Enjoying Taper.

With the start of Taper on Sunday it has been an easy week for sure, maybe too easy. I understand that you cut back your training volume but, humm.. you don't stop your training volume as I have seemed to have done over the last 4 days! So today, I will be 100% hitting the gym for some run time and weight time.

In other great news, I have been keeping busy on the personal work experience. I have my office officially set up, business cards are in and I have seen a couple of patients! It's slow now but hey, I am just starting out in the last 2 weeks so what can say. Rome wasn't built in a day. But in the mean time check out www.drjohnvigil.com It's the start of my web site and although it's pretty basic it is getting the idea across and at least there is some place to go when people ask me if I have a web site, other than this fabulous Blog of mine.

I can't believe next week is the 50 mile run!!!

Okay, I gotta get back to working..

rockon'

Weekend and Taper..

There is nothing better than TAPER !!! That's right, this is the first weekend of stepping back from the long long runs and heading towards a 3 week taper to Headlands 50. It has been a long early morning trail/road and all systems are go, ready or not, it's coming.

After getting the shorter run in today, I still have a back to back run tomorrow and although 10 is on the schedule I will look to get 13 as today was also 13. Then this coming weekend is 10 and no back to back run and then it's the biggie! I can't wait. What I also can't wait for is to complete this 50 mile run with a Great person, Antonette. She has been there for me in many ways out on the long training course and has encouraged, motivated and just plain made it Fun. I hope I have done the same for her as I definitely have respect and gratitude for the athlete and wonderful person she is. This too will be her 1st 50 mile event as well as a few others in our running group. Jimmy, is basically using this run as a trainer for his 100 mile run in Sept. So stayed tuned for it all.

As you see the book cover of Pam Reeds story, The Extra Mile. I started reading this a while ago and finally finished it today. It's a great story about her life and her Badwater and other running experiences. It's a good insight into her life and I found it a good read.

My office is up and moving, slowly, that is but hey it takes time right. Rome was not built in a day but things are happening and that I am proud of. Someday I will be even happier when I get some sort of a paycheck but until then.. I just keep working it.

Oh and in case you didn't notice, my side bar is counting down and yes, the 20 weeks of official Ironman training timer has started. Now, has JT? Only the running and hey, I'm in Taper! What a way to start your IM Training!! LOL.. Over the next couple of weeks I will be getting back to the pool and on the bike and especially after the 50 I will need that to recover, so Fear Not.. I SEE IT!

rockon`

Badwater Pictures

Badwater Day 2

One the start of Day 2, Tuesday, Molly was pretty much to the top of Father Crowley's Point and the sun was starting to come and show it's Hot self. By now she had been away for 28 hours or so. She was tired and her Achilles was still bothering her.

Once back on the road heading towards Panamint Pass which was about 10 miles from from Father Crowleys point (mile 80.2) there was still a little more climbing to do which was about 1300 feet over those 10 miles. It doesn't seem like much but then again, you are at 80 miles and 20+ hours of run/walking. Once passed Panamint pass it was heading to the town of Keeler that would bring some of the other high and lows.

As for the crew, we had all been pretty much awake this whole time with a couple of rest breaks and some were catching maybe 20 mins naps. The road from Panamint down to Keeler is a drop over the next 15 miles but the Negative of this drop is that you can see the road for about 20 miles or more and its really mentally demoralizing. Then you add in the heat again, this day, I was able to get some cell phone coverage and the temperature was 118*.

I was out pacing Molly when she came to the 100 Mile mark in the road. Molly had never gone longer than 100 miles and it was nice to see her break that record and continue on. The whole crew had stopped and come to the side of the road to cheer her on and congratulate her and take pictures. She needed it as she was already feeling bad from the head and we have given her a cold towel to basically wrap over her head and shoulders to keep the heat off her face. I called it her Tent, and she loved being in that tent for about 10 miles. After making it too Keeler things began to change. A few of us had drove out to Lone Pine and showered and ate dinner and went back out only to find that Molly had gotten sick again and was really off the pace of things for the belt buckle. This was the one and only time the crew's moral went down as we were all trying to figure out was to one, get her to eat; and two, get her to speed up! We needed time and at this point there just wasn't any to gain. But this is Badwater and at some point Bailey jumped out and just basically started making her speed up. Only sometime a great daughter and crew chief could do and she got it done. In just a short while she had made up about 20 mins. Molly wanted to stop in Lone Pine to freshen up before starting the finally climb up the Portal road but there was just no time for this and being as she is now 30+ hours of sleep deprivation and a great crew/crew chief they managed to get Molly to change in the car and freshen up there and then keep moving which was totally awesome b/c this now put things back on track and just a little ahead of the buckle cut off.

It was also dark by this time and with the cooler temps Molly just seemed to be picking up pace with Bailey who was taking her all the way into Lonepine about 7 miles away. At some point Molly realized she was leaning pretty severely to the left side, like a banana, and was worried about it to some extent. Coming into Lone Pine at mile check point 121 she asked me if I could give her an adjustment to push her back to the right but I had to chuckle and explain there was nothing to really do about that now and if she wasn't in any pain to keep moving and we would fix it later. She agreed and just kept walking.

Lone Pine is at mile 122 with an elevation of 3700 feet and goes up the Portal road to the finish line at 135 miles with an elevation of 8371, thats 13 miles of 4671 feet of climbing!! The roads are crazy. Put it this way. The winner in 23 hours and change even walked up certain portions of this road and there's pictures to prove it! So once Molly started up the road, we were quickly informed that there was a fire up on the mountain at one of the camp grounds but to keep moving, don't stop until told officially and be care with the emergency equipment. Soon we notice that a bunch of crew cars were coming down the mountain and all heading in town. Finally we got word they closed the 135 mile finish line and had moved it to 131 mile with an adjusted time cut off of 2 hours for the belt buckle, so now 46 hours not 48. After quickly calculating the pace, Molly was still behind this cut off by mins so once again it was get her and pacer to speed up. Before this could even happen Molly had been awake for 42 hours straight and she was basically falling asleep while walking and in order for her not to fall down and injur herself we had to give her a 10 min nap. She basically went to sleep so fast in the van that we had to pick her legs up and slide her in. After 10 mins we got her up and got her walking and she was better. The pace started to come down and at one point I was on duty and keeping the pace about 25 mins/mile. Basically we all did this and built a cushion going up that road.

Finally we figured we were about a mile out and the Mothership for the first time in 44+ Hours left Molly to go park at the finish line. We parked and all got out and waited just a few minutes and we could somewhat see Molly and Bailey coming up the road about 3/4 mile away and we all started walking down the road to bring her in. With a 1/2 mile left Molly was completely awake and you could feel the excitement. The energy from us all was so strong. She started to Thank us all and her appreciation and gratitude for getting her there. It was just unbelievable to feel the excitement and see her happiness on her so tired face and body. With just about 200 yards out, you could see the people at the tent stringing up the Finish Line Tape and we all said Molly you have to run! She said I don't think I can. Molly, you have to run!! Slow!! Just Run!! This is it!! We are all yelling and cheering. Molly you Lead US! and she DID! She started running and we all followed holding hands in a line and we raised our hands and SHE and the Crew crossed the Finish Line at 45 hours and 9 mins! The pictures were taken and we all hugged her!! Amazing!

The race director came over and put the finisher medal around her neck, spoke a little and congratulated her as well. Then from no where, there in his hands, was the Belt Buckle! Molly was just staring at it and he presented it to her with a great picture. She was so tired but so happy to achieve it! and we as a crew were just as happy we helped her get there! Next she got presented with a special hand made shirt from Indian cotton that was the Finishers Shirt! Once that was done she called us all into the circle, Just Like We Started With, thanked us all again, more than words could say. You could feel her deepest sincerity for all of us working so hard for her and to me that was the most special moment of the whole race. To feel her love and thanks for us all and that makes me so Proud of Her!! She is simply one of the best people I have met.

After this we quickly back into the Mothership and headed for the motel where it was bed time. Molly was pretty excited and filled with energy and talked and asked a lot of questions on the way down. Finally, it was off to sleep for about 6 1/2 hours, the first real sleep in the last 48 hours!

The next day we all had breakfast together, went up to Mt. Whitney as the original finish line had been moved back up to mile 135 around 7am and racers that finished at 131 were given the opportunity to start back at mile 131 and finish the last 4 miles, adding the time to there accumulative time. For Molly, she was 100% happy with her goal and time and no matter what 131, 132, 133, 134, or 135.. She is a BADWATER FINISHER!!

After touring Mt. Whitney and lunch we went to the post race party and then basically hit the road to come home. I slept pretty much the whole way and finally made it to my bed around 2 am.

The crew question we all had for Molly was would she do it again? The answer was "only if all the crew would agree to come back." I immediately said I would crew for any year!

The next question the crew was asked by Molly, "would do ever want to do Badwater?" On the first day of the race, the thought had already crossed my mind and I was thinking Yes, I would. Then on the second day when the race really started, I thought, WOW, I am just not sure I would want to push my body to those extremes. But at the finish, Molly changed everything I was doubt. I would want to Badwater, if I had a crew as good as she had and no less! Maybe some day.. You never know about a day in the life JT.

rock'

My Run before BW pt. 2..

Yesterday it was JT's time and friends to get there long run for the count down to Headlands 100 (50 miler for us). There was 35 miles on the books and that meant getting to bed no later than 6pm Saturday b/c we were all meeting at 1:30 am to run by 2 am to get it going before the Heat took over.

Once meeting up we were a little behind schedule but no worries as by 2:30 am we were on the road. There was only four of us, Antonette, and Donna and Jeramy, her husband. We made the first stop at the centered vehicle we scheduled, refueled and off we went running the Red Rock Loop which is the same loop I have bike rode before, and climbs from about 2200 feet up to 4700 feet in 6 miles ish! Not pretty but we got it done and completed the circle. I was having a few nutritional problems and it just seemed like I was not taking enough calories in and feeling like I had not energy. Finally back at the centered vehicle for pit stop #2, I was able to refuel and eat pretty good.

Once we started running again, now, all on trails where as the first 19 miles as all on road, I began to feel pretty good and have a good pace going till I decided to kick a rock with my shoe, go flying through the air, manage to pull off some Cirque de Sol move and stay upright but my left ab and right low back took a pull and felt uncomfortable for a little while and once that stopped than it was my right ITB that started showing up and annoyed me for about another 5 miles. Finally, it went away and we were all working up this nice 10% trail for about 2 miles when Antonette and I talked about how hot it had gotten and that we didn't really have enough fluid to continue around the mountain and that we would need to turn back sooner to refuel as attempting to conserve in the hot weather is not a good thing to do.

After talking with the others we all decided to turn back and as we started making our way back, I got really dizzy, again, needing food and just so happens Antonette brought some PayDays! Yes, it was so good and I was soon back on track. Antonette is great! Once about 2 miles out from the refuel I was completely out of fluid and it was about 105*! No shade and did I mention it was Hot! So now the running became a fast walk to try and get back to the car.

Once there I was basically Cooked and being as we were at 32 miles our plan was to run back down the road to make 35 but after the Heat I was done. Too long without water and overhead with a slight headache is my sign to not run anymore. Everyone else agreed that we were done for the day and all started recovering and cooling down.

Just goes to show how fast the Heat can take you out! Today, I am still tired and body is achy from head to toe but that's to be expected, it's 32 miles!

but guess what? It's TAPER TIME!!!

rockon'

Badwater Day 1.

Okay, this is going to take a couple of posts because there is a lot of stuff to cover and I don't want to skimp on it as Badwater and Molly deserve every bit of it. Just so we know, the starting line at Badwater, Death Valley, which marks the lowest elevation in North America at -282 feet below sea level. The race finishes at Mt. Whitney Portal at 8,360 feet about sea level. The course covers three mountain ranges for a total of 13,000 of cumulative vertical ascent and 4,700 of descent. Whitney Portal is the trail head to the Mt. Whitney summit, the Highest point in the contiguous United States. Competitors travel through places and landmarks including Mushroom Rock, Furnace Creek, Salt Creek, Devil's Cornfield, Devil's Golf Course, Stovepipe Wells, Keeler and Lone Pine.

On Sunday, it was breakfast at Egg Works with the crew and a few pictures before heading out. We were all excited and not really sure what we were in for. If you would have asked me at this time I would have said, Heat, little sleep, and some pretty hard roads. Little did I know it would become much more than that could even describe.

As we headed towards Death Valley, we stopped and took a couple of pictures along the way and soon my cell phone lost reception and I would not gain it back for 3 days!! Yes, no cell signal to be found, so the only communication is something they call a "pay phone"?? When we finally reached Furnace Creek, (yes, they call it this for one simple reason, can you guess?) it took a while to check into our motel. When I first stepped outside the car I was like, WOW, it's Hot! and it was only 10am. At this point it didn't feel any hotter than Vegas weather but then again it was only 10am. As we walked around the gift shop, ate a quick lunch snack and waited for the motel room it was soon time to head to race check-in. During this time, there was numerous vehicles pulling in and all had race numbers and names on them from various countries and it was quite evident that you were in the presences of great athletes, and Molly was sure one of them.

Heading over the race check in all went relatively quickly and smoothly. We saw Dean Karnazes and part of the crew took pictures with him. After Molly got all checked in we headed back to the motel area and ate lunch and finally got our rooms. We rested a while and then it was time for the Pre-race meeting for racers/crews.

We got there early enough to get in line and get a great seat up front. The meeting was funny and informative with all the rules and do's and don'ts of the race, all pretty basic but as the days played out there were several teams that didn't follow the rules! Cheaters!! (which became a joke on the 2nd day) After the meeting it was to the motel room to relax, eat dinner and get ready for the 4am wake up call. Lights out and next thing you know its 4am go time!

Monday, July 13

To start off, there are 2 vehicles in Molly's crew. The Mothership, which is the main crewing van and the Crew's ship, which is the shuttle, rest, and backup. The Crew members are: Crew Chief - Bailey (molly's daughter), Jimmy, Georganna aka Georg, Brendan, Justin (videographer) and myself. As we prepped the Mothership for departure to the starting line as only 1 vehicle was allowed for the first 17 miles, we all huddled up, and Molly had some great encouraging words. You could feel the Excitement and the energy in our circle and we all knew that she was counting on us to stay safe, have fun and keep good energy! Molly, Bailey, Jimmy and Justin all headed out to the start of 6am while Brendan and I would supply the crew's ship and be ready to go when she arrived. In the mean time we had breakfast, checked out of the room and got supplies.

When Molly arrived at mile 17 she was running great and it was my time to jump into the Mothership and learn my duties as a crew member. So I got a crash course on what to do and a full On the Job Training as she came by for my first run out. "Hi John" Molly says, "good to see you, did you rest?" Yea, I sure did I said as she grabbed some chips and watermelon from the cups I was holding as we were running. It all happens so fast that next thing I know she's off and it's back to the Mothership. More crash course on charting what she ate, how much, and what time is to be wrote down as well as prepare for any special request she may have for the next stop. Then it's drive up the road for about .3-.5 miles and repeat the process, except this time I am in charge of spraying her down with some cold water from a bug sprayer pump that was bought from Home Depot. All this would continue now for the next 2 days!

At mile 17 Molly was also able to pick up a pacer for the remainder of the race, All racers must run the first 17 alone with only the Mothership helping and after that they are allowed to have company with them. So Jimmy was out first to check on her and assess her needs and anything else that is going on and relay the information back to the Mothership and Crew Chief to make decisions. Finally around 1pm it's JT's time to pace and I gear up, sun block down, ice bandanna around my neck and I'm off with Molly. It's about 115* and boy is it Hot!!! Molly talks a little and asks how crewing is going and if I am getting it down or any questions. I obviously don't say anything about the Heat b/c there is lot's more to come and it's really not as hot as it's going to get. So we run walk for a while and the crew takes care of Molly and me as we go down the road and finally we come to a sign that says" Sea Level - Elevation 0 Feet" As I see this I tell Molly, "well at least your head is above water now".. She looks at me and laughs and we keep going. During my times to pace I seem to have something to make her laugh and I will share when we get there.

After about 6 miles or so I am off the pacing duty and back to crew duty which is fine b/c it's really heating up. As the afternoon wears on so does a small Achilles problem that has started to nag Molly. After a while there is some slight bruising on the Achilles and we are only about 40 miles into the race, not necessarily a good thing to happen so early. As we start approaching Stovepipe Wells (42 miles and 0 Feet elevation) our plan is give Molly an Ice bath and the Crew's vehicle is already checked in and has it ready. Molly will also eat some food and with the help of Georg we will tape up her Achilles and massage her feet while she eats. I determine that her shoe is causing this irritation which seems odd to Molly b/c it's the same shoes she has worn and trained in before but you have to remember, this is BADWATER, and your body and equipment will be test beyond the limits. Also to note coming in to Stovepipe Wells it's seriously Hot now, around 125* and for the last hour Molly has really slowed down on eating and is not wanting to take anything. So it was important for her to eat as much as she could at the motel room while getting the ice bath to restore the lost calories over the last hour. Her overall goal was 200 calories per hour and if I remember correctly it was barely 100 during this last hour and the previous hour was less than 200 as well. As you can see the pattern, the Heat totally kills the need to take in food and it's a tough thing to do when you HAVE TO! After her ice bath she was off again and into the heat.

This time I was on rest with Jimmy and Brendon we were able to grab some food, take a shower and rest up for a couple of hours. Then it was time to head back out and join the Mothership. Once linking back up we quickly found out that it was clocked at 127* and since then Molly was not that far up the road due to the heat she had become sick and was not holding down Any food or Liquid, which in Death Valley is not a good thing. There was an hour rest that was given to her to help her cool down and settle her system down and she finally was back on the road but I cant even imagine being sick to your stomach, being in 127* heat and still walk/running! The Crew was so waiting for the sun to go down to start bringing the temperature down and finally we got our relief. (Please remember that while we are crewing Molly and following up the road just a short ways, so are all the other runners and after a while just like an other run the runners sometimes group together for a while but for the most part it's a SOLO run other than your pacer and many crews are leap frogging each other to stay with there runner, so it's kind of neat to chat briefly with other crews and see how there runner is doing)

Finally, night time came and around 10pm Bailey and I headed up the road a ways to get some rest but I was simply not tired and so while Bailey slept for about 45 mins I simply stared at the wonderful stars and sky and watched as runners/crews came by. Then Molly caught up to us and it was back to work following along for a while and then back out pace at 2am. Now it was somewhat nice and although Molly had been going for 20 hours she was still in good spirits and of course wanted to know if I was getting rest, having any difficulties (like mine could even amount to anything compared to what she is doing) but just the simple fact that she wanted to make sure all the Crew was Okay says more than enough about her not even having a selfish bone in her body. As we continued on it was nice to just be out there and enjoy the desert in a different type of way. We looked for snakes and any other creatures but really there was nothing. At this point just before I took over pacing Molly was coming up on what is called Townes Pass (mile 58.7 Elevation 4956) Yes, you read that correctly! From Stovepipe Wells at mile 42 to the summit of Townes Pass, 16.7 miles you climb 4,956 feet. This is many of my are you fucking serious thoughts as the days pass. Once at the top of summit I was driving and as we clear the top and start to desend you could see the valley below and it was quite the sight to see all the blinking hazard lights so far down in the valley but then comes Are you fucking serious thought again as I look across the valley and see the ridge line in the dark which is called Farther Crowley's point which is 21.5 miles away! and you could see the lights as little specks on the road and that is where we were heading. I was completely dumb founded and speechless to see how far it was and as a runner if you can see how far you have to go after 58 miles, it's probably not the best thing but then again, this is BADWATER! I asked the crew about how long to get to Father Crowley's point, as it was almost 1am, they said we'll be to the top about 8am! if all goes well. SHIT! It just doesn't stop. After pacing for about 2 hours and it was mostly walking, we chatted, she listened to music and enjoyed the night and no direct sun light she was doing relatively great. Finally we reached the check point at Panamint Springs and began the climb to Father Crowley's point. We just dropped from 4956 to 1920 feet and now its time to climb back to 4000 feet in about 8 miles! Yes, 8 miles!

Once the sun came up and Molly was working up the climb to Father Crowley's point she was feeling good and power walking really well. She was making up time and all was wonderful, even eating and not having any complaints. When she reached the top of Father Crowley's we gave her a short break, put her legs up and she refreshed for about 20 mins as planned. Then it was back on the road and basically the start of day 2.!!

Day 2 will continue to bring Heat, sickness and even some more fun stuff but I will get to that next. ... To Be Continued....

rockon'

BADWATER!!

OKAY!! Back from the great adventure to happen, BADWATER !!!

Molly Finished in 45 hours and 9 mins with a fire on Mt. Whitney at that!

I really have to think about this blog post as it was so emotional, indescribable, and wonderful and I want to do the recap just for Molly's sake and the respect of Badwater itself.

rockon`

It just happened!! OMG!

Yup that's right, Super Exciting things are going down in the life JT.

First up that is so so so so exciting to me is BADWATER! Molly is taking on the toughest foot race in the world on Monday-Wednesday. I and 5 other great people, Bailey, Jimmy, Brendan, Georgina, and Justin will be along with her as part of her crew to watch her accomplish something so Amazing I can't even explain. The intense HEAT and conditions are just amazingly extreme and to be running in it, I can't even imagine but I will soon report next week with lots of pictures on how it went!!!

Now with that being something exciting in my upcoming adventures check this out!

I am now home to Nevada Integrated Chiropractic and will be finally seeing patients, well, as soon as I market and get some :) but at least I have an office and an place to get them to come to! I am excited to be working with Dr. Kevin Jenkins who is also a chiropractor and licensed Homeopathy doctor which means super cool holistic stuff to help Athletes! It is basically like opening a new business so I have to get to working, network and find the athletes and bring them in. So Stef and Form send them over from the West Side. I am now at Summerlin Parkway and Town Center Drive!

It's been a crazy week trying to nail this office stuff down and meeting with a couple different doctors but this office is more my style and Dr. Kevin is now venturing into endurance cycling, centuries and double centuries. I look forward to growing and even building my office even with the tough times ahead, it's about having fun and enjoying what you do!

WOW, tomorrow morning is TNT run and I have to squeeze in a short 26 miler, ok, ok, I know it's a marathon but 26 is much shorted than 31 so I call it short :) !

Then is take my stuff to Molly's house, which is now by my office, and get things packed in the vans heading to Badwater and Sunday it's breakfast time at 7am with the Crew and off we go to Death Valley!

rockon'

check out the Death Valley Forcast:

Weekend! 50K run and More.

Yeah What a great and fabulous weekend!! I loved it!.

First off Saturday was TNT morning of course and the team is moving right along.

Then in the afternoon Antonette and I grabbed lunch and went to see The Hangover. So So Funny! I have not laughed that much in a long time at a movie! Awesome! Of course it was then off to bed earlier, yes, even with the fire crackers exploding all over the neighborhood and it was only 8:30 pm I was out and sleeping.

Sunday morning was up at 3 am and meeting up with Antonette to car pool out to Lovell Canyon to meet the rest of the great runners in training for the Headlands 50 miler. We were all there and hit the road just after 5 am. Special Thank You to Tim, Cynthia's husband for crewing/sagging the whole way and all day for us! It was great. The run overall was great and I felt great. Especially come mile 26.31 as that is my longest distance I had ever run, so at mile 26.32 I stopped and we took some pictures I was now in uncharted territory! The last 4 miles were long and my legs were tired, of course, but I really felt good and with a great running partner It made it even better! Once we came to finish our mileage was a little off so Antonette and I had to run up the highway a little to officially get the 31 miles!

I completed 31 miles or aka 50k!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was great to finish with Antonette and share in the experience and it was on the same course she first did her 50k! So nice job to both of us!

The rest of Sunday was spent recovering with ice bath and food and resting. Monday morning of course brought us out again for a short 10 mile recovery run. As we started it didn't seem much like a recovery run as it was just tiring and hard to get the legs moving but after a while we both seemed to be OK but still just tired. We finished up the run and headed off to get cleaned up./span>

Once that was all done we met back up and I had picked up lunch and off we went to Mt. Charleston and even Rocky got to come along! He's a great dog and I enjoy him. It was nice to drive up to the mountain and relax in about 80* weather. Anyway, the afternoon was just super relaxing and enjoyable, a smile kind of pleasure. /span>

In the late afternoon I headed over to Molly's house for a short BADWATER Crew/Race meeting and we all went over her race plans and crewing orders. I can't believe that Sunday I will be leaving to Badwater and helping her complete this Awesome race!!! Thank you so much Molly! It will be a lifetime experience.

Today is finally a rest day from running. So I will be hitting the gym later for some weights, steam room and stretching! Have a great day!!!

rockon`

Happy 4th of July

A CELEBRATION DAY

Today is America's Birthday

so wave those banners high

be thankful for your freedom

as fireworks light the sky

Celebrate with honor

wear the colors proud

salute the flag Old Glory

show American pride

Hats off to America

land of the free and brave

our country stands united

God Bless the USA

Have a wonderful 4th of July...

Rose Marie Streeter

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS and the FREEDOM YOU ALL PROVIDE FOR US!

Post Travel and Product use.

After leaving Lubbock on Monday morning I drove back and along the way caught up with the Outlaws SWTriGal and Hartley and we caravan till lunch time, stopped and had lunch together and then we headed back out with me turning off and heading to Santa Fe and them to home in Albuquerque. Once I was back in Santa Fe, I laced up the shoes and out I went for a short 6 mile run around down town Santa Fe Plaza and the river area, it was nice and short and felt good.

On Tuesday it was out the door and head back to Vegas but not before stopping of near Goodwater, AZ and snapping these pics! I mean with the upcoming BADWATER crewing with Molly I had to stop and have some fun!!

Once back in Vegas I was quickly welcomed home to the 110* heat. It was nice to be back home and enjoy my bed.

Yesterday, Antonette and I went to knock out an 8 mile run and of course in JT Slow fashion Antonette was great to run with me as we both had to endure the 101* heat but really wasn't that bad considering. Before we met up I had an appointment with James the owner of The Athlete's Foot. He did a great job in fitting me for another pair of shoes which are compliments from the crewing for Molly, THANKS!! Anyway, James really knows his stuff about shoes in many aspects and I am glad that I now know him! The shoes worked very nicely on the run although they still were not fast enough to keep me anywhere close to Antonette if she decided to bust out and run. She rocks, thanks for running together!

Now I want to just add a few things about some training products I have been using.

First off is Gatorade Endurance! love this stuff and it always seems to work for me no matter what race I am at or when I am training.

Next, is something I have been using in long run training for the upcoming 50 mile run and it's Perpetuem by Hammer! stuff really seems to be working for on those runs, although I did mix it a little strong at Buffalo Spring on the bike and I think my system was a little annoyed with me at the start of the run so I will go back to the standard 1 packet per bottle mixture. I also like both the flavors Cafe Latte and Orange-Vanilla!!

Next, is something I just tried today from the compliments of James at Athlete's Foot and it's made by Crank. E-Fuel. It's an electrolyte drink that also has calories from maltodextrin! Yes, other forms of sugar for the body to use is always great. I used it today and I really liked it so I will be trying more of it in training for Cozumel.

And another classic product I have using are Clif Shot Bloks. Love them in all flavors and are just great for me.

So just a few shout outs to those products and companies.

Now I have to work on recovering as my legs still feel like mush after the run yesterday..

rockon`

Hi There.. Buffalo Springs Lake Trip Recap & More.

Hey All, sorry it's been so long so get ready.

First off Congrats to Formulaic for his CdA finish and although you can jump over to his blog and read all about it, I am glad you came out of your craziness and realized that your an Ironman!! Trickbaby!!! Please read Run Bitch Run's race recap if you want learn what an Ironman is all about, she's it.

After the CdA event it was time to focus on some things of my own that were coming up, like Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3 in Lubbock, TX. Over the last couple of weeks most of all my training has been run related with a couple of short swim stroke lessons and 2 some what mediocre swims, 1 bike of about 35 miles so overall I was a little nervous heading out to BST. I was actually able to get a swim on Tuesday and some how pulled a rookie move and left my swim goggles at the pool while I was talking with others and didn't realize this till the next day when I was packing all my stuff, so hey, I got new goggles which worked well for the race but I still like my old ones better.

As the week unfolded I was able to spend some special times with a special person this week. It's nice when you can make someone smile and enjoy there day just a little more than normal.

I left on Thursday heading towards Lubbock with my mom who I was going to drop off in Santa Fe, NM. as she was there visiting her sisters and a wedding to attend. On Friday I rolled out of Santa Fe and headed towards Lubbock but with my sights set on Ft. Sumner, NM.

As I rolled into Ft. Sumner I was excited for a few reasons. 1) I was able to talk with Antonette who was in Seattle with the TNT Vegas group getting ready to run there marathon event on Saturday and everything was going great and she had just came back from a short run and said it was very nice. I was a little jealous as I wanted to be in Seattle running with the team and enjoying the much cooler temps. 2) I was following all the signs that said Billy the Kid Museum ahead and now I was looking for it. The town is very small and you can almost roll through it without blinking but I found the museum, paid my $5 to Billy the Kid's mom still working the counter and telling stories of her son. The museum was great with Lot's of history of Ft. Sumner, soldiers, relics and of course the Kid stuff, like his shotgun, his pistol, chaps, and spurs. I was surreal to look at this stuff and think that he actually held it in his hands and carried it with him. I enjoyed it and it was worth every bit of $5.. "I'll make ya famous"

As I rolled out of town my next stop was the tombstone of the Kid and I followed the signs once again and as you drive down this little road for about 2 miles off the highway you come to another museum place and in the back which is open to the public in the middle of a big lot is caged tombstone. It's Billy the Kid's along with a couple of his "Pals" After checking it out it was time to get to Lubbock.

Now as I was heading to Lubbock it was pretty hot, like 93-98* in different places so I was riding with the windows down for some heat training for the race and for .... my newest exciting adventure.

I have been picked up at a crew member for Molly Sheridan who is running BADWATER!! Yes, Badwater, the 135 mile foot race from Death Valley, CA to Mt. Whitney where the temps range from 120* - 135*!! I am very excited to be a part of her crew and I will be posting more information on that as it unfolds in the next couple of weeks. The race is July 13-15th.

Once getting to Lubbock I met up with John Tuggle a fellow chiro and great Friend. We then drove the bike course and went to packet pick up and as I was there I saw Sarah Reinertsen and asked her if I could take a picture with her. She is very nice and just full of energy and life and I was very honored to have a brief moment with her, Thanks Sarah!p>

Once packet pick up was done we went back to the hotel and just relaxed and on Saturday we picked up Liz from the airport, got her bike from transport, went to the lake and swam in the murky can't see the end of your hand 75* water. Really warm for a wet suit but come race morning it was ok. After all that it was dinner that night with some of the New Mexico Outlaws, S. Baboo, Misty, SWTriGal and husband Hartley, Mitch from Houston, Jane and a few others. It was nice to catch up with everyone and even get to talk to Antonette up in Seattle as the Team had all finished and hear about there day!

Later it was just relaxing at the hotel and getting ready for the morning. Sunday morning I woke up to ugly cloud cover and slight drizzle but I knew it was coming with 5 second weather checks I was doing. I went to Denny's had some pancakes, loaded the car and Liz and I were off to the race site. There were a lot of cars and parking took a little while but we got to transition and I got set up while talking with S. Baboo. Shortly after I went to the bathroom line and as the pro's went off I was beginning to wonder if I would make my swim start as the line was not really moving but then all of a sudden it was my turn and I was done and out looking for Tuggle at the swim.

Swim: 50:07 (2:36/100)

What can I say. Better than other swims but still not my strong point. As the group took off it was a quick turn to the right and then all the turns were to the left. You could not see anything in front of you in the water so there was lot's of sighting to be done. I know at the beginning I was way off the line and then I decided that I would get right on the line and fight the faster swimmers off as they pass me and that is exactly what I had to do as one time I got elbowed in the side of the head but no worries I just grabbed the back of his legs and pulled him when he got in front of me and he tried to kick!! haha.. NOTE: DON'T BASH ME or I WILL YANK ON YOU and throw you off rhythm too! Overall the swim was a little choppy and now I am hearing that the course was a little off and long as the pro's stated but not like that would have made any difference in me swimming an extra 200 or 300 meters. I got to the boat dock, the volunteers helped me out and off I went to T1.

T1: Same stuff as usually here. On the way out, John ran out of the isle in front of me and I yelled at him "You didn't think you were going to get that far ahead of me did you!" he turned around to look as we ran out and biked mounted.

Bike:

John took off very quickly on the mount and I fumbled trying to clip in but it wasn't long and I was rounding the corner out of transition onto the road to begin the OH SO NICE 6% climb right out of the gate. Yes, it's not pretty but at least it wasn't too long of a hill. I quickly saw John cranking it up the hill and as I pulled him in I started to spin a little faster and harder to make the pass quickly, I said "This isn't pretty is it?" He said not even close! and as I passed I said "Hey, get used to this because it's going to be like this all day!" and I shot passed him. (Now going back to Saturday, John was talking some funny smack and said that he was going to beat me on the swim and bike but I would most likely catch him on the run but the other two were his. He did beat me on the swim time with 49:17 (50 seconds faster) but with my T1 time of 3:07 and his 3:56 you can see how you can lose that 50 seconds really fast!) So me yelling this at John as I passed him on the FIRST HILL was awesome. Now I just had to make sure I kept it that way as I have never rode with John and I didn't know his pace. I crested the top of the first hill and screamed down the other side and hit hill #2 at the 3rd mile! YES! Mile 3 there is another not so enjoyable climb and there were lot's of bikes all weaving all over the road passing and just trying to make it to the top. It was a little longer than first hill but not as steep and finally I made it to the top with my heart rate still sitting comfortably in Zone 5!! haha. Now for the next 15 miles or so it's pretty much flat and with a little back wind I was soon pushing 22-25mph and enjoying the ride. Down a nice 2 mile hill that would soon be the uphill grind but for now it was 33mph and holding on! The next climb came and it was a little work but nothing too serious imo. I made the first turn around on a 3 turn around course and checked my watch to see the time and calculate how far Tuggle was behind me. I saw S. Baboo closing in as well but still far behind and figured he would catch me by the second turn around. As I went down the hill I saw Tuggle and he was 8 mins from the turn around so I yelled out "Your 8 mins from the turn behind me, Move it!!" So that really meant he was at least 16 mins or so based on my pace, it was something to keep messing with him. As I came up to hill climbs #3, which I think they call the Staircase as it's a few switch backs with some good inclines ranging from 4-6 or 8% but overall a gradual climb that just takes patience and work. As I climbed I could feel the pressure in my legs working and as I looked up the road I thought no big deal just keep working and your almost there. Once at the top it's a short flat to turn around #3 and start heading back and with 1 gradual long climb left and 1 short steep climb left your pretty much home free after mile 35. I went down the Staircase and saw Liz coming up and OH, by this time S. Baboo had caught me just after climb #2 which was challenging but again nothing to crazy. I figured Liz would catch me before T2 but due to a slight unscheduled Dismount she didn't, but good thing she was OK. As I rode the last 10 miles back it was slightly raining and everything was pretty much wet and it was just get back to T2. One thing that happened to me was at around mile 18 I went to get my salt from my Bento box and there wasn't any in there I could find so I pulled all my shot blocks out and no luck! They had all fallen out in the car when the bikes were laying down and I didn't notice it when we left the car, so I had no salt at all on the humid ride and I could feel my quads cramping up a little on the some of the climbs. I took some Gatorade but I really needed the salt and knew I had some at T2 for the run so I would have to take it immediately when I started running. Also nutrition wise, I used Perpetum as I have been using on my training runs for the Ultra training but on the bike I mixed it just a little bit stronger and towards the end of the bike I could feel my stomach cramping and knew the bathroom was coming which would cost me 5 mins on the run. the last long downhill I cranked out a 41 mph top speed of the day and soon began the last 6-8% climb of the day and YES, this is at mile 55 of the bike! Nice huh! I cranked up it and just thought to get to the top and it would all be over and although it was tough especially coming at the end of 55 miles this thought crossed my mind: VEGAS, I LOVE YOU! and THANK YOU!! for all the hilly ass terrain, wind and heat you give me on training days because you made the Buffalo Springs Bike course way easier than I ever imagined it would be. I will not curse you again Vegas terrain.!! I rolled into T2 stopping the clock at 3 hrs 16 mins! Pace 17.1 mph my Fastest ever 56 mile bike ride!!! PR BABY!!

Tuggles bike 3:44.

T2: Time 2:21, Hey another PR here, I'm getting this T2 stuff down.

Run:

Once the run started I though OK JT it's time to fly and put all that ultra run stuff to work. I took the salts I needed as I could feel my quad still cramping and shortly it went away. I was feeling great and clocked my 1st mile at 10:17 and I actually used the 4 mins run/1min walk program and that was plan. At the start of the 2nd mile my stomach let me know it was time to go to the bathroom and now I had just caught up with SWTriGal and we both had to go. I darted in and yup, 5 mins later I was still there finishing up but what could I do. My second mile was 17:23 and then mile 3 came with the 500 yard 8% kick your ass to walking hill. I walked up it and then it was flat and down a nice long grade that would later be the uphill portion to kick your ass again around mile 9.5 but by this time I was having a hard time running and just felt out of gas or something. I figured it was from being behind on salt but nothing I could do but keep moving. I had also stopped taking shot blocks on the bike at the end b/c of my stomach and now 40 mins into the run I really didn't feel like taking any gels but I took 1 and it wasn't a good idea as it just made me blah feeling. After walking up another 6-8% 1/2 mile hill it was out the Energy Lab. Yup that's what they call it, as it is this flat road next to an energy plant with NO Shade and you can see for like 3 miles straight but luckily you only have to run down it for about 2.5! haha. By this time the 4/1 run-walk program was out the window and I was running when I could and trying not to walk. An aid station had Coke so I took some and it seemed to work and I got to the 6.5 mile turn around and they had Dr. Pepper, even better and it worked. I was now caught back up with SWTriGal and we chatted for a bit and I ran on. I saw Liz coming and knew she would soon be passing me but now I was dealing with some poking pain where my liver was and could only figure my diaphragm was cramping in that area so I tried walking, pushing on my side, short breaths and nothing seem to change it so I kept running. Liz passed me and I soon saw Tuggle just entering the Energy Lab road as I was heading out. As I was running down the monster 6-8% hill I thought let it fly and take advantage but the road was also Slope and your feet were at this weird angle and as I was running down my left toes were bashing into each other on my left big toe, A problem I have dealt with before in running anything over 13 miles and hence why I switched to the Injinji toe socks which are the BEST EVER! but was not wearing them today as I didn't think I would have any problems on 13 miles. WRONG! b/c I was dumping lot's of water on my head and keeping cool my shoes and socks got really wet and so my toes were jabbing my other toe which was causing pain and I knew that if I kept running the last 4 miles that way I was going to have some serious problems to deal with later if it didn't take me out sooner so I saw this Gatorade cup on the side of the road. I sat down, pulled off my shoe and sock, rang all the water out of my sock, tore a piece of the cup off and folded it in between my big toe and 2nd toe, wrapped it as best I could and put my sock and shoe back on and away I went. It probably took about 2 mins or so but I was off running down the hill and my toes were fine, it just felt funny with some card board in my shoes but soon it got soft and I never felt it again. The last hill climb is long and even though I walked up it It really took it out of me. I decided to take another gel being as I had only taken 1 this whole time and figured it might do me good the last 4 miles, umm.. Wrong.. again I played with the blah feeling once again and just had to suffer through it. Once up the hill and back in the park it's pretty much flat and gradual little bumps and working to get to the last 2 miles seemed to be taking a long time! Finally mile 12 I could hear the music and knew I was only another 20 mins away but that just seemed way too long and I tried to run as much as I could be now it seemed to be run to that driveway and walk to the next type of thing. I had seem my perceived time goal slip away a long time ago and now I was just hoping to beat my RAGE time which I didn't even think that was possible based on my watch and T times but I kept moving and running. Finally, mile 12.25 came and a voice entered my head that said "you can do anything for 10 mins!" It couldn't have came at a better time b/c I knew I could run the last mile so I started running at a nice even pace and I saw mile 13 maker and there was the finish line, I crossed the mat that brings up your name and heard Mike Riley say, "From North Las Vegas, John Vigil, Congratulations John" and I saw the camera and just smiled to be done and enjoy that I just finished! The Voice came from my newest and special running partner Antonette who has helped me overcome some good running sticking points in the last couple of months, Thanks Antonette.

Run Time: 2 hours 47 mins. Pace 12:47/mile. Not at all my best 13.1 mile run but dealing with the hills, cramping, toe and stomach issuses I will take it.

I was glad to be done and quickly grabbed a beer and some Gatorade, I must have drank about 50 oz of Gatorade now that I stopped and I was feeling just tired.

Overall Time: 6 hrs 59 mins! (51 seconds) haha.. I cracked that 7 hour mark just barely!! but I did it. I am happy with that b/c I had other PR's during the day and it's all an accomplishment. Not only that SWTriGal and I were Not DFL like at RAGE last year!

I will write more tomorrow on the post race and travels back..

rockon'