Trying This Again

At advice of a friend I am going to try and start writing something at least once a week in my blog. I guess it is good to keep the social media thing rolling. A lot has happened since I last wrote in this but the big thing is that I started Elemental Running & Training. It is my fledgling company that is starting to do ok. I am happy with the progress and the new races on the calender. So check out the website and I will keep writing.

www.elementalrunning.com

Surf City Marathon Race Report 2010

The Surf City Marathon was a great day down in Huntington Beach, Ca. Coming down from Las Vegas on Saturday it was raining very heavily and we were a little worried that the race might get a whole lot of rain, fortunately no! The turned out to be sunny and beautiful with only a few clouds lingering around from the downpours during the week.

The course started on the Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, Ca. We ran down PCH and turned inland towards the Huntington Library which is surrounded by a very nice park. After circling around the park we headed back down to PCH towards Sunset Beach. Right before Sunset Beach we turned around back towards Huntington Beach. A couple of miles from the start/finish we turned onto the pathway that runs in front of the beach and headed back to Sunset Beach and the turned around back to the start/finish. This might seem boring but it was actually pretty cool to look at the ocean and sand.

I got to start the morning with my friend Lisa who I met at the RRCA class in SoCali a year ago. She picked me up from the hotel which was very helpful. It was cool to have someone I know to talk to before the race. Usually I am standing around talking to random strangers! She is a lot faster then I am and took off at the start. She had a great race and PR'ed with a sub 4 run. I did see her once more out on the pathway so that was cool. She was really moving well.

Overall my race was more of a training run since I have Old Pueblo 50 in 3 weeks. My goal was to run around 11 minute miles which I ended with and 11:03 average. Not exactly a great marathon time but good training for an upcoming ultrarun.

Mileage on the Rise

This weekend I did the most mileage I have done since summer of last year when I was training for Headlands 50.  It feels good to see my mileage back up since I would like to be at 80 miles a week by August so I am ready for Angeles Crest 100.

Friday afternoon I ran 6 miles at the gym because it was still raining here in Las Vegas. I am not a fan of running in the rain and it does not rain enough here to justify me getting out and doing it. I actually ran this at tempo pace because I felt good and it seemed like a good idea.

Saturday I ran 20 miles by myself with no definitive path. I just started out from my house and headed west up into Summerlin. Summerlin is a good community to run in  because you can go for a while before hitting a stoplight. I enjoy running by myself sometimes because my brain will shift into a subconscious almost dreaming state. It is kind of weird but it seems to works things out and it is when I come up with some if my best ideas. On the other hand running that much by yourself takes a lot more discipline.

Sunday was a rough morning. I started coming down with a cold and did not sleep well at all on Saturday night. I felt tired for the entire 15 mile run. Thankfully I ran the Red Rock Canyon loop with a bunch of friends which is very motivating and helpful when you feel blah. I was definitely done when we finished!

This morning I am sitting here writing this and outside of an minor annoying head cold I feel pretty good. No aches or pains and all my muscles feel real solid. Today I go see Dr John for my chiro and stretching appt which is always an amazing feeling. He is awesome at what he does.

Now onto another week! Surf City Marathon on 2 weeks and Old Pueblo 50 in 6 weeks!

Making your own way.

2010 really does feel like a new start for me. I know it sounds cliche and people say that every year but things are really starting a major shift in my little corner of the universe. 6 months ago Molly and I started Desert Sky Adventures (Desert Sky Adventures). We were able to start this company because Norm Klein agreed to sell us the Rio Del Lago 100m/50k endurance run (Rio Del Lago 100m/50k). We were amazingly lucky to get such an opportunity to RD an amazing race and learn for Norm and Helen Klein who are legends in the ultrarunning world. Since we started 6 months ago me and the amazing team of people I have around have put together 7 races for 2010 with more to come in 2011.

Secondly I have been able to really immerse myself in the ultrarunning world and I have met some amazing people. I really love how the majority of the community is just completely awesome. Runners that I totally look up to are now my friends and they are all amazing people and mentors.

So what does all of this have to do with the title of the blog? For a lot of years I really fought the system but never really understood what I was fighting. Sort of a rebel without a cause. Now looking back this really isn't making your own way, it is more just causing problems for the sake of causing problems. Now I really do what I want to do and I don not worry what other people think. This has been a huge shift for me and has allowed me to truly enjoy my life a lot more. This doesn't mean I am satisfied with everything in my little world because that would be idiotic but I do believe that I can be whatever I want and do whatever I want.

Find your way and what makes you happy. Running makes me immensely happy and I will continue to do it as long as my feet will take me somewhere. Ultrarunning is an amazing sport and I look forward to many long races in the years to come.

Race Report: Las Vegas R'n'R Half-Marathon

I have really decided I like this blogging thing because it allows me to get my thoughts down and organized but I am definitely not as prolific or as fast as my good friend Jill (www.JillWillRun.com). It is ok, I am getting the hang of it slowly but surely.

Elite racing finally bought the Las Vegas Marathon from Devine this year, THANKFULLY! So now we have the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Marathon which was pretty good for its first year. Elite was able to get the entire Las Vegas strip closed down which was nice becuase the half-marathon was able to stay completely on the strip. The marathon cut up to the west side of town and then came back down to the strip. Overall it was a good course and I think Elite did a good job.

I didn't actually get to sign up and officially "run" the half marathon as I was coaching 62 runners for Team Challenge ccteamchallenge.org. This is a great organization that raises money for Chrohns and Cholitis research. I did end up running about 15 miles that day up and down the strip coaching, talking, and motivating my awesome team. This actually made the race a lot more fun. I have done plenty of  RnR events but most of my runners were brand new so it was awesome to see their reactions to everything.

Overall I think Elite Racing did a great job with the event. My team did awesome and it was a great day. Next up for me is the Surf City Marathon on Feb 6th!

Race Report: 2009 Catch the Gobbler 5k

I woke up at 5am on Thanksgiving morning to run my second 5k. Considering all the races I have run it is kind of surprising that this is only my second 5k. I guess I did the whole progression of racing a bit backwards but thats ok. I actually enjoy getting out and doing these smaller races, they allow me to do the thing I enjoy the most, RACE!

I did my normal thing I do before every race, shower, eat, go. For some reason I always shower before races. I realize it is an unnecesary practice but it makes me feel good in the morning so the tradition has stuck. I ate one of the pumpkin Clif bars (seasonal) for breakfast, which I have to say are awesome. I got to Bunker Park about 550am and parked right by Jill. It was a bit cold that morning so I jogged over grabbed my bib and scurried back to Jill's car to stay warm. Caitlyn joined us shortly after and we huddled in the car and talked all kinds of nonsense.

Jill and I had planned on trying to run a 24 minute 5k but that didn't quite work out. Our bodies are so attuned to running longer distance that it takes me 3 miles just to get warmed up. I was sucking pretty bad the first mile and my anterior tibialis muscles on both legs were screaming at me. I worked very hard mentally to put myself into a good groove and at about 1.7 miles in I sort of found it and was able to pick up the pace nicely. I still wasn't feeling 100% but I will take whatever the running gods will give. Next time I will definitely run a couple of miles to warm-up.

My official time on the site is 25:17(8:08) which I think is pretty darn good for only my second one. I finished 13 out of 34 in my division and 107 out of 480 overall. The winner of my division finished at 6:24 miles which I feel is very attainable for me. Guess I have some new goals to shoot for around Las Vegas.

The race overall was put on very well and the food after was pretty good for a small race. My complaint about these races is the ugly shirts/sweatshirts they give away. Seems to me of you want to promote your race you would make a shirt that someone might want to wear.

Next up - Las Vegas Half-Marathon with Team Challenge

Tough week and commitment

This week was a hard week for training even though the training was not particulary hard. I am glad I am at the point in my running life that a bad run does not destroy any confidence in my abilities. I have committed to a lifetime of running and sometimes you just have to smile and take it all in stride. Tomorrow is a new day and my training continues for Old Pueblo 50.

Being committed to running for a lifetime also means knowing when my body has had enough. Today I cut my run short by 5 miles because I was tired and my right hamstring was knotting up real bad. That is a bummer but tomorrow is a new day.