I don't wanna get outta bed today...

Sublime's song Burritos was rolling through my head during my run this morning. I have to admit, some days it is hard to get out of the door to run. The funny thing is the mornings when I want to stay in bed, things turn out pretty good when I finally get out. I may leave the house with the expectation of having a shitty run, but 15 minutes into the run things get straighten out and I begin to get that floating feeling.

The mental aspect of training mimics the cycles of running 100 miles. The ups and downs, highs and lows all come and go. Eventually going past the mental blocks and physical pain we enter deep within the Self. At mile 90 all the extra stuff is still floating somewhere on the surface of consciousness, but we are so tired we become unattached to the power and influence of our physical and mental body.The spirit takes over and we continue moving to whatever finish line is awaiting us.

Mile 95 at the Cascade Crest 100, I learned to let go. Exhaustion, pain, and all of the other stuff that can be expected with running 100 miles drifted away as I pushed towards the finish line. To bad it took me 23 hours of of beating myself up to learn to let go. Hopefully in the future whenever pain and self doubt take a hold, I can take a deep breath and let it drift away...

Keep on rolling:)

National Trails Day

Busy weekend! As mentioned in my previous post, June 6th was National Trails Day and Pierre and I joined with a crew of 120 volunteers to work on the Tahoe Rim Trail near Daggert Summit. The Tahoe Rim Trail Association put on the event, and I was thoroughly impressed with their vision and dedication towards preserving this beautifull resource! If anyone is looking for a relaxed way to get their Trail Work hours in the future, I highly recommend volunteering for National Trails Day. We were served breakfast lunch and dinner, got to work in a beautiful setting, and we were the first to run a new section of trail!

(Pierre bringing down the hammer!)

Later that night, we met up with John and had the inaugraul Beer and Pizza night run. First we went to Grand Central Pizza in Carson City (50% off for TRT runners) and had our pizza and pitcher of Fat Tire. After thoroughly gorging ourselves we hit the Spooner trailhead at 9:30. The course was 16.5 miles, finishing with the climb up Snow Peak (9000ft.) and then the descent to Spooner. The conditions were difficult (fog and snow), but we were gratefull to be done at 12:30 (no one puked!).

(Pierre and John)

The next day we started late (9am.) and opted to only run 45 miles of the TRT100 course (instead of the previously perscribed 50 mile). Blue skies and comfortable temperatures was a welcomed relief from the rain and fog of the previous night!

What a great weekend! Trail Work completed + 61 miles of runing in 24 hours = Just about ready for TRT100:)

Prep work

Finally recovered from post Miwok injuries, I have begun ramping up the mileage in preparation for TRT100.

A couple of runs/vacations have me particularly excited! This weekend I will be going to Tahoe to with Pierre-Yves to participation in National Trails Day. This seemed like a fun way to get my trail work done for TRT100 and Cascade Crest 100, as well as spend a day working amidst beautiful alpine scenery and elevation.

The Tahoe Rim Trail Website had this description:

"We will be celebrating National Trails Day by breaking ground on the Daggett Summit Trails System. This multi-year project will reroute the last remaining paved section of TRT into the forest. Our National Trails Day event will break ground on a connecter trail in Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park -Van Sickle and Stateline/South Lake Tahoe. The day will start with a ground breaking ceremony and breakfast treats for all volunteers. Grab a free bag lunch and spend the day volunteering with the Tahoe Rim Trail Association and partners, including Nevada State Parks, US Forest Service, and California Tahoe Conservancy."

After trail work, the plan is to meet up with fellow RhoQuick teammate John Burton and run the Snow Peak part of the TRT100 course during the night. The only problem is there might be some thunderstorms and snow, so we will wait and see what the conditions are.

Sunday the plan is to run the 50 mile section of the TRT100 with Pierre, and John. Although it is supposed to be a bit cooler and 30% chance of rain, it should be great to see the entire TRT100 course. Hopefully updates will be forthcoming.

Couliflower Ear

My first year on the San Jose State Judo team was the toughest training I had ever experienced up to that point. Being the "Freshmen" on the team, I was often sought out by the older Judoka who were either looking for a rest round or to assert their dominance on the new team member.

One Judoka in particular made every effort to make my life a living hell. Josh was known for being particularly tough on new freshmen, and for whatever reason he decided I was going to be his newest pet on the judo team. Every practice Josh would grab me for randori (free practice that mimicked a live match) and would try to pummel me with clothes lines and punches to the ears in an attempt to give me couliflower ears like him.

While I didn't necessarily have the best technique, I could scrap and wear my opponent down. As Josh would try harder to knock my head off, I started to laugh. Getting madder and madder, Josh continue to throw haymakers my way. I moved, blocked them, and continued laughing. This would continue with Josh getting angrier and angrier until he started tiring. At this point I would pick up the pace and "repay the favor." Often I would get a throw, or completely exhaust Josh which was just as satisfying.

Ultrarunning, and specifically 100 miles the elements often leave us physically beaten. Thinking we are unable to continue we slowly shuffle along the trail. This is when I find a good laugh is in order. Laugh at our mental desperation, realizing that we caused this misery on ourselves. After a good laugh, I find my spirit is lifted and I let go of the pain that is slowing me down.

Our biggest weight is our mind and perceived limitations. Let the mind go...

Ohlone 50k

(Team RhoQuick victories at the finish line!!) Picture taken by Agnes Pommier

The first race of June was the Ohlone 50k. This is a East Bay classic with almost 8000 ft. of climbing, hot temperatures and a strong field of runners. This year's race had all of the aforementioned ingredients minus the hot temperatures (80 degrees).

Team RhoQuick was represented by a full team: Jim Magill, John Burton, Andy Benkhart, Pierre Couteaus, 2x winner Jean Pommier, and myself. With 7 runners, we were sure to get 1st place points for the PA/USATF.

John, Pierre and I ran together for the first 15 miles, often trading places as we would take turns pulling each other up the steep hills. At the top of Rose Peak, my legs were feeling strong for the downhill as I passed John and Beth Vitalis. Beth would pass me again at Schleper Rock, and I wouldn't see her again until the finish.

I was cruising the downhill, a mile from the finish line when I noticed that previous course record holder Kevin Swisher was trying to make a move on me. This motivated me to put on the gas and finish 5:30, for 12th place and default age group winner.

I call myself the default age group winner, because Leor Pantilat (age 26) won the race with a course record time of 4:26, and since Leor was the overall winner I am the default age group winner:)

Jean Pommier finished 2nd overall (4:45), John Burton took 10 minutes off his PR (5:36) and Pierre finished shortly behind John (5:37).