Life After IRONMAN #2 and my Ultra Life

Running and UFC!

2011-12-15T18:08:00.000-08:00

Wow how time fly's when you're having fun!! Coming off of JJ100 I have been just basically taking it easy in the run world and resting my foot as much as possible. I have been more on the weight training and TRX training plan for the time being along with some elliptical training and other cardio work but running has been far and few between. Now I know that I am losing my cardio fitness for running but overall I think at this time its okay as soon I work to build it back.

One of the cooler things that has been occurring is working with 2x UFC Heavyweight Champ Frank Mir in preparing for his UFC140 rematch with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. I have been stretching and utilizing Chiropractic to help him improve his range of motion and recover between training sessions. Since the fight was in Toronto, Canada he asked me to come along for the days leading up to the fight. This was a totally great experience and I am very blessed to be asked to be a part of his traveling team, Team Mir!

While in Toronto I also had the great pleasure of introducing Fascial Stretch Therapy to Ricky Lundell from University of Grappling, Mike Whitehead, and Danny "DeeOne" Davis Jr. all part of Franks training team. I also got to meet some really great people involved in the UFC world and just experience the world of UFC. Fight night was very exciting with Frank submitting Nogueira in a Kimura and earning Submission of the Century! and submitting a legend in the UFC world, it did end in a break of Nog's arm.

It was a fast fun week and again I am very thankful to all of Team Mir!

Since I got back I was interviewed by Chris Fredrick co-founder of Stretch To Win on working with MMA/UFC fighters and Frank Mir. Check out the video here: http://vimeo.com/33734677

Also, back in the run world, I didn't get selected for the Western States 100, boo!! but I should be in for New York Marathon 2012!! its my 4th year to enter so 3 times prior I have been denied! NYC watch out, JT is coming to town!

rockon'

Javalina got me early

2011-11-15T10:56:00.001-08:00

The short story: I dnf'd at mile 46.2, 12 hours 26 minutes. Next Year!

The long story:

My foot had been bothering me for a few weeks leading up to JJ100 and finally about 3 weeks out I just took completely off from running, with my last long run of 20.5 miles. I did all I could to help relieve it but finally the week of the race I was able to get some KT tape on it and although I have never been a big believe as I have used it before for an ITB issue but didn't notice it helping, this time I noticed a quick 180* on the foot, so it works, maybe better in other areas but I am glad it got my foot under control before race day. Hat's off to Dr. Victor Leach, from Bio-Mechanics of Las Vegas for helping me out.

Tim and his wife, Catherine and I left Friday morning in there RV and I would pick Dez up later that night in Phoenix as she was flying in late. The ride down was cool as I have never really rode in a 37' RV, its a house on wheels so that was pretty cool. Cynthia and her husband, Tim, were already at JJ100 and had set up a tent/canopy site and gave me the location and save a spot next to them. Once we got into Fountain Hills we unhooked the SUV and I went down to set up our canopy area and Tim/Catherine went to set up the RV at the camp ground site. I came back after setting up and then we all returned to packet pickup where I saw my great friends, Andy and Catra, George V, and Connie and her husband David. The line for the pre-race food was pretty long but that was okay, because we were not staying and heading back to the RV for some grilled chicken and pasta that Catherine was cooking. We got a pretty neat soft cooler but Dez would later say it leaks so maybe it's not that great but looks cool, and of course a great tech shirt.

Once back at the RV we ate and I chilled out for just a few then I headed off to the hotel room I had reserved for Dez and I on Friday and then would pick her up later. The hotel was an Extended Stay and it was pretty nice with all the kitchen stuff but just a little far from the race site. After picking Dez up and returning back to the hotel it was lights out as I had everything ready to go for the morning and 3:30am would come fast since it was already 10:30pm.

As I woke up I was already excite and feeling good. I quickly cooked up some scrambled eggs and a bagel and cream cheese and some coffee. I would drink an Isagenix shake just after this on the drive to the race. We had to pick Tim up from the RV at about 5am and get our drop bags checked in. Once all that happened it was preparing for the start, filling water bottles, putting gels and Isagenix bars in my pockets, ipod and a light. I had about 10 minutes and was finally ready to go. I kissed Dez and made my way to the starting line.

The Race: 15.5 mile loop and is run odd # loops clockwise, even # loops counterclockwise for a total of 6 loops and then a short 9ish mile loop to make it complete. This year there would be 3 aid stations. First on 2 miles from the start, then 6.4 miles, then 4 miles then another 3ish and your back at the start/finish. Last year there was only 2 aid stations on the course so it was good to have another one. There was 391 registered to start but looks like 339 actually started.

173 completed 101.4 miles of which 65 were Sub-24 finishers, Tim was 23:26! (the winner Hal Koerner 13:47! wth!! this guy actually lapped me twice) There was 126 runners credited with 100k finish. This course is talked to be flat but it really is not and is quite deceptive. It has many short rollers and is a gradual up and down hill portions depending on which way your running.

With the start of 339 people on some narrow trails almost single track at times it takes a while to thin out the crowd and so I just stayed my easy walk run pace and let people pass as they needed. As we started clockwise there is a section I had remembered from last year about mile 2-5 that was pretty rock and this year it was still rocky but seemed to me a little less or maybe it was just me. As I was in the rocky section I just took my time and being careful not to jam my foot and make it hurt early and once through the section it was back to running the rollers and finally making it to the 2nd aid station which was 8.4 miles from the start. I remember thinking that later on this was going to seem like forever but being as it was early I didn't worry about it. I checked in, found my drop bag and ditched my light jacket as it was warmer now than the start.

My nutrition was pretty simply, use some Hammer gel's and a few Accel Gels along with Isagenix IsaLean Lemon and a Chocolate/Peanut Butter bar and I would drink an Isagenix Shake at then end of each lap. An interesting twist to all my hydration is that I would be using water, other than from the aid stations, from a Kangen machine that alkalized all the water with at least 9.0ph. I would fill all my bottles each time I came in from the lap and drink some with my all my shakes and just take a few drinks before I left. I actually felt a difference in using/drinking this water and with a task of a 100 miles at hand, anything to help.

By the end of the 1st loop I was feel okay and all was good. I felt a little tight in the legs but I figured that was from lack of running over the last 3 weeks and so I kept things nice and easy finishing up the loop in about 3:30 mins, on track. I started the 2nd loop and remembered what fun it was going counter-clockwise as its a long continuous uphill grind, although not steep just a gradual incline for the next 6 miles and while I took it easy and walked/jogged at times I was soon to the downhill section. All nutrition was going well and I was liking the use of the Isagenix shakes and the lemon bar, the chocolate was not the best and played with my taste buds so I backed off on it for a while. The Hammer gels were okay too for the time being. As I hit the rocky section I really started to run and was enjoying this part of the trail. I started to pass a few people and then I just found myself in the groove and was hammering down the trail through this rocky area and feeling comfortable. Once passed this its the 2mile aid station and then back to the start/finish which seems to take forever to get to because my legs were not happy running this easy non technical portion, weird. I finished up the 2nd lap about 3hrs 45 mins and had to take some time to work on my feet as I could feel some hot spots coming on and needed some BlisterShield. I also ate some sandwich's, another shake and refilled all my waters. Being as my hip was starting to hurt I had mentioned it to Tim, Cynthia's husband and he said he had some Kool n'Fit spray I should use, so he sprayed me down right through my shorts with a bug sprayer. I immediately felt the coolness of the spray but then soon came the warm sensation, similar to a Bio-Freeze but different, I felt good quickly and then I was off for the start of the 3rd.

As I left on the 3rd loop my right leg was bothering although not nearly as much as before I had the Kool n'Fit spray, it had actually been more in my right glute region and I was stopping to stretch it several times during loop 2 but now it has moved to more of ITB/Hip flexor region and making it difficult to run. I started back up the rocky section and quickly settled into a strong power hike and worked my way past some people but once I was through all that and back on the more runnable portion they all passed me back. It was hear where I started to become really hungry and not having the lemon bar was down side, I only had the chocolate one. I took hammer gel and was lucky it didn't come back out. My pace was much slower now and I was just in the total Funk Zone, it was warmer out now too and I knew that wasn't helping. I kept moving but noticed my pace was 18-20 min/miles and so I tried to work a little harder to keep it lower but then my leg was just happy. Getting to the aid station at mile 8.4 from the start finish took what seemed like forever but I had a little goal in mind and that was to beat Tim and Bill Andrews there as I had got a text from Dez as to when the left starting there 4th loop. I was also trying my hardest to get there because I wanted some FOOD! I finally made it there and grabbed Cynthia's bottle of Kool n'Fit she had in her drop bag, ahhh,, but this time I sprayed both legs! Then I made my way to 2 cups of soup, 2 cookies, Mt. Dew, and then I was back on the trail. I knew eating all that food I would need a little time to digest it so I took it easy for a mile or so then I started running and that's when I finally saw Tim and Bill coming, Yes, I had not only beat them in/out of the aid station but even a little farther down the trail. We stopped and chatted briefly and then I started walking again but I noticed my leg was nagging again so I would run for a short distance just to shake it off but then have to walk. The sun was setting and I was behind on my time to arrive back at the start/finish before it got dark and knew I would be in the dark soon. Several other people had passed me while I was walking after eating and it had been about 30 minutes and all of a sudden I got a good song going and started jogging, then I replayed the song 3 more times and was running! It came to me to take advantage of this moment for as long as I could because 1) it would be dark soon and I wouldn't be able to see the trail that good to run safely, 2) I couldn't feel my leg and 3) I wanted to catch some of those people that had passed me. I caught all but one guy before I finished the 3rd loop but about 2 miles out it became too dark to run and I had to stop. I would use the lights from the oncoming runners to jog for a brief time but then walk again and now my leg was really pissed off at me for all that running and chasing I was doing. I was limping now. Looking at my time I would be finishing this 3rd loop in about 5 hours and I immediately knew I was done!

I wasn't even back to the start/finish but I knew my legs just didn't have it in them to go 100 miles, or 64 more miles. Excuse me for saying but I was also not interested in walking the 4th loop for 6 hours and dropping at 100k being as I had finished the 100k last year. I came into the start/finish, found Dez got some pizza and went to sit down. I told her what was going on and that I was going to drop. This is always the toughest part simply because she works hard and is out there for me and to tell her I am stopping is just not a fun thing, not so much that I am physically just not there but telling her. She supports me and understands to some level and with that, I am done. I sit around for a while and get some more food and then really start to stiffen up so walking like a mummy is very apparent now. Tim and Bill have arrived and Bill has finished the 100k and in a qualifying time for Western States so he is done, he actually took 3rd in the 100k! Tim's stomach is on the blink and finally moves out to start his 5th loop. I calculate he will be back in about 3:30-4hours so we go to the RV where I showered up and slept.

As I was sleeping the rain started to come down pretty good and knowing that Tim was out there working it was very inspiring because it just makes it that much tougher. He finished and arrived back at the RV where we congratulated him, then went back to bed.

Dez and I went in the morning to get all of our gear, drop bags and stuff from the start/finish area and grab some breakfast while Tim rested up. We later were packed up and headed back to Vegas.

Overall, the race was a blast and I enjoyed it, even if I did dnf. I knew going into the race that not running the 3 weeks before would have some effect on me. My base for going the distance felt good but just the lack of time on the legs/feet was the missing link. The foot issue leading up to this event was a definitely a factor that changed my mechanics and effected my kinetic chain. Now its time to recover and then get to work on my strength factor and make sure my leg/s are back in action before another big run is taken on. I will enjoy my time off from longer stuff and look forward to getting back to it next year. I will be back at Javalina100 next year, as I know it is a race I can finish!

rockon'

my nagging foot and Javalina100.

2011-10-19T16:23:00.000-07:00

One more race to go and it seems like it's taking forever to get here but the days are rolling by so fast I need more time to train, does that make sense?

Javalina100 is 24 days away and although I have been getting some runs completed I have been having some continuing problems with that right bone bruise from a year ago. It has it's days where its just not happy to walk let alone run so I have been training with it annoying me, which sucks. The plan was to have 3 weeks of 50+ miles but I have been lucky to get into the 40's with the foot issue, so I'll have to take what I can leading up to the race and play a smart race day strategy to get me to the finish, which despite any other crazy things I should complete it.

Last weekend was a great event fascial stretching lots of triathletes at the Pumpkinman Triathlon and a great opportunity for Hurt Less Play More, LLC to show its expertise! Thanks to all the people that came and got stretched, must have been about 45+, it was a long day but went pretty fast.

I was watching the Ironman World Championships a couple of weeks ago and was really excited to see a great race in both the men and women's fields and while I was watching I really got the tri-bug going and now for 2012 I will be looking to jump back in the tri-arena, just have to find the right race and distance but I do know it will be a 70.3 or 140.6, maybe not "M-dot" but a sure distance.

As for ultra-running I am looking to get this Javalina100 under the belt and take a little time off and recoup the foot. I wanted to look at applying for Badwater2012 but with the foot and still needing another 100 by Feb, its just not a good time so I will focus on crewing for my 4th year. Overall I haven't really thought much about next year which is probably a good thing being as I usually plan so far ahead but I will revisit this thought after JJ100.

rockon'

October

2011-10-11T20:11:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a busy last couple of weeks. Not only have I got a little busier at the office, which is much welcomed coming back from India, but my run training has also increased.

I put the plan in action to increase my run volume heading towards Javalina 100 and although I could probably be doing a little more I am keeping at 50-60 mile weeks simply because my right foot has been bothering me more after my runs and in early mornings. I did need new shoes and so I purchased a new set but no real change in the pain to my foot after an 11 mile run. This foot pain is the same one that I have had since this time last year when I hit my right 5th metatarsal base while running at Mt. Charleston and my foot slipped. It hit right on the bone and bone bruise occurred and at times it feels fine but since my volume has increased it has just not been happy. Maybe also because I have been primarily running on the road because JJ100 is a very runnable course and I wanted to keep my speed and overall running up vs. run-walking on other trails.

The team we had scheduled for Las Vegas Ragnar Relay fell apart this past week which is no worries as the timing just seemed to be off the mark heading into JJ100 and work.
On a cool note, this weekend, Oct. 15th. I will be out at the Pumpkinman Triathlon providing some recovery stretching all day long!! I am excited to be out working in the community event and getting as many bodies on the table as I can. I know it will be long tiring work but all worth it.

rockon'

Fitness Challenge - Vegas, Who's in?

2011-09-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

This week has been a totally recovery week, not that I did a lot of miles at RDL but the heat really took it out of me and it took several days to really feel "normal". During this time I have been looking at my training schedule leading up to Javalina100 and wanted to incorporate some other fitness training and along with my office get some people interested in joining me to get in shape. I figured why not, I'm already working out so let's see if anyone in the community wants to come along.

Announcing the Hurt Less Play More - Fitness Challenge!

I will be teaming up with Jill Birth, 2011 IsaBody Grand Champion who won $120,000 in doing so. check out Jill's Way and see her story. Jill released 131 lbs and went from dress size 22 to 4! It didn't happen overnight, it took 8 months and she achieved her goals and changed her life forever!

The challenge will be starting in October and will include fitness routines during the week and sessions to work out with me personally. Jill will also attended as scheduled and assist in weekly team calls for questions/answers as well as assist in nutritional counseling to educate the team on daily meals to prepare/cook and to incorporate Isagenix nutrition.

80% of all fitness and health gains are nutritionally with 20% being the physical aspect so its very important in this challenge to educate the team on changing there lifestyle habits.

Various workout routines will be held at different locations in the city of Las Vegas and will be using various exercises to train, example: running/jogging/walking, TRX, circuit routines, jump ropes, kettle bells, swimming, biking, weight training. A variety of things to keep it fresh and have fun!

I am excited to offer this to the community of Las Vegas and help people change there lives and improve there health!

I've always helped people in my live/career and now this is a huge way to help! I am so excited!

If you live in Vegas and are interested in joining, email me at Hurtlessplaymore@gmail.com for more details.

rockon'

RDL100 went down in flames.

2011-09-12T12:32:00.001-07:00

I am not really sure where to start this recap so let's start at the end..

I dnf'd at mile 33.5! 11 hours 10 mins into the burning depths of the RDL100 course.

I was totally dehydrated, dizzy, throwing up, and had a slight chest pain, I knew my day was done.

The morning was great, waking up, excited ready to go. I ate a bagel on the way to the start and showed up with about 10 mins to go, I didn't want to get there too early and just wait around so my timing was good. I quickly checked in and did last minute checks for things I needed as I would not see Dez, my awesome crew support till mile 15 or more so I needed to be prepared. It was dark for the 5am start and we would be running in the dark for at least an hour. The temperature at the start was low 70's and felt okay. The great race directors gave last minute instructions and then lined us all up and here is where I found Tim Duffy, who also ran LOL100 with me, he was ready to go as well and at the count down we shook hands and this was the last time I saw him as the we all started.

The excitement was great and I was nervous. I told Dez I wasn't sure why I was nervous because its not like a sprint, its a long ass day and it will be slow and steady but I loved the way I felt and that made me realize that I enjoy preparing, training and getting to the start line! I started running nice and easy but the pull of pack of 80+ runners was immediately noticed and I knew I was running fast but thought I would hang with everyone for 3 or 4 miles and then settle down. I ran with Ed Ettinghausen and caught up on his Badwater135 run from July and we talked about AltoLabs, La Ultra - The High and other cool stuff. After about 2 miles I knew I was just running too fast and started slowing down and was chatting with other runners at the back. It was approaching 6am and the Sun was starting to shin as we moved through to the single track portion of a lot of this run, soon the headlamp was off and I was enjoying the morning.

I could tell it was warming up but running in and out of the trees along the Folsom Lake was a great feeling. The rolling hills of the course also made it fun and somewhat interesting as I knew I could run these little rollers but then made me think that these little rollers could come back and get you later in the miles, as I learned at JJ100k last year, even after Sweet Baboo warned me about them. I would continue to run some and walk some but overall was just taking my time, my current pace after 6 miles was a nice 13mins/mile and although I knew it was too fast I was taking it because with the Sun coming up I knew I would be slowing down per my race plan and I would need the extra time bank.

The first 15 miles were pretty nice running on the trail, its really a neat place to run and even though there were some rocky sections and some shorter climbs it was great. By the time I hit Rattlesnake Bar aid station, mile 15.71 I was feeling good, eating well, drinking and not really too hot, although I was sweating and fighting off bugs who seemed to like my chap stick I came refilled all my bottles, took a great picture with my friend and aid station captain Dr. Bill Andrews, CEO of Sierra Sciences and off I went.

When I left Rattle Snake aid station I had grabbed a couple of small PB&J's but soon noticed that my stomach was not to happy about that. I had been drinking Succeed - Ultra since then and at Rattle Snake I dumped it out as I noticed it was changing my stomach as well. (I think I actually used too much of this in the early hours, I double up and sipped on it but I think it was enough to throw my system off early in the day.) Being as it was starting to heat up I started taking my electrolytes, S-Caps, one per hour but it had already been about 4 hours since I started that I had take my first one, as Ultra drink has electrolytes I wanted to make sure I didn't over salt myself.

Rattlesnake Bar to Cardiac Hill aid station was 6.28 miles. This section of the course was more technical, rocky at times and lots more of the shorter steep climbs. I remember thinking that this section was going to be tough at 3am!! I was starting to get a hot spot on the ball of my left foot, something that I have noticed in a couple of my last longer runs so I knew I was going to need to take care of it at Cardiac and apply BlisterShield, great stuff. During this section I was really noticing the heat starting to come out and we were in less covered areas, I was still running good at times when I could but I would start to heat up so I would slow down or walk just a short ways. I had already started using ice under my hat to keep cool and since I was in miles 15-21, my standard Suck-Zone I was feeling it. I am not sure why this is usually my "wall" area but 18-20ish is always a low spot for me and today was no different. I was hot. I had cramped already one time in my lower shin, so I took more salt and seemed to walking a little more than I wanted to, even in nice areas where I should be running but nothing I could do but keep moving and get the aid station. When I got there just before 11am Dez was waiting and I was glad to see her. She helped me with my BlisterShield in my socks, refilling my bottles, and ice in hat and bandanna. I also took a small Dr. Pepper bottle to carry with me and get something to calm my stomach. I hadn't anything in a while but knew I needed to as the couple of gel's I took were not going to be enough. Just before I left out of Cardiac there was a Rattle Snake crawling across the trail just about 20feet from the aid station table!! crazy!! but cool to see. I left feeling better after about 10 mins of getting cooled down and some hydration.

The climb from the bottom of Cardiac Hill to the top is a little less than mile but pretty much straight up with just a couple of switch backs, about 700foot climb and once at the top another 1/2 mile to the next aid station at Maidu. I took my time climbing up and had passed a great lady attempting her first 100, as she had passed me earlier in the day. I actually felt good climbing up and although it was hot I did my best to keep water on my head and stay cool but now after 11am its just getting hotter out, luckily this section has more trees so shaded areas were nice for a short rest. At the top I started running along the water canal that is here and would stop and wet my head down instead of using all my water in my hand held. I got to Maidu and was feeling good, another short refill stop with Dez, a couple of gels I picked up and ice and off I went to Auburn Damn overlook another 1.52 miles.This section at first was great because it was still along the canal and I was feeling good so I started running as much as possible and making up some time, I passed a couple of runners here but soon hit a couple of short steep climbs getting up to Auburn but was still moving good even though I was really feeling the heat and pouring water on me every few minutes. My stomach was still not happy even though I shoved a couple of gels down it along with more S-Caps. It seemed the more I tried to get a balance on my stomach the more it seemed to go the opposite direction. I got to Auburn Damn and again refilled all water and ice. Dez tried to get me eat something but I was just not having it, I didn't want anything. I put more sun block on and Dez had made a great duct tape job on a different hand held bottle I wanted to use because it help 4oz more and was insulated. This was a great idea and worked great but I also noticed the extra weight of it and had to switch hands more often.

Heading to No Hands Bridge from Auburn was 4.34 miles away and now I was just overheating like crazy. This section also was more exposed to the sun and I found myself walking a lot! I simply could not run as I would start over heating like crazy and I just felt worse, so my walking pace was about 18 mins/mile at times I would get to 16s but it didn't last long. I was bummed at this point because this part of the course is very runnable and I wanted to run but the heat was still killing me and I knew this was not part of the race plan. Stick with walking as fast as possible during the hot portion of the day and then we'll run at night was the plan. It was great seeing the leaders during this section of the course and encouraging them on as they did the same for me but it only last for minutes as my thoughts were fried from the heat on my head. Have I mentioned its hot? I forgot how far it was to No Hands Bridge and as I saw others coming towards me I would ask them which wasn't a good idea because the first time I asked the guy said 2 miles maybe a little more!! SHIT!! I kept moving and soon got close enough that one guy said, Just around the corner, maybe 1/2 mile probably less!! Yahoo!! that was great news as the dude before him said "yo man, your pushing the cut off, you need to run".. WTH, no shit dude! I was irritated by that comment but kept doing my race not his! As I came around the corner I saw No Hands Bridge and I was just about out water. I had used all 64oz I was carry, drinking probably 45oz of it but in 90 mins that may not have been enough in this heat. I was glad to see Dez on the far end of the bridge at the aid station because we had talked about her not stopping her as she would have to walk a little ways to get to the aid station and so I would just see her at Cool Fire Station but nope, she was here! As I was walking across the bridge I got closer to her and she was talking pictures and I had posted on my facebook that I would be Planking at No Hands Bridge and now was the time, unfortunately, one of the aid station ladies was not aware of this and I felt bad because I scared the shit out of her as I moved to the edge of the bridge and laid down on the edge as Dez was getting closer to take my picture, Sorry nice aid station lady for scaring you. I really think she thought I was going to jump or passing out or something. Anyway, we took the picture and I got into the station, mile 29, 2:00pm.!!

I sat down for a few minutes as everyone helped to refuel my bottles and get me ice, I must have looked bad because they were all over me with cooling aids, which I welcomed. Dez said I needed to eat something as it had been hours since I had anything so I ate 1/2 a cookie and drank some Pepsi. I drank lots more water and took a S-cap, sat around for about 5 mins and started to head out to Cool Fire Station which was at the top of K2!! 3.31 miles away and 1200 feet of straight up climbing, no switch backs in less than couple of miles. I was still in good spirits and was ready for K2 leaving out, I told Dez I would probably be a 30min/mile pace so at least 90 mins before I got to Cool Fire Station. I was still ahead of the lady I passed at Cardiac but we were pretty much together by 4-5 minutes.

K2 hell:

As soon as I left out of the No Hands aid station I was walking up the short switch back in the covered tress and it happened. My stomach had decided no way and out come contents from previous aid station 5 minutes ago. Maybe it was too much at one time, but the cookie seemed to be the factor that pushed the button. Blow and Go as I'm told so that's pretty much what I did. It didn't seem all that bad and I wasn't worried about it other than, Okay, let's drink some water. The trail here is pretty much a straight up climb with 6 or 7 false summits, so unless you're at the top you're not at the top! I mean this thing was so steep I could only walk a few steps at a time before I was wobbling all over the place from over heating and exerting myself. I took it slow and steady but that didn't seem to matter to my stomach a 2nd time as I had to spit up a bunch of water I had drank, again, too much at one time. About half way up I finally just sat down on the side of the trail and rested as I poured ice water over my head and cooled down. Some other guy came storming up the trail with walking sticks and blew right by me, the first time I had seen him all day. I got up and kept moving, now just about mile into the climb and then I got dizzy again, this time it was a little different. Dizzy followed by a sensation to breath deep but couldn't, followed by a slight pain in my left chest.! NOT GOOD! I immediately sat down again, more water on my head, body, and sipping. I knew my race was over!! I had two options: go back down the trail to No Hands or continue up K2 another mile-ish to Cool. Well, I wasn't going backwards even if I wasn't going to finish this thing and the stubbornness of I will get to the top of K2! Just then the lady was coming up the trail and asked how I was, I said okay but severely over heated, dizzy, and puking, she laid down on the trail about 10 feet from me and said yeah me too! I kind of laughed as I though, well at least I am not the only one but I do believe our feelings were quite different. She encouraged me to get moving again and so we started but she soon dropped me and I caught back up a short distance later but then got dropped again. On this climb, I felt the worse I have ever felt in any endurance event. An all time LOW in my experience, I wanted to cry but couldn't, I wanted to scream but couldn't, I wanted to stop but couldn't! I was a little lost in my feeling and what to do so early in a race but I knew the heat and dehydration had dealt the winning hand. I finally made it to the top of K2 after all the false summits and was walking a great open meadow area and off to the right there were 4 deer's standing there watching me, Yes, they were there, I was not hallucinating! and I enjoyed the mutual stares we shared as I passed. Knowing that Cool was still a little less than a mile away I kept moving as much as possible because I wanted to be done. I started seeing runners coming towards me again so I knew I was closer and then I saw the top of the Fire Station bldg in the distance but also this helicopter flying circles overhead like a vulture waiting to start eating me. It eventually landed at the Fire Station and as I got closer it was a good distraction to the fact that I was done.

I got to the aid station, mile 32.5 and Dez approached me asking how I was but I was in a pretty low place, I just said not good! Not Good at all. I quickly checked in and saw Tim Duffy standing here, he had fallen down 4 times during the day and said he was dropping from the race, he was at mile 39. I quickly told him that I was done too but wanted to get to the car to cool off. I sat down in the car and Dez was checking on me to refill my bottles but I told her I was dropping, that I had a pain in my chest and that was not a good thing. My body was telling me to stop or it was going to shut down on its own. Just then the aid station lady came over and said that if i wanted to continue the 100 I needed to go now or if I wanted to drop to the 100k I could just continue back down but I needed to make a decision. I just said I was dropping overall.

Tim was here and we were chatting about things. I was still very over heated and it was hard to focus at times. Part of me really thought about going on but I just knew it was not a smart thing to do. The lady came back and asked if I was dropping to the 100k and I said no, I was dropping completely. She said okay and I called Molly to inform her. There was also another gentleman that had just dropped and needed a ride back to Auburn so we all piled in the car with the AC and left. This guy was done because he was over heated and exhausted and realized he was going to finish a 100k in 21 hours and didn't want any part of that. Matter of fact this guy had actually left Cool heading back and turn around and was walking back to Cool when I was coming in and I saw him turn around and thought what the heck but just eventually thought he was heading into Cool Station for the first time and I had caught up to him.

After getting cooled down and drinking more water and taking another S-Cap I was feeling a little more with it. We dropped off Tim and the other guy and headed back to the hotel. Dez and I got showered and cleaned up and headed to eat. I was feeling so much better, just tired and some soreness. After dinner we returned to the hotel and as I laid down I was restless and slept restless with a calf cramp in the middle of the night. The next morning we packed up and drove back to Vegas.

I am feeling totally good now, still some minor soreness but normal stuff. Ultimately, my demise was the Heat and lack of preparing for it and some training. I feel if I would have had known we were going to have 96* heat I may not have changed from Wasatch and taken the climbs and elevation more but when I made the decision I was still having some climbing issues with my hamstring, which are okay now. I learned that I have a new low in feeling like shit and despite the heat I made it to the top of K2! I know I need more heat tolerance when picking a race with these temps, especially Badwater! I know I have some training in the next 7 weeks to get ready for Javalina 100 as I am not going down in an dnf there!

I learned that my stomach shut down completely in the heat and will need to find some sort of nutrition to use, maybe Amino or Clip from Succeed would have worked but I didn't try it. All I know is I can't wait for the next one!

rockon'

race to Rio Del Lago 100

2011-09-07T11:12:00.000-07:00

This weekend, in 3 days, I will be running the Rio Del Lago 100 put on by Desert Sky Adventures and with the expected temperatures to be in the low 90's I have my work cut out for me.

This race came about as a change from Wasatch 100, which I am a little bummed in not heading to but with my little issue I have been dealing with in the glute/hamstring area I was not feeling confident in my hiking pace and climbing power as it was aggravated by any uphill climbs, so while I was in India I had made a decision to change races and stick with something a little more flat but now I also have HEAT to deal with and that is something I am not looking forward to.

I mean for Badwater I prepare with sauna training and hey, come on! its BADWATER! but I have not had that much heat training or run training heading into RDL so it will be quite interesting on how this goes down. I am confident I can get to the end it will just be a matter of how I get there. I will also be using a lot of Isagenix nutrition products, such as shakes, bars, and of course Product B! so I am excited to try out some new things during this run, you know me, forget trying it in training, slap it down on the race! haha! totally not the way to do it but again I feel confident in Isagenix and myself so I am not worried.

I am also happy to report that Dez will be crewing me along the way and she is quite familiar with Isagenix and all that I will be needing during the run.

I will look to get another post up before I head to RDL up in Granite Bay, CA. area so stay tuned!! also I will have cell phone service on the course so check out my facebook for updates.

If you're not familiar with Isagenix products or heard of Telomere support you soon will as Product B will become known. Check out www.hurtlessplaymore.isagenix.com for information.

rockon'

Follow Ups post Race.

2011-08-26T08:24:00.001-07:00

The morning after the race I woke up with a severe sore throat, sharp to swallow and just plan sucked! I felt it coming on the last 10k of the race and sleeping on the way back to Leh and now it was totally killing me! I went to the medical team to see if they had any meds and after a quick exam and some talking I was given a Z-pack and took some serious amounts of ibuprofen. I had gone to breakfast with Molly and Bailey but could barely swallow and nothing was fun to eat, the first time I didn't finish anything on my plate since being in Leh! Bummer! I later then went back to bed and slept for half day waking up and feeling much relief! I mean it was still there but the sharp pain was gone and a lot less swollen.

As I started to pack for home I was thinking in moments of the overall race and how Molly has accomplished completing the race, even when she was at her worst. Now remember, I crewed Molly in 2009 Badwater and I remember seeing some pretty low down and out times but this race took her farther and at times in longer periods of the what I call the Suck Zone! I mean she literally had thrown up 5 times, that I know of, within 24 hours! One specific time she was getting sick she asked home many times had she gotten sick while I was pacing her? I replied, Do you want to know within the last 24 hours, the last hour or since I have been pacing this time? haha. poor thing! but all in all Molly is a very Patient runner! Persistent! and Dedicated! I think in tough races/events like these, if you lack any one of the 3, your toast!

Packing was just about finished and the afternoon approached and soon dinner with a big celebration victory bon-fire party was to occur. There was also going to be lots of beer so that was a plus!

First the Party: the party was great! everyone celebrating, having some drinks and enjoy the guitar that was being played by various locals and some of the crew from Lisa's team! After the presentation of the finishers trophy, which is way cool! no belt buckles here, plus you get a nice cloth hanging finishers certificate and shirt. Then there was the finishers picture and a few words from each of the runners all stating there difficulties and the having experienced the toughest race they ever completed, which is saying a lot because these runners have completed a lot of tough races in their running careers! The night was fun and again lots of beers were appreciated!

The Race: First off, let's remember this is the 2nd year this race has been offered. Last year only 3 runners accepted the challenge and only 1 finished! People have to remember that this race takes part in a 3rd World Country! in a remote part of India, so usually and customary things are simply not offered. Since it is the 2nd year to be put on, the logistics of putting the event together are still being worked on and so a participant should be open and flexible to change, with that the great race director, Rajat Chauhan is still working on his perfect race team. It takes a lot of help and getting the right people for the jobs needed is tough, this year he had some great help but some of the race help thought they became the race director in making decision when only the RD can make the decisions and along with those people some of there attitudes were just not comfortable or fit with the overall attitudes of the participants so there was drama and tension at times. With time Rajat will have things worked out for the better of the race and participants, but just remember, if you select this event, you experience not only one tough ass event but a great destination and experience for your life of memories. Not only will this event challenge you in terms of distance but altitude and obstacles such as exhaust from many diesel truck/cars as they pass on the race course!

City of Leh: the city is 11,500feet so landing here you immediately feel the change in altitude so be prepared to acclimate in the days leading up to the race. The city offers lots of shopping and food, surprisingly the food was very good, Yes, there is curry but there is lot of other food as well. Westernized food as made it way there and again eating around the city was not a hard thing to do, especially, when you find the restaurants that you like, as we did, you just keep going back. The city also has great culture and temples to visit as well as driving up to Khardung La, during your acclimation periods. I also did white water rafting this year and that was fun, cold, but fun.

The hotel we stayed in was an older style hotel but nice, toilets, running water, sometimes hot water but the beds were overall hard, which I think that is the standard in the city as Molly's room was the same. Molly's hotel was a little nice in the rooms but they did not have a shower head in the bathrooms and therefore a splash type bath had to be taken, I had a full shower head and it was nice to have a regular type shower. You can pretty much get around everywhere on food in the city, if you decide to go farther and up to Khardung La than you will need a taxi service.

Personal: I love this event! I loved Leh and the people! Yes, the city was very interesting in dealing with dusty roads, diesel exhaust, squat toilets, and other fine changes in our standard lives but that's what it's all about! Even though there was drama and some of the attitudes of the race organizers were a little much to deal with it, it was nothing that couldn't be handled or avoided for less stress. One of the toughest parts a participant will have to deal with is staying health in the days prior to the race and acclimating to the altitude.

I am also excited to see the documentary that Barry Walton, who filmed Profiling Hurt, is working on for this event! He did an exceptional job, filming, interviewing and taking pictures! It will take him some time to get the final work out there but I will be keeping you posted on when its available, most likely a year he estimated.

Experiencing not only a 16 hour flight but a different world in Delhi and Leh has been one of the best things in my 40 years of life experience and I thank Molly for everything! I also thank Dez, who always has supported me in all my endurance sports since day 1. Now both her and Molly will have to return in 2012 as I look to take down those mountain passes and become part of an elite group of finishers!

rockon'

Day 3 - some Drama, The Finish!

2011-08-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

Rumptse, 161km/100miles, 13,675ft. The past 5 hours have been in the rain and getting here was the first main goal. We Arrived! The plan was to take up come rest in the cottage, eat some warm food and dry out and then make our way up to Tanglang La, the 2nd 17,500 mountain climb of the race. It's 11:30pm and the original time to have left here recommended by the RD was 10pm! We are obviously well behind that but Molly is feeling good, tired of course and is looking for the short break we planned on.

When the Mothership picked us up back in town Bailey had informed us that all the runners, well, 2 of the runners, Lisa and Samantha and there crews, Jason was already on the other side of Tanglang La and Ray and Sharon were on the way back to this camp from finishing and would be her shortly, so this posed an immediate problem, no further rooms were available for us to rest, so we were told they would have 2 tents pitched for us when we got there. After being in the rain and outside for some time now I immediately spoke freely and said, Fuck that, we're not resting in tents outside! Also, Bailey had said that all the food had been packed up and they were unloading it out of the truck for us and reheating it, sure! We pulled into the cottage and sure enough there were the other runners crew cars and two tents were being set up. We all jumped out of the mothership and went inside to a dining room area and the food and tables were there, about this same time Ray and Sharon arrived and the medical team was checking them and debriefing so it was a little hectic in the room. Several of us started eating and most everything was cold, at this time I didn't know they had just brought back the food and no wonder it was cold. Anyway, Bailey and I got Molly some tea and food for ourselves as well as Jigme did and we all started eating.

The reason the other runners were here was because it had started snowing up on Tanglang La, which we could see from afar as were getting closer to Rumptse, and the race officials said the conditions were bad and for safety reason pulled the runners from continuing up Tanglang La. The race officials didn't plan on everyone being at this cottage at one time, hence, no room for us back of the packers. The race officials had made an agreement with the runners that they would let the snow pass and not return till 4am, I think it was just after 10pm before they got pulled because I remember one of the other crews saying they were down for 6 hours! When we got there there was also talk of extending the cutoff time due to the weather but word came quickly that this would not be happening, 60 hours remain. During this whole time the clock is ticking and although we are getting some rest/recovery/food we had been talking and had decided that staying here was NOT an option for us at this time in the race and with Molly pushing the time limits we needed all the time we had so we had to get moving up the mountain.

While we were eating some race officials came to us and asked if they could speak with Molly outside. Molly said she would be right back and walked out. I sat there a little perplexed and my gut feeling was WTF! why are they talking to her alone? I quickly turned to Bailey and said I don't like that they pulled her from us to speak to her, I think they are going to try and bully her or something, and being as she is not really in a frame of mind to handle complex conversations I think we should go! Bailey replied, Yeah this is Bullshit! Let's Go! We got up and walked outside the door and sure enough, the setting appeared like a bully session as 3 race officials were standing there talking to Molly and her in the middle. They all looked at us like deer in headlights and I just remember saying something like, What's up? We're all part of the team, or something like that. There whole concern was the safety of the road conditions and the snow, stating that 10k up the road the snow line had started and that's where the conditions go worse. They also tried to instill the 4am agreement on us saying that was the deal made, Molly was quick to jump on that one saying she made NO Deal about 4am and no one came back to inform us of the agreements being made! We've been here 45 mins so far!

Finally, after talking some sense into the race officials, we had stated to let us go to the 10km snow line and if its unsafe, deemed by our driver as he would make the call for our safety, then we would return to Rumptse but allowing us to get at least 10km more up the road gave us a better chance of completing the race within 60 hours. After just a few more minutes the race officials said they would discuss it and get back to us. We all got back in the Mothership and were waiting just a few more minutes, now its been 50-55 mins and still wasting time. Finally, I said we Have To Go! Let's Find Out What's the Deal! Molly jumped out and tracked down an official who was talking to a medical team member and it was agreed upon that she could continue to the 10km line and deem safety issues, was in good condition and any finish within the 60 hours was official, as it had been said now, that because she didn't make Rumptse by 10pm she would be unofficial! That sent her blood boiling and was actually good motivation for the climb to come, turns out that unofficial talk was just talk and she would be official if she made it within 60 hours. After all this mess, now an hour later, we hopped in the Mothership, back out to the road and off we started up Tanglang La.

Since Molly's blood was boiling and she was over all the drama she had a great pace and we starting moving quickly, yes, still in the RAIN! It's now about 1am and the rain would turn to snow and back to rain over the next 12 hours, so everything from here till the finish was in the rain/snow, well maybe the last 1 hour was not in the rain. When I came out to pace shortly after Rumptse it was great to see Molly fired up! Don't tell her she'll be unofficial when there is still time on the clock! Don't tell her she can't complete the distance! (actually Yes, tell her!! because she was motoring up that mountain in the rain!) When we hit 10km it was still raining and there was no snow, the driver said it was clear and we could keep going until it changed, if it did, which it would start snowing in the early AM but not enough to make conditions unsafe, just cold. Within 10km we were at 15,692feet, already climbed 1,692 feet since Rumptse! and still had more to go as the top of Tanglang La is 19.5 miles from Rumptse.

As we approached the 4am time for the other runners we knew we would soon see car lights coming and by 4:30am we saw them and as they passed us and slowed down to shot encouragement and great excitment it was nice to finally see other runners in this race and knowing that Molly had now closed the gap on them. They had gotten word that she came through Rumptse long ago and was on the way up the mountain and later I would learn that they were happy for her and stating that was the best thing we did was not stop at Rumptse and sleep with the cockroaches and spiders that crawled in the rooms! The early morning light was trying to break through but the heavy clouds and now snow where keeping it from lighting up which was a good thing because by this time Bailey and I had a run in with the Poop Monster due to the cold food and determining it was the noodles we both ate, ughh!! Climbing Tanglang La was much different than Khardung La because of the overall pitch of the mountain. Khardung La was more steep and the switch back were shorter and steeper getting you to the top quicker but Tanglang La was longer pitch, resulting in longer, less steep switch backs and so it took longer to reach the top and we were up at the higher 16000+ feet longer! Both Bailey and I had taken diamox early in preparing for this but now we were both fighting some severe sleep deprivations. (One funny thing before we got to Rumptse, it was raining like crazy and Molly was just in a low spot, trudging along step by step. We were approaching the Mothership and from about 50 yards out, I see Bailey waiting for us, but all of a sudden I see a blinking/strobing light! I tell Molly, hey check out Bailey. As we looked at her, the strobing light flashing, she busts out the Robot moves and starts dancing and pop-locking! freaking Hilarious!! and such a perfect time as Molly needed the amusement! After that while it was still dark we would good with the strobe light from the headlamps and do the Robot for Molly)

As the morning came I had been calculating our pace and everything was looking good to finish within 58-59 hours but still we were not at the top of Tanglang La. Bailey and I had been switching out frequently but this turned out to be a bad thing because just as you got settled in the car it was time to come back out and getting cold again was worse than just staying out there, and besides when you went into the car you were pretty much down for the count, so we had to adapt our rotation and just stay out longer. Once we went over 16,300 feet I had a seriously hard time staying awake, pacing or sitting in the car. We were about 2-3 miles from the top and although it is highly recommended that you do not sleep at this elevations I could not stay awake and neither could the Jigme and the driver. I was working hard and trying to get Molly to the top but I knew I didn't have it in me, I needed to rest/sleep, go higher or go lower, something! The last 1.5 mile you can see the top of the mountain but there is a seriously long double switch back to get there, when Molly saw this she was seriously NOT HAPPY! haha, at this time Bailey and I had switched out and I told her we would head to the top and wait. Once at the top we got some tea and I was walking around taking a few pictures, I actually felt better than being a 1,000 feet below, weird. After a while Molly and Bailey appeared and we took a great picture at the Tanglang La sign and of course Bailey and I planked at 17,582ft! Molly was super excited and happy to be at the top, 192km/119.5miles, and now it was all downhill for quite some time and mostly to the finish.

Once again as we descended I was in that I cant Stay Away zone and looking to get below the 16300ft mark and sure enough once I did I was much more awake and ready to go. We had seen Lisa Tamati and her crew come by and she had completed the race and was heading back to Rumptse/Leh and speaking with her was great and exciting giving us that needed energy to make the final push as the crew, later I would learn that she actually got out of the car when she caught up to Molly and walked with her for short time giving her encouragement, thanks Lisa! When I took back to pacing we were moving along great and knowing that Samantha was just a short ways of head of us and actually being able to see her and her crew on some of the down switch backs gave Molly a little boost of energy to run. The rain was still coming down and pretty much all mud and puddles so I have basically stopped trying to avoid wet feet and just make the shortest route around the corners. By now we are somewhere about 210km/130 miles all is feeling great! Molly is happy and knows that she will make the finish with time. Its a great feeling knowing all the hard work that has occurred in the past 50 hours! Get to a what I call a Tent City about 10km from the finish, the locals came offering some sandwiches and soup but Molly's stomach is not in the mood for any of the kind offerings. I grab some tea and we quickly head off down the road as we are close, Bailey is out pacing now and I am still calculating our time to make sure. Once we reached this fork in the road, we moved left and as the road seems to go completely no where in the distance, which is actually a major psychological blow as you are so close but yet no where in site is the finish. This are is called Morey Plains and the name is perfect because all you get is More and Morey of plains in sight! haha. The good thing is now were about 15,300ft and feeling much better.

On the last 3 miles, Molly wanted all of us to walk together and so we all enjoyed the highlights of Morey Plains, the last 58 hours and all that we just went through. It was an amazing time out there all together for that last hour, holding hands as we walked, laughing and recalling the Werewolf sightings that Molly had, the sign that I thought was a port-a-potty, the Robot dancing, the Wave we all performed and the dogs chasing Molly and Bailey with Molly armed with pebbles and Bailey with boulders! Finally, we could see around the bend and there was the finish line! We had American Flags that we each held and as we approached the finish I had my video phone rolling.

The last 100 meters! The finish line banner was now so close! The great race director, Rajat Chauhan, brought us a prayer flag La Ultra sign and we draped it around us, everyone clapping, cheering Molly! Then it was the last run and we all took off in a jog to finish it out! We crossed the line all together, hand in hand, just like we had in 2009 at Badwater! 58 hours 56 minutes, 222km/138 miles, TWO - 17,500+ft mountains! Molly had finished! It was great cheers, congratulations and photos and a joy of accomplishment, together, we all did it! The ISAGENIX DREAM TEAM had success when others had counted us out, when others believed Molly was too far behind to make it, when others thought it couldn't be done if you were not to Rumptse by 10pm!

Once we finished it was quickly back to tent city for some quick food and then we headed back to Leh, which meant going back over Tanglang La and all the way through course since Leh. It was already evening and once we started driving back we all quickly feel asleep in the car, at first, all of us were proper and trying not impede on each others space but a while later and we were all one unit leaning on each other and bouncing from side to side down the roads. The drive back was actually pretty fast as I know the driver was in a hurry to get back and that was super okay with me, I woke up a couple of times to see where we were but watching him maneuver down the road was not a pleasant sight and my eye lids weighed like 10lbs each so I went back to sleep. Once back at the hotel we quickly unpacked and Molly and Bailey went back to there room and I to mine where a warm shower was wonderful and the hardness of the bed was actually welcomed! I was still so tired that falling asleep quickly was not a problem and now I was experiencing a sore throat.

stay tuned till the post-race day post and thoughts on the race itself, race officials , etc.!!

rockon'

Day 2 - Race, La Ultra - The High.

2011-08-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

Day 2:

As we rolled through town and getting closer to the Main Gate (mile 50) the town was already awake and people were on the streets watching as we ran by. We were excited to get to the Main Gate as the road then started to head down hill and later would bring more open roads but first it was to get through town before early morning traffic got heavier.

Molly's stomach was feeling much better, although she said she could still feel it just a little bit but as long as it was it better we were taking advantage of the all the run time. We passed gas station which was the Petrol Pump, 86km/53miles and 10,770ft. which was nice to be running so low in elevation, this would be actually be the lower parts of the course. As we continued to dodge traffic and some stray dogs the rest of the crew had went to make a breakfast run and said they would catch up with us shortly, so we made sure we had water and were ready to run solo for at least an hour, luckily, I had eaten a Isagenix bar when I first started pacing. This morning run was really nice because it a gradual downhill and as we kept moving out of town the roads were a little wider and traffic seemed to be a little less but the occasional diesel bomb would come by and gas us! After an hour went by we were starting to wonder if the crew had actually gone to South America to pick the coffee beans for our morning coffee and made jokes how they must be sitting around enjoying breakfast somewhere while were out getting diesel bombed! haha.. but then they appeared and as we all stopped to enjoy our eggs, toast, and coffee it was a crew heaven! We were all happy and spirits seemed to really be lifted, Molly was feeling good, we had some rest and now food.

After a quick eat, Bailey and I switched out pacing as I had now been out for about 11 miles and this was a nice road to run on and enjoy. As we pulled ahead and waited to crew them, I started unpacking the back of the mothership and house cleaning, it was a mess and lots of things were disorganized and with another day on scheduled we needed it back to original status. I basically took everything out of the back and re-stacked/organized and threw all the trash away. It was much needed and later Bailey would come by for another round of reorganizing and all would be set for the day/night leading up to Rupmtse but first we had to get to Karu.

Karu was 117km/72.7miles, 10,977ft and still about 15 miles away. The Sun was out and Molly was actually starting to make up some ground during the day, she fit well with the temperatures of the day, now mid-upper 80's and still her stomach was finally on the plan. Sitting in the mothership out of the sun only made me realize how much heat there was out there and now that the driver was actually parking in the shaded areas as we waited made things nice for us. As we made our way to Karu I was out running another time with Molly and we took some great pictures and talked to a nice man on the side of the road who just couldn't believe she was running 222km and where she had started from! He knew the Khardung Village where the start was and he knew where she was at now and was really beside himself to understand WHY? Finally, we got to Karu and although there was to be a medical check here they had once again pushed on not waiting as they did at South Pullu but Molly was fine and no reason to take us out of the groove we were now in. Before we got to Karu there was this awesome drainage area from the river and as we parked next to it I thought I would run across the road and check it out. This overflow area back into the river was pretty awesome and as I stood next to it you could feel the splash of the water and the roaring was pretty loud. It was a nice few minutes to slightly cool off and explore while waiting. As we went back to the car and Molly was approaching and we decided to provide a little entertainment and the official Isagenix Dream Team Wave would do just the trick! After a great laugh and picture, the next city was Upshi.

During the day we all continued to eat Isagenix shakes and bars. Over the course of the last 2 days I had even been drinking Want More Energy to change up the pace of plain water. Today, I was feeling hungry so it seemed like I was eating every 15 mins and maybe I was as shakes, bars and IsaDelights were all going down nicely! The only thing I couldn't do while running was take IsaGreens as it just seemed to take longer to digest and I felt it running so I had to stay away from my greens for now.

The road to Upshi goes through a couple of military areas and there are road blockades which just have be driven around and of course military personnel are on the various gates standing with machine guns and full uniform, I wanted to take a pictures but thought otherwise. Upshi is 131km/81.3 miles and 11,184ft so we have started to slowly go back up in elevation. It was late afternoon at I remember at one point Molly has a stomach issue purge but seemed to be okay. Bailey was out pacing her now and I was trying to catch up on some sleep as I knew the night and getting up to Rumptse was gonna be a huge push. We were still behind on estimated time of arrival by 10pm and looking more like 11:30pm but our overall goal of under 60 hours was still very clear. I don't recall how many times I calculated out pace, distance to next town, what our avg. pace needed to be but I do know I got pretty good at calculating quickly! One time when Bailey and Molly passed and all was okay for crewing the driver and Jigme were sound asleep and very tried, again it was early afternoon and since the road was now starting to go uphill more I decided we would wait here and take a 20 minute nap, I set my alarm and went went to sleep. 20 mins later it went off but I didn't really wake up, it took another 10 mins and then I woke up in a panic as we had been gone now from them for at least 30 mins. I quickly woke up the other two and off we went to catch up, when we got there I told them I had fallen asleep, haha! During the day Molly had been drinking Sprite to keep her stomach calm, something she had not really been used to using before but it had been working so why change it, at this time she needed more but we only had coke until the next town so good thing Coke worked too. The arrival in Upshi was much needed and after a few bites for Molly she was quickly out pushing out to Rumptse.

I am thinking before we got to Upshi the medical crew back tracked and found us and actually performed a medical check on Molly and all was good. She was still dealing with some swollen hands which turns out to not be any electrolyte malfunction but a cause of the altitude as the medical crew informs us. This instills relief in Molly worries that its not something else and after she is checked we continued on. Outside of Upshi I started pacing again and now we were down into a nice power walk as Rumptse was over 20 miles away and it was going to take some time to get there but getting there was Key as this was the start of the 2nd mountain, Tanglang La. The sun was starting to set and the presence of clouds were visible and it seemed rain would be coming shortly. Somewhere along this time it started raining and I remember I was not longer pacing but the driver was at this time, so we gave him a pancho to stay dry. The night had come and we had broke out the night gear, lights and again decorated the Mothership in glow sticks. Overall, the driver, myself and Bailey all paced in this section as the night and rain seemed to drag on and not bring Rumptse any closer. At one point I remember seeing the driver sleep walking as he was pacing and I knew he was fried so I jumped out and took over.

The night was actually not too bad despite the rain and it being dark. After a few minutes you were used to it and although it seemed like it was cold from the mothership, it was actually quite nice being out there. Molly was definitely feeling tried by this time and keeping her mind occupied with easy talk and keeping her moving was the primary goal, at times she would just get behind me and follow my feet, other times she would be next to met and talking about this or that and then others there was simply no talking at all and nothing but work being done. I will say again that the road to Rumptse seemed to take freakn' forever, maybe it was the night, maybe it was because we wanted to be there so bad, and maybe because it was just far! As 10pm came and went, the recommended time to leave Rumptse for the 2nd mountain and we were still 90 mins away but having spoke to other race officials and them letting us know that as long as Molly was doing good physically she would not have a problem moving to the finish, famous last words as the drama at Rumptse would prove otherwise!

The town before Rumptse, Lato, 154km/95.6miles, 13,300ft. was a great little village and with the rain coming down consistently there happened to be a little tent place that was still open and serving tea. It was such a blessing to be able to go in the tent out of the rain and drink some tea. Jigme had informed the owners what was happening and now that we were all there they were very interested in what we were doing and watched with amazement. The tea really hit the spot and the 5-10mins rest we took there was super nice as I had been out in the rain for a while and was committed to staying out as long as it took to get to Rumptse, in the back of my mind that was my goal and then I would get some rest for Tanglang La. Molly changed out of some wet clothes here in Lato and we were off pushing to Rumptse, another 5 miles away and about 2-2 1/2 hours away.

Finally, those last miles rolled by quickly and as we approached Rumptse we sent the mothership ahead to find the rooms/check in and get some food/tea situated for us, they went ahead about a mile. Molly and I approached the town of Rumptse and we could see many houses and business that were closed and keeping an eye out for our Mothership and signs. We basically walked through the whole town and out the other side and still nothing that designated our race area. We continued to walk past the town as it looked like another house in the far distance but as we got closer it was even farther then it appeared and after walking at least 1/2 mile outside of town I concluded that we missed it, so we turned back around walked the 1/2 mile back to town and through town again, this time with me shining my lights on every house, nook and cranny I could see to find our area, I was somewhat pissed at the lack of sign designation, glow sticks or fire they could have used to mark it but as we approached the start of town, again, a car was coming and it was our Mothership, they said it was way past the town. We jumped back in the car and drove to out the 1/2 mile we had just turned around from and then just past that there was the cottage, the place we saw in the distance but said it was too far away. Rumptse had officially arrived. 161km/100mile, 13,675ft.

Rumptse, drama... Stay tuned!! the defining moment for Molly.

rockon'

Day 1 - Race, La Ultra - The High.

2011-08-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

I have titled it #1 because this is going to be long with all the happened over the 58 hours 56 minutes, so the best place to start is obviously at the beginning.

The place we were staying was approx. 10k from the start and on the race course as we came back through the village. We were all up early, packing and getting ready to leave. Jigme and the driver came about 5:15am to load the vehicle and we were off to the start. The morning was exciting and after all the waiting and prior days it was kind of surreal that the race day was here! As we drove down to the start, around some corners and in the middle of no where on the side of the road all the race/crew cars were parked and this was the make shift start line of 222km. As soon as we arrived the medical team was performing weigh in's and blood pressure checks, Molly got that taken care of quickly and then headed for last minute preparations. As soon as we arrived it seemed like time accelerated and the race director was yelling 2 minutes till start time, then 1 minute!

Day 1: All the racers, 6 of them, Molly Sheridan, Ray Sanchez, Sharon Gaytor, Samantha Gash, Lisa Tamati, and Jason Rita were at the banner of the start line, quick photos were taken and the count down was on, 10, 9, 8, etc. 3, 2, 1.. Bang! There off and running of the 2nd La Ultra-The High, current elevation 12,545 feet. As all the runners took off on a slight uphill grade they were all excited and running and about 1/4 mile down the road and around the first corner Ray was taking a fast pace to lead the pack, followed by Samantha and the others. Molly and Lisa soon walked and would use the run walk strategy early on. All the crews soon loaded up and off we went to catch our runners, it's like the Badwater start line, Don't all rush out of the start to catch your runner a mile or less down the road but we all did, haha. Molly was set for a while and we enjoyed the other runners as they all moved down the road back towards Khardung Village where we stayed. As the runners spread out and we approached the village we quickly ran back to our place we stayed, visited the Poop Monster one last time and moved through the village. Molly was doing great and enjoying her morning.

Once passed the village it was easy sailing as Molly proceeded closer to Khardung La mountain, the weather was nice about mid 60's, light winds and partly cloudy so it made running quite nice, crewing you could feel the coolness in the air standing around and we were all waiting on more sun shine to warm things up as we continued to climb in elevation. We were given a detailed Altitude Map and distance chart for the race and one funny thing on the map was the location of

"Boulders to Shit" 12.8km from the start, LOL!! Good thing we were all okay and headed right past that area on to North Pullu, 26.1km (mile 16.2). Once we reached N. Pullu it was quite busy with other tourist and race people, I saw Samantha's 2nd team car and spoke with Nic for while as we got some tea/soup/food and Molly prepared for the next 10 miles up to the top of Khardung La, current elevation here is: 15,193ft. We all left out of N. Pullu feeling good but 5km up the road things turned a little different for Molly.

Approaching Buddha Statue/Park (30.3km/18.8miles) Molly's stomach was starting to feel uneasy and was starting to feel a little sick but was pushing on, there would be many times over the next 24 hours where stomach problems would try and take her down. Around this time Jigme and the driver had asked if they could help pace so they were out walking with Molly at different times. As we got closer to Khardung La and the road became more steep with numerous switch backs and now all dirt road I decided to jump out and start pacing as Molly was moving pretty slow and just not feeling well and with about 10km to the top she needed to get there as soon as possible. No sooner than I started pacing she had stomach issue #1 with a basic purge of all lunch consumed at N. Pullu and electrolytes. She said she felt better once her stomach was emptied but this not becomes a delicate situation as to try and find nutrition that can go back in without getting purged, calories are needed! Also Molly's hands had started swelling and we were trying to determine the electrolyte imbalance vs. H2O situation. The traffic now on the road was much greater and many diesel trucks were coming by leaving a cloudy of exhaust fumes we tried not to inhale but was mostly unavoidable, sometimes there was a convoy of trucks and you just had to stop on the side of the road and let them all pass and try not to breath, but again, you are at 16,000+ft so it's pretty hard not to. As the K-Top drew closer Molly's pace slowed with short bursts of picks up and of course there was #2 stomach purge.

At around 39km/24mile, (17,089ft) there was a road blockage as the road was being worked on from a bulldozer and had everyone waiting in both directions, Jigme was able to talk to the bulldozer driver and he allowed Molly and I to pass on foot so we didn't have a lot of down time, the Mothership came through about 20 mins later. Earlier, Bailey and I had taken some Dimox meds for the altitude as we knew we were going to be going up and over the mountain slowly, the original plan was to give Molly a camelbak about mile 23 and have her run up to K-Top then we would crew her and she would continue to run down the other side till about 16000ft, and then we would take the camelbak and she could continue with hand held bottles, but leading up from N. Pullu she was very fatigued and with the stomach issues there was no way she was going to carry a pack so we changed to plan B and as long as everyone felt okay at the elevation we would continue our standard crewing duties. Approaching the top to Khardung La was pretty difficult and although I felt good I could tell it was work and I had only been pacing for 6 miles! My goal was to get her to the top as soon as possible and once she reached the top it was very busy with tourists and traffic. Again, the top is 42km/26.2miles, 17,600ft.! We quickly got Molly some soup and Bailey was quick on the crewing duties with food and tea for both of us. I was ready to jump back in the mothership and head down as I needed a break, Molly underwent a quick medical check and all was okay, she was feeling very fatigued and her stomach was still not with the program. I traded places with Bailey and the mothership and I moved down the mountain a mile or so ahead as Bailey was now on pacing duties, they both started running at times which was good because the faster you get to lower elevations the better everything works!

Earlier in training and acclimation we had gone up to Khardung La and run down about 4 miles and this is the same section Bailey was now on so the mothership moved to the same spot and waited, about 4 miles from the K-top, approx. 49km/30mile, 16,400 ft. we waited and as I recovered feeling much better Molly and Bailey arrived, Bailey was taking a break and now Molly would be on her own for a while to get to South Pullu. Molly had stated that one of her goals was to get up and over Khardung La with the least amount of energy but as fast as possible, but with the stomach issue I knew that had robbed valuable energy which would soon show its face. On of the deceiving factors on this course, in this section, is that you can see all the switch back going up and down so at this point in the race we can South Pullu check point but its still 4 miles away on the road and as you run down you can easily look down the mountain and see it, sucks! Molly kept running and by now we are close to the 7pm check in time and she is working to get there asap. We eventually drive to S. Pullu (55km/34miles) 15,400ft. and tell everyone she is coming in just a few minutes and arrives at 6:45pm, feeling tired, fatigued and stomach STILL not wanting to cooperate! She once again eats some soup and some other little bits of food and off we leave from S. Pullu heading to the city of Leh.

It was now almost dark and we broke out all the night gear and lights and even decorated the Mothership with glow sticks. I started running with Molly again and if I remember correctly we had another stomach issue purging all the food she had taken at S. Pullu. Damn! Again, no ingested calories and stomach is just not wanting to play the game. The night drove on slowly and getting down into the town of Leh was very slow as severe fatigue from lack of nutrition, stomach purge and overall effort of climbing 17500feet has not taken its toll. Bailey and I had made a plan to switch out and I was going to go with the Mothership into Leh to refuel, get some food and come back, it was about 9pm. I left Bailey and Molly on there own and off we went to refuel.

As the driver, Jigme and myself approached the city I noticed we turned off the main road and soon stopped at what appeared to be the drivers house, he jumped out and Jigme took over driving. I asked what was going on and he said that the driver had to get some warmer clothes, food, and meds because his head was hurting from the elevation. An interesting thing about the locals for the race, they were used because of there natural ability to acclimate to the area since they lived there and wouldn't have any issues with the altitude but once we started the race I noticed that these two would walk from the car during crew stops only to figure out they were smoking. Later when we were up closer to K-top, approx. 16500feet I tested my pulse/O2 and there's and Holy Shit if mine wasn't better than both of theirs! My O2 was higher and my pulse was lower, it was crazy but just goes to show even if you live there and you Smoke, your not as good as people that don't smoke and train for altitude! After dropping off the driver we got gas and its here where I caught up with Samantha and her crew, she was feeling sick to her stomach as well and they were trying to find the rest area that was set for crews to take a break and steak out for runners. After chatting with them it was back on the road and Jigme stopped at the pharmacy to get meds for his headache too and then off to get food. I was starting to freak out a little because we were coming up close to an hour being gone and still no food. I went to Oh, La-La cafe, our favorite spot since we got to Leh and the owner was great enough to pack up some spaghetti and pesto pasta for us along with coke and sprites and we headed back to pick up the driver and get back to the girls, as it had been almost 90 mins now. During this time I was pretty stressed out and telling Jigme that we couldn't waste time driving all over and making stops and then there was some issue with the cell phone he was trying to take care of and this only stressed me out more, poor guy, as earlier while he was driving up Khardung La he wasn't used to the stick shift of the mothership and actually stalled the car 3 times in a row on a hill causing us to roll backwards and making me freak out! There were cars and trucks behind us honking and I kept yelling at him to give it gas to not stall it but he interpreted that as Yes, it has petrol, not Push the gas to prevent it from stalling. This was the first time Bailey saw me freaking out and assumed I was definitely suffering from High Altitude Sickness! HAHA!

We made it back to the girls and just in time as Molly was desperately needing to lay down and just give her body and stomach a break. We stopped on the side of the road about 70km/43miles, 13,160ft. and she went to sleep for about 30 mins. Myself and Bailey went to the back of the car sitting outside eating the pasta and recapping the last 90 minutes. After we ate Bailey and I jumped back in the car and went to nap as well, the driver grabbed his sleeping back and crazy as he is laid down in the middle of the road in front of the car about 25 yards. The road/check point at South Pullu has been closed for the night so no further vehicles are allowed past the S. Pullu but since we are lower or before Pullu, there is still a potential for vehicles and sure enough, about 10 mins into sleeping I wake up to honking and headlights and there is a truck facing us stopped because the driver is laying in the middle of the road and he didn't want to run him over. After a few more honks he wakes up and gets out of the road and lays behind the mothership near the side of the road and goes back to sleep, we laid there another 10-15 mins and then Molly woke up and said let's try a little more.

She walked at a good pace even though her stomach was really bothering her and just so upset, I was hoping we could get her into Leh and then stake out for the rooms but we only made it another mile or 2 before she said she couldn't go anymore, we were still 3km from the city of Leh and it was after 1am. We made staked out and headed for the cottage for sleep, this took about 20 mins to get there and once there Molly and Bailey hit the beds and passed out very fast! I decided to take a shower and after I cleaned up I found a blanket in the closet, laid it on the floor and went to sleep.

Sleep was only about 2 1/2 hours and the alarm went off at 4:50am. We were all up, loaded and heading back to the stake point, Molly said she was feeling much better and her stomach wasn't upset. Back at the stake point she started off walking and feeling good so she started running, the Sun was already coming up and as were on the edge of the city heading in she started running. Mothership pulled forward about a mile down the road and on this stop Molly yells out for me to pace her as she was just chased by a pack of dogs and they scared the crap out of her! I got my things ready, still trying to wake up myself and off we went as she told me the story of the dogs chasing her, quite scary! As we entered the city and heading for the Main Gate in Leh, mile marker 50, I was glad to be running in the early morning with her and chatting about the day before!

To be continued on Day 2...

In thinking back about Day 1 and what went wrong with the stomach issue was hard to pinpoint but after breaking it down I concluded with the help of the medical team that being at that elevation for extended periods and breathing the amount of Exhaust fumes Molly and the others were subjected to caused some upset. Its basically poison! and the body can only handle so much of it, once the stomach purge set it in it was a matter of damage control, Samantha and Lisa also experienced stomach issues and they were all the last 3 to get off the mountain and spent the most time here. Overall the only precaution to take is to try and limit the amount of ingested fumes and work as fast as possible to get up and off the mountain. The 2nd day brought much more running and enjoyment to Molly, as by this time many of the race crews/directors had worries that she was not going to make the overall race cutoff, but Molly is a Rocky!! so again, stay tuned for Day 2 and Day 3!

rockon'

India Recap 2... leading up to race day.

2011-08-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

Sat. Aug 6th

4:30am came very fast and we all headed back up the steps in the dark. We went into the little temple and waited but then I head drums and we moved to the bigger temple where the action was happening. There were only about 5 people in here and they were all chanting something and as I sat and watched I decided to video this. Soon after the Superior Lama came in and lit some candles and incense and sat on a bench in the center in front of this huge Buddha. Again more chanting and after a few minutes I moved outside to watch the sun rise. It so beautiful here on the mountains, some covered in snow, and to see the sun rise and set from this place was great.

After breakfast and coffee we had a crew meeting and went over all the logistics of the race, time, places, mileage, food, and gear. Sleeping times for Bailey and me and packing for camp for two days before the race! Yes, we are leaving two days before the race starts to a base camp about 15,500ft and will be sleeping in tents and roughing it which is weird before the race but the altitude acclimation will be great!

When we were done with all that we took off to use the internet, go shopping, and eat lunch at the pizza place on the roof top. Today has been warm and actually walking around its hot!

When we got back to the hotel I did laundry, which is in a 5 gallon bucket you put soap in and hand wash and line dry. Later in the afternoon I saw Cath and she informed me she would be dropping from the race as she was not feeling good due to altitude and nutrition and didn't feel like it was a good idea to start this race the way she was feeling. I was sad to hear this bc she is a talented runner and I thought she had been doing good adjusting, had a strong hike on the day up to Stok mtn. But like anyone had experienced a couple of fatigue days and then had a hard day at Khardung La. It takes time to adjust to this altitude and listening to your body is Key! I had heard later that she said she was having had time with the conditions of the cleanliness of the city, hotel, and I guess food. I do know the carbon dioxide from the exhaust is very noticeable in the streets and on the road running down from Khardung La so that is just a little difficult to deal with, and of course the hotels and food are different simply bc its a 3rd World country and I would be interested to know from her what the key factors in her decision were and why this race wasn't for her. All I know is she made the best decision for her and her health and that's all the counts, all other 6 racers have there own reasons for being here.

On a side note about this race, its the 2nd year for La Ultra - the High and with only 3 racers last year and 1 finisher, this year 7 racers (now 6) the race itself is still learning how to handle certain logistics with the local community and government so its definitely not like US races with all the bells and whistles. This year some different things were tried and were not as productive as thought to be but that's the learning process for the race director, who, by the way is a great funny and knowledgeable guy!

This race will continue to grow and all those small things will be worked out juts like any other race but one thing for sure this race offers Destination, Adventure and will challenge all the best but it definitely brings meaning of Ultra-Running.

Later Molly, Bailey and I had dinner and discussed more logistics and then it was off to sleep for another early morning to head back up to Khardung La for a run.

Sunday Aug 7th.

I checked my pulse O2 as I woke up: O2 92%, pulse 58, awesome.

I got ready and was feeling good to head up the mountain. We left just after 6am but bc we had a smaller van taxi it took a little longer to get up there bc the roads are dirt and bumpy we just went slower. Once up there, 17560ft, we got ready and took off walking down the back side if the mtn, which will be the Up route on the race. We went down a mile and then turned around and hiked back up, this was great bc you could immediately feel the 30% lack of O2 as I walked up at 18 min pace and my heart pounding. We all did our own pace and I made it to the top and rested by the sign as we were. Going to take pictures with our Isagenix shirts. We quickly posed and had someone take some great pictures then got refueled and Molly and I started running down the road which is the actual race route.

Molly took off a little fast for me and as I tried to stay with her I could feel I was breathing too hard to I slowed up and let her go, she said she was gonna put her music on and blast it so I said go for it and off she went. I had recovered and just kept a 13-14min pace but after a mile or so from the top about 17000ft I felt just a little more O2 and picked up the pace passing Molly and continuing on down. A couple of time my pace was 11 minute miles at 16500ft and I was feeling good. The down hill is pretty easy on the quads and many many switch backs with an easy grade. The road is pretty much dirt and lots of pot holes so running on the side is the best especially if a truck and taxi approach from opposite directions you may have to take the jump down but really its not that bad. As I ran and I was slowly dropping in altitude I was feeling good just running along and realizing I was running at 17500ft in Leh, India and looking across at the mountain range covered in snow, especially, Stok Kangri mountain at 20,177ft. Simply beautiful and I just enjoyed my run. Bailey had drove down with the taxi and met us about 4 miles down from the top, as I pulled up to the taxi I was feeling good and happy to be back at the car, Molly was shortly behind me and after all settled we drove back down to the hotel for breakfast.

By the time we ate it was about 12pm and we decided to take a nap till 2:30pm and then meet back up for race shopping, camping stove, and internet use. One thing here in Leh is the power is usually out between 1-4 pm, so when I woke up the power was off but I was able to gab a luke warm shower. It was also thundering and raining around the area so we waited a few more minutes for it pass and then headed out.

Shopping for things and time goes farley quickly since I've been here and today was no exception. By the time we were done it was dinner at our favorite spot and then the rain really started and made the walk back to the hotel wet but once back I've been relaxing by catching up on the blogs. It’s colder now at this time than earlier in the week and the presences of storm clouds are still hanging around. As the evening rolled in Ray Sanchez wanted a stretch session so I situated my table and introduced him Fascial stretching! Thanks Ray!

Until tomorrow!

Monday Aug 8th.

What a chilly night it was and I was struggling not only with the bed but staying warm. I had taken the two bed mattresses and bed coverings, basically a huge heavy yak blanket, and used them as cushions for the bed then covered them with my sheet set I brought so I was basically laying on all the warm stuff. I eventually got up and put on sweat pants and my pull over jacket and went back to sleep. When I finally got up at 6am I did a load wash as it will take all day to dry esp. Since its cooler outside.

Breakfast at the hotel and chatting with Lisa Tamati about race logistics. She had stated that she was not interested in spending 2 days in camp, as last year it was one, I agree but all in all, we all went with the plan. After another meeting on emergency aid, general Q&A, and Half/Full marathon meetings it was time for lunch, shopping, and a watermelon hunt! I finally found one and all was good.

When I got back to the hotel I packed for the camp/race then stretched Molly, Bailey and worked on Jason’s upper body afterwards my low back was achy due to the table being so low but hey, its India and you make it work.

Once again there was an individual team meeting with the RD and introducing, Percy, who is a great mountaineer and showed us these 2 way radios we would have for emergency/communication use. It was a quick meeting and off we went for dinner and to use the internet, the last time for the rest of the week.

Sleep.

Tuesday Aug. 9th.

Ray, and Isagenix Dream Team were up early for breakfast at our favorite spot and before we left for camp at Khardung Village, which is 2 days at 13000ft. We returned back to the hotel on time, 8am, to find out the transportation/taxi/bus were gonna be about hour - hour half late, no surprise being as nothing has been on time since we got here.

We relaxed in my room for a while then a couple of taxi's showed up so we quickly jumped in one bc the driver was the same guy we had on a Khardung La trip and was super nice and good people. Others were getting in a bigger van and also the luggage was being stacked on the van. Then once that was full a huge older bus that pumped out more diesel exhaust than any ocean cargo carrier arrived and more luggage and people piled in.

We were all finally ready another hour later and left the hotel but didn't get very far after passing the diesel bomb bus bc they got detained at a smaller check point due to permitting issues. We were at 13500ft and pulled over for an hour waiting on them.

This was actually a fun time, as we played music, Ray ran up and down the road several times, and the we all Planked on a couple of huge rocks and great backgrounds of the Himalayans!

Once back on the road and over Khardung La heading down the road was pretty bad and washed out in a couple of areas and we had to wait for the bulldozers to clear the path.

The ride took a lot longer than expected and while riding in our SUV I couldn't imagine the Diesel Bomb bus ride and the bouncing that thing was under let alone how much slower it was.

When we finally arrived at Khardung Village we had to wait about 30 mins for the others to arrive and when they did it was utterly chaos. First of all, the original camp site where everything was supposed to set up was flooded! 2nd there was nothing set up bc the workers had no idea where to place anything and so were waiting on the RD and Coordinator to arrive. When the did they had to scramble around the small village and find a new camp site, this took about 90 mins and in the mean time Ray had walked around and found one guest house with a room that sleeps 4. He quickly reserved it not waiting on anything from the camp site. Molly was waiting to see what the out come of the camp site was but soon decided to just take the room and not camp. I was glad she did bc I was not too big on camping first of all let alone for two days. Soon after Lisa's team took the other room next to us which the owner didn't want to rent out at first but then changed her mind. Also Ray’s team negotiated a price to camp in her back yard instead of the camp site.

It was a weird feeling ditching the camp site with others but with so many changes at the last minute each person has to take care of them selves when it comes down to a run like this in a 3rd World location, less than 50 miles from the Pakistan border!

Once we all got situation it was quick to sleep and luckily no one snored in the room, although, Ray, did get stuck in his sleeping bag at one time and was wrestling with it like he was in an UFC Octagon cage fight! Haha.

The Guest House: owned by a local family that have lived in this area all there lives, the own this house and another which they travel back and forth between the Summer and Winter. This house is about 10 years old made with mud bricks, like Adobes. The quest rooms are on the top of the main house, each room is just one big room that sleeps 4-6 people, we actually got the bigger room. The roof is dirt and edge line with some wood/straw and on the far end there is a stack of wood for burning along with dried cow patties! Yes, they use these for fuel and the dry on all the roof tops. These is no running water in the house. No TV, internet and the satellite phone only works for 3-4 hrs in the morning. The house sits about 20 ft. Off the road with a small fence in-between. Our second floor room has a windows facing the road which provide a great view of the mountain but also invite tons of dust and exhaust from all the traffic and big cargo trucks from China at night, remember this road is only open 2.5 months out of the year and commerce is brought over from China.

The bathroom/washroom:

Is another mud brick little building divided in two; the left side is the was room with a nice paved concrete floor and a drain that drains to the outside in a ditch with a PVC pipe for bathing. There is bucket in there that water is placed and that's how you shower/bath.

The right side is the bathroom and it’s a square hole about 14"x8" and that's where you go! It’s a squatter hole and in the room is also saw dust mixed with something and a shovel that you throw into the hole once you finish your business. There is a toilet paper holder on a nail and what we figured to be a balancing stick. There is a sky light as well in the roof, basically the roof has a hole in it to allow for light and some ventilation. It the type of place a little kid could be scared of and Bailey and I were no different, as we soon knew a monster lived there but this was no ordinary monster, it was The Poop Monster! Haha.

Weds. Aug 10th

We were awake early and I decided I would walk over to camp across the field, about 1/2 mile away, maybe less. The breakfast was good with scrambled eggs, toast, coffee, milk, cereal, pourage, and tea, similar to what was served at the hotel. I chatted with everyone and then decided to head back to our room. Bc we were all up so early a morning nap was in effect and I woke up just before lunch and went with Lisa Tamoti's team to go eat but this time we had a car take us.

Lunch was yet again pretty damn good! Rice, Pasta's, veggies and some chocolate cake for desert. I talked with Lisa mostly and we exchanged our life running stories and life. Its great talking and learning, making friends with runners at events like these, I have made a few friends in Triathlons but not like you do in these Ultras!

After lunch it was time to organize things for the race and condense our inside the car clothes as the rest would go on top in the roof rack. Then I read some of Running on Empty and relaxed.

Dinner that night was back at the camp and this time Molly and Bailey joined in. They had been very careful in selecting there food and mostly eating what they brought. After dinner we were waiting on the crew cars to show up but they said it would be later and so we talked with Jigmay, our local Ladakh person assigned to us for the race. We meet him 2 two days ago briefly, he's 22 and owns his own travel agency here in Leh. We asked him to pick us a great crew car and bring it to us as soon as he got it!

Then we were getting ready to head back taking the car and as we were waiting for Molly to do some film stuff with Barry a huge storm rolled in! The wind started to pick up and as were sitting in the car watching the wind suddenly raged! And tents started flying so we all jumped out of the car and ran back to help hold the tents down as the dinning tent and 2 others had already been flipped over! It was pure craziness and Lisa's camera man, Luke, and Barry were filming the whole process. As I ran from tent stepping on the spike about to be pulled from the ground and holding things down so others could grab rocks/baby boulders and secure the ground pin, I finally had to grab several myself as everyone was trying to save there tents. The wind and dust was blowing like crazy and some spots of rain and as everyone had everything secure we headed back to the car and by this time the wind was mostly gone, weird! But hey Molly’s never been to a race where some act of Mother Nature takes effect, haha.

Later Jigmay did a great job in picking us a great SUV with everything working. We packed some things in it and the rest would be in the morning, it was now time for early sleep as tomorrow its Race Day!!!

Rockon’

India Recap!

2011-08-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

I am official back from India and I have blogged the days as I was there so here are the first few days to get you going on the story and trip leading up to race day. First of all it was an AMAZING TIME!! The race was super amazing and Molly finished in 58 hours 56 mins. A come from behind story where she was really struggling and most didn't think she would make it, a Rocky Story for Sure! but more on that later.

The culture and change of pace from the US life was very eye opening and I really appreciate everything I have or don't have here in the US because it's so much more than most have there, anyway.. read along.

The Plane Ride and Delhi, India (Friday July 29/30th)

After getting packed on Weds before leaving on Fri I would be taking two full 50lbs bags, clothes, protein shakes, bars, beef jerky, and peanut butter seemed to be the main stay of food items as well as Isagenix products.

Friday morning came fast and once checked in with some minor adjustments to my slightly over weight bags to avoid further charges I was set to go. The flight to Newark was uneventful other than the fact that the dad/owner of Pawn Stars was on the flight and dressed exactly the way they show him on the start of the show, old school style but sharp.

My bags were checked all the way to New Delhi so once in Jersey I got some food and looked for "The Situation" or Snookie but no luck. After a 4 hour lay over I was boarding the plane. Once on the plane there were 3 of us in the row, with me at the window, but luckily once all peeps were on board the middle guy moved to the last row, this turned out to be really nice and just over all more room! Don't get me wrong, this Continental 777 is HUGE and I was surely impressed. It was nice to have a wide variety of movies for free where ass the flight to Jersey they cost $8 but there was nothing I really wanted to watch.

Before we started to take off I had already loaded up The Lincoln Lawyer and being as it takes a long time to fully load a 777 I was easily 30 mins into it when we rolled away from the gate. As we were taxiing down the run way suddenly there was a light flicker in the cabin and a sudden loss of power and a sound of engines shutting down. We soon stopped and the Captain announced the 777 had lost power to a generator and we could not fly until maintenance came out to our location and fixed it, no estimated time of this. I was a little bummed because they had just said that we were early leaving and it would be 13 hour flight but now who knows. After about 20 mins the Captain states they've fixed it and in about 10-15 mins we would be on our way and we were only to be #18 in the take off line! So another 30 mins later, almost 1hr 15 mins later we are in the air and guess what? Lincoln Lawyer movie is done! 1 down. Next up The Adjustment Bureau, then Quantum Solace, Jonah Hex and then I tired so I took a little snooze.

I woke up after about an hour and started watching Music and Lyrics with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore and noticed that we were flying near Iceland. It was pretty cool following the flight path on the map and see we were flying straight over the top of the world to the other side. After Iceland it was north of London, Berlin and into Russia! As you can see I was super excited to fly next to Moscow and then through some of the other northern countries taking careful note not to fly into Afghanistan and Pakistan.

A huge down side to flying at night was the fact since we were crossing the time zones so fast we fly through day time but because it was our USA night time the plane had told everyone to close the blinds so people sleep, well.. Okay for a while I was cool with it but we fly through a whole day in the dark plane and didn't see shit! I would crack my shade but the sun was so bright in the dark cabin I didn't want to be the assface that woke everyone up! But also we would be landing at 9pm and so I didn't want to sleep that much bc I know everyone else was gonna be screwed when they got to there hotels/homes.

After a while a few others cracked there shades and I joined in. My brain was happy to see day light as well as my Arcadian rythem cycle.

The plane ride finished out okay and once landing in Delhi the first thing I noticed was the blast of humidity that slapped me in the face, 90%+, ughh. As I made my way through customs and on to baggage claim I saw a couple of other people who looked like they could be associated with the race and besides when a guy is wearing a Death Race coolmax hat you know he's involved. After quick introductions he was one of the runners and part of the medical team. They were staying at a different hotel so plans of hopping in with them were spoiled. I looked around for any signs of scheduled pick up and was hoping to see someone with a Dr. John sign as I was wanted to have someone like that waiting for me but no such luck and a gut feeling told me I was pretty much on my own. I headed outside to the taxis and pre-paid for the service and was loaded in a car but the driver didn't really know where it was so asked me in his really thick India accent if I could get the phone number. Well I didn't really want to find it be it would cost me $2.29/min plus data fees to Google it but I had no choice and as I searched for it the realization that I had entered the India New Delhi 500 but drove in both directions!! Omg it was the craziest thing I've ever experienced or seen.

All taxis and vehicles honk! No matter what. There is no stay in your lane and signal or Yield the right of way. Its beep beep, move over, first come first serve to the road space and forget about a double yellow line to divide the oncoming traffic, if there passing oncoming its a game of Chicken! No joke! After finding the phone # the driver called and got directions and I finally made it safe but barely after our almost lose game of chicken at 50km, 2 right hand turns from a left lane cutting in front of traffic, 2 ran red lights and passing my hotel by half a block on an one way street and just backing up on the side! WTF!!

My visual perception of the country so far at night was very populated, over crowded, and poor. There was many people just hanging on the sides of the road or in the middle of the divided highways talking and being with friends, like its there Saturday night thing to do. Lots of construction was being worked on with night lights and I quickly noticed that there were very few women present or visible on the streets and zero driving.

Arriving at Hotel Beyond is an interesting look bc right at the front door is a medal debtor that you and your bags pass through. The security is quick to help with my bags and up we go in this elevator that is literally 4x5. How I know because I reached my arms out both directions and I could touch both sides. As the doors opened I'm in the lobby of a nicely decorated place and I quickly ran into molly. As there checking for my room, the say I do not have a room and will have to call the RD that scheduled the accommodations. I retreat up to Molly’s room while we wait to find out what's happening and about 10 mins later I'm told I will be sharing a room with Ryan from NYC that is crewing for Samantha Gash. It’s all good and off I go to settle in and shower up. After a little talking, meeting Samantha, Ryan and I are lights out.

Its now Sunday morning and we have a schedule group run with the locals at some park and are up at 4:30am to leave by 5am. The sleep was short but it's exciting to be going on a run and meeting the other runners. An Australian but living in Dubai. It’s super humid again and only feels a slight bit cooler when we arrive at the park. Normally there is a 5-10 person meet up but today there is 100+! Lots of introductions and we are finally briefed on the run. It will be a variety of 4 distances 4k, 8k, 15k. I really wasn't prepared to run 15k with the type of humidity and water I would need so Bailey and decided we would run 8k. As the run started it was a fun group that quickly strung out along the morning roads of Delhi, soon we were running down Embassy row which was cool because all the Embassy’s were here, the landscaping was really nice but the humidity was quickly sucking the fun out of it. Bailey and I made the turn around and headed back walking more now than the out. As we walked we say the US Embassy on the opposite side of the road and although I wanted a picture I didn't want to play frogger crossing the road so I took a picture with my born country of Germany Embassy sign.

Finally we made it back to the park and just waited for the 15kers to return and drank Gluterade, a similar product of Gatorade with added Glutamine. I thought it was good and since it was so humid my body took to it quickly but Baileys quickly rejected it and ended up in the bushes puking.

After the puking incident we went to a breakfast at another hotel and this place had armed security at the gate with barricades and then another metal detector with an x-ray scanning machine just like the airports! These precautions are because lots of diplomats stay at theses hotels and then want top security.

After breakfast it was back to our hotel, shower and nap time because at 3pm we had an afternoon early dinner with the whole race team. Great food was severed in courses and even Budweiser was poured!

After dinner a quick packing session, but I had not really unpacked much and off to early bed and up at 3am for taxi ride to airport to fly to Leh.

Monday, Aug 1st.

After riding our chartered bus to the airport we were passport and grouped checked at the door just to get into the airport, then once in line it was a group check in weighing all the bags as a whole and finding out our little group was over the weight by 38kg, which meant pay 3800Rupies($96US) or 4000R($101) for two people to upgrade to Priority class and receive a higher allowance for weight for the group. Molly stepped up and paid the hundred bucks and got us all on board and she and Bailey enjoyed some perks.

We took off at 5:30am and flying to Leh was about 1 hour and the view is amazing of the snow covered mountain tops and approaching the city of Leh is very ahh struck. You can see the entire little city and patches of green and desert surround the area as well as a strong presence of military personnel. Arriving at 11450ft several of the racers and personal could immediate feel the altitude, I was feeling nothing and didn't realize we were at that elevation.

Waiting for our luggage was interesting and congested with only 2 luggage belts and about 200 people waiting with luggage carts. After our luggage arrived we all had to wait as there was a ceremonial celebration for the race arrival so I broke out my pulse/O2 monitor and it read 90%O2, pulse 77, with normal being 98%, 64. Although I could not feel the difference in altitude the numbers showed there had been a significant change. As we walked out of the airport it was simply amazing, there was monks praying and some people playing music with women holding flowers on the opposite side and the smell of burning incents. As we walked through to all our taxis it was definitely a realization that we were in Leh.

The drive to the hotel was pretty cool but mostly because I am seeing new things and a country side, the drivers here are a distant cuzions to the drivers in Delhi and its a little more laid back but still lots of horn honking. Arriving at Hotel Ri-Rab we unloaded our luggage only to find the whole welcoming crew from the airport here playing music and waiting for us. We all were greeted with an official Leh culture white scarf as we walked in and escorted to the back patio of the hotel for early coffee and tea, its

7:30am and I have suddenly forgotten its Monday morning.

After coffee it was organize the rooms for crews and runners. The race director had wanted to cater to the runners this year so they reserved rooms at a hotel next door to Ri-Rab and once Molly found her room, two single beds, so Bailey roomed with her. I settled in a few doors down taking a room for medial personal because they all had decided to stay in Ri-Rab together. After a long story about all theses rooms there was a meeting called to state that Only Runners could be in the other hotel and all Crew had to be in Ri-Rab and this was due to the negotiated costs the RD had with the hotels. We were all a little bummed bc as all runners want to stay with or next to there crews. So I had to move to Ri-Rab and Molly paid extra for Bailey to stay in her room. Mine turned out okay as I got a whole room to myself and once unpacked it was home for the next 16 days!

Now that all the hotel confusion/drama was over we went off to walk around the town and do some window shopping. We went to this Temple where Molly knows a Monk from last year and there was some sort of spiritual celebration occurring and many people sitting around outside the Temple praying and inside it was completely packed. We tried to get inside but it was just too crowed so after a few minutes we left and went to lunch.

After lunch it was nap time and then a Team medical meeting, followed my dinner and sleep in a bed harder than the ground!

Tuesday Aug 2nd

Ray had found a river rafting tour and since I've always wanted to do this might as well do it in the Himalayan Mountains! He and his gf, Gloria, myself and Catherine, aka, Cath, all went. The ride took about 45 mins and it was great seeing the other side of the Leh and outside, although I was sitting in the far back of the SUV vehicle it was difficult to see out or take picture. There was 8 of us in the raft with 2 guides and after a few stoke and paddle instructions we were off and rafting, hitting the first rapid and water coming in all over the boat and soaking everyone! At about 58* it was awesome! After a few more rapids and looking at the river/mountain side we were in a calm part of the river and one of the guides jumped in! Followed by another tourist. Then Ray got all excited and said "if I jump in your next!" And knowing me I was in, so I said You first! Splash Ray was in! Then I jumped in and feeling water splashed on you at 58* is much different than a full body dunk and I was quickly reminded of water temperatures at IMCd'A and Rage! Brrr! Back in the boat the other guide broke out the dry bag and took pictures for everyone but I had not brought mine so I will have to grab copies from Ray or Cath. Then Ray asked if I wanted to jump in again for the camera so over I went!! Anything for the camera! Haha. (river name)

We finally finished out the trip and then was drove to have lunch and then back to the city.

The day had been mostly overcast and cooler than the day before with a little more wind so it was pretty nice.

At 4pm we had a race meeting to go over the next 12 days of acclimation and events leading up to race day. This is also where we found out that all runners/crew will be leaving hotel 2 days before start of the race to go camp at 15500 ft. And we needed to bring all our race/crew gear that we could need! Let alone be sleeping in tents and yoga mats in low-mid 20's temps! Exciting but not really esp. before the race!

Molly is a little off the schedule they have planned this year because she is repeating her acclimation period from last year so after speaking with the RD he was okay with it because the Race officials have been very adamant about mandatory events. After the meeting it was dinner and bed time.

I took my other single bed in the room and put it on my bed and it was much better than a hard floor and I actually slept 7 straight hours.

Weds. Aug 3rd.

Let me explain about some of the accommodations. The Ri-Rab hotel reminds me of a hostel but each room has a bathroom. Basic two single beds in all rooms, even in the other hotel. There is a satellite TV, a small dresser and a built in book shelf. The bathroom is one room all tile with sink, toilet and shower, no separation of curtain or divider. Luckily, I have an actual over head shower head but the runner’s hotel has a hand held sprayer to use for the shower. Also we have a standard toilet with toilet paper, although I did buy my own in town for $1.25US and its not Charmin but its not bad either. Other place in town have simple a squatting hole and a wash pitcher to clean. In Delhi out hotel had a sprayer at the toilet and paper with a small 3" step dividing the shower stall.

All water must be bottled water and things like coffee or teas are all filter. No using tap water to brush your teeth.

Washing clothes which I have done already as to not accumulate stinky stuff is done in a bucket provided in your room and air dried. I brought a Wal-Mart camping clothes line and pins so I strung it up in the bathroom.

The hotel has a smell of older mustiness to it and no pictures in any rooms only the hall ways.

Food has been much better than I expected: coffee, tea, milk, corn flakes, granola, eggs, and all fresh vegetables. The curry used can be spicy so you just have to taste test before you eat it or don't order it. There's Italian places and Chinese as well and lots of vegetarian dishes that so far have been really good.

Pulse O2 this am is 92% and 58. Much improved over the last 2 days.

I was scheduled to participate in a Lactate threshold test but the medical team didn't have enough testing strips for the study and being as they determined that based on my triathlon and running experience I was basically conditioned as one of the runners here at La Ultra so I was excluded. The study is to determine if a trained athlete acclimates better than a non or lesser athlete based on lactate thresholds and hemoglobin counts, now I still will be able to have my blood hemoglobin count measured.

After Molly and Bailey did there tests we went up Khardung La which is the highest motor road in the World at 17529 feet! (Although its some how measured at 18,380ft but not according to GPS.) The drive up was amazing and scary at the same time as the road is narrow and barley wide enough for one vehicle let alone a huge truck similar to a 24' Uhaul but raised up about another 2' off the ground. These trucks are transport vehicles carrying commerce over from China and visa versa as this road is only open 2 1/2 months out of the year and snowed in the rest of the year. So the traffic is high and when meeting these trucks oncoming its a matter of finding Literally every inch of the road to squeeze by let alone deal with the exhaust fumes that don't dissipate very quickly bc of the lack of O2 in the air at this altitude.

Once we got to the top you could immediately feel the difference in lack of Oxygen and your Heart pounding in your chest! Just walking around I was thinking, HFS, and the runners have to run/walk up and over this pass (the road up to Khardung La is actually the down run of the course as the runners will start on the other side approximately 42km from the peak of Khardung La)

We stayed up at the top for about an hour and pulse Ox measured 71-73% O2 and 96-101 pulse Standing Around!!

I walked up to a little temple about 50 meters from the road and had to stop and rest on the stairs as my heart rate was really beating hard. After taking some pictures and buying a mug from the Highest Gift Shop in the World we headed back down to Leh and passed Sharon (Australia) runner who was running down from the top and doing very well.

Once back in town we had dinner and it was pretty much bed time as tomorrow the group would be going on a hike to Stok Kangi mountain.

Thursday Aug 4.

Up early for breakfast and preparing for the day which would turn out way unprepared due to lack of communication from the organizers of the day.

The group was heading for Stok Kangri mountain which we would hike up to a couple of the camps. Overall the summit of Stok Kangri is 20,177ft and covered in snow, so it for serious mountaineers and its said that at the summit on a clear day K2 can be seen!

Our group was only going up to 14,271ft and would take about 4-5 hours, of which I found this out when we got to the start of the hike at Stok Village, 12139ft. We were supplied a box lunch which included a veggie sandwich, 1 hard boiled egg, Tropicana OJ box, cookie and Nestle Crunch bar, but each of us had to carry our own as well as any water. (I didn't think to bring a camelback as I didn't see a need for it but damn I which I had it now as I carried all my stuff in a triathlon draw string bag) I grabbed 3 - 33oz waters and we all headed off.

There is a river here that is flowing very strongly and lots of little break away streams running all over. We had to cross several of these on the way up and it was rock hopping time. Quickly I realized I should have wore my trail shoes but yet again it was said that this was "an easy trek, on easy trails, Shoes-anything is good" but I guess in the printed material I should have 2nd guessed the any shoes is good statement. It was totally not meant for road shoes and every minute I was wishing I had my trail shoes. As the trail got away from some of the stream crossings but still near the river there were a few serious climbs that were short and steep in grade that really sucked the O2 out of me and then there was many many stretches of nothing but big rivers rocks about 6-12" or giant river rocks that we were walking on, basically in the dry part of the river bed.

After reaching out first mini-camp at mile 3.3 and 13,191ft I was definitely feeling the lack of air while hiking and I had to slow down. After resting at this mini-camp with a few of the front hikers we all left to the next camp and immediately we were in a switch back climb that was pretty freaking steep, reminded me of Caballo climb steepness at Jemez50k. I got dropped and took my time getting to the at 13,550 in less than 1mile! After the climb up we had some gradual downhill and I was able to run a little, the first since we started and caught back up to two of the others. Then it was back in the river bed for the rest of the hike to 2nd mini-camp of 5.5miles and 14,100 and this is where we had lunch and stayed about an hour, it took me 2hrs 50mins to here. I was a little concerned bc it was hot and I only had 1 bottle of water left and I know going down would be faster but again it was hot. When the organizer got here he said the last base camp we would hike to is 30 mins more and asked who wanted to go, I did, but knowing I only had 1 bottle of water and 30mins and back to where I'm at now plus 90mins down meant 2 hours and that didn't sound like a smart thing to do for me, plus I was starting to feel a little bit of tingling in my heels and I knew that was from altitude so I said I was heading back (later I found out the next camp was only 10 mins away and there was a huge camp with all supplies! I was pissed that the organizers didn't state or clarify that as I would have gone and been okay, despite the tingling)

I headed down with 3 of the others but I started going fast and I was quickly alone as I attacked the runable parts. I got back to the 1st mini-camp and most of the others were here as they chose not to go farther. I said hello and informed them who was behind me and took off down the trail. Again it was hot now so I was drinking a little more than I wanted but I knew I was on rations and I hate feeling that way but still 3 miles out I had to conserve. The run back was actually quite nice and I enjoyed my solitude in the mountains, it was the first time I've ran since we got here and I was feeling good, even my hamstring issue was feeling good.

As I made it back to start in 1hr 15mins I was happy to get water as I drank down 33oz quickly and sipped on another one waiting for the others. Finally almost 90 mins later they showed up and off we went back to the hotel.

That night was dinner with Ray, Gloria and Ray’s crew as well as Cath and then back for bed. I was feeling pretty tired so I was glad the day was over.

Friday Aug. 5th.

I woke up early being as I had slept about 9 hours and as I laid in bed and moved around I was feeling fatigued and sleepy, I immediately knew I was not recovered from the Stok hike/run yesterday and being as Molly and Bailey were heading up to Khardung La (17500ft), as well as others runners/crews, I elected not to go and stay at the hotel and rest all day. This was a pretty easy decision to make because of the fatigue and tiredness I felt I knew my body was not recovered and I had no business being up at 17500ft!

As we were all waiting around for the taxis to take them up the mountain, Samantha Gash asked if I could stretch her while we were waiting, Samantha is a very accomplished young runner who became the first Female to conquer all 4 Desert Crossings (Chile, Sahara, Gobi, and Antarctica, yes, its considered a desert). As explained Fascial stretch therapy more in-depth and working on her hips she immediately experienced an adhesion release in the joint capsule and it was super exciting for me as the doctor as I have not felt or heard one as strong as hers! After working through all the left side I had her walk around as she could immediately feel the difference so I enhanced the stretch session with some lower leg calf stretching and now she was really happy and sad! Happy that her left side felt so good and sad bc it was time for her to go and the right side would have to wait till this afternoon!

So they went on ahead without me and had a great time walking up the back side of the race route and taking pictures, no worries though bc I went back to bed and slept another 2.5 hours, almost till Noon! I woke up feeling only a little fatigued but the tiredness or sleepiness I was feeling earlier in the AM was gone. I spent the rest of the day hanging around the hotel and garden area with some of the other crew members from Samantha Gash's team, showing them the TRX and just talking. It was really nice to just lounge around and I knew my body needed the rest/down time.

Later in the afternoon, Jason, another runner was dealing with some low back pain and so I used one of the local benches and hooked up my FST straps and put Jason through a lower body Fascial stretch therapy session! I had to make some serious adjustments bc the table was so low and I had Barry Walton, who is here filming a documentary on the race and is the maker/filmier/producer of "Profiling HURT", a great video which I purchased last year before my failed attempt and only 27 miles at HURT100. Barry was filming the entire stretch session asking a few questions here and there and getting me to explain what I was doing. It was a great segment and later I will have a copy of it!!

A while later Samantha returned from her training day at Khardung La and I finished stretching her and she was feeling great.

Earlier we had decided to walk up to a pace called Shanti Stupa, its where a temple is built high on a mountain (557 steps from the road) and there is a Shrine that the call a Stupa. When the Stupa is constructed a list of prayers are enclosed and offered to Buddha the Gods.

This Stupa is huge and many thousands of prayers are enclosed.

Last year when Molly was here she met the Superior Lama that built this place (he is really high ranking and close to the Dalai Lama) and as he was speaking to the crowd he borrowed a guitar and started to place music but stopped quickly bc the guitar was out of tune so he quickly grabbed his guitar and place French Classical music for them, well this year when Molly saw him again she talked to him and he remembered her. We took pictures with him and chatted briefly as he asked where we were from, Las Vegas! And he said he wished to come view the Beatles Cirque d'Sol show! How awesome is that!! We watched the sun set and took pictures around the Stupa and then went back down to the temple to find (him) again and ask for a blessing.

As we were sitting in the temple he came in and sat, which is in the corner in this little bench box type sitting area for him. Molly moved over and asked him if he could give us a blessing for being safe during the week and during the race. He sat there a few seconds thinking and then said he didn't understand asking for a blessing because we are already blessed; we are blessed by the Stars, Moon, Sun, Air, Water etc.. And we are blessed because we are here in Leh, safe. Wow! Some easy wisdom there. Then he proceeded to tell us that Life is 50% Choice and 50% Destiny and it is the Destiny that most humans have trouble accepting.

The story continued as he looked at me and spoke about Karma, that if you have had your wallet and credit cards stolen (I have, some broke into my car a few years ago and stole only that!) Then in a past life you stole something from some else! Holy crap, heavy stuff. After just a couple of other things he stands up and says follow me, so we all stand up and he walks behind this curtain with a door and Molly goes in, Bailey and I stand outside the door not knowing and he says Please all come in.

We walked into this little room and he shut the door behind me and locked it and asked us to sit down on some carpet/small bench but basically on the floor. I was still a little unaware of what he was going to do and I as looked around the room I realized this was his private chambers, with a day bed, table, radio w/cd player, pictures of the Dalai Lama, and other personal belongings.

Then as he walked to the corner of the room he picked up a guitar and went to the sit down as he started tuning the guitar. OMG he was going to give is a private playing!!! After a few tune ups on the guitar he looked at us and said Spanish Classical music this time.

I would have NEVER thought or has it happened that music has brought to tears to my eyes but as he started playing the sound was so BEAUTIFUL I was completely filled with happiness and peace with the joy of tears in my eyes! I just listed and still couldn't believe that I was hearing this but the sound was so magical that it let me feel deep within for myself and Dez and nothing else really mattered. The song lasted longer than I expected and when he finished it he began a 2nd song which also beautiful and a little more up tempo. I guess he looked at all of us in a mystical trance and figured he better snap us out of it. The song was shorter and I vaguely remember it but the sound of the first one I can still hear when I close my eyes! He finished and we applauded and he thanked us and as we stood up to walk out we were all really happy and just a little beside ourselves trying to process what just happened! That was our blessing and other than finishing the race that 10 minutes was worth every minute I spent to get here. (It would have been a great thing to have video of or pictures but it just wasn't right and I actually didn't even think about it at the time bc it was so special)

We all walked out and back down the 557 steps pausing to talk about our feelings and experience, it was truly amazing. We had dinner back at the hotel which was not that great and decided that really none of the dinners had been good there. I liked breakfast bc they have cereals, toast, coffee and sometimes omelets or scrambled eggs, almost like continental breakfast.

After dinner was sleep time as we had decided to go back up to the Stupa at 5am to see the chant and music they play and watch the sun rise.

Rockon'

Off to India!

2011-07-28T10:28:00.001-07:00

That's right. The time has come and I will be out for 3 weeks. It is exciting to be going to help crew for Molly Sheridan as she takes on the La Ultra - The High 222km! I can't wait for the experience as I know it will be truly be a life time opportunity!

I will try and update blog when I am there but in Leh there is minimal internet connections.

Rockon'

Badwater race/crew recap.

2011-07-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

Whew, what a time at Badwater this year!! and what a time recovering!!

First off, Congrats to Connie for finishing in 47 hours 37 mins! You made it happen and I am so proud of you for pushing through those tough times, even if I did worry you with no sleep, or very little that it.

We all left for Badwater on Sunday, the day before the race, as we have in the past 2 years crewing for other runners. This year there would be 3 of us on Connie's crew, myself, Ivan and Mark, who crewed for her last year. Her husband would join us on the 2nd day of the race as he had some personal things to attend to. Once we got on the road it was smooth sailing and we were soon at Furnace Creek Ranch/Hotel. This year there is construction occurring on the visitors center so all the festivities were moved to the Furnace Creek Resort, athlete check in, meetings, and the vendors as well as the group athlete photo. It was great seeing previous runners from the years before and meeting new ones, most noticeable was Ray Sanchez, who I will be rooming with in India for La Ultra - The High 135 next month.

After all the meetings were concluded we checked in at the Furnace Creek Hotel, got settled in and I went to dinner and walk around to the new crew meeting there were hosting this year. Lots of great questions and ideas were talked about and I think this is a great idea for new crews coming into the race. After dinner I saw Tim Duffy, crewing for Pam Muston from Australia and chatted with him for a while before heading back to the room. Once back in the room I quickly settled in for early bed time and before 8pm I was out. The alarm came at 5am and I was off to breakfast only to realize I had lost my debit card! I asked the manager if he could look in the cafe, he did, but no luck so I was on the phone with the bank while eating to cancel the card, luckily, I had another one with me or else I would have been SOL as I had spent most of my cash on a few things from the vendors, the best thing being Marshall Ulrich book which he autographed!

After breakfast it was load the van and we were ready to go heading to the start line for 8am. Once there it was quickly hurry up and take some pictures, group photo at the Badwater sign and then get on the road for the National Anthem and start of the race. Bang! The race started and we were off. I started driving as Ivan and Mike started crewing and all things were moving along just as planned but this is Badwater and all bets are off on a sure thing and soon enough it started heating up and the wind started blowing, then after a couple of hours Connie was not able to go pee and this continued for the rest of the day! With short bouts of concentrated drops she was basically dehydrated and it was causing a little bit of stress on her part worrying about this, as it should. Overall the crewing/driving during the first day was pretty standard compared to my previous 2 years. The wind was pretty damn annoying than previous years but it wasn't as hot as the past either, 114*. Now I know by all means that is HOT! esp. when you are out in it constantly so don't get me wrong and then you add in 22+mph winds and it just sucks! Welcome to Death Valley!!!

Working with 3 crew members was actually a little difficult compared to previous years simply because one is driving and two are crewing. Then after a long day and your tired, only one person can sleep while the other two drive/crew. I paced a little on the first day heading in towards Stovepipe Wells and just before we got there we pulled ahead to restock with ice, supplies and gas. I did notice a change in the gas system this year and you had to pre-authorize your card before pumping, no pay at the pump, like last year and the ice pick up was moved to way behind the convenience store, making it not so convenient but I can understand as last year the ice machine was right up front and it was pretty congested. Once stalked back up we caught up with Connie who was making her way up the long road to Towne's Pass.

This is a long grind it out uphill section and the earlier you get there the more sun you have directly in your face, but an 8am start put us there just as the sun was starting to lighten up and set, so by the time time she was half way up the climb the sun had set and the cooler temperatures were a nice blessing along with less wind. As the night started her body decided to get on board with the peeing and she started to go!! yahoo!! all throughout the night and the remainder of the race she was back on track but the long day not going surely took some energy both physically and mentally. As the night progressed we started a rotation for sleeping, I would sleep last or later in the night and I keep driving. Once the first rotation was over I continued to drive but as the early morning came and we were heading down towards Paniment I had stopped as a normal crewing spot, as I parked and waited Mark had jumped out and went to go crew and I feel asleep, next thing I know I hear some foot steps coming and I wake up and see two other runners going by but I didn't recognize them. I looked at the clock and realized I had been sleeping for about 15-20mins. Just then a car pulls up behind me and I can see its the race official, he comes over to the van and asks: "How's it going?" I said.. "well I am not sure, looking around"... he said: "what you mean, did you loose your runner? Feel asleep did you?" I said, "yeah I sure did about 20 mins" He laughed and said yeah it happens. "I just came down the hill and all the runners behind you have there crews so your runner is ahead of you so just drive down the road and I'm sure you'll see her, is she will a pacer?"...."yes, cuz I only see one guy sleeping in the back". So I took off down the road and caught up to them. I actually love this part of the race course at night because you can see all the hazard lights blinking from one side of the valley all the way to the other, as far as you can see, its like 20+ miles across, this year I would see it in the early morning hours and during the day light and that is a sweet sight as well.

As Paniment Springs approached, mile 72.3, we dropped off Mark to take a shower and get cleaned up but unfortunately I was not able to do the same as there was a line and it was a little busy in the morning hours so we just restocked on gas and ice and I did a bird bath in the bathroom and changed clothes. Back on the road out of Paniment it was time to climb up to Father Crowley's point which is just another long grind it out switch backs and turns to get to the top, this took most of the morning till about noon when once at the top I had cell phone reception and was able to speak with Connie's husband, David, who would be coming out to meet us later in the day and was on his way. Surprisingly enough I had many points of cell phone service the rest of the race which means they have added towers along the way! Nice!

The second day of the race wasn't so much more tiring for me as I think it was for Mark and Ivan as they had worked non-stop the first day with me driving most of the day so I was still holding strong on the 2nd day. As we made our way towards Darwin, mile 90, we had told Connie that David was on his way and this seem to lift her spirits as during this time I was starting to calculate her finish time and she was starting to push the 48 hour cutoff time. She asked a couple of times and I said she was okay but it was going to be close so keep moving. I started pacing more this 2nd day and just trying to keep her moving and as we approached Darin we were finally seeing a couple of other crews and runners as it had been a long time since we had seen no one. After the Darwin check point David showed up and he jumped on board and Mike went to Lone Pine to rest up at the hotel, they had wanted me to go since I had not rested but there was still 30 miles to Lone Pine and that meant about 8-10 hours so I didn't want to be away that long so I said I was fine and I actually still was. As the 2nd night started to come we had just crossed over the 100 mile mark and Connie started to pick up the pace and was working really good to get to Lone Pine, however, when it was finally dark and all she could see was the lights of Keeler, mile 107, she thought was Lone Pine she was running with a vengeance but when she reached Keeler she was quite upset knowing that Lone Pine was still another 13 miles! It was not a happy time for her I know and David had been out with her for a while now pacing her and said she was not happy and in a down mood. As we got closer to Lone Pine she had to take a nap, about the 3rd or 4th one since we started and just a short 10 mins at a time. After the short break we pushed on to Lone Pine, refueled picked up Mike and off we went to the Portal Road for Mt. Whitney.

This 13 mile stretch is always work and the road has some crazy steep switch backs. As the sun rose I remember thinking this was my 3rd sun rise in a 48 hour race, sweet! but the clock was ticking and now Connie was right on the wire or just a hair over the cutoff. She really got into the last few miles and worked her butt off to get up those switch packs and made it happen. Its always amazing to see the runner dig so deep that they make it happen! I could tell her mind was focused and she was set on finishing before the cutoff. You don't come all that way and not push to make it and she was not going to be the exception. Again, looking at her face, her mood, and her determination I was inspired and thought this is what makes the race, the journey, the last 47 hours all worth every minute and sleepless wink I didn't get. We crossed the finish line at 47:37!! She was the last official finisher of the race and earned next years last page photo for being the last official female finisher (the male finisher will be in there too) So being last does have perks!

Once we finished all the photos and congrats we jumped in the van and headed back to Lone Pine to the hotel. I told Connie.. "you have your buckle now, I'm going to sleep!" I literally passed out and slept the whole ride back to the hotel.

to be continued...

rockon'

Badwater 135 Ultramarathon Time!!

2011-07-08T16:33:00.001-07:00

That's right! its time again for me to crew for the Badwater 135 mile Ultramarathon that starts at Badwater, the lowest elevation on earth, -282 feet below sea level, also known as Death Valley! It is known as the Toughest Race on the Planet due to the extreme heat, dry desert conditions and cooler or colder temperatures that can occur on Mt. Whitney.

The race finishes at Mt. Whitney trail heat at 8360 ft. 135 miles. 48 hours to make the finish! and yes, this will be my 3rd year crewing for some great runners!

I am super excited about another year crewing and helping and experiencing the race! This year runner, Connie Dockendorf #34 and starts at 8am Monday. Check out the live webcast and updates!

See ya next time with a Badwater recap!

Rockon'

some running.

2011-06-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

The last couple of days I have had some pretty good ass kicking's up on Mt. Charleston, which is my staple for training all for Wasatch.

On Saturday I went up with Bailey and we went to Bristlecone/Bonanza Trail. I had never really been up too far on Bonanza so I was excited to see what it offered. I would be looking to run 10 miles out and back so I packed heavy with snacks and extra water in my camelbak.

We took off on the Bristlecone trail which is about 3 miles before Bonanza intersects with it, then it was on! It's a really great trail and I loved the rolling hills and well, the climbing too. After about 7 miles Bailey turned around and headed back and I kept going for another couple of miles but at this point I went down a huge set of steep switch backs and knew that coming back was going to be work.

My garmin died out, due to me slacking and forgetting to charge it but check out the first 9 miles,

I only ran 18ish because I was running out of water and I knew it was going to take me a long time to get back. At a couple of spots I actually found some snow patches and dung down to eat some fresh snow! By the time I got back to the car I was totally beat! Tired! and Hungry! The next day I actually felt like I got ran over by a truck.

I soon recovered and yesterday I headed back up to Mt. Charleston to take on the North Loop trail. I have run this trail before but only coming from the South Loop to summit Charleston and then down so I kind of forgot how freakn' steep this thing was. Check it out:

It took me 3 hours 22 mins to get to the 6 mile turn around and then 1 hour 18 mins to get back down and that was even just running easy, although I did pick up the pace the last mile and knocked out a 9:52 which seemed really fast because of the steepness of the trail.

I have been working to pound those downhills and build some quad resistance because it always seems that my quads fatigue out due to all the downhill pounding. Anyway it was a great run as well and working up to that 11000 feet was pretty tough but all in a days work and in the bank for Wasatch.

After the run I then got some food, cleaned up and went to the sauna for an hour to log some time for the Badwater heat!

rockon'

What an Update! you'll see!

2011-06-21T07:48:00.001-07:00

Wow, I can't believe it's mid way through June and I haven't blogged! Must be slackin' like Formulaic! So I have lots to update on and awesome news abound.

Let's first start off by completing a long and fun season with Team in Training marathon coaching. The Spring and Summer seasons were run together starting about 1 month apart and with events like Vancouver, BC., Nashville and San Diego RocknRoll, and Alaska it was definitely a long season. We basically started back in Nov 2010 and just finished up last week with Alaska. It's always a great time to see all the participant's start off from ground zero and make there way to the finish line of 13.1/26.2 miles. Anyway, it was a great season, lots of people, and friends. Next coaching season for me will be Triathlon!!! and we will be offering Lavaman Triathlon in Hawaii and should start in Nov as well. Awesome!

On a business side of things, I have recently changed the name of my company. This came about because I have been trying to brand my name but using two different tag lines and well, that simply just doesn't work. The new name is now: Hurt Less Play More LLC and everything related, email, wed address and web site is Hurt Less Play More. This has been a fun process in changing tax id's, insurance stuff, business letter head, cards, and even the web site. The web site is now up and running but still detailing and fine tuning as I go.

A couple of months ago I bought the TRX Suspension Trainer.

These other two pictures shows the various types of exercise you can do with it and you get an idea of how it works.

I started using it just after my 100 mile run in April and I really enjoy it and it's much more challenging than I thought it would be but I seem to me missing out on the full duty of this device, so I went and got Certified in personal training with it! During the class there are many things that just simply cannot be learned on your own while using the training book or dvd's or even the trx tv that is offered. I am very glad I went to learn more about the TRX, met some great local people/trainers and now I am offering the TRX as part of my business, Dr. John Vigil Certified TRX Suspension Trainer! sounds nice, huh!

Next: in just 2 1/2 weeks I will be crewing for Badwater 135 Ultramarathon again! and so excited to be a part of Connie Dockendorf's team. Connie will actually be running a double crossing but I will only be able to crew for the main race event due to time off of work. I am excited and actually we have a crew/race meeting tonight! I love Badwater and so glad I am going back for my 3rd year!

And finally, but not in the least! and this is super exciting!

My first year crewing at Badwater I met and crewed for Molly Sheridan and since then have become great friends and running buddies. Last year she went to India to run La Ultra - The High 135 which is a run through the Himalayan mountains on the highest paved road in the World! It's located in Leh, India and last year she stopped at 100 miles. Of the 3 people that started the race last year only 1 completed the event, this year, Molly is returning to India to take on the High 135 again and with the great sponsorship of Isagenix I have been invited to crew and tag along! Yes, I will be heading to India!! (now I must first say that I have been using Isagenix products for about 10 months and I love there stuff, yes, it can be price in some aspects but overall I have not found any competitor that has the quality that Isagenix has in there products, so that naturally makes them a little more costly, but totally worth it, otherwise I would continue to use them. Now if you follow/LIKE my facebook office page of HURT LESS PLAY MORE you may notice that I talk about Isagenix products and this is not because they are sponsoring but because I believe in the products and I think people should use them for many different reasons! on a side note if you are interest email me or check out my site at Hurt Less Play More - Isagenix) This year Molly's daughter, Bailey is also going along to help crew/pace so we will be sure to help get Molly to the finish line. A couple days after the finish of the High 135, there is the High Marathon, so being as I am in the area, I naturally have to run this!! or maybe walk or crawl, but what ever it takes to get the completion of a 26.2 in India!

I went a couple of weeks ago to get some shots to travel to India and interestingly enough there are no specific requirement shots to travel to India. The health department does recommend several so I ended up getting a Tetnus and Hepatitis A and after $130 and two sore shoulders I walked out.

Another cool thing to add to the India deal is I am getting to use an Alto Lab Altitude Simulator. This little device helps simulate breathing at higher elevations by filtering the exhaled CO2 and mixing it with fresh O2 all by monitoring pulse oximeter worn on your finger. Sounds complicated but really you pinch your nose off with the soft clamp, breath in and out through your mouth through a tube that is attached to green cylinder that filters the co2 and attached to that are black cylinders that represent 5000 ft of elevation for each one. By monitoring your O2 on the meter you attempted to maintain below 90% and each time look to drop the O2 % a little lower. I am on 3 black cylinders and once I cannot drop the O2 levels into the 80's or lower than I will add a 4th cylinder. Pretty Cool huh!

Actually, the really most exciting news and BEST news is that my gf, Dez, will finish her radiation therapy next Wednesday!! Yup, after a long year of being diagnosed, operated on, chemotherapy losing her hair and radiation therapy (hair is growing back) she will be finished! I am super proud of her for everything she has gone through. I love you babe!

In the mist of all this I am ramping up my volume and trail running for Wasatch in Sept. can't wait! and I want to say Congrats to the Big B, aka Sweet Baboo for finishing the Bighorn 100 on Saturday!!

rockon'

End of May.

2011-05-30T19:55:00.000-07:00

With the end of May you would think I have run more than I actually have but I actually only ran 50 miles the whole month and most of that was in the Jemez race! Not very good but a good recovery I would say now that its been over a month since LOL100 and since then I have been back in the gym hitting the weights and some cardio sessions not only for the recovery processes but also to try and drop some body fat/weight, I am also working on my nutrition and looking to stay consistent without junk food and so far things are going well. (of course this weekend being Memorial Day I was a little too far off the path and enjoying it more than I should) but that is all over with tomorrow and it's back to the Grid Iron!

Up next besides the great training up for Wasatch100 in September will be crewing for Badwater in July. I was initially crewing for Catra but she has had to drop due to a few reasons and since then I agreed to help another lady from Australia but after even more consideration and being asked by local runner, Connie, to help crew for her I decided to switch as Pam from Australia had plenty of help and family and I knew she would be okay without me. I am looking forward to helping Connie and working her few peeps out there for the race and then I will have to leave after her official completion of the race and she will start back on double crossing of Badwater, which means she will run Badwater official race, then turn around and run from the finish back to the start all on her own! Unfortunately, I will not be able to help crew the return portion of this amazing trek as I have to get back to the office and not be away more than necessary.

The month of June will bring an increase in my training schedule and working on climbing aspects! I reviewed all the course profiles and there is some serious work to be done before Sept!

rockon'

Jemez 50k recap.

2011-05-26T07:53:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I loaded up and headed out to Los Alamos, NM to run the Jemez 50k. I was actually staying in Santa Fe as my Gpa, aunts/uncles, cuz'ins all live there and so I would be seeing some of them on this trip as well.

I arrived in Los Alamos Friday afternoon to check out the town and see where the race start and parking would be and kill some time before packet pick up and pasta dinner. Long time ago, when I was in 4-5th grade I lived in White Rock, NM. which is just about 10 miles down the road from Los Alamos and my parents both worked "on the Hill" as it was known. I remember Los Alamos for the most part and oddly enough, It has Not Changed! Okay, so they got a Starbucks and some other new store, some more new houses but that's about it. Driving around I was looking for my dad's old work place and the local track where some of the first 5k, 10ks I was exposed to when dad first started running. It was all in good condition and across from the high school with a bit more road construction.

I finally went to packet pick up and it was a quick process and they did a great job organizing and herding us through like cattle. I quickly got my race bag, shirt (which are pretty sweet with the Elevation profiles of the 50miler, 50k and 1/2 marathon on the back) and a great Jemez poster that was a print of an original painting. I also picked up an extra Jemez shirt that was being sold which is pretty cool too.

I was going to leave after this but then I noticed that dinner was already starting so I followed the signs that lead around the back of the church, stopping by the GoreTex truck to chat with the them about some of there products. Once inside the food line, again very well organized tables of the classic pasta feed at all races and I was quickly sitting down at a table with a couple of guys from Dallas. We ate and chatted about our run experiences and then it was time to head back to Santa Fe, about 30 min drive.

I already had all my race gear packed and ready to go and just needed to put my race number on and mark my drop bag so after that it was basically relax and bed time as 4am would come early.

I was at the race site about 5:30am, and we started at 6:30am. As I was parking and getting last minute things put together I saw Sweet Baboo and GeekGirl pull up and they started getting there things ready. It was cold out, 37* and I was concerned about the temperature for the day. Weather reports said it would be a high of low 60's with wind 15-20mph so to me that didn't sound too warm, esp. at 9000+ feet elevation. I was actually pretty undecided what to wear on my upper body and not be cold. After changing twice I finally decided I would wear my North Face jacket and just a shirt. This jacket is the one from Labor of Love 100 so I know its pretty warm and wind resistant. At the start of the race it was fine but about 3 miles in it was too hot and I would eventually take it off and have to carry it the whole damn race!! I made a wrong choice but learned that this jacket is best for temps 40* and lower.

At the start of the race I was hanging with Baboo and GeekGirl and met some locals. I was quick to notice that a lot of the runners here really looked serious and had this hard core game face! I told Baboo, dude, there's some serious people here. He said Yea, that this race brings out some tough competitors. I thought Great! What the Hell am I in for?

As quickly as we were talking the gun went off and we started running down the street in the middle of the road. We had about a mile of road then it dumped us on the trail and there would single track trails and fire roads the whole race. I was with a group of runners for quite some time and I noticed that we were slowly climbing in elevation. At times there would be great hills but overall we were climbing for a while. Once the first aid station came and went things were going really good. I was enjoying the trail, the run and the people. The Sun was shining and I could see we were heading up to the mountain. Soon after the first aid station it was the start of the first climb which involved a lovely switch backs that took about 20 mins to summit. It was tough and the more I looked up the far ahead I could see so I quit looking. Along the switch backs there were about 4 of us runners together and we all quickly introduced our self's.. I basically remembered them as Delaware, Kansas and California and would shout at them later in the race at different times I saw them. Once at the top of the first climb it was a great view of the city of Los Alamos and here we were in the first section of the burnt area, the fire was in 2000 and burned 80 square miles.

After reaching the so called summit of the first climb I took a few pictures and then continued on the side of the ridge still climbing and heading to the famous Caballo summit climb of 10,480 feet. When I reached the aid station at the start of the climb the lead runners for the 50k were already down and coming though this check point, this basically means they were about 5 miles ahead of me. The start is about mile 9 and climbs about 2.25 miles from about 8200 feet to 10,480. Some serious climbing, switch backs and straight up trails! It took me quite some time to get there and I was passed by a few runners. It also got colder and I was super glad to reach the turn around as our picture was taken and down I started. Coming down I thought I was going to be able to make up some lost time but I really didn't realize how steep some it was and simply couldn't run the down without thrashing my quads so it was a steady hike down in some parts and jog in others. I saw GeekGirl heading up and she looked like she was doing good and focused. Baboo had passed me long ago on his way down where I first started up the climb and I estimated he was about 3 miles ahead of me. At one point on the downward section my left calf cramped up and I had to turn around backwards facing up and just stop and work it out. I figured I was behind on salt and my plan was to use my Succeed drinks for salt only but with the temps warming up and working climbing the mountains I figured quickly I was behind so I popped some S-Caps and away I went. Here is where I met a guy named Peter Shoemaker. We would run together for most of the remainder of the race and swap stories and thoughts about the event as we ran. Once at the bottom of Caballo we both checked in, got some food, water and off we went to the next aid station which they said was only 3.7 miles, if I recall.

What they failed to tell us was that it was 3.7 miles of what Peter and I later called Baby Caballo. This damn section had some more switch backs and long grades to climb and just seem relentless! Every turn where you thought you were going to get a break was another section of steep funness! It was a long hike followed by about 10 steps of running. Finally we made it to the next aid station at what is called Pipeline. Here we would run out to Ski Lodge and return to Pipeline and take a different road back, almost like a Y figure. I grabbed some more food at Pipeline, refilled my two hand held water bottles and off I went. Running into Pipeline the last mile or so was nice. We had finally reached the top of baby Caballo and then it was a nice easy run on a wider road/trail so not only was it a chance to make up some time but get back to running. After Pipeline it was again run time but now more on a single track and through a wonderful section of grassy area and a tree lined section all the way to the Ski Lodge.

As I was running there I had left Peter behind at the aid station and I noticed runners retuning but I noticed they all seemed to be walking and I thought Why? I took note of the trail grade and realized it was a nice gradual downhill and I was running pretty good which meant I would too be walking back as they were. With that I picked up the pace to make up some more time I would lose getting back to Pipeline. I checked in at the Ski Lodge, grabbed my drop bag from the volunteers and resupplied my nutrition of gels and bars, although some of the bars had melted with the bag in the Sun so I just left them. I grabbed some more Salt tabs as I had not brought that many and wanted to make sure I didn't run out. Coke, some chips, and snickers, then the bathroom and it was time to head out. Once leaving I saw Peter standing around as he had checked in while I was eating and heading to the bathroom. I yelled at him as I walked by.. "Let's go dude, this ain't no rest home, We got work to do!" haha.. We both took off and started making our way back to Pipeline. Once back I had told Peter about the Popsicles that Baboo had mentioned before the race so when we got back to the aid station I yelled out, Hey is there Popsicles here? They all quickly pointed out a freezer off to the side and sure enough, a huge assortment of them! Peter and I quickly dove in and I grabbed two sets, root beer and banana. I had my water bottles refilled and said Let's Go!! Peter was like, dude, we just got here! haha, I said I know we gotta go! Come on, we can eat on the walk. Just then two gals started leaving with us at the same time, they were ahead of us since the start and we had now caught them. There was a nice climb leaving Pipeline and the volunteers told us that we had another 3-ish miles to the next aid, we were now about mile 21.

As we made our up the next couple of short hill climbs our nice grassy tree lined trail soon turned to burnt area and then dove back into a single track tail heading down. This was a nice part and I picked up the pace, passed Peter and the two girls and away I went looking to get to that next aid station knowing that once there, it was completely downhill for 5 miles back to the finish! I would have this wrapped up in a short time, Yeah Right!

I noticed that the two girls stayed with me on the single track downhill and were actually right on my heels for a while but then somewhere they dropped off and I just kept on. I finally reached the aid station where we had come through one the first set of switch backs, refilled my water and off I went, as they said the next aid station was 5 miles. As I left I was a little nervous as 5 miles seemed a long ways and it was 2-3pm in the afternoon and the heat was cranking and now I was completely in the burnt section

and would be till the last 2 miles. There was absolutely no shade or cover and the ground was now rocky, technical and soft dirt which kicked up a lot of dust. I would eventually get passed by a few 50 milers that were cranking along and it was good to see other people because I had seen no one for a while so when I got caught by them I ran with them for a short time and then it was nice to follow them down the winding snake like trail. Here is where I realized that I took that previous downhill single track way too hard and started to pay the price. The heat was getting to me and I was being conscious not to drink all my water and run out. I finally caught two previous 50'kers and passed them and realized I was about a mile from the last aid station! I also noticed another 50k'er hot on my heels and so I picked it up as to not get passed before the last aid station. Finally running into the last aid station I realized I was in survival mode and needed to cool off, get some coke, soup and just take it easy for a second. I did all this but was in the ahh shit mode when the gal behind me just blew through the aid station, dang, I just got chicked! hahaha.. I had not seen her all day so I knew she had been in the back of the pack and picked me off, no wonder she was pushing me at the end. Really wouldn't have matter even if I had blown through the last aid station because she was looking strong and there was a nice little climb leaving this last aid and I know she would have passed me before the end.

Once I left this aid station, there was only 1.9 miles left and the trail was actually really nice, in and around the local neighborhood now. It was like on a small ridge line and roller coaster little hills but even though it was simply enough, I was Toast! I really had nothing left in my legs and with less than 1.5 miles to the finish my only concern was not to get passed by any more 50k's. I would run and walk and mostly walk. A couple more 50 mile runners passed me and then it was the last 1/2 mile when I see Baboo coming back down the trail the opposite direction heading back out to find GeekGirl. We chatted quickly and I said Thank God I listened to you and didn't sign up for the 50 miler!! He laughed. I really wouldn't have made the cut off for the 50 miler based on my pace anyway. I finally made it up that last 400 ft climb to the finish and some people were cheering and said run it in, be strong! So I took off and ran the last couple hundred yards. Done!!!

10 hours 33 mins! the longest time for any 50k I have ever done and hands down the HARDEST 50k and hill climbs I have ever experienced!

I quickly grabbed some food and sprite and sat down. I ate and took it easy for a while before heading back to my car to change clothes and wait for Baboo and GeekGirl to finish. I was really tired, exhausted! and did I say Tired! I really thought I was going to fall asleep, I didn't but I was close.

The finishers medal is actually an Indian little pot which is really cool. It has taken me 5 days to get rid of the deep quad, hip and lower leg soreness. This run was tough, no question about it but also since it was my first Big trail run since LOL100, I could tell I was really not prepared for some of the trails and technical work I had to run. I am glad I did it and now its time to get back to trails and build some leg strength.

Next up is Badwater.. that's a whole other blog post.

rockon'

may..

2011-05-13T11:08:00.001-07:00

well I wrote a post yesterday but somehow it is not here today!! Ugrrr!!!

Seems like my training log story!! which long story short, Buckeye Outdoors, lost there data base in the storm a couple of weeks ago and I lost about 2 years worth of data, sucks! I mean I have all my garmin info but just not the same.

Next week, Jemez 50k and the weather is looking to not be fun! Great! Seems to be the story of my last couple of races, haha!

rockon'

a lost log and training.

2011-05-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

Already May and barely getting in a post this month. Not that I have not been doing anything like this guy but time is just flying. Since LOL100, recovery has been good and all have worked out fine. In coaching with Team in Training, two weeks ago was event weekend for the Spring season and off I went to Vancouver, BC with the team. It was a great fun filled packed 4 days. The team all completed there half/full marathons and with much excitement for me as the coach and I was glad to be back in Vegas to rest and recover. I ended up running about 19 miles that day all over the course and with my team at various points and all felt good.

Last weekend was Race for the Cure 5k and being as Dez and her friends all had a team this year I had to partake and support her. I ended up running 7 miles that day being as I parked at the Stratosphere hotel and ran to downtown start, then the 5k, then back to the hotel. It was good day but a warm day that I was not expecting. Then the next day I was up at Bristle Cone trail, still lots of snow on the path and not able to make a full loop, so its an out/back type run and only completed another 7 miles.

Even though the running has been decreased in volume I am not complaining as I have simply ramped up some weight training and elliptical training at the gym. Its good to be back under the Iron and always good for the body. I am looking to drop a few pounds with the different training block and looking to complete the Jemez 50k next weekend and then get back to building the run volume.

One of the downsides that occurred in the last couple of weeks was the training log I used crashed and all the data was lost. The host server is located in Ohio and there were some serious storms a couple weeks back and it got hit/flooded and all my logged info for the past 2-3 years was lost. Sucks! Now I do have all my data from my Garmin but its just not the same as being logged on the Buckeye log I used. So now I am trying out different logs. I was looking at the active.com log and of course trainingpeaks log but these days TP seems to be much more complex and confusing. I also have beginner triathlete log so that may be the one to use.

rockon'

Post Race Thoughts, Comment Replys, next Race!

2011-04-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

A few things I saw in the comments sections of the recaps.

Gourmet Red Bull's.. haha, nothing more than a regular Red Bull, maybe cold, just became something Antonette nicknamed to make it sound better.

Speed Racer commented about the Euphoric feeling and wonder if a cyclist can enter that zone. I'm not sure a cyclist can get that tired and not fall over so not sure it would be the same but I do think that dazed and confused could be acquired, especially, if your cycling the Furnace Creek 508!

The darkest hours, literally!! It was seriously dark back in that canyon and with 18* all I could see at night was my cold steam breath blowing in front of me. I am super glad I purchased that jacket as it would have been trouble if I had not had it and may have been my demise as I did not have anything that would protect me from the cold/wind/snow.

I wore Injinji toe socks with a thin Balega sock over it, this has always worked for me in the past trail or road and my feet did really well. I did start to feel a little hot spot on the ball of my left foot sometime after 55 miles and stopped to change my socks at this time, (I had only changed shoes earlier) and I added BlisterShield Powder to both socks this time and the hot spot went away. I had used the BlisterShield at HURT back in Jan and it worked great there too. So overall I had no, Zero, Blisters or Hot Spots at the finish! Thank you God.

Nutrition wise I tried to use Gu's for a while but I was just over them in a hurry so I switched to Succeed Ultra and later I switched out with Amino and Clip2. I would rotate with these but mostly used Ultra. I think for Jemez 50k and Wasatch100 I am going to work on taking in more of the Amino and Clip2 as they have the amino acids/proteins and seemed to work good later in the day and night when I did take them. Otherwise, I ate some solid foods, like Pizza!! Bread Sticks!! Cookies!! Chicken Noodle Soup!! Crackers!! Snickers!! some various brownies, chips at the aid stations. Also I took some Red Bull's, one dose of No-Doze and a Mental Performance drink I experimented with called Neuro1 from Nutrition53. I have used this before from Stretch to Win when we were in certification and wow what a focus kick, so I wanted to see how it would hold up under sleep, tired conditions. When I took it about mile 62 it worked good for about 2 hours and I should have taken more but I didn't. I liked the fact of this working with neurotransmitters for the brain and focus instead of just a straight Jolt like effect. It does have caffeine, about 100mg, or 1 cup of coffee but the other ingredients are awesome and hey if Bill Romanowski, founder/ceo thinks its good, I'm in! haha, really more like if my peeps from Stretch to Win are on board then I'm in too!

After thinking back over the whole race what could I have done or will do different:

Ran faster! haha.
Be more efficient with the Neuro1 to control the sleepiness.
Practice staying awake later in the night leading up to the race event. Simple but true, I am usually asleep by 9-9:30pm so preparing my body/mind to stay awake till 12am-1am will I think help the night situation.
I am going to try and use two hand held bottles at Jemez 50k with my small waist carrier. I think Big B has validity to the fact that carrying a waist pack over time can upset the lower GI and being as I experienced this early on in this race vs. never in training of 20+ miles I want to try something else.
Enjoy the race more. I was so focused on moving that I had head down focus and didn't really stop to enjoy the overall race. I did take a little time when the Sun was going down because there is something about that time of day that I really like when I am out there. I also enjoyed the Sun rise, mostly because I knew it would wake me up.
Continue my No Whining Modo! Strong Mind, Strong Body and saving the whining for my running partners during training! ha!!

Recovery: I pretty much have taken off from anything the last 9 days. My feet were swollen the 2-3 days after so I wore my CEP Compression socks on and off, elevated my legs and took ibuprofen. I stretched some but probably not enough! I also used lots of Traumeel on my lower legs and ankles. I did do one Epsom Salt bath, not really sure how much it helped though. I also took the Recovery packets from Succeed for 5 days, I actually took 2x day for the first 2 days, along with extra Emergen-C. I also ate a little more protein than normal the week after but my hunger didn't actually kick in till about 4 days after.

I ran last night, 4 miles!! It was an easy start but about a mile in I could feel my lower legs still sore. I walked a little more than usually on this route but I kept moving and took it easy. I would say I am about 85% recovered but with the lower legs and glutes still sore after the run I still need some time. Which, I don't have too much of because for some crazy ass reason I had signed up for the Jemez50k and it's in 4 weeks, all trail, High Elevation. This will be a good effort come back after the 100 and back to the trails where I will enjoy this race, even through a lack of O2, because its in a great part of the country, Los Alamos, NM and I haven't been back there since I was a kid and my dad took me hunting.

rockon'

LOL100 ..To the Finish!!

2011-04-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

Lap 4 - Mile 66-88: When we left I was completely out of it. I mean I couldn't tell you which way was up, my only focus was to keep moving down the road as fast as I could. I know the temperature was colder but it would get warmer in the early miles of the course and then colder at the back end. Up till this point my legs were pretty tired. I have some soreness in the lower quads which I knew was going to happen because of the long gradual and some short roller sections that the quads would take a beating over time so I was careful not to all out blast the downhills. I learned this at Javalina100k last year. My shoulders/neck and arms were just tight and I would my circle arm motions to and neck motions to try and stretch them out. At times I would even just stop and stretch my upper body and then it started to be the same with my lower body. My hip flexors were seriously tight and early in the day I could lift my leg up and stretch but as the night set it and long into it I would have to balance while hanging on to the shoulders of Antonette or Molly and then I would have to physically grab my hamstring from behind the knee and lift it to stretch! I did this several times through out the night and then I would massage my quads which seemed to help for a while.

Antonette was doing a great job keeping me moving, carrying my water bottle and anything else that seemed to weigh more than 1 oz! She would stay just a step ahead of me on my right side and I would basically just keep walking with her. At some points I would stop, bend over at the waist and cuss!! I knew I was so sleepy and my mind wanted to shut down, shit I have been moving for 18+ hours in Snow and cold and now its had enough, but good positive mantra would take hold.

I knew coming to this 100 it was going to be tough, period! Its a 100 miles and that is no easy task, on any course. I knew there was going to be hard times, fun times, bad times and times I couldn't even catagorize but before I even started, before I even showed up on race day I told myself one thing: STRONG MIND, STRONG BODY. This would be the fail safe positive reinforcement phrase for any negative thoughts or feelings that I came across. When I bent over to cuss and I realized what I was I doing I quickly stood up and started moving repeating to myself in my mind.. Strong Mind, Strong Body, Strong Mind, Strong Body.. It worked. My other goal coming into this race was no Whining, No Bitching, just get it done, I don't recall too many times I bitched or whined but I know I did and would quickly change my thoughts.

As we made it down Biatch Hill for the 4th time and approached the RV I decided I did not want to stop as I was simply too tired and in fear of becoming too comfortable I told Antonette I would keep walking and grab some much needed No-Doze, Red Bull and anything else to wake me up. Molly would be jumping in at this time and soon taking over at the far turn around when Antonette was done with her 22 miles. As I approached the aid station my hands were so cold so I stopped to warm them up on the heater they had there. I saw Jim Freeman and Ron, who I have know from other local races and they were manning the aid station. I talked briefly and then kept moving. Once I started moving I knew I had to move just a little faster because stopping had cooled me down and now I was even more cold so I just started going!

In the back of my mind I actually wanted to see how far I could get from Antonette and Molly before they caught me so I guess we could call this burst of energy. I'll take what I can get at this point and just kept moving at a fast pace than I had been moving in the past 2 hours. I was all alone. No other lights ahead of me and I could not see theres behind me. The cold was pretty strong as I could clouds of my breath when I breathed out. I kept this up for a while and then I noticed I started to slow down so I would turn around and look to see where the girls are and I could barely see there lights coming from afar. Damn!! I got too far away from them and now I would have to hold out solo until they caught me. I felt alone at this time and realized how much Antonette had been helping me and the value of a pacer. As my thoughts began to wonder I noticed I didn't really feel my body, no soreness, no pain in my toe, no cold. I just felt like I was there. I could see the cold, I knew it was cold but no feelings. Maybe because I was so sleepy I was sleep walking, ha!

I finally slowed down and knew I was wondering back and forth on the road. I would feel myself start leaning to one side and then I would see the dirt or the ditch and go oh shit! move over.. so I would get back to the center of the road and then I pull to the right, same thing! Back to the center. I felt like a wobbling idot out there swaying back and forth on the road and still no Antonette or Molly. I really thought a couple of times I was going to fall over and they would find me there on the sleeping on the ground. I knew I could not fall down because as sleepy as I was I would truly just smack the road most likely without any bracing and if I did happen to catch myself falling it would be too late and I may break a wrist or something so falling over was not an option! I finally heard Molly and Antonette behind me and so I stopped and waited the last couple of steps for them. They quickly said that I was on the move and that it took them a couple of miles to catch to me. Antonette handed me some PB&J and I quickly ate the whole thing, guess I was hungier than I thought. Then I took some No-Doze and chased it down with a Red Bull. Okay I thought I have about 20 mins and this shit will kick in!! Thank God!

As we continued to walk I still had my swaying back and forth on the road and they would both make sure I stayed in the center. Molly on the left, Antonette on the right. I remember continuously stopping and being so frustrated with not being able to wake up!! I know I stopped one time and just stood there like Superman, with my hands on my hips, my eyes closed and thinking just for a couple of minutes, but it only lasted about 10 seconds as Antonette would grab my arm and tell me to open my eyes. Then she would start pulling me a little just to get me moving. By now I realized it was super cold and breathing air in was actually hurting my teeth so I would cover my face with my running buff and then I would be okay, well, kind of. It would make my face nice and warm and then I would feel even more sleepy, so I then I would take it off below my chin, a shot of Cold Air and this game went on for a while or until the Sun would come up.

As we approached the back of the turn around I must of really started to slow down because Molly soon told me that she was going to walk in front of me and for me to follow her foot steps, to keep pace with her. At first I was like slow down!! (in my mind) but I knew they were trying to speed me up so I didn't really mind. They wanted me to speed up because I was going to slow and I would become cold and since the early morning hours were approaching it was going to get colder! As I followed Mollys feet I would would have my eyes down toward the ground and this only made me want to close them more but at least it gave me something to focus on for a while. Soon we were at the turn around and I gave Antonette a big hug and thanked her for helping and getting through some tough night/morning hours. As were at the aid station the aid station volunteer said I hope you dont want any liquids because everything is Frozen. The water, the pepsi, all liquids were frozen. I was basically okay and just wanted to get moving again so I started walking off and Molly tended to the water bottle stuff and soon caught up to me.

Just after we left the aid station Antonette came driving by and I remember looking at her car, it was covered in snow and frost and I knew it was seriously cold. I could feel how cold my hands were even with my gloves and I remember pumping my fists just to try and warm them up more by increasing blood flow. At some point, either then or a little bit later Antonette brought some soup and the cup was nice and warm but didn't last too long warm and I was able to drink and eat it all. Molly and I were on a little faster pace and I seemed to be a little more awake and focused. The Sun was soon be rising and I kept looking over the mountain to see if I could see it. This was a good focus for this time because I was starting to wake up and Molly said just hanging in there till that Sun comes up and you will be alright. As we approached the RV I had to grab my Garmin charger again as I wanted to make sure it didn't die out and a couple of other things, change of shoes back to the ones I had started with and I was out to finish lap 4.

It was still dark out and climbing the Biatch Hill was still no fun! I just put my head down and after what seemed like forever and still no Sun I was at the top of the damn hill. The last 4 miles the Sun finally started to come up and I was waking up. Molly and I started to chat more about the night and other random things and soon the pace was much quicker. My legs were throbbing now that I was awake and more alert to the fact of what was going on. I had noticed that my hand held bottle was not working or something was messed up on it and I kept examining to see WTF! I just couldn't seem to get water out of the top, like it was plugged or something. At one point we stopped at an unmanned aid station and I needed more water so I unscrewed the top and looked underneath the lid. Ohh, no wonder, I told Molly. Look at this, as I showed her the lid. The water had frozen under the lid and was like slush! Yes, it was still cold out and the damn water bottle had started to freeze over, and enough so that it froze the bottom of the lid and that's why I could not get water out of it. I banged the lid on the table and the ice/slush came out, refilled the bottle and off we went with a great working water bottle. Finally we were approaching the end of lap 4 and I told Molly I had to use the bathroom and I needed to sit down and stretch my quads at the station.

Lap 4 completed, 25 hours 6 mins @ mile 87.52.

After a couple of mins we were back on the road and the Sun was shinning and feeling good with a little warmth. It was actually quite a bit warmer this morning and I knew I wanted to keep moving so I would not be in the "heat" after all that cold. By this time I was back at the last decent of Biatch Hill and stated to go down, we had a couple of run times leading up to the Hill which was nice as this meant I had totally made it through the night and I was still able to run a little. As we went down hill Bill had approached and was checking on me and Molly had said she was going to go to the RV and get some food being as I had not eaten a while and I still needed energy for about 8 more miles. She said she would be back in a few minutes and it was my job to keep moving down the hill and being as I was awake I was okay by myself.

As I was walking alone I just started thinking about how far I come since yesterday at 7am and all the elements that I went through. I was looking around and thinking, Holy Shit, I can't believe I am doing this. I noticed that with every step I could feel my whole body pounding, the vibrations of every foot step running up my leg. My shoulders were sore and achy, my feet achy, my body just hurt but in a different way from pain, it just hurt. I remember the time when Antonette and I were running Headlands 50miler and at one point she started to cry and I asked how she was and she said everything hurt, even her ear lobes, just everything, this was the exact same thing she described, I knew what she meant. I was a pretty emotional moment, I was over whelmed with emotion and I just started to tear and cry. I was happy, proud, hurting, and mostly for those few moments I felt helpless because after all that have done and experienced over the last 25 hours, Dez had gone through and is still going though so much more (if your new to my blog, Dez was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in Oct). I could only think about her as I walked with every step and although crying I knew I still had to be strong for her. I saw Molly and Bill driving back up the hill and I tried to compose myself and I was okay for a short time. Molly jumped back on the course with me and I guess I had not done a good job composing myself as she gave me a little pat on the back and of course this was the consoling I guess I needed because I started to tear/cry even more. She reminded me of how great I was doing and offered me crackers which I really didn't even want but I took one and next thing I know I ate the whole package! By the we were coming up on the aid station at the RV and I was not going to stop just a quick grab of some snacks and water and off I went to the turn around. Bill was waiting at the turn point and soon it time to High-Five that damn ass sign I had passed 4 other times! Once I made the turn around it was a nice little downhill slope back to the RV where Dez, Tim (who finished and won the overall in 20 hrs 17 mins and Catherine) were still all standing outside by the road and cheering me on. I grabbed some more snack, told Dez when to expect me at the finish and off I went to tackle the last of the Biatch Hill!!

As I started back up the hill I was in a good walking pace and feeling much better than hours past. Just before my turn around there was another runner ahead of me heading back up the hill, he was about 15 mins ahead and walking pretty slow. I remember Tim telling me I needed to catch him but my mind was in no place to chase anyone down, just finishing was the main focus. As Molly and I continued on the hill I could no longer see the guy ahead of me so I happened to notice my watch and time and based on my pace and my distance to finish I was going to finish after 29 hours. Hummm, that just didn't sit right in my mind and I wanted to be under 29 so at I started to walk a little faster trying to calculate how fast i needed to go to break 29 but it was taking me too much effort to do so, so when I caught up to Bill, who was now on mobile crewing duties till the finish line, I asked him what my pace needed to be to break 29 hours. He had replied and said he thought my pace was too slow and I wouldn't be able to. As I passed him, I raised my hands in the air and yelled, Come On!!! What's the pace? As he pulled up next to us he said he would drive a little farther ahead and figure it out and let me know. He drove about 1/4 mile ahead, just before Biatch Hill started to get really steep. By this time it clicked in my head, GAME ON!!! I was gonna break 29 hours and it was going to start with this freakn' ass hill! I kicked it in gear and went into super power walking mode!! I started attacking the hill and walking as fast as I could, I knew that on this hill you can lose time and I was not going to give it any more than so now it was turn to take some back. I quickly caught up to Bill and he yelled out I needed 17/min pace to just break 29 hours, I was still over 4 miles out. I said Okay and kept walking as fast I could. Arms pumping. Breathing out hard with ever other step. I heard Molly pass Bill and she said she couldn't keep up with me! I had just done a Big B to my pacer, I dropped her at mile 96. I didn't bother to look back to see how far she was but I tried to go faster and harder to get more space between us, I knew she would catch me once at the top but I wanted to get up that damn hill for the last time. Finally, I made it to the top and I turned around to see where Molly was and she was not too far behind. She pulled up next to me and then we started to run. I told her I was going to try and run 4/1's and although it was not a true 4/1 it was close! As we approached Bill again, who was keeping track of the pace said I was running way too fast and way ahead of breaking 29 hours, he said I covered that last mile, 97, at a 12 min pace and now only needed like 21 min miles to break 29. I said thank you again as I passed and I kept running as much as I could. I had also asked Bill to drive back down to the RV area and tell Dez she needed to get to the finish line because I was way ahead of the finish time I had told her or she would miss me. A couple of times I would glance at my garmin and see 11-13 min avg pace so I knew I was doing good and approaching mile 98 I was about 15 mins ahead of 29 hours but now I quickly calculated what I needed to break 28:45!! About this time Dez passed me and I gave her a quick smile and way and said see you in a few minutes, so I kept running!

As the last mile approached and on a walking breaking, Molly stopped me and said that this was it for her. She was done and I didn't need her anymore, it was all mine to take to the finish. I said, no you have to keep running, she said no, you've got this and I will see you at the finish line, this is all yours! I gave her a big hug, big smiles and off I went. As she and Bill drove past they pulled up just a little ahead of me and waited to keep an eye on me. I ran as much as I could and finally they said, We'll see you at the finish! and drove off.

I actually hit 100 miles on my Garmin before the actual finish line and was pretty happy about that but it was not the finish line, I had about 1/2 mile to go. I ran as much as possible and kept looking at the time. As I rounded the corner I could see the finish line, the trucks and the aid station, I never caught or saw the guy in front me from way back when, but if I had I would have tried to run him down. I ran up the last little small incline and I could see the clock and it was ticking!!! I saw Joyce with her clip board and her watch and waving me in and I looked at the clock and picked up the pace the last 50 yards crossing the finish line at 28 hours 42 mins, 58 seconds!! I had finished!!!!! Dez was standing right there by the line and I ran straight to her with a big hug/embrace and yes, tears. Tears of accomplishment, Tears of Happiness, Tears of Success! It was a great moment as I got my 100 belt buckle. I gave Molly another hug and thanked her and Bill several more times!

What an epic adventure! I am so lucky to have had a great pacers/friends Izaac, Antonette and Molly! They all had a part in dealing with me on the course at very different times. The weather was truly crazy, so much so that it caused others to drop. I later learned that at night when Antonette finished her pacing at the back aid station it was 18*!!!! I knew it was cold but I had no idea it was that cold and I am glad I didn't know because it could have played with my mind. I also finally realized that any race with Molly Sheridan is an adventure as she bring the best in all cases of weather so I shouldn't be surprised it snow, was 18* and sunny warm the next morning! haha! Love you Molly! I wouldn't have it any other way than the way this race went down. I give a HUGE BIG LOVE YOU to Dez for being out there all night and worrying about me, at one time I didn't want to go in the RV because I didn't want her seeing what I looked like because I am sure it was not a pretty site and that just makes loved ones worry more, again, I love you.

I will talk more about tid bits of things over the next few posts and other memories and stories I will hear about from Antonette and Molly and fun sleep walking episodes! Until then.. thanks so much for reading my recap and sorry it took just about as long to write it as it did to run it! ha!

rockon'

LOL100 part 2.

2011-04-13T15:13:00.000-07:00

Lap 3 - Mile 44-66: As Formulaic and I started off he was quick to point out that my transitions times at the check points were super fast, which is what I wanted on every check point so I was doing in that area. He had checked in with me on several nutritional items and just trying to figure out where and what I had been up to the last 10 hours, the required duties of a fresh pacer. I would imagine that the 2 or 3 pacers have it a little easier than the 1st because the others can get a debriefing from the 1st, but poor Form basically had to go everything he could think of to ask me to get a report.

My focus at this point was to keep moving and keep the pace as fast as I could. Being as we were on the Out section I had already told him it was going to be slower and expect mostly walking. After a couple of miles and the debriefing report I started to go into a funk zone in which I could feel my body wanting to rest and simple chat from Form was hard to focus on and reply. I noticed that after I entered the Funk Zone I started to become a little dizzy or more like a euphoric feeling but either way it wasn't something I wanted to feel and I chopped it up to being tired so I ignored it as much as possible and just kept moving. I remember at some point Form asked how I was doing and I said I was dizzy/euphoric feeling and had been that way for a while. He double checked with my in my nutrition and I was okay and I was still drinking although I do remember at times not wanting anything. Somewhere in this zone I had to put my head phones on and just focus on the music and keep moving, it helped me run at times in short bouts.

Formulaic had never been out to the LOL course so he was pleasantly introduced to the gradual ascent of the course and then the wonderful Biatch Hill, of which he would experience the downhill. As we started to get close to the RV, which you could see from the top of Biatch Hill, we started talking about the planned stop, its mile 49.5 and its time to get some food going, just then about a mile out, Antonette is driving towards us to see where I am at. She will be pacing later on from the 55 mile point but she is here to see about food and stopping. We discuss eating some soup and I guess some other things but I don't really recall. When I got to the RV the heater was cranking like the a Bikram Yoga studio, my soup was ready and I sat down to eat. I also ate some pizza and bread sticks I had brought and cooked the night before. Then it was cookies and grab some food for the road and off I went. The stop was less than 10 mins as I remember telling myself.. This ain't no rest home, so make it quick!!!...

As I left I said my see-ya laters to Dez and off I went. The RV was parked about 15 yards from the road and by the time I got to the road I was immediately freezing!! I knew the RV was too hot but I wasn't going to complain to my crew/pacers as they need to be comfortable too in there long wait sessions but I stopped at the road thinking I need more layers and if I am that cold I am going to freeze as soon as the Sun full sets, as it is, it is already going down and the back of the canyon will be colder. As I stopped Form immediately asks me what's wrong? I said I am freezing already I need more layers. He asks what to get me and I tell him which ones to grab. He quickly runs back to the RV and tells me to keep moving. I did but I didn't want to get to far ahead as it would just take longer to get my extra layers. He was really quick though and soon enough I was warming back up. As the Sun continued to set it was time to turn on the head lamps and soon this was the only thing I would see for the next 9-10 hours.

I remember just keeping my head down and moving as fast as possible and soon enough we were getting close to the 55 mile turn around. Antonette had passed us driving to the end to meet us and take over and Dez would soon be driving past to pick up Form and give him a ride back to the start/finish where he started.

Once arriving at the 55 mile make it was business as usual with a quick in and out, bathroom break and quick snack from the aid station. I always tried to thank them for helping out even if I didn't need anything from them, they are the best for being out there for us runners! I do remember asking Antonette if she had her Gourmet Red Bulls and she said no she had left them back at the RV.. Booo!!! Pacer #2 Check-Mark! haha. and we haven't even started. j/k.. I was feeling tired and wanted to start getting some boost going but without any it was just keep moving. As I left the aid station Dez was not there so Form kept moving with us and being as this is the Back portion I started running a little. Soon we saw Dez and she stopped to pick up Form, I remember she had the cooler in the back of my car and it had Red Bulls so I grabbed one, downed it as I kept moving. Once Form left it was now all in the hands of Antonette and she would have a tough section to deal with.

As we approached the RV I had given her some things that I was in need of, my Neuro1 that would help mental focus and wake me up, change of socks as I had been feeling a small hot spot on the bottom of my left foot while walking before the turn around and just wanted to change them as I didn't change socks when I changed shoes at mile 38.5 and this time I wanted to use the BlisterShield powder in my socks. As I rolled up to the RV Antonette had done a great job and everything was set to go. Changed the socks, grabbed my garmin energizer charger and my smaller ipod, some more food and off I went, Again.

This time the Bikram RV didn't seem to bother me as much and I just started moving because it was 3rd time up Biatch Hill. Once at the top I had some Neuro1, which was now renamed SmartWater because of my great way of explaining it to Antonette. I also just remember walking and starting to get really sleepy. I would talk randomly about things and then silence for what seemed like to me for hours. I was no longer experiencing the euphoric feeling and now it was plain sleepiness! I do remember chatting about how I was about to break my longest running record, as 62 miles was the farthest I had run at Javalina 100k, and now approaching mile 62 again. I told Antonette that this Lovell Canyon course holds a few of my running records... I was first introduced to ultra-runners here volunteering at an aid-station when she and Cynthia ran the 50k three years ago; I completed my first 50k training run here; last year when I ran LOL50k I won my age group!; and now, not only was I pushing past 62 miles I was going to run 100 here!

The 63rd mile came and went as I approached the start/finish at mile 65.64 I checked in at 17 hours 36 mins or a pace of 16:06/mile. This was more realistic and I figured I was losing about 1 mile per lap, but this was the start of lap 4 so I was doing good, I think, as I was pretty much out of it by this time, 12:36 am.

The morning/night only get worse...

rockon'

Labor of Love 100 Mile..part 1

2011-04-12T12:31:00.000-07:00

After the HURT100 fell to pieces (no pun intended) I was in a bit of down slope because I was looking to break into the 100 arena or at least at HURT get farther than 27 miles. After coming back and resting up in Feb, I decided to train up my road legs for the local Labor of Love 100, by Calico Racing. It's located in Lovell Canyon, about 40 mins West of the strip, matter of fact I passed it many of times when commuting to Pahrump to work with the other doctor in the fall and I have run the LOL50k the last two years, did a solo marathon training run there for Old Pueblo 50 and volunteered for an aid station on the 50k course 3 years ago when I first moved into town and met Antonette and Cynthia who eventually recruited me into the Ultra running environment and I later ran Headlands 50m with all of them.

I was very familiar with the race course for the 100, which consisted of 4.5 out-back loops or 11 miles out, 11 miles back and a shorter 6 out/back on the last .5 loop. I had been asked to join a couple of course training runs from others but opted not to because I knew 4.5 times was plenty of that course and being as I knew it, there was no need for more enduring agony. The course is all on asphalt but it's an old forest type road and basically they used the cheapest asphalt mixture they could to build the road, so that consists of larger type rocks which in my opinion makes it feel like running on concrete compared to regular city asphalt roads and another reason not to partake in the training runs. Also the start/finish line is at the main highway about 4200ft and then gradually climbs to about 5600ft at the 11 mile turn around, and at mile 4 there is a nice ugly long (1.25m) steep pain in the ASS decent or climb depending on which way your heading, aka Biatch Hill from here on out and Yes, this is run 4.5 times. The last .5 loop you basically have to run to the bottom of Biatch Hill and then turn around and head back up, its mile 95 but once you top it at mile 96 its more gradual downhill all the way in.

The weeks leading up to this race I totally switched to all road surface and with the help of The Great One, aka Sweet Baboo or recently Big B (this guy has some great aka's) we talked about the training and mileage that I needed heading into this race. For the most part I was on track but towards the end, taper-ish, my left knee was not happy and gave me some patella tendinitis which I listened to and backed down my training immediately and entered taper on full cut back. This totally worked even though I felt like a lazy slug 2 weeks before the race and even the two or 3 days before the start.

I was busy the week before the race, moving, painting, packing, and working at an expo event the day before the race for 5 hours stretching people but I managed to get to bed at a decent time and being as I had race packed all week, I was ready to go come 3:45am when the alarm went off. I jumped in the shower, got dressed and ate some food before loading the last few things in the car. I checked the temperature at the closest spot available for the race and it said it was going to be 30* so I made sure to wear my Lululemon running pants I got a couple of years ago on a demo and have only wore about 3 times and been way too hot in them for the temps at those times of running. Dez was on duty for crewing later in the day so the morning time she was just dropping me off and I would see her later. One of the things we had to do was pick up Tim Duffy, a good friend who I have come to know from his wife, Catherine, who was on my TNT Tri team last year. Tim has entered the ultra world himself with a couple of 50ks and was looking to run the 50 miler but really put down the training time and miles and signed up for the 100 miler as well. Tim also owns a 37' RV which he decided to bring and set up shop at the half way point which was allowed for crews/aid station, so we basically had a mobile hotel at mile 5.5 on the course! Thanks so much to the Duffy's! it really made crewing for his wife and Dez so much more enjoyable and also helped from a running aspect at times (more on the not so much at times later) but now that I have experienced the RV crewing, Tim basically has to run all the races I running for the rest of my life, haha!

After picking up Tim, we all drove back to the start/finish line and it was about 6:45am which was perfect timing because the road was closing then and we didn't have to stand around too long in the cold to wait for the start. Tim quickly made his way to the portable heaters that were supplied and I said my see-ya-laters to Dez as she was going back into town and would come out later in the afternoon. At 6:33am the temperature out at the race was 21* and as you can see from the picture the heater was set to 85* ha!

START- Lap 1, Miles 0-22: Once standing with all the runners, the 100's had green race numbers and the 50s had orange numbers. I quickly saw Connie Dockendorf from NLV, a 2010 Badwater Finisher, 2010 Brazil 135 finisher, a great person so I always make sure to chat with her, I will be seeing her all day. I also chatted with a couple of newbie first timers as well and then it was the count down to the gun. Bang!!

I clicked my watch and off we went, all 33 One-Hundred competitors and the 50 milers. I was talking with a guy named Eric, his first 100 as well, and Tim came along side of us to join in the chat for a while. This would be the only time I ran with Tim other passing him going the opposite direction and lapping me! After a few miles it really started to warm up and all the layers I had put on really were over heating me and I was only at mile 3. I thought I could hang in there till mile 5.5 and drop the clothes at the RV but it was just too long of a wait so I peeled off layers. On Thursday at packet pick up I saw there was some cold weather in store for the race so being as I was at REI I bought a North Face Cipher Hybrid jacket. I was hesitant on spending $150 for the jacket but I was in no mood to freeze so I sunk the cash, little did I know it was more than worth it. This jacket has a Gore-Tex Windstopper layer and was completely amazing! It also has two zipper front panels on the chest that I would open to let more air in and later on use as a "kangaroo pockets". At this time I simply just took it off along with another long sleeve shirt and tied it to my waist and then dropped them at the RV come mile 5.5. Once I dropped the clothes at the RV, bathroom break and I was off again, the pack of runners had pretty much strong out as the long ass biatch of a downhill strung everyone out even more. I was okay with it and just put on the music and ran till the 11 mile marker where by this time I had seen many of the 50's and 100's make the turn around, (there was also a marathon group and they had pretty much the same course with a double turn around at the back end of the course, so I saw them too) I made the 11 mile mark, checked in, as all 50/100 were manually timed and off I went. I was feeling pretty good, weather was warmer and now it was all gradual downhill back to the start/finish expect for Biatch Hill. On the way past the RV I had to stop again to use the bathroom but it was in and out and I rolled into start/finish mile 21.88 at 4hrs 46 mins, with avg. pace of 13:04/mile. I knew this was too fast overall but I enjoyed it and thought just bank as much time as possible because the later miles will slow down. I quickly did my in and out and off I went for lap number 2!

Lap 2 - Miles 22-44: My overall plan was to transition in and out of the two turn around points and use any time I needed at the RV so no time could be wasted at the other two points. It was simply state my number in/out and refill my water bottles. My nutrition game plan was use Ultra, Amino, and Clip all by Succeed, PB&J's I had made, some other random things like chips, pop tarts, crackers and soup for the night. I also had Red Bulls and my Nuero1 for the night time. I did use some Gu's but overall only about 6 because they just got to me, ughh, and I ate a few Luna bars but those also got to me after a while. Paydays were good at times and frozen snickers hit the spot at one point. Around mile 23 I started having some slight cramping in my lower GI and pressure, I figured it was from the waist belt I was carrying but never had this problem in training but I knew it was somehow bothering me now. I have spoke to Baboo about waist belts and this is one reason he opts to not use them, I NOW KNOW WHY! I removed my belt and carried it for a while but I got tired of holding it so I finally made it sash like and slug it across my chest/back. It was annoying to run with it like that but I made it work till I got back to the RV come mile 28.5, by then I had dropped one of the bottles and cracked the lid so it was worthless and I used one bottle for about 2 miles. When I got to the RV I switched to my hand held and used it the remaining time, a smart move and will probably only race that way from now on. I reloaded my nutrition supplies in my other waist type carrier which was much more flexible and didnt bother my GI. Once I removed that waist belt I had no further problems but I did have to fight with my GI to settle down as it was quite disturbed and cramped for about the next 3 hours but finally went away. I won that Battle but it was totally uncomfortable.

Before I got to the RV I noticed that the weather was looking bad at the back end of the course and the clouds looked dark. Being as its higher in elevation 5 more miles from where I was at I decided to pick up my Cipher jacket, gloves and ear cover again. I figured worse thing is I have to carry it around my waist for a while. Well when I left the RV about 20 minutes later, the temperature dropped and it started to snow flurry. I was like, Cool, Snow flurries! but then it quickly started to just down right snow! I mean the kind of snow that sticks to you, that you can build a snow man with! I was quickly covered in snow on the front of my whole body and kept knocking it off so it wouldn't melt and make me wet. Luckily the Cipher jacket is water repellant. It was snowing so hard that I had to put the hood on to cover my face, pull my hat down so low, like a cholo, to keep from covering my face. I saw many other runners without jackets and just totally got caught in the snow and nothing they could do but run, they were freezing! This lasted for about an hour!! I kept moving and knocking snow off my body this whole time and finally just as my pants and shoes were starting to get wet it stopped. I was just about to the back end turn around and thank goodness it was done and the sun was shining back there. I made the check in at mile 33 and out I left refilling my water bottle.

Heading back to the RV was again nice because of the gradual downhill but it was windy and that was not too fun, once again I was so glad to have the Cipher as it had just paid for itself and the race wasn't even over. I stopped at the RV this time because Dez was now back and so was Tim's wife Catherine. I quickly chatted with them and as I was getting ready to leave I see Tim coming to door, so I quickly sit back on the couch and act like I am chilln'.. Tim see's me and says What the Hell are you doing here, get out there and run! haha.. we quickly chatted and off we both went, he is now 11 miles ahead of me! Round 2 with Biatch and I was cruising into start/finish and looking forward to picking up my first pace, Mr. Formualic! at mile 44. He had drove out from the start/finish area to see where I was and I was pretty close, about 2 miles, so he returned to get ready for his 11 mile pacing duties. I rolled in to mile 43.76 (start/finish) at 10 hours 37 mins, now on a 14:33 pace (still feeling too fast for my own good but I'll take it as once again the night is coming)

Miles 44-66 and the night to follow..

rockon'

3 days left..

2011-04-06T13:38:00.000-07:00

With just 3 days to go till I am running forever!!! Fun! Can't Wait!! Excited!

The last week has been busy painting a house, climbing on ladders, etc. and actually felt like running an Ultra! ha! but with the remainder of the taper till I have been trying to relax and mentally prepare for LOL100. I have a work event on Friday, the day before, so I will be on and off my feet for most of the afternoon, eeks!

I am ready for the run! As I said before in another post, since HURT I am ready to get back out there, even though its all on road, I will take it. The weather is looking to not be the greatest but than again, whoever said these 100s are supposed to be easy!

Wish me luck and see ya on the next post!!

rockon'

T-9 = 100

2011-03-31T13:59:00.000-07:00

In just 9 short days I will once again be towing the line and a second attempt/run at this 100 game, the Labor of Love 100. This event is a local event for Vegas and located just about 40 miles from the Strip. It is put on by Calicoracing who does several events in the Vegas area and is known for great events like, Running from an Angel, Running from a Devil, Red Rock Marathon, and the famous E.T. Run at Area 51 in August!

This event, Labor of Love (LOL) is a huge running event weekend and will include 2 days of events. 100m, 50m, 50k, 26.2, 13.1, and 10k events. I have ran the 50k event the last two years and its the only race in the series that actually is on both road (asphalt) and dirt, all the other events are on the road. The course is set in Lovell Canyon again about 40 miles from the strip. It starts at the entrance to the canyon just off Highway 160 and is a basic out and back situation. For the 100, this will be out 11 miles and return (22miles) X 4.5. OOOO the fun!! There is about 8,000 ft. of climbing overall so not too bad but the out the gradual climb with the return being on the downhill slope, obviously. There is one nice little uphill/downhill grind of about 1.25 miles and sharp in stature about 1/2 in to it, so that makes it fun and with the 4.5 situation, the turn around for the last .5 is at the bottom of this little bitch, but once back to the top, about mile 97, you will have a nice gradual down and flat to the finish.

Since the HURT100 I have felt a little cheated in all this going for the 100 buckle and I am looking to cast my name on the 100 mile accomplishments! Training has been going good and since I entered taper about 10 days ago I feel like a slug and even have the typical panic feeling of am I ready? I am not really sure, just like in Ironman, if you are really "ready" esp. for this 100 stuff, Big B, aka S. Baboo always seems to be ready and puts the tread down so I am looking to take this mantra to LOL, oh.. and breakfast from the Hash House where before Big B's and Geekgirls Death Valley Marathon and Vegas runs we all ate there and PR's were set, if I do recall!

As for the race plan: Simple - RUN BITCH RUN!

I seriously do not have any idea how fast I will be able to run this because I have not run long (62mi) since Nov.. and 27 miles at HURT although a couple of my training runs were 25+. All my times have been below avg. of 12 mins/mile so I will just head to the course and run and see where it all plays out. There is a 32 hour cutoff so I should be okay to finish in the time frame, although I will go on record and say I would like to somewhere between 27-29 hours. I will also be looking to try some different things out for nutrition but not too crazy, just small changes and I will also be taking my Blood Sugar along the way to do a self experiment. The temperature is looking to be in the upper 60's for high and low's in the 40's maybe upper 30's at night in the canyon area so should be good weather, maybe some winds but lately that is just the way it goes around here.

let the count down continue...

rockon'

Off in March..

2011-03-08T12:44:00.000-08:00

I wish!! It seems that Feb. came and went so dang fast I missed a lot of running or just training. I was able to hit the gym and weights a few times, get in some runs and also went to become Level 2 Fascial Stretch certified! It was a great month with my birthday, even turning 40! and of course Dez birthday was the week after mine so all in all Feb was a great month!

Now in March its off to a great start logging in some great miles the first week. I am preparing for the Labor of Love 100 miler here in Vegas next month, even though it will be all road I am excited to go for the distance! and of course the Buckle.

gotta run.. ha!

rockon'

A Birthday week Plus some..!

2011-02-20T10:39:00.000-08:00

The past two weeks have been super packed with work and learning. Last week I went down to Tempe, AZ for the continuation of learning and certification for Fascial Stretch Therapy Level II. I got Level I certified last year and since then incorporating stretch therapy into my Chiropractic business has really brought great results to clients/patients. Not only that but the stretch part of the business has taken a life of its own and I really enjoy working with clients and seeing immediate results and I love the way it makes everyone feel completely different each time! With Level II stuff it even takes the client to new levels quicker, I love it! So after 5 days of being stretched myself and a day where I was able to run 13 miles in a new PR time for me of 2:20, I was feeling great. By the end of the weekend I was ready to be back home with my family and gf, not only that but it was my birthday on Sunday and the Big 40 seem to come and go with a bang! It was great to celebrate at the Stretch To Win certification and also share the day with co-founder, Chris Ferderick.

Back at home with family this week was nice to settle back in to the life routine but the work routine was completely busy! I am not complaining at all btw. Since I was gone from Tuesday - Sunday, I had a busy make up week which was great because I was also able to put all the new Level II immediately to work! I seemed to be a little more tired than normal so I didn't get any runs or training in, BOO! Saturday was coaching for TNT Spring/Summers teams and although it was raining and cold out we had a great turn out and they got there training completed. Then yesterday was Dez's birthday! so it was great to spend the day with her and a great bday dinner with a fund raiser that co-worker of hers was doing for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer. It was a great turn out and I drank too much Saki! The other thing is its great to share the same birthday week with Dez and we both turned 40!

Now here is an interesting experience I did this week. I went to UNLV to participate in a study for a new body fat caliper that is being tested. The test was free and took about an hour and also included, Body Pod , Bio-impedance testing, and water dunk tank. They supply the results from the Body Pod and body fat % from the dunk tank immediately. The comparisons with the testing body fat calipers are not revealed because it is all "testing" procedures which was fine with me because the Body Pod and tank supply great information. My body fat percentage, well.. I was certainly not happy with it! but it is what it is and only shows me I need to reduce it. I was happy with my overall weight but when you add in the amount of body fat, I am again, not happy with it. I personally like doing tests like these because it instills that drive for me to change it which I will over the next 12 weeks!

Also this week the selection for the 2011 Badwater 135 Ultramarathon was revealed and athletes were selected. Catra, aka Dirt Diva was selected and she has asked me to be a part of her crew!! so excited that I am going back for a 3rd year crewing at Badwater!

rockon'

2011 is now set and The Secret..

2011-02-06T20:44:00.001-08:00

Saturday I was chosen in the lottery for the Wasatch 100 mile run on Sept 9, 2011.!!! I have basically been waiting since Dec when I entered for Saturday Feb 6th to roll out.

I had been bouncing all over the map with races and trying to schedule them with all kinds of different scenarios but now it's set and I can get to work on the year of training and having fun ahead.

With the unlucky play out at HURT2011 I have felt I just really missed out on a lot of things relating to a 100 mile distance and mostly with my training all ready to go but no reward it left me searching for something quickly within reason. Rocky Raccoon 100 was this weekend but again within reason and not having to cash out $$$ so quickly after a fabulous Hawaii vacation/trip so that was pretty much out. Then there is Rocky Road out in Cali the end of February but again just $$$ to get there and do it (I will be looking to head out there and pace Molly so that will be fun but that is just a down and back trip so no hotels etc.) After those the next closet 100 to me is right here in my own back year and newly added Ultra distance, the Labor of Love 100 by Calicoracing.

Now originally I started at the 50k but since then and conspiring with BIG B aka Sweet Baboo I have some good direction and will give it a go come April 9th. This is all a road course, 11 mile out and back section, 4 1/2 times, in Lovell Canyon about 30 miles from my house. Yes, the 4 1/2 times is Definitely not appealing, nor is the all road portion but the location of this being here just saves it and not only that I have a credit on the entry fee I can apply to this race as I volunteered last year at one of Calico's other events and you receive entry credit to any future race they put out. Family, Local, Cost, and 100 miles it's a go time waiting to happen and who knows, this guy may even toe the line at the 100 mile start.

Then next up will be Wasatch 100, Sept 9th starting North of Salt Lake City, UT. This is an all trail race and a point to point event, which is awesome. Big B will also be towing the line as he got selected as well along with Catra aka Dirt Diva, her BF Andy, and good friend George V. so plenty of peeps to know along the way but a difficult trail event.

Then on the schedule will be Javalina 100 Nov. 12th in Fountain Hills, AZ. I did the 100k last year but this year will be 100 mile.

And to hopefully conclude the year or start of the next year will be HURT2012! I will apply again this year in July and hopefully add the return and some ass whooping to that course next year.

This year will also bring about the Jemez 50k with the Big B and GeekGirl in May, Running with the Devil in late June and crewing for Badwater in July with hopefully Catra, as long as she gets selected.

So the golden plan is set and it's off to the races. Maybe some of you are asking why so many 100's this year? Why such a hurry? That's a lot of 100... well the truth is, it's to qualify for Badwater and be able to enter for 2012 if all goes well this year!!! There I said it!!! My secret is out! Of course I have to stay healthy and I have to complete this 100's! which is just a feat/goal in itself as anything can and will go wrong in those distances.

rockon'

Help Badwater Babe for Kiddos' Aid

2011-02-03T08:02:00.000-08:00

The last two years I have had the great opportunity to help crew for some great Ultra runners at the World Famous Badwater Ultramarathon. So I was super excited to learn that a newly great friend, Catra Corbett aka Dirt Diva was going to be entering the 2011 Badwater event and that she was going to be raising money for Chance to Compete kids. One of her sponsors was going to supply the entry registration fee and a couple of others were helping with other financial costs. Badwater not only requires great physical and mental toughness but also a great financial commitment and a great desire to raise money for some charitable organization, which is actually a Requirement to compete in Badwater.

Catra was super excited to continue raising money for Chance 2 Compete Kids but the day before the registration for Badwater opened this week Catra was informed that the lead sponsor would not be able to fully help as initially planned. Catra was pretty bummed and knew that Badwater 2011 would have to wait. BUT this is where her friends, fans and loved ones have all stepped up and have set up a donation page to help her raise money for Chance 2 Compete kids and help get her to the start line of Badwater 2011.

If you are interested in more of the story check out the link below and if feel inclined to help please donate any amount you desire. I will tell you that all amounts help and she will make you all proud! Catra is truly a person with a loving heart.

imATHLETE | Badwater Babe for Kiddos' Aid | Surprise, AZ, USA | Jul 11, 2011

HURT and Hawaii pics..

2011-01-26T11:36:00.000-08:00

The HURT that was or wasn't

2011-01-23T18:04:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about this blog recap for a week now and I still don't know really what to say or how to say it, so here it goes...

I was ready. I was excited. I was prepared as I could be. I was nervous. I just wasn't ready and prepared for what happened nor did I expect it.

As we got to the island of Oauh and got our rental car it was raining like crazy. This was Thursday morning and reports from the locals had said it had been raining for the past week. Once we got our car we headed out to explore and get breakfast. After driving around in Waikiki and finding our hotel we headed to Target to pick up some other supplies and by some time till check-in. Once all checked in to our soooooo fabulous room, NOT! we took it easy.

The next morning, Friday, we were out and about to North Shore to check out the waves and some beach action. It was nice relaxing out there and getting my mind set for the next day at hand. We stopped by the Dole Plantation heading back in to town for the runners packet pick up and information meeting at the Nature Center.

The pre-race meeting was pretty straight to the point and stated the information needed. There was some quick introductions of some great runners and the do's and don'ts of the course. Dez and I then took a short look around at the starting bridge and just a few yards up the trail.

After getting the lay of the land and parking situation it was time to head back to the hotel and prepare last minute details for the morning.

Race Day: The alarm went off at 3:30am and I jumped out of bed and walked down to Denny's from some pancakes, coffee, and eggs as the last real food for 30+ hours. It was quite funny walking the couple of block in Waikiki to the Denny's simply because all the party goers were just coming from the bars and most were slammin' drunk. The Denny's was quite packed but I was able to get in and out without any problems. I was back at the hotel, dressed and ready to go by 4:50am. I have to admit that driving to the Nature Center start was nerve racking and I was a bit on edge as Dez drove. Finally we arrived and had about 30 mins to get the show on the road. I got my drop bags situated, lights, and my bottles and nutrition all ready to go. The RD stated 10 minutes till start time so lets all head over to the bridge. I said my finally thank yous, kissed Dez and off I went to get in line over the bridge. It was super dark and many headlamps were lighting up the area. The RD was on the far end of the bridge with a ipad that had a count down timer on it and just held it up as the time ticked away. There was a brief Hawaiian prayer said and then the count down. 4, 3, 2, 1... and the sound of the Hawaiian Hula Pu Conch shell blew.. we all started to head out on the trail. I was excited, I was happy to finally be out on this trail.

As we headed out on the trail lit up but the headlamps of all the runners pretty much everyone stated in groups until the first aid station and the sun came up. I wasn't to sure how fast to go so I just watched how fast we were going as a group and stated with them, besides it was pretty hard to pass for the first 2.5 miles because it was seriously dark, and seriously rocky and massive roots. I soon realized I was in a group of 5 runners with Monica Scholz, who just set the world record for the most 100 mile races in a year (25), and being as she knows how to do these races and HURT I decided to stay behind her for a while. This was good simply because she gave insights to the course as we ran but as I kept a watch on time/pace I was not comfortable with the slower pace but again it was Monica and I didn't want to go out too fast so I stayed put behind her. As the Sun started to break through and now I could see the trail and surrounding I was completely in Awe. Once reached the top of the 2.5 miles and started heading down we went through some serious awesome bamboo areas and muddy sections. I was a great time taking in all the sights and the course and taking mental notes.

The first section from the start/finish of the Nature Center, (Makiki) to Paradise aid station (Manoa) is 7.3 miles and course marked with white tape. Somewhere around the 5 mile mark our little group was descending on the trail and we were in a rock big boulder section. As we were all setting down and over some of these boulders I took my turn and stepped over one with my right leg leading. I realized that I had to step down a little farther than expected and in order to do that I had to twist my body sideways, almost in a splits fashion, to make the step. This all happened in a split second and just as soon as I turned sideways my left knee whacked into the boulder!! Bam!! I hit it good and quickly jumped over and up. I looked at my knee, rubbed it and said Shit!! that hurt. The runner behind me quickly asked if I was Okay. She said you hit hard are you sure you're okay? Yeah I said I'm good and continued to run. I actually knew it was one of those hits that is most likely going to come back and show it's teeth later on but for now I was okay. I could feel it throbbing and some pain but again I had just hit it so I expected it. As I made my way into Paradise aid I was quickly in and out, refuel all my water bottles because I was completely empty drinking them down the last 1/4 mile as I came in. I wanted to make sure I was staying hydrated as I was sweating pretty darn good but I did have my InknBurn shirt and then UnderArmor compression shirt on. As I made my way back out of Paradise, Monica was next to me and said nice quick transition that's the way to do it. The group all quickly reassembled and we started to make our way back up the long descent we just came down. This is a double back on the down side of the trail we just came on.

The climb back up and over to aid station Jackass Ginger (Nuuanu) 5.5 miles away and marked with green tape, was again a 2.5-ish mile climb up to and through the bamboo and roots area, which is now really nice and muddy from all the runners going through. Once there we take a right turn and head over and down to the aid station but along the way we get some some areas of the trail that are actually runnable and on this ledge that has great views to both sides of the mountain. The top of this ledge is really only about 5-6 ft wide and then drops on both sides so its pretty intense. As I start heading down the group coming up as pretty much spread out and I have caught up to a couple of other runners. We head down the last mile section of the trail and this part is seriously steep, steep enough on the way back up that you could almost reach out and touch the ground in front of you, it reminds me of the trail at Headlands course. There are also a couple of sections where there are ropes anchored to the rocks and you have to hold on to them to aid you in crossing the steep sections of the trail that are on the sides of the rocks, Crazy but fun! Then when you finally make it down through all that you have to cross the river where there is another rope tied across and you have to rock hop-balance to cross. Once in the aid station I have to stop and check my right foot as I have been noticing a hot spot and wanted to make sure its not going to be a problem. I take off my shoe/sock, muddy as all hell, slightly cramp my right hamstring while doing this and quickly tend to my foot. I used some BlisterShield, powder in the sock and put everything back on. It was great that the aid station workers helped me with my bag and refilled all my water bottles at this time. They also asked me if I needed anything else, which I quickly grabbed some snacks, succeed drink and off I went back across the rocks. I was hoping to see Dez here but I missed her simply because the aid station peeps didn't realize was in and out pretty fast when she asked where I was. Luckily, I had cell phone reception most of the course and I text her saying I was heading back to Nature Center.

The trail back to Nature Center, now marked orange and 7.2 miles was tough, I think the toughest part of the course. You have to climb back up that steep section and rope sections I described and then once up to the top there is a long part where you can actually run which is a great area to make up time back down to Nature center but it also takes it out of you because you want to recover but cant because you want to run. I really should have tracked my distance on this section because after a while I was really thinking I was close to completing the loop and actually wasn't, I still had about an hour till I made it back and this played with my mind, like where the hell was I on the course! I also was in no mans land and didn't have any runners ahead or behind me that I could see so it made it seem longer. I finally saw a runner and worked to catch up to him and finally did and ran with him for a while. I finally made it back to Nature and was super glad to see Dez. The end of the first loop (20 miles) was pretty dang tough, I told her! I was definitely surprised by the course and the technical difficulty of it. I refueled and got some food and my supply back of gels I had made up. I was still cramping on and off coming back down into Nature so took some more salts and water to make sure. I had only went to the bathroom one time and it was very little and by this time I had drank about 150 oz of liquids so I knew I needed more.

When I left the aid station heading back out for the start of the second loop I had checked my time and realized that I was at about 23 mins per mile avg. pace which according to calculations was behind on the overall pace I needed to be at for course cut off but it was early and I was too worried about, I had remembered Big B saying that 100's are long days and time can be made up at may points during the life of the run and being as it was early I kept moving forward. By now I was heading back out Paradise aid station and working the now uphill section I could see with sun light because the first time out was in complete darkness and lite by headlamps. As I started to settle into my pace for power hiking I noticed my left knee was seriously not happy. I didn't notice it at all coming down into Nature but now it was really screaming at me. I actually started to use my right leg in some of the climbing and step ups and downs since I whacked it and now I was really leading the way with my right as much as I could as my left knee I just simply couldn't push off climbing up and it was becoming harder and more painful to bend my left knee past 45* which was about every step up! I climbed to the top and back to the roots sections aka Pauoa Flats and then started heading down. By now my pace had dropped more and I was about 26 mins avg. and it had taken me 35 mins to complete one mile! I stated to question my ability to continue and what I could do it make it as far as I could.

Many thoughts go through your mind at times like these, I mean, I had came all the way from Vegas! I had been training, I spent a lot of money, etc. and to what, stop at 27 miles! Are you freakn' serious!!! I kept doing check in's with my knee and how I was feeling and realized I was not getting any better but only worse and slower. Now bending my knee past 30* was more painful but the good news was I was no longer Cramping! haha. As I made my way down into the aid station I realized I was not going to be able to continue like this. I made the decision about 1.5 out that I was going to stop. I text Dez and told her to be at Paradise. The last mile and half I took pictures, enjoyed the amazing trails and experienced a sense of disappointment in the fact that I got injured but what I will call a lack of guard on the trail. I have ran long enough to know that I shouldn't have twisted my body out of balance with the way my motion was moving thus resulting in me whacking my knee. As I said when it happened I knew it was the type of hit that could come back and get me and it did. The HURT course has no mercy and takes no prisoners! By the time I got to Paradise the aid station peeps were happy to see me and again were great in asking me what I needed but I quickly told them I was not going to continue on as I had hurt my knee earlier and it was becoming difficult to move. The Aid station captain came over to talk to me and make sure I really wanted to stop. He gave me some food and told me to take a few more minutes before he pulled me. I ate the food and moved around but I knew I was done. He came back to talk to me again and telling me his record with HURT, 0-5 with the last one 2 years ago and him dropping at mile 92! That's how unforgiving this course is.

He officially signed off on my bib number and I was officially out of the race at mile 27.3 in 10 hours 23 mins after the start which was a 1 mins 13 seconds off the minimum pace. As I said I was on the line as I knew that is not really off such early in the race but with a injured body part it makes it seem like a huge difference. I got my drop bags together and we returned to the hotel. By now my knee was swollen and just throbbing. A shower, food and sleep ended the day while checking in on the web cast.

The couple of days after my knee stayed swollen as well as my lower left leg and my right leg was sore freakn' sore! I guess from all the work it was doing. My pride was hurt and I felt depressed for a couple of days. I just felt lost in wondering what to feel. Should I have kept going? Did I do the right thing in stopping before I got any more injured? Overall, I did the right thing in stopping and not becoming more injured as the course just doesn't allow weakness and putting myself back out there I was increasing my chance of getting more injured. Yes I spent money, yes, I spent a lot of money but probably not as much as I have on Ironmans other than this being a destination event. I was happy to spend the week following in Maui and with Dez and just enjoying the experiences together as this is what life is really about, the HURT is just a piece of the pie.

I will be apply again for HURT2012 and I hope to go back because I have unfinished business there!

rockon'

the Hurting is Near..READY~!

2011-01-11T14:46:00.000-08:00

With just 2 days before I head to the island and 4 days till show time I can only imagine the fun, exhaustion, the humidity, the craziness of 125 runners and the HURTing of the 100 miles that lies ahead.

After all the training since being selected in July and all the trying of different shoes, products and even taking my first DNF I am Ready!

I am Ready for it all. I am Ready for the good, the bad and all that lies in between! I am Ready to push to new limits! I am Ready to find deeper qualities that lie within! I am Ready to experience the new levels of uncomfortable! and I am Ready for the mental game that will be won! I am even Ready for the unexpected and the bad that could occur, that could force an unwanted stop, but I am Ready!

Here is the link: http://www.ultralive.net/hurt100/webcast.php

Race #142.

Type in my number, or my name or click on starters on the left side and scroll down to my number and it will link you to the updated page.

It appears that there will be 3 updates per Loop.

I will see you all when I am finished! Thanks for all your encouragement, energy and shout outs!!

Rockon'

HURT100 Race Number!

2011-01-01T13:10:00.000-08:00

The bib assignments are out and here is mine:

John Vigil M 39 NV 142

This is super Awesome!!!!

A live updated board will be available here: http://www.ultralive.net/hurt100/webcast.php

rockon'

Happy New Year! and tapering.

2010-12-31T11:03:00.000-08:00

The final blog post of 2010 and this year has been pretty good for the most part.

This year brought me to branching out to my own office mid-year which has turned out to be a good thing and something I have been waiting to do for a long, long time.

This year I also had an increase in running miles. In 2009, I ran 845 miles and this year, 1106 miles. That's a good increase but for some crazy reason I was looking for it to be higher! Oh well, 2011 right!

I have to say that 2010 also brought a great year with Dez even though the last quarter turned out to be a diagnosis of breast cancer for her and now with current chemo treatments, she has a great positive spirit and I am glad I can be here to support her, Love ya babe!

I am excited to bring in 2011 with the opening of HURT100 in 15 days! This will be an exciting way to open my run season as I have some great plans for this year in the run area, already applying for Wasatch 100 in Sept 2011, cant wait till Feb 5th! to find out!! I am also excited to advance to Level 2 of certification for stretch to win in February as well and of course this year I turn 40!!!! Yahoo!!

All will be fun and I will enjoy all the good, tough, fun and happy times that 2011 brings!

I have also officially entered Taper for HURT 100 and by my opinion a littler earlier than planned simply because of increased rain and crappy weather here in Vegas. The few short runs I have had I have felt pretty good and didn't push the pace simply because I knew I had been rested. With 14 days left there is nothing much more I can do but sauna-steam room train, keep my legs feeling good, rest and not get sick. I have been planning my trip, my mental plan and just overall preparing and am excited to get the show on the road!

see ya all next year!!!

Rockon'

Rainy dayz and Beauty.

2010-12-20T10:41:00.000-08:00

For the past few days here in Vegas it has been rainy, colder, windy at times and just plain Yuk! But it is Winter and this is how it is around here, not always fun in the Sun in the desert. However, this type weather is certainly not working with My plan for my last push to taper for Hurt100.

My Plan was to have this week my last big week and than head to taper at Christmas time, which in the grand scheme of things tapering down from 70 miles + is still 50 miles-ish so with the weather rearranging things I am now basically playing with my run times and just trying to stay in the game. I mean, Okay, I could get out there and run in the rain, get all soaked up, freeze and basically not have a good time but since entering the long training days of ultra running I have told myself you have to enjoy being out there running or you will simply look for every excuse to cut the run short simply because you are not having fun and with the weather the way it is, for me, it's not fun! So I am basically just looking for my run windows and take advantage when I can.

According to weather reports, this Thursday the skies will part and for the next week after it will look to be good running times and with that I will be 15-20 days out and taper will have to commence, although if we are keeping track of numbers, I am basically on taper now with about 30-50 miles this week and probably next and if we translate that into hours somewhere between 8-14 hours. I think my main goal here is not to let my self get mentally beat in worrying about how much training I am getting or not getting in the next 3 weeks but simply take advantage of the rest on the legs while giving them just enough exercise to not lose site of the main job we are up against come Jan 15th!

If I have to say, overall I am feeling ready but being this far out still just seems a little too far ahead to be "ready" and wait, Ready? Are you really ever ready for a 100 miler? Honestly, I don't know because I have not attempted one but I do know I feel the same as when I did my first Ironman in terms of doubting my readiness! and I do know I feel more ready today than when I did the 100k back in October.

I will start planning all my aid stations, drops, logistics of the race and going over all my details in my head over the next couple of weeks and making sure my plan is in my head so come race day all I have to do is run and not worry about things and just take it as it comes. It's a lot to do in the short amount of time so I better get with it.

On a side note, my wonderful girlfriend Dez is doing great considering Chemo treatments but she made it through round 1 of 6, this week is 2 of 6. She has a great heart and positive outlook on all this and that keeps her strong. I will say this week seemed to be a little harder because her hair really started to thin and come out even after cutting her hair short from day 1. So with the strong heart she asked me to cut it all off for her last night. At first there was discussions about why and why not to cut it but finally it came down to she wanted to cut it. We broke out the clippers and as hard as it was to see her crying before I made the first pass, I was standing there with doubt in my mind she said "I can do this!" covered her eyes and said Go! When it was all done she had a nice buzz cut #4. She no longer cried and we laughed together about it, simply because she is as Beautiful with hair as without. You're the bestest Dez!

rockon'

My Tired Legs.

2010-12-13T14:47:00.000-08:00

What a week!! I think... At the end of this week I was a little down on the way I have been feeling the last 3 runs simply because my legs have been really tired. I felt I had no snap, no push, barely a shuffle and mostly just out of gas.

I even complained to Sweet Baboo aka BIG B coming of some stellar running events but what am I supposed to say to guy with the one of the greatest license plates I've seen "Run Big". I even complained to this GUY and then thought, shoot, he hasnt even updated his blog since October! and must still be singing and dancing to the Buring Ring of Fire!

My thoughts about how my legs feel for the past couple of days have been all over the charts and with the calculations in my head on my run mileage I was definitely not impressed and left wondering why. Was it the increase in road mileage the last two weeks to increase my overall mileage? Was it the increase in road running pace per mile vs. trail running pace? Was it that I missed calculated a couple of my nutritional caloric needs and now I was paying the price? Was it a combination of all? I went back to my training log and here is the break down and the Answer!!!

Sunday - 26 miles (trails)
Monday - Off
Tuesday - 3 miles (road)
Wednesday - 16.5 miles (road)
Thursday - Off
Friday - 5 miles (road)
Saturday - 26.2 miles (14 trail, 12.2 road)

Total 7 day mileage = 76.7 miles!

Now that's why my Legs are Tired!! Somewhere along the line I forgot I ran 26 miles on Sunday. After this I totally felt much relief and understanding of my tiredness and hungriness.

Today and yesterday I took off but tomorrow will be back on the road. I feel a little more rested and with the help of some extra stretching and Epsom salt bath relaxing. I basically have 12 days till Christmas and one of the best gifts of all, TAPER!!

rockon'

November recap, I suk!

2010-11-30T15:21:00.000-08:00

Well as this month already closes out I was hoping to see a much bigger increase in my run numbers but it is, what it is.

Runs = 12 total (that's less than 1/2 the month, wtf!! Aren't you training for oh, say something like HURT100!!!!!)

144.77 miles in 33 hours 34 minutes. I did manage to start some CrossFit classes but actually over the last week I stopped them simply because they were killing me in the run department, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM 12 runs! ughhh...

So I increased 29.77 miles from last month in 1 hour 40 mins, HA I wish I was that fast! I guess that is a good thing overall that my pace is faster.

With 45 day left to Hurt100 and basically 3 weeks left of peak running before the 3 week taper I better nail all my runs and stay healthy! I have 70 mile weeks planned for the next 3 weeks and maybe even an 80 the last week, so we shall see how it goes. Wish me Luck!! I am gonna need it.

I am focused on the event being as it is so close now, the feeling of scared is more prevalent than ever before and more so than any Ironman but it's the same mental physical preparation that is going to get me there, ready or not!

rockon'

Part 2.. Santa Monica 50k.

2010-11-24T12:43:00.000-08:00

First off here is the course profile from my Garmin. I was seriously pumped up to know I had made the 3:30pm cut off and even though I knew that the RD would have most likely let me start the last loop I wanted to be legit and stay on time. I quickly refueled my camelbak with water and my hand held and the aid station guy told me I still had plenty of time and to make sure I fueled up because I had a long hike to top. I was in and super fast and said, "nothing like cutting it close" to the guy directing me back up the trail. He said, "nothing like making it count and having fun!" Great words when I much needed it.

As I started back up the climb I even gave myself a fist pump for working to achieve the cut off. I knew I was last one through and I would most likely be DFL which really didn't bother me because I was still going to make the 8 hour 30 minute cut off time to complete this course. As I settled in to my power hike of 2.5 miles I would see others running down on there way to the finish line. At open point a guy passed me and then I heard him talking farther down the trail. I looked back to see and there was another girl coming up the trail below me but quite a ways back. I thought I was the last one but evidently I was not. I then recognized her as she was wearing some different clothing and was ahead of me and I must of passed her in the aid station, turns out I did because she was putting on warmer clothing and a hat so technically she was the last one still on Official time. I knew she was faster than me and would most likely chick me on the way down but really by this time I didn't care because I just wanted to make it.

As I neared the top and was greeted by a couple of other runners that I had passed and they passed me during the day they quickly told me I as less than 10 mins from the turn around which only hurt and motivated me more to get there as I knew it was all Down hill from there. I made the turn around and sure enough started running back down. I passed the girl and she was about 3-4 minutes behind me so I knew that if I didn't run she would catch me and by now, I didn't want to get passed. I ran pretty much all the way down and when I did stop to walk I could only think of her closing in on me so I would again. The two guys who I passed long ago on the Orange loop were on there way up and I said, "hey you guys made it!! awesome" The guy replied, "yea but just barely I think! and then after them I saw another girl and then Yolanda Holder who is just about to set the Guinness World Record for most marathons run in 365 days! and this was her 97.

About half way down there was a guy who I saw earlier running back up and turns out he was the boyfriend of the girl behind me. He ran up to her and I could hear them chatting and I knew she would be more motivated to catch me which only made me more motivated to run faster too. As I approached the bottom section and one last turn away I knew I was going to make it in and instead of easing up and continued to push till the line. I told myself no easing up just because you have 10 minutes till the cut off and I came running across the line in 8 hours 21 minutes! I was handed my finishers Coaster!!

I was so glad to have made the finish and Redemption came with a price of working and feeling that pinch of the cut off time. I enjoyed all the time out there and even when I started to doubt if I would make it I pushed harder to fight for the time line, Priceless for me in the confidence arena.

Overall thoughts: I needed to more in tune with my Hydration, as I was behind and at HURT this will not be acceptable. I like wearing my waist belt better than my camelbak. I need more food nutrition than just my drink calories, I did eat at the aid stations but simply was not enough. I got my ass kicked on those climbs and it was nice to feel the pain! I need more run time, or time on the legs as my current past weeks have been good runs, just not long enough. I need to post-pone CrossFit to ensure I complete my long runs and not be so wore out. My new Trabuco 13 shoes worked well and I now have 3 different types of shoes I am comfortable with for HURT.

I know I can do it!! Suffer and still come out alive!

Below are pictures that I copied from another run with a few of mine mixed in.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

Redemption has a Timely Price. part 1

2010-11-22T16:14:00.001-08:00

As I headed out on Saturday afternoon to Santa Monica, it was clearly going to be a drive and run full of rain. The drive was hit and miss on the rain but as I rolled into my hotel it was definitely raining. I had already planned and packed all my gear so there was no need to sort or think about things, it was basically get some food and off to bed.

During the early morning hours, about 4am, I was woken up from the sound of a freight train passing by only to come to my full senses and realize it was a torrential down pour. I jumped up to take a look outside and sure enough, Crazy raining! I thought it's going to be a fun long wet run. I had been hovering all over the weather channel and the reports showed this:

6 AM

Rain 55° FPrecip: 90%

Wind: WSW at 16 mph

7 AM

Rain 53° FPrecip: 90%

Wind: W at 16 mph

8 AM

Rain 54° FPrecip: 80%

Wind: W at 16 mph

9 AM

Showers 57° FPrecip: 60%

Wind: W at 16 mph

10 AM

Showers 59° FPrecip: 40%

Wind: W at 17 mph

11 AM

Showers 60° FPrecip: 40%

Wind: W at 18 mph

12 PM

Few Showers / Wind 60° FPrecip: 30%

Wind: W at 20 mph

1 PM

Few Showers / Wind 60° FPrecip: 30%

Wind: W at 20 mph

2 PM

Few Showers / Wind 60° FPrecip: 30%

Wind: W at 20 mph

3 PM

Partly Cloudy 60° FPrecip: 20%

Wind: W at 18 mph

4 PM

Partly Cloudy 59° FPrecip: 10%

Wind: W at 17 mph

So with an 8:30am start this was going to be a wet day. I was somewhat okay with this aspect as I wanted to try out my shoes in the rain and see how they worked as well as see how my feet would do. Upon waking up at my set time of 5:30am I quickly got dressed and headed down to the local IHOP that I had found the night before but all be shit if wasn't closed! damn!! Now what? I googled Dennys and it seemed too far, so I checked another Ihop which was down the road toward the race start so I went back to the hotel and got my things ready, changed and got dressed to go. I headed out but somewhere along the line I lost some time and now I was a little behind. As I headed towards the race site I realized I may be pushing it close so I decided not to go as I had some food things I could eat but overall I think this was not a good idea and I should have chosen better and more food options!

I arrived at the race site, parking along the Highway 1 with the ocean directly across the street. It was nice to get a few pictures of the morning and just before things got under way. I was wearing my InknBurn shirt and ran into Ed who was also at Coyote Springs 50k so it was nice to see a familiar face. After chatting with him for a few minutes I had all my gear, drop bag and camelbak ready to go. I chose to use my camelbak because I was carrying extra gear because it was to rain. As it turns out, the Rain dodged us all day long and it was great beautiful day!! Sunshine, some wind and great views from the top of the climbs.

All the 30ks and 50ks started at the same time and headed out on the same course. When the gun went off we all headed up a short 100 yard road and on to the trails but it quickly became a stand still because we all bottled neck on the single track tail and stayed this way for about 1.5 miles. Here is the course map and elevation profile.

The 50k course is the Orange, Pink, Orange and Yellow loop. The thing that really sucked was the last loop, of which had a cut off of 3:30pm, and was basically 2.5 miles up to the peak and back down to the finish!! Cruel!!

As the first loop on Orange began it was pretty technical and big rocks which just slowed everyone down and then it was a long grind it out climb/hike to the top of the Orange loop. Once up there the line of congested runners had been thinned out which was great because the trail was mostly single track. The view from the top of the loop was amazing! You could see the ocean for miles, the beach line and just overall awesome. After running along the edge of the Orange trail that paralleled the coast line it then turned inwards and a nice gradual downhill into some tall grass lands. I mean this stuff was 5-6 feet tall and single track and snaked around which was cool because at times you just see anyone running in front of you. Once at the bottom it opened into a huge prairie field and on this grass dirt road. It was pretty great but it was also muddy through here and the mud was just caking to the bottom of every one's shoes. I had to stop and knock it off a couple of times to make my shoes lighter. By the time I was heading back towards the start area and the end of the Orange loop the mud was completely gone heading back down the technical section of the rocks. I knew that on the second loop this was going to slow things down so I took good mental notes on where I could run and where I would have to take it slow. Once back at the starting area, basically 1 of 2 aid stations on the course.

I refueled my pack and noticed I had drank as much as I should have and would keep better track on this next loop. The Pink loop (also Yellow climb section) started off with a grueling hike up that 2.5 mile section. I could see other runners way ahead of me and up the side of the mountain where we were going and I actually stopped looking simply because it was discouraging to see how much we had to climb. I did enjoy the views as we kept getting higher. Finally I was at the top and started on the slow but later steeper section heading down on the pink course. This was basically an old fire road and went down back side of the mountain we just climbed up. At the bottom was the next aid station where I made sure I drank more, grabbed some food and moved out quickly. As I headed out I was walking and talking with some other runners and then the road turned to single track and UP we went on another trail that climbed back up to the top of the Yellow-Pink summit! This part was pretty freakn' hard especially about 1/2 way up where there was a nasty 200 yard straight up hike to get to back on the fire road. I mean this thing was eating runners up left and right as I was climbing up I could see others just stopping and taking a break trying to catch there breath. When I got there I had rested just short of this and was able to power up this section and rested back on the road. Once at the top of the fire road it was a nice recovery back down 2.5 miles to the main aid station.

Once back at the main aid station it was time to start Orange loop for the second time. I grabbed a can of Coke because my stomach was a little upset and I was hungry. I headed out and made my way back through technical section and started climbing back up the Orange loop. I noticed there was a couple of runners in front of me so I was working to catch up to them. I also noticed that no one was really behind me but I knew there were other runners behind me on the down section back to the main aid station. As I made the summit of the Orange loop I caught to guys and one seemed to be hurting pretty good. I ran with them for a short time and then I made the pass along the parallel section. I stayed ahead of them on the back side of the Orange loop because I was running faster than them and didn't want to get stuck behind them on the grass lands single track and I figured they may catch me on the open grass road but they never did. Matter of fact by this time I was keeping an eye on my pace and time and realized that if I didn't make up some time on this grass area I was going to miss the 3:30pm cut off. I ran as much as I could and every time I stopped I would tell myself to start running again. The mud was all dried and the only thing that was slowing me down was my tired legs from those 3 freakn' climbs! As I started narrowing down my time and distance back to the main aid station I knew that if I didn't run as much as possible I would lose more time on the technical rocky section and miss the cut off. In the back of my mind this was NOT something that was an option! I dug deep and kept telling myself I had to run because a DNF was on my terms but being pulled from the course because I didn't try harder was not an option. I knew if I ran as much as I could and as hard as I could and I missed it I could live with that, overall, maybe I should have ran faster during the day but not knowing the course this is where I was at. I made the technical rocky section and just about a 1/2 mile before the aid station there was two ladies walking through the trail and I basically pushed pasted them and hogged the trail so much so I basically ran over the second lady. I yelled out to her, Sorry!! I am about to miss the run cut off! She just replied, It's Okay. I made the last little section and came flying in looking at my watch. The aid station guy was looking at his watch and said, Dude, you got a couple minutes, You're Okay.

A couple of minutes. It was 3:27pm.

to be continued...

rockon'

DNF always Sucks! but Redemption could be Nice!

2010-11-19T18:56:00.000-08:00

Heading into the Coyote Springs 50k I was super excited and ready to see these new trails that are privately owned and operated by Pardee Homes. As the master builder of this future community about 50 miles North of Las Vegas, they have built trails all around there property. Take a look at some of the pictures from DesertSky Adventures http://www.desertskyadventures.com/coyotesprings/

First off, this race was set up with Class Act Quality sponsorship. Let's talk about Schwag!! You get a great tech race shirt, a neck buff for all you runners, or it can be used as an old time hide your face bank robber cover (sorry, boots, chaps, and guns sold separately) then you got your choice of color of a fitted Under Armour baseball hat. Also great offers and deals from local businesses.

I had ordered a new pair of Asics Trabuco 13, Size 15!

I have still been playing around with different trail shoes for HURT. These shoes arrived Friday afternoon and my plan was to wear them on my training day run, although many would call this "race" day and as WE ALL KNOW, you are not supposed to wear or try new things on "race" day.

As I arrived at race start site it was quite the set up with the HUGE white double door tent, 2 chandlers, and a heater blowing through the back of it to heat the inside, nice and toasty!! as it was quite cool and windy.

The other awesome thing I noticed is the PortaJane

Along side the Jane was John and together they made a great addition to the bathroom line up. Have you seen these things before? There is a Sink inside them!! Flushing toliet, mirror, hand soap, etc!! They also had a trailer, that was set up with bathrooms on it as well so much nicer than any of your regular ole' out houses!!

I timed my arrive pretty good so I would not have to be standing around waiting long and sure enough it was time for the 50k'ers, all 10 of us registered, 9 showed up, to line up and the show on the trail! The gun went off and we took off down a dirt road for about 1.25 miles out/back to string us out before we hit the single track trails which the majority of this run was on, as well as for the 10k, and 1/2 marathoners. Soon I was on the single track trails and really enjoying the winding twisting and construction of these man made trails. There was a nice steep climb and the wind was blowing really good when I started power hiking up this little baby and soon enough I was at the top, supposedly told this was the toughest section of the whole course. Just after this we were dumped on to an old asphalt road and this sucker would take us on an out and back for about 3 miles.

Up until this road my shoes and I were rocking along and I was feeling great. Even the dang Bone Bruise I have been dealing with over the last several weeks was feel good and I was happy. As I started making my way down this long asphalt road I noticed that my quads were already starting to feel like the end of Javelina100k and I was wondering what the hell could have blown out my quads so early in the run but never really pin pointed anything to it. I started to noticed that the foot/bruise area was starting to wake up and not liking the road section. By the time I made the turn around there was a lot of down hill to be made up and I thought I would be making some good time on this but as the asphalt worn on back to mile 16 where I would get back on the trail my foot/bruise was no longer happy with any type of running and with ever step I could start to feel pain in that area and now because I was feeling this I started to do the limp on right (bruise foot) and power off with the left. Compensation!! and it didn't take long for my left foot to say What the *uck!!! and next thing I know I was walking. I was certainly Okay with walking the next 2 miles to the aid station/trail section and as I counted down my mileage, my foot/bruise counted down the time to DNF'ing!

I have never DNF'd anything I've participated in, training or racing and so when I felt the pain and irritation to my foot I immediately thought of stopping so I wouldn't fracture the foot and then I am really shit out of luck for HURT. I told myself I would absolutely walk the 2 miles and if it didn't feel any better with walking I would stop, and sure enough, the walking felt exactly the same and I was limping exactly the same as when I was running. I got to the aid station at mile 16 and they asked what I needed. I said a ride back to the start! What? they said... Yeah, I am done, my foot is bothering me and I can't risk a training run on it. Okay they said and told me it would be a 30 mins or so until the next car came by, I said no problem, sat down, unlaced my shoe and enjoyed the area and chatting with them.

Now as anyone and many have, argued with me on the use of a new shoes on "race" day was the SOLE reason my foot gave in and cost me my day but I really stand on a different view. The Trabuco 13 is a great tough trail shoe and while on the trails for 10 miles I really enjoyed the feel and comfort of it, however, with that being said, I also felt totally uncomfortable in it while running on the road. It's not a road shoe by any means and therefore, it was my fault for not studying the course and realizing there was that much road section on this trail course because otherwise I would not have used these shoes. I could also add that maybe if I didn't have an issue with foot/bruise thing going on even with the Trabuco's I may have been okay but the combination of the foot/bruise and trail shoes and asphalt I feel, did me in.

I was bummed to not be able to see the rest of the course and of course finish and get my medal but then again I enjoyed the food at the Dnf (Finish) line which was totally off the charts with Sliders, Hot Chocolate, Coffee, Tea, Lemonade, muffins, cakes, some other meat chicken stuff! All totally awesome! I hung around to see who won the 50k and sure enough the dude came in at 4 hours 43 mins!! nice pace.

So this week I have ran a 5miler and a 8 miler on the trails in the Trabuco's and love them. I loved them so much I decided to sign up for the Santa Monica Mountain 50k in Malibu, Ca. this Sunday and will be heading down Saturday afternoon. With the current weather rolling in to Cali, its sure to be wet and chilly. All is good because I want to see how these Trabuco's do in the wet and how my feet do being wet, the cold, ehhh, not so much looking forward to that but I am on a REDEMPTION!!!

rockon'

Moving forward.. still.

2010-11-07T16:08:00.000-08:00

Recovering after JJ100 has been pretty good for the most part. Over the last couple of weeks I ran a short 4 miler and felt good just 4 days after 100k. I then took another 4 days off and then I ran 7 miles on back to back days and still felt good. I wanted to go 7-10 but on the second day I had some GI discomfort and I cut the run short. This weekend I ran 14 on the road of which 7 was a nice long down hill grade and I could feel my quads taking the beating on the road. I was nice and tired by the time I finished so I knew that I had not fully recovered, I was also happy to run down the Las Vegas Strip from Mandala Bay to downtown which was pretty cool early in the morning and not only got to enjoy running on the strip but also some great stair running as many of the street crossings are walk bridges and instead of using the escalator I took the stairs.

Sunday, I went out and ran a double loop at White Rock trail in Red Rock which was great too because I forgot how tough going clockwise is compared to counter-clockwise and now I know I will be using this loop for some serious uphill work over the next 67 days!

And speaking of that!! HFS!! 67 Days and counting! Scares the crap out of me. I mean this is HURT100!!! JJ100k was a good stretch but now add in 38 more miles, lots more climbing, crappier technical trails and TONS O Humidity!! and pressure to finish this thing and you guessed it, scared!

I started a couple of CrossFit sessions last week as well and quickly found out how weak I really am but although it was nice to change up the routines I also quickly found out that too much CrossFit will tank my running as I am just not used to this type of conditioning. I will continue to incorporate CrossFit over the next 50 days.

Since running at JJ100, I used a Amphipod hand held bottle and really liked it so I decided to try there waist belt, so I bought:

the Profile-Lite 32oz, which is two 16 oz bottles and then added the Snap-Flask 10.5oz, I have two of them but so far only using one. This brings my water carrying to 42 oz and 24oz with the hand held which I will continue to use Succeed in during the run. I most likely will add the other 10.5 oz snap flask simply because I think at HURT I will be drinking 25oz + per hour and most likely taking two hours between stations. So far I really like the waist pack.

Coming up this week will be a 50k called the Coyote Springs 50k put on by Desert Sky Adventures, can't wait!

In triathlon news, Macca showed up at the Silverman 70.3 and cranked out an win in 4:22!! Nice Job!!

Rockon'

October recap..

2010-11-01T13:50:00.001-07:00

Well with all the crap I had going on it ended this way:

6 Runs = 115 miles in 31 hours 54 mins.

I guess I can't really complain too much being as my foot was jacked, my personal stuff and working but overall I just don't think that will get me to the end of HURT100! it will more likely End me in HURT!

This month has to be on the up and up!! or else I'm just screwed. Today, on a good note, I started CrossFit with a trainer, Brian W. who owns High Bar Fitness. I already can tell this is going to be great for conditioning so stay tuned.

rockon'

JJ100 Nutrition recap..

2010-10-31T20:59:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

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'