Ça me plaît beaucoup ici.

That's the extent of French of learned. ...and it came directly from a translation book. Good thing I have Nick Clark around to do my talking for me.

I arrived in Geneva, Switzerland on Thursday morning after a long 8 hour flight from Washington DC. Opened the shade of my window on the plane as the sun came up and could not believe the beauty; green, big mountains (Alps), and glacier carved horseshoe valleys. Tired but revived from the beauty. Nick and I soon got on a train (2 hours) that took us around Lake Geneva and up to the Rhone valley where we would transfer to a bus up a narrow, winding road up to Zinal.

Once in Zinal we were whisked away by Alexandra (athlete coordinator) who took us to a welcome reception full of wine, food, and live music on a Swiss mountain hillside. A little dazed and confused at all the excitement but then it hits me "this is Europe". There we meet up with Dakota Jones, our faithful Colorado brother and now new roommate.

Since that time it has been non-stop of running amazing trails (some so steep they installed chains), sight seeing old Swiss Peasant towns (Grimentz), and of course eating 3 square meals arranged by the race. Simply amazing. But rather than me try to explain through words, I'll just post a couple of pictures at the bottom to set the scene.

Before the pictures though I just want to say what an honor it is to be here as a guest of Pablo Vigil (4x SZ winner). I am amazed at all the talent this race draws, to include from the US: Max King, Joe Grey, Glen Randall, Megan Lund-Lizette, and Brandy Erholtz. I don't know the European runners just because this is a whole different racing scene. Which, I might add, is a whole lot more competitive AND FAST. I am nowhere near as fast as the some 50 invited runners, but I will tell you that I am contending as a Veteran I (masters), so I feel good about my chances of a top 5 on that side. And some possible cashola. I will let you know how it goes in a couple days. Until then enjoy the pics below. I'm gonna try and get some sleep before the race in the morning.

L to R: Max King, Scott Jaime, Dakota Jones, Glen Randall, Nick Clark, Joe Grey, Pablo Vigil

Bottom L to R: Brandy Erholz, Megan Lund-Lizette, Alexandra Jodidio

Town of Grimentz

Tram ride up to lunch today above Zinal

Colorado "ultra" runners enjoying the finer things

Where do I begin

Appropriate title for the blog post because it's been quite some time since I've posted anything and I have lots to say. This is gonna be a long one so go grab one of these.

Sure lots has been happening on the running front but also on the life front as well. Lately I've been in and out of some sort of motivational funk which turns into forcing myself out the door to run - that's not the way it's supposed to be! Yesterday on the Buchanan/Pawnee loop outing with friends really brought home why I started running on the trails some 8 years ago - enjoying the great outdoors with friends! But before I recap yesterdays adventure I want to go back to the SpeedGoat 50K and recap that race.

SpeedGoat 50K - 6.44 11th place

I have always wanted to do the SG50 since Karl started it a few years ago but the problem always has been recovering from HardRock. I don't recover fast and really marvel at those who do so not having done HR this year this was the perfect race to prep for UTMB and get back to my home state to visit family and friends.

My training was blah leading up to the race but I still had a goal of getting under the 6 mark based on previous times of people I know. Right out of the gate I was in the lead group with Joe Grant, Nick Clark, and Ben Lewis. The lungs took a while to come around but about the 20 minute mark things started to flow. I felt strong so I decided to use my fresh legs to push a tidge to test those less fresh-straight off HR legs. Nick followed and we created a little bit of a gap prior to getting to the top of the first climb. At the aid I tried to go down the ridge we would later come up and they quickly course corrected me and thus put me behind Joe and Nick. I was amazed how quickly Joe gapped both Nick and I on the down - in the span of a mile and 1/2 he had two minutes. With those tiny NB shoes and gnarly trail that is simply amazing!

The next aid, Larry's Hole, is where things went South. And before I say anything else, let me just say that the course was marked extremely well. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of junctions where course Marshall's were located all day - except this one. The right path takes you up the 'elevator shaft' straight up to where we just came. The left path starts the loop and the correct direction. Joe went right and the 3 of us followed. We heard people whistling, yelling, and hooting from Larry's Hole and we got so close to the top that we could people screaming from above. We all thought they were just getting into the race and cheering everyone on, until we heard a very distinct "TURN AROUND". Shit! A full 20 minute detour, I'd say more but who's counting. Of the four of us I'd say it affected me the most. Before that I was running good in high spirits and hopeful of the outcome. But for some reason it ate at me and I didn't have the fire in my belly to catch people. Simply put. Even at the turn around when Roch indicated Karl upped the winnings to $1000 I just didn't care. Not a good place to be in a race.

At any rate, I was still running good and feeling good. I passed a few people and then they passed me back before the finish. We came upon Larry's Hole again, probably mile 20 and someone indicated my teammate was only 8 minutes up on me. That surprised me and actually gave me a little spark. I pushed up the elevator shaft again and slowly gained on Greg Norrander who had passed me back already. Another guy was between us so the 3 of us went through the tunnel within 30 seconds of each other. At this point I was totally confused on where we were going, I thought we would go back up the hidden peak... And then I quickly remembered this is a Meltzer designed course and we certainly have to go down to work for the summit of hidden peak, right? Yep. Down towards Snowbird base, a few turns off the main road. I caught the first right turn but I missed the second left turn and continued downwards. My head was down because I was trying to first catch Greg and the other guy but when I looked up I noticed I was pretty close to the canyon floor. I turned around after about 5 or 6 minutes and saw two yellow "wrong way" streamers. Shit again! For a fleeting moment I almost went all the way down, which was right above the condo, to get a shower. No gotta finish this one out. It wasn't going my way but this is trail racing and staying the course is part of the adventure. I normally don't get off course this much so maybe I'll get some karma moving forward. And I want to reiterate - the course was marked VERY WELL!

Up the ridge trail I go, back up to hidden peak. I look below and notice 3 guys coming straight down the road. They apparently missed the first right turn and just came straight to the ridge trail. I told them they had just cut about a mile off but wouldn't worry about it at this point. I never looked back so I don't know what they did but I figured I did a little extra for them. And down, down, down to the finish I go methodically making my way. Obviously I have no sense of urgency other than to crack my first frosty brewski with family and friends waiting.

The finish is the best part - always. But having so many family and friends there made it extra special. My sister and her family came all the way from Logan, thank you Patty. My Mom and Dad are always there so it was a nice little family reunion. My In laws where there, as they always are in support of me. Simply just hanging around the finish line drinking the goodness of the earth and visiting with people who are so close to my heart is enough to say that this race was a success. I told Karl that the SpeedGoat is an instant classic in my mind and I will be back every year to soak in the atmosphere. Congrats to all who toed the line, in particular, my friend Matt Keddington. This was Matt's first ultra and he did amazing - 9.20! I coached Matt in college (soccer) and he used to tell me running was for wussies.... glad to see you came full circle Matt.

Buchanan/Pawnee Loop - 6.04

Rather than me try to explain how beautiful and tough this loop is just go over here or here to get the full rundown with some pics and video. And here to see a video recap of our adventure.

I mentioned earlier about my motivational funk. Maybe after running 2500+ myles for the past 7 years, day in and day out, I am just burnt out of running by myself. Well it happens to be 7 years ago when I met Brian Fisher at my first trail race at Mt Falcon. We ran the race stride for stride then entire time, exchanged information at the end, and that was the beginning of a friendship that started on the trail. Fast forward to yesterday when Brian and I reconvened with Todd Ganglehoff, Joe Ziegenfuss, Troy Howard, Tim Long, and Eric Truhe. Thanks to Todd for organizing this adventure because I would have otherwise resorted to my standby all by myself in the same funk of trying to talk myself into a long run.

Obviously I needed more of a social event rather than a suffer-fest, so for 95% of the run I resorted to just enjoying myself. Up to the first pass (Buchanan) Todd and Troy sped off and the rest of us formed a line a few minutes back of them hitting the pass in about 2 hours. We dropped down to the bowl and reconvened to eat and drink. Just below Buchanan was an amazing place - stunning beauty. All I could think about is getting my son Jaxon up to that point to enjoy some backpacking. When you see footfeathers video, all that green vegetation is part of the area below Buchanan pass.

Down we went for the better part of 4 myles, then taking a left onto Cascade? trail. It was at this point where I decided to put a little work in. Todd led the way again with Troy, Eric, and myself in tow. Not really sure how far up we went in myles but I would say we cranked for about 45 minutes to the Crater Lake cutoff where we went left. We sat on a log, reconvened for a 4th time, and then we were off again. I thought about cranking all the way to Pawnee pass but shortly after starting up again my lower back tightened up pretty good. I stopped and stretched a few times, twisted and turned, hoping something would release it. Nothing was working so I dealt with it, having to shorten my stride the rest of the trip. I am not sure what triggers this pain but it's primarily on my left side which sends shooting pains down my left leg, and sometimes my left leg will go out because of it. Last time this happened I was given sage advice from none other than Brian Fisher to do core work to strengthen the muscles around there. Last time it worked and I have since gone away from doing any such core work, go figure.

Troy, Eric, and Todd took off again for the rest of the climb up Pawnee. If you've never been then the best way to describe it is the backside of Hope Pass. And if you've never been to Hope then just think straight up a boulder field to 12,500 in about 1.5 myles or less. I kept looking around wondering where the trail went because there seemed to be no notches to go over. I finally made it up to Pawnee Pass in 5 hours.

Now the trip down, which seemed to be worse on the back than leaning forward going up. Again, it is stunning up there looking down the valley seeing the trail wind down between the beautiful lakes. The one thing I did not anticipate was the amount of people on this trail once we hit tree line. My goodness! People of all sorts up high that astounding Brian and I. Brian let me go first so I could continually say "on yer left" and then get the dirty looks. Most people kindly got out of the way but some just looked at us as to say "WTF?!"

It just so happens that Brian and I spent the final myles stride for stride on another epic trip into some beautiful country. Almost as if that's the way it was supposed to be and as Brian put it "a secret love affair". We enjoy the same things in life. And with both of us having families, life usually happens most of the time with an adventure like this once in a while bringing it all back home. Makes us realize why we started trail running in the first place.

One final time to reconvene at the Brainard Lake trail head and tell stories of the day. The only way it could have been better on such a stellar day was to plan better and have a cooler full of beer waiting. The one story that I wish I had a picture of began before we even hit the trail. A bunny decided to jump right into Troy Howard's grill of his Toyota 4runner. We pulled up to the parking lot, came around to the front of his truck and remembered we hit the bunny but didn't feel like we ran it over. No wonder. It looked like it tried to jump at the last minute and went head first into the grill with the body dangling out. Tim Long saw it and thought it was one of those fake stuffed animals as a joke... looked like it. Anyways Troy tried to pull it out and it's head popped off.

Good times with some good people. Besides the back pain, this adventure has re-invigorated my mind. Good luck to Troy as he tackles Wasatch, good luck to FF, Brian, and Eric as they run Pbville, and good luck to Todd as he tackles the Bear. All of these guys will do really well based on what I saw them doing Saturday. No pressure guys but a podium finish is in order - you are fit!

My week running

And last I leave you with my week in running. Coming back from Utah on Sunday I headed straight for OKC where it was 110+. That's enough to make anyone not wanna run. I did get out for a couple runs on the treadmill but since I was with my boss I was very limited on time. The day after SG50 I did get out for a 4 mile run before I hopped in the car - good sign because I was not sore from the race at all. I was stiff but no deep tissue soreness. Here's the week:

Monday - meetings, travel no running

Tuesday - AM 6 myles TM (5 x 1 minute 10 MPH)

PM 4 myles TM (8 MPH)

Wednesday - meetings, travel no running

Thursday - The Bluffs 8+ myles (2 x 5 minutes LT - fastest time so far)

Friday - Coyote Ridge 11 myles

Saturday - Buchanan/Pawnee loop 26+ myles (8000+ ft of climbing)

Sunday - nothing yet

Total - 56 myles, 9 hrs 52 mins, 10,700 ft of climbing

I will make one more post with some thoughts around France regarding expectations and other non-running related things. I am traveling over with Nick Clark on Wednesday, August 10th.

July 18-24

Happy Pioneer day to those who celebrate it! I remember living in Utah and having this day as a vacation day. I guess no one in Utah is working tomorrow huh? I'll have a Modus Hoperandi and toast the Pioneers! This weekend was simply gorgeous here in Colorado. It was hot but manageable. I fully intended to get high this weekend with CRUD to avoid the heat but I just did not have the energy to drive anywhere. So I stayed close to home and enjoyed the foothills.

I spent the better part of the week in Santa Monica, CA - perfect training for the upcoming SpeedGoat 50K race... flat, super highway of a path on the beach, sea level. Just gotta laugh at the timing of that trip. I will tell you though that I am feeling quite strong right now despite the flatness of the week. For instance, at Deer Creek yesterday I managed 8:50 pace with nearly 5K of climbing. Somehow the desire and motivation has returned and not much time to spare before UTMB, which is a short 33 days away.

I am really looking forward to racing and seeing family and friends next week in Utah. Too bad I can't stay for the OR show. Here is my week in review:

Monday - Coyote Ridge 10+ myles

Tuesday - Santa Monica 6 myles

Wednesday - Santa Monica 6 myles

Thursday - Santa Monica 8 myles

Friday - Coyote Ridge 11 myles

Saturday - Deer Creek 16+ myles

Sunday - Grigs 8 myles

Total - 66 myles, 9997 ft of climbing, 8 hrs 33 mins

This past week I pulled some workouts from the Paul Dewitt files from yester-year. His approach was centered around quality and not quantity while incorporating some steeps. I think it's always a good idea to mix things up to make it fresh and that's all I'm doing here; trying to keep it fresh and exciting for this 41 year old soul.

And last I put this picture up because it's strange how cyclical things are in life. Soccer, which once was the life blood of my life, has re-entered in the form of Myles. He shows a lot of interest just kicking the ball around, putting on his soccer uniforms and such. Last week I did a skills session for one of my colleagues son (and friends) in Seward, NE, last night we went to a Rapids MLS game. I have a feeling the shift back to soccer is starting to happen again... I don't mind a'tall.

Sportin the Weber State Wildcats purple

July 11-17

Ola mi amigos! Finally get to put some thoughts to a blogpost. It's been a busy time for the past two weeks and for some reason I have been feeling extremely UNmotivated to run. There is no fire in my belly or any urgency to run. So apparently WS took all the wind out of my sail, more so than I first thought.

Every year I get lazy and just don't want to run but that usually happens around late September/early October. The routine has usually been to train for HR all summer, run HR, and then coast through August and September with a good base. Since no HR and WS being in June I have a feeling my mind has slipped into coast mode a little too soon. That is until I caught myself this morning while watching a replay of Ironman Hawaii. NBC knows how to produce stories that become tear jerkers. I love the will power of the human spirit. NBC needs to come and do a piece on Hard Rock, I guarantee there are stories that will inspire. So after watching and feeling inspired, I decided to get some uptempo/hill work in. It was a little test to see where my LT was sitting and I gotta say I'm a little disappointed. Check out the stats here. I usually make it up the hill (0.75 myles with 5% grade) in 5:10 at least 5 times. I started to feel that lactate build on the 3rd set so there is work to be done. I've got some big races coming up: Sierre-Zinal - which is considered the biggest mountain race in the world, UTMB - by far the biggest 100 mile race in the world, and before all that fun in Europe the sadistic SpeedGoat 50K in a couple of weeks. Hopefully I can burn the legs and lungs at SG50K to get ready for the lung burning that will happen at SZ.

Before I move onto my week, I just want to say a few words about my pacing duties at HR last weekend. What an honor. Hard Rock is such an extraordinary event and to get the opportunity to crew and pace a good friend and teammate Nick Clark was an honor. This was the first time I was involved in the race and not racing, which meant I had the time to spend with some quality people. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of work crewing (driving around) but it's going around in a caravan of people that are doing and thinking the same thing. Besides we are right smack in the middle of the San Juan mountains - it doesn't get any better. I chatted with so many people for quite a while whom I normally only get to see during the race. So to all those people I chatted with - it was good to catch up with you! And to those I met - it was nice to meet you and hope our paths cross again.

Enough about that, more about Nick. He was stellar all day. He looked a little haggard coming into Grouse Gulch but he didn't complain, just changed his shoes, and ran up Engineer road with his pacer Brendan Trimboli. Speaking of which, Brendan is a young guy who will be one watch in the coming years - talented and motivated. I waited around Grouse for while longer for Darcy to come through and cheer another PI teammate on, she was right behind Diana and the race was on. Because I waited at Grouse I had to race around to Ouray to catch Nick, made it just in time, laid out his clothing options and got him on his way. Note: I learned that crew should not give options to the runner to make decisions but rather the crew should give them what they need for the journey ahead. I made the mistake early on of giving Nick options and could tell he was not making decisions very quickly or decisively.

Nick and Brendan leave Ouray and I make the long drive over to Telluride where I think I have some down time to get myself ready for the 30 mile journey back home to Silverton. Not so, Julian came in to Telluride just after 11 PM with Dakota and Nick to follow about 1/2 hour later. From here Nick's report gives you a very good detailed report of what happened on the trail, I'll just add a few things.

What makes Nick so extraordinary is that he was hurting but he kept moving forward, not once did he stop to sit on a rock. I really believe that is the key to doing well at HR - keep moving forward. I did a lot of pulling on Nick, not saying anything but just picking up the pace here and there (sometimes into a jog) and Nick would follow. I remember some of my best pacers would do that to me and it made me so mad at the time but in hind sight that's what a pacer is for - to keep the runner on pace (and not lost). We caught glimpses of Dakota and Troy's lights every now and again and that was enough to keep us going. When day broke we were surprised to see Dakota and Troy just leaving Putnam and we got a little fire in the belly. We made a strong -I mean strong- push up the 3 climbs out of Putnam and when we finally got in the clearing and saw how far up Dakota was on the ridge, my heart sank. I know we both powered up that hill with a lot of running stints but Dakota was not gonna be caught. He could smell the barn and was hiking/running strong. Nick still powered home strong and in the end carved out a nice little record for himself - the WS/HR double. This record will stand for quite some time. Congrats to all who finished! And as far as the shoe thing is concerned.... I could not believe when I heard Nick say "uh oh" and watched his shoe tumble towards a cliff. It's funny now but at that moment sliding on my butt towards the cliff I was scared shit less.

Now. Back to my week. Like I said before, very UNmotivated and lots of travel. Not to mention, my quads were sore through Wednesday - Nick worked me over!

Monday - no way too sore

Tuesday - 6 myles Bluffs

Wednesday - 6 myles KC Indian creek trail

Thursday - too lazy but did play a bit of soccer in Seward, NE

Friday - 8+ Matthews Winters

Saturday - 10+ myles HR backcountry

Sunday - 10+ myles Bluffs loop

Total - 42 myles, 5 hrs 32 mins, 5778 ft of climbing (60 myles the week before)

June 27 - July 3

Before I say anything else I want to say "thank you" for all who posted a comment on my blog last week. Even if you didn't post a comment but just read "thank you". Or if we chatted at WS before, during, or after "thank you". It made me realize that I am really fortunate to participate in this ultra sport with a bunch really cool, genuine people.

Sometimes I have a tendency to put a bunch of pressure on myself for no other reason than to see what I am capable of doing, genetically speaking. And what better arena to do that with the best of the best. Put the work in and see what you got. It didn't happen this time, and maybe I'll never live up to my own internal expectations, but I am honored to toe the line every time (and then drink beer). So believe it or not, I have moved on but this is what happens after a week of sitting around eating a bunch of bad bad food, drinking a slew of good good beer, and resting - it's all part of the process. So bring on the SpeedGoat, Sierre-Zinal, and UTMB - Wow! Now that's a pretty cool line up!

But first things first, I'm pacing Nick Clark at HR next weekend. And. I. Can't. Wait! This will be the first time at HR that I can relax and visit with some really cool people - my HR family. Starting with Dale Garland. Yes he's busy during this time but for some reason that guy seems to have time for everyone. Next is Bill Dooper. Bill is the quintessential HR fan. I met him there a about 4 years ago and we have been good friends ever since. The Darnold's. My South Mineral campground host friends that took me in 3 years ago and have kept in touch ever since. In fact, last year they volunteered at the Chapman aid station to show their support for this race. This would be a book long post if I named everyone so I'll stop there. Looking forward to seeing you all!

Now on to pacing Nick. Nick is coming off a stellar WS, where 1 year ago he burst onto the ultra scene. Not really in my eyes cause around here in Colorado he was layin down some fast times before then, but to people outside of Colorado WS 2010 was his welcome party. He will be tired, I know, but Nick is tough and laser focused. Coupled with my course knowledge we will be fast from Telluride in, I know it. So Nick if you're reading, here is what your looking at for splits:

• Telluride to Chapman 3 hours (9 myles) - one climb that looks like Hope pass outbound
• Chapman to KT 2.25 (7 myles) - two tiered climb up and over Grant-Swamp
• KT to Putnam 1.55 (5.5 myles) - 3 tiered climb +1 short stout climb
• Putnam to Finish 1.05 (6 myles) - downhill to the highway and then rolling to the finish.

Karl's probably looking at these splits saying "hmm looks very similar to my 09..." Well they are Karl! This was the year you finally put a blazing finish in this direction, other years you have struggled in this section (Telluride to KT).

Last, my week was packed with burritos, beer, burgers, and bon-bons. I think my body was ready to run by Wednesday but the mind didn't come around till Saturday so it was no rush. Here's what that looked like:

Monday - nothing

Tuesday - zilch

Wednesday - nada

Thursday - nope

Friday - negative

Saturday - 9 myles Coyote Ridge - slow and steady

Sunday - 9 myles HR backcountry - fun, happy to be on the trails.

Total - 18 myles, 2 hrs 26 mins, 2230 ft of climbing.

Alright my friends and family, have a happy and safe 4th of July. Kinda weird not being in Silverton for the greatest fireworks display on the earth.

Me and my cool boys

Western States 21:18 58th place

Well THAT didn't turn out how I wanted. It never does and that's the luring part - you just never know. Just check out this video clip of the finish and that'll be enough to tell you that everything turned out a-OK.

It's been a ritual for me in 100s to bring my boys across the finish with me. They watch me all day and support, I want them to enjoy in the celebration of finishing one hundred myles. What I've always said "finish what you start" and I have to lead by example. Here's my story:

Western States was my big peaking race for 2011. I went into the race very well rested, with a week prior in Lake Tahoe, and some solid training courtesy of Lucho. I have never felt so prepared for any one race and with the stiff competition I knew I would have to run my best to crack the top 10. I really do like the highly competitive races because it tends to bring the best out in me. All year I've gone to the races that have attracted the best runners just so WS was not a star-studded shock to me. Must have worked cause I felt right at home towards the front right out of the gate.

Climbing up to the escarpment my legs and lungs were working beautifully, running just behind Hal for most of the time. I settled into around 10th place and once we got onto the snow I felt absolutely alive - I was buzzing! Mike Foote and Ryan Burch soon came on me and we took a back seat to the front pack with our mini-pack. Our strides and leg speed are very similar so I felt very comfortable with our pace. We stayed this way all the way through Mosquito Ridge aid when, to our surprise, we were in the lead.... wait. What?! Mike Wolfe, Killian Jornet, Nick Clark, Dave Mackey, Timothy Olson, and Hal Koerner apparently got off track for about 12 minutes and slowly came up from behind. But to even add more confusion, I had a drop bag at Mosquito Ridge packed with EFS liquid shot, they tell me they have no drop bags there... What?! I took off with some GU and brownies from the aid totally confused. Still don't know how that happened. As the leaders passed us our the Robinson Flat loop it broke up our mini-pack as Ryan and Mike sped off a bit in front of me.

Now I'm running just behind PI teammate Timothy Olson through Dusty's corner and Last Chance. I feel amazing and debating whether I want to speed up or not... I decide to hang behind Timothy, good choice. At the Last Chance aid they weighed us and I was down 11 lbs, so the scale says. They weighed me on another which only put me down 7 lbs, still concerning because I was eating and drinking very well. I decide to take 2 S caps, hoping that will make me drink more for the heat to come. Timothy and I descended into the Devils Thumb canyon and the minute we started uphill I became very weak. No power. For me that's a big deal because my strength is climbing... "just get to the top and suck down more fluid and food", I said under my breath. A few people passed me, not concerned in the least bit cause it always comes back around. I got to the top and now was nauseated. Ironically, I sat in a chair next to Geoff Roes who was not feeling it. We commiserated briefly as I chased Tracy Garneau out of Devil's Thumb. Not much better getting out of El Dorado canyon either, still climbing very weak and spent a few meters with Geoff again.

Now into Michigan Bluff and so far there was virtually no heat. This was probably a very mellow year for heat because from what I can recall I was in the shade most of the time with upper 80s, maybe a tad bit past 90 in the bottoms. I finally see my family at Michigan Bluff and it was a relief and a spark. I again sat in the chair next to Geoff, talked with my crew, and I was off. I left with Joelle Vaught and we ran together all the way to Bath road. She looked and sounded great but later heard she had to drop. It's been a few hours now and I can't seem to shake this overall malaise. I just had no energy, did not want to talk, but eating and drinking were fine.

Up until Foresthill I did not know what to expect so everything seemed really long. I've paced twice before from FH to the finish so I knew what I was in for and the way I was feeling did not look forward to it. PI teammate Josh Brimhall came out to pace me and I was thrilled because he had paced me at the Bear and knows how to motivate and get conversation going. Josh, once again, did an amazing job doing the Scott Jaime shuffle-ball-chain. Patient but yet persistent. I know he didn't sign up for 9+ hours but that's what he got - a few bonus hours at no charge. Thanks Josh.

Going along the river was probably the worst I had felt all day and if I could get out of that canyon to take a ride back, I probably would have. We were doing 20 minute miles! And Josh would say, "alright Jaime that one was kinda slow, we need to make the next one at least a 15 minute mile on this flat section" And I would reply with "meh." That's all I could muster. I think it was at Peachstone where I ran into Thornley and we were both in the chair totally miserable. We both made it to the river about the same time and I got to ride in the boat with him and his brother. Earlier in the week the Jaime's spent time with the Jones-Wilkins and now I get to ride the boat with Thornley - both names that are synonymous with WS. Great experience.

OK so now I'm going up to Green Gate I get actually get a little spark. Hmmm... could this be the turn around? I also knew I'd be seeing my wife and father in law so that also gave me a little motivation. Must have given me something because I ran all the way to ALT... OK well 99% of it. It was a shuffle but my trustworthy pacer told me I was crack-a-lackin below 10 on a few of those myles. I should have never sat down in that chair at ALT because after that my legs were stiff boards. I had lost any mojo that had returned.

15 myles to go and I was a hurtin' unit. I really don't remember much beyond the slew of people passing. In particular, Roch Horton passed with his runner Helen Cospolich and he is such an amazing motivator. The way he says things makes you not want to let him down. He tried to get me going but it just was not happening. Well, I'd say I ran about 10 steps till his light was out of sight and then I walked again. Thanks Roch for trying. Into and out of Brown's bar, Hwy 49, and no hands with nothing really to add. At this point it was all about getting done to see my family.

And I knew my family, including my boys, would be there waiting. That was enough to give me the strength to get to Placer High School.

Thank you to all who support me. In particular, my wife and two boys who are always by my side, my trustworthy in-laws who love this sport as much as I do, and my parent's who support and watch my every step. You know I cannot do any of this without all your support. It's going to be one hell of a good time in France! Also big kudos to Kody and Cassie from PI and Aric from Smith Optics who came out to cover WS and support the team! Thanks guys! I had high expectations and I know some of you did for me as well. I am bummed but there will be another day. Everything happens for a reason.

Congratulations to all who toed the line! It takes a lot of preparation and guts to be there, whether you finished or not, it is admirable. And special congratulations to my Pearl Izumi teammates Nick Clark (3rd) and Timothy Olson (6th) for their amazing runs! Honored to be part of the PI team with them.

And a quote to leave you with: The more you learn, you learn the less you know. The more you think you know, the less you learn.