JJ100 Nutrition recap..

For my nutrition, I basically started bright and early when Form and I rolled out of bed at 3am and hit the Denny's next to the hotel. I basically scarfed down pancakes, scrambled eggs, grits, and hash browns, oh and some orange juice. I was pretty much stuffed but I was good to go and didn't start eating more solid food till about noon.

Once the race started I would be using my hand held and drink Succeed and being as I knew they were probably going to water it down a lot I carried some single packs to add to the bottle as I went throughout the day. I would pick 3 up for each loop. I did also use a couple of GU's but overall they just didn't work for me and I have the vomit button going off as soon as I took one!

I continuously filled my camelbak with 30-40oz of water at each aid station, approximately every 5 miles and that seemed to work out well. I do think by just drinking 1 20 oz bottle of Succeed every 5 miles or 75mins-ish was probably too low in drink calories as it was probably 200 calories with the added packet (150calories) I added. When I did start eating food from the aid stations I started eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and pumpkin pie!!! Yeah, it was so good and actually worked for me all day that it was available. I later learned that Baboo had taken some late in the day, even after using it earlier in the day, and it upset his stomach but I had no problems. I Jeadquaters I did grab some of the Huge club sandwiches they had and that seemed to be okay too, they had pizza at one time but I took one look at it and my stomach was like, Don't Even Try It! I also had some pop-tarts but really only 2 because I forgot them while changing out my shoes and others things.

At night time, I tired some potato soup, which was okay but didn't really work for me so I switched to the chicken noodle soup which was good ole' Ramen Noodles! I love that on runs and always seems to hit the spot for me. I had slowed down on drinking Succeed and taking salts as the night rolled in but then I stated back on the last loop simply because I knew it had calories and would be good for me. When I left Jeadquaters for my last loop my quads were not happy by this point and so when I got to Jackass aid station I sat down and the great volunteer's got me some more chicken noodle soup and I think I ate a couple of chocolate chip cookies but I don't remember. I got my pack filled again because I was still drinking water at a good rate and off I went to Coyote aid station. When I got there it was a complete Buffet for me even knowing I only had 5 miles to finish. I ate 8 Oreo's, 3 cups of Coke, Chicken Noodles, 2 hand fulls of M&M's, some mixed peanuts, and a couple of potato's! I took a few minutes to hang out here and enjoy my 57 miles I had come and also GeekGirl was here so I was chatting with them as well.

As I said this was a great training event and I really learned some good lessons for HURT. Today, 75 days and counting!!

rockon'

Javelina Jundred recap..part 2

One thing I remember, in the heat of the day I was coming in at the end of loop 2, 31 miles and I saw everyone running with Popsicles!! Yeah, so yummy, cold, and full of life, I wanted one!! but not in 2-3 more miles, Now!! what a cruel thing and as I got to the Jeadquaters I kept telling myself to find them but I was in such a hurry to change and get going I totally forgot about them and I was about a mile down the road when I remembered!! DAMN IT!!! I was so bummed! I also remembered that coming back on the 2nd loop we hit the 26.2 marathon mark around 6 hours 30 mins and I gave a big YAHOO!! 1st marathon complete!! Sick I know, but exciting.

Back to the night time. As I left the for the night, again on the counter-clockwise loop, that sucks, I knew it would be just a long grind it out walk and I would attempt to run some being as it was not hot. I walked for a while and saw a few runners coming in, one runner, walking really slow was Form. I stopped to ask how he was doing, he replied, my feet are shot! Burning, aching, pain! Being as he had brought everything for his Garmin but the Garmin itself he had no idea how far he was from the Jeadquaters, which he was about 2 miles and at his current pace it would take him an hour or so to get there. In his current condition and explaining what he felt I told him it was not a good idea to keep going but that is only my advise, it would prove no good to him as he later pushed on from the Jeadquaters. As I approached jackass aid station, they had some chicken soup going on so I sat down with some other runners next to a heating lamp, ate my soup, ate some other things I had picked out.

The sitting down part had now become a task in itself. The famous last words were upon me, Don't blow out your Quads! and sure enough, as the day wore my quads started to give to the downhills and now that it was night I was having a tough time running period. I could walk with a 16 min pace and felt okay. As I finished up my food, the aid station crew had refilled my pack and hand held and I was off back in to the night. There were a couple of runners that had already left and although it didn't even cross my mind to try and stay with them or catch them I slowly started to reel them in on the trail and as I approached them I would quicken my pace and try and blast as fast as I could past them, my own little way of keeping me going without a pacer. By now I was just about on the back side of the uphill grind and many lights were heading my way. As they would pass we would exchange encouragement but the most thing I was sad about in the back of my mind was that I didn't have a pacer and I could really see the added benefit-value in that. This trail is not too technical so that made it just a little okay without one but overall it's a plus to have! As I hit the flatter part of the back side of the trail heading to coyote camp aid station I tried running but again my quads just didn't have it and now even the slightest downhill sections were making them achy and I was starting to twist my body to maneuver these grades. Once I was powering uphill I was okay, I was rockin', I was in the zone, my training for this type of stuff had paid off and I was happy with that. As I approached the next aid station I knew in the back of mind that the once thought of going for the 100 miler or anything about 100k mark was simply just that, a thought. I knew that based on my training and issues leading up to JJ100 that I was in the best position to stop and not push into the red zone and create recovery problems I just didn't need. This was my plan from way back when I signed up and I knew that I had to hold tight to it and not tank myself or my quads any more than they already were.

Once I reached the aid station, still 5 miles from the end, I took a quick look around to see what food I wanted because I was freakn' starving, again! There is only so much you can eat at one time when out on the trail so this time, I had 5 miles till the end and I needed some sugar. Surprisingly enough I had only taken about 4-5 cups of coke during this whole time and no red bulls or energy drinks and was feeling good. I wasn't tired but my quads were shot and my shoulders were also aching from carrying my pack for these 16 hours so far. I quickly hear a voice I recognized and it was Courtney, a crew/pacer member for GeekGirl and I looked at the runners sitting around and saw GG sitting on a chair. I went over to see how she was doing and she had said that her knee, stomach, and some things were hurting/bothering her. Courtney came over to ask how I was and I whined about my quads but then proceeded to enjoy the sugar buffet of 8 Oreo's, 2 cups of Coke, about 25 Peanut-M&M's, and 2 small brownies. No wonder I didn't need energy drinks! haha!! I also took some more chicken soup and sat down once again and ate it all up. Then as I was leaving so was GeekGirl so we all left at the same time. We walked together for a short distance and then I pressed on as GG was still having pain to her knee which was slowing her down. In the last couple of miles I could see the headlamps from a long way off and at some points it can seem discouraging but in others it's so cool to see where you are heading at night. This is the rocky section of the trail that earlier in the day I had passed Form on but now it was just a walking and don't bust your ass section of the trail. I finally cleared all the rocks and was texting in to Dez to let her know I was close and I would be finishing about 11:43 pm being as I was now on a 17min/mile pace.

As I got close I could feel the same familiar pull I felt each time coming in at the end of the loop. I was so excited to be there and this time be done! I told Dez to meet me at the timing mat so she could see me finish and turn in my chip. As I made the last few hundred yards I knew that this was it, that I was going to stop and part of me was sad and down but I dismissed that as I realized I just accomplished 62 miles, great training, didn't get hurt and I how much work I need to do for HURT. I crossed the finish line at 17 hours 42 mins. One thing I made certain was that I didn't go over mid-night and I kept my pace to accomplish that in the last loop. As I took my chip off and told the staff I was dropping at 100k, they marked me down, handed me my 100k Buckle and listed me as a DNF, but it was so not right because I did Finish! I finished exactly what I came to do on the day I signed up for this race!

After quickly grabbing some pizza and few more snacks, Dez and I made our way to the crew area and disassembled everything and packed up some things. At this point I really didn't know Form had went back out on the 4th loop and Dez informed me what time he left and based on calculations it was going to be a Long time before he was there. Looking back, we should have left to the hotel so I could change and shower, rest for a while then head back out but by the time I hit the passenger side seat I was out like a light. I fell asleep so fast and rested for about an hour. Then I had to use the bathroom so I went to the shower/bathroom at the camp site, taking my clothes to change and some shop towels I had to wash my face. When I walked in it was a single type shower and there was soap there so I quickly decided I was jumping in and using my shop towels to dry off with. The Best Shower Ever!! After cleaning up I walked outside the shower and there was S.Baboo standing by his car, Hey!! I said. I went over to chat with him on his race and GeekGirl had come out of the shower area and was ready to head to the hotel. They took off and I went back to the car where Dez was resting. We waited for a while longer, slept some and then Courtney came over to tell us Form had finished. We quickly found him or he found us, don't recall and we headed out to the hotel. By this time I was so tired and achy throbbing legs I just wanted to lay down in the bed.

On the ride to the hotel I would learn that Form took 6 hours 40 mins to walk that 15 mile-ish loop!! OMG I said.. it took us 6 hours 30 mins to run 26.2!!! I give it up to the guy as I cannot imagine taking that long to walk 15 miles with a bum foot, You da man Form! Once we got to the hotel I hit the bed and went right to sleep but it was restless as my legs were just throbbing and sore now. By morning time I was totally stiff and as I moved around it actually wasn't too bad. I mean the first few steps were tough but then once moving I was okay. As we packed up and headed out around 10:30am we stopped and grabbed food and headed back. It was great to have Dez drive simply because I just didn't want to have to think and pay attention to the road. When we hit Flagstaff I noticed that my feet had swollen up like sausage links!! I quickly put my compression socks and we headed back to Vegas.

Today, all the swelling has gone down and my feet are back and now I just have soreness to my lower legs and feet.

Now let's talk about my gear.

I purchased some 2XU compression shorts and calf sleeves to use and try for this run,

as well as get some insight if these would be good for HURT. Bottom line, No! Although the compression shorts felt good the seams in the crotch area rubbed, even with BodyGlide, luckily it wasn't bad but just enough to annoy me for part of the run. Now the Calf Sleeves. I was excited to use these as in the past on a training run I ran in my CEP Compression socks with my Injini's and it worked for a while but my toes just got to compressed, so using just the calf sleeves I was ready. After the 1st loop all was working well and they were fine but on the second loop, about 20 miles in, I notice something pinching or stinging the back of my right calf. As I investigated I notice the top of the sleeve was super tight as I had puffed up and now that damn thing was too tight, but the big thing was that these sleeves have some sort of plastic/rubber along the inside lining, most likely to prevent them from sliding down but either way this damn thing pinched my calf's and actually cut into my skin. I rolled down the sleeve to my ankle and ran that way till loop 3 and then I took them off. When I did take them off I noticed the left calf had been cut and pinched and a small pinch blister had formed!! WTF! I was kind of pissed as these are supposed to be awesome and in there defense maybe I should have got a bigger size but overall the inside plastic/rubber thing sucks no matter what size.

I did purchase a new hand held, Amphipod.

This hand held is actually pretty cool in the fact that it feel comfortable and works easy within the hand, I have a standard round bottle and it's annoying after a while, like it's work to hold on to but this Amphipod is pretty comfortable. The down side to this design is the rubber strap on the bottom, it simply falls off the bottom of the bottle if there is no pressure on the strap from your hand. I figured I would super glue the damn thing next time and get a thermal cover to help keep things cool but otherwise I liked how it worked and will be taking it to HURT.

At the race site Ink n Burn was there and I wanted to get one of there new shirts so as soon as I got there I actually went there first and I got this:

I actually ran in this shirt for a while but then I changed out simply because I had snagged the sleeve on a tree branch.

Nutrition recap to follow and other random stuff.

rockon'

Javelina Jundred recap..part 1

The short version: 100k, I made it!! and the javelina didn't get me! Time: 17 hours 42 mins (17:05/mile or 29 hour pace.

The Long version and the rest of the story.. My plan for going to JJ100 was to run 100k, work on nutrition, some running gear, my pacing, timing, and overall race strategy for Hurt100. Anything above 100k at JJ was going to be bonus, but simply because my last 2 weeks of training and even the 2 before that were not the best or on schedule I had to be realistic when I got there. As Dez and I packed the car I realized there is a lot that is goes into this in the terms of crewing and taking things from home and realized I am going to have to decrease my supplies when I go to Hawaii. We left Friday morning after picking up Formulaic and got to Fountain Hills, Az. about 2pmish, checked into the hotel and then headed to packet pick up.

The temperature was nice and overcast but called for more sun and high's in the 70's on race day. After packet pick up we just hung around the race site for a few minutes, I made sure to get me a shirt from Ink n Burn that is super cool!! I saw Catra and Andy and talked with them for a few minutes. We then met up with S. Baboo and GeekGirl as they were showing us there crew/camping area they had set up and we were welcome to leave things at there area for crewing, which turned out to be great because when I came in I went straight there and was out of the way of all the people and just doing my own thing.

After we got all we needed headed to go eat, and get the last minute things ready for the race. The next morning, the alarm went off early at 3am and it was off to Denny's to get some pancakes, eggs, grits, and hash browns down. Then back to the room to get moving to the race site. By the time we got there, Dez, dropped us off, as they have a drop off only area and a basic park n ride to the site as the parking is very limited. Dez would miss the start but it being dark, and 5:30am she was okay with it and went back to the hotel for a little more sleep. She would be back for the end of the 1st loop around 10:15 am. As Form and I unloaded our stuff and headed to the camp/crew area we quickly got it set and then it was only about 15 mins to go time. It went by really quickly, every one lined up behind the start/finish banner, I finally got to meet Karen from Las Vegas, and then all of a sudden it was 10, 9, 8, .....2, 1 Bang.. We all took off.

This is actually a photo of the last guy finishing the 100m but also the start/finish banner. So we all start and run over the timing mat just like an other race, off we went to the left. This is a 15 ish loop course and laps, 1,3,5,7 are run clockwise and 2,4,6 are counter-clockwise. In the start of the dark as a group we all stayed bunched together for about the first 2 miles, then the Sun started to come up and it quickly spread out. This is the only race I have not taken pictures in but I was able to borrow quite a few from other runners from facebook, so thanks to all of them. This race is also a costume dress up race and many runners are wearing all kinds of costumes, I choose at the last minute to wear random Halloween stuff, a big fuzzy spider attached to the back of my camelbak, Halloween socks which I cut the toes off of and used them as arm warmers for a while, and of course Dez bought me some bunny ears! check out his action picture wearing my bunny ears and run or die - ink n burn shirt.

Yes, that's S.Baboo behind me! I beating him!! haha, it was mile 2-ish and I think this was the ONLY time I was in front of him. As we all thinned out it was nice to see the trail that we were going to be on all day/night. The trail would change from rocky crappy footing areas to nice hard packed groomed trails. I was at one point attacking the short down hill whoop-ti-do's and Baboo quickly pointed out to not blow out my quads, words later that would be ringing in my head and the faint sound of Baboo laughing at me telling me I told you so! As the first aid station come and went all was working very well. I was drinking my Succeed, even though the race had watered this stuff down so much, I some how expected this and brought my own packets that I would dump in after a fill up and make it much more enjoyable and worthy of drinking, but I would drink every bottle between Coyote aid station and Jackass aid station, both about 5 miles apart. One thing I kept my eye on was the pace, simply because I had heard so much from everyone not to go too fast and sure enough, I was. Both Form and I were way ahead of the planned arrival at Jeadquaters, mile 15.5ish. As we approached the end of the loop a lot of the runners were already heading back out for there 2nd loop and it seemed like we were so far behind and I had to keep telling myself this is your race so don't worry about what others are doing. I mean Catra, Andy, Joyce, Karen, hell everyone was already on the 2nd and we still hadn't reached the end but again, my race. Finally when we got there we were about an Hour ahead of planned time which as I said was way to fast! I had some foot issues already going on simply because I tried this stuff

- TriSlide. Now I didn't particularly like how it worked on my feet as it made them way too slippery but I do think this has it's place for anti-chaffing so being as my foot was sliding around way too much I had to clean off my feet and try and settle them down more in my Injini's. I grabbed a few things I needed, went to the bathroom, food and off I went. Dez was crewing so she had a great fast learning experience when I came in and quickly got the hang of it.

As we left the sun was already warming up and the next 6.5 miles was a slow walking grind. The trail is a slow uphill grade for most of this part and with the warmer temperature I just couldn't find my rhythm to start running. Every time I did I quickly over heated so I just settled in and walked as fast I as I could. The good thing about this was it was slowing down the overall pace and that I didn't mind. By the time we reached the top of this grind it was now time to run. Feet were doing better but I knew I would be changing my shoes, from trail to road shoes on the next crew stop and so I started texting a few things I would need to Dez. Form was ahead of me for a while and as we started to make our way down the rocky section my run mojo came alive as I was very much at home on this section as the similarity of Vegas trails. I reeled Form in and made the pass and even used this section to see if I could put some distance on him, Yes, this is a race! haha!! His feet were taking a beating and he was having some problems so I will say in his defense that is what gave me the edge, ya right.. ! I am into the Jeadquaters and quickly made the shoe change, a few more things to grab, bathroom again!! and out I went. Form was there and said he would be coming but needed some time to get things in order. I headed out as this was probably my fast transition but still slow in comparison. The next 15 miles I would walk and run as much as I could as my goal was to try and make the next Jeadquaters before Sun down but I just missed it and I was running for about 30 mins in the dark but I had my light so all was okay. I had also again texted several things I would need for this loop at night and again Dez had it all laid out and ready to go. As I came in I made the change out and this stop took me several minutes but I was okay with it because I needed everything and I was just getting ready for the night loop. By this time I was actually thinking in my head that I could go for the 100 mile. As I grabbed everything and moved out for the night loop I managed to experience some new and different things.

part 2 to follow...

rockon'

and we're Off!!!

That's right kids..!!!

Tomorrow I will be heading, along with Dez and Formulaic (this guy is more LOCO than I am, btw!!! ) Javelina Jundred! Looking to run 100k and see how things go. Race starts 6am Saturday, and I'm #242.

It will be a great time as Sweet Baboo, GeekGirl, SW Trigal - crewing, and a few others from Vegas will all be there. GeekGirl is going to rock out a 100 miles so wish her luck too!!!

rockon'

90 Days to change your life.

That's it!! Today rolls 90 days till HURT100 and lot's can and needs to change in that time!

First off, over the next 90 days, things will not only change for me but also for Dez. As she was recently diagnosed with Breast cancer and underwent lumpectomy last week, she is doing Great!! and recovering well. She will begin radiation treatment in a couple of weeks, so there will be lots of changes to deal with in that aspect.

As for my training for HURT things have been spotty. I just haven't been able to nail down a solid week due to work, feeling sick one time, twisting my foot on a night run, which is still giving me problems and Javelina 100 (1ook) for me is next weekend.

Although the training has been on/off when it's on I have had some great training runs and have felt good. I tried the VESPA and I did think it helped in training but I just couldn't adhere to the taste and figured I would puke it up later in races so I just bagged it. As for my Trail Sensor 4 shoes, I am loving them. Matter of fact they are the only shoes I can wear right now that do not effect the foot I twisted and hit the rock with. I do like the Cascadeas too but just not as much. I think the shoes will be a good combination for JJ100k to test out and swap between.

Overall, it would be worse, right!!! So I will take what I have, head to JJ100 and do what I can do. My goal is to really get in some long training and night time experience. The rest of this week will be chill time again, I haven't ran in 7 days because of the foot so it will be 2 weeks of forced Taper, which may prove to be a good thing.

After my goal is to recover as quickly as possible and get to training block #2 which will include some strength building and of course continuing of 50, 60 and hopefully 70 mile weeks. The trip to Hawaii is all planned, set, and booked. 5 days in Oahu and 5 days in Maui after the race! nice, huh!!

rockon'

Sept. Recap.

Well lots has happened during the month of September. Some good and some not so good but either way we are that much closer to HURT100 and my Javalina 100k.

Lets take a look at Sept:

16 Runs for a total of 152.7 miles for a total time of 38 hours 9 mins.

Compared to August I had only 2 more runs but a 56 more miles. I guess that's good.

This month with JJ100k at the end of the month will definitely have an increase. I am looking forward to completing this simply because I have not run this far since Old Pueblo 50 back in March. I am excited as well to complete this and but into the next block of training for HURT100.

rockon'