Napa 70.3

Does the wetsuit make me look fat?
So I've been feeling a bit squishy n the middle since Javelina. Back in January we were in Denver and I was working out in the hotel gym when I caught a view of the pudge. After I finished my first hundred mile run I figured I was entitled to eat what ever I wanted. Fine that would be OK for a week or two, tops. BUT I decided that I EARNED as much junk food as I wanted. Not too mention I just really did not feel like running. Throw in a twisted ankle and I was ripe for getting pudgy. Why? Cuz I like doughnuts.

Fast forward a bit and we are going to Napa for a weekend to celebrate my lovely wife's birthday. Me being one who cannot travel anywhere with out looking to see if there is an event I can compete/participate in found a 70.3 triathlon. Now, if I'm up north and Envirosports has something going on I will do my best to enter. The problem here was I had not swam regularly in, hmmmmm a while.

So I go down to the gym and crap out a mile in the pool. Not the best swim but OK. Now I know I can do the mile, the bike will be great, the run not so bad. Armed with this info (how ever bad it was) I am ready to register.

Three weeks out, I'm in. To short to do any real training so I refer to it as taper time. Works for me. I am watching the weather like crazy because my wonderful wife is running her first 21 mile race in Big Sur the week before. I even run out and buy ponchos for her and the group she is running with. What a delight to be on the sidelines waiting for my wife to cross the line. Woo hoo, she did it. I was so nervous that I only could get off one pic of her finishing. It was awsome!

One week later I'm up in Napa looking at RAIN. I get up and head out thinking OK, maybe it's a bit cloudy not too bad. I get a good spot to rack my bike. On the end in front of a dumpster, which had the added bonus of being next to a port-a-john.

The gun goes off and I start the swim. I'm suprised at the water temp. I thought I was going to freeze my butt off but it wasn't bad. I managed to pull off the swim in the time I had figured. It was a bit of a long run to T1 but it got the blood flowing. By now it's starting to rain and drying off seems kind of worthless. I don the arm warmers and vest and am getting ready to hop on the bike when the proximity of the john comes in handy. T1 was kind of slow but worth it!

I'm on the bike and ready to rock! But again it's raining. The short version is that it rained the whole damn time I was on the bike. I was hoping to enjoy all that Pope valley had to offer in the way of views and scenery. Not going to happen. Rain , rain and more rain. I was happy to not pop a tire as I saw many riders on the side of the road. I managed to pass many of the people that dropped me on the swim. I finished the ride feeling great about it.

T2 was much quicker. I hit the run feeling good. The run was a double out and back. I had mixed feelings about it because I don't like running the same things over and over. In a race it can be fun because you can see the leaders as well as the folks behind you. My run was not as good as I would have liked but, acceptable.

All in all it turned out to be a great race 05:28:32 not bad for a first attempt at the half Ironman distance

face book

Face Book has consumed all of my computer time. Which has been plentiful because I'm keeping my trail time to a minimum. A few weeks back I was on a 5 mile run that we do all the time. As we were cruising back to the truck, I rolled my ankle. No big deal? I roll it all the time. Well I just turned 42 and my ankle is my body's way of confirming my new age. It has been sore for almost a month. The most I've been able to run on it has been 8 miles., Not great for my training, but it keeps me from going crazy.

Spam

I got hit today by a hardcore "born again" individual. Took me a bit to remove all of his comments. I have now activated the approval feature on my blog.

Javelina race report

I will post more pictures soon



I want to start this report by thanking my best friend without who's help I could not have done this. Thanks Chicken your the best.


We left early Friday morning maybe a little too early. We don't like being late especially when we are going somewhere we have never been. We had a nice drive to Phoenix only taking five hours. We found the camp and quickly set up our home base. Our early arrival allowed us a good spot to set up. Much pacing around ensued waiting for the things to begin. Pre-race meeting, socializing and camp dinner. The Chicken can pop out some good tailgate pasta. Once properly fueled we settled in to our tent and tried to get some much needed sleep.


4:00am the alarm went off. Not sure I really needed it since we did not sleep all that well. What, how much sleep do you want the night before the longest race of your life. Up and out of the tent I fired up the stove cuz I NEED coffee. Had some caffeine a little oatmeal and a smoothie and I was ready to rock. Much pacing around till the start.

6:00am and GO! Off we went. The pre race instructions were pretty explicit in stating that most runners that complete the first loop in under three hours dnf. So I took it easy. It was dark when we started but I knew it would not last long and did not want to carry anything that I did not need. So I ran close to folks with lights. My plan worked. I saw the nicest sunrise I have seen years. Made quick stops at the aid stations and hit the Javelina Headquarters in 2:30 SHIT. Way too fast. Did I just screw myself within the first lap of their race? Shit Shit Shit. Oh well what to do? I ran in got refueled and a smooch and I was off.
The second loop went well although not as fast as the first. It was gun to be able to greet the oncoming runners as they made their way to the HQ. Now running the opposite direction I was getting a different view of the landscape. Having gone to high school in Tucson running in the dessert was like coming home. The temp started to climb and I made my way back to HQ in around three hours. Much more manageable. Again more water, Accelerade, a little munch munch and a much needed smooch I was off.

Now the third loop was a BITCH. I did not think that the heat was much of a factor as I never felt hot. Some folks were having big problems with it. I was leaving Jackass Junction and could not get my run on. Which really sucked because the road from JJ to the HQ was so very runnable. My legs did not want to get going. My crew (Shana) did not like how I looked when I came in.
When asked how I was feeling I replied " I feel like Dog meat". At that point I did. But, water, Accelerade, munch munch and a smooch and I was off.

The fourth loop included a spectacular Arizona sunset. Which meant I was running by flashlight. I had spent a bunch of this loop running with a Redlands runner. We had a good time but I most likely talked his ear off. Most would not find that hard to believe. After leaving Coyote Camp I spent the next five miles running with two locals. They had a good pace that I needed to keep plus three lights were better than one. I came into HQ feeling pretty damn good. More light, water, Yummy grilled cheese, some soup and the ever important smooch. And to my surprise my lovely crew found me a pacer. Tom, a local that came out to volunteer and possibly pace some forlorn runner. Boy did I luck out! It was so cool to have somebody to talk to in he wee hours of the night.

The fifth loop Tom listen as I blathered on and on, as I do. I felt bad as I'm sure he wanted to run and at this point all I could muster was a steady shuffle. I also started to really notice the blister on my left foot. We stopped so I could check it out. Tom suggested that I pop it. I replied "I have nothing sharp". Here is where a pacer comes in. " You have safety pins on your number". Four to be exact. A pacer can point out the obvious when your noggin is a bit foggy. We actually ran the last half of this loop at a great pace. We ran back to HQ and I was having some grub when Tom asked if I would like him to run another loop with me. "Are you sure?" Tom is dressed in a T-shirt. I was worried that he would not be comfortable. Who wants to be uncomfortable at three in the morning out in the dessert. I was (and am) so grateful Tom wanted to go out again. So fueled and smooched up I was ready to go.

During the sixth loop I caught up with the marines. I met Mos at the starting line and we chatted a bit throughout the night. When we got to Coyote camp we could see all the runners with their glow necklaces on. Oh did we all want one. I made my way back all the while hoping that I would finish before the sun came up not because I was going to break any records I just wanted to get into my tent before the sun came up. I made my way to HQ. It was a shuffle.

I got to HQ and Shana was ready to go out with me on the final ten mile loop. We talked it over and I said it would be better for her to stay at HQ. I did not stay at HQ for long. All I needed to do was top off my water and head out. Once I could see the last aid station I knew I was home free. The aid worker was very direct in saying get out of here! Not that I'm being rude but get your ass to the finish!!! So I took off. This last three miles were smooth and runnable the only problem is that there was no way I was going to run down hill. My legs were trashed!!!!!!! I hit the main trail and off in the distance I saw the most beautiful sight in the entire world, my wife. She ran the last mile with me. Let me explain, I was running. She was walking fast.  I crossed the line in twenty five hours and fifty four minutes. Not bad for my first 100.

Three days

We are leaving Friday morning. Am I ready? I sure hope so! I'm doing my best not to go crazy. I think I have bent the ear of my fellow ultrarunners quite a bit over the last week hopefully not to the point of being a pain in the butt.

Training for Javelina

How is training you might wonder? Well physically I'm feeling fantastic mentally I think I'm going a little nutty. So much to prepare for. What should I eat? How much, how often? What should I drink? What should I wear? I know if obsess over these things I will nut up for sure. Most of all I'm trying to stay loose. Running easy and riding bikes. We had a great rain last night. During my Sunday run I thought how nice the trails would be for biking. I have only ridden my carbon fiber road bike a few times and wanted to go again. But it looked like more rain was on the way and I sure didn't want to get the new bike dirty. Pumped up the tires on the full suspendy and took off. It's not so bad when you pump up the tires and lockout the suspension. It's only a few miles to the trail and it was smooth sailing. I hit the dirt and was having great fun. Did my loop and went over to Stell for a nice esspresso

Rufus

We have a new member of our little clan. Rufus!!!!!!! I'd say we found him at the local dog jail but it's more like he found us. We had been there looking at various dogs and even put our names in for one. So, we went on to do our Saturday errands and it was not twenty minutes when the dog jail called us and asked us if we could come back. We did. We fell in love with the little guy. The folks at the dog jail were so nice that they told us he would be avail friday. The lady behind the counter said maybe if we came in late on Thursday we could adopt him early. Picked him up from the vet last Friday. He's been a fun little guy.