End of the year totals!

There is not much fluff in this, this is how it shook out!

Had it not been for a pesky bike crash in January it would have been a very different year…maybe!

January, continued training for IMSG, bike crash, out of commission for 2 weeks!

February; threw all the plans up in the air, focus shifted to the bike for 4 months.

March; big cycling month and coming to a head next month!

April; L’etape du California and Sufferlandrian Knighthood!

May; back to Triathlon training for Vineman 70.3!

June; continued Tri training and threw in a 6 hour MTB race, that nearly killed me!

July; Vineman 70.3, not the race I trained for, mechanical left me roadside for 90 mins!

August; hung up the bike and laced up running shoes!

September; run, run run and then run some more!

October; see what I did in September +33 miles in October!

November; solid day at the Santa Clarita Marathon, more time on the trails too.

December; 30k trail race as well as Fat Ass Marathon and 50k

Was pushing for 4000 total miles, but it seemed silly and arbitrary to go overboard!

Here’s to more of the same in 2015!

December Summary

23 weeks in and just under 1000 miles (989)! As you can see December had a fair amount of Treadmill miles abut also a good amount of time spent on the trails. Also the mileage is leveling off around 50 miles a week, that’s a pretty solid week.

Having said I usually get bored with plans I am amazed that I am still sticking with this!

Onwards

S0B50K Week 8

Post race and pre Christmas week, good news was that I had 10 days off over the holidays!

Monday. Off

Tuesday. Off

Wednesday. 7 Miles. Ran the local East Ridge Trail with Becca, it’s short and sharp!

Thursday. 5 Miles. Treadmill

Friday. 7 Miles again on the East ridge Trail.

Saturday. Off

Sunday. 25 Miles. But that’s so darn close to a Marathon it seems silly not too so I did…it was hard! More time on the Sean O'Brien course…it’s got SOB in the title for a reason!

So for  the week on 45 miles but nearly 9m hours…such is the toll of trail running!

Merry Christmas!

Geseënde Kersfees,Een Plesierige Kerfees, Rehus-Beal- Ledeats, Gezur Krislinjden, Milad Majid, Feliz Navidad, Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand, Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun, Selamat Hari Natal,Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!, Vesele Vanoce, Feliz Natal, Shubho borodin, Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat, Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo, Bon Nadal i un Bon Any Nou!, Feliz Navidad, Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun, Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan, Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito, Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo, Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth, Pace e salute Rot Yikji Dol La Roo, Mitho Makosi Kesikansi, Sretan Bozic, Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok, Glædelig Jul, Christmas-e- Shoma Mobarak, Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! or Zalig Kerstfeast, Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!, Gajan Kristnaskon, Ruumsaid juulup hi, Melkin Yelidet Beaal, Rehus- Beal- Ledeats, Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar!, Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad, Hyvaa joulua, Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar, Joyeux Noel, Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier!, Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar!, Bo Nada, Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ùr!, Froehliche Weihnachten, Kala Christouyenna!, Juullimi Pilluaritsi!, Froehliche Weihnachten, Jwaye Nowel or to Jesus Edo Bri'cho o Rish D'Shato Brichto, Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar, Shekara!, Mele Kalikimaka, Mo'adim Lesimkha,

Chena tova,Baradin ki shubh kamnaaye, Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!, Mele Kalikimaka ame Hauoli Makahiki Hou!, Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket, Gledileg Jol,Selamat Hari Natal, Idah Saidan Wa Sanah, Jadidah,Nollaig Shona Dhuit, or Nodlaig mhaith chugnat, Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut, Ojenyunyat osrasay, Buone Feste Natalizie, Shinnen omedeto, Kurisumasu Omedeto, Mithag Crithagsigathmithags, Sung Tan Chuk Ha, souksan van Christmas, Natale hilare et Annum Faustum!, Prieci'gus Ziemsve'tkus un Laimi'gu Jauno Gadu!, Wjesole hody a strowe nowe leto, Priecigus Ziemassvetkus, Linksmu Kaledu, Heughliche Winachten un 'n moi Nijaar, Sreken Bozhik, IL-Milied It-tajjeb, Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa, Meri Kirihimete, Shub Naya Varsh, Merry Keshmish, God Jul, or Gledelig Jul, Pulit nadal e bona annado, Bon Pasco, Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu, En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr!, Feliz Navidad y un Venturoso Año Nuevo, Maligayan Pasko!, Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia or Boze Narodzenie, Feliz Natal, Christmas Aao Ne-way Kaal Mo Mobarak Sha, Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi, Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua, Bellas festas da nadal e bun onn, Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn!, Craciun Fericit, Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom, Buorrit Juovllat, La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou, Bonu nadale e prosperu annu nou, Hristos se rodi, Sretan Bozic or Vesele vianoce, La Maunia Le, Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou, Nollaig chridheil huibh, Hristos se rodi, Subha nath thalak Vewa, Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa,Vesele Vianoce, A stastlivy Novy Rok,Vesele Bozicne Praznike Srecno Novo Leto or Vesel Bozic in srecno Novo leto, God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År,Maligayamg Pasko, Masaganang Bagong Taon,Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal, Neekiriisimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech!, Sawadee Pee Mai or souksan wan, Christmas Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun, Srozhdestvom Kristovym, Naya Saal Mubarak Ho, Chuc Mung Giang Sinh, Nadolig Llawen, E ku odun, e ku iye'dun! and Cestitamo Bozic!

Paramount Ranch 30k

This was a last minute race sign up. I had never run the Paramount Ranch 30k but as it was so local (20 minutes drive) and it was a good opportunity to support the the organization and Race Director of my next two races (Sean O’Brien 50k in February and Leona Divide 50m in April) it seemed liked a no-brainer.

So Becca and I signed up a week or so in advance and come a chilly Saturday morning we were standing on the start line. The race combined a 10k, a Half Marathon and a 30k, one, two or three loops respectively around Paramount Ranch. Paramount Ranch was the film lot of Dr Quinn Medicine Woman and a number of other classic westerns.

As all the distances started at once it was a bit busy but it was manageable. In total there was probably a couple of hundred people. As you would expect there was all manner of garb and equipment and even a selection of fancy dress. Personally given that there was a couple of Aid Stations every loop I decided to keep it very simple with Inferno Shorts and Shirt from Saucony. For footwear I opted for my Kinvara TR2 shoes, these are super lightweight low profile racing flats for trails (they are basically the same as A5s with a bit of grip). Now retired you can find them in the outlet section of many websites for around $70. Just to fend off the cold I was wearing a pair of Voler Armwarmers. I was also carrying a UD Handheld and a baggy of HI5 as well as a couple of gels.

With three loops this was a good opportunity to pace myself and I was able to see the start list and had reasonably high expectations of doing well. That being said I am in a pretty competitive age group so we would have to wait and see.

After a quick briefing we were off. The usual shuffling to find some room ensued as we ran through the town. After a quick left and right we were out on the trails and into a nice little climb. After quite a lot of rain earlier in the week the trails had not had time to dry off. This left some muddy spots and it was a bit slippery but it was nothing too onerous. The course was basically a series cloverleaves around and back through the town. On each inner loop there was some climbing and descending. There was lots of opportunities to see other runners but because you all started at once you had no real idea what race anyone was running.

The first loop I tucked myself into between a couple of girls and made pretty good time completing it 54:37 (8:47). A bit faster than I was expecting but I felt fine. After the first loop I stopped to remove a stone from my shoe and strip off my armwarmers and set off on lap 2. I caught up with the couple of people who passed my while I was sitting and tucked in behind them. The second loop runners thinned out as the 10k runners finished.

I was being well paced for the second loop by runners in front and behind, this was completed in 55:00 (8:51) well within pace of the first loop. My surrounding runners dropped after the second loop leaving me to complete the third on my own. As expected the runners thinned out even more and during the third loop I was lapping folks from the Half Marathon race. I was starting to feel the effect of going out a little fast as I neared the end and there were definitely some hills that I had to walk up that I had been running up previously. This was borne out in my final loop split of 59:23. (9:33) an after the fact reminder that I had gone out too fast.

Through the finish I was given a medal and was done.

Post race I grabbed some food of which there was a smorgasbord of sweet and savory finds. I waited for Becca to come in and chatted with other runners. You can read Becca’s race report here but suffice to say she kicked butt!

The results were posted and I was pleased to see that I had done pretty well. 5/14 in my Age Group and 11/67 Overall with a finish time of 2:50:35 (9:10). Easy to see the impact of the last loop. That being said fourth place was a good 10 mins ahead of me and tenth nearly 2 mins ahead so there was nothing much to be done!

So overall a good day at the races! A well run and fun (as long as you consider running up and down hills as fun) local event and a great way to round out the year!

S0B50K Week 7

Easing off the gas some this week post the weekend’s fun, but I did manage to squeeze in one last race of the year.

Monday. Off

Tuesday. Off

Wednesday. 10k Mid Hi Temp road run, I was happy with this, nice mile on and offs

Thursday. 4 miles, nice and quick on the Treadmill

Friday. 6 miles nice and easy on the Treadmill…again!

Saturday. Paramount Ranch 30k. Race Report to follow.

Sunday. 5 miles on the Treadmill. OK I give up!

Another week in the bag! A smidge under 41 miles!

Race route recon!

This past weekend my plan called for a 50k. As there were no races on any calendar I could find I decided to run the Sean O’Brien 50k course in advance of the race in February. The course runs along an out and back section of the Backbone Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains. I have run much of it before but never strung together in this order.

Becca was planning for a 16 miles so we came up a plan for her to run with me for the first 8 miles and then turnaround and head back to the car, we had left my car around M14 and I would use that for SAG. As we started late we skipped the first couple of miles and headed to the next parking lot which would allow Becca more time on the main climb of the run and after our abandoned run due to the rain a couple of weeks ago it made more sense.

With the car parked and the obligatory selfies taken we were off! This section is the grittiest of the entire race with 1600’ of gain over the first four miles. For obvious reasons there is no going out fast for this! It’s very much a case of run anything runnable and walk the rest!

After the last couple of weeks rain we saw plenty of signs of erosion; sinkholes in the trail, this was about 8’ long and 3’ deep and rocks washed down the hillside, this was well pretty big;

At Corral Canyon Becca was due to turnaround however this was all new trail to her and she was very turned around. A quick replan and we agreed we would run on the next section together to my car and see how much was left for her to reach the 16 mark.

The section from Corral Canyon is mostly runnable but has a nasty climb around Mile 8 with nearly 500’ of climbing. These are just some random shots from along the trail.

We got to the car after just over 9 miles. Another replan for Becca and then we came up with a plan to run on another 3.5 miles and turnaround and use my car to get back to the start and meet up with me later…with that plan made we were off!

This section is one I have only run once back in 2009 so it was all a good refresher. The trail has lots of twists and turns but was mostly runnable. I ran onto the actual race turnaround, cutting off the first couple of miles meant that I was going to be short overall but I would worry about that at the end of the day.

I hit the halfway point and then back at the parking lot Becca and I parted company. I was on the way back. My main goal was to keep a steady and maintainable pace and that was pretty much achieved with the exception of the really steep climbs. I let Becca know my locations as I was coming back to the start and as the light was fading I decided to head to the actual race start to add up my mileage. I had stupidly stopped my Garmin and forgotten to start it so I missed a mile and about 12 minutes of actually recording but trust me my legs were very aware of it!

I had to take a slight detour as what was usual a little steam was a 2-3’ deep fast moving river! I finished in the dark and by the illumination of the light on my iPhone I ran the last mile to the parking lot to be collected by Becca! I was half a mile short so I ran around in circles a bit to round it up. Knowing this I am estimating that the race distance will be closer to 33 miles.

So 31 not pretty miles in the bank. This is actually my first “ultra” since  2011 and was for sure a good eye opener. There’s plenty of work needed in the next 6 weeks to get me along this course faster than last weekend!

S0B50K Week 6

This was a big week culminating in a 50k self supported run, so without any further ado;

Monday. 11 Miles. Treadmill…after last week! Make. It. Stop!

Tuesday. Off…yup managed that ok!

Wednesday. 7 Miles. Freedom…on the road for some Intervals! 1m w/u. 2M @HM. 1m easy. 2m@HM. 1m c/d.

Thursday. 5 Miles. Recovery, nothing much to see here!

Friday. 3 Miles. a gentle lead into a big weekend.

Saturday. Hoped on the Bike to ride the Sufferfest Elements of Style, review to follow.

The Sufferfest & Cycling Tips: Elements of Style: Trailer from The Sufferfest on Vimeo.

Sunday. 31 miles. Went to the Sean O’Brien course. Started 3 miles in so Becca could see further up the big first climb and the paused my watch for a mile at 23 to 24 so add another 14 mins to the time too. A big, long day in the mountains. 6300' gain. Could of had more real food on the go and got sick of Hi5 at the end. Slight detour as the stream was bloated to a white water river and seemed silly to risk getting washed away! There’s a  longer post here about it.

56.765 miles run and 8 miles on the bike, (10 actually but I forgot to start my Garmin!)

Onwards

n+1

I’ve fallen in love with this movie…it’s on Netflix, check it out!

Not saying I will but I might…n+1 after all!

S0B50K Week 5

Bit of a rest week and a mix of everything. Getting closer to the holidays means busier at work and juggling things but I managed to get through the week fairly unscathed 

Monday. 11 miles, on the treadmill, at 3%, enough said I think!

Tuesday. Off!

Wednesday. 6 miles. On the treadmill again, 1m at 1% 1m at 2%, 2m at 3% 2m at 2%. Hills and Zone 3

Thursday. 4 miles. On the treadmill again. Roas to Hana video

Friday. 6 miles. Treadmill AGAIN! Haleakala climb x2 second time faster

Saturday. 18 miles on the bike with Zwift. 

Sunday. 14 miles on a local moderate trail. It has some short sharp climbing which hurt but as it’s an out and back you get to bomb down the downs! The downside of a short Sunday run is that you get a longer Monday one and it’s 11 miles tomorrow!

41 miles run and 18 miles ridden…basically more hay in the barn!

Onwards…

November Summary

So it went like this!

Race on Sunday in Week 14..then less road more trail and teeny tiny bit of bike!

Addressing the trails again

More of the same in December and a push to round up mileage, within sensible proportions, for the end of the year!

Onwards…

S0B50K Week 4

This was always going to be a big week. The way my schedule fits into the calendar means that there are some weeks where there are six runs and this was one them.

Monday. Off, a quick 30 minutes on the Bike…shut the front door!

Tuesday. Off, another 30 minutes on the Bike, this time riding along with Zwift which I am beta testing! So far so good!

We Ride a Latte. from Zwift on Vimeo.

Wednesday. 7 miles on the local roads and trails, another good kick in the pants! Hills. trails, Stuart!!!

Thursday. 5 miles. Treadmill. 2 mile warm up, 1 mile hill climb at 15%/3.2mph 2 mile cool down

Friday. 7 miles. Treadmill. Started at 1% increased 1% each mile over first 5, then back to 2% for remaining!

Saturday. Off. 

Sunday. 18 miles was the plan. Headed to local Trailhead with a view to running the first section of the Sean O’Brien course with Becca, best described as wet! We called it after 3.5 miles and 2000’ of climbing and turned around.

Up into the clouds and rain!

I ran another couple of miles after to get to 10 and then another 7 miles on the Treadmill to hit 17 for the day.

So 5 runs 6:44 and 37.08 miles and 2 rides 1:03 and 17:06 miles.

Next week is a step back as the week after I have a Fat Ass 50k so some time off my legs will be a good thing!

Onwards…