Headlands Hundred

Oh crap… this has been the hardest thing I have done… Oh wait, I said that before, good thing I have bad memory. Well, it is done; the Headlands Hundred endurance run for 2009 is in the history books and I did better than expected.. OMG what a feeling.

The Headlands Hundred is an elite event put together by Pacific Coast Trail Runs an incredible organization. The course is too complicated to describe, better see for yourself. For a flyover of the course click here. But I have to tell you, it is amazing. I enjoyed it a whole lot although it was also very challenging. It has over 20,000 feet of elevation gain and consist of 4 25 mile loops. You go in one direction (clockwise) and then, you do the loop in counter clock wise direction. Very scenic and as I said, challenging. Check out the elevation profile Click on the profile below to see in full scale.


Let’s see, for starters I knew some people at the race. So I was looking forward to see them in the course. Sarah Spelt is an amazing person and I cannot tell you how lucky we were that she was there with her welcoming smile. She made the day for many of us..

For the longest time I debated even registering for this event, I even tried very hard not to think about it. But being the dork that I am, I was ready to sign up right when I knew I could do 50 miles on that course. I did a training run there with Mark and after that day I decided to register. That was a few weeks ago and then the week of the race was upon us. And just a few days before the race I got an email from my Pacer, Janet. She said she could not do it because she had fallen ill. And I started to panic, so I called a few friends and finally found Suki Martin. She agreed to pace me from mile 50 until the finish. That was amazing to think that somebody would just run with you for 50 miles. I am really thankful and I hope I can return the favor somehow.

Suki Martin and I after the end.. She was an amazing pacer.

The day of the race, met with Mark Thiedens at 5:30 am in the morning. I did not want to have issues with my alarm clock like I did during Miwok 100K. So I asked him to give me a call early in the morning. He did, and I had plenty of time to get ready and eat lots. Mark was very cool about driving, I knew that driving back might be an issue, but he did not mind. Joe Kelso was following him as well. Joe completed the 50miles in record time; he is a star in my book. But in any event, we drove to Rodeo Beach and once we were there I realized that we were about to run 100 miles.. Can you believe it?

Mark Thiedens and Myself before the Race

I met Kim Evanson, my doctor friend, the one that told me about a toenail necklace. Which by the way it will be three toenails richer in few days. I saw many other runners, too many to mention here. But the truth is I was in good company, I was in crazy good company, yay..

Kim Evanson prior to the race.. :)

Kim and I just before the start..

And we were off…


The weather was perfect, perfect running weather if you ask me. It could had been very hot up there or windy, but it was none of those things. In fact, I really believe that the running Gods were with us for most of the way. It was a little overcast and the windy was very mild. During one of my training runs in the course, the wind almost knocked me over. So I was afraid that it was going to be an issue, especially at night. But it was not, the wind God was asleep.

Kim, Mark and I settled in a good pace for the first few miles, we chatted a lot and we had plenty in the tank. Kim and Mark actually met before so we had plenty to talk about and we did. We talked about the weather , we talked about the infamous toenail necklace and other oddities. It was great conversation for a good few miles. We ran together until mile 15 or so, then Kim stayed behind and Mark and I pressed on. We kept looking back to see if she would catch up, but she did not.

The freaking volunteers were amazing; I really think they also need a coaster or a medal or something. Some of them were for the entire time that the race went on. I am amazed that people will actually take some of their free time to go spend it filling bottles, cutting up bananas, making peanut butter sandwiches, and giving encouragement to runners. Can you believe it? I think that it was harder to volunteer than actually run the race. I mean, mentally you got to be crazy enough to do that.

Anyway, back to the race, Mark told me that he wanted to use the bathroom, we were going for the first time close to the YMCA and there was a bathroom there. However, it was occupied. He said we will go to the next one and I just could not wait any longer. I peeled the banana and went right there. That was the first of only three times I went to the bathroom. Yes, I only peed three times during the entire race. Call me crazy, but I thought I was shutting down. I kept drinking water; in fact I drank a lot. But I guess I was sweating a lot too and the fact that I was not peeing made me think about kidney shutdown. You see, I took a preemptive Tylenol dosage, I took 4 Tylenols right after the first time I went to the bathroom. Mark asked me, “what is it hurting?” and I said “nothing really”. The fact is that I wanted to have some pain medication in my system, just in case. But anyway, I peed two more times, and for the entire second 50 miles I did not go to the bathroom at all. I was worried, but I kept drinking water, in fact I drank a whole lot, I was simply just not going. Thank God I did not have any issues, I guess I was drinking but not enough, or I was sweating a lot or something.

When I came back for the first 50 miles, Mark and I were still running together. We changed out socks, changed our clothes and I grabbed my flashlight, Suki was waiting for me and then we were off. Unfortunately I did not check my flashlight prior to the race, and for some reason I decided to check it after we climbed the first hill. Then I saw it, I realized that the batteries in my flashlight were spent. I panicked and Suki told me, ok, let’s go back. Mark said, “I am going to continue, I’ll see you later”. We started the trek back to the starting line and a fellow runner offered me a light he had at the next aid station. So I took his offer and decided NOT to go back and just pick up my light at mile 75. We got to the next station (Tennessee Valley) and I went looking for the runners bag, we found the flashlight and I was happy. Unfortunately, his battery only lasted a few hours and by the time I really needed the lamp the battery was done. Suki and I shared her flashlight which was a little difficult during the single track portion of the trail. She had to somehow light my way and her way, not an easy task. She even twisted her ankle, yet she was strong enough to get me through the finish line.

And then, I developed a big freaking blister on my left foot. I changed socks at mile 50 and my feet were OK then. Then I just remember that I got some sand in my left shoe, some sand that I did not take care of right away. Well I should have, at mile 70’somehting I knew I had a blister. I could feel it, I had no idea how big it was and it became very painful to run so I started to limp. Well, after a while my hip was hurting and then my right ankle started to hurt as well because my stride had changed considerably. After we reached an aid station I asked if they had any tape, I cleaned my foot well and put some tape on it. I knew it was going to hurt whenever I was going to take it off, but I had no other choice. After I taped my blister it felt better and started to jog once again. Just a little faster, but not fast enough to make up the time I had lost.




The Sun was coming up again and once I reached Tennessee Valley (the last station before the finish line) I knew it was the end. Suki started to run and I tried to keep up… we made it to the finish line in 25 hours and 30something minutes. I could not believe it, I was so freaking happy I finished yet alone finished such time, in such course. I thought I was under trained, I guess I underestimated myself. I told some friends that I was going to make it sometime between 28-30 hours, and here I was going almost 3 hours faster than my prediction. I was happy and I knew that if I could have taken care of my feet, drink more water and remember my flashlight batteries I could have done it under 24 hours. The truth is, I will never know. But there is always next time.

Suki and I finishing the race... yay!!

As I finish writing this report, I think about the feat that I just completed. It makes me freaking happy to know that I can push my body to those limits. And I am so looking forward to the next one, Western States 100 Perhaps.. I am also trying to understand myself better, what did I learn from this experience? Besides the obvious, take care of my feet, drink more water and bring extra batteries with me, I learned that I am stronger than I think I am and I love that feeling…

My running buddy, Mark...

From left to right, Me, Joe, Farina and Rujeco, Mark in the front.

Ironman vs Trail Running... Oh Crap!!

So I have been asked by my triathlon friends.. Aren’t you supposed to be training for an Ironman in a few months? Don’t you know that there is biking and swimming involved in that one?.. I guess I know that.. I just don’t have the motivation to do the other two… no yet at least..

Ok.. so for those interested, I am going to do the IM in Arizona, but my focus will be different. I just want to do better than last year, I don’t want to go speedy fast on the bike, I just want to finish the bike and I’ll take care of the run, really.
I really want to do well on this race (100 mile in about three weeks), when I am back from it, I’ll start biking and swimming. If I quite remember, there were a couple of friends (Jess) who did this last year. She did awesome on the bike and I don’t think she trained for long. So, that is what I will do and I will conquer, I hope..

For those trail running buddies of mine, here is a little something I got out yesterday. I did go out to train in the Marin Headlands 100 course. It is going to be brutal and I can see myself finishing like in 36 hours or so, J. My buddy Janet will be pacing me after the 50 miler and I will, of course finish.

So back to yesterday, the Marin Headlands are beautiful. The truth is that I cannot believe how hard the course is going to be. Of course, that does really not matter since we are going to be blown away by the views and the beautiful sites. Make sure you even stop to smell the flowers and appreciate the whole view. So to all of those ultra runners out there, come and join the party, I promise you it will be a great run (equal amount of ups and down, not much flat at all). He, he…

Look at this view... Is not this amazing?

This is another great view Rodeo Beach..

This is the first time I actually ran that far without a friend of some sort. I did not like it at all, although there was no pressure to finish, I rather run with friends. I kept trying to go slower, but my feet were trying to move faster and at the end I was on time for a 24 hour finish.. If you know what I mean?, I did the first 25 miles in 6 hours, so all I need is to keep that pace for another 18 hours and I am set.. (joke of course). It will be beautiful and most likely very challenging for most of us.

So back to the ironman thingy… I believe that life gives us choices and it is important that we chose what ever makes us happy at the time. I don’t think that triathlons are a big part of my life anymore; therefore I will stay away from them for a while. Maybe I will change my mind, but for the moment I am not worrying about my time in Arizona. I will show up, I will compete and I will finish. That is all.

6X DIPSEA!!

So Janet and I went to the dipsea trail to run it a few times. She is in the process of training for Western States 100 so decided to do a training run up there. The dipsea trail is beautiful; it is got amazing views and an insane elevation gain and drop. It is one of those trails that no matter how hard it is, I want to go back and run it as many times as possible… or whenever I can.

I picked up Janet early in the morning and went to pick up two more friends of hers. The day seems to be promising, the weather was beautiful and most importantly we were soooo looking forward to do this. In fact I had been having secret wishes that we would be able to do a octo-dipsea. I even dreamed of a customized license plate 8XDPSEA.

Arrived at the location, prepared our stuff and took off.. The first pass was uneventful; Janet’s friends were really nice to let us set the pace since we were going to be there most of the day. I am sure they could have gone faster, but decided to stay with which was greatly appreciated. We got to the beach for the first time, refilled our water bottles and started the treck back.. yay, 2X down.

Came back to the car and ate our usual, pickles, tortilla chips, pretzels, bananas, PJ sandwiches, coke and other indulgencies. We said our goodbyes and Janet’s friends left. Janet and I refilled our bottles and started the next pass. Since this coming weekend is the double dipsea race, there were a number of people training there displaying their dipsea trail apparel. When we got to the beach this one was really packed, the sun was high and it was getting really hot. We started the run back to Mill Valley once again and when we got there I was particularly thirsty and hungry. Before going to the car I stopped at the bathroom and tried, unsuccessfully, to empty my stomach. At this time I was not feeling that good…

We sat down, ate and refilled our bottles; we started the long trek back for the 5th pass. Just before cardiac hill I started to feel really bad. My stomach was not happy and for the first time in a very long time, my legs started to cramp. I told Janet so and she was nice enough to slow down for me, but the harder I tried the more I realized that I was not going to be able to keep up. So I told her, at the top of cardiac hill, I am going to sit down and take a breather. You go to the beach and when I feel better I will go find you. Easy right? She agreed and went on her own.

I went to find a nice place to sit-down, but before that I had to negotiate with my stomach and my legs. They were not collaborating.. oh Crap. So when I finally was able to sit-down, I actually was so tired that I fell asleep. When I woke up, I kind of had an idea of how long I had been sleeping so I decided to wait a little bit more before I went to find Janet. Well I miscalculated the time… fuck..

I got up, felt a lot better and started to run towards the beach. Not realizing that Janet had already gone to the beach came back and she was in her way to Mill Valley and to the car. When she passed through Cardiac Hill I was out, so she was running toward Mill Valley and I was running toward Stinson Beach.

As I was running I was getting scared by the minute since I was not finding Janet anywhere.. It was like where is she? Where did she go? When I got to the beach I asked a few of the fellows there and they did not see her at all. At this time it was already beginning to get dark, so I decided to go back to Mill Valley and brave the darkness. Darkness fell in no time and I was not even close to Mill Valley and I started to have thoughts of mountain lion attacks and stuff like that. It was funny…

Meanwhile in Mill Valley, Janet found herself wondering where I was. She waited for a while and then decided to go to the fire station and report his missing friend. The fire department sprung into action and they were about to deploy the search and rescue team. She got scared for me and I was scared for her too..

I finally made it back to Mill Valley after a few near falls, I actually made it out of the trials OK. As I got to my car my heart sank, there were police there. I thought, Fuck what happened to Janet. As I approached they asked me “is this your car?” and I said yes sir it is, and added. Where is Janet, what happened to her. I thought something bad had happened. They explained that Janet was OK and she gotten worried about me and decided to report me missing. She came back and we hugged and were happy to see each other.. yay!! The End!!

Now we have another excuse to go back and do it all over again…

Runner's Story

I have been asked many times when did you start running? Every runner has a story, here is mine:

It was 2003; I was diagnosed with a brain tumor on October 9th. My ex-wife and I were scheduled to go to Chicago that particular weekend for the wedding of a good friend of ours. It was a Friday afternoon hen my doctor called home (how often a doctor calls your house with good news huh?). He said, we found a mass in your brain (after an MRI taken that morning), thus you have an appointment to see a neurosurgeon Monday morning. I was like, What the FUcK!! A mass in my brain? What did that mean? A tumor? OMG.. My ex-wife started to cry like crazy and I just went in shock, I could not believe it. It is one of those things that might happen to everybody else, but you really don’t realize what it really means until it happens to you.

So that particular Friday we decided to go to Chicago anyway. There wasn’t anything we could do for the weekend and staying home would have been horrible, so we went. We drove to Chicago from Midland Michigan (where we used to live) and made it to the rehearsal dinner. My ex was obviously very distressed and I, well I was sad and afraid, very scared. The very next day (Saturday) we went to the wedding, and we tried to have a good time. In fact I danced the night away and we laughed and tried to forget the fact that I had a fucking abnormal mass in the middle of my head. But the night went well, after the wedding we went back to our hotel and went to sleep.

The next morning, we woke up and I knew that the Chicago Marathon was being run that particular day and I asked my ex to go and see the marathon. We went to the finish area and it was amazing to see the elite runners finishing in amazing time. As the hours went by more and more people started to cross the finish line. I could see people crying and becoming all emotional as they crossed the finish line. I noticed that many runners had little signs in their shirts. “Cancer survivor”, “survivor”, “breast cancer survivor”, etc, etc. It was inspirational, so I turned to my ex and I told her, “Hey, look at that” pointing at the people wearing those signs and I added “Next year I want to run this marathon”. She started to sob and said, “Oh My God, you don’t even know if you are going to be alive next year, what are you saying is crazy?”. I replied, “Yes next year I want to run this marathon and you are running it with me”. She looked at me like I was crazy, and then a sparkle illuminated her eyes and she said “it is a deal, lets do it”.

After two brain surgeries, an incredible amount of physical therapy to relearn basic skills such as the ability to drive, write, even pee, we started training. For me was a very painful journey. I had never run more than 5 miles let alone a full marathon. But we stuck to our promise and we started to train, and on October 10th 2004, I and my ex-wife were among 40,000 other runners to start the Chicago marathon.

That day, my first marathon, was the beginning of a new life for me, the beginning of my life as a runner wannabe.  I survived my tumor, my marriage did not. And then came to California and discovered PCTR and the great smile of Sarah, and of course my best running buddy, Janet, and the rest is history.

So that was my story, what is yours?

Redwood 50K

Elevation profile of the Redwood 50K, not bad huh?

Yesterday, Sunday the 10th, I went with a bunch of other runners to celebrate mothers’ day by running the Redwood trails in Oakland, Ca. This is another event put together by PCTrailruns. Sarah, the glue of the organization, was there to welcome all runners as we were making our way to register. This time, Rujeco and Sabrina came with me to do this race. Janet, my running buddy, was out of town. Met Kim Evanson at the starting line and we exchanged a few words. She had a friend visiting from the Midwest and she was going to run this one with her.

And we were off, this time I knew I was going to go slow since I really was not sure what was I thinking when I signed up for this race. I guess all I wanted was to go have fun and that was the goal. The day was glorious, it was sunny and warm, totally opposite from the run last weekend. The Miwok 100k was twice as long, twice as hard, twice as miserable and twice as lonely. It was great to be in familiar territory, everybody knows my name here, I love it.

The trail in Oakland is just beautiful.

As soon as we started I took off fast. Little did I know that the day was going to be a little longer, and humbling. I wanted to do well, but in the process, I soon realized that I was not in a position to push it. My legs were still hurting from last Sunday and my feet were still a hamburger. I settled in a steady pace and plow the miles away, when I got to the first aid station I got my usual, coke and coke. I also drank some coke and chased it with coke, man I love that stuff on a hot day. Running through the hills of Oakland I soon started to realize two things, everybody there seems to have a dog and everybody seems to be nice about picking up the dog poop, put it in a bag and leave it by the side of the road for the poop fairy to come and pick it up. What the hell!!, what am I missing. Is there somebody that actually comes and picks up the shit away, why just leave it there?. Leaving that crap in a plastic bag is not good, unless there is something I am missing. And the other thing that was funny, people talk to their dogs like they understood. They do not understand!! They are dogs. As I was running, this dog came in front of me, the owner says, “Fido you did it again, you keep getting in front of people”. It happened twice and I was cracking up, dogs do not understand, but a little apology would have been great. Anyway, I thought it was funny.

Pick up the crap!! Sheeshh!!

As I finished the first lap, I was still feeling OK. I ate some and then started the second lap (10K). This particular lap is a hard one; the hills are very steep and hard. There is no way you could actually run them, not me at least. So I walked them as fast as I could, and these 10K were the longest 10K I had run in a while. A guy came from behind and we started to talk. It was fun to have some company for a change. I was wearing my miwok shirt, and that shit was giving me some major nipple chaffing, so I took it off. It was hot and nice so it felt good to run without a shirt. I am a little self conscious about doing that, but yesterday I felt I had no choice. It was either that or bleed to death, so I took it off. As the hours and the miles went by I thought about quitting. I made my mind, I was going to quit after the 10K loop and just do 30K. My legs were already screaming, my feet were hurting and every step was a pain. So with that in mind I had nothing left but to “finish”. I picked up the pace and got to the finish line. As I was talking to the volunteers about finishing up, they kept telling me, “Come On Luis, you need just one more loop, you can walk those 20K”, and I was peer pressured to go on. So I did…. I ran in front of the finish line, to save face, and once I got to the beginning of the first hill I questioned my decision. However, there was not way in the world I was going to go back…. So I kept going.. and going… and going… I soon realized that I was not feeling as bad as I though I was. I run the flats and walked the hills, and I made it to the end. I was done..

Rujeco and Sabrina, this was Rujeco's first trail run.

As I was finishing and contently eating all the goodies at the finish line, I became aware that if there is one thing I treasure, is friends. It is great to be in company of such a group of amazing individuals. Sarah from PCTRAILRUNS is an amazing mentor and cheerleader. Janet my running buddy was not here today and I missed her a lot, Rujeco and Sabrina, what a pair. This was Rujeco’s first trail run and she did awesome. Kim and her friend were out there still when I finished, and I am sure they were having a blast, it is great to run these things with friends.. I truly believe that life gives us what we need when we need it. There are times that seem insurmountable, but we need to rely on friends to make it through the end. Things are the hardest when we decide to do it alone, and today was one of those days for me. I realize how lucky I am to have found such an amazing running partner in Janet.. Yay!! What is next? I truly don’t know yet…

Miwok 100K

First, for the love of God if you are going to go anywhere early in the morning…
a) have 4, not three, but 4 alarm clocks in case you miss the first three.
b) have an awesome running partner that will call you when she is waiting outside her house wondering what happened to her ride
c) Do not have plans to PR if you get up late.

For some ungodly reason I missed the first three alarms, I woke up when my phone rang. Thank God I had my phone on and all I hear was the voice of Janet to realize that I should have been by her place at that moment. So I got up like a motherfucker and got dressed as fast as I could and got in my car and drove away. Now, you have to realize that I have a routine when I go to a race. Well, this time the routine went out the window. I forgot to go the bathroom, shower and make my bed (I do this all the time). I even forgot my drop off bag. Crap, oh well.

Janet was laughing hard when I got to her house, she got in the car and drove to the starting place. One thing that was good about this, there was not car line to the parking lot and the bathrooms were deserted. We checked in and we were ready to go for that little run we were talking about for a long time, a 100 K little run.

Janet and I were late, I never saw any of the runners, they were already in the trail. As we started to run, all of the family members and spectators were coming back to their cars. I have no idea how late we were, but oh well. The run starts in the beach and it picks up the trails pretty fast. We started slow, walking the inclines and jogging the flats and the downhills. I was happy to be there, I knew it was going to be a long day, but hey that is why we were there, right? It was going to be a long day, but we really did not know what we were against.

A picture of Janet in the rain, she still smiling.

For the last few years, I was told, the weather has been benign for this particular race. This year, however, the Raining and Wind Gods were out in full force all day long. It was simply ridiculous. As I mentioned before, I forgot my drop off bag, so I did not have socks, shoes, jacket or anything except what I had on. As we started to make our way up the mountain I was getting cold and started to move a little faster. Janet decided to take it easy since she will have an awesome adventure in the next few days, so I sped ahead. This is the first time that we actually ran separated since we started to run together more than a year go.

As the day went by and the day and my legs grew tired and I slowed down a bit, I got colder and all of the sudden I was shivering. My teeth were shattering and my hands were cold, I could not even open a freaking cliff bar. It was ridiculous and painful. The temperature was cold and the wind was amazingly strong. The rain kept coming down and I was hungry as hell.

How do you like the trail... nice huh? Wanna come and play with us?
Pic courtesy of Brian Harvey

This year, according to many, has been one of the toughest. There were a lot of no-shows, and I don’t blame them. But not us, Janet and I were going to run it regardless of who show up; rain or shine we were going to do it. But I was definitely not prepared for what it came next. I heard people dropped because they got too cold to the point of getting hypothermia, and I thought I was going to be one of them. I kept checking my fingers to see if they turned blue or something. Especially in the way from Bolinas Ridge to the turnournd at Randall, the weather in this section got really bad and there was not hiding from it. You see, the Bolinas ridge section is a single track on the mountain. The wind was incredible and I saw a couple of runners being knocked out by the wind to the side of the mountain. I have never experience a run such as this, it was challenging beyond my wildest imagination.

Can you see the Golden Gate Bridge?
Pic courtesy of Brian Harvey

I got the chance to see people in their way back and nobody made me smile more than Caitlin Smith. That girl is amazing and that smile never leaves her face. She is definitely a fucking rockstar. As I made it to the turnaround and started the long back, I saw Janet and Brian Harvey. Both were having a good day regardless of the conditions of the day, and all I could think was, I cannot wait to get to the finish line, change some clothes and get in my car. That was my motivation that kept me going. For a moment, it appeared that the weather was going to change for the better, but it was just a fluke, it got rainy and windy and cold again.



But what made this race fun is the company. Ultramarathoners are really cool people. I talked to Catra Corbett for a little while, Anil Rao and Brian Harvey among others. I also met Linda from Seattle. The distance was tough, the weather was tough, but it was so much fun. Loved it, it was a great day. And then my poor feet.. :)

I know this is nasty, don't tempt me to post my black toenails..

At the end we did it.. It was a long day, but my GOD it was an amazing day. As I was getting to the end I could hear the commotion down below. I could not see anybody because the fog was thick, but I could hear people cheering. that kept me going and when I got to the finish line I just wanted to find out who was the person screaming and it turns out it was a volunteer using a megaphone. What a great idea... :)

Happy kids displaying the finishers medals.. :)

Sometimes we think about what we are going through at this very moment in our lives. And yes, it might be tough; it might be cold and miserable. But if we stay the course and have a goal in mind the finish line is glorious. This reminds me of a really cool quote I heard once; “When quiting is no longer an option, you’re half way there” Which applies to most of us in most situations, not just racing. And the truth is, we are stronger than we think, when we think we cannot longer go, we actually can. So, what I learned in this race, I might not be able to stop the rain, or the wind or the cold, but they also are not going to stop me.

Mount Diablo Marathon

Mount Diablo marathon…

Mount Diablo… this is the mountain that started it all for me. It was here where I did my first trail run not knowing what I was getting myself into. I remember, I had run marathons before and I thought I was ready… Well I was not really. At the end of the day I had cried, had cursed the mountain and myself for having signed up for this race.. It was indeed the hardest thing I had ever done…..

Last year I did the 50 miler, it was awesome but coming from Moab 100 I was not sure if I was up for the 50 Miler. I entertained the idea, but the closer I got the race day, the more I thought about just doing the marathon and nothing else.

Just about to get started.. yay!!

Race started at 7 am, so I got up pretty early and drove to SF to pick up Janet and Kim. It is great when you do things like this with friends. Time goes by rather quickly and most importantly it is much more fun, really. It is. I picked them up around 5am and with my earl grey tea steaming and a big smile we took the bay bridge to cross into the East Bay and find our way to Concord where Mount Diablo is located. Now if you never heard of Mount Diablo it is a great place. The view from the top of Mt, Diablo is second only to Africa’s Mt Kilimanjaro it total visible land area. On a clear day, you can see the up to 90 miles in any direction. The view is spectacular… simply amazing..

Look at the runners.. this moutain is amazing.. woohoo!!


Had to go to the summit twice.. second time around was harder, but once we got there things went all right..

This is one of the few “elite” endurance sports put together by Sara Wendell and Aaron, the first family of ultrarunning. Along the marathon there is also a 50 miler taken place at the same time. Last year we did it and it was just as amazing. This year, however, decided not to do it since I figure I am still bitten from Moab 100 miler and too close to Miwok 100K. So I took it as a training run (well, that is what I like to think).

But in any event, Janet, Kim and I got to the starting line got registered and went back to the car to get ready. I decided to go to the bathroom and I had an unpleasant surprise, there was a line to get to the man’s bathroom. What the hell, I had to go so I had to wait. When I finally was done there it was time to get to the starting line. I rushed to the car and finish getting my stuff… as I was running back to the car I was forming this mental picture in my head of the things I needed to take with me. Salt pills, water bottles, power gels, cliff bars, iboprufin, and sun screen. The sun was already out and I knew it was going to get hot… as hot as last year…. Then, we were off.. I love to see the start of these races, a bunch of crazies running for hours.. I love it.

The three amigos at the summit... yay!! Beautiful sights.. amazing... Go there I promise you won't be disappointed.

Kim, Janet and Myself stayed together for most of the race. We walked when we had to and ran when we could Now you have to consider that Mount Diablo is one of the hardest races in the west coast. The elevation gain is insane and the trails are technical, specially coming down the mountain. The race starts with a constant climb all the way to the summit.. and when I say a climb it is really a climb. Janet, Kim and I made to the summit and of course it was already hot. I was drenched in sweat and as soon as I got to the aid station at the summit I went for the coke… and… the ice. I put some Ice in my hat to cool me down, and ate a ton of food. I knew I was burning more energy than usual because of the hot conditions so I needed to get more nutrition in. A bunch of cookies, watermelon, peanut butter sandwiches and of course cliff blocks did the trick.. oh yea, and some pretzels and potatoes too.

Then the descent started and this descent is as painful as the ascent simply because it is straight down, it can be really cruel on your quads and your toes if you are not wearing the right shoes. You should have seen my toes last year, I lost my 10 toenails after Mount Diablo last year. This year, it was just as hot and brutal. In our way down we saw the leaders cruising in the way up to the summit once again, and holy COW, they were cruising. It always amazes me how easy these runners make the course look. I am going to start running 150 miles a week, maybe I’ll get faster.. (ha ha… in my dreams I will).

We were running so fast that not even the camera could keep up with us..


I guess we slowed down a lot here.. :)

We reached the summit a second time and we knew it was going to be a long way back to the finish line. At this time the three of us were still together, and the last stretch home started. Janet took off and I tried to stay on her heels, she just left us in the dust. I tried to keep up, but all day long my IT band was giving me trouble so I just could not keep up, and NO I am NOT making excuses. I caught about 5 people in the last stretch of the run and when I got to the finish line I was just two minutes behind Janet. As I crossed the finish line I found a table and lie down for a little while. Janet came to ask me if I was OK and I was, I was just tired hot, dehydrated and mighty hungry. Sara had some strawberries that tasted like heaven, so I went at them and satisfied my hunger. We saw Kim finish and then we were done… Ah!! Great run, loved it.

After the run I had to sit down and just take my breath. It was sooooooo damn hot..

Mount Diablo is beautiful, I love that mountain and I know that whenever I am going there to run I am going to have a great time despite the fact that it will be miserable too. At the end of the day what matters to me the most is the fact that I am doing what I love to do. My life has been a blessing and I love the fact that I can do these things. It is one of those things that really make me soooo freaking happy. Running with friends in these beautiful California mountains is something that I am really thankful for.

What is next… Miwok 100K. on May second. Stay tuned..

PoST MOAB 100

So here I am post Moab… my ankles are a little inflamed, I am going to lose two toenails for sure, my heart is happy and I feel like a million bucks…

How did it go? you may ask… the whole experience can be resumed in one word… just one word.. Fucking Amazing.. OK.. That is two words, but hey who is counting?

See the scenery... amazing

Leading to this race I was not nervous at all, I was excited. Janet and I have been exchanging emails and texts and getting more and more excited about it, and now it is here.. Two more days and we were about to embark in what would be the longest run I have ever done. For her, it is second nature. And now that I did it, she owes me an Ironman. Her first triathlon will be an Ironman, that was our deal and I am putting this here in writing for all to see. The pressure is ON! He he.

So I arrived in Grand Junction Co at around 10am and luck might have it that I got a work message in my way there. Grand Junction CO airport has free wifi so I was able to deal with work. I was not happy, but I had a few hours to kill before Janet arrived. She arrived just past one. I had already picked up the car and put my crap in it. Came back to the airport and when I saw that big smile coming out of the terminal I thought… we are ON.. yay! We hugged and were ready to hit the road.

First stop: Grocery store.. We looked for a grocery stop and we bought a bunch of food. 4 Tostitos bags, bananas, bread, peanut butter, jelly, nuts, oranges, pretzels, smoothies, coke, pickles and god knows what else I am forgetting. We loaded up the pt cruiser (I hate these cars), and headed to REI to buy myself a fleece. We knew it was going to get cold there and I am so glad I bought a fleece…

Our little shopping spree.. Some people will eat this in a week...

Second Stop: Food. We drove to Moab, about 1:30 hrs from Grand Junction and looked for a decent restaurant. We found this Italian place and we ordered tons of food. I ordered a bowl of minestrone soup, the big pasta dinner and cheese cake.

Third stop; the Hotel. We checked in our hotel and and went directly to our room. We started to put our shit together and realize that I did not bring with me another running shirt. So I venture out and went out looking for a running store. I did not find any; Moab has three types of establishments only. Jeep rentals, bike rentals, motorcycle rentals and that is it, nothing more. If you like to spend some money on renting a car or doing something “fun” like that, Moab is the place to be. I found a climbing store and they were selling some running shirts of a marathon that happened 2 years ago, so I bought two and went back to the hotel. I have been trouble sleeping, but this time I passed out really quick. In most cases I am usually awake most of the night thinking of the race. This time I was out, completely, the last thing I remember was…. I don’t even remember. Ha ha.

The next day Janet woke me up and I said, “the alarm clock did not go off”. And she said, “yes it did.. You turned it off”…. I was like … “I did?” I am usually a light sleeper, but this time I was out completely..

Janet made some coffee and drinking felt so good, I needed to caffeine and the warm feeling since I knew it was going to be cold. We wanted some desert heat, but that did not happened that early in the morning. We were fucking cold, we picked our bib numbers and set up our little aid station thing. We met some new friends, David Crocket an ultra crazy man (he won this race last year). We also met people that I wish I could remember their names. I had brain surgery, remember, so I am bad with names. I will remember their faces though. We unloaded the car with all of our supplies and when I took the jar of pickled cucumbers, I laughed. We went back to the car to warm up a little and then to the pre-race meeting. Lined up at the start and then we went off.. wohooo!!!

This is base camp... The people in the aid stations were awsome. Specially cuz they had ramen noodles with potatoes at night.. yuummmyy!!


Our own little aid station.. at the beginning of the race.. bags full of food..

The first 5 miles were amazing… I could not believe how beautiful that place is…. It is just unbelievable. Wow... I felt blessed to be running there and even happier that Janet was there with me. We kept saying, OMG look at that, look there, over there, see those cliffs… holy shit.. Amazing. And I kept thinking… wow I wonder how this would have been a couple of million years ago. It was just breathtaking.. Janet laughed every times I would say, I wish I would know what this place looked like a couple of million years ago. And all of the sudden I realize that by tomorrow morning I would probably be still running here, but we were ON and there was not stopping.

Morning in Moab, pictures do not make any justice of how beautiful this is.

The freaking course was beautiful, but there were things we or I was not used to it. I hate running on pavement, and this area has an amazing amount of sheath rock which is basically pavement. A million years ago this place had some sort of eruptions and you could see the lava flow which eventually hardened and became huge sheath rocks. So needless to say, but mile 20 my poor IT bands were feeling it already. I thought to myself.. holy F*^K, I am not going to like this for the next 80 miles or so. But somehow I managed to ignore the pain and kept on going. Of course thank God for ibuprofen, It was great to look forward to the next two stops and take our ibuprofen fix. That was a treat indeed.

Just before the race, as the sun was coming up in the horizon.

Janet burning the course... you see the concrete, well it is not concrete but might as well be called concrete. Sheath rock is hard and miserable on my IT bands.


Just me and the mountain..

Janet and I, like always, talked about everything and nothing in particular. We also met bunch of other runners and talk with them while they were passing us or while we were passing them. It was great. The first lap was cold, the sun was rising and it looked awesome in the distance. We thought, it is going to get warm pretty fast and it did. When we got to the aid station for the first time we shed our layers and I was running on shorts and shirt..

The first 54 miles were uneventful; we ran a very consistent pace. Not a big deal, our goal was to finish the first 50miles while it was still light and we did better than that. The sun was still out, the temperature was still nice and our feet were still in pretty good shape. Then the sun went down and the temperature dropped like crazy. All of the sudden I realized that I needed more clothes. I put on my running tights and went out for a lap with running tights and a light shirt. I thought my poor balls were going to fall off, the cold was getting to me really bad. It was painful, but managed and when I came back to base camp I put my shorts on top of my tights. What a difference that made.

At night we had a little issue: You see I think that many of the glowsticks they had were a) either too old or simply too cheap. They did not stay on for long. Janet and I reached that point where really we did not know where to go. So I suggested to go in different directions, I took the left and she took the right and see if we could find any familiar marks. I was afraid that we were going to get separated and lost, so I kept checking where she was until I could not longer see her. Then something happened, I saw a light in the distance, I was off course and started to walk toward Janet’s direction. She found a glow stick and we finally were on course once again. A volunteer was replacing the sticks, but from the on we tried and succeeded to concentrate on finding the glowsticks before moving on.

Now the funny and most demoralizing part of the race is that when you reach the finish line you are at about 97 miles or so… We needed to go back in the course for a “quick” 3 mile. So when everybody is already there happy we needed to get up and run to the cone for the last 3 miles. I think those 3 miles were the ones that messed up my poor ankles. Man I still hurt, my right ankle is really in pain 4 days after the fact.

At the end of the race people were waiting for us, they gave us our medals and they gave Janet her Champion Medal. She won first woman… that was insane.. Happy for her.. yay!! I finished 5th in 27:01 out of 45 starters and Janet finished 1st in the women’s category… yay!!

The famous pickled cucumbers... yay!! Loved them.

I have a new respect for pickled cucumbers.. OMG.. They are awesome. When Janet suggested getting them I was skeptical, but it took one bite in the middle of the day and I was sold. Thank God we did not have any, ANY stomach issues except the fact that I was farting for a long time. 

Happy kids after 27:01 hours of running and 100 miles. A few centimeters shorter I was told, swollen ankles, blistered feet, but happy... yay!!

I could not drive all the way to the hotel, I was way too tired. Janet took control of the wheel and took us there. We went to the room lie in bed removed my shoes and passed out. I woke up and took a shower, just bending down to clean my feet was painful, but the water felt sooo great. Cleaned well and treated my feet, popped the blisters and added disinfectant. We ordered food, ate and went back to sleep until the next day.. yay!!

As I was flying back I kept thinking, does this make me any different? In my flight from South Lake City to SF a blind man sat next to me. We starting to talk and learned that his name was Harry Cordellos. Nothing there really and as the conversation went on, we started talking about running. He told me that he has run over 150 marathons, several ultras, he is also a competitive water skier and he was flying from Colorado after a week in the slopes. The man is blind, totally blind. I was WTF. Came home and googled his name and he is indeed a remarkable individual. And here I am feeling like a million dollars because I ran 100 miles when this man totally blind has done amazing things. So am I special? , hell not. But I am blessed that I can do this. We were talking about life in general and how we humans tend to take things for granted, we take life for granted, we take our loved ones for granted, we take friends for granted, and we take sight for granted. We take the opportunities that are given to us for granted, we take love for granted. And my god, nothing is guaranteed in this world and as long as I have what I have, I’ll always be thankful. I will always treasure my health, my friends, my family, the fact that I can run and the fact that I smile even in my darkest moments. He said something that really made me almost cry, he said ‘Luis, most people know that there is a God, You and I KNOW God”.

And I cannot wait to start my new adventure.. yay!!

On the road to Moab 100

There are things that I really look forward to, sleeping in my own bed with clean sheets, eating a great meal that I cooked, taking a shower EVERY morning, spending time with people I love AND Running 100 miles. Yes I am sooo looking forward to do this, yet IT is also scaring the shit out of me. Yes I am fucking scared, but the truth is that like dying, running 100 miles is part of my journey. Running 100 miles is something that I have to do, not once, not twice by several times. I know it, I can feel it. Moab 100 is the beginning. Running an ultramarathon turned out to be a life changing experience for me. I have almost become a runner damn it.

Pablo Cohelo, one of my favorite authors wrote, “From now on whenever you want to find out something about something, plunge straight in” By not experiencing something fully, we deny ourselves the opportunity to really live at our full potential. Does this make sense? We spend so much time dealing with mind issues, in most cases we know what to do. In a way, the whole category or mind issues that can be dealt with one word, which is SURRENDER. Surrender means just let go, whatever it is that comes up between you, your heart and your journey. And give your best, just as Steve Prefontaine said once “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift”. So plunge straight in and give your best. If your best is not enough then it is not mean to be, but you experienced it fully and that is what is important. And remember nothing is totally lost for ever and nothing lasts for ever, really at the end of the day even a stopped clock is right 2 times a day…

But back to what is important.. Holy shit 100 miles? A friend of mine told me a couple of days ago, you are a crazy F&*K, am I? And I guess I am… woohooo!!

The road to MOAB 100

The trail is imply amazing.. check out these trees... wohoo!!

So Moab 100 miles is in less than 3 weeks.. Holy Shit…

This past Saturday Janet and I went to do a training run on our own.. 50 miles in the trails of Woodside. It was freaking awesome.. For the last week Janet and I been emailing each other about this run, I was a little nervous, 50 MILES is definitely not 50K, it is a hell of a lot more. I was a little nervous cuz we were going to do this on our own and I was afraid that we were going to mess up somehow… not enough food, getting lost, getting sick and all the host of horrible things that happen on a 50 mile run.. you know what I am talking about.

This tree fell across the trail. And I wonder, if a tree falls and nobody is there to hear it fall.. bla bla bla bla..

Janet navigating through a fallen giant...

Words cannot express what I feel about running in trails.. It is amazing.. Do you think I am FAT?

Janet made the 8:50 am train to the station which is about a mile from my home.. I picked her up and drove to the start of the trail. We decided to follow the PCTR Woodside 50K route and then add another 20 Miles to complete our 50 Miler. It worked really well; we got lost a couple of times, but found our way back pretty fast. I personally loved this experience… I am simply elated..



Nutrition: Ha this is a good one, during our run Janet and I prepared a bunch of food, we pretty much finished the whole thing. A bag of Tostitos, a bag of pretzels, 8 peanut butter sandwiches, a bunch of bananas, two containers of sliced oranges, two litters of coke, two bean soups, a whole package of Oreos, I don’t even know how many cliff bars and some power gels..oh and I a bag of dried fruit (we did not finish this one). I wonder how many calories was that?

We stashed some food behind this tree.. Thank god no critters came and steal it away..

We started slow since our mission was to complete the 50 miles without much regard for timing. I had borrowed a garmin so I could keep track of the mileage. However we soon realized that wearing a gamin in the thick forest is not very accurate, when it loses the signal it simply triangulates so it was off a bit. Nevertheless the reason I wanted was because if we ever got lost, we could potentially use the garmin to find our way back. Thank God we did not need it for that. Oh and another thing, by the time we hit the 6:30 hour mark, the freaking Garmin was out of battery.. We outlasted the garmin thingy..

Sorry I don't have a picture of the Garmin... But here are two happy krazy kids!!

We started a little late because we wanted to run in the dark and test our night vision ;).
As we reached our little aid station (my car) we got changed into dry clothes and got our flashlights. After running for six miles to our next aid station, I realized that my lamp was losing power or battery. It was getting dimmer and dimmer and by mile 12 of the last 20, my flashlight was gone. So we started using Janet’s for both of us, that one did not last long neither. So all of the sudden we were in the middle of the freaking forest and our lamps were definitely not going to sustain our way back to the car. So when we got to our food place, which happens to be close to a road, we decided to run on the road instead. We could have not made it back into the trails with our light situation. The last 3 miles we ran on the road in complete darkness, I will only fire my lamp for a few seconds if a car was approaching so the driver could see us.

51 miles baby!! Wooohoo!! and here could have gone further... I was feeling so good... next time we are bringing extra batteries... and more food... definitely..

This is definitely one of the best runs I ever had, we were not fast by any means, but this run gave me a sense of accomplishment, 50 miles is a loooong freaking way. Janet and I talked about the fact of how fortunate we were of being able to do this.

Lets see what else.. The trails are amazing, they were a little wet which reminds me I bought shoes the night before and I was planning to wear them for part of the run., but I opted to wear them for the whole thing.. I know this is something you are not supposed to do, but oh well. My new shoes went 50 miles in their maiden run..

This tree caught our attention.. It twisted around and around... How? Nature is simply amazing.

Ha!! By looking at the world a little different I realize how much I am thankful for. Many times we concentrate and focus on the ones that have it all, or the ones that have what you want. Couting our blessings is a ticket to being happier, when I consider the few events that happen last week, a friend’s wife died, a friend’s grandmother died, and another friend was diagnosed with Cancer. . Holy fuck… and here I am running 50 miles!! Wow!! What a blessing!! My family is OK, my best friend’s mom is back home after a few days in the hospital, I am healthy, I have a job, I have great friends and I CAN run… wohooo!!! Thank you GOD..