Badwater Part 3..Finish.

One thing I forgot to mention was that during the late night hours I had to devise a make shift chiropractic table and perform some adjusting. As we were heading out of Stovepipe wells towards Town's pass, Susannah was have some mid-back pain and I worked on some of the muscles as she walked for a few minutes and told her that we would have to stop for a couple of minutes if she wanted me to adjust it. She said she would go longer and let me know when she was ready, well, about 4 am she was ready!

Geraldine and I quickly stopped, pulled out the big long cooler we had and set it behind the Mothership, covered it with a little towel. As Susannah walked up I laid down over it instructing her how I needed her to lay on it. She was approaching and removing her fuel belt and things, quickly laid down, I immediately went to the location, sure enough, out of position. A few quick adjustments, I told her to stand up, I did some quick range of motion muscle work, rubbed some Traumeel on it and put her belt back on and off she went! It was literally like 3-4 mins! a complete pit stop as we had refilled her water bottle too. As she walked off she said it feel better but I still feel it. I said give it about 15-20 mins. As she walked ahead, I asked about 20 mins late, how it feels. She said she didn't feel it anymore!! I quickly rubbed some more Traumeel on it and she continued on. I actually asked her heading up to finish about mile 128 how it felt and she said she never felt it again after that!! Nice, huh!

Once passing the check point and heading up the Portal road we had decided that we would each pace for about 4 miles. Geraldine was up first and was excited to be out there! She had been working hard all morning, supplying us with breakfast runs, hotel stuff and anything else. As we started up the road we were about 3 miles up and I happened to look down at the GAS!!! It was at just under a 1/2 tank and I thought to myself how far we could actually go. Last year, it was a must to full the MotherShip at Lonepine and this year it was the plan too but I just over looked it as we rolled through downtown. I knew we would be really close on the gas or run out and to have the crew worry about it and myself included was not worth it, we were still close enough to turn around and be back in a 15-20 mins. I told the crew and made the decision. We stocked Susannah and Geraldine and quickly went to put gas and returned in just about 15 mins. Now it was time for me to take over on the pacing duties for a few miles. As I hit the road it was really just a super fast power walk. It was great to be out there and talk with Susannah and her journey the last 34 hours. She was tired and as the road started to tilt up she started to slow down some. I tried to keep her at pace because she was still 4th overall women but 5th was less than a 1/2 mile behind and working to catch us! Swiss Miss was her call sign and she was in the same starting group as us. She had gotten ahead of us by a long shot but had some troubles and had really slowed and we caught and passed her but in typical Badwater fashion, athletes rest and recover to amazing abilities and was working her way back up to us. As we reached mile 131 at 33 hrs 58 mins (15:33pace) she was ready Nic to come and pace the last few miles up. She had already asked when he was coming out so I knew she was ready for him.

As Nic took over I told him not to let Swiss Miss pass us as she was about a 1/4 mile behind. He said he would do his best. Funny how there is a competition with the Crew's unbeknown to the runner!! Susannah worked those last 4 miles but they also worked her! The road here is just so STEEP the Grade is crazy and she managed to hold on to a 20:30 pace per mile. As we reached the finally 200 meters we went to park the van and run down just a few meters to meet her! We got the Banner ready, the Aussie Flag and there it was the Finish line, She could see it in sight! As the chills started to roll all over my body its just a feeling that indescribable.

We all lined up with the banner. Chris, the Race Director was taking pictures and others were holding the finish line tape. We all jogged to the tape and Susannah broke the line as cheers and applause sounded off!! 135 miles in 35 hours 20 mins (15:42 pace) Amazing! We all hugged and cheered as she thanked us for getting her there. Then we quickly had to move out of the way as Swiss Miss was finishing up 1 min 12 secs behind!

It has taken a couple of weeks to really reflect on the race and emotions. I mean, I met Susannah through an email via fwd from Molly. Agreed to help her and not even know her! I mean who does that? Not only that but agree to help someone in the Worlds Toughest Endurance event! I do, that's Who and I would do it again next year if given the chance.

The lure of Badwater is just amazing. The scenery, the elements, the sleepless hours and the ability to see someone push their bodies to the limit. It's Desire, Ambition, and Dedication that is the drive for so many and I think for me that is my fun in being there. This year was different than last year. It was a only 5* cooler but I felt there was much more wind and that just made for a Hot Blow Dryer effect! There was less crew members and a little more work, although I drove for the most part, that in itself was a lot of concentration. I will be forever grateful to Susannah for having me on her crew and letting me experience another year at Badwater. I am thankful I was able to help her in her time of need and along the course and help get things organized along the way leading up to the race.

I am sure I will be reflecting on things as time continues but I do know that now, as a Veteran crewer only brings the dream of one day completing this amazing event!

rockon'

Badwater Part 3..Finish.

One thing I forgot to mention was that during the late night hours I had to devise a make shift chiropractic table and perform some adjusting. As we were heading out of Stovepipe wells towards Town's pass, Susannah was have some mid-back pain and I worked on some of the muscles as she walked for a few minutes and told her that we would have to stop for a couple of minutes if she wanted me to adjust it. She said she would go longer and let me know when she was ready, well, about 4 am she was ready!

Geraldine and I quickly stopped, pulled out the big long cooler we had and set it behind the Mothership, covered it with a little towel. As Susannah walked up I laid down over it instructing her how I needed her to lay on it. She was approaching and removing her fuel belt and things, quickly laid down, I immediately went to the location, sure enough, out of position. A few quick adjustments, I told her to stand up, I did some quick range of motion muscle work, rubbed some Traumeel on it and put her belt back on and off she went! It was literally like 3-4 mins! a complete pit stop as we had refilled her water bottle too. As she walked off she said it feel better but I still feel it. I said give it about 15-20 mins. As she walked ahead, I asked about 20 mins late, how it feels. She said she didn't feel it anymore!! I quickly rubbed some more Traumeel on it and she continued on. I actually asked her heading up to finish about mile 128 how it felt and she said she never felt it again after that!! Nice, huh!

Once passing the check point and heading up the Portal road we had decided that we would each pace for about 4 miles. Geraldine was up first and was excited to be out there! She had been working hard all morning, supplying us with breakfast runs, hotel stuff and anything else. As we started up the road we were about 3 miles up and I happened to look down at the GAS!!! It was at just under a 1/2 tank and I thought to myself how far we could actually go. Last year, it was a must to full the MotherShip at Lonepine and this year it was the plan too but I just over looked it as we rolled through downtown. I knew we would be really close on the gas or run out and to have the crew worry about it and myself included was not worth it, we were still close enough to turn around and be back in a 15-20 mins. I told the crew and made the decision. We stocked Susannah and Geraldine and quickly went to put gas and returned in just about 15 mins. Now it was time for me to take over on the pacing duties for a few miles. As I hit the road it was really just a super fast power walk. It was great to be out there and talk with Susannah and her journey the last 34 hours. She was tired and as the road started to tilt up she started to slow down some. I tried to keep her at pace because she was still 4th overall women but 5th was less than a 1/2 mile behind and working to catch us! Swiss Miss was her call sign and she was in the same starting group as us. She had gotten ahead of us by a long shot but had some troubles and had really slowed and we caught and passed her but in typical Badwater fashion, athletes rest and recover to amazing abilities and was working her way back up to us. As we reached mile 131 at 33 hrs 58 mins (15:33pace) she was ready Nic to come and pace the last few miles up. She had already asked when he was coming out so I knew she was ready for him.

As Nic took over I told him not to let Swiss Miss pass us as she was about a 1/4 mile behind. He said he would do his best. Funny how there is a competition with the Crew's unbeknown to the runner!! Susannah worked those last 4 miles but they also worked her! The road here is just so STEEP the Grade is crazy and she managed to hold on to a 20:30 pace per mile. As we reached the finally 200 meters we went to park the van and run down just a few meters to meet her! We got the Banner ready, the Aussie Flag and there it was the Finish line, She could see it in sight! As the chills started to roll all over my body its just a feeling that indescribable.

We all lined up with the banner. Chris, the Race Director was taking pictures and others were holding the finish line tape. We all jogged to the tape and Susannah broke the line as cheers and applause sounded off!! 135 miles in 35 hours 20 mins (15:42 pace) Amazing! We all hugged and cheered as she thanked us for getting her there. Then we quickly had to move out of the way as Swiss Miss was finishing up 1 min 12 secs behind!

It has taken a couple of weeks to really reflect on the race and emotions. I mean, I met Susannah through an email via fwd from Molly. Agreed to help her and not even know her! I mean who does that? Not only that but agree to help someone in the Worlds Toughest Endurance event! I do, that's Who and I would do it again next year if given the chance.

The lure of Badwater is just amazing. The scenery, the elements, the sleepless hours and the ability to see someone push their bodies to the limit. It's Desire, Ambition, and Dedication that is the drive for so many and I think for me that is my fun in being there. This year was different than last year. It was a only 5* cooler but I felt there was much more wind and that just made for a Hot Blow Dryer effect! There was less crew members and a little more work, although I drove for the most part, that in itself was a lot of concentration. I will be forever grateful to Susannah for having me on her crew and letting me experience another year at Badwater. I am thankful I was able to help her in her time of need and along the course and help get things organized along the way leading up to the race.

I am sure I will be reflecting on things as time continues but I do know that now, as a Veteran crewer only brings the dream of one day completing this amazing event!

rockon'

Badwater Part 2..

As we are well on our way up Panament springs heading to mile 80ish I pull up next to Pam Reed's crew van, so I knew she had to be close. As we stopped to get ready for Susannah a couple of people from her van came over and said hello and asked how we were doing and who our runner was and the wave time we started. (as I was driving I didn't realize I had drove by Pam) I asked how Pam was doing and they said she was doing good but had some stomach issues she had been dealing with with a long time. (In the back of my mind I was excited to actually be next Pam on the course, even though she wasn't feeling good I was hoping we could be with her for a while, I mean she is the superstar and knows how to win at this race!)

As the night was clearly working its way to morning, we had special request for food, our Susannah is a Gourmet runner with a special palate. Requests for Mac'n cheese (glute free, specially bought from Whole Foods) with graded cheese (chucks) and Cracked Pepper was ordered. At one time the cracked pepper was forgot and immediately handed back to return to the chief!! In a nice but stern Aussie accent.. "ughh, there's no crack'd pepper!" Another gourmet item of the day, which I soon nicknamed a "CheeseBurger" was a rice cake, with Our Mate spread with sliced baby Roma tomato's! Check out the picture:

Our items included the same rice cake with Sliced Avocado's and yup, Cracked Pepper!! A lot of it! We actually tried to make soup one time, as we did last year, but the burner for the soup was in the support car and I tried to warm it up on the engine, as last year, but this time it was too difficult because we didn't have a can only a cup and that made it hard b/c the cup would start to melt or burn, lol. At the time I was under the hood, Pam runs by and goes "are you guys okay?" I said yeah, just trying to warm up soup. She goes "ohh, nice idea, if you need anything my crew can help." So very nice, I said, thank you. (HFS, I was talking to Pam Reed at 3 am in the middle of no where!)

As the sun started to come up we actually started to play leap frog with Pam. Even though Pam is actually 2 hours ahead of us b/c she started at 10am, I so bad just wanted to pass her for good as I thought it would bring extra pep to Susannah. The morning Sunrise was amazing and heading into Darwin I actually started to pull more than our mile stop just to leap from Pam farther so she would know that we are right behind her, somewhat of a mental game, or at least my thought of a mental game with Pam. Susannah and Pam finally ran/walked together for about 45 mins and then we finally got ahead of her. But it was not for long b/c Pam made sure to stay close and almost seemed to run when she didn't want to but knew she had to. Eventually Pam passed us again and as the winding road heading to Lonepine started Pam laid the hammer down and within a matter of an hour she was out of sight. My thought to a great a champion that knows the course and knows when and where to push!

As we passed Darwin check point, 90 miles @ 22 hrs 5 mins (14:43pace) it was time to wake up the support crew and Geraldine was ready for some sleep. She did an amazing job all night and was cooked herself. As the shift change came on, we soon found our self basically in No Man's Land! No one behind or in front of us for a about 2-3 hours. Then as we got closer to Lonepine a few other 10am starters were catching us and I was glad to see others as well as Susannah was to give her the drive to continue to push, as she seemed to slow down in this alone long stretch. (As last year, I distinctly remember this part of the course b/c as I said it seems so long and you can see from about mile 100 to Lonepine at 122!! and it mentally just sucks it out of you being on the course for 22+ hours. You're tired, close but so far from the end, and you just want to get there!

Susannah did great as we pushed into Lonepine with a few food items to get her morning energy. Mostly she was calling for anything caffeine, so espresso beans, and Coke Zero seemed to do the trick. At one time Susannah need a yogurt to settle her stomach, most likely from too much caffeine and no sold type food. The thing was the damn yogurt was frozen solid into the ice/water/dry ice in the cooler. Nic had attempted to get it out but no luck. We asked Susannah if there was anything else we could get her which was probably a bad idea, but in her nice Aussie voice just replied, "I really need that to settle my stomach, there is nothing else!" I quickly shouted from the drivers seat, "You will have it at the next stop!" She just smiled and said Okay, thanks! As I raced up to the next stop Nic was telling me there was no way to get it out b/c so much of it was frozen in and we would have to dump everything out to get it and that wasn't possible. I told him if we have to dump it out, then we have to dump it! I quickly jumped in the back and started ravaging through the ice and water to move stuff out of the way. My hand immediately froze from the cold but I couldn't think about that, I needed that Yogurt. Finally, I was able to clear some things out of the way and get to the yogurt. I came out in a solid block of frozen water/ice and sure enough it was solid. I busted it apart, handed it to Nic, we opened it, drained the water that had seeped into it, told him to scrap the top layer off it, stick the spoon in but DON'T STIR IT!! ( we stirred an early yogurt and she said she liked the chunks in it so don't mix it, lol.. runners!!) We had a few minutes before she got to us and I repacked all the cooler, Nic ran out to give her the yogurt and she was in heaven!

We finally reached Lonepine, mile 122 at 31 hrs 44 mins (15:16pace). We quickly dumped the support car off at the hotel, rearranged the MotherShip because you can only one crew vehicle on the portal road up to Mt. Whitney.

These pics are heading into Lonepine.

I will continue to part 3.. the final push to the Finish..

Rockon'

2010 Badwater Ultramarathon recap.

From Australia, #21 Susannah Harvey-Jamieson

First of all I want to thank Susannah so much for inviting me to crew for her this year. This marks my second year for crewing at Badwater and just as last year, it was Work, sleepless nights, bugs, and Hot but all worth it and I wouldn't have it any other way nor would I trade it for anything else.

My new down-under friends, Susannah, Nic, and Mallani all arrived in LA last Thursday and enjoyed the West Coast scene before arriving in Sin City on Friday afternoon. It was on Saturday morning that Susannah took a little jog from the MGM to my house which is about 20 miles! (yes this is two days before Badwater) After meeting up with her, Nic and Mallani for the 1st time we all went to pick up the MotherShip. As I was giving Nic directions he somehow forgot he was in the US and as we turned left he turned to the oncoming traffic!!! HOLY Fuckn'Shit!!! I yelled..Dude your going the Wrong way!!! He was quick to jerk the car around and make the correct turn on the road but after cleaning out my pants I really couldnt remember where we were going! hahaha.

The MotherShip was picked up and all set. After getting the supplies and all stocked up it was time to sleep for the trip Sunday. Sunday morning came and we all met up. Geraldine was now with the Crew and we were all making our way towards Furnace Creek. We had the MotherShip and the crew support car and being as we were behind scheduled Nic the NASCAR man went ahead with Susannah to get checked in at registration. Once we got there we met up with them at the athlete meeting. It was great to be back in Furnace Creek with all the cars and designation of runners posted on the sides. It was like it was just a couple of weeks ago that I was here with Molly's crew and facing the heat and the new experience. This time it the heat was still here but the crew had terminology that was very fun to get to understand.

At the athletes meeting we had a great seat due to getting there early and being about 5 in line. We save a whole row for our crew and another Aussie named Kelvin "Kelvinator" Marshall from Austrlia and his crew. The meeting was all the rules in and outs and of course some medical stuff. Then they called up the whole group who would be running.

After the meeting it was back to the hotel to get settled in and get ready for bed and some dinner. As the alarm was set for 5:15am it was hard to get sleep b/c I was ready to get the show on the road. Soon enough it was wake up time.

Race Day - July 12th

As the alarm went off I was up and ready and quickly grabbed breakfast with Nic and Millani. We then got the Mothership packed up and ready to go. We all piled into the van at about 6:45am to head to the start. (Last year, Brendan and I stayed behind at mile 17 Furnace Creek with the support car and so missed out on the start) So I was very excited to see what Badwater start was all about. This year my role in support would be mostly driving, some actual crewing, doctoring, and pacing. As we got close to the start we came across the starters of the 6am group and it was just amazing to see them already on the road making it happen!

As we got to the start, I parked the van, jumped out and started taking pictures:

This next picture tells it all. The long shot is the distance below sea level and the sign placed up on the mountain side is the actual level of Sea Level - Zero Feet.

The 8am Start:

The start was so exciting with acapella of the National Anthem. It was then a quick count down and BANG!! Sussannah was off and running. As we made our way back to the van and took our time to get ready to leave as all the vans were leaving to make sure to get there runner ASAP, it is Badwater ya know! We finally caught up with Sussannah about 1.5-2 miles down and she was ready for water. After a 1st crew session all was good and move to the next stop which would be mostly a mile down the road.

The day and the morning seemed to go by really fast and after reaching mile 17 check point at Furnace Creek in 3 hours and 17 mins (11:28 pace) I was concerned that Sussannah was going too fast for a 40 hour finish. I had the crew ask how she was feeling and she was feeling great with a much confident reply from her Heart Rate and how she has been in her zone the whole time. There would be a few other times during the race that we would check on her because of her pace but all times she was close to or within her zones and simply, it doesn't matter how fast or slow you run if you go by heart rate. After stocking up and picking up the support car we were making out way towards Stovepipe Wells at mile 41. Just before we reached Stovepipe the 10am starters were starting to catch us!!! Can you believe that shit!! Jorge Pacheco and last years winner Marico Farinazzo ran the 17 miles in 2 hours 15 mins (7:56 pace) By the time we got to Stovepipe Jorge clocked in at 5 hours 29 mins (8:01pace) and Marco at 5 hours 43 mins (8:22pace) with the 1st place Female Jamie Donaldson at 6hrs 47 mins (9:55pace). It was hot and I enjoyed Devils Cornfield, the Sand Dunes, and all the other great scenery. By this time we had the support car on the course taking up the action while Geraldine and I went ahead to gas up and stock up on ice as well as jump in the swimming pool and cool off. We had about 45 mins before Sussannah got here and when she did she clocked in at 8hrs 29 mins (12:25pace) and was feeling and looking great.

Check out these pictures:

After going through Stovepipe its a long ass climb up to Towns Pass and Sussannah settled into some strong power walking and short running bouts. As the sun started to go down I was beginning to show weakness and get tired. It was late evening and by 10pm I was needing a break so I jumped to the support crew and headed down Towns Pass for some rest. Once the crew got closer they radioed to me and around 11pm I headed for Panament Springs where there was a designated cottage that all could use to shower and get some rest in the beds they had available. When I got there I was being attacked by millions of freakn annoying Beatles and I'm not talking about John, Paul, George and Ringo!! According to locals it was last season for beetles mating season and they were everywhere!! After grabbing a shower I settled in the car with the AC running and slept for about an hour. At 12:43 am (Tuesday) Susannah rolled through check point mile 72 in 16 hours 43 mins (10:44pace) HFS!!! She had totally killed it coming down Town's Pass and made up some serious time heading into Panament. By this time I jumped back in the Mothership while Nic went for a shower, Mallani geared up for some pacing up to Father Crowleys point.

Panament is at 1,920 ft. at mile 72 and Fr. Crowley's Point is at 4000 ft. at mile 80.2!! Serious climbing and winding roads. The night time was nice for crewing mostly because Susannah didn't need much resupply of things, some food and soup mostly. After a couple of hours we caught up with Pam Reed, who was currently in 3rd place (10am starter) and a champion of this race in the past.

I will continue the report due to its length and details....

rockon'

May recap.

Now that the new month has rolled it's time for the pitaful recap of May, but at least I got to running!

No swimming.

Biking was a whopping 4 miles/15 mins on the stationary bike post-leg workout.

RUNNING!!! - 6 runs totaling 17.60 miles!! Nothing big but ALL NO PAIN!!! and building back up slowly, mostly I just want to make sure I am healthy and able to pace for Badwater in a couple of weeks.

I have managed to return to the gym and work on strength training and elliptical for some cardio and add in some good outside heat stretching. I also started sauna training and am now capable of 30 mins non-stop. I will look to continue my sauna training over the next couple of weeks as well as a couple of walks outside for the heat!

I plan to have July looking a little more productive but hey, we gotta start back somewhere.

A couple of weeks back I when I was visiting the great New Mexico Outlaws State, I dropped by and had lunch, well my g/f and I, with S.Baboo and IronMisty aka. GeekGirl.. We stopped by to check out there new crib which I saw is SUPER AWESOME and was very happy for them and jealous. I mean this place rocks.. open the back gate and out the 10 yards is the trail heading up to the mountains!! WTH!! Great views, great landscaping and these kids have the Pad! Why the big shout out for them.. Because they are great people and friends. S.Baboo is preparing for his run at Leadville 100 and is totally going to jam that bitch for all its worth and Misty is heading towards Redman 140.6 in October. !!! knowing them they probably have some other great events thrown in there for good measure. Keep up the great work and see ya sometime soon!

rockon'

Moving along..!!!

That's right! Slowly but at least forward. Over the last couple of weeks I have been slowly implementing running back into my workout routine and even though I am only running on inside cushioned track, I am still Running and that make me happy!

The last couple of weeks I have been running with the new shoes and all seems to be going with there. So far this week I have actually run back-back to days, although short in time/distance, I was still able to complete them with great pleasure and no pain. OKAY, so maybe running around the inside track like 22 times (5.5 times around = 1 mile) is not painless but I am so happy to be running that I just tune it out and with that aspect I look at it that it is growing me mentally to complete loop races!

I have also started on the 84 day (12 weeks) Body for Life program which will just keep me tuned to working out and set me on a plan being as I was a little lost and not motivated to do anything b/c of my leg but now I am enjoying it and will take it day by day.. Today is day 2/84. I have done this program before and it always seems to a great success and accomplish goals for me and so that is why I decided to do it again.

Along with training I have been sauna training for my prep for crewing for Badwater in a few weeks. All has been going well and I am now up to 20+ mins of straight sauna time without my heart rate going sky high. This past weekend I also helped volunteer at Running with the Devil which offered a 50m, marathon, 1/2 marathon, and 10k. I was stationed at mile 3.1 and had the 12pm - 7pm shift which meant it was going to be hot, hey, CalicoRacing.com doesn't call it Running with the Devil for nothing!!!

It was about 96* out, some wind and all in all great training temps for Badwater and matter of fact a few of the runners that I talked with are actually on crews for Badwater and our local runner, Connie, is actually running Badwater. It was a great day.

Now on to the great cool thing.. This weekend, the man AKA as Formulaic went for round 2 at Ironman Coeur d'Alene and guess who won? This freakn' guy has been gunning at me since my first Cda race and since he took the RAGE time from me he decided he would nap the IM time from me too smashing my IM Cozumel time of 15:03 by more than 45 mins!! Now that 14:36 has been thrown down, along with a Silverman time of 15:58 he has pushed me into the corner, stepped on my shirt and opened up his arms as the RULER OF ALL THE WORLD!!! I am super happy for him, but not really.. that he had a great race.. damn it!! and that even though my swim time is still faster..yaaa me.. and I have the fast bike time at Rage.. yea me again.. all which mean absolutely nothing at the finish line, he has the lead.. fucker..!! and that makes me want to get back in the IM game while he takes a break. Problem is IM has gotten smart and raised there prices and I am just starting my own office so I will have to wait till the fall and see what is open and where I can kick his butt at.. IMFL.. hahaha.. flat and fast but that would be too easy in a sense.. we need hills, climbs and cold water.. I would love to go back to Cda or even CZ but they will most likely close out before I am ready. In the mean time, congrats Form, I guess....

rockon'

Lot's Happening!!!

First this is totally me!!! Shouting VICTORY!! My leg is feeling much better and I actually managed to run a total of 8.5 miles this week!! Nice and easy running around the local gym track, which is cushioned and takes 5.5 laps to make a mile but soooo What!! I have no pain in running and I feel good.

Adding to the help of rest for the my leg, I changed shoes, Radically Changed!! I was/have been running in a motion control shoe and Stability Plus shoes for a while, and most likely my leg problem was building while running on the trails and switching to the road allowed it to show up.

So now I took a radical change and went to a Neutral shoe, Asics Numbus 12 and all is working great. It took a little bit of break in to get my knees and mechanics used to it but so far so good. I will continue to build up mileage/time slowly and I will be interested to see how it goes when I get to longer mileage.

Now that I am slowly back in the run of things, and just in time because my 2nd year to Crew for Badwater 135 is coming up, July 12-14th. This year I will be crewing for Australian's Susannah Harvie-Jamieson #21. It's exciting to be a part a something like this and to help someone from another country makes it even more awesome! There are 4 of us on the crew and so compared to last year with 6, we have a little more of our work cut out.

Although the leg issue problem is well on its way to coming back, it took me out SilverRush 50 and training up for Rio Del Lago 100 in September. Since I will not be racing those I have been thinking what to do, actually, Ragnar Relay is Oct 23rd and I have put together a 4-relay team. This makes about 48 miles per runner over the 189 mile course and proposed TEAM FOMO is excited!

Other than Ragnar I am just looking to take it easy and build my run back up to look for a 100 next year.

On other news, I have left the chiropractic office I was working out of due to crazy employee rules the other doctor was looking to have me complete. Somewhere along the line the other doctor forgot I am an independent doctor and working for myself so with a conflict of ideas and understandings I choose to find a new location.

Without further adue, I am now SOLO!!! Holy Freakn' Shit!! Yes, I have rented an executive suite, basically a small little office room and I will take it all on myself. I guess it's about time, huh. I am excited and scared at the same time but I guess that is what makes it all great!

Happy Father's Day to all you Dad's!!! and to my Dad!!

WELCOME TO THE NEW LOOK OF THE BLOG!!!

rockon'

Leg and Cap Tx recap..

Here I go again STILL complaining about my leg so bear with me..

It just doesn’t seem like there is no end but it’s gotta get better, right? I am still dealing with my leg issues/fuckin’ problem nowadays!! And it’s really putting a depressing mode on things in terms of my running and training. I literally cannot run more than 2 miles without this thing kicking in and shutting me down from running. I can walk, stair climb, elliptical, jump, and just about anything else that doesn’t involve running!!

After a few sessions of ART it is a little a better but that is not going to cut it. I will continue with the ART but after talking my case over with my great buddies from Houston at Spine and Sports Therapy, where I have learn all my sports care, they have pointed out a couple of over looked issues!! I will immediately get on correcting those, one, includes changing my shoes from Motion control to Neutral which is a radical change but based on the give conditions and mechanics of my problem I will totally do it.

What does this mean in terms of my upcoming races? Good freakn’ question!!! I really don’t know. I mean I cannot run more than 2 miles, which means I still need to rest this thing and with my next even, SilverRush 50 on schedule for July 18th, leaves 6 weeks from tomorrow, the fat lady has started to sing in my opinion. Also the week of this event is my dedicated Crewing job for Susannah for Badwater and I really want this to be good to help pace for a few miles. Now with regards to Rio Del Lago 100, there is 14 weeks left and once again I am just hearing the intro music to this one which is really bumming me out!!!! I mean I would be okay missing the 50 miler but once I finally mentally decided to push for the 100 and now this crap happens and I may have to mentally accept it just may not happen at this time.

Sooooooo, in JT fashion, if you can’t get it done then, when?!!! Hahaha! I have been eyeing a couple of other 100’s simply because I really wanted to knock out a 100 this year, so RDL may be out but that doesn’t mean the 100 is out!! Stay tuned…

I will be eyeing Ironman Wisconsin now in September when it opens up for a shot at 2011..!! What’s that? JT’s coming back to the triathlon side!! Haha.. After taking a short break after IMCZ and coaching this year for TNT I have to admit I developed FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) when I wasn’t participating in the races!! I have always wanted to do IMMoo so along with some other things next year I will am looking ahead to put 2011 schedule together. Is anyone else thinking that far ahead?

I just got back from the Capital of Texas Olympic Triathlon with my TNT Vegas team and they all did freakn awesome!! For 3 of them this was their first Olympic distance and for our veteran this was like her 35 overall triathlon. As I said they all did awesome, with our fastest gal in the 30-34 age group knocking out 9th out of 84 and 81st out of 1364 Olympic finishers!! Our Veteran taking 1st in her age group of 60-64, okay, okay, she was the only won but she still took it home!! Then we had a gal who quickly learned how dealing with 3 flats (Stef can relate!! ) right out of T1 can rattle your day quickly but staying focused, listening to Coach Liz who was able to talk her through things and get her back out on the course, proves she is an excellent triathlete!! And last but certainly not least was our gal who started the season so worried about swimming 1500 meters and all season long improved her speed and endurance and was still skeptical about swimming the distance showed Coach Brendan and I how she rocked the 1500 meter swim and finished faster than we projected!! She totally conquered that swim making a huge confidence in her abilities and taking on the bike and run to finish up her 1st Olympic distance!! At the end of the 92*, 58% day, it really makes me feel good that all the time and weeks of emails and schedules come together and besides the 4 people raising over $20,000 for Leukemia and Lymphoma they accomplished goals they never thought possible on Day 1 when we started! I am so proud of them and to be able to help and that is just a small part of why I am proud to be a Coach for Team in Training – Las Vegas!!!

My TNT season has ended for now and will be off for the rest of the year and I cannot wait to take on next season when I will be coaching marathon/half marathon groups that will look to take on the 2011 Vancouver and Alaska Marathons!!! So you all should sign up!!

Rockon’

Go Away.. Go Away..

That's all I can think about these days and I am referring to the nagging crap that's plaguing my body with small but significant injuries. OKAY, so maybe it's my body's way of saying it needs Rest, ya think! Shhhh!!! don't answer that. I know, I know but come on, I have rested. I have got massages, I have stretched (my finger) but that's close enough right? Not exactly.

Along with discovering lately that my motion control shoes are just too aggressive for road running for me these days (im back in Stability) I have also ran just enough in them to bring out problems that were waiting for center stage! Bastards!! and they got it. As we know the Big Toe was an issue a few weeks ago, which created some compensations and now has effected my left glute, which in turn set off my left ITB and calf along with the shoes adding to the expressway to center stage.

I have underwent the ohhhh sooo wonderful ART stuff from my buddy doc and it has helped but still not 100%. I have been stretching more, fully body.. Foam rolling and using the stick. My body does feel like it needs a little rest from running or just some more TLC to keep it working. I will admit I have been lazy in preventative care and now I am paying the price, the shoes was just something, unfortunately, I had to figure out since returning to the road.

Anyway, things are somewhat looking up and now I just have to see how the body responds to things and look to see how much training I can actually get in for the upcoming July SilverRush 50 and RDL 100.

rockon'

WTF...

Since being back from Cabo I thought I was ready to get with the program and get to some serious miles and training, however, my body has thought otherwise and has made a plan of its own that really forces you to accept it or pay the consequences.

First off, coming off the big toe issues, it seemed to resolve while in Cabo, must have been all the food and alcohol that filled up the empty hole in that toe, hahaha. I went out for a nice 5 mile run last Tuesday at the FleetFeet run and everything was great. It’s actually been a long time since I ran 5 miles consistently without stopping to walk a hill. I was a great run and all was good. Then I woke up Wednesday morning and got prepared to hit the road for my 12 miler. I started running and about a mile into it I could feel some sort of different pain in my left leg. It’s different for me to deal with pains simply b/c I have never really had them! So having some leg pain throws me for a loop. I could feel some cramping pain in my left glutes as well as my left knee hurting. As the steps progressed my leg actually felt like it was going to buckle a couple of times. I stopped and walked, I stopped and stretched. I stopped and jumped. I did everything I could to try and fix it but nothing seemed to work as soon as I started running it started coming back and a little more intense. By this time I had already turned around and ended my run with a pitiful 3 miles! Later I did all the post run stuff in hopes of it feeling better or just going away. I took Thursday off and on Friday I went out again for a run. I made it like ½ mile!!! WTF!!! I thought I have some serious nagging shit here and I need to get it looked at before it gets worse.

Now I am not going to lie, this really mentally bummed me out and shook my confidence in my ability to run my upcoming 50 let alone the 100! I mean, WTF! If you can’t run, you can’t train!! I even went back to all my previous shoes, general kick around shoes, anything that I could think of that I had changed in the past 2 weeks. I did start some stabilization and plyometric training to increase abductor stability to the glutes and lower body in general. I took basically a week off.

Last night, I went out to try it out. Started walking for .25 mile. All was good. Started running and all was good for about 1 mile, and then I could feel it coming back. I turned around and headed home running on any dirt I could as it seemed to not be as intense but it was still noticeable. By the time I got home it was totally annoying and I could feel it without a doubt. I texted my chiro buddy Victor, who specializes in ART and set up to see him asap.

Today, I went in to see Dr. Victor. He and I are good friends and anytime we can help each other out it’s a win win situation. I explained all my crying and waa-waaness to him and we proceeded outside to run. As I ran it quickly returned and I explained, pointed and cussed! We went back inside for the OH So Fun ART to begin. Now I must admit that ART is a good technique and helps in many ways but it one of the most uncomfortable painful techniques around, but who gives a rats ass if it works right!

After a few minutes working on my toe and my left knee/ITB region we returned outside to run again. The running was better but I could still feel some minor stuff, but better. We go back inside for round #2 of pain from Holy Hell, then a small taping and an appointment to return on Monday for more pain. I must admit it does feel a little better and I am hoping to run a least a couple of 6 miles over the weekend to see how it goes. We also discussed that my current Asics Evolution 5 shoes (motion control) appear to be me too much and over correcting. Over the last months I have been strictly on trails so the control has not been an issue but since I moved to some more road running its over-correcting.

Bottom line: my confidence has been shaken a little and it makes me wonder in my ability to get this fixed in time to complete adequate training.

I guess this is welcome back from Cabo..!!!!

Rockon’