlfriend or wife as wehad passed her just after leaving the last station. I yelled to Edgar "let's go, we gotta break 13" and found one final surge. Besides that, I didn't want to give up that spot and I ended up getting it back. I apologize for still being competitive at that point, but a spot in the standings was a spot in the standngs.

As I came up a hill I saw the sign I had been looking for all along. Volunteers or spectators letting us know the finish was just around the corner, and it was. As I rounded that final corner I came up on a female runner that I had traded places with a couple of times earlier in the day. I probably could have made a complete ass out of myself and sprinted past her as well, but opted not to do so. She had run a strong race and was really nice to me with concern earlier in the day when I was struggling (I know, at this point you're saying to yourself "Could you be more specific? Wasn't that pretty much all day"). I was satisfied crossing the line just behind her, done finally, 12:58:15, 54th place overall and an average pace of 15:34 per mile. Just over 9 minutes per mile slower than my marathon pace.

Just feet from the finish line

Edgar finishing strong, thanks for the company buddy!

As I came across the finish line there was Amy with her camera and big ol' smile. Looking like she had just finished a 10K. It was so good to see her and know that we had made it. She ended up 5th female with a time of 12:21.......quite studly, but I would expect nothing less from her. She is the Real Deal for sure! Edgar was right on my tail at 12:59 and inside the cabin were our two other girls, Jayna and Shaheen, both in safely, but not feeling so well due to their injuries. They both ended up dropping at the 36 mile aid station. Nick came across not long after at 13:31 with a grin from ear to ear and at that point we were all present and accounted for. That's what mattered most.

Twinkies? Tough Twinkies for sure, Jayna and Shaheen.

Once in the cabin it was time to fuel up, I was tired, but so hungry. I actually had 3 green chili cheeseburgers, sugar cookies, chips and God knows what else. More junk food in the next hour than I had eaten in the whole year and I didn't even feel remorse. I must have had lingering altitude issues I guess?

While I didn't get my goal time, I was okay with accepting that for the time being I am just a middle of the road ultra runner. What I had done in Boston last month was thrown out the window here. But that's okay with me because that's what will motivate me for the time being. Practically the whole time out there on the course I was telling myself "never again will I run Jemez, never ever never". But it wasn't long after finishing that I started thinking, I can break 12 out there, maybe even 11? We'll see about that next May.

In the meantime, I want to congratulate all of those that gave it their best shot out there on Saturday whether they finished or not. Just attempting to tackle such a challenge is awesome and quite respectable. I always pride myself on being mentally tough, but I don't know that I could ever put into words how difficult that was, both physically and mentally. Not many would even consider attempting such a day.

I also want to thank Amy for her pictures. Most of those above are her work as I gave up on my camera at mile 17. It was too much trouble. So on top of being an ultra All-Star, she's a pretty damned good photographer. I kidded her that she could have probably knocked off 20-30 minutes had she not taken picutres. I'm glad she did. Also major thanks to Edgar. A guy I just met the day before was a major help in my getting to the finish line Saturday night, thanks man!

Thanks for stopping in for the read and I promise it won't be six months until the next one (I'm sure you can't wait). I've got something brewing that I want to share with you when all the details are figured out.

Take care!

The North Face Endurance Challenge Championship

2010-12-13T12:47:00.000-08:00

Well, ready or not, the weekend was finally here. The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 mile race. I had registered for it not long after running the Boston Marathon in April. How did I come about choosing this race one may ask? Well, mainly just due to timing and location. First, because a standard marathon was the furthest I had run at that point, I figured 8 months would be enough time to train for a 50. Secondly, the location was one that was both easy to get to and the scenery was rated 5 stars on the race website. I ignored the 5 star rating for "elevation change" and "overall difficulty", just minor details that I could deal with later.

One one hand I was both anxious and excited for what would be the most physical challenge of my life. On the other hand, I was skeptical about my training, both on hills and overall mileage. I convinced myself that a strong effort and respectable finish would be all I could ask for out of myself. Just don't embarrass myself out there. Besides, I was running with the big dogs this time. From what I had read in the days leading up to the race, this could be considered the strongest field ever assembled for an ultra marathon in both the men's and women's class.

Unlike a marathon, I had no idea what to expect out of my body, especially considering the elevation changes throughout the course. I expected this would be a true test of my mental toughness. In addition to the course itself, I wasn't sure what mother nature would throw at us. The forecast had a 50% chance of rain all week with temps in the 40's & 50's. The temperature was not a concern, but the rain was. It caused a little stress about what I would wear. Would it drizzle, rain or pour? Would it be freezing cold with an early morning rain? Muddy? How muddy would it be? A lot for one to think about on top of the fact that that it was already a challenge with just the distance and the course.

Fortunately the race allowed for gear bags on the course. Four of the eleven stations would serve as gear bag drops. Each drop site woould actually be hit twice over the course of the race and therefore only two bags actually dropped. I loaded them up with my preference of hydration (purple G2) and nutrition (Honey Stinger gels, Lenny & Larry's Muscle Brownie's and PowerBar Energy Blasts) as well as changes of shorts, shirts, shoes and socks and an assortment of other items I thought could come in handy. I later realizedI failed to packe the extra clothes, but it was never an issue. I also had a huge gear bag at the start/finish area that allowed for warm clothes pre and post run.

Race morning, up and out of bed at 2:00 a.m., in the car by 2:45 and a short drive over to the Golden Gate Ferry Terminal to catch a shuttle to the start. At the start area by 4:00, get all gear bags checked in staying full dressed as long as possible to stay warm and then a last minute trip to the portta potties. They were situated a little ways up a hill and as I walked up to I couldn't help but think "OMG, this is going to kill me". I even joked with a fellow racer that I pulled a hamstring climbing the hill up to the bathroom.

Pre-race goofball picture. WTH with the visor?

5:07 a.m. and I'm on the start line. A quick glance to my left and I realize that the lady that just squeezed her way up towards the front is Kami Semick. "Kami, hey, I'm Ron's friend from Texas". It was just crazy. I was just standing there looking at Geoff Roes, Lizzy Hawker, Kami Semick and Dakota Jones in addition to all of the other elites that I didn't recognize. I will add that I saw two or three Anton Krupicka wannabes with the long hair and beards, but he actually pulled out from the race earlier in the week due to injury so I knew he wasn't there. Then it was 5:08 and we were off and running.

As soon as we headed up the hill and hit a short stretch of pavement I knew this was an elite field. There were so many runners ahead that just shot out of there. For the first coupe of miles there wasn't much elevation change so the pace was a little quick, but once we hit the hills and the pace would be all over the place. About 4 miles in to it my digestive system started talking to me and letting me know we were going to have some issues. I knew, I just knew it was going to happen.

Early morning, maybe before first aid station?

The first aid station was at mile 5.8 and I ran through it. I had my own gels and my G2 in a handheld water bottle so I was good. Another 3.1 miles and I arrived at Tennessee Valley aid station which was also the first gear bag drop. At that point I found great relief in a vacant porta potty. I then found my gear bag, filled up my bottle, grabbed another gel and my sunglasses. While it was still dark, I was hoping the sun would come up soon and that they would come into use. So as to save the suspense, they didn't and I later dumped them off at another gear bag drop.

A little cold singletrack action on the hillside

Somewhere along the way the rain came back. It wasn't a downpour, but enough to concern me that it might get muddy. In addition, it kept it cool. For some reason I had shed the gloves at the first bag drop and was now wishing I had them back. I always have a problem with my fingers getting cold.

Two more aid stations got me to Bootjack for the 2nd gear bag at mile 18.9. I pulled in just under 3 hours and 3 minutes. A bit under 10 minute pace which I was happy with, but I knew I couldn't hold it. I was already feeling very fatigued and somewhat concerned about the next 32 miles that lie ahead. I got some help from a very nice lady in changing my shoes. I had to transfer my timing chip from my MT 101's over to the Brooks Cascadias. I had made a last minute decision to go with the 101's based on a shuttle conversation with a runner, but I thought I was going to need better traction if it got too muddy. Loaded up on more G2, grabbed my own Lenny & Jerry's Muscle brownie, a gel and I was off again. I immediately could feel the extra weight of the much heavier Cascadia's on my feet. Wow, maybe not a good choice, but I was sticking with it now. I tried to convince myself that the superior traction of the shoes would come in handy as well as the overall support. Looking back I don't know if it was a good choice or not, but it was the one I made.

The mud and the shoes I switched to, the Brooks Cascadia 6.

My goal was to try to stay as close to that 10:00 pace as possible now. Six miles per hour, c'mon I could do it right? Nope, I couldn't. It took me 1:01 to knock out the next 5 miles. In that section there was an out and back to McKennan Gulch in which I would see the leaders coming back the other direction while we ran on a single track on a hillside. As the leaders approached those of us still going out, we would step of the track and get out of the way. They were moving. The section was maybe 2 miles long, so about 4 when doubled. I didn't recognize the leading men, but did recognize Kami as she passed me again when I was at 21.65 miles. Doing the math in my head I could tell that she was already about 4 miles ahead of me. Of course I didn't think I was going to hang with her, but just wanted to get an idea of how great the elites were. Soon after there was Jenn Shelton and Texas' very own Liza Howard, winner of this year's Leadville 100.

The turnaround at McKennan Gulch aid station was just shy of mile 24. It was raining and I was cold and starving. This was the first station that I stopped at for food. I had a couple hands full of Ruffles chips, 3 or 4 small round brownies and a qtr of a PB&J and then I was off again. You'd think the turnaround meant the halfway point, but I knew better. The runners guide said 51.2 miles so I knew I was still shy of the midway point.

In the week prior to the race, I had studied the guide, the aid station locations and distances between each, but somehow things started getting a bit fuzzy for me and for much of the race back towards the start I just took what the course gave. I had totally got lost on where things were such as the hills, aid stations and significant landmarks.

As it turns out, it was 4.7 miles to the next station and then 3.4 more miles before the course circled back to Bootjack, 31.7 miles in and just under 20 left. I filled my water bottle, grabbed another muscle brownie and was out of there. This was in the Muir Woods so many of the upcoming miles would be run under tree cover, up and down several steps, over and under trees, through at least one Redwood, a few bridges and a ladder.

By chance I happened to leave Bootjack with a group of 3 runners. It consisted of both a male and female 50 mile participant and a male pacer for the female. I didn't intend to, but ended up following them for several miles through the woods and a couple of aid stations. We may have even leap frogged each other a few of times, I'm not sure, but it seemed that I would be ahead of the female racer as I approached aid stations and she would be ahead of me by the time we left them. I didn't feel like I spent more than a couple minutes tops at the stations, but she spent even less. A very efficient runner. The male racer that was a friend of the other two eventually left us behind and ended up beating me by about 16 minutes.

There were other racers along this section that seemed to either pull ahead or fall back, not really sure as I lost track of them in the woods. I just wasn't too concerned about beating anyone, but instead just trying to finish with a decent time. When the day started, the goal was under 9 hrs. As it progressed, Mr. Mathematician had some work to do figuring out time left to get 9.5, 10, and then eventually 10.5. At some point in the race, just trying to determine the pace I needed to get 5 miles in one hour was a challenge. It may as well have been titled The North Face Endurance and Math Challenge.

Powerwalking behind Larissa on Coyote Ridge leaving Muir Beach

Coming out of Tennessee Valley aid station for the second time I found myself a long distance behind Larissa (the female racer). Larissa didn't even stop that I noticed, but Rick (her pacer) did as did I. The two of us left at the same time and we could see that she was way ahead up the hill. One of the handful of hills that seemed to never end. In addition to Larissa, I could see green jacket guy (who I later found out was a Brazillian in my age group). I was on his tail much earlier in the day, maybe around before mile 13 when he dropped a lightweight green jacket that was tied around his waist and I picked it up for him. Look closely and you can see him here from the early stages of the race. No, look even closer than that, he's midway up the hill.

Green jacket guy from early in the race, maybe before Muir Beach station at 13.9???

In addition now, it was evident that there were several runners ahead of me. It appeared that we had joined up with the 50K runners as they came out of Tennessee Valley as well. This would be a 1.5 mile incline in which we gained almost 700 feet. As with all the huge hills in the 2nd half of the race, I chose to power walk this section with a few burst of running. Keep in mind that my "bursts" of running at this point were no faster than 11:00 pace, while that walking was probably closer to 16:00. Miles 42 & 43 took me a combined 31:46, brutally slow and seriously chewing into my goal time. The good thing was that even though I was moving slow and power walking, I was gaining ground on green jacket even though he appeared to be running. I was also passing numerous 50K runners. While this meant nothing in the standings, it was huge psychologically to me.

Eventually I passed green jacket guy on a downhill section and never looked over at him. I also caught back up with Larissa and Rick and decided to hang with them for the company on the way in. Turns out they were from the area and actually did their "Thursday" runs on the course, how nice. That reminds me, I need to send Rick a picture of the pumpjacks I get to see on my daily training runs. Equally beautiful......if you own them. The section we were on now was predominantly downhilll and to be honest, this was the most painful section of the entire run. Each step started with a jar to the knees, up the quads and ended with the lower back and ribs. How in the world could running downhill hurt so bad? It reminded me of a conversation on the shuttle early in morning in with prior year runner. He had discussed the very issue and how he incorrectly assumed the final downhill would be nice. Mile 48.4 - 50.4 dropped just under 800 feet and it was not easy, although I preferred that over climbing.

The last mile was pretty flat, most of it on pavement and I found that I had a little left in the tank once the course flattened out. I brought home the last mile pretty strong and even passed one more 50 miler along the way. I had no intentions of leaving Larissa and Rick behind in doing so, but I had to pee so bad I wanted to hurry and get it over with. Had it not been so close to the end I would have just stopped on the side of the road, but green jacket wasn't far back and I wasn't about to give up a position in the standings for that reason.

I finished in 10:15:40, 79th overall and 12th in my age group, 40-49. It wasn't 9, 9.5 or even 10, but I was pretty damned thrilled that I had finished. My biggest concern coming in was that I would fall flat on my face and embarrass myself with a poor showing. I now had a 50 under my belt and in fact a qualifying time for entry into Western States 100. What a great experience that was. Exactly what I was hoping for in that sense. I learned more about myself and what I capable of doing, but more so it taught me that I have a lot of room for improvement. To see the elite athletes run the course in such incredible time was both amazing and humbling. I had no thoughts of it as I sat around at the finish line, but in the days since I have made up my mind that I will go back for 2011 to give it one more shot, goal..........sub 9:00. And the beauty of it is that my wife Gina has agreed to go with me next year. How nice it will be to have her at the finish line the niext time around. After all, I couldn't do any of this without her support.

A few interesting statistics from the race:

Total distance: 51.24 miles, avg pace 12:01(5mph)

Elevation gain per Garmin 15,759 ft, descent 15,537 ft

Fastest mile: 7:32 (mile 5)

Slowest mile: 21:31 (mile 33)

Estimated calories burned: 5,702

Approx days until I get my revenge: 357

Men's podium - Dave Mackey (3rd), Geoff Roes(2nd) and Miguel Heras(1st)

Women's podium - Anna Frost (1st), Lizzy Hawker (2nd) and Kami Semick (3rd)

If the Shoe Fits........

2010-09-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

Well, you know how the saying goes. Let me explain how the race went. The last of 3 60K's in the Capt'n Karl's Endurance Race series took place at Muleshoe Bend Recreation area just off of Lake Travis a few miles west of Austin, TX on Saturday night. I had finished 5th and 3rd respectively in the first two and stood in 2nd place overall by just over 3 minutes. First place overall was out of the question as that runner, Josh Beckham, had a lead of about 77 minutes. The overall placement would be determined based on combined time from all three races.

Going back to the first two races, I had gone out too fast to start and faded quite a bit in each to the point where finishing was certainly in question. I knew I knew I would have to run a pretty smart race if I wanted to keep 2nd place. And if the fact that I knew it wasn't enough, I had my 5yr old daughter giving me advice two weeks out. She had just watched the story of the tortoise and the hare and completely unsolicited, she told me that I needed to run my next race "slow and steady". While I thought it was quite cute, it was the phrase I would repeat several times early in the race while picturing her telling me "remember Dad, sloooow and steaaady" in a drawn out manner.

Unlike the previous two races, I made the 300 mile trip the day of the race for the 7:00 p.m. start. Getting there just past 4:00 gave me plenty of time to set up my "camp" near the start/finish area and relax a bit before the race. While it was still pretty warm outside, about 84, it was about 15-18 degrees cooler than the last start and it appeared that it would drop into the 70's by 11:00. Quite balmy by hill country summer standards. That was a much welcomed change. Combined with the fact that the Race Director's email said the course was "not all that difficult" and "slightly rolling on a mountain bike trail that is mostly smooth" made me think this would be the sub 6 hour race. I opted to ignore the "still enough rocks and roots to dissuade you from dragging your feet".

Before the race got started I saw the two guys behind me in the standings, but never looked for Josh as he wasn't even a consideration to me. My only hope of finishing #1 overall would be for him to fail miserably and DNF. A quick runners meeting, standard comments on paying attention to signs, glow sticks, watching out for snakes and proper hydration and then we were off and running.

The first lap would include a .84 out and back to get the race to a full 60K. After that, 4 loops of 9.09 miles. Just after the making the turn on the out and back Joe, the Race Director, yelled at me "You're it, Josh didn't make it". D'oh, seriously? I later found out that his wife had just gave birth to a child so he skipped the race. No pressure, but here was my chance to steal 1st place overall. Because of the way the out and back was designed, I would count that I was in 9th place of the 60K runners. A bunch of 30K runners ahead that only had to do 1/2 of the out and back. I'm assuming it was all of them, about 80. And of course, among the 8 60K runners ahead of me were #'s 2 and 3, Derek and Scott. We had finished 3, 4, 5 respectively at the Falls.

Unlike the last race, I didn't stress about being behind anyone this time. I just reminded myself that this was a 37 mile run and that I didn't matter if I lead 36 miles or 1 mile. All that mattered was where I finished. Slow and steady, slow and steady. We had all had our struggles in the prior races and I was banking on similar results.

I took my time and didn't look far ahead often. Even when I did, I couldn't see much other than the runners just ahead of me as we ran in some pretty thick wooded areas with a lot of hills and brush. It seemed I could never see much more than 20-25 yards ahead at most, sometimes less. It wasn't long into the race that I caught up with the tail end of the 30K runners. Passing them one at a time was not much of a problem as most of them pulled over when they heard me behind them. Every once in a while I could see that I was passing a 60K runner, but it was difficult to tell even though we were identified by the color of the #'s on our race bibs. Black for 60K, red for 30K.

The loop had 3 aid stations. The fully stocked and manned station at the start/finish, one at 3.00 miles out with water only and then the 3rd at 6.55 miles that would be manned and fully stocked. I had made the decision to carry two Nathan handhelds to avoid frequent stops at the stations. The plan was to stop at the finishline only. If I stopped anywhere esle something went wrong.

It seemed like forever, but eventually the first aid station appeared and while I ran right by, there were a couple of people already stopped and refueling. I felt pretty good and had plenty of liquid. The temperature wasn't bad at all and I could tell early that hydration wouldn't be a problem at all. That said, I did pop and S Cap just before the start and planned on taking one about every hour.

Between the 1st and 3nd aid station there was some extremely gnarly rock sections that included some large buried jagged rocks, roots and a lot of trees. The course overall was pretty technical with a lot of switchbacks and tight sections between trees and low hanging branches. This particular section was almost impossible to run while we still had daylight available. I immediately thought this was going to be treacherous in the dark. And not only that, but without the worn dirt trail, it was difficult to tell where the trail actually was. That meant looking down at foot placement and then looking around for "confidence markers" which was the neon colored tape hanging from the trees every so often. In loops 2-4 it would be a little easier because you could see the glow sticks that had been randomly placed on the ground. At that point it was a matter of going from glow stick to glow stick.

Once past the difficult section of rock, the course seemed to open up a bit with some of that "mostly smooth trail". Due to the rain from the night before there was a little mud, but not bad. The second aid station came and went and again as I ran by, there were a couple of runners fueling. I still had plenty of Gatorade in my bottles and didn't even hesitate to keep going. Another 2.5 miles and I would have one loop knocked out. I wondered how the guys up front were doing.

The loop ended with a very short section that ran into the start/finish area on the same trail as those coming back out. By the time I got to that section it was already dark and I my headlamp was on. It was really a cool sight as it was dark and then just as you came ove a hill you could see the camp area with all of the lights for the aid station. As I was coming in a few runners passed me going the other direction. Not sure why, but I never even looked at them. I think I was trying to stick to my plan of slow and steady and not worry about who was ahead of me.

A quick run across the timing matts, around the cone and right to the Gatorade jugs. A split of 1:29:38 for the first 9.93 miles (1:24:12 for the 9.09 actual loop). Unbeknownst to me, I was about 7 minutes behind the leader at this point, Derek. I asked for Heed, but they didn't have it mixed yet. It would have to be Gatorade again. No problem, a quick refill with ice and Gatorade by the volunteers while I squeezed a gel into my mouth and then I was on my way out. A very efficient and short stop.

Loop 2 was pretty uneventful other than passing Scott and another runner at the first aid station. I had been tailing them pretty much for the 3 miles since leaving the start/finish area where they had gone out just before me. I was not right on them. but not far behind at all. Again, the 2 bottle system worked as they both stopped and I ran right by without so much as looking in their direction.

Loop 2 took me 1:32:08, about 8 minutes slower than the first one. While I tried to remind myself of staying slow and steady, I was a bit concerned that I wasn't feeling quite as good as I wished I had and I wasn't seeing any 60K runners that I knew of out there. As I pulled in to the start/finish area for he 2nd time, I unscrewed the caps on my bottles and dumped out what was in them coming into the chute. I crossed the matts and handed off the bottles again to be re-filled. I grabbed a protein brownie from my gear bag, bottles from the volunteers, Heed this time, and I was back out onto the trail, but not before asking how far I was behind Derek. About 10 minutes was the response. Turns out, it was actually 11, but close enough. Not what I wanted to hear, but still, slow and steady and he would come back to me at some point right?

Actually I was starting to doubt the "slow and steady" approach, but honestly don't know if I could have run much faster without totally draining myself. At this point I was 19.02 miles into it and had just over 18 to go. Still a long way and a lot of time to catch up. I told myself to continue to run my race. Be disciplined, stick to the plan.

Not far into the 3rd loop I got my first wake-up call, I hit the ground. I was trying to split a tree and failed to pick my feet up high enough in doing so. I hit the ground with a pretty hard thud and then there I was with the familiar feeling. Soaking with sweat and now rolled in dirt, not to mention the dirt on my water bottles as well as in my mouth. Nice! It was as if I took a leap while running and someone grabbed my feet out from under me. I looked at my Garmin at that point to see that it happened at 19.96 miles. No idea why I even cared, but apparently it was important enough to look. Just about a mile and a quarter later I would get to look again because there was another crash. This time I completely crushed one of my water bottles at 21.15 miles. This was getting ridiculous I thought. Now, I was really irritated, but not surprised. I had clipped several rocks up to that point and had almost fell several times. I managed to stay upright for the rest of the third loop and I came in at 1:48:36, slow.

Coming in from the 3rd loop I knew I had some ground to make up, just how much was the question. I felt good enough to consider an attack for the last 9 miles and was considering either one or no water bottle for the last loop. I had an iPod available and knew that I would pick that up for sure. With majority of 30K runners off of the course, it would be pretty thin out there and plus I wanted something to give me a little life. I was also going to slam a Red Bull, but totally forgot it once I got into the aid station.

I was told that I was in 3rd place and about 17 minutes out of 1st place, maybe 12 behind 2nd. Looking back at the splits, it was actually 14:28 behind the leader. I headed out with one water bottle and a huge challenge ahead of me, but feeling somewhat optimistic that with a decent run and maybe some luck I could gain enough ground to make it interesting.

Some of the early parts of the loop had some decent downhill sections in the wooded area and I was moving at a pretty good clip at times. The music pumping in my ears in the dark of night was pretty cool and the rush I was getting by flying recklessly downhill and in between trees had my adrenaline pumping. I kept hearing Brad's comments to me at the aid station "leave it all out on the course". Slow and steady had been discarded. At the same time I knew there was no way I could hold that pace for 9 miles. I was just going to give it hell and see what happened.

With the faster pace came risk and I remember thinking if I fell it was not going to feel good. Well, it wasn't exactly Nostradamus, but it wasn't long before I clipped a rock and sent down pretty hard. The jolt to the body was rough, but not injuries. I was up and back at it in a matter of seconds with a relatively decent pace.

As I progressed through the loop I could see headlamps moving ahead of me. While I was pretty certain it wasn't either of the two 60K runners, I thought to myself "you never know" and continued to chase them down. Each time I caught one of the runners a disappointing feeling would come over me as I realized I was lapping a runner and not actually catching 1st or 2nd place. That was okay, I was still running and each time I saw a light I had a burst of energy. It was like when you're out training on the road and you see another runner and your pace seems to pick up a bit. Not necessarily intentionally, but it just happens.

Somewhere in the first half of the loop I would go down for the last time. I had caught a glimpse of a runner and here came that energy again. I was gaining ground through a fairly technical section in the trees I just before I approached her that moment of whiplash and then thud to the ground. It was another lapped runner and I felt quite stupid and I was at her heels. She turned to see what had just happened and as I lay there looking at the ground I said "I'm fine, go ahead" and waved at her to keep moving. She was being courteous to check on me and I was just embarrassed at disheartened at that point. I popped back up and tried to get back after it, but I think at that point I knew it wasn't to be. I had needed to run a perfect 4th loop and I had two things working against me. One, I couldn't stay on my feet and two, I was running about 1-2 minutes per mile slower than I needed. My focus switched from predator to survival about then. I decided to finish respectably and take 3rd place like a man. First for the night and overall were lost earlier in the race when I chose "too damn slow and steady" for my strategy.

As I approached the last mile of the course I could feel a little life back in me and I picked up the pace for the last time. Soon the hill just before the finish line was under me and then the lights of the tents were visible. Such a great view in the middle of the night.

Crossing the finish matt was once again the unceremonious moment. I was handed an assortment of items by one of the volunteers that turned out to be a medal, two framed pictures, one for the night's placement and one for the series overall as well as a Team Traverse belt buckle for completing all 3 60k's. 6:33:01 was my time and as it turned out, I finished 2nd place for the night, not 3rd as I had been told and 2nd place overall.

I finished 8:30 out of 1st place overall with a total time of 19:20:01, but I couldn't help but be somewhat disappointed with myself. With Josh out that night I had the opportunity to take 1st and I let it get away. However, Derek ran an fantastic race. As he had previously, he went out fast and he finished strong. Either way, 1st place wasn't meant to be mine for this series. Second place seems to be more my speed and with that being said, I was happy with the Shoe and the whole series, it seems to fit me just fine. Just seven short weeks earlier I had never run a trail race and now I've have 3 60k's under my belt with some respectable finishes. Gives me a lot to look forward as I pursue my goals in the ultra world. And by the way, I'm not abandoning the slow and steady approach as I did feel much better at the end and never thought DNF was a consideration. I just need to work on making my "slow" as a little faster.

Thanks for your support and for stopping by to read this mad rambling.

the Falls 60K

2010-08-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

Race 2 of the 3 race series was this past weekend, August 14th. Another 7:00 p.m. start would hopefully bring cooler temperatures this time around. Well, wishful thinking at least, but no such luck. Those of us doing the 60K would do two loops of the 30K.

After a quick runners meeting at 6:45 to hear about the course, aid stations and snake sightings, we all shuffled our way to the starting matt just in enough time to get started at 7:00. I looked around for familiar faces, but being that this was only my 2nd trail race, I only knew my 2 buddies from Midland and Derek, the guy that beat me out for 4th in the first 60K. Soon we were off and running. My main concern and focus for this race was pacing and I had told myself for 3 weeks that a slow start would be the key. I wanted to hit the the first lap at or just below 3 hrs. In effort to do so, I let a group go off without me and tried not to worry about where I was. Just run my race, just run my race. I said it more than once to myself.

Less than a couple of miles into the race we hit a very technical section of the course along the river that included several branches, drop offs in the rocks and gaps in the rocks. I immediately thought this would prove challenging the next time around in the dark.

Before long, we were off of the river and running along a fenceline. The fenceline was straight and appeared to go forever. I could see several runners ahead of me and some of them were way ahead of me. That stressed me and it was a mistake to even look at them. Over the course of the next 4 miles I caught and passed all but 6 runners, three of them 30Ker's. That was not part of the gameplan and I think it cost me eventually. Before long I caught up with the 6th runner, Scott and he was running the 60K. After introducing ourselves, chatting for a while, and running a couple of miles together, I decided to move on since I was feeling pretty good. I think that was somewhere around mile 9.

One decision I had made that I was glad I had was to carry two Nathan Quickdraw handhelds, 22ozs each. They both had HEED in them to start. By doing this, I was able to skip the first aid station (the Fence) at mile 5 and the 2nd (the Pipe)at mile 8.5. A four mile loop would bring me back to the 2nd aid station at mile 12.72. When I finally got there I was on empty and had to fill both bottles with ice and HEED. Getting my own drink was no problem, but the guy manning the station wouldn't let you get your own ice. He had to pour it from a pitcher. I had no problem with that, but I think someone failed to mention to him that it was a race as he took his sweet time. I later discussed this with one of my buddies, Joe, and we got a kick out of it. When Joe came in to the station at mile 8.5 he picked up the bottle of Coke and started to pour himself some, but the same volunteer held out his cup to the runner and asked Joe if HE would pour him some Coke. WTH? He was a bit surprised, but did and moved on.

Back to the race. After filling up, I headed out of the Pipe aid station to finish the first loop, about 6 more miles. It was dark at this point and I had actually turned on the headlamp just before entering the Pipe aid station. A couple miles later I would find myself rolling along the trail. Not really sure what happened other than just a loss of focus and without warning I went down. Fortunately, it was just dirt and loose rocks resulting in a layer of dirt all over my shoulder and back and a few small scrapes. Nothing serious. But it was just after getting back to my feet that I noticed a headlamp on not far behind me. It was Scott, I think, and he seemed to be making ground on me. In this section of the course there were several switchbacks and so when I changed directions I could somewhat look back in attempt to gauge where the runner was. It wasn't always possible due to the trees and brush, but I could see the light every once in a while. Just keep moving was my thought, just keep moving.

Before long I could see the lights from the finish/start area and the feeling of being halfway done was nice. I completed the first loop in 2:42:12, about 18 minutes faster than what I wanted. Not good. I got my bottles filled, one ice water and one HEED, grabbed my iPod and headed out of the station, time for loop 2 feeling pretty decent still.

This was the first time I had ever ran a race with music, but decided to experiment after reading reports of some other ultra runners. Right off the bat I thought it was a good decision. It was a mixed bag of upbeat music that I won't reveal. The river section came up pretty quickly and that was tough. A lot of power walking there due to the difficulty of the rocks, branches and darkness. Before long it was the fenceline again and that seemed to go forever and ever and ever. I was pretty hot and had consumed one bottle of HEED while pretty much draining the second bottle on my head and back along the way in effort to keep cool. For that reason, I had to stop at the Fence aid station and refill. That also took forever because I couldn't get my lids unscrewed and then I had trouble loading the ice. I think I was just plain worn out at that point.

On my way out of the station, I passed the 4th place runner coming towards me (this was a short out-and-back) and estimated that he was about .15 miles back. Oh no, get moving. Over the course of the next few miles all sorts of thoughts went through my head including "4th ain't so bad, not even 5th". I was hurting and the pace of the first loop was catching up with me. I was continuing to pour water on my head to revive myself and the Heed was also going down very quickly. In addition, I had made the switch from Carboom watermelon gels to Cliff Bar chocolate brownie flavored energy bars for the 2nd loop. I still can't decide if that's a good choice or not. I had 3 bars on me when I started the 2nd loop. One in each handheld and one in a spi-belt. I had pre-cut and wrapped them into 1/3's for ease of eating on the run. I'm not sure that helped much either because unwrapping the cellophane was a PITA!

Over the course of the next few miles I pretty much consumed all my HEED and drained my water on my head. The Pipe aid station would be a nice sight, or at least I thought. There it was at the top of a hill and I couldn't have been more relieved. As I pulled in I heard the words "I don't have any liquids for you". What? No water, no ice, no Coke??? It wasn't a cruel joke, it was reality. I guess due to the heat runners had taken in more than expected and all they could do there was wait for more to be trucked in. In the meantime, I needed to get moving and deal with it. I had about a swig or two in each bottle so now my thoughts switched to conserving it for when I most needed it. The 4 mile loop wouldn't be easy with hydration, it was going to be a challenge without. I estimate that I made it about 2 more miles before I felt like I was ready to just quit. I was somewhere around mile 29 when walk/runwalk/run was the name of the game. anything uphill was definitely walked and it could also be walked if flat or downhill. It was all at my mind's discretion.

I tried to consume more of my Cliff bars and washed them down with what liquid I had left. In my head all I could think was that they had surely re-stocked the aid station while running the loop. In the midst of my walk I found myself looking back quite often for a headlight, but to my surprise hadn't seen one. I tried convincing myself that those behind me were surely encountering the same misery as I was. They better be any way. We all paid the same price for admission to this thing and we'd better get the same experience.

Coming into the Pipe station was a climb up a pretty decent hill. I got to within about 40 feet and just came to a complete stop, a wobble, a few steps back and forth and then managed to proceed in. Yes!!! They had water, ice and some HammerEndurolytes. While some really helpful young guy filled up my waterbottles I struggle to open a packet of Endurolytes. I eventually got it opened, downed a couple, grabbed my bottles and walked off. I asked the same elderly man that had been there earlier if I had 6 miles to go. I was pretty sure, but in my altered state of mine, I think I wanted some assurance. All I got back was "Huh"? Never mind.

Off I went and feeling pretty confident that I could finish even if that meant walking the rest of the way in, but that wasn't the plan. I pretty much ran everything that wasn't uphill or a steep downhill. Getting some fluids back into the system put some life back in me.

As I wound my way through the final 6 miles I came across about 8-9 30K'ers still on the course. I offered words of support as I passed by and they all seemed about as enthusiastic at that point as I was. Eventually I could see the lights of the finish area off in the distance and I made my way in for an uneventful 3rd place finish at 6:13:xx. After downing a couple of chocolate Muscle Milk drinks and a Gatorade, I celebrated with some of other 30K and 60K runners with a couple of cold beers. The 4th (Derek) and 5th (Scott) place 60K guys finished just behind me by a few minutes so I had the opportunity to visit with them for a while. Really nice guys as are pretty much everyone I've met at these races so far.

Wow, what an experience that was. While I felt like I ran the first loop pretty solid, I still went out too fast and it showed in my 2nd loop split, 3:30:59, a whopping 48:59 slower than the first loop. Not the results I was looking for entering this race. While I think my hydration issue on the Pipe loop created some of my problem, it was mainly due to poor pacing again. Someday I'm going to figure it out. In the meantime I was very satisfied to avoid the DNF and the 3rd place finish. Three weeks (actually two now) until the final race in the series. I think I'll focus on getting in some quality runs versus overall mileage. And again, I just can't wait to get back out there.

Thanks for stopping in and your support. Take care!

the Lake 60K

2010-07-26T13:35:00.000-07:00

Finally, it was here. The day I had been anxiously awaiting for weeks. How would it go? What would it be like? Would I be up for the challenge? Was I ready? So many questions and it wouldn't be long before I found out.

I packed my suburban up Thursday night so that I would be ready to head out just after lunch on Friday. While going out of town to race is always exciting, it's always with mixed emotions as my family usually doesn't go with me and I'm always sad to leave them behind, even if only for a couple of days. This weekend would be no different. I had a late lunch with Gina and then hit the road for my 270 mile drive.

The drive itself was a bit nostalgic as it had me on the same road our family made for many trips to the in-laws house when they used to live on Lake LBJ. That home had been sold about 3 years back and we hadn't been to that area since. Wow, I sure do miss that place.

Pulled in to Inks Lake State Park about 7:30 and already I was getting anxious as I could see a small crowd at the park check-in station. Luckily I had made reservations and wasn't too concerned about a camp site. Within minutes I had my permit and was on my way to site #325.

Even though I have a smaller 2-man tent, I also brought a much larger tent as I figured I wouldn't want to be cramped in a small space for two nights. Good decision. Other than setting up the tent by myself as the people next to me sat there unphased as I battled the wind and my tent rainfly. I finally said F it and put it away. No need as it wasn't going to rain anyway. That ended up making for a nice night when I went to sleep. the moon and stars were quite visible through the top screen of the tent. Really nice.

Before I knew it was 6:45 a.m. and I was awake. Well, might as well get up. I headed over to the bathrooms showered and decided I would go hang out in the race start/aid station area before the 10K and maybe get a bit of a feel for the race as well as introduce myself to Joe and Brad, the race directors. On my way there, I came across another runner named Curtis and we ended up walking to the start together. Immediately I tried to size up the competition and it didn't take long to figure out that he had done several 50k's as well as a 50 miler through the Tejas Trails group. He was registered for the 60k as well.

The 10k was small, just under 30 runners, and the start was rather informal and simple. Just what I had expected from what I had been told. Brad and Joe took turns warning the runners of various hazards on the course including snakes and then it was 3, 2, 1 and they were off. The handful of us not racing the 10k decided to get comfortable and take a seat. Joe thought it would be just under an hour before the first runner would come in so I decided to take a seat and wait for the leaders to come in. They were running the same exact loop that the 60k racers would be running 6 times later that night.

The goal that I had concocted up in my head for this race was 6 hours. Not sure why especially when I knew that last year's winner was 6:00:20. Actually, maybe that was why, but honestly I had no idea what to expect. I didn't know what the course would offer up. Joe's email to the runners indicated that it was pretty flat, but that it was pretty rough with rocks and cactus and he suggested leg protection such as calf sleeves. Well either people are pretty hard headed or they don't read their email because I only spotted a couple of runners with calf sleeves on for the 10k.

While sitting there pretty relaxed and shooting the bull about who knows what, we hear "runners" and there they are. They don't come into sight until about 20 yards away and and before we knew it 3 of them rounded the corner and came down the chute. Runners 1, 2 and 3 all came in within 3 seconds and the winning time was 53:15. These dudes looked like solid runners and all of a sudden I was starting to re-think my goal. Okay, maybe not 6hrs after all? The second place guy was in need of medical attention as he had a couple of cuts on his head and on his knees. Apparently he was the leader before overshooting a turn and crashing hard. I just sat there looking at this guy bleeding, breathing hard and just dripping as if he had stepped out of a pool. "Shit, what was I in for tonight" was all I could think. This might be more than I bargained for?

As it turned out, I had been standing by the time clock when the first 3 came in and the guys seemed short handed so I asked if I could help. Someone handed me the list of runners and asked if I would keep time. Doh! The other runner that I met on the way in ended up "spotting" runners numbers as they came down the chute and I would mark their time. Unlike chip timing to be used in the night race, this was a manually timed race, old school. This went on for just over an hour as the runners made their way across the finishline. At some point I overheard Brad tell one of the female runners "check with that guy in the blue shirt, he's the official timer". Uh yeah, that was me, the official timer, nice. The last runner came in just under 2 hours.

Well, that was fun. Time to get back to the camp, make breakfast and then take a nap if possible. Before the nap I was actually able to get the rainfly on. The sun was pretty brutal so this would help a little with the heat, but I still woke up lying on sweat soaked sheets that I had placed over my sleeping bag. After waking up I was somewhat unsure what to do with myself. It was still quite some time before the race so I walked down to the lake and sat by the water for a bit, but I was really concerned about being out in the sun and being drained of any energy. I decided to go ahead and get in an early meal which was oatmeal, raisins and almonds. Not really what I would want on hot day at the lake for lunch, but I thought it would be good for me. In addition, I had made a pretty concious effort to hydrate with PowerZero the last couple of days. They were going down at record pace. I was done eating and cleaning up by 3:00 so now only 4 more hours.

What now? I decided to make a quick trip into town to load up the ice chest with ice so that I didn't have to worry about anything going bad or floating around in a huge chest of water. By the time I got back to the park I could see that it was buzzing with runners and it was time to start getting excited, as if I wasn't already.

I decided to get my gear bag together and head down to the start to drop it off. I brought two bags from previous marathons and a backpack. I put as much as I could in the backpack, but brought the gear check bags just in case I need something with my name on it. I had no idea of the protocol for this as they did not provide specific gear bags. As I walked that way and other runners were also doing the same I could see I was under prepared. They were toting boxes, ice chests, all sorts of stuff with everything they owned in them. I went ahead and got checked in, claimed my spot by a tree with my backpack and headed back to grab a few other things just in case. A folding chair, a small ice chest and a couple small bags of "stuff" later and I was ready. Again I noticed the lack of calf sleeves and gaiters. I was surprised due to Joe's email. I felt rather goofy in my calf sleeves, gaiters and little bitty Brooks Elite ID shorts, but at this point I didn't want to mess with taking any of it off. And I was trying to convince myself that the sleeves would prove to be valuable over the 37.2 miles that I was about to encounter.

Well, after all of the waiting, I hear Joe call out that the race is about to start in 12 minutes. People start meandering over to the road and as I do the same I realize I hadn't turned on my Garmin. I also wanted to clear some history. Well, as luck would have it, it took FOREVER to locate a satellite on my 305. In fact it went right down to the wire before it did and I was a wreck. I had situated myself up front behind the first row of guys. There were two women next to me that I took were pretty fast. They were both Team Traverse members and had tons of trail racing experience. I was feeling rather inferior due to my lack of experience, but still had some confidence that I could do well. Of course as usual, I was sizing up the competition again and just hoping I could finish in a respectable placing. After pretty much the same spill from the morning's 10K, it was the same unceremonious start and we were off. That moment of "here we go" as we headed up the road.

Loop 1 - miles 0 - 6.2

Within 50 yards we were off the road and up into the trails. We were told is was going to be pretty much single track with a bit of service road coming up and then back to single track for the duration of the loop. Just 6 of them, not too bad.

Not sure what I was thinking (actually I'm not sure I was), but there was a lead group of about 8 or 9 runners that took off. Since I was behind them I couldn't tell who was a 30k runner and who was a 60k'er by their bibs. I just decided to go with them. While I don't recall looking at my Garmin the first loop, I knew we were moving along pretty quick. I was right on the tail of one guy with my foot literally hitting the ground where his foot was just as he moved it. There was someone behind me doing the same. I just focused on his feet until eventually he passed the girl in front on him and then I was focusing on her shoes. I'll have to say I was surprised by the amount and size of rocks on the trail. A lot of loose rocks on the downhill section that made footing tough at times. I just knew there would be an ankle injury by the time I was done.

At some point before the end of the first loop the girl in front of me pulled over and for what I assumed was an unscheduled bathroom break, that sucks. Not long after that I could see a couple of guys coming up the hill towards me, oh, 3 guys actually. Then I realized they were the leaders and had just gone through the start/finish area. Within minutes I was on the road and into the start area myself. I quickly dropped off my first handheld, grabbed my second one along with my headlamp and flashlight and was headed out. At that point I looked at my Garmin and could see that my split must have been 51:xx for the first 10k. About 6-8 minutes faster than what I wanted. Damn, what a mistake. As irritated as I was I tried to convince myself to slow it down. Let those lead guys go.

Loop 2 - miles 6.2-12.4

Starting the second loop I was right on the heels of another runner. We chatted back and forth a bit and I got the impression he was yet another seasoned veteran of the trails. When he asked about my trail racing experience I once again stated "this is my first" and then admitted that I had gone out too fast and was now feeling the effects. I told him that I was going to back off the pace a little. He told me to run my own race and not to try to race the other people out there. While I felt like I already knew that, I certainly opted to ignore it, at least up until that point. Before long he was gone and out of sight.

Somewhere in the 2nd loop I started getting a little concerned that a DNF would be a possibility. How in the world could I feel so bad already and not even be done with my second lap? I'm not sure if it was before or after those thoughts entered my head, but the first time I looked at my Garmin to see total distance was at 8.9 miles. What??? That's it? Geez! Just keep moving and listen for footsteps in case I need to move over for someone passing me. One possibility was the girl that was right behind me earlier and had pulled over. I had seen her coming in on my way out on the short out-and-back section early in the lap. I was sure it would just be a matter of time and I would get passed by a chick.

As it stood, I trudged my way around for lap two and came across the matt in just over 1:48:xx. About 56 minutes for that split. Felt slow, but still a bit too fast. Unbeknown st to myself, I hit "stop" on my Garmin at that point. More on that later. In the aid station I refilled on Gatorade, grabbed my second handheld and decided to go with two for the 3rd lap. I had to ration my liquid towards the end of lap 2. I figured that this way I could forgo stopping at the aid station that was about 2.6 miles out in attempt to save time. I grabbed a CarBoom gel, downed a S cap and headed back out. I felt pretty good about the fact that I wasn't wasting much time at the aid stations.

Loop 3 - miles 12.4 - 18.6

Not a whole lot that I can remember from this loop other than I'm starting to feel some serious chaffing inside the thigh of my left leg. I know for a fact that I am no longer concerned with my pace or mileage as I never once looked at my Garmin in that loop to realize that it was still "stopped", stuck on 1:48:xx.

I do notice on this loop that I'm starting to lap quite a few people. There were plenty in loop 2, but they were coming pretty quickly now. I was really amazed that the runners did a great job of pulling over and letting me by without me ever having to saying a word. I was surprised they could hear me or see my lights because all I could hear was myself hurting. I was sure to shout out a "thank you" and "keep it up" to every runner I passed and asked anyone stopped and seated if they were okay. It appeared to me that the course and heat were taking its toll. The carnage was evident throughout this loop.

Coming in to the finish area after the third loop I was feeling confident that I was somewhere up in the top 6-7, but not exactly sure. I had lost track of the leaders as they came out. I later realized that it was a couple of them where 30k'ers and at least one of the 60k'ers had dropped.

I decided to go with the 2 handhelds one more time. A great volunteer asked what I needed and filled up my bottles with Gatorade and water. She then asked if there was anything else I needed. A dry pair of shorts would have been nice, but I asked for something for the chaffing. She found and handed me a tube of Vaseline. I figured it would be best if she just squeezed some onto my hand rather than apply it directly to my leg. I'm sure she appreciated that as well. I totally loaded up the inside of my legs, but at this point it was too late. There was some severe burning going on down there on the left leg. Aaaggghh, nice!

Loop 4 - miles 18.6 - 24.8

As I headed out of the camp and up the road to the trail I was right behind another runner that had caught up with me. We exchanged comments and I proceeded to follow him into the trails. As soon as we got into the trails I peeled open a Snickers Marathon Energy bar and tried to wolf it down. I had no desire to eat, but knew that I needed to get some calories down or I'd end up paying for it later. Pulling into the aid station this time I had my first exchange with Joyce Prusaitis, the RD's wife. I was hurting at this point, felt a bit disoriented and wobbly. She had a look of concern on her face that concerned me. She quickly filled a ice and placed it on the back of my neck while instructing me to hold it there. She filled me back up with my drink of choice which had switched to a watered down Heed mix. I actually liked it quite well. I looked at Joyce and asked her when was it a good time to start drinking the coke. I don't think she knew how to respond to such a stupid question. She politely asked if I felt like I needed a change and I replied, "yeah, let's try something different" so I down a couple of small cups of coke, which I had not drank in 0ver 20 years, and I was off again. I left along with the same guy and we continued in that order for maybe the next mile or so until I decided to pass him up and try to get moving. Oh, and it was early in this 4th loop that I finally looked at my Garmin and freaked because it was still stopped. All I could do was start it and keep going right. Pace didn't matter and they would let me know how far I had gone. I really didn't need it at this point.

About 4 miles into this loop I came across the runner that had told me to run my own race. He was pulled over and hurting. I stopped to check on him and he indicated that his feet were swelling and that he was waiting for the salt tabs to kick in. He had screwed up on his electrolyte replacement. All I could do was offer for him to run with me and he did. After about a mile he had fallen back and I had somehow found a little life in my legs. I was tempted to leave him, but instead stopped and went back to him and asked again if he was okay. He opted again to try to run in with me and eventually we made it back to the finish area. I never saw him again, but was later told he took a seat and I don't see from the results that he finished.

Loop 5 - miles 24.8 - 31

This time I decided to drop a handheld and run with just one. The temps didn't seem quite so bad and I didn't drink as much on the last loop. I figured one handheld could get me from one aid station to the next. This time I grabbed a Cliff Chocolate Brownie bar, got refilled with Heed and headed back out for #5. And there he was, the same guy that I started loop 4 with. It was de ja vu all over again. Okay, only 12 miles I thought. I can do this. It was probably somewhere early in loop 5 that I thought I could finish. This time we stuck together for the entire loop and taking turns leading. It was great to have him there to keep me going and he later admitted the same to me.

While I had no idea what pace we were keeping by the mile or the loop, this guy, Derek, did. He was giving me the splits for the 10k, told me what his other splits were and it was also killing him that he couldn't remember his 1st 10k split. I didn't care. I just wanted to finish and I didn't want anyone passing me. We came through the 5th loop at about 1:07....I think? Load up on Heed again, I downed another S cap which I had been doing at the turn each time and I grabbed a Hammer gel off of the table. I was too lazy to walk about 20 feet over to my bag an get another CarBoom. At that point I figured to hell with it, a gel is a gel.

Loop 6 - miles 31- 37.2

One more loop, woohoo! I finally had the confidence that I was going to finish. Just cruise this loop and I could claim my first ultra. As in the previous loop, I was noticing that the other runners were few and far between. We'd come across a few scattered runners here and there, but I was really surprised at how few people we were passing now. As I look back I see that 76 of the 30k runners had finished by the time we started the 6th loop and 40 of the 86 starters for the 60k had DNF'd. That made sense. That meant there was only about 48-50 runners spread out over the 6.2 miles left out there on the course at about 12:30 a.m..

Derek and I seemed to get into a pretty good grove and I felt reasonably good all things considered. We stopped at the aid station, drank some coke, topped off the Heed and headed back out for the final 4.6 miles. We had been trying to figure out where we were in the standing this last loop and we eventually convinced ourselves that we were 4 & 5. We both commented that we didn't care which order we finished, we just didn't want to get passed. There were awards for the top 5 finishers Male & Female. Then as if this guys was on cue, some runner yells out to us "good job, you're 5th & 6th". Huh? Oh well, whatever. It is what it is at this point.

Within the last couple of miles I thought to myself that we had both been pretty lucky since neither of us had fallen. Several close calls, but neither of us had hit the gound yet. Just as soon as I was about to say it out loud, I stopped myself because I thought it would surely be a jinx. As we moved along I felt like he was running stronger and I had convinced myself to stay with him. We may have both been thinking "5th & 6th"? I wasn't sure if we were setting ourselves up for a sprint at the end or what, but I wanted to be sure I was right there with him just in case he decided to take off. As we crossed a highway and made our way back onto the trail for the very last time we tried to decide how far we had left. I thought it was about a mile, but who knows. He agreed. I was just sure we were getting closer although with each turn or hill I kept thinking "oh yeah, I forgot about this section".

And then it happened, about a half mile from the finish I must have lost focus and my left foot clipped a rise in the dirt and the next thing I knew I was hitting the dirt pretty hard. It was a bit of a shock, but I gathered myself, picked up my visor, headlamp and flashlight and got back to my feet and moving. In what I thought was the utmost in sportsmanship, Derek had stopped to make sure I was okay and I was. At that point I decided the "race" was over and that he would be the 4th place finsiher. No idea if I could have caught him or not had I not fallen, but it didn't matter. He could have left me in the dust and didn't. There was no way I was going to make him work any harder. A few minutes later we came across the finish 4th and 5th and just as I expected it. No hoopla, no cheering fans, no one handing you drinks. Just satisfaction of knowing I had done it was all I needed. The RD gave us both a "good job" and directed one of the volunteers to get us the 4th and 5th place awards. Turns out she was Melanie Fryar, the early women's leader that dropped due to a foot injury. She's a little bitty thing with pigtails and legs that could outrun a deer. And just a few minutes behind us came the first place female, another solid runner, the same one that had pulled over on the first lap for a bathroom break. Nice job!

Now it was time to eat away and drink some of that cold Heineken that I had sitting on ice. The only problems was I had no desire to eat, at least not what was on hand and the beer didn't seem quite as inviting as I thought it would. I did pop the cap off of one and sat down for a visit with Derek and then with Joyce Pursaitis about the run, but that was it. I gathered all my belongings and slowly shuffled my way up the hill to my tent, tossed stuff everywhere and went to sleep. A shower would have been nice, but I barely felt like taking my shoes off. It would have to wait until the morning.

What a great experience! I loved every bit of that race so much, even when I was hurting and unsure if I could finish. That's what I was looking for in a race. A challenge and the uncertainty of not only my finishing time, but the ability to cross the finish line. The desire to test myself and see what I was capable of had been satisfied for the time being. The course itself was pretty tough, just as advertised by Joe and Brad. A lot of rocks, buried as well as loose on the track and plenty of cactus and tree limbs to manuver around. They did say the it was pretty flat, but I call BS on that one and I'm sure some of the other runners would agree. While there were no substantial climbs or descents, it seemed that if you weren't going up, you were gong down. As mentioned before, the DNF's were high. Only 53% of the starters finished. The overall winner was a 5:43:xx and 2nd place was 5:58:xx. Third place finished at 6:24:xx. Derek and I finshed at 6:33:46 and :49 respectively. The first place woman finished right after me at 6:37:xx and then not another finisher until 7:21:xx.

There are 2 more 60k's in the series in the same area so it is now to time reload and get ready. I can hardly wait to get back out there and give it another shot. When they are behind me I think I'll have a better feel of my chances my December 50 miler. As for right now I'm feeling a little better about my chances than I was before the weekend.

Sorry this was so long, but it was an ultra after all. Thanks for your interest and support!
Take care!

Evolution of a Runner

2010-07-09T23:31:00.000-07:00

Wow, has it already been 2 1/2 months since my last post? Let's see if we can't get you up to speed rather quickly here on what's been happening.

After completing Boston, I had a quick trip to the west coast and ran Big Sur Marathon with 3 friends that also ran Boston. Ron, Amy, James and I all ran together for the full 26.2 miles. Nothing fast, but absolutely scenic. Incredible views for most of the course. And I got my monies worth out of the entry fee, a whole 1:01 longer on the course than the previous Monday.

While both races were awesome and special in their own way, they were taxing on me. Both physically and mentally. The training, the injury and stress of not knowing if I would fully heal before Boston or if I would even be able to run the B2BS Challenge. Upon returning home I decided to take two weeks off, start back slowly and then focus on the Chicago Marathon on 10/10/10. This would be were I would break the 2:45 barrier. Stay healthy and my chances were pretty decent I thought.

Well, here's where things take a turn. I started going back to some websites that I had visited before my first Boston qualifier in '09. Ultra marathons, trail races, remote races. Before I know it I am becoming delusional with visions of 50 and 100 mile races in my future. What an accomplishment, what an experience? People all over the country are doing it every weekend. I think this might be the time to jump in. I had previously told my wife that I would run a 100 mile race before I was 45 after all so I'd better get started.

Well, skipping a lot of stuff between then and now, I have made a huge change in my training and goals. All the thoughts of sub 17:00 5ks, 2:45 marathon, sub 1:00 10 miler have left the building. They may never come back. I have got enough of a taste of trail running in the last couple of months to know that this is my new pursuit. What is it? What has caused this sudden turn about? Evolution is the thought that keeps coming to me.

In a really nice 20 mile run tonight with a new running buddy, Joe, the only guy I know in this area that has run multiple trail ultras, I was explaining my lack of desire to pursue road racing right now, but instead going long on the trails. His response was that it was my evolution as a runner. There you have it.

To back up just a bit, I had a a few actual trail runs at a state park near Dallas, but they had all been alone. A mutual friend hooked me up with Joe and we meet last week for a run. 25 miles in sloppy, wet and very muddy alleys throughout old Midland. Sounds odd, but he suggested it and said it would be a good simulation run as far as the surface that I might be racing on. It was actually pretty cool.

Tonight we met up at 7:00 and I had suggested we run a few miles over to a golf course and then try to get the bulk of our run in on a golf course. Hopefully it would be empty. Well, we got there after about 3 miles and there was not a soul there. After further review, the course was flooded from all of the recent rain so it must have been closed. Awesome! We had the run of the place and just headed up and down holes, mainly in the rough and over as many of the mounds as we could hit. Because of the week long rain, there was one section of the course that was actually under water. As we approached it I questioned whether we wanted to go around or go through it. Joe's response, as I have quickly figured he responds to all such questions, "whatever, it doesn't matter". We just hit it. Before I knew it we were waist deep and then quickly to the other side. To me that was a great training experience because sooner or later it's going to happen in a race and it's not going to be an issue that I stress over. By the end of the run, we had crossed that same section 4 times going one way or the other. Soaking wet shorts and shoes, but not bad at all. running gear has evolved so much that the shoes drained well and the shorts were not even an issue. Wet socks aren't great, but nothing I couldn't live with.

Tonight's run was also my first with a hydration pack, the CamelBak Octane XCT. Not really necessary in town when doing loops, but I wanted to try it out now rather than find out on a training run in the mountains that I didn't like it. I have been carrying two Nathan QuickDraw handheld bottles and they are awesome. The CamelBak was much better than I expected. Held 70ozs of a water/Gatorade mix as well as pockets for energy gels and a bar. It was a little work to get the liquid out of the spout, but other than that no complaints. I don't have any intentions of using it in a race, but for a training run it worked nice. If I ever get some remote runs as I plan, I can start off carrying 110ozs of fluids when I carry two handheld bottle.

That gets us to the present day. I've run from 62 - 72 miles a week for the last 4 weeks and averaged about 55 over the past 24 with the exception of my 2 weeks off. A 20 mile or longer run in each of the last 5 weeks and I'm now two weeks away from my first ultra marathon. A 60k trail run at Inks Lake State Park. In addition to the race being about 11 miles longer than any of my previous races, it also starts at 7:00 p.m., about 12 hours later than most marathons. That means that I will be running about 23-25 miles in the dark by headlamp and hopefully finish sometime between 1:00 - 2:00 a.m.. hey, what's one more factor to throw in? Might as well get 'em all in now.

For the night running, I have been getting in quite a few runs after sunset to get some experience with the headlamp. The Petzl Tikka XP 2 is my current headlamp of choice. It shines up to about 60 meters, but one thing that I've figured out is that when running at night, you don't need to see more than about 10-20 feet ahead of you, especially on trails. If you start looking ahead to far you'll end up on your face, day or night.

So what do I expect from the Lakes as this race is called? No idea other than I want to finish on two feet. Well, finish respectably that is. This is the first of 3 races in a series so whatever I do wrong I will get the opportunity to rectify 3 weeks later or 3 weeks after that. I'm really looking forward to this next phase in my running life. And while I have decided to forgo Chicago, I still plan on doing Boston next April and every April after that. It just means that I will have to re qualify there each year. Yikes!

Take care!

2010 Boston Marathon Race Report

2010-04-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

As I begin typing this report I’m sitting in the Midland International Airport waiting for my flight to California. Where I will be when I finish I have no idea. Ironically, it symbolizes my running life. When I ran my first marathon just over 4 years ago, Boston was nothing more than a big race for really fast people. Today, it is the most awesome sporting event that I will ever be a part of and it has given me a second chance at athletic accomplishments that I never fulfilled as a youth.

This weekend was incredible to say the least. I had been so looking forward to meeting the whole 3:20 group and it was fantastic. Two special shout-outs to Stevi and Tina for their work this weekend. Chris & Ron, you guys have great wives. To the rest of you, thanks again for the getting to Boston. Joe, sorry we didn’t get to meet, but congrats on your race.

The group of 3:20 Sunday at Ron's.......

On to the race and I’ll try to keep it short (coming back to edit because I blew that). In the weeks leading up to the race I sort of fished around for someone to team up with that was shooting for a sub 2:50, but found no takers. I knew by the time I got to Boston that if it was going to happen I was going to be on my own. No big deal, but running about 14 miles with one particular runner in Tucson was huge as we fed off of each other’s energy at certain points. I was hoping to gain the same advantage for Boston.

Nick and Ron spent Sunday night at the house we rented so that we could drive right to Boston Commons and catch the buses. Kevin Fox joined us at the house that morning for the short ride in. Once at Athlete’s Village, we laid claim to our space, dropped a couple of tarps and started getting our game faces on. Hitting the portta-pottties, getting clothing/bib situated with shoes, body-glide, hydrating, writing splits on arms, whatever it is we do to get ready. The time in Athlete’s Village flew by way too fast. What I anticipated as a long wait was over almost as soon as it started. When Fox stood up and said his “good-byes” to head to the corrals it hit me that it was gametime. I tried to quickly gather my stuff and head to the gear check buses. It was still a little cold for me so I kept on a nice running pullover that was not meant to be a “throw away”, oops. Comfort at that point was what I needed so I went with the decision of keeping it on and to toss it as I reached the corrals. Dropped of the bag and headed towards up the street. Actually jogged that way, as I knew I needed to make one last important pit stop to take care of business. Talk about stress. The line moved so slowly and the clock was ticking. By the time I got into one of the portta-potties, the jets were flying by and time was running out. I darted out of the portta-potty like Superman out of a phone booth and started weaving my way at a pretty decent run pace up the hill ‘til I finally made my way to corral 2.

Hanging with the crew from "3:20".....Nick, Paul, Ron & me.

Athlete's Village final preparation writing splits on my arm........

Once in the corral, relief set in as the National Anthem was just getting started. I stripped off my arm warmers and gloves and handed them to some kid hanging on the rail next to me. He was about 7 or 8 and I’m sure that’s just what he wanted, arm warmers from some wannabe. All of a sudden we were off. Per my finishline photo it appears I crossed the starting mat 1:02 behind the elites.

5k split – 20:06

My goal was to not go out too fast. Did anyone hear that this weekend or was I possibly on to something? Based on my Maclin spreadsheet, I hit both mile 1 & 2 10 seconds too fast. Not what I planned, but I got my self to settle in after that and I was fairly close to pace. I had run the right side of the road in the early miles in ’09 and liked that option again for passing if needed. I went with the same strategy this year, passing people on the very far edge of the road.

10k split – 20:05

Mile 4 was a bit fast at 6:14 and I could already see that the distance between my Garmin miles and the markers was widening. I knew this would be an issue, just not sure how much at this point. It was somewhere in the 2nd 5k that I noticed Minnie Mouse pass me. What? Minnie Mouse and she was a he?

15K – 19:56

I don’t remember anything significant about this section of the course other than the fact that Minnie continued to stay ahead of me. This being the flattest part of the course I noted to myself that I should be at a pretty even pace and wanted to stay as close as possible to my splits so as to save everything for the last 5 miles. My goal all along has been to drop the hammer at Boston College. Keep in mind that I’m not getting the 5k splits, but the miles instead. The body is feeling decent and no signs of the hip acting up yet. My concern is proper hydration and gel usage. I was trying to get an even mix of Gatorade and water while skipping about every 3rd water station. Took my first gel somewhere between mile 6-7.

20k – 20:06

Another solid 5k. Not far from Wellesly and feeling decent still, but maybe a bit concerned that I still had a long way to go and I wasn’t too confident that I could carry this pace all the way in, especially not in Newton. Somewhere in the 10-11 mile area I believe I finally passed Minnie Mouse for the last time. I had told my daughter Marisa in each of my last two marathons that I beat Superman. I didn’t want to have to tell her I got beat my Minnie, whew! Ran past the girls of Wellesly and scooted over to the left side of the centerline on the road. I think I high-fived enough my first year to last a while and didn’t want to expend any energy doing it again this year.

Half split – 1:24:35

My Maclin half split was 1:25:00; Garmin was 1:24:36. Just the perfect amount of time ahead of pace. Not really much I remember from this area other than I was running along side two guys for quite some time with one of them being named Chad. His name was being screamed out constantly. I told myself that the name was going on the singlet next year. Turns out the two guys were Chad Silker and Blake Whitney.

25k split – 20:06

Yet another even split 5k, but then it fell apart. It was around mile 16 that I looked at my Garmin and thought to myself “10 more miles, no way, I can just quit here for a while”. Welcome to Newton young old man. These hills have eyes and they can spot the weak.

30K split – 20:54
35K split – 20:47

From miles 17-21 I lost 1:16 to my average final pace. I knew it, I didn’t do much uphill work and I paid for it. I tried to latch on with a guy midway through the hills, but he couldn’t run downhill, his quads were dead, and I didn’t want to push it uphill as my calves were a bit tight. I told him we would stick together and then bring it home from Boston College, but he said no, he didn’t have it left to go hard. Heartbreak was longer this year I think? I don’t remember seeing anyone pass me, but my time for mile 21 was 6:54, about 13 seconds slower than desired pace. That was pretty much the theme of each of those 5 miles.

Heartbreak Hill......

40k split – 19:36

There it was, BC, the destination I had been holding back for for 21 miles. Drop it now and go get that 2:49 I thought to myself. Miles 22-26 splits were as follows: 6:17, 6:13, 6:18, 6:14, 6:20. I think more than anything about the race, I am most proud of this effort I gave to finish hard. 31:12 for that 5 mile stretch and I was passing runners left and right like they were standing still. The calculations in my head were almost impossible at this point as I could barely add 2 + 2. I saw Stevi at her post an it was like a shot to the arm. I felt revived and a second wind. Mile 23 was the fastest for the whole race at 6:13. Unfortunately by the time I hit the mile 24 marker I started to feel like I was barely hanging on. Really getting light headed at that point. I decided to forego any hydration in the final few miles with the hopes of saving every second that I could. This was a familiar feeling as I had pushed myself in Dallas and Tucson to the same point where I didn’t know if I would hit the finishline or the pavement first, but that was the plan. Besides, if I crashed here, there were plenty of people around to help.

In addition to Heartbreak be longer, somehow the good people of the BAA managed to lengthen Commonwealth? I was desperately looking for the turn onto Hereford Street, but I hadn’t even hit the underpass yet. To show you how the mind works, I momentarily thought that maybe it wasn’t part of the course this year? But there it was and then the turn onto Hereford. The family was to be camped out right on the corner of Boylston and Hereford directly across the street and sure enough as I came up the hill I could see my little bro waving his arm. Then I saw the rest of them. Some fist pumping and a surge of speed took me around the corner onto Boylston and headed down the homestretch.

Turning the corner onto Boylston.....

As soon as the energy hit me it was gone and my body almost came to a screeching halt. About 50-100 yards past the gang I thought my body was going to fail me. The faint and lightheaded feeling was back and I thought I might have just blown the whole race right there. I seriously had visions of people crawling down Boylston and now that possibility was upon me. I shook it off and gave one last surge with everything I had until about 200 meters away I looked at the Garmin and could see I was 12 seconds away from 2:50:00. I lost my 2:49 was the thought. Wasn’t going to happen this year. At that point I was almost relieved as much as disappointed in knowing that the pressure was off.

I hit the finishline at 2:50:22 per the Garmin and I didn’t know whether to cry with joy or disappointment. Some members of the medical team were trying to give me some assistance, but I just wanted a few moments to myself along a rail to clear my head. Turns out there was no crying, but relief instead. The hip had held up without issue, I was just short of my goal and I saw my family on the course. Best of all, they saw me. The last part meant a lot to me as this was the first time the kids had seen me in a marathon and the first time I had seen any of my family while running a big race. Another afterthought was that I will get my Corral 1 seeding that I was looking for n Tucson. Very happy about that. 2:50:20 official time and 546th overall, 46th in the 40-44 age group out of 2,146 that started.

Meeting up with family after the finish......

In analyzing my data in the following days, it turns out that my miscalculation was in using the auto lap function. The extra .17 miles cost me just over a minute of time. I’m not saying I could have run any faster, but I just might have tried to pick up a few extra seconds in the first half of the race where it was relatively flat. When I run Chicago I will allow for some extra distance as well as turn off the auto lap function.

Overall summary of the race, well it was great. Nothing went wrong, the weather was all that I could have hoped for and the body held up just fine. I wish I could have completed the training cycle without the injury issue, but that’s part of the game so no excuses there. Hanging out with the crew in Athlete’s Village was just awesome and has me looking forward to our next big race together.

I’d like to say thank you to my family for who I could not do this without. My wife Gina is so accepting of this whole craziness I put our family through to pursue my dreams. Thank you so much G! To my children for enduring the stories of running, training, crazy diet and more running. I want to thank my brother Billy for being there to witness my passion for the sport. It meant more than I can I can say for him to be there. I hope you're back next year. I think he undersatnds now why I do all the things I do for this one day. I'd also like to thank my physical therapist John Schlaffer who worked on me for 4 weeks told me he would have me ready for race day. I wasn't convinced as late as my Saturday morning run along the Charles River, but on Monday when it counted, my hip was never an issue. To the group from “3:20” that made it to Boston, thanks for making the experience complete. I get so much motivation from you each and every day and you’re a great group. Looking forward to seeing you guys in Chicago! And lastly, to all of those that supported my cause of Midland Children’s Rehab Center, thank you so much! I had a thank you card waiting for me when I got home from the center signed by the staff and children and it almost brought tears to my eyes, seriously. Thanks for all the interest and support.

Take care,

Steve

The Madness has Officially Taken Over

2010-04-08T15:10:00.001-07:00

Taper Madness? What is that you say? Well, if you've ever trained for weeks, or months for an event and then tapered off the the last couple of weeks to get rested up and ready, then you obviously know what I'm referring to. If not, let me explain.

Weeks and weeks of high intensity, high mileage training. Hours and hours on the road, in the gym, tempo runs, VO2 max runs, long runs, weights, core work, dieting, more running all while taking in tons and tons of calories. Then all of a sudden you start hitting the brakes. Backing off the mileage, backing off of the weights, hopefully backing off of the calories. The amount of time spent training is decreasing and all of a sudden you find yourself filling that time with all sorts of crazy thoughts. Did I train enough, am I using the right shoes, should I try a different electrolyte gel, do these shorts make my butt look fat? Okay, maybe not the last one, but you get the idea. It's mayhem between the ears. Weighing yourself two or three times a day, checking the 14 day weather forecast and contemplating clothing options for every 10 degree change. It's just crazy how it gets in your head.

You start feeling all sorts of aches and pains, everything is exaggerated. Slight aches and pains all of a sudden feel like debilitating injuries. Minor soreness? Is that a stress fracture, oh no, I've got a stress fracture. Bump your leg on a piece of furniture and the next thing you know you're flopping around on the floor writhing in pain with a broken leg. This can't be happening, I have a race to run and I just broke my leg.

And if it's not the thoughts of pain and injury getting to you, it's the urge to buy "stuff". Stuff you don't need. Stuff you won't use. Stuff you'll later pick up and just shake your head wondering "what in the world was I thinking".

Well, madness has set in here folks. Bad. It's not a spending madness, but the injury madness. As I've previously discussed, the hip has been an issue. Seeing the PT twice a week has me feeling better some days and others not so much. This past Monday I went ahead and decided to go with the cortisone shot in the left hip/glute area to see if that would help with the inflammation. That was gonna be it. The "magic" I needed to get me through this.

I must have been smokin' crack! I went out yesterday with a couple of training partners and did and easy 6.25 mile run and low and behold, my hip reminded me for the last 6.24 miles that it was not all healed up. What in the world? I thought that was going to take care of it? It bothered me running a 7:45/mile pace. How in the world am I going to run 6:18 and survive?

Well, there in lies the reason for the madness. Another 6+ mile run today and pretty much the same feeling. I honestly don't know what to do. I don't know if I'm going to go with my original goal and just run thru the pain and discomfort out or back off a bit and try to find some middle ground. Or better yet, do I back off a lot and just enjoy the run being sure to save enough for Big Sur?

If I wasn't so damn competitive that would be no brainer. Easy run both days, collect two finishers medals, challenge completed, thank you very much. See you next year. But it's not that easy. That's just not the way this boys brain operates. It's a legitimate competition. And if it's a competition, it's not for fun. And that doesn't mean that I won't have fun, it just means that I don't do it for fun. I am having a real problem grasping the concept of doing something for fun. I wish I could. I wish I could embrace and love it. But it ain't happening. At least not yet.

In the back of my head I know I did my last 20 miler with a fair amount of discomfort and pain at a pretty good clip. I've got that in my back pocket for confidence. If I run that pace for 26.2, I break 3 hours. But if I did that, can't I knock 10, 15, 20 or even 30 seconds per mile off? Maybe still get my goal? That's the dilemma right now. How long can my body hold up and allow me to carry that intensity? I'm pretty certain that I have a fairly high pain threshold so that doesn't concern me. But instead, I have that little part of me that wonders if parts will break or tear. Will the inflammation get so bad that I just have to shut it down? That's what I want to avoid. That's what I must avoid.

So as I sit here today, I am seriously thinking I will go out a bit slower than goal pace, maybe something in the 6:30 - 6:40 pace and see how that feels for the first 5-7 miles, maybe more. I think my body will communicate with me loud and clear how it feels and we'll just take it mile by mile after that.

While I really want to go as low as possible with my time, I have to be realistic. I'm not 100%, not close, and in all reality, I'll be pretty thrilled when I cross that finshline on Boylston Ave and my family is there to celebrate with me. I'm sure the sight of my wife and kids and crossing that line will bring a lot of emotion to me no matter what the clock says when I cross.

So let me get back to my madness, not to mention the madness of tax season thrown in there just to make it interesting. I plan on getting in maybe 50 miles of easy running over the next 10 days in effort to maintain some level of fitness in this taper mode. I'll be back before Boston to let you know what I have decided on for sure.......until I change my mind again of course.

And thanks again to those contributing to the Center and for all the support I've got on a daily basis. The interest level from so many friends has been overwhelming. I appreciate that very much!

Take Care!

Is this April Fool's Day or what?

2010-04-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm a little behind in my posting so I apologize for the delay, but I've been sulking a bit this week. I wish this was some horrible April Fool's Day joke being played on me, but unfortunately it doesn't look that way. Seems the hip/glute issue is not getting any better and may actually be worse today than it was last week. And the worst part is that it may be my own fault.

The crazy thing about it is that Sunday I went out for my last long run and had an absolutely awesome 20 mile training run. I started off just under 8 minutes for the first mile and worked my way down for 3 more until my 5th -20th mile were all sub 7 minute pace. I knocked out a 20 mile run in just over 2:16 with an average of 6:49 a mile. Cruising through it in pretty good shape all the while knowing that a taper for resting the legs and a huge crowd to get the adrenaline flowing would get me down into the sub 6:30 miles.

Monday's PT visit was a success as he tried something different and used some of his bodyweight and elbow in my glute area. Painful yes, but effective. By Monday afternoon I thought "this is it, I'm almost there". Then Tuesday morning found me at the track for a short workout including 4 800m intervals. That's when things went terribly wrong. After a 2:43 first split for the first, I felt some twinge in my left hip on the 2nd interval and then some pain that wasn't good. I finished the interval and shut it down. I probably shouldn't have done the intervals looking back, but that morning I was feeling pretty good and with all the pressure I was putting on myself to perform well, I wanted to stay sharp with my speed. Where's the rewind button on life when you need it?

So no running Wednesday, a PT visit this morning and a lot of icing, foam roller, stretching and ibuprofen in the meantime. I went out for a easy run this afternoon, but the discomfort was more than what I had hoped for so I turned around, headed back to the Y and jumped on an elliptical for an hour. Nothing like an hour on an elliptical for a little soul searching.

What did I figure out? Well, I decided I'm not running for the next week unless by some miracle I wake up one morning and have absolutely no discomfort in my hip. Until then, it will be continued self treatment, the PT and a lot of elliptical time along with the usual strength training and core work. My goal has all of a sudden gone from a healthy PR (personal record) to just getting there and finishing with a nice decent time and still being able to enjoy Big Sur 6 days later.

Of course a lot can happen in two weeks, but I have to live with the fact that these things happen and if I don't get to the starting line 100% this time, there's always the next race. Or in this case actually, the race after the next race. However, the important this is getting some recovery time for the hip/glute and still getting both marathons completed.

I still have a lot to work for and look forward to as I have this great Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge to complete on behalf of the the Rehab Center and I have about 15 or so friends that my family and I will be hooking up with in Boston that will be running as well. We've been talking about this for over a year and I don't want to miss it for anything. A double incentive to be abe to run the morning of April 19th.

Take care and have a great Easter weekend!

Are We There Yet?

2010-03-22T15:12:00.000-07:00

Are we even close? How much longer? Questions I'm sure every parent has heard on more occasions than they can remember. Well, I'm starting to get that feeling. But in this case, it's not because I'm tired of the training or ready to be there, but because I'm just ready.

Last week's race brought a good scare to me as I've endured a very tender hip all week. Constant icing and ibuprofen has done not much more than mask the pain. All sorts of crazy thoughts going through my head this week about what could possibly be the problem. The worst being stress fracture and no running for several weeks. No way, this is not happening, or is it?

I took Monday off from running and then an easy 6 mile run on Tuesday to test it out. Pretty much discomfort the whole run and even more afterwards. Ugh. My stubbornness took me to the streets on Wednesday and Thursday for 10 mile runs on each day only to encounter more of the same. An early call Friday morning to my physical therapist was too late to get me in that day so I would have to wait until Monday morning. What to do in the meantime? Run, don't run, ice it, apply heat, cut it off? Well run it was so Friday and Saturday were easy runs of 6 miles each. Sunday I decided I would go forward with my planned long run and give it a shot.

It wasn't long into it and the discomfort kicked in pretty good in the hip/gluteus area on the left side. Not exactly sure why I continued other than I hate to quit so it was 20.5 miles at an overall 7:09 pace with miles 10-17 averaging 6:16. I was trying to hit goal marathon pace of about 6:20 but had a difficult time with the wind working against me, with me, and across me at times. By the time the run was over I couldn't decide if I was happy, hacked off or just indifferent about the whole run. After a little consideration, it was the later.

While I hit the goal miles pretty good and felt comfortable while running them, the wind and even more so, my hip were about to drive me to drinking........heavily. Why now, why does the wind blow and why was this hip acting up one month out from the biggest race of my life? The good thing was that I made it, I was still walking, albeit with a horrible pain and I was now pretty certain that it was a muscular injury and not a stress fracture.

Well, I didn't get an answer to the wind question and I really don't care since it's out of my control anyway, but this morning my PT gave me great news on the hip injury. Extreme tightness in my gluteus. The pain has been right at the top of my hip, but when he worked on it I could feel the tightness in my glute. After about 15 minutes of stretching and rubbing it out he gave me some stretching exercises to do multiple times a day. Key words.....foam roller. Let's just say my butt and my foam roller are about to get pretty acquainted with each other if they weren't already. He didn't seem the least bit concerned that we couldn't get this cleared up soon. To be on the safe side, I will most likely use him regularly through the remainder of my training to keep everything loose. Too much has gone into this to have something go wrong now.

Well back to the original question, are we there yet? No we're not, but very close. And with today's good news I'm starting to lick my chops. Two more weeks of hard training and then a two week taper and I should be ready to go for first of two big days.

This past weeks training was as follows:

2/15 - Rest
2/16 - 6 mile recovery run
2/17 - 10.2 mile medium long run
2/18 - 10 mile medium long run
2/19 - 6.2 mile recovery run
2/20 - 6 mile recovery run
2/21 - 20.49 mile long run

Total - 58.9 miles

Before checking out today, I want to thank those that have contributed to MCRC. The contributions as well as the moral support that I have received from friends is great. It certainly keeps me motivated to stay involved and make a difference in our community. I appreciate you guys! Also, I posted links to videos of both the Boston and Big Sur courses. Boston is a homemade You Tube video, but the Big Sur clip is a nicely narrated video. Really cool if you have any interest. Take care!

Rock 'N' Roll Dallas Tune-up Race

2010-03-14T21:23:00.000-07:00

I want to lead off by once again thanking those that have contributed to Midland Children's Rehabilitation Center on behalf of me and the Boston 2 BigSur Challenge. You guys are great!!! Check out the website for MCRC to see what they are all about.

This weekend I had the pleasure of staying with a running buddy and his family in Dallas for the weekend's race. By pure coincidence in relation to my fundraiser, he and his wife have 4 year old twins with autism. Absolutely wonderful boys. Saturday evening while dinner was being prepared we discussed several issues related to autism including the enormous cost that families of special needs children face. While we didn't discuss their needs specifically, it was obvious that it could be a huge burden on families of less means. Fortunately their boys are doing great for various reasons including the therapy that they have received, but I couldn't help but think that there must be numerous children that do not have the same success. Many families just simply can't afford the therapy services that those young boys have had the benefit of receiving. MCRC is there to serve exactly those families. They provide rehabilitation services to children in the Permian Basin with a neurological or orthopedic needs and to date the Center has never billed a child's family for services they have received.

On to the week of training. Being a racing week, there was a fair cutback in mileage to get ready for Sunday's 1/2 marathon in Dallas. Only about 35 miles total from Monday thru Saturday and I bunched up my two quality workouts on Monday and Tuesday to allow for some recovery days afterwards. Easy mileage.

The goal for Dallas Rock 'N' Roll 1/2 was to hit about 6:10 per mile up until through mile 8 which was a steady slight incline and then the course would begin its descent and I hoped to hit about 5:55 per mile the rest of the way in to the finish.

Nice size race, a lot of hoopla at the beginning, Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, loud music and a few elite runners in the field. Pretty exciting and especially since I was starting from the front row of about 10,000 runners. A quick prayer and moment of silence to myself to think of my Grandfather that was buried on Friday. I asked that his strength be with me and that I make him proud.

Well the gun sounds and the 6:10 pace quickly goes out the window. While I tried to stay calm, the adrenaline was flowing and I hit mile marker 1 at 5:54. This pace if continued could be disastrous. Miles 2 and 3 came in at 6:07 and 6:14 respectively. Oh no, now I've slowed down too much. In actuality, mile 3 seemed to have a fairly good hill so that was okay.

I then got into a groove and hit 6:02, 6:06, 6:06, 6:07 and 6:07 for the next 5 miles and that got me right at the turning point where I knew it would be all downhill. Maybe a 1% decline or less, but nevertheless, downhill. At that point I was trying to calculate in my head where I stood and thought maybe about 30 seconds ahead of goal pace.

Once I got headed south and with a runner on my heels, I was able to press the pace and finished up with 5:49, 5:48, 5:46, 5:49, 5:46 and :51 for the last .16 miles for an official final time of 1:18:39. Good enough for 2nd in my age group (40-44) out of 537 and 21st overall out of 9,228 finishers.

The whole race was a picture perfect as I could have hoped for. No issues during the race, some strong competitors to push the pace, great weather with temperature at about 47 to start and not too much wind. I really don't know that I could have squeezed much more out of myself on that day. It was a huge confidence boost 5 weeks out from Boston. While I had previously set my goal at 2:49:59 for Boston, this race gives me hope that I may be able to go as low as 2:46:00 on a perfect day if the next 3 weeks of training and the 2 week taper go well. Feeling really optimistic right now.

I'll ramp the mileage back up for the next two weeks into the 60's and work on endurance while trying to keep the speed sharpened. Hoping to find just the right balance of training so as not to peak too early.

A special thanks to Nick, Sunny and the boys for having me in their home this weekend. I originally had reservations at the Adolphus and I can tell you that their home was every bit as much and more than what I would have expected from a 5 star hotel. Thanks guys! Congrats as well to Nick and my local running partner/coach Popcorn who had great days as well. You guys did awesome!

Finally, a fellow runner died Sunday just after crossing the finish line. 32yr old husband and father of two young girls, Mark Austry. My thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family and I ask that you take a moment to think of him as well. While I didn't know him, it certainly hits close to home with him being a friend of friends. Truly a sad note to an otherwise fine day.

The Skinny on "Skinny".

2010-03-03T11:52:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if there's something in the air or what, but I can't tell you how many times this past week I've got to hear about how skinny I am or how much weight I've lost. And all without asking for any one's opinion. I guess it's fine to point out someones change in weight with somewhat of a look of concern, maybe even disgust on your face when the lb's are going down. Just don't mention it to someone with an expanding waistline in the same manner or you may end up getting hurt.

Actually, it doesn't really bother me as this is just one of many choices I have made in attempt to be more competitive in my racing. As my wife Gina explains it, I have brainwashed myself. No desserts, no fried food, no fast food, not drinks other than water, tea, coffee, skim milk, V8's and sports drinks. To be honest, the less "bad" food I eat, the more I thrive on it. This is my 3rd week of no Diet Coke. I quit cold turkey on 2/18 and haven't had a sip since. Before that I was drinking 6-7 cans a day.

It's rather crazy as I think about it as most of my life I have struggled to gain weight. Hours in the gym lifting weights, eating until I literally puked and then eating again. Protein powders, weight gainers, I've done it all. Not anymore. I religiously stand on the scale every morning to monitor my weight. Any fluctuation in the wrong direction gets me to think about what I ate the day before and how I will address my meal plan for the day. As of today I was 159lbs. About 16lbs down from where I was when I started my quest for Boston 2 years ago, but I've been in the 160-165 range the last year and just recently went under 160lbs. The scary thing is that I'm starting to look like a runner.

So what is the skinny on skinny and just how will it affect me? My goal time is 2:49:55 or better for Boston. Based on calculators I use from http://www.runningforfitness.com/, the following shows how a few pounds can affect my overall time. Getting down to 155 on race day without sacrificing strength could gain me 3:39, a huge difference in time.

Weight (lbs) Predicted time Time difference

155 lbs....2:46:16.....-3:39
156 lbs....2:47:11.....-2:44
157 lbs....2:48:06.....-1:49
158 lbs....2:49:00....-0:55
159 lbs....2:49:55.....0:00
160 lbs....2:50:49....0:54
161 lbs....2:51:44.....1:49
162 lbs....2:52:38....2:43
163 lbs....2:53:32....3:37

And by the way, where did "the skinny on" originate? Well a quick Google told me it means news, information, gossip. This use of the word is said to have originated in the armed forces in the 1940s and might be jocularly based on 'the naked truth' as in "getting down to the skin" of a story, beneath the flourishes and frippery. Now I know.

So there you have the skinny on "skinny". If you want to get me riled up, tell me I look like I've gained a few pounds the next time you see me.

On a personal note, my last living grandparent passed away this last Saturday. My grandfather on my Dad's side lived to be 100yrs old. His life was an ultramarathon and he ran it as well as anyone could. I'll be running the Dallas Rock 'N' Roll 1/2 Marathon this coming Sunday and I will dedicate this race to him and hope that the strength that carried him through life will be with me for 13.1 miles. This will be a cutback week in terms of mileage to taper for the race. Sunday's performance should give me a good idea of where I stand as far as fitness for Boston.

Last weeks workout:

2/1 - Rest
2/2 - 12.1 Miles MLR
2/3 - 12.4 Mile MLR
2/4 - 9 Mile tempo run on treadmill with 3-8 @ 6:04 pace, 3% decline
2/5 - 6.3 mile Recovery run
2/6 - 16.2 mile LR
2/7 - 6 mile Recovery run

62 Miles Total

Thanks for contributions this week for MCRC! Really appreciate all of you. Take care and have a great week!

Another One Bites the Dust!

2010-03-01T06:58:00.000-08:00

Here we are, March 1st already. Another week down, another month down, another one bites the dust. The time seems to be going by faster as we get closer to April. Either that or it just goes by faster as you get older? We celebrated the 5th birthday of our Princess at home this weekend and it's just unreal. At best, I think I've got 4-6 months before our oldest son Corbin is bigger than me at the age of 14.

I'm sort of in that period where I feel like I want to hurry up and be done with the training and get on with the race, but at the same time, I feel like I could use more time just to be safe. It's a feeling that I am more familiar with during each tax season. As big deadlines apporach, I think to myself, "only XX more weeks", but at the same time I'm thinking "only XX more weeks". Too much time, but not enough. This year I thought I would put a self imposed deadline of April 10th for tax filing purposes so as to not be working like mad right up until the day before we leave for Boston, but that may not happen. I'm sure I'll be hammering away up until the 15th.

On a similar note, I registered two weeks ago for the Chicago Marathon wich fall on 10/10/10 this year, 5 days before my biggest tax deadline of the year and even more stressful that April 15th. What in the world where the organizers of these two races thinking when they scheduled these?

A huge thanks goes out to everyone that has shown their support for me in the B2BS Challenge and on my FaceBook page. Some funds started rolling in last week as well and that is awesome. I can honestly tell you that you will all be in my thoughts in Boston and Big Sur pushing me through to the end, especially Big Sur when my body will be screaming at me to stop and my brain will be asking if we hadn't just done this six days ago.

As for this weeks training, here it is:

2/22 - Rest
2/23 - 11 mile Tempo run with 6 in the middle @ 6:31 pace
2/24 - 6.5 mile recovery on TM @ 9:15 pace
2/25 - 6.8 miles with 4/1200m intervals at 5:31 pace
2/25 - 4.8 TM run with hill repeats 10x10 secs @ 12mph @ 12% incline
2/26 - 6.0 easy @ 7:42 pace
2/27 - 20.91 Long run with miles 11-20 @ Goal marathon pace of 6:21
2/28 - 5.0 mile recovery on TM @ 8:48 pace

61.1 Total miles for the week and finished February with 248 miles.

Sunday's long run with the 10 GMP miles gave me some confidence 7 weeks out. The 6:21 was about 4 seconds a mile faster than goal, but I wasn't off by much. I'd rather miss this to the low side than high. They felt pretty good, a bit difficult, but great for my confidence to run those splits deep into the long run.

That's it for now, too much work to do. Take care and I hope everyone has a great week.

Boston 2 Big Sur Welcome

2010-02-21T04:53:00.000-08:00

As this is my first post since publicizing that I am running the B2BS challenge on behalf of Midland Children's Rehab Center (MCRC), I thought I would give a warm welcome to anyone that finds themself here reading this post. I sincerely appreciate any support you give to me over the next nine weeks, whether it be in the financial or moral form.

The opportunity to take this challenge came up several months ago and I took the plunge along with 3 friends of mine that I will introduce at a later date. The 3 of them are all running to benefit the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. I choose MCRC due to the great work that the center does for children here in our community of Midland, Texas and because of the children as well. I have been blessed with four healthy children, but not everyone is so lucky and their are many families out there that need the help of the center. Since my days of serving on the Board of High Sky Children's Ranch, I have had a place in my heart for organizations that benefit children and I truly appreciate the opportunity that MCRC is giving me to represent them in this endeavor.

On to the training. While it feels like I have been at it nonstop for some time due to the 3 marathons last year, I'm only 4 weeks along into this cycle for Boston at this point. I like to consider it a 12 week cycle for Boston, 5 days off and then no training for Big Sur. So far, all has held up pretty well for me physically. A slight scare a few weeks back, but found out it was nothing serious at all, but rather just some tightness in the calf muscles. For those of you that are unfamiliar with marathon training, encounterng injury during the training cycle is a much more common factor than I imagined before running my first. I don't know the numbers, but a good deal of people training for a marathon never make it to the starting line because of injury related issues. Right now, holding injury at bay while still training as hard as this body can take is my goal.

Fortunately for me, as I have gained experience, I've been better able to sense when things aren't "right" and back it off a bit if necessary. Currently, that's not the case and that's just fine with me. I'll keep the throttle open as much as possible, yet take advantage of some easy days as well and hopefully find a good enough balance of training to get me to the starting line healthy and in good position for a solid race. Uh, make that two solid races.

On to the training which I will try to post weekly. This past week's training has gone as follows:

2/15 - Rest
2/16 - 13 miles on treadmill with miles 3-10.5 @ 6:02
2/17 - 6.1 miles easy run @ 8:15 pace
2/18 - 8.6 miles total with 12x400m intervals @ 1:13 avg per 400m
2/19 - 7.6 miles @ 7:27 pace
2/20 - 10.15 miles @ 7:44 pace
2/21 - 20.05 miles @ 7:29 pace

Total Miles = 65.6

This is the last week of my "speed phase" so I will be moving away from shorter intervals on the track and will be replacing those workouts with lactate threshold runs as my primary hard days. Total mileage for each of the last 3 weeks has been between 60-65 and should be around 65 this coming week with a third weekend in a row to include a 20 miler. This will be my 4th of this cycle. I only did 2 for my entire Boston training cycle last year.

Three more weeks until my tune-up race which will be the Rock 'n' Roll Dallas 1/2 Marathon. That race being 5 weeks out from Boston should give me a good idea of were I stand with my fitness. I'm feeling pretty healthy so I have high hopes right now. I'll post more on my goal for that race as we get closer.

Okay, until next weekend, take care and I'll be back to post the weeks activities. Thanks again to anyone taking a peek here. Have a great week!

Boston - Day 1

2010-01-25T07:46:00.000-08:00

Today's the big day to kick off training for the 114th Boston Marathon so what's on tap? Nothing. Well, actually, I am already revising the schedule and pushing back the weeks runs by one day so therefore nothing today in the form of running.

Let's go back a couple of days. I had a pretty good tempo run Thursday morning and then a second run that evening that didn't feel so good. The inside of my right shin was hurting while I ran and in my head all I could think was "WTF"?

I had planned on running 6 easy on Friday, but due to time constraints and the shin still bothering me I held off and just did my strength training session. I would see how if felt on Saturday. Still sore to the touch so now I was getting really concerned and pissed all at the same time. Don't tell me I've already injured myself. I've booked everything for Boston. House rented, airline tickets for 6 paid for and Red Sox tickets on the way. Now this?

Saturday morning at 5:00 it was cold, wet and windy so my trianing partner and I blew off our long run. I rationalized that this would give me one more day to see how it feels, but I still got on the treadmill and cranked out 8.11 miles in 1:11:00, a pedestrian like 8:45 pace. And hey, what do you know, the shin didn't feel too bad. But still, it was in my head and I couldn't help but be a bit discouraged. WTH could it be?

Mid-day Saturday the friggin' light goes off in my head and I remember hitting my leg on a drawer in my closet Thursday morning after my first run. Was that it? I couldn't remember specifically what I hit in my haste, but I remember it hurt for a bit. I went into the closet and pulled the drawer out to see if it matched up with the painful spot on the shin and it kinda sorta did so I'm guessing that's it. That must be it!

So with a bit of a load off of my mind, I got on the treadmill Sunday in front of the Colts/Jets game and hammered out 20.4 miles with the simulation of the Boston course from miles .7-24.1 with 3 flat miles in the middle pulled out. 7.5 mph for the every mile resulted in a 2:44:00 run. Leg felt fine the whole time and now I am convinced it was the drawer.

Nothing exciting about this post other than looks like I am startng the cycle fairly healthy. My plans are to be standing in Hopkinton 84 days from today in the absolute best shape of my life, a lean 155- 158lbs and much better endurance than what I had in Tucson. Of course getting to that point is much easier said than done I have found, especially the staying healthy part.

So all of that to get me back to the beginning, I'm resting the legs today on day one and will only do a Core Performance strength workout at noon. Let's hope there are no further adjustments to the schedule this week.

Take care!

Tucson Marathon

2009-12-16T11:31:00.000-08:00

I will apologize ahead of time for my lack of writing skills and lack of total recall. Some things I just don't remember while on the course because they just really don't matter. Here we go…………As some of you know, I was rocking along in my training with huge improvements since my last marathon in April. Solid progress in a 5k, 10k, ½ marathon and 10 miler in that order gave me great confidence 5 weeks out from Tucson. Now I just need to prove myself in the long one. What I didn’t realize was that I injured myself in the 10 miler on 11/08 and further aggravated it by running a 5k the following weekend. That being said, I had only put in 120 miles in the last 5 weeks and my last 20 miler was October 31st.

My goal immediately after the 10 miler was a 2:49:55 based on McMillan race predictor, but Sunday morning I had no idea if I could finish the race, much less break 3:00. I was constantly icing, Kinesio taping, epsom salt soaking, whatever I could do to nurse the right calf and left ankle back. The ankle cleared up fine, not the calf. In 5 weeks, I did a total of 2 runs on the road. The remaining 102 miles were on the TM. My two longest runs during that period were 16 & 13 and both on the TM.

Got in to Tucson Saturday morning. Other than my Stick being confiscated at security because it was considered "a club", the flight in was fine. I momentarily considered testing the club theory when I snatched it back from the NTSA woman, but cooler heads prevailed and I reluctantly handed it back to her. I stayed at the marathon hotel so I checked in, went to the expo, bought a smaller Stick, compression socks and some pain relief gel then back to the room for a nap. Hit the pasta dinner with about 75 other runners at about 6:00 and was back in the room by 7:30. Got everything ready for the morning including the compression socks that I bought at the expo. Considered wearing them, but opted to pass since that was uncharted territory for me. Still brought them along race morning just in case I changed my mind. Hit the sack about 8:00 and fell asleep watching Gladiator.

Up at 4:10, a couple cups of coffee, dressed and out the door about 4:45 to grab an early bus. Figured I would ride out to the start and take a nap. While sitting in the bus and just a couple minutes before it was to leave I realized I didn’t grab my Powerade. Argh! The driver informed me no time to go get it, but there would be another bus. Headed back to the room and caught the next bus, no problem. Nice heated bus and no one sat next to me. I think I was the only person sitting solo on the entire bus. Was I the only one that didn’t shower or what? It could have been the game face, because I put the headphones on, no smiling, no talking, just focusing on the task at hand. That okay, gave me room for my drop bag full of all sorts of stuff. We got to the start area about 6:00 so I just chilled with everyone else for about an hour other than my quick trip out to the porta potties. At 7:30 it was off the bus, strip down to shorts and singlet, gloves. Left the hat and arm warmers in the bag. It was probably 45 or so at that point, not bad at all. We would be fine once we took off.

In line to take a leak one more time, out the door as the National Anthem was starting, make my way towards the front with a lot of "excuse me, pardon me, excuse me", etc. and then we were off. I screwed around too long and didn’t get into position that I wanted. Just behind the 3:15 pace group as we crossed the starting matt.

The miles came as follows:

6:24 (too fast, slow down)
6:36 (better)
6:48

Some pretty good drops in elevation here. This was cake, but I knew I need to settle down.

6:40
6:37
6:28

Somewhere her between 6&7 the leaders where coming back from the "out and back" part. I was just hoping the "out" wasn’t too far away. It wasn’t. The leader was a guy that I noticed walking around at the start. He had only about half of an arm on the left arm. An inspiration when I saw him. Even more so now that he was leading the race.

6:47 (headed uphill here – 86 ft ascend)
7:38 (190ft ascend here - GMaclin’s pace band had 7:35 for a 2:59)
13:15 (missed mile 9 marker, 6:36 pace for 2.01) 10 miles

At this point we turned onto the highway which would be one long curve to the left for 14 miles. I was with a pack of about 5 other guys with whom we had al been jockying for position. We discussed goals a bit and all were shooting for sub 3 so a couple of us made to comment to work together. We were moving along pretty smooth and strong at that point. I could feel my right calf a bit, but I wasn’t too concerned. Maybe just nervous?

6:26
6:30
6:32

1:27:28 @ 13.1 marker/clock. I knew that a 2:49 was not in the cards, but thought that I would lke to hold this 6:30ish pace as long as possible, see how the body hold up. I was okay with a positive split if it happened, but hoped for something better. Starting to get a little frustrated as we are running into a head wind. I was hoping it would ease up, but not happening. Ditched the gloves somewhere in this area. Me and another guy, Shawn from Pasadena, 42, moved to the front and then slowly pulled away. We had a pretty good conversation over the next mile or so about various including him and his son racing the Baja 500 this past year. Cool! I could tell he was pretty competitive and that was good for both of us.

6:31
6:29
6:28
6:24

Somewhere in here around 17 or 18 we passed the early front runner that I mentioned above. No idea what had happened, but he was walking at this point. Never saw him again. Felt bad for the guy.

6:39
6:31

Things were good until about here for me. The wind was getting in my head and on at least two instances I remember yelling out some obscenities about it then quickly apologizing to my running mate. He was pretty much of the same opinion. Not sure how bad the wind was, but many of us that discussed it thought steady gusts in the 15-20mph range. No idea really other than the Weather Channel predicted 20mph when I checked. The wind blew pretty much from about miles 10-24. The rest of the story is ugly. Shawn and I had seen a 3 guys 100-200 yds ahead of us and said we would catch them, one at a time. From about 14-20 we did that. Of course, after them, there were more, 3 that I can remember so the same thing, go get ‘em. The first two we caught. The 3rd wasn’t so easy.

6:46
6:51
7:00
14:37 (missed the marker again - some had blown over with the wind)

By the 24 mile marker my legs were toast, endurance was gone. I told Shawn to go get him, I had nothing. He reluctantly left and went after the guy. It was the only racer that I could see ahead of us, but I had no idea at the time, maybe top 20-25? I watched Shawn surge ahead after the guy while convincing myself to hold on. From mile 20 on I was just telling myself "see how fast you can do this one, just one more", of course until the next mile marker. No way I was really going to quit, but the quads were really not working for me. As I saw Shawn pass this guy, maybe 50 yards ahead of me at this time I thought fvck, now I need to go get him. It was like a turtle passing another turtle, but I eventually caught him with maybe a little less than a half mile to the finish.

7:34 (141ft ascend here, slow motion, I think a walker may have passed me here?)
7:26 (1.01 avg pace 7:20)

Miles 25 & 26 were pretty tough, maybe worst ever for me. I felt very light headed and the possibility of passing out entered my mind. I could see a few spectators around so if it happened, I'd be okay? Okay, so I passed him, Shawn’s up ahead and will beat me handily, I’ve got no problem with that. He was the better man today. Then my legs just want to quit. I had hit a top speed of 10.1 mph on mile 26 , but must have slowed to 8:30 pace or so once I passed by the guy. Couldn’t keep it up. He went right back ahead with about a qtr mile, damn! Okay he got me, uh no, you can’t do that. I’ve got more in me than to roll over this close. We made the final turn onto the straight away which went from pavement to deep sandy type dirt. Maybe 50 yards. I could hear the announcer "we’ve got a race" and I turned it back on to pass him and edge him out. I crossed the finish line ahead of him by maybe 2 seconds, and then bit the dust.

1:37 final .2
2:57:45 Garmin, 2:57:42 chip time 26.27 on the Garmin

I collapsed to my hands and knees just beyond the finish line and could not get my self up. I crawled a bit struggling to get up, but it wasn’t going to happen. A couple of ladies from the medical team helped me to my feet and walked me around. Shawn was right there waiting. I think he finished 25-30 seconds ahead of me. We were both pretty satisfied at that point. Not sure what the conversation was, but as the medics walked me away, I heard him say 8th and 9th out of 1,246. We finished 1 & 2 out of 110 in the 40-44 AG. I’ll take it. It was not the 2:49:55 I originally wanted, but all things considered, I was pretty proud of the time despite the ugly finish. It was a top 10, something I would never have dreamed about 2-3 months ago, certainly not last year when I was still dreaming of breaking 3:20 for a BQ. Actually went to the searchable results page last night while waiting in the airport and I didn’t have to search for my name, it is right there on the Leaderboard.

I want to give a shout out to Smick. Met her after the race walking around. I was looking around for a blonde wearing pink and thank goodness for printed names on our bibs or else I would missed her. I enjoyed the conversation and I'm sorry the day didn't play out as well as you had hoped. Also, didn’t know that Spinderella would be racing, but I believe I saw her hanging out near the back of one of the buses just before the start. I hope you had a great race.

A PR by 19:42 and a lot to build on for the next one. Sunday’s race gives me some confidence that the 2:49 is possible on a great weather day with a good training cycle.

So Boston is next with a coupe of halves before then. In my training this past cycle, I kept trying to get up over 70 miles a week, but couldn’t get there. A tax practice, DW with her own career and 4 kids keep us busy. 60 & 61 were my two high mileage weeks back in October. My thinking last night was to just stick with it. Longer tempo runs, get all my 20-22 milers in and stay in the 50-60 mile range for 12 weeks. If I can’t get a 2:49 with that, I probably never will because I’m not getting any younger and life isn’t stopping for me any time soon.

I want to thank all of you guys from the 3:20 thread that have been a huge support to me and have had all the confidence in the world in me. Thanks to those of you from the Boston threads that have chimed in as well. It truly means a lot to me. Shawn, while not a RWOL guy, still want to point out that he was a huge help. We pushed each other pretty good out there and it helped immensely. There was a lot of distance between runners up towards the front. Finaly, DW will never read this, but I still want to acknowledge her here and say thanks as well. She thinks I’m crazy at times for "doing this to yourself", but she is my biggest fan! Couldn't do it wihtout her.

Take care and thanks for taking the time to read this piece.

Steve

Comin' Home!

2009-08-31T14:42:00.000-07:00

Well, week one of my 16 week cycle came to an end and I am already disappointed in my training. Due to the previous weekends race, my training group opted out of speedwork last Tuesday and then I missed the track workout Thursday due to business travel. 0-2 in that department and now I need to taper this week for a half-marathon. Overall my mileage was about 6 miles less than I had hoped for, but I have to remind myself that it is more than what I am used to doing and the 16 week cycle give me 4 more weeks than my previous 2 training cycles. I just need to be sure that I'm up to full speed so to speak in a couple of weeks.

I'm racing in the Roswell Turtle Half-Marathon on Labor day and it will be somewhat of a homecoming for me. I grew up there and left after graduating from high school in 1985. I haven't run in Roswell, NM since track in the 8th grade. And better yet, last year's winner is an old high school buddy. He doesn't live there but apparently still runs and comes back to compete in the some of the local races. He won the overall in 2008 with a 1:26:36. This is a very small local race that has a full, the 1/2, a 10k and a 5k. Total participation last year was only about 200 for all of the races.

So what's the importance of this race? Nothing really other than it's in my hometown and I might get the opportunity to race against that high school classmate. I haven't seen him since my 10yr reunion. Seems to be the current theme as just last week I had dinner with a friend in San Antonio that I had not seen since that same night. Hopefully on this occasion, he'll see a lot more of me than I see of him. I don't plan on wearing rear view mirrors.

Probably the real importance of this Labor Day jaunt is that it may be a good indicator of my current racing condition. While I was and still am feeling pretty good about my recent 5K time, I'm a bit concerned about my endurance. Race predictors indicate that I should run a low 1:2X:XX half, but I'm not too sure about that. Shooting for a 1:25:XX and anything below that will be icing on the cake. Anything above that will be disappointing, but it is what it is right? If I don't hit my goal, it just means that I need to work that much harder to reach my ultimate goal.

And finally, with this race comes the last time I will taper until the Tucson marathon. I have a few races including a 5K, a 10K and a 10 miler before then, but I've already told myself that I will race those on whatever I've got in the tank at the time. I don't plan on altering my pre-race week for those races. After all, I must keep my eyes on the prize.

Still haven't decided on the shoes for Monday. I just recently received the new Brooks Launches and they look awesome, but I haven't run in them yet. I'm planning on a tempo run this Tuesday so I guess I'll get a test drive, but I'm sort of leaning towards the Adidas Adizero Manas. They are supposed to be good for up to half-marathon distance, but they just seem so light and lacking of cushion. Concerns me a bit for that reason. I do get to run in a Gilbert's Gazelle's racing singlet for the first time. That's exciting. That is my training group that has really helped me in taking my running to another level. Hopefully I don't fall flat on my face and they ask for it to be returned.

Well, that's it for now. Work has totally consumed my life these last few weeks and will do so until October 15th, the extended filing time for federal tax returns. Uggh! This time of year kicks my ass more than any run that's for sure!

Take care!

It's in the books!

2009-08-23T08:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, the anxiety has passed. I now can say I have a 5K PR in the books. Of course I had my previous 5k time from '06, but who want's to go around posting a 24:23:7 as their 5K PR when they are training for a sub 3:20 marathon?

Okay, so on to the race. It was a pretty nice Saturday morning for a local 5K/10K. It was really nice that the race was started and finished at the neighborhood country club, so just about a mile awas from home. That being said, I drove to the race and warmed up from their with some buddies from my running group. They were all running the 10K and leavng me a the sole sprinter for the day. I could tell from the looks of the crowd assembling that the competition would be weak overall, but with a few young cross-country runners. One of the guys in our group that was not running is a 10K master and he coaches a local private school team. He told me he had a 5 minute miler runnng. I knew I wanted a couple of fast guys, but would this guy be too fast?

We took off on a straight away and very soon I glanced at my Garmin to see we were doing 5:10 pace. There was one other high school XC runner with us. At that point I decided to ease off just a bit and settled into a 5:50 pace. The other two while slowing down a bit, widened the gap on me to about 50 yards. Well, turns out they were both too fast for me, but they was close enough for a while that I thought "just maybe they'll fade". But for most of the run I had more thoughts of "when will I start to fade". The first mile split came in at 5:47. 13 seconds faster than planned, but I thought that was okay. The only way to go sub-18:00 was to go sub 6:00 splits. Mile two marker seemed like it took forever to come around, but finally it did, 5:49. Mile three was nothing more than a brutal attempt to hold on with what I had left. A 5:47 split of which I wasn't aware of until after the fact. I don't remember looking at the Garmin again for pace or time other than total distance at mile at 2.65. When I hit the 3 mile marker I tried to shift gears one last time, but I think it felt a lot faster than it really was. I crossed the line in some severve pain, but seeing my time of 17:44 made it feel just a little better. The funny thing about this race was that other than for a very small stretch where there was a turnaround in a cul-de-sac, I never saw any runners other than the two in front of me. It was almost as if it were a 3 person race.

I was truly surprised as I didn't know if I would be able to go sub 18:00 or not and it was my "everything goes perfect" goal. Well, I guess everything went perfect. So for the rest of the day I relished in my success, but told myself, that's it. Enjoy it today and back to work tomorrow. I've got bigger fish to fry and Day 1 of training starts Monday, August 24th. 16 weeks of training for the Tucson Marathon.

The nice thing about having a valid and current 5K PR is that I can now base my runs on a more accurate number for pacing rather than "I think I can run a XX". This should help me dial in more precisely on my training paces.

I finsihed the week of running this morning with an easy 15.16 at 8:22 pace and 44 miles for the week. While the mileage the last 4 weeks have all be below 50, my local coach wanted that for purposes of having fresh legs to start the 16 week cycle. No going back now, it's been done and he got what he wanted.

I had originally told him that I wanted to focus on a 3:05 goal for Tucson. He told me last week that he predicted a sub 18:00 5K and when I texted him yesterday, his response was "I told you I know my students, let focus on 3:00"......doh! While I'd be lying to tell you I didn't have desires to go sub 3:00, I didn't expect the training to be for a sub 3:00. It will just add to the pressure of expectations. Makes me nervous, but it's a good thing. A motivating factor.

So Day one tomorrow calls for an easy 8 and then track work on Tuesday. Looking forward to a couple of good weeks of training before a local 1/2 marathon on LaborDay in my hometown of Roswell, NM. This will be another fitness test for me. I think a half will give me a better idea if a sub 3:00 is possible or if the 5K time was just a perfect day for me. I haven't lived in Roswell since 1985, but checked out last year's results and a high school buddy of mine won it in about 1:26. I'm hoping he's there this year. Haven't seen him since 10yr reunion and he allways used to get the best of me as a youngster. It's my turn. I guess my goal will have to be sub 1:25 or sub whatever _______ does?

Until next time, take care!

The anticipation.......

2009-08-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

Well, it's gonna happen this weekend, finally a 5K that I can run. Seems like I've had something going on about every weekend that there has been one locally (not that there are many), but not this time. Will I be ready? What is my goal? How will I pace myself? Even if I know my goal pace, can I hit it? Geez, this is just more than I can stand. And I haven't even considered what I'm going to wear??? Okay, I didn't say that. I believe a training group singlet, the West Texas Gazelles will be my choice of top. Shorts of course and my super fast Adidas Adizero Manas.

No matter what I decide on pacing strategy or goal time, one thing is for certain, I am almost assured of a PR if I can cross the finish line on two feet. I've only run one 5K before, 2006, and my time was 24:33.7. Glad they got that .7 on there.

Seriously here, I'm concerned about my pacing as I don't have 5k experience. I'm worried about two things right now. 1) Going out too fast, and 2) going out too slow. Other than that, I feel pretty good. Sounds a bit silly, but I am concerned that in effort to go low I may not be able to contain myself at the start and end up falling off pace in the end. My other thought is that if there is not any quality competition there, I could possibly go out too slow and end up having a little gas left in the tank at 3.1. The reason for that concern is that I live in somewhat of a small town and you never know what the participation will be like or what fast college kid will be in town for the weekend. As much as I don't look forward to it, and quite honestly even dread it just a bit, I hope I'm hurting like a mofo at the finish line. I don't want to cross the line and later think to myself that I left a little out there on the road. I don't want a finish-line picture with a smile.

One of my favorite quotes is by Steve Prefontiane, legendary Oregon State runner from the 70's......"the only good race pace is suicide pace and today looks like a good day to die". I wish that I was confident enough to go out and do that, lay the hammer down, but I don't know if I can. I just hope I don't die and fall short of my expectations. More importantly, the expectations some of my friends have of me for this grand event. Truly a supportive group of great guys and gals from the RWOL 3:20 thread, but perhaps a bit more confident in me than I am? That's okay because I think they will help me to push harder when I'm pounding the road Saturday morning.

I'm really hoping for a couple of strong runners to be there that I can chase or at least "race" with. I don't care about where I finish overall or in my AG. Those would be nice, but I'm more concerned about my time. Where do I stand physically and what can I expect in the future based on my present condition? That being said, I need a couple of young bucks up front. A rabbit. Even if I don't catch him, her, them, whatever, just as long as they push me to my limits.

My goal, uh, goals? Let's get that over with now. A) 18:00, B) 18:30, C) 19:00. I think that 18:30 is possible, but would be tough. An 18:00 would require one hell of a day for me. Everything would have to go right and even then I'm not sure I'm capable. Again, then inexperience has me a bit uncertain of what to expect. And while a 19:00 would not be too shabby, I think I would truly be depressed if I went anywhere above that based on my previous training runs.

On to the rest of the week, the last before my official Tucson training starts. My coach asked me to drop my mileage down to the 40-45 range to be sure that I had some fresh legs for the beginning of the 16 week plan. Honestly, I haven't seen it yet, but should be getting a copy any day now. It will be coming from Gilbert Tuhabonye of Gilbert's Gazelles in Austin, TX. My weekly training group is being trained by him in a roundabout way and I am now having him develop my plan based specifically on the Tucson course, my past performance and my desired goal time of which I am not yet sharing with the you.

I should hit somewhere in the mid-40's this week and then it will go up from there with what I have been told will be several weeks in the mid-70's. This training cycle will be the longest that I have ever had in my short marathon career as well as heaviest in mileage. In my previous two marathons most of my weeks were in the low to mid 50's. My first doesn't relly count because that was a few years back and I only trained to just finsh under 4:00 which I did. I'm a bit excited about this plan as well as concerned. It's always a challenge from a time standpoint to get my running in, Core Performance training, and still have time for work and the family. Right now work is brutally busy so it leaves me a bit anxious as well as excited.

Well enough said for now. I'll be back this weekend and you'll find out if this if this turns into the "Fantastic 5K" or the "5K Fiasco".

Take care and thanks for dropping by!

Here we go!!!!!!!!

2009-07-28T15:20:00.000-07:00

Post number one. Numero uno! I don't even know where to begin or why, but it seems to be the next logical step in my evolution into a runner. I've run for a number of years, but most of those were sweating out two or three miles that felt more like six or seven a couple times a week. It was not until a few years ago that I dialed long distance running my first marathon (Austin '06) and not until after hitting 40 that I started taking it seriously.

Something about 40 made me start looking at life from a different perspective. I started to think about my own mortality and lack of personal accomplishments. Having already run one marathon just for the sake of running one, I decided running the Boston Marathon would be my next personal goal. I would need to knock of just over 21 minutes from my first marathon to qualify at under 3:20:59. Tough I thought, but doable. In April of 2008 I decided to pick up the running again and increase mileage for a while. Eventually I built a base of mileage and trained for the Rock-N-Roll Arizona marathon using the Pfitzinger 12/55 plan and ended up qulaifying on my 1st attempt in Phoenix in January '09 with a 3:19:04. Wow, what a feeling of emotion that came over me when my wife Gina joined me just beyond the finish line. To top it off, the Steelers won the AFC Championship that night by defeating the Ravens and we wathced it from the hotel room while recovering.

I had already decided before RNR AZ that if I qualified I would wait and run Boston in 2010. Well, within 24 hours I had changed my mind and 2009 was looking like my next race. So a couple weeks of recovery and I ramped up the training again for 12 weeks, the last month of which was horrible due to work, but I knew I could at least go and finish the race.

What an experience! For a guy that had run two marathons, a couple of 10k's and a 5k, Boston was larger than life. I knew it was big, but I didn't know how big. I ran it, pr'd with a 3:17:24 and became officially hooked on the race. Running down Boylston street towards the finish line was again an unbelievable feeling and sense of accomplishment. The fans all along the course were unreal and the screaming girls of Wellesley were amazing. The whole Boston exerience is just difficult for me to put into words.

So fast forward to today and this is were I am. I thought I would have moved on to my next goal, a 50 mile race and then eventually a 100 mile ultra, but Boston has got a hold of me and for the time being I want to keep going back to be part of this great tradition. I want to leave it all out on the course with the best race I can run. I want to have something that my kids talk about with their kids when I am gone. Something that their dad did that they can be proud to say they saw him do something he truly loved and took great pleasure in doing. And maybe, just maybe something we can someday do together?

I'm just a couple weeks out from starting my trianing plan for the Tucson Marathon which is on December 13th and then Boston is next on April 19th, 2010. My goal for Tucson is 3:10. If I hit that, then I'll shoot for 3:00 in Boston. Not sure it's possible for me to cut that much time in that short of a period, but I won't know I don't try.

That's enough for now. I'll post about my training plan, progress and whatever else happens to be on my mind over the next several months. In addition, I will introduce my fund raising attempt that I hope will benefit from my new-found love of running.

Take care!