Slacker

Ok, I had every intention of running Pacific Coast trail runs Muir Beach 50K and Rodeo Beach 50K in December but due to circumstances beyond my control, I didn't.  I have got to get to the trails and do some hills.  If not, I will seriously be in trouble come March for Coyote Two Moon!

So, tentatively, this is my race schedule until WS.

January:  Angel Island 50K

                    Pacifica 50K

February:  Surf City Marathon

                      Jed Smith 50 mile

                      Sequoia 50K

March:  CTM

                Pirates Cove 50K

                Lake Sonoma 50 mile

April:  AR50

              Diablo 50 mile

May:  Miwok (?)

            Quick Silver 50 mile

            Skyline 50K

June:  Diablo 50K

Western States!

Pretty ambitious huh?

Run Fun....

CIM

Sunday, December 7th, was the California International Marathon in Sacramento, CA.   Connor and I drove up to Sac. to cheer on fellow ShadowChase members who were running there very first marathon.  We drove downtown looking for a good place to cheer.  We ended up right before the 25 mile marker. 

 

There were two women across from us who had a string of bra's hooked together and were yelling, "We support you".  It was great.

 

 I saw lots of familiar faces and pretty soon, Danielle came running up.  Shortly after, Mark and Dave came running by.  It was great to see them  with smiles on their faces so late in the game.  They finished up in 5 hours 20 something and are already back out there training.  Good job!

Run Fun..

North Face volunteer report

On December 6th, Connor, Roos and I volunteered at the North Face 50K/50 Mile Championship endurance run.  The race starts at Rodeo Beach and follows some of the Miwok course and some of the Dipsea course and then finishes up back at Rodeo Beach.  

We worked at the Old Inn aid station at Muir Woods.  The aid station is mile 19 for the 50K and mile 36 for the 50 mile.  

The weather was absolutely beautiful!  My job was to check the 50 mile runners as they entered the aid station.  Roos' job was accelerade/water server.  Connor of course, just played and entertained himself while eating lots of M&M's.  It was great to see so many foreign and elite competitors.  Matt Carpenter won the 50 mile with a time of 6:49.  That's a 8:12 pace on a course with 19,000+ elevation gain.  Amazing!

It was embarassing as they day went on, we ran out of chips, brownies, Gu's, jelly, coke, and sprite.  We didn't have any heating elements, so we had to serve up cold chicken broth.  I was glad I brought my bag because I had electrolytes and ginger with me for those runner's in need.

We did have plenty of accelerade, water, ice and fruit though and I am hoping next year, they will have better stocked aid stations.

This does look like a very challenging run, I might consider running the 50 mile next year.  

Run Fun.. 

Turkey Trot

The pre-registration table and the chilly volunteers!

On Thanksgiving Day, our local junior college puts on a mile and 5K.  This year I volunteered to help.  It is a big event for our running club because we do the timing, monitoring the course, and registration.  This year there were over 1400 participants.

It was very cold when we arrived and I set out to work the pre-registration table.  They offer early packet pick up at the junior college, so many take advantage of that but pre-reg is still a happening place.  Unfortunately, they didn't order enough L and XL shirts, so we ran out very quickly.  

Connor and his friend, Charlie did the mile and 5K while Roos walked the 5K.  It is a great family event and it was our 3rd year in a row.  

After the pre-registration table, I went to help at the finish line shoot.  It is amazing how many out-of-shape MEN get out there and give it there all only to come in to the finish line drooling or nearly up-chucking.  Not a pretty sight!  

We didn't stay for the awards because I had to go in to work. 

Of course, we'll  do this event next year - what's better than running and then stuffing your self later with turkey and all the trimmings... 

Run Fun... 

San Antonio

San Antonio Rock n Roll marathon - the last run in the year of Rockin n Rollin'.  I have never been to San Antonio and was kind of excited to visit some of the sights.  We flew in on Thursday and went to the Riverwalk in the late afternoon.  Wow, that is great.  You could gain 10 pounds in one visit going from restraurant to bar, to bar, to bar, etc.  We took the boat ride that goes around the Riverwalk.  I love these kinds of tours.  The tour guide is usually some retired guy who is a native and can tell you stories from long ago.  It is a great way to learn the history.

We ate at Dick's Last Resort.  If you have never eaten at one of these restraurants, I would highly suggest it.  The staff are extremely rude!  It's their trade mark.  

On Friday, we went to the expo for the race.  We went to some of the lectures they provided.  John (the penquin) Bingham was there.  He is very funny!  His wife was also lecturing and she was great.  We spent about 5 hours there.  That's a pretty long time at an expo but we had lots of fun.  

As you can see from the photo above, we went to the Alamo.  You would expect the Alamo to be this great big, gigantic fortress out in the middle of now where.  Well, it is right in the middle of downtown and it's about two blocks in size.  In fact, right across the street, you can go to Ripley's Believe it or Not or to the Wax musuem, really - believe it or not!

On race day morning, we left early, thankfully, because the traffic was backed up on the freeway for MILES.  They bused you to the start and it was crowded.  I can't believe how many dorky people I saw wearing their stupid blue capes....

It was very cold and of course you have to stand around for what seems like hours and by the time the race starts, your feet are little chunks of ice that take about 5 miles to finally thaw out.  The course travels by the Alamo and of course Ripley's and the Wax musuem, the missions, and then out in nowwhere land.  It was hillier than I expected but I like the rolling hills.  I tried to stay on an even pace but I felt like I was slowing down.  On one of my walk breaks, the 3:50 pace group came charging up.  Crap, I wanted to run around 3:45 so I tried to stay ahead of them.  Eventually, I ran with them for a few miles but pulled ahead around mile 24.  I rounded the corner to mile 25 and ran parallel with Roos on the half marathon course.  He ran with me for awhile but then returned to a walk.  If I wasn't so stubborn about getting my goal time, I would have walked with him.  At mile 26.1 is this huge frigging hill.  It was short but steep - very cruel.  Once you get to the top and turn the corner you can see the finish line.  I finished about 15  minutes ahead of Roos.  I waited for him and we had our photo taken together, kind of cool.  I might actually buy that one!

 I finished 3:46 and Roos finished 3:11 ( a new PR for him).  Anita and Andy finished together in 4:48.  We waited in line for the shuttle bus for almost an hour, hit the hotel for a shower and then some much needed food.  We had a great time.  

The series of rock n rolls was fun because of all the traveling.  I enjoyed that part very much.  I got to go to Nashville, Virginia Beach and San Antonio.  

I won't ever do those series of runs again, or even another rock n roll event for that matter.  Those Elite racing people must be bathing in tubs of money!!!!

Run fun.....

Super Six

This year, Anita, Andy and myself completed all six of the Rock n Roll events sponsered by Competition (formerly elite racing). They consisted of:  Arizona Rock n Roll marathon,  Nashville Rock n Roll marathon, San Diego Rock n Roll marathon, Virginia Beach Rock n Roll half marathon, San Jose Rock n Roll half marathon and San Antonio Rock n Roll marathon.  

Prior to the start of the San Antonio marathon, we received an email that stated their was a "special gift" for us at the Rock n Roll booth at the expo.  Well imagine my surprise when we received the blue cape with the Super Six logo.  What were these people thinking?  Why not give us a nice dry fit shirt with the logo that people actually might wear?

Of course, the participation survey only allows you 100 words to make your comments and I was only half way done complaining when I hit 100 words....

Up next, my San Antonio race report.

Run Fun......

What was I thinking?

On Saturday, October 25th and 26th, I planned to run the San Francisco One Day.  It is a run hosted by Pacific Coast Trail Runs.  I have done many of their events.  Wendell and Sarah are the owners and put together trail events from Malibu to Oregon.  They are very low key events and are lots of fun.  

This run consisted of running in loops.  A 1.067 mile loop around Crissy fields.  I know, a one mile loop, how borrring........  But as you can see, the day turned out beautifully.  The weather was nice, even a little on the warm side.  There were many people running and we set off at 9 am.  My goal was to run slow and consistant.  I had my watch set for 10 and 1.  During my 1 minute walk I would drink.  The start/finish was also the aid station.  For the first 20 loops, I was consistantly hitting the start/finish area on my walk break, which was very convenient.  I tried to eat lots of food. 

Here I am taking a break.  This photo was taken by Rick Gaston.  He lives in SF and came to help.  He stayed for the entire 24 hours!

After 20 loops, I walked a loop.  It was close to 2 p.m. and very warm.  

Around 3:30 - 4, Roos and Connor showed up and I ended up walking several loops with them.  Connor was having a great time, he even did a few laps with Aaron, Wendall and Sarah's son.

This photo, taken by Leanne was around 5p.  I was getting tired and my legs were like tree trunks.  Since WS was cancelled and I took a recovery break, I haven't done any really long events - pacing Scott was the longest I've run.  I don't know what made me think I could go from 33 miles to a 24 hour run.  I began to seriously consider my planning.  What was I thinking??

Leanne also took this photo.  I continued to go loop after loop but I really wasn't having any fun.  I had walked several loops.  I walked some with Connor, a few with Roos, one with Craig, one with Leanne, one with Heather and after 12 hours 14 minutes, I decided to call it a day.  I completed 56.7 miles, which I am very happy with.  A great training run.  Many Shadowchasers were out in force and had a wonderful day.  Vance did over 109 miles, Linda did 100.3, for second place female and Charles ran 100.3 - his very first 100 mile run.  

It was nice to go back to the hotel.  I took an ice bath and soaked my tired legs.  

The next morning, we decided to walk across the Golden Gate bridge.  Of course, the weather was cold and foggy!  We could hardly see the bridge.  It felt great to walk and loosen up the legs.  Surprisingly, I felt good enough to run on Tuesday.  Overall, I had a great time, even thought I was overly ambitious and undertrained!  

Run fun....