First off thank you so much to everyone who helped donate to the 100 mile club It really can make a difference in a kids life. Personally I suck at asking for donations and I am very thankful for your support. I know there are a lot that are poor bastards like myself who would of like to have donated but could not afford it. In that case You should feel very guilty! LOL but you can totally redeem yourself :) All you got to is go out and do somthing nice for a child to make up for it! (simple) If you do this all guilt will dissappear but be warned such random acts of kindness can become habbit forming, also other's may see you being a good person and might decide to do something nice themselves.
Race day
Leading up to the race my body felt pretty good. I had a cold which limited my running to about 40 miles the week of the race (a little more tapering than I would prefer) and was pretty optimistic about how the race would unfold.
They wanted all runner's to arrive by 7 a.m. for an 8:30 a.m. start. I live about an hour away from the starting line. I set my alarm for 5 a.m. but was up at by 4 a.m. I didn't want to get up that early but I was too excited for the race to sleep.
Unlike most races having a crew was mandatory for this event. (doh) Although I like helping others achieve thier goals I'm not good at asking others for help. I'm a pretty independent guy and I try not to be that needy. I have a lot great friends whom offered support but come race day most them were nowhere to be found. Ultimately I only really needed one person.
Once again it was my sister stepped up to the plate In support of my Lunacy.
I'm Really lucky to have such a supportive family, Thanks sis.
This event would be a little different. My projected pace of around 9 min mile should put in front of most of the other runners . I was pretty sure most of the aid stations would not be ready for me. I packed my sisters van with enough food and drink to get me too the finish line so that I could get by without any other support if need be.
A couple other interesting things about this race were that all runners must carry a gps and a cell phone. I found the smallest phone I could and jammed it in the pocket of my handheld.
It was an interesting mix of people at the starting line. The event is called the 100 mile Endurance Challenge, Not race. It was about getting to the finish line not about being the first to arrive (although that was my goal). Most of the runners were of the older variety and I figured they would be comming in well over 24 hours. There were a couple people I felt that had a chance of breaking 20 if the stars aligned. I ran into a young runner Thomas P. whom I'd met at the Calico 50k earlier in the year he's a local dude who I've seen few times running around the South Bay. I had a feeling he was gonna have a good day. I thought I might have some company for the first half of the race but he had planned to go out a little slower. Out of the 40 or so runners in the event I think 8 of them were wearing Hoka's and one dumb ass was even wearing Sandal's.
Once again it was my sister stepped up to the plate In support of my Lunacy.
I'm Really lucky to have such a supportive family, Thanks sis.
This event would be a little different. My projected pace of around 9 min mile should put in front of most of the other runners . I was pretty sure most of the aid stations would not be ready for me. I packed my sisters van with enough food and drink to get me too the finish line so that I could get by without any other support if need be.
A couple other interesting things about this race were that all runners must carry a gps and a cell phone. I found the smallest phone I could and jammed it in the pocket of my handheld.
Before the race Kara gave a nice speech thanking the runners for helping raise money for the 100 mile club. A few rug rats from the club came out and told us how many miles they ran last year. I think there was a six year old that ran over three hundred miles. We were all quite impressed..
"Thank you Kara for being such an awesome lady and for starting such an awesome organization, non of this would be possible if wasn't for you. The seed's you have planted become a beautiful garden and I can't wait till that garden becomes a forest !!!!"
I you have never not yet clicked on any of my links for the 100 mile club please do so now. It really is a remarkable organization.
Thank You.
It was an interesting mix of people at the starting line. The event is called the 100 mile Endurance Challenge, Not race. It was about getting to the finish line not about being the first to arrive (although that was my goal). Most of the runners were of the older variety and I figured they would be comming in well over 24 hours. There were a couple people I felt that had a chance of breaking 20 if the stars aligned. I ran into a young runner Thomas P. whom I'd met at the Calico 50k earlier in the year he's a local dude who I've seen few times running around the South Bay. I had a feeling he was gonna have a good day. I thought I might have some company for the first half of the race but he had planned to go out a little slower. Out of the 40 or so runners in the event I think 8 of them were wearing Hoka's and one dumb ass was even wearing Sandal's.
Within the first mile of the race I was on my own running down the streets of Corona. I think it was about 5 miles till we got out of the city and on to some bike paths. At 8:30 in the morning the weather was beautiful and was stoked to finally be running
5minutes later. Dumm de dumm de dum.
Along the way we had a police escort, the only problem was that I got too far in front of the other runners for him to trip the signals green for me and found myself at the mercy of the Devil's red hand as I waited begrudgingly for the little white man to let me cross.
I started the race with a shirt. What the hell was I thinking?
It was gone the first chance I had.
Trudging along the body felt pretty good for the first 20 or so miles. I was averaging about a 8:20 pace and not working very hard. A few friends from the 100 mile Club were setting up turn signs for the course, I tried to out flank them a few times but they always were always one step ahead of me.
Having a car kind of helps but sneaking across bridges gave me a fighting chance.
The aid station didn't have much to eat and they only bottled water (which I try to never use.) I grabbed a few slices of apples weighed in and hit up my sisters van. The day before I drained 6 coconuts into water bottles. I drank them all by mile 50. I decided to roll out my IT bands as a precautionary measure. Instead of the usual 30 seconds at an aid station I was there for at least 3 minutes.
10 minutes after leaving my left foot began to bug me a little bit. It was in the same place thatI felt pain the day before the Long Beach Marathon. On that ocasion it did'nt play out to be a factor. I was hoping it would be the same case today. Am I becoming a hypochondriac I wondered? Am I getting smarter? Or have I become a wussy? It's a combo of the 3 but I'm not sure what the ratio is. By mile 30 my body was at a level of fatigue I didn't expect till mile 50. I didn't expect the race to be easy, my immune system was fighting busy fighting off my cold and now I was trying divert my energy to my legs.
I got on the phone (which turned out to be a really nice thing to have) called up my sis and told her I wanted to switch sandals
I switched fresh pair of Original Luna's
I normally race with traditional leather laces but if there is no need to go fast (sub 6 min miles) the elastic laces preform great. I also dig the new ribbon system between the toes.
by the time we hit the beach in Costa Mesa the Marine Layer had covered the sky with fog. The weather felt like it had dropped 20 degrees. I was miserable. The aid station on my the map of my GPS was not there and my it would be few more teeth chattering miles before I got some clothes on my body.
About 10 miles later The haze had cleared up as I entered Sunset beach with a smile on my face.
Way too many pictures of me. There was nobody else around for my sister to photograph. I have provided this kitten to relieve some of the strain my ugly mug has put on your eyes thus far.
Mile 50 Long Beach
I came into mile 50 in good spirits. There was a nice crowd of people at the aid station who gave me a very heart warming welcome. My foot was really starting to bug me. I could live with the pain but I really did not want to become injured. My pace at this point was still fairly decent and I came into the aid station between 8 and 8.5 hours
The first time I have ever sat dawn in chair during an Ultra.
I decided to tape up my feet something I usually reserve for when I plan on running fast. In hind sight perhaps I should have started the race this way. (live and learn)
Within the next few miles things began to get ugly. It was not a throbbing pain on every step but at least once every 2 minutes I would grimace or verbally express my pain grunting out some sort fake cursory suck as Farzle snaps!!
My pace was now twice as slow as it once was. Running hurt bad but I could still walk without much pain. I shuffled along for few miles trying to strategize a game plan to get me to the finish.
As I meandered through the Long beach harbor I got a call from my Bank. It seems someone had my debit card and was making charges in Maryland. It was kind of a surreal moment to be in a race conducting business on the phone but at least it distracted me from the my other problems
I then got a call from my Best friend Dan Westergaard. He offered to pace me through the night when I got to San Pedro. I told him that my prognostics were not good but I thought I could at least Death march it to the finish line.
By now it had been about two hours of mostly walking and I was still all by myself. Where the hell is everyone? I was bumbling down the bike path through a shady area of Long Beach towards Wilmington changing my mind on every other step whether I should continue or not. My sister seemed very concerned about my predicament and at the same time I was worried about her sitting in a mini van in this crappy neighborhood.
I was at about mile 59 I thought I could make it to the next aid station at 62 but each step was now very uncomfortable.
She found a well lit parking spot a truck stop at mile 60.
It was time to quit but I wanted to keep going.
I sat down in the stupid chair again put on some Inginji socks trying to fool to fool my body into thinking it would magically be okay. I was still in the lead but there was no way that was gonna last .
About 100 Steps later I would withdraw from the race.
Thank you to all the volunteers and congratulation's to all the fisher's. My hat goes off to you.
Present Day
It's been a little over 2 weeks now since the race. Although I was and still am pretty bummed I couldn't finish. I made the right decision to quit. My foot does not feel broken yet is still far from being 100%. I have some spring in my step but endurance wise I don't think I'll be pushing the envelope anytime soon.
Pushing the envelope!
What the hell does that mean?
You got to be pretty tough to push an envelope. That's me tough guy extraordinaire.
I did manage to run a little over 50 miles the following week week with 30 of them comming in shoes (yes shoes first time in nearly 2 years) and another 60 last week I got a good opportunity to try out Sketchers foray into the world of minimalist footwear (whatever that means) and hopefully I can help them evolve their product into something great. That being said there is ZERO chance I will giving up my Luna's anytime soon. I think incorporating shoes is a good idea for the present time.
My sister was doing an outstanding job as my crew. Supposedly this was designated spot to meet up with crew, it seemed a little sketchy to me. I was becoming needy. Having a crew is making me soft.
I normally race with traditional leather laces but if there is no need to go fast (sub 6 min miles) the elastic laces preform great. I also dig the new ribbon system between the toes.
Way too many pictures of me. There was nobody else around for my sister to photograph. I have provided this kitten to relieve some of the strain my ugly mug has put on your eyes thus far.
I came into mile 50 in good spirits. There was a nice crowd of people at the aid station who gave me a very heart warming welcome. My foot was really starting to bug me. I could live with the pain but I really did not want to become injured. My pace at this point was still fairly decent and I came into the aid station between 8 and 8.5 hours
I decided to tape up my feet something I usually reserve for when I plan on running fast. In hind sight perhaps I should have started the race this way. (live and learn)
Within the next few miles things began to get ugly. It was not a throbbing pain on every step but at least once every 2 minutes I would grimace or verbally express my pain grunting out some sort fake cursory suck as Farzle snaps!!
My pace was now twice as slow as it once was. Running hurt bad but I could still walk without much pain. I shuffled along for few miles trying to strategize a game plan to get me to the finish.
As I meandered through the Long beach harbor I got a call from my Bank. It seems someone had my debit card and was making charges in Maryland. It was kind of a surreal moment to be in a race conducting business on the phone but at least it distracted me from the my other problems
I then got a call from my Best friend Dan Westergaard. He offered to pace me through the night when I got to San Pedro. I told him that my prognostics were not good but I thought I could at least Death march it to the finish line.
By now it had been about two hours of mostly walking and I was still all by myself. Where the hell is everyone? I was bumbling down the bike path through a shady area of Long Beach towards Wilmington changing my mind on every other step whether I should continue or not. My sister seemed very concerned about my predicament and at the same time I was worried about her sitting in a mini van in this crappy neighborhood.
I was at about mile 59 I thought I could make it to the next aid station at 62 but each step was now very uncomfortable.
It was time to quit but I wanted to keep going.
About 100 Steps later I would withdraw from the race.
Thank you to all the volunteers and congratulation's to all the fisher's. My hat goes off to you.
Present Day
It's been a little over 2 weeks now since the race. Although I was and still am pretty bummed I couldn't finish. I made the right decision to quit. My foot does not feel broken yet is still far from being 100%. I have some spring in my step but endurance wise I don't think I'll be pushing the envelope anytime soon.
What the hell does that mean?
You got to be pretty tough to push an envelope. That's me tough guy extraordinaire.
I did manage to run a little over 50 miles the following week week with 30 of them comming in shoes (yes shoes first time in nearly 2 years) and another 60 last week I got a good opportunity to try out Sketchers foray into the world of minimalist footwear (whatever that means) and hopefully I can help them evolve their product into something great. That being said there is ZERO chance I will giving up my Luna's anytime soon. I think incorporating shoes is a good idea for the present time.
Where do I go from here?
In a perfect world My body would of held up and I would be heading to Arizona to run the Javalina 100 on Nov 12th and if that was sucessful cogs would be in motion towards a possible sparathalalon appearence in 2012.
Those aspirations I will have to put on hold for little bit. As for now this Saturday I have a chance at ever lasting glory and an even better chance at throwing up.
Krispy Kreme Challenge West
Run 2 miles eat a dozen doughnuts run 2 miles.
Those aspirations I will have to put on hold for little bit. As for now this Saturday I have a chance at ever lasting glory and an even better chance at throwing up.
Run 2 miles eat a dozen doughnuts run 2 miles.
Dang man... Sorry to hear about the foot! Hopefully it works itself out soon! Congrats on helping out a great cause either way!
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