Uno Momento

br>Resting in one of the cabins situated along the course while Tony was doing one of his loops. Not much sleep was had the entire weekend I was in North Carolina. I'd do it all over again though.

Still here. Made it back home safely. Just catching up on sleep and plowing through the work that has piled up. I've already written the first draft and some of you will wish it was this short. I have to go back and edit of course.

Tony did great, killed the run and came away with a huge PR not only for the course but for the 100-mile distance itself. Ran pretty much a perfect race, as close to perfect. He was so strong on the last 50 miles when I paced him that I can put it down on my log as a training run. Unbelievable. Last year I failed on my quest to go under the 20-hour mark for the 100 mile distance at San Diego 100 but the lessons learned from that attempt I was able to apply to Tony's quest at Umstead. I pushed him pretty hard like I usually did. He can never pace me at a 100-mile race because I would hate for him to pay me back for all the tough love I've given him these four races I've crewed and paced for him. He came away victorious though. A performance that will inspire me for my upcoming 100-mile races this summer.

Hello North Carolina

This whole running thing has taken me to places I've never thought of visiting before. North Carolina is one of them and here I am, crewing and pacing for the Umstead 100-mile. Tony has big goals for this one. I think he has a shot but everything has to go right, no mistakes and he has to run his best race ever. Can he do it? Well I am here to help him.

He's already asleep and it ain't even 10pm yet. I can't sleep the night before big races and I don't know how people like Tony do it. As for me, I just finished my second beer and it took a whole lot of self control not to go back downstairs for another. I'll be up all day tomorrow too but I'm only running a fraction of the distance with opportunities for catnaps before I pace.

The weather here is a lot like San Francisco's, cold and drizzly. Possible thunderstorms are forecasted for Sunday however. If all goes according to plan we shouldn't spend a lot of time running on Sunday morning. I'll do my best to try and make that happen.

Tony and I, running together once again. This will be the fourth race I will be crewing and pacing for him. The last one, Javelina Jundred last year, was our best so far. Can we top it?

Never Gets Old

View from the top of Mt. Tam looking back towards San Francisco.

Mt. Diablo in the distance. Taller by a 1000 ft. or so, hot during the summer and less tree cover. Races there have left me depleted for days. Much respect for that mountain and those trails.

One of my favorite places and the view from here never gets old. Sometimes there is no view and that's good too. In the early days of my involvement in the sport of ultra I used to run here from my apartment in the city and back. I'd do it once every 6 weeks or so and depending on the route it would take 10-12 hours, approximately 50-60 miles. I don't do it anymore. These days my long runs hover around 6-7 hours but are more frequent.

After a great day of running trails at WTC 50k it was just as good to run the trails of Marin. This was the next day after the race, Sunday. Unless it's a 100-miler I noticed that these days I don't get really sore until the afternoon after - DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). So if I can sneak in another run the best time would be within that 24 hour window.

I went to church that Sunday morning and some friends invited me to go hiking with them. I don't really hike because when I hit the trails all I want to do is run. So I asked if I could come along so I could run and they were nice enough to take me along. We started on a trailhead that I wasn't familiar with. There are many ways to the top but I get stuck using the same trails. It was nice to have that "I'm not sure where I'm going" feeling in a place I'm familiar with. Curiously the 6 or so miles to the top, mostly fire road at a gentle grade, felt really, really good. I chased down a few bikes and played tag with another, having a conversation with him every time we passed each other. The trip down was hard and slow with the muscles tight. By the time I got back down to the bottom the sun was going down and sure enough I was already feeling very sore and stiff. I stretched under the trees while waiting for the crew to finish their hike.

Besides running I didn't get a lot done last weekend as you can imagine but the world isn't more of a terrible place because of the things I left undone. What a great weekend of running trails and after taking the following Monday off and an easy recovery run on Tuesday I've been back hitting the miles feeling stronger. Speed is down but to be expected after a race but that too will come back. Next race isn't until the end of April. I had two months of hard training heading into WTC, the next race should be better since I'll have even more time on the trails by the time it comes around.

TGIF! Hope you all have a great weekend.

Running with Greyhounds

Fellow ultra-marathoner Luis Velasquez sends me a note via Facebook saying something about how fast I was like a rabbit. I sent him back a note saying that I sure was a rabbit but among Greyhounds.

"Way Too Cool 50k" was Way Too much Fun, well organized with amazing volunteers. In a nutshell I ran hard, gambled, lost but was able to keep it together and finished in 4:58 smiling and in very good spirits. The mud and stream crossings were as advertised; messy, tricky and whole lot of fun - if you're into that kind of thing. I was 72 out of 472 runners. Felt like the slacker in my carpool because my two buddies were in the top 20. Next time I need to carpool with people more my speed, kidding.

The day started out cold, low hanging fog at the start which quickly cleared up before the 8am start. It never got hot despite the sun but a mudfest awaited us along with numerous creek crossings. The creek crossings were a blessing because they washed some of the mud off which were at times ankle deep. The cold water felt good on the legs but at the same time they were tricky to navigate. Karyn Hoffman told me at the finish that she took an unplanned swim on one stream when she slipped. For the most part they were not too deep but the rocks underneath were hard to see and it was tough to judge depth. My main concern was turning an ankle, planting my foot on the edge of a rock or on one that shifted under my weight. When you are running hard, leaping into the air to cover as much distance over the water as possible, moving with a lot of momentum and speed, you pray that you made the right decision where to plant. Just before the ALT1 aid station, in front of cheering spectators and Tropical John Medinger's camera, I almost took a header myself into the water when I unexpectedly stepped into a deep part of the creek with my left foot. It was like coming down a flight of stairs and forgetting there was one more step left. There was one that was waist deep, no choice but to slow down on this one. It felt great, a quick cold water bath on the leg muscles but clambering on the other side was painful. The race has a total elevation gain of 3600 feet which isn't a lot but the conditions on the trail made it tougher.

I started out conservatively as I usually do and found myself in the early miles talking with a gentleman who has run the race many times. He informed me that he finishes about the same time every year. I asked him what his time was last year and he said, "about 6:12 but I'm 4 minutes ahead of my pace right now". That was a swift kick in the butt and I shifted gears pretty quickly after that. Before the first aid station at mile 7, I catch up to Karalee Morris and Gary Wang and felt better about my pace. I chatted a bit with Karalee and she told me not to worry, that I was a good runner. Silly but I felt more relaxed after she said that. Another case of a woman soothing a man's ego so he can feel better and do what he has to do. Sad but true. After that first aid station I let it rip. I knew I was going too hard, too fast, too early but I dared myself to keep going, "punch the gas and hang on Gaston!" Besides I trusted in my ability to suffer gracefully in case I blew. Miles 7-21 was a dream. I felt great and I was running down runners. I'd punch the accelerator on the uphills and the downhills and the engine went vrroooom. Unfortunately it didn't last, the wheels started to come off around mile 23 and not paying attention to my nutrition I also bonked. Caught it fairly quickly and a gel pack made me feel better but not before a couple of dark miles where I questioned my motivation for training and racing such events. I was getting passed back and it that didn't help. By mile 27 my legs were officially toasted but I had started working on the mental part of the game - staying positive, staying sharp and to keep pushing. "Pick a gear and keep it turning and smile ya dirty bastard smile" was what I repeated to myself. I continued to get passed but as the race progressed through it's final miles I improved mentally and was able to receive encouragement as well as give it. Their strong finishing pace inspired me to keep it together instead of making me despair. This was quite a departure on my usual M.O. at races. I'm the vulture runner. I'm the one who starts slow, lays back then picks off the dead with a strong finish. Not on Saturday.

When I returned to the Highway 49 aid station I was alone, the runners in front of me were far enough ahead and the runners behind far enough back. When I came in the place erupted in cheering and clapping. You would think I was the champ coming in for the finish. All the volunteers and spectators were clapping loudly, all eyes on me – phenomenal! Further buoyed by that show of support I hauled it the last 1.3 miles to the finish. Along the way I passed a very good runner, someone who should have been finishing closer to the 4 hour mark. It was obvious he was having a bad day. My heart went out to him and I mumbled his name as I passed but gunned it even harder once I was clear. We all have our battles and I was having my own with the clock on that final mile, totally gunning for that sub-5. The Swedish Bikini team could have pulled up alongside on that final mile and it would not have slowed the cadence of my legs.

Came in happy as a dog on a sunny day at the beach. Grinning like a fool and talking back to people all the way to the finish line. I was happy to have broken 5 hours but disappointed with my overall finishing time. I know I could have done better. I didn't stay disappointed for long however. I gambled and lost but I was able to hang on and keep my head in the game. I'm most proud of the latter. So important to keep it together mentally. When the mind goes, everything goes.

Post race was spent hanging out with friends, cleaning up and getting some chow. I was fortunate enough to have had the chance to talk to Leor Pantilat who won the race, successfully defending his win from last year. He chatted with about what happened on the front end and how he came through the finish line thinking he was second only to be told he was first. What also came through the conversation was how much respect he had for Geoff Roes and Max King. I've enclosed links to their race reports, the race from two of the top three.

Leor Pantilat - Race Report
Geoff Roes - Race Report

Congratulations to all the finishers. Kudos to RD Julie Fingar, her staff and all the volunteers and spectators. It was my first time and I'm sold. I'm putting my name in the lottery again for next year's race. Congratulations to my carpool buddies Joel Lanz (16th at 4:15) and Brett Rivers (18th at 4:19). It was a very good day for a race and it was a great event.

Results

Joel Lanz, Brett Rivers and Ted Knudsen at registration.

Zach Landman and Mark Tanaka at registration.

Jean Pommier, Pierre-Yves Couteau and Gary Gellin at registration

Ultra Signup's Mark Gilligan extending a warm greeting to Brett as Ted Knudsen looks on.

Race central.

Brett Rivers showing off the new Tamalpa Ultra Racing racing tops. Racing for the Tamalpa Running club this year.

Yours truly and that smile is genuine. I joined Tamalpa as well, more on this later.

Mark Tanaka of La Sportiva. One of the crazier ultra marathoners I know. He's an ER Doc, has two young kids and his race schedule last year would have taken me 3 years to complete.

Kara, Dana and Samantha. I met these guys through the triathlon scene but we now run ultras together. I'm supposed to pace and crew Kara at American River 50-mile. She and Dana will be running their first 50-mile race.

The signature frog cupcakes of WTC 50k.

Quick stop at the Auburn Running Company on our way back to San Francisco. That's Matt Keyes, we met at the 2006 Western States.