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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.

Javelina

Woo Hoo,
I'm in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Will I or won't I?

That seems to be the question right now. I waited and waited to see if the Javelina Jundred was getting full. I checked right before the AC and ther were only 75 people signed up. No biggie right? Well hell a week later it was full.............SHIT........... I generally do wait cuz I'm a lazy bastard by nature. If I acctually sign up before hand I have to train......Who likes training? I do, I really do. It gives a purpose to getting out on the trail, gets you out there when you don't want to, lets you cancell things you don't want to do ex. dinner dates or family obligations. "Sorry I have to train, can't stay out late".

So I contacted the RD for Javelina and sent my app off anyway. I really hoping that they will oversell the race and let me in OR soe more people will drop out and some spots will open up. Either way the wait is driving me nuts. Do I go crazy and train for it or sit back and get my winter chubby on? Donuts, cheese burgers, mmmmmmmmmm.

Baden Powell

We decided to head up to one of our favorite hikes today.



Ginger tends to get really dusty up there but loves it!

San G.(new)PR

This is me being really lazy. I posted a quick trip report on the SGWA message board and simply pasted here.
My camera took a crap on me so my pics did not turn out but I will post a pic of my favorite hiking buddy from our recent trip up Mt. Tallac in S. Lake Tahoe



Yea!!!
Trip reports. Mine will be short. I left the lower parking lot late 8:00am Saturday. I was not sure if I was going to go to the summit. I figure if I made it to 10,000ft in good time I'd be happy. I also was not so sure about the weather as well. I packed light for a speedy trip, no jacket, no sweater, only a pair of arm wamers to knock off the chill and enough gells and bars for a few hours. I started from the lower parking lot with a nice jog to the trail head. made to the top of the first mile and had the rangers sign my permit. Only the third time I have had one signed. After a little chit chat with Paul, I was off. I decided not to stop till I hit the summit. Much to my suprise I made the summit in 2:52:08 my fastest time up Vivian Creek. Took around 2:10 to get down. Another fantastic day in the SGWA!!!!

Cool People

Her are two people that work very hard so that we can suffer



Thanks Gary and Pam

Mt. Disappoinment

The day came early, 2:30 arghhhh. I am an early riser all my life but 2:30, too early. I had the car packed up the night before so it was just about taking care of eating, coffee, and the (ahem) bathroom requirements. We made the trip rather fast, there still is quite a bit of traffic on the 210 at 4:00am. Pre-race was business as usual just had to apply the grease to the appropriate parts and I was good to go.



I was (am) not in 50 miler shape this year so I opted for the 50k. Good choice! As we were waiting to start I had the chance to meet David Goggins. When asked if I could get a picture with him, he could not have been nicer.







I also met Jorge




And Greg



I think the best part of Ultra's Is hanging out with people that are just as nutty as myself.

Mt. Disappointment, Saturday/ Napa, Sunday

I went on vacation the next day. Yippeeeeeeeeeee Sitting behind the wheel for eight hours was not such a good idea though. I have been waiting to post with pics of Mt Dis. but I have not found a one hour photo yet. Last night I went for a 6.5 mile run(51min) with a group from the naparunningcompany.com/ these folks like to boogie. I usually don't run on the road-ever! But I had a great time. I will post a race report as soon as I get some photos back.

San G. PR

I had a splendid day on San G. I got up early and headed out. A little too early as I forgot to hang my parking permit in the window (again) this time there was no ranger to give my ticket to so I'll have to mail it. Back to the trip. I made good time on the first mile: 17 minutes. As I came around the corner I smelled smoke, that's not a good thing up there it is incredibly dry. I found a group of campers with a small fire. I tried to be cool in asking them to put it out. They did with a minimal of grouchy face. Funny thing though one of the hikers in that group thanked me fro being so adamant about putting it out. He tried to sway the others but they blew him off. It was a great morning having the trail to myself, as I was getting closer to halfway camp I was hyper vigilant about bears. I heard a crashing down in the creek. Bear? Much to may amazement I saw the coolest big horn sheep. I pulled out my camera and snapped off two quick shots. Unfortunately they did not come out. I was feeling good and decided to do my best not to look at my watch, I really wanted to hit the summit in under three hours. Something I have only done once before. Well the planets were lined up today I made the summit in 2:51:02. That beats my prior by four minutes. Sweet...........

Over a month................

Damn I'm bad. No post for over a month. I had an unknown injury. After that last summit trip I developed " pitting edema" in my left leg. It was a little un-nerving because I had just returned from a trip to New Orleans jammed up the summit and got back on plane and flew to Reno and back. I finally decided to go to the doctor. After telling him about my recent travels he got a very concerned look about him and could not get the blood thinner shot into my tummy fast enough followed by telling the nurses that they needed to arrange an Ultrasound "stat". Not to pleasant to hear. Not to mention I had just put my wife on a plane the day before. So I'm sitting home with my daughter who's down for a few weeks thinking about the conversation I had a few hours earlier. "So doc what's the worst that could happen? He replied..... you could die, quicker than a heart attack!" Shit I was thinking pneumonia, crap. Oh well, a bunch of tests to no avail. They did tell me I did not have a clot and wasn't going to die. Sweeeet!
I had the privilege of escorting my daughter to Disneyland (ticket hook up :) ) We had a blast. Although she would more than likely say that I might have "marched" a little too fast to get around both parks. I mean come on who doesn't want to see everything possible.

San G. Sumit

Saturday (6/8/08) I hit the summit of San Gorgonio (11,450ft.). It was a fantastic day! I tried to get some of the guy's from the running club to go with me. No one laced up to go so I hit it solo. I left the parking lot at 8:00. Nice warm up to the trail head, then it was on. I cleared the first mile in 16:48 a little too fast, I slowed a bit but kept a good pace. Made it to halfway camp in 48:15, high creek in in 1:38, and the summit in 3:09. It was a little windy for me at the summit and I did not want to cool off to quickly so I headed back down after a two minute breather. I got to the bottom in 2:20 and am really paying the price. My legs have been killing me!!!!! I did not hydrate enough the few days before I left and cramped up three quarters of the way down. My left calf was (is) killing me. It was a fantastic trip. I have only busted the three hour time once before and am told I need to reach the summit in under 2:50 from the lower parking lot to break somebody else's time. Ah a goal!

Ah.............. Back

Trips are fun, having somebody else make your bed everyday is nice as well. BUT being in your own lumpy old bed is the best! I love coming home. I missed our animals big time. Apparently our little dog took a few liberties with the house sitter. There was a nice crevice on the couch where the little pooch had been lying down and I woke to the sound her munching on some cat food. Big time no no! I will post more on the Big Easy. Am I running to or away from the strip club?

Heading out of town

So we are heading out of town for the weekend. Going to the Big Easy............. Going to do some humidity training. Oh yes nothin like running with your clothes sticking to you breathing through a straw ahhhh. Got to love it!!!!!!! Just like Indiana.

Run Through Redlands

I had a fantastic day!!!!! Got up early and headed out to help set up the easy up (tent/booth) at the race. I then got to round up our athletes and register them. Nothing like telling the registration folks that I'm signing up a bunch of runners and won't be paying for them either! I had been working with the Kiwana's for months setting up our sponsorship and they dropped the ball BIG TIME nothing like being a major sponsor and not getting recognized. WE WERE LEFT OFF THE SHIRTS! that is the end of my rant for that one.
The best part was knowing that it was going to be my wife's first race ever (10k). Things worked out perfectly. I left early to set up and she was able to to take her time and walk down to the booth on her own time. The race was in our home town walking distance from our house. I started a half hour before her and was cruising along, mind you I DON'T RUN ON THE ROAD! This was my first 1/2 on the pavement, we'll see if there is going to be a second. So at ten miles in I bellowed out "hey chicken" and was able to run with my lovely bride for a few hundred yards. We soon went our separate ways on the course unfortunately for me I could not pick up the pace at the end but I finished strong. More to the point my super wife finished in great spirits. I was a little concerned she might not have a good day and hold me responsible. Not that I would shy away from that, I just wanted her to have a good time. I think she did, she doesn't hate me right now.

Summit

Not the best photo but, oh well. Saturday I went to the summit of San Gorgonio. I had a great time all by myself. It was one of those days when all the cards fall in to place. I'm not a loaner but it is nice to not have to worry about anyone else's pace or need to stop. It is much easier to go alone. Maybe not the safest thing in the world or smartest. But I try to be as careful as possible. I was pissed at myself though, I wanted to travel light so I left my ice axe at home. Mistake! Although I did not need it I would have felt much better had I brought it. All in all a great day I made it to the summit in 3:37 and down in 2:15. Given that there is still a bunch of snow I feel good about my time. Oh yea I got a major sunburn on my legs argh...... next time SUN BLOCK!

Bicycle Classic

I'm not one dimensional. I love my bicycles too. I spent the weekend at the Redlands Bicycle classic. I was lucky to be able to spend time with some incredible athletes. Some just starting to ride and some that are world class record holders. I went on a training ride with the current record holder at Ironman Hawaii nine plus hours to finish. The time trial was all uphill, my heart rate tends to spike on that ride. Now try doing it with your arms ! No way I could do it, these guys and gal are truly inspiring.

Life

Must say that life is good! A little scary at times my munchkin is turning fifteen "YIKES". I thought turning forty was making me feel old, having the kid gain years really drives it home.

Snow Shoe The Bear

Last month I ran a 10k snow shoe race in Big Bear. Yup, snow shoeing in Southern California. It was a blast! I had called the race director earlier in the week to find out about the course. He said that the run started in town and cruised up for a "bit" leveled off and back down to town. Cool, sounds like a breeze.
The race directors did a great job of getting the course ready. They had a back hoe and volunteers covering the streets with snow. We were able to start and finish in down town Big Bear. It was sweet. I wanted to start out slow, I tend to go like hell when the race starts. I decided it would be in my best interest to book ahead so as not to get poked with hiking poles. It took a bit but all of the sudden I was in third place. Woo hoo. Well I hunkered down and decided I was going to do everything possible to hang on to third. Low and behold I got to stand on the podium. First time ever! I even went home with more shwag than the cost of the race. I actually came out ahead. I liked that feeling.
Hats off to Kahtoola and Equada Outfitters

Chair

I found this and wanted to add it to my badass post but Blogger would not let me. Dude is fast!

Running with a Badass!

I had the pleasure of running with a real badass today. Next time your bitching about a sore knee, hammy or whatever ails you, be grateful you can run. I spent two plus hours running with a guy that is in a racing chair. He was pushing harder on the hills than I ever have in a race. Not a peep out of this guy, just kept pluggin away. I did get some much needed speed work trying to catch him on the down hills. His chair is fast!

40 miles

This is me after 40 miles of running. The last 8 with no aid, no shade and all uphill!

Being outside

Man I love being outside!

Multi tool

One more thing from Saturdays hike. Some a$$hole left a six pack on the trail. So as not to get any beer cooties on me. I used my trusty ice axe again! I'm not afraid of beer just don't like the smell anymore.

Lunch!

A few weeks back I went up the mountain to try out my new snow shoes. I had a blast tromping around. It took me just around three hours to get a way past halfway camp. On a dry day I can do it in around forty five minutes. That might give an idea of how much more energy it takes to break trail. It started to get a little windy so I stopped and donned my goretex, mm.....cozy. I could have stayed out for hours but decided to turn back. I stopped in a nice sunny spot for a bit of lunch. I LOVE my jet boil. Lightweight, fast, and compact. I also picked the spot to practice some self arrest skills. The slope was perfect but the snow wasn't. I climbed up some fifty feet and proceeded to sit and SINK. No sliding today. All the better, my wife doesn't like it when I do stuff like that when I'm alone. I did some glissading on 3/1/08. Man you can get going fast! Oh, you learn how to stop with the ice axe when you are speeding down the snow feet first.

Traction

This is some lightweight traction............
Woo hoo they kick ass

Snow!

Went for a little snow run on saturday. Me and the pooch had a blast. The snow was mostly packed enough to support my weight which was a nice change from snow shoes, they turn out to be a butt load of work. Look at the little bugger have fun.

View

Here is a view from the single track. The views along the run were fantastic.

Italy

I have not written in a while. I have a new used computer so I will try to keep up with it just a little more reguarly. We spent our December holiday in Italy. Wow, was it fantastic! I had not been to Europe in decades. Still cold when you travel in the winter. Espcially when you leave from sunny southern California.
What can I say? The food was incredible!!!!! I had more or less lost my taste for red sauce over pasta. Too many quick "out of the jar meals" if you know what I mean. Well, I ordered the most phenomenal basic pasta dish with red sauce. Oh my goodness was it good! I will have to start making some from scratch myself. Pizza..... Completely different level than what we consume over her in the "new world". Pizza in Rome not to be matched. The Coloseum was bitchen. What it must of been like to see the sporting events back then. Although, now we have monster trucks and mixed martial arts, the equivalent of chariots and gladiators. Too much to list......
More importantly I found single track to run. It was quite nice to be able to get out on my own for a bit.

My new toy

Been out of the country for a bit. Since we were traveling we decided to open our presents the night before we left. Early presents yeaaaaaa!!!!! I received the coolest gift from my lovely wife, Micro spikes! I love to run in the snow! Unfortunately in southern California there is a lot of melt and freeze so ice is a constant on the mountain. I could not wait to get up and check out my new crampons. I went out for a few hours just about 9000ft. The view was spectacular where I decided to stop for a snack. So nice to be able to run across the ice and not worry about falling on my butt or worse off the trail.

http://www.kahtoola.com/microspikes.html