Quad DipSea trail Run

The Quad DIPSEA…

A happy pair just before the race... did not know much what to expect.

Well I did it… The Quad DipSea was an amazing race.. What can I say about this race.. There is no way I can describe it.. Lets see, woke up early in the morning and made my way to the city in a rush to pick up Janet. The day was a little cold, I thought, but I was hoping it will warm up a little. I did not have time to get my usual pre-race “breakfast” so I got a bagel and a banana and ate in my way to the city. Janet was kind enough to brew a cup of tea for me… We were in our way..

I got to say, I was a little nervous about this race. Not only because of the distance and the elevation gain, but because I was afraid that my IT band was going to flare up. I was also nervous because the elevation gain is dauting and most importantly I was afraid that I was not going to be able to keep up and I really wanted to do good. We trained here so we kind of knew what to expect.

And we were off… Seeing all of those racers was an amazing sight. Specially while going up the stairs and looking up or down and all you see is a mass of bodies trying to move up the first flight of stairs, and you knew that this group was amazing. Anybody that attempted this race is a bad ass runner.

Check out the start... going somewhere? I took this picture at middle point of the first flight of stairs.

Same stairs starting our second and final loop..

Janet and I kept a steady pace through the first loop… we made it to cardiac hill feeling relatively well. Cardiac hill is a very steep ass hill that you definitely cannot run unless you want your heart pump out of your chest. A steady walk to the top put us at the first aid station where we ate plenty. I love watermelon and they had it there... I usually dip the watermelon on salt to make sure I have proper amount of sodium since I sweat like a pig. I also got a peanut butter mini sandwich and a gu and we were on our way to Stinson beach.

Before getting there we saw the leader coming back.. Erik Skaggs is an animal He ran the full race in 3:52:16 what It took us 6:21:00. Can you imagine running that fast in those conditions?. It was amazing, that guy was running fast. We finished our second leg (midway point) at exactly 3:08 a full minute faster than our best time in training. Janet said, “Damn, we are going too fast”. I agreed, but it felt right.

We ran a very strong third leg, I was leading coming into Stinson beach and Janet said.. “you got some reserves huh” And I had plenty… I felt really strong and Janet was there with me until Stinson. Going back she took the lead and we passed a couple of people. We talked about catching up at least 5 people in our way back and with that in mind we picked up the pace a little. It was great to focus on somebody and just pass them… Reached the aid station and we were feeling strong that we really did not need to stop for long. We started moving along and we passed 5, then 6, then 7 then 12 and finally the 14^th person. At this time we were trucking and not believing how well we were doing at this point of the race. We decided to see if we could make it 15^th, but unfortunately we did not see anybody else ahead of us so we literally sprinted to the finish line to make it under 6:30 which was a very lofty goal of ours.

And I feel s good, I think I want to do it again.

All in all I got to say, this has been one of my most memorable races. Felt strong throughout the whole race and with the insane elevation gain and loss I was afraid that my knees or my quads were not going to be happy.. I was afraid that my IT band was going to kill me and I would have to limp to the finish. None of it happened. We ran a great race and I have earned the right to wear the shirt they gave us with a Quad DipSea logo on it.. Oooohhyyyeaa!! We rocked the course.

I have been going through some stuff in my life right now, and this race along with an incredible thanksgiving dinner made me realize that I am a very fortunate individual. I am surrounded by great people that care about me and even after 20 years some remember me quite well. Janet has been a running blessing and I am so glad we are friends..

All in all I think everybody seemed to had enjoyed themselves, but then again If you are running this type of races, and you think that punishing yourself is fun… come and join me in my next adventure which probably be a 50K next weekend.

Wohoo!! What is next… 50K next weekend? Why not?

Double DipSea

On November 29 I will be running the Quad DipSea trail run. The Dipsea Trail is an historic route between Mill Valley and Stinson Beach. The trail is about 7.1 miles long, and it traverses some incredible terrain. There is about 2,200 feet of vertical ascent as well as many, many stair steps!

As preparation for this race, Janet and I did it twice last sunday... That means 4,400 feel of vertical ascent in in 14 miles... It was hard, but fun.. Check the profile below.. It is an insane trail, but it is sooo goood

we started in Mill valley and made to Stinson Beach, took a food break and we started the long treck back.

The trail starts with 675 stairs... just up and up and up... And there is no way to warm up..


It was a beautiful day indeed. Se started with a nice pace... not too hard, but not too slow. The way to Stinson Beach was quite enjoyable. We reached Stinson beach and took a small food break. I had a energy bar and it was sooo good.

I was afraid that my IT bands were going to hurt, but I was pleasantly surprised that they did not bother me not a single time. In fact I felt great until we reached Muir woods in the way back. We took another small food break and then we pushed all the way until the end. I got to say, this is a grat trail.. It is challenging yes, but it is beautiful and most importantly the company was even greater.



Check out the little google earth flyby of the trail..

In any event.. It was a great training run. We are going back next weekend to do a triple and then on November 29 we will be doing the Quad... I got to say, I haven't been excited about a race in quite some time now. I am soooo looking forward to do this race.

For the last few weeks I have been dreading the nights since I haven't been able to sleep. It turns out that I am also immune to sleeping pills of all sorts. They just don't work on me... I was advised to see a vet, maybe if I get some horse tranquilizers. It is funny, I even took double dosage and I simply could not get any zzzz's. I have come to the realization that it is what it is and I am making the best of my little sleep I am getting.

Life is a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get... right? My chocolate box gave me something I thought I already had in the past and I was not looking forward to have it again. Anyhow, I love running.. it keeps me sane and it gives me soo much to think about and to be thankful for. Most importantly I love all the wonderful people in my life..

Wohooo!! Quad dipsea... here I come..

Quote of the moth: Where is the rest of you? (Jthomson)

What is next

Ok... for the last couple of months I have been trying to come up with a game plan for the future.. I know for sure that there are several things I will be doing this year and probably next year..

I know I will run another 50 miler in the next two months
I know I will run 100 miles sometime between now and next June
I know I will be doing another Ironman next year (I am going to Tempe in three weeks to see Ironman Arizona and sign up for next year's event)
I know I also want to do a bunch of other 50K's, but my A races will be a 50 miler, a 100 miler and the ironman. I will fit anything in between...

My last three running adventures

I have been a little busy over the last few weeks with work and I haven't been able to keep the blog going. I am going to compress 3 races in this post...

September 6, 2008 Redwood Prk Trail Run... (50K)

This particular race was my comeback to the ultra running.. I have been dealing with plantar fasciatis for the last few months and I hadn't been consistent with running. Decided to go and try my luck on this one... Lucky for me I picked a race that was great, but the weather gods decided to make it a little difficult. The temperatures rose to the 100's and it was not fun at all. I knew that it was going to be hard... Not only the temperature made it difficult, but the elevation gain for this particular race was of about 4500 feet.

This was indeed a really challenging course...

So my day did not go well... but more on that later...

Going to these runs is really fun. The familiar faces are everywhere... it is like a big family and I love it. I have been out of the trail running for a few months and people remember me and my name... It made me feel good... The sad part about this is that I am bad with names so I did not remember any of their names... but needless to say I feel part of this ultra running family. It is kind of cool if you ask me.

The weather was miserable as I mentioned early, but what made it tougher was the fact that my longest run since the Ironman was about 18 miles, which is a little over half of what I was going to do that day.. The course is multiloop... it had a 20K loop and a 10K loop. The 50K runners were doing the 20K which was open, no shade to hide and then the 10K loop which was pretty nice.. lots of trees and finally we would go back once again into the sun for a final 20K loop.

I started too strong and when I got to the aid station after running the 20 and the 10k loops, my feet were hurting, my IT band was on fire and the weather was sooo hot that I could not imagine going up again. I had signed for the skyline to the sea the following week so i decided to use this run as a training run only... Got to the aid station and decided to call it a day... It is only my third DNf and I hate to do so, but I just knew that if I continue to run under those conditions I would get hurt and most likely I would not be able to run the following race in two weeks.

Last year I used to simply pick up and go run 50K without much trouble, this year it has been a little more difficult... but I am getting my ultra mojo back... I hope....


Skyline to the Sea.. Saturday September 20 2008... (50K)

Now this was a great race.... This was the inaugural PCTR 50K... it was hel in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Started high up in the mountains and it is a point to point race to the sea. This particular race was only 50K so most people in this race were seasoned ultraruners. We parked by the beach and they gave us a 70min ride to the top of the mountain where the race started. as described in the race website.. the course is:.

The popular Skyline to the Sea Trail runs from the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains at Saratoga Gap through Big Basin Redwoods State Park, the oldest park in California (est. 1902), and ends at the Pacific Ocean at Waddell Beach. It travels through tall redwoods and high chaparral along the way (pctrailruns.com)



Check out the elevation profile.... or shall we say quad killing, knee destroying, black toe maker profile of this course. I hate downhills and on this one the total elevation is negative so we were going downhill pretty often and some of those hills were pretty nasty.. My poor knees were hurting bad and I was literally walking the downhills and running the uphills...

Check out the view... it is amazing..

And my god... there were bees.. did I mention the bees... or wasps or what ever.. But these little ones were active that particular day and we got stung pretty well. I know of some people that after the run (of course they had to finish first) had to go to the hospital because the itching will not go away. I was stung 4 times, I was one of the lucky ones. some people got stung 10 or 15 times...

So I finishe this one as I had planned.. I was hurting a little at the end... but hey.. is not this part of the whole thing. It is a good kind of pain... I love to be able to run this far....

Santa Cruz Montains Trail Run (50K)

Report comming up soon..


Running and running... what good is it?
A marathon is long enough 26.2 miles.. Anything longer that that might sound crazy and add the elevation changes and it is definitely insane. You are in pain, your knees hurt, you get black toenails, blisters and most likely you are sore for a few days after the run…. is that fun? People ask that all the time… and the only thing I usually respond to that is… Hell yeah!! It is FUN….

Why do it? Because is hard and because I can. I do it because it makes me suffer and when I sign for these events I know I am going to be in pain. Call me crazy but as I type these words I cannot help but smile thinking about the next run and the high I will get from doing it. There is so much to see in these trails, the magnificent views, the smells; the wildlife, they all make these runs special and a little discomfort (or a lot sometimes) is OK. Running trails makes me feel alive and it makes me feel blessed and appreciate life much more.

Tour d'Organics (97+ miles)

This past weekend Janet and I went to Sebastopol, to do the Tour d’Organics. This is a really great bike ride organized by the Organic athlete chapter of Sebastopol. What a great concept… Each rest stop was well stocked with organic, whole foods, including a substantial lunch. After the ride, there was a vegan meal made from locally grown produce for all the riders.

The course: We did this very same ride last year and I found it very challenging. With 7500 of elevation gain, I was totally unprepared for this ride. However this time, both of us, were in much better “biking” shape.

Check out the profile of the course... the beginning was brutal, but then it got easier...

The beginning of the ride was tougher than last year, but for the most part we climbed the hills without much problem at all. Slow at times, but there was not a single hill that I thought I was not going to conquer. The course took us all over the wine country..

Overall, it was a great ride… It wasn’t my day though… I hit the ground twice in the most hilarious kind of way. Both times I was going like zero miles per hour, that means I was pretty much standing when I lost control of the bike and went down. A little pain on my hip, but considering how fast I was going it was really not that bad.. J

Janet is such a badass, she is an amazing friend, but also an amazing athlete. J

This is one of the most amazing rides I have done so far… specially riding through wine country. Wow, it was beautiful. The beginning of the ride had lots of cows and I kept yelling at them Hey Cow, hoping to get their attention… unsuccessfully of course. It sure smelled like cows, but then the cow farms turn into wine country and it was gorgeous.

The food: Yummy!! I got to say, the lunch was not that great, but the organic fruit was incredible. I feel like I never stop eating. Yummy!! Great food, great company, great ride.

The post-party. After the ride, we had a vegan meal at the Sebastopol community center. They had a vegan meal and some music. Of course this particular ride was about organic farming and conserving the environment, so everything was organic and the ride was supposed to be “green”.

We ate, saw the musical acts and then drove home… I was falling asleep at the wheel, so I asked Janet to drive.

Next year I want to do it again… wohooo!!

My Ironman Experience

This is a little article that was published in my company's newsletter.. HR wanted me to write with some sort of business orientation, specifically about setting and attaining goals.... enjoy!!

___________________________

My Ironman Experience
By Luis Velasquez, Ph.D.

Well I did it! A year ago I promised myself I would do another Ironman Triathlon, and this past June I did it. What is an Ironman triathlon? It is one of the toughest sporting competitions in the world. It involves 3.8 Kms (2.4 Miles) of swimming, 180 Kms (112 miles) of biking and a grueling 42.15 Km (26.2 miles) of running. All this in one day! It only took me 12:57:01 to finish. This was my second Ironman event, and from the first experience I learned a lot. This time however, even before I started to train for it, I developed a training plan, I read books on hydration and fuel replacement, I listened to hours of advice from elite and pro- triathletes. I had a mental picture of what I wanted to accomplish. And then I trained hard, really hard. During my training I biked approximately 3200 kms (2,000 Miles), ran almost 2250 km (1,400 miles), and swam approximately 370 km (230 miles). Some would argue this is borderline psychotic, some have asked me why in heaven I would do something like this. If you are like me, you probably have a long list of things you’d like to accomplish, both for your business and life… what is stopping us?

With the right mindset and dedication, it IS in fact possible to squeeze your training, your work, your social life, your laundry etc. – but it all boils down to how badly you want it. It might be scary, and fear often stops us from pursuing a goal: fear of failure; fear of embarrassment; fear of change. Breaking through that fear is important. Additionally, many times, our overall goals -- or highly desired but not pressing desires (like an Ironman, or that promotion, or the book you wanted to write) -- get pushed aside for the necessary, deadline-oriented tasks. As a result, we often feel unsatisfied even if we’ve managed to check off everything from our daily “to do” list.

How did I become an Inronman? Becoming an Ironman was a goal of mine, thus setting that goal was the first step to do it. You cannot reach a goal that you have not set. Being specific about my goal was important, I knew that I needed to be able to swim, run and bike the distances and those numbers made it more real. As I started my training and kept a log of the miles I trained, I could actually see how I was improving and most importantly I saw that I could measure my progress. Doing this helped me know if I was on track. Looking at my progress and reaching my training mini goals kept me motivated. I knew from the beginning that this was an attainable goal. Even though I would have loved to win the race, I had to be realistic about what I could accomplish. Finally, signing up for that race a year in advance gave me a time frame of when I was going to reach that goal, with a palpable deadline. And when I crossed the finish line… wow… what a feeling!

Sometimes I impress myself, I walk on legs that can do an Ironman or run 50 miles non stop. The funny thing is, when we start to walk as small children, every step is applauded. This constant positive reinforcement is used to encourage our desire and persistence to walk. Thus like learning to walk, the more goals you achieve, the more goals you want to achieve… What is next for me? You’ll have to wait for the next newsletter....

Ironman Cour d'Alene, Race Report..

Iron man Cour d'Alene was an incredible experience... wow... and I PR this race... finished in 12 hours 57 minutes and 01 seconds.. What follows is a standard race report... not very exciting.... sorry it is a little long...
I went to do this race with a really group of people. Lets see... Jeff from Tampa, Laura from Chicago, Ovetta from Atlanta, Kathy from Denver, Drew from Denver, Jessica from Nashville, Chris from Chicago, Shannon from Denver and yours truly from San Mateo... We rented a house and stayed together... it was great...

Pre-race routine:

Got up at 4:30 am to the sound of other BT'ers eating breakfast. Went downstairs and ate a bagel, soymilk, a cliff bar, and a cup of coffee. Went to the bathroom and put in my pretty racing clothes.. I got on my knees and said a little prayer for myself and for all racing that morning..

"if god gives you lemons.... YOU FIND A NEW GOD"

Event warmup:

Walked to the starting line, got in line for body marking, pumped my tires, delivered my special needs bags and put on my wet suit... that is a warm up...

Swim

Comments:

What can you say about a mass start.... it is simply insane and crazy. two things I did that I am completly sure changed the outcome of my swim..
a) Got neoprene booties, just the day before I could not stay in the water for long, cuz my poor feet were in pain
b) Got ear plugs, when you are swimming in such cold water temps, once the cold water hits your ears you start getting dizzy.. Earplugs changed that and completed the swim with no problems

I could not hear anything simply because I had the earplugs... I only remember people dashing into the water and so I followed. I stayed right in the middle and fought for a little while to get a good pace.. Could not draft until I clear the first corner, then I got into a nice rythm. I actually had to stop, however, a couple of times because I got caught in a very, very slow moving group.

when I finished the first lap, I saw my clock and it says 34 minutes, I was happy with it... turn around and went ahead to start the second lap. finish the lap and when i saw my clock it said 1:12... it actually took me a whole other minute to exit the water because it was crowded...

Swim was good

Ha.... a swim a couple of days before the race... man I thought the water was going to kill me... it was sooo fraking cold.... This is Shannon, a friend of mine, she did IMcDA last year...







Look at my face, .. what the hell.. This was after I finish the swim... exactelly 1:13 ... not bad for an old man..
Look at an aerial picture of the swim... It was amazing..

T1

Comments:
Man Transition on an Ironman Race is incredible. Volunteers from the peelers to the sun-screen people were amazing. I took advantage of them. In my last ironman in Florida I forgot the sunscreen and it was painful for the next 2 weeks... This time, I took my time and did everything slower and it paid off.


Bike

Comments:
I have to confess something... coming into this Ironman I had no nutrition plan. I have been training with gels and a little of the infinit it I had left, but definitly did not have a plan. I was a little nervous about it, but luckily enough I did good. Nutrition consisted of concentrated infinit in two bottles. One bottle for each loop, taking a sip every 15 minutes. I also took some bananas and little pieces of energy bars from the aid stations.
I started well, my firts 20 miles were just shy of 20mph. I knew I was going a little too fast and at that moment I decided to take it easy and cruise. I did so and it worked well. I felt really well throught the bike. The second loop was a confidence builder, cuz I passed like a million people, specially in the hills. I saw a several people walking their bikes on those two hills, glad I did not have to do that.
My goal for this ironman was to make the bike cutoff and finish, well happy to report that I made the bike cutoff with plenty of time to spare.

The highlights of my bike was the scenery, and the HS cheerleaders. They were awesome.


T2

Comments:

Again, what can I say about transition in an Ironman.... it is simply great. The volunteers are just amazing... took my bike and help me change for the run.

Run

Comments:

Ok.. I knew before the start of the race that the run was going to be an issue. I had been suffering from Plantar Fasciatis and I was afraid that I would not be able to run at all. The previous week I did not run anything, got cortisone shots on my bad foot and major massages. I was hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. I had with me plenty of pain med and I was ready to walk the whole thing if needed.
coming out of the bike I was feeling good, too good indeed. I did the first two miles at arount 8 minute miles. And felt great, a big booster was when I saw that infamous kissing booth that Jess and Whizz had. I owe them 50 cents since I kissed them both. :) :)...
At around mile 3 or so, I started to feel the pain in my right foot, I decided to slow down considerably and from then on it was a struggle. The pain irradiated to the top of my foot, by mile 5 o 6 I was limping and I had taken pain medication. I did not want to take anymore simply because I did not want my kidneys to shut down. I jogged and the pain started to become a little bit more bearable. Then since my foot was in pain I was compensating putting a lot of pressure on other parts of my legs, so my IT bands started to act up and then my hip. I knew this was going to be an issue and I was prepared to deal with it. I slowed down even further and tried to maintain a proper form... when I got to the my special needs bag, I took my knee strap and wrap it around my right knee which provided some needed relief. I wanted to break 13 hours and I did a mental calculation of how fast I needed to run/walk the rest of the mary in order to do so. I thought, at that time, that it was possible.

So I kept on going, in the way there I talked to a blind triathlete and his guide. They finished in almost 18 hours, not official finisher, but still an Ironman.

As I was making my way out of transition I accidently stopped my watch, so I had no idea how long I had been on the course. I only had the "real time" and I knew I needed to finish before 8pm to make it under 13 hours. as I was struggling to the finish line with less than a mile to go 8pm came and I realized that my dream to finish unde 13 was not going to be possible. I slowed down and started to walk to the finish line, at that moment a guy in the crowd said, "wow you are going to break 13, way to go" I said, no way.... and he said you have plenty of time. At that moment I realized that my watch was 5 minutes ahead, so I took off and I crossed the line in 12:57:01, with 2:59 to spare... Wohooo!!

As I crossed the finish line, my legs did not stop running. I kept on running and I was caught, at that very moment, my legs gave up. I collapsed and was taken to the med-tent, which was full. By the time I got there I was feeling good already, so stopped at the massage table and got a a big pizza slice. It was done.

Post race

Warm down:

Walked to the house showered and came back to the finish line to see the rest of the finishers. Stayed there until midnight, went home and got to bed..

What limited my ability to perform faster?
Plantar fasciatis.... it sucks

Event comments:
This race was incredible to me... It reminded me that of the things I am capable of doing. It reminded me that I walked on legs that can do an Ironman and it feels darn good. I also got to meet a bunch of great Bters, the Couer d'Alene BT house was great. And all of the other BT'ers in Cour d'Alene are an awesome bunch..
next... AZ or KY... Whohoo!!

Ironman Day is here... this coming Sunday

The day is here.. whoohooo!!

As some of you know, I will head up to Idaho this coming weekend. I will be with 2000 others at the starting line of Ironman Cour d'Alene triathlon on Sunday June 22nd. The Ironman triathlon involves swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running 26.2 miles. It is one of the toughest sporting competitions in the world and I, Luis Velasquez, an average Joe will be doing it… Wooohoooo!!

Life has given me a lot be thankful for and my health and the fact that I can do these things put a smile on my face and make me feel alive. I have trained a lot since I signed up for this race one year ago (approximately 2,000 Miles of biking, almost 1,400 miles running, and a whooping 230 miles swimming).

So this Sunday while you are getting up and reading your Sunday paper, sometime at lunch or before you go to bed, check my progress. The race starts at 7:00 am Pacific time so at the start of the race you will see a link for the Athlete Tracker under the coverage tab of the event on the home page of http://Ironman.com. My full name is Luis Velasquez and my race number is 784.

One more thing, thank you for being in my life…

It's lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believe in myself.

-Muhammad Ali

Mount Diablo 50Miles Endurace race.

April is in the books… it is gone… and I…. well… did not that good when it comes to Ironman Training. Compared to previous months my volume is considerably lower… Darn… Now I have to work really hard to peak before IM in less than 12 weeks… or is it 10? HOLY COW… is is soo freaking close..

Lets see… This month of April, however, I ran a 50 Miles race. Mount Diablo Ultramarathon. It was here where it all started. It was in that race a year ago when I discovered ultra running accidentally. You see, when I came to the bay area, I wanted to run a marathon, a trail marathon. I set out to look for a local race and found Mount Diablo marathon and 50 mile endurance race. I signed for the marathon, and my longest trail run to date had been 15 miles in a very flat course. Well, this is my journal entry of a year ago…

My race report, the Mount Diablo Marathon in Clayton California 2007.

What possessed me to sign for this BEAST? Yes, I have run marathons, but my, last one was over 1 year ago and my longest run was 15 miles about two weeks, ago…. I have only done one trail run; this is my second longest trail run, EVER yet the DEVIL made me do it. I am sure he was laughing at me today… my, marathon o better call it my CRAWLATHON was insane. My ironman was a walk, in park compared to this beast. I did not only decide to run a trail, marathon, but I happen to pick one of the hardest in the state… Almost, 8,000 feet of elevation gain INSANE. By mile 3, I was about to bail out,, but I kept thinking, pain is my friend…. I can handle pain, so I, thought. After, I reached the summit for the first time, I followed a couple of guys that, were having a nice pace, it turns out they were doing the 50 miler. I, reached one of the sporadic aid stations, and a guy asked me "You are doing, great, is this your first 50 miler?"… I said, "no I am doing only a, marathon", he replied "well my friend you should not be here then". It, turns out I had missed a turn and now I had crawl back to summit (another 2, miles uphill) and find the stupid marathon turn. It was demoralizing and, I cursed the mountain, and my other self, the stupid Luis that signed up for, this marathon. Anyhow, I finished and that is what it counts…. I was, not going to DNF, rather I chose to be DFL, but thank God I was not. After, a while I started passing people and I reached the finish line in about, 7:45… Wow, that is a new record for me… What is next, I am going to think long and hard before I decide to do, something crazy like this once again.,

HA… What a difference a year makes… Last year I started 14 ultramarathons, I did not finished 2 of them and completed 12. This year I decided I was going to go back to the mountain that made me cry last year, literally. I was going to take my pride back…. I was going back and this time I was going to do the 50 miler… Twice the distance, twice the elevation gain… 14,000 feet … Woohoo!!!

I wasn’t sure if I was going to sign up since I had been training for the Ironman, but one talk with Janet and I was convinced. I was going to do it… Hell yeah baby!! A started to prepare a couple of days before including getting all the night gear I was going to use and shoes. I have been using the same shoe style, this year, however, they changed the style and they run a little smaller… I did not know that at the time and it took me a whole 5 miles in the race to realize that they were just a little smaller… small enough so my toes were hitting the end of the shoe. Needless to say, I have an array of black toenails now, a number large enough to start my own toenail necklace.. (just kidding).

In any event, Janet Kim and I met at the starting line.. Janet my best ultraruning buddy and . Kimberly, (Trail Runner M.D) another ultra-crazy buddy of mine. They were amazing, there is not way I could have finished this race without their support. They are awesome…

So we met at the starting point and this time I felt that I belonged there. Last year it was very intimidating, I did not know anybody and I felt out of place among those people. You could see that these are the hard-core runners, Mount Diablo 50 miler is not a walk in park by any means. Their faces, their bodies, their legs, their gear showed that these people know what they are doing. This year however, I knew many of them and my gear showed the wear and tear of many ultra runs from the past year. It was a great feeling.

Sarah and Wendell, race directors and incredible ultra runners gave us the directions and sent us in our way....

….. and so we started... up and up and up and up...

Up and up and up…. I knew this was not going to be easy, but I also knew that regardless of the time I was going to finish. The first ascent to the summit was uneventful, when we got there we made a joke…. We said “lets see how we feel when we come back here in about 8 hours” it was not a joke…. We were back there in about 8 hours indeed and saw the sun beginning to set in the horizon. During the second ascent to the summit we were greeted by Sabrina Okada, a really good friend of mine that happens to live nearby. She spent 3 hours waiting for us… What a trooper... She took this picuture.. (insert picture here).

Anyhow… for about 14 hours we ran this monster, or attempted to run since many places were absolutely un-runable… The steepness was so hard we could barely walk it upright… and the descents… OH my God… my poor toes… At mile 13 or so, for not particular reason I twisted my ankle… It is amazing what can go through your head in a split second. I thought, “Damn, my race is over… oh Man.. how am I going to get back to the starting line”. I sat down for a few moments, and then started to walk and then jog and then I found myself running again. It was a great feeling that would last for a few miles. Just before reaching a aid station, I twisted it again, and this time it was sooo painful that my vision blurred from the pain, but miraculously the pain went away and I kept running. When we reached another aid station, a park ranger gave me some medical tape, so I taped both of my ankles to get more stiffness. I also got one big blister…. But somehow the pain went away… it was like "where did it go?". Funny, as soon as I finished the race I felt it, and I knew my toes were going to feel it for a few days.

Check my poor feet after the race... all taped up... I won't show a picture of my poor toenailes here or my big blister... But they look bad...

Also got sick, my tommy was not feeling well… I told Janet and Kim.. “Hold on!”… and I went off the trail, hugged a tree and emptied my tummy. After a really good puke, I started hydrating again and felt much, much better. Kim and Janet were amazing, they pushed and pulled me to the finish line. Wohooo!! It was a great race… Loved it… and yes I am going to do it again next year.. with better shoes…

Check out this little clip.... it is called 14 hours compressed in 30 seconds.... pretty cool..

The pain of having my toenails blacken, my ankle twisted and my stomach not very happy, are a small price to pay for amazing experience that this race gave me. Kimberly said “One of the great things about ultras is that the good parts (friends, beautiful sweeping views from the top of Mt Diablo, red-winged blackbirds, the night sky) stay for a long time, and the pain fades quickly” And that is sooo true… I had a blast and I loved every minute of it.

The Finish: Man... it was a great feeling to finish this race... I earned a great t-shirt, a coaster

The best part of the whole race... the experience with two great friends... Wohooo!!!

Now What?

I walk in a body that can run 50 miles with 14,000 feet of elevation gain… People think I am crazy, people don’t believe that somebody would put himself/herself thought that pain… and for what? For a coaster / medal? Bragging rights? Nope, for me I do it because I can, because tomorrow I might not be able to do it. Because I have experienced not being able to run or walk and I cannot imagine my life without being able to do so. Every morning when I wake up and put both of my feet on the floor I think how blessed I am, how wonderful life is that is allowing me to see one more day, one more sunset, one more day to share with my friends, one more day to run.

When you read this, think about all the wonderful things Life has blessed you with, a family, friends, loved ones, the ability to walk and run… I am certainly blessed… OOOHHHYYYYEEAA!!!!

I will be doing IMcDA in 49 days, then I will probably do another 50miler and most likely a 100 miler before the year is over..

Cheers

5000 Yards swim today

Wohoo... I think this swim deserves a blog post.. I have been working on my swimming technique for the last couple of weeks. I even went back to basics, because I wanted to get better and more efficient. Well, I put it all together today and it was amazing. I did 5000 yards in 1 hour, 20 min and 1 second. This translates into 1:36 per 100 yards.. That is a great pace..

This swim to put into perspective was 5000 yards= 4.57 Kilometer or 2.84 miles. Or 50 football fields... That was a long swim.. right?



Man.. swimming wise, I am ready to take on the Ironman, although swimming open water is a totally different animal.. Check it out here...

This is a picture of the start of the swim at ImCDA last year... I'll be doing this race in a less than 3 months..


Things I learned in the pool today..... If I train smarter, I will get faster.