Chimera 100K

On Saturday, November 19th, at first light, the Chimera 100K began. The day started out overcast, and slightly chilly. It was perfect running weather. I had a goal for the day to break the top time on the course of 14 hours and 20 minutes. My plan was simple: start out easy and just keep a steady pace throughout the race. At the end of the first 10 miles I was sitting in about 19th place and felt good with that knowing that others may have started out fast. At around mile 13 we began a decent of nearly 5 miles and 2500 feet elevation loss. The trail was a single track, rocky, and technical in some spots. I was able to catch two runners through this section. The next section is where the climbing of the race really began. We ascending roughly 3,800 feet in 7 miles. Again, I was able to pick off a few more runners. By the next aid station at 30 miles, I was sitting in 7th place. So far my strategy was working and I was still feeling really strong. The next section of the course was another long downhill. While downhills may seem like a rest, they begin to take a toll on your quads. During this decent, I was able to pick up one more place and move into 6th. For the next 12 miles, he and I would trade positions which helped the miles pass a little quicker. Following the downhill section was a 3 mile single track climb that seemed straight up. I took it easy here, knowing that all the elevation I gave back on the downhill would have to come back. For the next 14 miles, we ascended the 3,700 feet back up to the 5,500 foot peak. At the aid station at mile 48, I was still sitting in 6th place. I knew that I had better pick up the pace or I will never catch the other runners. As night fell, the course took us down a very steep and technical single track. A few times, I nearly ran off the trail due to the slippery rocks and sand. Night also brought on the cold. All day we had been running in and out of the clouds and through intermittent light rain. Thankfully I picked up my vest at the 48 mile aid station. Once down the steep single track, it was back on to the fire road for the remainder of the race. Still sitting in 6th, I pushed up each hill and began to wonder if I made my move too late. The miles continued ticking away and there was no one in sight. No headlamps in the distance, no signs of leaders anywhere. As I headed up to the second to last aid station indicating 5 miles to go, I ran into 5th place. Once he saw me he took off. I quickly filled my water bottle and took off after him. I seemed to be gaining ground on him on the uphills, but once we hit the downhill, he pulled away. At night, I have a very difficult time with depth perception and the rocks made it tough even with a bright light. I plugged away as best I could, getting frustrated at myself, but chose to be cautious rather than end up with an injury that could take me out for a long time. To save time, I blew through the last aid station. I figured with only 2.5 miles to go, I wouldn't need anything. With a mile and a half to go, the trail became asphalt and I picked up the pace again. Unfortunately, I had lost too much time. The final section was single track, and I had a great time running through it to the finish. I finished in 5th place with a time of 13 hours and 22 minutes.
At the Start/Finish line, they were grilling up cheese burgers and I could not wait to get my hands on one. After eating energy gels, and PB&J's all day, I knew it would be a real treat. However, once I stopped running it got real cold, so I headed to the car to change and warm up. I got into my beanie, jacket, and warm Mountain Khakis and headed back out to get my burger. As I imagined, it was fantastic!

Kudos go out to all the volunteers at the aid stations. The food selection was incredible and they were willing to help in any way possible. They even had warm quesadillas!

Final Thought:
Leading up to the race, I thought a time in the 13 hour range would be what it took to win, however, the competition was tougher today. Overall, I was very happy with the race. I felt strong all the way to the end and accomplished what I set out to do. Success is not always winning, but setting a goal and accomplishing it.

6 Days and Counting

My next race is the Chimera 100K located in the hills between Riverside and Orange County on November 19th. Touted as one of the toughest 100K's in the nation, you are either running uphill or downhill, no real flat spots in between. Much of the course is also run on technical single-track, so mental awareness is key especially later in the race when you are tired and sloppy.
My training up to this point has not been where I have wanted it to be, however, with a short 13 miler yesterday, the legs felt really strong and fresh. I am hoping that my endurance is there though. Last weekend I ran a 23 miler with nearly 4800 feet of elevation gain and felt good as well. That was my longest such run since September. There is not much more I can do training wise from this point until the race. As they say, "the hay is already in the barn." Now is the time to get mentally prepared and get plenty of rest.

Currently the course record is 14hours and 20minutes. This shows you how tough this course can be. The weather forecast right now shows rain on the day of the race. While I enjoy running in the rain and the cooler weather, this will add yet another difficult element with the mud.
I have been looking forward to this race for the good part of the year and am excited to see what this race will throw at me.

Endure the Bear 50K

When I woke up the morning of the race in Big Bear, I could just feel the day was going to be perfect for a race. After my shower and bowl of oatmeal, I headed out the door. Dawn was just breaking and the air was nice and crisp. As I started my drive from Fawnskin and around the lake to the Village, it began to sprinkle. This confirmed my feeling of a great day to race. While the start of the race was dry, the great day feeling held true. From the start, the climbing began. I kept it easy and "cruised" up the first climb. Near the top was a King of the Mountain banner for the 30K runners. At this point I picked up the pace and continued on through the first aid station. From this point until about mile 26, I ran alone. To my surprise, everything felt great. That is until I hit a long single track climb that I thought was much shorter. Feeling strong, I pushed the climb, but it continued on, and on, and on. Realizing too late that I just made a grave error, I slowed down. At the top of the climb, my legs were burning. I decided to take the pace down a notch to try and recover. About three miles later, 2nd and 3rd place caught up to me. I had no choice, but to pick the pace back up a bit. Not feeling like I recovered much from my mistake, I pushed on and stayed ahead of 2nd. On the single track decent, I kicked a root, slid and rolled. This seemed to be the last wheel to fall off. From here I struggled to keep the pace up. We had to run the long single track climb that I made my mistake on earlier for a second time. This time I would take it easy. Well, really, I had no choice but to take it easy. By now, first place was out of sight and it was me and 3rd. I was able to put a small gap between me and 3rd on the climb, but not enough to gain back the 1st position. The remainder of the race was survival. I kept my pace as respectable as I could for the final decent. At the last turn, I looked across and saw that 3rd was not in sight. Believing I had 2nd lock up now, I was going to cruise in, however, something told me not to. I picked up the pace slightly. As I got closer to the finish, I picked it up again. When I heard cheering behind me, I thought,"should I be worried", but I didn't hear footsteps. I still picked up the pace a little more. As I was crossing the finish line, now I heard footsteps! 3rd place was right there! I still crossed the line ahead of him by a mere second!
When I crossed the line, both of my boys were right there. They came running up to me, excited as could be, yelling, "Dad! You Got Second!" They grabbed me and hugged me. This brought tears to my eyes, seeing my boys so excited.
My goal for this race was to place in the top three. I placed second and couldn't be happier with that.

New Challenge

What crossed my mind as an idea for a new challenge has lead way to a plan for that challenge. On my run in Big Bear this past weekend, I ran a trail that took me to Grays Peak. Upon my arrival, I took a picture of this sign and soon my mind began to churn.
Background on the Seven Summits of Big Bear:
Upon Jordon Romero's (youngest person to ever climb Everest) return from climbing Everest, he inspired the challenge in his home town of Big Bear for residents and visitors to climb the seven summits of Big Bear. These trails were organized and researched by Mountain Fitness Center and Big Bear Valley Trails Foundation. The website can be found by clicking here.

My challenge:
To run the Seven Summits of Big Bear in the shortest amount of time. Ideally, I would like to complete them in 24 hours, however, logistically it may not be able to be done since there would be a bit of drive time between some of the trail heads. Therefore, the goal is to set the speed record.

Summits        Elevation Gain      Miles        Peak       
Grays Peak           1170                   6.5          7920
Bertha Peak          1397                  7.0           8201
Gold Mt                1365                  8.5           8235
Delamar Mt           1538                  9.0          8398
Butler Peak           1435                  12.0         8535
Sugarloaf Mt          2552                  10.0         9952
San Gorgonio        4619                  24.0        11499
Totals                  14076                77.0     

When:
Since winter is not to far away, it will have to be within the next two months or summer of 2012. I am shooting for sooner than later.

I will update as plans begin to unfold/come together. 

Race Reports (Part 2)

Nanny Goat's 12, 24 hour and 100 Mile - This race was run on a mile loop around a horse ranch in Riverside, CA. The runner could choose between three race options. A 12 hour, a 24 hour, and the 100 mile race. I had initially chosen to do the 24 hour, however, the day had other plans for me.
I started out feeling great and was running at a fairly quick pace, keeping the leader in sight. The heat of the day started to set in around 11am and I was not hydrating and consuming enough salt like I should have. My shirt was covered in salt from my sweat. Little by little, my calves would begin to cramp with any slight misstep and I tried to increase my fluid and electrolyte intake. Unfortunately, it was not enough and at around 45 miles, my calves would cramp so bad that I was on my tip toes. I kept moving though knowing my crew (wife and boys) would be there soon with pizza and snacks. I made it to 50 miles just as they arrived. I took a seat in the dreaded chair, ate some pizza, drank a soda, drank a bottle of water, and took some more salt tabs. When I had felt like I sat long enough I got up to begin running again, but no go. I retreated to a horse stall, laid down on the hay, and rested. I stayed there about 15 minutes, consumed another bottle of Heed and began to feel better. I got up and felt good enough to continue. I walked the first mile back just to be sure the cramping was gone. After that, I began jogging, then running again. I was amazed what a 25 minute rest did for me. Although, still not feeling 100%, I was back out there! As the night wore on, I developed a blister at about 12am. I stopped, lanced it, put on 2nd Skin, and changed shoes. Good to go, I continued on until about 4am when I hit 100 miles. Knowing I just finished that race in 3rd, I decided to stop. I finished the 100 in 20 hours and 19 minutes. Even though I may have been able to continue on for another 3+ hours, I felt that I had overcome some tough obstacles and learned a real big lesson abut hydration and nutrition. While I did not set out to just compete in the 100, I was really happy with my time considering the extended stops I had to make. Once again, my crew was invaluable.
I need to mention that Skyler ran 19 miles, and Dakota ran 17 miles throughout the night. So proud of my boys. Oh, and they are only 7!

Race Reports (Part 1)

It has been quite sometime since I last posted on my blog and much has changed, yet not much really has, if that makes any sense at all. Since my last post about the Rocky Road 100, I have run the LA Marathon for Ability First Charity, severely twisted my ankle at the Old Goat 50 mile, ran two more ultras, and ran a trail marathon. Rather than going into a full in depth race report for each, I will give the brief highlights of each.

La Marathon 3/20 - I have always said I would never run the LA Marathon; just too many people for me. However, through my wife, I was asked to run it for AbilityFirst, a charity that provides services and programs to help children and adults with disabilities reach their full potential. How could I turn that down. What a great organization! Thinking of those they are helping, arriving at Santa Monica at 3:30am and catching the shuttle to Dodger Stadium at 4am for a start time of 7:20am, seemed like the least I could do. As many of you know, the day was really wet. It rained nearly the entire time and in addition to stomach issues, I "gutted" it out. Not only did I take a tour of LA, but also of the many port-a-potties along the route. I finished in a time of 3 hours and 22 minutes. Not great, but not bad considering all things leading up to the race and during.  When I finished, even though freezing cold, I would recommend doing this event at least once. What a great experience.


Old Goat 50 mile 3/26 - This was a race I had been looking forward to. It was a real tough trail race with a lot of elevation gain, single track, and stream crossing. With all the rain we had, there was also snow on the course at the top of the mountain. Unfortunately, 2 miles into the race, I rolled my ankle to the point I heard a pop. It immediately began to hurt and I could feel it swelling up as my shoe became tighter and tighter. I thought that I would run to the first aid station and assess the damage there. Well, 9 miles later, I arrived at the aid station. I pulled off my shoe and sock and my ankle looks as though someone stuffed a golf ball under my skin when I wasn't looking. I tried to put my shoe back on, but it did not fit too well. I had it checked out and agreed with the advice of Scott Mills to pull out here. While I was disappointed at my first DNF in an ultra, I was happy later on that I did not continue on. It took me a good week before I could run again.


Chino Hills Spring Series 10 mile Trail Race 4/02 - I decided to enter this race for two reasons. The first was because it was right in my back yard. The second was to see how my ankle felt in a race situation.The course was set up very nicely; two loops with a short section of single track and some nice long hills. I taped up my ankle really well before leaving home. I knew that the downhills and single track would give my ankle a tough time, so I wanted to be cautious. During the race, a group of about 4 of us went off the front. I was feeling pretty good, but hung back behind the first two guys. I wanted to let them set the pace. At the top of the first steep incline, all four of us were still together. As we hit the downhill single track, we began to split up. On the second loop incline, it was just two of us. I still stayed behind, looking for signs that he might be fading. None were evident. By the start of the downhill had a slight lead on me. Once we hit the single track, I had to slow down to be careful not to roll my ankle again. Once on the fire road, the pursuit began. First was in sight, and with each turn, I could see I was gaining. Unfortunately by the end, I had not gained enough and ran it in for 2nd. My ankle felt fine. Not much pain at all. I was confident I could begin my training regimen again. 


PCT 50 Mile 5/07 - This race is run on the Pacific Crest Trail and is an out and back type course. It begins at 3000 feet and the turn around is at about 6000 feet in elevation. With the ups and downs, there is a total of 7,500 feet of climbing. Throw in some rocky single track sections and you can say it is not the easiest course out there. I started feeling pretty good. I did not want to be in the lead pack, but wanted to keep them in sight and that is what I did for the first 20 or so miles. Temperatures began to climb as the race wore on and with the elevation, I was not taking in enough fluids. I began to really cramp at mile 28. I tried to increase my liquid intake and walked for a long time. I dropped from about 7th place to 16th place. When I was past by 16, I began to run again. I started to feel better, but still not 100%. Any slight misstep and I would cramp up, however, I kept running. Surprisingly, my pace increased and I began to start passing people again. I wasn't quite sure what place I was in, but all I knew is I wanted to keep going and finish. An unfortunate event happened with 9 miles to go. I was running down a narrow single track, kicked a rock, a went down hard. I was carrying 2 handheld water bottles which exploded upon impact. I got up as quickly as I could while 2 runners passed me. They asked if I needed anything to which I declined, because the next aid station was only a quarter mile away. I made it to the aid station, cleaned myself off, grabbed some brownies, and heded off with 2 refilled water bottles. The last part of the run seemed to take forever as I was running extremely cautious on the down hills. The finish finally came, and I place higher that I thought. I was happy to see I had a top 10 finish.....barely.. 10th.


I have a few more race reports and will put those up tonight. Thanks for reading!

Rocky Road 100 Race Report

I woke to the sound of pouring rain at 3:30am on the morning of the race. I was surprised that I had slept through the night! I thought for sure I would be up off and on throughout the night like a child waiting for Christmas morning. So I got up, took a nice warm shower, got dressed, and ate my normal breakfast of oatmeal. By this time the whole house was a buzz. My crew was as excited for the day as they would have been getting ready to go to Disneyland. At about 4:45am, with fresh coffee in hand, we jumped in the car and headed to Coto de Caza for the start. The rain was light, but constant for the whole way there, so I knew the start would be wet. I was feeling nervous, the day was actually here!
We arrived at about 5:20am, giving me plenty of time to double check everything and to get my drop bags set at the right place. The rain clouds not only brought the wet stuff, but also a later first light. This was sure to delay the start slightly, but the race directors did a great job keeping everything moving.
We started at about 6:10am. My fears, doubts, nerves, all disappeared. I began the race not worrying about getting to the front of the pack, there would be plenty of time for that. Besides, my main goal this day was to just finish. I actually had three graduated goals for the day: 1. to finish, 2. to finish under 24 hours, and 3. to finish under 20 hours. Number three was my most ambitious goal, but I believe in setting one high goal to push myself.
I settled into a nice easy pace with two ulrarunning veterans Catra Corbett and Joe Kisner. I knew they wouldn't go out too fast. It continued raining for the next hour or so, then stopped. I ran with Joe and Catra for the first 7.5 miles to the Fire Station aid station. This was our turn around point for each lap. Here, I checked in, grabbed a Hammer gel, a banana, said hi to my wife and boys, threw them my rain jacket, and took off. My aid station strategy for the day was minimize my time at the larger ones and to skip the smaller ones. The course had aid stations every two and a half miles. Each loop was 15 miles; 7.5 miles out, and 7.5 miles back. I figured with carrying a waterbottle and a gel or two, I would be fine skipping the others and only hitting them at 7.5 miles. I continued on my pace of 10:10 per mile. This was a little faster than I wanted average. This meant that I was running at about a 9:30 pace and walking the hills. Everything felt fine though, so I kept it up. At the end of the first lap, I was ahead of schedule. I felt like I had just started running (with the exception of some very soggy and muddy feet) and I was 15 miles in. I grabbed an energy gel at the aid station and took off. After sucking down the energy gel, I noticed that my heart rate began to elevate past 150. This was too high for this early in the race. I figured out that the energy gel had caffeine in it and was most likely the contributing factor to my elevated heart rate. This caused a little concern, but I knew I had my own supply of gels that I used in training and work well for me.
During my second lap, I picked up Jerry, a runner from Medford, Oregon. We would share stories and run with each other for the next 20 miles or so. For both of us, this was our first 100 miler, so our goals were very similar. Running with someone really helped the miles past. Unfortunately, he had to stop and change socks due to the amount of sandy mud in his shoes and we parted ways there. At the end of my second lap, I was able to find some energy gels without caffeine. Here I met my crew (wife and boys) again. She asked if I needed anything, and I put in my lunch order of a Canadian bacon and pineapple pizza. The next lap continued with sunny weather, but the course was getting sloppier with all the runners on it. My shoes were performing flawlessly. No mud build up and they were draining water like a charm. At 37.5 miles in, I was still feeling really good, but I did not take that for granted. I continued to run my own race and stick to the pace I had set out to do.
At mile 45, my lunch awaited. I wolfed down one slice of pizza and took one to eat on the run. It sure hit the spot a few miles down the road as I was starting to feel some tiredness set in. By mile 50, the pizza was working, but now in the wrong way. My stomach began to do backflips and I wasn't sure what to do. At the 52.5 mile aid station, I grabbed some pretzels, quarter banana, a salt tab, and refilled my bottle. Hoping those may help I continued on. On the 5 mile gradual climb back to the start/finish aid station, my stomach continued to churn like the mud beneath my feet. My combined pace had now dropped to 10:39 per mile and my left calf began to cramp. I was still a head of schedule, but dropping nonetheless. Once I reached the start/finish aid station, my stomach began to settle.
Now at mile 60, I was beginning to fell good again, however, with the cramping, I thought it best to put on my calf compression sleeves. Earlier my wife had asked if there was anything I needed, so I asked that those were ready for me to put on. Surprisingly, I was able to remove my shoes on my own to put on the calf sleeves. So many articles I have read and videos I have seen, show the runner's crew like a pit crew at NASCAR changing tires. Being able to take off my own shoes made me feel strong and like I had plenty left. This was a major ego booster! Ahh, the little things. I knew there would be peaks and valleys throughout the race and I just went through  a valley. This gave me confidence to get through another valley if it came.
Mile 60 through 75 was an amazing lap. At mile 64, I caught up to 4th place. He looked back and graciously told me "you got it, go ahead," but I wasn't ready to pass yet. I was running my own pace an did not want to push it. Eventually, I passed him at around mile 66. We exchanged encouragements as I went by. He was a great competitor. Upon reaching the turn around aid station, the volunteers there told me I was in 4th place and 3rd had just left. I knew that the runner in 3rd was an experienced ultrarunner and I said "yeah, but if I catch him he will take off." I continued on and about 2 miles further, I caught 3rd place. I cautiously and respectfully passed. I began to feel an amazing feeling. Here I was in 3rd place now, feeling strong still and nearing 70 miles! That feeling propelled me for the next 5 miles to the start/finish aid station.
At the start/finish aid station, my wife gave me a menu of food from El Pollo Loco. I chose a steak taco and rapidly ate that.
Leaving my 75 mile check point, I was amazed to think that I was going to finish and maybe even place. I ran strong for the next 5 miles, even though darkness had set in and it began to hail. The hail only lasted for a few minutes, but the cold would go on for the rest of the night. Back in my rain jacket and warmer gloves, I felt good. At mile 80, another valley came. I didn't hurt, I didn't feel sleep deprived, but I felt depressed. On the verge of tears, I pressed on. I prayed that God would give me strength to finish. By the time I reached my final Firestation aid station, my spirits had picked back up. I grabbed bananas, M&Ms, gels, Heed, and headed out. The next 7.5 miles was one of my slowest. I made the 5 mile uphill grind back to the start/finish aid station. Hoping to see my wife and boys there, I could not find them. While I figured they were nearby, I had to get moving for my final 10 miles.
Now 90 miles in, I looked at the clock; 17 hours, 9 minutes. I had planned on my final lap taking 2 hours, and I was well ahead of schedule for under 20 hours. Still, I didn't want to take it too easy as I knew 3rd place was not far behind. For some reason, the mud on this lap seemed deeper and wetter that ever before. Happy for my last 10 miles I slopped right through it. Once I reached the 5 mile turn around, I knew that all that lay ahead of me was 5 miles of gradual uphill. On the way back, I passed Ed Ettinghausen heading out for what I believe was his 4th marathon of the day. Ed is going for the World Record for number of marathons in a year. He had given me a lot of advice leading up to this race and made a prediction for the outcome.  He asked how I was doing and I told him. He said "see, I told you, you would place 3rd." I appreciated the encouragement, but knew the race was not done yet and I did not want to take anything for granted. I kept pushing on. Through the slippery mud and sloppy puddles I kept shuffling along. Coming up to the finish line, still running, I knew I had done it. I was completing my first 100 mile race! I crested the little hill, saw the start finish bridge, and crossed it at about 1:30am. There was no cheering section, my wife and boys were asleep in the car, but none of that mattered. I finished! Charlie and Debbie Alewine the race directors were of course the first to congratulate me. 19 hours, 14 minutes, 51 seconds. I woke my wife in the car a got a great big hug from her. The boys woke up excited. WE DID IT! As a family, we did it together. I was presented with my trophy and huge silver belt buckle. I later found out that the boys predicted I would get one of those trophies.
However, the story does not end there. Some funny things occurred as we drove home. I had read and heard that on the trail you begin to hallucinate in the late hours. This never happened to me, but on the drive home, now that is a different story. Fortunately, I was not driving. Had I been, I would have had to dodge all the mysterious animals and figures running across the street. Not to mention all the claymation people from Davey and Goliath dancing around in my head!

My overall experience was amazing. The support from my family was incredible and the friends and family encouraging me virtually through FaceBook was unbelievable. I achieved all my goals and then some. Thank you all who were a part of it. No matter how small you think your roll was, it was more than significant to me!

Two days to go!

Wow! I can not believe it is only 2 days until my first 100 mile race! As you know the weather for this weekend looks to be cold and rainy. This will add another element of challenge, especially if it rains through the night. Not only will the trail be soggy, but running through the night can also make the spirit "soggy".
All week I have been gearing up mentally. My taper has felt good and my legs could not feel any better (well maybe a little). Today I set out to run just 2 miles, but couldn't help myself and ended up closer to 3 miles. Lately, anything shorter than 6 -7 miles feels like a walk to the mail box.
Now with the element of rain and pretty chilly weather, I really need to make sure I am mentally fit. Part of being mentally fit is being physically prepared with gear and food. I seem to go through my list of things needed every day and I add to it. One item I had to add to the list was a real rain jacket. Normally I run in the rain with either a running vest or no jacket at all. Since it will be cold, I decided it was time to purchase a rain jacket. So, going through the list now, I know I have everything I will or may need. (Or at least I think I know I do....shhhhhh, don't tell Buddy!)
Last thoughts before.........
Have I trained enough? Hope so, maybe, maybe not, oh well we'll see.
Bottom line is that I have done all that I have done. I don't think I have ever gone into a race feeling like I trained enough or prepared enough and more times than not, everything has worked out fine. Come Saturday morning at 6:01am, all my fears will be gone and I will be doing it. 

Mountain Bikers 1, Buddy 1

Well, I am supposed to be tapering starting last week and going through this week, which means taking it easy. This morning though, I felt like a puppy that wanted to chase anything that moved. I started out my run at the entrance to Chino Hills State park and saw a mountain biker take off up the hill. In normal training, I make it a point to try and catch mountain bikers up the hills, but right now I supposed to be taking it easy. This morning for some reason, I just couldn't resist. I took off after him. It looked like he was making it a point to stay ahead of me, which made me salivate even more. I finally over-took him and kept on pushing it up the 1/2 mile climb. By the top I had put a good distance between me and him, but knew he would be coming up strong on the down hill. Feeling winded from the effort, I decided that I would take the rest of my 12 mile run easy. I continued down Lower Aliso Canyon and turned around at my halfway point to head back out. Once I reached the main road out, I saw a mountain biker coming down the main trail to head out of the park. I tried to resist, but couldn't. I started the chase up the road. He had a good lead on me with his momentum from the downhill, but I knew he would slow down on the steeper sections. Once the road turned back to dirt again, I began to make up some distance. I could tell he heard me coming because he started looking over his shoulder. Now the chase was really on! He knew I was there and he didn't want me to catch him. The flat sections, he would pull away a bit, but on the hills, I would gain again. The last section was the steepest and about 1/2 mile to the top. He was about 60-75 yards ahead. I knew I needed to kick it up to catch him now. I picked up the pace even more and started to close some serious ground. He looked back and picked it up too. At the top, he got me by about 5 yards. The final 1/2 mile out of the park was all down hill. He slowed down as if to let me catch up, but I wasn't going to push it on the down hill. It felt really good to get my heart rate up, and cadence up. I am really feeling in shape. Still I question; am I fit enough for 100 miles? We'll see.

Saturday's run was much more leisurely. I did about 13 miles with the majority on single-track. I even took some time to stop and take pictures! It was really cool to be back on the trails I used to train on with my mountain bike. The only not-so-leisurely part was the downhills. I took these opportunities to practice my downhill running. Yes, I actually have to practice running down hill. This is my week point, because I  just don't like running down hill. For me, I run more on my toes/forefoot. Running downhill like this will cause injuries and pains that can be avoided by running them correctly. I have really had to train my body to lean back some and land towards the heal of my foot. This has given me the ability to run the down hills much, much faster, and with less pain to my lower legs and knees. It has also helped me build stronger quads. In some of my first posts, I had talked about this, and I am finally getting the form down. Saturday's run just really cemented it in.
Everything really seems to be coming together and with less than two weeks to go, I am glad it is!


Speaking of everything coming together, I am still in need of 1 more pacer and 1-2 more crew members. If you are interested, please either send me an email, message me on FB, or post a reply here. I would really appreciate any help and I am sure you will have an interesting and good time.

The countdown has begun.

This past week began my recovery/taper period. A taper is when you start to cut back on weekly mileage to allow your body to fully recover from the weeks of vigorous training. For the last 5 weeks, I have felt as though I have been verge of being sick and getting injured. This feeling gave me confidence that I had been training properly and to the maximum my body would allow.
This past Saturday I decided to take a nice easy run into Chino Hills State park and explore some single-track. After the rains, the hills have become beautifully green and the once dry streams are now babbling again. The single-track I eventually ended up on was awesome. With the sound of the stream running next to the trail, not a sight of civilization anywhere, and critters frolicking all around, I felt like I was hundreds of miles from home. I had so much fun running this trail and was delighted at the occasional wet and muddy section. I finished up my run at about 10 miles and felt very refreshed. Sometimes when I am training, the focus is so much on the end goal that I forget about the fun runs and that is the big reason for a taper.
Sunday I took the day off. I actually felt strange to not have run a marathon or further, but my body needs to rebuild. Monday I ran an easy 6 miles. My legs, knees, lungs, everything felt great. I will continue with my recovery and taper until race day. I look forward to posting stories on some fun runs coming up.

I may be a little obssesive! New Balance MT101 review, La Sportiva Skylite review.

Since I have started training for ultras, shoes have become somewhat of an obsession for me. The picture above depicts my current quiver of shoes. Starting with the Black/Red and heading clockwise are:
Nike Air Pegasus+ 26 TR
Saucony Kinvara (Street Shoe)
Adidas Marathon 10 (Street Shoe)
Brooks Cascadia 5
La Sportiva Skylite
New Balance MT101
Why such the obsession? When my long runs started getting over 3-4 hours, my feet began to suffer. From giant blisters to blisters under my toenails, to black toenails, etc., I began to get serious about what I was putting my feet into. Then, when some of my runs hit the 8-9 hour mark, the little things that I ignored before became very hard to ignore past 4 hours. 
My first foray into trail shoes were the Nike Air Pegasus+ TR. These were everything I thought I wanted. Nikes were my favorite shoes when I ran cross country in school. They were also nice and cushiony. I found two problems though. First, I was running in a half size too small, and second, they had too much cushion. I was able to get about 350 miles out of these shoes before they broke down.
My next trail shoe was the Brooks Cascadia. A trail shoe that is known in the ultra world and a successful trail shoe. From the start I liked this shoe. A fairly low profile sole and a much lower and compact heal. While I had logged some big training runs of up to 52 miles, I felt as though these shoes had a little too much support. They didn't seem to let my feet move through their normal motion. Durability has been good though. I have about 350+ miles on them and they still have life.
The next shoe I picked up was the minimalist shoe from New Balance called the MT101. I read several reviews on these and many were saying that they were good for up to a half marathon (13.1 miles), but anything over that, there was just not enough cushion. I ran two runs in these of about six miles each and then ran 30 rough trail miles. These shoes were like wearing a comfy pair of house slippers. I am extremely impressed with the wear of these shoes. I now have over 100 miles on these shoes and the tread has shown little wear.
Lastly, I searched for a shoe for the RR100 coming up. I chose the La Sportiva because the course is all on well groomed horse trails. A ton of traction is not necessary and neither is a lot of cushion. The Skylites feature a build in scree guard which is helpful for keeping the gravel-like clay out of the shoes. These shoes were a little tight to start with. I did a couple of street 6 milers and the balls of my feet were sore. Regardless, I decided to use them last weekend. I ran 40 miles in them on the dirt and they felt great. These shoes are definitely a trail shoe and not a street shoe.
So you can see why there is such an obsession. Each shoe is different and has its own set of strengths and weaknesses. I have found the fewer "bells and whistles", the better. As of now, I will take 2 pairs of shoes to the Rocky Road 100; the La Sportiva Skylites and the New Balance MT101s.

Am I Ready????

Just under 25 days until the Rocky Road 100 and the typical doubts start to come into my mind.
Have I trained enough? Have I prepared myself mentally. Do I have the right shoes? Will I have the drive to finish? What if I get sick?
These are questions that start to rattle around inside my head as I begin to think of the upcoming race day. With less than a month to go, there is no amount of  "extra" training that I can do to help. If I try to "cram" training in, I will only be going backwards. Over the last 6 weeks, I have done a double marathon (52 miles) and 4 marathons on 4 consecutive weekends. I certainly feel I have put in the long miles, however, my weekly mileage total is less than where I wanted it to be.
Last Saturday, I had plans to do another double marathon. I began on the Rocky Road 100 course and completed my first marathon at 4:17:15. My legs felt surprisingly good and I had none of the muscle aches I normally have after completing a marathon. I started the second marathon strong and was pacing to complete it in 4 hours. At about mile 12 I stepped wrong on a downhill and had a sharp pain zing from behind my kneecap and up my quad. I nearly hit the ground! I was able to keep running, but every little uneven ground or downhill made it zing again. I kept the pace up though and virtually walked the downhills. I came through the start/finish (half way point) area and decided to stop and evaluate. Things seemed fine after a minute, so I started back out, but my knee was really tight. I ran another mile and decided with the advice of Charlie, the race director, to call it a day. My fear in stopping was that I would mess myself up mentally by not finishing what I set out to do. The only thing that kept me from going on was the thought that I could seriously injure my knee by continuing. So after a total of 40 miles in 6 hours and 19 minutes, I felt ok about my decision. On the drive home, the normal leg cramping did not occur that usually does. Where my legs tired? Yes, but not like usual. I think this has helped me get through the mental doubt of being in shape.
So, as I ponder the questions rattling around in my brain:

Have I trained enough? I believe I have trained enough to finish, and that is my #1 goal.
Have I prepared myself mentally? Well, I have 24 days to work on that.
Do I have the right shoes? I am a little obsessed with this one so I have a couple that I will take with me.
Will I have the drive to finish? That will be determined on race day. Right now, I believe I do.
What happens if I get sick? DON'T!

Shoes and Injury

One question that keeps coming up is "aren't you afraid of getting injured from running so much?"
People also ask advise on what to do about hip, knee, foot, and shin pain when they first start running. I usually direct them to take a look at their running shoes. What shoes are they wearing?

What I have found is most people are running in shoes that are way overbuilt and are controlling how their foot moves. I think we have become conditioned to think that the more cushioning the better. The problem is, most of these highly cushioned shoes have a very high heel and force you to run unnaturally. Now, I'm no expert at running mechanics, but have logged a number of miles in cushioned shoes and a number of miles in minimal cushioned shoes and feel a big difference. I have always been a forefoot/mid foot runner. In other words, when my foot strikes the ground on each stride, my forefoot/mid foot strikes first. If you were to look at the bottom of my worn out running shoes, you would find that there is little to no wear on the heels.

Take a look at this video. I'm no barefoot runner, but the video shows you the mechanics of the foot and running. And while I do not agree that we evolved over 2 million years into runners, I believe we were created that way from the beginning. Our feet are amazing in how much weight they can support and how much energy they disperse with each step. Nonetheless, a video worth viewing.

The second question I ask is "how old are your shoes and do you wear them besides running?"

Most people wear their shoes for running, going to the gym, working in the yard, and around town. What happens is that your shoes will develop a wear pattern from walking. The heel will wear at an odd angle and the forefoot will as well. When you go out and run, this wear will "force" your feet to follow that pattern. Running is very different from walking. Therefore, it is best to have a pair of shoes for running only.

Again, I am no expert on running mechanics and certainly not a doctor. I recommend you do some research though before buying your next pair of shoes. Also, go to a running specialty store and get advise. Unfortunately, your local sporting goods store typically does not employ running experts.

Answer to many questions.

It's obvious I have not been blogging lately about my road to ultramarathoning. The truth is, as my mileage has been increasing, other things have had to take a back seat. During this time of absence, I have had many questions arise from friends, family, and co-workers. With this, I thought that the best thing to do was put those most common questions out there and answer them. If you have a question that I did not address, please ask, I would be more than happy to answer it.

1. How do you balance running, work, and home life?
    A: There is no balance that I have figured out yet. My typical week day goes like this: I leave for work at 6am, work until 3:30pm, pick up the boys after work, go home and start dinner, and get the boys started on their homework. My wife gets home in time for dinner, we eat, then I shoot out the door to run. I usually get home in time to tuck the boys into bed at 8 or 8:30pm. I then shower and fall asleep on the couch. Saturdays are usually my long runs. I am gone before the family gets up and usually home by Noon. This is the day I will typically do anywhere from a marathon to 50 miles. Sundays I try to keep it short (15-20 miles), home in time for church and I spend the rest of the day with the family. We have always dedicated this day as a family day, so I try not to intrude on it as much as possible. The problem that has developed is very little interaction with my wife and things that need getting done around the house never seem to get done. My wife, who by all rights should be labeled as a saint, has not only put up with me and my "extremism" for 13 years of marriage, also figures out ways we can spend more time together. Each morning on her way to work, she calls me and we talk for that 20 minutes it takes her to get to work after dropping the boys off at school. While she makes the effort, I know that I must too.

2. Aren't you afraid that your knees, joints, hips, etc. are going to give out and become torn up?
    A. Nope! I believe that if you run properly and in appropriate shoes, you should not have these issues. The problem is that most people who have these issues are either running incorrectly, or are running is the wrong shoe, or are running in over engineered shoes. Many people will run and land with their leg fully extended causing a jolt to travel from their heal, up through the ankle, through the knee, through the hip, and into the back. Additionally, like any type of training, your joints will build up the necessary lubricants and cartilage needed. Our bodies are an amazing thing.

3. Don't you have to rest for several days after a marathon distance or beyond?
    A. If I did that, I would only run once a month! Again, our bodies are an amazing work. As you train for longer distances, your body becomes accustom to that and recovers quicker. I remember the first marathon I ran. I was beat, my legs could barely hold me up, and I hurt for a week after. In November, I did 2 marathons in one day. The first I ran at 4:41, the second at 4:35 on the same course. Three days later, I felt fully recovered. I brought those time up because the other question is: you must run them slow, right? While I am not a fast marathoner, my single marathon times are usually around 3:30 and done on trails.

4. You must eat anything you want, right?
    A. No, I don't. I still watch what I eat. I still limit my sweets, high fat foods, and stay away from fast food as much as possible. I also watch eating/drinking anything with high fructose corn syrup in it. This is actually a joke that goes around our house. Even my boys ask if things have high fructose corn syrup in it. However, after a 4, 5, or 6 hour run, I crave hamburgers and will have no problem eating one.

5. Do you take any supplements?
    A. Yes. After each run, I take protein. I also take multi-vitamins, glucosomine, and chondroitin.

Well, those are the top five questions I get, but there is still one that gets asked more than all the others.

Why do you do it? What makes you want to run that far?
    A. I do it because I enjoy being outdoors, on the trails and seeing the beauty of the world that God created. It is also a personal quest. I have always felt that I did sports because others thought that I should. This is a personal journey and I have learned a lot about myself. Not only am I learning how far I can push my body, but how I can be a better person. Sounds funny, I know. See, I do not run and listen to music. This gives me more time to reflect on things in my life; where I've been, where I want to go, how to be a better dad, and how to be a better husband.


I hope this has answered most of your questions, but if not, please feel free to ask more. I'd be happy to answer.