A Good Day for Running

Without actually running. Today I got my official Western States 100-Mile Race acceptance and informational booklet. Nice. I don't know why I'm so excited, I guess it's cause I've been trying to get in and finally did. It's the biggest race for american ultra-marathoners, a nice big race party. Then at the end of the day UPS delivered two pairs of my favorite trail shoes. They were on sale so I figured I'd pick up two pairs for next year. One to train on and one to race with. Yeah, a good day. In the meantime I think I just gained another pound. Damn my good apettite.

Flashback Curry

I was just making some curry a moment ago. Mmmmm...lots of vegetables and some pork - looks good! And while I was stirring it all up I remembered that during my first year here I used to make the same curry mix but only with potatoes. I couldn't afford meat or any other vegetables to throw in. I would also add too much water to make the mix go longer and added salt to season. Ahahaha, my first year in San Francisco and at the Academy of Art. I lost so much weight I looked good. My roomate Juan from Columbia was in the same position. What little we had went to our schooling; classes, supplies, yada, yada, yada. We got help from our families but just enough for the important stuff. I wasn't working then and neither was Juan. We were cramped together in a small studio where we constantly worked all night in our drafting tables which were at the foot of our beds facing the bay window and the street. We constantly talked about girls and food, none of the former and a meager supply of the latter. There was a nice girl that I met my first day in school, we became fast friends and I asked her out eventually, unfortunately she didn't feel the same way. Hey wait a minute, that's still happening! Crap! Ahahaha... Our sound system was Juan's personal cd player with two tiny speakers connected. We had like 10 cd's between the two of us and one of them was Kenny G. Okay I'll come clean, it was mines:( Things looked up towards the end of that semester though when my friend Kevin sent me his old handheld b/w tv with a 3.5" screen. That was the best. We cleared out my drafting table, hooked up the cd speakers to it, turned off the lights, prepared some Ramen and watched TV. It was magical, Star Trek the New Generation was on. I remember that I also got mugged a block from the dorm but it was totally my fault. We were out past 3AM and we lived on the edge of the Tenderloin. My friend Curtis in the other dorm had a craving for Lori's Diner (they were open 24h those days) and he was willing to treat. On the way back we split at the distance that was halfway between our two dorms and I got mugged on the way back to mine's. It took a couple of months to get over that one, until I did Curtiss would escort me in the evenings. Curtis was a skinny 18 year old and weighed like 115 pounds. I could beat up Curtis. However he did have that crazy look and watchout if he's carrying his t-square. Fall of 1993, bittersweet times. I hated San Francisco but loved my new school.

Now here I am, going on 12+ years in San Francisco, the longest I've ever lived in one place and I have no plans on moving any time soon. I love it here. I made it through that damn school but still spend many nights by a window working away.
Maybe I'll fire up iTunes and put on some Kenny G. Ahahaha heck no, I'll put on the Breeder's Cannonball from their Last Splash album. The first music I bought in SF and was recorded in the Tenderloin.

All this from a pot of curry.

Western States 100-Miler

FINALLY.
4 years ago when I decided to give ultra-marathoning a go, I was aiming for the Western States 100-Miler. It's the oldest and most popular of the nation's 100 mile races. I gave myself 3 years to do it. Well here we are, I'm heading into my 5th year in the sport, I've run over a dozen ultra-marathons including a couple of 100 milers and I still have yet to run this race. The problem is in the race's popularity. There are only 349 slots and too many runners want to do it. So like the New York Marathon they instituted a lottery system, the only ones exempt are the pro's and the fast amateurs. Not being either I've been entering the lottery. The last two years my name has failed to come up but according to the rules if I qualified and applied for the third time my entry would be automatic. Almost didn't happen. I forgot to mail in the application and remembered it the night before the deadline. I was ready to drive to Sacramento to the race directors home to make sure it got in on time, fortunately I didn't have to.

Today was the lottery and even though I knew my entry was automatic it was still awesome to see my name on the list of entrants.

Here's to the new year.

Quad Dipsea yet Again!: A Race Report

My third Quad Dipsea, a 28 mile / 44.8k trail running race. I love this event. It's on Thanksgiving weekend, officially signals the end of my season, a great opportunity to meet other runners, get reacquainted with old friends, a beautiful yet brutal course and free food and drinks at the finish. And because it's 4 times across the course, you get to see everyone - from the lead runner to the last multiple times. The Dipsea trail is about 7 miles / 11.2k and very hilly, Quad runners cross it 4 times. As always by the time this race comes around I'm heavier, hardly training and looking forward to the "off-season", which starts promptly after I cross the finish line. Actually it's less of a race and more of a social fun run for me.

Well like last year I didn't have a ride to the race. I forgot what happened last year but this year I came late to the car rental place the day before. No car, no ride. My back up plans fell through as well so at 6AM Saturday morning I was on a street corner waiting for a bus which ended up dropping me off 4.5 miles / 7.2k from where I needed to be. So I ran, maybe not the smartest thing to do but I didn't have much time.

The first year I did this I came in at 5:40 the next year I came in at 5:45 but it had rained the night and morning before, so I was definitely faster the second year. The Dipsea course is gnarly enough in good weather, add in puddles, mud, slippery roots and rocks and it's a killer. Both years I also started in the back. This year I thought I could improve my time by starting closer to the front. The first crossing, the first 7miles, went well but I went faster than I wanted. Second crossing went even better but on the start of the third crossing, a mile into it, I hit a wall. I felt sluggish and I was hungry. Huh...hungry? I've been drinking and eating, how's that possible and only 3 hours into a race? I ate more, drank more and took in some salt as well. I'm a veteran of 100 mile ultras and here I am bonking at mile 15 of a 28 mile race. What the F?. By the time I got to Stinson beach, the end of the third leg, I had recovered a bit but not by much, plus my legs already felt trashed. Right knee was acting up and overall I felt like crap. On the last and final leg back to Mill Valley I hit another low and stayed there. My legs hurt so much I couldn't run down the technical downhills and I LOVE running technical downhills. I think I had what they called "blown-out" quads. It hurt to run downhill, especially the rooty, rocky parts. The final set of 700+ stairs back to Mill Valley and the finish was agony. I had to walk ,gingerly, the quads just wouldn't have any of it. I prayed on that final crossing. My final time was 6:12. That was pretty bad but not as bad as I felt physically.

Nevertheless I fully enjoyed myself. The weather was awesome and the views amazing. The volunteers were great as always and there were lots of people on hand to cheer us on. The other runners were great and there were even several cute girls running the race. Awesome, awesome weather. My friend J.P. Sulpizio had an amazing race. This was his first ever official ultra-marathon and he came in 7th at 4:36:57. I chowed on the free food afterwards; a hotdog, soup and soda. Got my free shirt and schwag. Met a couple of cool folks, Chikara Omine and Hector. Chikara is a fast runner, came in 8th and Hector was waiting for his sister and brother who were still out on the course. Also got to catch up with Brian who I met at this race 3 years earlier. He had a bad day, he was on his way to a personal best, passing me in the process when an old injury flared up. Anyway Brian had just finished his first 100 mile ultra back in September and he and his wife is expecting their second child. Nice. I ended up getting a ride back to the city with Chikara. Legs stiffened up badly on the way to the car..bad sign.

Back at the apartment I filled the bathtub with freezing cold water and sat in it. Heck I was already in pain anyway, what's another 20 more minutes of it. Besides the cold was going to make everything better in the long run. Damn I felt like shit, not even after the Cascade Crest 100-Miler back in August did I feel this bad and that was a tough race. That was the worst performance yet but I finished, I survived and I enjoyed myself. I've never not finished a race I started but had this race been longer it would have been the first. Next year....next year...will better, hopefully.