I'M BACK

At least for a bit. Did a track workout today, 8 x 200 m at 40 sec. Felt good but it was all my mind could do. Plus I'm back on all raw foods. Hard the first few days but now I'm settled in. Lost 10lbs so far.

NO NEW POSTING FOR AWHILE

I have been laying off my blog post lately.  Just giving it a break for a few weeks! I'll be back soon with I hope a new race or some excursion I'm doing. Stay Tuned!!

SAVAGE GULF MARATHON

This first year trail Marathon was awesome. For a first year race, it was well put together and thought out! Unlike my race plan !!


I have run here before and totally forgot how difficult this place could be. Add to that the heat element, which has come a little early here in Middle Tennessee, and you could have been in for a long day!


I raced a 50K three weeks before this race and gave myself plenty of recovery time. What surfaced from this race was the same old injury I've been dealing with since the 2010 Tashka 50K. The groin?hip flexer problem.


The Savage Gulf trail is so up/down that by mile 15 I was done. As my hip flexor/core was so fatigued that I really couldn't run anymore. The one good thing is that I didn't injury myself more so back to rehab, trying to get stronger, last a little longer etc..

I do plan to go back to this race and run it smarter, harder and place in the top 10. This year I hobbled in at 15th place in 6:48

Thanks to the Park Rangers and all who made this race happens!!!

NEW RACE

I'm going to run the SAVAGE GULF TRAIL MARATHON this weekend.
It's a new race in that area and we'll see how things go.
First time race, never heard of race director, etc could spell disaster as far as pure racing goes but I've trained in the area before so should go OK.

I feel good and recovered from the California race and I'm looking forward to taking on this trail/terrain.

Race report soon!!!

La Jolla 50K 2012

Well I finally got the first of my races for 2012 out of the way. A tough and challenging course at Point Mugu in the Santa Monica Mountains. Lots of climbing. The course was basically five climbs. Climb number one came during the first 7.7 mile loop which I was on pace and came back around in 1:15. Climbs two and three were during an 11 mile loop and again I was on pace completing the loop in 2 hrs with my total time check at 3:18 at mile 19ish. Then we went back and did loop one again and this time I was hurting, just not feeling well period. This go around took me longer and I came back at 5:18 total time (I wanted to be here at 4:30), I was 45min off!!! Then I had one more climb, which took me 45 minutes, then a down hill (2 1/2 miles worth) to the finish line. (photo above you can see coastline, beautiful views all day)
Photos of the trail at the La Jolla 50K

So back to the race. I came across the finish line in 6 hours and 29 minutes. Good enough for a top 10 finish (I finished 9th overall) and about 1 hour 15 min back from the overall winner. I like to stay within 1 hour of the winner but the heat and climbs took its toil on me this day. Overall, an awesome day out on the trails.

The profile above is my next test out in California. Lets hope for a good finish in this 50k and get the year off to a good start. Felt good today with 3 x 1 mile at 6:30 pace. Plus I have other things I'm planning while out on the west coast!!!!

RACE REPORT from LLTH 2012

OK, this is one of the toughest 50k's I've attempted, and I've done a few. The course is constant up/down and the weather this year was not so pleasant (18F at start w high winds) however the trail was in perfect condition, which allowed for some good times. Not by me (DNF) but by the top 5 guys. Winning time was 4:45 I think by Eric Grossman

Went out at a 5 hr pace as that was my plan. Why? to test my fitness and I didn't want to be out there all day, it was COLD.:)
By mile 21 I knew I was done (foot problems I'll have to solve) and my old core/groin injury wasn't feeling the best. So I dropped at mile 24. (smart move as many races ahead)
This race can be ran well if your smart, know when to go and stay nourished. I'm thinking I'll go back if the conditions are right.

BRING ON WARM TEMPS!!!!