Saturday, September 30, 2006

First Group Open Water Swim


FirstTAGSwim
Activating the core before the swim.


Yes I did mention that Triathlon training was pretty much over for the year however since I'm a regular volunteer with the TAG Tri-Group I have to do what they're doing:)...well to a point, I refuse to go into the pool. Today was the groups first open water swim and since most of these guys are newbs, most of them had never been in open water let alone the bay. Most of these guys are using their suits for the first time. Needless to say there was a lot of anxiety, hyper ventilating and zigzaging (not sighting properly). Sighting...how do I explain this, it's the practice of raising one's head and looking to make sure you're going where you need to be going. Easier said than done....you open water swimmers know. It was a fun morning. I swam out to the turnaround buoy and stayed there for the duration of the swim. They were doing loops, round and round, more instruction at the beach then round and round again. It was fun keeping an eye on them. My job was to spot those who might be having too much trouble and see if I can help them through the exercise. On my first open water swim I was one of those guys who hyper ventilated, could not put his head down in the water long enough to chain together a few good strokes and kept bumping into people because I was zigzagging through the course. It was in lake and while the group did 3-4 loops around the swimming area, I completed 1/2 of one loop before calling it a day. Fortunately none of these guys were as terrible as I was but there were several folks who were having a bit of a hard time relaxing in the water. Did my best to calm them down but ultimately they just need to keep hitting the bay until they feel more comfortable.

This was followed by an hour run where I chatted with the mid and back of the pack folks. The lead group was gone, fast suckers. These guys are great, nice easy going people and what's exciting is that they've started to gel as a group. New friendships have formed and some of them have started to hang out outside the workouts. Sweet, they are learning new skills, getting fit and making new friends. It's been great for me too. A good balance to the long solo miles of ultramarathon training.

After the workout a group of us went out for lunch and talked about things non-triathlon. A nice time.

Friday, September 29, 2006

Simply Amazing

Just got back from my usual 9+ route. Posting yet another slow time, so'kay, had great track workouts during the week which slowed me down tonight. Anyway the ultra email list community has been following the progress of Scott Jurek at Sparthalon. An ultra marathon from Athens to Sparta for a total of 246km....that's what 153.75 miles. Scott wins it with a time of 22:42:18. He's only the second person to break 23 hours and the first American to win the race. Just plain awesome.

Website link here.

Scott is also the 7 time champion and course record holder of Western States 100 and the reigning 2 time champion and course record holder for Badwater. In 2005 he amazed a lot folks by winning his last Western States and 2 weeks later setting the record for Badwater.

Guy is just amazing. An inspiration. Nice guy too, humble and easy going.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Little Red Riding Boots


Iya
Future Pacer/Crew...maybe


Kind of random I know. My cousin Rose's kid. Makes me want to fly home for a visit. Too bad I don't have relatives here in San Francisco. I'd put them to work. This year I utilized pacers and crew for the first time and I loved it. There are ultrarunners out there who feel you shouldn't have them. Some valid points on that camp but I personally do these events for fun and if having pacers and crew makes it more fun I'm all for it. But I digress...

Monday, September 25, 2006

Olga at RdL


RdL
Olga, day two and 92+ miles into the Rio del Lago 100-mile race.


For Olga's race report, click here

Made the mistake of falling asleep soon as I got home from RdL this afternoon, now I'm awake! Anyway it was a good time. Drove up there Saturday afternoon. Met up with George soon as I got there and with Olga 2.5 hours later at the 67 mile mark. At 10PM Olga and I left Cavitt Middle School, home base for the race, for the second and last part of the run - a 33 mile loop on the American River bike paths and trails. It was amazing out, not too cold, no wind and lot's of stars.

I was hungry all day and I ate tons out on the course. Since I wasn't the one racing I pretty much ate what I wanted, a good thing because the GU's that I brought with me I ended up giving up to Olga - they were the caffeinated type. Much thanks to all the aid stations, especially the one at the turnaround, they served butternut squash soup and chicken flavored crackers to go with it. Great stuff.

As for Olga, she had a fight on her hands. Everything was coming loose as she went. She's tough though and never stopped moving forward. Big congratulations to her.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

To Rio

Ah yes Sleep...well it ain't gonna be tonight. Just got done with the TAG group, gonna grab some lunch and drive over to Auburn later to meet up with Olga at RdL. Supposed to pick up the car rental at 3PM. I wonder how she's doing? It's 1:30 now and she's been running since 5:30AM this morning. I'll call George, who's serving as her crew, once I'm on the road. George you're awesome.

Every time I think of RdL, every time I run a 100-miler, one name comes to mind - Tom Rosebrock. I met Tom my first year in ultra at the Dick Collins Firetrails 50-miler in 2002. He was 15 then and on his 3rd 50-miler for the year, started running ultras at 14. I was amazed to say the least. He was wearing the race shirt for the Quicksilver 50-miler in San Jose and I was chatting with him about it. We ended up running and talking for the next 40 miles. We were loud, took forever at the aid stations and laughed a lot about stupid things...an amazing time. We both wanted to do Western States. He had enough to qualify for the lottery but was too young to enter. At one of the aid stations we ran into Norm Klein, Norm is one of Tom's mentors and the race director for RdL. He tells Tom at the aid station, "you can come run my race, I'll let you in". Sure enough the following year, at age 16, Tom finishes RdL and he makes it memorable by gutting it out and finishing just 5mins under the cut off time. According to Norm, the kid had problems 1/3 of the way into the race and just gutted it out till the finish. Stubborn like a lot of long distance runners I know.

Unfortunately that 50-miler was the first and last time I would run with Tom. I saw him a couple of times at races but I was either volunteering and he was running or vice versa. In 2004 at the finish line of the American River 50-miler I run into both he and Norm. They were working the finish line, announcing runners as they came in. I congratulated Tom on his finish at RdL and told him that I didn't get into WS - my first attempt in the lottery. Norm overhearing all this hands me an entry form to RdL and personally invites me to run his race. I was flattered but deep down I had my heart set on WS. From the first day I decided to take part in ultras, WS was my goal. Nevertheless I saved the form, heck I was honored.

That summer Tom would die in a motorcycle accident, he was only 17. A couple of weeks later I would mail in my entry form for RdL. It's crazy I only really spent one afternoon with the kid, it's not like we were best friends or anything but that first 50-miler...was one of the best and memorable. Once during our race I looked at my watch and exclaimed to Tom, "I've been running for 8 hours, damn I've never done that before". He just smiled/laughed at me.

After finishing RdL I told Norm that I ran his race because of Tom. I've never been back since. I don't like the last 33 miles:) Somewhat flat and on the bike path of the American River. But I'll be there tonight when I pace Olga for 33 miles. I don't know who I will meet come mile 67:) but she did promise smiles and a good attitude. It should be a nice time out. Running at night is an awesome experience.

To Olga and for Tom, once again.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Tough Work Week

A couple of projects didn't go as well as planned. The creative juices have been only a trickle lately. A couple of folks have noticed, one's a client. Maybe I just need more sleep. Been missing a lot of that lately. I could also be over training, another possibility. Hmmm...been restless lately as well. Well definitely more sleep. We'll see in a week.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Sweet Bike Shorts

I was cleaning my email inbox when I ran into an old email that my friend Spamsi forwarded to me. It's from someone in our Tri-club. I think it's hilarious, cyclist humor but I'm sharing anyway.

* * * *
Hi there. I was thinking that it would be really nice if we could all get the same cycling shorts for our next group ride as not everyone has the M2 or GGTC shorts and we'd look really cool if we were all coordinated! Please let me know your size, etc., and I will place an order for everyone. Others have already given me their approval. Here are the shorts:

http://store.velogear.com/diambluesden.html

* * * *

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Images from Sunday


Mt.Tam 9.17
On our way to Bolinas Ridge.


I almost forgot, took some pictures on Sunday's run. You know me and pictures. You can view them here.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Trails for Breakfast


Shadow
2 hours into the run, with the sun rising behind my back in the Marin Headlands.


Whoa is that me? Why I look like one em ultra running geeks; headgear, bandana, straps flailing about. I admit ultra running folk have a certain look influenced by the type of gear we like to carry, I guess no different from the other activities people get into. I was surprised by my own shadow, it's been awhile since I went out for a long run. It turned out to be a great day, by 7AM the sun was already up, there was no fog, warm and barely any wind. I could have used some breeze up in the exposed areas of the hills but overall no complaints.

The run went well. A little slow, a little rusty; stubbed my toe a couple of times on the rocks, slipped once but never fell. The endurance is there, I could finish a 50k or a 50-miler from here. A good base to start from, I can start layering in fartleks, tempo runs, long hill repeats along with the long runs. I should be in good shape come the Quad Dipsea if I follow through the training plan. Just tough to get motivated at this time of the year for me.

Football season is on. I need Tivo.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Indian Summer

I don't remember the last time we didn't have an Indian Summer in San Francisco, seems like we have it every year. This year I started to have my doubts, last weekend we were socked in and I was glad to be in Santa Cruz. Monday it was nice but it went back to the heavy fog mid-week with weather reports stating that we could drop by as much as 30 degrees by the weekend. I left the house today for a workout with the TAG tri group all dressed in layers and thankfully I didn't need them. It's stinkin' warm out there, blue skies and tons of people about. Some canoe race in Crissy Field and an Alcatraz swim at Aquatic Park.

So triathlon training is pretty much done for the year, except for all this volunteer stuff I'm going with the TAG triathlon group. Today I got a preview of some the kids who will be kicking my butt next year. Pretty much all of them are newbs but you can already see the fast folks. More power to them.

Easy day today, been an easy week. Monday is the official start of my training for the Quad Dipsea, the last A race in my calendar. Difficult to get motivated but I think I can do it. This is my favorite race. The past week has been slow, physically and mentally:) but no injuries and the body seems to be rebounding fine. Went for a 9-mile run last night and it felt good. Slower than usual but great. Doing a 6-hour run tomorrow to assess my running fitness for ultra. It just so happens that J.P. and Janet are also out running trails tomorrow, preparing for the New York Marathon. Meeting them at the Pantoll Ranger station at Mt. Tam. It's perfect! Pantoll is a 4 hour trek from my place and I finish my last two hours with them. On top of that they'll give me a ride home. Sweet!

I hope it's like this tomorrow, which reminds me, gotta pack those salt tablets.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Big Kahuna Race Report


BigKahuna
At the Big Kahuna Triathlon this past Sunday in Santa Cruz. That's Geoff who placed 6th in his age group. In the background is coach Duane Franks who placed 5th in his age group.


Back in college, when I was already in San Francisco having transferred from the University of Hawaii the year before, I went home to visit my parents in Honolulu. The family sport growing up was Waterskiing and of course while I was down there I went skiing with the fam. I was out of shape and into the typical college things; eating crap, staying up late, working a lot and exercising very little. Body is not ready but I get on the course and the mind takes over. It knows just how to direct the body; where to shift the weight, when to change handles, when to bend the knees, it's like riding a bike. I finish exhausted and the next day I was so friggin' sore. The mind, it doesn't forget but the body on the other hand.... "the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak". Sunday was a bit like that.

The race was by far the worst triathlon performance I've put together:) The only reason I'm okay with it is because I went in knowing that I didn't have enough training to try a PR that day and did it anyway. I was rolling the dice, gambling that maybe I just had enough. That maybe I could make up for the lack of training with will power and endurance. Needless to say it became a sufferfest. Ha! but a good time nevertheless. I laughed during the race and I was in an even better mood once I finished. I was happy to finish and most of all I beat Serena's friend Matt. We were racing against each other.

It was a great day all around. I get into the start/transition area at 5:45AM and the first thing I hear is laughter. Several people were out testing their bikes, being loud and having a good time. A number of people were out jogging. Everyone seems relaxed. I meet up with friends and had all the time I needed to get ready. Totally laid back start.

The gun goes off and I await the start of my wave, all the waves were seperated by 7 mins. Despite having only picked up my swim training a month and a half ago (the start of my Big Kahuna training:)I felt prepared. All my training swims were in the bay with conditions much harder than the race's. I come out ahead of the swim and my T1 transition (swim to the bike) was also faster than last years. The swim finish and the bike transition is about 1/8 of a mile apart with nothing but concrete in between. This year I was smarter, I brought slippers like some of the other folks. While running in slippers ain't fun, it beat last years jog on barefeet.

I start the bike strong and in control. I reminded myself to keep it within my limits. Push hard but not to the point of trashing myself. I get passed a zillion times but I hold on to my pace. I was determined to run my own race. The bike ride was beautiful, it was on the coast along Highway 1. At one point I looked at the ocean and saw a perfect wave come in with surfers on in the water. About a quarter of a mile from the turnaround point Matt yells at me, he was already headed back to Santa Cruz. I already had it in the plan to negative split the ride so I thought I might as well chase Matt, bad move. I chased and went too hard, harder than I should have. This was the point that I lost control of my race. I knew it but gunned it anyway. I never caught Matt and with all that hard work I only managed to break even with last year's bike time. Worse, I trashed my back in the process.

On the run the legs were extremely tight at the start, took them a full 20mins to unwind but soon as they did I started noticing major pain in both sides of my lower back. Nothing sharp to signal injury but a deep down ache and pain on both sides. Imagine clamps on the sides of your lower back that would tighten when you increased speed or had to go up minor inclines. I had to walk and run, pain got really intense, it was some grade A stuff. Stretching helped and I had to do that regularly along with walking. Caught Matt after the first mile though, hehehe. He was suffering too. He was so determined not to let me catch him on the bike that I think he also over extended himself on the bike. Just a theory but he looked like I felt. We chatted briefly and I continued on. On the 9th mile and I don't know how to explain it, the pain abated by as much as 95% and I was able to increase my pace and run continuously. No problem with the legs at this point. The walking and running had them feeling great, they even said to me "What's deal yo bro? Why we goin so slow?" I caught up to a number of folks who passed me on the run which made me feel better. It was too late however to save my race but I finished strong, looking good for the cheering crowd. I managed a 2:01 (9:18 pace) for the run, a lot longer than last years 1:42.(7:50 pace). I lost time on the run but it all started on the bike. Nevertheless I saved my race from going over 6 hours and just finishing was a huge relief. My calves were starting to cramp on the last mile. I don't cramp! The last time I felt cramps was at a 100k run this year and that was because I was en route to a PR. I was never in a bad mood but there was a moment when I thought that I should scrub the rest of my season since I was such an idiot. Thankfully that low moment passed pretty quickly.

The finish was great. The first thing I did was eat, get cleaned up and got my stuff put away asap so all I had to do was hangout. After getting back to the finish line I meet up with friends, hung out with Matt and his brother Mike and met some new people. I listened to some of the live Hawaiian music, ate some more, watched people finish, took more pictures and got some sun. It was great

So this race finishes at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. There's rides, restaurants, a rollercoaster and a whole lot of carnival type stuff. It's packed with locals and tourists, most of which didn't even know there was a triathlon going on. Walking through them to get back to the bike transition area was quite a treat. I don't wanna brag or anything but I think I got a few stares from the ladies, just not sure if they thought I looked cool in spandex or they were disgusted with all the salt and sweat, with my beat up, hunched over shuffle and glazed look in my eyes:)

For the drive home I had one of those giant Slurpee's from 711. All that sugar didn't keep me awake though. Halfway through I had to pull over and nap for 15 minutes. It was either that or jumping jacks to get the blood flowing again. I choose the nap for obvious reasons:)

Monday, September 11, 2006

Great Day to Suffer

Donald's word "sufferfest". Well it was that on the bike and especially on the run. To say that I wasn't sufficiently trained for this event is not entirely accurate. I had enough of everything to finish/complete the event however just not enough to set a PR. That was the gamble I was taking and sad to say I didn't make it well this time :) I studied for a quiz and opted to take the exam. The time to beat from last year was 5:35:48 and I came in at 5:49:54. I thought I had a good chance of beating last years time despite minimal training because last year's race came two weeks after a particularly difficult 100-mile ultra and my body wasn't fully recovered. Shucks, I was wrong.

Today is a particularly slow day, I'm hurtin:) Not only did I not PR but I finished a wreck. Walking on my toes and bending at the knee cause I can't bend my back too far. Cracks me up! You're super one day and a shuffling casualty the next. Well I gave it a good shot, paid for it yet came away, seemingly with no injuries and a finish. I survived yet another one!

Details and photos to follow. I thoroughly enjoyed the race, even on the run when my back was screaming at me to stop and my legs were laughing at me. Grimacing smiles all around. I thought it was an even better event than last years. The people were fantastic from the volunteers, spectators to the racers. The venue is awesome. Swim around the Santa Cruz Pier, Bike on Highway 1 along the coast and the Run on the cliffs by the sea with a little section of trail. Weather was perfect. No surprise if I was back for 2007.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

One

Yesterday at registration this nice old lady, after helping me with my parking pass, smiled and remarked "you look fast". I laughed and replied "I just look fast, but I should finish." So, to the finish with all the speed, power and skill I can muster! And may I look good doing it:)

A special shout out to the Ironmen and Ironwomen at IM Moo (Ironman Wisconsin). Forecast says cold, wind and rain on their race. When the going gets tough I'll think of them too. Got several folks from the club doing IM Moo. One of them I actually know, nice guy and fast. Serena's guy is out there too. He's faster, a contender for his age group.

Off I go!

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Two

Muntik Na, means "Almost". As in I almost ate it on the TAG training group bike ride this morning. As planned I was out this morning to help out since they were low on volunteers. I was out riding nice and easy, nothing crazy. On the third loop, feeling bored, I gunned it on a straight away heading into a tight left turn. I came in fast tucked into my aerobars. As I was going in I realized I was going too fast, saw the gravel on the road and got out of aero position. As I braked, the back started sliding so I had to straighten out of the turn. Great so now I was sliding, still going fast and head for the curb. Got it under control and poured on the brakes again and this time the bike started fishtailing. I let go of the brake, bike straightened out, I hit the brakes again and the back starts sliding again. This time however as I regained control of the bike for the third time I was going slow enough to pull off a hard left to completely avoid the curb. There was some screaming in the background from one of the girls. Great, such an idiot.

It all happened so fast and I didn't think about it. My body went on auto and took over...one of those things. I was scared but not overly so and soon as it was over i was fine. Road rash was a definite result had I crashed, at the least. Can you imagine swimming in the ocean with road rash! Wetsuit over the injury then sea water, lovely. That would have sucked. Idiot. Needless to say it was back to slow and easy for the rest of the ride this morning.

I'm ready. A full day today but I got most of my rest earlier this week. I'll probably go down for only a couple of hours before I wake up, routine. Looking forward for the peaceful ride to the race tomorrow. Tunes and coffee. Love it.

Friday, September 08, 2006

Three

Just dealt my taper a blow. Had so much work to do...work, work. Luckily I slept well this whole week and if I get a goodnight's rest tonight I will be great. Despite the lack of sleep and all the rush today I couldn't help being excited about the race. I'm pumped now. If I feel this way come race day it will be a good day. But between now and then there's life...ya'll know how that goes. TAG Triathlon group is desperate for volunteers so I volunteered to workout with them tomorrow, real easy of course and just to provide support. Then the Ironman Canada gang is having a reunion I was invited cause I was a "supporter". Sweet, do I get a shirt? After that is the drive to Santa Cruz to pick up my number then back to the city to have dinner with friends visiting from Germany. Somewhere in there is someone's birthday party, or was it more than one person? Hmmm...forgot. Then more work, I have to put in hours this weekend, if not before then after the race. Sweet, bring it all on!

I'm especially happy tonight because I got a decent rental for the weekend for a change. For those of you that don't know, I don't own a car and just rent when I needed. Anyway my last rental was a minivan, all they had left at the time and I felt like a dad in it. Before that I had a small red under powered Ford Focus, felt like a teenage girl in it. But this time, this time I got a nice zippy compact. Oh I know, rent mid-size and above and you'll get a decent car anyway, it's more fun and cheaper this way. Race day is Sunday morning. Looking forward to the nice drive to the start with a good cup of Joe and great tunes. From my place it's about a 1.5 hour drive with no traffic. If a race is within 2.5 hours driving from my place I drive to the start. You see I don't sleep much the night of a race and I much prefer to toss and turn in my own bed.

Anyway it's time for a non-sport topic. All this sport talk is getting me too excited.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Butterflies? Really?


BigKahunaLogo
Event logo from the race website.


Serena: So how do you feel about Big Kahuna on Sunday?

Rick: Unexcited. I could do it, I could not do it, I don't care. Not into it.

And that's how it's been this past two weeks. I have been so unexcited about the upcoming race. People ask me and I just shrug my shoulders. Yet, yet I've tapering, making plans to clean the bike, switching out to race tires tomorrow, and this morning thinking about the race - butterflies. Someone inside is lying. Can you sandbag to yourself? I guess only if you truly have multiple personalities:)

The nagging thought in my head is that I'm not prepared for this race. Which is crazy because the two triathlons I did last year, both half-ironmans and one of them this very race, I was not prepared. Ralph's Half on March last year I went in still on the heavy side of my weight with only a handful of swims and bike rides. Big Kahuna last year I did the race two weeks after the Cascade Crest 100-miler with legs still not fully recovered from the run. I think....just a theory for the moment, it's because I know what it's like to be properly trained for a race now. The first half of this year I enjoyed the best season of training and racing. I trained well and ran excellent races. I can tell the difference now from being really prepared and just sort of prepared.

Well screw it, I'm jumping off this cliff Sunday morning. Thank God I have some endurance, barring any injury or accident I should cross that finish line one way or another. Ahahahaha...thinking like an ultra-runner. Last year I caught 70+ people on the run section and smiled every time I did it, damn the fast swimmers and bikers. I did however get passed by 3 people, all women and in their mid-40's. One of them smiled at me on her way back from the turnaround, now that's Aloha.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

A Whole Lot of Rubber


Ironman Canada
Ironman Canada Start. Photo courtesy of Ms. Janet Kang


Speaking of swimming, the start of IMC 2006. A whole lot of expensive rubber about to hit that water. Now I think I know what some of you trail runners out there are thinking,"hmmm...interesting but wait are those hills in the background?" Are there trails on them hills? Hey I was thinking it.

Monday, September 04, 2006

Swims


CoachPedro and I
Coach Pedro and I.


It's funny how I avoided swimming all year and now I totally enjoy it. The difference is the absence of the pool. I'll never be a great swimmer because of that, lap workouts definitely make you faster and more efficient. But at the same time the pool kills all my enjoyment for swimming, maybe I just need to find the right Master's group. We'll see.

Anyway Sunday I was out there again. So hard to get up on Sunday mornings, to leave the warmth of my bed for the cold of the bay - very difficult. I leave nevertheless knowing that I'll love it the water once I'm in. This past Sunday was no different, such a nice swim with folks from my tri-club. It was so calm yesterday, no currents and no chop. Quite different from Thursday night.

Last Thursdays swim was the best yet this year for me. It reminded me of a good trail run. This workout was with Coach Pedro's group. Coach Pedro welcomes everyone, clubs, no clubs, whatever. There was an ebb (water in the bay emptying out, current going towards the bridge) but the wind was blowing strong from the opposite direction. The two moving against each other created choppy conditions on the surface and small swells outside the protective wall of the cove. As we were heading out it got choppier and choppier. I swallowed a few mouthfuls of sea water before realizing I had to adjust my form. My mouth wasn't always clearing the chop and I was sucking in water. I had to pick up my head a bit and turn my head more. Then there was a stretch where we had to swim against the ebb. Just like an uphill, slow going and hard. I just kept my head down kept grinding it out. All I could think about was how good it was going to feel when we rounded the corner and we could swim "downhill" on the way back. The swim back was indeed faster swimming with the current but this time we were outside the protective wall. The current was carrying us right into the wind driven swells:) It was sweet. Imagine crawling over barrels, up and down, up and down. An added perk was the view of Alcatraz, everytime I breathed on my right side there she was. A good swim. The days are getting shorter, maybe another month of these evening swims before they close it down for the year.

Friday, September 01, 2006

How Stubborn Is Olga?


Olga
Olga Varlamova.


This is awesome. I'm worried and amused at the same time. My friend and occasional mentor Olga V. has decided, despite being still injured, undertrained and out of her usual shape, to run the Rio del Lago 100-miler on September 22nd. In her own word's from her blog:

"I sent my application in today for RDL100. I am injured, untrained and unfit. I am not motivated to fight but curious if I have enough stubbornness to finish. And if I DNF I promise to have a smile on my face."

A grand experiment! She is going to test just how stubborn she is, I can't wait. A part of me wants to jump right off that cliff with her. I'm getting that fear/excitement feeling in me - great things have happened with those feelings. But this isn't about me, this is about Olga and I volunteered to be her pacer. She mentioned DNF but I'm sure it's the last thing on her mind.

On the Trail Again


JasonCoastal
Jason on Coastal Trail.


So after the TAG workout, some of us went for a longer ride - the real ride. It was just my luck that I went with guys who could climb well. I got worked hard on the hills, good but hard on the quads. Eventually however, with enough time, I was able to keep up with a couple of them. I didn't get faster they just got tired eventually:) Couldn't catch Justin though, just much quicker on them hills. Anyway at the end of this ride as I was enjoying short sprints, this gold colored SUV pulls up next to me. So I think to myself "what now, I hope they're not trying to ask me a question while I'm trying to make this left turn". So I slow down and as I look over I see Jason. He's on the passenger seat yelling something, laughing, then takes off. I meet up with him later at the Sports Basement parking lot. He was out all morning and had yet to go on his 3 hour run, wanted to know if I was game. Sure. An hour later we were off headed toward the bridge.

It was the first time I've run trail since my last race, heck it was the first time I ran with Jason since my last race. Been doing the Triathlon thing - lots of road and asphalt. Sounds like heresy to my trail running buddies. Ahahaha what can I say, I'm a double dipper. Been awhile since I ran those Marin hills and they definitely were kicking my butt but it felt right. We weren't there very long but it felt good to be on the trails again. Sweet sweet trail. By the time I got back into town I was definitely whooped. Jason and I parted ways at Fort Mason. Soon as he was gone I put in a nice long walk, "thank goodness he's gone now I can rest a bit". I distinctly remember thinking the same thing at WS after he finished pacing me:)