Jason Taylor

MONDAY:

Swim: 1400yds, 30 min;
Took an easy day, classes started at CNM and I had my first A&P class as well as a really incredible day volunteering at the hospital.   Can’t get into it but it’s so incredible – the human body!   WOW!  Swim workout was 200 warm up; 400 drill and 2X400yd with 90sec rest.   I took an easy pace and focused on technique more than speed, kept my HR down and got each 400 in under 8minutes…which for me is pretty good.   When I’m pushing it my fastest 400 is around 7:10.   I’d love to be able to pump out a 25 minute 1600 but that’s only going to happen if I keep training and probably invest in some lessons.

TUESDAY:

Bike #1: 45.12 miles, 2776′ 2hr 35min
I did another hill workout today, although the climbs were more sustained than the ride on Sunday.  Climbed Tramway which is between 7-9% over 5ish miles, then climbed up to the La Luz parking lot which has 11-13% grades for the better part of 2.5 miles, then rode over to Simms Park road and climbed up the loop and down.  Felt good. 

Bike #2: 30.0 miles, 652′, 1hr 56min
Commuted to class.  By the end of this ride I was ready to be off the bike.  I was tired.

WEDNESDAY:

Run:  5.3miles, 286′, 39:57min
YEAH!  I didn’t have any pain.   The toe did start to hurt about an hour off the run so I iced it but all in all, I think it’ll be okay.   I’m going to stick to road for now; did notice that the rougher terrain moved my foot around in the toe box a bit and that didn’t feel so hot.
Ran a new route today up from the house and up a few hills that are long enough that i think I’ll be able to use them for some short hill intervals coming up.

Swim: 1000yd, 30min
I only had a short time to fit this workout in but wanted to get some tech work done so I did 200 fs warm up, 8X25 drilling on catchup.   I need to work on my front quadrant swimming! 8X25 single arm drilling and then finished off with 4X100 on the 2:00.   All 4 were 1:46.   Not bad for me I guess, if I could get them down to 1:30…I’d be looking at getting closer to a 25-26minute mile with some better conditioning.

THURSDAY:

Bike: 18.56miles, 482′, 1hr 1min
Another commute.   I am enjoying this but am certainly tired of the changing out of bike clothes into street clothes and vice versa.  

Run: 7.82miles, 58:36min
Thursday’s are a really long day with school, 2 labs, one class and a 2 hour study group in the evening so this run was NECESSARY.   I needed to unwind.   I generally listen to lectures on my ipod while I’m commuting or training but today during the run was some plain old music.   I wore my new La Sportiva Crosslite trail shoes.   Probably not the ideal shoe for the bosque but it did well in the sand and looser pack.   I can definately see where it will  be great on climbs and descents with rock and loose granite but I think for my more general training, the La Sportiva Skylite will probably be better.   I’m a huge fan of Brooks Cascadia but am looking for something lighter, less cushy and more minimalist in construction and feel.

Anyhow, the run was great, did a little over 3 for warm up and then did Marathon pace (MP) for 3 miles with a 200m sprint at the end of that before a cooldown for another mile or two.   Oh, it feels so good to be out running again.  No pain in the toe, didn’t need to ice it and didn’t have time anyhow; had to leave for study group. 

FRIDAY:

Run: 16.6 miles 2280′, 2 hr 34min
Got up at a decent hour and drove to the backside of the mountain to climb the King of the Mountain course at the ski area.   It starts pretty high and tops out higher but doesn’t actually have all that much in terms of elevation to it, compared to say, the La Luz trail.  

Thursday night was the 2nd night this week when I’ve woken up and my lower left leg, the anterior, fibular region was cramping putting my ankle into this weird locked state.  It’s extremely painful and the only way I got rid of it was to get up and foam roll it for about 20 minutes.   I’ve been having this strange lumbar pain off and on for a few months and am becoming increasingly concerned that it could be a recurrence of the herniated disk I had from a couple summers ago.   This morning on the run, my lower left leg just kind of quit.   I’m not sure if it was nerve related or just exhaustion from being cramped for so long last night.  

I was feeling great but could not get a pace consistent with how I felt.  I was going to ride this afternoon, but took a break and a nap instead, sucked down some ibuprofen and foam rolled some more.   I’m going to have to keep a close eye on this!

SATURDAY:

Bike: 85.72miles, 4081′, 4hr 53min
What a great day for a long ride, slight breeze, morning sun not to harsh and traffic was light.   I left the house at 6:45am headed to Todd’s where we met Andrew Templeton, a young phenom rider and headed out.  We rode to Patrick Morrisey’s house and picked him up before heading out towards Oak Flats Rd at the top of South 14 out in the canyon. 

For me, the ride was a learning experience.   Patrick came alongside and gave me some great pointers about riding in a back, being smooth, half wheeling, loose elbows, things that I’ve never had anybody talk with me about.  Patrick was also feeling really good so he pushed the pace….alot!   I’ve never climbed South 14 that fast, we were passing people like they were standing still.  It was fun but man it was work.  

I was beat and ready for a nice break for the rest of the day.  

SUNDAY:

Run: 2.64miles, 185′, 22min WARMUP
Run: 6.2miles, 385′, 39:59 Dam to Dam 10K
SO GLAD to be running again.   I wore my flats for the race and my toe was pretty sore for the remainder of the day but nothing I couldn’t ignore.   The Dam to Dam 10k was this morning.   I’ll just throw together a quick report here.   I wasn’t feeling all that hot, but if I had the legs wanted to go fast.   After my warmup, I figured at best I’d be wise to set the expectation level at a marathon pace 6 mile effort which for me is about 6:45/mile.  

We took off and there was a front group of about 15.  The leader never really separated by more than 30-40 seconds in front.   We had a bit of a tail wind on the out so I stayed with that group and had a split at mile 1 that was faster than anticipated.   My heart rate was good,  I felt okay so I stayed with it and figured, on the way back, I’d slow significantly with the headwind.  There’s a decent climb for abou half a mile just before the turnaround and it splintered the front group.   I kept my turnover high and just stayed with my pace and by the top found myself in 4th position only a scant few yards back from the guy in 3rd.  I didn’t know how strong he was feeling so I kicked up the pace and passed him at a good clip to see if he’d respond and he didn’t.  Whew!  I had 25-30 seconds on him by the time I passed him on the return trip.   I stayed in 3rd, gained on the guy in 2nd and we both kept distance with the guy in first but Ididn’t have the acceleration I needed to catch them.   I finished in 39:59, 14 seconds behinds 2nd and 44 seconds behind 1st.   Anybody who know’s 10k’s knows that the three of us got off easy because none of our times were really that quick by elite standards but it was a good effort, a good run and a great morning to get out and push the legs.  

OVERALL WEEK:

I put in a lot of hours this week, many on the bike but also back on the run.   I didn’t really take a rest day which is new for me.   I usually take at least one during the week so I’m going to pay real close attention to the body over the next few days to make sure I’m feeling okay.  

Xterra Nationals are coming up in just 3 weeks so another week and a half of high volume and then I’ll taper pretty hard and rest up for a good time in Utah.

MONDAY:
Well, unfortunately I do think I broke the little toe on my left foot.   I buddy taped it to my other toe to help stabilize it but it’s pretty sore, swollen and the bruising around the base of the toe is pretty substantial.   I’ll give it a couple days before I try to run on it.   Have no idea what this means for the Marathon in 2 weeks, or for Nationals end of September.   Probably no to the marathon and a good chance it’ll be healed by nationals.

Bike: 28.7 miles, 240′, 1 hr 30min
Seth and I went for an easy recovery ride down along the Bosque.  

TUESDAY:

Bike: 25.5 mls, 411′, 1 hr 24min, Commute to School, no real push but had to fight alot of wind for 1/2 the ride.

Run: 0 mls
I tried to run 4-5 and didn’t make it past .25 from the house.  If the toe isn’t broken it’s definately injured so I’m off the run for a few weeks for sure.  Oh well, no excuse not to get my legs ready for cross season on the bike, commute and swim.   I’ll do some swim running as well.  No marathon, skipping the adventure race this coming weekend but hopefully it’ll be better by nationals.

WEDNESDAY:

Bike #1: 33.1 miles, 1289′, 1hr 43min
I wanted to get a good aerobic push in today with some hill work.   Since I can’t run, I want to mimmick my run workout as best i can on the bike by matching up an appropriate heart rate.   I rode from my house to the County Line, had a good climb up Tramway and then came back down.  Hoped to have enough time to hit the Juan Tabo TH but not enough time and I don’t think I had enough left in the tank either.

Bike #2: 26.1 miles, 453′, 1hr 33min
EZ commute to school

THURSDAY:

Rest day.  

FRIDAY:

Bike: 34.3 miles, 4382′, 2hr 14min
Crest climb from Triangle, whew hadn’t done this climb in a while.    

SATURDAY:

Bike: 46.45 miles, 1986′, 2hr 37min
Rode out with Todd Pilger from his place to Bernalillo and then up to Placitas where the road turns to dirt and turned around.  Nice ride, had a couple of good efforts intermingled but mostly conversational pace.  This was my first outing with the new Forerunner 310XT, loved the fact that it gave me the grade (incline) as we were climbing.   Kinda fun to watch. 
The toe is feeling pretty good, still swollen but I’m going to attempt another crack at running this next week.  I think I’ll wait till Tuesday though, give it a full week from my last attempt.  

Swim: 1200yds, 30 min
First time back in the pool since early July.   Felt nice, did some tech work to get my stroke feel back.   Did a couple of back to back 400′s.

SUNDAY:

Bike: 70.2 miles, 2896′, 3hr 45min
Rode to Placitas with Seth, who had just come off a 12 mile tempo run!   I thought it was going to be a nice easy roll but we hit the hills of Placitas through the neighborhoods and saw 4 double digit climbs of 2-3 minutes each.   Then we headed further up the canyon into an area I’d never been too, the Diamond Ranch and hit a 4 minute climb.  I think the grade was 12%-14% the whole way but I couldnt’ see straight!!  Had a great ride though and can’t wait to get back out there.

Swim: 1200 yd, 30 min
Anna and I wanted to get out of the house and I needed a nap so we hit the pool.   I did a similar workout to the day before, some tech and drilling and then a couple of 200′s.   I pushed these a bit and was surprised (for me) that I was able to get them both done in the 3:40 range.    I’m not real fast in the water and felt like I was working way too hard to get that time so I need more tech and drilling for sure.  

STRONG WEEK!   Felt good this week, the toe is healing although still swollen.   I may try to run on it this week but in truth, I can keep the mileage on the bike high and let the feet rest for another week.   I just don’t want to.   Xterra nationals are a month away and with this biking and swimming I might be able to actually do a bit better than I was expecting going into it.  Had I not broken my toe, I think I’d have spent all my time running, swam just enough to survive and biked when necessary.  As it is, I won’t loose to much run fitness and am enjoying the change up.

MONDAY:
Rest day…err…with a 30 mile commute to Carrie Tingley Hospital down by UNM…
BIKE: 27.54 miles 452′ 1hr 37min

TUESDAY:
RUN:  8 miles 721′ 1 hr 9 min
North Foothills, trail was fantastic.  I went early before dawn so it was cool and dark.   It rained up on the trails last nightbut the trail was still in great shape.  
BIKE: 16.79 miles 50 min
I did 4×3 min hard efforts during this relatively short duration run.   I was trying to get some miles in and met Anna for an evening run with the Albuquerque Roadrunner’s at 7:00pm
RUN: 3.4 miles 40min

WEDNESDAY:
Complete and total rest day…other than a game of baseball in the pool with the physical therapist and patients I was working with.   I probably sweat more in that hour in the 110 degree “sauna” pool deck and 90 degree water than I do for most other workouts!

THURSDAY:
RUN: 5.3 miles 40 min
I had hoped to get a few more miles in today but trying to work out a ton this week with pretty much 8-5 volunteering has been harder than I expected.    I did put in some harder efforts during this run at MP (Marathon Pace) to see how it felt.    After the Taos 10K Up and Over this coming weekend, the next big event is the ADT Marathon in Colorado springs.   I’m hoping for a PR and to break 3hrs.

FRIDAY:
RUN: 5.8miles 680′ 60min
Well, was hoping to get a good 8 miles in for this morning run in the north foothills.  I decided to take Baxter which I knew would keep me from going to fast but on my way out the door, my daddy guilt hit as I could hear Kira crying in the backyard because daddy didn’t take her too.   I knew that it would probably mean shorter than 8 but I thought for sure I’d get at least 6.   well…at mile 3.5 it was time to stop and take a break for little Kira, who is a chunk.   we made it to mile 5 and then she pretty much just stopped.  Found some shade and parked it.   I gave her some time, tried to carry her, and ultimately she made it back to the car just fine.   Before you get angry at me for being a bad owner…most of it’s an act.   we were about 50 yards from the car when a lizard ran out in front of us and all of a sudden, would you believe it, she was going nuts trying to chase it down.   I think though, next time, I’ll need to keep her on runs shorter than 3 or 4 until we get her a bit more light.

SATURDAY:
RUN: Taos 10K Up and Over.   6.2miles 2390′ 62min
See the race report for details.

SUNDAY:
BIKE: NM Road Race Championships.  60.47 miles 3100′ 2hr 51min
See the race report for details.

I really enjoyed this week of training.   First, it was the end of the summer semester so finishing up finals and getting free to go do whatever was the bomb.  Second, I got to put in some serious hours doing some volunteering and I’m enjoying more and more each experience in the different clinical settings I get to participate in.   Third, I got to train with my good friend Seth Wilkie on Friday for a long road ride and 8 mile run and then with my friend Lawrence Herrera on Saturday.   Always a good time to hang with those guys.  Two of the most gifted and knowledgeable  fitness trainers around and all around great dudes too.

MONDAY: Long Weekend of racing at 5k pace or close in the Wild West Relay.  Didn’t get any kind of recovery run in Sunday, expected to run today but took another day rest.   Finals week, couldn’t warrant running when hitting the books was in order.   Geez, how lame is that!  No excuse really, time got away and I was tired and not entirely motivated to get out. Enjoyed a guilt free rest day.

TUESDAY:
RUN 11:00am 10.7mls 1934′ 116min Faulty Trail out and back.
RUN 5:30pm 5.6 mls 652′ 42 min Foothills loop
Followed by a one hour hike with my good buddy Mindi Hoffmaster who was visiting ABQ.

WEDNESDAY:
RUN Recovery 11.2mls 98 min on Bosque trail with Baxter
Made a decision Wednesday night to go to Xterra Nationals which immediately changes my focus from building miles on the run to adding in swim and bike time too.  Starting tomorrow – more biking. We’ll see about the swimming.   At this point, goal for Nationals is to go, have fun, and enjoy the party!

THURSDAY:
BIKE 20mls 61min
No run, finals over, met Seth Wilkie out for spin in the Bosque at dusk 

FRIDAY:
BIKE 30.3mls 1502′ 105min spin along Tramway to Canyon and back to Seth’s
RUN 8mls ez pace 791′ 72 min
Bike to Run Brick workout in heat of afternoon.  

SATURDAY:
RUN 8.6mls 1986′ 81 min La Luz to Overlook, with a 5k time trial (1400′ in 31min!)
Mtn Bike 11.5mls 1140′ 76min legs uber tired, Lawrence went easy on me.
Another solid block of training. 

SUNDAY:
RUN 8mls 64min along Bosque, early AM, EZ sunrise was fantastic.

Year 2 was a hit.  12 runners, a driver, 2 vans, 198 miles of road in 30:33 make for a great weekend; if you like that sort of thing.  It’s fun when people ask what I did over the weekend to answer with “I ran 200 miles across Colorado…(insert pause while they look at me like I’m freakishly stupid)…with a team of 11 other people.” 

So here is a synopsis of what went down this past weekend…

We arrived in Fort Collins at 6:30pm for dinner and pre-race team meeting.  Several of the team did not know each other so it was nice to put faces with names and personalities with each van so we’d know what to expect come race morning.  The race starts at the Budweiser plant on I-25 north of Fort Collins.  Teams start between 5 am and 12 noon depending upon their estimated pace times.  The RD, race director, does his best to build the start so that the bulk of the teams end around the same time.

Our start was 8:20 and Van 1 with Cody Lee “The Freightrain”.  Also in Van 1, driver Zack Ireland, Ron Bateman, Lindsey French, Liam Mildon, Kodi Panzer and Brady Boyle.  Van 2 didn’t start till later in the morning so we went to Whole Foods for breakfast burritos, and decorated our van. 

Side bar: one of the other fun parts of relays is that every team generally will decorate their vans and/or wear crazy costumes with a theme in mind.   Our’s was Dr. Seuss so the vans were designated “ Thing 1″ and “Thing 2″ and decorated accordingly.  It didn’t have quite the effect because about 8 hours in we hit a rain storm that proceeded to wash everything off the van and hence, we drove around with a huge blue plastic wig on the van for the remainder of the race.  

The first van exchange was as 1:12pm.   I, the designated  ”Mountain Killer” had the first leg in our van.     My first leg was a relatively easy 3.5 mile roller that I knocked out in just over 22 minutes.  I did the same legs as last year so I knew what to expect.

I passed off to Kate Belford.   After her the order was Bill Peterson, Adrian Wagner, Anna Taylor and Kelsy Allington.   Our first set of legs went off without a hitch.   Everyone did great and Adrian and Anna even fought off some severe rain and hail.   Adrian had the welts to prove it!  (course he did decide to run with no shirt on in the middle of a hail storm…relay runners are weird that way…)

By the second exchange, Thing 2 was ready to eat and sleep a bit, it was about 5pm and we had a long 2 hour drive to the next exchange but had heard rumors there was pasta and salad so we opted to drive and then eat.   In the meantime, Van 1 kicked up their second set of legs taking us into the night.   During this set of legs we actually leave Colorado and head into Wyoming for several miles before turning back south and west into Colorado.   

All in our van were trying to sleep.   One of the most difficult parts of relay racing is not so much the running, it’s the not being able to sleep solid and the toll on your body from quick spurts of running with long stretches cramped in a small space. A few of us slept outside on the ground and until a race volunteer accidentaly kicked Adrian in the head, tripped fell and squished Kelsy, things were going quite well.

Kodi passed off to me at Woods landing it was  midnight.  I was off on my hardest leg at 12:03am.   It’s an almost 9 mile slog up.   The first half is brutally steep, it’s dark and because we were sort of near the rear of the race, it was very lonely.   After the first half it eases up a little and I was able to pick up the pace a bit.  I passed 8 runners, of which all but 1 or 2 were in the last couple miles of the leg which felt good.   It meant that my training is working; I can still hold a good pace after a solid sustained climb.  Back at the van exhange the RD was informing my vanmates that apparently this particular leg is the most unsafe with lots of wildlife, moose, bear etc…possible and that they should a. not leave me alone out there and b. get a move on because we were close to the cut off.

These set of legs take the team through the coldest and longest part of the night.  We ran from midnight to 5:30 when we arrived in Walden at van exchange 4.  Tired and ready to sleep, with the sun coming up, we headed the 40 minutes down the road to van exchange 5 to try to get some shut eye before meeting up with our vanmates 4-5 hours later.

I was ready for some real food so when we arrived, I beelined it to the pancake table and quickly ordered 4, scarfed them and fell asleep within about 5 minutes.  I didn’t sleep real good but probably got about 2 hours before waking up at 8 something.   We’d expected Kodi and Van 1′s arrival around 10 and when they showed up they joined us for some pancakes and coffee, to swap stories from the night before and to await Koid’s arrival.   She arrived at 10:32am and i was off for my final leg of the relay.   

My final leg is a 5.5 mile uphill run to Rabbit Ear’s Pass.   Starting out I didn’t feel real good.   No sleep and two hard effort runs within the past 24 hours really drains the legs but once I got warmed up, I felt better and settled into a nice rythym.  I started catching runners in front of me and by the time I hit the end of my leg had passed 11 runners.   It felt good to really push and leave nothing on the mountain, I didn’t hold back but just opened it up full throttle and gave it my all.    The feeling at the top was incredible!

Knowing the race was close to over seemed to reinvigorate everyone in our van.   We busted through the remainder of our legs which take us across the mountain and down into Steamboat Springs.   I ran the final leg with Anna.   That was probably the most fun of my whole trip.   I don’t get to run with her much and we just settled into a nice pace that took us along the highway into town.  

The entire team awaited Kelsy’s arrival at the finish line together.   We all ran the final 50 meters or so together with cowbell in hand and screaming like a pack of wild hyenas – we were done, the WWR 2010 was in the books at 30:33. 

Post race we stayed at a condo in Steamboat, ate huge burritos, shot nerf guns at one another, doctored up Kodi who cut her leg wide open on a bottle of Bacardi, and slept.   As with any event like this, there are so many small antecdotes and little things that happen along the way that if you were on the team, would bring a smile to your face, but if you weren’t there just make no sense at all.  For me, that’s one of the things I like most about these races, it gives me a history with each of these folks that for years to come will continue to be something we can remember and laugh about together.   So with that in mind I left alot of the small details like that out and tried to keep the race report pretty straight forward.

This is the second year I’ve run the Wild West Relay.  I intend to keep doing this relay for as long as I possibly can.   The route is fantastic and the post race time in Steamboat is the best.

To see all the photo’s the team took click here.

Jemez Mountain Trail Run

I finished my very first 50 mile running event yesterday and before I forget some of the small details of the race, I wanted to put them down on paper.   Right now, I’m just sore; neck, back, abs, arms, butt, legs, knees, ankles and oddly enough, just realized how sore and immobile my toes are…   After a hard race, I usually have some area of soreness but it’s not usually everything!!  (I can’t imagine what it must feel like to get up the morning after a 100 miler.   Maybe people just stay in bed for a couple days.) 

Over the 50 miles I some of the prettiest country in NM; from the deep canyons surrounding Los Alamos to the ridges far above, to the Valles Caldera one of the largest nature preserves in the country.    Unfortunately the only wildlife I saw was a few deer grazing in the early morning dawn but that was okay, I wasn’t really that focused on scenery. 

 This was an incredible race experience.  Varied terrain, fantastic volunteers and aid stations that were so well stocked with food, it was hard to keep going.  I got pretty nervous at the race packet pickup, no experience with a race of this distance, with this kind of elevation gain and just not sure what to expect.   You start to play mind games with yourself, or at least I do.   We opted to skip the pasta dinner and headed into town to get dinner at one of the local restaurants.  

Hat’s off to my friend Pete Stillwell for letting us crash at his house.  Pete’s an incredible endurance athlete and someone I’ve known for about 8 years now.    No camping for us!   We had a warm bed and fresh coffee at 4am the next morning.  

Race start was 5am.  It started uneventfully.  Not a lot of stretching and warmup – you just kind of start running and then you’re off.   There were a couple hundred people signed up for the 50 miler, I think they ended up with only 165ish starting and then because there was an opportunity at mile 17 to change your mind and go with the 50K if you wanted, only 101 actually finished the 50 miler.

The lead pack took off pretty quick, I was a minute or so back and just trying to warm up and get my head wrapped around the idea that my feet were not going to stop moving for at least 10-12 hours. 

At mile 4.9 we hit the first aid station, I donned my Nathan waist pack from my crew babe (Anna) and started a moderate climb to Guaje Ridge, 2.2 miles 1540’.  Felt pretty good up the first “minor” climb.  

Elevation Profile for the 50 miler

From Guaje Ridge Aid station, there was a 5.1 mile section to the base of Caballo Mountaing.  At mile 10 I arrived at the base of the first of three major (a 4^th that was not quite as bold) climbs of the day, Caballo Mountain.  This is a 2 mile up and 2 mile down out and back climb gaining 1816’.   No amount of training gets you ready to run up something like this.  I power hiked the steeper sections and at the turnaround was somewhere in the top 10 or so.  

The most amazing part of this climb was watching the first few guys coming down.   They were FLYING!!!  I had no idea you could move downhill that quickly – I have much to learn.   Climbing is about fitness, descending is more about art.  

My only real race strategy was to try not to blow up the legs on the descents.   I felt pretty good at the end of this first real effort.   I got passed by a few guys on the descent but held to my strategy and hoped I’d see them again soon.   Since the climb was truly and out and back, I knew that I was top 10-12 by the time we got to the bottom.    That was encouraging.

From the base of Caballo, now mile 14, I headed 3 miles to Pipeline Aid station for the first of two visits.   My crew babe was there and it was great to see her.  She hiked in 3 miles from the nearest trailhead to see me for about 45 seconds and make sure I was doing okay.  I was starting to feel really solid at this point, no pain, no hotspots on the feet but still overwhelmed if I let my brain think about how much longer I still had to go.   From Pipeline, there is an immediate 600 foot decent, almost straight down a ravine called something like Mr. Nasty.  (there was a sign that said something about “nasty” but in my mind Mr. Nasty stuck.)  It was just a slide down dirt really but opened up at the base into the Valles Caldera.  

The run through the caldera was really nice; relatively flat and open it slightly descended for 4 miles to the Valles Caldera aid station.    It was so encouraging to be a lone runner coming into an aid station and have 5 or 6 people whom you’ve never met just start clapping and cheering and hollering at you.   Amazing the psychological boost that gives a person! 

Up to this point, all the trails had been single track, established trail or some sort of decent forest road.   However, from the aid station, I headed across open fields through tufts of tall grass praying that I would not twist an ankle.  It was really sketchy.   I was making time up on two or three guys that were out in front of me and by the time we hit the base of the 2^nd climb out of the caldera I had caught them both.   The 2^nd significant climb was harder than the first, primarily because it had no trail, there was no traversing  (it just went straight up!) and it was already 22-23 miles in.   The climb itself was around 1600’ over 2 or so miles.   The entire section though, was 7.8 miles and ended at mile 28.7; Pajarito Canyon.   

The majority of this section I was right behind a guy that was really moving.   I could stick with him and then I’d slow for a few minutes and then kind of catch him, mostly because he kept stopping to pee as he ran.   (side note: didn’t know this until this race, but ultra folks, are very adept and peeing and running – I tried it…I think I’ll stop from now on.)

The next aid station was at Pajarito Canyon.  The first thing out of Anna’s mouth was that I was in the top 10, more likely the 5^th or 6^th spot.   I was actually more concerned with keeping pace and getting food.  By this point it was getting warm and I was having a hard time getting enough fluid down, luckily though the last 20 miles had several aid stations so I was able to get a lot of water along the way. 

From Pajarito Canyon there was a good steady climb of 1300’ over 3.9 miles to Townsite Lift at the eastern edge of Pajarito ski area.   By this point I had passed the guy in 5^th and the guy in 4^th.   Townsite lift aid station was the beginning of the most brutal climb (and descent) of the day.   Basically – straight up a ski area to the top and then straight down – all of it, up and down, pretty much unrunnable, in fact, pretty scary.   I was very blessed to not have twisted an ankle or a knee on this section.   The climb was an additional 1400’ over 2 miles with a 1.6 mile descent down to the ski lodge.    I caught up to the guy in third place but he really rocked the descent so I didn’t actually catch him until the aid station.  

It’s probably important to mention that I wasn’t really thinking about what spot I was in during the race, up until this point.  I ran into transition, kind of began to realize that I was in a fairly good spot and then the first thing Anna said to me was “You are in third!”   The guy that was just in front of me had stopped to take a break.  That climb had really got him.  I talked with him after the race, his name was Nicodemus – “Nick” – and he’s a 20 year old kid from San Diego who’s done several ultras. 

Something shifted in me when I realized I was in third.   At this point, I knew I had about 14 miles left to go, felt strong and that most of the big climbing was done.    Still had 3 miles to Pipeline for my second visit of the day at mile 39.1 and then a traverse back over to Guaje ridge at mile 42.8.    I tried to pick up my pace and not walk anything else.   Outside of a couple of really steep short efforts, I succeeded at that and just kept moving. 

The hardest miles were the last 8; partly because I didn’t want to get passed and had no idea where the guy behind me was and then partly because I was so alone at this point, on top of a huge mesa top, hot wind, sun, with a very strange landscape all around.   There were some very large fires that hit this whole area back about 10 years ago and it’s left some of the most scarred earth I’ve ever encountered.  This section from Guaje aid station to the last aid station at Rendija canyon was the hardest.    But getting to Rendija canyon was so refreshing.   I’d dropped all the elevation and actually the final 1.9 miles from there to the finish had to climb 500+’ back out of the canyon to the finish line.  

I climbed out of the canyon, turned a corner, someone yelled that I had 50 yards to go, I smiled, almost cried and then just ran as fast as I still could to the finish line where my amazing wife was jumping up and down cheering me on!  

It was an amazing feeling to finish.   I was tired but felt so excited to have finished something so difficult, mentally and physically.   I got a chance to meet some incredible people after the race, Miles, a guy that’s done 35 – 100+ mile races, is in his 50’s and had only run 30-40 miles the whole year before attempting the 50k.   A freaking animal!  Nick Clark and Ryan Burch came in first and second AND almost an hour and 20 minutes before me.   They really killed this course!   Nick also took first place at the Ghosttown 38.5 which I ran in January of this year.  

Overall, I had a great time.   No regrets, I held nothing back.   I met great people, always do, hope I left a good mark on those I met, and walked away with a really good sense of accomplishment.  I am truly blessed to be able to run and pursue my passions and would be absolutely remiss if I didn’t thank the Lord for the blessing of my health and life.   Throughout the more difficult sections of the race, I kept thinking about a section from the bible.   It’s a verse from the book of Isaiah.  

“Have you not known?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.  He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.  Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint”

This boy from the dry desert of NM had no idea what was in store for him this weekend.   I thought I’d do a more in depth race report since this is also my first race as an Xterra Ambassador.    The Xterra family is really fantastic and I saw and experienced that first hand this race.  Anna and I drove from ABQ to Ardmore, OK (10 hr) on Friday and Saturday.   It rained most of the trip there and we definitely noticed the shift in humidity when we got to the campsite at Lake Murray.   

The venue was beautiful.   I’m not used to hardwood forests and lush green everywhere.  The scenery was gorgeous.   

Upon arrival and check in, I met Andy and Desiree, the R.D.’s, both uber friendly and helpful.  Then I met Annette and her husband, Xterra ambassadors as well.   This was just the beginning of many new friends made in just 24 hours. 

I decided to go out and preride the bike course as soon as we’d set up camp.   Thus began the mud.  

I’ve never encountered so much mud, so many various kinds of mud and gone so slow while working so hard in my life!  I made a decent tire selection on the back, Kenda small block 8 but could have done the same on the front if I’d had an extra.   As it was, I had a Kenda Nevegal on the front, and two spare tires I bought in ABQ but had bought the 29er’s instead of 26’s (stupid) and so had no real options.   The course wasn’t really that bad in terms of mud.   It hadn’t rained since the night before and so most of the trails had started to firm up.   Firm up means, that they were still muddy but not soupy muddy, and the clay sections that were super slick had hardened enough to get some catch if you were moving quick enough.

Beautiful layout, lots of twists and turns through the trees, a couple of technical rock gardens, nothing to major and then a final mile along a fire road that took what mud you hadn’t accumulated already and packed as much as possible onto the bike.   It was like riding through caliche clay from NM.  Every layer just continues to add another layer until you’re 25lb MTB weighs 55lb and you can’t even really walk with it very well.  

Pre-ride complete - cold beer in hand.

 The prerided quick enough.  But not without some major mechanical issues.  My rear brake pads were completely gone, the composite on the metal backing was worn off completely from the mud and grime so I started asking around for some spare parts because there are no bike shops within about 2 hours of Ardmore (none in Ardmore itself).   Luckily I ran into Steve and Linda Cole, Xterra Ambassador’s from Mississippi and he loaned me a set for the race.   Perfect!  

These were brand new brake pads...who knew mud could do that!?

 Race night – rain and thunder storms all night.  Race day – what mud had started to dry out the day before was no longer dry. 

Race morning was sunny and gorgeous, albeit it muddier than I could have imagined.    The race started about  1/3 mile down from the transition area at the Lake.   Swim was 2 – 500 meter loops.   My swim was really good.  I didn’t panic at all, the water was perfect, 70 degrees and really, didn’t need the wetsuit if I hadn’t wanted it.   1^st loop was great and then the 2^nd loop I drafted off an older guy that was swimming at a comfortable pace for me.   I was out of the water in 17 minutes, out of my wetsuit and headed up the road to transition.

The calm before the storm

Transition was quick, onto the bike – and then the fun began.  I went out pretty hard.   I passed 5-6 guys and then about mile 4 of the 5.5 mile loop I hit some really slick “clay” mud and downshifted to small ring (no-no),  popped my chain off on the inside and all 6 guys passed me before I was able to get enough mudd off the drivetrain to even find the chain.   Finally got back on the bike and continued.   It was really hard.   The mudd was either sandy frothy slick mudd like riding through a cappacino puddle or slick clay.   If you tried to steer through the sandy mudd, you’d loose all momentum and stop.   Most of the sandy mud sections had slick clay exits so you had to go fast enough to be able to climb out or you’d get stuck on the exits.   

There was this wonderful leafy stuff to the side of the slick clay that said “come on over here and ride on me, I’ll be good to you…” so I did.   Liars.   The leaves stuck to the clay and immediately the bike would lock up.  I think I did that three times before realizing that the leaves were lying to me.  

Coming into Transition on the first loop

One racer said it was like riding through peanut butter – true statement.    The last mile was really bad.   In fact, on my second loop I decided to run the bike all the way to the paved road, about .25miles up from transition, in part to get my blood flow regulated and also I actually think I moved quite a bit faster.   

10.4 miles of biking took 1:46 minutes.   Crazy.  

The run was fantastic.  I had the 2^nd fastest run split at 35:30.  The run course was about 4.25 miles.  I thought I’d run faster but felt like I was going all out!   Not much mud on the run course although in the future I will remember to bring along extra metal screws to put in the bottoms of my shoe (along with spare brake pads for the bike) for races where the course might be slick.  It would have helped to have a little extra traction.     

Finished!

We met some incredible people at this race.   I know I really wrestle with where to put my training energies and time, Xterra, Ultramarathon, Adventure Racing, MTB racing…but I meet the coolest peole doing Xterra.    It is really a fantastic crowd to train and race with.

Harry and I swapping stories about the mud

I must thank my lovely bride Anna for being my greatest race supporter, fan, support crew, co-driver home and encourager.   Babe – you handle so many details so I can focus on racing, thank you!

So Glad to be done. A great time!

Xterra Red River

For more info on Xterra.

Just about the time I finally sit back, relax and realize that I’m actually in the off-season, the off-season is over and it’s time to get back to it.   December is coming to a close; the sweets are diminishing in quantity, accessibility and size.   (Although my lovely wife continues to bake wonderful goodness every other day or so.)   The race calendars for all disciplines and sports are getting set and loaded onto the web for our perusal.

What are some best practices for setting yourself up for success in 2010?  Here are a few suggestions as you set up your race and training calendar for the year:

Step 1: LOOK BACK: Do an Honest Assessment

I believe it’s always a good thing to look back at the previous year and do an HONEST assessment.  Ask yourself the tough questions.  What goals did I set and did I achieve them?   What was my physical and mental state or attitude during the season? At the end of the season?     What were my strengths and weaknesses?  How was my nutrition?   Did my body handle the load I put on it?   What areas of improvement did I notice?   If you encountered injuries, have you had ample time to heal? 

If you do keep a training journal, this is a great time to look back through it and utilize the notes you’ve taken throughout the year.  Also make a list of the successes from the year, not just race times and placement but physical goals, attitude goals, improvements you saw along the way in your approach to training and nutrition etc.

Step 2: LOOK FORWARD: Set proper expectations

One of the reasons an annual return to the “plan” is so important is that life circumstances change.  For example, I’m going back to school this year.   As much as I want to train and race at the same level as last year, I’m going to have to set different expectation simply because my allotted training time is going to be lower.  

So set yourself up with a look at your personal situation, your health, and your upcoming year.  What’s changed and what needs to be adjusted? 

Now this is also a place to look at working a bit harder.   If you didn’t accomplish the goals you set out, then set the expectation that you won’t accept another year with subpar performance.

Step 3: SET BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOALS

This is the fun part!   Wave the wand, dream big, and write it down.  What goals do you want to set this year?   New personal record, qualification or award you’ve been reaching for?  Write it down.   The more clear your goals are, the better you’ll be able to track your progress and if you’re anything like me, the more you’ll be able to visualize them on those hard interval days when you’d rather hang it up and go have a beer.

Step 4: PLAN FOR SUCCESS

Planning is where the rubber meets the road.   You have to put your plan on paper.  

One of my favorite quotes regarding planning is from King Solomon, he writes,

“Plans fail for lack of counsel but with many advisors one succeeds.”

I’m a big believer that “outside insight” is a huge help in planning and success.  Now is a good time to get in touch with your coach, and if you don’t have one, to get a coach.

In a follow up post, I”ll take a closer look at this planning stage but for now, make sure you’ve done the other three steps listed above.

Welcome to 2010 and let’s get after it

What are you going to accomplish this year?

Img  Futuristmovies.com 

I’ve never done the 24 hours of Moab but was asked to join a team this year. October 10th-11th I’ll be racing for 24 hours on my mountain bike. My bike seat and I are going to be much closer friends than I ever imagined. I’ll post more after the race but here’s a link to some shots taken by one of my teammates during last year’s race. He has an amazing Flickr page. Take some time to check it out. 

Being an endurance athlete, I’m always looking for new drink and food ideas that I can use during long races or training sessions.   I enjoy eating but can get into a rut pretty easily.  I recently finished the book Born to Run and decided to try out a couple of the food ideas that the author, Chris McDougall writes about.   Chia Fresca and some sort of Pinole.  I thought I’d share what I’ve found and experimented with so far.  

Chia Fresca “Chia Gel #3

Chia Fresca is what you get when you mix the chia seed and water together.   The chia seed is a very small black seed packed with uber goodness for your body; i.e. Omega 3′s and antioxidants and fiber.   Yes, this is the very same chia seed that grows on the chia pet.   When you put the chia seed in water it turns the water into a gel, believed to be a result of the amount of soluble fiber in the seed itself.  Once you have the “gel” let creativity guide you, lime or lemon seem to be a nice and not over the top addition.    I am using it primarily as a recovery drink following long workouts.  For fitness recovery, adding sugar or a low amount of sodium might help.  One recipe I found used coconut water to increase electrolytes as well.   I like things sweet so I used honey to sweeten. 

I’m on my third variation now.  I live in New Mexico and found a couple places locally where I could get the seeds but in small, small quantity only.   The best place to get a lb or more is online.  I got mine from Amazon. 

• 2 servings Chia Seed (56g)
• 4tbsp Honey (84g)
• 2 fresh limes
• 64oz H20

Each 8oz serving has 65calories, 2g Fat, 1g Sodium, 12g Carb, 11g Fiber, 8g Sugar and 1g Protein.  I’ve kept it in the fridge and will go through it in about a week and a half.   What I found online said that it should keep for at least 2 weeks, probably longer.

Why am I trying the Chia Seed?  Ultimately if I could find a recovery drink that is all-natural, good, does the job great and is not expensive, I’d be HAPPY.   Hammer Nutrition’s Recoverite is great but it’s $50 for a container and as much as I train and race, I go through it fairly quickly.  Also, one of the interesting things I read about Chia Seed is it’s ability to slow digestion of sugars/carbs into the body.   

Research believe this same gel-forming phenomenon takes place in the stomach…creates a physical barrier between carbohydrates and the digestive enzymes that break them down, thus slowing the conversion of carbohydrates into sugar.

…this slowing in the conversion of carbohydrates into sugar offers the ability for creating endurance. Carbohydrates are the fuel for energy in our bodies. Prolonging their conversion into sugar stabilizes metabolic changes, diminishing the surges of highs and lows creating a longer duration in their fueling effects.

http://www.living-foods.com/articles/chia.html

The only real side effect I’ve noticed is that I’m gaining weight, which I think could be related to the above quote.    I’ve tracked my caloric intake for over a year now and the only change in food or caloric intake has been the Chia Fresca this past couple weeks.   If in fact the chia is causing my body to slow the conversion of carbohydrate into sugar, than I might be storing more in my system as fat.  Not sure yet.  My intake has been 8-12oz every other day or so, I’ve noticed that my weight has begun to climb (for me about 2-3 lb’s in the past two weeks)   I’ll keep an eye on this and post updated info in a few weeks.

Other information on Chia

• http://wildthyme-kitchen.com/2009/07/chia-fresca-sports-drink/
• http://www.chia-ireland.net/
• http://www.nativeseeds.org/Home
• http://www.purcellmountainfarms.com/Chia%20Seeds.htm

Pinole

I’m still experimenting with this.  To be honest, the Pinole has been a bit harder to figure out how to use.  Pinole is toasted corn flour.  It’s extremely good and has a strong flavor.   The most obvious use I’ve found so far has been in a drink form.   Atole de Pinole is a mixture of water and/or milk and pinole that’s been heated up on the stove for about 30 minutes and sweetened to taste with syrup or sugar.   It’s awesome!

But, I’m wanting to find a way to eat it as a food not necessarily a drink.  I came up with a crunch mix that I made by throwing some stuff together.   Jury’s still out.  It’s very tasty but still hard to eat in it’s current form.  Anna and I might try a granolish type version next and try baking it into small bars with chocolate. 

Pinole Crunch #1

• 100g of Pinole
• 1 serv Oatmeal (1/2cup)
• 1 serv Organic Raisins (40g)
• 3 serv Honey (3tbsp/63g)
• 1 serv Walnuts (30g)

I mixed all the ingredients together in a bowl, broke into 4 servings and put in small ziplocks.  Each serving has 267calories, 7g fat, 1g saturated fat, 3g sodium, 49g carb, 2g fiber, 40g sugar and 5g protein.

Before taking any of these recipes to the bank, try them out for yourself and shoot back any thoughts or ideas you have.

What other creative drinks and food do you use to fuel your body?