May 29, 2010 "Footlong Run" with Erik Skaden and Mark Lantz

I know the name of our run might be a little confusing, but I will explain. No, we didn't just run one foot. At the beginning, Erik and Mark were talking about some other epic "Ice Cream Sandwich Runs" on some other blogs and decided that we needed something epic as well. Some early suggestions were: a "Snickers Run," "Twinkie Run," "Pizza Run," "Burrito Run," etc. until we had a craving for a foot long sandwich at Subway in Foresthill.

We started early in the day and began working our way up to Foresthill following the WS trail. Early into the run we decided to make it an epic "Subway Run," which eventually turned into the "Foot Long Run."

Once in Foresthill, we headed straight for the Subway. At this point we had run 32 miles and I was getting pretty hungry and a little low on energy. The $5 Foot long sandwich was sounding really good to me as I just wanted to scarf down anything and everything I could find. I bought a fountain drink and some salt and vinegar chips (my favorite) as well to complete the meal. I originally didn't plan to eat the whole foot long thinking it would be too much in my stomach to run the remaining 18 miles without puking or having problems. Erik ordered a fountain drink, chips, and a 6" sub. So me finishing the entire foot long, 2 fountain drinks, a bag of chips, and making it back to the cars 18 miles away with no problems was now a challenge. I accepted the challenge. We enjoyed our meals and continued on our way down the WS trail. Every once in a while Erik would remind me that I just stuffed my face and was curious how I was feeling. I was happy to say that I did just fine on the way back to our cars. There were a few hickups and a couple scares that something may be on it's way up, but nothing else. :)

May 15, 2010 Silver State 50 Mile Run Reno, Nevada

On Saturday May 15, 2010 I ran the Silver State 50 Mile Run in Reno, Nevada to top off a busy week of travel and work. The previous Saturday I flew back to Salt Lake City, Utah and spent the entire week there at the SLC Ernst & Young office for New Senior Training. It was an exciting week as I learned what my new responsibilities will be as a new Senior in our firm running an audit engagement. In the evenings after training I was able to visit my Grandma, and other family and friends that I don't get to see very often. I was also able to visit with my Mission President and his wife, who I got to know very well while I served a two year mission for my church. I also enjoyed sight seeing around downtown SLC. With all the work and fun, I was only able to get a couple treadmill runs in at the hotel. Just enough to know that my new Montrail Masochist shoes shouldn't cause too many blisters during the big 50 mile run in a few days since the shoes were brand new.

My plane landed at 4 pm in Sacramento on Friday afternoon and Holly was there ready to pick me up. I threw my luggage in the car and headed straight for home real quick to pack my race gear, then continued our drive up to Reno. We arrived around 7:30 pm at Eclipse Pizza where the packet pickup is. We ordered a medium pizza and met up with Erik Skaden. The three of us enjoyed pizza, telling stories, and talking a little race strategy for the next morning. Erik was hoping to run together at least the first 20 miles. I agreed, but threw in the disclaimer that since the AR50 I only averaged running 20 miles a week because life got so busy with moving and trying to purchase a home. I hadn't run any hills since the AR50 (a month before Silver State) so I was not sure how my body would react to the shock of climbing 9,200 ft and descending 9,200 ft at high elevation. Close to 9 pm we split our ways with Erik and headed to our hotel.



The next morning the alarm went off at 4:50 am. I put on my race gear, zapped an egg burritto in the microwave I bought at a gas station, and filled my Camelbak handheld bottles with my Clif Shot electrolyte drink mix. Holly and I arrived at the start line at Rancho San Rafael Park in Reno with about 10 minutes to spare before the race start at 6 am. I quickly put on my sunscreen, waist pack, and strapped on my Camelbak handheld water bottles. We ran over to the start line to meet up with Erik. The gun went off and I hung with Erik. The first 12 miles of this race are uphill and climb to the top of Mt. Peavine Summit. We kept our pace relatively conservative on the way up. After 9 miles or so, I could tell that my body was a little too "fresh"(lack of training) for this pace as I had not been running too much and I was starting to feel like I needed to back off a bit if I was going to save any energy for the second half of the race. I let Erik know I felt I needed to slow down my pace a little, so I told him to feel free to take off and not let me hold him back.

At the top of Mt. Peavine I filled my Camelbak bottles, had a salt tab, and ate a couple of my Clif Shot Gels. The more races I do, the more basic my diet gets. During my races now, I just use my Clif Shot Gels, Bloks, drink mix, and occasional salt tabs. When I first started ultra running, I was wolfing down a lot of food early in the race, but it seems like the body adapts over time and becomes more efficient. After cresting Mt. Peavine, we drop down the other side and work our way down to a 12-13 mile trail loop that crosses the border into California. This downhill is a great opportunity to pick up so time and let gravity take me. On the way down we had to run through a few patches of snow, but nothing.

The back loop in California is very beautiful. From the high desert landscape we enter a forest with large trees that offer plenty of shade. The view from the top of Peavine is very impressive as well. On the way down the back side of Peavine, the Sierra Nevada's on the California side offer an amazing backdrop of trees and snow capped mountains. I think I hit my first wall when I started at the bottom of Pevine on this large loop. I felt like I was running in slow motion. My quads were already starting to scream to me wondering what this shock was that I was subjecting them to again after the little break they had from all of those hills. For this race I didn't have any big expectations for myself, I just wanted to enjoy it as much as possible and use it as a jump start training run to get back into racing shape. With that in mind, on this back loop I was a little less rushed at the aid stations and I walked a little more up the hills, anticipating a tough uphill climb out of Boomtown back up Peavine.

To finish this back loop we about halfway up Peavine and take a trail for a couple miles around the side until we reach another trail where we drop straight down for three miles to Boomtown. By this point the sun is out and we are back in the high desert with no shade. The past 10 miles or so up to this point I had been in my "slump." Once I started charging downhill towards Boomtown I started feeling much better. I made it down to Boomtown at a good pace. I took my Clif Shot Gel, filled my bottles and turned around to head straight back up the way that I had come down. Once to the top of the three mile stretch, we continue straight up for 3 more miles back to the top of Peavine. On this stretch I caught up with the legendary Gordy Ansleigh (first one to run WS100) who was running the 50k. We talked for about five minutes while walking up the steep part of the hill. He had some funny stories to tell as usual.



Once to the top of Peavine there are only 10 miles left to the finish and it is mainly all downhill. At the top of Peavine I took another Clif Shot Gel, a salt tab, and filled my bottles. I took off on my next 10 mile downhill journey. At this point I was still feeling fine so I pushed my pace. I have learned that when you feel good, you need to take advantage and go because you will inevitably hit another wall. Fortunately this time I felt good the whole way down to the finish. I kicked it in with everything that I could muster and finished in 8 hrs and 43 mins, 9th overall. Holly was there to snap a few photos of me finishing and celebrate the finish. I cleaned up a little with the hose and ate at the BBQ they had for all of the runners. Holly and I hung out in the picnic table area for a while analyzing the race with Erik. I signed up for a free massage from the local school that was there and then we headed down the hill back home. My next race is going to be the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 mile on July 17th, but I might try to find another 50 mile race soon. I will be pacing at WS so I will see everyone out there! The best of luck to those who are in your final training days leading up to WS!

Just Returned From Maui, HI!

Aloha! Holly and I just returned from a week in Maui! It was great to spend some quality time together as I have finished my official "busy season" in public accounting! One benefit of working so much is that in just the last year I have accumulated a lot of Marriott Rewards points with all of the traveling I do for work. Therefore, we were able to stay for seven nights at the Wailea Marriott for free and get the rental car for the whole week free as well by using my points (Otherwise we would not have been able to go.) Before we got to Maui we didn't make any official plans of what we were going to do while we were there, but just planned on taking it one day at a time. We ended up spending a lot of time snorkeling, boogie boarding, sight seeing, lounging around, eating Julia's Banana Bread (best banana bread on island), and watching Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, and Nicole Kidman film "Just Go With It" right next to our hotel. I was able to get a few shorter runs in but nothing too long.

Now back to reality! A few weeks ago we found out we needed to move out of the house we have been house sitting for the past two years, so we have been pretty busy trying to figure out where we will be living. We are looking to buy a house in the area we now live in and it has proven to be hard at the moment to keep a regular running training schedule. This week I was given the opportunity to run the Miwok 100k tomorrow as I was on the waiting list, but gave it up since we are moving out of our house today and tomorrow. I hope to get back into a regular running routine soon as I plan to run the Silver State 50 Mile run in Reno, Nevada in a couple of weeks. I plan to enjoy this race as a "training run" and not set a specific time or finish place goal. Today I just received an email from the Race Director of the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 Mile Run (July 17th) inviting me to register for the race as some extra spots have opened up and I am currently on the waiting list! Very Exciting! As my name was not drawn for WS 100 Mile Run this year :( I will be pacing another runner at WS instead of racing it. Hope I can get in next year!

2010 American River 50 Mile Run, April 10, Sacramento to Auburn, CA

It seemed as if all the stars aligned for a near perfect race! I finished in 6 hrs and 44 mins, just 4 minutes off my goal time. This was a 14 minute PR for me at this race and a 40 minute improvement from last year at this race. I finished 17th overall out of about 650 starters.

The morning started at 4:15 am to a couple of noisy alarm clocks. My wife and I usually set at least one extra backup alarm each night in case the first one does not go off, but this morning I made sure I had at least three set. I snuck around the house as quiet as possible so as to not disturb my wife’s sleep. The night before I like to set everything out in the living room so it is all ready to go. I put on my jersey, filled my Camelbak bottles with my Clif Shot electrolyte drink mix, and scrambled about five eggs with a lot of pepper jack cheese. I scarfed down the eggs, loaded the car, and drove by my friend Lamont’s house to pick him up. This was his first ultra and he was very excited to venture into the land of the unknown pushing himself further than a marathon for the first time.

We arrived at the start line in Sacramento across the river from Sac State at just about the right time with 20 minutes to spare. I was excited to make it to the start on time this year as the last two years I arrived after everyone had already left the starting area. I worked my way up towards the front and found myself pretty close when the race started. I quickly fell into my pre-determined pace of about 7:10 miles so as to average about 7:30 at Beal’s Point (mile 26.7) given the brief stops at the aid stations along the way.

From the start to Beal’s Point is mainly on the paved bike trail. After about 7-8 miles I could tell that my joints were not as accustomed to running on the pavement, so I ran on the dirt alongside the pavement for much of this section. I felt very comfortable sticking to the 7:10 sometimes dipping to 6:40 mile pace. There was not much movement as far as places go for this section. I caught up to a few people, but I had been running with several of the runners around me since nearly the start. For nutrition I decided to go pretty basic again just using one Camelbak handheld bottle, eating the Clif Shot gels, and taking an occasional salt tab.



I arrived at Beal’s Point in 20th place overall. I refilled my water bottle, and found my wife Holly at a bench near the aid station. Holly is the best wife ever, always showing love and support, having things laid out for me at aid stations, keeping track of what place I am in, and taking photos. She also gives me gentle encouragement telling me that I am going too slow :). I am not sure how she does it all, but I’m very grateful! While Holly briefed me on my current place, etc, I switched from my road running shoes to my trail shoes. One of my other runner friends Jan, who helped crew at my WS 100 mile race, was also at Beal’s to offer encouragement. I tied my shoes, stuffed my mouth with some Clif Shot Bloks, and headed on my way down the trail. My average pace to Beal’s was about 7:20/mile so I was a little ahead of pace for what I wanted. I was feeling very good and ready to hit the trails. From prior experience, many runners start to fade and get tired on the trail section, but I had some solid training in this year on the trail so I was very confident to run the trail section well.

I took off and quickly caught up to and passed some people that passed me while I was changing shoes. I kept on trukin to the Granite Bay aid station (mile 32), where Holly and my friend from work Kendall Church was waiting to pace me the rest of the way. I re-fueled and we took off. The first 4-5 miles after Granite Bay proves to be a challenge with many rocks, logs, poison oak, small creeks, etc to jump over and dodge. It is also constant up and down terrain so it is a section that will quickly drain the unprepared of their energy. Fortunately this section is close to where we live so I had some solid training on this terrain and was ready to conquer it. Kendall and I flew through that section with no problems.



After that the trail still has rolling hills, but is much smoother, not as much to jump over or dodge. At this moment we were really able to pick up the pace at times running 6:45/mile or so. We started to catch and pass other runners. We made our stops at the aid stations quick, just enough time to refill my bottle and down a gel. We kept the fast pace up to the last 3.5 miles where we climb over a thousand feet from the American River up to the Overlook in Auburn. We started the climb out of the canyon and pushed ourselves as hard as we could. For the most part we were able to keep close to a 9:00/mile pace up the hill. As much as I was hurting at this point, I was able to harness what I had left.

We pushed hard all the way to the top and sprinted in to the finish. My goal was to run this in 6 hrs and 40 mins. I was 4 mins slower than my goal, but very happy and satisfied as this was my new personal record by 14 mins. Waiting at the finish to celebrate with me was Holly and her family.



I received my finisher’s jacket, hosed off and cleaned up a bit, then got a hamburger and hot dog to eat. I also had a quick deep tissue massage by Veloyce at Monsters of Massage which hurt so good and enjoyed talking with some other runner friends. Kendall took off on his road bike down to the office to do a little work, and Holly and I watched Lamont come in. He did very well for his first 50 mile run and had a fun time. Overall this was a perfect day. The weather was even overcast with cool temperatures and I accomplished all of my goals. As always, a big thank you to my wonderful wife Holly, and my sponsors Camelbak and Clif Bar, all of the volunteers, and Kendall the awesome pacer! Kendall will be running his first ultra this coming Saturday, the Skyline to the Sea 50k. I know he will do great!

2010 Rucky Chucky 50k March 20 Foresthill, CA

I finished 4th overall at the Rucky Chucky 50k in Foresthill, CA. My time was 5 hrs 1 min. This is a pretty tough race. It started off not so good for me. I was up near the front and after about a mile or so my right shoe started to come untied, even though I had double knotted it, and my heart rate monitor strap was a little loose slipping down. I stopped, tightened my monitor strap, and double knotted my shoe again. I took off and about half a mile later my shoe came untied again! This time I did a triple knot and tucked the lace underneath the lower part of the laces. My laces still felt a little crusty and inflexible from Way Too Cool 50k the Saturday before. At this point many people had already passed me and the leaders were a good 3-4 minutes in front of me so I knew I would have to make up some ground.

I took off again and it seemed like I was still feeling the effects of the race (WTC 50k) the weekend before as I felt a little drained of energy. I felt like that for the first 8 miles, but then after that I kicked into another gear and started to feel a lot better. At this point I started catching more people and moving back up in ranks. When we got down to the turn around at the river I was in 6th place. The climb out of the canyon was pretty tough. I caught the fifth place guy with about 8 miles left and passed him. With three miles left I turned a corner to walk up a very steep hill and I saw the 4th place guy. By this point we were both hurting and the usual thought of "why the heck am I doing this" was running through my mind. I laugh cause when we saw each other we both knew it was going to be a race to the end, but I felt like we were moving as slow as snails trying to climb out the rest of the canyon. My plan was to just keep him in sight so I could out kick him the last 3/4 mile once we got back to the pavement in town. I kept him in sight all the way to the last mile until I turned a corner and he wasn't there anymore. I was very confused. Either he took a wrong turn somewhere or he really picked up the pace. I finished strong and did not see him at the finish. Five minutes passed and he finally finished. He took a wrong turn. This race is stayed basic again for my nutrition needs. I ran with two Camelbak handheld water bottles, and ate my Clif Shot Bloks and Shot Gels, and an occasional salt tab.

I am happy with my 4th overall finish and 1st age group (if they would have had a 20-29 division). It was a warm day, and a great training run with some very good hills. The next couple of weeks I will fit in at least 30 miles on the Saturday mornings to get ready for the American River 50 Mile run on April 10, 2010!

2010 Way Too Cool 50k Cool, CA

My 2010 racing season is off to a great start! I ran the Way Too Cool 50k this past Saturday (13 Mar 2010.) In normal standards of training, I was off to a late start revving up my training for this ultra season. As a public financial statement auditor and most CPA's and accountants in general, this is the prime busy season mainly running from January to April. During busy season it is not uncommon to work about 65hr weeks (usually Monday thru Friday). This makes it a little hard to get some quality training runs in during the week, but I have been able to at least get out and run at least twice during the week. During the week I am usually able to be seen running under the street lights of Rocklin around 11pm to 12am. During busy season I highly depend on the early morning Saturday long runs to get my body into ultra running shape. Anyways, now you know about the late training start for the ultra season I face each year with work. It is time to get back to the Way Too Cool 50k.

Erik Skaden and Mark Lantz both invited me to train with them this season, so I started tagging along with them on their Saturday runs in late January. As work had kept me really busy and I ate way too much candy and other artery clogging food during the holidays, I was feeling very sluggish and struggling just to keep the two of them in my sight. Each week though, it seemed the training runs were getting a little easier and I could go a little further. By the time Way Too Cool came, I was feeling a lot better and feeling stronger on the hills. My ultimate goal for this race was to just beat my 2009 time of 4 hrs 45 mins.

My race strategy for the day was not to go out too fast in the beginning, but hang back and feel comfortable so I did not let myself get caught up in all of the excitement in the front pack and go out too fast. I also knew it would be very muddy so I would have to be a little more careful about my foot placement. Last year I let myself get caught up in all of the excitement and I went out with the lead pack quickly finding myself doing the first 3 miles in about a 6 min mile pace. Definitely not realistic in a 50k! Needless to say half way through the race last year my legs were shot and I struggled mentally and physically to make it to the finish.



This year it was a muddy mess with many stream crossings as this area received a lot of rain the night before. The mud and the streams made for a little bit slower times overall, but it was still a great day. At one stream crossing the water was about waist deep, and on a 6'4'' guy, that is pretty deep. I lost my footing a little and soon found myself about neck deep in the quick moving water. I quickly regained my footing and hopped out the other side, but then I realized my iPod went under too! The music continued for about 3 three seconds then faded (fortunately after a week of having the iPod in a Ziploc bag of rice, it works again, but the buttons don't work right.) For nutrition I kept it pretty basic. I used my two Camelbak handheld water bottles, and used my Clif Shot Bloks and Gels. Thanks Camelbak and Clif Bar for keeping me well hydrated and energized!



I ended up placing 34th overall out of 575, and 4th in my age 20-29 in the time of 4 hrs. and 35 mins! That is about 10 minutes faster than my time last year and I also dropped about 40 overall finish places from my last year's finish. I am very happy with the results given the conditions and the fact that this was my first race of this season coming out of busy season for work not being able to train as much as I would like. Next race next Saturday, the Rucky Chucky 50k. Yes, two 50k races back to back. It is a great way to race myself back into shape.