SANTA BARBARA TRAIL RUN…

I had just gotten off course twice in the last hour, it was noon, my heart was pounding, I was puking, it was hot, still a big climb away from the aid station. I was calculating: time to recover at aid station + who knows the conditions ahead + wanting to finish before 9 pm (we started at 7 am) = might as well stop now = where do I get a ride? One hour before I was chasing the guy in front of me and I was giddy at the thought of a sub-12 for a Santa Barbara Trail Run 100K!

I quit a race yesterday – after about 30 miles. It was the first time I quit a foot race. It’s not like I didn’t make a cut-off. I was plunging to exhaustion and was going to end up in a helicopter flying to the Santa Barbara ER (if only there would have been a spot for a helicopter to land in that dense brush and savannah of the Santa Ynez mountains). Quitting was right. I’m grateful I came back in one piece and I am satisfied with the way I handled every situation that arose. Although I can’t pinpoint what went wrong exactly I can definitely see the chain of events that led to quitting.

Continue reading “Santa Barbara Trail Run 100K” →

Mini Miwok Maxi Fun

Since the first time I ran an ultra in the Marin Headlands the nature there became very special to me. Living in Los Angeles, which is a desert with a little water, the coast north of the Golden Gate in contrast is lush and moist, the vistas are terrific and the trails are well maintained.

I like to run two ultras there: the  North Face Endurance Challenge (NFEC) in December and Miwok 100k in May. Haven’t reported on the last NFEC last December – the weather was harsh (it rained so much – sometimes by the ocean it felt like receiving buckets of water in the face. I ran a sub 10 though and that’s a Western States 100 qualifier!). It was still a fun adventure.

Last year Miwok 100k was epic and a great experience. I was lucky to get through the lottery again this year. And it was equally epic although for different reasons. And also a rich experience.

Continue reading “Mini Miwok Maxi Fun” →

RIO DEL LAGO 100

After Miwok this year I was looking forward to running Pikes Peak Marathon but I was also looking for an opportunity to accumulate the points to qualify for the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) in Chamonix, France, in 2013. I wanted to run the AC100 but it  sold out very early and they don’t seem to want too many runners on the course since they don’t have a waiting list. It sold out for 2013 by the way… But here is the Rio Del Lago 100 Race report. 

A friend told me that the Rio del Lago Hundred miler was a qualifier (I had to get 3 or more points before the end of the year and I would rather run in California). 2011 NFCE gave me 2 points, Miwok also two points (which seems abnormal but that is an issue that I will examine later) and a runner needs to accumulate 7 points in 3 races. Too afraid that it would sell out I registered right away. According to the web site, it looked like a very feasible 100 mi run with reasonable elevation gain (2700 m I think) and a generous cut-off time (34 hrs: what could go wrong? I could probably walk the whole thing and qualify for UTMB). The scenery looked nice and I heard that the course shares some trails with the WS100… legendary stuff, right?

Continue reading “Rio Del Lago 100 miles” →

PIKES PEAK MARATHON

I have been wanting to run Pikes Peak Marathon since I heard about it which must have been for at least the last five years! The problem is that, unlike those road/city marathons where they will sign up 25,000 people or more, there are only limited slots at Pikes Peak (for the same reasons WS100, Miwok and all the cool trail races have a limited amount of spots: the park and forest service doesn’t let hordes of runners ruin the wilderness and it’s great that way).

Most limited edition races have lotteries but Pikes Peak doesn’t which means that one has to be clicking on the online registration when it opens and before the servers get congested. I have tried to register for Pikes Peak for 5 years and I never had any luck.

So on March 15 at 12pm PST I was at my desk – clicking, clicking, clicking. The first two attempts led me to an active.com overload page but I tried a third time and BINGO! I got in,  paid my fee and all I had to do was show them that I was a sub 3:30 marathoner and I was in! Ecstatic! A dream come true! Pikes Peak here I come!

Continue reading “Pikes Peak Marathon” →

ANGELES CREST 100

Here is a race report from Yanco Javier who finished 8th at the 2012 Angeles Crest 100 miles Endurance run . Congratulations Yanco!

Liz and I drove up to Wrightwood on Thursday afternoon, getting one last look at Hwy 2 and the aid stations along the way. Friday I had to weigh in, get my blood pressure taken and sit through the pre-race meeting. After the meeting, we had dinner and got back to the room by 6. Getting to sleep before a big race is always difficult. I finally crashed out around 9:30.

Continue reading “Angeles Crest 100” →