Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Western States Cancelled 2008
My heart goes out to those who trained so hard and were so excited for this years race. You are still my heroes.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
I Dwell Amongst the Gods
Had a special sneak preview of the Western States 100 2008 Program Guide today. Page 12 baby! Page 12!!!!There's a large photo of the Devil's Slide volunteer crew from last year and who stands somewhere in the middle, but little unassuming me. Pretty cool! I swear...it's a sign...
And speaking of gods, I am now an official Zombie Runner. My first day working for Gillian and Don started today and I am very excited to get to help them get their retail venue off the ground, not to mention just basking in all kinds of running gear. Opening date still TBD.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Mt. Diablo 8K
50K Race Start
There is one distinct advantage to the small races. There is absolutely zero pre-race worries. You don't worry so much about finishing, you don't worry about packing enough salt tabs and other supplements. You don't worry about which water bottle or pack or bring. You don't worry about lots of things. You just get up in the morning, put on your run clothes, grab your hand held and get in the car. Simple. Easy. And that's pretty much the way my day started on Sunday morning, almost.
The sun shining through the window startled me for some reason and I panicked for a moment thinking that I had overslept my 6 a.m. alarm. But nope. I was 15 minutes early with plenty of time to get out the door. By 7:30, I was in Oakland, picking up Todd at his apartment so we could carpool to the start.
There's something about driving into the Mitchell Canyon parking lot at Diablo that gets the adrenalin going. Maybe because this was my first 50K 2 years ago. I remembered being so excited at first and then terrified after I started hearing words like Badwater and Western States in conversations all around me. This race always seems to draw those names you hear over and over again, and the intimidation factor is always present but now more thrilling than the terrifying that it was a few years back.
It was on to say hello to some familar faces, and throughout the day I got the opportunity to ogle superheroes or blogstars or both like Jean Pommier, Jasper Haleks, Scott Dunlap, and Graham Cooper. The 4 star crowd also included those runners who were upping the ante by adding a 3rd loop to the already difficult 50K. I saw a bunch of them come in from their 2nd loop as I was volunteering and none that I saw look beat up. Seriously...superheroes. Superman, Spiderman got nothing on em.
The Race Begins
I was chatting with Hao's girlfriend Tony (who is incredibly nice Hao. You're a lucky guy) before my 8K start. For once, instead of meandering near the back, I was posted in the grass next to the start line, so when the countdown went to zero, I just trotted into the front group knowing that the speedies would have plenty of time and room to scream by me if they wished. My complex plan for this race was for plodding, constant, forward motion. No speedy ups. No speedy downs. Just even, methodical, consistent plodding. The most difficult thing in the world is to stick to this plan with people around, period. It doesn't matter if it's a race or if I'm running around on the local trails. I just have a hard time not picking up the pace beyond what I can maintain. But, I've been getting better during my training, and it seems to have held this day. For the most part, I was able to let go of the urge to speed up when passed and just took my time in the hopes that the constant plod would catch me up with a lot of the runners who passed in the first place. And the hills kept coming.
That Hill. Nooo. That One.
My memory of this route last year told me that there was this one spot where you turned a corner and came upon a distinctive and impossible looking hill, AFTER which, you were home free and running the happy down hills all the way to the finish. The problem was, I kept on mistaking one hill after another and they kept on coming and coming, so I had to keep on plodding and plodding. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep up the plodding forever and the mental game I was playing with trying to find that one dang hill dimmed my enthusiasm a bit, so I did start walking a little bit, but not too much. I broke up the walks with more plods to try to keep up the relentless forward motion. Meanwhile, it was getting hotter and hotter out there, but I thought my pace was decent. I was steadily passing runners on the up hills which was the only place I had a shot. I'm not very fast on the flat (not that there was much flat), and slower than I used to be on the down hills. Finally, the gal I was chatting with and I came upon the final "hill" that I was looking for. Once I saw it, I couldn't believe I mistook all the others. It really looks ominous. And then ...the downhills were upon me. My trail pal took off like lightning which was not unexpected based on our conversation about her previous races. I kept up for a while, but slowly saw her pulling ahead. About 4 more runners passed me on down which was perfect as the last group had a good downhill pace that I was able to follow pretty easily. Very technical. Very fun.
The Finish
We all soon came to the trail split we hit on the way out. Almost finished. I knew there were still a few hills left and was afraid to push much since my endurance still isn't that great. So, forward plodding motion it was, and it was getting harder. The group I was in was flagging as well. I was able to pass them, as well as another gal I saw earlier in the race. I was finally on the meadowy single track back to the finish line. And I almost bonked. Or at least I felt like I did. For about 20 seconds or more, I felt like my legs were about to misstep and that I could not keep up the breathing. It wasn't even steep! I looked back to see who was on my tail and saw no one. Luckily I was able to push and finish really really strong at 1:02, almost flying into the volunteer at the last sharp turn to the finish. I was able to come in 26 our of 91 and place 3rd in my age group. Bonus!
Best for Last
And sometimes, if not most times, it's not the race that makes for the perfect day. It's the connection you have with the people there. It's sitting in a lounge chair marking the finishers as they cross the line, chatting with friends, and letting people's excited run conversations wash over you as you relax in the shade. On this day, there was that, but no race is quite complete with the charm of Aaron Doman, whom I am convinced has the potential to be the best videographer you can get at a trail race as he knows people and will get images that no boring adult could probably get. Not to mention, the kid is just funny.
So, I present to you the many faces of Aaron Doman and his award winning home video (Video if you click the link below). Unfortunately, he seems to have deleted his Electric Eel and many other dancing videos I took of him that day from my camera. The Earth Dance. The Moon Walk. The Hip Hop Moon Walk. The Ocean Dance. The Robot. Alas, maybe next time.
The sun shining through the window startled me for some reason and I panicked for a moment thinking that I had overslept my 6 a.m. alarm. But nope. I was 15 minutes early with plenty of time to get out the door. By 7:30, I was in Oakland, picking up Todd at his apartment so we could carpool to the start.
There's something about driving into the Mitchell Canyon parking lot at Diablo that gets the adrenalin going. Maybe because this was my first 50K 2 years ago. I remembered being so excited at first and then terrified after I started hearing words like Badwater and Western States in conversations all around me. This race always seems to draw those names you hear over and over again, and the intimidation factor is always present but now more thrilling than the terrifying that it was a few years back.
It was on to say hello to some familar faces, and throughout the day I got the opportunity to ogle superheroes or blogstars or both like Jean Pommier, Jasper Haleks, Scott Dunlap, and Graham Cooper. The 4 star crowd also included those runners who were upping the ante by adding a 3rd loop to the already difficult 50K. I saw a bunch of them come in from their 2nd loop as I was volunteering and none that I saw look beat up. Seriously...superheroes. Superman, Spiderman got nothing on em.
The Race Begins
I was chatting with Hao's girlfriend Tony (who is incredibly nice Hao. You're a lucky guy) before my 8K start. For once, instead of meandering near the back, I was posted in the grass next to the start line, so when the countdown went to zero, I just trotted into the front group knowing that the speedies would have plenty of time and room to scream by me if they wished. My complex plan for this race was for plodding, constant, forward motion. No speedy ups. No speedy downs. Just even, methodical, consistent plodding. The most difficult thing in the world is to stick to this plan with people around, period. It doesn't matter if it's a race or if I'm running around on the local trails. I just have a hard time not picking up the pace beyond what I can maintain. But, I've been getting better during my training, and it seems to have held this day. For the most part, I was able to let go of the urge to speed up when passed and just took my time in the hopes that the constant plod would catch me up with a lot of the runners who passed in the first place. And the hills kept coming.
That Hill. Nooo. That One.
My memory of this route last year told me that there was this one spot where you turned a corner and came upon a distinctive and impossible looking hill, AFTER which, you were home free and running the happy down hills all the way to the finish. The problem was, I kept on mistaking one hill after another and they kept on coming and coming, so I had to keep on plodding and plodding. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep up the plodding forever and the mental game I was playing with trying to find that one dang hill dimmed my enthusiasm a bit, so I did start walking a little bit, but not too much. I broke up the walks with more plods to try to keep up the relentless forward motion. Meanwhile, it was getting hotter and hotter out there, but I thought my pace was decent. I was steadily passing runners on the up hills which was the only place I had a shot. I'm not very fast on the flat (not that there was much flat), and slower than I used to be on the down hills. Finally, the gal I was chatting with and I came upon the final "hill" that I was looking for. Once I saw it, I couldn't believe I mistook all the others. It really looks ominous. And then ...the downhills were upon me. My trail pal took off like lightning which was not unexpected based on our conversation about her previous races. I kept up for a while, but slowly saw her pulling ahead. About 4 more runners passed me on down which was perfect as the last group had a good downhill pace that I was able to follow pretty easily. Very technical. Very fun.
The Finish
We all soon came to the trail split we hit on the way out. Almost finished. I knew there were still a few hills left and was afraid to push much since my endurance still isn't that great. So, forward plodding motion it was, and it was getting harder. The group I was in was flagging as well. I was able to pass them, as well as another gal I saw earlier in the race. I was finally on the meadowy single track back to the finish line. And I almost bonked. Or at least I felt like I did. For about 20 seconds or more, I felt like my legs were about to misstep and that I could not keep up the breathing. It wasn't even steep! I looked back to see who was on my tail and saw no one. Luckily I was able to push and finish really really strong at 1:02, almost flying into the volunteer at the last sharp turn to the finish. I was able to come in 26 our of 91 and place 3rd in my age group. Bonus!
Best for Last
And sometimes, if not most times, it's not the race that makes for the perfect day. It's the connection you have with the people there. It's sitting in a lounge chair marking the finishers as they cross the line, chatting with friends, and letting people's excited run conversations wash over you as you relax in the shade. On this day, there was that, but no race is quite complete with the charm of Aaron Doman, whom I am convinced has the potential to be the best videographer you can get at a trail race as he knows people and will get images that no boring adult could probably get. Not to mention, the kid is just funny.
So, I present to you the many faces of Aaron Doman and his award winning home video (Video if you click the link below). Unfortunately, he seems to have deleted his Electric Eel and many other dancing videos I took of him that day from my camera. The Earth Dance. The Moon Walk. The Hip Hop Moon Walk. The Ocean Dance. The Robot. Alas, maybe next time.
((Captions Courtesy of Aaron Doman))
Confused Aaron
Confused Aaron
Monday, June 02, 2008
Change of Plans
Diablo is out. I am returning once again to LA to see my cousin who has ovarian cancer. The news I've been receiving in bits and pieces over the mere last 2 weeks since I was there last has changed from bad to worse. Call it naive, but I just don't believe it yet. I found out she is now on some serious pain med, delautid which from what I have read so far can make you look worse than you really are. But then again, why put her on delautid unless it was absolutely necessary? Maybe. There is a serious case of over-medication in our society so I guess I need to see for myself before I put her on any death sentence which the doctors' already have. She looked soo good several weeks ago. I mean really good. There's hope yet. I refuse to say otherwise.
That's an Awful lot of Probing
Anyone else getting numerous "probing" hits a day by the Ultra listserv lately? I'm still HERE LISTSERV!!!
I never have time to look at the ultra listserv emails. I really should just unsubscribe, but seriously, I get so confused when I'm on their website. I get at least 10 emails a day from them (most of which, but not all, seem to pop directly into junk mail), and I cannot figure out for the life of me how to only get 1. I've tried multiple times over the last several years to no avail. How sad is that. Anyways..
I never have time to look at the ultra listserv emails. I really should just unsubscribe, but seriously, I get so confused when I'm on their website. I get at least 10 emails a day from them (most of which, but not all, seem to pop directly into junk mail), and I cannot figure out for the life of me how to only get 1. I've tried multiple times over the last several years to no avail. How sad is that. Anyways..
Sunday, June 01, 2008
16 Miles and done.
I'm cheating and adding Sunday to my weekly mileage count. 5 more miles added at Fremont Older today. It's very exposed, but that park is a fun place to run around.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
6 Miles and counting
6 miles today and some fun facts to go with it that have nothing to do with anything.
#1 My dirt filled yard is now the community litter box and smells like poop
#2 The local rockery (place that sells stepping stones, gravel, sand, paving, etc.) has a huge truck sized weighing scale that is pretty darn accurate with only little me standing on it. I think I weigh 5 lbs more than high school which considering all the running makes one think, wtfuh. Kinda goes along with this thread.
#3 The 5 gallon jug of water in the back of my car which was supposed to save my life in case of disaster, leaked and now my trunk smells like old musty cardboard
That's about it. Back to studying for finals next week.
#1 My dirt filled yard is now the community litter box and smells like poop
#2 The local rockery (place that sells stepping stones, gravel, sand, paving, etc.) has a huge truck sized weighing scale that is pretty darn accurate with only little me standing on it. I think I weigh 5 lbs more than high school which considering all the running makes one think, wtfuh. Kinda goes along with this thread.
#3 The 5 gallon jug of water in the back of my car which was supposed to save my life in case of disaster, leaked and now my trunk smells like old musty cardboard
That's about it. Back to studying for finals next week.
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