Not so weekly update.

Sorry it took so long to get my update in. I have been fighting a cold/flu since September 23rd.

I had a great long run on the 19th and did some exploring. I started at home, threw on my Nathan hydration pack and told my wife I would be in the hills somewhere. I took off down Butterfield Ranch Road and headed into the hills across from Hunter's Hill. This area is still an active cattle ranch (not the stinky dairy farms) with wide open spaces and an abundance of trails. I chose to stay on the main road knowing it would eventually lead me to the state park. At the first valley, the eeriness of the run began as I ran past a loan generator running on one side of the road and a trailer that obviously was not lived in on the other side of the road. As I continued up the road, I came to a plateau that was covered with cattle bones. This was obviously where the cows that did not make it ended up. Continueing on up the hill, I came to the crest and was greeted by a hawk circling overhead and squawking while off in the distance a pack of coyotes was yelping. At this point, I began to wonder if I should continue on. I quickly rationalized that it was still daylight, I felt strong, and the state park must not be that far away. Now running downhill into a valley, the eeriness continued. I saw to the left some old work vehicles and scattered abandoned oil rigs (or grasshoppers as I like to call them). As I reached the valley floor, I came across a small group of cattle that were more surprised to see me than I was to see them. They split up with three heading up the hill and the rest moving through the valley. As I ran up the trail, the cows would run off in front until they turned the corner, once I turned the corner, they took off running again. This went on for nearly two miles and kept me occupied trying to just get past them. Ultimately I reached the gate that stopped them from heading into the state park and we parted ways. Now in the state park, I contemplated going out further, but the sun was getting low in the sky and I really did not want to be out in the dark, so I headed towards home. Total mileage was 14.

The rest of the week was to be easy as I had another trail marathon scheduled for Saturday. I ran 6 on Tuesday the 21st and felt good. On the 22nd, I began to feel a little tired. On the 23rd, I barely made it out of bed. I had a fever, felt like a could barely move, and my body ached everywhere. At the urging of my wife, I went to the doctor after work. The doctor checked me out and told me I was run down and needed to rest Friday and not go to work. Of course, I asked if I could run the marathon on Saturday, to which she looked at me like "are you serious?" When she saw that I was, she quickly said "I don't think so."
I took her advice and rested for the next few days. Unfortunately, fatigue developed into the flu and knocked me out. I tried running a few times, but my heart rate was through the roof. This past Sunday, I ran and felt much better. The plan is to slowly resume my training starting today, but really listen to my body. I will use the "above the neck rule" which is if it is a head cold, you are OK to run. All in all, I think with the amount of hours I have been putting in at work, the busyness of the weekends, and my training took a toll. I believe this was God's way of saying slow down and rest. I have taken that to heart and have been more conscience of my work hours, especially if I am awaken at night with it.

I am looking forward to a good week and will come back slowly until I feel 100%. There is no use getting sick again or even worse, getting injured by coming back too quick.

Weekly Recap. 9/12-9/18

This week became a little hectic with work and the first full week of the boys being back in school. Training was difficult to fit in, but it may have been a blessing considering the marathon on Sunday. I am sure my body needed rest. I was able to get out on Tuesday and put in a little over 4.5 miles. I felt great and pretty strong. My body must have needed rest though, because I just could not get up early on Wednesday to run before work. With soccer practice for the boys in the evening that day, and back to school night, running was out of the question. On Thursday, I had an agent call off sick and had to cover that night. I worked from 6am-3:30pm, went home until 7pm and went back to work until 10am Friday morning. Needless to say, Thursday was out. Fortunately, on Friday evening, and having the most supportive and understanding wife, she encouraged me to go run. Although it was getting dark, I wanted to run in the State Park, however, when I arrived, the Ranger told me I could not enter. I pleaded and told her I was on only on foot, but she didn't budge. Therefore, I decided to make the best of it and run the hilly horse trails around. I got in 5 miles and felt pretty good.



The ridge on Aliso Canyon

On Saturday, I set out for a long run with some hills. I ran from home into Chino Hills State Park, which is about 2 miles of constant uphill. I ran down Bane Canyon and up Aliso Canyon Road to the top of the ridge. I followed that along for a few miles and turned back home. On the ridge, the view was gorgeous. I was above the fog layer that settled in between the hills. It looked like I could just run right into it and across the top. This run was truly an inspiring run and is the type that keeps me loving the sport. I felt miles away from the city and could not see a house, a car, a road, and for that matter, a person anywhere. It was just me, a tarantula, a coyote, some birds, and a few rabbits. What a way to end the week!
Weekly total:
50 miles
8 hours and 17 minutes

Sycamore Canyon Trail Marathon Recap

This Sunday, I completed my first trail marathon. I had initially signed up for the half marathon, but a few days prior to the event, I decided that I may as well do the full marathon. Going in, I knew trail marathons were a different animal than a street marathon, but what I did not know is that this was one of the toughest trail marathons in Southern California. The course was a 4 mile loop that we had to complete 6 times with a half loop to finish up the mileage. Upon arriving and meeting other runners, they asked if I had ever done this before. To which my answer was no, why? They pointed out that the hill in front of us was the start, and it continued on until we reached the top of the park. I began to reconsider the half marathon, but I was already committed to this and had some confidence because I have been running a lot of hills lately.
The race started very casually with the Race Director asking if everyone was ready and then said OK, go ahead. I could tell from there that this race was going to be run more like an ultra than a speed marathon. Knowing this, I started off slow, even though my legs felt fresh. I spent the first half of the first loop with Jim who was running the half marathon. He gave me some insight on the course and we chatted about ultras as well. Moving on I continued to take the first loop very easy and cautious. As Jim had mentioned, the single track downhills were rocky, off camber, and steep. These sure gave my quads a great workout. After finishing the first loop, I still felt strong and fresh, but knew I still had a ways to go, so I continued at an easy pace. At loop 3, I broke out the Gu "Chomps". I began to feel a little hungry at the end of lap 3 so I picked up a banana at the aid station and switched to Gatorade for laps 4-6. Upon heading out for lap 6, now 20 miles into the marathon, I began to really start feeling fatigued. I picked up another banana and headed back up the hill knowing this was my last full lap. On the backside of the lap, I tried a new gel called "Stinger". This was a little too sweet and mixed with Gatorade, made for a very upset stomach. For the remainder of lap I battled an upset stomach. At the final aid station, I filled my bottle with only water and set out. I met up with Ed, a veteran ultra runner, who did an early start for the marathon. He joined me up the final half lap. He was a great encouragement and really helped to pace me up the final 1.1 miles of up hill as well as kept my mind off my upset stomach. By the top, I felt much better and saw that I could possibly break the 5 hour mark. I took off down the hill, nearly missing turn offs. Upon my arrival at the bottom, the Race Director congratulated me on making it in under 5 hours. My final time was 4:59:55.
All in all, I met some great people, learned some valuable lessons, and had a lot of fun. Oh, and 1st place was nice too.
The numbers:
26.2 miles
5,874 feet elevation gain
4:59:55 time
148 Average HR

Weekly Recap 8/29 - 9/04

I started this week feeling good having just come off a 53 mile week last week. I had no real aches and pains that would cause any concern. The problem came the Friday night before my Saturday long run where I failed to hydrate and eat properly. I woke Saturday morning a little later than usual, lazed around a bit since the kids were away, and started at around 9am. In addition, the day was hot to start as well. I believe temperatures were around 100 by noon. I set out with plenty of water; using my new Nathan Hydration pack; and food. After about 4 miles of running, I stopped sweating and became very fatigued. Since I had chosen a very hilly course for this run, I thought it would be a great opportunity (excuse) to practice walking. The hills seemed relentless though and my muscles became sore. I continued to hydrate and ate some Gu Chomps, but nothing seemed to be helping. At a little over 6 miles, I decided to turn back. The run home was tough, and I finished nearly all of the 2 liters of water I was carrying and the remainder of the Gu Chomps. When I got in the front door, I sat on the stairs (now beginning to sweat a cold sweat), my vision went black and I lost all strength and slumped over. My wife quickly came with applesauce mixed with sugar and a bottle of Gatorade. Apparently my blood sugar was very low as well, because this helped quite a bit. Regaining some strength, I made it to the kitchen where I consumed more water, Gatorade, and Cytomax. Soon, I was feeling good enough for an ice bath which helped lower my body temperature and sooth my legs and joints. All in all it was an experience I did not want to have to go through again, but at the same time taught me a very valuable lesson on hydration and eating properly. It also gave my wife a glimpse of what it means to be a crew member and after that experience, I am confident she can handle anything quickly and effectively. She has a great gift of remaining calm in a crisis situation.

September 2nd, 2010

Yesterday I decided to run hills for my mid-week semi-long run. I started from my house and ran to Chino Hills State Park. The first 3.5 miles were all uphill and most of the 1350 elevation gain was done during those first 3 miles. Upon starting out, my legs felt fine, but after about 3/4 of a mile my left calf felt very strange. It wasn't quite a cramp, but it wasn't loose either. I have no real way to describe it other than it felt like a lump of muscle just bouncing around. Fortunately, after about another half mile, things felt much better. As I continued my ascent, I started to feel pain in my left ankle. I slowed and tried to "work" things out and it seemed to help. When I reached the top of my ascent, everything felt fine.............then came the steep down hills and technical single track. It wasn't to long before my ankle was hurting again. In addition, my toes were slamming the front of my shoe. No matter how tight I tightened my shoe, I could not stop this. It made me think that either there is something wrong with my left shoe or my foot. Nonetheless, I took the remainder of the downhills easy. Once back on the main trail, things began to get back to normal. It is about a mile and a half steady climb out of the park and everything felt fine. Unfortunately, the last mile and a half home was downhill and on pavement. I chose to take it easy and finished the run feeling good. Before heading to bed last night, I made sure I iced up both shins just as a preventative measure.
Upon waking this morning, I definitely felt the muscle fatigue from the hills. While sore and a little stiff, it felt good and reminded me of the days when I was training for track, cross country, and duathalons. I even felt excited thinking about this coming Saturday's 3 hour run.

Saturday August 28th.

Well, today is my 20 year high school reunion. The thought of being up early this morning, doing my long run, and being up late tonight and potentially dancing had me second guessing do this run. I decided that I needed the mileage.
I began this morning at 6 am to make sure I was home in time for the boys soccer practice. I ran from home through Chino Hills State Park to Green River and back. Started feeling a little tight, but soon loosened up. The outside of my left calf was a little stiff/tight. Throughout the run though it never really was a problem. Near the beginning of the trail, there were several training groups and the urge to go faster was great. I had to make sure I was keeping my pace and heart rate low enough though.I tried eating Cliff Blocks today. Not too bad and went down fairly easy. I can't tell if I saw any results. Possibly kept me from cramping. I finished the last hill feeling strong. Total ascent was 1688 feet in the 18 miles.

Week of August 23rd

I have begun my mileage build up this week and am dropping any speed work
(intervals) that I had been doing up to this point. Starting this week I felt rested and fresh. I think that is a good combination to begin the mileage build up, yet something I should be cautious of too. If I start too strong and run too much, I could risk overuse injury. I have a plan that I intend to stick to to hopefully get me to where I need to be injury free. I have set my target race for February 26-27, 2011. The race is the Rocky Road Endurance run in Coto de Caza. It is a 100 miles and while a little nervous about the distance, I am also very excited to get to my goal.

Sunday, August 1st

Today was a 3 mile pace run. I thought I would be feel pretty fatigued and stiff from the hills yesterday. I started out a little stiff, but within a quarter mile, I felt great. Ran my normal 3 mile route from my house, down Butterfield Ranch Road, and back. 21:27 minutes, 7:08 pace (including warm up).

Saturday, July 31

Decided to do my long run today as tomorrow is my wife's birthday and I don't want to be gone for a good portion of the morning.
I ran in Chino Hills State park. I selected a very hilly course. On one of the trails (Hills For Everyone) I passed 2 mountain bikers. The look on their face was great. Made me feel good too. I love to run hills. Had some technical single track mixed in as well. I still do not like running down hills much and would much rather run up or at least flat. That is just something I need to work on.
The greatest part of the run was just being out there, not seeing any houses, cars, or streets. The view was great. Something I missed when I used to Mountain Bike up there.
1 hour 45 minutes, 12 miles, 1784 feet ascent.

Thursday, July 29th

Set out for another tempo run. 30 minutes today. Legs felt heavy today for some reason and my left knee cap felt like it was out of place. When I got home, I stretched and sat on my heals, leaned back and felt a pop. It felt much better afterward. Taking Friday off.
30 minutes, 4 miles

Wednesday, July 28th

Today was an easy 3 miles. Felt good. Maximum Heart Rate of 145.

Tuesday, July 27th

Today was scheduled as an interval day of 8x800m. Since the track was busy with football practice and soccer, I decided to skip intervals (not that I don't like them) and go for a 5 mile Tempo run. I should be doing this instead of intervals anyways for Ultras, but I also want to be competitive in the half marathon in September.
I started out feeling strong, but held back. Slowly I picked up the pace until 10K pace at the last 1/3. Finished strong, felt refreshed, no real  pains. 35minutes.

The week of July 25th to July 31st.

Sunday, July 25th. Today was scheduled to be a 90 minute run. I wasn't worried about mileage, just time on my feet. Ran from my house, into Chino Hills State park, and down Bane Canyon to lower Aliso Trail. The steep uphills were giving my left knee a real sharp pain. Something I began feeling on my hill intervals last Tuesday. I shortened my stride and continued. At the end of the run, all felt good. 90 minutes, 11 miles, 1200 foot elevation gain.

Monday, July 26th. I had planned an easy run, but life sometimes takes over. My wife had a function after work, and I needed to be up at 2:30 am for work. Needless to say, no run today. Let's call it a rest day.

Well, I have made the decision to make it official. Let this be the first entry regarding my road to ultramarathon running.

Back in March of this year I decided to get back into running after a nearly 15 year hiatus from competitive running. Originally my goal was to qualify for the Boston Marathon within my first year back. I based my training and mileage build up on just that. The plan was to run a 5K in July, a 10K in August, a Half-Marathon in September, and my goal Marathon in January.

During my mileage build up, I reached 12 miles on my long runs, and it just seemed easy. On July 4th while in Las Vegas for a wedding, I decided to run Red Rock Canyon. Unfortunately, I was ill prepared for this run. I had eaten a few doughnut holes, an energy bar, and a couple of handfuls of trail mix for breakfast. Initially, I thought the loop was 10 miles. Later, upon leaving for the canyon, the valet at the hotel told me it was 13, and I thought, "ok, I got this. I am already running 12." Upon arriving at the canyon, I did my normal stretches, topped off my 16oz water bottle, and headed out. The road began uphill, and continued on a constant grade for 5 miles. At the top I spoke to a triathlete that had given me some words of encouragement on the way up. He said if I made it this far, the rest of the loop shouldn't be too bad. As I looked down at the valley, I thought, "ok, piece of cake, its mostly down hill and only 8 miles." So I started off down the road with about 7 ounces of water left in my bottle. As I continued on my journey, it began to get hot. The road rolled much more than I expected and the hills began to wear on me. By mile 10, I was out of water and beginning to bonk. At mile 12, I was completely out of fuel and walking/running. My hope was that I only had 1 mile to go. When I rounded the next bend, I saw the road.....the only problem, I could not see where I parked. My heart sank and I began to pray. Shortly after this discouraging sight God answered; a 4runner passed, stopped, and began reversing. They pulled up next to me and offered a bottle of water to me (I guess I really looked bad). I graciously accepted. I had thought about asking for a ride, but decided to finish what I started. At the 13 mile mark, a tour bus rolled up. The driver asked if I needed any water, but now I had a full bottle. She said they saw me from the beginning and the group in the bus did not think I would make it, but she said she knew I would. She said they were all amazed to see me there. She also asked if I had been in the military to do something like that to which I said "no, I just like to run." This was a huge encouragement and helped me get back to the car. Little did I know, that from the road to my car was another 2 miles! End of it all, I ran 14 miles and walked a grand total of 1 mile in about 2 hours. 

With the above experience, why on earth would I want to run farther? The answer; "I just like to run!"

Over the next several months, for those who are interested, I will be documenting my road to running an ultramarathon. From the cramps to injuries, to blisters, to victories over distances, it will all be here.

The reason for this blog?

I hope to encourage others to get out there and challenge themselves. Whether it be in running, other sports, or a life goal, I believe it is never too late to start.