Photo courtesy of Andrew King - D4 Productions

Sunday, May 29, 2011

May 23-29

Finally some time to put some thoughts on a blog post. I've been MIA for couple of weeks but I assure not because I've been lazy. Sometimes life happens fast and furious and all we can do is hang on for the ride. Since the beginning of the year I've accumulated over 40,000 myles flying while staying over 70 nights in a hotel - such an illustrious life. In fact, there was a 3 week succession I went from Palm Springs, Miwok for the weekend with my wife, back to San Francisco, home for 48 hours and squeezed in a U2 concert (thanks Joe), and then to Richmond, VA. If anything, it will be a nice FREE vacation for me and my family when all said and done with the points I've racked up. Speaking of vacation, all reservations have been made for Squaw Valley starting on June 19th and returning home the following Sunday. I'm hoping for some relaxing time to have fun with the family waiting for the Big Juan.

Because of my travel for work (up until last Thursday) I have been feeling way under trained mentally. Even though I've been regularly hitting 80 myles a week and an occasional race, I didn't feel the focus I needed to have a great race in June. That was until Thursday. Friday, Saturday, and today have been a different story - a total of 70 myles and nearly 13K of climbing. Nothing like this guy or this guy but I feel I'm back on track to have a good race. I'm not done yet, I plan on having a 10 day period of this kind of work and then straight into a proper taper leading up to the race. The nice thing about WS is that there are so many good runners I have flown under the radar with mediocre results thus far this season. No expectations on my part and no pressure to perform.... mmm, I take that back. There is the Montrail Ultra Cup in which I am in contention. Right now it's a 3 man race for 1st between Mackey, Olmstead, and myself. $5K for 1st, $2K for 2nd, and $1K for 3rd. Mackey has been unstoppable lately, while I've been faltering late in races, and he is only 0.07 pts behind me. Tall order I know but it is 100 myles and anything can happen.

At any rate, I hope to be posting more frequently as the build up to WS begins. Here is my most recent week:

Tuesday - 4 myles VCU Richmond, VA
Thursday - Travel
Friday - AM 15 myles Deer Creek

Total - 87 myles, 12hr 32 mins, 13,123 ft of climbing

Monday, May 9, 2011

Miwok 100K - 9.13:11 13th

Hellow people of the blog world! I trust all is well. It's Monday night and I am sore and tired - no energy to write anything fun, just the facts. I've got a bunch of travel coming up for the next couple of weeks so it's write something now (half baked) or not at all, so here it goes:

Miwok was good and bad. The good part was 99% of the time.

I came straight from Palm Springs to meet my wife in San Francisco for a nice relaxing weekend. Been a long time w/o any kids - refreshing. A big thank you to my Mom who drove out from Utah to be with our boys!! Anyway, took Nicole around to all the aid stations and did my pre-race day run up from Randall. I was feeling really, really good. Climbing and breathing easy - good sign. I went to the check in and chatted a bit with Krissy and Gary Gellin, among others and proceeded to get back to the room. Race day morning came fast and furious at 3 AM. Made our way to the start line on the beach and had good vibes.

Start to Tennessee Valley - 11 myles - 1.29:33 split
I settled into the race just behind a pack of 13 or 14 guys. Phil Kochik and I decided to sit back and watch it all happen at a safe distance. The course went in reverse (where it could) so we did an extra climb early before heading down to Tennessee Valley

Tennessee Valley to Pantoll 20 myles - 2.47:27 (1.17:54 split)
We immediately climbed back out of the valley over to Hwy 1 and then up the very long Deer Park road (Dipsea trail). Phil and I came upon Yassine, who was putting powder in his drink along side the trail, we must have spooked him because he climbed up Deer Park road very fast. Phil and I were still conversational and feeling good 20 myles into Pantoll

Pantoll to Bolinas Ridge 26 myles - 3.39:42 (52:15 split)
Now the most beautiful section traversing along the grass covered hills, sprinkled with pine trees, overlooking the ocean - stunning. Still running with Phil, we came upon Lewis Taylor who had slowed from the lead pack. A quick greeting and it was off I went, knowing I would probably see him again. At this point, going into Bolinas Ridge, I started to click on all cylinders.

Bolinas Ridge to Randall 33 myles - 4.27:58 (48:15 split)
I really wanted to wait for this feeling after the turn around but when it happens, you gotta run on feel. Buzzing I caught up with Yassine who was stretching on a tree but soon followed me down the hill to Randall. Amazing, I was only 6 minutes behind the lead pack of 8 people, all of them were together.

Randall to Bolinas Ridge 41 myles - 5.29:04 (1.01:05 split)
Back up the hill, the steep hill. I put a lot of effort into bridging the gap which may have been a little too early but I got excited when I saw all of them together not too far ahead. Once at the top and heading back to Bolinas I started to feel a little fatigue. But 40 myles in, fatigue happens and it's all about managing and taking care of the body with food, water, and electrolytes.

Bolinas to Pantoll 47 myles - 6.32:16 (1.03:15 split)
Leaving Bolinas I asked my wife how far the leaders where out and she said "20 minutes" No way! Mike, Dave, and Dakota had a good split heading back up and it shocked me cause I felt like I was also running good. Right before I got to Pantoll I caught up with Dan Olmstead, as he was feeling a little dizzy at this point but knew he'd be back.

Pantoll to Muir Beach 52 myles - 7.21:31 (49:15 split)
Coming into Pantoll I am now in 6th place but started to feel a bit of twinges in my groin and front of my calf. Down Deer Park road I went hoping to catch more people but my legs where tightening up and for the first time all day I felt slow. The good thing is that once off Deer Park it's a nice single track to Muir beach.... but I was slowing. Now I started talking to myself "don't settle"... but I couldn't do anything about it. Getting into Muir Beach was a blessing because I knew some S-caps would turn me around.

Muir Beach to Tennessee Valley 57 myles - 8.15:08 (54:36 split)
Guess what? Ate some watermelon, sponged off, couple cups of coke, and I was off... Totally spaced off the S-caps that were on the table. Damn! Once Nathan Yanko caught me at the top of the hill going into Pirates Cove I realized I was going to have a tough time getting back into Tennessee Valley. Shortly after Dan Olmstead then Yassine Diboun and a couple more.

Tennessee Valley to Finish 62 myles - 9.13:11 13th place
Adding insult to injury, Elvis passed me about a mile out of Tennessee Valley. Yes Elvis. Wig, polyester pants, and gold glasses. Turns out it was Ian Sharman raising money for charity. Had to laugh at that one! At any rate, I was baked. This may sound crazy but my watch read 17,000+ feet of climbing! Is that right? Sure felt like it while I was out there but I always thought somewhere around 10K.

No I did not get a PR but yes I had a wonderful time. I have these snapshot images in my head of the trails meandering in the hills above the ocean. Tia Boddington does an amazing job with this race. Thanks to all the volunteers. And most of all thanks and love to my wife who took care of all my needs at all the aid stations. She also attended to other runners while waiting for me.

Nutrition was simple: 6 flasks of EFS liquid shot diluted in my 20 oz bottle, only one bottle of EFS eletrolyte drink, and a handful of bananas. Certainly did not do well with the water and electrolyte consumption. I cramped up all night in bed so I know I was lacking big time.


Sunday, May 1, 2011

April 25-May 1

Another solid week comes to a close but not without incident. Mileage is picking up week over week as well as more specific leg turn over stuff. With that comes danger of riding the edge too close and injury becomes possible. In fact, for the last 3 weeks I've been noticing a little hitch in my left lower back that was more noticeable after a run, sitting for awhile, then trying to walk. The pain radiates down my left leg (thought I had a calf thing going one) was dull at first then this last week it has gotten more painful and can't walk without a limp. I did a little research and the only thing I can come up with is some sort of Stenosis or Sciatica. I haven't taken any NSAIDS yet during training cause I want to be able to get the benefit from the pills during a race. The strange thing is that I don't notice it while running unless I start thinking about it, but then again, I haven't gone 62 myles yet. I could be overreacting at this point but man it hurts to walk.

At any rate, I'm heading out the door today to Palm Springs for a week and then straight to Miwok - you should see my bag of pills! Optygen HP, Aspirin, and Advil... hope it passes security. Here is what my week looking like:

Monday - OFF???
Wednesday - AM 8 myles HR backcountry

Total - 73 myles, 9 hrs 35 mins, 7222 ft of climbing

April overall was a good high volume month coming in at 399 myles. 1413 myles for the year.

Wonder when this guy is coming back